Latest / Karl and Crew / Reassurance that the Holy Spirit is Working in You with Alistair Begg & Navigating Those Seasons of Waiting with Kaci Nicole Harlow

Transcript

Reassurance that the Holy Spirit is Working in You with Alistair Begg & Navigating Those Seasons of Waiting with Kaci Nicole Harlow · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Coming to you live in studio. It's Carl and crew
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  S1: on Moody radio.
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  S2: Want you to think about who is the richest person
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  S2: you know. And before you think, wow, what an inappropriate question. What?
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  S2: You need to borrow money.
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  S3: I mean.
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  S2: You go looking for that wealthy, that wealthy, distant relative. No.
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  S2: Who is the wealthiest person? You know? And when you
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  S2: think about wealth, I want you to think about it holistically.
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  S2: So not as you would probably expect, not the person
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  S2: in your life, you know, who has the biggest bank account,
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  S2: who has the best paying job, but who's the richest
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  S2: person that you know? Wow. Walks through life regardless of
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  S2: how much money that they have or don't have. There's
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  S2: a richness, there's a wealth. There's a quality of life
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  S2: that transcends money. Think about that. Bring that person's name
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  S2: to mind.
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  S3: Okay. Got it.
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  S2: And then I want you to think about what is
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  S2: it that makes someone rich. We've been tackling these popular myths,
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  S2: these verses that are misquoted or just flat out not there.
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  S2: And yesterday we talked about how God helps those who
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  S2: help themselves, which is not out of the Bible. It
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  S2: is out of Aesop's fable. But this next one is money,
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  S2: the root of all evil. Because you hear versions of that, right?
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  S3: Oh, definitely.
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  S2: And we know many songs have been written about it.
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  S2: Many lives have been wrecked. It seems to be that
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  S2: there's some truth that money is connected to problems, to
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  S2: challenges that it often solves, doesn't solve nearly as many
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  S2: as it can create.
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  S3: It opens the door to things you didn't expect.
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  S2: So what is that verse actually say? Is it money
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  S2: that's the root of all evil. It's actually the love
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  S2: of money that is the root of all kinds of evil,
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  S2: says First Timothy 610. For the love of money is
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  S2: a root of all kinds of evil. It is through
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  S2: this craving that some have wandered away from the faith
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  S2: and pierced themselves with many pangs. What? I want to
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  S2: break this down a little bit because I think if
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  S2: you just say, oh, well, it's the it's the love,
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  S2: that's okay. So it's not the money, but it's the
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  S2: love of money kind of.
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S2: Same difference. No no no no no. Let's go to
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  S2: first Timothy six. And this is this is towards the
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  S2: end of a letter that Paul has written to his
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  S2: son in the faith, to Timothy, and he's teaching them
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  S2: about life. He's teaching him about the kingdom of God,
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  S2: about the church. Okay. And so in chapter six, starting
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  S2: with verse seven, he says, teach and urge these things.
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  S2: This is verse two, rather. If anyone teaches a different
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  S2: doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of
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  S2: our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.
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  S2: He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He
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  S2: has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about
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  S2: words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant
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  S2: friction among people. So this is the warning he has
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  S2: against if anyone is teaching something different than what all
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  S2: of I've just shared with you, this is someone who's
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  S2: puffed up with conceit, who's teaching the gospel for gain
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  S2: goes on in verse five. Constant friction among people who
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  S2: are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining
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  S2: that godliness is a means of gain. There were false
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  S2: teachers who sought to exploit the gospel for the sake
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  S2: of their own financial gain, their own profit. And he's saying, no, no, no, no, no.
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  S2: These people, these false teachers, they imagine godliness is a
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  S2: means of gain. And then verse six, but godliness with
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  S2: contentment is great gain. So godliness is not a means
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  S2: to gain, but godliness in of itself. When there's contentment,
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  S2: there is great gain. And then verse seven, I'm sure
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  S2: you probably heard a mom or a grandma say a
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  S2: version of this, for we brought nothing into the world. Oh, yes.
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  S2: And we cannot take anything out of it.
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  S3: Yes.
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  S2: There was a version that said, I brought you into
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  S2: this world, but that's not in the Bible either, my friend.
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  S2: But if we have food and clothing with these, we
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  S2: will be content. For those who desire to be rich,
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  S2: fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and
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  S2: harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. And
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  S2: then verse ten again, for the love of money is
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  S2: a root of all kinds of evil. It is through
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  S2: this craving that some have wandered away from the faith
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  S2: and pierced themselves with many pangs. So the couple things
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  S2: that stood out to me about this passage that the
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  S2: love of money. Yes, some people accurately get that, but
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  S2: then they. But they miss the verse before it that
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  S2: those who desire to be rich. This means that this
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  S2: money as a snare, the love of money as a
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  S2: snare is not a risk just to those who are wealthy.
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  S3: Oh no, it's the.
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  S2: Desire itself, that relationship with money, that desire to be
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  S2: rich that leads to temptation, that can lead to snare
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  S2: and lead to many senseless and harmful desires that plunge
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  S2: people into ruin and destruction.
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  S3: The desire is a seed. Yes. And if you're not careful,
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  S3: it's going to take root into your heart.
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  S2: When money is the driver, when money is the thing
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  S2: that compels you to take certain moves or not to
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  S2: make certain decisions or not to in your relationships. And
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  S2: have you ever met somebody who was driven by money?
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  S2: Maybe they had a lot. Maybe they had a little.
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  S2: But their motivator was money. Sure. Right.
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  S3: Definitely.
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  S2: How did God set you free from the desire for riches?
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  S2: From the love of money? Maybe you were someone who
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  S2: you chased money things, chased things. That's what meant everything
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  S2: to you.
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  S3: Status.
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  S2: I remember there was served in a youth ministry for
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  S2: a time. And there was a young man who started
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  S2: coming to our youth group. And he was he was
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  S2: clearly a very troubled young man. And he was 17
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  S2: years old. But you could already see that there was
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  S2: a trajectory that if God didn't intervene, you could see
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  S2: that the path that he was on. So remember one
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  S2: time there was he would come with a young woman
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  S2: who I started to get close to. And so I
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  S2: would talk to him from time to time. And I
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  S2: asked him, how can I how can I pray for you?
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  S2: And he, he said that I would get money and
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  S2: that I would live to see 18 or something, something
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  S2: some age that was really young that he wanted to
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  S2: see painful. So get money and not die. Basically he'd
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  S2: seen a lot. And I thought, man, it's a really
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  S2: heartbreaking thing to pray for. But in his mind, that's
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  S2: what would be success. That's what would be making it
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  S2: get money.
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  S3: Oh, worth.
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  S2: It. And then live a little bit longer so I
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  S2: could spend it. When did God set you free from
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  S2: love of money, desire for riches?
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  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
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  S4: Well, you may have heard someone talk about the fruits
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  S4: of the spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
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  S4: Do you see those evident in your life? And is
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  S4: it fruits of the spirit? Even that might be a
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  S4: little bit of a misconception. Alistair Begg joining us this morning.
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  S4: His program, truth for life airs daily on Moody Radio.
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  S4: Is it the fruit of the spirit or the fruits
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  S4: of the spirit? And why is it important to distinguish
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  S4: between the two?
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  S5: Yeah. Good, good. Yes, it is one indivisible fruit. I
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  S5: think it's a very common misstatement. It's not purposefully misstated,
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  S5: I don't think. But if you speak to people, they imagine,
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  S5: as you know, a bowl that has grapes in it
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  S5: and plums in it and apples in it and so on.
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  S5: And so they kind of view it in much the
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  S5: same way as the gifts of the spirit, that the
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  S5: gifts are given variously. And, uh, not everybody has the same.
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  S5: And so the assumption is that that's probably true of
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  S5: the fruit, when in actual fact it's one indivisible fruit.
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  S5: I like to think of it like an orange. And
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  S5: all the leaves of of the orange comprise the one piece.
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  S2: I love that. Alistair Begg with us this morning. He's
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  S2: got a book out. We will be changed. Nine inner
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  S2: glories the spirit is cultivating in you so we don't
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  S2: pick apart the fruit of the spirit. In the same
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  S2: way that we would pick an apple off the tree.
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  S2: And I'm going to grab an orange from over here
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  S2: and assemble this bowl of fruit. It is the fruit
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  S2: of the spirit working in us. Talk about these inner
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  S2: glories that the spirit is cultivating in us, particularly when
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  S2: we don't really feel like much is happening at all.
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  S5: You know, first of all, we take everything by faith
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  S5: that we trust the promises of God, that Jesus, you know,
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  S5: he told his disciples, it's good for you that I
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  S5: go away. And when I go, you will receive the
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  S5: Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is at work in
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  S5: the life of the believer. Anyone who doesn't have the
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  S5: spirit is not actually in Christ. And so we start
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  S5: from that basis. Not something that we have to dig
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  S5: around and try and produce, but rather the evidence that
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  S5: our God is actually at work. And sometimes it seems
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  S5: more impressive than others. I mean, just in the same
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  S5: way as fruit growing has dormant periods. And it would
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  S5: seem that not very much is happening at all. But
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  S5: actually a lot is happening. And in our Christian lives,
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  S5: a lot is happening. How much is, you know, immediately
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  S5: obvious to us or whether we actually feel that we're
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  S5: making the progress that we would like to make. You know,
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  S5: it's a separate question, really.
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  S2: Yeah. Now you write that God saves us just as
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  S2: we are. There's nothing. We don't make ourselves good enough
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  S2: for God, but he is not content for us to
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  S2: remain as we are. We are on this journey of sanctification,
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  S2: of becoming more like Christ. Speak to that because there's
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  S2: a common misconception that God accepts me as I am,
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  S2: and therefore he's good with anything I do.
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  S5: You know that notion that God says me just the
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  S5: way I am? I mean, the only person that God
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  S5: the Father is ever accepted in that way is God
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  S5: the Son. And it's true to say that God accepts
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  S5: me or is at work within me despite of what
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  S5: I am, because my natural propensity is to, you know,
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  S5: be resistant is to be self-oriented, to be judgmental. So
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  S5: it does take the work of the Spirit of God
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  S5: over a long period of time. You know, justification is
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  S5: an instantaneous reality. I was once in darkness. Now I
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  S5: am light in the Lord on the strength of the
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  S5: work of grace. But the work of sanctification is a process.
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  S5: It's a bit like a cross-country run that, you know,
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  S5: lasts for your entire life. And when we have a
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  S5: sense of that, then we can at least moderate our
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  S5: own self-assessments, and we can perhaps encourage one another more
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  S5: along the journey as we as we run together.
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  S2: You know, speaking of that journey, this was illuminated a
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  S2: little bit in your book. And this was, I felt,
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  S2: really helpful. Romans 828 through 29 is often quoted that
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  S2: God works all things for good for those who love
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  S2: him and are called according to his purpose. And that's
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  S2: often used as an encouragement that anything that happens in
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  S2: your life, God will use it for good. Which is
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  S2: partially true, but there's a part of this that we miss.
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  S2: Explain that.
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  S5: Well, 29 comes right after 28 and he says that
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  S5: God has called. He's foreordained to be conformed to the
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  S5: image of the Lord Jesus. And that is the ultimate
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  S5: good that God is working towards. And that sets us
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  S5: free from the sort of superficial notions that everything is
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  S5: going well. Therefore, God must be really pleased with me,
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  S5: and everything isn't going so well and something must be up.
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  S5: But in actual fact, in the same way that the
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  S5: process of just physical development has highs and lows and
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  S5: has challenges and so on. So we would be surprised
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  S5: if that were not the case in being made like Jesus,
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  S5: because we're not like Jesus. And it's the work of
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  S5: the Spirit of God to make us more and more
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  S5: like our elder brother. And often I think we see,
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  S5: we see it best in other people than we see
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  S5: it in ourselves. And there's probably good in that as well.
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  S5: I mean, I don't think you would want to talk
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  S5: to me if I was on to let you know
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  S5: that I've got a full orbed expression of these nine glories.
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  S5: I think you'd be like, well, maybe I should be
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  S5: talking to your wife rather than talking to you, you know? So.
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  S2: Yeah. Alistair Begg with us this morning. You know, the
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  S2: fact remains that our witness as Christ followers, as much
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  S2: as we want to study scripture and be able to
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  S2: have great answers for the questions that people have. And
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  S2: we have many guests who help us do that to
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  S2: help us be armed, great apologists. But really, when it
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  S2: comes down to it, it's the old expression that people like,
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  S2: watch what you do more than what you say. I mean,
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  S2: and it's so true, right?
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  S5: Absolutely. I mean, the greatest apologetic argument really is a
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  S5: transformed life in that respect. The conversion, for example, of
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  S5: Saul of Tarsus is, you know, outside of the resurrection,
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  S5: I think is the greatest apologetic for the truth of
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  S5: the gospel. You know, here you've got somebody who is
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  S5: radically opposed to the gospel, to Jesus, and to anyone
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  S5: who is a follower of Jesus. And God saves him
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  S5: and makes him the apostle to the Gentiles. You know,
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  S5: only God, only God does stuff like that.
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  S2: Unbelievable.
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  S5: Yeah.
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  S2: What were you seeing from your vantage point that you
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  S2: felt this was a book that needed to be, to
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  S2: be written? These nine inner glories the spirit is cultivating
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  S2: in you is an encouragement to the believer that there's
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  S2: more happening than we realize, or something else.
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  S5: Well, as a pastor, you first of all have to
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  S5: preach the sermons to yourself before you preach them to
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  S5: anybody else. And so, in the same way that the
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  S5: Word of God convicts us in our preparation and in
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  S5: our proclamation, it just follows through into once you put
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  S5: it down in print. In fact, sometimes when it goes
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  S5: down in print and you have occasion to just reread
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  S5: what you've written, you find yourself immensely challenged by it.
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  S5: I mean the extent to which love is the hallmark
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  S5: that reveals itself in love for God and love for
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  S5: your neighbor is challenged on many fronts, many times. Joy.
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  S5: That is not something just superficial, but is a deep
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  S5: seated reality. And you know, as we go on through
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  S5: these things, all this does is really lifts out of us. Galatians,
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  S5: what Paul is writing to the people of his generation,
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  S5: and it makes the point, I hope, that the same
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  S5: message is required in every generation until the Lord Jesus
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  S5: Christ returns. The people of God need to be forcibly reminded,
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  S5: starting with me, that we're not here on a political junket.
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  S5: We're not here to establish some kingdom of earthly strategies,
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  S5: but we're here actually to commend Jesus. And we commend
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  S5: him both by our lips, but also by our lives.
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  S5: And sometimes my life shouts so loudly that people can't
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  S5: hear what I'm saying. And that is the challenge. That's
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  S5: the challenge.
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  S2: You know, we talk about often on this program about
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  S2: sometimes the gap that exists between, you know, the things
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  S2: that we believe, what we're reading, the truth that we
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  S2: hold so dear, and then our daily reality and the
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  S2: work of closing that gap is that we can't do it.
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  S2: We find ourselves powerless and helpless, but then we're perfectly positioned,
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  S2: as Carl likes to say, for God to do something.
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  S2: Talk to the person who feels stuck. They are in Christ.
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  S2: They're walking with the Lord, but they just don't feel
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  S2: like they're growing.
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  S5: There's a number of things that we ought to do.
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  S5: You know, when we find ourselves in that position, first
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  S5: of all, it's always pretty dangerous for us to take
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  S5: stock of our own circumstances. Moses face shone, and he
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  S5: wished not. He didn't realize that he had such a
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  S5: shining face. And I often in pastoral ministry, counsel with
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  S5: people who feel just as you're describing. But when I'm
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  S5: able to point out to them a different reality from
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  S5: what they subjectively are experiencing, it often is enough to
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  S5: set them free. It's also true to say, though, that
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  S5: faith is a muscle, and like any other muscle, if
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  S5: it is not exercised, it atrophies. And so then we
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  S5: want to look and see whether we are enjoying a
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  S5: proper use of the means of grace, the fellowship of
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  S5: God's people, the instruction of God's Word, the sharing in
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  S5: the sacraments, and so on. These are the things that
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  S5: God has provided for his people in order that we
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  S5: might remain on track. If all of those things are
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  S5: in place, then it may well be that we're just
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  S5: experiencing a season in our souls, a time when it
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  S5: doesn't seem like much is going on just at the
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  S5: same time during winter, it looks from the surface that
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  S5: nothing's happening. But in actual fact, a lot is going on,
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  S5: and sometimes we just need to content ourselves in that
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  S5: respect and trust that God is doing what he has
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  S5: promised to do. I mean, why would he not? He
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  S5: saved us in order to make us like Jesus. Why
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  S5: would he quit on the project?
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  S2: Oh so well put. Alistair Begg, host of truth For life,
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  S2: weekdays right here on Moody Radio, also author of we
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  S2: Will Be Changed Nine inner glories the spirit is cultivating
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  S2: in you. Just text spirit. We'll send you the details.
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  S2: Text spirit to 805 557898, spirit to 805 557898.
• 18:39
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 18:42
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
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  S2: Well, one of the most difficult things in our walk
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  S2: with the Lord is those seasons where we feel like
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  S2: we are waiting on God for something. We've been praying,
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  S2: we've been believing, maybe even we've received what we feel
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  S2: like is a word or a confirmation or even a
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  S2: promise from the Lord. And yet we don't see it yet.
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  S2: My guest knows a little bit about seasons of waiting.
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  S2: Casey Nicole Harlow. She is a popular Bible teacher, YouTuber, writer, speaker.
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  S2: Her greatest joy is seeing lives transformed through knowing Jesus Christ.
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  S2: You have been in seasons of waiting yourself, and my
• 19:20
  S2: guess is if you're like me, you probably weren't like, yay!
• 19:23
  S2: I get to wait a little bit on what? What
• 19:26
  S2: are you talking about?
• 19:27
  S6: It's the best thing ever. Yes. No. Waiting seasons are
• 19:31
  S6: so tough, especially when you're in it. And like you said,
• 19:33
  S6: you've been praying and hoping and not seeing things changing
• 19:36
  S6: and maybe seeing the people around you get the thing
• 19:37
  S6: that you're praying for. And I think it starts to
• 19:39
  S6: bring this heart question to the surface, no matter what
• 19:42
  S6: you're waiting for. Of God. Do you see me? Do
• 19:44
  S6: you care? Do you? You know I know that you're good.
• 19:47
  S6: But are you good to me? Do you have good
• 19:48
  S6: things for me? And really just wrestling with him with
• 19:50
  S6: a lot of those questions?
• 19:51
  S2: Yeah. She's got a book out this month. It's called
• 19:54
  S2: So Much Better Daring to Trust God when you're waiting,
• 19:56
  S2: impatient and expectant. Tell me a little bit of your
• 20:00
  S2: own story, Casey. First of all, how did you come
• 20:03
  S2: to faith in Christ? Was that early on for you?
• 20:06
  S2: Was that a little bit later on in life?
• 20:08
  S6: Yeah, it's actually really cool because it started with my dad.
• 20:11
  S6: It's always really beautiful to think of how God is
• 20:13
  S6: pursuing even the things that lay a foundation for how
• 20:17
  S6: we are then introduced to him. And so my dad
• 20:19
  S6: was actually a truck driver who happened to be listening
• 20:21
  S6: to a radio station and heard the gospel, which is
• 20:25
  S6: really cool. And he started listening over a period of
• 20:27
  S6: months and called in and gave his life to the Lord.
• 20:29
  S6: That was when I was about six years old. And
• 20:31
  S6: so really, as far back as I remember, I remember
• 20:34
  S6: growing up in a Christian home as my dad was learning,
• 20:36
  S6: you know what it looks like to follow Jesus and
• 20:38
  S6: taking our family to church, and then started going to
• 20:40
  S6: a Christian school. And so I really grew up hearing
• 20:42
  S6: the gospel and gave my life to the Lord when
• 20:45
  S6: I was nine years old. But it really wasn't until
• 20:48
  S6: life stopped working the way that I wanted it to work.
• 20:51
  S6: And really, when I ran into this waiting season, that
• 20:54
  S6: my relationship with God shifted from something where this is
• 20:57
  S6: what I know and what I grew up with, and
• 20:58
  S6: I have all the right answers to God is really
• 21:01
  S6: exposing my own brokenness and my own sinfulness. And the
• 21:04
  S6: gospel isn't just this thing. I know now that Jesus
• 21:07
  S6: died for my sins, but I'm recognizing just the weight
• 21:09
  S6: of my sinfulness, the weight of my brokenness and my
• 21:12
  S6: need for him, and really just growing into more of
• 21:15
  S6: an intimate relationship with him and love for his word.
• 21:18
  S2: So as best you can. You said life stopped working
• 21:21
  S2: the way you kind of thought it should. What. What
• 21:24
  S2: was the picture in your mind of the should and
• 21:27
  S2: where was life falling short for you?
• 21:30
  S6: So I, from a young age really deeply desired marriage.
• 21:33
  S6: For me, that was the really the pain point in
• 21:35
  S6: the waiting story. I know for people, it's, it's different things.
• 21:38
  S6: We're all waiting for different things. Maybe it's marriage healing,
• 21:41
  S6: a baby, waiting for God to just show you what
• 21:43
  S6: your purpose is or a meaningful job. But for me,
• 21:47
  S6: that thing was marriage. And I had a plan that
• 21:50
  S6: I was going to get married young. I was going
• 21:51
  S6: to go to college, graduate with my master's degree with
• 21:54
  S6: that ring by spring. And God had other plans because
• 21:57
  S6: his timeline and, and plans are often, you know, different
• 22:00
  S6: than our own. And so instead, I ended up walking
• 22:02
  S6: through most of my 20s, which I understand is still,
• 22:04
  S6: you know, not waiting so long. But for me, it
• 22:07
  S6: was a decade of kind of timeline shifting differently than
• 22:11
  S6: I had imagined. And watching so many of my best
• 22:14
  S6: friends get married step into those roles of wife and mom. Meanwhile,
• 22:18
  S6: really seeing no movement in that area of my life.
• 22:20
  S6: And really, that's where I started to wonder, like, God,
• 22:22
  S6: do you see me? But in that, God allowed me
• 22:25
  S6: to walk through a couple of different things, particularly rejection
• 22:28
  S6: in a couple different ways. That was really my first
• 22:30
  S6: meaningful experience with that. That again, he used to just
• 22:33
  S6: show me like, these are good desires, but these things
• 22:36
  S6: aren't going to give you your identity and your purpose.
• 22:38
  S6: And instead, he allowed me to find that in him
• 22:41
  S6: first in intimacy with him, where the Bible shifted from
• 22:44
  S6: being this thing that was, you know, the answer to
• 22:46
  S6: my Bible homework, to God's living and active word that
• 22:49
  S6: I just fell in love with. I fell in love
• 22:50
  S6: with him through it, and he just began to minister
• 22:53
  S6: to my heart. And from that, there was an overflow
• 22:55
  S6: of fruitfulness in him working through me and just discovering
• 22:58
  S6: in that this deep desire to share biblical truth and
• 23:01
  S6: encouragement with other people. And so he really just did
• 23:04
  S6: a lot in that waiting season.
• 23:06
  S2: Yeah. What was exposed in your own heart during that
• 23:10
  S2: season of waiting?
• 23:11
  S6: I think that some of it is, like I said,
• 23:14
  S6: just the, the identity piece, realizing that these things I
• 23:17
  S6: desired their good desires and oftentimes the things we desire
• 23:20
  S6: are good desires, even biblical desires. That doesn't mean they're
• 23:23
  S6: necessarily biblical guarantees, but anything that we put above Jesus is,
• 23:28
  S6: you know, it's not going to give us a sense
• 23:30
  S6: of identity and purpose that we hope that it will.
• 23:32
  S6: And so God started to kind of just shift that
• 23:34
  S6: and show me like I already have identity and purpose
• 23:37
  S6: in him and in who he says that I am.
• 23:39
  S6: And then really just exposing, you know, other things in
• 23:42
  S6: my heart as well. Like I said, I think growing
• 23:44
  S6: up I understood the gospel is that Jesus died for
• 23:46
  S6: my sins, but I also think I've really viewed myself
• 23:49
  S6: as the good Christian girl who is, you know, afraid
• 23:52
  S6: to do anything wrong or get in trouble in school
• 23:54
  S6: and kind of always did the right thing and said
• 23:56
  S6: the right thing and did anything to avoid standing out
• 23:58
  S6: or rocking the boat. And God began to show me like, oh,
• 24:01
  S6: you know, maybe like the big things that people talk
• 24:04
  S6: about that you avoid when you're in the Christian school,
• 24:06
  S6: maybe those aren't a part of your story, but there's
• 24:07
  S6: a lot of things in your heart, a lot of pride,
• 24:10
  S6: the inner heart, things that he began to expose and
• 24:12
  S6: cleanse me of. I think it's so beautiful to remember
• 24:15
  S6: that when God exposes things in our heart, you know,
• 24:17
  S6: Scripture talks about how God is light and in him
• 24:20
  S6: is no darkness. But when God exposes things in our heart,
• 24:23
  S6: he's not casting this bright spotlight on us on a
• 24:26
  S6: stage to shame us. Rather, when it talks about how
• 24:29
  S6: he is light, he is this search light that is
• 24:31
  S6: seeking out and searching out the deepest parts of our
• 24:34
  S6: heart and our life. Because he wants to know us.
• 24:37
  S6: He wants to love us and bring us into his healing,
• 24:40
  S6: his light, his freedom. And so when he exposes, it's
• 24:43
  S6: never for the purpose of leaving us exposed or shamed.
• 24:46
  S6: It's for the purpose of bringing us healing, because he
• 24:48
  S6: doesn't want us to live in that place where we're
• 24:50
  S6: having to live in shame, in darkness.
• 24:52
  S2: Yeah. Now, before we get to your current state, because
• 24:56
  S2: spoiler alert, she is now married. But before we get
• 25:00
  S2: to that, I'm sure you wrestled with the the spiritual
• 25:04
  S2: reality that there are certain things that are promised in Scripture,
• 25:08
  S2: and there are certain things that sometimes we can hold
• 25:10
  S2: on to as his promises that aren't so. Marriage isn't
• 25:15
  S2: promised to the believer. Even if we faithfully desire it,
• 25:19
  S2: we know that children are not promised to every believer,
• 25:23
  S2: even if they are longed for. I'm sure you wrestled
• 25:27
  S2: with the reality that the waiting sometimes doesn't have an
• 25:31
  S2: end date in this on this side of heaven. Speak
• 25:35
  S2: to that a little bit, because I know that your
• 25:37
  S2: goal is not to get people to wait until they
• 25:40
  S2: get what they want, because sometimes God doesn't give us
• 25:43
  S2: that right.
• 25:44
  S6: One of the things I talk a lot about in
• 25:46
  S6: the book is how, you know, story is defined as
• 25:48
  S6: a character who wants something and has to overcome something
• 25:51
  S6: to get it. But the purpose of the story isn't
• 25:53
  S6: actually whether the character gets what she wants. The purpose
• 25:56
  S6: of the story is the character transformation that happens along
• 25:59
  S6: the way. When you watch a good movie, you're moved
• 26:01
  S6: by how the character arc has changed throughout the course
• 26:04
  S6: of the story. And really, that is God's heart for us,
• 26:07
  S6: is that he's lovingly uses everything he allows us to
• 26:10
  S6: walk through, whether that is a weight that lasts a
• 26:12
  S6: year or ten years or a lifetime weight to draw
• 26:15
  S6: us more into his heart and to make us look
• 26:18
  S6: more like him. And so that's something that God really
• 26:20
  S6: began to shift that perspective for me in the waiting season.
• 26:23
  S6: And as for that practical question, because I think that's
• 26:26
  S6: a fear that really comes up in waiting is, you know,
• 26:28
  S6: is God asking me to just keep praying, to keep
• 26:30
  S6: trusting him, to keep waiting? Or is the fact that
• 26:33
  S6: he hasn't answered this prayer yet an indication that this
• 26:36
  S6: isn't something he has for me? And there's two things
• 26:39
  S6: I want to share here that were really, really helpful
• 26:40
  S6: to me. The first is this realization I had that,
• 26:44
  S6: you know, I don't know the answer to whether or
• 26:46
  S6: not this is an answer. God is eventually going to
• 26:48
  S6: give in this lifetime. But there's really only three things
• 26:51
  S6: I can do. I can worry about this. And Philippians
• 26:55
  S6: four six through seven tells us, do not worry about anything,
• 26:58
  S6: but in everything through prayer and petition, bring your requests
• 27:01
  S6: to God with thanksgiving. And so the Bible kind of
• 27:04
  S6: instantly eliminates option number one, which is to worry. The
• 27:07
  S6: second option is to try to put it out of
• 27:10
  S6: our minds, right? To sort of just try to numb
• 27:11
  S6: ourselves to this desire. But if you've ever walked through
• 27:14
  S6: a waiting season where you just so deeply desire something,
• 27:17
  S6: you know that that's really not a very effective option
• 27:19
  S6: to just try to not think about it. And also,
• 27:22
  S6: even if you're able to somehow succeed in not thinking
• 27:24
  S6: about it and just numbing yourself to that desire. I
• 27:27
  S6: think when we numb ourselves to that, we're going to
• 27:29
  S6: end up numbing ourselves to a lot of other really
• 27:30
  S6: beautiful things in life as well, and maybe even to
• 27:33
  S6: God himself. We're going to harden our hearts and make
• 27:35
  S6: ourselves bitter toward him, potentially. And so that's really not
• 27:38
  S6: an effective or helpful option either. And so the third
• 27:40
  S6: option is to pray about it. And that goes back
• 27:42
  S6: to the fear of what if I just continue to
• 27:44
  S6: pray about this thing and it isn't something God has
• 27:47
  S6: for me. But if we continue to pray about something,
• 27:50
  S6: we know that prayer changes things. And so over time,
• 27:52
  S6: God is going to use that prayer to bring about change,
• 27:55
  S6: either in our circumstance by answering that prayer or in us,
• 27:59
  S6: or a lot of times both. And so there's really
• 28:02
  S6: not a loss to continuing to invest prayer in it
• 28:05
  S6: because one, it's building our relationship with God, and God
• 28:08
  S6: is going to move through our prayers in the way
• 28:10
  S6: that is according to his good will for us. And
• 28:12
  S6: so what we can do in the waiting is to
• 28:14
  S6: be faithful with what God has already made known to
• 28:16
  S6: us through His Word, through what he's given us right now, today,
• 28:19
  S6: in front of us to do in our lives. And
• 28:21
  S6: as we're faithful with that, he's going to continue to
• 28:23
  S6: lead us into what he has for us.
• 28:25
  S2: Casey. Nicole Harlow with us right now, she is a
• 28:28
  S2: popular YouTube writer speaker. Her greatest joy is to see
• 28:32
  S2: lives transformed through Jesus Christ. So, okay, tell us, how
• 28:37
  S2: did you meet your husband? How did God reveal to
• 28:41
  S2: you that the answer is yes, and this is who
• 28:44
  S2: I have for you?
• 28:46
  S6: Well, it's actually a beautiful story, and I'm not going
• 28:48
  S6: to spoil all the details because I kind of go
• 28:50
  S6: more into it in the book. And let's just say
• 28:52
  S6: that God really surprised me through my husband in the
• 28:54
  S6: most beautiful way. And it really showed me that sometimes
• 28:57
  S6: we have such a clear idea of how God is
• 29:00
  S6: going to answer our prayers, that we almost are blinded
• 29:03
  S6: to the ways that he might surprise us. It happened
• 29:06
  S6: in a way that surprised me, just in terms of
• 29:08
  S6: all of the details of how it happened. In short,
• 29:10
  S6: we were serving in the youth group at our church together,
• 29:13
  S6: and he was with the same grade of guys as
• 29:15
  S6: the girls that I had. So we kind of went
• 29:17
  S6: up through that together, and he had kind of had
• 29:19
  S6: his eye on me. He was two years younger, so
• 29:21
  S6: I was like, oh, I'm not dating anybody younger, but God.
• 29:24
  S6: God had other plans and I'm so thankful for that.
• 29:27
  S2: Casey. Nicole Harlow. I want to get you more. You're
• 29:29
  S2: listening and you're going, okay, I think I, I want
• 29:32
  S2: to listen to her more. I want to check out
• 29:34
  S2: this resource. Just text waiting to 800 555 7898, text
• 29:41
  S2: waiting to 805 557898. We'll get you connected with the
• 29:46
  S2: book also where you can find other resources available, text
• 29:50
  S2: waiting to 805 557898.
• 29:54
  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
• 29:58
  S1: to Carl and Crew.
• 30:01
  S3: Are we grateful in those times that we're waiting on God?
• 30:04
  S3: You're listening to Carl and crew takes me to Psalm 4610.
• 30:08
  S3: Be still and know that I am God. Being still
• 30:12
  S3: and waiting on God, we. Of course, we heard that
• 30:14
  S3: interview with Casey Harlow on her waiting room and her
• 30:17
  S3: story and her testimony. But waiting on God. It can
• 30:20
  S3: be difficult. We want answers. We want direction. We want movement.
• 30:23
  S3: We want it right now. But sometimes God calls us
• 30:27
  S3: to stop striving and to trust. Be still. Does it
• 30:32
  S3: mean to do nothing forever? Just means yes, surrendering our
• 30:36
  S3: control and the outcome to him. We wait on God.
• 30:40
  S3: We learn his timing and it's not the same for everyone.
• 30:43
  S3: And it's of course not the same as our timing,
• 30:45
  S3: but his presence is always with us. His timing is
• 30:48
  S3: always perfect. We can trust and we trust his character.
• 30:51
  S3: We trust that next step when he leads. So ask
• 30:55
  S3: the Lord today in prayer that you can be still
• 30:58
  S3: and not rush ahead to have the patience while you
• 31:01
  S3: are waiting in that room and being still and knowing
• 31:05
  S3: that God is in control, you may be in that
• 31:09
  S3: waiting room, my friend. Let this song, that Psalm 4610
• 31:12
  S3: minister to you this morning. I'm Carlin crew.
• 31:15
  S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the cast and
• 31:18
  S1: crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
• 31:22
  S2: Well, I have something very exciting. If you like to
• 31:25
  S2: take those quizzes and I used to love these when
• 31:28
  S2: I was younger.
• 31:29
  S3: I still.
• 31:29
  S2: Love them. I remember these magazines. You would wait for
• 31:32
  S2: them to come out like 17 magazine and just the
• 31:36
  S2: little glamour and all the different ones. And you could
• 31:38
  S2: find out like, what's your best hairstyle? Take this quiz
• 31:41
  S2: and find out. So there's something about this. You like
• 31:45
  S2: to test yourself? Well, Drew Dickens, who's one of our favorites,
• 31:48
  S2: we have him on often talking about AI updates, and
• 31:53
  S2: he has a great devotional. And one of the things
• 31:56
  S2: that he's agreed to do for us is to help
• 31:58
  S2: develop some resources that go in line with these themes
• 32:01
  S2: that we're covering. So when he found out we were
• 32:04
  S2: doing this theme on is it in the Bible? Is
• 32:06
  S2: it not fact or fiction? He created a quiz. So
• 32:10
  S2: 18 questions that are going to test your knowledge. And
• 32:14
  S2: it's I'll give you a little bit of a hint
• 32:17
  S2: that it's, it's way harder than it sounds. I don't
• 32:21
  S2: know if you took this quiz yet.
• 32:22
  S3: I did.
• 32:23
  S2: I, I didn't do great because they're tricky.
• 32:27
  S3: I think I got a B minus.
• 32:28
  S2: Some of the questions there's different options. Is that in
• 32:32
  S2: there word for word. Is it the right idea but
• 32:34
  S2: the wrong details. Is it not in the Bible at all?
• 32:38
  S2: Some of these really stumped me, so don't feel bad
• 32:40
  S2: if you get don't get a great number. This is
• 32:43
  S2: totally for fun. We're not about legalism here. No. So
• 32:46
  S2: if this is something that's going to make you feel
• 32:48
  S2: stressed out, or if you know that this is going
• 32:50
  S2: to has the potential to make you feel not good,
• 32:54
  S2: if you don't do great on it, Don't do it.
• 32:56
  S2: That's not what we're looking to do. But if you
• 32:58
  S2: want to check out this quiz, that's going to just
• 33:01
  S2: in a fun way, test your Bible knowledge. Do you
• 33:04
  S2: know if it's in Scripture or not? Just text drew
• 33:07
  S2: to 805 557898, text drew to 805 557898. Now this
• 33:15
  S2: is going to get you a link to this simple
• 33:18
  S2: Faith tools website that he's building just for us, just
• 33:21
  S2: for our Zoom crew, for you. And so just look
• 33:23
  S2: for that quiz, that Bible trivia, just text drew to
• 33:27
  S2: 805 557898. Take the quiz and then text me and
• 33:32
  S2: let me know how you did. 805 557898. Text drew.
• 33:38
  S7: Hey this is Carl with Carl and crew and I'm
• 33:40
  S7: so grateful that you listened to this show cast. Thank
• 33:43
  S7: you mostly for being part of the boom crew as
• 33:45
  S7: we help you take your next step with Jesus. You're
• 33:48
  S7: a huge encouragement to us. We'll be here again live
• 33:51
  S7: every weekday morning from 5 to 9 a.m.. Godspeed.