S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: On this Freedom Friday. Welcome aboard. It's great to have
S2: you helping you take your next step with Jesus. We've
S2: been talking marriage all week, and there's no greater freedom
S2: than we can have than freedom in Christ. And sometimes
S2: marriage can bump that cup to the point where we
S2: discover maybe what's missing.
S3: And so we have a special testimony this morning that
S3: you are going to enjoy. You talk about freedom, freedom
S3: from a marriage that is on the brink of divorce.
S3: Freedom from a marriage that's been rocked by infidelity.
S2: This this story. Ali will give hope to anyone no
S2: matter where you are. God. God can reach in and
S2: do something amazing. Ron and Jody Zappia You have a
S2: story to tell, and we are fired up. They're going
S2: to be with us. Coming up straight ahead. Buckle up
S2: on this one. You're going to want the show cast
S2: to pass it around as well. Yes. Whenever you hear
S2: something or you say, oh, could I pass that along?
S2: Just it's simple. Just text the word show to 805, 55, 78, 98.
S2: Just the word show to our number here. Ron and
S2: Jodie coming up.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You know, on this Freedom Friday. It is an awesome
S2: thing to hear stories of life change in you, and
S2: the boom crew are awesome for that. But we wanted
S2: to take the power of God to change our lives
S2: and bring two people together who otherwise were on the
S2: skids and go, uh uh, God's not done with you.
S2: His arm can reach you. And some of you, if
S2: we talk about it long enough, you'll be crying. But
S2: I need you to know something. Help is on the way,
S2: and God can do more in the 11th hour than
S2: he you can in the prior ten. Ron and Jody
S2: Zappy are with us right now. And boy, you guys
S2: believe that, don't you?
S4: I'm telling you, man. We all believe it, Carl. And
S4: you know, we've known each other for a long time.
S4: We've experienced it and are still experiencing the life changing
S4: power of the gospel.
S3: Thankfully, Ron and Jody Zappy are with us right now.
S3: Ron is the founding and lead pastor of High Point Church,
S3: which is a multi-site church in the Chicagoland area celebrating
S3: their 25th anniversary. And his lovely wife, Jody joined us
S3: this morning for Freedom Friday.
S4: Hey, I'm just so glad we planted the church coming
S4: out of eighth grade. So that's the nice thing about.
S2: Well, I won't say how old he is, but he
S2: is getting AARP material sent to his home address, I
S2: guarantee you that. All right, so let's have some fun here. Jodie,
S2: I'm going to have you tell on Ron and yourself
S2: in a healthy way on this Freedom Friday. A lot
S2: of people find themselves in a marriage where it's like, oh,
S2: and maybe they're religious, or maybe they they just need
S2: to know the power of God to save a soul
S2: and to save a marriage. Jodie, I'm going to give
S2: you the floor. Tell us the story.
S5: All right. Well, we were, um, you know, high school sweethearts,
S5: had been friends since we'd been 15 years old and finally,
S5: you know, had a long distance relationship in college and
S5: then even after college. And, you know, some of these
S5: things contributed to us having, um, what I would say is,
S5: you know, extremely difficult first year in marriage. And it
S5: kind of surprised us. You know, we were building on friendship,
S5: and we thought friendship was a solid foundation to build
S5: a marriage on. And it is a great thing, and
S5: it has helped us. However, that got tested in year
S5: one and when I came home early from a work
S5: commitment and walked into kind of the worst nightmare I
S5: could have imagined, and Ron was there. There was another woman.
S5: And all that to say is I was obviously really devastated.
S5: And we ended up, um, I talked to my sister
S5: and I said, hey, isn't this grounds for divorce? I'm
S5: pretty sure it is. And just, you know, our background
S5: had been both of us in a different traditional churches.
S5: So we both would have said we believed in God,
S5: but we didn't know God. So, uh, what happened next
S5: is we ended up going into my sister said, hey,
S5: you know, yeah, you should get counseling before you do that,
S5: you know, before you get divorced. It's a really big decision.
S5: So I, I walked over to a church and I
S5: purposely waited for church to be over because I was
S5: just going to go there to see if I could
S5: get counseling. And so I ended up bumping into a woman.
S5: First time I had to verbalize. It's literally the next
S5: morning what was going on. And I said, you know,
S5: I need to find out if I have grounds for divorce.
S5: And she could see that I was troubled. I probably
S5: started crying. And then she immediately tears in her eyes
S5: and she said, you know, my husband, he was a
S5: failure too, and ran away. Wow.
S4: That's what we all are. Carl, I just you just
S4: got to be honest with ourselves.
S2: I'm the I'm the Amen choir. All right, Jodi, keep
S2: it going.
S5: So she starts off with that, and then she said,
S5: interestingly enough, they had had a marriage ministry going that
S5: met on Monday night. So the very next day I
S5: went there, Ron kind of asked if he could come along,
S5: and I was like, well, sure, you know. So we
S5: went to this thing. It was a very large group
S5: gathering 500 people. And then, um, I had written in
S5: my Franklin planner that by Thursday I needed to make
S5: a make a decision about a divorce, so I ended
S5: up calling the church to see if I could get
S5: an appointment, because I didn't feel like I was getting
S5: the answer to my question. So I just said, well, hey,
S5: I need to make a decision by Thursday. And, um,
S5: they ended up making an exception and let Ron and
S5: I come in. And from there, the pastor said, hey,
S5: we can talk about the mess you're in, or we
S5: can talk about God's plan for marriage. You know, we
S5: kind of looked at each other and the way the
S5: question was asked, like, I doubt you're going to get
S5: a lot out of the mess we're in, you know?
S5: So we're like, well, okay. And then but we did.
S5: We ended up getting into that because he clearly, you know,
S5: he said, well, I got 45 minutes. He set the
S5: timer and we just started meeting. And what happened then
S5: was Ron immediately was broken, visibly broken. That pastor to
S5: this day would say he had counseled lots of couples,
S5: and he felt like he actually witnessed Ron's genuine repentance
S5: right in that office. Wow. Awesome. Me, on Me. On
S5: the other hand, I was I was actually the harder
S5: person because Ron's heart was broken and he was very
S5: aware of his condition. You know, that he was in
S5: a that it was a sin issue. I, on the
S5: other hand, wanted to just kind of keep the spotlight
S5: on that, on Ron. And again, I went there honestly
S5: thinking I was just going to get some sort of like, okay,
S5: to get a divorce because I didn't know how to
S5: get divorced. So he ended up then from then on,
S5: kept putting that spotlight on me and asking me lots
S5: of questions. And really, what ended up happening? I recognized quickly, okay,
S5: I know what you're getting at and I have sin
S5: in my life, and I did. And I was very
S5: aware of it, you know. But I said I just
S5: didn't really want to talk about it today. And, um,
S5: but had he not delved in, you know, I appeared
S5: to be the victim here. And had he gone easy
S5: on me, what would have happened then in those last
S5: ten minutes is Ron would have left saved. He would
S5: have left with an actual relationship with Christ, and I
S5: would have left hard hearted the way I came in.
S5: So he broke me and. But I needed to be broken.
S5: And what happened then is we just met basically at
S5: the foot of the cross. And then in the last
S5: five minutes we prayed a genuine. He led us in
S5: a genuine prayer for repentance. I knew that little piece
S5: of faith that I needed was I'd known that, you know,
S5: Jesus was God's Son, and I knew that there was
S5: like the Trinity, father, son, Holy Spirit. But I didn't
S5: really fully understand that Jesus was God like Emmanuel, God
S5: with us, and that that was God's blood shed on
S5: the cross for me, and that it was shed for
S5: my specific sins that this guy just made me, you know,
S5: think about and confess. So we basically met at the
S5: foot of the cross where the ground was even. And
S5: that was important because I kind of also thought certain
S5: sins were much worse than others. So that was it.
S5: We walked out that day knowing for the first time
S5: we were forgiven.
S6: Wow. Wow.
S3: Ron and Jody zappia our guests right now. Ron is
S3: the founding lead pastor of High Point Church. They also
S3: have a book, The Marriage Knot seven Choices That Keep
S3: Couples Together. Uh, Ron, want to bring your voice in here?
S3: You came to repentance quickly. Would you say that when
S3: you talk about coming to the end of yourself when
S3: you were caught and you realized the gravity of what
S3: you had done? Did repentance come easily or was there
S3: any sort of resistance?
S4: You know, I think for me, I was I had
S4: to be broken and I had to be cut down
S4: at the knees. I didn't have God in my life.
S4: I wasn't a Christian, wasn't brought up in it. And,
S4: you know, that was the first time I realized. And
S4: this is going to sound awful, Ali. But it wasn't
S4: just that I sinned against Jody and that I caused
S4: so much hurt. But that's the first time that I
S4: recognized that I sinned against God. And just like David
S4: says in Psalm 51 when he said, against you, and
S4: you have I only have I sinned and done what
S4: is evil in your sight. I recognise for the first time, yes,
S4: my sin and all of our sin. Everybody who's listening.
S4: Our sin causes damages to the people around us. But
S4: it caused damage to God. And I didn't recognize that.
S4: And that was the first time that came into realization.
S4: And so I walked out of that office as Jody said, man,
S4: I'm telling you, I felt the forgiveness. And I know
S4: many of our listeners that you you know what I'm
S4: talking about, that forgiveness of Christ and that fresh start.
S4: And we didn't know what was going to happen with
S4: the marriage. I mean, you know, like, but we had
S4: just been reconciled to God and now it was on us.
S4: Are we going to do some things? Are we going
S4: to let God's power and the power of the gospel
S4: reconcile us to each other? And that's the most difficult part.
S4: We meet with couples now. And, you know, we tell
S4: our story and we provide hope. But if we don't
S4: have two soft hearts ready to look at each other,
S4: examine themselves, and really take ownership for their part in
S4: the marriage breakdown. And that's a big statement. Each of
S4: us has to take ownership. If we don't have that,
S4: then we won't find the reconciliation that I know God desires.
S2: Coming up, you know, we're going to be promoting a
S2: book here that Ron and Jody have. That's powerful work.
S2: But we also want to tell you where we go
S2: from here. So coming up, Ron and Jody Zappia talking
S2: about those first days of digging out, because it's those
S2: first days, it's those baby steps that change everything. Hang on.
S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
S1: Moody Radio.
S2: With us right now. Ron and Jody Zappia. A story
S2: of radical transformation. If you did not hear the first
S2: portion of this interview, you must go back and get it.
S2: I'm asking you right now to text the word show
S2: to (800) 555-7898. If you didn't hear this first part, you
S2: got to get it 805 55, 78, 98 just text
S2: the word show to that number and you're going to
S2: have it. All right guys, let's pick it up here.
S2: You're freshly broken. God has transformed your heart in a
S2: counseling session. And it was really the counsel of the
S2: spirit that spoke through this gentleman. And the Spirit of
S2: God convicted. The Spirit of God called the Spirit of
S2: God did it all you. You really didn't bring anything
S2: to the party except a broken heart, right, guys?
S4: That's exactly true. I mean, we had first recognized, I mean,
S4: that man, my sin had brought this on, and I
S4: had was losing the best thing that I ever had.
S4: I mean, you know, we weren't Christians. We weren't following
S4: after God. We didn't have the truth. And the next
S4: thing I knew, my behavior, uh, had had really crushed
S4: the relationship. And so it would have been have been
S4: easy for us to throw up our hands. And I
S4: know it's true for many couples, you know, it's like, hey,
S4: we had just been married. It was just a year.
S4: We didn't have any kids. You know, we were in
S4: a new town here in the Chicagoland area. Yeah. Carl,
S4: you know what? We had to take some baby steps.
S4: I mean, honestly, you know, we didn't know what was
S4: going to happen to the marriage. We knew that, you
S4: know what? We had just been reconciled to God. We
S4: had experienced forgiveness firsthand. And now it was about, where
S4: are we going to put our faith into action? And
S4: I think that's the key for many people. We try
S4: to fix everything ourselves. And for us, it was like
S4: we knew we couldn't fix it. I couldn't fix myself.
S4: I couldn't change the behavior that had been exhibited for years.
S4: Jodi had to forgive me. So Jodi had to forgive
S4: and I had to start living the truth. And so,
S4: you know, honestly, Carl, I wish I could say I
S4: did some great things, but I had to come to
S4: terms with who I really was. Next thing I knew,
S4: God started to change some things in me that I
S4: couldn't change in change in myself. And that was the key.
S4: And I think, Jodie, you recognize some of that change.
S4: So those are the baby steps that we took. Forgiveness
S4: was number one.
S2: That's big. You know what? I want to kick it
S2: to you, Jodie, because a lot of those first steps
S2: out of this obviously have been embedded in the book
S2: that you and Ron wrote together. But from your perspective,
S2: what were some of those first? This is deep soul
S2: work that God does. Right, Jodie?
S5: Yeah. And, um, first question I get asked at this
S5: point is, you know, how did you forgive? And I
S5: would say the truth was I mentioned I had just
S5: been forgiven also. And Ron was right there, and I
S5: knew that I knew something had happened and that really
S5: brief period of time. But I knew it was real,
S5: and I knew I was forgiven. And that in and
S5: of that, I knew then I needed to forgive. And
S5: I knew that because I had come across a verse
S5: once back in the day when I would just flip
S5: my Bible open looking for an answer to something, right?
S5: And one time I remember it said, hey, unless you
S5: forgive your brother, you will not be forgiven. Then I
S5: would probably close my Bible like, uh oh, I'm in trouble. But, um,
S5: I knew there was something to that. And I knew
S5: that in the same way I had just been forgiven.
S5: I could forgive Ron because I knew God had just
S5: forgiven him, too. So I knew that. But my bigger issue,
S5: and I can remember even asking the pastor and saying, hey,
S5: I know I need to forgive Ron. I think I
S5: can do that, but I don't have to stay married,
S5: do I? Because the bigger issue to me, I said,
S5: you know, how can you possibly have a marriage when
S5: there is zero trust? And so trust had been thrown
S5: out the window. So for me, it was funny because
S5: he asked me, oh, that's interesting. He said, Does the
S5: Bible say trust one another? And I didn't really know
S5: the Bible, but that did not sound right. I said, no,
S5: he said, you're right. Any ideas why it might say that?
S5: And I said, probably because we're not trustworthy. And he's like,
S5: that's right. You know. And then he said, what does
S5: the Bible say that we're supposed to do to one another?
S5: And said, love. And he said, that's right. He said,
S5: God's not asking you to trust Ron. He's asking you
S5: to love Ron. And what was interesting about that is
S5: it was very freeing. Just hearing that, it made sense
S5: and it took this huge pressure off me, because the
S5: choice to forgive was like a moment in time, like
S5: I could choose to forgive. But the process of forgiving
S5: is the part that takes a little longer. And so
S5: then that kicked in following all that. But the only
S5: way to do that was I had to trust God.
S5: I had to trust God with Ron. Like I had
S5: to fully release Ron and his offense like what he
S5: had done to God, and trust God with that, and
S5: trust that God was going to take care of me.
S5: Whatever happened, whether the marriage worked out or not. And
S5: so I left that day knowing, hey, trust God. Love, Ron.
S5: Trust God. And then I had to try to figure
S5: out what does that mean practically?
S2: This is so beautiful. I'll tell you what's powerful about
S2: this conversation we're having, guys, is that we haven't even
S2: gotten into the book. But here's what I want to spike.
S2: Boom crew. Here's here's what I want to spike. The
S2: beauty of this is, if people have gone through this
S2: dark night of the soul crisis, we're up against it.
S2: And out of our brokenness. We found God. Those are
S2: the people you need to listen to. We're not professionals.
S2: We're all in recovery. No one's arrived.
S4: That's right.
S2: We're all there. So I want you, Ron. Give us
S2: the book and what's behind it.
S4: So, you know, this is the thing. And the reason,
S4: you know, we wrote the book was because our story,
S4: you know, was such and where we needed to be restored.
S4: And so we believe that all marriages need to be
S4: enriched and some marriages need to be restored. And so
S4: really what happened was we started taking small steps, baby
S4: steps of faith where we would just actually, literally do
S4: what the Bible says in regards to. Treating each other
S4: in a way that was honoring to put God at
S4: the center of your marriage. And so that's what the
S4: book is. The book is seven choices that keep couples together.
S4: And so whether you are looking for enrichment, you're looking
S4: for restoration. These are the steps that you need to take.
S4: And so I wish it was some profound thing. It
S4: was like, no, they're just biblical steps. Like choosing to
S4: grow spiritually and choosing to love unconditionally and serve sacrificially.
S4: I mean, you know, the list goes on and on.
S4: Communicate respectfully. I mean, these are biblical choices that oftentimes
S4: we don't take seriously. And, you know, maybe somebody's listening
S4: and they're like, man, I you know, I don't have
S4: that much of a problem. Well, that's good, but a
S4: lot of us do. But all of us trust is
S4: broken in marriage and we need to rebuild trust. Yes, yes.
S4: And it takes you know, we teach this equation. It's
S4: cb over t CB is for change behavior over time.
S4: And so you got to have change behavior. And that
S4: only happens through repentance and a relationship with God that
S4: you can truly change. And then time it takes time.
S4: You know in our situation with our story, fortunately this
S4: hadn't gone on for a long time, so it didn't
S4: take as long for us to come back together. And
S4: I think that's where couples are having trouble, is that
S4: they need to own each part of the breakdown and
S4: that change behavior over time. Trust in the Lord. I mean,
S4: he can reconcile anything. I know you believe that. I
S4: know we've experienced stories of people who have seen it.
S4: And so, um, you know, really it's just the choices
S4: that you choose in the daily life of, are you
S4: going to honor God and are you going to honor
S4: each other? And those are the things that are the
S4: most important.
S2: The name of the book is The Marriage Knot. So
S2: here's our key word, and I know we're going to
S2: get crushed with text messages, so get your phone handy.
S2: Here's what I want you to do. Text the word
S2: not with a k k o t as in the marriage.
S2: Not text not k n o t to 800 555 7898.
S2: Text not to 805 55 7898. And God's going to
S2: meet you here. I don't care how far you've gone.
S2: God's arm is not too short. And if you can
S2: fog a mirror, God can change your life and your marriage.
S2: Text not k n o t to 805 55 7898. Thanks,
S2: you guys, for being with us today.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, sometimes when you get a link, you got to
S2: got to look down in additional details.
S6: So specific sometimes is really specific. Okay. Sure.
S2: Oh because there's some additional details that we want you
S2: to know about.
S6: Did that really well.
S2: Top top level stuff first though. Ali wasn't the world's
S2: going on here.
S3: Carl has a book signing. It's coming up March 1st,
S3: 9 to 12. It's a Saturday morning. You are invited.
S3: If you want to get out to Villa Park, just
S3: text the word book to get the details. Text book
S3: to 855 five 7898. Text book to 800 555 7898.
S2: And then when you get the link, you'll have the details,
S2: and then you just look a little deeper for additional details.
S6: Carl, it's really important you got to do it. Strange.
S2: I know, but that's what makes me roll. I know
S2: I'm bizarre, but you are too. early anyway. Good to
S2: have you here this morning, guys. Today we're talking about
S2: marriage and freedom and the even the prospect of Valentine's
S2: Day for some can get a little discouraging, right, Ali?
S6: I mean, it's so much pressure.
S3: Like, it just feels like pressure. I remember one a
S3: couple years ago, I was at menards of all places
S3: on Valentine's Day, and I saw they had these bouquets
S3: of really sad looking roses that were for.
S6: Sale at menards.
S3: And it was like towards the end of the day,
S3: if I'm remembering this correctly, and I thought, huh, if
S3: this is somebody's.
S6: Like, oh, well.
S3: I'm at Menards and I haven't done anything for the
S3: person that I love.
S6: So let me grab these.
S3: Flowers that are right by the checkout counter. I thought,
S3: oh man, I feel like this, this holiday. It just
S3: carries too much pressure and expectation and it almost always
S3: feels like a letdown.
S2: Yeah. So it's it's true, man. It can be for some.
S2: By the way, we celebrated Valentine's Day last night. We
S2: had a great time. Uh, we get out and we do.
S2: The day before. We just had a super time together. Uh,
S2: it was really funny. We do crazy stuff. We did
S2: a we did a a $20, uh, spontaneous. You got
S2: 30 minutes to go find in a mall, a $20
S2: gift for each other, and we just go. Go.
S3: Oh. That's fun.
S2: It's super fun.
S3: It's just you and your bride. Are you doing this
S3: with your. Okay?
S2: Just. Just me and my bride. And then we meet
S2: back up in the center of the mall, and and, uh,
S2: I always I break the rules. Oh.
S3: Big surprise. Right?
S2: I don't limit it to 20. But we were talking,
S2: and she shared a funny story. I'd totally forgotten. We
S2: were talking yesterday about chick fil A, and we love
S2: chick fil A. Um, I don't eat it a lot,
S2: but when I do have it, it's like, oh my goodness, man.
S2: It's so good. But I'd totally forgotten about this. And
S2: she shared with me. My bride is so funny. We're
S2: down at a Family Life speakers retreat in Saint Pete Beach,
S2: and we would have different. These are all the speakers
S2: for weekends to remember. We spoke with them for 11
S2: years or something like that. And we would have different
S2: people come in like Howard Hendricks and you name it. Um,
S2: but one time there was going to be a guest speaker,
S2: and he was going to be honored and featured. And
S2: I didn't know this guy. Janine didn't either. And, you know,
S2: going and getting this big buffet and go sit down
S2: at these tables. And she plops down next to this
S2: guy named Truett Cathy. Founder of chick fil A.
S3: Oh. That's right. Yeah. Yes.
S2: And, uh, she's conversing with him. Sadly, we hadn't been
S2: to a chick fil A yet. And she's just John
S2: with him. She didn't know the scope of chick fil
S2: A or anything, and she just says, well, is it
S2: any good?
S3: Hey, that's a fair question if you've not had it.
S7: Did you mean it? He's your heart.
S2: Of course it is. And he chuckled. But I thought, oh, great.
S2: I told her last night. I said, baby, how many
S2: people have looked at Truett Cathy and asked, is it
S2: any good? Is it any good?
S7: Well.
S2: What a gracious guy he was. He was super good
S2: about it. But yeah, we got a lot of chick
S2: fil A fans out there today, don't we? And you know,
S2: I was thinking about this yesterday as well. I just
S2: had a kind of a daydream. I wonder how many
S2: people that do have a lot of means or something
S2: like that. Because I always think about Valentine's Day. You
S2: got to pop for the big meal out. I wonder
S2: how many people go, let's go to waffle House. You know,
S2: let's just let's just let's go have some waffles, man.
S2: Let's put strawberries all over them and let's just have
S2: some waffles.
S7: Have some Fun. Yeah.
S2: Sometimes we just gotta go. All right, we're gonna go
S2: have some fun here. And, uh, we had a ball.
S2: I hope you have a great day. And yet, the
S2: reality is, some of you listening feel like, ah, what
S2: are we going to do here? Uh, maybe your heart's hurting.
S2: Or maybe you don't feel like you have love to give.
S2: I was super compelled by. Doctor Thrasher and what he
S2: put in an email form to us. It was encouraging,
S2: wasn't it, Ali?
S3: It was because I think on a day like today especially,
S3: there's a lot of things that can creep up in
S3: your mind. I'm alone today. Nobody loves me. Nobody's remembered me.
S3: Why don't I get to feel what I see in
S3: the movies or I see on the hallmark card? That
S3: doesn't describe my. Maybe you're single and don't want to be.
S3: Maybe you're married, but don't feel like the love is there.
S2: Don't want to be. Yeah, you can be that real
S2: coming up here in a couple of minutes. Doctor Bill
S2: Thrasher is going to be with us. I love this
S2: guy's heart, and I love the fact that he takes
S2: us always back to the word of God. Where is
S2: that love coming from? We get that squared away first.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: curl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I walked through Jewel-osco local grocery store. The amount of
S2: Valentine's balloons. I don't know what's going on, but there
S2: seems to be something afoot. There are. It looked like thousands.
S2: It was probably many hundreds. But this, this day captures people.
S2: The amount of revenue that flows through registers and databases
S2: is staggering. What do you think about Valentine's Day?
S3: You know, I've never loved Valentine's Day, to be honest.
S3: the the pressure, the expectation that this is the day
S3: that I'm going to feel loved feels like one of those,
S3: oh man, I can't quite live up to what you'd
S3: want it to be.
S2: Yeah. And and it's and it's hard too, because there's
S2: a lot of and we haven't lingered on this, but
S2: there's a lot of people that feel like, yeah, shoot,
S2: it didn't maybe meet my expectations. And for some of you,
S2: it will. It's going to be like, oh, this guy's
S2: surprised me with this. And by the way, powerful words
S2: were spoken over me. And that's beautiful. But when you
S2: hear those powerful words, they're most often linked to a
S2: deeper narrative. And that's God's love for us. And here's
S2: what's beautiful. If we anchor ourselves there, Ali, we're changed.
S3: Let's bring in doctor Bill Thrasher. This is on your
S3: heart as well as we are celebrating Valentine's Day. You
S3: say love is a great thing to celebrate, but as
S3: long as it's, it has to be rooted in something
S3: deeper than just, you know, the pink and red and
S3: white carnations and balloons and a hallmark greeting card. Right.
S8: You got that? You know, Scripture says that God is
S8: the source of all love. Love is from God. First
S8: John four seven. God is love. His very nature. Never
S8: be afraid of overemphasizing love as long as you rightly
S8: understand it. All the other attributes help explain. It is
S8: a holy love. Uh, it is an eternal love. A
S8: faithful love, an infinite love. He can love us as
S8: if we were the only person in the world and
S8: not get his attention off anybody else. So, you know,
S8: the Scripture says that love is the most important thing.
S8: Those that beautiful first Corinthians 13, if you meditate on it,
S8: it's pretty powerful. I actually do look at a phrase
S8: of that every day just to start my day. But
S8: he says, you know when you see it, okay. Love
S8: is the most important thing. Everything. It's worthless. Everything apart
S8: from that. But we love because he first loved us.
S8: If that's true. If love is the most important thing
S8: and we love because he first loved us, I guess
S8: the most important thing I could trust God for is, Lord,
S8: would you overwhelm me with your love for me so
S8: so that I could better respond in loving you and
S8: loving others? I would like all of our precious ones
S8: that listen faithfully to this program. I pray that they
S8: would be overwhelmed with love to say, God, would you?
S8: I know this is your will. If love is the
S8: most important thing, God, would you overwhelm me with your love?
S8: And I'll talk about that in my own life. I
S8: think that's the most important thing to trust God for.
S2: How do we know we are overwhelmed with God's love?
S2: Because love, sometimes we have expressions of love that can
S2: be candidly, sometimes self-serving. They can be right, uh, kind
S2: of glossing over the bigger needs. How do we know
S2: we've been irrigated by God's love? How do we know it?
S8: Really? When you sense that he loves you in the
S8: way no one else ever can or ever will. His
S8: love is superior. There are wonderful expressions of love, but
S8: I get my students to to meditate on this verse.
S8: It says, can a woman forget her nursing child and
S8: have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even
S8: these may forget, but I will not forget you.
S2: Oh that's powerful.
S8: God loved his son. His son was his beloved. He
S8: allowed his son to be crushed because he had an
S8: eternal purpose that was beyond that. So we also have
S8: to be attentive. I remember one time I was just
S8: so encouraged and and just really thanking God and felt
S8: his love for me. And it was God saying, you
S8: know what? I love you this way all the time.
S8: My love is unchanging. But we do tend to look
S8: at it very circumstantially. And when you're not feeling well,
S8: when you are sick, when you're in pain, it's hard
S8: to grasp it. Now, God's love is there every time
S8: I go to Scripture and scripture, and it would encourage
S8: me to love in a certain way. I'd back up
S8: and say, okay, God, how is it that you love
S8: me this way? You know, Proverbs 17 says, A friend
S8: loves it all the time. Lord, I know you want
S8: me to be that kind of friend, but most of all,
S8: I thank you that you're that kind of friend to me.
S3: Doctor Bill Thrasher, professor of Bible and theology here at
S3: Moody Bible Institute. We've got something we want to point
S3: you to. Doctor Thrasher has written a book, Putting God
S3: Back Into the Holidays, where he talks about Valentine's Day,
S3: among other holidays. What are some of those lies that
S3: you've believed about love? About yourself? Maybe that you're not
S3: special or loved by anyone, that you're alone, particularly on
S3: this Valentine's Day. I want you to go on Facebook
S3: or Instagram, Carl and crew, and I want you to
S3: check out this resource we've put together for you to
S3: help you correct those lies of the enemy with Scripture,
S3: with God's Word. Just check it out on Facebook and Instagram.
S3: Search Carl and crew.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: There is some help, some hope, and some freedom. And
S2: it's through the love of Jesus Christ today. And some
S2: of you feel like you need some love. And some
S2: of you need love. That leads to the ultimate freedom
S2: found in Jesus Christ. God loved the world so much
S2: that he sent His Son to this earth, that if
S2: you believe in him, you will not perish, but you
S2: will have everlasting life, and that can begin today. I
S2: know that the Spirit of God is working in someone's
S2: heart today. And is this yours? It could be the
S2: absence of earthly love that makes you long for something,
S2: and you have that in Christ Jesus. I want you
S2: to know today, on this Freedom Friday, how to take
S2: hold of that love. If you believe in him, that
S2: means the total surrender of your life to Jesus Christ.
S2: And you may have believed in him intellectually before, but
S2: today is a time for spiritual regeneration. His life and yours.
S2: So I want to ask you a couple of simple questions. One,
S2: do you believe that Jesus came to this earth, sent
S2: by the father to die for your sins? That would
S2: be prompted by the Spirit of God that indwells you
S2: right now. But I want to ask you, do you
S2: believe that today and today, are you ready to take
S2: a step of faith to believe by total surrender, surrendering
S2: to this God who loved you so much that he
S2: sent Jesus? Do you want that love? Will you surrender
S2: your life in total to him today? Will you believe
S2: that he died for you? Will you turn and follow
S2: Jesus and give him your life in total? Just saying.
S2: My life is yours today. God, thank you for sending Jesus.
S2: I needed forgiveness, I needed that kind of love. And
S2: if that is you today, I want to encourage you
S2: very simply, very practically, we have a resource that we're
S2: going to send your way today. I just want you
S2: to text the word new. If today you are broken, humbled,
S2: and aware of your need for Jesus Christ. Just text
S2: the word new. You might have heard the gospel here
S2: many times this good news of Jesus, but today you're
S2: surrendering your life to him for the very first time.
S2: Today is your day of salvation. Just text the word
S2: new to our number here 800 555 7898. What a
S2: day to be born again. Valentine's day 805, 55, 7898.
S2: Just text the word new and the hug and the
S2: love of God. It transcends all understanding. Man. Just text
S2: the word new and we're going to help you in
S2: your first steps with Jesus. 800 555 7898 welcome to
S2: the family. Welcome to the arms of God's love.