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Speaker 1: I'm struggling, I'm sick. I'm in so much pain. They

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Speaker 1: mock me, they ridicule me, they oppressed me. Is following

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Speaker 1: you all in vain? Is it worthless?

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Speaker 2: All right? Welcome back to the podcast, y'all. We have

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Speaker 2: Marshall joining us, my pastor and uh, a man of

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Speaker 2: great advice.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate that, man.

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Speaker 2: Marshall. Where are you from.

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Speaker 1: Austin, Texas?

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Speaker 2: Well, you are from there.

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Speaker 1: I was born there, but we moved around a lot

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Speaker 1: so Central Texas, so Austin, Georgetown, bas drop back to

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Speaker 1: Austin Cedar Park for a little bit.

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Speaker 2: What about Smithville does that have? Where does that come in?

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Speaker 1: That's what I meant by bastrop. Nobody knows who Smithville?

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Speaker 1: So I say, but that was Junior High High School?

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Speaker 2: Okay, yeah? What about before that? You were in Austin.

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Speaker 1: Before before Smithville?

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Speaker 2: Where was elementary school?

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Speaker 1: Elementary school would have been Austin and Cedar Park. We moved.

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Speaker 1: We moved in the middle of elementary school.

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Speaker 2: You were like Central Texas born and raised.

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Speaker 1: H yeah, seat in downtown. That's where That's where I

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Speaker 1: was born.

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Speaker 2: There's this, uh, there's this book that Bernie showed me

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Speaker 2: called the intentional father, and it talked about that term raised. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and now it has Roman roots where the woman would

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Speaker 2: lay the baby on the at the foot of the

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Speaker 2: father and if he wanted the baby, he would raise

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Speaker 2: it up in the front of everyone, okay, and if

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Speaker 2: he didn't want it, he would just turn his back

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Speaker 2: and walk away. Interesting since then we get that term

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Speaker 2: raised up like I was raised. I was raised by

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Speaker 2: my grandparents. I raised by my parents. I've never really

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Speaker 2: thought about it. What does it even mean raised?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I've never thought about That's interesting. Yeah, so

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Speaker 1: you're raised glad my dad raised me up.

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Speaker 2: He raised you up in Central Texas, that's right. Yeah, okay, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: you want to answer some of these questions, I'll.

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Speaker 1: Do my best.

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Speaker 2: People love you here. That's why you're back again and

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Speaker 2: hopefully ford willing many other times.

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Speaker 1: I love being here.

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Speaker 2: We answer your questions. You email podcast at grangersmith dot com.

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Speaker 2: And this first one comes from Chastity. It says, Hey Granger,

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Speaker 2: my name is Chasity. Lately, I've been struggling with emotions

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Speaker 2: and getting so easily upset over the past past hurts

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Speaker 2: that are resurfacing. I was explaining to my husband that

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Speaker 2: some days I feel so on fire for Jesus and

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Speaker 2: I want to tell everyone about him, and I'm so

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Speaker 2: excited to be a child of God. Then there are

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Speaker 2: other times when I feel so overwhelmed and emotional, over

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Speaker 2: feeling ignored by others, are just over things that have

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Speaker 2: already happened. My question is how do I have faith?

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Speaker 2: Because I know that it isn't always based on feelings,

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Speaker 2: it's more trust. And do I keep from getting so

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Speaker 2: overwhelmed by emotions and acting out saying things that hurt others?

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for all you do God blass

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Speaker 2: All right, chassity, let me recap from my own mind here.

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Speaker 2: You're wondering. First of all, your big question is how

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Speaker 2: do I have faith? And then you say, because it

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Speaker 2: isn't always based on feelings, it's more trust, and do

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Speaker 2: I keep from getting how do I keep from getting

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Speaker 2: overwhelmed by emotions and acting out saying things that hurt others?

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Speaker 2: So there's like stuff under here that we don't totally

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Speaker 2: know about. In your question, it's kind of it's a

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Speaker 2: parent that you're acting out and hurting others, and that

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Speaker 2: is part of the purpose of this email, and that

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Speaker 2: you're saying is associated with your past hurts that are resurfacing.

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Speaker 2: I'm explaining for myself, but all this is totally normal.

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Speaker 2: This isn't abnormal for someone to say an email just

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Speaker 2: like this. But the fact that you say, I feel

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Speaker 2: so on fire for Jesus and I want to tell

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Speaker 2: everybody about him. And then there are other times we're

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Speaker 2: just overwhelmed by emotion. That's yes, we hear you, Marshall.

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Speaker 2: Where do you start with chastity?

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Speaker 1: Well, one, you you don't want to put your feelings

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Speaker 1: against your faith. They're not enemies, right, one you live

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Speaker 1: by and one you just experience. And so faith is

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Speaker 1: the assurance of things, hope for no matter what you're feeling,

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Speaker 1: positively or negatively, you're on the highest high of the

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Speaker 1: lowest low. You're not letting your feelings dictate your steps forward.

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Speaker 1: And so your your faith comes in when you when

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Speaker 1: you try to think through Okay, I know what I'm feeling,

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Speaker 1: but what do I know to be true? What do

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Speaker 1: I know God's word says about the situation I'm in?

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Speaker 1: And a lot of times, especially when it's the negative

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Speaker 1: feeling of pain and hurt and suffering, the truth is well,

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Speaker 1: God said we're going to experience this. This is a

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Speaker 1: broken world. I'm not I shouldn't be chasing comfort and

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Speaker 1: peace here and now. I should be finding my peace

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Speaker 1: in Christ. Should be chasing the promise of God that

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Speaker 1: this is not the end. There's something better when Christ returns.

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Speaker 1: And so that's where my hope is. And so I

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Speaker 1: can experience the hurt and the pain and the suffering

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Speaker 1: in a way that doesn't overwhelm me because I know

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Speaker 1: this is not a lasting thing, that this will end.

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Speaker 1: But then it also keeps in check the positive emotions

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Speaker 1: that we have and the positive feelings when we might

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Speaker 1: be tempted to put too much stock into the current situation.

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Speaker 1: If only I can stay in this specific situation, this circumstance,

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Speaker 1: then everything's going to be good moving forward.

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Speaker 2: And so yeah, that's interesting. You start right, you go

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Speaker 2: right out the gate and you say we shouldn't pit

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Speaker 2: our feelings and our trusting or would you say.

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Speaker 1: You can't pit feelings in faith against each other?

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Speaker 2: Chastity you said, because I know that it isn't always

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Speaker 2: based on my feelings, And so yeah, it's interesting that

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Speaker 2: Marshall's saying, why do you need to make those two

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Speaker 2: completely separate things like as if feelings are crushing your faith, right, Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's what she's implying. And we see that, We've seen

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Speaker 2: it in the Psalms all the time. David wrestles through this.

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Speaker 2: In fact, you're preaching on it.

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Speaker 1: This Sunday, I'm preaching on Psalm seventy three, where the

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Speaker 1: psalm ist Uh sees all this, these wicked people prospering.

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Speaker 1: He says, they're healthy, they have all this money, they

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Speaker 1: have no problems. The biggest problem they have is the

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Speaker 1: fact that they die at some point. But until then

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Speaker 1: they just live these great lives. And me, who I'm

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Speaker 1: seeking to follow? You got I'm struggling, I'm sick, I'm

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Speaker 1: in so much pain. They mock me, they ridicule me,

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Speaker 1: they oppress me. Is following you all in vain? Is

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Speaker 1: it worthless? Is?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 1: What is it?

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Speaker 2: And right there that's real feelings.

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Speaker 1: That's real feelings. Yeah, And so there's not the sense

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Speaker 1: of hey, stop feeling that way. Yeah, Like you can't.

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Speaker 1: You can't control the way you interpret the situation or

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Speaker 1: how you respond to the interpretation of the situation, right,

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Speaker 1: Like you're gonna experience things in your life that will

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Speaker 1: they will cause your feelings to ebb and flow. They're

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Speaker 1: gonna go up and down, and so your faith is

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Speaker 1: how you respond to those feelings. It's not like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: don't feel one way so that you can be faithful.

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Speaker 1: It's how are you going to be faithful in the

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Speaker 1: way that you're feeling.

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Speaker 2: So let's stop right there and just define that because

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Speaker 2: you're saying Chassidy says, because I know it, my faith

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Speaker 2: is not based on feelings, and Marshall's saying, no, your

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Speaker 2: faith is how you respond to the feelings.

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Speaker 1: Right, yeah, I mean think about Paul and first Thessalonians.

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Speaker 1: When he says, you know, when we have loved ones,

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Speaker 1: who ones or friends, you know, things like that, who

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Speaker 1: who are followers of Jesus who die? He says, we

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Speaker 1: don't grieve as those who have no hope. And the

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Speaker 1: second part is tends to be what we lean on.

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Speaker 1: It's like, oh, you have hope, so so like be hopeful.

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Speaker 1: And that's true, but the first part is equally as important.

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Speaker 1: He says, we don't grieve as those who have no hope.

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Speaker 1: So there's the there's the reality that he's presenting. But

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Speaker 1: you're gonna grieve, You're gonna feel that pain. So you're

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Speaker 1: gonna have that feeling of hurt and sorrow, but that

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Speaker 1: grief doesn't find permanent residence in your soul because of

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Speaker 1: the hope that you have. And so he's showing that

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Speaker 1: right there. Your faith is going to be the response

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Speaker 1: to the feeling of grief that you have because it's

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Speaker 1: the hope that you have and so okay, this grief

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Speaker 1: is not going to be a lasting grief. Yeah. So

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Speaker 1: it's just that was really helpful when my mom passed away,

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Speaker 1: was thinking through that of in some stmes, I felt

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Speaker 1: for a little bit that I wasn't able to grieve

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Speaker 1: fully because I just grew up where it was kind

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Speaker 1: of like, hey, you're a Christian, have hope. You know

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Speaker 1: there's resurrection one day and she's in a better place

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Speaker 1: and all that kind of stuff. But and really studying

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Speaker 1: first Thessalonians and seeing that it hit me pretty hard. No,

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Speaker 1: Paul acknowledges we're gonna have grief and that is an

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Speaker 1: appropriate time to grief, but that grief doesn't stay, it's

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Speaker 1: not lasting because there's something greater than that and that's

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Speaker 1: what my faith is in.

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Speaker 2: Oh, this is so good.

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Speaker 1: So you want your faith to instruct how you work

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Speaker 1: through your how you process your feelings. And that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what's happening in Psalm seventy three in the sermon this week,

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Speaker 1: Like he lists all these things that he's struggling with,

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Speaker 1: and I'm bringing this up in the sermon. The interesting

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Speaker 1: thing is he lists all this injustice that he sees

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Speaker 1: and the wicked prospering and everything, But the issue that

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Speaker 1: he actually confesses to God is the fact that he

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Speaker 1: was envious of all that. So his biggest concern wasn't

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Speaker 1: that they were experiencing this process sparity. It was the

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Speaker 1: fact that he wasn't. And so he's trying to process

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Speaker 1: all of this, and it says like the turning point

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Speaker 1: of the psalm is when he says, when I thought

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Speaker 1: to understand this, I was exhausted. It was wearisome task

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Speaker 1: to me until I went to the sanctuary and I learned.

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Speaker 1: And so there's a shift where he takes his feelings,

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Speaker 1: his doubts, his thoughts to the Lord in faith and

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Speaker 1: basically says, I need you to help me understand this.

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Speaker 1: I know what's true is that You're good. He says

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Speaker 1: at the start of the song, he says, truly, God

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Speaker 1: is good. He says, I know this is true, but

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Speaker 1: this is what I'm seeing. I need you to help

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Speaker 1: me understand and reconcile these two things. So there his

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Speaker 1: faith is influencing his feelings in the sense of directing

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Speaker 1: where he moves forward from them. He could have just

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Speaker 1: stayed in those feelings right of doubt and hurt and envy,

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Speaker 1: but in faith, he takes it to the Lord and says,

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Speaker 1: I need you to help me understand this. And by

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Speaker 1: the end of it, he's like, whom have I in

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Speaker 1: heaven but you on earth? There's nothing to desire besides

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Speaker 1: you you. And so he really comes to understand. I

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Speaker 1: was starting to treasure so many things above you, and

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Speaker 1: it caused me to feel this way. But when you

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Speaker 1: showed me the end of all of it, so he said,

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Speaker 1: you know, the wicked they they'll perish. They'll be judged

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Speaker 1: for their wickedness that you're they're doing. So whatever prosperity

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Speaker 1: they have, now that's that's the extent of their their happiness,

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Speaker 1: because they're going to get judged. But as for me,

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Speaker 1: this pain and suffering I'm experiencing now pales in comparison

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Speaker 1: to the to the glory. I'm gonna be with with

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Speaker 1: you one day. And so that faith helps him get

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Speaker 1: through the feelings of doubt and grief and envy and pain.

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Speaker 2: So that's so good. So Chastity kind of give you

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Speaker 2: some some practical application for this. The at your words,

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Speaker 2: you're excited to be a child of God. So as

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Speaker 2: a child of God, you are told that you will suffer,

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Speaker 2: you will have feelings, you will grieve, you will sin.

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Speaker 2: You told a lot of things about yourself, and it

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Speaker 2: never says that you won't be that, or you won't

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Speaker 2: do that, or you won't feel that. But what the

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Speaker 2: Bible does it helps you to make sense of those

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Speaker 2: feelings and when you do suffer, how to suffer well,

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Speaker 2: when you do grieve, how to grieve with hope. So

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Speaker 2: that's the application for you, is that you will go

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Speaker 2: through these The fact that you feel or go through

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Speaker 2: these things doesn't mean you're a bad child of God.

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Speaker 2: But how you respond to it is what we want

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Speaker 2: you to know. And then then we're going to get

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Speaker 2: into spiritual disciplines with this conversation, because what Marshall is

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Speaker 2: basically saying is when he lost his mother and I

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Speaker 2: don't know how the scenario worked out, but you went

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Speaker 2: to the Bible with your feelings. So, for instance, chastity,

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Speaker 2: when you say, well what do I how does that

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Speaker 2: look like? Bring it to God? When I bring my feet,

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Speaker 2: what does that look like? Well it means. It could

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Speaker 2: mean a dark room with a cup of coffee in

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Speaker 2: your Bible and you go to your Bible in prayer.

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Speaker 2: It's like, Lord, I'm coming to your word. I feel this.

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Speaker 2: I think I'm grieving this way, I'm suffering in this way,

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Speaker 2: I have sinned in this way, and I'm taking this

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Speaker 2: to you, meaning practically, I'm sitting here with the Bible

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Speaker 2: in my lap, and Marshall's saying when this happened with

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Speaker 2: his mother, he found a word in there that transformed

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Speaker 2: and gave him understanding to understand the suffering he was

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Speaker 2: going through. Yeah, there's a lot. We could talk for

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Speaker 2: probably an hour about spiritual disciplines and how the different

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Speaker 2: things you could set up chastity in your life to

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Speaker 2: help walk through these I don't think it's necessary to

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Speaker 2: do that in this podcast.

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Speaker 1: I think the only thing I would say based on

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Speaker 1: what she said in the email is feeling things based

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Speaker 1: on past experiences. I think there is something to where

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Speaker 1: we shouldn't dwell so much on the past. The Lord

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Speaker 1: has us where we're at today for a reason, and

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Speaker 1: to keep bringing up things in the past is going

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Speaker 1: to keep bringing up the same emotions. And so there's

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Speaker 1: a sense of just keep moving forward, keep pressing on

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Speaker 1: in faith. No, you can't go back and change things,

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Speaker 1: and that God was sovereign over all of it. So

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Speaker 1: you are where you are today for a reason, and

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Speaker 1: and just don't don't dwell so much on the past. Really,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I've told some of our people, like, the

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Speaker 1: only thing you should dwell on that's in the past

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Speaker 1: is the Cross because of all the implications that come

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Speaker 1: from that, and that fuels the faith going forward. So

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Speaker 1: it's good.

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Speaker 2: Amber and I were told one time it happened, but

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Speaker 2: it is not happening. This podcast is brought to you

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Speaker 2: by Better Help. You know, it's a it's a common

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Speaker 2: and this conception about relationships that they just have to

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Speaker 2: be easy to be right, and anyone that knows understands

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Speaker 2: that that couldn't be further from the truth. The best

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Speaker 2: ones happen when both people put in the work to

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Speaker 2: make them great. You know, therapy could be a place

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Speaker 2: to work through those kind of challenges that you face

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Speaker 2: in all of those relationships, whether with work, friends, your

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Speaker 2: significant other, or anyone you know. Amber and I went

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Speaker 2: to therapy and we were trying to work through the

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Speaker 2: grief and loss from our son, from losing our son,

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Speaker 2: and part of that therapy though, was building our relationship,

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Speaker 2: even though when we didn't even know it. We were

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Speaker 2: working through doing putting in the work for each other,

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Speaker 2: for understanding each other, for understanding how we respond or

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Speaker 2: why we respond in certain ways. Areas in our life

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Speaker 2: that we trust each other, that we lean on each other,

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Speaker 2: and areas that we don't at all. Those are things

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Speaker 2: that we figured out in there, and maybe you have

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Speaker 2: considered starting therapy. Give Better Help a try. It's entirely online,

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00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,960
Speaker 2: designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule.

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Speaker 2: Just fill out a brief questionnaire and get matched with

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Speaker 2: looking for one or not. Visit Betterhelp dot com slash

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Speaker 2: granger today and get ten percent off your first month.

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Speaker 2: That's Better Help HLP dot com slash Granger. Next question

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Speaker 2: comes from Grace. Hey, Granger, have been listening to your

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Speaker 2: podcast a lot and I feel very motivated by them.

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Speaker 2: What is your advice you'd give to someone who's never

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Speaker 2: dated at the age of nineteen, How to pick themselves

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Speaker 2: up when everyone around you has a boyfriend who is

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Speaker 2: already hanging out with their significant other instead of you,

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Speaker 2: and then make me feel lonely by myself? How do

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Speaker 2: I keep faith and trust in God, knowing that he

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Speaker 2: has a plan for my future when I'm starting to

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Speaker 2: lose hope? There it is again, thank you for everything

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Speaker 2: you do for others. Grace, Hey, Grace, thanks for emailing.

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Speaker 2: I'm nineteen years old. That once again not an uncommon question.

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Speaker 2: You're not alone in asking this, And for you to

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Speaker 2: be nineteen and single and have never dated and looking

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Speaker 2: around at a lot of other people that are dating

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Speaker 2: now is very common, very normal. Although it seems like

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Speaker 2: you're the only one I could tell you just from

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Speaker 2: this podcast alone, from two hundred and twenty six episodes,

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Speaker 2: I could tell you here by far, you're not alone.

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Speaker 2: You have a lot of people going through this, and

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Speaker 2: that's the first part. We'll start with that. The second

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Speaker 2: part is nineteen seems so old, but you're so young,

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Speaker 2: have so much. You have so much, and and I

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Speaker 2: would be so encouraged by you that you've actually not

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Speaker 2: dated in you're nineteen, and so you think of what

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Speaker 2: you what you've been saved from, you know, because all

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Speaker 2: these people you're looking at and all these bad breakups,

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Speaker 2: and probably the next question we get, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: this is something bad that's happening in a relationship that

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Speaker 2: people are trying to look Hey, the question we just

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Speaker 2: had from Chastity, so she's looking back at the past,

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Speaker 2: at things that are now resurfacing. It probably has to

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Speaker 2: do with a relationship and grace. You are free from

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Speaker 2: that right now. You have a clean slate, And so

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Speaker 2: let's start with that's that's your first paragraph. And how

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Speaker 2: to keep my faith and trust God knowing that he

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Speaker 2: has a plan for the future when I'm starting to

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Speaker 2: lose hope. That's that's that. And then then the middle

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Speaker 2: part of your question is how to stop looking at

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Speaker 2: everyone around you? So just try to think just purely

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Speaker 2: practical marshal on this without getting too deep with this.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna assume. I'm going to assume that social media

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Speaker 2: is part of the problem. It seems a pretty good

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Speaker 2: assumption in twenty twenty four, at being nineteen, that you're

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Speaker 2: gonna see something else popping up on social media when

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Speaker 2: it's another one of your friends and they're in a

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Speaker 2: relationship and they're having a good time and you're left out.

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Speaker 2: Do you get What are your thoughts on social media?

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Speaker 2: And have you and your wife Alex thought about any

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Speaker 2: safeguards for your own kids.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we've started talking about it. Our oldest is nine,

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Speaker 1: so you can go all the way at a time,

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Speaker 1: But I mean, who knows what it'll be out there

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Speaker 1: by then?

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Speaker 2: Right, So in ten years Kim is Grace nineteen. Those

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Speaker 2: are ten quick years. Oh yeah, So let's think of

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Speaker 2: Kim as your daughter as Grace in the situation, right,

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Speaker 2: what are you telling her?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, if she's telling me she's losing hope

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Speaker 1: on asking what her hope is in, right, that's it.

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Speaker 1: But I'm not gonna I'm I'm not gonna go to

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Speaker 1: deep into that because I don't know yet, But that's

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Speaker 1: gonna dictate kind of the some of the practical advice

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Speaker 1: I give her, because I mean, part of it would

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Speaker 1: be what you've already said like, yeah, nineteen seems like

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Speaker 1: you're you're behind the game that you should have already

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Speaker 1: dated multiple guys by this point. And it's like you

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Speaker 1: got plenty of time. Out of all the people I've

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Speaker 1: ever met, I've only met two who or like I've

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Speaker 1: married my high school sweetheart yep too, out of all

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Speaker 1: the people. Yeah, And so it's you know, the odds

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Speaker 1: are not strong in that favor for that. And so

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Speaker 1: when I think through people dating, it's it's why do

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Speaker 1: you want to date? Right? Like, if you're wanting to

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Speaker 1: date just to date, that's just gonna lead to hurt

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Speaker 1: because there's no end game in that. It's just and

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Speaker 1: it's really about yourself. When really, when you think about

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Speaker 1: a relationship, in a relationship, you should be thinking about

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Speaker 1: the other person above yourself, and if both people are

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Speaker 1: doing that, that leads to a good relationship.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Right. And so if the idea is I just I

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Speaker 1: want to date because I feel like I should have

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Speaker 1: dated by now, that's difficult because you've made it more

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Speaker 1: about you than anybody else. Now I have talked two

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Speaker 1: people who feel like I haven't dated yet because I

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Speaker 1: must not be good enough. Nobody's found me attractive, nobody

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Speaker 1: finds me lovable, nobody nobody wants to be with me,

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Speaker 1: And then if that's the case, then then then we

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Speaker 1: have a whole other discussion on our hands. Right, So,

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Speaker 1: if Kim's telling me that, like, I feel like I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm worthless, I feel like nobody loves me, nobody cares

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Speaker 1: for me, nobody wants to be with me again at nineteen,

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Speaker 1: I'm pushing against that a little bit, saying, hey, you're

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Speaker 1: only nineteen, don't stress about it. But you know you

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Speaker 1: could take the conversation in two different ways at that point.

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Speaker 2: So, yeah, I don't think Grace is going there.

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Speaker 1: I don't think so either, which why I didn't start there. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but I do think there is the sense it sounds

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Speaker 1: more like I feel like I should have dated by now, yes,

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Speaker 1: and I haven't.

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Speaker 2: And so yeah, if London, my daughter came to me

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Speaker 2: and said, Dad, could you could you give me an

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Speaker 2: example of something you would love for me to say

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Speaker 2: in the next seven years, I would say, I would

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Speaker 2: love for you in the next seven years to say

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Speaker 2: I've never dated anyone and I'm still nineteen. I'm just nineteen.

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Speaker 2: I would I would love that for my daughter so

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Speaker 2: what you have, grace is truly a gift, and I

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Speaker 2: hope you see it that way. And because then we

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Speaker 2: can go to your last question, how do you keep

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Speaker 2: faith and trust in God? Knowing he has a plan

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Speaker 2: for your future? But you're starting to lose hope? And

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Speaker 2: I go, if I'm your father, Grace, I say, my

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Speaker 2: hope is that you are still single at nineteen. So

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Speaker 2: how much more would our heavenly Father want for us? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: And I think there's a sense of you know, how

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Speaker 1: do I I can't remember how she worded it right there,

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Speaker 1: you know, you just read it, but you know, how

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Speaker 1: do I remain faithful? Trusting God? And this whole thing?

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's interesting because his word actually speak speaks

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Speaker 1: to this when Paul says, I wish you were all single,

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Speaker 1: because then you could devote a lot of time to

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Speaker 1: the ministry like I'm doing just to not not like

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Speaker 1: paid ministry or working at a church, but just there's

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Speaker 1: so much you could be doing for God right now

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Speaker 1: when you don't have to worry about a significant other,

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Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about children. You have so

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Speaker 1: many freedoms in that sense. And so what scripture speaks

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Speaker 1: to this is if you're nineteen and you're not dating,

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Speaker 1: the Lord actually says that's a good thing. And if

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Speaker 1: that's the case, if you're not dating, if you haven't

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Speaker 1: found somebody that you're potentially getting married to, if he

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Speaker 1: hasn't brought that person into your life, then he's put

432
00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: you in a position where you have a lot of

433
00:23:56,119 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: freedoms to serve him in specific ways. And so, you know,

434
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: how do I remain faithful without losing hope and knowing

435
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: what God's plan is for me in this His plan

436
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,000
Speaker 1: for you is just to glorify Him and everything, whether

437
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,040
Speaker 1: you're dating or not. And so when you're not dating,

438
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 1: you have all these freedoms that you can do to

439
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: serve him better. And so how do you do it?

440
00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 1: What's the practical step? Figure out the ways you're serving

441
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 1: the Lord? How are you seeking to glorify Him in

442
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 1: everything you're presently doing. You know, as you know, I'm

443
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 1: assuming you're in church being a Christian, and so there's

444
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,639
Speaker 1: you know, you can go on mission trips more easily

445
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: than if you were, you know, with somebody or you know,

446
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: have kids. That's more difficult when you get those situations

447
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 1: in your life. So you can go on mission trips,

448
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,479
Speaker 1: you can you can be in more Bible, you can

449
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 1: go to Bible study, you can be in meeting with

450
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 1: more ladies in the church for discipleship and then discipling

451
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 1: some of the the the the younger ladies in the church.

452
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 1: And so you have all these opportunities to be serving

453
00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,959
Speaker 1: the Lord. And you know, how how am I supposed

454
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,680
Speaker 1: to know God's plan for my life in this point? Well,

455
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:03,439
Speaker 1: he actually tells you, if you're single, you have all

456
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,679
Speaker 1: the freedoms to do so many things. Yeah, so go

457
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:06,200
Speaker 1: and do them.

458
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 2: I was just I don't remember. I don't remember if

459
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 2: you're with me or not, Marshall. But recently someone told me,

460
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,440
Speaker 2: I don't remember who was. They told me they met

461
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:15,959
Speaker 2: their wife on mission.

462
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:16,800
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.

463
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 2: It's like, oh man, that's a pretty good place to

464
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:26,680
Speaker 2: meet your your future spouse. Yeah, so that's what he's saying. Yeah, yeah, Well,

465
00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 2: is there a is there a book we could recommend Grace.

466
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,160
Speaker 1: Not Yet Married? Not not Yet Married by Marshall? Uh Siegel?

467
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: Okay, s E g A L.

468
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 1: I believe cool. So good question.

469
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:44,399
Speaker 2: I'm a fan of the outdated book. Jonathan Bakluda outdated,

470
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 2: I think that is, it's probably the closest target to

471
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 2: your exact question here, Even though that's coming from a

472
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,760
Speaker 2: married man, it's always a little bit more difficult when

473
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 2: it's coming from someone's not in your situation at all.

474
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,119
Speaker 2: Next question comes from Austin Hey Granger. I live in

475
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 2: North Georgia. I'm twenty two years old and a few

476
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 2: months away and hopefully getting engaged to my girlfriend of

477
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 2: four years. I've been listening to this podcast for about

478
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,760
Speaker 2: a year now, and my question for you is about

479
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,919
Speaker 2: growing my faith and reading the Bible a couple of mine.

480
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,719
Speaker 2: A goal of mine is to eventually read the whole Bible.

481
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 2: I've tried to start multiple times, but I always end

482
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 2: up not following through. I always get stuck feeling like

483
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,119
Speaker 2: reading the Bible just to read is a chore, and

484
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 2: I don't feel like I get as much out of

485
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,560
Speaker 2: it as I do when I study certain topics, for example,

486
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 2: doing a devotional or reading along with a pastor at church.

487
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,959
Speaker 2: Should I focus on reading the whole Bible, and if so,

488
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,080
Speaker 2: what would be the best way to focus on that?

489
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 2: Or should I just read and study certain topics. Thanks

490
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,160
Speaker 2: for all you do to help build the Kingdom of God,

491
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:57,680
Speaker 2: God Bless, and that is Austin. Austin, I'm gonna agree

492
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:59,880
Speaker 2: with you right off the bat. It's something you said.

493
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,800
Speaker 2: You said, I feel stuck, feeling like reading the Bible

494
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,240
Speaker 2: just to read it is a chore, and I don't

495
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 2: feel like I get as much out of it when

496
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: I do. I agree, and I think God would agree.

497
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,000
Speaker 2: If you're reading it just to read it. I mean,

498
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:18,400
Speaker 2: I don't really know anything in life you could say

499
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 2: that about doing something just to do it, You're not

500
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 2: going to get anything out of it, regardless of filling

501
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 2: the blank with whatever that is, including the Bible. So

502
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 2: when the Bible becomes a chore, or when you think

503
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 2: of the Bible as something that you need to read

504
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 2: because that's what you need to do, it is certainly

505
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 2: getting into the category of works for righteousness at that point.

506
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 2: It's it is becoming you said the word often a chore.

507
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 2: So if that's where you are, and you're like, man,

508
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,399
Speaker 2: I've heard people say I should read the whole Bible,

509
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 2: and I feel like I probably should read the whole Bible.

510
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 2: It just makes sense, but I cannot stand doing it,

511
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 2: and I've tried and I've given up, and it feels

512
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 2: like a chore because I'm just doing it because I'm

513
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 2: trying to, you know, put a check in the box.

514
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 2: And to all that, I say, Okay, then we probably

515
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 2: need to aim lower, and we need to we need

516
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,359
Speaker 2: to go backwards a little bit and in the spiritual disciplines,

517
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 2: like we mentioned earlier, let's let's back up a little bit.

518
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,360
Speaker 2: Because first of all, what I always like to encourage

519
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 2: is instead of thinking of reading the entire Bible, I

520
00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 2: don't really even like that terminology. I don't like to

521
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 2: think of it in that way because it immediately makes

522
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 2: me think of reading it to finish it. And it

523
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 2: should never be like that. And unless you're taking some

524
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,640
Speaker 2: kind of math class, then I don't think any book

525
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,640
Speaker 2: should be looked at as reading it just to finish it.

526
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 2: What good is it at all? So back way up,

527
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 2: aim way lower. You know what I want to I

528
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 2: want to start. I'm want to start reading to the

529
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,479
Speaker 2: Book of John. But I don't want to necessarily read

530
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 2: the Book of John. I don't want to read the

531
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 2: whole Bible, and I don't want to read the whole

532
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 2: Book of John. I just want to read the first chapter.

533
00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 2: And if that seems like too much. Then I just

534
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,640
Speaker 2: want to read the first page in my Bible of John.

535
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 2: I'm want to start there because I know that this

536
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:30,280
Speaker 2: whole Bible reading thing something I should do. But your

537
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 2: eyes have to be open to that. And this is

538
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,680
Speaker 2: this is from someone speaking to you right now that

539
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 2: understands what it felt like to have my eyes closed

540
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 2: to it, to have the dust collecting on the Bible itself.

541
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,719
Speaker 2: And I can't tell you. I can't open your eyes, Austin,

542
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 2: and I can't tell you that you need to be

543
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 2: doing this. And if you want to be a Christian,

544
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 2: you need to read your Bible. I can't. I can't

545
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 2: do it. I can only encourage you if you're going.

546
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,000
Speaker 2: I'm hungry, I love God. My eyes are open, I

547
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 2: want to know. I want to know word and I'm

548
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:02,480
Speaker 2: gonna go. Let me show you where it is and

549
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,160
Speaker 2: try to hear in the Bible. And you've probably heard

550
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 2: me go through that whole spill before on this podcast

551
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 2: or somewhere else. And that's not what I would say

552
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:15,200
Speaker 2: to you. To you, I would say, we have to

553
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 2: get our heart right first, and that's gonna start with prayer. Yeah,

554
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 2: And it's like I'm thinking, I'm just trying to picture

555
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,680
Speaker 2: this and try to give you just a practical look

556
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 2: for this, Austin. And so I'm thinking, I hate to

557
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 2: always say early in the morning, but you know, for

558
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 2: me in my life, the morning is better for my

559
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 2: personal reading because that's before my phone starts buzzing and

560
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 2: the emails come in, and Amber has things for me

561
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 2: to do, and I've got other obligations, so before all

562
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 2: that starts. This is why I always go there. I

563
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 2: would get there, Austin, in the time of day when

564
00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 2: nothing's going on, and just go, Lord, here I am.

565
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 2: And my mind tells me that I should be reading

566
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 2: this because I've heard it said that this is your word.

567
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,800
Speaker 2: But Lord, I'm struggling to want to do it, to

568
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 2: the desire to do it, and I feel like that's

569
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 2: a I feel like it's a problem. And I also

570
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,360
Speaker 2: realized that God, but my heart is in your hands.

571
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 2: Will you soften my heart? Will you open up these

572
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 2: pages where you open up this word, so that so

573
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 2: that I crave it, so that I long for it,

574
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,080
Speaker 2: so I thirst for it like a dear thirst for

575
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 2: living waters. You know, I want that. I want that

576
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:46,560
Speaker 2: from me. I want to I want to desire this,

577
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 2: will you open up that for me? God? And then

578
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 2: at that point, Austin, you're not going, Okay, Genesis one,

579
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,360
Speaker 2: here we go. Now You're like, so I'm gonna start

580
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,560
Speaker 2: with these first couple of paragraphs of John one. In

581
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 2: the beginning was the Word, and the word is with God,

582
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,120
Speaker 2: and then the word was God. He was in the

583
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 2: beginning with God. And you're just kind of working through that,

584
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:11,640
Speaker 2: and then you stop and you pray, you read it again.

585
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 2: Maybe I'll say what I mean, five to ten minutes. Yeah,

586
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 2: close the Bible the next morning, picking up where you

587
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:30,200
Speaker 2: left off, same prayer. Yeah, second chapter. Yeah, you know,

588
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 2: just just slowly, aim lower. That's what I'm trying to

589
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,920
Speaker 2: tell you, aim lowered, to stop thinking about finishing the

590
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,560
Speaker 2: Bible and closing the back of Revelation and going I

591
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 2: did it, I did it. Shock it up for another one,

592
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,880
Speaker 2: for another person that's read the Bible. Don't be that guy, Austin.

593
00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 2: I'm gonna shut up and let Marshall guide on this. No.

594
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,680
Speaker 1: I mean, I think all that's good man, and I

595
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: don't want to repeat anything Grander said, So I'll just

596
00:32:52,440 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 1: try to add a couple of other practical stuff I

597
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 1: would encourage you to find somebody who's a little more

598
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: mature in the faith than you will be. And that's

599
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 1: not saying you're immature. That's just saying we all have

600
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: people who are more mature. I have more people in

601
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 1: my lives who are more mature believers than I am,

602
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: and so I go and I am discipled by them.

603
00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 1: But when you read scripture with somebody else, there's something

604
00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,959
Speaker 1: different that happens, right because you start it's now a

605
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 1: it's like a three person conversation, like God is speaking,

606
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,800
Speaker 1: and then you're with this other person kind of talking

607
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,520
Speaker 1: about what God is saying, and one that helps hold

608
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 1: you accountable to actually doing it. But more importantly, they

609
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,120
Speaker 1: might see something that you don't, not something new, not

610
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,640
Speaker 1: something that's like hidden in between the verses, but where

611
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:54,520
Speaker 1: you they they'll say, do you realize what he's saying here?

612
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: He's actually connecting it back to this And then you're going, oh, wow,

613
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,960
Speaker 1: I never made that connection. That's helpful. Little stuff like

614
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,880
Speaker 1: that then starts feeding that appetite for the word. I mean,

615
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 1: if you think about eating healthy like the stuff that

616
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,760
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be eating, nobody just jumps dives in it.

617
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: Nobody over eats the healthy stuff, right. But the more

618
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,880
Speaker 1: you cut out junk and the more you start picking

619
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: up the healthy stuff, you start craving it a little

620
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 1: bit more. And so there's a sense of the more

621
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,000
Speaker 1: you do it, the hungrier you'll get for it. Like

622
00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 1: Grangeer was saying, but I think when you have somebody

623
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 1: else doing it with you, that that helps kind of

624
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 1: grow that hunger and that desire for it. And then

625
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,920
Speaker 1: you know, I hope you're in church. If you're not

626
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,879
Speaker 1: gonna encourage you get in church, but if you can,

627
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 1: if there's a way to do it, figure out what's

628
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 1: getting preached the next Sunday. So like at our church,

629
00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,040
Speaker 1: what I try to do is on Tuesday or Wednesdays

630
00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: earlier on Tuesdays, I try to send out, hey, this

631
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 1: is the sermon text that is coming on Sunday. And

632
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:04,840
Speaker 1: the reason I'm doing this because I'm praying that the

633
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:08,160
Speaker 1: church throughout the week is reading that passage and so

634
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 1: that might be you might read that same passage every

635
00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:12,759
Speaker 1: single day. And what you're doing at that point is

636
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,720
Speaker 1: you're trying to see, Okay, what is this text saying,

637
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,960
Speaker 1: and how's the pastor going to preach this techt like,

638
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: what are some things he might be pulling out of this?

639
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 1: And I mean, in fact, what we try to do

640
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,239
Speaker 1: is we actually try to give out two months worth

641
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:28,919
Speaker 1: of texts, So, hey, this is a schedule we're going through.

642
00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: So the people should be reading those things to get

643
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,319
Speaker 1: an understanding of what it is. And so if you're

644
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 1: able to in your church, figure out what the next

645
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,040
Speaker 1: sermon text is and use that as kind of your

646
00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: guide of what to be reading, and then maybe read

647
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: the passages around it. So if he's preaching ten verses,

648
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 1: read twenty of them and kind of see what's happening

649
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,040
Speaker 1: around it and use that for your guide of what

650
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 1: you're going to be reading. That way, you don't set

651
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,600
Speaker 1: unrealistic goals for yourself. If you've never read the Bible

652
00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: in depth before and you go, all right, this year,

653
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 1: I'm going the entire cover to cover. Yeah, that's like

654
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 1: saying I've never swam before when I'm diving in the

655
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:03,680
Speaker 1: deep end from the high dive, like we're going, and

656
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: you're just like, that's not gonna be successful. You got

657
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:08,600
Speaker 1: to you gotta ease yourself into it.

658
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 2: So I smiled earlier because I was just thinking Austin.

659
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:14,600
Speaker 2: First of all, I'm encouraged by your email. Thank you

660
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:20,240
Speaker 2: for this, But man, I pray, I pray that people

661
00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 2: come to me. Any believer would think the same thing.

662
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 2: In your community right now in North Georgia, any believer

663
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,319
Speaker 2: is praying that somebody like you would call them or

664
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,880
Speaker 2: text him and go, I really want to read the Bible?

665
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,560
Speaker 2: Would you do that with me? Oh? Man? Like, so

666
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,960
Speaker 2: much of the the work I did, the evangelistic work

667
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 2: I do, is ground up stuff, or it's from from

668
00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,960
Speaker 2: people that don't want it, or they're rejecting God and

669
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:48,239
Speaker 2: they and they come to me with these questions, these

670
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 2: like apologetic questions, and it's more rare that someone's like,

671
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:55,240
Speaker 2: you know what, I think this is important. I'm hungry.

672
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,320
Speaker 2: Will you will you walk this with me? And every

673
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:02,800
Speaker 2: believer in North Georgia says yes, I will. I will.

674
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:10,759
Speaker 2: How about tomorrow? How about coffee tomorrow? So you know,

675
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,440
Speaker 2: if you're looking to get a hold of me, maybe

676
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:17,239
Speaker 2: have me send you a message you know that's available

677
00:37:17,239 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 2: to you right now at cameo dot com slash Grangersmith

678
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:23,759
Speaker 2: if you want a personal message, Happy birthday, happy anniversary,

679
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 2: maybe a bit of encouragement maybe even a prayer. I

680
00:37:27,239 --> 00:37:28,839
Speaker 2: could do that and you could find me. You could

681
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,399
Speaker 2: tell me exactly what you need from me. You could

682
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,640
Speaker 2: write it out. Hey, Granger, it's my brother's birthday. He's

683
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,400
Speaker 2: doing this and that he's into this, He's not into that,

684
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,399
Speaker 2: he's turning this many years old. Would you please wish

685
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:43,439
Speaker 2: him a happy birthday? And I'll do that right here

686
00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 2: on my phone. I record it and send you the

687
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 2: video message of me saying that. You can get that

688
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 2: at cameo dot com slash Granger Smith anytime. In fact,

689
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,359
Speaker 2: I do these all the time. Again, it's cameo dot

690
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,200
Speaker 2: com slash Granger Smith. You could also download the cameo

691
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:05,399
Speaker 2: app and search for me Granger Smith. Next question comes

692
00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,600
Speaker 2: from Nicole. It says, Hey, I'd like to get your

693
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 2: input on the practice of manifestation. I have a friend

694
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 2: who recently started a new business venture that focuses on

695
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 2: manifesting yourself, ridding yourself of negative energy, and embracing the

696
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 2: power of your body to heal. While I personally believe

697
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,160
Speaker 2: Jesus is the only answer, I'm having a hard time

698
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,360
Speaker 2: processing what this new outspoken belief system of my friend

699
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:31,120
Speaker 2: does for our friendship. Should I let it change the

700
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 2: relationship that we have. I find myself slightly pulling away

701
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:38,719
Speaker 2: from that relationship because how can you be close to

702
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 2: someone who has such a different foundational belief? Is it

703
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 2: wrong for me to step back from a friendship due

704
00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,840
Speaker 2: to differences of opinion? I want to surround myself with

705
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 2: godly like minded people who can encourage and help me grow.

706
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 2: I'm excited to take to hear your approach on this

707
00:38:56,239 --> 00:39:03,319
Speaker 2: friendship and also the practice of manifestation itself. Nicole. Thank you.

708
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:05,880
Speaker 1: Marshall.

709
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:08,680
Speaker 2: We don't have like a ton of time on this,

710
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:10,600
Speaker 2: and so we don't and I don't think it really

711
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:15,240
Speaker 2: needs a lot of time. But one red flag, Nicole,

712
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 2: that you have recognized, and maybe you don't even realize it,

713
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:23,359
Speaker 2: but your friend is starting a new business venture that's

714
00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 2: focusing on this. Like that sid says something right there.

715
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,440
Speaker 2: This is not like a faith thing or something that

716
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,080
Speaker 2: she's really It doesn't sound like she's something she's really

717
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:36,160
Speaker 2: finding comfort in and practicing. She's starting a business venture

718
00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 2: and there's big business in this. Manifesting yourself, ridding yourself

719
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 2: of negative energy, embracing the power of yourself to heal yourself.

720
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,840
Speaker 2: You know, like those are all just huge red flags

721
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,839
Speaker 2: for a Christian and I feel like you know that.

722
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:01,719
Speaker 2: And I don't really think you have to hear from

723
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:06,160
Speaker 2: me and Marshall on why we think that is an

724
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,719
Speaker 2: unhealthy thing, So we won't. I don't think we need

725
00:40:09,719 --> 00:40:12,520
Speaker 2: to go there. What we can do is talk about

726
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,879
Speaker 2: the middle part of your question is saying you're talking

727
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 2: about the relationship with your friend, and you want to

728
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:23,200
Speaker 2: be around people that are encouraging you and and helping

729
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:28,080
Speaker 2: your belief and helping you grow. And to that, I say,

730
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:32,759
Speaker 2: this is why the Bible will warn us, especially as

731
00:40:32,800 --> 00:40:36,000
Speaker 2: new believers or ones that are weaker in the faith,

732
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:44,360
Speaker 2: to be careful when we are associating with these new ideas,

733
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 2: because when you hear basically, this is a myth right.

734
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,400
Speaker 2: So when we hear these myths, we could drift off

735
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 2: into this nonsense and actually start believing it ourselves if

736
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,520
Speaker 2: we're around it too much. That's a warning. If you're

737
00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:05,360
Speaker 2: newer or weaker in your faith. If that's not you, Nicole,

738
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,600
Speaker 2: and you're like, no, you know, I feel strong in

739
00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:13,239
Speaker 2: my faith, then this is definitely an evangelistic opportunity for

740
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 2: you that you don't want to cut off necessarily you

741
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 2: don't want to say, hey, I don't believe in that stuff,

742
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 2: and because of that, I can't even talk to you.

743
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 2: I don't even want to be friends with you. That's

744
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:27,839
Speaker 2: not a good thing. That's not a good message to

745
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:31,399
Speaker 2: your friend. And it's really if she's dying in this,

746
00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 2: which she is, and you're cutting off a lifeline to

747
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:39,440
Speaker 2: her by saying, you know what, I just don't agree

748
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:40,839
Speaker 2: with what you're saying, and I don't want it to

749
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 2: start affecting me. Well, discourage that. So these are the

750
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 2: two scenarios for her, and I don't know really which

751
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:49,680
Speaker 2: one she is.

752
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:54,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I just think when we have people who

753
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:56,080
Speaker 1: are close to this in our lives to start chasing

754
00:41:56,160 --> 00:42:05,560
Speaker 1: a different a myth chasing, chasing a myth, chasing false teaching. Basically,

755
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 1: the guardrails we have is don't embrace it, don't ignore it,

756
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,280
Speaker 1: but engage with with them.

757
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 2: So don't cut them off.

758
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,240
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, don't cut them off. Don't cut her off,

759
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 1: but you also don't interact with her in a way

760
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,000
Speaker 1: where you're like, I just won't talk about religion. I

761
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,759
Speaker 1: won't talk about faith, I won't talk about spirituality, I

762
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,200
Speaker 1: won't I pretend like she has her way, I have

763
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:38,239
Speaker 1: my way. You want to be able to have the

764
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,960
Speaker 1: conversations with her where she knows you disagree, but you

765
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:45,319
Speaker 1: can have loving and truthful conversations with her about why

766
00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:49,720
Speaker 1: you disagree, great, and why you're concerned for her soul.

767
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:54,080
Speaker 2: For this, you can ask her questions like, how do

768
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,480
Speaker 2: you rid yourself of negative energy? Explain that to me.

769
00:42:57,600 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 2: It's a great conversation I started with someone like this.

770
00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:01,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, But on the flip side too, I think it

771
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 1: also means you're putting in the effort outside of that

772
00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,000
Speaker 1: relationship to grow and you're understanding better of what you

773
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:12,759
Speaker 1: believe so that you're not carried away, Yes, by this

774
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:18,919
Speaker 1: other teaching. So this, this friendship now may require even

775
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 1: more effort than it did previously because outside of it,

776
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:26,520
Speaker 1: you're trying to equip yourself and strengthen yourself to engage

777
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:32,399
Speaker 1: with her in a meaningful, loving, but direct way when

778
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:35,799
Speaker 1: it comes to this issue, because it isn't just could

779
00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 1: ruin our friendship or I don't want to rock the boat,

780
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,319
Speaker 1: but instead it's, uh, this is extremely dangerous for her

781
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 1: soul and for those she's influencing, And so you want

782
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 1: to you want to treat her in love with the truth,

783
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,279
Speaker 1: and and and pray that the Lord would would help

784
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:54,520
Speaker 1: her to see the truth and help you grow in

785
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:55,000
Speaker 1: the truth.

786
00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,759
Speaker 2: So that's all we got. I love you, guess see

787
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:03,440
Speaker 2: you next Monday. Thanks for joining me on the Grangersmith Podcast.

788
00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 2: I appreciate all of you guys. You could help me

789
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,560
Speaker 2: out by rating this podcast on iTunes. If you're on YouTube,

790
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 2: subscribe to this channel. Hit that little like button and

791
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:16,279
Speaker 2: the notification spell so that you never miss anytime I

792
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:19,279
Speaker 2: upload a video. If you have a question for me

793
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:23,160
Speaker 2: that you would like me to answer, email Grangersmith Podcast

794
00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 2: at gmail dot com. Yie