Celebrate After Hours

This is Stu Epperson from the truth. Talk podcast connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and were so grateful for you that you've chosen The Truth Podcast Network it's about to start just a few seconds. Enjoy it and please share around all your friends. Thanks for listening and thanks for choosing the truth. Podcast network.

This is the Truth Network coming to you from an infringement barricade in the heart of a letter masculine journey after hours time to go to be more transparent on the topic of this so sit back and visit venture.

Masculine journey starts here now welcome the masking journey after hours talking about this week but I'm not going to tell you what it is to live in the year tells about this topic as he brought it to the team and it's an amazing topic and I think you think I started off by celebrating myself but not so now we were some of us were on the wild at heart. They did amazing meeting talk a lot. We listen to them a lot on their podcast and their conflict on men's hearts and is is that really wanting to see a move of God, nationally and worldwide for men's hearts and as leaders. It made us feel like we you know who have the and walked out the message you understand what's going on a lot of the message of the hardest. You know you're constantly allowing Jesus to heal you from one's and your basically be in discipled your growing your learning your becoming a mature Christian and in doing so. A lot of times we get weary and that we just do it and continually do it and it's always like the next checkbox.

Okay, we got that down. Let's move on to the other thing Anna that the focus really is is taken time to celebrate. Don't just jump to the next thing and not only celebrate what God is done in your life but help others celebrate the sometimes we don't see even what God is done in us.

We need to help our brothers out in and help them celebrate and point out what God is done in their life. Thank you, absolutely, and we talked about in the previous show just couple of things that can to get in the way of that year. One is forgetfulness right or a to do list. You know that I will move on to that next thing. But if you've ever worked in an environment of continuous improvement which most companies do. At some point if you don't take time to celebrate you and ask yourself is, is it never good enough right and that's what you can personally feel with you even articulated you get this weariness that you describe right and it's taking the time to celebrate one of the things that they still talk about if you're trying to lose weight. That's been a goal of mine and one of the things that they talk about is you don't measure your goal on how much you have left to do you measure it on how far you've Artie came is if you can celebrate the 3 pounds with the 5 pounds of the 10 pounds in the lost gives you fuel for the next leg private families looking at the 15 or 20 or whatever that number is that I want to lose and how it's only down by when I stopped 19 more to go. You lose heart. And this whole celebration mentality is very biblical as really I get the answer is Jesus. Jesus, yeah, this you know you would talked about an earlier that when you dig into the word celebrate it really has to do with how great life is mean that if you wanted to to diagram that word the way that I do.

It means that life is like great great day.

Use the great word twice and and it has to do with how great God is. Specifically that word were getting a chance to see that as it becomes part of our testimony and then you talked about journaling which has everything to do with keeping a chronicle of the truth and in in John Bunyan's genius of the Pilgrim's progress which I think about all the time actually is that the hero of the story Christian is trying to go up the hill or difficulty, and he falls asleep and he drops out of his bosom.

His testimony on the ground and he loses it and he almost can't finish the journey because he doesn't have his testimony, and as I began to think about what that means in my own world that when things really start to begin to get discouraging those things that are. I have written down that are actually when Jesus came to my rescue. What it was. My crushed leg or or the night that I got to almost see his face and I was going through that and unfortunately for me, those things are written down and when your time of the personal celebration of Jesus is actually me in my testimony like yeah you were here for this and you were here for this and and and that's more of a personal level of of celebration, but that's kind of where that really comes from. Absolutely nuts. That's what's going to encourage you because you know you talked about the Journal of truth it's it's a record of intruders will use our enemy, the father of lies right so when you're constantly being bombarded with the lies he could only counteract that with true things only go back to the story that we had before that the break we we get a little bit of a glimpse of it before he went from show regular Saturday after hours. Then you had a time where you kinda had something on your heart. Get a little discouragement. The guy didn't you stay there right you are domiciled about that story.

Yeah, I'd gold to a process of felt like God was calling me into ministry and part of that process of the light was being ordained and I started in in the denomination. We were Ian and I will mention it, but the they had a process to go through to live is like male in packages that you filled out actually well and one of the packets.

The paper was in big bold letters it said of you ever been divorced. We prove much, don't you back carry it back to the our ministry director Tom tears in my eyes and going everything do with me and I'm hopeless at and our pastor Tom he he started a process to meet with the state overseer just having forever grateful for my former pastor but anyway and in this time I'm sitting in church on Sunday and my youngest niece dear and there were dedicated and related family and big church and Navy.

I think the church took the took the Scripture, be fruitful and multiply literally because of the baby and so they didn't have enough elders to serve pastor to announce it there in self-pity not only ordained I can do this.

I can't do that and and and God's is when the pastor says Danny kilogram need you so I have to step in and and Kristin my yeah my second use niece is now 13 and what God spoke that day was you. Let me decide where you go, what you do. I'm running the ship and it literally has changed my life because I did go home to pastor says that the state overseer uses find a local ministry pay whatever it is. If you believe in. Again turning loose and we were involved in development of steel and conservative pastor over that I called humus the hay is was going on. He said of it. Wait'll you call when you only do it next week. Good.

I'm thinking what is so I literally got ordained when we get when the next week he went to Brazil the week after that. So what a summer while left to celebrate their agony rethink about praying about our day in Africa that I think even when things it's hard about this is we conceptually understand it.

But then there's a practical application and you had a pastor that left you ever after 18 years, one really bit of wisdom he shared with us in the break member that was that it is his statement was information without application never bring about transformation right and so were getting information. I'm talking to us as a team.

You, the people's and Mike's and you that are listening were getting information today, but without the application were to meet the same place six months from now, a year from now and still being feeling weary feeling I comanage so much in front of us falling for the lies, all those kinds of things so the question I have for you what's going to be different. What can be different with your celebration and when you brought up the topic. Any for me.

One of the things that I have not often recognize not mentioned in many many many many times on the show begin the breakthrough of not feeling like I had anything important to say. Now I know that the enemy and in the moment in the movie the beautiful mind.

There's a great little scene where the enemy is always around the sky, yelling, adding all the time enemy is always going to be there yelling the same things at me. I get that but it's not letting them have a place to land into static you know and and living in the celebration of thinking that I do know that there are times that you call me to have something to say and I believe that to be more true now and I believe did the other to be true. For the longest part of my life and living in that reality will help me speak up in situations where I would normally not be as comfortable to do that right because when I feel God calling on you to take out my trash and walk with you in this paper is the only way to do that is to live in that celebration and live in that reality.

Yeah, I think I don't know I just I think we do this we don't really focus on taking the time so you asked how how I would do things differently give you an igniter how how are you, my going to give you an example. I really got a kind of gotten stagnant with all the covert start a business work and things like trying I've had to set one certification two times already.

I need to give their time and it seem like it's a big hill to start over because the interior was changing like so I finally dove into it and I did very well on the test.

In the end, to me that since the satisfaction of coming through and and really doing well, you know I make things much bigger than they are. I look at this man and really you know it was a challenge to get there with the where I'm a bit that celebration made me want to go back and take the next test or let that victory made me want to go back and take the test celebrate that go on and get get motivated again. We as a love the way our hearts work, I believe, is that you will get stuck, you will get you noticed. Not really making progress in what you start procrastinating a lot of things it says I think in Proverbs hope deferred makes the heart sick. It keeps you from going on the other things I think celebration is a key part of the even really acknowledge it happen.

You've made progress so I can go on to the next thing and have confidence in him hit the next thing as well. That's when the doubts creep in procrastination treatment that they tend to go hand in hand. But some Morgan talks about celebrating the weird and if you know me well you girl okay that's weird yeah the yelling ran with me so when I was thinking about different when you challenge this little bit is every time I take the Holy Spirit's relief like he says okay you may have heard me describe about how I have this tendinitis and I now understand that the state and the sound of the Mammon is actually Jesus calling so every time I hear this coming in my ears. It really is. It's pretty cool thing actually celebrate the fact that they that's you and I got to know like that's really really cool and I have some breakthrough that I was celebrating the day in Jesus is a very very from omelette giving gifts whenever you get a breakthrough in he came in he held my hand and very specifically, he held my left hand which I didn't understand that at the time, but as he did you know he has no holes in his hand and so I felt the blood that was actually like almost like the celebration of communion that you talked about Harold as I was holding his hand and so is even just being totally with the word person I am right now on I keep experiencing this. I hear the humming. I hold my hand.

Jesus holds my hand. I feel the blood and I feel part of being in Christ and the neat thing is is that all these things keep growing and what and what I'm trying to illustrate, I guess, is that the Holy Spirit will tell you some pretty weird things to do, but if you go with it.

It's phenomenal.

This the way that it changes what you believe is actually going on right this minute. So if you're me and you just chalked up you finger your left and last night you know with the hedge trimmer just so happened that that was the Hammond Jesus was going to hold in his arm laying there getting stitched up last night. What did that mean to me that I'm I'm literally celebrating a sum listening to the humming in my years. Jesus is holding much got up, left, and to me that's pretty good place to be in spite of the fact that you're in a pretty bad place and this is in the medications. We think this is a very hot they were all parties. This is the truth before the that's the truth that you are. That's a journey you have a Jesus and all these are all of ours is different in interpersonal processes right. I think we need to be consistent that celebration.

One of the things I gotta commit to is I got a commit to journaling and I hate even say that on the Americas and if I can do it, but there's so much it's Rob from me so much a trap for me and I think I'm always going to remember something God said obviously got to remember that. And then it's gone yet but you got a victory from last week. I do have a victory last week I made the statement you were talking about the leasing on my word for the year is believe in and what do I believe in you and so I said it was going to do something I did that I put on my mirror what I choose what you choose to believe today and then that the bundle that says choose truth and I put it in my bathrooms have to see it every morning and it's only time actually look in the mirrors in the morning enough you if you're me that's a military look at the bear as well, but I look in the morning and then I put it in my car on my – down by my stereo and in throughout the day is life. I'm in my car a lot for work is life comes at me and tries to strip away the truth tries to get me to believe other things right now it's acting as an anchor. I don't think it's a permanent solution, but I think it's a solution for now. The heat gets me to a permanent solution on the journaling issue right and I can only offer you know what I do what he did and I again I was Holy Spirit guidance are here you go. So I use my fountain. I use notes and you know part of my daily prayer team is asked Jesus.

What did you pray for me that day and then I get a piece of Scripture and I get a word and I asked those every day and I journals or sent me. In other words I'm sitting with my phone when I get the answer I put that you would be shocked at how many times during the day.

I go back to go. Yeah advocacy you totally lost it or you go back and I know our thing about that three or four days ago and it's right there in your phone in your notes you have all the time right in front of you at but it's it starts with in my case unit you know actually saying okay Jean yelled in the prayer asking the questions asking where we going to today, Jesus and what what you want talking and laughing is today about working right and so get one headphone is like separate headphones with their wireless he can have one end and listen to their pod and so I'm working outside and I happen to be listening to music in the habit really think too much and the song comes on and I like that is a great topic for the radio show I should write that down in the next song came on in a different genre and it was a different band altogether. Obviously it was on the same topic like oh yeah yeah yeah this is a great topic.

I can't tell you what I number one of the band.

So if you go back and look at every one of this is okay guys I said, it is wrote down what he gave it to me as I go. This is give me a great topic that yeah and when those things happen because you feel like you're really God really gave them to you on slamming it like a revelation in your spirit, and then it becomes.

You know a reverse in your mouth or whatever instead to get next song stuck. Over and over near it's the song that is not there, you can now think about it, you can you're all around it, but you cannot bring about yeah it's can be some you know commercial jingle.

That's it in my head now goes along to with what we talked. I think this was at feed I can't remember from you know 30 minutes ago but I think were talking between shows is that the Old Testament there was the results couple examples. I feel like if celebration one for the remembrance part is build an altar build the tabernacle build something of this essence to remember those things by, or the celebration of the feast for key and they are truly our celebrations and remembering the goodness of God but and how he communes with his people. I think we gave example of of communion heralded but there's just it is a concept that we don't think about a lot. I don't think but I think you made a great point to talk about. We do it naturally with the kids and I think most people do wish we should write will look for opportunities to celebrate any type of thing that they they do right unity celebrate the report card to celebrate this you know whether it's coming from a seed of the year. Need a CD or whatever. You know that have to be straight A's learning to find reasons to celebrate the not fake conference participation trophy evidence a reason to celebrate them in that we we don't do a very good job of doing that for ourselves and some of it feels like maybe that's too much self interest, saying that but it's more of a focus on your own heart.

Are you guarding your own heart from you because a lot of times you can be your own worst enemy that did to that point we were talking about a hearth earlier about you know what's God's involvement is is he up there saying way to go.

You know, just look at ourselves like were not you know earlier, it wasn't that big of a deal well you know you did it all God or whatever you want. I truly believe he probably sitting there just waiting for us to obviously give him praise for, but to acknowledge the victory that we've had together so thank you.

Any separate question that in preparing for the level of what attorney think what what type of gastric and phrases to make any like I work on right now what you feel like you need to go celebrate God's done in your life.

The guides helped you do in your life.

Guides helped you achieve or may it's being able to get on the highway and drive without screaming and tried for a long time but until I really asked the Holy Spirit to help me do what I couldn't do and no so much sweetheart is now agreed to will will will go to Alabama for the my nephews wedding and maybe will take that Christmas trip. She's so double confidence in my driving that she had lost so there you go.

That's that's a big thing for me that is a big one for me. I think it's it's recognition of the healing that's happened that's changed my propensity to go to anger right away.

I've had calls from both my and my son's recently no one had a fender bender get a ticket. That type of thing in 10 years ago that would've been anger given what we know once I knew they were okay in the first question is everything okay then, other than anger not in just wasn't that way it's like I mean, they know they made a mistake.

They knew what they did wrong. They don't need me reiterating it and they need me to say okay what we do now right you know obviously the back my mind like I can afford family insurance to go have any that's on but it wasn't on the forefront. That would've been the predominant thing of being angry about something you none of such an angry person so much of the time over the littlest things and I really think that's changed. I see that dynamic with my sons in the fruit of that is I think they bring more things to me now because they can trust my reactions. I don't think they ever distrusted dad is to know which data get on a given day, and I think they're they're getting a more consistent dad more of the time and that has nothing to do with me. Other than being willing to enter into things. Letting Jesus do the work in on celebrating that's more the guy want to be now. The more that guy a year from now I am today and another even more that five years now and only way to do that is to keep entering into those things that Jesus and letting the sings go way that the enemy wants to poke at the hurt and caused anger.

I think I thought a lot this week some reason December. My wife married 18 years Mozilla has been divorced twice and when I think about that we don't celebrate that enough goals. I can where we got married you.

I love to read. I struggle with the journal thing somewhere where my journals are really the top of page what robs you of your time and there's nothing under it: take time to figure out what regular time journaling journaling, but the celebrating the fact that we we have a a good relationship that we don't celebrate enough that you do she's put up with me for 18 years thanks to your prayers now.

Same of Buddha. She met Darren and Sheila church Sunday and she still will let me hang a shot at Darren Cody not here yet but is of the things you celebrate, you celebrate you, your children celebrate your I have two great kids and having so those are the kind of thing that will focus on and and celebrate rubbing them for you and I'm astounded at you to scan is that the applicant is like trip them up to that I can have the only coming I certainly can think of one of the things I got from the show is, actually, from Lebron James is making sure your name to my old buddy was actually how can I help my brothers's to see how special they are in the recognize when they're getting beat up and and and try to speak into that because a lot of times you know were walking around and you can see it in their in their eyes that the distant they're not feeling you know what God's feeling because you may not believe what you believe in.

Well, it really really does help when it when a dear brother and and I'm talking about that likely with brave farming, while heart talks about an ally somebody visit when they are at war Europe or when you're war there and so when you see that war going on in their eyes to actually enter into that. Not just from the standpoint of boat you know you're special you actually probably gonna have to enter into it and and and and celebrate with embedded it's gonna take some battle in order to get to that celebration. What is it that God's prompting you to celebrate. What is it that he's calling you to risk right now the step in the place of risk is maybe you need to risk a little bit before you can celebrate, or maybe say no, you risk a lot. You miss much. Take some time celebrate enjoy this with me will take on that next step right but where does God have you today has the answer for you will have it with his prompting say take it to him to God.

I know you got something for me and when I think he probably has for you is going to the next boot camp November 12-15 masculine journey.org to register now. We love to see you there and will talk to you next week.

This is the Truth Network