When It Actually Is Spiritual | Different Attitude | Judah Smith

Hey, welcome back church home to another weekly service. I'm so glad you're here. Remember, these are designed actually to be shared with friends. Watch this at a park or in a dorm room or in a living room or maybe even on an airplane. Let some friends watch weekly services together on an airplane and uh and then discuss it.

Um so I hope you get a chance to discuss. We will spend the 15 20 minutes this week and we're talking about a subject that is unusual. I can't remember if I've ever preached on this subject, but what do you do when the season you're in is actually more spiritual than it is natural?

We've talked about it every week, but there are some things like deodorant, brushing your teeth. Uh my wife today asked, "Where is the breaker box?" Because they blew a fuse in our house. Where is the breaker box to fix the fuse? We could pray, you know, for our teeth, and we should.

We should pray for our circuit breakers, and we should. We should pray for less aluminum in our armpits, and we should. But we could also click the circuit breaker, brush our teeth, and put on deodorant. Some things are more natural than spiritual. That's all. And some things are in fact more spiritual than natural.

I have felt lately like I have been in a season, in a chapter that's more spiritual than not. So what do I do? What do I do? We've talked about this for three weeks. This is the fourth week. And I'll tell you one of the things we do or I should say understand and absorb and realize is that when things are spiritual, you need a different kind of attitude.

So we're going to go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Start reading again in verse one. Paul addressing the Corinths, those living in the city of Corinth. Jesus followers in Corinth, which is a wild port city. Uh it's a metropolitan ancient city full of a lot of wild sex and a lot of wild drinking and drugs and all kinds of idol worship and it has started to affect the faith community there.

And so Paul writes passionately, "I want to address an issue. I'm making a personal appeal to you." who he says by the gentleness and self-forgetfulness of Jesus. I am the one who's humble and timid when face to face but bold and outspoken when at a safe distance away people had been saying those things he says but I want to plead with you when I come.

Don't force me to make a hard line with you which I'm going to do but by daring to confront those who mistakenly believe that we are living by the standards of the world not by the spirit's wisdom and power. For although we live in a natural realm, we don't wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims.

Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized by divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. That's a lot. Now, listen to this. We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and breaks through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God.

There it is. Arrogant attitude. When things are more spiritual than natural, you will be tempted to make it natural and get a self-sufficient attitude. Translation, an arrogant attitude. An arrogant attitude simply says, "I can do this. I'm going do this on my own. I got this. I'll figure it out.

I'll make it happen. I'll do this. I got this." And I believe according to this ancient letter written to Jesus followers in Corenth during times where things are more spiritual than natural we need to have a different attitude. So if not arrogant then what? It's two things two things that come up in this passage.

Meekness and gentleness. So instead of arrogance you would say humility. Yes, humility. But let's break it into two parts. Humility that expresses itself through meekness and gentleness. Now, I urge you if you're going through a difficult chapter, you're going through a diff difficult season, you're going to want to be self-sufficient.

You're going to want to bow up and say, "I got this. I'm going to make this happen. I'm going to take control. I'm going to lead my life. I'm going to get through this." But the ancient letters encourage us to do just the opposite. To let go and wonder and worship, cling to the wisdom of God, and then accept an attitude of meekness and gentleness.

So, here is a really unfun question. Here is a not fun question. You ready? When you're going through a difficult chapter and a difficult season, do you act with meekness and gentleness? Because I can tell you right now, that is not my knee-jerk reaction. When I'm going through a difficult season, I feel like there's headwind.

It's stormy. It's challenging. It's difficult. I literally want to lash out. I literally want to fight. I want to take over control. I want to make it happen. And in this ancient letter written thousands of years ago, we are encouraged to do the exact opposite of that. So perhaps this will serve you.

If you're watching this and your inclination is very natural like mine to take control, make it happen, see it through, do it in your own strength, I urge you to do the exact opposite of what your natural body and brain tells you. Why? Because you're going through an unnatural, supernatural, spiritual chapter and season of your life.

And what you need is a sense of Jesus which produces in your life meekness and gentleness. Let's define these two things. What is meekness? Meekness, simply put, is strength under control. meekness. One of the ancient pictures of this ancient word is of a powerful horse slowly making his or her way over to a stream of water or this powerful beast which has all of the potential to carry things on its back and execute extraordinary endeavors.

In a battlefield, for instance, slows down, lowers its head and drinks freely from the stream. The picture is strength under control. What's the message? That though you do have extraordinary strength. I I I want to commend you on your strength. Truly, you're a strong person. The fact that you're even watching this content proves that you want to grow and develop. you you don't want to be like everybody else.

You have a strength about you that is extraordinary or you wouldn't even be submitting yourself to this kind of content. So I I celebrate you. I really do. I highlight your strength. But I believe in seasons, extended seasons where it's more spiritual than natural, we must yield that strength to God like a powerful stallion or horse that could run and go accomplish great things.

You lower your head and you drink freely from the stream of his goodness and his grace. Strength under control. Not strength in our own control, not strength out of control, but strength under control. Meekness, the opposite of meekness is stress, striving. It is strength in my own control.

It's the opposite of meekness because meekness is strength under control. Whose control? Ultimately, God's. I yield my strength to God. God, my gift, my abilities, the things you give me that are strengths, I I yield them to your control. A meek man or woman is not reactionary. A meek man or woman, instead of lashing out and speaking out and being outspoken and trying to defend themsel, will often sit quietly while others seek to prove their point or prove their rightness or justify their actions.

Meekness says, "I'm strong and I don't need to prove it. I will yield my strength to the one who has all the control and I will be meek. I can't help but say it. We have never needed meek leaders more than we do right now in the whole wide world. leaders who will submit their strength to God and have strength under control rather than strength in their control which often leads to out of control.

Meekness, our different attitude during spiritual chapters and seasons of our life is an attitude of meekness. Now remember, meekness like gentleness is not weakness. But I'm going to say this. You will never know meekness if you fear meekness being mistaken for weakness. Because I got news for you.

It will. It will. They will say you are weak. They will say you didn't stand up for yourself. You didn't prove yourself. They will say when someone smart challenges you in front of everybody in the social setting and you don't react and you don't respond and you hold your tongue, they'll say it's because you're dumb and you don't know what to say.

But you will know and God will know that you're practicing meekness, strength under control. That doesn't mean you never speak up. You never speak out, but you do so in the direction of your gracious heavenly father. So if you're worried about being seen as weak, remember meekness is not weakness.

Oh, and by the way, when you're weak, then you're strong and his power rests upon you. The scripture says this different attitude includes meekness and this different attitude during this chapter includes gentleness. What is gentleness? It's graciousness. It's forbearance. It's It's the ability to underreact in situations. Oh, underreact, guys.

I am a classic overreactor. I mean, it is just every ounce of my nature is an overreactor. And overreacting can be very entertaining. Overreacting can be very engaging. Overreacting can be very fun and enjoyable to watch. But I am an overreactor to the core. Left to myself, I will overreact on pretty much everything.

And yet gentleness is the ability to underreact. Gentleness and meekness are the same coin, just two sides. The strength under control yields to a gentleness about you, a general graciousness. Instead of holding people to every detail of their life being perfect and right, we are gracious. Gentleness says that's not who they really are.

I don't think they really mean that. Forbearance. Gentleness. Forbearance. I'm going to bear with someone. I'm going to believe the best about someone. I'm gonna speak the best about someone. You know what's wild? During these spiritually dynamic chapters of our life, I don't want to be forebearing. I don't want to be gracious.

I don't want to be underreacting. I find I'm more on edge. I find I'm more reactionary. I find I'm more uh easily uh upset and annoyed and want to point my finger at everybody else. But there's an attitude that God wants you to absorb during this season, and it's meekness and gentleness.

An ability to say, "I love you. You don't mean that, and I forgive you." The ability to soothe the setting, not disrupt the setting, to soothe people, to put people at ease. And here's the scripture that I end with in Matthew 11 29. I love it how the Passion translation says it.

It's an invitation from Jesus. He says, "Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you'll discover that I am gentle, humble, and easy to please. You'll find refreshment and rest in me." Can I ask you something? Does this describe you gentle, humble, and easy to please?

Can I ask you, do people find refreshment and rest when they're with you? When people leave your home or leave your presence or leave the diner where you ate together, do they feel refreshed and rested? Do they feel that you have been gentle and humble and easy to please?

I got to tell you, I think sometimes I'm the exact opposite of this. Instead of gentle, I'm rough. Instead of humble, I'm arrogant. Instead of easy to please, I'm hard to please. And instead of people finding refreshment in me, I think they find reaction from me. And instead of people finding rest with me, they find restlessness with me.

I want that to change. I wonder if the season you're in is about changing that. I wonder if God is wooing you, inviting you, and welcoming you into a whole new attitude, a whole new outlook, a whole new way of seeing yourself, others, and the whole wide world.

What if you started to develop a meek and gentle attitude, a meek and gentle approach to life? What if when people discovered you, they discovered gentleness and humility? What if when people discovered you, they discovered forbearance and an ability to underreact? Jesus says in one translation, Matthew 11:29, "I am gentle and lowly of heart."

Does that describe you? I'm not so sure it describes me, but I crave it. I want that to be me. I want that in my life. I want to live, love, and look more like Jesus. You know what's wild? What is intended to destroy you during this chapter, this season of your life, what's intended to destroy you, God's going to use it for your extraordinary development and growth.

I think when this is all said and done, you're going to be far more meek and far more gentle, far more confident, far more assured by his love and his goodness. I think people are going to feel refreshed and rested after being with you. That's my prayer. That's my desire.

And it's certainly a desire I have in my own life. Can I pray for you? God, I thank you for these words, this old ancient letter which it's like it's alive right now. It's like it was written today for us. We want to be gentle. We want to be meek.

We want to be like you. But ultimately only you can produce that in us. And so we yield. We yield to you. your kingdom come and your will be done. Thank you. If you're watching this and you would like to receive the free gift of forgiveness that only Jesus offers because he paid for it, just say I do and you'll never be the same again.

I love you, church home. Next week will be our final I'm really excited to share next week with you our final message and sermon this month on what do you do when it actually is spiritual. So, I'll see you next week. 
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 In your kindness you call me yours.

You share your glory. You make me whole. After the suffering, I am restored. You establish me and make my heart your home. So hear my praise and adoration from the deepest of my heart. Every circumstance your name be lifted up. Firm foundation, solid ground, restoration, healing power. I behold you, Jesus Christ.

I will praise your name because of who you are. You are God. You are living. Holy woman, God of healing, and you restore. 
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 The God who hears me, the God who knows, and the God who sees me. So hear my praise and adoration. From the deepest of my heart, every circumstance, your name be lifted up.

Oh firm foundation, solid ground, restoration, healing power. I behold you. Jesus Christ, I will praise your name because of who you are. Oh, you are God. You are living holy one God of healing. The God who knows the God who hears me. You restore God who sees me.

So hear my praise and adoration. From the deepest of my heart, every circumstance your name be lifted up. Firm foundation, solid ground, restoration, healing power. I behold you, Jesus Christ. I will praise your name because of who I am. I pour my worries on you because you care.

I pour my stress upon you. I leave them there. 
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 I pour my wories on you because you care. I pour my stress upon you. I leave them there. Oh firm foundation, solic ground, restoration, healing power. I behold you, Jesus Christ. I will praise your name because of who you are.

Oh firm foundation, solid ground, restoration, healing power. I behold you Jesus Christ. I will praise your name because of who you are. Oh we behold you Jesus Christ. We will praise your name because of who you are. We behold you Jesus Christ. We will praise your name because of who you are.

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 Heat. Heat. 
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