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Steve Brown: Let's talk about self talk on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew: That was author and seminary professor Steve Brown and this is Key Life. We're all about radical grace. Because of what Jesus has done, God's not mad at you. Keep listening and that message will set you free to live a life of joy and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown: Thank you Matthew. If you've been listening, we've been talking about lies that Christians sometimes believe. Lies that cause shame and fear and guilt and regret. And man, when I was working on this, I thought of 20 more lies besides the one that I included in the book. And now we're talking about and we're going to finish with this today about the lie I don't know enough and I'm not good enough to be a witness for Christ. That's nonsense. Just not true. Well, the part about you not knowing enough and not being good enough is true of you.

It's true of me and it's true of everybody we know. But that's what Jesus uses in a powerful way. Paul had Jesus say to him, my power is made perfect in weakness. Let me do a little bit of bragging. I swim laps most days, 50. And yesterday when I swam, the water was a little bit chilly. I just about decided not to swim. But you know what I did? I did self talk. I said to myself, Brown, you're a wuss. Stop shivering. Get off your posterior and get in the swimming pool and swim those laps.

You know what happened? I did exactly that. I got in the pool and started swimming and was surprised at how warm the water was. So let me give you a life changing principle for Christians that we often reference at Key Life. You could memorize this, say it to yourself on occasion. Hey, you take the first step, God will take the second step and by the time you get to the third step, you'll know it was God who took the first step. Now we're going to talk about that later on, but for now, it's a good way to self talk.

We are, of course, called to manifest humility. And that's hard when we start believing what I've written in this book and told you on this broadcast. In fact, if you don't sometimes struggle with arrogance and pride, you probably haven't understood the truth of who you are. Humility's a good thing when it's real humility. We have a great deal for which to be humble. We're all sinners desperately in need of God's mercy and forgiveness. He gives us that mercy and forgiveness when it is quite clear that we didn't and never will earn it for ourselves. However, when that humility morphs into Harry or Harriet and the humble habit, there is a great danger that our lives will be determined by that humble habit rather than the ultimate truth that we are valuable and treasured king's kids.

Peter wrote that that Christians were nobodies. But now, he said, I love this text. It's 1 Timothy 4 12. Now, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people. Now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, now you have received mercy. That by the way, I got the text wrong. That's 1 Peter 2 9 through 10. But what happens in 1 Timothy 4 12 is good too.

Let no one despise your youth. He wasn't promoting youth culture. He reminded Timothy that he served the king of kings, the source of great authority. When Jesus told his disciples to go and do all the world making disciples, Matthew 28, he wasn't sending them whining nobodies. He was sending followers who knew they were chosen and qualified and commissioned. I think I've told you before, I spent a lot of years teaching in seminary and one of the courses I taught was called communications. It was actually homiletics and preaching. And a lot of those students had never preached before and that's what they were going to become when they got out of the seminary.

And so when they did trial sermons in class, they were more nervous than a cat in a in a room filled with rocking chairs. I mean and and so I told him. I said, look, before you get up to preach, do some self talk. Say, and you don't have to say it out loud, but you could say it like you were saying it to us or maybe later to your congregation, you ought to say get out of my way. I'm God's man and I have a message from the king of the universe and by God's grace, you will listen.

And they would can't do that. I said that's who you are. Do a little bit of self talk. Remind yourself that you're qualified. Years ago, I had dinner with my friend Addison Leech. He was the academic dean at Gordon Conwell Seminary. And in fact, wrote a a blurb for the first book I ever wrote. And I can't tell you how much that meant to me. A former student while we were having dinner approached Dr. Leech with a question about some passage of scripture related to the future return of Christ. Dr. Leech said, I'm not sure and I don't think anybody else is sure.

But I believe that as we approach the second coming of Christ, someone will understand it and explain the scripture to the rest of us. And we'll say, that's right. He got it. Then he added, and that person won't be a preacher. Won't be a scholar or a professor. It will be a normal and ordinary Christian to whom God revealed the truth. That's what God does. That's God's methodology. He takes normal ordinary Christians and sinners and uses them to do amazing things. And that would be you. And that would be me. I want to spend more time on that lie, but we're never going to get through this material if I don't stay with it.

So let's go to another lie. Let's look at the lies that disempower us. I'll introduce it and we'll talk more about it tomorrow. Let me give you a text. It's Isaiah 40 29. He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength. The lie is this. God has gone away on vacation to Bermuda somewhere. There's an old story about a young boy who was asked by his father what he had learned at Sunday school. I learned how the Jews crossed the ocean, he said. There were these gigantic horses, hoses that sucked up water so they could walk on dry land and then a bunch of fighter planes destroyed their enemies who were chasing them.

They taught you that, the father asked. Well, the son said, not exactly. But you you wouldn't believe what they said. Sometimes we're like that boy. Our failure to recognize the supernatural presence and action of God is the cause of a whole lot of guilt and shame and fear and regret. I've already mentioned the principle, but it's worth repeating. If you take the first step, God will take the second step and by the time you get to the third step, you'll know it was God who took the first step. And not only that, God will show you stuff that will be just plain amazing.

He'll do it because he promised. Hey, you think about that. Amen.

Matthew: I don't know enough and I'm not good enough to be a witness for Christ. That that is certainly a pervasive and convincing lie, but now you know the truth and what to tell yourself when that lie arises. Tomorrow we're going to address a new lie that confronts us. You'll also hear one of the most amazing stories about a mustard seed of faith that I have ever heard. Do make sure you join us for that one. Well, we live in a fallen and sinful world. That much is clear. So how should we live in such a place?

Well, Steve addressed that important question in a sermon called We Will Be Restored. Get your copy of that sermon on CD for free right now by calling us at 1 800 Key Life. That's 1 800 539 5433. You can also email steve@keylife.org to ask for that CD or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for your absolutely free copy of the CD called We Will Be Restored. And I know you're busy, but just one last thing. Would you partner in the work of Key Life through your giving?

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