Envy

Today on Summit life with Judy Greer always assumes all I have is what God gives to me. I will live solely on God is not enough muscle going to dry up. I'm gonna miss out on something, but that is always a lie and tragically keeps you from enjoying what God has given to you for your enjoyment and author and theologian JD Greer. I'm your host Molly benefits. Here's perhaps an obvious statement in the surrounds and sadly most of us don't realize the deadly poison that can be. We think of envy as kind of a petty jealousy that just comes from wanting a little more. But the Bible treats it as far more serious we are discovering what God's word really says about some deeper and perhaps sometimes darker emotions as we continue our teaching series called smoke from a fire if you miss any of the previous messages always find them@jdgreer.com but for now let's join Pastor Janie in the Old Testament got your Bibles this weekend about what them. If you'll take them out open-ended numbers chapter 11 number joint where is numbers.

If you have a Bible with an Old Testament and it is the fourth book in the Old Testament, so it's really easy to find to be a Chapter 11. The idea behind this series that were in. This is the fourth week of that series called smoke from a fire. The idea is that her emotions function like smoke from a fire and just like you can follow the trail of smoke to figure out what is on fire in your house. You can also follow the trail of your emotions to figure out what is on fire in your heart or to change the analogy a little bit. Each of these emotions that we looked at depression with the first week, then anxiety, anger this week going to be in the next week is to be shaped.

Each of these functions like warning lights on the dashboard of our hearts, indicating what is going on in the engine of our souls.

The key when you see one of his warning lights is to figure out what the warning light points to how many of you have ever been driving when unexplainable. He that little check engine light comes on in your car.

The problem is when it comes on is that's it that's all that it says now look at what am I supposed to make of that right MMA if you're like me the first time I saw it, I dutifully complied. So I pulled the car beside the road and I got out of the car and it opened the hood and I stood there for a couple minutes and I look to the engine and I'm like there's a lot of stuff in there. I promise. It was no but nothing in there where you know there was no like it was Outlook blinking lights. There was no little tiny flags waving, saying, it's me, it's me.

I'm the problem here. I just did just basically look like a big engine with nothing going on there so I do what I know how to do a start tugging on things and start tapping on things pretty much the only thing I know how reliably to do in a car is to change the windshield washer fluid so I do that and now having completely exhausted.

My check engine abilities. I get back in the car, hoping that somehow I've taking care of whatever the car was telling me needed to be taken care of. That's the problem with the check in July.

You know what points to what thankfully the Bible helps us interpret our souls, indicator lights, better than our cars do their check engine lights and maybe nowhere is that to be so clear as in the case of envy.

As with the other emotions. The best thing to do when envy arises in your heart is not just to try to get the light to go off as most of us do. I gotta figure out a stop.

MB just make the light go off. You gotta figure out what is wrong in your heart that is making the light go off.

Does that make sense. One of our pastors will be literate if you literally can the check engine light came on his car.

He literally took a piece of paper and taped over the check engine light is seen the light and I didn't have money to do anything about anytime soon so I just take over. It is not wise to just be honest here, you are driving a car right now like your car has the check engine light on his good racetrack if that's a lot of people, if you have any of you home if you keep your hand up if it's been on for over a week.

I have out of this over a month. It is been on your hand up by over three months. Keep your your your hand. Okay, see that's what I'm talking about either one of her pastor said he didn't know what to do in his check engine light came on so they just traded in his car.

I said I was to give a traitor to everyone so unfortunately you and I don't have the option to do that with our lives.

So we got to figure out what it's pointing to think of envy as a check engine light and were to look at what this points to the Bible unpacks for us the heart of Indiana obscure little story in Numbers chapter 11 Numbers 11 were to be first 10 verses or so of that Jabber contacts the children of Israel. At this point are about a year out from being delivered from slavery. I remember that the store the 10 plagues and then God brings them out miraculously splits open the red CNE meets my Mount Sinai may lead some of the pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Every morning he provides manna for them to eat miraculously on the ground as he leads them to this promise land that you said flows with milk and honey. Chapter 11 verse one that's contacts now. The people began complaining before openly before the Lord about hardship about hardship verse for the riffraff among them. But away.

I love that this was the technical word that the CSP translators chose to translate the Hebrew work how people were look at levels like I it's asbestos. It's kind of sounds like riffraff. It's like an insult back that riffraff the riffraff and a strong craving for other food, the Israelites wept again and said, who will feed us meat. We remember the free fish that we ate in Egypt along with the cucumbers and the melons and the leaks in the onions in the garlic and the olives and the pastries and the scones and all that delicious food we just man. We live like kings bagman verse six when our appetite is gone. There's nothing look At this manna. Christina Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans are one of the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord blazed hotly.

First, a couple of questions I want to look at first, what is envy the simplest definition of envy is wanting what you don't have feeling like what you do have is not enough doing like you deserve more indeed that you are owed more by God in the can began with discontent with what you have in turn very quickly into resentment toward others who have the thing that you want. Not only do you wish that you had what they have. You hate them for having it sooner as the Bible tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice in the weep with those who weep.

Envy is the opposite MB weeks with those who are rejoicing and rejoices with those who are weeping.

The Germans have a great word for this is one of my favorite German word shade in Florida. It literally means pain, joy, your pain brings me joy always reminds me the story I heard about how fishermen can put a bunch of crabs in a bucket and crab by itself to crawl out of that bucket, but none of the crabs ever escape because the moment one begins to block the side of the bucket the door of the edge. The other crabs will reach up and grab his leg and pull them back down. I don't want you to get out. I have pain I joy in your pain envy you see like like you see in the story thrives off of comparison. When you compare your situation with somebody else's.

I've heard there's comparisons described in three major categories. First, there is court material comparison material comparison fee post a picture of his truck on social media and you used to like the car that you have but now you're mad because you want that truck or she post a picture of the brownies. She just made which are not really looking at her brownies you're looking beyond her brownies at her kitchen at her countertops in her perfect little cabinet full knobs with a little inspirational quote on the chalkboard in the background of her perfect little kitchen and you think I hate her brownies. I ate her brownies or maybe one your friends posted that perfect family picture for the beach again for the second time this month and you can even afford to go to the lake material comparison you're envious of what others possess. Or maybe it can be relational comparison.

You see a post of all your friends and again again somehow you want invited or maybe even worse I've ever seen yourself cropped out of a picture that somebody put on the Internet. I have like I was there. I mean like that's my shoulder. They literally cut part of me and happy because he didn't want me at his picture.

Or maybe you're not married, and it just seems like every other person you know is Mary and you start to think thoughts that you don't really like but their thoughts like, well, I am more attractive than him more attractive than her from a better person than they are. Why did they get married and an enemy not by the way, let me make clear there's nothing wrong with grieving that you're not married. If you want to be. There's nothing wrong with being sad that you have a particular blessing that you want, but what happens is that turns to envy where no longer are you just sad because you don't have it you envy you resent the other person grabbing it and feeling sorry for yourself that you don't maybe you get one of those Christmas cards where the family that send it to you just looks so perfect. You know the kids all not the cheesy little block letters spelling out their last name and everybody including the dog is wearing the same shirt and therefore that quaint little barn that you know is not normally a part of their house and never been to in their lives. Mail what so perfect you know so perfect in your family that seem like that you like to send out an authentic Christmas card could be. Although such learning when each other. That's what it should be like on the front end and all of a sudden you find yourself envious about somebody else's family know what was I there for Mao was at her house when I wish I was at their situation. Maybe at circumstantial comparison is with you at somebody else's situation in life always my job at that kind of significance was my job gave me that kind of freedom stuck in the stuff like this sometimes because like most of our Summit campus staff members hear the church after work all weekend long, Saturdays and Sundays.

I don't even want to look at social media on the weekend because you're all posting pictures like I limit the football game and co-looking at the lake and I'm like fine. I'll just serve God hear the church, while you serve the devil okay Albert, have you little fun and I'll just try to save the world by myself here on the weekends. I didn't say Indy was rational but that's is, how you start feeling right or maybe was much more serious maybe it's you know it's it's a question like what can I have a baby and sings like this of the 14th revealed party of the week for one of my friends and I want to be happy for them. I really do want to be happy for them but I can't. I can't even seem to have a baby sociologist say that MB seems to be a bigger problem for our generation than any before us because social media seems designed to play on envy here is why we look at other people's lives in social media. What were seeing is a carefully filtered image like a friend of mine says if we are comparing our behind-the-scenes footage with other people, highlight reels right so we feel like losers because we see the best of their best and we know the worst of our worse right you feel great about the flowers and home cooked dinner. Your husband gave you on your birthday until you see the one your girlfriend's husband bought her a pony and took a backpacking through Europe with the cast of animals that you know they may be on the brink of divorce on my be the only nice thing he's ever done for her.

But it's all you get to see your heard about two monster story I heard about two moms who confess to each other in a small group that they and hated each other for years on social media. One of them was a working monster story and she told her that she told the stable mom she was agitated. You because you were the perfect Pinterest stay-at-home mom does grab some structured time with her kids and it made me feel so guilty stay-at-home mom said well I hated you because you got a life and you're out in public and you're doing things that I haven't had my hearing anything but a ponytail, or have an adult conversation since 2015. Two people given two-story longing for the other person has.

Based on a filtered presentation on social media and never before in the history of the world.

Could we so accurately measure our popularity compared everybody else's when I was a kid, you just kinda had to randomly guess how popular you were now you can literally measure it while we have 214 followers and she's got 442. That means she is literally twice as popular as me or my picture only got 17 likes and the one before that only had not had my highest 33 and every time she post something, even if it's a picture of her toast in the morning she gets triple digits of lights. Researchers have demonstrated that the more we compare ourselves to others in social media, the less satisfied, we become part about this study was done it to college universities where they had students spend one half hour half an hour on Facebook looking at random people who were in the same stage of life is them and then they surveyed their feelings after that half-hour did this they found that one third of the students felt this was the language they used felt significantly depressed and many more. Another big percentage feeling much more down than usual. After simply 30 minutes of monitoring what happens on Facebook or Instagram with their friends. We caught in the grammar in your Facebook. It just seems designed to make you envious.

Indy surrounds us and most of us don't realize the deadly poison that in the years we just think of India somehow to petty jealousy that comes out from wanting a little bit more, but the Bible treat you to something far more serious.

Jonathan Edwards, the great American Puritan theologian uses a never underestimate the spiritual power of envy in the English translation of verse six in our Bibles. The numbers 11. The English translation of the verse is actually unfortunate. In English it says our appetite is gone, but literally in Hebrew, what the Hebrew says is our souls are dried out the word soul in Hebrew means life force comparison in MV, dried out their soul forces like the book of Proverbs says Robert. 1430 in the right size down to the bones Indian comparison rod is down to the bones destroying our appetites or our ability really do enjoy anything and so when you're envious like the children of Israel were you start to find fault with everything this man is terrible. It tasted nasty, and I don't think it's good for us in the mixer breath smell bad or whatever they were complaining about. Think about what our culture of envy has done to our perception of her own beauty.

We live in a culture whose preferred marketing strategy is getting you to envy somebody else's beauty and the result is that when we look in the mirror. We can enjoy it at all. We can enjoy what we see it all because we have in our mind what they're eating. Back in Egypt.

Never underestimate the spiritual power of envy. Martin Luther said that the God included the 10 Commandments with number 10 thou shalt not covet, which is a synonym for envy. Thou shalt not envy because Luther said if you kept that one you would keep all the others without any effort.

The reason that you live.

The reason that you steal the reason that you commit adultery, even the reason many times a people kill is because of envy.

Because of coveting look at how strongly James Jesus's half-brother talks about it in James three. If you have bitter MB and selfish ambition in your heart. I don't post and deny the truth no matter how much you go to church Ali Baba versus you know such wisdom does not come down from above. It is earthly, it is unspiritual it is demonic where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice envy. In other words, is a root sin that gives rise to many, many other sins in our lives, and even allows us to be controlled and manipulated by the devil himself well as a consumer encouraging. I meant Kaiser next question were the root causes of envy and how can we overcome them. We can see your lease I see for root causes of MB MB revealed in numbers 11 and recognizing these I think will allow you to pull up MB by its roots, not just from all fruits were pulled up by the roots here they are number one in the forgets God's goodness poured out in the past and the forgets God's goodness poured out in the past. First one is pretty rich with audacity. Now, the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship hardship. They are less than 13 months out from when they were slaves, and now they're saying things like, yeah the food was awesome. Sure, we ate it and saying sure we got beaten almost every single day, but the onions were exquisite. They seem totally oblivious to where they would be had God not in an act of sheer compassion intervened. Furthermore, they seem oblivious to what that indicates about how God will surely take care of them in their future. A God who saved them like that in the past will surely provide for them in the present, they wouldn't have gone all that trouble to deliver them if he was going up them in the wilderness to die.

MB stays unaware of what it actually deserves and acts like God owes us much more than we have received. That's why think sometimes it's helpful to stop and think about what you actually deserve. Next time you're having a bad day, just remind yourself where you should be that day. You should be under judgment.

You should be in hell. Instead, you're a child of God with his spirit inside of you and a promised inheritance that cannot be taken away. All in all, it's a pretty good day right. All in all a pretty good day and then you should reflect on the incredible kindness of God and saving you and the assurance that should come with that salvation, that the God who has delivered us didn't do so just to let us perish. Clearly, God has are good in mine. I think about it at this point in your life if you are a Christian, God has more invested in your life than you do you like why went to school when I unite us from what I'm saying I had a great job got I got bored on my son's blood for you so you may have done a lot in your life and you may spend a lot of money yourself a lot of effort, but I spilled my blood for you. I got more invested in your life then you do and I will take care of my investment to again see, we find ourselves again in Romans 832 he who did not spare his own son for us when he not also surely and freely with him give us all things is to say it it it's up it's a statement of obvious logic.

If God did that when you resent surely of the Gary valid. The year is for you know that verse you and most of you can quote that verse. The question is does the disposition of your heart show that you believe because if you're worried you don't believe that that was a couple weeks ago and if you are envious. It shows that you don't actually believe that the cross proves to us. Psalm 8411 that no good thing will God withhold no good thing will God withhold from his children to envy forgets God's goodness poured out of the past number two in the overlooks God's goodness provided in the present and the overlooks God's goodness provided in the present.

MB cripples your ability to enjoy the good things that God has put in your life now things that she could bring you a lot of joy. The Israelites, like all we got is his manner and that's all we have been working to shrivel up and die, which was an absolute lie in Deuteronomy 8 Moses says that during the whole 40 years in the wilderness, which is not God's original plan. By the way they wanted for years because of the hardness of their hearts.

But even then when all 40 years in the wilderness. He says your feet did not swell 3 feet swelling back then was a side of malnutrition.

In other words, the man really was enough envy always assumes if all I have is what God gives to me. If I rely solely on God. It's not gonna be enough muscles going to dry up.

I'm going miss out on something, but that is always a lie and tragically keeps you from enjoying what God has given to you for your enjoyment in the present and the at least a version of it was a key element at work in the garden of Eden.

God had told Adam and Eve that they could eat of literally every tree in the garden except one, and they thought will abets us the best one. I bet that's for the best route is. I bet he's holding out on us to tell or summarize it this way, says MB will make you think something is wrong even in paradise, and I dries up your soul taken away even your appetite to enjoy things a little time talking to somebody you had some issues with throat and mouth cancer and they said, you know, one of the worse most unexpected things was losing my ability to taste his his food no longer taste good to me and he said I didn't realize that that when you lose your appetite to so much of your life gets destroyed but what MB does. It is a cancer that destroys your ability to enjoy anything to taste anything. For example MB make some of you unhappy in your marriage to make some of you unhappy in your job is why you become a generally critical person critical about everything what you can find a flaw in anything that critical spirit is not a personality quirk. It comes from a deep dissatisfaction that arises many times from envy. Plus some of you guys are having a midlife crisis when you're only in your early 20s enjoy what it's like there's got to be more from life you looking around it while working in the back of your mind every time you look at Facebook or Instagram. You're always thinking. I think others are probably enjoying something that I'm missing out on the Congress of ours. This is why some of you were so picky and dating. That's why nobody's ever get another try some of you can never join the church because your picky, picky, picky because you in the envy, envy, nothing is ever good enough because envious destroyed your ability to enjoy the good if not imperfect things got put in your life. Stop ignoring that check engine light treat resonated only right over there, out of reach. It really is a let's acknowledge snatchers today and move away from our envy toward a loving God, you been listening to Summit life with Jenny Greer Pastor Jenny that we talk a lot about gospel partners here in the program length X know how important they are to the health of our ministry.

Can you share a bit more about what a Summit life gospel partner is first I want to thank all of you who became gospel partners in 2021, we were quite honestly pretty overwhelmed and already were seen fruit that is coming from teaching the word of God on the airwaves and some of these places and so I want to thank you for making that possible. So you asked what is a gospel partner. Well, it's a it's an exclusive group of people that have committed to give at least $35 or more every month. When you join that group you can receive a new and selected resource from me in addition to getting private access to the updates and in some resources that we we make exclusively available to our gospel partner community, we consider you a team member here when you become a gospel partner because you are now an integral part of helping us proclaim the word of God in the airwaves and in and take the gospel and to some places that otherwise would not would not be able to go so we would love it. I would love it if you would join with us today and that mission of just making the word of God accessible you can sign up to become a gospel partner today can go to JB Greer.com the information. There would love to have you join us to. We would like to have you join the family and when you sign up this week our newest resources well after smoke from the fire. How our emotions reveal what's really going on. Attend a devotional and Scripture got Denny today to support his ministry. 663-3526 65 24. You can Denny and request this devotional work online.com I'm only bit of edge inviting you to join us tomorrow coming up Thursday night