The Burt (Not Ernie) Show

Waiting for Hope - Luke chapter 2 - Episode #201

Hey there! Welcome to the podcast. In today’s episode, we’ll be taking a look at the hope and the promise of Christmas, from Luke chapter two. This is a time of year when hope is a watchword, and traditionally has been a season when people are much more open to receive kindness and blessings and when you say Merry Christmas and God bless you, maybe they don’t do that little uncomfortable wince that happens at times. This year, let’s take a few minutes and consider the hope we have because of Christmas, and because of all the promises God made and then fulfilled when Jesus came to earth as a newborn baby. 

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. That’s Edifi, spelled E D I F I, and you can find it in your device’s app store. The hope and the promise of Christmas is our focus today, and this is episode number 201. 

 

As I did some research for this episode, I read that there were at least eight specific prophecies that were fulfilled when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Now of course, Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies when He lived on this earth, and died and rose again. And the remainder will absolutely be fulfilled at His second coming. But regarding His birth in Bethlehem, we find the fulfillment of prophecies from Genesis 22:18, Numbers 24:17, Isaiah 7:14 (that one is a common Christmas card verse, for good reason), Isaiah 9:6-7, Daniel 9:25-26, Micah 5:2 (one of my favorite verses for this time of year), Jeremiah 31:15, Hosea 11:1 which does tie in with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. 

 

The Bible truly is an amazing book, God’s Word is profound. And at Christmastime, I hope it has a profound impact and blessing on your life. I say this a lot, but I think it needs to be said often -  not only are God’s promises true…they are true for you. He loves you enough to make promises to you and then to keep those promises. And that’s where hope comes in for us - we have such great hope because we’ve seen Him keep His promises, and in the midst of tough times, we hold on to our hope that He will continue to keep His promises. This is not hope misplaced; it’s the opposite - perfectly placed hope. Hope in the Lord ends up being the kind of faith that yields results. It’s unseen at first, those results, but ends up being seen when our faith becomes sight. If you need some hope right now, well, this is for you.

 

From the Amplified, Luke chapter two verse 1 says: Now in those days a decree went out from (the emperor) Caesar Augustus, that all the inhabited world (the Roman Empire) should be registered (in a census). 

So this was more than just an emperor deciding he needed to take a census and get an accounting of all the citizens of his empire. This was done at the Lord’s behest, because of His will. One of the things that is easy to overlook in the Christmas story, to take for granted, because we’ve heard this passage so many times, year after year, it’s easy to overlook the significance of the way God’s hand, albeit invisible, was at work to move the heart of Caesar to order this census that required everyone to return to their own city, hometown, the town for their family’s official registration. And if we just read verse one, that single sentence, and move right on into the rest of the chapter, we can miss the reality that’s here for us, for our lives, right now. God moves in the lives and in the hearts of men, women, and children. He moves little people, and that’s like little in quotes because all mankind is so precious to Him, nobody is small or miniscule to Him. Our God is not in the business of marginalizing people. He created each one, knitting each in their mother’s womb, has engraved us on the palms of His hands, and no one is without value to Him. So that’s not what I mean when I say little persons. What I mean is, societally, the shepherds were not big wigs, power players, in that culture. And yet, they were given the message, the announcement, of the birth of the Messiah, the very Son of God. Amazing! The emperor, Caesar Augustus, was moved to issue the decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world, all his empire, and so mankind was on the move, headed to their hometowns to be registered as part of this mandatory census. Don’t miss this. There is great importance and value to this moment in time - and it’s valuable and important for your life. The God of hope is the God who wants you to believe that He can move mountains and the hearts of kings, rulers, those in authority, in order to bring about what He has in store for your life. He is not arrogant and narcissistic, that He would move those mountains and turn those hearts in ostentatious ways. He does not need to be loud about it, because He has no insecurities, needs no validation - so He can do it without there being a lot of fanfare about the WHY behind what He is doing. 

And yet, He may still announce what He is doing, with great praise and rejoicing for His goodness toward us, He may still announce it to those who are not a big noise, household name, someone important in the world’s eyes. This should amaze us, and simultaneously cause hope to spring up anew in us regarding our own lives and circumstances. 

 

Got something you have been praying about, carrying a burden about, for a long time? Weeks? Months? Years, even?

The message of Luke two verse one is for you, then. Now in those days…

My friend, for you right now, it might just be one of “those days” when God begins to move on your behalf. 

 

The hope we have when we live in a state of expectancy, of believing God for what we see no evidence of, well…that kind of hope is real hope. Romans 8:24-26 says that hope that only hopes for what is seen is no hope at all (that’s not verbatim, of course). What kind of hope do you and I have? Is your hope doing any stretching in your life? Are you having to hope more, trust more, believe more, as the days wear on and the promise isn’t yet fulfilled? Then that’s actual, biblical hope. 

Proverbs 13:12 tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick, and that is true. So from these two passages about hope, which seem to be in conflict with each other, what do we learn? How do we make them make sense to us when we need to hold on to our hope in Jesus, and yet we can relate to the feeling of hope deferred making us heart sick? When your faith is not sight, and you cannot even begin to fathom how it will ever become sight, how do you hold on to hope and keep holding on? 

Hope really does have a name, and His name is Jesus.

Some moments are simply crawling through the crowd on your hands and knees, pressing and pushing to get to Jesus, reaching out and just skimming the edge of His robe, knowing that’s all you can do, there is no more gas in the tank, you’re spent, without Him it’s over…that’s what it is like sometimes. It’s really that rough sometimes.

Sometimes the biggest part of our faith journey ends up being hanging on to Jesus, hanging on to our hope in Him, when we are getting awfully heartsick and nearing the point of more than we can bear. (Spoiler alert: if you have not yet had a moment in your life when you were maxed out beyond what you ever dreamed you could handle, well, keep walking with Jesus and that will be your experience. It isn’t easy street, this discipleship life. It’s daily taking up your cross and following after Him, it’s knowing that the servant is not greater than the master and as they treated Him, so shall they also treat everyone who follows Him. It is a somewhat hard knock life, this life with Jesus, but these hard knocks are the hardest it will ever be and for the unbeliever, this life is the best it will ever be. Eternity is worth living for, my friend, because Jesus is there and He has gone ahead of you to make ready a place for you, that where He is, you may one day also be. It’s hard, but it’s such a good hard.)

Hope deferred does make the heart sick. It’s absolutely true. But the point at which we feel our hope has been deferred for too long is not usually the same point at which God, in His sovereignty and providence, knows our hope has been too long deferred. 

Trust Him, even when, especially when, it’s been a long, hard road. 

The journey to Bethlehem was not easy for Mary, or for Joseph. The labor and delivery, also not easy. But they were exactly where God wanted them to be for that moment in time. And they HAD to be there, according to Caesar’s decree. Everyone had to be counted and registered…and likely, taxed, too. So, all around not ideal, at least from a human point of view. But thank God we have the option, the choice, the ability thanks to the Holy Spirit who indwells us, to look at the less than ideal, difficult times of life via God’s point of view. Thank God that we have the Bible, full of all it’s raw honesty about people and sin and life, and also full of God’s love and intervention and His righteousness and His fair judgements and standard that played out at Calvary - thank God we can choose to face our most not so easy moments knowing that the God who was at work in the lives of those we read about in the Bible is also at work in and through our lives and circumstances. 

 

I want you to know that God sees you. He really does know how hard this is, how long it has been going on, and how ready you are for it to be over. We can want our deliverance to come so badly that we get hyper focused on it, and we miss the presence of God in these places. Perhaps that’s just me, maybe I am the only one who does that. It takes a reset sometimes to find God in our midst when life is overwhelming. 

 

And I’d like to mention something about overwhelm. It isn’t always what you’d think. Sometimes that one thing that pushes you right over the edge into a state of overwhelm is so small, such an itty bitty little thing, you can hardly believe that THAT was what did you in. But the old saying about the straw that broke the camel’s back? A single piece of straw does not seem like much, and by itself, it sure isn’t much, but it can be the thing that adds just enough pressure to be the last straw. Just like the last place you look is where you find something you’ve been searching for, that’s the last place I looked - well, the final straw is the one that breaks the camel’s back. Of course it is! The last one is of course the last one. But just like you didn’t think that place was where you’d find the item you’d looked for, the last straw is not the one you thought would be the deal breaker and game changer. 

 

Overwhelm happens to all of us. We need to give others grace in their overwhelm, and not judge them so severely when we don’t understand how that little old straw could be the one that is just too much because we have our own pieces of hay, basically, that do us in, too. And give yourself grace as you navigate these things. Of course, if you are in sin as a result of your straw breaking your back, repent and don’t delay in that. Today is the day to repent, to make things right with God, being sure to keep short accounts with Him. But giving yourself grace does not need to be exclusive of repentance. They go hand in glove, because the Cross is the standard for all the grace we receive and all the grace we extend to others and to ourselves, and we only access that grace by coming to the Lord in repentance and receiving Jesus as our Savior, since He was the propitiation for our sin. Give grace, to yourself and to others. Because grace is what you need when you find yourself in that place of hope getting close to being deferred for too long. Grace is yours, if you’ll have it. 

 

And next time you find yourself wondering why it is taking so long for God’s promises to be fulfilled, remember Luke chapter two, verse one. God is still on His throne, He has not abdicated and He never will. He is still sovereign over all. He is still faithful and true and dependable and consistent and true to His word. God is, after all, still God. And He is still moving the hearts of kings and rulers to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect timing. Who knows? That time might just be today. And if you find yourself in a position where you can glorify the Lord, whether you are a big noise and a big name or no-name who makes no noise that is noticeable in this world, you just go on and rejoice like those shepherds did. Because the God who delivered the message of Jesus’ birth to them is the same God who is still delivering messages to people today. Rejoice like the whole world is watching, even if nobody else is around. The darkest night can be pierced with angels rejoicing and the light of Jesus shining bright. What will you do when He shows up in your life? And what will you do while you wait for Him to show up? 

 

Merry and Blessed and Joyful and Hope-filled Christmas to you.

Thanks so much for joining me for this episode, and I do hope you’ll share it with a friend or on social media this Christmas season. 

God bless and I’ll see you next time. Bye bye.

What Matters More: Making a Promise or Keeping a Promise? Episode #200

Well hey there! Hello to ya today. Welcome to episode number 200 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast. I’m so excited and grateful that you’re listening today. Let’s jump right in!

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 200, and we’re looking at some promises from 1 Peter.

 

So recently during my prayer time I started jotting down thoughts that I had while I was praying. It was for sure not just me thinking these things in my own mind - it was really the Holy Spirit encouraging me. Let me share what I wrote down.

 

Make a promise or keep a promise; which means more?

Boastful speech with little love or fewer words and a God-honoring life; which is better?

Loving God and loving others or making excuses for a cold, hard heart; which describes me?

Dancing with the world or bowing at His feet; which do I do daily?

Living for pleasure or living for Him; what do my daily choices reveal?

Preparing for the King’s return or preparing by default for eternal hellish torment: there is no more time.

 

So, yeah. Very encouraging, very convicting, very sobering and that last bit, there is no more time, was somewhat heavy. I had the sense that I ought to share this on the podcast, because I’m guessing I am not the only one who needs to be reminded often that how I spend my time, how I love others, how I honor the Lord, what I live for matters and I only have so much time. My lifespan is not unlimited on this earth (although it will be unlimited in eternity). It’s important to pause, evaluate the condition of my heart, to discover yet again that there is a beam sticking out of my eye and I need to remove it before pointing out the toothpick in someone else’s eye. 

Sharing this was not exactly what I wanted to do. It felt pretty personal, ya know?

But obedience to the leading of the Lord is important, because Jesus said those who love Him will obey Him in John 14:23. 

 

1 Peter 4:7-9 and 10-11 from the NLT:  The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God Himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to Him forever and ever! Amen.

 

In the Amplified Bible, verse 7 reads like this: The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer (staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him). 

 

This is the passage the Lord led me to read after I wrote down what I read to you a moment ago. This is not a portion of the Bible that I have memorized, where I know by the reference exactly what it says. I ought to, because this is good stuff, but I didn’t just know in my knower what the passage said when the Holy Spirit led me to read 1 Peter, and in particular these verses from chapter four of 1 Peter.

 

And these words go hand in glove with what I wrote down during my prayer time that morning.

 

Listen carefully. God’s Word never returns to Him void but always accomplishes that for which He sends it forth. And so it will do what He wants it to do. God keeps His promises. He is unfailing in His faithfulness. His love and compassion know no bounds, His mercies are new every morning. He is a good God, a good Father. And this portion of Scripture says the end and culmination of all things is near…therefore, we need to be sober minded, earnest in our prayers, focused on Him, staying balanced in what we are focusing on so that our communication with Him in prayer and with others in our lives will be clear, not muddled or confusing, and reasonable, and specific, not vague, not bouncing all over the place, and pleasing to Him. 

 

So what matters more? Making a promise or keeping a promise? Which is better? 

And if the end and culmination of all things is near, is it important for us to know that God does not just make promises and throw them around willy nilly and leave it at that, but He keeps every single promise perfectly and to perfection? Yes, that’s something we need to know, each of us individually, as the end of the world is coming soon, as the NLT says.

Do you personally know that God is keeping, has kept and will keep all the promises He has made? And that you have promises from Him that He is keeping and will keep right til the end of it all? It’s so important to know that. And to know it for yourself. 

 

As I think about verse 11, as a podcaster and speaker, it’s convicting but also encouraging to consider that each episode is me using the gift He gave to hopefully serve everyone who listens. And you serve when you use your gifts. Now maybe nobody has told you this in a while, or maybe ever, but when you do what the Lord equips you to do in service, that’s invaluable. It’s truly more precious than most of what we spend our lives on. You being the you that God created you to be is serving. Thank you for serving the way that only you can. You know, only my husband can give our grandchildren a hug that is from grandpaw. Nobody else can give them a grandpaw hug. It’s not possible. That’s how it is with your gifts. Nobody else can do what you do the way that you do it. So please keep doing it and thank you for doing it. You glorify God when you do so - and that’s the Biblical truth. It’s right here in verse 11. 

 

Let me read 1 Peter 4 verses 1 and 2 from the J.B. Phillips New Testament. 

Since Christ had to suffer physically for you, you must fortify yourselves with the same inner attitude that He must have had. You must realize that to be dead to sin inevitably means pain, and you should not therefore spend the rest of your time here on earth indulging your physical nature, but in doing the will of God. 

 

That’s not a Bible translation we often read from, but it phrases these verses really well. 

Part of the promise for us as Christians is that we will suffer, because we follow Jesus and He suffered. We must fortify ourselves with the same inner attitude Jesus had. We must realize that to be dead to sin will inevitably lead to pain. We should not spend the rest of our time here on earth indulging our physical nature, but in doing the will of God. 

 

Make a promise or keep a promise; which means more?

Boastful speech with little love or fewer words and a God-honoring life; which is better?

Loving God and loving others or making excuses for a cold, hard heart; which describes me?

Dancing with the world or bowing at His feet; which do I do daily?

Living for pleasure or living for Him; what do my daily choices reveal?

Preparing for the King’s return or preparing by default for eternal hellish torment: there is no more time.

 

Let’s lay aside the boastful speech with little love and choose to perhaps speak fewer words and live a God-honoring life, because that’s truly better.

Let’s love God and love others, and stop making excuses for our cold, hard hearts. 

Let’s stop dancing with the world and get serious about bowing at the Lord’s feet daily.

Let’s be done with living for pleasure and choose to live for Him. 

Let’s be prepared for Jesus’ return, because otherwise what are we preparing for by default? 

And that last bit, there is no more time…my friend, we don’t have many more days to waste. When the Holy Spirit led me to write down those words, “There is no more time,” and then led me to open 1 Peter chapter 4 in my Bible, well, this is no coincidence. The enemy Satan has no reason to quote unquote trick me into readying myself for the Lord’s return, to trick me into loving the Lord more and living a life that honors Him, to trick me into bowing at His feet rather than dancing with the world, to trick me into preparing for His return. See, that wouldn’t make sense.

I know many people do not believe that Jesus is returning soon. 

And I know many people, students of the Word, see things lining up for His return and they are doing what Jesus said we are to do in Mark 13, verses 34-37, “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return - in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. Don’t let Him find you sleeping when He arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for Him!”

 

Those are the very words of Jesus. And He doesn’t say that since no man knows the hour or t he day, just don’t think about it, don’t talk about it, don’t preach any sermons about it, don’t keep yourself ready for His return, just say that there’s another fifty or one hundred years yet to go (which is kind of funny - why is it always, always fifty or one hundred more years? Just strikes me as a funny go-to for those who don’t believe we are actually in the very end of the end times.)

 

Jesus said not to let Him find us sleeping when He arrives without warning. Those who are kind of sleeping among the Church today are those who say, oh we’ve got time…we’ve got fifty more years at least, possibly a hundred years. We are told to keep watch. And if we are saying, oh we’ve got time, well, that’s not keeping watch. 

 

Will you live today with Jesus as fully Lord of your life? All of your life? Will you be prepared for Jesus’ return? Because on a podcast about God’s promises, and for the 200th episode no less, the Holy Spirit led me to talk about this, which is a promise so great, so important, that we ought to live with this in mind every day…that promise is the promise of Jesus’ return. And on the great and terrible day of the Lord, nothing else will matter outside of the fact that He will be here. And with that in mind, can I boldly challenge you with the thought that if this promise is true, and it is, then nothing else matters more than being prepared for the moment that promise is fulfilled?

 

Thanks for listening today. Get ready and stay ready. Because Jesus? Oh, He’s a comin’ again, and soon.

 

I’ll see you next time. Bye bye. 

The Word of God WILL NEVER FAIL (A Promise of Biblical Proportions) Episode #199

Well hello to ya today, so glad you’re listening to this episode of the podcast. Let’s jump right in and look at a few verses from the New Testament that hold tremendous promises for us. Luke chapter one, verse 37 from the NLT and then Hebrews 13, verses 5 and 6. God’s promises are true. Whether or not you believe those promises, well, that’s kind of up to you.

A Christmas Blessing from Mary's Song Episode Link

A Merry and Bright ADVENTure book 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, playing now via the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by the Christmas book for families titled A Merry and Bright ADVENTure - A Christmas Devotional for Family, Faith, Food and Fun by Katie J. Trent. Sure, my children are all grown adults…but my grandbabies are the ones I will be using this book with. It’s divided into sections, by topic, by theme, and the advent readings consist of like a family devotional, a prayer, family discussion questions, some specific advent activities and of course, a recipe which is very family friendly. There are 25 of these really well thought out daily sections, which is of course perfect for advent. And there is a list of grocery items and craft items already compiled for you, to make it as easy as possible to implement the recipes and activities. Link is right here in the show notes, and a big thank you to Katie Trent for creating this Christmas season resource. I absolutely love it. And now, on with the show.  This is episode number 199. 

 

Right there nestled among the first few verses in the book of Luke, almost too easy to read and go right on past, is the promise of verse 37. In the NLT it says, “For the word of God will never fail.” 

 

And after that absolutely mind-blowingly huge promise, this chapter continues into Mary’s Song, the Magnificat. Which, by the way, is really a beautiful passage of Scripture to read aloud as a family during the Thanksgiving or Christmas season. Amazing, that’s what Mary’s Song is. Worship - you might call it that. Beautiful worship.

 

For the word of God WILL NEVER FAIL.

 

Hang your hat on this verse today. I mean that, seriously. Bank on it. Depend on it. Lean the full weight of all your troubles and concerns onto it. It will hold up, no matter how heavy the load is that you’ve been carrying around. This verse can handle it. All of it. Perhaps this promise is one of the most powerful promises in the entire Bible. I don’t want you to take my word for it. I want you to take God at His word. Then do it again tomorrow. And never stop taking Him at His word, every single day of your life.

 

Hebrews 13, 5-6 - also from the NLT -

 

5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,“I will never fail you.
    I will never abandon you.”[a

6 So we can say with confidence,“The Lord is my helper,
    so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?”[b]

What could possibly be missing from your life when God has said this?

Combine these words from Hebrews with the words from Luke and I am thinking you have something unstoppable, ya know?

Your God, whom you love and whom you serve, the One who secured your eternal salvation, He will never fail you or abandon you. What matters more than that?

And what are we to say in response to these great and precious promises? 

With confidence, we say, The Lord is my helper and I will have no fear. Because what can mere people, human beings, those who are created by the One making me these promises, what can they do to me? 

 

The hope you have in knowing, believing, and living in the reality of these promises…well, I’m not really sure it gets much better than that.

God won’t leave you. God won’t abandon you. God won’t fail you. He will help you. You can live with no fear. And people? What can they really do to you? For the word of God will never fail.

The word of  will never fail for Jan, or for Sara, or for Rachel, or for Mike, or for Betty, or for Stuart, or for Terry, or for Gail, or for Linda or for Jon or for any of His people. 

 

What promises in the Bible do you most need to know won’t fail right now?

Is it something from Psalm 91? Psalm 103? Psalm 1?

Something God promised in the book of Genesis?

Acts or Joel?

Isaiah?

Hebrews or Matthew or Revelation?

 

What promises have you wanted to believe were for you, God’s to you, but maybe are afraid to go all in with that belief? About what Bible promises can you say, “Lord, I believe…help me with my unbelief?”

 

I want to issue this challenge to you today: write down that promise, or promises if there are multiple, and on that page where you write them down, get a pen in a different color, maybe bright red, and over the top right Luke 1:37 - For the word of God will never fail.

 

I don’t want you to think about this, and say eh maybe I’ll do that some day. No.

Please do it this day. 

 

For the word of God will never fail. Those promises from the word of God? They will never fail. So says Luke 1:37.

This is a big deal, isn’t it? 

Because when we begin to really know the word of God will never fail, we start praying that way, we start thinking that way, we gain victory in areas that we once thought would end up taking us out. This is important because God wants us to know that His word will never fail…and the enemy wants us to believe his lie that the word of God will always fail.

Which will ya have today?

Five pounds of Jesus in a brown paper sack, or more than that?

Maybe God isn’t going to be controllable if you go all in and believe.

Maybe you will have to do battle with your fears and doubts.

Maybe some of your Christian friends will try and talk you out of such radical belief, because let’s just be honest, so many of our female small groups turn into gripe and gossip sessions, or stay so superficial that things like clothes and make up dominate the conversation…like, maybe that could change. And you might be the odd man (odd woman) out. Spoiler alert: if you are longing for those kinds of conversations to never be part of a women’s small group or Bible study ever again, then you already are the odd woman out…you just don’t want to rock the boat by mentioning it or by leaving…cuz we all know that when you leave, everybody wants to know why (like, more gossip, perhaps?) when they ought to know why just by reading the room, right? 

What’s the hardest place to leave gracefully, graciously, and without gossiping? A Christian community that isn’t truly honoring the Lord. You are already the odd one out perhaps. That’s okay. I’m thinking Moses, David, Elijah, Abraham, the entire early Church in the first century…odd man out over and over again. It’s hard, but it’s not the end of the world. 

What will you need to face honestly if you choose to trust the entire weight of your life, and all those things and people you’ve been praying about, all of it on the promise that the word of God will never fail? 

A whole lot could change, starting with your heart and mind.

Maybe we can’t really, fully love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as yourself until we really believe that the word of God will never fail. 

 

Maybe, just maybe, this is the moment the Lord has been waiting for. The moment when you no longer let fear, worry, other people’s opinions, doubts, all that kind of stuff, no longer let that hold you back, tie you up in knots inside and outside, and keep you from believing all God’s promises. Maybe today is a big deal for you.

Maybe tomorrow hinges on today.

 

Maybe, just maybe, this is your time. 

What will you do now?

I hope you choose to believe.

Because you will never regret it, and God will never abandon you.

 

Until next time, keep on believing. Bye bye. 

Spiritual Abuse in the Church & Jesus' Counsel for His People (John 15 & 16) Episode #198

Hey there! Hello to ya today. 

Here we are, for episode number 198 of the podcast, where we focus on God’s promises and make the decision to simply believe that what God has said is exactly what He meant. If He promised it, He means to honor His promise. Remember, God is not a man, that He should lie, and He always finishes what He begins. Knowing those two things leaves us no choice but to either believe Him for His every promise or to live as if He were lying to us. Which will you choose today? 

Psalm 91 Audio Bible Study Course

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. And this is episode number 198.

 

Ya know how there are times in life, like seasons if you will, periods of time, when the same kind of thing keeps coming up, over and over again. Maybe God has been speaking to you about hope, or loving others well, or accepting His grace, and everywhere you turn, that subject is right in front of you, staring you down, you might feel like. Can’t really get away from it. Boom, there it is. And wowza, there it is again. Ever experience that? 

 

That’s been the case for me recently. Over the last few months, for sure one aspect of life as a follower of Jesus has been prominent. And I didn’t think it was a topic I’d cover on the podcast, at least not right now, fall of 2024. But I don’t get to pick and choose when and how I obey what the Lord says. I mean, I could, and I have of course, but it’s really wrong, and flat out sin. And this issue has been in the forefront of my life as of late, like I said, and the Holy Spirit led me to discuss it today. 

 

In John 15 and 16 and 17, Jesus had so much to say to His disciples and for all who would follow Him later on, down the road, in the years and centuries to come. That includes us, of course. Jesus spoke about the importance of unity. 

John 15 from the Amplified - 12 “This is My commandment, that you [c]love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you.

The header just before verse 12 says: Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

And the next section header says: Disciples’ Relation to the World

18 “If the world hates you [and it does], know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love [you as] its own and would treat you with affection. But you are not of the world [you no longer belong to it], but I have chosen you out of the world. And because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember [and continue to remember] that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

 

Does Jesus say that the world will treat His disciples well? Uh, duh. No. He told His disciples how to treat one another, and what to expect from the world. So people in the world are not the same as our fellow disciples and will not treat us the same way. 

 

You may be thinking, “Uh, yeah… I know that, Jan. What is your point?”

Chapter 16, verse 1: “I have told you these things so that you will not stumble or be caught off guard and fall away.

 

So that you will not stumble or be caught off guard and fall away.

It’s a very real possibility that we will be caught off guard, surprised and thrown for a loop and stumble and even fall away because of it. But what is the “it” exactly? The terrible treatment of Jesus’ followers by those who don’t follow Him. When have you been treated really terribly for choosing the Jesus way? If it was from those who don’t know Him personally and are not His disciples, were you super shocked? It may hurt and be just a terrible experience. But you aren’t shocked by that nearly as much as you are when it happens within the church, by someone who claims to follow Jesus but perhaps, oh I am gonna get some hate mail for this, but Ima say it anyway…perhaps they don’t actually know Him, because the fruit of their life reveals that they don’t. We’re called by Jesus Himself to look at the fruit of people’s lives, and to know them by their fruit. That’s Scripture, my friend. That’s words in red. And we don’t likely stumble and fall away when someone who is not walking with Jesus, would never open a Bible or go to church or sing a worship song, when that person lamblasts you for your faith in Jesus, it probably isn't going to push you to fall away. Because you know who they are, it’s evident by looking at the fruit of their life. Right? But when it’s within the church (and hey, please remember Jesus Himself warned us that there would be wolves who come to devour the sheep, so this should not come as a shocker, what I’m saying here today)... when it’s quote one of our own, man, then it hits hard, it can cause a stumble, often we’re blindsided by it, and it can lead to falling away. My friend, I am boldly telling you today that this happens all the time in the church, and people will be held accountable by God Almighty for their actions against His people, the sheep of His flock. If it has happened to you, I am so very sorry. And if it happened at the hands of those in church leadership, I am grieved for you and for their abuse and misuse of the authority that really only ought to be about leading people to Jesus, if you boil it down, but is often not used for that purpose. 

 

Control and manipulation are basically witchcraft. I mean, think about it. If you are twisting words, manipulating people, circumstances, using guilt and shame, turning Scripture this way and that in order to control people in any facet, it really is an evil thing to do. And it’s like being under a spell, and if you’ve experienced it, you know what I mean. 

Do you think, and I am actually asking you to think about this and make up your own mind, but do you personally believe that Jesus’ call to unity in His church was intended for His true disciples to be unified with those who are in the church but are not truly following Him as disciples?

And at what point do you think Jesus would want His true disciples to deal with this “sticky situation”? 

 

I know this can be a heavy topic, and it is controversial (but maybe it needs to be more normalized and less controversial to talk about the reality of, for lack of a better description, church abuse). And perhaps because there are so many people dealing with and reeling from this exact issue, I suppose this is the time and season to take a look at it through the lens of the Word of God. And as always, don’t just take my word for it - but take God’s Word for it, and read it for yourself. John chapters 15 and 16 are what I’ve been reading from, so dive in and check it out. Pray about what you read, listen for the Holy Spirit to do what He does perfectly as the Counselor that Jesus promised in John 16 verses 5-15.

 

Over the last several months, several people have talked with me, reached out to me, connected with me, and so on, about real problems among church leadership and what in the world to do when you come face to face with some terrible stuff, and are treated terribly, even abusively, manipulated, guilted, controlled, shamed, slandered, oh boy some of the things that have been going on are truly terrible and there is no place for this stuff in God’s Kingdom, let alone among those who call themselves leaders in the Church that bears His name! It’s like we’ve stepped into the wonky zone, and things are all sorts of off kilter. 

 

If I were to do one of those hard hitting expose pieces from the late 1980s, I would have ample material. This isn’t so much an expose as it is a CTA. 

If you are being abused spiritually, can I challenge you to this CTA, this call to action? First, read the Gospels. Read what Jesus said, how He lived, what He did for people, what He didn’t do, what He approved of and what He disapproved of. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Do you see yourself as Jesus sees you? Are you being treated the way that He treated people when He walked the earth? Are those in authority over you in the Church living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, shepherding like Jesus? Pray on this! God wants you to see yourself the way He sees you. And He wants to be Lord in His church. The letters to the churches in Revelation tell us so very much about how seriously He takes this kind of thing. 

Next, I want to boldly, strongly encourage you to do what the Bible says, and to follow where the Spirit leads. Remember what Jesus said in John 16, verses 5 through 15: 

Let me read it from the NLT. 

5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

Verse 7 amplified - 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]

 

What is the Holy Spirit, your Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strenghtener, and your Standby saying to you? Leading you? Directing you? Counseling you? Strengthening you?

 

Church hurt is one thing, and it is a real thing and it is a terrible thing because it is so painful. Church abuse from leadership is another thing. Both can dwell together, for sure, but leadership abuse is the main focus of this episode. If you are dealing with this, can you look at it objectively and say yes or no to this question: is this behavior biblical or unbiblical? And are those in leadership telling me to keep enduring what is unbiblical, even though the very words of Jesus say it is wrong? Is it time to flee, like Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him? He just left his cloak and fled. Could it be time to flee? What is your Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who is God dwelling within you, saying to you about the leadership abuse that’s going on? 

 

And do you know that you know that you know that Jesus is absolutely never going to be spiritually abusive to you? And His true sheep, His chosen shepherds for His sheep, won’t either? 

John 15:1 says “[a]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; 

 

He takes away. Follow the fruit. Might be far more important than the call to follow the money, for the Christian community.

 

6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken off] branch, and withers and dies; and they gather such branches and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples. 

 

Those are Jesus’ words. 

This is an individual calling. We each have to follow Him, remain in Him, let His words remain in us, proving we are His true disciples by our fruit.

I’m going to try and tread lightly as I say this next bit (and I am issuing this caveat - these words I am about to utter, they ARE NOT AT ALL related to 1919 S. Rock… )

If you need to leave a local church body because there is abuse happening, and you have looked and seen what the fruit or lack thereof is (or isn’t), if the Spirit of the Living God says, “go”... then I say to you, obey the Lord. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Those who love Jesus will obey Him. And when we get the sense that the Holy Spirit is leading us out of someplace, it seems to be that He is already moving along, ready to go, ready to lead us onward. By the time we sense Him moving, He is already moving…

So don’t over question when He is leading. And don’t let a bully pulpit or abusive leadership or manipulation or guilt and shame or twisting Scripture talk you out of following the Holy Spirit as He leads. 

 

When He says it’s time to go, then go. Because delayed obedience is disobedience, and you don’t want any part of that. 

 

Heavy topic today, and I’ll just say that I’ve prayed for everyone who listens because it is so heavy. Lord bless you, keep seeking hard after Jesus, and next episode we’ll be back to some of God’s promises and how important it is to know that those promises are for you. See you next time. Oh, and please share this episode with anyone you know who might be facing this issue. It’s hard, and sometimes we need a bit of encouragement, support, and understanding as we navigate it. You’re not alone, but there is so much hope, freedom, joy, peace and love in the Church on the other side of spiritual abuse. Jesus sees you, He feels your pain, and He has good for you and a path out of this and into His light and His love. So please share this, because it’s too important not to share. 

I’ll be back for episode number 199 next time. Bye bye. 

Jesus Made These Promises & He Wants You to Believe Them Episode #197

Thanks for listening today. I hope today’s episode is a blessing and an encouragement to you, and that the promises in the verses I’ll share today remind you that God is for you, He has good in store for you, and that He will never leave you nor forsake you, because He has engraved you on the palms of His hands and He knows how to keep hold of that which belongs to Him. That’s a great reminder for those of us who follow Jesus. Now, let’s jump right in to episode #197.

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I am going to read a passage from the NT book of Matthew today, more than just one verse on this episode. And let’s look at these verses in the NLT. 

Listen as I read aloud - 

 

Matthew 25:14-30 (New Living Translation) -

 

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last - dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ The servant who received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more,’ The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in a bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit upon His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in His presence, and He will separate the people as a shepherd separates sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at His right hand and the goats at His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home, I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.’ Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these My brothers and sisters, You were doing it to Me!’ 

 

Does anything stand out to you, or even jump out at you, from this passage? I am going to encourage you to read it for yourself, or re-read it in the show notes. Highlight, underline or take notes on any portion(s) of this passage that stand out to you. Be an active reader. Read this while thinking about your own life. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you about this passage.

 

Then, read it one more time.

 

So, yeah, for a podcast I just asked you to read, and that is not just listening, not the norm for a podcast. Now you don’t have to read this, hearing God’s Word is tremendously powerful and has real benefits to us in our every day lives, so long as we do something with what we are hearing, right? Not just nod our heads and give an amen here and there, but live out what the Word of God is teaching. And honestly, it often is revealing things in us that the Holy Spirit is wanting to work on, to heal, to dismantle lies and strongholds, to restore and bless and move us along on this walk with Him. So be an active reader when you open God’s Word - and also, be an active listener when you hear God’s Word. 

 

But do, for 100% certain, be sure to ask the Lord to speak to you about what His Word says. 

Sit quietly before the Lord, maybe with pen and paper in hand, and write what He speaks to your heart about this passage. Ask Him to show you where you are rightly using what He has given you for His glory and His purposes. And, on the more difficult side of the coin, ask Him to show you where you are not.

 

If you will take the time to do this - to agree with the Lord that He meant it when He said He will ask for an account of the assets He has given to each one of us - He will most certainly reveal something (or several things) to you. Let Him do that! And then honor Him by doing His will with what He has given.

 

He has something for you in His Word today, that I can promise you.  

 

Let’s look again at this passage, this literal timestamp, a series of events that actually really and truly happened, from the life of the Lord Jesus. 

 

First off, a beautiful reminder that our God is not ever, ever far off. He is not at all similar to man-made, little g gods who are aloof and distant and above mere mortals and all of that. Our God, who is the One True God, is not distant. He is not aloof. And these verses show us how up close and personal Jesus was to people. What makes us think He is less up close and personal with us, right now, today? The Spirit of the Living God indwells all who are in Christ, so how could He be aloof or far off or distant or detached? How do you detach from someone and also indwell them simultaneously? Well, you don’t because you can’t, right? 

 

And I have to just focus on that word WILL - it’s kind of a thing for me on this podcast, and really it predates me ever having a podcast. I have done this for a long, long time, when I see the word WILL in a promise in the Bible, or like this passage where Jesus very clearly states what WILL happen on the day we stand before His throne.

 

He will separate the sheep from the goats. That is going to happen. And there will probably be some goats we did not realize were goats, if I am being totally honest. I mean, the last few years I have seen a falling away that I never dreamed of. If it is in the Word of God, and here in the NT penned in words of red, well then I surely am not going to argue with whether or not it will actually happen like it says.  It will be just as He has said that it will be. Period. 

 

The final judgment will take place, my friends. And based on the parable of the servants that Jesus told just before He began to speak about the final judgment, we are going to have a close examination of what we did with every single thing He entrusted to us. You and I, like it or not, have been entrusted with things - so many varying things. Big things, tiny things - and we are expected, says the King of kings, the One who was and is and is to come, to use them well and be prepared to show Him what we did to grow, to increase, to use wisely what He gave us for His cause. His Kingdom. That’s our truth, whether we live like it is or not. No getting around it, either. Now we can’t go back and change what we did or did not do in the past, even one minute ago, but we can right now get our heads on straight and be about using the talents, giftings, abilities, resources, time and money and platform and all of it for the right purposes. His purposes. 

 

He will sit upon His glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered in His presence. 

 

That is two uses of the word WILL that should be like cold water thrown in our face - wake up! Get with the program! (and it isn’t your program, nor mine - get with God’s program!)

 

Can I just encourage you, but with some firmness in my tone of voice, like a strong-ish encouragement, to evaluate what you have available to use for the Kingdom of God and to get busy using it to that end? 

 

I do not care if you are five years old and what you have is a heart to pray for your sick uncle to come to know Jesus and to get better. Pray. Jesus sees it and He will reward it. If you are 99 years old and can hardly get out and about, but you like to talk to text your grandkids prayers and Bible verses. Do it, and expect Jesus to bless it.

 

Start where you are today and do, do, do something for the Kingdom, for the Master, today. And then keep on doing. No, we are not saved by works, it is solely by grace and the price Jesus paid at the Cross. But James tells us faith without works is dead and if you have even a bit of rigor mortis creeping into your spiritual life, well let’s nix that nonsense and get ourselves all sorts of alive in the Lord Jesus. 

 

I’m not really kidding around, either, my friend. Get after living this life for the Lord before the afterlife gets after you. 

 

Thanks for being here and have a truly blessed day investing into the Kingdom of God. 

 

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Praying Psalm 116 - episode #196 (Bonus Show)

Psalm 116, verses 1 & 2 say this in the Amplified - 

I love the LORD, because He hears me (and continues to hear) my voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs). Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.

 

So right off the bat in the first two verses of Psalm 116, we find the psalmist talking about prayer. 

When you pray, is it easy or hard for you to fully believe that God hears you and continues to hear you when you pray? When you bring your supplications to Him? Do you know that you know that you know that God has inclined His ear to you, and that as a result of this truth, you ought to call on Him as long as you live.

How long?

Oh, only for as long as you live.

If you love the Lord, let your praying be an indicator of that love. Great love will equal great praying. And when you trust Him completely, it’s really so easy to go to Him in prayer. So much of the tug of war about prayer is stripped away when we trust Him completely and maybe even dare I say exclusively. We don’t try to pray one minute and work out a plan b the next minute when we trust in the Lord exclusively. 

 

But today’s focus isn’t on verses 1 and 2. We’re gonna hone in on verses 12 through 14.

 

Let me read those verses from the Amplified Bible.

 

What will I give to the LORD (in return) for all His benefits toward me? (How can I repay Him for His precious blessings?) I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD. Yes, in the presence of all His people.

 

Of course you and I don’t like thousands of years ago in ancient Israel, so what do these verses mean for us today? How does this impact our prayer lives? 

 

These verses have encouraged me to be mindful about what I take to the Lord in prayer, what I give to Him…ever done that? A person or situation or your health or finances, you pray and give it to Him, with the total intention of letting Him do His will His way for His glory and purposes, and you get to have the peace of God and can rest easy because you have entrusted the burden of it to the Lord via prayer. But did you ever do that and then snatch it back? Like you’re worrying and fretting and trying to find the solution in your own strength. Snatched it right back. I’ve done that and it can be challenging to keep giving it to the Lord and leaving it with Him, which I suppose is what it really means to trust God with it. 

 

If something comes to mind today as you listen to the podcast, would you give it back to the Lord today? Pray on it and let it go, knowing it’s in good hands with Him. He is trustworthy and we really can leave it to Him. 

 

He has blessed you in the past, and He will bless you in the future. He has been good to you and He will be good to you again and again and again. His faithfulness and His love for you know no end and cannot be used up or exhausted. He loves you, He cares for you, and He hears when you pray. 

 

Can I pray over you today? 

 

Lord, today I ask You to do the miraculous on behalf of Your people who need a miracle. I’m seeking Your very best on their behalf. And if they have given something to You in prayer and then found themselves worrying about it again, trying to work out a solution or fix a really difficult problem, would You bless them with Your comfort, and Your peace, and draw them close, reminding them to rest in You and to enjoy peace of mind and peace of heart as You work on the problem on their behalf, because You love them so very much? We love You, Lord, and we are so grateful for the many blessings, too many to count, that You have granted to us. Thank You for hearing our prayers and for the promise that You will continue to hear us when we pray.

Make us bold in our praying, give us faith to ask for things that only You can do, and may we continually trust You to do Your will, Your good will, in response to our prayers. 

Lord, today would You bring healing and peace and hope into their lives? And Lord, we want to praise You and thank You and rejoice in all that You are and all You have done and all You will do in the days to come. 

In Jesus Name I ask this, Amen.

Hey, thanks so much for listening today and for the blessing of praying for and with you. I’d be honored to pray for you specifically and you are welcome to email me prayer requests at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will be praying.

Want to Live a Blessed Life? Psalm 40 Tells You How! Episode #195

Well hey there, hello to you and welcome to this episode of the podcast.

E.M. Bounds On Prayer at Amazon

JanLBurt.com to grab free download of God's Promises in Isaiah & be on my email list & receive prayer

And just as a quick FYI, my second podcast The Prayer Podcast is being retired in just a few days. Turns out hosting two shows is a lot, and I feel it has hindered my writing and this podcast, to be frank. So I am sunsetting The Prayer Podcast but will share episodes from that show occasionally here on TBNES, sort of bonus episodes. Thanks for the support of all the listeners to TPP, and also, a very special shout out to the slew of recent listeners to both of the podcasts in the country of China. You are on my mind, and I am praying for you. May the Lord’s good promises to you prove true in every circumstance and situation, and I truly believe that they will because it is impossible for God to lie, and so all He has promised will come to pass. May you be richly blessed as you walk with Him, and again, thank you so much for listening. I don’t take it for granted!

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network on the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by the book “E.M. Bounds on Prayer”, a resource that has encouraged and blessed me time and time again, year after year. A link to this book on Amazon is in the show notes, and I do not receive any sort of compensation for linking to Amazon - I share this resource solely based on how it has blessed me. Again, that’s E.M. Bounds on Prayer. Now, let’s jump into some of God’s promises for us. This is episode number 194.

 

Today I’m going to share several promises from the Psalms with you. If one of these promises is super encouraging to you, maybe you can write it down on a sticky note or make a note on your phone. Seeing the Word of God written out in your own handwriting or popping up via an alarm on your phone can really be encouraging for the long term, and that’s a lot better than a one-off kind of encouragement, ya know?

 

Psalm 10:14 - You, O God, do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it in hand. (This verse reminds me of the promise God gives to be near, to never leave us or forsake us, and knowing that He is so close to us that He sees our trouble and our grief, that’s enormously comforting. Beyond that, though, it says He considers trouble and grief and He takes it in hand. That simply means that He takes control of it. Think of a new person in the role of CEO of a company, and there is a problem area; the CEO takes it in hand, as the boss now, with the aim of correcting or improving the situation, developing it into something better. He takes your trouble and your grief in hand. Believe God is going to do this exact thing!_)

 

Psalm 10:17 - You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted. You encourage them, and You listen to their cry. (Please don’t forget that the Lord hears the desire, the heart cries, of the afflicted. What’s afflicting you? Talk to God about it, like really talk to Him, cry out from your heart, tell Him the truth about how this is afflicting you, and then listen for what He might say to encourage you. He promises in this verse to listen to your cry, to hear you, and to encourage you. But if you never talk to Him, if you never take time to be still and know that He is God and listen to Him, you are likely going to miss much of the promise in Psalm 10:17). Also, I have to say, there is a lot of encouragement in the tenth psalm. So maybe add that to your reading sometime soon and simply by faith receive all that’s promised in Psalm 10, and you’ll find yourself encouraged! 

 

Now let’s look at a couple of promises in Psalm 40.

Verse 2b, second half of that verse, says - He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 

 

Yes and amen to this!

Anybody else look back at their life before Jesus and remember what it was like to live with your feet on mush? On sinking sand? When we remember what He has already done for us, and give Him praise and honor, we in turn encourage ourselves to believe for what He is going to do for us now and in the future. 

 

And I do want to remind you that the future is not all that far away. Today is a great moment in time to believe and appropriate God’s promises and to make the decision to simply believe that what God says, He means. And He means for His children, individually and as a whole. Don’t let another day go by without choosing to believe that God will keep His promises, and He will keep them for you. 

 

Psalm 40:4, 5b - Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. ~ The things You planned for me no one can recount; were I to speak of them, they would be too many to declare. (Want to live a blessed life? Make the Lord your trust. Nothing else, no Jesus plus this or that. Just the Lord. Make Him your trust, and you will be blessed. That’s the promise God makes here. May it be true of you, and of me, I’m grabbing hold of this one for myself too, may it be said of you that the things the Lord planned for you are too good, too vast, to count or recount…but do try! Try and recount what He’s done for you, you’ll never be able to remember or recall everything He’s done while on this side of eternity, but give it a try! Thank Him. And know that they are too many to declare. Yeah, Psalm 40 verses four and five? Oh that’s a promise. It’s a good one.)

 

Psalm 40:11 -  You do not withhold Your mercy from me, O Lord. May Your love and Your truth always protect me.

 

This is something of a prayer verse, if you will. Like, I literally prayed this just yesterday. Lord, do not withhold Your mercy from me or from my family or from those I am praying for (speaking of those I pray for, stay tuned at the end of this episode as I share a few words to some people I’ve been sent prayer requests by). Lord, may Your love and Your truth always protect me. Pray it and believe and expect it. God’s mercy will not be withheld from you, His love and His truth will always protect you. That’s a wonderful way to pray, maybe on those days when you don’t know what to say to God, what to ask Him to do in your life, in your children’s lives perhaps, someone has asked you to pray over a situation in their life and you’re not sure what to pray, well, keep Psalm 40:11 in mind, in your prayer arsenal. And trust that God will answer this prayer. 

 

And from Psalm 100, verse 5 says: For the Lord is good and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. 

Oh this is such good news for all of us who love the Lord. Every disciple of Jesus needs to hear this! I mean that, literally, I really do mean it. For the Lord IS good - right now, present tense. In your life, in your family, in your workplace, in your scary situation. The Lord IS good. And His love endures forever! Forever! That’s a word that bears so much weight in this context. His love for you in your current circumstances endures forever. That’s fantastic, hopeful news for all of us today! His faithfulness continues through all generations. While we are still here on this earth, while mankind is still here, God’s faithfulness is still here, as well. Man what a promise. 

 

Psalm 130:3 is the final verse I’m going to share with you today. It says: If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 

God’s word tells us plainly that He remembers our sins no more, they are removed as far as the east is from the west. Once you are in Christ, this is a done deal for you. So says the very Word of God. Not so says Jan Burt. Who cares what I think, what I say? So says the Lord. Somebody may need to know that today, and maybe that somebody is you. No one could stand with God keeping a record of sins, and so don’t measure yourself by someone else. Measure yourself rightly, by your own degree of faith as it says in the New Testament, and then believe that for those who know the Lord, your sins are remembered no more. Huge amount of hope and encouragement in these verses from the psalms.

 

Now I mentioned that I wanted to say a few words to those who have either emailed me with prayer requests, used the text box feature on my website, maybe sent me something via the jotform prayer request that I’ve shared in several places, or replied to one of the emails I sent out recently. And, yes, I do send emails with a verse and a prayer and I invite people to reply with any needs I can pray about, and I do pray for every request I get. Now I want to say that on my jotform, I had a couple of people request that I follow up with them about their prayer requests and I wasn’t able to do that (I didn’t get the contact info to be able to follow up, maybe a glitch in that form, and hey I understand that sometimes sites like jotform might drop info that is personal for safety reasons, to prevent spam and the like, and I get that, so no complaints from me about protecting privacy).

If any of the listeners to this episode would like to be on my email list and get the verse and prayer emails, which I send a few times a month, the easiest way to do that is to go to Jan L Burt . com and scroll down a bit to where it says God’s Promises in Isaiah, enter your email and you’ll get an immediate reply email with verses from Isaiah that are promises God makes, and you'll be on the list for the next email I send out with a verse and a prayer and you just hit reply and send me your prayer request, those go to an inbox that I see right away, which is so nice for me to be able to quickly start praying. And that’s it, I’ll be praying. Jan L. Burt . com and I will be praying. 

 

That’s it for this episode, and thanks for listening. Thanks again for all who listened to The Prayer Podcast. As I say goodbye to it, I’m not saying goodbye to praying for you, that’s for sure. See you back here next time. Bye bye. 

Jesus Offers Us Rest - (and a real-life supernatural experience) Episode #194

Hey there! Hello and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show…getting the promises of God into the hearts and minds of the people of God, which is right where they belong. So thankful you’re listening to this episode of the show, and hey, today we’re looking at a promise directly from the New Testament words of Jesus, and it’s a good one. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you may want to just save this episode and plan to share it somewhere, or with somebody, because it’s gonna get really real really fast and really bring it today. God’s promises are true - let’s talk about how they’re true for you today.

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, which can be found via the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by the Psalm 91 audio Bible study & prayer sessions, created by the show host (that’s me), Jan L. Burt. Access the study at JanLBurt.com/psalm91   Psalm 91 is perhaps the most astounding passage of promises with the most astounding miracles linked to it of maybe the entire Old Testament, and for sure it is one of the most amazing and life-changing passages in the Bible. It’s something you should know and pray over yourself and your loved ones, because it holds promises that we find only in this passage, and it is something every believer needs to apply to their life - and that’s why I created the Psalm 91 audio Bible study. JanLBurt.com/psalm91 and this is episode number 194.

 

Alrighty, so let’s jump right into this.

I’ll be reading from the Amplified today, looking at a few verses from the book of Matthew, chapter 11.

 

Matthew 11:28-30

Amplified Bible

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

That’s from Matthew 11, verses 28-30.

 

We’ve got a call here, something we need to do, our part is to come to Jesus. Who is it He is calling to come to Him? Those who are weary, those who are heavily burdened, dealing with religious rituals that provide no peace…and hey, there are many things that fall into that category, so don’t automatically assume this doesn’t apply to you because it really might, and Jesus has freedom for you. Today, He has freedom for you from religious systems and programs and rituals that don’t give you the kind of peace that Jesus wants you to have. And when we do as Jesus asks us to, calls us to, and come to Him, He promises (verse 28 says WILL and when He says He will do something, He will!) He will give you rest. The Lord’s salvation is restful, is peaceful, for you and for me. We can have been in the Chirstian world for so long that we begin to lose our rest, our peace. That is not what Jesus wants, my friend. From day one of your salvation to day done of your salvation, when He takes you home or when He returns and you are caught up in the air to meet Him, whatever your day done might look like, Jesus wants you to have peace and a refreshed soul, rest like literal rest in every aspect of life, in every sense of the word, on every single day that you walk with Him. This isn’t something we share with people when we are talking to them about Jesus, but we no longer have it as part of our daily life. It’s meant to be lived, this walk of faith and lived well - lived on Jesus’s terms and this verse tells us that His terms are trading our weariness and heavy burdened way of life for rest, peace, and refreshed souls. And while it might sound too good to be true, it’s actually 100 percent true. God’s promises are what, now? True. Always and in all ways. 

He calls us to take His yoke upon ourselves and learn from Him - that literally means to just follow Him as His disciple. I say JUST, but I don’t say there’s never any struggle to do this. The world, our flesh, social media, old and new friends, our workplaces, even our families and sad to say often our church culture is too worldly, too focused on programs or not being a Christian weirdo, or seeker friendly or all that stuff (a subject for another day, but not biblical, not sustainable, and not discipleship…just sayin’!) All these things and more can make it tricky to keep following Jesus as His disciple. But when we stay yoked to Him and don’t pull and tug and fight that yoke, just walk with Him at His pace and His leading doing life His way, well then, that’s discipleship and we have His promised peace and rest, and it is just so good.

Now if you’ve been walking with the Lord for a while, can I ask you to pause for a moment (maybe pause this podcast for a second and think on this) and just remember what it was like for you before you responded to Jesus’ call when He rescued you and saved you and forgave and turned your life around in a good way. Can you remember what it was like? The stress, the fear, the anger or other emotions, the control you maybe tried to exert on situations and people, the overwhelm, the way your did all those things you didn’t want to do, your hard heart, the lack of hope, the lack of joy, the lack of peace, afraid of all the things, uneasy, tossed around by life - do you remember? And if you have not yet made the decision to follow Jesus as His disciple, can I just tell you that right now is a great time to make that decision? It’s super simple, there is no required prayer to pray, you can just talk to God and tell Him you’re sick of your sin, sick of life like this, and you want what Jesus offers, peace and eternal life and total forgiveness for every single sin, past, present and future, and just ask Him to be Lord of your life, to forgive you of all your sins, and to take up reign on the throne of your heart. Thank Him, and believe it is done, and it is so long as you mean it. It really is that simple. Just talk to the Lord, invite Him into your life, your heart, and thank Him and say Amen, so be it, yes Lord. He doesn’t make it hard, because He is a good God and He loves you too much to make it too hard to make Jesus Lord of your life. 

 

So, remembering what it was like before you made Him Lord, your hard knock life, and that’s the true reality for everyone who doesn’t walk with Jesus as His disciple (not about a program for six weeks at church, about discipleship for all the rest of your days!). And now think about what it’s like to have that peace, to take His yoke upon you and learn from Him, knowing He is gentle and humble in heart and that He brings you rest for your soul. Rest for your soul. This isn’t just a nap. It’s REST for your inner being, for your soul. Soul rests is next level. It’s truly supernatural, it is not of this world. It’s from the Lord. And it’s life changing. You need it. Jesus has it for you. And that’s just one smidgen of the promises from this passage alone! Soul rest. His yoke is easy to bear and His burden is light.

You are not going to be weighed down and having a come apart when you are His disciple. That’s not your life, because it’s not His will based on Matthew 11, verse 28 through 30. You do need to believe that this is all true for you, because when we believe, our faith is accredited to us as righteousness, and Jesus often said that it would be done to those who asked something of Him, it would be done to them according to their faith, to their belief. So, believe the very words Jesus spoke, don’t do an eye roll and refuse to believe it. Just choose to believe. And it really is a choice. Don’t mind your feelings, but make your feelings mind the Word of God.

 

Now I’m going to sort of add some zest to this episode. It’s a unique episode of the podcast, because I’m going to share some things I have never spoken about on this platform. Everything I’m sharing today is true, it actually happened, just as I’m telling it. And I know it’s all true because it happened to me. I’m gonna tell ya some things, real life, nitty gritty, stuff. Here goes!

 

Bizarre and weirded me out experience #1:

Now, first off, let me preface these next couple of snippets I’m sharing from my own life by clearly stating that I was not a follower of Jesus at all at this point in time. Not at all. Not one bit. Zero percent interested in God. I was a train wreck. No Bible in our home, didn’t go to church on Easter or Christmas, just zero of that in my growing up home or in my life.

This event happened when I was a teenager, and I worked as a teen, like many of us, and at this point I was around 18, working for a telemarketing company, more like a call center for customer service stuff than outbound sales calls, but basically telemarketing. I worked second shift, we called it the night shift (only two shifts there, days or nights and I was on nights). I worked in Omaha, Nebraska but lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, right across the river, actually very normal for the Omaha area, gotta add that piece of info to this true story. 

So one afternoon, I went to work as usual, and there was a man at work that I didn’t recognize, not that big of a deal, lots of turnover in a place like that, ya know? He sat in front of my and to my left at his cubicle desk area, and on our lunch break he came and sat at the table I sat at with my normal group of work friends, and back then, I was a smoker…actually started smoking probably around age 13, maybe even sneakily smoking at 12, but smoking with my mom’s permission at 13 (meaning that at that point, when I was 13, we lived in a small town in Nebraska and she gave her permission to all the local stores that I could buy cigarettes there because she’d given me permission to smoke, and am I Gen X, the child of a Boomer? Uh, yes…)

So, I sat at the outside table with the other smokers for my lunch break, and this man sat with us, but he didn’t smoke. He was chatty and said something about working a different shift for this one day and wondered if anybody lived across the river in Iowa and might be able to give him a ride back to the Iowa side after work. I wasn’t naive, I didn’t give rides to men I did not know as an 18-year-old, and you can discern from my being a smoker at age 13 that maybe I was a bit street savvy. So, it was out of the norm for me to say yes to something like this, in fact I cannot think of another time in my life when I gave a ride to a stranger, but everybody seemed like it was okay and of course they knew I lived in Iowa, and they all seemed comfortable with him and I gave him a ride after work.

Now for some reason, the whole drive to the place in Iowa where I dropped him off, I was not comfortable smoking. So, after work, a smoker lights up, that’s just how it is, one of the key smokes of the entire day, honestly, is the after-work smoke. But I didn’t grab my cigarettes. I left them in the side pocket storage area of my baby blue 1988 Chevy Beretta. 

On the drive, he was very kind in a way that was super genuine, and he asked questions about my life, started as normal chit chat, but I answered each question and then he’d another one, and some of the questions were really interesting…like he asked about the small town I’d used to live in and what life was like there for me, and I shared things about being a heavy drinker and being in several car accidents where the car was totaled (like, the number of totaled cars I was in over the course of say four years was five, two cars that rolled, one that had a telephone pole fall onto it right where I was sitting, one launched off a dead end at nearly 100 mph, and another accident at around 130 mph that barely stopped before the car hit a large cement culvert). And I kind of chuckled / joked that maybe God was punishing me or maybe even trying to end my life because I was such a terrible person. (Now at this point I had not had a drop of alcohol in around a year and hadn’t really been heavily drinking in 15-18 months, so I was not a raging drunk when I gave this man a ride home after work, but I was weirdly comfortable sharing about the mess that my life was in so many ways, including my heavy drinking and horrible car accidents, four of those totaled being my own cars). So, I made a comment to try and lighten the mood but also to acknowledge that I was a really terrible teenager, and said maybe God was punishing me or trying to even end my life due to my awfulness. 

This man looked at me, like really looked at me, and told me that God was not trying to kill me, but that the devil, Satan, was, because if Satan could kill me without me knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, I’d go to hell. Now I knew I deserved hell, and I knew that was where I was headed…I think it was common knowledge to GenX teens to know that, to understand that. So, the mention of hell didn't shock me, but the idea that Satan was trying to kill me was a totally new concept to me. 

He went on to say that God had actually protected me from what Satan wanted to do, and that He was not angry at me, punishing me, but that He loved me and was watching out for me, keeping me from death when I should have been dead many times over. 

He just told me that God loved me. And then, we arrived at the place he’d told me to drop him off. Of course it was dark, probably at least 11pm or so, and I parked near a long sidewalk that led to the doorway of this building, I still don’t know what the place was, it kind looked like maybe an apartment building but not a layout I’d seen before, it had kind of a small town hospital feel to it more than apartments, and it looked like not a place someone would live, and the sidewalk leading to the door was pretty well lit, the doors were glass and the hall inside was super well lit, bright white lighting, think hospital lighting, white walls, white ceiling, white tile floor…and I could see all the way down that hallway. He thanked me for the ride, got out of the car, and shut the car door. I reached for my cigarettes, which were in the door panel pocket to my left, and then glanced back to the right, out the passenger side window, and the dude was gone. I mean gone gone. 

This sidewalk was long, and lights were shining on it. There was a barren yard on both side, no trees, no shrubs, just super short grass, and nowhere for him to hide. There was nobody in the hallway inside the building. It startled me. I literally jumped, and looked behind my car, out the driver’s side window, the guy was just gone. Once I knew he was not anywhere around, I just drove home. 

Went to work the next day and had some questions about what he had said and wanted to make sure he got into his building okay, so I asked my supervisor if he could get a message to that man. My super looked at me like I was nuts. He said no day shift worker had worked the night shift, and when I said, “He worked the whole shift in that cubicle right there, ya know, dark hair, skinny dude, wore faded jeans, brown shoes…that guy, he was right there.” He said nobody had been in that seat the day before, and he had no idea who I was talking about because that didn’t describe any of the day workers. 

Now I was feeling really weird.

So, on the lunch break, I asked my friends. “Remember that guy who sat with us yesterday, he didn’t smoke, but he lives in Iowa and needed a ride home, so I gave him a ride? Remember him?” Every single person at the table looked at me like, “Huh?” Nobody remembered this guy. They all said, nobody sat with us yesterday, just us. And a couple of them said they told me bye the night before as I got into my car…they were emphatic that I got into my car alone. Nobody was with me.

Okay, I was in weird town, and they were wondering if I was okay, like what was I talking about? So, I just said something like, Oh, well this is weird… and tried to change the subject. Didn’t work too well, because they really were curious what was going on and I just never mentioned it again. 

But I sure did think about it. 

A lot.

Not really just because of what he’d said to me about God, but because it was such a weird experience, and nobody remembered him but me and I’m telling you, he was a real guy at my real workplace who rode to Iowa in my real car, and we had a real conversation and then he was just gone. 

This really happened to me.

And it really happened just as I’ve told it.

And it really stuck, because of the way it happened.

This event in my life paved the way for me for what God was going to do in the future, which was to reveal Himself to me (Christ revealed to us, as Paul wrote in the New Testament). It was part of the rock-solid foundation the Lord was building in my life.

The verses I read today from Matthew got me thinking about this and got me thinking about all the ways God is working in the lives of people all the time. Remarkable things like this happened often. Have they happened to you? Maybe they’re happening to people you’re praying for. Don’t stop praying! Please!

And maybe you can share something God did to get ahold of you, to get your attention, to make a mark on your life, that was how He was drawing you to Himself, so He could save you for time and all eternity, give you new life, freedom, hope, joy, peace, and forgiveness.

I personally believe that I had an encounter with some kind of angel in disguise. He told me the truth, and it stuck. And he disappeared from sight in an instant, and that stuck. I don’t know that I was entertaining an angel unawares, but I do believe it was an angel, nonetheless. God sent him to my workplace, God made me comfortable enough with him to give him a ride from Nebraska to Iowa, and God set up those circumstances with nobody else remembering this man and him poof vanishing right out of thin air so that I would not forget that moment in my life. 

And when the next moment came along for me, when God was doing the miraculous to get hold of me, you’d better believe that this moment was still fresh on my mind.

 

I’ll share Part Two of my salvation story in the next episode, and I hope you’ll tune in because it’s really a precious part of my life, and I’m honored to be alive to share it with you. And I mean that. Share your story with somebody as the Lord leads, and of course feel free to share this episode if it might encourage others that are in your say social media circle. 

Thanks for listening, and I’ll see ya back here next time. Bye bye. 

 

The Lord Is Close to All Who Call on Him - the Promise & the Prayer of Psalm 145 (Episode #193)

Thanks for listening to this special episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Today we're taking a look at Psalm 145 and praying the promises we find there. And fair warning - since this is a special bonus episode, it does cut off at a seemingly random point... but it really isn't random at all. (There was just a smidge of no-longer relevant info that I cut from the tail end of this episode.) 

I’m thankful you’re listening, and I have been praying that today’s verse and today’s prayer will be a huge blessing and encouragement for you, right now, in the midst of all that is transpiring in your life, good or bad, ups and downs, no matter what. Let’s talk about it.

Psalm 145:18 in the NLT says this:

The LORD is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.

 

Free Daily Prayer Tracker 

Praying Colossians Chapter One

So if you happen to know me from my first podcast, which is all about God’s promises, then you’ve probably heard me mention how God means it when He uses the words will and all in a promise from the Bible. So of course, the word all being used twice in Psalm 145:18 stood out to me. Who is the Lord close to, according to this verse? To all who call on Him in truth. And it’s doubly emphasized. He states this twice. We should take Him at His word.

 

All means all, it cannot mean anything else or less than all. 

And so, you can go to Him in prayer, you can call out to Him (in truth, as it says…and that indicates honesty in the inmost parts, which we know from the Bible is what God desires from us, and in the name of Jesus, who is The Way, The Truth and The Life). Call out to the Lord. Tell Him what is on your heart, on your mind, stressing you out or what you are celebrating. Call out to Him about your biggest need. And expect Him to be close to you.

 

I take this literally. I expect Him to be so near that I know He is near, that He is right here with me. That I am not ever going to be abandoned or forsaken, because my God does all that He has promised to do. And so, yes, I call out to Him in truth. I don’t sugar coat my needs or my concerns, and I don’t try to be all cleaned up and perfect before I come to Him in prayer.

 

If my friend is facing something overwhelming and I am praying for them, it is not with a phony, this is not big deal but if You have time God please help my friend out. No, I get in there and pray. I am honest about what is happening in their world, and I seek God’s actual, tangible help for them in their time of need.

 

Little bit harder to do this for myself, if I am honest. But I don’t think it should be more difficult, because God clearly is okay with His people calling on Him. 

 

How about you? Are you super good at calling on God when you are facing something, at a point of need? When you are afraid, do you trust in Him fully and call on Him honestly? 

 

This is your birthright, if you will, and God does want you to have the absolute most possible peace and grace in your life right now, and every moment hereafter. There is not any of His peace or His grace or His love that He wants you to set aside and leave for later, or leave for heaven. He has all this for you here and now, but often we leave it on the table and we miss what He wants for us.

 

As I pray today, would you pray with me and ask the Lord to give you an overflow, an abundance of His blessing? Love and mercy and grace and help and wisdom and healing and all the things you know you need? Would you join me in asking our good and faithful God to hear you as you call out to Him, and to answer in ways that move mountains and reveal how close He is to you - that He is right here in this thing with you, and you are not alone and you are so dearly and even fiercely loved by Him.

Father, today I am coming to You in prayer asking that You would hear me according to Your Word, which says that when I call out to You in truth, You will be close to me. And that is exactly what I am praying for today. That as I call out, You would show up, even in a way that seems overwhelming to the ones for whom I am praying. Overwhelm them with Your love today. Give them direct and clear and profound answers to their most pressing needs. And where they are celebrating in some way, and maybe for many of them feel as if they are celebrating alone, feeling a bit isolated perhaps, would you in some way show them that You rejoice with them.

 

Be honored as we pray and by the way we live our lives in Your presence. You are the friend who sticks closer than a brother, and for that, we praise You. Can I ask, Lord, for You to do it again? Those moments when the one listening has felt so close to You, so much in Your favor, loved so dearly and walking with You moment by moment, blessed and joyful and covered by Your grace and peace…would You do it again, Lord? Right now? Do that today. And I boldly ask that You keep on doing that, day by day, so that they can live in a state of peace of mind and heart that can only come from You.

 

Move in their lives. Show Your will, Your love, and Your hope to others through them. Provide richly for their needs. And even beyond that, Lord, I am asking for You to give them enough that they can share with others who have needs. Be generous with Your people, and remind us often to in turn be generous with others. Life is a gift, and we want to spend our gifts well for Your glory. Thank You that You are always only a prayer away, in fact You are never far and never forsake those whom You love. 

 

Teach us how to best pray for one another, and teach me how to best pray for those who listen to this podcast. Favor them highly, comfort them in amazing ways, be much with them and may they bear so much fruit. Comfort them, and give them the opportunity to comfort others. May no weapon of the enemy that is formed against them prosper, and may every tongue that rises up against them be condemned, as Your word says, Lord. Do the things that only You can do, and do it in ways that glorify only You. We give no quarter to the enemy, we do not dwell in doubt but rather in faith and in trust, for we know the One to whom we pray. 

 

May we trust You in all things, knowing that not one of Your good promises will ever fail to come to pass. And so, Holy Spirit, I ask You to move and keep on moving in the life of the one listening today. Move and keep moving, because I ask and I keep asking, as Jesus taught in the New Testament. We are choosing to believe You above all else, and we are certain that our hope in You will lead to blessing and favor and glory for Your name, because He who promised is faithful and He will do it. 

 

Bless them, Lord. Draw them ever closer to You. Hear them as they call out to You, and do not be slow in answering their heart cries. 

 

Thank You for the privilege of prayer, for making a way into the Holy of Holies to pray before Your throne of grace. I am eternally grateful and am thankful that You made a way where there was no way. Do it again, Lord. Do it again. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to pray for you. It really is a blessing! And in one of my prior episodes of The Prayer Podcast I shared a free resource with you, and in case you have not gotten it yet, I am sharing it again. It’s a link to a Daily Prayer Tracker that you can download and print and use in your daily prayer time. And I am also adding a link to a prayer based on Colossians chapter 1 that you can download and pray. And there will be more things like this coming in future episodes, I will try and rotate through and add things to bless you.

The Lord Hears the Prayers of the Righteous - Proverbs 15:29 - Special Bonus Episode - episode #192

Prayer is a key element of the Christian life.

I don’t think any of us would argue that.

But it is also not the easiest aspect of the Christian life.

 

Praying Colossians 1 free download

 

Welcome to this BONUS episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show!

In this episode you'll hear an excerpt from The Prayer Podcast as we take a look at Romans 12 verse 1 and learn some things about prayer.

 

I pray this bonus episode will be encouraging for you.

Remember, when you know God's promises and you pray boldly based on those promises, you'll see mountains move in your life and in your heart.

 

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Prayer can feel risky, can’t it? It can feel safer to go to church each week, to follow through with the read the Bible in a year checklist, to go to small group now and then…and to let others do the praying, especially the out-loud praying.

 

I get it. I’m pretty introverted. Like, I’m guessing about half of the people in the world. It’s probably about a 50/50 split of introverts and extroverts. Not all of us enjoy the spotlight, being the focus of all the attention in the room. And some people, the other half of the world’s population, do seem to like the limelight. Both of these can be problematic when it comes to prayer.

 

Does God want showy prayers? Or genuine ones? Look at me kind of praying, or head bowed, seeking the heart of the Lord kind of praying? 

 

Psalm 51, verse 6 says that God desires truth, or honesty, in the inmost being. Honesty from the heart. I have found it very helpful for me to pray that way - honestly, from my heart. And that also makes it so much easier for me to pray in public, even as an introvert. So if you struggle with praying aloud in a group setting, this verse may be encouraging or helpful for you. And it takes the pressure off - what we want when we pray out loud in front of others, and what we think they want when we pray. Focusing on what God wants takes a lot of the zing out of it.

 

Today we are going to look at a verse from the book of Proverbs, and it is often referred to as a book of wisdom. That’s accurate. 

 

And I think this verse I’m going to share with you is going to bless you in regard to your prayer time. And of course, I get the privilege of praying for you today based on this verse.

 

Proverbs 15:29 - NLT - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayers of the righteous. 

 

Far from.

 

We want our prayers to be heard, or why would we spend time praying?

And if we spend time praying and want our prayers to be heard, we also want them to be answered. 

 

It’s weird to pray and not expect an answer, and that can happen to all of us; sometimes we just pray through our prayer list and don’t give a lot of thought to the expectation of God’s answer. So, we don’t want that to be our default. But if we prayed and never really ever at all expected any sort of answer to any of our prayers, that would be strange. 

 

We expect to be heard and to get an answer. Obtaining an answer is really a huge part of why we pray. There is a need -  we need help, an illness, finances, work troubles, all the things we pray about. We are looking for answers and when we take those things to the Lord in prayer, we are going to the One who has answers, who can help us when we need it. 

 

This verse shows us that a key part of achieving that end goal of answered prayer is not to be far from God. It says He is far from the wicked, but hears the prayers of the righteous. As followers of Jesus, we know that our righteousness is through Him and not of our own good works (“good works” is in air quotes, because none of us is righteous and that’s why we need a Savior). 

 

How can we ensure we are not far from God? 

Well, let’s maintain our spiritual integrity. 

Integrity isn’t what we do out in public, in front of everyone, on the social media platforms, not even on Sunday morning at church. I mean, we want to be people of integrity in public, since that’s where we go to work, where we interact with others, and so yeah, we need to have integrity in public but if our private life is the opposite of our public life, then it’s not true integrity. Am I the same in both places? Or do I wear some kind of mask? How’s my integrity? How am I doing at this whole person of integrity thing? 

 

So spiritual integrity could be our private life with the Lord, not solely the more public aspect of our Christian life. We want to have integrity all the time, not just some of the time. And if somebody runs into us in a non-church setting, well they shouldn’t be totally shocked by who we are and who we aren’t. 

 

It goes beyond Sunday morning. 

 

Does my love for Jesus plumb the depths of my heart and soul and life? 

Spoiler alert: it should.

 

I think moral courage comes into play, too. 

Think about what it looks like to have moral courage in 2023, which is when I am recording this episode. Moral courage can be viewed wrongly by society as a whole. And that is one reason it can be hard to live out. I mean, we don’t want to be unloving, because we know Jesus wants us to love well. But we don’t want to be cowards, afraid to let anybody know we follow Jesus. 

Moral courage and spiritual integrity. Living for the Lord all the time, that sums it up well.

 

And why are we focused on those things, again? Because Proverbs 15:29 promises that the righteous will have their prayers heard by God. 

 

This is critical. Too critical to just leave to chance. 

 

I want to pray well. And I want those prayers to obtain answers. I want God’s very best, and I will not truly know what that is if I don’t know what the Bible says. And so, I read my Bible and I pray to the best of my ability in accordance with the Word of God.

 

Proverbs 15:29 - The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.

 

If you don’t mind, I’d like to pray for you now.

 

Lord, thank You for this verse from the wisdom of the Bible. Thank You for showing us clearly that we can be assured You will hear us when we pray. Thank You for the righteousness we have through Your Son, Jesus. You have been so very gracious to us, and we are so very thankful for that grace. 

 

Lord, would you bless each listener with braveness to pray to You about the things that are weighing heavy on their hearts today? Would You give them the exact wisdom that they need in that exact situation. Heal them if they are in need of any sort of healing. Provide for them if they are facing financial lack, or any other kind of lack in their life. You have promised to meet all of our needs, and so I am asking You to do that today. Open doors to bless them, lead them to people who can help them move forward in life. Bless their families and their workplaces and their friendships and the churches they attend. 

 

Take care of them daily, Lord. Emotionally and physically and spiritually, take good and careful care of each one listening today.

 

May they experience Your love in powerful ways, and may they find all that they have longed for in a close relationship with You. Show up for them. Show off for them. Let them know that they are the apple of Your eye, and You never take Your eyes off of them or stop thinking about them. Thank You for the hope that You offer us for the future, and for eternity. 

 

Bless them in mighty ways today, and may they pray in boldness and receive what they need from You. Answer quickly, Lord. Do not delay - we have needs that are urgent, so I am beseeching You to move quickly.

 

In Jesus Name - Amen

 

Thank you for the blessing of praying for and with you, and thank you for listening today.

 

If this episode has been encouraging, feel free to share it with someone. And I’d also like to ask for reviews or comments, as those will help more people to find the podcast, especially in the new days of a new podcast. It makes a tremendous difference, to say the least.

I also have a free resource for you, it is a prayer guide that follows Colossians chapter 1, and you can get that for free at the link here in the show notes. And you can email me at any time with prayer requests at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will be praying for every request I receive.