How to create and cultivate an atmosphere of thanksgiving and joy. That's next on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe.

How to create and cultivate an atmosphere of thanksgiving and joy. That's next on Moody Presents with Mark Jobe.

Let's be ready for the coming of Jesus. Let's clean our slates. Let's have those conversations. Let's ask for forgiveness. So if they don't forgive you, that's alright. You've asked and you've cleaned your heart. They may want to hold on to the grudge and you have no power over that. But you release the grudge in your heart.

Let's be ready for the coming of Jesus. Let's clean our slates. Let's have those conversations. Let's ask for forgiveness. So if they don't forgive you, that's alright. You've asked and you've cleaned your heart. They may want to hold on to the grudge and you have no power over that. But you release the grudge in your heart.

Welcome to Moody Presents with doctor Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Hey, how exactly do you create and cultivate an atmosphere of Thanksgiving? What do you say we spend some time finding practical answers? In part two of a message, Pastor Marcus called habits to Keep You Spiritually Healthy. We're about to open the Word of God for answers to this challenge. Our message comes from our Defiance Series, and if you've missed any of the previous messages in the series, you can catch up anytime online when you head to Moody Presents Dot. Moody presents dot. Now let's turn our attention to today's message on Moody Presents.

Welcome to Moody Presents with doctor Mark Jobe. Mark is president of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Hey, how exactly do you create and cultivate an atmosphere of Thanksgiving? What do you say we spend some time finding practical answers? In part two of a message, Pastor Marcus called habits to Keep You Spiritually Healthy. We're about to open the Word of God for answers to this challenge. Our message comes from our Defiance Series, and if you've missed any of the previous messages in the series, you can catch up anytime online when you head to Moody Presents Dot. Moody presents dot. Now let's turn our attention to today's message on Moody Presents.

So pray for the pastors. Pray for spiritual leaders because I believe that they get hit sometimes at the front more than anybody else gets hit. And it says Hebrews 13 says, obey them so their work will be a joy, not a burden for that, for that would be no advantage to you. And here's what I always say. The Bible never calls for blind obedience to leaders. Never. And the church should never feel like some sort of sanctified little dictatorship. It should never work that way. If the church is just like a husband, you may be called to lead your household. But if you're leading your household right, you're not thumping your chest, calling yourself the head, and barking out orders for everybody to submit. That's a household out of control. If you have to as the as the leader of the household, if you have to bang your chest and say, I'm the head, I'm the head, I'm the head. Everybody submit. Then there's something wrong there already. Good leaders are servant leaders. They don't have to thump their chest and say obey, but they lead with integrity and love. So you want to follow them because you say, I know they love me, and I know that they want the best for me. And so I want to follow after this man's leader. Every wife wants a man like that. Amen. Wives. Amen. Amen. And spiritual leadership is the same. And I always tell people. Listen, if you lose confidence in the in the leadership of the church that you're at and you can't follow and believe that there's integrity there, and you drag your feet and want to oppose everything that's there, and you say, I can't trust them, then it's time for you to leave that church. Because if there's no belief in Belief and integrity. What you don't want is people to have to drag you all that. No one wants to have to drag people behind them all the time. And so Paul's talking to this congregation about being ready for the coming of Christ, and he's talking to them about the relationship with the leaders that they have and their spiritual covering. And then he goes on and the second thing that he tells them is this live ready? So make peace with one another. Verse 13, live in peace with one another. How many of you know to live in peace is sometimes hard, because people around you have their war paint on. You show up at work and there's some people that just want to fight you. There's people in your household. Sometimes they just want to fight you. But but Jesus, through Paul and the Holy Spirit says, live at peace with one another. Romans 1419 says, says, let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual Edification. You can't control people's attitudes towards you, but you can make right whatever you need to make right towards them. You can't make them try to love you, but you can sure clean out your heart towards any bitterness, resentment, or anger you have towards them. You cannot control other people, but you can control your response that you have towards other people. And what it tells us is live at peace with people. Do everything in your power to make peace. And that's why Romans 14 says, let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace. What leads to peace. Honest conversations. What leads to peace? Hey, I'm sorry if I've offended you or hurt you. Can we talk about it? What leads to peace? Let me show grace to them. Even though they're not showing grace back. What leads to peace? Hey, can we just sit down and chat? Maybe we got off to a wrong start. What leads to peace? Hey, let me speak favorably towards you. The Bible says that when you do good to those that are against you, you heap ashes on their head. Have you ever done that? Done something good for someone that's really out to get you? And they're like, well, what do you want? What's the trick? What are you luring me into? There's something about being gracious to people that aren't gracious to you. It's the attitude of Jesus. And listen, there may be some people in this congregation, even here today that you say, I don't like that person. So that's why I sit on that side over there, because they sit on that side and I know where they sit. And I'm going to tell you something about that. Listen, I'm not afraid of conflicts in relationships because every relationship, close relationship that I know will have conflict. I'm not afraid that you have conflict in your marriage if you're married and you have if you're dating and you haven't had a conflict yet, well, just get ready because it's going to come. You're not really close enough to people yet if you haven't had some disagreement, because the closer you get to people, you'll have some disagreement. So I'm not afraid of conflict. It's the resolution of the conflict that becomes the issue, not the conflict itself. Christians need to be great at resolving conflicts. Why? Because Jesus has called us to peace as much as possible. So we need to be the most honest people around, the people that talk about things, the people that deal with things, the people that ask for forgiveness, the people that if there's issues bottling up, we don't hold them. We're willing to do what we can to make sure that we have peace. Why? Because Paul says, when Jesus comes again, do you want to say, God? I wish you would wait a few minutes because I have about 20 people that I have issues with, and I haven't talked to them about it. You know how many funerals I've done where people have gone up to bodies crying, weeping, broken because they died and they were relatives, but they had unsettled issues. And there's something deeply perturbing about conversations you should have had, but you never did. There's something very distressful about knowing that. You should have said, I'm sorry and made things right, but you never did. And I want to say, you may not have tomorrow to do it, so let's do it quick. Let's be ready for the coming of Jesus. Let's clean our slates. Let's have those conversations. Let's ask for forgiveness. So if they don't forgive you, that's alright. You've asked and you've cleaned your heart. They may want to hold on to the grudge and you have no power over that. But you release the grudge in your heart. Hebrews 1214 says, pursue peace with all people and holiness, Us, without which no one shall see the Lord. Romans 1218 says, if it is possible as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. If it's possible, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. So therefore, where Jesus is, the attitude of peace should prevail. And then he goes on. And lastly, live. Ready? So challenge one another to be prepared. Now he talks about our relationship to those people that are struggling. Listen, there'll be at least about 1500 people that will walk through these doors this morning in one of our services. And I can guarantee you, out of those 1500 people that come through these doors, that there's probably a couple hundred that are pretty seriously discouraged about something in life their marriage, their kids, their spiritual walk, some temptation. I mean, there's always something around us. And you don't know who walks in these doors. That is on the brink. Of suicide. Of a breakdown. Walking through these doors. Having just maybe lost a loved one. Heard really bad news. Been fighting with an issue in their life that they hope is going to turn around and they're just walking in these doors. You don't know how many people may be struggling. And that's why part of the atmosphere, culture, the people of God needs to be a culture of hope and encouragement. And so Paul says in verse 14 through 15. Notice what he says. He says, we urge you, brethren, to admonish the unruly. The word admonish is the idea of exhorting. It's a it's a warm exhortation. It's the unruly means. People whose lives are out of order. Notice it doesn't say chastise them. It says admonish the unruly. It's the kind of the arm around the shoulder. Hey, bro, what's going on with your life, man? Have you ever been admonished by someone that loves you? And none of us like to have things told to us that are hard, but has. Has someone ever admonished you that you respected and that did it in love? And you don't like to hear it, but you know it's right? How many of you know what I'm talking about? I mean, I've had people that I knew loved me and put their arm around me and said, hey, what about this? And I think we need to be that kind of people. We need to be the kind of people that put our arm around people and say, hey, you know, I just want to talk to you about this. I've noticed that, you know, I see you kind of slipping in this area, and I'm just kind of wondering, do you need help? I need to pray for you. Hey, man, how you doing? Because I ran into some old friends and they said, you know, they were like you were back at the old bar, like one of the boys. I thought you left that behind. I thought, man, I thought the drunken, carousing ways of the past, they were gone. That's not who you are. You're becoming a man of God. Rise up. There needs to be arms. Put around some men that says, hey, man, I. I didn't want to say anything, but I. I heard how you were talking to your wife, bro. You may have difficulties, but, man, she's the woman that God has given to you. Clean it up. You need to talk to her as the queen of the house. Not the she devil. I mean, we need exhortation, that warm encouragement, but the truth. Ephesians says, speak the truth in love. Man, we need truth. We don't need it whitewashed. We need the truth, but we need it in love. The truth needs to be presented with the strong bridge of love. And the stronger the love, the greater the tank that can cover that bridge. The artillery. We all need people in our life that are not going to whitewash the message. They're going to speak to us straight, but they're going to do it in love. And when we know they love us, it has a powerful effect on our life. As a pastor, I've had to do a lot of rebuking over the years. I've had to be the one sometimes that goes in. And I've had people get mad at me. I have people. But I've never regretted speaking the truth. If I speak it in love. And I've had people get mad at me and storm out and then come back and say thank you, pastor, because no one else was willing to tell me. I used to avoid confrontation because no one likes to confront unless you have issues, and there's therapy classes for that. But most of us don't like to confront. But I believe there's a place for godly, healthy, good confrontation in the body of Christ where we challenge people to move forward in a good way, in their walk with God.

So pray for the pastors. Pray for spiritual leaders because I believe that they get hit sometimes at the front more than anybody else gets hit. And it says Hebrews 13 says, obey them so their work will be a joy, not a burden for that, for that would be no advantage to you. And here's what I always say. The Bible never calls for blind obedience to leaders. Never. And the church should never feel like some sort of sanctified little dictatorship. It should never work that way. If the church is just like a husband, you may be called to lead your household. But if you're leading your household right, you're not thumping your chest, calling yourself the head, and barking out orders for everybody to submit. That's a household out of control. If you have to as the as the leader of the household, if you have to bang your chest and say, I'm the head, I'm the head, I'm the head. Everybody submit. Then there's something wrong there already. Good leaders are servant leaders. They don't have to thump their chest and say obey, but they lead with integrity and love. So you want to follow them because you say, I know they love me, and I know that they want the best for me. And so I want to follow after this man's leader. Every wife wants a man like that. Amen. Wives. Amen. Amen. And spiritual leadership is the same. And I always tell people. Listen, if you lose confidence in the in the leadership of the church that you're at and you can't follow and believe that there's integrity there, and you drag your feet and want to oppose everything that's there, and you say, I can't trust them, then it's time for you to leave that church. Because if there's no belief in Belief and integrity. What you don't want is people to have to drag you all that. No one wants to have to drag people behind them all the time. And so Paul's talking to this congregation about being ready for the coming of Christ, and he's talking to them about the relationship with the leaders that they have and their spiritual covering. And then he goes on and the second thing that he tells them is this live ready? So make peace with one another. Verse 13, live in peace with one another. How many of you know to live in peace is sometimes hard, because people around you have their war paint on. You show up at work and there's some people that just want to fight you. There's people in your household. Sometimes they just want to fight you. But but Jesus, through Paul and the Holy Spirit says, live at peace with one another. Romans 1419 says, says, let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual Edification. You can't control people's attitudes towards you, but you can make right whatever you need to make right towards them. You can't make them try to love you, but you can sure clean out your heart towards any bitterness, resentment, or anger you have towards them. You cannot control other people, but you can control your response that you have towards other people. And what it tells us is live at peace with people. Do everything in your power to make peace. And that's why Romans 14 says, let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace. What leads to peace. Honest conversations. What leads to peace? Hey, I'm sorry if I've offended you or hurt you. Can we talk about it? What leads to peace? Let me show grace to them. Even though they're not showing grace back. What leads to peace? Hey, can we just sit down and chat? Maybe we got off to a wrong start. What leads to peace? Hey, let me speak favorably towards you. The Bible says that when you do good to those that are against you, you heap ashes on their head. Have you ever done that? Done something good for someone that's really out to get you? And they're like, well, what do you want? What's the trick? What are you luring me into? There's something about being gracious to people that aren't gracious to you. It's the attitude of Jesus. And listen, there may be some people in this congregation, even here today that you say, I don't like that person. So that's why I sit on that side over there, because they sit on that side and I know where they sit. And I'm going to tell you something about that. Listen, I'm not afraid of conflicts in relationships because every relationship, close relationship that I know will have conflict. I'm not afraid that you have conflict in your marriage if you're married and you have if you're dating and you haven't had a conflict yet, well, just get ready because it's going to come. You're not really close enough to people yet if you haven't had some disagreement, because the closer you get to people, you'll have some disagreement. So I'm not afraid of conflict. It's the resolution of the conflict that becomes the issue, not the conflict itself. Christians need to be great at resolving conflicts. Why? Because Jesus has called us to peace as much as possible. So we need to be the most honest people around, the people that talk about things, the people that deal with things, the people that ask for forgiveness, the people that if there's issues bottling up, we don't hold them. We're willing to do what we can to make sure that we have peace. Why? Because Paul says, when Jesus comes again, do you want to say, God? I wish you would wait a few minutes because I have about 20 people that I have issues with, and I haven't talked to them about it. You know how many funerals I've done where people have gone up to bodies crying, weeping, broken because they died and they were relatives, but they had unsettled issues. And there's something deeply perturbing about conversations you should have had, but you never did. There's something very distressful about knowing that. You should have said, I'm sorry and made things right, but you never did. And I want to say, you may not have tomorrow to do it, so let's do it quick. Let's be ready for the coming of Jesus. Let's clean our slates. Let's have those conversations. Let's ask for forgiveness. So if they don't forgive you, that's alright. You've asked and you've cleaned your heart. They may want to hold on to the grudge and you have no power over that. But you release the grudge in your heart. Hebrews 1214 says, pursue peace with all people and holiness, Us, without which no one shall see the Lord. Romans 1218 says, if it is possible as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. If it's possible, Jesus is the Prince of Peace. So therefore, where Jesus is, the attitude of peace should prevail. And then he goes on. And lastly, live. Ready? So challenge one another to be prepared. Now he talks about our relationship to those people that are struggling. Listen, there'll be at least about 1500 people that will walk through these doors this morning in one of our services. And I can guarantee you, out of those 1500 people that come through these doors, that there's probably a couple hundred that are pretty seriously discouraged about something in life their marriage, their kids, their spiritual walk, some temptation. I mean, there's always something around us. And you don't know who walks in these doors. That is on the brink. Of suicide. Of a breakdown. Walking through these doors. Having just maybe lost a loved one. Heard really bad news. Been fighting with an issue in their life that they hope is going to turn around and they're just walking in these doors. You don't know how many people may be struggling. And that's why part of the atmosphere, culture, the people of God needs to be a culture of hope and encouragement. And so Paul says in verse 14 through 15. Notice what he says. He says, we urge you, brethren, to admonish the unruly. The word admonish is the idea of exhorting. It's a it's a warm exhortation. It's the unruly means. People whose lives are out of order. Notice it doesn't say chastise them. It says admonish the unruly. It's the kind of the arm around the shoulder. Hey, bro, what's going on with your life, man? Have you ever been admonished by someone that loves you? And none of us like to have things told to us that are hard, but has. Has someone ever admonished you that you respected and that did it in love? And you don't like to hear it, but you know it's right? How many of you know what I'm talking about? I mean, I've had people that I knew loved me and put their arm around me and said, hey, what about this? And I think we need to be that kind of people. We need to be the kind of people that put our arm around people and say, hey, you know, I just want to talk to you about this. I've noticed that, you know, I see you kind of slipping in this area, and I'm just kind of wondering, do you need help? I need to pray for you. Hey, man, how you doing? Because I ran into some old friends and they said, you know, they were like you were back at the old bar, like one of the boys. I thought you left that behind. I thought, man, I thought the drunken, carousing ways of the past, they were gone. That's not who you are. You're becoming a man of God. Rise up. There needs to be arms. Put around some men that says, hey, man, I. I didn't want to say anything, but I. I heard how you were talking to your wife, bro. You may have difficulties, but, man, she's the woman that God has given to you. Clean it up. You need to talk to her as the queen of the house. Not the she devil. I mean, we need exhortation, that warm encouragement, but the truth. Ephesians says, speak the truth in love. Man, we need truth. We don't need it whitewashed. We need the truth, but we need it in love. The truth needs to be presented with the strong bridge of love. And the stronger the love, the greater the tank that can cover that bridge. The artillery. We all need people in our life that are not going to whitewash the message. They're going to speak to us straight, but they're going to do it in love. And when we know they love us, it has a powerful effect on our life. As a pastor, I've had to do a lot of rebuking over the years. I've had to be the one sometimes that goes in. And I've had people get mad at me. I have people. But I've never regretted speaking the truth. If I speak it in love. And I've had people get mad at me and storm out and then come back and say thank you, pastor, because no one else was willing to tell me. I used to avoid confrontation because no one likes to confront unless you have issues, and there's therapy classes for that. But most of us don't like to confront. But I believe there's a place for godly, healthy, good confrontation in the body of Christ where we challenge people to move forward in a good way, in their walk with God.

You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Today's message is titled Habits that Keep You Spiritually Healthy. And if you've been encouraged by Mark's teaching, let me suggest you go online and learn more about this ministry. Or you could even share this message with a friend who might like to hear it. You'll find us online at Moody Presents. Moody presents.org. Hey, there's more to explore in our study about cultivating an attitude of thanksgiving and joy. What do you say we jump back into the second half of today's message with Mark Jobe?

You're listening to Moody Presents with pastor Mark Jobe. Today's message is titled Habits that Keep You Spiritually Healthy. And if you've been encouraged by Mark's teaching, let me suggest you go online and learn more about this ministry. Or you could even share this message with a friend who might like to hear it. You'll find us online at Moody Presents. Moody presents.org. Hey, there's more to explore in our study about cultivating an attitude of thanksgiving and joy. What do you say we jump back into the second half of today's message with Mark Jobe?

So, he says, admonish the unruly, unruly people whose life somewhere is out of control. It's the idea of soldiers that literally, the word used here is of soldiers who are not remaining in the ranks. The Roman army used to used to march forward together like this in ranks. And if people got discouraged or afraid, they would drop out. And basically he's saying, hey, keep in rank, stay in the place where God wants you to be. Hey, keep loving your husband, even though it may be hard. Hey, keeping the word even though it may be difficult. Keep obeying even though you're struggling. Stay in the rank. Don't get out of order. Secondly, he says, not only does he say admonish the unruly, he says, see to it that no one repays evil for evil. Admonish the unruly. See to it that no one pays evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Make sure that you don't create a culture of vengeance or eye for eye and a tooth for tooth. Let me tell you, I want you to look up at me. This is really important, and you may not think that you live in that world, but I see a lot of people that live in that world. I've done way too many funerals of. Teenagers and young 20 year olds. Who have died in gang violence. And I look out in the crowd and when I can, I like to do those. Let me tell you why I like to do those funerals. They're heart wrenching because it's just it's just ah, man, I know some of the parents I've known some of the kids. I mean, I've known some of the kids when they were young. And to see them end up with some bullet in their head or drive by shooting to end their life just makes my stomach turn. But I'll do the funeral because I know that a whole bunch of other people show up with vengeance in their eyes. And they have one thing in their mind I'm going to make someone pay for the death of this one. And funerals are characterized by that where people go out and they try at one funeral leads to another funeral and to another funeral. And we've had funerals here in this place, and sometimes we've had to ask police to show up and come. And you say, why do we do what? We do it because we want to try to offset violence as much as possible. But if I have a chance to speak, I'll let him know, man. This death will lead to another death unless someone stops the cycle here. And there is. When you get in a conflict with an individual, you want that person to pay. And it's not always just about bullets and gang violence. Sometimes it's just about your spouse that you feel has hurt you. And so you shut off emotionally and you've had that. You've had your husband for months away from you emotionally because you feel he's gotta pay and he needs to feel the pain. And so you withdraw from him and you're making him pay the price of not really dealing with those things. And the Bible says, listen, do not repay evil for evil, but always seek that which is good for one another. And then he goes on and listen to what he says. He closes up this passage and he says, he reminds us that we are not to keep a a record of evil. He says, urge the brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted. You know what a faint hearted person is? Someone who their energy has gone away and they're giving up. Help the weak. Helping the weak means that you. There's someone around you always that is weaker than you. Oh, you may feel like you're weak, but I'm going to tell you there's always someone that's a little weaker than you are. How about it? And you need to come in this church. Sometimes you may have problems, but I'm going to tell you there's someone's problems. Is bigger than yours or more recent than yours. And I think if you wallow in self-pity, then you go further down into the hole of self-pity. Some of us need to be asking ourselves in the middle of our issues, is there someone that I can help? Because there's something that happens in the middle of your difficulty when you realize, I have something to give that empowers you to start getting out of your hole. So, he says, we admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak. Be patient. With who? Everyone. Patient means that we give them room. Listen to me. Well, if you come here and you come straight out of the world and your life is a mess, we want to be patient with you. We really do. But I expect progress. Hello. Let me say that again. I'm most patient with you when you're straight out of don't know Jesus, the Bible, God. And you come with all of your messes. But as you start to grow, I expect you to change. Hey, you come here with all your messes. And that's okay, man. No one's going to kick you out of this church for your messes, and no one's going to shoo you at the doorway for not having your life in order? Man, you come the way you are with your baggage, your garbage and anything that you come with and listen. We're going to try to love you, hug you, bless you, encourage you as much as we can. But as you start to grow, I want to see progress. Amen. And hey, we have so many couples that come here that are living together. They've been shacked up together for 6 or 7 years. And they come and they they start hearing the word and and then they come to Christ and we love them and hug them and bless on them. After they come to Jesus, hopefully someone's going to put their arm around you and say, so how about it, man? You still live with that girl. You going to marry her or what? Oh no. No, I don't think I'm ready for that. Then I think you need to move out, bro. Hey, we're not being mean. I just. If you know Jesus, I want you to grow. And the more you're around, the higher expectation that we have. Oh, we'll give you room. We want to be patient. But the more you're around, the more expectation I have you to grow. I wouldn't be a good pastor and this wouldn't be a good church if there's not people getting in your face a little bit and challenging you to go to the next level. I'm okay that you're in kindergarten spiritually. But you know what? When kindergarten is over, I want you to go to first grade and it's not okay that you repeat kindergarten for five years. No, it's not okay. I want you to go beyond that. I want you to grow. I mean, we're patient. So the newer people are, the younger they are, the more patient we need to be. But the longer you're in God, the higher expectation we have of your life. Because you know more, you have more power and you should be growing. And that's the atmosphere that we want to have huge patience for people. But expectation that as they grow in God, they go to the next level in God. Amen.

So, he says, admonish the unruly, unruly people whose life somewhere is out of control. It's the idea of soldiers that literally, the word used here is of soldiers who are not remaining in the ranks. The Roman army used to used to march forward together like this in ranks. And if people got discouraged or afraid, they would drop out. And basically he's saying, hey, keep in rank, stay in the place where God wants you to be. Hey, keep loving your husband, even though it may be hard. Hey, keeping the word even though it may be difficult. Keep obeying even though you're struggling. Stay in the rank. Don't get out of order. Secondly, he says, not only does he say admonish the unruly, he says, see to it that no one repays evil for evil. Admonish the unruly. See to it that no one pays evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Make sure that you don't create a culture of vengeance or eye for eye and a tooth for tooth. Let me tell you, I want you to look up at me. This is really important, and you may not think that you live in that world, but I see a lot of people that live in that world. I've done way too many funerals of. Teenagers and young 20 year olds. Who have died in gang violence. And I look out in the crowd and when I can, I like to do those. Let me tell you why I like to do those funerals. They're heart wrenching because it's just it's just ah, man, I know some of the parents I've known some of the kids. I mean, I've known some of the kids when they were young. And to see them end up with some bullet in their head or drive by shooting to end their life just makes my stomach turn. But I'll do the funeral because I know that a whole bunch of other people show up with vengeance in their eyes. And they have one thing in their mind I'm going to make someone pay for the death of this one. And funerals are characterized by that where people go out and they try at one funeral leads to another funeral and to another funeral. And we've had funerals here in this place, and sometimes we've had to ask police to show up and come. And you say, why do we do what? We do it because we want to try to offset violence as much as possible. But if I have a chance to speak, I'll let him know, man. This death will lead to another death unless someone stops the cycle here. And there is. When you get in a conflict with an individual, you want that person to pay. And it's not always just about bullets and gang violence. Sometimes it's just about your spouse that you feel has hurt you. And so you shut off emotionally and you've had that. You've had your husband for months away from you emotionally because you feel he's gotta pay and he needs to feel the pain. And so you withdraw from him and you're making him pay the price of not really dealing with those things. And the Bible says, listen, do not repay evil for evil, but always seek that which is good for one another. And then he goes on and listen to what he says. He closes up this passage and he says, he reminds us that we are not to keep a a record of evil. He says, urge the brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted. You know what a faint hearted person is? Someone who their energy has gone away and they're giving up. Help the weak. Helping the weak means that you. There's someone around you always that is weaker than you. Oh, you may feel like you're weak, but I'm going to tell you there's always someone that's a little weaker than you are. How about it? And you need to come in this church. Sometimes you may have problems, but I'm going to tell you there's someone's problems. Is bigger than yours or more recent than yours. And I think if you wallow in self-pity, then you go further down into the hole of self-pity. Some of us need to be asking ourselves in the middle of our issues, is there someone that I can help? Because there's something that happens in the middle of your difficulty when you realize, I have something to give that empowers you to start getting out of your hole. So, he says, we admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak. Be patient. With who? Everyone. Patient means that we give them room. Listen to me. Well, if you come here and you come straight out of the world and your life is a mess, we want to be patient with you. We really do. But I expect progress. Hello. Let me say that again. I'm most patient with you when you're straight out of don't know Jesus, the Bible, God. And you come with all of your messes. But as you start to grow, I expect you to change. Hey, you come here with all your messes. And that's okay, man. No one's going to kick you out of this church for your messes, and no one's going to shoo you at the doorway for not having your life in order? Man, you come the way you are with your baggage, your garbage and anything that you come with and listen. We're going to try to love you, hug you, bless you, encourage you as much as we can. But as you start to grow, I want to see progress. Amen. And hey, we have so many couples that come here that are living together. They've been shacked up together for 6 or 7 years. And they come and they they start hearing the word and and then they come to Christ and we love them and hug them and bless on them. After they come to Jesus, hopefully someone's going to put their arm around you and say, so how about it, man? You still live with that girl. You going to marry her or what? Oh no. No, I don't think I'm ready for that. Then I think you need to move out, bro. Hey, we're not being mean. I just. If you know Jesus, I want you to grow. And the more you're around, the higher expectation that we have. Oh, we'll give you room. We want to be patient. But the more you're around, the more expectation I have you to grow. I wouldn't be a good pastor and this wouldn't be a good church if there's not people getting in your face a little bit and challenging you to go to the next level. I'm okay that you're in kindergarten spiritually. But you know what? When kindergarten is over, I want you to go to first grade and it's not okay that you repeat kindergarten for five years. No, it's not okay. I want you to go beyond that. I want you to grow. I mean, we're patient. So the newer people are, the younger they are, the more patient we need to be. But the longer you're in God, the higher expectation we have of your life. Because you know more, you have more power and you should be growing. And that's the atmosphere that we want to have huge patience for people. But expectation that as they grow in God, they go to the next level in God. Amen.

This is Moody Presents, and you've been listening to pastor Mark Jobe. You can find us right here on your local radio station and online every week. You can even listen to this weekly broadcast through your smart speaker at home, or maybe at the office, to learn more about what's available and how you can hear this program. Wherever you are, just head to Moody Presents. Moody presents dot. You know, these messages are made available because of our partnership with listeners. Just like you see, when you commit to becoming a part of our Moody Presents Advance team, you're not simply giving a monthly gift. You're learning and growing closer to Christ, and you're helping others do the same. Like this listener who said, you know, I give to Moody Presents because this program has truly encouraged me and taught me a lot about what I needed to know in my walk with God. It's effective in terms of giving back to the things of God and not holding all our money for ourselves. So I hope that God continues to bless this ministry because it's amazing. Well, thank you for those kind words. We couldn't agree more. Hey, why not partner with us today by giving a gift of any amount? Just go to Moody Presents. Moody presents.org or call us at 804 07022. That's 800 407,022. And as our way of saying thank you for your financial support, we'll send you a copy of RA Torrey's powerful book, How to Pray. This is a world renowned classic which has already shown millions that God's answers come to those who know how to ask. Most of us know we ought to pray, right? But many seem uncertain as to how and when and where to pray. Well, this little book, How to Pray, addresses these vital questions and more. Torrey offers an outline for effective praying that is as positive as it is beautiful and inspirational. The gentle art of prayer. That's what we're talking about within these pages, and it's all put within reach of the least of us. This little masterpiece of inspiration and faith tells you why and how. It's a faithful guide to the richest fulfillment of the Christian life. And again, it's yours for a gift of any amount. Just go to Moody presents.org or call us at 804 07022. Right now we're glad to sit down for a moment with our teacher, pastor Mark Jobe. Good to have you with us, Mark. And you say that the four habits that will keep us spiritually healthy include rejoicing, always praying without ceasing, giving thanks, and most importantly, not quenching the spirit. And as we spend the next few weeks wrapping up this defiant series, what then should we be expecting? Mark.

This is Moody Presents, and you've been listening to pastor Mark Jobe. You can find us right here on your local radio station and online every week. You can even listen to this weekly broadcast through your smart speaker at home, or maybe at the office, to learn more about what's available and how you can hear this program. Wherever you are, just head to Moody Presents. Moody presents dot. You know, these messages are made available because of our partnership with listeners. Just like you see, when you commit to becoming a part of our Moody Presents Advance team, you're not simply giving a monthly gift. You're learning and growing closer to Christ, and you're helping others do the same. Like this listener who said, you know, I give to Moody Presents because this program has truly encouraged me and taught me a lot about what I needed to know in my walk with God. It's effective in terms of giving back to the things of God and not holding all our money for ourselves. So I hope that God continues to bless this ministry because it's amazing. Well, thank you for those kind words. We couldn't agree more. Hey, why not partner with us today by giving a gift of any amount? Just go to Moody Presents. Moody presents.org or call us at 804 07022. That's 800 407,022. And as our way of saying thank you for your financial support, we'll send you a copy of RA Torrey's powerful book, How to Pray. This is a world renowned classic which has already shown millions that God's answers come to those who know how to ask. Most of us know we ought to pray, right? But many seem uncertain as to how and when and where to pray. Well, this little book, How to Pray, addresses these vital questions and more. Torrey offers an outline for effective praying that is as positive as it is beautiful and inspirational. The gentle art of prayer. That's what we're talking about within these pages, and it's all put within reach of the least of us. This little masterpiece of inspiration and faith tells you why and how. It's a faithful guide to the richest fulfillment of the Christian life. And again, it's yours for a gift of any amount. Just go to Moody presents.org or call us at 804 07022. Right now we're glad to sit down for a moment with our teacher, pastor Mark Jobe. Good to have you with us, Mark. And you say that the four habits that will keep us spiritually healthy include rejoicing, always praying without ceasing, giving thanks, and most importantly, not quenching the spirit. And as we spend the next few weeks wrapping up this defiant series, what then should we be expecting? Mark.

Yeah, this is a powerful, powerful passage in First Thessalonians chapter five because it talks about God sanctifying our whole person. Right, right. Sometimes we think about our spirit, but we can't quite define it. But in this passage, it tells us we're body, soul and spirit. And I believe that God cares about the trichotomy of who we are as he works in our lives.

Yeah, this is a powerful, powerful passage in First Thessalonians chapter five because it talks about God sanctifying our whole person. Right, right. Sometimes we think about our spirit, but we can't quite define it. But in this passage, it tells us we're body, soul and spirit. And I believe that God cares about the trichotomy of who we are as he works in our lives.

Thank you, pastor Mark. Appreciate you stopping by and appreciate that preview as well. Next week, as Mark just mentioned, we're going to be looking at a whole body approach to our faith. You don't want to miss that message. I'm John Geiger inviting you to join us again next week for Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. Moody presents is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.

Thank you, pastor Mark. Appreciate you stopping by and appreciate that preview as well. Next week, as Mark just mentioned, we're going to be looking at a whole body approach to our faith. You don't want to miss that message. I'm John Geiger inviting you to join us again next week for Moody Presents with Mark Jobe. Moody presents is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.