Watch Your Step

Good morning.

Today. Good. Yeah, you like that. Sticky weather out there.

Welcome to Holmes Baptist Church. We're so glad that you're here with us today. And what would you guys think? If I had a pastor friend of mine told me that I should greet, you guys in this way. And I want to see what you guys think. What if I were to greet you, every Sunday with what's up? My homies, would that be okay? I'm just kidding, I won't do that. He asked me if I did then I said, no, I've never thought of doing that, but that's, that's interesting that fun. But there's a part of me that wants to now but I won't. Don't worry. Anyways, just welcome. We're so glad that you're here with us today and then as we continue in our study and Ephesians chapter 5 and and I do have to say that I am excited for junior boys Camp. There's a little part of me, that's a little worried about junior, boys, but I think it's going to be a great week, right? Judah is going to be going to be Jack. Benson, we can be okay. Yeah, I'm missing. Someone hero Owen. Yeah, so it's it's going to be a good week up there and and I'm excited to see what God does through the week. And just the just the time, even away from the distractions of the world. She's going to be good to to be away from that and to be up there and even on the really hot day, they now of the rock up there that they completed. I bet on that day will end up being inside the new gymnasium that they built just to just to get out of the heat a little bit. So it'll be nice to have another another place to go. Even if it storms, I know, they have activities planned for us in there. So it's going to be a busy fun and tiring week. And on Saturday, I bet the boys come home and sleep all day. So at least, I will I don't know about them. Are you ready for that? I mean, I'm just going to sleep once I get home. All right. No, more joking around. Let's get into the, let's get into the message where in Ephesians chapter 5. And but before we get there, have you ever had a time where you fall in? Where you're walking along and, and you just completely bifid, and you fall flat out is not just an awful time. It's happened to me so many times in my life. I get distracted on things on the horizon. Pretty easily. And one year, for spring break, we went down. I think I've told you about this before. We went down to Alabama to go hiking through the Appalachian Trail, to the start of it, and we're going up the pinhoti trail. And and the start of this is actually going up this mountain and we got there late at night. Are the guy that was our guy didn't get off of work until late in the afternoon. So we got down there and it's it's winter time spring time, early spring, I guess it wasn't completely spring yet, but the sun's going down and we start tonight. Hike up the side of this mountain. So, we've got our all of our Gear with us 50 lb packs or tents everything like that. Now, as we're going starting up this mountain, it starts to rain. And it's starting to rain on us and we're going and I'm, I'm still trying to look around. I've got my little, but I called headlamps the door clamp-on and, you know, trying to see what's going on in and I take my eyes off of the past. And the rain has now turned to snow as we get higher up into this, into the elevation, it's getting colder. And I just took my eyes off of where I was going for, just a second, just to look out to see how high up we were. Cuz I thought it was really cool. I never get to see sites like that here in Iowa and I looked off. And as I went to take my next up, I just missed where I was stepping completely and fell flat on my face. I mean, I fell so fast because of how slippery it was and not only that but because I had 50 lb of weight on my back that I just went down. And luckily, I had a hat on because if I didn't have the brim of my hat sticking out my head to hit the rock in front of me, it would have been bad and as I fell my my flashlight went down, my water bottle, came off and it went down the side of the mountain and I just said, That could have been a lot worse. I picked up. Pick myself up and John was laughing at me. He was our guide. My youth leader growing up. And he'd seen me do this many times before, when we gone hiking and just said, Cody, what are you going? What are you going to learn to watch where you're stepping next on your hiking and he would rather us like that. And I said, you know, John I don't know, probably never I'm probably never going to learn it and you would always been tell me throughout the rest of week okay Cody and I'll make sure you're watching your next step. Look out where we're going. It just a just a Razz me a little bit more in and I started to do it. I actually start to take, you know what I probably should watch where I'm stepping next because if I would have fallen sideways, I would have rolled quite a ways down. That that mountain. I mean I had to go down and get my water bottle and stuff quite a ways but it would have hurt a lot more if I would have gone sideways. So I started to think, okay, I need to watch where I'm stepping next. Just a John wanted me to use wisdom as I walked and hike with him. Because I want you probably didn't want to take me out of the mountain to seek medical attention and he he had made it very clear to us many times. That a helicopter could land to help us at all. I different things like that and we even saw a plane wreckage while we're on that trip, just to keep sharing with you but it was quite the trip. He wanted us to walk wisely. As we went out there, he was telling us about all the different things that that were out there that we didn't have an Iowa. Like when we were swimming in one of the rivers one time you said guys you need to get out right now because there's some water moccasins that I see what we were. Like, who cares if there snakes in the water? We don't have to worry about those as much around here. And there is Critters that that were around there, that we had to use wisdom with more than what we would have here. And that's why I'm thankful that it freezes here in the winter. After all of the things he was telling us about an exam and if it was the summer, would be way worse, so glad it's not the summer but they're on our walk with in the Christian Life, we need to walk wisely as well. In fact, God desires, his children are The idea for today is that God desires his children to walk wisely in the Dark World. Last week, we learned that we are in a dark world that God doesn't call us remove ourselves from this world. That that is Darkness, but that he calls us to be active and To Shine the Light of Christ into this dark world. But yet, at the same time, we must walk wisely as we go throughout this world and God desires as a good father as a loving, father for us to walk wisely just as a, it just has a mom and dad want their children to walk wisely to have wisdom as they go through out the world. God is our good. Father wants us to walk wisely in a dark world. He doesn't want us to be to fall prey to The Descendants trappy that he doesn't want us to to waste our lives. He wants, he wants us to be wise and how we walk. We see that in our passage that were in today. As we get to Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 through 21. Do you have your Bibles with me? Please join along in Ephesians. 5:15 through 21 is read it this morning. Look carefully. Then how you walk not as unwise but as wise making the best use of time because the days are evil, therefore, do not be foolish. But understand what the will of the Lord is and do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery. But be filled with the spirit addressing one. Another in Psalms, and hymns and spiritual song, singing, and making Melody to the Lord with your heart giving. Thanks always for everything to God, the father, in the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Let's pray. Got a thank you for today. I think you for allowing us to be able to gather together to worship you to sing songs of Truth to focus on your word. God, I pray that as we learn your word today, that we would apply it to our lives, that it would not fall on deaf ears, but God, that you would cultivate our hearts that you would grow within us and a desire to live wisely, with, in a dark World. God, not, not to please ourselves Lord, but to please you, and we know that a byproduct of pleasing, you will actually to be able to live a joyful and happy life. God, we thank you for the many gifts that you've given to us. We thank you for this church body that that cares deeply about one another God I pray that you would be at the Keller family as they mourn the loss of their of their wife of their mom, as of the grandma of their great grandma. God, I just pray that you be with them, give them strength and peace. During this time again, we thank you for all that you do your blessed name. Amen. it's our big idea today is that God desires his children to walk wisely in a dark world and I think there's there's three precepts, three things that we can follow here to walk wisely with in a dark World in the first one that we're going to look at today, is to invest your time, wisely, invest your time wisely, Add a friend growing up, who learned how to leave pretty fast and I was always shocked by that because we are in high school and he was telling me about his 401k in the different things that he had set up. And he was maybe, I don't know, 14 years old. And I thought, what in the world, what are you talkin about? Drew? And I, he said, by the time that I graduate high school, I'll have enough money in there to have a million dollars or three million dollars before I graduate depending on what the market does. And I said, what for me, that was a foreign concept and he would have to come over and help him detail cars and everything like that. His dad taught him how to invest his money wisely and he was thing up for the future. And and now looking back at that conversation, I thought I think many times man I should have done what he was doing, you know, you look back in time and what I was using my money for was for my car to put a new radio and stereo, you know, different things like that take Taylor out on dates, you know. That was it, that was a good investment though, too. I'm not saying that that wasn't a good investment. So, Hi. But sometimes we look back, Amigo, I should have done that differently. Well, how about your time? Do you ever look at how you invest your time? And I started thinking about this is like, how do I invest my time? It is actually kind of convicting. Not kind of it was very convicting as I thought about it and and and so I wanted to get some stats because that's our fun. My dad would always have me proof things. If I brought up a complaint or an observational, can you prove? That was something. So how do we spend our time? So let's just put some stats to it. People are spending about 2.4 to 4 hours a day on their phone. There's a hard one right. One study suggested that the average person is spending 44 days or a month-and-a-half on their phone looking at different apps and different. That's within the time of the year, within one year, 44 days is spent on the phone and you think about it, a phone is a good thing that God has given to us. It's, it's used to help us with any emergencies that we can call someone. Are, we communicate through it? You think of all of the different things that the phone has replaced even up to television and like, newspapers and different things like that. It's replace so much. So I'm not saying that it's bad. Like, oh, let's go out into the parking lot after the service and that's old burn our phones. Will that be kind of foolish of us? Because most of us don't even have house phones anymore, right? So how would we call one another? How would we are bad? I'm not there. Good thing that God has given to us. So, that way we can communicate with one another. However, they are a danger to us if we're not using them in moderation.

Study shows a Virgin America, an average of 3 hours of TV a day. And I thought, really 3 hours a day. I don't think that I do that, but then you think about football season and everything like that. And it's over the course of a year, okay? Probably true. I could probably reduce some some watching of TV and different things like that. Here's another one. The average The average person who plays video games, plays video games a little over 7 hours a week about 7.9 hours a week is what the average person who games is on a video game console. K video, games aren't bad. I don't think that we need to get rid of RX boxes or anything like that. However, how much time are we spending on them? Then, how are we investing our time? Okay? There's an excellent. The average person sleep. 6.8 hours a night.

Actually a little on the low side. You should be sleeping probably closer to 8 hours but I bring that one up because you think about you start to put all these things within the course of a day and many times we think of like well how long do we actually read our Bible? How long do we? I devote towards things of spiritual matters. Towards things that are actually going to last in the end and then we say, we're just too busy. Have you ever thought that before? I'm just too busy to go do that. Well, are you really too busy or are you investing your time and things that could take less precedence within your life, Netflix, CEO, Reed Hastings. You probably heard in back in 2017 said this, this is one of their main competitors that they're going against. You get a show or movie that you're really dying to watch and you end up staying up late at night. So we actually compete with sleep Hastings said their main competition wasn't another was another streaming service. Wasn't anything like that? What he saw their main competition as was the fact that you and I need to sleep. And here's what he went on to say, and we're winning, we're winning, we're winning the competition against sleep because people are binge-watching shows, and in, and looking at how to get out of their reality of watching, these different TV shows, are not saying that watching tv's bad, please. Don't, I don't take it as that. But how are you investing your time throughout the week? If you were to budget out your time, you know, like you do your finances or anything else? What would it look like finances? You're actually able to borrow time, you can't, you're giving him a lot of time and that's it. And none of us know the end of our days or anything like that, God does, but we're all given twenty-four hours within a day. How do we spend it? How do we invested? What are we spending our time? On that allows us that, that we're investing it wisely because that's what Paul is saying here. He he he says look carefully. Then how you walk not as unwise but as wise. Okay. So pretty pretty Frank. They're pretty much a culmination of everything that Paul has just been writing. Take stock of how you're walking, make sure you're walking with wisdom and then he goes on from the from they're saying making the best use of time. Is there is one in which we don't really. Look at that. Often sure we can see all the black and white to do this. Don't do that. I can almost hear my dad. They're saying Cody, don't be stupid with how you're using your time is almost how you hear that, right? Don't be foolish with how you're using your time. It's almost like a father talking to his son of like, you have work to get done here. You need to do it, right? I've given you all the time. It's like when I would clean it at Huber's or do different projects and or clean my room at home and my mom would come in. And she would say, Get ready for this. What is mom? Say, when you're supposed to be cleaning your room and she walks in, what have you been? Doing. That was always the worst thing you've been up here for over a half an hour and it looks exactly the same as when I left you. And sometimes in some cases where is because I would get distracted with my toys that I supposed to be picking up and then next thing I know instead of cleaning my room, I was playing with my toys instead of listening to my mom will my mom was expecting me to get my room clean, right? That never happens in the Huber household now,

but, We need to use our time wisely, think of God checking in with you. If you were to come in and step into your life and say, What have you been doing? How have you been using your time and many times? It's not until the end of life that we start to looking at that. We start to think of how did I use my time with people is saying here is that we need to take stock and look at how we are investing our time. Are you investing in things that will last? Are you investing it in, in spiritual things? The things that matter within this life, the things that that will last for eternity. Are you investing it in in activities? That will honor and glorify God and bring others to him? Are you investing it in things that just bring pleasure to yourself? The real question that we need to be asking ourselves. The real question that I need to be asking myself on it on a daily basis on a weekly basis. It is a question that we need to be asking one another as as Brothers and Sisters in Christ. It is one that we need to be holding each other accountable in. How are you spending your time?

The top regrets when dying or are these some of them as I looked it out? Was I wish I'd spent more time with the people. I love. I wish I had enjoyed the moments that I was in more, not always looking to the next one. How many of us look towards that next thing? Instead of realizing that the time that we're giving now is a gift and a blessing from God, another one was, I wish I wouldn't have worked so much and I'm saying that work is bad. In fact, as we get to talking about his Theology of work, I think that that work is actually really good. I think that we should be working. While I think that God has given us work as a gift. However, some of us devote our time and our lives to work. Why? Because we we think that we're doing good in other ways, we think that we're setting up our family for better success but yet we're not investing our time at home with our family. What is that look like in your walk? How are you investing time with your children on a weekly basis. How invested, how are you investing times within your relationship with your spouse? Are you neglecting that? That that's a, that's a worthwhile relationship. That's a relationship that is ordained by God. In fact, we're going to be studying that next week, not that I meant it. That way, as I laid it out, I talked to you about the home is going to land on Father's day next week. It's going to be fun. It'll be ready for that. Dad's, I wish I went to work so much. I wish that I wouldn't have worried so much. How much of a Slender times worrying about the estate of the day of the, the, the state of the day of the next things that we need to be doing or how things are going to play out and everything like that? How do you invest your time even in idle thoughts and moments? What does it look like in in your prayer life? How are you investing? Your time? There are you you spending time to pray, are you spending time to search out God's word to know how to walk wisely with in this world to watch your next step? I think that's one area in which we fall short on especially within our culture. Today, is how much time we actually do waist, and we never take time to stop and look at it, or to be realistic about it, invest your time wisely. The next thing that we see today is that we need to walk, according to God's will, we need to walk according to God's will.

Don't be foolish with how you walk but walk according to God's will. That's that's what it's saying. An inverse 17. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is and do not be drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. So we are to walk. According to God's will many times we walk according to our own. Well, we walk according to what we want, what we desire, what we think is best next and we don't take in the stock with God actually wants for us. So going on with out of what we're to be investing, our time wisely were to be using it wisely. We're also to take time to understand the will of God is not a fun, a funny statement. What is the will of God? Because we can get into a segment like this. And we've been there before in the study of Ephesians. It's not the first time that Paul has use terminology like this of what the will of God is he just said, sit there as if we're supposed to know it and many times when we think of the will of God not to pick on Cody and Olivia. But we think of we think of that moment in life, you know, where we've graduated high school were looking at what's next. And we're sitting there trying to think what is God's will next, for me in life now that I'm out of high school and we usually put the will of God into one big segments, and we don't look at it on a daily basis. What is the will of God for me? And what Paul has been giving to us in the letter into Ephesus is how to live for God. He's just giving us what the will of God is for our lives. But many times we get to, we get to a segment or reverse like that with in scripture and we look at that. And we almost freeze up in fear. Like I don't know what the will of God is. Paul has just told us what the will of God is. That's why he's saying to to search for understanding to study God's word, to understand, what the will of God is. In fact, I have a friend who's a pastor, who puts it this way to understand the will of God, because if you just try to understand God's will in the big moments of life, you're not going to find it easy. It's the little things from day today. It's riding up after you studied scripture of like? What? What command can I follow out? And God's word that I've study today. What thing can I put into practice? There's a good question for you. As you read God's word because sometimes we read God's word wishing. Well, that's a nice thought and we go on with the rest of our day. But as you actually study God's word, look at what the truth is and then ask yourself, how can I put this into practice? How can I follow this with in my life today? And what areas in my life? Am I not putting this into practice? See, there's the application of the will of God. That's how you apply the will of God is not just this, this, this Enigma of something that's out there like, like a inflatable balloon that you just keep pushing along and never being able to grasp it. But it is actually something tangible that we have in front of us today and it's God's truth. It's his word. He's giving us precepts to live by, he's giving us a way in which we should live and how we should guide our lives. With the light of God's word. You want to know, know how not to lose your footing in the Christian. Walk read God's word.

It will be a light to your path. It will allow you to be able to walk with with sure footing. With in this world, it will allow you to be able to walk with confidence as you follow God's. We're not. Now. I don't know if God wants me to do this or not. Now there will be times within your life where you have to question that. But hopefully we won't have to be like Gideon where we go out and we lay our fleece out in the yard and say well. I'm going to put you to the test here, make the dew on the grass, but not on my fleece. And then now the next day and still not sure. Trusting you do it. The opposite, way of God's given us his word to be able to know how to how to walk. He's giving us lessons from others, we were able to look back in the scriptures. Even as we sing today of how Saints align the way. What it's saying, they're as we seen those truths, I think think about the songs that we sing about the truth. That we're sharing with one another, we're about to get to that. But we have God's word to show us how other people have failed and how we can do it better. Not that. We're better than them but God's word tells us. He's giving us ways in which we can walk better than those who have gone before us. The Saints of all those who have fallen.

study God's word, walk according to his will, And don't, don't overcomplicate it. Don't overcomplicate. It it's like starting a project and you can get super overcomplicating with the process of like well I need to do this, I need to do this. I need to get it in before you know what you're within this plan of working everything out before you're actually. Doing any of the work. Right? And you can get stuck on these, I can get trapped in something like that. When I know that I need to tear out the walls and I just need to get working, right? But sometimes I like to sit and just think and get trapped in that sometimes when we get the same way with, the will of God will sit. And we think about the big things about the will of God, in the end, what what does it look like? But yet, we don't practice it within our lives. The third thing today that we're going to look at is that we need to live Grateful. We need to live happy in every circumstance all the time. The umbilical we need to live happy and every circumstance. I'm so what I'm saying here is when you stub, your toe on a coffee table, you need to go home. Angie was God, thank you so much for that. That was just great. That I was able to start my time so happy that my toe hurts right now. Because it reminds me of the fact that I'm human. Thank you God, for allowing me to stub, my toe today, see in every circumstance where to be happy. How about as you drive past the gas station? You look at you. Look at how high the gas prices have risen. You able to shed a tear of Joy, knowing that money is transitory and that it doesn't matter how much gas cost because one day we'll have every blessing given to us in heaven, right? Will no longer have to worry about money anymore. Thank you. God for giving me that. Reminder today, as I drive past the gas station,

Or when your kids don't listen and they don't follow what you've told them to do, you can say, God thank you so much for this. Reminder of the Rebel that I am on a daily basis against you and and I see the picture of myself in my child right now as I'm standing in front of them. What a reminder of my need of Grace and you, thank you so much. I'm so happy right now that my child is not listening to me.

Is that how we're supposed to go throughout life? No, I don't think so. In fact, when we get to a passage like this where in verse 19 says, addressing one. Another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual song, singing and making Melody to the Lord with your heart giving. Thanks always and forever thing to God. The father in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. I think we we translate that as we need to be happy all the time. We need to be giving. Thanks for every single thing that God has given to us. What? That's what it says. Yes. But I think it's actually different than that in and so I want you to actually go back up and I want you to cross that out, if you read that wrote that down in your notes and it's actually more in this statement live with an eternal perspective all the time. Live with an eternal perspective all the time. I think that's the better way to look at this. It's not it's not to live happy all the time. In fact we have some different songs and stuff like that that that would say that but that's not what the Christian Life is is all about. Always just being happy. Because of that, there are any men are Christian. Walk the wrong name. Actually to have joy. It's to have peace and what Christ has done for us and they're going to be times in which we are sad, they're going to be times in which we mourn their going to be times in which we come up to trials within our lives that are hard. And then we can almost guilt ourselves at those times by saying, I just don't feel happy right now. That's okay. That's okay. But how do we give? Thanks during those times. I think, I think a big part of that even within the Psalms you see this pattern, especially in, Psalm 63, Paul start off here with what that weird to be. Addressing one, another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual song, singing, and making Melody to the Lord within your heart. That is a form of worship. Singing. Addressing one, another and scripture in Psalms and hymns, reminding each other of the truth. What we just did this morning? All of those, as we go throughout the week, at Lynette, does a great job at helping me with this freaking out, what songs were going to sing their plan according to the message. And sometimes I pick songs and Lynette offers up better ones because maybe they don't match musically, I'm not gifted in that area or she does a lot of work for that in and we're really blessed for that. Thank you Lynette and also Candice's, you help as well too and others that help with that Ministry of John and Joey and carrying it out his, as we, as we worship together, as a body of Christ, it's important that we seeing an address each other in Psalms and spiritual songs.

And where to walk filled with the Holy Spirit, I'm actually jumping back here. Go to the previous verses that we had already looked at, but we're to be filled with the spirit as well. Those are active choices. Those are active choices that you, and I need to make on a daily basis.

Those are active choices in which we are choosing to be filled by the spirit and not controlled by things of this world. So what's it? Say there in the verse in verse 18 and do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery. Notice it, it doesn't say, and just don't drink wine. It says, do not get drunk so the principal here that we can pull out, maybe Paul's addressing something. That is that is specifically with an emphasis while we know within the culture within the within the Greek, Roman culture that drinking was an issue that even in the church in Corinth, they were what they're coming together for the Lord's Supper to get drunk, think of that church service. so there's an issue within the culture that he's addressing here, but if you're to take that through a spiral of trying to apply to today, I would say that we're not to be controlled by any other substance, but we are to be filled with the holy spirit will think of things that we can be controlled by, for making active choices to be controlled by technology by media, by by drugs, by our work, by building a just a good reputation for ourselves. Those are all controlling factors as well. so it isn't just for someone who struggles with drinking here, but that battle to be filled with the Holy Spirit is common for every single one of us who are believers What Paul is saying is do not be drunk or another words, don't be controlled by these Spirits. That's what they refer to alcohol as Spirits think about that. Actually think that drugs and alcohol open up a doorway to demonic activity and we can drill down on that deeper later. And if we will when we get to chapter 6, but I think it's a way in which we are not controlled by the Holy Spirit. What Paul is telling us is that we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. How, how do we do that? We study God's word and make the concert conscious decision to be directed by him and his word. And when were convicted by sin, we respond. We respond by by asking for forgiveness, for our sin repenting, which means turning from our sin and we walk away from it. We walk away from it by doing the things that God has commanded us to. That's, that's how we live controlled by the Holy Spirit. Does that make sense this morning? I want to make sure that that's crystal clear for us. Another way in which we can help each other is by addressing one another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs and that's ordinary worship. You think of David in the wilderness and he's reflecting upon his ordinary worship, that's what allows him to be able to look at the goodness of God within his life. He he's looking at the promises that he has memorized songs are a great way to memorize God's truth. In fact we try to do that with our children. How how how are you doing that at home with your children? Do you sing songs with your children? Do you try to help them to memorize and remember God's truth on a daily basis with that? Do you think songs yourself even as I go throughout the week? One of the things that I Try To Do Is Sing hymns with in my mind as I'm going along, why it helps me to stay focused on the truth of the word of God. And then we're able to point others to do that as well. Because sometimes within my life, if you're anything like me, I can be a little bit pessimistic. I can look at things that are going wrong and they can I can really become fixated on them with an idle time of driving or different things like that and I have to make the conscious decision to place my mind on things that Christ has done for me and singing is one of the ways in which we can do that.

Okay, let's move on giving. Thanks always for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord. Jesus Christ. So what does that mean? How do we do that? Because we all have those. But what about this moments within our lives? In fact, one of my favorite authors, Christian authors, David pawson, I'll put it that way. But what about this? Because we all have them. What when we say that were to be giving things all the time, we have those but what about? And one of mine actually happened earlier this year, as many of you know, Taylor and I lost a child at a miscarriage earlier this year. And that's one of those moments of like, but what about this? How do we give thanks to God during this time? In fact, as as we sat there in the hospital room and as I looked at our baby boy and I said I was trying to search through scriptures to send my mind to make sense of what was going on. And I one of them that came to mind because we just been in the account of Lazarus and Jesus raising him again from the dead. And we talked about how God gives us provides us with a, a perfecting love, not a pampering love. And that was that was conscious within my mind. And and I'm looking at her baby boy. And I'm thinking, how is this, how does this make sense in Romans 8? Take him into my mind of God, works everything to good for those who are called according to his purpose and I said out loud. How is this good? I just said it out loud. I don't know why I did but Taylor said it's not good. Cody and it's, it's an effect of the fall and she was right. She was right. It's not. It's not one of those good times. So then what it would have started to venture through his how do I give? Thanks. How do I give? Thanks to God our father in a time like that. Here's some of the things that I've come to a conclusion with how to give thanks to God in a time like that, the first one that I came to it. When you do this, you want to make sure that it's biblical and not based on feelings. So, so that's what I was trying to do is back it up with scripture. That's what we should do, is Believers. So, the first one I came to us. I think God for his promise of eternal life and that one day I will see my son again. That's true, that's scriptural 2nd, Samuel 12:23. That's what David says after losing his child is that I will go to him but he will not return to me. There's a promise that I'm able to, to stand firm on, is that one day I'll be able to see him again. Secondly, I think God for supplying peace and modeling grief for us as he lost his friend Lazarus that was fresh with. In my mind in the fact that Jesus wept over his friends who he knew, he knew the power of the Resurrection. He had just said I am what the resurrection and the life. And yet he's standing there and he knows he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead yet. He still Grieves for his friend. Okay. It's okay to grieve. It's okay to mourn. It's okay to come over and when we have lost within our life lives And I'm thankful for that. It's okay to be sad right now. It's okay it. But I understand that God is supplying his peace because he even told us that in this world, what you will have tribulation, but take heart. I in me you may have peace because I have overcome the world. Okay. That's there's some sure footing there. I can stand firm on that. I can thank God for supplying peace and modeling grief K. Third thing, I think God for his scriptures and then many promises that he is given part of memorizing, Psalms and spiritual songs and reciting them in and in bringing them over and over in our minds is that they're fresh. See when we go in those times of hardship and grief, that's usually when we're trying to search God's word, the most, which is a good thing. I'm not saying don't do that, but at the same time, if they're not fresh within our minds, when we go through those Hard Times, they're going to be harder to recall. Think of all the promises that God has fulfilled within his word, take time to thank him for those. And lastly, I think God that one day. That one day, sin and death will be no more. There's another sure promise that on the last day God will wipe away every tear and sin and death will be no more revelation 21:4. We're able to to know that one day, no one will ever feel the effects of sin and a byproduct of synth. At the end of sin is death. And one day, we will no longer experience. That one day we will be with God for eternity forever in a place where there is no longer a sin or death and will be protected completely from it forever. Amen. Amen.

So, we get to thank God that he has provided a way of Escape in the end for us. A place of Peace, a place of everlasting peace, a place of everlasting Comfort, a place that we will be reunited with those who have gone before us. Who place their faith in Christ.

So Paul doesn't write this because he has an experience lost within his life. He has experienced loss, he's experienced great trials, and and suffering. He's been beating, he's been imprisoned but part of it is he has he has an eternal perspective with in his life. This is part of having that Eternal perspective looking at the end and seeing that one day, God is Victorious. Over All. One day, we will reign with him in heaven forever. That's a blessing that were able to have it for those who have placed their faith and trust in Christ of looking at. It is like this sometimes when I'm in a Packers game, I'll look at the final score before I watch it. You know, you've recorded a game you ever do, that anyone else ever do that? There's some people there. Like, I haven't watched it yet sometimes real quick before I watch it. And actually helps me to know like, okay, they've won this. This should be a fun game to watch. It looks like it was a close one and you'll sit there and you watch it, you'll even know that that even though like Oh Aaron Rodgers threw an interception, which never happens. But Okay. Sometimes I know that in the end, the Packers win. So it's going to be neat to see how they bounce back from this one time. They're down to the Cowboys by a lot right over that one, John. And I they came back. In one, they're down by over 20 points, going into the half and they're able to come back into when the game that was another fun. One to watch cuz I knew the end we know the end, we don't know all the in-between, we don't know. All the laws that we're going to suffer, but we know that in the end God wins and that we will be with him for eternity.