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
Thursday May 19, 2022
Thursday May 19, 2022
Psalm 91 - Pray It & Believe Course with Jan L. Burt - Jan L. Burt - Hiro
Jan L. Burt (@janlburt) TikTok | Watch Jan L. Burt's Newest TikTok Videos
Well hey there! Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - getting the promises of God into the people of God, so that we can believe them, trusting the Lord more and more, day by day, and live in a state of trust, resting in the goodness of our God. And then praying from a place of belief and trust and rest. That is the “why” behind this podcast, behind every single episode. And I am incredibly grateful that you’re listening today. My prayer is that you will be blessed, refreshed, encouraged and be refueled for the actual living of your life when you finish listening to the podcast. God’s word is life changing, and I think your life is the perfect life to be changed and bettered by the word of God today. Let’s get to it.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode #107.
Recently on the podcast, we’ve been looking at promises God gives us in Psalm 37. This is a psalm written by David, and his psalms hold so much raw and honest truth - they remind us that we can talk honestly to the Lord about the things in our life that are painful, that are unfair, that are overwhelming. And David also reminds us to be thankful, praise-filled people. I mean, the people who know the Lord should really be the most praising people on the planet. We have so much to be thankful for, even on the hard days. And this psalm, as we land at just about the midpoint of this psalm, it has some really awesome truths for us that should make us a whole lot less nervous or uncertain or unwilling to talk to God about the stuff in our life that needs His touch, His intervention, His hand and His blessing and also to live more thankful lives. This is not me lecturing anyone at all - nope. This is me reminding my very own self to be thankful daily, and to stay thankful in the ups and in the downs.
Let’s look at three verses today, Psalm 37 verse 25 and then verses 27 and 28. I am going to read these verses aloud from the Amplified.
I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned, or his descendants pleading for bread.
Depart from evil and do good; and you will dwell (securely in the land) forever. For the LORD delights in justice and does not abandon His saints (faithful ones).
So we for sure have a couple of awesome promises to look into here.
Verse 25 is a verse that my husband and I have been quoting for decades. Like, when we were young parents and had loads of medical debt and just were living paycheck to paycheck, we never stopped tithing and giving literally because we believed promises like this one. We just believed! We would speak it out loud, thank God for this promise in our prayer times, and when we would have something looming in the future that was likely going to be beyond our means, our finances, to take care of, we would remind ourselves of this promise. So, it’s kind of a personal one for me, you might say. Like, I have a lot of memories of choosing to stand in a place of belief based on the words we read in Psalm 37, verse 25, and you know what? Never, not even once, did this promise not prove true.
Our God is always, always true to His word.
Verse 25 says - I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned, or his descendants pleading for bread.
I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their children begging for bread.
Never.
What a bold word, that word never. When someone uses the word never, it can seem like an exaggeration because honestly it is sometimes. But not here, David is not exaggerating. He is stating that never in the course of his life, and think of some of the things he saw in his life - on the run from King Saul for 13 years, living in caves with hundreds of men alongside him, as the leader he would have held some measure of responsibility for feeding them, right, and also what about the care of their families? We know from reading in 1 and 2 Samuel that David took that seriously, the care of his men and of their families. Just thinking about that one aspect of his life, and reading this verse that says he has never seen those in right standing with God abandoned or their children, their descendants, begging or pleading for bread… well, never means never. David never saw it because it never happened.
So, ask ourselves how is our standing with God? Are we in right standing with Him? That really comes through Jesus, and then we of course want to continue to live in a way that honors and glorifies Him and that includes obedience, right? So if that is how we are living, won’t this promise become our promise?
Yes, it absolutely will.
Speak it, pray it, believe it. In this verse, never really does mean never. You, your descendants, will not be pleading for bread - you will never be abandoned by your God.
That is the kind of promise that the whole world is seeking.
The world so much wants peace of mind and freedom from worrying about things like provision. The whole world is full of people who want to know they won’t be abandoned or forsaken. We look for it in relationships and in the workplace and in friendships and we want it from our families and our friends and even from our neighbors. But really that can only come through the Lord, because He is the only one who can make such a big promise and then keep that promise.
I hope you and I can grow, day by day, to trust Him more. For His provision, literally for bread for ourselves and for our descendants, our children, our families, and also that we will not be abandoned. This is a promise filled with so much blessing, just the peace of heart and peace of mind it brings is worth more than gold, ya know? And I do want us to believe it. And to receive the full measure of blessing that comes with that belief.
Verse 27 - Depart from evil and do good; and you will dwell (securely in the land) forever.
Don’t be in the camp of people doing evil things. I don’t think you need a diatribe about what is actually evil and what isn’t. The New Testament tells us not to even be around things that have the appearance of evil, so that says it best. Like, even if it appears evil don’t be around that. How down in the weeds should we go with this, you might ask? Well, Jesus took this stuff so seriously that he said if your eye causes you to sin, you would be better to gouge it out and be blinded in one eye than to give in to that sinful living and if your hand causes you to sin, to cut it off and be maimed but not in sin. So this is pretty serious. Jesus was saying, take this seriously. And yet, we really don’t. How far down in the weeds should we go? Well, how far do you need to go before you take it as seriously as Jesus said to take it? That’s how far you need to go.
Depart from evil - leave it, don’t stay with it, don’t remain there, just depart. That doesn’t indicate a later return. God wants this to be far from you because you walked away from it on a long term, permanent level. Be a departer, then.
And instead, do good.
Again, you don’t need me to tell you what is good. You already know. It’s all over your Bible, too, so the good you ought to be doing is going to jump off the pages to you so long as you are opening it and reading it. Want to know what good things God wants you to do? Open your Bible and find out.
And once you join those who have departed from evil and now are doing the good works your Father wants you to be doing, you will dwell securely in the land forever. So, to take this literally, in the very land where you live, in whatever country on this planet that may be (and there are people all over the world who listen, last month there were people from 49 countries who listened to the podcast, and that is just awesome, isn’t it? The big C church around the world is who will spend eternity together, and I love that we have some kind of connection here on this earth via things like podcasts) You will live securely wherever you dwell. Take this promise seriously, because it is in the word of God in order to be believed. And when we believe a promise from the Bible, we are taking it seriously. This is your promise. Believe it! And believe it for your workplace, too. You will dwell there securely. And pray it over your local church, because our leaders, our pastors, the people we attend church with, need to be covered in believing prayer. You can be the one doing that praying, and God will hear you as you pray. You will dwell securely in the land. Such a good, good promise for us.
Verse 28 - For the Lord delights in justice and does not abandon His saints (faithful ones); they are preserved forever but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
The Lord delights in justice.
Our God is not in the business of ignoring injustices.
He delights in justice.
He sees, and He will set it right. He is merciful and wants people everywhere to come to salvation and experience His forgiveness. But He delights in justice, so a time of reckoning will come. Somebody may need to hear that today.
You have an eternal promise here, that His faithful ones (if you know Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, the one way to heaven, the one way to receive God’s forgiveness, then you will be preserved forever). In these three verses, we find promises to sustain us in this life, in the right now, and promises to sustain us for eternity. Aren’t God’s promises amazing? And isn’t the One who makes these promises generous and kind and merciful and benevolent?
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
God says this, clear as day, and He means it. He does not love for wickedness to increase and continue and spread from one generation to the next. He just doesn’t. And when He says there will be a cut off point, well, then, we can be sure that it will be so.
It’s important to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And it’s important to do those things in full the sight of our children. And then to encourage them to do the same thing. What we teach our kids matters, folks. Character matters. Having good character and teaching good character.
You can trust that the same God who did these things in the life of His servant David will do them in yours. He is no respecter or men, meaning God does not pick and choose who He will care for and bless and when and where He will or won’t keep His promises based on us as humans, our status, our achievements, our prosperity, and lineage. The kingdom of God isn't like Harvard. Having a great grandparent who was a such and such and a so and so does not make a hill of beans worth of difference to God. These promises are yours so long as you know Jesus as Lord.
If you do, then believe them. And watch God keep His word to you.
Hey, my course on Psalm 91 is available and I’d love for you to join. The link is in the show notes, (Psalm 91 - Pray It & Believe Course with Jan L. Burt - Jan L. Burt - Hiro or you can check it out on my website, just scroll down a smidge on the page that comes up when you go to Jan L Burt dot com or use the Google and search for Psalm 91 Course Jan L. Burt and it will come right up. It’s an audio course, each lesson drops right into your app where you listen to podcasts and as a special offer to a group I am part of, a prayer group to be specific filled with prayer warriors who believe God’s Word with everything they’ve got, as an offer to that group I have discounted the course pretty significantly but this price will only be around for a couple of weeks. I’m speaking at an upcoming summit and before that takes place in June the price will go back up to $37 but through the first few days of June 2022, it’s all the way down to just $21, so like a total steal at that price. I’d love for you to join me for this course. Not much I can think of than really understanding and believing the huge promises we find in Psalm 91. Life changing for you, life changing for everyone you pray those verses over, life changing on pretty much every level.
Thanks for listening, and do not forget these promises are for you. God will keep His word and you will never be abandoned and will always be provided for and will dwell securely in the very place where God has you right now.
See you next time!
Jan L. Burt (@janlburt) TikTok | Watch Jan L. Burt's Newest TikTok Videos
Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents - on Amazon
Friday May 13, 2022
Friday May 13, 2022
Psalm 37[a]
A psalm of David.
1 Don’t worry about the wicked
or envy those who do wrong.
2 For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
8 Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
10 Soon the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
11 The lowly will possess the land
and will live in peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
13 But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and rich.
17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
18 Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19 They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
they will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.
23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
25 Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
or their children begging for bread.
26 The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.
He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will die.
29 The godly will possess the land
and will live there forever.
30 The godly offer good counsel;
they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
so they will never slip from his path.
32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
looking for an excuse to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.
34 Put your hope in the Lord.
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.
35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people
flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
36 But when I looked again, they were gone!
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
37 Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
38 But the rebellious will be destroyed;
they have no future.
39 The Lord rescues the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him.
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
Jan L. Burt (@janlburt) TikTok | Watch Jan L. Burt's Newest TikTok Videos
Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents - on Amazon
Well hey, hello again! Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, the podcast about God’s promises. And hey, those promises are for you, and they are for right now. Not just for later on. Isn’t that good news? Let’s check out a couple of those promises on today’s show.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode #105.
Psalm 37, verses 21 thru 24 from the Amplified.
21
The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
22
Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
but those he curses will die.
23
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
24
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
The wicked borrow and never repay. So, yeah, let’s not do that. Pretty plain and simple. Sometimes the Bible is so clear, it just outright tells us what God thinks on a matter. It does that a lot, actually. This is one of those places.
But the godly are generous givers.
Ya know, God is so generous. It is almost mind altering, like kind of blows your mind how generous He is. Nobody has ever been a giver like our God. Generosity is one of His hallmarks, He gives so big. Let’s be known as His people in part by our generosity. This doesn’t have to just apply to money, but time, how generous are we in our praying, like praying for others. And others beyond me and mine, ya know, my kids and my spouse and my friends and my BFF from middle school and that is it. That’s my prayer list.
I’ll just tell ya, I have had quite a prayer list over the years. And not just now, like oh you’re in the empty nest phase so you have time to pray. Well, I learned how to invest in prayer when my kids were at home and we were a homeschool family and had ministry work we were doing and during deployments, during illness, yeah. There is time for prayer, and praying generously for others is really an incredible ministry, and it is ministry that is so needed. Is there any way in your life in which you could become more generous in your prayer time? The Lord can guide, He will show you if there is something He wants to grow in you in this area, so if He leads you, be sure to follow. And think about other ways that you can be generous that go beyond just finances.
Those the Lord blesses will possess the land, but those He curses will die.
In the last episode I mentioned letting God do His work of dealing with the wicked, and that applies to verse 22 as well. He says those He curses will die. You and I do not need to be running around dropping curses on people. Like don’t do that. I am actually very serious. Just don’t. Not gonna deep dive into details on that today but I want to remind you that God takes seriously evil in this world, and He handles things. Perfectly and justly. He is merciful and He is just and He is loving and He is holy and all those things are always true of the Lord God Almighty. So those He curses, not those we curse, but those He curses will die, says this verse. Let that be that, and be careful with your words, with any cursing flowing off your tongue.
Those He blesses will possess the land. Look, the land is not the same for us as the Israelites who actually inherited a chosen place, the Promised Land. But God has things for us that He gives us, He gifts to us. Places for us to posses. Not places for us to get by, to just endure. But places where we can really be at home. You can pray this, and really I hope you do pray this, over where you work, who you work with, where you live, where you vacation, your church home, your loved ones homes and workplaces, even your hobbies. Ask God for the good land He has for you, whatever that quote/unquote land might be.
The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
This is such an awesome promise!
We are godly because we know Jesus. He imparts His righteousness to us. And that’s how this promise can be ours. He will direct your steps. Expect it. Ask Him for it. Depend on it. And don’t panic and freak out that I’m going the wrong way. Look, if you are going the wrong way unintentionally, He can let you know. Ask Him to always do that, and I believe He will. Isn’t that what this is telling us? And if you are going the wrong way by choice, with a lot of intention behind that choice, don’t expect God to be about the business of blessing that. An attitude, a spirit of rebellion, is never becoming for a child of God. Kill that off if it’s a thing in your life. But understand that if you’re not just bucking His authority and jamming out to “You Can Your Own Way”, then He will direct your steps. This is a great promise!
He delights in every detail of your life, so you’re never boring to God, you don’t annoy Him, when asking Him about this detail or that choice or any number of things. It’s not too big and it’s not too small. If something were too big or too tiny, this verse wouldn’t be true because it says He delights in EVERY detail of our lives. We are not on our own, out here just trying to get by. No! Our God is here with us, delighting in every single detail every single day. Take comfort in that and talk to Him about the details. I mean, if it brings Him delight, man, that’s incredible!
If you and I stumble, and hey it happens and that’s part of living in this world, He says here we will never fall because He is holding us by the hand. Think of a toddler, just learning to really walk well, they have like those wobbly chubby legs and not only do they not have their sea legs, they don’t legs for level ground when they just are getting started with this walking business. So, mom or day hold their hand. And they kind of wobble, start to go down, but they can’t really fall because you’ve got their hand. You keep them on their feet even when the road is rough. They don’t fall because you are the hand holder and you are in charge of keeping them from falling.
That’s the promise here, and we can live like this is true. Yea, I may stumble but I ain’t gonna fall. My Lord, He holds me by the hand. And He is not going to let me go. I’m good. I’m safe. It’s not up to me to do the impossible, be perfect, never ever stumble, but it is up to me to trust that what God has said to me in Psalm 37 verse 24 is my promise, my truth, my hope and my assurance.
I can rest assured in this assurance because that’s what assurance does. It provides peace and rest, even in the tough moments. Rest assured, though you stumble, you will not fall, for your God holds you by the hand.
Be sure to join my free online prayer retreat group, it’s on Facebook, the link is in the Show Notes or just search Praying Through the Storm Online Prayer Retreat. We are doing some praying in there, leaning in hard to God’s promises, and it could really be a blessing for you. So check that out, come join us and expect blessing. It’s always a place of blessing, any place that is about praying and believing God’s promises. Praying Through the Storm Online Prayer Retreat on Facebook. You can also find me on TikTok at @janlburt.
So glad you’ve joined me today. See you next week for episode 106.
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents - on Amazon
Well hey there, welcome to the podcast. Gonna do a bit of getting some of God’s amazing promises into the people that He loves so much. That would be you! Getting the promises of God into the people, fighting the good fight, the spiritual fight, for freedom in Christ. Grabbing hold of your true identity, you are who God says you are, period - that’s the truth, hang on to that! Don’t let go of that! That’s really what The Burt (Not Ernie) Show is all about.
Thanks for being here today. I’m so honored, so blessed, to share with you from Psalm 37.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode #104
We’ve been diving into Psalm 37 on the show and today we are looking at a few verses, 17 thru 19, from the New Living Translation.
Let me go ahead and read those three verses.
Psalm 37, 17, 18 & 19, NLT
17
For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
18
Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
19
They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
First promise we find here is that the strength of the wicked will be shattered. And remember that when God says will, He means it. He never says will and acts like He said maybe. No, will means WILL. So the strength of the wicked WILL, absolutely will be shattered. And you and I, we don’t bear the responsibility of ensuring that God’s promises come to pass. So you and I do not have to go about the task of shattering the strength of the wicked. I mean, say you are a judge, well you for sure have a vital role in society and God has placed you there, and some of that will include versions of dealing with wickedness. But for most of us, this is not the world in which we live and work, right? We have to simply trust God, and He is always and totally worthy of our trust, trustworthy is our God, and let Him do His will His way. In His timing, which is never the wrong timing. It’s never delayed, even when we feel like it is. It’s never wrong when God steps onto the scene and deals with some sort of wickedness. And the burden for that timing does not rest with us. The next promise is that the Lord takes care of the godly.
You and I, we are not godly in our own right. Any righteousness we have, and we do have it according to the New Testament, is in Christ and because of Christ. So this promise applies to us. It can be ours, any day of the week. Now keep short accounts with the Lord. Don’t be a grace abuser, ya know? Repent. Desire to live a life that honors Him and to just be yielded to Him day after day. We live in God’s grace but we don’t take God’s grace for granted.
The Lord takes care of the godly.
Is He going to not do this? This very thing that He has promised to do, will He not do it?
It’s pretty ridiculous to think He wouldn’t do what He has pledged Himself to do.
You’re going to be taken care of. I’m gonna say that again. You are going to be taken care of. And not just any old care, but God’s care. There’s nothing like it in the entire world. And here it is, promised to you.
Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent.
Well that is good to know. Good to stand on this truth. And it is the truth, the absolute truth, because it is in the word of God and we know that it is impossible for God to lie.
Like, He can’t. And both the Old and New Testament tell us that nothing is impossible with God, all things are possible. But one thing that is not possible? The impossibility is that God could ever lie. One thing - one impossible thing in an endless realm of impossibility…lying.
My friend, God has not and never will lie to you.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It’s literally His name. Not a character trait, but who He is. And we know God keeps His word. His promises are kept promises and always will be kept promises. So, He will take care of the innocent.
Not my job, nor yours, to figure out how He should do that. He said He would, and He will, so I want to be expectant of it but not griping about how I don’t like how long it’s taking or I saw this on the news so that means God isn’t taking care of the innocent, or what about Hitler, and so on. We cannot put God on the same plane, the same level, that satan is on. Evil is not from God. But sometimes people, even Christians, even God’s own people, will kind of put Him there. He does not plan and He does not do evil. That’s not His bag - that lies at the feet of another, but not at nail-scarred feet. Know what I mean?
Have enough faith to believe that He will do what He promised.
And they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
This is eternal. Not temporal. And that’s the kind of promise we have to lean into, ya know? Push past the now, what you can see with your eyes, and think about the next life, what comes next. Eternity. This is an eternal promise God is making to the innocent. Maybe some of what we see in the world is hard to understand, we can’t exactly make peace with it, but it helps when we remember this life is not all that there is. This is a beautiful and comforting promise. Satan will usually want to cause discomfort in the face of a comforting promise. Satan will often want to try and make something seem ugly when it is in fact something beautiful from the Lord. But we are not unaware of his schemes, and so we can learn to see beyond the right now and stay expectant about what comes after.
They will not be disgraced in hard times. Even in famine they will have more than enough.
This is a whopper of a promise. Ya know, have you heard about food shortages or anything lately? If not, you probably will. There is a storm brewing, my friends. And you may be in the camp of the new head of Twitter is gonna really make things better but I want to remind you that our hope cannot be in the dudes in charge of the Tweets. It needs to be in Christ alone. Do I love free speech? Sure. Do I depend on it for my eternal destination? Nope. First things first, and it’s always Jesus first. So to tie that into this verse, Psalm 37:19, man can try to pretty this up over here and also mankind as a whole can be dirtying things up over there, and we as the people of God, whom these promises are for, can rest in those promises no matter what is tidy here and dirty there. Food shortages are going to happen. Famine. That’s a horrible, horrible thing, ya know? And in light of the promise that even in famine the innocent will have enough, well first off we want to be among the innocent, so know Jesus as the One who has obtained the needed cleansing for sin that makes us innocent in the sight of God, that’s numero uno. And second, knowing this promise is for us, well then let’s be in prayer that more and more people all around the globe will come to know Jesus as their own Lord and God, as the disciple Thomas said when he saw the resurrected Jesus face to face, he said, “My Lord and My God” - not just the other disciples Lord, but his. Let’s pray that becomes a global reality, spreading and spreading every single day. And then pray that this promise, of having more than enough with food shortages taking place to still have more than enough, let’s be praying that over people worldwide. I’m serious about this.
Look, I take God’s promises so seriously that I pray them in this manner. You should too. If someone says that’s kind of silly, don’t ya think Jan? I’d say, “You got a better idea?” What’s a better idea than simply taking God at His word.
Aren’t those the moments in the gospels when Jesus was in awe? When He was so taken at His word that it was utter belief, ain't’ no room for disbelief? Let’s be those kind of people. Let's just try to have our Lord be in awe of our huge, huge faith. I mean, that’s a pretty terrific life goal if you ask me.
And it’s kind of my personal goal. But I hope you make it yours, too.
Okay, so what’s coming up? My course on Psalm 91! Audio based content, super easy to consume, just listen right in your podcast player, like where you are listening to this right now. One click and that’s it. It will release on May 15th (that’s a Sunday, so if it drops like a day earlier don’t be surprised). And it’s going to encourage and challenge you to pray big, bold, daring prayers based on what is promised to us in Psalm 91. I’ll be sharing the link to sign up here on the podcast and in the Show Notes as soon as it is up and running.
Next time we are going to look at verses 21 to 24 from this same psalm, Psalm 37, and keep growing in our steadfast belief that every word of God proves true.
He has amazing things He has promised to you and I am so glad you are getting all that He has for you in this life.
Thanks for listening, please hit the subscribe button and if this has been encouraging maybe share it with a friend. You’ve been listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now on the Edifi app.
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents - on Amazon
I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my new YouTube channel - God's Promises for You (subscribers helps get the videos in more search results on YouTube, which means more people hearing about His promises!) ~ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOaqejjmiy-g0lGZMhH-FuA
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Hey there, my friends! Welcome to today’s episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, where we focus on getting the promises of God into the people of God, one episode at a time.
I’m your host, Jan L. Burt, and I gotta tell ya - I’m so glad you’re here today.
Let’s dig into God’s Word.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 103.
So, here we are in Psalm 37. We’re looking at two verses today, 9 & 11, from the Amplified. I’d love to read them and then take a look at what they hold for us.
Because the Word of God always is holding out something to the reader, to the believer. It holds out hope, life, peace, encouragement, wisdom, clarity, insight for the actual living of our lives. You got a problem? Don’t turn to Vanilla Ice to “Yo, solve it.” Turn the pages of your Bible and see what God is holding out to you through His Word.
Psalm 37, verses 9 & 11, from the Amplified.
For those who do evil will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
But the humble will (at last) inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.
Isn’t it good news to know that God has said, just flat stated as a fact, that those who do evil will be cut off?
And will really does mean will. What God intends to do, that’s what gets done.
Jesus dealt with the penalty of sin and death at the cross. It is paid in full for all who know Jesus as their own Savior, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Evil will be dealt with. Think for a moment about those words, evil will be cut off. This is clear as day, and it’s right here in the Bible for us to be encouraged. Like, take courage from this! Evil will be cut off. Cut off. Severed. A permanent and irreparable separation. God is loving and patient and desires all mankind to come to Him and yield to Him and become part of His kingdom - but not everyone is going to do that. And God is not unjust, oh no, He is just. Justice is His, and it’s not some separate part of His character that pops up now and then. It’s who He is, He can’t not be just. He is the God of justice. He is the Righteous Judge. And so we can count on the fact that those who do evil will be cut off, He will deal with evil. And His dealing will be perfect because He is perfect, it will be completely just because He is just. He can’t be otherwise.
But for those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.
As a child of God, and that is what you are according to 1 John 3:1 and John 1:12 and Romans 8:16, among other places in the Bible, as God’s child you have an inheritance. But like an underage child, you don’t get all of that inheritance just yet. There are things stored up for you in eternity, and right now you may be like, “Aww, man… I wish I could have those things now!” but once you get there, with the Lord, and see the inheritance He has stored up for you, you won’t be sorry that you had to wait. And a lot of it, you get right now. There is no end to the things that really matter in life being yours right now, and in ten seconds still yours, ten minutes, yours again, ten years, oh yeah! Still yours!
The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard both your heart and your mind - that’s a big inheritance, my friend. Listen up here, here’s the thing - we often think the touchy feely material things are the parts of our inheritance that we want the most, those are the important things. But are they? Or, when we get to heaven and we walk on streets paved with gold, will we see that the very thing, the materialism of our culture, the very thing we strove after and so wanted God to give us more and more of will literally be under our feet? Is there a huge takeaway in that? If it will be under our feet for eternity, which is a long time ya know, should it go right there under our feet in this life, too? Put it in its rightful place and don’t elevate when God wants it under our feet, in a place of submission so to speak, like money and things and stuff can’t rule over us when we are in His kingdom. We can rule over it. It yells and screams and demands that we pay attention to it, work harder for it, give money money money money, MONEY more of what it wants. But we can make the decision to not give in to its demands and let it be under our feet, we won’t bow down to it and we won’t reach our hands up high grabbing for it - we will not chase after it any more than we chase after the concrete in our driveway or the asphalt in our cul-de-sac.
And yet, in spite of it being under our feet for all eternity, God still blesses us with the things in life that make life sweet. Isn’t He good? He is so good? Hold it all with open hands and never let worry consume you - tell God exactly what you need and believe, like actually totally trust Him, to take care of you. That’s also part of your inheritance and it can never be taken from you.
Do you know what people, now I’m talking about people who do not know Jesus here, what people would give to have permanent peace in their life? Security? Deep times of refreshing rest? Abiding joy? A salve for the difficulties of life in this harsh world? A lot, they would give so so much. And that’s all part of your inheritance that you get access to right now.
The humble will inherit the land (so this portion of Psalm 37 seems to be telling us that we can expect good things in this life - and it also tells us God wants us to be humble). Anybody else here need to work on their humility factor? I just wish I could like get some IG stories type things of Moses, because he was the most humble man to ever live (that’s scripture, so that’s just the truth). I think of Moses when I think of godly and God-honoring humility.
When we are humble, there is an “at last” inheritance that will come into our lives. At last. That indicates that it will be so great, such a blessing, when it comes to pass. Get humble, stay humble, and trust God for that at last moment. It will come, because He has promised that it will.
And the last part of verse 11 says that the humble will, in addition to the at last moment of inheriting the land (whatever that may look like, the Lord knows what your piece of the pie, piece of the land needs to be) - the humble ones will also delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.
When I see that word abundant in the Bible, it stands out to me. Our God is such a God of abundance. I mean, over the top. Grace? Oh it’s abundant. Forgiveness? As far as the east is from the west - that’s pretty abundant forgiveness. I could go on and on, but you get what I mean. He gives abundantly. So here He promises that the humble will delight themselves in abundant prosperity (okay, so humble folks aren’t like gaudy, flaunting their wealth, they actually can be both prosperous and not come off as haughty, so that’s another awesome benefit of our humility - we remain approachable and we can love others well - it’s pretty hard to do those things when you aren’t humble. Combine prosperity with lack of humility and ouch, kinda just yuck, ya know? God’s children should not be ouch and yuck people.) And an abundance of peace.
This whole world wants wants wants peace. Folks fighting for world peace. For peace in their homes. With the in-laws. On that committee. At the car dealership, trying to buy a car and it is not a peaceful event - but man, it can be! I’ve done it, it sure can be! We have an inheritance of an abundance of peace. Something the world so needs. It is because of who our God is, it’s Jesus.
Can you live in the actual peace of God in order that people who don’t know Him may come to know Him just because of your abundant peace?
Can you live in a place of true humility, no matter what your station in life may be, in order that people will be drawn to the Lord? Oh real humility is like a magnet, it does a lot of drawing. Might not draw everybody in your life, but that’s okay, magnets only attract metal, not plastic or shrubbery or paper. Just metal. That's how magnetism works. And you aren’t for everybody, but you’re not for nobody.
So live in peace, because that’s your inheritance. It’s yours! Grab it! Take it! Be blessed by it! Stay humble, wait for the Lord, expect His daily provision, and know that at the right time the God of justice will deal with all evil. And look forward to the inheritance that is awaiting you in eternity. It’s gonna be so, so good.
Thanks so much for joining me today for The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app - which you can download via the app store on your device.
And be sure to check out my book on Amazon if you are looking for a new devotional or if you are a parent and you’d like to grab the 60 day prayer journal, just search Jan L. Burt on Amazon and boom there I’ll be.
See you next time to look at verses 17 thru 19 of Psalm 37, and also got something special for ya next week so be sure to check in and see what that is.
Sunday Apr 10, 2022
Sunday Apr 10, 2022
Well hey there, hello to you today.
It is April, and that means we are nearing Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. For Christians, the greatest holiday on our calendar. A time to ponder what Jesus obtained for us on the cross, total and complete forgiveness and a life of freedom - Galatians 5 tells us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and He doesn’t want us under a burden of enslavement to sin ever again. Stay free, my friend! That is the Lord’s will for you this Easter season, so grab hold of His will and live in it. Live fully free in Jesus, because of what He did for you.
We also think about the resurrection at Easter. The tomb is empty. Remember that! We have a living Lord, and that should give us daily hope. Hope that transforms. Because if Jesus is anything, He is certainly transformational. Our God transforms lives every single day. One of those lives is yours, my friend.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 102.
So how does Easter fit with Psalm 37?
Let’s get into that.
I’m going to read verses 5 thru 8 from the NLT
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.
And let me read it in the Amplified Classic, it’s worth the time to read it once more.
5 Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.
6 And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.
7 Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself—it tends only to evildoing.
Okay so there is some word usage in the older version, the Amplified Classic, that isn’t the stuff we normally toss around when we chat. But isn’t it good? Roll and repose each care of your load on Him.
Look, our God never ever asks us to pretend that we don’t have heavy loads in life. Some days are just heavy, ya know? Here, right here, the Lord acknowledges that reality and offers a solution. Roll each and every care onto Him. Take a repose. I love that! Can you do that today? Can you remember that part of what Jesus did for us at Calvary was to obtain rest? Hebrews chapter 4 is all about God’s rest, and how we are to enter that rest. Honestly, I’d love to put together a study on rest from Hebrews 4. Maybe I will. I’m looking into a way to create courses that are audio based, because video takes longer to consume and we are living in a podcast friendly world, audio is kind of king as far as consumption. We can listen while doing the dishes, listen and drive safely, listen and go on a run. So to have course content not be all video and pdfs, which are great, but to be able to say access your course content right on your preferred podcast player, whatever app you use… I am seriously looking into that. And hey, rest is a big need. So don’t be surprised to see this coming your way soon.
Jesus has rest for us. And it is not like an afternoon nap, awesome as those can be, this is His perfect rest for us. Man, I always want the perfected version of something, the Jesus version, over the world’s copycat kind of version, ya know? So of course, it is this rest, Hebrews 4 rest, Psalm 37 rest, that I am after. And I want it for you, too.
This week, as we look toward Easter, can you make the choice to commit everything you do, your way today and all your ways tomorrow, to the Lord. He gives us this incredible promise here, that when we commit everything we do to Him, He will help us, He will bring things to pass for us. This isn’t a vending machine God type of promise. This is better. This isn’t junk food that can sit on a shelf for a dozen years and still be edible. This is life giving spiritual food, this promise means that if what we are doing can be committed to the Lord, will honor Him in some way, is fitting for you or me to do as an ambassador for Christ here on earth, He is going to do something in return. I want that! I want His blessing on what I do. I am guessing you do, as well. Roll your load onto Him, trust in Him, and see what He will do. Watch Him bring to pass things that you cannot bring to pass on your own. When the blessing of the Lord is upon what you are busy doing, there is nothing like it.
And at the same time, we get this promised rest. So rest and blessing, both. Does that not sound like Easter? It does to me!
Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for Him to act. That’s verse 7 in the NLT. Do you think, in those hours between the death of our Lord Jesus and the discovery of His empty tomb, do you think there was some stillness? You know, when grief is heavy, and that would have been the heaviest of all grief, when it is heavy there is a point when you kind of stop. You just are. Not doing, not exactly thinking, you just are. A stillness can come in our grief that is unlike any other kind of being still. It’s not a slow down, ya know. It is more like the world keeps moving and turning and that does not seem like it is what should be happening. My world has stopped. And it feels so abnormal for the rest of the world to continue on. Yeah, I suspect there was some stillness taking place. And it was the Sabbath. They were being still and could do nothing but wait. Think on that - there was nothing they could do but be still and simply wait. They didn’t even really know what they were waiting for! The women, they were waiting for dawn after the Sabbath ended so they could go to the tomb. But ya know, that’s not hope filled waiting. That’s waiting in tremendous grief. Honoring the Sabbath, and being still, waiting in their grief.
Can we be better about our waiting on the Lord? We know what happened three days later. The resurrection is the reality that we live in daily as disciples of Jesus. Can we be still and wait patiently, but also expectantly? I think we can. It tends only to evil doing.
Don’t fret. Don’t fret over wicked people, even when they are prospering. Psalm 37 says just don’t. Don’t do it. No fretting. And God even gives us a reason not to fret. Because it only leads to evil. It only leads to harm.
Ya know, it is a whole lot easier to let my mind, my thoughts, go toward some measure of fretfulness when I don’t think about this verse, Psalm 37 verse 8. My fretting is only going to lead to evil doing. To harm. Well then. Maybe I need to just not fret!
And this is meant to safeguard us. Our God is too loving to just let us meander down the road of fretting and worrying and fussing over whatever. I mean, I could make a list right now off the top of my head of wickedness and evil doers that are really doing actual harm in the world en masse right now. But God says, don’t fret. Don’t fuss. Don’t spend your day worrying. Don’t be a worry wart. He wants me safe, and for whatever reason, maybe this is one of those things that in the spiritual realm, the stuff happening that we cannot see with our eyes, maybe stuff happens when we fret. And so God, in His infinite and never ending love, warns us not to do that. If He says it only and always leads to evil doing and to harm, well, as children of God, we don’t want to be on a path that leads to evil. We don’t want to do something that we know leads only to harm. We are the harbingers of peace, of joy, of hope, of life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not those who bring harm, who trot along paths toward evil.
Isn’t it amazing that God makes sure we know what the result will be if we fret? He didn’t have to tell us that. He is well within His authority as God to just say, No - do not do that. Period. And don’t ask why, just don’t do it. I said so, that’s that.
Parents do some of their parenting like that, I mean, I sure did. Sorry to my kiddos for being a schmuck!
He went out of His way to give a cause and an effect.
We are foolish to ignore that.
So what does that mean?
This.
For the next few weeks, up to Easter and then for a set amount of time afterward, would you join me in this challenge? To not fret. Not to worry.
When you find yourself worrying, make yourself stop, remind yourself that God says it only leads to harm and evil, and you want no part of that. Write Do Not Worry at the top of your to do list or your planner or put a reminder in your phone to go off five times a day.
It’s not that hard to remind ourselves to stop with the worry. We have all the tools to make the reminding process a breeze. Set up some things, some stop gaps, and join me in this. I personally am going to start today and continue on through May 5th, a date easy for me to remember, and maybe you can pick a date that you can easily work toward, and I am going to not give over to fret or worry or subsequently fear of any sort, cuz often when I worry it is linked to fear. I have a heart failure diagnosis and sometimes umm I feel my heart doing something and my portable EKG can tell me what that something is, usually not something good. Even in those circumstances, I am committing to you that I am not gonna worry or fret and it will be my daily habit thru early May. And guess what? By that time, it will become for me a habit and worry will be much less of a thang, an issue, than it is right now.
I’ve done this before, at the Lord’s leading, and it was one of the most transformative things I have ever ever done in my walk with Jesus. Literally changed my life because it literally changed my daily thinking, my daily stress level, how I spent my time and ya know I’m reality not kidding. It changed my life. I’ve heard others say it changed theirs too.
So, you in?
Easter is the perfect time of year to do away with the fretting. Cannot think of a better time. To get free of this thing that pretty much everyone deals with, doesn’t that sound awesome!?
Let’s do it.
I will create a pdf that you can print out and use with this challenge, this no fret for X number of days challenge. I’ll put the link in the show notes, add it to the main page on my website, which is my name Jan L Burt dot com, and I’ll send it out in my next couple of weekly emails, 3 Quick Things with Jan L Burt (you can get on that list at my website too).
And I actually just came up with that idea of a study on rest from Hebrews chapter 4 as I was recording this today, so I think I’ll work on that. As an audio course. Because a life of rest and no fretting, well, that sounds like something super great to me.
Okay, that’s it for today. Thanks for joining me and jumping on the no fret train with me today. Looking forward to hearing how God responds and provides and blesses you in the coming weeks. And He will, His word promises as much and He never ceases to stand behind His word.
Hit that subscribe button and if this has been beneficial to you, please share this episode. There is probably some kind of share button on your podcast player you can hit real quick.
Thanks so much for that!
You’ve been listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, which is part of the Spark Network, available via the Edifi app.
Remember, God’s promises are true. And they are true for you, today.
Scott Macneil of Cross City Church in Freson, CA
Grab a copy of "The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional" via Amazon
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents - on Amazon
I'd like to invite you to subscribe to my new YouTube channel - God's Promises for You (subscribers helps get the videos in more search results on YouTube, which means more people hearing about His promises!) ~ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOaqejjmiy-g0lGZMhH-FuA
To sign up for my email list & have a chance to win one of the really great giveaways this month, click this link & scroll down a teeny bit to add your email address to my mailing list ~ https://janlburt.com/
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Thursday Mar 31, 2022
Hey there! Be sure to get on my email list and grab your copy of the pdf download 21 Days of Prayer - click HERE!
Well hey, hello hello to you today. Jan L. Burt coming at ya with some beautiful promises and encouragement from Psalm 37. As we draw close to Easter, which is in just a few weeks as I record this in late March of 2022, it’s one time of year when Christians really seem to think about all that Christ has given to us. What He secured for us at the cross. What our eternal reality will be. We have a renewed sense of hope, we look forward to heaven, and we are leaning into the things of the Lord in fresh and expectant ways.
And so, here I am ready to share with you from one of my favorite portions of Scripture - Psalm 37. Now if you haven’t read this psalm in a while, then I think you are in for a treat. And if, like me, it is one of your favorites, a go-to psalm if you will, then you’re gonna be ready to go for this episode. The next couple of episodes will be looking at this psalm, because there is a wealth of promise here and as we near Easter, promise and hope are kind of watchwords. We’re looking for all the things that bring hope, all the promises God has made to us. And in this psalm, my prayer is that you will find both of those, hope and promises, in overflowing, overwhelming abundance.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 101.
Psalm 37, in the CSB, has this title: Instruction in Wisdom (the Amplified has a longer title (Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked)
That gives us a great description, doesn’t it? We have an idea of what we’ll gain from reading this psalm, and that includes wisdom and security. Most of us, after the last couple of years in particular, are ready for all the wisdom God wants to give us and we wouldn’t say no to a whole mess of security from the Lord, either, ya know? Plus there’s like this extra info we are going to get about the insecurity of the wicked. So reading through this psalm, like the whole thing, will talk about wisdom, our security, and how God deals with the wicked. Today we are going to look at verses 3 & 4, first from the Christian Standard Bible and then I will also read from the Amplified.
CSB - Psalm 37:3 & 4 - Trust in the Lord & do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires.
AMP - Psalm 37:3 & 4 - Trust (rely on and have confidence) in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed securely on His faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.
You may already know verse 4 pretty well, like basically from memory. It’s quoted often because it’s an amazing verse with an amazing promise. But we are going to power through both verses and sort of level up on our belief today. Can you commit to that along with me, that you are going to believe what’s written in these verses, and choose not to disbelieve it? And if you don’t feel like you can make that as a long-term commitment, that level of belief, can you believe just for today? Okay, awesome. I’m sure you said, “YES!” so let’s go! Let’s get it!
Verse 4. Trust in the Lord - Trust, rely on and have confidence in the Lord. Notice how God does not tell us to do good, just do good, do better, be better, come on. (Anybody have parents that followed the just be good, just do better model of parenting? Did it work well? Probably not because it’s really difficult to just be good, do better…based on our own willpower. Willpower falls short almost every time, but Holy Spirit power never ever falls short, no matter what.) So God doesn’t start with,”Jan be good. Do better, Jan.” Uh, thank You Lord that You start with, “Jan, trust Me. Trust in Me, in My ways, in My character, in My faithfulness, in My holiness and My mercy. Rely on Me and have confidence in Me. Then, Jan, once you are really trusting in Me and in My ways, then you are able to do what is good.” See, whe are to trust in the Lord and do good. Not do good on our own, in our own limited and all too human strength. The good we do in this world stems directly from the God in whom we trust. The more trust we have in our trustworthy God, the more good we are able to do. Does that take the pressure off a bit? I hope so because this is one powerful promise!
And never forget, God’s promises are for His people, His children. He means for us to believe them, to live our lives based on the reality of His promises to us coming to fruition. Not just here and there, willy nilly, sometimes or on occasion. But all the time, every day, we can live in the reality of His promises.
That’s the first part of verse 3, and honestly just with that much alone we’ve already been given such an incredible promise. I get excited when I see God’s Word opening the way before us for real life change. Not being Pollyanna-ish about this either. This here is life changing. God’s Word still works to change lives. Why shouldn’t one of those lives be yours? And why shouldn’t the Word of God, the promises of God, change our lives again and again and again? For the better? This is such a strongly held belief on my part, it is why I do what I do. I hope you believe this, my friend, because I’m telling you, God wants you to believe that what He has promised you in the Bible is for you, it is yours. Your enemy is who wants you not to believe it, and he is not to be trusted or listened to.
Second part of verse 3 - dwell in the land and live securely, feed securely on His faithfulness. That’s both the CSB and the AMP, what I just shared. You and I, we get to dwell in the land and live securely. We can feed securely on our God’s faithfulness. What feeds you? The news? Social media? Fears? Real security is not found in riches, not in wealth, not in your work title or position, not in podcast download numbers. It is found in the faithfulness of my God to me, of your God to you. And is He not always, eternally faithful? He is, and cannot be less. Dwell there.
What do I mean by that? That’s home. That’s where we live, you and I. We live in the sweet spot of life where we trust in our Lord, we fully rely on Him, our total confidence is in Him alone, and right there, when we dwell there, we are secure. Can’t add any more to our security, since it is already filled to the full in Christ. Dwell there. Live there. Let your security be in your God, and expect His peace to surpass all understanding. Dwell in the security of the Lord God Almighty.
Verse 4 - CSB - Take delight in the Lord and He will give you your heart's desires.
This is such a simple, straightforward promise that we struggle to believe it. Seems too easy, too good to be true. Like, that’s it? I just take delight in God and He will give me my heart’s desires? Uh, yeah. That’s actually what it says. See, you’ve heard this before, but let me say it again anyway. Your delight in Him will flood your life, flood your thinking and your feeling, your emotions, your behavior, all of it. Delighting in Him leaves little to no room for delighting in self, delighting in the big 3 from 1 John - the lust of the flesh, the lust eyes, the pride of life. If we kid ourselves and say we delight in the Lord, we are delighting ourselves in the Lord, but there is all this lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride…well, that’s not a total giving over to Him. There is not room for the big 3 when all the room is consumed by the Lord. Delighting yourself in Him, enjoying His presence, loving your time with Him in prayer, in the Word, really making Him the only thing that really matters in your life, well, that is delighting in Him. So how could your heart’s desires be misaligned with His heart’s desires if you really, truly delight in Him? They won’t be. There will be no mismatch. So yes, He can give you your heart’s desires. Because your heart belongs to Him, so you won’t be wanting all the things that line up with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Won’t drool over that certain car or that dream kitchen you saw on Pinterest or have all this pride in the way your project turned out at work or in your kids sports achievements. It’s gonna be really difficult to continually feed the flesh when you continually delight yourself in your Lord. It’s also important to remember that your flesh, it ain’t goin’ with you into eternity so it don’t care about that; the priority of the flesh is always here and now, that’s what it’s screaming for and it don’t have no need to stop it’s screaming cuz this here life, that’s all the flesh has got. Which is why the NT tells us to crucify the flesh and all its evil desires. Crucify, not anesthetize. Kill it off, finish it off. Don’t rock it to sleep with a lullaby.
I hope that brings a smidge of clarity about how to delight yourself in the Lord and then to believe that He is going to give you - give you - what your heart desires. Right now, my heart desires to have an expanded reach to talk about God’s Word, specifically His promises, and to write about prayer, promises, and the huge benefits of daily Bible study time on a personal level. I do think those are in line with God’s heart and so I am expecting Him to expand the reach I have in those areas - my speaking, my writing, podcasting, what I share on social or YouTube even on my Pinterest boards. Can I say that was always what I wanted most? If I’m honest, no. But dwelling much with Jesus, being much with my Lord, altered my life which impacted my number one wants.
In the AMP, verse 4 reads like this: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.
Petitions of your heart. Are there maybe some things we will never, ever get in this life, this side of eternity, unless we petition God for those things?
I think it’s very possible, and I think James in the NT tells us that exact thing when he says you have not because you ask not.
So very true so very often. What are you petitioning God for? Are you praying, asking Him for the things that are in your heart? If you, say, want more income because you want to work less overtime so that you can spend more time with your spouse and kiddos, are you asking Him for that? If I want a traditional publishing book deal, am I asking Him for that? If you want your health to be improved so you can dedicate more time and energy to your favorite local ministry, are you praying and petitioning God for that?
The word petitions in Psalm 37 verse 4 is not accidental. A petition can take some serious asking, some effort, think about the door to door sign this petition efforts that you’ve seen happen. Get to a million signatures or something like that. Takes a lot to get the petitioning done, right? So this is not a bullet prayer, an arrow prayer, a real quick, “God, please help!”. This is more dug in, dedicated. Are dedicated in your praying, in your asking, in your petitioning? If not, get dedicated.
Always expect God to answer, absolutely. And also, always be willing to go to the mat in prayer and petition. Both/and, my friend, both/and, not either/or.
Next week we are going to look at verses 5-8, and dig into more of what is promised to us in Psalm 37. It’s incredible, these promises the Lord God of all creation makes to us. And all we have to do is believe. Can’t we do that? Oh that we might believe the Word of God with a level of belief that would honor Him. That's my prayer this week, that we will believe in honorable measures. Let’s honor Him with our very lives and one huge way to do that is to live a life of belief.
Hey, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review of the podcast, that is super helpful for reach and growth. And if you’d like to skip on over to Amazon and grab one of my books, my 60 Day Prayer Journal for Parents or The Power of God’s Will, 40 Days of God’s Promises devotional those may be beneficial for your prayer time or just an encouragement in believing God’s promises, just search Jan L. Burt in Amazon and should show right up.
Lord bless you this week as you continue to walk in belief and see the promises of God play out in your life in powerful, amazing ways. Won’t He do it? Oh, yes He will! You can’t stop Him, so might as well join Him!
I’ll see ya next time!
You’ve been listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app.
Jan L. Burt is an author, speaker, podcaster, homeschooling veteran, mother to five, and has been happily married to Tony for thirty years. She served in youth ministry alongside her husband for twelve years & has led several Bible studies for women as well as hosting two online prayer retreats.
Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Friday Mar 25, 2022
Friday Mar 25, 2022
IMPORTANT UPDATE re: last week's show notes...
(I learned that the bulk of the show notes were "cut off" on some podcast app platforms, so I wanted to re-share the info about the podcast I recommended last week right at the top of this week's show notes. I'm also sharing the links to the podcast I mentioned in this episode. Here they are!)
LINKS to The Reclamation Podcast ~
Sign Up — Tony Miltenberger (twmilt.com)
Reclamation Podcast — Tony Miltenberger (twmilt.com)
Reclamation Podcast — Spirit & Truth (spiritandtruth.life)
Find him on Instagram @twmilt
LINKS to Hope Along the Journey ~
Via Apple Podcasts - Hope Along The Journey on Apple Podcasts
(2) Hope Along the Journey | Facebook
Well hey there, hello to you. Welcome to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - the podcast all about getting the promises of God into the people of God.
I’m Jan L. Burt, host of the show and your fellow Jesus following disciple, and this week is kind of a big deal because we’re crossing a milestone by releasing the 100th episode of the podcast.
Doing some celebrating over here, just rejoicing in the fact that the Lord has seen fit to allow me this platform to share about Him, about prayer, and more specifically about believing His promises.
That’s what I do here and I plan to keep doing more and more of that.
So, welcome to episode number 100! I am so thankful you’re here today!
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 100.
So as I was thinking about the 100th episode of the show, I was kicking around ideas of how to make it, well, sort of “bigger” for this special milestone. Ya know? It just seemed like that made sense. But then, I paused. And thought about the fact that God’s promises are as big as they can possibly be, they are all as true as they have ever been, and I figured I need to simply put the spotlight, the focus, on God’s promises for this episode.
I cannot make them any bigger than they are, any truer than they are.
But I can put a spotlight on them, one at a time, week by week, just as God has called me to do since I began podcasting. I can ask you to believe they are true for you, today, right now… while at the same time acknowledging that they cannot become truer than they already are.
My heart is just for listeners to grow in their belief that every single thing God has promised is completely true, and to trust Him more and more, with that increasing trust leading to a deeper understanding of how to live our daily lives knowing all God’s promises will come to pass. Not one will ever fail, because our God can never fail and so of course His promises are perfect promises. It’s a pretty amazing thing, this path the Lord put me on and I’m truly thankful for every episode, every connection with people, new friendships, growing in my own personal life as I get out there and do the thing each week, being a disciple and also trying to help disciple others, and having the chance to sit with the Lord and let Him examine my heart to reveal whether or not I personally fully believe all that He has promised. So it’s been growth, for sure, and if God is leading you into some venture that has a lot of growth involved, I can say from personal experience that you don’t want to miss out on that. Do it. Follow hard after Jesus. And then one day you’ll look around and discover so many amazing people following hard after Jesus, too, that you’re able to link arms with. Making Jesus famous, what a privilege. Helping people trust Him more, what a privilege. And having my faith stretched along the way, well, that’s icing on the cake. Gravy on the side. A blessing that I will be eternally thankful for.
Last week I wrapped up a series on Romans chapter 8, and what a powerful chapter of the Bible that is!
This week, I’m onto something new.
I’ve got some verses to share with you from the NT book of Luke, chapter 4 of that book, and I’ll be reading from the Amplified today. So let me first set the stage, give you some background or context clues about what’s happening in this chapter before I talk about promises. And prayer, that’s like a dynamite combo, you know, praying God’s promises. Things happen, faith explodes, mountains are leveled, and discipleship, well there is a level of sanctification that happens as we pray. When we pray together, there is some discipleship that hopefully occurs. It unties us, which is something Jesus prayed over the entirety of His church, so we want to see that taking place. And it truly does help cement God’s promises in our hearts and minds, like an anchor to the soul, when we pray the very things He has promised in His word. So, I’m looking forward to this episode since it’s got two of my most favoritest things ever. Prayer and the promises of God.
So in Luke chapter 4, we first see Jesus led by the Spirit into the desert, where He was tempted by Satan. And He overcame each level of temptation with the Word of God. When Jesus said, “It is written…” He meant it. Like, as in, believing that God’s Word trumps all, is the truth at all times and in every situation, and maybe just maybe I need to be better about speaking it out loud when I run into something hard, something painful. Temptation can even be things like being tempted to hold off on forgiving someone until just ya know a little later. But when I speak a verse about forgiveness out loud, that temptation is measured against the Word of God and it is found wanting. God’s word is always powerful and always effective, and that is very good news indeed.
Jesus then went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, as it says in verse 14, and began teaching in synagogues. Let read verses 16 through 20 - 16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),
Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),
19
to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”
20 Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. 21 He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”
This is a powerful moment. And there is a zero percent chance that it was random. Jesus always did the will of the Father, so we know this exact time to announce His ministry and the fulfillment of the prophecy from the book of Isaiah, was the right time.
When I read those verses, what jumps out to me is just a stunning image of who our God is. As it relates to prayer, it reminds me that I need to pay attention to my attitude, I guess I’d call it, and remember, remember well, who it is to whom I pray. This is God Almighty. Just as the eyes of all in the synagogue were intently fixed on Him, may our hearts be intently fixed on our God when we pray. It’s a lofty goal, I mean, our minds wander, the dog needs to go out and then we check our phone and then we reply to a text and then, well, we try to finish up our prayer time. This happens, right? But I don’t want to quickly wrap up my prayer time. I want to remember the One to whom I am speaking! We are coming to a King!
Didn’t John Newton write, “Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring.” ?
Can we well bring large petitions, supernatural sized requests, if we’re in a hurry to wrap it up? Would we stand in the presence of an earthly king, or leader, president, chancellor, and check the ‘Gram? I think we would leave our phone somewhere else. Instagram would have nothing on the one to whom we were in the presence of. So, when we pray, remembering to Whom we come, the King of kings, it actually helps us to pray better, to pray bigger, to pray more effectively, to pray bolder and ever increasingly bolder prayers day by day.
He rolled up the scroll and sat down. Once all eyes were fixed on Him, then He said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”
Wow. Can you imagine this moment? Wow!
But look at what comes next.
There were those who got snarky. Ever run into anyone snarky? Jesus did too, so He is the One to go to when that happens because He knows what you need in those moments. Turns out, rather quickly, things got a bit intense. Let’s look at verses 24-30.
24 Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. 25 But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; 26 and yet Elijah was not sent [by the Lord] to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and not one of them was cleansed [by being healed] except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 As they heard these things [about God’s grace to these two Gentiles], the people in the synagogue were filled with a great rage; 29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff. 30 But passing [miraculously] through the crowd, He went on His way.
Sometimes when God’s Word is shared, the people will be filled with a great rage. And some of those people may be church folks. It happens! So as I said a second ago, you want to go to the One who knows what that is like. You don’t have to trust yourself in those moments. Trust Him! He’s got what you need in that situation.
They got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff. But passing miraculously through the crowd, He went on His way.
This is awesome.
Now I looked up some images to get an idea of what the cliff may have looked like, and it looks like something you don’t want to be tossed off of, hurled on over.
Verse 30, But…. miraculously… two fantastic words of promise for us.
In that mess, that emergency, that yuck thing, scary thing, dangerous thing, intense thing…. Can the Lord have a “But… Miraculously” moment? You better believe that He can!
But - take a pause, take a breath, it isn’t over until He says it’s over. Sometimes that little word “But” can be the most comforting word in the entire world. But!
He has a “But” for your issue, my friend. It’s a promise! He will never not have the final say and so we want to always, always invite Him into our lives and yield to Him, like give Him the right of way, so that His way will be the only way that things go. I want to go His way, not my own way, not someone else’s way. I want His will to be done, because it’s the best. Period. Not a question, maybe sometimes it’s the best. No, it is always the best. Period. So I want that. Like Napoleon Dynamite, “I want that'' except I don’t want a corny ship building kit along with my knock-off Tupperware order. I want God to speak the word “but” into my life wherever He wants to, and then I want to see Him do the miraculous.
Here he just passed through the crowd.
When was the last time you were able to just pass through a crowd that was bent on killing you?
This is the One in whose name we pray. Do you think we understand His power, like, on the regular, when we are in prayer? Or could we grow in this?
You have prayer promises that you have not even scratched the surface of and there is no time like the present to grow in your prayer life.
I’d like to pray over you today as I wrap up this episode, but I’d also like to share a couple of things first. Have you signed up for my email list? I have giveaways and I sometimes send out a 3 Quick Things email with just a few things that will encourage you, bless you, and hopefully glorify the Lord. Something new will be coming soonish, and my email list is going to hear about it first. And I do have several giveaways coming up in April, so join my list at JanLBurt.com - just scroll down a bit and boom, there it is. Secondly, I’ll be a guest on a podcast soon, it’s the Hope Along the Journey podcast with Mark Dawson, and he really does a tremendous job of reminding people of the hope we have in Jesus during our difficult times. We sometimes in the church play nice, in a way, and try to pretty things up, right? With Jesus, we don't need to fake it til we make it. We get to come to Him in prayer as we are, and as we go through the things of life, many of which are very difficult, we can have hope along the way. Our hope does not disappoint when it is rooted in Jesus. So, check the show notes for the link to Hope Along the Journey and subscribe. Such great content and so encouraging and really, really real. How important is that right now? Beyond important. Be sure to check out Hope Along the Journey. I’ll be sharing more about this ministry in the coming weeks. Good stuff, such good stuff.
Can I pray for you today? It’s a privilege, so thanks for allowing me the blessing of lifting you before the Lord.
Lord, today I come to you on behalf of every single listener. Father, would you speak Your Word into their lives, their exact situations? Right now, just where they need to see Your hand, to experience Your peace, to grab hold of Your hope, bring that to them. Today. Don’t delay, Lord! Move and act quickly in those places where it is most needed. You know what is on their heart, what is weighing far too heavily. Work there, Lord. Bring healing, deliverance, protection, peace of mind, steadfastness, friendships and discipleship, and do it all from the depths of Your unending lovingkindness. Where they need a turnaround, do it, Lord. Miraculously do what only You can do, and we give You all the praise. There is none like You. We are coming today to a mighty King, the king of all Kings, and we bring with us large petitions. We lay our needs and our burdens and our fears at Your feet, and we know You will bless us. Favor every listener, shower them in Your grace, pour out Your love and mercy, may Your goodness in their lives overflow and may rich abundance be theirs. Then, Lord, do it again tomorrow. And again and again and again. I ask this in Jesus name - Amen
Thank you so very much for joining me today for episode 100 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. And I would be so thankful if you would consider leaving a rating and / or a review of the podcast on whatever platform you listen, it is so helpful and makes a big difference in the podcast’s reach. Thank you for that! And I also want to invite you to subscribe to the show. I’m thankful for you and believing God has amazing things in store for you right now, in this very time.
This is The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, playing now on the Edifi app.
Hope to see you back here next time! Bye Bye!
Jan L. Burt is an author, speaker, podcaster, homeschooling veteran, mother to five, and has been happily married to Tony for thirty years. She served in youth ministry alongside her husband for twelve years & has led several Bible studies for women as well as hosting two online prayer retreats.
Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Friday Mar 18, 2022
Friday Mar 18, 2022
Well hey hey, hello to you today. Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - a podcast with the singular focus of deep diving into every big and every little thing which God has promised to us in His word. We open the pages of the Bible, read what’s written there, discuss it and then we choose to believe that
what it says is there for us. Right now, today.
Because God’s promises are for His people, and we want to grab hold of everything that He has promised us.
I’m your host, Jan L. Burt, and you’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 99.
So, it’s sort of a big episode today. It’s like the closer for the series on Romans chapter 8, and anytime we wrap up one thing we’ve been working on, we should try and do it well. The ending of one thing is also the beginning of something else, and so it stands to reason that how one thing ends is how the next thing begins.
Ending on a sour note usually means we start the next thing with a sour taste in our mouths. So let’s work to end this series well. Paul had this fantastic way of ending his letters on a high note, and while Romans chapter 8 doesn’t mark the end of the book of Romans, it is a transition into chapter 9, so it’s like a mini-ending, of sorts.
Romans 8, verses 37, 38, and 39 - I’m going to read from the Amplified - Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And from the New Living Translation - No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This sounds like a great way to end this chapter. Talk about ending on a high note!
Verse 35 talks about all these things that are completely unable to separate us from God’s love. Things that we face on the regular & things we face less often - things like calamity (we’ve seen a whole lot of that the last couple of years), hunger, destitution, danger, persecution. These things are the painful things in life, and Paul lists them here for that reason. Because they are on the extreme end of the hard stuff of life. There are a lot of things not on this list, and those things are still difficult, still hard for us and hard on us and hard on the people that we love and care about and do life with. But he hits on the worst case scenario because he really, really wants us to understand that even these things, even the very tippy-top pinnacle of the hard stuff cannot, cannot, absolutely cannot separate us from Christ’s love.
That’s the springboard that launches us into verses 37-39.
Yet in all these things, and all really does mean all by definition, it does not mean some, so be aware that in your mind, in your thinking, it is possible to kind of switch out all for some or most… you have probably experienced this, where you don’t outright disbelieve something God’s word says, but you may categorize it, thinking, “Oh that’s so true, I hope that happens in my life sometime in the future.” or maybe, “Yes, that’s true! I am praying for that in my children’s lives or for my closest friend at work” but you never pray it or believe it for your own life. For you. This is common! I think to some degree, in some manner, we all do this kind of thing & I would love to see more and more people kind of nip that in the bud, when their thoughts do that little switcheroo, and instead say, “Oh no, this is for me because has promised it and He is not a respecter of persons, so I’m not excluded and I’m not on some heavenly wait list, I can pray this for my children and my dear friend and also for myself - there’s room at the table for me. God’s promises are big enough for all His followers, so thank You Lord that this word is my word today.”
All really does mean all, and so verse 37 tells us that in all these things, no matter what the “these things” are on any given day, we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us.
This is big news. Like, the biggest news story in my life right now should be this. No matter what, I am more than a conqueror (how cool is that? More than a conqueror? As if being a conqueror, conquering all these things, weren’t enough, God promises more. I am more. That's so good, you know? I am more! More than a conqueror in this exact thing that is hard, that is painful, that is taxing. So much promise here. And when we find a promise of this magnitude, we also find so much hope. And remember, our hope does not disappoint us when it is hope from our Lord.)
How does it sound to you to be promised that you will gain an overwhelming victory?
Think about racing against Usain Bolt. It kind of would be a given that he would have an overwhelming victory. Not like, “Hold on folks, they need to look at the tape and determine who actually crossed the finish line first… this is too close to call with the naked eye!” No. Not like that at all. Like this - this runner won the race by actually lapping her opponents multiple times! Usain Bolt won his races soundly, decisively, without question. He even slowed up a bit at the end of many of his races to cheese for the fans and the cameras! He won so overwhelmingly that he could kind of take it easy and really enjoy himself as he came across that finish line. How great is that to think of in spiritual terms? I want that! I want to be able to enjoy my time on this big blue ball because I know I am promised overwhelming victory and so I don’t have to strain and worry and fret. I can run my race from victory, not hoping somehow I manage by the skin of my teeth.
Overwhelming victory. It is yours, it is mine, this is our promise. Let’s simply believe it today.
Verse 38 tells us that nothing, nothing whatsoever, can separate us from the love of our Lord. Kind of reiterating what was said in verse 35, but sort of looking at it from a different angle.
Death, life, angels, demons, fears for today or worries for tomorrow, not even the powers of hell. Okay, pause for a sec on this… not even the powers of hell. Don’t give zero thought to the powers of hell, or you’ll never spend time praying to bind satan and his evil demons and their work at wrecking on you and trashing your life. Pray for other people too, that the work of satan would be utterly destroyed, so stunted that it is unable to have any growth or make any impact. We have an enemy, if it were not so Jesus would have never talked about our enemy the devil. But he is a defeated enemy. For us who know Jesus as our Lord, our Savior, our Master, we who are disciples of Christ should pray with some serious God-given authority. Because not even the powers of hell can ever separate us from God’s love. You can’t be separated from it because you are so immersed in it that is in literally in Him that you live and move and have your being. You and the love of God are inseparable. Isn’t that just great news?!?
No power from anywhere, above or below, or anything in the whole of creation will ever be able to separate us from His love. We really are wrapped in His love, safe in His care, and when we live in a state of utter trust that God cannot and will not do anything apart from His lovingkindness toward us, we live a whole lot free-er. And Jesus wants you free, always free, every single day. It is for freedom then that Christ set you free, so do not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. That’s from the NT book of Galatians. And that’s really a key thing to know.
You’ve been freed. Set totally free. And that’s Jesus’ will for you, to be free, which is why He did the work of setting you free. So, stay free. And be a freedom fighter. Help other people experience the freedom God has for them.
The tremendous love God has for you was revealed through Jesus. What more could be done than what He did on the cross? He loves you. And that is the final message of Romans chapter 8. God loves you so much, so very much. You are free. You are safe. Nothing can separate from His all-encompassing love. This is the good life, folks. So let’s not live as if it is anything but the good life.
Hang your hat on all the promises found in Romans 8.
Your God will not fail you & your God is a mountain moving, life changing, promise keeping God.
I need to tell you about a podcast that I recently discovered, it’s The Reclamation Podcast with Tony Miltenberger. I have been loving this podcast. I’m not sure I can do an adequate job of describing it in short order, like I need to use my words because there is a lot he covers on his show. But I had to share it with all of you because if you’re listening to my show, then you’ll want to listen to The Reclamation Podcast. Living your life as a follower of Jesus will only be bettered if you dial in and subscribe to The Reclamation Podcast. Look it up, or check the links in the show notes. I’ll also link on my social media in the coming weeks, probably more than once so nobody misses it. It’s good stuff. Please check it out, I think you’ll be encouraged and receive some excellent equipping. You know I mentioned in episode 98 the idea of a runway, you land and allow me to refuel if you will, to disembark some things that need to get off your place, and to onboard some stuff that needs to go with you on the next leg of your journey. That’s just my role in the body of Christ, and sharing about The Reclamation Podcast is one more way to make sure I’m doing the work of The Runway (and can you tell that’s going to be a catchphrase? It’s keeping me on mission, that phrase, and it will help you to know what to expect whenever you drop by my website or podcast or social media. What happens on a runway is what will happen via all my platforms. And today I hope that you feel refueled and ready for takeoff.)
LINKS to The Reclamation Podcast ~
Sign Up — Tony Miltenberger (twmilt.com)
Reclamation Podcast — Tony Miltenberger (twmilt.com)
Reclamation Podcast — Spirit & Truth (spiritandtruth.life)
Find him on Instagram @twmilt
Thanks for joining me for this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. I’m Jan L. Burt, find me at my website Jan L. Burt dot com, and this show is part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app.
I’ll see you next time for episode # 100.
Bye bye!
#theburtnoternieshowpodcast
#janlburtdotcom
#thepowerofgodswilldevotional
#reclamationpodcast
Jan L. Burt is an author, speaker, podcaster, homeschooling veteran, mother to five, and has been happily married to Tony for thirty years. She served in youth ministry alongside her husband for twelve years & has led several Bible studies for women as well as hosting two online prayer retreats.
Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Friday Mar 11, 2022
Well, hey there! Hello to you today - welcome to TBNES. I’m your host, Jan L. Burt, and I am kind of your go-to gal, your resident expert, if you will, about God’s promises.
Did you know that God has some very specific, very reassuring, very exact promises for you? He really does, and I’d love to help you discover what those exact, perfect, and specific promises for your life actually are.
Currently on the podcast we are doing a series on the promises we find in Romans chapter 8, and this is the ninth episode in the series, with just one more to come next week as we wrap up this awesome series.
Have you ever felt unsure about your future? If you’ve ever had that sense of self-condemnation (or maybe been under condemnation from someone else) or been living your life under the gun, feeling somewhat separated from God but wanting to live at peace, and to get out from under that weight of being pushed around spiritually speaking, or rather, feeling like your face is being pushed down into the mud… If you’ve ever dealt with anything even remotely similar to what I just described, then today I’ve got some good things to share with you. (And news flash - if you’ve never been there before, wow, I’m in awe, that is amazing! But you may know someone who has felt this way, and after listening today you can probably pass along some encouragement to somebody who could use it - so I hope you’ll stick around for the show today.)
Here’s what’s coming your way in today’s show ~ a good, hard look at Romans 8, verses 31 thru 35, and a whole lot of tangible ways to live with God’s promises as your daily reality.
How can I say that and be sure it’s gonna be true for you? Well, since my diagnosis of heart failure in 2016, I have been, as in literally, living on God’s promises. When cardiologists who are renowned tell you that you shouldn’t be able to get out of bed, that kind of gets your attention. No woman that I know of wants to be in her mid-40s and live out the rest of her days barely able to get out of bed.
But God, every day, every step of the way, as I believe His Word, really choose to stand on His promises and to believe what He has to say above and beyond any and everything else, well, He has given me a life that is rich, full, exciting, blessed, favored - I really am living a good life, all because I believe God’s promises.
I’m here with the singular mission of getting the promises into the people of God, so they can truly live a believing life.
And I’m so glad you’re here to grab hold of God’s promises along with me today.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode 98.
In episode 97, we ended with verse 31 from the eighth chapter of the book of Romans. And I’m gonna do something I don’t usually do, which is to start an episode with a verse from the last episode. We’re going to begin with verse 31 today, because it was the perfect ending for last week and it’s also the perfect beginning for this show.
I’ll read that verse first, as a stand alone, share just a couple of things, and then go back and read all of the verses for this episode.
Romans 8:31, from the Amplified Classic Edition: What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]
Who can be our foe?
In the AMP, not the Classical Edition, just the Amplified, it reads like this: What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us?
And that’s the version I referenced in episode 97.
Who can be our foe? Who can be successful against us?
When we really take a good look at what God has to say in the Bible, in His word, remember it’s His word, not man’s word, and so when we open our Bibles and take a good, hard look, not a quick scan, but a good read, well after that good look, that good read from the previous verses in Romans 8, then comes the promise of verse 31. After reading whatever portion of the Bible you are in during your daily quiet time, or whatever name you might have for your time with the Lord and in His Word, after that, you can simply believe that the premise of this particular verse, Romans 8:31, is totally true for you. Whatcha gonna say after reading what you just read? I hope that you say, “My God is for me. And I cannot truly have any foes that can stand against the power of My God, against the promises He’s made to me. My God is for me, so nobody, no demon, no devil, nobody at all, can be successful against me.” I really believe that when the Bible says even your enemies will be at peace with you, and that is taken from Proverbs 16:7, that’s exactly what it means. Somebody may want to be your foe, but you can stand on God’s word and pray that they will not be able to be your enemy. Think of the Israelites, when the man named Balaam was trying to curse them when they were getting close to the Promised Land, and he couldn’t. Not for any amount of money, and he had been hired to curse them and he really did want that payout, not from any different vantage point, no matter how hard he tried, and people will try hard when they got a case of greedy-itis and want that payout whatever it might be, he still could not curse them, but could only bless them. (You can find that in Numbers 22). God is not a man that He should lie - so when the Bible says that nobody can really be our foe when God is on our side, that’s pretty interesting. And living in a rough and tumble world, that makes me want to grab this verse, and grab it with the express purpose of holding on to it, believe it over my own life, and see it play out for real.
So now we’ve had another look at this verse all by itself, and now let’s add in some more verses.
And as I read them, be sure to listen and hear what God is promising to you in this passage. Because His promises are for you and for me, they are for us, right now today. So right now today, we don’t want to miss out on them!
Romans 8:31-35, Amplified Classic - 1 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]
32 He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?]
34 Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us?
35 Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
(AMP - 31 What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us? 32 He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself]. 34 Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us. 35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of [d]Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? )
In the intro I mentioned feeling uncertain regarding the future, and I also mentioned condemnation. Self-condemnation or having another person condemn you in some manner. Guilt and shame can be pretty condemning. Peer pressure can feel like condemnation. Expectations to be all the things in every arena of life can feel condemning, can’t they?
This hunk of the Bible has something for us that is intended to help us, not just give us a case of “the feels” for the next half an hour or so. Jesus’ ministry was never about “the feels” - and I’m sure there were people who were only there cuz the crowd was there, and they had warm fuzzies as part of being in that crowd. That does still happen, some people will talk bad about you but when they are with you, they are kind of warm and nice and really seem to like you. Then, right back to not liking you and saying stuff about you to others that is not nice at all. The Holy Spirit in you can actually give them “the feels’, some warm fuzzies. And so they may be really enjoying being in your presence, but it’s the Spirit of the Living God who dwells within you that is creating the environment that allows them to feel different when they’re with you. Anybody ever have a sense of confusion about why that is sometimes the case? It’s not all that uncommon. So, that’s just an example of how there could have been people praising Jesus on His way into Jerusalem, and then yelling for His crucifixion a matter of hours later. The Feels are kind of that way.
But Jesus, He never wants us to only have temporary and fleeting and ever changing feelings and being led by those changing temperaments of the crowd around us, right? So we can, as disciples of Christ, read this passage, and have it bring about life change that goes far beyond quick touchy feely experiences.
God really wants us to get this point: don’t live fearing all kinds of things all of the time. Don’t constantly worry about the future, about what may happen, what if my needs don’t get met, what if what if what if? Verse 32 boldly tells us that God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for you, for me, and then it just flat asks us to really answer this question - so, really, you and I need to answer. When God asks us something, who are we to not honestly answer Him? That does not turn out well, according to the book of Job, so I want to answer the question. After reminding us that He gave all, God gave us His Son Jesus, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?
Will He not? What’s your answer to that?
What does it say about our level of trust in God and all of His promises to us versus our level of trust in the devil and all His lies when we don’t really believe our God will freely and graciously give us all that we ever, ever need? That sounds harsh, maybe…but isn’t that really what the dealio is? We are trusting the devil more than we trust God if we live continually doubting that verse 32 is going to really be true for us. Don’t trust the liar and don’t trust the lies. Make the decision that Romans 8:32 is the truth, and then make the additional decision that it is true for you, permanently true for you.
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].
That’s verse 33. You may feel that condemnation at times, we all do, it’s not avoidable, ya know? But it doesn’t have the last say. It’s gonna come, but it doesn’t have the right, the authority, to stick around. It will stay as long as you leave out the welcome mat. But at any moment, you can bar shut the door on condemnation. Well now, Jan, I don’t know… I mean… well, alright, I can already guess what you might be thinking. But just let this verse be the final word on that condemnation. And let it be the final word on self-condemnation, too, since for many of us that’s the more intrusive culprit in our thoughts, in our lives.
You do not have authority over God. Right? Me either. He declared you blameless. He put you into a right relationship with Himself. He justifies you. You are His chosen one because He did the choosing of you. Now, who will bring any charge against His chosen one? Hmmm. Bar shut the door of condemnation. Grab that welcome mat and yank it right out from under the feet of condemnation and self-condemnation. And just say, Romans 8:33 as you slam that door shut. God’s Word becomes the final authority and the governing truth of our lives when we apply it in this manner. Change your thinking, change your life.
The next verse goes hand-in-glove with verse 33, and I’m going to read it and I’d like you to just let it sink in as it pertains to any type of condemning you might be dealing with. Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us? The question is, really, there is just One who would have the authority, the right, to condemn us once we’ve been declared blameless by God (and this is a salvation issue - the way is Jesus, there is no other way) - but who else but Jesus has the ability to even bring condemnation before the Father for those who are in Christ? And Jesus isn’t going to do that. He sits at the Father’s right hand and He actually intercedes for you, for me. So He isn’t interceding for us and in the same breath calling for our condemnation. He didn’t die and rise again so that we could live in worry and fret and fearfulness that we could go from life to death, which is what His condemnation would be, no no no. We have gone from death to life, and Jesus is not in the business of life to death. He is always, only in the death to life business. So the only One who could authoritatively condemn you will not do so. This is the truth. Herein lies your promise, and indeed it is yours so long as you actually just believe it.
Now we are arriving at the last verse for today, verse 35 - Who shall ever separate us from Christ’s love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword?
That’s a list now, isn’t it?
Who or what can separate you from the love Jesus has for you? From the Father’s love for you? From the Holy Spirit, who lives within you, from His love?
Suffering? No.
Affliction? Also, no.
Tribulation? Nope.
Calamity? No, sir.
Distress? No.
Is the devil, the chronic and pathological liar that he is, going to come at you via all those avenues and try to make you feel (and remember, if you feel feel feel it, you can start to believe believe believe it totally, even when it’s just a big fat lie). He wants to hit you with affliction and then immediately start hitting you with his classic lie that you are not really, truly, fully loved by God. Lies!!!
These things are in this fallen world, and you will experience them. And they have no power over your God or over His unending, overflowing love for you. The pathological liar who is destined for hell does not get to speak his lies into this area of your life any longer.
Persecution? Don’t change God’s love for me!
Hunger? My God still loves me with an unending love.
Destitution? Peril? The sword? Love, love, love.
Unsure about the future? Stand on this today - you are loved with an unending love.
The love God has for you is engraved on the palms of the hands of His dearly loved Son, Jesus. The love God has for you is the mark of the Holy Spirit upon you that identifies you as His own to all the forces and powers of evil and darkness in the spiritual realm. You’ve been claimed as one who belongs to the God Most High. And you will never be unclaimed.
Now I know I stopped at kind of a midpoint with verse 35, but that was intentional.
Next week we take one final look at Romans 8, to see the remaining promises in this chapter. And as only Paul could do, this ends on the highest of all high notes.
It’s like we’ve been preparing a runway and the plane is circling, ready to land. We’re gonna land the plane in episode 99, and we are going to let some things disembark from our planes cuz we ain’t taking them with us for the rest of our life’s journey. Some other things, they are gonna board our planes because they are like treasure and we are loading up on treasure for the journey. And while you’re on that runway with me next week via TBNES podcast, I’ll be sharing some things that are like your refueling. That’s my job, my friend, to prep the runway and you just land the plane, I’ll help some things disembark and then have some other things get on board while I refuel your big ole jet airliner. And then I’ll clear you for takeoff and see you off for another jaunt. Then next time, you swing back by and land again for another refuel. That’s literally what this is all about.
Getting the promises of God into the people of God, one refuel at a time.
In the meantime, I’d like to invite you to grab a copy of my book, The Power of God’s Will - 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional via Amazon (link in show notes or just look it up real quick and throw it in your cart for your next Amazon order). Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and next week I’m going to feature a show sponsor, which is a podcast whose host I was blessed to meet this week in Nashville at the Spark Podcast Conference, there with the Digital Ministry Conference and the NRB was taking place - good stuff, so be sure to subscribe and not miss that special sponsor that I really want to share with you about. I’ve got a few things coming up that will be a blessing, so it’s gonna be good.
Thanks so much for joining me, this is Jan L. Burt signing off - you’ve been listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing on the Edifi app.
Lord bless - see ya next time.
Jan L. Burt is an author, speaker, podcaster, homeschooling veteran, mother to five, and has been happily married to Tony for thirty years. She served in youth ministry alongside her husband for twelve years & has led several Bible studies for women as well as hosting two online prayer retreats.
Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.