WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.400 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, 2 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.440 equip the saints and impact our culture. 3 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:15.360 Hey, New Year's, it's January 4th and you're already into it. How's it going? 4 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:20.560 What about a believer? Have you already skipped the day on your devotion? 5 00:00:20.560 --> 00:00:25.600 Have you missed a prayer moment? Oh goodness gracious, I know how that feels. Listen, 6 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.360 let's stay tuned because we're going to dive into how to live a devotional life 7 00:00:29.360 --> 00:00:34.880 this year and it's not too late even though it's January 4th, it's not too late. 8 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.880 I'll tell you why in a moment, let's dive into this. 9 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:47.760 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 10 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:54.240 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, 11 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.440 then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying, 12 00:00:59.440 --> 00:01:05.600 amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now, open your hearts to what 13 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:12.640 God's word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Hey everybody, welcome to this podcast. We are 14 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.600 kicking off the New Year. We are delighted to be with you. We're honored to be with you. 15 00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:24.640 And so listen, Psalm 65 11, let's just get that out there. I know some of you are watching, 16 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:29.840 some of you are driving, some of you are jogging. Doesn't matter whatever you're doing, this is 17 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:35.840 very, very great about this whole platform of podcasts is this. You can hear me say right now 18 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:44.000 or watch me say right now, Psalm 65 11 and here it is you guys. You crown the year with your 19 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:55.440 goodness and your paths, drip with abundance. What a verse to have on your dashboard or your mirror 20 00:01:55.440 --> 00:02:02.960 when you're shaving or whatever you're doing at your cubicle. Psalm 65 11, let's do it all year long. 21 00:02:03.520 --> 00:02:10.800 God has promised as you walk with him, as you walk with him, he'll crown your year with goodness 22 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:18.800 and his paths, drip with abundance, meaning that Proverbs chapter three verses four, five, 23 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:26.880 and six are still in effect. That would also mean that not only that if we do not rely or lean on 24 00:02:26.880 --> 00:02:33.200 our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge him and he shall direct our paths. Psalm, 25 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:41.600 excuse me, Proverbs three, but it also means that Romans 8, 28 will be in effect for this year 26 00:02:41.600 --> 00:02:50.160 for 2024. You see what is that? That all things work together for good. Here it is, 27 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:56.800 here's the qualifier to those who are or to those who love God. That's the number one thing. And 28 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:01.600 number two, qualifier, those who are called according to his purpose. All things work together for 29 00:03:02.320 --> 00:03:08.080 to those who love God. I see a lot of people say, oh, all things work together for good. 30 00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:18.400 Not true. They do not, unless you practice the first two qualifiers to the year ahead of you. 31 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:23.040 All things work together for good. You can have this bold confidence. Number one, if you love God, 32 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:26.720 number two, if you're called according to his purposes. 33 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:33.760 Okay. That means you know that you're a believer and that you love God. I know it's often 34 00:03:33.760 --> 00:03:40.080 challenging to believe and to stay true to the fact that you are called as a believer because we 35 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:45.200 mess up. We have insecurities. We start thinking. I don't even feel like a believer. What I tell you 36 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:51.040 what? If you could write a book on telling me, convincing me on how it feels to be a believer, 37 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:58.320 I will buy that book and I'll promote that book. I don't know what it feels like to be a believer. 38 00:03:58.320 --> 00:04:04.800 I know what it is like to be a believer. Are you hearing me? Our emotions will lie in trick and 39 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:11.680 fool us constantly. You might wake up Monday. You're so courageous because you had a great sermon 40 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:17.200 on Sunday. You had great fellowship and you're ready to hit the world. But by Tuesday afternoon, 41 00:04:17.200 --> 00:04:23.440 you're thinking, do I even know God? Hey, listen, it's not based on feeling hallelujah. It's based 42 00:04:23.440 --> 00:04:31.280 on him keeping his word of faithfulness. You, my friend, are to do what my pastor said here at 43 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:37.680 the church that I pastor and he spoke it from this pulpit years ago and that was Chuck Smith and 44 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:45.360 he said, keep yourself. It's an old saying. Keep yourself under the spout where the glory comes out. 45 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:53.520 I love that. That's so biblical. Hang out with Jesus. Walk with him. It's all going to work out. 46 00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:58.800 Some 65-11 is really the preface to what we're going to be doing and kicking off this new year. 47 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:03.840 And I wrote down some notes so I wouldn't miss anything. And that is this. That I want you to 48 00:05:03.840 --> 00:05:11.280 nurture now, starting right now, a new year routine that will last you the entire new year. And you 49 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:16.000 say, yeah, good luck, Jack. Sure. Fine. And I understand that too because we all start out with 50 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:20.640 our new year's resolutions, even as Christians were terrible about it. Oh, man, I'm going to pray 51 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:25.600 longer. I'm going to follow Jesus closer. I'm going to read 10 chapters of the Bible every day. 52 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:32.000 I know the feeling and I know the commitment. But after about January 5th, we blow it. 53 00:05:32.880 --> 00:05:38.080 And then we feel so defeated and so satanic about our lives. Hey, let me encourage you right now. 54 00:05:38.880 --> 00:05:44.640 Everybody who you know that's breathing struggles with their devotional life, everybody. If they 55 00:05:44.640 --> 00:05:50.320 don't tell you that, they're not being honest. Okay, I've got some great friends in my life. You 56 00:05:50.320 --> 00:05:57.920 don't need many of them. I can count them on a half a hand who have walks with God that I radically 57 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:07.680 respect. And they all agree on this. Hey, yeah, uh, my intentions is to be perfect every day. I 58 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:13.840 fail often at that, but I get back up and I get back on track again 10 times a day, 100 times a 59 00:06:13.840 --> 00:06:18.880 day if I have to. And what's beautiful about that is, as you continue to do that day after day, 60 00:06:18.880 --> 00:06:23.680 see, there's liberty and freedom in that. There's not bondage in this. When you realize that this 61 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:29.360 is a devotional life that's dedicated to God and you're not bound by a routine, that's religion. 62 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:37.760 Did you do this? No. Go sit in the corner. That's religion. Jesus says, hey, I know you're sick. You 63 00:06:37.760 --> 00:06:44.160 know, you had COVID or you had flu or you had a car accident or you've been so busy. You've been 64 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:51.680 flying business meetings. Jesus says, yeah, I know that is. I know busy it can be. Well, here's a deal. 65 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:56.240 Today's January 5th, for example, I have no idea, by the way, when this podcast is dropping, 66 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:02.480 if it's actually New Year's day, that's the fourth. Oh, okay. So I just found out it's the fourth 67 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:09.600 and you already realize, oh my gosh, I forgot about my devotion. I was supposed to start. That's okay. 68 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:15.280 Start today. Start tonight. But here's what I want you to do. Start a routine right now. 69 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:23.600 And the routine is this. Ready? We'll call it devotional practices. Okay. That, watch this, 70 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:29.520 that you can still get a copy. You can get this anywhere. I'm sure you can. But it's best to get it 71 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:36.640 at jackkibs.com. You can get it at jackkibs.com. By the way, thousands and thousands and thousands of 72 00:07:36.640 --> 00:07:44.400 people have gotten the one year Bible to start 2024 with. Imagine how cool this is. We're a community 73 00:07:44.400 --> 00:07:49.520 online. We are, right? We don't have a chance to sit down and sip coffee or walk through the court 74 00:07:49.520 --> 00:07:57.120 yard or the sanctuary at church. But you know what you get to do? We get to stay together in spirit 75 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:03.120 in the one year Bible. I love this. This is the new King James. One year Bible put out by Tyndale. 76 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:08.480 We've been pushing this for years, man. It's so good. And it's not a study Bible. You need to 77 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:17.680 understand that. This is a Bible for devotional reading. Okay. That will take you through the 78 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:23.920 Word of God an entire year. If you have already missed one, two, or three days today being 79 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:32.000 January 4th, if you've missed, don't let that defeat you. Order this now. And if it's too expensive, 80 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:38.160 I have no idea how this happens. But you know, the provider of these books, probably Tyndale, 81 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:43.200 blah, blah, blah, you can get it for a certain price. And I don't know what that is, by the way. 82 00:08:43.920 --> 00:08:51.200 But just find it somewhere. But get the one year Bible by Tyndale. Here's a reason why. There's 83 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:56.640 a thousand of them out there. But Tyndale, one year Bible, new King James, means you're on the same 84 00:08:56.640 --> 00:09:03.280 page that I'm on, that Lee Sinai are on together every day, that the church is on. Imagine this. 85 00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:10.800 I was informed by our bookstore that we're talking about over 11,000 of these one year 86 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:19.120 Bibles are operational right now, right? So join us. Why? You'd go to January 4th or whenever 87 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:26.240 it arrives at your door. And you'd start with us. And so here's the devotional routine or the 88 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:32.480 devotional practice is, oh, they're probably not going to like that. There. How's that? 89 00:09:33.920 --> 00:09:40.080 The devotional practice is this that you approach this saying, I'm going to, I'm going to do this 90 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:47.920 every day. And when I miss, I'm not going to try to catch up. I'm going to dive into the day that 91 00:09:47.920 --> 00:09:55.360 says on the calendar, I'm going to be with Jack and Lisa and 11,000 other people and probably 92 00:09:55.440 --> 00:10:02.320 millions of others who've got this all over the world. And I'm going to be with them in spirit. 93 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:08.480 Hey, jot this down, would you? It's Colossians 2.5. That's what we're going to do together. Colossians 94 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:18.320 2.5 says, though we be absent in the flesh, yet we are together in the spirit rejoicing in each 95 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:27.680 others steadfast faith. Colossians 2.5 is a great companion to Psalm 65 11 for our relationship. 96 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:33.120 Let's go through the word of God together. God is going to bless our year because he blesses 97 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:40.880 obedience, guaranteed. And what's cool is that we're separated maybe by tens of miles, thousands 98 00:10:40.880 --> 00:10:47.840 of miles. Doesn't matter, we are spiritually being welded together by God, though we be physically 99 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:53.200 apart. We are spiritually being welded. That's part of the devotional practice. It's remarkable. 100 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:59.200 I always tell the church, you know, you get to remember this, you guys, when we, when we have church 101 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:07.520 every Sunday, you know, Wednesday, we have one service on Wednesday. On Sunday, we have three 102 00:11:07.520 --> 00:11:13.360 different services and that's three different churches that happen to come to the same physical 103 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:20.480 address. And boy, for those of you who know what I'm talking about in ministry, all three 104 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:25.680 services have a different personality. You can feel it. They respond differently to the message. 105 00:11:27.280 --> 00:11:35.440 There are services that worship louder. There are services that are very, very, very, I think 106 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:40.320 they're sleeping sometimes. I wonder, I even say it, are you with me? Anybody awake? 107 00:11:40.560 --> 00:11:48.480 And, you know, sometimes there's a service that's the giving service. There's a service 108 00:11:49.760 --> 00:11:55.920 they give. They're just givers, man. And the other services don't have to show up financially. 109 00:11:56.880 --> 00:12:03.040 The other service gives. Well, the same is true about this other service is the one that always 110 00:12:03.040 --> 00:12:08.880 signs up for everything and the other ones don't. It's very strange. There's a service that lifts 111 00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:14.640 their hands in worship. The other services, they're not prone to do it. I don't know why. I just 112 00:12:14.640 --> 00:12:19.680 know this. They have a personality that I'm reading. How is it that thousands of them come to 113 00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:25.360 that exact service? I don't get it. It's not my business. It's God's business. I give them the same 114 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:31.360 Bible study every time, but they have different personalities and different practices. Don't they? 115 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:40.480 So do you. So don't say to yourself, my practices for this new year has got to be just like my friend 116 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:48.800 John or my or my friend Susie. Forget that stuff. Find your own personal discipline. There are 117 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:55.760 things that are immovable, the Bible. This is just the one year Bible to get us all together. But 118 00:12:55.760 --> 00:13:02.400 that doesn't take the place of you and I studying the Bible. And this is where it gets to be a lot 119 00:13:02.400 --> 00:13:10.800 of fun. It might be kind of, I don't know, anticlimactic for you to think, but if you were to be with 120 00:13:10.800 --> 00:13:19.520 me in the morning, oh, dark 30, right? And I'm just, I get up in the morning just like you do. And 121 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:26.640 it's January 4th. And I'm like, there's so much going on. There's so much happening. Lord, 122 00:13:26.640 --> 00:13:30.320 give me your grace. Give me your mercy. I ask you, Lord, before my feet hit the ground, 123 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:36.560 before I get out of bed, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Give me your wisdom to deal with everything 124 00:13:36.560 --> 00:13:43.520 that comes my way today. Cause me to represent you. And that's a big lift. So it's got to be by 125 00:13:43.520 --> 00:13:49.840 God. Cause me to represent you and all that I'm doing. Well, what is Jesus like? Read Matthew, 126 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:59.600 Mark, Luke and John and the book of Revelation. Think about it. What's Jesus like? That's your 127 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:07.680 goal for today, right? And so I want to be like him. That goes from him, giving the gospel to a 128 00:14:07.680 --> 00:14:13.680 woman whose life has been abused at the well of Jacob, so to speak. She's made nothing but 129 00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:18.720 horrible decisions. She's been married a ton of times. And she's even living with a guy now. 130 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:26.640 And how did Jesus treat her with absolute incredible respect? But he didn't pull any punches. 131 00:14:26.880 --> 00:14:37.200 He unpacked her soul. And she came to the awareness, oh my gosh, sir, I perceive that you are a 132 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:43.600 prophet. And that woman got saved in John chapter four. I think it's four. Sorry, I'm old now. 133 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:53.360 I believe it's John four. She got saved. And then she ran into the city of Samaria and told them 134 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:02.480 and they they all got saved. Then Jesus goes to the temple and overturns the tables and rebukes 135 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.720 all these people. Now, I'm not saying go out and do that. I'm just saying that it could happen 136 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:10.640 in your life where God will call you to do that. You better make sure it's God calling you to 137 00:15:10.640 --> 00:15:17.120 rebuk. If there's a fire that's in you and it's holy and sanctified for righteousness, then this 138 00:15:18.160 --> 00:15:22.480 you got to be led by God. And here's the cool thing. When that happens in your life, it will be 139 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:30.160 unusual for you just as it was unusual for Jesus. When he said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, 140 00:15:30.800 --> 00:15:37.280 that word woe, it's hard for me to say the word in Greek without sounding like I'm saying Hawaii. 141 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:49.840 The word is uai, uai, or just remember Hawaii to you. The word woe unto you is condemned or damned 142 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:59.280 be you, cursed be you, woe, bad unto you. Jesus said, you say, Jackie, you sure Jesus said that? 143 00:15:59.280 --> 00:16:07.680 Yeah, he said it in technicolor, cursed be you scribes and Pharisees. You preach about the kingdom 144 00:16:07.680 --> 00:16:13.600 of heaven, but you yourselves, you keep people from getting in and you yourselves are not even 145 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:20.640 going to get in. Jesus said that. Jesus said woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. 146 00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:29.120 On the outside, you are so pure, white and beautifully holy looking, but inside of you, you're 147 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:37.360 full of dead men's bones and hypocrisy. Wow, if God is speaking to you about that, you're going 148 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:44.800 to be terrified and it's not going to be the norm. So study Jesus and you'll experience that joy 149 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:51.760 as you go through your devotional study and your private study of the word of God. But when you get 150 00:16:51.760 --> 00:17:00.080 up early and you seek the word in a Bible study, not the one your Bible, but Bible study, you might be 151 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:08.160 shocked to see how little progress you make in the word. You might only cover about three or ten, 152 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:15.520 I don't know, depends on what the Bible is saying in that chapter versus just a handful. Why? Because 153 00:17:15.520 --> 00:17:23.600 you start reading, for example, last night, my granddaughter was watching some program on her iPad, 154 00:17:24.320 --> 00:17:28.480 and I don't know what it was, something it was good because I was listening, right? She's a teenager, 155 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:37.840 so you're like this. And it was fine. But I thought, you know what? I'm going to go on over there 156 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:46.240 and I'm going to have her shut that thing off and I'm going to go do something that I did with my 157 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:53.040 other grandson up in Northern California. And here's the reason why I'm giving you this backstory 158 00:17:53.120 --> 00:18:00.720 because this is how this is this is part of your devotional life is it's not relegated to 20 minutes 159 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:08.000 in the morning. Oh, did you have your devotion today? Sure did. It's not what I'm talking about. 160 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.880 Your devotional time in your Bible study time is putting gasoline in the tank. You're at the 161 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:19.840 gas station, spiritually speaking, you fill up and then what do you do? You fire up the engine 162 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:27.760 and you take off not a fan of electric cars as you can tell. Turn that baby over, take 500 horsepower, 163 00:18:28.560 --> 00:18:34.960 spiritually speaking and drive it. What does that mean? When you leave your devotional moments with 164 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:45.600 God, punch it all day long and this is part of it. So I said to my granddaughter, hey, 165 00:18:46.560 --> 00:18:54.320 you want to see what I did with your cousin up north a couple weeks ago? Well, that's any 166 00:18:54.320 --> 00:18:59.600 kid will say, yeah, what's that? Right here, turn that thing off just for a moment. We're going to do 167 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:05.360 something right now. Okay, I opened up the Bible and I don't know what's going through her teenage mind, 168 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:12.720 but I said, I'm going to read verse one. You're going to read verse two, but we have to talk about it. 169 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:23.200 Ready? All right. In the beginning was the word, the word is with God and the word was God. So I 170 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:29.520 talked about 60 seconds about this. This is what I said. I said, wow, what do you think about this 171 00:19:29.520 --> 00:19:35.760 in the beginning of what? When is that? I said to her, that's a time, it's what's known in 172 00:19:35.760 --> 00:19:42.080 Bible studies, a time statement, a time in the beginning, beginning of what? Think about it. 173 00:19:42.080 --> 00:19:46.240 What do you think he's talking about? So she had a couple of guesses because she finally got to 174 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:54.160 the right answer. And then I said, so in the beginning was the word and the word was with God 175 00:19:54.160 --> 00:20:01.360 and the word was God, who's who's God? She said, well, the words God. And I said, that's right. 176 00:20:01.360 --> 00:20:07.040 Now you read verse two. She reads verse two. And now I'm asking her questions. Watch what happens. 177 00:20:07.840 --> 00:20:13.520 She starts getting into it. She scoots over closer. She takes the Bible from me. 178 00:20:15.360 --> 00:20:22.320 So she's looking on, okay, as I'm holding it, she's getting into it because she's participating 179 00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:27.600 and we're doing every other verse. Guess what we're doing? We're having a devotion. We are 180 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:35.360 setting the course for the day. And now she takes the Bible from me and she starts reading. 181 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:42.720 Guess what happened, you guys? Instead of me doing all the odd numbered verses and she does the 182 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:50.240 even numbered verses, she kept reading. She read about four verses and then she starts telling me, 183 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:55.760 well, this is what this is talking about. She took over. You know what happened, you guys? 184 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:01.600 That's exactly what happened a month ago when I was with my grandson in Northern California. 185 00:21:01.600 --> 00:21:08.320 I did the exact same thing and the exact same chapter of John's Gospel and he did the exact same 186 00:21:08.320 --> 00:21:14.480 thing. And why am I bringing this up to you? Because watch, this is real life, man. This is real life. 187 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:20.560 Here it is. The reason why I did that last night with my granddaughter is because about an hour 188 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:29.920 and a half or two hours earlier, my grandson had called from Northern California and he said to me, 189 00:21:32.080 --> 00:21:36.560 remember when we were in John chapter one, we never made it to John chapter two, by the way, 190 00:21:36.560 --> 00:21:42.480 when we were up there. He said, I can't wait for you to come back because we're going to do 191 00:21:42.560 --> 00:21:51.040 John chapter two. You guys, that was a month ago and he's preteen in his age. That was a month ago, 192 00:21:51.040 --> 00:21:57.680 maybe longer than a month ago. You say, Jack, I wish that could happen in my home. Listen, 193 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:06.400 I didn't, I didn't have a plan. I just did that and she wound up loving it. He wound up loving it. 194 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:14.320 I loved it. What were we doing? We were having a devotion together. So here's what I need to do. 195 00:22:14.320 --> 00:22:20.880 I need to encourage you to have a devotional life that is thrilling and exciting, not burdensome 196 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:27.920 and boring. Don't leave this podcast and say, kids, sit down. I'm going to give you a Bible study. 197 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:37.200 You'll kill him. They're not wired that way. Let them tell you and then you can engage them. 198 00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:41.280 The next thing I want you to know and we'll go through these quickly because we're running out of time, 199 00:22:41.280 --> 00:22:48.800 is find a church that teaches the Bible. I mean, we hear it all the time. Pastor Jack, I live in 200 00:22:48.800 --> 00:22:54.800 Kalamazoo. No, don't use Kalamazoo because I have a friend who passes a church in Kalamazoo, 201 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:02.160 Michigan. We'll pick some other town. And I can't find a Bible study there. I can't find a 202 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:08.800 Bible teaching church. Well, here's a deal. You can supplement your spiritual growth by programs 203 00:23:08.800 --> 00:23:14.800 just like this or watching the real life network or whatever that's fine, but you've got to go 204 00:23:14.800 --> 00:23:20.800 to a church. Here's a reason why. So yeah, but it's so sleepy there. Get your Bible study here 205 00:23:20.800 --> 00:23:29.840 or somewhere else. But go to go to a local church. You're so boring. I don't care if it's boring. 206 00:23:29.840 --> 00:23:37.920 You've already had your spiritual life meal online maybe, right? Go to the church, 207 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:43.200 sign up for the parking lot ministry or the cleaning ministry or children's ministry. Please do 208 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:52.880 this. You want to change the church in your community. Get, get, get spiritually pumped up or filled 209 00:23:52.880 --> 00:24:00.400 up by any means necessary. And then go to your local church and change it. Did you hear what I 210 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:09.680 said? Stop waiting for the perfect church to come to your town. You make it a church that works. 211 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:19.280 You. That's your marching orders for 2024. Do what you learn. Go to it. Jesus went to goofy churches. 212 00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:24.560 Isn't that what we're learning in the book of Revelation? To a seven letters to the seven 213 00:24:24.560 --> 00:24:31.680 churches. Most of them were pretty goofy. If you think about it, read it. They're issues, man. 214 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:38.000 Big time. One of them I don't even think was even a saved church. The church at Leo to see 215 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:45.760 Jesus is outside knocking on the door trying to get into a church. I think when you read from that 216 00:24:45.760 --> 00:24:51.200 moment on in Revelation to the church at Leo to see him, I don't even think it's a saved church. 217 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:57.920 I think it's a church. It's got a 501c3 and a cross on the building. They might have hymns or 218 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:03.680 praise music or whatever. I don't know, but they're not a saved church. He's trying to get into 219 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:11.040 their hearts and their lives. Go to a church. Share the light. Get to know people. That's how you 220 00:25:11.040 --> 00:25:17.120 minister. That's how you serve. Find people. God will bless you, man. You do that. My other church is 221 00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:23.280 now fits doctrinally off. It may be a dead church, but if it's doctrinally off, don't go there. 222 00:25:23.280 --> 00:25:29.280 If it's saying Jesus is not God, get out. Run quick before you caught up in the judgment of an all. 223 00:25:29.280 --> 00:25:34.160 If it says you can't trust this Bible, there's parts I'll tell you what's real and what's not. 224 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:40.000 Run for your life. Get out of there. If they say, hey, everybody, let's sing another song. Let's 225 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:46.720 pass the plate. Then they come back 20 minutes later because they just counted the money and 226 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:52.480 in a dollar 50 came in because God's not providing because God's not being honored. Let's sing another 227 00:25:52.480 --> 00:26:00.320 song and pass the plate. Get up and run for your life because God's not there. Flea. Like Christian 228 00:26:00.320 --> 00:26:07.280 did in the in the Pilgrim progress. Flea, the city of destruction. Flea, the church of destruction. 229 00:26:07.280 --> 00:26:14.000 But go to a church that is doctrinally sound, even if it's sleepy. Make it right. And then 230 00:26:15.040 --> 00:26:18.240 finally, we'll end with this. Kind of goes back to what I said earlier. 231 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:29.040 Not only be with your kids this year, 2024, but let's dial down on this. It's how to be with your 232 00:26:29.040 --> 00:26:37.280 kids in 2024. So number one's an assumption. Listen, guys, you're going to hate me for this. 233 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:43.920 But the cool thing is if you just calm down and sit down and ask God about what I'm about 234 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:50.640 ready to challenge you on. You're going to hear God say, yeah, you should listen. You should 235 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:57.840 listen to what he's saying. And here's what it is. You might have to cut back on your golf game 50%. 236 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:07.040 Or you're bowling. Listen, don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I talk to 237 00:27:07.040 --> 00:27:13.680 Christian man all the time. And I hear how great they are from themselves. And then I meet their 238 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:21.520 wife in the courtyard at the supermarket. And she'll say, yeah, you know what? My husband loves 239 00:27:21.520 --> 00:27:26.240 the Lord, you know, and all, but he's lacking in leadership. He's not leading me. He's not leading 240 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:32.880 the kids. But man, on Saturday morning, he's the first one out of the door to the to go bowling or 241 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:39.280 to go golfing or to go surfing. And I just wish he had spent it just 30 minutes with us and the 242 00:27:39.280 --> 00:27:48.240 kids in the Bible. Man, you know what? Surfing is not a bad idea. Neither is golfing or bowling. 243 00:27:49.120 --> 00:27:56.320 It's a bad idea when it's on a list of priorities right up there at the top. Let's be honest, 244 00:27:56.320 --> 00:28:00.880 those things shouldn't even be a priority. Oh, Jack, back off, man, don't judge me. I wouldn't 245 00:28:00.880 --> 00:28:05.360 steal a lot of my friends while we're sitting on the board waiting for a wave. I could care less if 246 00:28:05.360 --> 00:28:13.040 you lead the entire beach to Christ. What shall it profit you? If you if you win the gospel to 247 00:28:13.040 --> 00:28:18.560 everybody, everybody on the beach and everybody on a board gets saved and your family winds up in 248 00:28:18.560 --> 00:28:24.480 hell. What shall it profit you if you gain the entire surf community and your family winds up in 249 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:31.680 hell? Right? Think of that one. You're going to be God's going to hold your responsible guy, husband, 250 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:39.840 man, for you leading your wife and your kids. And they want to be led by you. So I don't know what to do. 251 00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:45.680 Well, back off of the hobbies and find out, and I'm giving you some big hints in this podcast, 252 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:50.480 starting off the new year, get a one year Bible, read it with your wife and your kids if possible, 253 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:55.120 but certainly with your wife. And then start studying the Bible, get a picture early. 254 00:28:55.120 --> 00:29:00.320 I know you do it. I know you leave your house at 430 to go surfing before work. I know that. 255 00:29:01.120 --> 00:29:07.520 We used to, oh my gosh, yikes. I remember leaving on Monday mornings, my day off. There was a time 256 00:29:07.520 --> 00:29:16.480 in my life where the three of us guys, we would leave at 4 a.m. on a Monday and we would drive 257 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:22.800 to the Colorado River from Chino Hills. And we would water ski because we just skied really hard, 258 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:33.360 nonstop, three guys riding a boat, water skiing, two hours nonstop. You meant just it was so intense. 259 00:29:35.520 --> 00:29:41.920 And then we'd get back in the car and we would drive back from the Colorado River to Chino Hills 260 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:51.200 and be home by 1 o'clock? Insane. Insane. Why? Why did I do that? Because at that time, 261 00:29:53.520 --> 00:30:02.160 I just loved water skiing. It was awesome. But thanks be to God, I was raised spiritually enough 262 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:08.720 to know that's got to come at a time and it's only for a time that doesn't take away from my 263 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:13.200 family nor from God. Now the good thing is these were two really great brothers. We talked about 264 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:17.600 Jesus all the way there, all the way back. It was awesome. But the thing is they weren't my, 265 00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:25.280 they, none of those guys were my wife. They weren't my kids. And so you've got to make some adjustments 266 00:30:25.280 --> 00:30:32.000 in what you think is important and you've got to change it up because your kids number one are 267 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:39.440 going to follow Christianity by what is caught by you. Here profound truth, your kids are going to do 268 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:46.480 dad, do husband, your wife and your kids are going to do Christianity the way they observe you 269 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:51.840 doing Christianity. They're going to learn a lot more by what they see 270 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:59.600 than what they hear. It doesn't mean you don't give them what they hear means you give them both. 271 00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:12.560 And then I'm going to end with this. Not only spend time with your kids, but I highly recommend 272 00:31:12.560 --> 00:31:19.040 that that time can be spent finding something in your community or your church of ministry that you 273 00:31:19.040 --> 00:31:24.000 can do with your kids. And I want to end with this, but I want to punch you right in the nose right 274 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:29.520 now spiritually. That doesn't mean you go to something like, for example, our own church here in 275 00:31:29.520 --> 00:31:40.480 a Saturday morning, our church goes to the local, well, I mean, it's not local, but it's close enough 276 00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:46.560 where families will get together and they'll go in a Saturday morning to walk around silently 277 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:54.080 the abortion mill, plan parenthood in LA, they'll walk around silently their praying, 278 00:31:54.080 --> 00:32:01.520 are their praying softly for one hour, to an hour. And then they go to breakfast. 279 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:10.720 Kids are telling me husbands and wives are telling me that has changed their lives. 280 00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:22.640 Why? Because your kids are seeing that you're leading them this way, and you're walking with mom, 281 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:27.680 dad, kids, whoever, whatever, and you're just praying, or maybe you're too shy to pray, 282 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:31.520 but you can hear other people praying on the prayer walk around the building. 283 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:41.040 And then little Mikey is going to say to your little Johnny, hey, you want to go to breakfast with 284 00:32:41.040 --> 00:32:47.760 us and get a bunch of pancakes? No kids going to refuse pancakes. Your little Johnny's going to 285 00:32:47.760 --> 00:32:51.840 turn to you and say, Dad, can we go get pancakes with them? And your first thought is, I don't know 286 00:32:51.840 --> 00:33:00.400 who those people are, and what if I'm stuck with the bill? Suck it up, do it. What an investment 287 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:06.560 spiritually. It's amazing. Go do it. So I don't know them. Then that's why you should go do it. 288 00:33:07.760 --> 00:33:15.680 They're with you on the prayer walk, or they're with you painting the fence of one of the seniors 289 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:22.320 in your church and one of the elderly. Go do it. So I don't like a paintbrush. I don't care if 290 00:33:22.320 --> 00:33:27.280 you like a paintbrush. Go do it because you're not there for the paintbrush. You're not even there 291 00:33:27.280 --> 00:33:31.520 for granny and her fence. You're actually there because you're going to do something with your kids. 292 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:37.680 We could go on all day. We're not going to do that. We're going to end right now. One year Bible 293 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:47.440 and also you see the fact that the days of deception is going to be dropped physically in 294 00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:57.600 bookstores, wherever books are sold, February 6th, February 6th is going to appear in bookstores. 295 00:33:57.600 --> 00:34:04.160 Pray for me because the moment that happens, I've got to be all over the U.S. at these Barnes 296 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:11.840 and Nobles and Mardel and other bookstores at book signing commitments, which sounds really cute, 297 00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:18.240 right? I've never done that before. So I'm kind of terrified. So pray for me, but here's the deal. 298 00:34:18.240 --> 00:34:23.680 God has blessed this already. He hasn't even hit the shelves yet. And God has made it an Amazon 299 00:34:23.680 --> 00:34:30.560 bestseller just by pre-orders. You can pre-order this, living in the days of deception. And this 300 00:34:30.560 --> 00:34:36.320 is not reserved for Christians only. This is a really, really strategic and there's a reason why 301 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:41.680 we could have launched it earlier, but the publisher, the harvest house, publishers wanted it to go out 302 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:50.160 in an election year. It's not a political book. It's about deception in all areas of life. And they 303 00:34:50.160 --> 00:34:55.120 thought this is something that we want to make sure that people get a hand on because 304 00:34:55.120 --> 00:35:01.680 deception is everywhere. Living in the days of deception, the fog of deception. And so listen, 305 00:35:01.680 --> 00:35:09.520 friends, as always, we want to make sure that you do what we strive to do here. It's time that 306 00:35:09.520 --> 00:35:17.440 you live out what you believe in. It's time for real life. And to do that, we're here to help you. 307 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:24.720 Go to jackhibs.com. Jackhibs.com. You can find out much more there, including getting your own 308 00:35:24.720 --> 00:35:31.280 copy of your one-year Bible. So God bless you. Let's do this year together, seriously. Let's stay 309 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:37.360 tuned. Let's do it together. And please share. Share this podcast if it's meant something to you. 310 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.240 Tell others about it. God bless you guys. Have a nice new year.