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942. Bible Study: Believe (What does it mean to Believe? Let's look into Scripture!) · Faith by annm2705

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  This is a continuation of the prior podcast, but that podcast
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  went too long. So I thought it'd be better to
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  have a separate podcast to cover the last remaining part of it,
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  which is where we're going to talk about believe and what does
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  it mean when it says we should believe?
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  And if we are saved by believing and saved by our faith, what
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  does that actually mean? And so I'm going to go to
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  scripture for that. And and talk a little bit more.
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  And Lord, I ask, as I've said on the prior prior podcast, that
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  you guide my words and lead me into things that you would
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  condone. I say, so I ask this in the name
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  of Jesus, Amen. Now, if you look up the word
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  believe in the NIV version on blueletterbible.org, you will
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  see that believe shows up 160 times in 149 verses.
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  I'm not going to read all of these verses, but, and some of
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  the things they, they, it doesn't really reference the
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  deeper meaning of believe. But one that we will actually
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  talk about is Psalm 78. And Psalm 78 will cover, you
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  know, in a, in a after we're on 26.
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  We just completed Psalm 26. So eventually we'll get to Psalm
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  78. But this actually is very
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  insightful when it talks about believe and what believe means.
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  I'm also going to talk about believe in the New Testament.
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  So, but let's start here because there's quite a bit in Psalm 78.
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  And yeah, so I, I wanted to cover what it says here, Psalm
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  78, verse 22, it says for they did not believe in God or trust
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  in his deliverance. Well, I think we need to go a
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  little bit back into this parable or this discussion about
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  belief to get the full context of it.
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  So let's see. It says when the Lord heard
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  them, he was furious. His fire broke out against
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  Jacob. His wrath rose against Israel.
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  For they did not believe in God, our trust in his deliverance.
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  And this is when God told them to told Moses to talk to the
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  rock and instead Moses struck the rock and water gushed out
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  and and people were asking for you know, they were never
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  satisfied with what God gave. So because they weren't trusting
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  in his deliverance, it says, Yep, let's say true, I'm OK,
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  let's go back to Psalm 78 verse. Let's see, this whole thing is
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  really good, but I don't want to do double studies on on Psalm
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  78. So let's see, we were kind of
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  talking about sinning against God and rebelling against him in
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  the podcast. So we'll start at 78, verse 17.
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  But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the
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  wilderness against the Most High.
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  Now this is right after God delivered them from Egypt,
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  delivered them from slavery, and then they're continuing to sin
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  against him. They willfully.
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  In the prior podcast, I talked about willful sin and
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  unintentional sin. So if you want to hear more
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  about that, check out the prior podcast.
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  But they can. They willfully put God to the
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  test by demanding the food they craved.
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  They wanted something that they had from their old life.
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  They spoke against God. They said, Can God really spread
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  a table in the wilderness? True, He struck the rock, and
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  water gushed out, streamed, flowed abundantly, but can He
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  also give us bread? Can He supply meat for his
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  people? When the Lord heard him, he was
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  furious. His fire broke out against Jacob
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  and against his wrath and not against.
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  And his wrath rose against Israel, for they did not believe
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  in God or trust in His deliverance.
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  Can you imagine that after God parted the Red Seas and they saw
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  the Egyptians Chariots get swallowed up in the water when
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  it returned back to normal? And yet they're doubting if God
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  could split the seas like that. They're doubting that God can do
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  all these other things. And they saw water coming out of
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  the rock. This is just amazing.
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  And, and I'm I just can't understand, I can't comprehend
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  how seeing something so significant like that could
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  actually, you could all of a sudden, like, what do you do?
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  Forget about that? How could you not believe after
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  you saw the things that you saw? I don't understand that at all.
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  So it says in verse 23. Yet he gave a command to the
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  skies above and opened the doors of heaven.
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  He rained down manna for the people to eat.
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  He gave them grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of
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  angels. He sent them all the food they
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  could eat. He let loose the east wind from
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  the heavens, and by his power made the South wind blow.
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  He rained meat down on them like dust birds, like sand on the
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  seashore. He made them come down inside
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  their camp, all around their tents.
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  They ate till they were gorged. He had given them what they
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  craved. This is like something to
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  remember about God. If you keep on asking Him for
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  stuff, even that's not good for you.
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  He may give it to you, but that's not a good thing.
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  He'll he'll let you have your free will, but there's a point
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  where maybe he knows that you're never going to stop asking for
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  it and you're just wanting something that is against him.
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  He still lets us have what we desire.
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  Not well, let's see what we what we want.
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  He gives us free will. We can choose.
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  It doesn't mean there's going to be a good consequence, but He
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  lets us have our free will. So here's what verse 30 says.
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  But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food
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  was still in their mouths, God's anger rose against them.
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  He put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the
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  young men of Israel. In spite of all this, they kept
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  on sinning. In spite of His wonders, they
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  did not believe so He ended their days in futility and their
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  years in terror. Think about that.
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  These are like the Think about this.
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  This is what God did. He showed His power and they
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  were I they more than anyone, they they saw evidence of God.
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  They saw it in action. And yet they were still like
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  just saying, Oh, is God really going to do this?
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  Like I could see like it was almost like sarcasm or you could
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  see they just saw it. Why would they be doubting it?
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  And that got got angry and he's like, fine, you want it, you
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  have it. And then not only that, but, you
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  know, they chose against him, they rebelled against him, and
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  then they died. Rebellion, eternal rebellion
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  against, well, rebellion against God.
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  When your life ends, that means you're not in God's Kingdom.
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  You've rejected God's Kingdom. So I think it's really important
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  for us to talk about this and what does believe mean?
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  And how could someone, how could people who saw the greatness
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  that they did all of a sudden not believe God anymore and
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  start questioning little things like that's another question for
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  us. Like if we say, well, I don't
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  know if God will do that well, does it fall within his will?
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  Is it something that he that he says he is for?
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  Well, if it is, then he will. And so we just need to know the
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  word of God. But to not believe, to not trust
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  God, That's another thing we have to remind ourselves of
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  that, you know, we we can be just as foolish as them who saw
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  all these things. We have to remember that and not
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  let ourselves not believe about God.
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  So then a lot of the verses go into the New Testament about
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  believing and that I wanted to talk about at least.
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  Like I said, I'm not going over 140 something verses, but I'm
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  doing some of them. So I made a list of the ones
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  that kind of stood out and Matthew 21, verse 32, I'm going
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  to go to that one. And these are Jesus's words.
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  For John came to show you the way of righteousness, and you
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  did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes
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  did. And even after you saw this, you
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  did not repent and believe him. So again, Jesus ties repentance
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  with belief. Repentance is turning away from
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  our sin. It's having the intention of not
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  doing it again and then relying on the power of God to overcome
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  it. We need to really understand
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  what repentance is because there's a lot of people that I
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  see calling themselves Christians and talking about sin
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  and saying, well, thank God for the grace.
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  And that is very disturbing to me.
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  And it should be for those people too, because Hebrews
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  10/26 and subsequent verses read that.
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  I read it in the last podcast, so I, I won't read it again, but
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  it says if you keep on sinning, that just expect judgment and
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  especially somebody who's known the truth.
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  So if you know the truth, if you claim to be a Christian, but you
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  keep on doing what God says don't do, that's full out
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  rebellion against God. God promised the Holy Spirit.
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  The Holy Spirit comes in power to help us overcome those
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  things. There are times in weakness, and
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  those times of weakness is when we call on God and say, God, I
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  need your Holy Spirit. I've actually had moments of
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  that in my life where I've felt weak that I was going to, you
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  know, do something I knew wasn't right or I, you know, was
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  convicted by it first. You know, you're kind of
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  convicted. The Holy Spirit lets you know it
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  gives you that guilt kind of like, no, you shouldn't do that
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  or you can't do that, or you should do that something, you
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  know, whatever it is. And and that's the moment when
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  you feel that, that's when you need to call on God and say, God
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  help me, I need you right now. I need your strength because I'm
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  weak. And when I've done that, I've
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  been delivered of it like what I was about to do, I didn't do
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  because I relied on God, not by my own power, but by God's
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  power. And if people are calling
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  themselves Christians and they're not operating in the
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  power of God, do you really have the Holy Spirit?
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  Are you denying the power of the Holy Spirit?
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  Are you denying the power of God?
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  Just like those people in the wilderness.
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  Can God do this? Can God really give us a table?
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  Can God really do that? But you know, they saw the sea
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  parted, and they had manna come down from heaven and they had
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  birds come, they had meat. They wanted meat, they got meat.
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  I mean, nothing is beyond God's ability.
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  So we need to remind ourselves that even our own sin, God
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  doesn't want us to sin. How much more do you think he
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  wants to help us from that? The question is not will God
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  help you? The question is, will you obey
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  God? That's the question.
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  Are you in rebellion to God or do you love him?
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  We talked about in the last podcast, you don't get to
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  heaven, not heaven or God's Kingdom by doing good works.
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  So it's not about that. Jesus did what was necessary for
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  us to get into God's Kingdom. But there's a response that all
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  of us have to make. If Jesus died on the cross for
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  every single human being on earth, that means everybody
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  would get into into heaven or into God's Kingdom if that was
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  all that it took. And that is the only way.
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  But that's not all we have to respond to that.
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  Do we reject Jesus? He made the way.
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  He gave us everything. We just have to decide, are we
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  going to trust in Jesus, trust that he did it all?
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  And what is our response to that?
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  Are we thankful? Are we going to up our own
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  cross, like not continue to sin anymore?
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  Is that our intention? Do we need help in it?
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  Yes, we do, but can't. Is that something that's
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  impossible for God? Jesus LED a completely perfect
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  life here on earth. So if Jesus did that, why are
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  you saying that we can't avoid it?
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  If we have the Spirit of God, that's the same spirit.
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  It's not a different spirit. If we, it's, it's us.
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  We're the enemy of ourselves. We're the enemy that that will
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  say, oh, I'm weak, but then don't call on God.
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  Is that what we do we don't call on God to overcome these things.
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  This is what Scripture tells us. This is what the Bible tells us
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  we call on God in our weakness. You know Paul said I asked God
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  to take this thorn in my side away, but God left it there and
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  and I actually heard of sermon recently at this thorn.
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  It's actually described if you look at the actual scripture.
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  The thorn was a messenger from Satan to torment Paul, but God
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  LED it there so that Paul didn't get too proud, because pride
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  would. Because of everything Paul knew
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  he was, you know, he was just as zealous for the Jewish faith
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  before Jesus encountered him, and then he did likewise.
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  He was zealous for Jesus and spreading the good news.
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  But if there wasn't something that affected him, he would be
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  too proud. So God let that happen so that
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  he didn't become too proud. And so Paul struggled with
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  whatever that messenger of Satan was doing to Paul.
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  But so God, that's another reason we can think of like why
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  bad things like are still in our life.
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  Well, talk to God about that because no one else is going to
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  know that, but God will ask God to reveal it.
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  Maybe it's something like Paul where Paul said, take this away
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  from me, but God said, no, in your weakness, I am strong.
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  You don't need me to do that. You need that there because
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  otherwise you'll become prideful.
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  So you're going to have that thorn in your side and when you
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  get weak, call on me. That's full reliance on God.
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  That's what God wants out of us. You know, we need to know what's
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  in the Word and not just be spoon fed weekly or whenever we
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  get to church or something like that.
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  Because not all churches speak all truth.
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  They give you some of the truth, but not all of it.
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  And the things that they don't tell you are the things that are
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  going to make you uncomfortable, that are going to make you, that
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  are going to convict you because they want you to keep coming
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  back. And so they don't want you to,
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  you know, well, I don't like what that pastor said.
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  So I'm not coming back again. That's what they're trying to
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  avoid. So but God will eventually judge
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  all and, and there are moments, I think where that probably is
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  the way to communicate with people.
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  You can't throw everything at a person at one time.
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  But if you come across this podcast, I hope you're looking
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  for truth and you're looking for things to be pointed out that
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  are true in the Bible that are supported by truth.
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  And you're looking to be closer to God and you want to stay in
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  the word and you want to be closer to God and you want to do
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  everything, you know, like you want to rely on God.
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  You're tired of your old life. You don't want what it was
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  before. You want to be a new creation.
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  You want to be in God's Kingdom. I mean, the people who would
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  listen to my podcaster, ones who want to be in God's Kingdom and
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  want to know the truth and don't want things to be sugar coated,
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  Just give it to me raw. Let me know exactly what it is
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  and just let me deal with it. That's what we all have to do.
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  That's about our relationship with God.
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  That's we have to look at things from Scripture.
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  What does it say? And really come to learn what it
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  means. And Scripture interprets
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  Scripture, so word searches within scripture will point out
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  things. When you read a sentence, you
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  can't necessarily just take only what that sentence says, but
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  read the context to fully understand what it says.
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  And then you'll see it repeated over and over and over again.
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  And then you will start to, I mean, I'm just saying what I did
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  and then I started to understand it better because there's a lot
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  to absorb. And people who studied the Bible
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  for, you know, 40-50 years or more, they still say that they
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  learn from it every day. So it's something that we're not
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  going to master, but we are going to learn more and more the
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  more we're in it. So that was that was the, I
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  guess the first thing that I wanted to talk about.
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  And then Mark 5 verse 34 was the next one that I wrote down.
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  So this is, I don't know, maybe I have to, I want to start a
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  little bit Mark 533 about believing.
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  So then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and
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  fell at his feet and trembling with fear, told him the whole
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  truth. This is the woman who touched
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  his cloak and received power from Jesus cloak.
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  He said to her daughter, Your faith has healed you go in peace
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  and be freed from your suffering.
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  So she believed if she could just touch the robe of Jesus
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  that she would be healed. She had this bleeding that went
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  for like 12 years and nobody could figure it out and it did.
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  She was healed. So and then in verse 35 it says
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  while Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the House
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  of Jarius, the synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead, they
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  said. Why bother the teacher anymore?
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  So I guess he was there trying to get healing for his daughter.
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  But then they said she's dead, why bother him anymore?
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  Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him don't be afraid,
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  just believe. So what does that believe mean?
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  Just believe. So if I just believe that
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  somebody is not dead, then they're going to be alive.
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  It's not what he's saying here. What he's saying is believe in
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  him, believe in the Messiah, believe in Christ.
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  He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John,
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  the brother of James. When they came home, when they
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  came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a
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  commotion with people crying and wailing loudly.
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  He went in and said to them, while this commotion and
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  wailing, the child is not dead but asleep.
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  But they laughed at him. Could you imagine laughing at
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  Jesus? Ha, yeah, right.
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  She's dead. You know they they were laughing
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  at him like you're, you're nuts guy.
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  After he put them all out, he took the child's father and
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  mother and the disciples who were with him and went in where
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  the child was. He took her by the hand and said
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  to her Talitha Kuhm, which means little girl.
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  I say to you, get up immediately.
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  The girl stood up and began to walk around.
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  She was 12 years old. At this, they were completely
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  astonished. He gave strict orders not to let
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  anyone know about this and told them to give her something to
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  eat. Look at that miracle that
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  happened from belief. It's amazing what?
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  And it's not a belief in us, in the miracle itself.
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  It's belief in who God is, the faith and who God is.
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  There's another verse that actually that we're getting to
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  right now in Mark 924, because this is very relevant to
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  believing immediately, the boy's father exclaimed.
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  I do believe. Help me overcome my my unbelief.
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  Isn't that an interesting sentence?
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  I believe help me overcome my unbelief.
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  Isn't that saying I don't believe?
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  Think about it immediately, the boy's father exclaimed.
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  I do believe help me overcome my unbelief.
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  Yeah, that. But that's not what it's
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  actually saying here. It's not saying I don't believe.
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  It's saying that he trusts in Christ, but to help him overcome
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  this unbelief of can this really happen?
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  That's what it's really saying. I do believe he has.
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  When you look at the Greek words that is, which I probably should
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  look that up right now. Immediately the boy's father
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  cried out and said I do believe help my unbelief.
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  So he does believe this is and it says to have faith in, upon
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  or with respect to a person or thing to entrust especially
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  one's spiritual well-being to Christ, to put trust in.
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  So this is, this is about this kind of a belief is about
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  Christ, It's about who Christ is, it's about Christ.
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  And I mean, that's the best way to say it.
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  So of course, you know, I, you know, he's seeing these things,
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  he's aware of what Jesus is doing and he's seeing it.
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  And he's like, I, I like he the, the words could have been, I, I
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  do trust in you. That's believe in Jesus.
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  I do trust in you, Jesus, help me overcome the thoughts in my
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  head that I, you know, doubt this stuff.
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  So that Jesus is very empathetic to that.
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  And you know, when we sometimes maybe ask for a miracle,
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  sometimes miracles happen and sometimes they don't.
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  Could they perhaps be because we haven't asked God to help
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  overcome our unbelief? So maybe we just need to be
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  honest with God. You know, maybe I, I don't know.
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  I mean, these are things, but God wants that relationship with
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  us. And maybe there are things that
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  we don't know about that God does know about, and he knows
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  that it wouldn't be a good thing ultimately in the bigger picture
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  to have a miracle happen at that moment.
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  But we can trust in God that He hasn't changed.
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  He will not change. He is the same today and He's
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  always been forever. So if he was, if the timing was
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  not right with God for our specific miracle ask to happen,
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  there will be a time when God restores.
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  We just see that over and over and over again how God restores
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  and often he doubly blesses someone like Job.
• 26:49
  He did that to Job and there are other examples in the Bible.
• 26:52
  I just, they're not coming to mind right now, but where God
• 26:55
  doubly blessed someone after they struggled with something.
• 27:00
  So God is good, He's always good.
• 27:04
  And when or if we don't receive a miracle, we can trust that
• 27:12
  there is going to be something later.
• 27:15
  And ultimately our whole goal is to live with God in his Kingdom,
• 27:23
  to be in God's Kingdom. That's that should be our goal.
• 27:27
  I mean, I'm saying that's my goal is to be in God's Kingdom,
• 27:30
  to actually get to interact face to face.
• 27:34
  Someday we will. So then another one that I
• 27:41
  wanted to talk about was Mark Chapter 9, verse 24.
• 27:47
  Oh, that was the immediately the unbelief.
• 27:50
  OK, so I did do that one and then Mark 16 verses 16 through
• 27:58
  18. So let's get to Mark 16 verse
• 28:02
  16. Whoever believes and is baptized
• 28:07
  will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
• 28:12
  So here again, we could take a verse out of context and we
• 28:16
  could say it says, well, if you believe and are baptized, then
• 28:20
  you'll be saved. But we know that Jesus told the
• 28:25
  man on the cross next to him, he had no time to go baptized, get
• 28:30
  baptized, but he told him, surely you will be in paradise
• 28:34
  with me. He he repented on the cross and
• 28:40
  God saw the Son of God, Jesus saw that his repentance was
• 28:45
  sincere and he didn't have time to get baptized, but he went
• 28:51
  into God's Kingdom. However, Jesus does say that
• 28:58
  those of us who can we should get baptized because he said
• 29:02
  repent and believe. And then he also commanded his
• 29:07
  disciples to go out among all people, sharing the good news,
• 29:12
  the gospel, the message about God's Kingdom, that there is a
• 29:17
  Kingdom coming and that Jesus made a way for us to be in that
• 29:21
  Kingdom, to go out and let everybody know about that and
• 29:26
  and then be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
• 29:31
  Holy Spirit. Because that would be the power
• 29:35
  of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the power of God within
• 29:39
  a person. And there are benefits to that.
• 29:44
  Scripture tells us about what the benefits are.
• 29:48
  So yeah, OK, let's see. Mark 16 verse 14 is where we're
• 29:53
  going to start. Later, Jesus appeared to the 11.
• 29:57
  As they were eating, He rebuked them for their lack of faith and
• 30:03
  their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him
• 30:10
  after he had risen. So here is Jesus telling them
• 30:19
  that, you know, like coming to them afterwards and saying, you
• 30:22
  know, when they didn't believe the ones who said they had risen
• 30:28
  because they didn't understand that Jesus told pre told them
• 30:32
  all the stuff. He forewarned them all this
• 30:34
  would happen, but they didn't quite get it.
• 30:36
  Then he said to them, go into the world and preach the gospel
• 30:41
  to all creation, whoever believes and is baptized.
• 30:48
  So we hear it. Then how do we respond to it?
• 30:52
  That's the baptism. The baptism is turning away
• 30:55
  from, It's a, it's a symbol of turning away of repentance of I
• 31:01
  don't want my old life. It's a symbol of a new creation
• 31:04
  becoming a new creation. And when we do that with
• 31:08
  sincerity, then Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit from the Father.
• 31:14
  That's what it says in Scripture.
• 31:16
  That's what Jesus says. But whoever does not believe
• 31:20
  will be condemned. Now listen to this verse 17 and
• 31:24
  18. And these signs will accompany
• 31:29
  those who believe in My name. So in the name of Jesus, they
• 31:36
  will drive out demons. They will speak in new tongues,
• 31:44
  they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink
• 31:50
  deadly poison it will not hurt them at all.
• 31:55
  They will place their hands on sick people and they will get
• 32:00
  well. After the Lord Jesus had spoken
• 32:05
  to them, he was taken up into heaven, and he sat at the right
• 32:08
  hand of God. Then the disciples went out and
• 32:11
  preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and
• 32:14
  confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.
• 32:21
  So look at the power that those who are believed and baptized
• 32:29
  are saved, and these are the signs that will accompany those
• 32:34
  who believe. Are we living that out?
• 32:39
  Are we casting out demons in the name of Jesus?
• 32:43
  Are we speaking in new tongues? They will pick up snakes with
• 32:50
  their hands. I'm not doing that or I haven't
• 32:53
  done that. And when they drink deadly
• 32:56
  poison, it will not hurt them at all.
• 33:00
  They will place their hands on sick people and they will get
• 33:04
  well. That is really some powerful,
• 33:11
  those are some powerful signs. And I can say that I have not
• 33:17
  done any of these things. So those are things that must be
• 33:23
  awaiting for me that I believe I've been baptized.
• 33:28
  But this is what God says. This is what Jesus says.
• 33:33
  Maybe I'm just not operating in that power.
• 33:35
  There are people who do operate in that power, and then there's
• 33:38
  Christians who criticize them. So that's kind of like those who
• 33:42
  laughed at Jesus when he raised someone from the dead.
• 33:47
  What do we believe? How strong is our belief?
• 33:51
  Is our lack of belief keeping us from having these signs?
• 33:59
  Now, I've also heard people who say they speak in tongues, but
• 34:03
  it's just gibberish, emotional gibberish.
• 34:07
  But then there's others who speak in tongues and they're
• 34:11
  actually in another language and there's someone present from
• 34:15
  another country that understands what they're saying and it's not
• 34:20
  their native language. So that that can't happen.
• 34:24
  It's not to create confusion. So I think there's people who,
• 34:29
  you know, may falsely act like they have that gift, but God, if
• 34:37
  he wants somebody to have it, he will give it.
• 34:40
  And if we believe it, it'll happen.
• 34:43
  But it's not something for confusion.
• 34:46
  It's something that could be understood by someone.
• 34:49
  So I don't know, like I'm just, I'm being honest.
• 34:53
  I mean, I haven't done those things, but God has showed me
• 34:56
  some of those things. So maybe in my future, some of
• 34:59
  those things will happen. Like he's shown me that in
• 35:02
  dreams and I some of those things I did not desire to do.
• 35:05
  But God has shown those things and, and maybe it's my
• 35:08
  resistance of not wanting to do that, that maybe that hasn't
• 35:12
  happened because I it's kind of like other people that I think
• 35:15
  about like Jonah, when God said, go to the Ninevites and go tell
• 35:19
  them, you know, and he's like, no, I don't want to do that.
• 35:22
  And like Moses, who he said ghost is free my people out of
• 35:28
  Egypt. And Moses said, I can't even
• 35:29
  talk. I don't want to do it.
• 35:30
  And he goes, well, I'll send Aaron with you.
• 35:32
  You do it and it's my power. You're going to do it.
• 35:34
  So a lot of people I guess I'm included in, I'm not trying to
• 35:39
  include myself as similar to them, only similar in the fact
• 35:43
  that I'm saying I don't really want to do that.
• 35:46
  But maybe God will show that to me.
• 35:48
  And maybe it's this is my problem.
• 35:50
  Maybe God's just revealing right now.
• 35:52
  This is what my problem is. God showed me these things and I
• 35:56
  could be doing these things, but because I didn't respond well to
• 35:59
  it, it it's not happening. So I, I repent of that right
• 36:05
  now. OK, let's look at the next
• 36:09
  thing. Mark 9.
• 36:13
  I think we just did that. Marks No, we did 16.
• 36:18
  Luke 8, I got to keep my place. Marking.
• 36:20
  I wrote down all over on a piece of paper.
• 36:22
  And it's not the most organized way.
• 36:26
  It was just as I was studying these things.
• 36:28
  So Luke 8 verses 12 and 13, those along the path are the
• 36:35
  ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the
• 36:40
  word from their hearts, so they may not believe and be saved.
• 36:47
  Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word
• 36:51
  with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.
• 36:55
  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall
• 37:00
  away. So this is about hearing the
• 37:04
  word about the Kingdom of God. These are Jesus's words.
• 37:08
  He told a parable and about these seeds, they're being sown
• 37:13
  and the the parable of a sower, the seed is the word of God.
• 37:18
  So how do people respond when they hear the word of God?
• 37:25
  The devil comes and takes away the word from their heart.
• 37:28
  So they might believe, but then the devil starts putting doubt
• 37:31
  in their minds, just like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden.
• 37:35
  He's like, did he really say that?
• 37:38
  Is he really trying to do this? So if you get those thoughts
• 37:42
  like that, those are from the enemy.
• 37:44
  The enemy can influence our thoughts.
• 37:47
  He can put people in our path too.
• 37:50
  He he's like, kind of like working against what God's
• 37:53
  trying to make happen. So we have to be aware that that
• 37:59
  happens and the the enemy isn't is invisible, but could present
• 38:08
  visible to the enemy. We saw in the story about Jesus
• 38:14
  that Satan actually entered Judas, who betrayed Jesus.
• 38:21
  So somehow Satan, he was an Angel, but somehow he can
• 38:27
  actually possess someone. So they have the evil realm can
• 38:34
  influence people around us and we have to protect ourselves
• 38:38
  against that and stay in the word.
• 38:42
  And that's one thing it says faith comes by hearing the word.
• 38:45
  That's another reason why I want to stay in the word.
• 38:50
  Read it every day because God reveals things.
• 38:54
  And and then Jesus also says that, you know, some people
• 38:59
  receive and they're so excited, so happy, they're joyful when
• 39:01
  they hear it, but they it's not deep rooted.
• 39:05
  It's just like surface level. That could be all these
• 39:07
  experiences that people have that they say, Oh, I felt the
• 39:10
  move of God here. And so that's great.
• 39:13
  But if they don't feel the move of God, are they still believing
• 39:17
  in him? That's what the word of God is
• 39:21
  so important to get so deep in us that nothing will shake us
• 39:26
  because we know the word of God. We know what it says.
• 39:30
  And so these people who can I had a bunch of people come
• 39:35
  against me when not really against like trying to well,
• 39:40
  they probably were trying to derail me, but they would start
• 39:44
  questioning things that I would state as truth from the Bible.
• 39:49
  And and so their their attempt was to make me not believe what
• 39:54
  I was saying and or to doubt what I was saying.
• 40:00
  So again, that's an enemy attack.
• 40:02
  And I did have a lot of that coming against me, a lot of
• 40:06
  Islamic people coming against me on on social media when I was
• 40:11
  talking about Jesus. And so that is work of the enemy
• 40:17
  to not believe about Jesus. And let's see then, yeah.
• 40:25
  So we we want to be deeply rooted in Scripture so that when
• 40:29
  that comes against us, thankfully, I didn't doubt what
• 40:33
  I was reading. I knew God well enough that
• 40:36
  those questions and challenges, they just, they actually made me
• 40:42
  seek deeper to, you know, like I had it in my heart that I knew
• 40:47
  it was true, but I needed to get scriptural support and I found
• 40:50
  it. So I found scriptural support
• 40:52
  for the things that, you know, were questions that were placed
• 40:55
  in my head. And so you can expect that, you
• 40:59
  know, if you're a new Christian, there's going to be people that
• 41:01
  are going to say, well, what about this?
• 41:03
  What about that? They're going to make you want
• 41:05
  to doubt things, but stay in the word because faith comes from
• 41:10
  hearing the word and we hear the word by reading the Bible.
• 41:14
  Then I think it's really important to just see all the
• 41:20
  times when Jesus has said something and what what has
• 41:26
  Jesus said? So in the blue letter Bible,
• 41:29
  when you're looking on that website, blueletterbible.org and
• 41:34
  you search believe, you can see all the New Testament
• 41:38
  references. If you check a box up at the top
• 41:41
  in the header it says red letter.
• 41:44
  You can click that. Then everything that Jesus said
• 41:48
  will be in and read. So that's helpful sometimes when
• 41:51
  you're searching things because I always like to see like what
• 41:54
  did Jesus himself say? Like that's what I want to know.
• 41:58
  Not to discount anything because all, all of holy scripture is
• 42:02
  inspired word of God. But sometimes it does matter
• 42:06
  like who said it? Did Paul say it?
• 42:08
  Did Peter say it or did Jesus say it?
• 42:10
  And when you see a single sentence when you're doing a
• 42:13
  word search, you don't know who actually said it unless you're
• 42:16
  familiar with that passage message.
• 42:19
  But if you just want, if it's something that you don't recall
• 42:22
  seeing before, if you turn on that red letter, you'll know if
• 42:25
  it was Jesus or not that said it.
• 42:28
  So I think it's helpful and just wanted to mention that.
• 42:33
  So let's see where did I go next was let's see which one, but I'm
• 42:49
  trying to find the ones that really address the deeper
• 42:53
  meaning of believe rather than reading all of the different
• 42:56
  verses. Let's see, here's I'm just going
• 43:02
  to read. There's a whole grouping in John
• 43:04
  chapter 5, the book of John. I love the Gospel of John
• 43:07
  because there's so much he was he felt like he was the closest
• 43:11
  one to Jesus. So that's the first one that I
• 43:14
  read and that's the one I the first gospel that I read and
• 43:19
  because I wanted to hear it from the closest person to Jesus.
• 43:23
  What was the account? Matthew was also another
• 43:27
  disciple. And then you have Luke who heard
• 43:32
  it from others. He interviewed a bunch of
• 43:35
  people, so he's more distant. And then Mark was a friend of
• 43:39
  Peter's, so he heard it second hand.
• 43:42
  So you know, it's kind of I, you know, when you look at that, you
• 43:45
  get 4 different stories about our four different recollections
• 43:51
  of the same story. And so it's interesting to
• 43:54
  compare them. That's another thing that's
• 43:56
  really cool about Blue Letter Bible is that it'll show you all
• 43:59
  the different locations where you can see the same story.
• 44:04
  When you look up something and it's has its own segment.
• 44:08
  You can see all the other places in Scripture where it's also
• 44:12
  stated. So that's really helpful when
• 44:15
  you're studying. So John chapter 5, verse 44, he
• 44:21
  says how Jesus says how Can you believe since you accept glory
• 44:26
  from one another, but do not seek the glory that comes from
• 44:32
  the only God. Now, these are things that I
• 44:36
  don't know if it a podcast that I can do is actually going to be
• 44:39
  worth it to you or you know, I to cover these things.
• 44:44
  I think this is something that everybody who's listening to
• 44:47
  this should probably search on their own believe and read
• 44:51
  through these things. I thought it was really because
• 44:55
  I, I'm, I'm not going to do what the word of God can do directly
• 44:59
  to you. So in John chapter 6, verse 21,
• 45:04
  Jesus answered the work of God. Is this to believe in the one he
• 45:11
  has sent the work of God summarized the work of God?
• 45:17
  Is this to believe in the one he has sent?
• 45:21
  To believe in Jesus? That's the work of God.
• 45:26
  And what does that mean? That means to believe that what
• 45:29
  Jesus did, it is finished. He made a way for us to be in
• 45:35
  the Kingdom of God. And Jesus said to someone but as
• 45:42
  I in John 636, but as I told you, you have seen me and you
• 45:47
  still and still you do not believe.
• 45:52
  So all different people have different reactions.
• 45:57
  Now John chapter 8 verse 24 Jesus said I told you that you
• 46:02
  would die in your sins. If you do not believe that I am
• 46:08
  he, you will indeed die in your sins.
• 46:16
  So he was talking about like he was talking about Jesus was
• 46:22
  talking about like he was not from this world and he was
• 46:31
  trying to reveal who he was. And he said he was going away.
• 46:37
  And he you will look for me and you will die in I am going away
• 46:41
  and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin.
• 46:43
  Where I go, you cannot come. He was talking to the Jews.
• 46:47
  This made the Jews ask will he kill himself?
• 46:50
  Is that why he says where I go, you cannot come.
• 46:54
  But he continued, you are from below.
• 46:57
  I am from above. You are of this world.
• 47:01
  I am not of this world. So there's there's a lot to
• 47:07
  absorb with all of that Jesus let's see what I want to just
• 47:14
  find some other places on. He also says, but you do not in
• 47:18
  John chapter 10 verse 26. But you do not believe because
• 47:24
  you are not my sheep. You do not believe me unless I
• 47:29
  do the works it says Do not believe me unless I do the works
• 47:33
  of my Father in verse 37. And then in verse 38 he says,
• 47:41
  But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe
• 47:45
  the works that you may know and understand that the Father is in
• 47:52
  me and I in the Father. So there's there's a lot to
• 48:01
  absorb about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• 48:06
  And honestly, I do not think any religion has it right.
• 48:10
  And I don't know that we are all going to fully comprehend it
• 48:14
  until we actually see God and then comprehend.
• 48:20
  At least that's my opinion. Because there is one God, but
• 48:26
  yet there are three persons and they talk to one another.
• 48:32
  So it's if you start thinking about that for very long, it
• 48:37
  gets to the point where you can't comprehend it in this
• 48:45
  world. Like it's certainly outside of
• 48:50
  this world and we don't know what is we don't know outside of
• 48:56
  this world. So it's really hard for us to
• 48:58
  comprehend something we've never seen, but we only read about.
• 49:02
  It's kind of like when Jesus was telling his disciples about how
• 49:06
  he was going to die and, you know, giving, telling them
• 49:08
  everything in parables, but they didn't get it until after the
• 49:12
  fact. So once we actually see it, then
• 49:17
  we'll look back on it and we'll say, oh, that's what it was.
• 49:22
  Maybe we'll have that understanding before Jesus
• 49:24
  returns. But I'm not really sure.
• 49:26
  I, I know I don't quite yet comprehend that, but it's
• 49:32
  something interesting to meditate on and to pray about
• 49:36
  for Revelation. But I do think that it was
• 49:40
  actually Jesus who appeared all throughout history, like going
• 49:45
  back to Genesis. And I do kind of think that was
• 49:51
  Jesus walking in the garden. And because it says that no one
• 49:58
  has seen the face of God except him who came from God with
• 50:02
  Jesus. And Jesus is a reflection.
• 50:05
  Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
• 50:10
  So I don't know it's and then it says that God is Spirit.
• 50:16
  And then there's the Holy Spirit.
• 50:19
  And yet they are, they could be separate, but they are the same.
• 50:23
  So think about all those things. It if you think about them, it
• 50:28
  does make you ponder. And like I said, I don't know
• 50:33
  that I comprehend it fully, but I kind of get it.
• 50:39
  I I get it like just how and Jesus prayed to the Father.
• 50:43
  I love this because this means something to all of us.
• 50:47
  He prayed to the Father that we may be one, just like He is one
• 50:54
  with the Father. I kind of think that's how maybe
• 50:57
  these new agers got started, thinking they were gods or
• 51:00
  thinking they could become God. That's not God's intention, but
• 51:04
  I think it is His intention to have His Spirit indwelling,
• 51:08
  living inside us so that we are also a reflection of God.
• 51:13
  He created us in His image and when we have the Holy Spirit
• 51:17
  then we are reflecting His image because we start doing things
• 51:23
  that God would do. That's a good question to ask
• 51:26
  yourself when you question whether you should do something
• 51:29
  or wait that whether you should not do something, say would
• 51:32
  Jesus do it? That's a good one because do you
• 51:36
  want to be a reflection of God? Well, if Jesus would do it or
• 51:41
  Jesus wouldn't do it, maybe that will help make your decision.
• 51:47
  Let's see where we are here. There's, there's so much, like I
• 51:52
  said, so much to read and talk about, but I want to get to, I
• 51:59
  think I'm just going to go now to the, the verses that I, I
• 52:03
  highlighted in here. So that next one was 2
• 52:11
  Corinthians 4 that I went to. So I want to find that 2
• 52:17
  Corinthians 413, it says it is written.
• 52:21
  I believed, therefore I have spoken.
• 52:26
  That's in Psalm 116. Since we had that same spirit of
• 52:32
  faith, we also believe and therefore speak.
• 52:37
  It's kind of interesting. So let's read a little bit more
• 52:42
  about this. Let's go back to for we.
• 52:56
  OK, so it says for we on in Second Corinthians chapter 4
• 53:03
  verse 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to
• 53:10
  death for Jesus sake so that his life may also be revealed in our
• 53:18
  mortal body. That's kind of interesting.
• 53:21
  So if we are believers, we believe, we put our faith, we
• 53:25
  put our trust in Jesus and it says we are always being given
• 53:30
  over to death for Jesus sake so that his life may also be
• 53:35
  revealed in our mortal body. So all those times where we get
• 53:40
  to make decisions and we struggle with them, that's
• 53:45
  interesting. So if we sin, that's death, but
• 53:49
  if we choose life, that's life. So when we choose life, when we
• 53:53
  choose the what would Jesus do? His life is revealed to others
• 54:00
  in our mortal body. So then death is at work in us,
• 54:05
  but our life is at, but life is at work in you.
• 54:11
  It is written. I believe therefore I have
• 54:13
  spoken, since I had the same spirit of faith.
• 54:16
  We also believe and therefore speak because we know that the
• 54:20
  one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us
• 54:26
  with Jesus and present us with you to himself.
• 54:33
  All this is for your benefit so that the grace that is reaching
• 54:37
  more and more people may cause Thanksgiving to overflow to the
• 54:43
  glory of God. So these are like very profound
• 54:49
  statements that are worth taking some time to just reflect on.
• 54:56
  And then I wanted to go to Ephesians 119.
• 55:01
  And it says, And His incomparably great power for us
• 55:06
  who believe that power is the same as the mighty strength he
• 55:14
  exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at
• 55:20
  his right hand. In the heavenly realms, far
• 55:23
  above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every
• 55:27
  name that is invoked not only in the present age, but also in the
• 55:31
  one to come. So this is Paul talking to the
• 55:36
  Ephesians. He says how we started.
• 55:40
  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in
• 55:45
  order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the
• 55:51
  riches of His glorious inheritance in his holy people,
• 55:57
  and His incomparably great power for us who believe His
• 56:05
  incomparably great power for us who believe.
• 56:11
  That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when
• 56:15
  he raised Christ from dead. That same power, God's power.
• 56:21
  So when people say you don't have power to overcome sin, oh
• 56:25
  boy, you do. If you believe, if you believe
• 56:29
  is key. If you believe you can overcome
• 56:32
  sin. But we're going to struggle with
• 56:35
  it just like it says like, and every time we struggle with it
• 56:38
  and we overcome that, showing glory to God, I guess, against
• 56:42
  the enemy or to other people if they are witnesses of it.
• 56:46
  So think about why it's so good to do, to be a reflection of
• 56:51
  Christ, to reflect, to be a reflection as a child of God.
• 56:57
  And it's not saying it's going to be easy, but when it's not
• 57:01
  easy, think about what Paul said.
• 57:03
  He wanted his thorn to be removed.
• 57:05
  But call on God, say God help me, I need your strength.
• 57:08
  I'm really, really weak right now and God has helped me.
• 57:11
  I can say that for for sure, for sure that that did happen to me
• 57:17
  in those moments when I actually asked for God's help.
• 57:21
  Other times, I don't always think about it and I'm working
• 57:25
  on that too. So, but think about it, because
• 57:28
  that will change your life truthfully.
• 57:32
  Let's see one Thessalonians 213 And we also thank God
• 57:36
  continually because when you received the word of God, what
• 57:40
  you heard from us, you accepted it not as human word, but as it
• 57:44
  actually is the Word of God, which is indeed at work in you
• 57:51
  who believe. So if we're believers, the Word
• 57:57
  of God is at work in US. Isn't that, I don't know, that's
• 58:06
  amazing that God's work is actually in us.
• 58:11
  So it's in the people who believe that God's work is
• 58:14
  shown. Then Hebrews 11 verse 6.
• 58:23
  Without and without faith, it is impossible to please God because
• 58:29
  anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that
• 58:36
  he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
• 58:40
  So my gosh, what do you think about this?
• 58:44
  To people who, you know, a promise that God has given that
• 58:50
  we can tell the people who haven't, you know, who aren't
• 58:54
  seeking God, like seek Him. And, you know, it's kind of, I
• 58:59
  think actually that's what I did at the beginning, but was for
• 59:02
  selfish reasons. But God still used my selfish
• 59:05
  desires and made, you know, himself known to me.
• 59:10
  So yeah, I, I just thought that if I turned to God, that life
• 59:16
  would get better. That's what I was thinking.
• 59:18
  So I had selfish motivation, but God still used it.
• 59:22
  And then I became slowly but surely he chipped away at all
• 59:26
  that resistance and made me aware of his goodness.
• 59:32
  So anyway, you know it. But what what I was going to say
• 59:38
  is that people who are haven't seeking, who aren't seeking God,
• 59:42
  there's a reward for those believe he exists.
• 59:47
  So anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that
• 59:52
  he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
• 59:57
  Let's see another one is James 2 verse 19.
• 1:00:03
  You believe that there is one God good.
• 1:00:07
  Even the demons believe that and shudder.
• 1:00:11
  So when people tell you all you have to do is believe and you
• 1:00:14
  know your life doesn't change or anything like that.
• 1:00:16
  You just believe and it's all covered by grace and.
• 1:00:20
  That might be a lie from the enemy and that's just my
• 1:00:23
  concern. So do your own search on this.
• 1:00:27
  A lot of people who have been raised that way that grace
• 1:00:30
  covers everything, which it does cover everything, but it doesn't
• 1:00:33
  cover intentional sinning and people just have struggle with
• 1:00:39
  that. So if if that like does
• 1:00:42
  something to you that you're like, oh, she's not saying the
• 1:00:45
  truth. She's starting to get
• 1:00:47
  workspaced. No, I'm not getting workspaced.
• 1:00:50
  I know that the only way that makes it possible for me to
• 1:00:55
  enter the Kingdom of God is by Jesus death on the cross.
• 1:00:59
  That's the only way. And then my reaction to that
• 1:01:07
  matters. I can either believe it happened
• 1:01:10
  or not believe, disbelieve, and I believe that it happened.
• 1:01:16
  And I also want to make Jesus Lord of my life.
• 1:01:22
  That's when I decided to get baptized.
• 1:01:24
  That was my decision. I want to put a death to my old
• 1:01:26
  life. I don't want to keep on living
• 1:01:28
  my old life. I want to be a new creation.
• 1:01:31
  And that's what Jesus said was necessary to be in the Kingdom
• 1:01:33
  of God. John chapter 3, you must be born
• 1:01:37
  again and we are born again by the Holy Spirit.
• 1:01:42
  The Holy Spirit comes from God. It's not our own power.
• 1:01:47
  And see, I think some churches kind of just like make all of
• 1:01:50
  that truth that I just said and make it so confusing that people
• 1:01:55
  think they can keep on sinning, but you can't.
• 1:01:59
  If you're continuing to sin, you're in rebellion to Christ,
• 1:02:02
  you're an enemy of Christ. Hebrews 10/26 says all you can
• 1:02:06
  expect is judgment. And so because churches aren't
• 1:02:11
  saying it, I'm going to say it because I do care about where
• 1:02:15
  you end up, where people end up. Because if you know, there's
• 1:02:19
  just so many Christians out there who I guess aren't really
• 1:02:24
  comprehending what the word of God says.
• 1:02:27
  Because I just like throughout all religions when I started
• 1:02:31
  reading the Bible, I don't trust any religion.
• 1:02:33
  I trust in what the Bible says and what God will reveal through
• 1:02:38
  the Bible, the word of God, and that God will convict me if I am
• 1:02:44
  not doing something that or if I'm, you know, either way doing
• 1:02:48
  something I shouldn't be doing or not doing something I should
• 1:02:51
  be doing, God will take care of that.
• 1:02:54
  So anyway, let's see, where was I?
• 1:02:58
  I get lost sometimes in talking about these things.
• 1:03:03
  Oh OK James chapter 2 this is that verse about you believe
• 1:03:07
  there is one God good. Even the demons believe that and
• 1:03:09
  shudder. You foolish person.
• 1:03:12
  Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
• 1:03:18
  Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he
• 1:03:21
  did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
• 1:03:25
  You see that his faith and his actions were working together
• 1:03:28
  and his faith was made complete by what he did and the Scripture
• 1:03:36
  was fulfilled. That says Abraham believed God
• 1:03:39
  and it was credited to him as righteousness and he was called
• 1:03:44
  God's friend. Very different from being God's
• 1:03:47
  enemy when you keep on sinning. So verse 24 says, you see that a
• 1:03:53
  person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith
• 1:03:59
  alone. Then he gives more examples.
• 1:04:03
  Well, go ahead and read it two more sentences.
• 1:04:05
  In the same way. Was not even Rahab the
• 1:04:08
  prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave
• 1:04:11
  lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different
• 1:04:14
  direction? As the body without the Spirit
• 1:04:18
  is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
• 1:04:24
  So faith is evidence of our salvation.
• 1:04:30
  So somebody who is a true Christian, you're going to see
• 1:04:34
  evidence of that. And just like it said that we
• 1:04:37
  just talked about a few minutes ago, I mean, they're going to
• 1:04:39
  see some major things of evidence in people who are
• 1:04:42
  believers. And so I guess, you know,
• 1:04:47
  evaluating myself in that context about, you know, casting
• 1:04:51
  out demons and speaking in tongues.
• 1:04:53
  I have not done those things. So I'm, yes, I'm a baby
• 1:04:57
  Christian still, and if God wants me to do those things, he
• 1:05:02
  will present those opportunities and then I will need to respond
• 1:05:07
  to that. But those are things that you
• 1:05:09
  wouldn't take lightly. The next verse that I want to go
• 1:05:14
  to is first John 3 ten. Oh, first John chapter 3.
• 1:05:23
  So I'm going to find that one first John chapter 3, and let's
• 1:05:35
  see where 10 start there. OK, All right, I'm almost
• 1:05:42
  finished. I've got two more after this, I
• 1:05:48
  think. OK, so first John 3 chapter 10.
• 1:05:53
  We'll go through 25. This is how we know who the
• 1:05:57
  children of God are and who the children of the devil are.
• 1:06:03
  Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is
• 1:06:12
  anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
• 1:06:19
  Talking about your brother and sister in Christ.
• 1:06:24
  OK, so for this is the message you heard from the beginning.
• 1:06:30
  We should love one another. Do not be like Cain who belonged
• 1:06:35
  to the evil 1 and murdered his brother.
• 1:06:38
  And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were
• 1:06:41
  evil and his brothers were righteous.
• 1:06:44
  Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates
• 1:06:48
  you. We know that we have passed from
• 1:06:51
  death to life because we love each other.
• 1:06:56
  Anyone who does not love remains in death.
• 1:07:01
  So we have to think about like, I'm going away from Scripture
• 1:07:04
  for a moment. We have to think about the what
• 1:07:08
  was just said there in verse 14 about death and life.
• 1:07:14
  If you do not love, you remain in death.
• 1:07:17
  That's the spiritual death. If you are not loving people,
• 1:07:21
  you are still in death because the wages of sin is death.
• 1:07:26
  You haven't overcome the sin. So anyone who hates a brother or
• 1:07:31
  sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has
• 1:07:35
  eternal life residing in him. Think about that.
• 1:07:40
  This is how we know what love is.
• 1:07:42
  Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down
• 1:07:46
  our lives for our brothers and sisters.
• 1:07:49
  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother
• 1:07:52
  or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love
• 1:07:56
  of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love
• 1:08:01
  with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.
• 1:08:07
  This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we
• 1:08:11
  set our hearts at rest in His presence.
• 1:08:14
  If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than
• 1:08:19
  our hearts and He knows everything.
• 1:08:22
  Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
• 1:08:26
  confidence before God and receive from Him anything we
• 1:08:31
  ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases
• 1:08:36
  Him. And this is His command, to
• 1:08:39
  believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and to love one
• 1:08:45
  another as He has commanded us. The one who keeps God's commands
• 1:08:50
  lives in him, and He in them, and this is how we know that He
• 1:08:57
  lives in us. We know by the Spirit He gave us
• 1:09:02
  so very important Scripture there.
• 1:09:06
  Now I have, like I said, two more and then I'm going to wrap
• 1:09:09
  it up. 1 John 513 I write these things to you who believe in the
• 1:09:18
  name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have
• 1:09:23
  eternal life. So if you believe in the name of
• 1:09:28
  the Son of God, we believe, we trust in Jesus that you know, I
• 1:09:35
  guess we should also read what he wrote about, which I'm not
• 1:09:39
  going to do at this moment, but go to first John chapter 5 and
• 1:09:43
  read that one. I have one more verse because I
• 1:09:45
  know this is getting long again and it's Jude chapter one, verse
• 1:09:53
  5. It says, though you already know
• 1:09:55
  all this. I want to remind you that that
• 1:09:58
  the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but
• 1:10:03
  later destroyed those who did not believe.
• 1:10:07
  Remember about the those people who were eating the manna and
• 1:10:10
  we're saying, can God do this? And he actually destroyed them.
• 1:10:13
  So this whole chapter, I, I just want to read this and close out
• 1:10:19
  and let's just think about this. So Jude chapter 1, Jude, a
• 1:10:25
  servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James to those who
• 1:10:30
  have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for
• 1:10:35
  Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace and love be yours
• 1:10:39
  in abundance. Dear friends, Although I was
• 1:10:43
  very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt
• 1:10:47
  compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that
• 1:10:51
  was once for all entrusted, once for all entrusted to God's holy
• 1:10:57
  people. For certain individuals whose
• 1:11:00
  condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped
• 1:11:05
  in among you. They are ungodly people who
• 1:11:10
  pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality
• 1:11:17
  and deny Jesus Christ, our only sovereign and Lord.
• 1:11:23
  Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that
• 1:11:26
  the Lord at one time delivered His people out of Egypt, but
• 1:11:29
  later destroyed those who did not believe and the angels who
• 1:11:34
  did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their
• 1:11:37
  proper dwelling. These He has kept in darkness,
• 1:11:41
  bound with everlasting chains for judgement on the great day.
• 1:11:46
  In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding
• 1:11:50
  towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and
• 1:11:54
  perversion. They serve as an example to
• 1:11:58
  those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
• 1:12:04
  So some of these things that are in the Bible, these are going to
• 1:12:06
  be examples like when people choose to do that way even
• 1:12:10
  though it says not to in the Bible, that's going to be like
• 1:12:15
  probably remembered when they go to eternal fire.
• 1:12:19
  Remember when you heard about this and you said no to it, and
• 1:12:23
  now you're here at eternal fire because you didn't repent?
• 1:12:29
  We have to think about those things.
• 1:12:32
  Verse 8 In the same very in the very same way, on the strength
• 1:12:36
  of their dreams, these ungodly people pollute their own bodies,
• 1:12:41
  reject authority, and heap abuse on celestial beings.
• 1:12:47
  But even the Archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the
• 1:12:51
  devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn
• 1:12:56
  him for slander, but said the Lord rebuke you.
• 1:13:02
  Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand,
• 1:13:05
  and the very things they do understand by instinct, as
• 1:13:10
  irrational animals do, will destroy them.
• 1:13:14
  Woe to them. They have taken the way of Cain.
• 1:13:19
  They have rushed for profit into Balaam's error.
• 1:13:23
  They have been destroyed in Cora's rebellion.
• 1:13:28
  These people are blemishes at your love feast, eating with you
• 1:13:33
  without the slightest qualm. Shepherds who feed only
• 1:13:37
  themselves. Now those are leaders of a
• 1:13:40
  church. Shepherds who feed only
• 1:13:44
  themselves. That's like an example.
• 1:13:47
  They are and then, you know, just rushing into profit for
• 1:13:52
  Balaams error like trying to get money.
• 1:13:54
  Go against God, but you're getting money for it.
• 1:13:58
  They are clouds without rain blown along the wind, autumn
• 1:14:02
  trees without fruit and uprooted twice dead.
• 1:14:07
  They are wild waves of the sea foaming up their shame,
• 1:14:10
  wandering stars for whom blackest darkness has been
• 1:14:15
  reserved forever. Enoch the 7th from Adam
• 1:14:19
  prophesied about them. See the whole The Lord is coming
• 1:14:24
  with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone
• 1:14:31
  and to convict all of them of all of the ungodly acts they
• 1:14:37
  have committed in their ungodliness, and of all of the
• 1:14:41
  defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
• 1:14:48
  These people are grumblers and fault finders.
• 1:14:51
  They follow their own evil desires.
• 1:14:55
  They boast about themselves and flatter others for their own
• 1:14:59
  advantage. But dear friends, remember what
• 1:15:03
  the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold they said to you
• 1:15:09
  in the last times. There will be scoffers who will
• 1:15:13
  follow their own ungodly desires.
• 1:15:18
  These, these are the people who divide you, who follow mere
• 1:15:25
  natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
• 1:15:31
  But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your
• 1:15:35
  most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves
• 1:15:42
  in God's love as you wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus
• 1:15:46
  Christ to bring you to eternal life.
• 1:15:50
  Be merciful to those who doubt. Save others by snatching them
• 1:15:56
  from the fire to others. Show mercy mixed with fear,
• 1:16:02
  hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh to Him who is
• 1:16:09
  able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His
• 1:16:13
  glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
• 1:16:18
  To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and
• 1:16:24
  authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now
• 1:16:31
  and forevermore. Amen.
• 1:16:34
  So I think these words from Jude were really good ones to reflect
• 1:16:42
  on. Call on God when you feel
• 1:16:46
  something is not right or when you feel temptation or when you
• 1:16:51
  feel you're going to make a bad choice.
• 1:16:53
  Call on Him and stay in the Word.
• 1:16:56
  Remind yourself faith comes by hearing the Word.
• 1:16:59
  Stay in the Word every day and hopefully this was beneficial.
• 1:17:04
  And if it was, please share it with someone else that you think
• 1:17:07
  might find it beneficial. And if you want to stay in the
• 1:17:10
  word, I try to daily be in the word a chapter a day.
• 1:17:15
  Some get longer than others and this one got a way longer than I
• 1:17:17
  thought it would be. So thank you if you listen to
• 1:17:19
  the end and hope this helps in some way that it's beneficial
• 1:17:24
  for you. And next time we are going to
• 1:17:29
  talk about Psalm 27. Thank you.