Latest / The Christian Podcast Community / How to Know if God Is Speaking: Biblical Discernment, Prayer, and Hearing God’s Voice

Transcript

How to Know if God Is Speaking: Biblical Discernment, Prayer, and Hearing God’s Voice · The Christian Podcast Community

• 0:01
  What's going on, everybody?
• 0:02
  How's it going, everyone?
• 0:04
  I'm messing with Matt over here.
• 0:06
  He is.
• 0:07
  I'm Derek.
• 0:08
  And I'm Matt.
• 0:11
  Yeah.
• 0:12
  What an exciting way to start the show.
• 0:14
  Just kind of melancholy.
• 0:16
  So good.
• 0:17
  All right, so we got another one.
• 0:18
  There's.
• 0:19
  There's another person in the competition, which we're not going to tell who it is.
• 0:22
  Who it is.
• 0:23
  But you know what?
• 0:24
  I know this person.
• 0:25
  So.
• 0:25
  So.
• 0:26
  And this one.
• 0:26
  It's a pretty card.
• 0:27
  It is a pretty card.
• 0:29
  And then we've got this one and this one and this one and this one and that one.
• 0:34
  We're up to, like, five of them now.
• 0:36
  Yep.
• 0:36
  But today's like the last day.
• 0:38
  Oh, wait.
• 0:39
  The day we're recording.
• 0:40
  So.
• 0:40
  So by the time this comes out, the.
• 0:42
  It will be over with.
• 0:43
  So hopefully, hopefully by the time you hear this, you will have already sent in your last minute postmarks.
• 0:52
  Looking for postmarks, Looking for postmarks.
• 0:53
  Last minute postmarked entry.
• 0:56
  We'll kind of hold off for a minute and let that happen.
• 0:59
  Yeah, we will.
• 1:00
  So not a long minute, though.
• 1:02
  It's a short minute.
• 1:03
  It's a short minute.
• 1:05
  You know.
• 1:05
  You know, I have failed on something.
• 1:07
  What did you fail on?
• 1:08
  I still have not given Clint his sign.
• 1:12
  You need to give Clint his sign.
• 1:13
  I also haven't.
• 1:14
  Well, I guess we don't have anywhere to put ours right now, but we.
• 1:16
  Could hang it somehow.
• 1:19
  Anyways, so we are excited about sweep sweepstakes.
• 1:24
  I've got all this stuff.
• 1:26
  We're excited about starting to put things.
• 1:27
  Sweet potatoes.
• 1:28
  I am not a fan, actually.
• 1:30
  What?
• 1:30
  I know, I'm weird.
• 1:31
  I love all things potato.
• 1:33
  Well, I love all things potato, but sweet potatoes are not potatoes.
• 1:36
  Recently, I was walking through Costco and they gave out free samples of sweet potato snacks.
• 1:41
  They were, like, kind of dried, but, you know, chewy.
• 1:44
  It was delicious.
• 1:47
  Sounds like a crunchy snack wasn't crunchy.
• 1:49
  No, no, that's not what I meant by crunchy.
• 1:54
  Yeah, I guess so.
• 1:54
  It was delicious.
• 1:55
  Well, you guys do have all the healthy foods, though.
• 1:57
  Yes, because we like to have vitality inside the life that we have.
• 2:02
  I like enjoyment in life.
• 2:04
  I don't need a long one just to enjoy the one I got.
• 2:08
  That's all I'm asking for.
• 2:09
  Okay.
• 2:10
  That's why I eat tacos.
• 2:11
  Junk food.
• 2:13
  Okay.
• 2:14
  Man, I'm trying to get a rise out of him so bad.
• 2:16
  He is really trying.
• 2:17
  It's fine.
• 2:18
  I mean, it's not working.
• 2:20
  I'm okay.
• 2:21
  He was getting ready to do His Trump impression.
• 2:23
  Did you see that?
• 2:23
  You know, it's the best show you ever heard.
• 2:27
  Yeah.
• 2:27
  You have too much of that, like, weird accent that kicks in.
• 2:31
  I don't think you could do a good job.
• 2:32
  I think it would be hard for you.
• 2:34
  It would be like a, like a Irish Scottish Trump.
• 2:38
  I think he's German.
• 2:40
  Well, I know, but.
• 2:41
  Well, I don't know that, but I'm just saying, like, he's obviously not Irish or Scottish, so.
• 2:47
  No, no.
• 2:50
  So anyways, today's show is brought to you by Donald Trump in person.
• 2:55
  Letter L.
• 2:56
  Yes.
• 2:57
  I don't know.
• 2:57
  We.
• 2:58
  Are those.
• 2:59
  Just kidding.
• 3:00
  All right, so today, what are we talking about today?
• 3:03
  Today we're going to be talking about kind of a combination of listening to God, but then also recognizing his leading and his voice in your life.
• 3:13
  That's good.
• 3:15
  Yeah, I think that follows good, too, with last week's knowing that God doesn't necessarily answer prayers how you want them.
• 3:22
  Yeah, I think that's kind of how I was thinking about last week and I thought, you know, that would be interesting.
• 3:28
  Way to follow up on that little bit.
• 3:31
  See where this goes.
• 3:32
  Yeah, that's.
• 3:33
  That's good.
• 3:34
  So I'm interested to see where this goes as well.
• 3:36
  Yeah, yeah.
• 3:38
  So don't forget to, like, subscribe, comment, do all those things.
• 3:42
  We also have a Patreon.
• 3:44
  Don't want you to forget about that.
• 3:45
  Where we do devotionals that go along with our podcast every week, and it's a five day devotional.
• 3:52
  You also can get cool swag, like T shirts, stickers and the like, as well as a song release and backgrounds for your phone.
• 4:04
  Wallpapers, I think they call them.
• 4:06
  Wallpapers.
• 4:07
  Yep, wallpapers.
• 4:09
  Something like that.
• 4:09
  Wallpaper.
• 4:10
  Wallpaper.
• 4:11
  The thing that, you know, you rip off your.
• 4:13
  Your walls.
• 4:14
  Yeah.
• 4:16
  So if you subscribe over there, those are some cool perks you can look forward to.
• 4:21
  Also, I know I've been saying this, but I mean, at this time, we are going to be recording a rabbit hole soon.
• 4:31
  Because I need one.
• 4:34
  I need a rabbit hole to go down and I enjoy them.
• 4:39
  Yeah, you.
• 4:41
  Oh, we're using it.
• 4:42
  No.
• 4:42
  Oh, yes, I am.
• 4:44
  Anyways, so that is something to look forward to coming out.
• 4:49
  I will probably launch it to everybody just because it's about time.
• 4:53
  It's about time.
• 4:54
  It's about time to go down the rabbit hole.
• 4:56
  Yeah.
• 4:57
  So.
• 4:58
  But this, this here, what you're listening to now is clarity and chaos.
• 5:05
  But we're trying to find the clarity in the midst of the chaos.
• 5:09
  And we Are the truth.
• 5:34
  In the noise, in the fire we seek the truth.
• 5:38
  We climb higher not just echoes, not just talk.
• 5:43
  We walk the path, we walk the wall.
• 5:49
  Truth in the battle, light in the.
• 5:52
  Law.
• 5:55
  What we see, Clarity and chaos.
• 6:05
  So who's cool?
• 6:06
  I will pray.
• 6:07
  I am gonna pray today.
• 6:08
  I mean, I need to pray so I can make it today.
• 6:11
  Yep, sounds good.
• 6:12
  We haven't heard that one in a while, so.
• 6:14
  So.
• 6:14
  Because Nick's not been on the show in a long time.
• 6:17
  Yeah, blame it on Nick.
• 6:18
  All right.
• 6:20
  Father God, I just want to thank you for another day.
• 6:23
  For the breath in our lungs, for the.
• 6:26
  The.
• 6:26
  The love that you show us.
• 6:29
  God, I pray that you remind us every moment of every day that the.
• 6:37
  The anger and.
• 6:39
  And frustration that we might carry does not produce your righteousness, but also remind us that it's your righteousness that gets us there regardless, and that to remember to put on that armor, God, every day, God, I pray that
• 6:57
  you just allow us to open our eyes to what you have for us through this conversation, through the prayers that you're leading us through, God, I just pray that we can be open to your guidance and your leading
• 7:11
  in our life.
• 7:12
  I pray that you open our eyes to where you're working and that you.
• 7:15
  You lead us to where you're working, God, and let us meet you there.
• 7:20
  I just pray that you are glorified in the conversations that stem from today's conversation.
• 7:28
  And we just thank you for that love, grace, and mercy that you pour on us.
• 7:32
  And it's in your precious and holy name we pray.
• 7:33
  Amen.
• 7:34
  Amen.
• 7:37
  So, yeah.
• 7:40
  Yeah.
• 7:40
  So last week we talked about, you know, how God kind of answers prayer, and sometimes it's a weight and such like that.
• 7:47
  And, you know, a lot of people are like, well, how do I even recognize what is, you know, what I'm being told?
• 7:55
  And so I figured we could talk about that a little bit today.
• 7:58
  And, you know, I think the number one thing that we need to be doing is learning to.
• 8:05
  Or get ourselves in a place where God's voice, God's truth, is more recognizable.
• 8:12
  And we've talked about this before to a degree, but I think the most important thing to start out with is keeping yourself saturated in the Lord.
• 8:21
  Obviously, one of the fast way to do that, read your Bible.
• 8:26
  It's something we say so much, and it's an obvious church answer, so to speak, but it's also more neglected than people want to admit.
• 8:36
  If you don't.
• 8:37
  If you're not familiar with the Bible, if you're not familiar with the scriptures, you'll find yourself less familiar with Christ himself, less familiar with his voice, less familiar with God and what God actually has to say on a
• 8:49
  lot of things.
• 8:50
  And that'll make it hard to discern what indeed you're listening to.
• 8:55
  And so that is something that I think has to be at the forefront of pretty much anything is to be able to recognize.
• 9:03
  And then, of course, other ways to saturate yourself in similar ways to help reinforce those things.
• 9:10
  But I mean, I think that's a great place to start.
• 9:13
  I mean, when you.
• 9:14
  For you, Derek, when you want to refresh yourself, so to speak, with Jesus and who he is, like, do you have a favorite gospel, a favorite book that you kind of go to?
• 9:30
  Yeah, I think I just take it back to John 1.
• 9:35
  Yeah, yeah.
• 9:36
  Because it reaffirms truths that, that I think are baseline truths that, you know, Jesus didn't come to condemn.
• 9:49
  We're condemned already without him.
• 9:51
  Once we believe in him, we're no longer condemned.
• 9:56
  He was God is God will always be God.
• 10:00
  And he made himself lower than the angels.
• 10:03
  Like that humility is something that I need to be reminded of, that even Jesus had the humility enough to make himself lower than the angels, even in order to connect with us and to reconnect with us.
• 10:20
  And so, yeah, I would say I go back there.
• 10:24
  Ephesians is another good one.
• 10:26
  I love to just pour into Ephesians and, and read over that.
• 10:30
  I think that there's some solid instruction in Ephesians.
• 10:35
  So, yeah, I mean, I think that's good.
• 10:39
  So for me, it depends on what I'm looking for.
• 10:47
  So for instance, if I really want to think about the things that Jesus would say, then I read Matthew because it's very focused on the things that Jesus said.
• 10:57
  If I'm really focused on just what he did and just how he would maybe do things, then I read Mark.
• 11:04
  If I'm looking to see how he felt about different situations, I'll read Luke.
• 11:09
  And if I'm looking for that mixture of human and deity, that's when I'll read John.
• 11:15
  Because John does a really good job of putting the both at the forefront oftentimes.
• 11:22
  But yeah, I mean, like, so, for instance, if I really want to think about what would Jesus have to say, how would he teach, how would he answer someone?
• 11:29
  Then Matthew is just tremendous.
• 11:32
  He, he.
• 11:33
  It's so centered on the things that he said.
• 11:36
  So reading the parables and reading the Sermon on the Mountain, it's just wonderful, you know, but also I mean, then you got like, if you are wondering, like, how does Jesus pray?
• 11:47
  What are the things he found important?
• 11:49
  I mean, honestly, one of the best books there is, actually John John, he's got some long prayer there, especially towards the end there.
• 11:57
  And it's wonderful to see the things that were important for him to be praying at those times.
• 12:02
  And.
• 12:04
  And there's so much comfort along with.
• 12:07
  I mean, you're going to find things that are going to challenge you.
• 12:10
  And, and that's actually, I want to point out, that's a healthy thing.
• 12:15
  You letting scripture challenging challenge you is something you should welcome.
• 12:23
  I mean, will it humble you sometimes?
• 12:25
  Yes.
• 12:25
  Will it convict you?
• 12:27
  Yes.
• 12:27
  But you should also allow it kind of like Romans 12:1 and 2, especially to renew you in a way to where you can get a fresh understanding of all these things and even the things that you might have
• 12:42
  kind of let slide or such in your life.
• 12:47
  It's something that you should want to happen.
• 12:51
  Because if you're going to read the Bible just to try to read the same story and get the same thing out of it that you got before, I think you're doing it a disservice.
• 13:00
  It's a living word.
• 13:01
  It definitely wants to speak to you afresh all the time.
• 13:05
  And so actually, what I do is I'll end up praying sometimes before I read Scripture just to be like, all right, help me.
• 13:10
  I'm getting ready to read something I've read before.
• 13:13
  Speak to me.
• 13:15
  Speak to me in a new way.
• 13:16
  Allow me to see something I've not seen before.
• 13:19
  An understanding of.
• 13:20
  Not understood before.
• 13:21
  You know?
• 13:22
  Yeah, we did a.
• 13:24
  We did a project.
• 13:28
  I don't know.
• 13:28
  It was a, an assignment in class in college.
• 13:32
  It was our spiritual disciplines class or something.
• 13:39
  I don't know.
• 13:40
  I don't remember what it was exactly.
• 13:41
  But so we did this thing where we were attempting to memorize all of Philippians, and we would.
• 13:52
  We would practice it all the time in class.
• 13:56
  And the reason was more so to get the feeling of the text, like, to actually express the feelings of the text while we're reciting it.
• 14:09
  Not just, not just to memorize the words, but to understand the inflection, to understand the tone, to understand all of the nuance of it.
• 14:21
  And I often think about that whenever I'm digging into Scripture and praying Scripture is like, okay, how would Jesus have said the things that he is saying?
• 14:33
  How would Paul have said what kind of conviction?
• 14:37
  What kind of a tone?
• 14:39
  Like, I know we've talked about before on here, like, the the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus.
• 14:45
  Right.
• 14:46
  And I had always read it as a.
• 14:49
  Are you serious?
• 14:50
  You don't get it?
• 14:52
  Kind of a conversation, but interesting.
• 14:54
  But really, when you.
• 14:57
  When you dig into it, it's a.
• 15:00
  Like, it's more compassionate than.
• 15:03
  Than a.
• 15:04
  A, like, how can you not get it right Where.
• 15:09
  I guess I.
• 15:09
  I had always read the tone of all the other Pharisees that he had, you know, whenever he talked to all the other Pharisees, like, because Nicodemus was one too.
• 15:18
  So I just kind of read that with the same kind of tone because I assumed, you know, well, he's also a Pharisee, but when you read that close, it's like he is.
• 15:30
  He's speaking with a.
• 15:33
  Maybe a disappointment, but.
• 15:35
  But definitely a compassion that's like.
• 15:39
  Like not there with the.
• 15:41
  With the other Pharisees.
• 15:43
  And so I don't know, looking.
• 15:44
  Looking for tone and inflection and.
• 15:47
  And trying to understand, like, how things are being said and then praying them.
• 15:52
  Yeah.
• 15:52
  In a similar way, like, God, what do you want me to see in this?
• 15:56
  Like, God, I need this in my life.
• 15:59
  You know, for instance, something that lately I've been feeling is Psalm 13, you know, how long, oh, Lord.
• 16:09
  Yeah.
• 16:09
  You know, that.
• 16:10
  That whole, like, I've done that before, man.
• 16:13
  You know, like, that's where I'm.
• 16:15
  That's where I'm at right now.
• 16:16
  I mean, I know we talked a little bit last week.
• 16:18
  I got a little vulnerable and all that, but, like, I'm.
• 16:23
  That's.
• 16:24
  That's where I'm at right now is I feel like, how long, oh Lord, are you going to hide your face from me?
• 16:31
  Yeah.
• 16:32
  How long are you going to be silent?
• 16:34
  You know?
• 16:34
  And the end of that, though, the end of that, we have to remember my context is important.
• 16:39
  To the end of that, he basically is like, I have to remember that you've never failed me.
• 16:47
  Yeah.
• 16:47
  And that you always come through, even if I don't see you and I don't hear you.
• 16:52
  And I feel.
• 16:53
  Feel like I'm abandoned.
• 16:55
  I have to maintain that understanding that you've always had my back.
• 16:59
  You've always been there with me, always been there for me.
• 17:02
  And so I think it's important for context and such as.
• 17:08
  Well, but praying through the Scriptures, especially Psalms, whenever you.
• 17:12
  Whenever you relate to one, you know, it's like, you may not have the same.
• 17:17
  You may not be going through the exact same thing, but, man, you can feel some of those same things, you know?
• 17:23
  Yeah.
• 17:24
  So.
• 17:24
  But you got to remember the promises.
• 17:27
  I think that's important too, is remembering the promises that come with, with things like, I'm here.
• 17:33
  Yeah, I understand you.
• 17:36
  You know, I was part of the whole Jesus thing.
• 17:38
  That's a.
• 17:38
  That's actually.
• 17:39
  So what you've spoken about is actually amazing segue to another thing that needs to be talked about when it comes to hearing from God.
• 17:46
  So.
• 17:47
  And Nicodemus, wonderful, wonderful example.
• 17:50
  And to get more.
• 17:51
  And I, I'm really.
• 17:53
  I like where you're at with how your heart kind of changed on it.
• 17:55
  But I think one of the things that really sets the tone is actually the end, because we read about Nicodemus in John chapter three, but if you read the end of John chapter two, it gives a completely different
• 18:08
  feel than to Nicodemus because in the end of John chapter two, he talks about the fact that, you know, he revealed different things to different people.
• 18:16
  Jesus did, but in it really depended a lot on the heart.
• 18:21
  He knew everyone's heart and he revealed things to different people according to their heart condition, so to speak.
• 18:29
  And so right after it gets done saying that that's how he operated, you have Nicodemus come in.
• 18:34
  And you're right, he is a Pharisee.
• 18:36
  So it'd be easy to think, well, Pharisee, he's coming in pompous and whatever, but he comes in and Jesus then reveals so much to him.
• 18:46
  Which makes you understand then in that context that, that Jesus understood his real heart for the truth.
• 18:53
  Like, obviously at that point, Nicodemus came in with the right heart condition, seeking the right kind of answers.
• 18:59
  And Jesus spilled it out in ways that he definitely did not spill out to other people.
• 19:07
  So that is really significant.
• 19:09
  And so that leads me to tell you this, like, you know, getting saturated with the words so you can understand what God's voice sounds like or how he would operate and is important.
• 19:18
  But also when we go to God, we have to be very aware.
• 19:22
  And sometimes we need to take a step back and reassess our own heart condition.
• 19:27
  You know, where are we at as we're approaching this?
• 19:30
  Where are we at when we're trying to receive this?
• 19:33
  So many times we'll go, and we don't even realize we're going with a very selfish heart.
• 19:39
  We're going with our own agenda, and we're trying to have God fill that agenda.
• 19:45
  And sometimes people have a hard time listening to God because they're looking for the answers that they want, right?
• 19:52
  Or they're trying to negotiate or whatever it is.
• 19:54
  And that, I mean, he's not going to play games with you.
• 19:58
  You know, and so sometimes we need to take a step back and go, all right, so where am I at truly with God?
• 20:07
  And what am I really trying to find out here?
• 20:09
  What am I really trying to do as I'm trying to listen for his reply, as I'm trying to look for his guidance?
• 20:17
  Is it just something that I want or am I genuinely wanting his.
• 20:20
  His answer?
• 20:21
  You know, how many times have you prayed something?
• 20:24
  And I mean, if we were to really do a gut check, we'd be like, you know, I was really just asking him to give me what I wanted instead of letting him, you know, hey, Lord, let it be
• 20:32
  your will.
• 20:33
  But this is what I want.
• 20:34
  Which, you know, it's more like God didn't.
• 20:37
  I mean, he didn't.
• 20:37
  When he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he didn't go, yeah, listen, I know, whatever you want.
• 20:42
  But, like, this is what I want to do.
• 20:44
  He was like, man, this is hard.
• 20:45
  And I don't know if I, you know, this.
• 20:47
  The spirit's willing, but the flesh is so weak.
• 20:49
  But I want to do your will.
• 20:51
  And so putting himself aside was the most important.
• 20:54
  That human part of him aside.
• 20:56
  We have to be willing to do something very similar.
• 20:58
  We got to follow suit when we got to approach him with a very.
• 21:01
  I don't know if I want to use it exactly like this, but just for the fact that I just kind of touched on this, almost like a Nicodemus heart, like, I genuinely want to know.
• 21:10
  I want you to give me the real information because I'm missing something and I feel like you're going to be able to give me the answer to that, you know, and when you, it's.
• 21:20
  When you clear out your own biases and agendas, you're more apt to be able to listen to the truth.
• 21:27
  You know, if he knows that you're coming at him and all you want to hear is your own thing, he might not even reply.
• 21:32
  Well, and taking that even a step further, the whole, the whole, everything you just said, one step further.
• 21:38
  I mean, even John1 sets up the scene.
• 21:41
  Yeah.
• 21:42
  And he lays it all out like, this is why Jesus came and it was to talk to Nicodemus and others like him.
• 21:51
  Yeah.
• 21:52
  And.
• 21:52
  And it.
• 21:53
  It's so cool once you actually start looking at, like, all of it and, and shameless plug.
• 21:59
  I've got a lot a song about this.
• 22:02
  Yeah.
• 22:03
  The first three chapters of, of John.
• 22:06
  And it's called Light has come.
• 22:07
  It's on YouTube.
• 22:08
  It's on Spotify.
• 22:10
  But it's such a good example of all of what Christianity is about.
• 22:21
  And John does a tremendous job in his Gospel.
• 22:24
  I mean, John, I love it because he writes a lot with his heart.
• 22:28
  And John understands who Jesus is on a deep level.
• 22:34
  And he's in love with the person and deity of Christ and is putting Christ in his proper place.
• 22:42
  And in that, you see him reflect on those who do the same thing.
• 22:45
  Nicodemus is one of them.
• 22:46
  Another one that hits before and after Nicodemus is John the Baptist.
• 22:50
  John the Baptist in the book of John is very set on, look, he needs to be greater and I need to be less.
• 22:58
  Like, no matter what they come at him with, it's like, nope, it's not me, it's him.
• 23:01
  It's always going to be about him from the very beginning.
• 23:04
  Look, it's.
• 23:04
  There's someone coming after me that's better.
• 23:06
  I'm not even fit to tie his sandal.
• 23:08
  I'm not even.
• 23:10
  Like, I'm nothing.
• 23:10
  This guy is the thing.
• 23:11
  He.
• 23:12
  The whole reason I'm here is to keep pointing at him.
• 23:14
  And then later they come, they're like, hey, he's baptized.
• 23:16
  And like, great, well, then his is better than mine.
• 23:19
  Everything like that.
• 23:19
  He should be like, I guess I'm done here kind of thing.
• 23:23
  Like, it's fine.
• 23:24
  Like, it's, It's.
• 23:26
  It's wild that you see a heart for people who put him in the right place versus, versus, versus.
• 23:30
  He recognizes those whose heart are not with Jesus.
• 23:35
  And what it looked like, on the other hand, of that.
• 23:38
  Yeah, yeah.
• 23:40
  They come at John the Baptist pretty hard with the whole, like, so who are you?
• 23:45
  Who are you to be doing this?
• 23:47
  He's like, I'm just the voice in the wilderness crying out, yeah, well, they're.
• 23:51
  Like, hey, are you the Messiah?
• 23:52
  No.
• 23:53
  Are you the prophet?
• 23:54
  No.
• 23:55
  Okay.
• 23:57
  Are you.
• 23:57
  Are you Elijah?
• 23:58
  Elijah?
• 23:59
  Yeah.
• 24:01
  And it's like,.
• 24:03
  Yeah.
• 24:04
  And then who are you then?
• 24:05
  Yeah, we need an answer.
• 24:06
  Who are you to be, you know, doing this?
• 24:08
  And his response is, obviously, you know, a prophecy.
• 24:11
  I mean, partially, but also, it's like, I'm the one who's crying out in the wilderness.
• 24:17
  Make way, though, you know?
• 24:19
  Yeah, I love the way for the Lord or whatever.
• 24:21
  What's interesting about that is, I mean, this is kind of an aside of what our main topic is today, but is to see what Jesus had to say about it.
• 24:28
  Because Jesus, when they're asking, why do they say that Elijah has to come first?
• 24:34
  He's like, well, he has, but he also is coming.
• 24:36
  You know, he is coming, but he's come, which means, like, yeah, he's coming.
• 24:41
  Which is really interesting because he's pointing to a future event.
• 24:43
  But John did come in the spirit of Elijah in kind of that way to make a way for the Lord.
• 24:50
  And once again, Elijah will make way for the Lord at a future event.
• 24:53
  That's what kind of seems to be pointing at in that moment, which is really an interesting yes and situation when that happens.
• 25:00
  I think a fair amount.
• 25:01
  But yeah, so.
• 25:03
  But John, I mean, like I said, he fully understood his place when it comes to Jesus.
• 25:10
  And so many of us don't, you know, so many of us have these moments where we're like, no, but what I want and what my will needs to come first.
• 25:19
  And that puts us in those places where it's like, we want to hear from God, but God's like, you aren't ready to hear this.
• 25:26
  You want what you want, and you don't want to actually hear the real answer.
• 25:29
  Right?
• 25:30
  And then we get frustrated, like going back to last week, when sometimes the answer is no or not yet or something like that.
• 25:36
  We get impatient because, like, no, no, you don't understand.
• 25:38
  I want it the way I want it.
• 25:39
  I want it now.
• 25:40
  God's like, look, you honestly have no idea what you're asking, and you wouldn't be ready if I give it to you now.
• 25:47
  I don't know if you can handle it.
• 25:48
  Well, I think that's partially why we're supposed to ask with Thanksgiving, right?
• 25:52
  Is so that our mindset is less on the what I want and what you've already provided.
• 26:01
  More on that.
• 26:02
  More on the what has God already provided and how has he provided in the past?
• 26:07
  Because I think that a lot of times we forget that God's provision, God's leading, God's guiding.
• 26:18
  It doesn't look how we want it to.
• 26:21
  And so we have to look for the answers in a way that's open to what God might have for us instead of.
• 26:32
  I mean, you can ask for specific things, but you still have to look at it from a lens of like, okay, God, I know that you've got me in this situation.
• 26:45
  What do you want me to do with it?
• 26:47
  Not get me out of it.
• 26:49
  Not, you know, like, when we.
• 26:50
  When we're asking for things, think of it in a way that, okay, why am I here?
• 26:55
  What are you guiding me to?
• 26:58
  I think our perspective has to be that in order for us to see his leading in our lives, you know, what I mean, like, because we're talking about recognizing.
• 27:07
  Yeah.
• 27:08
  You know, that.
• 27:08
  And I think that.
• 27:09
  I think that we have to have a mindset of, okay, God, what do you want me to see?
• 27:16
  Yeah.
• 27:17
  And then how do you want me to react?
• 27:20
  And if we are.
• 27:21
  If we are proceeding with that, I think that we will never react to things.
• 27:29
  Or rarely, I should say.
• 27:30
  I shouldn't say never.
• 27:32
  Absolutes are bad.
• 27:34
  Almost.
• 27:35
  Absolutely.
• 27:38
  But.
• 27:39
  But how.
• 27:40
  You know, how.
• 27:41
  How do you want me to.
• 27:43
  To proceed?
• 27:44
  Yeah.
• 27:45
  Because even if it's not a resounding do this, you still are in a.
• 27:54
  You've.
• 27:55
  You've humbled yourself to a perspective of, all right, I'm looking for God in this.
• 27:59
  Even if I have to move forward without.
• 28:01
  Without hearing a loud banging dong, you know, like.
• 28:06
  Or whatever.
• 28:08
  His.
• 28:08
  His still small voice.
• 28:09
  Even, like, sometimes we have to move on, continue on.
• 28:14
  We have to sometimes.
• 28:16
  And so I think that if our heart posture is thanksgiving and we're seeking him with a.
• 28:23
  A mindset of, okay, your will, like you mentioned, and.
• 28:28
  And a.
• 28:29
  Okay, I've seen you do things this way in the past.
• 28:34
  How do you want me to proceed?
• 28:36
  I think that that is enough.
• 28:39
  That even if we don't hear an audible voice or open up to the right passage of scripture that he wants us to read or whatever, even if we don't do that stuff, we're not reacting right.
• 28:52
  Our initial reaction being prayer is the only reaction at that point.
• 28:58
  It's acting because we have waited, we've taken a breath, we've stopped a moment, and then that gave us time to take what he's put in our heart and act in it.
• 29:14
  Yeah.
• 29:14
  And that's.
• 29:15
  Yeah, great, man.
• 29:16
  You're giving me all the segues today.
• 29:18
  So.
• 29:19
  Yeah, I mean, so that's the next step.
• 29:20
  So, I mean, obviously getting to know who he is and trying to make sure you understand that fully.
• 29:25
  Sorry, I said segue.
• 29:27
  Yeah.
• 29:28
  And then.
• 29:32
  Sorry.
• 29:32
  I know.
• 29:33
  I'm thinking about his segue thing.
• 29:36
  So getting to know him and then checking your heart and then for the things that we think that we're receiving, we need to be able to.
• 29:44
  It helps us then to discern and analyze what it is we think that we're receiving.
• 29:47
  Because there's a positive voice and there's a negative voice and being able to figure out which one is which is important as well as where our hearts are and what we think are receiving.
• 29:57
  So first I'll talk about the, you know, negative versus positive.
• 30:01
  So, I mean, our enemy wants to kind of speak to Us too and wants to try to lead us astray.
• 30:06
  And so this is one of those times where knowing God is handy because you can hold up the things you're going to go.
• 30:11
  Is this leading me to a place that's very biblical, very righteous?
• 30:14
  Is it gonna, is it leading me to be okay in my heart?
• 30:17
  Is this helping me not be less afraid of this?
• 30:19
  Is that feel like I have guidance even if it's uncomfortable?
• 30:22
  Or is this inciting anger in me and frustration in me and worry in me?
• 30:26
  Is this is keeping.
• 30:28
  Helping me harbor feelings that I shouldn't be feeling?
• 30:31
  Like there's, there's, there's a God who speaks very directly and kind of matter of factly, yet it's like a lovingly matter of fact almost.
• 30:42
  And then you have our enemy who's trying to talk as if he's talking about, as if you're talking so that you listen to it as if it's your own voice.
• 30:49
  And he's usually trying to incite us, incite us in mostly negative ways.
• 30:55
  And so we.
• 30:55
  That'll help you to kind of figure that out is to go, is this something that is leading to a positive or a negative?
• 31:01
  Can be one way for sure.
• 31:03
  Is this something that is self serving?
• 31:05
  Is this something that it seems to be heading in a way that's going to glorify God in positive ways without negative stuff and analyzing these things?
• 31:15
  Now the other thing is, is checking your own heart.
• 31:18
  Like I said, I, I think I've received this.
• 31:20
  I think this is what God's kind of pointing at or whatever it is.
• 31:23
  But is this me or is this him?
• 31:26
  Because I'll give you a perfect example.
• 31:29
  When God was pointing to Florida for Sadie and I now, I always had it in my heart that I wanted to move to Florida.
• 31:35
  I lived in a cold state in the winter and I did what I was done with it.
• 31:40
  And so was my wife.
• 31:42
  My wife really.
• 31:43
  And so when it felt like he was just constantly, constantly pointing at Florida, it was like, well, we need to know.
• 31:51
  And so we actually, my wife and I had that conversation, like, man, don't get me wrong, this is awesome if it is, but is this us wanting it to be this way or is this God actually saying this?
• 32:03
  And so it was one of those times where just I prayed for clarity, like, God, I think this is what you're saying, but I need to know if this is from me or if this is from you.
• 32:12
  And I remember he answered in a very wild way because I kind of had this throwaway Thing.
• 32:16
  I was like, yeah, you could do this.
• 32:18
  And he did that.
• 32:19
  And I was like, wow, I did not expect that to actually happen.
• 32:23
  But he did make it clear.
• 32:24
  Okay, he's pointing.
• 32:25
  All right, great.
• 32:27
  But I needed to check that because too many times in my life, I know I tried to run in front of God where, and, and try to like, oh, he starts pointing the direction, I just take off running.
• 32:38
  He's like, that's.
• 32:40
  That's not exactly what I meant, you know?
• 32:42
  You know, and then I have to.
• 32:44
  I was saying, look at that.
• 32:45
  Yeah, yeah.
• 32:46
  And so it's like the humbling took me to like, okay, before I take off this, like, are we walking together in this or am I just being so that's important.
• 32:56
  Let's take what we're listening to.
• 32:58
  And sometimes, you know, it's not about begging or pestering.
• 33:02
  It's more like a follow up question's not bad to be able to throw out that fleece and be like, all right, listen, I think I'm getting this.
• 33:10
  I really think I am.
• 33:11
  This feels like it, but could you just.
• 33:15
  I mean, I think this is it, but can you make it clear, you know, and one way or another.
• 33:20
  And you know, and then also sometimes disciplining yourself to hear things in moments that you wouldn't be expecting to hear them.
• 33:30
  So whether it's you think things are going good and then God comes in with a listen, I know you're in a good mood right now, but I got some potentially upsetting news.
• 33:42
  Only potentially now upsetting, but later it's going to be great.
• 33:45
  But you might not like what I'm about to say.
• 33:48
  And we have to be willing to be open to those things as well as when we're going through hard times, listening to him actually be there for us, you know, because you might be going through it right now
• 34:00
  and God could be sending you messages like, I'm here with you, it's gonna be fine.
• 34:03
  And sometimes in our despair, we can close ourself off to that.
• 34:07
  We can, we can have somebody come alongside you and go, hey, you know, I think, I think God's just right here with you right now.
• 34:14
  And we're like, you know, we get so angry and because we're listening to another voice, by the way, that we can't hear that.
• 34:23
  It's like, maybe at that point we need to take a step back.
• 34:26
  If somebody's coming to you or if you have different people coming to you and you're in a time of distress and they're like, man, God Loves you.
• 34:31
  God's going to hold you through.
• 34:33
  Take a step back if you're having a hard time hearing that.
• 34:36
  And so, okay, where am I at?
• 34:38
  Where.
• 34:38
  If people are trying to tell me God loves me, I'm not able to handle that.
• 34:43
  Like, why is that?
• 34:45
  What am I listening to that's keeping me from accepting God's love in this moment, in this situation?
• 34:53
  You know, Is it because you just want God to come in and handle it for you instead of guiding you?
• 34:59
  Is it because he do just want him to take care of it instead of having to.
• 35:04
  To do the things that he wants to use to grow you or.
• 35:08
  Or what is it?
• 35:08
  You know, so there's a lot of.
• 35:10
  A lot of questions you need to ask in that time.
• 35:12
  And nobody's going to get great at all this stuff overnight.
• 35:17
  You know, you're only going to get better as you go.
• 35:19
  And even pastors and elders and people that are veterans in the Christian walk still make mistakes.
• 35:29
  You know, Speak for yourself.
• 35:31
  Sometimes God still needs to smack us over the head and go, all right, yeah, you're not in the right mind frame right now.
• 35:36
  He always seems to do that to me.
• 35:38
  I seem to have this, like, target right in the back of my head.
• 35:42
  They got his place there so he can have fun aiming right there with the brick that he throws at me to wake me up.
• 35:49
  Yeah, I think.
• 35:50
  I think something, too, that might help us think through, like, how does God, like, answer us or how does God lead us?
• 35:59
  And.
• 35:59
  And that is twofold.
• 36:01
  One is recognizing the.
• 36:06
  The conversation.
• 36:08
  Right.
• 36:08
  And what the conversation is supposed to look like and what it's not supposed to look like.
• 36:15
  God is going to always give you a conversation or an answer that is going to be edifying for one.
• 36:25
  And two, that is going to be meant for searching or building up, which is also edifying, I guess.
• 36:39
  But the devil, his answers make you second guess.
• 36:44
  Oh, yeah.
• 36:45
  And.
• 36:45
  And God's not going to make you second guess.
• 36:48
  God's gonna challenge you.
• 36:49
  There's a difference between challenging and second guessing.
• 36:52
  And so, like, the devil's always like, did it really say, are you sure?
• 36:58
  That's what.
• 36:59
  What God's wanting is?
• 37:00
  Are you sure?
• 37:00
  And if you hear, like, that voice, that's not God.
• 37:04
  Yeah.
• 37:05
  Are you really sure that.
• 37:07
  That.
• 37:07
  That's not.
• 37:08
  That's confusion.
• 37:09
  That's.
• 37:10
  That's more chaos.
• 37:12
  And I also want to remind you, like, follow me on this.
• 37:19
  God's not here for your edification.
• 37:23
  God's here for our edification.
• 37:25
  Right.
• 37:25
  God is.
• 37:26
  God is here for us and he speaks to us and he has us doing things for the global we edification, the church as a whole, as the bride of Christ edification, not necessarily for yours.
• 37:45
  So sometimes when he's leading us to places, some people may look at it and be like, why would God lead you there?
• 37:55
  How could a good God lead you to that?
• 37:57
  I mean think about the martyrs, right?
• 37:59
  Think about the people who have literally given their life, maybe even right after, or literally have claimed him and it cost them their life.
• 38:09
  Then think about those people and how easy it would be to say how could a good God lead them to that?
• 38:19
  But then look at the edification of the church.
• 38:23
  Whenever, whenever you see stories of people who have gone through things like that, through whatever, it, it gives this endurance, it gives us this like hope.
• 38:34
  It gives us a.
• 38:36
  Does that make sense?
• 38:37
  Are you following what I'm trying to say?
• 38:38
  Like maybe you can clarify it a little better for me.
• 38:41
  But like, but you see what I'm saying, Like he's here for the edification of us, not as of me.
• 38:52
  Yeah, he's looking to keep his church strong.
• 38:55
  And sometimes it's possible, don't get me wrong, sometimes it is.
• 38:58
  Yeah, I mean he does want to build us as well, but he definitely wants to make sure that his, you know, message is strong.
• 39:04
  And our witness to that is, I would say also it's really important and I would be amiss if I didn't talk about this is if you're looking to hear from God, if you want to draw, even if you're
• 39:17
  trying to just draw closer to God, minimize distractions as much as possible, especially if you're willing to be honest with yourself, the ones that aren't necessarily good or negative, you know, like so for instance, if you're looking to
• 39:33
  hear from God and yet you're just going to be doom scrolling, maybe not the best, you know, use of your time watching a bunch of horror movies.
• 39:42
  Hey man, people enjoy all kind of movies.
• 39:44
  But if you're searching for God to speak to you, and don't get me wrong, he can use anything, he is God.
• 39:52
  But maybe, you know, clear some stuff away.
• 39:57
  You know, try and try to surround yourself with positive things and not things that are going to continue to pull your, your attention to other places.
• 40:05
  You know, we live such busy lives that it's so easy to kind of God could be standing there on the sidewalk with a sign saying, hey, it's this way and we could drive right by him without even seeing
• 40:17
  Him.
• 40:17
  Like it's, it's so important to try to slow down a little bit and take some of the busyness away.
• 40:23
  Take some of the, all the things we have to feel like we're constantly interacting with and, or, or just being subjected to constantly.
• 40:34
  I mean, like I said, social media is a.
• 40:36
  Is a big way right now.
• 40:37
  But I mean, any kind of busyness, anything that's just kind of keep you going and going and goes, because the enemy of faithfulness is busyness sometimes where it's like, hey, you could have had time to sit and listen
• 40:50
  and wait.
• 40:51
  It's good to have practices of silence and good practices of just letting yourself.
• 40:57
  We've talked about it before.
• 40:58
  Sabbath rest is important.
• 41:02
  Regular routines of rest is important.
• 41:06
  And it's okay.
• 41:08
  That's something I think a lot of people who get into ministry don't realize.
• 41:11
  Is that, like, it's okay to have a day of rest?
• 41:15
  Well, not only is it instructive, but it's also okay to do that.
• 41:19
  Yeah, well, I mean, a lot of people come into ministry from secular positions and secular jobs are really funny when it comes to what kind of downtime you get, you know, and we take those other lessons and we
• 41:34
  try to apply them to ministry work, and those are not always compatible.
• 41:40
  You'll just burn out.
• 41:42
  And you're right.
• 41:44
  You need that time.
• 41:45
  You need to.
• 41:46
  And look, I'll go a step further.
• 41:48
  Healthy decisions.
• 41:50
  And in not just your time, but also even in your gut, not a lot of people think about the fact that, you know, we're just consuming, well, garbage.
• 42:00
  I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes garbage is fun, but especially, you know, people get a Big Mac attack.
• 42:05
  I get it.
• 42:06
  But, you know, if you're constantly consuming garbage, you're constantly just saturating yourself with every garbage thing out there, both food and media and music and all this stuff, and then you're expecting God to speak to you.
• 42:22
  You know, he's going to end up speaking to you in ways you don't want to.
• 42:26
  Like, hey, suddenly you're sick and you have no choice but to listen.
• 42:31
  You're run down.
• 42:33
  And it's one of those things that, you know, sometimes you just, you know, when something happens to you like that, maybe it's time to ask some serious questions.
• 42:41
  You know, if you finally get to some time that should be easier for you, and that's the time you get sick, okay, guess what?
• 42:50
  You've told God you don't have time for this.
• 42:52
  So he's like, well, then maybe it's a blessing that I'm Gonna do it now.
• 42:56
  You know, you gotta make time so that he can continue to work in your life and, you know, making certain things, priorities over others.
• 43:03
  I mean, look, I'm a football fan, but I'm not gonna put my football over my God.
• 43:09
  I'm a baseball fan.
• 43:10
  Not gonna put baseball over my God.
• 43:11
  There's lots of things I love to do, but, you know, there's.
• 43:15
  You got to have God first in your life.
• 43:17
  And we often put him in the back seat to a lot of these.
• 43:20
  Other things, especially in the area of resting and Sabbath.
• 43:25
  I think that, that it's been.
• 43:28
  It was, man, the timing of, of the sabbatical and learning to rest.
• 43:34
  Like, we, we our dnd day right from Saturday because Saturday was our only day that we were all just like, off, you know, so we, we made Saturday our Sabbath because anybody who works at the church or is
• 43:54
  in leadership of the church, Sunday's not a day of rest.
• 43:57
  It's just not.
• 44:00
  So Saturday we made our Sabbath.
• 44:03
  And honestly, we haven't actually played D and D on that weekend, on the weekends since, like, not even Friday, which was the night we moved it to.
• 44:14
  And the important part of the story is not that, but rather that, like, it caused us to.
• 44:22
  To have a day of rest.
• 44:24
  And then all of the things that have.
• 44:30
  Have come as storms in our life.
• 44:36
  If I didn't have that right now, I think I may have quit all of it.
• 44:43
  I think I might have stepped out of eldership.
• 44:46
  I think I would have quit my job by the now.
• 44:49
  I think it would have been messy.
• 44:51
  But God was like, look, I'm carving out this time.
• 44:55
  I need you to do what I'm asking you to do.
• 44:58
  I need you to understand that you don't understand it yet, but you will.
• 45:02
  And I turned to Lizzie the other day and was like, man, I would not have survived this time if we didn't have our day of rest.
• 45:10
  And so sometimes, sometimes sacrificing something that you think is rest for what God says is rest, you know what I mean?
• 45:23
  Like, even if it's a change of what God says is rest, sometimes he's got certain rests for us in certain periods.
• 45:29
  But sometimes sacrificing what you would normally claim is a good time or fun or how you like to relax or whatever, for an actual, like, breath from things, it's.
• 45:47
  It gets you through.
• 45:49
  I don't.
• 45:50
  I don't know, like, I truly.
• 45:52
  I truly don't know what I would have done without.
• 45:55
  Without him disrupting my whole life a couple of months ago, you know, so well, that's.
• 46:00
  Once again, it's a great way to kind of tie this up and another area that.
• 46:04
  So if you're in those other areas, if you're making some progress in this, next thing I would say is prepare yourself to get uncomfortable.
• 46:14
  First off, get yourself in a position where you expect and are allowing God to use your faith, which means that sometimes he's going to ask something that you know is going to be a leap of faith from you,
• 46:29
  or it's going to take you to step out in that leap of faith where it's like, okay, I have to trust him in this, because this doesn't feel like my comfort zone.
• 46:37
  And just because it's not your comfort zone doesn't mean it's bad.
• 46:40
  Yeah, because God's going to grow you in that.
• 46:42
  You know, if you've done all your checks, you're like, man, this seems like it's a good thing.
• 46:47
  But it makes me kind of scared.
• 46:48
  It makes me kind of nervous.
• 46:49
  It makes me.
• 46:50
  I mean, I could have been just fine staying here, but God, I feel like God's telling me to take this step.
• 46:55
  And, man, I mean, that's just not my normal good.
• 46:59
  That could be great.
• 47:00
  Because when you step into that space, God's gonna be like, finally, you've given me some room to grow you in a way that you weren't letting me grow you before, you know, and people are gonna notice.
• 47:11
  I had a friend come to me a couple months ago and was just kind of talking about, well, you know, you.
• 47:20
  And this is a guy that's not really.
• 47:23
  I wouldn't call him a man of faith, so.
• 47:26
  And he's just recognizing to me, oh, you know, man, you and your wife, you've definitely taken some big leap of faiths, and they really worked out.
• 47:35
  You know, you did this, and then you felt like God was calling you that, so you did that, and that worked out, and you did this.
• 47:40
  And I'm like, yeah.
• 47:41
  And I'm kind of looking at him like, so what aren't you getting?
• 47:46
  You can see that this works.
• 47:48
  And that's the thing is we become those walking testimonies.
• 47:52
  When you're able to let God use your faith in those ways, and you say you have it, so put your money where your mouth is.
• 48:02
  If God's going to call you into one of those places, if he says, all right, I need you to wait patiently here.
• 48:08
  Can you do it?
• 48:09
  Can you be still and know that he is God and wait on the Lord, be patient and wait on the Lord, can you do those things?
• 48:17
  Because if you can, I think he's going to put you into places that not only is he going to use that, but he's going to help you grow in that.
• 48:25
  And almost, I would almost be willing to say there's such purpose behind it, because I think he wants to use your story.
• 48:33
  I mean, the biggest thing we have in our Christian walk that's going to help other people is our witness.
• 48:38
  And that's our witness comes not just how we live.
• 48:40
  And that actually is really important to make sure you're living in a way that, that witnesses to people in itself, but in the stories we can tell.
• 48:49
  You know, and I recently found, I was with a conference and I, I, they were talking about evangelism and they said it was a, they used bless for it.
• 49:01
  And they said, you know, before, so pray before you go and listen.
• 49:08
  So you want to listen to people, eat with them, and then you want to be able to.
• 49:18
  Tell your basically say your story is one of them and serve them.
• 49:25
  And that's how they evangelize.
• 49:26
  And it's funny how when you let God prepare your faith, those are often the ways that he'll use it in really great ways.
• 49:34
  And I'll tell you what, I love this other thing.
• 49:37
  When it comes to praying for people and serving people, if you were asking yourself, what kind of people should I be praying for?
• 49:48
  What kind of people should I be trying to witness for?
• 49:49
  What kind of people should I hope that God moves me to or brings to me?
• 49:55
  They use the name Francis.
• 49:57
  And I love this, listen to this.
• 49:59
  Francis F R A N C E S Friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, co workers, enemies and strangers.
• 50:07
  That's the whole gambit.
• 50:09
  Who should I be doing it?
• 50:10
  Everyone.
• 50:11
  Yeah, it's awesome.
• 50:14
  I, I think that another, another way that you can really, you know, hear God's leading is through something that if you, if you're not, if you've been listening for a while and you're not in some sort of discipleship
• 50:34
  group or have a close group of people that, you know, you trust biblically to speak into your life and you speak into theirs, like that's your next step, just letting you know that that's what you need to be
• 50:50
  doing.
• 50:51
  Because if not, you're trying to do this thing alone and there's no lone ranger.
• 50:56
  Christianity doesn't work.
• 50:59
  So, but if you are there and you have those people, like discernment through those people, God uses a lot, a lot, a lot.
• 51:09
  You know, you've got people that are Willing to pray for you as you're praying.
• 51:15
  You got people that are listening to what the Lord has for you as well.
• 51:20
  Ultimately, it's your decision whether to follow.
• 51:22
  But what you'll see, I.
• 51:24
  In my.
• 51:25
  My experience is that as you have those people pray, they'll all start seeing and hearing the same thing that you think you're hearing or not or the opposite, you know, whatever.
• 51:40
  And clarity will be had, too, I think, in a lot of ways.
• 51:44
  So I would say, like, utilize discernment of those who are biblically sound that are close into your life, in your life.
• 51:54
  I think that's.
• 51:55
  That's a pretty important way to see where God is leading and how God.
• 51:59
  God is speaking.
• 52:02
  Yep.
• 52:02
  So, I mean, that's.
• 52:03
  I mean, there's probably a lot more we could maybe talk about or not, but I think that's a pretty good oversight on what it is to try to listen to the answers that God's trying to give us.
• 52:15
  And some, I think, some practical.
• 52:17
  Well, some tips, if you will, on how to get yourself in a good place to receive those answers and discern them.
• 52:25
  If you have thoughts, you know, reach out to us.
• 52:27
  We want to hear comments.
• 52:29
  If you.
• 52:30
  If something resonated with the first time.
• 52:32
  If you.
• 52:32
  If you're like, hey, I love that, but also.
• 52:35
  Or any of those things, great, let's.
• 52:37
  It's here from them.
• 52:39
  If you have a great story about what it is that you.
• 52:41
  To hear something and then step out in faith, I would love.
• 52:45
  Absolutely.
• 52:45
  I love those things.
• 52:47
  Like, I know that we all do, but, like, send them in.
• 52:50
  We definitely want to hear from you.
• 52:52
  And if there's stuff like this, if you're like, hey, yes, but how can I do this?
• 52:58
  Don't be afraid to ask those kinds of questions because, you know, we're always looking for new ideas for some of our future episodes.
• 53:05
  And, you know, obviously sometimes it ends up being two of us, but, you know, we love it when Dave's here or somebody else is here with us where we can really start to get into things and get a
• 53:16
  lot more voices onto it to try to help with any of this stuff.
• 53:19
  So don't be afraid to reach out.
• 53:20
  You know, we definitely want to be able to bless you with whatever we are driven to.
• 53:26
  To deliver.
• 53:27
  Yeah.
• 53:27
  And if you're in southwest Florida and you'd like to.
• 53:29
  To have a debate with Matt, he is more than willing to come on here and have a debate with you.
• 53:36
  See how I.
• 53:37
  I managed to get him at the end of this episode.
• 53:40
  I was not I was not expecting that.
• 53:42
  Again, no, but in, in all reality, like, we, we thrive off of conversation.
• 53:47
  That's why you guys have stuck around for as long as you have.
• 53:51
  And it sometimes is best done when somebody has a slightly different view than us that is also seeking the truth.
• 53:59
  Right?
• 53:59
  Like, that's.
• 54:00
  I think that's an important qualifier is like, we're not necessarily here to debate a Muslim or debate Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon or whatever.
• 54:09
  Like.
• 54:09
  But if you're truly seeking the truth, I think that.
• 54:16
  I think that's best done with iron, sharpening iron.
• 54:18
  I think that's best done in having those debates and those conversations and the, the depth of, like, you know, the back and forth of.
• 54:27
  Well, what about this?
• 54:29
  You know.
• 54:31
  Yeah, I just, just if you're out there and you're interested in something like that and digging deeper together, reach out to us.
• 54:39
  I mean, I know that we're interested in having, having some people on, especially if you, if you're wanting to drive a conversation back and forth and you, you know, are really seeking some knowledge or understanding that maybe we
• 54:54
  might be seeking that too.
• 54:55
  I mean, we don't have all the answers and we don't have it all together.
• 54:58
  So reach out to us.
• 55:00
  We'd love to entertain the thought and the idea of that.
• 55:05
  I think, I think it would be good.
• 55:06
  It would be a fun episode.
• 55:09
  So reach out to us.
• 55:10
  Let us know.
• 55:12
  Do you have any closing thoughts?
• 55:15
  You know what?
• 55:17
  Really just, you know, like I said with everything, when it comes to reading scripture, when it comes to trying to listen, my biggest thing is really always, where's your heart at?
• 55:28
  Do a heart check even before you read scripture.
• 55:30
  If you're going in there, like I said much earlier, and you're like, well, I already know this.
• 55:35
  Great.
• 55:36
  Okay, it's good that you know it.
• 55:37
  Let's, let's clear that out.
• 55:39
  Let's try to read it as if we've never read it before.
• 55:43
  Even the stuff that we've read a billion times, maybe just always be seeking more, seeking new, and make sure that you haven't become calloused in any way.
• 55:54
  And if, if you've only ever read the Bible for, on surface level, like, you know, just read it, which is good.
• 56:03
  And it, it is, you know, it is a healthy way to read it.
• 56:08
  I encourage you to dig a little deeper, understand context, because, I mean, we've said it a bazillion times on this, this podcast, like, it is written with one, one direct to.
• 56:24
  To one direct group of people.
• 56:25
  Each, each thing is written to somebody and in its context it had a certain meaning.
• 56:32
  Now we can pull out applications galore.
• 56:35
  I think that there's plenty of applications, but.
• 56:38
  But if you haven't taken that step to just dig a little bit deeper, I mean, there is so many resources out there that are free now.
• 56:48
  And if you need help with some of that.
• 56:50
  I know Matt, Matt would love to, to set you on some cool stuff.
• 56:54
  I know.
• 56:54
  So I know a few things.
• 56:55
  You know, I actually would.
• 56:58
  I love that.
• 56:58
  I love the.
• 56:59
  There's so many tips.
• 57:00
  But, you know, maybe we should.
• 57:02
  Maybe we should do an episode on.
• 57:04
  How to resources, how to read the.
• 57:06
  Bible and get the most out of it or something.
• 57:08
  Christian resources for your everyday study could be a fun thing.
• 57:14
  Yeah, we'll have to plan something.
• 57:17
  Roll around with that.
• 57:18
  If you like that idea, let us know.
• 57:20
  If you want to go over.
• 57:22
  If you want us do an episode on how to read and get a lot out of the Bible, let us know.
• 57:29
  That would be fun.
• 57:30
  Yeah.
• 57:30
  If you have suggestions for what we're doing wrong too, we are all ears.
• 57:35
  Like what we're doing right as well.
• 57:36
  I mean, obviously.
• 57:37
  But like, I am, I am actively welcoming, like, what can we do better?
• 57:42
  You know, I'd love to have the criticism and I can, I can pick and choose through, you know, even if it's not constructive because I know some people like to.
• 57:51
  To do that.
• 57:52
  Keyboard warriors.
• 57:53
  He'll go through the whole gambit.
• 57:54
  He'll receive the criticism.
• 57:55
  He'll go in depression for a while.
• 57:57
  Yeah.
• 57:58
  Then he'll finally come out of it.
• 57:59
  After eating some delicious, not good for you food.
• 58:04
  Yeah.
• 58:05
  So anyways, yeah, we, we love to hear from you regardless of, of what it is.
• 58:09
  But I can't wait to find out who has won here in the future.
• 58:17
  The sweepstakes.
• 58:18
  I can't wait to hear what, what your.
• 58:22
  What your comments are.
• 58:23
  And so far we've replied to all of them, so remember that.
• 58:28
  We could reply to yours and then you could tell us how we're wrong.
• 58:32
  So for the record, I'm the one who replies to them, so you could tell me how I'm wrong.
• 58:38
  It's not really Matt, so he's off the hook.
• 58:41
  I might, you know, if something was brought to my attention and be like, hey, maybe you should answer this person.
• 58:46
  But yeah, he might.
• 58:48
  I don't know if he has the login for our.
• 58:49
  So it might actually come up as Matt.
• 58:51
  It might be him.
• 58:52
  So anyway, we love you guys.
• 58:55
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 58:56
  Thank you for putting up with our rambling.
• 58:58
  I hope that there was some clarity found in the chaos of this, this episode.
• 59:03
  Yeah.
• 59:04
  And I really appreciate the love and the, and the encouragement from those of you who have been commenting.
• 59:13
  And keep it up, Keep, keep sharing with people.
• 59:18
  Let me know, let me know what I can do to better serve you.
• 59:23
  And as always, God bless Sam.
• 1:00:07
  Truth in the battle, light in the.
• 1:00:11
  Loss,.
• 1:00:14
  What we see, clarity and chaos.