Podcasts about Will You

God Empowers the Weak (4) (audio) David Eells, 9/16/26  Now this question comes up often from people who are learning to walk by faith. What about when you know you're healed, and you're confessing you're healed, but the symptoms remain? In other words, let's say you have a rash. You know you're healed, but the rash persists for days and weeks and months. Well, what I would examine is, first of all, have you confessed your sins? Is anything in the way? If there's something in the way, you'll know it. You don't have to do a lot of introspection; you don't have to examine your life and all that. If there's something in your life, you're going to know it already. God will show it to you. Get that out of the way first. Once you get that out of the way, our job is to believe in what we know of the promises, not what we see. That's what faith is. God's job is to manifest it, and He will. He will not fail. If we believe and we walk the walk of faith, He will manifest it. I'm not going to say He's going to do it right away because there would be no such thing as a trial of your faith if He did it right away every time. We don't take care of God's job. Our job is to believe and exercise the faith. That is our part of the Covenant. God's part was done at the cross and it will manifest in you. Exercise the faith and let Him take care of it. He will. He will never fail, although sometimes you may have to walk it out in faith for a while. Some people think because it's not manifested right away, God didn't hear it, but that's just not true. There have been some things I've had to walk out for a long time before I saw the answer. This is why we're studying the Scriptures. We need to be convinced that Jesus is the same today (Hebrews 13:8) and we have to be consistent in saying, “Yes, I am healed.” (Jas.1:2) Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold trials (or “temptations”; it's the same word); knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. So you see that if your faith has to be proven, then the healing is not going to manifest right away. In times when God is teaching patience, it's something that's not going to manifest right away. Some wonder will He be on time. Don't be double minded; make your faith pure. 've received some things right away, immediately. They were immediate manifestations. At other times, the more I walked it out, the more my faith grew and the more the answer came. Have you ever had that happen? It happened to Abraham. Hebrews 11 talks about the faith of Abraham. Well, let me tell you, he didn't start out that way, believing for his son, did he? And he even laughed, too, didn't he? He sure did. Not only Sarah laughed, but he laughed. And they had their Ishmael too (Genesis 16:15), too. This was because he wasn't walking in faith but works. He grew from that point. The Bible says that “he waxed strong through faith” (Rom.4:20), which means he became strong through faith. He did not start out there. There are some things that the Lord worked patience in me to believe God for. Just know He won't fail.  The devil will try to get us to walk by what we see and feel. Remember the motorcycle wreck that my wife was in? We were just learning faith. She had already received some surgery, and there were some problems and some complications and the doctors wanted to schedule another surgery. It was during that time that we really came before the Lord, sought healing and got prayed for. Since our insurance didn't cover the planned next surgery for a certain time period, the doctor had her on medication, painkillers, and antibiotics while we were waiting for the date when we could do the next surgery. But Mary threw the medicine away because that was when we came to the Lord. And after that, she forgot about it. Then there was a day she was going to take our little girl shopping and get some things she needed since she was starting school. So she planned to go shopping, but when she got up that morning, there were all those symptoms again. And she just started rebuking and praying all that day and saying, “I don't accept it; I was healed at Calvary.” (I also was doing warfare.) She said, “I'm not taking this back on me.” And when she went to record the checks that she had written, she saw the date on the calendar was when she was supposed to go in for another examination because the doctor was going to schedule the second surgery. It was only that one day when the symptoms came back, and then after that, they were gone. It's like the devil was trying one last chance to convince her to walk by what she saw and felt and return to the doctor.  The real problem in receiving healing is that God's people don't walk by faith. Yes, there are gifts of faith, and I've had gifts of faith before, but what I'm talking about to you here is not a gift of faith. Do you know what a gift of faith is? It's when your whole consciousness is convinced, when you are convinced and you're not wrestling with your flesh. It's a gift that overwhelms your flesh. But waiting for a gift of faith won't always work for you, where walking by faith will always work. About 90% of the people who look for healing through a gift of faith wind up the same way they started. But we know that the Lord is no respecter of persons. If we exercise faith, God will meet us by meeting our need. The problem with expecting healing only through the gift is you can't count on it because you never know when the gift is going to manifest and when it isn't.  But faith always works, if you exercise it. I've prayed over people before and seen instantaneous miracles. Then they'd walk away from there and the devil would convince them of what they saw and what they felt and they'd fall right back into their illness. That is because God expects us to walk by faith. A baby Christian may go into a church and people will pray over them and see an instantaneous miracle, where people who have been in the Lord for 40 or 50 years at that same church go down to the altar over and over to get prayed for but, you know what? There comes a time when God expects you to exercise your faith. For a baby in a crib, everything is spoon-fed. You're not expecting anything from him; you just give it to him. Once you've been in the Lord for a while, if you don't abide in the things that are written and you don't ever exercise your faith, you'll stay a baby; you'll just be a baby with a beard. Remember Brother Bolivar's vision of babies with beards? They were old in the Lord but they hadn't grown in Him. God expects us to use our faith and, if we don't use it, we're going to get into trouble. He'll push you out in that wilderness where your salvation is going to come from Heaven or you'll die in the wilderness. There are a lot of people who are dead in the wilderness because they went out into the wilderness and they wouldn't trust in the salvation that comes from God. They kept wanting to run back to Egypt. Well, you can't always trust Egypt's salvation, because it's not always there. I'll give you two good examples of how there's always a curse in trusting in the arm of the flesh (Jeremiah 17:5). My daddy smoked for 50 or 60 years; I don't know exactly. He had a lung removed and the doctors started giving him some Cortisone to try to get more oxygen into the lung he had left, but Cortisone destroys the muscles. The muscles just turn to mush. Well, you know, the funny thing is, when they did this, he had to have an examination. So he went to a doctor he really respected and this doctor said, “Mr. Eells, there's one thing you'll never die of. You have the heart of a much younger man and you'll never die of a heart attack.” You know what happened? He started taking that stuff and a month later he had a massive heart attack. The heart is a muscle. It's never a good trade-off, ever.  It wasn't for my momma. My momma was taking a medicine for many years that she thought was good for some kind of psychiatric thing and one day she got to looking in this Reader's Digest Side Effects of Medicine and the two side effects of this medicine were breast cancer and glaucoma. She had them both. Is that a good trade-off?  Trusting in the arm of the flesh is cursed. The Bible says you're cursed. Don't think you can get out of it. Don't think you can keep running back to Egypt. God will push you out into that wilderness, where your salvation must come from Heaven. Water comes out of a rock in the wilderness. That's not normally where it comes from. Manna came out of the sky in the wilderness; it didn't come out there to them by way of boxcars from Egypt. Well, there's a price to be paid if you get salvation from Egypt – a big price. A friend of mine out at the plant went to Fatima and he was healed of cancer. And I have to admit to you, I don't know where the line is. I do know that God is weak to the weak. If you believe, I don't care how you're convinced. If you believe that if I anoint you with oil that you'll be healed, then you'll be healed. You know what Jesus said? (Mat.9:29) According to your faith be it done unto you. Some people believe in just the laying on of hands, and some people believe you have to have the oil. I don't care what you believe. Whatever will help your faith, do it and accept it. Let me give you an example. A sister who lived next door to me when I lived in Louisiana and asked God to fill some of her teeth. She wanted God to put a filling in her teeth. You know what? God did that. He put a filling in her teeth. Now, I had a really bad cavity over the top of two of my molars. I could shove my fingernail up in there on top of it. I could feel it with my tongue. I rebuked that thing and commanded it to be healed in the name of Jesus. You know what God did? He healed those two molars. He didn't put a filling in there. He healed them. He put the tooth enamel back in there. According to Jesus, “be it done unto you according to your faith.”  God is weak to the weak. Many times He'll meet you where you are. If you have faith that when a particular person prays for you, you'll get healed, then go to that person. If you have faith, by all means go because, if that helps your faith, go do it. But if you have faith to be healed by just staying home and confessing it, then do that. “Be it done unto you according to your faith.” What I'm trying to tell you here is something that is consistent. I believe there are some famous men who have gifts of healing. I think they're doing some things that aren't right, but I believe they have some gifts of healing. But what I'm telling you always works. It always works because the Word of God says it always works, not because of my experience. Baby Christians can go in there to one of their services and get healing, but when they start growing a little bit, it's going to take two to agree (Matthew 18:19). They're going to have to go down there with faith and have somebody to pray the prayer of faith over them to get it because, you see, “to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required” (Luk 12:48).  The more you continue to walk with God, the more He expects you not to behave as a child who keeps falling and getting up, but to grow and get up and stay standing and to walk out your faith. So that's why I believe a lot of people aren't getting their healing. The people of God are not being taught faith. They're not being taught that you can trust God. You see, if you think that God's a “maybe” God, that “maybe He will,” “maybe He won't,” you never know whether He will or whether He won't, and then you'll never exercise faith. You have to be convinced it's God's Will to heal you before you can get healed because the only way you can exercise faith is to believe you have received. It works consistently, every time. There's one thing I know of that can get in the way of having faith and receiving and that's willful rebellion. (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment…. So a person who walks in willful rebellion is not walking under the blood; they are walking in a place where they're going to get a chastening, and there isn't anything you can do for that person until they repent. In fact, the Bible says don't pray for them for life (1 John 5:16). Don't pray for them for life. You know, you have to pray for people to repent. Sometimes people have to repent, or they're not going to get what they need from God. What about if you come upon an accident, like the time I told you about with the wreck on the bridge, where the man was bleeding out his lung blood and was unconscious? What if the person you would be praying for is a stranger and they might even be an atheist? Would God still heal them? Well, you know, there is such a thing as being led by the Spirit. That's what happened to me with the wreck on the bridge. I knelt down there and prayed over him and God healed him. That will happen in every case where you're led by the Spirit of God.  You see, you can always depend on the Word of God, but when you're getting outside of what you know is your foundation in the Word, like, for instance, the children's bread. If you get outside of something that you know is your foundation in the Word, you have to be led by the Spirit. There was this doctrine going around years ago that you had to get a rhema from God before you could receive. You had to hear God talk to you out of Heaven and say, “Hey, you're healed,” before you could believe that by His stripes, you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). That's hogwash. Don't ever believe that. Every time you believe any Scripture verse, it's a rhema straight from God to you. The problem is, are you humble to what that verse says? If you're humble to what that says, that's a Word for you. I believe God wants so much to teach you the ways of faith and that you step out in that faith and lay hands on some that God might heal them. They may not keep it because they are not walking under the blood, but He may let you do it for many reasons. He may let you do it in order to exercise your faith, to show you that faith works, to show them that faith works, to be a witness. So He may do it even if they won't be able to keep it. You cannot go beyond the principles of the Word of God with your faith. People try all the time and they fail. The Bible says the devil comes immediately to steal the seed which has been sown in their hearts (Matthew 13:19). You know, when you get a healing from God, the devil is going to come and try to steal that. He is going to come and try to convince you by your feelings and by using symptoms. The devil is a minister of symptoms, you see; he manipulates the physical realm.  That's why God wants you to walk by faith, because the devil can't manipulate what the Word of God says but he tries to deceive you. He'll put questions in your mind to get you to doubt the Word. But he manipulates the physical realm. He tries to get you to walk by sight and not by faith. He can make you feel things, but that feeling can go away immediately when you stand firm on the Word of God. That's the reason we have to have our spiritual senses exercised to know what's right and wrong (Hebrews 5:14). We have to have spiritual eyes; we have to have spiritual ears. We have to see and hear what the Word says and ignore everything else.  Jesus did that. Jesus would have looked like a fool and He knew it, if He had said some of those things He did and God didn't answer. But you know what? God is not going to let that happen. God never lets that happen. I'm saying that sometimes you may not be in the perfect Will of God, but God is so interested in teaching you faith, in teaching you that it's working, in teaching you that you can trust in Him, that He will manifest that healing. It's up to us to keep what God's given us because the devil is going to come and try to steal it. When I see something like that in someone, I'm in prayer. It may not come out of my mouth, but I am thinking, and I am praying, and I'm asking, “Lord, do you want me to do something? Will You permit me to do something?” Maybe you don't know if this person is a Christian; maybe you don't know if they have a right to God's blessings. Maybe you don't know if they have a right to the Covenant. Pray. Ask God. God can show you what you don't see and what you don't know. The principles of God are to lead us to know in this conscious realm, but the Lord sees what we don't see, and He can lead us to do something that we would think would be contrary.  I love to pray for baby Christians because God's grace is upon their innocence. I tell you, you will see the best results. Christians in this country are so worldly; they're always running after the world and not truly interested in growing in the things of God. They can be so double-minded. There was this girl in a mission when I lived in Pensacola, and I tell you, this miracle that happened really stuck with me; it was so wonderful. Well, she had come to the Lord at the mission. She'd just got saved, and another minister and I were ministering to her, and we prayed for her to receive the Holy Spirit. I'll tell you, she just got filled with the Holy Spirit. She was really a very quiet little girl, but there she was, just jumping around and praising God. Oh, it was really just wonderful! See, what had happened to this girl was she had been raped by a friend of her husband. She feared what he might do if he found out. She had tried different methods to abort the child. Then she went down to the public health clinic, they checked her out with the sonogram and with the heartbeat monitor and they told her, “The baby's dead; you need to have a D&C.”  Well, she was supposed to go back and do that, but meanwhile, she came to this mission when I was preaching and got saved. And when she got saved, we prayed for her to receive the Holy Spirit. And I felt to ask her, “Is there anybody whom you have not forgiven?” She said, “Yes, I have never forgiven this doctor whom I felt aborted one of my children purposely with drugs.” I said, “Wow! You just did the same thing. You're judging him for something, but you just did the same thing; you just killed your baby.” And I said, “Don't you see, you have to forgive that man.” So she did. She prayed the prayer and asked God to forgive him, and she prayed for his soul and asked God to save him. Then I just felt inside; there wasn't any booming sensation or anything, but I just felt led, and I told her, “Well, I don't see any reason God can't resurrect your baby right now because you're a new creature.” She was a born-again Christian that day, filled with the Holy Spirit, and not guilty of the thing that the person the day before was guilty of.  When I said this to the girl, the room cleared out. Everybody left the room, following the preacher. They just went right out the door. Then I called my wife to come over to lay hands on the girl's abdomen, and I commanded the spirit of life to come back into this baby. Then I also gave her a few little exhortations, such as, “Now faith works like this. When you pray, you believe you have received and you shall have it.” I gave her a few more words of faith. Then I walked out into the hall, and the preacher grabbed me by the arm leading me into the next room and closed the door, and they were all in there. And he said to me, “Listen, God's not going to do that for that girl. She killed that baby.” But I said, “Well, please don't try to destroy my faith. I believe He'll do it. I really don't believe you understand grace. She is a new creation and is not guilty. That's where my faith is.” And I opened the door and left them all in the room. So the girl called me the next day and told me, “Nobody over here will take me down to the health unit.” I said, “Well, I'll come take you down there,” and I went and picked her up. And while we were going, I preached faith all the way down there. I said, “Now listen, you remember what the Word of God says, that when you pray, believe you have received and you shall have it.” She was just a simple-minded baby Christian, full of the Holy Spirit, and she said, “Okay.” When we got to the public health clinic, she went in there, and she said, “I want y'all to check me again,” so they did. They put the heartbeat monitor on her, and they put her on the sonogram and there was no life signs. And the technician said, “Well, ma'am, you're going to have to have a D&C. This is over three days and you're going to be blood poisoned. You have to get a D&C.” But she said, “I don't accept that. I just don't accept that.” And when she said that, that heartbeat monitor kicked on, the baby's heart started pumping and the baby started moving all around. That unbelieving technician looked at that, and he said, “That's a miracle!” And her baby was born, and it was the baby of her common-law husband; it wasn't the one she thought it was when she was raped by this other man who was of a different race. Here's a baby Christian who said, “I don't accept that.” Why didn't she accept it? Because it was not what the Word of God said. We don't have to accept the curse when the Word of God says differently. We'll get out of a lot just by not accepting the curse. And her faith is supposed to keep growing from that day on. She's supposed to be maturing in her faith. That's what all Christians are supposed to do. (1Ti.6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal…. This is continual warfare. If you don't fight, you don't win. In fact, if you don't fight, you lose. We're here to bear fruit. We're here to bear the fruit of Jesus. We're here to walk the steps of Jesus. (1Jn.4:17) … As he is, even so are we in this world. We are here to do the work of God. And let me say that it doesn't stop with salvation of your spirit, nor salvation of your soul, nor salvation of your body. It doesn't stop until it gives you salvation in all of your circumstances.  Anything around you that has to do with your life that's part of the curse, the Scripture says you were saved from that by Christ. (Gal.3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. He became accursed for us. When you go to Deuteronomy 28 and read the curse, you see that most of the curse is circumstances surrounding a person's life. We are saved from circumstances. When you get into detrimental circumstances that are a part of the curse and you remember that you've been saved from that, you can exercise your faith, and you can change it. Did you know that? You can change it so repent and believe. Sometimes it may not look like anything that's all that important. For example, your grass might have a blight on it; it doesn't have to be that important. I found out God wants to do something just because you're exercising your faith. God will even heal animals.  As a matter of fact, He heals animals more quickly than He heals humans because there's no faith necessary from the animal; it's only you who has to have the faith. Your faith counts. God heals animals, and I've seen Him raise them from the dead. I've seen Him heal their bones. The only thing is, don't do what I did one day and call an unbelieving Christian over there to agree with you because that's the last thing you want to do. I did it one day. Now we've had many dogs healed; their bones and legs healed. We prayed over them and God would heal them. We even found a bunch of puppies that were frozen solid and God resurrected them from the dead. There was this old dog; you could just tell it was a “Christian” dog. It had such a good spirit. Have you ever seen a good spirit in an animal? This old dog was out in the road right in front of our house, and it had a broken back. I went out there and carried that old dog over into our shed. Then I saw my neighbor come up to me, and I said, “Hey, come on over here and help me pray for this animal.” But, you know what? As I was saying, “Hey, come on,” the Lord said, “Don't do that! Don't do that.” But he was already at the shed. And when he got there, I just said, “Well, we need to pray for this animal that God will restore his back.” I've seen God heal lots of animals, but it didn't always happen immediately. Let me tell you, the next morning that guy went out there and shot that dog. And I thought that's why the Lord said, “don't do that.” We see in Scripture that when Jesus went in to pray for people, He only brought certain people into the room with Him and put other people out of the room, according to their faith (Mark 5:40). He doesn't want to honor anybody's unbelief. He doesn't want people around who are agreeing with you but are unbelieving because they're going to get in the way. I tell you, I have come to not like the term “Christian.” I like the terms that they used in the Scriptures. I like “believers,” and I like that they called it “the way.” It was the pagans who used the term “Christian,” but I don't like the term because it doesn't truly identify people correctly. The thing that identifies people should be, “Are you a believer?” It's the whole thing that keeps you in the Covenant. In fact, you're going to be broken off from the vine if you don't abide in faith (Romans 11:22). The Jews were broken off because they fell into unbelief. Paul says, “and they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again” (Rom.11:23). You're out or you're in, according to faith. It doesn't have anything to do with a label that's called “Christian.” This is doing God a disservice. What identifies us as God's children is faith. If you lose your faith and start walking in the ways of the world, believe me, that's not going to save you. That's what the Lord taught me when I was a young Christian. I was going through the hospitals, and I would let the Lord guide me to go through the doors. I started asking people, “Are you a Christian?” And, guess what? They all said, “Yes.” So that just did not work very well, and I had to start figuring out better ways to ask people. I'd ask them, “Well, look, was there ever a time in your life when you just really turned your heart to God and you decided you wanted to please Him and you had a hunger for God?” I'd try to identify people that way.  Anyway, here's another good example of sozo in circumstances. (Mat.8:23) And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. (24) And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. (25) And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save (that's the same word, sozo), Lord; we perish. (26) And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? And in Luke 8:25, He asked, “Where is your faith?” In other words, He was really expecting them to do something. Where is your faith? That was His rebuke. He was saying, “Why don't you do something?” He had given them authority to do this, you see. (Mat.8:26) … Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. (27) And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? This is obviously a sozo that has to do with circumstances around your life. All the curse in Deuteronomy 28 that doesn't have to do with healing, and your nature, has to do with the circumstances around your life. Jesus bore that curse. He became accursed. You can't be much more accursed than what happened to Him on the cross. That was a circumstance. In your circumstances, you have a right to come against the curse because of what Jesus did. We are delivered from the curse. In fact, every sickness and disease is listed in the Bible here: (Deu.28:61) Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. So they're all listed: every sickness, disease and circumstance. Anything detrimental to your life is a part of the curse, but crucifixion, spiritually speaking, is not detrimental to your life. That's not a part of the curse; that's a part of the blessing. We're here to be crucified, so don't get mixed up. Don't mix up the curse with the crucifixion that we go through in life. We're here to turn the other cheek, for instance, because God's put people here to come against us. You have to distinguish between the curse and what God's doing through the wicked to bring you to death to self. We're here to die. We have to take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). For instance, when Jesus was going to the cross, He made no attempt at deliverance from it. He turned the other cheek (Matthew 5:39; Luke 6:29). He wouldn't defend Himself. He knew He was there to go to the cross. Jesus knew that these men were there to do the Will of God and put Him on the cross. In our lives, too, there are people whom we can't consider a part of the curse. God put them there to put us on our cross. The Bible says, if any man speaks, let him speak as an oracle of God (1 Peter 4:11). What they don't say is what Jesus said. Jesus said, if they slap you on the one cheek, turn the other one (Matthew 5:39; Luke 6:29). He said, “resist not him that is evil” (Mat.5:39). Jesus said that. A lot of churches try to make that into something that you have to obey in the millennium, but why would you need to obey it in the millennium? This doesn't make any sense. No. Jesus gave that to us because when you obey that, you're going to be spiritually crucified. Concerning these circumstances, God has delivered you. Sozo. In circumstances in your life, you are going to be saved, sozo, by grace through faith. And all of this is to show you that “my power is made perfect in weakness” (2Co.12:9). What God really wants from us is to be weak in ourselves. You know, dead men are weak, right? They don't handle things themselves; they're just dead men, and that's the way we have to consider ourselves to be. If you slap a dead man, he just turns the other cheek. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. Salvation isn't from self; it's from God, and it's by grace and it's through faith (Ephesians 2:8). (Mat.8:23) And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him. (24) And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. (25) And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Save, Lord; we perish. (26) And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? (26) … Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. (27) And the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? Well, no matter what the wind and the waves are in our life, I believe Jesus would ask the same thing: “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Generally, we're fearful because we get our eyes on the circumstances, instead of on the Savior. In verse 25, where they said, “Save, Lord,” that's the word sozo. It's the same word they use here: (Eph.2:8) By grace have ye been saved through faith. There is one thing we do have to fear and that is fear itself, because fear is negative faith in the devil and the curse. And when you're in the midst of turmoil, when you're in the midst of circumstances that you need God's salvation in, only faith is going to bring it to you. I believe God wants to take us by the hand and show us some things. Years ago, when I was a baby Christian, I felt, “I am a disciple of Jesus.” And I always felt that Jesus wanted to take me by the hand and guide me and show me how to walk in His Kingdom. Have you ever had that feeling, like the Lord wants to talk to you about circumstances and situations and teach you things? I've had Him say things to me that made me realize that about circumstances. We're not to be moved by circumstances. If you remember, Scripture says, “so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all” (Gal.4:1). So, as long as the servant is in bondage to the principles of the world, he's a child, right? Or, in other words, the child is a servant. But that's not sons. We are here to manifest God's sonship in us, and we're not to be in bondage to the principles of the world. Circumstances shouldn't be able to stop us from doing what we need to do for God.  Whenever circumstances get in our way that seem to be stopping us from doing what we feel is God's Will, we have authority over them. In this case in Matthew, the disciples exercised authority over their circumstances. The disciples never would have thought to do that, but this is what Jesus was doing. He was taking them by the hand, and He was teaching them. He brought them into those circumstances so that they would understand that they weren't to be ruled by the circumstances, nor any other kind of curse, but they were there to change the circumstances. Has God ever done that with you – just taken you by the hand and shown you what to do in the circumstance? Has God ever shown you how to change the circumstance so that you could keep on going and doing God's Will? Understand that God put the disciples in this little lesson He did that with me one time when I was a baby Christian, but it stuck with me. God asked me a question: “Why don't you do this?” It's like, “Well, I could have done it,” but I had to wait for Him to tell me. “Why don't you do this in this circumstance?” Has he ever done that to you? He's done that with me quite a few times. It's like, “Okay, let Me take you by the hand. Let Me show you how to do this. Let Me show you what to do.” Jesus asked, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Like they naturally and normally wouldn't be fearful in a circumstance like this. If we think naturally, of course, we're going to be fearful in a circumstance like that one. When your eyes see things that are terrible, naturally, you're going to be fearful in a circumstance like that. But Jesus acted as though you weren't supposed to be. “Why are you fearful in this storm and with the boat filling up with water? Why are you fearful? Don't you know I've given you authority?” In fact, in another Gospel, He asked, “where is your faith?” (Luk.8:25), in the same situation. “Where is YOUR faith?” In other words, “Well, why didn't you do something?” And why would Jesus ask that question? He was saying, “Why didn't you take care of this?” God takes us by the hand to show us these lessons. He did that with Peter. Remember when Peter stepped out of the boat (Matthew 14:29)? What was the purpose in that? Everything has to have a real need or a purpose. What was the purpose in that? God did something only for the purpose of teaching Peter. That was the sole purpose of it.   Printer-friendly version

God Empowers the Weak (3) (audio) David Eells, 9/13/26 Let me share a testimony with you. Back when I was in the world, I had a deficiency that was passed on to me from my daddy. His daddy had this really bad sinus problem. My daddy used to pack around this bottle of Neo-Synephrine. It opened up the sinuses, and he carried it year-round. Growing up, I had the same problem. My sinuses would close up, and so I used that stuff to open up my breathing, but eventually it will eat the lining right out of your nose, and then I would have to use it even more. Well, when I saw that Jesus healed me at the cross, I threw that bottle away. God healed my nose then and it hasn't stopped up to this day. That was in my low twenties when I threw that bottle out by faith. And I've had head colds since then, but my nostrils haven't stopped up. When I threw that bottle out, that honored God so much that He just took it out. I used to have a natural problem with colds and sinuses, chest congestion, and all that left. The doctors gave me so much penicillin that it no longer worked for me.  Then I caught on to vitamin C, and I started taking it, and let me tell you, it did twice the good that the drugs and Neo-Synephrine had done. I saw it worked so much better than the shots, medicine, and stuff, but when I found out what Jesus did for me, I stopped taking vitamin C and I got deliverance from the whole curse of colds, congestion and sinuses. Even though the vitamin C worked better than the drugs because my system totally just was ignoring them by that point, I threw the vitamin C out, too. When I'd get a cold back then, and we'd have orange juice in the ice box, God would say, “Don't drink any of that; just totally avoid it.” He wanted to prove to me that the deliverance I was getting was from Him; it didn't have anything to do with vitamin C. Listen, I got delivered of something I had all of my life to that point. It was so bad that the infection would get in my inner ears, then my eardrums would burst, and I had fluid draining out of my ears. When God delivered me, I threw out the Neo-Synephrine, and I threw out the drugs and the vitamin C; I got total deliverance from that. It's no longer a problem.  So, what is it to walk by faith? We can pick up parts of walking by faith by looking at one another, but we need to get an image of what God's faith is. Look at Mark 11:22. Most versions read, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” But in the original version, it says, “Have God's faith” and the Numeric Bible says that, too. I thought about that, and I felt like the Lord told me that God's faith is not the faith of man in God, but the faith of God inside of man. It's hard for us to work up enough faith in God, but it's our right and privilege from the Scriptures to have God's faith in us, which is what salvation is all about. (Php.2:13) For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. And you know it's our right because that's what Jesus did. He made reconciliation. Reconciliation is an exchange. Jesus took our unbelief; He put it on the cross along with the curse and He gave us His faith. We have to reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin (Romans 6:11). Self is the unbeliever, but your spiritual man is not able to walk in unbelief because he is born again. He's born of God. The problem is our old carnal man gets in the way. From the time we are children, our carnal man is being trained to be our savior, to be a grown-up, but Jesus taught us that we have to become as children, or we won't enter into the Kingdom with its benefits. Now, we know that we're entering into the Kingdom because Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luk.17:21) and some translations say “among you” instead of “within you.” Both are true.  So we are entering into the Kingdom, but we can't enter into the Kingdom without being a child. And that means we are weak. That's not a grown-up, right? The qualities the world calls “grown-up” are not considered to be qualities in the Kingdom of Heaven. Casting all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7) and putting our total trust in Him to be our supplier (Genesis 17:1), our Savior (Ephesians 5:23), our Healer (Exodus 15:26) – these things please God. (Heb.11:6) Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. So what we need is what He says in Mark 11:22. We need to “have God's faith” in us.  When you get a picture of Jesus, you may get a picture of a faith that you don't have by manifestation. Let me say that you can have that faith. The Bible says, We all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory…. (2Co.3:18). You have to see it as an accomplished fact. You have to see the fact that Jesus has already given you everything that He is, and that includes His faith (Romans 5:10,11). And that's the way faith works. It speaks the end from the beginning. It calleth the things that are not, as though they were (Rom.4:17).  When we look in the mirror and we are to see Jesus. The Bible promises us that for this we'll be transformed into that image, from glory to glory, so we need to get a picture of His faith because that's our faith. It is the faith of God inside of man, not the faith of man in God, because the carnal man has no ability to walk in faith. We try and try to work faith up in ourselves, and that is the faith of man in God. But the faith of God inside of man is the Father's free gift given to us by grace. It's by grace we are drawn to the Father; that's His gift to us. And He will keep us in the same faith He put in us to cause us to come to Him at the beginning, if we continue to walk in that faith. He's given us the faith that we need. He's given “us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2Pe.1:3). He's given us all things. His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (3) and faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith…. “Have you been saved” is what it says in the original and that's what the Numeric says and that's what the Nestles Text says. I believe the Received Text says that, too. “By grace have ye been saved through faith.” Faith always looks back. Faith believes you have received. It's always past tense. Hope is future tense. Hope is looking forward to something, confident that you will receive something, a firm expectation. Strong's says the Greek word elpis, meaning “hope,” is “a favorable or confident expectation.” But faith is looking back at something, not forward to something. It's something that you have already received. It's calling “the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17). So whatever salvation is, whatever salvation incorporates, it comes by grace through faith and it comes by looking back. And since our salvation is past tense, it makes being weak of primary importance. If you obey the Word of God, if you obey the principles of Jesus, you will be weak in yourself. You will cease from your struggling to save yourself in situations; you will enter into the sabbath and cease from your works so that God can do His.  Some time back, I ran into this one woman in Louisiana. She had been to “who's who” in the healing circuit. She had gone to everybody. She had two very large, inoperable tumors, and she gave me a list of all the people she had gone to. She said, “David, I just don't understand why I haven't been healed.” And I said, “Well, I believe the reason just came out of your mouth as to why you haven't been healed. You're looking forward to healing and the Bible teaches us to look back at healing, for by His stripes you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Faith is always in the past. The sacrifice of Jesus was at the beginning of this Testament so that we would always look back and accept what was done there, accept it as ours, because it is past tense. If we accept it as past tense and done, then it causes us to be weak because it causes us to cease from our works and we enter into the sabbath rest. If you believe it's done, then you don't have to keep working to try to bring it to pass. If it's in the future, you'll never know what method God wants to use to bring it to pass, but since it's in the past, you can accept it as a free gift. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…. So we do have works to do; only they're not our works, they're the works of God. Whatever God's work is between here and the manifestation, our work is to believe what the Bible says, and the Bible says, “by whose stripes ye were healed” (1Pe.2:24). We should never be moved away from that for any reason that would say, “Maybe not, maybe not in this case,” because we'll never be able to have faith if we're not convinced that what the Bible says is true about our healing. See, Jesus came to reveal the Will of the Father and He did that by healing everyone who came to Him. Our problem is that we can't come to Jesus physically and touch Him, but we can all come to Him by faith. We can confess our sins that we may be healed. (Jas.5:16) Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. We have the ability to get things out of the way that would hinder healing. So we confess our sins that we may be healed, as the Bible says, and then we can “touch” Jesus by faith. He healed everyone who came to Him. He came to show us the way and to be an example. Everybody who came to Jesus was healed, so why isn't everybody healed today? The number one reason is that it's not being taught that by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). You, as a Christian, were healed. This is not something you have to look forward to. That's hope. See, that's the problem with many Christians – they're looking forward to something that they need to be looking back to. We were all healed at the cross. And we enter into that by ceasing from our own thinking and our own reasoning and saying, “God, I repent. Your Word is true.” What does it mean to “repent”? It means to “change your mind.” The Word is true. If it says by His stripes you were healed, then change your mind; you were healed.  What we need to understand here is this word “salvation,” or in Greek, sozo. The Scripture says, “for by grace have ye been saved through faith” (Eph.2:8). Now, I point out to you that faith is past tense. It's always believing for something that you've received. When you pray, Jesus said, “believe you have received and you shall have it” (Mark 11:24). That's the way that faith works. That identifies how our salvation is going to come, our sozo, our “saved,” is going to come. Grace is another thing that identifies God's method for bringing you sozo, “salvation,” “saved.” Let's look carefully at this example. (Rom.4:4) Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. It says, if it's grace, it's not your works. If it's grace, you have to cease from your works. See, many people are seeking healing and deliverance because they have hope. But hope will not get you either. Faith will. If you have to work for it, or pay for it, if you have to earn it, it's not something that's coming through grace because “grace” is “unmerited favor.” Much of the church is caught up in their own works. They say, “You're not saved by your works,” but they believe that only refers to their soul. When the Bible talks about salvation in other areas, like “deliverance” or sozo, “saved” in other areas, it's, “Oh, well, no; now God does it this way.” So they continue in their own works. He says here, “To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt.” In other words, God would owe it to you if you could work it up in yourself. But it's not grace if you have to work for it because God would owe it to you. It would be a debt. He refuses to cooperate with you in that. (Rom.4:5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness. Notice: “to him that worketh not…” Grace comes “to him that worketh not.” Here's another example. (Rom.11:6) But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. Whatever salvation is, salvation is very big. It's much bigger than your soul going to Heaven when you die. Salvation is here and now. Salvation covers everything that Jesus did on the cross. It covers everything having to do with the curse of sin and of death. We've been delivered from the curse of sin and of death (Romans 8:2), and that's what salvation is all about. But if any part of that salvation is by works, then that's not salvation through grace. There are salvations out there that are not God's method for His people. The world always wants to be your savior. The arm of the flesh always wants to be your savior. I.e.,“Let me do it my way, Lord. I know how to take care of myself. I'll do it.” The worldly ways of deliverance don't cause us to grow closer to God; they don't cause us to manifest Christ, nor do they cause us to grow in faith. They are salvations that are of the world. When the children of Israel were brought out into the wilderness, they wanted to run back to Egypt for their salvation (Exodus 16:3). They said, “Let's go back to the flesh-pots.” God said in effect, “No, you stay in the wilderness. Your salvation is coming out of Heaven.” But they continued to murmur. “Well, we would rather have Egypt's salvation; it's easier on the flesh; it's not so much of a trial. Let's go back to Egypt.” Every time the Israelites got into a tight spot, every time they lacked water, or food, or whatever, God put them in that spot. He brought them there, and He put them there so that they would come to the end of themselves and put their trust in Him. Instead, they kept crying, “Let's go back and get Egypt's salvation.” Egypt had a salvation. The world has a salvation for you; it has a deliverance, but it's not an eternal deliverance, and the end is always a curse. The Bible says, “Cursed is he who trusts in man, in the arm of the flesh” (Jeremiah 17:5). Maybe you don't see it, but in some way, whenever the world saves you, there's always a curse in it. Maybe you don't see it yet, but there's one there. When Christ saves you, it is eternal. It causes you to grow in faith. It causes you to grow in manifesting Him. It's an affront to Him to think that you can pay for His benefits. You remember when Peter and John were praying for people and they were receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15,17), that Simon the magician also received the Holy Spirit, but he wanted to pay Peter and John for this ability. (Act.8:20) But Peter said unto him, Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money. (21) Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right before God. Simon wanted this gift to be able to lay hands on people to impart the Holy Spirit. That's all he wanted, but we need to see that the principle here covers much more than just this gift of imparting the Holy Spirit. Peter said, “Thy silver perish with thee, because thou hast thought to obtain the gift of God with money”; in other words, it's not something that you can earn or ever pay for. The gift of God doesn't come through your ability, nor does it come through your earning it. You cannot pay for it. It has to be free. Do you know what happens when you go and pay for the world's salvation and call that God? Because it's not God; it's going back to Egypt. You get an answer and you may grow, too, but you grow in the world; you don't grow in God. You see, the Lord explained something to me about the image of the beast. The image of the beast is being manifested in this world right now. I'm not going to deny what anybody else has to say about the image of the beast in the future, but the Bible says that Christ was the image of God (Hebrews 1:3) and that His Body is made up of saviors. The Bible even says, “and saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau” (Oba.21). “Saviors” is plural. God's body is made up of people (1 Corinthians 12:27) whom He has gifted in different gifts (1 Corinthians 12,13,14) to enable them to do the work of Jesus in this earth, works that Jesus wanted done: of deliverance, of saving, of healing, of providing. But, you know what? First of all, God's administering these gifts through Spirit-filled believers. Don't twist the Word, as many Christians do, and say, “Well, now God administers these gifts through pagans.” No. Not so. Although God can give you many gifts through pagans, and although the Holy Spirit does not have to go through a man, these particular gifts He's talking about only come through Spirit-filled believers. None of these gifts can be bought. If you have to buy it, or pay for something that you call “God's salvation,” it's not grace and faith. Grace and faith cause you to be weak; it causes you to cease from your trusting in Egypt and in the ways of the world. God's gift is free. You can't pay for it, you can't earn it, you can't be good enough for it. It comes by faith. Faith is believing you have received. When you believe you have received, it causes you to stop seeking it. Stop and think about it. If you believe you have received healing, are you going to keep running after it? No, because faith always cuts off the works and the methods of men. When you believe you have received, you can rest; you can cease from your works; you can enter into rest. Everything can come from God that way. Everything will come from God that way. It's the most perfect way to receive from God. You say, “Well, doesn't God keep Egypt going?” Sure He does, but God wants Egypt for the Egyptians. God has planned the wilderness for Christians. Does God give strength to Egypt to keep running? Of course. (Act.17:28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being…. He gives you your very breath. The world gets its breath from God, but the world is not God's method for Christians.  God's method for Christians is receiving every salvation that comes from Christ through grace and faith. That's His method. It is offensive to God to think that you would want to buy from Him any gift that He has already given to you. He has chosen it to be a gift. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God. Note the word translated “saved” here is the word sozo. “For by grace have ye been saved,” Sozo. That word is used over and over in the Scriptures. If we can find the places where this word is used, then every place this word is used, it should come by grace through faith. That means not of your works. A free gift of God; exercising faith in God. That's what pure faith is. That is what God's faith in man is. The other is not real faith and fails us. I want to give you an example of what salvation encompasses, one probably every Christian would agree on. This was the sinful woman who anointed Jesus, and Jesus pronounced her forgiven of sins. (Luk.7:47) Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little. (48) And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. (49) And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that even forgiveth sins? (50) And he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Now I believe everybody who is a Christian would agree with me that forgiveness of sins is salvation, and it comes by grace through faith. As we look at some of the other places where the same word, sozo, is used, you may question whether that salvation still comes by grace through faith, but I can assure you, any kind of salvation that comes from God is a free gift that comes by grace through faith. Wherever this word is used, it fits into Ephesians 2:8. Everywhere it fits in there, no matter what we identify as being this salvation. I once asked a Greek man, who spoke Greek as his native language, “What does the word soteria mean to you?” Soteria is the noun of sozo in the Greek and is the word in the Scriptures for “salvation.” He said, “Well, it means to us Greeks, ‘all of your needs supplied like a little baby; all of your needs supplied.'” See, we have such a very narrow idea of what salvation is. Most of the churches that we've been raised in have taught us that salvation is only getting to go to Heaven when this life is over. But when we look at that word and identify it in the Scriptures, we find out it's very big, very broad, and that every bit of it is incorporated in these promises concerning being saved. (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith…. This woman, to whom Jesus said, “thy faith hath saved thee,” was saved by grace through faith. This was where her sozo came from. All her needs were supplied like a little baby. A little baby needs all his needs supplied. We have to come to Jesus as a child, in need of our needs being supplied. Adults are used to going out and supplying their own needs; they're used to taking care of themselves, but God desires this sozo kind of relationship with us. He desires that we would keep the sabbath, cease from our works, and enter into the rest through faith in the promises of God, as the Bible says. (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, that's a broad promise, but salvation is very big.  Let me give you another example of this word, sozo, and let's see if “by grace have you been saved through faith” still applies. This is the story of the 10 lepers. Remember the one leper who returned and gave glory to God (Luke 17:15)? Here's what Jesus told him: (Luk.17:19) And he said unto him, Arise, and go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. And the word for “made thee whole” here is the word sozo, “saved.” “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” What the leper received from God can only be obtained in the wilderness, not in Egypt. Sometimes there is a salvation in Egypt, but just like the mark of the beast, there are two marks. There is a mark of the beast, and there is the mark of God. Exodus 13:16, speaks about the mark of God on the forehead and on the back of the hand, and the mark of God was to have the Word of God. The Israelites would write the Word of God, put them in these little boxes, and then they'd tie them right across their forehead and put them on the back of their hand (Deuteronomy 11:18). But, guess what? The corresponding verse in Revelation 13:16 talks about the mark of the beast. So, if it's the Word of God being manifested in your mind and in your works, that's the mark of God. In contrast, the mark of the beast can be the word of the flesh, the word of the devil, the word of the world, the thinking of the world being manifest, the mind of flesh being manifested in your mind and in your works. That might be just a spiritual revelation of it, but accept it because it's still Scriptural.  See, if we walk after our own thinking and after our own works, it's because we're trusting in our own ability. We're not walking by faith in Jesus, and your mind is not being renewed by the Word of God. You walk as a beast. I don't care if you walk in church; you still walk as a beast if you walk after the mind of the flesh and if your salvation comes from the world. So we have the image of the beast being manifested in the world, while the image of Christ is being manifested in the Church. Christ's Body is made up of people, each of whom has been given gifts to serve the rest of the Body. Do you know the world is made up the same way? Jesus said there are only two men in the earth (Matthew 24:40) – there's Christ and there's antichrist. The world works the same way. The only difference is that the saviors who make up the image of the beast want to save you from Christ's salvation, and Christ wants to save you from their salvation. His salvation is free. Theirs is not free; theirs is very costly. The Lord has a better way. He showed it to us in the Gospels. What Jesus gave in His provision was free; it didn't come through the works of man, the ability of man, or man's money. When you have to pay for it, believe me, that's not salvation by grace through faith. This leper found that out. What did he have to pay for this sozo? He received a sozo that came by grace through faith. You know, a third example can be found in the story of the blind man. (Luk.18:38) And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. (40) And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, (41) What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. (42) And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath made thee whole. Sozo, “saved.” “Thy faith hath saved thee.” That's what He's talking about that saves you. Salvation covers healing, and it's always covered healing, even in the Old Testament. The word right here is sozo. It's “saved.” The leper was “saved” of his leprosy. The blind man was “saved” of his blindness. See, they've translated the same word different ways. They've translated it “saved”; they've translated it “made whole,” but the original word is still only one word; it's the same word. I have the three most ancient manuscripts, and it's the word sozo. Sozo is the word in the Scriptures for “saved.” Everywhere Scripture uses the word “saved” in talking about our eternal salvation, it's the word sozo. We see now it's also used for healing, which tells us that healing is involved. Remember, Jesus came to deliver us from the curse of sin and of death (Romans 8:2). Sin brought death. What was incorporated in death? Sickness, disease, everything else was incorporated in death.  Our salvation is double; it's dual. It saves us not only from sin, but it saves us from the penalty for sin. What is the penalty for sin? The curse. In Deuteronomy 28, God expounded the penalty for sin and He gave us the curse there. When you go back and read it, you'll find out that the curse covers not only sickness, but everything detrimental that ever happened to man because of his sin. Everything that came against man from the beginning because of his sin is a part of the curse. And you know what? Jesus became accursed for us that we might have Abraham's blessings. He became a curse on that cross. Everybody who's put on a cross is accursed (Galatians 3:13). What Jesus bore was not only the sin; it was the curse for that sin. Why would God say, “I'm going to take away your sin,” but not take away the curse? So now we see this word, sozo covers all of that. It covers not only the sin, but also the curse. We've just looked at three people who were delivered of the curse of sin, and they were delivered of it because it was by grace through faith. Let me give you yet another example to show you the difference between God's salvation and the world's salvation. Let's not change the Scriptures. What we see in Jesus is still the truth. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is our Salvation. What He did, was to prove to us what He wanted to do. What He did in the Gospels, He does today to everybody who believes. The Gospel is the power of God to save everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). What's the Gospel? It's the Good News. It's the promises of God. And it doesn't matter if you're a “Christian.” What matters is: are you a believer? Do you believe what the Gospel says? There are Christians who are unbelieving Christians because they only believe what they want to believe. We have to believe in the Jesus of the Bible and that He really is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus still heals everybody who comes to Him. Let's not make up another Jesus. Paul talked about those who would come to you with another Jesus. No, we don't need another Jesus. We need this Jesus. The problem is not with God. People blame the problem on God. The problem is not with God because God has already healed you. It's not a matter of God deciding whom He's going to heal and whom He's not going to heal. That's not what the Bible says.  The Bible says that by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). This is your decision to make. (Rom.1:16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation (soteria) to every one that believeth…. Look, the condition is on you believing. The condition is not whether God wants to heal you. The Bible says all of the promises of God are “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Don't believe the people who say, “Sometimes it's ‘no.'” No, all the promises of God are “yes,” and through him is the Amen (2Co.1:20). That means “the so be it.” That means it will come to pass through Him. What we have to do is renew our mind and get back to the real Jesus. The real Jesus of salvation covers your body and your circumstances. Now let's look at this example. (Luk.8:43) And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians…. You know what? She was trying to buy salvation here. She was trying to buy sozo. The word “saved” is used in this text. She was trying to buy it. This is not God's method for you to receive it. God's method for you to receive this comes the same way as it did in the Scriptures: through the laying on of hands (Mark 16:18) and the confession of faith (Romans 10:10). That's His method. You know why? Because it excludes all of man's glorying in it. Nobody but God can take credit when you do it God's way. (Jas.5:14) Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: (15) and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up … This doesn't say it “would” or it “might”; this says it “shall” raise them up. The Bible says if any two of you agree as touching anything, it shall be done (Matthew 18:19), and I consider that to mean the person being prayed for and the person doing the praying. That's two, right?  Let's continue with our example. (Luk.8:43) And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any. Some of you have been there. I've been there, too, only to find out that God gave it freely when I gave up. God gave it freely. Look at this same story in Mark. (Mar.5:25) And a woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years, (26) and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse … I just wanted to point that out to you: she spent all that she had. She came to the end of herself. I've been there. You don't have to try everything but God. You can start out with God. God is faithful. He is faithful Who promised (Hebrews 10:23). He will not fail you. There is no “maybe.” You can't exercise faith if you think, “Maybe God will, maybe He won't.” The Bible doesn't say “maybe” He will, “maybe” He won't. It says He's already done it. When this woman was healed, it didn't have anything to do with Jesus' faith because she came up and touched Him, but Jesus didn't know it until after it was all over. I do want to make a point here, though. This salvation she had been looking for was not sozo because it was not grace through faith. It was not. Why? Because if it's grace, it's no more works. If it's a gift of God, you can't pay for it. And if it's faith, it's past tense. She was looking for it in the future. She sought to receive it. But if it's faith, she was looking the wrong way, just like this lady I told you about who had those two tumors. I told her, “Turn around and look the other way; you're looking the wrong way.” That's when God gave this to me, this thought of “You're looking the wrong way. Turn around and look at the cross.” When the serpent on the pole was raised up in the wilderness, everybody who got their eyes on that serpent on the pole was healed (Numbers 21:9). You had to get your eyes off the snakebite and on the serpent on the pole to be healed. I told her, “Turn around and look at the cross. That's where your healing happened. You're looking in the future.” Tomorrow never comes. Faith never works that way. Faith believes that you have received (Mark 11:24). Faith turns around and looks back at the cross because the Bible says, by His stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). Your healing is certain. It was accomplished at the cross. Reconciliation was accomplished (Colossians 1:20). What is that? Exchange. At the cross, Jesus gave you His healthy body and He took your old, unhealthy one. He gave you His clean, pure soul, and He took your old, unclean one. He gave you His righteousness and His blessings, and He took away your unrighteousness and your cursings. The exchange was made. This is how faith works. (2Co.5:17) Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new. Now our old things have become new. What are we? New creations. New creatures in Christ. This is how faith works. Faith sees the end from the beginning; faith accepts it, grasps it; and faith holds on to it. That's why this particular method is God's method. You ask, “Can God do it?” Sure. God keeps all the Egyptians alive until they come to know Jesus. Do you understand that when we come out of Egypt and go into the wilderness, we still need “Egyptology” to come out of us? Yes! When we come out of Egypt and go into the wilderness, we need to be delivered of Egypt. I'm not talking Law here; I'm talking about a privilege. It is our privilege to accept our salvation in Jesus Christ as an accomplished fact and what I'm telling you is just how big the salvation is. (Luk.8:43) And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, who had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed of any, (44) came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately the issue of her blood stanched. (45) And Jesus said, Who is it that touched me? And when all denied, Peter said, and they that were with him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush [thee]. (46) But Jesus said, Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me. By the way, I know the King James says “virtue” here, but the word is “power”; it's dunamis. In fact, the King James does translate it “power” in other places in the Bible, like in Luke 10:19. The word “power” there is the word dunamis. So it was power that came out of Jesus, but if it was power that came out of Jesus, it didn't have anything to do with His faith. In this particular case, all that was necessary was for this woman to touch Him by faith. It wasn't a matter of Jesus making up His mind whether to heal this woman or not.  Jesus never turned anybody away anyway and He's not going to tell you “no.” In fact, if there's a “no,” the “no” is going to be in you; it's not going to be in Him. Our problem is we listen to the devil; we listen to the flesh. We don't listen to the Bible. Confess your sins and believe. That's all you have to do. Now, if you have willful disobedience in your life, it will come between you and healing because you won't have faith toward God. The Bible says, “if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God” (1Jn.3:21). That's why you have to confess your sins to get them out of your way. But Jesus always said, “Yes.” Do you think that there were some of those people who came to Jesus who needed something worked out in their lives? I guarantee you that all of those people who came to Jesus had something that needed working out in their lives, but that didn't stop Jesus from healing. You know what did stop Jesus from healing some? When He went to His own hometown, their unbelief stopped Him. He could not. It doesn't say He would not. (Mat.13:58) And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Now, we need to have the faith of God in us. This salvation has been accomplished. It's not a matter of you asking Him to accomplish it; “it is finished” (Joh.19:30). I have overcome the world (16:33). This is not a matter of Jesus doing something in the future. Ask Him, “Will You do it?” He'll tell you just what the Bible says. “I did it.” He won't say, “I will do it.” He never says that. The Bible doesn't say that. He's always going to agree with the Word. He won't tell you something contrary to the Word. I knew a man one time who was asking God to heal his wife of cancer, and God told him, “She's healed.” You know what? His wife died. He was sure God told him that she was healed, and he was angry with God. I said, “Bud, God told you exactly what the Bible says. He's not going to disagree with His Word. The problem is, do you agree with His Word? He's going to tell you to believe the Bible every time. He's going to tell you, ‘You are healed.' By his stripes you were healed. What else is He going to say? Are you going to ask Him to tell you something besides what the Bible says? He's only going to tell you what the Bible says.” I know calling “the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17) appears like a lie to the world, but it's not a lie because you're in agreement with the Scriptures. You agree with God Almighty, the One Who does not dwell in time, and what He says goes. (Rom.3:4) … Let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. Now, when you come under the judgment of the curse, what you need is justification. Justification is God calling you righteous. And He calls you righteous when you come under the curse, if you agree with the Bible concerning what Jesus did about the curse. Can you agree with the Bible about what Jesus did for you? He became accursed for you so that you could have the blessings of Abraham. (Isa.53:5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Do you agree with the Bible? See, if you're not agreeing with the Bible, you're going to consider, “Well, I need this.” Or “I'll have to handle it. The crucifixion of Jesus was not enough, I'll have to handle a little bit of it myself.” The worldly teachers will convince you of that, and you will be a double-minded person because you are not agreeing with God's Word. Jesus only preached to those people who had eyes to see and ears to hear (Matthew 13:9-11). He wasn't talking about the physical eyes and ears; they all had them. He meant spiritual eyes and ears. (2Pe.1:3) Seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness…. Do you see that? Do you see with your spiritual eyes that God has already given you everything that pertains unto life? It's not a matter of Him accomplishing it. He did that almost 2000 years ago. Now the problem is, are you going to agree with Him? Two can't walk together except they be agreed (Amos 3:3). You can't walk with Jesus except to the extent you agree with Him. Now, how are you going to agree with Him? I told Bud, “The Lord told you what the Bible says. The problem is you didn't believe in it. You were waiting to see something first. That is not the way faith works. Faith accepts it as a fact before seeing it. If you walk by faith, you'll see it, but if you walk by sight, you'll never see it because that's not the way it works. That's not faith. Faith is looking back at the cross.” So, Bud was angry at God because God didn't do what He said He was going to do. But it wasn't God's fault. See, we enter into the Covenant. The Bible says that the Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom.1:16). Listen, the power of God has already accomplished everything. What He's done is already accomplished. Your part is to enter into that Covenant by your faith. That's what brings it to pass. God's part is sure; it is finished, and it is final. Now we enter into our part of it by faith. That's our part of keeping the Covenant. When the disciples asked Jesus, “what must we do, that we may work the works of God?” (Joh.6:28), He said just one thing: “believe on him whom he hath sent” (29). All we have to do to do the works of God, whatever they are, is “believe on him whom he hath sent.” Does everybody have to die under the curse? Does everybody have to leave this life under the curse? The world has taken for granted that you're going to die of something. Do you have to die under the curse, or can you keep believing all the way up to the end, until you leave this life? Has everybody died of the curse? No, they did not. In fact, I have some books describing people who died on their deathbeds, and there was absolutely no pain in their bodies, and they couldn't find anything wrong with them; they just went to be with the Lord. This is not to condemn the ones who do die, but we have to get our sight and our vision on Jesus. You can't go somewhere that you can't see, you know. The Bible says, if you can see Jesus in the mirror, you can go there. Of course, everybody's not going to go there to the same extent. Look, one person received one talent, another two and another five (Matthew 25:14-30). Everybody doesn't get the same gift. Everybody doesn't manifest the same fruit, do they? There's 30-, 60- and 100-fold fruit (Matthew 13:8,23). Do you want to enter into only what you see other people entering into, or do you want to enter into everything that God has for you? That's the point. We're supposed to be looking at Jesus, not looking at our neighbor. Get your eyes on Jesus. He'll show you what you can enter into. God is going to do a special thing in these days. Did you know that He's going to do something He's never done before? The Bible says He's coming “to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day” (2Th.1:10). Oh, glory to God! The apostle Paul said there was a day in the future when his words would finally be believed and that Jesus would be glorified in those people in that day because they did believe that word.  You know, God gives grace for us to enter into believing just as much as we can believe. God gives grace for us to reach out to places people have never reached out to. In this day there is more grace to believe more than there's ever been. Do you understand what that verse says? He said, “in that day.” Paul was saying that they weren't believing it in his day, but that's what we're seeking right now. We don't want to stop with what religion has accepted; we want to go on and get everything God has given us. (Eph.2:8) By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. That's one work. Now, here's another work: (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…. The first is talking about your work, the work of the flesh, the efforts of man, the efforts of self, the buying of God's gift, all those things. The second is talking about God's work. So let's just use healing again as a “for instance” because we're talking about it already. Do you know what? When you have faith that Jesus healed you, which is the only one that's a Scriptural faith, that faith is going to be walked out by your feet; it's going to come out of your mouth; it's going to be seen in your actions. That is a work that comes from faith. You know what the other work is? It's a work that comes before faith. Works of the flesh come before faith; works of God come after faith. When you believe, you're able to walk just like you received, and do you know what happens when you do that? You do what the 10 lepers did. Jesus said to them, “go and show yourselves unto the priests” (Luk.17:14). Well, they understood that because in the Law of Moses, when a person was healed of leprosy, he went to show himself to the priests. Then the priest inspected the person and took his turtle dove and gave his offering. But these lepers went to show themselves to the priests before their healing was manifested. Their walk was a walk of faith. But the way of the world would stand right there and say, “Well, I'm not healed.” Those lepers would look at themselves and say, “Well, I'm not healed yet. It's not the time to go show myself to the priest.” That's a carnal walk. That's walking by sight and not walking by faith. So there is a work that follows faith. Faith without works is dead. If you believe that you're healed, let me hear it come out of your mouth and let me see it in your feet. And if you believe that Jesus delivered you from sin, let's see that come out of your mouth and see it in your feet. Do you understand? When you believe something, your actions have to agree with that belief. Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself (Jas.2:17), or it's incomplete. It's not real faith until it's put into works that agree with what the Bible says. But the world says, “I can see you're not healed,” but your feet keep on saying, “I'm healed. Look at me walk,” because your works are going to agree with faith. So if you're just healed by faith, you know you're not healed by manifestation. As long as you're healed by faith, you're believing for something that you don't yet see. That's the way faith works. And if you don't do it there, you'll never see it by manifestation. We have to repent of our worldly thinking. We have to repent of our Babylonish doctrine that's been given to us. We must change our minds, and we say, “God, You're right.” You have to say that before you can enter into it. (Rom.3:4) Let God be found true, but every man a liar…. Justification comes from agreeing with God. Agree with God; even if you're failing, agree with God. God's not going to condemn anyone. You don't condemn your child if your child is a toddler and stumbles and falls. There's no way you would condemn that child because that's the way they learn to walk. That's the way children are. They don't always get it right the first time. Now, as they get older and they're stumbling, you start asking what's wrong with them. So when we start out on a faith walk, we stumble and fall, but we get up. If you don't get up, you're not overcoming. You get up, you walk a little farther, you stumble, you walk a little farther. Every time you get up, you're walking farther, and you keep going. But if you decide, “I'm just going to sit right here because it's too dangerous to stand up,” then you're going to be an unprofitable servant (Matthew 25:30) because you've been given knowledge and you're doing nothing with it. Remember, it's God's faith inside of you; it's not your faith in Him. You'll fail as long as it's just your faith in Him. It's God's faith inside of you. Remember that God has given you His faith. Accept it as a gift. Reconciliation has given you this gift. Unbelief was taken away from you at the cross. Did you know that? All your sins were put on that cross, including the one that's at the foundation of every sin – unbelief. But that's at the cross, and you've been delivered. The Bible says, “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin” (Rom.6:11). That means to reckon your old unbelieving self to be dead and gone. “I'm delivered from unbelief.” Do you understand? That's not a confession of faith in yourself; that's a confession of faith in God. We are new (2 Corinthians 5:17). You have been made free from sin (Romans 6:22). You're free from unbelief. Believe and accept it.  Don't get anxious when you fail God because of your unbelief, and don't let anybody put a guilt trip on you. Don't let anybody put you under the Law to do what they expect. Don't be moved by peer pressure because somebody else has faith. Don't look at any of that. Get your eyes on Jesus. He will give you the faith that you need to do these things. It's His free gift to you. You don't have to be anxious or try to work it up yourself. You can't pick yourself up off the floor by your bootstraps. It's just not possible. It has to come from the outside in. It's nothing that you can do from the inside out. So don't be condemned if you're not able to do everything that you see Jesus do or that you see others do. Don't worry about it. It's God Who started the good work in you, and it's He Who's going to finish it (Philippians 1:6). The people who put others under legalism cause a lot of people hurt. This is wrong. And I'll tell you what, they ultimately get hurt, too, because what you sow, you reap (Galatians 6:7) and you can't sow that legalistic thing without it coming back on you. You can't judge others without being judged (Romans 14:4). I'm just offering you the knowledge. I'm trying to put the picture of Jesus there in front of you. Look at Jesus and you'll be transformed into that image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Don't look at any religion or put another Jesus up there because, believe me, you can be transformed into any Jesus. Religions do it all the time. The only Jesus we want to reflect is the One the Father sent. Look in your Bible. The only way you'll see the true Jesus is to look in this Book. Look at Him. This is Jesus. He's the same. He hasn't changed. Men try to change Him; they have made a comfortable Jesus. One that the flesh could be comfortable with, a Jesus that wouldn't bring you through any kind of a trial of your faith. It's easy to have the Jesus that religion has. Let's look at the Jesus in the Bible. I tell you the reason we're not seeing the works of Jesus on this earth; it's because they've made another Jesus and they're being transformed into that image from glory to glory. That's the problem. Let's get back to the Word and believe it. Jesus sent His disciples out to do the same things He did. How can you do the same things He did unless you agree with Him? So now let's read the rest of the story from where Jesus perceived that power, sozo, went forth from Him. I really want to get beyond healings being included in salvation because I believe a lot of people already understand that, and I want to show you how broad salvation is. And it's all going to come by grace through faith. All of it. The rest of it, let me tell you, is man's works. (Luk.8:47) And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people for what cause she touched him, and how she was healed immediately. (48) And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath (my Bible says “made thee whole,” but the word there is sozo) saved thee; go in peace. He saved her. This is a part of salvation. She was saved. Remember, she sought the physicians.  The Bible clearly shows you the difference between seeking deliverance from the physicians and seeking it from Jesus. (2Ch.16:12) And in the thirty and ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet; his disease was exceeding great: yet he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. (13) And Asa slept with his fathers…. The Scripture makes a difference between seeking the salvation that normally comes from the world and the salvation that comes from God. Now, did you know that those Jews received their healing from God for many, many years. They started being drawn away from that when Solomon brought in all of his pagan wives, who brought the physicians into Israel. Up until that time, they got their healing from God. And when they went to Babylon, they started falling into many of the things of the world that weren't Scriptural. And the word in Scripture for “healing by the use of medicine” is the word pharmakia – just what we use today. Pharmakia is the word for “sorcery” or “witchcraft,” depending on which Bible you have, and is where we get our word “pharmacy.” Jesus has a better way, and it won't cost you anything, and believe me, you'll get out of so much trouble. If you live a life of the carnal Christian, by the end of your life you will have spent a lot of money on Egypt. But I tell you, God will get you out of that; it's His free gift. Don't say, “I have to do this.” No, it is a privilege. God gives you a privilege. You don't earn it; He's given it to you freely. This is His sozo. This is a part of His deliverance.  Years ago, way back at the beginning of our Christian walk, my wife, Mary, and I were riding motorcycles up in Mississippi. And this was a real hilly area. We were on two dirt bikes, and this was new territory to us, so it was kind of crazy what we did. We were each on a bike and we came over this hill, and she turned one way, and I turned another way. Well, on her side it was almost a cliff. It just went nearly straight down. And I heard her screaming all the way to the bottom of that hill, “MOMMAAA!” And she was mashing the foot peg as hard as she could, but I don't think she ever mashed on the brake because I never saw the wheels skid or anything. I mean, she was flying when she hit the bottom of that hill. It was painful for me to watch. I saw her bounce off a few trees, and I went down in there and scraped her off those trees and put her on the back of my bike. And then I took her out of there and got her to a hospital. This was during the same time that Mary was taking some medicine to try to clear up an infection, so the doctors were talking about operating on her kidneys. But a friend of ours told us about the promises in the Scriptures about healing, and we went to this church that believed in healing. So she went down in front of the church, and they prayed over her. Well, nothing physical happened. We went home, and it was probably a week or two later when she was meditating and thinking on it all, and the Lord spoke to her. And you know what He said? He said, “If you believe that I have healed you, why are you taking all that medicine?” Because the Bible says, ‘He has healed you'. And you know what? When Mary ran into the bathroom and started pouring her medicine down the commode because of that voice of the Lord, she was instantly healed. And not only was she healed of the kidney problem from hitting the tree, but she was healed from a natural kidney deficiency that she'd had since she was a little girl. She was healed of always having infections. God did a miracle. He did it freely. The doctors were going to charge us an awful lot to do that, but God did it for free.  God will ask you the same thing one day. He says, “If you believe that I have healed you …” God expects us to believe, not because of what we see or feel, but because He expects us to believe what the Scripture says. We need no other grounds. Peter stepped out of the boat because of what Jesus said. “Bid me to come unto you, Lord” (Matthew 14:28). And when Jesus said, “Come,” that's all Peter needed to step out (Matthew 14:29). All Peter needed was the Word of God, and he stepped out on that Word and the water held him up.  If you're walking by sight, you'll never be able to walk where we're talking about walking because you're calling the things that are as though they are, instead of calling the things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). God chose the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are (1 Corinthians 1:28). Think about it again now. God chose the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. How does He do that? What are the things that are not? The promise. “By His stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24), when you look at yourselves and say, “Well, I don't see myself healed. I still feel sick. I still look sick.” See, the things that are not, are these promises that are not manifested yet. So how do you translate that into this present physical time? It's very simple. We do it the way the Bible tells us to: by calling “the things that are not, as though they were” (Rom.4:17). Please understand. If God chose the things that “are not” to bring to nothing the things “that are,” then He did not choose the things “that are” to bring to nothing the things “that are.” Did you get that? Read it again. He chose the things that “are not” to do away with the things “that are.” What are the things “that are”? The curse. What are the things that “are not”? The promise. Don't say, “God chose this method” or “He chose that method,” when you're talking about the things that are, because the Bible says He chose the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. That's the promise. When you don't see the promise, and you say, “Well, now God chooses doctors or lawyers or bankers or going in debt,” etc., if you say that God uses or chooses the things “that are” to bring about the promise, you're contrary to the Scriptures. In the Scriptures, the men of God used faith to bring to pass everything.  Do you understand what I'm saying? The world will tell you, because it's very convenient or comfortable for them, they'll say, “Well, now God uses this method, now God uses that...” No, He doesn't use “now methods”. That's not Scriptural. He uses the things that are not. He still uses the things that are not. Jesus doesn't have to heal you because He already healed you. You can prove it for yourself. Find one place in the Scripture, find just one place, where anybody who ministered healing to anybody else stopped and prayed and asked God to heal somebody. Find it. They didn't do it, and do you know why? Because it was already an accomplished fact. You know what they did? “Be healed in the Name of Jesus.” They laid hands and they commanded them to be healed. They commanded healing in the authority of God. “As the Father sent me, so send I you,” Jesus said (John 20:21). So we do the same thing Jesus did: We command healing in the name of Jesus. The reason we can do that is that there shouldn't be any question in our mind that it's already an accomplished fact. None of the disciples in the Book of Acts ever stopped and prayed, “Lord, will You heal this person?”  Now God gave us conditions. He said, for instance, it's “the children's bread” (Matthew 15:26). That's for us. He called deliverance from demons and healing the children's bread. It's ours. Is God ever going to deny the children their bread? No. May they go hungry? They might go hungry but it won't be because He's denying them their bread. That woman who was not one of the children, she said, “Well, even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table” (Matthew 15:27). She exercised faith. She proved herself to be a believer. I'm not saying that God can't do more than what it says in the Scripture. He won't do less, but I'm not saying He can't do more.  When Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Melita (Acts 28:1), it didn't say anybody there believed him, but he prayed for the sick, and God healed them (Acts 28:8,9). He prayed for a bunch of pagans, and you have to get God's permission to do that because Jesus said it's not right to cast the children's bread to the dogs. You have to get God's permission to do that. He might give it to you. He might do it as a witness. He may do it as an evangelistic tool. He may do it for those reasons, but He doesn't have to because you can't hold Him to any Scripture for that. The Bible says it's the children's bread. You may question, “What about the mercy ships and the mercy planes that have doctors and nurses specialized in a lot of the surgeries they do for cleft palates and so on?” Well, is it using the things that are or using the things that are not? I'm sure not going to condemn them, but let's get our eyes just on Jesus and look at His perfect way and His perfect Will. Did you ever see Jesus doing that? No. Did you ever see any of His disciples doing that? No. Wasn't Luke a physician? Maybe. Did you ever see him practicing that? No. Not after he came to Christ; you don't see him practicing that. So we don't have an example; we don't have a foundation to do it that way. I'm not condemning them; I'm not going to come against them. I'm just trying to get back to the Scriptures. I'm just trying to get back to God's method, God's way. You can make a mistake trusting in man and it can be dangerous because man can surely fail you. But it's never dangerous to trust in God. He never fails. He's never failed to heal me in almost 57 years, and I've gotten in some places where I needed healing. I've had broken bones; I've had cancer and He's healed me every time. God has never failed me. It didn't matter if it was a cold or a hangnail. It doesn't make any difference. You see, it doesn't matter how big it is. Jesus knew that He had the authority of the Father to come against all the works of the devil and destroy them. And that's the very same authority He gave us.

How do you keep hoping for your child's healing when the road has been long, exhausting, and filled with unanswered questions? In this deeply personal episode, Andrea shares a part of her family's journey she hasn't talked about publicly before—the complicated space between accepting your child exactly as they are and still believing that more healing and greater function may be possible. After years of PANDAS, therapies, evaluations, brain training, and constantly searching for the next right step, both Andrea and her daughter reached a point where they were simply tired. Taking a break brought its own fears: What if we're missing a critical window? What if I'm not doing enough? What happens if I stop pushing? But that season revealed something important: God wasn't in the same hurry Andrea was. This episode explores the intersection of parental grief, nervous system capacity, faith, striving, and hope—and what it can look like when you become too weary to carry hope yourself. Sometimes faith isn't pushing harder, praying harder, or finding the next intervention. Sometimes it sounds like: “God, I can't hold this hope right now. Will You hold it for me until I can carry it again?” If you're raising a child with neurodivergence, developmental challenges, chronic illness, PANDAS/PANS, or another complex diagnosis and you're exhausted from trying to get them across the finish line, this episode is for you. You don't have to know the entire path forward today. Maybe the invitation in this season is simply to rest, allow yourself to be loved, and trust that God can order the next steps when it's time. For more practical support around grief, nervous system regulation, and parenting through complex seasons, join Andrea inside the Thriving Together community.

In this powerful message, “Will You?”, Bro. John A. Putnam challenges us to consider our response when God calls us to follow Him and serve His purpose. Through Isaiah 6:1–8, Matthew 28:18–20, and Revelation 3:20–22, we are reminded that God is calling, inviting, and commissioning us—but the question remains: Will you respond? This message encourages us to move beyond simply hearing God's Word and to willingly answer His call with faith, obedience, and a heart ready to serve. To learn more about what God is doing in Sheboygan County and beyond, visit us at posc.church!

[Jeremiah said:] “O Lord, You know; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors. In Your forbearance take me not away; know that for Your sake I bear reproach. … Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail? Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before Me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as My mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jeremiah 15:15, 18-21)

Jesus is serious about forgiveness. He gave his very life to forgive you. And … he asks you to forgive every other soul who has hurt or offended you. Yes, everyone for everything. Now I don’t know, but maybe that’s a nearly impossible task. Forgiving them – what? They aren’t even sorry. Why should you offer them forgiveness? If for absolutely no other reason, because of this – JESUS SAYS TO. And if Jesus says to forgive, then it’s for a good purpose and you can trust him. Jesus teaches this lesson in another parable and this story makes it very clear the torment we subject ourselves to when we withhold the very forgiveness we have received. Matthew 18: 21-35: Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,' he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. To begin, understand the bar Jesus is setting on how many times you should forgive someone for their sins against you. By Jewish law, you should forgive 3 times. So, when Peter suggest forgiving 7 times, he’s being generous. Then Jesus comes back with a number that doesn’t even make sense – “No, not 7 times, but 70 times 7.” Here’s what that means – that means every limit you’ve had on forgiveness is blown out of the water and there’s zero use in keeping score here. You forgive over and over and over again. This is supernatural forgiveness. This is a level of peace making within your heart that is beyond you. For this, you will need Jesus! Remember, you are a girl who has been forgiven of much. You have no right to turn around and withhold forgiveness from someone else. The first servant owed the King millions of dollars. This man had no possible way to repay his debt. No matter how much time the king granted, there was still no way for him to pay it back. Knowing this, the King had compassion and showed his servant mercy, forgiving his debt completely. This man’s weight had been lifted. He walked in full forgiveness for his very large debt. But, he refused to offer that forgiveness to one of his own servants who owed him far less. When his servant begged him for more time to pay, the forgiven man refused to offer forgiveness and ordered his servant to be thrown into prison. When the King hears of this, he says to the man, “I forgave you of your tremendous debt. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?” Here’s the problem – so many of us forget the mercy God has shown us. In our own little world, we’ve somehow convinced ourselves we’re good enough for our perfect and holy God on our own. Girl, you and I have fallen so miserably short! We have zero right to the forgiveness we walk in. One of our sins disqualifies us from Heaven, let alone the piling of our sins. Isaiah 53: 5-6, “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” Yes, girl, your sin was absolutely unbearable. You were not good enough. You were disqualified. That’s precisely the reason Jesus gave his life for you. Now, Jesus requires that forgiveness to flow through you. What happens if you hold on to bitterness, anger, and resentment because of what someone else did to you? Well, Jesus is actually quite clear here – You will be tortured. This is serious. You need to understand what unforgiveness does to your heart and your mind – it brings torment. But you already know that, don’t you? If you just can’t forgive them for what they did, you have felt that torment. It’s been eating away at you. You can’t find peace. You’re continually upset and wrestling with thoughts, reminders and feelings that torment you. And here’s what is truly heartbreaking – you’ve allowed that. Your refusal to forgive has permitted the torment. Of course it’s easy to pull the “unfair” card. What they did to you was unfair. So it’s unfair to ask you to forgive them. Well, here’s what I know – we really don’t want to play the “fair” game. If God judges us from a “fair” standard, we lose. If God does to me what’s fair, then I don’t get his grace and mercy. If I get justice, then I get eternal punishment. No Lord, please don’t give me justice – give me mercy. As the recipient of his unfair mercy, I’m out of playing the “fair” game. It doesn’t have to be fair. Is unforgiveness a sin? Yes – it is. Jesus says in Matthew 6: 14-15, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” That’s clear. If you hold on to unforgiveness, you will be walking around with the weight of your own sin. Here’s the warning in scripture that should scare the bejesus out of you if you dare hold on to unforgiveness, therefore bearing your own sin. Psalm 38: 3-8, “My health is broken because of my SIN. (Unforgiveness is a sin – it will break your health.). My guilt overwhelms me – It is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.” Where is this exhaustion, sickness and crushing feeling coming from? SIN. What is a sin we often hold on to out of hurt because something wasn’t fair – UNFORGIVENESS. And it’s tormenting us!!!!!! Unoforgiveness is sin and allows torment in our body and mind. Read Jesus’ warning in the parable again – “Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you? Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be TORTURED until he had paid his entire debt. That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you REFUSE TO FORGIVE your brothers and sisters from your heart.” The king turned him over to the torturers. Do you realize there are demons from Hell with the assignment of torturing the hearts and minds of those who hold on to unforgiveness? Peace and healing from that torment can only be found one way – FORGIVING THE ONE WHO IS SO HARD FOR YOU TO FORGIVE. My friend, I pray you don’t allow this torment to continue in your life. You don’t have to carry this anymore. You don’t have to keep replaying what they did, rehearsing what you wish you had said, or carrying anger into every new day. Jesus is inviting you to lay it down. And maybe you’re thinking, “But I can’t forgive them.” You’re right. You can’t—not in your own strength. This kind of forgiveness is supernatural. So don’t start by asking yourself, “How can I possibly forgive them?” Start by asking Jesus, “Will You help me forgive them?” Bring Him the betrayal. Bring Him the injustice. Bring Him the anger. Bring Him the memories that still hurt. Bring Him the part of you that doesn’t want to let go. And then surrender it to the One who has already surrendered everything for you. You may never get an apology. You may never get an explanation. They may never understand what they did to you. Forgiveness doesn’t make what happened okay. It doesn’t erase the consequences. It doesn’t require you to trust someone who has proven untrustworthy. Forgiveness simply releases your right to keep carrying the debt. You are handing their debt over to the King. And remember this: you were carrying a debt you could never pay, and Jesus paid it for you. You have been forgiven. You have been shown mercy. You have been set free. So now, let that same mercy flow through you. Today, you can say, “Jesus, I forgive them. Not because what they did was okay. Not because they deserve it. Not because I feel like it. I forgive because You have forgiven me. I release them to You. I release the debt. I release the anger. I release the right to make them pay. And I ask You to heal what they broke in me.” And when you do that, something changes. The prison door doesn’t just open for them. It opens for you. Because forgiveness isn’t saying, “What you did didn’t hurt me.” Forgiveness is saying, “What you did will not own me anymore.” That’s the freedom Jesus died to give you. So, girl, let it go. Not because it was little. But because Jesus is bigger. Not because they deserve your forgiveness. But because you have received His. And not because forgiveness is easy—but because freedom is worth it. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

There's a house at the end of the street. The frame is still standing, but the lights went out on the inside. Some of us feel like that house. In this message from Psalm 85, we ask the question that has started more revivals than any sermon: "Will You not revive us again?"

The Welsh Revival of 1904 stands as one of history's greatest demonstrations of God's transforming power. In this inspiring message, Pastor Corey Erman explores the events, people, and spiritual hunger that sparked a nationwide awakening, resulting in countless lives changed and communities transformed. Discover the timeless principles of repentance, prayer, holiness, and surrender that ignited revival then, and why they are just as essential for revival today. “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” - Psalm 85:6To support this ministry and help us reach the nations with revival visit RiverWPB.com or text GIVE and any amount to (855) 968-3708.

Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away? We feel this all the time. Will YOU feel the same after listening to this episode? Find out now!Aliens: 40th Anniversary. Royalty Free Music: "8 Bit Win!" By HeatleyBros ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtu.be/vX1xq4Ud2z8

When you look back over everything that has happened — the health issues, the broken relationships, the fear, the disappointment, the things that simply did not work out — it is easy to find yourself asking a quiet and painful question: does God still care about me? Has all of this somehow changed what He has for me ahead? The weight of accumulated hard experiences has a way of hardening the heart, not all at once, but slowly, quietly, until we find ourselves keeping our distance from the very love we need most. The younger prodigal son did the same thing in reverse. He decided what the Father had for him was not enough, left for more, and ended up with nothing. Away from the Father's love, life adds up to nothing. But when he finally came to his senses and turned back, the Father was already running toward him — with a ring, a robe, and a celebration. That is the picture Galatians 4:6 holds out for every one of us: we are not orphans fending for ourselves. We are sons and daughters of the Most High King, filled with the very Spirit of God in our hearts. What happened to us is not our identity. It does not predict what God has ahead. And no matter how jaded or hardened the heart has become, the Father's love is still waiting, still bountiful, still running toward us the moment we turn back toward home. Today's Bible Verse "And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, 'Abba, Father.'"— Galatians 4:6, NLT Ponder Today What happened to you is not who you are. Your past experiences, no matter how painful or defining they feel, do not determine your identity. You are a beloved son or daughter of the Most High King, and that cannot be taken from you. You are not an orphan — God's Spirit lives in your heart. Galatians 4:6 makes this breathtakingly personal. The very Spirit of the Son of God has been sent into your heart, prompting you to cry out to your Father. You are not alone and you are not forgotten. Hard experiences can quietly harden the heart toward God. The accumulation of pain, disappointment, and unanswered questions has a way of making us jaded without our even realizing it. Recognizing that drift is the first step back toward the Father's love. Away from the Father's love, life adds up to nothing. The prodigal son discovered this the hard way. No amount of independence, self-sufficiency, or distance from God fills what only His love can satisfy. The Father is already running toward you. You do not have to clean yourself up or have it all together before returning to His love. The ring and the robe are waiting. The celebration is ready. All that is required is turning back toward home. A Prayer for You Today Father, forgive me for running from You. The continuous onslaught of life has made my heart hard and jaded at times, and I am sorry for letting that happen. Will You forgive me? I don't want to run from You, hide from You, or turn away from You any longer. I am coming back to Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen. Don't Miss an Episode If today's prayer helped you find your way back to the Father's love, we'd love to stay connected. Subscribe to the LifeAudio newsletter at LifeAudio.com for daily prayers, devotionals, and more content to remind you of who you are and whose you are every single day. If you like this podcast, be sure to check out our sister podcast, Your Nightly Prayer - an evening Christian prayer podcast to help you end your day in conversation with God. https://www.lifeaudio.com/your-nightly-prayer/ Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It's comic book films all month long! Tonight, we start with the ORIGINAL superhero film event - 1978's SUPERMAN! Will YOU believe that a man can fly?

Fear has a way of exposing the questions our hearts are really asking: Am I safe? Will someone hold me? Will anyone stay? In Psalm 27, David discovers a Father who answers every one of those fears with His unshakable presence. Join us as we discover the hope, security, and rest found in Jesus.Talk It Over:1. Which of these three questions do you find yourself asking most often right now? Am I safe? Will You hold me? Will You stay? Why?2. What fears tend to reveal what you believe about yourself or about God? Where are you most tempted to become your own “light” or “salvation”?3. What stood out to you about the picture of God as a Father who protects, holds, and never leaves His children? Was there a truth that challenged or encouraged you?4. David longed to be near God's presence, but through Jesus we have Christ living in us. How does that change the way we face fear this week?5. What's one situation this week where you need to remember one of these truths? I am safe. I am held. I am never abandoned.+ + + + +Hey, while you're here, please help Generation by clicking the 'Subscribe' button, then click on the BELL

Life Lessons from Jeremiah Pt. 5: The Precious from the Worthless By Louie Marsh, 5-31-2026   When Life Doesn't Make Sense:   Backstory of this passage – Malawi – and why this translation,   1) Be completely HONEST with God.   "15You who know, O Lord, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.  (Jeremiah 15, NASB95)   2) REMEMBER my own spiritual history.    16Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. 17I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation.  (Jeremiah 16-17, NASB95)   · I must LOVE God's Word   16Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; · I am CALLED by God's Name   For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.   ·  Don't FOLLOW the crowd.   17I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult.   ·  Stand ALONE if necessary.   Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone   ·  FEEL the depth of sin in myself & our land.   For You filled me with indignation.  (Jeremiah 16-17, NASB95)   3) I must be WILLING to speak from my heart.   18Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable? (Jeremiah 19a, NASB95)   Complaint is central to lament. But Christians never complain just to complain. Instead, we bring our complaints to the Lord for the purpose of moving us toward him.   "2O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save? 3Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. 4So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted." (Habakkuk 1:2–4, ESV)   "1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long." (Lamentations 3:1–3, ESV)   4) God will show me the TRUTH I need to hear.   19Therefore, thus says the Lord, "If you return, then I will restore you— Before Me you will stand;   "8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:8–9, ESV)   5) God says I must LEARN from suffering.   And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. (Jeremiah 15:19b, NASB95)   6) If I walk with God He'll TAKE CARE of me,   They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. 20"Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you," declares the Lord. 21"So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent."" (Jeremiah 15:19c–21, NASB95)  

Key Bible Verse: A Psalm of David. "How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalm 13:1

Christian Persecution Coming (1) (audio) David Eells, 5/10/26 (David's notes in red) Let me begin with some revelations we have on our site. We are closer now to all these words and warnings of persecution than we were then. This first one is from 2009, and it's an article from the American Holocaust and Coming New World Order blog. I remind you that the great revival begun by Jesus in the Man-child reformers is followed by a pendulum swing in Revelation 13, the forced mark of the beast to outlaw Christians who will be hated of all nations, as Jesus said. Also the right-wing roundup and prosecution and death sentences of leftist criminals at this time will be reciprocated. The pendulum swings back.    Coming Persecution and Christian Beheading   Prophesied MARTYRDOM is Coming to Christians USA Bible Prophecy and Coming Martyrdom of Christians to America By Pamela Schuffert - presenting investigative journalism with a Christian perspective - 02/20/2009 SO many Christians in America have become dangerously lukewarm and comfortable with where America is. Centuries of religious freedom and lack of persecution on a major scale have lulled many into a false state of “safety-comfort-denial” in this hour. In the minds of most Christians, in fact, no persecution could ever come to the Christians in America! And this is exactly what their flesh wants to hear and believe, for no one really ever wants suffering or persecution to invade their lives. However, my many years of performing investigative journalism nationwide and at times worldwide have uncovered something entirely different. Unfailing Bible prophecy also confirms what I am uncovering. Planned persecution is COMING to the Christians in North America. Here is what my research has uncovered. This persecution will be prolonged and intense. It will seek to seize churches and turn them over to the government for secular purposes, much as in communist Russia. It will seek to arrest and persecute both religious leaders and the rest of the Christians throughout this nation. It will seek to cause Christians to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ to join their New World Order agenda, or subsequently martyr them when they refuse to deny Jesus Christ. It will seek in fact to BEHEAD the Christians who remain faithful to Jesus Christ. (Muslims have been brought in by the Deep State to invade western Christianity, whose book tells them to behead unbelievers.) Or to transport Christians arrested via prisoner boxcars with shackles to awaiting FEMA/Homeland Security detention camps scattered nationwide and also in Alaska and Canada, where there, much as in Russia and Eastern Europe under communism, the Christians will be severely persecuted, including torture and interrogation, ridiculed and finally terminated when finished. And ALL quite “legally” under martial law and the Presidential Executive Orders and other legislation written to prepare the way for THE COMING AMERICAN HOLOCAUST of the innocents. For the serious student of END TIME BIBLE PROPHECY, none of this should come as a complete surprise. When Jesus said in Matthew 24, regarding what would be the sign of His coming and the end of this age, He warned His disciples that worldwide persecution against His disciples would come FIRST. He warned that His disciples would be HATED OF ALL NATIONS for His name's sake. ONLY under a ONE WORLD ANTICHRIST GOVERNMENT (NWO of Revelation 13) can all nations simultaneously HATE THE CHRISTIANS and deliver them up to tribulation and to be put to death. AMERICA must be included in this WORLDWIDE persecution of the disciples of Jesus Christ, if Jesus' words are to be taken literally. And that is precisely the dark intentions of the coming NEW WORLD ORDER to be imposed on America under MARTIAL LAW. Years of travel and interviews to uncover the plans of the NWO against the Christians in America have confirmed that the NWO planners for decades have been conspiring to bring persecution and death to the Christian opponents of the antichrist world globalist (communist) agenda for this nation. One of the most satanically controlled agencies in the world, the CIA, plays a major role in helping this NWO take over in America someday. My frequent interviews with former CIA officers, many of whom have now become Christians and feel compelled to admit the truth, have uncovered the fact that plans from within the CIA have been made for many years, both to persecute and ultimately terminate the Christians to pave the way for establishing their antichrist NWO agenda in America. (Father has not forsaken His children but He needs to be taken seriously and the history of the Gospels and acts will be repeated.) Much of the planning for Christians to be arrested under martial law and taken away to the camps for termination came out of the CIA (Operation paperclip imported the Nazi's and their demons into our government to repeat history here.), especially under the era of George Bush Sr. being head of the CIA, according to many former CIA employees working under him. But then, the Bush Illuminati satanic bloodline has always been active behind the scenes in working hard for the realization of a NEW WORLD ORDER. Even as Bible prophecy declares that this tyrannical world dictatorship of antichrist (Revelation 13) will receive its power directly from “THE DRAGON” or satan/Lucifer himself, the ILLUMINATI or satanists of this NWO agenda now openly admitted as much. One former CIA assassin under Bush Sr. admitted to me while being interviewed, “We satanists are the backbone, and Lucifer is the HEAD of the New World Order”... and as such, “...ALL the Christians have to go. We satanists realized that Christians would never accept our satanically based NEW WORLD ORDER. The very camps you are now investigating were designed to be used to terminate the Christians in America under martial law”... (Admission of Elaine, former satanist/assassin and NWO planner under Bush Sr. in CIA.) My investigative journalism has uncovered the reality of thousands of PRISONER BOXCARS WITH SHACKLES designed to transport unfortunates arrested under martial law by train transport to the many FEMA/HOMELAND SECURITY detention camps designed to deal with all future NWO resistance. This is identical to how the world's globalist communists dealt with Christian and political resistance to their agenda in Russia. They arrested and sent religious/political resisters to the many gulags scattered throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, transported by train. Hitler also used trains to transport religious and political opponents to the camps under a Nazi dictatorship. Mass prisoner transportation by rail is cost-effective. These sturdy metal prisoner boxcars can be hosed out after each transport and used over and over again. They can last for decades. Prisoners can even be terminated (gassed, etc.) while still chained inside the boxcars. Tragically, history does repeat itself... IF the citizens of any nation will sit back passively and allow their leadership to make it happen again unchallenged. I have personally interviewed Christians who have experienced VISIONS FROM GOD of the coming AMERICAN HOLOCAUST. One woman attending a prophecy conference I spent time at, admitted when I told her about my investigating, “THIS explains the visions I have been having. I saw Christians arrested for their faith and placed onto BOXCARS and sent to concentration camps to be killed for their faith.”.... This woman I interviewed was from MONTANA. My years of research in MONTANA have uncovered the reality of many sightings of prisoner boxcars with shackles prepositioned throughout the state for the hour of arrest under martial law. Reliable eyewitnesses have reported seeing even MODERN GUILLOTINES bolted into each boxcar in one case, along with the shackles installed as well. My research has uncovered the presence of millions of modern guillotines in America (and I am convinced worldwide) to fulfill a future agenda tied in with the Jewish NOAHIDE LAWS legislation. They are also tied in with Bible prophecy regarding “...the souls BEHEADED for the witness of Jesus Christ and the Word of God” .... (Revelation 20:4) who essentially will not go along with the coming antichrist NWO agenda, who will not deny Jesus Christ, and are slain as a result by BEHEADING. “...AND HE SHALL SHOW YOU THINGS TO COME”. Holy Spirit VISIONS of PERSECUTION COME TO AMERICA- When I first began to receive information from quality sources regarding the presence of modern guillotines in America and lectured on them, I was amazed to hear people coming forward after the lectures to share their GUILLOTINE VISIONS. Christians from around the world that I encountered in Jerusalem while lecturing, lined up to tell me of their visions of being BEHEADED FOR THEIR FAITH. Brian with YWAM from the Bahamas...Christina Mitchell from New Zealand...and many more. All told me of poignant, detailed visions of the foreign troops involved and the modern guillotines and being beheaded for their faith. One pastor's wife in Long Island, NY, told me with tears of her vision of being beheaded for her faith, while in military surroundings. Another youth pastor, Pastor Richards in Bakersfield, CA, told me of his graphic vision of martial law being declared in California, and the guillotines being brought out, and himself being dragged to one of them, and was told, “Well, Pastor, what shall it be? Will you DENY JESUS and join our NEW WORLD ORDER agenda, or will you DIE?” In his vision, he remained faithful to Jesus and was beheaded. Becky, a powerful Christian witness in the Washington DC area working at the Department of Agriculture, told me of her many graphic GUILLOTINE VISIONS she is convinced God also gave her: “I saw how the NWO was going to use these guillotines to tempt the Christians to deny their faith. I watched as children were snatched away from their parents and taken to the guillotines. The parents were then tempted to deny Jesus, or the children would be beheaded. And the parents were taken away from the children, and the children were tempted to deny Jesus, or their parents would be beheaded. In my visions, I even SAW THE GUILLOTINES SET UP ON THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN!” In fact, the first time I ever became aware of these guillotines was when I was involved in Christian outreach in Tulsa, OK, in 1976. It was an evident time of revival, and the power of God was moving in many ways. I was participating in street outreach to youth then. While praying with another Christian, God's Holy Spirit interrupted. He spoke prophetically and said, “I am pouring out MY SPIRIT upon my Church in America today, because without His power, you will not make it with what is coming to your nation” ... Stunned, I prayed, “Oh, God, WHAT IS COMING to our nation?” The reply: “My child, if I were to SHOW you what is coming to YOUR nation, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BEAR what I would show you!” I was only a young Christian at that time. Still, we prayed that night for God to show us what was coming. And that very night, the person I prayed with had a graphic vision of Christians lined up in front of modern guillotines to be beheaded for their faith. In fact, many Christians were receiving disturbing dreams and visions of things to come at that time period. I recall attending one prayer meeting, in which one Christian stood up to recount how God had shown her Christians being held in concentration camp-type surroundings, filthy and unkempt, their Bibles having been taken away. She stated how God had shown her that many Christians faced persecution in the future, and therefore, to memorize their Bible passages since evidently their Bibles would also be taken away under this future persecution. Yet another stood up to recount how God showed him that famine was coming to this nation on a major scale, and yet how, when Christians stood around a table to pray, miraculously their table was filled with food in response during this coming time of famine. In this vision, the person was shown that there was no food in the home, no heat or electricity, and a bleak time of depression in America. My years of investigative journalism have uncovered that all of the above are coming BY DELIBERATE PLAN to this nation someday. Revelation 13 makes it clear that these forces of antichrist world globalism will have the power to put the Christians and all other resisters to death under their regime. And my many years of research have confirmed that this is their intent exactly. My question, therefore, to the Christians of America today is, “WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?” WILL YOU take the time to fast and pray and to allow GOD TO PREPARE YOUR HEART to stand fast in your faith when this all comes down? WILL YOU purpose to GROW IN TRUE DISCIPLESHIP/CROSS-EMBRACING FAITH, so that when the coming winds of adversity blow against the Church in America, you will not be swept away in its dark wake? “Faith WITHOUT WORKS is dead,” declares God's word. “But be ye DOERS OF THE WORD, and not HEARERS ONLY, deceiving yourself”. The Holy Spirit is truly showing His people THINGS TO COME. He is giving us a sneak preview with a purpose. IT IS NOT GOD'S WILL THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, (none of God's elect will perish), and that includes perishing by FALLING AWAY and denying our faith as well. We as Christians are called to be FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. True discipleship understands that we may be called upon to SUFFER for our faith, to lose everything for our faith, and ultimately to DIE for our faith and confession of Jesus Christ as well. And we are NEVER permitted to DENY JESUS BEFORE MEN. Not even to save our lives or the lives of those we love. Jesus declared that whoever would deny Him before men, the same will be denied before the Father in Heaven. “IF ANY MAN WOULD COME AFTER ME, let him DENY himself, take up his cross and follow ME”, said Jesus. “Whoever seeks to SAVE his life, the same shall lose it, and whosoever shall seek to LOSE HIS LIFE for MY SAKE and the sake of the Gospel, the SAME SHALL FIND IT. For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and LOSE HIS SOUL?” Tragically, few pastors are truly preaching a CROSS EMBRACING DISCIPLESHIP Christianity in America today. It is not popular to human flesh! Carnal Christianity is preaching a false prosperity message, equating the faith with money and material possessions, and “easy street Christianity” of the flesh. And few pastors in America are preparing God's people to realistically face the COMING PERSECUTION. I personally believe that the wrath of God is upon those pastors who KNOW all that I have warned about, and yet refuse for carnal reasons to WARN GOD'S PEOPLE. And I am convinced that the end result of this shall be that MANY SHALL FALL AWAY AND DENY HIM, even as Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 24. If God's people are not being prepared and built up in their faith and Biblical discipleship principles to withstand the coming times of testing, how then shall they be prepared? How then shall they stand? If much of what they are hearing are false prophesies uttered by false shepherds of “good things to come”, as is the case in many churches, will they not be devastated when reality hits them unexpectedly someday? The obvious answer is YES. And such Christians, unprepared also, have the potential to FALL AWAY out of fear and threat of persecution. THEY WERE NOT PREPARED! THIS IS WHY I HAVE LABORED FOR YEARS NOW to forewarn my endangered fellow Christians and Americans. The greatest tragedy is for A SOUL TO BE LOST. Christians who lose faith under persecution and are moved to DENY JESUS CHRIST will, in fact, lose their salvation, and the Bible makes this very clear. Both the clear words of Jesus Christ and those of His Apostles confirm the fact that we are required to remain FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. We cannot deny Him for ANY reason! (This will cleanse Christianity of the lukewarm hidden tares and their subtle leaven.) I am therefore determined that NO MAN'S BLOOD will be on my hands. I am TELLING AMERICA THE TRUTH. I will do everything I can to forewarn God's people in this nation of what is to come against Christians in this final hour of America's destiny. I will do the job that many pastors refuse to do from their pulpits, and that is to forewarn and prepare God's people for the Biblically prophesied COMING PERSECUTION. This is, in fact, what a faithful “watchman on the wall” is required by God to do. And I have done this now faithfully for 13 years. Please, won't you receive a word of warning from the Word of God and His Holy Spirit? Will you not take the time to prepare your heart from God's word, prayer, and fasting, so that having done ALL, you may then stand triumphantly in Jesus Christ to face the coming times in VICTORY? “And THIS is the VICTORY that overcomes the world, EVEN OUR FAITH!” “And they overcame him [satan] by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB, and by the WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY, and because they LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH”. (Revelation 12:11) The call to FAITHFULNESS UNTO DEATH is clear. I therefore testify that your eternal soul and eternal destiny are at stake. Where shall YOU spend eternity someday? (The fear is what hurts. The beheading is painless -- a gift to those who serve the Lord of rest from tribulation and to enter into His presence. 1Co.15:55 O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: Rev. 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13 And I heard the voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.   Fearful of Beheading?  Deborah Horton - 10/25/2010 For those who are fearful of being beheaded, I'd like to share this testimony. When I was a child, I was hit by a fire engine and killed. My first thought was, “Why do they say it's dark? It's not dark”. I was in a soft, white light. My next thought was, “Why do they say it hurts? It doesn't hurt”. And, praise the Lord, it truly doesn't hurt. When the fire engine hit me, I was “thrown” out of my body so quickly that the nerve impulses of pain, which started across the synapses toward the next nerve, didn't complete the jump before I was gone. I felt myself rising up and toward my right. I was moving more and more quickly through what felt like onion layer after onion layer of tissue, with the light becoming progressively brighter, and I knew that I was going home. Then, suddenly, I was a fish caught on a line, being pulled back into my body as the medics worked to revive me, but I didn't want to come back. However, as you can see from this testimony, I did come back because the Lord had other plans. :)   Judases Persecute the Innocent  Brent Gearhart - 10/25/2009 (R.M. & David notes in red) Note: This is not a revelation that reflects badly on Brent. He is merely being used to act out the work of Judas, persecuting the true brethren in the coming tribulation. When I went to bed, I heard people in visions or dreams cursing and swearing. (The time when Peter cursed and betrayed Jesus came to mind.) Women were trying to greet me, but I would greet them in the name of Jesus. (The women represent false sects of Christianity. Greeting them in Jesus' name means representing Him to them.) I remember falling asleep during all of this. I saw a man arrested for nothing, really and he was beaten really badly. (Persecution of the innocent.) A voice said, “Take that stick and hit him with it”. So I took something and hit him in the face and eye with it. Then I started running away from this place. (Don't be tempted to take part in this.) Then I was in a place in a forest where I was hiding. I met a woman who was acting like a friend to the people in the woods (the persecuted) and trying to get me to go submit myself to the cities. (Meaning, submit to the “cities” of churches in Babylon: The sects, denominations, ministries, and organizations of the harlot.) She said that no soul can live after the 14th of the month. (Here are some major clues: (Exo.12:5) Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: (6) And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. ... (12:18) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. ... (Lev.23:5) In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover. There was also a Passover in the Book of Esther. Notice that the woman, or false sects of Christianity, threaten death to the remnant of spiritual Israel on the 13th. After the 14th the harlot was to have killed the remnant in a repeat of history in the Book of Esther, chapter 9. Instead, they were spared as in a spiritual Passover because of the Lamb of God.) If you were caught in the woods, you would automatically be put to death and your soul wouldn't be able to live. I saw myself in the shadows of the woods, trying to follow the cars. This particular car was a mustang, which I was trying to stay hidden from in a ditch and trying to stay out of its sight. (Many will dwell in the shadow of those who are “trees” and pillars in God's temple. They will listen to the truth, but when persecution comes, they will flee. The “mustang” has an untamed, unsubmitted nature that is not saddled and is wild. (Mat.13:21) Yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.) I saw a man running into the woods. I think he was white. He appeared naked and hiding. (The righteous running from persecution but needing to be dressed up with Christ. (Mar.14:51) And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked...meaning, refusing his cross.) Then I saw myself with this naked woman. We were up on a perch, and she said she wanted her naked body to be pleasing to me. (The Revelation 18 / Proverbs 7 harlot that offers deceptive seduction through church membership. She wants the righteous to be satisfied and lured by the sinful life. (Mat.7:17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.) She said to go take her rocker, which was a Moped scooter, and submit to the city. (Take her weak and slow ways and obey the city of Babylon, the government and Babylonish apostate religion. The churches of Babylon that will ride the beast and refuse their cross.) I remember doing it, I think! Right after, I remember seeing the woods being chopped down in large sections, revealing multiple people in the woods. She said, “Farmers' markets are cheap”. (God's people betrayed for reward. The “husbandmen” that sell God's people for their own gain and will betray them to the beast, as Judas did to the body of Christ.) Brent's notes: This was truly the false church or religion talking to me, enticing me to turn in my fellow brethren. (Mat.10:21) And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death) As I submitted to the cities, the others in the wilderness got caught. After much thought on this, I concluded I was fearful of being captured as a Christian when the voice told me to take up the stick and hit the person who was a Christian. Once I did that, because of my fear of my own cross, and I then became a member of the beast kingdom, or false religion. (Luk.12:45) But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens...) After thinking on these thoughts, I asked God to give me a random scripture on what to think about this first dream. Twice, I came to the exact same scripture. I repeat twice I got: (1Jn.3:11-12) For this is the message which ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another: not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. I was lying there trying to sleep, but actually just having my eyes closed... I saw my ex-wife, who is pregnant and almost due, being chased by a tall, skinny black man. (Her pastor, who walks in darkness and is spiritually underfed, but is over them: clergy over laity, a Nicolaitan.) He wanted to hurt her baby. (The dragon of Revelation 12 is ready to devour the man-child Jesus, Who is about to come forth from His people.) We seemed to be in a shopping center but there were no store officials. (In the Nicolaitan church world, where the gospel is bought and sold, there is no true ministry of overseers.) After I saw this, I heard a very audible voice say, “Where are the store officials or security?” There were none. (No elders or true ministry abiding in the Word.) Someone offered to sell me something for just $10.99, but I said, “No thanks”. (A temptation right before 2011, a sign of a falling away of the factious Judas', as a short-term offer from those who buy and sell in the church marketplace.) I felt something pulling me from behind (religious past) and felt the Spirit of God in the front. I kept pressing forward toward God. (Pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ, as you overcome the lure of the Nicolaitan church.) I remember seeing my boss, Bobby, at work, and seeing a woman who was part animal. (A leader of false faith leading an apostate Church that manifests the beast nature.) She wanted me to come to her but I didn't want to go. (The temptation from the harlot seducing God's people with false peace and safety.) I knew that was a demon. I heard my boss, Bobby, say, “I submit to her”. (Bobby is a double-minded person who represents indecision regarding the world, fellowship, and money.) I said I would pray to have his eyes opened. (Bobby is spiritually blind and does not listen to the prophetic scriptures.) A man holding a child came up to me and asked me to pray for his child. I briefly did. (Pray for the growth and preservation of the Man-child among us.) Then a little girl came up to me, crying with a note. (The little girl represents the young woman-bride espoused to Christ, in persecution.) It read something like this: “Please pray for us in Oklahoma. We are having bad storms there”. (Persecutions and troubles for the remnant in the U.S. in Oklahoma. According to statesymbolsusa.org, “Oklahoma” means “people-red”. Another site renders it, “red-person”. Thus, we have storms of trouble for the remnant in the midst of the U.S. by the red-people. The red person represents those who walk as Esau, who was red and sold his birthright and persecuted his brother Israel as a type of the Church.) I had a lot of activity last night in my spirit. I think I was led astray in the first dream. This is a picture of a temptation to join back up with the apostate Judas' that many will be offered in exchange for false safety. Jesus said in Matthew 24:10: And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. “Many” means the majority. It is amazing to think the majority of Christianity will turn against other Christians because they are following in the steps of scripture as they “come out from among them”. When Jesus said, “brother shall betray brother”, it referred to the brotherly persecution of professed Christendom. The Lord was showing Brent an image of temptation for those who “go underground” as the Christians flee to escape the beast/martial law and persecution. Historically, the mountains and forests were places of refuge in troubled times. But as Judas led the persecutors and the government law enforcement agents to find Jesus in His day of trial, so will the Judas' in our day do likewise. Brent: Afterward, the Lord gave me this utterance: “Be available for work. The man-child is coming. I want you to write this down. I need teachers, I need visionaries, I need more Daniels, I need more Jobs. Are you able? Are you willing? Do you want to sacrifice your life for the sake of the body? Are you willing to die daily for me? Do you love me? Do you keep my commandments? I love you, Brent. I love your wife, Jessica. I love your son, Joshua, and I am going to help them. I need people to suffer for the kingdom. Remember the sermon Jeff Timmerman preached?” (Jeff Timmerman is a UPC preacher. This message God is speaking about was a very good message, as he spoke of God calling some to suffer for the sake of the kingdom.) “It is true some have been called to suffer, some to shame, some to reproach. I want you to know I will always be there with you. I suffered shame, I suffered beatings, I died on a cross for you and others. I love you. I will always love you. Are you able? Will you pay the price? I will always be with you. In times of suffering and reproach, be not afraid. I will deliver thee out of their hands; I will bring you to a place of refuge. Do not deny your cross. Walk in it daily.” After receiving this prophecy, I read in my Zondervan Bible Dictionary about crucifixion, and the following is a short quote from that. “Nero crucified many Christians, blaming them for the burning of the imperial city”. Then Ecclesiastes 1:9 popped into my head: That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.   Persecution from Brethren Sean Lynch - 12/19/2009 (David's notes in red) I had a dream that my fraternity brothers were persecuting me. (A fraternity is a Babylonish organization. When I was in college, I was in a fraternity that was founded upon Christian principles, but, as with the church that has fallen away to Babylon's lusts, so has this fraternity. These represent apostate Christians who persecute their brothers and sisters during the tribulation.) (They will be taken down in the great and terrible day of the Lord.) Mat.24:10 And then many shall stumble and shall deliver up one another and shall hate one another. Luk.21:16 But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends, and some of you shall they shall cause to be put to death. And you shall be hated of all men for my names sake. During this trial, I saw many on each side of me who were persecuting me. Act.4:25-28 Who by the Holy Spirit by the mouth of our father David thy servant didst say: why do the gentiles rage and peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his anointed: for of a truth in this city against thy holy servant Jesus whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and peoples of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and counsel foreordained to come to pass. I knew in the spirit that this was a crucifixion that I had to endure. (As Jesus knew in the spirit that His hour had come, so will the people of God know when their cross is upon them.) I felt an overwhelming grace rise up within me to resist the temptations to come down from off the cross. (The anointing of the latter rain will empower us to endure our trials.) I then heard a brother from the fraternity tell me he felt sorry for me and then I felt him embrace me, and I him. (As it was in the days of Jesus when our Lord was dying on the cross, there will be brothers who will see Jesus in us by our sacrifice and will embrace their own cross to the death.) (Note from Rex: As I read this, I felt in my spirit that this is just as Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, which was a “brotherly” greeting, even admonished by Paul to greet the brethren with a holy kiss. Remember it was “for the “JOY” set before Him, He endured the cross. May this further add to your understanding.) 1Jn.3:16 Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: And we ought to lay our life down for the brethren. Luk.23:42,43 And he said Jesus remember me when thou comest in the kingdom, and he said unto him verily I say unto thee, today thou shall be with me in paradise. Jon.15:13 Greater love has no man that this that a man lay his life down for his friends.   Exhortations from the Father Glenn Jackson - 05/14/2006 Prophecy: “This is the aforementioned time of “a series of final judgments”! A series of final judgments that will expose the “true” condition of one's heart, as I send My “vessels” of My consuming fire throughout the congregations of My people. Up until now, the vast majority of My children have come to “accept” a “mediocre Christian life”. At a time when the deepest desire of My heart is to reveal Myself in My “absoluteness” - in every aspect of My children's lives - many are “content” with a continued mixture of My Word and the “world”. But truly I say to you, this shall end “abruptly”! And all those who continue to “dishonor” My Word shall be “cut off”, and they shall move further and further out into darkness. They pridefully proclaim that they are still in the “Way”, but truly I say to you, “their Way” is not of Me! And thus they shall “allow” themselves to be used as vessels of persecution against their very own brothers and sisters, who are walking in the faith and obedience that pleases Me so. And though they are “family,” there shall result a “clear separation” between those of My children who love (obey) Me and those who do not, and it is certain that “all” those who seek Me shall know which group of My children is truly of Me and which group is not. And so shall each man be presented with a clear option. On the one hand, My spotless and unblemished Church - an ever-expanding “vessel” of My Glory and Light and Truth - and on the other hand, the dead and lifeless form of “religion” that acknowledges Me with their lips, but whose hearts are far from the place that they should be, considering their “relationship” with Me. But even in their folly I shall not forget them, and I shall send forth My holy apostles and prophets and they shall “devastate” the “strongholds” of the doctrines and traditions which have been a product of the “mental ascension” of those ones who have not drawn near to Me - a mental ascent made continually stronger by their “fellowship” with the world and its ways - a fellowship which gives Satan a continual “inroad” into their lives. Fear not! All those of you who are concerned for those “caught” in this position, for truly I say to you, whatever happens in the midst of My people from here on shall be for the “greatest eternal benefit” of “all” - both individually and corporately!” WARNING!!! Here Is What I Heard About Making America Great Again! Elizabeth Marie 7/24/24 On 7/20/24, I heard the LORD speak to me just before going to bed. I heard: “CAN AMERICA BE MADE GREAT AGAIN??” The answer is that NOT one person, nor any political solution, or policies will ever bring America back from the PRECIPICE that she is now on. There is now, and always has been, ONLY ONE solution…… 2 Chronicles 7:13-15: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.” This solution of REPENTANCE is the ONE THING that will turn a country around. However, even the Church, in this late hour, is looking for a ‘physical solution for a spiritual problem.' Not only will this not work, but this will compound the ‘already grave' problem that is upon the land. The majority of the church has gone ‘down to Egypt' (representing, the world), for their help, instead of heeding the call from the LORD to HUMBLE THEMSELVES, PRAY, REPENT, and SEEK HIS FACE. Again, this, ALONE, is the only solution! “People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' 2 Chronicles 7:22 A SIGN: On 7/21/24, a couple of us were seeking the LORD, on behalf of the Church…. sensing, once again, a GREAT DECEPTION that is lurking. It grieved us, as we don't want to see our brothers and sisters being misled down a dangerous path. We saw a TRAP that was being set…. both physically, and in the spirit realm as well. We saw a spirit of Babylon that had come upon the church to blind, misguide, and deceive many. It is a spirit that has infested many, many churches, as the leaders lead their flock into the clutches of the enemy. While we were crying out to GOD, the LORD sent out A SIGN! From a peaceful night sky, there came 3 LOUD THUNDERBOLTS that shook my house… one at a time! It shook us to the core, and we knew that the LORD had heard our cries and had responded! It was a very CLEAR SIGN that HE is DISPLEASED with HIS church at this hour, as HE sees the WEB OF DECEPTION that is now surrounding her! I believe that the message is CLEAR: The CHURCH is in ERROR, and needs to REPENT! Instead of FIXING AMERICA, it is time to FIX THE CHURCH FIRST!!! For America cannot be FIXED, without the Blessings of GOD to come upon it. The blessings of God cannot come without true REPENTANCE, and that comes only through a humble and a contrite heart. All other remedies will and are failing! The Church has forgotten that the TRUE WAR is in the spiritual realm, not in this physical kingdom called America! The BATTLE is in the SPIRIT! Oh, how the Christian leaders and shepherds have missed the mark! As Secular America chooses to worship at the feet of Baal, and the Christians choose to seek solutions from others, instead of at the feet of the ALMIGHTY GOD. History is now repeating itself… however, the consequences will be FAR WORSE! This is why I am in despair, and anguishing for my deceived brothers and sisters, for the IMPACT that is coming will be deadly, and many will lose their faith in the LORD…. for, make no mistake about it, PERSECUTION IS COMING…. and many will fall away! It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry GOD! America has not learned her lesson; therefore, the judgments will fall now and even greater! MESSAGE the day after the THUNDERBOLTS: (7/22/24) ‘Have you forgotten from where you were hewn? Have you strayed so far from ME that I am no longer the answer?? DO you trust in man so much?? Have I not said to trust in NO MAN, but to trust in ME? Once again, MY people have fallen into the snare, and the trap that has been set by My adversary. They have looked for a political solution to solve a spiritual problem! And, once again, their endeavors and desires will be dashed upon the ROCK, and broken up into many pieces. The damage that was once done will now become even greater… all because there was no CRY among my people for REPENTANCE, and a humbling of themselves before ME! In your pride and arrogance, I will shower MY discipline upon you. For MY people are a STIFF-NECKED, STUBBORN, and commit adultery in the SPIRIT. Many are now joining forces with the CHURCH OF BABYLON, which aligns them with the universal religion that states that all paths lead to GOD. For MY people, this is prostituting, as there is only ONE WAY to GOD, through MY sacrifice on the cross. Mystery Babylon once held a golden cup in her hand of blessings, but now, they share that once full cup with those who do not believe in MY NAME alone. Babylon, oh Babylon, you will fall, and many in MY church will fall with you. You have deceived the masses, and I see all your ways! I see your TENTACLE ARMS reaching deep inside MY CHURCH, pulling out those who are weak in faith, and spiritually blinded. However, I will raise up many that will come out of BABYLON, and they will proclaim MY truth, and give clarity to MY true ways. Soon there will be voices rising up, that are even greater than Babylon…. these will be MY WATCHMEN, MY PROPHETS, and MY SERVANTS, who will drown out all the voices of Mystery Babylon. WOE TO ALL THE FALSE PROPHETS…. WOE TO THE FALSE TEACHERS…. that proclaim a thing that is not from ME: Repent…. or you will be stripped of your mantle! The MANIFESTING of the SONS of GOD will commence, as I put MY true anointing and mantle upon them to preach for such a time as this! In MY church, all that is not for ME will now burn with double fire! The impurities will be removed, and MY CHOSEN ones will then SHINE like the noonday sun!” I waited, then heard this: “DO NOT FOLLOW MAN! REPENT FOR NOT MAKING ME YOUR SUFFICIENCY HUMBLE YOURSELF!  PRAY!”   A Stronger America  Glynda Lomax 9/27/25 Oh My children, enjoy the peace around you, for soon it leaves. Persecution shall arise to a mighty pitch in this time. As leaders are removed and replaced with the enemy's people, persecution will be encouraged, and the goal will be to remove all of you for “A Stronger America.” In this time, martyrdom will become a common thing, and you must prepare your hearts for this [do this now]. Know that I am with you every step of the way. Know that I will strengthen you for the task at hand. Simply continue to walk as you are, staying close to Me and leaning heavily into My Word. Follow in My ways, and all will be well. Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Acts 22:20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 6:9-11 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.  Matthew 24:9-14 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.    Prepare For Persecution! Elizabeth, 4/1/2023 On 3/30/23, a heavy blanket of sorrow came over me... and I knew that it was the LORD wanting me to seek HIM about why. I then received one of the most sobering messages I have ever received.... so much so, that I will only share portions of it, for now.  After receiving it, I asked the LORD why I was so sorrowful; it felt like someone had died! Immediately, I heard, in my spirit, that I was feeling the Sorrow of the Father, who was grieving for the loss of so many of HIS children to the enemy.  Whoa! I was overwhelmed when I heard this! That really hit home for me as a parent! The grief and sorrow that a parent must feel when they have either lost a child to death, or through rejection or abandonment, is overwhelming!  I then received the message below, which is about the persecutions that are coming to those who walk in truth and righteousness. (Remember this condition as we go on.) It is coming fast and swiftly. As Christians, we are called to suffer, as Jesus suffered; however, in the Western world, we have seen very little of this.  As things change, and captivity comes to America for many, we must always remember that Jesus comes to SET US FREE (Gal.5.1)! This is not only a physical freedom that comes, but a freedom of our souls from the clutches of satan and sin.  Let us also always remember that there is NO ONE or THING that can come between us and the LORD JESUS! Though the enemy might try to get us to turn away.... we will never give in or give up following our LORD!! JESUS IS IN OUR HEARTS BOTH NOW AND FOREVER!! “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”  Romans 8:35-37 1ST MESSAGE: Here are a few excerpts from the message I received: “The FLOODGATE has been opened for persecution. The shepherds have gone astray. They have led the people astray. No one will stand up for righteousness, therefore judgment comes. This is the ‘final rodeo.' The final ‘match.' The final 'kahuna.' (final 'thing')  No more chances to get it right... the world has used up all its chances.... none are left! JUDGMENT....PERSECUTION, then FINAL REDEMPTION OR DAMNATION COMES! Very souls hang in the balance! With little time left, pray for these souls, for there will still be a few that return to ME. There is only one HOPE left in the world, and that is MY SALVATION. Grab a hold of it, and do not let it go! There is a light shining in the darkness.... a light set upon a hill that no one can extinguish. (In the spirit, I saw a huge mountain, which I had a knowing that it was the MOUNTAIN OF GOD). It is the eternal light of GOD. Though many are now attempting to extinguish the LIGHT, they cannot, for it is beyond their reach, and beyond their control. When this LIGHT shines (upon the wicked and unsaved), they will SHRIEK in PAIN, because their deeds of evil will have been exposed.” “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:19-21  2ND MESSAGE: On March 22, 2023, I received this message while praying. Before I heard the message, I saw, in the spirit, something horrifying:  First, I saw someone hanging on a rope from a tree. Then, the scene changed, and I saw a street that was lined with people hanging from ropes on both sides of the road.  I was then reminded of a dream I had received, years ago, about driving on a road and going under an overpass. Hanging from the overpass were a few people who had just been hanged. There was a girl in the backseat of our car (who was supposed to be my daughter), who jumped out of the car.... and with SUPERNATURAL strength, climbed up the overpass, cut the rope around each person's neck, and helped them escape! I believe this dream prophetically refers to the supernatural acts that we will be seeing during the time of persecutions that is coming on the Christians.  This also goes along with a word that I received in 2018 called:    “Persecution Brings The Latter Rain“ MESSAGE: “The persecutions are coming....and, for many, they are already here!  From the 4 corners of the earth rises up the Beast who rages against MY own! There will be nowhere to hide, except under the shadow of MY WINGS. For many, they will rise up like eagles.... on eagles' wings they shall find a place of safety, where the serpent will not be able to go. (Revelation 12:14) This is coming, and it is coming quickly! Get yourself in position with ME, so you can hear MY instructions! Listen for MY voice, it is the still, small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12) that comes. Train yourself to hear it! Seek it, for it will help and guide you! It is the voice of the HOLY SPIRIT, which I give to MY people.... to those who have been BORN AGAIN into MY KINGDOM through faith. (John 3) These persecutions are a testing for MY church. They are the fire that removes the dross. Many will succumb because they love their lives more than ME. They will surrender to the Beast and will receive his mark. Many already have.  These persecutions will be like nothing that has been before, but, for MY elect's sake, I will cut the days short. (Matthew 24:21-22)  Don't underestimate the power of the BEAST, for he comes with BRUTE FORCE against many. It will be like no other time in history, as he is unleashed for a time.  He is the ancient serpent of the garden that deceives unto death. He will swallow up as many as he can, for his appetite has no limits. HIS greatest foes are those who are MINE... those who confess ME as LORD of LORDS! He has infiltrated the churches from the inside out and now, through deception, leads many astray. There is no more time for playing around, but instead to see how GRAVE the times are! No longer keep your head in the sand, and do not deal with the reality that you are now in. Instead, take the time to prepare with provisions. Spend more time listening to MY voice and hearing MY guidance. Hide the WORD in your heart every day through reading and memorizing.... for this will be your strength! The days are only going to get darker, but MY light will shine forth. Stay in that light.... for it is the path that leads to MY KINGDOM.  Dwell on whatever is good, true, lovely, and pure.... NOT on the darkness that surrounds you. CHOOSE ME CHOOSE life CHOOSE righteousness CHOOSE justice Be ready for what is coming.... be prepared physically, spiritually, and mentally, so you will not be caught unaware and unprepared. Ask ME how, and I will show you!  Many are already in position and in place.... STAND FIRM. (James 5:8) (Matthew 10:28) Most importantly, KNOW WHO YOU BELIEVE IN, and STAND!  Fear not death of the body, but that of the soul! (Matthew 10:28)  BUCKLE UP.... things are going to get very bumpy soon!  JESUS CHRIST, LORD OF LORDS KING OF KINGS” “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” 2John 15:20-21  “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:12-15 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Romans 8:12 I received a message about the extreme persecution that is coming (which is below), along with a rhema word and 2 dreams:  WORD RECEIVED (9/21/20) Burning Oil!  I heard: “I have been boiled in the fires and oils of affliction.” INTERPRETATION: I had to do some research to understand exactly what this phrase meant, though I knew it was about persecution. What I found was something wonderful amidst what is coming. According to extra-biblical sources, it is documented that the Apostle John was boiled in oil at the hand of Nero, HOWEVER HE EMERGED UNHARMED!!! [1] It is recorded that there was a crowd watching as John was put into a vat of burning oil. However, instead of his flesh burning and the crowd watching him die, a miracle took place! John preached to the crowd about JESUS CHRIST while he was in the oil.... he was not burned at all!! As a result, many people became Christians that day from witnessing this miracle!!! (This is in Foxes Book of Martyrs)  How wonderful that the LORD was showing me that during persecution, HE will perform many miracles among HIS people, and this will be a great witness to all, and will help bring in the end-time harvest!!!    Persecution Will Bring In Salvation!!!  DREAM VISION: Beheaded! In this dream vision, I saw a piece of paper that had rows of people drawn on it. Each line had about 7 to 10 people in it. I had a knowing that each person represented a different occupation, like farmers, teachers, engineers, etc. The one right in the middle, which I saw clearly, was a medical doctor or nurse wearing a stethoscope. The horrifying thing about these rows of people was that they were headless.... their heads were not drawn on the paper, just their bodies!! The people were headless!!  I knew, upon awakening, that this was a Warning of the Persecution that is coming to all members of society who proclaim that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF LORDS and KING OF KINGS! And the Bible says that in the last days, those who do not get the Mark of the Beast will be beheaded: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been BEHEADED for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4   DREAM: Never Been Seen Before! (10/22/20) In this dream, I was outside working in a garden with other people. I suddenly noticed these strange-looking animals that were flying. They were not birds, though they had wings and long beak-type noses. They were silvery gray in color and were about as big as hummingbirds. They definitely were not 'of this world,' and almost resembled a pterodactyl dinosaur. I started swatting at them, fearful that one would land on me... and it did! I then felt it bite my arm, and I saw my flesh ripped open. I then struck it HARD, and it fell to the ground dead. I called those around me to show them this strange creature that was now lying at my feet and how it had bitten me. End of dream. INTERPRETATION: I believe what I saw was a small, flying dinosaur, similar to a pterodactyl, but not exactly. I believe that the LORD was trying to show me that things are coming that we 'have never seen before,' which is in the message below. Whether this ‘creature' was from the pits of hell or man-made, I do not know. In the upcoming last days, we are going to see things that our eyes have never seen, and even things that we never thought possible. We must not fear, though, because we know that the LORD is greater and stronger than anything that the enemy can bring. There is POWER in the NAME OF JESUS and through HIS BLOOD. As Christians, we must proclaim and declare this boldly, no matter what comes our way! “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19  MESSAGE received while praying: (October 2020)  “Hold on to ME tightly to ME. Do not look to the right or left, but straight ahead at ME. Keep your eyes focused at all times on ME. Hold every thought captive to ME and do not wander!!! You are going to see things you have never seen before! Wickedness at a new level. Do not let your hearts fear, but be rooted in ME. I come now to warn MY people of the great dangers that lurk behind the corners. An assignment has come to take many out... those who are called by MY NAME. It will be a slaughter that is accepted by many. It will begin slowly and then pick up speed like a snowball that starts small on top of a mountain, and then becomes like an avalanche.  During this time, many will fall away... but many will, also, come into MY fold. For some, the pressure will be too great, and they will slip away from ME, though I try to hold them closely! They will let go of MY hand, and thus fall away! Their foundations were shaky, and their roots were shallow. Those who have been tested already by the fires and still remain in ME will be found secure during this intense persecution. They shall rise up and proclaim MY NAME till their last dying breath. I will reserve for MYSELF a group of remnant that will escape what is coming. I always keep for MYSELF a remnant! This message needs to go out because I don't want MY people to be caught unaware of what is coming. They already sense the ‘handwriting on the wall.” Their eyes have been opened to the TRUTH and they are not deceived.  Though your time here on earth is shortened, your destiny with ME is eternal. Let go of the things of this world, and open up yourself completely to ME now. I will cherish those who do so!  You must be diligent! You must be diligent! You must be diligent! Have I not called you for such a time as this? Do not let ME down! (Father, please work in us to will and to do of your good pleasure.) Do not fear, because I come soon!  Your SAVIOR and FRIEND, JESUS I waited and asked the LORD JESUS if there was more... and I heard: Stay true to ME, and I will stay true to you.  A bloodbath is coming. Help others during this time – save many out of the pits of fire.  Walk softly amidst the mines that have been set all around you.  Dear Brothers and Sisters, Let's be diligent in our relationship and walk with the LORD. Let's be diligent in serving HIM.... and let's be diligent in bringing others into a closer walk with HIM! (I would add, let's be diligent in our intercessory prayers for His elect to spend time seeking the Lord.)

Название релиза: Monzenty, Razus - Will You Дата релиза: 29.01.2026 Тип Релиза: Сингл Жанр: Dance Ссылка на BandLink: band.link/VfYJx Описание Артиста: Monzenty — Российский Артист, музыкант и продюсер электронной музыки. Основной стилистикой Артиста является стиль музыки Slap House, G-House, Dance Pop. Monzenty - Это качественный современный звук, который не заставит вас пройти мимо. Его треки подойдут для прослушивания как на танцевальных площадках, так и в машинах на хорошем профессиональном звуке. Артист является многоуважаемым резидентом лейбла "Robot Soul Records" с 2022 года. Razus — талантливый музыкант из Казани, быстро ставший популярным благодаря своим энергичным трекам в стилях Slap House, G-House и Dance Pop. Его музыка идеально подходит как для клубов, так и для прослушивания в автомобилях, получая поддержку от крупных стриминговых сервисов. Резидент лейбла Music Destinations с 2020 года, он предлагает мощные треки, которые заряжают энергией и создают незабываемую атмосферу. Описание релиза: “Will You” — атмосферный электронный трек с мягким вокальным вайбом и кинематографической эмоциональностью. Лёгкий бит, воздушные синты и плавное развитие создают чувство ожидания и нежного напряжения — идеально для плейлистов о ночных чувствах, меланхоличных моментах и современной электронной лирике

When God Seems SilentScripture: Psalm 13:1 — “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?”There are moments when you pray faithfully… consistently… earnestly… and it feels like heaven is quiet. No clear answer. No visible shift. No immediate change. And in that silence, doubt tries to creep in.Accept Jesus Today: https://youtube.com/shorts/bIwAUlz7Kg4?si=BNOhv44iLWIR4eVJIf you would like to accept Jesus into your heart today, pray this simple prayer:****God, I have sinned against You. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, who died and rose for my sake. I ask you to forgive me for my sin. I place my trust in You for salvation. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I am forgiven! Amen!"****Congratulations! You are now a child of the Most High. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." If you just prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, I welcome you to the family of God. Subscribe to my channel and type in the comments right now, “I just prayed that prayer.” I would love to connect with you and chat with you about all the amazing things God is doing in your life.Click here for FREE eBook Download: https://tinyurl.com/ISAIDTHEPRAYERShow your love, support the channel:*PayPal: PayPal.me/malachimitchellministry*Cashapp: https://cash.app/$MalachiMitchNote Journals and Puzzles: https://tinyurl.com/WalkinFaithPublishingAuthored Books: https://tinyurl.com/BooksofMalachiJoin Our Support Club: https://tinyurl.com/Support-ClubInvesting Opportunity: https://coinholders.hnocoin.com/signup/?refer=Malachi2uFREE Ways to Support Me:

The Character of Revival — Part 3   “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” — Psalm 85:6   Revival is sustained by what we choose daily. Not hype. Not history. But obedience, humility, and hunger for God.   In Part 3, we look at what it means to carry revival forward — how a revived heart lives, responds, and remains aligned when God begins to move.   This is where revival becomes more than an encounter — it becomes a way of life.  

Send us a textIs sales an art form or a rigorous science? In this episode, Scott and Mike welcome back Barton Schmitz, VP of Strategic Accounts at CAPSA, to settle the debate. The conversation begins with a surprising revelation: Barton prefers driving in absolute silence to foster strategic thinking—a stark contrast to the noise of the daily grind.Barton shares the philosophy he developed while turning around the culture at Sunrise Medical, defining sales simply as "getting people to do something they would normally not do."He dismantles the idea that sales is just "presenting" and breaks down a proven, circular methodology that turns order-takers into top performers. Whether you are selling medical devices or Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Barton argues that without a process, you are just painting with your fingers.Key Takeaways:The Power of Silence: Why successful leaders use drive time for deep thinking rather than distraction.The Definition of Sales: It isn't just offering a product; it is influencing behavior to change a result.The "Will You?" Close: Why asking "Do you like this?" is a trap, and why you must ask "Will you buy this?"The Da Vinci Debate: Mike argues for sales artistry; Barton argues that even Da Vinci had a process.The 4-Step Solution Sales Process: Barton details his "Flywheel" approach to sales, ensuring velocity and results:Prepare: Don't wing it. Understand the pipeline and the customer before the meeting.Present: This is where the commitment happens. If you aren't closing here, you are just talking.Implement: Delighting the customer through the delivery of what was promised.Follow-up (The Refresh): Creating the environment for the next sale.Support the showScott SchlofmanMike Williams - Cell 801-635-7773 #sales #podcast #customerfirst #relationships #success #pipeline #funnel #sales success #selling #salescoach

Genesis 18:16-19:38 16 Then the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. 17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? 19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” 20 And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.” 22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” 26 So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place on their account.” 27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only dust and ashes. 28 Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” 30 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” 32 Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” 33 As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.   19:1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” 3 Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter; 5 and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.” 6 But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8 Now look, I have two daughters who have not had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway. 12 Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be joking. 15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.” 18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19 Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life may be saved.” 21 And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named Zoar. 23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot's wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and behold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. 29 So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. 30 Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. 32 Come, let's make our father drink wine, and let's sleep with him so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 34 On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let's make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep our family alive through our father.” 35 So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 36 And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. 37 The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.     BIBLE READING GUIDE - FREE EBOOK - Get the free eBook, Bible in Life, to help you learn how to read and apply the Bible well: https://www.listenerscommentary.com     GIVE -  The Listener's Commentary is a listener supported Bible teaching ministry made possible by the generosity of people like you. Thank you! Give here:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com/give     STUDY HUB - Want more than the audio? Join the study hub to access articles, maps, charts, pictures, and links to other resources to help you study the Bible for yourself. https://www.listenerscommentary.com/members-sign-up   MORE TEACHING - For more resources and Bible teaching from John visit https://www.johnwhittaker.net

Join us to get a unique and behind-the-scenes look at the debate space through the eyes of the host of Raging Tomato, Sara "Tomato", who puts herself neatly in the eye of the raging storm.In this powerful interview we'll go deep into the gaping need for debate, especially in truth and freedom spaces, and why division wins if things can't be discussed and debated in a productive way.We'll talk about what it's like to be the referee of heated exchanges with multiple participants, how she copes in her role, what keeps her going and what she thinks the ultimate purpose of her work is leading towards.About Sara:There will be chaos.There will be crazy.Buckle up.In the Summer of 2024, Sara hosted her first live debate... kinda by accident. Shortly after, the Moderator Monday series kicked off with full momentum along with Throw Down Thursday. Since then, The Raging Tomato became an official debate platform with the most contentious topics featuring 1v1s, 2v2s, and 1v8s. Additionally, the after-hours Open Panels on The Gauntlet continues to grow in popularity as several panelists wait their turn in line backstage to enter the battleground.Our network continues to grow strong with over hundreds of panelists and content creators from around the world always amped up to debate. Once you're part of the  #maternation  panels, you also have access to our network and connections. Will YOU be the next panel champion?https://www.theragingtomato.comhttps://www.youtube.com/@the_raging_tomatohttps://rumble.com/c/c-6619036https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheRagingTomato***Bumper music by Liam Martens, aka ツSaiko, sub to him here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SA1KO0O1 ***MORE FROM BETHSign up to take a 10-minute King Hero's Journey archetype quizApply to become a member of the House of Free WillRumbleKing Hero Telegram ChannelTwitter (X)InstagramSign up for a Hero's Journey Archetype ReadingOrder a copy of my book, ‘Journey: A Map of Archetypes to Find Lost Purpose in a Sea of Meaninglessness'Donate by PayPal if you're inspiredFollow the King Hero's Journey Podcast on... Apple Podcasts Spotify ***And if we're just meeting...I'm Beth Martens, a pattern hunter, archetype reader, podcaster, author, coach trainer, and business coach, and my calling is a life or death thing. After a decade as a corporate VP in my family's firm, eight trips to India, and a three-year battle with cancer nearly 25 years ago, I used archetypes and deprogramming harmful patterns to save my life.I was doing nearly everything wrong, in the physical, but tapped into and let go of the roots of the matter that were embedded and unconscious. And I went from dying to living practically overnight.Today I help people who love the truth more than their beliefs, and who want to serve with their life's work and be on their Hero's Journey, to de-program the beast system and stop making it easy for those trying to kill us.I host regular King Hero interviews highlighting leaders, entrepreneurs, movement makers, and lovers of freedom.

IN THIS EPISODE: • Biola University Updates: Their counseling center head wrote a brief supporting Colorado's conversion therapy ban — while claiming to help students. • Megan Basham (Daily Wire) drops a bombshell article the next day. • Candace Owens vs. Allie Beth Stuckey & Melissa Dougherty's “Candy Land” video The real question: Will YOU be bold?

This is a re-release of a special Holiday collaboration episode I put together a few years ago. I have gotten a lot of requests to hear it again and thought now would be a great time to share it.…1 campfire……1 dark forest……31 bone-chilling stories……Will YOU survive the night?This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It's an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem?So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for ‘A Nightmare Before Halloween'…but be warned……bad things happen in these woods….Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:In the last Part 1 Episode:- Foul Play: Crime Series- Murder She Told- Crime Salad- Crimelines- Frightful- Reverie True Crime- Rotten to the Core- The Trail Went Cold- Once Upon A Crime- Criminology- The Peripheral & Generation Why- Live, Laugh, Larceny- The Hidden Staircase- True Crime Cases with Lanie & It's Haunted...What Now?- Obscura: A True Crime Podcast & DisasterIn this Part 2 Episode: - True Crime Island- Based on a True Story- The Asian Madness Podcast- Sistas Who Kill- Hometown History- Coffee and Cases- Military Murder- Dystopian Simulation Radio- Cults, Crimes & Cabernet- Morbidology- Dark Pountine- Hillbilly Horror Stories- True Consequences- Gone Cold- Crime Stories with Nancy Grace & Crime Online- True Crime IRL & True Crime Sleep StoriesOur Sponsors:* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

…1 campfire……1 dark forest……31 bone-chilling stories……Will YOU survive the night?This Halloween season, enter the woods for a unique and truly epic podcast experience! Around the campfire Shane Waters will introduce 31 crime podcast hosts. Each host brings a new, nerve-wracking true story to the circle. It's an extra special, two part, five-hour, Halloween event, but before hitting play you might want to ask yourself…can you really handle this much murder and mayhem?So, pull up to the fire and brace yourself for ‘A Nightmare Before Halloween'…but be warned……bad things happen in these woods….Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:In Part 1 Episode:- Foul Play: Crime Series- Murder She Told- Crime Salad- Crimelines- Frightful- Reverie True Crime- Rotten to the Core- The Trail Went Cold- Once Upon A Crime- Criminology- The Peripheral & Generation Why- Live, Laugh, Larceny- The Hidden Staircase- True Crime Cases with Lanie & It's Haunted...What Now?- Obscura: A True Crime Podcast & DisasterIn Part 2 Episode: - True Crime Island- Based on a True Story- The Asian Madness Podcast- Sistas Who Kill- Hometown History- Coffee and Cases- Military Murder- Dystopian Simulation Radio- Cults, Crimes & Cabernet- Morbidology- Dark Pountine- Hillbilly Horror Stories- True Consequences- Gone Cold- Crime Stories with Nancy Grace & Crime Online- True Crime IRL & True Crime Sleep StoriesOur Sponsors:* Check out Secret Nature and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://secretnature.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/foul-play-crime-series/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Will You, the Bristol-based producer, DJ, and founder of Oleeva Records, consistently captures our attention with his releases. We know he has been developing this particular project for some time, demonstrating patience by allowing it to breathe and returning with fresh perspectives and ideas—a dedication that is clearly reflected in the final output. The album arrives at a perfect moment for introspection, whether you're enjoying a rainy, cosy evening at home, listening to the crackle of leaves underfoot, or venturing onto a smoky dancefloor. This 13-track album, 'Part of the Picture', covers a significant amount of ground, fully matching Will's vision. It perfectly aligned with the period for me personally as I was preparing for multiple sets at our annual Delayed getaway in upstate New York. Stylistically it was exactly what I needed: options to travel different paths at different times of the day, using them for everything from gently warming up the dance floor—with tunnels of light shining through the windows—to providing a thoughtful lullaby for dancers on Sunday, when humans became at one with the sofa after many many hours moving their feet. "Turbo Trip" by name, and a turbo trip it is. This track is squelchy, transcendent, and strikes that sweet spot between deep ambient house and techno. It's dancefloor-focused - a trip, but with some oomph and turbo (still soft). Hi-hats arrive and immediately pick up the energy. As club season is well and truly in full swing, this is a number that will fill the room with warmth, taking things up a gear while retaining that soft demeanour Will sprinkles over every piece he produces. 'Part of the Picture' is released on October 24th @willlyou https://www.instagram.com/willyou.dj/ Write up by @danpeplow Follow us on social media: @itsdelayed linktr.ee/delayed www.delayed.nyc www.facebook.com/itsdelayed www.instagram.com/_____delayed www.youtube.com/@_____delayed Contact us: info@delayed.nyc

Join Dr. Charli as she deep dives the root of one woman's chaos and discusses how chaos can rob us of peace and serve as a master in our life. Will YOU have to lay chaos down as your master? Charli@active-faith.com Active-Faith.org

Like many of the laments of Jeremiah, this is a mixture of questions, frustration, anger, trust and hope. Chad gives a beautiful and encouraging meditation on this gripping passage.  Rachel Hall sings "You Came Down".  Show Notes: Support 1517 Podcast Network 1517 Podcasts 1517 on Youtube 1517 Podcast Network on Apple Podcasts 1517 Events Schedule 1517 Academy - Free Theological Education What's New from 1517: Untamed Prayers: 365 Daily Devotions on Christ in the Book of Psalms by Chad Bird Remembering Your Baptism: A 40-Day Devotional by Kathryn Morales Sinner Saint by Luke Kjolhaug The Impossible Prize: A Theology of Addiction by Donavan Riley More from the hosts: Chad Bird Lyrics for "You Came Down" Rivers of tears Run down my cheeks Rivers of tears Flow without ceasing, Waters rising  Over my head  My legs are dead And I am sinking     Do I cry in vain “I called on your name” Do I cry in vain     from the depths of despair Can You hear me, can you hear my prayer Will You crush me in my pain? Do I hope  in vain?   Chorus: You came (Down!)down to me you heard my cry,  ‘Do not close your ear” You came (Down!) down to me    Saying, ‘Do not fear!' You came down to me And You drew   near      “You've taken up my cause,  O Lord;  You saved my life Even on this day You are making it right   You repay the evil one Who does not care for truth You destroy the wicked  Who slays the righteous in their youth 

Did you grow up constantly trying to prove yourself? Maybe to your family or to society, or even to God? Have you ever wondered, “Am I good enough? Do I measure up? Will I EVER be good enough?” In the Bible, it says that through Jesus, there's no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. We're all one in Christ. God doesn't look at your title, your job, your past, or where you're from. He looks at your heart—and He's not looking for perfection! Through Jesus, He welcomes all who are willing to follow Him. Are you willing? Just pray, “Jesus, I want to know that I am accepted by You. Will You please forgive me? Thank You for paying the penalty I should have paid to make things right between us. Please meet me with Your love. And thank You. In Jesus' name, amen.” Always remember, there is hope with God. I'm Andrew Palau. Scripture Reference: Galatians 3:28 radio.hopewithgod.com

In the 913th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway comes to you from the World Poker Tour (WPT) Cyprus Championship at Chamada Prestige Hotel & Casino. He caught up with the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi to find out what he's been up to since his big win, his future plans, and his upcoming trip to the Bahamas for the World Tournament of Slots (WToS).  Mizrachi is busy trying to win his seat in the exclusive event, which will only have 500 players compete for a $1,000,000 top prize. And we're also excited to reveal that PokerNews will be giving away a seat to one lucky winner! Click here to learn more about the WToS. Chad then tosses it back to Las Vegas, where Mike Holtz is joined by two-time WSOP bracelet winner Eric "basebaldy" Baldwin to discuss one online site's controversial feature that allows players to pay to see hole cards, Matt Savage's polarizing tweet about the danger of misusing official poker terms, and the passing of Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland. Chad then returns to discuss recent tournament winners, including Ilia Kitsbabahvili and Ludovic Geilich at the WPT Cyprus, as well as Shannon Shorr and Jake Cody at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO). Finally, Matt Savage gave Chad an exclusive by revealing one of the bounties at the upcoming WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, and then Chad caught up with that player from the floor of the WPT Cyprus! A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode! Time Stamps *Time | Topic* 00:00 | Welcome to the Show 00:17 | Chad at WPT Cyprus 01:37 | Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland passes away 03:09 | Interview w/ Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi 04:04 | What's life like after winning the WSOP Main Event? 04:47 | What was it like playing with Martin Kabrhel? 06:20 | What is the World Tournament of Slots (WTos)? 07:38 | Will Mama Grinder be in the Bahamas? 09:40 | Win a WToS seat via PokerNews for a shot at $1M 10:45 | Will You be at the WSOP Paradise? 11:58 | Last year's winner talks WToS victory 13:00 | Mike Holtz & Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin join the show 13:58 | Online Controversy – Thoughts on paying to see hole cards 25:51 | Matt Savage “official poker terms” warning 30:25 | Mike plays 2025 Arizona State Poker Championship 39:42 | Matt Savage reveals a WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star bounty 40:48 | Catching up with Stephen Song about being a bounty 42:18 | Winners from the WPT Cyprus 44:10 | WPT's interview with Ilia Kitsbabahvili 45:35 | Jake Cody wins 2025 SHRPO Championship 46:44 | Shannon Shorr wins SHRPO $25K High Roller

D-SNP integration changes are about to hit year 2 in 2026. What does that mean for the market? Lincoln Lafayette and Anthony Budhar join Sarah to chat about the D-SNP market in 2026 and the opportunities for agents selling dual-eligible special needs plans.  

Genesis 18:17-19a, 23-32 - The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him …” Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will You then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked! ... Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will You destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to Him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “… Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “… Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

The Friday Five for July 18, 2025: Update on Regulation Banning Medical Debt from Credit Reporting Google Announces NotebookLM Featured Notebooks This week in Apple Rumors Threads Usage Up, Meta Testing Facebook Login 2026 Midwest D-SNP Market Opportunity   Get Connected:

Psa 13:1  For the choir director. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?

Prayer for America Message Summary: As Americans, we are a privileged people, all of us, to live in a country, relative to the rest of the world, that is privileged. The key element of this :privilege” is freedom. However, something has been changing -- we are seeing many of the freedoms and blessings of America changing into curses. For example, our obsession with materialism has put most Americans into the bondage of debt; and our drive to feel happy has led many into the addiction of drugs and alcohol. We must all realize that our freedoms and liberties must be used for Godly purposes, or we will lose our freedoms. As we are told in Psalms 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!". Today, through our actions, laws, and the cultural revisions of our founding Christian principles, we have told God that we don't want Him around. While God is love, He is, also, justice. Therefore, God has obliged us; and He has done what He said He would do -- God is withdrawing His presence and His protection and holding back His divine wisdom, which has guided us for so many years. God is leaving us to reap the consequences of our focus away from Him and to lives without Him. The signers of the Declaration of Independence began a revolution which started the United States of America. The American Revolution was rooted in the belief that all people, even the King and governmental leaders, are subject to the rule of God and not above the law; and everyone is endowed by God, our Creator, with certain inalienable rights. Many people have tried to deny that America's founders created a country which wove together the idea of self-governance with Christian principles. With God's Ten Commandments as the cornerstone of our Democracy, most Americans and those others living in our country cannot name even three of the Ten Commandments. If a Christian religious context was assumed, by the founders of America and the government based on the Constitution, it seems we have a significant problem in our culture today. Now, it appears, America's focus is to get rid of all things relating America to Christianity, the Bible, or anything that smacks of God – and, pretty much, these efforts to remove God's influence from the public square appear to be succeeding. Today, we must all Pray for America – to carve out a time each day when we, each and every one of us, prays for America. In our prayers, we must confess our sins as individuals and collectively as a country. Additionally, we must pray for our President, Members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and our other leaders and those others in authority. Our Prayers for America should pray for the moral issues of today; blessings and protection for our leaders that are walking the walk of their Christian faith; and for a Spiritual Revival and Awakening in America. We will not survive as a nation unless the people of God stand up before God and plead for the survival of America. Spiritual laws are like the laws of physics – they are absolute unless another force intervenes. Therefore, as America increases its violation of God's laws at an increasing rate, we will face both the implicit and explicit consequences of violating God's laws unless He intervenes – we must pray for God's intervention! Paul instructs us for our prayers in 1 Timothy 2:1-6: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.". We must make Praying for America and, personally, for its leaders a priority in our lives. If we are praying, then God will show us what to do. Only the intervention of God will change the downward direction of America, and we must ask through our prayers. God has intervened before, and He will do it again. America was built on prayer, as we learn from the writings of Benjamin Franklin, and upon the Christian faith of our founders. Will You pray for America and take responsibility for the survival America and its blessings and freedoms for our country today and for our children and grandchildren in the future?   TODAY'S PRAYER: Keeping the Sabbath, Lord, will require a lot of changes in the way I am living life. Teach me, Lord, how to take the next step with this in a way that fits my unique personality and situation. Help me to trust you with all that will remain unfinished and to enjoy my humble place in your very large world. In Jesus' name, amen. Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 129). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM FORGIVEN. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV):Psalms 33:12; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; James 1:4; Proverbs 3:5-6; (Click the Bible References, in blue, below to read the full Bible text for these Scripture References. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “As a Jesus Follower, the Greatest Witness for the Gospel that You Can Give Is for Others to See Jesus IN You”: https://awordfromthelord.org/devotional/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

On today's episode, I talk to musician Daniel Littleton. Originally from Annapolis, MD, Daniel's first band The Hated was part of the first wave of hardcore/post-punk/emo in the 1980s. In 1991, Daniel and Elizabeth Mitchell began recording together as Ida. They released their first three albums on the formative indie label Simple Machines, and as the '90s progressed they became loosely associated with a wave of chamber pop bands. Their next five albums were released on labels  like Polyvinyl and Tiger Style Records, and in the late aughts, the band went on hiatus. Recently though, they began performing again in support of Numero Group's 4-LP reissue of their fourth album Will You find Me. This is the website for Beginnings, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, follow me on Twitter. Check out my free philosophy Substack where I write essays every couple months here and my old casiopop band's lost album here! And the comedy podcast I do with my wife Naomi Couples Therapy can be found here! Theme song by the fantastic Savoir Adore! Second theme by the brilliant Mike Pace! Closing theme by the delightful Gregory Brothers! Podcast art by the inimitable Beano Gee!  

Is shipping insurance worth the price you pay? Will YOU be completely reimbursed for lost or damaged items? Is it worth the risk to just ship without coverage? We ask and answer, speaking from our experiences, of course, these questions and more on this episode. SOUND OFF in the comments. What has been YOUR experience using shipping insurance?

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Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comActs 26 Paul defends himself before King Agrippa by recalling his life, his conversion to Christ, and his mission for God. He begins with his strict upbringing as a Pharisee and his zealous persecution of Christians. Paul then describes his dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, where he was blinded and chosen to become a witness to both Jews and Gentiles. He explains how Jesus commissioned him to open the eyes of others, converting them from darkness to light and from Satan to God. Paul's message from Jesus emphasizes the forgiveness of sins for those who repent and turn to God. Festus interrupts, accusing Paul of madness, but Paul remains composed and appeals to Agrippa's understanding of the prophets. Agrippa is impressed but chooses not to respond to the gospel.  Paul's defense starts with a recounting of his past before Christ redirected him. This illustrates his humility, as he acknowledges that he believed he knew what was right but was mistaken and needed to repent. We should share aspects of our journey before coming to Christ when possible. This is a wonderful way to give all glory to the grace of Christ, who redirects and redeems us. Paul further explains that Jesus has given him a mission, which is why he risks his life and remains tireless in his teaching. Like Paul, we should be honest and bold about our mission of service to Christ, living with integrity, and challenging others with scripture in a wise and hopeful manner.  Great God of kindness and grace, thank You for bringing us through our sinful past and to a place of hope and faith. Please help us to always give glory to You for who we are in Christ Jesus. Open doors today to share our story with others, to praise the name of Jesus, and invite others to repent and turn to the Lord so that times of refreshing will come. Will You please soften the hearts of people like Agrippa, who are so close to committing their lives to Christ? How can we help? Use us for Your redemptive work today. Thought Questions: -       How was God patient with you in the years before you became a Christian? Is that a story that can help someone believe in God's grace? -       Do you believe God has a mission for your life? From what you know today, what is that mission? Are you passionately engaged in it? -       Agrippa was almost persuaded, but something held him back. Who can you pray for today who has that mindset and needs encouragement?

Today's sermon is for the Day of Pentecost (C) and is titled Will You?. It was written by the Rev. Bertie Pearson and read by the Rev. Danáe Ashley. Sermons That Work is an offering of the Episcopal Church's Office of Communication. For more free resources, including sermons, Bible studies, bulletin inserts, and more, visit episcopalchurch.org/sermons. We would love it if you'd rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcasting platform – and while you're at it, share it with a friend!

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comJohn 15 Jesus continues His discourse with the Apostles. Jesus identifies Himself as “the true vine.” His followers are like branches that draw nutrients from Him. To “abide in Him” is to be connected to Jesus, to hear His words, and to gain strength from His power. This must result in good fruit born by the branches. To bear the fruit of good works is to prove to be His disciple. Love binds the Vine to the branches. Jesus has shown His love by laying down His life for His friends. His friends show love in return by keeping His commandments and loving one another. The world hates Jesus and His followers, but love will define His people. Jesus again promises the Apostles that the Holy Spirit will help them in their work.  As noted in the previous chapter, some of this content is unique to the Apostles. The Holy Spirit would testify through the Apostles in miraculous ways. The Holy Spirit is also at work for us; He teaches us through the scripture. Many other elements of this chapter apply to us all. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. We must remain connected to Him and bear fruit, lest we be cut away by the Father. Specifically, Jesus demands that we keep His commandments and love our fellow believers. We will be maligned by the world for serving Jesus because people of the world reject His Lordship. But fellow Christians should always be a source of love and support.   Creator God, we know that You have made us to bring honor to You. And that means living obedient lives and loving others the way You love us. Will You help us see how desperately we need Jesus to do these things? Show us how to connect to Jesus and how to draw our strength and direction from Him. We are committed to bearing the good fruit of obedience and love in a world of disobedience and hate. Show us how to love Christians in an enduring way, and please help us through the presence and teachings of Your Holy Spirit. Thought Questions: -       Are you abiding in Christ and bearing fruit through His strength? What examples in your life demonstrate this process to others? -       The Lord has commanded us to love one another. Can your faith be a saving faith if you do not actively love and serve Christians? -       The worldly have no excuse for living in sin and disregarding the King. How can you help them see their need for Jesus?

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comJohn 9 Jesus heals a man who is blind from birth. As the Light of the world, Jesus puts clay on the man's eyes and renews his sight. The Pharisees question the man as to what has happened, and the man announces Jesus as a prophet. The Jews then call in the man's parents, confirming he was born blind. They will not believe in Jesus and are determined to discredit the miracle. They speak to the man again, and he proclaims the Healer to be from God. The Jewish leaders then put him out of the synagogue. Jesus finds the man and reveals Himself to be the Son of Man, and the healed man worships Him. Jesus then teaches that Pharisees who think they can see will always be blind and in sin.  The blind man's healing leads to these words of Jesus: “For judgment I came into the world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” For all who are humble and in need of Christ, He brings light and restoration. The blind man represents all sinners, in need of opened eyes by the power of Jesus. If He has restored us, we should openly and passionately worship Him as the Son of God. But those who think they see without Him will not come to him for healing. All who choose to reject the glory of Jesus will be revealed in the end as blind and lost in darkness.  Dear Lord, You have shown amazing mercy in sending Your Son, the perfect Light, into this world of darkness and sin. He relentlessly seeks those who know that they need Him. Father, we pray for an ever-present need for the Light of the world in our lives. We are often blind and drawn to the shadows. Will You please make Jesus the Light to our path and the One who shows us the way? Give us the wisdom to see Him and follow Him. Purge from our hearts any arrogance, pride, and disbelief that would keep us from our Savior.  Thought Questions: -       The man's blindness created a circumstance for God to act. Are you open to seeing your struggles as opportunities for Christ to work? -       The healed man worshiped Jesus. Do you believe Jesus is worthy of your worship? How does that look on days other than Sunday? -       The Pharisees would not believe no matter the evidence. What creates that sort of blindness and how do you avoid it?

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comLuke 11 Jesus gives beautiful instructions on prayer. He teaches how to approach God, the importance of being persistent in prayer, and the crucial need for faith that God will answer. He proclaims that God sends His Spirit and that His answers are always good. Jesus follows this by casting a demon out of a mute man. At this point, the Pharisees come on the scene accusing Jesus of working with the devil! They ask Jesus for more signs to prove His relationship with God. Jesus strongly rebukes them and speaks of how Nineveh repented at the call of Jonah, and Israel does not repent at the call of God's Son! Following more accusations against Him, Jesus strongly condemns the Pharisees as hypocrites and as people guilty of leading others away from God.   Jesus demonstrates the most committed and accomplished prayer life of all time. When He speaks of how to address God, or how often to address God, or with what confidence we should address God, we would do well to listen. There will always be accusers like the Pharisees, and hypocrisy around us, but our connection with God is the power we must have to stand against them. This requires consistent, spiritual, and hopeful prayer. Sadly, unbelievers may never see enough to follow Jesus, and they may attack all they are shown. This manifests darkness, selfish pride, and brokenness in their hearts. Like Jesus, we must keep shining, patiently teaching, and warning others of the consequences of hardness toward God and others.  Precious Lord, we are grateful to be able to come to You in prayer. Thank You for hearing us, for desiring this time with us, and for Your promise to respond according to Your divine will. We pray in Jesus' name. His authority and presence in prayer give us great courage. So many reject His Lordship. Some accuse Him, some question Him, while others will see His majesty and believe. Father, help us to always have believing, hopeful hearts. Please give us the wisdom to speak His name into the lives of those who are lost and confused.   -       How will Christ's teaching on prayer affect the way you talk to God today? Will You follow His direction, be frequent, and believe? -       The Father gives the Holy Spirit to those who seek guidance (vs. 13). What does that mean to you, and how are you comforted by this? -       Hypocrisy is ugly. Jesus always sees right through it. Is there some area of hypocrisy in your life where you need to be honest with Him?

256. Gut Health, Allergies, Inflammation and Proactive Solutions with Emily Macleod-Wolfe   1 Corinthians 6:20 CEV "God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God."   **Transcription Below**   Emily MacLeod Wolfe is a Nurse Practitioner wellness professional with a passion for helping individuals achieve their health goals in a holistic and practical way.   With 5 years of invaluable experience in the field, Emily has developed a deep understanding of the importance of a balanced lifestyle for a vibrant life.   Emily firmly believes in treating the whole person, not just the symptoms, and takes a comprehensive approach to healthcare. She learned these from her own personal experience of dealing with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and eczema and found the root causes to treat them naturally. She is passionate to help others with the personal knowledge and health freedom she has received.   By combining her medical expertise with a focus on nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness, she empowers her clients to take control of their health and make sustainable lifestyle changes.   With a warm and empathetic demeanor, Emily creates a safe and supportive environment where clients feel heard and understood. She works closely with each individual to develop personalized wellness plans that are tailored to their unique needs and circumstances. Whether you're looking to improve your physical fitness, manage stress, or simply lead a healthier life, Emily is dedicated to guiding, encouraging & supporting you on your wellness journey.   Emily's Website   Find a Functional Medicine Provider in Your Area   Questions and Topics We Cover: Will you define what it means when you refer to our "gut" and explain why our gut health is vitally important to our overall health? What lifestyle sets us up to have a healthier gut? If you had to simplify it and leave encouragement for each of these areas, what's a good starting point for something we can all start doing, stop doing, and continue doing?   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Dream, Build, Grow: A Female's Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business by Francie Hinrichsen   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce Podcast: Being Intentional with our Health, Finances and Relationships with Elizabeth Dixon Simple Changes for Healthier Living with Leslie Sexton and Vasu Thorpe Pursuing Health, Not Vanity Before and After Childbearing with Blogger, Speaker, and Coach, Megan Dahlman Sustainable Health & Nutrition with Molly Pfleuderer and Ryan Parnham Rhythms of Renewal with Gabe and Rebekah Lyons Healthy Living with Dr. Tonya Khouri   Connect with us through The Savvy Sauce Website.   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**  Music: (0:00 – 0:08)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 – 1:15) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Duggar, and I'm so glad you're here.    If you are looking to start a business or side hustle, but you're not sure how to begin, I want to encourage you to pick up your copy of Dream, Build, Grow: A Female's Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business. You can find it at foundingfemalesco.com.    Emily MacLeod-Wolfe is my kind and brilliant guest for today. She's a nurse practitioner, wellness professional, and she loves helping individuals achieve their health goals in a holistic and practical way.   Emily packs this conversation full of practical tips, and she sprinkles them throughout the entire episode. So, I hope you enjoy learning from her now. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Emily.    Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (1:16 – 1:20) Thank you so much for having me, Laura. I'm so excited to be here with you today.   Laura Dugger: (1:21 – 1:33) I'm thrilled for the opportunity to get to interview you. And just doing a little bit of research, I recognize you are such a gifted photographer. So, then what also led you to pursue a career in the health arena?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (1:34 - 5:05) Yes, thank you so much. So, first of all, with photography, from a very young age, I just started disappearing from family photos because I wanted to start taking them. And so I was blessed to have a couple of photography mentors, and I loved the ability to be able to capture someone and show them their worth and their beauty and give them maybe even an outside perspective of sometimes we can be so critical of ourselves and to be able to show someone their beauty and their worth in a photo, it was just incredible.   And so, I just have always, always been a people person and always loved really just showing people that. And then I started that and then it was actually my own health journey that ended up prompting me to go towards the health route. And so, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and eczema.   My skin, it was just I just became a bleeding open wound at one point where I literally couldn't I would cry myself to sleep. My mom would put mittens on my hands so that I would not scratch at night. We went to doctor after doctor and no one could figure out what was going on with all these health issues.   And they just kept prescribing medications and steroids, and it was it was making it worse. And there was a point where I went and did like a UV ray treatment and for my skin and my skin with the hydrocortisone had a reaction to the UV ray light. And then I went from like already looking really terrible, my skin falling off to like a burn patient.   And it was just horrible. And so from that point, I had prayed and felt prior that I was being called into medical missions. My parents are pastors.   And so, I really had a heart to do medical missions and be in ministry. And I thought immediately doctor. But then after I saw a nurse practitioner and she asked me all the questions that the doctors were not asking.   And she was like, what are you eating and what is your sleep like? What are your stress levels like? And we did allergy sensitivity testing.   And oh, my gosh, I was my gut was so imbalanced that I just could not eat anything. And I ate I was literally eating chicken and green beans for like nine months. But my gut reset because it was so inflamed and allergic to everything.   And we did certain things to calm the lining, heal the lining of the gut and my skin cleared. And it was incredible. That prompted me to go on this journey.   I was able to get off thyroid medication. The Lord healed my thyroid and prompted me into doing medical. And so I knew I wanted to go to Vanderbilt and I wanted to be a nurse practitioner and do the traditional training.   But go into holistic, integrative kind of have the best of both worlds, the traditional training. But then the functional medicine knowledge and then integrate the two. And so that's why my practice is called pure integrative health, because it's kind of blending both.   And I still do both. And I still do photography because I just love that creative aspect. And then I like the right and left brain.   It kind of gives a little change.   Laura Dugger: (5:05 - 5:27) I love that. That's such a good point. And I've learned so much from hearing you speak about these topics.   But it seems like people are starting to pay more attention to gut health in recent years. But will you just start baseline? Will you define what it means when you refer to our gut and explain why gut health is so vitally important to our overall health?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (5:28 - 8:59) Such a great question, Laura. Yes. So, first of all, the microbiome, which is it's our gut is essentially all the different intestines that colon, large intestine, small intestine, stomach.   That's the gut. Now, the lining of that, we've got billions of bacteria, trillions of bacteria in the gut. It's the only organ that is constantly communicating like through the vagus nerve.   There is continual communication called the set. The gut is called the second brain for a reason, because there is a constant stream of communication. The gut can actually send signals to the brain and then vice versa.   And so, it is the precursor to I mean, if we can heal the lining of the gut and if we can heal and balance out, when I say microbiome, it is the amount of good and bad bacteria that are all in in the gut. And so, we want a really healthy microbiome, which would be we want lots of strains of good bacteria outweighing the bad bacteria, very little to or just like not pathogenic, bad bacteria. So how and what do we do to kind of balance those things?   One thing is the good and bad bacteria. We want so many different strains of good bacteria. Now, studies have shown that over the last 100 years, the number of good back just even strains of different types of bacteria, the microbiome diversity has gone down dramatically.   And what could be causing that is the introduction of antibiotics, because since the introduction of antibiotics, there are far fewer. Good bacteria strains that are even possible to have and cultivate now, that's what keeps our immune system resilient is the abundance of many different types of good bacteria. And so, then when pathogenic bad bacteria viruses, we get sick, then the body has a strong enough immune system and the bacteria can just destroy the bad bacteria much quicker if we have that.   But just antibiotics, the chemicals in the food, toxins, even America's gluten, because it is genetically altered. It's not Italy's, but really good stuff. It's all affecting you.   Alcohol, the lining of the gut and weakening the immune system. Not why is this so important? Anyone that has autoimmune issues needs to be paying attention to the gut.   Hundred twenty percent because 90 percent of the immune system is made and synthesized in the gut. And so, then if the gut is sending out unhealthy signals, it will send those things. Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Hashimoto's thyroid disorder, just arthritis, anything with inflammation.   Yeah. So anyhow, all of those things, inflammation and it can be traced back to imbalances in the gut.   Laura Dugger: (9:00 - 9:23) And as you're sharing even what the gut is, just thinking food passes through all of those places as it gets processed. So, I'm assuming that I'm sure there's lifestyle factors as well. But is food the main reason beyond the antibiotics that are stripping it of the good bacteria?   Is that the main lifestyle change we can have is to eat a certain way?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (9:25 - 9:26) Great question.   Laura Dugger: (9:26 - 9:26) Yes.   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (9:26 - 14:25) So food is the game changer because it is true. You are what you eat and the foods that we're eating, some of them are just the quality in the food. We could get organic, but they're showing now that sometimes we're not even getting the nutrients from the soil anymore.   They're not putting the right nutrients in the soil that the food was even grown in. So we're not getting the minerals and we're not absorbing things like B vitamins are not even being absorbed as well. Into the lining of the gut.   It's not even there to begin with in the foods or they are grown, but sent across the country and then gone to a grocery store. And they are no longer like three, four, five, six days after harvesting the mineral content in our foods drastically drops. And so.   As much as possible, I recommend getting to know your farmer, getting to know local farmers markets, places that can really go back and get food that was just freshly harvested, because we're going to increase the chances of getting cleaner, more nutrient dense foods that way. That's one thing. And the other is.   Sometimes we can be eating foods that are healthy that could actually be causing damage to the lining of our gut. And what I mean is some of you might have heard something called leaky gut. Well, what is that?   And like, where does it come from? It's in the lining of the colon, large and small intestine, and the stomach. There are these tight junctions of the cells that just keep everything in the digestive tract as properly.   We need food to stay in the digestive tract. We don't need it anywhere else in the body. And so, if there's a stressor to the body, then it can be from toxins, chemicals, food additives, preservatives, pesticides.   It can start to wear. And like I said, genetically altered gluten can wear away at the lining of the tight junctions. And all of a sudden there's holes in the lining of the intestine causing food particles to leak into the bloodstream, which what is the problem with that?   And that can contribute to food allergies and food sensitivities popping up like crazy. So, for example, an allergy usually is pretty immediate. Most people know their allergies because hives, throat closing, etc.   Sensitivities present up to 72 hours after eating a food. So we're talking joint pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation. We're talking mood swings, depression, anxiety, brain fog, acne, psoriasis, eczema, all sorts of things.   And it can show up 72 hours after eating the food. So, all of a sudden playing a guessing game. Well, I ate eggs three days ago.   I was feeling fine. I ate eggs today and I feel bloated. Was it this or was it was it the broccoli or was it this?   And so then there's this and it could be continual exposure. Now there's more inflammation in the body because then that increases inflammation that can cause weight gain. And then there's foods leaking into the bloodstream.   It's going to weaken the immune system. So oftentimes with the intestinal permeability, we'll see heightened seasonal allergies are getting way worse. We'll see food sensitivities popping up like crazy.   We'll just see overall getting sick more frequently, all of those things as well. So I do highly recommend doing a food sensitivity test because, for example, I had a patient just last week who was trying to eat as healthy as she possibly could. And she was eating salmon, spinach and rice.   Well, we did a food sensitivity test and she came back to find out that salmon, spinach and rice were three of the top most foods causing inflammation, sensitivities and allergies in her body. And that was contributing to the inflammation and all the ways that she was she was feeling terrible, which is crazy because those are healthy, good foods. But the body, if there's if there's, you know, breaches in the lining of the gut, it doesn't start to recognize good food versus it's just it could pop up from eating the same food every single day or from from vaccines at a very young age that hijack the immune system and then or antibiotics from a very young age or.   Yeah, I'm spilling out lots of information.   Laura Dugger: (14:25 - 14:45) So helpful. I'm going to try and remember it. There's a few follow up questions.   Just thinking back to when you talked about eczema and skin issues, I think I've heard you say before that the skin is the last place where it shows up, where your imbalance and overall health will show up. Is that correct?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (14:45 - 17:06) That is correct. That is. Yes, exactly.   And so even a lot of skin issues are oftentimes an indicator of there's something deeper going on. Acne, psoriasis, eczema, what's going on? Eczema, psoriasis are autoimmune also.   So, looking at the gut is absolutely a game changer. I like a gut analysis. I will say with food sensitivity tests, they're not all created equal.   I have one that I do with my patients that checks for allergy, sensitivities and inflammation because some tests just test sensitivities. Some just test allergy and some will not.   There's none that really just test inflammation on their own. But how much better if you can look at all three and add them up? What foods could be causing inflammation, which is going to increase like almost every disease out there can be linked back to inflammation.   And then we can get inflammation down or be preventative. Maybe you're not feeling bad but just want to be on the preventative side. Great.   We want to reduce inflammation. And then the sensitivities and then the allergies. So IgE, IgG and then inflammation markers and the lining would be like the best way to look at everything.   And you want to pull them out, heal the lining of the gut best we can. There are foods, there's supplements and things depends on the person to exactly what is going on with their lining of their gut. But generally it can be repaired, which is great news.   It's like, is it forever? Is it like you guys? No, it's not.   It's just because the lining of the gut can regenerate in two or three weeks. So even two months of true two or three months of truly pulling out any foods that could be causing inflammation is just incredible because it gives the body the opportunity to finally heal. If it's not always continually having stressors coming at it from something that we can control.   Laura Dugger: (17:06 - 19:54) And now a brief message from our sponsor.    Are you starting a business or side hustle this year? There is a book I love, and I want to personally recommend because it takes the guesswork out of what to do next.   It's entitled Dream, Build, Grow: A Female's Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business. And it's available at foundingfemalesco.com with over 300 pages of proven business tips and tricks. Dream, Build, Grow is perfect for anyone searching for how to start a business from the ground up. It is written by Francie Hinrichsen, who is an entrepreneur and my personal friend. I've collaborated with her on work projects in the past and I can vouch for her work ethic.   She delights in over delivering to her clients with excellence and care. And if you're interested in getting to know her a little bit better, she was also a previous guest on The Savvy Sauce. So, I will add her episode in the show notes for today's episode.   Francie's integrity makes it easy to personally recommend her work. And this book is a download of her years of business knowledge and experience. I've read this book cover to cover and it actually lives on our special bookshelf that I reserve for all the books I would re-read over and over again.   And that I want to encourage our daughters to also read as they grow up. So, I'm so excited for you to get your own copy and begin pursuing your dream. Francie's book has already received over 20 five-star reviews on Amazon.   And readers say they loved the guidance on exactly how to gain clarity, save time, and build a business that works for the modern woman's lifestyle. Dream, Build, Grow: A Female's Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business by Francie Hinrichsen provides realistic, achievable, and step-by-step guidance to finally start the business you've been dreaming about.   You can also save 10% when you use the code SAVVY at foundingfemalesco.com. Thanks for your sponsorship.    Laura Dugger: And I'd love to eventually unpack how some of these symptoms may present, whether that's insomnia or brain fog, low energy, all kinds of symptoms.   But first, I think you've given us a little glimpse of hope, so I want to run with that for a moment. So, eating whole, healthy, organic when possible foods that are locally sourced. Then you mentioned supplements and this testing.   So what are those proactive ways with both lifestyle and supplements? What do you generally recommend?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (19:54 - 27:50) I will say that foods in general that increase the microbiome diversity, which is good, the good bacteria that increase can be foods like kefirs and sauerkraut and kimchi, the fermented foods. Even sourdough bread is more easily digestible because it is fermented. And so some of those type foods that are rich in probiotics.   So probiotics, the good bacteria. But then there's prebiotics. I'm like, you know probiotics maybe.   But the prebiotics are the food for the probiotics. So we really want to feed the prebiotics so that the probiotics can multiply. So what are foods that are rich in prebiotic?   Chicory root, inulin, like the greenish like bananas, like not too ripe, but greenish, closer to green. Those are rich in prebiotics. Asparagus, onions, leeks, garlic.   Those are rich in prebiotics. And yeah, and so increasing some of those foods can help fuel the probiotics and help them multiply. But I and then as far as supplements go, a really good high quality probiotic is good.   I will say not all probiotics are made or created equally. And I would recommend you that you that are listening to consider seeing a holistic practitioner that can partner with you to do like, you know, a gut test and a food sensitivity test. And then when you do a gut analysis, it's not super fun.   It's a stool analysis. But it looks at the lining of the gut. Like we talked about, it looks at bacterial overgrowth, looks at bacterial undergrowth.   Like, is there something that's growing that's that used to be good, but now it's overgrown and it's bad bacteria that needs to be killed off? We can figure that out. And then we can look at is their yeast overgrown in the colon that can be contributing to skin issues and frequent infections, different things.   And then it looks at like not all of them, but like the top 20 parasites. So, we can know, okay, at least we know which ones most of us have some degree of parasites. Unfortunately, I don't like to think about it too much.   None of us do. But just need to come in from anywhere and just need to kind of get that flushed out. But I don't recommend people just starting on parasite cleanses without like fully knowing what else could be going on.   Sure, we can assume parasites and could cleanse. But if there's other bad bacteria that needs to be killed off that is you don't know about, that could worsen the situation. Or there's something called small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO.   And that can be caused by like someone who maybe errs towards constipation. And so the stool is sat in the stomach and then it's backing up into not just sitting in the colon, but backing up into the small intestine. Now, that can present as eating foods and immediately feeling like bloated or waking up feeling really bloated and full all the time and don't know why.   A lot of gas, a lot of problems with constipation or diarrhea. In those cases, that's why I say consider a holistic practitioner to kind of partner with you. In those cases, feeding the probiotics is not a good idea because that can be overgrowing small intestinal bacteria or bacteria that should not be continually to grow.   It can make you feel worse. So that's why there's like a yes, these are really good. But also you just it's good to know exactly where your gut is at because not everybody's microbiome and gut is the same.   There's different pieces like mine. I was very sick at a young age and I had a lot of antibiotics when I was at a young age. I know that weakened my immune system.   I think that made me more susceptible to having eczema at such a young age and then that worsening. And then when you have one autoimmune issue, it's likely that it can continue on to another one. So then I had Hashimoto's, which is another autoimmune disorder of the thyroid, but kind of snowballing all having to do with the immune system and the gut.   And so the more that we know the bigger picture and figure out, OK, what stressors have been here and what do we need to do about it, then definitely helps with that. Oh, and something about the with brain fog, anxiety and depression. I just want to touch on the mental effects of the gut because that is huge.   So one thing is a lot of people have been put on antidepressants like Lexapro, SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is what they're called. These antidepressants actually work more on the brain, which is not where we really want them to be working, because 80 to 90 percent of our serotonin receptors are in the gut. So dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, all of those really happy hormones that keep us happy and healthy.   There's a lot of people who haven't been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and been getting on these antidepressants and the antidepressant medications are not even working on the right organ. Isn't that crazy? So even in the gut, it's that's why a lot of the side effects of those medications are gut imbalances, because it's causing imbalances in the gut because of the gut brain access.   But really, what could we do if we can heal the lining of the gut? I have seen brain fog start to disappear because of bad bacteria or things that needed to be cleared out. I've seen more that you heal the gut, the more the thyroid gets balanced, the more that you heal the lining of the gut.   You can help heal the adrenals, which is just the way that body processes stress. That organ sits on top of the kidneys and vice versa, healing high cortisol stress hormones made in the adrenals. You could go back and heal the lining of the gut.   They're so interconnected, like each organ. And so anxiety, depression, ADHD. Oh, my goodness.   Kids with ADHD, I would say first thing, gut and food sensitivities. Check the food sensitivities, check the gut before going on ADHD medications, because there are likely mineral deficiencies that are happening, like B vitamins that are just not even being absorbed. D levels, different things that could be contributing to the problem that might not even be addressed.   Laura Dugger: (27:51 - 28:22) Well, and it sounds like the gut is the root cause of so many of these symptoms, but it's also very nuanced. And so seeing somebody like you would be ideal. Are there ever blanket statements that work?   I am thinking lifestyle, just how God created us to be outdoors and how that early morning light, that's kind of like a bio hack that helps all of these. Can you explain more about why that works or just any other things that would work for anyone?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (28:23 - 31:12) Yeah, that's great. So, one thing for sure is when you go outside first thing in the morning, you get 10, 15 minutes of that sunlight. The sunlight affects our vitamin D receptors and vitamin D is the precursor to melatonin.   So, melatonin is what helps us fall asleep and stay asleep. And so naturally increasing that melatonin so that it's funny, but you wake up that morning and then that night you're going to have a better sleep because of the morning sunlight. So, getting out even better is walking and moving because the more that we do exercise and that's going to increase the endorphins.   I know you've heard it before, but it's really true that if you exercise, it's going to increase serotonin and dopamine. It's going to give the body those surges of those things. And also in American culture, we're not moving enough and we're not tiring ourselves out physically.   I mean, we sure are tiring out the brain, but we're not tiring out the body. And so, there's this like discrepancy between an exhausted brain and then the body hasn't even had enough exercise. And then we try and go to bed and the brain keeps racing and the body's not as tired as it should be.   And so that's why also exercising daily and trying to get somewhere between that six thousand to seventy five hundred steps a day. That's like an hour of walking. I mean, you can walk around the house to that counts.   That's great. But just intentional walking and doing those things, that's going to help our mental health. And then weight bearing exercises are huge for prevention after the age of 30.   Twenties and the 20s is the decade in which well, teens and 20s, that is where we can build muscle. Lots of muscle can be built. And essentially after 30, it's just whatever muscle has been built will just continue to deteriorate until we die, which is unfortunate.   But that is why it is so, so, so important to do weight bearing exercise. It's not a doom and gloom. It's OK, let's be aware.   Yes, it's we're working against the natural decline in the muscles. That's why it's so important for prevention of osteoporosis, bone density, helping with sleep. So many things that weight bearing exercises one to three times.   If you need to start at one great work up to three times a week. Weight bearing exercises are incredible for men and women. It's good because it increases testosterone naturally.   Laura Dugger: (31:13 - 32:25) By now, I hope you've checked out our updated website, thesavvysauce.com, so that you can have access to all the additional freebies we are offering, including all of our previous articles and all of our previous episodes, which now include transcriptions. You will be equipped to have your own practical chats for intentional living when you read all the recommended questions in the articles or gain insight from expert guests and past episodes as you read through the transcriptions. Because many people have shared with us that they want to take notes on previous episodes or maybe their spouse prefers to read our conversations rather than listen to them.   We heard all of that and we now have provided transcripts for all our episodes. Just visit thesavvysauce.com. All of this is conveniently located under the tab Show Notes on our website. Happy reading.    It also makes me wonder just about hydration, sleep and stress management, too. How do those play into the brain gut connection and all of these symptoms?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (32:25 - 34:21) Yes. So, the sleep and stress, I will tell you that high levels of stress zap good bacteria from the lining of the gut. So, we can do the right probiotics.   You can do that gut test. You can do all those things. And then if there's high levels of stress continually exposing the body, it will contribute to just some bacteria will literally be zapped.   I've seen gut analysis where like the lactobacillus strains just fully gone. And that's what stress can do to our bodies. And that's going to weaken the immune system because we don't have all the different strains that we need to.   And so that makes us more susceptible for that. And then cortisol levels is melatonin and cortisol. Melatonin helps us.   It's a bell curve that helps us fall asleep and stay asleep. And then cortisol helps us stay awake. But if there's high levels of stress right before bed, then we're not going to be able to calm down, wind down and be able to rest properly.   So a lot of it with that lifestyle of our bodies need rhythm. We have to our bodies crave the balance of a rhythm and consistent schedule, because then the body can, you know, just little signals of I'm winding down. This is what I do.   My body needs extra help sometimes. And like, OK, it's winding down. I'm drinking some tea and taking a shower.   I'm meditating on the word. I'm not going to be looking at my screens too much because blue light really does signal the body to produce cortisol and stay awake. That's the blue light is the morning sunlight.   So, you don't want to be giving yourself screen time right before bed, because then that will be giving your body the signal to stay awake.   Laura Dugger: (34:22 - 35:01) That's fascinating, because I think there's even studies that show that blue light, I think approximately between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m., that exposure to that blue light can even eventually lead to, I think, more depression and anxiety. And just how you're talking, God did not rhythmically design us in that way. And we knew we wouldn't have time to fit everything in.   So, I can't wait to have you back to discuss hormones. But as we're winding down this conversation today, if you want to package it up, Emily, and just share an easy takeaway, what can we start, stop and continue doing with this information?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (35:02 - 37:56) So, I would say I'm going to start with the morning sunlight, starting with gratitude. And I am a huge proponent of spending time with the Lord in the morning. And the physical aspects to our emotions and physical, spiritual, emotional is also interconnected.   So, like thanking the Lord, spending time in the scripture, quoting those things, truly physically changes our body. Like the scripture that says, renew your mind daily, truly has an effect on the neurotransmitters in our brain. Because 90% of what we remember is from the day before.   And then 90% of our thoughts are usually negative. So, if we're continually going on a trajectory, we're going to go downhill. Unless we are continually renewing the mind in the morning to truth, to scripture, to like, what does God say about me?   What does God say about my health? All of those things. So, so, so important because we got to shift the 90% narrative.   And we've got to shift what we thought yesterday to today. So, I would say, pair it with a little 10 minute walk in the morning. And I would say, do eat for blood sugar management.   We can get into this more into the next episode, for sure, because we're going to smaller, more frequent meals. And I'll get into why that is so important, but not skipping out and going, you know, five, six, seven hours. That was the blood sugar and glucose is going to spike and crash.   And then that's going to affect the gut, the hormones, and we'll get into that 100%. But the morning sunlight, taking time to really meditate on truth and scripture in the morning, and then cutting out processed oils. I would say that would be a really big one that we can start cooking with.   Baking it, broiling it, grilling it, cooking with whole, real foods as best sourced as you can control from local, if you can. And having a good protein source and then fiber, like a vegetable and a fat for a meal or like a protein fiber and complex carb, like sweet potato, brown rice, quinoa, something like that. It's going to give you more longer energy and lasts a lot longer than just eating fruit or just eating a piece of toast or just drinking a glass of orange juice.   Which is typical for American culture, but that's just spiking sugar and crashing it.   Laura Dugger: (37:57 - 38:03) Okay, so that's the start and stop. Is there anything to continue?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (38:04 - 39:20) Anything to continue? Continue with the working out and just being consistent in that. Because also, the more that we walk, we do workouts, exercise, cardio, mixed with weights, it is bringing oxygen to our tissues.   And I don't think most people think of it in that way. Most of us know a handful of our friends and family members, loved ones that have passed from cancer or dealt with cancer before. But we need to remember that exercise increases oxygen to the tissues and cancer cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment.   So the more that we are pumping our bodies with oxygen and getting it to the tissues, it's going to prevent a lot of those cancers. And it's going to improve cardiovascular health. And just walking 6,000 to 7,000 steps a day can reduce the risk of dying between the ages of 20 and 65 by 40%.   Just the walking part or cardiovascular events. So, I would say keep walking.   Laura Dugger: (39:21 - 39:39) That's incredible. Well, you are such a wealth of knowledge. And as you shared, even getting these food sensitivities and allergy and inflammation tests, is that something that we can seek from you even if we're living in a different state?   Or would we have to find somebody local?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (39:40 - 40:28) Great question. Yes. So a couple of different options.   I have an option, opportunity that I can. I would need to see. I do see out of state patients.   I just have to see them for their first evaluation. And then after that, we can do like a hybrid telemedicine. See you back once a year, that kind of thing.   So that's definitely an option. And then obviously in person will just work. I can order testing, you know, even to wherever it is needed.   As far as finding a local practitioner in your current state, there is a website, ifm.org. And then you can go to that website and find a practitioner. If you prefer someone right there local, then you can do that too.   But there's options. Yeah.   Laura Dugger: (40:28 - 40:30) Wonderful. Okay. Well, we will.   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (40:33 - 40:40) Pureintegrativehealth.com. That's the website, my website, that they can find out more information on how to become a patient if they were interested.   Laura Dugger: (40:41 - 40:49) Yeah. Wonderful. We'll link to those websites in the show notes for today's episode.   And I hope we all get a chance to meet you in person.   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (40:50 - 40:50) Thank you.   Laura Dugger: (40:50 - 41:07) Wonderful. Well, Emily, I've enjoyed this time so much. But I do have one more question for you because we are called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge.   And so, as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce?   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (41:08 - 42:45) I would say that my Savvy Sauce for today is the importance of eating smaller, more frequent meals centered around protein and never having sugar by itself. Including fruit, including carbs, always pairing it with protein and the order in which we eat a meal can affect glucose. Because if we can get the blood sugar controlled, it came out this year, type 3 diabetes, Alzheimer's, type 3 diabetes, sugar in the brain.   So we can prevent Alzheimer's, blood sugar issues, adrenal issues, thyroid issues, all of this getting down to the order in which we eat foods. And that is on a plate. If we can have the vegetable first, that's the gastric juices.   It gets it going and flowing. Then we eat the protein next. And that will stabilize and tell our body when we're full longer.    And then the carb. And that order, even on a plate, makes a big difference to glucose levels in the blood after eating. And so that, as well as just when we're pairing foods, we do not want to have the fruit by itself.   Have it with a little bit of protein, you know, a turkey stick or something with the fruit. It's okay to have, you know, treats. But just doing it with the protein is such a huge game changer.   Laura Dugger: (42:46 - 43:06) Wonderful. Wow. You are just a wealth of information, Emily.   And wrapped up in a very warm and engaging and likable personality. But there is so much more to dig into. And I'm so grateful that you've agreed to be a returning guest.   So, thank you for everything you've shared today. And I look forward to getting to host you again.   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (43:06 - 43:10) Thank you so much for having me, Laura. I've really had a great time. I appreciate it.   Laura Dugger: (43:10 - 43:11) My pleasure.   Emily Macleod-Wolfe: (43:12 - 43:13) Okay, let's see you next time.   Laura Dugger: (43:14 - 46:54) One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news.   And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners.   But Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a Savior. But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today, right now, is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life?   We trust You to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.   If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him. You get the opportunity to live your life for Him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So are you ready to get started? First, tell someone.   Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible.   I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it. You can start by reading the Book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ.   I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have Show Notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

255. Redeeming Our Time with Jordan Raynor   “But as for you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” 2 Chronicles 15:7 AMP   **Transcription Below**   Jordan Raynor is a leading voice of the faith and work movement. Through his bestselling books (The Sacredness of Secular Work, Redeeming Your Time, The Creator in You, and The Royal in You.), keynote speeches, podcasts, and devotionals, Jordan has helped millions of Christians in every country on earth connect the gospel to their work.    In addition to his writing and speaking, Jordan serves as the Executive Chairman of Threshold 360, a venture-backed tech startup which Jordan previously ran as CEO following a string of successful ventures of his own.    Questions and Topics We Cover: 1. What does it look like, practically, to live on earth as it is in Heaven? 2. From your time studying of the Bible, do you find a difference in how our call to work applies to both men and women?  3. What are some ways we can pass along this wisdom to our children?   Other Episode Mentioned from The Savvy Sauce: Stewarding Technology for More Intentional Relationships  with Joey Odom Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: Being Intentional with Marriage, Parenting, Rest, Personal development, and Leadership with Pastor, Podcaster, and Author, Jeff Henderson Practical Life Tips with Blogger, Rach Kincaid Implementing Bite-Size Habits That Will Change Your Life with Author, Blogger, Podcaster, and Speaker, Kat Lee Fruitful with Laura Dugger Ordering Your Priorities with Kat Lee Living Intentionally with Shunta Grant Cultivate What Matters in 2021 with Emily Thomas Rhythms of Renewal with Gabe and Rebekah Lyons Divine Productivity with Matt Perman Why Limits Are Good For Us with Kelly Kapic   Thank You to Our Sponsor:  Sam Leman Eureka   Connect with The Savvy Sauce Our Website, Instagram or Facebook    Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**   [00:00:00]   Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    [00:00:18]   Laura Dugger: The principles of honesty and integrity that Sam Leman founded his business on continue today over 55 years later at Sam Leman Chevrolet Eureka. Owned and operated by the Bertschi family, Sam Leman in Eureka appreciates the support they've received from their customers all over central Illinois and beyond. Visit them today at Lemangm.com.    I am pleased to get to introduce you to my guest, author, speaker, entrepreneur, Jesus lover, and family man, Jordan Raynor. We're going to discuss what God's word has to say about topics such as the afterlife and then what that means now for how we spend our time and what work we get to do both as men and women.   Jordan is a content producer and much of our conversation today is a follow-up to one of his books entitled, Redeeming Your Time: 7 Biblical Principles for Being Purposeful, Present, and Wildly Productive. [00:01:31]    Here's our chat.    Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Jordan.   Jordan Raynor: Laura, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.   Laura Dugger: Well, it is truly my pleasure. I'd love just to begin here. How did you find your way into the work that you get to do today?   Jordan Raynor: I spent the majority of my career as a tech entrepreneur. I still have a foot in that world as executive chairman of the last company that I ran, but I spent 10 years full-time as a tech startup CEO.    I was in the process of exiting my second company when this kind of all started for me. So, you know, when you sell two companies, the natural thing to do is go start a third. So that was kind of the plan.    But for a hot minute there, my wife and I were really seriously thinking about planting a church. Why? Because I went to church often feeling this guilt that I think a lot of believers have felt of, Man, how dare I want to go to work and build a business tomorrow when there's a need for people to serve as pastors and move to mud huts 5,000 miles away from home to make disciples. [00:02:39]    So we're praying about these two paths: start another business, plan a church. One week after church, this mentor of mine pulled me aside. He's like, "Hey, I heard you're thinking about planting a church."    And I'm thinking this guy's going to pat me on the back, maybe write me my first check. He just looks me dead in the eyes, is like, "Yeah, I got to be honest, it sounds really dumb for you." Like, personally, I was like, "Oh, okay. Tell me more." He's like, "Listen, Jordan, you're a talented entrepreneur. You've served your customers and your team members and your investors with excellence. Why do you think you have to plant a church to do ministry? Don't you get that your work as an entrepreneur is ministry?"   I was like, "Yeah, no, I get it. I build these companies so I can write big checks to the missionaries, picture on my refrigerator, or share the gospel with my team members." He's like, "Yeah, but like so much more than that." I was like, "I have no idea what you're talking about."    So he's like, "Here's what I want you to do with this conversation, the background of your mind, I want you to read Genesis one and two." [00:03:39] And I'm thinking, "I've read Genesis one, two, five hundred times. What am I going to say? It's new."   But Laura, what I saw changed my life forever. I saw that before God tells us that He is loving or holy or omnipotent, He tells us that He is a God who works and creates. It's literally the first verb in the Bible. It's the only thing we know about God's character until Genesis 1:26, well, God says, let us make humankind in our image. Why? So that they may rule and work like God did long before the great commission to make disciples.    In Genesis 1, we see this first commission that God never once retracts for you and I to make culture. And that just stopped me dead in my tracks. So long story short, I did not go plant a church. I went and ran somebody else's company. But it set me on this search to really understand how the church's theology of work has gotten so, so lost. [00:04:38]    And it's led to the work I do today, which is creating a whole lot of content through books and podcasts and whatever, helping Christians understand the biblical story of work and God's plan for work from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22 and respond to that truth in practical ways in how they do their work outside and inside of the home today.   Laura Dugger: Wow. Okay. So definitely want to talk about work, but then even zooming out bigger picture of our time, that some of the content that you've written about, and I'm specifically thinking about redeeming your time. So what would you say, Jordan, is one of your biggest cautions for us to consider, especially as it relates to ways that are culturally acceptable to spend our time, but they're not eternally wise ways to spend our time?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah, it's a really good question. [00:05:36] I think maybe the most significant one though is not where we spend it but how we spend it. I think culture outside of the church largely views time as a means of glorifying self, of pleasing self, of accumulating experiences and leisure.   It's the whole bucket list mentality, right? The purpose of your time now is to do it all because this is your only chance to do everything you want to do. And that's a deeply unbiblical lie that I think is one of Satan's favorites to peddle to believers and non-believers alike.   And so I think as believers, the gospel ought to compel us to not just manage our time for profit and for pleasure, but to redeem the time, as Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-16, to eternal ends, to things that are eternal.    And yes, that means souls, but it means way more than souls. I think a lot of times when we think about eternal uses of our time, we think exclusively in that bucket of evangelism. And Jesus didn't. [00:06:36] In fact, He spent 80% of His adult life swinging a hammer and making excellent tables and chairs. He spent time turning water into good wine and pursuing justice in the world and beauty in the world.    And I think all of that matters to God. I think all of that can be an eternally significant use of our time if, if, and this is the big IF, we're doing all those things with Christ-like love and compassion and excellence and in accordance with God's good and perfect word.   Laura Dugger: I guess you're starting to answer this, but I'm thinking then of the flip side of that question. What would you say are ways that God's will can be done on earth as it is in heaven?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that we could spend hours and hours and hours answering that question. I think we got to be clear though on what we mean by that term "heaven". [00:07:35] Because for the first time in church history, for the last 200 or 300 years or so, Christians, when they hear that word heaven, think almost exclusively about the present heaven, this amorphous, disembodied souls floating on clouds, which was not the hope of Jesus, it was not the ultimate hope of the writers of the New Testament.    God did not promise to fit us for heaven to dwell with Him there, as we sing every Christmas. He promised heaven on earth and to dwell with us here. See Revelation 21 and 22. And that's the "on earth" part.   So when we expand our thinking beyond heaven is only this place that disembodied souls go to in the future and we understand heaven as a state of affairs that is breaking into the present — Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand — I think it greatly expands our vision of what it means to work in ways and manage our time in ways where God's will can be done on earth as it is in heaven. [00:08:32]    Yes, that means making disciples as we go about the work that God has given us to do. Yes, it means discipling our kids within our homes. But it also means cultivating beauty in the world. Because Revelation 21 says that when we do, we are scratching off a glimpse of the day when beauty will reign supreme over the face of the earth.   It means doing work with excellence, because Isaiah 60 tells us there are works of cultural excellence present on the new earth, which boggles the minds of many people, right?    So I think the definition is really, really broad of what that means to do our work on earth as it is in heaven. But the key is love. The key is, out of looking at the cross and understanding the love that God has shown us in Christ, letting that love overflow out of our hearts and spill into everything we do, whether we eat or drink or whatever it is that we spend our time doing, to riff off of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10. "Do it all for the glory of God."  [00:09:36]    What's his glory? The perfect love of His Son. When we're modeling that, that's what I think it means to bring heaven to earth, as Jesus calls us to do.   Laura Dugger: Okay, so expand our understanding, though, because I know you've been on a journey learning about heaven here on earth. What are some findings and realizations that you've made as you've studied scripture?   Jordan Raynor: Number one, nobody, including Jesus Christ, is going to spend eternity in heaven. If what we mean by heaven is the present heaven, where, God forbid, if I die in the plane that I'm about to go on tonight, I will be with Jesus in the present heaven. Nobody's going to spend eternity in that heaven. Read Revelation 21, read Isaiah 60 through 65, it makes that abundantly clear.    Number two, contrary to our American caricature of heaven as a glorified retirement home, Isaiah 65 says, starting in verse 17, God says, "See, I'll create new heavens and a new earth. My chosen people will build houses and dwell in them, and they will long enjoy the work of their hands." [00:10:39]    So, number one, nobody's going to spend eternity in heaven. Number two, on the new earth, we will worship by singing yes, but also by working with our hands alongside the risen Christ. And then I would say, you know, number three, I think what I'm learning more and more is we tend to think of heaven exclusively as a place that we go to in the future. And that is true in a sense, right?    But it's also, as I said before, this state of affairs that's relevant and breaking into the present, breaking into our homes, breaking into our communities. The good news of the gospel is not that I sit around and wait to go to heaven when I die. The good news of the gospel is that I get to partner with Jesus in cultivating heaven on earth until I die, and He returns with heaven in hand to finish the work, right? [00:11:36]    So I think as we expand our vision beyond these half-truths about heaven that secular and, frankly, church culture have been peddling for years, with the whole truths that we see in Scripture, it vastly expands our purpose in the present as we seek to redeem our time. And I also think it expands our hope for the future, because a future with Christ where He has truly made all things new and I get to long enjoy the work of my hands with Him is way more exciting to me, and way more importantly, way more biblical than endless harps and hammocks in the clouds. Way more exciting.   Laura Dugger: Absolutely. And then if you'd have to say what that means for us now, like on a regular Thursday afternoon, can you make it really practical?    Jordan Raynor: Yeah. I think it means, number one, you can have a whole lot more purpose in your work and feel much more alive doing the work, whether that's changing diapers or making widgets on your computer. [00:12:37] Because, listen, if earth is our temporary home, as Carrie Underwood likes to say — I love you, Carrie Underwood. I do — then matter doesn't matter, right? Like matter doesn't matter. And my work with matter doesn't matter.   And if that's true, less than 1% of my time matters for eternity. Because I'm willing to bet that our listeners spend less than 1% of their time on spiritual work like evangelism and prayer. But if earth will one day be our perfect and permanent home, then matter has to matter greatly to God. And my spiritual and super material and earthly work has to matter. And if that's true, then 100% of my time matters for eternity. And so what's the response?   I love that you brought up redeeming your time. Redeeming your time is the response. If 100% of my time matters for eternity, I have greater hope for the future, I have greater purpose in the present, and I'm much more motivated to redeem all of my time, to look at every single one of my minutes that I have living in this age as opportunities to glorify God and make things matter in the grand scheme of eternity because I understand that it does matter, and it's not all going to burn up in the end. [00:13:46]    So that's one of the practical responses. We can get uber, uber practical, talking about redeeming your time and how exactly to do that. But at a theological level, if you hold to this idea that earth is our temporary home, you're really saying that 99.9% of your time doesn't matter in the grand scheme of eternity. That's deeply depressing. And praise God, it's also deeply unbiblical.   Laura Dugger: Okay. So a few follow-up questions with that then as well. So all of this matters and is eternally valuable and valuable in this moment. What about our choices then where you could be numbing out on Netflix all night or Instagram or whatever social media, or pouring excellence into the work that you're doing or your family or something more significant. What's the difference between those two options if everything matters?   Jordan Raynor: Everything has the opportunity to matter. Everything matters in the sense that God's going to judge every minute that we spend. [00:14:48] But listen, you could have two people with the exact same job, exact same stage of life, and one of them is wasting it in the grand scheme of eternity.   It matters in the sense that God's going to count it. But we can certainly make our lives matter more for eternity based on how we steward those minutes. Christians have lost this doctrine that Paul makes very clear that every single minute we spend in this life will be judged. Our soul will not be judged. Our soul has been judged (past tense) based on what Christ did on the cross. Praise God, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   But every believer will stand before the beam of seed of judgment to give an account for how we live this life. And those of us who wasted this life binging Netflix infinitely, you're still going to enter the kingdom of heaven if you were trusting in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins. But don't expect a whole lot of rewards when you show up there, right?   The ones who are going to be awarded with treasures in heaven that Jesus talked about, with crowns, with increased job responsibilities on the new earth, see the parable of the minas, are those of us who, like Paul, expended ourselves, spent with all the energy we have to make Christ known in what we make and how we do it and how we live our lives and how we do our work. [00:16:01] That's a response, is to get off of the couch and to get in the game of scratching off glimpses of heaven on earth in the present.   Laura Dugger: I love that. Yes and amen. Somebody previously on The Savvy Sauce called me spicy for asking questions like this. I don't intend it in a controversial way.   Jordan Raynor: Listen, if we're not going to talk about these things, why talk about anything at all? I love spicy questions. Come on.   Laura Dugger: Okay. So I would just love to hear your perspective, Jordan, especially because you have immersed yourself in the word of God and obviously you have the Spirit of God living inside you as well. So when you've wrestled with these ideas, do you find a difference in how this applies to men and women? And I'm specifically thinking about Genesis and work. And I can ask some more follow-up questions, but what would you say to that?   Jordan Raynor: Oh man, I love this question. [00:17:00] I don't get asked this question very much. Listen, is there a distinction? Sure. But not much of one. Adam and Eve were both called to work the garden and to take care of it as partners together in Genesis 1 and 2.    There are tons of women throughout scripture who are celebrated for their engagement in the first commission to fill the earth, so do it and rule. I think maybe the most poignant of them is Luke chapter 8. Luke chapter 8 says, name specific women who were, quote, "helping to support them —it's referring to Jesus and His disciples — out of their own means," end quote.    And based on what we know about Mary Magdalene and some of these other characters. I don't think they had means before they followed Jesus. So the implication is these women went to work, creating value in the marketplace to support Jesus and His followers. [00:18:00]    So all throughout scripture... I'll give you one more. Gosh. You want a case study that celebrates working women? Just go read the book of Exodus, right? Exodus 1 starts with Pharaoh who's looking around and fearful of these Hebrew boys. Why? Because he wasn't afraid of Hebrew girls because they represented no threat to him, right? He's like, Ah, no, it's the boys who are going to rise up and fight against me.    But who does Yahweh use to thwart Pharaoh's plans? Two midwives, working professionals, and a whole bunch of other women all throughout the book of Exodus. If you can't tell, I'm a raging Jesus feminist with three daughters under my roof right now. And so I love that you asked this question.   There are certainly distinctions. And listen, we got to be careful here. There are differences in genders. God-appointed gender. God appointed differences in leadership within the home and within the church, right, which is not popular outside of the church. [00:19:01] But I can't get around God's word here. But both men and women are called all throughout scripture to roll up them sleeves and work hard at the work of the Lord of cultivating creation for His glory and the good of others.   Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsor.    [00:19:21]   Sponsor: Sam Leman Chevrolet in Eureka has been owned and operated by the Bertschi family for over 25 years. A lot has changed in the car business since Sam and Stephen's grandfather, Sam Leman, opened his first Chevrolet dealership over 55 years ago. If you visit their dealership today, though, you'll find that not everything has changed. They still operate their dealership like their grandfather did, with honesty and integrity.    Sam and Stephen understand that you have many different choices in where you buy or service your vehicle. This is why they do everything they can to make the car-buying process as easy and hassle-free as possible. They are thankful for the many lasting friendships that began with a simple "Welcome to Sam Lemans". Their customers keep coming back because they experience something different.   I've known Sam and Stephen and their wives my entire life, and I can vouch for their character and integrity, which makes it easy to highly recommend you check them out today. Your car-buying process doesn't have to be something you dread. So come see for yourself at Sam Leman in Chevrolet in Eureka. Sam and Stephen would love to see you, and they appreciate your business.    Learn more at their website, LemanEureka.com, or visit them on Facebook by searching for Sam Leman Eureka. You can also call them at (309) 467-2351. Thanks for your sponsorship.    [00:20:42]   Laura Dugger: I think something I've been wrestling with lately is I wonder what lies Satan is whispering that we're not even aware of. And I think one piece is that it's sinful or unbiblical for women to work, especially to work outside the home. And I know God has a different call on everyone's life. But yeah, could you speak to that? We have four daughters. You have three daughters. This is-   Jordan Raynor: Oh my gosh, if I'm Satan, if I'm Satan, I would love nothing more than to convince 50% of the image of God not to bear God's image outside of the four walls of my home. That sounds like a pretty good strategy. That sounds like a killer strategy, right?   And listen, don't take my opinion for it. Don't take Laura's opinion for it. Go read the Word. I think when you open up God's Word, you're going to see that a lot of these... it's going to expose the lies. [00:21:43] By the way, Satan doesn't just peddle lies through nonbelievers. Just as frequently, I think we could say, Satan is peddling lies through well-intentioned believers. Lies about heaven and the new earth that we just talked about. Lies about work that I grew up believing as we talked about in the beginning of this. And I think lies about the role that women can joyfully and enthusiastically play working inside and outside the home for God's glory and the good of others.   Laura Dugger: So well said. I just completely agree that it's a both-and. They think some people are called inside the home and that is a worthy work, and some are not.   Jordan Raynor: 100%. By the way, my wife works full-time in the home. That is a noble calling that she's chosen for this season. And I'm so appreciative of that. But there have been other seasons where she hasn't chosen that. Blessed be the name of the Lord.   We're so obsessed with black... we're all Pharisees. [00:22:45] We love adding extra regulations and rules on top of God's Word, this extra-biblical junk to make ourselves feel superior to one another. And I think when we get back to the Word, we find a lot more freedom than we find in our churches and our pharisaical structures.   Laura Dugger: Okay, so then you and your wife, I'd love to hear the ages of your daughters and how you two are engaging with them and teaching or discipling them on topics like this.   Jordan Raynor: I've been married to Kara for 15 years now. She's the love of my life. I love her dearly. And we got three little girls. So Ellison is 10, Kate is 8, and Emery, we adopted at birth almost five years ago. It'll be five years, one month from today.   And yeah, discipling them is a challenge and a joy. I think the hardest part is just redeeming the time and making space for intentional time with them. [00:23:50] And we can talk about how we do that if you're interested.   But, you know, practically what discipleship looks like in our home is every morning around the breakfast table, I'm there with the girls memorizing God's word. And not just memorize it, but really talking about it. So take it a week, right? It's like, okay, we love because He first loved us. Who's He? What does that mean? How did Christ show that love to us? And what does it look like practically for us to show that love to others?   So scripture memorization and discussion of the scriptures is a big part of it. Don't hear me saying we do family devotionals. We don't. We're not that put together. We're not that formal. It's really just taking a passage of scripture and hiding it in their hearts and trying to make it as practical and actionable for the day as possible.   Then, two, we talk with our kids a lot. As much as we can, we are pointing them to God and His goodness in regular conversations. It may be specific studies. I'm writing books for kids. So I wrote a book called The Creator in You about the call to create that we see in Genesis 1. [00:24:51] I'm about to publish a second one called The Royal in You about ruling and working with Jesus on the new earth. So we're constantly talking about those themes.    And then also looking for really tactical physical things within the house to point them to Jesus. I'll give one example, then I'll shut up, and or you can follow up on anything you want. I was really convicted by a friend and again, this is at the risk of sounding pharisaical. I'm not saying this is a rule you got to do. This is just working for my family.   I said the word "awesome" like three times in a conversation. He's like, "Hey, only God is awesome." It really stopped me and maybe take stock of my words. I'm like, "Man, there should be a word awesome, amazing, whatever you want, right, whatever works for you works, but there should be a word that we reserve for God alone, right? Even holy. We talk about us being holy as God is holy, right?    And so we just decided we're going to reserve "awesome" for God. [00:25:50] And we put a jar, kind of like a swear jar in people's houses. We put a “not awesome” jar in the middle of our living room. And every time somebody says something's awesome, other than God, we have to put a buck in it. And then we donate that money to an orphanage that we love supporting.   But Laura, that sounds silly and really trivial, but guess what? In the last week, it's given me, I don't know, 15 opportunities to talk about how Jesus is better than any creative thing. Man, I'll do that all day long. I'm constantly looking for little things like that to latch on to, to talk about God's goodness, to talk about His awesomeness, and talk about the role that He's called us to play in bringing heaven to earth.   Laura Dugger: Wow. No, that doesn't sound silly at all. Actually, it just is in line with these themes, intentional in our work, intentional in our time, intentional in our words, and that matters.   Jordan Raynor: I love John Tyson and his book, The Intentional Father. [00:26:54] I'm the overly intentional father. I am too intentional. And that will show up in this conversation, I promise.   Laura Dugger: No, we celebrate that around here for sure. That was kind of my follow-up question you just alluded to, being intentional. Was it with getting time with your daughters? Do you and Kara have a system for that?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah. Yeah, we do. Listen, this isn't going to come as a surprise to anybody listening. Our phones are enemy number one in our fight for deep work that we do in front of the laptop, but also the deep work of discipleship with our kids. And maybe the biggest game changer of my life and discipling my kids is that my kids never, almost never see me on my phone inside of my house. Outside my house for direction, sure.    I track this. I log every day that they see me. The last 90 days, my kids have seen me on my phone one time, inside of my house. [00:27:52] You better believe they know that dad loves them, but more importantly, it gives me more intentional space to be with them without being distracted.    And I know that sounds impossible to listeners. So let me give you five steps for cultivating this. If you want to do this, you're like, man, yeah, I would love to put my phone down for an hour and not think about it. Five steps. It's really simple to do, but it's going to take a lot of courage.    Number one, choose ahead of time when you want to check your texts and emails and asynchronous messages, right? It could be every hour. It could be on a, maybe say it's 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 6 p.m. That's it. Whatever.    Step two, build a list of VIPs who will have access to it all times and not just those predetermined times. So my VIPs are my wife, my kids' school, my assistant. It's pretty much it. Step three, pull out your phone and add all of your VIPs to your Favorites list if you're an iOS user or "Your people" list, if you're an Android user, that way, when you use just the basic out-of-the-box, do not disturb settings on your phone, only calls from those people come through. [00:28:57] Not their texts, not their emails, not every Instagram notification of people liking yet another picture of your dog, just phone calls from your VIPs.   Step four, you got to set clear expectations with your VIPs about your new response time. You send them a very simple message like this. I actually give you the template in the Redeeming Your Time book, but this is the gist. "Hey, I'm trying to be more focused with my kids at home." I know by the way, also at work, especially if you're sending this to your boss. "Here's how you can help me from now on. I'm only checking emails, texts, etc., at X, Y, and Z times. However, you're a VIP in my life. And so if you need me more urgently than that, do not text me, I won't see it. Don't email me. I won't see it. But if you call me on my cell, I'll answer every single time that I can."   Last step, step five, put your phone away for an hour and a half at a time. When you're with your kids, keep your phone out of sight, out of mind. For mine, I keep it in my master bathroom. It's on "do not disturb". I turn the ringer on. [00:29:58]    And here's what happens. I actually spent two and a half hours apart from my phone at nighttime from 5 to seven 30 p.m. every single night. And functionally what I've done is I've turned my cell phone into a landline, right? If the phone rings, I can go in there and see what VIP is calling and decide whether or not I want to answer it. But in all that other time, I am fully focused on my kids and the conversations I'm having with them about their day.    Laura, it's been a total, total game changer for me and for thousands and thousands of readers of Redeeming Your Time. This is one of 32 practices in the book, and I'm willing to bet it's probably in the top five of reader favorites.   Laura Dugger: Well, and I can see why that's incredible. And I'm curious, Jordan, do you know Joey Odom with Aro?   Jordan Raynor: I know Joey. I talked to Joey yesterday. I love Joey Odom.   Laura Dugger: Okay. He's wonderful. So we will link to an episode that he did on The Savvy Sauce. [00:31:00] If you're looking for more practical ways as well, like you said, putting your phone away, he just can contribute. I think that partners nicely.   Jordan Raynor: Yeah. And if you don't know Aro, go check out the episode. But basically it's an app on your phone. It's also a physical box that you can put the phone in. And it basically gamifies what I just explained.    So instead of me being accountable to care of my kids, I could theoretically share with my friends, "Hey, I spent two and a half hours today apart from my phone. Here's a screenshot of the evidence. I love what Joey and their team are doing. It's incredible.   Laura Dugger: And like you said, this is just one of the helpful suggestions in Redeeming Your Time. My husband and I have both benefited so much from that book.   Jordan Raynor: I love it. Thank you.   Laura Dugger: Well, yes. And thank you. But I'd love for you to walk us through the topics and the questions that we ask ourselves as we metaphorically go floor by floor through the building of intentional living.   Jordan Raynor: Yeah. Yeah. It's a great question. [00:32:00] You're asking about chapter four of the book, where I'm talking about prioritizing our yeses. And we hear about all these different terms when it comes to setting priorities. We talk about mission statements and callings and long-term goal, whatever. I just found it necessary for myself to bake the cake and put it all together. Be like, okay, give me one simple framework for thinking about all these things and how they connect to each other.    And so the metaphor I use in the book is this five-story building where on the fifth floor, the very top of this hotel, whatever you envision this building being is your mission in life that is over everything else. Listen, there are people selling books left and right, helping you discern the mission for your life. I'll let you off the hook for having to buy those. Listen, you didn't make yourself and so you don't get to choose the mission of your life. God does. Here's the mission of your life: to glorify God, period, full stop, right?   Now God in this goodness has given us a lot of freedom to choose the callings on the fourth floor of how we will live out that mission. But that's your mission, right? [00:33:05] So mission, fifth floor; fourth floor, next level down is callings. So I am called right now to be a husband, to be a father, and to be the CEO of Jordan Raynor company and create this content. That's it. I've chosen three callings, right?    The next level down are long-term goals. This is level three of the building, okay? Long-term goals. I am the biggest believer in the world in setting the biggest possible long-term goals, because in my experience, that's what helps me say no. If I have really small goals, I am getting sucked into the thick of thin things every single time.    So I would argue Christ's power should be setting the biggest long-term goals on the planet. By long-term, I'm talking at least a year, more likely three to five years, setting those long-term goals for each of your callings.    Then the next level down are short-term goals, which whatever works for you works. Maybe you want to set goals on a weekly basis, monthly basis. I love the quarterly cadence. [00:34:05] Every three months, looking at my long-term goals and setting quarterly goals that are attached to that.    And then the bottom floor, the first floor of this metaphorical building are what I call projects and actions. This is the tactical stuff. This is your to-do list born out of mission calling, long-term goals, short-term goals.    Okay. What are the specific projects and actions that I need to execute against over the next seven days, over the next quarter to make progress towards those goals? And then, as you know, Laura, there's a secret sixth floor to this building, which it doesn't deserve to be called a floor. It's the basement.    And this is what I call posteriorities. And this might be the most important. This is everything else that falls outside of what's already on my plate professionally and what falls under those short-term goals. Everything else goes into the basement of my mind in this metaphorical building. [00:35:05]    And so in my to-do list app, what I call my commitment tracking system, all of those projects and actions literally go in a separate folder called "Someday" that I only look at every 90 days. Once every 90 days, I look at that, decide if there's anything I want to pull out and work on over the next 90 days. But for the other, what is that, 89 days and a quarter, all of those things are out of sight, out of mind, so that I can fully focus on the work that I believe that God has called me to execute against over the next three months.   Laura Dugger: So good. Again, and these 90 days, let's zoom in on that. We also share a passion for the quarterly time, even the brain science behind it, that your brain can only be reminded and to hang on to a goal for 90 days. What does yours actually look like in these 90 days? Can you give us some examples in your own life of a goal for your calling and then ground floor what that looks like? [00:36:08]    Jordan Raynor: Yeah, I would be happy to. I'll show you some quarterly goals for the family. I got personal and professional short-term goals, quarterly goals. Here's a personal one. I really love the OKR framework, which if you're not familiar with it, Google made this famous, stands for objectives and key results.   So objectives are aspirational. They're the what you want to accomplish. And the key results are measurable and they tell you whether or not you reached the what. So, for example, this quarter, personally, objective. Strengthen my point of view on youth sports and whether or not it is in line with our family's goal to love like Jesus.    This one's going to hit for our audience. I have a feeling. Key result number one: read three credible articles from youth sports advocates and three articles from Detractors. [00:37:10]    Key result number two, post questions on this topic to at least two godly friends who have had their kids in serious youth sports and two who have intentionally chosen not to.    And then key result number three, draft a summary of my point of view on this topic and deliver it to Kara by December 31st.   All right. Let me give you a professional example. In this quarter, yeah, I'll share this, whatever. This is a little inside baseball, but it's fun. I can't say the name of it, but the objective is to sell my first TV show to Netflix or Amazon.    We're currently shopping a project right now. I actually only have one key result for this and it's to get one yes or three nos from A-list actors to agree to play the starring role in this show. So that's how I'll know. That's the progress I'm going to make towards that goal.    So that's just a couple of examples from my life. I obsess over this quote from Bill Gates though. I think this would be helpful for our listeners. [00:38:10] Gates once said that we human beings have the tendency to vastly overestimate what we can accomplish in a short period of time, i.e. a quarter, and vastly underestimate what we can do in a decade with what Eugene Peterson called long obedience in the same direction, right?   So if you take one thing from this conversation on goals, take that from Bill Gates. What you can get done in three months is virtually nothing, right? So set your goals accordingly. But what you can get done in a decade with long obedience in the same direction, you're not doing it, God's doing it through you is incredible.   Laura Dugger: I just wanted to let you know, there are now multiple ways to give when you visit TheSavvySauce.com. We now have a donation button on our website and you can find it under the donate page, which is under the tab entitled Support. Our mailing address is also provided if you would prefer to save us the processing fee and send a check that is tax deductible. [00:39:14]    Either way, you'll be supporting the work of Savvy Sauce charities and helping us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. Make sure you visit TheSavvySauce.com today. Thanks for your support.   These examples are so helpful. I love practical examples because it helps me envision how to begin applying what I want to put into practice after a conversation like this one. My husband, Mark, and I will oftentimes reflect and look back on times that have been transformational in our lives. Typically, it's from practical application, you have to apply it, that leads to transformation. So, Jordan, will you give us maybe three to five habits or time savers or general best ways to steward our time?   Jordan Raynor: Oh, man, I'd love to. Honestly, the biggest one for me I've already shared, which is just taking control of when you check your messages. I cannot stress that enough. [00:40:19]    Let me give you a couple others. One, you want to do your most exceptional work, you've got to be getting a seven to eight-hour nightly sleep opportunity. The easiest way to practically do it is to just set a consistent bedtime. Most people have a fixed time at which they wake up, so it's simple math, right? Subtract from that, go back eight hours, that's your bedtime.   Gosh, you might not like the science. Trust me, I don't like the science, but the science is settled on this one. Most, 99% of human beings need seven to eight hours of sleep at night. That's a game-changer for me.    Honestly, weekly Sabbath has been a game-changing habit for me and my family that I think has made us much more productive in our goals.    I'll give you another one. Do one new thing at a time. In your work, in your life, you probably have a lot of recurring responsibilities based on work that you've created over the years. [00:41:19] With whatever time you have left over, the worst mistake, in my experience, that you can make is to try to do five new initiatives at once. You do one new thing at a time until it's done, and then when it's done, you move on to the next thing.    I'm trying to think of some other ones from the book. Yeah, I'll say this one. This is one of my favorite practices. It takes two seconds to start, but again, it takes a lot of courage. Quit the news cold turkey and let your friends curate the news for you. Why? How is this connected to time management, people ask me?    It could not be more relevant because all of this external noise is creating a lot of internal noise that blocks your ability to be loving, to think, to be creative, and listen to the voice of God. I know because I was the ultimate news junkie until eight years ago when I quit cold turkey. You know what happened when I quit cold turkey? Nothing. Nothing negative happened. [00:42:21]    What did happen is my friends started telling me about everything that I cared about, voluntarily. They have no idea they're doing this, but they're bringing me this. I spot-check from time to time. I'll go to CNN.com and say, did I really miss anything? Nope. 99% of the news is still totally irrelevant to my life and work. Great. Man, that's been a game-changer for me, Laura.   Laura Dugger: I did love that one about let your friends curate the news for you. Just one other follow-up. I want to circle back to the quarterly. Just as we're talking about practical application, how can someone start doing, if that's their first goal is to maybe plan something quarterly? How do you have a system in place to revisit these things every 90 days and what does that look like?   Jordan Raynor: That's a great question. I take a quarterly retreat. Ideally, this is for at least one night. Sometimes when things are really crazy, I just have to take a day to go do it. In that quarterly retreat, I'm doing a few things. [00:43:20]    First, I am just journaling the game that God has already produced in my work, the good things He's already done over the last three months.   Two, I'm just taking time to worship Him and praise Him for that. Remember that not only did I not deserve anything for the last three months, I certainly don't deserve anything over the next three months. It's putting me in this humble position of recognizing that the only thing I deserve is death due my sin. God has given me Christ and way more, and that puts me in a much healthier heart position to dream about what's next.    Then third step, I just journal off the top of my head without looking at any prompts what I think is most important over the next three months. I don't look at my to-do list because what's most important should be readily apparent to me. I shouldn't have to look at anything, right?    Number four, I review journal entries from the last 90 days as well as my to-do list to refine that journal entry about what I thought was most important. Maybe I forgot, oh yeah, Jordan, you're releasing a book in the next quarter. [00:44:25] We got to get ready for that or six months from now, whatever it is.    Then five, I am taking a first stab at drafting those objectives and key results. My rule is no more than five objectives in a given quarter and no more than five key results for each objective, which could mean 25 key results.    Most of the time for me, I wind up at one to three objectives total and one to, oh man, like 10 max key results in a quarter. Most recently, I've had between one and three key results, that's it, that I'm focused on the next 90 days.   Oh, by the way, I've been crushing it. The fewer key results that I'm setting, the quicker I'm getting my goals done. The last two quarters, I've hit my goals early for the quarter and I've had to go into that someday folder and pull new things out because I've gotten everything done. That feels great. [00:45:28]    Laura Dugger: That's incredible. That does feel great to get to check that off and go to the next thing. I want to see how people can apply this, but first also, maybe Sabbath is more so something that grabbed them. So can you share just a little glimpse of what that looks like? Because you said that's one of your most impactful habits.   Jordan Raynor: Oh yeah, absolutely. Sabbath starts with work, right? You got to work hard and work well if you want to be able to rest well. Maybe helpful to think about this, I'm doing all the work for two days in one. So we have chosen to enjoy the gift of Sabbath. Notice I didn't say observe Sabbath because that connotes life-sucking legalism.    We enjoy the gift of Sabbath from Saturday dinner time until Sunday dinner time. So Saturday afternoon, we are going through our Sabbath prep checklist. That includes cleaning up the house, picking everything up so we're not distracted, packing bags and waters for church the next day, making a plan for Sabbath. [00:46:33] So who do we want to hang out with? Texting and coordinating those plans ahead of time so we're not attached to our phones on Sabbath itself, doing laundry, running the dishwasher.   And then when we get to the end, I'm sending my phone on a 24-hour vacation. So I mentioned spending two and a half hours apart from my phone each night. On Sabbath, it is on airplane mode for 24 hours.   Then we kick off Sabbath by just feasting. So Sabbath to us is... I love how Kevin DeYoung put it. It's an island of get-to and a sea of have-to. We try to do nothing on that I have to-do list and only things on that get to-do list.   So that starts a feasting on some of our favorite foods. We get takeout. So cleanup's really easy. So we're Chewy's Mexican or good Chinese food, whatever. We light a candle to kick off Sabbath so that it always smells like Sabbath in my house, which is usually pumpkin pecan waffles, even when it's like July in Florida, which makes no sense. [00:47:33]    Then Saturday night's pretty chill, watching a little bit of TV with the kids, whatever. They're going to bed. On Sunday, this is my one day a week where I sleep in. My wife sleeps in the other six days of the week. I sleep in, Kara gets up with the kids. It's the one day a week of the week where they get to watch a full-length movie, which they're super pumped about, and don't judge me, drink coffee. So they get to drink coffee on Sabbath.    My kids wake up super early, so they can finish the movie before church. On the way to church is one of my favorite traditions where we stop and get donuts on the way and the whole drive we're talking about what we're thankful for from the past week. So just looking back, what are we grateful for? And then what do we want to adore God for about His character based on what He's done and what we've seen Him do and what we're thankful for the past week?   We then go feast on the word with our church family and then come back, have lunch at the house. We don't do the lunch after church thing to us. That's a little exhausting. [00:48:31] So we come home, have lunch here.    And then Sunday afternoons are pretty chill. A lot of times we're just playing games or swimming in the pool. This past Sunday, we went for a walk and let the kids climb some trees. But just a day to slow down and catch up to our souls and just be and remind ourselves that we are loved and valued, even when we're not being productive, that our heavenly Father does not need us. He wants us to quote my friend, [Scott Jotani? 00:49:05] And man, it's been a total game-changer.    I'll end with this. I saw a mentor who I hadn't seen in years. I think this was last summer. And we were on vacation in Rhode Island. I talked to my mentor for about an hour and he texted me after I left his house and he's like, "Hey, you seem way more rested than I saw you the last five years ago." And it's not vacation rest. He called that out. He's like, "This is not vacation rest. What is this?" I was like, "It's Sabbath." He's like, "That's what I thought. That's what I thought."   People can feel it. People know when they're in the presence of somebody who is living and working out of a Sabbath rest. So I would encourage you to try it. Treat it as an experiment. Don't say, "We're going to do this for the rest of our lives. Try it for four weeks. Try it for six weeks. Give it a shot. And I think you'll be blown away at how healthy it is, both for your soul and for the goals that you're chasing after the rest of the week. [00:50:10]    Laura Dugger: Okay. Challenge accepted. So great. So then bringing this home for someone, if they need to get quiet, get with the Lord, and just see what's bubbling up for them, do you have any other recommended Scripture, places to start, or questions for reflection or anything just to point us in the right direction?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah. I would just point you to the Gospels and the way of Jesus. We read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John almost exclusively for their theology and the ethic of Jesus and they certainly have a lot to say about that. But as my friend John Mark Comer has pointed out, the Gospels are also biographies of Jesus' life. And I don't know about you, but I want to redeem my time in the model of my Redeemer. He is the key to the whole thing.    By the way, even non-Christians can get on board with this. I'll tell non-Christians all the time, like, hey, Christian or not... pretty hard to dispute that Jesus was the most productive person to ever walk the earth. [00:51:09] And we know how He managed His time. And no, the Gospels don't show Him with a to-do list or a smartphone, but they show Him dealing with distractions at work. One time a guy literally dropped through the roof over Jesus' head while He was working and preaching. Unless that's happening to you, you're not more distracted than Jesus was, right?    They show Him seeking to be busy without being hurried. They show Him having to dissent from the kingdom of noise to think. And so, man, you want to redeem your time toward eternal ends? Look to the author of time, Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel biographies.    Laura Dugger: This has been incredible to lay the foundation for our own lives, which is great to put into practice first. But as we're tying it all up to, how can we pass along this wisdom to our children?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah. Number one, just talk about the biblical narrative of work and productivity that your kids are probably not hearing in Sunday school. [00:52:11] I know because I see the Sunday school curriculum. I'm an elder in our church. They're not seeing it.    Point them to Genesis 1 and 2. Point them to the fact that we worship a God who works and created us to work and be productive and redeem our time in His image. And you can do that through Genesis 1 and 2. You can fast forward to Revelation 21 and 22 and Isaiah 65 that talks about work and productivity for eternity on the new earth.   Then I do have a couple of picture books that I wrote for kids as a tool, as a resource for you to communicate the why of redeeming your time, the why of work to your kids. They're called The Creator in You, which is this artistic interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2, and The Royal in You, which is the opposite book into scripture in Revelation 21 and 22.    And my prayer for this book is that it will... your kids may not admit this to you, but if they're anything like I was as a kid, if they're anything like my kids used to be, your kids view heaven with confusion, boredom, and maybe even fear. [00:53:18] And that's tragic because God's word replaces all of that with biblical clarity, excitement, and hope.    And that's my prayer for this book, that based on God's word, it would expand the vision of kids and, frankly, grownups to view heaven in the new earth with that clarity, excitement, and hope, all to God's greater glory and our greater joy.   Laura Dugger: A worthy vision indeed. We will certainly link to those resources in the show notes. Jordan, this time has been so enjoyable, but I still have one question for you because we are called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge or discernment. And so as my final question for you today, what is your Savvy Sauce?   Jordan Raynor: Yeah, honestly, I've shared a lot of the practical answers to that. We started the conversation theological, went practical, let's end theological. My savvy sauce lately is that I spend a lot of time thinking about where I see myself professionally in five million years, not five years like you were asked in a job interview. [00:54:30]   Because again, God's word promises that we will work free from the curse of sin. And here's why, and here's how this connects to redeeming the time. The more that I've meditated on that promise of long enjoying the work of my hands, I am far less hurried in the present.   Because I spent years, Laura, worrying about finishing my life's work, of getting it all done. I got to get past this business because I still want to do X, Y, and Z in my life, right? But knowing that I'm going to have eternity to work for God's glory, I am free from all of those burdens and just so much less hurried because here's what's going to happen.   When I die with unfinished symphonies, and all of us will die with unfinished symphonies and to-do lists, either God is number one, going to tap somebody else on the shoulder and have them pick up that work and finish it, praise God. [00:55:29] Number two, He's going to finish that work by himself with no human involvement, praise God. Or number three, when I arise from the nap that is death, God in his goodness and generosity will put that unfinished symphony back in my hands and give me the joy of finishing it free from the curse of sin, praise God.   Either way, I don't lose. If the things on my to-do list are on God's to-do list, He will finish them. And as I've thought about that and work on the new earth, it has just been radical in slowing me down and recognizing that eternity is now in session and I don't have to finish it all before I die. It's been a tremendous gift that the Lord has given me. So I would encourage our listeners to do the same.   Laura Dugger: Yes. Well, Jordan, clearly God has gifted you with being a vision caster, a visionary, a leader, and I just appreciate this conversation is oozed with your love of Kara and your daughters and our Lord and has been, like you said, theological and practical. [00:56:41] I just have learned so much. So thank you for being intentional about redeeming your time. It really is a way that you are loving others and loving God well, and I just appreciate you. So thank you for being my guest.   Jordan Raynor: Thank you, Laura.   Laura Dugger: One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves.   This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a Savior.   But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. [00:57:43] This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news.   Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us.   Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.    So would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.    If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him. You get the opportunity to live your life for Him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you ready to get started?    First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the Book of John.    Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.    We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.    Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.    If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Special Patreon Re-Release: God, Sex, and Your Marriage: Interview with Dr. Juli Slattery    *DISCLAIMER* This interview includes some adult themes and is not intended for young ears.   **Transcription Below**   Matthew 9:37 (NIV) "Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."   Questions we discuss: For many couples, sex can be a difficult area of marriage and you encourage people that is normal, but you also warn us not to confuse normal with healthy. What is normal for married couples and what is healthy, as it relates to sexual intimacy in marriage? What is God's genius chemical cocktail that we experience during sex? Will you give a brief overview of your four pillars of intimacy?   Dr. Juli Slattery is a clinical psychologist, author, speaker and broadcast media professional with over twenty-five years of experience counseling, and teaching women. She's the president and co-founder of Authentic Intimacy, a unique ministry devoted to teaching God's design for intimacy and sexuality. In 2020, Juli launched SexualDiscipleship.com, a platform designed to help Christian leaders navigate sexual issues and questions with gospel-centered truth. She hosts a weekly podcast, Java with Juli, where she answers tough questions about relationships, marriage, and spiritual, emotional and sexual intimacy.  www.authenticintimacy.com    Other Episodes with Dr. Juli Slattery on The Savvy Sauce:   Passion Pursuit with Dr. Juli Slattery   Patreon 26 Holy Sex with Dr. Juli Slattery   Life-Giving Marriage with Dr. Juli Slattery   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**   [00:00:00]   Laura Dugger: Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    [00:00:18]   Laura Dugger: Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message.   I'm grateful for today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. Check them out online to place your order for dining or catering, or to fill out an application to join their friendly team. Visit cfaeastpeoria.com.   Hey friends, I wanted to share some exciting news with you. Savvy Sauce Charities has officially received our confirmation from the IRS that all donations are tax deductible. I know that we have super generous listeners, so we wanted to let you know you can now mail your check to Savvy Sauce Charities, P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. Thanks in advance for supporting Savvy Sauce Charities. [00:01:24]    And now I'm pleased to share this episode with you that used to only be available to paying patrons. Dr. Juli Slattery is my returning guest today. She has written another fantastic book entitled God, Sex, and Your Marriage. And now she's going to give us a healthy vision for sexual intimacy in marriage and share actionable ways that we can grow in maturity and delight and health in our relationship with our spouse.    Here's our chat.   Welcome back to The Savvy Sauce, Dr. Juli.   Dr Juli Slattery: Oh, thanks so much for having me.   Laura Dugger: Well, even from the get-go on the dedication page of your book, you dedicate it to your brothers and sisters in Christ, some who have labored before you, and some who now work alongside you in reclaiming God's design for sex. You quote the last part of Matthew 9:37, when you say, "The field is ripe for the harvest, but the laborers are few." [00:02:28] Will you elaborate on what you mean by this?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. I think within the field of Christian sexuality, there are things that we can disagree on. Some of those conversations can be characterized by looking back at what people have written before and being critical of that or looking at the ways that we disagree today on different topics and how we apply the scriptures.    So as I was wrapping up this book, I just have such a heart for unity in the body of Christ and recognize that there are so few people that really want to see God reclaim biblical sexuality, that I just want us to link arms and to work together, to learn from each other, to give honor to each other, and just to be in the trenches, like encouraging one another, instead of focusing on maybe where we differ. [00:03:25]    So that's kind of the heart of it, as well as just a gratitude for the people that have gone before us, the people that were speaking and writing on this topic over the last few decades. Again, I think we're looking back and saying purity culture was horrible and, you know, like just be with more of a critical eye, which we need to learn from the past. But I think, you know, I just really want to have a spirit of graciousness and unity as we say, Hey, we're kind of working off of the shoulders of the people who have been really pioneers in this field.   Laura Dugger: I think that goal of unity is such a worthy one. For so many couples, sex can be a difficult area of marriage. And you write that this is very normal, but you also warn us not to confuse normal with healthy. You go on to write, and I'll just quote it here, "Just consider that the normal American is overweight, overstimulated, exhausted, and lonely." [00:04:29] So, Juli, from your perspective, what is normal for married couples and what is healthy as it relates to sexual intimacy in marriage?   Dr. Juli Slattery: I would say normal is a lot of conflict around sex, frustration, unfulfilled desires, lack of communication. They don't know how to talk about sex or navigate conflict around just differences. I think it's normal for there to be some level of pornography in a marriage. One or both of the individuals bringing in a history of pornography and a struggle with pornography. I think it's normal to have a lot of confusion and shame just around being a sexual person.    So those are all sort of the normal barometer of what I see as I talk to married Christian couples. Again, I think there's peace in knowing, okay, we have good company around us. We're not the only couple struggling with these things, but I also don't want that to be a message that things should just stay the way they are. [00:05:35]    Laura Dugger: I love that. Can you elaborate then on what is healthy?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. So healthy is sort of the opposite of what I've mentioned. Healthy is that there's healthy, regular communication around sex. So a couple can talk about not just how often they want to have sex, but the deeper issues of what does sex represent for me as an individual? What does it represent for us as a couple? Being able to talk through things from the past, past wounds and shame, and being able to seek the Lord together. It's healthy to honor each other in their sexual relationship, honor the differences that they might be bringing of sexual desire and what they're hoping for in their sexual relationship, navigating together the challenges that they face, but navigating as a team.   So the challenges of we have no energy because we're exhausted with little kids or the challenges of one of us might be working through some trauma from the past, the challenges of how do we address the pornography in our marriage and how do we learn to enjoy each other within our own covenant? [00:06:46]    So those are kind of the markers of a healthy sex life. I don't think there are many couples who would just say automatically, we were there when we first got married. But unfortunately, I think there are also not a lot of couples who would say we're actually working towards those goals. Instead, we have a tendency to just kind of stay stuck where we are.   Laura Dugger: I think an obvious answer would be that communication is going to help us move in that direction of health. But if this healthy vision sounds wonderful, how do people actually engage in this? What are a few of the first steps they can take?   Dr. Juli Slattery: I think one of the first steps is just really broadening your horizon of what God created sex to be. And really, it's taking a step back and asking yourself the question, what do you think a good sex life is actually supposed to look like from a Christian standpoint? [00:07:45]    I think it's fascinating for couples to have that conversation and, first of all, to see where they differ in their understanding of what a good sex life is meant to be, but also where they struggle to flesh it out because there just hasn't been a lot of great teaching on, how do we as a couple even have the same goals related to our sex life.   That was the main reason why I wrote God, Sex, and Your Marriage was to give Christian married couples a vision for what God created sex to be and to have them together agree on, here's what our mature sex life is meant to look like and we want to start working toward that. But if you don't know what you're working toward, then you're just going to stay stuck.   Laura Dugger: I appreciate resources like this. If anybody's listened to any of our other topics on sexual intimacy on The Savvy Sauce, you know that we recommend reading a book, ideally with each other. But even if it's just you reading it yourself, there's so much to glean. [00:08:49] And like you said, Juli, you're casting this vision.   But then even as you read this aloud to one another or you each read a chapter and then come together and discuss, it gets you comfortable talking about this language and it brings up even more questions like you just mentioned that can be natural conversation starters.   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, that's a great suggestion for every married couple, including myself and my husband. I guess something that we've tried to do throughout our marriage is to be reading a book on sex together, preferably, as you mentioned, out loud, because it really does get you comfortable in terms of just what language to use and what it's like to have a conversation around sex.   Laura Dugger: Absolutely. So just really, I've thought this so many times, but thank you for the labor and the work you put into putting this resource together so that we have an option that we can trust.    Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, well, I think we tend to write the books that we would want to read. So, yeah, a lot of it has just come out of our own journey. [00:09:49]    Laura Dugger: Well, and I agree with another point that you make in the book when you talk about sex being so important to God and so we can expect it to constantly be under spiritual attack. So will you just tell us more about that idea?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. I think the average Christian, as you look at the cultural landscape, there's no question that sex is under attack and that we see it distorted and we see it being such a confusing topic for our kids, for just our culture. We can recognize that and we can look at different ways that sex is being used against us in our world today, but we're less likely to see how that's happening within our own marriages.   But I think just being aware of the fact that Satan hates everything God made as beautiful, and sex is such a powerful picture of God's covenant love, of the fact that he created us for intimate unity. That Satan really wants to twist that. And he'll do it any way he can. [00:10:56] He'll do it through shame. He'll do it through us even having a very limited perspective of what sex should be. He'll do it through dividing you and having sex be the main source of conflict in your marriage. He'll do it through pornography and marital affairs and betrayal.    I think we have to be on the lookout and say, hey, this really is a spiritual terrain, not just in the world at large, but it's a spiritual terrain within my own heart and within our marriage.   Laura Dugger: But then you don't leave us there with that message of attack because in that same chapter you conclude with this quote: "God's power to redeem is greater than Satan's power to destroy." So, Juli, how have you seen that practically played out in couples' lives?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Boy, I've just been so blessed to see that played out over and over again. In the ministry that I run, Authentic Intimacy, we've been doing this for a decade now. [00:11:56] I can't explain it, but all I can tell you is that when an individual or a couple begins to really get God's perspective of sexuality, when they alone or together begin to surrender this area of their life to God, you just see change, you see healing, you see redemption, you see freedom where there once was shame and lies.   It's commonplace in our ministry to see that, which is amazing because every life that's redeemed really is a work of God. But the scripture says that His word doesn't return void, but it accomplishes what it's sent out to do. And I get to see that. I get to see that as couples are healing and recovering from betrayal, as people are looking to get set free from pornography, as people are trying to navigate the impact of past trauma and what that's done to their sex life, as couples are confronting some of the anger or bitterness or selfishness that have developed over the years because of their differences and sexual desire. [00:13:03] I've just gotten to see all those sort of things redeemed by God's power, and sex starts to become something that really does unify a husband and wife together.   Laura Dugger: Well, that makes so much sense because I've been convicted so many times and had to be reminded when God will gently call me back to Himself where I've shared a struggle with my husband, or if I'm questioning something in parenting and I'm just thinking on it and ruminating on it, God will gently remind me, come to Me with this, share with Me. And in the same way, with the topic of sex, you're encouraging us in this book to invite God to fight for us, and it's really His strength and power that can heal us in this sacred space.   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. It makes so much sense, Laura. But in reality, I think most of us kind of bar God from our sex lives. We don't realize we do it, but we never praise a married couple about our sex lives.[00:14:07] We never invite God into our shame. We never even think or want to think about the fact that He's present with us in the bedroom because that sort of creeps us out.    But if you're trying to fight a spiritual battle with your own strength and you're barring God's presence from that place, then you're not going to win it. I had to confront this in my own life in marriage many years ago. I didn't realize how much I was doing that, but I think because the church has been so silent on sex over the years, we just naturally have this sort of separate category of sexuality where God doesn't enter. So, boy, what a powerful thing to begin surrendering this to the Lord and asking for His wisdom and His help.   Laura Dugger: Powerful indeed. I remember one wife shared with me they don't pray together about sex out loud, but she has prayed before, even when they're in the act, and just shared real-time, Okay, Lord, I'm having a really hard time experiencing orgasm, and I would love to experience that today, so can you help me get there?" [00:15:16] And she said the results have been incredible. And I just think He cares so much about every detail of our lives that I love that story and what she shared because I think it shows His heart that He wants to share delight with us, and He's created this.   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, it brings God honor and pleasure when a married couple enjoys sex to the fullest because that's what He created it for. I think somehow we've bought this lie that God's embarrassed of our sexuality or it's a necessary evil, instead of it being something that we clearly see in the Song of Solomon and Proverbs chapter 5 and other places in Scripture that God delights in this. He created sex for this purpose.   And part of fighting the spiritual battle that we face in our world is reclaiming the ground of what sex looks like in our marriage. And so there are a lot of people who are frustrated at what's happening to their kids or what's happening to our culture, but at the same time they don't fight for godly sexuality within the space of their own bedroom. [00:16:22] And that really is where the battle begins, is in our own hearts and our own lives.   Laura Dugger: Well, let's now discuss the four pillars of intimacy, and hopefully you can just give a brief overview of each. Beginning with faithfulness and specifically, why do you write that holy jealousy is good?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. If I can back up just for a minute, the whole premise of this book is that God created sex within marriage to be a form of revelation. Like through marriage and sexuality, the Scripture says God is revealing to us what his covenant love is like. And we see that in the Old Testament in God's covenant relationship with Israel and how often He used language of marriage and sexuality as a metaphor to explain His love for Israel.    Then in the New Testament we see the same thing happen with Jesus' relationship with the church. We see all this bridal language, intimacy language, sexual language to express what covenant looks like between Christ and His bride. [00:17:35] And I know for a lot of people that's sort of a mind shift, but if you can think about it this way, God creates the physical world in order to reveal Himself to us. So God has created marriage and sexuality as a form of revelation to reveal for us this special relationship of covenant.   So what I did with these four pillars of covenant love is say, OK, if God's love, if His covenant love is like this, then this is what defines a healthy sex life. So I broke down these four aspects of God's love for His covenant people and then applied it to sexuality.    So the first pillar that I talk about there is faithfulness. That faithfulness is the very foundation of any covenant. That a covenant isn't a relationship that's based on what feels good or what I feel like doing in the moment. It's a relationship based on your character, on your promise.    Part of that is that within covenant you have a sacred sense of belonging to each other. And so there is a holy jealousy within covenant. [00:18:43] And we see this in God's relationship with Israel where God actually says, My name is jealous. I am jealous for you. I'm a jealous God. And when you worship other gods, I'm angry.    That seems to be true within the covenant of marriage, that sexually we belong to each other exclusively, and there should be a healthy anger, protectiveness, and even jealousy if that exclusivity isn't honored. So, Laura, for example, I was talking to a woman who her marriage was in bad shape. There had been conflict over many years, there had been pornography addiction, and her husband cheated on her. And she said, "I was so dead that I wasn't even angry. My love for him was so dead that I didn't even get mad." [00:19:43] You'd be like, "Why would she not get mad? Is that a sign of health to not get mad when your husband cheats?" No. That's a sign of a very dysfunctional relationship, of a covenant that's dead.    So a healthy marriage means that we fight for each other and we protect our sexual relationship and that if there is a violation, then there is reason to be upset,there is reason to be angry. I think this is so key that we talk about you really can't build anything else in your sex life if you don't have faithfulness. That's the bare minimum foundation.   Laura Dugger: And now a brief message from our sponsors.    [00:20:25]   Sponsor: I want to say thank you to our longtime sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. I hope that you've already downloaded the Chick-fil-A app. Because did you know that with the app you can skip the line and have food ready for you when you arrive? This is one of my favorite options when I'm taking my four daughters to Chick-fil-A East Peoria. Download the Chick-fil-A app today and start earning points toward free rewards that are fully customized to your preferences and tastes.   Chick-fil-A was named as one of Glassdoor's best places to work in the nation. That's a huge honor. And one team member even wrote, "No comparison. This is a great job for a first job, extra money, or for career advancement. Such a loving environment, great management, and fair pay." Chick-fil-A believes that the local and involved ownership ensures fostering an environment where you are known, challenged, and cared for.   So if you're looking for a wonderful place to work, visit Chick-fil-A East Peoria or fill out an application online today at cfaeastpeoria.com.    [00:21:31]   Laura Dugger: We are so excited to celebrate with you that The Savvy Sauce Charities received our IRS confirmation that all donations are officially tax deductible. We hope that you're going to take action to partner with us.   There are details laid out on our website, which is thesavvysauce.com, and they're going to walk you through the process to donate, and it's also going to share our tax ID number. The donation process is as easy as just filling out a check for Savvy Sauce Charities and mailing it to P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561.    If we've contributed to your life in any way by resourcing you to grow closer in intimacy with God and others, would you now contribute to us financially? In this way, we are so excited to partner together and hopefully meet each other's needs. Our team wants to continue producing these podcasts, and we're expectant that if you're listening right now, you value The Savvy Sauce Charities enough to make a donation.    We view this work as ministry, so we happily spend thousands of dollars each year to record and produce these episodes. And our ultimate prayer is that your experience with Savvy Sauce Charities will make an impact for eternity. So if that is true for you, if you've ever received a blessing in any way from this nonprofit, would you prayerfully consider donating to Savvy Sauce Charities? Any amount is greatly appreciated.   And in fact, you've heard me say before, if every listener gave only $1 per month, it would completely offset all our costs. Again, we have all the details listed on our website, thesavvysauce.com, if you are interested in making a donation. We look forward to partnering with you.   [00:23:32]   Laura Dugger: Can you elaborate about the chemical cocktail and why God is so genius in this creation?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, sure. You know, I think one of the reasons that we really struggle with faithfulness is because we believe at a heart level that marriage is more about attractiveness and getting our sexual needs met than believing that marriage is about covenant. And one of the ways that I explain that is just to show, you know, God has designed new sex and a new relationship to elicit different kinds of chemicals in our brain than a long-term relationship and long-term sexual interaction.   So the new relationship is going to have adrenaline and a neurotransmitter called PEA. And together, adrenaline and PEA make you feel like there's this huge output of dopamine, which is the pleasure hormone of the brain. [00:24:34] And so it makes you feel intoxicated. It makes you feel like you're on a drug.    This is why pornography is so addictive. But God has given that cocktail in the beginning of a relationship, in the beginning of seeing each other naked for the first time, so that it would be a cementing kind of experience for a husband and wife. Unfortunately, our world has really hijacked that with pornography and other sexual offerings. But God's design is that you shouldn't be able to forget your honeymoon. Like it should be like a cementing experience for you.   But then as you're married for a while and you have sex regularly, you don't get that same adrenaline and PEA unless you're doing something kind of fun or new or exciting. But in general, you'll get just kind of output of oxytocin, which is a bonding hormone. It connects you to your spouse. And you also get endorphins, which is sort of a feel-good, all-is-well-with-the-world kind of neurotransmitter. [00:25:39]    And so God has designed a married sex life to have elements of both of these, of new and exciting things, say, for example, on your anniversary or you go away for a vacation and you're really focusing on your sex life, but also to have these bonding and feel-good chemicals to take place just in the normal course of life.    But, Laura, what happens is we get addicted to that new and exciting, and so we kind of begin to neglect the sexual relationship and instead are tempted by what's going to make us immediately feel good in the moment. So that's kind of just understanding how God wired our sexuality and, again, why He's a genius, but also understanding how, if we're not wise, that wiring can be worked against us.   Laura Dugger: That's so helpful to be wise in all of that. Just the incredible amounts that He gives us. You had cited another source that says men can have their oxytocin levels raised more than 500% after orgasm. [00:26:49] That may be why they're able to open up more emotionally after they've connected sexually. You also talk about the bonding agent of vasopressin. Would you like to share anything about that?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. So the two hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, kind of go together. Vasopressin is kind of more, from what I understand, like the male form of oxytocin. But these hormones have been shown, as you mentioned, to bond people together, to make a man feel more connected and more likely to be vulnerable.    And interestingly, there's even some studies that show that a man whose body is rich with this oxytocin and vasopressin is less likely to be attracted to another woman. So some people will call it the fidelity hormone.   But when you begin to understand this as a wife, that regular sex with my husband is helping him feel emotionally closer to me, is fostering vulnerability and connection, is helping him to focus on me and me to focus on him, it helps with temptation that comes from the outside. [00:28:02]    And that's not at all to put pressure on a wife to say it's your job to keep your husband faithful. But it is to recognize that God has created sex to be a very powerful experience that is meant to bond you together. And you want to use that for the advantage of your marriage instead of allowing the enemy to use it as something that could tear you apart.   Laura Dugger: That's so good. There's so much there in that first pillar of faithfulness. But for the second pillar of intimate knowing, what separates that intimate knowing from what you call a sanctified hookup?   Dr. Juli Slattery: I think, again, we have to go back to God's covenant love to understand what we're working towards. And if you have been in a covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ for any amount of time, hopefully you've learned that one of the goals of your relationship with God is to know Him more intimately, to say, Hey, I know God and Jesus more intimately today than I did five years ago. [00:29:07] And through the struggles of life, through the highs and the lows, I've developed intimacy with the Lord.   Jesus talks about this when he talks about, you know, being so intimately connected to Him, it's like a vine in a branch. Like we're in communion all the time. So when we apply that to our sexual relationship, the goal of sex is not just to have our bodies exchange fluids, but it's to be on a journey together of deep knowing of sharing with each other.   Just like in our relationship with God, the valleys, the difficulties, actually are when intimacy can be forged even greater than when things are going well. And I think this is really important because for most married couples, they're going to experience some real challenges in their sex life.   Dr. Juli Slattery: challenges in their sex life and instead of just saying, well, we can't enjoy each other or we have different desires, looking at that as an opportunity of, how do I know my spouse more intimately because of the challenge that we're experiencing? [00:30:12]    When I work with couples who are going through difficulties like infertility or somebody's struggle with pornography or somebody's struggle with healing, what those couples will say is now we're beginning to talk at a deeper level than do you want to have sex or not. Now, we're talking about my shame underneath my sexuality or my frustration that I walked into marriage with these expectations and now I feel like they're not being met. So you're beginning to communicate about your heart, you're beginning to share the sexual journey.   Unfortunately I think there are a lot of married couples who don't see this. All they think of is sex. It's just what our bodies are doing instead of really looking at it as an opportunity to forge intimacy at a much deeper level.   Laura Dugger: The third pillar is sacrificial giving. I'd love for you to share your personal story about God calling you to sacrificial giving. [00:31:15]    Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. One of the things that I've shared in my own life is that I'd say for the first 10 or 15 years of marriage, sex was one of those things that I wasn't very interested in, my husband was more interested in and particularly when we had three little boys running around the house, you know, I really avoided sex. I really didn't want to engage with it. I would always look for sort of the opportunity in the evening to say, “Hey, I need to do my devotions. This is my time.”    I remember going through that period of marriage where I would spend time with God usually in the evening and there would be times where it was like the Lord was really asking me, like if you really want to love Me and serve Me, why haven't you surrendered this area of your life to me?   And He began to just really prompt me to look at what it is to say, how do I love my husband sexually? How do I look at the conflict that I have within my own heart around sexuality and really begin to ask the Lord to heal that and to help me to enjoy what He has given me in marriage? [00:32:27] But during that season it was a lot of, how do I lay aside my own agenda and really understand my husband's sexual drive? How do I understand what would please him?    And Laura I just think a lot of us go into marriage and we think the sexual aspect of marriage will be something that won't require anything from us, that we just get to get, we get to receive. And for sure God has designed us to receive sexually, but He's also designed us so that we have to give sexually.   Why would he do that? Like people are like, why is God so cruel to make sex so difficult to navigate? But what God began to show me is He wants me to learn to love as Christ loves. Christ's love for us has always been sacrificial. And our love for Him in covenant is called to be sacrificial. We're called to lay down our own lives and take up the cross and follow Him. [00:33:30]    So I think there's something beautiful when we begin to understand that part of a healthy sex life is both the husband and wife approaching this with the attitude of, how do I serve you? How do I love you well? And when a husband and wife both have that attitude, the level of intimacy and even the level of pleasure has such a greater capacity than when we approach sexuality with just the mindset of what can I get from it.   Laura Dugger: Will you go even a little bit more specific with one of those quiet times with the Lord? What were you praying about? And what did he lead you to do?   Dr. Juli Slattery: So I was praying, you know, Lord, I just really want to know how to love You more and serve You. Like it was a time in my life where the Lord really was calling me deeper. What I just felt the Lord prompting me to do is to initiate sex with my husband.    I remember just kind of arguing with God in that moment, like, this is my time with You. You know, I think sometimes when we spend time with the Lord and we're studying the scripture, He wants us to actually put the Bible down and walk out what He's called us to do in his scripture. [00:34:45] And it was during that season of life again where God was just prompting me.   That night, that evening was the first time just prompting me like, hey, if you want to love Me more, if you want to know what My love is like, then go up and engage with your husband, because he's the one I've given you to love and he's the one I've given to love you. That really started us on a journey that didn't happen immediately, but over years of really surrendering this to God, we've learned what it is to serve each other and love each other well sexually.   Laura Dugger: And I'll just paraphrase from page 108 when that evening you sheepishly shared with your husband, when you came up and kind of surprised him and just said, "I was praying and it was like, God told me to come up here and initiate sex with you." And I love his response. He said, "No way! I was praying, asking God to tell you to do that." [00:35:44]    Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, that's a true story. That really happened. So yeah, it's amazing how God works.   Laura Dugger: I love that so much. I want to make sure that you're up to date with our latest news. We have a new website. You can visit TheSavvySauce.com and see all of the latest updates. You may remember Francie Hinrichsen from Episode 132, where we talked about pursuing our God-given dreams. She is the amazing businesswoman who has carefully designed a brand new website for SavvySauce Charities, and we are thrilled with the final product.So I hope you check it out.    There you're going to find all of our podcasts, now with show notes and transcriptions listed, a scrapbook of various previous guests, and an easy place to join our email list to receive monthly encouragement and questions to ask your loved ones, so that you can have your own practical chats for intentional living. [00:36:45]    You will also be able to access our donation button or our mailing address for sending checks that are tax deductible, so that you can support the work of SavvySauce Charities and help us continue to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. So make sure you visit TheSavvySauce.com.    I just appreciate those personal stories, even how when you were meeting with the Lord, having your quiet time, how He called you to go and seek your husband. There's a part of Matthew 5:23-24, that illustrates this as well. It just says, "Therefore, if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them. Then come and offer your gift."   I just appreciate how the Lord even values that horizontal relationship first and the restoration there, and then you come back and reconnect vertically as well. [00:37:49]    Dr. Juli Slattery: Boy, it's true. Like that's the living out of our love for a God, for sure. There's also scripture that talks about like, if you say that you love Me, but you're not loving your brother, then your love for me isn't genuine. So I'm paraphrasing there. But you know, the scripture that I think has really gotten me over the years that I don't think many people apply to sexuality, is when Jesus is teaching at the Sermon on the Mount, and He says, even pagans know how to be kind to those who are kind to them. Like even pagans know how to greet those who greet them. But I say to you, love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you.    Not that my husband is my enemy, or was persecuting me, but the attitude of even a pagan wife knows how to love her husband well, when he's doing everything she wants, when he's attractive to her, when he's bringing her flowers, when he's attentive. But it requires the supernatural love of God for us to reach inside of ourselves and love in a way that is sacrificial. [00:39:01]    God wants us to become great lovers. He wants us to learn to love like He loves. And that's not a natural love that the average husband or wife can accomplish on their own strength. It's something that comes through intimacy with God and through saying, Lord, I want to become more like you in every area of my life. And again, our sexual relationship is not excluded from that. It perhaps can be the most challenging and vulnerable aspect of showing us how to love like God loves us.   Laura Dugger: Just one more thing to draw out of your chapter. I appreciated your balance between encouraging us to ask ourselves, are we being a cheerful giver? Then you also quote our mutual friend, Michael Sytsma, who is a pastor and also a certified sex therapist and author and speaker, that he says, the Bible does talk about fasting, but speaks far more about the feasting. [00:40:06]    Dr. Juli Slattery: Dr. Sytsma is just a wealth of wisdom on this topic. I've learned a lot from him. And that really sort of ushers in that fourth pillar of covenant love. So we've covered faithfulness, intimate knowing, sacrificial giving, but the fourth pillar is passionate celebration.    God has designed sex to be a passionate celebration of our covenant with each other. It is the way in our bodies that we remember, and we rejoice together that we've covenanted our lives to one another. God created sex to be pleasurable. He created the climax, He created the dopamine centers in our brain that go off with great delight when we experience sex with each other.    This is an important pillar. If you're looking at your sex life, and you say, okay, we're faithful to each other, and we're building intimate knowing, and I have a servant attitude, but I experienced no pleasure, then something's wrong with your sex life. [00:41:10] That's something that you need to work toward as an individual and as a married couple. There are a lot of Christian women who would identify with that, who would say, yeah, I do this primarily for my husband. I don't really love it. I don't really know how to enjoy it.    I would say to that woman that that's not the fullness of what God has designed for your sex life to look like in a marriage. He may be challenging you as he's challenged me over the years to really work on what does it look like for me to enjoy this gift, not just to be a giver of it, but also to be a receiver of it.   Laura Dugger: If anybody has their book, I'm thinking specifically, there is this part on page 133, where you draw out some fascinating discoveries about passionate celebration even in our relationship with the Lord, what that looks like, but how that transfers to the marriage as well. [00:42:10] Just things that we wouldn't think of: prayer and singing releasing certain bonding hormones.   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah. Yeah. So when you think about like our gatherings as a church body on Sundays or whenever you gather, what you're doing is you're gathering as part of the Bride of Christ. Usually we think of our Sunday services about the message. Yeah, the message is an important part, but it's not the most important part of our gathering. Our gathering is to express our love to our Savior and to our husband, to our heavenly Father, to all of it. We're rejoicing in Him. We're worshiping him as a collective group.    And what the research has shown is that when people gather together and they sing together out loud and when they dance, the same kind of chemicals are released in their brain as are released during sex. So they're getting the dopamine, they're getting the endorphins, they're getting the oxytocin. [00:43:15]    So when God's people get together and sing together and worship the Lord together, they're actually getting that same bonding hormone that unites you as the family of God, as a husband and wife would get together as they celebrate their covenant. So it's been really cool for me to study and to see these parallels of what God designed His relationship with us to be like, and then also what He designed marriage to be like. And to see that in many ways, even our bodily and neurological response will mirror each other.   Laura Dugger: It's just incredible to learn more about those relationships. Juli, as we seek to apply this conversation now to our own lives, what's an example of a possible next step forward?   Dr. Juli Slattery: Yeah, I think, Laura, a lot of us as married Christians, we think about biblical sexuality in terms of morality. In other words, let's keep the rules, let's obey God. And as we talked about in the faithfulness pillar, that certainly is a very critical part of how we honor God and each other within our sexual relationship. [00:44:30]    But the other pillars are all about maturity. I think you can be married for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years or more as a married couple and never considered, what does it look like for us to mature in our sexual love? How can we say five years from now that we love each other more deeply sexually than we than we do right now? What do we need to work on? Which of these four pillars requires our immediate attention?    The book God, Sex, and Your Marriage can be helpful. We also are releasing a video curriculum and workbook for couples to go through this material that can be really helpful that you could do as couples or do in a small group. But things don't change unless we become intentional about changing them.    And so, you know, I think for all of us, we need that challenge to not just settle for the way things are, but to really ask the Lord to begin redeeming sex within our marriage, again, as part of that larger spiritual battle of reclaiming God's design for sex within our world. [00:45:42]    Laura Dugger: If part of this plan of ours for intentionality includes learning more from you, where can we go to do that?   Dr. Juli Slattery: You can find everything that we do at AuthenticIntimacy.com. So there's a podcast, blog, this book and other books and workbooks and small group opportunities. So you can find all of that at our website, Authentic Intimacy dot com.   Laura Dugger: Wonderful. We will link to that, as always, in the show notes for today's episode. Juli, you have been on multiple times, so you know we are called The Savvy Sauce because "savvy" is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so is my final question for you today. What is your savvy sauce? [00:46:26]    Dr. Juli Slattery: Well, I would have to go back and listen to the episodes I've been on before to see if I say the same one all the time. But my savvy sauce is just really spending time with the Lord and really trying to make sure I reserve that first hour of the day for connection with Him, for surrendering to Him, learning from Him, just wanting to do what he calls me to do. So that's my savvy sauce right there.   Laura Dugger: Well, you are always a calm and steady and helpful guest. As we opened this discussion, we talked about that passage from Matthew 9:37, where Jesus is saying the field is ripe for the harvest, but the laborers are few. So I just want to say thank you for being a willing and skilled helper. I'm so grateful to get to have you as my returning guest.   Dr. Juli Slattery: Oh, Laura, thank you. Thanks for giving me a chance to share. It's always a joy to talk to you. [00:47:31]    Laura Dugger: Likewise.    One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term "gospel" before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves.   This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a Savior.   But God loved us so much, He made a way for His only Son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with Him. That is good news.   Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. [00:48:31] This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us.   Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.    So would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to You. Will You clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare You as Lord of their life? We trust You to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.    If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring Him for me, so me for Him. You get the opportunity to live your life for Him. [00:49:31] And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So you ready to get started?    First, tell someone. Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the Book of John.    Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.    We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read Scripture that describes this process.    Finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." [00:50:36] The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.    If you've already received this good news, I pray that you have someone else to share it with today. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comMatthew 23In the final week before Christ's crucifixion, He tells His disciples about the dangers of the scribes and Pharisees. After three years of patiently teaching these men, it is time to tell the world about them. Jesus first tells disciples to observe what the scribes teach if it is from God. But Christ warns them not to do what the Pharisees do. They seek to be noticed by men and to have places of honor because they lack humility. Jesus calls them hypocrites repeatedly, speaking about their lack of mercy and the underlying desire of their hearts to serve themselves. He addresses them openly and directly as “serpents”! And yet, as Jesus looks at them and all of Jerusalem, He is sorrowful that they will not repent and be gathered to Him and saved.  It is easy to read this chapter and think about other people. But it is wiser to use this list of the Pharisees' failures as a test for our own lives. In Matthew 5, Jesus told His disciples their righteousness must exceed the Pharisees if they are to be in His kingdom. These men were self-righteous. Jesus calls us to be humble servants. They were hypocritical. Jesus asks us to live out our faith. They were legalistic. We must be led to obey from a God-like heart of mercy. They were superficial. We must be honest about what's happening in our hearts. They became obstacles for others. We must live and speak to draw people to Christ.  Dear Father, we call upon Your help today, to be honest with ourselves and willing to evaluate our motives. Jesus taught so diligently to soften the hearts of the Pharisees, and they fought Him at every turn. Glorious Lord, help us to listen and to learn. May we be humble servants. Empower us to live out our faith with integrity. Build in us compassion and mercy for others. Will You create opportunities for us to help people and show them the way to Jesus? Most of all, reveal to us how much Jesus loves and yearns to save everyone.  Thought Questions:  -       Will you do the hard thing today of looking for Pharisaical tendencies in your own life? How can this be incredibly healthy and needful? -       How would you define “legalism”? Can you see how some focus so intensely on the letter of the law that they miss the love that encircles it? -       What does it feel like to realize that Jesus is always yearning to gather you to Him, no matter what you have done? How will you respond?

Want to share the stage with personal injury law's biggest names? As PIMCON returns to Scottsdale this October, we're reserving one speaker spot for our community.  Will YOU be the next PIMCON Speaker? CLICK HERE TO APPLY In this special PIMCON showcase, three industry leaders share strategies their firms have already implemented with remarkable results. Amanda Demanda reveals how narrowing her firm's focus led to bigger cases and an unforgettable brand. Bob Simon demonstrates why focusing only on what you love (and building the right team around you) creates unstoppable momentum. Dave Thomas shares how Law Tigers turned authentic community involvement into a marketing powerhouse, generating 35% of their cases through grassroots efforts across 33 states. We discuss: Implementing PIMCON insights in real firms  Transforming marketing from expense to asset  Building systems that scale without losing soul  Creating genuine community connections that drive revenue  Measuring and tracking unconventional marketing ROI Guest Details Amanda Demanda: The brand-building strategist redefining what's possible in PI Bob Simon: Trial attorney turned referral network master Dave Thomas: Community engagement pioneer behind Law Tigers' nationwide success Chris Dreyer and Rankings Details Chris Dreyer is the CEO and founder of Rankings.io, the elite legal digital marketing agency.  Rankings: Website, Instagram, Twitter Chris Dreyer: Website, Instagram Newsletters: The Dreyer Sheet  Books: Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing: From Good to GOAT; Niching Up: The Narrower the Market, the Bigger the Prize Work with Rankings: Connect Time Stamps 00:00 Intro 00:17 Call for Community Speakers 01:00 Amanda Demanda: From Big Tobacco to Building an Unforgettable PI Brand 01:33 Aligning With Your Target Audience 04:35 Making Your Message Pop 08:00 The Power of Bold Branding Choices 11:59 [Transition to Bob Simon] 12:03 Why Personal Relationships Beat VC-Backed Marketing 13:21 The Immigration Lawyer's Million-Dollar Referral Strategy 19:15 Building Your Referral Network 20:25 The Freedom of Focusing on What You Love 20:53 [Transition to Dave Thomas] 21:03 Stop Making Your Firm the Hero 22:14 The Law Tigers Community-First Approach 24:44 Real Community Leadership 26:06 Tracking What Matters 27:03 The Numbers Don't Lie: Grassroots Marketing Results 29:08 The Grassroots Marketing Pyramid 30:06 Closing Call for PIMCON Speakers Additional Episodes You Might Enjoy 80. Mike Papantonio, Levin, Papantonio, & Rafferty — Doing Well by Doing Good 84. Glen Lerner, Lerner and Rowe – A Steady Hand in a Shifting Industry 101. Pratik Shah, EsquireTek — Discovering the Power of Automation 134. Darryl Isaacs, Isaacs & Isaacs — The Hammer: Insights from a Marketing Legend 104. Taly Goody, Goody Law Group — Finding PI Clients on TikTok 63. Joe Fried, Fried Goldberg LLC — How To Become An Expert And Revolutionize Your PI Niche 96. Brian Dean, Backlinko — Becoming a Linkable Source 83. Seth Godin — Differentiation: How to Make Your Law Firm a Purple Cow 73. Neil Patel, Neil Patel — Digital A New Approach to Content and Emerging Marketing Channels

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Send us a textGood morning! Thank you for taking a few minutes to listen. If you are interested in the Daily Bible Devotional, you can find it at the links below:Amazon - (paperback, hardcover, and Kindle)Spiritbuilding.com - (premium quality paperback)Youtube Video Introducing the ContentFeel free to reach out with any questions: emersonk78@me.comMatthew 4It is difficult to imagine forty days without food. It is God's plan for the Holy Spirit to lead Jesus into the wilderness to fast for that length of time. The devil takes the opportunity to try and stop Jesus' redemptive ministry by tempting Him using three basic tactics: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Each time Jesus refuses to listen and uses Scripture to refute him. Following this, an angel comes and comforts Jesus. Jesus then travels to Galilee to begin His ministry. He begins with this powerful sentence: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus gathers up His first four apostles: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He then goes about healing people and preaching “the gospel of the kingdom.” Satan is not particularly creative. When he tempted Jesus with stones to bread, with the world's glory, and with leaping from the temple, it was no different than the temptations Adam and Eve faced in the garden. He appeals to fleshly desires, distracted eyes, and a sense of importance. Adam failed. Jesus succeeded. In the footsteps of Jesus, with Scripture in our hearts and hands, we also can face temptation and stand with God. The result will be like Jesus: God will strengthen us, upholding our efforts, drawing us to people of faith who will walk with us, and opening opportunities to use our proven faith to share the gospel of the kingdom more boldly with others.  Great God of glory, thank you for sending Your Son to show us what it means to fully trust in You. Help us face our times in the wilderness with the same resolve to honor You in all circumstances. Will You give us the clarity we need to see through the devil's tactics? We pray for comfort and support from those who have faced Satan and stood firm. We also pray to be those traveling companions for others, as we share in our common mission of telling others what is possible through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Thought Questions:  -       Will you be aware today of Satan's three tools: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life? How will awareness help? -       How is facing temptation strengthened by quoting God's word? How will you use Scripture to refute the devil's work today? -       Why is it vital to get to work for Christ immediately following temptation? What mission will you stay focused on today no matter what?

Maybe you've heard someone say, “Jesus is the God of second chances." Well, they're right. Jesus is the One you can go to and say, "I blew it. I want a do over. I failed. I'm sorry. Will You give me another chance?" The question is, how does that actually happen? How do you get cleansed, forgiven, and headed back on the right track? Chip shares, from Psalm 51, how you can be forgiven, restored, and set free.Main Points Introduction: What all humans have in common is failure. But with God. . . FAILURE IS NEVER FINAL! A song of confession: Psalm 51 7 steps to spiritual recovery: COME clean with God! - 2 Samuel 12:13 ASK God for forgiveness. - Psalm 51:1-2 OWN Responsibility for your sin. - Psalm 51:3-5 ACCEPT God's forgiveness and cleansing. - Psalm 51:6-9 REQUEST a “fresh” work of grace! - Psalm 51:10-12 RESOLVE to use past failures for ministry. - Psalm 51:13-17 PRAY for “limited fall-out” from your folly. Broadcast Resource Download Free MP3 Message Notes Additional Resource Mentions Daily Discipleship About Chip Ingram Chip Ingram’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways. About Living on the Edge Living on the Edge exists to help Christians live like Christians. Established in 1995 as the radio ministry of pastor and author Chip Ingram, God has since grown it into a global discipleship ministry. Living on the Edge provides Biblical teaching and discipleship resources that challenge and equip spiritually hungry Christians all over the world to become mature disciples of Jesus. Connect 888-333-6003 Website Chip Ingram App Instagram Facebook Twitter Partner With Us Donate Online 888-333-6003