This week, Aaron Ninaber delivered a powerful message about the entitlement epidemic in our culture and its potential impact on our relationship with the Lord. Scriptures like Romans 11:35, Job 41:11, and Luke 17:7-10 remind us that God owes us nothing. Yet, the gospel's good news is that He has given us everything through His Son, Jesus. Be encouraged by this sermon to never take the gospel or God's gifts and blessings for granted. Stay rooted in a pure heart by avoiding comparison, remaining thankful, praising Him in both good and bad times, giving God credit for our victories, and being mindful of the company we keep.
Catch The Fire Church Raleigh
God Owes You Nothing | Aaron Ninaber
(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Catch the Fire Church podcast. We're so glad you're joining us, and we hope you're encouraged by this message. - I was asking the Lord this morning what to bring to this body and just kind of digging deep. And I, the Lord just came with this spark of revelation at a very unexpected moment. And I was listening to this worship song a newer song for me anyways called "Amen" by Rita Springer. Anyone in this room, I see Jane Taylor, she knows. All right, we got a few in the room. Y'all need to go listen to this song. I'm gonna speak about it a little more later, but I'm listening to this song and this, the revelation just comes. And so I've been excited all week to come and bring this message and preparing with the Lord. And so the title of my message this morning is God owes you nothing. God owes you nothing. How many know and would agree that we live in a sort of entitlement epidemic? Anyone, come on, raise your hands, nice and proud. Whether that's, there actually is an increase in entitlement, or whether that's just an increase in our ability to see another's entitlement through social media, through whatever it is, we always have an access into people's lives and opinions and thoughts and beliefs. And we're able to see better than ever the true heart of somebody, right? And this idea that we are somehow owed a certain lifestyle, that we are owed automatic blessings is rampant. Whether that's a comfortable life, whether that's for everyone to like us, for everyone to accept us and tolerate our beliefs and behaviors without the need for us to accept or tolerate their beliefs and behaviors. We feel we are owed that house, that job, that pay increase, certain comforts and privileges. Are y'all with me? And the goal of this morning isn't to offer a commentary on what's acceptable to expect in our lives. And it's not to reflect on the certain injustices that maybe we should be owed, but rather it is a commentary this morning on the idea that we bring this entitlement sometimes into our relationship with the Lord. So I wanna start off this morning by reading you a few passages of scripture that if these scriptures, if read with the heart of flesh, if read with the eyes of flesh, can almost seem like a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. But when we read them with the mind of Christ, with the spirit of God, I believe they offer incredible wisdom for us as the body of Christ. So we're gonna read these three passages and then we'll talk about them already. The first one is Romans 11, verse 33 through 36. It says, "O the depths of the riches "of the wisdom and knowledge of God, "how unsearchable his judgments, "and his paths beyond tracing out. "Who has known the mind of the Lord, "or who has been his counselor? "Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? "For from him and through him and for him "are all things, say all things, "to him be the glory forever, amen." The second passage is Job 41, verse 11. This is God responding in a long, we're just gonna single out one verse here, but this is God responding to Job and his pain and suffering. And it says, "Who has a claim against me "that I must pay everything under heaven belongs to me?" And the last passage we're gonna read to kick this off is Luke 17, verse 7 through 10. It says, "Suppose one of you has a servant "plowing or looking after the sheep. "Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, "come along now and sit down to eat? "Won't he rather say, prepare my supper, "get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink? "After that you may eat and drink. "Will he thank the servant because he did "what he was told to do?" So you also, when you have done everything, say everything, you were told to do should say we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty. Y'all catch that. So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say we are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty. This verse in particular can feel like a bit of a hard pill to swallow. And as we, as we think and meditate on these verses and we hold this verse in the context of the rest of scripture and the words of Jesus, I don't believe that this verse in its entirety is a commentary on God, but rather it is an invitation into a heart posture for the believer. It's actually an invitation for us to come before him with whole-hearted humility. It's inviting us to recognize, to acknowledge that everything that we have is a gift from God. How many know that? Everything that we have is a gift from God and we in no way could ever, ever deserve it. I hate to break it to you, but we have not entered some sort of elite special category where we have served God so uniquely that he is now indebted to us. (crowd murmuring) It's all his. It's all his. As the Lord said to Job, "Everything under heaven belongs to me." And there is the sobering and yet beautiful reality that he owes us nothing. And I don't want us to stay there, so I'm gonna quickly say this. The beauty of the gospel is that although he owes us nothing, he chose to give us everything. He chose to give us everything. He owes us nothing, but in the life of his son, Jesus, dying on a cross as a perfect man, sinless man for you and I, he gave us everything in the form of his son. And we have to keep this tension in mind because what can often happen is we are newly saved. And when we're newly saved, we are more than aware of this reality or more than aware of our unworthiness, of our need for Jesus. It's why we just, his great love and forgiveness, it's why we had to come and accept and receive him and we're aware of our brokenness, but after a little while, after a little time in the saddle, after we've put some miles on the vehicle of our faith, this growing entitlement can begin to take root at a subconscious level. And wittingly or unwittingly, we can approach God with this sort of, it's sneaky, okay? But this sneaky sort of you owe me attitude. You owe me. It can look like, where were you, God? Why didn't you show up for me? How could you let me go through that? Why didn't you give me X, Y, or Z? And before you know it, if we're not careful, we are presuming to know how to do God's job better than him. Or maybe the attitude looks like God, look at all that I'm doing to earn your grace and your favor. Look at what a good Christian I am. Don't you love me? Haven't I earned your love? Look at how deserving I am or maybe it's as simple as what about me, God? Turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 15, verse 11. We're gonna read the story of the prodigal son this morning and look at the two sons here and the various forms of entitlement that they operated in. Luke 15 verse 11, it says, "Jesus continued, "there was a man who had two sons. "The younger one said to his father, "Father, give me my share of the estate." So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together, all that he had set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. Does anyone ever lived or worked with pigs? You live near, not lived with pigs, you live near, I should say, pigs. It's just horrible, it's the worst, smells. And if you do that, I'm sorry if I've offended you. Verse 16, "He longed to fill his stomach with the pods "that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare? "And here I am, starving to death. "I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. "I am no longer worthy to be called your son. "Make me like one of your hired servants." So he got up and he went to his father. But while he was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. So he ran to his son, through his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven "and against you. "I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fat and calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and so they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field and when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fat and calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him but he answered his father, "Look, all these years I've been slaving for you "and never disobeyed your orders. "Yet you never gave me even a young goat "so I could celebrate with my friends. "But when this son of yours who has squandered your property "with prostitutes comes home, "you kill the fat and calf for him. "My son," the father said, "you are always with me "and everything I have is yours." Take a moment and let's look at these two brothers. The younger son who has the adaacity of trying to figure that out in first service, to go to his father and to ask for his inheritance early, effectively saying, "Listen, "like you're just gonna live too long. "You got a long life ahead of you. "I can't wait for your death and I want my money now. "Right, give it to me." And the father does something unexpected for me when I read this story and he decides to show mercy and grace through his son and do the very thing that he's asking for in spite of it being wicked. And he takes and he probably sells livestock, sells possessions to give to his son his inheritance early. And what does his son do? His son goes off into a distant land. He wastes all the money and now he has nothing to show for himself. A famine comes in the land and he is in desperate, desperate, at desperate place. He decides I'm gonna work for one of the locals. I'm gonna work on a pig farm and he's in such desperation that he's longing for pig food, everybody. He's longing until he comes to his senses and he thinks to himself, listen. I am no longer deserving to be called a son of my father but even my father's servants are treated better than my situation right now. So I'm gonna go back, he prepares his little speech. I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna grovel and I'm gonna pray and hope that my father will take me back as a servant. And I believe that it's in this moment this son had a life changing opportunity. Because he realized that everything that his father had, he was so undeserving of. He no longer had that sense of entitlement. Give me what is mine. Everything that you've worked for, sell it early. I can't wait for you to die, I wanna go off, give it to me. And instead he was coming to the father with I am, I'm not worthy of any of it. And it's in this moment, he comes back to his father, he's ready to grovel at his feet. He's ready to beg, he's ready with his speech. And the father sees him from afar and runs to him and embraces him and restores him and kills the fat and calf, throws a party for him. And this is a story of our salvation. Beautiful picture of our salvation. I love in this story how the son doesn't even have a chance really to give his speech before the father has made up his mind to run to him. He gives it later when the father comes close. But the father sees him from afar, he hasn't yet heard the speech, he hasn't yet seen the repentance, but the father sees him and has moved to compassion, the scripture say, and runs to him. And that's such a picture of our salvation, of our life with Jesus, that there is no perfectly crafted prayer that could make us earn any of this. There is no perfect speech that somehow makes us deserving. It was simply his choice to lavish his love on us. We were undeserving of all of it. Are y'all with me? What a beautiful, beautiful free gift. And salvation is just that it will always remain a free gift. Now take a moment and look at the elder son. How this often is an illustration of us also. We've served the Lord a long time. We've given our lives to him. And we begin to see the kindness of Jesus on others, the favor of the Lord on others. And if we're not careful, we begin to adopt this, what about me mindset with the Lord? What about me? We begin to say or think, look at all these things that I've done for you, God. I've worked for you tirelessly. I've given my life to you. I've earned more, you owe me. And when we enter into the spirit of envy and entitlement, we miss out on at least two important truths today. I want to point out. Number one, that there is not a drop, not an ounce of the life and empowerment of salvation that we could ever earn. It was a free gift and it will forever remain a free gift. God bestows and entrusts people with certain things, those that have, that he trusts. That's another message for another time. But the full measure and blessing of the gospel of Jesus was poured out when you said yes. And the thing I love is like we can't even take credit for our salvation. 'Cause the scriptures say that he chose you actually before time began. Are y'all with me? Like we can't even take credit for our salvation. We said yes to the invitation, but it was, it was, he's the one who extended the greatest part of the invitation. We simply said, yeah, that looks like a really good offer. All of my crap for all of your purity and goodness and the life spent with you and attorney, I think I'll take you up on that. We had the easy part once we saw what was offered to us. And the empowerment of the cross is and can never be a sort of, you've earned another measure. Congratulations, you unlocked another level. No, my kids at their preschool, they get sticker charts. And if they get enough stickers, they get to visit the treasure box. Your salvation is not a sticker chart. The empowerment is not of God, of Christ in you, is not a sticker chart. It was a free gift, freely given to you when you said yes to Jesus. The full weight of the salvation and empowerment, the full measure of the same spirit of Christ that rose Jesus from the dead was poured out on you the moment you said yes to Jesus. Are you alive? Yeah. The second thing, if we believe this lie, that we've now earned this and that God owes us, or there's a measure of it that we've earned or we've earned something on top, we lose the ability so often to recognize what God has done right in front of us and the things that He's blessed us with right in front of us. We've become so preoccupied with what a good son or daughter we are and all that we've done and are doing for our father, that somehow along the way we convince ourselves that our inheritance is an earned commodity. I hope to one day leave my kids an inheritance. I was thinking about this as I was preparing, I hope one day I can leave them something. And it's not something they can earn. There'll be no son or daughter report cards being handed out. You gotta be blessed so you only get this amount but you, you gotta be blessed. Like there'll be no measurement, there'll be no rating system. Why, why do they get inheritance? Because of the love of a father or the love of a mother, it's a free gift. And as I began to think about this, I was getting a little weepy, I'm gonna admit, as I was preparing for the sermon, I was thinking of one day the joy that it will be to offer my kids, hey, look at what I've left for you. The blessing that that will be. And I began to think about that if there was a point in which they ever thought that they earned it, how much that would actually deeply sat in my heart? Because it would somehow pollute or pervert the free gift that it is, that there is nothing you had to do for this. There is absolutely nothing you had to do but be my son, but be my daughter. And when we approach Jesus and we think that somehow we have earned the free gift, we are polluting the gift. It was free. You couldn't do anything to deserve it. Don't diminish the gift that God has given you. And this sermon today is not to diminish the gift that the Lord has given us. 'Cause He has, we're a part of Ketch the Fire. Y'all been here long enough, we believe the Lord has empowered us, has given us His Spirit, He has called us to go and raised the dead, cleansed the leper, proclaim the good news of the Lord, like all of it. He has poured out the full measure, but let us never take it for granted and become entitled and think that we've somehow earned it. And that's what God has done. I'm entitled and think that we've somehow earned it. Y'all with me. This is a foundational heart posture that we have to get right. It's from this place that health or unhealth can flow. And we, you know, we get it. If you've been, I grew up in the charismatic movement, like I know He's empowered me. If you go to the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry when I was there in 2008, you are pumped full the entire time you're there of you're amazing. You're gonna change the world, your royalty. And before you know it, you're like, I am. I am right. I am gonna change the world. I am gonna be amazing. Like this, this, it, man, I got something amazing. But the kingdom of heaven is a generational inheritance. It is not a slot machine. We don't just get to pull the leper whenever we feel like it, only looking to the hand of God and not the face of God. I once heard Jacob say. We don't just want the handouts, we want the man. So don't ever take him for granted. Don't approach him like the younger son, only for what I can get from you, God. Simply put, entitlement is a form of pride in saying, I, me, me, this, I, this, but the Lord is after a pure and spotless bride. One who knows that complexity, I don't deserve an ounce of this. Yet you gave it to me, praise be to God. Lord, help me to use this to bring you glory. Like shouldn't that be the cry of our heart? So I wanna take a moment with the rest of our time and discuss how we can remain rooted and grounded in purity of heart. Y'all up for that? The first key I wanna offer is to praise in the highs and the lows and to keep eternity in mind. Remember this was inspired by a song for me, the Lord brought inspiration in it. I wanna read you the lyrics of this chorus 'cause, oh my God, Penny is rolling around. There you go. On the ground, y'all are looking at me weird. There was like a Penny rolling on the ground, okay? Just in case you didn't clue in there. Just let you in on my inner dialogue as I watch this thing rolling. And I'm listening to this song and I just, I began to weep at the beauty of the heart posture of this chorus. And Rita, she sings this, she says, "Amen when the brook dries up. "Amen from an empty cup. "Amen when there's not enough. "God hear me say it again. "Amen from the wilderness. "Amen from the lion's den. "Amen when there's nothing left. "God hear me say it again. "These lyrics just pierced my heart. "The invitation that it is to praise him in the highs "and the lows. "As Jess reminded us of beautifully last week, "the comfort is not a guarantee of our salvation. "The Lord said, 'When you face trials.' "It's not if, it's when." And so in these moments resist the temptation to question the character and motives of God and presume that you know better, how to do his job better and just offer him your praise. Offer him a simple song of worship. And listen, that might be a little ugly at times, a little cryy at times, that might be as simple as that beautiful Brian and Katie Torrell song I love "When I don't understand, I will choose you, God. "When I don't understand, I will choose to love you, God." And we say, "Amen, God, not just on the mountaintops, "but we say amen in the hard places, "knowing that you are still on your throne "and you are in control and you are still good." (audience applauds) The reality is, we cannot reduce God to the lowest common denominator of our experience. And allow that to change our belief of who he says he is. The word of God and who God says he is is the truth and everything else must submit to that. No, with me. Years back, I was struggling with passing of a young child, went home to be with Jesus, what felt in my humble opinion far too early. And man, it rocked me and I was wrestling with God, y'all have wrestled with God on things before. I hope you have, I hope I'm not the only one here that's willing to admit it. Man, I wrestled with God on that one for a while. And just like all sorts of questions and bringing it before the Lord, and I love it, he's not afraid of my questioning. So I'm just wrestling with this with him, but I'm not choosing to make judgments about him. But I'm just bringing before him, my vulnerability, my brokenness, my questions, and I'm like, I don't get it. And it's in this beautiful place that the Lord just came alongside me. And he began to minister to my heart and just continue to remind me of the hope that is our salvation. This is why I say, keep eternity in mind. The reality that anything that we see on this side of earth, that's just the cherry on top. That Jesus is the whole cake. If y'all like that analogy, I don't know, go find another one if you don't. (congregation laughing) It works for me. He is the whole package. And the blessings and gifts and miracles and breakthroughs that we see here, man, that's just like the bonus rounds. Everything was poured out in salvation in the form of a man named Jesus. That one day we get to look even death in the face and we get to say, you have no sting. The moment that I die, I will wake up in glory, seated in eternity with Jesus. There will be no more crying, there will be no more suffering. You will have redeemed everything. I used to wanna look away from death. I wanted to find any way that I could to avoid it. And especially with the air of social media, it's like you can find a sad story every minute of every day if you try to and I'm not recommending that either. But there was this something the Lord shifted in my heart in this moment, going through this grief, processing this grief with the Lord, that I actually now, like I get to look death in the face and say, Jesus is better than you. Jesus defeated you. (congregation clapping) And if you've ever been at the bedside or near a loved one who's gone home to be with Jesus, there is this weird sense of hope. That they're free from their suffering. That they are fully, fully free with Jesus, seated with Him in eternity. And that is the hope of salvation that we cling to. (speaking in foreign language) Thank you, Jesus. Number two, remember all that He's done for you and remember that He gets the credit. When you read the Old Testament, you see the Israelites, their greatest mistake. And the thing the Lord was often reminding them of was that they were forgetful. They would forget the ways that the Lord had provided for them, they would forget the ways that the Lord had brought victory to them. And man, the Lord would continually remind them, like remember, tell your children, tell the generations to come of the salvation of the Lord, of how I brought you through Egypt, through the Red Sea, right? And if we're not careful, we too can do exactly the same and we can become forgetful of what God has done for us in our lives. And we have to take time to intentionally remind ourselves of His goodness and the complexity of salvation. Again, growing up in the charismatic movement, a lot of my life, you're pumped full of that stuff, you're royalty, you're gonna change the world, all of it, right? And how many notes true? Come on, somebody, how many notes true? But there is this tension of salvation, of whilst it is completely true, also recognizing, like because of Jesus, man, I'm everything, but without Jesus, I would be nothing. Like I am so undeserving without you, Jesus, and I am in such great need of you, constantly, hold that tension in mind. How many movements and ministries and missions have been just demolished because creeping pride began to come in and all of a sudden, man begin to take credit for what God had done, all of it, like without Jesus. Because of Jesus, you can do great things, but just remember along the way when you do those great things without Jesus, you would be nothing. That is the complexity I'm talking about. Victory belongs to the Lord. When the armies of the Philistines were opposing Israel, they put forth their champion, a giant named Goliath. And Goliath mocked the armies of the Lord, he mocked their God, he told Israel, challenge them to send forth a champion, to defeat me, and the whole army of Israel was stricken with fear, they were overcome. And it's David, a shepherd boy, who was just there to bring provisions to his brothers on behalf of his father, who he hears the mockery of Goliath, and he says, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And he proceeds to tell Saul that he wants to fight Goliath and Saul says this, first Samuel 17, verse 33, Saul replied, you are not able to go against this Philistine and fight him, you are only a young man. And he has been a warrior from his youth. But David said to Saul, your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them. Love the confidence, David, 10 out of 10. Because he has defied the armies of the living God, verse 37, the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. In this moment of trial, David is recalling on the previous breakthroughs of the Lord, but he is fully aware that it was the Lord who brought him breakthrough then, and it is the Lord who will bring him breakthrough now. And at no point is he taking credit upon himself that he is somehow some amazing soldier that's gonna take care of this thing. No, it is the hand of the Lord who was with him in those fields who will be with him now in front of the armies of Israel and Goliath and the Philistines. His credit is to the Lord. So remember what God has done for your life, but just remember that it's him who gets the credit and not you. (audience applauding) That same spirit, there was Jesus from the dead, lives in you, but at no point because of that, do you become the hope of glory? It is Jesus in you who is the hope of glory, okay? (audience applauding) Verse three, point three, I should say. His practice gratitude, developed the ability to be thankful, be thankful for what's in front of you and has been in front of you the whole time. Take time to intentionally thank the Lord for all that he's done for you, for all that he's given you. And I believe it's this practice that continuously softens our heart before him. We live in a day and age where comparison is easier than ever. It's probably why this entitlement envy thing is rampant. It's so easy to see another's life, to see what they have, to long for that thing, to all of a sudden position ourselves to perceive of all the lack that we're in. Has anyone ever watched any home shows? I've mentioned before how watching home shows, I love them, but it's also a negative experience because you watch the shows and all of a sudden you're going around your house and you wanna blow out every wall, you wanna change every piece of hardware, you're just like, burn it all down, start again. We become like the Grinch, right? Y'all seeing the Grinch? Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, loathe entirely, that's about in pressure, but we like enter this spirit of negativity, of complaining, but the invitation is to be a people of thanksgiving, of gratitude, and who can see what was in front of us all the long, and this was the condition of the elder son. He saw all that was being lavished upon his younger brother and he was blinded by it, and the father is trying to plead with him as he's deeply saddened and saying, "All that I have is yours, can't you see it?" But he's too focused on the blessing of the younger son and the forgiveness that he's received. There's an invitation for us. How are we going to even celebrate another's breakthrough? Man, and it's tough. When somebody gets the very thing you're longing for, you know, the elder son, he's like, you didn't kill a fat and calf for me, you didn't give me as much as a young goat, it sounds like he would have really loved the fat and calf slain for him. A party thrown for all that he'd done. And here his younger son, his younger brother, excuse me, is receiving it. But there's an invitation for us to be better as the body of Christ and to heart as it may be, through gridded teeth, maybe as it might be. And in faith with our words, Lord, thank you for the blessing on their life, how you've given them this breakthrough. I know that one day mine is coming. And I thank you for what I do have right now in my life. Thanksgiving is such a beautiful combatant to comparison. Proverbs 14.30 says, "A sound heart is life to the body, "but envy is rottenness to the bones." I don't know but you, but rotten bones don't sound like a good thing. Do you not recommend? So we practice gratitude. You know, in my own life, I've had challenging moments with this. I remember quite a few years ago we were, I was getting up to lead worship. We are on the stage back then. And I remember to this day getting up the, going up those stairs. And as I'm halfway up those little stairs, the Lord instantly speaks to me and says, Aaron, are you enjoying this? You know, it's one of those things when the Lord speaks. You're like, oh God, that hurts so good. Ooh, and the Lord just began to challenge me, returned to the joy, what a joy it is to serve me today, and a joy it is to worship. And just the other week, just a couple weeks ago, I was stepping in to help cover for somebody who couldn't be here and I was leading worship here. And not the last time, but the time before that. And I'm driving in and the worship team's got to be here at like seven or a little before seven. So depending on how far you live, it's an early start. Any night owls in the room that would hate that. All right. And so I'm on the drive-in just a few weeks ago, and I begin to have these thoughts. Oh man, I can't believe I had to get up so early. Can't believe I got to drive over there and do this. And in a beautiful, very tender way, the Lord just said, get to, you get to. And I'm telling you, for the rest of that drive, I said thank you, Lord, that I get to be here today. Thank you, Lord, that I woke up and there's breath in my lungs. Thank you, Lord, that you gave me this ability to bring to the body, to participate with the body. And I just, I shut up all wicked thoughts from that moment onwards 'cause I knew it would be sin to continue. So gratitude is beautiful because it changes our perceptions. And it gives us a perspective of thank you, Lord, for what I do have. And I'll be, there may be things that I'm longing for and dreaming for. You know the dreams of my heart, and I'm thankful for what I have now. You know, I wonder how many of our problems would go away if we just stop complaining. If we just fix this one thing and we began to practice our gratitude, and please hear my heart. I'm not diminishing some of the hardships and things that people are walking through and the valleys. That's not at all what I'm saying. I'm more speaking to the levels of entitlement and pride and just wanting more and more and more out of God in our lives and not entering into a spirit of being thankful for what we do have. Y'all with me? And lastly, I wanna say, watch the company you keep. All right, watch the company you keep. I like your company, you're always so encouraging. You know what I'm saying? I like all y'all's company, don't worry, don't get offended. First Corinthians 15 verse 33 says, "Bad company corrupts good morals." You wanna have people in your life that are pouring into you. Don't make friends only with the complainers. I was talking with a friend who was going through some hard things recently and this thought is going through really what they described as a wilderness season. And this thought occurred to me as I was preparing for this. Are we making friends with people who are comfortable in their wildernesses? Who've like built little Airbnb's, built properties and built some properties in the desert and they've just made that their camp? Or have we made friends or been the type of people that are being led by the Lord through the wilderness? There's nothing wrong with being in a wilderness but it's not the place you're meant to live. And so are you submitted to the lordship of Jesus and allowing him to take you through the wilderness? I heard my friend Hal say the other day like he's finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a subway. It's not a train about to hit him. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train. I thought that was funny. (audience laughing) It's a good litmus test for us, isn't it? Are somebody really comfortable in their angst and their complaints and their negativity? Or are they even going, when they're going through hard things submitted to the Lord? And so obviously being prayer about it, I'm not telling you to get rid of all your friends or anything like that. Maybe even you're this in your friend group. You're the negative one. And it's time to move in a spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving and gratefulness. Y'all with me. All right. This is the good news today, everybody. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve it. Buddy gave us everything. Just make sure that we don't allow our hearts to slip in this belief that we somehow earned it. And again, it's a subtle thing. It's not, it's like if you're not looking for it, you barely recognize it. It's very sneaky. But this belief that God, my life, this thing, should have gone this way. It should have gone that way or the other. Then we begin to, before we know it again, we presume we know how to do his job better than him. And so I want to invite you into that belief. You don't deserve it, but he chose you and he loves you and he's lavished his love on you. Jesus speaking of the woman with the albaster perfume, he says, "Therefore I tell you, "her many sins have been forgiven "as her great love has shown. "But whoever has been forgiven little loves little. "Let us be among the believers that understand "the great way of forgiveness." That was poured out on us. And be those who love much because we have been forgiven much. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna invite us into a simple invitation this morning. Just wherever you are, just quiet yourself for a moment. Just you and the Lord. The tune with the Lord. And take a time of intentional reflection and ask him, "Lord, is there an area in my relationship with you "that I've been taking for granted?" Or is there something I thought that was my right and I put you on trial for? Saying, "How could you not do this thing?" (gentle music) Just ask him for a moment, Lord. Is there any entitlement or pride? And I felt the Lord saying today that he wanted to restore a childlike faith and trust. That he is a father you can trust. Sometimes it's as simple as our trust is a little at a whack. God, I don't know if I can trust you. You can't. And he is restoring a childlike faith that our dads got it under control. You can be a child again. You don't have to worry. He's got you. So just take a moment, be honest, be vulnerable with the Lord. Search me, know me, Lord. (gentle music) And it's real simple if you, the Lord reveals something, if you identify something, just take a moment and just repent before the Lord. But I repent for any entitlement, any pride, any things that I've taken for granted. Thought that I was owed. Would you help me to see the blessings right in front of me in this moment? (gentle music) Lord, I ask that we would be a people that never take you for granted, that are so aware of all that you did for us, of the life you saved us, of the sin you saved us from. Let us never take for granted. Help us to be a people of gratefulness. A people who recognize that everything we have is a gift from you. Transform us. Thank you so much for joining us. There are so many opportunities to grow, connect, and be encouraged. To learn more, visit ctfrolley.com and follow us on social media. Thank you so much for being part of the family. We are so thankful for you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)