Your Missing Pleasure - Episode 12

"When you try to get something for nothing, you become nothing."
- Tommy Newberry

Are we looking for a missing Piece or is it really a missing PEACE? 

Where are you getting the most pleasure in your life?   Are you actually getting pleasure or is it leaving you feeling void of purpose? 

In this episode, our hosts explore the idea that in our quest for pleasure, we often overlook deeper sources of satisfaction, and we discuss how to align our pursuit of pleasure with spiritual fulfillment.

Transcript

The Missing Pleasure

[00:00:00] Justin: Hi everyone, this is Justin Olbrantz and this is Don Schaefer, and you are listening to the wise and the wandering podcast for those who know the way and for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, then you're in the right place. So let's dive in.

[00:00:31] Justin: So Don, what are we going to talk about today? 

[00:00:34] Don: I think we're going to talk on a topic called The Missing Pleasure. The Missing 

[00:00:39] Justin: Pleasure. 

[00:00:39] Don: Yes, yes. That should be an interesting one because I know myself. , I realize that there's a lot of things in life and sometimes we, uh, sell ourselves short. We get comfortable living a life not realizing that there is more to life than what we are already experiencing.

[00:00:57] Both: And 

[00:00:58] Don: I know the Bible tells us that, , [00:01:00] pleasure is a gift given to us by God. Yeah. And so I was hoping today that by the time we were done, we'd have a clear understanding of what pleasure is meant for us and how to obtain it and how we can use it in our life and how we can have pleasures forevermore.

[00:01:18] Justin: Yes. I think 

[00:01:19] Don: God wants to bless us greatly in that. 

[00:01:21] Justin: Yeah. So to identify what that missing pleasure is, that missing piece, right? And I think that we've been talking in. the past couple episodes we've been doing a breakdown of definitions and stuff like that. So I just wanted to pull the definition on this one for the dictionary.

[00:01:38] Justin: And it says pleasure is a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment. Yes. And I think that you're talking about pleasure is a gift from God. Yep. And I think it is. And I think that we are in a world that is distracting us with All these different ways that we can find pleasure, right?

[00:01:58] Justin: And I would even say in the [00:02:00] wrong sense of finding pleasure, not to say that just getting pleasure, having pleasure is bad. That's not true at all. I'm just saying there's a lot of things that are not actually Allowing us to live fulfilled lives. That's right feeling.

[00:02:17] Justin: We're feeling unfulfilled with the pleasures Even that we have and I think there is a missing piece there There is something that when we look at people that have all the money they have all the access They have All of these good material things and they're still not fully satisfied. That's right They're still not fully happy because I think happiness, you know, we've talked about happiness and I think happiness is A little different from pleasure.

[00:02:48] Justin: I think happiness is kind of giving it's giving and pleasure is taking And in a lot of senses of the word I think in a lot of sense pleasure is taking [00:03:00] You know, we we we take whether we're eating food or whether we're, , listening to music, what it's, it's kind of all about us or whether we're watching sports or something like that.

[00:03:13] Justin: We're taking, and that's what we're after is we're after just taking and not giving. And I think the happiness, and we talked about that in the pursuit of happiness, the happiness comes from giving and, and when we talk about God and incorporating God into it. It comes from pleasing God, and I think that's what we're going to talk about today is, is giving and taking, that we can, It's not just all about taking it's about giving too.

[00:03:40] Justin: That's right. Because when you develop a relationship with the one above while you're pleasing him He's pleased in you. All right, so it's kind of a mutual relationship in that sense. And that's the missing piece in my opinion 

[00:03:53] Don: Oh, yeah, and that's interesting too because you know, the Bible says that we were created for each other 

[00:03:59] Justin: Yeah.

[00:03:59] Don: You know, [00:04:00] so, our lives are meant to please Him. 

[00:04:03] Justin: Right. 

[00:04:03] Don: But He's given us the ability to, you know, obtain pleasure in our lives. And it's interesting because just looking at creation itself, because you look at animals, They have pleasure. It's all about self pleasure. It's all about whatever is Pleases them is what they do and they have an instinct for this.

[00:04:22] Don: So they do this they do this But with us it's different, you know, we can live a life of you know, self Pleasing as far as pleasing ourselves, but God has given us the ability to find pleasure in other things like you're saying the giving part You know to be able to give to other people you find pleasure.

[00:04:42] Don: I know christmas time It's hard sometimes for kids to understand that because they're just looking for lots of gifts and all that But to be able to say it's better to give than receive it's hard for them to understand that because as a child That's what it is. It's all about pleasing me Right. You know, I mean, [00:05:00] if the, you take a ball away from a child or you say no to a child and they start screaming, it's all pleasure, pleasure, pleasure for me.

[00:05:09] Don: But you know, there's a time in life it has to take a course where it switches. It's not about me anymore. It's about other people. And that's where I through the course of this here, I'm hoping we get an understanding of what true pleasure is, because this is something that's going to take us places.

[00:05:27] Don: You know, we were designed for eternity and all that, but we were designed to please God. And this is what pleases God is when we get ourselves off of ourselves and start looking at ways that we can Bring pleasure to other people in our life and that's powerful 

[00:05:44] Justin: Yeah It's definitely powerful because you know I think it when we're pleasing God and that's kind of something we can dive into as well but it comes with the attachment that we have, you know, the the satisfaction that we feel when we're Like you were saying, when we give gifts, it's like [00:06:00] that satisfaction that we get in knowing that we are well received by someone.

[00:06:04] Both: Yeah. 

[00:06:05] Justin: Right. That we did good work 

[00:06:07] Both: and whatever 

[00:06:07] Justin: it is. Like when you go to, when you go to Chick fil A and , when you say thank you and they say my pleasure, you know, they're, they're, they feel good in , you know, , they feel that they were received well by somebody that their work was good.

[00:06:20] Justin: That the work that they provided for them is good. 

[00:06:23] Don: Yup. 

[00:06:23] Justin: And I think , that's very important. And one thing that I do want to expand on is that kind of in this world, I think I read this, it was in a book by Jen Wilkin, I think one time, and it talked about how pleasure itself, 

[00:06:39] Don: yeah. 

[00:06:40] Justin: The real pleasure, it results from gaining knowledge , about the object of our pleasure. Not from what we assume is just merely experience. Experiencing it over and over again. And I think that's often how we view pleasure It's just I do this. Oh if I do this over and [00:07:00]over and over again, I won't be happy.

[00:07:01] Justin: I'll find enjoyment Yeah And I think that's where we often fall short and that's where we often allow addictions to control us Because the the things that we're trying to get us to feel happiness or enjoyment are leaving us feeling unsatisfied, unfulfilled because it's not actually creating pleasure in our life.

[00:07:20] Don: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:07:21] Justin: Right. So specifically, I think that our pleasure increases when we learn its history, its origin, you know, and we have a deeper nature and a deeper involvement in something, you know, for instance. When you are with somebody and you're in a relationship and you really take the time to get to know them and you want to get to know them and you want to learn more about them and you want to gain a, you know, a knowledge about them, but then having the experiences with them, , when you finally have a physical attraction, an intimacy, , you really do get a pleasure from it because [00:08:00] of the knowledge and everything that you've acquired, everything that you know about.

[00:08:05] Justin: The object of your pleasure, the person of your pleasure versus just going on, let's say, you know, a Tinder or a dating app or something like that. And just hooking up with a bunch of people and just, you know, having that intimacy there, experiencing it over and over again. And then, you know, out that there's no actual pleasure.

[00:08:25] Justin: It's , It's leaving you unfulfilled. Right. And I think that same thing overlaps into many other aspects in our life. Right. So when it comes to,. Watching sports, right? We want to learn, we want to gain a knowledge about the sports teams, the stats, we know everything about the players. We know where they went to school. 

[00:08:49] Both: We 

[00:08:49] Justin: know, you know, before they got into the professional leagues and we get a lot of pleasure from watching the sports because of what we know about them and the music that we listen to. We want to learn [00:09:00] everything about the artist. We want to know everything about their lives. We want to see pictures of them walking into, you know, malls and eating, you know, and stuff like just, you know, we just wanted to see what they do in their day to day life.

[00:09:12] Justin: Right. We want to know their origin and what we eat. The foods that we eat, we want to know the history and the origins behind them, how to prepare them and stuff like that, that allows us to, it's not just the act of doing it, but it's the things that we acquire. It's having that deeper understanding and that connection to something that gives us pleasure.

[00:09:31] Justin: And I think the missing piece right here is that, that we're, we're doing this in all different aspects of our life, but we're neglecting God in a way because we can be, doing the same things that we're doing in all these places that we're seeking to find pleasure And we can do the same things in our relationship with God.

[00:09:51] Don: This is true And just backing up a little bit on some of this here. I I know you know, I said a lot Yeah, no as far as , like you're talking about, uh relationships [00:10:00] you talk about even like, you know, they talk about The sexual part of it and stuff, uh, you know, they they call it intercourse You 

[00:10:08] Both: You know, 

[00:10:08] Don: and, that is actually an inner course of the person that you are with.

[00:10:14] Don: And to find true pleasure, you get, the Bible talks about, you know, like Adam and Eve got to know each other, and then they had a child, you know? So it's all about getting to know the person. So it's a true pleasure. And when you sit there and bounce around, trying to grab gratification in different ways, you know, you can mistakenly.

[00:10:37] Don: Think that this is pleasure, but it really is not like you mentioned about happiness early on Well happiness is just a happening, you know It happens and it's over and like with pleasure a lot of times what happens is, you know And maybe you guys have experienced this a little bit where you've done something and man, it was great I don't know.

[00:10:57] Don: You just got the right people together. You had some [00:11:00] Such a good time doing it. So you try to duplicate it. Mm-Hmm. . And you try duplicate it. It just isn't as great as it was the first time. You know? It's so pleasure. A lot of times it has to build on itself. Mm-Hmm. It has to find different avenues of, of building itself and that's where find pleasure sometimes is.

[00:11:19] Don: over and over again because you lose the pleasure because myself, I don't find pleasure, even though I found pleasure doing one thing, but continue to do that all the time, every day or whatever, I'm not going to find that same pleasure. 

[00:11:32] Both: And 

[00:11:32] Don: I think God is wanting us to explore things and to reach out into things and allow what we True pleasure.

[00:11:39] Don: And that's where I know in life we were created to serve one another. And we talked about the young people and stuff. They have to reach a point in time where it's not about them. It's about other people. And once we learn how to serve and reach out to other people, we start to find pleasures in different ways.

[00:11:57] Don: It becomes a true pleasure. And it's [00:12:00] also like we've talked about finding our purpose in life and fulfilling our purpose and doing what God has created. He is allowing us. to find pleasure in that. If we can take the time to realize He created us and once we do this, once we do this, and the creator of anything finds great pleasure in whatever he or she has created doing exactly what it was designed for.

[00:12:27] Don: To do, you know, there is nothing greater than a lawnmower manufacturer Watching grass being cut, you know, he finds pleasure in that and that's where our creator is the same way He finds pleasure in us doing what we need to do But in the flip side of it, he gives us pleasure and a lot of the missing pleasure We have in life is we're not really seeking after what he is wanting us to or designed us to do to do.

[00:12:55] Don: And, uh, in life, if we can do this, , there's [00:13:00] pleasures forevermore in our life. Every day is a new day. And God is wanting to do some great things within us. If we can walk with that type of understanding 

[00:13:11] Justin: of where we 

[00:13:12] Don: are in life. 

[00:13:13] Justin: Right. And I think that oftentimes we're kind of, we're being misled, you know, we talk about being led astray, right?

[00:13:20] Justin: We're going in all different ways and we're looking in all different things to find pleasure. And we think we know what we want. And we go through all these different phases and we try these different things. And I think we're also being kind of tempted. , I think that. We often find ourselves just being tempted, you know, we talk about spiritual warfare the enemy Adversary and stuff like that, right?

[00:13:47] Justin: Yeah, and I think that he's trying to tempt us To find a desire in something and he's tempting us with things to try to find pleasure in that are going to distract us to [00:14:00] be misled and to be led away from God the purposely led away from God 

[00:14:04] Both: Yeah, you 

[00:14:05] Justin: know I see things I see things when I go on Facebook, when I go on, you know, random social media sites, and it's saying they're having a sale on 75 percent off a Wicca set or something like that, you know, and stuff like that, that they're putting out there in front of people.

[00:14:21] Justin: And it's, if you don't know what that is, you really don't need to know what it is, but , it's just interesting that people are, You know, I think that the enemy is really tempting us all the time to find pleasure. Like I said, in all the wrong places, you know, , they put sexual things in everything to, to sell products, to advertise, whatever.

[00:14:43] Justin: In music videos, , the way, you know, people even dress up in concerts and stuff. Everything is so over sexualized. And I think that's really a tactic kind of used by the enemy a little bit to get you to, it's all about [00:15:00] temptation. It's to get you to fall into a trap of trying to find pleasure in something.

[00:15:05] Justin: Cause then what happens is the extreme, one of the extremes of pleasure is, it all leads to addiction. And Which is something you kind of want with your missing pleasure. 

[00:15:17] Don: Yeah. 

[00:15:18] Justin: But it all leads to addiction and then it leads to suffering and you go down this path, right? Of addiction.

[00:15:25] Justin: And I think that it's hard to get out of that. The missing piece here though, is having a relationship with God. Because what that's going to do is you can kind of reframe. All of the things that you actually desire in life, because we're being persuaded in so many ways, because we're being advertised to, because we're being marketed to, to distract us, to push us towards all the wrong things that aren't going to leave us feeling actually satisfied.

[00:15:54] Justin: And feeling and enjoyment in our lives because we're being distracted. We're not going to be looking for [00:16:00] the right kind of pleasure, I guess is , what I'm trying to get at here. So when you're at, when you're in an addiction, right, that's a, often has a very negative connotation towards it.

[00:16:11] Justin: It's something that gets in your way. It's something that. You have to do in your day. Otherwise it's going to upset you. It's something that affects other people in your life, family members that affects your relationships. I think it's something that often causes you to spiral, to go down because , it starts to take a physical toll on your health and stuff like that.

[00:16:36] Justin: And I think that if you can reframe, right, if you can kind of change your perspective on the way you look at an addiction, right, you can be addicted. To finding the right kind of pleasure in your life, you know, if you can find a relationship with god That's something if you can be upset If you if you can really want to gain knowledge about god, just like we're talking about [00:17:00] finding knowledge about the object of your pleasure is really going to leave you feeling satisfied.

[00:17:06] Justin: Like you were saying, Adam and Eve, they knew each other. I think that's what the Bible says when they're referring them as getting intimate together, right? They knew each other and then such and such was born. And I think that if you can find, if you can find knowledge like that, but if you can get upset about not reading, not being able to have , your time with God, not being able to read the Bible for a day.

[00:17:30] Justin: If you can, if you can just want to completely consume yourself and your relationship with God the same way that you are Consuming yourself with the other pleasures that have allowed you to get addicted in the wrong ways Yeah, you can leave a very a very pleasurable life. 

[00:17:46] Don: Oh, yes Yeah, and that's where it's so true, you know, unlike animals We have a moral compass and we can know what is right and what is wrong And I know a lot of times in life.

[00:17:56] Don: It's our walk with God is Justin was saying here , you [00:18:00] know a lot of times our pleasures We are sidetracking what we could have and don't even realize it So I know the Bible talks about in the latter days people will be lovers of God Pleasure more than lovers of God. So they're constantly filling themselves with different pleasures and you can actually make Self pleasing your God, you know, you can be make this what you worship in life I know I was talking to a young lady a short time ago and we were talking about All the things we have right now, you know, like our phones, our TVs and everything, you know, social medias and the food, the, the furnaces, the refrigerators, all the stuff.

[00:18:40] Don: And we were talking and I was bringing up Abraham Lincoln. Because we had the opportunity of seeing where Abraham Lincoln was born. 

[00:18:48] Justin: Okay. 

[00:18:48] Don: And I remember talking to the security guard there saying, you know, this is where the breath of freedom had its first breath. Yeah. You know, because he was the president that brought freedom, , to many in our [00:19:00] country.

[00:19:00] Don: But, in that place, there was one fireplace, And that was about it. They had their some furnitures and maybe some candles, but they didn't have any phones. They didn't have no TVs. They didn't have a lot of things. So we have, what we've done a lot of times is we have been so programmed to think what pleasure is in our life that it terrifies us to think of the fact that we might not have air conditioning or you know, we might have to, do some work to maintain or get some food or, or no electricity.

[00:19:33] Don: I mean, just the Thought of that. Yeah. Because we are just a pleasure junkie. Society. Yeah. We definitely are society. We have so many things that try to bring pleasure into our lives and we make it our God. And that's where I know the, , the Bible says that that's so true. In the latter days. In the latter days, people will be seeking pleasure rather than seeking the things of God.

[00:19:53] Don: And back in. The older days. Back in the Bible, it talks about a man named Enoch, [00:20:00] and it was interesting. This is an interesting story. Enoch, 

[00:20:02] Justin: yeah. 

[00:20:03] Don: Because I always want to be just like Enoch. I really do, and you probably will too when I'm done with this. But he was a man, the Bible says, walked with God, and God took him.

[00:20:12] Don: He pleased God. Didn't he go right up into heaven? He went, he was taken up into heaven. He didn't actually die. He went right up into the clouds. Yeah, he was taken up into heaven. He walked with God. He pleased God, and God took him. You know, and that's where myself, I say to myself, can I get myself into a place where my pleasure is pleasing him?

[00:20:34] Don: You know, my plan, I take great pleasure in knowing him and possibly pleasing him. I know I read another story, share another story, Uzziah. You know, he became king in Israel at 16. Uzziah, you said? Uzziah. Okay. He was 16 years old, and he ruled 16? 16. He became a king? He became a king because his father was gone.

[00:20:55] Don: Okay. He became a king, and he ruled in Israel, and [00:21:00] he ruled for 52 years. Wow. And it said he did what pleased God. You know, and you get, you get into the Bible and a lot of these kings, a lot of them, they, it says they did not do anything that pleased God, but some of them did. And when they did, their whole life was blessed.

[00:21:18] Don: And I believe true pleasure and true is getting to not only to know who God is and taking a moment to know God. I know we live in a society today that does not talk a lot about God. You know, our young children are being raised and they're not being taught about the importance Walking with God and pleasing God, you know, and living a life of that nature because our life is such a short period of time And the pleasures that God has in store for us.

[00:21:47] Don: We haven't even begun to tap into this stuff You know, we we find pleasure in you know, going to the mall or you know getting our eyes Ice cream or whatever, but God's got some things that are much more. And I 

[00:21:58] Justin: think that's those [00:22:00] distractions, right? It's those like temptations that the enemy makes us want, makes us think that we desire to lead us on the wrong path.

[00:22:08] Justin: And there's, there's a lot of that stuff. And you talk about God finding pleasure in us. Once we please him, it's kind of a mutually reciprocated relationship. 

[00:22:18] Don: That's right. 

[00:22:18] Justin: And I think that's important to because when we're obedient to what he's called us into. 

[00:22:24] Don: Yeah, 

[00:22:25] Justin: I think he finds great pleasure in that.

[00:22:27] Justin: Yes. He does because because he has to because it's a reciprocated relationship, right? You're pleasing him. He's pleased with you. And I think when he's pleased with you, he gives you favor, right? He gives you favor in your life Then you start to see pleasures you start to see the real pleasures that you're after in your life I think the Bible says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart Yeah, what you truly want in your heart.

[00:22:49] Justin: That's right. You'll get it But the first part of the that verse is delight yourself in the Lord Yeah, so I mean you're doing what's pleasing to him, right? And now having said that I [00:23:00] guess if I could just ask you how does somebody start by pleasing God? 

[00:23:05] Don: Well, I know myself I can use myself as an example here Justin, but you know pleasing God is actually Trying to get to know God in some way or some fashion and I know myself You know, it was me basically opening up my life and saying lord.

[00:23:20] Don: I need some help in this You know because I have to learn what what does please you And the nice thing about god is it doesn't matter. It isn't xyz church or this and that it's you It's your relationship with god. It's you having a desire in your heart saying. Hey, I want to know I want to know and As you grow in this you start to realize There's a sometimes a battle going on because in your mind, you know, what is right and what is wrong Oh, you know and this and that but the Bible talks about something called the flesh and it's a fleshly desire Man, you know and your flesh wants to do [00:24:00] something totally different, , and a lot of times it's totally wrong Your 

[00:24:03] Justin: flesh is more than just like Your skin or whatever your your body parts.

[00:24:08] Justin: What do you 

[00:24:09] Don: desire inside your body for pleasure? Okay, and sometimes pleasure in a in a wrong way. It's just like, nothing against mountain dew You can have some mountain dew, but you can't You can't live on mountain dew mountain dew if you drink too much if it's not good for you But you know, i've known people that were addicted to mountain dew I I know of a gentleman that walked around every time I seen him.

[00:24:30] Don: He had a bottle of mountain dew You You know, and hey got issues and all this stuff because of the Mountain Dew, but he says I can't give this stuff up You know because he found some pleasure in a wrong area, even though his mind knows I don't need this I shouldn't have this and but that's the area that god Comes and he takes over if we're sincere in our hearts saying, you know what I can't handle this, you know I'm not finding pleasure in this anymore.

[00:24:55] Don: You know, it's just my fleshly body wants this, you know I'm self [00:25:00]gratifying myself, whatever it might be. I want this I need this for my flesh But in my mind, I know it's destroying me in some way That's the type of thing that God steps in, because that's walking with God. Because I know there's another story in the Bible, and Jesus told the story.

[00:25:17] Don: He talked about a rich man, had a lot of stuff, you know. And he had two sons, and one of the sons says, you know what, don't you want Dad, I want my inheritance. So the father was good. He said, well, if whatever you want to do, he gave him his inheritance. Well, this son went out and he threw a bunch of parties, you know, he went to skateboard parks.

[00:25:36] Don: He went to movie theaters and he went out dancing every night with his friends and stuff. Pretty soon the money ran out, the money ran out and he didn't have no money. And then he didn't have no food. And then the story went on saying that. He started eating some of the food that they were feeding the swines back then.

[00:25:54] Don: And he started realizing, you know what, I need to go back to dad again, you know, and he went back [00:26:00] to dad and dad said, Hey, I will take care of you. He threw a big party, the whole shot. He came back. A lot of times our life is just like that. We want to have this and we want to, Find pleasure in places that true pleasure isn't and God is saying, you know, come back to me You don't come back to the source because they say babies are closer to God than any other Time in a person's life because the baby was just sent to this world by God, you know They have just separated but Through the course of time, we find pleasure sometimes in all the wrong places, and that's where the flesh side of us all of a sudden gets caught up in this stuff, and our whole life dwells.

[00:26:40] Don: You know, even like, You brought up sporting events and stuff like that. See, you can find pleasures in stuff like that, but if the team loses, are you losing? You know, Sometimes people identify themselves with their pleasures, and things go wrong, they are just turned upside down. Their whole life is ruined.

[00:26:58] Don: It shouldn't be that way. Our [00:27:00] pleasure should be We should be seeking God, finding an area where we can serve other people and love other people, developing that connection you talked about. And then we will find true pleasure in life. And this is pleasure that lasts forever. You know, this is joy forevermore in what we do.

[00:27:19] Don: Because we found a purpose, we made connections, we're serving other people. And getting over ourselves. Myself, I say this sometimes, Don, I gotta get over me. I got to get over me, because I want this and I want that. Because 

[00:27:34] Justin: before accepting God, you become your own God, essentially. Yeah, 

[00:27:37] Don: and you got to get over yourself, you know, and that's where I know like young people as they grow up, as they become teenagers and stuff, it's all about them.

[00:27:45] Don: I remember my daughter, you know, everything was about her, but now she's got two kids. She's married, and everything is about the family. It's about other people now, you know, there's a change that has to happen to find true pleasure in life. [00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Justin: Yeah, yeah, I mean that's a great way to explain what pleases God I would say and I mean the extreme part of that, , kind of going back to what I was saying before, and we talked about it and you, you touched on it too in terms of addiction.

[00:28:13] Justin: And that's kind of like the extreme when you find yourself down that long winding path. Yeah. I feel like I want to talk about this because I feel like addiction , is not talked about enough, but when you're addicted to something, In order to get out of that addiction, it's really hard. It really is hard for some people, not so much for some people.

[00:28:34] Justin: It's, it's easier, I guess it's just maybe a gift from God, but something that they have, I've noticed that with myself, it, it was a little hard, but, not too hard when I changed my perspective on things. And I think that if you're addicted to something, you can't count yourself out. If you're heavily addicted, you're going to be feeling hopeless and you're going to be feeling like you're going to be wandering forever.

[00:28:58] Justin: But my [00:29:00] proposal to you is to change your way that you think of addiction that the addiction being addicted is okay But how about you be addicted to something different? you know because There's a way that you can be addicted to something that you can want More and more and more of it that you can be close to god and want more and more and more of them something that You will put before anyone and everything in your life just like you're doing right now You're putting that with that pleasure that you're seeking over and over you're putting it before anyone and everyone in your life You can do that with something that's only going to produce that's only going to give you more abundant life and an addiction that's Going to turn into an everlasting life rather than possibly taking your own life 

[00:29:48] Don: And I think that's 

[00:29:48] Justin: something to really to really touch on.

[00:29:50] Don: Oh, yeah, that's that's so true Justin and jesus said another parable too And he talked about sowing the seed and talked about how some seed lands on, You [00:30:00] know rocky soil and it doesn't even sink in and some of it, you know lands in an area that it sprouts up You know, but there's no root can't take any root But some of it will grow in an area where there's lots of Brush and weeds and whatever and they'll get choked off and some will be on fertile land But he said the areas where it's choked off is usually the pleasures and things of the world That choke it off and I know myself and his 

[00:30:24] Justin: parables were so good.

[00:30:25] Don: Oh, they're rich They're rich, but I know myself, you know, I had an opportunity one time. I was in new york Downtown manhattan and there was a gentleman named david wilkerson And, , he had a church right downtown Manhattan. And what he'd done, he had taken in those who were heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol, all of these types of things.

[00:30:47] Don: And he would bring them into his church. They would pray with him. I know at the beginning of their services and stuff, they were praying for these individuals, that there'd be some type of connection, whatever. And he actually had a house. He had a house [00:31:00] where you take these people off the street and he'd put them in a house, you know, and he'd keep them for like a month or whatever.

[00:31:07] Don: And he'd get them over their addiction. A lot of times, you know, because if you take it away from the person, they get used to not having it, but he found that. That when , he let them back out again, they would fall right back into the addiction again. And then he found something else out. He found that when he got these people to pray and ask God into their life and let the Spirit of God, the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, enter into them, that gave them the power to overcome, you know, so that not only, And then, and then when they stepped out, he got them into service for the things of God as fast as he could.

[00:31:44] Don: Because then the resources are there. Kept them busy. Kept them busy. You know, then all of a sudden the Lord, you know, and the angel Bible talks about a lot of this stuff. All of a sudden, all the resources were there to help them, , and they were strong. They were focused. They weren't thinking about themselves so much anymore.

[00:31:59] Don: [00:32:00] They were finding pleasures in a different area. It was. Not only serving God but also serving their fellow mankind. I mean, there's guys like Nikki Cruz He was a head of a gang and all that. He went on to help other gang members You know, he went on finding other people who were addicted in different ways and and saying hey, you know what?

[00:32:18] Don: Jesus is the answer Allowing his spirit to enter into your life to give you the strength to overcome And this is where the true spirit 

[00:32:27] Justin: that raised him from the dead. 

[00:32:29] Don: That is right. Yeah enters into us, you know And this is where You find the true pleasures of life, walking with God, allowing God to be a part of your life, to help you overcome the flesh, the addictions.

[00:32:41] Don: And for me, it helps me overcome Don, you know, because, you know, everybody has their own ways and stuff they have to deal with. And, uh, you know, you, you come to God and what God does, he tries to correct all that because he loves you. us more than we could ever love Him. [00:33:00] He loves His creation. We were created by Him, you know, and He wants to give us great pleasures in living, and He finds pleasure in doing that.

[00:33:10] Don: But He's a total gentleman. He doesn't force us into anything. There is no arm locks or anything like, or head locks. He doesn't 

[00:33:17] Justin: force Himself onto us. No, 

[00:33:19] Don: it's a choice we make. Yeah. And that's the beauty of the message of this Jesus Christ, is it's our free will and talking to Him. It isn't something we have to go to anybody with.

[00:33:31] Don: We can sit down by ourselves and just open up our hearts. Right. 

[00:33:35] Justin: And we're not forcing anybody , to make an invitation to God. We're not forcing anybody to open up their minds, but , we are inviting you to do that because we're understanding in our own lives that there once was a person who There once was a time that we were completely lost, right?

[00:33:51] Justin: Yeah, and then we were found right? We were once lost and now we are found. I think that's an amazing. That's amazing grace, right? 

[00:33:58] Both: Yeah, it was once 

[00:33:59] Justin: lost, [00:34:00] but now i'm free free found same kind of thing, right? Yeah, but 

[00:34:03] Don: first believed 

[00:34:04] Justin: Yeah, and And it worked in our lives because there once was a part where we're talking about the Holy Spirit, you know, raising Jesus from the dead.

[00:34:12] Justin: And there's a part of you that might just be feeling dead right now. And it needs to be raised. It needs to be resurrected. You, there is a new life out there waiting for you. There's a, there's a higher power out there for you and yourself. Because I think a lot of the times you were talking about how things almost have power over people.

[00:34:32] Justin: , we almost make, God's out of everything, but God, you know, we, what is your God in your life? What, what are you truly serving right now? What are you truly pleasing? Who are you truly serving? Who are you making your God in your life? And how is that working for you? Because your creator wants you to come back to you though.

[00:34:50] Justin: The one in true God wants you to come back to you. , he wants you to serve him so he can serve you. It is that reciprocated. relationship and it's, yes, it's built [00:35:00] on trust and belief and faith, but he is faithful. And that's why it's reciprocated because he's faithful. So if you're faithful to him, if you're doing what is going to please him, like Don was saying, if you're walking like Enoch, You know, this guy, Enoch, how old was Enoch, by the way?

[00:35:17] Don: He was 365 years old when he was, when he was taken by God. 365 

[00:35:22] Justin: years, that's a long time pleasing God. It is. I see why he got just carried off into the clouds. Yeah, but if you're walking with God and you're pleasing Him, And you're understanding Him as your God in your life. You're not going to be let down.

[00:35:39] Justin: You're not going to be suffering anymore. And you're no longer going to be looking in the wrong places for pleasure. 

[00:35:45] Don: This is right. Because 

[00:35:46] Justin: you will be well pleased. Yes, 

[00:35:47] Don: yes. Yeah, this is so true, Justin, and I know, , in life too, , I look at things and I look at entertainment. I look at some of the sources out there that people find some sources of [00:36:00]pleasure, but actually like you were saying, you know, we get lost in this stuff, you know, and we have to be really, really careful.

[00:36:05] Don: Find ourselves sometimes because we're constantly looking to be entertained. And a lot of times entertainment becomes containment. It starts to contain us so that we can't escape some of this stuff. So we're always looking for our next fix, you know, our next movie, next, whatever, next concert, whatever, 

[00:36:24] Justin: dopamine rush.

[00:36:25] Justin: Yeah. You know, just 

[00:36:26] Don: give me this sort of thing. And we fail to realize this stuff. It's just temporary. This isn't the stuff that really brings us. True joy and true happiness. It really doesn't because it's all about me. It's all about me getting my fix in life But if I can break free and get myself an understanding that there's a whole lot more to life and the Bible talks about You know coming into the light being able to see it talks about darkness and oh how dark it is That's is and how many people are living in this world thinking that everything is great and fine and stuff, going from [00:37:00] entertainment to entertainment, from this or that.

[00:37:02] Don: In reality, this is all going to go away. Because, you know, the Bible tells us that everything we do, everything we are, someday is going to be tried by fire. It's going to, and all the chaff, all the fluff is going to be burnt away, and whatever is left is going to be left. You know, and that's where, when we start to find ways of serving, the Bible say we, says we live, we live by the word of God.

[00:37:24] Don: we put treasures, we send treasures up into heavens. This is where our gold should be. You know, I know Paul in the Bible talked about his jewels. These were people that he ministered to. These are people that he helped and gave them a different understanding. This is where the true riches were. This is where the true pleasures Paul lived for this and people who start to realize where the treasures really are They meditate they think of the things of God day and night It's their life trying to find ways and avenues to serve him Because in the end of the day when the story really [00:38:00]comes to a close and they lived happily ever after his books talk about It isn't going to be here on earth It's going to be an eternity.

[00:38:08] Don: And what type of bank account are we going to have? What type of pleasures are we going to have? If God burns everything away, is it going to be how many concerts we went to? Is it going to be how many Super Bowls we attended? You know, all this stuff is gone. Even like, I want to say this because I know, We're part of the Green Bay Packer area here, but I remember when they won the Super Bowl, you know back and I think it was 2011 or so 2010 and You know, you're all excited.

[00:38:37] Don: They won the Super Bowl, but you give yourself two weeks two weeks and it's not It's like, what is this? It's next season again. You know what I mean? The rush is gone. The excitement is gone. You know, the dopamine is just not the same. It's gone. You know, now I got to find this from someplace else and next year they might have a lousy season.

[00:38:57] Don: So where am I at? ever going to get this experience, seeing that's [00:39:00] not 

[00:39:00] Justin: many places to find that in Green Bay.

[00:39:02] Don: No, but everything is gone. Everything is gone. So all the things that we entertain ourselves with and find sometimes pleasures in these things are nothing lasting. And that's where God is wanting to give us.

[00:39:15] Don: And help us to find the missing pleasure that because our body longs pleasure God has designed us that way but there is a correct pleasure and there's an incorrect pleasure And a lot of times the world in the bible says that The world is enmity with God. It's totally against the principles of God.

[00:39:35] Don: Because Jesus has a whole different type of pleasure. Jesus found pleasure in the things he suffered and died for. And his pleasure is what it was going to produce in us. We look at some of that stuff and say, this guy must have been out of his mind. But he found pleasure in that, because he knew what it was going to produce.

[00:39:57] Don: And that's where, this is a whole different [00:40:00] mindset from a lot of different ways of people thinking here. Because pleasure is something that we were designed to seek. God put the, it's a gift we've been given. To seek after pleasure, but it's a area of pleasure that we're seeking because if we seek it in the wrong places We're going to find someday that when when the fire is burning nothing is going to be left You know and we're going to say what in the world have I been seeking all my life I've been finding pleasure in all the wrong places.

[00:40:31] Justin: Yeah 

[00:40:32] Don: You know, and that's where God has got something richer for us than that. 

[00:40:36] Justin: Yeah, and I think it's up to us to be an example, for other people. I think you know, it's one thing to get out of a bad place in your life But once you start accepting that missing pleasure and you get that Missing pleasure, like we're talking about into your life.

[00:40:50] Justin: I think it's about setting the right example for other people, for your children, for your friends, for your peers and stuff like that, because then they can see what's [00:41:00] happening. They can see the change in your life and , what your desires are. They can see what's pleasing you and , I guess that's how conversion, in my opinion, works because when you oftentimes, I feel like, especially in.

[00:41:14] Justin: modern day religion, right? We go in with the intention of just trying to convert somebody and we're just trying to convert them. And how we do this is a lot of condemnation and judgment, to be honest, just to be honest with you outside or looking in perspective. And when we say, you're going to be in an eternal pit of hell, if you don't believe such and such, it turns people off.

[00:41:39] Justin: And I think it's harder to convert in that way. I think the real way of Conversion right as finding pleasure in God and then showing people Sharing that testimony being a witness right sharing that testimony and then a result of that is conversion 

[00:41:56] Don: Oh, yeah, 

[00:41:56] Justin: and and it then we really serve as an example to [00:42:00] other people because then we inspire people And it's hard to do that, right?

[00:42:03] Justin: I think that really is our ultimate goal is that and that's how we truly help people we talk about helping people But that's really how as christians That's how we're going to convert people without just the original intention of going in and trying to convert them for the wrong reasons, right?

[00:42:18] Justin: That's right. But when you start really, when you really, cause when we're distracted by all these different things in our life and we're seeking the wrong pleasures, it's keeping us from the real purpose of our life, which is helping people because then we're just stuck dealing, like you said, with our fix.

[00:42:33] Justin: We're stuck dealing, we're, we're literally stuck in a spot where we're just sitting on our feet. Transcripts provided by Transcription Outsourcing, LLC. And coffee shops sitting on their phones. Everywhere they go, they're sitting on their phones. It's like they're just trying to get that fixed. And maybe it's not for that reason, but, and maybe it's unintentional, but it's happening.

[00:42:52] Justin: And it seems like it's growing. The problem is growing more and more and more. And the more that we're, Constantly focused on [00:43:00] ourselves. We can't be focused on other people No, and as christians the more that we're constantly focused on ourselves We're not seeking pleasure in the right places and we're not and we're not converting right?

[00:43:10] Justin: We're not sharing the good news with people We're just constantly trying to find the bad news for ourselves and not intentionally, but that's what we're finding We're finding the bad news everywhere. The bad news is everywhere. You look it's bad news bears every time you open your phone You It's bad news bears every time you turn on the TV.

[00:43:28] Justin: And I really think this is, this is a tactic out there, but it's stopping you from finding the real. Missing pleasure in your life. 

[00:43:36] Don: Yeah, this is true bad news bears. I like that Yeah, it seems like a lot of negative in this world is what people are going after nowadays, but it was interesting here I'm just gonna i'm gonna actually read this here.

[00:43:46] Don: Okay, something where , where jesus was saying He says, I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this [00:44:00] way is well pleasing in your sight. You know, it's interesting because, , he talks about a lot of what we're talking about right now is actually hidden from people because they're too smart for it.

[00:44:10] Both: They're too 

[00:44:10] Don: wise for it. in their own minds for it. It isn't until we become like a child, until we become hungry and realize that we don't have the answers. I know children have to learn everything, you know, and what do I know, Lord? You know, I only know everything that the world has taught me. I don't really know how to seek anything, but you know what?

[00:44:29] Don: If I can become like a child and not try to Over intelligently try to figure everything out, but say Lord. I don't really know a lot The only thing I need to know you and that I do know, you know, I need humility 

[00:44:42] Justin: there Yeah, 

[00:44:43] Don: you and you're the one you're the one that's gonna have to make this happen, you know And the whole process is, you know, the Bible says that God is a God of love 

[00:44:52] Both: You know, 

[00:44:52] Don: so everything he's done, he's done for love, and if we're going to be in the image of likeness, we have to learn that [00:45:00] love.

[00:45:00] Don: We need to learn to love our fellow man. We know that when we love our fellow man, our neighbor, as herself, the Bible talks about, and the people in our life, when we share that love, all of a sudden, we start to find the pleasures. You know, that missing pleasure. you know, all wrapped up in the things of God and what God is wanting of us.

[00:45:21] Don: And we have to come to him as a child. And a problem is in the world a lot of times is we're not being taught the things of God, so we know nothing of God. So we, we. We establish our own thoughts and we say, well, this can't be God or God can't be this or he's this or that, you know, we actually make ourselves God.

[00:45:39] Don: We make ourselves God saying, you know, what do we know? You know, I mean, we will never have the knowledge of what God is in this world, no matter how intelligent we are. No matter how many books or this and that we know and all this sort of thing, we will never have the intelligence that we need to know until we come to him as a child and say, Lord, [00:46:00] I need your help.

[00:46:01] Don: I need you to show me these things. You know, I want pleasure in my life just like everybody else, but I know there's a true pleasure. You know, it is a missing pleasure that many people miss. I don't want to miss it. I want to have this, , I want to be able to carry something on Forever into a time on the other side because I realize this is short times that we're living in right now And I want to get it right, you know, I don't get redos I can't go back and say i'm gonna have a redo or or come up and Put my hand up and say time out Time out Lord, you know until I get this right or whatever.

[00:46:34] Don: There is no timeouts, you know, it's me today saying hey You know what? I need you Lord. I need you in this, you know You and I got a the Bible says that Jesus wants to be closer than a brother You know, he wants to be in our breath our breath Closer than a brother. Oh than a brother than a brother. Not a brother But a brother he wants to be closer than a brother in our life He wants to walk side by side, but it's up to us, you [00:47:00] know, he's there waiting for us right now And I know the moment your family the yeah the moment we are in right now is precious.

[00:47:08] Don: Every moment in life is precious. And, and we talked a little bit this in other podcasts, but we talked about decisions, a cutoff moment 

[00:47:17] Both: where 

[00:47:17] Don: I cut off all the, the junk and say, hey, you know what? I am on a new mission right now. I am going to find true pleasure. I am going to find true pleasure that only God can give me.

[00:47:29] Both: And I'm 

[00:47:29] Don: gonna learn how to love, how But I know I need to learn your ways, Lord. I have to be open to you and let you speak to me in the quiet times or whatever it is. I know I find things coming from other people in the things I read or whatever. God has his ways of reaching out. 

[00:47:47] Justin: And one thing I want to touch on just quickly is because you talked about people being their own god Yeah, and I think that once you once you become your own once you are your own god Which is kind of a interesting way to say it, but it is [00:48:00] true And once you're always concerned about yourself, you feel like you are the cause and that , you are the reason for everything that happened in your life.

[00:48:08] Justin: You're the reason that you did everything in your life. You've gotten where you've gotten in your life. You don't want to credit any of that to God. Maybe there's just little bits and pieces you do, but you think for the most part, you did it. And I think, yeah, you're serving yourself in that space and that perspective.

[00:48:22] Justin: And when you get out of that, when you become a, when you come to God, like a child, you start to see that the way that God has been moving in your life. He's been doing it before you came to him. He's faithful and he's always there for you. Like you said, he is love. But he's going to speak to you. And when he speaks to you, he's speaking through all the different things that are happening in your life.

[00:48:43] Justin: That promotion you got, whatever. He's speaking through people to you. So when people say something to you, when people help you out, when people reach out a hand, it's not necessarily just that person doing that. It's God speaking to you. That's right. And when you can understand God as being the God of your life, and it's no longer [00:49:00] yourself, you can see in all the ways that he is speaking to you.

[00:49:04] Justin: It's not just, it's not hearing, you know, some audible voice in your head. A lot of the times it's a thought that jumps in. It's that, it's that little voice that you always knew that was there, but you disregarded it because you wanted to go on your own path. You wanted to go on what you thought was right, and you wanted to, you wanted, you wanted to do what Would serve yourself.

[00:49:24] Don: Yeah, 

[00:49:25] Justin: and I think that's that's just something I wanted , to note. Oh, yeah 

[00:49:28] Don: And that's what every day is exciting because you never know what you're going to hear 

[00:49:31] Both: Yeah, you know, 

[00:49:32] Don: I mean you can even go into a hot tub With a couple people and sit down with him and all of a sudden god shows up You know god shows up the bible says there were two or more gathered that he is in the midst 

[00:49:42] Justin: Yeah, 

[00:49:43] Don: you know, so we talk about the things of god It's the spirit of god working and I know myself i've been in situations where the People have had a real terrible time, and we sat down and had like a little Bible study or whatever.

[00:49:54] Don: We started talking about the things of God. All of a sudden at the end of the study, they said, you know what, I don't [00:50:00] feel like I got a problem anymore. You know, because once you bring God into it, this is pleasure. 

[00:50:06] Both: Yeah. 

[00:50:06] Don: He gives you pleasure. Right. You know, just talking about him. He loves it. It's just like, if I would say good things about Justin or any one of you, say great things about him, you'd want to hear every word I said.

[00:50:17] Don: Well, God is the same way. When we praise and lift him up and say how wonderful he is, he gets into that. The Bible says God inhabits you. It's the praises of men. 

[00:50:26] Justin: So when we say He says he's a jealous God. Yeah. 

[00:50:29] Don: Yeah. He, because he wants our love. Yeah. He wants, he gets jealous when we give our love to other things.

[00:50:34] Don: Right. You know, if I give my love to the Green Bay Packers, that doesn't sit well with God. You know, he wants to take, he wants that stuff. spot in our life. Yeah. And, , and we will not really be truly happy or find pleasure until he finds that spot in our life. And only we can open up our life for that.

[00:50:53] Don: , only we can open up the doors for him to come in. 

[00:50:57] Justin: Yeah. And I think it's that pleasure. Yeah. And [00:51:00] opening a door is because we've been opening the doors and leaving doors open to all , the wrong things to come into our lives. This is true. So I think it's time to take a real self evaluate, to do some real self evaluating and find out what's important in your life.

[00:51:17] Justin: Yeah. What are you actually desiring in your life? And go out there and find that missing pleasure. That's right. 

[00:51:23] Don: We need pleasure, no doubt. 

[00:51:26] Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word.

[00:51:39] Justin: Until then, stay blessed. By the best. See you guys.[00:52:00]