Paul Tripp: Is your life driven by the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? And if it is, your life will be characterized by a humble gratitude that will shape your relationship with God and your relationship with others.

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now and today's program from Paul Tripp Ministries. Join us as Paul connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

Male Voice: I just don't think I had a clue what real gratitude actually was. Now, don't get me wrong; there were times when I would be thankful for something, and I would usually look for a way to express it, but overall, my life was simply all about me.

I guess the best way to say it is that I loved me, and I had a wonderful plan for my life. In fact, I had a plan for everything and everyone in my life, and I was quickly angered when someone or something happened to get in the way of my plan.

I called myself a 'person of faith,' and I attended my church faithfully. But my life was not driven by faith; it was driven by my commitment to make sure I got everything I set my heart on.

But the most shocking thing was that I really thought that I deserved the good life. I lived with an embarrassing sense of entitlement, so when anything hard, difficult, or disappointing came my way, well, I immediately questioned God's goodness and love.

As I look back, I realize that I spent most of my time planning, demanding, or complaining. I always had an agenda. I was always demanding that others follow my agenda, and I complained constantly because things never perfectly went my way.

The amazing thing about this is that I called myself a Christian, but Christ was simply not part of my life. I called myself a God-fearer, but at the street-level, I lived a godless life.

Here's what my functional belief system was: I'm a good guy; I work hard; I deserve the best; I have a right to be upset when things don't go my way; and if God really loves me, He will send good things my way. I don't know how I could've been so off base. I don't know how I could've been so wrong. It just blows my mind. A Christian, but with no clue.

Music: "It's A Sin" by Pet Shop Boys

When I look back upon my life
It's always with a sense of shame
I've always been the one to blame
For everything I long to do
No matter when or where or who
Has one thing in common too
It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a sin
It's a sin
Everything I've ever done
Everything I ever do
Every place I've ever been
Everywhere I'm going to
It's a sin

Kate Crowley: This is Right Here, Right Now, and don't go away. In just a moment, Paul Tripp will continue his series titled, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" If you have a moment, we would like to invite you to visit our website at paultrippministries.org. And while you're there, check out Paul's book, War Of Words.

In it, he describes the power of words and how they can actually provide freedom from despair. Again, just visit paultrippministries.org; that's all one word, Paul Tripp spelled, T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org. And now, Right Here, Right Now continues with Paul Tripp.

What Drives Your Daily Schedule?

Paul Tripp: So what about you? What drives your daily schedule? What attitudes shape what you do and say every day? Perhaps you're thinking, "Paul I got to tell you right now, I'm not at all like that guy you have just been speaking about. He's way more demanding and controlling than I am."

But I would ask you to stop with me and to take an assessment of your life. Now, I want to give you this metaphor again. If I watch the video of your last six weeks, would I conclude from that video that your life is driven and propelled by gratitude? As I watched, whose plan for your life would I conclude is driving the system: yours or God? Would this video be a pursuit of the Kingdom of God or a video of the pursuit of the kingdom of self?

Remember, sin is the ultimate shrink-wrap. Here's what it does to us. It causes us to shrink our lives to the size of our lives. It makes us quite content to live our lives with our wants and our needs as our primary focus. It makes us live like we really are at the center of the universe, a place you and I love to be.

When we live this way, then it shapes the way we relate to God, and it shapes the way we relate to others. What we expect from God, then, is that He will exercise His power to make our little kingdom of self successful, and we will judge His faithfulness and love accordingly. And with others, we'll work to manipulate and co-opt people into willing service of our kingdom and intentions. When they cooperate, we'll like having them in our lives; and when they don't, we're spontaneously irritated and angry.

You see, there's simply no gratitude in that lifestyle. It's a life of entitlement and demand. And we judge God, and we judge others, not by God's revelation of Himself in His Word or by His Law for people. No, we end up judging God and others by our law. You see, I'm not typically offended at you because you've broken God's law, but because you've broken my law. You're somehow, someway in the way of what I want. You see, sin makes gratitude difficult for all of us.

The Bible, in Deuteronomy, talks about rebellion this way as Israel is facing the Promised Land, "But you are unwilling to go up, you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The Lord hates us so He's brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.'" What was the rebellion? It was the rebellion of grumbling, "God can't love me. If God loved me, He wouldn't bring this thing into my life."

I would ask you this: is your life driven by the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? And if it is, your life will be characterized by a humble gratitude that will shape your relationship with God and your relationship with others.

Music: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" by Tears For Fears

Welcome to your life, there's no turning back
Even while we sleep we will find you
Acting on your best behavior
Turn your back on Mother Nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?

Paul Tripp: Well, we've been spending the last few programs asking and answering the question, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" And here's what we've said so far.

We've said, first, that the Gospel is a story; it's not an event; it's a process. It's the origin-to-destiny story of Scripture; it is the grand story that unpacks the story of every human being who's ever lived.

We've said, secondly, that the Gospel is all about identity. There are four identities of the Gospel: The identity of creature, the identity of sinner, the identity of sufferer, and the identity of child of God.

We also said that the Gospel is the world's most accurate diagnostic. It's like looking in the world's most accurate mirror, and the Gospel says something very significant to me. It tells me that my greatest problem exists inside of me and not outside of me.

Fourth, we've said that the Gospel is all about new potential. Sin robs me of my potential to be what I was meant to be and to do what I was meant to do. And in Christ, I find a whole new potential.

Well, today we want to add one new element - the Gospel is a call to a life of gratitude. Now, what is the core message of the Gospel? Here's the core message: by God's grace, you have been given what you did not deserve and could never have earned. Let me say that again: by God's grace, amazing grace, you have been given what you did not deserve and what you could have never earned.

Now what this means is a lifestyle that is driven by the Gospel will always result in a life of thankfulness and gratitude. Now having said that, I want to share with you the perspectives of the Gospel that actually produce this life of humble gratitude. I want to share six perspectives that produce that.

First one: this life is not my party. I am not the center of my universe. Life is about God. God exists at the center of the universe. Life is about His existence, His purpose, His plan, His glory!

I cannot live with entitlement. I cannot live demandingly. I cannot live with an "I deserve"--fill-in-the-blank-- lifestyle because I don't exist at the center of the universe. I was made for the pleasure, the will, the glory of somebody else. And that will humble me, and that will remove from me that life of demanding ingratitude.

Second thing (this is very humbling too): I was personally responsible for Christ's death. You see, it's not just those soldiers; it's not just the Roman government; it's not just the Pharisees and Sadducees; it's not just the multitude who cried, "Crucify Him!" My sin, my rebellion, my idolatry is what drove Jesus to the cross.

In a wonderful hymn written by Horatius Bonar that I found quoted by C.J. Mahaney in a book about cross-centered living were these wonderful words, maybe terrible words:

'Twas I that shed that sacred blood;

I nailed Him to the tree;

I crucified the Christ of God;

I joined the mockery.

You know humble admission of who you actually are as a sinner would say that if you had been living there, you would've rejected Him, ou would've cried, "Crucify, crucify Him!"

This life is not my party. I was responsible for Christ's death. Third perspective, I have been given what I don't deserve and could not have earned. The cross defines how serious, grave, and hopeless my condition was.

Boy, you get that in the agony of Gethsemane. It's a clue; Jesus is wrestling with what He is facing. And He's not just wrestling with physical suffering, but the ultimate and unthinkable separation He would have from His Father. He was thinking of that moment when He would cry, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"... "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus was willing to face that rejection so I could know acceptance with God and acceptance I could never earn.

Fourth perspective, I have been chosen to be part of something huge, important, exciting, and eternal. I have been welcomed out of the claustrophobic confines of my own little, self-defined world to live in the spaciousness of the work of the Kingdom of God, that work of restoration of all that has been damaged by the fall and to the glory of God. I have been welcomed to be part of something that's hugely bigger than my own little personal life.

Fifth, I have been given a very bright future. There's hope for me! And what does the Bible mean when it talks about hope? It doesn't mean some dreamy wish of an expectation. In the Bible, hope means this: it's a confident expectation of a guaranteed result. Jesus has died so that I would have a bright future; there really is hope for me, not because of my wisdom, not because of my strength, not because of the family I was born in, not because of my money or power, but because of what Christ has done.

And then, sixth, there is a transformational reason for the present mess. God has me where He has because He means to use the messiness of life to radically transform me. This way of thinking, this worldview will produce humble gratitude, humble patience, humble courage, and humble hope in you.

Music: "Lamb Of God" by Rebecca St. James

I hear the voice of many people
I hear a voice like mighty thunder
Singing Hallelujah for the Lord He reigns
Singing Hallelujah for the Lord He reigns
Lamb of God, Holy
Lord You are Holy
Lamb of God, Holy
You are Holy
So let us be glad, let us rejoice
And let us give honor, glory to the Lord
And may every tribe and every tongue
Gather and sing praise to the Holy One
Lamb of God, Holy
Lord You are Holy
Lamb of God, Holy
You are Holy

Six Perspectives That Lead to Humble Gratitude

Paul Tripp: Let me give you those six perspectives again that lead to this life of humble gratitude.

Life is not my party; I was responsible for Christ's death; I have been given what I don't deserve and could not have earned; I have been chosen to be part of something huge, important, exciting, and eternal; I have a very bright future; There is a transformational reason for the present messiness and difficulty of life.

What do all of those mean? I have been gifted with a wonderful life that I could've never earned. Doesn't matter what difficulties I face today; I've been gifted with a wonderful life.

Now, let me ask you the question again, "Are you living a life of humble gratitude?" Well, you say, "Paul, I'm not sure I know exactly what that life looks like. I think I'm thankful and I try to be thankful." Let me tell you sort of the fruit of that kind of life.

First, if I'm living with gratitude with this knowledge that I been given, what I could never have earned, I will be patient with and thankful for others. I won't be demanding and manipulative.

And if I'm patient and thankful for others, here's the second thing: I will give myself to a lifestyle of service and love. I want to express my thankfulness in serving God by serving others.

Third thing, I'll have a life of constant worship. Again and again and again in a variety of verbal and nonverbal ways, I will express my deep appreciation for what God has given me in Christ.

Fourth, I will have patience and hope in the middle of difficulty. I won't get angry. I won't get irritated. I won't give up. Because I'll realize that there's a reason, a good, gracious, transformational reason, for what I'm going through.

Fifth, I'll really have an active concern for the glory, the reputation of God. I want to do everything I can to incarnate God's glory, God's love, God's grace. I want to be an accurate representative of Him.

Sixth, my life will be driven more by a pursuit of spiritual things rather than physical things. Sure, I'll have physical things in my life, but what will drive my life is an excitement with the spiritual riches that I've been given.

Seventh, I'll have peace in my relationships. Because I love God, I'll want to have loving relationships with the people around me because I'm serving God's Kingdom. I won't demand that they be part of my kingdom.

Eighth, I'll have love and enthusiasm for the body of Christ. I'll want to surround myself with people who get it, people who are also grateful for what they have been given, people who will remind me of my need to be grateful.

Nine, I'll desire for others to know this Lord as well. I'll naturally share the truths of the Gospel with others.

And ten, I'll keep one eye on eternity because I'll be so excited for the final restoration of all that has been broken by the fall.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: So as we come to the end of this set of programs, we need to ask one more time: what in the world is the gospel anyway?

Well, the Gospel is a story:it's the world's most important story. It's that creation, fall, restoration, destiny story that makes sense out of every story of every person who has ever lived.

The Gospel is a new identity: it's understanding my identity in new ways. My identity as creature, my identity as a sinner, my identity as sufferer, and the new identity I found in Christ as a child of God.

The Gospel is the world's best diagnostic: it's a hard diagnostic to receive because that diagnosis tells me that my greatest, most abiding, deepest, most influential problems exist inside of me and not outside of me.

The Gospel is all about new potential. Sin damages me. Sin robs me of my ability to be what I'm supposed to be and to do what I'm supposed to do. It leaves me foolish, and unable, and guilty, and addicted. And in the Gospel, I find a new potential in Christ.

And then, the Gospel results in a life of humble gratitude. I live deeply aware that I have been given an amazing new life. I've been given wonderful things that I could've never earned. I haven't been just given back spirituality, I have been restored to my true humanity, and I couldn't have done that by myself. You see, the Gospel is not just something to be believed; it is something to be lived right here, right now!

Kate Crowley: Paul Tripp with good news from the Gospel from the series, "What in the World Is the Gospel Anyway?" on today's edition of Right Here, Right Now.

We're so glad you've chosen to tune in for today's program from Paul Tripp Ministries, and if you'd like to hear this program again, just visit paultrippministries.org where you can listen online, sign up for the daily podcast, or order a CD copy for just five dollars.

While on Paul's website, you'll also find many great resources that will help you in your daily life. One of the items that we'd like to tell you about is Paul's book, War of Words. In it, he lines up how we can speak words of grace and make a real difference in a world that's full of words of hate and hurt. That's War of Words, available at our website, paultrippministries.org. That's all one word, Paul Tripp spelled, T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org.

Paul also has many other resources such as video, audio, and print materials on issues important to you. Check them out at paultrippministries.org. And be sure and send a link of this website to your family and friends. You can also call us at 1-800-551-6595. That's toll-free: 800-551-6595.

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Be sure and tune in on Monday for more grace found in the Word of God. This is Kate Crowley; and for all of us at Paul Tripp Ministries, we want to remind you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help right here, right now. Have a great weekend.