Latest / How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack / Bible Study Methods, Lies, Habits, & The Truth

Transcript

Bible Study Methods, Lies, Habits, & The Truth · How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Listening to the How to Faith a Life podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: This is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian walk.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you've subscribed to this podcast and your favorite podcast streaming services.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Review this podcast so other people can find it and share with other believers who want to ask the hard questions.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let's begin.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Hi, and welcome to our first ever How to Faith a Life podcast.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is something I've thought about doing for quite a while, but it was something that I was kind of hesitant to do because of the time restrictions for it, and I honestly just like I still probably need to do more work, like figuring out how to host it and um things like that.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: But I think it's important to slow down.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: I think it's important to um make space in our lives to think and ask questions, and that's what I love about podcasts is because you slow down, you ask questions, you can, you know, really listen to people asking questions while you do the dishes and you fold laundry.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think I do some of my best learning through podcasts, and it was something that I really kind of wanted to um make a part of my service or ministry is kind of share with you guys the questions I'm asking, the books I'm reading, and some of the things that are mulling in my brain that aren't super clickable in a video format or aren't short and sweet where I can just share them in a short or a real.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: And so um, that's kind of my heart for this podcast.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't really have any um aspirations to like, I don't know, grow my audience or make money or anything like that, like other reasons why people start podcasts.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: It's mainly just another platform for me to reach um and serve and love my audience, my pre-existing audience that wants more and doesn't necessarily look for the um high production value.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: So, like I have less makeup on today.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: I actually was gonna sit down and film a video and um on this similar idea that this um podcast episode is actually gonna be on.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: But I realized, you know, I don't look good.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: I don't have super high energy today.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Let's just finally sit down and film this podcast episode I've been thinking about.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: So welcome, as you can tell.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: This is just like raw, real faith.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Um I love being able to be raw, real, and vulnerable.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: However, as my audience grows, I'm learning that there needs to be some level of privacy, some levels of not sharing my absolute everything because I'm opening myself up for vulnerability.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: And so um I think that podcasts are beautiful because you can be raw, real, unedited yourself without also limiting yourself to being um extra criticized, if I can say that that way.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: So today what I really wanted to talk about is um for many of us, we struggle with, we always want to find that new best, bright, shiny, cool, easy, um, super growing Bible study routine or Bible study method.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: And it's really easy.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I mean, I'm gonna be completely honest with you guys, I get the most clicks when I am sharing a new Bible study method or um a new kind of way to get to know God.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, e five three easy steps or five easy tips to um grow in your knowledge of the Lord through your Bible study method.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Just do this method and you'll grow in your walk with the Lord.
3:21
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be honest with you guys, um that's probably why most YouTubers make those kinds of videos.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Not because they do every single one of those methods or those steps, but because it served them and it maybe just served them like twice in their life.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: But they thought, hey, I'm gonna share this because one, people want to hear more methods and more ways to study the word, but two, if it serves me once or twice, um, that's enough for me sometimes.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: Like the Lord met me when I was in the pit of feeling like scripture does not make sense to me.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: And so let's just be honest, we all get to that point where we're like scripture doesn't make sense, and I don't know what I want to do into my Bible study reading today.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I want to um approach the scriptures and um go deep because I am tired.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I don't have my resources, y'all guys.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: If you're watching the video format of this, um your my resources are assuming, but right behind you guys, and I'm tired.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: I've got to go get stuff done for work, my kids are screaming, whatever it may be.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't have time to like read 17 commentaries and get a whole lot of background information.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Jesus, I need you to meet me here.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that's the beauty of Bible study methods and systems and tips.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: But however, um, we can sometimes get stuck in the well, this is how I do my Bible study, and yet it's not working.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: And so I first off want to open up with just saying it is okay to boil it back down and just read the Bible for the day.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Just read.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Not look at any resources, not um jump all over different commentaries and word studies.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: It's okay to just open up your Bible and just read and feel like you don't understand half of it.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: We all have those days where you're limited on time and resources and energy and you've got nothing to bring to the table.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: The Lord doesn't ask us to bring um effort and showing upness to the table.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's okay to just sit down and read your Bible.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: I did that today, just like an hour ago when I was sitting here doing my study for the day.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, however, I think most of the time our Bible study routines aren't working because they're not made for us.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're meant for a season of life in our lives.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: So, for example, um, when I was in exam week taking seminary classes, I was cramming in my brain like dates and facts and um different ideas or way to understand salvation, whatever, different huge theological concepts.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have the emotional capability to sit down and like go super deep in my Bible studies.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: And that is okay.
6:03
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're a stay-at-home mom, you are giving yourself every ounce of your day to your kids, and you need some kind of intellectual thought, you need some kind of um depth to your life.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: You need to be able to, even if it's just in your head, talk to another human being and feel heard and also ask hard questions because all day long you're talking about poo-poo and juicy juice and French fries or fry fries, like my boys call them.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: You know, on those kinds of days, I can't help but go deep and spend three hours on one verse, you know?
6:33
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's an exaggeration, but y'all know what I mean.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: Like some days, they're like different seasons of life.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: So let's just say that.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: Different seasons of life, you need different things in your Bible study.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes I find that people think their Bible study has to look one particular way because that's all that they've done and they've really never tried anything else.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: So if you're w listening to this podcast or watching this podcast and you've been in a season where you're like, I'm not getting more from my Bible study, and I need more, I need the Lord to meet me.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if everything's dry, everything doesn't make sense, and I don't have the energy, I don't have the resources, I don't have the time, whatever it is, to go deeper.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, I would encourage you just to try something new.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that means stopping your Bible reading plan for just a week or for three days and just reading a psalm a day and singing that psalm to the Lord.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that means listening to the Bible being read on your phone while you paint or go on a run.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, mixing things up is one, not out of the control and the sovereignty of God.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: God works through anything and everything.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Um look up if you want to learn more about that.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, just basic theology about um common grace and how God um is not uh separate from the oh, how do I want to wear this?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: God is not apart from the things that we call secular in life, but rather in preeminent in it, um, which is what Philippians talked about, the preeminence of Christ.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: Um He is before all things, or is that Colossians 1?
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, either one.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: I think it's in both passages.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: This idea of Christ is in working through and working and using those things as a tool in our lives.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes we have Christians thinks that we need to sit down, we need to read, we need to pray, then we need to read one single psalm, and then we need to read one or four chapters of a book, and it needs to look this certain way, and we need to do it this certain type of way.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: And don't get me wrong, I'm a super structured person.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm very self-disciplined, but I think that sometimes is like the number one killer of joy in my Bible study life is thinking that I need to do it a certain way and not feeling like I can break those barriers or challenge myself in a new way.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: So recently on my channel, I shared interviewing pastors on how like what their time with the Lord looks like.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know what you guys got from those interviews.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: I literally just sit down and I record what they say.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: And I am not trying to show my commentary on what their thoughts sometimes they say things I disagree with, sometimes they say things that really challenge me, and sometimes they say things that I'm like, mm-hmm, that's not that good of a thing for you to share, but I still share it in my videos most of the time.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: And so in those interviews with pastors, I'm just gonna be honest with you guys, I think it was like every single one of the pastors, so that they struggle in their quiet time.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: They struggle opening up the Bible.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: And I think I I eventually told my editor to um cut out some of those parts because it was just getting redundant, like all of them saying, you know, well, when I spend time with the Lord, it's it's hard, but once I really get into it, the most profitable times, and then they share their tips, you know.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think we need to make space in the Christian world, or even like Christian YouTubers like me who share Bible study tips all the time.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is my passion, um, this is like my job, and yet still in my own quiet time today, I didn't use a single resource.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: I just needed to read the word by itself.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: I just needed just the beauty.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna be honest with you, I was reading about Samson and Delilah.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: If you guys are doing my Grace Bible reading plan with me, um, that's the the Bible reading plan that I created.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: And um, I'm really not that far in the Bible reading plan.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: So if you like started it today, you could probably catch up to me.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, but anyway, I um am having a really fun time doing that study, knowing that I'm being held accountable by all of my subscribers, but I'm low-key, kind of insecure about sharing where I am in the Bible reading plan because I'm like, I'm sure so many people are ahead of me, but I skip Sundays and um I don't know, I've gotten sick and things like that.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: So all that to say, today I was reading Ballot Simpson and I was really, because I wasn't using any resources, because I wasn't really dialing into a specific section or really trying to carry or watch a theme or do any word studies, I was just reading it for what it says.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: I was able to see with new eyes that downward spiral of judges.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if you guys have studied judges in depth.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: I really need to.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: I was looking at if you guys are watching this on video, you guys can see the cover of this book.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: But it is what the Old Testament authors really cared about, and it is by it's a survey of Jesus' Bible, which it means that's the Bible Jesus had, and the Old Testament is what Jesus knew and studied in the scriptures.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: It's by Darushi, D-E-R-O-U-C-H-I-E.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if someone recommended this to me.
11:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh no, it looks like I got it at my local Bible outlet um discount bookstore.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: But I was looking at that, I really want to read it a little bit more because their their descriptions of the book of Judges really was blowing my mind.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Like I thought I understood the book of Judges, but I really need to study it more.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: All that to say, the book of Judges, if you don't know, if you've never studied it in depth, is a downward spiral of I mean, this is God's people, this is Israel.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: They're going through this downward spiral of morality and they're becoming just like the people of the world, just like the Canaanites.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And so, even though these are God's people, even though these are like, you know, Christian uh people that we study as children and we're told to look up to, like Samson, he goes into a woman and he pays a woman for what should not be repeated by me.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Like he he does super immoral things, he does wrong things.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: He's we all know about Delilah.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: We know that she tempts him and he gives into her seductive ways.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we see their sinfulness right there in front of us, and yet we're like, Derek, the hero of the story right now?
12:16
SPEAKER_00: This is the best that's going on.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: And the point of all of that is is I was truly able to see with new eyes just how dirty, just how messed up, just how lost Samson was, um, in a way that I hadn't been able to see it previously, because I would be doing word studies or character studies or thematic studies and be going quote unquote in depth and really missing the overall um bird's eye view of the passage, kind of missing the whole, what is the saying, the woods through the trees?
12:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I probably botched that, but y'all get the idea.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: So if you are where somewhere where I kind of have felt recently um and you don't know if your Bible study method or your routine really is working, I would encourage you to start from the ground up and ask yourself, okay, why do I open up in prayer?
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Is that really truly the best way for me to truly powerfully, honestly, surrenderedly um open up in my quiet time with the Lord?
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Or would it be better for me to just smack myself upside the head with a song and then pray?
13:18
SPEAKER_00: Or close in prayer.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: Or would it be better for me to listen to the Bible in audio while I walk and think?
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, my the other pastor at our church, y'all know my husband isn't the only pastor at our church.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, he goes on prayer walks.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: I think it's like every weekday.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: And so I'll see him when I'm driving through town on a walk with his dogs, and I know because I know him that he is praying over particular houses.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: He has particular houses that he passes.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, they might be people that he only met once and he knows just a piece of their story, and he prays for particular things that he promised them that he would pray for, and he prays for their life day after day, and he again may never see them again in his life, but he is a prayer warrior for them and they don't even know.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: So, in what ways would that transform your prayer walk?
14:01
SPEAKER_00: Or uh sorry, that's a little bit too punny.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: In what ways would that transform your prayer life or your spiritual life if you uh walked and listened to the word read to you?
14:13
SPEAKER_00: It's almost like this childlife, childlike reception of God's word being read over you, sung over you.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, in what ways would it be better for you to not have music playing in the background or to have music playing in the background?
14:26
SPEAKER_00: Would it be better for you to close up into a small space like a prayer closet and turn on candles and kind of create an atmosphere?
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Or would it be better for you to bring the scriptures into your workplace and remind yourself that you are a missionary in your cubicle, you know?
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think we need to learn and accept and like shout from the rooftops that it is okay to not have your Bible study figured out.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: I don't think anybody truly has it figured out.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: And I really do think that we need to have a season for everything, just like Ecclesiastes reminds us that there's a season for everything.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: If you are mourning, don't expect to be fed in the same ways that you were fed when you weren't mourning.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you are growing and being challenged in your theology, you guys know I've been doing a lot of studying on women's roles in the church and a biblical understanding of women and leadership and church service.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, it is not time for me to take on the topic of other things, like other theology.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: It is not the time for me to go in depth and also try and get a um, I don't know, a solid understanding of um the Holy Spirit at work through um modern-day miracles.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not time for me to try and ask other big hard questions.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: What my time is now is to wrestle with women and women's roles and give myself room for questions.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: That's the season I'm in right now.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: And I am surrendered to that because the Lord has led me there.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: And so I think we need to have that acceptance.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: We need to um have that childlike faith where we just come before the scriptures and we don't try and follow a routine.
15:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, our routine, our Bible study routine does not save us.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: And we all know that, but do we truly believe that?
16:00
SPEAKER_00: We know our Bible study methods and routines and our habits and our prayer journals or whatever we have in our systems.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: We know they don't save us, but at the end of the day, if you really like, you know, put us on it, we would probably say, Yeah, but Jesus loves me more because I have a solid prayer journal routine.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: And we don't theologically ascribe to that, but we at the end of the day tend to fall into those lies that we're earning something from the Lord, that we're that we're earning his favor or um his attention, and and the Lord could literally not love you any more than he does today.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: How does that transform or change your Bible study routines and methods?
16:44
SPEAKER_00: I'll a really practical tip that I've been meaning to share more on my channel is there is no harder thing in my Bible study life than to start after taking a week off.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: So, like we went on vacation, I guess it's like two weeks ago now, and um, it was like a work vacation.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Like my husband was working, I was on vacation, but we were seeing family, and so like it was just like a lot of things.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: And um, because of that, I was not like it was impossible for me to study the word.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: The few times that I tried to, my boys were in the same room, hotel room as us, and they were screaming.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And you know, our family was like, Hey, can you meet us here?
17:20
SPEAKER_00: We want to swim at the pool with your boys, we're missing family time, you know.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Come on, and I'm like, Okay, I so I don't have an hour.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: I did I legit didn't have an hour to spend with the Lord.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: I didn't have 30 minutes to spend with the Lord.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, I even tried in the car and that didn't work.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Um, it was just something that wasn't gonna happen, and it was stressing me out more than it was being my life source.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: And so the challenge in that week for me was to rest in how can I marinate in the scriptures I've already memorized?
17:47
SPEAKER_00: How can I marinate in the truth of like I am saved by Christ's blood alone?
17:51
SPEAKER_00: And it's not me reading the Bible or having my routine figured out, it's not me um being a perfect Christian or um figuring it out in a week how to, you know, all of a sudden spend time with the Lord and have amazing fruitful Bible studies in the middle of a hotel room with screaming toddlers.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's not my calling this week, you know.
18:09
SPEAKER_00: My calling is to rest in the Lord, you know.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: So again, I think it's seasonal.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: I think it's um the Lord gives us more grace than we want to give ourselves oftentimes, especially if you're like type A like me and you like to pat yourself on the back and rely on yourself and tell yourself that you're you're loved a little bit better or something.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: And again, I'm being like super vulnerable and super real with you guys, but I think we all do that.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Like even my husband, who is not type A, who is not super self-disciplined, who is basically the opposite of me, um, would say the same thing.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, yeah, because I feel closer to the Lord after spending time in his word, I often start to believe those lies that I am, that he loves me more.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: And he could not possibly love you more.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: This episode of the How to Faith Alive podcast is sponsored by Kairos.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: They offer tutoring services for those who are looking to study Greek and Hebrew, primarily serving lay people.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Their intention is to have small class sizes, online Zoom classes, and it is a service where you get to learn the languages without the pressure of tests and quizzes and all of the typical seminary school vibes.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Without grades, it's the freedom to study and to learn for the joy of it and for better understanding guides for it.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: If you want to join me in a class this upcoming July, check out their website and use the code FAIT for 10% off, which is a huge discount for the price of these classes.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: I'll see you in my class and thank you to Kairos for sponsoring this episode.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh boy, a car just came by with its base Bowman.
19:46
SPEAKER_00: If you guys don't know, I'm in my new studio and I'm on um kind of like the main street of my tiny little town.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: There's like literally 3,000 people in this town, and so um really cheap rent, really fun little space.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: I get to see people walking by, um, and it's been a huge blessing, but there are um some downsides like cars with really loud um mufflers or the train and things like that.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: So you guys might hear that in this podcast.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Um here's my super practical tip that I tried to open up sharing just a few minutes ago, and I interrupted myself multiple times.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, in a really practical way, if you have zero energy to go before the Lord and spend time with the Lord, that is the most important time to, if you can, sit down and pull out all of your resources resources and go really deep.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: That is the time for that.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: So um obviously on vacation, I couldn't do that.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: But maybe it actually, I know for a fact it was right when I got back from vacation.
20:47
SPEAKER_00: It was that next Monday, and I was like, oh my goodness, I took a whole week off of my Bible reading, and I'm behind, and I've got all these emails that I need to respond to, and my editor and my virtual assistant need this, that, and the other from me.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: And you know, the babysitters are only watching the boys for two hours.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: I need to like hurry up and get stuff done.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't have time to go deep in my Bible study.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you guys, that was the most important time for me to go deep, to pull out the resources and just try and remind myself of the awesomeness of God's word because the world is because what I was believing that moment was the world's lies, and the world is constantly going to tell us that work is more important than God's word.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: The world is constantly gonna tell us that time is more important than God's word.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: The world is constantly gonna tell us that you have more important things to do than read God's word, and that is the biggest lie ever.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: It is the most important thing you will read for the day.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: It is the most impactful thing you will read for the day.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: It is the most true thing that you will read for the day.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: So while it felt uncomfortable, while it was hard and the hardest it had been in a long time, I pulled out just a single commentary and just focused.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: On where's one place that I can be challenged, that I can dive deep, that I can be convicted.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: Let me add those notes to my Bible.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: And it all came rushing back.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, I love this.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Oh, a whole week off.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: I missed this.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Wow, I want to keep going.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't have the time to, but I want to keep going.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: And it all comes rushing back, but you don't get that reminder.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: You don't get to, I don't know, get that fire planted back in you until you start to do it when it feels uncomfortable, when it does feel hard, when it feels like those muscles haven't been stretched in a while.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: So I've told you two different things that might seem compliment complimentary?
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Contradictory.
22:37
SPEAKER_00: And that is one, you might need to mix things up and take it simpler.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: You might need to just like read the Bible by itself.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: And then I've also told you you might also need to just pull out those resources and push yourself to go deeper so that you remember the joy of truly, deeply, richly studying God's word.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: And you might view those two things as contradictory.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: But I really do truly believe that the Lord gives us the clarity to know what we need for the day.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: And if you feel this tension of, I must do this, that's usually not from God because God needs nothing from you.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: If you feel an inclination to, I would really love to do a word study on this word, because I do not think I understand this word, whether whatever it is, um, that is usually the Lord leading.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: But this I must, I my life depends on, you know, the self-discipline of I have to do this or else kind of idea is really truly just self-reliance and not Jesus reliance, which is what we're called to.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: So this was all over the place.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: A fun little first podcast.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I've literally not even practiced recording before this.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: So I hope you guys enjoyed me rambling all over the place and sharing just a few of my thoughts that have been jumbled up in my head.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: I'm a verbal processor, so if it wasn't the camera this morning, it was gonna be Joe.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: Just working through like how do I share with you guys the two seemingly contradictory things that I really think mo more Christians need to hear.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you need to take it simpler, and then sometimes you need to put um your nose to the ground and grind, and either way, the Lord's gonna meet you because it's not dependent on you.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, but those uh Christian guilt trips that we go on that tell us we're not doing enough, we need to do more.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: If we loved Jesus, we would do more, a good Christian does more are usually always false.
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Um they're always false because there's nothing that makes us a good Christian or a bad Christian if we are saved by Christ's blood.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: Um Isaiah 60, don't quote me on that one, um, reminds us that we we have the robe of righteousness.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: Here, let me Google this why I'm talking to you guys.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: The robe of righteousness from Christ.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: So um robe of righteousness, Isaiah.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: Um, so what this means is Christ died on the cross, it's Isaiah 61, not 60, Isaiah 61, 10.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: I will rejoice greatly in the Lord.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: My soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom adorns her his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: So, um, just like Christ died on the cross, he bought for us our salvation.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: There was this forensic transactional um process by which Christ's blood bought our life.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: His death bought our new life, right?
25:44
SPEAKER_00: And through that transactional process, scripture gives us the imagery of a robe of righteousness, which is put on us like a like a dress, like adorning us.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Um think of Joseph's coat of many colors.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: It is something that you can't not see, right?
25:59
SPEAKER_00: It it it calls for attention, it um directs the eye towards itself.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: And what it is, is it's a robe of righteousness.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: So it covers us head to toe and it's righteousness.
26:13
SPEAKER_00: Now that righteousness came from Christ.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: So Christ took it off, laid it down that we might be trusted in it.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: He put it on us, and when God looks at us, he doesn't see our dirty, mud-ridden, sin-filled self.
26:28
SPEAKER_00: He sees us wearing Christ's righteousness.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: So, no, you are not a bad Christian for just reading your Bible or for just reading a passage or for not reading your Bible because you're sick or whatever.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Nothing can take away your identity in Christ because that's not rooted in what you did.
26:54
SPEAKER_00: And legalism, Christian culture, there's gonna be a lot of butts that people want to add to that.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: And I would say we're called to self-discipline, we we're called to hate our sin, we're called to run the race as said before us.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: There is um action that we're called to, but we will never do that action with um the right empowerment if we don't truly understand that salvation is not through what we've done.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: And so that's why I really hammer down that those ideas of grace on my channel, because I don't ever know who exactly is watching my videos and where they are in their walk with the Lord.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: But I think the church spends a lot, or even just Christian culture, spends a lot of time talking about, you know, the disciplines and what we ought to do and what a good Christian would do, or whatever.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: When in all reality, that comes naturally if we truly understand what was done for us on the cross, if we truly understand this glorious righteousness that we are now dressed in, not by anything that we've done, but by this loving sacrifice of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: I'll read you this verse I have on my chalkboard behind you.
28:03
SPEAKER_00: It says, But you were washed, you were sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: That's 1 Corinthians 6.11.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: It makes me think of my boys.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, we went a long time when they were infants, not giving them baths very often.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: And you guys might think I'm a horrible mom for that.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: But someone told me when my boys were really young, you know, like, don't wash your skin too much because you're gonna dry it out.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: You have dry skin, you don't want your kids to get eczema and stuff like that.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: I think it was my mother.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: And so I tried to just do like, you know, when they needed it.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: And that created really a habit of bi-weekly, like deep cleans in the bathtub.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, we would do like light washes, literally hosing them off in the backyard or what we call baby wipe baths, you know, things like that.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: And yet we have now entered into the season, particularly this last spring, um, my where my boys are of that age, they're two and a half and four, where they can't help but get dirty.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: They're drinking out of big boy cups and spilling on themselves, they're able to put on their own shoes and go outside.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: They're able to get into the chicken in the pig pen and play with the animals, they're digging, they're climbing, they're just getting more dirty than an infant gets.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: They are just getting dirty every single day, where we need to take a bath every single day.
29:19
SPEAKER_00: And I think about how, oh, I know when they need a bath because their faces are gray with dirt or brown with dirt, and they smell, and they're not even teach teenagers with hormones, like, but they are just dirty.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: And yet I put them in that bathtub, and they are squealing because of the bubbles and their bathtub toys, and they're laughing and splashing, and all of a sudden the dirt just disappears.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: It's not an instantaneous thing, it's more of a gradual thing.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: But they're all of a sudden these cute, smell good little boys that I want to cuddle and rock to sleep.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: And that same process has been done and is being done in our lives.
30:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, 1 Corinthians 6.11 says, But you were washed, we were washed clean, and while we continue in sin, we are still being sanctified.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: That's the next word that is used to describe us.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: So we are washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: And that's all through what?
30:23
SPEAKER_00: Not through our name, not through our identity, not through the things that we do, but through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: The name.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: The power in the name of the Lord of the of Jesus Christ.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Lord.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know what I'm saying.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Um we are given this robe of righteousness, we're given this life in Christ.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: We are sanctified, we're washed, we're justified, we're given this name to live by and this life.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: How dare we believe the lies that is dependent on what we do?
31:01
SPEAKER_00: No, it is the word that has a power.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: It's not the power in us reading the word or studying it rightly or checking all the boxes.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: It's just not dependent on us.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: I'll close with this.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray and pray over you guys.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't know every single one of your situations.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't even know if anybody will end up watching this or listening to this, but I want to pray for um those who are like me who wrestle with the day-to-day reading the word.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Am I doing enough?
31:33
SPEAKER_00: Am I going deep?
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Should I go deep or should I just jump to work?
31:36
SPEAKER_00: Am I am I doing the right word studies?
31:38
SPEAKER_00: Am I verse mapping the right verses?
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Whatever you are doing in your Bible study routine, are you prayer journaling enough?
31:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of you guys might be like, what are you even talking about?
31:47
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray over those of us who are tempted to think that we need to do more to earn some kind of love.
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Or for those of us who are lost in our routines, not knowing exactly what this season of life needs or that what we're supposed to be doing.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Father God, you heard me.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: You heard me explain the people, the heart that I have in my mind, those who are broken, feeling they're not doing enough in their Bible studies, guide.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: I pray for those who um are tired, are weary, are drained from feeling like they're not doing enough and they'll never do enough.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: And they've tried these different Bible study routines, they've tried these different methods, and nothing's working, and they're tired and they're burnt out, and they just can't bring themselves to open up the Bible because they know they're just gonna be bored and not understand what's going on.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that they will be encouraged, that the desire to read the Bible alone is proof of your work in them and your grace in them.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that they will know your direction and your voice in their life.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: So that if they just need to read the Bible and do nothing else, that they will have the confidence in you to do that.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: Not the confidence in themselves, not the confidence in what they do, not the confidence in anything else but you and your work on the cross to do the bare minimum, to do nothing.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: Lord, may we truly understand that we have earned nothing in and through ourselves, and we cannot.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: Your glory is too high, your standards are too high, we are so far off, we are so broken, Lord.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, it is not by anything that we can do, but it is by your grace and your mercy that we get to call ourselves yours.
33:33
SPEAKER_00: So may we rest in that, rest in your work, which has already been done, accomplished, applied, completed on the cross, and may we rest in you.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: God, I ask for you to lead us when we should go deeper and open up a commentary, do word studies, first mapping, prayer journaling, whatever, Lord.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Lead us in the studies and the routines and the methods in a restful way, not trying to earn love, not trying to earn acceptance, but out of a genuine hunger and thirst for more of you.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, may we ask in boldness for more of you.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: God, we hunger and we thirst for more of you.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: We need you, Father.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing better, nothing greater, nothing more satisfying than you.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: And we proclaim that on the rooftops of our heart, that we may truly believe that when we're tempted to think that we need more time scrolling, or we need some chocolate.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: When we're tempted to believe the lies that we need stuff of this world rather than you, Lord, may we forever rest in the truth that you are everything we need, and the peace and the joy and the truth of who you are is right there in your word, Lord.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: May we be faithful students running to you and your word, studying you and finding life in you and your word, Lord.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: We love you, God.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: We want you.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: We want more of you.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: And so we lay down ourselves, we lay down our pride, we lay down our lives that we've hung on to.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: We lay down our life, Lord.
35:18
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's laundry, the bills, the people, the traditions, the churches, whatever it is that rules our days, whatever it is that rules our minds, Lord, may we lay that at your feet and say, God, you are my everything.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: You are all that I want.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: All of this is yours, God.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Whether I pray adult today or not, I am yours.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for being more than enough for us.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for meeting us in our inadequacies.
35:58
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for saving us despite us.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: We receive the truth of your work, and we respond with worship and gratitude and an action based on those truths.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: And it's in your name we pray.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me for today's first podcast, and I pray that you guys were blessed as I was by just praying.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, and maybe that's all that you might need today.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: So I challenge you um to run to the Lord and um ask him what you need to do in your routines and your studies, um, and what your heart needs.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: Because I guarantee it's more of him.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: Bye guys, be blessed.