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Welcome to Reset.
Mike Tyson, the great boxer of a former generation, once said, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
You know, as men, we all have plans.
We have plans for our marriage.
We have plans for our kids.
We have plans for our career.
We have plans with God.
Then life throws you a punch.
It's not if life will throw you a punch.
Life is going to throw you a punch.
You can guarantee that.
In fact, Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble.
See, trouble knocks on everyone's door.
Everyone gets punched in the mouth.
It's after the punch we have to decide what we're going to do.
Are we going to tap out or are we going to get back up?
And I believe it's God's design.
I believe it's God's will that we get back up, get back in the fight, and continue to be strong and courageous.
Today and next week, we're going to look at the book of James, especially the first chapter.
James was the half-brother of Jesus.
He is speaking to Jews, to people who have been persecuted, who have been pressured, who have been scattered, and he's encouraging them to be strong and courageous, just as Joshua was told by God in Joshua 1.
Four different times, be strong and courageous.
We all know that when you get punched in the mouth, man, you lose some of your energy.
You become discouraged.
You become bitter.
But that's when you have to learn to be strong and to act like men.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, he often got punched in the mouth.
He was the first pastor of the church at Jerusalem.
He eventually would be martyred for the faith.
So he knew what it was to be punched by persecution, punched by pressure, punched by being scattered and running for his life.
But he also knew what it meant to rise up in the strength and in the courage of God and remain consistent.
And in James 1, verse 2, he tells the people that are pressured and persecuted, and I want to tell you the same thing today.
Consider it all joy, brothers, when you enter into various trials, knowing that the testing or tempting of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result.
He says when you get punched in the mouth,
Have joy.
And sometimes that's easier to say than to actually do.
But the former Navy SEAL, Jocko Willink, once said to people who would say, man, I've got a setback.
He always used one word to his...
his men and his military.
He said, good.
Every time they would come back, we got a setback.
He would say, good.
I mean, setbacks naturally are not good, but what he was saying is that we can find something good in the setback.
We can find something that will give us joy in the setback.
See, James did not say, if.
You have trials.
He says, consider it all joy, brothers, when you enter into trials.
And he says, of every kind.
I mean, sometimes trials come in different packages.
They come in different shapes and different forms.
But trials...
are all trials, no matter the package, no matter the form, no matter the shape, no matter the duration of that trial.
They are all trials.
And the question is, where are you at today?
See, most of us are going into a trial or out of a trial or right in the middle of a trial.
You've been punched in the mouth, and maybe you're bleeding from that punch.
Don't give up, guys.
You have the ability to be strong and courageous.
You have the ability to persevere.
James goes on to say in verses 3 and 4, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
I want to ask you a question today.
Why do we so easily give up?
We give up on careers.
We give up on relationships.
We give up on marriages.
We give up on life.
I think oftentimes we give up because we haven't learned the value of perseverance.
Lance Wallnau once said, it takes 15 years to become an overnight success.
Now, everybody on the road of life
We all have opportunities to take an exit.
We all have opportunities to quit.
We all have opportunities to lay down and tap out and say, I am done.
But the fact is, quitters never win and winners never quit.
We have to have the eye of the tiger, the heart of a champion, and we must not give up.
We must learn to persevere.
We must learn to endure.
It's like working out naturally.
There are often times, man, I just want to quit.
I don't want to work out.
Man, this is just too hard.
The pain, the soreness after the workout that lasts a day or two, sometimes it can be overbearing.
But if you give up, guess what happens?
Your body goes in reverse.
Your body goes downward.
And I can tell you today, man, when you give up, you never win.
I want to encourage you today to persevere.
And he goes on to say this, let perseverance have its finished work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
The whole purpose of perseverance and not giving up is to bring people, you and I, men, men of courage,
into maturity, into completeness.
Some translations say into perfection, to be perfect, which actually means to be complete.
Spirit, soul, and body.
Oftentimes in life, it's easier for us to work out with natural weights, to get into the gym, to jog, to ride a bike, to be all about fitness, because when we're all about fitness,
When we're fit, that's what people do see.
They see the external.
And sometimes we give too much weight to the external with not giving enough weight to the internal factors of our lives.
See, in fact, here it is.
We are a spirit.
We live in a body.
We possess a soul.
Our soul is our mind, our will, and our emotions.
And I can tell you right now, you can be complete on the outside.
You can have a great physique.
You can be fit.
You can be in shape.
But you can be crumbling on the inside in your soul, which is your mind, your will, and your emotions.
Your will gives you the power to persevere.
Even when you think about the life of Jesus, Jesus had to endure the cross.
He had to
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persevere.
And on the other side of that cross was resurrection.
But before you get to resurrection, there's always a battle.
There's always a fight.
There's always a storm.
There's always a trial.
So much so that the Bible says when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he had to endure persecution.
The pressure that was on his mind to the point, the Bible says, that his sweat became as drops of blood.
That's how much stress he was under because he knew he would have to endure persecution.
He would be whipped.
His beard would be pulled out.
People would spit on him.
His disciples would run from him.
He would hang on a cross six hours one Friday, and he would die a brutal death, an executionary-style death, and be buried in a borrowed tomb.
But on the other side of that tomb was resurrection.
He kicked.
the back out of that tomb and paved a four-lane highway all the way to heaven.
And now the Bible says he is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and I. Can I tell you today, Jesus, just like the great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews chapter 12, they're cheering you on and saying, don't give up.
Don't give up.
How many times do we feel like giving up?
Rocky Balboa in his great movies and series, the Rocky series, he said this, it ain't about how hard you hit.
It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.
Come on, guys.
Life is going to hit you.
You're going to be punched in the mouth.
You can either tap out, get up, keep moving forward.
Which one are you going to choose today?
Are you going to tap out or are you going to keep moving forward?
The whole reason the trials, the temptations, the tribulations, the persecution that you're going through today is to make you mature, to lack nothing, to be complete today.
So if you give up, guess what?
You're not going to move forward.
You're not going to be made complete.
You're not going to grow.
You're not going to mature.
See, often in life, we want easy things.
But I found this to be true.
Anything that I have today, anything that I have obtained, it's never come easy.
The degrees that I have, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree in leadership, a doctorate degree in theology, those degrees never came easy.
Pastoring Bridge Church, starting it from scratch 29 years ago,
from the ground floor to what it is now, a multi-campus church that serves thousands of people, did not come easy.
There were battles.
There were tests.
There were trials.
There were many times that I could have took an exit and laid down and tapped out and said, I quit.
But how many of you know quitting for the believer is not an option?
Quitting for the man of God is not an option.
Quitting is not in our vocabulary.
We are not quitters.
We have the heart of a champion because we have the heart of Christ.
James goes on to say, if any one of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault.
How many of you know if you need wisdom today, and one of the reasons you want to quit is because you don't have wisdom in a situation, you don't know what you need to know, ask God.
When I ask God, I'm actually humbling myself.
When I pray, I'm saying, I can't do this by myself.
I need the grace of God on my life.
But he says this, but when you ask, you must believe and not doubt.
Look what he says.
You must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like the waves of the sea.
You ever seen the waves of the sea?
They're just crashing.
They're going back and forth.
They're being pushed by the currents and the wind.
That's what James is saying.
He's saying if you believe and then you doubt and you vacillate between those two things, he says you're like the wave.
You're just being tossed.
You're just being thrown around.
He says, blown and tossed by the wind.
That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Such a person who goes between doubt and unbelief, belief and not believing, he says this, that person is double-minded, unstable in all they do.
I mean, the reason we can't move forward often in life is because we're double-minded and we don't have a made-up mind.
Guys, let me tell you.
Dudes, let me tell you.
Get a made-up mind.
If it's for your business, get a made-up mind.
If it's for your marriage, get a made-up mind.
If it's for getting plugged into church and honoring God by coming to church in small groups, get a made-up mind.
If it's in the area of finances and putting God first in your finances, get a made-up mind.
Stop vacillating.
Stop being double-minded because when you're double-minded, you're unstable.
You're unstable.
Most men pray, get me out.
James says, pray this way, show me how to get through.
How many times do we want to get out of trouble and not walk through trouble by God's grace?
David said it this way, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.
David was not saying, deliver me from the valley of the shadow of death.
He says, Lord, I can make it through if you're with me.
Your rod and staff, they're going to comfort me.
You're going to cause me to have a table in the presence of my enemies, and my cup is going to overflow.
I can tell you right now, it doesn't matter where you're at.
In a trial, coming out of a trial, God can bless you in every area and stage of life if you'll not give up.
Don't quit now.
Don't give up.
Just keep moving forward.
How do you keep moving forward?
You've got to keep your eyes on the prize.
Verse 9 through 12 says this, James, believers in humble circumstances ought not to take pride in their high position, but the rich should not take pride in their humiliation, since they will pass away like a wild flower.
For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant.
It blossoms, it falls, and its beauty is destroyed.
In the same way, the rich will fade
away even while they go about their business.
But verse 12 says this, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life.
We live in a society where everybody gets a crown.
Everybody gets a trophy.
How many of you know God doesn't give trophies and crowns to everyone?
He gives it to the people, the men that endure to the end.
It's not the person who starts the race that receives the trophy.
It's the person who finishes the race that
He said he'll give him the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
What James is saying today is this right here.
Status will fade, money will fade, and they fade like flowers.
The man who keeps going receives the crown of life.
Let me ask you this.
You're running this race.
In fact, Paul...
Speaking to Timothy, he said, I have run the race.
I have kept the faith.
You're in this race.
Do you feel like your energy is fading?
Do you feel like you can't go any further in the race?
I mean, you know, don't give up.
It's like a long-distance runner who starts out after several miles, man.
He feels like he's exhausted, but something happens.
He gets a second wind.
His lungs are energized by new oxygen.
Today, I believe that God can energize you with the oxygen of His Spirit.
Don't you give up.
Perseverance is the key.
Perseverance is the key.
We give up so easily.
See, everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
Maybe you've been punched in the mouth by the circumstances that seem as big as Mike Tyson in the ring of life.
And you have taken lick after lick like Rocky.
Get off the canvas.
Get up.
Get back in the fight.
Keep going.
Why?
Because you need to consider it all joy.
These trials need to be considered opportunities that joy will come alive.
See, Nehemiah knew what it meant to have to fight.
He was fighting three enemies while he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah was a pragmatic leader.
He was a great leader.
He was a...
genius of a leader, but he had enemies.
Can I tell you guys, you have enemies?
The Bible says you have an enemy.
It's the world, the flesh, the devil.
These three enemies are trying to keep you from winning the race.
But this is what Jeremiah, I meant Nehemiah, told the people.
He said this, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
And then here in James 1, verse 2,
James says, consider it all joy.
Now, we live in a world that's full of trials, full of temptations, full of hardships.
We see our economy kind of teetering a little bit.
We see inflation very high.
We see wars and rumors of wars.
And Jesus talked about this in Matthew 24, that in the last days, there would be wars and rumors of wars and nation would rise against nation and false Christ would arise.
The love of many would grow cold.
Deception would be very high in the last days.
But as the people of God, as men who lead in society, men who lead at
home, we need to be guys who learn how to persevere in the last days.
We need to learn to flex our spiritual muscles through prayer, through fasting, through obedience, through reading God's Word.
Can I tell you this?
You are a world changer and a history maker.
But if you're really going to make a difference, the people that really make a difference, they're the people that never give up.
Those are the people that say, hey, man, I might have been knocked down, but I'm not staying down.
The righteous get knocked down seven times, but they get back up.
And I just see you guys, you're getting back up today.
You're considering it all joy.
You're like a Navy SEAL who just will not quit, who will not bend, who will not bow.
You're not going to give up to the pressure of politicians.
You're not going to give up to the pressure of public opinion.
You guys are going to stand firm on the Word of God, and you're going to act like men.
Notice who James is writing to.
He's writing to guys and girls who are being persecuted.
Can you stand to be persecuted?
He's writing to people that are under religious pressure.
How many of you know as we go on in these end times, the church will be more pressured, more persecuted.
People around the world are giving their lives for the sake of Christ.
You think about what's happening in Iran, even the war in the Middle East.
And Iran is at the center of that.
The Christian church is growing there the fastest, but those people often have to become martyrs for the faith.
They could easily give up and say, no, I'm going to deny the faith.
I'm going to be an apostate.
I'm going to go into apostasy.
I'm going to deny Jesus.
I'm going to deny the faith.
But they're willing to give their lives for the cause of Christ.
See, our mission is to connect all people, guys, to the person, power, and purpose of Jesus.
That's not an easy mission.
Sometimes it's a mission that's going to go across and against public opinion.
In the day in which we live in and with all what's going on with transgenderism and all what's going on in the public school and public universities and that's coming out of the mouths of politicians, we have to learn to stand strong.
You know, it's 2 Peter 5, 8 says, Be sober and alert, for your adversary, the devil, he names the adversary, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
The next verse says this, resist him standing firm in the faith.
Resist him standing firm in the faith.
You have to stand firm.
You've got to resist him.
And some of the resistance is just saying no.
Some of the resistance is just standing up for biblical values and biblical truth.
And you're going to feel the headwinds of a society who has increasingly grown anti-Christ.
But we men, we're going to act like men, as Paul says, and we're going to be strong and courageous.
We're going to be strong and courageous.
Again, James doesn't say if trials come.
It says when trials come.
Some of you guys may be going through a divorce.
That's a trial.
Maybe you've lost your job.
That's a trial.
Maybe there's pressure at work.
That's a trial.
Maybe you're not hitting the numbers that you need to hit at work.
That's a trial.
He says consider that joy.
Don't give up.
When you get punched in the mouth, refuse to quit, move forward.
And when the hurricane gale force winds blow against your life, keep moving forward.
Do not give up.
And when you're in that trial, consult God.
Get on your knees.
I stand the tallest.
You stand the tallest.
When we're on our knees.
Because it's when we're on our knees, we're humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
The Bible says in James 4, and in due season, He will exalt you.
When we bow, we're consulting the wisdom of the universe.
And we're saying, God, I need help.
And guess what God does?
He freely gives wisdom to those who ask.
Don't be double-minded.
Stay firm.
See, half of our battle today is not externally.
It's internally.
It's in our minds.
The greatest battlefield is not in the Middle East.
It's not between Russia and all the other nations that are being infuriated by
By Russia, the greatest battle on planet Earth is between the ears of people.
And that's why Paul said, Romans 12, 2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
the renewing of your mind.
Why?
Because it's in the renewing of the mind that I learned to stand fast.
I learned to have courage.
I learned to be strong.
We must not be weak-minded.
Weak-minded Christians fold under persecution.
They fold under trial.
They fold under tribulation.
They fold at the first sight of hardship.
But we're not like that, men.
We're a different brand.
We're a different people.
We're of a different caliber.
We are God's men.
He's empowered us to do what he's called us to do.
I like what Psalm 1 says, How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of the sinner, nor sit in the seat of the scoffer.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night, and he will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water.
which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Look what he says.
He says in whatever he does, this man's going to prosper because he's learned to meditate on the Word of God.
He's renewed his mind in the Word of God, and now he's mature enough to
So when the winds of change and the trials of life and the temptations that come their way, they come, they can stand, they can be bold, they can be mature, they don't cave.
And if they get knocked down, they get back up.
And the fact is you will get punched.
Don't tap out.
Get back up.
Get in the fight.
Renew your mind.
Get on your knees, get in God's Word, and be a leader.
Guys, like never before, it's going to take brave men.
who are strong, who are courageous, who are ready to fight the good fight of faith.
Paul says this fight that we're in, it's not a bad fight.
It's a good fight.
It's already rigged.
We know that by Revelation 22, we win.
But we have to stand firm until the end.
I want to thank you for joining me today.
I want to encourage you.
Get back up.
If you've fallen, man, if you've got knocked down, you got punched in the mouth, you got hit in the throat, get back up.
Get back in the fight.
Come on.
If you've strayed off the path, get back on the narrow road.
God is with you.
God is for us.
And God will bless us.
Consider it joy.
Trials will come.
But just as Jesus overcame, you will overcome also.
Thank you for joining me today, guys.
And it's a pleasure.
It's a privilege to be able to speak into your life.
I want you to share this, man.
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We'll see you next week.