Podcasts about daily devotion

Today's devotion is written by Lani Bogart.

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” (Romans 5:3–4 NLT) Years ago, I had a friend who was very sick and asked me to pray for him. I did. He got worse. He said, “I don’t ever want you to pray for me again.” In our estimation, sometimes things go the wrong way. We may pray, “Lord, heal this person. Be glorified through this.” But the Lord might say, “I will be glorified, but I’m not going to do it the way you want Me to. I’m going to do this other thing instead.” Sometimes God will remove the affliction. Sometimes God will heal the illness. Sometimes God will take away the cancer. But sometimes the person will get worse. We usually don’t like that. But it is in these times that God can be glorified. Everyone suffers in life. Christians suffer, too. When a Christian is suffering and can still glorify God, that is a powerful testimony to a lost world. When non-Christians see us honoring the Lord through our suffering, it shows them how real our faith is. And guess what? It shows us how real our faith is, too. Do you think your faith would get stronger if everything were easy in life? No, your faith will get stronger through hardship. Here’s something that might surprise you: You will develop even more hope through tribulation. Romans 5:3–4 says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (NLT). We must remember that as steel is tempered to make it stronger, God is tempering us to give us strength. Hebrews 4:16 says, “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (NLT). But that boldness must also be tempered with a sense of humility, recognizing that we don’t know what’s best in a given situation. So, instead of offering suggestions as to how God might relieve our suffering, a better approach is to ask Him for the strength, courage, and faith to endure. Ask Him for the wisdom and discernment to recognize the lessons in our predicament. We must learn to look at every circumstance as an opportunity to grow and to understand the Lord better. Hope grows in the garden of pain. It doesn’t grow without challenges or difficulty. It grows in hard times. It’s sort of like building muscle. You build it up by breaking it down. Then, as you keep working out, that muscle will get stronger. You develop strength through your weaknesses. This is true of Christians in their spiritual lives as well. Reflection question: What would it look like for you to glorify God when you’re suffering? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Dennis Jernigan shares the story behind his song,  “You Are Holy” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1." That mp3 is available at https://www.dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=2353 The lyrics can be found below. You can join Dennis and the people of All In All Church for live-stream worship on the first Wednesday evening of each month. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/therealdennisjernigan at 7 PM CST. Mark it in your calendar. Worship with All in All Church - First Wednesday of each month. Daily Devotions for Kingdom Seekers, Vol. 3 is available at https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Kingdom-Seekers-Vol-ebook/dp/B081K8TZLX Check out my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/DennisJernigan and read through the various tiers of support and discover the myriad of benefits you will receive based on the level of support you choose. If you're willing, go ahead and sign up!

Today's devotion is written by Sarah Damm.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for September 1, 2025. Today's devotion, “Hear My Righteous Plea” from Psalm 17:1–2 (ESV), is a prayer of urgency and trust in God's perfect justice. David cries out to the Lord with “lips free of deceit,” showing us what it means to pray with sincerity and integrity. He knows that vindication does not come from defending himself before people, but from God's presence alone. In a world where accusations and misunderstandings abound, Psalm 17 reminds us to place our confidence in the Lord, who sees all and judges rightly. Ultimately, this psalm points us to Jesus Christ, the only One whose lips were perfectly free of deceit. Though falsely accused and condemned, He was vindicated by His resurrection. In Him, we too are declared righteous, beloved, and secure.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm17 #PrayerOfFaith #GodsJustice #ChristOurRighteousness

1099: 1 Timothy 2 Pt 4 Daily Devotions by Pastor Tim Dodson of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. Tim Dodson is the lead-pastor of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. These devotionals are designed to take the listener through the Bible verse-by-verse.

02 September 2025 Daily Devotion: "Source of Joy" Ecclesiastes 2:25 New Living Translation 25 For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? Some things are so simple that we try to make them complicated. We think, there's no way it can be that easy! Those who have struggled to live lives of joy and fallen short have likely tried too hard and chased the wrong things. Here's the long and the short of it: there's no joy apart from God. No career success, marital status, fame, or fortune can bring a person joy if God isn't in it. You could surround yourself with your favorite possessions, hobbies, and people,and something would still be missing. Have you looked high and low, yet still struggled to find joy in your life? All you need is God. All the joy your heart can handle is found in Him. He provides the forever kind of joy that the world can't take away. You can walk in joy when you walk with Him.

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 “There is nothing new under the sun.” In this episode of Daily Devotions with Pastor David Sumrall, we're reminded through both personal stories and Scripture that history repeats itself. Pastor shares a lesson he first learned from his grandfather—that fashions, ideas, and even false doctrines often return in cycles. Just as Solomon taught, what we face today has already been seen before. Discover why studying Biblical history and the lives of believers from the past equips us to stand firm in truth today. Be encouraged to look back at God's Word and learn how His people walked with Him through every season, knowing He is faithful yesterday, today, and forever. ------- Don't forget to like, subscribe to Cathedral of Praise TV https://www.youtube.com/c/cathedralofpraiseTV/?sub_confirmation=1,and hit the bell icon 

In this message Pastor Chad Narayan closes out our “Daily Devoted” series with a powerful word titled “My Route Runs Through His Word.” He reminds us that following Jesus is not just about Sundays, but about living daily with devotion, purity, and a singular focus on God. Through Psalm 119 and Luke 9, Pastor Chad shows us how the Word of God becomes our guide, our defense, and our source of fruitfulness in life. At Zoe, our mission is simple: People Saved, Disciples Made, Leaders Raised, and The Church Released. Through every service, we seek to share the love and hope of Jesus, impact lives, and see transformation in communities in Los Angeles and around the world. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this stream with friends and family!

How do we define worship? Amber and her guest Brian Davison, lead singer of the band Koiné, explore that question. They discuss how Koiné puts modern spins on traditional hymns and what worship really means—both personally and in a church setting—stressing that worship doesn't have to follow a strict format. The conversation also covers how different styles of worship can connect with different people and the importance of being open to change while keeping Christ at the center. This is one of several conversations Amber had at the Christian Leadership Experience in La Crosse, Wisconsin, earlier this summer. The conference was a chance for those in ministry to learn from leaders. Brian led worship during the conference.Amber wants to hear from you! If you have feedback or ideas, drop her a line at amber@timeofgrace.org

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 31, 2025. Today's devotion, “You Will Not Abandon My Soul to Sheol” from Psalm 16:9–11 (ESV), proclaims the ultimate hope of God's people: victory over death. David rejoices that his heart is glad, his flesh secure, and his soul not abandoned to the grave. Yet these verses reach beyond David to the greater Son of David—Jesus Christ. The apostles Peter and Paul both declare this psalm fulfilled in Christ's resurrection. Unlike David, Jesus did not see corruption; He was raised in glory on the third day. Because He lives, we too have the assurance that death cannot hold us. Our future is secure, our joy full, and our inheritance eternal. In Christ's presence there is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm16 #ResurrectionHope #ChristIsRisen #FullnessOfJoy

Scripture Reading: Job 42:7-12 Job 42:7–12 (NLT) – “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before.” As we close out the book of Job, Pastor Sumrall highlights an important lesson: God was angry not at what Job's friends said to him, but at how they misrepresented God. Their words of condemnation in Job's darkest hours stirred God's anger because they spoke falsely about Him. Yet, God showed mercy—but only after Job's friends humbled themselves, honored Job, and asked him to pray for them. And only when Job released bitterness, forgave, and prayed for them did God restore his fortunes twofold. This powerful truth reminds us: when others have wronged us—especially during our lowest seasons—God calls us to forgive, pray for them, and let go of resentment. In doing so, we position ourselves for His restoration and blessing. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. ------ Don't forget to like, subscribe to Cathedral of Praise TV https://www.youtube.com/c/cathedralofpraiseTV/?sub_confirmation=1,and hit the bell icon 

01 September 2025 Daily Devotion: "Divine Purpose" Philippians 1:19 New Living Translation 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.Have you ever watched someone going through a trial and wondered how they were able to keep their joy? What makes one person able to endure while another seems tocrumble under the same weight? Paul was well acquainted with trials and tribulations and yet was a man of great joy. Paul knew, even while sitting in a prison cell, that the prayers of believers had power and that Christ would bring him deliverance one way or another. This knowledge enabled him to live joyfully while being imprisoned and beaten. When suffering comes our way, no matter what form it takes, what we know matters. In order to live joyfully in every season, we must know God's Word and what it says about His ways, His character, and His love for us. No trial can take away the truths we've hidden in our hearts. On the darkest of days, remind yourself of what you know, and you'll live joyfully no matter the circumstances.

“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.” (Philippians 1:27 NLT) Revival is necessary because sometimes our Christian faith becomes routine. It loses its spark. If this “routineness” continues, it can lead to backsliding—that is, a turning away from God and His will to pursue the pleasures of this world. If you’ve experienced it or seen it happen firsthand, you know that backsliding doesn’t happen overnight. You don’t call up your mature Christian friend and say, “Hey, do you want to backslide tonight? Seriously? Okay, I’ll pick you up at seven.” Backsliding usually starts with tolerating something that’s sinful, something you never would have gone near before. Maybe it’s curiosity, maybe it’s the influence of other people, but instead of rejecting it out of hand and making sure to avoid it, you open your mind to it. You sort of put up with it and maybe even play around with it, thinking, “This isn’t going to hurt me. I’m too strong, too mature in my faith. I’ve walked with the Lord for a long time. I could recite a half dozen Bible verses about resisting temptation and making wise decisions.” All the while, the devil is grinning as he watches you justify your shift in thinking and blur some of the lines you previously refused to cross. And then he does whatever he can to facilitate the process. Feeding the urge to backslide is one of his most potent battlefield maneuvers. Have you ever seen a baby rattlesnake? As you would imagine, it has little fangs and a little tail and a little rattle. You might even call it cute if you’re into that sort of thing. Until it bites you. Did you know that the venom of a baby rattlesnake is more potent than that of an adult rattlesnake? In the same way, the subtle shifts away from God and His will may seem harmless at first. Backsliding starts with accommodating. You turn a blind eye to something. Then you give in to it and legitimize it. And then you start making excuses for it and defending it. The next thing you know, you embrace it as a normal lifestyle. But that’s not the behavior of a real saint, of a real follower of Jesus. If you want to finish well in the race of life and live joyfully, if you want God to complete the work He has begun in you, then you need to press on as a follower of Christ. He will give you the strength to do it. But you need to ask for that strength every day. Reflection question: What are you being tempted to turn a blind eye to? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Susanna Spencer.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 30, 2025. Today's devotion, “I Bless the Lord Who Gives Me Counsel” from Psalm 16:7–8 (ESV), reminds us of the Lord's faithful guidance and unshakable presence. David blesses the Lord for His counsel, even in the night seasons of fear, doubt, or loneliness. God's Word is not mere advice—it is the living truth that brings clarity, wisdom, and life. To “set the Lord always before me” is to live each day with eyes fixed on Christ, trusting Him as our refuge and strength. Because the Lord is at our right hand, we shall not be shaken. In Jesus, who is our wisdom and our resurrection hope, we find the counsel that directs our path and the confidence that steadies our steps. Join in this devotion to be encouraged in faith and strengthened in God's promises.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm16 #GodsCounsel #UnshakableFaith #ChristOurHope

31 August 2025 Daily Devotion: "Nothing is Too Hard for God" Jeremiah 32:17 New Living Translation 17 “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! Have you ever watched someone do something with ease and grace after you'd tried unsuccessfully to do the same thing-for an hour? Maybe you struggled all day to solve a problem that involved math only to watch, amazed, as your spouse unraveled it in mere seconds. Maybe you wrestled all day to move a bulky chair until your neighbor stopped by, saw what you were doing, then picked it up and set it down without breaking a sweat. The most shocking thing about each instance is that the task wasn't less difficult for the other person, it was effortless. Most of us would quickly agree, "Nothing's too difficult for God!” But think about it: nothing is even difficult. Nothingis too challenging, tiring, or confusing to our God, but neither is it even remotely challenging, tiring, or confusing. God has never struggled for a split second to accomplish anything. Take joy in the truth that that's the God who cares for you!

Scripture Reading:Job 38:36 Job 38:36 (NLT) – “Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?”  In today's Daily Devotions, Pastor Sumrall reflects on the God-given instincts and intuition that are part of His creation. From the natural instincts of babies and animals to the inner sense of right and wrong even in unbelievers (Romans 2:14), we see how God has woven His law into human hearts. But as Scripture warns, false teachers operate as “creatures of instinct” (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 10, 18), following their natural desires rather than the Spirit of God, and causing division. As believers, we are not called to live by instinct but to walk in the Spirit. In Christ, we are made new, led not by our fallen nature but by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Be encouraged today: you are not bound to your old instincts—you are led by the Spirit as a child of God. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT). Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. ----- Don't forget to like, subscribe to Cathedral of Praise TV https://www.youtube.com/c/cathedralofpraiseTV/?sub_confirmation=1,and hit the bell icon 

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.” (Luke 18:1 NLT) Even if prayer were a difficult thing to do, which it is not, or an unpleasant thing to do, which it is not, we still would have every reason to pray because we are commanded in Scripture to do so. The apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6–7 NLT). And Luke 18:1 tells us that Jesus used a story to show His followers “that they should always pray and never give up” (Luke 18:1 NLT). Prayer is God’s appointed way for us to obtain things. This doesn’t mean that God is like some big Santa in Heaven. He’s not standing by, ready to grant our every wish. Prayer concerns something much more important: our needs. God invites us to take our every need to Him. We see it in Paul’s words in Philippians 4. We see it in David’s psalms. We see it in Jesus’ alone time with His Father. We see it in the lives of countless Bible characters. Whatever was on their minds, whatever was in their path, whatever was impacting their lives, God wanted them to involve Him in it. Jesus said, “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need” (Matthew 6:9–11 NLT). If you need it, God wants you to tell Him about it. Do you have needs right now? Pray about it. Do you need His provision? Pray about it. Do you need His healing touch? Pray about it. Go to God with your requests, and your heavenly Father, who knows you need these things, will hear you. James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2 NIV). Think about that. You might ask, “Why is it that I never know what the will of God is for my life?” Answer: You do not have because you do not ask God. You might ask, “Why is it that I never have the opportunity to lead people to the Lord?” Answer: You do not have because you do not ask God. You might ask, “Why don’t I feel more confident when I face spiritual battles?” Answer: You do not have because you do not ask God. I wonder how many answers to prayer would be waiting for us if we were to just pray about things. What would happen if we just said, “Lord, I’ve never actually brought this before You, but I’m praying about it now.” The worst-case scenario is that God will say no. But what if God says yes? Reflection question: What need will you take to God in prayer today? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Rachel Balducci.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 29, 2025. Today's devotion, “The Lord Is My Chosen Portion”from Psalm 16:5–6 (ESV), reminds us that true contentment and joy are found not in wealth, possessions, or security, but in the Lord Himself. David confesses that God is both his portion and his cup—his inheritance and his daily sustenance. To have the Lord is to have everything. Even when life seems uncertain or our “lot” feels lacking, our inheritance in Christ is secure, imperishable, and eternal. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has given us a beautiful inheritance, one that nothing in this world can diminish or take away. This devotion calls us to rest in God's provision, rejoice in His presence, and live with the confidence that our lines have truly fallen in pleasant places.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm16 #ChristOurInheritance #GodOurPortion #FaithInChrist

Best of Daily Devotions: Ephesians 6 Pt. 7 Daily Devotions by Pastor Tim Dodson of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. Tim Dodson is the lead-pastor of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. These devotionals are designed to take the listener through the Bible verse-by-verse.

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:15–16 NLT) When hardship strikes some people, they will turn away from God. If something bad happens to them that doesn’t make sense, they conclude there can’t be a God—or that if there is a God, He doesn’t care about them. So, they turn against Him and essentially find a belief system that accommodates their feelings. It should come as no surprise that the devil does some of his most effective work during times of hardship and suffering. Given half a chance, he’ll turn our attention away from the big picture of God’s plan to strengthen, nurture, and care for us through our struggles and difficulties. Instead, the devil tries to shift our focus to the smaller picture of our immediate circumstances. He’ll appeal to our sense of privilege. “Why should I have to face any hardship or suffering? Why doesn’t God do something about it?” But God isn’t to blame for our difficulties and struggles. Trials and hardship are the byproducts of a fallen world. We suffer because we sinned. God is the One who gives us hope amid our suffering. Jesus said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NLT). To give us that hope, God had to suffer, too. Jesus Christ was God incarnate, and no one ever suffered like Jesus. Not only did He endure the physical pain of being whipped, beaten, and crucified, but He also bore the sins of the world on Himself as He hung on Calvary’s cross and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46 NLT). When you’re suffering, you need to know that you’re talking to a God who knows what you’re going through. You’ll find in Jesus a merciful High Priest and a faithful friend who feels your pain. Hebrews 4:15 says, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin” (NLT). We can’t live in a pain-free world, as much as we would like to try. When trouble comes (and it will come), when crisis knocks at your door (and it will knock), you can either become angry at God or turn to Him and trust in Him. Here’s your choice in life: You can become better or bitter. It’s usually one or the other. When something bad happens, you can say, “I’m mad at God. I’m bitter with God.” Okay. That’s your choice. But you can also say, “I’m going to trust in God. I’m going to cling to God.” And you will become better as a result. It’s really up to you. Reflection question: What situation in your life right now has the potential to make you either better or bitter? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Mary Peach.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 28, 2025. Today's devotion, “Preserve Me O God” from Psalm 16:1–4 (ESV), begins with a heartfelt prayer for God's protection: “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” David confesses that apart from the Lord, there is no good, reminding us that all blessings and true security come from God alone. This psalm also highlights the gift of the saints—the community of believers who strengthen and encourage one another in faith. In contrast, those who chase after false gods only multiply their sorrows, for idolatry can never give life. Ultimately, this psalm points us to Christ, who perfectly trusted the Father, and through His death and resurrection has become our eternal refuge. In Him, we are preserved not only for this life but forever.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm16 #GodOurRefuge #ChristOurHope #FaithAndLife

1098: 1 Timothy 2 Pt 3 Daily Devotions by Pastor Tim Dodson of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. Tim Dodson is the lead-pastor of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. These devotionals are designed to take the listener through the Bible verse-by-verse.

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24 NLT) One question that I’m often asked is, can Christians lose their salvation? People are afraid of this, and I think it’s for good reason. New believers often experience moments of doubt, and so do Christians who have known the Lord for many years. In fact, the first temptation the serpent presented in the Garden of Eden was to doubt God. He said to Eve, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT). In other words, “Did God really say what you thought He said?” The strategy worked so well in the Garden that the devil has been using it ever since. Causing God’s people to question God’s Word and God’s faithfulness is one of his favorite battlefield maneuvers. If he can shake your foundation, he gains an advantage over you. And, for believers, the most foundational belief of all is that if we’ve received Jesus as Savior and Lord, then we’ve been forgiven of our sins, we’ve been given the righteousness of Christ, and we will spend eternity in Heaven with Him. If the devil can get you to question those things, he can shake your foundation and open cracks in your faith. When you have thoughts like, “Maybe I’m not saved; maybe the Holy Spirit really isn’t living inside of me,” you need to stand on the Word of God, and not on your emotions. Emotions will fluctuate; the Word of God never will. Here are a few Scriptures to remind you of God’s faithfulness and prevent the devil from shaking your beliefs. “All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true” (1 John 5:10 NLT). “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16 NLT). “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (John 5:24 NLT). “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13 NLT). “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39 NLT). During His temptation in the wilderness, Jesus responded to each of the devil’s three challenges with the words, “It is written,” followed by a quote from Scripture. Jesus stood on ground that we, too, can occupy. When we quote Scripture, we not only bolster our faith, but we also keep the devil at a disadvantage. So, any time you start to question or doubt your salvation, turn to the Word of God—or, better yet, recite it from memory. The devil hates that. Reflection question: What would you say to a fellow believer who was afraid of losing their salvation? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Brittany Calavitta.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 27, 2025. Today's devotion, “In Whose Eyes a Vile Person Is Despised” from Psalm 15:4–5 (ESV), explores what it means to live faithfully in God's presence with integrity, justice, and devotion. The psalmist reminds us that the righteous honor those who fear the Lord, keep their promises even at personal cost, and reject corruption and exploitation. In a world that often celebrates the corrupt and overlooks the faithful, God calls His people to reflect His truth and holiness in both word and deed. Yet none of us perfectly keep this psalm—only Christ did. He honored the Father, kept His word even unto the cross, and upheld justice without compromise. Through Him, we are welcomed into God's presence and strengthened by the Spirit to live lives of integrity and faith.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm15 #BibleTeaching #ChristOurIntegrity #FaithInAction

1097: 1 Timothy 2 Pt 2 Daily Devotions by Pastor Tim Dodson of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. Tim Dodson is the lead-pastor of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. These devotionals are designed to take the listener through the Bible verse-by-verse.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12–13 NIV) Some people are really into exercise. They love to work up a sweat, go on a run, or lift weights. I hate all of it. And I know I’m not alone in that. But the fact of the matter is that we really need to exercise. We can’t hire someone to work out for us. It’s something we have to do for ourselves. In Philippians 2:12–13, the apostle Paul addresses a similar spiritual reality. Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (niv). Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote those words. He was experiencing anxiety over the fact that he was separated from his fellow believers, whom he cared so much about. Effectively Paul was saying, “Look, guys, I can’t be with you right now. I wish I were there to offer you guidance and to be a good example for you, but I can’t do it. But don’t forget: It’s God who works in you, and not Paul.” The believers in Philippi may have been thinking, “We can’t live the Christian life without Paul around.” But the reality was, they could. And the same goes for believers today. If pastors and spiritual leaders are doing their jobs properly, they will get you up on your own feet, spiritually speaking, so that you’re not dependent on them. This is especially important in the heat of spiritual battle. Some Christians may be hesitant to engage the enemy without the direction, encouragement, and motivation of their spiritual leaders. They don’t trust themselves. And the devil is quick to take advantage of that. Paul speaks for all sincere Christian leaders when he says, in effect, “Guys, keep things in perspective. It’s God who’s doing the work. He’s the only One you have to rely on. Maybe He worked through me, but it’s still God who did the work. And He can do it through you.” Paul would have been the first to object if someone had tried to put him on a pedestal or claim that he could do no wrong. So, our takeaway from Philippians 2:12–13 is that we must not base our relationship with God on someone else’s relationship with God. We need to develop our own faith, based on our own experiences with God and His Word. We need to build on our own spiritual foundation. We need to fight our own spiritual battles with God by our side. Reflection question: Why is it tempting to rely too heavily on spiritual leaders? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by MaryRuth Hackett.

Welcome to Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 26, 2025. Today's devotion, “Who Shall Sojourn in Your Tent?”from Psalm 15:1–3 (ESV), invites us to reflect deeply on God's holiness and our place in His presence. Who can dwell with the Lord? Who is worthy to enter His holy tent? This devotion explores how Psalm 15 reveals both God's demand for righteousness and the Gospel's answer in Christ. Only Jesus perfectly walked blamelessly, spoke truth without deceit, and lived in complete integrity. Through faith in Him, His righteousness is counted as ours, opening the way into God's presence. As forgiven people, we are also called to live transformed lives of love, truth, and service. Join me each day for Bible-based devotions rooted in God's Word, offering encouragement, guidance, and hope in Christ.Support the ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm15 #LutheranPastor #BibleStudy #JesusOurRighteousness

1096: 1 Timothy 2 Pt 1 Daily Devotions by Pastor Tim Dodson of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. Tim Dodson is the lead-pastor of Believers City Church in Menomonie, WI. These devotionals are designed to take the listener through the Bible verse-by-verse.

“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” (James 4:1–2 NLT) Sometimes in spiritual battle the devil will tempt us with things we’ve never experienced before. Because they’re new to us, we may not understand fully the damage they can cause. In other words, our enemy exploits our inexperience. Other times, the devil uses desires and impulses that are so familiar to us and such an integral part of who we are that—again—we may not understand fully the damage they can cause. In other words, our enemy exploits our blind spots. Selfishness falls squarely into the second category. Think about the problems you deal with on a regular basis—the things that get you into trouble time and time again. How many of them stem from selfish desires? How many of the things that you struggle with have selfishness at their root? How often does the devil exploit your selfish impulses for his own gain? James wrote, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them” (James 4:1–2 NLT). In other words, “You want your own way.” You can see this impulse even in little children. Have you ever noticed that when two children are playing, one child will ignore a certain toy until the moment the other child picks it up? Suddenly both children want it. They scream and pull, trying to wrest it away from one another. Sometimes they’ll destroy the toy in the process—all because one child wants what the other has. That’s just human nature. We’re born that way, and we carry that trait with us through life, causing countless problems along the way. Marriages fall apart, by and large, because of selfishness. People have sex before marriage because of selfishness. People commit adultery because of selfishness. Name a problem in our society today, and chances are you’ll find selfishness at its root. Dwight L. Moody once said, “I have more trouble with D. L. Moody than with any other man I’ve ever met.” As Moody recognized, it’s our obsession with ourselves that is at the root of our problems. The apostle Paul urged the believers at Philippi, “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too” (Philippians 2:3–4 NLT). That’s a tall order for people whose selfish impulses start at birth. But God stands ready to help you. To transform your focus and your priorities. To help you recognize and deal with your selfish urges. To take away the devil’s advantage over you. It’s a lifelong process, but one that’s well worth the time. Reflection question: In what areas do selfish urges cause you the most problems? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Dennis Jernigan shares the story behind his song,  “Like Lightniing and Thunder” from the recording, Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1." That mp3 is available at https://www.dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=2353 The lyrics can be found below. You can join Dennis and the people of All In All Church for live-stream worship on the first Wednesday evening of each month. Just go to https://www.facebook.com/therealdennisjernigan at 7 PM CST. Mark it in your calendar. Worship with All in All Church - First Wednesday of each month. Daily Devotions for Kingdom Seekers, Vol. 3 is available at https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Devotions-Kingdom-Seekers-Vol-ebook/dp/B081K8TZLX Check out my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/DennisJernigan and read through the various tiers of support and discover the myriad of benefits you will receive based on the level of support you choose. If you're willing, go ahead and sign up! You will find the show notes and lyrics below: Hello and welcome to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast. Here in Oklahoma we have more than our fair share of storms - especially in the springtime. More than our fair share of tornadoes. I know. I know. We live right in the smack dab middle of Tornado Alley so what should we expect? This week's song is called Like Lightning and Thunder and the story behind it is probably not one you might expect. I was on a 40 day fast in May and June of 2010 and I was experiencing many major storms of life. Let's just say that I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by life. The storms seemed to be raging out of control and I did not know what to do. I then began to meditate on Psalm 40 along with Isaiah 40 as a means of helping me stay focused on the fast and my need for the Lord to intervene and restore me physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. On may 10, 2010 - day 8 of the fast - I happened to be meditating on Psalm 40 verse 5a which says: Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us [plans for us]. Psalm 40:5a NASB As I began to meditate on this passage of Scripture - began to just mull it over in my mind - I kept getting stuck on the phrase ‘many are the wonders which you have done' and for some reason, I was reminded of something I did quite a few times when my children were still at home. During some of those springtime tornado storms I mentioned earlier, I would often load my children into our 15 passenger van and we would go storm chasing. Don't bother calling child protective services. They are all grown and out of the house now and actively seeking therapy for these episodes. Seriously, I wanted the children to have a healthy fear of the power of those storms, but I also wanted them to develop a sense of wonder and awe at the beauty and creativity and power of God's love being demonstrated right before our eyes. With every bolt of lightning, we oohed and aahed about how massive or how beautiful the display was…at how creative God was in the way no two lightning bolts were ever the same…at how some would flare out into dozens of streams streaking across the sky while still others seemed to crash directly into the earth with one incredibly intense impact. We marveled at the way in which some thunder seemed to all along as if it were bouncing off of the clouds seeming to echo for several seconds while still other claps of thunder would sound as if a bomb had just exploded very near the van. I taught them how to estimate how near the lightning strike actually was by teaching them that if you count five seconds between a lightning strike and the thunder that follows it, that means lightning is just one mile away. I thoroughly enjoyed these storm chases and enjoyed watching my children overcome their fears and begin to see with eyes of wonder - even in a storm. And then it dawned on me. I needed to learn to see the spiritual and mental and emotional storms of life in much the same way as I saw a physical storm. Rather than being overwhelmed and overcome by the storms of life, I could step back while in the midst of these storms and see them from God's point of view. The song Like Lightning and Thunder was born that day and I recorded it just as you will hear it. I added the storm sounds later from a recording of a storm I sat through while on the front porch of our house. This song gives me a much greater appreciation of the magnitude of God's power and creativity…and it does something very healing in my soul. SONG [Psa 135:6-7 NIV] 6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. I love that passage from the Psalms. It brings a strange kind of calm to my soul. I know I share quite a bit about one of the storms that I am now encountering in my life. Parkinson's. I am honestly feeling my body and my mind losing ground at times, but I feel somehow sustained by the fierceness and the fury of this storm because it causes me to lift my wings of faith and rather than being blown about by these relentless and strong winds, I spread my wings of faith and use those very same winds to help me rise above the pain and suffering and see the beauty of the storm.  I see the beauty in the way my children help me find the humor and joy in this storm. I see beauty in the way my grandchildren take it in stride and argue about which one gets to hold my party hand - the one that tremors almost constantly. I see beauty in the way my wife cares for me even when I feel like I am a burden to her. I see beauty in the way people treat me with kindness and patience when they notice me tremoring or having a difficult time getting my words out. I see beauty knowing my God is walking through this storm with me. Heck, I find beauty in the fact that I still have the capacity to be creative and write and that my writing still sounds coherent and seems helpful to people.  I encourage you to take the time to watch a storm  as it passes over you and around you - from the safety of your home, of course - and look for God's handiwork. I honestly find storms to be amazing and beautiful. Why not live our lives with that sense of wonder? Why not look for something to be grateful for when we go through such storms? I guarantee you and are never alone - even in the most  devastating storms of life - and that does my soul good. Before I say goodbye for this week, I would humbly ask you to consider getting a copy of my brand new book titled Parkinson's & Recreation 2 - No Walk in the Parkinson's. I bare my soul in this book as to how I am dealing with Parkinson's and I believe it will encourage you whether you have Parkinson's or not. I really do. It's available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. And if you wouldn't mind doing this for me: once you have read the book, would you consider going back to the place you purchased it online and leaving me a five star review? I have to share a couple of quick reviews from those it has already received reviews from on Amazon.com. GO writes: Inspirational and encouraging book. This is a wonderful uplifting book. I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. CR writes: 5.0 out of 5 stars It is life stories and Jernigan history mixed with how they deal with Parkinsons. I have read both of these and love his sense of humor and steadfast faith in God's love no matter what happens. The second book recalls events from his life in the public eye, again remembering humorous episodes.” Please consider reading the book,Parkinson's & Recreation 2 - No Walk in the Parkinson's, and please consider telling others about it, if you don't mind. That would help me out tremendously. Thank you for tuning in to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast! For more about my journey, music, and updates, visit dennisjernigan.com. Stay connected by following me on Facebook, Instagram, and enjoy my music on various streaming platforms. If you'd like to support this podcast's creation or the many various ways I still seek to minister the life and love of Jesus to others, consider joining my team at www.patreon.com/dennisjernigan. If you're looking for the mp3 of the song “Like Lightning and Thunder" from the album "Forty Days and Forty Nights - Songs of Contemplation and Intimacy Vol. 1," head over to the store at dennisjernigan.com or find it on your favorite streaming service. Remember this from today's episode: we can either be overwhelmed by the storms of life or we can use them to tap into the rich beauty and amazing power of God's love in our lives - even with a storm like  Parkinson's thrown into the mix. My plan? To minister to the needs of others in spite of Parkinson's by continuing to trust in the Lord. Now, go and be who your heavenly Father says you are. Vol. I – Song Eight – Day Eight Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us [plans for us]. Psalm 40:5a NASB   Like Lightning & Thunder Words & Music by Dennis Jernigan Received on May 10, 2010 Psalm 40:5a ©2010 Shepherd's Heart Music, Inc./Dennis Jernigan   Verse Many are the wonders you have done Many are the thoughts you have toward us Great and awesome are your works   Many are the wonders you perform Many are the cold hearts you have warned Great and awesome are your works   Pre Chorus 1 Like lightning in the storm, a mother and a child, A lion and its roar, a river running wild, Like courage facing fear, a tender loving kiss, Two faces drawing near, the joy of being missed   Chorus Like lightning and thunder, life is resounding Like lightning and thunder, your love is astounding Like lightning and thunder, in power and glory Like lightning and thunder, your love wrote my story   Like lightning and thunder, the fact that you love me Like lightning and thunder, constantly thinking of me Like lightning and thunder, Your blood washed me and cleaned me Like lightning and thunder, in love You redeemed me How great you are How great your wonders are to me   Verse Many are your wonders great and small Oceans running deep or mountains tall Great and awesome are your works Many are the wonders of your love There is nothing greater I know of Great and awesome are your works   Pre Chorus 2 Like laughter in the rain, stars across the night A kiss to ease the pain, the twinkle of a night Like blooming of a rose, a true and faithful friend Like watching children grow, like love that never ends   Chorus Like lightning and thunder, life is resounding Like lightning and thunder, your love is astounding Like lightning and thunder, in power and glory Like lightning and thunder, your love wrote my story   Like lightning and thunder, the fact that you love me Like lightning and thunder, constantly thinking of me Like lightning and thunder, Your blood washed me and cleaned me Like lightning and thunder, in love You redeemed me How great you are How great your wonders are to me                         
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Today's devotion is written by MaryRuth Hackett.

Join Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 25, 2025, as we reflect on Psalm 14:7: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” This verse expresses both the deep longing for God's salvation and the confident hope in His promise to restore His people. In today's devotion, we see how this yearning was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Savior who came from Zion, and how it continues to shape our faith as we await His return.If you are seeking daily encouragement, Lutheran devotions, Christ-centered Bible teaching, or reflections on God's promises, this message will strengthen your hope. Pastor Balla unpacks the “already and not yet” tension of the Christian life—rejoicing in Christ's finished work while longing for His final coming. Subscribe for more daily Bible devotions, Scripture studies, and faith-building encouragement.☕ Support this ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm147 #BibleStudy #LutheranDevotion #ChristianHope

Youth ministry takes center stage as Amber sits down with Pastor James Buske, executive director of Lighthouse Youth Centers. They talk about the powerful ways faith and practical support intersect to help young people. Pastor Buske shares how his personal experiences and God's guidance shaped a ministry that addresses complex challenges faced by young people in urban neighborhoods. The conversation reveals how Lighthouse provides more than just a safe space. It equips youth with vital life skills and fosters spiritual growth amid difficult circumstances.This is one of several conversations Amber had at the Christian Leadership Experience in La Crosse, Wisconsin, earlier this summer. The conference was a chance for those in ministry to learn from leaders. Dr. Schoof led a breakout session about fear.Amber wants to hear from you! If you have feedback or ideas, drop her a line at amber@timeofgrace.org

Join Daily Devotion with Pastor Balla for August 24, 2025, as we reflect on Psalm 14:4–6: “Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?” Today's devotion uncovers the reality of oppression, the folly of ignoring God, and the comfort that the Lord is the refuge of the poor and vulnerable.If you are seeking daily Bible devotions, Christian encouragement, Lutheran teaching, or biblical wisdom about living faithfully in a corrupt world, this devotion will strengthen your hope. Discover how God's presence with the righteous brings security and courage, even when evil seems strong. Subscribe for more daily devotions, Scripture reflections, and Christ-centered encouragement with Pastor Balla.☕ Support this ministry: https://buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphOr visit: buymeacoffee.com/whitegandalphHashtags:#DailyDevotion #Psalm14 #BibleStudy #GodIsOurRefuge #ChristianEncouragement

“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NLT) Are you trying to live in two worlds? If so, then I know something about you. I know you’re not happy. Am I right? When you spend time around other Christians, you’re uncomfortable because of your sin. On the other hand, when you’re doing things you know you shouldn’t as a Christian, then you have the conviction of that sin. I have an idea: Stop doing that stuff. Make your choice. As Joshua said to the Israelites, “Choose today whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15 NLT). Every one of us must make that same decision. I can’t make it for you, and you can’t make it for me. Are you in a relationship that’s dragging you down? Think hard about the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 6:14–15: “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?” (NLT). Are you doing things that are weakening your resolve? Think about the disadvantage you’re creating for yourself and the opening you’re giving your spiritual enemy. Trying to live in two worlds is like trying to pitch a tent in no man’s land during a battle. You’re setting yourself up for constant bombardment. You’ll face spiritual battle after spiritual battle, and your enemy will have the advantage in every one of them. I’m not saying it’s easy to turn your back on sin. We all get tempted. We all struggle with our old nature. And as Christians, we all have a God who will give us the strength to do what He has called us to do. It comes down to this: Do you want to change? If you do, then God will give you the resolve you need. In Exodus 3, the Lord spoke to Moses through a burning bush. He instructed Moses to return to Egypt to demand that Pharaoh release the people of Israel from slavery. Moses’ reply went something like this: “I can’t do this. I don’t know what to say. I stumble over my words.” Two chapters later, Moses faced off against Pharaoh, perhaps the most powerful man on earth at the time. The sudden change wasn’t due to Moses’ self-improvement regimen. God gave Moses the strength he needed to accomplish His will. In the same way, God will give you the strength to do what you need to do. Don’t live in two worlds. Make a complete commitment to Jesus. Reflection question: Why is it so tempting to try to live in two worlds? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Susanna Spencer.

“About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.” (Matthew 14:25 NLT) In Matthew 14, Jesus sends His disciples on a boat journey across the Sea of Galilee without Him. As the disciples rowed their way across the sea, they encountered a storm so severe that it made them fear for their very lives. Fishermen who had spent most of their lives on the water were convinced that they were going to drown. Meanwhile, Jesus had climbed a mountain to spend some time in prayer. No doubt He could see His disciples, but they couldn’t see Him. All they could see were their lives flashing before their eyes. And then we read this: “About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water” (Matthew 14:25 NLT). Why did Jesus go to them at three o’clock in the morning? Why didn’t He go right away when the storm got bad? Or why didn’t He go at ten o’clock at night or at least midnight? Why did He wait until about three o’clock in the morning, after His disciples had been battling the waves for up to nine hours? I think He wanted the disciples to exhaust their own resources and realize that there was no way out of the situation except through Him. Sometimes life goes that way. Something traumatic happens. Something that seems unbearable presents itself. And we say, “How am I ever going to get through this? If God doesn’t come through for me, I’m dead in the water.” That’s not a bad place to be. A friend of mine named Alan Redpath used to say that when we get to the end of ourselves, we get to the beginning of God. The psalmist wrote, “What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord” (Psalm 84:5 NLT). And Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT). There’s no shame in battling the storms of life with everything you’ve got. Spiritually speaking, you might even say that if you’re in the battle or in the storm, you’re in the right place at the right time. The people who were safely on shore that night two thousand years ago could never fully appreciate what it was like to see Jesus walk across the water. They weren’t in the boat. They weren’t in the storm. Likewise, there’s no shame in admitting when storms are too big for you. When you turn things over to the Lord, you get to see His power at work. And there’s nothing like seeing the Lord work from the vantage point of the battlefield or the eye of the storm. Have you come to the end of yourself? Maybe, like the disciples, you’re experiencing an epic storm in your life right now. Maybe you’re facing a crisis or a hardship. And maybe you’re thinking you won’t get through it. I have good news for you: Jesus always shows up. Reflection question: In what area of your life would you like to see Jesus show up? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb dive deep into the intersection of pop culture, entertainment, and the Christian life. They explore how Christians can engage with leisure and media in a way that glorifies God, applying biblical principles like those found in 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Ecclesiastes 3. The hosts emphasize the importance of balancing Christian liberty and holiness, while also recognizing the practical role of rest and recreation in human flourishing. Through personal anecdotes and theological insights, they provide listeners with a framework for discerning entertainment choices, encouraging believers to enjoy God's good gifts without compromising their faith. Key Takeaways: Entertainment is a Gift from God: Leisure and entertainment, when approached rightly, are part of God's common grace meant to refresh and restore us. Biblical Principles for Consumption: 1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds Christians that all activities, including entertainment, should glorify God. If an activity cannot do so, it may be unlawful. Christian Liberty and Prudence: Decisions about pop culture often fall under the domain of Christian liberty, constrained by wisdom and prudence rather than legalistic rules. The Importance of Rest: Rest is not just about recharging for productivity; it is a God-given means of worship and human flourishing in its own right. Guarding Against Sinful Influences: Christians should be cautious of consuming media that promotes sin, as it can subtly shape their worldview and lead them astray. Personal Convictions and Context Matter: What is permissible for one believer may not be wise or beneficial for another, depending on individual struggles and contexts. Recreation Should Point Back to God: Whether through beauty, creativity, or storytelling, entertainment can lead Christians to worship God when consumed with discernment. Entertainment as a Gift from God Tony and Jesse emphasize that entertainment, when properly enjoyed, is a part of God's common grace. This means that activities like watching a movie, playing a video game, or reading a novel are not inherently sinful but can serve as vehicles for rest and refreshment. Drawing from Ecclesiastes 3, they highlight that God has ordained seasons for both work and rest. True rest, they argue, is not about escaping responsibilities but about enjoying God's gifts in ways that glorify Him and restore our energy to serve others. When approached with discernment, even "secular" forms of entertainment can reflect God's creativity and goodness. Applying Biblical Principles to Entertainment The hosts discuss how 1 Corinthians 10:31 provides a litmus test for media consumption: "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." This principle challenges believers to ask whether their entertainment choices align with God's glory. For example, content that promotes or glamorizes sin—whether through violence, sexual immorality, or blasphemy—should give Christians pause. However, they also note that some depictions of sin in fiction can serve a redemptive purpose, such as illustrating the consequences of sin or the beauty of redemption. The key is to thoughtfully evaluate whether the media being consumed inclines the heart toward holiness or pulls it away from God. Christian Liberty and Prudence Tony and Jesse stress the importance of Christian liberty in deciding on entertainment choices, while cautioning against legalism. They explain that Christian liberty does not mean a license to sin but rather the freedom to make God-honoring decisions in areas where Scripture does not provide explicit commands. Prudence and wisdom must guide these decisions. For instance, a particular TV show or game may be permissible for one believer but harmful for another, depending on their personal struggles or circumstances. This underscores the need for self-awareness and reliance on the Holy Spirit to discern what is spiritually beneficial. Quotes: "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. If we cannot glorify God in an activity, it's likely unlawful for us as Christians." – Jesse Schwamb "Recreation is not just about recharging for productivity; it has its own value in glorifying God and enjoying His good gifts." – Tony Arsenal "Every story worth telling reflects, in some way, the greatest story ever told: redemption through Christ." – Jesse Schwamb Full Transcript: [00:00:30] Introduction and Episode Overview [00:00:30] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 457 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. [00:00:37] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast where sound doctrine meets brotherly love. Hey brother. [00:00:44] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. So we're in a whole series of little one-off conversations, all kinds of things that just pop into our head, or we've had on a list somewhere that we thought, you know what? [00:00:55] Jesse Schwamb: Someday we should talk about that. And I think we've got another great. Conversation coming up on this episode, we're gonna get into a little bit about how Christians should interact with and consume pop culture maybe, and especially things like entertainment. And I know that there are gonna be people out there thinking, wow, these guys are gonna do what reform people always do. [00:01:15] Jesse Schwamb: They're just gonna come out into their lawn, they're gonna shake their fists angrily at the sky, they're gonna yell at the birds. It might not be that way, loved ones, but you're gonna have to wait. We're gonna talk about it. It's gonna be good. We're gonna get after it. We all do it. Everybody loves a bit of a to consume pop culture. [00:01:31] Jesse Schwamb: Is it possible it might be somewhat of a gift that God has given us? Who knows? Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but we'll get to that. But first, let's affirm with or denying against something in the world. So what have you got for us on this episode, Tony? [00:01:45] Tony's Frustrating Customer Service Experience [00:01:45] Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna keep mine super short. It was a frustrating customer service experience, uh, that I had today. [00:01:52] Tony Arsenal: In general, I, I have, uh, Comcast or Xfinity Internet in general. I'm actually very pleased. Their service. Um, I, I actually find them to be responsive. Um, I've managed to get a decent price. I don't have Comcast television, so that's probably part of it. Um, but I, my cable modem. Slash router, which I've had, I don't know, probably for like eight years. [00:02:13] Tony Arsenal: Um, it finally died, so I bit the bullet and bought a brand new one. And those man, those things have gotten expensive and um, you know, it's supposed to be a super easy installation. You plug it in, you do the little thing on the app and it didn't work. So I had to connect with customer service through the app, and. [00:02:30] Tony Arsenal: It seemed like everything was going fine. And then all of a sudden I get a link in my text message and the lady who's chatting with me on the thing says, well just, just scroll down and click on where it says accept and then hit okay. And I was like, that seems sketchy. So I read it and she was, she had sent me a link to change my internet service. [00:02:51] Tony Arsenal: Uh, she was giving me a 90, an $80 promotional price for the first year. Uh, but then it went up to $140 after the first year. Wow. So I went back to the chat app and I said, I'm sorry, I, I must have miscommunicated something. I don't need to change my service. I just need to activate my modem. She said, oh, no, no, you're not changing your service. [00:03:11] Tony Arsenal: And I said, no, I, I definitely am. She goes, let me explain this to you. And she went through and tried, like, she went through and she's like, your speed is this and you're paying this. And I said, and I said, with all due respect, I'm not stupid. I can see that you're trying to change my service and I'm just not interested. [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: And I had to fight with her for like 10 minutes before I finally said, just activate my modem, please. I'm not interested. Full stop. So I, I guess I'm just denying. I get, I get it. Like, you gotta try to upsell. I used to be in sales. I don't have any problem with you trying to upsell. I, I don't even necessarily have a problem with you trying to be clever and like, you know, intentional about how you upsell. [00:03:48] Tony Arsenal: Like there are ways that you can do that without being deceptive. This was just deceptive. So I'm not denying Comcast. I'm pleased with my service. I'm denying this particular person and this really just underhanded tactic. It was really, really upsetting. I mean, [00:04:02] Jesse Schwamb: there is nothing like good customer service, right? [00:04:04] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, the converse of that is what a blessing it is, and it's kind of a lesson to all of us and how we treat one another. That is whether we're providing the service or we ourselves are consuming it. It is just such a blessing. It's like so easy and so light when you get somebody who really wants to help you. [00:04:21] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And. You know, I would not have changed my service, but I can imagine that somebody who was looking and was interested, if she had just said straightforwardly, like your internet that you have is far slower than the modem that you're, you're installing, right? Um, we can get you a faster internet speed and give you a, a large discount for the first year. [00:04:42] Tony Arsenal: Are you interested in that? I think a good portion of people would just say yes. Even if they didn't think it through, they would just say, oh yeah, sure. Faster speed, less money. They, they wouldn't think it through. That's not deceptive. If you present an option, honestly, to a consumer and they take it and they didn't understand the terms, that's not deception. [00:04:58] Tony Arsenal: That's on them as the consumer for not thinking through what they're purchasing. This was just straight out, like, don't read it, just click on it, it's fine. Totally underhanded, deceptive. Um, and, and you know, I work in. Sort of a kind of customer service and I just can't imagine ever doing something that shady and calling it customer service. [00:05:15] Tony Arsenal: I was, I was very disappointed. [00:05:17] Jesse Schwamb: But I mean, everybody has customers, right? Yeah. Everybody has somebody they're responsible to, and everybody has people to whom they should be responsible in the kind of care. Whatever you provide to somebody, whether it's your family, it's in your church, it's in your job, so, right. [00:05:30] Jesse Schwamb: I like that. It's a good reminder because again, there's nothing like walking away from experience and being like, wow, that was so easy, or that person was so good to help me. Yeah. Or like they really got me to the end that I was looking for and they did it and I felt better afterwards than I did before I called. [00:05:43] Jesse Schwamb: That should be like our goal, like what does great look like in every interaction that we can have with somebody. [00:05:48] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse, what are you affirming or denying tonight? [00:05:52] Jesse's Affirmation: The Plana App for Plant Care [00:05:52] Jesse Schwamb: I'm going back to the app. Well, and by that was a really weird saying of just, I'm gonna affirm with another app. So I really love a good house plant, but I'm no good at the house plants. [00:06:02] Jesse Schwamb: I really like the way they look. It's a lot of pressure with house plans. Maybe people feel this way. Maybe you've not purchased a house plant or been like, I can't be that person. So here's something that I can confirm with for you. Loved one, it's a app called Plana. It's a Swedish plant care app, and it's designed to help both like novice people like me and I guess really experienced plant owners keep their house and garden plants healthy, which I know sounds super boring, but hear me out on this. [00:06:27] Jesse Schwamb: This is what's cool about this. It offers smart, personalized care reminders for things like watering, fertilizing, misting, repotting, and it has all these things where if you, there's paid subscription for this as well, which I do not have, but I looked at all the options. There's some super cool things like you can use your phone to sense where your plan is sitting, how much light it's getting to really tell you, is this the right spot for my plant? [00:06:49] Jesse Schwamb: Because you know, like some plants are like, we need partial sunlight and partial shade and afternoon sun and direct sun, and you need to water me, but not too much and not so often, but just the right amount. It's a lot of pressure. So it's got all these fun features in it, including like an AI doctor. So you can take a look or a picture of your plant rather, and not only will it describe what plants you have, of course, but it will help you say like, Hey, this thing is not healthy. [00:07:08] Jesse Schwamb: Here's what you should do. So the plant app is, might be your foray into feeling more confident about having some greenery in your house. [00:07:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, um, I could kill a plastic plant. I could kill like a fake plant, uh, without trying, uh, but I might check this out. You, you've seen my, my home. You've been here? [00:07:26] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Um, my, my house is, it's a, a mobile home and so it's, it's just one long line and it's situated like almost directly east, west. So I get direct sunlight over the top of the house pretty much the entire day. And we have really beautiful, um. Violet cone plants and some other like lilies on one end of the house, um, that the previous owner planted. [00:07:46] Tony Arsenal: They're very beautiful, but um, they just get baked in the sun and there's gotta be something that can be done to sort of help them through this. Maybe it's more water or something like that. So maybe I'll check this out and see if that can help. 'cause they're not, they're not doing great. Um, they, they didn't bloom very well this year. [00:08:00] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm. And I'm, I'm wondering if it might be, I dunno, it's been kind of dry, um, this part of the year, more than usual, so I'll check that out. That sounds like a good recommendation. There's a couple of different apps. This one sounds good. [00:08:10] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it's, there's certainly a lot of stuff that you can get free in it. [00:08:14] Jesse Schwamb: Of course, they want to upsell you like you just talked about. They're, no, no, they're no Comcast, but they definitely would like you to purchase all their other features, and I bet for the right person, it's totally worth it. But I feel so much more confident now. Mainly just the watering. If you surprised how like much pressure. [00:08:30] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, like aloe plants and also I'm learning the names of my plants finally, which makes me feel more connected. This, this is, listen, this is like the app to help you take dominion in your house over house plants, which sounds like the lowest form of taking dominion, but honestly still shows how complex and complicated life can be and how God has made everything in this really wonderful way. [00:08:52] Jesse Schwamb: So I'm feeling more empowered to love my plants and to hopefully keep them growing. I was gonna say for generations, but I doubt that I'll be passing on links, plants for generations, but hopefully getting just lots more greenery into our living spaces, which is always super fun. [00:09:06] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, um, I would like to have more plants, but I just, with between toddlers and dogs and my ability to kill anything green that is in my home, uh, I don't think it would be good. [00:09:19] Tony Arsenal: That's your, your sister who is My wife does a good job with plants, but even the, yeah, she does, even, even that the plants die just because they're around me. I'm not sure what it is. I have like a, I hear it, listen, an aura of some sort that just kills plants. [00:09:32] Discussing Christians and Pop Culture [00:09:32] Jesse Schwamb: It's, it's difficult sometimes to grow in soil, which is, I, one of the things I presume Christians often feel like when they're in the culture and when, mm-hmm. [00:09:41] Jesse Schwamb: Do. Do you like that segue? We're so good with this. I do. And when you are consuming, let me say pop culture, or you find yourself in a place where you want entertainment and you want to rest, and I think if you're a Christian for any length of time, you start to ask yourself, okay, so what's my place in all of this? [00:09:59] Jesse Schwamb: And what's interesting when I thought about this topic, which you graciously put forward for us, was that I think several times we've mentioned kind of cultural things often in the affirmation and denial section. Yeah. Where we've. Maybe come hard alongside something and said, this seems good. And other times we've definitely said, this seems very, very bad. [00:10:17] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. But we've never really had just a pretty honest conversation about, okay, so how does the Christian discern, what is the Christian's role in making that discernment? And how can we, like our house plants grow and flourish in that kind of environment to such a degree that we are actually bearing fruit by the power of the Holy Spirit. [00:10:36] Jesse Schwamb: And yet, of course, separate. From that culture in which we still find ourselves. [00:10:41] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I think it bears saying, um, much of popular culture, media, whatever it might be, a lot of it is going to be a matter of Christian prudence and liberty. And I think it's important to say that because I think, you know, we'll talk about, we'll probably talk about like principles we use to try to determine whether we, you know, individually or, or whatever. [00:11:04] Tony Arsenal: We're going to watch something or listen to something, but. The, the Bible doesn't say like thou shalt, and I'm gonna say this example, and it's a little bit ironic because this is actually a show that I think is pretty black and white. But it, it's not like the Bible says, thou shalt not watch Game of Thrones. [00:11:20] Tony Arsenal: Right. Um. Right. Like thou shalt not. Listen to, I don't know who the kids are listening to. Britney Spears like tells you when The last time I listened to popular music was, is Britney Spears is the name on my mind. But like thou shalt not listen to, I dunno, Paramore, I don't know name. Name your pop culture band. [00:11:37] Tony Arsenal: The Bible doesn't give us explicit instructions about specific bands. Movies, shows, insert, pop, you know, novels, whatever it might be. It does give us some wisdom principles. And then of course, there's God's moral law, uh, but even God's moral law does not. Necessarily apply directly to every pop culture choice we might make. [00:12:04] Tony Arsenal: So I'm sure Jesse and I don't have identical opinions. I'm gonna guess that our thoughts are probably pretty close just because, you know, we're influenced by the same people and we, we are running in the same broader theological circles, but they're probably not identical. There are probably things that Jesse would watch that I'd go, oh, I don't know if that's such a great thing for me. [00:12:22] Tony Arsenal: And there's probably things I would feel comfortable with that Jesse might say, eh, I'm not so sure about that. This is usually a matter of Christian liberty constrained by Christian prudence and wisdom. So before we get into any of the nitty gritty or any specific talk of anything particular, I wanna get that out there because yes, we have to be wise, we have to. [00:12:44] Tony Arsenal: Apply God's law, but we are not able to bind other people's conscience and you are not able to bind other people's conscience based on your own particular opinion about something or your own interpretation of how the Bible is to be applied to a particular decision. Um. You know, again, you can speak into a situation. [00:13:03] Tony Arsenal: You, especially if you have a relationship with someone, you can say, Hey, I don't think this is healthy. I don't think this is in conformity with God's law, but at the end of the day, that is between that Christian and God as to whether or not they are applying God's law appropriately and, and in to an extent, and to a great extent between them and their elders. [00:13:21] Tony Arsenal: Right? The elders have a, a different role of authority in a, in a Christian's life than other Christians do. And [00:13:27] Jesse Schwamb: it might be worth saying as we begin that we're kind of talking about this, I think in part because we all feel that pull to consume pop culture, and what I kind of teased at the beginning is this idea, is it possible that, I think we're really speaking about consuming that in a kind of a way of entertainment of like rest and relaxation. [00:13:45] Jesse Schwamb: Principally there. There are other reasons I think as well, and that might be to edify, to educate, but I think principally when we feel this compulsion to say, well, I like you, just give great examples. Listen to music, watch a sporting event, watch tv, read something fiction or nonfiction. I think what we're after there is this idea that we want to rest and that understanding that entertainment is a part of the rest that God intends for us to enjoy from our labors is by itself, full stop, a legitimate thing. [00:14:13] Jesse Schwamb: So the question is. A little bit more nuanced. Where is that line? You already gave, I think a pretty good example of something that you and I would agree on would say that that's a bridge to fight across. Don't watch that thing, right? Yeah, do something else. But the question is how did we get to that place in making that judgment? [00:14:28] Jesse Schwamb: And is there a place in there where we would say, well, the Bible is an explicit about, let's say certain medium or even like specific things within that medium that it is outspoken enough that we ought to say. No, we will not do that. So I think this is what we're after in part, is this proper use of entertainment involving, of course, analyzing worldviews, appreciating elements of beauty and creativity, acknowledging reflections of truth. [00:14:53] Jesse Schwamb: But that also that in some way, all of this is God's gift to us. That while the Bible does not give us a great deal of explicit statements about how believers are to view entertainment, there is much we can draw out to scripture by way of good and necessary consequence to borrow language from somewhere else. [00:15:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:15:11] Applying Biblical Principles to Entertainment Choices [00:15:11] Tony Arsenal: And I also think too, like this is a question that often is presented as very simple and very like cut and dry, but it can be a lot more complicated than you think. And here's an example, and we don't have to get into this particular example, but let's do it. You know, I think a lot of times people, um, will take the example of blasphemy. [00:15:32] Tony Arsenal: Right, and a show that is, or a, a video game, whatever it is, content that is intentionally blaspheming, God is something that at a bare minimum, Christians should be very wary of participating in and consuming just because it, it's something that openly dishonors God is probably not something Christians should be eager to participate in or to consume, but. [00:15:56] Tony Arsenal: Um, there, there are instances where a, a show or a, a video game or a book contains a fictionalized blast swimming of God that actually may serve the greater purpose of glorifying God. So if you think of like, um. Think of a, a book or a a movie where there is a character who is a non-Christian, and over the course of the book, they are shown to be blaspheming God, and then they experience a conversion. [00:16:24] Tony Arsenal: And the purpose of the, the purpose of the book is to glorify God through this conversion redemption story. That it character in that fictionalized universe is blasphemy God within that universe, right? Or within that fictionalized story. But the purpose of that blasphemy is actually to serve the greater purpose of glorifying God. [00:16:46] Tony Arsenal: So that's not to say that automatically anything like that gets a pass, right? That can be done well, that can be done poorly. That can be done in a way that actually glorifies God. It can be done in a way that doesn't actually hit the mark. But it's not as simple as to say, this character in this show. [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: Engaged in blasphemy. Therefore, we should never consume that show. We have to do some actual thinking and some actual analysis of what's going on in order to. Understand whether or not it actually is violating God's law. Now there are probably some things, um, you know, like graphic sex scenes. There's really no reason, um, for Christians to feel drawn to shows that contain that. [00:17:25] Tony Arsenal: Again, this is, this is, um, I, I, at this point in my life and I, in earlier periods in my life, I might have been more black and white on this. I am not here to tell you what you can and can't watch. That's not my role. I'm not the Holy Spirit. I'm not your pastor. I'm not any of the persons or people who have an obligation to tell you what is or isn't, right? [00:17:46] Tony Arsenal: Like I'm not that person. But I cannot think of personally a reason why a Christian would, would need to, or should ever participate in like enjoying a show that contains graphic sex scenes. Um. The people making those have to sin in order to make those scenes right. So there are, there are things we should consider. [00:18:12] Tony Arsenal: Are kind of always off board, right? It's always off board to do physical harm to somebody in the service of making a movie, right? So if you have a movie where people are, are actively trying to hurt each other in order to produce the film, I'm not sure that we should participate in that. I wouldn't feel comfortable if I knew that was going on in a film. [00:18:28] Tony Arsenal: I don't, I don't, you know, again, other Christians might, and we can have a conversation about that, but we have to think about those things. Do the actors. Do the people who are creating the content, do they have to sin in order to create it? If that, if the answer is yes, we as Christians, I think should be extremely, extremely wary of, of even watching or consuming those things. [00:18:49] Tony Arsenal: So those are the kinds of questions and situations that I think need to be list like thought about as we approach pop culture. But I also think, Jesse, you know, you made the point to that. Popular culture, entertainment broadly is a gift from God for us to enjoy. Right? And it's okay to enjoy it. It's okay for us to participate in that. [00:19:09] Tony Arsenal: You know, we're not, we're not the people who are gonna say to you like, well, you know, every minute you spend, uh, reading, I don't know, uh, reading will of the many, every minute you spend reading Will of the many you could spend witnessing to people, right? So therefore, you should never read Will of the many or The Hobbit or whatever it might be. [00:19:27] Tony Arsenal: Um, but we should think carefully about what we consume, how much of it we consume, when we consume it, all those are questions that the Christian needs to ask themselves. [00:19:35] Jesse Schwamb: I agree. I think the broad test here is actually not that difficult to comprehend. It's probably more that we sometimes hesitate to apply it because we're afraid of what it might mean for the stuff that we're consuming. [00:19:46] Jesse Schwamb: So again, like ceasing from our work in order to rest holds us together like that, that is something that God gives us as a pattern relaxation that we should take joy in. It must be the right amounts of lawful entertainment or consumption of all of this stuff in pop culture, but it is there. I think like even God gives it our own cultures as a means for us to find that kind of rest and to find some comradery and solidarity even with those in whom we interact and live with. [00:20:13] Jesse Schwamb: I think all of that's fine. Like you've said, it gets a little tricky when we start thinking about, well, where is that appropriate line? What is our conviction? But I think part of the problem with that is that we might not be seeking out conviction for ourselves. We not be asking because we hate to find that there is conviction in things that we're watching because there's gonna be a lot of things'. [00:20:31] Jesse Schwamb: That society's gonna be preoccupied with for entertainment for its own sake. And again, it's an indicator that everybody, men and women, even children, are seeking rest from the burden of their work and that rest is okay. Even that itself, like you're saying, Tony, it's interesting. I think so much we're gonna come back to is this idea of it. [00:20:47] Jesse Schwamb: Is, are we redeeming what we're doing in this process? Are we being not just thoughtful about discerning, adjudicating, or interrogating what we're watching and listening and reading, but as we do it, are we thoughtful people? Are we seeing the themes even in those joyous things that we find as entertainment that draw us back to the goodness of God that explains something about the world he's created or his own character finding? [00:21:10] Jesse Schwamb: Of course, that in every story is just a reflection of the greatest story ever told. Like, yeah, all of those themes, all the things we are drawn to that we gravitate towards. That move us. All of those things still come from God. And so therefore, even our entertainment can serve this purpose of not just alleviating our minds and bodies from the burden of ongoing labor in a fallen world, but can also draw, draw us back to God's common grace and his particular grace for his people who are always sinners. [00:21:34] Jesse Schwamb: So here's the the first test. I think it's the most simple one. And everybody's gonna throw their listening devices at the wall because it's the one that's the most straightforward. It's the one you might've been thinking you're gonna get to eventually, and let's just get it out of the way. I don't say that because it's not worthwhile. [00:21:49] Jesse Schwamb: I say it because it's exactly the kind of worthwhile test that we should apply, and it applies perfectly in every situation. And that's the Apostle Paul setting out in one Corinthians 10 31. Here it is. This is like. You know, top 20 reform verses whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. [00:22:07] Jesse Schwamb: So the beauty of this is I think just first pass, first blush, top of the house. If we cannot engage in an entertaining activity in such a way as to glorify God, then it's just unlawful. And by way of contrast, if you can, then we're justified in viewing it as a gift of God's common grace. I, I just throw it out there to start with. [00:22:26] Jesse Schwamb: I, I think that it's not that we found that this particular test has been tried and left wanting, but rather we haven't tried it very well. Oftentimes. Yeah. At least for my own sake. And instead we say, well, the Bible just isn't clear. But if you're, watch your point, Tony. If you're watching something that is gratuitous in any way, and you stop and say. [00:22:44] Jesse Schwamb: Am I glorifying God in the consumption of this? I think it's really difficult to make a strong argument that in some way you are actively, not just passively and saying like, well, it's okay and there's gonna be a redeeming story plot in here somewhere, I hope. But are we actively, whenever, whenever we're doing or we're consuming these things, are we actually glorifying God? [00:23:02] Jesse Schwamb: Is God glorified in. What's happening with my mind, my thoughts, my body, my eyes, my conversations, how this shapes me, how this changes my worldview. If we have to answer that God is not glorified there, then to my view, it's unlawful. And I think also in the eyes of the Apostle Paul. [00:23:19] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:23:20] Personal Convictions and Christian Liberty [00:23:20] Tony Arsenal: And you know, I think something that is important to, um. [00:23:24] Tony Arsenal: Comment on and think about when we sort of apply that test, that test really has more to do with what's going on in our heart. Yes. When we are consuming any particular part, you know, any particular media than it necessarily has to do with the media itself. I think there are some things, um, that. Just cannot be consumed to the glory of God. [00:23:46] Tony Arsenal: Right? You can't watch pornography to the glory of God, like you just can't do it. Um, you can't, you can't watch people murder each other for, you know, to the glory of God. But the vast majority of things that are out there, um, the, the, the question you're asking is not primarily grounded in the content itself. [00:24:07] Tony Arsenal: It's, it's grounded in. What the content does to us and in us and how we process it. And I think that's why I, you know, I always wanna say for most things, this goes back to Christian Liberty and. Christian Liberty is not a license to sin. It's, it's a freedom to, um, to obey, right? It's a freedom and it's a range of possibilities to obey God in different ways, in different situations, rather than some tightly constrained, tightly restricted behavioral code, right? [00:24:39] Tony Arsenal: There is a law. God gives us a law. We talked about this at length when we did the 10 commandment series. He gives us a law, but this law is a set of 10 principles for godly living. Not a, an exhaustive list of do this, don't do that. Right? So the seventh commandment, you know, for media. Is this inclining my mind towards chastity and purity of thought, right? [00:25:02] Tony Arsenal: For those of us who are married, is this likely to, um, create a barrier in my relationship with my wife, or is this likely to enhance the relationship I have with my wife? Is this. Particular thing I'm doing, this video game that I play, is this likely to draw my attention away from my children when they need me? [00:25:19] Tony Arsenal: Or is it something that I have that is likely to increase my ability to pay attention to my children? Or am I able to properly balance the demands that my children have and the needs my children have while I still play this video game, just as an example. So we can still use those 10 principles to help guide us, but the way that those. [00:25:38] Tony Arsenal: The way that the law is applied to these questions and how it is, is gonna be unique, I think almost, almost across the board for things. It's gonna be unique to each individual, right? One person may be able to, yeah, like my big thing and I like, okay, I'm just gonna put this out there. I'm just gonna lay myself bare here. [00:25:55] Tony Arsenal: If I could say that I have one actual real addiction in life, it's probably World of Warcraft, and I know that sounds probably really silly, but even me saying and saying the phrase World of Warcraft, in my mind I'm like, could I figure out a way that I could go back in and play that game? Like they call it World of Warcraft for a reason. [00:26:14] Tony Arsenal: It is super addictive and it's very easy to fall back into it. I'm sure there are people out there who can perfectly just fine, could manage their life of having children and a wife and a job and, you know, service to the church and still play World of Warcraft for a couple hours a week or, or an hour every night and still be just fine. [00:26:33] Tony Arsenal: I cannot do that. If I subscribe to World of Warcraft, it will imbalance my life such that something that God is calling me to, that I know God is calling me to, is going to be pushed out of the way for that. So for me. I cannot fulfill my obligations and participate in that particular element of pop culture. [00:26:52] Tony Arsenal: And I think there's probably something like that for most of us. Again, someone else may be able to do that just fine. There are probably many people who can do that just fine. That's a problem in my own heart. And the way I address that is by saying, this is just not healthy for me, so I'm not gonna do it. [00:27:05] Tony Arsenal: And whether that's a TV show or a a book series. I know people who won't read certain books because they get so immersed in it and it sort of like shapes their worldview in really unhealthy ways. They just won't pick up a particular set of novels or a particular book series. Um, you know, I've told this story that I, I don't remember where I was flying. [00:27:24] Tony Arsenal: Um, it wasn't. I must have been flying to Minnesota. That's the only place I've traveled by air for quite a long time. Um, I stopped in the, the bookstore, the, you know, the, the souvenir store, whatever. And I forgot a, I forgot a book at home of all the people to forget a book. And I was like, you know, there's this big hub lu about Game of Thrones and you know, maybe the book is better than the show. [00:27:43] Tony Arsenal: And like, you know, I can control what I'm imagining and it's easier for me to skip over parts and nobody is having to make graphic sex scenes. Even if they're sort of portrayed in the book. I can maybe do this. I got like. A chapter and a half into the book and was like, I can't, this is not healthy for me. [00:27:57] Tony Arsenal: It's not helpful. It doesn't glorify God. It's not true. It's not noble, it's not honorable, it's not worthy of praise. Right. I'm just gonna, and I just threw the book away. I spent like $15 on a book and then I just threw it in the garbage. Um, and I don't say that to like prop myself up as some bastion of self control. [00:28:10] Tony Arsenal: That's just in that moment I made the right decision. But there are things like that, that you are gonna have to look at your own self to say, I cannot participate in this, even if someone else might be able to. I personally cannot. And I think that's really the more the question we need to ask then. Are there universal principles that say, I can't do A, B, or C? [00:28:30] Tony Arsenal: It's really about my heart in the moment and how my heart is affected by a given thing. [00:28:36] Jesse Schwamb: Much like the 10 Commandments. This whole conversation in the scriptural, I think admonishment here is very much about freeing us up to enjoy freedom, to have joy in these things. It's not about just saying, well, here's a list of things that you can't do. [00:28:51] Jesse Schwamb: Isn't that unfortunate? Everybody else can do them, but you can't enjoy them. Instead, Scott saying like you're talking about Tony, no put to death all these evil, selfish things that are in your life that actually destruct. And instead, enjoy entertainment and pop culture in such a way that not only glorifies him, but does truly refresh you so that you're not drawn back into patterns of selfish behavior or sinful thinking, or all kinds of, you know, sexual frivolity that's going to lead your mind and your body and your heart astray or into places that you'll end up getting hurt. [00:29:25] Jesse Schwamb: I think. The beauty of this is it just provides us with a way to think and discern about the stuff that we're consuming so that we're ensured. Then it's fulfilling the right purpose that God has for in our lives, and that's freeing. When you get to a place where the scripture says like, here's the way walking it, then you know that you can walk confidently and you can enjoy that very thing. [00:29:46] Jesse Schwamb: One great example, I think that sit on both sides, we can talk about in some ways how there's like a, a lack of, or like kinda a, a moral perspective with certain types of medium of expression. One of those I think famously is, is music. Luther famously said, musical performance is principle among the entertainment that God has graciously given us to enjoy in life. [00:30:06] Jesse Schwamb: And yet who hasn't been part of either music that has been absolutely refreshing, absolutely life-giving, absolutely calming and beautiful in the same way that like David played before King Saul when he was distressed. And maybe you've had this experience where there's some kind of soothing melody that was just a bomb to your soul and your condition in that state. [00:30:25] Jesse Schwamb: And then also. On the other side, who hasn't listened even to some really catchy music that's been filled with like sexual perversion, misogyny, violence themes that at the end of it, you may have enjoyed the beat, but it's, it's just left you kind of feeling gross. And disgusted. Yeah. Even with yourself for enjoying it. [00:30:45] Jesse Schwamb: I, I think that's what we're after here is like to be freed up to enjoy this kind of entertainment in a way that it is truly the gift that God has given rather than something that enslaves us. And I'm gonna argue that it often does. Not because it's just addictive, though. [00:30:59] The Influence of Entertainment on Our Lives [00:30:59] Jesse Schwamb: It can be, but because it does actually influence us deeply and, and I think one thing is clear is that all the things we're talking about here that's present in entertainment, and I'm talking all the way back to things like athletic performance, all of this beauty and creativity, art expressed both in film literature and in music, that all of those things God has given us for our good and for his glory. [00:31:22] Jesse Schwamb: So he wants us to enjoy them. But sin is of course gonna take all those things and pervert them and twist them in such a way that they no longer become life-giving or become life taking. The problem is they take life incrementally and on the margin. Yeah. And so that you rarely feel that that's going on. [00:31:37] Jesse Schwamb: You rarely sense the divide of the chasm that's creating in your thought patterns, in the way that you interact with people, even the way that you interact with God until, not that it's too late, but that's, you wake up and you think, my goodness, how far have I gone from what I think this is really intended to be in my life? [00:31:52] Jesse Schwamb: Then maybe addiction does crop up in such a place that you're like this. This has gone too far. But I think, again, like many things in life, when God says no, what he's saying is, do not hurt yourself. I know better. I want you to enjoy these things. So I see this as like our opportunity to like empower to come with the scriptures, bearing full weights on what we consume, not because we need more laundry lists of things to avoid, but because we need direction on what is best to sink our entertainment time and resources into. [00:32:20] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I, I think that's a good, um, that's a good, maybe a next test right? [00:32:25] Balancing Time and Entertainment Choices [00:32:25] Tony Arsenal: Is we only have a finite amount of time. We, we, and, and I'm not even just talking about like in general, we have a, I'm, I'm talking about like we have a finite amount of discretionary time. We all have commitments, we have jobs, we have families, we have church commitments, we have friends that we wanna maintain relationships with. [00:32:43] Tony Arsenal: The amount of time we have to just like sit down and consume pop culture is limited no matter, no matter who you are. Some people have more, some people have less. Um, we can consume. Ev, every time we say yes to one thing, we're saying no to another thing, right? There is, um, there is popular culture or content out there that absolutely is encouraging, right? [00:33:05] Tony Arsenal: And absolutely is going to enhance your life, and it's going to enhance your piety and your devotion to God, right? And I'm not just talking about like Christian content. There's decent Christian content out there. There's decent Christian films, there's decent Christian music, there's decent Christian fiction writing. [00:33:22] Tony Arsenal: Um, there's probably even decent Christian video games, although I haven't run into them, I'm sure they're out there. Um. But that's not even what I'm talking about. [00:33:30] Finding Value in Non-Christian Content [00:33:30] Tony Arsenal: There there are, there are non quote, non-Christian, um, right there. There's General grace. Common grace works out there that will, they'll, they'll make you smarter. [00:33:41] Tony Arsenal: It will make you healthier. It'll help you enhance your life. It'll help you enjoy your world more. It'll help you enjoy and see the beauty in God's creation. More I've, I've commented, um. At length, and this isn't necessarily pop culture, although it kind of bridges the gap a little bit. I've commented at length on how beneficial in my life, Ryan holiday's, writings have been. [00:33:58] Tony Arsenal: Right? Right. That's what he doesn't get everything right. There are some things he gets very wrong, um, but. I, I read, um, Ryan Holiday's, stoic. Stoic Works, and I wouldn't say he's a scholar of stoicism. He's more like a modern day stoic philosopher. I read his works and I benefit from him. It makes my life better. [00:34:17] Tony Arsenal: It makes my devotion to God better. It makes my piety better. It makes me a better husband and a better father, and a better employee just in general. It makes me a better person. Not because Ryan Holiday is some special thing, but because he seems to have tapped into common grace principles that other writers haven't, I have a choice. [00:34:33] Tony Arsenal: You know? Do I wanna read that or do I wanna read some? Um, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy manga, but like, do I wanna read some. Meaningless, pointless manga that is just the same story over and over again with different animation. You know, some people might find that the reading the manga is the right thing for them and that enhances their life. [00:34:51] Tony Arsenal: Right? But for me, I've had to make that calculation. I only have so much time. I only have so much time to read. Um, and, and this is might be a shock to people. There are times where I'll have the decision between reading a theology book and. Being caught up on my reading in Daily Stoic, I most often will take time to read the Daily Stoic instead of reading something. [00:35:10] Tony Arsenal: For example, I'm way behind on Daily Devotion or Daily Doctrine by Kevin De Young Way Behind, but I'm not behind on, on Daily Dad or daily Stoic from Ryan Holiday. That's not because one, one thing is better than the other necessarily, but what I need in my life and what God is calling me to. The writings by di by Ryan Holiday right now are more effective in a, in accomplishing those tasks and into shaping me into who I believe God wants me to be. [00:35:37] Tony Arsenal: So that's the other question we have to ask is what? [00:35:40] The Importance of Rest and Leisure [00:35:40] Tony Arsenal: What is the most beneficial thing for us at the moment? It could be some sort of mindless cotton, candy entertainment. There's nothing wrong with that. This isn't, this isn't me saying like find, this isn't like hustle culture for pop culture. Like sometimes you just need to veg out and do something that doesn't require any brain power, and that's what God is, is giving you as a gift for your rest and your re recuperation. [00:36:04] Tony Arsenal: Sometimes it's a hard hitting. Heavy theology. Sometimes you need to sit down and read some Bob Ink again, not that that's pop culture, but I think the broader principle applies. Maybe you need to sit down and read some Turin, or maybe you need to like scroll Instagram for a little while and watch funny cat videos, right? [00:36:19] Tony Arsenal: All of those things are good things. They're all gifts from God in the proper proportions and at the proper time, and that's why this can be such a complicated question is because we have to have a good, robust. Honest reflection of who we are and what we need in order to make these, these decisions. Um, and it really is about what do we need in the moment? [00:36:37] Tony Arsenal: What is God calling us to? What is the wise thing to do right now, the wise thing to consume right now? Um, and, and I think that's a good test. Is this the most effective thing and accomplishing in my life what needs to be accomplished, right? That could be all sorts of goals, but is this the most effective thing to accomplish that at my life right now? [00:36:57] Tony Arsenal: If so, and it's not sinful, and then have at it enjoy. You know, I think those are the kinds of questions we need to ask, and I don't think we often ask that. I think we are often passive. And neutral in decisions about what we're gonna watch for pop culture. We're driven by what is the most popular thing on Netflix? [00:37:15] Tony Arsenal: What does the algorithm recommend for us? Or what is being talked about at work? Or what do I have on hand? What do I have easy access to? Um, I think we need to be more active and intentional in our decisions on this towards those ends. [00:37:29] Jesse Schwamb: Right on. And there's no accounting for taste, right? I mean, part, part of time we get caught up in that, so we'll just say, well, maybe what I'm experiencing, because I'm a Christian, I'm trying to process this, has to do more about like particular medium or the taste or the type of genre or something. [00:37:44] Jesse Schwamb: I'd encourage us to not get too caught up in that. I think what you're saying is really, really helpful. The idea here I think is more about embracing the fact that we don't have to be productive all the time. And that we don't have to be, and I use this with great love like puritanical in the sense that, you know, well, if Jonathan Edwards didn't laugh and the Lord sakes that was inappropriate, then I shouldn't either. [00:38:05] Jesse Schwamb: And by virtue of that fact, then I should really have this incredible puritanical work ethic where even when I'm at home or every second that I have, I should be reading something. And if I'm gonna read something, it should be productive. Or if I'm watch tv, it should be something kinda documentary. I need to learn and fill my mind and make use and redeem every second of that time. [00:38:18] Jesse Schwamb: What if part of that redemption. Is enjoying entertainment for the way that God intended it to be, and that when he makes beauty and creativity and artistic expression, and again, we're presuming that this is the right amount of a lawful entertainment, that all of those things are for their own enjoyment because they point back to the creator. [00:38:40] Jesse Schwamb: Just by themselves. Like there doesn't have to be an ulterior motive. You don't have to justify it. You don't even have to feel guilty about it. That in fact, because we're contingent beings and therefore we have limited energy supply and unlimited amount of time and space, that all those things com continue to propel us towards some kind of desire for a lawful entertainment that leads us into rest. [00:39:02] Jesse Schwamb: Even as you're saying Tony, if that's rest for 10 or 15 minutes before, it's the next thing to feel this compulsion instead. To have to again quote unquote redeem. That time by being super productive is I think a fool's errand because we are as much made to work as we are made to rest. And in that rest, I think sometimes we actually find for some of us an easier time identifying and worshiping God in that risk. [00:39:26] Jesse Schwamb: Because in our work, we are busy in our work and we often get caught up in our work thinking all of our work is all of us. And so we rest and we find enjoyment in something. We take a walk, we listen to a beautiful piece of music. We spend some times just conversing about nothing with friends. We sit outside and enjoy beverages together that something happens sometimes in that space. [00:39:46] Jesse Schwamb: We're in the pause of that in the fact that there is beauty that seemingly is without productive purpose, even though I'd argue there is one. It's just hidden behind it and we fail to see it. We are drawn to the fact drawn to say, God, are you not good? For all of your gifts. And of course he's good in our gifts of work. [00:40:02] Jesse Schwamb: He's also good in our, our gifts of rest. But he's given us this gift as a form of entertainment in our own pop culture for us really to enjoy. But you're right, if we get it twisted such that we consume too much of it, or if we misapply that, I think we're just gonna live a less abundant life. So again, like the task here is not, don't do any entertainment. [00:40:23] Jesse Schwamb: Get all, get away from all the entertainments. Like what? Like your point, Tony, I, and I've heard Christian say this, I think there can be a brow beating here where it's like, well, couldn't you have used that time more productive? Like they had a couple more minutes, like maybe you really should have prayed harder or. [00:40:38] Jesse Schwamb: Maybe you should have read that other chapter in the Bible. Maybe you should gone back through your genealogies again and read those because you know that you don't read those particularly well. Or maybe you should have studied this thing or that thing. And instead is there a kind of worship that truly gives itself over to resting in God in the form of appreciating entertainment as he's created it for us to give us that kind of rest? [00:40:59] Jesse Schwamb: I would say yes. It's just that we often don't talk about it and sometimes we do talk about it. It's hard to bring it up 'cause you're gonna. You're gonna feel guilty. Like, can you imagine somebody saying to you, you know what? I'm just finding so much rest these days in this, uh, little game on my phone that I get to play. [00:41:15] Jesse Schwamb: You would be like, you, you might, if you're, if you're like, you know that person, well, you might be like, that's weird. I guarantee though, if that happened to me, I'd walk away and then when I was with my wife later, I'd be like, let me tell you what this weird thing this person said. You know what I mean? [00:41:27] Jesse Schwamb: But what, what, yeah. We need to think more like that. Not as a liberty to forsake or abdicate responsibility, but instead to actually be well rested for the responsibility in the task, the good works that God has created for us. [00:41:42] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. [00:41:42] Personal Experiences with Entertainment [00:41:42] Tony Arsenal: And maybe here's like a concrete example is, um. You know, I, um, I work at a local hospital and my job is relatively intense. [00:41:53] Tony Arsenal: Um, in terms of emotional investment, I'm a patient relations supervisor, so I, I'm in charge of the department that hears all of the complaints from patients, which means we often hear some really frustrating stories about people's healthcare, and it can be very emotionally draining. And so I also, um, I also ride the bus home now. [00:42:15] Tony Arsenal: My, my vehicle is broken right now. Hopefully we're gonna get fixed soon, but I ride the bus home and for the first couple, I don't know, for the first week that I was riding the bus, I was like, I gotta use this time. I gotta read something. I gotta make sure I'm doing that right. And what I've learned actually is if I just take the 45 minutes that I'm on the bus and waiting for the bus and I just sort of zone out and play Pokemon Go. [00:42:39] Tony Arsenal: By the time I get home, I'm ready to engage with my kids better. I'm ready to engage with my wife better. I'm less likely to feel, uh, just drained and tired because I'm actually letting my brain sort of reset and I'm building that buffer. So something as simple as like. Playing a relatively mindless game on my phone for a half hour, 45 minutes while I ride the bus and wait for the bus, um, helps me to fulfill my obligations as a father and a husband in a more present way. [00:43:09] Tony Arsenal: Again, like if you wanna ride the bus and you wanna read a fiction, or you wanna do theology, like that's on you, that's your decision to make. But. I know people who would say to me, um, you really should be using that time for something more productive than playing Pokemon Go. And, and yeah, maybe like, maybe there are times that I should be more productive and maybe there are times that other people should be less productive. [00:43:32] Tony Arsenal: Like I think that's kind of what we're getting at here is. Productivity or spiritual growth or pi, like those categories are, each of those are good categories. Like productivity is not a bad thing. Um, personal devotion is certainly not a bad thing. [00:43:47] Jesse Schwamb: Yes. [00:43:47] Tony Arsenal: But it's not the only thing. And we also, I think we act as though our lives can be this sort of like perfect integrated balance when really like we have to be able to sort of recognize that. [00:44:02] Tony Arsenal: Sometimes doing nothing has its own utility. Like that feels like a weird thing to say, but I I, I'm with you here and, and maybe this is kind of how we bring the episode down to an end is I do think. There is this, obviously the Sabbath principle, the rest principle. Um, but God also gives us rest in these other small ways. [00:44:25] Tony Arsenal: Sometimes not so small, but small ways in the rest of our life. And I don't think that we should bear any shame or guilt or feel like we're less Christian because we take advantage of or make use of those. Those sort of like smaller opportunities to rest and you know, recreation is recreation. Like that's, that's that etymology is not a false etymology. [00:44:49] Tony Arsenal: That's where the word comes from. And it's because we often need to do these sort of leisurely things in order to be able to then go back and put forward the effort that we need. And the other thing just, I feel like we're tying. Leisure to the ability to produce in a way that may actually also be unhealthy. [00:45:09] Tony Arsenal: Leisure is not necessarily the ends, the means to being able to be productive. Right? Leisure serves its own purpose. It has its own use, its own way to glorify God. Yes, it does enable us often to be able to come back and put our nose to the grindstone, but we shouldn't just think about it as like, well, this is just, this is just my recharge period. [00:45:30] Tony Arsenal: We don't think about sleep that way. I don't think we think about sleep in, in a fashion of saying like, well, I've gotta sleep so that I can just get up and go to work the next day. And productive. I think we recognize that our bodies need to rest and there's a blessing and a joy in being able to close our eyes and sort of drift off and have dreams and rest, and that our body recuperates itself, I think we should think of leisure in a similar sense, and recreation and pop culture all kind of play into that. [00:45:53] Jesse Schwamb: I think that's right on. I mean, it's one of those things where we're certainly not saying that there isn't rest in prayer and in daily worship and consuming and studying the scriptures, there's certainly a rest in all those activities too. In some ways, I think we're presuming that we are trying to incorporate a balance into our lives, and that part of that balance is just rest for its own sake. [00:46:12] Jesse Schwamb: The enjoyment of that and when you're truly, I think, enjoying that rest, whatever it is, one we do not long feel guilty because we have processed. And pass everything to the sve of the scriptures and say, this is glorifying to God is for my goodness, for his glory. So therefore there's no, as it were like condemnation for me in this because I have a clear conscience about it. [00:46:31] Jesse Schwamb: And then in addition to that, it does provide us with perhaps, again, that lovely contrast between working hard and then having. Some period of which we are abstaining from that work and from that labor. And in so doing we find different ways to please and to worship God. We find that we see his character reflected in different ways. [00:46:49] Jesse Schwamb: And so in that way too, it reminds us that we are, like I said before, like completely contingent, we get tired, we get exhausted. Like there's only so much the mind can do and so much it can handle. And so by. Willingly accepting and leaning into that, not again, in a way that takes us away. We use as liberty to say, well, I, you know, I really should spend some time before the Lord in prayer. [00:47:10] Jesse Schwamb: I really should spend some time in, in daily particular worship, but you know what? I really need to rest instead. Like of, of course, that itself, we should be convicted about, uh, because then we're using entertainment such a way to distract us. Suppose this. Way from God rather than toward him. But the Bible is so clear, like you're saying, Tony, that there's all these seasons in life and the more I think about those seasons, the more I wonder if we tend to treat them too discreetly. [00:47:34] Jesse Schwamb: And in these two, like, kind of like prolonged periods, what if a season is for an hour? What if a season is for a day? What if a season is for five minutes? So famously, of course, when we have the teacher writing. Ecclesiastes chapter three, some of these famous words, I think we just fail to take them to heart. [00:47:51] Jesse Schwamb: Listen to this beautiful contrast, and I think it really fits in with what we're saying here about the, the ability to rightly consume entertainment and pop culture in such a way that it is glorifying to God and our understanding of it in our application of how it gives us true rest. So it writes things like this. [00:48:09] Jesse Schwamb: There's a time to kill and the time to heal. A time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh, A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing a time to seek and a time to lose. [00:48:26] Jesse Schwamb: A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to tear. A time to sow, a time to keep silence and a time to speak, a time to love, and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. So it's very clear that God has given us, I think all of these wonderful things to enjoy as part of his character, as demonstrations of the fact that he is a God who is loving and love always leads to giving. [00:48:51] Jesse Schwamb: And so he gives us beauty in arts. In music, in literature, in screen, and of course then we should recognize because those are things from God and we ought to that. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Heavenly Father who is above that. It is the prerogative of the devil to twist and bend those things in such a way that we feel to see them as God's gifts and said, see them as our rightful consumption. [00:49:12] Jesse Schwamb: Such a way that enslaves. Changes our mindset, pulls us farther away from God. So I think part of it's just going into everything with the pun intended, with eyes wide open. So hopefully some of these tests have been helpful. I think people probably have, because like you said, Tony, there's a lot of Christian liberty here and maybe some point. [00:49:29] Jesse Schwamb: Well, I was gonna ask you like what's I, I'm not gonna ask you this because I know you're gonna ask it back to me, but like what would be maybe something you consume that others might be able. Ooh. Um, but I don't want you to ask that back to me. We could do that. We could do that if you want to. [00:49:42] Tony Arsenal: Um, yeah, let's, let's do that in a future episode. [00:49:43] Tony Arsenal: I think that'd be fun. Well, we'll [00:49:44] Jesse Schwamb: save that for another time. So everybody keeps listening. [00:49:46] Encouraging Community Engagement [00:49:46] Jesse Schwamb: But I think one of the things that we should be encouraging our listeners to do, the people who are part of the reform brotherhoodhood, is come hang out online. In this place called Telegram, which is just a chat messaging app and we have a little corner, a protected corner of the world. [00:50:00] Jesse Schwamb: There is a group of people who are like-minded listening to our conversations and participating in their own. And the way they participate with us is you can message in the app, they've got a bunch of channels of different topics, so you can get there by going to t.me/reform brotherhood. I bring this up now, not just to advertise as usual. [00:50:17] Jesse Schwamb: Because we want you to come be a part of this, but I would love to hear from others because we have a channel in there that's just about the conversations we're having on the podcast. Come share some of the practical things that you use, the tests that you have, the conversations that you bring forward to help you discern what kind of pop culture you're consuming. [00:50:37] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. Don't just take our word for it. Let's hear what the Holy Spirit. How he is leadi

Today's devotion is written by Debra Herbeck.

“And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (1 Samuel 17:47 NLT) Several years ago, my wife and I rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disneyland. If you’ve never been on it, it’s an elevator that drops very quickly. And that’s a scary sensation for a lot of people. Afterward, you can buy a picture of yourself taken during one of the drops. I usually don’t buy amusement park photos, but I was tempted that time because I loved the reaction of my wife in the photo. She had a look of terror on her face; I, on the other hand, was smiling. It just goes to show that people will pay money to be frightened. Unfortunately, not all frightening things are funny. The devil knows that. And he uses fear as part of his battlefield strategy. He hits us where and when we’re most vulnerable. He exploits our anxiety. He plays on our fears of failure, something happening to a loved one, financial troubles, and anything else that might rattle us. His aim is to isolate us in our fears, to separate us from the spiritual protection of our heavenly Father. The apostle Paul wrote, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39 NLT). Add anything else you want to the list. It won’t change the reality. You’ll notice that “angels,” “demons,” and “the powers of hell” are conspicuously mentioned. Paul’s point is clear: The devil is unable to separate us from God. So, we must not allow him to convince us otherwise. We must not give in to fear. Fear can blind us temporarily to the truth. If it gets a toehold in our thoughts, we might start to imagine ourselves as being distant from God and perhaps even beyond His reach. That’s why it’s important to remind ourselves that every spiritual battle—including the battle against fear—is God’s, and not ours. Before David loaded the stone into his sling, he warned Goliath, “This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (1 Samuel 17:47 NLT). David was calm where other warriors had panicked because he knew who was really doing the fighting. In Ephesians 6, Paul discusses spiritual warfare. But before he mentions the helmet of salvation or the breastplate of righteousness or the sword of the Spirit, he says this: “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power” (verse 10 NLT). We cannot win spiritual battles if we rely on our own strength. And we cannot lose spiritual battles if we rely on the power of God. Reflection question: What fears or anxieties might the devil try to exploit in his battles with you? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's devotion is written by Mary Catherine Craige.

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“I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.” (Psalm 18:1–3 NLT) David enjoyed an intimate relationship with God. You can see evidence of that intimacy in the psalms he wrote. “He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me” (Psalm 23:3–4 NLT). “I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” (Psalm 116:1­–2 NLT). And in 1 Samuel 13:14, Samuel is referring to David when he says, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” (NLT). The relationship between God and David was something special. If you were to ask the average person what they remember about the life of David, the name Goliath most likely would come up. But another name likely would be mentioned as well: Bathsheba. Goliath and Bathsheba represented David’s greatest victory and his greatest defeat. The devil couldn’t beat David on the battlefield, so he took him down in the bedroom. There are subtle clues in Scripture as to how he did it. Notice that before David confronted Goliath, he said, “This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!” (1 Samuel 17:47 NLT). He was confident not because he possessed superior fighting skills but because he was doing God’s work. For that reason alone, Goliath couldn’t touch him. And neither could the devil. Flash-forward several years. David is king. Instead of leading his army in battle against the Ammonites, David is idling in Jerusalem. He seems to have drifted from his once-intimate relationship with God. Maybe it was due to the pressures of being king—or maybe it was due to the trappings of royalty. Whatever the reason, David lowered his spiritual guard and made himself vulnerable to attack. The devil wasted no time in exploiting the breach. David’s temptation started with a lingering glance at Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s loyal soldiers who was away fighting the Ammonites. It ended with the killing of Uriah, the death of David’s newborn son, and the implosion of David’s family. All because David made himself an easy target for the devil. The devil continues to look for easy targets. He knows that it’s easier to hit something stationary than something that’s on the move. A believer who is moving forward in Christ, who is growing in their love for the Lord, is not nearly as easy to hit as one who’s beginning to relax their grip on the Lord. That’s the one whom the devil will set his sights on. That’s the one who will become his next casualty. Reflection question: What does an intimate relationship with God look like in your life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance. He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting. So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord’s help.” (2 Chronicles 20:3–4 NLT) The king of Judah faced a military crisis. “The armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, ‘A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea’” (2 Chronicles 20:1–2 NLT). The enemies of Judah had joined forces. Their combined military strength was enough to overwhelm Israel’s defenses. Judah’s foes were bent on destruction, and things looked hopeless. There was no way Jehoshaphat’s army could stop the invading forces. The southern kingdom of Judah faced the very real possibility of complete annihilation. We find the king’s reaction and response in verse 3: “Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance” (NLT). Notice the connection between the two. Jehoshaphat was terrified because he realized he was powerless. He understood that there was nothing he could do to alter the forces that were bearing down on him. So, he turned to the only One who could alter them. Jehoshaphat poured out his terror, desperation, and helplessness to the Lord in prayer. “O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help” (verse 12 NLT). God replied through one of the men who was present. He said, “Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you” (2 Chronicles 20:15–17 NLT). You’ll notice that God didn’t go into a lot of detail regarding His plan. He didn’t say, “First, I’m going to do this. Then I need you to do this.” Instead, He said, “Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory” (NLT). In other words, “You came to the right Source of power, Jehoshaphat. I’ve got it. Watch this.” Jehoshaphat and his army went out to meet their enemies, but they put their worship team out front. When this unconventional advance guard began to sing and praise the Lord, the enemies of Judah started fighting among themselves and destroyed each other. “So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped” (verse 24 NLT). Maybe you’re facing what seems like an impossible situation right now. Maybe you can’t see a way out. But God can. Call on Him. Then see what He does. Reflection question: What made you, or someone close to you, realize that nothing is impossible for God? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.