How can we apply God’s promises to our daily lives? Are God’s promises conditional? What does it mean to be a child of God? What are some key promises found in the bible? Are God’s promises for me? How can we be sure God will keep His promises? What‘s more important than getting a life-changing handle on what God has promised you specifically? Expect this podcast to help you know who you are...REALLY & to help you live fully believing God‘s promises to you...REALLY.
Episodes
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Wednesday Oct 15, 2025
Use the text box at JanLBurt.com to request Psalm 91 resources.
Psalm 91 - NLT
1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”
Tuesday Sep 30, 2025
Tuesday Sep 30, 2025
Hello and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast. Today we’ll be looking at a passage from the New Testament, in the book of Matthew chapter 14. Let’s jump right in.
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You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, playing now on the Edifi app and on iHeart radio. This is episode # 209.
Matthew chapter 14 opens with the death of John the Baptist, which is a really messed up event. You read it and it is really disturbing, the way his death came about. It just is. It can’t be prettied up because it’s too raw and too ugly for that. It is what it is. And that’s how this chapter begins.
In the NLT, verse 13 reads: As soon as Jesus heard the news, He left in a boat to a remote area to be alone.
Jesus, the Son of Man, deity, being fully God and fully man, reacted this way upon hearing the news of John the Baptist’s death. He felt the pain and the grief of it, the weight of it. And He wanted to go somewhere remote in order to be alone. Does this comfort you in any way? This understanding that Jesus sat in His grief, as much as He was able to in a world that literally chased after Him continually. Do you need permission to sit in your grief right now? Have you felt almost guilty for wanting to step back, step away to a remote place (figuratively or literally), and be alone? Maybe you’ve been told that being alone in your grieving is not okay, that it’s unsafe or unwise or that your grieving and processing should happen in community. And maybe some of your journey through grief should be in some type of community… but as I read the text from Matthew 14, I am certain that Jesus sees you in this place and He is totally okay with you stepping back and retreating to some sort of remote-ness to be alone for a time. Look, we have no “remote” part of our lives if we post all the time, inviting anyone and everyone right into our lives in every season. And we can feel guilty about hitting pause. If you need to step away when you hear terrible news, you are in good company.
And most likely, you will actually succeed at getting a bit of time alone. Jesus did not get time alone, because the crowds heard where He was headed and followed on foot from many towns. (That’s the rest of verse 13.) Verse 14 says: Jesus saw the huge crowd as He stepped from the boat and He had compassion on them and healed their sick. If Jesus, in His own grief, on His way to someplace remote in order to be alone, saw this huge crowd of people and had compassion on them, I want you to grab hold of the hope in this verse and know that He sees you and He has so much compassion for you. He is the same yesterday and today and forever, and you can depend fully on Him to have the compassion on you that you need at the exact moment you need it. These people traveled from their towns to where they figured out where He was going, and He did not take that and set it aside. You also won’t be set aside when you come to Him.
Now He was in a remote place, because that’s where He was headed earlier in the day. Late that evening the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place…” Yes, I am thinking He knew it was a remote place when He chose it as His destination. But they had all these people there, and the disciples did not have a way to feed them. They wanted Jesus to send them away so they could get food before it got much later. Jesus told them to feed the people. And this is the time when they had five loaves of bread and two fish. You probably know this story, maybe even learned about it on a flannelgraph back in the olden days. Jesus took the loaves and the fish (or the fishes, as it used to be said) and he blessed them, and started breaking the bread into pieces so the disciples could hand it out to the people. Everyone ate as much as they wanted and the leftovers were about twelve baskets full and 5000 men plus women and children were fed that day.
So you have the set up for what comes next, which is the focus of this episode of the podcast.
John the Baptist was killed and it was truly horrible, Jesus went away to be alone with the grief, huge crowds figured out where He was going and followed Him there, He had compassion on them and healed their sick, then the disciples wanted Jesus to send the people away to get food, but He miraculously fed them with the loaves and fishes.
Let’s pick up in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 14, from the NLT.
Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that His disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while He sent the people home. (Jesus insisted, and the disciples did as He said to do. That’s called obedience, my friend, and it ought to be a mark of a disciple in 2025 just as much as it was the mark of a disciple of Jesus 2000 years ago. Obedience matters, and sometimes we forget that in the here and now when we’re living in the age of grace. But have we considered that we may be abusing God’s grace by excusing away our lack of obedience? Being a grace abuser is not worthy of a merit badge. Try not to forget to obey the Lord and please do remember that delayed obedience is actually disobedience, plain and simple. Had the disciples delayed in obeying the Lord, the next verses in this chapter would have played out differently. Our obedience matters! May we always only have hearts and minds and feet and hands that are quick to obey Jesus.) And Jesus Himself sent the people home. Another good word for us. When He says to go on home now, we need to heed Him. Sometimes heading home to get some rest and be with our family, our loved ones, is what He tells us to do. We lean toward the workaholic being the “hero” in American culture, but was that Jesus’ heart? If not, then it’s not the Jesus way. Even if our culture applauds workaholics, lauding them as modern day heroes, let’s bear this in mind: We are never the hero in our story, or really in anyone else’s story. Jesus is the sole hero of all time. So, set aside the workaholic ways and go home when Jesus sends you there.)
Verse 23: After sending them home, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. Night fell while He was there alone.
So He did what He first set out to do when He left to go to a remote are to be alone. Sometimes well-meaning people (family, friends, Bible study group members, your pastor, and so on) - at times they may tell you that heading off to be alone is not God’s will for you. It is really, really easy to grab a verse from the Bible and use it to make their point. In Hebrews, for example, it says not to forsake the gathering together of the saints, and that verse could be utilized to persuade someone from not taking some time to be alone. (Also, I want to add that we’re never alone when we know the Lord, because He is always with us. And that is incredibly comforting.) Let this verse be a reminder to you that God always accomplishes what He sets out to accomplish. If He aims to get something done, He does not start it and then have the inability to finish it. He has no inabilities. And so every single thing He starts is every single thing you can count on Him completing. What’s He promised you? That’s what He is going to finish. Your job is to believe Him. Sometimes that act of choosing to believe, even when it flies in the face of all evidence and logic, sometimes that is harder to do than getting our hands dirty and trying to work something out by our own strength. But when you hold tightly on to belief, you simultaneously hold tightly on to hope. Hope is valuable. Hope is precious. The enemy tries to snatch it away from you because he know its worth. But if God has hope for you, then it is yours for the having. Hold on to your belief and hang on to your hope today.
He went up into the hills by Himself to pray.
When you have the time and opportunity to get away by yourself to pray, I hope you take it. It is never time wasted. It’s an investment, one that will pay dividends throughout eternity. Jesus got alone to pray. We also need to get alone to pray. Period. No excuses, no exceptions. This is a need, not a “eh, I can take it or leave it” optional Christian practice. You need to pray. And you need to have times when you are by yourself, nobody else with you, no phone with you, just you and the Lord and you spend that time in prayer.
Night fell while He was there, up in the hills by Himself praying.
It got dark, and the disciples were out on the lake in the boat, still far from land, caught fighting heavy waves and a strong wind. And Jesus came out to them, walking on the water (that’s verse 25). It was the middle of the night and they’d been at it for a long time, after a very long day, which began with the news of John the Baptist’s death. Do you know how heavy and exhausting and intense grief can be? They had had a DAY, and now they were fighting impossible weather. They were afraid when they saw Him walking on the water, but once Jesus told them not to be afraid, to take courage because He was there (which is a good word for all of us pretty much every single day, isn’t it? Is there any circumstance when you don’t want to know that Jesus is there and you don’t need to be afraid? I’ll take that all day long, no matter what comes my way!) Once Jesus told them not to be afraid but to take courage, then Peter called out to Him, “Lord, if it’s really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water.” “Yes, come, “Jesus said. (verses 28-29).
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Verse 31 - Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
And finally, verse 32: When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped Him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
Anybody else shocked a little bit that Jesus in no way commended Peter for having the faith to ask such a bold thing, something never done by a human being, to walk on the water with Jesus? He initiated this whole thing with his request. Jesus was good with it, Peter climbed over the side of the boat and actually walked on the water.
None of that is mentioned by Jesus in His rebuke of Peter.
Isn’t that interesting?
Such a powerful reminder that our metrics are not His metrics, and what we look at may well be the thing He is not looking at.
Peter did what no other person has ever done - walked on top of water solely by faith that if he asked and Jesus said yes, it would be possible.
Yet Jesus said that Peter had, and I quote, “so little faith”.
Asking for the impossible, believing for it, and doing it was not enough to negate his problem of “so little faith” when he was terrified and started sinking as he saw and experienced outside the boat the strong wind and waves…the same strong wind and waves he’d been dealing with inside the boat. Nothing new to a seasoned fisherman. But seeing them in a new way, that undid Peter.
Where do you and I start well, with huge faith, see the Lord moving in might, doing the impossible, and then when we take another look and see things from our new perch, from a new angle, we just lose heart?
Do we give ourselves a pass because of the faith we HAD in the beginning, or do we look at things the way Jesus did in this situation with Peter?
And regarding Peter looking at the wind and waves, Jesus said that there was actually doubt in Peter. This is not recorded as Peter facing the facts, seeing things as they were, and so on (the kinds of things we often hear and often say in Christian circles). Jesus gives no quarter to “reality” in this passage. He just calls it doubt. Specifically, doubt in Him.
Looking at the wind and waves? That’s doubting the Lord. Isn’t this a bit of a tough pill to swallow, honestly. I do not want to doubt the Lord. I don’t want the reality of life to be linked to my doubting the Lord of everything.
But I don’t always evaluate myself rightly. And I hope this passage helps me to do a reset in this area, to look at things through the Lord’s eyes, seeking His perspective, and not only “facing reality”. Because sometimes, maybe oftentimes, too much of a focus on reality is like a slap in the face to the Lord, when it causes us to doubt Him.
I will end this episode with this prayer: Lord, give us truth faith in You, remove our doubts, and even when the “reality” of life is pressing in on us, help us to agree with you that our doubts and even our fears are often really doubt in You, doubting that You really will take care of us, doubting how things can possibly turn around, doubting that You are and will be Lord over everything concerning us…May that be far from us, may we be people of faith, specifically faith in You, and may we not sink into our circumstances due to doubt, but keep our eyes fixed on You, trusting You and maintaining the kind of faith that moves mountains and gives us feet to tread upon our circumstances. In Your Name I ask this, Amen.
Thanks for listening today, as always, I’m so thankful for you. And feel free to share prayer requests via the link in the show notes. I pray for every request I receive and every prayer need is strictly confidential. My Jotform to submit prayer requests should be right at the top of the show notes. Lord bless you, and I’ll be back next time. Bye bye.
Friday Sep 19, 2025
Friday Sep 19, 2025
Well hey there, hello to ya today. Welcome to this special episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, the podcast that takes God at His word, encourages listeners as they walk with the Lord, and boldly proclaims that all God’s promises prove true. This is something of a re-launch of the podcast, as I have not recorded a new episode in about five months.
A lot of varying reasons for the long break, but now the show is back. So, let’s jump right in!
We’re living in an era when believers need a whole lot of encouragement, and when those who are considering Christianity want an honest look at what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus. This episode is aimed at both of those goals. Followers and curious seekers alike. Let me read from the New Testament book of Luke, chapter 13, about four verses. Starting in verse 23, through verse 28. I’m reading from the Amplified Bible, so you can compare it to your preferred translation or read along in your Bible or in case you want to make note of different translations and versions and do some Bible study on this passage later on. All of those are really good things, by the way. Don’t just take someone’s word for it when it comes to what the Bible says, and of course that includes me. Read it for yourself anytime you want to, fact check me like crazy. Let God be true and every man, every woman, every person be a liar, Romans 3 verse 4 says. When it comes to teaching the Bible, we should be very comfortable having our sources checked. If anyone teaching God’s word is not comfortable with that, something is very, very wrong. And in those situations, you may want to … run. (Not really kidding around with that advice.)
Here’s what this passage says, verbatim, in the Amplified Bible:
Luke 13:23-27
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
23 And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved (rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, and made partakers of the salvation by Christ)? And He said to them, 24 Strive to enter by the narrow door [force yourselves through it], for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door [again and again], saying, Lord, open to us! He will answer you, I do not know where [[a]what household—certainly not Mine] you come from. 26 Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. 27 But He will say, I tell you, I do not know where [[b]what household—certainly not Mine] you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!
Okay, so if you’re not familiar with the Amplified Bible, it is wordy. Because the Greek and the Hebrew of the New and Old Testaments often carry a depth of meaning in each word that is tricky to fully convey in the English language, different translations word things differently. The Amplified basically takes all the meanings of the text in the original language and adds them, usually in parentheses, which is why what I just read to you may have sounded choppy. Also, the Amplified capitalizes words like He, Him, Mine, etc. when it is talking about the Lord. And there are a few capitalized words in the text I just read.
Were I to leave out those extra words that are in parenthesis, it would read like this: And someone asked Him (that’s a capital, so someone asked Jesus this question.) Lord, will only a few be saved. And He said to them, Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the Master (and that is capitalized, so it’s talking about the Lord) of the house gets up and closes the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open up to us! He will answer you, I do not know where you come from. Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets. But He will say (again, He is capitalized, so the Lord will say), I tell you I do not know where you come from; depart from Me, all you wrongdoers!
This is weighty. This is no joke. Jesus’ answer to the question He was asked is heavy. This is serious stuff! “Will only a few be saved?” was the question. The ESV says, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” Kind of a yes or no question. But Jesus was so good to expound upon this, to go beyond the short answer and give us all this important information as His answer. Now, back to studying the Amplified (and yes, it does require studying. Not sure when Bible “study”, in air quotes, began to not be studious. Study, the word tells us that it takes some effort, focus, and intention. If your Bible study group is not studying the Bible, you could be a person to kind of change that, to step off the merry-go-round of quick and easy answers, making a joke instead of really digging into the text, leading a group that goes through the Bible and studies it rather than maybe a small group that gets gossipy and talks about fashion and somewhat trashy shows on streaming. Y’all know what I’m talking about, and if you are new to Christianity and are shocked that I’m saying this, that’s okay. A faith that can’t hold up to some examination is, well, perhaps more cult-like than faith-in-Jesus like. Women’s small groups are notorious for not doing enough actual Bible studying. New believers, keep searching for groups that do real Bible study and if you can’t find a group, start a group.) So as we study this text in the Amplified, we find the Greek for the word saved in verse 23 has some depth to it. Lord, will only a few be saved? Rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, made partakers of the salvation by Christ. Yeah, a lot more depth there. This is about the very end of time, the last judgment. And that day, it’s coming for all of us. If we say we love Jesus but we live like we’re never going to stand before Him and have our lives examined, then we’re probably not living for Him in our everyday lives. And notice it says made partakers of THE salvation by Christ. That little three letter word T-H-E…there is only one salvation and it is by Christ. That is almost certainly the most important thing I will ever say on the podcast, honestly. When it says strive to enter by the narrow door, the Amplified gives added depth by saying force yourself through it. Force yourself through the narrow door, the doorway to eternal salvation. Force yourself through it! Maybe, just maybe, this concept of raising your hand from your seat during a mega-conference altar call and then never opening your Bible, spending time in prayer, following Jesus as His disciple, just maybe that is nothing like forcing yourself through the narrow door. You know, we live in the very era when Jesus’ return is at hand, and forcing ourselves through the narrow door that makes us partakers of THE salvation by Christ is the clarion call for this hour. Now is the time, my friend. This decision for Jesus should not be put off until another day. It shouldn’t be put off for another hour! This is the time!
In this passage, when Jesus describes them knocking at the door again and again, like they are trying to beat that door down, the same narrow door that they did not force themselves through when they had the opportunity, trying to gain entry by incessant pounding on that door…and what will He say on that day? How will He respond to their knocking again and again? He’ll say He does not know where they come from - from what household, because it’s certainly not His. That’s repeated twice, in verses 25 & 27. And in between, in verse 26, they implore Him by stating that they ate and drank in His presence…oh this is very convicting. How often are we “in His presence” and thinking that’s good enough? They’ll say, “You taught in our streets.” Is it going to get Him to open the door if you remind Him that He was taught about in your local church? Think about what this passage means for your own life. Are you ready for this day? Because it’s coming, ready or not. I’ve said before that we need to get ready, be ready, and stay ready. Force yourself through that narrow door. Be on the inside when He shuts that door tight.
Just a few more thought I’d like to share on Luke chapter 13.
Verse 23 makes it super clear that this is about where a person will spend eternity. How many people in the year 2025 never even give a single thought to their eternal destination? We’ve been so desensitized, so conditioned to only think about this life, the here and now, focus on immediate gains, quick fixes, the current struggle and how to make that struggle end, and our own selves and “living in the moment” that thinking about forever does not really happen for so many people. Are you living for the moment, or are you living for forever? Does anyone stand on their platform, or ask their loved ones, if they know for certain they will be rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment, made partakers of the salvation by Christ? Do I do that? Lord, what do You want to change in my heart, mind and life so that my focus turns from the temporal to the eternal, and so that I speak life - eternal life - over others?
Jesus’ reply here, and He minces no words, as was His norm, is: “Strive to enter by the narrow door”. I’m hitting on this again to share something that is important. The definition of strive is to “make great efforts to achieve or obtain something” - “struggle or fight vigorously”. It implies great exertion against great difficulty and specifically suggests persistent effort. Synonyms include “labor, toil, struggle, compete, exert oneself, and endeavor”.
Even a quick evaluation of those words reveals the heart behind Jesus’ answer to the critically important question asked by an unidentified person in the thirteenth chapter of Luke. The Lord is telling us that getting on and remaining on the narrow road is anything but easy-street. And yet, is that what American Christianity so often teaches? Don’t they make it seem as if a five-second prayer is all it takes in order to enter into eternal life with Jesus (think of those “Every head bowed and eye closed, and raise your hand and pray along with me if you want to be saved today” kinds of church moments…). But what if that’s not exactly true? What if that is, say, step one of a long walk on the narrow road? And if the door itself is narrow, and we must force ourselves through it, as the Amplified says in verse 24, is that happening for most of us? Are we being discipled, are we discipling anybody else, are we students of the Word of God, are we spending time in prayer and listening for what the Holy Spirit might say to us? Have we forced ourselves through that narrow door? Have we encouraged anyone else to force themselves through the narrow door? Do we know the signs of the times well enough to recognize that there are just a few grains of sand left in the hourglass of all time?
Let me read this to you: Luke 14:25-35
New Living Translation
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Have you thought of discipleship like this? That being Jesus’ disciple means you hate everyone else by comparison? This is serious stuff. Far more intense than is normally spoken about by pastors or preachers or speakers or the books down at the Better Book Room (Wichitans, you remember the BBR?) Do we hate our own life in contrast to being His disciple? Thinking about these words of Jesus’ is a good reset for me. Why am I so continually concerned about my issues, my fears, my life, my stuff? It’s just gross, and it is not fitting for a disciple of the Lord Jesus. Because if I don’t hate my own life by comparison to being His disciple, then I cannot be His disciple. Point blank frankness right there. And if I do not carry my own cross and follow Him, I cannot be His disciple. So, how am I doing at hating my own life by comparison to His discipleship and am I carrying my own cross and following Him? It’s a self test we all need to take every day.
Jesus says not to begin the path of being His disciple until we count the cost. Shouldn’t that be mentioned during the altar call? I don’t exactly know what this should look like, in every church or at every event, but I know enough to know that most of what takes place absolutely does not fit the model Jesus laid out for us here. We’re getting it all wrong! And if we tell people it’s all good, you raised your hand and never forced yourself through the narrow door, never counted the cost, never hated your life, never picked up your cross to follow Him…we are lying to them! He says we cannot become His disciple without giving up everything we own. I no longer have ownership rights over my life or my stuff or my health or my money or over people. Because I’ve giving all that up to become His disciple. Salt is good for seasoning, Jesus says. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? How salty are you? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil or the manure pile. Am I salty or am I not? Lord, give us ears to hear, so that we can listen and understand! Am I a student, a learner of Jesus? Do I understand that it’s more than a head nod, a hand raised decision to follow Him - it’s more than saying yes to His invitation. It’s picking up my cross and following Him after saying yes. It’s moving onward with Him, it is not standing still while He moves onward.
Think about carrying your cross. I think, maybe here in western culture, we don’t exactly get the implication. It’s difficult. It costs us something, every day that we carry it. But where are we carrying it to? Where is this carrying of my cross leading me? To a crucifixion, that’s the only logical end point. Am I crucifying my flesh? Am I dying to myself, daily, of my own willing choice and volition, of course depending on the Spirit of the Living God within me because no one can do that on their own, but am I willing, does it ever even cross my mind? Am I picking up my cross today, carrying the heavy and thing closer and closer to my own death to self? Or am I not? Anybody that ever said Jesus’ teachings were easy, well, they need to read the words in red again. Taking up our cross is a one-way journey. It’s forcing ourselves through that narrow door.
Jesus carried a cross, and so do His disciples, His followers.
What kind of follower am I?
Am I following but ready to peel off and go my own way when it gets uncomfortable for me personally? Have I counted the cost and decided that yes, I really can afford to follow Jesus?
In the following, the Lord does the fixing and the cleaning up of our lives. This is not Jesus saying we need to get it together before we follow Him. He says what He says, and it’s not that. He simply needs His followers to know it’s not the easy way out, the life of Christians. But He’ll do His work of making us new as we follow Him day by day. It’s costly either way, right? Follow Jesus? There’s a cost. Reject Jesus? Oh, there’s also a cost. That choice, well, it costs a pretty penny. Let Him become the owner of all we have. Our children, our finances, our health, all of it. It’s only safe with Him anyway, so it’s the best available choice, but we still need to make the choice consciously, weighing it out, understanding it. Let’s not be like slimy used car salesmen who get people to pick up what we’re laying down based on implications that this is the easy way to live out your days and then, wham, the bottom falls out and they feel like they got sold a lemon.
And if you say you follow Jesus, you profess to follow Him, but you lose your flavor somewhere along the way…you are no longer distinct enough to be clearly known as one of His disciples, well, that’s the time you’re fit for nothing but to be thrown out. A Christian should look like, think like, speak like, behave like, have the nature of Christ. Salt ought to be salty. A Christian ought to be like Christ Jesus.
The promise in Luke 13 and 14 is so worth it, though, isn’t it? It’s eternal life for now and forever. It’s being on the inside when the door is closed. It’s knowing that life, it’s going to be hard at times, especially as we get nearer to the return of Jesus, it’s going to get more intense, and following Him with saltiness may come with some costs that are not common to us here in America, but are becoming common at an astounding rate. But the hard life that ends in death without Jesus, that’s the wide road, the wide door. The road ends somewhere for all of us. It’s His promise that by picking up our cross, carrying it daily as we follow Him, staying salty all the way until the end, we get to go through the narrow door. Carry your cross today. Force yourself through the narrow door. Because He’ll keep all His promises, and what’s coming is going to knock your socks off. “He who endures to the end shall be saved.” Those are Jesus’ words to us in Matthew 24:13. Indeed, that’s a promise He’s going to keep.
Thanks for joining me for this re-launch episode. I’m so grateful to be back on the podcast, and if this encouraged you or challenged you, would you share it with someone today?
Lord bless you, and I’ll see ya back here next time. Bye bye.
Wednesday Apr 16, 2025
Wednesday Apr 16, 2025
Well, hello there! Hope you are doing well, growing in grace, enjoying the Lord’s love, spending time with Him daily, and living a Kingdom focused life. I’m thankful you’re listening today. This is episode number 207 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, featured on the Edifi app, iHeart radio, Spotify, Apple podcasts, and pretty much all the places. Let’s jump into today’s episode.
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional now available on Audible
If you were, say, looking at the last week of Jesus’ life, those days leading up to the crucifixion - if you were looking from the outside, those events leading would leave you with an entirely different impression than they do for us who know Jesus, who love Him and live for Him. In Him we live and move and have our being, it says in Acts 17:28. When you know that for yourself in a personal way, you look at the events between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday with thankfulness, gratitude, humility, awe, and hope for what comes next. When you look at it from the outside in, it probably doesn’t create those same emotions. It looks like a series of terribly unfortunate events from that perspective. Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion - those are gut wrenching moments in history and may be incredibly difficult to make sense out of for someone looking at the life of Jesus for the first time.
The week seems like it ended in utter hopelessness, like those three and a half years of the Lord’s life were all for naught. And that would be discouraging, if you only saw it from that perspective, from the outside looking in.
But when you are in Christ, you look at things from a heavenly perspective. You are seated with Him in the heavenly places, is says in Ephesians 2:6, and that means we don’t see things from the world’s point of view. We see everything in a different light, and not like the old Bangles song from the ‘80s (yes, I am Gen X and yes, the 1980’s produced a vast volume of songs, enough that there are references available for almost everything…and I wish the word of God was as easy to memorize as all those song lyrics from my teenage years were).
When we only see something in part, only have access or clarity on bits and pieces of a situation, it can easily feel pretty discouraging. Let me reiterate that: when we only see in part, we can easily become discouraged.
It makes sense that the last week of Jesus’ life could be discouraging to someone looking at the life of Jesus from the outside. But doesn’t it also make sense that you and I can also become discouraged about the things we can only see in part? And since we are not yet with the Lord, we do see in part. We don’t have the whole picture. But what we do have is actually far better; we have Jesus Himself, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we have the promise of heaven with Him, we are forgiven, we have access to the Father via prayer directly, at any time, because the veil was torn at Jesus death and thanks to His resurrection, death and hell are defeated for us.
I say all that to remind you that when you start feeling discouraged about something, I hope you can pause and remember that just because you can’t see it all with total clarity, that does not mean things are hopeless. Sunday is coming, and for the Christian, Sunday always, always comes, into every scenario and situation and problem and pitfall. Always.
How can I say that and be so certain that it is true, no matter what is happening in your life? Because when you know Jesus, when your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, in the end you get eternity with Him. And that is, for you, the joy of Resurrection morning, the empty tomb, the defeat of death for you, and eternal hope.
We who know the Lord understand that Jesus accomplished the Father’s will, and we know absolutely that the tomb is empty, there is no body of Jesus entombed in Israel. No grave holds Him. That tomb? It was empty 2000 years ago, it’s empty right now, and it will remain empty for time and all eternity. The deed is done. The goose is cooked. Satan truly is a defeated foe, as Revelation chapter 20 so powerfully and beautifully teaches.
The seeming series of unfortunate events was in actuality a series of events leading to the greatest moment to ever occur. There’s nothing else like it!
You and I know this to be true.
So, can we also trust that God is doing His will - His good and perfect and pleasing will - on behalf of His dearly loved children, even in the areas of our lives that are painful?
It takes some guts, some faith, and often some honest prayer sessions with the Lord to really believe this with every fiber of our being. And if you need to wrestle with God on a topic that’s especially raw and real, please do that. Wrestle in prayer with Him. Ask Him those hard questions. Cry if you need to. But don’t just cry to your small group, to your friends, to your spouse. Cry out to your ABBA Father, and be still before Him long enough to experience the love and encouragement and peace that He wants to give you right in the midst of your mess.
You are not alone. He has promised never to leave you or forsake you. So please don’t live like you’re alone, like you’ve been forsaken. God is not a liar. Do not allow your stress to lead you to a place where your faith is so nonexistent, your trust so shrunken, that you are basically accusing God of being a liar to you. Remember, it is impossible fo rGod to lie, it says that in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 18. Never live in a way that accuses God of something that it is impossible for Him to do. He has not and He will not and He is not in this moment right now today lying to you. He can’t and He won’t. Please do not forget that!
Let’s look at Mark, chapter 4. Verses 24 and 25. I’m going to read from the New Living Translation.
Then He added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given - and you will receive even more. To those who listen to My teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
How are you at listening? It’s not easy to be a good listener in our always on our phones day and age. It takes a whole lot more effort than it used to. But it’s important to train yourself to be a good listener. In say your marriage, your parenting, at work, and all the more so when it comes to what Jesus has said via the Bible.
Are you paying close attention to what He has said? Are you listening closely, so that you can understand and then be given even more? Are you listening to His teaching? Not just during a sermon once a week, but really listening when you open your Bible and read it for yourself? And are you doing that daily? If not, can you start reading your Bible every day? Not to be a legalist, because that is a dead-end road. But because you want to do what Jesus said to do here in Mark chapter 4 - reading your Bible because you want to pay close attention, to listen to Him closely, and to be given more understanding.
The inverse is that what little understanding you have will be taken away from you if you don’t pay close attention. That’s not a good thing. And so, let’s just not do things that way.
As we think about Resurrection Sunday, we almost certainly think about the fact that Jesus finished His work on the cross. It is a finished work. Nothing more needs to be done or added to it. It is finished, that’s what He said from the cross, and He meant what He said and said what He meant. Remember, Mark 4? We are paying close attention to what He tells us.
And so, we believe that it is finished, His work on the cross. And since we believe that, we also live without trying to add to the already finished work. The work we have to do is the work of believing according to John 6:29.
We can, and really I feel like we must, we must trust the Lord who paid it all to give us eternal life is the same Lord who is at work in our lives right here and now, today, completing the good work He began in us. Philippians 1:6 tells us to be confident that He will complete the good work He started in us. He is a finisher, our God is. Jesus finished it all on the cross and that sure doesn’t indicate that He’ll leave you flapping out in the wind, unfinished. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith, it says in Hebrews 12:2. The Author, so He started it and He is also continuing to write it out for us, day by day, and He will finish it. Anything Jesus finishes is done to perfection. That’s how you need to look at your faith. Jesus authored it, He is still authoring it every single moment of every single day, and He will finish it to perfection. How do we know this is true? Because of the cross; His finished work on the cross proves that Jesus finishes everything He sets His hand to with perfection. Always. Every single time.
He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Your life and times are in His hands. Those are good, good hands to be in. Jesus isn’t Allstate, He doesn’t raise your rates when you make a claim. You are rooted and established in Him. He’s got you, and if you don’t feel like you can see the end of this ordeal right now, just remember that He’s got you. He has engraved you on the palms of His hands, and it is impossible for Him to forget you. See Isaiah 49:16.
This Resurrection Sunday, I hope you rejoice and declare with total trust in Him that He is risen! He is risen, indeed!
Lord bless you today, and every day! And may His mercy, grace and peace be yours in abundance. (And one little announcement - my devotional The Power of God’s Will - 40 Days of God’s Promises is available on Audible as an audiobook. I’ll put that link in the show notes.)
I’ll see you next time. Bye bye!
Monday Mar 31, 2025
Monday Mar 31, 2025
Hey there, hello to you today and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, where we look at what God has promised His people in the Bible, and we live like those promises are true… and thank God, they are!
Biblical Motherhood Pinterest Board
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, featured on the Edifi app and on iHeart radio. Today’s episode is all about God’s promise to give us peace, and more specifically, perfect peace, as it says in Isaiah 26, verse 3. And this is episode number 206.
Isaiah is a large book in the Old Testament. 66 chapters, I believe, and it covers a lot of ground. It is a record of the history of Israel and Judah, it is very prophetic - about specific nations and people groups and what would happen, at times even to the day, as we see in parts of Isaiah 18, that chapter comes to mind, and other portions of the book are exactingly specific, as well. And of course, about Jesus’ birth and life and death and resurrection, it holds so many prophecies that have indeed proved true, exactly true, to perfection. And then, of course, it holds a lot of prophecy about His second coming, His return that will be the most incredible event this world has ever seen.
Sometimes a book the size and the depth of Isaiah can be almost intimidating to read, overwhelming in it’s scope, some parts are historical record, and they read like much of the Old Testament does in Judges or 1 Samuel or the book of Ruth or Esther. But it is intermingled with these astounding portions that are not at all like reading through the book of Ruth or Judges. And we may shy away from it, because it is, frankly, a lot and we might feel like we’re not learned enough or qualified to really understand it.
But is that a good reason to not read it? I don’t think so. God gives us such incredible promises in the book of Isaiah, and I do not think He made those promises so that we would never know them, let alone believe Him for them. Nope. That would not make sense. And a book that has so many powerful promises for us, a book that has been so spot on accurate regarding Jesus’ life on earth, well, that’s a very hopeful, hope-filled book. And we just don't want to miss what it has to say to us.
Which is why we’re going to look at one verse, one topic or theme, from the pages of Isaiah in this episode. You know, to get to the 206th episode of a podcast takes a bit of time, and as this show is focused on God’s promises, I have spent a fair amount of time the last few years reading and thinking about and writing about (as in the podcast show notes and my personal study time) and talking about so many of God’s promises for His dearly loved children (which is what we are, according to 1 John chapter 3, verse 1). And I have yet to be moved off my stance that all His promises are true. Ya know, you get the comments from people on different platforms when clips from the show are shared, and people can say things that are really heart wrenching to read…not what they say about me, because who cares, right? But also, usually what they say is about the Lord, and that is what’s heart wrenching. Maybe they’ve experienced serious hurt or disappointment, maybe they just have no idea who God is or how much He loves them, maybe something else entirely.
But those comments don’t move my needle regarding my belief in who my God is for me personally and as a whole, to all who will come to Him. It moves my needle with heartbreak but not my belief. In thinking about this, the comments and what’s possibly behind those comments, well I wonder if some of those commenters are lacking peace, maybe?
It’s a hard life, in a dark world, for a million different reasons in every stage and season. Inner peace, inner security, that’s missing in so many lives.
The verse from Isaiah that talks about perfect peace, that’s the verse that comes to mind. And that’s the verse I’m sharing with you as one of God’s most beautiful, life-giving promises in this episode.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You. That’s what Isaiah 26:3 says in the New Living Translation.
It’s a hefty promise, and as always, our God does nothing but deliver on this.
Does that mean we never have to pause, do a reset, pray, seek His peace, remind one another of verses like this, ponder the fact that Jesus said in this world we will have trouble but we are to take heart, He has overcome the world and that His peace He gives to us, His peace He leaves with us, but not the world’s peace. His peace. It’s a different kind of peace. It’s sitting in the doctor’s office getting really awful news, but you have an inner calm and peace that is so rock solid, you’re able to not endure that hard moment but rather, not be shaken by it. It’s a prodigal’s parent able to fully trust in the Lord and have peace, not be up all night fretting, overcome with dread, jumping at every shadow because the stress level is so high…but having peace right in the middle of the terrible awful disaster of a mess. That’s not the world’s version of peace. It’s beyond the bounds of this world, and I am so thankful that God has promised this peace, perfect peace, to us.
Let me read Isaiah 26:3 from the Amplified now.
You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast (that is, committed and focused on You - in both inclination and character), because he trusts and takes refuge in You (with hope and confident expectation).
That adds some depth to the promise. Perfect and constant peace…that’s what I’m looking for, and I’ll find it when I look for it in Christ Jesus. A steadfast mind, well that sounds pretty good to me. Committed to and focused on the Lord, in all things all of the time. That is an amazing way to live. To have my character so impacted by my trust in God that every inclination I have is aligned toward Him. And why is this promise going to prove true for me and for you? Because we trust the Lord, and we take refuge in Him when life gets hard and we’re under attack or under pressure or facing peril or heartbreak or grief of simply the great unknown. We take refuge in our God in those moments not in a disassociated way, we don’t deny the difficult things in life, but in hope and in confident expectation. That’s perfect peace. That’s your promise.
Now let me share something I read from a missionary to China had to say about how Chinese believers, followers of Jesus, how they read this verse: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind stops at God.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Can I repeat that? I feel like it’s too awesome to only say one time.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind stops at God.
In the midst of your troubles, when those scary scenarios start to swamp your thoughts, and thus swamp your life, because where our thoughts go, there our lives go… in those moments, can you and I choose to let our mind STOP at God?
Is this possibly what it means to be still and know that He is God? I think so.
But this happened and then this might happen next and then it may snowball into this, that and the other… But what if my mind stops at God? But this happened, and He is God. Not God of some things, not God now and then, hit and miss, here and there. He is God. Period. My mind, that’s where it stops. At God.
Nothing is greater than our God. Nobody pulls a fast one on our God. Nothing gets past Him. Nothing lets Him down, because nothing holds Him up. He holds all things together, Colossians tells us about the Lord. All things. Nothing left out. Shalom peace, nothing missing, nothing broken.
He will keep you in perfect peace when your mind stops at God.
That’s it for this episode, and I’m so glad you were able to listen today. The highest compliment you could give the show is to share it with a friend. And just on the off chance that somebody might want to hear this, I am working on a Biblical Motherhood project and I have started a Pinterest board where I share some of my content, but also I Pin lots of encouraging content that falls under into the category of Biblical motherhood. If you are a mother or know a mom who would like some encouragement from a Bible based perspective, right here in the show notes is a link to that on Pinterest.
Lord bless you today, and hold your peace and let your mind stop at God today.
See you next time. Bye bye.
Friday Mar 14, 2025
Friday Mar 14, 2025
Hello there, and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. You know, hope is not something random. We don’t stumble upon it, trip over it, bump into it and viola - lookie there, life-change occurs. That’s not hope, especially not from a biblical perspective. The Bible has a lot to say about hope, and there is one book in particular that is brimming with hope for us today…if we’ll just take the time to read what it says, and, of course, to believe it. Looking for some hope? Then this episode is for you.
This is The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, available on the Edifi app, and this is episode number 205. I’m so grateful you’re listening, and I hope today’s episode encourages and blesses you.
When I am reading my Bible, and I see the word will or the word all in a promise God makes, I take it seriously. I usually underline it twice and often I will read it out loud and put emphasis on the word will, or on the word all. There’s nothing special about doing that; it simply reminds me that whenever God makes a promise, and says that He will do something, well, then He will. And I found that to be pretty significant, that decision to actively believe that He means what He says.
So, recently I was reading Revelation. Hold up. Don’t panic, it’s not just a scary book (although what is going to come upon the whole earth in the final days is very serious, I’m not denying that, not at all). But for the believer, for those who love the Lord, it’s a terribly hopeful book in the Bible. And, it kind of shouts about hope, because it’s not a past-tense, this already happened and it shows us God’s character, He’ll take care of me because He took care of, say, David, or Ruth, or Esther; those people inspire us to trust God all the more, and that is so important, such a blessing to have their real life stories to learn from, to be encouraged by, and to know God’s character, even in the dark times of life. But Revelation, well, there’s all this stuff that has yet to happen, prophecy to be fulfilled, and so much of what we read there is crazy encouraging. It’s profound. And we know it will happen, that what the Lord has promised will come to pass, well, that’s exactly what’s going to come to pass. So it’s a hopeful book, and a hope-filled book. Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick (that’s Proverbs 13:12). But with Revelation, we need to bear in mind that even though it feels like so long since John received this revelation from Jesus, as Peter wrote, God isn’t slow in keeping His promise, but is patient, because He does not want anyone to perish. To spend eternity apart from Him. That’s from 2 Peter, chapter 3, I believe.
Let me read to you from chapter 21 of Revelation, verses one through eight.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And He also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega - the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Got a whole lot of hope packed into these eight verses. The old heaven and the old earth are going to disappear. That’s just a fact. Jesus says so, and so it shall be. Disappear. Gone. No longer here. If we are loving the world so much, trying to maybe hold on to aspects of it, to make it better, improve it, help it along, maintain it, keep it going…well, that’s not the best use of our limited and finite time, because it is not going to last. Why spend all our strength on what is guaranteed to disappear? A 100% negative ROI. The sea will also be gone, says verse 1. When the old earth disappears, God will finally have His Eden. At the appearance of the New Jerusalem, which comes down from God out of heaven, there will be 1000 years of this world in perfection. Think about the hope and the promise of that. One thousand years of perfection. More than ten full lifetimes, as we know them know, more than ten lifetimes of peace and perfection in a world that is perfect. Every single thing will be perfect, under the reign and rule of Jesus. That’s a lot of good stuff to look forward to. Hope - Revelation 21 ushers in so much hope.
The sea will be gone. What does this mean? Well, here’s one thing that it means: restlessness will be no more. Think about the ocean, the sea. It’s not ever really flat and calm, except in that area around the equator known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or the doldrums. It’s calm there, but seasoned sailors (not so much in our day and age, but in the eras of sails and wind driven vessels) - seasoned sailors know that you end up stuck there, floating, not drifting, and it is so hot, the sun is so intense, the sea is flat and still, and there’s nothing good about it. No forward movement, no momentum, the last place you want to be languishing out on the open ocean. The doldrums are the one place where the sea is not restless, but it makes the seafarers extremely restless. So when it comes to the sea, it is always a restless place. There won’t be restlessness anymore. Knowing that a day is soon to come that will leave all our restlessness behind, well, that’s hopeful. In the new world there cannot be, will not be, restlessness or lack of peace, being tossed around here and there, to and fro, as if driven by the waves of the sea. And there won’t be any doldrums that nearly drive you mad. No longer any sea reminds us, promises us, a day is soon coming with no restlessness. Isn’t that a beautiful promise to hold on to and garner hope from?
God’s home will then be among His people. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Revelation 21:3-4.
When God says will in one of His promises to us, He means it. He takes it so seriously, and I think He’d like us to also take it seriously. He will wipe every, not most, but every tear from your eyes. God Himself will do it. He doesn’t send one of His mighty angels to do this, as He sends them to do so much of His will all throughout the book of Revelation. He Himself will bend near, and wipe every tear from our eyes. This verse sparks so much hope. There will be no more (how much more? No more!) death of sorrow or crying or pain. All these will be gone forever. How much kindness, love, goodness, compassion, mercy, grace and favor will come to us when this promise is fulfilled? God’s very character and nature are wrapped up in this. Are you feeling hopeful based on these promises?
He will make everything new. I’m not sure what needs to be made new in your life, but I can think of several things in my own life, my world, that could use some brand newness from the Lord’s hand. He is going to do what He said, and He will make everything new. Look forward to this time with hope and assurance. Take this seriously. He knows all the things that need to be made new in your life, and He is going to make it all new one day, likely one day very, very soon, based on the signs of the times and the season we’re living in.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. And He ain’t messing around. When He says in this chapter, “It is finished,” boy oh boy does He ever mean it. When He said that from the cross, and then gave up His Spirit and died, He defeated sin. And three days later, when He rose from the dead, He fully defeated death and the grave and hell for all who follow Him. It is finished are words in red that ought to wake us up out of our slumber.
To all who are thirsty, I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. What you need most, what you really are thirsting for in life, the stuff that matters when the chips are down and it’s all on the line and laid bare - He’s promising to give it to you freely. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be My children.
All is used in this promise twice. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings.
It takes something to be victorious. It takes being a follower of Jesus who actually follows Him. Indeed, not just in words. Do you obey Him out of your love for Him? Are you following Him? And are you applying His words from Matthew chapter 24, when He says that the one who endures till the end shall be saved? Sometimes in this day and age, we just have to keep enduring. Moment by moment. Heartbreak, grief, sin, overwhelm, fear of what’s to come, despair…in all this and so much more, He calls us to endure. Endure till the end. That is how we will be victorious and will inherit these blessings. You can do the work of enduring, because the Holy Spirit will help you.
And then, verse 8. But Oh boy, when the Lord starts a sentence with the word but, we need to pay attention. Close attention. He’s saying something really important.
But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers and all liars - their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
This is pretty serious.
Cowards. Okay, well don’t be cowardly when it comes to Jesus. If we are, then now is the time to deal with that. Pray and ask Him to make you not a coward, not ashamed to be known as one of His followers. In any and every situation and circumstance and relationship, He can make you brave for Him in place of being a coward. If this is you, please pray for it and seek His help. Today. Don’t dilly dally on this one.
Unbelievers, they don’t get the promise. They get the second death. We cannot continue to pretend that people who don’t follow Jesus are unbelievers and they don’t want to be believers, we need to stop pretending that they are somehow getting the new life when this verse says they get the second death. The corrupt, second death. Murderers, second death. You see, repentance and trust in the finished and complete and powerful work of Jesus, overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (which means we gotta have a testimony, right??) that’s the opposite of unrepentant people. A murderer can be forgiven all day long by the Lord, if they repent. Same for the immoral, the corrupt, and idol worshipers and all liars. Repent and then turn and do a 180 from whatever the sinful condition is. Liars, stop lying. Idol worshipers, stop it and instead worship the One True God. Those who practice witchcraft - listen, if you are into palm reading and horoscopes and astrology and WitchTok on TikTok where you learn about casting spells, or like that Eagles fan at the Super Bowl who was stabbing and stabbing and stabbing like a wild woman that voodoo doll - wearing a red string on your wrist to ward off the evil eye, or wearing an evil eye necklace, I could go on and on. Witchcraft is very much alive and well right here in western society, and we don’t need to lie to ourselves and say that it’s not the same thing as Jwesus was talking about here in Revelation 21.
Yes, it is the same thing. It’s evil. And even a controlling spirit, like if you are a person who has gotten used to manipulating people, sort of twisting words, laying on guilt, leaning on people to get them to do what you want, you know, manipulation, that’s a person who, in their spirit, in their inner being, in their thoughts and in their heart, they want to control people, and it shows up in their words and actions and behavior. That’s witchy stuff right there. But the Lord is always ready to heal and forgive, when we repent and turn away from that and turn toward Him. The Holy Spirit is always helping us. Ask for His help, a million times a day if you need it. Won’t He help you? He surely will.
Remember, the hope we have in these promises, that God is going to wipe away your every tear, and remove forever death and sorrow and crying and pain. Those will be gone forever. We want this to be our future reality. Not the second death. But eternal life with all the good that God has in store for us. Don’t miss this, not for the world (especially not for the world, since it’s going to disappear…that’s a lousy trade, trading eternal good for a guaranteed total loss). Grab the hope in Revelation, and don’t let it go. God’s got good for you, in this life and so much good for you in the next life.
Hang on to this hope. Hang on to Jesus.
I’ll see you next time. Bye bye.
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Monday Feb 24, 2025
Hey there, hello to you today.
Thanks for listening to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show.
Today’s subject matter is of the utmost importance, but not necessarily something that is talked about enough within the Christian community.
And that’s our tendency to live like orphans even though we are now part of God’s family thanks to Jesus.
God's promises devotional on Amazon
Good verses to read about your true identity:
Psalm 17:8
Isaiah 43:4
Psalm 147:3
Psalm 18, verses 2, 18 & 19, 28, 32, 35 & 36
Romans 12
John 8
We have so many promises from the Lord to assure and reassure us of our new identity in Christ, and yet we struggle with feeling unseen, abandoned, alone, wondering about unanswered prayers and the things in life, big and small, that wear on us and weigh us down.
How do we reconcile the way we feel with the promises God has given us?
That’s the heart of this episode of the podcast.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, which can be found on the EDIFI app, an all Christian content podcast option - as well as anywhere else you listen to podcasts. This is episode number 204.
If I could give a definition of a believer living more like an orphan than like a child of the Most High God, I would put it like this: there is a strong and sometimes even extreme sense of aloneness and possibly abandonment that can at times define some aspects of a person’s character, their attitudes, thoughts, feeling, beliefs and intentions.
This sense of aloneness and possibly feeling abandoned almost seems to operate on its own, like it has its own life force or something, working to mold the person’s self-image, actions and reactions. Sometimes it may seem like the words someone speaks are misheard and interpreted very differently than what was being conveyed (which can lead to strong reactions).
Decisions may be made based on feeling orphaned. This can also lead to rapid decisions and reactions, as in too quick and not thought out or prayed over. Ready, fire, aim sort of a thing.
We have a God who loves us and because of that love for us and because of our love for Jesus, we have an enemy, Satan. And I think our enemy works to get us feeling alone, abandoned, orphaned. The devil is in the details, isn’t that the saying? And the devil also works in darkness and tries to push God’s children into darkness as well. Operating in the darkness and pushing that orphan-like feeling on people is an attempt to manipulate people. And to keep the evil influence secret. Satan doesn’t want us to know that he is harassing us; he would like us to wrongly believe that the problem lies within us. The father of lies, the devil, always lies to us because it is his native tongue (that’s what Jesus said in John 8:44).
Some of the things our enemy often does is try to hide what’s actually going on from the Lord’s followers. He lies, he deceives, he manipulates. Now what if a person starts to counter the sense of aloneness with the truth from God’s word? Does the devil ever try to push back on the truth? Yeah, he probably does.
So what are we to do?
One thing I know for sure; Jesus died to give us freedom, and when we bump up against areas in our life where our freedom has been stolen or where we maybe have given our freedom away, we don’t want to just give up. Pray and keep on praying, isn’t that what Jesus taught His followers in Luke chapter 18? It can be so hard to keep on fighting the good fight of our faith in prayer sometimes. But I really want to encourage you to keep fighting. Keep praying. Keep your Bible open. Keep believing, even if it feels like it’s hard to believe those promises. Pray and don’t give up. Paul wrote about this in 1 Thessalonians - pray without ceasing. God won’t lie to you, leave you or forsake you. And you are not an orphan.
When we read Galatians chapter five, we get this beautiful picture of freedom. Not just freedom like we celebrate on the Fourth of July here in America. But freedom in Christ, next level freedom, freedom that impacts our life here and now but carries over into all eternity. It’s not a temporary freedom, there is no way that it can be taken from us (in spite of the fact that at times we may not feel free, our freedom in Jesus isn’t something that ebbs and flows, that comes and goes - it is permanent and eternal and everlasting, while our feelings don’t alway speak the truth).
From the J. B. Phillips translation, Galatians 5 verse 1 says this: Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.
As I read that verse once more, imagine yourself being freed from literal shackles of slavery and then think about letting yourself be re-shackled and enslaved.
That is what we are told not to do. Plant your feet firmly with the freedom Christ won for you. Stay planted, rooted in Him. And don’t move out of that place of being planted, don’t move to a place where Satan has the chance to put those shackles back on your ankles. Keep your feet in the right place and don’t let him get your feet moving off that place, the Rock which is Christ Jesus.
Freedom is what Jesus gave to you. He bought it for you. It’s yours. That’s an absolute iron-clad promise. Don’t forget it!
If you ever feel like you’re being pushed and pulled and prodded in a super stressful way, like you’re just being driven and driven and driven, that could be the enemy harassing you. Why do I think that? Because that driven driven driven feeling is in direct opposition to the Galatians 5:1 freedom that Jesus secured for us. And the Lord sure isn’t giving us the exact opposite of what He died to grant us. When you feel like you’re being driven, pause and pray, pray that the promised freedom God clearly talks about in Galatians would be your immediate reality and that the liar the devil would be rendered ineffective in his harassment.
Satan loves to drive people. Jesus never drives people.
Satan wants everybody to live like they’ve been orphaned, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it. But when we talk to the Lord about it, we bring it into the light and God’s truth lands on it and that is really effective at keeping us free. Because the truth, said Jesus, will set you free. John 8:31-32.
Genesis 18:14 says this: Is anything too hard for the LORD?
The Lord said these words to Abraham when Sarah laughed when He promised that she would have a son in about a year’s time.
It’s one thing to hear me pose the question, “Is anything too hard for God?”
But it’s quite another when the Lord speaks for Himself and asks, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” in direct response to one of His dearly loved children wondering whether or not He will keep His promise.
Is God maybe asking you today, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
How can you apply this verse to your situation? What’s your answer to His question?
We have some weapons in our spiritual arsenal.
Weapons like prayer, like fasting, like choosing belief and refusing doubt, the weapon of worship, and of course the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
Luke 24:13-35 tells us that Jesus walks with us and comforts us when we are traveling on a difficult path in this life. That indicates that He never wants us to feel abandoned or orphaned on those hard roads. He wants us to know that He is walking alongside us.
In John 16:24, Jesus described the Holy Spirit as our Helper, Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor, Counselor, Strengthener and Standby (Amplified).
This verse reminds us to ask and keep on asking in order that we might receive and have our joy be complete. Pray things through to their very final end. Please don’t give up on praying! Never stop praying! And keep believing every single promise God gives you in the Bible.
He loves you with great tenderness and he wants you to have a rich, full, joyous life as His child. Secure, at peace, resting in His love and care. Not a trouble free life - that’s not possible in this world, and Jesus Himself said that in this world we will have trouble, but to take heart, for He has overcome the world (John 16:33).
1 Peter 1:4 says that we have been born into an inheritance that is beyond the reach of change. Orphans don’t have an inheritance and they live in constant fear of change. Satan is so lying when he tells us differently than this verse promises!
And 1 Peter 2:9-10 is proof of our non-orphaned status. 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[g] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10
“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”[h]
We are chosen, consecrated, set apart, a special people for God’s own possession, called out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Once we were not a people, but that time in our lives is over and done with.
I’m going to list off a few more verses you are welcome to read for yourself if you’d like. The truths in these verses are promises that can cement in your heart and mind how the Lord really, truly feels about you.
Psalm 17:8
Isaiah 43:4
Psalm 147:3
Psalm 18, verses 2, 18 & 19, 28, 32, 35 & 36
And the entire twelfth chapter of Romans. That’s an excellent piece of the Bible to read!
Freedom comes at a cost.
But Jesus paid the price in full. And he or she who has been set free by the Son is free indeed. John 8:36
My prayer for you today is that the Lord will move by the power of His Holy Spirit to fully set you free, to bless you, guide you, speak to you so loudly that you know for certain He is right here with you. Delivering you from the enemy’s evil attacks, bringing total healing and freedom and restoration and redemption into your life. That’s a prayer I believe He will absolutely answer. Thanks for listening to this episode, and I’ll share a link to my devotional about God’s promises which is available on Amazon if that’s something you’d like to check out. The Power of God's Will: 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional: Burt, Jan L.: 9798573528939: Amazon.com: Books
Keep expecting God to keep all His promises. He’s got those hard situations, and He’s holding you safe and secure in the palm of His hands today. How could He ever forget you when He has engraved you on the palms of His hands?
Thanks for joining me for this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, getting the promises of God into the people of God, right where they belong.
I’ll see ya next time. Bye bye.
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Well hey there and hello again to ya.
Welcome back to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show.
Created for You Freebies at JanLBurt.com
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional on Amazon
Let’s go ahead and get started. God’s got good for you, and I am hopeful that this episode will remind you of that, no matter what kind of stuff life is throwing at you today.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, blessed to be part of the ministry of the Edifi app. That’s EDIFI, and you can find it in your app store. And if the show blesses or encourages you, I’d like to formally invite you to subscribe. This is episode number 203.
Today I am going to read a bunch of Bible verses to you and let the promises of God sink into your heart and also into your mind (because when the word of God gets into our mind, it literally changes the way that we think and that, my friend, changes the way that we live). And I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to prepare you right now, before I even quote one single verse, to ready you and prepare you to believe His amazing promises to you so that you can live from here on out like they are taking place, being accomplished, in your life. Live like His promises to you are true.
Because they are! God keeps all of His promises so I want to encourage you today to live like you know He is keeping all of His promises to you. To your family. And to His people all over the world.
Okay, so let’s dive into God’s Word and get some encouraging news in our ears, and into our thoughts, shall we?
First let’s start with some powerful and hopeful words that Jesus spoke. I am quoting the NLT for today’s podcast & let’s look at Mark 12:27 - Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”
Okay - this is where we are going to begin. It is so, so important to remember, when we are making the big bold decision to really, truly believe God’s promises - to live a believing life - that we don’t base our belief on anything other than the Lord. We don’t search out something in addition to Him in order to increase our faith. We aren’t mustering up more faith by trying to make ourselves have more faith. Rather, we are relying fully on Him. And we are simply deciding that we will believe what the Bible says to us. And so, this verse is just a great reminder that you don’t have to make God’s promises work out in your life, in your kid’s lives, etc. Nope. The pressure isn't on you to make happen what God has promised. But so often we live as if the pressure is on us, somehow, to do what is impossible for us. Only God is God, and only He can keep the promises He makes. Now only you can live by faith, believing God. But you and I have no ability or power to make it happen. We cannot get it done. But what we can get done is choose to believe Him, to take Him at His word, and to abide in Him moment by moment, even while we are expecting to see His promises fulfilled.
There are actually many, many things in this life that are impossible - for mankind. For humans. For wives and for moms and for employees and so on. Humanly speaking, there is gonna be stuff that is just not possible. But not with God! Aren’t these words from Jesus incredible?
Think for just a moment about what our Savior is actually saying to us. But not with God. EVERYTHING is possible with God.
So bring God into everything, then!
Never intentionally leave Him out of anything. You want the God who turns the impossible into the possible - you want that God doing all the things in your life, right?
Get a sense of Jesus, today, looking at you intently and reminding you, firmly but with great love and compassion, that it isn’t about mankind's ability to make this thing fly. Because is is God and God alone who makes everything possible.
Psalm 37:23 (NLT) says this - The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Okay, this is a great verse! What hope it provides! What assurance! This is quite a promise!
He is promising that He will direct your steps. And guess what? You can pray this verse over your loved ones, your co-workers, your spouse, your aging parents, your neighbors. And also, pray this over yourself.
Lord, please do as You have said in Your word and direct my steps. Lord, delight in every detail of my life.
Lord, direct my steps. I know my righteousness and any godliness within me is thanks to Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So Father, bless me and direct each step that I take. Stop me when I am near a misstep. Thank You for this promise of Your guidance and direction over my life, from now until my last breath.
It says that He delights in every detail of our lives. So guess what that means for us? How does that relate to us living in total belief that God’s promises for us are absolutely true and are being realized on the daily? Well, take every little and every big detail of your life to God in prayer. You can do that! You should do that! He cares so much - talk to Him.Talk to Him often. Like, talk to God a lot! All of the time. And remember, and keep on remembering, He delights, not tolerates or endures or notices, but delights in every detail of your life. You are not just barely tolerable. No, to the contrary, you are one in whom God takes great delight.
Oh this is a great promise. And a great prayer verse too. Quick side note here - anybody else feel kind of like we need to ramp up our praying? Just have that sense that we need to spend more time talking to the Lord, time in prayer by ourselves and maybe with others, too. If you feel that way too, listen to the Lord as to what He is calling you to. And keep track of, write down, memorize, put in your phone verses that you can have at the ready at any moment to pray.That’s just a little tip that comes in handy, having some verses saved to a note on your phone so that you can open it and start praying those verses at any time, it can be helpful to have that at hand. And maybe open that note and pray those verses rather than scroll when you have ten minutes to spare. Just a thought! Praying God’s promises is really amazing. Like, this will leave you amazed again and again. So, that’s my side note. Just keep seeking to be part of whatever He is doing, where He is moving. And hey, prayer is always always a good thing, is it not?
(And maybe take a look at what it says in Habakkuk 2:3 - that is an awesome verse to start a prayer time with. I encourage you to look it up but I will read it to you from the Amplified right now - For the vision is yet for the appointed (future) time; it hurries toward the goal (or fulfillment); it will not fail. Even though it delays, wati (patiently) for it, because it will certainly come; it will not delay.)
He is always moving, and even when it seems like there is a delay, which there is at times according to the verse I just read from Habakkuk, don't lose heart. Hang your hope on the Lord who always does as He has promised, and don’t unhang your hope when the wait gets long.
Okay, so this next verse is one that I think some people might feel like they just cannot seem to fully believe for themselves. Like, this isn’t going to be true for me. If you’ve ever thought like that, let me encourage you. I am hopeful that you and I can today believe this verse for our very own situations.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT) says - So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
A lot in that verse. First, God says to be strong and courageous and that sentence ends with an exclamation point. Now there weren’t exactly punctuation marks in the original Hebrew, right? But the translation into modern English gives us the exclamation point so that we grasp God’s meaning in this verse. The punctuation reminds us of the importance - it’s to garner our attention, to make sure we’re listening and reading what God has said in His word. So - let’s just do what He says to do! Be strong. Be courageous. Exclamation point. I am guessing you have one or more parts of your life right now, at this point in time, where you can apply this. So go ahead and apply it. Be strong. Be courageous. How? By resting in the Lord and knowing that He is going to keep His word.
Don’t be afraid. Think on Jesus and the fear dissipates, really it does! Do not panic before them, it says. Well “them” of course refers to their enemies. Don’t panic before your enemy.
And here is the reason why you don’t need to be afraid, don’t panic, but instead be strong and courageous. For the Lord your God WILL PERSONALLY go ahead of you.
This is profound to think about, and yet it is absolutely true.
When God says He WILL do something, He most assuredly will. You just be about the business of believing He will do all He has promised to do. Let Him be about the actual doing of it.
He will personally go ahead of you.
How’s that for a promise that can give you some big time faith?
And the verse ends with this - He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
I’m going to say that once more - He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
He won’t. That’s that.
I’ve got a couple more verses to share with you today. And I am believing they are encouraging to you and will have you just believing by the end of this episode. If not, hey, you can listen again. Let that faith grow in you and believe more and more every single day - trust God more than the news, more than fear, more than anything. Right?
Revelation 21:4 (NLT) - He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying of pain. All these things are gone forever.
This is such a wonderful verse for us. I’m not going to mention anything specific today - but we are living in a very tumultuous era. I’m going to say this about our current season in the history of the world: I believe we are living in the end times, the last days. And I say that based on what the Bible teaches us about how things will look in the end times. Now, many Christians will say that we have fifty or a hundred years until Jesus’ return. I don’t think that is possible, because it does not make sense based on what the Bible tells us the last days will be like. Let me explain what I mean - we know that in the last days no one will be able to buy or sell unless they take the mark of the beast, the mark on their hand and/or forehead. You’ve heard this before, I’m pretty sure. You can read about it in Revelation chapter 13, I think verses 16 through 18 specifically. A hundred years ago, was there a way for a mark to be put in your hand or in your forehead that would prevent you from buying or selling? Well, not really. How about fifty years ago? Not really. The answer is, no. It wasn’t possible. How about even 25 years ago? Back in 2000? Getting closer, but the tech wasn’t quite there.
So here’s some food for thought. If fifty, a hundred, or even just twenty five years ago the tech wasn’t ready for the mark of the beast to be implemented, and then if we just ponder the last five years or so, the changes in the tech world. It’s astounding how much has changed in a handful of years. So, at the pace technology is changing and advancing, and I can tell you in my limited experience with just the podcast industry and social media, it changes so fast, a month ago things were different with some of the apps and things I use. It’s quick change after quick change, all day long, right? So how does that work if we have fifty or a hundred years yet to go? Won’t the tech outpace the end times at this rate? Like, we cannot fathom what technology will be capable of in fifty or a hundred years. But right now, we can fathom the mark of the beast for buying or selling, and the tech, it would work. We’re right on the cusp of this being a possible and plausible reality. Since this is what we were forewarned of by Jesus Himself in the book of Revelation, is it wise to tell ourselves or to preach to others that we’ve got decades of quote/unquote safe time before it all happens as the Bible says? Or is it far wiser to say, hey, per the words of Jesus, we’re just about to this point technology wise. It’s coming, and it’s not going to be in five or ten decades…because at that point, the tech would have outpaced the very word of God, the prophetic aspects of the end times, and that, we know, cannot and will not happen.
So today, this moment, is the time for you to consider Revelation 21 verse 4. Let me read it once more. Revelation 21:4 (NLT) - He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying of pain. All these things are gone forever.
This verse is a balm for those who know Jesus. It’s key. It’s mission critical to remember there is a day coming when all the tears will stop. And that day is nearly here. No more death or sorrow or crying or pain. Gone forever. I don’t even need to say more about this verse, this promise from Revelation, except that it is for those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If you don’t, you are welcome to email me at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will reply. It’s so important to know Him, not know of Him, not just attend church, but really know Him. Not talking religion here. But true relationship with the Son of God, Jesus. I really do welcome you to contact me. Totally confidential and non judgmental. Just offering Jesus and how to have Him as your best friend forever.
Last verse today - Luke 1:37 (NLT) For the word of God will never fail.
Short and sweet. Doesn’t need explaining. No need for commentary. Just know that this is absolute and unchanging truth.
For the word of the Lord will never fail.
Anybody else need to know that today?
Take that thing, big and scary, and hold it up next to this verse, Luke 1:37. Does one seem bigger and one much smaller?
For the word of the Lord will - never - fail.
It won’t. It just flat out will not fail. Never, no never.
Lord bless you today. I have prayed for you, all who listen to this episode, and I am going to continue to pray for you.
Live a life sold out for Jesus, believing all of His promises, and just see what God might do in and through a life lived like that.
Find me via my website JanLBurt.com and grab any one of the free items I’ve got on the home page- and I have a book, a devotional, available on Amazon - The Power of God’s Will - 40 Days of God’s Promises - with verses that have the word “WILL” in them. God does what He says He will do, and He never doesn’t do what He has said that He will do.
Have a great day & I will see ya back here next time. Be sure to subscribe to not miss future episodes. Thankful you joined me & blessed to be able to stand by faith on the promises in God’s Word.
Bye bye!
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Thursday Jan 09, 2025
Well hey there, hello and a very warm welcome to this episode.
No need to dilly-dally or make small talk…let’s just jump right in and talk about God’s promises.
Link to the devotional mentioned in this episode
Link to the free No More Worrying digital download mentioned in this episode
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, which can be found wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as on the Edifi app, a unique podcast app featuring Christian content only. That’s EDIFI, available in the app store. This is episode number 202. The Promise of a New Year - God’s Promises for You.
New year, new you? Ever heard that phrase? How does that usually work for ya? Dive into a new year, do the prep for whatever needs prepping in order to make the new you a reality. Plan it, map it out, might even pray over it. This time! This time, for sure!
Sound familiar?
Let me ask again, how does that usually work out for you?
It works so well for (can you hear my sarcasm) that I have decided not to do that anymore. New year, same God, not going to fixate on a new and improve me. He can mold me, shape me, make me again another as it says in Jeremiah 18:4, do His sanctifying work in me for His glory and His purposes and I’ve decided that’s enough for me. More than enough, because thus far has the Lord helped me, declaring my Ebenezer (not like A Christmas Carol, but like 1 Samuel 7:12 and the hymn “Come Thou Fount” which holds the line, “Here I raise my Ebenezer”.
A far, far better way to start a new calendar year, in my opinion. I gain so much peace, I bend the knee and bend my will to God, I can rest in Him and also be expectant of all He will do in the coming weeks and months. As John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and He must increase.” Yes, please. This usually (or always) works well for me, whereas new year, new me…not so much.
The title of episode number 202 is “The Promise of New Year - God’s Promises for You” because there is so much promise in every new season when we walk out said season with the Lord. A new calendar on the wall counts as a new season, and the promises I’m about to share today fit this new season. As always, these promises are God’s promises, taken directly from the Bible, and they are for you, my friend. Y.O.U.
Psalm 125, verses 1 and 2, from the NLT:
Those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion; they will not be defeated but will endure forever. Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people, both now and forever.
Now of course this psalm, which is a psalm of ascent, has to do with Israel and her people. No doubt about that. And it also is an encouragement for us, not as Jewish people, but as Christ followers. 2 Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, reproof, instruction, correction. Knowing what Scripture says matters, and that’s why Psalm 125 matters for you right here in this season.
In Zechariah 14:4-11, Revelation 19:11-16 and Revelation 20:1-6, we read about the Messiah, Jesus, standing on Mount Zion when He returns the second time. So when Psalm 125 says that those who trust in the LORD are as secure as Mount Zion, well that’s pretty secure, I’d say. If that is the place where Jesus’ feet will land, where He will stand, it’s an iron-clad guarantee that Mount Zion is going to be there right til the very end… If we trust in the Lord, we’re secure like Mount Zion is secure. This is an amazing promise. It’s an immovable promise. They will not be defeated, but will endure forever. God surrounds you like those mountains surround Jerusalem, both now and forever. Huge, huge promise. If the only promise I shared with you today was this one, it would be more than enough for the entire year. Isn’t God good? What a promise! You are as secure as that mount on which Jesus will stand at His return, and I do not know what more could be said to ensure that you trust God and know this promised security is yours. Amen?
John 14:1 from the NLT says: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me.” This is Jesus speaking.
We all have things that trouble our hearts, and the things that fall into that category, the heart troubling category, well those aren’t the small things that get in our craw, that annoy us, the little irksome frustrations. No, anything we describe as heart troubling, well, that’s the real hard stuff in life. We can’t just brush it off, ignore it, say a quick prayer and have it dissipate, talk ourselves out of it, or anything like that. And Jesus says to you and to me about those things that are the big, hard things, He says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God (as it says in Psalm 125 verse 1) and trust also in Me.” Do you trust in God? Do you trust Jesus? Your answer is probably, “YES”. Do you trust Him with the things that give you a troubled heart? Do you trust Him in the midst of those things, in spite of things, trusting and trusting again and again, until your faith becomes sight, until you have the peace that passes all understanding, perfect peace as it says in Isaiah? This year, trust Him like that. Trust Him more fully, more completely, with more abandonment and more certainty that He’s got you, you are so secure in Him, more than you ever have before. Because He keeps all His promises, nobody is more trustworthy than our God, and perhaps no one’s trustworthiness has been questioned more than our God. Let’s not be among those who question Him, not today, not this time. Let’s choose, let’s opt in, to not let our hearts be troubled, but to trust God, to trust Jesus.
Let’s ponder God’s utter faithfulness for a moment, because it’s worth the reminder…when we are so dug in, all in, certain of who our God is and of His absolute inability to be anything but perfectly faithful and a perfect promise keeper, well then we believe all of His promises on a better, deeper level. Malachi 3:6 from the CSB says, “Because I, the LORD, have not changed, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.”
The Lord does not change. He doesn’t! But sometimes the lack of belief we exhibit reveals that we think it’s somehow okay to act like He does change, like He might change this time, He might do us dirty. We’re fickle, we’re selfish, we’re mercurial, and we’re not often the least be ashamed by that.
James 1:17 also from the CSB, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Just to reiterate the truth that God does not change, has never changed, will never change, it just is not going to happen so let’s go all in and believe what He has promised in the Bible.
John 8:12, NLT - Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
Want to be challenged and encouraged and bolstered and blown away by Jesus’ words and promises? Read John chapter 8. That’ll do it! Feel like you need to expand the boundaries of your faith in the Lord? Read John 8 and oh those boundaries will sure enough expand! In a good way, in the best way.
We don’t have to walk in darkness. There are no areas of life that don’t fall under this promise. So when we walk in darkness, maybe we’re forgetting this promise. Maybe we are in a place of unbelief for whatever reason. Maybe we just need to be reminded that Jesus IS, present tense, right now He is the light of the world - He is the light of your world right now. You don’t have to walk in darkness, in confusion, with a clouded mind, because you have the mind of Christ 1 Corinthians 2:16 promises. You have the light that leads to life. Don’t overanalyze, don’t think yourself out of believing it, just opt in and agree that what Jesus said in John 8:12 is true, and is true for you. Right now. No matter what. It’s a true promise for you today.
Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT, say - Trust in the LORD with all your heart (with some of your heart? Most of your heart? Or all of your heart? We need regular heart check ups to make sure our trust level is aligned with this verse) Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding (Do Not! When mom or dad says do not do that, well, the wise child listens and even the ornery child usually listens because a stern “Do not do that” warning from a parent…that gets your ears perked up. This is God, your Father, saying Do Not…and we think little to nothing about doing exactly what He says not to do. Let’s read again and keep that do not directive in mind). Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do (in most of what you do? Nope - in all you do) and He will show you which path to take.
Wondering which direction to go? Then seek His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take. We don’t just want these promises to be fulfilled in our lives, we NEED them to be fulfilled. And when we see something we’ve been missing, let’s make those adjustments and get on board with the Lord. The Good Shepherd leads His sheep well, and we’re safe when we listen to Him and not to any other voices. So, let’s listen up and heed His words.
Have you seen the animated film Over the Hedge? In one scene, the character R.J. says to another character, Hammie (and Hammie is sort of spacey, not all there, and Hammie is trying to eat a cookie that is broken in two and being held together with a band aid…kind of gross, right? Well, that’s us sometimes.) RJ says, “You don’t want that cookie, Hammie. That cookie’s junk.” What band aid cookie are you trying for and where is God saying, No, that’s junk? Trust in Him with all your heart, and do not depend on your own band-aid cookie version of understanding. He has better for you than you might have for yourself. You don’t want that cookie, my friend, because that cookie is junk.
Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT - The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with My word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Did you hear that?
His word will never return to Him void. It always produces fruit, always accomplishes what He wants it to, and will always prosper everywhere He sends it. Today, via this podcast, He is sending it to you and it will not return to Him void or empty or ineffective. It works. It can’t not work. It’s His word, and it does as He wishes. That’s the truth, right there. Believe it. (And this verse says will…it will accomplish all He wants it to and it will prosper everywhere He sends it. Will means WILL! My devotional The Power of God’s WILL - 40 Days of God’s Promises is all about this exact thing and you can find that on Amazon).
The last few weeks God has been laying on my heart the need to daily crucify my flesh. Now listen, I do not claim to be a prophet, and so maybe this is just for me personally, but I have a sense that I, and other disciples of Jesus, are going to need to be Spirit led, Spirit dependent, on a whole new level in the coming months. I really think that’s true. We might go through hard times, we may be tempted with prosperity (and that’s often harder to walk through and stay close to the Lord than poverty, truth be told). Crucifying my flesh keeps me close to the Lord. The flesh, well, it isn’t going with me into eternity and so it is in its last days, so to speak, it’s getting near its deathbed and it’s temperamental, it’s demanding, it's a brat. So as I seek to do as the Lord has put on my heart to do in my own life, Romans 8 verses five and six are what I’ve been pondering. These are the verses I’ll leave you with today. From the NLT - Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
The flesh makes me want to make a snarky comment when I get my feelings hurt. Crucify that, Jan. My flesh gets annoyed when my coffee maker goes kaput during blizzard weather and I want to be able to go get a coffee since I can’t make any coffee but I can’t cuz there’s half an inch of ice on my car and the driveway is a disaster and I can’t get out. Crucify that, Jan. So crucifying the flesh doesn’t always look like those huge and terrible sins that come to mind. It can be a bad attitude. Or maybe that’s just me. Either way, these verses remind us that our life belongs to Jesus now. And we can both believe all His promises to us and crucify our pesky flesh at the same time.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I have something free for ya today. If you ever struggle with worry, this is for you. It’s a digital download, a pdf, with 40 Bible passages that will combat worry in your life, and the way you utilize it is super simple. For 40 days, you just write Do Not Worry at the top of your daily to-do list (or set it as a reminder in your phone that will ping each morning). You read the verse or verses for that day, while bearing in mind that for the next forty days, just for forty days, you will not worry. You’ll hand those worries to God, and they’re not your burden to bear for forty days. Doesn’t mean you quit your job and run up the credit cards because Jan said so… that’s not at all what Jan said. You keep on living your life, but when you catch yourself worrying about something, about anything, you remind yourself that for forty days, you won’t give in to worry. You’ll lay that worry, that concern, at the feet of Jesus whenever it crops up, and you keep moving on without the stress of worrying. Do it for forty days. Seriously, this is a really great faith grower. Grab yours for free at JanLBurt . com
I hope you do that as this new year begins. Lord bless you, thanks for listening. I’ll see you next time. Bye bye
Friday Dec 13, 2024
Friday Dec 13, 2024
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.