WEBVTT - Marriage and Freedom Through God’s Love 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:04.440 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.200 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:10.840 On this Freedom Friday. Welcome aboard. It's great to have 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.480 you helping you take your next step with Jesus. We've 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.880 been talking marriage all week, and there's no greater freedom 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.720 than we can have than freedom in Christ. And sometimes 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.920 marriage can bump that cup to the point where we 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:27.800 discover maybe what's missing. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:30.840 And so we have a special testimony this morning that 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.680 you are going to enjoy. You talk about freedom, freedom 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.240 from a marriage that is on the brink of divorce. 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:42.440 Freedom from a marriage that's been rocked by infidelity. 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:50.400 This this story. Ali will give hope to anyone no 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.920 matter where you are. God. God can reach in and 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:59.550 do something amazing. Ron and Jody Zappia You have a 0:00:59.550 --> 0:01:02.190 story to tell, and we are fired up. They're going 0:01:02.230 --> 0:01:05.030 to be with us. Coming up straight ahead. Buckle up 0:01:05.030 --> 0:01:06.870 on this one. You're going to want the show cast 0:01:06.910 --> 0:01:10.190 to pass it around as well. Yes. Whenever you hear 0:01:10.190 --> 0:01:13.509 something or you say, oh, could I pass that along? 0:01:13.550 --> 0:01:20.350 Just it's simple. Just text the word show to 805, 55, 78, 98. 0:01:20.350 --> 0:01:22.950 Just the word show to our number here. Ron and 0:01:22.950 --> 0:01:23.830 Jodie coming up. 0:01:24.069 --> 0:01:26.789 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:01:26.790 --> 0:01:30.230 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:01:30.230 --> 0:01:33.670 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:01:34.110 --> 0:01:36.990 You know, on this Freedom Friday. It is an awesome 0:01:36.990 --> 0:01:40.429 thing to hear stories of life change in you, and 0:01:40.430 --> 0:01:43.509 the boom crew are awesome for that. But we wanted 0:01:43.510 --> 0:01:47.470 to take the power of God to change our lives 0:01:47.710 --> 0:01:51.310 and bring two people together who otherwise were on the 0:01:51.310 --> 0:01:54.910 skids and go, uh uh, God's not done with you. 0:01:55.870 --> 0:01:59.170 His arm can reach you. And some of you, if 0:01:59.170 --> 0:02:01.210 we talk about it long enough, you'll be crying. But 0:02:01.210 --> 0:02:03.410 I need you to know something. Help is on the way, 0:02:03.410 --> 0:02:05.650 and God can do more in the 11th hour than 0:02:05.690 --> 0:02:09.650 he you can in the prior ten. Ron and Jody 0:02:09.690 --> 0:02:12.770 Zappy are with us right now. And boy, you guys 0:02:12.770 --> 0:02:14.010 believe that, don't you? 0:02:14.250 --> 0:02:16.730 I'm telling you, man. We all believe it, Carl. And 0:02:16.730 --> 0:02:19.410 you know, we've known each other for a long time. 0:02:19.730 --> 0:02:23.850 We've experienced it and are still experiencing the life changing 0:02:23.850 --> 0:02:24.690 power of the gospel. 0:02:24.730 --> 0:02:27.410 Thankfully, Ron and Jody Zappy are with us right now. 0:02:27.450 --> 0:02:30.170 Ron is the founding and lead pastor of High Point Church, 0:02:30.210 --> 0:02:33.450 which is a multi-site church in the Chicagoland area celebrating 0:02:33.450 --> 0:02:38.290 their 25th anniversary. And his lovely wife, Jody joined us 0:02:38.290 --> 0:02:39.850 this morning for Freedom Friday. 0:02:39.889 --> 0:02:42.090 Hey, I'm just so glad we planted the church coming 0:02:42.090 --> 0:02:44.610 out of eighth grade. So that's the nice thing about. 0:02:47.690 --> 0:02:49.970 Well, I won't say how old he is, but he 0:02:49.970 --> 0:02:53.290 is getting AARP material sent to his home address, I 0:02:53.290 --> 0:02:56.400 guarantee you that. All right, so let's have some fun here. Jodie, 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.880 I'm going to have you tell on Ron and yourself 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.680 in a healthy way on this Freedom Friday. A lot 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.760 of people find themselves in a marriage where it's like, oh, 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.920 and maybe they're religious, or maybe they they just need 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.600 to know the power of God to save a soul 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:14.560 and to save a marriage. Jodie, I'm going to give 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:16.399 you the floor. Tell us the story. 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.720 All right. Well, we were, um, you know, high school sweethearts, 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:25.639 had been friends since we'd been 15 years old and finally, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:28.799 you know, had a long distance relationship in college and 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.680 then even after college. And, you know, some of these 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.840 things contributed to us having, um, what I would say is, 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.200 you know, extremely difficult first year in marriage. And it 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.640 kind of surprised us. You know, we were building on friendship, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.760 and we thought friendship was a solid foundation to build 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.560 a marriage on. And it is a great thing, and 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.480 it has helped us. However, that got tested in year 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:56.030 one and when I came home early from a work 0:03:56.030 --> 0:04:00.830 commitment and walked into kind of the worst nightmare I 0:04:00.830 --> 0:04:05.070 could have imagined, and Ron was there. There was another woman. 0:04:05.070 --> 0:04:10.270 And all that to say is I was obviously really devastated. 0:04:10.910 --> 0:04:15.230 And we ended up, um, I talked to my sister 0:04:15.270 --> 0:04:18.470 and I said, hey, isn't this grounds for divorce? I'm 0:04:18.470 --> 0:04:21.190 pretty sure it is. And just, you know, our background 0:04:21.230 --> 0:04:24.510 had been both of us in a different traditional churches. 0:04:24.510 --> 0:04:27.429 So we both would have said we believed in God, 0:04:27.430 --> 0:04:30.989 but we didn't know God. So, uh, what happened next 0:04:30.990 --> 0:04:34.150 is we ended up going into my sister said, hey, 0:04:34.190 --> 0:04:37.190 you know, yeah, you should get counseling before you do that, 0:04:37.230 --> 0:04:39.910 you know, before you get divorced. It's a really big decision. 0:04:40.430 --> 0:04:44.430 So I, I walked over to a church and I 0:04:44.430 --> 0:04:48.070 purposely waited for church to be over because I was 0:04:48.070 --> 0:04:49.950 just going to go there to see if I could 0:04:49.950 --> 0:04:54.290 get counseling. And so I ended up bumping into a woman. 0:04:54.690 --> 0:04:56.969 First time I had to verbalize. It's literally the next 0:04:56.970 --> 0:05:00.610 morning what was going on. And I said, you know, 0:05:00.650 --> 0:05:04.010 I need to find out if I have grounds for divorce. 0:05:04.210 --> 0:05:07.770 And she could see that I was troubled. I probably 0:05:07.770 --> 0:05:11.130 started crying. And then she immediately tears in her eyes 0:05:11.130 --> 0:05:14.010 and she said, you know, my husband, he was a 0:05:14.010 --> 0:05:17.210 failure too, and ran away. Wow. 0:05:18.450 --> 0:05:20.490 That's what we all are. Carl, I just you just 0:05:20.490 --> 0:05:21.690 got to be honest with ourselves. 0:05:21.690 --> 0:05:24.330 I'm the I'm the Amen choir. All right, Jodi, keep 0:05:24.330 --> 0:05:24.930 it going. 0:05:25.930 --> 0:05:28.850 So she starts off with that, and then she said, 0:05:28.890 --> 0:05:32.210 interestingly enough, they had had a marriage ministry going that 0:05:32.210 --> 0:05:35.010 met on Monday night. So the very next day I 0:05:35.010 --> 0:05:37.930 went there, Ron kind of asked if he could come along, 0:05:37.930 --> 0:05:40.010 and I was like, well, sure, you know. So we 0:05:40.010 --> 0:05:42.049 went to this thing. It was a very large group 0:05:42.050 --> 0:05:46.010 gathering 500 people. And then, um, I had written in 0:05:46.010 --> 0:05:48.890 my Franklin planner that by Thursday I needed to make 0:05:48.890 --> 0:05:52.640 a make a decision about a divorce, so I ended 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.480 up calling the church to see if I could get 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.960 an appointment, because I didn't feel like I was getting 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.400 the answer to my question. So I just said, well, hey, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.640 I need to make a decision by Thursday. And, um, 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.840 they ended up making an exception and let Ron and 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.120 I come in. And from there, the pastor said, hey, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:12.000 we can talk about the mess you're in, or we 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.680 can talk about God's plan for marriage. You know, we 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.320 kind of looked at each other and the way the 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.400 question was asked, like, I doubt you're going to get 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.640 a lot out of the mess we're in, you know? 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.120 So we're like, well, okay. And then but we did. 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.160 We ended up getting into that because he clearly, you know, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.520 he said, well, I got 45 minutes. He set the 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.480 timer and we just started meeting. And what happened then 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:38.120 was Ron immediately was broken, visibly broken. That pastor to 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.919 this day would say he had counseled lots of couples, 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:44.560 and he felt like he actually witnessed Ron's genuine repentance 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.310 right in that office. Wow. Awesome. Me, on Me. On 0:06:47.310 --> 0:06:50.350 the other hand, I was I was actually the harder 0:06:50.350 --> 0:06:53.830 person because Ron's heart was broken and he was very 0:06:53.830 --> 0:06:57.430 aware of his condition. You know, that he was in 0:06:57.550 --> 0:07:00.190 a that it was a sin issue. I, on the 0:07:00.190 --> 0:07:02.910 other hand, wanted to just kind of keep the spotlight 0:07:02.950 --> 0:07:07.390 on that, on Ron. And again, I went there honestly 0:07:07.430 --> 0:07:10.350 thinking I was just going to get some sort of like, okay, 0:07:10.390 --> 0:07:12.710 to get a divorce because I didn't know how to 0:07:12.710 --> 0:07:15.430 get divorced. So he ended up then from then on, 0:07:15.430 --> 0:07:18.910 kept putting that spotlight on me and asking me lots 0:07:18.910 --> 0:07:23.910 of questions. And really, what ended up happening? I recognized quickly, okay, 0:07:23.950 --> 0:07:26.390 I know what you're getting at and I have sin 0:07:26.390 --> 0:07:28.510 in my life, and I did. And I was very 0:07:28.510 --> 0:07:30.710 aware of it, you know. But I said I just 0:07:30.750 --> 0:07:33.870 didn't really want to talk about it today. And, um, 0:07:33.870 --> 0:07:36.790 but had he not delved in, you know, I appeared 0:07:36.790 --> 0:07:40.350 to be the victim here. And had he gone easy 0:07:40.390 --> 0:07:43.030 on me, what would have happened then in those last 0:07:43.030 --> 0:07:46.780 ten minutes is Ron would have left saved. He would 0:07:46.780 --> 0:07:49.460 have left with an actual relationship with Christ, and I 0:07:49.460 --> 0:07:52.380 would have left hard hearted the way I came in. 0:07:52.380 --> 0:07:55.780 So he broke me and. But I needed to be broken. 0:07:55.820 --> 0:07:58.700 And what happened then is we just met basically at 0:07:58.700 --> 0:08:00.500 the foot of the cross. And then in the last 0:08:00.500 --> 0:08:03.660 five minutes we prayed a genuine. He led us in 0:08:03.660 --> 0:08:06.900 a genuine prayer for repentance. I knew that little piece 0:08:06.900 --> 0:08:10.460 of faith that I needed was I'd known that, you know, 0:08:10.700 --> 0:08:13.740 Jesus was God's Son, and I knew that there was 0:08:13.780 --> 0:08:16.980 like the Trinity, father, son, Holy Spirit. But I didn't 0:08:16.980 --> 0:08:21.340 really fully understand that Jesus was God like Emmanuel, God 0:08:21.340 --> 0:08:24.820 with us, and that that was God's blood shed on 0:08:24.820 --> 0:08:28.660 the cross for me, and that it was shed for 0:08:28.660 --> 0:08:32.300 my specific sins that this guy just made me, you know, 0:08:32.340 --> 0:08:35.860 think about and confess. So we basically met at the 0:08:35.860 --> 0:08:38.179 foot of the cross where the ground was even. And 0:08:38.179 --> 0:08:40.900 that was important because I kind of also thought certain 0:08:40.900 --> 0:08:43.679 sins were much worse than others. So that was it. 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:45.560 We walked out that day knowing for the first time 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:46.480 we were forgiven. 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.240 Wow. Wow. 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.480 Ron and Jody zappia our guests right now. Ron is 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.240 the founding lead pastor of High Point Church. They also 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.040 have a book, The Marriage Knot seven Choices That Keep 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:00.880 Couples Together. Uh, Ron, want to bring your voice in here? 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:05.040 You came to repentance quickly. Would you say that when 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:07.240 you talk about coming to the end of yourself when 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.240 you were caught and you realized the gravity of what 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:15.320 you had done? Did repentance come easily or was there 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.200 any sort of resistance? 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:19.640 You know, I think for me, I was I had 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:21.480 to be broken and I had to be cut down 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.480 at the knees. I didn't have God in my life. 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.360 I wasn't a Christian, wasn't brought up in it. And, 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.360 you know, that was the first time I realized. And 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.320 this is going to sound awful, Ali. But it wasn't 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.240 just that I sinned against Jody and that I caused 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.000 so much hurt. But that's the first time that I 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:41.160 recognized that I sinned against God. And just like David 0:09:41.309 --> 0:09:43.670 says in Psalm 51 when he said, against you, and 0:09:43.670 --> 0:09:46.110 you have I only have I sinned and done what 0:09:46.110 --> 0:09:49.990 is evil in your sight. I recognise for the first time, yes, 0:09:49.990 --> 0:09:53.150 my sin and all of our sin. Everybody who's listening. 0:09:53.309 --> 0:09:57.150 Our sin causes damages to the people around us. But 0:09:57.150 --> 0:10:00.310 it caused damage to God. And I didn't recognize that. 0:10:00.309 --> 0:10:04.590 And that was the first time that came into realization. 0:10:04.590 --> 0:10:07.190 And so I walked out of that office as Jody said, man, 0:10:07.190 --> 0:10:09.950 I'm telling you, I felt the forgiveness. And I know 0:10:09.950 --> 0:10:12.350 many of our listeners that you you know what I'm 0:10:12.350 --> 0:10:16.229 talking about, that forgiveness of Christ and that fresh start. 0:10:16.790 --> 0:10:18.550 And we didn't know what was going to happen with 0:10:18.550 --> 0:10:21.430 the marriage. I mean, you know, like, but we had 0:10:21.429 --> 0:10:25.030 just been reconciled to God and now it was on us. 0:10:25.270 --> 0:10:27.630 Are we going to do some things? Are we going 0:10:27.630 --> 0:10:30.030 to let God's power and the power of the gospel 0:10:30.309 --> 0:10:33.550 reconcile us to each other? And that's the most difficult part. 0:10:33.590 --> 0:10:35.990 We meet with couples now. And, you know, we tell 0:10:35.990 --> 0:10:38.470 our story and we provide hope. But if we don't 0:10:38.470 --> 0:10:41.939 have two soft hearts ready to look at each other, 0:10:41.980 --> 0:10:46.220 examine themselves, and really take ownership for their part in 0:10:46.220 --> 0:10:49.220 the marriage breakdown. And that's a big statement. Each of 0:10:49.220 --> 0:10:51.700 us has to take ownership. If we don't have that, 0:10:51.940 --> 0:10:55.819 then we won't find the reconciliation that I know God desires. 0:10:56.580 --> 0:10:58.900 Coming up, you know, we're going to be promoting a 0:10:58.900 --> 0:11:02.819 book here that Ron and Jody have. That's powerful work. 0:11:02.820 --> 0:11:06.179 But we also want to tell you where we go 0:11:06.340 --> 0:11:10.540 from here. So coming up, Ron and Jody Zappia talking 0:11:10.540 --> 0:11:13.380 about those first days of digging out, because it's those 0:11:13.380 --> 0:11:17.780 first days, it's those baby steps that change everything. Hang on. 0:11:18.300 --> 0:11:22.180 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:11:22.340 --> 0:11:26.179 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:11:26.179 --> 0:11:27.260 Moody Radio. 0:11:27.580 --> 0:11:30.740 With us right now. Ron and Jody Zappia. A story 0:11:30.740 --> 0:11:34.660 of radical transformation. If you did not hear the first 0:11:34.660 --> 0:11:38.760 portion of this interview, you must go back and get it. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.440 I'm asking you right now to text the word show 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.680 to (800) 555-7898. If you didn't hear this first part, you 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:50.000 got to get it 805 55, 78, 98 just text 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.120 the word show to that number and you're going to 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:54.920 have it. All right guys, let's pick it up here. 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.160 You're freshly broken. God has transformed your heart in a 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.440 counseling session. And it was really the counsel of the 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.200 spirit that spoke through this gentleman. And the Spirit of 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.640 God convicted. The Spirit of God called the Spirit of 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.240 God did it all you. You really didn't bring anything 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.920 to the party except a broken heart, right, guys? 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:18.199 That's exactly true. I mean, we had first recognized, I mean, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:22.199 that man, my sin had brought this on, and I 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.520 had was losing the best thing that I ever had. 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:27.520 I mean, you know, we weren't Christians. We weren't following 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:30.680 after God. We didn't have the truth. And the next 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.720 thing I knew, my behavior, uh, had had really crushed 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:35.350 the relationship. And so it would have been have been 0:12:35.350 --> 0:12:37.390 easy for us to throw up our hands. And I 0:12:37.390 --> 0:12:39.750 know it's true for many couples, you know, it's like, hey, 0:12:39.790 --> 0:12:41.670 we had just been married. It was just a year. 0:12:41.670 --> 0:12:43.510 We didn't have any kids. You know, we were in 0:12:43.510 --> 0:12:46.670 a new town here in the Chicagoland area. Yeah. Carl, 0:12:46.710 --> 0:12:49.069 you know what? We had to take some baby steps. 0:12:49.110 --> 0:12:51.469 I mean, honestly, you know, we didn't know what was 0:12:51.470 --> 0:12:53.990 going to happen to the marriage. We knew that, you 0:12:53.990 --> 0:12:57.310 know what? We had just been reconciled to God. We 0:12:57.309 --> 0:13:01.510 had experienced forgiveness firsthand. And now it was about, where 0:13:01.510 --> 0:13:03.590 are we going to put our faith into action? And 0:13:03.590 --> 0:13:05.910 I think that's the key for many people. We try 0:13:05.910 --> 0:13:09.030 to fix everything ourselves. And for us, it was like 0:13:09.030 --> 0:13:12.390 we knew we couldn't fix it. I couldn't fix myself. 0:13:12.390 --> 0:13:16.229 I couldn't change the behavior that had been exhibited for years. 0:13:16.270 --> 0:13:19.590 Jodi had to forgive me. So Jodi had to forgive 0:13:19.750 --> 0:13:23.150 and I had to start living the truth. And so, 0:13:23.150 --> 0:13:25.110 you know, honestly, Carl, I wish I could say I 0:13:25.110 --> 0:13:27.390 did some great things, but I had to come to 0:13:27.429 --> 0:13:29.910 terms with who I really was. Next thing I knew, 0:13:29.950 --> 0:13:32.190 God started to change some things in me that I 0:13:32.190 --> 0:13:35.580 couldn't change in change in myself. And that was the key. 0:13:35.860 --> 0:13:38.500 And I think, Jodie, you recognize some of that change. 0:13:38.940 --> 0:13:41.780 So those are the baby steps that we took. Forgiveness 0:13:41.780 --> 0:13:42.699 was number one. 0:13:42.740 --> 0:13:44.780 That's big. You know what? I want to kick it 0:13:44.780 --> 0:13:47.820 to you, Jodie, because a lot of those first steps 0:13:47.820 --> 0:13:52.660 out of this obviously have been embedded in the book 0:13:52.700 --> 0:13:56.140 that you and Ron wrote together. But from your perspective, 0:13:56.179 --> 0:13:59.460 what were some of those first? This is deep soul 0:13:59.460 --> 0:14:01.220 work that God does. Right, Jodie? 0:14:01.340 --> 0:14:04.580 Yeah. And, um, first question I get asked at this 0:14:04.580 --> 0:14:07.620 point is, you know, how did you forgive? And I 0:14:07.660 --> 0:14:11.460 would say the truth was I mentioned I had just 0:14:11.460 --> 0:14:14.380 been forgiven also. And Ron was right there, and I 0:14:14.380 --> 0:14:17.180 knew that I knew something had happened and that really 0:14:17.179 --> 0:14:20.460 brief period of time. But I knew it was real, 0:14:20.460 --> 0:14:22.700 and I knew I was forgiven. And that in and 0:14:22.740 --> 0:14:26.620 of that, I knew then I needed to forgive. And 0:14:26.620 --> 0:14:28.820 I knew that because I had come across a verse 0:14:28.820 --> 0:14:30.980 once back in the day when I would just flip 0:14:30.980 --> 0:14:34.160 my Bible open looking for an answer to something, right? 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.280 And one time I remember it said, hey, unless you 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.320 forgive your brother, you will not be forgiven. Then I 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.240 would probably close my Bible like, uh oh, I'm in trouble. But, um, 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.120 I knew there was something to that. And I knew 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.120 that in the same way I had just been forgiven. 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.760 I could forgive Ron because I knew God had just 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.320 forgiven him, too. So I knew that. But my bigger issue, 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.680 and I can remember even asking the pastor and saying, hey, 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:57.520 I know I need to forgive Ron. I think I 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.920 can do that, but I don't have to stay married, 0:14:59.960 --> 0:15:02.840 do I? Because the bigger issue to me, I said, 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.040 you know, how can you possibly have a marriage when 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:08.280 there is zero trust? And so trust had been thrown 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.400 out the window. So for me, it was funny because 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.800 he asked me, oh, that's interesting. He said, Does the 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:18.600 Bible say trust one another? And I didn't really know 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.400 the Bible, but that did not sound right. I said, no, 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.080 he said, you're right. Any ideas why it might say that? 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:27.280 And I said, probably because we're not trustworthy. And he's like, 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.360 that's right. You know. And then he said, what does 0:15:29.510 --> 0:15:32.190 the Bible say that we're supposed to do to one another? 0:15:32.350 --> 0:15:34.950 And said, love. And he said, that's right. He said, 0:15:34.950 --> 0:15:37.670 God's not asking you to trust Ron. He's asking you 0:15:37.670 --> 0:15:41.150 to love Ron. And what was interesting about that is 0:15:41.150 --> 0:15:44.870 it was very freeing. Just hearing that, it made sense 0:15:45.230 --> 0:15:49.070 and it took this huge pressure off me, because the 0:15:49.070 --> 0:15:51.670 choice to forgive was like a moment in time, like 0:15:51.670 --> 0:15:54.710 I could choose to forgive. But the process of forgiving 0:15:54.710 --> 0:15:57.150 is the part that takes a little longer. And so 0:15:57.150 --> 0:16:00.230 then that kicked in following all that. But the only 0:16:00.230 --> 0:16:02.270 way to do that was I had to trust God. 0:16:02.310 --> 0:16:04.350 I had to trust God with Ron. Like I had 0:16:04.350 --> 0:16:08.070 to fully release Ron and his offense like what he 0:16:08.070 --> 0:16:12.310 had done to God, and trust God with that, and 0:16:12.310 --> 0:16:14.070 trust that God was going to take care of me. 0:16:14.270 --> 0:16:17.350 Whatever happened, whether the marriage worked out or not. And 0:16:17.350 --> 0:16:20.070 so I left that day knowing, hey, trust God. Love, Ron. 0:16:20.070 --> 0:16:21.550 Trust God. And then I had to try to figure 0:16:21.550 --> 0:16:23.470 out what does that mean practically? 0:16:23.630 --> 0:16:26.310 This is so beautiful. I'll tell you what's powerful about 0:16:26.310 --> 0:16:29.820 this conversation we're having, guys, is that we haven't even 0:16:29.820 --> 0:16:31.940 gotten into the book. But here's what I want to spike. 0:16:31.940 --> 0:16:35.060 Boom crew. Here's here's what I want to spike. The 0:16:35.060 --> 0:16:39.700 beauty of this is, if people have gone through this 0:16:39.700 --> 0:16:44.300 dark night of the soul crisis, we're up against it. 0:16:44.300 --> 0:16:48.180 And out of our brokenness. We found God. Those are 0:16:48.180 --> 0:16:54.100 the people you need to listen to. We're not professionals. 0:16:54.700 --> 0:16:57.380 We're all in recovery. No one's arrived. 0:16:57.420 --> 0:16:57.940 That's right. 0:16:58.460 --> 0:17:03.300 We're all there. So I want you, Ron. Give us 0:17:03.700 --> 0:17:05.980 the book and what's behind it. 0:17:06.020 --> 0:17:08.300 So, you know, this is the thing. And the reason, 0:17:08.340 --> 0:17:11.139 you know, we wrote the book was because our story, 0:17:11.180 --> 0:17:13.940 you know, was such and where we needed to be restored. 0:17:13.940 --> 0:17:16.379 And so we believe that all marriages need to be 0:17:16.380 --> 0:17:20.540 enriched and some marriages need to be restored. And so 0:17:20.700 --> 0:17:24.179 really what happened was we started taking small steps, baby 0:17:24.180 --> 0:17:27.200 steps of faith where we would just actually, literally do 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.240 what the Bible says in regards to. Treating each other 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.960 in a way that was honoring to put God at 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.800 the center of your marriage. And so that's what the 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.440 book is. The book is seven choices that keep couples together. 0:17:38.680 --> 0:17:42.480 And so whether you are looking for enrichment, you're looking 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.920 for restoration. These are the steps that you need to take. 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:47.840 And so I wish it was some profound thing. It 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.439 was like, no, they're just biblical steps. Like choosing to 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:55.040 grow spiritually and choosing to love unconditionally and serve sacrificially. 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.120 I mean, you know, the list goes on and on. 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:02.120 Communicate respectfully. I mean, these are biblical choices that oftentimes 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:06.520 we don't take seriously. And, you know, maybe somebody's listening 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:08.199 and they're like, man, I you know, I don't have 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.080 that much of a problem. Well, that's good, but a 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.720 lot of us do. But all of us trust is 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.680 broken in marriage and we need to rebuild trust. Yes, yes. 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.720 And it takes you know, we teach this equation. It's 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:26.310 cb over t CB is for change behavior over time. 0:18:26.550 --> 0:18:28.910 And so you got to have change behavior. And that 0:18:28.910 --> 0:18:32.830 only happens through repentance and a relationship with God that 0:18:32.830 --> 0:18:36.710 you can truly change. And then time it takes time. 0:18:36.910 --> 0:18:39.950 You know in our situation with our story, fortunately this 0:18:39.950 --> 0:18:42.990 hadn't gone on for a long time, so it didn't 0:18:43.030 --> 0:18:46.310 take as long for us to come back together. And 0:18:46.310 --> 0:18:49.270 I think that's where couples are having trouble, is that 0:18:49.270 --> 0:18:52.830 they need to own each part of the breakdown and 0:18:52.830 --> 0:18:56.470 that change behavior over time. Trust in the Lord. I mean, 0:18:56.470 --> 0:18:59.070 he can reconcile anything. I know you believe that. I 0:18:59.070 --> 0:19:02.230 know we've experienced stories of people who have seen it. 0:19:02.430 --> 0:19:05.510 And so, um, you know, really it's just the choices 0:19:05.510 --> 0:19:10.590 that you choose in the daily life of, are you 0:19:10.590 --> 0:19:13.109 going to honor God and are you going to honor 0:19:13.150 --> 0:19:15.109 each other? And those are the things that are the 0:19:15.109 --> 0:19:15.910 most important. 0:19:16.070 --> 0:19:18.670 The name of the book is The Marriage Knot. So 0:19:18.670 --> 0:19:21.030 here's our key word, and I know we're going to 0:19:21.030 --> 0:19:24.379 get crushed with text messages, so get your phone handy. 0:19:24.420 --> 0:19:27.420 Here's what I want you to do. Text the word 0:19:27.460 --> 0:19:32.540 not with a k k o t as in the marriage. 0:19:32.540 --> 0:19:40.620 Not text not k n o t to 800 555 7898. 0:19:40.660 --> 0:19:46.939 Text not to 805 55 7898. And God's going to 0:19:46.940 --> 0:19:49.580 meet you here. I don't care how far you've gone. 0:19:50.020 --> 0:19:53.820 God's arm is not too short. And if you can 0:19:53.859 --> 0:19:57.380 fog a mirror, God can change your life and your marriage. 0:19:57.420 --> 0:20:04.260 Text not k n o t to 805 55 7898. Thanks, 0:20:04.260 --> 0:20:05.820 you guys, for being with us today. 0:20:06.340 --> 0:20:10.980 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:20:11.340 --> 0:20:15.100 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:20:15.140 --> 0:20:16.380 on Moody Radio. 0:20:17.100 --> 0:20:19.379 Well, sometimes when you get a link, you got to 0:20:19.380 --> 0:20:21.570 got to look down in additional details. 0:20:22.609 --> 0:20:28.970 So specific sometimes is really specific. Okay. Sure. 0:20:30.530 --> 0:20:34.970 Oh because there's some additional details that we want you 0:20:34.970 --> 0:20:35.850 to know about. 0:20:36.010 --> 0:20:37.010 Did that really well. 0:20:37.330 --> 0:20:40.409 Top top level stuff first though. Ali wasn't the world's 0:20:40.410 --> 0:20:41.330 going on here. 0:20:41.369 --> 0:20:44.450 Carl has a book signing. It's coming up March 1st, 0:20:44.490 --> 0:20:48.649 9 to 12. It's a Saturday morning. You are invited. 0:20:48.650 --> 0:20:50.929 If you want to get out to Villa Park, just 0:20:50.930 --> 0:20:53.649 text the word book to get the details. Text book 0:20:53.650 --> 0:21:02.090 to 855 five 7898. Text book to 800 555 7898. 0:21:02.490 --> 0:21:04.450 And then when you get the link, you'll have the details, 0:21:04.450 --> 0:21:07.570 and then you just look a little deeper for additional details. 0:21:08.570 --> 0:21:12.090 Carl, it's really important you got to do it. Strange. 0:21:12.770 --> 0:21:16.050 I know, but that's what makes me roll. I know 0:21:16.090 --> 0:21:18.629 I'm bizarre, but you are too. early anyway. Good to 0:21:18.630 --> 0:21:21.590 have you here this morning, guys. Today we're talking about 0:21:21.590 --> 0:21:27.670 marriage and freedom and the even the prospect of Valentine's 0:21:27.710 --> 0:21:30.990 Day for some can get a little discouraging, right, Ali? 0:21:30.990 --> 0:21:32.910 I mean, it's so much pressure. 0:21:33.470 --> 0:21:37.270 Like, it just feels like pressure. I remember one a 0:21:37.270 --> 0:21:40.350 couple years ago, I was at menards of all places 0:21:40.350 --> 0:21:43.750 on Valentine's Day, and I saw they had these bouquets 0:21:43.750 --> 0:21:47.470 of really sad looking roses that were for. 0:21:47.470 --> 0:21:48.710 Sale at menards. 0:21:48.830 --> 0:21:50.430 And it was like towards the end of the day, 0:21:50.430 --> 0:21:53.350 if I'm remembering this correctly, and I thought, huh, if 0:21:53.350 --> 0:21:54.870 this is somebody's. 0:21:54.910 --> 0:21:55.910 Like, oh, well. 0:21:56.310 --> 0:21:58.590 I'm at Menards and I haven't done anything for the 0:21:58.590 --> 0:21:59.590 person that I love. 0:21:59.630 --> 0:22:01.470 So let me grab these. 0:22:01.550 --> 0:22:04.149 Flowers that are right by the checkout counter. I thought, 0:22:04.150 --> 0:22:07.790 oh man, I feel like this, this holiday. It just 0:22:07.790 --> 0:22:11.669 carries too much pressure and expectation and it almost always 0:22:11.670 --> 0:22:12.990 feels like a letdown. 0:22:13.350 --> 0:22:17.540 Yeah. So it's it's true, man. It can be for some. 0:22:17.700 --> 0:22:20.419 By the way, we celebrated Valentine's Day last night. We 0:22:20.420 --> 0:22:23.180 had a great time. Uh, we get out and we do. 0:22:23.180 --> 0:22:26.740 The day before. We just had a super time together. Uh, 0:22:26.780 --> 0:22:29.580 it was really funny. We do crazy stuff. We did 0:22:29.580 --> 0:22:35.179 a we did a a $20, uh, spontaneous. You got 0:22:35.220 --> 0:22:38.179 30 minutes to go find in a mall, a $20 0:22:38.180 --> 0:22:42.780 gift for each other, and we just go. Go. 0:22:42.820 --> 0:22:43.740 Oh. That's fun. 0:22:43.900 --> 0:22:45.100 It's super fun. 0:22:45.220 --> 0:22:46.940 It's just you and your bride. Are you doing this 0:22:46.940 --> 0:22:48.260 with your. Okay? 0:22:48.619 --> 0:22:51.100 Just. Just me and my bride. And then we meet 0:22:51.100 --> 0:22:54.140 back up in the center of the mall, and and, uh, 0:22:54.140 --> 0:22:57.900 I always I break the rules. Oh. 0:22:58.580 --> 0:23:00.060 Big surprise. Right? 0:23:01.060 --> 0:23:03.500 I don't limit it to 20. But we were talking, 0:23:03.540 --> 0:23:05.979 and she shared a funny story. I'd totally forgotten. We 0:23:05.980 --> 0:23:08.340 were talking yesterday about chick fil A, and we love 0:23:08.380 --> 0:23:10.900 chick fil A. Um, I don't eat it a lot, 0:23:10.900 --> 0:23:13.889 but when I do have it, it's like, oh my goodness, man. 0:23:13.930 --> 0:23:17.050 It's so good. But I'd totally forgotten about this. And 0:23:17.050 --> 0:23:19.929 she shared with me. My bride is so funny. We're 0:23:19.930 --> 0:23:22.970 down at a Family Life speakers retreat in Saint Pete Beach, 0:23:22.970 --> 0:23:25.170 and we would have different. These are all the speakers 0:23:25.170 --> 0:23:28.330 for weekends to remember. We spoke with them for 11 0:23:28.330 --> 0:23:32.490 years or something like that. And we would have different 0:23:32.490 --> 0:23:36.450 people come in like Howard Hendricks and you name it. Um, 0:23:36.650 --> 0:23:40.850 but one time there was going to be a guest speaker, 0:23:41.210 --> 0:23:43.890 and he was going to be honored and featured. And 0:23:44.490 --> 0:23:47.330 I didn't know this guy. Janine didn't either. And, you know, 0:23:47.369 --> 0:23:50.010 going and getting this big buffet and go sit down 0:23:50.010 --> 0:23:53.330 at these tables. And she plops down next to this 0:23:53.330 --> 0:23:58.810 guy named Truett Cathy. Founder of chick fil A. 0:23:58.930 --> 0:24:00.610 Oh. That's right. Yeah. Yes. 0:24:00.970 --> 0:24:06.850 And, uh, she's conversing with him. Sadly, we hadn't been 0:24:06.850 --> 0:24:10.689 to a chick fil A yet. And she's just John 0:24:10.690 --> 0:24:12.710 with him. She didn't know the scope of chick fil 0:24:12.710 --> 0:24:14.830 A or anything, and she just says, well, is it 0:24:14.830 --> 0:24:15.430 any good? 0:24:17.470 --> 0:24:19.590 Hey, that's a fair question if you've not had it. 0:24:19.710 --> 0:24:22.670 Did you mean it? He's your heart. 0:24:23.190 --> 0:24:27.350 Of course it is. And he chuckled. But I thought, oh, great. 0:24:27.550 --> 0:24:29.750 I told her last night. I said, baby, how many 0:24:29.750 --> 0:24:32.189 people have looked at Truett Cathy and asked, is it 0:24:32.190 --> 0:24:34.990 any good? Is it any good? 0:24:35.470 --> 0:24:35.870 Well. 0:24:36.390 --> 0:24:39.070 What a gracious guy he was. He was super good 0:24:39.070 --> 0:24:41.550 about it. But yeah, we got a lot of chick 0:24:41.550 --> 0:24:44.750 fil A fans out there today, don't we? And you know, 0:24:44.790 --> 0:24:48.470 I was thinking about this yesterday as well. I just 0:24:48.510 --> 0:24:51.710 had a kind of a daydream. I wonder how many 0:24:51.710 --> 0:24:54.909 people that do have a lot of means or something 0:24:54.910 --> 0:24:57.109 like that. Because I always think about Valentine's Day. You 0:24:57.150 --> 0:24:59.350 got to pop for the big meal out. I wonder 0:24:59.350 --> 0:25:02.550 how many people go, let's go to waffle House. You know, 0:25:02.590 --> 0:25:05.190 let's just let's just let's go have some waffles, man. 0:25:05.190 --> 0:25:07.510 Let's put strawberries all over them and let's just have 0:25:07.510 --> 0:25:08.630 some waffles. 0:25:08.670 --> 0:25:10.419 Have some Fun. Yeah. 0:25:10.460 --> 0:25:13.899 Sometimes we just gotta go. All right, we're gonna go 0:25:13.900 --> 0:25:16.740 have some fun here. And, uh, we had a ball. 0:25:16.740 --> 0:25:18.619 I hope you have a great day. And yet, the 0:25:18.619 --> 0:25:24.180 reality is, some of you listening feel like, ah, what 0:25:24.180 --> 0:25:29.580 are we going to do here? Uh, maybe your heart's hurting. 0:25:29.780 --> 0:25:32.020 Or maybe you don't feel like you have love to give. 0:25:32.300 --> 0:25:37.460 I was super compelled by. Doctor Thrasher and what he 0:25:37.460 --> 0:25:40.379 put in an email form to us. It was encouraging, 0:25:40.380 --> 0:25:41.180 wasn't it, Ali? 0:25:41.220 --> 0:25:44.700 It was because I think on a day like today especially, 0:25:44.740 --> 0:25:47.619 there's a lot of things that can creep up in 0:25:47.619 --> 0:25:53.260 your mind. I'm alone today. Nobody loves me. Nobody's remembered me. 0:25:53.700 --> 0:25:56.500 Why don't I get to feel what I see in 0:25:56.500 --> 0:25:58.980 the movies or I see on the hallmark card? That 0:25:58.980 --> 0:26:03.460 doesn't describe my. Maybe you're single and don't want to be. 0:26:03.500 --> 0:26:07.380 Maybe you're married, but don't feel like the love is there. 0:26:08.130 --> 0:26:10.810 Don't want to be. Yeah, you can be that real 0:26:11.570 --> 0:26:13.490 coming up here in a couple of minutes. Doctor Bill 0:26:13.490 --> 0:26:15.850 Thrasher is going to be with us. I love this 0:26:15.850 --> 0:26:18.209 guy's heart, and I love the fact that he takes 0:26:18.210 --> 0:26:21.090 us always back to the word of God. Where is 0:26:21.090 --> 0:26:25.530 that love coming from? We get that squared away first. 0:26:26.010 --> 0:26:29.010 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:26:29.010 --> 0:26:33.250 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:26:33.250 --> 0:26:35.530 curl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:26:35.730 --> 0:26:41.210 I walked through Jewel-osco local grocery store. The amount of 0:26:41.210 --> 0:26:44.850 Valentine's balloons. I don't know what's going on, but there 0:26:44.850 --> 0:26:48.810 seems to be something afoot. There are. It looked like thousands. 0:26:48.810 --> 0:26:54.850 It was probably many hundreds. But this, this day captures people. 0:26:54.850 --> 0:26:58.610 The amount of revenue that flows through registers and databases 0:26:58.609 --> 0:27:01.770 is staggering. What do you think about Valentine's Day? 0:27:02.250 --> 0:27:05.650 You know, I've never loved Valentine's Day, to be honest. 0:27:05.790 --> 0:27:09.510 the the pressure, the expectation that this is the day 0:27:09.510 --> 0:27:14.310 that I'm going to feel loved feels like one of those, 0:27:14.790 --> 0:27:19.830 oh man, I can't quite live up to what you'd 0:27:19.830 --> 0:27:20.910 want it to be. 0:27:21.350 --> 0:27:25.629 Yeah. And and it's and it's hard too, because there's 0:27:25.670 --> 0:27:28.470 a lot of and we haven't lingered on this, but 0:27:28.470 --> 0:27:31.670 there's a lot of people that feel like, yeah, shoot, 0:27:31.710 --> 0:27:34.629 it didn't maybe meet my expectations. And for some of you, 0:27:34.670 --> 0:27:36.990 it will. It's going to be like, oh, this guy's 0:27:36.990 --> 0:27:40.110 surprised me with this. And by the way, powerful words 0:27:40.109 --> 0:27:42.830 were spoken over me. And that's beautiful. But when you 0:27:42.869 --> 0:27:46.150 hear those powerful words, they're most often linked to a 0:27:46.150 --> 0:27:49.270 deeper narrative. And that's God's love for us. And here's 0:27:49.270 --> 0:27:52.910 what's beautiful. If we anchor ourselves there, Ali, we're changed. 0:27:52.950 --> 0:27:55.990 Let's bring in doctor Bill Thrasher. This is on your 0:27:55.990 --> 0:28:00.150 heart as well as we are celebrating Valentine's Day. You 0:28:00.150 --> 0:28:02.550 say love is a great thing to celebrate, but as 0:28:02.550 --> 0:28:05.020 long as it's, it has to be rooted in something 0:28:05.020 --> 0:28:07.500 deeper than just, you know, the pink and red and 0:28:07.500 --> 0:28:11.260 white carnations and balloons and a hallmark greeting card. Right. 0:28:11.300 --> 0:28:13.940 You got that? You know, Scripture says that God is 0:28:13.940 --> 0:28:17.500 the source of all love. Love is from God. First 0:28:17.500 --> 0:28:21.780 John four seven. God is love. His very nature. Never 0:28:21.820 --> 0:28:25.660 be afraid of overemphasizing love as long as you rightly 0:28:25.660 --> 0:28:29.980 understand it. All the other attributes help explain. It is 0:28:29.980 --> 0:28:33.180 a holy love. Uh, it is an eternal love. A 0:28:33.180 --> 0:28:35.500 faithful love, an infinite love. He can love us as 0:28:35.500 --> 0:28:37.460 if we were the only person in the world and 0:28:37.460 --> 0:28:40.500 not get his attention off anybody else. So, you know, 0:28:40.500 --> 0:28:43.180 the Scripture says that love is the most important thing. 0:28:43.220 --> 0:28:46.580 Those that beautiful first Corinthians 13, if you meditate on it, 0:28:46.620 --> 0:28:49.740 it's pretty powerful. I actually do look at a phrase 0:28:49.740 --> 0:28:52.700 of that every day just to start my day. But 0:28:52.700 --> 0:28:54.780 he says, you know when you see it, okay. Love 0:28:54.780 --> 0:28:57.300 is the most important thing. Everything. It's worthless. Everything apart 0:28:57.300 --> 0:29:01.020 from that. But we love because he first loved us. 0:29:01.060 --> 0:29:03.450 If that's true. If love is the most important thing 0:29:03.450 --> 0:29:05.810 and we love because he first loved us, I guess 0:29:05.810 --> 0:29:09.050 the most important thing I could trust God for is, Lord, 0:29:09.050 --> 0:29:13.290 would you overwhelm me with your love for me so 0:29:13.330 --> 0:29:16.970 so that I could better respond in loving you and 0:29:16.970 --> 0:29:20.209 loving others? I would like all of our precious ones 0:29:20.210 --> 0:29:23.010 that listen faithfully to this program. I pray that they 0:29:23.010 --> 0:29:25.610 would be overwhelmed with love to say, God, would you? 0:29:25.650 --> 0:29:27.570 I know this is your will. If love is the 0:29:27.570 --> 0:29:30.530 most important thing, God, would you overwhelm me with your love? 0:29:30.530 --> 0:29:32.330 And I'll talk about that in my own life. I 0:29:32.330 --> 0:29:35.050 think that's the most important thing to trust God for. 0:29:35.130 --> 0:29:38.530 How do we know we are overwhelmed with God's love? 0:29:38.650 --> 0:29:43.210 Because love, sometimes we have expressions of love that can 0:29:43.210 --> 0:29:47.330 be candidly, sometimes self-serving. They can be right, uh, kind 0:29:47.370 --> 0:29:51.010 of glossing over the bigger needs. How do we know 0:29:51.250 --> 0:29:55.290 we've been irrigated by God's love? How do we know it? 0:29:55.490 --> 0:29:59.410 Really? When you sense that he loves you in the 0:29:59.410 --> 0:30:04.400 way no one else ever can or ever will. His 0:30:04.400 --> 0:30:08.040 love is superior. There are wonderful expressions of love, but 0:30:08.080 --> 0:30:11.600 I get my students to to meditate on this verse. 0:30:11.640 --> 0:30:16.400 It says, can a woman forget her nursing child and 0:30:16.400 --> 0:30:20.800 have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even 0:30:20.800 --> 0:30:24.320 these may forget, but I will not forget you. 0:30:24.360 --> 0:30:25.600 Oh that's powerful. 0:30:25.800 --> 0:30:28.680 God loved his son. His son was his beloved. He 0:30:28.680 --> 0:30:31.400 allowed his son to be crushed because he had an 0:30:31.440 --> 0:30:34.680 eternal purpose that was beyond that. So we also have 0:30:34.680 --> 0:30:36.840 to be attentive. I remember one time I was just 0:30:36.840 --> 0:30:40.640 so encouraged and and just really thanking God and felt 0:30:40.640 --> 0:30:42.600 his love for me. And it was God saying, you 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:44.880 know what? I love you this way all the time. 0:30:44.880 --> 0:30:47.840 My love is unchanging. But we do tend to look 0:30:47.840 --> 0:30:50.960 at it very circumstantially. And when you're not feeling well, 0:30:51.080 --> 0:30:53.640 when you are sick, when you're in pain, it's hard 0:30:53.640 --> 0:30:56.880 to grasp it. Now, God's love is there every time 0:30:56.880 --> 0:30:58.700 I go to Scripture and scripture, and it would encourage 0:30:58.700 --> 0:31:00.860 me to love in a certain way. I'd back up 0:31:00.860 --> 0:31:02.980 and say, okay, God, how is it that you love 0:31:02.980 --> 0:31:06.820 me this way? You know, Proverbs 17 says, A friend 0:31:06.820 --> 0:31:08.620 loves it all the time. Lord, I know you want 0:31:08.620 --> 0:31:10.420 me to be that kind of friend, but most of all, 0:31:10.420 --> 0:31:12.780 I thank you that you're that kind of friend to me. 0:31:12.820 --> 0:31:16.220 Doctor Bill Thrasher, professor of Bible and theology here at 0:31:16.220 --> 0:31:19.180 Moody Bible Institute. We've got something we want to point 0:31:19.180 --> 0:31:22.460 you to. Doctor Thrasher has written a book, Putting God 0:31:22.500 --> 0:31:25.260 Back Into the Holidays, where he talks about Valentine's Day, 0:31:25.300 --> 0:31:27.980 among other holidays. What are some of those lies that 0:31:27.980 --> 0:31:31.580 you've believed about love? About yourself? Maybe that you're not 0:31:31.580 --> 0:31:35.260 special or loved by anyone, that you're alone, particularly on 0:31:35.260 --> 0:31:37.980 this Valentine's Day. I want you to go on Facebook 0:31:37.980 --> 0:31:40.540 or Instagram, Carl and crew, and I want you to 0:31:40.580 --> 0:31:43.780 check out this resource we've put together for you to 0:31:43.820 --> 0:31:47.940 help you correct those lies of the enemy with Scripture, 0:31:47.940 --> 0:31:51.180 with God's Word. Just check it out on Facebook and Instagram. 0:31:51.180 --> 0:31:52.300 Search Carl and crew. 0:31:52.860 --> 0:31:55.500 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:31:55.890 --> 0:31:58.930 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:32:00.770 --> 0:32:05.130 There is some help, some hope, and some freedom. And 0:32:05.130 --> 0:32:07.850 it's through the love of Jesus Christ today. And some 0:32:07.850 --> 0:32:10.610 of you feel like you need some love. And some 0:32:10.610 --> 0:32:14.090 of you need love. That leads to the ultimate freedom 0:32:14.130 --> 0:32:18.210 found in Jesus Christ. God loved the world so much 0:32:18.210 --> 0:32:21.210 that he sent His Son to this earth, that if 0:32:21.210 --> 0:32:23.930 you believe in him, you will not perish, but you 0:32:23.930 --> 0:32:28.370 will have everlasting life, and that can begin today. I 0:32:28.370 --> 0:32:31.490 know that the Spirit of God is working in someone's 0:32:31.490 --> 0:32:35.170 heart today. And is this yours? It could be the 0:32:35.170 --> 0:32:39.130 absence of earthly love that makes you long for something, 0:32:39.730 --> 0:32:42.770 and you have that in Christ Jesus. I want you 0:32:42.770 --> 0:32:44.930 to know today, on this Freedom Friday, how to take 0:32:44.930 --> 0:32:48.330 hold of that love. If you believe in him, that 0:32:48.330 --> 0:32:51.530 means the total surrender of your life to Jesus Christ. 0:32:51.530 --> 0:32:54.760 And you may have believed in him intellectually before, but 0:32:54.760 --> 0:32:59.240 today is a time for spiritual regeneration. His life and yours. 0:32:59.960 --> 0:33:02.560 So I want to ask you a couple of simple questions. One, 0:33:02.560 --> 0:33:05.280 do you believe that Jesus came to this earth, sent 0:33:05.280 --> 0:33:08.440 by the father to die for your sins? That would 0:33:08.440 --> 0:33:11.240 be prompted by the Spirit of God that indwells you 0:33:11.240 --> 0:33:13.080 right now. But I want to ask you, do you 0:33:13.080 --> 0:33:17.520 believe that today and today, are you ready to take 0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:23.520 a step of faith to believe by total surrender, surrendering 0:33:23.560 --> 0:33:25.920 to this God who loved you so much that he 0:33:25.960 --> 0:33:29.320 sent Jesus? Do you want that love? Will you surrender 0:33:29.360 --> 0:33:32.800 your life in total to him today? Will you believe 0:33:32.800 --> 0:33:35.640 that he died for you? Will you turn and follow 0:33:35.640 --> 0:33:38.200 Jesus and give him your life in total? Just saying. 0:33:38.200 --> 0:33:42.360 My life is yours today. God, thank you for sending Jesus. 0:33:42.720 --> 0:33:46.600 I needed forgiveness, I needed that kind of love. And 0:33:46.600 --> 0:33:50.120 if that is you today, I want to encourage you 0:33:50.400 --> 0:33:55.460 very simply, very practically, we have a resource that we're 0:33:55.460 --> 0:33:58.660 going to send your way today. I just want you 0:33:58.660 --> 0:34:02.020 to text the word new. If today you are broken, humbled, 0:34:02.020 --> 0:34:06.020 and aware of your need for Jesus Christ. Just text 0:34:06.020 --> 0:34:08.700 the word new. You might have heard the gospel here 0:34:08.700 --> 0:34:12.140 many times this good news of Jesus, but today you're 0:34:12.140 --> 0:34:14.980 surrendering your life to him for the very first time. 0:34:15.020 --> 0:34:17.820 Today is your day of salvation. Just text the word 0:34:17.860 --> 0:34:24.060 new to our number here 800 555 7898. What a 0:34:24.060 --> 0:34:30.540 day to be born again. Valentine's day 805, 55, 7898. 0:34:30.540 --> 0:34:33.500 Just text the word new and the hug and the 0:34:33.500 --> 0:34:38.660 love of God. It transcends all understanding. Man. Just text 0:34:38.660 --> 0:34:40.219 the word new and we're going to help you in 0:34:40.219 --> 0:34:48.020 your first steps with Jesus. 800 555 7898 welcome to 0:34:48.020 --> 0:34:50.939 the family. Welcome to the arms of God's love.