WEBVTT - Cast Your Burdens on Christ 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.120 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:11.040 In the Spirit of God is here right now at 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:14.000 work in many of your hearts. It's an awesome thing. 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.640 Spirit of God convicts. The Spirit of God comforts when 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.840 we've been transformed by the power of God. He directs. 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:23.560 We want to get anchored in what the Spirit of 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.800 God is up to. Just go to John 14, John 16, 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:28.760 Romans eight. Do a deep dive on the power of 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:30.680 the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is on 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:34.560 the move. Yesterday we had an interesting day. Phenomenal day 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.440 at 180 Chicago. I pastor a church in downtown Chicago. 0:00:37.479 --> 0:00:39.760 We have two campuses here in Chicago. I was downtown 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.440 preaching yesterday. So many young people at this campus. It's 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:48.599 unbelievable guys. Absolutely unbelievable. So we had 40 come away 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:54.000 after the service that are young adults. So they're all 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.280 in their 20s, a couple in their 30s, but they're 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.140 all young. A couple of them were married and we were. 0:00:59.460 --> 0:01:03.140 We were talking about the stuff of life and love 0:01:03.140 --> 0:01:07.100 and intimacy. And my bride told me going in. She said, bub, 0:01:07.700 --> 0:01:10.180 make sure you share the gospel. I'm like, I'm with you, babe. 0:01:10.220 --> 0:01:13.179 I love having my bride, man. She's. We were riding 0:01:13.180 --> 0:01:16.179 shotgun yesterday and it was so sweet to be teamed 0:01:16.180 --> 0:01:20.940 up together in ministry. And she was right. And I 0:01:20.940 --> 0:01:24.140 should never be surprised by this. But I had the 0:01:24.140 --> 0:01:27.940 privilege of watching two guys surrender their lives to Jesus 0:01:27.940 --> 0:01:31.779 Christ yesterday at that gathering of 40. Praise God. Yeah. 0:01:31.819 --> 0:01:34.220 Isn't that sweet? One of them was a pastor's kid, 0:01:34.900 --> 0:01:37.100 and he just came up to me and he said, 0:01:37.100 --> 0:01:40.460 I've never fully surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, man. 0:01:40.500 --> 0:01:43.420 He says, I'm in a campus ministry. I'm in this. 0:01:43.420 --> 0:01:47.140 I'm in that. And I said, today is your day, 0:01:47.140 --> 0:01:51.740 isn't it? He said, today is the day, Carl. And 0:01:51.740 --> 0:01:54.860 I said, listen, this is awesome. And when we got 0:01:54.900 --> 0:01:56.900 done praying, I said, what are you feeling? He says, man, 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.760 like a load of bricks is off me. I said, 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.200 I want you to tell your mom and dad they're 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:03.840 going to cheer for you. You can get a little 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.160 bit wiggy. You're going to hear Young Thunder's story on 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.720 this this week because we're talking stories of salvation. But 0:02:10.000 --> 0:02:12.400 he was sweet. I said, you tell your mom and dad, 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.519 you got to tell your you got to tell those 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:18.200 that are close to you in your life and let 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:20.240 them know what Jesus has done. So I can't wait 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:24.120 for that report back. But it is so easy to 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.360 slip through the cracks, so to speak, in our Christian 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:30.920 culture today. And there's so many different ways to slip 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.000 through the cracks. I mean, you can be the prodigal 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.800 that's being crazy. You can be the prodigal who's jumping 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:42.799 through hoops and you can be super die. It's easy 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:44.800 to slip through the cracks, isn't it? Super die. 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:48.840 Very, very easy to slip through. And Satan just loves it. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.160 Yeah, he loves it. He's laughing all the way to 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.600 the dark bank. Tell your story, sister. We want to 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.040 hear it. 0:02:55.510 --> 0:02:59.510 You got it. Um, basically, I, I grew up in 0:02:59.510 --> 0:03:05.990 a very dysfunctional situation. Very dysfunctional family. Went through a 0:03:05.990 --> 0:03:12.230 lot of abuse, physical, sexual, emotional, mental. And a lot 0:03:12.230 --> 0:03:14.590 of it was done by the hands of people that 0:03:14.590 --> 0:03:19.070 I thought were my safe people. They should have loved me. 0:03:19.070 --> 0:03:21.989 They should have protected me. And it was not only 0:03:22.030 --> 0:03:26.270 by their hands, but also people that surrounded me because 0:03:26.270 --> 0:03:29.230 of them. And when I would try to say something, 0:03:29.230 --> 0:03:33.150 I was either told I was lying or what did 0:03:33.150 --> 0:03:37.510 I do wrong? I brought it upon myself. Or also. 0:03:37.550 --> 0:03:39.110 That's a brutal accusation. 0:03:39.230 --> 0:03:41.630 That's a very brutal accusation. But this one's even better. 0:03:42.270 --> 0:03:45.270 Don't do anything to disrupt this relationship for me. Don't 0:03:45.310 --> 0:03:49.830 ruin this for me. So just shut up and deal 0:03:49.830 --> 0:03:52.830 with it basically is what that is saying to me, 0:03:52.930 --> 0:03:56.890 especially as a child. Um, so yeah, very dysfunctional. So 0:03:56.890 --> 0:03:58.930 a lot of stuff's going on in my brain and 0:03:58.930 --> 0:04:02.290 in my heart of my value and who I was 0:04:02.490 --> 0:04:06.210 and continued for quite a while. The emotional mental continued 0:04:06.210 --> 0:04:09.330 for a long time, even through high school. So I'm 0:04:09.370 --> 0:04:13.450 packing away and headed out to college and going to college. But, uh, 0:04:13.450 --> 0:04:15.410 as I look back, I realize, yeah, I packed up 0:04:15.410 --> 0:04:17.250 and went to college, but I also packed up all 0:04:17.290 --> 0:04:21.650 that junk. I took it with me. Yeah. And a 0:04:21.650 --> 0:04:25.730 lot of that anger, confusion, pain. Because again, like I said, 0:04:25.730 --> 0:04:27.370 these are people that were supposed to be safe and 0:04:27.370 --> 0:04:30.289 loved me. So if they weren't loving me and safe 0:04:30.290 --> 0:04:34.890 for me, then where's God in all this? So my 0:04:34.890 --> 0:04:39.289 anger extended even to God. Thanks a lot for this. 0:04:39.290 --> 0:04:42.010 You didn't protect me. You didn't help me. Where are you? 0:04:42.050 --> 0:04:45.690 Where are you? So that just festered and festered and 0:04:45.690 --> 0:04:48.010 festered within me. And it continued to fester and fester 0:04:48.050 --> 0:04:51.430 even into adulthood. I just made a lot of wrong decisions. 0:04:51.470 --> 0:04:54.710 A lot of my personality. I became rather snarky. People 0:04:54.710 --> 0:04:57.669 were a commodity. I mean, if I wasn't important, you know, 0:04:57.670 --> 0:04:59.150 I didn't want to get married. I wouldn't have kids. 0:04:59.150 --> 0:05:01.390 Kids were a problem. Kids were in the way. Kids 0:05:01.390 --> 0:05:03.870 kept you from dreaming and living, you know? So why 0:05:03.870 --> 0:05:04.790 would I want that? 0:05:04.830 --> 0:05:05.670 No one's important. 0:05:05.710 --> 0:05:08.909 Exactly. You know, why would I want that? And to 0:05:08.950 --> 0:05:12.670 understand who God was. I mean, I, growing up younger 0:05:12.670 --> 0:05:15.670 within the church, I mean, I knew who God there was. 0:05:15.670 --> 0:05:17.790 There was a God. I knew who God was. There 0:05:17.790 --> 0:05:20.110 was Jesus, his son. He died on the cross. We 0:05:20.110 --> 0:05:22.750 had Easter. We cracked red eggs, you know, that kind 0:05:22.750 --> 0:05:27.470 of situation. But there was no relationship. And I certainly 0:05:27.750 --> 0:05:30.750 wasn't a situation where, going through all this, I could 0:05:30.750 --> 0:05:34.750 go to Jesus because you didn't go to Jesus. There 0:05:34.750 --> 0:05:37.190 was a flow chart. You don't bother Jesus. You go 0:05:37.190 --> 0:05:39.030 to the priest, you go to the adults, you go 0:05:39.029 --> 0:05:41.349 to a teacher, you go to a parent. But all 0:05:41.390 --> 0:05:43.590 of these people were unsafe to me, so why would 0:05:43.589 --> 0:05:46.430 I go to them? You know, so that didn't help 0:05:46.430 --> 0:05:49.110 me either. And as far as the word of God, 0:05:49.250 --> 0:05:53.210 may be ministering to me and breathing life into me. 0:05:53.210 --> 0:05:56.250 That wasn't an option either, because the Bible. Yes, it 0:05:56.250 --> 0:05:58.650 was sacred. It was the Word of God. But it 0:05:58.690 --> 0:06:02.010 sat on a end table and it got dusted once 0:06:02.010 --> 0:06:05.570 in a while. So that was the situation. So I 0:06:05.570 --> 0:06:08.610 really didn't know where to go except for myself. And 0:06:08.610 --> 0:06:10.609 that was not the good choice. But yeah, I went 0:06:10.610 --> 0:06:14.090 for myself and my decisions and my thinking and where 0:06:14.089 --> 0:06:16.530 I was going and what I was doing. Get out 0:06:16.570 --> 0:06:21.169 of college. Again, the personality, the snarkiness, the the self, self, 0:06:21.210 --> 0:06:25.250 self all the way and just vindictive like anybody who 0:06:25.250 --> 0:06:28.370 wronged me. Boom! They got my revenge. I did not 0:06:28.370 --> 0:06:31.210 have time for you. You got my revenge. Because I 0:06:31.210 --> 0:06:33.170 wasn't going to let it happen to me again. That 0:06:33.170 --> 0:06:35.570 kind of thing. No way. I wasn't going to let 0:06:35.570 --> 0:06:38.330 it ride. There wasn't an ounce of forgiveness if you 0:06:38.370 --> 0:06:41.409 wronged me. Or at least I thought I was being wronged. 0:06:41.450 --> 0:06:45.330 Let's put it that way, too. Yeah, but here we go. 0:06:45.370 --> 0:06:48.229 One night I'm working in the John Hancock building. It 0:06:48.230 --> 0:06:51.710 was the job. Beautiful gig, I'm telling you. We were 0:06:51.710 --> 0:06:54.550 on the observatory level. Was the offices of this of 0:06:54.589 --> 0:06:56.990 this job. And I'm working an overnight shift on the 0:06:56.990 --> 0:07:00.789 94th floor of the John Hancock Building. And I took 0:07:00.790 --> 0:07:02.270 the Bible and I thought, okay, God, I'm going to 0:07:02.270 --> 0:07:04.670 give you one more chance. I'm going to give God 0:07:04.710 --> 0:07:08.030 one more chance. What am I thinking? Duh. But I'm 0:07:08.029 --> 0:07:09.710 going to give God one more chance. So I'm reading 0:07:09.710 --> 0:07:12.430 the Bible, and one night I go through Matthew, just 0:07:12.430 --> 0:07:14.830 kind of reintroducing myself to Jesus a little bit. And 0:07:14.830 --> 0:07:17.910 then I go into Luke, and then I go into 0:07:17.950 --> 0:07:25.230 Romans one. Oh, that always just takes my breath away. Romans, Romans, Romans, 0:07:25.230 --> 0:07:28.550 it spoke to me all the way through. God used 0:07:28.550 --> 0:07:34.150 Romans to just strike my heart. Romans 839 especially that 0:07:34.150 --> 0:07:37.550 there's nothing, nothing that can separate me from the love 0:07:37.550 --> 0:07:40.590 of God. Because you have to understand, love was conditional. 0:07:40.590 --> 0:07:42.790 Love came with a price, and love can be taken. 0:07:43.790 --> 0:07:48.500 But not in Romans, Not in the gospel. No, not 0:07:48.500 --> 0:07:52.220 God's love, not the love of Christ. That's why he 0:07:52.220 --> 0:07:57.420 was on the cross. It wasn't conditional. It was unconditional. 0:07:57.780 --> 0:08:02.860 And that just took me away. And I literally fell 0:08:03.020 --> 0:08:06.820 to my knees hard. I fell to my knees, arms up. 0:08:06.820 --> 0:08:10.540 I am bawling, I am crying, I'm like, God, I 0:08:10.580 --> 0:08:16.700 am so sorry. I my took out everything the wrong way. 0:08:16.700 --> 0:08:20.940 I am a sinner. I am a mess, I'm a mess. 0:08:21.420 --> 0:08:24.780 The checklist was long. I am so tired of doing 0:08:24.780 --> 0:08:26.580 this on my own. I don't know what I was thinking. 0:08:26.580 --> 0:08:30.380 I'm on this, you know, hamster wheel trying to figure 0:08:30.380 --> 0:08:35.940 things out. And no, I turn to you. I'm turning around. 0:08:35.940 --> 0:08:41.100 I'm turning to you. And I just sobbed and my 0:08:41.300 --> 0:08:44.720 hands are up and I'm going through this and I'm 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.440 just praying and sobbing and praying and sobbing and asking 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.720 for forgiveness and asking him to take over my life. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:56.440 I'm giving myself to him. And I really, physically felt 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:03.000 like all that festering, all that back trauma, hate, whatever revenge. 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.559 It was. A backpack of cement, I always call it, 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:11.240 literally fell off of me, I felt lighter. I'm a swimmer. 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.920 I felt like I had come up and I had air. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:19.480 I could just breathe and a warmth came over me. 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:23.840 I will never, ever forget that moment, and I, I, 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:27.240 I just gave my life to Christ. 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.400 You know, I'm going to I'm going to tell you 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:34.360 something here. This is something that is, uh, I love 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.240 doing this when you hear stories. So I've never done this, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:39.839 but I'm going to do it right now for you. 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:44.220 Somebody's never done this for you. It's one thing to 0:09:44.220 --> 0:09:46.540 hear a story. It's another thing to hear it confirmed 0:09:46.540 --> 0:09:50.900 by someone who's close to him. Somebody is imperfect, but 0:09:50.940 --> 0:09:56.260 radically transformed by Jesus. Everything that she was before her 0:09:56.260 --> 0:10:01.180 surrender to Christ has been changed. This is the beauty 0:10:01.179 --> 0:10:04.500 of the power of the gospel, the goodness of God, 0:10:04.500 --> 0:10:08.179 the grace of God. When she turned to Jesus, he 0:10:08.179 --> 0:10:14.099 turned her around. The gospel changes everything. Now she's a dancer. 0:10:15.740 --> 0:10:21.340 She's a lover of people. She believes the best. She 0:10:21.340 --> 0:10:24.180 extends mercy. It's all God, isn't it? Super. 0:10:24.540 --> 0:10:27.459 It's only and only. Only and always God. And I 0:10:27.500 --> 0:10:31.020 just want to say, you know, it becomes to where 0:10:31.059 --> 0:10:34.579 if you have gone through this type of heaviness and 0:10:34.580 --> 0:10:39.180 maybe some of you even more, you are not a victim. 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.719 Don't believe the lies of Satan. He wants you to 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.520 feel that you're a victim. He wants you. He wants 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:47.480 to keep a foothold on you. He wants to fill 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:49.760 you with shame so you don't tell your story. You 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:52.599 are not a victim. You are a victor in Christ. 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:54.240 Tell your story. 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:54.920 Yeah. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:58.920 Witness. Be a testimony to it. And I'm telling you. 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:03.200 Romans 839. You are so, so loved. God does not 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.800 want you to stay in your past. He does not 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.480 want you there. He has so much purpose for you. 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:10.800 And I want you to know and believe that today. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.480 Yeah. The light yoke that somebody talks about is promised 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.040 by Jesus himself. And some of you want that. But 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:19.760 before even Jesus spoke of the light yoke, he had 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.920 something really tough to say. And he has to say 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.200 it to you and we'll give that to you. Coming up. 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:31.520 Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.559 Super dei is in the crew. It's colonel and crew 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:36.859 on Moody Radio. Video. 0:11:37.300 --> 0:11:41.220 It's awesome. When you hear a story, you have new appreciation. 0:11:41.820 --> 0:11:45.819 Your your heart actually goes out and goes, yeah, I 0:11:45.860 --> 0:11:50.100 want to hug you right now. And the amazing thing 0:11:50.100 --> 0:11:53.900 about Super Di is that she's a she's a hugger. 0:11:54.980 --> 0:11:58.420 She's a dancer. She's a believer in people. I through 0:11:58.420 --> 0:12:01.020 the dancer thing in there for you. Super. Thank you. 0:12:02.900 --> 0:12:05.940 Not necessarily a spiritual gift, but boy, we sure appreciate it. 0:12:06.300 --> 0:12:10.500 She believes in people. She loves victory stories. She has compassion. 0:12:10.500 --> 0:12:15.020 But she didn't always have that. No sexual abuse. Verbal abuse. 0:12:15.620 --> 0:12:18.219 I thank you so much for sharing your story. Super di. 0:12:18.260 --> 0:12:22.140 But it brings this. It brings this moment for us 0:12:22.140 --> 0:12:26.780 here that are two radically, almost feels like two radically 0:12:26.780 --> 0:12:30.580 different themes, but they're absolutely the same. And they're found 0:12:30.580 --> 0:12:33.340 in Matthew 11. I want to begin with one of 0:12:33.340 --> 0:12:38.370 the coolest things here are might get choked up. Come 0:12:38.370 --> 0:12:41.010 to me. All who labor and are heavy laden. And 0:12:41.010 --> 0:12:45.010 I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me, 0:12:45.010 --> 0:12:47.210 Jesus said, and learn from me, for I am gentle 0:12:47.210 --> 0:12:49.290 and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for 0:12:49.290 --> 0:12:53.170 your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden 0:12:53.170 --> 0:12:54.970 is light. I want to speak to you, my friend. 0:12:55.530 --> 0:13:00.410 You just heard my story, and we know that there's 0:13:00.410 --> 0:13:04.050 many thousands listening right now who have been burdened down 0:13:04.050 --> 0:13:08.490 with the weight of all kinds of injustice and pain 0:13:08.490 --> 0:13:12.090 in this broken and fallen world. That's real. Right? Let's 0:13:12.090 --> 0:13:14.530 just sit there for a second. That's real, isn't it, Ali? 0:13:14.690 --> 0:13:20.410 It. Absolutely. And maybe you just don't talk about it. 0:13:20.450 --> 0:13:24.210 That's you. It's part of your story. But like I said, 0:13:24.210 --> 0:13:26.809 you just. You've buried it and you just don't talk 0:13:26.809 --> 0:13:27.650 about it. 0:13:27.650 --> 0:13:32.730 Yeah. The crazy thing is that on the polar extreme 0:13:32.730 --> 0:13:35.110 of this thing, And the very words that Jesus said 0:13:35.110 --> 0:13:37.829 right before, come to me, all who are weary and 0:13:37.830 --> 0:13:44.069 heavy laden. Was he. He said these words. He began 0:13:44.070 --> 0:13:47.470 to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works 0:13:47.470 --> 0:13:51.830 had been done, because they did not repent. Now, the 0:13:51.830 --> 0:13:54.470 word repentance isn't an angry word. It's a sweet word. 0:13:54.470 --> 0:13:58.150 It's what somebody heard on the 92nd floor of the 0:13:58.630 --> 0:14:02.870 John Hancock building. Yeah, yeah. She heard turn around. Super die. Yes. 0:14:03.070 --> 0:14:06.590 Because here's two things exist. Both. We have been hurt 0:14:06.590 --> 0:14:11.270 in this broken and fallen world, and we hurt people. 0:14:13.270 --> 0:14:16.190 And apart from the grace and power of God, we're 0:14:16.190 --> 0:14:19.710 going to stew in our anger, in our rage, in 0:14:19.710 --> 0:14:24.150 our disappointment, in our shame. And Jesus went on to say, 0:14:24.750 --> 0:14:28.710 woe to you, Bethsaida and Chorazin. For if the mighty 0:14:28.750 --> 0:14:31.890 works I did in front of you had been done 0:14:31.890 --> 0:14:35.010 in Tyre and Sidon. That's modern day Beirut, Lebanon, by 0:14:35.010 --> 0:14:38.850 the way, guys, they would have repented long ago in 0:14:38.850 --> 0:14:43.370 sackcloth and ashes. Here's the point. The point is repentance 0:14:44.490 --> 0:14:46.810 in our heart for you this week, as you hear 0:14:46.810 --> 0:14:51.330 our stories, is that you not be a person that 0:14:51.330 --> 0:14:54.490 stays in kind of the hamster wheel of the pain 0:14:54.530 --> 0:14:58.050 of your past, but that you own the pain of 0:14:58.050 --> 0:15:02.290 your own sin and walk in freedom. Both coexist. Isn't 0:15:02.290 --> 0:15:05.810 that wild, guys? He says, woe to you, Chorazin. Woe 0:15:05.810 --> 0:15:11.370 to you, Bethsaida! And here's the point. You've got to 0:15:11.370 --> 0:15:14.530 have a touchpoint with somebody on two things one, the 0:15:14.530 --> 0:15:17.090 weight of the pain that she had from childhood all 0:15:17.090 --> 0:15:20.330 the way up through her tweens, even into her teens 0:15:20.770 --> 0:15:25.970 with abuse and neglect, and at the same time own 0:15:26.010 --> 0:15:30.430 the fact that, as somebody testified, Inside. There are things 0:15:30.430 --> 0:15:33.710 that we've done that has sinned against God and others, 0:15:33.710 --> 0:15:36.910 and we need a Savior. Both coexist. Isn't that amazing? 0:15:37.150 --> 0:15:40.710 That's the beauty of the gospel, guys. That's the beauty. 0:15:40.750 --> 0:15:45.190 God sees it all. So he says, come to me, 0:15:45.390 --> 0:15:49.750 to you today. You're wearing a heavy yoke. I get it, 0:15:49.750 --> 0:15:54.550 Jesus says, but he also says, come to me, repent 0:15:54.550 --> 0:15:58.110 and turn around of your own sins. Both are there. 0:16:01.510 --> 0:16:05.070 And you've heard my story, and you've heard stories of grace, 0:16:05.070 --> 0:16:10.070 possibly before. And according to Jesus's words, it'll be better 0:16:10.070 --> 0:16:12.870 for those that have not heard the story of grace 0:16:12.870 --> 0:16:14.910 on the Day of Judgment, than for those that have 0:16:14.910 --> 0:16:17.790 heard and have not yet repented. I'm not saying that 0:16:17.790 --> 0:16:20.110 to scare you. I'm saying that because I love you. 0:16:21.390 --> 0:16:26.990 This is the gospel. And I've often wondered, and I've 0:16:27.090 --> 0:16:31.650 actually had an opportunity to warn many people that being 0:16:31.650 --> 0:16:35.370 exposed to the grace of God is a beautiful thing 0:16:35.370 --> 0:16:39.010 for those who repent, but it's a very scary thing 0:16:39.010 --> 0:16:41.650 for those who don't. And my heart goes out to 0:16:41.650 --> 0:16:45.850 you today. I want for you to experience new life 0:16:45.850 --> 0:16:49.090 in Jesus Christ. I want you to come to the 0:16:49.090 --> 0:16:51.530 one who can take the weight off your shoulders, and 0:16:51.530 --> 0:16:55.370 you can say to him, I'm heavy laden. And I 0:16:55.370 --> 0:16:59.090 also want for you to repent of your sins, because 0:16:59.090 --> 0:17:01.650 that's how the weight gets lifted. You know what comes 0:17:01.650 --> 0:17:05.050 first in the storyline in Matthew 11 is the warning 0:17:05.090 --> 0:17:08.609 to those who don't repent. But what comes second is 0:17:08.609 --> 0:17:10.850 the come to me now, all of you who are 0:17:10.850 --> 0:17:15.010 weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And 0:17:15.010 --> 0:17:17.170 you might be saying, well, what does this look like? Well, 0:17:17.170 --> 0:17:19.290 there's one key word I want to focus on here, 0:17:19.290 --> 0:17:21.650 and it's the word repent. And it's a beautiful word. 0:17:21.650 --> 0:17:24.170 It's what somebody did when she fell to her knees. 0:17:24.609 --> 0:17:27.439 She repented of her sin and found freedom from the 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:32.080 sins of others. That's beautiful. And I just invite you 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.760 right now in the quietness of this moment, because God's 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.720 quietly speaking into your heart. Please, friend, don't carry that 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:41.160 weight alone anymore. The weight of what others have done, 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.840 nor the weight of your own sin. Today you can 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.760 give it to God. Repentance means to turn around. It's 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.040 the most loving word going on this broad path that 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.240 leads to destruction. There are many substitute gods, and maybe 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:58.160 your substitute god has been vengeance or bitterness. Your substitute 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.720 God has been shame. And I want you to know 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:05.919 Jesus wants to free you from that today 100%. He 0:18:05.920 --> 0:18:09.200 wants to give you total and complete freedom. And I 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.840 appeal to you, friend. Don't wait till the day of judgment. 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.400 Today is the day to repent and to give your 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.120 life fully to Jesus Christ. It's so much more than 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:22.360 being raised with a good book on a nightstand. So 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.900 much more than going to church. It's falling to your 0:18:25.900 --> 0:18:28.460 knees and finding the one who loved you so much 0:18:28.900 --> 0:18:31.620 that he sent his son to die for you, so 0:18:31.619 --> 0:18:34.699 that you will not perish, but you will have everlasting life. 0:18:35.220 --> 0:18:37.460 And I'm asking you to put yourself in the arms 0:18:37.460 --> 0:18:39.859 of God today for the first time in your life. 0:18:41.140 --> 0:18:45.659 I'm absolutely confident that the Holy Spirit is convicting. The 0:18:45.660 --> 0:18:49.220 Holy Spirit is comforting, and the Holy Spirit is calling 0:18:49.220 --> 0:18:53.100 this morning. And I'm asking you to surrender to Jesus today. 0:18:53.740 --> 0:18:55.740 I want you to just pray along with me. It's 0:18:55.780 --> 0:18:58.659 a cry of the soul. It's a cry of faith. 0:18:59.820 --> 0:19:02.379 But today is your day of salvation, friend. Today is 0:19:02.380 --> 0:19:04.740 your day. Today is the day when you are no 0:19:04.740 --> 0:19:07.260 longer going to be carrying around this weight, and you 0:19:07.300 --> 0:19:09.220 are no longer going to go your own way to 0:19:09.260 --> 0:19:11.980 sort it out. You're going to repent and follow Jesus. 0:19:13.300 --> 0:19:16.540 So just cry out to God and see Jesus today, 0:19:16.540 --> 0:19:20.540 I believe. I believe you want to free me from 0:19:20.540 --> 0:19:23.280 the weight that I'm carrying. And I believe you want 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.080 to free me from my own sin in my life. 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:31.400 And today I repent. Today I turn around. Today I 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:37.800 follow Jesus. Today I speak the truth that you came 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.520 into this world because you love me, and you died 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:45.120 for me, for my sin and the sin of the world. 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.080 And today I confess that I'm a sinner and I 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:54.479 need a Savior, and I'm tired, and I'm asking you 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.040 to carry this weight that I've been carrying for so long. 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:02.600 Take it off my shoulders, Jesus. Today I give you 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:11.680 my life completely. Today I am a Jesus follower. And 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:17.960 I give you my life completely. There are many of 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.900 you right now who are surrendering your life to Jesus 0:20:21.900 --> 0:20:25.540 Christ for the first time. And we want to help you. 0:20:26.740 --> 0:20:28.420 We've got a link. I want you to get your 0:20:28.420 --> 0:20:32.300 phone because we want to help you today. And we're 0:20:32.300 --> 0:20:34.460 going to auto respond to one word that you're going 0:20:34.500 --> 0:20:36.660 to text us. And when you text this word, you're 0:20:36.660 --> 0:20:38.540 going to have a little tool in your hand that's 0:20:38.540 --> 0:20:41.260 going to show you how to find people who are 0:20:41.260 --> 0:20:43.980 going to help you. It's going to show you where 0:20:43.980 --> 0:20:46.500 you can find a Bible that will be a guide 0:20:46.500 --> 0:20:49.020 for you moving forward if you don't already have one, 0:20:49.020 --> 0:20:51.540 and it will will have a little link in there 0:20:51.540 --> 0:20:54.420 that we're going to be able to send you via mail, 0:20:54.619 --> 0:20:58.620 some resources that are going to help you live now 0:20:58.660 --> 0:21:01.780 in this power that set you free from your sin. 0:21:03.940 --> 0:21:07.300 So it's really simple. Just text the word new right 0:21:07.300 --> 0:21:11.460 now to 805 five, five, 78, 98. Wherever you are, 0:21:11.500 --> 0:21:14.699 just text in that word because whom the son sets 0:21:14.700 --> 0:21:18.360 free is free indeed. When somebody got up off her 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:23.639 face and off of her knees. Everything was new, right? 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:24.359 Super die. 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:29.680 Everything was new. It was amazing. And. Yes, exactly. That 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:33.000 backpack of cement came off. I came up for air, 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:37.800 and I just physically felt the warmth of God's love. 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:41.480 Tex knew right now, if today is your day of salvation, 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:48.760 just text the word new to 800 555, 7898. You 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:52.440 were surprised by the spirit this morning, and we're going 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:54.440 to shout out in just a moment the last four 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:58.239 numbers of your telephone number. We're blowing through some of 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.640 our natural stops here. But that's okay, isn't it? 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:03.040 It's totally okay. 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:06.800 Just text the word new right now, wherever you are, 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:11.400 to 805 five, five, 78, 98. If today is your day, 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:14.800 where God is freeing you from a yoke of slavery. 0:22:15.590 --> 0:22:20.270 Just text the word new to 800 555 7898. Let's 0:22:20.270 --> 0:22:23.109 take time here, Ali, before we even spin a song here, 0:22:23.150 --> 0:22:25.389 let's shout out the last four numbers of those who 0:22:25.390 --> 0:22:27.550 are surrendering to Jesus today. 0:22:27.590 --> 0:22:29.390 Yeah, those of you texting new, I want to read 0:22:29.390 --> 0:22:33.830 out the last four digits of your number. 2024 0550. 0:22:33.869 --> 0:22:42.310 Welcome to the family. 3208 79. 40. 43. 48. 49. 70. 37. 40. 82, 0:22:42.350 --> 0:22:45.629 49 and 68. 18. Welcome to the family. 0:22:46.109 --> 0:22:51.590 Amazing. Welcome to the family. God is making all things 0:22:51.630 --> 0:22:54.230 new for you. Continue to text as you feel led. 0:22:54.230 --> 0:22:58.110 We're here for you. There's no time. Stop on this text. 0:22:58.109 --> 0:23:01.990 New to 800 555 7898. 0:23:02.390 --> 0:23:06.910 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:23:06.910 --> 0:23:10.590 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:23:10.869 --> 0:23:16.050 Oh my goodness. Super di Diana Berriman, uh, a colleague, friend, 0:23:16.330 --> 0:23:18.290 dear one that we love so much. One of the 0:23:18.290 --> 0:23:20.810 team here just poured out her heart about her story. 0:23:20.850 --> 0:23:24.170 God's redemption, his grace, his power, his ability to take 0:23:24.170 --> 0:23:27.570 a concrete backpack and throw it off of you. Super di. 0:23:27.690 --> 0:23:28.410 Absolutely. 0:23:28.450 --> 0:23:31.650 And look what God's doing, kiddo. Look what God's doing. 0:23:31.850 --> 0:23:35.010 He's saving people out of the shadows of darkness and 0:23:35.010 --> 0:23:38.090 bringing them into the light. And we've invited so many 0:23:38.090 --> 0:23:40.490 of you to repent today and to turn around and 0:23:40.490 --> 0:23:42.890 give your life to Jesus. And we know that there's 0:23:43.690 --> 0:23:46.210 without a doubt, there's many of you wiping up tears. 0:23:46.210 --> 0:23:49.649 Tears are a good thing. I've found that, uh, real 0:23:49.650 --> 0:23:54.369 men cry, real men cry, real women cry. And it's okay. 0:23:54.369 --> 0:23:57.290 But the tears of salvation are a tear of shame 0:23:57.290 --> 0:24:00.689 draining out of you and joy pouring in. And Ali, 0:24:00.690 --> 0:24:03.609 we've had so many surrender to Jesus today. We've called 0:24:03.609 --> 0:24:06.050 out a ton of numbers here, but let's just affirm 0:24:06.050 --> 0:24:06.530 some more. 0:24:06.650 --> 0:24:09.570 I've got some more welcomes. This is last four digits 0:24:09.570 --> 0:24:11.209 of your phone number. I want to welcome you to 0:24:11.250 --> 0:24:20.470 the family. 6056379 40 1178 3500. I want to welcome 0:24:20.470 --> 0:24:30.030 to the family. 6360 903, 43, 24, 68, 47, 74, 17, 53, 55, 65. 0:24:30.030 --> 0:24:33.350 Welcome to the family 09110. 0:24:33.390 --> 0:24:38.950 That's so good. And I think 1178 came in as well. And, uh, 0:24:38.990 --> 0:24:42.109 way to go. Way to go. You know, it's an 0:24:42.109 --> 0:24:45.070 awesome thing, uh, for us to be able to come 0:24:45.070 --> 0:24:48.070 to you with the hope of the gospel. And I 0:24:48.070 --> 0:24:50.230 just want to speak to this one thing that happened 0:24:50.230 --> 0:24:52.470 here just now. I think there's a lot of people 0:24:52.470 --> 0:24:57.189 that have, um, in an attempt to reach people, sometimes 0:24:57.190 --> 0:25:01.510 we lower the bar of what salvation is. But one 0:25:01.510 --> 0:25:06.429 of the most one of the most abused and misunderstood 0:25:06.430 --> 0:25:09.350 words that we find and we've heard is the word repent. 0:25:09.350 --> 0:25:13.050 But it's the most beautiful word. Jesus never said it, 0:25:13.050 --> 0:25:16.050 banging on a piece of wood, yelling at people. He 0:25:16.050 --> 0:25:20.050 said repentance like turn around. He told his first disciples, 0:25:20.090 --> 0:25:23.690 follow me. Turn around. Let's go. And we find in 0:25:24.130 --> 0:25:27.650 Matthew chapter 11. It's time to repent. It's time to 0:25:27.650 --> 0:25:30.970 turn around from the broad path that leads to destruction, 0:25:31.170 --> 0:25:35.170 onto this narrow path that leads to life. And Jesus 0:25:35.210 --> 0:25:37.129 is clear if you are going to find it. But 0:25:37.130 --> 0:25:39.570 there are many of you today that are among the few, 0:25:39.570 --> 0:25:41.370 and we want to welcome you to the family from 0:25:41.369 --> 0:25:43.889 the bottom of our heart. Use that link that we 0:25:43.930 --> 0:25:47.330 sent you. We're here to help you not only step 0:25:47.330 --> 0:25:50.090 into this new relationship with Christ, but then to grow 0:25:50.090 --> 0:25:52.690 in him. And one of the big sticking points of 0:25:52.730 --> 0:25:56.010 growing in our relationship with God is that we have 0:25:56.010 --> 0:26:00.129 to wade through the morass of a cultural Christianity and 0:26:00.170 --> 0:26:03.410 boil it all right, down to living in God's power 0:26:03.410 --> 0:26:06.290 and not bootstrapping this faith. Speak to that alley. 0:26:06.609 --> 0:26:11.430 Well, you know, it's it's pretty common in Western culture 0:26:11.430 --> 0:26:15.030 to have some sort of a religious background. I mean, many, 0:26:15.030 --> 0:26:20.189 many people do. And sometimes it's linked to cultural. Sometimes 0:26:20.190 --> 0:26:24.430 it's linked to your origin, your family dynamic. And so 0:26:24.430 --> 0:26:27.910 you might have a religious understanding. And so I think 0:26:27.910 --> 0:26:31.390 sometimes that really muddies the water because you, it's, it's 0:26:31.390 --> 0:26:34.550 rare to meet somebody who's never heard the name of 0:26:34.550 --> 0:26:36.710 Jesus here in this country. Yeah. 0:26:36.750 --> 0:26:37.510 It doesn't it. 0:26:37.550 --> 0:26:41.070 Doesn't often happen. Most people have heard the name of Jesus, 0:26:41.070 --> 0:26:45.990 and most people have some sort of already preconceived idea 0:26:46.030 --> 0:26:48.710 about what it means to be a Christian. 0:26:49.430 --> 0:26:51.869 Yeah. And my contention is, though, that we live among 0:26:51.910 --> 0:26:54.230 a lot of those people that have some vague idea. 0:26:54.270 --> 0:26:59.150 I am absolutely convinced we live among a vast millions 0:26:59.150 --> 0:27:01.790 and millions of people in America that have never had 0:27:01.790 --> 0:27:04.030 a fair shot of the good news of Jesus. 0:27:04.070 --> 0:27:07.180 And I think the difference between, like maybe going to 0:27:07.220 --> 0:27:10.020 being a missionary to an unreached people group in some 0:27:10.020 --> 0:27:12.900 place where they've never heard the name of Jesus is here. 0:27:13.140 --> 0:27:16.219 You're having to wade through a lot of kind of 0:27:16.260 --> 0:27:19.700 undo some wrong teaching. I will never forget the person 0:27:19.700 --> 0:27:22.500 who said one of the reasons why they enjoyed the 0:27:22.500 --> 0:27:26.020 show is because growing up, they got bad information about 0:27:26.020 --> 0:27:26.580 the gospel. 0:27:26.619 --> 0:27:27.859 That was a classic call. 0:27:27.859 --> 0:27:30.660 And and I thought that for now, for years now 0:27:30.660 --> 0:27:32.660 is captured. What I think happens to a lot of us, 0:27:32.660 --> 0:27:34.900 you get bad information about the gospel. So it's not 0:27:34.900 --> 0:27:36.820 that you've never heard the name of Jesus, it's that 0:27:36.820 --> 0:27:39.740 you've never actually heard the gospel of what it means 0:27:39.740 --> 0:27:42.820 to be saved and what it really means to follow him. 0:27:43.220 --> 0:27:48.340 Yeah, yeah. It's so true, Ali. And we're breaking. We're 0:27:48.340 --> 0:27:52.980 seeing breakthrough with the cultural Christianity that's cloaked so many 0:27:52.980 --> 0:27:54.820 of us. And we're going to be talking about this 0:27:54.820 --> 0:27:57.780 all week long. And you know, there's some of you 0:27:57.780 --> 0:28:03.300 that wonder right now. Where do I stand with God. 0:28:04.800 --> 0:28:09.320 Where do I stand with God? And that's a fair question. 0:28:10.320 --> 0:28:13.199 I mean, wanting to know you stand with God and 0:28:13.200 --> 0:28:16.959 that he stands with you is huge. And one of 0:28:16.960 --> 0:28:18.760 the things that we want to do is have this 0:28:18.760 --> 0:28:23.439 juxtaposition of giving the clear gospel of who Jesus is 0:28:23.480 --> 0:28:26.760 and how he wants to transform you and walk you 0:28:26.760 --> 0:28:30.719 into that very abundance that Jesus spoke of. And the 0:28:30.720 --> 0:28:36.479 amazing thing is, is that we don't. We don't actually 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:42.320 reach anyone. The Holy Spirit uses words to regenerate your soul. 0:28:42.320 --> 0:28:45.360 And that's that's a powerful thing. You know what? I 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:48.120 feel prompted that I want to give a resource because 0:28:48.120 --> 0:28:51.520 there were there was some time ago when I felt like, 0:28:51.520 --> 0:28:54.040 oh my goodness, people need to know and measure where 0:28:54.040 --> 0:28:57.680 they stand with God. Let's let's do this right now. Ali, 0:28:57.680 --> 0:29:00.920 this resource has been used by tens of thousands of 0:29:00.920 --> 0:29:04.500 people and there's many. They're going to want this today. 0:29:04.500 --> 0:29:07.580 It's very it's pretty short. It's readable. It's right from 0:29:07.580 --> 0:29:10.860 the Word of God. It's our standard resource. It's nine 0:29:10.860 --> 0:29:13.660 ways to know you stand with God. He stands with you. 0:29:13.660 --> 0:29:19.180 Just text the word stand to 855 five 7898. Text 0:29:19.220 --> 0:29:24.340 stand to 800 555 7898. We'll send it right to 0:29:24.340 --> 0:29:24.940 your phone. 0:29:25.500 --> 0:29:33.700 Yeah. That's great. What an awesome thing to witness. What 0:29:33.740 --> 0:29:36.940 God is doing here today. So many people called out 0:29:36.980 --> 0:29:42.260 of darkness and into the light. What a powerful thing. Father, 0:29:42.260 --> 0:29:47.060 I thank you for these newborn children. These ones that 0:29:47.060 --> 0:29:50.260 were carrying weight and are now free in Christ. And 0:29:50.260 --> 0:29:54.820 I pray in Jesus name. I'm reminded of Philippians one 0:29:54.860 --> 0:29:57.860 six that you who began this work in them will 0:29:57.860 --> 0:30:01.120 carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus, 0:30:01.120 --> 0:30:04.040 and I thank you for that. In the name of Jesus, 0:30:04.040 --> 0:30:05.600 we thank you. Amen. 0:30:05.960 --> 0:30:08.959 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:30:08.960 --> 0:30:13.240 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:15.520 curling crew on Moody Radio. 0:30:15.800 --> 0:30:19.080 How can I get that story to share with someone else? 0:30:19.120 --> 0:30:21.080 Just got that text message. We want to make it easy. 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:23.000 If you ever hear something that you would like to 0:30:23.040 --> 0:30:25.560 hear again, or you'd like to share with someone in 0:30:25.560 --> 0:30:27.880 your life who you think would really benefit from it, 0:30:27.920 --> 0:30:33.280 just text the word show to 800 555 7898. Text 0:30:33.320 --> 0:30:37.960 show to 800 555 7898. You're going to get back 0:30:37.960 --> 0:30:41.240 from us a link that gives you direct links so 0:30:41.240 --> 0:30:44.280 that you can listen whether you're on iPhone or Android, 0:30:44.280 --> 0:30:46.840 and that usually gets updated a couple of hours after 0:30:46.840 --> 0:30:50.370 we are our show concludes. So usually around 1030 or 0:30:50.370 --> 0:30:53.080 11 Central time. So look for it. Then just text 0:30:53.080 --> 0:30:58.020 show to 800 555 78, 98. Another thing we like 0:30:58.020 --> 0:31:00.460 to feature is resources that are going to help you 0:31:00.460 --> 0:31:03.140 take your next step in your walk with Jesus. And 0:31:03.140 --> 0:31:05.540 coming up, we're going to feature one that allows you 0:31:05.540 --> 0:31:08.340 to get into the Word of God with some context, 0:31:08.380 --> 0:31:13.140 some historical understanding right here. Produced at Moody Bible Institute, 0:31:13.140 --> 0:31:15.460 it's called today in the word. And if you've not 0:31:15.460 --> 0:31:18.100 heard about it, boy, we need to get you connected. 0:31:18.140 --> 0:31:19.740 We'll have a special guest coming up. 0:31:19.940 --> 0:31:22.620 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:31:22.660 --> 0:31:26.540 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:31:26.740 --> 0:31:29.300 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:31:30.060 --> 0:31:33.300 This is going to sound super sappy. I just want 0:31:33.300 --> 0:31:40.380 to give you a warning. Um. God expresses his love 0:31:40.380 --> 0:31:43.820 to us in so many cool ways. And the sappy 0:31:43.860 --> 0:31:48.700 part for me is I've got two of these rescue cats. 0:31:49.740 --> 0:31:53.780 And I kid you not, God encourages my hearts with 0:31:53.780 --> 0:31:55.500 them in the craziest ways. 0:31:56.090 --> 0:31:56.970 That's sweet. 0:31:58.210 --> 0:32:00.770 And I kid you not. And one of them, we 0:32:00.810 --> 0:32:04.410 got on three legs. And when I told my wife yes, 0:32:04.410 --> 0:32:08.210 she's like, she's it's her second rescue cat. And she's like, 0:32:08.210 --> 0:32:11.650 this thing's wheezing. It's going to die. And can I 0:32:11.650 --> 0:32:16.010 bring it home? And I'm like, yeah, bring it home. 0:32:16.210 --> 0:32:19.690 And that sucker got home here. And I'm like, oh, Nelly, 0:32:19.690 --> 0:32:22.690 we're gonna have a cat that's stuck on one floor 0:32:23.570 --> 0:32:26.050 and it's on three legs. And it had been smacked 0:32:26.050 --> 0:32:29.930 by a car hit so hard that teeth had been 0:32:29.930 --> 0:32:32.970 knocked out, a jaw had been broken, a leg had 0:32:32.970 --> 0:32:36.010 been broken. And I don't know why they did this. 0:32:36.050 --> 0:32:38.090 They gave my wife the pictures of this thing when 0:32:38.090 --> 0:32:41.770 she adopted it and it was bad. And come to 0:32:41.770 --> 0:32:44.490 find out, he was just a teenager at that time. 0:32:44.490 --> 0:32:46.490 We thought he was full grown, but he kept growing 0:32:47.130 --> 0:32:50.370 and God in his grace healed that guy up and 0:32:50.370 --> 0:32:53.050 he had PTSD from getting whacked. 0:32:53.330 --> 0:32:53.650 Oh I'm. 0:32:53.750 --> 0:32:54.150 Sure. 0:32:54.190 --> 0:32:57.630 So what really got him was tin foil. Because it 0:32:57.630 --> 0:33:00.670 must have simulated the sound of something breaking or cracking 0:33:00.670 --> 0:33:03.110 or something. So he'd pull out a piece. Just a 0:33:03.110 --> 0:33:05.670 little piece of tin foil. This guy. So we got 0:33:05.710 --> 0:33:08.390 wood floors, and he's a big, hairy booger. So he's 0:33:08.390 --> 0:33:12.150 got hair coming out the bottom of his pads like crazy. Like, 0:33:12.150 --> 0:33:14.390 so much so his pads didn't can't hit the floor. 0:33:14.390 --> 0:33:18.910 It's just hair and and no joking. He's a he's 0:33:18.950 --> 0:33:24.430 a a Norwegian tree cat or forest cat. And um. 0:33:24.670 --> 0:33:27.990 And he loves trees. So anyway, he's got hair coming 0:33:27.990 --> 0:33:31.390 out so long. No joking. Two inch hair coming out 0:33:31.390 --> 0:33:34.030 and lots of it from between his pads. So when 0:33:34.030 --> 0:33:36.990 he gets freaked out, he's just, like, doing this cartoon 0:33:36.990 --> 0:33:40.430 where he's just spinning out, trying to get traction. And 0:33:40.430 --> 0:33:42.790 I used to die for him because he started spinning 0:33:42.790 --> 0:33:46.830 out on three legs and that was hard to watch. Well, 0:33:46.830 --> 0:33:50.630 his leg gets healed, and now he's getting over his PTSD. 0:33:51.150 --> 0:33:55.170 And he trusts me and he loves me. And he 0:33:55.170 --> 0:33:58.370 comes up to me and he just bumps into me 0:33:58.930 --> 0:34:02.210 and he's like, hey, can I get a neck rub? 0:34:03.330 --> 0:34:05.730 He's not audible, by the way. Of course, obviously. 0:34:05.770 --> 0:34:11.170 But Karl has a talking cat. Whoa. Oh, okay. 0:34:11.650 --> 0:34:14.089 But I kid you not, there have been times when 0:34:14.090 --> 0:34:18.489 I've been. Because, believe it or not, ready for a secret? Shh, shh. 0:34:18.489 --> 0:34:23.529 Don't tell anyone. Karl can get sad, too. Yeah, I 0:34:23.530 --> 0:34:26.850 can get sad. There's times when I've been sad. And 0:34:26.850 --> 0:34:31.169 God brings that crazy cat up to me. Named him Sozo. 0:34:33.290 --> 0:34:42.049 Means saved and healed. And sozo. Kind of like a 0:34:42.050 --> 0:34:47.530 mountain or a stream. Can encourage your soul. God saw 0:34:47.530 --> 0:34:52.710 fit that a stray cat with three legs, got healed up, 0:34:54.630 --> 0:35:00.070 spins out on hardwood floors would ultimately be a huge 0:35:00.070 --> 0:35:05.350 source of encouragement for his son. Carl. Isn't that wild? 0:35:06.270 --> 0:35:11.430 Isn't that wild? Oh, how he loves you. Oh, how 0:35:11.430 --> 0:35:15.950 he loves you. How are you seeing God express his 0:35:15.950 --> 0:35:19.830 love toward you today? Make sure you look and see. 0:35:19.830 --> 0:35:26.430 Because he's doing it. He's doing it. Coming up, we 0:35:26.469 --> 0:35:29.510 got a got a treat for you, right, Ali? 0:35:29.510 --> 0:35:31.910 Yeah. I mean, if you loved Carl's story about his 0:35:31.910 --> 0:35:34.989 rescue cats, you're going to love hearing about all the 0:35:34.989 --> 0:35:39.029 cool mentions of animals in the Bible this month. Today 0:35:39.030 --> 0:35:40.989 in the word devotional, we've got the author with us 0:35:40.989 --> 0:35:41.550 coming up. 0:35:42.510 --> 0:35:45.589 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:35:47.190 --> 0:35:49.570 It's a dog eat dog world out there. 0:35:49.570 --> 0:35:49.970 Ali. 0:35:50.650 --> 0:35:51.250 Yes. 0:35:52.130 --> 0:35:54.770 What in the cat hairs going on around here? Oh, 0:35:54.810 --> 0:35:56.890 I see where you're going with this. Come on, let's 0:35:56.890 --> 0:35:58.770 have a little bit of fun. Let's see what other. 0:35:59.050 --> 0:35:59.530 Animal. 0:35:59.530 --> 0:36:00.050 Reference. 0:36:00.050 --> 0:36:02.569 Well, you told me that you were when you were 0:36:02.570 --> 0:36:04.850 in middle school. You felt a little. 0:36:04.890 --> 0:36:08.009 Long in the legs, right? Well, um, you ever get. 0:36:08.010 --> 0:36:08.370 Called. 0:36:08.370 --> 0:36:10.850 Giraffe or anything like that? Giraffe? 0:36:11.330 --> 0:36:14.090 I unfortunately, I felt kind of like an ugly duckling. 0:36:14.130 --> 0:36:17.370 Oh, don't do that to me. No, I'm just just 0:36:17.370 --> 0:36:23.210 tell we're going. Animal. Ducks are fair game. They are 0:36:23.210 --> 0:36:26.609 fair game. I just my dad heart came out right there. 0:36:27.010 --> 0:36:29.770 I don't want that. Um, it's funny because you look 0:36:29.770 --> 0:36:32.489 in the scripture. And what do you find? Animals everywhere. 0:36:32.489 --> 0:36:35.290 And not just in the garden? No, and not just 0:36:35.330 --> 0:36:36.090 on the ark. 0:36:36.250 --> 0:36:36.570 No. 0:36:36.610 --> 0:36:39.529 They're animals sprinkled everywhere in Scripture. If you start looking for. 0:36:39.530 --> 0:36:42.570 Them, you got talking donkeys. You got people called dogs, 0:36:42.570 --> 0:36:47.040 by the way, the Samaritans. So dogs, Animals are everywhere. 0:36:47.880 --> 0:36:51.480 Jim Coakley. What's with animals in the Bible? 0:36:51.520 --> 0:36:53.560 Yeah, they're all over the place, as you just mentioned. 0:36:53.560 --> 0:36:55.640 And of course, like many of our listeners, I grew 0:36:55.640 --> 0:36:58.719 up loving animals. I had unusual exotic pets. I had 0:36:58.719 --> 0:37:02.000 an American toad. I had instead of goldfish, I had 0:37:02.000 --> 0:37:04.920 a bluegill. And my roommate at college had a piranha, 0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:06.759 and we put him in the same tank and they 0:37:06.760 --> 0:37:08.160 survived with each other. Oh, I. 0:37:08.160 --> 0:37:09.799 Thought you were going to give us something that we 0:37:09.800 --> 0:37:11.520 had to have a little ear warning on. 0:37:11.560 --> 0:37:13.759 No, but my wife did put it down. One time 0:37:13.760 --> 0:37:16.799 at a church camp. I picked up this lovely green snake, 0:37:16.800 --> 0:37:19.279 and I wanted to bring it home. And she said, nope, nope, no, 0:37:19.280 --> 0:37:20.200 no snakes at home. 0:37:20.239 --> 0:37:22.279 You know, I knew I loved Gail. Now I love 0:37:22.280 --> 0:37:25.160 her all the more. You need some wise counsel in 0:37:25.160 --> 0:37:26.200 your life, don't you? 0:37:26.239 --> 0:37:26.640 Yes, I. 0:37:26.640 --> 0:37:26.799 Do. 0:37:26.840 --> 0:37:30.440 Doctor Jim Coakley is the author of this month's today 0:37:30.440 --> 0:37:34.959 in the Word devotional, which focuses on animals in Scripture. 0:37:35.200 --> 0:37:38.120 Why did you take on this as a topic for 0:37:38.120 --> 0:37:40.360 a whole month? This probably is going to, for most people, 0:37:40.360 --> 0:37:41.520 seem a bit obscure. 0:37:41.760 --> 0:37:44.340 I like what Proverbs six tells us to do, because 0:37:44.340 --> 0:37:46.219 I think this really is the inspiration for the whole 0:37:46.219 --> 0:37:49.140 month's study. It tells us to what? Go to the ant, 0:37:49.140 --> 0:37:51.700 you sluggard. And so we're told to look at the 0:37:51.739 --> 0:37:54.940 animal kingdom. We're looking at the ant. And so we 0:37:54.940 --> 0:37:58.660 learn wisdom principles by looking at some of God's creatures, 0:37:58.660 --> 0:38:01.580 but they're also used symbolically. The lion and the lamb. 0:38:01.620 --> 0:38:03.940 You know, Jesus, the lion of the tribe of Judah, 0:38:03.980 --> 0:38:06.900 Jesus the Lamb of God. The metaphors that are there, 0:38:07.100 --> 0:38:10.100 of course, we have associations with, you know, snakes with 0:38:10.100 --> 0:38:13.140 deception and and all sorts of, you know, kind of 0:38:13.180 --> 0:38:16.940 eerie associations with some things like in the book of Genesis, 0:38:16.980 --> 0:38:21.739 goats are always around deception, you know, they fool dad. Uh, again, uh, 0:38:21.739 --> 0:38:25.660 Jacob fooled Isaac with goat skin. Yes. Uh, we have 0:38:25.660 --> 0:38:28.739 the goats speckled and spotted goats. Jacob's trying to get 0:38:28.739 --> 0:38:31.180 the upper hand with Uncle Laban. Uh, we have the 0:38:31.180 --> 0:38:35.140 brothers of Joseph dipping Joseph's garment in goat's blood to 0:38:35.180 --> 0:38:38.140 try to show evidence that he's been devoured by wild animals. 0:38:38.140 --> 0:38:41.860 So goats in the Book of Genesis are associated with deception. 0:38:42.000 --> 0:38:45.000 but they're wily animals, so it fits the kind of 0:38:45.160 --> 0:38:47.080 the nature of the animal itself. 0:38:47.160 --> 0:38:49.279 You know, even the book of Job, for crying out loud. 0:38:49.320 --> 0:38:52.000 I mean, we got references to animals, some of which 0:38:52.160 --> 0:38:56.400 people speculate. Is this referring to what we would call 0:38:56.440 --> 0:38:59.640 prehistoric now? Right. So why? 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:02.040 I mean, right in Genesis one, they're part of the 0:39:02.040 --> 0:39:05.360 created world. And so we have the fact that God 0:39:05.360 --> 0:39:08.200 made them. And so there's lessons to be learned from 0:39:08.200 --> 0:39:09.839 what we have with that. And like you say, the 0:39:09.840 --> 0:39:13.040 book of Job, were you there, uh, all those questions 0:39:13.040 --> 0:39:15.239 that God asked job at the end of the book 0:39:15.280 --> 0:39:17.520 to kind of say, hey, you need to knock it 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:19.680 down a little bit in terms of what you think, 0:39:19.719 --> 0:39:22.960 in terms of understanding my ways, because were you there 0:39:22.960 --> 0:39:25.800 when the ostrich gave birth or whatever? I mean, so 0:39:26.200 --> 0:39:28.160 it's a way for us to kind of make sure 0:39:28.160 --> 0:39:31.520 that we realize God is sovereign and powerful and way 0:39:31.560 --> 0:39:33.000 wiser than you and I are. 0:39:33.040 --> 0:39:35.200 You know, I wonder if we're missing something. And I 0:39:35.239 --> 0:39:37.560 genuinely mean this right now. I wonder if we're missing 0:39:37.560 --> 0:39:41.219 something that we know we appreciate animals, for crying out loud. 0:39:41.219 --> 0:39:44.740 You got these things called zoos, right? I mean, you go. 0:39:44.780 --> 0:39:46.540 We went to San Diego Zoo. Me and my bride 0:39:46.540 --> 0:39:49.340 about a year ago. It was epic. But I wonder 0:39:49.340 --> 0:39:54.620 if we are missing something. Scripture is clear. Ponder the ant. Right? 0:39:54.660 --> 0:39:58.620 I mean, so what's a good discovery that you had 0:39:58.620 --> 0:39:59.299 preparing for. 0:39:59.300 --> 0:39:59.780 This. 0:40:00.140 --> 0:40:00.859 Devotional? 0:40:01.020 --> 0:40:03.259 One I don't think our listeners are necessarily going to 0:40:03.300 --> 0:40:07.100 like to envision, but in Isaiah 40, a wonderful passage 0:40:07.140 --> 0:40:10.060 about they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 0:40:10.140 --> 0:40:12.379 And it goes on to say, and most translations say, 0:40:12.380 --> 0:40:15.819 they shall mount up as wings on eagles like eagles. 0:40:16.060 --> 0:40:18.819 And so we think, especially as Americans, we think of 0:40:18.820 --> 0:40:22.180 the American bald eagle, our national bird and majestic and 0:40:22.180 --> 0:40:24.540 full of symbolism. But I hate to break it to 0:40:24.540 --> 0:40:27.660 our audience. There's no American bald eagles in Israel. They're 0:40:27.660 --> 0:40:30.660 not a native animal there. So it's not likely that 0:40:30.660 --> 0:40:34.620 they're thinking of our statuesque kind of national bird. You've 0:40:34.620 --> 0:40:37.180 been to Gamla. I've been to Gamla. There's a number 0:40:37.180 --> 0:40:41.719 of refuges in Israel for what is called the Griffon vulture. 0:40:42.160 --> 0:40:45.839 These are magnificent birds. They're ugly birds, but they're magnificent 0:40:45.840 --> 0:40:49.719 because they have long, long wingspan. And you go over 0:40:49.719 --> 0:40:52.040 and you see these cliffs and you see these birds 0:40:52.080 --> 0:40:55.920 soaring effortlessly. And that's the whole point. It's not the 0:40:55.920 --> 0:40:58.880 fact of their beauty, it's the fact that they work 0:40:58.880 --> 0:41:03.319 so effortlessly to stay aloft. They should be sinking like rocks, 0:41:03.320 --> 0:41:07.120 but God keeps them aloft because of their aerodynamics. And 0:41:07.120 --> 0:41:10.680 so that's really then we can soar above our difficulties. 0:41:10.840 --> 0:41:14.719 But it doesn't sound so impressive for us to say 0:41:14.719 --> 0:41:17.040 we shall mount up like wings as vultures. 0:41:18.000 --> 0:41:20.240 But when you see them, it changes everything. 0:41:20.239 --> 0:41:21.360 It changes everything. 0:41:21.520 --> 0:41:24.800 Doctor Jim Coakley, our guest right now. What's another animal 0:41:24.800 --> 0:41:27.520 reference that's maybe surprised you as you were doing your study? 0:41:27.800 --> 0:41:31.359 Revelation chapter five. It talks about, you know, again, Jesus, 0:41:31.360 --> 0:41:34.000 the lion of the tribe of Judah, and it's mentioned 0:41:34.000 --> 0:41:36.390 as part of a song, the Song of Moses and 0:41:36.390 --> 0:41:39.430 The song of the lamb. And so we mentioned, of course, 0:41:39.469 --> 0:41:42.629 lion with Jesus. And of course associated with Judah. But 0:41:42.630 --> 0:41:44.469 then we go all the way back to Genesis, the 0:41:44.469 --> 0:41:47.110 first book of the Bible. In Genesis 49, we also 0:41:47.110 --> 0:41:50.189 have the mention of the messianic prophecy about Judah being 0:41:50.190 --> 0:41:53.430 the seed line, and Judah will lie down like a lion. 0:41:53.430 --> 0:41:56.149 And so we have all these, these references. And it's 0:41:56.150 --> 0:42:00.110 interesting that the original Lion King, it's not from Disney, 0:42:00.150 --> 0:42:03.109 it's from Scripture, because right from the beginning, in a 0:42:03.110 --> 0:42:07.589 very poetic, lyrical section, Genesis 49, we associate lions. And 0:42:07.590 --> 0:42:10.669 throughout the Pentateuch, I should say it's also mentioned in 0:42:10.670 --> 0:42:13.589 Balaam's Oracles and in the Song of Moses we have 0:42:13.590 --> 0:42:16.149 lions mentioned, and then we have them at the end 0:42:16.150 --> 0:42:19.710 in the book of revelation, all associated with King Jesus. 0:42:19.710 --> 0:42:22.989 And so lions associated with royalty again as a big 0:42:22.989 --> 0:42:24.989 image all the way through the ancient Near East, you 0:42:24.989 --> 0:42:27.950 go to ancient Near Eastern courts. You see kings killing 0:42:27.950 --> 0:42:31.390 lions pictured as lions. And so this shows they're royalty. 0:42:31.390 --> 0:42:33.950 But again, Jesus is King of kings and he is 0:42:34.130 --> 0:42:35.370 the original Lion King. 0:42:35.650 --> 0:42:39.170 Give us a quick riff on the spirit and dove correlation. 0:42:39.570 --> 0:42:41.650 Yeah. I mean, certainly, again, I think kind of similar 0:42:41.650 --> 0:42:45.090 to the eagle vulture. The doves are timid or. 0:42:45.130 --> 0:42:45.650 Tender. 0:42:45.690 --> 0:42:49.609 Tender. They're not at all threatening. And so we have 0:42:49.610 --> 0:42:53.969 then the spirit descending like a dove, kind of a comforter. Yeah. 0:42:54.010 --> 0:42:56.250 And of course, doves are used. Turtle doves are used 0:42:56.250 --> 0:42:58.810 as part of the sacrificial animal system. If you didn't 0:42:58.810 --> 0:43:01.690 have a sheep or a goat, a ram to offer. 0:43:02.130 --> 0:43:05.250 And so they're multi-use kind of purposes, both for food, 0:43:05.250 --> 0:43:08.850 for sacrifices, but also the nature of the dove itself 0:43:08.850 --> 0:43:10.370 is a great analogy. 0:43:10.930 --> 0:43:14.370 Who'd have thunk it? So much from animals in Scripture. 0:43:14.410 --> 0:43:16.450 If you want to spend some time in the month 0:43:16.450 --> 0:43:20.049 of June in this devotional, highly recommend today in the word. 0:43:20.050 --> 0:43:22.969 It is a phenomenal resource. Just text. Today we'll get 0:43:22.969 --> 0:43:28.290 you connected. Text today to 800 555 7898. Just that 0:43:28.290 --> 0:43:32.890 one word. Spell it out today 800 555 7898.