Randy - Choose to be Over the Hill or Young at Heart

The speaker begins by joking about the director of the program being a stand-up comedian. They then discuss a phone call they received and their refusal to do someone else's notes. They talk about the idea of choosing to be either "over the hill" or "young at heart." They share some funny quotes and stories related to aging. They mention biblical figures who accomplished great things at older ages. The speaker emphasizes the importance of choosing a positive attitude and taking action. They discuss the role of beliefs in shaping our thoughts, attitudes, and actions. They mention excuses people make based on age and health concerns. They warn against letting concerns, complaining, and comparing become excuses. They encourage relying on God's help and not being fearful. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of choosing a positive mindset and not letting age define us. I can't sit still. Good morning. I hope that's okay. So, I didn't know y'all had a director that's a stand-up comedian. I mean, he thinks he is, okay. Anyway, that's good. Eddie called me, I don't remember what time it is, about 7 o'clock or 10 after, and I'm getting ready, and he's like, can you just do Jack's notes? I'm like, no, that's not happening. I've heard him teach. There is no way I'm going to try to get up here and do his notes. So, anyway, I thought I would do something. I just did it in January, but I want to do it again. Most of you weren't there. Some of you were. You'll just get to have a good time again. But I think God wants us to either make a choice. We're either going to be over the hill or young at heart. And I get things often, I know you do too, emailed to me. I got this one. It's weird being the same age as old people. I see people about my age mountain climbing. I feel good getting my leg through my underwear without losing my balance. If you can't think of a word, say I forgot the English word for it. That way people will think you're bilingual instead of an idiot. I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do, it's because I miss my exit. Never sing in the shower. Singing leads to dancing, dancing leads to slipping, and slipping leads to paramedics seeing you naked. So remember, don't sing. I heard this. An elderly couple were attending church services. About halfway through the service, she leaned over and said to her husband, I just accidentally let out a silent toot. What do you think I should do? He replied, you need to put a battery in your hearing aid. Wasn't so silent. Did you know laughing is good for you? It releases endorphins into your bloodstream, and doctors will tell us that it gives healing to your body. So it's something we need to do on a regular basis. So the question is, are you over the hill or young at heart? Anybody remember how old Methuselah was? 969 years old when he passed, right? Guess what? Sometimes we say, oh, I feel as old as Methuselah. None of us have ever experienced 969 years. How about Noah? He was 600 when the flood came. How about Abraham? He was 75 when God asked him to leave his country and go to the promised land. Sarah was 90. Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born. Moses, that's a miracle. Anybody want to sign up for that? Probably not. Moses was 80 when he led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Joshua was 85 when he led them into the promised land. Did you know God loves using older, mature adults to accomplish his purpose? But here's the challenge. Some of us have decided to be over the hill instead of young at heart. Age is just a number. My dad always says, you don't have to grow old while growing older. I know y'all heard him say that. And then the other day we were talking when we were working out a month ago and he added this. He said, Randy, growing older isn't a choice. Did y'all know that? Growing older is not a choice, but growing old is our choice. And we can choose to grow old gracefully. So are you over the hill? Maxine, anybody like Maxine in here? I love this. She says, I'd rather be over the hill than under it. I can't be over the hill. I'm too tired to climb it. She says, I've entered the snapdragon part of my life. Part of me has snapped and the other part is dragging. I don't want to say I'm old, but I make sure I'm nowhere near the curb on trash day. If I plan it right, she says, one hot flash can defrost the whole car. I've reached an age where my train of thought leaves the station without me. She says, my day starts backwards. I wake up tired and I go to bed wide awake. And she says, my memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Let me give you a few thoughts about being over the hill. Over the hill is a feeling. It's a feeling. You're as old as you feel. Sometimes we say everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work. You bend over to tie your shoes and you wonder what else can you do while you're down there, right? Feelings deceive, but don't buy into the lie of the devil. John 8 44 reminds us he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. See, feelings deceive. God's word gives us so much information on how to behave, how to live our lives. And feelings are driven by emotion, not logic and facts. 45 Feelings aren't driven by faith. We overcome feelings through our faith, don't we? You know what I've learned? Action often precedes the feeling. My dad and I, we're in our 19th year working out together twice a week. Now, he's on a six week. He's already said he's coming this week. I'm like that. The doctor said I could work out, Randy, as long as I don't do anything with my abdominals. Well, all that leaves him is his arms and his legs and he's still going to be using his core, right, to do that. So, I'm not real sure what he's planning on doing, but he might just be walking around the gym while my trainer and I are working out. But did you know sometimes action has to precede the feeling? Did you know that? Most days I wake up and go, I don't feel like going to the gym today. Well, guess what? I get up and go to the gym and I cannot tell you, I always walk out of the gym going, I am so glad I did this. But the action precedes the feeling. Feelings deceive. Feelings are going to keep us from being what God wants us to do. So, over the hill is just a feeling. Over the hill is an attitude. We buy into the lie that life is over for us. We start believing it. Can I write on this board? I want to show you, if it'll write, let me just show you something. What you believe is going to determine what you think about. Your thoughts are going to determine your attitude. Got to make sure I spell right. Your attitude determines the actions that you take and your actions give you the results of your life. Guess what? A lot of times people say, I'm not happy with my results, I just need to do something, that's only part of it. Well, I'm not happy with my results, Randy, I just need a better attitude. Well, that's just part of it. Well, I'm not happy with what's going on in my life, I just need to think better and have better thoughts, that's part of it. But you have to come all the way back to, if you want to improve your results, you've got to come all the way back to, what do you believe? What do you believe? Because what you believe is going to determine what you think about. Your attitude, your action, is going to give you the results in your life. We believe our best days, if we're over the hill, are behind us. We believe that we're too old to be useful. We believe God made a mistake with us. Guy saw a lady, she was at a Coke machine, she put a dollar in, pushed Coke, Coke came out, man, she was excited. He's watching her, she put a dollar in, pushed Diet Coke, Diet Coke came out, she got more excited. She put a dollar in, pushed Sprite, Sprite came out, man, she was elated, he couldn't stand it anymore, he said, ma'am, what are you doing? She said, winning. She believed she was winning, man, she was excited, she was full of enthusiasm and passion for what she was doing, and it caught somebody else's attention. Guess what? What you believe is going to determine what you get out of life, and you have a choice on your beliefs. Over the hill is an attitude based on what we believe. Over the hill is an excuse. Abraham and Sarah said, we're too old. Moses said, I'm too slow, and I can't speak. Does anybody feel like you're too slow at 80 years old, right? You're not 80 yet. Okay, I'm 67. Sometimes I think I'm too slow. Guess what? Moses was in good company. We've all felt that way before, haven't we? You know, we make excuses, and there's a few ways we do that. Our concerns become our excuse. My grandfather died at 52 of a heart attack. My Uncle George, my dad's younger brother, died at 48 of a massive heart attack. I got to tell you, truthfully, at 52, when I turned 52, it was a rough year for me. I was having all kinds of chest pains. I was going to the doctor. They were doing all, they did $35,000 worth of tests. Everything said my heart was fine, but guess what? I didn't feel fine. I was a nervous wreck. I lived in fear. Guess what happened to me? I was paralyzed in that fear. Guess what? My concern, my concern became an excuse. I didn't want to speak to anybody. I even had my heart jump out of rhythm that year. It was a scary time. Anybody in here letting your concerns become an excuse for why you can't be used for the Lord to accomplish His purpose in your life? Listen to Isaiah 41, 13. For I, Yahweh your God, hold your right hand and say to you, do not fear, I will help you. And in case we're slow learners, and some of us are, we're in the remedial group sometimes. God gave us 365 verses on fear, one for every day of the year, in His Word, the Bible. Sometimes we let our concerns become an excuse. Sometimes our complaining becomes an excuse. Let me tell you about complaining. 85% of people don't care. I'm making these statistics up, so y'all bear with me here. When you're complaining, 85% of the people don't care. The other 15% are glad you have the problem. Can we just get that straight? That's the truth. Nobody really wants to hear you while you're standing in the wine line or the moan zone. Oh my gosh, everything's so bad. Let me tell you, I mean, we all do it. I have a group of guys we get together from high school. We all were in high school together in youth group at First Baptist Dallas. We still get together a few times a year. We're all sitting around the table talking about all of our ailments, how bad it is, and what we're dealing with and what we're going through. It's like, oh my gosh, I've become that person. Complaining sometimes becomes an excuse. How about comparing? Comparing becomes an excuse. This lady, she was walking her husband out to the car and to send him off for work that morning, and across the street, a couple across the street, they were just passionately kissing each other in the front yard. She goes, gosh, honey, why don't you do that? He said, I don't know that woman. You got to be careful about comparing. It can become an excuse. My mom taught me this. Ephesians 2.2 describes the devil as the prince of the power of the air. From a little boy, she said, Randy, the words you speak out loud give the enemy permission to make it a reality in your life. Ooh, did everybody hear what I just said? The words you speak give Satan permission to make that a reality in your life. No wonder some people walk around with a dark cloud over their head all the time. Right? We see parents, Liz and I, over the years, they're always telling their kids, you'll never amount to anything. You'll never do this. You're not this or that. They don't even realize what they're doing, but the words you're speaking over your family gives the enemy permission to make that a reality in your life. Why would we speak that way? Why would we say those things? Because we're over the hill. We're using everything as an excuse. How do you overcome the words in your mouth coming out of your mouth and make them positive? It's biblical. Psalms 34, 1 says, I will bless the Lord, what? At all times, always. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. How would that change our lives if we really applied that verse? What part of that verse don't we understand? All. The A or the double L's. All means all, right? Always, every time, every word that comes out of my mouth, I will bless the Lord. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Our concerns become an excuse. Our complaining becomes an excuse. Our comparing becomes an excuse. We're over the hill and it's just an excuse in our lives. Not only an attitude, not only a feeling, not only an excuse, but over the hill is a destination. It's a destination. We choose to hang out there. I think of it as a chain of islands. The island of mediocrity, the island of complacency, the island of insignificance, the island of bitterness, the island of anger. Bitterness, man. Some people are just, they're just not getting over it. We're angry. I heard about a couple of you sitting with his wife. He said, honey, when you get angry at me, you seem to handle it really well. What do you do? He said, she said, oh, that's easy. I clean the toilets with your toothbrush. Well, this side thought it was funny. This side, this side's still trying to get that joke. I'm not going to, I'm not going to chastise them, but thank y'all. Thank y'all for catching that one. How about the island of resentment? The island of unforgiveness. Don't miss this. In the Lord's prayer, Jesus said, forgive us our trespasses as what? As we forgive those who trespass against us. Interesting. Finishes the Lord's prayer. And in verse 14 and 15 of Matthew six in verse 14, he says, if you forgive my father in heaven will also forgive you. And in verse 15, he says, and if you're unforgiving towards your brethren or your brother, my father in heaven will what? Not forgive you. Now, can I ask y'all a simple question? Why would you hold on to an unforgiveness knowing God isn't forgiving you? Can I tell you the answer? It's because of what you believe. You believe you can be angry and bitter and resentful and unforgiving, or you wouldn't be angry, resentful, bitter and unforgiving. Does everybody understand that? You believe something that is a lie from the devil, not truth from the heavenly father, because Jesus said it with his own mouth. If you're unforgiving, you're unforgiving period. Ouch. You know what that says to me? Somebody in here needs to be on the phone as soon as this class is over calling somebody and asking for their forgiveness for holding a grudge, for being resentful, for being bitter over something that happened maybe decades ago. Who knows what it is? Why would you want to go one second without God's forgiveness? I'll never forget. We were members of Adrian Rogers Church for three years, Bellevue Baptist Church. Oh, my goodness. What an amazing time in our lives. Adrian one time said, if somebody offered me a million dollars to go 24 hours without Christ's love in my heart and in my life, I would say, no, I wouldn't want to live one second without the love of Jesus in my heart, in my life. And I remember listening to that. But guess what? Don't miss this. You go one second without forgiving others and you are unforgiven for that second. Why would we want to live one second unforgiven? Right. I should have heard an amen or something. Maybe I'm stepping on all of our toes. I apologize. Not really. I'm just kidding. We stop living. We stop loving. We stop learning and we stop laughing. Don't miss this. You stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old. Excuse me. Let me start over. You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. I don't have time to get into it. Well, maybe I do. Dad, he speaks to like 10 or 15 after 11. I guess I do have time. I won't go that long. I promise. Did you know the things you watch, the things you listen to, the things you read impact your life? I'll never forget one day, Zig Ziglar was in front of four or five thousand people and held up a newspaper. He said, how many of you, this is back when we had them, right? We don't, we don't see them very often anymore. But he said, how many of you believe every word in this is true? Not a hand went up. Held up his Bible. He said, how many of you believe every word in this Bible is true? And almost every hand went up. And then he looked at the crowd and he said, why do you spend more time reading what you don't believe? Ouch. That gets all of us, doesn't it? What you put in here is going to be what comes out. Some of you are dealing with fear. Did you know, maybe the shows you're watching are full, are fear based shows and you're just filling your heart and your mind with fear. And then you go to bed at night wondering why you're so fearful. But Randy, I just like those police shows. I like those, you know, CSI where they're figuring out all that stuff. I understand. But the devil uses the content to impact your life and you give him permission by putting it in there in the first place. Wow. Liz and I, we watch a lot of Hallmark and Great American Family and we try to watch funny shows that get us laughing that aren't, you know, ungodly funny shows. But just humor is such a good thing for you to spend time in your life. But don't stop living. Don't stop loving. Don't stop learning. Don't stop laughing. God wants us to be young at heart. It's a lifelong journey. It's not over with. If you wake up today and you're still alive, the first thing you ought to do is say, Lord, thank you for another day to serve you. Not for another day to sit around and complain and feel concerned about what's going on. All of us have something to complain about. Proverbs 23, 7 says, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And I was reading a commentary and that word think, it's really as a man reckons in his soul. That's what you really believe. Proverbs 15, 15 says, A cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15, 13, A joyful heart makes a cheerful face. I was in high school. I'm walking through the den one morning getting ready to go to school. My mom said, Randy, are you happy today? I said, Mom, I am happy. She goes, tell your face. Some of us need to tell our face. It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown. Do y'all realize that? But some of us just sit around looking like we ate prunes for breakfast and we're just waiting for them to start acting whatever they're supposed to do to help us get unconstipated, right? We're just waiting. Oh, my goodness. God has great plans for us. Joy is in knowing Jesus. Do you believe that? Yes. Hebrews 12, I just was reminded of that this morning. Verse 2, it says, For the joy which was set before him. Who for the joy? Who is the who? You and me. He left the comfort of heaven. He came down to earth to give his life for us. Who for the joy set before him? That's us. That verse ought to fire us up. That verse ought to motivate us every day. We're God's joy. Good night. If we're his joy, certainly, surely we can make him our joy. And man, if he's our joy, we're going to be fired up. We're going to get excited about our lives with him. We're his joy. We're to enjoy ourselves. Don't take life so seriously. You're never getting out of it alive, right? Every day above ground is a good day. God has a sense of humor. Do you know that? Everybody look at the person on your left. Now look at the person on your right. Does that not convince you that God has a sense of humor? If you're still wondering when you get home today, you just stand in front of the mirror and take a long look. God has a sense of humor. He wants us to laugh. Don't hold it in. It goes to your hips. Laughter. You don't want to hold that in. Remember, it releases endorphins. Young at heart, let me give you four thoughts quickly, is a choice. Young at heart's a choice. It's either I can or I can't. That's your choice. Philippians 4.13 reminds us then that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It doesn't say I can't do all things. It says I can do all things. Choose I can do all things. How about I have to? Anybody ever say that? Oh, I have to go get the groceries or I have to go, you know, get the grandkids. No, no, no. We need to change the words that come out of our mouth. I get to go to the store and get groceries. I get to go pick up the grandkids. I get to have dinner with my friends tonight. It's not, oh, I have to go to church on Sunday. You know, they'll know I'm not there if I don't go. I get to go to church on Sunday. It's a choice. Are you happy to do it or have to do it? Sometimes Liz will say, honey, can you do this? I go, OK, dear, happy to do it. She goes, you sound happy to do it to me. OK, dear, I'm happy to do it. Sometimes we just have to be reminded. Happy to do it is an attitude of service. It's an attitude of getting out of ourselves, getting into others, encouraging somebody else. We get to choose between positive or realistic. People say all the time, well, Randy, you know, I'm not always positive, but I'm realistic. Well, guess what? Realistic is negative. Can we all agree on that? The realistic world we live in is a negative world. So when you say, well, I'm just being realistic, well, you're being negative. Nobody wants to say it to you because probably you're going to lash out and lose it and say, I can't believe you called me negative. Well, guess what? Realistic is negative. And if we were blessing the Lord at all times and his praise was continually in our mouth, we wouldn't be having that discussion with anybody in the first place. Choose. Here's the last thing under a choice. Choose to hang out with people who lift you up. Can we all be honest? We all have family members that just suck the life out of us. And it's like when we're through being with them, we want to go jump off a cliff somewhere. Right. We can't say, well, Randy, you don't understand. I got to hang out with these people. I do understand. But do you have to hang out with them all the time? No, you have a choice. You can monitor how often you're around people who just literally drain all the energy out of you. But if they're going to be around you in your life, did you know you need to choose to be around people who are going to breathe life back into you? Who are those people? That's who you should try to hang out with more on a regular basis. Choose those kinds of people. I call them replenishers. They replenish. When you've given all the energy, they're going to put energy back into you. They're going to pick you up when you're feeling depleted of everything you have to give to others. That's a choice. Thank you. So young at heart is a choice. Young at heart is being intentional. We should be investing in younger generations. So, Randy, you know, I can't even get them to listen to me. Well, I was just talking to some parents this week, and every time they're around their children, all they want to do is point out what they're not doing. How often would your kids want to be around you if all you ever do is point out what they're not doing? Well, I just want to help them. I just want them to be involved in church like I am. I just want them to do these things like I do. Well, guess what? You're pushing them away because you're making it more about you than it is about them. And guess what? We're to invest in the younger generation. Why? It's an assignment from the Lord. Titus 2 through 5 is talking about older men and women. It says older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. That's a pretty description, pretty good description, guys, of what God expects us to be in our latter years of our lives. Don't miss it, women. Here we come. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips. Can you imagine Paul had to write this about 2,000 years ago? Women were gossiping then, too. I can't believe that. Reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands. Don't miss this. So that the Word of God will not be dishonored. Wow. We're older people. We're more mature than the younger generation. We've had longer time to live. They don't want to hear how we learned it all when we were their age. For whatever reason, you know, oh yeah, when I was your age, I was doing, you know, they don't want to hear that. But the reality is, God has prepared us through our life experience to be an encouragement to the younger generation. Are we doing it? So that the Word of God will not be dishonored. A few weeks ago, the phone rang one night. We were relaxing, and it was Elizabeth, a girl that used to do her nails. She hadn't seen her in a while, and Kim called and just started pouring her heart out to Elizabeth. And I just sat and listened to Elizabeth give this young lady incredible life experience encouragement for all the questions she was asking. And I just thought about, that's what the Bible's talking about right here. You've got to be intentional. You've got to go to the nail place with the intention of having an impact in people's lives. You don't have to just sit there and not say anything. You say, well Randy, I can't even understand what they say. I get that. Maybe you need to find a nail tech that you can talk to. Maybe that would help. But there's other things in our lives where we can have an impact in their life in the process. You have much to offer this church and community. Don't overlook that God wants to use you and your life experience to encourage others. The word encourage means to place courage into another person. That's one of the meanings of encourage. God wants us to be intentional in the lives of others. Young at heart is seizing the opportunity. It's seizing the opportunity to see God's power. Paul was talking to the Lord about his thorn in the flesh, and three times he said in 2 Corinthians, I prayed and asked God to remove that from my life. And God said, Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, in verse 9, for power is perfected in weakness. I've got neuropathy. It runs in the family. Mom's got it. Dad's got it. Bailey's got it. We all got it. And there's times it drives me nuts. But guess what? Every time I talk to the Lord about it, he's like, Randy, you've got two choices. You can live under your circumstance or you can get happy and live above your circumstance. Either way, I'm still God and it's your choice, right? It's our choice. I don't always feel like I want to be a blessing to you, but I have a choice. Do you all agree with that? I had a choice at 7.15 this morning. Am I going to come speak to help Brother Jack or am I going to say, hey, Eddie, no, you read those notes and God bless you, brother. I can assure you that was my first thought, just being transparent. I'm just being honest. But the reality is every day we have a choice. Well, you don't understand, Randy, they made me feel this way. No, you don't understand. God knew they were going to make you feel this way. And you still have a choice on how you're going to either respond or react. Don't blame it on them. You know, when you point a finger, did you know you've got three of them pointing right back at you? Your parents taught you that, right? Guess what? God wants us to seize the opportunity to see his power. Some people are clueless about power. This flight from JFK to London Heathrow took off. It was a 747 and about an hour into the flight, the pilot came on and said, folks, we just had our engine number one go out. But don't worry, we're still going to get in to Heathrow maybe about an hour late. But we got three engines that are working. We're OK. A couple hours into the flight, he came back on. Folks, I'm sorry to tell you, but number two engine just went out. But we got two engines. We're going to be OK. But now we're going to be about four hours getting in late to Heathrow. A little while later, the pilot came back on and he said, folks, I hate to tell you this, but engine three just went out. But we're OK. We can fly with one engine, but we're going to be seven or eight hours late getting into London today. The guy in first class sitting next to another guy goes, man, if that other engine goes out, we'll be up here all night long. Some people are clueless about power. Guess what? God's power is in you. You have a choice today. Lord, live through me. Holy Spirit, empower me. Or you can say, oh, poor me, poor me or empower me. Which is the better choice? That was a rhetorical question. You don't have to answer that loud. Young at heart is seizing the opportunity to see God's power to grow in our faith. You'll never have more time than right now to grow in your faith. Man, I was a young man and I would see these older guys and they would be speaking to our group and they would be talking about their walk with the Lord and their quiet time. And I remember as a young man, I say, man, when I get older, I'm going to be just like that guy. I'll have so much time to spend with the Lord. Did you know I'm older now and I still don't have the time to spend with the Lord? Because the enemy is going to fight us for our calendar every single day. Right? It's a time for us to seize an opportunity to grow in our faith. How about to enrich the lives of others? Building relationships. Who can you encourage? My grandfather's favorite quote was, I had no shoes and complained until I met a man with no feet. Are you struggling with something going on in your life? All you got to do is go a mile down the road to sit with someone else who has it worse than you do and you will automatically be encouraged. Some of us, instead of worrying about how bad it is, need to get out and start walking with people, encouraging them in what they're going through. And we would immediately feel so much better about ourselves. Proverbs 11, 25 says, he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. Do you get that? It's encouraged for encouragement. Encouraged for encouragement. Liz and I in the 80s, I was a home builder and we were losing everything. Wayne will remember those days, don't you Wayne? I had 15 houses sit empty for two years. $4.4 million worth of construction and I was only in my mid to late 20s. And I found myself thinking a lot, Lord, who in their right mind loaned a 28 year old $4.4 million for 15 houses. The economy of Texas started going down. Y'all all remember it if you lived here. And overnight, we were losing everything. And the sheriff started coming to our house on a regular basis. And our boys, they were two and four. When Sonny the sheriff would pull up in the front yard and walk up and ring the doorbell, they would go run. We had a bay window in the living room. They'd lean and look out and they go, Mom, Dad, Sonny's here with another special letter. Well, that special letter was another lawsuit. It was a difficult time. At the time, we were in a jewelry business. And Liz had a jewelry show that night. So we got the letter that day, we sat on the floor. And I'll never forget, we both are just booing our eyes out going, Lord, when is this going to end? We owe the money, we want to pay it back. We don't have the money. What are we going to do? So about five o'clock, it was time for her to get in the car. And I'll never forget. It's just one of those moments. I'll never forget it. She's crying. Excuse me, uncontrollably. She's just not having a good day. She looks at me and she says, I don't want to go. What do you think I should do? Now guys, this is a great tip. When your wife asks you a question, answer the question with a question. I said, what do you think you should do? I know, I just need to go. There's women coming, they're counting on me being there. I just need to go. I said, yes, honey, I do think you should go. I put her in the car. My wife, I watched her drive out of the driveway and down the street, still crying. And I just prayed for her that evening. Well, about nine thirty, ten o'clock, she came home. I ran out the meter to help her carry her stuff in. She came in kind of bouncing into the house. And I said, well, honey, how did your show go? And she said, well, let me tell you what happened. Now, if you know Elizabeth, she's got a great sense of humor. She loves to tell stories. She said, I was telling all my funny stories. I could not get this one lady to smile. And I was determined I was going to make her smile just to help her have a fun evening. And she never did. And afterwards, I went up to talk to her and I just asked her how she's doing. And that lady told me, Randy, that just yesterday she found out her four-year-old daughter had six months to live. And then Elizabeth looked at me and again, burst into tears. And she said, and we don't have any problems. She said, I got to spend 15 minutes just encouraging her, and I've never been more encouraged in my life than tonight. Folks, we have to get out of ourselves and get into others. We have to find people to encourage and to lift up in the Lord. Impacting eternity is what we do. Serving others, seeing life change, to enrich the lives of others is an opportunity we have to seize. The last thing for an opportunity, we have to seize the opportunity to live with passion. Passion is a strong or extravagant enthusiasm or desire for anything. Do I come across with passion? Do you all see that in me at all? Did you know passion was given to all of us, but we choose where we give it. Some of us have been giving it away to places that we should change our mind and start taking it back and giving it to people who need to be encouraged in our lives. Passion is contagious. You don't lose passion, you give it to something else. So, young at heart is a choice, it's being intentional, it's seizing opportunities. And the last thing young at heart is accomplished by staying plugged into God's power. You've got to stay plugged into God's power. Ephesians 3.20 says this, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the what? To the power that works within us. Did you know God's power? If you know Jesus, his power is in you. And if you trust him, his power wants to work through you. And the only way we stop that from happening is by choosing not to allow it to happen or choosing to be unforgiving and not forgiving. We make a choice every day. Do I want God's power to work through me? Do I want God's power to be blocked in my life today? Because it's all about me. I'm having an all about me day to day. Our granddaughter is like 21 months and we'll FaceTime with her every now and then. And when she comes on, this means more, y'all. For kids today, they teach them sign language. And Elizabeth will call first and she'll see Lolly and she'll light up and then she'll go, more pops, more pops. And Elizabeth will hand it to me and then, you know, I'll hand it back to Elizabeth and she'll say, more lolly. And Ruby will go, more lolly. And then she'll smile and laugh and then she'll look and go, more pops, more pops. And I can, I get embarrassed because it's kind of like, okay, Ruby, I get it. But it's always more pops, more pops. But you know, there's a spiritual application here. Every time the devil tries to distract you, you ought to be thinking more pops, more pops. The Bible says he's our Abba father. That could be translated daddy, right? I'm pops. That's my grandpa name. I'm pops. Next time the devil comes messing with you, just remember, more pops. Because God wants to be, he wants to do far more abundantly beyond all that you could ask or even think according to his power in you. Are you over the hill or young at heart? It's a choice. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this morning. Thank you for the opportunity to jump in here and rescue Dr. Terry. We hope you'll just heal his foot and allow him to feel better soon. And we certainly miss him. He's such a gifted teacher. So, Lord, just bless him and Barbara. Give them a week that'll just be an incredible time together and just use them to bless the people that you bring across their path. Because we know each of us have been blessed by their lives and we know that's how they're wired. We know that's their passion for life. So, bless them this week. Be with dad. Continue to heal him and allow him to get his strength back. Can't wait for him to be back doing the things he loves. And I can assure each of these folks that he can't get back here quick enough. Thank you for their love for he and mom and their encouragement in their lives. God, use us for your glory this week. Help us to get out of ourselves and get into somebody else that you bring across our path. God, I pray we won't just be over the hill, but we'll choose to be young at heart, that we will allow your Holy Spirit to energize us no matter what age we are in this room, God. There are people around us and you can use our gifts, our talents, our resources, our encouragement to make their day. God, help us to choose that and not take any excuses along the way in our lives. We love you and praise you today in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for being here.