How can we apply God’s promises to our daily lives? Are God’s promises conditional? What does it mean to be a child of God? What are some key promises found in the bible? Are God’s promises for me? How can we be sure God will keep His promises? What‘s more important than getting a life-changing handle on what God has promised you specifically? Expect this podcast to help you know who you are...REALLY & to help you live fully believing God‘s promises to you...REALLY.
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 24, 2024
Wednesday Jul 24, 2024
Praying Psalm 91 course
Philippians 1:6
Amplified Bible
6 I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].
Philippians 3:20
Amplified Bible
20 But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
2 Peter 3
Amplified Bible
The Coming Day of the Lord
3 First of all, know [without any doubt] that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking, following after their own human desires 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they willingly forget [the fact] that the heavens existed long ago by the word of God, and the earth was formed [a]out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. 7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.
8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
A New Heaven and Earth
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish with a [mighty and thunderous] roar, and the [material] elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and the works that are on it will be [b]burned up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be [in the meantime] in holy behavior [that is, in a pattern of daily life that sets you apart as a believer] and in godliness [displaying profound reverence toward our awesome God], 12 [while you earnestly] look for and await the coming of the day of God. For on this day the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the [material] elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But in accordance with His promise we expectantly await new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14 So, beloved, since you are looking forward to these things, be diligent and make every effort to be found by Him [at His return] spotless and blameless, in peace [that is, inwardly calm with a sense of spiritual well-being and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him]. 15 And consider the patience of our Lord [His delay in judging and avenging wrongs] as salvation [that is, allowing time for more to be saved]; just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him [by God], 16 speaking about these things as he does in all of his letters. In which there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the untaught and unstable [who have fallen into error] twist and misinterpret, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of [c]unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith], 18 but grow [spiritually mature] in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory (honor, majesty, splendor), both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Hebrews 4:16
Amplified Bible
16 Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
Saturday Jul 13, 2024
Saturday Jul 13, 2024
Well hey there! Hello to you today and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. God’s promises are to be believed. We can rely on them, leaning the full weight of our concerns upon them, because they come from our God who is unchanging in His keeping of His word. Today I have some verses to share that will encourage you to fully believe all of God’s promises.
Kerry Beck's Homeschool Summit - Free Ticket Available Here
Psalm 91 Course from Jan L. Burt available here
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, playing in the Edifi app. This episode is sponsored by Kerry Beck and her summit for homeschool families - Homeschool Superheros. For information about the summit or for a free ticket, click the link in the show notes. This is episode number 186.
Let’s look at a handful of verses today that are going to perhaps challenge us in our belief, or lack of belief, as it comes to God’s promises, and they will also spur us on to even great belief. You know, we don’t trust in just any old book, or in mere words, but in God’s very word, penned by men at the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is good news for us, because we don’t rely on something vague, artificial, or temporary (in fact Jesus said that the earth and all that is in it will pass away, but His words will never pass away). We are in a good place, in our sweet spot, when we fully believe God’s promises and apply them to our lives.
One way to apply God’s promises to our life is to take a particular promise and pray that promise about an exact situation or problem or relationship or issue we are facing. When we do that, we are literally applying the promises of God to our life and we can expect to see God’s movement in those parts of our lives.
1 Samuel 22 verses 2 and 3 say this
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; You save me from violence.
What has God promised to be for you in these verses? Let me recap: your rock, your fortress, your deliverer, your God, the one in whom you need to take refuge, your shield, the horn of your salvation, your stronghold and your refuge, your savior. He promises to save you from violence. The definition of violence is this: physical force to injure or abuse, damage or destroy - intense, turbulent, or furious and often destructive action or force - vehement feeling or expression-a clashing or jarring quality
This is what God is promising to save you from. Violence isn’t just a punch to the face or a pile drive to the face. Violence can be, and often is, much more than a physical blow. Believe that He is going to keep this promise to you. Won’t He do it?
Psalm 28:8 a - The LORD is the strength of His people
Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 34:8 - Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 91:1-2 - He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Let me read to you words in red, words Jesus spoke, and let me remind you somewhat sternly that these words are meant for you to know only hear, but to believe, and to make your very own. Take them personally. These words, they are personal if you will believe that they are for you, personally.
John 8, verses 31 and 32 and then skipping down to verse 38 say:
If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Are you truly free today? Free because the Son has set you free?
If not, do you want this freedom? And for God’s promises, all of them, every single one, to be true for you? It’s actually quite simple and quite hard, all wrapped up together, this gift of salvation Jesus offers. It demands allegiance to Him alone as your one true King, and it comes with a repentant heart, actually repenting to the Lord for your sins, and receiving the total forgiveness Jesus won for us on the cross. And then the followers of Jesus must actually follow Him on the narrow road that constitutes our life from this point forward. Simple and hard all at the same time, but the right decision for you and for me, to be sure.
Be sure to share this episode if it has been helpful to you, and thanks so much for listening to the podcast. God bless you, see you next time. Bye bye.
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Well, hey there, hello to ya and welcome to episode number 185 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, getting the promises of God into the people of God so that we can live in a state of belief, knowing and trusting that all God’s promises prove true.
Today we are taking a look at Psalm 145, from the New Living Translation.
Let’s start by reading verses 3 and 4, since they give us a solid foundation to start with.
Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure His greatness.
Let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them proclaim Your power.
Our God is great, He truly is. And He acts in greatness, doing great things and moving in great ways. He is most worthy of praise - literally, the most worthy of our praise and our time and our focus and our hearts. No one can measure His greatness. That is indeed a true statement. God’s greatness cannot be measured.
Are we telling the next generation about God’s mighty acts? I mean, you could say this podcast has that express purpose, since I’m Generation X and many podcast listeners are from younger generations. When we pass along what we know about our God, talk about His mighty acts, what He has done in our lives, what we know about Him, and what the Bible says, then we make way for the next generation to proclaim His power.
Let’s jump down to verses 8-9.
The LORD is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The LORD is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation.
Here we find some promises, and these promises bring me hope and peace right now, in the place I’m living out my life. Let me speak these promises over you and your life today. The Lord is merciful and compassionate to you, He is slow to get angry with you, and He is filled with unfailing love for you. The Lord is good to everyone - and that includes you! He showers compassion on you.
Your promises today are right here: God is merciful and compassionate to you, He is slow to get angry with you, He is filled with unfailing love for you, He is good to you, He showers, not sprinkles, but showers compassion on you.
Verse 13 says this: For Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The LORD always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does.
His kingdom is everlasting - so no matter what you feel like you are up against in this life, doesn’t it put things into perspective to remember that God’s kingdom is everlasting and all the drama, stress, darkness, evil, nonsense, junk in this life is very, very temporary. And knowing that our God rules always, throughout every and all generations, that is big comfort for us. He has not and will never abdicate His throne or His rule. Yes, there is one who rules this world, the prince of the power of the air, satan, that old devil, but his rule is truly miniscule as compared to the eternal rule of our God. For those who don’t know Jesus as their Lord, who are not living as disciples of Jesus, both knowing what He said and obeying what He said - John 14:15 and 1 John 2:3 are the Bible verses I’m referencing when I say that - this is not their promise. They are at the mercy of the evil one, and this life is the best it will ever be for them, because eternity without Jesus is actually hell, contrary to what a lot of people seem to choose to believe to their own detriment. He rules in this generation right now, and if He is your God, you love Him, you know Him, you serve Him, you obey Him, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life for you, well, then these promises are your promises and you ought to believe them.
It says God always keeps His promises.
Is there any room in that sentence for you to say, “Well, He doesn’t always keep His promises…” without being basically on the verge of blasphemy? I’m pretty serious about this. What is it, when we say or think or believe things like that, in direct contradiction and opposition to the very word of God, the Bible, what is it if it isn’t calling God a liar, basically? Now I know you don’t think that’s what you’re doing, but nevertheless, that is what you’re saying. And He is not a liar, the devil is the liar and as Jesus said, the truth is not in him. Let’s not attribute to God what belongs only to Satan. I am pretty serious when I say that any implication that God is not who He says He is and has repeatedly down through the ages proven He is, any implication is bordering on blasphemy. Could it be that satan the liar tries to convince us to think that God is lying to us, holding on us? He isn’t. Even when we cannot begin to understand what is going on, God is still never lying to us and satan is still always, only lying to us. Jesus said lying is satan's native tongue (see John 8:44). He’s not going to tell you the truth, my friend. Not ever. He speaks his native language, so says Jesus, and what Jesus said, those words in red on the pages of the New Testament, that’s what I choose to believe. The Lord always keeps His promises, Psalm 145:13 tells us, and He is gracious in all He does. And that is simply the unadulterated truth. We need to hang on to this truth, the promise that God always keeps His promises. In good times, in bad times, we need to hang on to this!
Let’s end this episode with verse 18, because I think it will be encouraging for you today.
The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call on Him in truth.
Want to be closer to the Lord? Call on Him. Spend time in prayer.
And really, at this stage of the game, at this moment in time, can you think of a better use of your time than to spend it praying? Isn’t it just like our God to tell us that the way to be closer to Him is to call out to Him? He is telling us that He wants to be close to us.
I’m going to leave you with that today, and hey, maybe read Psalm 145 sometime soon, because it will certainly encourage you.
Also, I wanted to let you know a couple of things. Soon there will be some extra or bonus episodes of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, because it’s a lot to host two podcasts and I have some writing I need to be working on, namely finishing the Bible study I’m working on titled Biblical Motherhood - Encouragement from God’s Word. So I am going to drop episodes of The Prayer Podcast as bonus content for this show and will likely phase out The Prayer Podcast sometime soon-ish. And I’m so blessed to be the prayer coordinator for an upcoming online event, a homeschool conference, so I’m going to put the link to that, which has a free ticket option as well as paid tickets that come with a bit more than the free ticket of course, but I’ll put that link in the show notes and even if you don’t homeschool, if you know any homeschoolers, would you pass the info that link on to them? It’s a great event and the fact that the host has a prayer room for the attendees and makes prayer for those who join her conference a priority, that’s not the norm at summits and conferences, and I have spoken at a number of them, so I speak from experience. Share that info with those who might be blessed and encouraged by it, and I’m so honored to be part of this event as a speaker but mainly as the prayer coordinator. And I have a new product launching for homeschoolers super soon…it’s all ready to go, but there is some kind of nutty glitch with my email that is associated with my website and it isn’t sending out emails properly so when someone purchases Homeschool Planning Made Simple, they may not get an email about their purchase. If you have purchased it and did not get a follow up email, would you let me know? Reach me anytime at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will get back to you as quickly as possible. Thanks for listening today, and remember, the Lord always keeps his promises to you, my friend. See you next time. Bye bye.
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Thursday Jun 20, 2024
Hey there! Welcome to episode number 187 of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Today we are discussing some promises from the book of Daniel. Now, Daniel is a complex book, in my opinion. True story of exile and the greatest king to ever rule, visions of the future and of the end times, dramatic answers to prayers, miracles, just wow from start to finish, that’s the book of Daniel in a nutshell. A documentation of God working over the entire course of a man’s life. And a bold reminder of what a life lived all-in with the Lord can look like, and the mark it can make for the good of others and the glory of God.
A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents
Let’s start by reading Daniel 2:21 from the Amplified.
It says: It is He who changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and (greater) knowledge to those who have understanding! Verse 22: It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.
These two verses give sort of an overview of the entire book, and they stand as a bold reminder to us that God really is in control. Of all of it, whatever that “it” might be in your own life and the greater “it” in the world at large.
In those things in your family that are head scratchers, and in those things on the other side of the world that are gut wrenchers.
God has not abdicated His throne. Daniel is a book that proves this to be true in so many ways. Just think about the prophetic role this book of the Bible has played down through the centuries, and how it has proven true again and again. Think of Alexander the Great, think of the Roman empire…those have proved true per the book of Daniel. Think of the things Daniel was shown in a vision, that were to do with the last days, and which distressed him so much that he was physically ill after receiving this information … when is the last time you had an experience with the Lord that left you so unwell that you could not get out of bed for days, for weeks even? I’m guessing the answer is never. And I’m not sure that, per Acts chapter 2, that we might not be missing something in the modern church as a whole, and as individual disciples of Jesus.
We’re seeing things happening in the western church, meaning the American church to be exact, that should make us realize we’ve put too much on men in the pulpit…to much focus, too much value, too much loyalty, too much power, too much expectation, too much “let that go…it doesn’t mean what it seems like it means…” and too little accountability, too little first century church way of living (not way of going to church or being part of churchianity, but of living because it was their whole way of life, not just 90 minutes a week). Pastors are stepping down, resigning, and not because they repented for their sins, but because they got caught. Come at me, bro, if you want to, but I’m not incorrect on this. It is the issue of the day within the church culture in America, and so it is worth talking about and viewing through the lens of the Bible, not the lens of churches being run like a business, but through the very Word of God. What’s God’s standard for those who shepherd His flock? What’s God’s definition of repentance? It’s not “old sin” that “wasn’t a crime”, and it’s not a 12-year-old child being described as a “young lady”, or to blame the girl who was A CHILD…this nonsense is so far out in left field, and the fact that people within the church are saying these things and thinking they’re right in the Lord’s sight for their opinion? Oh my… oh my, we have all but lost any semblance of a fear of the Lord. And so, as we see these things taking place, if we believe that the book of Daniel proves that God is totally in control, then we have to believe that this is the time for uncovering what’s been hidden, for bringing things into the light, and for knowing that the words Peter penned, when he said that judgment begins with the house of the Lord, that being His church, well, it’s happening right now. We must stop calling God’s judgment on His house an attack orchestrated by Satan. That kind of thinking means you’re either far too accustomed to automatically defending people rather than letting God be God, or it means you have not opened your Bible and read it well enough to know what it says about things like this. Gotta be in the Word in these dark days, my friends. If you aren’t, you are going to be duped and tricked and deceived and manipulated and confused and on the struggle bus unable to pull the cord to get off at the right stop, just stuck on the struggle bus riding along and riding along with no God-given destination on your route.
God is in control today, and He is doing a cleaning out, cleaning up, bring into the light work in the church. And why wouldn’t He? When Jesus returns, it is to be for a pure, spotless bride. Does that describe the church in America to you? Watching the garbage we watch on our streaming accounts, making excuses for sexual immorality, neglecting to lead our children in the ways of the Lord, hardly praying ever except when we need or want something, leaving our Bibles to collect dust on the end table and somehow thinking reading the verse of the day is daily Bible study…but huh, does that sound like the kind of studying that enables you to pass the final in college and get your degree? One verse a day? If we were quizzed on the series we binged versus passages of the Bible, how would we do? Pass one, fail the other? If you and I don’t know what God says about all the things, how can we possibly make a right judgment about serious situations in the world or in the church? Do we need to get serious about the Lord? Or is this all just fire insurance? Where are we at? What are we doing? When will we stop playing pat-a-cake with the world when the Bible says not to love the world nor the things in or of the world?
We cannot experience a life even remotely like Daniel’s with our lukewarm version of Christianity. Do you practice Christianity or churchianity? Food for thought. Digest that. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, as Paul said. Not enough time left in this life for us to mess around with the truly important things.
So if I haven’t lost you yet, haven’t offended you or ticked you off or something of that nature, by daring to be as bold as I’ve been on this episode, let’s look at some other portions of the book of Daniel.
Remember the story of Daniel's three friends and the fiery furnace? They refused to bow down and worship the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar and they were thrown into a lit furnace that had been heated seven times hotter than usual. And they walked out of that furnace without a single burnt hair - they did not even smell like smoke. Daniel chapter 3 tells this true story, and you likely already know this true story but I’d encourage you to read it again. It’s miraculous! But the miracle didn’t come from lukewarm faith, from trying to find a way to keep the peace with this particular regime and ruler, or from compromise. They expected to be thrown into the fire and burned alive. They also expected God to preserve them. Which He did, but they were willing to go all the way to death rather than even hint at dishonoring the Lord.
Do we live like that? Even remotely? Is our fear of God such that we can say, “Toss me in, burn me alive, do whatever you gonna do but I’m not bowing down to whatever it is society or government or whatever says I have to bow down to cuz if I don’t I am gonna pay. Well, lemme pay, then! Hand me my bill, let’s get this thing paid already, and then I’ll need receipts cuz I am determined to stand before the Lord fearing only Him, and Him alone. So, that’s that.” Once the fear of anyone or anything other than God is settled in us, those hard decisions are no longer hard because the decisions have already been made when we chose to fear God and nobody and nothing else.
Are you afraid of health problems? Don’t be! It’s not so bad, even the worst of it, in comparison to eternity in a perfect body with perfect health! And if health stuff has made you step further away from Jesus, can I encourage you to get honest about why that is the case? Jesus never promised us an easy life, but in some ways, the modern western church did, and that simply is not biblical. If people let you down, and boy oh boy can they ever let you down, did that move you closer to the Lord who loves you so much that He laid down His very life for you, or move you away from Him? Can you be brutally honest about why these kinds of hardships have moved us away from Him? And can we ponder Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being tied and bound and chucked straight into the flames rather than bow down to a gold statue and dishonor the Lord, can we ponder why we don’t have that kind of loyalty to the Lord? Hard questions because they force us to be honest and not sugar coat things. Important questions that we need to ask ourselves. This isn’t for you to go ask your spouse. This is about you and your fear of God, or lack thereof.
We can read about Daniel in the lion’s den and we can read about Daniel and the writing on the wall (the saying oft used, “the writing’s on the wall” comes from Daniel chapter 5, and once God says this is it, times up, it’s done, the goose is cooked, well, that’s how it’s going to be. Daniel 5-22 - And you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this.” What truth from the Word of God do you and I know but have still refused to humble our heart? Do we really understand that we do not get a pass for refusing the humble ourselves and obey what God has said? I don’t know that we do. But Daniel, he did. And he lived a life filled with miracles, depending on God alone, through kings and kingdoms, from young man to old man, and that is truly a life well-lived.
When we read Daniel 7 through 12, we find things that are incredible regarding the last days, and to think that one man, Daniel, was given such great revelations, is incredible. Do we take all of his life and all of the book of Daniel seriously, or just the parts that deal with end times and prophecies? I think we need to take all of it as crucial in this day and age, because when we read about a man like Daniel, his life and all he faced and the way he honored and trusted God fully, it gives us great hope and courage to advance day by day, walking with Jesus, depending on His Spirit, honoring the Father, knowing that one day soon our faith will be made sight. You and I are not living at this moment in time by accident or happenstance, any more than Daniel was in his day. God chooses the places we live and the times we live in. Do you know that’s true for you? Because it is. As it says in the book of Esther, perhaps you were born for such a time as this. No accidents, not for you, not for any of us, in terms of living in this current age. What will you do with what you’ve been given? Will you hide, tuck tail and run, ignore the writing on the wall, or will you square up, go all in with Jesus, and allow nothing but the fear of the Lord to strike fear in you? In chapter 9 we read Daniel’s prayer for his people. It’s powerful. The way he prays, the way he is so in line with the holiness of God and the unholiness of mankind, of his people, well, we don’t have enough of that today. And it shows. Verse 3 says: So I directed my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. I can’t speak for you, but I don’t pray like this and in light of the state of the world and the state of this land I live in, the moral rot that has even gone so far as to trickle in, seep in, and permeate Jesus’ church, well, I need to get to praying the way that Daniel did. I’m going to close out this episode by reading a few more verses from Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9, as a reminder that God hears and answers prayer, and not just asking for what we want or need (although that is part of a healthy prayer life - if you never talk to God about things that are personal and near to your heart, that’s not healthy at all and is not part of the close personal relationship God desires to have with you). God does hear when we pray, and He does provide answers, and as we read in Daniel chapter 9, repentance is not a bad thing. The promise for us here is that we can be bold and fear God and not man or circumstances, and live a life full of God keeping all sorts of promises to us. And I don’t mean this is a works based salvation, that’s simply not what we find in the New Testament. But fear of man is a snare, and even in the early church, God did things that were miraculous when fear of God trumped all other fears. It’s all throughout the book of Acts, as just one place with many examples of this. Pray boldly today, expecting God to hear and answer, to do things in response to your praying, and make fear of the Lord and not of man a priority for your own personal life. We may not have lives like Daniel’s life, but we can expect to live lives that stand out, to look like a people who trust our God and see miracles happen in our day. Let’s be about going all in with the Lord, similar to the way Daniel was all-in.
Daniel 9:5-6: we have sinned and committed wrong, and have behaved wickedly and have rebelled, turning away from Your commandments and ordinances. Further, we have not listened to and heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Verse 9: To the Lord our God belong mercy and loving kindness and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him. Verse 13: Yet we have not wholeheartedly begged for forgiveness and sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our wickedness and praying attention to and placing value in Your truth. Verse 14b: for the LORD our God is uncompromisingly righteous and openly just in all His works which He does - He keeps His word; and we have not obeyed His voice. Verse 17-19: Now therefore, our God, listen to (heed) the prayer of Your servant (Daniel) and his supplications, and for Your own sake let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline Your ear and hear, open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before YOu because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of YOur great mercy and compassion. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! Do not delay, for Your own sake, O my God, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.
And how did God respond to this prayer?
Verses 22-26 tell us what the angel Gabriel said to Daniel when he appeared to him.
He instructed me and he talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications, the command (to give you an answer) was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly regarded and greatly beloved. Therefore consider the message and begin to understand the (meaning of the) vision.”
How’s that for an answer to prayer? It’s something truly spectacular.
Hold on to the hope of an eternity with Jesus that is perfect through and through. Spend time with Him in prayer, sharing your heart and listening for His reply and receiving His love and comfort and His direction and wisdom. And stay in your Bibles, keep them open, read them and study them and believe what God has to say over and above what anyone else has to say. These can feel like perilous days, as we see things happening in the pulpits that shock us. But God has to clean His house first before He can do any other cleaning up of our society, and have we not prayed that He would do a work in our lost world? Be willing to be part of the pure and spotless bride Jesus is soon returning for, and don’t give in to fear of man…not any man, but fear the Lord and serve Him only.
I’ll see ya back here next time. (and if you’d like more Bible teaching like this, please check out the Psalm 91 audio course via the link in the show notes - for more on prayer, there is a link to A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents via Amazon). Feel free to share this episode with a friend! Thanks so much for listening! Bye bye.
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Thursday Jun 13, 2024
Well hello and welcome to the podcast, thanks for listening. This week, just as warmer temps get closer to the 100 degree mark here in Kansas, we’re looking at a portion of the Bible that can bring some intensity and a tremendous reminder that every single thing God has promised always, absolutely, comes to pass.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show Podcast, part of the Spark Network, and you can listen via the Edifi app for this podcast and many others with Biblical content. Today’s episode is sponsored by Growth Roots, the makers of my favorite linen covered journals themed with the Christian in mind. Learn more at GrowthRootsCo.com or follow them on Instagram @growthrootsco. This is episode number 183.
We’re moving along in our look at promises in every one of the 66 books of the Bible, and we are in the Old Testament book of Ezekial for this episode. It’s a hefty book, and so there were several promises and passages for me to choose from when I was preparing for this episode. I landed on chapter 36 because it is so fitting for the current moment in which we are living.
I’m going to be reading from the NLT today, chapter 36, starting in verse 8:
8 “But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon! 9 See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted. 10 I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. 11 I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord..
So Israel was a nation, think back to the promises God made to Abraham and his descendants, then Moses leading the people out of Egypt in the Exodus and then Joshua taking the lead as the people of Israel moved forward literally into that land that was promised to them. Move forward through the Bible and you see times of exile, destruction of Jerusalem, and eventually Israel was no longer the nation that it once was. For a long time, and the history is extensive of all that happened over the centuries, but Israel was not a nation for quite some time. And then in May of 1948, 76 years ago, they became a nation again. It’s an amazing thing to study how exactly that came about, but it really did happen just as God said it would when He asked the question, “Can a nation be born in a day?” You can find that verse in Isaiah 66.
Literally, the nation of Israel was born in a day. And so, very uniquely, when they celebrated their 76th birthday last month, they were actually celebrating it for the second time, because they’d been a nation before. God keeps all of His promises, and for this era we are currently in, I mean world wide, it behooves us to remember that God has made specific promises to Israel, to the people He chose to be His own possession, and when we read the news through the lens of God’s Word, we get the proper perspective.
And we truly do need the right perspective, or how can we endure all the things that we don’t fully understand? If we’re honest, there’s a lot that feels confusing and overwhelming. Standing on the solid rock of Jesus and the Word of God give us sure footing, hinds feet for high places, that we need. The Bible speaks into our circumstances today, right now, and that is comforting and it also reminds us, we need to be students of the Bible.
Verse 8 says the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops, verse 10 says God will greatly increase the population of Israel and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. Verse 11 says animals will increase, too, and that the nation will be more prosperous than it was before.
Israel has a population of around 9.8 million people. 36 Israelis are on the Forbes list of billionaires, with a b, for 2024. As far as millionaires go, Israel has about 131000 of them. Wheat, sorghum, corn, avocados, citrus, kiwi, guava, mangos, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchine, melons, bananas, dates, apples, pears, cherries, wine, cotton, cows, milk, silver carp, grass carp, gray mullet, St Peter’s fish, rock bass, silver perch, Asian seabass, sea bream, trout, salmon, pomelo (a fruit they created), olives, figs, plums, strawberries, prickly pear, persimmon, pomegranates, almonds, around 90 million in annual flower exports, especially waxflower and roses, but also lilies and tulips, and I could go on.
Lest you think that this is not a big deal, that it’s just their GDP and hard work and not God keeping this specific promise that He made here in Ezekial, well, in the 1920s and 1930s, the land that is now Israel was a wasteland, basically a desert where not even cacti would grow, and it was malarial…which is interesting, isn’t it? A desert that gives you malaria? It was so bad, seemingly useless and place to go to lose your health, that only God could revive it and make it what it is now. He made promises, and He kept them with exacting precision.
So, let’s bring this home to roost for you, in your life. The same God that keeps all His promises to Israel is the God who is right now in the business of keeping every one of His promises to you.
Not to beat a dead horse here, but I have this podcast for the express purpose of reminding Christians that all of God’s promises are true, and He won’t forget about those promises, nor fail to bring them to pass. Now if you don’t believe them, you end up in the camp of the people Jesus encountered who did not believe He could do much, they had no faith, and among them He could do only a few miracles. So we can land there, we can end up not receiving what God wants us to have, solely because of our unbelief, our lack of faith. But God isn’t shoddy in His workmanship. He doesn’t make a promise with the intention of breaking it. He makes it so He can keep it, and He delights in our faith, our trust, our total belief and expectation that His promises to us will absolutely come to pass.
How’s your faith today? What would you say is a fair and accurate description of what you are believing God to do for you, for your loved ones? And does that line up with hard times and the lowering of expectations and the dimming of hope that we often give way to when life is rough…or does it line up with the truth of God’s Word? Only one of those is worthy of guiding or directing our faith. Which one is ruling the day in your life, right now?
God’s Word is going to prove true, 100 percent. Why not make the choice, by faith and in faith, to believe God for all His promises and be on the right side of history? One day all of this will be history, and we can choose today which side of history we’ll end up on. May as well be the right side, the winning team, am I right? Like, God’s going to win the whole ball game, so let’s get on His side and let’s live expecting to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living even now. Grow your faith, maybe focus on that more than growing your bank account or your resume or closing the rings on your watch each day or whatever your big focus is.
My prayer for you today is that you will have such solid faith in the God who makes amazing promises that you’ll live each day, starting with this day right now, as if He has already kept them, just like Israel is living in those promises from Ezekiel 36. He’ll never fail in the keeping of His promises, not even a single one. Let’s never fail in believing Him and living in a state of chronic belief and expectation, knowing that our hope in Him will never disappoint us.
I’ll see you back here next time. Bye bye.
Thursday May 30, 2024
Thursday May 30, 2024
Have a prayer request? You can share it here & I will be praying!
Well hey there, hello to you today. Welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, getting the promises of God into the people of God. When we know what God has promised us and we live like all those promises are true, our lives change. Now I mean that literally! God’s Word is life-changing. And that’s awfully good news for us!
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, playing via the Edifi app, which you can find in your app store. Today’s episode is brought to you by my very own Psalm 91 - Pray It and Believe Course, all twelve sessions with lifetime access and the bonus content for $35. The link is right here in the show notes! I’d love to have you join me in the course - because the promises of Psalm 91 are for you (which is why I created the course in the first place). And this is episode number 182.
Last time we looked at the book of Jeremiah, and today we will look at the book of Lamentations, which was also written by Jeremiah. And yes, it’s a book of lament, which means it isn’t all happy, happy, happy, but is a serious book of the Bible. Written by a man who lived a serious life. Jeremiah was not living on easy street! He had a unique calling and it wasn’t happy-go-lucky. And you know what? We find a lot of comfort in Jeremiah’s words, in how his life played out, when our own lives take a turn that is uncomfortable, when something truly terrible hits us right between the eyes. We live on every word that comes from God, to be sure - that’s Biblical and that’s what Jesus said to Satan when he was tempting the Lord in the desert. And every word of His, what we read in our Bibles, is most comforting to us when we are at our lowest. I’m guessing that you’ve found that to be true. It’s most comforting when we most need to be comforted. And that is why the book of Lamentations, being an actual lament, holds out so much hope to us. It’s here when we truly need it, and we truly need it when the going gets tough, not when everything is coming up roses.
So let’s take a look at a promise from Lamentations and let’s either apply it right now to the hard thing we’re facing in life, or store it up, hide it in our heart, so we can easily grab hold of this promise when we need it (so if you’re not dealing with something difficult right this very moment, you can keep this in mind for when you're facing something tough…and it may be something good to have on hand to share and encourage and bring comfort to someone you know in real life, or via social media, who is dealing with something difficult right now).
From the Amplified Bible, I’ll read Lamentations chapter 3, verses 57 and 58, and then I will move backward a bit in this chapter and read verses 24 and 25. But first, let me read verse 37, because it kind of jumped off the page at me - it just stood out to me as I was reading over this chapter and I want to share it so that it can be an encouragement for somebody today. It says this: “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has authorized and commanded it?” (Now this may not seem like a verse that is relevant to this episode, but hang with me for a moment. This verse, Lamentations 3:37, is such a wonderful reminder that God is always completely in control. Please don’t forget that, my friend!)
Lam. 3:57-58: You drew near on the day I called to You, You said, “Do not fear.” O Lord, You have pleaded my soul’s cause (You have guided my way and protected me).
Lam. 3:24-25: “The LORD is my portion and my inheritance,” says my soul; “Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.” The LORD is good to those who wait (confidently) for Him, to those who seek Him (on the authority of God’s word).
These four verses contain promises God gives His people from the book of Lamentations.
When you are in that terrible place in life, even if things are going well with your health, your finances, your job, your marriage, your friendships, and so on…but you are still struggling and feel a heaviness internally. Maybe one area is amiss, and it feels like you are drawing because of it. Even if it is just one part of life that’s not so good, even if (and that’s a big if, because most people I know are dealing with more than just one tough thing right now), but even if it’s just one area, one thing, just one…I have to ask this question: what are you doing about it? Are you worrying? Are you trying to find a way to handle it, to buck up, to get thicker skin? To deal with things in a healthier manner? To sugar coat it? Are you fretting, giving in to fear, losing sleep, going gray, mind wandering as you kick this thing around, trying to find a solution? Asking others to pray for you? Doing all the things…but what are you DOING about it? Remember the first verse I read, the reminder that God really is in total control? These verses go together, in a way. Verse 57 says that when Jeremiah called to God, the Lord responded with these words: “Do not fear.” It says God drew near on the day Jeremiah called to Him. So, whatcha doin? Are you calling to Him? What’s the one thing we really need, and likely want, to hear from God when something has gone so far south that we couldn’t locate North on a map with a compass glued to our nose. Call to Him. I do believe He wants to draw near and speak, “Do not fear.” to your heart. Verse 58, where it says God pleaded Jeremiah’s soul’s case…you know, Jesus secured our freedom and forgiveness and our eternity at Calvary, and He did indeed plead my soul’s case, and yours, too. He has guided our way and protected us, and we have no evidence to think He will stop doing so for us, for all our days. He is good, is He not?
Does your soul say that the Lord is your portion and your inheritance? Say it to yourself - preach this to yourself if you need to be reminded! What’s your portion? Not your bank account, your retirement plan, not your mid life crisis car, not your dress size, not even what your labs and bloodwork show, not your address, not your salary, your title, your name, your alma mater, your GPA, your vaca destination, carats on your ring finger, how many people know your name, if you are saluted or do the saluting, how many letters come after your last name, your merits, your accomplishments, the stories you tell to impress others…need I go on? I could, you and I both know this is real life, what we do and how we measure one another and how we give ourselves a pass or fail when we evaluate our own lives… But that’s not your portion! Let alone your inheritance! The Lord is both! The Lord is your portion, and if you have Him, you have the best thing, as Jesus said to Martha when Mary was sitting at His feet being taught by Him, the best thing and it will not be taken from you. Your inheritance is not safe on this earth, in this life. With Him, your inheritance is safe. He is the only safe place there is! And yes, I do know what C.S. Lewis wrote in The Chronicles of Narnia, and I do know it is quoted by pastors and Christians on the regular…and I also know it’s not true, that line about Aslan being good, but not being safe. Ha! What??? Man, if that’s what floats your boat and forms your theology, get and auger and drill a bunch of holes in your boat and sink it and get your theology in line with the Bible, because my life was very unsafe before Jesus pulled me out of the pit, and the only safe place I have ever found in this world is with Him. Ain’t nobody, C.S. Lewis included, gonna tell me convincingly that my God isn’t safe. He is my refuge - He is my fortress - He is my deliverer - He is my salvation - He is my peace - He is my hope - He is the Way, the Truth and the Life for me. And He is indeed safe.
When the Lord is our portion and our inheritance, we truly can say along with Jeremiah that we have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. Hope in Jesus is never misplaced! And He is always worth the wait!
The last portion of verse 25 says The LORD is good to those who wait (confidently) for Him, to those who seek Him (on the authority of God’s word). Man, that’s rich, isn’t it? I mean that seriously. This is gold, this is rich!
Can you wait not anxiously, gnawing on your thumbnail and holding your breath…but confidently? Knowing your God is going to show up. He’s got this, He’s got you. Nothing, not one hair on your head, is misplaced or overlooked. He is always in absolute control of the situation. What situation? Your situation!
Wait confidently for Him. Be one of those who seeks Him, and seek Him on the authority of His word. What does the Bible promise? Believe God for that exact thing. What does God’s Word tell you about who God is, His character, His ways, His faithfulness, His mighty deeds, His unending love and astounding mercies? Seek Him based on those truths. And you, my friend, will not be left abandoned but will be, like Jeremiah, guided and protected.
That’s it for this episode, and I’ll put the link to the Psalm 91 course here in the show notes and I’ll see you back here next time. Feel free to subscribe to the show and get new episodes as they release. Hang on to these promises and remember, they’re not just for everyone else…if you know Jesus, these promises are for you, right now, this very moment in time. Bye bye.
Friday May 17, 2024
Friday May 17, 2024
Well, hey there! Welcome to the latest episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. I’m Jan, and if we have never met in real life or on the interwebs, it’s so nice to “meet” you!
Let’s take a look at some promises God offers His people in the book of Jeremiah.
Episode #181 is sponsored by JoannaWeaverBooks.com
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by the author and speaker Joanna Weaver. You may know her from the bestseller Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. Her words resonate with so many Christian women, and I am currently working through her book Lazarus Awakening. Thanks, Joanna, for writing what I’ve needed to hear so many times. I’ll share a link to Joanna Weaver’s website here in the show notes. This is episode number 181.
Jeremiah. The weeping prophet. His calling from the Lord was far from easy. In fact, it was downright brutal in many aspects. This is a man who lived a rough life for all the years he walked in obedience to God. And so, we can take comfort in his words when we feel like things go from bad to worse when we do what God told us to do. And in the midst of so much hardship, we find some amazing promises in the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 17, verses 7 and 8 from the NLT say this:
But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Isn’t this passage remarkable? It reminds me very much of Psalm 1. The promise here for you is that you will be blessed so long as you trust in the Lord and make Him your hope and confidence. Listen, the honest truth is that we can feel like we’re trusting Him but when pressed a bit regarding whether or not any and all of our confidence is in the Lord alone, well, hmmm… it’s not always placed fully there, is it? And it needs to be. There is nobody that will fail to let you down save One, and His name is the Lord. So put your hope in Him, put all your confidence in Him, and you will be blessed. That’s the promise here, and God never fails to do what He has promised.
You will be like a tree planted along a riverbank, your roots are gonna go deep into the water and you will not have to feel barren and dry and fruitless and useless and pointless even when the whole world around you is in a season of drought. Your leaves will stay green and you will never stop producing fruit.
Does that describe you right now?
You know, one of the best ways to examine your life, to examine yourself to see if ye be in the faith, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, is to take a look at your life’s fruit, or lack thereof.
If you have no fruit, meaning the kind of stuff that marks you as a Christian, that is different than the ways of the world, that is evidence that Jesus has hold of your heart and is doing a sanctifying, transforming work in you and through you…that kind of fruit, well if it isn’t evident in your life, then I’m going to be bold enough to say that you may not be planted firmly in the Lord, may not be fully trusting in Him alone. And if you’re not, can I encourage you to change that today? Walking with Jesus is not about saying a prayer one time during an emotional moment at the end of a three day conference. Climate controlled settings with emotional speakers and worship can be awesome, there is not doubt, but they don’t always equate to the kind of transformative life change that Jesus is really after in the lives of each of His disciples. If we are going to see the kind of fruit that points to us belonging to Him, we need to make a decision to take up our cross daily and follow Him, and that goes far beyond the women’s event and stretches into every nook and cranny of our life.
Jeremiah 33:3 is another verse I’d like to share with you today, and I actually mentioned this verse on episode number 33 of my other podcast, The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt and I can drop a link to that episode in the show notes for you to easily listen to if you’re interested. Let me read it from the NLT.
I’ll start in verse 2 and then read verse 3:
This is what the LORD says - the LORD who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the LORD. Ask Me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.
Yeah, that right there is a big deal. It’s a huge promise. Ask Him, call to Him some versions say, and ask Him things you don’t know. Ask Him and He will tell you secrets that are remarkable about what? About things you don’t know, about things to come. This tells us that we aren’t on our own, we don’t have to figure it all out by our own selves, and beyond that, we can ask Him to tell us secret things about what is to come and He will do it. Isn’t that amazing? Like, how is that even possible, that we can ask and God will tell us things like that? Oh it’s amazing all right, and God means what He promises here. We aren’t walking into an unknown, uncertain future in the same manner as those who don’t follow Jesus…and this verse gives us tremendous hope and comfort that God will show us things, remarkable things, secret things, if we will but ask Him. Our future is not unknown - it is safe in the hands of the God who knows us and we can keep expecting Him to show us things about the future if we will just ask. Yup, this is an awesome promise!
The last verse we will look at in Jeremiah is from chapter 10, verse 23, still reading from the NLT.
This section of chapter ten has the header “Jeremiah’s Prayer” and verse 23 says:
I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. And verse 24 says:
So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.
I love this. To begin a prayer by saying that we know our lives are not our own, that we are not able to plan our own course, is a huge admission that we all need to make! God already knows this is true; we need to know it! And as a Christian woman in America in 2024, it’s not common to our western culture, this kind of admittance.
We DON’T know that our lives are not our own. We really have been taught to drink the Kool-Aid and believe the untruth that we can plan our own course. Actually, according to the very Word of God, we cannot!
The promise here for you and for me is that this acknowledging brings with it so much comfort and peace, because we put our lives where they belong…in His hands. Honestly, we don’t want them anywhere else. And Jeremiah goes on to pray, so correct me Lord, but please be gentle. If God corrected us, dealt with us in His anger, none of us would be alive. Instant death. Poof. That’s it. Time to punch out. But of course, our loving God in His grace and mercy doesn’t deal with us in His anger! He gentleness is known to all, if we take the time to notice it.
But in praying these words, asking God to move in our lives, to do His sanctifying work, which does at times, often times for me, involve correction, is a really amazing way to ask God to do His will, but in a way that is gentle. He does remember that we are but dust, it says in Psalm 103, and in His gentleness toward us, we see evidence of how much He loves us.
Take comfort in this!
God’s love and care for you knows no bounds, and He will finish the work He has begun in your life.
I hope these verses from Jeremiah have been encouraging for you today, and if so, well, praise the Lord!
Lord bless you and thanks for listening today - also, I’m leaving a link in the show notes where you can send me any prayer requests you may have, and I pray for every request I receive. I’ll see you next time! Bye bye.
Thursday May 09, 2024
Thursday May 09, 2024
Psalm 91 Pray It & Believe Course
God's promises are true.
He has a perfect track record, and His resume is impeccable. But do we live like His promises are true for us, personally?
How is our prayer life impacted by whether or not we really, truly believe that everything God has promised to His people, He will deliver on?
Let's take an honest look at this issue & let's choose to believe that God's promises are true for us...because they are!
#believe #GodsPromises #truth #Biblestudy #NewTestament #hope #prayer
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Tuesday Apr 23, 2024
Well, hello to ya today!
Welcome to this fun bonus episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show…where we take a gander at the importance of applying the Bible to our family life.
SUMMIT TICKETS HERE (& be sure to email me at JanLBurt@outlook.com if you sign up!)
It won’t come as any surprise for me to say that your family, your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, these relationships are often the ones that we want to focus on, and sometimes those are the relationships that we neglect.
We have a real enemy, and he hates what God loves. In Genesis we see the first family, and we know that God planned for them to be a family with a focus on honoring and living for Him, for the Lord. And so, of course, satan hates the family and works to rip it apart, damage it, thrash it and trash it in any and every possible manner.
We see that all around us in society. And it’s having an impact as a whole.
So we need to continue running our race and fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. It matters how we run, it matters where our gaze lands, or those words wouldn’t be on the pages of our Bibles (in the book of Hebrews, chapter twelve is the exact location).
And while this next bit I’m going to share about wasn’t part of what I’d planned to share, it is timely and fits the exact message of this episode, so I’ll be sharing some of what I shared in a blog post that I published yesterday.
I'm no stranger to difficult conversations with my children.
I've explained and over-explained so many things in the hope that some of what I said would ring true and speak louder to them than the world.
To parody the insurance commercial tagline, I know a thing or two because I've seen a thing or two.
But isn't there always something that crops up, trying to gain access to our children's hearts and minds? Isn't there always?
Yes, indeed there is. And even though my children are all adults now, even though I am no longer actively homeschooling, I continue to speak at homeschool conferences and summits and to groups of moms and women in person and via my podcasts and social media platforms. I still very much want to encourage and support homeschoolers and Christian parents in any way possible.
And today, my messages have been full of parents dealing with an unexpected source of frustration that involves the latest Taylor Swift album...
Here's a quick rundown of what's going on -
A new album was released and so, of course, loads of Swift's fans have been posting all over social media. This isn't unexpected, and certainly isn't the source of frustration so many parents are facing today. These parents have seen their children exposed to this album, which contains plenty of explicit lyrics and anti-Christian themes. But the exposure came via an unexpected source.
Many parents have strict policies for their children regarding what music they listen to and what they see online, which includes who they follow on social media. For example, say your tween daughter has an Instagram account that you monitor carefully, and the accounts she follows have been vetted and are both age and morally appropriate. All of a sudden, these carefully selected Christian content creators begin posting in detail about the latest Taylor Swift album, saying they're coming out of the closet and they don't care what anybody thinks about it, going on to explain why the album is okay to listen to if you are an adult, that it isn't child-friendly, and so on...but sharing the lyrics along with photos and video of their bizarre album-release-dinner-party-ritual-events(I have no idea what to call the release dinner party celebrations that I've seen all over my CHRISTIAN social media feed...so forgive me if my name for sounds weird, but the images I saw were pretty weird so I simply called it as I saw it).
So many young people were exposed to controversial lyrics at the hands of the Christians they follow on social media, and so many of those who posted this content did so while defending Taylor Swift in a way that makes absolutely no sense at all for someone who has chosen to take up their cross daily and follow after Jesus.
And the comments on these posts are equally controversial and surprising. Basically, what I've seen is those who take a stand against this album and its content by saying it's not really what Christ followers ought to be listening to get DESTROYED in the comments by the ample swarm of fans who feel the need to lash out against anyone who dares question their absolute allegiance to the pop star. (Note: they come out swinging against those who declare their allegiance to Jesus in an attempt to justify their allegiance to Taylor Swift as Christians...make it make sense!)
One comment went so far as to say that the lyrics on this album are no more controversial than the story of Lot and his daughters. Well, let's think about that. Genesis 19 is part of a tragedy that took place in the midst of a wicked, fallen society (hmmm, sounds familiar, doesn't it?). Lot's wife looked back at that which the Lord deemed worthy only of total destruction and thus did not make it to the "high ground" with her husband and daughters. Lot fled to (and then away from) the town of Zoar because he had a pretty good idea that the people of that community weren't going to simply let him exist in peace after what went down next door. He took his two daughters and made his home in a cave, away from the populous. The young women did not want to die childless and so they devised a lewd plan and went forward with (get dad drunk and do the unthinkable with dad in order to have children). The names of their children were Moab and Ben-ammi...the very start of the Moabites and the Ammonites, who have a long and tainted history of fighting against God's chosen people, the Israelites. I'm not exactly certain how this commenter thinks that the story of Lot and his daughters comes to her defense regarding the album and its crude, anti-Christian content. If anything, it lends credence to the fact that the album is not fit for Christian consumption.
All of this is what parents are facing today as they face the next battle for their children's hearts and minds.
After replying to messages, praying for parents, muting and unfollowing so-many-accounts today, here I am posting this on my blog as a means of encouraging any parents who are dealing with this sticky situation with their own children (or any other stick situation you may be facing). You are not alone. It may feel like you are, but I promise, based on my DMs, you absolutely are not. And I am praying for you and your family, because this is tricky stuff, explaining why Christians make choices like this, share about those choice, and defend them in ways that, frankly, dishonor the Lord.
I had intended to record a podcast episode today about the world we're raising our children in and the need to be encouraged and shored up in our parenting as Christians...and then, all of this began to play out in my social feed and inbox. So, I prayed, and changed my plans a bit and tomorrow I will be recording an episode for The Burt (Not Ernie) Show that includes some of this controversial hot topic, along with information about an upcoming summit I'm speaking at that has the express aim of encouraging families who follow Jesus. (If you'd like to check out the summit, tickets start at $17 and here is the link - Vibrant Home Life Summit 2024 ).
And lastly, if this post encouraged you, please feel free to share it on social media. Some other parents may just be encouraged by reading it, and it may be helpful to simply know they're not alone in their desire to train up the children in the way that they should go.
Lord bless you today - don't stop doing good and honoring the Lord in your parenting, because you are promised that you will reap a harvest at just the right time, so long as you don't give up!
Now I’ve spoken a lot of times at online summits and in person, and I aim to be selective in when and where I speak, and I don’t say yes to all the things I get asked to do (although once in a while I miss things, like when a speaker request / inquiry from Great Homeschool Conventions somehow landed in my spam folder, and so I didn’t see that in a timely manner and if anybody from Great Homeschool Conventions is listening to this by chance, hit me up again because yes I’ll be a speaker!) Also, check your spam now and then so you don’t miss something awesome like I did!
But I am a speaker for an upcoming event that has been created just for the Christian family. It’s the Vibrant Home Life Summit. Of course I’d love for you to check out my session (which was really difficult to complete, like every time I turned around there were difficulties and it took a lot to get it done, so I have the sense that satan didn’t really want me to speak - which means he doesn’t want any families to be encouraged by the message that I prayed so much about… and so I do think it may be a blessing for you, even though by the time I got it finished I had nearly lost my voice- I have never had that kind of trouble completing a message for a summit or for an in person event, just never happened before.
We go to work, and there’s tension and the worldview that isn’t ours as a disciple of Jesus is in our face all day, and our kids may be dealing with similar things in their daily life. It’s a battle, and it’s okay to say that out loud.
So my friends Christian and Lisa are hosting this summit as a way to link arms, join with other parents who are working toward the same goal as Christians, desiring a Christ centered home. The entire event is about that, specifically, and there will be a lot of encouragement and a lot of practical advice and tips, and all the other things that come with a summit too, like freebies and giveaways with prizes and surprises and the connections and all those things.
It’s about faith and growth and loving your family and raising your kids and honoring the Lord. And so I’m thankful to be part of this event, thankful to be speaking and doing some other things, and thankful to share it with you, because my podcast audience is all about being a disciple who disciples others while grabbing hold of all of God’s promises and believing them. And that’s why I’m sharing this with you today - now the summit includes a goodie bag of things for attendees, it is happening from April 29th to May 3rd of this year, 2024, but there is lifetime access since it’s all online, and one thing I like about it that you can listen to the sessions and that fits with the podcasting world really well. Not everyone likes podcasts, but my people do and I do so that’s how I’m going to check out this summit, I mean I can watch the videos but I’m just gonna do it like a podcast and listen.
There is a price tag of $17 for the summit, but you get the freebies and something like 42 sessions for that seventeen bucks, it’s a really good price.
Consider this your formal invitation to join me and let’s move the Kingdom of our God forward, literally linking arms, spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, reminding each other that we’re not alone, there are lots of us doing life as disciples who want to raise our children well in a world that is hostile to the Good News of Jesus. And if you do grab a ticket with the link, would you send me an email with the subject line “Summit” and I’m working on something new that I would like to share with you when it’s done, it will be early summer when I get it all ready to go, but it will be something I’ll share with you before I release it out into the great big world, and I’ll be sending it your way first and before I start selling it. So like a bonus, sort of, but in my mind I’m thinking of this as more of a share it with you rather than a bonus.
Check out the summit details via the link in the show notes and I’ll update my website the link on my home page and be sure to really consider this as something you invest in this spring, because this world isn’t getting nicer, kinder, more friendly toward believers. We need encouragement, and I’ve been doing that for a long time now, since I started blogging way back in like 2009 or something. This is just one more way for me to do what I do, encourage you. Email me at JanLBurt at outlook.com if you grab a ticket via the link in the show notes or the link at JanLBurt.com and you’ll be hearing from me with something additional to encourage you.
Thanks for joining me for this special bonus episode of the podcast, and next time I’m going to take a look at a specific promise that is huge, and you can expect that episode to drop in just a couple of days, so I’ll see you back here then. Bye bye.
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Well hey there! Hello to ya and welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, where we talk about God’s promises and apply them to our lives. God’s promises are all true, and they are true for you if you are a follower of Jesus. Isn’t that great news?!? I’ll go ahead and answer my own question: yes, it is most certainly great news.
I'm speaking at the Vibrant Home Life Summit & I hope you'll join me (it's online!)
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by Mr. Pen , and I’ve put a link in the show notes. I love pens, journaling, and the like…and I love Mr Pen products. I also love their heart to support IJM and take a stand against human trafficking. So check them out, follow them on the gram, and be part of something more than just buying a new Bible highlighter. And one more important thing I want to share with you today - I’m honored to be speaking at the upcoming Vibrant Home Life Summit. Are you feeling overwhelmed by the secular culture that seems to surround us at every turn? Do you find yourself struggling to maintain your faith and uphold your Christian values in a world that often feels hostile to them? If so, I want you to know that you're not alone.
In the midst of the chaos and confusion of the secular world, there is a beacon of hope shining brightly: the Vibrant Home Life Summit. This transformative event, taking place from April 29 to May 3, 2024, is designed to breathe new life into your faith and equip you with the tools you need to thrive as a Christian family.
I’d love to have you join me for this summit, which is an online event, and find a whole ton of encouragement. The link is right in the show notes, and I’ll be sending out some emails about the summit and sharing on social media and am going to have a special bonus episode of the podcast to hit on some issues that are facing us as disciples of Jesus in this day and age, so be sure to keep an eye out for that and I’ll be hitting this subject hard in that episode, number 179, because you and I are living in this exact time for such a time as this, and in order to live well we need one another, we need to be shored up and encouraged and reminded that we’re not alone, far from it, in this culture war and war on our families. I’m looking forward to that episode, and to have you join me at this summit, which is so needed right now.
We’re taking a look at some promises God’s given us in the book of Isaiah today, and this is episode number 178.
Isaiah is a book that is packed full of warnings, prophecies, encouragement and promises. It’s a book that you can, and probably should, study with a long-haul perspective. It is anything but lifeless! And it isn’t something to glaze over quickly.
And so, here we are taking a second look at the promises in Isaiah because it’s not really a book of the Bible that can be fully addressed in one short podcast episode. Or in a dozen episodes, honestly. I cannot possibly do this book justice. I just can’t. I won’t even come close.
But I can share several promises from Isaiah that will encourage you, no matter what your life may look like today, or what it may look like in a few months or a few years (and I do think we are entering a phase of history that will leave all of us living lives that look very different in the next several years as compared to how they look right now… as I’ve said before, keep your eyes on Israel and pay close attention to what’s happening there… some upcoming events are going to take place that could very well be the next steps toward the prophecy we read about in Daniel and the explanation, if you will, that Paul shared in 2 Thessalonians… and while that isn’t the express focus of this episode, it is noteworthy. Because if we don’t have any real idea of what’s happening over there in the Middle East, in Israel specifically, that could be because our news isn’t telling us some of the things taking place that pertain to the Bible being fulfilled exactly as it’s written, and not all of us have our social media feeds curated so that our feeds keep us somewhat up to date of what’s going on. And what’s going on has to do with Iran readying to attack Israel, now per it’s old school Bible name, Iran is the same as Persia. It’s a wild time to be alive, for us as Christians, so let’s keep loving people well, and we do that better when we know what time it is on the Kingdom calendar and realize that our priorities can easily get all out of whack when we think it’s a different time than it really is. If things are heating up in Israel, which they have been the last six months, then we know it’s a ramp up time. Gotta know the Bible and gotta keep our eyes on Israel and gotta love people now better than we ever have before, because that’s our job as disciples, to go and tell. Let’s allow the words from Isaiah to spur us on toward love and good deeds, and I don’t mean platitudes and somewhere over the rainbow, but actual love that moves us to love others. Christ love compels me, wrote Paul. But what about us? Does Christ’s love compel Jan? Do you find yourself compelled by Christ’s love?
So it says in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 13 AMP - It is the LORD of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome. He shall be your (source of) fear. He shall be your (source of) dread (not man). Verse 14a - Then He shall be a sanctuary (a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him);
What you fear rules the direction of your life and the attitude of your heart.
I think you likely already know that, but it’s worth the reminder. Because we are living in uncertain times, lots going on every single day, we are in an era when the next news story doesn’t even shock us because it’s been so much for so long. I’ve seen surveys of younger people who all seem to agree that since 2020, they feel like their life has sort of been on hold, in some kind of a pause, and they feel lost and somewhat depressed and I don’t think that only applies to the younger generation. It’s sort of true for all of us, isn’t it? So the hope we find here, to fear the Lord, to let Him be our only source of dread, that takes the fear out of everything else. But we have to be reminded about this, at least I do. Fear Him, He is to be your only source of dread. Not man. And then He will be a sanctuary and an indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him.
Here’s a big promise, whopper sized, for us from Isaiah
Chapter 30, verse 21, still in the AMP
Your ears WILL hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
If you need some guidance (and who among us doesn’t at one point or another?) or clarity, direction, which choice do I make, which way do I go, what do I do? This verse holds the hope and the promise that we are in need of.
I say this often, although I haven’t said it on the podcast in a while, but when one of God’s promises says “WILL”, He means it! Let me read that aloud to you once more.
Your ears WILL hear a word, or a voice, behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
WILL! He is going to give you a word of guidance when you are weighing your options, do I go right, do I go left…but here’s the thing, we have to walk in it. He will say, “This is the way,” but He won’t take those steps for us and He won’t force us to walk in those ways. He will tell us, Go this way, take a left, not that way, this way is the way to go…and He expects us to do as He directs us to do and to walk in the way He leads us. If you will do that, not all the second guessing and the what iffing, but will just say, yup, He directed me and it’s a left turn here at this junction, so I am going left, if you walk in it, then you’ll be living in the fullness of this promised blessing.
To be able to know that you have the guidance and direction from the voice and word of God for all the days of your life in every decision, to be able to know the way to go, the route to travel, the path to take, the turn to make…this is a huge promise. Don’t miss out on this! Take full advantage of this one! And believe that God says will because He means it. He WILL do this for you. But you need to walk in the way He directs you to go.
Isaiah 40:29 AMP
He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power.
Now this one, it’s for me. It might also be for you today, but I can tell you without a doubt, it is for me right now.
I am somewhat weary from health problems. In all honesty, I am super weary. I’m tired of discomfort, I’m tired of the cough that is either due to the heart failure diagnosis or due to my busted thyroid or due to both. I am weary of the pain due to a large number of uterine fibroids. I don’t like the constant feeling of needing to catch my breath. I don’t like coughing and people wondering if I am contagious (I’m not, it’s just due to my heart). I’m tired of hypothyroidism. I’m tired of not knowing if it will be a good day or a not so good day, energy wise. I’m weary of feeling like I ought to enjoy my life more and live better. I’m tired of gained weight (again, thyroid and heart problems…like if you see me and want to know what happened, well, Google heart failure and you’ll know!)
And so, a verse like this one is for me.
He promises to give strength to the weary. That’s me! And to him, or her, who has not might He increases power. I have no might on my own! For a fact, there is no might I muster up to do anything. If it gets done, it’s all because God gave me power to do it.
Now that’s true for all of us, but in my case, I am just a lot more aware of it on a daily basis.
Isaiah 40 verse 29 is a verse I need, and so I opt to believe that God will keep His word, keep His promise, and I pray for that to be my reality.
Yes, I pray for healing. And I also pray for power and strength while I keep praying for healing.
I hope you do that, too, for whatever need you have, whatever your current station in life might be.
Isaiah 40:31 AMP
But those who wait for the LORD (who expect, look for, and hope in Him) will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings (and rise up close to God) like eagles (rising toward the sun}; They will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.
Ah, what a verse!
We have to wait for the Lord in order for this promise to be fulfilled for us - but we wait with expectancy, we wait in hope, knowing that our hope will not be disappointed! We look for Him, watching and searching for Him to show up in our circumstances. Active waiting is a real thing, and in the Kingdom of God, it’s the only way to wait well!
When He shows us, we gain new strength (I’ve talked about this on the podcast way back in 2019, I think it was, and it is amazing how the eagle transforms after a molting season - it is hands down one of my favorite episodes of this show and I’ll add the link here in the show notes). Renewed power. New strength. All because we wait for Him expectantly and with hope.
We’ll rise up close to God like an eagle rising toward the sun.
We will run and not become weary and to this I say, Yes, Lord! Do as You have said! And they will walk and not grow tired.
You know, last fall I took a trip that involved a lot of walking and I began to see with a new set of eyes more clearly what my health was like, sort of how bad it had gotten, because walking several miles did some revealing of things in my health that I had kind of not really clued in to.
And I’m glad for that experience!
But also, I’m praying that it will come to an end, in this life and not merely the next one, and I’ll have healing and be free from the hindrances that I did not used to deal with and would like to not deal with now.
What about you?
I’ve shared a lot about how these passages from Isaiah spur me on, emboldened me as I pray, and give me tremendous hope as I wait for God to fulfill them for me.
Do they do the same for you?
Are you more free, more excited, more hopeful, after reading God’s promises?
Do you rise up with new energy and strength because God, via His living word, has supernaturally done a work in your heart and mind and inner being?
I don’t want to only talk about my health struggles.
I want to use those as a real life example that will hopefully encourage you that God’s promises are for you, remind you that He is for you, you are never alone, and all His promises to you will not fail because He will not fail.
Not only are you loved, but you are so loved.
Not only are you favored, but you are highly favored.
And not only are these promises for all God’s people, but they are also just for you.
There are some more promises in the book of Isaiah that might encourage you, and I’m going to put together a pdf download for you that has a list of promises from the Amplified Bible.
I don’t know that it will be linked in this episodes show notes, but I will get it linked in the next episode for sure and will also share it on social media and on my website, which is my name, JanLBurt dot com.
God’s gonna keep these promises, to me and to you.
Believe Him for it!
And honor Him by waiting with great hope and expectation!
Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you back here next time.
Bye bye!