Live Free with Josh Howerton - A Win-Win Kind of Life | Ep. 46 | Monday April 10, 2023

Episode Date: April 10, 2023

It’s easy to divide people into two categories: those who need help (others) and those who give help (yourself). The reality is that you are BOTH of those people. Sometimes you give help, and sometimes you receive it. This episode with Pastor Mike defines the word that sums up those two categories: friendship— and discusses its value on your best and worst days. Consider this episode a friendly tip that you don’t want to miss! For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, welcome to the podcast. My name is Mike Bro, and I'm excited to hang with you for a few minutes today as we do money through Friday. And I've just been personally reading through a little letter called Philippians. I don't know how many times I've read through Philippians, but I love it. And to do it from my own growth. And what I'm doing is just sharing what's been resonated in me as someone who's on the same journey as you're on.

And I just been praying that God is doing some good stuff on the inside of all of us as we track through this together. Hey, we're still in chapter one. We're just biting off a little. at a time. So if you're joining us for one of the first times, you can go back and catch previous episodes. That would help you out. But the author of this book of Philippians is a guy named Paul. Actually, it's a letter that he's writing from prison. And there's no other reason he's in prison, but his allegiance to Jesus Christ. And now we're down to verse 15. And this is what he says in verse 15. It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. He's just saying, And there's a few people out there that are off track, and they're in it to draw attention to

themselves. They're trying to get more followers, probably even a few in it to rip people off and get rich. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. Verse 16. They preach because they love me. They know I've been appointed to defend the good news. He's talking about these people out there who are saying, Paul, we're in it with you. We got your back, Paul.

We know what you're going through. You need to know. Your faith inspires us. You need to know this also. We love Jesus too, and we love you, and we are in this with you. And man, I hope you have those kind of people in your life. People who are saying, we got this, we got this. I was watching a basketball game on television one day,

and a coach got a little overheated, as coaches sometimes do, because of what he perceived is unfair officiating, and the guy ended up getting ejected. Well, coaches will do that sometimes. Well, on his way out of the gym, one of his players stopped and put his arm around him and said to him, don't worry, coach, we got this. And they ended up erasing a 15-point deficit and winning the game.

Now, you probably shouldn't get thrown out of a basketball game, but it's great to know that you've got people in your life that will say, don't worry, we got this. You see, I think we, especially us guys, we have a tendency to divide people into two categories, those who need help and those who give help. those weak people, them who need help, and the strong people, us who give help. Truth is, we're both.

And it's so vital to have people in your life who can help you, who can say to you, you need a friend right now, we got this. You need a ride right now, we got this. Need some cash, we got this. Need a place to stay? We got this. Need a shoulder to cry on. We got this.

Need some eggs or a tank of gas. Well, good luck with that. But I'm so grateful for people in my life that have, told me, man, we got this. We're in this with you. Honestly, I may have quit ministry a long time ago without those kind of people. Paul goes on to say this verse 17. Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains even more painful to me. He said, they're out to hurt me. And then I love this. Verse 18, he just simply says, but that doesn't matter. I just love that. You got to love Paul's confidence here.

His strong foundation, you got to love his understanding of the magnitude of the good news of God. And the good news of God is simply he longed for a relationship with people like us. People like us broke that relationship. So God made the first move. And Jesus Christ came to restore

that broken relationship with people like us. And Paul said, man, that news is just too good not to get out there. So he's saying whether their motives are false or genuine, that's between them and God. because the message about the good news of Jesus Christ is still being preached. Either way, the good news is still getting out there, so that thrills me. And I will continue to rejoice.

I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not going to stress out about other people's motives or their intentions. I'm not going to post about it. I'm not going to tweet about it. I'm not going to get into any of that. I'm not going to get off track and let that stuff stress me out, distract me, and suck the joy out of my life. I'm just going to stay focused on what God has called me to do.

do, and I'm going to joyfully do it. I'm just grateful that the best news in the entire world is spreading like wildfire. And here's a passage that I think is timely for these days. Certainly speaks to my heart, he says in verse 20, for I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live, live or whether I die. He's saying, I don't know what this prison stay is going to ultimately bring for me. Honestly, I'm not really worried about it. I just want to take advantage of this opportunity. I want to be always captured by his grace. And I want to honor Jesus in every way

I can until the day that he comes. And then he drops this verse that a bunch of people, honestly, have found, like, tattoo worthy. It's Philippians 121. For to me, living means living for Christ. And dying's even better. What an awesome perspective. For me to live is Christ and the die is gain. He's saying, because of Jesus, you know what? I'm in a win-win situation. I'm in a win-win. I took a flight on a prop plane a while back. I was going to do a wedding down in Asheville, North Carolina. And it's pretty stormy on this particular day. And I get to the airport and this guy meets me at the plane. And it's just me and him on a prop plane. I said, man, are we going to go? He goes, oh, yeah, yeah, there's really bad storms.

He said, like I told my wife, I'll see you tonight or I'll see you in heaven. Well, okay, man, I didn't tell my wife that, but okay, let's go. But Paul lived with that kind of perspective. He said, I don't know what tomorrow might bring, but as long as I have breath in my lungs, man, I'm just going to live for him. And if I die, it's gained. I saw a t-shirt on a college campus one time. This guy was walking toward me, big bold letters on the front of his t-shirt. It said, live. Then he walked past me, and the back of his t-shirt said, die. I said, I got to see what the fine print says under these words. So I walk back around on the front of it, it said, live like you'll die tomorrow. Then it said, die, knowing you'll live forever. And that was Paul's perspective.

He just kind of shares his rambling internal thoughts about this. It's like, you know what, on one hand, but on the other hand, verse 22, if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. I long to go and be with Christ, which would honestly be far better for me. But for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. Is this guy cool or what? I mean, talk about living a life beyond yourself.

He said, I know that heaven would be much better than this jail. but maybe God will just let me hang around this prison a little longer so that I can reach the guards, inspire other believers, spread the good news, and help you grow in your new faith. All right, so maybe today you and I could live with that kind of eternal perspective.

Because if you know Jesus Christ, listen, you really are in a win-win kind of life. Because of my buddy John Orberg writes, eternity's already in session. And I pray, you'll let the good news of that fill your soul today. See you next time. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30

and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out? For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe.combe.combe.com slash daily drive.