Hope, Healing & Freedom Podcast: Episode 158
TRANSCRIPT
I don’t know about you, but I love a good Chinese buffet. I love to sample several of the delicious ethnic foods. Ok, that is an exaggeration. I love to see which foods I like so I can return to the buffet to get more. This podcast is going to be a bit like a good Chinese buffet. We are going to talk about several subjects.
I’m Lee Whitman with Restoring the Foundations and I welcome you into this Hope Healing and Freedom Podcast. Over time I take notes in my phone of topics I would like to do a podcast on. However, when I sit down to write the podcast, I realize that some of these are just good nuggets and not a full teaching. So today, we are going to share several nuggets instead of making the entire podcast about one subject.
Nugget Number 1:
I heard it said that we judge ourselves by our intentions, not necessarily by our behavior. For example, I intended to make the coffee before I went to bed last night, so I can’t be held responsible for the coffee not being made. I meant to do it, so I should be good with Cindi, right? However, we judge other people by their behavior rather than by their intention.
God looks at things much differently. When it comes to our behavior with God, it is much different. We judge ourselves by our behavior, and God looks at the “Why” behind the behavior. Let’s say we decide to serve in the children’s department at church. We look at our behavior and say to ourselves that we are doing something really good. We look at the behavior to determine if something is right or wrong. God, however, looks at why we are serving to determine if it is right or wrong. People serve in church all the time to gain brownie points with others. They might be trying to get brownie points with the pastor, or with the other people in the children’s department, or even trying to earn points with God. I learned as a young man growing up in a legalistic church that you gained brownie points with the church body by serving. So I tried to do everything I could to make sure that people thought I was wonderful. I kid you not. Much of my service was to show others in my church what a servant hearted guy I was. I’m not sure but I think my attempts at self-righteousness made God gag.
This is verified in 1 Samuel 16:7 where it says, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Religion (which is often man’s attempt to get to God) focuses on changing man’s behavior. God focuses on changing man’s heart, which will automatically change the heart. God is trying to convince us that we are new creations in Christ so that our behavior will automatically line up with His desires for us.
Nugget Number 2:
Romans 5:1-2 says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” I love the picture that this verse is drawing. We are introduced into grace through our accepting Jesus Christ as savior. But the introduction is only the beginning. We don’t stay in the place of the introduction. Grace is something that grows in our lives. Grace also changes to meet the occasion. The Apostle Paul talked about grace in such a way that it increases at our time of need. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Jesus says to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I love this. The more you need the grace of God due to your weakness in any area, the more grace is given. Jesus says that His power is made perfect in our weakness. So the weaker we are, the more His grace will be sufficient. Paul describes the power of this increasing grace in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” He is describing the power of grace, the kind of grace that gives you the ability to escape the temptations of the evil one.
Nugget Number 3:
The enemy often uses seduction to lure us into sin. Genesis 4:7 we find the story of Cain and Abel. God says to Cain, “If you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” The word for desire used here is a sexual word. The word is describing a sexual desire. This is saying that sin is lurking at the door and it is trying to seduce you into sinning. My pastor Don Finto says that sin seduces you into a sinful behavior, but it never tells you how far you will go, or the price you will have to pay. I am sure that the man or woman who gets seduced into a sexual affair never had the intention of ruining their marriage and the lives of their children. The person who steals from their workplace has been seduced into thinking that taking this money won’t get them in trouble. The person who cheats on their expense report is positive that they will never be discovered. Why do all of these people even try to get away with this behavior? The power of seduction has convinced them they will never get caught. The power of seduction was so strong on Cain that he even tried to lie to God. “What, am I my brother’s keeper?”
Nugget Number 4:
Be intentional, not reactionary. James 1:19 warns us to “be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.” I would also add to what James said that we need to get our hearts healed from the damage caused by this world. It is most often our hurts that cause us to say things that we don’t want to say. I was talking to a young man the other day who works very hard and is a very loyal employee. In fact, he works extra hours most days to make sure that his work is done well and completed on time. During his four years of service to his employer, he has only taken one week of vacation. He was leaving that day for his second week of vacation. He received a phone call from one of the supervisors at his work asking if he was going to finish a project at work. Out of his hurt over it not being recognized that he was on vacation, he did not respond all that graciously to the supervisor. Where did his response come from? It came out of his hurt. Was he wrong for pointing out that he was on vacation? No, not at all. The hurt however may have put an edge on his communication. He was not slow to get angry. Allowing God to heal our hearts makes it easier to be slow to speak and slow to get angry.
Being intentional also points out the need to develop and establish good boundaries. We have done four podcasts on boundaries If you have not heard them, I would highly recommend them to you. You can find them on the RTF website at restoringthefoundations.org and click on the Resources Tab at the top of the page and then click on the Podcast dropdown arrow.
Boundaries – Session 1
Boundaries – Session 2
Boundaries – Session 3
Boundaries – Session 4
Nugget Number 5:
You are on the earth at this point in time because the earth needs what you offer. People often question things like why am I here? Or Why was I born at this particular point in history and in this particular part of the world? I believe God placed you in the part of the world you were born into at this particular moment in history because He wants to use you to change the world. Some of you just heard that statement and you were unable to accept it. Who me, change the world? Yes you. The voice you are listening to that says you can’t do anything great is the voice of shame. Dr. Brene Brown did a research project where she set out to discover humans’ number one need. Through her research she discovered man’s number one need is connection. I think God designed this need into man so that he would desire to connect with God and with his fellow man. Then Dr. Brown discovered that in order for man to connect with others he must be willing to be vulnerable. The thing that keeps people from being vulnerable is shame. That shame tells people many lies about themselves but one of the strongest lies that comes from shame is “Who are you to think you can do anything great.” That lie causes people to shrink back and remain very small in their own eyes. You remember the twelve spies who went into the promised land to scout it out. Ten of them came back with a negative report saying “we became like grasshoppers in our own sight.” They believed this same lie, “Who do you think you are to do anything great.”
You are a child of God. You are a mighty warrior who has been placed on the earth on this day and in your part of the world in order to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. But you say, I don’t see that I am making any difference. The question is, what would it be like if you were not here at all? I remember reading the story of Jim Elliot, who was one of five missionaries who were killed evangelizing the Huaorani Indians in Ecuador. On the surface it appeared their missionary trip was a failure. Yet today this Huaorani tribe is mostly Christian because of his influence. Jim and the other four missionaries made an eternal impact for the Kingdom of God. What does God want to do through you?
Nugget Number 6:
We have an enemy that is trying to cause more division in the body of Christ. I know this is nothing new. He has been dividing the followers of Jesus since the very beginning. Even before Christ came on the scene, the enemy was using division to separate those who were trying to follow God. There were different sects in Judaism almost from the beginning. There were the Sadducees and the Pharisees who could not agree on what was important. Now there are over 45,000 Christian denominations around the world. Division happens because people can look at the same event and call it something different. We look at the same Bible and come away believing something different. 45,000 different denominations. My encouragement is to be careful not to separate ourselves from other Christians due to something minor. We need to come together and agree on the major beliefs, and allow for differences in the minor things. I told you in last week’s podcast about the young man who has been taught by one of the 45,000 Christian denominations that Catholics are not saved. I personally know many Catholics who are absolutely saved. Do we worship the same way? Probably not. Do we workshop the same Jesus? Yes we do. I am not going to put myself in the place of judge to say that Catholics are not saved and I would encourage all of us to not be other’s judges. I believe our Father God is looking for the church of Jesus Christ to come together, all 45,000 denominations, and show the world what Jesus is like.
PRAYER
Father God make us one just as You and Jesus are one. We can’t do that on our own. Help us to recognize when this spirit of division is at work trying to separate us from our fellow believers in Jesus. Father, would you take this Chinese buffet and use it in the lives of my brothers and sisters.
I believe God is moving some of you to become an RTF minister so you can help set people free. If that is you, please contact our training department at training@restoringthefoundations.org.
Thank you for spending this time with us. We know you have many podcasts to choose from, and we are honored that you spend this time with us. We look forward to being with you again next week.