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Responses to light and overcoming evil with good. Gonna touch on a few topics in this slideshow. So there are a whole lot of video games out there where you start out as a pretty weak player. And then as you go through the game, you acquire more strength and skill and the bosses that you fight also increase in strength and skill. So it's not the case that you sit there and acquire all this strength and skill. And then you can just lay waste to all the opponents that uh used to be difficult and how it's a piece of cake. And uh in these video games, it's kind of a weird thing because it seems unrealistic . But ironically, this is actually very realistic because in life, uh we face challenges and as we overcome those challenges, we encounter harder challenges, more difficult ones. But unfortunately, a great many people are on a hamster wheel of encountering the same sorts of problems over and over and over again and they never seem to learn anything about it. They never seem to overcome those things, those things never become easier for them. But what, what's meant to happen is they are meant to become so easy that you don't even think about them any anymore. Um Sometimes it's a case that the knowledge you acquire empowers you to avoid these things, but many times they don't go away, you just become stronger. So one of the reasons that people get on this hamster wheel and they keep getting hit by the same things is because they suppose that um, these things are sort of distractions in life that uh they're just obstacles that can sort of be avoided and then we can move on with the life we would have otherwise lived. But the tough stuff is very much the purpose of life. It's a very mean uh contributor to the purpose in life. And what this is like is, you know, going to the grocery store using the bathroom and then taking off as if you've accom accomplished your purpose there. So you might go to the bathroom while you're in the grocery store, but you're there to, to do your grocery shopping and in life, we are here to overcome the world. That's the purpose. And if you're just getting hit by these things all the time and you're acting as if these are probabilistic, circumstantial uh uncommon things that you just need to sort of ignore because they happen from time to time. But let's move on with what we're really here for. It's completely backwards. You're here to overcome those things and God in his mercy may have made them, uh, only occur from time to time. But it's just because he's merciful and he doesn't want to overcome you and you're currently weak. And, uh, as you get stronger and stronger, you come to realize that these things, they hit you rapid fire and they just keep getting worse . And it's because as soon as you overcome something, he gives you something else to work on. That is the whole reason you're here. And if you see these things as, uh, detracting from your purpose in life, then you don't understand the way things work and you're going to suffer way more than you need to. Because, uh, you know, you're out there picking flowers when really you're out, you're, you're a warrior and you're meant to be in the battle and when the battle comes to you, you just sort of assume this is a weird thing that's distracting you from picking these flowers. And in reality, you ought to be sharpening your sword and, and learning how to use it and, uh, learning to trust in the strength of your armor and use it to, to uh avoid blows and things like this. And meanwhile, you're just getting cut to shreds by these arrows and, and swords and things because you think that you're there to pick the flowers so the flowers are there and you can appreciate them and pick them if you have a chance, but you're there for the battle because you're a warrior and that's the purpose of life. So, we're gonna talk a little bit more about this. Um, there's a movie I like, it's one of the Rocky movies and he says something like it isn't about how hard you can hit. It's about how, how hard you can get hit and get back up. That's one of my favorite quotes from those movies. And, uh, it's true and, and a lot of life is about how hard you can get hit and still get back up. And the gospel is uh in one sense, it's a means of acquiring the understanding and skill set to get back up when you get hit really hard. And in fact, the terminal uh conclusion, I guess the conclusion of the gospel is to learn sufficient knowledge and acquire sufficient skills so that there is nothing in this world that can hit you hard enough to keep you down. That is the goal of life, that is the purpose of life and that's what it means to overcome all things. So it's important to understand how you're going to get hit. Now, I think when we talk about evil, people automatically think of like the the supernatural stuff, there's a lot of movies about this, right? But uh it, it does happen for real as well, but this is where, you know, the devil appears to you and he thrashes you or he levitates you off the bed and slams you into the ceiling or you see these demons or whatever, whatever. Right. Uh, this stuff does really happen . It's real, it's real and it's awful, it's awful stuff. But that's actually in my experience that's the easy stuff because if, you know, Satan appears to you, there are two ways you can, you can look at that one. Is that, or, or one of his minions, one is to look at that as, uh an exercise of his power on you and uh how do you react? But another way of looking at this is, is that how does that really affect you? I mean, Jesus said, don't fear, um, don't fear. It's 2 a.m. So please give me some, some slack here. Uh uh OK. Yeah. Don't fear those who can damage your body. Just fear those who can damage your, your soul, right? And uh, Satan can do some things to you and he can make you scared and he can hurt your body. But at the end of the day who really cares? The question is and of course, all of that is you can fight all of that through your faith in Jesus Christ because nothing makes Satan flee faster than demonstrating your trust in God because it shows that he's wrong and he really doesn't like that. He takes off and so do his minions anyway. I made a video about that. But, but uh you have to fear what can, what can hurt your soul. And, um, more often than the supernatural stuff, what you have to worry about is the evil that will manifest in people. I didn't quote it here. I, I forgot that I was meant to. But, um, there's a really interesting passage in the New Testament where Jesus says something like, uh, a man's greatest foes will be those of his own household. And that is really true . If you want to see how much influence Satan has on the hearts of men, then all you have to do is determine in your heart that you will serve God at all costs. And as soon as you start to be a witness for him at all times in all places, which doesn't just mean saying I believe in Jesus. Uh because there are an awful lot of people who do that and it's meaningless, but to actually live according to every ounce of truth that he's revealed to you and to be true to your understanding of God's character at all times and in all places and all topics, then you'll find the second that you do that, you'll find all sorts of people in your life, including those that you've trusted until now manifest a very different attitude and they probably won't do it 100% of the time they'll do it when it hurts you the most. And that is a very, very, very hard thing. You'll see people you work with, you'll see people you're in relationships with, you'll see your siblings, you'll see your parents, you'll see your kids, all these people, your best friends, you'll see them and Satan, they're like Manchurian candidates and Satan will flip them on and activate them at the worst possible moments. It doesn't mean that these people are bad people or that you should cut them out of your life or any of these things. Although it could mean that, Well, all I'm saying is that uh you will be extensively tested and it doesn't necessarily require outrageous things to happen in your life. And uh this can cut you to shreds. If you don't understand how it all works, you don't have the tools to fight back. So Isaiah 56 through 10 says I gave my back to the smiter and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting for the Lord God will help me. Therefore, shall I not be confounded? Therefore, have I set my face like a flint? And I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me who will contend with me? Let us stand together, who is mine? Adversary? Let him come near to me, behold the Lord God will help me. Who is He that shall condemn me lo they shall, they all shall wax old as a garment. The moth shall eat them up. Who among you? Who is among you that feare the Lord that obeys the voice of his servant that worketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. Now this passage, there's another one I'm going to read later. There are a lot scattered through the scriptures that describe the savior in some sense. And uh I'm gonna give you a little tool here whenever God is being described, we shouldn't assume that this is describing him alone. It's also going to describe anyone who approaches him in character. Now, that's a tall order. But I want to say something that I hope encourages you to take this as an invitation to use this as a weapon in your arsenal. Uh Christ said that those that love him and believe him will become joint heirs with him and inherit all the father has anyone who's Christian by definition has no problem claiming that promise, claiming that similarity to Jesus. But it turns out that you can't have what Jesus has, has without being who Jesus is. And that's a true principle. And you can watch my series on the lectures on faith uh or the Gospel of Jesus Christ, either of those two or both be even better if you wanna learn more about that. So if you're willing to pick up one end of the stick, you necessarily have to pick up the other because it's on the same stick, right? And one tool that you're leaving on the ground instead of putting in your hand is uh realizing that when you read descriptions of the Lord's character like this one by adopting, that you're also adopting his power. And um I don't mean that in any weird way, it's just quite literally that if you do the things that he does, you'll have the experiences that he has and you'll have the confidence with the father that he has. So when we read this, um you might say, oh, well, this is obviously, it's describing Jesus. Yes, that's true. But it's also describing anyone who follows Jesus. And uh what does it mean to set your face like a flint? What does it mean to know that the Lord God will help you? And that therefore, you will not be confounded. What does it mean to be confounded in, in my analogy here, it means to be punched in the face, knocked on the ground and you don't get up, that's confounded. Uh There are obviously, you know, literal definitions and those are all true too. But um to just illustrate this. So when you give your back to the spiders and your cheeks, to them that pluck off the hair when you don't hide your face from shame and spitting, what does that mean? Uh We're going to go into that in a moment. Um What does it mean that those that condemn you will wax old like a garment and the moth shall eat them up . Well, those that turn away from truth or condemn truth, um, they're actually the ones that are condemned ironically and it doesn't mean that God's gonna arbitrarily punish them or anything like that. It just means that the principles that they espouse are weaker than what is available and they're weaker to reality and therefore they will be overcome by reality. So it doesn't matter how nice and new, uh, a piece of clothing is over time, it will become old and it will become worn and it will be eaten up by moths. It will succumb to the forces of entropy. And entropy is basically everything that's just trying to tear it down. And uh reality has a way of eroding things that aren't true things that aren't permanent and almost everything isn't permanent. Only what comes from God is permanent, only what comes from God and what uh reconciles to what he reveals will endure after this earth is gone. So in verse 10, who is among you that feare the Lord that obey the voice of his servant that worketh in the darkness and hath no light, it's not possible to fear the Lord and obey the voice of his servant and still walk in the darkness. If you do that, you will have light, it doesn't matter how dark the darkness is. And uh because there's opposition in all things, the more light you acquire, the more darkness you will become aware of and it's like the intensity of the darkness and the light increases at the same time. But if you trust in the name of the Lord and you stay upon his God, you will be sustained and you will keep getting up no matter how hard you were hit. Isaiah 53 is an interesting passage. I'm not gonna quote it here, but I'm sure you've heard it before. If not, you can reread it on your own. And like is the Isaiah 50 that we just read it. It describes multiple people at once and people read this one and they say, oh, this is talking about Jesus True, but it's also talking about other people. And uh some people talk about how it's, it's describing um this latter day servant, this end time servant or whatever you wanna call this guy, whether that's the case or not is actually irrelevant to our purposes here. If you are going to set your face like a flint, which means like I was describing before deciding that you are going to be a witness to Christ at all times and in all places by reconciling your life to everything he has revealed to you on every topic in every place at all times. Then this passage is going to describe you because these are the things that will happen to you. You are going to be a man of sorrows, you are going to be acquainted with grief, you will be wounded for the transgressions of others. You will bear the griefs of others. You will carry the sorrows of others. You will be bruised for their iniquities by your stripes, they will be healed. You are going to be despised and rejected of men. Ask me how I know for each of these things, we could go down this list and we could talk about what these things mean. Uh I don't wanna do that though. If you're interested in that, then I would encourage you to read my book, The Glory of God is intelligence. Um There are reasons I'm not gonna do that here, but maybe it suffices to say that it's in your greatest benefit for me to not do that here. But all of these things will happen to you. If you decide to follow Jesus , how close to Him you you come is a function of how much you can give and how much you can take before you quit. Uh He can take everything this world has to give and still endure it to. He still preserves his Godly character in spite of all the things that this world can do. So the question is, how much are you willing to give and take at what cost and that will determine how close you can get to God. So to help understand this, I'm using this analogy of a business investment. Uh whether you have experience in this or not, I hope it makes sense. I think it's pretty simple. So let's suppose you have $100,000 to invest. Wouldn't that be nice? So the founder of a company approaches you and says, hey, I have this company, we need some money. Would you like to invest? Question is which of these situations would you say yes to and then which of these would you prefer? So handle this as a true false and then a multiple choice? Ok. So the first situation is, you know, with perfect assurance that the company is going to go out of business, you're gonna lose everything you invest. Are you gonna do it? What about if the company is gonna run for a while and sell? But it's going to sell for, for so little that you'll only get $10,000 out of it. Remember, you initially invested 100,000, what about the same situation? But you get 50,000 about the same situation, but you get 100,000, about the same situation, but you get a million. What about the same situation? And you get 100 million? If you're a rational creature, you would prefer the 100 million over any of these other options. And you would probably say no to every situation except when you got more back than you initially invested, right? Pretty simple. Ok. So, and maybe you'd even, I don't know why I made that one green. That's wrong. The you, you wouldn't invest if you're just gonna get 100,000 back, I mean, why would you do that? Right. But let's say you're gracious and you say, well, it's no skin off my back, but in reality, you wouldn't endure the risk just to get the same thing back. Ok. So, simplifying each of these things, um, you can get a 1 to 0 response. That's when you put in one and you get zero back. So you lose all your money. You can get a one to a less than one response, which is when you get back something, but it's less than you initially paid. You can get a 1 to 1 response, which is you get back exactly what you put in and then you can get a one to greater than one response, which is when you get back more than you initially put in. There's gradations of that one because you can get a lot more back than anything close to what you put in or something closer to what you put in. And obviously those are different. So the question is in which of these situations are you willing to stick out your neck to give light and truth to someone else? For most people, the only time they would do it is if they're going to get back more than what they give. And when I'm talking about this, I'm not actually talking about literally getting something back. This isn't the case where like you're training an employee hoping that someday they're better than you at whatever you're training them at what, uh, what this is is something where you don't necessarily benefit personally, but that person ends up exercising greater light and truth than what you're teaching them. So they come along and then surpass that point through your investment. This is the only situation where most people will act and I'll give you a really, really, really simple example. That's not at all what I'm talking about when uh someone decides whether or not to share the gospel, they're probably doing some math in their head to think is this person going to accept the gospel, right? And by that they mean, become like they are, they don't mean like uh just sort of do it half heartedly and end up um sort of a nominal Christian, right? They want other people to have the same intensity and passion and faith and testimony that they do. So, um if people make this judgment call and they say, well, you know, uh this person is a hardcore atheist, I really have doubts that they're ever gonna be a Christian. I'm not even gonna say anything to them. And that's the math that they're doing. But sharing light and truth is way more than just saying, hey, have you ever heard of this guy? His name is Jesus. Um But it's to stand at all times, at all places for everything that God has revealed to you across all topics. So, um, you end up getting in a lot of trouble by doing that and you're constantly , uh, having people hit you basically using that analogy still. And most people won't do it unless they think that it's gonna be this really, really marvelous return on their investment. The problem with that is that God does all of these things. The default situation is the first one where he's just constantly shining his light. It goes through all of the universe at all times. The fullness is available to all things, but most things don't respond at all. And so the baseline is zero. Uh It can be a little better than that, but still, it's something most of us wouldn't touch with a 10 ft pole. What would it look like to have a one to less than one response? Uh Maybe you have to work your whole life like let's, let's make it, let's make it finite. So would you work for 20 years to acquire money to give it to someone who's immediately going to blow it and be in at least as bad a situation as they were before. If the answer is no, then I mean, just on the surface of that's a lot of time wasted. Then that is a deviation from what God would do. How much effort does he put into? Say the universe so that you can bumble through it and not listen to anything? He says now there's a caveat here which has to do with a zero sum game and limited resources. Uh We'll get to that, but just on the surface, this is really what it, what it works out to be 1 to 1 response, you know, think about this in marriage. That's, you could get really practical really quickly with that. Uh What does a 1 to 0 response look like? What does a one to less than one response look like? What does a 1 to 1 response look like? And what does a one to a greater than one response look like? All right, you can think about that as long as you want, but we're gonna move on. I want to make a case that God does invest in us even when there isn't uh a very apparent return revelation. 320 says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. So he's always knocking even when we don't answer the door, that's a 1 to 0 Romans five for when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die. That's 1 to 1 yet peradventure for a good man. Some would even dare to die. But God commends his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. So that's a one to a less than one. Matthew 545. That ye may be the Children of your father, which is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. So God blesses people even when they don't deserve it. Ok. Interesting. One purpose of the gospel is to propagate light but your effectiveness in that will be a function of how much light you have. And that's a well done. But also what you're willing to sacrifice to propagate it. So a lot of times when we think of sacrifice, we just think of it in terms of obtaining light. But many times it's a much greater sacrifice to disseminate light if you're interested in this and you haven't read it already. I highly, highly encourage you to read the Glory of God is intelligence because here's the table of contents. The whole book is on these topics. It's on truth, how to find it and how to disseminate it. And the stuff that we're covering in this video is just barely scratching the surface of what's explored in the book. I highly encourage you to read it and read it again. Turns out that you've got two choices. The first choice I describe as publicans do the same. And that's a reference to this phrase, this passage from Matthew five. You have heard that it hath it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them. That curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despite use you and persecute you that you may be the Children of your father, which is in heaven for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth reign on the just and on the unjust for if ye love them, which love you, what reward have ye do not even the publicans the same. And if you salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others do not even the publicans so be ye therefore perfect, even as your father, which is in heaven is perfect. So if you only love people that love you, those are 1 to 1 or one to greater than one transactions, if you're willing to invest in a loss situation, then that is closer to what God is and what Jesus is inviting us to be when he says, be therefore perfect, even as your father, which is in heaven is perfect and then you can shine your light on the evil and the good and send your reign on the just and the unjust Paul says, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good question is what does that mean? Well, I mentioned that there's this thing called entropy and without getting too deep into that idea. It's just the degradation force. So if you put a rock out in the weather and it erodes, that's entropy. If you put uh light into dark and it dissipates that's entropy. If you put a person with light and truth into the world, that person will constantly be continuing with our metaphor punched in the face again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again, unless they give up that light and uh in doing so, they will be beaten into the ground. Um You will never overcome the entropy here during this life, you will never acquire so much light that you overcome the darkness outside of you. You can however and must, it is the purpose of your life to overcome the entropy within yourself. And that is a deep topic. But uh relating it to what we're talking about here, there's a part in the New Testament where Jesus is walking through the crowds. And this lady with a quote issue of blood touches his garment and is healed. And he says, who touched me? Virtue has gone out of me? The thing about light is it's perishable because of this entropy because of the darkness because of people and how they just constantly tear you down and waste what you're giving them. And so what you have to do is like Jesus, you have to develop the ability to recharge to pull more from the father to use the spirit to recharge your batteries. And uh I talked about this in the book , Seek you this Jesus. But there's a reason he frequently left the crowds uh to be on his own. There's a reason he woke up very early in the morning. And uh this is how he recharged his batteries and how he fueled what would be uh taken out from him through entropy each day. People do not respond equally to invitations to higher light and truth in John three, the Lord uh says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world. But that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not, is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world. And men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil for every one that doeth evil, hate the light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that His deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. So the light shines and uh most people turn away from it because they embrace things that they know are wrong and therefore greater light makes them feel bad about what they want to feel good about. And that's really all there is to it. People either love feeling good or they love doing good and those things don't connect. So you're one or the other and when people want to feel good, then they will always flee from the light. Here's another one in Mark four. Jesus uses the parable of the sower to describe how people respond to invitations for light. He says, Hark and behold, there went out a sower to sow and it came to pass as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up and some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was scorched and because it had no root, it withered away and some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no fruit and the other fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased and brought forth some 30 some 60 some an 100. And between these two passages, we have a pretty good description of how it is that people react to invitations of light and truth . And so if you're the one who's going to stand up and say, I'm going to live according to what I know at all times and in all places and on all topics, then you're like a person that's walking through the field, throwing seed everywhere and what's going to happen is going back to this one. The predominant response that you will get is one of um contempt because people are going to get hit in the head with these seeds and say, hey, can't you just leave me alone? I'd like to pretend that this ground is permanently barren and you're messing with that. But um, some people will get kind of excited and they're like, oh seeds and the seeds get into the ground and then all of a sudden some birds come and they eat up a bunch of it and then uh some of it sprouts right now. The funny thing about a sprouted seed is that uh it's really easy to get a seed to sprout. All you need is water and the right temperatures , that's it. And this thing will spring up and it's got enough energy in the seed that it kind of has quite a velocity. And then you see this sprout and uh you don't need anything, any nutrients externally, the seeds got everything it needs. So if you want to, you can sprout all sorts of seeds in little trays and all you need is water and the right temperature. And uh this is important because you see this velocity when you share things with people and they don't get upset with you immediately. They get really excited and they're like, oh, some new thing and they'll entertain it for a minute. But then other things happen. So either the ground is stony and there are a lot of contradicting traditions that people prefer to hold on to. They don't want those questions. Those are their sacred cows or their lines in the sand and then they kill the seed because they'd rather hold on to those rocks in their ground. They don't want to grow things or the sun comes up. And these are the trials that can happen and they talk to their cousin who persuades them that they're wrong or something bad happens and they say, well, it must be this seed um or there, there can be thorns which grow at the same time and then choke out the seed, the, the plant from the seed. And this is like uh ideas we have that come from a lack of resolution. So when we have false beliefs mixed into our true beliefs, and we never mature in our ability to discern between the two and disentangle the ideas. So the gospel is simple, but it's also complicated. And if you're not sophisticated, you can only go so far. God said to, to be like Children, but he didn't mean to think childishly right. Anyway, uh then some falls on the good ground. So until now we've been talking about these investments that are less than one, too much, more than one. So the ones that are 1 to 1 or one to less than one. Um So now we transition in into the plants that actually get to harvest time and some bring forth 30 60 100 fold seed. And that's obviously what we're shooting for. Ok, let's look at some pictures. Um, these graphs are shamelessly stolen from the internet. So you can pretty much ignore all the text on them. I just want you to think about the shapes and how this works in life. This is how we would like to think that people respond to invitations to light and truth. So, uh what you're putting into it is on the X axis and what they get out of it is on the Y axis. And what you see is this kind of maxes out at some point. But you'd like to hope that you make little clones of yourself. So you think like this is going back to the gospel, sharing example, you're gonna make a clone of your s your own beliefs in someone else and this is what people hope is going to happen. And yeah, it's slow at first, but you give them the invitation and then boom, they take off and they're a little clone of you. But most of the time this is what? Well, first I'd like to say that this isn't so great. And uh what, what I'd much rather see is this, which is that uh you invest in a person again, that's the bottom axis. And uh maybe this, these units of course, are all made up, right? But you invest whatever 10 means and what do you get out of it? Will they become a 100 person? This is like uh Jethro Moses father-in-law teaches him a few things that Moses just sort of takes off and becomes much more of a man than Jethro ever was. And uh that's the sort of situation that I think is really ideal, but that's incredibly rare. That's incredibly rare. Anyway, what happens more often is this thing? So again, like, you know, let's just sort of blur out the units and just talk about the shape. But um you make an investment and there's this fast response. So the seed sprouts, right? But because of the rocks or the thorns or the sun or the whatever you hit this sacred cow, this line in the sand, this tradition, something they don't like something that doesn't feel good and then they turn away from it and when you turn away from light, you lose light. And the problem is you never go back to where you were, you always go to a worse place. It's just a principle. Now you can repent from there. It's not a permanent thing, but uh it will take time to get back to where you were. And in that interval, it's better off that these people had never met you before. So you actually kind of hurt them by, by sharing light and truth with them and we'll talk about that in a minute anyway. Um So why bother if this is what happens almost all the time. And I'm telling you, it happens almost all the time whenever I teach anything to anyone, face to face, I'm waiting for this to happen. And um it, it's kind of like walking on a V with a left foot, tracing the left side of the V and the right foot, tracing the right side of the V. And eventually you're gonna have to choose a side if you want to keep walking. Uh I have hope that they won't do this, but my experience suggests that they will. And so I'm just waiting for it to happen and then when it doesn't happen at the point where it usually does, I'm just shocked and then it does happen a step or two later. Um because remember most people in this life have a discreet limit to how much light they will receive. And uh they're not, they're not celestial oriented people, they're not uh permanently growing people, they're not limitless in their love and trust of God. And uh you can find their limit depending on how much light you have . You can dust off that line very quickly and find that sacred cow. And, um, anyway, um, if this were an Olympic event, I'd probably hold the record in the, the, the shortness of time it takes to find that sacred cow. So you get good at it the more you practice. But anyway, there are two ways to admit light. Uh, one way is when you share it and it's received and that is wonderful. That feels really good. That's that bottom line investment where it's at least 1 to 1 and maybe you get lucky and it's one to more than one. I have seen this and this is where when you share light and truth with someone , they take it, they kind of parse through it and see what's good and throw out the rest and then they run with it and they go and get more because light cleaves to light and so sincere people that do not have limits in their trust in God will do that. They'll acquire more and more and they'll compound it and they'll add to it and it's wonderful, but that's really, really, really rare. So more often the way you emit light is through condescension and I'm gonna talk more about what that means. But the point I want to make is even though most people will reject the light and truth that you try to give them the light that you give is never lost, even if it isn't received. That's a really important idea. And God revealed this to me once when I was pondering this and I was kind of trying to figure out what the point of it all is. He showed me this and he showed me that uh it all is beneficial and it all um it all leads to increase even if it isn't received. Ok. Um So what's condescension? So this is uh Paul talks about Jesus. He says while we were yet sinners, he loved us. Um Condescension is about what you give without the expectation that it's going to be received. That's really what it's about . Um So you're willing to invest the light and truth that you've acquired at great cost even though you're um best guess is that it will not be reflected to an equal portion or, or received to an equal portion. So this is the one to less than one situation. Now. Um on the one hand, we have to remember that we should try and try and try and try and try again with people. But uh because you never know when they're going to actually listen things change. And one day out of the blue, somebody might uh display some radically different interests and behaviors. But this doesn't necessarily mean that we should keep doing the same thing because that can be very, very frustrating for people to hear us chanting whatever it is we've invited them to do or think or consider like a broken record. We should always use our intelligence and revelation to inform what we're doing when. But um we should remember that a rejection today does not mean a rejection tomorrow, but uh things are also limited in terms of, we don't have unlimited time. So we should definitely focus our resources on the things that we believe will lead to the greatest improvement. But uh anyway, there's a passage in the scriptures. Uh where is this? I think it's second Corinthians for your sakes, we are killed all the day long. Um Here's a question, can you know the depth of evil in the hearts of men and still forgive them, still give yourself for them and still have joy in the things that are worth having joy for and from, because God does . God is the most aware of the greatest depths of evil and he is also the happiest entity in this universe. So how is that possible? That's a mystery for you to contemplate and it is what God does. And as we become like Him, we have to learn how to do that ourselves. And he knows and he will teach you if you approach him on this. But uh one practical application of this is that we have to come to the point where we can instantly forgive anyone for anything and give ourselves completely for them. Uh without any reservation, the only reservation is understanding that our resources are limited and we should always act for the greatest benefit which is what God does. But other than that, uh we shouldn't be withholding from anyone based on our assumption that they will reject us. Uh I want to move on, but I'm being told to mention um the passage from Alma 10 or 12 where it talks about limiting the light that you share based on the heat and diligence that a person displays. That's just another caveat when I go through these things. And I try to, to talk in uh a broad brush kind of approach, zoomed out a low resolution approach. A lot of times the spirit tells me to say things to, to um condition that because if you approach these things too, generally, you'll end up making mistakes. But anyway, that's side note. So I apologize for doing that. Uh Unfortunately, that I'm not a terribly great teacher, but I'm trying to uh make sure I say all the things that I'm supposed to. So hopefully, between me saying these things and them getting into your spirit and reflecting back to your mind, hopefully, all the all the limitations get filtered out and the Lord speaks to you because that's what really matters, not what I'm saying. Um Final point here, your forgiveness gives them another chance. Uh This connects back to Isaiah 5053 and with your stripes, they will be healed. This is one way this is fulfilled. If you can honestly say that you forgive someone for what they've done. To you, you hold the power for God to forgive them because it's a judgment day, you will not witness for them, against them , you'll actually advocate for them. And God, one of the ways the law of mercy works is that if a person with understanding who is also the target of the offense forgives the offender, then God cannot judge them because to do so would uh mean that some man is more merciful than him and that it doesn't work that way. And so you actually free a person from their sin against you when you sincerely forgive them and you have understanding and that's a really important idea, but it hurts and it's expensive, but there's massive power and forgiveness because of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and what he empowers us to do. Uh I've touched on this briefly a couple times but uh you know, the, the second Great commandment is to love your neighbor and your neighbor is everyone, but you are resource limited. And if you want to be like God, you have to do what is for the greatest benefit. And so I encourage you to think about proximity and those opportunities for condescension that are most proximate should be first in your priority list. What that means is that if you're married, you start with your spouse and your spouse should get your attention before a stranger does. Um uh by stranger. I mean, someone you've never met, interacted with or et cetera. Um And then maybe your Children, if you have Children and then maybe those, you actually do interact with your literal neighbors and so on and, and these circles will cascade outward until you run out of resources. Uh Different people have different resources . Some of us have the opportunity to wake up at the crack of dawn and make youtube videos that no one watches. It's little, it's a little humor for you. Anyway. Um, outside of this constraint, the only thing that should stop you from, uh condescending from giving yourself for others should be their removal of themselves from the situation. Ultimately, uh You can poke and prod at all the sacred cows you want. But there comes a point where they will leave you and that is the point at which you, you literally can't do anything for them because they have blocked your number or, you know, I, I've never had a restraining order filed against me, but I guess I'm still young but they can physically remove themselves from the situation or figuratively remove themselves from the situation with the internet or phones or whatever they can block you. And um that is what signals that there is literally nothing else that you can do for them. Uh But you can still pray for them and that can be a very powerful thing. I think it was James who said the prayer of the righteous aileth much. I hope this is useful and gives you some things to think about and work on.