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Transcript

Knowing You're Enough · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey you guys, happy Tuesday. This is friendly.
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  Thanks for joining me on in the stillness this morning.
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  I'm so glad that you're here. Today's episode was really just
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  honing in on coming before God with confidence.
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  It's not something that we strive for, but something that
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  we know. And it is a deep settled knowing
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  that ultimately brings rest. And I think a lot of us can
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  quietly carry the question, am I doing enough?
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  Am I being enough? So today, the passage that we're
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  going to be in, we are going to let Scripture answer that we're
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  going to be reading first John chapter 3 through verses 20 to
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  22. For whenever our hearts make us
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  feel guilty and remind us of our failures, we know that God is
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  much greater and more merciful than our conscience, and He
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  knows everything there is to know about us.
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  My delightfully loved friends, when our hearts don't condemn
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  us, we have a bold freedom to speak face to face with God.
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  And whatever we ask of him, we receive because we keep His
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  commands, and by our beautiful intentions, we continue to do
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  what brings pleasure to Him. OK, first of all, there's that
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  word know. Knowing communicates confidence.
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  And it's this confidence that produces rest, ease of mind, a
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  quieted soul. This reflects the posture that
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  we actually see in Psalm 131, which is the Psalm that this
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  podcast was really inspired by. It's a heart stilled and quieted
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  before the Lord. So there is no striving, no
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  proving, just being with him because his presence quiets our
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  soul. It brings rejuvenation, rest, a
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  sound mind. So I just want to ask you guys,
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  when was the last time that you sat with God without trying to
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  prove anything, without trying to earn his favor or his
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  blessing, but just to be with Him?
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  This passage also speaks directly to something that I
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  honestly didn't fully recognize before because I've read this,
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  but it is speaking to a whole different thing.
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  Perfectionism. I didn't realize for a very long
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  time how much of my relationship with God was driven by trying to
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  get it right instead of just being with Him.
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  There was a constant internal question, Am I doing enough?
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  And sometimes I think that pressure is fueled by comparison
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  because it's when you start looking around at what others
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  are doing, what they're accomplishing, and then suddenly
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  your focus can shift from why am I doing this and who am I doing
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  this for? Because if it is for God, there
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  is freedom in that. But if it's for validation,
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  there's always going to be pressure.
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  So just ask yourself right now, am I serving from love or is it
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  from pressure or trying to measure up?
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  At the core of all of this is the greatness of God's grace.
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  He sees the worst parts of us, yet He still cascades us in His
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  mercy and acceptance. First, John is reminding us that
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  even when our hearts condemn us, God is greater.
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  He's greater than your heart, greater than your thoughts.
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  He's greater than the voice that keeps telling you that you're
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  not enough. Romans 81 says there is no
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  condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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  And 1st John 44 reminds us he who is in you is greater than he
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  who is in the world. So God's assuring voice is
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  always, always greater than the accusing voice, whether that is
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  from the enemy or from your own thoughts.
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  But we do have to understand this clearly.
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  Conviction is not the same as condemnation.
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  Conviction communicates, come back to me.
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  That's the Lord drawing us near to him.
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  But condemnation says stay away. You're too far gone.
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  You see, conviction leads to repentance and to real freedom,
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  but condemnation leads to guilt, shame, and ultimately bondage.
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  So it is so important to discern the voice that you're hearing.
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  Is it drawing you closer to God, or is it pushing you further
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  away from Him? God's voice speaks truth with
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  love. It's never to shame you, and
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  it's never to degrade you. Now, let's also just talk about
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  the heart for a moment because it says here that our hearts can
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  condemn us. And Scripture is so, so clear in
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  Proverbs 4, verse 23, It commands us.
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  Guard your heart above all else, for it is the wellspring of
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  life. So your thoughts flow out of
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  your heart. So what is shaping your heart
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  the most right now? What are you feeding it?
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  Whether that is through music, through shows and movies,
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  conversations, other voices. Because when the world says to
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  follow your heart, the Bible calls us to something better.
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  We are told to walk by the Spirit and to keep in step with
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  the Spirit as it says in Galatians 5.
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  So instead of following your heart, we follow the Spirit,
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  allowing the Spirit to lead and align us.
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  And here's the cool thing, when our hearts are aligned to the
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  Father's will and not condemning us, something shifts because we
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  then can approach God with boldness and with confidence, a
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  clear conscience. It casts out fear and it allows
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  us to bring our requests freely to God.
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  First, John 3 verse 22, as I read, shows us that we receive
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  because we obey, we please Him, and it says by our beautiful
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  intentions we continue to do what brings pleasure to Him.
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  That's actually directly from the Aramaic and Ecclesiastes 2
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  verse 26 affirms it. It says to the person who
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  pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.
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  So when your life is aligned with the Lord, your desires
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  begin to align too, and your prayers then change because
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  you're not just asking for things that solely benefit you,
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  you're asking for things that reflect His heart.
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  So let me ask you, are your prayers shaped more by what you
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  want or by what God wants to do through you?
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  And even when it feels like your prayers may not be answered,
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  Scripture reassures us no good thing does the Lord withhold
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  from those whose walk is blameless.
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  Psalm 84, verse 11. So if you're pursuing Him, if
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  you are eagerly desiring righteousness and something
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  still isn't happening the way that you had hoped, I just want
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  to encourage you trust that He may have something better
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  honestly, that He does have something better, whether that
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  is a better gift, a better plan, and better timing.
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  Because the bottom line is that God is a good Father.
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  And in Matthew 7 verse seven, He tells us to ask, to seek to
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  knock because He responds and He responds perfectly because He is
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  the definition of perfection. You do not have to strive to be
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  enough for God. You get to rest in the truth
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  that it's through Jesus, in Christ Jesus, you already are.
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  So with all of that, let's go ahead and close out in prayer.
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  Dear God, thank you that you are greater.
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  You are greater than our hearts and every accusing voice.
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  I pray that You would help us guard our hearts, Lord, to walk
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  in step with Your Spirit and to keep in step with Your spirit.
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  I pray that we would not waver, that we would stay on the narrow
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  path of righteousness. And would You just tune our ears
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  into Your frequency, Holy Spirit, to help us recognize
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  Your voice of truth that is above all other?
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  Would you align our desires with yours, God, and just give us a
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  confidence, a boldness to come to you freely without shame,
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  without guilt? There is no condemnation for
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  those who are in Christ Jesus. I pray that every listener would
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  believe that and that they would live in the freedom that you
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  died for Jesus. We pray this in your precious
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  name. Amen.
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  OK y'all. Well, that's today's episode.
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  Praying that you feel blessed by it and that you can continue
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  just learning the Father's voice more intimately and become more
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  aware of His Spirit leading you through every single moment of
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  the day. I will see y'all on the next
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  podcast.