Podcasts about okay god

Are you ever confronted with the pivotal moments in life and find yourself asking, "Okay God, what should I do next?" Chris honors our high school graduates as he points them to their relationship with God being key to those "next steps" moments.

What happens when your entire identity and self-worth are wrapped up in athletic performance, and suddenly that's taken away? Wesley Tucker, an offensive lineman at Baylor University, lived this reality when a devastating injury sidelined him just as he was beginning to rebuild his relationship with God.Growing up with sporadic church attendance, Wes had basic knowledge of Christianity but lacked genuine faith. By high school, football had become his god – dictating his sense of value based on performance. "I had a good game, I loved myself. I had a bad game, I hated myself," he recalls. Though he accepted Christ around age 15 after a powerful youth camp experience, that commitment faded as athletic achievement again took center stage.Arriving at Baylor as a freshman, Wes faced the jarring transition from high school star to bottom of the depth chart. Searching for validation, he made choices that pulled him further from faith. But God wasn't finished with him. Through Baylor's team Bible study, Wes gradually reconnected with his faith. Then came the defining moment – a catastrophic knee injury that ended his season. Lying on the field in excruciating pain, something shifted: "Okay God, it's yours. You want my attention? You have it."What followed was remarkable. Instead of despair, Wes found peace. The injury that stripped away his athletic identity became the catalyst for complete surrender. On December 17, 2024, surrounded by teammates, Wes was baptized – making "an outward profession of an inward transformation." Today, former drinking buddies attend church with him, inspired by his journey.Have you tied your identity to something as fragile as performance or achievement? Listen to Wes's powerful testimony of finding purpose beyond the field and discovering that no one is ever too far gone for transformation.Helpful links:One80, Contact UsBaylor UniversityBaylor Sports MinistryBaylor Sports Ministry DiscipleshipOhio State Football Team AwakeningESPN discusses football players faith being lived outAustin Football Player interrupts press conference to give glory to GodLet us know what you thought of the show!Follow One80 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Never miss a One80. Join our email list. Follow us on Instagram.Share One80, here's how!OneWay Ministries

That first Easter was so incredibly unfair. Jesus – the innocent man – was crucified and Barabbas – the man guilty of murder – walked off Scott free. If you were God, would you have done things that way?   Let's Tarry a While It's interesting how when Easter passes us by we kind of quickly forget it and move on. It was a long weekend, it was a great time to have off and have a rest, have some chocolate. It comes, we eat chocolate, we have a long weekend, it goes, that's it, we move on, back to work, back to school, back to the empty house, whatever it is we do day after day and this week on the program and in fact over the coming three weeks we're going to dwell in Easter for a bit longer than just a long weekend. We're going to tarry and stay there a little bit longer. And today's program is the first message in a series that I've called, "The Price He Paid For You" and as well as talking about Easter over the Easter period we're going to do the unthinkable and spend the next few weeks after Easter doing it as well. Can you believe that because it's a big thing this Easter thing? Not as a religious holiday, I don't mean that, I for one am definitely not into religion, it just doesn't work for me. Not talking about religion, I'm talking about this big thing that God was up to at Easter. The thing that Jesus went through, the suffering, the persecution, the beating, the rejection and that death on the cross. You and I are so incredibly special to God which is what makes you and me worth dying for. He's handcrafted us, He's made us, He's set us free in this amazing universe, always loving us but with the freedom He gave us a free will to accept Him or reject Him and when it comes right down to this, according to God, He made us, He loves us, He gave us free will and the point of all of that was for us to know Him and have this fantastic relationship with Him here and now and for all eternity. But it doesn't matter which way we cut it each one of us in our own way we've rejected Him. I know I have, more often than we could ever imagine or count or recall and in doing that we miss the whole point. The whole point of creation, the whole point of life, the plan and the desire of God's heart. When we turned our backs on God and we all have, we miss the whole point of life, that's exactly what the Greek word for "sin" actually means. It means to miss the mark or as we might say today to miss the point. I know when I use the word "sin" people often write in or they call and say, "Come on, this is some kind of old fuddy-duddy concept, get with it Berni, get into today, sin just isn't relevant, it's something that priests or ministers talked about in the 1950's, get with it, it's old fashioned." I know, I know that some people think of sin that way but lets come back to Easter and the central point, the central problem of all creation is that we rejected God. We turned our back on Him, it's hard to come to grips with. People say, 'Well I'm not a bad person, I'm not that bad, I'm okay' but let me ask you, from the moment you were old enough did you put God first? Was God always first in your life? Did you live your life as though you belonged to Him? And the answer for all of us is, "No, we didn't." We've all done things; we've all turned away in our own way, in different ways; we've all turned our backs on God and at that Cross at a time that we now call Easter and we celebrate and we remember, on that cross God calls us home. The consequences, what we should have paid for rejecting Him, were paid for by His Son Jesus; He died to give us a new life. Okay God calls us to a life of sacrifice, God calls us to a life of giving, He gives us a fresh new life, a wholesome life with real joy and because out of His great love He reached out to us through Jesus, He opens the door to a real and dynamic and exciting and beautiful and wondrous relationship with God. At the heart of the message of Easter is the fact that Jesus paid the price of my sin and of your sin, of our rejection of God, our missing the whole point of creation and the fact that Jesus paid the price seems unfair don't you think? Let's have a read, we're going to go to the Bible, if you have one grab it, we're going to open up at John chapter 18 beginning at verse 38 and we're going to read through to chapter 19, verse 16. Here it is: What is truth, Pontius Pilate asked? With this he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no basis for a charge against this Jesus but it's your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? And they shouted, 'no, not him, give us Barabbas. Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged, the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head, they clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him and again and again and again saying, 'hail the king of the Jews' and they struck him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, 'I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.' And when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe Pilate said to them, 'here is the man'. As soon as the Chief Priests and their officials saw him they shouted, 'crucify him, crucify him. But Pontius Pilate answered, 'you take him, you crucify him. As for me I find no basis for a charge against him.' But the Jews insisted, 'we have a law and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the son of God.' And when Pilate heard this he was even more afraid and he went back inside the palace. Where do you come from?' He asked Jesus but Jesus gave him no answer. 'Do you refuse to speak to me?' Pilate said, 'don't you realise I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?' And Jesus answered, 'you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. From then on Pilate tried to have Jesus set free but the Jews kept shouting, 'if you let this man go you are no friend of Caesars. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.' When Pilate heard this he brought Jesus out and sat him down on the Judges seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement. It was the day of the preparation of the Passover week, about the sixth hour. Here is your king' Pilate said to the Jews but they shouted, 'take him away, take him away, crucify him.' 'Shall I crucify your king?' Pilate asked. 'We have no king but Caesar' the Chief Priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to be crucified. Pretty amazing story we're going to take a look at it in a moment.   An Innocent Man Not much regard for the rules of evidence if indeed there were any rules of evidence way back then. A good friend of mine by the name of Paul is a magistrate. Now, the more I get to know him, the more I realise how gifted Paul is to do that job. I've got to tell you, I'd hate to have to sit in judgment, this one goes free, this one gets locked up. And to make things even more difficult he's a magistrate in the children's court. Now Paul has this really balanced thing happening in his outlook. He weighs this against that in almost everything he does. I was saying to someone else recently that when I look at Paul, what I see is someone that I'm really comfortable with being a magistrate. I'm really glad that this guy is on the bench in the children's court because he's absolutely the right person to be doing it. When you look at the story of the crowd and Pontius Pilate and Barabbas and Jesus and this angry, ugly mob I see some of that in Pilate. When the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate and Jesus had been talking to him about truth, he says, "What is truth?" And he goes out to the mob and he says, "Look, I have looked into this man and I find no case against him, this Jesus." See he wasn't swayed initially in judgment by the religious leaders, who frankly just wanted Jesus dead because Jesus was threatening them. Jesus was going to the people and making sense to them and healing them and caring for them and loving them and standing up for them. That's why the religious leaders wanted Him dead. That's how poisoned that whole rule-based religion scene had become. See Pilate wasn't swayed by the same things that whipped up that mobbed. And all the way through this scene, over and over again, Pontius Pilate finds Jesus "not guilty". In verse 38 he says: ‘Look, I find no basis for a charge against Him'. Again in verse 4 of chapter 19: Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, ‘Look I'm bring him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him'. Verse 6 of Chapter 19: You take him, you crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. And then again, down in verse 12: From then on Pontius Pilate tried to have Jesus set free. See he was a man who was fairly objective and he found no guilt in Jesus the Christ. Of course there's a marked difference between my friend Paul and Pontius Pilate in that ultimately Pilate was a weak man and he gave in to the crowd. He never changes his judgment mind you, but based on this tradition he just rolls over because of this angry mob. And ultimately he said, "Look, look at the life of Jesus, this man who healed people and who reached out to them and who cared for them, who taught them stuff about life that made sense, of course he's innocent." Innocent of everything except the fact that his goodness, his genuiness, stood out in stark contrast to the manipulation and the deceit of the religious leaders of the day. He threatened their power base, that's why they wanted him dead. Now the other player in this game is Barabbas. Barabbas is an interesting character. His name literally means "Son" which is what "Bar" means, "of the father" – "abba". "Barabbas" son of the father – Barabbas. We'll come back to that a little later. But he is a criminal. John tells us there in verse 40 that he'd taken part in a rebellion. If you go to Matthew's gospel chapter 27 verse 16, Matthew calls him a notorious criminal, so it was well known that this man was a crook. Mark Chapter 15 verse 7 and Luke Chapter 23 verse 19, they both tell us that Barabbas committed murder as a part of an insurrection. So here we have it. A well-known, notorious criminal, a murderer, Barabbas versus Jesus Christ superstar. This Jesus with rock-star status who healed the lame and the sick and the blind and stood up for the oppressed and the needs of the people against all of those of religious rulers from all that manipulation. He exposed the religious hypocrisy of those leaders. Huge crowds followed him, they listened to him, they saw him heal countless people, they saw miracles. The same crowds just a few days before, on the day we now call Palm Sunday, when Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, they threw down palm leaves, they were shouting praises literally calling him "King of the Jews" – their Messiah, their Saviour. Yet now, just a few days later whipped up by the religious leaders, manipulated by them again, here they are, baying for his blood. "Crucify him". What a brutal response. No wonder politicians say that the opinion polls are fickle. There's a great saying: "A week is a long time in politics." And it was certainly true then as it is now. Look at it again. When they're given a choice they say, "We want Barabbas! We want Barabbas!" And of Jesus, "Crucify him!" When Pilate asked them about Jesus they said: "Crucify him". And ultimately Pontius Pilate went against his own impartial judgment. He was weak, he was afraid of the crowd. He had Jesus beaten, he had him handed over to be crucified. Wait for it, instead of Barabbas who got set free. Do you get it. It's a switch, it's a substitution that's going on here. Barabbas the son of the father was the murderer. He should have gone to the cross, but instead he was set free and the innocent Jesus was crucified in his place. And here's what God's saying to us through what happened. Jesus is the Son of God and the Son of Man. "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." God said that of Jesus. Jesus was also man. He often referred to Himself as the Son of Man. He was human, He was God in the flesh, He was perfect without spot or blemish. He was totally innocent. The Son of God – Jesus; the son of the father, the son of dad – Barabbas. God is a loving Dad. There's a radical concept here introduced by Jesus. The Jews didn't refer to God as Dad but Jesus called Him Abba – Dad. And this man, Barabbas – Bar-abba, son of dad – is the one who gets set free. It's the swap over, it's the substitution. The "Son of God" and the "son of God". Both with the same name. Jesus and Barabbas. The innocent is substituted for the guilty. Jesus went to the cross for Barabbas; Barabbas deserved it but Jesus wore it. Barabbas was the murderer but Jesus was killed. Barabbas was the one who hurt people and yet Jesus suffered in his place. Barabbas – the son of the father – was guilty and he went free. Jesus – the Son of the Father – was innocent and He went to the Cross. And who judged Him? Not Pilate. Pilate wasn't the one that sent Him to the Cross, it was the angry mob and the religious leaders – the very people whom He came to set free, whom He loved, whom He healed, whom He taught. They were the ones that turned against Him. They were the ones who had Jesus crucified. So what does that mean for you and for me here and now?   Who is Barabbas Let me ask you something. Who was Barabbas? There was Pontius Pilate, there was Jesus, there was Barabbas. And then there was the angry mob in this story. To the angry mob, Barabbas was just that criminal and murderer and it was the Passover Festival. The Passover is the celebration of when God was releasing His people out of slavery in Egypt centuries before. He sent ten plagues on Egypt, on Pharaoh. And the final plague was the death of the first-born of all the Egyptians from Pharaoh's son through to a slave's son right through to the first born of all the animals. And yet here was the nation of Israel captive as slaves in Egypt. And God said to them: "Look, get a lamb, kill it, takes it's blood, smear it on the top of the door and the angel of death will pass over your house and you won't suffer that death – that death in the tenth plague." It was only visited on the Egyptians but not on God's people. And the way in which God's angel passed them over was by the seeing the blood of the lamb on the door posts. And so there's this tradition where the Roman Governor at the Passover Festival all these years later would release one criminal to the people. And this year that criminal was going to be Barabbas. Someone who had been part of an insurgency, an uprising; someone who killed multiple people. I mean, the worst sort of all criminals possible is who Barabbas was. Bar-abba – "son of the father", one of God's children. You see, you and I are Barabbas in this story. I said before that attitudes to sin vary enormously in our society and so many people see "sin" as an outdated concept. But the whole point of creation was us to have a relationship with God and to give glory to God but in our free will we rejected Him just as Barabbas rejected God, just as Barabbas went out and sinned. And when we did that we missed the point. And that's what God calls "sin". It's conspicuous, you can't hide it. We're all guilty of that and ‘the wages of sin is death'. See, God is wondrous and perfect and holy and awesome and a loving God and it's hard to imagine love and judgment in one person. Yet my friend Paul, the magistrate, I was talking about him earlier, Paul is a really fair and compassionate man, he's a great husband, he's a wonderful father, but he's also just. I look at him and it gives me some understanding at how those things fit together in God's nature. In His love, instead of letting you and me pay the price, in His love God sends Jesus, His Son, to die in my place. Now you and I might say, "Look, I'm no Barabbas. I haven't killed people. I haven't done all these horrible things." The point is, the moment we turn our back on God, the moment we reject Him, the moment we do one thing wrong – because God is holy, pure, perfect, clean – the moment we sin we deserve death. God's Word tells us "The wages of sin in death", and yet when we put our faith in this Jesus, in this Jesus who died on our behalf, we're forgiven. You too are one of the sons and daughters of Abba – Dad – God. We too are loved by Him and we too can put our faith in Jesus and believe with our hearts and with our heads that on this very first Easter, on that Cross, Jesus paid the price of our sin and when we believe in Him we have complete forgiveness. Finally, Pilate handed Him over to be crucified, so that the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying His own cross He went out to a place of the Skull which in Aramaic is known as Golgotha. Here they crucified Him and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. And Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the Cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews'. Many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The Chief Priest of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Don't write ‘King of the Jews' but that this man claimed to be the King of the Jews.' And Pilate answered them, ‘What I have written, I've written.' When the soldiers crucified Jesus they took His clothes off, divided amongst them in four shares, one for each of them with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in a single piece from top to bottom. Let's not tear it they said, let's decided by lot who gets it. This happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said, ‘They divided their garments among them and cast lots for my clothing'. So this is what the soldiers did. Near the Cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there and the Disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son and to the Disciple, here is your mother.' And from that time on this Disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was completed and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I'm thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there and so they soaked a sponge in it and put the sponge on a stalk of hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When He'd received a drink Jesus said, ‘It is finished'. With that He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. That's the price, the price that Jesus paid for you and for me and Barabbas. And as much as we here in the 21st Century might have a cultural problem with the notion of sin, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change God, it doesn't change who God is, it doesn't change why God created us, it doesn't change the reality that you and I have fallen short of the glory of God. You and I have both rejected God and it doesn't change the reality that He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son. So many people in our society have this nagging sense of guilt, this nagging sense of inadequacy, this deep down sense that they're not good enough. And the reason is that we aren't good enough. And God comes to us to the Cross of Jesus Christ and cries out and says to us: I love you. You are my Barabbas, you are my child. I love you, I sent my Son to pay the price. Look at my Son, look at the Cross, put your faith in Him and you can have eternal life. A new life, a fresh life, a life that begins now, a life with me that goes on forever. When we believe Jesus we have the forgiveness that Jesus purchased. When we believe the door is flung open into a deep relationship with God, when we believe we have eternal life, we do. Anybody, the worst criminal, you, me even if he had believed … Barabbas.

Life doesn't always go as planned, but Psalm 23 reminds us that we can trust God in every season. Check out this message from Noah Felten, as he explores contentment, faith, and learning to say, 'Okay God,' even when it's hard.

“Okay God, if this is it, I'm going to kind of test you. Typically that's not a smart idea you know. I said, ‘okay God, if this is really of you, then you're going to make something happen.' I didn't put out resumes. I didn't do any of that stuff, but I'm going to consistently […]

“My birth stories are my testimony…I have never trusted God more with any situation in my entire life other than with the lives of my children and bringing them into this world.”Shelby's story is one of faith, trust, and surrendering. Shelby joins us today from Indiana sharing her wildly traumatic Cesarean story due to a placental abruption and her peaceful, healing home birth. Shelby was on vacation at a cabin in New York at 34 weeks when she woke up to regular contractions and heavy bleeding. She rushed to the nearest hospital, was put under general anesthesia for her Cesarean, was transferred via a separate ambulance from her baby to a hospital 3 hours away, and had a 23-day NICU stay in the height of COVID 800 miles away from her family and community.She and her husband were certain they would not have any more children. But as they fought for healing through faith-based counseling, their hearts yearned for another baby and a chance at a healing birth experience. She completely surrendered, found holistic prenatal care, and created a birth space for herself where she knew she felt safe. She was brave and vulnerable, and her second birth was everything she hoped it would be. As Meagan says at the end of this episode, “Get educated. Love yourself. Have faith in you and your body and your baby. You are amazing. You are a true Woman of Strength.”How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Meagan: Women of Strength, we have our friend, Shelby, here with us today sharing her HBAC story. In addition to her HBAC story, she's got some other unique things that I think are going to be important for us to talk about today. One is placental abruption. That is something that is definitely a reason for a Cesarean and one of those absolute needed reasons for a Cesarean. We are going to talk a little bit more about that and then we are going to talk about faith and how faith in whatever faith looks like to you, it's so important to cling onto that. Shelby has some messages about that. Then we really want to talk about physiological birth. We hear it. We see it online. I mean, if you go on Instagram and you go into the birth world, you're going to see it almost 100% guaranteed but what does that really mean? We're going to be diving in with that today. Shelby, you are in– where did it say, Indiana? Shelby: Indiana, yeah. Meagan: I have to look at my notes. Indianapolis, Indiana. She's in Indiana so Women of Strength, if you are coming from her area, definitely listen up as well. Okay, so we have a Review of the week and this is by birthing confident. It says, “Invaluable information. I love this podcast. As a mom planning a VBAC and a VBAC-trained birth doula, the information shared on this podcast is invaluable. I have become so passionate about helping all women know their birth options and avoid unnecessary C-sections. I think this podcast is great for all expectant mothers” and I 100% agree with that. This podcast is for anyone and everyone because like she said we are wanting to help people avoid unnecessary and/or undesired Cesareans. We have a ridiculous Cesarean rate. It is through the roof. I would love to see it start dropping and I don't know if this podcast truly is going to impact the Cesarean rate the way I would love it to, but I do believe that it's a starting point. It's a starting place for you guys to learn your options for birth after Cesarean and to learn how to have a better Cesarean experience if you have one because that's also a really important factor that I think a lot of people forget about. Not only do we share just VBAC stories, but we do share healing, beautiful CBAC stories and repeat Cesareans. Thank you so much, birthingconfident, for your review. As always, please if you haven't yet, leave us a review. You can do so on Apple Podcasts. You can message us. You can rate us on Spotify and all of the places that you listen to your podcast. Meagan: Okay, cute Shelby. Welcome to the show. Shelby: Thank you. I'm so excited. Meagan: I am so excited. So let's dive in. I am actually really excited to talk a little bit more about placental abruption as well and hear about your experience. Shelby: Yeah. I don't think I even knew it was a thing honestly before it happened to me. I think it's something that people don't really talk about and it's probably a good thing because it's really scary but also, it would have been good to maybe know what was going on. I know it wouldn't have changed the outcome, but yeah. I just had no idea that was even something that could happen. With my first pregnancy, it was very run-of-the-mill. Everything was good and I was planning on birthing at a birthing center in Indianapolis so I was still going for that natural, unmedicated birth. I didn't really know anything that went into that as you do with your first and I feel like you do the typical making the baby registry and doing all of these things that don't really actually help you with your birth. Not that I would have gotten the chance to even try anyway. I feel like I just definitely didn't really have much knowledge and I think the problem is that you don't know what you don't know which is why I literally recommend this podcast to all of my friends who are even pregnant with their first baby because I'm like, “Just learn the things. Learn all of the things.” We took a very basic birthing course through the birthing center and it was just virtual, like four sessions and it was not super helpful honestly but we also didn't get to implement it. The pregnancy itself was just very normal. I mean, I have pretty much all of the symptoms which is the worst like really horrible rib pain and nausea and heartburn and all of the things. What was crazy though, this was in 2021 and I actually got COVID while I was pregnant also. Everyone I've talked to thinks that's probably why I had a placental abruption.Meagan: That's interesting to know. Shelby: Yeah. I had it in about my 5th month of pregnancy in September and I was due in January. It was horrible for a week but then I recovered and I was back to working out. I was totally fine. I didn't have any blood pressure issues after that. Everything reallly seemed okay. We decided at 33 weeks that we were going to go to New York which is really far away from Indiana on vacation for Thanksgiving to gather with all of my husband's family. My midwives cleared it. Like I said, I was working out. I was healthy. I was fine. The trip was going super well. I was working out while we were there. I was doing barre obviously so I was doing safe things. Fitness is a really big part of my life but also, it's not something I added in during pregnancy. It was just normal for me. Meagan: I used to take barre too. I took barre and was teaching barre with my second TOLAC. It's a very low impact but very, very good for strength and cardio. Shelby: Yeah, and my husband and my father-in-law were doing them with me so we have some really awesome videos of me at 34 weeks pregnant working out with my husband and my father-in-law doing barre. But yeah. Everything was going well and anything that was slightly risky which really even wasn't, I wasn't doing. They did this office chair floor hockey where they were pushing each other around in office chairs and playing hockey in a building and I didn't do it. I sat on the sidelines and observed. I was being really what I feel like was cautious. Meagan: Responsible. Shelby: Right, yeah. We even took family pictures on Saturday and everything, I have pictures of us smiling and laughing and then literally the next day we had a baby which was crazy. I start having Braxton Hicks contractions at 20 weeks. For both of my pregnancies, I just feel like I start having them really early so they are not shocking for me. But that Saturday, I remember several times looking at my husband and being like, “These feel a little stronger than I remember them being,” but with your first, you don't know anything. I kept mentioning that to him but they weren't super regular and there were no other signs of anything, just Braxton Hicks contractions. Then that night when we went to bed, I couldn't really sleep. I was laying there by myself the only one awake. We were all staying in this big cabin together which was great. My husband and I were in our room. At 4:00 AM– this is so funny to me now that I know what labor is actually like. At 4:00 AM, I started timing contractions and they were less than 5 minutes apart when I started timing them. I'm like, What was wrong with me?So after an hour of them being like that, I woke my husband up and I was like, “I think you should go get your mom,” because she is actually a midwife which was good. Meagan: Oh, convenient. Shelby: She was in the room next to us. Yeah. I was like, “I think you should go get your mom because this is not right.” They were not just less than 5 minutes apart. They were pretty uncomfortable. She came over and checked things out. I know now that she definitely knew that something was going on but she was really good at keeping her cool. She was like, “Why don't you go shower and try to relax?” When I went to go to the bathroom and shower, I started bleeding. Like I said, I knew nothing about labor, so I was like, “Oh, well maybe I am in labor” which was really scary because I was only 34 weeks but it was a lot of bleeding. I was like, “Well, I don't know what's normal,” but I know that obviously, my mother-in-law knew what was going on. She was like, “It's okay. We'll have Chad (my father-in-law) just go start the car and we'll go in and get everything checked out.” So we were in the middle of the Adirondacks which is literally nowhere. We had a 25-minute drive to the nearest hospital and this hospital, I mean we were probably the only people there. It was 5:30 in the morning maybe. They didn't have an OB there. They didn't have a surgical team there. They were all at home so we come in and the front desk lady is like, “What's your occupation?” She's typing like a sloth. I was like, “Girlfriend, I am bleeding and I am in full-on labor. Can we just go inside?” So that was crazy. She's asking me to sign stuff and I'm telling my husband, “You have to sign.” At this point, contractions were pretty back-to-back and they were super strong. I could tell I was bleeding with every one. I could feel it. They got me back into the ER and the poor nurse. I know that this was probably so scary for her, especially with an OB not even there but she was asking me, “Have you felt her move recently? I can't find a heartbeat.” I was like, “I don't know. I'm in labor. I don't know if she's moving or not.” Every time I'd have a contraction, she'd just be like, “Oh wow, that's a lot of blood.” I'm like, “Thank you. I know.” Meagan: You're like, “I can feel it.” Shelby: Yeah, it was wild. By the time the OB got there, she checked. She said I was fully dilated and effaced. Meagan: Holy cow. Shelby: This was maybe 2 hours. It was not long. Now that I've been through a full labor, I'm like, that is crazy. My body had to have just been in panic mode like, We have to get this baby out right now.She checked and something that was kind of cool was I knew that my baby was head down. She had been from 20 weeks. She was perfectly always in the same spot because I could always feel her kicks really high and one of the times the OB checked, she goes, “Oh, and she's breech so we're just going to have to go.” I was like, “She's not breech. Check again. She's not breech.” She checked again and she was like, “Oh, you're right.” I was like, “Yeah.” So the nurse brings in all of the scrubs and stuff for my husband to put on and as he's getting dressed and everything, he's fully ready to go. He's all excited because he wasn't really super scared. Meagan: He didn't understand what was going on. Shelby: Yeah, but also, he's like, “I'm going to meet my baby today. This is so cool.” And the literal most gut-wrenching thing of my life was when the OB was like, “No, we don't have time. It's going to be under general. You can't come.” She wheeled me out of the room and I looked back and saw him standing there fully dressed just like yeah. It was awful. In that moment, I wasn't even worried about myself and I wasn't worried about the baby. I was just like, He's going to be traumatized from this. This is horrible. They took me back there and I'm in labor holding onto the top of the bed. I was only in there probably for a minute, but it is scary. The whole room is white and there is somebody over here counting instruments. They stick a mask on your face and you can barely breathe and then the next thing you know you wake up in recovery. I woke up as the only person in this room. There were maybe two guys sitting at the desk but that was it. Nobody else was there. They didn't say anything to me. Nobody told me if she was okay. I knew nothing. Yeah. I was just laying here. Eventually, my husband came in and he showed me pictures of her. He was like, “She's okay. She's on oxygen but she's doing all right.” But yeah. It was totally crazy. Then they moved me to– I don't even know. It probably wasn't actually a postpartum room. I don't even know if they have those at this hospital. I feel like they probably try to send everybody everywhere else. Then basically, they told me, “Hey, you have 10 minutes if you want to go see her and try to hold her before the ambulances get here to transfer you guys,” because there wasn't a NICU there and they probably weren't even– they couldn't have cared for her. I think as soon as we got there, they must have called Albany Medical Center because it's 3 hours away. She was born at 7:30 in the morning. I started timing contractions at 4:00 AM. We didn't leave until after 5:00. The whole thing was so fast. I'm getting ready to get out of bed and get in a wheelchair to go see her and they didn't warn me how much pain I would be in and they didn't really help me get out of bed either. As I went to stand up, I leaned back a little and after you've had a C-section, I almost passed out. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Shelby: Yeah, so I get in this wheelchair and I get in the room where she is. She's got the oxygen mask on and she's got all of these tubes and all of the things and you could tell in the pictures I was barely with it. What I remember bothering me the most is I had obviously been intubated so I felt like there was stuff in my throat because it was so swollen. My mouth was all dry and I got to hold her for a couple of minutes but it didn't even feel real. Then the NICU team got there. She was on one ambulance and I was on a different one and my husband was in a car so we were all separated for 3 hours to Albany. Halfway there, my ambulance– so hers left first, and halfway there, we passed hers pulled over on the side of the road. I started panicking. There was no communication between the two ambulances. Meagan: Oh my heavens. I'm dying right now. Shelby: Yeah. The EMT, bless her heart, was amazing. She was like, “It could be anything. It could be one of the monitors isn't hooked up right and they're just stopping to do that or they need to change out an oxygen tank and they can't do that while driving.” She helped me calm down a little bit. She probably shouldn't have said this, but we got closer to Albany and she said, “We don't need to panic.” I don't remember if she actually said this but she said, “Unless they pass us again going fast.” I kid you not but we were 5 minutes out from the hospital and her ambulance went by us with lights and sirens on. I had maybe seen her for 10 minutes before this and she couldn't contact the other ambulance. So just traumatizing, all of it. Thankfully, when we pulled into the hospital, the first thing that the guy on the baby's ambulance did was come over and say, “Everything is okay.” It was just something. They had a lead or something come off so they needed to stop and take care of it so it wasn't a big deal but it made it feel like a big deal. We are in New York still for all of this. We get in there and I have to get settled in the postpartum section and she has to get settled in the NICU and then finally, hours later, I was still bleeding a lot so they were trying to take care of that. They were doing the fundal rubs and I remember texting my mom and I was like, “If they do it again, I'm going to punch someone in the face,” because it was so awful. They were saying, “It's because the EMT didn't do them on the ride over that you are bleeding so much,” so they kept coming over and doing them. It was so awful. So then we had a 23-day NICU stay in New York, just my husband and I because no one else could even visit us because it was 2021 in New York which was pretty bad for COVID. Once I was discharged after 4 days, technically, the only visitors allowed were my husband and I with our NICU bracelets to see her. Even if they had someone come, they couldn't even come into the hospital. We didn't really want to leave the hospital because we wanted to be there with her. We were Ubering to Target. We didn't have a car because we flew there. We are Ubering to Target and thank goodness they had a Ronald McDonald house there so we were staying there and they supplied a lot of dinners and housing which was the biggest blessing in the world. I literally don't know what we would have done otherwise. Getting discharged without your baby is super horrible and she was only 4 pounds, 10 ounces so she was really little and nursing just never took off for us. I didn't get to try for a while even because she was being tube-fed and she could barely stay awake because she was so tiny. Every nurse that you'd have would tell you their tips and tricks which is great but not helpful when every 3 hours you are being told something different. We tried so hard and eventually got to the point where it was like, “Let's just get home. We are 800 miles from home and if it takes a bottle, that's fine. We just need to get home.” Yeah. After 23 days, my amazing mom drove to New York because we didn't even have a car seat. It was all at home. She picked us up and drove us back home. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Shelby: Yeah, so then you are coming home with this little 5-pound baby and you are like, “How are we even allowed to do this? She doesn't even barely fit in the car seat.” It was so crazy. After that, we were really unsure if we'd have more kids. Especially right after, we were like, “I don't know if we can do that again.” My husband and I always wanted lots of kids and a big family. That has always been something that we wanted so after that first experience– and you do a quick Google search of placental abruption and they say, “Once you've had one, it's 15% more likely that you'll have another one.”You're like, I can't go through that again. That was horrible. I knew that if we got pregnant again, I was like, I'm going to feel like a ticking time bomb. All of these also quick Google searches tell you that it can happen as early as 20 weeks. Thank goodness we made it to 34 but I'm like, If that happens at 20, baby is probably not going to make it. Meagan: That's a scary thought. That's a really scary thought. They really have advanced the medical world so much to a point where even when babies are born really, really preemie, there are higher chances than there used to be, but the thought of that in general is just too much to think about. Shelby: Oh yeah, and my mom who drove to New York to get us– which is probably part of the reason they discharged us. She's a NICU nurse so she actually knew how to feed this litle 5-pound baby who was still causing us feeding issues and all of the things, but I've obviously heard from her too the stories of the really early babies. I mean, even 29 weeks and I was like, It's just too much. But we also knew that we couldn't stay in that place because we both were not in a good place with it. My husband was obviously so traumatized for different reasons and I was too. It was just a lot. We started seeking out some faith-based counseling basically like spiritual reconciliationing kind of to work through it all because I knew even if we weren't going to have more kids, I could not just live with that raw the way it was. Meagan: Both of you needed to process that. Shelby: Yeah. We were just praying for the release of that and we even prayed over our poor baby because I was like, She's probably holding trauma from that too. The losses that I was experiencing were also losses for her. She missed out on the golden hour and a peaceful entry into this world. It would drive me crazy thinking that her first moments in this world were with people she didn't know and it was bright in the room and being hooked up to machines. I was like, That was probably so scary for her too. We could tell for a long time, probably her first 7 months that she was so sensory. I mean, just screamed and hated the car seat, hated transitions, hated bedtime. I mean, it was basically non-stop screaming for 7 months. I was like, You were supposed to be in the womb for 6 more weeks and instead, you were in the NICU with lights and sounds and all of the things. We just started praying really hard over all of it and speaking to some really trusted friends who worked through trauma with people. I started listening to The VBAC Link. This is probably when it started obsessively. I was doing Amazon deliveries just for fun on the side. I could take the baby with me so I'd put her in her car seat. This was eventually when she stopped screaming in the car seat so it took a while. I would put my AirPods in and while I did all of these deliveries, I would just listen to back to back to back episodes forever and for months. I think honestly that was probably what started getting me thinking even about more kids. I started learning about VBACs and how really the odds of having a VBAC are not that horrible and that it's really not any riskier than a second C-section and I was like, I really don't want another C-section because that was– I mean, I couldn't even roll over in bed by myself. My husband told me, “You don't usually need me, but that was the one time you actually needed me.” He was like, “Honestly, that was really hard to see you in that much pain and struggling that much.” I was like, “Yeah. I couldn't even pee by myself.” Meagan: Oh, I remember my husband literally helping with my second. He had to hold me up in the shower. I was like, “I just can't stand the whole time in the shower. Can you just hold me up and shower me?” I remember feeling so vulnerable and I was frustrated because I'm like, This isn't my personality. I'm very independent. Why is this happening? Yes. Shelby: Independent and strong. Yes. But also in my fashion, I was walking to the NICU by myself very slowly by day two. I'm like, What was wrong with me? But also, we didn't have a choice. I was about to be discharged. We had to figure something out. Thankfully, I didn't need to stay for 4 days, but because I had nowhere else to go, they were like, “You can stay all 4 days if you want.” I was like, “Okay, great.” But yeah, so I just started learning everything and consuming as much information as I could about physiological birth and about VBACs and there really isn't a ton of information about placental abruption. There are risk factors which I had none other than COVID which no one talks about yet because it had just started, but I didn't have high blood pressure. I obviously didn't do drugs. Meagan: You didn't have multiples. It was a singleton. Yeah. Shelby: It never happened before. My placenta was in a good location. Meagan: Your membranes hadn't ruptured. Shelby: Yeah, my water never ruptured with her so it was crazy. But around when she was probably 9 or 10 months, I couldn't even believe it, but I told my husband, “I'm not totally opposed to having another baby.”He was like, “For real?” We talked about it and we prayed about it a lot and I told God over and over again, “If I get pregnant again, this is going to be the biggest test of my trust in You ever because I know that if I try to worry about it, I'm going to go crazy. If I try to control the outcome which I can't, I'm going to go crazy.” So it basically was like, “If it happens, I'm just going to have to trust you with it fully. No holding back.” Actually, before we were even pregnant, started shopping around for providers. Meagan: That is key. That is so important. Shelby: Yeah. We do have one hospital locally that has midwives and birthing pools. I was like, “Okay, that sounds like a pretty good option for a VBAC.” We went to talk to them– well, I went by myself. I had my list of questions ready. I walked in ready to not take any crap because I also knew a lot about what they were probably going to say and they said, “Yeah.” First of all, they wouldn't call it a VBAC of course because nobody wants to do that. Meagan: TOLAC.Shelby: That was the first thing. I was like, “No. I'm going to do this.” Yeah, so they were like, “We'll allow you to try.” I was like, “Okay.” They were boasting about their VBAC rates and it was 60%. It was not very high and I was like, “Umm, okay. That's not that awesome, but all right.” They started listing off the things you have to do because I had all of these questions ready because I knew. So you have to have an IV hooked up. I was like, That's annoying. I was like, “Can you at least have the hep lock?” They said, “Yeah, that would be fine.” Then they said, “But you have to have continuous monitoring.” I was like, “Okay. I really, really don't want continuous monitoring,” and they try to make it sound better like, “Well, it's waterproof and it's mobile so you can still move around with it,” but I also knew about the statistics of continuous monitoring and how a lot of times they indicate things that aren't actually an issue and then especially if you are a VBAC patient, they're like, “Well, time for another C-section because baby's heart rate is dropping.” Baby's heart rate is supposed to fluctuate as they are descending. Meagan: Just like ours. Shelby: There was that and then they also said, “You can labor in the water, but VBACs aren't allowed to push in the water.” I was like, “Doesn't that defeat the purpose?” Especially if it's a VBAC patient, we should be doing everything we can to ease the labor. Why would you make them get out right when they are feeling like they need to push? They were like, “Oh, well it makes the OBs uncomfortable.” I was like, “Well, the OBs aren't delivering this baby so I don't really care what makes the OBs uncomfortable.”So they made me schedule out all of my prenatal appointments and I went to one of them but I told my husband, “I just don't want to have to fight for it. I know I can. I know that I can go in there and say ‘No thank you' and be confident in myself, but I don't really want to.” So I had never ever even considered a home birth. I don't even remember how, but we somehow heard about the only home birth midwife in our area and I scheduled an appointment with her. I didn't even get established with her until I was 19 weeks. I pushed out the OB care for a really long time when we found out we were pregnant because I knew we didn't really love them. So I just didn't go for a long time. I felt like everything was good. I felt like I was pretty in tune with everything. But yeah, I skipped a little bit but when we got pregnant with our second, it was a lot more immediate where I started praying about it all like, Okay God. This is for You because You are the only one who knows how long this baby is going to gestate and you're the only One who knows if it's going to end how we hope it does. I started praying. This is something. I started praying really specific prayers. I believe that God cares even about the little things which really aren't little things in this, but I prayed that my placenta would be in a good spot and I prayed that my placenta would be strong and that it would make it all the way to term and I prayed that this baby would make it all the way to term. Literally every little concern I had, I pretty much sat in the shower every day and just spoke it aloud. I was like, God, I know that You are a God of healing and restoration and I know that You can do that for me. I believed that through this birth, He was going to heal the trauma from our first because I was like, that feels like this is how it has to go at this point. We went and we met this midwife. She didn't doubt for a second. She didn't say anything that was like, “I'll let you try.” She was like, “You sound like a perfect candidate for a VBAC.” I told her that I had COVID and she was like, “Well, that's probably why your placenta ruptured.” She told me that the placentas she had seen throughout COVID and recently, she was like, “They are not healthy and they are not sustaining a lot of them until the end of pregnancy or if they are, they don't look good by the time they get there.” She wasn't surprised. But yeah, she said, “You sound like a perfect candidate. I think you can do this.” At every appointment with her, we'd sit there for an hour and we'd talk and she totally respected all of my wishes. She'd ask me if I wanted to do something. I'd ask her for information and then she'd let me decide either way which was cool too. With our second pregnancy, we didn't use a Doppler until I was in labor. I could feel her moving first of all so I knew that she was well but we actually started using a fetoscope which was really cool. You can't start using it until after 20 weeks so we had to wait for a really long time to hear her heartbeat but our toddler would watch us do it too. It was really cute because she would walk around with this fetoscope around her neck and she would go put it on daddy's belly and say, “I'm listening to Daddy's baby,” or she'd put it on her belly and it was really sweet. Yeah, we took a full 180 with this pregnancy. I had learned so much at this point that I was so confident in my body and in my instincts and all of it. We didn't find out the gender which with our first one, we found out at 8 weeks with the blood test. We didn't find out gender. I didn't do much prenatal care. We didn't do genetic screening anyway with the first one either because that didn't really matter to us. But yeah, I didn't even do an ultrasound until we were 32 weeks or something. We waited a long time because I had learned a lot about ultrasounds and how we actually don't know as much about them as we might think we know. Meagan: Might think we know. Yeah. Shelby: I read about how sometimes the techs are like, “Oh, they're moving away from it,” because they can feel it and I'm like, “We're not going to do that.” We waited and just had the technician who worked in our midwife's office which was perfect because we could tell her we wanted a very minimal one just to check basically the heart and vital organs and the brain to make sure everything was okay. She would pause the screen and take the measurement she needed and take the Doppler off and everything so it was very minimal. I was like, “I don't really care if they have 10 fingers and toes. We'll figure that out later. Just check the important stuff. Don't tell us the gender.” We did that and she basically was like, “Everything from as far as I can tell looks good.” That was pretty much all we did. My lifestyle was still very active and I was eating as best as I could. I didn't really feel like I had anything that was anything of concern which was perfect. I remember at my 30-week appointment, my midwife looked at me. We hadn't really talked about specific expectations I think for the birth because I didn't really know what I needed or what I wanted but she looked at me at my 30-week appointment without prompting and said, “I think what you really need from me in this birth is for me to just be there and for you to just do your thing.”Meagan: I love that. Shelby: I was like, “That's actually perfect. That's exactly what I want,” because at that point, I had listened to hundreds of birth stories and watched hundreds of birth videos and shown them all to my husband. Everything I was learning, obviously I was soaking it in but if there was anything I felt was pertinent to me, I was showing to him too. He really benefited from that because we went into birth also with him not being afraid. He would watch birth videos with me and he'd be like, “Wow, that's amazing.” That's one of my things. Knowledge is power and educate your husbands too or whoever is going to be with you at your birth. Physiological birth especially, they should be comfortable with it. They should know what it looks like and how it progresses and how to best support you in that. That was huge for us. I made him watch a lot of birth videos and he wasn't even weirded with it by the time it came around. But yeah. She said that and I was like, “Yeah, you know, that sounds great.” We made it all the way to 40 weeks and I just felt completely at peace the whole time. I wasn't worried and I was like, “She's going to come when she's going to come.” Another thing they had told me at the hospital was, “We only let VBACs go to 41 weeks and once you go past 41 weeks, you have to have a C-section.” I was like, “I'm not going to do that. I don't even know what my typical gestation is because I haven't made it term.”Meagan: I was going to say, you didn't even make it to 40 weeks. Shelby: Yeah, so my midwife was like, “Well, if you get to 42 weeks, we'll do an ultrasound and make sure everything is okay,” but she wasn't putting a timeline on it which was so great. I did a lot of courses. I stay at home with my daughters so I just listened to a lot of courses. I did the Christian HypnoBirthing one, our midwives did a course. It was really cool. They got us all together at one of their houses and went through a course with us and our spouses with all the moms who were about to have babies. I also did the Free Birth Society course which I was kind of so/so on but I was like, “If I want to know how to home birth, I just want to know about everything. I want to know about the complications that could happen and what you should do in those situations,” so even though I wasn't planning to free birth, I still wanted to learn all of the things. That was one of the things that I did and I was just listening to constant everything. When we made it to– I guess it was two days before my due date, so July 29, I was having fairly consistent contractions in the evening and so we were all excited. We're timing them and we were texting our moms but then they stopped the next morning which was a Sunday before church so we were getting ready to go to church but then I lost my mucus plug in the shower. I was like, “Okay, just in case something is going to happen, we should probably watch online.” We stayed home, watched online, and nothing was happening all day. We knew that we shouldn't get our hopes up but also you make it that far and you're like, “I'm just ready.” Our church had a picnic that night at a local water park so I was like, “Well, nothing has happened all day. We might as well go because we didn't go to church.” We went to this picnic and we were doing the mini playground with our 1-year-old at the time who is water crazy. I think I jumped to get into one of the tubes and felt something kind of funny then around 8:30 PM, I had a really strong contraction. I was like, “Okay. That was unusual.” I went to the bathroom and had bloody show so I went back out and got my husband. I was like, “We've got to go home.” On the drive home, contractions were 8-10 minutes apart. I showered and we called the midwife and our photographer and my mom and grandma who were coming to get my daughter and the dogs because we didn't know how it would go so we didn't want anybody else there who needed care obviously. Meagan: Well and your last labor was actually pretty dang fast. Shelby: Right, yeah so I was like, “I don't know how this is going to go.” My mom came and helped us clean up the kitchen which is where we were going to put the pool and everything. The midwife and her student arrived at around 10:30 PM. At this point, I was between the coffee table and the couch on my knees holding a comb and my husband was pushing on my back. I labored just in that one position for a long time and that felt as okay as it can feel. Then at around midnight, the midwife heard one of my contractions and was like, “That one sounded a little different. Let's get in the pool.” So I got into the pool and that was instant relief. I was able to sit between contractions and try to relax then after a little while, I was too afraid to feel. We did zero cervical checks. I didn't want to know. I was like, I just want to go. After a while, it was so cool how in tune she was with it all. She goes, “Why don't you see if you can feel your baby's head?” I was like, “Are you serious?” So I reached up and I could feel her head. I was like, “Okay. That gave me a little bit of encouragement to keep going.” I would say probably about an hour after I got into the water, my body started pushing. I didn't push voluntarily once. It was wild. I felt something at one point. We were about to change positions again. I had been in the tub for a little while and they were getting the bedroom ready. I was like, “Hold on, something just happened.” I reached down and a big hand-sized bulge of my amniotic sac was sticking out still full of fluid.Meagan: Yeah, I've seen that. It's so cool. Shelby: I told my husband, “Do you want to feel it?” Meagan: It's like a water balloon sticking out of your vagina. Shelby: Yeah, then the midwife was like, “Okay, we're not going to move. We're going to stay here. Obviously this position is good.” I held a comb in my hand the whole time and I had my husband push on my back because with both labors, I have had total back labor. I don't know why. I just have. I mean, she said I pushed for less than 40 minutes which was crazy. I felt her head come out but we didn't know it was a girl yet so that was fun and then I tried to slow down because I knew that sometimes you need a push or a contraction between and you don't want to get pushed too hard and tear but I couldn't. My body literally just pushed her all the way out in one push. That fetal ejection reflex is definitely a thing. So at 2:14 AM was when she was born and my first contraction was at 8:30 PM. I caught her by myself in the water and pulled her up. She had her cord on like a backpack. It was around both arms and her neck so I had her head out of the water but I could barely get her up. The midwife came over and untangled her and I mean, my husband and I just sat there for probably over 5 minutes before we even checked what the gender was because we were just in awe. We didn't even care. We were like, “Whatever. It's fine either way.” So when we finally looked, we saw it was our girl and we already had a name picked out, Elowen Ruth so we got to hold her for a long time but obviously, my midwife could tell that I was bleeding a lot so she had me get out and I had planned not obviously to do Pitocin unless I really needed it especially before baby was born but it was a lot of bleeding. I tried one of our tinctures first and it didn't really slow it down. So we did some Pitocin. She just did it. I didn't even notice. I was sitting there holding my baby and I was like, “You can't make this moment not perfect.” So we did some Pitocin and delivered the placenta. Then we went out and just sat on the couch and my husband made a snack plate and we all– the photographer and the midwife and her student and my husband and I just sat there talking about the birth and eating snacks.Then after a while, my husband got to hold her while I got cleaned up. I did end up having a lot of bleeding.Meagan: I was just going to ask if the bleeding resolved or did it continue?Shelby: I mean, it stopped pretty well. I didn't end up having to go get checked, but about a week later, my mom and when I took the baby into her first appointment at our nurse practitioner, I wasn't even there for me and she was like, “We are running iron labs on you because you look super pale.” I was really anemic and we didn't know so I think that probably was something. Now I know for the future, if I have a lot of bleeding again, I need to get it checked out really fast because I think it really slowed down my healing. Other than the initial pain of a C-section, my vaginal birth recovery was much more difficult. I could barely walk or stand for 4 weeks. I could not believe it. I remember going to my appointment and I was like, “Is this normal?” The birth went so well. I know it was fast but I think it was because my iron was so low. My body just couldn't heal. I did end up having a little bit of tearing but we didn't stitch it or anything. It healed pretty well on its own. It was super painful when I would have to pee and all of the things but eventually, it healed up on its own. But yeah. I mean, we got to sleep in our own bed. Well, I mean, the husband and the baby got to sleep. I could not. That high we were on, my midwife told me, she was like, “Okay. She's probably going to sleep for the next 5 or 6 hours and you should try to also.” I laid there and I was like, “There is no sleeping. There is none.” After that, she's like, “It's time to nurse 24/7.” Meagan: Of course. Shelby: She's 9 months today and we are still breastfeeding which is huge because with my first, I exclusively pumped for 8.5 months and that was so hard. I was so determined. I also took breastfeeding courses leading up to this baby because I was like, “We are going to make this work because I do not want to pump again.” I love nursing. I have to leave for an Army training here in a couple of weeks and I'm planning to take her with me and still nurse her at night time. I'm like, “We're going to make this go as long as we can.” Yeah, I mean, it was wild but so good. Meagan: Wild but amazing. Shelby: Yeah. Meagan: Did you find it healing? Because sometimes I feel like when you have a harder postpartum where you're like, “I'm not walking as well and I'm feeling gross with the iron,” that can be defeating and frustrating. But did you find that healing or were you like, “I would still take this over the other?” Shelby: Oh absolutely. I mean, I definitely had times where I would just break down not only because of the hormones but everything else. With my husband, I'd be like, “I did it. Why is this so hard?” I had prepared for postpartum. I made sure we had help lined up for our daughter and for meals and for everything so I was really able to take the time I needed. I think if I hadn't done that, I don't know what would have happened honestly because I needed it. I couldn't even sit on the couch. I had to be laying down in the bed or I was in pain. Meagan: Dang. Shelby: I think preparing for it definitely helped and the birth itself made it all worth it. Now, I'm like, Yeah, that was really hard for a couple of weeks but that experience made up for it for sure. Meagan: Worth it. Shelby: Overall, with the recovery, I'm like, Man, that was really hard with the C-section. it was two really hard days with the C-section but everyday is a little better. With my vaginal birth, I was like, Man, everyday is gettig worse. It's hurting more. But it was still really good. Meagan: What was it that was in pain? Was it your pelvic floor? Was it your abdomen? Shelby: It was probably my pelvic floor honestly and also because I think I had torn and she came so fast and there was no slow stretching, I mean– Meagan: Fetal ejection. Shelby: From the first one, it was crazy. I think it really was pelvic floor. I remember one of my friends describing it as she just felt heavy. I was like, “Yes. That is what it is.” It just felt heavy and it ached. Yeah. That was hard. I mean, even being in the shower didn't fix it and that was how my husband and I had planned to bond postpartum was showers together and stuff and I would be in there and I'm like, “I cannot stand up. I have to go back to bed.” Meagan: Too much pressure. Shelby: Yeah, for sure. Meagan: That makes sense. Okay, so let's talk about faith and getting yourself through a really, really rough first birth and you finding that faith. Do you have any advice for the listeners to gain faith in their ability?Shelby: Yeah. I mean, for me it was just knowing that God created my body to do this. No matter what had already happened, my body knew how to birth. I think what helped was I was like, Okay, it's already gotten fully dilated and effaced in my first labor. Maybe not gradually or the way it should have, but I was like, I've kind of already done it. I didn't get to the pushing but just knowing that I was designed to do it and through a lot of prayer and speaking and speaking, “God, you created me to do this. You gave me this baby to grow and to birth,” and just the knowledge is the same thing. Learning about how your body was made to do this is just huge and like I said, just praying those specific prayers for me was so important and proclaiming the promises that God has that He is a healer and a redeemer and He cares about our birth stories. He totally does. That was part of His plan from the beginning. I think for me personally, my birth stories are my testimony. I feel like until these two babies, I really was like, Oh, I grew up in the church and I don't really have a cool story which is fine but also with these babies, I'm like, I have never trusted God more with any situation in my entire life other than with the life of my children and bringing them into this world. For me, that was something I didn't really realize until recently too. That same friend was like, “I think this is your testimony.” I was like, “You're so right.” Meagan: That's cool. Shelby: It totally brought beauty from the whole experience. From the first one, you are like, Why in the world did this happen to me? What good could possibly come of this? We're traumatized. My baby is having sensory overload and I'm not at home. It was all of these things and then realizing that I shared about my story and I was able to connect with so many other moms who were like, “I had an emergency C-section” or “I had a really scary birth story” and now when I hear that a mom had a baby, my first thought is, How did her birth go and how is she doing? Did it go the way she planned and is she hurting? Those are my first thoughts instead of, Oh, is the baby okay? Okay, the baby is okay. It's made me really passionate about postpartum moms and at some point, I'd love to do something with that not while I have a 9-month-old and a 2-year-old but just knowing that there can be beauty that comes out of every story because in the moment, it totally did not feel like it with our first baby. Meagan: Right, yeah. That is the case a lot of the time. It feels like there is no beauty at all anywhere in that story and then you go and you listen to these stories and there is beauty in every single story and growth in every single story. There is learning. I think there is just so much to take from these stories. Then I wanted to go over physiological birth. There's a women and infant's blog or website and it says, “A normal physiological birth and birth are defined globally by midwife organizations as a birth that is powered by the innate human capacity of the birthing person and fetus.” The innate human capacity. “This means that there are no interventions performed that disrupt the normal physiological process in the absence of complications that warrant interventions supporting the physiological process of labor and birth has the potential to enhance birth outcomes and experiences.”I do believe so wholeheartedly that there are sometimes here. You had a real thing happening, a real medical–Shelby: Right. Thank goodness for the medical system in that situation, you know?Meagan: Yes. Thank goodness for intervention in that situation but that doesn't mean that we always have to just get all handsy with birth. It does show the benefits of supporting and fostering physiological birth of individuals include reduced Cesareans, increased breastfeeding success, improved birth experience, and reduced cost of care. Now, this world is very cost-minded especially with insurance and all of those things, but in the end, if you look at the reduced amount of money that we are spending when we are not paying for all of the interventions that happen during birth– and they don't always happen. We know that this is not a blank statement where it's like, “Every birth ends this way,” but usually when there's one, there are more. That adds up. Right? In the end, it's like, is that experience worth another experience? Even if you're in the hospital, you do not– you can totally have a physiological birth in a hospital. I love that so much. Some people don't feel safe out of the hospital. Shelby: Right. That's physiological birth. The key is being where you are safe because your body cannot progress as it needs to if it doesn't feel safe. I majored in animal science and I think about how animals won't have their babies if they don't feel safe. I think that we are mammals and our bodies are the same way. If you feel safest at home, awesome. If you feel safest in the hospital where you know you can get care right away, awesome. Yeah. You definitely just have to make that decision for yourself. Meagan: Yeah. I had a client who really wanted a home birth really, really badly. She decided not to, but decided to labor at home as long as possible and she was laboring and she was laboring and she was laboring and I was like, This labor. Something is off. Something is off. It was going but it wasn't really going and through chatting with her and doing a fear-clearing and fear-release to see if we could get over to that next stage, she never said, “I want to go to the hospital.” She didn't say those words but everything else that she was saying to me, that's what I heard. I said, “Why don't we go to the hospital? If we end up coming back home, that's okay but let's go and let's just see how things are going.” She was like, “I don't know,” because she was steering off of her plan in her mind of laboring at home. I said, “Okay, cool. It's going to be your decision.” About 25 minutes later, she was like, “Yeah, let's do it.” I'm not kidding you. The second she got into that car, it was a game changer. Shelby: Oh my gosh. Meagan: Because her mind was like, I'm going. She immediately felt better and safe. She didn't realize that's where she felt safer. We went. We had a total physiological birth. In fact, we didn't know if we were going to make it. She had the baby on the bed and the doctor was not there. Shelby: There's so much mental work that goes into it and everything. For me, knowing that I was going to my house. I hate packing and knowing I didn't have to leave and go somewhere, that was how I felt safe but I know a lot of people who are like, “No, I want to be in the hospital.” I'm like, “Great. Do it. Just make sure you are informed.” Meagan: Make sure you are informed. That is the ending tidbit here to this story. Be informed. Take a VBAC class. We have our VBAC class online. If you have any questions online, you can always email us on Instagram or in our email at info@thevbaclink.com. Hire a doula if you can. Hire a provider that you really, really trust to support you. Find that birthing location. Get the information. Learn what is important to you because what's important to you is going to stand out that day that you are in labor. Get educated. Love yourself. Have faith in you and your body and your baby. You are amazing. You are a true Woman of Strength. Shelby: Yes. So good. Thank you so much. Meagan: Thank you. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

If only the going was always easy. But life's not like that. Sometimes we have to travel through difficult times. Times that test our patience, our endurance and our faith. And it's right in the middle of those times that God's Word holds the answers that we need to make it through.   Life Wasn't Meant to be Easy These days, it's a bit unpopular for someone like me to be talking about obedience to God's Word. It's not something most of us want to hear. Aw, come on Berni, teach me about grace, tell me about God's blessings, I want to know more about God's love. That's the stuff people want to hear about and sure, they're all really good things. I mean, really good things. But what about these particular verses of Scripture, John chapter 14, verse 15: If you love me, you will obey my commandments. 1 John chapter 5, verse 3: For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. No, obedience to God's Word is not a particularly popular concept these days. But the whole point of obeying God, is that the only things He tells us not to do, are the things that are going to bring harm to us and the people around us. So paradoxically, obedience brings freedom. Obedience sets us free from the consequences of our sin ... and sin ... sin always has consequences, right? Okay that's great. But what about when the going gets tough? What about when other people are doing the wrong thing, and we're hurting? What about obedience to God's Word in that place when the degree of difficulty gets ratcheted up to about a 9.9? Psalm 119, verses 20 to 24: My soul is consumed with longing for your ordinances at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments; take away from me their scorn and their contempt, for I have kept your decrees. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your decrees are my delight, they are my counsellors. That's amazing, because the man writing this Psalm, the man speaking to God here, is under a lot of pressure. But he's taken a stand. He's made a decision that he will long for God's will, God's Word, God's ways, when? Just in the good times? No! At all times! Even when evil people are heaping scorn and contempt on him, even when princes are plotting against him. That's a tough decision, but it's the right one. Many centuries later, the Apostle Paul put it this way. Galatians chapter 6, verse 9: So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. The time when God's Word is most important, when God's wisdom is most important, when God's ways are most important, is when the going gets tough. Right in that moment when we want to give up honouring God by living His way, right in that instant, that's when obedience to God's Word is most important. Because in that moment, the enemy wants to snatch your inheritance away from you. But don't give up, because there's a harvest coming. When? Well, at harvest time of course! The trick, I guess, the piece of wisdom, the powerful Word that God wants us to hear today though, is don't give up in doing what is right. Don't give up honouring and obeying God. But that's not always going to be easy is it? One of the things I love about the Hebrew culture in which the Psalms of the Old Testament were written, is the powerful use of picture language to express deep emotions. The Jewish tradition is full of rich, evocative picture language, like Psalm 119, verses 25 and 26: My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes. Just drink that picture in for a moment: my soul clings to the dust. It speaks of complete and utter desolation. It speaks of burdens so heavy, a body so weary, that it's lying in the dust, barely able to move. Not even able to lift its head to look up at God. When you're in that place, it feels hopeless. It feels lonely. It feels as though you're the only one who's ever been there, and nobody else understands. My soul clings to the dust. It's a picture that we all get. It's a picture that speaks into the desolation that we've all felt. Perhaps you're in that place right now, where your soul is sucking in the dust, with nothing else to cling to. It's the place where we want to give up, because we don't have a single ounce of energy left in us. Yeah, we've all been there. So, what do you do? What does the Psalmist do? What does he have to say to God? God, revive me according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes. The first part of that makes a lot of sense – God revive me. The obvious thing to do, the obvious place to turn, the obvious cry for help … although how often do we miss the obvious? The question is, how does God bring that revival to an exhausted and completely depleted soul? Well, the psalmist knows! Revive me according to your word. When I told you of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes. You see, when we're in that desolate, dusty place, we need a way back. A real, tangible way back. And that way is through the Word of God. It's through God speaking to us. God's Word is food for the starving soul. God's Word is living water for a parched soul. But how often do we miss the obvious? I've seen Christians from time to time praying for revival. But revival begins at home. There will be no revival unless and until the living water, the Spirit of God, overflows from His people. You and I need revival in our hearts. You and I need to be filled to overflowing with the revelation of God through His Word, the joy of God, the healing of God, the Spirit of God. Revival begins at home! Lord revive me, according to your word. God's Word is a powerful thing, because not only does it bring revival to our hearts, not only does God breathe His Sprit into us through His Word, not only does God deliver His new life for us through His Word, but His Word also brings understanding. And understanding is wisdom. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you don't understand what's going on – either around you, or in you, or both? Sure you have, so have I. I mean, sometimes we don't even understand ourselves, let alone our circumstances, or the way other people behave and think. And the absence of that understanding, that wisdom if you will, makes life a difficult thing to live. Understanding as it turns out, is the key to living life. Psalm 119, verses 27 to 32: Lord, make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Put false ways far from me; and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees, O Lord; let me not be put to shame. I run the way of your commandments, for you enlarge my understanding. Understanding is mentioned twice in that passage, once at the beginning and once at the end. Again we see that the Psalmist is going through difficult times – my soul melts away for sorrow – and yet the thing that he asks for is understanding. That in itself is surprising enough. We spend our time asking God to take away the pain when our souls are melting away through sorrow, but the Psalmist is asking instead, for understanding. But understanding of what? Of the ways of God's precepts. In other words: Okay God, Your Word, Your precepts, they're all fine, that's a given. But now, God, I want to understand the ways of your precepts. I want to understand how the rubber hits the road. I want to understand how I can live them out, because I want your strength, I want to put false hope far from me, so teach me. I'll cling to your Word, because I know that as I live it out, You are going to enlarge my understanding. What a powerful prayer. It's a prayer for on-the-job training. You imagine asking God for that, over and over again … imagine the understanding, the wisdom, the power that God is going to unleash in your life. Just imagine! Here's the thing: God wants to do powerful things in you and through you, He just does. And He's put His Word there, the Bible, through which to give you, all the understanding you need. Make me understand the ways of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Wow!   A Heart for God's Word If I were to ask you today, what is the one thing that you're focussing on at the moment, what would that be? What's the biggest thing going on in your heart at the moment? The truth is, that from time to time the things of this earth grab our attention. Some of those things are good things. Some of those things are bad things. In a few months' time my daughter is going to be getting married. Well, you can imagine, that's pretty much the focus of things in our household at the moment. There's nothing wrong with any of that, unless and until the things of this world bubble to the top of our priority list, above God Himself. When that happens, our lives have a way of going pear-shaped. All of a sudden, when we get our priorities the wrong way around, we start to live out the consequences of that. So let me come back to that question: what is your heart focussed on at the moment? What's at the top of your list, hmm? Psalm 119 verses 35 and 36: Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. This Psalm is written by a man who is speaking to God. So, when he says: lead me in the path of your commandments and turn my heart to your decrees, He's asking God to do those two things for Him. Psalm 119 blows me away. It's the longest chapter in the Bible – 176 verses all-in-all. And the majority of it is a prayer, asking God essentially to help this man who is writing it, to get his life straight, by getting God's Word into his heart. That's the bottom line of the whole Psalm. God I can't do it on my own, I need your help. That's a great admission, because it happens to be true. And here in verses 35 and 36, the Psalmist is asking God to turn his heart to God's decrees rather than to his own selfish gain. That's the pivot point in our hearts isn't it? Our whole lives swing on this hinge between honouring God and selfish gain. Between right and wrong. And that's why I keep asking you: what's the focus of your heart right at the moment? Where is your heart? Focussed on honouring God or on selfish gain? The answer matters. It matters a lot. There is such power in the Word of God to set you free from your selfishness. Why is it that people leave their Bibles on a shelf somewhere gathering dust? God has the power to set you free. Free from the consequences of sin. All you need to do is to ask Him for His help and He will step in. And here's the thing about God's help. It's intensely practical. Intensely real. In our lives on this earth, you and I, we're prone to trusting things that we can see. It's only natural. We live in a physical world, so we trust in physical things. We know, for instance, that tonight the sun will set, and in the morning it will rise again. We trust in relationships. We trust in our circumstances, good or bad. We trust in our pay packets and our bank balances. And to a point that's as it should be … to a point. Up until the point where we trust in those things above and beyond who God is and what He says He will do. At that point, you've started trusting your life into things that are not worthy of that level of trust. If you have a share-portfolio that's worth a certain amount of money, hey, the market could plummet tomorrow. The same is true of every other physical thing on this earth – they can give way ... in an instant. And so often, we're caught out, because we've place our trust in the wrong things. That's why we need God's help, His intensely practical help, to get our hearts focussed on the right things. Psalm 119, verses 37 to 40: Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. So here the Psalmist is asking God to turn his eyes away from all those vanities, all those false idols in which we place our trust. What idols as you trusting in at the moment? In what vanities have you placed your trust? Hmm? Father God turn my eyes from looking at those vanities and give me life in your ways, literally, give me living energy to pursue the way marked out by You O God. That's it! That's what I need, that's what you need. Living energy. Holy Spirit energy, to head God's way, to trust God to lead us forward, rather than placing our hope in false idols. Friend, God's promises are true. Those false idols, ultimately are going to lead you to disgrace. But God's promises will never fail. God I've seen that your ways are good. I long for your ways. Lead me in them. Give me life. What a great prayer. What a powerful way to change your heart. Try as we might, we cannot change our own hearts for ourselves. But God's living energy, the power of His Word, the power of His Spirit – that's where we get a change of heart. That's where we get a change of focus. God doesn't want you to continue trusting in idols, dreading the disgrace that they will ultimately bring. He wants to shift your focus, transform your heart, with His living energy. Because when we walk in God's ways, then all of a sudden we discover what freedom really is. It pains me to tell you this, but for the first thirty-six years of my life, I thought I was free. Free to live my life the way I wanted. But now, looking back on that time before I accepted Jesus into my heart, I realise that I was nothing but a captive. The best way to describe it, is that I looked successful and happy on the outside, but on the inside, I was plagued by fear and doubt. On the inside, I was a complete mess. That's because I was a captive rather than living as a free man. That's because the expectations of this world dominated my heart. Again, the Psalmist puts it like this, Psalm 119 verses 41 to 46: Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise. Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever. I shall walk in liberty, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame. I really get that bit about having an answer for those who taunt me. The criticism, the mockery of others, used to be like arrows into my heart. Let me ask you, to what extent are you marching to the beat of the world's drum? To what extent are you dancing to the tunes of the expectations of others? And when you can't meet those expectations, people criticise you, people reject you, they throw you out like a worthless piece of trash. We spend way too much time and energy striving, sacrificing, performing in order receive the approval of others, only to fail, only to miss the mark, only to discover that it's a pursuit that's hollow and empty and simply not worth the effort. But the more we get into God's Word, the more we discover the steadfast love that God has for us, the more we get to know God's Word and trust God's Word, the less those things matter. And the less those things matter, the more we discover the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. I shall walk in liberty for I have sought your precepts! Yes! Hallelujah! Absolutely! Freedom. God's freedom. There is such freedom when we get it into our hearts that we're meant to live our lives for an audience of One. That's what God has ready and waiting for you. True freedom in His ways, in His precepts, in His Word. Jesus said: If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.   Jesus is the Way It's rather an odd thing, but one of the names that Jesus is given in the Bible, is that He is the "Word of God". Now we normally use that term ‘the Word of God' for the Bible itself, because, after all, it's through the Bible that God speaks His words into our lives. Fair enough. But have you ever thought how powerfully God speaks to us through Jesus Himself, the very Son of God ... God in the flesh? This is how the Apostle John puts it. John chapter 1, verses 1 to 5: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in  the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. We all travel through dark times, we just do. And in those dark times, what we need is light. Jesus came to be that light. This is what He said of Himself – John chapter 8, verse 12: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Jesus is God speaking to us in a language that we can understand. And that's why in my own personal reading of the Bible, I always make sure that from time to time, I cycle through one of the Gospels. Right now I'm just about to finish the book of Psalms and head into Matthew's Gospel. Why? Because Jesus is God revealing Himself to us – to you, to me. And I don't know about you, but I need that Light in my life. I need Jesus speaking directly into my life. I need a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus, as I walk with Him and for Him, day by day. Without Jesus, we don't know God, indeed, we cannot know God. Without Jesus we can't find the way to God, because Jesus is the Way. Might I ask you today, what darkness do you have going on in your life? What fears, what uncertainties, what worries are at the forefront of your thinking right at this moment? What situations are confusing you and confounding you and proving completely impossible for you to overcome? Jesus is the answer. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things that were created, were created through Him and by Him. He has knowledge and wisdom and power beyond anything we can imagine. And He is the light for all people. That includes you. And when that light, His light, the Light of the world shines in your life, the darkness simply cannot overcome it. Jesus is the answer.

Oh, we all want to hear God speak!

by Mary Lindow DO YOU FEEL AS IF THINGS ARE UTTERLY HOPELESS  AND COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN RIGHT NOW?   Maybe you have you been in that scary place before. Most people, if they are being transparent and honest will admit to times of experiencing hopelessness and feeling alone and afraid. Friend. You aren't without hope, You aren't hopeless, But you ARE helpless!   God Has Allowed This Time And Position Of Helplessness And Complete Dependency On Him, And You Are Helpless To Help Yourself.   We struggle to gain back some measure of control over our lives when this pressure is upon us, but our personal pride (that we didn't even know that we had) is being crushed, and the only thing for us to do is to surrender!   NOW YOU MAY FEEL HOPELESS, BUT REALLY…  …IT'S THE CONDITION OF HELPLESSNESS THAT IS CAUSING YOU PAIN.   God Wants You Completely Dependent On Him, and He will keep you a “prisoner of hope” until you are.   OH HOW WEARY YOU ARE OF THE AWFUL REFINER'S FLAME AND THAT SEEMINGLY ENDLESS TWEAKING OF YOUR ATTITUDE! “Okay, God, you can stop now!" you scream. But He doesn't stop. You're caught in a prison of hope and He will not let you out until He is finished with what He began in you.   There are times during the process of pursuing heartfelt dreams and callings in life that you might feel that your "hope" seems to have been locked up in a prison. You can't seem to make your dreams come true, and yet, you find it impossible to stop believing in them!   YOU CAN'T GO FORWARD ANY FASTER THAN GOD WILL LET YOU, and yet, you sure don't want to return to where you once were before you were overshadowed and given a "life vision" with a promise from God!   GOD JUST WILL NOT LET YOU GIVE UP! During this time you might feel like saying, "Okay God, this is enough! I don't want to hope anymore!  I am tired of being like an egg in an incubator with this promise!  I want out of this prison of hope!"   IT'S DURING THIS TIME THAT YOUR DREAMS FEEL SO VERY REAL TO YOU, YET TO OTHERS THEY DON'T! There is a big conflict between what you discern in the Spirit and what appears to be moving so slowly in the natural, and that grates at our souls! We feel like we are on a Ferris wheel. You have your “up times” when you can see your dream's fulfillment far into the future, but you also have your “down times” when you can't see anything and everything seems to have crashed into a messy heap.   YOU THINK TO YOURSELF, “AM I CRAZY TO THINK THAT GOD COULD USE ME? NOW? IN THIS TIME?"   The enemy comes in like a rushing flood and you begin to doubt, causing anguish to your soul.    THIS IS THE TIME WHEN GOD IS DOING HIS GREATEST WORK IN YOU! This is when the refining process REALLY hurts, because He is getting down to the very core of your soul, to the deep regions of your heart.   HE IS DEVELOPING THINGS IN YOU THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU LACKED. THINGS THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU NEEDED.   You think, "Okey Dokey God, this is deep enough!" But, every builder knows you must dig down deep to lay a proper foundation first, before you start to build upward. And the greater the height of the structure, the deeper the foundation must be.   YOUR FORTRESS OR PLACE OF REFUGE IS TRUSTING IN A LOVING GOD. Trusting Him in spite of all the reasoning of your mind, in spite of the circumstances that surround you.   YOU WERE CONTENT TO GIVE GOD CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE UNTIL HE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU DIDN'T LIKE. You were happy to surrender all to Him, until He decided to give your promotion to someone else. You believe in His sovereignty, until His sovereign will conflicts with, your will. Then you are sure He has made a mistake! You want to run from Him, but He is your refuge. How do you run from your refuge? How do you run from the only one who really loves you or understands you? The answer is . . . you don't.   SO, RETURN, MY FRIEND, TO YOUR FORTRESS, AND REMAIN A PRISONER UNTIL HE IS DONE WITH YOU - UNTIL HE DECIDES THAT YOU ARE READY FOR ALL THAT HE HAS FOR YOU. “Return to your fortress! Yes! You prisoners who have hope! Today I declare that I will return double what has been taken from you." - Zechariah 9:12   PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT The Spirit of God says, “Even now I announce to you that not only will I restore to you all that has been taken from you, but I will give you double for all the trouble you have endured." He says, "Don't stop now . . . …Keep trusting me, because I can see your future and it is very blessed. Keep walking with me,  and keep trusting in me  and I will give you rest." “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, And I WILL, give you rest." -Matthew 11:28 THERE IS MORE PROPHETIC ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE PRAYER AS YOU LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST THAT IS NOT IN THE TRANSCRIPT HERE. BE SURE TO LISTEN TO THE COMPLETE MESSAGE. Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed as long as the complete message, podcast location and website information for Mary Lindow is included. 
Thank You! Copyright © 2024 "THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
 www.marylindow.podbean.com   www.marylindow.com   If you have been impressed by the Holy Spirit to assist Mary helping her to meet other administrative needs such as website, video teachings and podcast costs, or desire to bless her service with Spirit-led Love gifts or regular support: Please JOYFULLY send your gift in the form of: ► Personal Checks ► Business Checks ► Money Orders  ► Cashiers Checks   To: His Beloved Ministries Inc.  PO Box 1253 Denver, Colorado 80614 USA   Or feel free to use our send a tax-deductible gift with Pay Pal   paypal.me/mlindow Under the name of - His Beloved Ministries Inc. ALL gifts are tax-deductible under His Beloved Ministries 5013c non-profit status. We are financially accountable and have been in full compliance since 1985 with Clergy Financial Advantage. THANK YOU!  

Guest Bios Show Transcript https://youtu.be/RF-3TbX8fXAAs a Christian in Iran, Naghmeh Panahi was arrested numerous times—and once even had a gun pointed at her head. But as awful as that was, Naghmeh says she endured something far worse when she began speaking out about abuse from her husband. It was then that she faced persecution—not from radical Muslims, but from Christians. In this edition of The Roys Report, you're going to hear Julie's powerful interview at the Restore Conference with Naghmeh Panahi. Naghmeh was catapulted into the national spotlight in 2013, a year after her husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini, was imprisoned for his faith in Iran.  With the help of Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse and Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, Naghmeh launched the Save Saeed campaign. The campaign garnered worldwide attention. And it eventually led to Saeed's release in 2015. But during this time, Naghmeh learned that Saeed's violence, repeated insults, and spiritual manipulation were not just a sign of a bad marriage. It was abuse.  Yet, when she spoke out about the abuse, the backlash from Christians was virulent and cruel. And the psychological and spiritual damage from that backlash was far worse than anything Naghmeh said she encountered in Iran. In this interview, Naghmeh talks candidly about the abuse and the Christian community's failure to stand with victims. But she also talks about the persecuted church—and how the Western Church's failure to care for the abused and broken is not a bug but a feature.  Drawing from her book, aptly titled, I Didn't Survive: Emerging Whole After Deception, Persecution, and Hidden Abuse, Naghmeh's message is a prophetic witness to the American church—if we will listen in and take heed.  In her talk, Naghmeh refers to recent books by Miriam Ibraheem and Lance Ford. Guests Naghmeh Panahi Naghmeh Panahi is an author, speaker, and Bible teacher. Naghmeh made national news when she publicly advocated for the release of her then-husband, Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith. Naghmeh's autobiography, I Didn't Survive: Emerging Whole After Deception, Persecution, and Hidden Abuse, is available now. Learn more at NaghmehPanahi.com. Show Transcript SPEAKERSNAGHMEH PANAHI, Julie Roys Julie Roys  00:04As a Christian in Iran, Naghmeh Panahi was arrested numerous times and once even had a gun pointed at her head. But as awful as that was Naghmeh says she endured something far worse when she began speaking out about abuse from her husband. It was then that she faced persecution, not from radical Muslims, but from Christians. Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys, and today you’re going to hear my powerful interview at the RESTORE conference with Naghmeh Panahi. Naghmeh was catapulted into the national spotlight when her husband, Pastor Saeed Abedini, was imprisoned for his faith in Iran. And with the help of Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse, and Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, Naghmeh launched the Save Saeed campaign. The campaign garnered worldwide attention and it eventually lead to Saeed’s release. But during this time, Naghmeh learned that Saeed’s violence, repeated insults, and spiritual manipulation was not just a sign of a bad marriage, it was abuse. Yet when she spoke out about the abuse, the backlash from Christians was virulent and cruel. And the psychological and spiritual damage from that backlash was far worse than anything Naghmeh said she encountered in Iran. In our interview, Naghmeh talks candidly about the abuse and the Christian community’s failure to stand with victims. But she also talks about the persecuted church and how the Western Church’s failure to care for the abused and broken is not a bug but a feature. I am so grateful for Naghmeh’s, prophetic witness to the American church, and I’m confident that God is using that witness both through podcasts like these, and in Naghmeh’s book aptly titled, I Didn’t Survive: Emerging Whole After Deception, Persecution and Hidden Abuse.   Julie Roys  01:50 We’ll get to my interview with Naghmeh just a moment, but first, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University and Marquardt of Barrington if you’re looking for a top ranked Christian University, providing a caring community and an excellent college experience. Judson University is for you. Judson is located on 90 acres just 40 miles west of Chicago in Elgin, Illinois. The school offers more than 60 majors, great leadership opportunities, and strong financial aid. Plus, you can take classes online as well as in person. Judson University is shaping lives that shaped the world. For more information, just go to JUDSONU.EDU. Also, if you’re looking for a quality new or used car, I highly recommend my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. Marquardt is a Buick GMC dealership where you can expect honesty, integrity, and transparency. That’s because the owners there Dan and Kurt Marquardt are men of integrity. To check them out, just go to BUYACAR123.COM.   Julie Roys  02:56 Well, again, here’s my interview with Naghmeh Panahi on surviving persecution from the church. This is from our last RESTORE conference in October 2023.   Julie Roys  03:07 Let’s just start with a little bit of your story. And again, those of you who know her story, this may be familiar, but I know I learned a lot of new things. You were born in Iran. And the interesting thing is you got to see Iran before the revolution, and then after. Talk about what the change was in Iran when you when you saw that happen?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  03:29 Yeah, I was actually born soon, a few years before the revolution. So, my mom was one of the first women in the king’s army, as a woman, which was pretty radical for her time. And also just, you know, Iran has had Islam for about 1400 years, so not Islamic culture. And she was very proud woman with her gun and protecting the Shah, but also, you know, having authority in a sense that women usually didn’t have. So, my mom was kind of protecting the king from the revolution. My dad was actually one of the people that wanted the Islamic Revolution, because, before the revolution, people like my mom, were wearing miniskirts. And, you know, just like the US, they were free, and my dad and his group of people thought, you know, we’re becoming too westernized. And if we have an Islamic religious revolution, then the culture will be more purified. And so, I kind of grew up in chaos. I saw  tires burning, my mom going, and my nanny would cry, and is she going to come back? Cuz she was trying to defend against the protesters, and then my dad would be in the streets and there was different groups that were trying to take over the government. And they were all radical and there was a lot of people just been killed in the streets. And so, I kind of grew up in a very chaotic political atmosphere of where the country was becoming very Islamic. And so, I went to school I shared in my book, my photo from my school, elementary school and I looked at and I was the most covered up. Like some of the girls had their head covering a little back. Just from the photo, you can tell I was so afraid. I was told you can’t show hair and all this teaching that was like going through the schools about just Islam and how we had to cover up. And so, it was very foreign to me, having seen my mom without a covering, and then seeing her, she had to be all covered up and her rank  taken away from her. And she had to be in an office setting, as a woman couldn’t have any authority over men in any position of power. And so, I was noticing a lot of that changes and the fear that was gripping a lot of the woman. I would actually have a lot of dreams that I was walking in the streets in Iran without head covering, and I was being arrested. And that was one of my, a lot of the nightmares I had. But just the fear of having to cover up and right around the revolution right after there was a war with Iraq. So, I also grew up in war, we had bombs and missiles. And I was just flipping through my social media, and I saw a video with the sirens going off in Israel. And all of a sudden I had a panic attack, because I would hear those sirens all of the time, the bomb sirens and you have to go to shelter and not knowing if your house was going to be the next one that was bombed, or a missile would hit it, or a lot of the Iraqi soldiers were certain parts of Iran were attacking and raping and taking captives and women and children were being killed. And so, it’s brought back a lot of that memory as a child, even just hearing that siren was so hard to listen to.   Julie Roys  06:47 I’m thinking when you’re talking about being covered up your mother losing her rank, being afraid as a woman I mean, I’m thinking of Sheila’s talk yesterday. I mean, this is like modesty message on steroids. As a young girl, how did you internalize, did that make you feel different about you?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  07:04 Yeah, I was told as a seven-year-old at that time. Like when I went to school, I had to dress up, like cover up, I was told that I was sexually appealing to men.   Julie Roys  07:14  As a seven-year-old?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  07:16 That’s what I we had to once I went to school, like six, seven-year-old got to be fully covered. And people I know that had their relatives like their grandmother had married at the age of nine and their mother had married at the age of 12. Right now, we do work in Afghanistan, and since the Taliban has taken over these, as soon as the girl hits puberty, like nine, a lot of times 9-10, they’re being married and they’re now giving birth to babies at like 10, 11, 12. And so yeah, it’s unfortunately it was part of the culture. And as a little girl, you’re told that you had to cover up because it would be tempting to a man as a little seven-year-old. Which is interesting, because years later was like, the purity culture sounds very Islamic.   Julie Roys  08:05 So, your parents did leave. And it sounded like the impetus was the fear that your brother might get drafted in the army. And the little boys were basically sent out there to check where the landmines were right? So, I mean, it was almost certain death. So, your parents escaped out of there and came to the US, settled in Idaho, and then the story of how you became a believer is really phenomenal and interesting too, how your parents when you became a believer, that was not welcome.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  08:41 No. My mom was more of a moderate Muslim. My dad was very strong Muslim. Like he had his prayer life and fasting. I’d never in the Islamic Revolution world, I never heard of the name Jesus. And so, when we came to America, my twin brother who actually he got his doctorate at University of Chicago in quantum physics, and so he was not emotional growing up, and even with the war I was the more emotional one he was, the more like, questioning God. But he was crying like I’d never seen him emotionally. And he said, I know we question Who is God? Why is he allowing, we would see our classmates like their dead bodies in the street. The houses of the kids that we would play with,  completely gone. And we didn’t know if we were next. I mean, just growing up in war was just insane. And so, we had a lot of questions about God. And he came running to me one day when we’d just come to America, and he said, I found the God we’ve been looking for. His name is Jesus. And I was like, what? He had a vision, I guess he had seen Jesus and he said, he is all I felt was love. And I just know we have to find out who this Jesus is. And so that’s how we were saved. We were running around acting like crazy nine-year-olds, like who’s Jesus? And with our limited English, we found some people who, you know, spoke Farsi, and told us and gave us a Farsi Bible. And we thought our parents would be as excited as us. They were angry. My dad wanted us actually, to move us back to Iran. He said, it’s better if we die in the war. You’ve become Christian. You’ve lost your culture. You’ve lost everything. And my full name is Naghmeh Sharia Panahi. So, Sharia is Islamic law. Panahi means protector, so our last name meant protector of Islamic law. And so, my dad always prided himself like we’re related to the Prophet Mohammed, like the Prophet of Islam. And so, for him, for us to become Christian was like, the worst thing ever. And so, he was in the process of moving us back into a war with like chemical warfare. My brother was about to be signed up to go to like, run through the mines. And he didn’t seem to care. He thought us becoming Christian was like the worst thing that had happened.   Julie Roys  11:07 Unbelievable. And despite that, I mean, you would think as a nine-year-old, something like this happens, your parents don’t support it, it’ll be gone, it will be eradicated from your life. Why didn’t that happen?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  11:19 Yeah, my uncle, my uncle, who graduated from university in California, had found a job in Boise, Idaho. And he said, you know, let’s move them there. They’re only nine. It’s just a little feeling. They’re going to forget about this Jesus, you know. And as a nine-year-old, you want to please your parents. They’re all we had in the war. Like, they were our lifeline, and wanting to please them. And so, they thought he said, they’re going to forget about this Jesus. And we didn’t. I mean, it’s by grace of God, he kept our faith, our Bible was taken from us, me and my brother weren’t allowed to even pray together. My dad had a lot of fits of anger. Just a lot of it, we experienced a lot of persecution, anger in the home. And in Idaho, we were pretty much isolated. Try to forget about Jesus, and we didn’t, and it was not until we were from nine until 16-17, where my parents, I guess, were on their own journey. We didn’t know but they were on their own journey of finding Jesus. They were secretly reading the Bible they took from us. I didn’t know that at that time.   Julie Roys  12:26 When did they actually become believers?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  12:29 Right around as I was graduating, I could see they had softened. I would sneak out, as soon as I got my driver’s license, I would sneak out to a church. And I thought they didn’t know but they knew. And they were okay with it because they were reading the Bible. But they didn’t become Christians until I went to college. And when I came home, they were like, We believe we want to be baptized, from nine until 22.   Julie Roys  12:57 And why is it? I’ve always you hear this among Muslims so often, that they have these visions of Jesus, and they come to Jesus through that. I mean, it just seems to be a feature. Why do you think that is?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  13:14 I think that whoever cries out to God, anywhere in the world, God will make himself known. In Iran, you don’t have a lot of missionaries right now. And I would talk to people in Iran, I would talk to, and I would say, hey, I would talk to a woman, I’d say, Do you know who Jesus is? And they would start crying. And they would say, Yes, I saw him in a vision. Like, tell me more. My child was dying, and I cried out to God, and I said, help and Jesus appeared to me and said, I am the way the truth and the life, but they didn’t know much. They just knew that he’d healed their child, or he was the way the truth and the life. Like they knew little parts of who Jesus was. But it was really not hard to evangelize. That’s why I think when I returned to Iran, we saw such a revival because people already knew who Jesus was. They’d seen him in dreams and visions, and they’d already seen him move in ways that wasn’t, we weren’t trying to convince them. They were like, Yeah, we know him. He healed our child, or I saw him in a vision.   Julie Roys  14:15 Wow. So you went to college, were planning on becoming a doctor. You must have done quite well in school.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  14:23 I think coming from an immigrant family, you’re told you have no choice, lawyer, or doctor. We’re in America you have to pursue the American dream.   Julie Roys  14:33 Right. And probably the last place on earth you wanted to go was Iran and yet you ended up back in Iran.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  14:41 I did. My parents really struggle with that because I went right after September 11. And when no one wanted to get on an airplane, and no one wanted to fly into the Middle East. So, I had the whole airplane to myself flying into Iran, and President Bush was like there’s gonna be war in that region. And so, I just felt like God was like, this is the time to go, I’m going to change that land through the gospel. My fight is through the gospel is through love, you know, in Christ. And so, I didn’t know when I went back. And my parents thought I was crazy. I was about to take the MCAT like I was on the road to being a medical doctor. And I said, I need a break. I feel like God’s telling me to go to Iran  I didn’t know that I was going to be at the forefront of a revival. But I just knew God was like, You need to go now. And so, when I went, he allowed me to be at the forefront of revival and be part of leading one of the largest house church movements in Iran.   Julie Roys  15:46 And when you flew over there, was it on the plane, you get those cards, and you have to declare things?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  15:51 In Muslim countries, I don’t know why, but every single they have no shame about discrimination. Religious discrimination is like they don’t there’s like nothing. So, everything you fill out has religion, what’s your religion? So, that’s why Christians when people become Christians, they have to fill up. And because of their conscience, they can’t put Muslim. So, they put Christian so as soon as they put Christian, even like filling out a passport. If they write Christian, they’re arrested. They can’t work if they write Christian, if they’re not arrested, they can’t find job, or they can’t go to school, Christians are not allowed to go to school. And so even on the airplane immigration form, I had religion, and I knew my last name meant I was a Muslim. Like people could tell by your last name, you’re a Muslim, but I knew I was a Christian, I really struggle with that form. And it was right after September 11. And I was like, stepping into radical Iran that I had read about killing so many pastors and hanging them as an example. And I wrote down Muslim.   Julie Roys  16:57 And also because of your name, they would know that you were born Muslim, yeah. That you converted and that’s a major, major no, no.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  17:04 Yeah. I was fine by myself. And I mean, I just felt so bad. I felt like a Peter moment. I just there was so much fear, flying into Iran. And as a Christian, I’d never experienced that. Anyway, I had left Iran as a Muslim. God was allowing me to go back as a Christian and to experience what it meant to really understand the persecuted church. And so yeah.   Julie Roys  17:30 So, you get into Iran. Talk about the church and the, you know, the way the house church movement was going and also about this very charismatic pastor that you saw over there named Saeed.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  17:43 Saeed. Yeah, so I grew up in the purity movement. I was like, when I went to Iran, I was 24. I hadn’t dated I was told first hold, holding hand or first kiss had to be with someone you married. I had some people pursued me in college, good Christian guys that I was like, nope. And so, I hadn’t really experienced  anything. And Iran had right now they don’t they had some building churches, that they allowed the Armenians to conduct church, because the Armenian people are considered Christians. They’re not converting. They were like, they have been Christians for generations. So Iranian government allows for religious freedom for the Armenians to conduct church. They weren’t allowed to let Muslims in like Persians. Persians are, you know, have been Muslims for so many hundreds of years, you know, 1400 years. But the church actually that I met Saeed in had started allowing Muslims to come in and they were converting, and one of them was Saeed. And that’s why they had killed some of their pastors. The government had arrested and killed some of the pastors at that building church. And I saw Saeed he was on. It’s a long story, how I ended up in that church. I had a cousin that had gotten saved and invited me, so I was about to leave Iran. I had been a missionary for one year, and I had five people who accepted Christ. And I was like, Okay, I shared with every single relative, like aunt and uncle gave out Bibles. And there was five people became Christians. And then I was like, Okay, I’m done. I was about to leave.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  19:12 My cousin invites me to this church service. And I go inside Saeed was on stage worship on the worship team. And I really saw a lot of passion for Jesus. And then he was like, I love evangelism. Like that’s my number one passion. And even in Boise, I would always go and evangelize to the refugees, the Muslim refugees that were coming in. And so, he seemed like this great evangelist, and I was really drawn to him. And so, we started working together. He actually reached out to me and said, Hey, you want to do ministry together? And I didn’t realize but he was going to an underground bible school by the Assemblies of God there. And  because the government was heavily persecuting the building church, they were being trained to start house churches. So, at that time, he had about a dozen people, I had five we decided to join forces. And within a few years it grew to 1000s over 33 cities and it was college students, they were our house was in the middle of Tehran-by-Tehran University. And so, all these college students were getting saved. And then they would go back into their city and evangelize. And all these house churches was just popping up. And all over Iran, every 33 major cities had churches, within two years.   Julie Roys  20:34 Very organically.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  20:35 Very, it was all college students, very organic.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  20:39 And women. Women did a lot of leadership. Yes, it’s really I mean, ironic in a Muslim country.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  20:46 Very ironic. I was just sharing that is China and Iran had this revival of house church movement, and women are the main ones leading it. And in a culture like, Iranian culture, where women are literally told their property, and a lot of the Muslim men treat them with a lot of contempt, they don’t have a lot of freedom. And so, a lot of Muslim women are drawn to the church and become saved because they see how the men in the underground church honor women and they’re leading. And the men are completely okay with that. And they’re working together. I mean, there’s no titles, there’s no stage, they call each other brother and sister, even the pastor, which is like a shepherd or shepherdess. It’s called sister like Sister Naghmeh, Sister Julie. So, no one’s called, , no one’s given a title. And actually, being the pastor or the leader of that house church, means you’re going to be the first one to be arrested and killed, you know. And I share in my book about a 10-year-old girl that I met in one of the cities and  she got saved at 10. She was passionate by 25. She was a discipling like 500 women. And she was arrested, tortured, and solitary confinement. She would not even give out one name, she was defending her flock. She went through so much. And she came out she’s like, I didn’t give out one name. They weren’t able to find any of the 500 people that she was discipling. And so that’s what it means to be the leader, it’s, you’re literally laying down your life for the sheep. It’s not like a place of popularity, it’s actually not a place, I’ve shared that in the podcasts with you. Not a place that a lot of narcissists like to serve. It’s not fun.   Julie Roys  22:33 I mean, that’s the thing, if you hear so often, the shepherd should be the first to lay down his life, right? And if that were the case, it does just sort of naturally weed out the chaff.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  22:47 Literally, if you’re the leader means you’re going to be the first one that’s arrested and tortured. So what narcissist want to do that? So, you don’t see a lot of narcissists. And you don’t see, unfortunately, you don’t see a lot of the men wanting that position. So, a lot of the women are the ones carrying the torch of the gospel, and they’re the ones being arrested. They’re the ones being raped. They’re the ones being tortured. They’re the woman by the well that Jesus is using. I was sharing with one of my pastors recently, I was like, how dare God use women on the underground churches in Iran? Why does he do that? But it’s the woman but they’re not getting any popularity. They’re literally being tortured and killed, but they’re the ones, the weak, Isn’t doesn’t Jesus says he uses the weak, broken? It is the weak, broken woman who’ve been so shattered in that society that God is just lifting up and honoring and giving the privilege to suffer for the gospel.   Julie Roys  23:45 And where we see the church shrinking in the West, in these places where it’s organically happening without all of the money and the programs and, you know, all the seven steps to this that are the other thing. The gospel is going forward.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  24:02 Yes, it is going without a program. It’s weak vessels that society has crushed, that Jesus is honoring and using for the gospel in one of the hardest countries in the world that has the most crazy governments. With great wisdom, God is using that. And doesn’t he say that in his word? That’s who he uses, but it’s really It’s so confusing for me because I see that happening in the Middle East. And then the way women are honored in a place where they haven’t been. And then I see something different here, which has been so hard to try to digest that. But it’s so radical. I mean if you guys could understand how radical it is. And I know you’ve watched like sheep among wolves and all that. It’s radical for women to be leading in the Middle East, the house churches. Just think about that in a culture that has said You’re nothing your property, just how radical that is. And for Jesus during his time to do that too; be so radical in the way he honored women. I am just still shocked by the fact that how the men in the house churches really honor the women and really  God, it’s the work of the Holy Spirit. There’s no other explanation.   Julie Roys  25:19 It is so cool. So, you told of a time when you denied the Lord, but you had another chance.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  25:26 Yeah, I told the Lord. I went home and I cried, I said, God, if I have another opportunity, I will not deny your name. And two and a half years later, I was arrested. But I’ve been arrested a lot. Many times, for the gospel. We were like, if we were smuggling Bibles, like at night, we would try to move around Bibles and give it to different house churches. So, we were arrested many times, there’s so many stories. But there was an incident where it was the scariest because I was actually detained. I have guns pointed to my head, we were basically told, if you say you’re a Christian, you will go to a woman’s prison, you will get raped and tortured and you will die. If you say you’re Muslim, you get to walk out this door right now. And everything within me wanted to be Muslim. I just want to get out of that door. I had the radical Revolutionary Guards all around me with guns and I was just like, Okay God, you know how the Bible says, he will put the words in our mouth? And I said, I’m a Christian. And the story is more detailed in my book. But towards the end of it,  this top interrogator was crying and asking for a Bible. The guy that threatened to kill me, was actually ended up asking for a Bible.   Julie Roys  26:46 And Saeed said that he got his inspiration from you because you. . .   NAGHMEH PANAHI  26:52 There was three of us that got arrested. The first guy wrote Muslim, and then it was my turn. And so, I wrote Christian, and the Revolutionary Guard interrogator asked for my testimony. He said,  basically my testimony was the evidence that was going to convict me of the death sentence they were going to give me for converting. And then Saeed also said he was Christian. And he told me after we left, I was gonna write Muslim. But when you said Christian, I got inspired to also write Christian. So yeah.   Julie Roys  27:32 So, you guys come back to the States. You end up getting married to Saeed. There were some red flags in your dating relationship, obviously, that you talk about in the book. And we don’t have time to go into all of what happened. But what was your life with Saeed behind closed doors?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  27:55 Yeah, so Saeed had never been to the states. We came to the States in 2005, after a lot of persecution. But in Iran, it was the first full on physical abuse happened when we fled Iran in Dubai. So about a year and a half into our marriage, but I didn’t see the signs of abuse, obviously, now looking back, but early on, he didn’t find me attractive. He would say, you’re so dark, and you’re so ugly, and you need to do nose surgery, you need to do surgery with your eyebrows, and you need to lose weight. And so, he was just, pretty much I start questioning, I said by that by the time we were  eight years into the marriage before Saeed’s arrest, I couldn’t even think for myself. I remember the interviews, I would tell people, this is the first time I’m processing life without Saeed because I would have to ask him permission, what do I say? And it was really hard  being put in the spotlight and having to rely on my own. Not as Saeed  to give answers. It started out with him putting down my looks. And then it was like, questioning the way I was seeing things and then questioning the way I was looking at Scripture and saying, I was idolizing scripture, I needed to let the Holy Spirit , you know, his own idea of what the Holy Spirit is. And just he started questioning my understanding of Scripture. There was not a full-on beating, but he would shove me he had me beg. He would have me beg and kiss his feet. It’s in the book. There’s some really hard stuff in the book. But pretty much, after eight years of marriage, we came to America because of intense persecution. And then after four years of being in America from 2005 to 2009, we didn’t go to Iran, but then he started traveling. And then he got arrested. He thought, Well, we haven’t done house church for four years. I can go back. He went back and forth, back, and forth. 2012 was arrested the time he was arrested; I was a shell of a person. I had no friends. He cut off my family, my friends. I had so much makeup on, I was 30 pounds lighter than I am now. I tried everything to be exactly how he wanted me to be. And I couldn’t show emotion. If I cried, he would say you’re trying to manipulate me with your tears, he would get very angry with tears. I couldn’t laugh, I couldn’t express any emotion. So I was just like this very dead person, just basically, I worked full time he didn’t work. So, I was full time I was a slave, I was working full time taking care of the kids cooking, cleaning. And he was just traveling, and I was funding his travels. And so I was, close to death. I didn’t realize his imprisonment was my freedom. I did not see it; I was so mad at God. And I explained it in my book. I thought God was being so cruel to me. Now I have to try to get my husband out of the worst prison in the world.   Julie Roys  30:55 And you are gone from being premed, you had done incredibly well in school, then you help your dad run his business.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  31:02 I was very confident.   Julie Roys  31:03 Confident, competent, all of these things. And after these years of marriage, you have been reduced to that point. And then you start advocating for him. It doesn’t dawn on you that you’re being abused till pretty far along in the whole process. But talk about when you finally because I think a lot of people have heard you know the story up until this point. But then you advocated for him. And then you got to the point where you finally said, it dawned on you you were being abused. And you said something.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  31:36 Well, the reason it dawned on me if he hadn’t had a phone, most people don’t realize this part of the puzzle. The last year of his imprisonment, he had obtained a smartphone where he could literally get on the internet in maximum security prison in Iran. It was a smuggled phone worth $7,000 to get that phone to him. But I’m glad it happened. Because at first I was like, why does he have a phone and he’s treating me like this? He would call me Jezebel, like that was the number one word he’d use against me. whore and again, you’re ugly, you’re nobody if people are clapping, they’re clapping for Abedini, Saeed Abedini. They’re not clapping for you. I’m the hero of the story. He saw that I met with Obama I met with Trump I  was on the news. And we did a prayer vigil with Mr. Franklin Graham and 2 million people watching online and he saw when he called me for the first time he saw this confident woman that he had destroyed for eight years. So, he saw, Oh, she has confidence in Jesus. I dreamed in his time of imprisonment. It was my time in the cocoon. I was reading the word praying again, because I couldn’t even pick up the Bible when I was in abuse. I couldn’t imagine, I kept myself pure. I had been a missionary and part of me was really mad at God for allowing me to suffer like this. I mean, I describe a lot of hard things in the Bible. In my book, I was raped by him. It was just a horrible, horrible marriage.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  33:15 And so, part of me, I guess, had distanced myself from God thinking, I kept myself pure. I wanted to serve you. Why would you allow this? And so, when he was in prison, actually, I drew close to God and like you said, I had been raised in a home where my dad gave me a lot of confidence. And so anyways, my Heavenly Father was like, really, through the Bible I am finding confidence. So, when he got a smartphone, he saw that confidence and he was scared. I didn’t see it at that time. So, as he was calling me all sorts of names, I’m writing articles for The Washington Post and New York Times. I'm writing op-eds on being on the news and traveling, speaking in churches and he’s calling me names. I couldn’t understand why because people are like, Your husband must be so proud of you. I was literally traveling the world getting him out. He had an eight-year sentence. He spent three years in prison, six months in house arrest, but he could have been there for a longer time. They were actually going to give him more and more years. People are like, he must be so proud. You’ve met with presidents to get him out and then here he was calling me names and I couldn’t get it.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  34:22 So finally, I broke coming from the Middle Eastern culture and the Christian culture, you don’t want to air out your dirty laundry. So, I didn’t tell anyone even my parents had experienced abuse themselves. He had physically beat up my dad, but it was a culture of you don’t divorce no matter what, but also a culture, you don’t talk about it. So, for the first time I shared with this pastor that I was speaking at his church, I said, I don’t understand. Here’s all these text messages he’s sending on Skype to me. He’s calling me all sorts of names. I don’t get it like why? And he said, “You're an abused wife. He said, This is why he is And then it started making sense Oh, he needed to crush me to control me. And I wasn’t crushed. During his time of imprisonment, God was setting me free inside was seeing that. And so, he was calling me all sorts of names. And when this pastor gave me the diagnosis, that was it   There was no going back. Because before then I was like, I have a hard marriage. And then once I knew it was cancer, I’m like uh, this needs chemo, and I knew I had to educate myself on what abuse was and what do I do?   Julie Roys  35:35 And so, you sent an email. To like, 100 close supporters.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  35:39 Yeah, I was like, Nah, this is the way the media has blown it up. I sent an email to really close friends. And then that got leaked to the media. And then yeah, I was, I think Lori Anne Thompson said this stone was like the person bleeding by the road. I was like, stones were thrown at me. I was bullied by Franklin Graham, told to shut up. You’re damaging the cause of Christ. He used every power every connection he had. And he was like, You’re never ever going to do ministry again if you talk. I was like, I don’t want to do ministry. I just want to live quietly in Boise, Idaho. Why is ministry an idol? He was scaring me but saying you’re never gonna do anything. I’m like, It’s okay, I don’t want it. So, he couldn’t hold that over me. But I lost everything like Lori Anne Thompson said, I had to quit my job to advocate for him. So, my income had been speaking engagements. And that was taken from me. So, all of a sudden I’m in the middle of he comes out, files for divorce, because how dare I have leaked, shared with a group of people that leaked information about abuse. And so, he came out filed for divorce, the worst thing I was afraid of which was actually my freedom. But at that time, it was heartbreaking. Because I fought to get him out. He didn’t even want to fight for our marriage. He just came out and filed for divorce. And I literally lost everything. I lost my marriage, I lost my income, I had stones thrown at me, I was literally by the side of the road. And all the religious leaders were like either kicking me, or quietly walking by. It was very few that were there, all the text messages stopped, all the Naghmeh, we got you and my poor kids too, they would always get gifts and support. They would get so many gifts on their birthdays. And it all of a sudden stopped. And they’re like, Mom, what happened? And all of a sudden, we’re just like, I mean, I got so many calls from past, pastors that were just throwing things at me. And I had a really interesting experience with Family Research Council too. And so, it was just like, a lot of stones at a time where my marriage was falling apart. And yeah, it was a very difficult time.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  35:43 So that the title of your book is I Didn’t Survive.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  37:58  People don’t like that. They’re like you’re a survivor.   Julie Roys  38:03 But the old Naghmeh is not the Naghmeh who’s sitting here is this like Dr. Monroe said, you know that you change your different. How have you changed and why?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  38:19 I am not the person I was 10 years ago once I went to prison. I think I would describe it like a caterpillar going into the cocoon. The caterpillar is no longer the caterpillar, it's a butterfly. There’s a confidence I have in God. There’s a lack of fear of what religious leaders. My Goliath was Franklin Graham. He used every power he had to shut me down. I know this for a fact. Some megachurch pastors called me and said yeah, Franklin called us and every person I reached out for help, Franklin would call and say if you help her, you know? And so yeah, there’s a lot of stories. I don’t have fear of losing anything. I know that losing income, ministry, people’s praises, all of that fell and the old Naghmeh was afraid of losing a lot of things like marriage, status, income, even as a single mom; all that fear is gone. He’s been my provider, day in and day out. I live for Christ and if people don’t like that, then it’s okay. I don’t get any benefit from people either copying or so there’s a lot of people pleasing. I’m just not the old Naghmeh. The old Naghmeh was so afraid, scared about people’s opinion. I mean, I care for people but I’m not a people pleaser. You would have been surprised to meet the Naghmeh of 2012. She would have been a completely different person.   Julie Roys  39:49 Thing Mariam said in her book, that she said that the domestic abuse that she suffered by her husband was worse and If you read Miriam’s book, I can’t quite even wrap my head around what can be worse than some of the things that she suffered at the hands of Muslim persecutors. But in what ways was that worse when you get persecuted from professing Christians?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  40:22 She said it’s worse? So, Miriam and I are, she’s one of my best friends. And she came out of Sudanese prison. She was on death row, and I met her soon after she’d given birth to her daughter, Maya in prison. And then she faced this horrific, you will read her account in prison in her book that’s out there. The prison experience her growing up as a refugee in Sudan. Her mom was a refugee. Her dad was Sudanese, and she grew up in a horrible situation and then she was given the death sentence by the radical Muslims there in Sudan and treated horribly. For her to say what she experienced in domestic abuse and the church’s response was worse than that? I was like, “Are you what?! She said she knew that was the enemy, she’s like, I knew that was my enemy. I knew that those people that had persecuted me where my enemy. I didn’t expect it to come from my home. And I didn’t expect it to come from my Christian community. Like that was what was like I think you said that about Lori Anne Thompson’s, that it came from the church is the most messed up thing with the name of carrying the name of Jesus to for broken people that Jesus so cares about to be trampled on. And use then abuse is I just that just, it’s so messed up. And so that’s why she says that she’s like, I didn’t expect it in my home, that my enemy would be in my home and that the way the Christian community respond to her she was a Christian hero for standing up to the Muslim community in Sudan. And then she was a bad person for wanting to divorce her abusive husband. No one wanted to touch her. She shares that. It’s like the modern leper, she Yeah, she  actually became homeless, no one wanted to help her. She had to flee her home with her two kids that had just left Sudanese prison. And no one wanted to touch it. No one wanted to get her a lawyer help get her nothing. She had nothing. She just come out of Sudan with no English. She filed for divorce in 2018. So, four years after she came out from Sudan, so she knew a little bit of English, but she had never worked in the US. I mean, she literally was helpless. She had no family. Her mom had died. I mean, she had no family and the Christian community that had tried to help her escape Sudan was now like, don’t talk to us, don’t reach out. Don’t talk to us. Like she became a leper. Yeah, so I wish she was here. And we tell her story.   Julie Roys  42:56 Yeah. So last question because we’re gonna have to wrap up. But having been through what you’ve been through, seeing what you’ve seen in the house church movement in Iran, then coming to the US and experiencing what you did by the American church, what message do you have for the American church today?   NAGHMEH PANAHI  43:18 To get Lance’s book. It's so messed up the way the system is destroying is not Christianity, what we have here is a system it’s a business. It’s not laying down your life for the sheep. It’s actually like Ezekiel, where God’s like you’re abusing,  you’re using the sheep for your own benefit. A good shepherd would actually lay down. I mean, Paul says, you know, parents should give to the children, not children, like he should have been this rich pastor, and he’s like, I’m poor. I’m homeless. I’m treated like he wasn’t a great speaker, he wouldn’t be probably have any church gathering. And so, it’s just the way the system is really. If anyone that comes from the house church movement in Iran or China, they come here and they’re like, Oh, the church is asleep, like there’s no church. There’s buildings, people are gathering in buildings, but the church is dead. Anyone has ever come that’s the first reaction they give is, wow, the church here is sleeping. And so, I would say I think we really need to rethink and not just read about Jesus was the servant, what does that mean in my life? And I love what Lori Anne Thompson said that we don’t also as abuse survivors, we are not the heroes either, Jesus is. I think the reason I wrote my book is that it's not heroic, someone wrote a review. It’s not about anyone being a hero. It’s about the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, and my hope is my testimony is going to help draw people to Christ because I’m not the answer. Christ is. And so that’s why I’ve kind of refrained from writing a curriculum or having an answer. I’m and like Jesus, he helped me, point to him. And so, we’re not the heroes. You know, as survivors, or as the persecuted church. The persecuted church doesn’t want to be heroes. They’re just following Christ. But I think we can learn a lot from the persecuted church and really learn what it means to carry our cross. I don’t think the American church really, the leadership understand what that is. What does it mean to carry your cross and die to yourself daily?   Julie Roys  45:36 And I do believe that out of the ashes, new things are coming. And who was it that said, maybe it was last night at the dinner that I think it was Laurie Adams Brown, who said that she believes that survivors and a lot of what’s happening for people that have been through this who have really experienced the pain of what’s happened, it’s fertile ground for a new thing to happen in the church. And so that’s my prayer.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  46:07 I think this is my I’ve prayed and cried out to God many times. I think God’s gonna use the broken. We are looking for oh, I think Sheila said that, too. We’re looking to these big platforms to do something and God’s like, No, I’m going to use the little scattered broken people on the outside. You keep looking to these megachurch pastors see, please see this. And they’re not because for them to see it, it means their whole world would be toppled upside down. And so, we’re trying to change these big organizations. But a lot of times the answer is actually Jesus is like, no, I’m actually going to  do a work outside of that. And that’s going to, yeah, anyways, I think just having spent many hours just crying for the church in America, because I was born and raised for the first nine years in Iran. But I’ve been in America for like 37 years. And so, I’ve cried for this country. And as a Christian, and I think he’s going to work in a way we didn’t expect him to. It’s not going to be people with platforms, it’s going to be a grassroot, no one’s going to be the hero, it’s only going to be Jesus. I tell people because they like to build heroes. I’m like,  don’t look to me to be the chain. It’s gonna require every one of us, like Sheila I think said, and a lot of the speakers. It’s going to be a grassroot because like I said, Jesus Himself, God is a jealous God. He deserves all the glory; he’s going to be the Savior. There’s no minnie saviors that are going to change the climate, you know, here. So, it’s just gonna be all Jesus. But all of us are just a voice. But we need to use our voice. And I think what Lori Anne said, or Adam said is true, I think it’s going to be a lot of the movement is going to start with the survivors and the broken. And that’s why people ask me, you were so passionate about the Middle East, I still work with the underground church in Iran and Afghanistan. I’m not a ministry, but I try to collect money and just give everything there. But I also care about their views, then they’re like, this is kind of two different worlds. I’m like, No, it’s not. Because Jesus is with the broken, the persecuted church is broken. The abused are broken, they’re both desperate for God. And guess what God cannot resist? God cannot resist His people being broken. Like he will step in like you have not. Gloria Thompson said she was like, once she had her daughter, she’s like, I will fight for her. And God is that jealous for us. And when we’re broken, that’s when God’s steps in. And so, for both the persecuted church and the abused, my heart is for them. First of all, Jesus says, If you want to minister to me, minister to the least of these my brothers. So, if you want to actually walk with Jesus, it’s not on the big platforms. It’s literally walking with the least of these. That’s where I experienced Jesus is when I’m walking with an abused woman. I’m not on I’m literally just, I’ve had abused woman live in my house, like, that’s where I’m experiencing Jesus, or when I’m working with the persecuted church, who have no money to eat, and they’re still carrying forth the gospel. They’re in these countries that are sanctioned. They’re so poor, and as Christians, they’re even poorer, but they continue to take the gospel. So when I hang out with the least of these, I truly experience the move of the Spirit. And so, they’re related. The persecuted church, and the survivors abused, you know, women and men. They have a common thread that is attractive to me, and that’s brokenness and desperation for God. Anyways.   Julie Roys  49:47 Naghmeh, every time I sit with you, I get inspired. Thank you so much. Thank you for so truthfully telling your story and for being an inspiration to so many of us.   NAGHMEH PANAHI  50:02 Thank you, Julie. And I just so appreciate it. You know, people have attacked you before being divisive and like, trying to go after the church, but your heart to bring healing to the church is I think I just know there’s going to be I’ve prayed for this, there should be 10s of 1000s of people coming to this conference of just finding that restoration. And you know, and so I appreciate your work so much. And yeah, keep going. You have my prayers. And so, thank you. Thank you.   Julie Roys  50:45 That was just such a special interview with Naghmeh Panahi, and it’s one of many unforgettable moments from our last RESTORE conference. And if you’re listening and thinking, man, I don’t want to miss out on that next RESTORE conference, I want to encourage you to send us an email at The Roys Report at JULIEROYS.COM, and just put in the subject line RESTORE EMAIL, and we’ll be sure to add you to our email list. And then when we announce the date and all the information about the next conference, you’ll be sure to be the first to know. Also, if you’re grateful for these interviews and talks, which we’re making available free of charge, would you please consider giving to The Roys Report. As I’ve noted before, we don’t have any big donors or advertisers, we simply have you the people who care about abuse and corruption in the church and want to expose it. To donate, just go to JULIEROYS.COM/DONATE. Also, just a quick reminder to subscribe to The Roys Report on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify. That way you won’t ever miss any of these episodes. 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Have you ever felt like you're not hearing from God in your business? Are you wanting to finally hear from the Holy Spirit every day? If so, then this piece of content was created just for you, because in it, we cover why you're not hearing from the Holy Spirit in your business & how to change that. To be quite honest with you, this is a question I get frequently, and I believe it needs its own episode because more people need to know and understand the answer to this question. It's time for more people to hear from God on a daily basis, don't you think? We are covering FIVE different reasons WHY you may not hearing from the Holy Spirit AND the solutions to each of those. Because y'all, there have been so many moments where I was like, “Okay, God, I know you're with me... but I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do.” And then it just feels like there are crickets. And then I just wish Jesus was right in front of me, where I can see Him and He can tell me what to do.  I know I am not the only one who has ever felt this way and I want you to know that there have been so many moments where I've been like, “Okay God, I feel like you're trying to tell me something.. but it doesn't feel super clear, so can you just come out and just tell me?” If this is you, you are not alone. Over the last year and a half, He has really been showing me why I may not be hearing from Him and how to change that. Which is why I knew I needed to share this with you. As always, this is a juicy one. You know I don't hold back.   MENTIONED:   The Collective -> www.hannahbrindley.com/membership   Faith-Fueled Business Blueprint Waitlist -> www.bit.ly/blueprintwaitlist     BLOG:   Read this episode –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/blog/episode83   CONNECT: Instagram –＞ @hannahbrindley     FREE RESOURCES:   Called to CEO Facebook Community –＞ https://bit.ly/reclaimedtoreign   The Called to CEO Confidential –＞ bit.ly/powerprompts Get faith-fueled life & business coaching delivered straight to your inbox   ROOTED: 3 Day Devotional Series for Faith-Fueled Female Entrepreneurs –＞https://bit.ly/3daydevotional   30 Days of Provision (Scripture Download + Prompts) –＞ https://bit.ly/30daysofprovision   Attract Your Queendom (Learn to Attract Your Ideal Clients to You) –＞https://bit.ly/attractyourqueendom     WORK WITH HANNAH:   1:1 Coaching Options –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/services   Faith-Fueled Coach Academy (Signature Course) –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/fca For faith-fueled females who are ready to start + scale a Holy Spirit led coaching business Called to CEO Collective –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/membership For faith-fueled female entrepreneurs ready breakthrough spiritual warfare + self-sabotage in life + business   CONTACT: Email –＞ hannah@hannahbrindley.com

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Ps 16:11 What is the priority of His Presence? The Bible tells us that God fills us with joy in His presence, with eternal pleasures at His right hand. Wondering what to do in life? The same verse above says that God will make known to you the path of life. We can ask Him in prayer! Ephesians 2:10 says "God has planned good works in advance for you to do." As a young adult, Jonathan seriously contemplated suicide that ended with a major moment with God. Today, Jonathan leads worship at his father's church, assisted by his wife, Rebecca. They have three young children and want to live to serve God. You will hear: My dad was crying on the floor - broken. My mom did not want to talk to me. What the heck did I do? Jonathan I had gone through this time of disconnection with God. The times of rebellion in my life was the influence of the people I allowed in my inner circle, like my friendships. The boundaries I had set up for myself being raised up in a Christian home, I let go of them. That made me, not just create some distance with God, but also, create hatred towards Him. It opened the doors to even, I know it sounds crazy, but even suicide. Jonathan God loves me as I am Okay God, I am not alone. I may feel alone but you are here, you are present. Rebecca Hear Jonathan and Rebecca sing Jonathan's own song When You are Here. Be filled with the Spirit,singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord; Ephesians 5:18b, 19b If we are able to love one another above all of that, God will work through it. - Rebecca Do not give up on yourself as parent, as a person. God loves me as I am. - Rebecca God can use what we think we are not good at. Jonathan One of the important things as Christians, as followers of Christ, is we got to learn to be grateful at all times, when we don't have it all and when we have much. We have to be grateful in everything. Even when we are at home or we are in debt, and everything is not going the way we were hoping for - being content, being grateful is something that you can learn as a Christian by knowing what God has done for us. Jonathan He hasn't had an easy life. He decided to be brave. - Rebecca In Part 1, we saw how before Jonathan's father was a pastor he was a Colombian guerrilla rebel fighter hired to assassinate an evangelist. The evangelist said, I believe there is someone here, that is here to kill me. My dad's testimony is that he went up and everyone freaked out because he came and put his gun down and gave his life to the Lord. From then on, his life turned completely around. His decision paved the way for his son, Jonathan, and his whole family. Jonathan says, Knowing all that background of my family made me realize, God can break barriers wherever we go with the priority of His presence. For more Parent Compass shows and other encouragement and inspiration subscribe at parentcompass.tv/subscribe To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1493/29

In the book of Exodus God commands Moses to go to Egypt and rescue the Israelites. Moses was like “Okay God, but you know, like what should I say?” Basically Moses is saying, “Yo, I don't want to look all crazy when I get there.” You know sometimes when you tell people GOD spoke to […]

I thought we'd begin this week with a bit of Trivia. You want to know what this is? This is considered the oldest known complaint in the world. It's 4000 year old Akkadian cuneiform tablet written by a man named Nanni who complains about a substandard ingot of copper he received by the hand of his servant and in the letter he demands a refund. Complaining, as it turns out, is one of the oldest art forms in history. We can complain about anything from copper ingots to cold weather to people cutting in line, to poor customer service, our unreasonable boss to a boring movie to an overpopulated city and its traffic, and the worst of all, not being able to connect to Wi-Fi. But sometimes our complaints center on things that are much less trivial. Sometimes our complaints arise out of deep suffering. When we are pinned down in an uncomfortable situation, we complain by demanding an answer to the why question? Why am I suffering? Why this betrayal? Why this death? Why this injustice? Why this financial hardship? Why my marriage? Why are my children like this? Why am I here? Lord, why don't you change things? Last week James gave us three commands on how to be righteous in the face of suffering and not complain. Be patient, trust God and don't complain. Now this week James is going to work that out through EXAMPLES. Examples are helpful because examples are simply commands applied in real life situations. He says, let me point you to some biblical examples of people who did a good job of being patient, trusting God and not complaining in their impossibly hard situations. So James give us the prophets and God's servant, Job. So let's start with the prophets. Now the prophets are amazing. The prophets have been given the most unrewarding of all possible jobs. Let's first consider Isaiah. Isaiah When we open up the book of Isaiah we see God's assessment of the nation of Israel. God says, my people have not heeded any of my warnings. They don't even know me. And for the rest of chapter 1 and into the next chapters he outlines the many ways in which Israel has turned away. Now in Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah has a vision of God and it's breathtaking. It really just knocks Isaiah on the carpet. And the Lord says, Isaiah, will you go to my people and preach who I am? Will you preach what you just saw? And he said by all means. Yes, I'll go! Send me! But here's where it gets interesting. Isaiah, I'm not sure you're going to like your mission. I'm going to send you to preach the gospel to my people for the next 20 or 30 years and no one will listen, believe or respect you in any way. Ever. You will never see fruit in your ministry your entire life. You will live your entire life without witnessing a shred of evidence that anything you ever said or did mattered. I'm letting you know in advance that they will never respond no matter how much you beg and plead. They will persecute you, marginalize you and basically make your life miserable until you die. - In fact your job is to harden hearts by speaking truth and being rejected. - The more you try to show them truth the blinder they will become. - The more you try to get their attention the heavier their eyes will become until they just fall asleep. - The more you talk the more plugged up with wax their ears will become. Look at Isaiah 6:9 And Isaiah responded, "Well that doesn't sound like much fun? How long do I have to do that Lord?" Preach the truth until everyone is judged. Preach until a foreign nation obliterates them and they are utterly destroyed. Okay, now get going. That's hard. God, why? Why would you want me to do that? Why do you want me to beat my head against the wall with ZERO results? You want to talk about a job that might require a little patience? You want to talk about a situation in which you might be tempted to complain? Isaiah can relate. James says look at the prophets. What do you think was motivating Isaiah? What caused him to go year after year after year, watching the horrible hard-heartedness that led to destruction? What enabled him to keep going? What enabled him to keep preaching to this stiff-necked rebellious people? What made him able to not complain and to be patient? Think about it. CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT IS? Jeremiah Consider Jeremiah. Jeremiah preaches during the Babylonian invasion of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is steaming forward. Jeremiah, go tell Jehoiakim that I'm going to use Nebuchadnezzar as a rod to discipline the nation of Israel. You have disobeyed me; therefore you will be destroyed by him. - Jehoiakim sees Babylon assembling for battle and they are scurrying about like ants trying to prepare for battle and God says, "Jeremiah, Go up to the king and here's what I want you to tell him to his face. Prophesy over him and tell him that he is going to lose this battle." - Tell Jehoiakim, "The right thing to do is to surrender to Nebuchadnezzar and to submit to him." Okay, that's your job. Now go. Jeremiah argued to God. God I'm only a child; I don't know how to speak to kings. But God says, "That excuse doesn't work. I'll give you the words. Get yourself ready!" Jeremiah says, "Are you kidding me? Everybody is going to think I'm a traitor! You really think he's going to listen to this message: Hey, Jehoiakim, you know that pagan overlord, Nebuchadnezzar? Yeah, well, God wants you to give up and let him take you into captivity. They're going to think I'm a traitor." And that's exactly what happened. They did think he was a traitor. In Jeremiah 11 we read of all the friends in his hometown (these are his elementary school classmates, those who grew up together), they all assemble and say, we have to kill this guy. He's spreading the language of sedition. We read of the temple prophets conspiring to kill him. Jeremiah discovers the plot to kill him and he complains to the Lord about his persecution and the Lord responds by telling him. "Oh, don't worry, it's going to get way worse." And sure enough. Jeremiah is beaten and put in stocks. He is thrown into a cistern where he starts sinking in mud. They are starving him. We call Jeremiah the weeping prophet. He writes a book in our Bible called Lamentations. But he can't stop speaking. He just keeps speaking. You want to talk about a job where you might be tempted to complain? How about Jeremiah? God why? James says, look at the prophets. What do you think was motivating Jeremiah? What caused him to sit in that muddy pit and trust God? What do you think motivated him to keep on speaking despite the terrible suffering and persecution? Think about it. CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT IS? Hosea Then you have Hosea. God comes to Hosea, and he says, "Hosea, you're never going to be any kind of prophet until you understand what the betrayal of the nation of Israel feels like to the heart of God. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to marry a prostitute. I want you to marry a woman who will never be faithful to you. I've given her a fitting name, Gomer. You're going to marry Gomer, and she's going to continually be unfaithful to you." God says, "She's going to continually commit adultery. It's going to just absolutely gut you. You are going to love her to death and she's going to have affair after affair after affair. You're going to have to continually forgive her and go get her and buy her back and carry her back to your home. And you are going to love her again even though she hurt you so badly. And you are going to have to go through that difficult process of rebuilding trust. That's the training routine you are going to need to suffer in order to be a usable prophet in my hands. So I just want you to live that life on repeat for the next 30-40 years. Cool? You good with that? You want to talk about a job where you might be tempted to complain. I think Hosea can relate. God why? James says, look at the prophets. What do you think was motivating Hosea? What caused him to go year after year after year, watching the unfaithfulness of his wife. What enabled him to forgive time after time after time? I mean can you imagine the sorrow? Just horrible sorrow all the time. God says to all these prophets, "Get going." Hosea. Get going. Jeremiah. Get going. Get going, Isaiah. Their lives were suffering. They never had answers. Nothing ever went right for them. God says, "I want you to obey me. Be patient and don't complain." What do you think caused the prophets to be so patient? What do you think motivated them to keep serving the Lord despite terrible suffering and persecution? Think about it. CAN YOU GUESS WHAT IT IS? I'm baiting you aren't I? You want to know. Be patient. I'm helping you practice patience. We are supposed to look at the prophets. The prophets are given as an example. But we are also supposed to look at Job. Job Let's think about the patience of Job. Man, this is so good. Now to understand the lesson of Job you have to understand the structure of the book and the structure of the book of Job is a little odd. The story is found at the beginning and the end. In the middle you have these long speeches. When we open the book we read of the integrity and character of the man Job. - He was a man who feared God and turned away from evil. - He was an upright man. - He was blameless in all his ways. - He was a devout man, and he also was an extremely wealthy man. Now Satan comes and says, "I see this servant of yours, Job. I see how he's kind of your poster child. He's pretty hot stuff." Well, he's amazing for a reason. The dude's filthy rich. Job has learned not to bite the hand that feeds him. He's wise. Does Job serve you for nothing? The only reason he's serving you is because you've blessed him. In other words he doesn't love you. He loves your blessing. Take away his cash and he'll curse you. You can prove where his devotion lies by taking away his assets. So God allowed it. One day Job was standing in his home, and a messenger comes up and says, - "I was herding your donkeys and plowing with your oxen, and plunderers, those wretched Sabeans, well they came and attacked and took them all and killed the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you. " Well there goes his food supply. - And while the words were still in his mouth a second servant comes running up, and he says, "I was with your sheep, and lightning came down from the sky and destroyed all the sheep and all the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you." - And while the words were still in his mouth another comes and says the Chaldeans came and formed three bands and took all your camels and killed all your servants. This is basically the equivalent of saying your entire retirement portfolio has been wiped out. Your stocks gone. Your houses burned down and insurance won't pay and even your bars of gold you buried in the ground were dug up and robbed. All of his earthy capital is gone. He's financially ruined. He's now poor. That's a lot to absorb. - And while the words were still in his mouth another servant came up and said, "I was in the home where all of your grown children were feasting and drinking wine together, and a wind came out of the wilderness and the house collapsed, and all of your children are dead, all ten, seven sons and three daughters, and I alone have escaped to tell you these things." Now after the first stroke from Satan, we are told that Job howls in sorrow. He rips his clothes, shaves his head, falls to the ground in ashes and says, "Naked I came into the world, and naked I will return. The Lord gives. The Lord takes. Blessed be the name of the Lord." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. That is pretty stinking impressive. Now that introduction and the initial commentary has caused many people to misunderstand the book. Some people use this as the interpretive key for the book. Okay, Job was a righteous man, blameless. Satan attacked him and he didn't crack. So they read everything through that lens. True enough. Job was righteous. Job was blameless. There was not a better man on the earth. He was the top tier. He was the upper crust. But the story of the book of Job is that trials crush even the righteous. Trials wear you down. Trials cause even the finest poster children to crack. Trials are too much for all of us. All of us will crack eventually. There's a saying in the Navy Seals about fear of water. "All men panic. It's just a matter of when." And so it is with trials. All men eventually doubt God. All men eventually sin. All men crack. It's just a matter of when. Show me one who does not? At the first stroke, his self-control holds. Job hasn't cracked, yet. So the pressure turns up. There was a second stroke of Satan. Now Satan attacks his health. We're told he was afflicted with these running sores. He sat on an ash heap, and he scraped himself with pieces of pottery, scouring the pus off. It says he was afflicted with these sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. I mean that has got to just be terrible misery. I've run into poison ivy several times in my life and I just absolutely hate that stuff. It's just so itchy. The sores just run for weeks. It's so gross. From the top of the head to the sole of the foot. Head to toe. Can you imagine? Some people after funerals get consolation cards, meals cooked for them, phone calls. Job buries his 10 kids and loses his entire retirement portfolio and to boost his spirits he's given head to toe bleeding sores. Now that's bad. That's really bad. But I think the absolute worst comes next. I think what made him crack was not: - The loss of money. - Not the loss of children. - Not the loss of health. - It was the loss of being believed by his closest friends. Along come four terrible counselors. The first was Job's wife. She's a piece of work. Here Job is suffering. He's covered in sores and she looks at him and says, "Curse God and die!" Obviously this is an indication of where she's at. She's mad at God. She's lost all her kids. She's convinced God is evil. She's cursing at God. And she wants her husband to do the same. She's trying to drag him down with her. Look at his response. It's remarkable. You see he is still barely holding on, but he is still holding on by the tips of his fingers. He says, "You are talking like a foolish woman." He doesn't say, "You are a foolish woman." He says, "We've been around foolish women. You and I have both agreed what foolish behavior looks like. What you're saying feels awfully similar to that." It's a very kind response to someone who says to you, "Curse God and die!" Next up were Job's three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Now Job's friends come along and take a totally different approach. They say, "No, God's not the problem. God can't be the problem. God is perfect. God is holy." And that is like a breath of fresh air to Job. "Yes, I was just trying to tell my wife that. That's so comforting to hear. Thank you for saying that. I agree, God can never be wrong. He is all wise! He's always good." But what comes next is like a baseball bat to the knees. Job's friends say, "So if God is good. If God is not to blame, the only one left is you. Job, you're the problem." They say, "I've never seen an innocent man perish like you. Obviously, you're to blame. God doesn't judge the righteous." Oh man, that hurts. That's deep. He cries out. He yells. He screams. So Job's wife says: "God's the problem. God is to blame." Job's friends says: "You're the problem." And I think he cracks. Right there. And in his agony for 35 chapters he basically asks two questions: - Why didn't I die at birth? - Why is God not answering me? He says, I am an innocent sufferer. I am righteous. I have done nothing to deserve this. This is senseless suffering. Why? Why won't God talk to me? Why are the heavens as bronze? Why? In Job 23 he says, "If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out the reasons, and consider what he would say." You see, Job is just like us. He's asking, "Why?" And what's the answer? Silence. Be patient. He gets nothing. He gets silence as a response. Why are you allowing this to happen? It would be one thing if I could see a reason. If it was because I had sinned, that would make sense. Okay, this is punishment for my sin. Or there was some greater purpose. I could handle that. It would be one thing if I could discern a reason. This trial will accomplish this purpose. Okay, now I have a reason to suffer. But I am innocent and you are silent. Why? Why am I suffering? To be patient and not complain and live in great suffering is among the hardest places in the world to be. Wait. Trust me. Now, here's what I want to point out. By the time we get to chapter 38, Job has officially cracked. Here the most righteous man on the face of the earth has cracked under suffering. He's cracked. He's doubting God. He's angry. He's questioning God. Everyone cracks. Listen, the prophets cracked too. - You don't think Isaiah cracked when he watched innocent children being slaughtered because of the hard-heartedness of Israel? Of course he did! - You don't think Hosea cracked when he got the news that his wife was sleeping with another man? Of course he did! - You don't think Jeremiah cracked while his feet were sinking in the mud? Read Lamentations. That's a poem written by a broken heart. Of course he did! - And here is Job. Cracked! And yet James says, "Consider the prophets. Consider Job." What does that mean? The lesson to learn from the prophets and Job is NOT how NOT to crack. It's what to do when you do. Or even more accurately, the lesson is what God will do for you when you crack. We looked at Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and asked what do you think motivated them to keep on serving God in their terrible suffering and persecution? What did they do? CAN YOU GUESS WHAT THEY DID? Here's the answer: They did nothing. God did something. In all these cases, what happens is that his beloved children crack and God shows up and puts them back together. And how he shows up to do that is shocking. The Rebuke Since we are in Job, let's just keep going here. In Job chapter 38, near the end, God shows up. Job is not doing well. And God appears in this great storm and whirlwind. Job has been asking the why question for 35+ chapters. And finally God shows up and here's how he answers. There are two things here that are just absolutely astonishing to me. First, God doesn't give Job a reason. He doesn't tell him why? We might have ideas as to what God is up to but he doesn't say one thing about it to Job. Job has been asking for chapters and chapters why, and God says not a thing about it. He gives no explanation. So first, He doesn't tell him why, but secondly, he doesn't give him any comfort. We don't read God saying, "Job, I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry that you lost your wealth and your children and I see those terrible painful sores. It must have been so terrible to go so long and not understand. I am so, so sorry." We get none of that. The absence of that language is so shocking to me that it almost makes me want to throw away the book. How cold can you be? It's like God just has ice in his veins. Are you kidding? Not only does he not give Job comfort, he goes on the offensive. He goes on the attack. Over and over God says, "Who are you? Who do you think you are?" I mean the language is so harsh, I just shrink back. God says to Job, “Surely, you know Job, Surely, you were there. You're talking like you are so old. You're talking like you are so wise.” So surely, the lightning bolts report to you. They come to you and say, "Here we are. Which way would you like us to go, Job?" They do that for me, so surely they do that for you too, since you seem to have so much knowledge of the way things ought to be? Surely you understand how to make stars. That's easy, right? Like billions of them, right? Surely, since you know so much about how your life should go and how it fits into my great plan of redemption, surely you know about these petty small little details. Right? Oh you don't know? You don't have understanding about these things? Well, then maybe you should trust me. That feels like the opposite of compassion. And we think, God, what are you doing to this broken man? We feel like God is making a mistake here. But let's not commit the same sin that Job just committed telling God how he should instruct his children. God you don't know how to discipline your children. You're too harsh. You haven't read the positive affirmation books at Barnes and Noble. What God says totally works. Look what comes out of Job's mouth. Job stammers out a first response. You know what comes out? Repentance. The great theme of the book of James. Repentance. Job was written NOT to tell you how to NOT crack. It was written to tell you what to do when you do crack. In fact, it was written to crack you and then put you back together. And how does Job help put us back together? Through the beautiful, wonderful work of repentance. What a gift. What a healing balm. To just repent. To just say, "I thought I knew what was best. What a fool, to ever question you. I repent, Lord." Listen to Job's repentance. And you think, man, okay, Job really learned his lesson. Okay God you can be done. Do you know what God says? "I'm not finished. I'll tell you when I'm done." "Job, you think I am unjust? Must I be condemned that you be justified? Is that how this should be? It doesn't make sense to me, so I should be the one who is repenting to you? Does that make sense, Job? Either I am competent to judge God or God is competent to judge me. Which is it? Job, you're suffering is 1000 times worse simply because you assume you can understand all these things. How could that be? Were you there when I invented the molecular structure of the universe? Were you there when I invented snow? Were you there when I laid the foundations of the earth? Were you there when I said to trillions of stars, come forth? Job, you weren't. How could YOU know? Who do you think you are to question me? Either I'm God or you are. Either I'm right or you are. Either I know what's going on or you do. I'm appealing to you. Think. It's not possible, Job, that you are wiser than me. You want justice, Job? You think this is unfair. Try your own hand at justice, Job. Look at every proud man and bring him low. Crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them in the dust, and then I will concede that you are in a position to be the determiner of justice." Now all of this is too much for Job. Think about the phrase, don't obscure my counsel without knowledge. When you throw up complaints against God, you want to know what that does? It obscures God's wisdom. All of a sudden something that should never be questioned, comes into question. It's like a thick fog descends and now all of a sudden that mountain range in the distance is no longer visible. I'm confused which way is north. You know this is no different than Isaiah. What happened to Isaiah? He's brought into the throne room of the Lord of Hosts. And he sees the Lord high and lifted up and the cherubim on the throne screaming Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with his Glory. And Isaiah smashes his face into the dirt and says, woe is me for I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips. How dare I ever question the Lord? Who do I think I am? That turbulence inside Isaiah is put to rest when he sees God. The turbulence inside of Job is put to rest when he sees God. The anger goes away. That pride evaporates. They are changed men. They don't have all the answers, but they have what they need to be content. To trust. To not complain or grumble. The thing that so upset me is it seemed like God came and did all the wrong things to Job, and yet, look. Sometimes God asks for trust without a reason. God asks for trust without compassion. Why? Because now the trust is complete. It's the highest form. It's the most complete form of love. Is that hard? Yeah, of course, it's hard. When you have cancer or your spouse just left you or you lost everything, or whatever, we are just bawling our eyes out. We are cracked. We are laying on the ground, cracked in a million pieces. Can you listen to God in that moment? God is no more distant from you than he was from Job. God is no more distant from you than he was from Jesus when he cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Even Jesus asked the why question. Conclusion Remember, Job and the prophets are not here to tell you how not to crack. They tell you what to do when you do. And what should you do? Run to Christ. That's what Job did. At the very end of the book of Job, God commends Job. He says, "My servant Job did the right thing." Job had some pretty low days. He had some pretty ugly moments. He cursed the day he was born. He accused God of injustice. He ranted and raved. He was filled with self-pity. It was terrible. He cracked. But what did he do right? He repented of thinking he knew better than God. He went looking for the WHY. He never found it. But you want to know what he did find? He found the who. He found the who and that was enough. He was satisfied. He found someone he could trust with the why. Remember the cross. Those in Jesus day said, "THIS MAKES ZERO SENSE." Why God? Why would you allow this? God what are you doing? I'm guessing many lost their faith when they watched Jesus hang on the cross. They said, "How in the world could this be?" And yet God turned that into the greatest act of mercy in the world. Can you trust him with the unknowns in your life knowing he has done that?

What price have you put on giving your life over to God completely... What are your "But, First" requirements?CONNECT WITH US: info@thehillsnashville.comWEB: https://thehillsnashville.comSOCIAL: @thehillsnvilleGIVING: https://thehillsnashville.com/giveGROUPS REGISTRATION: https://thehillsnashville.com/groupsSupport the show

Praying for others has stopped me in my tracks more than a few times. Whether it was simply not knowing what to pray for or, if I'm honest, lacking the motivation to pray for this person or that person, I crossed them off the list with guilty dismissal and skip to the next. Hear me out. I wanted to pray. I remembered times in years past when I looked forward to my conversations with God. Times I kept on praying without a single glance at the clock. My prayer life, however, fluctuated between a willingness to face the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to throwing a pity party right alongside Jonah in the belly of a whale. Bottom line? My prayer life was in desperate need of an overhaul.

Tonight's special guests are Rachel Hawley and Eli Yoder from the Amish Rescue Mission. Rachel grew up in Southern Minnesota. The Amish community where she was raised was so sheltered that she didn't even know there were any other Amish. She still has a lot of unanswered questions. In 2020 a little 12 year old Amish girl got pregnant in Missouri, by one of her 4 brothers. Rachel said, "Okay God, I am listening. Where do I start?" Inspired by the Holy Spirit, she created a 'safe touch~not safe touch' poster for the Amish and Plain children, took advocacy training and became the Co-Founder of Amish Rescue Mission in hopes to give all God's children a voice. Eli Yoder grew up in a old order Amish community in Kenton, Ohio, where he experienced lots of physical abuse. "I wanted to run away at a very young age and I failed at every attempt of escape until 18 years when I could legally leave by law." He continues, "I thought for sure that I would go to hell but I wanted to get away from the abuse so badly that I thought hell might be just a little bit better." In 2017 he first laid his eyes on the English written Bible, and realized he'd been lied to his whole life. "After being out for 15 years I got to know many other former Amish on social media including Rachel." He'd discovered a path. "I knew that I had to be a part of helping victims who don't have a voice in these Amish communities." The Mission now has many different tools including safe houses, Dutch speaking interpreters and many other resources. The group has recently added a hotline -- 888 / 621-1985 -- and safe houses for those in need of rescue from current abusive situation.

Have you ever felt like you're not hearing from God in your business? Are you wanting to finally hear from the Holy Spirit every day? If so, then this piece of content was created just for you, because in it, we cover why you're not hearing from the Holy Spirit in your business & how to change that. To be quite honest with you, this is a question I get frequently, and I believe it needs its own episode because more people need to know and understand the answer to this question. It's time for more people to hear from God on a daily basis, don't you think? We are covering FIVE different reasons WHY you may not hearing from the Holy Spirit AND the solutions to each of those. Because y'all, there have been so many moments where I was like, “Okay, God, I know you're with me... but I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do.” And then it just feels like there are crickets. And then I just wish Jesus was right in front of me, where I can see Him and He can tell me what to do.  I know I am not the only one who has ever felt this way and I want you to know that there have been so many moments where I've been like, “Okay God, I feel like you're trying to tell me something.. but it doesn't feel super clear, so can you just come out and just tell me?” If this is you, you are not alone. Over the last year and a half, He has really been showing me why I may not be hearing from Him and how to change that. Which is why I knew I needed to share this with you. As always, this is a juicy one. You know I don't hold back. This is a core topic we are going to be focusing on inside of the Reclaimed to Reign membership. It's been in the works for so long now. If you want details on the membership, head to www.hannahbrindley.com/membership.     CONNECT: Instagram –＞ @hannahbrindley     FREE RESOURCES: Reclaimed to Reign Facebook Community –＞ https://bit.ly/reclaimedtoreign ROOTED: 3 Day Devotional Series for Faith-Fueled Female Entrepreneurs –＞ https://bit.ly/3daydevotional  Attract Your Queendom (Learn to Attract Your Ideal Clients to You) –＞ https://bit.ly/attractyourqueendom    WORK WITH HANNAH: Reclaimed to Reign (Membership) –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/membership For faith-fueled female entrepreneurs ready breakthrough spiritual warfare + self-sabotage in life + business Faith-Fueled Coach Academy (Group Coaching) –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/fca For faith-fueled females who are ready to start + scale a Holy Spirit led coaching business 1:1 Coaching Options –＞ www.hannahbrindley.com/services    CONTACT: Email –＞ hannah@hannahbrindley.com

Talking about how God sees and hears both good and bad. Love you all mucho GBY!!!

Talking about how many time God's way is not our way and that is more than okay. Love you all mucho GBY!!!

Talking about the greatness of God's gifts to us and how we many times can't even fathom how perfect for us they really are. Love you all mucho GBY!!!

Talking about actually being open to and willing to having God guide your steps. Love you all mucho GBY!!!

There are times in our relationship with God where he will ask us to take a giant leap of Faith. He might ask us to do things that we think we aren't equipped for at all, but God knows we are. It's in these times where truly have to just say, “Okay God, I put my trust in you, lead me where you want me.” My friend Tammy Lane is a prime example of this. God asked her to take that leap of faith that took her from stay at home mom to movie producer. Today Tammy is founder and President of Capernum Studios where The Chosen Season One has filmed. Join Tammy as she talks about her story, and how if you just say "yes!" God can lead you to places you never dreamed you would go.

Talking about how God's grace is a gift freely given through faith that can never be earned. Love you all mucho GBY

“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalms‬ ‭46:1, 10‬) NKJV‬‬By a show of hands, go ahead, wherever you are reading this, how many of you have ever rushed into something too fast? Said something you regretted later? Did something you wished you hadn't? Oh my! Both my hands and my feet are up! :) Today, I just want to take a moment and be still before an awesome and mighty God! To acknowledge how good and faithful He is! Be encouraged today, He is for you, not against you and He cares about every facet of your life! Yet, how many times do we keep Him at bay until we feel we actually need Him? It looks something like this, “Okay God, I can handle all the smaller things like this, this, and this, and I will call on you if/when this, this, or this arises.”In doing so, we try and compartmentalize Him, control Him, and treat Him in essence like a spare tire or genie in a bottle.Listen, I'm not saying we need to get all hooky spooky, “Oh Lord which flavor of gum do you wantest me to have today...?” Yet, I am saying this: If we will on purpose practice putting Him first in our decision-making, our spending, our giving, our child-rearing, our work, if we will on purpose begin to allow Him to be involved in more areas of our life, we will find that the “small” things we used to keep Him out of, won't stress us out near as much!Take some time today and think about some areas in your life that perhaps you have been trying to do on your own, without truly involving Him, and begin to get scriptures for those areas. Begin to talk to the Lord about them. Watch and see those areas begin to turn around for the better! He will be exalted in the Earth! Allow Him to be exalted in your life today! Be still and know that He is God! :) In Christ, Joshua Scott ZeitzSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joshzeitz)

Talking about putting God first, following Jesus's commandments and letting everything else fall into place. Love you all mucho and May God bless us all always!!!

God is with us in everything and always around us waiting for us to listen for his guidance. Love you all mucho and may God bless us all always!!!

UTTERLY HOPELESS UPSIDE DOWN WORLD? F E A R   IS   A   L I A R !   HOPE IS A FORTRESS!   Mary Lindow   DO YOU FEEL AS IF THINGS ARE UTTERLY HOPELESS AND COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN RIGHT NOW? Maybe you have you been in that scary place before. Most people, if they are being transparent and honest will admit to times of experiencing hopelessness and feeling alone and afraid.   Friend. You aren't without hope, You aren't hopeless, But you ARE helpless!   God has allowed this time and position of helplessness and complete dependency on Him, and you are helpless to help yourself.   We struggle to gain back some measure of control over our lives when this pressure is upon us, but our personal pride (that we didn't even know that we had) is being crushed, and the only thing for us to do is to surrender!   NOW YOU MAY FEEL HOPELESS, BUT REALLY… …IT'S THE CONDITION OF HELPLESSNESS THAT IS CAUSING YOU PAIN. God wants you completely dependent on Him, and He will keep you a “prisoner of hope” until you are.   OH HOW WEARY YOU ARE OF THE AWFUL REFINER'S FLAME AND THAT SEEMINGLY ENDLESS TWEAKING OF YOUR ATTITUDE! “Okay, God, you can stop now!" you scream. But He doesn't stop.   You're caught in a prison of hope and He will not let you out until He is finished with what He began in you.   There are times during the process of pursuing heartfelt dreams and callings in life that you might feel that your "hope" seems to have been locked up in a prison. You can't seem to make your dreams come true, and yet, you find it impossible to stop believing in them!   YOU CAN'T GO FORWARD ANY FASTER THAN GOD WILL LET YOU, and yet, you sure don't want to return to where you once were before you were overshadowed and given a "life vision" with a promise from God!   GOD JUST WILL NOT LET YOU GIVE UP! During this time you might feel like saying, "Okay God, this is enough! I don't want to hope anymore! I am tired of being like an egg in an incubator with this promise! I want out of this prison of hope!"   IT'S DURING THIS TIME THAT YOUR DREAMS FEEL SO VERY REAL TO YOU, YET TO OTHERS THEY DON'T! There is a big conflict between what you discern in the Spirit and what appears to be moving so slowly in the natural, and that grates at our souls! We feel like we are on a Ferris wheel. You have your “up times” when you can see your dream's fulfillment far into the future, but you also have your “down times” when you can't see anything and everything seems to have crashed into a messy heap.   YOU THINK TO YOURSELF, “AM I CRAZY TO THINK THAT GOD COULD USE ME? NOW? IN THIS TIME?" The enemy comes in like a rushing flood and you begin to doubt, causing anguish to your soul.   THIS IS THE TIME WHEN GOD IS DOING HIS GREATEST WORK IN YOU! This is when the refining process REALLY hurts, because He is getting down to the very core of your soul, to the deep regions of your heart.   HE IS DEVELOPING THINGS IN YOU THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU LACKED. THINGS THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU NEEDED.   You think, "Okey Dokey God, this is deep enough!" But, every builder knows you must dig down deep to lay a proper foundation first, before you start to build upward. And the greater the height of the structure, the deeper the foundation must be.   YOUR FORTRESS OR PLACE OF REFUGE IS TRUSTING IN A LOVING GOD. Trusting Him in spite of all the reasoning of your mind, in spite of the circumstances that surround you.   YOU WERE CONTENT TO GIVE GOD CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE UNTIL HE DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE, YOU DIDN'T LIKE. You were happy to surrender all to Him, until He decided to give your promotion to someone else.   You believe in His sovereignty, until His sovereign will conflicts with, your will. Then you are sure He has made a mistake!   You want to run from Him, but He is your refuge. How do you run from your refuge? How do you run from the only one who really loves you or understands you? The answer is . . . you don't.   SO, RETURN, MY FRIEND, TO YOUR FORTRESS, AND REMAIN A PRISONER UNTIL HE IS DONE WITH YOU - UNTIL HE DECIDES THAT YOU ARE READY FOR ALL THAT HE HAS FOR YOU.   Zechariah 9:12 says, “Return to your fortress! Yes! You prisoners who have hope! Today I declare that I will return double what has been taken from you."   PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT   The Spirit of God says, “Even now I announce to you that not only will I restore to you all that has been taken from you, but I will give you double for all the trouble you have endured."   He says, "Don't stop now . . . …Keep trusting me, because I can see your future and it is very blessed.   Keep walking with me and keep trusting in me and I will give you rest."   “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, And I will give you rest." -Matthew 11:28   Duplication and sharing of this message is welcomed as long as the complete message, podcast location and website information for Mary Lindow is included. 
Thank You! Copyright © 2021 "THE MESSENGER " ~ Mary Lindow
 www.marylindow.podbean.com   www.marylindow.com www.globalprayerrooms.com  

God is with us always, and will get us through anything. Love you all mucho and may God bless us all always!

God wants all of you, the good, the bad and everything in between.

Never being shameful of it, and never withholding it from anyone, the word of God is our life blood. Love you all mucho and may God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christ's precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how we are all God's children and it behooves us to imitate him and his love. Hope you all have/had a great day love you all mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

There is a remnant of people who have been standing on the Promises of God for what may seem like an eternity. If we are honest, we've had moments of doubt, fear, anxiety, frustration – wondering IF/WHEN God is going to do it. I was thinking about some things I have before God in prayer; and in prayer I remind Him of His Promises (because He told us to). Funny enough, afterwards, during my quiet time, I heard the song “Promises” by Christopher Williams in my head – just out of nowhere – and I began to chuckle. My response: “Okay God, I hear you.”I need to encourage you and remind you to stand firm on the Promises of God – in spite of what it looks like! Remember, it is written: We walk by faith not by sight. It is written: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So, even though we don't see it YET, the Promises of God are still true. He does not lie. Promises:My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11Fear not, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed. I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalms 37:4When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isaiah 54:17For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 Corinthians 1:20Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23Remember, if God said it, then That Settles It.  

Talking about how we should transform our hearts in Abba so that we may become loving transformations in him. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho mucho mucho and may God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Deep House | KVRVBO - Euphoria [Stay True Sounds] https://staytruesounds.bandcamp.com/album/euphoria FULL ALBUM PREVIEW PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON https://www.youtube.com/c/mosheyagami 1. KVRVBO - Fyre Flies In The Mirror(Intro) 2. KVRVBO - Conspiracy (feat. Jus Tadi) 3. KVRVBO - Billow Made Me Do It (feat. Billowjazz) 4. KVRVBO - I Wish You Were Here (feat. Tahir Jones) 5. KVRVBO - Moonlight 6. KVRVBO - In the Jungle (feat. Bongani Mehlomakhulu) 7. KVRVBO - O Flopo (feat. OKAY GOD) 8. KVRVBO - Celestial Dreams 9. KVRVBO - Tango & Cash 10. KVRVBO - Distant Signals (feat. Avi Subban) 11. KVRVBO - Call For Truth (feat. SMBD) 12. KVRVBO - Gotham Groove (feat. Rephlex) PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO HIT THAT SUBSCRIBE BUTTON .................................... Disclaimer: This video is for promotional use only. We do not own the rights. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS For content removal, email Moshe at nikkamoshe@gmail.com #DeepHouse #KVRVBO #StayTrueSounds #KidFonque #beatsbyhand #SelectiveStyles

Talking about how our faith is an understanding and belief that God is real, and that he is a real being who cares for and loves us all always. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho mucho mucho and may God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all always and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Does God want His people to have a happy marriage? Absolutely! I truly think He does. Above all He wants obedience. Obeying God won't guarantee you a happy marriage, but it will give you all the ingredients for joy and hope in the midst of the mess. I made a choice to love God and obey Him, and that is when I saw a change. It was hard. It was work. It still is. I stopped focusing on making my marriage better. I stopped thinking about how to make my husband happy or how he could make me happy. Instead, I turned my attention and focus on God. I prayed for strength to be obedient. I prayed for joy when I felt despair. When I felt God prompt me through His Word or the quiet whisper of the Spirit, I obeyed. It was like putting on a pair of blindfolds and saying, ‘Okay God, lead. I'm following.' Obedience meant apologizing. It meant changing my tone or keeping quiet, to begin with. It meant bringing him a can of coke. Each day God gave me something to do as an act of worship to Him and it often looked like blessing my husband or refining my character. We are told in James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” It's important that you follow this example in your marriage. Take your marital problems to God, and ask Him for His wisdom. It's easy to dwell on the bad, but during this time, focus on the positive. Check out our signature tee declaring this message: https://aogboutique.com/collections/new-arrivals Connect with us beyond the show here: https://linktr.ee/Jessicaadebiyi

Talking about how God is our safe space and he is always with us. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho mucho mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how Abba is a savior to us all. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho mucho mucho and may God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Hello and welcome again to Lechem Panim. In our study of the book of Acts, we have come to chapter 9, in which we read of the conversion of a man who was at one time one of the fiercest persecutors of early Christianity, and yet became God's chief instrument in bringing the good news of the Gospel to the gentiles. And of course I'm talking about Saul, who was also known as Paul. I say “also known as” because there is a widely-spread belief that God (or Jesus specifically) changed Saul's name to Paul. But that is not the case. Saul in fact always kept both names. “Saul" was his Hebrew name and “Paul” was his Greek name. And having that kind of duel name was actually very common during that time. Simon Peter's name is another example: Simon/Shimeon (a Hebrew name), and Peter (a Greek name). Now there definitely is a shift from the use of “Saul” in the beginning of the book of Acts to “Paul” later in the book of Acts; but the reason for that shift has nothing to do with Saul's conversion. Rather it has to do with where he was ministering. In and around Jerusalem he would use his Hebrew name (“Saul”) and in Gentile regions he would use his Greek name (“Paul”). And you will note here that when Jesus confronts him here on the road to Damascus, he calls him by his Hebrew name; not his Greek one. The Importance of Saul's Conversion— Now the story of Saul's conversion is very important for at least two reasons. First, it helps us to get to know who he is, the problems he struggled with, and how Christ changed who he was. Secondly, Paul's testimony is important because his apostleship (which is the source of his authority) is based upon this very important encounter he had with Jesus while on the road to Damascus. In fact, Paul's testimony is so important that the event is described three separate times here in the book of Acts (Acts 9:1-9; 22:3-21; 26:1-23). And what makes Paul's testimony so important is that it shows us that he did not receive his authority from either himself or the other apostles. His authority came from the fact that he met Jesus face to face and was called (by Christ Himself) to go and be a minister of God's word; a messenger who would carry His authority and do great things in His name. And over and over again Paul points back to Christ as the one who gave him this authority. He doesn't consider himself worthy to do the work God has for him. In fact, he even describes how the other disciples met Christ in 1 Corinthians 15 (NIV) and then says in verse eight, “and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” You see, he recognizes that it is only by the grace of God's love that he was chosen to be God's special instrument.     And I am sure that all of us here today recognize our own unworthiness in being chosen by God not only to be His special instruments, but His children. It was not because we were anything special, but because He is good. Zealous Rage— Now although Saul became a mighty instrument for God, at this time Saul is violently persecuting the Christian Church. And behind this is a misguided zealousness for God, whom he thinks these Christians are in rebellion against. And so he is enraged (really) against these Christians. And you know, that is not very different from how the world often responds to you and to me in our day and age as well. An Answer Forum— Some time ago I was looking something up online and I stumbled across this website where people could ask any question they wanted and other people could answer. And as I was looking through some of the religious questions people were asking and some of the answers other people were giving, I was struck with how easily you could tell who was a Christian and who wasn't by how differently they responded. The Christians, though not always on track, were honestly trying to answer the questions while those who weren't Christians were often flippant and rude. And not only that, they were vindictive, speaking hatefully and mockingly towards Christianity. And I found it interesting how people who reject the truth of Christ are rarely content to just say, “I respectfully disagree with you.” No, they often feel the need to lash out and vent their hatred, even when what they are venting about how little or nothing to do with the question that had been originally asked. And through my interactions with unbelievers in those kinds of forums (but even in person) I have really come to understand more and more that very often it is not merely a matter of respectful debate. No, there is an underlying hatred; an enmity that is working against you right from the outset. And you know, that is because of the truth of what Jesus expressed in… John 3:20-21 (NIV)— 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. Thick Hide/Warm Heart— And so when we come to interact with people who are lost, we need to do expect that there are unseen emotions and forces at play in their lives that will be working against us. Satan will seek to deaden their reason and cloud their thinking. He will place before their mind's eye a manufactured picture of Christians that would be detestable to anybody. He will seek to stir up their spirit against you. And so, as my mentor once told me, you need to “have a thick hide and a warm heart”. Be willing to take the abuse, remembering what we talked about last week; that those who often respond to us with the most anger are often those who are under the greatest conviction. The Storm Before Salvation— I remember one time in the early years of my ministry trying to be there for a man who had lost his mother, who had gone to our church. But he himself was a drunkard who did not know the Lord; and it showed in his unsettled (and often angry) spirit and in the way he chose to grieve for his mother, without hope. He was one of those people you would look at and wonder if there really was any hope for him because of how incapable he had rendered himself of hearing God's voice. How could God ever break through to a man like him? But I kept visiting him. And I would sit with him, listen, and try to offer the hope of Jesus wherever I could. But then one day something happened; he told me he didn't want to see me anymore. He had misread a situation and thought I had said something to somebody else about him, which I hadn't. But he said he didn't want to see me anymore. Now I was a little stubborn and came back later anyway to talk to him and try to restore the relationship, but after I knocked on his trailer door and he opened it, I found that I had interrupted his cleaning of his rifle. And he very menacingly said he didn't want to see me again. And so I got back into my car and left. But as I was driving down the road back towards the church, I just said, “Okay God, I can't do anything else. He's in your hands now. I turn him over to you.” One week later my phone rings and I pick it up and it's him. And he said he wanted to see me. And so I went and saw him. And when I came to him and sat down with him, he began sharing his own personal despair; the darkness that had closed in upon him. And once again I offered him Jesus. And this time he said he was ready; and he received Christ that night, one week after saying he never wanted to see me again. Later he gave me a plaque that had a cross on it made out of railroad spikes. And I hung it in my office to remind me of what God had shown me through that experience; that there is nobody beyond His reach and ability to save. And even when somebody may be biting into you (as their conviction is at it's worst), let them do so, all the while recognizing that that chastisement (like the stripes of Jesus) may just be the last croaking of the darkness before the sunrise. So let them bite. And perhaps even in their biting they might taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). Now Saul has definitely come to this turning point. His anger is at it's peak. And so it says… Acts 9:1-2 (NIV)— 1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. En Route To Damascus— Now what is happening is these Christians are spreading the Gospel by teaching in their local synagogues. And Saul wants to put a stop to this in order to prevent those people who come to the synagogue to debate and to learn from being led into what he perceives to be a wicked cult. So he receives permission and is on his way to Damascus in Syria, which [was the nearest important city outside the Holy Land. It also had a large Jewish population. The distance from Jerusalem to Damascus was about 150 miles, four to six days' travel.] And he is at the end of his journey, drawing near to the city. Look at verse 3... Acts 9:3-9 (NIV)— 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Only Through Encounter— Now here we find that Saul, who thought he had had a clear vision of God and what He wanted; and who had intended on riding into Damascus in might and in strength, now has been rendered vision-less (physical blindness to match his spiritual blindness) that now necessitates his having to be led into the very place he had intended to bring persecution. And it was Jesus Himself who confronted Saul and (as we will see) works about a marvelous transformation in his life. And what that shows us is that it is the presence of Jesus that ultimately changes a person; not anything you and I say or do (though God will most certainly use that). But ultimately it is He who confronts, convicts, and brings people to repentance. Our job is simply to lead them to Him. And so this week, seek to bring the presence of Jesus to those around you. It may be in something you say; or it may be in how you respond to their mistreatment of you. Let them see reflected in you and me the presence of Jesus. Amen.

Talking about how Abba cares about everyone, always! Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho mucho mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Do you ever ask yourself why someone struggling with addiction consistently chooses pain over love? Do you have a loved one who has lost their faith in the wake of their addiction? In today's episode, our guest Anne Reynolds spends time telling us what it is like to fall away from God and into addiction. Anne tells us about her triggers, what caused her to lose her faith, and what ultimately helped her see the light. Her stories are both jaw-dropping and unbelievable – you don't want to miss them! Episode Highlights: [2:41] Anne tells us how she fell into addiction soon after her daughter was born. “I was instantly in love.”  [5:32] “I was like a wild teen again.” When her married life took a turn for the worst, Anne found herself caught up in her emotions and addictions.  [8:10] “You're there, but you're not… I took off for a long time.” Battling addiction as a young mother had some serious consequences.  [9:07] Learn about the ‘honeymoon period' that many people struggling with addiction experience. “The drug completely took over my thoughts.”  [11:12] Anne gives her thoughts on the age-old cliché that “you have to hit rock bottom before you start healing”.  [13:55] “It's when all my faith in God went down the tubes.” This traumatic event changed Anne's worldview at an early age.  [18:18] “There were some awful things happening in that house… I felt like I was stuck there.” Believing she was witnessing true evil; Anne reignited her faith in God by praying.   [20:19] After making her escape, Anne seeks help, but finds herself being shut out from those who love her. “How are we supposed to believe you?”  [25:52] “Okay God, I'm not finished yet with my rebellion, but you are real…” Anne describes when she finally felt God's love.  Episode Resources: Enneagram Strategy Call 

Talking about how God will finish what he started within you and with all things. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how the peace of and from God is different than other type of peace and is the exact type of peace we need and crave. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how God's love and law is perfect within us and for us. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and may Abba bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

All right, we are jumping back into our series we're calling Questions. In episode 16 we talked about why bad things happen to good people. So, you may be thinking…okay, I'm starting to see this, but what about this question,  “Okay, so maybe God didn't cause it to happen, but didn't He allow it? That's exactly what we are going to talk about today. Know that, just because something happened, it doesn't automatically mean it was the will of God and just because something didn't happen, it doesn't mean it wasn't the will of God. But how do we know this? Let's think about it this way, it is the will of God that everyone get saved, right? However, there are people who die daily who have chosen to reject Jesus. God wants everyone to get saved, but because we have free wills, it's a choice we get to make.  2 Peter 3:9 talks about the return of Jesus and why He's taking so long and this is what it says, “This means that, contrary to man's perspective, the Lord is not late with His promise to return, as some measure lateness. But rather, His “delay” simply reveals His loving patience toward you, because He does not want any to perish, but all come to repentance. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 goes on to say, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Did you know that hell was not even created for people. Matthew 25:41 tells us It was prepared for the devil and his angels, however the devil is going to do all he can to bring as many people with him that he can, because he wants to destroy as many people's lives as possible. See, God's will is that everyone gets saved, but sometimes just because something is God's will, doesn't mean it will automatically happen and just because it's not God's will, doesn't mean it won't happen.  Like we talked about in episode 16, there is a bad devil out there, we do live in a cursed world and sometimes we the people make some pretty bad choices that can lead us and others to face horrible consequences. Now, that we have that squared away, what about this question? I have heard this one a lot…especially during really bad tragedies like 9-11. Where was God when 9-11 happened? God could have done something to stop it, Why didn't He?Listen in to today's podcast to learn more.Follow us on IG: @Uncommon_Teen_Ministrieshttps://www.UncommonTEEN.com

Talking about how God our father is our eternal shepherd and how we should trust and follow him with all our being!! Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and may God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how God's will, not ours, is what we should strive for on a daily basis. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and May God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how God overcomes all, God is with us all always, and that no problem or situation is too big for our God. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and May God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about how God is our fortress and with him we can conquer anything. Hope you all have/had a great day, love you all mucho and May God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Day 21 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 18th March 2021   I thank God for choosing me today to be with you and I believe, I have faith, to say that He's the one who is directing me, and directing you to receive the word of God. The theme of the talk is 'The Love of God for man'. If you look at ourselves, have you done something so bad, that you've wondered on what basis God would forgive you. It's something we should think about. Today's first reading, speaks about the Israelites in the desert. It's from Exodus. As you know, soon after God delivered His people from slavery they did something really bad. Instead of worshipping the true God, who brought them out of Egypt, the Israelites asked for a god of their own making and attributed their deliverance to a golden calf. I feel probably Israelites would have been accustomed to the Egyptian worship of images while being in Egypt. They claimed the calf was their God who brought them up from Egypt. Exodus 32:7-8 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'There are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' We are all accustomed to this reading. What happened was when Moses delayed to come back from Mount Sinai where he went to meet the Lord, Israelites went on to build another God. Do we see something similar in our area? When our prayers are not answered, our expectations are not fulfilled, what do we do? We have heard people saying, if there is a God why isn't He solving my problem? My sickness? This is something we hear a lot. What happens is, then either they lose God or they start looking for other gods. Who are these gods? They are the gods of the world. See what happens is we have the tendency to seek answers maybe from our friends, from other religions, or maybe people like soothsayers, and various other gods they see. We have seen people leaving the Catholic church looking for answers. They are some people who leave for prosperity, money, recognition. So let's look at ourselves. At any stage of our life, have we ever had any thoughts of this nature. Just think about it? What is God doing to us? He's not doing anything that we want and so we always have this tendency to think about it and talk about it. So I thought I'll just give the time that I had my wife with me. During my wife's sickness one of my very good friends wanted to bring a well-known Pastor to pray for her. Both of us refused because we have a God who has His own plans. Why do you want to change His plan? What we were looking for was strength, from God, to go through this crisis. Healing is important, I know that, but strength to go through the crisis is much more important, because if you don't have the strength you have the tendency to full down. So like Moses pleaded, the Community was interceding for her physical and spiritual healing. What was the result? She had the highest strength to go through and offer herself to the plan of God. The plan of God was not the plan we had in mind, but we accepted His final plan. So we know His plan now. She's in the presence of the Lord and enjoying eternal rest. That was His plan and we accepted it. There's nothing that we can say "No!", we have to understand that it is important that we know His plan. Let's see what was God's reaction when the Israelites made a calf.   Exodus 32:9-10 "I have seen these people," the Lord said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation. God was angry, He wanted to destroy those people. He brought them from Egypt with lot of difficulty but they have gone against Him. What was Moses' reaction? If you look at Moses' reaction, look at the intercession of Moses for his people. He was pleading for his people. Moses is also taking the advantage by saying, "What would the Egyptians say if you destroy them?" When we intercede on behalf of anyone, we expect the Lord to have pity on the person and heal so that it would be a testimony for others to know the power of God. That's intercession. What did Moses say? Exodus 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'" Moses speaks a lot about what God has said, he's telling Him, "You spoke so much about these chosen people, and then what's going to happen now?" Exodus 32:14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened. That's the theme, 'The Love of God for man'. What did Moses do? Moses never gave up, he started talking about what God had promised him, promised the land, promised everything, and he started telling Him, "Why do you want to destroy them? What will the Egyptians think?" The Egyptians will say, "He took them and deserted them and killed them. And they will say that was His plan." Look at Moses, what he did. He changed God's mind. He interceded for the Israelites. Intercession is a powerful tool of our community. You will see if we have any retreats, what do we do? We have a few people who are praying for two days continuously interceding on behalf of the people who are doing the retreat, people who have come for the retreat. What has happened is, we come, some people come, they flock to listen to the word of God, very good, it's fine. And wait for words of knowledge as well. But if you see, very few people volunteer to come for intercessory. We can take a lesson here from Moses. He changed the mind of God for his people. So we have intercessory prayers every Friday, Sinhala from 7 pm to 8 pm, English from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Be like Moses, be a Moses. You want to pray for others. I would like to say, we had a call from New Zealand of a lady who is in Italy who had met with an accident, both her husband and wife, Judith and Jeya. The wife was undergoing an operation at 8 yesterday morning. We have a prayer meeting going on in Italy every Saturday, so I called them. I had so many replies to say "We are praying" and a few people got together and started praying for this couple. And this morning, when I got up I looked at a message from that lady in New Zealand, that's the sister. 3:30 in the morning she sent a recorded message to say that she has had a very successful operation and thanking for praying. If you look at ourselves, we like to pray for us all the time. We would love to ask God to do this, do that. I might pray for the biggest headache I have, which is my biggest problem. But we forget to pray for the people next door who has a cancer. We will pray for ourselves. What did Moses do? Moses didn't bother about him, he started telling the Lord, "Don't do it. Be kind to all my people." And he could change the mind of God.   You can see the power of intercession in every situation. Pray for others. Continuously pray for others. When you pray for others, you get your blessings because you're not interested in yourself, but interested in others. We'll just put the Psalm of today. It's Psalm 106:19-23 but I will take only verse 23. Here, this Psalm again speaks of the intercession of Moses. Psalm 106:23 So he said he would destroy them--had not Moses his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. The Psalm speaks of that -- Moses' intercession. It is beautiful to see how much God will change when we pray for others. When we intercede. Let's look at the gospel. In the 5th chapter of the gospel, Jesus makes an amazing claim about himself. He claims to be the Son of God, the one who is sent by the Father, the source of all life physical and spiritual, the judge of all the world and the raiser of dead. See, he speaks of himself, and the people listen with open mouthed amazement as Jesus made these claims. Many of them asked, "How do we know he's telling the truth?" Don't we ask that question sometimes, when somebody preaches or somebody talks about God, "Is he telling the truth? What evidence does he give?" Jesus was smart. Knowing their minds and hearts, Jesus proceeds to give them his credentials. Let us take verse 31. John 5:31-32 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another one who testified in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true. When our Lord says his testimony is not true, he doesn't mean it's false. He means it was not true in their eyes, it need not necessarily be true in their eyes. Let's go to verse 33. John 5:33-35 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. If you speak of John the Baptist, he said four specific things about Jesus. Number one was he announced him to be the long predicted Messiah. Everybody was waiting for this Messiah. Secondly, John announced Jesus to be the lamb of God. Thirdly, John announced Jesus to be the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. When he was coming to the river Jordan, he said, "I will be baptizing you with water, and he will be baptizing you with the Holy Spirit." And fourthly, John declared Jesus to be the Son of God. So John the Baptist had a declaration about Jesus, he spoke about Jesus, and Jesus then goes on to say something that sounds a little strange to us: "Not that the testimony which I receive is from man, but I say this, that you may be saved." By this he means that, though he does not need testimony from John for himself, it may be a saving help to those who heard John. "He need not tell about me, but listening to John the Baptist, people will change." We'll frequently see people who pay no attention to the voice of God directly, will often listen to a testimony and change their lives. Haven't we seen in our prayer meetings that testimonies people bring, talk of. And when you give a   testimony, there'll be another person in the congregation who will say, "I have the same problem!" So, your testimonies are important. Don't keep it for yourself. Bring the testimony, talk about it, tell about it. And then there'll be some people, someone in the congregation who will accept it and say, "He's talking about the same thing that I have. What have I done? Have I gone to God? Have I gone to Jesus? I'm just waiting on with that problem." Jesus goes on to say a very beautiful thing about John. He was a burning and shining lamp. "John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light." Many people in the world are lamps, they have the capacity to be lights, but they are not shining. That's what has happened to us. We have the capacity to do work, capacity to take the word of God, but what happens? We just stay on, we listen to the word of God and that's the end of it. You go back home, you've forgotten the word of God, and you have no light to give to the others. It's an invitation to us. Whatever you receive from the word of God, take it to others. Speak about it. Speak in the office. There's are certain times some people don't like to talk about the word of God in the offices, because they feel they will laugh at them. This is the truth about Christ to many people today. Something that comes and goes. Christ comes to us and then He goes. And when it has gone, something else takes that place. You've lost Jesus, forgotten what Jesus has spoken, and when you're in the office, at home, anywhere, something else comes into your mind. Would you like to be a shining lamp? Do you accept it? Do you want to? The song that he sang. Say "Yes!" Are you prepared to say yes, to be a shinning lamp? So let's think about it. When we go back, sit down and think, "Am I that?" and you will see, you have so much of capacity that you can give others, but we keep it for ourselves and do not distribute it. John 5:36-37 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I am doing, testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. These words claim that Jesus came from the Father. It is a witness which is invisible and universal. The Lord Jesus clearly says, "I have come from the Father. Believe in me, come to me." We have to understand that Jesus has come from the Father, and he's my Father and your Father, Jesus has come to do something for us. That's why God loves man. He's too involved with people. He says, "I want to save them." Actually here, Jesus is referring to the healing of the man at the pool at Bethesda. The people listening to Jesus had seen this man rise up and walk. So they were just wondering, he was down and now he's walking. Here Jesus declares, "That is the work of the Father in me. The works which the Father has granted me to accomplish." He talks about it: "These very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me." Witness through the works of Jesus. He's saying, "I am the witness, where the Father has sent me." But if you see the world today, some say, "That was 2000 years ago. If God only comes down and witnesses like that again we could believe in him." We will say, "Okay God come down and do something drastic, take this pandemic away." Then we will believe Him. Until then we will not believe. Haven't we seen lives change? Haven't you seen broken families united? We have seen so much of healing physically and spiritually. I call them miracles. Some people think only healing is a miracle. I remember in Mabola there were two people separated for 12 years and both were coming for the prayer meeting, a husband and wife, but they were not united. After listening to the word of God, they reunited. It's beautiful. They were divorced, they had to remarry. This word of God is really telling us something. It hits our heart. And   when we see the testimonies of people, we will see how much people can change. God can change people. If you have a testimony, bring it up, tell us, and we can announce, that may help the others. Here Jesus declares there is also another way the Father bears witness. John 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, What is this witness which uses no voice and is never seen? Jesus refers to an inner, invisible conviction of the Holy Spirit. The inner witness of the Father that one is listening to the truth even through his mind may be denying it. He's talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. And we have been taught and taught about the Holy Spirit. I first read the bible at the age of 32. I never had a bible at home, my Father never read a bible, my mother never read a bible. It had to take 32 years for me to touch a bible. John 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently but because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. Some people spend their time reading the bible, they know from A to Z. If you see some of the preachers of the other religions, I have seen, he knows the bible by heart. He knows every word. But they refuse to come to Jesus. They try to find something wrong, they find some point where they would go against the bible, and they know everything but they refuse to come to Jesus. That's what happens to people. Although they read the bible, they know everything, they still can't come to Jesus. They refuse to come to Jesus, they don't believe that he's alive. People think that our God Jesus is dead and gone. But you and I know that He's alive. You can talk to Him, you can have a conversation with Him. As I said last time, when my Father was going to hit, I used to go to the statue and pray to save me. But that time I thought I prayed to a statue, but now I know that He's alive, that I can talk to him. He's there in front of me. This is the gift that we have got. And during this Lent, it's a good gift we have to look for. What is this gift? The gift of forgiveness. It's a good thing that we can think of. Some of the things that we have being not doing, say if you were not doing your personal prayer, start doing it. So one by one, if you take a list of things you should be doing and you have not done. Where do we stand there? Are you ready to come to Jesus and be connected to Him? Are you ready? Do you think you can? I'm sure. If people like us, sinners of the highest nature can come back to God, I'm sure you all are much better than me. God is there, Jesus is there. "Come to me. You can know everything in the world, but what you need is to come to me." Don't wait long to come to Jesus because His call to eternity may be quicker than our plans. He might come and say, "Hey Keerthi come back to me. Are you ready?" Are we ready? Be in the presence of the Lord, meet Him everyday, meet Him in personal prayer. Meet Him and take that word to others. You don't need to stand up and preach. Your actions will change the others. Your words will change others. They might say, "What has happened to this man?" That is being spoken by my relations. Such a character but now speaks about God. As God had a plan for Jesus, and Jesus fulfilled the plan, likewise when we were sent to this World, God our Father had a plan for us. And we have had our own plan, that is what it says he never took the thing of saying, "I want you to follow this way." He gave us the freedom, and how did we use the freedom? Is it to love God? Is it to speak about God? Is it to have a personal relationship with God? Is it to take the word of God to people? Let's think about it this Lent. That's a good thing for us to be in prayer, and think, "What I have done?" Take from the day you were born, I don't think you'll remember that, say   from 13, 15 years. Go year by year and see, "What have I done? Have I done God's plan? Have I gone with God's plan like Jesus went?" So this Lent is a good time to find out whether we are fulfilling His plan. We need to do it because, if you see Ephesians 1:4, He knew us even before the world began. If He knew even before the world began, what more? He knew us. Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He chose us even before the creation of the world. In verse 1 and 5, he says, you are the children of God. If we are children of God, what should we do? We should go with the Lord fulfill His promise. Read the scriptures and accept those promises. The bible is full of promises. When you are fallen, just wait. Before I finish, I'll talk about one little thing about what Irani, my wife, did. Three weeks before her death, my eldest son's child, only one month and five days old, passed away. And I went to see Irani in the room, and she said, "You look upset." I said, "Yes, of course I am upset." Then she said, "Don't you understand what has happened to him? We have got an angel in heaven already. There's an angel for us. My grandchild is an angel, and he's calling me to come." And after three weeks she passed away. She spoke to the children, my son and the daughter-in-law, and they got a strength. They were devastated, they were finished. But then my wife spoke to them. That's why I always say my wife was the generator, and I am the bulb. We talk a lot, we are shining all over, but behind us there is a person who is a generator who is interceding for us. Every person who has gone from the world is interceding on our behalf with the Father, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit. It's time we start talking about Jesus. It's time that we have our prayers regularly. It's important that 40 days is not the day we finish our prayers. Lent is 365 days. So when you finish Lent, don't change yourself. We have to continue how we were during Lent. Let us be in the presence of the Lord, and then speak to Him, tell Him here we are coming together to meet you, to be with you.

Talking about how God will always be there for you and will be your strength when you are fighting your temptations. Love you all a bunch and May God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about keeping God's word present in our thoughts and words and allowing him to be with us in our every interaction. Hope you all have a great day and May God bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Talking about God always being there for you no matter what in both good times and bad. Hope you all have a great day and May God, Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit bless us all always!!! May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

In this episode I share my Wind Word about the measuring stick I tend to use on myself and others. The words, "measuring stick" had been coming out of mouth often in the past weeks and I knew that God had his finger on something, but I didn't really want to know...just yet. I was becoming very aware of using myself as a measuring stick with others, and even myself! Finally, I gave into the poking and acknowledged that He wants my attention. "Okay God, what is it?" These words blew my way,  "You shouldn't be measuring at all. Not anyone, not even yourself. I alone have the measuring stick and it is only seen through sin or blood. If you are in sin, there is no blood. There is no in-between. There is no measure of sin. There is no measure of blood. It is black and white to Me. I love people and My heart's cry is for them to be washed in the blood and be holy and I have said, be holy. Love is a choice, love is found in the blood, love covers a multitude of sins. Do not measure. Just love. Lay down your life for love, always." The reading in this episode is ;  "Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love don't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, doesn't have a swelled head, doesn't force itself on others. It isn't always, "me first". Doesn't fly off the handle, doesn't keep score of the sins of others. Doesn't revel when others grovel. Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything. Trusts God always. Always looks for the best. Never looks back, but keeps going to the end." 1 Cor 13: 1-7 MSG  OUR WAKE UP:   Man, it's tough to love like these words, and I don't think it is humanly possible to love like this, BUT isn't that the point? I need God's love. I need to believe that He loves me like this. Then I can love myself like this. Then I can love people like this. www.633-wakeup.com Hey, go check out my website!  You will find more about me, what Faith Coaching is about and be able to read my Blog "WIND WORDS" These can blow into your email by subscribing on my website, so you never miss one!  These are writings from my personal experiences of the supernatural words, revelations, and visions that blew my way. They were often challenging and correcting, but always transforming and life giving.  I believe they can do the same for you.  Sign up today! As a Faith Coach, my style is soul-searching, provoking and challenging as we walk the journey to get you closer to THE ONE who is your ultimate coach!   PLEASE do your part to fire up this social system we move in, and hit the SUBSCRIBE or FOLLOW me button.  Choose a star, leave a review, share to your social media... Spread the word, that's what Jesus would do.

Talking about God loving you, eternal life believing in God, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and you being worth it. May the power of Lord Jesus Christ compel us all and in Lord Jesus Christs' precious name we pray amen amen amen!!!!!!!

Day 12 – Lenten Prayer and Reflection – 5th March 2021   We'll go into today's reflection, so we welcome everyone who is joining in, if case you're joining for the first time or if you've just woken up. God is waiting to do mighty and great things in and through us today. Let's just thank God and praise the Lord for a moment. We've got two beautiful readings today and we'll just directly go into the readings. The first reading is taken from Genesis chapter 32. The story is, in Genesis 32, about Israel and his sons, and specifically about Joseph. We know the story so we won't really go into read the whole thing, so let's start from verse 3. Genesis 32:3 Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons. For he was the child of his old age, and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him. There is a bit of a family tension here. Very common to our family situations perhaps, the dynamics haven't changed much after all. So what happens? Israel, Jacob has many sons, and then in comes Joseph and suddenly he becomes the favoured son. And this makes the rest of the brothers really, really upset. It kind of upsets their situation. And then they become really sad. So we know what happens. We've learnt this, we've studied this. What did they do? The brothers colluded, they got together, and they plot to kill their own flesh and blood. When Joseph comes one day they all plot, they decide to kill him. Thank God Reuben jumps in the middle and says, "No, we don't have to kill him, let's just throw him down the pit." And that way comes certain foreigners, and they sell him over. They trade him off, they are done with him. They pretty much wash their hands over their brother's life. That's there is the Old Testament. When we quickly move to the gospel, in the New Testament, there is a very similar incident. Jesus speaks of a parable. Again, we have come across this parable, listened to this parable. It's the parable of the landowner and the tenants. Matthew 21:33 There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. Then he leased it to the tenants and went on a journey, When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and the third they stoned. Very similar incidents. The landowner prepares the land, he puts up a vineyard and he leases it to the tenants, and then when it was harvest time, he sends his servants to collect his share of the produce, but what happens? The tenants beat them up, kill them and react in a really bad way. Just like the siblings we saw in the Old Testament. So this whole week when I was praying and thinking about these two incidents, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, I was really pushed to think why did this happen? Often we tend to paint people bad, so quickly. So because we want to make a hero out of Joseph, we make the siblings the villains. That's how we work. If we want to make someone a hero, we put the others down. Sometimes we do it for our own selves, to make us feel good, in order to feel good about ourselves, we end up tarnishing someone else. Putting them down, make them look like the villain. It's a similar scenario. For the longest time we've probably painted Joseph's siblings as bad, as the villains of the story, so that Joseph can be put on a pedestal as the hero. But the Lord reminded me,   it's really important to stop here and ask, why did they do this? Why did they come to the state where they wanted to kill their own flesh and blood? And why did the tenants, in spite of the goodness of the landlord, why did they beat and thrash and stone the landlord's servants. I think that's the question we're going to linger upon -- why did they do this? Why were they cruel? Usually, our behaviours are driven by our emotions. When the siblings and the tenants, when they behaved in that particular way, it is easy to say they behaved in that way probably out of fear, out of insecurity. When their father loved their younger brother more than them, it creates a certain sense of insecurity, fear. It's probably the same for the tenants, they were looking after this vineyard and now the produce has come, the harvest looks good, and now when they had to part with that produce, when they had to give back to the landowner his share, they probably didn't want to part with it. They probably felt insecure, as if a sense of loss had come into their heart. So if you really dial all of this down, it all comes to a place of hurt. It all comes to a place of pain. When Joseph was born probably up until that time the siblings would have experienced the love of the father. They would have spent a lot of time with their dad, they would have done things together, and then in comes Joseph, all of them just fade into the background. And this probably happened over a period of time. Jacob was supposed to love them all equally, that's what a father is supposed to do. Love all their children equally. That's the calling of a father. So when the father who was supposed to love them equally didn't love them so, instead he picked a favoured son out of his own weakness and when the father who was supposed to build them up, was in fact breaking them internally, there was hurt and pain that was developing inside of them. And when this happens over a long period of time, when pains gets accumulated over a period of time, there is a lot of anger, remorse and bitterness, and hatred that grows along with it. Here is a very personal thing. It can make you and it can break you. We can see from the behaviour of the siblings and the tenants, how pain broke them. They didn't deal with it because they didn't find a correct way to channel their pain, to deal with their pain, it in fact broke them. That is why it is so important that we deal with our pain. I think that's really what the Lord personally taught me today. Because undealt with, pain can push you to do crazy things. And when I say crazy, I don't mean the good kind of crazy. It will make you do hurtful things. When you haven't brought your pain to the Lord, when you have not dealt with it, it will really make you do hurtful things. It's so obvious with Joseph's brothers and the tenants, they didn't deal with their pain. Over the years, when they were coming face to face with unfairness, not being able to enjoy the love of their father, all that pain accumulated over time and it created a sense of being neglected, being cornered, so having developed over a period of time, it pushed them to be cruel. So cruelty, most of the time, stems from a place of pain. Even the tenants for that matter, resolved to violence. When they become insecure, when they did not want to part with the produce, when they didn't want to share the produce with the landowner, they resorted to violence. It was their way of dealing with pain. It's really interesting to see how their violence slowly aggravated. Matthew 21:35 But the tenants seized the servants, and one they beat, another they killed and the third they stoned. You can see how this slowly started. First they beat the first servant, and then the pain aggravated more. Then they killed the next one, and the third one, they went the extra mile to traumatize, to torture the person, that they stoned him.   When we have undealt with pain it can also happen to us. What happens? It slowly, subtly starts grooming from within us. We don't really realize it. We think, okay we've dealt with it, we're done, we just move on with life and nothing's going to happen, but when we don't deal with pain, little by little it grows from within us. It starts from little jealousies, little bitterness, little reactions, things that we really ignore saying, "Okay, I'm just in a bad mood. This doesn't mean anything. I just had a bad day" and it creeps in like that. It started like that for the tenants and how their violence slowly aggravated. If we don't really do anything about it, one day, sooner than later, it will go to a level where there will be a volcanic eruption. Where we'll completely lose control and it will not just destroy us, it will destroy those around us. And sadly, our family members, those closest to us, our friends, our communities become victims of us. First we start out as victims, and because we haven't dealt with what's hurting us, we end up victimizing others. So what is it that you and I need to do? We need to turn to God with our pain. Because after all that's where the answer is. Joseph did this in the Old Testament, it is so evident, we know the story, how it ends in glory. Even though the brothers did so much of harm to him, even though the brother pushed him away and sold him off, and even though he went through so much after that, he dealt with that pain with the Lord. Scholars actually say that Joseph foreshadows Jesus, they went through similar circumstances. We know Joseph was mocked by his family, he was sold for pieces of silver, he was stripped of his robe, he was delivered to the Gentiles, he was falsely accused -- the list goes on. They went through almost identical or similar incidents. What did Joseph do? Did he succumb to that? Did he become a victim? Was his entire life's story a victim's narrative or a victorious narrative? That's what we really need to see. We know how it ended for Joseph and how it ended for his siblings. Not just for him, the entire nation was blessed because of him. That is because he took his pain to the Lord, just like Jesus did. When Jesus was broken, when Jesus was humiliated, when Jesus was put to shame, when Jesus was subject to unjust and unfair treatment, and when he was going through the most painful moments of his life, Jesus didn't put up a show. He didn't say, "I'm God, I don't need to show my pain." No, he exposed his vulnerability, he was broken, he allowed himself to be broken, and that is why he shouted out, "Father, why have you forsaken me?" That comes from very deep, hurtful place. His cry of pain was so real, that you and I could relate to him even today. He had no need to put on a show or say, "I shouldn't show that I am in pain. I shouldn't show that I am struggling." He didn't do that. When he was hurting, when he was struggling, when people were attacking him, when he was going through the biggest tragedy of his life, he opened up to the Father. He turned to God with his pain. And that is so important for us, to learn to grow us mature Christians. When I was preparing for this message, I came across this beautiful tweet that Pope Francis had tweeted. It was actually when Lent began, he put this tweet on his Twitter account, it was so profound and I would love to share it with you today. He says: "All of us our specialists in crucifying others to save ourselves. Jesus instead allowed Himself to be crucified, to teach us not to shift evil unto others." In these lines, Pope Francis says, Jesus responded to pain differently and in doing so, he put an end to the pain, he did not shift pain to others. Because he opened up to the Lord, there was an end to the pain and the agony. We can really draw comparisons. Joseph's brothers, the siblings, all of them, when they experienced pain and rejection and they were neglected by their father, they didn't deal with it. And they kept it with themselves, and as a result what happens? They shifted their pain to Joseph. It came out in the form of violence, it came out in the form of bitterness, and because they could not deal with their pain, they shifted it over to Joseph. And that is why they were so cruel to their own brother.   It's the same with the tenants. When they came face to face with insecurity, with fear of losing, what did they do? They did not deal with it with the Lord, because they didn't discuss with the landowner, they could have come and spoken to the landowner and dealt with it, but they didn't do that. But because they deal with it themselves, they shifted their pain onto to the servants. That's why they beat them, that's why they trashed them. But Pope Francis says so profoundly, Jesus shows us a different way. Because Jesus chose the cross, because he allowed himself to be crucified, because he dealt with God, he dealt the pain that he was going through when he turned to God, he did not shift evil, instead from the cross he allowed God's divine mercy to flow out. And that changed everything. Most often we make the mistake of not dealing with pain. We think we need to put up a show, we think we need to show ourselves as strong people. When I entered the profession I am in, I was first stunned because I am a person who is straightforward, my face really shows what I am going through, which you probably saw at the beginning of this video because there was a lot of fear, tension inside and it just reflects in my face, I don't know to hide it. But when I entered my profession, I figured out the biggest art or the skill everyone had mastered was keeping a flat face, was keeping their posture, no matter what was going on, no matter how you were getting thrashed, they would just keep their posture. I found it really hard to learn that, because I wasn't used to it. I think all of us do it, not that it's a bad thing, I suppose in my profession it's a good thing. All of us do that to ourselves in life itself, we feel that we need to show something, we feel we need to maintain something like a way we need to project ourselves, so we don't really expose our vulnerabilities. We even use the words "inner response" for this. Why do I say that? When we have confronted conflict, when we confront pain or when we're going through a difficult time, we give an inner response, because that is what is expected of us. So we say, "I'm giving inner response and forgiving that person" but inside there is like a lava boiling and there is so much of anger, we're annoyed, we're frustrated, but outside we're like "I'm giving an inner response, I need to forgive you." What happens is, you're damaging yourself, your relationship with that person and sooner rather than later, all of this is going to come out and you're going to be super exposed. When we also reconcile with people without really truly dealing with the cause of the problem, without dealing with our pain, we tend to reconcile and move on with our lives, without really pausing and dealing with the chaos. And it's so important this Lent, I believe the Lord is inviting us to turn to Him with our pain. We don't need to put up a show, we don't need to have a straight face with God, we don't need to cover our vulnerabilities, the good news is that He knows everything. He knows the dirt, He knows the ugliness, He knows everything that's going on, so He's inviting us to expose ourselves to Him. So in life we go through various types of pains. As most of you know, Dush my husband and I, we started a business 9 years ago. The first few years were okay, when we came to the third year of our business, I distinctly remember we went through a major financial crisis. It was so bad because we had put everything into the business -- whatever little we had, we didn't have a lot -- we were not really doing well. Clients were not paying, business was not picking up, it was so difficult. I remember distinctly one day, we only had Rs. 800 in the account. And I don't mean Rs. 800 in the account and lots more in the fixed deposit. No, Rs. 800 in total. It was a very hard place, it was a place of insufficiency, it was a place of poverty, it was a place of hunger, with that Rs. 800 we had to manage the whole week, until someone decides to pay. And both of us really crashed, and we didn't know what to do about it. We didn't want to tell our family because it would look as if we failed in our business. Thankfully, when we went into prayer, Dush and I decided we need to talk to somebody and get some sort of advice. And thankfully, the community is blessed with so many resource persons and we spoke to one of our dear beloved aunts from the CRL and   we told her, "Look, we're going through this. What could be the reason?" And she wasn't surprised at all because she looked at us and said, "You all are not accountable, not keeping accounts, not using a software, just drawing out of the business whenever you feel like, and you're acting like you're freelancers and not really business owners." And she guided us to install accounting software, she taught us to do a balance sheet and to be more accountable and manage our finances better, and actually here we are 9 years after, properly running our business. So that pain, that place of poverty, that place of hunger that we went through was the turning point because we really learnt something. That is why we are where we are today because if not, I'm sure we would have crashed much more earlier. That is one kind of pain. Certain kinds of pain, struggles we go through, we learn a lot out of it. But there is another kind of pain also. That is the kind of pain we don't want to digest, the kind of pain that is difficult, when we go through unjust. When we come across tragedy. When we become the victims of selfishness of other people. When we are subject to abuse. These are little more difficult pain or scenarios to deal with. It is so important, that we come to the Lord, even when we are going through this type of pain. I can only talk for myself. Why God allows this, let's us go through this, I still don't have the answer. I don't think I'll ever have the answer because these actually ruin life, when people go through abuse it upsets them, it ruins their life, it even robs them a chance of living a normal, balanced life. But one thing I know, even when we are going through that level of excruciating pain, if we come to the Lord, He will make it for good. Some people think going through abuse is hard, but I can tell you dealing with it, is 100 times, even a million times, harder. To have to live with that pain, to go through that on a daily basis, to wake up every morning to that sense of betrayal, that sense of neglect, that sense of loneliness is really hard. And I suppose that is why a lot of people just put it under the carpet and move on with life because it is difficult to come to God with that level of pain. To patiently wait for Him to hear. But I can tell you, with my own personal experience, that is the best way forward. It took me 9 to 10 years to really deal with what I went through as a child. And let me tell you, more than once I wanted to just run away, chuck it all, forget it God, I don't have the strength or desire to deal with this anymore, I don't know why you put me through this, I don't see a purpose because it's cruel for someone to even say, "God wanted this to happen to you." It's cruel, you can't say that. Because God didn't want that to happen. Some selfish person, or people wanted that to happen. It's not fair, it's unfair in every sense of the word. And time and time again I wanted to withdraw and I didn't just want to deal with it with Lord. But over the past 9, 10 years, I just fought. Thank God for the grace of God. I fought with anxiety, I fought with depression, I fought with loneliness in order to overcome from this pain that I was going through. Because every morning when I woke up, I wake up with this sense of pain that was so overwhelming, and it went with me wherever I went. It shadowed me wherever I went, and every word I said, in everything I do, there would be a reflection of my pain. When I spoke to someone they would be able to sense my pain. And I thought, "Enough is enough. I was a victim and I am not going to make someone else a victim of my actions." When God opened that reality in my life, and I thought, "Okay God, I'm going to come to You. I don't know how You are going to do this, but let's do this." I hope it doesn't take as long as 9 or 10 years, I hope it would be instantaneous like Maggi noodles and you're like, okay, you're done, you're healed. It took a lot of heart ache, it took a lot of people, I hurt a lot of people in the process, but God did what He had to do. In my battles with anxiety, depression, loneliness and addiction, God fought with me. He didn't let me fight any of that alone. In the darkest moments of my life, when the entire world was shut down and it was just   me and the ceiling, God was there. He held my hand and said, "No Kaush, one more day, push it for one more day, we'll get through this" and I just took it one day at a time. There were days when I was overwhelmingly sad, and nights were longer than days, but God just held my hand and said, "No Kaush, just make it to one more sunrise." And here I am today. I can tell you, what the Lord did over the last so many years was completely worth it. Was it painful? Yes. Was hard to digest? 100% yes. If there was a choice would I have taken an easier way out? Absolutely yes. But today, I'm so happy that God did what He had to do. When I exposed myself to the Lord, when I allowed Him to put that finger on that place I was hurting the most, He cured me. The beautiful thing happens afterwards. If anyone knows me well, they'll know I am the person who laughs for the silliest joke. I'll be the first one who packs up with laughter in the room and give the loudest laugh. You know why God has put that joy in my heart that I jump at every opportunity to laugh and spread joy? At least half of my life, or three quarter of my life, was consumed by this sense of overwhelming sadness that now that God has healed me, I just don't want any of that. I just want more of God's joy and more of God's love. The beautiful thing is, when God deals with that hurtful place in your life, if you bring it to Him, when God deals with that difficult place in your life, if you're ready to open up to Him, when God deals with your vulnerabilities, all the feelings of anger and fear and frustration you have been going through for years, what He does is, He transforms you internally. In a crazy way, you start radiating God's healing power. And you start attracting people who are in need of that healing. I've come across so many people who have just walked into my life, who are hungering for that healing touch from God. And it just takes a word, it just takes a meal, a cup of coffee, to sit down with them and tell them how great our God is. So this Lent, I want you to take that decision. Today, enough with the hiding, with the cover-up. If you're hurt you're hurt, there is no point in showing off, putting on a show. Just channel it to the right place, turn to God with your pain, don't shift evil, like Joseph's brothers. Don't shift evil like the tenants. Shift grace, and the only way you can do that, is to open up to God. Trials are like an Uber driver. I travel in Uber on a daily basis, and this comparison is spot on. Because on some days I get really good drivers, they don't say a word, they pick me up and go and drop me in the destination. Some days I get these talkative ones who go on and go on, and they talk about politics and everything and then by the time you reach your destination, you're already tired. Then some days you get really unruly people, who drive so recklessly and they just drive all about, but they still end up taking you to the destination. Some days there are really good drivers who are patient, who are kind to fellow commuters. But the point is, no matter what kind my Uber driver is, he still takes me to my next destination. So no matter what your pain is, I don't want to size it saying it's a small pain or a big pain, like I said pain is so personal, no matter what your pain is, if you channel it to God, if you come to God with it, it will take you to your next destination. We'll come into a time of worship, just ask the Lord, and I just pray for each and every one of you individually today -- Just ask the Lord, "Lord, help me deal with this pain. God help me to come to you and open up to you, and let your overflowing love come to me and heal me where I am hurting the most."

In this episode, we dive into what it truly looks like when your present circumstances aren't reflective of your expectations for yourself. We examine the heartache of this reality and how it may lead one to being frustrated with God. As Damesha divulges a trial she found herself in, in 2020, she takes you on the journey of when she found herself in that exact position. This is not a place where the Lord desires for us to stay though, so how are you supposed to move forward in confidence on the path the Lord has set forth for you? We're so glad you asked!   Three ways that one can live out their God-given dreams:  Determine your desires  Some believe that the desires of our heart align with that of the Lord naturally because they are placed there by God.  Its crucial for us to make the distinction between the desires of our Spirit and the desires of our flesh.  Ex: It may be a desire of yours to be married. Your flesh may tell you to settle though with any person that seems as if they'd be a good catch. Your spirit man though will inform you to be patient and wait on who God has for you.  Take it to God in prayer  Its one thing for us to desire things and go after them in faith, but it's a different level of faith when we take these things to God in prayer. Taking our goals and dreams to God in prayer allows us to partner with God in the things He has for us.  “Okay God these are my dreams. These are the goals I have to reach. How can I partner with you on this?”  Release the expectations  The only expectation that we need to have is that God will act according to His word and His will for our lives.  Because you may have asked for something and didn't receive it, doesn't mean that God is a liar. It just simply means that whatever that thing is, wasn't apart of God's will for your life.  Rest and trust that whats for you, wont past you.  *Scripture References   "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55: 8-9 NIV  "The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.” - Isaiah 60:22 NLT  "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV  "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." - Luke 1:45 KJV.  This season of the podcast is in loving memory of Misty Roseman. Forever in our hearts. Rest well. We love you.

In this episode, we dive into what it truly looks like when your present circumstances aren't reflective of your expectations for yourself. We examine the heartache of this reality and how it may lead one to being frustrated with God. As Damesha divulges a trial she found herself in, in 2020, she takes you on the journey of when she found herself in that exact position. This is not a place where the Lord desires for us to stay though, so how are you supposed to move forward in confidence on the path the Lord has set forth for you? We're so glad you asked!   Three ways that one can live out their God-given dreams:  Determine your desires  Some believe that the desires of our heart align with that of the Lord naturally because they are placed there by God.  Its crucial for us to make the distinction between the desires of our Spirit and the desires of our flesh.  Ex: It may be a desire of yours to be married. Your flesh may tell you to settle though with any person that seems as if they'd be a good catch. Your spirit man though will inform you to be patient and wait on who God has for you.  Take it to God in prayer  Its one thing for us to desire things and go after them in faith, but it's a different level of faith when we take these things to God in prayer. Taking our goals and dreams to God in prayer allows us to partner with God in the things He has for us.  “Okay God these are my dreams. These are the goals I have to reach. How can I partner with you on this?”  Release the expectations  The only expectation that we need to have is that God will act according to His word and His will for our lives.  Because you may have asked for something and didn't receive it, doesn't mean that God is a liar. It just simply means that whatever that thing is, wasn't apart of God's will for your life.  Rest and trust that whats for you, wont past you.  *Scripture References   "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55: 8-9 NIV  "The smallest family will become a thousand people, and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation. At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.” - Isaiah 60:22 NLT  "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV  "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." - Luke 1:45 KJV.  This season of the podcast is in loving memory of Misty Roseman. Forever in our hearts. Rest well. We love you.

Mark is delighted to welcome Jonathan Goldstein to today’s episode. Jonathan is the Chief Executive and Founder of the private investment firm, ](http://www.cainint.com/)[Cain International, the Chairman of the Jewish Leadership Council, the umbrella body of British Jewry’s central organizations and charities, as well as the Chair of the Chief Rabbinate Trust. He has also served as Vice Chair of Jewish Care and Chair of Governors of Kerem School in Hampstead Garden Suburb, as Chair of Partnerships for Jewish Schools, and, with his wife, he is an inaugural Honorary President of Camp Simcha, a charity working to improve the quality of life of children suffering from life threatening illnesses. The passage he has chosen to discuss with Mark is Genesis 18. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jonathan begins by offering his summary of the passage and then he and Mark engage in an extensive analysis of both this passage and others that share similarities with it. In so doing, they touch upon a number of topics such as divine experiences, determining the impact we can have upon the world and others, the primacy of helping others over prayer, and ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people. Jonathan also shares his perspective on the most important Jewish holidays, his advice for parents, his stand against Jeremy Corbyn, and the experience of British Jews. He concludes the episode with his thoughts on our biggest legacy, small acts of kindness, and the lessons about humankind which he has learned. So much of what is shared today by these two enthusiastic thinkers can be summed up in one of Jonathan’s final statements, “Stand up, be counted as a Jew, make your difference, engage with your heritage” – valuable advice and guidance inspired by this eternally relevant test. Episode Highlights: · His summary of the passage and its meaning for him · The purpose of a divine experience · Determining what impact we can make on the world and others · Committing to Judaism · The primacy of helping others over prayer · Ensuring the continuity of the Jewish people · Jonathan’s perspective on the most important Jewish holidays · Jonathan’s advice for parents · His stand against Jeremy Corbyn · Comparing the experiences of American Jews and British Jews · Our biggest legacy · Small acts of kindness · The lessons about humankind that Jonathan has learned Quotes: “It talks about a man of action. It talks about a man who understands his place in the world, and that he’s here to do something.” “Okay God, if You could just hold on a minute, I’ve got some business to attend to. I’ve got some people that I need to look after.” “Say a little, and do a lot.” “There are many ways to approach God…you can get close to God and not be a Jew.” “It is a miracle that we, as a Jewish people, have continued.” “These are words and text that have huge relevance in our day-to-day lives.” “Sometimes we forget our own heritage.” “There are times in your life when you need to make a stand.” “We live in a generation that’s been blessed.” “We, as Jews, have never had it better.” “You have to do the joyful things first.” “It’s what we do in our own homes that’s our biggest legacy.” “Our walls know us best, don’t they?” “Have empathy for your fellow man or woman.” “Keep yourself grounded.” Genesis 18 - https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.18.1?lang=en&with=all&lang2=en Links: The Rabbi’s Husband homepage: The Rabbi's Husband Mark’s Twitter: Mark Gerson - The Rabbi's Husband (@markgerson) The Rabbi’s Husband Newsletter contact: mailto:daniel@therabbishusband.com

Main Point: God's plan for the church in 2020 is that she would multiply followers of Jesus as she awaits God's new creation. A Nation within a Nation A Nation within a Nation Ross Tenneson / General Life Together / Politics / Jeremiah 29:1–14 God's people are a nation within a nation without a land Connection (Me) There is an election in two days and it feels different to me than other elections. I do not mean that “this is the most important election of our lifetimes” (the refrain we hear almost every other election). What feels different is that for the first time in any election in my lifetime, I have wondered, “is this going to end peacefully?” (A USA today article from Wednesday says, “Three of 4 voters express concern about the possibility of violence on Election Day”). To be honest, I think it will end mostly peacefully (outside of some possible demonstrations that get out of hand). Yet, I can’t help but feel the extra chaos, hostility, and desperation that is in the air. Tension (We) The fracturing of our society, the lack of clarity about the future, and the anger and emotion grabs at our attention and fixes it onto political outcomes. In light of this, the question I want to answer this evening is: How should All Peoples Church understand our role in America as Christians in 2020 and therefore, how should we live in the midst of this election and beyond? In other words, what’s God’s plan for us in this situation? To get a clear answer to these questions, we will turn in the Scriptures to a letter written over 2500 years ago. It was written by the prophet Jeremiah to Hebrew exiles who were in the land of Babylon. To give you a better idea of when this was, Jeremiah lived 400 years after king David and 600 years before Jesus was born. In king David’s day, God had brought his people into the Promised Land (a place where he would take care of them if they would obey them). However, in the years following David, the unthinkable happened. Generation after generation of God’s people disobeyed God. As a result God sent judgement after judgment on them, warning them to turn back. When they wouldn’t, he brought a severe judgment for their sin: exile. Exile is the removal of someone from their home to captivity in a foreign place. When Israel disobeyed God repeatedly, he sent the nation of Babylon to come and defeat the Israelites and carry them out of the special place God had given them into captivity in a foreign place. It is to these people who lost so much that Jeremiah writes this letter of hope and of promise. As we go through this letter together, I am going to try to explain what it means in its historical context of the Israelites in captivity in Babylon. Also, I am going to apply its hope and promises to us today in America in 2020. The reason why we can do that is because when we become connected to Jesus by faith, we get to receive all of the promises and hopes of the Old Covenant God made with the Israelite people. We receive them because through Jesus, God includes us in that people. One sweet benefit of following Jesus is that the hope and promises of the Old Covenant become addressed to us because we are now apart of God’s people. As I explain the letter in it’s Old Testament context, you will probably begin to make connections with our New Testament context on your own. I will circle back though and explain how it connects also. With that purpose in mind, let’s take a look at the letter Jeremiah wrote, Revelation (God) English Standard Version Chapter 29 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Verse 1 clarifies that this letter is to the “exiles” in Babylon. As I mentioned earlier, exile would be an excruciating ordeal. After an army surrounds your city and cuts off food and water for months, they finally make a hole in your city wall and rush in. Chaos ensues and you witness many horrible sins being committed against your neighbors and families. Then, a soldier drags you away and you leave the familiar home you lived in and march hundreds of miles to a new and foreign land. You don’t understand the language or the customs, you are a second class citizen, and you are not allowed to go home. This is your new life. English Standard Version Chapter 29 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. If you remember earlier in the Old Testament, God had promised to Abraham a land, and offspring, and that his offspring would be kings. He had promised to Abraham that he would establish his descendents into a kingdom. God would use that special kingdom to bless all the other nations through them. This beautiful kingdom reached its height under Kings David and Solomon when the other nations began to come to the kingdom of Israel to see this beautiful place. At this moment: that kingdom is gone! The king and queen mother, the officials and leaders, the significant people and places of this kingdom are either in exile or destroyed. An enemy kingdom Babylon now possessed them and they lived in their land rather than the Promised Land God had given them. Israel was no longer a nation among nations who were meant to bless those other nations and lead them to God, they had become a nation within a nation. Their purpose within that nation is not yet clear; it will be as we read on. An Israelite in exile would wonder at this moment, “have the promises of God made to Abraham failed? Will we ever hear God’s voice again or is he done speaking to us through the prophets? Will my children die in exile and God’s people fade from existence on the Earth?” If you have or are experiencing hopelessness, the exiles in Babylon would be able to connect with you. They would have felt like they lost everything both physically and spiritually. There would have been no reason left for them to live. Verse 3 says, English Standard Version Chapter 29 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: All of a sudden, this guy named Elasah arrives in Babylon. He has this letter. It’s addressed to the people from God. God wouldn’t remain silent after all. What would this letter communicate? Verse 4 begins: English Standard Version Chapter 29 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: The first thing God does is introduce himself as “the Lord of Hosts” (that means the king over the entire spiritual realm) and also… The God of Israel (that means he is still their God— though they ran from him, he has not abandoned them). Then God clarifies: “I sent you into exile.” This wasn’t any mistake or roll of the dice or even Nebuchadnezzar's idea: it was mine. You sinned against me and this is a punishment from me for your sins. I am sovereign over all that has happened and is happening! But then he goes on to say something completely unexpected, English Standard Version Chapter 29 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. God essentially says, “don’t despair, don’t give up, don’t commit suicide, start building a life here. Build a home where you can stay and build a garden where you can eat its food. God commands his people to keep having children and to keep multiplying just like God had promised they would to Abraham. Essentially God says, “Continue on with life as normal. Live as if you were home even if you are not yet home.”[1] Don’t try to escape from Babylon or topple the Babylonian government; instead, live like you would in the Promised Land even though you are in Babylon. “Okay God, I can do that, but should I even bother having children? What kind of life is this in this horrible place?” Verse 6, English Standard Version Chapter 29 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But, you might ask, “what does it actually mean for Israel to live as if they were in the Promised Land?” You will notice two of the things God commands his people to do are to “plant gardens” and to have children and “multiply.” I feel like I ask this same question and it has the same answer every week I preach: “where in the Bible does God first command someone to “garden” and to “multiply” through childbearing? These are the commands God gives to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2. God’s purpose at the beginning was to expand his garden (that is the place where God rules over his people) and for his people who are made in his image to multiply and fill his creation. To be made in God’s image was for people to resemble him spiritually and morally. God’s original plan was to fill the world with people who who are like him and resemble him in having godly character. Each person then would testify to the greatness of the God they resemble. Okay, maybe you might grand that, but certainly the plan changed when God’s people sinned to badly he sent them out of the promised land, right? Again, the answer is no! He commands the exiles to “multiply and do not decrease!” God is still doing the same thing he always has: he’s filling his creation with people who reflect and resemble him as the Hebrew people were meant to do. The point I am driving home here is at this moment: the plan hasn’t changed! Not the sin of his people, not the fall of the nation, not the exile into Babylon, not anything has caused God to change his mind or change his plan. As a chaotic world fell apart, God’s orderly plan pressed ahead. His people, no longer a nation among the nations, but now a nation within a nation, were meant to fill Babylon with godly people: they were to multiply and not decrease. What else does God command his people to do? English Standard Version Chapter 29 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. One thing God promised to Abraham was that his descendents would bless “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3). Here is another confirmation that God is keeping his promises to Israel even in their exile. Even though Israel had failed to be a blessing to other nations when they had the Promised Land, after God exiles them to the other nations, he uses them to be a blessing to those nations! (Bible project). Usually, two nations occupying the same space will fight each other over the land. Yet, Babylon is not Israel’s land. So, they don’t need to fight Babylon over it. In fact, though Babylon victimized them, stole from them, imprisoned them, marginalized them, they need not retaliate or fight against Babylon. We will see soon more why the reason they don’t have to fight against Babylon. For now though, it is sufficient to say that Babylon is not their land, so they do not need to fight them. Instead, they can pray for Babylon instead of against Babylon. Instead, they can seek the welfare of Babylon instead of warfare with Babylon. God promises: “In its welfare you will find your welfare.” In other words, contributing to the welfare of those around you will add to and not detract from your mission to multiply. In Babylon, as the Israelites contributed to the success of the nation around them (and friendships and relationships with their neighbors strengthened), it became easier to raise a God-fearing family in Babylon. Before we transition to what a the New Testament author Peter wrote, I want to sum this up: God send Israel into Babylon. They were not to become Babylonian, but neither were they to overthrow Babylon. They were to be a nation within a nation without a land. They were to multiply and not decrease. They were to seek the welfare of their neighbor around them and not their harm. With those thoughts in mind, I’m going to ask you to flip to 1 Peter 2:11-12, English Standard Version Chapter 2 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Amazingly, the Apostle Peter calls the church, God’s people in the NT age, “exiles”! Like Israel in Babylon, we are a nation with a nation. We don’t have a land. We are content without one. In this land, we are to multiply and not decrease! We are to do good to our neighbor. As we do good and love our neighbor, it will contribute to our goal to multiply. In other words, we are to be a family of servant missionaries in Minneapolis in 2020. I have been referring to the people of God often in this sermon. For the Old Testament passage of Jeremiah 29 and the New Testament passage of 1 Peter 1 to fit together, we have to understand that there has been a change in who God’s people are since Jesus came. Before Jesus came, God’s people was the ethnic nation of Israel. Since Jesus has come, God’s people are a multi-ethnic people from every culture and nation who put their faith in Jesus. There is no land we own like other nations, yet the church is a nation far more amazing that all of the nations in the world. Andy Naselli and Jonathan Leeman in their new book How can I love Church Members with Different politics ((pp. 28-29) explain this well, There’s been nothing like the church in the history of the world. Every other nation has been united either by powerful men with swords or by family relations, including ancient Israel. Yet now a new nation exists, held together by neither sword nor family but only by Word and Spirit. Indeed, it’s a nation that doesn’t presently possess a land. It’s like God wanted the world to see what he alone could do. So he took a bunch of natural enemies, saved them by his Son’s blood and his Spirit’s power, and created a united and peace-sharing people. The local church is where enemy tribes start beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. It’s where black and white, rich and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated, American and Chinese, sanitation worker and senator, unite. As the nations of the world and our own divide and despair over numerous things, we unite over the greatest thing: God’s glory and God’s unchanging plan. Friends, no matter what happens on November 3rd, we have the name plan on November 4th: multiply and don’t decrease. Or, as Jesus said, “make disciples of all nations!” God’s will for our church is that we do not despair or become distracted by the chaos and pain in America, but that we double down in our mission to multiply followers of Jesus all around us. Which is why we are meeting right here at 6pm the day after the election to do just that. It’s not fun to be exiles, to not have a land we possess. It means we don’t have or seek political power, it means that we should expect to be outsiders and on the margins of society. It means that we should expect others to mistreat us and to insult us and we don’t retaliate. How does God strengthen us to live this kind of life in the here and now? If you would please turn back to Jeremiah 29, we see the answer in the next few verses. English Standard Version Chapter 29 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to get into these verses other than to say, if someone is telling you you are not an exile here on the earth, that this is your home, and you should try to live your best life now and triumph here and now, don’t listen to them. Rather, this is what God says to exiles, English Standard Version Chapter 29 10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. God says to his exile people in Babylon, you can endure your exile, because I will bring you back to the land and give it to you one day. When? In seventy years. That’s an average lifespan for a person.[2] So, live here in Babylon for the rest of your life before this nation receives its land back. God says that he will keep his promises. Israel’s sin and the invasion of the Babylonians did not thwart God’s promises. He would and he will keep them Then God says, English Standard Version Chapter 29 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In the midst of his people’s lives falling apart, when they feel like God had abandoned them, when they feel like they had lost everything, God had not abandoned his people! God still had good plans for them and he was in the process of fulfilling them. His good heart toward his people had never changed. He would return them to their nation and take care of them. And as New Testament believers, we are in a similar position. We are exiles and strangers here on the earth. Yet, God has made promises to us. God has good plans for us. He means to bring us through this life and when we come back to life to give us a Promised Land. We will live with him in the new creation. There won’t be any pain or death or loss there. Only intimacy with God and happiness forever. This promise, this hope is our fuel that enables us to keep making disciples no matter what happens around us. Nothing can touch our hope. My main burden this evening is that in America in 2020, as things seem to fall apart, All Peoples church would multiply and not decrease by faithfully making disciples. Our sense of hope and courage to keep doing so would come from God’s sovereignty over history and good purpose to give us a home when Jesus comes back. I want to conclude by mentioning that Jesus is the reason we get to participate in this beautiful plan. In the center of all history he came and lived as a loving and sinless man. Yet, he died as a guilty sinner and suffered a brutal death like so many Israelites did under the Babylonians. He absorbed the penalty of all of our sins and transgressions, so that he could forgive us and make us pure like him. Because of him, we can join the nation of God’s people and become exiles on the Earth. Yes, it’s costly, but it ends up being with him forever in blessing. Remaining a citizen of this earth may last for a while and be fun, but ends in dismay and death. Oh how good and sweet it is that Christ has invited us to follow him and be exiles now, but citizens one day with him forever. We may suffer now, but one day no more. If you don’t know Jesus yet and want to follow him, please talk to any of our members before leaving. [1] John Calvin, Jeremiah 20-29, trans. David W. Rev. William Pringle, vol. 1, Calvin’s Commentaries 23 Volume Set (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2009). [2] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Je 29:10). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

You may have seen the movie Rudy. Its eponymous protagonist is a not-so-athletic college football player who spent years taking hits and practicing with his team, only to see a few moments on the field. Those short moments, however, left him with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and pride, knowing that he committed to something and saw it through, even when it seemed hopeless. The question: is that always the right approach? Maybe if Rudy had dedicated that time to learning something he was naturally better at, he could have become an expert in his field. The choice Rudy made was made out of passion: he loved the game to the point of dedicating his college career to it, and not caring if the outcome wasn’t what he had expected. But what about bigger dreams? The dream of getting married, having kids, getting into a certain religious order, entering into a certain profession? Is there ever a point where you just have to give it up? There are a few things it’s never okay to give up. It’s never okay to give up hope itself. Hope is trust in the Lord extended into the future, knowing that he will always be with you in whatever circumstances you find yourself in. It’s also never okay to give up faith, God’s promises, or life itself. However, it is okay—and sometimes wise—to reevaluate certain outcomes, and realize that maybe it’s time to adjust your expectations. How do you know when to do that? When reality makes it obvious. For Rudy, that might have meant recognizing that he wasn’t going to be a starter on his football team. It’s still okay for him to want to be a part of the team in some way, and maybe get playing time one day, but reality must be acknowledged and accepted in these situations, or else we risk chasing empty expectations. This doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams, or that you can’t do anything: it just means you can’t do everything. Maybe your dream is to have a family, but you and your spouse can’t get pregnant. You might not be able to conceive, but you can still adopt, or be a foster parent. Accepting the reality of your current situation means having a dream, realizing it’s place in your life, and then asking, “Okay God, now what do you want me to do?” The outcome may not be what you had expected or planned, but if it’s with the Lord, it will still be good. And once we accept this reality, we will start to see that the real work is being done in our character, and that’s the power of trying. It may not make you the kind of person you had planned to be, but it will make you the kind of person that God wants you to be.

Well we are now several weeks into the story of Joseph and we have watched him go from mountain high to valley low to mountain high to valley low. Joseph started at the top. He was dad’s favorite. Everyone else got thrift store hand me downs and Joe got the Louis Vitton shoes and the Supreme hoodie.But then tragedy strikes and he descends into the valley. And it’s deep. His brothers strip him of his swag and He’s tied to the back of a pooping camel drug south deep into the nation of Egypt and sold at an auction to the highest bidder at a slave block. He’s in deep valley.Then we watch him slowly, faithfully, steadily rise to a position of influence and power in Potiphar’s house. And suddenly Joseph is running the entire estate.But tragedy strikes in the form of seductress. Potiphar’s wife tries to lure him in through her seductive arts. We imagined her thousand tricks.Joseph, I’m sick today, would you come take care of me.Joseph, do you like this necklace or this one?Joseph, can you rub my back.Joseph, can you help me untie this bow.Joseph says the noble, beautiful phrase, “How could I do this great evil and sin against God?”And what was his reward for righteousness? The manipulative, seductress first freaks in rage and then without missing a beat, shreaks so as to stage an attempted rape scenario.Her husband comes home, sees his wife upset with fake tears, “What’s wrong honey?” Potiphar, if you love me at all you will immediately have Joseph executed." Joseph? Why Joseph? He’s our best slave. Why?He tried to rape me. How ungrateful can you get? After all we’ve done for him. All along he was laying these secret plans to defile me, and during the festival when he knew you would be gone. He always pretends to be so noble and full of integrity around you but he’s a beast when you are gone. The way he looks at me makes me feel so dirty. You’ve trusted him with this entire place, you even promoted him above other slaves who have been here longer and look what he did.Potiphar acts on that lie and boom: Joseph’s in the dungeon.Now if you ever find yourself in a dungeon, what’s the first step?We talked about it last week.Step 1: Reminded yourself that the reward for righteousness is not justice. Being righteous does not guarantee any outcome. What it does guarantee is the the nearness of God. So that’s always the first step when you find yourself in the dungeon. Remind yourself that nearness of God is your good. That is always available. So if that’s step one of being in the dungeon, what’s step two?Step 2: Try to get out of the dungeon. Here’s the thing about dungeon’s. They are terrible. Nobody wants to be in a dungeon. They are stuffy. They are designed to crush a person psychologically. NOBODY LIKES THE DUNGEON. And it’s certainly not wrong to want to get out of a dungeon. Pain is not synonymous with righteousness. It’s not inherently righteous to live in a cave. If you have the option to upgrade from a cave to a two bedroom house, well then maybe you should do that.Now, here’s what we are going to see from the text today.Joseph wants to get out of the dungeon.And he’s going to try and get out.And it’s even going to look like God is helping him get out.But there is this incredibly temptation for Joseph at the end of the chapter today to crash into deep disappointment, discouragement and despair because he is forgotten by his friend and it seems like he has been forgotten by God.And depending on how he responds, he will either be boosted to incredible effectiveness or rendered completely ineffective.Now let’s watch this unfold in the text itself. We’ll grab that last few verses from chapter 39 for context. Now let’s stop here for a moment. We are asking the question this morning, how can we be effective in the dungeon.Now to help us answer that we’ll use a little ACRONYM.We all dislike dungeons so that’s the acronym. And you say, “Ah that’s cute.” Why do preachers like acronyms. “Well, you see it’s a pneumonic device intended to help the listener remember the points.” Now I hear you challenging me. Do you remember any sermon from any preacher who used an acronym? No. So with that encouraging thought, let’s begin our ineffective acronym. DISLIKE.In order to be effective in the dungeon you just need to do the right thing for the right reason. His audience was God and his motive was the nearness of God.But because doing right simply for God’s sake is SO INCREDIBLY RARE, the prison guard took notice. And Joseph was promoted to a small position of influence and responsibility.This is the second time that the phrase is used to describe Joseph. Both with Potiphar and with the prison warden it is said that they, “paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge." Let me ask you, "What does it take to totally and completely release something into someone else’s charge such that it literally doesn’t even cross your mind. I 100% completely trust that it will be done well and on time.”There’s a lot implied there. In order for the prison guard to totally release his control, several things must have been true about Joseph.He must have been trustworthy. He had to have character to use the freedom and resources given to him appropriately.He must have been competent. A person can have a great heart but just lack the skill and ability. Joseph clearly had ability.He must have been honest. When he failed, confessed. He probably didn’t make excuses when he had circumstances that made faithfulness hard. He probably made adjustments so that it wouldn’t happen again. He’d increase margins to account for the unexpected, make better lists so he didn’t forget, etc.The text doesn’t say any of that but it’s all there. We don’t trust people and release our oversight of something unless all these sorts of things are in place.Joseph, we are told, was charged with managing two new prisoners, a baker and a cupbearer. I always wonder what these guys did to get thrown in prison. What was the great capital crime? Pharaoh got offended and flew off the handle. I mean I could see maybe the baker forgetting the salt or something, but what did the cupbearer do wrong. I mean the cupbearer had a pretty simple job. Taste and see if the wine is poisoned. If you didn’t die, pass it on to the king. I mean how do you fail at that job? My guess is that Pharaoh was just having a bad day and took it out on his attendants. So perhaps Joseph and these guys had something in common - unjust treatement.Now the point is that Joseph’s decision to ‘do the right thing because it’s right to do the right thing’ gave him an opportunity to influence these two men. He’s responsible for a prisoner who is part of the palace furniture. Maybe he gives them food and bedding, checking in on them to some degree. Who knows. Somehow he had some responsibility that was given to him because of his faithfulness. He’s being faithful in the little things.What’s the lesson? Want to be effective in the dungeon? Step one, do the right thing. Always keep doing the right thing. You don’t know what opportunities that will open up. Maybe nothing. Maybe the most unexpected amazing thing. But you do it because it’s right and honors the Lord.Maybe your dungeon is your own house. And doing the right thing for you as a mom means caring for you little kiddos and cleaning the house and doing it all with a happy heart. Who knows. Maybe your neighbor is watching you and you don’t even know it. Maybe God is rooting some procrastination bone our of your body or stripping an idol out of your life. Maybe God is shaping you and you’ll have all this experience to start a moms ministry in your later years. Maybe nothing will happen. But you just do it because it’s right in God’s eyes.Maybe your dungeon is your job that you hate. I’m sure your job is lame, but don’t go crying to Joseph because I’m pretty sure Joseph’s dungeon promotion was still pretty lame. Just do the right thing. What does it mean to not cut corners, to be faithful, to work at being more competent, not as a men-pleaser but as one who tries to honor the Lord. Maybe you will promoted like Joseph and have an influence. Maybe not. You just do the right thing.Doing the right thing for Joseph elevated him to a position of influence for a bit of ministry opportunity. Look at how this opportunity presents itself.So the cupbearer and the baker each have a dream. And this dream is apparently very vivid and obviously from God.Joseph, can relate to this. He’s had one of these divine dreams. He knows a thing or two about this phenomena and he knows how disturbing it can be. And the thing to note here is how he cares for the two men in their troubled state.“Why are your faces downcast today?”WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU DISKLIKE THE DUNGEON? I Inquire of others.In our dungeon circumstances it’s always so tempting to focus on ourselves. It’s the most natural thing in the world. When you are suffering, all your bodies energies turn inward to protect and try to remove the offense. When you are going into surgery, you talk about your surgery. It’s natural. It’s major. It’s significant. Of course that’ what you talk about.Now if you compare, Joseph was very likely suffering much larger injustices than the cupbearer and the baker. But the goal is never to compare who has the worse setting. Oh you think you’ve been dealt an injustice? That’s nothing! Oh you think you’ve had a dream? Let me tell you about my dream. I bet my dream is better than your dream. I doubt very seriously, that the cupbearer and baker suffered an injustice anywhere near as significant as Joseph.And yet, Joseph is inquiring of them, thinking of them, caring for them, looking into their needs. He goes beyond the basic duty of just shoving some food at them. He’s caring for the condition of their soul. He knew them well enough to detect, just by their countenance that something was wrong. He was willing to ask the question, “How are you doing?” He went beyond, “No, I can tell something is wrong. Seriously, how are you doing?”And you know what’s impressive about this? When you are hurting yourself, the last thing you want to do is ask about someone else’s hurt, because you are afraid of the answer. What if what comes back is something really heavy? I’ve got to be able to bear that. I’ve got to have a way to offer some sort of help and I’m about to drown myself.You yourself have to have something to give. This is evidence of the nearness of God, isn’t it. Joseph did have something to give. When God is near, he will give strength to care for others, to inquire of them and their needs.So Joseph caringly inquires about their dejected state and now they tell him why they are so dejected. What Joseph says here is simple but incredibly impressive. What did Joseph have to give? Well, really, he had nothing to give. If you want to be effective in the dungeon, you have to confess your total and complete inability to do anything of any value whatsoever. After all, you are in the dungeon. Dungeon inmates don’t have a lot to offer. Joseph was effective because he leads with inability.Joseph says, “You look really bad today. How are things?” And the baker says, “Man, you are right. Things are terrible. I’ve had this dream and I have no idea what it means, but I know it’s from God. I’ve never been so anxious, depressed and worried in my entire life. I’m a nervous wreck.”Man, that sounds terrible. I feel like before you go to far I need to tell you some bad news. I can’t help you….at all. Like, you have some serious problems and I’m just a dude. Did you notice, I’m in prison too? Kind of unfortunate.But here’s the good news. God can help you. Dreams exist in the domain of God. You see, God’s outside of prison while we are in prison. Let’s appeal to him.Do you know that’s the most loving thing you can possibly do when someone is suffering. It doesn’t feel loving. In fact, it feels very uncompassionate to say “I can’t help you” when they are in their most desperate hour. Man, that is way, way too hard for me. I could never fix that. It feels so unloving. But guess what it’s true.Just think about the consequences of lying with good intentions in that moment. Oh, I can totally help you. I’ve got experience with that. What are you setting them up for? Your setting them up for disillusionment.Disillusionment comes when people put their trust in men. It could be in a counselee putting trust in the counselor, a wife putting her trust in her husband, a Christian putting hope in well-known preachers or teachers. They will fail you. Disillusionment comes when you put your trust in men.Hope comes when you put your trust in God.So tell people the truth. I can’t help you unless we define help as pointing you to Christ. In that case, let’s get busy. Because, he’s right here waiting for us. I can help you do that.Joseph answers these guys. "Do not interpretations belong to God?Later on when Joseph is drug before Pharaoh, he says the same thing with increased clarity.Pharaoh says, “I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” Joseph answered Pharaoh plainly, “I cannot interpret dreams; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.” (Gen 41:15-16 ESV)Want to be useful in the dungeon. Then don’t see yourself as the savior. None of us are saviors.If you think you can save then you need to be saved. That’s just a rephrase of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees. It’s not the healthy that need a physician but the sick.God wants the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the wise. When people turn their gaze upon us mistakenly thinking we are the Savior, he wants us to laugh and say, "Are you kidding? I’m a prisoner with you. I have no keys. Look at my pockets! They are empty. We are beggars together. Who do you think I am? God is the one who saves!Want to be effective in the dungeon. See your inability! So Joseph tells the cupbearer, I can’t help you but God can. Tell me the dream and let’s see if God helps us. Here’s the fourth letter in our unhelpful acronym.Now here we see Joseph trying to change his circumstances by any means he can possibly think of. Joseph doesn’t like the dungeon and he wants out. Big time. Nobody likes the dungeon. Nobody likes to be sick. Nobody likes to be hurt by people. Nobody likes circumstances hemming us in. Joseph is no exception. He’s trying to get out.I don’t think this plan of Joseph’s was God whispering in his ear to do this. I think Joseph reasoned this out.You see the cupbearer was significant. Yes, he was kind of the canary in the coal mine, but he also served as an advisor and close friend of the king. Remember Nehemiah? When you read the narrative, you see that the king and the cupbearer had a relationship. The cupbearer was not a nobody.Joseph thought, okay, the cupbearer sees the king every single day. He’s got Pharaoh’s ear.So if I interpret the cupbearer’s dream, well, I know that Pharaoh is superstitous and perhaps even respects mysticism and spiritualism and maybe he’s see some use for me in the courts of the magicians. Maybe he’ll improve my station. If I can just get out of here, I know, with God’s help I can work my way up.He’s got to be thinking something like this. He’s making his case to the cupbearer. Listen, I’m innocent. You have to help me. Please remember. Here, let me write my phone number on the back of your hand so you don’t forget.And the point to make here is a simple one. God’s providence includes your planning and your orchestration of circumstances. Waiting for God to deliver you from the dungeon does not necessarily mean doing nothing or trying nothing. It might feel a bit more spiritual to say, “There I was praying for food for our orphanage and suddenly a bread cart broke down outside our door and we were fed.” Well that does happen.But it’s just as spiritual to pray, “God I need a job. And then go fill out job applications and then be given a job and praise the Lord for it.”The spiritual part is depending on God, trusting God, putting your hope in God. That’s the part that matters.If you are sick, you pray and then you also go to the doctor. Both of those can be spiritual acts if your hope is in God and not the doctor.It’s okay to say, “Okay God, here’s my plan but I can’t control if that plan works out. That’s your job. So I’m just going to pray while I try some different things.” I think that’s what Joseph did here. He’s looking for opportunity to act to remove the suffering. That’s good.So Joseph interprets the first dream and perhaps the Baker was impressed. He thought to himself, “Now, that worked out well for the wine guy.” So he says to Joseph, “Hey dream whisperer, you got any more interpretations of that vintage?”It’s not my job to interpret God’s dreams. Tell me your dream and let’s see if God helps us?Now I don’t know about you but I don’t know of any interpretation that could go well that includes birds picking at your head. But you can imagine him holding his breath at this point hoping for the best.The two interpretations could not be more opposite.In the case of the cupbearer, he would lift up his head.In the case of the baker he would lift off head.There’s a lot of power in a preposition. Now, you have to commend Joseph for telling the truth here. This the fifth letter in our unhelpful acronymNobody wants to be the bearer of bad news because they don’t want to be associated with it. What boss whose worth his salt enjoys saying, “Hey, you haven’t been performing well at work and so you are fired.” It may be true, but the great fear is that they are going to map that bad news onto you. You are a bad person for telling me bad news.But I want you to notice the double standard.Compare for a moment, the two dreams. It would have been easy and perhaps even fun for Joseph to interpret the cupbearers dream. Want to hear something really encouraging. You are going to not only get out of here in three days. Your in line to get a promotion and raise.That’s a fun message. A manager who give his employees a raise doesn’t mind taking a little credit as if he’s the one who is personally giving them the money. He’s not giving them any money at all. The company is rewarding him for his good work. It has nothing to do with the manager, but the manager doesn’t mind a little redirection of that good will.“Joseph, man, you are AMAZING. I’ve never met a guy who can interpret dreams. Joseph thank you so much. What do I owe you?” Oh, this one’s on the house. It’s easy to accept a bit of that praise isn’t it. We don’t mind taking that message of God and associating it with us.But what happens when the message of God is a bad news. Baker, you are going to get your head chopped off and the birds are going to peck on your rotting body hung up in a tree. Well, we are so happy to distance ourselves from that message that we won’t even say it. God if you are going to successfully communicate that message, you are going to have to find someone else.And this temptation is intensified when you are in the dungeon. Because when you are in the dungeon you already feel bad. You don’t want to feel even worse by having someone not like you. You want to find something positive and focus on it. You don’t want someone who is ALREADY suffering to SUFFER more by telling them really bad news which then causes YOU to SUFFER.But do you see how self-serving both those attitudes are?If we are truly servants of God, then the good messages don’t come from us and neither do the bad ones.The blessings don’t originate in us but neither do the trials.We are servants of God who find our joy in simply being communicators of what God tells us to communicate.The gospel message has both good news and bad news. The bad news is that all our sin deserves eternal punishment in hell… and not only does it deserve it there’s not escaping it. All men, without Jesus Christ, will pay for their sins in hell. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father except through me.That’s like really not very fun to say to someone.But the good news is that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. You deserve to suffer, but he’s suffered in your place. And all his righteousness is given to you. This great exchange took place where you gave him your sin and he went to the cross and he gave you his righteousness. Like that’s really good news.And we are messengers of that really bad and really good news. My friends, there is a lot of freedom in that. If they don’t like the message, then take that up with God. I’m just telling you what he said. You don’t have to take it personally. And if you like the message, don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything. Tell God how thankful you are.So Joseph interpreted the dreams. But only time will tell if those dreams are accurate. Sure enough… Now this is a pretty important point. K. Know your Bias. This is the idea. We all have a bias from which we view the world.There’s an expression that says, “If you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” We have a certain way of looking at the world that causes us to misinterpret many things. And if we are not aware of that bias, we will often be very disappointed especially as it relates to the visible movements of God.When God moves visibly in the world, we want to instantly assign meaning to it.This could be on a national or international scale. When the nation of Israel became a state May 14, 1948, people saw that as this incredible working of God to affect the fulfillment of many biblical prophesies. Wow, now there is an actual Israel that God can begin working with again. There’s an actual nation that God can bless, just as he promised in the OT.And it of course is true. God is working. He’s never not working. But we just don’t know his plan. What if the nation of Israel gets destroyed by Syria or Lebenon or Egypt or any of their other dozen middle eastern enemies? Would God have failed his people? Would God have forsaken his promises?God is up in heaven shaking his head. When did I say that recreating the nation of Israel was the way I was going to fulfill my promises. That’s what you said. You wrote all those commentaries and books. Not me.On the other hand, our interpretation might exactly be correct. The point is we just don’t know.But our biases can get us into trouble. We can get very disappointed. Oh, I thought God was working. He was. And he is. It’s just not like you thought. We have a bias from which we interpret the visible movements of God.And that bias is especially accentuated when we are in the dungeon. We think, God I have a great idea on how you should get me out of this dungeon and we start dreaming about how God should be working to free us from prison.This is what undoubtedly happened to Joseph. He saw, in the dungeon, a visible movement of God. God gave him supernatural abilities to interpret the dream. And man it was really awesome.And he puts two and two together in his own mind. And he says, "I’m going to interpret the dream and then this cupbearer, who has the ear of Pharaoh, the only guy who could grant me a presidential pardon." It’s the only way out. And clearly, this is what God is doing. Joseph is filling in all the blanks. It’s so obvious. It’s so easy for him to get so excited. Joseph is observing so many true things.God did orchestrate that both the baker and the cupbearer be thrown into the exact same prison as Joseph. They could have been imprisoned in a different prison or at the same prison but at a different time. Or at the same time but in a different area. But Joseph just happens to be in charge of these prisoners. That’s God’s hand. Joseph observes that correctly.God did cause these two men to both have dreams, dreams that were troubling enough for them to share them with Joseph. That’s God’s hand. Joseph observes that correctly.God had even given Joseph the interpretation of these dreams. That’s God’s hand. Joseph observes that correctly.And putting these things together in his mind, he says, certainly what God is up to is that I will interpret these dreams and the cup bearer will tell Pharaoh of my talents and I will be delivered from prison because after all, I’ve had a dream that one day my brothers would come bow down to me, so that must mean I’m getting out.And Joseph was correct on so many details, clear down to the means by which he would be delivered. But his bias blinded him from one key detail. His bias caused him to assume that this deliverance would happen immediately.Oh, the disappointment of that one small detail.Joseph you will be delivered.Joseph you will have influence and power and you will save the nation and your brothers will bow down and you will see your father again….in two years.Until then, just sit tight. I’ve got more work for you to do in the dungeon. There’s more refining of your character than needs to happen before I can use you the way I want you to be used. The dungeon is good for you. We can’t take the clay pot out of the fire too soon or it won’t be useful.And the lesson for us when we are in the dungeon is to know our bias. We say to ourselves, “If I were God, here’s how I’d deliver me.” Be very cautious of your bias. God may have many more years of dungeon refinement ahead.But here’s the other thing. When you see the visible movements of God in the dungeon, rejoice.Maybe you suffer from watching a child or relative or friend walk away from the faith. When you see an openness to the gospel in someone you love, that’s God working. Rejoice.- Or maybe your marriage is in a very bad state. When you see a moment of clarity in your marriage and there is tremendous growth, that’s God working. Rejoice.That is God working. God is always working and those are gracious reminders that he remembers, he loves you, he is working all things together for good. Just be careful about informing God of your timeline or how he’s going to deliver you. God probably won’t take your advice. He’s got a much better plan.God’s doing stuff in suffering. Other’s might have looked at Joseph and said, wow, Joseph got catapulted from the dungeon to the palace in a flash of fortune. Joseph became a tremendous leader overnight. NO, NO! He was given the position overnight. He didn’t become a leader overnight. He became a leader through years of suffering in the dungeon.And that may be exactly what God is doing with you. We don’t know God’s good plans.Finally. This final point is a reminder of the big picture. Don’t expect immediate change or deliverance from the dungeon. But you can expect the nearness of God.God promises to be near to the brokenhearted. He promises to be near to the humble, to those who seek him.We are told that the cupbearer forgot Joseph. One of two things happened here. Either the cupbearer was so self-absorbed and excited at this incredible stork of fortune, he truly did forget. This kind of forgetfulness is akin to what happen when the 10 lepers were healed by Jesus and only one came back to say thank you.They are just so consumed by their good fortune they forget that there was a person connected to it. So he could have forgotten in this way. But my guess is that he forgot in a slightly different way.I’m guessing that in the back of his mind, he’s saying, “Dang, Joseph was exactly right. That guy has God’s hand. But he’s in their for attempted rape. That’s no good. I’m not sure I want to risk my job and my reputation my recommending this guy to Pharaoh. I’m not going to cash in my chips and put my neck on the line for a Hebrew slave. And he just conveniently puts it out of his mind until he is forgotten by the busyness of the week.”Either way, Joseph is forgotten by men. And when you are forgotten by all men, alone, what is your only hope? The nearness of God.The glory of God will be revealed to you in the dungeon. That’s our promise. Do you remember 1 Peter 4?God promises to reveal his glory to you and others in the dungeon. Trust that. Expect that. Hold onto that.Application of Submission and Preparation for CommunionWe are going to take communion in just a moment, and so I want to invite up the musicians. And I think now, it may be appropriate to prepare our hearts by surrendering to him a difficult circumstance.Let me ask you? What’s an area of your life that you really want to change and maybe it even seems like God has put pieces together such that it will change, but it hasn’t changed.a loved one come to Christa health challengea financial challengea relational challengeDon’t be tempted into thinking that suffering is strange. Suffering is normal. When we suffer, we share in Christ’s sufferings.We submit now. And why can we trust him? Because of the cross. Do you know even Jesus did this? Jesus wanted to change his circumstances on the way to the cross. Father if it be possible, remove this cup from me. But God was doing something in it for our good and for his glory.If God can redeem the suffering of the Son of God, can you trust him in your suffering?So we are going to sing a song and I want to encourage people here and at home at livestream to get the elements if you haven’t already.Sing SongWhen we are mistreated we turn to one who understands

## IntroductionI love survival stories. One of my absolute favorites is entitled “The Endurance,” and is about Earnest Shackleton’s attempt to cross the Antarctic Continent from 1914-1917. And what makes it so gripping is the cycles of hope and despair. You’re reading along and they are enduring unbelievable catastrophes. They are getting stuck in ice, their ship sinks, they are in open seas on an iceberg. They run out of key supplies. And you think to yourself, “Wow, I can’t imagine this getting any worse.” And then you look at your book and your only a quarter of the way through. And sure enough, it gets way worse. But then they get this incredible stroke of luck and you think, “Oh, man they are going to make it!” And you’re on this adrenaline high of hope. And you think, “This has got to almost be over.” And you look at your book and you haven’t even reached the halfway marker. And then you find out why. Tragedy strikes. And then you are just crying in sympathy for these guys. It can’t get worse. And it gets way worse. It just keeps cycling through these incredible highs where they celebrate a stroke of fortune only to be rewarded with an unforeseen tragedy of monstrous proportions.And this is kind of the way the Joseph narrative reads. He goes from mountain to valley to mountain to valley. You could illustrate it like this.Joseph starts out on this mountain top, this incredible position of privilege of an especially gifted, favorite, handsome son. But tragedy strikes! His brothers act on their raging jealousy and strip his identity from him like skin from an animal. His family, privilege, language, culture, values, and even his name are stripped away. His naked body and soul is sold into slavery.It’s a tragic valley low. But then with the Lord’s help, he rises to a position of incredible influence and privilege in Potiphar’s house. And now we are standing on a mountain high. Who wouldn’t love the view from where he stands? That is, until strategy strikes in the form of a seductress.Today we watch Joseph go from being in charge to being charged with rape. We watch him descend back into the valley and reach a low watermark, beneath his previous bottom. So let’s watch how this happens in the text. You will remember that this woman is bad news. On the outside, she looks extremely attractive and is always put together. Her hair is always so effortlessly perfect, the clothes are tailored to the perfect length, very physically gifted, very beautiful to behold.But she’s bad news. Why is she such bad news? From the text alone we can tell she has an adulterous heart, she’s a skilled liar, and she is very manipulative. Let’s re-read part of the text from last week and see the seductress work her angle.He’s getting slaughtered by temptation. But he’s trusting God. If you were to summarize from Joseph’s response his chief reason for resisting this woman, what would it be? “How could I do this great evil and sin against God.” That’s his core reason. That reason has both a positive and a negative built into it. There is a consequence of sexual sin and there is a reward for righteousness. And both are intended to keep us in the place of blessing. But I want to illustrate how important it is to correctly identify the consequence and the reward. Because the incorrect identification of reward and consequence might psychologically destroy you.ConsequenceLast week, we mostly talked about consequences. Sexual sin has consequences that we need to take really seriously. We used the analogy of temptation as bait. Every temptation hides a sharp hook that leads to death. And the reason temptation works is because it deceives. Satan is a deceiver. He’s always making bad things look good and good things look bad.Joseph was able to resist temptation because he was able to uncover the deception. This was not life. This was death. It may be pleasurable now but it will be miserable later. The Bible always tries to help us see the deceptions woven into sexual experience. There are always consequences.This woman was hunting down Joseph. Here was a married woman trying to hunt down a precious life. There are always consequences of sexual sin. Yes. We’ve identified those. But God gives us more than just deterrents. There is also a reward for righteousness.Reward.I’ll say it one more time. It is so important to identify the correct consequences and the correct reward. Because the incorrect identification of reward might psychologically destroy you. So what is the reward of righteousness? Let’s begin with what it is not.Let me illustrate it this way. If you were to listen in on Joseph’s prayer life in the heat of his temptation, what do you think he would be praying? “God help me live a life of complete integrity. Everyone knows I’m a follower of YHWH. God, reward me for my righteousness. I want to live completely above reproach. I want to be like a sheet of Teflon so that no accusation has even the slightest chance of sticking. Reward my integrity!”If you overheard that prayer, what’s reward do you think he’d be referring to? Here’s the mistake most of us make. Most of us assume that with enough diligence, obedience, and righteousness, our life will turn out pain-free, struggle-free, and we will have relational harmony throughout. We think God ought to reward our righteousness with wonderful circumstances.Let me show you how dangerous this can be. Let’s imagine for a moment that Joseph incorrectly believes that the reward for righteousness is favorable circumstances.Motives for ObedienceLet’s keep reading the narrative through the lens of this incorrect expectation:Now, this has got to have a wearing effect on a guy. Let’s suppose for a moment that in the heat of these temptations, what was motivating Joseph was the belief that his righteousness was going to be rewarded. And he had a very specific understanding of what that reward was. Let’s imagine Joseph with the yet-to-be-written book of Proverbs in his hands. He reads chapter 1:And he’s thinking, “Okay God, I’m counting on you take out this adulterous woman. I’m going to obey you. This is tough but I trust this is going to get better. After all, you told me:”“So God, I’m praying that you would fix this situation. That’s what I really want.”And we could imagine a Joseph whose motive for obedience was the reward for his righteousness in the form of vindication, justice, relational harmony, and comfortable situation. Well, look at what happens next.Now Joseph is freaking out at this moment. But he’s got his book of Proverbs and it just so happened that it was September 11 so he had just read Proverbs 11 that morning.“Okay, God, you’ve said that my reward for righteousness is deliverance. Time for you to do that, right now.”And he was so consumed with chapter 11, he read clean through to chapter 12:“Cause my house to stand! The reason I obeyed you, Lord, was that you promised to reward my righteousness. Time for some help here.”Now if Joseph thought in his mind that the reason he is obeying the Lord is that he will be rewarded for his righteousness in the form of comfortable circumstances, he would be very, very, very disappointed. He would feel very betrayed and very confused at this point.Think about Joseph in heavy chains around his neck and manacles around his wrists and ankles. And he would have said something like this, “The whole reason I obeyed you, Lord, is that you promised to reward my righteousness and now I’m in prison. What kind of reward is that?”Many people turn from God for exactly this reason. They are confused by suffering and ask, “God, why did you take my son or daughter? Why did you let that terrible accident happen? God, why did that financial tragedy destroy us? Why are we suffering from this physical illness?” And they walk away from God.Prosperity Preaching in Conservative ChurchesNow most of us realize that suffering plays a role in the Christian life. Now not one of us in the room buys into prosperity theology which basically says, “God wants you to be materially, circumstantially prosperous and so if you are not materially prosperous you are out of step with God’s will. You either don’t have enough faith, you haven’t prayed, you have some sin in your life, or some combination of these factors.” We ought to know, just from a cursory reading of the Bible that this is bogus theology. There are dozens of heroes of the faith that honored God and were rewarded with suffering - including Joseph and even Jesus himself. That can’t be right and it isn’t. We realize that suffering is part of the Christian life.But what I want you to understand is that prosperity theology did not originate with greedy preachers. It originates in your own greedy heart. At a very subconscious level, we believe that we deserve ease. We expect comfort. We expect a physical reward for righteousness. We expect comfort and relational harmony ought to be our reward for righteousness. And here’s how I can prove it. I’m going to trick you so watch for it. See if you can relate to this train of thought: “Man, I have really got myself into a mess. I’ve totally been a terrible parent and now my kids are acting up in this way. I’ve been neglectful. I feel guilty about that. I’ve been totally mean to my spouse and now they are all mad at me and I deserve it. I’ve been really lazy and procrastinated. So now I’m reaping the rewards for that. I didn’t save for retirement and now I’m paying the price. What was I to expect? I made this bed and now God is making me lay in it.”There it is. That is conservative evangelical prosperity theology at it’s finest. Yet if our righteousness does not merit prosperity and good circumstances, then our unrighteousness does not merit poverty and bad circumstances. Why? Because God does not reward or punish primarily through circumstances. If the gospel of Jesus Christ means anything, then it means you are already righteous. You have been merited the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It means the verdict has already been delivered. And there is no judging of your works as if they are the basis upon which you receive pleasant or unpleasant circumstances. The basis of our circumstances is God’s sovereign, providential plan for our good and for his glory. There is no ying-yang. There is not karma upon which the world operates that says because you did this bad thing over here, the cosmic powers that be will ensure this bad thing will happen to you and because you did this good thing over here, the divine forces of the universe will ensure that this good thing happens to you.If you think that your circumstances are somehow divinely linked to your righteousness or unrighteousness, how would you explain what you witness in the world? Is it not the case that sometimes the unrighteous prosper and the righteous suffer? And is not the inverse true? And if you concede that this exists, how would you ever know when your good circumstances are a result of your good behavior or when your good circumstances are a result of God circumventing your bad behavior?God does not reward our righteousness with material prosperity, physical prosperity, or relational prosperity. There is a reward but that’s not it. On the other hand, God also does not punish our unrighteousness with material poverty, physical poverty, or relational poverty. There are consequences to unrighteousness but that’s not it.You want to argue with me, I know. Isn’t there cause an effect? For sure. That’s not what we are talking about. Yes, if you punch people, they are going to punch you back. Yes, if you are kind you will generally receive kind treatment. Is there a connection? Of course. Here’s the distinction I’m making. I’m trying to disconnect the reward of righteousness with circumstances. Yes, certain causes will generally have certain effects. But that effect is not a reward. The reward of righteousness is something else. What is the reward?One of the most remarkable things about Joseph is that he understood reward. The reward for righteousness is simply this: closeness with God. How could I do this great evil and sin against God?Joseph wasn’t looking to get a position of influence from God, nor riches, fame, glory, or blessings from God. He was looking for God! God was the desire of his heart. Joseph appears to have the heart described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.It is so easy to confuse the reward, isn’t it? The gift is God. The gift is being with God, closeness, the feeling of satisfaction knowing you didn’t betray him, freedom from guilt, the satisfaction of his smile. This is the reward. This is what Joseph was after.Many are after a different reward. They mistakenly believe that the reward for righteousness is the gifts of God rather than God himself. In fact, if you remember, this is the problem with the Psalmist in Psalm 73. You may recall, the Psalm begins:The Psalm begins by affirming that God rewards the righteous. Great! But what’s the reward? That’s the all-important question we have been asking. It’s easy to get it wrong. And at first, Asaph did get it wrong. Asaph, the writer of this Psalm, says, “My foot almost slipped when I looked around and I saw the wicked prospering.” Everywhere he looked he saw reversals of how things ought to be. He saw the wicked being rewarded. They were the ones who were well-fed, had luxury cars, got anything they wanted, and got away with such evil.If the righteous are rewarded, then how do you explain this? God doesn’t reward the righteous. He’s rewarding the wicked! And what’s God’s answer? You’re totally misunderstanding the reward. The reward of the righteous is nearness to God. Closeness to God is the reward and separation from God is the consequence of unrighteousness. And when the Psalmist enters the house of God, it’s all made clear to him.This was Joseph! “How could I do this great evil and lose the relational intimacy I have with God?”Do you feel distant from God? Perhaps it is because of sin. If I ever feel distant from God, this is always the first question I ask myself. Am I aware of any sin that might be distancing me from God? I might be getting away with it like the man of Psalm 73, but I have no closeness with God. Repent!The godly prize this closeness with God more than anything in the world. How could I do this great evil and sin against God!For Joseph, the reward and the consequences are one and the same. The consequence of sexual sin is that God becomes very distant. The reward of righteousness is that God becomes very near.Now here’s where you can actually see the reward given to Joseph in the text itself. Even though Joseph was unjustly thrown into prison, accused of attempted rape, and had his character drug through the mud, they could not take from him the thing he prized most. Now, look at how it is stated in the text. It’s so beautiful!Now there, my friends, is your reward for righteousness. The reward of the righteous is the awareness of the steadfast love of God, the presence of God, and communion with God. Joseph was rewarded with the awareness of the steadfast love of the Lord. What a beautiful picture. Locked in prison walls, stripped of everything, all men’s power used against you to destroy you, but you have the steadfast love of God! Joseph was richly, richly rewarded!Now, this might seem a little too neat and too tidy. Those who are currently in a difficult situation might say to me at this moment, “You sure look comfortable up there. Have you ever suffered a day in your life? I mean, in the midst of suffering it sure doesn’t feel like I’m being rewarded with intimacy with God. It actually feels more like God is about 10 billion miles away as I scream out my prayer into the night and he doesn’t answer.”You won’t always feel the reward in the midst of difficult circumstances. In fact, do you remember Job? The Bible says Job was a righteous man, blameless and upright and God allowed him to go through a period of intense suffering. Job has lost his house in a hurricane, all his family, his entire 401k has been wiped out, and he’s got some nasty sickness replete with body boils, a sickness that would make COVID-19 look like a dreamy relief. Not only that, but his friends are heckling him that he must have sinned in some horrific way.He’s suffering as a righteous man. What is our reward supposed to be for the righteous? The reward is supposed to be a relational closeness with God. We are supposed to feel close to God. Is that how Job feels?How do we square this? It sounds nice to say that God is our reward for righteous living, but is it true to our experience? As Joseph stood staring at his prison wall, how do you suppose he felt? Elation? I doubt it. How is the reward of righteousness experienced?Let me give you an example. Running is terrible. Those of you who actually enjoy running are freaks of nature. For most of us, we just hate it. You don’t feel like anything good is happening. I generally feel like throwing up, like my legs are rubber mallets, and my lungs are tiny plastic sandwich baggies flapping in a hurricane. It’s truly just torture. But then when I finish, suddenly, the magic kicks in. My body is flushed with energy, I feel loose, my muscles thank me for actually being used. After the suffering is over, I stand back and I realize that the suffering eclipsed the really wonderful things going on at a much more nuanced level.The reward was there all along, it was just being drowned out by the noise of suffering. This is much how the reward of righteousness works in the midst of suffering. James Fixx wrote a book entitled, The Complete Book of Running which sounds pretty definitive, doesn’t it. I’m guessing he’s one of these freaks. And there’s a section in the book where he addresses the psychology of running. He says the hardest thing about running a marathon is winning the mental battle. When you suffer, weird stuff happens to your mind. He says, “I would be in the middle of a marathon and the pain would wear on me to the point where I would ask myself the question, ‘Why am I doing this again?’ But the pain makes you forget.” And he would start to wrack his brain for a reason why he was punishing himself so severely and he would find he had no answer.Isn’t that sometimes how you feel in suffering? I’m sure Joseph felt this way. “God, why did I choose to obey you again? Why didn’t I just give in? God if I had slept with that woman, I would have had a really great night, and probably would have even been rewarded in some way but now I’m cursed. What’s the reward for righteousness again?” And he has no answer.Maybe you are suffering for righteousness’ sake and you find you have no answer. You thought there was an answer but you can’t remember it. So you know what James Fixx recommended? Memorize the reasons. Before every race, he would memorize the reasons he loved running. And when he was super tired, he would recite those reasons back to his own brain. That’s good advice for the Christian. If Joseph had the New Testament, for sure he would have memorized:You could imagine this being very helpful. Because prisons are not fun. Imagine being in prison and what your body would be screaming at you. How would you feel being hungry, hot, the smell of urine and human waste, dirty, sick, and coughing. What’s my reward for righteousness again? Nothing comes to mind.I’m sure in this moment, all Joseph’s dreams about sheaves of wheat bowing down and stars bowing down seemed like pipe dreams. All he can see and smell and taste is the dungeon. But there’s this verse I memorized. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.Now James Fixx had one final trick. “If things really get bad and you can’t remember what you memorized, the final trick I used to play on my brain is I used to say, ‘Well I know when I get there, I’ll remember it. I know I had a good reason to start. When I get there, I’ll remember it.’”Now there’s a lot of wisdom in this, and this is what Joseph does. Joseph says, “How can I then do this wicked thing and sin against God?” At that moment it’s all clear. But then he gets tossed into prison, and perhaps God feels a million miles away. But he can say, “I have no idea why this happening and I can’t even remember the reason I decided righteousness was worth it. But I know there was a reason and when all this is over, I’ll remember.”Imagine a marathon runner who forgets the reason he runs and just decides to quit. The reward was all around him, it was in him, it was just ahead of him in spades, but he couldn’t remember and so he just stopped. How tragic to lose a race because you forgot!Do you know the Christian’s version of this? It’s Romans 8:28, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.” I don’t know what that good purpose is, but when I get there, I’ll remember. When I get there, I’ll know it. You see Romans 8:28 is a verse for the dungeon. It’s not what you quote when you get a stimulus check. It’s what you quote when you find out you have cancer, or when your child walks away from the faith, or when your marriage is in shambles.Nobody Can Take The RewardYou see, for a Christian, one of the greatest comforts is that nobody can take that reward away from you. Nobody has the power to take away that assurance. In Joseph’s case, everyone tried. Everyone was trying to ensure that nothing worked together for Joseph’s good. There were all sorts of power exchanges going on trying to strip Joseph of his reward for righteousness. If you inspect the narrative closely you will see the story is a story of various powers trying to destroy Joseph and strip him of his reward, but he is indestructible because of God’s righteousness in him. No power can destroy the righteousness of God.And you can see this in the text by tracing the Hebrew word “hand.” In Hebrew, the word ‘hand’ is nearly synonymous with power. In an agrarian society, power is represented by plowing, tying a rope, harvesting, building, farming, weaving, raising children - all things we do with our hands. And there are all these expressions in the Bible that associate power with the hand: - God shuts his hand. - Open your hand to me or do not relax your hand. - A mighty hand and outstretched arm or the right hand. - Deliver my enemies into my hands.The hand is synonymous with power. You can trace the word ‘hand’ through the narrative. At first, Joseph is put into the hand of the Ishmaelites. He’s under their power, under their hand. But soon the power shifts. Everything in Potiphar’s house is given into Joseph’s hand. Everything that is, except Potiphar’s wife. But then the woman uses her imperial hand, her power, to try and grab Joseph. But that grasping hand does not reach Joseph. Only his clothes are left in her hand. She is ultimately empty-handed. And all through the narrative the power shifts, from Joseph’s brothers to the Ishmaelites to Potiphar to Pharaoah to the seductress. Who has the power? Whose hand is controlling these events?As we back away, we are shocked to see, none of these hands are actually doing anything. It’s the sovereign hand of God, orchestrating, keeping, preserving, redeeming, strengthening those he wills to strengthen, and destroying those he wills to destroy. Ultimately Joseph entrusted himself to that gracious hand and when he is safe in God’s hand nothing can touch him. Nothing can hurt him. The hand of the woman could not reach him. The hand of others could not separate him from the hand of God.And this should be a lesson for us in suffering. It’s the thing we memorize. It’s the thing we recall to mind. The hands of men can never ultimately assail me. They don’t have the power to take away my reward. Their hands can’t reach that far.Even though the suffering is so terrible, know that when the suffering lets up the reward will be obvious. For Joseph that suffering lets up. And even though it’s not perfectly clear at this moment in prison, he begins to see glimpses of God’s hand working, saving, redeeming, preserving, and keeping. Listen to it.The story of Joseph is the ultimate example of Romans 8:28. God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. What if you were Joseph with one key difference? What if you knew that the answer to your suffering is that your suffering would be written into the pages of the Bible to encourage other Christians? Wouldn’t it be easy to suffer through prison for two years if you knew that you would be made ruler of the entire land?Wouldn’t that change things? Of course it would! Can you trust God if you don’t know the reason? God’s hands are large enough for that. Can you accept the fact that your reward for righteousness will not necessarily be pleasant circumstances, but in that dungeon of darkness, God will show you his steadfast love?Ultimately, this has incredible sustaining ethical power because circumstances don’t factor into the reason why you obey. It’s why Joseph was able to resist. Why are you righteous? Why do you keep God’s sexual ethic, Joseph? What is Joseph’s answer? Because the nearness of God is my good. How could I do this great evil and lose closeness with God? If the only reason you obey God is that you don’t like consequences, you will fail. It’s easy to think, “I’m righteous because it’s beneficial to my business. If I get caught it would be horrific. If I get caught, my reputation would be destroyed. Can’t have that. If I got involved in this sexual stuff, well, I can’t imagine breaking apart my family. That would be more than I could bear.”That’s all fine. What if you were totally righteous but you were falsely judged, condemned, and then destroyed as if you committed all those sins? If the only reason you obey God is for the good circumstances he brings you, then you are preaching to yourself a prosperity gospel. Could you choose righteousness if the reward was nothing else except the nearness of God?ApplicationYou see, the man or woman God uses is not necessarily a missionary or a pastor or ministry professional. Joseph wasn’t any of these. He wasn’t in ministry. The person God uses is the one who resists temptation when nobody can see. One who, in the secret watches of the night, is righteous because he loves the smile of God. A man or woman who does the right thing when nobody is watching. That’s who God uses.

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Has the pandemic taken a toll on your family's finances? Tune in to learn how to navigate through financial pain.

Mannnnnn...there must be some water walkers rising up cuz God won't let this go and wants to make sure you get the message. For the third day in a row, we are gonna dig into our new best friend's Peter's water-walking feat and I'm gonna dish up the 4 Reasons Water Walkers Don't S.I.N.K. For Long When I learned that we would be back in the water walking, I simply asked "Okay God...you keep bringing me back here. What's the point?" I think He gave it to me so we will see!

During COVID-19 our business slowed down, so Ken and I took the opportunity to learn some new skills, specifically in relation to video recording. A week ago Ken told me about a one month challenge he was going to do with a group Live Streaming Pros, about telling stories and listening to stories. The 31 Day Challenge The challenge, 31 Days to being Youniquely you on camera, involves doing a live stream to a private Facebook group, speaking to a question/topic provided by Live Streaming Pros. For example, 'What is holding you back?' One of the important aspects of the group is the giving and receiving of encouragement to other group members, of which there is 543 globally. It is a fascinating environment with plenty of stories to listen to. There are lots of Christians in the group, learning how to tell their stories in a more effective way. Actually that's why I decided to join Ken in this challenge, to improve my communication skills on video so I can more effectively share stories about Jesus. However the other morning after I had completed a live stream, I was doing the dishes (because the mundane activities of life have to be done!) and was thinking about how interesting it was listening to people learning how to share their faith and their dreams etc in this group. And I felt God say to me, "I want you to listen to the other stories too and learn from them." Listen to the other stories By 'Other stories' I knew God was referring to the people in the group who were obviously from other cultures and religions - remember this group has 543 people from all over the world who want to tell their stories more effectively, mostly with the goal of helping others. This instruction from God about listening to the stories and learning from them, reminded me of recent messages I had heard at church in relation to The Stolen Generation (Donna Meehan) and Gender-related issues. How easy is it to only listen to the things that make us feel comfortable, rather than the stories that challenge our thinking and hopefully our actions. So my response to God was, "Okay God, I will listen to the other stories too. Give me insight to hear what is being said and understand more about people. Please help me to listen with my heart." Of course this 'listening' doesn't only apply to the videos in the lifestreaming group, it applies to all areas of our lives. Listening to my children As a mum I haven't always been a good listener, either because I have been too busy to listen, or I have already made assumptions about what I would hear from the mouth of my child, or about the scenario that has played out. Over the years though I have learned that when I hear the words, 'Mum' it is best to stop and completely shift my attention to the person. Even if sometimes only to say, 'I will just finish this job and then I can speak with you.' Of course I am not perfect at this and sometimes its a couple of hours until I 'finish the job!' But most times I do try to respond with that initial acknowledgement. Stopping making assumptions has been a little bit more challenging for me, especially as the children grow and change. Sometimes after my 'assumption response' they have had had to say to me, 'Mum, I'm not like that anymore. I don't do that now.' And I've had to say sorry, and make a mental note to myself that they have changed. We can all be better listeners, especially with those closest to us. But who is going to listen to me? On the flipside, have you ever felt like, 'Who is listening to me? I am listening to my husband, my children, etc, but who is taking time to listen to me?' There is One who is always available to listen to us, and doesn't make assumptions about what we are going to say. Yes, He knows us completely, but He listens graciously and loves us unconditionally. Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of me, Lord. You read my heart like an open book And you know all the words I'm about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. Psalm 139:1-4 TPT How wonderful is it to know that. Before I go to sleep I can chat with Him, leave my concerns with Him ... Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 TPT When I wake up I can ask Him for direction for the day ... Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5 NKJV And then the onus is on me again - to listen to God's teaching and instructions. God, please help us to listen well I wonder how much have we missed about life and people because we haven't listened properly? At home? At school? At work? At church? In social settings? Are we listening to stories people want or need to tell us? Let's ask God today to help us to listen well, listen with our heart (bypassing all the assumptions), and listen for the actions God wants us to take in response to what we hear. To find out more visit https://wendyrobinson.com.au

In this episode we talk about 3 things we can do to walk in our divine purpose from God.

Okay God, today I mean it, “Go ahead and make me more like Jesus, whatever the cost.” But please, knowing myself fairly well, when I feel I can't stand anymore and cry out, “Stop!”, will You ignore my “stop” and remember that today I said, “Go ahead!”? Join with Hillside Covenant Church as Jonathan Woolner teaches from Philippians 3:4-14. If you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our “Get Connected” page: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/connected We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today! To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/giving. The full service from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, July 26th, 2020

Okay God, today I mean it, “Go ahead and make me more like Jesus, whatever the cost.” But please, knowing myself fairly well, when I feel I can't stand anymore and cry out, “Stop!”, will You ignore my “stop” and remember that today I said, “Go ahead!”? Join with Hillside Covenant Church as Jonathan Woolner teaches from Philippians 3:4-14. If you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our “Get Connected” page: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/connected We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today! To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/giving. The sermon from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, July 26th, 2020

Artist - Title - Label Dvine Brothers - Music (Intro) (feat. Sim)-Dvine Brothers Music- Torque SA - Actuate-forthcoming on BA- KVRVBO - You Know That I Know-StayTrueSounds- Jazzuelle feat. Chronical Deep - Delusions Of Grandeur-StayTrueSounds- Ta-Ice feat. Zoo - The Jingles (China Charmeleon Remix)-BasementArt- Jonny MIller - New Terra-ARCo.- Jazzuelle - Dyson Sphere (feat. Dwson)-StayTrueSounds- Kat La Kat, Leeu - Broken Secrets-StayTrueSounds- Simbad feat. Ammo Moses - Time Off-ARCo.- Pablo Bolivar, Pablo Sanchez - Subjects (Fka Mash Afro Glitch)-Seven Villas- Outro - Zito Mowa - Dare To [Intermission] (feat. OKAY GOD)

Artist - Title - Label Dvine Brothers - Music (Intro) (feat. Sim)-Dvine Brothers Music- Torque SA - Actuate-forthcoming on BA- KVRVBO - You Know That I Know-StayTrueSounds- Jazzuelle feat. Chronical Deep - Delusions Of Grandeur-StayTrueSounds- Ta-Ice feat. Zoo - The Jingles (China Charmeleon Remix)-BasementArt- Jonny MIller - New Terra-ARCo.- Jazzuelle - Dyson Sphere (feat. Dwson)-StayTrueSounds- Kat La Kat, Leeu - Broken Secrets-StayTrueSounds- Simbad feat. Ammo Moses - Time Off-ARCo.- Pablo Bolivar, Pablo Sanchez - Subjects (Fka Mash Afro Glitch)-Seven Villas- Outro - Zito Mowa - Dare To [Intermission] (feat. OKAY GOD)

Artist - Title - Label Dvine Brothers - Music (Intro) (feat. Sim)-Dvine Brothers Music- Torque SA - Actuate-forthcoming on BA- KVRVBO - You Know That I Know-StayTrueSounds- Jazzuelle feat. Chronical Deep - Delusions Of Grandeur-StayTrueSounds- Ta-Ice feat. Zoo - The Jingles (China Charmeleon Remix)-BasementArt- Jonny MIller - New Terra-ARCo.- Jazzuelle - Dyson Sphere (feat. Dwson)-StayTrueSounds- Kat La Kat, Leeu - Broken Secrets-StayTrueSounds- Simbad feat. Ammo Moses - Time Off-ARCo.- Pablo Bolivar, Pablo Sanchez - Subjects (Fka Mash Afro Glitch)-Seven Villas- Outro - Zito Mowa - Dare To [Intermission] (feat. OKAY GOD)

Meet Simone Rizkallah, southern California native and first podcast guest of Gratefulife Haven! This gal’s incredible joy and love shine forth in every word she speaks. Her life story in a nutshell? Toula from My Big Fat Greek Wedding! If you’ve not seen this movie, get thee to a screen! Listen in for the God winks throughout Simone’s life, shared as only Simone can with her infectious laughter and joie de vivre! Read all about Simone’s life story at gratefulifehaven.com

Pastor Bob delivers a sermon from Genesis 3:1-24 As we think about what we might give up for Lent there are many popular options but perhaps the most all-encompassing one would be to give up our sense of entitlement.

This devotional episode is based on 1 Peter 4:7-11. We wanted to share how Love covers a multitude of sins and why it is so important that we love with this level of eagerness.1 Peter 4:7-11 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.PrayerDear Lord,We lift up our hearts to you right now and ask that you would make us a people who love others earnestly. Holy Spirit direct our hearts and remind us of your word. We pray we would above all things love others. We pray we would love our spouse, our children, our friends, and those who are in our life. May your love pour out of us. May your love pouring out of us transform our marriages. We pray others would be impacted by the love we share. We pray we would be able to love so deeply that it covers a multitude of sin. We pray that instead of shame or guilt, people would feel undoubtedly loved by us and by you. We pray for your word to be fulfilled through our choices to walk in love and that your will would be done.In Jesus’ name, amen! READ TRANSCRIPT- [Aaron] Hey, we're Aaron and Jennifer Smith, with "Marriage After God." - [Jennifer] Helping you cultivate an extraordinary marriage. - [Aaron] And today we're gonna talk about how love covers a multitude of sin. Welcome to the "Marriage After God" podcast where we believe that marriage was meant for more than just happily ever after. - [Jennifer] I'm Jennifer, also known as Unveiled Wife. - [Aaron] And I'm Aaron, also known as Husband Revolution. - [Jennifer] We have been married over a decade. - [Aaron] And so far, we have four young children. - [Jennifer] We have been doing marriage ministry online for over seven years through blogging and social media. - [Aaron] With a desire to inspire couples to keep God at the center of their marriage, encouraging them to walk in faith every day. - [Jennifer] We believe that Christian marriage should be an extraordinary one, full of life, - Love, - And power, - [Aaron] That can only be found by chasing after God, - [Jennifer] Together. - [Aaron] Thank you for joining us on this journey as we chase boldly after God's will for our life together. - [Jennifer] This is "Marriage After God." Okay Aaron, so we, we survived kind of a hard week. - [Aaron] We did survive. - I mean, - We're barely coming on - Our kids survived. - The other side of it, yes. - [Jennifer] But we're not the only ones going through this, so we thought we would just give you guys a little update of our family and hopefully encourage some of you out there who it might be hitting as well. - [Aaron] Yeah, our whole family got the flu. It was bad, but not bad. It was kind of a weird thing. - [Jennifer] Well, I'll say this, the Lord spared me and gave me the grace to be able to help everyone. 'Cause I felt-- - And you didn't even really get sick, you got some of the, like you felt sick. - Yeah you know the gut pain? - [Aaron] But you didn't have any other symptoms, which was awesome. - And the rosy cheeks. I felt like every once in a while, like I really don't feel good right now, I need to go lay down, but for the most part, I was able to be there to help everyone. Which made me really nervous, because people were, you and the kids were throwing up and I just thought, me, at this stage of the game in pregnancy, throwing up would not go over well with my body. - No and so-- - That woulda been terrible. - [Aaron] We're definitely thanking God, which we did a lot of, oddly. But not to be too graphic, but I'm pretty sure I put a rib out from how hard I was throwing up. - [Jennifer] That sucks. - [Aaron] Yeah, it still is really sore. But, what's awesome is, a couple of things, I just wanna praise you Jennifer, because I feel like you handled everyone being sick, and the inconvenience of it so well. I think I even told you, I was like, "I can tell you're walking in the spirit." Like your attitude was good, how much cleaning had to be done. - [Jennifer] It was a lot of work. - [Aaron] It's no fun when literally all the boys are throwing up and it's like, there's no clean blankets. - [Jennifer] It's all at the same time. - [Aaron] Yeah, so we, but we survived, we're coming on the other side of that. But one thing we practiced, I don't think we've ever done it before, not that we're not thankful to God. - [Jennifer] Not in this kind of circumstance, it's not at the forefront of our minds. - [Aaron] I did a post a couple weeks ago encouraging men to thank God for everything, if they get cut off in traffic, if something bad happens, even-- - [Jennifer] You didn't say if your whole family comes down with sickness, did you? - [Aaron] I know, if something good happens, I just said, say, whatever it is that happens today, thank God for it. And I tried practicing that. And so I'm literally in the fetal position in the bathtub, and I'm trying to thank God. I'm like, "Okay God, thank you. "Thank you for being sick." And I was like, why am I thanking God for this? Well, thank you for reminding me that I'm human. Like I'm fragile. Thank you for reminding me that one day I'm not gonna have this sickness. - [Jennifer] Or that we need to pray. - [Aaron] Yeah thank you for reminding, - Ask him. - Humbling me, showing me that my weakness. So there was a lot of things to thank God for for being sick, and I directly thanked God for being sick. And then we of course have thanked God for healing us and sparing our family from being even worse, 'cause it probably could have been worse. - [Jennifer] Something that really stood out to me is I didn't know you had this perspective kind of going into everyone being sick, and I wouldn't say I was there with you in those beginning moments, but you brought the family to the living room, and you said, "You know what, we're gonna pray, "and we're just gonna thank God today." And I think even one of the kids asked, "Why are we thanking God?" - [Aaron] Doesn't make any sense. - [Jennifer] But I was questioning it in my own heart too, like, okay, where's this going? But it was so beautiful to hear your prayer and you starting out saying, "God, thank you for this sickness." And it was humbling for me and for my heart to go, "oh yeah" you know? And to have that perspective before him. And then, I gotta share this other experience is just a friend of mine who, their family also got it really bad. - [Aaron] Pretty much our whole church got sick. - [Jennifer] But I met up with her for coffee when it was all past and she goes, "You know I just found, we found our whole family "just worshiping God through it." And it was so cool, kinda the same thing. And I said, "I didn't really worship him through it, "but at the end of all the laundry being done, "all the bathrooms being cleaned, "and having taken a shower, I came out singing "'Victory in Jesus' so, that was awesome." - [Aaron] But it is worship. Thanking God is worship. So whatever he gives, I think Job says it, "Should we not thank God for the good and the evil?" Like the bad things that happen? We thank God for those too, because he's God and he deserves our thanksgiving. And at the end of the day, salvation is so much greater than anything that we can go through. So, at minimum you can be like, "God, thank you so much "that one day I'm gonna be with you." That is so good. - [Jennifer] So if your family happens to get hit by whatever bug this is, - [Aaron] It's going around, yeah. - [Jennifer] Whatever's going around, we just wanted to encourage you guys to move forward with a thankful heart and to trust God and to be prayerful. And also just to be patient, because we know it's an inconvenience, we know it's hard, it takes away from your work schedule, it takes away from things on your to-do list that maybe you were hoping to do or whatever it is. We know it's hard, but if God's allowing it to happen, we can trust him and walk through it with him. - [Aaron] Yeah, so that was just a little update on our flu campaign. But we wanna encourage you. We have a new challenge. We've been doing a lot of these lately, a lot of new downloads and challenges and free things that you guys can get from us. And our new one's called the parentingprayerchallenge.com. We launched it last week and this week you get to do it. We're still encouraging parents to sign up to pray for either their daughter or their son or both. So if you haven't signed up for the Parenting Prayer Challenge, it's completely free. We're gonna send you 31 prompts every day, encouraging you to pray for different things for your child. - Over 31 days. - Over 31 days. - [Jennifer] Not 31 emails in one day. - [Aaron] Yeah, that's happened one time. Yeah, one a day, and the whole idea is that at the end of the 31 days you've built a habit of praying for your children. I'm sure all you parents love to pray for your children, but we just wanted to give this resource to encourage you to pray more, to pray deeper, to pray more consistently and give you ideas on what other things to pray for for your kids. - [Jennifer] Yeah, and I'll add this, it goes hand in hand with our books, "31 prayers for your son and for your daughter." And if you have those books, oh this'll be an incredible reminder. It's kinda like an alarm, right? Because your email comes through and then you're like, "Oh yeah." So you can get the book and go along with it that way too. - [Aaron] Mm-hmm, so parentingprayerchallenge.com, all one word, spelled the way you would think it's spelled. And sign up for free today. All right guys, we've been doing this new thing, we've mentioned it a few times this season. We're trying to do a marriage episode, we're doing a devotional style episode, a Q&A, we're trying to give a little bit more diversity on the kinds of things we're bringing up and this episode's gonna be a devotional style. We're gonna talk about some scripture. And something that we've been learning, something that I taught on at church. And so we hope it encourages you and why don't you, Jennifer start off by reading-- - [Jennifer] Oh, I was gonna sit back and let you teach for 30 minutes, yeah. - [Aaron] Oh, I'll just do it? No. - Go for it. - [Aaron] Why don't you read the scripture that we're gonna be talking about, - Okay. - And then we'll go into it. - [Jennifer] So it's 1 Peter 4:7-11 and it says this, "The end of all things is at hand, "therefore be self controlled "and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly "since love covers a multitude of sins." - [Aaron] This is a great scripture in 1 Peter and we're excited to talk about it and what it means for us as believers, not only in our marriages, but just in life in general and walking in the body of Christ. And the power that is in our love for one another. And what that means and looks like. So we're gonna dig into this, these few scriptures, and kinda break it down and talk about some stuff and Jennifer you might have some questions. But we're just gonna break it down and see how this applies to us in our life. So the first thing I wanna point out is where our perspective should be. And Jennifer you read it, the very first thing it says in verse seven is "The end of all things is at hand." - [Jennifer] I feel like there should be an exclamation mark. - [Aaron] And it's almost is, it's a semicolon which says everything I'm about to say is attached to this statement. The end of all things is at hand, and so, we can easily, quickly think this is talking about Jesus coming back, or the end of days, right? But in the New Testament when it talks about the end of days or all things at hand or the end of the generation, it's mostly talking about all of the things that needed to take place, they needed to occur for the salvation story, for redemption, God's plan for redemption that he's been planning and preparing since Adam and Eve in the garden. And so, when Peter says the end of all things is at hand, he's saying that essentially, Christ has been born, he's died, and he's resurrected. - [Jennifer] Like we have what we need. - [Aaron] The thing that God has planned to take place has taken place. - Yeah. - [Aaron] Which means a lot. It means that we can now draw near to God. It means that we now can have salvation and a right relationship with God. Because without the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and his ascension and him sending the holy spirit there is no, like we can't be made right with God. So all of those things, the end of all things is at hand. The end of everything that God planned for salvation has been done, as Jesus says on the cross, it is finished. So it didn't necessarily mean that hey, the end of the world is tomorrow. But it's also an allusion, it alludes to Christ returning. Because now that the church age has begun, the spirit is living in man, we're made right with God, the bride of Christ is growing, we have an expectation of Christ's return. So we're in this imminent return zone. Like at any moment Christ can come back. - [Jennifer] And we are, we're called to walk a certain way. - [Aaron] Yeah. And so that's kinda, he starts off these statements with here's how you should be thinking. Realize first and foremost you have everything you need because Christ died and resurrected. He's given you his spirit, so now you can walk in his spirit and not the flesh. Like the things that we need to accomplish what he's about to tell us have already happened and are already available to us and been given to us. So that's our perspective in our relationships with our spouse, our children, our church body. That the end of all things is at hand. Like first and foremost, I have everything I need in Christ Jesus, to walk this way that we're about to talk about. And I walk this way because I look forward to Christ coming back, and I wanna not be ashamed at his return, I wanna stand boldly at his return. I wanna be excited for his return. - [Jennifer] It gives those relationships a lot of depth and purpose, how we interact with each other and how we're supposed to be in those relationships with each other. - [Aaron] Right and so, if you think about your marriage. You say, "Well, I just can't because my husband "is this, this, this." - [Jennifer] Or together you're just facing a really hard circumstance. - [Aaron] Yeah, like we went through stuff. And it's like, oh, our love for each other is stifled because of this hard circumstance or these character traits in the other person. But if our mindsets are on wow, first of all I can, because Christ did, and I should, because Christ is coming. My perspective and the way I treated you and the way we treat others would totally be transformed because we're no longer thinking of this immediate, well how did you treat me and how am I gonna treat you? - [Jennifer] Well, it's not about us. - Exactly. - Right? - [Aaron] Which is a powerful thing. And this is being taught to the believer, but the ramifications for this is in every aspect of your life. Most directly in your marriage and then also most directly in all of your relationships with other believers in the church. We need to have this perspective. - [Jennifer] Okay, so, then moving on in that verse, the next word is therefore. - [Aaron] Yeah and-- - [Jennifer] So the end of all things is at hand, - [Both] Therefore. - [Aaron] Yeah, and someone always says, "What's therefore there for?" I mean you ask yourself, "Well, why is that there?" And it's attached to the last statement. So, since the end of all things is at hand, be this way. And what does it say right there, Jennifer? - [Jennifer] Be self controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. - [Aaron] So, in relation to our relationships and in our life and in the way we interact in this world, self-controlled, how often do we say the word self-controlled in our house? - [Jennifer] Well, we're in the beginning stages of training our kids, so I feel like we say it all the time, multiple times a day. - [Aaron] 150,000 times a day. Are you being self-controlled? - Remember, self-control. - [Aaron] Be self-controlled, you're not being self-controlled. You must have self-control. Like over and over and over again. 'Cause that's, I mean our kids are learning to have control over themselves, that's the point. But self-controlled meaning, in my life, am I in control or is my flesh in control? 'Cause when my flesh is in control, we are not self-controlled. We're gonna eat as much as-- - We just give way - We want. - To whatever we want, yeah. - [Aaron] When I'm angry, I'm just gonna say what I wanna say. Oh, well, I was angry, that's why I said that. Well, that's not self-controlled. That's just blurting out what's coming to your mind because you're angry, rather than considering the other person. - [Jennifer] Which the mind is the next thing it says. - [Aaron] Yeah, sober-minded, which yes, this is talking about sobriety, not on drugs, not drunk with alcohol, but sober-minded is much more than just, we talked about this in another episode. I can't remember the name of the other episode, but it's having a right way of thinking. A clear way of thinking. So if you think about, we just talked about anger. You know Jennifer, you do something that really frustrates me and then I get so angry I just start saying whatever I want, like I'm not being sober-minded. I'm letting my wrath and my anger control my words and my actions, rather than my mind. - [Jennifer] It's like being self-controlled of your mind specifically. - Right. - [Jennifer] Like being able to have those thought processes and walk yourself through it mentally. - [Aaron] Another example of being sober-minded is fear. So, there's nothing wrong with natural fear, like you know fire's gonna burn you, so you don't touch it, but we're talking about like there's something going on in the world and it's causing us to have this anxiety and fear which causes us to make decisions and not seek out wisdom and oh, we're gonna go do this thing because XYZ over here, I don't know how that's gonna turn out, therefore we're gonna. And so that's not sober-minded either. Instead of thinking through what is reality, thinking through what is the repercussions if XYZ happens or if we don't have what we need or if, like thinking sober-minded is rather than operating in the fear and just making decisions off that, you're operating in knowledge and wisdom and you seek counsel and you're slow to act, slow to speak. So that's the idea of sober-minded. So since we know that the end of all things is at hand, meaning we have everything we need in Christ, meaning all of the things that God planned for redemption has happened, you have the holy spirit, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. - [Jennifer] So real quick, I just have to, just hearing you repeat that, it says, "Be self-controlled and sober-minded "for the sake of your prayers," that means you're praying. So it's almost like it's saying be self-controlled and sober-minded and prayerful. Like be a person of prayer. - [Aaron] Right, and we just talked about being sick. If our minds were in this position of thankfulness and we were just wallowing in the suffering, 'cause throwing up's not fun, not feeling good is not fun, and we could just sit there and be like woe is us. And we're not even being sober-minded in that. But instead we're like, "Thank you Lord." It actually helped us elevate above our current circumstances to be able to see it from a heavenly position. Like, okay, well, just because this thing is happening, doesn't mean I stop being a Christian. Doesn't mean I can now act XYZ, be this way, say these things. No, I actually even in this, can walk this out. Because we know all things have been fulfilled in Christ, and his return is imminent, even in my sickness I get to say, "Well if Christ was to come right now, "I wanna be like him, wanna look like him." This is how we must live as people who claim the name of Jesus. We can't claim the name, but not walk it out. - [Jennifer] Mm-hmm, okay so before you move on, I feel like maybe some of our listeners would have the same question, and that is, it says "for the sake of your prayers" so does that mean your prayers are in trouble if you're not being self-controlled or you're not being sober-minded? What does that mean? - [Aaron] Yeah, I mean, in 1 Peter I think we get another picture of that when it talks about husbands walking with their wives in an understanding way, it says for the sake of your prayers. So, there is a way that the believer can walk that would hinder our prayers. And it could be put this way, someone told me once, "God's not gonna tell you "to do a new thing until you've done the old thing." Like the thing he's asked you to do already. And so it's almost like this, we're looking for a new word from the Lord, we're looking for guidance and wisdom. And he's like, well, but you're not even loving your wife right now. - Mm-hmm, I have a really good example of this when it comes to kids. Olive, just I think it was yesterday, she came up to me and she was like, "Mom, I don't have anything to do." And so I gave her something to do, it was a small task. And she turned around really quickly and said, "I don't wanna do that." - [Aaron] What else can I do? - [Jennifer] What else can I do? And I looked at her, I said, "Sweetheart, "can you go do what Mommy asked you to do?" - [Aaron] Right. Yeah, and there's even a scripture that says, "Go back and do the first things "that you've been told to do." Like you've left your first love, we learned in Revelations. There's this idea of like, God's already given us some commands, given us some things to do as believers. In his power, to do it, and we wanna skip over those things and we're gonna talk about this. We wanna skip over those things to get to the other things. We're like, "Well, I don't wanna do that thing." Loving that person's difficult. Or, praying for that person, ehh, let's pray for this big thing over here. - [Jennifer] Or how about, "I'll be self-controlled, "but I don't care about being sober-minded." - Exactly yeah. - You know what I mean? - [Aaron] Which doesn't make any sense because, - [Jennifer] I know. - [Aaron] If you're not sober, like let's talk about being drunk, you're not in self-control either. Those things go hand in hand. So yes, the Bible teaches that our prayers can be hindered. I don't know exactly what that means, does that mean that God doesn't hear 'em at all? Or is it that I am hindered? Like I'm not gonna want to pray more. I don't have a desire to, I'm frustrated. No, Lord, I don't want to. It's like when our, like you said our kids, when they have an attitude, Wyatt crosses his arms, puts his head down, it's like he doesn't wanna look at us. - [Jennifer] Or like that example you gave of us being sick, if we weren't sober-minded and self-controlled, we wouldn't have prayed in thankfulness, so yeah, hindered in a way that if we're not walking that way and we're not being that way then we won't be praying at all. - Yeah so, - We won't be a people of prayer. - Regardless of how it plays out, I don't want either of those things. I wanna be able to come to God boldly and I also want God to receive me and hear my prayers. The Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much, it's in James. And I want my prayers heard. I want them to avail much. And when I pray for my family, when I pray for health, when I pray for opportunities, when I pray for other, my family members, when I pray for the lost, I want those prayers to be heard and to have power with God. So, God says, "Well be sober-minded and self-controlled "so that your prayers won't be hindered." Then I should just do that. - [Jennifer] Do it. - [Aaron] It's not easy all the time, but that's what we get to do, because the end of all things is at hand, so I should be able to do it. Okay, so let's move on to this next part of this verse. - [Jennifer] Well the next verse. - [Aaron] Yeah, the next verse, there ya go. Verse eight starts off, it says, "Above all." Okay, and I just wanted to highlight this idea, so if you're in your Bible, which that'd be awesome if you were, you should be. It says, "Above all," comma, "keep loving one another earnestly." And I just wrote down some ideas of what's the all? Like above all, above how generous you might be financially, like, "I've given so much." Above being right, like "Well I know "that this scripture means this." Above memorizing every scripture, above being debt free, above your health, above your safety, above all. Above everything that you see as good, 'cause these things are good, for the most part, don't neglect to do this thing. So, above all, do this thing, right? - [Jennifer] Do you think it's easy for us in our flesh to justify like, "Well, I don't have to love that person, "and we don't even get along, but I'm doing this "over here, so, I'm good with God because this over here." Do you hear what I'm saying? - [Aaron] Yeah, we do this all the time, and there's a scripture that I'll bring up that shows this hypocrisy. Like, "Well no, that person doesn't need to be in my life, "because of XY and Z, but, you know what? "But I read every day, I'm in the word every day." "Oh but I pray, I'll pray for that person. "I don't have to love 'em, but I'll pray for 'em." I think something that I've heard a lot, and it doesn't make any sense, but we say this, "Oh, I love him, I just don't like him." Almost as if love is this general like, yeah we're in the same city, but I'm never gonna talk to him, I'm not gonna be kind to him, I'm not gonna be cordial, I'm not gonna even, I don't wanna go out of my way for them. I'm not gonna give to them, I'm not gonna help them, I'm not gonna. So what love is that? - [Jennifer] If you're doing that, I was gonna say, what's your definition of love? - [Aaron] And that's my point is we, okay, I'll just do this. So the point of everything I said above all, or not that we shouldn't do those other things, 'cause I never want someone to be like, "Well, all we have to do is love others, "and we don't have to be generous, "and we don't have to read our word and memorize scripture." These things that are actually really good for us. "And my health and my, all these things don't matter, "as long as I just love." No. All of those things matter, but we don't neglect this one thing, and often it's the one thing we neglect. We work on all those other things, 'cause we have, those are easier, those are personal. We can control 'em. We can't control other people and that's why it's so hard. And I think of this in Matthew 23:23 Jesus says this, he says, "Woe to you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, "for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, "and have neglected the weightier matters of the law." And then get what he says, "Justice, mercy and faithfulness. "These you ought to have done "without neglecting the others." - [Jennifer] Like do it all. - [Aaron] He's like, "Yeah, you spent time, "you outwardly show all these good things that you do, "yet you've neglected justice, like you don't care "about those in your midst who need justice "and you've been unjust." Or showing mercy and faithfulness. You haven't remained faithful to your spouses, you haven't remained faithful to your people, you haven't remained faithful to, and he's saying these things you should have done without neglecting those other things that you do. And so that was the point I was getting at is like yeah, all those other things are good, but we cannot throw out loving one another earnestly. - [Jennifer] So you used the word earnestly, why don't you define that, just for our listeners really quick? - [Aaron] Okay, 'cause it's a pretty powerful word and it's how he wants us to love each other. It's not like, "Hey, I love you, yeah I'll see you later. "Oh yeah, we're good buddies." It's something deeper than that. He says, "Love one another earnestly." And the definition of earnestly means with sincere and intense conviction. It's so powerful. It's not just a, in passing a word you just say about someone, it's a life lived out way of loving. It's a my actions and the way I think reflect the deepness of my conviction and belief about how I love you. And so a perfect example is in marriage. I love you, and it's not just a word. I show you by how I take care of you. And how I show up every day and how I sit and talk with you. And how I ask for forgiveness, and I'm patient, and all these things are the actions of my love for you. - [Jennifer] Yeah, I think that's really important to point out, because I think in marriage specifically, you can text each other back and forth, I love you, or say it at the end of a phone call, conversation. Saying it in passing or before you leave to go to work. But are your actions proving what those words actually mean? So you've convinced yourself in your mind, yeah, of course I love my husband, of course I love my wife. And I tell them every day. - [Aaron] How do they know? - [Jennifer] But, are your actions supporting your words? - [Aaron] Yeah, and so let's break down this definition a little bit, it says with a sincere and intense conviction, that's the earnestness. Sincere means free from pretense or deceit. Proceeding from genuine feelings. So I don't just say it, it's not just a word that I use so that I look good with my other Christian friends and brothers and sisters. - Or that you know you should use because you're married. - [Aaron] Yeah, like, "Oh yeah, of course I love so-and-so." But yet, you don't truly believe it in your heart. You struggle with believing, like well, do I love him? I mean, I could move on. I'm not going to, 'cause I don't wanna look bad. That's not love, it's a free from pretense or deceit. So there's nothing, you're not saying it to receive anything like, "Oh good, so good that you love that person." And you're not saying it out of, it's not a lie. When you say you love someone it's truthful. It's a genuine, genuineness, a real thing from with inside of you. And then that second part, intense conviction. And I smashed two definitions together, 'cause the word intense and conviction I put them together and it's a highly concentrated and firmly held belief in what you are doing, right? So, it's not going away. My love for my brothers and sisters in Christ, my love for others in the world, my love for my wife, it's real and it's going to drive my actions and my decisions and my attitudes and it's gonna cause me to repent and it's gonna cause me to change and grow because that conviction is solid. It's there, and when I'm challenged in that conviction, when the listener is challenged in that conviction of love, they get to ask themselves, "Well do I truly love so-and-so?" And then they get to remember, well, the end of all things is at hand, I must love so-and-so, regardless. Without pretense, it needs to be truthful and powerful. That's what that word earnestly means. - [Jennifer] I love that definition of intense conviction that you shared, and it makes me think how intentional this type of love truly is, because-- - [Aaron] That's a good word, intentional. - [Jennifer] Yeah, it's intentional because you're motivated by your, like it said, "firmly held belief in what you are doing" so everything that I do in our home, everything I do with our kids, everything I do with you, comes out and is an overflow of this belief that I have that I truly love you and that genuine feeling that you talked about earlier. And that's such a different situation when you compare it to just saying the words I love you or just going about your day without any motivations as to why you're doing those things, you know? It makes me think of the type of motivational speaking you hear when it comes to entrepreneurship, where it's like, "You gotta know your why." You gotta know your why. - Yeah, what's your why? - [Jennifer] What's your why? So it makes me go there when I think about in marriage, why are you doing all the little things that you do throughout your day? It's because you love that person. - [Aaron] Mm-hmm, and it's not superficial, and it's not just a word, but it's an actual held belief. Like "No, I love my wife. "I love John over there." Like truly love them, not just, "We're Christians "and we love each other." - Right. And if we truly consider this you guys, then when we get into a hard spot in marriage, when we get into conflict or something happens unexpectedly that you don't desire, you can continue on, because there's this hope knowing that, "Well no, I love them. "You know, I know this is hard, but God's given me "a love for them." - [Aaron] Yeah. What I think is really cool, I just thought about this, often we think about this idea of growing in love, which we do, we change and our level of love deepens. - It deepens, yeah. - [Aaron] But it's actually, the way this is stated, it's actually a starting point. We start at this basis of love for one another. Not build into it. It starts at this place and I thought that was really cool. I just was, - I like that. - [Aaron] I was just thinking it's like it's not, yeah, it does grow over time, but it's also, like you said, even in those hard times, you default to that position of love. Not default to, well we're not in love because, or we're building in love and the default position is no love. That's not actually, I mean marriage starts, usually, for the most part, with a deep conviction of love. And so the default position is love. And I didn't have the scripture originally here, but I thought about this and I think it goes perfectly well. What this level of love is supposed to look like, it's supposed to be remarkable. It's not supposed to look like the love of the world. Like the world loves itself. There's people that they love their own and they do a good job of that, but the love that Christians are supposed to have for one another is supposed to be remarkable, miraculous. And Jesus puts it this way in John 13:34. "A new commandment I give to you, "that you love one another. "Just as I have loved you, "you also are to love one another. "By this all people will know that you are my disciples "if you have love for one another." So it's not like, if we do these great things, or if we have this great band, or if we preach this great message, it says if you love one another the way I loved you, the whole world will know, oh that's a disciple of Christ. - [Jennifer] Yeah. - [Aaron] That's remarkable. So I get, the question I have in your marriage, in your relationships at church, would the world look at how you love them as remarkable? Like that's a remarkable love. How could he love like that? How could she love like that after so much has happened to her, after this or that? It's a remarkable love and it can only be done with Jesus Christ. That's what he says, "If you love as I have loved you." Which is an amazing, amazing kind of love. It's literally remarkable. And I have some notes here and this is, this is exactly why churches fall apart. This is why friendships dissolve, this is why marriages end. When we let the intensity of our conviction to love each other soften. We got to that point a few years into our marriage. Our conviction to love one another, because of the things we were going through, got weakened. - [Jennifer] I was gonna say, I don't feel like softens is just the right word because it sounds mushy-gushy, but I mean we're talking about the dissolving of that belief and conviction. - [Aaron] Yeah. And it's not that those things that were happening had some external power to weaken our love for each other superficially, - We chose that. - We let our love, yeah we chose it, that's a good word. And so, I just wanna ask you, as we get into this, have you let your love, the earnestness of your love for your spouse, for other believers, weaken? For whatever reason, because someone hurt you, because someone said something harmful about you, because someone didn't pay you back? - [Jennifer] The relationship's messy or hard or challenging and you just wanna, - Walk away. - Walk away. - It'd be easier. - Yeah. - [Aaron] There's been so many times I've thought to myself, it would just be easier to move. - [Jennifer] Well, we thought that in the beginning of our marriage when we were facing hardship and we got to the point at the end of three and a half years where we were, so incredibly close to walking away convinced in our selfish flesh that it would be better for each other if we just separated. - [Aaron] Move on. - [Jennifer] And instead, God got ahold of our hearts in a remarkable way and, I mean he brought the message to you first and then to me, but it's a choice. - [Aaron] Yeah. - [Jennifer] And are we gonna let our circumstances dictate that choice or are we gonna choose it in our hearts and move past the circumstances? Or even if we have to deal with the circumstances for the rest of our life, and that was the commitment we had to choose. There came this pivotal moment where, people who've read our books, they know what I'm talking about, but we're standing in church, Aaron, and you're sharing this heart that God has given you for our marriage to continue on regardless if anything changed. That is remarkable. And that saved us, that saved our marriage. - [Aaron] And here's the difference in the types of love. The love that the world has for itself, and the love that we are to have for our brothers and sisters and our spouse. The love that Christ gave to us was unconditional. The love that we try and walk in is often transactional. You do this, I'll do this. You give me this, I'll give you that. Oh you didn't do the thing, or you weren't the certain way? Then I'm not going to. Jesus it says, "Yet while we were still sinners died for us." So even when we were weakest, when we couldn't save ourselves, Christ died. Christ gave himself up for his bride. And this is the message that Christ gave me that day, reminding me, he's like, "Hey are you gonna love "your wife unconditionally, or transactionally? "Are you gonna love her regardless if she ever gives you "what you think you deserve, what you ought to have? "Or are you gonna love her like I did "when you could do nothing for me, "and I still died for you?" - [Jennifer] John 13 comes back to my mind like you said. Jesus says, "Love as I loved you." - [Aaron] And you know what this sincerity and intensity, this earnestness sounds very familiar to how Jesus said we would worship God. He says this to the woman at the well, in John 4:24, he says, "God is spirit "and those who worship him must worship "in spirit and truth." Spirit and truth. And this isn't talking about worshiping each other. But it's how we love each other, in spirit and in truth. - [Jennifer] It reminds me of the definition going back earlier to those genuine feelings. - [Aaron] Mm-hmm, it's not from pretense or deceit. It's no, I genuinely love you. I may not know how to do it well, but I'm going to default to love, I'm going to default to giving you the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to love you regardless if you give me what I deserve. And then in Matthew 22 verse 37-48 says this, "And he said to him, 'You shall love the lord your God "'with all your heart and with all your soul "'and with all your mind. "'This is there greatest and first commandment. "'And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor "'as yourself, on these two commandments "'depend all the law and the prophets.'" - [Jennifer] I remember we read this verse to our kids and they got really confused, because we've taught them the 10 Commandments. - Yeah. - And they were like, "No no no, that's not the." - [Aaron] No, you have to honor your mom and dad. Like, yes. And what I explained to 'em is, and this is what Jesus says, he says, "Anyone who does these won't break any of the laws." Because when you love your neighbor, you're not gonna steal from them. When you love your neighbor, you're not gonna lie to them. When you love your neighbor, you're not gonna covet their things. You're gonna say praise God that you've given them those things, God. Praise God. They're gonna use 'em for you, I hope. We don't covet. When we love God we don't dishonor our parents. When you love your parents you're not gonna dishonor them. And so, that's the kind of love that we get to have for one another. And it's actually, it's one of the greatest commandments, to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love each other as ourselves. To love each other with that intensity. Okay, so we're getting up to the last part of this section of scripture and it's the most powerful one. It's actually the title of this episode. And it's the reason why Peter is commanding us to love each other in the first place. It's the reason why he's saying to do these things, it's the reason why he gave us the mindset of hey, the end of all things is at hand, be this way, love this way. So before I move on to this next portion of this scripture, I'm gonna read the whole scripture again. It's 1 Peter 4:7-11. "The end of all things is at hand, "therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded "for the sake of your prayers. "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, "since love covers a multitude of sins." Okay, so here's the-- - You slowed down there at the end Aaron, - I know it's, - [Jennifer] Is that important? - [Aaron] Well, it's the most powerful section of this scripture, I believe. And what's amazing about this is it's the opportunity that believers have to love like Christ. What did Christ's love do? - [Jennifer] Saved us. - [Aaron] It covered us. We've just been teaching the kids through Adam and Eve, the story of Adam and Eve and how they were to, God told that surely on the day that you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will die. And guess what. - [Jennifer] Well the kids asked the question, - They're like, - But they didn't die! - [Aaron] Yeah, they didn't die. Here's what's amazing is something died instead. They covered themselves with fig leaves, God covered them in skins. So an animal had to die. So even then, way back in the beginning, in the very first people, God showed his redemption plan. That he was gonna substitute the death that we deserve for another. And so it was a picture right then and there of what Christ was gonna do. And this is what the believer gets to do. This is the remarkable love that the world's gonna see and be like, whoa, those people are God's, Christ's disciples, because Christ died for them, and look how they love each other. - [Jennifer] They wouldn't be able to do it without him. - [Aaron] Yeah, and so love covers a multitude of sins. So here's a question, I taught this at church and I asked this question, and it was hard for me to get it out without crying. But I said, "Who doesn't want their sins covered?" I said, "Raise your hand." How many hands do you think went up? None. So I ask the listener, do you want your sins covered? Do you thank God that his son Jesus and the blood that he shed covers your sins completely? That you are made white as snow? That you are clean before God? Okay, so if we can answer that question with "Yes, praise God," then our love should do the same. Our love has that same power. I personally love the fact that God no longer sees my sin. I personally love that who I was before Christ is now dead and buried. But, what we often do is we highlight other people's sins. And what it does is it raises us up and puts them down. Oh so-and-so, I can't believe they would treat me that way. You can't believe it? I mean how else do we deserve to be treated, really? We deserve hell. That's what the human state deserves. - [Jennifer] There's other times in marriage that we hold their sin against them. - [Aaron] Absolutely, yeah. - [Jennifer] So, whether it's for ammunition later, or maybe you're not intentionally thinking that, but all the sudden it comes up again, and you haven't covered their sin in love. You've been hanging on to it out of bitterness and anger, and you're gonna spew it out back in their face to make them feel a certain way. - [Aaron] Or waiting for them to trip up and it makes you feel better, because as long as their sin is greater than your sin then you're not a sinner. That's like the logic we use. I know that we struggled with this. You believed because I struggled with certain things you didn't even wanna see your own sin. Things that you were dealing with, your own pride, your own bitterness, your own angers, 'cause I was the sinner in the relationship. I was the one that needed to repent, I was the one that needed to change. And I did, I mean it's not like I didn't. But we do that, we look, we long for the sin in others. Oh, since they're that way, I can be this way. Rather than wanting to cover those sins. Rather than wanting to overlook them and remind those people of who they are in Christ, without pretense, without this idea of like, I'm gonna point this out, because I wanna hurt them. Or I wanna feel better. - [Jennifer] I think just kind of glancing back over those first few years of marriage, something else that I've struggled with is holding on to the sins that you struggled with even after saying I forgive you or trying to make up and resolve things. Because I had this belief about you that you were gonna fail me. So I was building a case, right? - [Aaron] You were waiting for me to, yeah. - [Jennifer] The next time you messed up, I go, "See, this is the type of person that you are." And I held up a mirror to show you your sin instead of pointing you to God and saying, "But he's redeemed you." You know what I mean? I didn't give you-- - Why you acting like this? God's redeemed you. - I didn't give you the positive message, because I truly cared about restoration at that point I was looking for a case in order to get out. To leave, to say, "You're this way, and I can't handle it." - [Aaron] Yeah. And that leads me to this question, do we see our spouse's sins against us as special or less deserving of forgiveness and grace? Do we see the sins and shortcomings of others towards us as less deserving, as special? Yeah, yeah, I've done things, I get it, God forgives me, but what they've done? No, what they've done is not forgivable. What they've done is, you can't tell me to love that person. Well, you know what, I don't. I'm not telling you anything. God says it, okay? When you give that word picture, 'cause I think it perfectly sums up this idea of when we love the way Christ loves, what it does. - [Jennifer] Well, I was just thinking about this idea of covering a multitude of sins by our love, the word picture that I got in my mind to help me understand that is a blanket and it's function. When you think about a blanket and being wrapped up and curled up on the couch with it, it provides warmth and comfort and padding and it consumes you. - It protects you. - [Jennifer] It protects you, it's just all around you and it was a really beautiful picture for me to understand how God covers us. Kinda like even as you said, going back to Adam and Eve, how he covered them, ya know? - [Aaron] And then the picture I got, and the Bible even uses it, says that our sins are made white as snow. And we live in a place that snows. And you see all the landscape, there's all the colors, the grass, the concrete, the trees, the houses. - [Jennifer] Pretty soon everything starts to fade away. - [Aaron] It snows and guess what. Everything's the same color. - Everything's white. - Everything's white. And beautiful and it could be on the dirtiest, muddiest area, and it's a beautiful white field. And that's what Christ's blood does is it covers us. And out of our thankfulness for that, we get to love others the same way. And this isn't an overlooking of sin, this isn't a pretending sin hasn't happened. And I'll talk about that in a second. But it's the way we love that no one, no one's sin is special that doesn't deserve our forgiveness, because what we've done is so worthy of punishment. The littlest sin we've done is detrimental to our own nature. And Christ has forgiven that in us. And I was reading in Leviticus this morning, and it was talking about all of the sacrifices and all the atonements and the priest is supposed to do this and all, it was so weird, I'm reading, I was like, "I wanna watch a video on this." So I watched the Bible Project's video on atonement. - [Jennifer] Oh they're good. - [Aaron] Yeah, it was good. And I almost started crying in Starbucks, 'cause I go to Starbucks after the gym, watching it because it was explaining how the atonement was a replacement and it was talking about the two types of evil, it was the sin against your brother or God. And it washes that away. But the other thing is the broken relationship aspect. Let's say you stole something, you paid it back, right? But there's also now distrust and fear that's in the relationship. And so that has to be atoned for as well. And so there's this picture of the priest sprinkling blood over the temple and the Tent of Meeting, right? And it showed this picture of, there was all this black looking weeds on the ground, and every time the blood hit the ground it turned to normal. And it said the blood also brought us into a safe relationship and a love relationship. And that's what this love does when it's covering. It's not just pretending things didn't happen, it's actually mending relationships so that we can walk with people not in fear, not in angst or anxiety, but we can actually walk with people in freedom and in love and in purity. That's what this does. And I wanted to share that 'cause it literally almost made me cry when I was thinking what God's done for me, and how he's, he didn't just fix the offense, he also fixed the relationship that was broken because of the offense. - [Jennifer] It's remarkable. - [Aaron] Yeah. So, I just wanna quickly, we talked through a lot of the scriptures, but I wanted to quickly say, this isn't to say we ignore sin, because that actually is unloving. Ignoring someone's sin is unloving. The loving thing to do is to address the sin, not out of our own vindication, trying to get something paid back to us, but out of, like you said, pointing them back to the truth of what God said about them. Or if they're not a believer, to repentance and salvation. So the loving way to, we deal with sin lovingly. And we come to people in truth and our position is of we wanna see the best for you. We want you to be in a right relationship with us. As Matthew 18 says, it's like you've won your brother. That's what you go to them for is for the purpose of winning your brother, not for winning the argument or winning the, oh see, all I want is an apology and we'll be good. No, you're going with the intention of hey, this is broken right now. We need to fix this. Love covering a multitude of sins isn't to say that the sins just disappear. It's to say that we deal with them the biblical way, the loving way for the purpose of reconciliation, 'cause that is the ministry we've been given is reconciliation. - [Jennifer] And we do this for people because we desire the same reciprocation, right? Of love? - I want it. - [Jennifer] I want people to overlook and cover the sins that I've committed, even the slightest or smallest, there's no degree. It doesn't matter. If I'm imperfect, I want someone to love me still. And I think that's important to remember, especially in marriage. - [Aaron] So I hope that bit of scripture encourages you in your walk. As usual we pray before signing off, so we're gonna pray. Dear lord, we lift up our hearts to you right now and ask that you would make us a people who love others earnestly. Holy spirit direct our hearts and remind us of your word. We pray we would above all things, love others. We pray we would love our spouse, our children, our friends and those who are in our life. May your love pour out of us. May your love pouring out of us transform our marriages. We pray others would be impacted by the love we share. We pray we'd be able to love so deeply that it covers a multitude of sin. We pray that instead of shame or guilt, people would feel undoubtedly loved by us and by you. We pray for your word to be fulfilled through our choices to walk in love and that your will would be done. In Jesus name, amen. Hey thanks for joining us for this episode. We pray it blessed you, of course. And don't forget to join the Parenting Prayer Challenge. That's parentingprayerchallenge.com It's completely free and we pray it blesses you. See you next week. Did you enjoy today's show? If you did, it would mean the world to us if you could leave us a review on iTunes. Also, if you're interested, you can find many more encouraging stories and resources at marriageaftergod.com, and let us help you cultivate an extraordinary marriage.

Vaneetha and I chat about her childhood with polio, the loss of her son Paul, the way God held her through the grief, God’s sovereignty, caring for two adolescent daughters alone, lament, and seeing God’s glory. 4:52 Vaneetha’s website is Dance in the Rain, which is very descriptive of her life. She shares her story with us, beginning with her polio diagnosis  Born in India to Christian parents Diagnosed with polio Moved to England and received 1st surgery at age 2 Moved to Canada Spent the majority her time living in the Shriner’s hospital 8:43 Vaneetha shares about her suffering theology after experiencing polio.  Then, she continues to share about multiple miscarriages and the loss of her 2 month old son, Paul. “I remember hanging up the phone and begging God. Just begging Him.  I will do anything if You would save my son.” “That day and I would say for a week after, through the funeral, God just carried me.  I had this sense that God was there even though I felt so devastated.  There was the supernatural sense that God was with me.” EP.36: Treva Kuyper | Hope and Healing After Unexpected Loss 14:09 Vaneetha shares how her relationship with Jesus changed in the months and years after the loss of Paul “I remember being in the car and saying, ‘Okay God, I can’t pull away from You. Show me Your listening. Draw near to me.’ I put myself out there in a way I had been afraid to.  I felt in some ways, how can I trust You God when I begged You to do something and You didn’t? I felt that I really opened my heart up to God when I asked that question….The next few moments, honestly Amber, were the most amazing moments of my life, even today.  The sense of God filled my car…There was this joy and it wasn’t in anything but God.” “It was the marker in my life that no matter what, God said, ‘I will give you this joy that you can’t explain, but it is rooted in Me and no one can take this from you’.” Markers or Joshua Stones: Joshua 4 17:38 Years later Vaneetha was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome and  her husband had an affair and left her to care for their 2 daughters alone. Vaneetha answers this question: As one blow after another came, did you cling to God, did you question him, did you shake your fists at Him, all of the above? “I had to pare down life to the bare minimum.” “I believe God is sovereign, so God could have stopped that. I felt so much like, ‘Why? Why are you doing this?’ It was the most personal of everything that had happened [her husband’s affair].” “I was crumbling. I remember yelling at God, crying to God, begging God, all of those things. I remember one night…saying, ‘God, help me. What are You doing? I can’t do this.’ I read John 11, the raising of Lazarus and reading the words if you believe you will see the glory of God.  I remember crying out to God, ‘I believe, help my unbelief. I want to see Your glory.’ It was another time God said, ‘I am going to hold you.  You can not see what I am doing right now.  You just can’t see it, but I am doing something that you need to trust’. Christa Wells, a friend of Vaneetha’s wrote a song about Paul titled Held, which ended up being sung by Natalie Grant. ” ‘Two months is too little, but they let him go. They had no sudden healing’….I see how God used that in that crushing time in my life.  The words of that song, ‘This is what it means to be HELD, how it feels when the sacred is torn from your life and you survive. This is what it is to be loved and to know that the promise was when everything fell you’d be HELD.’ That is the story of my life. The sacred has been torn from my life  over and over and over and yet God has HELD me. Remembering that song, remembering what God did through that song and through my life really gave me the courage to say, Okay, I am going to put a stake in the ground and trust You in the midst of this and trust that You love me even though I don’t feel loved.” 25:49 Vaneetha talks to the person who may be struggling with the belief that a good God wouldn’t allow all of this to happen.  SHOW NOTES continued Follow Vaneetha on IG, FB and Dance In The Rain -------------------------------------------  Follow Grace Enough Podcast on IG and FB ---------------------------------------------------------

Rebuilding a Marriage Better Than New (Part 1) - Chris and Cindy BeallRebuilding a Marriage Better Than New (Part 2) - Chris and Cindy BeallRebuilding a Marriage Better Than New (Part 3) - Chris and Cindy BeallFamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript  References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Desperate for Freedom Guest:                         Chris & Cindy Beall                                      From the series:       Rebuilding a Marriage Better Than New (Day 1 of 3)                     Bob: Chris Beall had a secret and it came to a point where he realized as long as he kept his secret a secret—it was affecting his marriage and his spiritual life.  Chris: All the things that God wanted to do in my life wouldn't happen until I had the courage to bring what was in the dark into the light. There's something about bringing it into the light—confessing it to another person and praying for each other—that brings an exposure and a healing. The moment that I took that step was the beginning of radical healing in my own heart.  Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, August 28th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife®, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. We'll learn about Chris Beall's secret today—and how it almost destroyed his marriage. Stay with us. 1:00 And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us.  We have a couple with us today who—some of our listeners will recognize them because their story. They've shared it on FamilyLife Today before. It's been shared as a part of The Stepping Up® Video Series. It's a great story of beauty coming from ashes. Dennis: It is indeed. We have the author of the book Rebuilding a Marriage Better Than New - Cindy Beall. Cindy, welcome back to the broadcast. Cindy: It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. Dennis: And her husband, Chris—welcome back to you as well. Chris: We are excited. We love you guys. Dennis: The Beall's have been married since 1993. They have three teenage sons and their story is one of the classics on FamilyLife Today in terms of God showing up and truly not only redeeming but reconciling their marriage. Bob: If our listeners would like to hear the complete story of what brought your marriage to the brink, 2:00 they can go to our website—FamilyLifeToday.com—and listen to the interviews we've done with you. But Chris, it's rooted in you growing up with the exposure to pornography that lead you to some dark places.  Chris: Right. Eight years old I saw the first pornographic image—and for the next twenty years I was a prisoner—in one form or another—to the struggle. In 2002 we were invited to be a part of Life Church in Oklahoma City and we came. At that moment I really feel like there was kind of a do-over because I had an enormous amount of baggage and an enormous amount of lifestyle moral failures. Honestly, multiple affairs prior to us moving to Oklahoma City. Dennis: That weren't really known to anyone. Chris: Correct. It was total double life. Cindy knew something wasn't right in our marriage, didn't know exactly what that meant or what it looked like.  3:00 I would say that I was a master deceiver—of myself and other people—to keep those worlds separate—but it was when we came to Life Church that it really seemed like, “Okay, God. We thought we were coming to be the next worship leader at this church”—and the reality was God brought us there to heal us. That starts with the exposure of what the sin was. Bob: Cindy, for you that exposure came out of the blue one morning when your husband came home from work unexpectedly and said, “We need to talk.” You had no idea was coming. Cindy: I had no idea. As he began to unfold the things he just shared with you—the pornography addiction, the infidelity—as he began to say all those things, things just started happening in my mind. Of course, instant desperation, despair, everything terrible you can imagine that you could think, I thought it—but at the same time was—”Oh, it's making sense now.”  4:00 Because it wasn't our entire nine years of marriage leading up to this point—it was about a two and one half year period of really intense difficulty—so it was a total shock. I would never have imagined that he would have gone this far—this deep—into such a wretched place. Dennis: You knew at that point that something was missing in your marriage. You just couldn't say, “This is it”—but all of a sudden it was disclosed. Cindy: Absolutely. Chris: Correct. Cindy: For me, I remembered during that two and a half year period I felt very alone where we were in our church. My husband was the worship pastor, the youth pastor and so I really—people looked to me—so who am I going to talk to? I just—it was really a lonely place for me so I became very well acquainted with my heavenly Father. He became everything to me. I remember just praying, “God, something's wrong. Something's wrong.” I just remember Him saying, “Trust me. Trust me.”  5:00 So, I believed that had we not come to Oklahoma, been a part of Life Church—under Craig and Emily Groshell—that we might not have survived this. Chris: I remember seeing a book that was always next to Cindy's chair during her quiet times in the mornings during those two and a half years that I was living this double life. It was the Power of a Praying Wife.  Dennis: Yes. Bob: Yes. Chris: I will tell you, looking back, my wife was praying God's word over my life in the period that I was the most prodigal that I had ever been. I know we're going to get to this, but I truly believe where we are today—there are so many things how the church responded—partly how I responded—but I believe it all started with the fact that I had a wife that was praying—in the darkest place of my rebellion—my wife was praying and believing God's word and speaking promises over my life that ultimately I became those prayers.  Dennis: FamilyLife has known as an organization for bringing practical, Biblical, help and hope to couples.  6:00 I just have to say what you two modeled—as you faced this deep, dark valley of despair—how you modeled repentance, Chris, and how you modeled grace and forgiveness and steadfast commitment to move forward in your marriage and how the church offered healing and how they helped restore—first of all, Chris, you to a right standing before God—but then secondly, restore your marriage and your family. I would just encourage listeners—because we're not going to continue to unpack all the details of what they did in the previous broadcast, go listen to that broadcast that they did.  What I want to unpack is how God met you in that deep wound and brought deep healing. Bob: Cindy—that started that morning when your husband comes home. He is transparent about everything that has gone on. 7:00 You find out about multiple affairs. You find out that he has fathered a son—who is living in another state. This is all new to you. You had two big questions right in front of you that day. The first one is,” How do we handle this in the short term?”—because the news is going to come out that the worship pastor at the big church in town that he's not the worship pastor anymore and we have to figure out what we have to do with that—but then,” Do I even stay married to this man?” There's a Biblical case to be made for you to say, “We're done here. I'm moving on.” Cindy: Yes, and that honestly, as much as I loved him, I literally thought, “I don't think my heart can take this. I think it would be best to just cut my losses—move back to Texas. I just have one child; I can manage being a single mom.” I started immediately— I'm a planner—I'm proud of being a planner, but sometimes it gets me going on the wrong track and I start planning and not including God in the scenario—but I—I'm telling you—I began thinking, “What am I going to do?”  8:00 Thinking—just because I didn't leave our marriage—at the time we were still living in the same house—mainly because we couldn't afford to do anything different. I just felt like the Father was like, “Hello? I'm still here. Are you going to ask Me about this?” Sure enough, I was like, “Okay God. What do you think I should do?” I just kept asking that question. I just remember Him saying, “Remember when you said would do anything to bring Me glory?” I was like, “Well, yes—but I was meaning easier things, like something simpler.”  God just began to stir in me—and through a long series of events that I wrote about in my first book—I talk about how God met me and He spoke the word to me about staying the course and trusting in Him and trusting Him for the vision that He would unfold. So three weeks later I said, “Okay God, I trust you.”—because I certainly didn't trust him— 9:00 —I had to trust my heavenly Father. He is the only one 100% trustworthy—so that was the beginning of that.  Bob: So it was a three week period, basically—from the time you heard this until said, “Okay, I'm going to stick with this.” Cindy: Correct. Bob: Was, “I'm going to stick with it,”—was that, “I'm in this until the end,” or was this, “I'll stick with this for six more months and see what happens?” Cindy: It was for the end—it was until the end. Habakkuk 2:3 says, “For the vision is yet for the appointed time. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come. It will not delay.” That was the Scripture that I had been basically begging God for. I just didn't know it was going to be through a minor prophet of a name that most people can't pronounce—and certainly we don't read about him. I mean, it's Habakkuk!—but God spoke to me through that. That's what I have stood on for 15 years.  Dennis: I just want you to unpack—what gave you the courage during that three week process to take that step of faith to move toward healing? 10:00 You've mentioned you had a relationship with God and you had a heart that was open—teachable—willing to do what God asked you to do. What else did He bring your way to make that a reasonable step of faith? Cindy: Well, He brought people. There was a couple that really walked with us—they had already experienced infidelity in their marriage like twenty years prior, so they were with us—they were walking through it with us—encouraging us. One of the pastors on the team—as I was that three week period I kept—as I said I am a planner, I wanted to kind of know what the rest of my life would look like—which is a ludicrous thing—but I was thinking, “I need to know. I need to know,” and he just looked at me and he said, “Cindy, you don't have to decide the rest of your life today.”  So that thought kind of carried me each day until I knew that I had heard from God to stay in my marriage because there were people with opinions everywhere. Anybody can give you an opinion. Well, you need to leave. Once a cheater, always a cheater. He's going to do this again—and there's so many things. Dennis: You heard that from Christians? 11:00                                                                                                                                   Cindy: Oh, yes. I mean—of course—and had I not gone through something like this, I can't say I wouldn't have thought the same thing. We shoot our wounded as Christians, sadly, but trying not to decide the rest of my life for that season really did help me and take those steps. Dennis: I want to point out three things here real quickly. First of all, you had counsel to hang in there—people who had been wounded themselves. And secondly they shared their own wounds with you which had been adultery—a lack of faithfulness. I am thinking of a couple, Bob, that you and I both know who have been very open about an error the husband made in their relationship, and their marriage has now been used to literally touch hundreds of other couples, both here in America, and internationally as they're willing to open their hearts and admit something that is really kind of ugly. We kind of are repulsed by it. 12:00 I just want to say to those listeners who have this as a part of your past—I'm not encouraging you to boast about it—but I am encouraging you to boast about God's redemption, His reconciliation, and how He brings hope where there is despair—because there are listeners who are listening to us right now who are despairing and who need hope.  That's the third thing that you mentioned, Cindy—that I just want to underline. You were willing to admit you didn't know what your future held, but you were willing to step out in faith. I think it was Martin Luther King, I believe, who made this statement. “Faith is taking the first step on the staircase without being able to see all the other steps.” I like that because you took that first step on a staircase—you didn't know where it was going to lead you. Cindy: Absolutely. I kind of picture God's hands under my feet— 13:00 —and one foot is on one hand and it's there when I step. Then the next one—it's not ready until I lift—the ever progressing thing that I am on with God. Bob: The river doesn't part until you step into the water. Cindy: That's right. Bob: And those who are standing on the shore waiting for the Jordan River to part—no, you have to step in the water before God does that work.  What's going on with you in this three week period while she's trying to decide “Do I stay or do I go?” Chris: So I obviously want the marriage to survive—I mean desperately—but here's the thing. Dennis: Now wait a second—that's not necessarily obvious. Bob: There are some guys who are ready for it to be over. Chris: Okay. Well, the context of my struggle was not fueled by a lack of intimacy at home. I had a deep emptiness in my heart. Here's the thing—I have struggled since I was a kid feeling like I was a failure—do I measure up?  14:00 I love my wife. I know my actions don't show that, but she was my best friend. I would choose to spend time with her. The thing is, I allowed this sense of inadequacy to need to be medicated. What happened was in a weird way these images on a screen momentarily made me feel a little bit more like a man—and then I felt less of a man. So it creates this spiral and this cycle of darkness.  The relationship with other women was the fact that I don't like who I am—but this other person is drawn to me or likes me. That's ultimately—I'm trying to medicate my own internal emptiness. It was just a deep dark place that I was trying to heal it though everyone other that the source of that healing—which is God.                                Bob: Right. Chris: So as Cindy is going through this process of, “Do I want to stay? Is this marriage going to work?” I deeply wanted that to work. 15:00 But what I wanted even more—I wanted to be free—because I've been a prisoner most of my life. I‘ve been a prisoner of sin, I've been a prisoner of habitual behaviors that for whichever reason, I just can't seem to be able to break out of. As much as I want my marriage to work, I had nothing to offer Cindy and I have nothing to offer for my boys unless I am walking in freedom. I was desperate. This is my shot and I want to be free. There's really two things that were significant in those early days for me.  One is that I allowed myself to let my heart break for what I had done to the heart of God and what I had done to the heart of the people I loved the most. Paul talked about the difference between worldly sorrow and Godly sorrow. He writes this letter to the Corinthians. He says, “I'm not sorry that what I said brought you sorrow, for Godly sorrow leaves no regret and brings about repentance”.  16:00 Repentance is a military term that really—it's literally an about face—I'm going to turn 180 degrees from the direction that I am going—and I am going to turn completely to God.  But worldly sorrow is really more of a, “I'm inconvenienced by the consequence of my sin,” and that leads—Paul says—to death. So I just let my heart break. I was a puddle of emotion for quite some time—I think that process was extremely necessary for me to go through. It wasn't that I was putting condemnation and shame on myself, but I was allowing my heart to break for what broke the heart of God.  Bob: You were at a crossroads—and I've met guys at this crossroads. You had been successfully managing your sin for two and a half years. Chris: Correct. Bob: You'd been playing this so they're the only one who knows and you're maneuvering your way through it.  17:00 Now you're at a point where, “Do I keep trying to manage this? Or do I mortify it?”—which means to put it to death. I heard one guy describe it this way. It's like a rabid dog that you keep in a cage over in the corner of the house and you go, “As long as he's in the cage, he can't hurt me. I'll get it out every once in a while and play with it and then put it back in the cage.” Well, that dog gets bigger and sicker and one of these days is going to kill you. Chris: Right. Bob: So the thing you have to do with the dog is you have to kill the dog. Chris: Right. Bob: You were at the crossroads where, “I cannot manage this anymore. I have to put this to death.” I'm imagining, Chris, even in that moment, you don't really know your heart—“Do I really want to put this to death?” Or, “I'm where I am and I feel bad, this will last for a while then I'll be right back to it.” Chris Monday morning I'm sitting in a staff meeting with Chris Groshell—who is my boss—and I can't say enough about how God used this man in our marriage. He made a comment in that staff meeting and—  18:00 —he said to our team that, “It is our private integrity that gives us the ability to minister publically, so we have to keep it clean. We have to. The stakes are so high.” He said, “If you are walking in sin—it's going to find you out. Confess it, and you'll find grace.” That was on a Monday. I had been at that church for six weeks with this looming cloud of, “I'm going to get found out.” That was on a Monday. It was on a Tuesday that I'm like, “I can't do this anymore.” I just really believed that all the things that God wanted to do in my life wouldn't happen until I had the courage to bring what was in the dark into the light. James, “Confess your sins one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed.”  This whole time that I was in sin, I would drive home from having sinned and I'm confessing to God. 19:00 “God, heal me. Please don't let me ever do this again.” There's not a Scripture in the Bible that says confess to the Lord for healing. We confess to God for forgiveness but there's something about bringing it into the light and confessing it to another person and praying for each other that brings an exposure and a healing. The moment that I took that step was the beginning of radical healing in my own heart. Cindy: I kind of equate it to—he got to the point that Tuesday morning—that he wanted freedom so desperately that he was willing to risk everything to get it—including our marriage. I know that you've got listeners right now listening to this broadcast and they are in a world of hurt and sick in bondage. They don't hate their sin enough. When we come to the place where we hate it enough, we'll do anything to find freedom. Hopefully somebody listening can take that step today. 20:00 Dennis: Chris mentioned freedom. I immediately thought of Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. It says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” There are undoubtedly listeners right now who are listening and they have never really met Jesus Christ and understood His love, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, His redemption—that He offers to people to step out of the prison that they are in and be set free.  I would just challenge you if you are in this situation now, it may be time for you to settle things with God. Chris was talking about settling things with the person you have offended. It may be important for you to first of all settle the issues with the God you've offended.  21:00 Then secondly, after that relationship has been established—because that is what the Christian life is—it's beginning a journey of following Christ—not perfectly—but you're following the perfect Savior who now lives in you. Then go to your spouse—and there's where as a couple you have to embrace the same Jesus Christ who set you free—you have to express forgiveness to one another. Ephesians chapter 4 talks about forgiving one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you. That's your command.  Forgiveness means you give up the right to punish the other person. I wish you could see Cindy's nodding head right now—she's smiling and nodding. She had to repeatedly give up the right to punish Chris. Bob: The verse I'm thinking of that the two of you have modeled in this entire story is Ephesians 5:11 that says, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” 22:00 That's what you guys choose to do. This week we'll get a chance to follow you on that journey and hear how God was at work in both of your lives as you moved forward.  In fact, Chris and Cindy have shared the story in a book that Cindy has written that's called Rebuilding a Marriage Better Than New. We've got copies of the book in our FamilyLifeToday Resource Center. Go online at FamilyLifeToday.com if you'd like to get a copy or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to receive a copy. Again the website is FamilyLifeToday.com, you can order online. Or you can call to order at 1-800-358-6329. 1-800-F as in family, “L” as in life, and then the word TODAY.  Again I'll mention—on our website we've got a short video clip where you guys share your story—listeners may want to view that. They may know somebody they'd like to pass that clip on to. Again you'll find it at FamilyLifeToday.com. 23:00 Well, this is the home stretch week for us here at FamilyLife—it's the last week of August. We just have a few days left to hear from listeners if we're going to be able to take full advantage of the matching gift opportunity that was extended to us back at the beginning of the month. We had a friend of the ministry who came along and agreed he would match every donation we received this month on a dollar for dollar basis up to a total of $800,000. Now those matching funds will enable us to be able to reach more people more often with this radio program, through our website, through our events and our resources. You can help extend the reach of this ministry by making a donation and having your donation be effectively doubled because of the matching gift opportunity—but you need to do it before the end of the month—and the end of the month is this week. So today is a good day to go to FamilyLifeToday.com and make an online donation or call to donate at 1-800-FL-TODAY. 24:00 Or you can mail your donation to us at FamilyLife Today at P.O. Box 7111, Little Rock, AR. Our zip code is 72223. Please do pray that we would get the necessary funds this week and be able to take full advantage of that match. We appreciate you. We hope you can join us back tomorrow. We are going to continue to follow Chris and Cindy Beall as they take us through the process they've been through in rebuilding a broken marriage. Hope you can join us back tomorrow for that. Bob: I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today.  FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.  We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider donating today to help defray the costs?  Copyright © 2017 FamilyLife. All rights reserved. www.FamilyLife.com    

There is a scripture that the Holy Spirit often quickens to me when I am unsure what to do about a situation. I have some thoughts about the action I want I take - but often those actions are rooted in my own hurt and strong desire to see change. They are not necessarily the actions God wants me to take. That scripture is ... And he answered and said to me, “This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by strength and not by power, but only by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 LEB A recent example. Without getting too specific this week I was concerned about a situation and what it would mean for 2020. I didn't want a repeat of what had happened in 2019. I had a plan of action, but I wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Notice all the I's in those few sentences! That feeling of uncomfortableness made me stop and take a moment to speak with God, "God, please help me, I'm not sure if I should do this." And then this scripture came to mind, thank you Holy Spirit. So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 NIV "Not by might Nor by power But by my Spirit," says the Lord Almighty My next words to God were something like this, "Okay God, by your Spirit. I will do nothing. I'm going to trust that if You want this conversation to happen, then you will orchestrate it." And within an hour I found myself with an opportunity to speak to the exact person, able to say what I wanted to say, knowing that I was being heard, and that 2020 would have a different outcome to 2019. Thank you Jesus. This was not the first time that God has used this Scripture to remind me that His ways are different to mine, and always much better! But it's more than a reminder, every time it has been a call to action. Actually it has been a series of actions that involve me: surrendering my plans examining my heart regarding my motives for wanting to take that action, repenting when necessary waiting on the Lord to see what He was going to do being ready for what God would ask me to do In every instance of this happening God has worked in His mysterious ways, resolved the situation and brought about the change - all glory to Him. Perhaps I need to add this scripture to my daily prayer ... "Thank you for this day Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Help me today to remember that it is not by might, not by power, but by Your Spirit, that all things will work together for good. ....." In our world today we are surrounded by the narrative, "You can do it. You can make it happen. You are in control of your destiny." I disagree with these statements, from the perspective that they are all relying on us - you and me to make it happen. We are imperfect. We don't have all the answers. We don't know what is going to happen in the future. We don't know all the intricacies of people's emotions and motives. But God does. And when we surrender our life to Jesus, and change the narrative and acknowledge that He is the one that empowers us to do it; He is the one who makes it happen; and that Jesus is the one who offers us an eternal destiny, only then we will live a fulfilling life here on earth. A life where we are not forcing change, we are not living by our inadequate efforts alone, but instead day by day we are becoming more dependent on our Heavenly Father and His ways. We are growing the fruits of the Spirit and becoming the blessing to others that He has called us to be. Only by His Spirit. Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Zechariah 4:6 NLT To find out more please visit https://wendyrobinson.com.au

This episode features a former Nuclear Engineer turned Pastor. It is an incredibly encouraging talk about life. Here is a story about what happens when you say “Okay God, I'm All In” then He shows you things that you could have never imagined. Have a listen…. this is Dr. Helen Delaney --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

#360STUPID 2019-07-17 Racist Racism is Okay God Trump is Racist https://youtu.be/fu2WTWPEmFI

#360STUPID 2019-07-17 Racist Racism Is Okay God Trump is Racist That's Okay https://youtu.be/bhtMSQ7F0PU

The reminders of the Ancients are everywhere. They are saved in remnants in archaeology. They are found in reminiscences in mythology. They are recorded in books, story, song, and stone. Who were these people, aliens, man-or-myths? Do we still see their influences today? What remains of these inhabitants of the jungles, lost cities, and dwellings underground, underwater and beyond? How did they rise? Why did they fall? Will they rise again?From pyramids and underground bunkers to watery graves and ancient astronauts, Lost Civilizations: The Secret Histories and Suppressed Technologies of the Ancients examines the archaeological evidence and the traces left behind by more than 70 ancient civilizations, including: AtlantisGöbekli TepeAnasazi disappearance in the American SouthwestNazca Lines of PeruTurkey's ÇatalhöyükDenisovan Ancestors departureAmazon Cities in the JungleNeanderthal Ancestors extinctionThe Eden Stories of Theoretical PhysicsUnderground Cities of the Grand CanyonFrom ancient Egypt, middle America, and the Nubian Desert to the frozen Antarctica, underwater ruins of Asia, and clues of visits by ancient aliens, Lost Civilizations explores the unanswered questions about the true origins of man. Might there have been advanced civilizations long before the days of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia? What do 3D imaging and new underwater mapping technology reveal? What do prehistoric artifacts, architecture, carvings, maps, and monoliths tell us? Were rising waters, erupting volcanoes, catastrophic solar flares, comet or asteroid fragments or some other unimaginable cataclysmic disasters the death of these advanced civilizations?Touring the world and reviewing the scientific evidence, this fascinating book ties together historical events in one part of the world that produced actual effects in others. Uncovering hidden and suppressed pasts of technologically and culturally advanced ancient civilizations, it looks at how modern civilization compares and contrasts to those who have gone before. It will leave you with the sense that what has happened to past advanced civilizations might very well be happening again in our own time. With more than 120 photos and graphics, it is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.About Jim WillisWhen I retired after forty years in the Christian ministry I wanted to experience a passion similar to those who built Stonehenge. Their spirituality was so strong that it inspired them to move mega-ton boulders halfway across England. I retired with an agenda: “Okay God, it’s you and me. No church structures. No restrictions. No theology. No holds barred. Twenty-four hours a day. You are my only passion. You say you like a challenge? Bring it on!” Like Jacob of old who wrestled with God, I had one thought in mind: “I will not let you go until you bless me!” Imagine my surprise when God answered and did just that! And the answer was found in an ancient wisdom that would have been very familiar to our ancestors.http://www.jimwillis.net

This episode is all about leaving behind the parts of us that Christ has redeemed and approach God with our arms wide open for all He has for us. Chelsey shares the way God pursued her and showed her all He has for her. That on the other side of the choice to accept Christ are the greatest gifts you could ever imagine! 2 Corinthians 5:17 gives us hope, redemption, and promise for all Jesus did for us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Being Judgmental of Our Past If we're ever going to move on with our life we have to stop judging who we once were. I can't outrun and I can't change the sin in my life - I don't get a do over. When I can truly humble myself and accept this verse for what it says I find Gods grace!! Unrealistic Expectations We set the bar so high for who we think we should be, when who we think we should be and who God is calling us to be are two very different things. I'm trying to plan who God wants me to be, I forget to sit with Him and ask God, now that I am a new creation Lord what do you have for me. Living With Less fear For Who I'm Becoming in Christ When you ask the Lord with your hands wide open, "Okay God who do you want me to be. My hands are wide open for whatever you have for me." That's a scary place to be sometimes. When we ask God these questions we have to know He might answer in completely unexpected ways. We have to trust that because we are a new creation in Him it's going to be good for where we're at and where we're going. "When I look back at my old life I see what my thoughts, choices, and day to day was like before I knew Christ. I can’t believe this was the life He had for me waiting on the other side of that." Isaiah 43:1 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When we can wrap our mind around the fact that He created me just to be His, that is how much He loves us. He loves us despite our past and despite the fears of our present. Hold these verses as VICTORY over our life "HE HAS CALLED YOU BY NAME, YOU ARE HIS. "YOU ARE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST." "No one can take these truths away from you. Your past cannot take these truths from you." "The cross goes so far beyond what you have done, He went to the cross because He had so much more to offer for us and He loves us so much." Big Daddy Weave - Jesus I Believe. I in my flesh apart from Jesus have nothing to offer to this world, but God in His holiness has everything offer to me and everything to offer for you. If you loved today's episode please share it on your social media tagging @livingwithlesspodcast. These episodes are now available on iTunes and Spotify. I'd LOVE if you left a review! Thanks for joining me today. Have a great week and talk to you next Wednesday! Living With Less Podcast, LLC © 2019. All Rights Reserved

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NKJV There is a song, "Take Courage" by Bethel Music, here are some of its lyrics, 'Hold on to your hope as your triumph unfolds' Oh that can be so hard to do, hold on; press in; stand. But sometimes there is no other choice. We have to believe that our triumph will unfold. And that we can learn to worship God in the waiting, something that I believe we only truly learn in those deep dark moments. I remember a milestone moment in my constant journey of learning how to trust God more, and more, and more, and more. It relates to our daughter Victoria, and happened  about 4.5 years when we had just found out that the tumour had started to grow for the third time. There was a choice to be made - continue to live in fear that the tumour would continue to grow, or choose to live each day to the full - trusting God that no matter what happens He would get us through this. God helped us with making that choice by taking us to a Camp Quality camp where His Word - John 10:10 was displayed on posters in the dining hall. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10 That visual message was the starting point for helping me to change my hopeless thinking. I say starting point, because although God had given me that clear sign with the posters, those feelings of hopelessness didn't just go away overnight. They had to be attended to, and over-time they got quieter and quieter and God's truth got louder and louder in my head. Here is a bit of what that process required ... An Awareness of what my focus was on - diagnosis vs declaration of faith (John 10:10) Action to replace those thoughts of hopelessness and fear with God's truth Acknowledging that I couldn't do that replacement in my own strength. Asking God daily to help me take that action. Allowing God to do that work in me - not resisting, but instead surrendering. And only then I could .... Authentically worship God, despite the circumstances because He was restoring my hope in Him. Pressing into Him in the waiting season, learning to trust that not only would He get us through, but that His triumph would unfold - no matter what - here or in Heaven, has been a huge journey - and it continues now only in different spheres of our lives. But it is a journey that despite the pain, I would not swap because it has grown a greater hope, a stronger faith and a deeper understanding of God's love for us. So today, as you face the circumstances in your life, why not take a deep breath and say to God, Okay God, I'm trusting You with this, please help me to grow in hope, faith and love through this situation. I choose to worship You. Thank you that you are with us wherever we go and that will get us through this day. Thank you that our triumph will unfold because of Who you are and what you have done. In Jesus Name, Amen. Lord, I will worship you with extended hands as my whole heart explodes with praise! I will tell everyone about your wonderful works and how your marvellous miracles exceed expectations! I will jump for joy and shout in triumph as I sing your song and make music for the Most High God. Psalm 9:1-2 TPT To find out more visit https://wendyrobinson.com.au

"We all go through hards times and there’s a purpose to all of it.” John Stewart Hill   In 2011 I landed in the hospital with what was first diagnosed as pneumonia. I’d later find out I was actually having a massive heart attack and overheard a conversation my doctors were having: “Don’t you have to get permission to move him to the ICU?” “Not in this case. He’s a tombstone.” I wasn’t surprised. I’d been praying to die.   I was 42, a smoker, had been divorced three times and was living with a friend, trying to make ends meet when I started to look back at my life as a total failure. A couple weeks before turning 43 I prayed God would take me. I didn’t see any value in life.   After overhearing the doctors and getting my diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure I called my family. And that’s when God spoke to me.   John, do you want to stay, or do you want to go? I heard. And I realized I had a choice. It would be so easy to go. Inside I wanted to go. But something else inside wouldn’t let me; a feeling of purpose of everything I’d gone through.   If I could believe I would be used for good, I’d have a different kind of life.   I started questioning my desire to go. I had about an hour until the cardiologists would get there to check me out. So I had some time to think about my life.   “Okay God, I’d like to stay if that’s okay with you,” I said, “But I don’t want to live the life I’ve been living.” I told God that I’d stay under three conditions.   One, I want to be remembered for doing something good.Two, I want to live every day, not just be alive, really enjoy the present moment and feel grateful for being alive. And three, I want to touch as many people as I can while I’m here. An energy enveloped me at that point and I felt like God was dancing around the table saying “That’s my boy!” I walked out three days later after having three heart stints placed inside me. I knew I would live at that point but when I got home nothing had changed. I had the same crummy job, and hadn’t really done anything in the world. But I left with purpose. A purpose to do good in the world and to help as many people as I could.   I’m just one guy with a story. There are millions of people out there with a story that can be used for good. What’s your story?   www.IAmTheGood.com is how I’m helping others tell their story and do good in the world. Text the word “Goodness” to 44222 and get all the information about how your story can help others and yourself. Join our Podcast Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/SYWTP/ If you enjoyed this episode, please Comment Share and leave a review... Come Hang With US as WE Discuss The Show  Join the Conversation in our Facebook Group Success Champions Each Sunday we send out an email with the 5 episodes that aired along with this interview Sign Up Here   Affiliate Links - Which means if you click and buy our company will get paid... Audio Books have been a huge part of my journey. Audible changed the game by taking the books you love and turning them into Audio... Check it out here https://amzn.to/2KeGXC5 Have you struggled with getting on podcasts? Have you found it difficult getting exposure? Check out what HNC is doing with Human Network Connection

"We all go through hards times and there’s a purpose to all of it.” John Stewart Hill   In 2011 I landed in the hospital with what was first diagnosed as pneumonia. I’d later find out I was actually having a massive heart attack and overheard a conversation my doctors were having: “Don’t you have to get permission to move him to the ICU?” “Not in this case. He’s a tombstone.” I wasn’t surprised. I’d been praying to die.   I was 42, a smoker, had been divorced three times and was living with a friend, trying to make ends meet when I started to look back at my life as a total failure. A couple weeks before turning 43 I prayed God would take me. I didn’t see any value in life.   After overhearing the doctors and getting my diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure I called my family. And that’s when God spoke to me.   John, do you want to stay, or do you want to go? I heard. And I realized I had a choice. It would be so easy to go. Inside I wanted to go. But something else inside wouldn’t let me; a feeling of purpose of everything I’d gone through.   If I could believe I would be used for good, I’d have a different kind of life.   I started questioning my desire to go. I had about an hour until the cardiologists would get there to check me out. So I had some time to think about my life.   “Okay God, I’d like to stay if that’s okay with you,” I said, “But I don’t want to live the life I’ve been living.” I told God that I’d stay under three conditions.   One, I want to be remembered for doing something good.Two, I want to live every day, not just be alive, really enjoy the present moment and feel grateful for being alive. And three, I want to touch as many people as I can while I’m here. An energy enveloped me at that point and I felt like God was dancing around the table saying “That’s my boy!” I walked out three days later after having three heart stints placed inside me. I knew I would live at that point but when I got home nothing had changed. I had the same crummy job, and hadn’t really done anything in the world. But I left with purpose. A purpose to do good in the world and to help as many people as I could.   I’m just one guy with a story. There are millions of people out there with a story that can be used for good. What’s your story?   www.IAmTheGood.com is how I’m helping others tell their story and do good in the world. Text the word “Goodness” to 44222 and get all the information about how your story can help others and yourself. Join our Podcast Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/SYWTP/ If you enjoyed this episode, please Comment Share and leave a review... Come Hang With US as WE Discuss The Show  Join the Conversation in our Facebook Group Success Champions Each Sunday we send out an email with the 5 episodes that aired along with this interview Sign Up Here   Affiliate Links - Which means if you click and buy our company will get paid... Audio Books have been a huge part of my journey. Audible changed the game by taking the books you love and turning them into Audio... Check it out here https://amzn.to/2KeGXC5 Have you struggled with getting on podcasts? Have you found it difficult getting exposure? Check out what HNC is doing with Human Network Connection

Dear God, help me to swap out my worries for security! Thank you for protecting us! for Your are “my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in You, and I am helped.” -Psalm 28:7 Okay God, here I go. My heart trusts that you will take care of my family’s health, You will provide for my family financially, You will give me a clear path of what direction my life will go. I imagine You right now going ahead of me, walking in front of me with a shield protecting my heart, my body and my soul, showing me which turns I need to make. I don’t have to worry. -In Jesus’ name, Amen.f Yes   

Are you a SAP? [Servant, Accountable, Partner with God] March 2, 2014 Jeff Williams God, Not You We're on a series called “Ready, Set, Go.” We are focusing, right now, on “Set.” What is our mindset? What should be our attitude? How should we be prepared for the journey that lies ahead? One thing that we're doing is committing to memory a verse from the Bible, 1 Peter 3:15. Today is the day. Close your Bibles and get ready. I know this verse. You can quiz me on this verse. I've been saying this verse four times a Sunday for a couple of months now. I know the verse. I want to know if you know the verse. We will accept ‘revere' or ‘set apart', either version is fine. I want you to say the verse. You're not going to be in unison. You're going to be in different places at different times. Say it out loud as best you can. Chime in if you get stuck and somebody gives you some help. Say what you can. If you only get 50% of the verse, then get 50% of the verse. We're shooting for 100%. Ready, set, go! 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect What?! [Laughter] No, I caught enough of it. Some of you were concentrating very hard and I couldn't hear you, but I could see your mouth was moving and you were getting it. Some of you were sailing, cruising. Others were struggling. Our visitors were going, “What? You didn't tell me we were coming to a cult today. What's going on?” Good job! Good job! That verse will serve you well in life and in ministry. Let's open our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter three. 1 Corinthians 3. The Corinthians were a dysfunctional bunch. In fact, they were the poster child for dysfunctional churches. Paul wrote to them more than any other church. There's actually a third book that did not survive, that we don't have. Paul is writing to them. The book is basically correction because there was immorality and the leadership did nothing. They didn't understand how leadership worked. They didn't understand the spiritual gifts. They didn't get communion right. They were just a mess. Paul was writing to them, rebuking them, correcting them as to how they should conduct themselves. We pick up the letter here in chapter three. We're going to read verses one through nine, but we're going to focus in on verses five through nine. We're going to read the whole passage so you have the context. He says… Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. That's a nice way of saying, “You are a bunch of babies. You should have grown up by now.” Babies are cute, but they drool and they spit up and they make messes. It's one thing to do that when you're one but when you're thirty, twenty, you shouldn't be doing that anymore. That's not so cute anymore. This is a church that should have grown up, but they were stagnant, they were stuck in infancy. Paul rebukes them and he says, “Why aren't you growing up? Why do I still have to give you milk instead of solid food?” He gives an example, he says… 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? In other words, God has a higher expectation of you: how you act, how you distinguish yourself form the world. By all of this quarreling and fighting you're acting like God hasn't done anything in your life. They started to choose sides. There was a teacher named Apollos. He was a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt. He was a very effective, eloquent speaker, unlike Paul. Paul says, “I am not eloquent. When I preach I know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Apollos was eloquent, and when he spoke everybody loved to hear him speak. The way he put his words together, the way he helped you understand scripture, he was an effective teacher and people loved Apollos. Some people loved Peter. Peter was this straightforward, no-nonsense kind of a guy. They would build these factions within the church. They were saying, “I follow Paul. I follow Apollos. I follow Peter.” Paul gets wind of this and he's like, “What? Why are you following people? You're supposed to follow Jesus.” Not that anybody would do that today. Not that, in our day and age, they would put people on a pedestal and follow people more than Christ, but apparently back in the Bible that happened. We don't do that in our society. We're beyond that, right? Paul said, “We're on the same team. We preach the same Gospel. It's childlike; it's immature for you to go around choosing sides and saying, ‘I follow this person or I follow that person.'” He says… 5a What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Notice, he says what, not who. He's not asking, “Who is Paul?” He's not talking about their personhood. He's not talking about that at all; he's talking about their role in the redemptive plan of God. Because he's talking about their role, he asks what instead of who. What is Paul? What is Apollos? Answer? 5bOnly servants, through whom you came to believe. That's all we are. We are just servants. 5c as the Lord has assigned to each his task. We're worker bees, Paul says. We have tasks to do; we have assignments given, and we fulfill what God has called us to do. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. You know, it's important to till the soil. It's important to plant the seed. It's important to water the seed, but the Lord is the one who made the seed, right? If you're a good farmer you can get your soil ready, but the one thing you can't do is make seed. God is the one who decides what corn looks like, how it tastes, what apples look like, how they taste, and is able to put that tree in that seed. God does that so God gets the glory. That's what Paul's saying here. It's God, not you. It's God, not us. God has to get the glory. Sometimes when we say, “Each one, reach one,” you think we're saying to you, “Everybody, go out there and save somebody.” You can't save anybody; you couldn't even save yourself. How are you supposed to save somebody else? If you're drowning in the sea and somebody comes out to save you but they're no more capable of swimming than you are, you've got a problem. We're not telling you to go out and save somebody. We're saying to you go out and help prepare the soil. Maybe somebody's heart is hard and you've got to come in and soften it. They had a bad experience in the church; they've had a bad experience with Christians; they've had a bad experience in life and you've got some rocks you've got to get out of the soil. Maybe somebody else has planted seed. Seed is the truth, the Gospel, and your job is to come along and water it. Help them understand it better. Help them apply it. God is the one who gets the glory because he's the one who makes it grow. He's the one who brings people to himself. He's the one who changes hearts and minds and lives. You have an important part to play, but you are a servant, Paul says. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building. “Apollos and I,” he says, “are on the same team.” First, we want to note in this passage he says, “You are servants.” Have the mindset of a servant. Within the church today in America, I can't speak for the rest of the world, but in America there is a consumer mentality, is there not? I'm in it for me. How can this church bless me? You consume the product, you consume what they offer, and if somebody else is offering something you think is better you head over there and consume that product. It's all about how you can help me, how you can serve me. That is not a biblical model of what church is about. What I'm supposed to do is find a body I can identify with, leadership I can believe in, a vision that makes sense, and I say, “I'm joining here. I'm going to partner with you hand in hand, heart to heart. We're going to work together to make a difference for Christ in our world.” But it's not about how the church can serve you, it's about how you can serve God through the church. The church, then, becomes the agency or the vehicle through which God works. This consumer mentality has just got to go. It's not what God has called us to do and be. God has called us to be servants, to be workers. He said each has been assigned a task. You roll up your sleeves, and you get busy, and you do what God has designed you to do. You know, when you're young you don't get this. The whole world revolves around you. But, as you age and you get responsibilities and you take a job, you start to learn those things, and that it's not just about you. One of my first jobs was working in a factory, and it was a factory called Groom Industries. They're still alive and kicking. The big seller was the Dandy-Groom. The Dandy-Groom was about twelve inches, and you used it on your carpeting to get it ready to vacuum. Back in the seventies is when I worked there. Shag carpet was big, right? You had to just dig in there and get all that dirt to the surface so you could vacuum it. Then you had to use the Dandy-Groom to comb your carpet because it was shag so you could style your carpet. I worked for Groom Industries. It was a factory. It was hard work. It was tedious. I might be at a machine for eight hours. I worked there after school every day and then full time for the summers. I worked there for almost three years. I worked for a man by the name of Bernie. Bernie was a Christian man. Bernie invented the carpet rake. It was his baby; it was his factory. He was our marketer; he was our head salesman; he was the inventor of the product and we were to do what he said. So you've got to stay busy. One thing I learned to do was to finish my job and say, “What's next? I'm done buffing. What's next? I'm done pressing. What's next?” Whatever he called me to do. “It's time to sweep the floor.” “Well, that's not my job description.” No, your job description is to do whatever the boss tells you to do. It's time to unload a truck. It's time to do shipping. One day I even wrote a slogan. Remember now, I didn't know I was supposed to be a pastor. I didn't know that was going to happen. He comes to me and he goes, “I've got an idea. I'm making brochures for the trade show we're going to so here's my slogan, ‘Dandy groom is to the carpet what gravy is to mashed potatoes.' What do you think?” [laughter] “Not good, Boss.” He was offended, seriously offended. “Well, let's hear you do better.” “Okay.” So I put my press down and started thinking and writing, and I went in there and said, “Here you go.” I still remember it. It's been like eighty years. “Carpet groom with dandy groom: the best home care tool since the broom.” [applause]. It was good. He liked it. He gave me a check for fifteen dollars and I was published. That was a big thing! I got on all the letterhead and the envelopes. So when I was at the trade show, my job was to sell, I was able to hand out my brochure. I wrote that slogan, handing that out. You learn, whatever it is the boss has called you to do, that's your job. It's not, “What can the company do for me?” It's, “How can I serve the company? How can I help us?” Because the better we are, the more sales we have, the more successful we're going to be. So I went to work for the company. Paul says you've got to have that mindset. It's not about serving you; it's about being a servant. You roll up your sleeves and you say, “Okay God, what do you want me to do? Who do you want me to touch? How do you want me to serve?” The only star is Jesus. He's the only one who gets the glory. He said that's number one. Secondly, we are accountable. Verse eight says “they will each be rewarded according to their own labor” (1 Cor 3). This is labor in the field. He said you are a laborer in the field and you will be judged what by you do with God's truth. Seed doesn't do a whole lot of good in your pocket; seeds have got to be put in the soil. Seed is God's truth. The soil is the hearts of men, and you have that seed. You have that seed with you. You have it in your heart; you have it in your mind. He says, “Plant the seed where there is opportunity.” I've talked to you about this ad nauseam in this series. Find common ground with someone and then share the truth; plant the seed. You may not see results right away. I preached this sermon last night for our first service on Saturday night. A woman came up to me. She's been going to our church for a long time, but I didn't really know the story of how she came. She reminded me. She said, “When I was eighteen years old, I had a knee brace on and you had just recovered from surgery. You came up to me and you started a conversation on my knee brace. You did that with me, that trick, that common ground trick, you did that to me.” I said, “What are you talking about?” She said, “You came up and you talked to me about your brace. You said how the doctor said you'd never play basketball again because your knee was so injured. How you were out there playing again, and how God had worked a miracle on your knee. You shared that with me to give me hope for recovery for my knee, and you invited me to church. Now I'm thirty-seven years old and this is my church.” I don't remember that conversation. I believe her, but I have no recollection of that conversation. She says, “Now I'm here!” A month ago her ten year old boy was baptized here. You planted seed. You're simply a servant. God gets the glory for that. That's what Paul is saying. Be faithful and you are accountable with what you do with it. Are you going to hold the seed, keep the seed to yourself? Or are you going to plant the seed? You give an answer. You are accountable. Bernie, my boss, held us accountable. When we weren't doing our job, we were in trouble. When there were things that didn't pass quality control that should have he'd call a meeting and say, “Look at this! This is not even buffed. Look how these tines are not aligned here. Who let this through?” Or when we'd get a product back from somebody that was deficient, “How did this get out of the factory?” We'd all kind of hang our heads. Sometimes I'd get in trouble because I didn't do my job. I remember one time. We played Christian music on the radio and there was a song that I really liked. I really got into it. I want you to bear in mind, I was seventeen years old. This was during company time. I was getting paid. I grabbed a Dandy-Groom like it was a microphone and I jumped up on the table. Close your ears girls. I don't want my daughters to hear this. I started singing the song like I'm some sort of musician or singer. I'm just belting this out into the Dandy-Groom. My co-workers are laughing. Bernie walks in. “Sorry Boss.” “Get to work.” I got in trouble not doing my job. One day we got into a tape fight. We had these little tapes. Then it turned into a rubber cement fight. It escalated to a hardware fight. We were throwing bolts at each other across the factory. Teenage boys throwing bolts. The boss comes walking in, “What is going on?” We got into trouble because we weren't doing our jobs. We were wasting company time. Do you ever waste company time? Do you ever waste company resources? Company seed? When you're on the job God gives you opportunities to work, he gives you an assignment. He says, “Speak to that person. Help that person,” and you don't. You remain silent or you don't fulfill what he's called you to do. Paul says you are accountable. You are accountable to God. Thirdly, verse nine says you are a partner. 9 For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building. What a privilege that God invites you to partner with him in his redemptive plan for the world. You're a coworker, a co-laborer. That's an honor. God's saying, “I want you; I need you.” That's a privilege that we should not shirk but one that we should be proud that God has given us a role to play, small though it may be, it's a responsibility. When it's all said and done, what do you and I want to her when our days are done? God to say to us what? “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:23). Well done. That's what we want to hear. I left Groom Industries when I was nineteen because I began to do an internship for ministry instead. I had a good experience with the company but moved on. It's been almost forty years since I've worked there. About five years ago, Bernie, who's in his nineties, calls me out of the clear blue sky and says, “I want to come to Janesville and take you out for lunch.” We went over here to Famous Dave's and had a nice lunch. I was surprised he even remembered me. He said, “I've heard good things about the church in Janesville.” He had wanted me to be the pastor of his church. He was the head of the board at his church in Rockford. When I left Faith Center he wanted me to be the senior pastor at his church back in the 1980s. I just said, “No, Bernie. It's just, my boss, this is his city and he's working here. I don't want to compete with him, so I can't do that. I appreciate the offer.” We hadn't really talked a lot in the last twenty years or so. I've shared with you some stories that I was not the ideal employee all the time. He said, “I just wanted to let you know, when you were a young boy, and a lot of young boys came and worked for me, but you were different. You worked for a company, not just for a paycheck. Most of the boys worked for the paycheck, but you worked for the company. You wanted to make the company better. In all these years, I never forgot you and I appreciate you.” What he was saying to me was, “You partnered with me. You didn't just to a job; you partnered with me to build my business.” As proud as that made me feel, how about to hear from the Savior himself, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Those are words we should all long to hear. So, to recap, Paul says you are a servant; you are accountable; you are a partner. Yes, you are a SAP. Say it with me, I want to be a SAP. I want to be SAP. When you are a SAP, when you own your “sappishness” some wonderful things happen. There is alignment; there is harmony; there is unity; there is agreement; there is contentment; there is blessing. Listen to Paul before he leaves the subject and goes onto something else he says in verse 21, 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas [who is Peter] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. How powerful is that? You've got everything you need. You don't need the strife and quarrels and thinking it's about you. He says just recognize that if you are in Christ you have everything. It's all yours because you belong to God. Father, we see in your Word a dynamic, a synergy, and we partner with you to reach the world. It starts with one life at a time, it starts with individuals who are obedient and who speak and who act and who plant seeds and water seeds. Then we're able to look back and to see you grow it as that takes root in a person's life and become something fruitful and productive and wonderful. I pray that we would be a church of SAPs: servants, accountable, partners with you in the work you're doing in the world today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

I. Our Struggle Against Sin "Behold what manner of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are." How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure. And my purpose today is to give you a deeper appreciation and understanding of God's fatherly love for you, as you run this race that's marked out in front of you, as you are called on as we've already seen in Hebrews 12, to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles you and run with endurance this race marked out in front of you. That you would realize that there is a father shepherd, that's with you every step of the way, who will not give you over to the destruction of your own natural heart, and he will fight the sin within you and do whatever it takes to get you to Heaven, holy and blameless in his sight, that you would celebrate that love and embrace it and understand it as a mature, as a godly son or daughter of the living God, that you would understand your inheritance, the fact that you are a child of God by grace. And that you would understand this doctrine of the Lord's discipline for our sin. That's my purpose today, the context right in verse 4, it says, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." The author is speaking to Christians, and it's telling Christians that they have a struggle with sin. They knew it anyway, don't you know it? We have a struggle with sin, it's a very strong word here in the Greek, we are in warfare against our sin, we have a struggle with sin. And it's a bitter fight friends, and you know that you need all the help you can get. And you also need to know that all the help you need is fully provided for you in your father's love for you. And you have a struggle for sin, struggle against sin, specifically because God has chosen to save you in stages. He has sovereign power over you completely, and when you die, instantaneously he will make you glorious and perfect in every way. He has chosen however, not to do that right away, but to separate out justification and glorification and give us this Christian race that we are to run. And it's a warfare against sin because God has chosen to leave you in mortal bodies that are well trained in sin. Habitual sin, you've been training yourselves in sin from the moment you understood right and wrong. So you have a bitter struggle. And it's of the essence of the Christian life to fight that good fight. There's a scripture reading that Eric had us do in Romans 8. It says, "If you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds, the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the spirit of God, those are the children of God." Putting it together, if the Spirit is everyday leading you into battle against your own flesh, then you're a child of God. And if he is not then you are not. So you have a struggle with sin, that's what the author is stating here and he's saying, "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted…" This is of the essence of our struggle with sin, we are to resist. It's a very strong word, we are to take our stand against sin, we are to take our stand as David's mighty man did in a field of lentils and he fought until his hand froze to the sword. He just took his stand and he would not yield. We are to resist sin as our Lord and savior did perfectly throughout His whole life. What a warrior He was! Remember how the night before He was crucified Jesus said, "The prince of darkness comes and he has nothing on me, he has no accusation he can make, he never succeeded. I resisted him at every turn in the road", not just out in the desert now, but remember how at the end of that account it says the devil left Him until in a opportune time. Oh he kept assaulting our Lord, but not once did Jesus give in. He resisted even to the point of shedding His blood. He would rather die than sin, that's Jesus. He wrestled in Gethsemane until great drops of blood were coming out, that was His determination to not yield to sin. And then His actual blood came out through the floggings and the crown of thorns and through the wounds of the cross, and through the lance, poured out His blood. He would rather shed His blood than to sin. And the author is saying here "You oh Hebrew Christians assaulted though you are persecuted and tempted and tried, though you are, though you are in the midst of a struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." So your commitment to holiness is less than that of Jesus, and it's not been called on you yet to be a martyr for the faith. So, he's urging them to stand firm, they have a struggle for sin. The Enemy: Sin Now, that's the context of this sermon today. That's the issue we have in dwelling sin, Romans 7 describes it better than any other place in the Bible, the Apostle Paul called by God to be an apostle, a holy man, who was writing in the midst of writing Romans the book of Romans, filled with the Holy Spirit said this truth about himself. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. And what I hate I do. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it but it is sin living in me that does it, oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's your struggle if you're a child of God, if you are a Christian, that is your struggle. And it's not going to end until you are delivered from the body of death. You're going to have to fight every step of the way. And so, this topic, the Lord's discipline, His loving discipline for His children is essential to you finishing your journey. You must have it because without this you will succumb to sin, you'll lose. And so the Lord must get active. II. What Is the Lord’s Discipline? And so this is a passage on discipline, it's all over the passage. Some passage you have to wonder what is the unifying theme here? You don't have to wonder with this one. Over and over it mentions, it uses the word again and again. Verse 5 and following, it says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as sons, for what son is not disciplined by his father. If you are not disciplined, and everyone undergoes discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them, for it how much more should we submit to the father of our spirits and live. Our father's disciplined us for a little while as they thought best but God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness." So then what's Hebrews 12:4-11 about. Is it really a mystery? This is about the Lord's discipline for His children concerning sin. So what is it, what is the Lord's discipline? Well, here we come into God's sovereign, His providential control of every aspect of your life. God is sovereignly ruling over the universe and controls every aspect of your life. Jesus said, not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. The book of Proverbs says, "The lots is cast into the lap but it's every decision is from the Lord." God sovereignly controls all things, He rules over all things, and He is ruling actively over all things to bring about for you, His ultimate purpose in your life. Romans 8:28-29, teaches that, "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose for... " Alright, so what is his purpose? God's sovereignly working, He's orchestrating events, he's in charge of everything, making it all happen. Alright, what's His purpose? "For those whom God foreknew He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son," That's God's purpose for you, if you're a child of God, His desire is to conform you to Christ, to make you just like Jesus. The very thing at the end of this message when it says that God disciplines us for our good that we may share in His holiness. We'll get to that again at the end of the message, but that is God's purpose. And so God is sovereignly orchestrating events to bring about His end in your life, and His end is that you would be completely conformed to Jesus. And so God rules over all things and he uses His rule, His sovereign rulership over all things to shape you and mold you and make you like Jesus. And specifically in this context, He does it as a response to your sin, when He feels it's necessary. When He looks at your life, at the trajectory of your life as He looks at your heart, your motives and He looks at your behavior, there are times that He gets involved, directly involved in brings adverse circumstances, hardships into your life because He is giving you a divine spanking. He is chastising you for your sin and that's what this passage is about, He is spanking you. He is orchestrating some event in your life to bring adverse circumstances, so that you will learn the lesson He wants you to learn. And the lesson He wants you to learn is that sin is evil, and you should stop doing it. That's the central lesson, He wants you to hate it like He does, and so He orchestrates things. So this brings me to the question of what's fair game for discipline? What is God allowed to do in your life? See once I say it like that, you know where I'm heading. What's God allowed to do in your life to make you holy? Answer, anything. And let's make it quite simple. Anything you value in this world, in this world is fair game, anything. Starts to bring chills up your spine when you think about it. One of the outcomes of this message is the fear of the Lord that brings wisdom. I think we should fear the Lord's discipline. If there's anything you value in this world, it's fair game for discipline, as God thinks it's best. So what I mean? Let's get specific. How about your health, your physical health? Yes, it's fair game, when David committed adultery with Bathsheba, Psalm 32 describes his physical maladies. "Day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." God was pressing on David physically. Sickness for him personally. How about the physical health of those you love? Yes, especially if you're in a position of authority or leadership. As David was remember when he committed a sinful census, and God asked him to choose his penalty, remember. And he ended up choosing a plague to come on the people, because God's mercies were great, he knew God and that was the right choice but when other people started dying for David's sin how did that make David feel? He cried out and said, "Let it be on me and on my family. Not on them, they're just sheep what did they do?" God's hand was heavy on David by means of people he cared about. And so people you love that can be fair game. Anything material, any of your material possessions, your house, your car, your clothes, your money, your bank accounts, your credit cards, your savings, your pension, anything like that is fair game. God can touch it, He can get to it, don't think He can't get to it. If the federal government can do it, friends. God can garnish your wages. God Has the power to garnish your wages. God Has the power to have you put your money in a purse with holes in it. And then all of a sudden, you find that you're having to do repairs. Boy, one thing that bothers me as a car owner, and as a home owner, is having to pay a lot of money to get back where I was a week ago. Just money for status quo. I don't have any better car, I don't have a better house. I just now have a new well pump. I had a well pump before I was happy with my well pump, it was fine. Anything is fair game, anything you may want for the future, any ambition, anything you've set your hopes on something you may want to achieve, maybe you're applying for a job, and you have good hopes of getting it. But it doesn't come through, anything. And maybe in some ways the most subtle of all and I think the most frequent of all that God may simply just withdraw from your life for a while. He's just not there when you go to pray. And you start sounding like the psalmist in Psalm 13 saying, "How long long must I wrestle with my thoughts?" Where are you, oh Lord? Where are you? Have you ever felt that? Could it be that you're under discipline for sin, at those times. And that God is being far off to cause you to come back to him and to cry out for him and to yearn for him, again? So those are the disciplines that God can bring. What do I mean by sin? Well, any violation of your conscience, any violation of the laws of God, again. And we know the scripture says, Our sins are more numerous than the hairs of our head. We have many sins. God doesn't always discipline in every case for every sin, it doesn't work that way, God is so wise in how he does it, but it could be an ongoing pattern of gossip or slander, it could be a lust pattern, an issue with internet pornography, it could be an issue of bickering and arguing between spouses. It could be a matter in terms of your parenting, how you're parenting, your relationship with people in church, it could be an issue of forgiveness or lack of it. You're not forgiving somebody. Anything God chooses in which He mobilizes Himself and moves out. So that's what we're talking about, when I'm talking about the Lord's discipline. III. Two Wrong Reactions to Discipline Now, there are two wrong reactions to discipline in the text. Making Light of It It says, "Do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you." quoting Proverbs 3:11. Get back to that in a minute. But these are two wrong reactions when the Lord disciplines you. The first wrong reaction that he mentions here is to make light of it. To make light of the Lord's discipline is to blow it off in one way or another. Well, how do we blow it off? Well, first you may just not agree with the doctrine of this message, say, "God doesn't do that." You may have some health and wealth and prosperity gospel tendencies in which you think God only ever brings blessings the way people define them in this world. And He would never take away any of your earthly blessings that's something only Satan will do. Friends don't be deceived that is not true, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, He has that power. And He can use Satan to do it. Satan is just God's lackey in so many of these things, but it's God that's doing it. And Job knew that, didn't he. Job knew that it was God who was doing it. Did you ever noticed how Satan just drops out of the story after chapter whatever chapter two? He's gone, it's Job and God and that's right. Because he was the one he was dealing with. And so do not make light of it, do not blow it off, but take it to heart, believe first and foremost, that God can do this kind of thing. That God actually frequently does this kind of thing, that God does discipline us for our sins. In one sense, you could just forget about it, just like the author says they're doing, you've forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons, etcetera. You forgot that God did this, did you forget? Have you ever had a bunch of adverse things happen in your life? A bunch of things, and you may be actually fulfilling this very warning here, at this point. You have forgotten God, and all that you forgotten the sovereignty of God, you've forgotten the providence of God, that everything that happens to you comes through God's hands. And so you've become in one sense, a practical deist. Those who are those philosopher/theologian types. The thought that God created the universe and wounded up it like a clock and just set it running and just stays out of it. Do you know how many times we Christians behave as practical deists, things happen when it just never occurs to us, to go back to God and say, Oh God. Are you doing this to me, is this something that you're doing, is there a reason, is there a purpose, is something going on in my life? So we become practical deist, by making light of it. Another way you may make light of this is by acknowledging that you may have sinned et cetera, but dealing quickly and lightly, with your sin as the false prophets did in Jeremiah's day, these people treat the wound of my... These prophets treat the wound of my people as though it were light, not serious. They say Peace, peace, and there is no peace, and so sometimes we make light of the Lord's discipline by not standing under it for a while. And by trying to get out of it quickly back to happy times are here again. Hallelujah. When God may actually want you to stay under it for a while and humble yourself and grieve, and mourn, and wail, and change your laughter in the morning, in your joy to gloom. James Chapter 4, part of the Christian life. There's a time to do that, where you just humble yourself under God, and you don't make light of it, you take it seriously. God, what are you doing in my life? And you listen, and then you deal honestly with the sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. So that's one error is making light of the Lord's discipline. Losing Heart Because of It Then there's an opposite error mentioned here, and that is to lose heart when He rebukes you. These are different kinds of people. The first people are just hard-headed. Just plowing through it all, or they think they're just having bad luck or a bad day. No, but these people, they know it has to do with God, but they read the wrong thing out of it, they become depressed, they're crushed by it, they lose heart, that's biblical language for become depressed. And as these hard things happen, they don't go back to God appropriately, they just say things like this, "God has forsaken me, God doesn't love me anymore, if God really loved me, these kinds of things wouldn't be happening to me." And so they get depressed, and they get discouraged and their arms grow weak and their knees grow weak and they can't continue in the Christian life, and they get crushed and discouraged by it. And they come to the shockingly wrong conclusion, based on this text, "I can't be a child of God, if he's doing this to me." It's exactly the wrong conclusion, but they say it and they're so depressed, and so that's the opposite error. Two wrong reactions to discipline. At that point, a person has forgotten the doctrine of justification by faith apart from works, has forgotten that all of Christ's righteousness has been imputed to them. They're perfectly righteous in God's sight, apart from any works of the law. They've forgotten these things and now they're in the depths of despair and murky, forgetting that they're going to heaven when they die. That they're children of God. And that they're more than conquerors. God's just giving them a spanking because of their sin. And that's actually, frankly a great encouragement. This is the encouragement of discipline. How He says in Verse 5, "And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons." You've forgotten that. Oh, how beautiful is that? IV. The Encouragement of Discipline The whole epistle is called to be, in Hebrews 13, a word of encouragement, paraklesis. The Paraclete is the comfort of the counselor, the one called alongside to help. This letter is like that. It comes alongside us and it comforts us, it counsels us, it rebukes us, it warns us. All of that's paraklesis, that's what the word means here. And you've forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons. And speaks to as sons. Then He quotes Proverbs. It's marvelous, it's marvelous. Book of Proverbs is a series of brief statements written by, most of them by King Solomon, much of the form of the language is of a father addressing a son. So you could imagine at the human level maybe it was Solomon talking to Rehoboam, trying to get him ready for his reign. But it's in the cannon, it's in the scripture and therefore, ultimately, as the author does here, he says, "You know, this is ultimately about God talking to you, addressing you as sons and daughters of the living God." And notice the tense of the verb here, this Proverbs 3:11 is presently addressing you, right now, as sons. It's talking to you and it's calling you His son, my son, God's speaking to you like that because He loves you, He cherishes you, you're one of His adopted children. And so these hardships that God's bringing into your life, it's not that He doesn't love you, it's that He does love you. That's exactly why He's doing it, it's because of His. Deep love for you and His knowledge, that sin is a deadly poison, and it's hurting you, and it's destroying your life in many ways, and He wants you to be free of it. And He will make you free by His sovereign power when you die, but He wants you to learn to fight now and to stand up and be strong and take up the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit and learn how to fight and be like Him and hate sin the way He does. He wants to train you. But it's not at all that you're not one of the sons and daughters of God, because these things are happening to you, not at all. He loves you, and He's addressing you. The Word of God is living and active. It's sharper than any double-headed sword, it's able to penetrate to the dividing of soul and spirit, joint and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. And so God is speaking to you. "My son, do not make light of my discipline and do not lose heart when I rebuke you." He's talking to you directly by the Scripture. And so this is greatly encouraging. And so He says in Verse 6, "The Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." That's a very strong word. It's the same word used in reference to Jesus' scourging. He scourges, so He can bring some very hard, hard things in your life. I was talking to somebody recently, and saying there's two statements we commonly make that are... I think never true. Okay. Isn't that good, there are things you come to church to learn. Two things, statements, you commonly make and they're never true. I think pretty much never true. Okay, number one, "I did the best I could." And number two, "I can't take much more of this." God knows how much you can take and you can take more than this. He is carefully measuring out these disciplines and He knows what you can take. And he will not crush you beyond what you can bear, but he brings this discipline, because you must have it. Verse 7 and following, "Endure hardship as discipline." Anything difficult, anything hard, anything that opposes, endure it as discipline. "God is treating you as sons." The word treating is a very strong word, God is dishing it out to you, God is measuring out this discipline to you in a very wise and loving way. Never forget the super natural gentleness of Jesus as He says in Matthew 12, "A bruised reed, He will not break, and a smoldering wick, He will not snuff out." We were talking about this at men's Bible study a bruised reed is a reed that's just hanging by a few green threads. Reeds are weak anyway, aren't they? What did you go out into the desert to see? Speaking of John the Baptist, a reed swayed by the wind. No, John the Baptist was no reed swayed by the wind. So reed is a picture of weakness. What then is a bruised reed but a picture of supreme weakness, and Jesus is able to bind that up and to heal it, and strengthen. He knows how to do that, he is gentle in His discipline, but he's effective, he's effective. I remember one time, we used to use... I don't even know if I should tell this story, well we used to use Tabasco sauce to train for verbal sins. Alright. Verbal sins. You know what they might be. Not that my kids ever committed any but actually they kind of have to for this story, but anyway, and we were giving them this and at one point, one of my kids said, "Dad, yes, we all like it." "We like it." It's not effective. I don't think they said those words, but that was the message, and I appreciated the thoughtfulness of letting me know. God must bring you hardship, it must be something difficult or it isn't discipline, it's got to be something that hurts. All I'm saying is God isn't going to break you with it. So the Lord disciplines every one of His children, the text says it very plainly, "If you are one of God's children, you have been disciplined and you will continue to be disciplined." The choices of God saints, the heroes of church history, all of them have been disciplined by God. We don't teach perfectionism here. Everybody needs discipline. The Lord Disciplines Every One of His Children And the most mediocre and even below average Christians, God disciplines them too, everyone that is His child, He disciplines, all of them. Conversely God disciplines no one who is not His child. This is a very, very sober thought. God does not discipline those who are not His children, says, "If you do not undergo discipline and everyone undergoes discipline then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. So this is as serious and as sober-minded things, I can ever say to you. The most terrifying thing that God can do to anybody in this world, in this present world age, the most terrifying thing God can do to anyone is to give you over to your sins. There is nothing worse that God can do. "My spirit will not strive with man forever." He said, before the flood. "I'm not going to fight with you forever." And so three times in Romans 1, Romans 1:24, "God gave them over… to sexual immorality, for the degrading of their bodies." Romans 1:26, "God gave them over to shameful lusts." Romans 1:28, "God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." It's a dreadful, judicial hardening that God brings on and is the fulfillment of Romans 9:18, "God has mercy on those He wills to have mercy, and He hardens those whom He wills to harden." And so it is a great mercy to be a child of God and God not give you over. God is saying, "I will never give up this fight for you because I love you too much and I'm going to keep disciplining you, I'm going to keep training you, I'm never going to give you over to your sin, you may be so stubborn, you may be so hard-headed, you may have a stiff neck, but I'm going to win in the end. And I'm going to just keep loving you and I'm going to keep discipling you, and if you just make it harder for yourself, well you're just going to make it harder for yourself, but I'm never going to give you over to your sin." But here I just must warn you, if you are outside of Christ right now, if you are here today, you were invited by a friend perhaps. Maybe you're here for the jobs for life graduation and praise God that you're here. But especially for this moment, that you may hear that you are in grave danger. And that there is a way to escape condemnation because God giving you over to your sin is not the worst thing he can do to you, the worst thing he can do to you is send you to hell forever and ever. But that's in the next world. And the one leads to the other. But there is a savior, there is a savior praise God and all you need to do is call on the name of Jesus, and He will forgive you of all your sins and all of His perfect righteousness will be imputed to you by simple faith. And your sins credited to him, He died on the cross in your place and you have eternal life, and you'll be adopted into the family of God, and then he'll start disciplining you for your sins when needed. But come to Christ don't leave this building without knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior. It's the most important thing. Our earthly fathers did it, it says the author here, we had Verse 9, "Human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it." We understood why they did it. I know that there are abusive fathers in this world. I know that that happens. But a good father, a loving father will discipline his children. Will do it with tenderness, will do it with wisdom, with restraint, with consistency he will do it. But this is a how much more argument, if the earthly father did it for a little while as he thought best, as seemed best to him, it's not perfect, just as he thought best. How much more then should we submit to the father of our spirits, our Heavenly Father and live. That's what he's saying. V. The Purpose of Discipline So what ultimately is the purpose of discipline? Look at Verse 10, "God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness." Again verse 11, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." The purpose of discipline is to train you to hate evil as he does to turn away from it in genuine repentance, and to live a new kind of life. He wants you to remember the harshness of the discipline, remember and stop doing that sin, that's the purpose of it. He wants you to share in His holiness, He wants you to be conformed to Christ and be righteous like He is, to be holy like He is. Hebrews 1:8, speaking of Christ says, "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness." God wants us to do that too, and so He trains us. And He trains us because some things are just too hard for us to handle on our own, we prove that consistently, we prove it. And so when we can't get ahold of something, and we stubbornly go on in a certain way, God intervenes, He interferes, He gets involved and He disciplines us, so that we may be holy. VI. The Proper Response to Discipline So what then is the proper response to discipline? Well, first don't fall into those opposite errors, don't make light of it. Don't be a practical deist. If you're going through some hard things in your life, go to God privately in your prayer closet, get on your knees and say, "God, these following things have happened to me this week. These are hard for me. It's what's going on right now. It's hard financially, it's hard physically, or this is going on in my family, this is happening at work. This is what happened with my car, and I'm finding this hard. God, are you disciplining me for sin." And then just get quiet. So I did a couple of weeks ago, you just get quiet and you say, "Search me, O God, search me and know my heart and show me if there's anything in me that's offensive to you." And then whatever the Lord the Holy Spirit brings to light, He wants you as I said two weeks ago, to lay it aside these nets that are entangling you, so that you can run this race with endurance. This is a private discipline, something you do on your own. He commands you here to submit to your Heavenly Father, so humble yourself under, don't try to rush out from under the discipline say, "Lord you're bringing this discipline I'm going to stand under it, I'm not going to murmur against you, I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to rail against you or act like you're treating me unfairly, where is God in all of this? I'm not going to do that, I'm going to quiet myself, I'm going to be quiet under this discipline, I'm going to let it have its full impact on me. I want to be holy, like Jesus is holy. I want you to do your work in me. So it says, "How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live." And be trained by this discipline, the harvest of righteousness is what you want, seek and yearn for a harvest of righteousness in your life and say, "Okay God it's going to be a hard road to get there, but I want it and whatever it takes to make me holy please do it, and I'm seeking this now and I'm not afraid to pray this, "Oh Lord bring whatever hardship in my life, you need to bring, so that I'll be holy like You are." Pray that honestly and fear the Lord's discipline, I don't think there's anything wrong with this. I think the Lord means for us to learn from discipline and not want it to happen again. Doesn't that make sense? And so we go through certain things and we should fear the Lord's holiness and his discipline. So you know these things are precious to me and I want to protect them. I can't give myself into sin here, I'm endangering my family, I'm endangering my possession, I'm endangering my health here, I can't give in to this sin. Fear the Lord, He's going to bring the rod on me, and I don't want that to happen, I know He'll do it out of love, but if I judge myself He won't need to do it. And so I'm going to submit to that, but ultimately realized God does this for our good, He does it cause He loves us, He does it with gentleness and wisdom and walk in confidence that your father will get you to Heaven, close with me in prayer.

Divine and Supernatural Light When Jesus was with his disciples in Caesarea of Philippi, he was on somewhat of a retreat with them and spending some time in the midst of his busy controversial and difficult ministry, he went on retreat with them up to the northern cooler regions and he was up in the mountains there, and he was sitting with them and having a discussion with them. And he asked them, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" Son of Man was Jesus' name for himself. "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah; and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you," he asked, "Who do you say that I am?" I always imagine a dramatic pause at that point as I read the account. And Simon Peter speaking for us all said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And then Jesus said something very important when it comes to understanding salvation. He said, "Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven." No one is saved from their sins apart from that supernatural revelation of Christ. A divine and supernatural light, revealed directly to the heart of the individual center is the essence of everything apart from that none of us will be saved. And God has been doing that from the beginning of human history, he has been revealing Christ to sinners, he has been opening up inside their hearts the light, an eternal light of His own glory radiating in Christ, and opening up that beautiful eyesight of faith inside their souls to receive that light of Christ, and see it for its beauty and its majesty, and glory. And in seeing Christ there by faith we are justified. We see the glory of God, our sins are forgiven and God's been doing that all along. It's always been the same in every generation. And now as we come to Hebrews 11, and as we're unfolding this chapter, and we're understanding faith, we're understanding justification by faith, how it is that sinners like us who have violated God's laws, who have done things we ought not to have done, who have left undone things that we were commanded to do, how can sinners like us be made right in the eyes of such a Holy God? And it is by this divine and supernatural light of Christ revealed directly to your heart. If you've been sitting on that mountain side with Peter and the others, seeing Jesus' physical body, maybe his feet covered with dust, him looking like an ordinary man, you would not have been saved by that sight, it would not have saved you. Many people saw Jesus physically and were not saved. But if God the Father would reveal Jesus directly to your hearts and you will see in him, Almighty God in the flesh, and more than that, that He shed His blood for you, that He died in your place and you see that a transfer can happen, that your guilt can be put on Jesus and His righteousness given to you, then you will be saved, and that's all. And that's what he's been doing all along, and he did it in the life of Moses. Now, when we come to Moses, we come to a key issue here for the author to the Hebrews and his first century audience. He's writing to Jewish people who had heard the Gospel, had made some kind of outward profession of faith in Christ. But now they're under pressure, they're being persecuted probably by Jewish religious authorities and neighbors and relatives and friends to forsake Christ, to turn back from Christ and go back to the Law of Moses. And so, in their minds, it's Moses versus Jesus, that's the way they saw it. And they were being tempted strongly pressed by persecution, other troubles to turn their backs on Jesus and go back to Moses, in effect, to the law of Moses, the Old Covenant sacrificial system, all of those things. John Chapter 9, when Jesus heals the man that was born blind, and then he's hauled up in front of the Jewish religious authorities and they have some sharp words back and forth. At one point, this man says, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?" And they answered, "We are disciples of Moses. As for this fellow, we don't know where he comes from." And the blind man answers so beautifully. "Now that is remarkable! You don't know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." Never in history has anyone heard of the eyes of a blind man, man born blind being open and you don't know where he's from? Isn't it obvious? But there is the dichotomy. We are disciples of Moses, as for this man, we don't know who he is. And so, these Jewish first century professors of faith in Christ, were being tempted to forsake Jesus and go back to Moses. Now, the author's already opened up this topic for us in Hebrews 3. He's shown us that Moses was a faithful man, he was a servant in God's house, but Jesus is no mere servant in God's house, but is a son over God's house. I. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to Christ (vs. 26) But now, here in Hebrews 11, he's going to get even more pointed, he's going to say, in effect, that Moses was justified by faith in Jesus Christ even in his day, and that God mystically, mysteriously, spiritually revealed Christ to him at that point. And so, by faith Moses looked ahead to Christ. Look at Verse 26, "He, [Moses] regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ, as of greater value than all the treasures of Egypt. Because he was looking ahead to his reward." So here we have this incredible statement, disgrace for the sake of Christ. Now, this was 1500 or 2000 years or 1500 years before Christ was even born, the Exodus, something like 15 centuries before Jesus. And yet, he was seeing Christ by faith. That's what the author is asserting. Jesus asserted as much concerning Moses, didn't he? In John 5:46, Jesus said, "If you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." Moses wrote about me. And then after his resurrection, Jesus in Luke 24:27, speaking to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus said, "'Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.'" And then later that same day to the disciples in the upper room, he does the same thing, beginning with Moses, he shows everything that Moses had written about him. Now, Moses, who we began looking at last week, who was rescued out of the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, and who was raised in royalty, raised in wealth and honor and privilege, as in some ways an adopted a son of Pharaoh, turned his back on all of that, he forsook all of it, he rejected it, he would not be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but embraced suffering for Christ, embraced it. God revealed Christ to Moses, and Moses was willing to choose suffering for the sake of Christ, rather than the luxuries and pleasures of Egypt. Verse 26 explains why he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ, as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. Because he was looking ahead to his reward. In due time, Moses would write the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He would record all the stories that have been the backdrop of what we've been looking at in Hebrews 11, up to this point. Moses would be the one that wrote down from the very beginning how God predicted a serpent slayer that would come. How he told even in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of woman would come and he would crush the serpent's head. It was Moses that would write those words. It was Moses who wrote about Abel's sacrifice and Enoch walking with God and Noah's flood, and Abraham being called out of err the Chaldeans and turning his back on that and the promise made to Abraham that through his offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed. It was Moses that wrote all of these things, it was Moses that wrote the account of Abraham almost killing his son Isaac on Mount Moriah and how the Angel of the Lord stopped him and said... The angel said, "Now, I know that you fear God, because you've not withheld from me the Angel of the Lord your son, your only son." And then the angel said, "I swear by myself… because you've done this… I will surely bless you." Who is the angel of the Lord? Moses wrote those words. It was Moses who wrote these things, it was Moses that wrote about Jacob's dream and the ladder and the angels ascending and descending, and the Lord at the top looking down. And about the wrestling, Jacob is wrestling with the angel. And the predictive blessings that Jacob made to the 12 patriarchal leaders and to Judah in particular saying, "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his." It was Moses that wrote those words. And so, God had in some amazing way, revealed Jesus to Moses and he trusted in Christ. Moses and the Prophets Were Serving the Coming Generations Now, I don't think that Moses fully understood everything that he was writing. No Old Testament prophet really did. 1 Peter 1:10-12 says that the prophets who wrote the predictive messages about Christ in the Old Testament did not fully understand. They were trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories it would follow. And they were told that they weren't serving themselves, but that later generation that would come. And so, we have the benefit of greater clarity. The New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the actual accounts of the works of Jesus, what he actually did, and how the Gospel spread through the Book of Acts, and the Epistles explaining the theology of the Gospel. We have it all so very clearly. But Moses understood who Christ was. And so, the key issue then for these Hebrew-Christians and for us is that Moses was justified by faith long before he gave them the law. Moses' simple trusting in Christ predates the law. And so, by faith Moses looked ahead to Christ. And frankly, there's not much difference between looking ahead to Christ by faith or looking back to Christ by faith. It's the same thing. Neither one of us sees him with our own eyes, we have the Word of God we have the accounts of who he is, we believe them or we don't, it's really that simply. And Moses looked ahead based on the words of God and saw Christ and trusted Him. And we look back based on the words of God and we trust Him or we don't, and if we trust Him, we have forgiveness of sins. II. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to His Reward (vs. 26) Secondly, we see that by faith Moses, also looked ahead to his reward. Look at Verse 26, He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. There are so many key elements in this verse. First of all, the essential aspect of faith is that it's forward looking, we're looking forward, we're looking ahead. The assurance of things hoped for. Romans 8:24 says, "who hoped for what he already has?" So right away from the beginning in verse 1, we are told that faith is forward looking, it looks ahead, it has to do with things we hope for, things we have not yet received. We're also told in Verse 6 that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. In Verse 10, we're told that Abraham was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Verse 13, we're told, all these patriarchal people, the people in that era were still living by faith when they died, they did not receive the things promised, but they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. Looking forward, looking ahead is part of faith. People who say such things, verse 14 show that they're looking for a country of their own, something that they can possess forever and ever, they're looking ahead. Verse 16, they're longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Verse 16 again, God has prepared a city for them. All of this forward looking. Verses 20-22, the patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, they're all looking ahead, looking ahead, even to their death beds. And so, that's a fundamental issue, the issue of looking forward. And we do the same by faith in Jesus, amen, that's the nature of the race that we're running, Philippians 3, forgetting what's behind and straining or pressing on toward what's ahead. The upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We're looking ahead, we're looking forward, we press on toward the goal. Oh, do you not see how delightful this is? Do you not see what an advantage we believers have over worldlings. They dread the future. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Why? He's got everything he wants, right? He's the king. Yeah, but he might not be king tomorrow. There might be an assassination plot, someone might be poisoning his food, somebody has to sample his dinner. Somebody might shove a dagger between his ribs before he goes to bed that night. Or maybe some other king is going to come with a more powerful army, and he's going to take away everything he has, because he's not strong enough. And so he goes to bed anxious and concerned, he's afraid. The same thing for ordinary people, we're worried about the future, what it's going to bring, will we lose everything dear to us? O Christians, brothers and sisters, you will not lose everything dear to you. Your best things are stored up in Heaven for you and moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves cannot break in and steal. Your treasure can't be stolen from you. What are you afraid of? We are rich in Christ, and we're looking forward to coming into our inheritance, amen. We're looking forward to getting it. Right now, we're living on stipend checks and they're pretty good. They really are. The deposit of the Spirit and we're feeding on that, and the spirit's testifying that we're children of God, and all of that, but won't you be glad to give up the stipend check for the actual inheritance? Amen. Well, praise God. We are wealthy and no one can take our wealth from us, and so we look forward. They're afraid of death, they might not have admit it, but they're in bondage, they're in slavery to the one who holds the power of death over them, because they're sinners and they can't get free. All of their lives are held in slavery by their fear of death. Only Jesus, the death conqueror can deliver you from that. He holds the keys of death and Hades. Amen. We have no fear of death. Our best things are all in the future. I don't care what incredibly good life you've had up to this point, richly blessed by God, amen. All of them are as tiny insignificant blessings compared to what you have yet to come. And so therefore, in Colossians 3, we set our hearts on things above and things to come, not on earthly things. Oh, what an advantage our faith is, looking forward, looking forward to Christ, looking forward to his return, looking forward to our inheritance. Look Forward to the Day and Hasten its Coming And we're told in 2 Peter 3 with this whole same kind of language that we're looking forward, looking forward, he says it three times, looking forward. And it says, "Since everything that you see is going to be destroyed in this way, everything, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and Godly lives as you look forward, there it is, as you look forward to the day of God and speed it's coming." Do you realize how vital that is it? Alright, those are the two infinite journeys there, because everything's going away, everything is going to burn, it's all going to disappear. You are given in those Verses 2 Peter 3, the two infinite journeys, you ought to live a holy and Godly life, you ought to purify yourself from un-Godliness, that's an internal journey and you ought to look ahead to the day of God and speed it's coming. You do that by evangelism and missions, there's no other way. And so, by sharing the Gospel, by bringing the elect Christ, Jesus isn't coming back to till all the elective heard the Gospel and responded by faith, then he's coming back, amen. So we've got work to do friends, we've got internal journey and external journey, work to do. But he says it three time in 2 Peter 3, we look forward to the day of God, God we look forward to the second coming, we look forward to the new heavens and the new Earth, we're looking forward to it all. And how glorious is that? Now, in this text, it says that Moses isn't just looking forward to Christ, but he's looking forward to his reward. He turned down a life of luxury and in effect, he's standing before Almighty God and saying, "Okay God, I'm turning down silk pillows, I'm turning down plates of grapes and beautiful slave girls dropping the grapes right into my open mouth, I'm not going to live like that. They're not going to find me with their big fans anymore, I'm not living that life, I'm going to go wander in the desert with a bunch of fractious people who do not appreciate me, and who actually would like to stone me. Actually, he didn't know all that was coming, but it's coming. And he embraced a life of disgrace. Do you see that word, disgrace. The people who were his friends, the Egyptians who were his friends in the court there, maybe his half-brothers and half-sisters, his adoptive mother, all of those Egyptian powerful people who were beating on his biological people, but they were his friends, and they like... He turned his back on all of that, and He embraced disgrace for them. The author to Hebrews are going to call us all to that in Hebrews 13. Jesus suffered outside the gate. We need to go outside the gate and bear the disgrace he bore. He is disgraced by the world. You want to be pleasing to God, then you stand next to him and get disgrace to. So Moses was willing to bear disgrace for the name of Christ. What about you? What about me? Are you only to be disgraced, societally rejected, looked on poorly, slandered, reviled because you follow Christ? Well, Moses was willing to do it, it says because he was looking forward to his reward. That Nature of the Reward And what is the nature of this reward? What is this reward? When we come to rewards again, we already covered it in verse six so I don't need to go into any great detail. Rewards are tokens of God's pleasure connected with your actions and motives. God gives you some emblems of how pleased he was that you did that. The fundamental reward of the Christian life is God himself. God himself is our very great reward, and we get him. All lesser rewards, and there are lesser rewards, are all in some way connected to our relationship with Him. They are relational moments. It's God saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant. I am pleased with you. Enter into the joy of your master, I want you to step into the joy I had when you went into the room and close the door and pray to your Father who's unseen, or when you gave to the needy and your right hand, didn't know what your left hand was doing." Your reward is great for this. Rewards are different than wages. They're not earned or merited as though we deserve them. The rewards of the Christian life are just lavish grace, amen. We know that God would even have us in heaven, but that he would actually find things in our lives worthy of praise. He rewards us, and so Moses was looking ahead to his reward. Now, rewards are not all equal. There are some great rewards and lesser rewards. Causes something to be greatly reward-able versus something that's worthy of a smaller reward? I think it has to do with how much faith and how much sacrifice it took to do it in this world. The harder it is, the more faith that you need, the more it costs you in this world, then the more worthy of praise and a reward it will be in the next. Does that make sense? So, if you do anything by faith, anything at all today by faith, you make a phone call by faith, you speak a word of encouragement by faith, you get down on your knees and pray for someone by faith, any of it can be rewarded, will be. God is not unjust. He won't forget anything you've done. Store up lots of them. But the really big ones, the big rewards, the great rewards are for those who suffer in this world to serve Christ. Does that makes sense? It costs you something and by faith, you do it anyway. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. So great is your award if you suffer greatly. Does that make sense? And we'll meet them later in the same chapter, in Hebrews 11, people who wandered around in deserts and caves and were sawn into and stoned and suffered greatly for Jesus and so if you want great rewards then do great things. Understand that you don't deserve, even for doing great things, anything from God, but he's promised that he will reward and great will be your reward. And so Moses had a great reward because he made a great sacrifice. He turned away by faith from a comfortable life of ease and embraced suffering and disgrace for the sake of Christ. Moses Weighed the Reward And he did it because he weighed it. He considered it of greater value, that's what the text says. He weighed it and looked at it and it was better for him. It was a better deal. A few months ago I went with my daughter, Carol, and we went up to pick up my mom and drive her back. She lives seasonally across the street from us, and so we had some time and we went up to Rockport, Massachusetts, and we went into a number of the painting stores they have up there. It's a real art center, and I don't know that much about art appraisal. I probably couldn't tell the difference between a masterpiece and something that just generally looked good, but I noticed that there was a wide range of prices, everything from $75 up to 10, 15, 20 $25000 for a painting. Decided not to buy one of those. Alright, but I thought, "What's the difference?" This one's bigger than that, so it's not just size, has to do with quality, different things, but there were just different prices, and it has to do with appraising. And so somebody who's really skilled at this, who owns these stores, they look and they can tell something that's really high quality because the thing itself. You're on a desert island and it's between an incredible painting and sufficient food to last year, you know what you'd pick. Even if it were a bunch of barley roles, you choose the barley roles. So the thing doesn't have any intrinsic value, but it just has to do with what the market will bear, and the quality of it. And the value that comes at appraising. And so, a faith-filled person does some praising here, and you've got the life in an Egyptian court, a comfortable life of ease and power and pleasure. You're looking at the value of that and then you're looking at what you get if you choose a life of suffering and disgrace for Christ. He looked at and this infinitely outweigh that. It was worth it to Moses to do it. He wasn't the fool to do it. He's enjoying that reward now, and he'll enjoy it forever and ever. It would have been a fool not to do it that way. So it has to do with a reckoning process, a thinking process, seeing the world rightly. It is temporary, friends, that's all going to burn. We have a short time and while we have this window of opportunity, give it up. That's what the Lord's calling on us to do. III. By Faith Moses Feared the Invisible God More Than Visible Pharaoh It also says in Verse 27, by faith Moses feared the invisible God more than visible Pharaoh. By faith he left Egypt, it says, not fearing the king's anger. He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. And we touched on this last time with Moses' parents. Sometimes Satan presents himself as an angel of light, and he offers you the world or a portion of it. 2 Corinthians 11:14, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light," but sometimes he takes the form of a dockyard bully, and if you don't do what he wants, he'll punch you in the mouth or cut off your head. Revelation 12:17, "Then the dragon, [that's Satan] was enraged at the woman, that's the people of God, and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring, those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus." that's Satan like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And so he especially uses wicked kings, intimidating kings, and here it's Pharaoh. Kings have the power to make your life miserable. Proverbs 20:2 says, "A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion. He who angers him, forfeits his life." You cross the king, you die. So it's intimidating, it's scary. And so we have many biblical examples of this. We have Nebuchadnezzar, prime example. What a temper problem he had. I trust Nebuchadnezzar in heaven now. I think he is, but God had to deal with that temper. And humble him and his arrogance, his pride. And when his counselors in Daniel 2 couldn't tell him what his dream was and interpret it for him, he became filled with rage and gave an edict that all of his counselors in Babylon be put to death, all of them. Same thing happens in chapter 3 when he erected a golden statue and ordered that everyone bowed down to it, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down to it, and again, he's filled with rage. I find that interesting. He has everything he wants. The most powerful man on Earth, can eat anything he wants, drink anything he wants, do anything he wants. He is the man, and he's fill with rage that easily, just like the devil. And when they will not bow down to him, he becomes even angrier, and his face becomes twisted with rage and he orders the furnace heated seven times hotter. Many, many leaders like this, Pontius Pilate, knowing that Jesus is innocent, goes back and forth. And at that point Jesus is done talking to Pilate, doesn't say anything to him, you remember. Silent, he said a few things to Pilate, but at that point, it's done. He's not saying anything. And Pilate says ridiculously, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have the power to crucify you and the power to set you free?" It's intimidation. Happens in our day and age. Probably no one did this more intensely than Adolf Hitler. A terrible intimidate. Demon possessed, I think. He was called carpet chewer by some of his counselors and generals that were around him because he would throw himself on the ground, foam at the mouth and chew the carpet, which would bother me if I saw someone doing that. It's terrifying. Hermann Goering who was a World War I fighter ACE, courageous man, corrupt but courageous, was terrified to bring Hitler bad news. No one wanted to bring him bad news, ever. They were terrified of him. When he met in March of 1938 with the President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Benes, he threw himself into such a purple rage in front of this man that the man went in almost had cardiac arrest. He almost died right in front of Hitler because of the terror and fear. Did the same thing a year later with the representatives of the British government after he had swallowed up Czechoslovakia, they come in and try to avert World War I, I and he does the same thing rolling on the carpet and screaming. The guy walks out to go back to report to Neville Chamberlain, Hitler jumps up slaps himself in the thigh and starts laughing. He says, "Chamberlain's government will topple by this evening." Which it didn't, but that's the kind of rage. And he used it. The same thing with the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, famously pounding on the table with his shoe out of rage. It's very intimidating. Moses by faith faced the king's anger and did what God want him to do anyway. He faced it, and he was not afraid of the king's anger, and he persevered. He left Egypt by faith. Now, Moses left Egypt twice. You understand that. He left Egypt, the first time, after he murdered the Egyptian overseer, the slave driver, he murdered him. Looking this way and that, he murder him, and hid his body in the sand. And it says right in Exodus 2:14 Moses was afraid the next day because he came upon two Jews who are arguing. He said, "You guys are brothers. You should get along." And he said, "Well, you want to kill us, like you killed that Egyptian yesterday." And then it says then Moses was afraid and said, "What I did must have become known." And then Pharaoh found out about it and wanted to kill him, so he ran for his life. Fugitive alright. I don't think the text is referring to that because he was afraid. Moses Confronts Pharaoh No, it's referring to the second time he left Egypt after the plagues when he brought with him millions of Jews. And so he comes back after 40 years of wandering in the desert, 40 years of caring for his father's sheep, father-in-law sheep, and God appears to him in the flames of the burning bush. Calls on him to go back and to tell Pharaoh, "Let my people go." He goes back, he says, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, 'Let my people go.'" And Pharaoh says, "I don't know the Lord, and I will not let the people go." And thus begins a back and forth that is ever escalates Pharaoh's rage. Every step makes Pharaoh angrier and angrier. Plague after plague, the plague on the fresh water turning it to blood, than the plague on the frogs, crawling all over Egypt. Plague of gnats and flies swarming all over Pharaoh's body and in his household. Plague on the livestock, the boils the hail, the locus, the darkness, one plague after another and you have to imagine each one of these directly attacking Pharaoh's rule, and attacking his pride and making him angrier in anger. How would you like to be Moses having to go negotiate with this guy day after day after day? : Finally, the most dreadful plague of all. Plague on the first born, at that point Pharaoh is trying to bargain with Moses. It's alright, you can go, but you can't go very far, you can go, you can't bring your livestock with you. No, there's no bargaining. You're not in a strong position, Pharaoh, in case you hadn't noticed. You're going to do exactly what God wants you to do. Finally, Pharaoh was so enraged that he says, "Get out of my sight. Make sure you do not appear before me again, the day you see my face, you will die." "Just as you say,' Moses said, 'You will never see my face again.'" Well, through all of that, Moses persevered through all of the anger and rage of Pharaoh he persevered as if seeing it says the invisible God because he could see God, because he could see him by faith, let's be honest, he feared God more than he feared Pharaoh. This is a very powerful, a powerful lesson. One time I was afraid to lead an outreach, it was a Halloween outreach in Salem, Massachusetts, and I was afraid because the year before, I'd almost been arrested for doing this outward. Didn't do anything wrong. But Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Massachusetts, back then Massachusetts had an official witch according to Governor Dukakis. And that was her and I met her daughter, delightful girl. At any rate, she came out, 25-year-old woman, she was filled with rage at me, and we had a very interesting debate in front of her house. I'll never forget that. Well, a year later we're doing another outreach. It was the night of what became known as the perfect storm. There was a movie made about it, and there was a hurricane that struck off the coast of Massachusetts, and it was an unbelievable time, and I was middle of the week, and I was just... Satan was working on me all day long, is the longest work day of my life. I was just an engineer at that point, and just I thought it by now it's got to be 3 or 4 in the afternoon a be like 9:30 in the morning, which is the long day because just the fear, r satanic fear of witnessing, satanic fear of persecution. And at that point, I was doing scripture memorization, in Isaiah, Isaiah 51. It says there, "I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor? The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread. For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar-- the Lord Almighty is his name. I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand-- I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.'" That's what I was memorizing that day. I'll never forget that. I said, "Alright Lord, I get the message." Do not fear man more than you fear me. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but I give you an even higher motive than that. How about delight in the Lord? I just want to please him, I want him to be pleased with me. I want to see his smiling face. I want him to be glorified and so the fear of the Lord enabled Moses not to fear the king, and delight in him, as well. And so Stephen at the end of his trial, as he has already accused them of being stiff-neck people of uncircumcised hearts and ears, and they didn't like that very much. They were very angry. And then suddenly Stephen, as they were furious with him, gnashing their teeth at him, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up and he saw heaven open, and he saw Jesus standing at the right side of God. He said, "Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Delight, beauty, attractiveness drives away all fear. He was already gone. They had to kill his body, but he was already in heaven at that point. Just the delight and the joy, and by faith, as if seeing the invisible Christ, he was bold and courageous. Now, I still have two more points, but I see that it's 12:20. So let's do it next week. Let's talk about the Passover and the Red Sea crossing, next week, amen. Can't do that in one minute. You know I can't do that. I cannot do the Passover in the Red Sea crossing in one minute, so we'll do it next week. IV. Applications The application for this is plain, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Son of Man, he is the savior. Has he been revealed to you as such? Has God the Father revealed Christ to you? And if he has, venture on him. Venture holy let no other trust intrude. Trust in Christ entirely, your own righteousness cannot save you. Maybe you had not been a Christian before you came in here maybe a friend invited you, maybe we met one on the outreach yesterday. And that's why you're in church today and you know you're not a Christian, you know that you're not saved. All you need to know, you've heard today. That Jesus the Son of God died on the cross, shed his blood for sinners like you. If you trust in him, you will be forgiven. And so I say, also to you as believers, venture on Christ. Don't fear man. Be willing to turn your back on a life of ease and comfort and embrace a life of suffering and disgrace. Don't fear disgrace. Don't seek it out say, "I want to be disgraced." But go after Christ and faithfulness, and share the gospel and disgrace will find you. But let's be bold and courageous close with me in prayer.

Before we begin, I do want to say thank you to all those who helped with our kick-off event at the First Lutheran Church Friday night. Thank you to those who worked with music, tech teams, food preparations, set up and tear down, curriculum distribution… So many people helped, and were very appreciative. About 370 of our people showed up to kick us off, so over half of our [church] body was there. It was a fun night. The sanctuary [there] is a little hot. We appreciate our air conditioning so very much this morning, but we had a good day, and were off to a good start. You can go ahead and start reading [the book, 40 Days of Purpose]. In fact, Pastor Voss asked me to mention that each week, just for the 40 Days of Purpose, we have its own little bulletin here. There is a little tool for day one through day seven. Were going to read ours as a family. However you choose to read it, you can check that off and follow along, but this is not the kind of book where you just sit down and say, Oh, its so good, I couldnt put it down. Put this one down. This is one where you read for the day, and even if its good and you want to read on, you wait. You resist the temptation. I was once told that I dont eat my food; I inhale my food. My boss back in Rockford told me that. He said, Just slow down and enjoy your meal. You dont have to breathe it in. Actually, you get more nutritional value out of it if youll just take your time, chew the food, and absorb the nutrients. So, Im still not sure if Ive done that or not, but it was good counsel, especially in regards to the words here. Its not the quantity. Its the quality. Lets read through it bit by bit over these 40 days [and] process the Scripture that is given. There is a lot of Scripture given in this book. Take your time as you go through it. Meditate on what you read each and every day. Lets open our Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 12. Well begin our first installment in our 40 day journey-as far as our weekend services are concerned. Youre only going to get out of this what you put into it. Coming to weekend services, thats great, but its just one element. Join a small group. [Over] 70 different small groups exist and are available to you. If you enjoyed Pastor Rick Warrens message on Friday night, and that was a terrific message, hes going to be speaking to the small groups every week. We have new teachings that hes going to be bringing us in short video segments. You watch those as a group, and then you talk about them in your small group. You work through your reading, and then you do your Bible verse each week. In fact, those are available on the way out today, a little Bible verse. The first one goes on your keychain and will help you memorize it as youre waiting in line at the grocery store, or wherever you might be. You can read through that verse and memorize it. All of these things working together produce a dynamic that will help you to grow in the process and learn these truths; so by the time its done, you will have a firm handle on what your purpose is in this life. In Luke 12, the Lord is going to describe a man in a parable that very much resembles you and me. He doesnt live a purpose-driven life; he lives a self-centered life. Most of us today live self-centered lives. Madison Avenue appeals to that. It tries to sell us on how were worth it, and youre the best. You deserve the best kind of thing. That appeals to our narcissistic nature-our tendency to seek first our comfort, our pleasure and our security above all things. That is how were wired. Right off the get-go, the first line is, Its not about you. Its not about you. Thats a rude awakening, and if we can get that down-that one truth down-what a foundation that is! In order to really understand it, live it, and say, Its not about me as this sign around you here says; thats key. Thats significant to realize its not about you. So, if its not about us, whats it about? Who is about? Jesus is going to use a teaching moment here in Luke 12:14 to talk about that very thing. A man comes up and wants Jesus to be a judge between him and his brother in regards to an inheritance. Jesus was like (page 1031 of pew Bibles), Im not a judge. Im not an arbiter person… but He uses that as a teaching moment. Then He said to them, Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. When Jesus says watch out, we better what? Watch out. You had better beware. When somebody says to you, Hey, watch out! what do you do? Your spider sense goes on, Whats going on here? Something important can happen. When Jesus says watch out, you better pay attention to what Hes about to say. Hes going to warn us of three things that happen when a person lives a self-centered life. …a mans life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Of course, our society would say, He who dies with the most poise wins kind of thing; but thats not the case. He told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, What shall I do? Now right there, were going to stop for a second because this is a defining moment, and thats a defining question. When a person says, What shall I do? What is my purpose? What direction am I going to go? thats a key moment right there. Its going to set the course of your life. Pastor Warren points out in the book that one of the first mistakes we make is when we ask that question, and we look to the wrong source for the answer. We look to ourselves for the answer. Because you didnt make yourself, how are you going to know what your purpose is? He said Oprah Winfrey was doing a show about (and this is not a knock on Oprah) what your purpose in life is. He said he wanted to hear what Oprah said was his purpose. He taped the show, came home and started to watch it. After the first break, Oprah said, After this commercial break, well be right back with your purpose. He thought, All right, lets hear it. He fast forwarded through the commercials, and they he watched the next segment. Oprah would again say, After this message, your purpose in life… He would stick around, and she kept baiting him. He kept coming back and watched the whole hour. At the end of the hour, they hadnt answered the question. They were rolling the credits, and Oprah said, Whats the purpose for your life? You have to find that out yourself. And that was the show. Its within you. He was thinking, I didnt make me, so how do I know what Im made for? Have you ever seen this happen-you go to the gym and somebody wants to get in shape? They go out and buy new leotards, and they come in and are ready to work out, but they dont know how to use the equipment. Have you seen that? Some of the equipment, if youve never seen it or worked it before or ever seen anybody use it, is somewhat foreign to you. I had that happen this week. I wanted to use something, and I said, Ive never used it, never seen anybody use it, so I said to somebody, Whats that for? Its an important question to ask. Usually, there is a sign right there on most machines, the new ones, and it has a diagram of a man or a woman seated in the equipment the way youre supposed to be seated in the equipment. The muscle group thats being exercised is highlighted in red in the picture. There are little instructions that say, Heres what youre going to push, and heres what youre going to pull. It will guide you through the work-out process. A lot of people dont want to take the trouble to do that. They say, Im just going to figure it out myself, so they sit in it incorrectly; they pull things that shouldnt be pulled, and they push things that shouldnt be pushed. The best case scenario is they end up working something but not as effectively as they could. The worst case scenario is they end up hurting themselves. Now Ive seen that happen. You want to step in and say, No, thats not the way to do that! You need to ask somebody or better yet, the manufacturer has told you exactly how to use this machine. [It says] where your head should be, where your arms should be, what the motion should be. Read it. What Jesus is saying here is this man consults in the purpose of his life, but he consults the wrong place. He consults within, but we should be consulting revelation. We should be consulting what God has said is our purpose, not what we think our purpose might be. So he comes to a conclusion. He says, What shall I do? This is what Ill do. Heres his answer [in Luke 12:18], I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. That was his answer. The self-centered life never has enough. Beware of that, Jesus says. (Here, Pastor is imitating what this greedy man is thinking…) I already have barns, and I already have them full, but thats not enough. Now I want bigger barns, so I can fill those too. The self-centered life never has enough. Its never satisfied. The purpose-driven life is satisfied because its doing the will of God. The purpose-driven life is satisfied because its living for something greater than itself. Did you read about the king in Africa this week? They were talking about this king on CNN. Hes 35 years old, and he has a kingdom of a million people somewhere in Africa. Hes a monarch. He is sovereign there. What he says goes. The slogan for his country is its all about me. Every year, I dont know how many thousands of young girls-like 10,000 or 50,000, something astronomical-come, dance, promenade and prance around the king, and he gets to choose a new wife every year. This year hes working on wife number 14. I think ones enough, dont you? (congregation laughing) I mean that in a good way. I better… I havent said anything about scheduling a birthday party during the Bears game next week. Thats just fine with me. Another subject… His whole point was its about me. Some of us want to be our own little kings and build our own little kingdom and amass, amass, amass. Why? Whats the end result of that? Whats the purpose of that? Whats that going to accomplish when its all said and done? Whats ultimately the significance of a life like that? Harry Conn, a friend of mine who passed away not that long ago, once said to me, The smallest package in the world is a person all wrapped up in themselves. I thought, Well, thats significant. Thats one of those things that if you hear it once, youre going to remember that, arent you? The smallest package in the world is a person all wrapped up in themselves. What the purpose-driven life is about is unwrapping that package. Its about saying, God, here I am. God, I realize its not about me. Its about You, so You show me. You give me directions. I dont want to be king. I want You to be king. I want You to call the shots. I recognize that Im never satisfied, but if its about You, I can be satisfied because I know Im accomplishing Your mission and Your purpose and living for something greater that myself. Theres a man by the name of George Eliot who said this, Its never too late to be who you might have been. That really spoke to me. Its never too late to be who you might have been. Another way to say that is to say, Its never too late to become who God intended you to become. Its never too late to do what God intended you to do. As he mentions in the book, this is just dress rehearsal. This is just the opening act. This is just for a brief period of time. This is just practice for whats to come. That was the warning in Verse 18. A self-centered life never has enough. If youre living a self-centered life today, you will never find contentment-never find contentment- because its never going to be enough. As soon as you get or acquire what you think it is you need, youre going to want more. It will lose its luster after awhile. Its never going to be enough. He goes on to give a second warning in Verse 19, a second beware. And Ill say to myself, You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. The second warning is a self-centered life squanders its blessings. A self-centered life squanders its blessings whereas the purpose-driven life seizes the day. It says every day I have is another day to fulfill my God-given mission. Every day I live is another day to make my life complete. When the world looks at this guys life, what does the world think? Thats a good life. Thats a great life. Id like to live a life like that. I model my life after that guy. Look at him! Hes rich; hes successful; he can retire at a young age. He doesnt have a care in the world. The world looks at the guy and says, Thats who you want to be. Thats the guy you want to become, that self-made, independent guy who just has everything you could ever want. God looks at his life, and what does He say to him? He says, Youre a fool. Were going to read on, and God is going to call him a fool. You say, Is God calling names now? Thats kind of low of God to start using name-calling, isnt it? A fool meant a person who lived as if God didnt exist. Thats the biblical meaning of the word fool. We use it as a derogatory, and it is derogatory, name-calling kind of thing. It means a person who has no moral compass, and they live as though God didnt exist. Thats a fool. The world says, This guys a success. God says, Hes a failure. Hes a failure. How about that? Because the self-centered life squanders its blessings, [think of] all of the blessings he could have been, the people around him he could have blessed with what he had and the talents he had. He chose instead to squander it. He stored it, he kept it, and he died, and it was gone. God basically says to him, What was that all about? Thats not what I put you down there for. Thats not what I breathed life into you for. Its not what I designed you for. There is more to life than that, than stuff. No, thats not a successful life. Imagine this life with a different scenario. What if instead of saying to himself, What shall I do? What is my purpose? this same guy would have said, Okay God, you tell me what my purpose is? God, Im asking You, I dont know. You created me. You tell me what is my purpose? What should I do with the talents Youve given me, the resources Youve given me, the passions Youve given me? What do You want me to do, God? God would have given him a different answer than to build bigger barns and fill them up for yourself. God probably would have said something like you know that widow down the street who just lost her husband? Yeah, I know her. You know what? She has some little boys. I know them, yeah. I want you to first of all go give her some food because they dont know how theyre going to eat tonight. I also want you to teach those boys how to farm, teach them the techniques that have made you so successful, so they can be successful and not go hungry too. That man would have done that, and it would have been so contagious. [It would have shown him] so much joy if he saw their smiles and tears. As he saw their full bellies and knew he had a part in saving them and helping them in their future, he would have said, God, this is fun, this helping people and serving humanity! I think I want to do it again! Maybe he then starts putting on clinics to help people. Maybe he starts a food distribution center for the poor, and guess what? He never runs out. He never runs out. By the time hes finished, his silos are just as full as when he started because you cant out-give God. He starts offering himself up to God in worship-which is what we will talk about next week, and God just starts filling his life with blessing after blessing! He says, This is fun! That beats going, This is mine! Nobody else can have it! Its mine! I want more! Thats mine too! He could instead say, Im giving this to you, and this is to you. God is going to use my talents, abilities, and passions to help the people around me and build them up. [Think of] all the friends he would have gotten [had he followed God instead], all the relationships and community he would have established… How different a life [he would have lived] than this lonely life where he died by himself with all this stuff. He gets to Heaven, and God says, So what? Youre a fool. Thats a completely different scenario, this self-centered life that never has enough. The self-centered life squanders its opportunity. So he gets to Heaven, and he asks the question, What should I do? When he asked himself, his answer was Im going to build bigger. Im going to get more. God says, Is that your final answer? Is that the way its going to be? No, God says, I have the final word. God said to him, You fool. This very night, youre life will be demanded of you. You have no choice when God says your times up, its up. Then who will get what you prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God. Anybody. This is your fate. This is your end here. The self-centered life ends in vanity. It ends in vanity, whereas the purpose-driven life ends in significance. Which would you rather have? Last weekend, Labor Day weekend, it was one last chance to get away for the summer. I gave my video announcement on Saturday night during the service, and then we took off Saturday night for a city called Bayfield up near Superior. Has anybody been up there? The Apostle Islands? Its a fun place. Lake Superior is just beautiful. Its clear because its so cold, and there arent a lot of things growing in there. Its very clear. We dove a shipwreck there a couple years ago, and its cold in Superior. Thats why things dont grow there right. It has a beautiful color. Whats interesting is I could see in Superior almost as far as I can see in Key Largo when youre diving. You can see about 50 or 60 feet down. It has a good visibility. There are many shipwrecks in Superior, and those are fun things to look at and explore. You wonder what the story was behind it. What were the men doing? How did it happen? We were taking a trip to Bayfield. We try to get up there at least once every other year. We decided we were going to take a kayaking trip and kayak on Superior to a shipwreck. So were kayaking away, and we look out and see what we think is a bunch of seagulls. As you get closer, you see theyre not moving. What it actually was was some of the wreckage actually was sticking out of Lake Superior. We get there. I cant remember if we were at the bow of the boat or where we were, but it was interesting because the boat was wooden. While we were heading toward it, I was thinking, Wow, this thing is old. He (the tour guide) says, This boat sank in 1870. It was at that juncture where prior to that all the cargo boats were made of wood. Later on, they would be made of medal, but this was a transition period where they just started to introduce medal into the making of ships. On one of its early voyages, it had caught on fire-somebody was careless and caught the ship on fire, and the ship sank not that far from shore. There were no causalities, but there it sat at the bottom of Superior. You can see everything as youre kayaking over it. You can see it perfectly. Its really not that deep. What really struck me was when he said how many years it took them to make the boat. It wasnt months; it was years. Men gave years of their lives to make this boat that sunk right away. That would be discouraging if I were working on that boat; we christened it and sent it out. You were all excited and [would have] said, Howd it do? It sunk! It burned up and it sunk! Its going to be there for the passage of time. Discouraging. You might be tempted to say, That was vanity. All that work, years of my life, and now its lying on the bottom of the lake. Jesus is saying here, I dont want you to live a vain life. Thats what hes saying. He says, Then who is going to get what you prepared for yourself? What was your purpose? What were you thinking? Why didnt you talk to Me first? Why didnt you ask that question of Me? Jesus is giving us a beware here. He says, Dont live for vanity. Dont live for the temporal. If you live for the temporal, its vanity. Its going to parish. Its going to be gone. Its gone. But if you live for the eternal, thats significant. Its not vanity, because youre living for that which is going to go on with you into eternity. Some of us are going to really be investing right now in friends and relationships. Weve invited them to our small groups and invited them to church. Some of those people are going to make decisions to follow the Lord this month. Theyre going to be with you in Heaven. Compare that to your car. Compare that to your vacation. Compare that to whatever it is, whatever tower you want to build and fill it with stuff. Having that friend you care about with you in Heaven, how can you compare that to anything? God says, I want your life to have significance, value, and meaning. In order to do that, you have to live by purpose. To know your purpose, you need to seek Me. For this man in the parable book, that was all she wrote. He was up before the Lord, and it was a done deal. He couldnt go back. You and I are right here. Were right here. You have to ask yourself the question, Which does my life resemble? Im not going to ask for a raise of hands today. I dont want to embarrass anybody, but in Luke 12, do you resemble this guy? At this point in time, are you living a self-centered life, or are you living a purpose-driven life? All of us have to take care of ourselves. All of us have to provide for ourselves. All of us should have goals. Im not saying that [we shouldnt], but the bottom line is from the way you live your life, is it about you? If the answer to that question is its about me, thats a self-centered life; thats a life that will never have enough. Thats a life that will squander the blessings. Thats a life that will be lived in vain. If I can say, Its about Him and God, I want to know what Your purposes are for me, [then Im living a purpose-driven life]. Just like that man said, Its never too late to become who God intended you to be. Start today. Were going to get out of it what we put into it. I hope we will take these 40 days, this spiritually-significant timeframe, in the Scriptures and say, Im going to apply myself to understanding, knowing and learning Gods purposes. Then we live them and walk them in my life so that when I get to Heaven, I dont have to hear the words, You fool. I can hear the words, Well done, well done good and faithful servant. Lets pray together: Father in Heaven, we thank You for this teaching from Luke 12 today. I know that Your Holy Spirit has spoken to some hearts. Some of us have some important decisions to make. The first one we need to make is to come to the realization that its not about us. We are created, designed, and put on this planet and draw a breath for a reason. That reason has so much more to do than building barns, filling them up with stuff, tearing them down and building bigger ones and filling them up with more stuff. Father, that we would live for Your purposes and we would be able to come to the end of our days and say, My life is not lived in vain. I live for the living God. I live for His purposes. Thats a life You bless. Thats the life You reward. Thats the irony. Those who seek to keep their lives shall lose them, but whoever loses their life for Your sake shall find it. I pray for those who have just begun the journey-theyre either seeking right now or just recently made a commitment to follow You. I pray that Your Holy Spirit, Lord, will guide them as they take these steps. Bring them into community and friendship in the body. Help them to know their spiritual gift and give them a continued hunger for Your word and Your truth that they might grow in the things of God. Lord, we pray for the spiritual babies who are going to be coming into this congregation. We dont even see their faces yet, but theyre coming. Theyll be here next week or the week after or the week after that. Somewhere down the road, theyre going to come and be born into the Kingdom. Theyre going to find this completely new world-[and find out] theyve been made with a purpose. Equip us as a church to be able to minister to them, love them, equip them, and grow them up in the things of God. We pray this, Father, in Jesus name, Amen.