Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What to Do When You Don't Want to Follow God | My Favorite Verses | Nehemiah 8.10

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. We are currently exploring some of our favorite Bible verses and how they've changed our lives. Also, if you want to connect with us, follow us on Twitter at TMBT podcast. You can also check out our hashtag, hashtag, AskT, TMBT, where you can ask us anything, and we'd love to connect with you. The other day I came home and gave my wife some flowers. She asked me why I did it. And I said, well, it's because I'm your husband. And it's my duty to be nice to you and to do nice things for you and to treat you well. Okay, I didn't really say that. And I also didn't really bring flowers. But imagine I did. How well do you think it would go if I said that to my wife? Let's try the conversation over again. Honey, why did you buy me flowers? Well, it's because I'm not. I'm not. It's because I'm not. I'm going to say. I said that to my wife. Well, it's because I don't know. I said that. I I was thinking about you and I love you. And these are really far too small, but I hope they'll give you

Starting point is 00:01:09 just a fraction of the joy that you give me. Which one of those two answers is better? Which one of those two answers is true? Well, in a way, both are actually true. Husbands make promises to wives, and that means that they have duties and responsibilities. So it's true for me to say, I did this because it's my duty. It is my duty. But it's also true. true that I love my wife and I like to do nice things for her because I love her. But I think we know which one of the two is better. It's not just doing the right thing out of duty. It's doing the right thing with the right heart, with the best motivations. And it's probably worth noting that there's something far worse than both of these options. And that's doing the wrong thing. In Glennon Doyle's

Starting point is 00:01:56 book Untamed, she assures readers that they should never do anything that they don't truly desire. In other words, if a husband doesn't love his wife, no longer delights in her, no longer enjoys her, he'd be better served to service her some divorce papers than flowers. Of course, that's terrible advice. My daughter tells me these stories sometimes. They usually don't have great plots, and honestly, they are not often very interesting. And so why do I listen to her stories? Well, sometimes I do it out of a sense of duty.

Starting point is 00:02:29 That's just what a good dad needs to do. Other times I do it because I actually delight in it. I enjoy hearing her speak and tell her story. But here's what I find interesting. Every time I listen, I find the next time I listen a little bit more easy, a little bit more sincere. If I followed my heart and said, well, I'm never going to listen to your stories, daughter, until I'm doing it because I want to hear them, well, I would never start listening at all. But if I follow my sense of duty and I listen to those stories, I find that over time, I enjoy them more and more. Okay, so what's all this have to do with God and my favorite Bible verses?

Starting point is 00:03:08 Well, what do you think God wants? Does he want you to say, well, God, I obeyed you because I trusted you and that's my duty. Or do you think he wants you to say, I did the right thing because I love you, God, because I delight in you, God. I know that you want what's best for me, and that's why I trust you. and I hope that my trust, the trust that I put in you, gives you at least a fraction of the joy that it gives me. Well, I think we all know the answer. The better answer is to do the right thing with the right heart. And if your heart is lagging behind, the second best answer is to do the right thing and hopes that your heart will eventually catch up. But this takes me to the

Starting point is 00:03:53 crux of an issue that every Christian faces, including me, what do we do when we find obedience to God excruciatingly difficult, almost impossible? How do we obey then? What do we do when we don't want to obey and when we can't even fulfill our duty? I have never met a Christian who doesn't struggle with some problem like this. In fact, the only Christians I know who don't think that they have an ongoing battle with some sin in their life, they're simply unreflected. They're simply unreflected. The battle sometimes stays the same for the same person, but for other people that battle might change year in and year out. Maybe it's gossip, anger, deception, addiction, lust, materialism, pride, selfishness, envy, laziness, food, alcohol. How do we fight against those sins?

Starting point is 00:04:43 No verse has given me a more clear answer to that question than Nehemiah 810. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Remember what I said earlier about duty sometimes leading to a changed heart? Well, the principle is actually reciprocal. When duty is difficult, sometimes a changed heart is key. Only our joy in God has the power to overcome our joy in a sin. In early 19th century Scottish pastor named Thomas Chalmers, he called this the explosive power of a new affection. His basic principle is that we tend to do whatever we

Starting point is 00:05:25 love the most. Desire is not a bad thing. It's the current that runs underneath all of our decisions. Jonathan Haidt, he calls this the elephant and the rider. He says that your rational brain is the rider, but your heart, that's the elephant. And he makes the point that the elephant can go wherever the elephant wants to go, whether or not the rider is trying to kick him in a different direction. And so sometimes, our mind is actually following our heart. We go where our desires lead us. We eventually become whatever we love. And so one of the most fundamental questions we can ask ourselves is, what do we love the most? The problem in our battle with sin is that we love something else more than Jesus, at least in that moment. This is what Augustine called disordered love. Why do we lust? Why do we give into anger? Why do we

Starting point is 00:06:14 envy, why do we gossip? Is it because maybe we love our own reputation more than we love God's reputation? Is it because maybe we love controlling our situation more than we love letting God control it? Is it because we love our own comfort more than we love the comfort that only God can give? Is it because I love myself ultimately more than I love God? Thomas Chalmers said that the only way to deal with the problem is to cut to the root, the only way to get rid of these dangerous loves and desires that guide us away from God. The only way to get rid of them is to expel them with a deeper love, with a deeper desire. The way to fight loving your reputation with others is to learn to love your reputation

Starting point is 00:06:59 with God more. The way to fight loving control is learning to love God's plan more than your own. The way to fight loving comfort is learning to love the peace of Jesus the most. The way to fight lust is learning to delight. in God's face more than anything else. The stronger love always wins. The strong love always expels the weaker love. And so, Nehemiah 810 says,

Starting point is 00:07:26 Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength. The joy of the Lord, that deep love and delight that you have in God, that is your strength when you are fighting sin. This verse has always shaped my own battle to follow Jesus, in my character, in my behaviors, in my daily life. I want to be someone who does the right thing with the right heart. And when my heart isn't right, I still want to do the right thing. But we can't go on forever in that state of duty.

Starting point is 00:07:56 And so we have to learn to find joy in God. So I want you to take a moment and self-reflect. How are your loves disordered right now? What do you love more than Jesus in your life sometimes? What desires do you need to expel from your heart with a deeper love for God? What new love needs to grow in order to expel that disordered love? How do you need to take delight in Jesus? What do you need to remember about His love for you?

Starting point is 00:08:28 His promises for you, his delight in you. Remember what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1.3. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. You have everything that you need to live a full life, full of godliness. How do we do it? Peter tells us, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises. Only when you know who Jesus truly is, and you are captivated by him.

Starting point is 00:09:01 Your desires run towards him. Only when you know that in his promises and plans for your life, only then will you have a joy that experience. spells lesser loves, lesser desires, and false promises. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with?

Starting point is 00:09:28 Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations. Thank you.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What to Do When You Don't Want to Follow God | My Favorite Verses | Nehemiah 8.10

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