Keep On Keeping On!, Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ you feel that I'm no longer tired and weary all is that describe how you feel when you're waiting to see you can have decision and moral and be waiting on fatigue. In some ways that you are sick waiting on the circumstances change and so the short answer to how do we deal with decision fatigue and more fatigue or simply wait on the Lord joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana Pastor Bill Gebhardt now again he shows us how God's word meets our work next month and the pandemic just goes on and on and on. I find this article this week describing what's happening to us as a people.

The article reads as such six months since the United States declared a coronavirus pandemic state of emergency. Millions of Americans isolated in all of them are at their wits end. Exhausted from making a seemingly endless series of health and safety decisions for themselves and for loved ones. There is a name now for that phenomenon. The researchers call it decision fatigue were not just making a greater number of daily decisions were also making high-stakes moral decisions, said Elizabeth you go I writer and staff member of the Fordham University Center for ethics in education.

It's fatigue with making decisions that have consequences. We've never had to deal with before you go, said he's. These are things that come with such a moral weight on them at all it does is produce more stress for us. There's a pastor and found when I follow New Jersey as names pastor Marty Berglund and he writes a great Facebook page and he wrote this he said I heard a pastor use the term.

I never heard before.

He said, in light of the present situations and all the tensions and turmoil in our country.

He felt like he was experiencing moral fatigue. I don't know about you but I could totally relate to that feeling.

Everybody is arguing or so it seems about what is right what is wrong and who is right and who is wrong.

I just get tired of all the arguing I get more fatigue. I feel like Rodney King remember him.

He was the black man that was unjustly beaten by police officers in it because the people to retaliate in LA many years ago by writing and marching against all the injustice and I'll never forget a news reporter interviewed him after he was physically healed and being bombarded by news reporters and I remember a tired look on his face and he pleaded with reporters and he simply said can we all just get along. He was suffering from moral fatigue. As believers, what are we supposed to do when we suffer from moral fatigue, decision fatigue, moral fatigue, those are great descriptions for many of us refill worn out.

Kind of overwhelmed and maps. Most of all, we feel kind of helpless.

As believers we turn to God and we ask God to give us the answers to show us the way the when we do when we can't see the light at the end of the tunnel and we surely can now I think the answer is clear and the word of God, but I think it's difficult for you and I to do with the circumstances, so I don't invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 39 verse seven just a very short part of the verse, but it certainly encapsulates all of our problems, but were all facing verse seven. The psalmist says, and now Lord for what do I wait for what do I wait is tired start awaiting, you start awaiting I am. I'm just tired of and so he goes to the Lord. He asked the question what do I wait the answers in the very next part of the verse. My hope is in you is the answer where my waiting for my hope is a new member hope was always thinking by the certitude of the future. Again, Marty Berglund writes this, he said the corona virus waiting game.

He said that we are all caught up in right now is the perfect time for us to hear this verse and obey it.

We need to anchor our hope in the Lord and stop all this fretting and worrying we have a chance to stop playing the waiting game for the recovery from the circumstances and decide that the Lord is in control and that our hope is fixed solidly on him. So today I challenge you to stop the waiting game and go through the day resetting your hope on the Lord that's what were doing. Think of all the sequencing and especially in every state. I'm sure the other states are like our state and then every few weeks the governors going to tell you something in our state and so you wait in between it and then you hope is telling you something different and each time he speaks. You keep hoping whether you might wear in phase 1. The face to face to get better. We just keep waiting and what were waiting for is the circumstances to change, but I think we know that God is ultimately in control of this and so our hope should be in God. Isaiah 40 verse 31. Listen to this.

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.

They will want mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired and they will walk and not become weary.

That's what Isaiah says, those who wait on the Lord. My question to you is this how you feel.

How do you feel right now you weary tired. See if you say yes to that. Let me tell you something you're not waiting on the Lord at all. You're not. You see, this is what the Scripture says.

Notice again, those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired and they will walk and not become weary. Do you feel the new strength in your life to feel invigorated. Do you feel that I'm no longer tired and weary at all this that describe how you feel when you're waiting on the Lord you see you can have decision fatigue and moral fatigue and be waiting on the Lord can't see soon as fatigue in some way, such as on you.

You are simply waiting on the circumstances to change and so the short answer to how do we deal with decision fatigue and moral fatigue, or simply wait on the Lord, but that's the short answer but that's passive that's that's part of it.

I need a way to the Lord and possibly just wait.

But there's more to it than it for you and I than that there was a longer answer you and I need to keep on keeping on.

That's we need to do.

You and I need to keep on keeping on. We need to persevere, we need to endure. That's what we need to do and that's active that's not passive terms me now to Luke chapter 8 Luke eight and verse 10 actually a pickup in verse 11.

The Lord is speaking of very very famous parable. Verse 11 says now. The parable was this the seed is the word of God were talking about the parable of the sower. The seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from the heart, so that they will not believe it can be saved. Those on rocky soil are those who, when they heard they received the word with joy and yet have no firm root in a believe for a while and then in time of temptation, a fall away the seed which fell among the thorns. These are the ones that have heard and as they go on their way.

They are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity and then disperse, but the seed in the good soil. These are the ones who have heard the word and he said in an honest and good heart and holding fast and bear fruit than those two words with perseverance from they have good soil. They have the right heart full of faith. They hold it fast. They wait on God, but they hold it fast and they bear fruit with perseverance they keep on keeping on. That's all responsibility, no matter what it is were bearing. We are all responsibility is to keep on keeping on.

That's what were supposed to do and it's all over the Scriptures.

The word perseverance is a word.

It simply means this it means steady persistence in adhering. He said to a course of action or belief or purpose of the dictionary says telling me now to Romans five for a moment. Romans five Jesus says that if your heart is full of faith, what you would do is you will keep on keeping on. That's what you wait on God. But you keep on keeping on. You persevere. Paul's going to tell her something is very important for us when we keep on keeping on, we are transformed when we keep on keeping on, we are transformed. That's why this kind of test or trial is so important to God.

CIP want to see with his own children. How many of them, and to keep on keeping on, or how many of them are just going to wait for the circumstances, the change will help me them to be disgruntled every day because the circumstances have been changed is what Paul writes. He says in verse one he says. Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exalt in hope of the glory of God.

We exalt in the future. Certitude for us and then he says this not only this, we also exalt in our tribulations.

Why would we exalt knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. Tribulation is the only way in which you and I can keep on keeping on. If you have no tribulation in life. Everybody keeps on keeping on, even even do I gotta do is keep on keeping on. He said yeah that but that will transform you, but if I put you in tribulation, will you keep on keeping on. When you do this notice, then what happens, and perseverance brings about what proven character, so my keep on keeping on transforms me.

It changes me.

It makes me more like my Savior. You see, I grow spiritually see that you have an enormous effect on us that word perseverance is the workable moaning and it means to remain, or abide under I can remain in abide under this tribulation, as long as the Lord wants me to, but I do know this. It will transform me and make me better for now.

I'm not saying that if you think that way, but many of you have talked to me, don't think that way ever.

You don't even look at this pandemic. That way that's not what I'm looking at him, waiting for the circumstances, the change. Let's just get back to normal terms me to James one very familiar passage because it backs up what Paul said James one versus two and three. James says in verse to consider all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials we bring this verse. Many times it's just one of those verses that we don't like much, because when you and I go through tribulation or trial. The one word it never seems to describe us as joy. That's not the word he said. Consider it all joy you wanted to say joyful all joy when you encounter various trials. Why knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and what that word is who Paul Monet translated perseverance, translated endurance in English it means endurance means the act quality or power up was standing hardship or stress.

So the translators can translated perseverance, or they can translated endurance but I'm simply saying that the testing of your faith will allow you to keep on keeping on.

That's what it does, will you keep on keeping on. In the midst of your trial could now notice the result let endurance have its perfect result that you may be perfect, complete, and lacking in nothing that WordPerfect. That's were telling us when Jesus said it is finished on the cross. It means complete perfect order also means mature coming to fruition. He said yeah that's what if you faced this trial with an attitude of keep on keeping on. You, Paul said to Romans have proven character.

He says here you will mature in Christ. That's why this is the kind of thing that causes you and I to mature as believers and become more like our Savior. Hence, we can consider all joy.

See, this is hard for us.

It's easy to get her eyes on the circumstance. Remember, Paul was in prison when he wrote to the Philippians didn't know if he was going to live or die that time and that's when he wrote the two things in that book one to live is Christ and the guy that's again now. What can you do with a man whose life's perspective is that way if that's what you really believe my life is Christ when I'm dying it's going to be better. We sing the song or later.

The last day of your life right the last day of your life will be the best day of your life.

That's a lot easier to saying that it is the believe in the intensive care unit. Admit it's true. That's a Paul Harris's perspective.

That's why Paul said, I've learned the secret of contentment.

I just keep on keeping on. I've been content in the palace and I be content in the prison. I've been content with a lot of good things in my life and I've been content with a lot of terrible things my life because my contentment doesn't come from the circumstances and whenever. And this is the classic case when I feed you lemons, make lemonade. And that's the whole point. He said I just keep on keeping on. That's what I'm there for. That's what I'm doing and that's what you and I should be about Chris Thai green writes this and assorted describes technological advancement has made travel, communication and daily chores incredibly time efficient, if not instantaneous. The result is that were not trying to persevere were not accustomed to pains that can't be relieved and problems that can't be corrected when they come we send our prayers with almost the same expectation is when we press the buttons on our microwaves for just love I just needn't be okay by being I want my meal a few seconds, we think, and that should've done it.

God usually doesn't work that way to use their own precise and he's never rushed when he tries us in a fire as he did Job. Nothing can get us out.

The time cannot be shortened and our growth can cannot come more quickly.

We must learn to persevere or keep on keeping on.

He said no one is ever become a true disciple of Jesus Christ without perseverance is right.

There's no way to be a disciple of Christ, the mission persevere. There is no other way this idea.

What we need to do is we need to keep on keeping on, because were transformed and we are to pursue this trait tells me to first Timothy chapter 6 verse 11 first Timothy chapter 6 verse 11 Paul says right in the midst of this talk about money, and all those kind of things he says but flee from these things you man of God and pursue. This is what we should pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, there is perseverance and gentleness.

We are to pursue and by the way, that means we are to make this choice that we want to keep on keeping what I want to keep on keeping I should pursue this. You and I should pursue perseverance. That's what we should be about notice. The analogy uses the next verse, fight the good fight of faith that what's he telling you about pursuing perseverance or keep on keeping on. In the middle trials is a fight. It's a fight. This is a natural visit, something all yeah I got I got it.

I'll be fine. Know this a fight because anytime we are suffering in anytime we are in pain. We have tremendous instincts to avoid it at all cost.

And we don't have any control to avoid it. We become very despairing and that's was happening to so many in our country are becoming very despairing because it can control. They don't know how to control it from.

That's the way this works go with me now to second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16. Paul again but this time with a little bit different perspective. He starts out in second Corinthians 416 with these words.

Therefore we do not lose heart.

I'm not I might lose my heart. I got understand. Paul suffers immensely going as a thorn in the flesh everywhere he goes he is hated. Meet with Rod stone them up for dead, I mean ship wreck snake bit. Everything that happened is the man and he said I don't mean upset. Another is keep on pastoral never on the radio ministry of fellowship floor if you ever miss minimum broadcasting or maybe you disciple the sum of the method one more time. Remember that you can Google a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online at that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as Fellowship in the Word.

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