Drinking Deep: Choosing Endurance over Escape

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

I like that. Yeah. Let's start reading in verse 36. Matthew chapter 26 and click on verse 36 and here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna take three different passages, read them, and then hold them all in, keep them spun up, like have those documents open on our desktop and then we'll click back and forth between all three of those passages.

Does that make sense? Yeah. So, Matthew chapter 26, why don't I just go ahead and read? We'll be in, I'll start in verse 36. And here we go.

Then, Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane and he said, sit here while I go over here to pray. He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John and he came and he became anguished and distressed and he told them, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Then he went on a little further, bowed with his face to the ground praying, my father, if it's possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet, I want your will to be done and not mine.

Let's keep going. Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep and he said to Peter, couldn't you watch with me for even an hour? Keep watch and pray so that you will not be given to intent, given to temptation. For the spirit is willing but the body is weak. Maybe just do the picture of the two cups for me, please, Justin.

Oh, Carla. Now, Carla. Okay. So, that's the first passage that we're gonna read. Matthew chapter 26.

Now, let's skip ahead in the story a little bit. We're gonna look at Matthew chapter 27. And I'm gonna read a few verses from Matthew chapter 27 and I wanna start reading in verse 32. Matthew chapter 27 verse 32. Along the way, they came across a man named Simon who was from Cyrene and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus's cross.

So, here's what we've done in the story. So what we just read was after Jesus and his disciples had last supper together where they met in an upper room then he goes out to the garden and he's praying in great anguish and he says, lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. Probably most of us are familiar with that. Now, what we are reading right now, we skip ahead a little bit in the story and now, we are reading after the kangaroo court of a trial, the pronouncement of the verdict that Jesus has been found guilty of crimes that there's no evidence for and the judgment is that he is to be crucified.

He has already been whipped and beaten and now he is on his way to the what the Bible calls as the place of the skull Golgotha but he's been beaten so bad that he's losing strength and he cannot carry his own cross. Therefore, Roman soldiers pick out a bystander and say, you carry his cross and that's where we are in the story. If you're with me, just nod your head. Yes. Alright, good.

Along the way, they came across a man named Simon who was from Cyrene and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus's cross. Verse 33 and they went out to a place called Golgotha which means place of the skull. The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. So, we've read one passage.

This is our second passage and now, we're going to read one more passage. So, turn to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 15. Same moment in history but we're now seeing it from a different camera angle because we have a different autobiographer. We saw Matthew's perspective.

Now, we're seeing a different autobiographer's perspective on the same events from the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 15, did I tell you what verse? 21. 21. A passerby named Simon who was from Cyrene was coming in from the countryside.

Just then the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus's cross. Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus and they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha which means place of the skull. They offered him wine drugged with myrrh but he refused it. Then, the soldiers nailed him to the cross and they divided his clothes and threw the dice to decide who would get each piece. So, I've come to discover, keep these three passages, those pages open on the desktop of your mind.

That just really resonates with me like I can picture it. If you need to drag one document over to an expanded screen, go ahead. Whatever you need to do. I have discovered that over the last almost eight years, Tribe will celebrate its eighth birthday at the end of October. It's really no longer the devil's holiday but it's Tribe's birthday that I've seen a theme, I've seen several themes beginning to emerge from the messages that the lord puts on my heart and I think it's partly the way that he's wired me but one of the macro themes that I see a lot is the theme of endurance.

The theme of endurance and if you were to scan your memory banks because I'm sure you're able to recall all of the messages that are preached here at Tribe. Yeah, just slide that lead lined heavy door back and then just seal em back in. It's hard not to picture like Jurassic Park in my mind there. Get back. But one of the macro themes that that that just that the lord uses me to speak through that perhaps I resonate with is this idea of this macro theme of endurance.

So, that's kind of like, if you categorize all the messages and you have the notes and then, you know, you have tabs that you go back and study. Just this will will fit under the category of endurance and if you're taking notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation at the top of your notes. The title of this morning's conversation is drinking deep. Choosing endurance over escape. Drinking deep, choosing endurance over escape.

In this life, we're offered the choice to drink from one of two cups. The first cup and we're gonna look, I I think we'll be able to get to both cups this morning but I wanna be mindful of time. I don't wanna rush and I want us to enjoy this conversation together but the first cup, Jesus calls the cup of what? We just read it. The cup of suffering.

Yay. Like liquid death, The cup of suffering. And we just read about Jesus and that cup that was was offered to him. Earlier on, if you're familiar with the story, Jesus told his disciples the cup that was set before him that he would have the opportunity to drink and the disciples were like, I don't whatever it is, I'm in. I'm in and Jesus is like, you don't understand what you're saying now but someday you will and the same opportunity will be presented to you and I'm praying for you now that when the day comes and you're presented with two cups that you will make the wise choice.

I didn't say easy choice. I didn't say convenient choice. I didn't say the choice that you wanna make. I didn't say the the anything else other than the wise choice. Jesus goes before us.

And he himself has had the opportunity to drink from two different cups and he chose the cup of suffering and I love the humanity that we see in Jesus. He is not some distant, removed superhero that is untouched and unfazed by the reality of the life that we live. Like Superman for example. He doesn't even need to breathe our oxygen. I mean, he's great with the speed and the cape and that hair and the muscles like, I know it's great and for some of us like Lissa, she feels like she gets to be married to him.

So, but for the rest of us, like Superman, Baby, it hurts me when you laugh like that. And you too. For the rest of us, we need a superhero that's a little bit more relatable. Somebody that breathes oxygen. Somebody that that is faced with the same things that we are faced with yet is able to transcend or move through or pass the test if you will.

Jesus wracked with agony and torment in the garden prays to his father. If it's possible, if there's any other way around this, I'm open to your creative ideas and solutions, Lord. But then watch the beauty of the next words that come out of his mouth. Nevertheless, my will, my choices, my life is not my own. And I will trust you lord and I'll grab a hold of whatever it is that you put in front of me.

And in this particular instance, god. Remember the one that loves you and cares you, reckless love, and and he's so great and wonderful and the soft, fuzzy feelings that we're supposed to get when we think about god. He goes, he just pours a nice, deep draft. Figure, use a quick bar analogy. A nice, deep draft of suffering to hand to Jesus.

This cup of suffering, it is a cup that every single one of us at various times are presented with the option or the opportunity or the crossroads of what we will choose to be able to drink the cup of suffering or to drink another cup, a different cup. So let's just talk really quickly about like like what is this what is this cup of suffering? What do I mean by it? Well, you can look at this word in the Greek, this word suffering in the Greek and the word suffering in the Greek has with it this idea of pressing under immense pressure, strain, that results in something coming out and I'm not talking about like squeezing a zit. You're like, great.

Now, that's stuck in my head. Think more instead about grapes being crushed or olives being crushed to produce something amazing and incredible that was in the grapes and in the olives but it took pressure in order for the wine or for the olive oil to be released. Now, I'm pretty sure you all know this about god but he does not crush for the sake of his ego that he needs to put us down in order for himself to feel better, right? Like, banish the thought. He does not crush to punish.

That does not mean that he does not chastise and discipline. That's different and sometimes it can be hard for us to tell the difference because all we feel is pain and we're like, I don't want it. I don't like it. What I'm talking about is the kind of pressing, the kind of pressure, the kind of crushing that results in the expression from our lives that he knows is in there that we might not even know is in there ourselves. Beautiful sweet wine, valuable olive oil.

You know that in the Bible where it says that Jesus went with his disciples from Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley which is maybe about a twenty minute walk in Jesus' day. It's about eighteen minutes now because you have to dodge big tour buses and traffic and busy streets and crowded people everywhere but up to this place called the Mount Of Olives where there was a garden that had an olive press in it and the name of the garden was the Garden Of Gethsemane. Gethsemane, do you know what that means? Have you heard that before? That's right.

It means press pressing and crushing. Jesus went to the garden of crushing and pressing. There, he drank from the cup of suffering. That word suffering not only does it mean pressing and pressing together and pressure but it's also understood as a metaphor for affliction, tribulation, there's that word, distress, trials, and opposition. So, when you hear that word suffering, I'm inviting you to not necessarily change but modify your understanding of that word so that it doesn't only ever have a negative connotation in your mind.

In fact, I would tell you, you can never grow as a Christian until you understand god's definition of suffering and knowing that he uses it as a tool for our maturity. Spiritual maturity is not measured in age. Clay, would you stand up for just a moment? Nina, would you stand up for just a moment? Okay.

Now, is it easy or is it difficult to tell the difference in human maturity between these two individuals? It's easy because one has a baby face and the other one has long hair. Sit down. Sit down. Sit down.

Right? It's it's easy. It's easy to tell the difference in in in physical maturity of humans. Tricky to tell the difference between spiritual maturity because spiritual maturity is not at all based on how many years you have gone to church. Spiritual maturity is not based at all on whether or not you own a Bible.

Spiritual maturity is not based at all on how much you go to church. Spiritual maturity is not based at all on how much you read your Bible. Spiritual maturity partly is based upon how much have you suffered. How much have you drunk from the cup that god gives us? That's one one metrics for measuring maturity.

Have you suffered for the lord? Have you suffered the things that Jesus, the 12 disciples have suffered? Are there any marks on your body? From suffering? And I'm not talking about suffering from the consequences of your own sin and your own choices.

That's different. I'm not talking about like, I've been suffering all summer long and finally, pumpkin spice latte season is here. That is not, that was directed at no particular person at all. That's not the kind of suffering that I'm talking about. The cup of suffering, you can write these down or I don't have em on the screen.

The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline. Bossing yourself around. Do you give in to all of the things that only you want to do? Or do you boss yourself around? Are you disciplined?

The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline. Either delayed gratification or or abstaining from gratification from that thing completely and entirely. What is the cup of suffering? The cup of suffering is discipline. I'm just not getting that many amens.

Only a few back there. Stay with me. The and then we'll come back because whatever it is that could be rattled around up there, you're probably not the only one. So, hearing hearing what you're confused about maybe helpful to other other people. Hang in there.

The cup of suffering is drinking from the cup of staying engaged. Staying engaged with what the lord is doing in your life. Staying engaged in prayer for those things that the lord has put on your heart that have not poofed into reality yet. Staying engaged means pressing into relationships with friends when they have rejected you or when when it's tough or when it's not convenient or when you've messed up and you need to come to them and say, I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Suffering, drinking from the cup of suffering means staying engaged. Drinking from the cup of suffering means you being conformed into the likeness and image of Jesus. Instead of you conforming Jesus into your own convenient likeness and image that you then worship and pay homage to but is really an idol and not the real Jesus. Here they come. Oh, dad's a cute one.

Staying drinking the cup of suffering means not giving up. Well, I prayed 20 times Nick's all the way, Nick all the way in the back row is helping me preach this. It's you and me today. Drinking the cup of suffering sometimes means not taking those matters into your own hands. Well, I've waited long enough.

I've prayed enough. If it is to be, it's up to me. Drinking the cup of suffering means trusting the Lord for the timing of your pregnancy. I'll say it again. Drinking the cup of suffering means trusting the lord for the timing of your pregnancy.

Or

the timing of getting married. Okay. Without the mic coming up here, you said I'm confused. What are you confused about? Let's address that and then we'll keep going.

And I'll you can leave the mic back there, you tell me and I'll tell everybody in the room and then so our livestream families can hear you. Or is it becoming clearer?

So suffering for him. Like, when I when I this week has been a tough week, and I and I, like, shouted out, like, come on. Mhmm. Come on.

Yes. And,

you know, I look up,

Okay. So well, I don't know what you've gone through, but maturity, spiritual maturity is growing in your ability to tell the difference between just a flat tire because you were at a job site and you ran over a nail and it just happens and the cup of suffering that the lord would hand to you. And then and then suffering because of your own. The lord says, hey, there's a rake there. Whatever you do, don't step on it because the handle is going to snap up and smack you in the face and you go, what?

That rake and you stomp on it. Shabber. And you got a big old goose egg on your forehead and you're like, I'm just really suffering for the lord. No, you're suffering me because of your own rebellion and stupidity.

The majority of us don't really understand true suffering is.

Oh. Never had to experience it. Oh, tribe, family, the days are coming. If you are alive in the generation before the lord's return, you can expect an exponential amount of increase of suffering. The cup of suffering that the lord prepares you for.

Better to drink now and not shun that cup so that as the days of complexity increase as we've talked about at the beginning of the year, there will be this beautiful clarity. So, to come back around maturity is and I won't say the ability to to know and to to know but listen to my words carefully. Maturity is growing in your discernment that you can better tell the difference between something that you've done, something that's just happened, or what the Lord would hand to you. And I say, growing as a in the form of present progressive to go back to grammar school ongoing only Jesus has perfected knowing that difference. The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline.

The cup of staying engaged. The cup of you being conformed into the likeness of Jesus, not Jesus being conformed into your likeness. The cup of not giving up, the cup of trusting the lord The cup of getting up when you fall down.

I was curious to hear, is there any way for me to grow in spiritual maturity without undergoing a ton of suffering? I just feel like, like, when I look at my own life, I I was raised in a great family. My parents are still together. I've been given an incredible education and tons of opportunities, incredible body, earth suit to be able to do just about anything that I want to do. Does that mean that I'm going to kind of stay in this apathetic, immature state spiritually?

I love your question. And I'll summarize it by saying by by restating your question. I think that your question, do I miss out on growth opportunities because I've just been so blessed and I feel like I haven't suffered much. I would I would I would say two things. Three things.

Number one, increased suffering is coming. Just just like, you know, look at the plot line how things are gonna fall. Number one, Jesus says, am going to a place that you can't come but I'll come back and I'll take you to be with me and when he says that, what he means is by the same way that I came through into the glory of the father, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna lead you down that same path which includes suffering. So, so, number one, it's coming. Number two, praise the lord that as you survey your life, you look back and you have the benefit, the blessing of thinking that I haven't, like, suffered too much.

Praise the lord for your perspective. Number three, there might need to be a bit of a shift in your perspective because I know you, Jay. Jay, you live a disciplined life. Every time you reject passivity, that's suffering. Every time your flesh wants to just be be indulge or or whatever and you say, no and you wrestle with that.

Making the right choice. That's suffering. I know you, Jay. You have experienced a a a great amount of suffering because I see maturity in your life. So, be encouraged but then also buckle up.

I love you, all of you enough to tell you the truth. Greater measurements of suffering are coming now. Get trained up now. Hey, you suffer a lot and and and for those of you who meet with Jay on a regular basis like in Bible study or things like that, you know that guy suffers because you see him making good wise choices. And he's laid his life down for the gospel.

Yes.

You started hitting on what I was gonna say. So amazing. Off of your question, Jay, just for anyone else in the room, emotional suffering is still suffering. You might have money, a good car, good marriage, or a good family, or good grades. All these amazing good tangible things, but that intense anxiety you're going through, that's suffering.

The pride in your heart, you gotta release that. That's you also realizing, like, I gotta get rid of that. Yeah. That's suffering. The fear you may have going into a new job or new situation.

It's easy to think since I wasn't either abused or didn't have a drunkard as a father, I was fine. But you still have other ways of being handed the cup of suffering. So for anyone who may think, oh, my story is just Jesus and bam.

Here I am at church.

Go home tonight and like really think what areas in my life have I suffered and let the lord use that and grow you in that because everyone's suffering is different and everyone's suffering can be used by the lord.

Absolutely. I love, the cup of suffering is the cup of discipline, the cup of staying engaged, the cup of not giving up, the cup of trusting the Lord, the cup of getting back up when you fall down. I love this quote, by Theodore Roosevelt and he says this, it's not the critic who counts, it's not the man who points out where the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errors, who comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error in shortcoming but who actually strives to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spins himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

When we were talking about the stepping on a race, it made me think of Paul talking about thorn in his flesh in second Corinthians is in verse starting in verse five. That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not gonna do it. I'll boast only about my weakness. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so because I would be telling the truth, But I won't do it because I don't wanna give anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message even though I have received such a wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from being proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

And then I was thinking about what how ambiguous that is and if a thorn in his flesh could be self inflicted or something out of his control. And no matter the origin of that, that suffering was used to bring glory to God. And so I was just curious about that dynamic, whether if having stepped on a rake himself or that being given to him from God, how he could suffer and have this cup of suffering have the same outcome.

Two things. Go back and and read the first part of it again and I'll I'll stop you.

Experience is worth boasting about but I'm not going to do it.

Keep going.

I will boast only about my weakness.

Okay, pause right there. Here's what Paul is saying. He's warning the Corinthian church, quit stepping on rakes. And then he says this. He says this to the Corinthian church.

Corinthian church, come up here, feel my forehead. See all these bumps and lumps and knobs? Those are from stepping on rakes. Don't be like me. That's one thing.

God did not put a rake in his path for him to step on as a thorn in the flesh. Those are different. Okay? And we're not gonna get into what is Paul's what was Paul's thorn in the flesh and what, what God was doing with Paul in that. But I just wanna I wanna point out that I wanna, divide your thinking so that you can consider accurately.

The thorn in the flesh is not a rake that Paul that god tricked like like like camouflage to put in his path. Wham. Now that'll keep you humble. That's not what God does. What God is talking about in the first part is look at all these rakes that I've stepped on in my life.

And specifically, he says, I would I stepped again and again on the rake of religious arrogance that I could earn right relationship with God by being good, by being perfect, by being a good Jew, by being super observant, by being a sadducee. I was stepping on the rake of thinking that my pedigree because of who I studied under and my parents and the lineage and the tribe that I come from grants me and qualifies me for for having right relationship with God. And I just stepped on this rake again and again. And even Jesus himself when he encountered Saul on the road to Emmaus, he says, Saul, Saul, why are you kicking against the goat persecuting me? How many more rakes are you gonna have to step on bro?

Different than the thorn in the flesh, but is related to the cup of suffering. Like the Grammys, I'm being played out here. Let me land a plane with with this. About come back next week? And we'll talk about the the the other cup.

Alright? Well, because I don't wanna keep going. We've covered enough really good nutritious ground here today. Next week, we'll talk about the the the second cup. But let me land a plane with this.

Most people avoid the cup of suffering because we live in a culture of immediate gratification and ease. I literally have seat heaters and seat warmers in my truck because if my biscuits are uncomfortable, I can cool them.

I don't. Just in case anyone is wondering.

Suffering. You're taking away from what I'm trying to say, babe. We live in a culture of of instant gratification and instant satisfaction. And we are conditioned to avoid and move away from any type of suffering that either the Lord has for us or that he would like to use for our maturity. There's a great quote by Thomas Edison who said, opportunity is overlooked by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like hard work.

I just want it to fall in my lap because that's what I see on on Instagram.

Are you gonna talk about this the o word next week?

Obedience. I'm gonna talk about a different cup, and so give us a little nugget on obedience. No. No. You're

good. The the that's the metric that I've always used to with spiritual maturity. Yes. Not how old you are, not how born your bible is, but your obedience. And the bible calls the voice of the holy spirit a still small voice.

He doesn't scream at you as a gentleman. And so I just wanna encourage you to we at Tribe, always talk about cultivating a relationship with the holy spirit, meaning learn to listen to him, learn what his voice sounds like. And even in the small things, like the other day I was in the Smith's parking lot and some a gum wrapper fell out of someone's pocket and the Holy Spirit was like, pick that up. I was like, oh, no. But in sometimes he's gentle, but he has to be really firm with me too.

He said, Alex Stanley, did I stutter? He said, pick it up. I was like, ugh. Okay. And I just and it's so silly and so small, but I just heard in that moment because I'm really trusting and asking the Lord for some big things right now in my life.

And he was like, if you can't pick up a gum wrapper, I'm gonna be talking all day long and you're not gonna get the answers that you're seeking. So I just say that as an encouragement, just learn his voice, which is time spent in the word, you know, worshiping, just quiet time, alone time, because he is giving us direction through suffering all the time.

You're so right. One of our other macro themes is that of obedience. So think about this. This is a great example of of of suffering, and it may seem small and insignificant, but it's poignant to the Lord because the Lord says, all it takes is faith at the size of a mustard seed. The Bible says that even a cup of cold water offered in my name.

So in that moment of you seeing the gum wrapper, the Holy Spirit say, hey, pick that up and you're going, ew. The wrestling that you do in your heart deciding whether or not, oh, was I making that up? Was that the voice of the Lord? I'm already in my car. I'm late.

I gotta go pick up huts from football practice. I gotta get to do the thing and the stuff and back to all the things. That is suffering. Do I respond in obedience? And when you surrender and respond in obedience, that's where the Lord's like, now you've given me something to work with for maturity.

Suffering doesn't have to be your flesh being filleted off of your body. Suffering many time looks like the holy spirit saying, pick up that gum wrapper. Okay, okay, okay. Last passage, don't turn there but let me read it to you really quickly. Why?

Why drink from the cup of suffering? Why? Because we've talked a lot about surrender, obedience, growing in maturity, those all sound like like grown up words. He loves you as children but he's looking to pass on the kingdom of god to you so that you will receive an inheritance as sons and daughters. He loves you right where you are, but he wants to raise you up into sons and daughters.

So knowing the why is super important. Write this down and I'll read it to you really quickly. Mark chapter 10 verse 29 through 31. Yes. Jesus replied, and I assure you that everyone who has given up a house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for my sake and for the good news will receive now in return a 100 times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property along with persecution.

People think that like people granted because it's, it was taken too far, but like they throw the prosperity gospel baby out with some bad example bathwater. If you need to not call it a prosperity gospel just so that it's more palatable for you, fine. But consider what Jesus literally just said. I think maybe part of the bad taste in our mouth for prosperity gospel is those preachers left out in persecution. My definition of prosperity or prosperity gospel is that what we do, what we invest in the kingdom has eternal significance, dividends, and rewards.

What's more prosperous than that? So, yeah, I believe in a prosperity gospel. He says, you will receive now in return a 100 times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property, along with persecution. And in the world to come, that person will have eternal life. Many who are greatest now will be least important then and those who seem to be least important now will be the greatest then.

What is the why? Eternal reward. Why suffer now? Because of the reward that God is proportioning out and holding for us that will be guarded, never to be stolen, where moth and rust can destroy, but he's an accurate accountant. He is fastidious with the books.

Picking up a rapper, and I'm not talking about a rapper, I mean a gun rapper. Suffering for when you're faced with with taking the easy way out. Suffering when you've messed up and you've blown it and you fall down but you get back up. The lord sees those things and is actively preparing your reward for you. When all of the other girls in your circle of friends are dressing a certain way and acting a certain way and laughing at a certain way and pursuing a certain thing and you're like, that's not what God has for me.

And you suffer because your friends don't think you're as cool or you suffer because your friends might mock you or you suffer because you do see the attention that they're getting from those boys that that you want yourself because you're human. And you're like, no. I wanna do it god's way. He's like, oh, I'm just gonna add up that reward. I'm going throw a bonus on top.

And he's delighted. He delights not in your suffering but he delights in your surrender and in your obedience. And with that, we will land the plane and talk about the second cup next week. Let's invite the Holy Spirit to take what we've talked about together, and you take personal responsibility and invite him to help you make the 18 inches drop from our thinker down to our what? Our knower.

As long as it stays in our thinker, we remain unchanged. But when it makes the 18 inch drop down into our knower, that's the catalyst for change and for growth. Holy Spirit, help us, help us, help us. If you need to change our perspective on suffering, do it. If you need to gently, I'm asking that you would be gentle.

Tap us on the shoulder and say, hey, you've been avoiding suffering in this area. Embrace it. Drink deeply. That you would convict us of areas in our life where we've taken the path of ease or convenience. Lord, if we are right now find ourselves in a situation in life where we have our nose pinched and we're just trying to choke it down.

Lord, help us. Your word says in Philippians chapter two verse 13 that God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Now, you just take a moment and talk to him from your heart. Thank you, Lord. You love us so much that you're committed to our growth and maturity.

Lord, thank you that you are working in us, giving us the power and the will to do what pleases you. I command a blessing over each and every member of our tribe fam here today. Give us a great victorious week. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said a resounding.

Amen. Amen. I love you so very much. Remember, Clay, you got this. Have a great week.