Live Free with Josh Howerton - Devoted, Not Discouraged • Pastor Carlos Erazo | Ep. 183 | Wednesday October 18, 2023

Episode Date: October 18, 2023

How can we live devoted and not discouraged in a world full of bad news? Pastor Carlos Erazo reminds us that as followers of Jesus, we have an infinitely different perspective on circumstances than the rest of the world. Everything in this life, even the really hard situations, will be used by God for our good. This is a purpose filled promise for us that can help us live devoted every day. 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.compturch slash daily drive. In this week's episodes, we will be hearing from our special specials. guest, Pastor Carlos Arazo. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our daily drive and happy Wednesday. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos and I get to be part of the pastoral team here at Lake Pointe. And we get to

hang out this week for a few minutes every day as we dive into the Word of God. And I'm excited because this week, if you're just joining us, we're talking about how to live devoted to Jesus and a time full of distractions. And on Monday, we talked about being called to be devoted, not distracted. On Tuesday, we talked about being devoted. not deformed. And today we're exploring the following biblical truth. As a follower of Jesus, you are called to live devoted,

not discouraged. And so let me start with this story that I find fascinating, got it from a book called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Pete Scazero. And it goes like this. There was this wise man living on one of China's villages, and one day, for no apparent reason,

in the small village, a young man's horse ran away and was stolen by no to cross the border. Now, when this happened, everyone in the village tried to offer consolation for the man's bad fortune, but his father very wisely said, what makes you so sure this is not a blessing? Months later, his horse returned bringing with her a stallion. Now, when this happened, everyone was excited and was congratulating the son for having such good luck for, but now his father said, what makes you so sure this isn't a disaster? After this, their household was made richer by this fine horse, his son loved to ride, but one day he fell off his horse and broke his

hip. Once again, everyone came alongside him and offered consolation for his bad luck, but his father said, what makes you so sure this is not a blessing? Sometimes later, or sometimes later, other nomads invaded their nation and every able-bodied men was required to take up his boat and go into battle. The Chinese families living on the border lost nine of every ten men, not only because the son was lame, did father and son survive to take care of each other. Hey, in this story, this father knew something. Everybody else didn't. What seemed to be a blessing and success and what they would call good luck often turn out to be a terrible thing. And what seemed to be bad luck, a struggle or something unfortunate, often turn out to be a rich blessing. Now, I start there because in this

story, the father, he sees the same situation everybody. is seen and yet he has a different perspective on it it's as if he has a different hope especially regarding difficult unfortunate and negative circumstances and so today as we discuss how to live devoted not discouraged i started with this story because if you follow jesus you have an infinitely different perspective regarding circumstances especially those that might be perceived as difficult challenging painful and unfortunate and The truth is, we live in a very discouraging world. We see bad news after bad news.

What goes viral on social media is drama, conflict, injustice, evil, and more bad news. In addition to that, life happens, personal struggles happen. We all experience family conflict. Everybody looks great and impressive on social media. But that's just not real life. Those are just highlight reels. And in reality, our generation is the most depressed and anxious generation in history. things seem to be getting worse and worse, that all, if we're honest, can be extremely

discouraging. And so first of all, in some sense, we should not be surprised. Jesus said that in this broken world, you will experience struggles. But the Christian has a very different perspective and a different hope, especially when it comes to struggles, pain, suffering, and discouragement. Let's look at what Romans chapter 8, verse 28 says. And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. This doesn't mean all things are good? They're not. I know it's not uncommon for some well-meaning Christian to say to somebody that's going through a rough season,

hey, it's all good. No, it's not. Pain is not good. Injustice is not good. Sickness is not good. Tragedy is not good. Bad things are called bad for a reason. They're bad. Romans aid isn't saying all things are good. It's saying for the Christian,

God will use those things together for your good. It's a promise. Paul is saying, hey, we know. Like, it's a fact. It's guaranteed. He's not saying now this applies for some bad things in your life. No, no, no. He's saying everything will be used together for your good. And that is a promise of God for your life. Now, if you're still not following, let me illustrate it this way. My wife is a great cook. I am a great eater. That's why we are a great match. Okay?

That's how it works. Now, my wife will cook all sorts of things. She'll bake. She'll never use recipes because she knows all the things. She'll just make it up on the spot and what she creates will be delicious. She's gifted that way. And one of her best desserts is triple chocolate mocha cheesecake. I know.

So if you're not a dessert, connoisseur like I am, I'm kidding, I'm not, you need to know some of the things that are required to make a chocolate mocha cheesecake and these include butter, eggs, heat, amongst other things. And if I were to take those ingredients individually, if I were to grab raw butter and put it in my mouth, honestly, one, it would be just bizarre, but two, it would just be a very unpleasant experience to say the least. If I were to bite on a raw egg and swallow the shell and the gooey liquid inside of it. The taste in my mouth would be

one, disgusting, too, toxic to my stomach. And if I stick my hand in the oven when the temperature needed to bake this delicious dessert is on, I would experience significant pain. And yet, in the hands of a master chef, like my wife,

all these elements that individually are not pleasant, they come together in the right way, in the right time, in the right setting, to create a beautiful, delicious result. Something similar is what God is promised in in Romans 828. The reason a Christian sees their circumstances differently

and can remain joyful and even encourage, even in the midst of their trials in difficult circumstances, is because they know, they know that God has promised he is working all things for their good. This isn't a problem-free promise. it's a purpose-filled promise. And so maybe what's keeping you discouraged didn't come from God's hand, but it had to go through God's hand.

And if today you're feeling wounded, maybe God's empowering you to get wiser. Maybe as you go through that challenge, God wants you to grow through that challenge. God is a good God in the mountain, and he is still a good God in the valley. And so you can trust him. You can find joy in him,

and you can be encouraged in him. him. Hey, let me wrap our time together with this. The great preacher Jonathan Edwards said that there are three things that are true of every Christian based on what we read in Romans 828. And so let me just share these with you. Number one, if you follow Jesus, the bad things in your life will be used for good. That's a promise. Number two, all the best things in your life, that's the salvation you have in Christ, a new identity, an eternity in the presence of God, a promise of justice, reconciliation, healing and restoration of all that is broken, the defeat of all evil, the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of you, all those things, nobody can take away from you.

And number three, if those first two things are true, if all the bad things will be used for your good and all the best things cannot be taken away from you, then the best is yet to come. And for that reason today, you are free to live devoted, not discouraged. We'll see you tomorrow. 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 lake point.church slash daily drive.