WEBVTT - God’s Word Brings Life 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.600 Coming to you live from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:08.240 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:10.799 Hey. Good morning. I'm Ali, this is Carl and crew. 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:14.640 You know, because I live in a city where I 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:19.079 don't have a big, lush backyard. Um, there's not a 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.160 lot of green space around where I live. I have 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.520 one single tree on my. On our property. Just one. 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:26.160 Oh, man. 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.560 Wow. But let me tell you about this tree, because I. 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.520 I can't explain why this tree is different, but this 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.199 tree is different than any other tree on the entire block. 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:41.560 How so? And I've. I've watched this for now, several years. 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:42.320 Okay. All right. 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:46.640 So there's a typical cycle that trees go through that 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.239 they all lose their leaves around the same time. So 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.640 you'll look and you and come fall. Sure. You'll see 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.920 all of the colors start to change. That's like October. November. 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.860 You get like those beautiful, rich hues. The yellows, the oranges, 0:01:00.900 --> 0:01:04.779 the reds. I love that season too. And then as 0:01:04.819 --> 0:01:09.900 the months go on, the trees all lose their leaves. Right? Right. 0:01:09.940 --> 0:01:12.660 Except for my tree. I kid you not. 0:01:12.700 --> 0:01:14.020 Really? Even in the winter. 0:01:14.060 --> 0:01:16.420 Even in the winter. Really? And I will look and 0:01:16.420 --> 0:01:19.140 I will see a whole block. Because everyone kind of 0:01:19.180 --> 0:01:23.060 has a tree in their in the same place in 0:01:23.060 --> 0:01:25.060 front of their house. It's kind of like they're all, 0:01:25.260 --> 0:01:28.140 you know, between the tree and the or between the 0:01:28.140 --> 0:01:31.060 street and the sidewalk. Everyone on my block has a 0:01:31.060 --> 0:01:33.500 tree for the most part. This is how they designed it. 0:01:33.540 --> 0:01:35.900 This isn't some trick story where it's like an evergreen tree. 0:01:35.980 --> 0:01:38.780 No no no no. I because I'm really curious and 0:01:38.780 --> 0:01:42.140 I've not figured out why. And so every tree on 0:01:42.140 --> 0:01:46.340 the entire block will be leafless except for my tree. 0:01:47.540 --> 0:01:51.740 My tree doesn't lose its leaves, and they stay green. 0:01:51.940 --> 0:01:55.500 They don't stay green. They will change colors later. They 0:01:55.500 --> 0:01:57.930 change colors later than than the rest of them. But 0:01:57.930 --> 0:02:01.330 they do change colors. But then the leaves remain on 0:02:01.330 --> 0:02:06.050 the branches and then come like as spring is turning. 0:02:06.930 --> 0:02:11.730 Then they the leaves will drop off in the spring 0:02:11.970 --> 0:02:14.610 and then quickly. Especially this year. It was a very 0:02:14.610 --> 0:02:18.610 quick turnaround. Quickly replaced by the buds so that it 0:02:18.610 --> 0:02:23.490 could relief for the for the next season. Interesting. It is. 0:02:23.530 --> 0:02:26.650 And this isn't like some sort of riddle. You finding anything? 0:02:26.690 --> 0:02:27.610 That's what I'm thinking. 0:02:27.850 --> 0:02:31.690 Uh, so are they dead when they're on there? But 0:02:31.690 --> 0:02:32.810 they just don't fall off? 0:02:32.970 --> 0:02:35.610 Um, I would say they don't look vibrant. 0:02:35.850 --> 0:02:36.730 They're brown. 0:02:37.130 --> 0:02:38.330 They're brownish red. 0:02:38.370 --> 0:02:41.010 Okay. So I don't know. I don't know how to 0:02:41.010 --> 0:02:45.890 pronounce this word. There's a process called Mars. Mhm. Mhm. 0:02:47.090 --> 0:02:49.850 I don't know something like that. M a r c 0:02:49.970 --> 0:02:53.170 e c e n c e. This is a natural 0:02:53.169 --> 0:02:56.510 phenomenon where leaves dry up and remain attached to the 0:02:56.510 --> 0:02:59.549 branches throughout the winter, eventually falling off in the spring. 0:02:59.790 --> 0:03:00.549 Interesting. 0:03:00.590 --> 0:03:04.230 It's naturally occurring. It doesn't happen on every tree, obviously, 0:03:04.270 --> 0:03:05.430 but it does happen. 0:03:05.470 --> 0:03:09.710 Okay, so I've got a couple of theories from our listeners. 0:03:09.830 --> 0:03:13.470 Let's see. It's not a native tree says 0362 okay. 0:03:13.630 --> 0:03:19.829 7905 Oak tree. Another another vote for maybe it's an 0:03:19.830 --> 0:03:24.710 oak tree. Uh, 6411 says maybe it's a male walnut tree. 0:03:25.550 --> 0:03:28.110 Do trees. There's such a thing as a male and 0:03:28.110 --> 0:03:31.230 a female tree. Am I am I missing that? It 0:03:31.230 --> 0:03:33.270 just it's it's Ellie's tree. It's. 0:03:33.590 --> 0:03:36.390 None of us know anything about trees or plants. 0:03:36.430 --> 0:03:38.910 Brown thumbs. So bad. Yeah. It's one of those questions 0:03:38.910 --> 0:03:41.190 that you're like, is this gonna sound like a dumb question? 0:03:41.230 --> 0:03:45.950 Male trees have a, uh, a pollen producer job. That's 0:03:45.950 --> 0:03:48.710 what they do is to produce pollen. Female trees bear 0:03:48.710 --> 0:03:49.990 fruit or seeds. 0:03:50.030 --> 0:03:54.090 Huh. Okay. So, okay, I don't. So these are good 0:03:54.090 --> 0:03:57.130 working theories, but it is a fascinating thing to look 0:03:57.130 --> 0:04:00.170 out in the middle of January and see that you 0:04:00.170 --> 0:04:04.210 have the only tree on the block with leaves. Makes 0:04:04.210 --> 0:04:05.490 me feel kind of special. 0:04:05.530 --> 0:04:06.690 I hate that. 0:04:08.290 --> 0:04:11.809 Sweet. And so it makes me think of Psalm one. 0:04:11.810 --> 0:04:15.690 My tree, the one tree on our property, the only 0:04:15.690 --> 0:04:18.289 one we have. And I should also add that it's 0:04:18.290 --> 0:04:20.650 not as mature as some of the other ones on 0:04:20.650 --> 0:04:22.330 the block. For those of you who are trying to 0:04:22.370 --> 0:04:25.250 put together a theory, add that little piece of evidence 0:04:25.250 --> 0:04:28.490 to whatever you're coming up with. Because I'm if you're 0:04:28.490 --> 0:04:31.010 an expert on this and have a have a working theory, 0:04:31.010 --> 0:04:33.770 I'd love to hear it. It's not a mature tree. 0:04:33.810 --> 0:04:37.529 There there are many more mature trees. Our our house 0:04:37.570 --> 0:04:40.970 got rebuilt, and so they must have torn down the 0:04:40.970 --> 0:04:43.650 original tree and replanted one so that it would look 0:04:43.650 --> 0:04:46.690 in line with the rest of the block. But I 0:04:46.730 --> 0:04:50.930 get this special tree that stays with its leaves. 0:04:50.970 --> 0:04:51.290 Just for. 0:04:51.290 --> 0:04:56.080 You all year round. How can we be like that tree, 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:03.200 not losing our leaves, flourishing despite the harsh conditions around us? 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.680 I want to be like the tree in my yard. 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:10.279 The only one I've got. That's my role model. Why 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.880 would you make a tree? Your role model? I'll explain. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.000 Coming up. It's actually a totally biblical to want to 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:19.799 be like a tree. Let's go to Psalm one coming up. 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.840 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.680 Well, once again, the boom crew has come through in 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.240 a major way. I think the mystery has been solved. 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:33.240 Here's what I am have determined to be. Most likely 0:05:33.240 --> 0:05:37.159 the case because of what the boom crew has reported back. Yes, 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:40.280 many of you have said it's probably an oak tree, 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:44.760 and one person whose dad was a landscaper says more specifically, 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:48.000 a pin oak. They said my dad planted one in 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:49.640 the backyard of the house I grew up in. He 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.980 was a landscaper. The Pin Oak did that every year. 0:05:52.980 --> 0:05:56.339 It didn't lose its leaves until spring. So I did 0:05:56.339 --> 0:06:00.180 a little Google research myself. I looked at some pictures 0:06:00.180 --> 0:06:04.859 of a pin oak and based on my visual assessment. 0:06:04.900 --> 0:06:05.779 Your keen eye. 0:06:06.020 --> 0:06:13.340 By your expertise there, Miss Green Thumb? Exactly. The person 0:06:13.339 --> 0:06:16.820 who can't keep house plants alive has now determined that 0:06:16.820 --> 0:06:19.779 what is in my yard is likely a pin oak tree, 0:06:20.100 --> 0:06:23.900 which does not lose its leaves until the new buds 0:06:23.900 --> 0:06:25.300 push them off in the spring. 0:06:25.740 --> 0:06:26.220 Well, there you go. 0:06:26.260 --> 0:06:28.860 Which means the rest of my block must have a 0:06:28.860 --> 0:06:31.820 different type of tree than I do, because I'm the 0:06:31.820 --> 0:06:33.900 only one that has this little privilege. 0:06:33.900 --> 0:06:34.500 There you go. 0:06:35.300 --> 0:06:39.020 Boom! Crew. Way to go. Let's go to Psalm one. 0:06:39.860 --> 0:06:44.940 Mystery solved. Psalm one. We are called to be like 0:06:44.940 --> 0:06:46.739 a tree. I'm going to read this to you. Blessed 0:06:46.740 --> 0:06:49.210 is the man who walks not in the counsel of 0:06:49.210 --> 0:06:51.929 the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor 0:06:51.930 --> 0:06:54.850 sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is 0:06:54.850 --> 0:06:57.170 in the law of the Lord, and on his law 0:06:57.170 --> 0:07:01.170 he meditates day and night. He is like a tree 0:07:01.410 --> 0:07:04.610 planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in 0:07:04.610 --> 0:07:09.290 its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all 0:07:09.330 --> 0:07:11.810 that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, 0:07:12.090 --> 0:07:14.730 but they are like chaff that the wind drives away. 0:07:14.730 --> 0:07:17.490 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor 0:07:17.490 --> 0:07:20.290 sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord 0:07:20.290 --> 0:07:22.410 knows the way of the righteous, but the way of 0:07:22.410 --> 0:07:26.610 the wicked will perish. Ultimately, we're going to go one 0:07:26.610 --> 0:07:31.130 of two ways in terms of how we approach our lives, 0:07:31.170 --> 0:07:33.570 and really only one of two, two ways we are 0:07:33.570 --> 0:07:38.050 either going to be like a tree or like chaff 0:07:38.370 --> 0:07:42.010 that the wind drives away. Coming up, let's break down 0:07:42.010 --> 0:07:45.610 why we want to live like a tree. Maybe a 0:07:45.610 --> 0:07:48.070 pin oak tree, to be more specific. 0:07:48.630 --> 0:07:51.350 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:07:51.390 --> 0:07:55.270 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:07:55.430 --> 0:07:58.030 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:07:58.350 --> 0:08:02.070 The first time I heard this message or this passage 0:08:02.070 --> 0:08:05.350 of Scripture preached, it was in a sermon series called 0:08:05.630 --> 0:08:11.510 Like a Tree. It was preached by my pastor, probably six, seven, 0:08:11.510 --> 0:08:14.390 maybe eight years ago. And it has stuck with me, 0:08:14.390 --> 0:08:17.150 and it has remained one of my favorite chapters in 0:08:17.150 --> 0:08:21.470 all of Scripture, because it is so practical and establishes 0:08:21.470 --> 0:08:24.030 very clearly the way of the righteous versus the way 0:08:24.030 --> 0:08:26.350 of the wicked, the way of the righteous. The righteous 0:08:26.350 --> 0:08:30.630 man is like a tree that's planted by streams of water. 0:08:30.670 --> 0:08:32.910 Now a tree that's planted by streams of water is 0:08:32.910 --> 0:08:36.550 ones that's very close to the source. The water is 0:08:36.550 --> 0:08:40.189 able to quickly travel through the root system, constantly providing 0:08:40.190 --> 0:08:45.730 that life sustaining nourishment. Right? Yeah. Perfect spot. The healthiest. 0:08:45.770 --> 0:08:48.770 That's the picture of the the way of the righteous. 0:08:49.250 --> 0:08:53.610 Planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in its season. Fruitful. 0:08:53.610 --> 0:08:57.010 We want to live fruitfully. Its leaf does not wither 0:08:57.250 --> 0:09:00.449 in all that he does, he prospers. That's the person 0:09:00.450 --> 0:09:03.250 who goes the way of the righteous, who is like 0:09:03.250 --> 0:09:06.610 a tree. But then verse four, the contrast. The wicked 0:09:06.610 --> 0:09:09.850 are not so, but are like chaff that the wind 0:09:09.850 --> 0:09:13.290 drives away. Now I had heard about chaff, but I 0:09:13.290 --> 0:09:15.930 needed to do a refresher on it. So I watched 0:09:15.929 --> 0:09:18.530 a YouTube video last night to actually see what it 0:09:18.530 --> 0:09:22.329 looks like to separate wheat from chaff. The chaff is 0:09:22.330 --> 0:09:26.290 just the husks and the straw. It's not the usable 0:09:26.290 --> 0:09:29.690 part of the wheat. So when the wheat is threshed, 0:09:29.690 --> 0:09:32.410 what the farmer will do is actually throw it in 0:09:32.410 --> 0:09:35.050 the air by the handfuls. It's kind of a wild 0:09:35.050 --> 0:09:38.410 thing to watch because it's just it's literally just throwing 0:09:38.410 --> 0:09:40.689 it in the air. And that's how it's separated, because 0:09:40.690 --> 0:09:44.439 that kernel of wheat will fall to the ground. The 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.400 chaff will be driven away by the wind. Literally what 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.600 it says in the scripture, it will just be carried away. 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.000 Because it's hollow. So it just gets carried off. 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.200 Yeah, it's lighter in in weight. So it just that's 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:57.559 how they separate it out. 0:09:57.600 --> 0:09:58.040 That's cool. 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.640 I thought wow. Like there's no and that's still I 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:02.280 guess the most efficient way of doing it. 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:03.000 That's awesome. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:05.400 I love that like no real brain science there. The 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.800 wind just takes it. Okay. So when you think about 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:12.080 it that way, like, wow. So the person who does 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.679 not go the way of God is like the chaff 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.920 which just the wind is driven wind. The wind drives 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:21.400 it away. And you think about the life of somebody 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:26.240 who's planted versus someone who's just carried with the wind. 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:31.320 And there's so many implications for this. But when it 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:35.080 boils down to it hinges on verse two of this 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.319 passage of Scripture. His delight is in the law of 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.920 the Lord. What makes you like a tree delighting in 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:44.459 the Lord. Delighting in the law of the Lord, which 0:10:44.460 --> 0:10:48.900 is just the instruction of God. God's word meditating on 0:10:48.900 --> 0:10:54.220 God's Word day and night. Making that what drives you, 0:10:54.260 --> 0:10:57.500 what sustains you as opposed to the wicked? Who is 0:10:57.500 --> 0:10:59.980 going to get counsel from the wicked? Who's going to 0:10:59.980 --> 0:11:01.980 stand in the way of sinners? Who's going to sit 0:11:01.980 --> 0:11:05.060 in the seat of scoffers? The the arrogance and the 0:11:05.059 --> 0:11:09.060 haughtiness of thinking that we know the way? Yeah, right. 0:11:09.340 --> 0:11:12.020 Oh, goodness. Yeah. We we trust in our own, our 0:11:12.020 --> 0:11:17.939 own minds, our own logic. Way too often. When my 0:11:17.940 --> 0:11:21.860 mind can't be trusted for some of the most simple things. Sometimes. Right. 0:11:21.900 --> 0:11:24.219 So why should it direct the way I go for 0:11:24.220 --> 0:11:25.100 my entire life? 0:11:25.100 --> 0:11:28.620 Right? You want to be rooted. You want to be planted. 0:11:28.980 --> 0:11:32.660 You don't want to be carried away by the winds 0:11:32.660 --> 0:11:35.740 of anything that you hear. You know how hard it 0:11:35.740 --> 0:11:39.460 is to try to keep up with what culture considers 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:41.160 right and wrong. Yeah. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:42.040 Yeah. 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.400 You know how much gymnastics you have to do to 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.960 try to bend and yield, to make what you believe 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:53.199 line up with what's popular at any given moment because 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:54.720 it changes quickly. 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:55.240 Very. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:12:00.320 The just think about the trends, the fashion trends that 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.160 you wore when you were in high school or college, 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:05.400 and how hard it is just to keep up with 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:08.280 the fashion trends. Sure. And all of a sudden you 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.480 find that your current wardrobe is somehow out of date, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.760 even though you just bought new clothes, you bought new 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.680 clothes three, four years ago, and all of a sudden 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.720 you go, oh, well, I guess that that's not. Are 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:25.480 people not wearing skinny jeans anymore? Apparently not. I still 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.400 like my skinny jeans. Side note but apparently that's not 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.000 what's popular. How much harder is it to keep up 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:36.360 with the changing tides of what is considered true and right? 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:37.720 Sure. Yeah. 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.790 You know, and you think about I think a lot 0:12:40.790 --> 0:12:44.030 about this because I'm raising children who are in those 0:12:44.030 --> 0:12:49.030 critical years where they're starting to really develop their own worldview, 0:12:49.070 --> 0:12:51.470 how they see things. I mean, for a while, when 0:12:51.470 --> 0:12:56.310 kids are infants, toddlers, they're there's not a lot of 0:12:56.309 --> 0:12:58.350 questioning in the toddler years. 0:12:58.550 --> 0:13:02.470 No, some there's a question. There is some questioning. 0:13:02.510 --> 0:13:07.510 Questioning about the different than the teenage questions. 0:13:07.510 --> 0:13:08.189 Definitely. 0:13:08.309 --> 0:13:11.950 So the why questions of the toddler years. Looking back, boy, 0:13:11.950 --> 0:13:16.270 those were a lot easier to answer, weren't they? And 0:13:16.270 --> 0:13:18.670 then kids hit their teen years, and they start to 0:13:18.670 --> 0:13:21.630 have to grapple with a lot of what they're hearing, 0:13:22.030 --> 0:13:24.230 a lot of what they're seeing, a lot of what 0:13:24.230 --> 0:13:29.070 they're told is true. And it's good to be able 0:13:29.070 --> 0:13:33.710 to give your kids God's Word, because then you're not 0:13:33.710 --> 0:13:35.550 trying to figure it out as you go. 0:13:35.590 --> 0:13:39.450 Yeah, That truth doesn't change with the world. It stays 0:13:39.450 --> 0:13:41.809 the same, and we can always go back to it, right? 0:13:42.929 --> 0:13:46.689 So think about this because things are changing so quickly, 0:13:47.250 --> 0:13:50.330 it's very possible that three years. Let's say you have 0:13:50.330 --> 0:13:52.330 a kid who's I have a son now who's 12. 0:13:52.370 --> 0:13:56.449 He's my youngest. Three years from now, when he's 15, 0:13:57.690 --> 0:13:59.130 things will have changed. 0:13:59.450 --> 0:14:00.050 By a lot. 0:14:00.290 --> 0:14:04.010 By a lot. So that means that what it absent 0:14:04.290 --> 0:14:07.250 the Word of God, absent delighting in the law of 0:14:07.250 --> 0:14:10.810 the Lord, I'm going to be. I would be telling 0:14:10.809 --> 0:14:15.209 him something today that won't be true in three years, 0:14:15.690 --> 0:14:18.010 that I will then have to say, okay, son, I 0:14:18.010 --> 0:14:24.010 know I told you that this was right. Now I'm 0:14:24.010 --> 0:14:28.210 going to have to say I. This is right now. Yeah. 0:14:28.530 --> 0:14:30.450 Imagine how confusing that is. 0:14:30.490 --> 0:14:35.600 Yeah, it's super confusing. And it's Sometimes it feels easier 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.680 or more comfortable when we can change things based on 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:41.960 how the world is going, because it's difficult to say, nope, 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.320 this is still true, even though it's even though it's 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:45.760 not popular, it's still true. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:46.880 It won't change. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.280 It's good that there's an anchor. 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.800 An anchor for our souls. And Psalm one is a 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.280 good passage to read with your kids because it helps 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.960 them connect. Why the Word of God is so important. 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.120 It's not enough for kids to know that we just. 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.120 We read the Bible because that's what Christians do. That's 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.920 not going to carry them through when their faith comes 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.520 under attack. No, no it won't. They need to know 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.760 that there is a way of the righteous that's a 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:18.480 delight in the Word of God. That goes God God's way. 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.920 That ultimately leads to a life that's like a tree, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.640 a life that's free of hardship. Absolutely not. But a 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:27.560 life that is planted, that is rooted, that will flourish, 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.840 that will yield fruit in season, that will prosper. The 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.220 way of the wicked is the way of saying, I'll 0:15:35.220 --> 0:15:39.420 take my counsel from X, Y, or Z. I'll lean 0:15:39.420 --> 0:15:42.980 on my own understanding. I'll see how that goes. Well, 0:15:43.100 --> 0:15:45.660 that leads to a life that's life. Like chaff that 0:15:45.660 --> 0:15:48.660 the wind drives away. Show your kids the YouTube video. 0:15:48.900 --> 0:15:50.700 Do you want your life to be like this tree 0:15:50.700 --> 0:15:53.300 that's rooted and planted? That even when storms come, it's 0:15:53.300 --> 0:15:55.100 not going to move? Or do you want a life 0:15:55.100 --> 0:16:00.540 that's like poof goes with the wind? Every kid's going 0:16:00.580 --> 0:16:02.140 to say, I think I want to be more like 0:16:02.140 --> 0:16:06.860 that tree. So then let's talk about the how. Verse two. 0:16:06.900 --> 0:16:10.820 His delight is in the law of the Lord, and 0:16:10.860 --> 0:16:15.820 on his law he meditates day and night. God's word 0:16:15.820 --> 0:16:21.300 is our life source. It really is. If we've got 0:16:21.340 --> 0:16:25.940 God's Word, we've got what we need to flourish and 0:16:25.940 --> 0:16:26.860 be like a tree. 0:16:27.300 --> 0:16:31.960 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.080 Super dei is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:37.359 on Moody Radio. 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.120 Psalm one is one of my favorite chapters in all 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:44.320 of the Bible, and it was from that teaching series 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:48.360 that I mentioned that I first heard this expression of 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:52.400 being privately held and publicly fruitful, and that has been 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:57.160 one of the one of the single most transformational sort 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:02.240 of approaches to Christian life that has shaped me. This 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:09.280 idea that private health has to precede and sustain public fruitfulness. Yeah. 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:12.920 And it's everywhere in Scripture. We see it in John 15, 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.120 but it's because it's very tempting to try to bear 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.680 to to look at the fruit first, to look at 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.320 yielding fruit in season, to try to have leaves that 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.000 don't wither. It's it's tempting to want to look at 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:29.750 what's seen when it's really the unseen things that drive it. 0:17:29.790 --> 0:17:30.270 Yes. 0:17:30.830 --> 0:17:35.629 And sometimes it's it's almost like it's everywhere. And it 0:17:35.630 --> 0:17:38.950 can be it can be almost frustrating. And by that, 0:17:38.990 --> 0:17:42.909 I mean, like, sometimes it's easier to want to chase fruit. 0:17:43.550 --> 0:17:47.430 Sure. Yeah, absolutely. We're it's putting the cart before the horse. You're. 0:17:47.470 --> 0:17:47.790 Yes. 0:17:47.830 --> 0:17:51.190 Good example. You're looking for something that you're like. Well, 0:17:51.190 --> 0:17:52.790 this is the end goal. I want that, but you're 0:17:52.790 --> 0:17:55.790 skipping steps to get there. Uh, you have to you 0:17:55.790 --> 0:17:58.310 have to go in order, because the other stuff doesn't 0:17:58.310 --> 0:18:03.350 happen without first being with God and focusing inwardly. 0:18:03.390 --> 0:18:06.830 Yeah. And this is an ongoing this is an ongoing journey, 0:18:06.830 --> 0:18:10.510 I think, for, for in the life of the believer. 0:18:11.150 --> 0:18:12.430 What do you say? I mean. 0:18:12.470 --> 0:18:13.710 Oh, goodness. Yeah. 0:18:13.750 --> 0:18:14.430 Every day. 0:18:14.590 --> 0:18:15.470 Absolutely. 0:18:15.710 --> 0:18:20.189 It's that that journey of continuing to focus on the 0:18:20.230 --> 0:18:22.710 unseen things and coming up, we're going to have a 0:18:22.710 --> 0:18:26.830 special guest who kind of specializes in this with leaders, 0:18:26.970 --> 0:18:30.330 particularly leaders who've hit a tough spot in their ministry 0:18:30.530 --> 0:18:34.370 and need a place to turn. He walks with leaders 0:18:34.369 --> 0:18:38.850 through who've gone through moral failings, who's who've gone through crisis, 0:18:39.650 --> 0:18:45.010 or who are just experiencing burnout or the disconnect between man, 0:18:45.010 --> 0:18:48.169 what I'm what I'm preaching, what I'm trying to, um, 0:18:48.290 --> 0:18:51.730 project to the to the public. There's a disconnect between 0:18:51.730 --> 0:18:55.690 what's going on outwardly versus what's going on inwardly. The 0:18:55.690 --> 0:19:01.010 root system is no longer sustaining the tree. To continue 0:19:01.010 --> 0:19:03.810 on with our analogy. His name is Greg Dempster. He's 0:19:03.810 --> 0:19:07.650 got a powerful ministry based in the Grand Rapids area 0:19:07.650 --> 0:19:10.770 in Michigan, but he works with leaders from around the country. 0:19:10.810 --> 0:19:12.730 You're going to hear from him coming up. 0:19:13.210 --> 0:19:17.770 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:19:17.770 --> 0:19:21.450 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:19:21.490 --> 0:19:23.850 Hey, I'm Ali, this is Carl and crew. We have 0:19:23.850 --> 0:19:28.110 been looking at Psalm one this morning, which is one 0:19:28.109 --> 0:19:30.710 of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture. I want 0:19:30.750 --> 0:19:33.270 to bring a special guest in. Greg Dempster, founder and 0:19:33.270 --> 0:19:38.350 director of Christ Life Ministries transformed, authentic, empowered. That's part 0:19:38.350 --> 0:19:41.390 of their mission. Christ's life exists to help Christian leaders 0:19:41.390 --> 0:19:44.149 remove the chasm that often exists between what they believe 0:19:44.150 --> 0:19:47.590 to be true about God and what they're experiencing daily. 0:19:47.869 --> 0:19:51.030 So much of this Greg, goes back to Psalm one, right? 0:19:51.070 --> 0:19:53.830 Delighting in the law of the Lord, meditating on it 0:19:53.869 --> 0:19:56.350 day and night. I'm sure that this is a familiar 0:19:56.350 --> 0:19:58.230 passage of scripture for you as well. 0:19:58.630 --> 0:20:03.310 It's an amazing passage. Psalm one God is inviting us 0:20:03.310 --> 0:20:06.190 to himself, right? I mean, we go to his word, 0:20:06.390 --> 0:20:09.750 to go to him, and that's where we find great delighting. 0:20:09.790 --> 0:20:12.709 It's not just words in a book. It's it's words 0:20:12.710 --> 0:20:16.110 that describe that, that help us encounter the living God. 0:20:16.910 --> 0:20:19.310 Talk a little bit about your ministry, because you deal 0:20:19.310 --> 0:20:24.780 specifically with leaders and describe the context that leaders often 0:20:24.780 --> 0:20:28.460 will find their way to you. What's usually going on 0:20:28.500 --> 0:20:29.459 that drives them? 0:20:29.980 --> 0:20:33.740 Yeah. Ali, we renew leaders. Actually, the better way to 0:20:33.740 --> 0:20:37.060 say it is that we serve leaders. We accompany them 0:20:37.460 --> 0:20:40.460 into the presence of the true Jesus, who's the only healer. 0:20:40.820 --> 0:20:43.459 And then we equip them to bring renewal to the 0:20:43.460 --> 0:20:47.580 organizations they lead. Most of the leaders that I work with, 0:20:47.780 --> 0:20:52.060 it's all word of mouth. These guys know someone that's 0:20:52.060 --> 0:20:57.140 experienced tremendous change and they want the same thing. And 0:20:57.300 --> 0:21:00.820 so they could be maybe a leader is forwarded along 0:21:00.820 --> 0:21:05.260 by their elder team and they're broken. They've made decisions 0:21:05.260 --> 0:21:10.180 that have shattered their ministry integrity. Or they're guys that 0:21:10.180 --> 0:21:13.980 are in front of a large organization, a large church, 0:21:14.060 --> 0:21:16.820 maybe a church of 15 or 20,000. And they really 0:21:16.820 --> 0:21:19.260 don't have anybody that they can let their guard down with. 0:21:19.340 --> 0:21:23.040 And my office in Grand Rapids just becomes the safest 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:25.119 place in the Midwest for them to do the work 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:26.320 necessary to get free. 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.719 Yeah. Now, what is it that goes on in the 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:35.440 heart of a leader that causes them to start to. 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:39.280 They're still trying to produce fruit if we are true 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:42.720 to Scripture, but something's going on in there in the 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:46.720 underground of their life, right? I mean, there's either some 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:49.600 sort of disconnect to describe it as based on what 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.440 you know to be true about Scripture and what you've seen. 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.840 It's always something going on underneath the surface, right? Well, 0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:00.879 before anything is seen, sometimes the first indication is is 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.520 a big moral failing or some sort of misstep. But 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:06.720 it's been going it's been building. Right. 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:11.760 Yeah. It's what we've all experienced. It's that that sense 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:15.679 that Augustine unpacks, he unveils when he says the heart 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:21.389 is restless until it finds rest in God. So there's 0:22:21.390 --> 0:22:23.670 a sense that that things aren't working the way that 0:22:23.670 --> 0:22:25.389 they should work. You could be in front of the 0:22:25.390 --> 0:22:32.149 most prolific, growing church in America and go home after 0:22:32.150 --> 0:22:35.230 an amazing Sunday. And we've all done this. I mean, 0:22:35.270 --> 0:22:37.310 it doesn't need to be Sunday. It could be just 0:22:37.310 --> 0:22:40.109 Thursday evening after the big meeting. 0:22:40.150 --> 0:22:40.590 Yeah. 0:22:40.790 --> 0:22:43.910 And we're just feel broken. We feel like it didn't 0:22:43.910 --> 0:22:46.230 go as well as we thought it would go. And 0:22:46.550 --> 0:22:52.070 there's just this sense of reaching internally a thirsting for something. 0:22:52.590 --> 0:22:56.150 And we reach a point of recognizing that my performance, 0:22:56.830 --> 0:22:59.710 what I do for my job or my career or 0:22:59.710 --> 0:23:03.310 my ministry isn't going to satisfy that thirst. 0:23:03.510 --> 0:23:06.670 Hmm. Greg Dempster, Christ's Life Ministries with us right now. 0:23:06.670 --> 0:23:09.389 Coming up, let's talk about what it looks like to 0:23:09.430 --> 0:23:12.710 come out of that. For the leader. Yes, that Greg 0:23:12.710 --> 0:23:15.149 works with, but also for you in your personal life, 0:23:15.150 --> 0:23:19.530 maybe you're in a a season of of man. Dryness. 0:23:19.570 --> 0:23:23.290 Maybe a desert season where you're still trying to minister 0:23:23.290 --> 0:23:28.530 to others. But what's going on beneath the surface is discontent. 0:23:28.850 --> 0:23:31.810 Is a lack of peace, a lack of finding your 0:23:31.810 --> 0:23:34.970 rest in Christ. Let's talk with Greg coming up. 0:23:35.450 --> 0:23:38.490 He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then 0:23:38.530 --> 0:23:42.850 he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl 0:23:42.850 --> 0:23:44.610 and crew on Moody Radio. 0:23:45.010 --> 0:23:48.490 Where does a pastor or a leader go when they've 0:23:48.530 --> 0:23:53.169 experienced some sort of moral failing or some sort of 0:23:53.210 --> 0:23:58.970 crisis of leadership, or they're just struggling on the inside 0:23:58.970 --> 0:24:01.850 and not sure who they can talk to as they're 0:24:01.850 --> 0:24:06.330 continuing to minister to people as they themselves are struggling. Well, 0:24:06.369 --> 0:24:09.930 oftentimes they go to my guest, Greg Dempster, founder and 0:24:09.930 --> 0:24:13.689 director of Christ Life Ministries. Your ministry exists to help 0:24:13.730 --> 0:24:17.310 leaders who find themselves in this position. What have you 0:24:17.350 --> 0:24:21.590 learned about some of the warning signs that often can 0:24:21.590 --> 0:24:25.070 lead to some sort of a public failing? What's going 0:24:25.070 --> 0:24:30.990 on beneath the surface that usually, if heeded, could potentially 0:24:30.990 --> 0:24:33.190 prevent something like this from happening? 0:24:33.590 --> 0:24:36.350 I just think that a lot of the time, a 0:24:36.350 --> 0:24:39.030 leader can't put their finger on exactly what it is. 0:24:39.030 --> 0:24:42.510 They just feel a lot of disruptive emotion, a lot 0:24:42.550 --> 0:24:45.710 of stress. Maybe they go the other direction. Maybe it's 0:24:45.710 --> 0:24:52.190 melancholy and discouragement, insecurity, inadequacy. The problem is that disruptive 0:24:52.190 --> 0:24:56.750 emotion is actually a fruit. It's not the root. The 0:24:57.310 --> 0:25:01.590 disruptive emotion is is an indicator that distortion is in play. 0:25:01.590 --> 0:25:04.990 Somewhere along the line, they've picked up a governing idea 0:25:04.990 --> 0:25:08.389 that's flawed and they're living their life according to it. 0:25:08.430 --> 0:25:11.470 Why have you made this your life's work? What? I'm 0:25:11.510 --> 0:25:14.270 sure there must be something in your own story that 0:25:14.380 --> 0:25:17.180 prompted you to really have a passion for this work? 0:25:17.500 --> 0:25:20.100 Totally. I mean, it was I think it was 18 years, 0:25:20.140 --> 0:25:23.820 19 years of full time pastoral ministry and and God, 0:25:23.859 --> 0:25:27.459 by his grace, just blessed the things. When I say blessed, 0:25:27.460 --> 0:25:30.379 I mean that his hand was resting powerfully on the 0:25:30.380 --> 0:25:31.899 ministries that I got to be a part of. And 0:25:31.900 --> 0:25:34.020 some of those were with Carl, you know, in both 0:25:34.020 --> 0:25:39.060 Arkansas and Alaska. But in desperation, we saw we sought 0:25:39.100 --> 0:25:43.140 God's face, humbled ourselves, fasted and prayed and saw God 0:25:43.140 --> 0:25:46.860 move in undeniable ways. And it was in the midst 0:25:46.859 --> 0:25:50.620 of all of that success that I began to realize, wow, 0:25:50.660 --> 0:25:54.659 I've got some patterns in my life that don't seem 0:25:54.660 --> 0:25:58.060 to be all that healthy. Like I would read Isaiah 0:25:58.060 --> 0:26:03.780 58 about the fasting that God designed and purposed fasting 0:26:03.780 --> 0:26:08.860 to be, and it didn't have pride as a result 0:26:08.859 --> 0:26:12.460 of fasting and performing. And I just realized, wow, I 0:26:12.500 --> 0:26:16.439 feel like I'm. I'm running too hot too long. I 0:26:16.480 --> 0:26:19.199 just knew that I couldn't continue the way that I 0:26:19.200 --> 0:26:22.240 was living. And that's when I began my own healing journey. 0:26:23.000 --> 0:26:26.360 What is key to that healing journey? Obviously there's there's 0:26:26.359 --> 0:26:29.400 nothing new under the sun, so there's no magic formula here. 0:26:29.800 --> 0:26:33.320 But what are those steps toward healing when someone is 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:35.880 burdened and burnt out? 0:26:36.840 --> 0:26:39.159 I think that's really easy. You know, we've got to 0:26:39.160 --> 0:26:43.600 start with ownership. Romans ten nine clearly lays out the 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:47.680 pathway to salvation, and part of that is confessing Jesus 0:26:47.680 --> 0:26:51.240 as my new master. That's it. That that I'm transferring 0:26:51.240 --> 0:26:55.000 ownership of my life to him. He owns me now. 0:26:55.200 --> 0:26:58.240 That's got to be in place. If I'm still running 0:26:58.240 --> 0:27:00.240 my own life, there's no way I'm going to run 0:27:00.240 --> 0:27:04.760 it towards health and towards deeper relationship with Jesus. I've 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:08.359 got to bow my heart, my knee to the living 0:27:08.359 --> 0:27:12.100 God and confess his ownership of my life. Number two 0:27:12.340 --> 0:27:14.780 is found out of Jeremiah 213, where it says the 0:27:14.780 --> 0:27:17.659 nation of Israel has committed two grievous sins. They have 0:27:17.660 --> 0:27:20.060 forsaken me, the fountain of living water. And they tried 0:27:20.060 --> 0:27:21.660 to do it on their own. And oh, by the way, 0:27:21.700 --> 0:27:25.580 doing it on your own lead in that passage to 0:27:25.619 --> 0:27:29.820 intense labor and total failure. That's a snapshot of what 0:27:29.820 --> 0:27:33.820 many of these guys and gals are experiencing in ministry 0:27:33.820 --> 0:27:35.980 intense labor and total failure. 0:27:36.619 --> 0:27:40.100 You know, sometimes when you're walking with the Lord for some, 0:27:40.140 --> 0:27:44.500 some years, you can feel a quiet frustration like, God, 0:27:44.500 --> 0:27:47.740 I'm not. I'm not changing the way I want to. 0:27:47.780 --> 0:27:50.540 I have this desire to be more like you. I'm 0:27:50.540 --> 0:27:53.620 listening to sermons. I'm trying to read my Bible, and 0:27:53.619 --> 0:27:56.420 I feel like it's not working. What do you do 0:27:56.420 --> 0:27:59.060 with that emotion where you feel like you're doing the 0:27:59.060 --> 0:28:03.100 things to be faithful, but on the inside, you're not 0:28:03.100 --> 0:28:05.460 sure if it's actually changing you. 0:28:05.780 --> 0:28:08.100 I think you've got to learn from it. I think 0:28:08.140 --> 0:28:11.610 more often than not, we shove those emotions down. I 0:28:11.609 --> 0:28:14.450 think what God wants us to do is learn from them. 0:28:14.490 --> 0:28:18.210 He obviously is allowing us to feel what we do 0:28:18.210 --> 0:28:20.770 for a reason, and it's to draw us back to him. 0:28:20.810 --> 0:28:23.649 It's like it's like when you're driving on the freeway 0:28:23.650 --> 0:28:26.649 and you get a red light that begins flashing on 0:28:26.650 --> 0:28:29.889 your dashboard, it's time to pull over and figure out 0:28:29.890 --> 0:28:35.250 what's wrong. Disruptive emotion is used by God at times 0:28:35.250 --> 0:28:38.530 in that same way to show me. Wow. Okay, hold 0:28:38.530 --> 0:28:43.130 on a second here. I'm actually operating as my own master, 0:28:44.010 --> 0:28:49.450 my own center, my own provider, and as a result, 0:28:49.450 --> 0:28:54.010 I'm feeling stress and tension or discouragement or whatever's disruptive. 0:28:54.010 --> 0:28:57.290 Emotion teaches us in many different ways about what we're 0:28:57.290 --> 0:28:58.770 carrying on our own shoulders. 0:28:58.810 --> 0:29:01.890 Wow. Last question. I got about a minute left, so 0:29:02.330 --> 0:29:04.890 give me the kind of the the Reader's Digest version. 0:29:04.890 --> 0:29:08.830 But sometimes our feelings can be fickle. When should you 0:29:09.070 --> 0:29:12.750 not lean so heavily on what it is you're feeling? 0:29:13.230 --> 0:29:17.030 I think again, going back to where we just were, ownership, 0:29:17.030 --> 0:29:21.070 we got to practice ownership. Number two, as we feel 0:29:21.070 --> 0:29:24.230 we've got to submit our how we're feeling, how we're 0:29:24.230 --> 0:29:28.310 perceiving life to the Almighty. Psalm 139 does say that 0:29:28.310 --> 0:29:30.470 there's nowhere we can go where the Spirit of God, 0:29:30.510 --> 0:29:33.229 where we we can flee the presence of God. 0:29:33.270 --> 0:29:33.830 Yes. 0:29:33.870 --> 0:29:36.510 That we need to bow down, even bowing down right 0:29:36.510 --> 0:29:40.630 now as you're listening, as you're your listeners are connecting 0:29:40.670 --> 0:29:45.790 to this program and submitting their lives to God's ownership 0:29:45.790 --> 0:29:50.550 and asking for John 16, the counseling work of the 0:29:50.550 --> 0:29:53.350 third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to lead 0:29:53.350 --> 0:29:54.430 them into all truth. 0:29:54.710 --> 0:29:57.910 Thank you so much. Greg Dempster. Our guest this morning, uh, 0:29:58.110 --> 0:30:00.190 took some time out to be with us. If you 0:30:00.190 --> 0:30:06.450 want more, just text life to 800 555 78. 98 0:30:06.450 --> 0:30:11.650 more on Christ Life Ministries. Just text life to 800 0:30:11.690 --> 0:30:14.690 555 7898. 0:30:15.690 --> 0:30:18.770 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:30:19.050 --> 0:30:21.930 I think back to my freshman year in college. There 0:30:21.930 --> 0:30:26.530 was a scripture verse that I scrawled out and used 0:30:26.530 --> 0:30:31.090 some colored highlighters, pink and yellow, and I put this 0:30:31.090 --> 0:30:34.570 up in my room. It happens to be the verse 0:30:34.570 --> 0:30:37.010 that YouVersion says was the verse of the year in 0:30:37.010 --> 0:30:41.450 2020 for my freshman year in college was years before that, 0:30:41.890 --> 0:30:47.810 but it was Philippians 461. Oh boy. Philippians four six, 0:30:47.810 --> 0:30:51.890 which talks all about dealing with fear and anxiety. You 0:30:52.090 --> 0:30:54.370 super dye. Will you pull up Philippians four six for 0:30:54.370 --> 0:30:58.130 me so that I can read it word for word? 0:30:58.410 --> 0:31:04.050 But I remember how I just needed something to go to. 0:31:04.320 --> 0:31:07.600 And there was looking back, there were plenty of things 0:31:07.600 --> 0:31:10.480 in my life that needed to be squared away for 0:31:10.760 --> 0:31:14.960 peace to come. There was a disconnect for sure. I 0:31:14.960 --> 0:31:17.680 was hoping that I could apply a verse and not 0:31:17.680 --> 0:31:20.640 deal with some of the things that needed to be 0:31:20.640 --> 0:31:22.960 dealt with. That doesn't work so well. 0:31:23.040 --> 0:31:23.840 Not so much. 0:31:24.200 --> 0:31:26.560 It's like, let's deal with some of this other stuff. 0:31:26.880 --> 0:31:28.360 I wish I would have had someone to tell me 0:31:28.360 --> 0:31:31.920 that at the time. But it's common to go to 0:31:31.960 --> 0:31:36.240 God's Word to try to grab on to something that's 0:31:36.240 --> 0:31:39.800 going to bring you some comfort. And we know that 0:31:39.800 --> 0:31:42.960 the Word of God is living and active, and it's powerful. 0:31:42.960 --> 0:31:45.920 It's sharper than a double edged sword. Useful for teaching 0:31:45.920 --> 0:31:49.480 and correcting. I didn't have all of that committed to 0:31:49.520 --> 0:31:52.120 memory at the time, but Philippians four six was the 0:31:52.120 --> 0:31:53.080 one that I had. 0:31:53.120 --> 0:31:57.120 It's do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 0:31:57.120 --> 0:32:02.900 by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 0:32:03.460 --> 0:32:07.180 And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your 0:32:07.180 --> 0:32:10.060 hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I want to know 0:32:10.060 --> 0:32:12.979 from you this morning what is that verse for you? 0:32:13.100 --> 0:32:16.300 That was the first one that stuck to you. Maybe 0:32:16.300 --> 0:32:19.020 you actively sought to remember it, wrote it out on 0:32:19.020 --> 0:32:22.180 a note card, or posted it up somewhere. Or maybe 0:32:22.180 --> 0:32:25.380 you just heard it and it just stuck to you. 0:32:25.420 --> 0:32:28.380 You didn't even try to remember it. Do you have 0:32:28.380 --> 0:32:36.100 one of those that verse that you first remember sticking 800, 555, 78, 98, 0:32:36.140 --> 0:32:40.860 855 five 7898. You got a thought on this, Diana? 0:32:41.020 --> 0:32:43.660 Oh, mine, without a doubt. I've talked about it. Definitely 0:32:43.660 --> 0:32:45.500 is in Romans. I mean, I could take all of 0:32:45.500 --> 0:32:48.340 Romans eight, but to narrow it down just a little 0:32:48.420 --> 0:32:51.060 bit more, it really is. It's 38 and 39. It 0:32:51.060 --> 0:32:56.580 just it says, I am convinced. Death, life, whatever. Angels, demons, 0:32:56.580 --> 0:33:01.530 nothing present, future, whatever. Neither height nor depth. Death. Death, rather, 0:33:01.530 --> 0:33:04.770 anything in all creation, in all creation, can separate us 0:33:04.770 --> 0:33:07.650 from the love of Jesus Christ. Oh, that's. 0:33:07.650 --> 0:33:07.850 A good. 0:33:07.850 --> 0:33:09.810 One. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. 0:33:09.850 --> 0:33:11.290 So I want to hear from you this morning. And 0:33:11.290 --> 0:33:15.690 this isn't just necessarily like your favorite verse. Maybe it is, 0:33:15.690 --> 0:33:18.250 but this is the one that you heard it and 0:33:18.250 --> 0:33:23.690 it stuck to you. 855 five 7898 what was that 0:33:23.690 --> 0:33:27.410 first Bible verse or passage that you heard and it stuck? 0:33:27.730 --> 0:33:33.610 855 five 7898 this is David Crowder. Somebody prayed. 0:33:34.170 --> 0:33:37.090 You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio. 0:33:37.530 --> 0:33:40.530 We are really talking about the Word of God today, 0:33:40.570 --> 0:33:44.050 celebrating the Word of God and its impact in the 0:33:44.090 --> 0:33:48.010 shaping of us. We've been in Psalm one. Blessed is 0:33:48.010 --> 0:33:50.450 the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, 0:33:50.450 --> 0:33:52.730 nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in 0:33:52.730 --> 0:33:56.290 the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the 0:33:56.290 --> 0:33:59.190 law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates 0:33:59.230 --> 0:34:02.350 day and night. That person is described as like a 0:34:02.350 --> 0:34:08.350 tree planted, flourishing, prosperous. I'm asking you, what's the first 0:34:08.350 --> 0:34:11.830 passage of scripture? Maybe a single verse that you remember 0:34:11.870 --> 0:34:16.590 sticking to you? You didn't just hear it, it stuck. 0:34:17.150 --> 0:34:22.629 800 555 7898 Roberta calling in this morning from Chicago. 0:34:22.630 --> 0:34:25.069 Give me the verse and tell me, why is this 0:34:25.070 --> 0:34:26.150 the one that's stuck? 0:34:26.670 --> 0:34:30.670 Okay, this is Matthew 625. Therefore I tell you, do 0:34:30.670 --> 0:34:33.230 not worry about your life, what you will eat or 0:34:33.230 --> 0:34:36.069 what you will drink, or about your body, what you 0:34:36.070 --> 0:34:38.149 will wear. Is life more than food and the body 0:34:38.150 --> 0:34:40.750 more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. 0:34:40.790 --> 0:34:44.469 They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. And 0:34:44.469 --> 0:34:47.350 yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of 0:34:47.350 --> 0:34:48.469 more value than the. 0:34:48.510 --> 0:34:49.150 Yes. 0:34:49.190 --> 0:34:51.029 Well, yeah. This was great to me because I was 0:34:51.030 --> 0:34:52.830 a single mom. You know, I had my daughter at 0:34:52.870 --> 0:34:55.790 19 and, you know, we had a wonderful life. Jesus 0:34:55.790 --> 0:34:59.250 was always there. That was kind of my go to. 0:34:59.410 --> 0:35:02.009 You know, you get a little frightened. You're when you're 0:35:02.010 --> 0:35:05.009 a mom and you really have to produce and know 0:35:05.010 --> 0:35:07.250 that there's two of you that you're responsible for. 0:35:07.290 --> 0:35:07.690 Sure. 0:35:08.010 --> 0:35:10.129 So that was the one verse that I don't know 0:35:10.130 --> 0:35:13.850 how I actually came into it originally, but I was 0:35:13.850 --> 0:35:17.370 always reading Bible verses. They comforted me. And this one 0:35:17.370 --> 0:35:19.370 then kind of when I did read it kind of 0:35:19.410 --> 0:35:21.330 stuck with me. So like I say, it was my 0:35:21.370 --> 0:35:23.210 go to when I was raising my daughter when she 0:35:23.210 --> 0:35:25.330 was young, which, by the way, I'm now 84 and 0:35:25.330 --> 0:35:26.330 she's 65. 0:35:28.650 --> 0:35:31.370 Roberta, I love that. Thank you so much. Calling in 0:35:31.370 --> 0:35:34.850 this morning from Chicago. I'm asking you, what's that verse 0:35:34.850 --> 0:35:37.649 for you? Not just a favorite verse, but it's the 0:35:37.650 --> 0:35:40.770 one that you heard it and it it stuck to you. 0:35:41.290 --> 0:35:46.370 You've held on to it. 805 55, 78, 98. Would 0:35:46.370 --> 0:35:49.450 love to hear your call. Your verse this morning. 805 0:35:49.489 --> 0:35:51.490 55 7898. 0:35:51.650 --> 0:35:54.370 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:35:54.370 --> 0:35:57.920 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:35:57.920 --> 0:36:01.239 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:36:01.520 --> 0:36:04.040 Love hearing and seeing these verses. That was the first 0:36:04.040 --> 0:36:07.080 verse for you that stuck to you. The Word of 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:11.000 God is powerful. Sometimes you can be exposed to it 0:36:11.000 --> 0:36:14.000 for a lot of time and then and not really 0:36:14.000 --> 0:36:17.040 get it. That was true for me. But then a 0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:22.399 verse hits you and it sticks. 855 five 7898. What 0:36:22.400 --> 0:36:25.360 was that for you, Doug? First time caller from Wisconsin. 0:36:25.360 --> 0:36:28.240 What's that? First time that the word of God it 0:36:28.239 --> 0:36:29.120 stuck to you? 0:36:30.560 --> 0:36:35.680 Um, what stuck to me was John 16. Um, truly, truly, 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:37.879 I say to you, I have many things to say 0:36:37.880 --> 0:36:40.160 to you, but you cannot bear them now. 0:36:42.360 --> 0:36:44.759 Curious. Doug, what do you think it was about that 0:36:44.760 --> 0:36:45.960 verse that stuck for you? 0:36:47.080 --> 0:36:49.160 Okay, so I read that there was like a big 0:36:49.200 --> 0:36:53.120 charismatic movement in the late 70s, um, in our church, 0:36:53.160 --> 0:36:57.060 in and neighborhoods. And so I was in high school 0:36:57.060 --> 0:36:59.660 at the time, and a friend of mine, we studied 0:36:59.660 --> 0:37:02.940 the Bible a lot together. And, um, that was one 0:37:02.940 --> 0:37:04.940 that stuck to me. I was like I said, in 0:37:04.940 --> 0:37:08.100 high school, and now it's all more about, you know, 0:37:08.140 --> 0:37:12.380 I'm a little older today, and, um, it's important that I, 0:37:12.580 --> 0:37:15.300 you know, get back to, you know, my roots and 0:37:15.460 --> 0:37:16.779 start reading gospel. 0:37:17.660 --> 0:37:20.140 Yeah. Is that something that you're wanting to do, Doug? 0:37:20.180 --> 0:37:23.140 Get back to really reading God's Word. Am I understanding 0:37:23.140 --> 0:37:23.980 that correctly? 0:37:25.140 --> 0:37:29.060 That is correct. I got this app through the word 0:37:29.100 --> 0:37:33.300 I started in October of last year and it's awesome. 0:37:33.300 --> 0:37:36.219 So yeah. And then listening to you guys on the radio. 0:37:36.620 --> 0:37:39.180 Awesome. Doug, first time caller from Wisconsin, I want to 0:37:39.219 --> 0:37:42.500 encourage you in that, that God's bringing you back to 0:37:42.540 --> 0:37:45.580 his word. Stay faithful in it and and watch how 0:37:45.580 --> 0:37:48.940 he's going to use it in your life. Uh, be encouraged. 0:37:48.940 --> 0:37:51.420 I appreciate your call this morning. Let's go to Tamela 0:37:51.420 --> 0:37:55.280 calling in this morning from Orland Park, Illinois. Tell us, Tamela, 0:37:55.280 --> 0:37:57.480 what's that verse that stuck to you? 0:37:58.920 --> 0:38:03.160 Psalm 27. Psalm the Lord is my light and my salvation. 0:38:03.480 --> 0:38:05.640 Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of 0:38:05.640 --> 0:38:09.240 my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, 0:38:09.239 --> 0:38:11.600 even my enemies and my foes, come upon me to 0:38:11.640 --> 0:38:14.640 eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. And that 0:38:14.640 --> 0:38:18.520 has been my daily delight. My bishop, my late Bishop 0:38:18.520 --> 0:38:22.240 Jonathan Greer senior, gave me that scripture, um, and said 0:38:22.239 --> 0:38:25.360 it would be my life scripture, and it has proven 0:38:25.360 --> 0:38:28.520 to be my life scripture. I've seen some dark days, 0:38:28.680 --> 0:38:30.840 but the light of God has shined on my path 0:38:30.880 --> 0:38:31.880 each and every time. 0:38:31.920 --> 0:38:36.239 Tamela, awesome. Appreciate your call this morning from Illinois. Uh, 0:38:36.239 --> 0:38:38.879 what about you? What's that verse? The first one that 0:38:38.880 --> 0:38:43.240 you remember hearing that really stuck to you? 800 555 0:38:43.280 --> 0:38:47.560 7898 Kim calling in this morning from Gilberts, Illinois. Uh, 0:38:47.560 --> 0:38:50.150 tell me, what's the verse for you that stuck with you. 0:38:52.150 --> 0:38:58.070 From Matthew 1615 and 16, where Jesus asked the disciples, 0:38:58.070 --> 0:39:02.430 who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answers, 0:39:02.430 --> 0:39:05.029 you are the Christ, the son of the living God. 0:39:05.430 --> 0:39:09.830 I taught that over 30 years ago to my Awana girls, 0:39:10.310 --> 0:39:13.509 and I taught them that. It's the question all of 0:39:13.510 --> 0:39:17.550 us have to answer for ourselves. Who do we say 0:39:17.550 --> 0:39:18.950 that Jesus is? 0:39:18.989 --> 0:39:23.590 That's good. Matthew. That's Matthew five or Matthew 1615 through 16. 0:39:23.630 --> 0:39:25.870 Thank you, Kim, for calling in this morning. Says, but 0:39:25.870 --> 0:39:28.790 what about you? He asked, who do you say I am? 0:39:28.830 --> 0:39:32.070 Simon Peter answered, now verse 16, you are the Messiah, 0:39:32.110 --> 0:39:34.709 the son of the living God. You nailed it, Kim. 0:39:34.710 --> 0:39:38.070 That's the question that every one of us has to ask. 0:39:38.110 --> 0:39:41.310 It's who do you say I am? Not just what 0:39:41.310 --> 0:39:44.029 does everybody else say? What do you say? Who is 0:39:44.030 --> 0:39:46.870 Jesus to you? Thank you so much for calling in. 0:39:46.910 --> 0:39:50.530 Let's go to John from Kentucky. John, give me that verse. 0:39:50.530 --> 0:39:53.250 That's the first one that you remember sticking to you. 0:39:54.330 --> 0:39:57.570 Well, for me, the verse that stuck 25 years ago 0:39:57.890 --> 0:40:00.930 was Matthew chapter five, verse 16. And it says, let 0:40:00.930 --> 0:40:03.890 your light shine before men, that they may see your 0:40:03.930 --> 0:40:07.049 good deeds, and praise your father who is in heaven. 0:40:07.090 --> 0:40:10.410 And it stuck because I was so excited, you know, 0:40:10.450 --> 0:40:12.770 when I heard the gospel and gave my life to Christ. 0:40:12.770 --> 0:40:16.489 But I felt really ill equipped to share. Yeah. And 0:40:16.489 --> 0:40:19.450 when I heard that verse, boy, it just it just 0:40:19.450 --> 0:40:21.250 told me once and for all that I didn't have 0:40:21.250 --> 0:40:23.049 to be a Bible scholar to share with the guy 0:40:23.090 --> 0:40:25.290 next to me. I just had to let this light, 0:40:25.290 --> 0:40:29.209 this new light shine. And it would be compelling towards Jesus. 0:40:29.370 --> 0:40:31.370 And it has been for a long, long time. 0:40:32.210 --> 0:40:36.250 John. You know what I. I love your call because 0:40:36.250 --> 0:40:39.410 the simplicity of that discovery that, you know, you think 0:40:39.410 --> 0:40:42.770 about when we come to the word honestly, sometimes we 0:40:42.770 --> 0:40:45.770 can come like, oh, I've, I've, I've read this before, 0:40:46.010 --> 0:40:49.920 but when we come with fresh expectation and John coming 0:40:49.960 --> 0:40:52.759 as a new believer going, I know I want to 0:40:52.760 --> 0:40:54.959 share my faith, but I feel ill equipped. And then 0:40:54.960 --> 0:40:58.960 reading that. John 516. Do you grab that for me, Jonathan? 0:40:59.000 --> 0:40:59.359 Let me get. 0:40:59.360 --> 0:41:01.279 It. I want to I want us to hear that 0:41:01.280 --> 0:41:04.440 one word for word and catch, catch the impact of it. 0:41:04.440 --> 0:41:07.960 Even if you've heard it many times before, that we can. 0:41:08.000 --> 0:41:11.560 We don't have to be a Bible student, a Bible scholar, 0:41:11.560 --> 0:41:14.319 to be able to share our faith in Christ with 0:41:14.320 --> 0:41:16.200 other people. You got that pulled up? 0:41:16.400 --> 0:41:17.680 Uh, it was Matthew. 0:41:17.880 --> 0:41:20.920 Matthew 516. Sorry about that. I think I think I 0:41:20.920 --> 0:41:21.719 gave you the wrong one. 0:41:21.719 --> 0:41:24.200 No problem. I got it in the same way. Let 0:41:24.200 --> 0:41:27.000 your light shine before others so that they may see 0:41:27.000 --> 0:41:29.200 your good works and give glory to your father who 0:41:29.239 --> 0:41:29.960 is in heaven. 0:41:29.960 --> 0:41:33.480 That people seeing in your life, the light of Christ, 0:41:33.960 --> 0:41:37.400 allows them to glorify their father in heaven. John. Really, 0:41:37.400 --> 0:41:40.040 really sweet call this morning. What do you say? What's 0:41:40.040 --> 0:41:43.000 that verse? That's the first one that you remember hearing 0:41:43.000 --> 0:41:48.580 that stuck 800 555 7898. Take a couple more calls here. 0:41:48.820 --> 0:41:51.540 800 555 78. 98. 0:41:51.860 --> 0:41:55.660 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:41:55.820 --> 0:41:59.740 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:41:59.739 --> 0:42:00.779 Moody Radio. 0:42:01.180 --> 0:42:03.819 Death. You are dead to me. Where do we get 0:42:03.820 --> 0:42:07.940 that from? Well, the word of God. Death. Where is 0:42:07.940 --> 0:42:11.299 your sting? All of this we get from the Word 0:42:11.300 --> 0:42:14.460 of God. Everything we know to be true about life, 0:42:14.460 --> 0:42:19.020 about the world, about our identity. We get from the 0:42:19.020 --> 0:42:22.780 Word of God. Think about that for a minute. What's 0:42:22.780 --> 0:42:25.420 that passage of Scripture? That verse? That was the first 0:42:25.420 --> 0:42:28.860 one that you can remember hearing and it stuck to you. 0:42:28.900 --> 0:42:33.339 855 five 7898 let's go to James calling in this 0:42:33.340 --> 0:42:36.620 morning from Wisconsin. Tell me the first verse you remember 0:42:36.660 --> 0:42:37.700 sticking to you. 0:42:39.820 --> 0:42:43.640 Um, the Romans 829. Why? Because they I've misquoted Romans 0:42:43.640 --> 0:42:47.080 828 like probably everybody on the planet at some point 0:42:47.400 --> 0:42:49.200 that all things work together for good to them that 0:42:49.200 --> 0:42:51.640 love God. Yep. I forgot the part. Who are the 0:42:51.640 --> 0:42:57.719 called according to his purpose? Romans 829 defines his purpose beautifully. 0:42:58.040 --> 0:43:01.719 That we be conformed to the image of His son, 0:43:01.719 --> 0:43:03.280 the firstborn among many brethren. 0:43:05.239 --> 0:43:08.880 That's a great observation. I'm going to pull this up because, James, 0:43:08.880 --> 0:43:11.000 you I want to I want to spend a little 0:43:11.040 --> 0:43:12.799 bit of stay on the can you stay on the 0:43:12.800 --> 0:43:14.239 line for about one more minute? 0:43:15.160 --> 0:43:15.600 Sure. 0:43:15.640 --> 0:43:19.200 Okay. So Romans 828 I want to bring this up 0:43:19.200 --> 0:43:21.480 because this is this is important. A lot of people do. 0:43:21.520 --> 0:43:24.239 Quote we know and we know that for those who 0:43:24.239 --> 0:43:27.000 love God, all things work together for good, for those 0:43:27.000 --> 0:43:30.440 who are called according to his purpose. That's often quoted 0:43:30.440 --> 0:43:33.080 that God works all things for the good. But you're right. 0:43:33.080 --> 0:43:36.399 Sometimes it gets separated from verse 29 for those whom 0:43:36.400 --> 0:43:39.359 he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the 0:43:39.360 --> 0:43:41.750 image of His Son, in order that he might be 0:43:41.750 --> 0:43:45.870 the firstborn among many brothers. So the things that God is, are, 0:43:45.989 --> 0:43:50.589 is working for good are for the conforming. Conforming to 0:43:50.630 --> 0:43:53.589 the image of his son. Those things are linked together. 0:43:53.630 --> 0:43:57.950 James does that. When that hits, does that still hit 0:43:57.950 --> 0:44:01.270 you today? When you even as you're as you're sharing it? 0:44:01.270 --> 0:44:03.710 Because I, I appreciate it. Does it still hit you 0:44:03.710 --> 0:44:05.110 in a, in a deep place? 0:44:06.070 --> 0:44:07.030 Oh you betcha. 0:44:07.550 --> 0:44:11.069 Awesome. James, thank you so much from Wisconsin. Uh, hold 0:44:11.070 --> 0:44:12.990 on the line. I want to get James a Carling 0:44:12.989 --> 0:44:15.870 crew prize pack. I appreciate him calling in this morning. 0:44:16.030 --> 0:44:19.750 Let's go with Eliana from Florida. What's that first verse 0:44:19.750 --> 0:44:22.870 that you remember hearing and it stuck to you? 0:44:24.110 --> 0:44:28.470 Oh, hi. Yes. Um, I was 17 at that time, 0:44:28.469 --> 0:44:31.790 and I grew up in Brazil. And between mountains, I 0:44:31.790 --> 0:44:36.310 was surrounded by mountains. I was feeling very lost at 17, 0:44:36.350 --> 0:44:38.270 not knowing what I was going to do and this 0:44:38.310 --> 0:44:42.009 and that. Matt and I decided to open the Bible 0:44:42.010 --> 0:44:46.290 and that verse came up. Psalm 121 I lift my 0:44:46.290 --> 0:44:49.930 eyes to the hills. Where does my help comes from? 0:44:50.090 --> 0:44:53.610 My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven 0:44:53.610 --> 0:44:57.410 and earth. Until this day, that verse pops up all 0:44:57.410 --> 0:45:00.730 the time. Every time I'm in a situation that I 0:45:00.730 --> 0:45:03.049 don't know what to do, who to go to. I'm 0:45:03.050 --> 0:45:07.890 a widow now, um. And every event that I have, 0:45:07.890 --> 0:45:11.410 which I have many, I lift my eyes to the hills. 0:45:12.170 --> 0:45:15.490 Where does my help come from? Not from this person 0:45:15.489 --> 0:45:19.130 or that, or this or that. It comes from the Lord, 0:45:19.170 --> 0:45:23.770 straight through him. And he has helped me all those years. 0:45:23.810 --> 0:45:29.410 I am the late 60s now, and God's Word is amazing. 0:45:29.890 --> 0:45:30.850 It's alive. 0:45:32.010 --> 0:45:35.489 Wow. From Florida. Thank you so much. I did you 0:45:35.489 --> 0:45:37.830 go there with her in your mind that. 0:45:37.870 --> 0:45:38.150 You're. 0:45:38.590 --> 0:45:42.509 You live in a mountainous region and you're searching for direction. 0:45:42.750 --> 0:45:44.669 You opened the Bible and you see, I lift my 0:45:44.670 --> 0:45:48.030 eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 0:45:48.230 --> 0:45:50.630 My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. 0:45:51.469 --> 0:45:54.469 That's almost breathtaking, thinking about it like that, right? It's 0:45:54.469 --> 0:45:58.670 amazing how powerful calls this morning. Let's go to Robert 0:45:58.670 --> 0:46:01.270 from Bolingbrook. Robert, tell me, what's that verse? The first 0:46:01.270 --> 0:46:03.350 one that you can remember hearing that it really stuck 0:46:03.350 --> 0:46:03.870 to you. 0:46:05.230 --> 0:46:07.790 Uh, the one that I love so much is found 0:46:07.790 --> 0:46:12.549 in Psalms 139, verse 23. Search me, O God, and 0:46:12.550 --> 0:46:15.790 know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and 0:46:15.790 --> 0:46:17.870 see if there be any wicked way in me. And 0:46:17.870 --> 0:46:20.230 lead me in the way everlasting. 0:46:21.310 --> 0:46:24.910 Beautiful. Why that one, Robert? What's that done in your soul? 0:46:26.469 --> 0:46:28.910 Because I have a desire to be more like God. 0:46:28.910 --> 0:46:32.230 And God knows me better than anybody. And I want 0:46:32.310 --> 0:46:35.230 him to look inside of me and show me the 0:46:35.230 --> 0:46:38.740 good and the bad. But the aim is to whatever 0:46:38.780 --> 0:46:43.299 God says to conform to it, fix it. Be more 0:46:43.300 --> 0:46:44.940 like God, because I think we can handle life a 0:46:44.940 --> 0:46:47.340 whole lot better if we were more like Jesus. 0:46:47.700 --> 0:46:50.980 I think you'll get 100% agreement on that one. Robert. 0:46:51.140 --> 0:46:54.060 Thank you so much for calling in this morning from Bolingbrook. 0:46:54.100 --> 0:46:58.540 Let's squeeze one more in here. Let's go. Willie from Chicago. Willie, 0:46:58.540 --> 0:47:00.420 tell me, what is that verse for you? That's the 0:47:00.420 --> 0:47:03.180 first one that you remember hearing and it's stuck. 0:47:04.380 --> 0:47:07.820 It's not so much. It's the first one. It was 0:47:07.820 --> 0:47:12.380 what stuck to me for 40 years plus. Okay. I 0:47:12.780 --> 0:47:14.939 trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean 0:47:14.940 --> 0:47:18.820 not to thine own understanding, but in all thy ways 0:47:18.860 --> 0:47:22.540 acknowledge him. I wasn't about a Bible person, but I 0:47:22.540 --> 0:47:26.739 was around people. That was Bible, you know. And and 0:47:26.739 --> 0:47:32.140 God delivered me from a drug addiction, walking and talking. 0:47:32.140 --> 0:47:34.680 But I had to have something to go by. So 0:47:34.680 --> 0:47:37.239 every time something wouldn't go. I'd just say, trust in 0:47:37.239 --> 0:47:39.520 the Lord. Yes, I would put it in my spirit. 0:47:39.560 --> 0:47:40.200 Trust in the Lord. 0:47:40.239 --> 0:47:41.440 Trust in the Lord my heart. 0:47:42.560 --> 0:47:45.560 And lean not to thine own understanding, but in all 0:47:45.600 --> 0:47:48.400 thy ways acknowledge him. It made no difference whether the 0:47:48.400 --> 0:47:51.840 police picked me up, or whether I was doing something 0:47:51.840 --> 0:47:55.440 that was damnable. You know, I just knew that trusting 0:47:55.440 --> 0:47:57.680 in the Lord would get me to where he got me. 0:47:57.719 --> 0:48:00.800 Yeah, because we know that when we trust in ourselves. Willie, 0:48:00.800 --> 0:48:03.640 I'm sure you've seen, like the rest of us, that 0:48:03.640 --> 0:48:06.560 trusting in our own understanding does not lead us to 0:48:06.600 --> 0:48:10.120 a good place. Love that. Proverbs three five through six. 0:48:10.560 --> 0:48:14.400 Leaning on the understanding of the Lord. That's when we 0:48:14.440 --> 0:48:17.720 walk in true freedom. Fantastic calls this morning. Thank you. 0:48:18.640 --> 0:48:22.720 Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. 0:48:23.040 --> 0:48:26.720 Super dei is in the crew, it's curl and crew 0:48:26.760 --> 0:48:28.000 on Moody Radio. 0:48:28.200 --> 0:48:30.520 It's been a great morning so far. Hearing of all 0:48:30.560 --> 0:48:34.190 of your scripture verses, especially the ones that have really stuck. 0:48:34.670 --> 0:48:37.230 It's been a real pleasure. If you missed anything, check 0:48:37.230 --> 0:48:39.910 the show cast. If you want the show, just text 0:48:39.950 --> 0:48:47.910 show to 800 555 7898. Text show to 855 five 7898. 0:48:47.950 --> 0:48:49.910 Coming up here on Carlin Crew, we've got a special 0:48:49.910 --> 0:48:53.910 guest if you need to freshen up your quiet time. 0:48:53.910 --> 0:48:56.830 She's got some important, helpful tips for you. 0:48:57.230 --> 0:49:00.230 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:49:00.230 --> 0:49:04.510 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:49:04.510 --> 0:49:06.790 Carlin crew on Moody Radio. 0:49:06.950 --> 0:49:10.510 Usually pretty soon after you become a follower of Jesus Christ, 0:49:10.550 --> 0:49:13.470 you start to hear some of the terminology that gets 0:49:13.469 --> 0:49:17.270 thrown around. People talk about doing their devos or having 0:49:17.270 --> 0:49:21.069 their quiet time or their devotional life. And maybe you 0:49:21.070 --> 0:49:23.029 didn't know what that meant right away, but you didn't 0:49:23.070 --> 0:49:26.190 really want to ask, what is this thing called quiet time? 0:49:26.190 --> 0:49:28.630 Or it's possible that you've been in Christ for a 0:49:28.630 --> 0:49:31.410 lot of years. You know exactly what people are talking 0:49:31.410 --> 0:49:35.049 about when they say quiet time. But somehow that close 0:49:35.050 --> 0:49:38.330 connection with Jesus in that time carved out to spend 0:49:38.330 --> 0:49:42.690 with him, always feels like it's missing something. Like you're there. 0:49:43.090 --> 0:49:45.290 But man, are you meeting with Jesus. I want to 0:49:45.290 --> 0:49:48.450 introduce a special guest Ashreeta ChuChu. This is such a. 0:49:48.570 --> 0:49:52.730 Your heart is to help people cultivate this quiet time. 0:49:52.730 --> 0:49:55.850 This intimate time with the Lord. Uh, first of all, 0:49:55.850 --> 0:49:59.489 welcome to Carl and crew. You're one of our absolute favorites. 0:49:59.530 --> 0:50:02.530 Why do you find such joy in talking about this 0:50:02.530 --> 0:50:03.890 topic in particular? 0:50:04.170 --> 0:50:08.370 Because it is just such a mind blowing invitation to 0:50:08.410 --> 0:50:12.730 come into this space of not just knowing about God, 0:50:12.730 --> 0:50:16.330 not just learning facts about him and Bible trivia, but 0:50:16.330 --> 0:50:21.010 actually knowing him and being known by him. A space 0:50:21.010 --> 0:50:23.730 in which your heart is open to the Spirit of God, 0:50:23.730 --> 0:50:26.730 and he searches you and speaks to you and leads 0:50:26.730 --> 0:50:29.350 you in ways that affect your day to day life? 0:50:29.670 --> 0:50:32.670 That is what I am passionate about helping people delight 0:50:32.670 --> 0:50:35.029 in the presence of Jesus. It's so much more than 0:50:35.030 --> 0:50:37.870 what we typically think of when we think of quiet time. 0:50:37.910 --> 0:50:41.110 Ashreeta ChuChu, our guest right now. She is a national speaker, 0:50:41.110 --> 0:50:44.390 best selling author, founder of One Thing Alone Ministries, which 0:50:44.390 --> 0:50:47.870 is an online ministry that helps overwhelmed women find joy 0:50:47.870 --> 0:50:50.109 in Jesus. You mentioned the things that we feel like 0:50:50.110 --> 0:50:52.230 we're supposed to do. So most people would say, okay, 0:50:52.270 --> 0:50:56.590 my quiet time. It should consist of some time reading 0:50:56.590 --> 0:50:59.390 God's Word. So I'm opening my Bible. Maybe I have 0:50:59.390 --> 0:51:02.150 a devotional book to sort of support me in that, 0:51:02.150 --> 0:51:04.950 and then maybe I close my Bible and then, okay, 0:51:04.989 --> 0:51:08.150 it's time to pray. So I close my eyes and 0:51:08.150 --> 0:51:11.310 I sit there and I talk to God, or I 0:51:11.310 --> 0:51:15.350 try to. And then after maybe 15, 20 minutes, maybe 0:51:15.350 --> 0:51:19.109 an hour even, I'm on to the next thing. Sometimes 0:51:19.110 --> 0:51:21.990 it can feel like that can become the routine, but 0:51:21.989 --> 0:51:24.630 we don't feel like it's doing anything. And is it 0:51:24.630 --> 0:51:26.390 okay for me to even say that? 0:51:26.550 --> 0:51:29.500 Doesn't it feel kind of like taboo? Like we shouldn't 0:51:29.540 --> 0:51:31.860 talk about being bored with a Bible. We shouldn't talk 0:51:31.860 --> 0:51:35.380 about this unease of am I missing something here? Right? 0:51:35.420 --> 0:51:38.580 Surely there's got to be something more. And when we 0:51:38.580 --> 0:51:41.100 talk about quiet time, I mean, even the term itself 0:51:41.100 --> 0:51:43.020 is kind of like it's got to be quiet. But 0:51:43.020 --> 0:51:45.100 what if you have toddlers running around the house? What 0:51:45.100 --> 0:51:48.260 if you're charged with caring with an elder parent who 0:51:48.260 --> 0:51:51.140 is in your home and needs your attention? What if 0:51:51.140 --> 0:51:54.140 your life is not quiet? And even when you sit 0:51:54.140 --> 0:51:57.380 down to try to spend time in quiet, it doesn't 0:51:57.380 --> 0:52:00.900 go the way you expect it to or the clouds 0:52:00.900 --> 0:52:04.899 don't part to to this divine revelation. And I think 0:52:04.900 --> 0:52:08.300 we need to be careful, even with good practices or 0:52:08.460 --> 0:52:12.779 best practices. Right? What you described and what's often prescribed 0:52:12.780 --> 0:52:17.020 to Christians, it's not Word of God. Like there's nowhere 0:52:17.020 --> 0:52:20.060 in the Bible where God says, thou shalt read your 0:52:20.060 --> 0:52:23.860 Bible every day. Thou shalt spend 60 minutes in study 0:52:23.860 --> 0:52:27.480 or prayer. We need to be careful to not turn 0:52:27.480 --> 0:52:31.200 into these legalistic things that we ought to do to 0:52:31.239 --> 0:52:35.759 somehow secure the approval or pleasure of God. If you 0:52:35.760 --> 0:52:38.480 are in Christ, then when the father looks at you, 0:52:38.520 --> 0:52:41.279 he sees the perfect righteousness of Jesus. You can't add 0:52:41.280 --> 0:52:44.600 anything else to that. So let's stop trying to earn 0:52:44.600 --> 0:52:47.920 God's approval with what we do. That's legalism. That's trying 0:52:47.960 --> 0:52:51.279 to perform for him. Instead, I like to shift the 0:52:51.280 --> 0:52:56.520 perspective and the conversation into what is God's invitation to us. 0:52:56.560 --> 0:52:59.640 And it is always relationship. So if we want to 0:52:59.640 --> 0:53:02.000 talk about reading the Bible, it's not to read the 0:53:02.000 --> 0:53:06.000 Bible to check something off a list. It is asking God, 0:53:06.000 --> 0:53:10.240 would you open my eyes to understand how you reveal 0:53:10.239 --> 0:53:13.200 yourself here in the word, to delight in the fact 0:53:13.200 --> 0:53:15.800 that God wants us to know him, and he does 0:53:15.800 --> 0:53:19.280 that as we read Scripture. If it's prayer, let's delight 0:53:19.280 --> 0:53:22.480 in conversation with God. It's not just running through a 0:53:22.520 --> 0:53:25.459 laundry list of, you know, my kids right now are like, God, 0:53:25.460 --> 0:53:27.379 would you help us go on this trip? And would 0:53:27.380 --> 0:53:29.219 you give us these kinds of neighbors? And would you 0:53:29.219 --> 0:53:32.300 put a chick fil A in our neighborhood? Like, right. 0:53:32.340 --> 0:53:36.220 They have this wish list about and hey, God wants 0:53:36.219 --> 0:53:40.180 to hear the desires of our hearts, but he wants 0:53:40.180 --> 0:53:43.380 that conversation. He wants us, yes, to share with him. 0:53:43.540 --> 0:53:47.020 But also do we pause to listen to what he 0:53:47.020 --> 0:53:51.340 might want to say to us? The good Shepherd still speaks, 0:53:51.340 --> 0:53:53.700 so in some ways it might be doing some of 0:53:53.700 --> 0:53:58.260 the same actions, but the heart motivation is different. Jesus 0:53:58.260 --> 0:54:00.419 says to the Pharisees, you read the scriptures and yet 0:54:00.420 --> 0:54:03.420 you miss me. They speak of me. So one of 0:54:03.420 --> 0:54:06.819 my prayers, Ali years ago that totally transformed how I 0:54:06.820 --> 0:54:10.500 approach this is God, may I not miss you in Scripture. 0:54:10.540 --> 0:54:13.900 Would you open my eyes to see and savor Jesus 0:54:13.900 --> 0:54:15.219 in all of these things? 0:54:15.660 --> 0:54:18.339 Ashrita ChuChu, our guest right now. Coming up, I'm going 0:54:18.380 --> 0:54:21.890 to ask her about a pretty big trip her family 0:54:21.890 --> 0:54:24.250 just took. And when I say big trip, I mean 0:54:24.290 --> 0:54:27.770 like months long. They were out of their house on 0:54:27.770 --> 0:54:30.690 a pretty epic adventure, and I'm going to ask her 0:54:30.690 --> 0:54:34.450 about it and how it has affected her relationship with God. 0:54:34.489 --> 0:54:36.130 More coming up here on Karl and crew. 0:54:36.850 --> 0:54:39.770 You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio. 0:54:40.010 --> 0:54:42.850 We've got Ashreeta ChuChu with us right now. National speaker, 0:54:42.850 --> 0:54:46.570 best selling author, founder of One Thing Alone Ministries. Just 0:54:46.570 --> 0:54:49.850 back from a pretty epic adventure with your family. Tell 0:54:50.370 --> 0:54:52.410 tell me about this trip you just took. 0:54:52.690 --> 0:54:55.850 Oh my gosh, it was epic. We spent two months 0:54:55.850 --> 0:54:59.210 in the southwest, um, eight weeks of road tripping with 0:54:59.210 --> 0:55:03.170 our camper like travel trailer, and we lived, I think, 0:55:03.210 --> 0:55:06.650 a total of 56 days in a space that is 0:55:06.690 --> 0:55:10.250 about the size of our bathroom and closet put together. Wow. 0:55:10.610 --> 0:55:12.730 And in so many ways, we were like, are we 0:55:12.770 --> 0:55:16.330 crazy for doing this? But it's the culmination of a 0:55:16.370 --> 0:55:19.689 years long years and years of dreaming and planning, um, 0:55:19.790 --> 0:55:22.350 and really just kind of following a hunch that for 0:55:22.350 --> 0:55:26.109 our family in particular, we could use more time together, 0:55:26.310 --> 0:55:29.910 away from our screens, away from our routines, together in 0:55:29.910 --> 0:55:33.750 God's nature, adventuring and exploring together. And it was just 0:55:33.750 --> 0:55:36.190 such a good thing for our family. 0:55:36.630 --> 0:55:40.230 As you spent time really outdoors, because obviously you were 0:55:40.230 --> 0:55:42.149 in your camper for some of it, but you got 0:55:42.150 --> 0:55:44.790 to really stop and pause and kind of take in 0:55:44.790 --> 0:55:48.070 the beauty of all that God's created. What did that 0:55:48.110 --> 0:55:50.989 do for your relationship with God? 0:55:51.550 --> 0:55:54.830 Yeah. I mean, how much time do you have it? 0:55:54.870 --> 0:55:57.469 Part of it, Ali, is just a reminder of how 0:55:57.469 --> 0:56:00.670 small we are. I think of how Scripture says, what 0:56:00.670 --> 0:56:03.589 is man that you are mindful of him. We got 0:56:03.590 --> 0:56:06.070 to hike in the Rocky Mountains. We stood on the 0:56:06.150 --> 0:56:09.229 edge of the Grand Canyon. We got to see just 0:56:09.230 --> 0:56:13.910 ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. Just so many incredible 0:56:13.910 --> 0:56:18.660 natural wonders and also like human made things on this trip. 0:56:18.660 --> 0:56:22.299 And again and again it was the majesty and beauty 0:56:22.300 --> 0:56:26.020 of God in creation. And even though, you know, just 0:56:26.020 --> 0:56:28.180 kind of to tie this segment with a previous one, 0:56:28.420 --> 0:56:32.700 my my quiet time quote unquote didn't look anything like 0:56:32.700 --> 0:56:35.060 what it is at home. It was a whole lot 0:56:35.060 --> 0:56:39.180 more time hiking outdoors. And as a family we memorized 0:56:39.219 --> 0:56:42.260 Psalm 121. I lift my eyes up to the hills. 0:56:42.260 --> 0:56:44.620 Where does my help come from? And as we would 0:56:44.660 --> 0:56:48.460 hike down into Bryce Canyon and see these different rock formations, 0:56:48.620 --> 0:56:51.980 telling our children look at the handiwork of God, and 0:56:51.980 --> 0:56:54.660 that he would be so good as to give this 0:56:54.660 --> 0:56:57.180 as a gift to us. What does that say about 0:56:57.180 --> 0:57:00.620 the heart of God the Father toward us? So many organic, 0:57:00.620 --> 0:57:04.660 beautiful moments of teaching that would just then boomerang right 0:57:04.660 --> 0:57:08.100 back to my heart. Ali. Yeah, like I was there 0:57:08.100 --> 0:57:10.260 telling my kids something and then it was like God's 0:57:10.260 --> 0:57:12.940 Spirit saying, no, this is for you too. 0:57:12.980 --> 0:57:16.100 It's so beautiful. You know, you took me there just 0:57:16.200 --> 0:57:19.040 in my mind. And I think about even. I live 0:57:19.040 --> 0:57:21.880 in a big city. I live in Chicago, and I 0:57:21.920 --> 0:57:25.200 can sometimes I'll just get to a place and I 0:57:25.200 --> 0:57:27.760 still see skyscrapers, but I'll just go to a place 0:57:27.760 --> 0:57:29.720 where I can see lots of grass and lots of 0:57:29.720 --> 0:57:32.680 trees and some flowers, and I'll just try to look 0:57:32.680 --> 0:57:35.280 up at the sky and look at the trees and 0:57:35.280 --> 0:57:38.240 look at the birds. And it's, you know, it's nowhere 0:57:38.240 --> 0:57:41.240 near the epic adventure that you went on. But there's 0:57:41.240 --> 0:57:44.520 something about just getting outside. Even if you live in 0:57:44.520 --> 0:57:47.840 an urban setting and just taking your eyes up a 0:57:47.840 --> 0:57:51.120 little bit and talk a little bit about this idea 0:57:51.120 --> 0:57:55.800 of having a devotional personality. Sometimes we think about devotions 0:57:55.800 --> 0:57:58.280 as kind of one set way. But what do you 0:57:58.280 --> 0:58:00.400 mean by the devotional personality? 0:58:00.720 --> 0:58:04.600 Yeah. So for years now I've been asking our readers online, like, 0:58:04.640 --> 0:58:07.200 how do you best connect with God? And I was 0:58:07.200 --> 0:58:10.840 intrigued that some people, like you said, it's when they 0:58:10.880 --> 0:58:13.160 stand on the beach and they see the waves coming 0:58:13.160 --> 0:58:15.740 in or they go out to that urban park and 0:58:15.740 --> 0:58:18.580 watch the birds fly over their heads. That is when 0:58:18.580 --> 0:58:21.500 they feel closest to God. And other readers were like, no, no, no, 0:58:21.540 --> 0:58:23.900 it's it's when I'm doing an inductive Bible study and 0:58:23.900 --> 0:58:26.900 I learn something new that I didn't know before. Like, 0:58:26.900 --> 0:58:30.220 that just expands my heart. And I feel so close 0:58:30.220 --> 0:58:32.660 to God and others like, no, no, no. It's when 0:58:32.660 --> 0:58:35.500 I'm out. Like serving those in need, serving in the 0:58:35.500 --> 0:58:38.820 soup kitchen, being the hands and feet of Jesus, delivering 0:58:38.820 --> 0:58:41.300 a meal. That is when I feel closest to God. 0:58:41.300 --> 0:58:43.740 And over the years I was like, I really think 0:58:43.740 --> 0:58:47.860 God has given us different personality types, so to speak. 0:58:47.900 --> 0:58:51.180 Like how we connect to him, how we feel close 0:58:51.180 --> 0:58:54.220 to him. And I think we do the church a 0:58:54.220 --> 0:58:58.140 disservice when we compare ourselves to each other, when we say, oh, 0:58:58.460 --> 0:59:00.860 I'm a better Christian, because look how much time I 0:59:00.860 --> 0:59:04.940 spend doing X, Y, and Z and you don't. Instead 0:59:04.940 --> 0:59:08.300 of celebrating the diversity of the body of Christ, that God, 0:59:08.340 --> 0:59:11.260 our creator, made us in different ways to connect with him. 0:59:11.460 --> 0:59:14.810 So we put together a quiz to kind of invite 0:59:14.810 --> 0:59:18.850 people into the freedom of discovering. How did God create 0:59:18.850 --> 0:59:22.330 you to connect with him? Is it watching the sunrise? 0:59:22.490 --> 0:59:25.370 Is it doing an inductive study? Is it, you know, 0:59:25.410 --> 0:59:28.650 going out and serving the poor or putting on worship 0:59:28.650 --> 0:59:31.450 music and singing at the top of your lungs? I 0:59:31.450 --> 0:59:34.250 think we can all do all of these things, but 0:59:34.290 --> 0:59:37.170 especially if you're feeling bored in your quiet time or 0:59:37.170 --> 0:59:40.050 you feel like you're stuck in a spiritual rut. Let 0:59:40.050 --> 0:59:42.810 me just encourage listeners to take that quiz and maybe 0:59:42.810 --> 0:59:46.490 try a new, fresh, creative way to connect with God. 0:59:46.730 --> 0:59:50.250 Ashreeta ChuChu. One thing alone Ministries if you want that 0:59:50.290 --> 0:59:54.810 devotional personality quiz. Other great resources on her website, as 0:59:54.810 --> 0:59:57.810 well as a YouTube channel where she has guided prayers, 0:59:57.810 --> 1:00:00.330 Bible study tips you can get all of that. Just 1:00:00.330 --> 1:00:06.130 text Delite to 855 five 7898. If you want resources 1:00:06.130 --> 1:00:11.770 from Ashreeta, just text Delite to 855 five 7898.