Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. Well.
Oh, I'm so thrilled this morning. Sometimes you have times when you're studying the word and and you're just kind of going along and you have little discoveries. I think really, when we get into the word and we get the word into us, there's an opportunity to have ongoing discoveries of the magnitude of God. Right, guys?
Yes. Oh, absolutely.
His goodness to us. Right. And I'm so giddy this morning I can barely stand it. And I want to give credit where credit is due. A week ago we had Phillip miller in and we're going to have him back. If you weren't here a week ago. Hang on, get a swig of water and buckle up. Phillip miller happens to be the lead pastor of the Moody Church in downtown Chicago. Great man, Humble man. Great man, great student. But he has done a deep dive on something that.
Let me just frame it out for you. I'm going to kind of put a twist on this this morning. And I want to illustrate for you today three baits that Satan is setting for you to pull you away from God. All week long we've been talking about the power of God demonstrated in us as Jesus is the vine, we are the branch. If we abide in him, we will bear much fruit. So let's just break it down here really quickly. It's two God's glory that we bear much fruit. Correct. So we're going to begin with the
end of the branch in mind. How awesome is this? Let's just go for a little bit and let's just give God praise today. How great is it that God is glorified in us as we are satisfied and producing fruit in him, by him and from him? How awesome is that?
It's a beautiful thing that that's what he not just desires for us, but that his glorified it.
I mean, how great is it? I think most religious folk think God is glorified as we are obedient to him. Now let me say this. Sure, that's true in so much as every call to obedience in Scripture is inextricably linked to the greater reward in God. Yes, God is a functional father, super functional. He doesn't say, do this. And when we ask why. He says, because I told you so. God doesn't do that. God always has the bigger. Yes. How? I mean, how awesome is this?
It's great because it lets us know what he's having us work towards, and that he's always having us work towards something. So when we and I say work and I mean in his power.
No, no. It's okay. Young thunder.
Yeah. I mean, I always watch out for.
The work.
I mean, and things like that.
Work there is. Who said it? Grace is not opposed. This is Dallas Willard's statement. Ready for this one? Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning.
Yes.
So we effort in the power of God, not for the purpose of walking through some religious hoop, but for the joy of seeing that his promise is real. God says, do this. This is what you will receive. There's no commandment of God, no precept of God, no teaching of Jesus, no guidance from the Holy Spirit that isn't ultimately linked to the greater reward for God's kids. Oh, I could spontaneously combust in here today. How thrilling is that? And that's just the first part. So it's to God's glory
that you bear much fruit. Go back to the beginning. Jesus said, I am the vine. He told his disciples in that beautiful setting, the final probably three four days away from his crucifixion. So last words of a man, especially the Son of Man. We gotta listen. So he grabs those grape leaves, picks them up, looks, and says, man, listen to me. I'm the vine. You're the branch. You abide in me. You'll bear fruit. Okay, this is huge. So Jesus said, proximity to him is more important than
focusing on producing fruit for him. Whoa!
Which is the most relieving thing in the world?
Hallelujah.
Because he says, apart from me, you can do nothing. So it's taking the impossible part for us out of the equation. We don't even we don't even have to worry about doing something on our own because we just we just be with him. And as we stay with him, fruit comes. We don't even have to try on our own to get it.
A men and a men.
What a freedom.
What a freedom!
Whew!
What a joy. So I am the vine. You're the branch. You remain in me or abide in me. And I will bear fruit in your life. It's to my father's glory that you bear much fruit. Now Jesus did say, I believe. Verse six. Apart from me you can do nothing. Nothing. So that's sobering, isn't it?
Well, because you go, okay, so really nothing like there's nothing like nothing of value, nothing of significance that I can do without apart from him.
Yeah. It's we cannot do what Jesus is saying. Let's just break this down. We cannot do the work of God that produces the kind of fruit he wants to have in our life without his work in our life.
Correct.
Wow. So the real question is it's all about remaining or abiding. And today we're going to tackle the things that pull us away from this abiding relationship with Christ. The God who saved you when you were clinging to him wants you to stay there. How do we do it? Hang on.
He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's curling crew on Moody Radio.
We had a little shrew problem in our garage.
A little what.
A little shrew problem. Not rat shrews. You know it. Shrews are.
No.
Shrews are little miniature rats, are they? They're like mice. Yeah. Look up. Shrew.
Shrew. Okay. Yeah.
Look up shrew. They're little. They're little dudes. And what's sad about this, that I'm about to tell you is they're cuter than a bug's ear. Aren't they cute?
Yeah, they are cute.
If they're anywhere near the rat.
Different opinion. Well, they are in the rat.
Family and.
They're definitely not.
Cute. Their nose is very long.
Yeah. And, uh, I don't know, these might have just been mice, their little boogers, and they aren't big, and they don't grow into big rats. But we got these little things. They found the bird seed in the suet in my garage that I use, and and.
Oh, happy day for them.
Yeah. Oh, they were chowing down and they were smart, man. They were going from the back of the pack in the back of the bag and.
Kind of chewing up the bottom.
Yeah. They were they were like, uh, we don't want Karl to see that we're consuming the groceries for the birds.
So floppy ears.
Yeah. So here, let me break this down. This is super important, guys, if you're going to trap or kill anything, I'm sorry.
But.
I got to go here because the metaphor is the spiritual life that we're living. Okay. If you're going to trap or kill anything, you've got to use good bait. Yeah. What's a bad bait for a for a shrew or a rat.
Brussels sprouts.
Well, vegetables.
It's bad bait for me. Thank you. That's a bad bait if you want to knock me out.
Carl's not falling.
I'm not falling for that one. You put a Brussels sprout on a Carl trap, and I ain't eating it.
I don't know a rock.
Yeah, okay. Because I was sitting here thinking Skittles. And I'm like, no, they.
Might like Skittles.
I think a mouse would probably eat anything.
Yeah, I think so. So, yeah, this is funny. Here, I'm trying to think, what's a bait? What's a bait? That wouldn't work for a rat. I mean, they come to almost anything but. Yeah.
Mouse meat.
Okay, now we're getting really raw here. But, yeah, their own kind. Yeah. I don't think they're cannibalistic, so maybe this is getting on the edge. Uh, a rock, a rock. I'm gonna put this rock here, and this will bring them in. No, it probably won't. Nope. Um, a leaf might not do it. In fact, it won't.
I don't think so.
No. They got to have something that's rotting and fermenting and, you know, they love that stuff. Yeah. So what do you bait? And I did this. What do you bait? A allie's got a look on her face. Like we got to get off this topic. I'll make the transition soon.
I'm following with.
You. What do you bait a trap with? For a rat or a mouse. Or a shrew?
Cheese?
Yeah.
Something desirable.
Because they love it, man. I don't know why they love cheese.
Tom and Jerry said so.
There you go. Boy, we got bunny trails here, and usually you guys have to keep me on it. Now, today, I'm having to keep you lined out here. So it's it's it's just a truism that if you're going to bait something, you got to go with something that they're going to take.
Yes. Something that's desirable.
Yes. So, mind blowing epiphany last night and this morning. And I am so giddy about what I'm about to share with you. And some of you, like, share it already. Hang on. We got to clear away something here. But coming up in three minutes, I want to tell you that today Satan is baiting you three different ways. He's baiting you. And I'm going to tell you right now, the bait is good.
Desirable. It's not Brussels sprouts.
It ain't.
Brussels.
Sprouts. It ain't rocks. It's not leaves.
Better than cheese.
Way better than cheese. He's got you all lined out and he's ready to set the trap. And he's setting it. This morning, while we were asleep last night, Satan was set in the trap. What are the three baits of Satan to keep you away from God or away from proximity to Jesus? You get this one. Today you will walk in greater victory by high noon. I promise you, we'll give it to you.
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
All right. Three baits Satan uses to pull us away from proximity to Jesus and our relationship with God. They are everywhere in Scripture, highlighted best in a very interesting place now. We're called to be disciples of Christ. In other words, he is our leader, right?
Right.
So we follow him. That's he's our guide. So the life he lives, we want to emulate that life. And it's going to serve us so well. Well, in the temptation after 40 days of fasting, you find the three baits of Satan.
This is where in Scripture Matthew four.
Okay, so in Matthew four you find the three baits of Satan. Let me just go through these here quickly. This is so powerful because once you see it once, you will never unsee it. How great is that spiritual truth that you never unsee. Here it is. Jesus was led by the spirit, Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And by the way, all of this was done to model for us the battle
that we would face with evil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry because he's fully God and fully man. He's hungry. Got to eat. And the tempter, Satan, came to him and said to him, if you're the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But he answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. By the way, that word there is rhema. And next week I'm going to explain to
you how important that is. It's the spoken word of God. But let's just take this for what it is. Satan was baiting Jesus to find satisfaction apart from the father. And what Jesus did is he responded from Deuteronomy three times, by the way. So he knew the Word of God. He's like, no, I'm not going to get my satisfaction from what you're offering me. So there's a bait of satisfaction being set for you today in all kinds of things that are not grounded and founded in God. Fair enough.
Fair enough.
Then you go next one. Then the devil took him to a holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you're the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And Jesus said to him, again, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. Here was the bait of Satan. Number two. Security. I'll hold you and comfort you. I'll
take care of you. Do you know how many times Satan baits us to find security in things apart from God? Oh my goodness! I got you covered. I'll be your safety net. I'll be there when you fall. And I mean, we don't even need to fill in the blanks and give illustrations of satisfaction and security baits that are out there today.
Do we know they're everywhere?
As soon as you start to see this framework, you do see it everywhere.
It's everywhere. And then Satan comes at him with a third bait and he says again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these I'm going to give you, if you'll just fall down and worship me. And Jesus said to him, be gone, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. What was the third bait of Satan? It
was significance apart from God. Now this is convicting stuff. This is convicting stuff. But it's compelling.
Because when you think about the things that draw us away, it everything, pretty much everything you can think of is going to fall into one of these three categories.
Yeah.
Satisfaction. Security. Significance. Who's satisfying your soul?
What do you hunger and thirst for? What? What satisfies your appetite?
Yeah.
And it's not necessarily that one sin falls under only one of these buckets. You take like money for instance. Money can bring you satisfaction, but it can also give you the feeling of significance.
And security.
And security.
And so this is why money is such a problem.
Yeah, absolutely.
It can be such a problem.
And so it's not just, oh, I struggle with money, but it's. No, I struggle with trying to find my significance in money or trying to gain a sense of security in money alone and not God.
Here's why. The love of money is the root of all evil. The love of money is the root of all evil, because in it is significant security and satisfaction in a diminished, distorted, funky way.
No doubt.
And I know this because God's given me relationships with people that are on the street. Got a guy in our church right now and we're getting them off the street. And I love this character. He's a piece of work, but I love him. And and I've and I've known people of amazing wealth. And I'll tell you this. It it afflicts paupers and princes. Man In love of money. Root of all evil. Why? Because. Security, significance and satisfaction.
Have you the temptation to derive one or all three of those things from that is like an ever present danger? I'll tell you what's huge about this. And I want to give credit to Philip miller, who's going to be coming up in this next half hour. If you can possibly stick around, you got to do it because this this guy, he's done a deep dive on these big three. And I don't even know if Philip's found this correlation
in In the Temptations of Christ probably has. But if he hasn't, I know he's going to be fired up because he's a humble dude and he's going to go, Shazam! We have concluded in here. We were talking as a team that you take these three baits of Satan to pull us away from God. You get these things identified, you bring them before your mind constantly. You're going to be able to say no to the beta of Satan and say yes to God over and over and over again. How sweet.
Is this?
Because you'll be able to identify it when that temptation comes. What am I looking for here? What is this? Pornography? Let's take that as an example. What does this represent for me?
Yeah.
Is this, uh, is this an attempt to find satisfaction, to satisfy an appetite? Apart from God? Yep, yep. Most likely.
Is it a power grab? Can it be a distorted significance move? Yeah. In a weird way, this is why food is such a problem. We had Laurie on here yesterday. If you didn't hear Laurie's testimony. Oh my goodness. As a matter of fact, if you hear anything here on Carl and crew that you feel has some value for you or someone you love, I'm going to put a banner ad up right now. Grab this link and have it ready. Whether you got Android or iPhone, we're ready for you.
Just text the word show to 800 555 7898. Text show to 800 555 7898.
And I promise you this little crunch down teaching that we've done here this morning. This. No, not that we've done this teaching that Jesus has that we're just passing on. We'll have it in there for you today. Make sure that's loaded up. Okay guys. But we'll we'll crunch it all down right there. Man what a joy it is to look at God's Word, isn't it, guys?
It is your shot of hope to help you through the day. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
We are talking all week long about this abiding life in Christ. What a joy. It's to God's glory that you bear much fruit. Come on, give him some praise for that. This scarcity mindset has no place in the Christian church that is committed to being disciples of Christ. There is no such thing as scarcity mindset. You look in Matthew 13, you look at at what? What the seed produces that lands on that fertile ground, imperfect but fertile ground. 30, 60, 100 fold. You look at the
comparison in John 1010. And by the way, the thief that came to steal and kill and destroy is actually all represents all the bad shepherds, even more so than Satan. I know we often call it Satan, but in John 1010 the context of that passage are shepherds that are Pharisees. They're they're a joke. They're not the real deal. And Jesus said, they're coming to steal and kill and destroy. Are they used by Satan? Oh, big time tools of Satan. But he said, I came to give you life and
more abundantly. You look at Joshua one eight, you meditate on these words of mine, this law, day and night you're going to have success and prosperity wherever you go in this new land. Joshua. You look at Psalm one one through three. Get away from fools, mockers, and scoffers. Better to walk alone with the Word of God. Better to walk alone with the Word of God than to have fools, mockers, and scoffers around you. Because if you meditate on this word, you're going to be like a
tree planted by streams of living water. Your leaf will never wither, and all you do, you will prosper. Get this scarcity Christianity out of your life. Our God is a God of abundance. Now, abundance does not mean that we're not going to have incredible persecution. In fact, I submit to you, the more you lean into discipleship with Jesus, the bigger the bullseye is for Satan on your life. But even through that, we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. So fired up man, I can
barely put out. I can barely put a damper on my what God's doing in my soul this morning. It's just thrilling. So credit where credit is due. I had this huge, and I would almost call it an epiphany, where God used a man named Philip miller last week to take. We were talking about identity and in Christ, and he just came in with kind of three buckets to think through and how powerful this is, so that we don't take what I'm calling this morning the three
baits of Satan satisfaction, security and significance. Satan's kind of constantly bait us with those things. But God wants to do what Satan can never offer. Philip miller. You guys ready for him? He's coming up.
Here. Yeah, definitely.
Wow. David Crowder here first. Somebody prayed. I want you to know it's to God's glory that you bear much fruit. Let's lean in to proximity to Jesus today.
A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
All week long, we're tackling this powerful text out of John 15. Some of the final words of Jesus to his disciples. He says, men, listen to me. Look at these grapes. He said, this is this is my plan for you and all the disciples that would come after you. I want you to bear much fruit. My father is glorified by you, bearing fruit. And then he says, I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Apart from me, you
can do nothing. What a vision. If you're weary from trying to perform for Jesus here at a great place today, because that weariness is met with proximity to Christ. And when we have proximity to Jesus, everything changes. Now, I had a huge, borderline epiphany here where God revealed something to me through our brother, Philip miller. That is profound.
Let's get him in here. Philip, this thing of significance and satisfaction and security, those baits of Satan, as we've been looking at this morning in Matthew four, this is a construct for discipleship, my friend. Like I think we have not seen, I have not seen in my lifetime. These three buckets are huge, aren't they, Philip?
Yeah. I think there's something really profound about recognizing this deep structure of how our hearts are made. You know that deep down, we long. Our identity is built around three primary hungers and appetites of the soul for significance. I want to know that I matter security. I want to feel safe in the universe and satisfaction. I want to be happy and, uh, and delighted. And in life. And those three deep appetites are are not bad things.
They're good things. They're they're the sort of the hollow shape of what God is meant to fill in our souls. And so, you know, Blaise Pascal said, there's a God shaped hole in the heart of every person, right? And, um, and this notion of like, that's what God is meant to provide us security, significance, satisfaction. But the problem is
we wake up in the universe as orphans. We wake up as strangers from the God we were made to know and call father, uh, because of our sin, because Adam and Eve fell, and because we wake up in a universe that's broken. And so we have a broken relationship with God. And because of that, that emptiness we feel. What we tend to do is we tend to go out and live as orphans in the universe and look for substitutes to give us the security, significance and satisfaction
we think and we know we need. And so we run after all the wrong things. And I think what you're pointing out this morning is that you know, Jesus, when he offers himself as he says, you're the vine or I'm the vine, you're the branches. He's offering to reconnect us with the very life we were made to have in the very beginning.
And all three of those are embodied in that connection satisfaction, security and significance. It's so powerful.
Philip miller, our guest right now is senior pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. He's a visionary leader, 15 years plus of ministry experience. So tell us, I'm curious, how did you first start to develop this, your understanding of this framework? I you're it's all over scripture, but when did it kind of become clear to you.
There's a lot of inputs, but one of them is Tim Keller in New York. He wrote a book called Counterfeit Gods, and he basically talks about idolatry in our hearts. And, um, and so he he talks about these three things. I think the contribution where I've maybe developed it a little bit further is connecting it with identity. Um, recognizing that what happens is that we, we have these longings, and so then we decide, oh, I'll be whatever I need
to be in order to get these things met. And so, like in my life as a young child, I wanted more than anything to be significant. And I want to know that I matter, that I, that I was, you know, a winner. And so I learned that if I, you know, scored a goal in soccer or if I got good grades in school that I would get applause, I would get affirmation from my parents, my teachers and friends. And that was pretty close to love and affirmation. The thing I wanted really deep in the bottom of my soul.
And so that was sort of the transaction I learned to live and and of course, what that ends up doing is it makes you perform in order to get love, which is, at the end of the day, it's a pretty unhealthy construct, because here comes the gospel, and the gospel says, you know, you aren't a good performer. You've actually failed in every way, and yet you're loved for Jesus sake. And so I actually had to unlearn this
little formula, this orphan hearted posture in life. I had to unlearn that in order to grab Ahold of the gospel and really deeply believe it.
Yeah. Here's what's interesting. Philip Philip miller with us right now. We are unlearning it because it's the flesh. It's the sarx. It's what we were born with before we were born again. Coming up here in just a moment, Philip, I want you to break this down. Significant security satisfaction. If we get that identity and even more than identity. Right, Philip? If we. If we derive that all the good stuff that comes from that, it's just not a mental assent
to I'm significant, secure and satisfied in Christ. It's a functionality of it. Give a blue sky vision for what could be more with Philip miller coming up.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super dye is in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
Proximity to Jesus not performing for Jesus is the game changer. When your mind moves to be the branch that abides in the vine Christ, rather than trying to perform. We quit putting on plastic fake fruit and we can have the real deal. Now there's a lot of baits of Satan three particularly that he tries to bait us with that will try to pull us away from proximity to Jesus. Philip miller is here with us right now. We're talking
about him. They are significant security and satisfaction. You find them in the in the in the Gospel of Matthew chapter four. And Satan said it. He tried to pull him away with significant security and satisfaction apart from the father. But let's get some blue sky here, Philip, to someone who says, I'm going to find my significance, security and satisfaction in Jesus. What's the vision out there? Where are we going with this?
So here's what happens when I'm an orphan and I'm living in this orphan hearted universe. And I think I need to find significant security and satisfaction on my own in the world and fend for myself. What that does is it makes me go out into all the world and I'm very needy. I need to go into the world and take and and there's this huge sucking sound, because I've got to go out and I've got to, I've got to fill my soul up. So I've got to.
I've got to find significance in the world. I've got to find satisfaction in Security and every relationship, every possession I have, every bit of power I have in the world is about me, and it's about filling me up. And that's that orphan hearted mentality. But if you if we can abide in Christ and recognize that he is our security, satisfaction and significance, what it then does is it it starts filling us. It flips it all on
its head. So instead of going out to to people around me and needing people to secure my identity, to give me what I need in my soul, I can go out and pour myself out in love and radical self donation for the people around me and serve them and sacrifice. And even if they don't love me back, I can love them even as even an enemy I can love because I'm filled from the inside. Uh, because of my relationship with Jesus Christ. And I no longer need the people around me in the same way. I
can actually love them the way I'm. I'm meant to. Same thing with power. Power doesn't become a a thing that I've got to have to feed my soul. I can actually now steward power as a servant, and I can sacrifice, and I can use power to honor and lift other people up because it's about them, not me. And the same thing with our possessions instead of possessions possessing me because I've got to have them so I can have security, significance and satisfaction. Now I can just
have stuff. I can give it away freely. I don't have to own it in the same way. And I can be generous with what God's given me. So this hinge from the orphan hearted life where I'm trying to get security, significance, and satisfaction on my own is a kind of idolatry that destroys me. And when I when it's straightened out through the abiding life with Christ, it actually turns my soul outward. And it makes me pour myself out in loving sacrifice and service in the world,
which is the life that Jesus has for us. That's what abundance looks like. That's the fruit that he wants us to bear.
This is so powerful. And boom crew, our goal here and our aim is that you would come as you are, experience God, overcome what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. And central to this is your identity. Central to this is your proximity to Jesus. And when you begin to look at Scripture through the lens of significant security and satisfaction, boom, everything will change. Right now, we've got a resource for you, and I'm asking you to come and get it.
This is going to be a PDF that goes a little bit of a deeper dive on each of these. Security, satisfaction, significance. Just text identity to 805 55 7898. We'll send this as a PDF right to your phone. Just text identity to 800 555 7898. And our thanks to Philip miller, our guest, for providing this resource.
Great job. Philip. I love you, man. This is powerful truth. Let's go. Boom! Crew, walk in it.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
The call on our life. The call on our life. By Jesus to his disciples. To look at your life as a branch and to have proximity to Jesus. Not with this compulsion to produce fruit, but out of proximity to Jesus. You know that he is the one that produces that fruit. That's a game changer, guys, because Western Christianity is all about looking right, acting right, big general terms.
I'm not calling every church or every Christian that, but generally there is a prevailing undercurrent in the culture that says, who you got to show up, you got to look right. There's a language you speak. There's a way you act. There's a joy that's expected of you. Put a smile on your face.
Right?
You know what Jesus said? Don't put a smile on your face. Don't show up to all these programs. You abide in me. I'll get you to that small group. I'll get you into the word. But that proximity to Jesus is everything.
And there are times when you can go through things that can continue to try to drive you away from that proximity, create distance between you and God. And it's a constant fight to fight the drift, but then also to fight discouragement, disappointment, bitterness.
From childhood, family of origin issues. I mean, super die. I don't want to get into the weeds here with you, but I've loved the fact that you've been very guarded but very open. My bride loves the way you communicate, by the way. But you went through some childhood trauma that has had massive lingering effects, hasn't it? Hesitant super.
Die. Even to this day, sometimes it's a daily walk, a daily abiding and just knowing who I am in Christ and just a very much a needed reminder how loved I really am. Unconditionally loved, I really am. But yeah, it can linger all the way through. And Satan's just there knocking away.
Do you find that it tries to come back in constantly?
Yes. Um, the word constantly. What I found with with freedom in Christ and walking and abiding with Christ. I know Satan's constantly there, but I don't feel it constantly anymore, like I used to before. And that is I'm going to tear up. That is so a precious thing to me, and it's there for you. And if you're going through something like that, yes, it can happen for you too. You don't need to feel that constantly. Let Jesus walk you and help you through that daily.
You must get an opportunity to talk to people from time to time that have had their soul dragged through the mud in their childhood.
The more that I finally voiced it and it took a very, very long time to even voice anything because Satan uses that to keep it quiet, keep it shut up. Keep it behind closed doors. Don't say anything. Well, then, how can God work? Hello.
One plus.
One. And once I realized all that. And I just let God lead me. And he has. Yes. Put me in situations and just let the Holy Spirit. You know the words, Lord, you just use me. And and he has mightily and it's very, very humbling and it's very emotional that God can use something like that to actually help somebody else know God's love.
Pretty powerful super day.
It really turns.
You're my super.
Trooper.
You are my super trooper.
Well.
That's what you.
Are. Well, thank you, but no.
It reminds me of an ABBA song. Oh, no. Remember that one?
It just stuck in my brain.
Super trouper.
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.
I must have missed that one.
You didn't miss anything.
It's not one of their best.
You're okay.
All right, coming up. We got a treat for you.
We've got Suzy Larsen, best selling author, national speaker, a powerful radio host sharing a little bit of her own journey of walking through a long term struggle and the fight to stay close to Jesus.
He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
The most epic, quintessential teaching on discipleship. I truly believe this is when Jesus. It's his last words. It's his last week. He's on the way to the cross. He grabs a bunch of grape leaves, picks him up, says, gentlemen, look at that. That's what I want your life to be, that bodacious, fruit bearing person. And so he goes on to teach it. He says, I'm the vine. You're the branch. You abide in me. You will bear much fruit. It's to my father's glory that you bear much fruit. How
thrilling is that, by the way, just parenthetically. Oh, then he says, apart from me, you can do nothing. And we want to believe there's got to be something in there mid zone.
Somewhere I can do.
I mean, a little bit of some juice I'm bringing to the table, but no, nothing. So we've established this week we've been walking through this journey of this abiding life in Christ. And we know proximity. Yes productivity. That's God's job. Stay away from focusing on that end of the branch. And yet when we talk about proximity and that abiding remaining, making Christ your home alley stuff can get in the way.
And one of the biggest things that can creep in is Discouragement, discontentment, and exhaustion, particularly if you've been walking through hard things for a long season and you've not seen the full answer from God, the full deliverance. And yet you're fighting for it. We have a special guest who knows this struggle well. Susie Larson, bestselling author and national speaker radio host. Tell us a little bit about
what this has looked like in your own journey. You've had seasons where you've had to walk through over the long haul, some really tough stuff.
I've walked through some pretty significant health challenges for 35 years and it's ebbed and flow, but the stretches that have been difficult have sometimes lasted seven years, where I'm army crawling and there's times where, I mean, I'm seasoned enough in my faith now to know God never loses
my address. But I thought he lost my address years ago, and I remember, I think I've shared this with you before, but about ten years ago when I had a massive relapse and the worst of it was intense for several years. At night, I was having stroke like symptoms and neurological fireworks in my body and my brain wasn't working. And I'm like you on live radio, so I need my faculties sharp. And I remember just going face down, being
so disappointed in God. I mean, that was hard for me to say because I'm not flippant about my relationship with God. I fear him, I honor him. But he pulled it out of me because I was crying out to him and he helped me see I was hurt because this is going so long. And it just and it's it's lethal to compare, especially when you're in a battle.
It's just lethal to me. It's like a soldier who's in, you know, hunkering down in a ditch and scrolling social media, looking at his friends, living their best life in civilian clothes. It's just lethal to compare your life to someone's when you're suffering. And I had done that a little bit because people look like they were healthy and that just things weren't hitting them like they were hitting me. And the Lord brought me to the passage where, you know,
Jesus is met by John the Baptist. Friends. John, Jesus said, is there's no greater man born to woman than John and yet he is in prison and then starts to doubt which should comfort you a little bit. Because, you know, we all have moments when you get battered enough by life and that enemy comes in with his questions. Did God really say you entertain and start to wonder? So he sends his friends and asks his cousin, are you the Christ?
Yes.
Or should we be looking for someone else? And Jesus response was so to me, passionate but full of conviction. And my paraphrase so many words, you go tell John the blind see the lame leap, the deaf get their hearing back. But blessed are you who are not offended by me. In other words, I'm still the same miracle working God. And just because you happen to be in a season where you're away from the action, you're in obscurity. You feel overlooked. It doesn't change the fact that I'm
still a miracle working God. So the work for you in this place is to work on your heart that you're not offended by me. And I knew that was my homework. Ali and Carl. I knew that I had to rise up and go. You know what? You are good. You redeem all things. My goal here in the abiding life is to be at peace with God, because the enemy is always trying to bait you into building a case against God and accusing him of things the devil's guilty of. So good of God just to show me that.
And I immediately repented and was restored back to peace. And I saw fruit in my life immediately after that.
Susie Larson, our guest right now. You know, in all candor, I went through a stretch and I didn't do well because I was I was betrayed at such a deep level. I had heard about betrayal. I had counseled as a pastor people that had gone through betrayal. But I went through it myself, and it was so visceral that I knew that God knew my address to steal your words. And I knew his promises. But in that zone of affliction, it can be easy to rely on your own strength
to get you through a day. What's the deal breaker? Well, no. No. Let's go. Positive. What's the deal maker that moves you from isolation back toward the face of God.
I don't know who said this first, but I love the idea and I don't know if it's in a song or a lyric. You know, in a poem, but to the degree that I can't hold their list in my hand while my list is nailed to the cross, and that is just a painful truth. And I've walked through it as well. Carl, I'm walking through something somewhat similar right now, and I've been immersing myself in the
scriptures and God is just. He takes these things very seriously, but I feel like it takes great humility to let the fire refine you when someone else is guilty of lighting the match. You know, because in the fire, if God has allowed it, there's redemption in it somehow. And it's not to say he won't deal with your betrayer and your accuser, but if we can humble ourselves in that fire to say, you know what? My God is a consuming fire. He's going to consume my foes and
my flesh. So if there's anything in me that needs to be purified, do it because it makes you, I think, bulletproof. Yes. When you can say, you know what? No demon in hell gets to say, have the last say about who I am. I'm a child of God. And judgment does begin first in the house of God and Jesus was betrayed. We will be betrayed. But I feel like if we stay in that abiding place, we will come through pure, stronger,
bolder than we did before. And I don't know, Carl, don't you feel that every time we walk through betrayal and we sort it through in a redemptive way, the gap widens between how man's opinion affects us and how God's. And you need to break free from the fear of man. That's the surest way to do it, is to be betrayed.
Yeah.
The interesting thing, just to echo that one of the things that I think I struggled with for a lot of years was, in fact, I had a phenomenal friend who's a great counselor, and he said, you've got a problem, Carl. And I said, well, tell me about it. But he said, your problem is people winning. It's a cousin of people pleasing. You want to win people over. And he said, you're going to have to start learning to live with disappointment. And you're right, Susie, it is incredibly fruitful.
Susie Larson, best selling author, national speaker. With us right now coming up, we're called to abide, to bear fruit out of the abiding relationship. What does fruit bearing look like when you feel like you can barely get out of bed in the morning? Let's ask Susie that coming up.
She was trying to earn her way to God, but God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
So we're called to.
Abide and bear fruit out of that abiding relationship. But when we think about fruit, Susie Larson, we think about the things we can go and do for God. Yes, you.
Know.
Preach a sermon, lead a Bible study, make a meal for someone, and there's someone going through it to the point right now that they go, what does fruit bearing look like when I can barely get out of bed in the morning?
There are some people that are running hard, producing, and it's fruit that's not real, and it's going to burn up because they are trying. They're misusing time, treasure and talents to try to prove something. Jesus has already proven right. Where there's many, many Christians who know they're saved, they don't know they're loved, and they're striving in their own
strength to try to establish their identity. And so if you're in the place where you can't get out of bed and again, you compare, you will despair because it all looks shiny and all. And I'm not saying all fruit is bad, but I'm saying there are a lot of times the enemy will put people in your path that look so shiny and so flashy. When you're at the lowest point and you feel like my laundry is overflowing, my dishes are overflowing. I've got bad hair, you know?
But in that place you can bear fruit as you really submit to God, resist the devil and he must flee. And you know, I had a dream last night, and I don't dream very often, but I feel like there's some message in this dream that's so powerful. In the dream, I was doing ministry with my husband, Kevin, and one of our ministry mentors. We're just busy, but I'm slowing everybody down because I have this armful of laundry and
I'm carrying it around with me wherever I go. And it was way too much for me to carry, so I kept dropping pieces. I'd squat down to pick up a piece and drop another piece. Suddenly, I'm walking through a mall with this armful of laundry, and the mall was connecting me to some ministry venue and a piece drops off my, you know, load. And these three women were behind me. And this one, she looked kind of
rough edged. She picks up the t shirt, tosses it back into my arms, kind of annoyed that she had to do it. And I'm like, thank you. I take about two more steps and I drop another pair of something, and so she picks it up, flings it on the pile and says, I'm not going to keep doing this.
And after they walked away, the camera zoomed in and I saw it was a bunch of old outdated t shirts, but they were washed and it made me feel like somebody listening today that one of the reasons you can't get out of bed is you're under condemnation and shame, and you keep rehearsing and rehashing your failures, and you're letting the enemy accuse you and your sins have been washed. You know, our best days are filthy rags. But if
you're under the blood, you're under the blood. Yeah. And oftentimes what slows us down and makes us feel hopeless and helpless is we're carrying this burden that Jesus already buried. So I just maybe someone needed to hear that today.
Yeah. They did. I mean, what we see versus what God sees is a world apart at times, and it's beautiful. All right, here's a crazy maker though, because at times, who how do I say this? I this is the most loving thing I can say as a pastor. And this is one of the toughest things I've ever said on this show. There are a ton of people listening right now that their tragedy has become their friend. Their
betrayal has become their partner. They're so familiar with it, they don't know that they want to get away from it. And actually offering them help at times can be met with resistance. That's hard to say. But if we're going to be truthful here with Carl and crew and we want to be Susie, we got to go after that angle of this thing because it's everywhere.
100%, I mean, it really what you're talking about is making pain an idol and getting your identity from your affliction. And that, to me, is the antithesis of the abiding life. And again, God is not a cruel taskmaster, and he's not given us a spirit that makes us fearful slaves. He's given us his spirit so we can cry out, ABBA, father! When we've made an idol out of our pain, when we get our identity from our affliction, we literally are
taking matters into our own hands. We are not abiding, we are self preserving, and we are saying that this inferior status is God's best for us and it's not. And really, at the core of that is a mistrust of God. Yeah. You know, when you think of Jesus was walking with his disciples and he says, who do people say I am? And they were like, well, the prophet, they were listing all the Elijah, you know. And then he stops and I picture him on this dirt road
and turns to Peter. Who do you say that I am? You're the Messiah, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, the father has revealed that to you. You didn't get that yourself. And because Peter was in a posture to get a revelation about who Jesus was, Peter was in a posture to get a revelation about who he was, because then Jesus said, and let me tell you who you are. And he started to speak to Peter about his identity.
Oh that's powerful.
So if somebody is listening today and I get it, because I've been through stretches where I was known as the girl with Lyme disease. And I don't want that identity, but I there's times you wake up and feel sorry for yourself, but I'm just saying you don't need pity. You've got the promises of God, you know. And so I've been there. I'm saying that. But when you posture yourself to say, Lord, I humble myself, I smash these idols. I want my truest identity, which comes from the abiding life.
No other place. Give me a fresh revelation about who you are. God. Something that I've not known about you yet. Because obviously I've got these little idols in my tent. And as your posture to see him as he is, you will start to see yourself as you are, as God says you are.
We've got a resource for you, Susie Larson, our guest right now. If you want an opportunity to get some power packed encouragement devotionals from her. Just text mind to 800 555 7898 text mind, mind to 800 555 7898.
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
You know, there's times when we're doing radio here and we feel prompted by the spirit. Let's boom, let's go this direction. By the way, that's exactly how the Spirit of God led and guided the church in the book of acts. And you might say, well, how in the world does that happen? Well, it's it's not void of the truth. We got this. I've got a Bible open in front of me. Ali does. We've all got the Word of God in front of us. And then the we're promised by Jesus, the Spirit of God will guide
us into all truth. And there's promptings of the spirit that comport with the Word of God. It's not like extant from the Word of God, but it's right here. And I want to talk with you about something I was going to save till next week, but I'm going to give you a bit of it right now, because God loves you so much that he brought you here, my friend, you, for this moment. Because this is very important. I want to talk about the hallucination of salvation. And
I'll illustrate it this way. I got to take you to Alaska on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. I ran this race back when I was 18 years old. It's 1100 mile dog sled race across Alaska, and I was probably 700 miles into this race. Sleep deprived, just tired. And now I'm on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea coast of Alaska, the west coast of Alaska. I'm leaving the village of Unalakleet, headed for the village of Shaktoolik, and I'm getting out of Unalakleet, and I've got a
team of like eight dogs left in my team. I had to drop some dogs. They don't. They don't die. They're cared for by veterinarians, but they had lacerated pads. Or maybe they were dehydrated and on a couple for a couple of those dogs, my heart just went out to them and I probably dropped them sooner than I should have. But I'm like.
Oh, they're.
Struggling.
Yeah, they're battling a little bit. I got to, I got to leave you behind at a checkpoint. So I had about eight dogs in front of me, and we're making our way up out of Unalakleet over land, and we're coming down into the village of Shaktoolik, and I'm going through what's called the Raspberry Hills and the Raspberry Hills, then descend deep, steep down onto the Bering Sea coast. And I was waiting for the village of Shaktoolik. Man,
I was ready. I'm hungry, I'm cold, and I am ready to get my dog team parked, get them booted up, get them bedded down on some straw and get some shut eye. I was ready, so I want to see Shaktoolik in a big way pretty quick. Here it is. And it was awesome guys. I'm coming up onto the village and I'm seeing smoke come out of a chimney, and I see lights on and a cabin, and there's a guy out front and he's splitting wood and I'm like, Hallelujah! And I get closer and closer. And then it's starting
to feel like. Why am I getting closer? And then I get a little bit closer to it. And something's not seeming right. But I see him right there. The guy's chopping wood. The cabin's got a light on in it, for crying out loud. So I put my emergency brake down, which is a snow hook. Stomp it into the, stomp it into the trail, and I start to walk toward this cabin, and in an instant, poof, it disappeared. And
all I see is the Bering Sea flat ocean. I wasn't at Shaktoolik, I was hallucinating, and I had heard so many stories about hallucinations on this race.
Just the fatigue.
The fatigue.
And everything that's going.
On.
And poof.
So you were sure that you saw something that wasn't actually there?
Yeah.
And therein lies the point. This is exactly what Jesus spoke of primarily in the Gospel of Matthew. Because salvation hallucination is thinking that you see something in yourself that isn't there and it's real. In Matthew seven, Jesus said, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, and he's going to say, I never knew you. Depart from me. And these are people who say, but we, we spoke in your name, and we baptize in your name. And we did mighty works in your name. So here's
the point. You can be spiritually active. And have a hallucination of salvation. That's crazy, isn't it?
It is.
And then you go a little bit further. You go, you dig into Matthew 25 and you find the parable of the ten virgins and all ten of these bridesmaids. Another term for them. They're waiting for the the groom to come. Jesus is coming and Jesus is telling the story and he says, five got lamps that are full of oil. The other five have lamps, so they're all dressed up. They all look the same, but only five are ready to go, and five will be left behind because they have no oil in their lamps, and that
signifies the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. I believe that is exactly what Jesus is saying. And then I was on vacation with my bride, and I was doing deep dives early in the morning, and I and I got into Matthew 13 and I'm like, Lord, you're showing me again. And you see the the parable of the different heart conditions and seed that is thrown on the soil. And you see hard ground and boom, the seed doesn't get any root, and Satan comes and takes it away. And
that person a hard heart and no salvation. But you find two other soil types or heart types, and one is shallow soil and they sprang up. But a little bit of opposition comes and they fall down. And then you find those that seem like I'm ready to go. But the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things make it unfruitful. It never really was in Christ. And those three soil types never really were in Christ. And then he casts a
vision for what life in Christ really is. And it's an imperfect but great, fertile soil of humble contrition before God that says, I give you my all, and that produces 30, 60, and 100 fold. Wow. And coming up here, I want to speak to you, and I want you to stay with me. I don't want you to let
anything take you away. If you can possibly stay, because I want to tell you how you can know that you know that you don't have a hallucination of salvation, but that you really know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. That's coming up.
Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew on Moody Radio.
Salvation. Hallucination is a real thing. I agree wholeheartedly with John Piper, Louie Giglio, and many others and any pastor that I talk with that there are churches that are preaching the Word of God every weekend that are loaded with people that do not know Jesus personally. They're going through a lot of religious motions. What we find in Matthew seven, many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, and these are not people that are bellied up to
a bar for happy hour. These are folks that are proclaiming, they're saying, I believe. They're saying be baptized in Jesus name. They're very active. They're doing things for God, and yet they don't know him personally. And you might say, Carl, how does that happen? Well, next week we're going to explain to you how that happens for all of us in here. But today, I want to focus on you and your soul and heart condition today, because we find
in the book of Matthew. And why this is so important is Jesus was introducing salvation to a very religious group of people. Matthew was written to a Jewish audience. And how that relates to today is there's a lot of religion in the West. There's a lot of people that claim Christ but don't know him personally. And so when we're talking about the abiding life in Christ, you can only abide when your soul has been regenerated by
the Holy Spirit transformed. And the question you may have right now is, Carl, I. I want to know that I know that I. That I'm in Christ Jesus. And I want you to know that to my friend. And let me be clear with you in John chapter 14, the disciples themselves were troubled when they heard that Jesus was going away, and he said some words that apply to you today. He said, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. This word belief
is not a mental assent. We know that there are many people who believe in Jesus, like the demons believe in God that we find in the book of James. But they're not saved. Belief that saves is a belief of humble contrition, brokenness inside of yourself saying, I've got nothing. All I have is you. And there's a lot of people that are still holding on to themselves, their identity, their money. That's what kept the rich young ruler away
from an authentic faith. They're holding on to status their job. They're holding on to their religious action. Here's what I'm telling you today Jesus Christ wants an abiding relationship with you, and it's going to transform you, and the yoke that you're carrying will be thrown off. And Jesus said, take my yoke upon you. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul. And I'm inviting you in to rest today.
Please don't let pride of how long you've been in church hold you back from salvation today. You see, Carl, how can I know? Jesus went on to answer Thomas and his disciples, who had a troubled heart, and he spoke to you today from these very pages in John 14 he says, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. And this is what he said, I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. And I just want to ask you today, because the Spirit of God is working in your heart right now, and he's revealing to you today that you've not yet been born again. Praise God. Rejoice in that, because here's what he says I am the way. Meaning there's a broad path that leads to destruction and many are on it. But if you turn around, repent today, and begin to go God's way and say, I'm leaving behind all that I am, all that I hope to be,
all that I was. And I'm turning to Jesus today. He will give you new life. He says, I am the way, the truth. If you're willing to embrace the truth, that you're a sinner who needs a Savior and you're willing to say those words Jesus says to you, come on, you're my child today. And he says, I am the life. Zoe. Life. And he's going to give it to you abundantly. If you've never before surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, today is the day. And I'm asking you to surrender to
him for the first time ever. I don't care how long you've been in a church. Pray with me right now. Jesus, today I'm going your way. I'm no longer going my way Today I declare I'm turning around. I'm repenting. Today I embrace the truth that I'm a sinner. I need a savior. I know you rose from the dead. I'm ready for the Zoe life that you have for me. I give my life to you. In Jesus name, Amen. If that's the cry of your heart, I want to help you right now. And we're going to help you
in practical ways. Get your phones right now. Get your phones. Let's help them.
Out.
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