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Episodes
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Well hey there, hello to ya and welcome to this episode. Today we will be taking a look at 2 Samuel, studying the word of God to find out what it has to say to us right here, right now, today, in the very place we find ourselves. There is no part of your life that God is careless about. He cares, and His care runs deep. And today, we’re going to see heartbreak versus loyalty within the pages of our Bible. I’m so glad you’re here!
ROAR Virtual Marketing Conference Link
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. Today’s episode is sponsored by the third annual ROAR Virtual Marketing Conference (happening online October 12-14, 2023…if you are a writer, speaker, podcaster, in some type of ministry or are thinking about beginning a podcast or hosting an online summit or other event, in women’s ministry perhaps, this event could be just the thing you’ve been looking for. I’ll be attending and it is something I am very excited about.) For information or to register just click the link in the show notes, or go to roarmarketingconference.com ROAR marketing conference dot com. Seriously, if you’re looking for marketing info from a Christian perspective, you gotta check it out. Now, on with the show! This is episode number 162.
Way, way back in the earliest episodes of this podcast, I remember mentioning that people’s last words are often chosen carefully and are paid close attention to. When we know someone is sharing their last words, we listen much more closely and with greater intention than our normal state of listening. Which is kind of like listening…kind of? With a question mark more than a period, if we’re honest. And sometimes we just don’t know that the words someone is sharing are their final ones, and when we don’t know, then we don’t know to listen closely.
Chapter 23 of 2 Samuel contains David’s last words.
When it came to this remarkable king, this man after God’s own heart, do you think those around him and those within his kingdom and even those outside of his kingdom whom he had influenced and impacted, do you think they listened to what he had to say? How much weight do you imagine David’s last words carried?
In a handful of verses from the pages of my Bible, the life of arguably one of the most well-known and admired figures from God’s word comes to a close.
I’m reading from the NLT today.
2 Samuel, chapter 23 -
These are the last words of David:
“David, the son of Jesse, speaks—
David, the man who was raised up so high,
David, the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.[a]
2
“The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
his words are upon my tongue.
3
The God of Israel spoke.
The Rock of Israel said to me:
‘The one who rules righteously,
who rules in the fear of God,
4
is like the light of morning at sunrise,
like a morning without clouds,
like the gleaming of the sun
on new grass after rain.’
5
“Is it not my family God has chosen?
Yes, he has made an everlasting covenant with me.
His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail.
He will ensure my safety and success.
6
But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away,
for they tear the hand that touches them.
7
One must use iron tools to chop them down;
they will be totally consumed by fire.”
(David knew who he was, as indicated by what was just read. He knew how greatly the Lord had blessed him. He knew the Spirit of the Lord spoke through him. And he knew the difference between the godly and the godless. These really are lovely words to speak at the end of your days.) Continuing in chapter 23 -
David’s Mightiest Warriors
8 These are the names of David’s mightiest warriors. The first was Jashobeam the Hacmonite,[b] who was leader of the Three[c]—the three mightiest warriors among David’s men. He once used his spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle.[d]
9 Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled. 10 He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the Lord gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!
11 Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, 12 but Shammah[e] held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Once during the harvest, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty—an elite group among David’s fighting men) went down to meet him there. 14 David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem.
15 David remarked longingly to his men, “Oh, how I would love some of that good water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem.” 16 So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well by the gate in Bethlehem, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out as an offering to the Lord. 17 “The Lord forbid that I should drink this!” he exclaimed. “This water is as precious as the blood of these men[f] who risked their lives to bring it to me.” So David did not drink it. These are examples of the exploits of the Three.
(Remarkable! The battles these three, David’s top three warriors among his thirty mighty men, the mighty men of David, doing exploits that leave us astounded and wondering, “How can this be true?” And yet, true it is. Let God be true and every man a liar - His word is true. These things really did happen. What about you? What great exploits can you do for the kingdom of your God? Are you a prayer warrior? Then do it with all your heart, working as unto the Lord, expecting great results and powerful answers to those prayers. Never stop praying - never stop seeking the Lord’s will to be done right here on earth just as it is in heaven. And one day, your faith will become sight and you’ll find out how your prayers impacted people for all eternity. There is no doubt that a praying man or woman holds great sway in the Lord’s throne room of grace, where we boldly approach His throne to obtain grace and mercy in our time of need. When He looks, does He find one who stands in the gap? Who intercedes for others? Are you that one? Don’t stop praying. Never stop praying.)
David’s Thirty Mighty Men
18 Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was the leader of the Thirty.[g] He once used his spear to kill 300 enemy warriors in a single battle. It was by such feats that he became as famous as the Three. 19 Abishai was the most famous of the Thirty[h] and was their commander, though he was not one of the Three.
20 There was also Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant warrior[i] from Kabzeel. He did many heroic deeds, which included killing two champions[j] of Moab. Another time, on a snowy day, he chased a lion down into a pit and killed it. 21 Once, armed only with a club, he killed an imposing Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it. 22 Deeds like these made Benaiah as famous as the Three mightiest warriors. 23 He was more honored than the other members of the Thirty, though he was not one of the Three. And David made him captain of his bodyguard.
24 Other members of the Thirty included:
Asahel, Joab’s brother;
Elhanan son of Dodo from Bethlehem;
25
Shammah from Harod;
Elika from Harod;
26
Helez from Pelon[k];
Ira son of Ikkesh from Tekoa;
27
Abiezer from Anathoth;
Sibbecai[l] from Hushah;
28
Zalmon from Ahoah;
Maharai from Netophah;
29
Heled[m] son of Baanah from Netophah;
Ithai[n] son of Ribai from Gibeah (in the land of Benjamin);
30
Benaiah from Pirathon;
Hurai[o] from Nahale-gaash[p];
31
Abi-albon from Arabah;
Azmaveth from Bahurim;
32
Eliahba from Shaalbon;
the sons of Jashen;
Jonathan 33 son of Shagee[q] from Harar;
Ahiam son of Sharar from Harar;
34
Eliphelet son of Ahasbai from Maacah;
Eliam son of Ahithophel from Giloh;
35
Hezro from Carmel;
Paarai from Arba;
36
Igal son of Nathan from Zobah;
Bani from Gad;
37
Zelek from Ammon;
Naharai from Beeroth, the armor bearer of Joab son of Zeruiah;
38
Ira from Jattir;
Gareb from Jattir;
39
Uriah the Hittite.
There were thirty-seven in all.
(That was a list of names. Why is that important? Because you’re important to the Lord. Important enough that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Reading a list like this reminds us that people matter so very much to our God. And that means everyone you encounter matters to God. He cares about them, He cares about what happens to them, He cares where they spend eternity. And while I butchered some of those for sure, there were some tough ones on that list, God never gets our name wrong. He knows who you are. He knows where you are. And He knows where you fall in history. You matter, your place matters, and you are not forgotten. Your name is on a list, and once it’s written there it cannot be erased because the precious blood of Jesus bought you with a price. And if you don’t know that your name is written in Jesus’ Book of Life, you can know it immediately by praying by faith for Jesus to forgive your sins, by accepting His payment on the cross as the full payment for all your sins, and then give your life to Him fully and completely. If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved - that’s Romans 10:9 and it is God's honest truth. You can know immediately that your name is written in the book of life, and when the roll is called up yonder, you’ll be there.)
Can I mention that this chapter ends with the mention of Uriah the Hittite. There’s a story there, one of heroism on Uriah’s part and great heartbreak as well. Godly people really do ungodly things sometimes, as was the case with the death of Uriah as ordered by King David. One of his mighty men, as listed here. When you have an in-the-spotlight kind of life, as David certainly did, there is added possibility of great heartbreaks. Is it fair? Well, I suppose life isn’t fair, honestly. And so, if you are in some sort of a spotlight type of role, be sure to pray and ask the Lord to give you discernment, conviction, grace, compassion, empathy, wisdom and His protection in that role. That is a prayer you won’t ever regret taking time to pray.
And you know, for those of us living a “small” life, not one in the spotlight, just kind of normal (which we may feel is boring, but normal or small does not have to equate to boring!) - a small life may just be good for you. A blessing from the Lord. Don’t assume that a small life, a small ministry, a small role is a curse. I’m very serious when I say it may be the biggest blessing you never knew you had. In the spotlight, it gets warm. The spotlight is the hot light. And it can be so very hard. There is no shame in a small life lived well for God’s glory, for a small ministry that serves others and honors the King of kings. Maybe social media says it’s not big enough to be good enough. But that’s not what God says, and His opinion really is the only opinion that matters since it’s the only opinion that will stand at the end of all time. Uriah’s life was cut far too short, and it serves as an example for us to daily rely on the Holy Spirit.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
So today we’re back to our series, Every Book A Promise, and here we are in 1 Samuel.
You know, I first thought we’d look at the life of Hannah and her son Samuel, because it’s beautiful and encouraging and just causes hope to spring forth.
But as I prayed over this episode, I landed on chapter 8.
In the Amplified, this chapter has a header title - Israel Demands A King.
Sometimes the results of the things we want the most are not so great.
And it’s really critical to yield to the Lord, to let the Holy Spirit do what only He can do in us and through us, and not just fight for our own way. The work of yielding is, at times, hard work. It takes effort on our part to bend the knee to the Lord, and let Him have His way fully and completely, while we choose to trust Him even when we know that our own desires may need to be placed on the altar, given fully to Him, and we step back and choose trust and gratitude and ask Him to give us a heart that wants what He wants for us. His ways are best, and what He chooses for us is best…but boy, it can be hard to get to the place of accepting that and yielding to His will when we really really want some certain thing.
Here we find the nation of Israel in 1 Samuel chapter 8.
Israel demands a king.
Samuel was a prophet, and in this chapter we find him older, verse one says Samuel was old, and he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. Verse 3 tells us that his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Now that’s a sad, sad result. Those boys were not like their daddy. Isn’t that just so sad?
Verse 4 says the elders of Israel went to see Samuel and just told him, Hey, you’ve gotten old and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now give us a king, appoint a king over us to judge us and rule over us. Like all the other nations. (verse 5)
When we want to be like the crowd, like they have over there, and they have this and everybody else has it and is doing it this way, so that’s what I want too, that can be a sign that we’re on the wrong path, the wrong track. Cuz usually when everybody is doing some certain thing, it’s likely not honoring the Lord. What the world does, well, that doesn’t look like the Kingdom of God. Let’s put it that way. When, say, your kids want to do what everybody else is doing, do you just say yes, sure, go for it, I don’t care what you do, go on, be like everybody. Be a photocopy of the world. UHHH, ya probably don’t react that way.
And God doesn’t want us, His people, His Church, to look and act and demand the things of the world. Our citizenship is in heaven, it says in Philippians 3:20, so we’re here but as ambassadors, not as citizens. Pilgrims. Just passing through.
Now here’s what it sort of takes a turn as far as what we might expect God’s response to be. In verse 7 the Lord tells Samuel that the people hadn’t rejected him, but had rejected God from being King over them. Verse 9 from the Amplified says this, and this is God speaking to Samuel here: “So now listen to their voice, only solemnly warn them and tell them the ways of the king who will reign over them.”
That’s a powerful verse.
God’s response to being rejected by the people He’d rescued out of Egypt and given this nation to, like He made them into a nation, and His response to being rejected as their King was to let them have what they’re demanding but to warn them solemnly and tell them what is going to be life under a king. The king will reign over them, because that’s what kings do.
Verses 10-18 provide the record of Samuel’s warning to the people. The king will take your sons for these tasks and your daughters for these other tasks, and he will take the best of your fields and vineyards and your olive groves and your grain and your donkeys and your flocks and you will be his servants, and then one day you’re going to cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you on that day because you have rejected Him as King.
There is a twofold promise in chapter 8.
A promise of living with the result of what you demand, and by this I mean any area of life that we reject God’s Lordship and Kingship over, we can’t demand what we want, reject His reign and rule, and then expect Him to make it all right in the snap of a finger when we realize we don’t like the results of that which we demanded from God. (Now I believe per the New Testament there is grace but that comes with repentance, and that’s not always a theme that folks in the Church like to hear about. Often churchy people don’t like to repent. We like the grace, we like the forgiveness, but it’s kind of goes with repenting, doesn’t it?)
In the end, the people got their king. Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin.
And God did a profound work down through the lineage of the next king, David.
God gets done what He aims to get done, and we don’t really have the power to thwart His eternal plans…because guess what? He knows every word we speak before it is formed on our tongues so says Psalm 139:4.
So we don’t mess up and trash and thrash His eternal plans. We are created, He is the Creator, and we don’t have the power to ruin what He wills to be accomplished. But that’s not an excuse to demand our own way. It should be a warning that we don’t understand the holiness of God the way that we ought to.
God’s holiness reminds me that I should trust Him fully and serve Him honorably and repent when I find myself demanding my own way.
And when He solemnly gives me a warning about what will happen if He gives me that which I am pining and whining for…do I listen, or do I say, “Yeah yeah, just give it to me.”
So what’s the positive promise here?
That we can listen and heed and be blessed beyond measure, if we have ears to hear and hearts to understand. If we yield. If we say, “Not my will, but Yours be done in this area, in this part of my life, where I really want this, but Your will, not mine.” There’s a blessing to be had in those moments of yielding, a blessing that may well be unique to those situations.
You know, kings like the one they were demanding in 1 Samuel chapter 8, kings recruit. That’s evidenced clearly in this passage. He’ll take this, he’ll take that, he’ll take the other, and then he’ll take even more. Kings recruit. Sometimes people in other positions of leadership recruit.
But God, He doesn’t treat us like recruits, like a mass of numbers, because that’s not very personal or loving. Your God is so personal. Your God loves you so incredibly much. Isn’t that the reality of John 3:16 and 17? For God SO loved. That tiny word SO is awfully important, it packs a huge punch and gives us a mighty big glimpse into the heart of our Father.
God will have assignments for you, tasks that fit into what Paul told us about in Ephesians, good works created in advance for you to do. I think that’s in chapter two of Ephesians. Super encouraging chapter, by the way, Ephesians 2. And 3. Well, the whole book…who am I kidding, it’s powerful and man you need a boost about your life and if you matter in the whole scheme of things? Read Epheisans. It’ll boost ya!
Being recruited feels so very different than being granted a Kingdom assignment straight from the God who SO loves you.
No comparison between the two.
Man recruits. God assigns out of the depths of His great and unending love.
One feels heavy and burdensome and wearying. The other brings joy and nearness to the Lord and fits us. Like a cookie back in the shape of the cutter, ya know? Okay, this fits me exactly and perfectly, this is the cloth I was cut from, wow oh wow, this is not heavy and cumbersome and awkward. It fits. And feels like a gift even as I do the work of it.
Does that kind of make sense as a distinction? Recruit vs assign.
Yield to Him, ask Him for His assignments, the good works He has planned for you to be doing, and enjoy the truth that you are SO loved by your King. The promise of 1 Samuel for this series on the podcast is basically this: you will never regret yielding to your one true King rather than demanding what you want, and you will be blessed by the God who SO loves you each and every time you say, “Not my will, Lord, but Your will be done.”
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Well hello again, and thanks for listening to this special PART TWO episode of the podcast.
In this episode I'm reading the chapter of Matthew 24 from the New Living Translation and encouraging you to be attentive and to be about the Lord's business. He loves us too much to pull His punches in His word, and this chapter has a whole lot for us to know about in order to live well for His Kingdom and His honor.
And as a little side note, my new podcast - The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt - is up for a podcast award & I'd be so honored if you'd cast your vote! Visit THIS LINK and vote for The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt in the category of Best Solo Podcast. Thanks so very much!
Here is Matthew 24 in the NLT
Jesus Speaks about the Future
24 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?[a]”
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.[b] 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations[c] will hear it; and then the end will come.
15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration[d] standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.
23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man[e] comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.[f]
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days,
the sun will be darkened,
the moon will give no light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.[g]
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.[h] 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world[i]—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation[j] will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.[k] Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Be attentive and make sure the two things that Jesus said we MUST do in this passage are on our to-do list and of the highest priority. When He says MUST, may we say, "Yes, Lord!"
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Thursday Sep 07, 2023
Well, hello there! Welcome to the podcast!
As mentioned in episode #158, we're taking a brief break from the Every Book A Promise series so that we can look at a passage that the Lord put on my heart to share with you. A couple of weeks ago I covered this passage on my other podcast (The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt) and I mentioned on that show that I'd be sharing about Luke chapter 12 and Matthew chapter 24 over here on The Burt (Not Ernie) Show.
This has been in the works for a bit, and I say that in order to *hopefully* prevent anyone from thinking that this content is to make a point or is in response to or directed at any one person in particular. IT ISN'T. I promise. Now that that's out of the way and there's no reason to wonder if this is a pointy stick being jibbed and jabbed at someone, let's get down to it!
This podcast is now playing on the Edifi app. This is episode number 159.
Luke 12:35-56
(read aloud in the NLT)
35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. 37 The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! 38 He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn.[d] But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.
39 “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
41 Peter asked, “Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone?”
42 And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 43 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 45 But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 46 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.
47 “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. 48 But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
Jesus Causes Division
49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.
53
‘Father will be divided against son
and son against father;
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’[e]”
54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.
In the NLT, the header for verses 35-48 reads “Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming” and in the Amplified it reads “Be In Readiness”.
Be in readiness.
Live in a state of perpetual readiness.
Now, this is no easy task, no small order we find here.
Be dressed and ready for service. Keep your lamps burning. The oil often referenced in the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit. Be so filled with the Spirit of the Living God, be much with the Lord to put it very frankly, because that Holy Spirit oil is what will keep your lamp burning. No oil? No fire in the lamp. And if the lamp is not lit and burning, then we are not obeying the Lord Jesus and His command to us here in Luke chapter 12. If you do not spend time, and ample time, in the Word of God and with Him in prayer and thanksgiving (not talking about a Bible reading checklist here, but a personal relationship with the One who loved you enough to die for you). Talk with Him all day long, make a conversation with Him the thing you are doing as you drift off to sleep, pray and listen first thing when you awaken. Be dressed for service, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. You’d be paying attention, have certain things at the ready that the master would want upon his return, and if it were from a wedding feast, it would likely be a late return. Nonetheless, you’d be ready with what would please the master, ready to do your assigned tasks. That’s how active waiting should take place. Though the hour seems late, don’t slumber and don’t slack off. Stay dressed for service and be so much with the Lord, filled with His Spirit, that when He returns you are ready and waiting, and in your readied state of waiting you will be doing the things the Lord has called you to be doing.
What are those things for you? Probably not exactly what they are in my life. For example, my children are all adults now, so I do not have the same daily child-rearing things to do that I had to do earlier in my life. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all, but rather that solid relationship with your Father so that you know just what it is He wants you to be doing in this season.
This is how you will be ready to open the door and let Him in the moment He arrives and knocks. Be alert to the times and seasons in which we live. Eyes on Israel - very prudent to pay attention to what is happening in Israel in these last days. And you know, there are so many people in ministry who are talking frankly about the soon return of Jesus, I cannot think of a time this has ever been the case to this extreme. Where we see Matthew 24 coming to pass in all its varied aspects, and have church leaders who are not what could be considered out there on the fringe, stating openly that this is it, we are in the final hours. Children, even toddlers, are having dreams about Jesus and His return and there is a widening gap between those who are in the Church, who profess Jesus as Lord, this widening gap where some believe these are the last days and at any time we truly could (and I believe, will) see the beginning of the 7 year tribulation begin, a treaty that involves Israel that will be a 7 year promise type of treaty, and that’s the kick off of the final 7 years, that’s the book of Daniel and also Paul in both his letters to the Thessalonian church. We’re almost there, folks. And yet there is a large (too large!) number of professing believers who are not in belief about this very subject. They say it’s coming, but not now, later on down the road, there’s more time…and really to be fair, if they don’t search out the information about specifically Israel and things like looking at the number of earthquakes happening around the world, or looking into the state of the Euphrates River right now, and line this all up with the Bible, if they don’t know what’s going on, that would for sure contribute to not thinking we are so close. And often the one single verse, not the whole counsel of the Word of God, but one single verse that Jesus spoke, is their reasoning behind not believing this is the season of His return. Of course, that verse is that no man knows the hour or the day of the return of the Son of God. That’s a true verse, 100% true. But if we take it in context, and read all of what Jesus says in this passage in Matthew 24, all His words here regarding the end times, we would find that He is actually calling us to be ready because He will come at an hour when you do not expect it. He gives signs in this chapter to know that His return is very near, and Jesus said that when you see all these things, the end is near, even at the door. That’s verse 33 of Matthew 24.
I’m doing this episode of this podcast, and also of my original podcast The Burt (Not Ernie) Show about this topic, the signs of the times and the return of the King of kings, because the Lord put it on my heart to do so. To share on this. Right now. Without delay. To make short work of my obedience to what He called me to do.
In spite of those who don’t want to hear it, who don’t think it’s time just quite yet.
But it is time. And I hope you do hear. Things are advancing. That seven year treaty will be signed soon. As it says in Luke 12, when He comes He will reward the servants who are ready. If you knew exactly when a burglar was coming, you would not permit a break in. A servant who knows what the master wants but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions will be severely punished. But what if the servant thinks, “My master won’t be back for a while,”...the master will return unannounced and unexpected and will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful. These are the words Jesus spoke about being ready for His coming. So please, be ready. Be dressed for service. Keep your lamp burning. Be ready and waiting for His return and there will be a reward for you. It will be unexpected…so do your utmost to expect the unexpected. You must be ready all the time, it says in verse 40. Again, I use the word please…be ready all the time, starting at this time, this very moment, right now, today. Get ready, be ready, stay ready. The King is coming soon.
Lord, lead us as we serve You wholeheartedly in these last days. Show us how to pay attention to the signs of the times, the signs that mark Your soon return, and help us live ready and attentively, but not in fear or giving way to despair. Keep our eyes fixed on You, remind us of all You’ve promised, and keep us as the apple of Your eye as we are dressed for service, picking up our cross daily and following You, keeping our lamps burning, waiting for Your return. Save all who will come to You, Lord, and do not delay. Bring about a great end times harvest and move in the hearts and minds of men and women and children all over the world. Show us what we need to know, and by the same power that raised Jesus from the grave, enable us to do the things You want us to be doing at this moment in time. We still must go to work each day, and we want to do that for Your glory and Your honor, so lead us in doing our work well, as unto the Lord, even while we remain aware and watchful. May we be a blessing to those around us in the daily tasks we must do, and remind us to pray with boldness and great faith for the people in our lives who have needs, and who do not know You as their own Lord and Savior. May be remain dressed and ready for service continually, and never doubt in the dark what You have told us in the light. And Lord, work in the lives of Your people in Israel. Reveal Yourself to them as their Messiah. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, and save and rescue as many as possible in the days remaining before Your return. Amen.
Thanks for joining me for this special episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. And I hope to see you back here for Part Two in episode number 160!
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Well, hey there!
I'm so thankful you're here for this episode and I hope you stick around all the way to the end, because there is a very special blessing I'd like to share with you and speak over you as a prayer.
The book of Ruth begins with a heartbreaking story of loss and pain and moves on to a story of redemption and blessing.
It truly is one of the most beautiful tales the Bible has to tell.
Rather than have lengthy show notes for this episode, I'll just share some verses from the book of Ruth and allow you to listen to the podcast and be blessed by the message from today's text.
God has good for you, and I hope today's show is encouraging! I so appreciate you joining me and taking a look at God's promises and blessings for His people in this part of the "Every Book A Promise" series on the podcast!
Ruth 1:1-5 NLT
In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him. The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.
Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.
Ruth 2:12 NLT
May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.
Ruth 4:11-12 NLT
Then the elders and all the people standing in the gate replied, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, from whom all the nation of Israel descended! May you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. And may the Lord give you descendants by this young woman who will be like those of our ancestor Perez, the son of Tamar and Judah.”
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Friday Aug 25, 2023
Well hey there, welcome to this episode of the podcast. As always, I am so thankful you are listening and we are continuing our look at promises in every book of the Bible. Today we are in the Old Testament book of Judges, and what we are going to find in this book is suitable to apply to our everyday lives, here and now, even though the events in the book of Judges happened thousands of years ago. Isn’t it great that God’s Word is helpful for us today, and isn’t dusty and crusty and inapplicable for us?
Psalm 91 - Pray It & Believe Audio Course w/ bonus content just $7
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, which now plays in the Edifi app. This is episode number 157.
So first off, before I start on today’s promises from the book of Judges, I have to make a correction to the last episode on the book of Joshua. I misspoke and was wrong when I mentioned aspects of Biblical womanhood that could be found in Joshua. The references I was thinking of are actually found in the book of Judges, not Joshua, and so sort of like a newspaper when they run a misprint, this is a correction of my misprint or mis-speak, I guess. Totally my mistake, I was thinking the story of Jael was one book earlier than it actually is. And I certainly never want to share anything unbiblical, so the corrected info is that you can read about her in the book of Judges, specifically chapter 4.
In this episode, we are going to look at a few verses from chapter 6, Judges 6:14 first of all, then 24a and 34.
In the NLT, Judges 6:14 reads this way:
Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
This is the true story of Gideon being called to a huge task, a bigger than him assignment, by the Lord. The Lord told Gideon to go in the strength he had and to rescue Israel from their oppressors. God ends this verse by saying, “I am sending you!”
Ever have a moment like this? Where you feel like the thing God is telling you to do is just so big, how can you be the one to do it? How can you get this thing across the starting line, let alone across the finish line? And you may want Him to tell you He is sending you all sorts of folks to help you out, or to give you some kind of power or ability to do this work, or to maybe do something different than just tell you to go in the strength that you have (cuz man, I know at times my strength can seem like it’s so minimal, so miniscule, so minute…how can I do anything for the Lord?) God says go in the strength you have and firmly tells Gideon, “I am sending you.” The go is kind of reiterated here.
When God tells us to go, do we go? Or do we delay? Just for your own personal thought, do you go or do you sort of hang tight, hold off for a bit, maybe even be slow about going when you know the Lord means for you to go right away and to obey Him immediately.
In my life, I have found that when I obey the Lord and go when He says to get moving on something, He takes my small strength and He blesses me and my work, giving me what I need to accomplish His will. But I have had to get started in order to find out that He will supply what I need as I need it. Not sure if that is encouraging at all to you, but it has been true for me at times.
Verse 24 part a, the first part of this verse, says:
And Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the LORD is peace”).
So between verse 14 and verse 24, what happened exactly? In verse 16 God promised to be with Gideon, in verse 22 Gideon realized he was not talking with any angel, but with the Lord (there was an offering Gideon made and verse 21 says the angel of the LORD touched the meat and bread with the tip of His staff and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed it - an angel cannot accept a sacrifice, so in this passage the angel of the LORD seems to indicate a preincarnate Christ appearance. Gideon cried out, “Oh, Sovereign LORD, I am doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”) The Lord told him that he would not die and then Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and named it Yahweh-Shalom, the Lord is peace.
Is the Lord peace for you today? Do you have the peace that Jesus promised in John 14:27? If so, praise God! What a gift! We can face so much and not be moved or shaken, our cages don’t get rattled and our stress is just right around nil when we are living with the Lord’s peace in and on our lives. But when we aren’t peaceful because we aren’t peace filled, I guess you could say, we can get rattled and stressed and live under life’s circumstances instead of being more than conquerors through Him who loved us, as it says in Romans 8.
God is today, this very day, Yahweh-Shalom. It is one of the names of God we find in the Bible, and it really is who He is. The Lord is peace. If you need peace today, peace of mind, peace in your heart, peace in your workplace, peace regarding a prodigal or a health diagnosis or peace in a relationship, peace at all, then God has what you need. You know one thing that I really love about podcasts is the ability to hit the little pause button right there on my phone and take a moment if I need to. Sometimes to jot down something, make a note in my phone, or to hit pause so I can literally pause and pray. This may be a good time to pause and pray and ask God to give you the full amount of the peace that Jesus promised to you in the book of John. Ask Him for what you need, do that regularly, and if you need peace, this is a really great time, the perfect time, to ask for it. I do believe He will give it to you, because it was promised by Jesus and God keeps all of His promises. Peace be unto you, and as I say that, I really do mean it and I have prayed for that to be your reality. Peace be unto you today, in Jesus name, my friend.
Judges 6:34 NLT - Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him.
Now we see Gideon sort of stepping up and stepping out boldly. He’s done some very brave things just prior to this verse, tearing down the altar of the pagan god Baal and earning the disdain of a lot of people, his own people, those who were Israelites and were said to belong to the Lord, but were upset when their altar to their false god was torn down…if God calls you to be a dismantler or idols in your culture, in your family, and remember Gideon had to dismantle idols among his own people in his own town, so if God calls you to be a dismantler of idols in your ahem maybe your church, you may not be voted “Most Popular Church Member”. Just saying! Gideon was not the popular guy at this point. But he was the obedient guy, and what comes in the next few chapter of Judges reveals that God did a great work on behalf of all Israel via Gideon and his army (but it ended up being a pretty small army…also good to note, you may not have a ton of people in your corner. Maybe that’s uncomfortable, but not abnormal when doing Kingdom work at the Lord’s bidding.) And if you think it is offensive for me to even dare to hint that there could be idols among church people, well of course there can be! Money? Success? Family? Favorite sports team? Love of some kind of pleasure, maybe it’s Netflix binging and when you can’t do your binge you get really hacked off…might have an idol there. A litmus test for me, and I’m just speaking for me, not at all speaking to or about anyone else, hear me on that…I am not pulling a teeny tiny sliver out of your eye while I’ve got a 2x4 sticking out of my own eye. My litmus test for me, for my life, is if I can’t set it aside with total ease, just set it down and walk away, no matter what it is, then I have to take that to the Lord in prayer and ask Him what is going on, is this an idol or on its way to becoming one? The only thing I want to not be able to walk away from is the Lord. And anything that pushes in and starts to try and take over the spot that only God can have, Jesus’ place, the Holy Spirit’s place in my life, well that just has to be dealt with. Jesus said to cut off your right hand if it causes you to sin and so, yeah, He was pretty serious about dealing with things that hinder and hamper us. Anything that is moving into His place in my life, moving the One True God out and trying to move itself in as an idol for me to focus on, spend time and money and attention and give too much of myself to, an idol, well I need to be willing to cut that right out of my life, to deal with it so severely, with such a willingness to die to self and to have less of me and more of Jesus, that’s my own personal litmus test. And the severity with which I deal a death blow to the idols in my life is far faster and far more thorough and complete each time I do it. And the reference I gave of Jesus saying to cut off your hand can be found in Matthew 18 and in Mark 9, I believe.
In the remaining few verses of Judges chapter 6, we have the well known story of the fleece. Or fleeces, since Gideon prayed and asked for a specific answer regarding the fleece two times. Once he asked that God would prove to him that He was going to rescue Israel via Gideon by making a piece of fleece wet in the morning, even though Gideon placed it on the dry threshing floor. Sure enough, it was wet. The second fleece was Gideon praying and asking God to let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it was wet with dew, so likely he placed it on the ground this time and it was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew. I’ve heard different viewpoints on this many times, and I’m not going to get into a this is right kind of a lecture here, that’s for sure not my place, but I will share that there have been times in my life when I have had to make really big decisions, things that could impact me and others in serious ways for the long term, and I have asked God to give me the courage and the ability to do what He was calling me to do, and not to give in to fear or panic or peer pressure or anything that was not His will. But Lord, please show me clearly and make me brave and bold and I’m asking not to avoid doing what You’ve said to do, but I’m asking to make sure I am in the center of Your will. If this isn’t You, please tell me. And if this is from You, please confirm it. My own thoughts are not what I want to depend on, my heart is, as Jeremiah said, deceitful above all things. So Lord, show me plainly and clearly and I’ll obey You. When other people could be harmed by what I do, if it isn’t of the Lord and His hand of favor and protection isn’t on me and on them…well, I’ve at times asked Him to let me know for sure if this is the right way or the wrong way. And Gideon’s two fleeces sort of reminds me of those times in my own life. And if you feel that you have an assurance about something, the kind of assurance that only God can give…cuz Gideon didn’t need man’s approval or assurance, he needed it from God Almighty. If you need that, pray and ask for it. God loves His people so very much, we can go to Him when we need that assurance that only He is able to provide.
Thanks so much for joining me today as we continue discovering what God has promised to us in the Bible, and if you’re interested, I’ll share a link in the show notes to grab the Psalm 91 audio course with some bonus material that goes beyond just the audio sessions, it’s just seven bucks right now. And next week we are going to look at the book of Ruth. Such a powerful true story that holds for us so much hope, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nearly…because our God will truly overwhelm us with His love and His goodness if we are willing to receive it. Next time, Ruth will be our focus and I’d be so honored if you’d join me for that. Hope to meet with ya then! Bye bye.
Friday Aug 18, 2023
Friday Aug 18, 2023
Well, hey there. Welcome to this episode of the podcast. On the show, I am pretty dialed on the singular focus of getting the promises of God into the people of God. We should know what God has promised and we ought to live as if we not only know, but believe His promises. He meant what He said and He said what He meant. The word of God is living and active, it says in Hebrews 4:12 - and I truly believe there is no reason that it shouldn’t be alive and active in your life, in the lives of all who are disciples of the Lord Jesus.
The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 156. Let’s dig into the book of Joshua and discover what God has promised His people.
The Old Testament book of Joshua really is a critical portion of scripture that believers should read. If you’ve never read it, maybe you began a Bible reading plan on more than one occasion, made a New Year resolution to read through the Bible in one year, and you got sort of stuck somewhere in the first few books of the Bible, and never got to the book of Joshua, which is the sixth book in the Bible - well, I can tell you that you’ll find so much in Joshua. Are you wondering what Biblical womanhood looks like, as in what took place in the Bible? There are some women in Joshua that you can look at and sort of be prepared for maybe a bit of a different picture than you may currently have of Biblical womanhood. A while back on social media I saw an image with a skull and a large spike type thing driven through the skull, and it was drawn like a cartoon so not overly graphic, let me clarify, it wasn’t like gorey, just a cartoon image, and the verbiage was “Biblical womanhood”. That’s straight out of Joshua. Got a couple of women in this book who were heroic, they did valiantly, they exhibited wisdom and bravery and they did some things that were for certain a tremendous blessing to their people. So, maybe consider reading through this book if you never have. It’s really encouraging and also has some very honest reality check moments that are good for all of God’s people to know about. Pitfalls, and the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, it’s all in this book of the Bible. It’s very real, our Bible, and not all sugar coated. One of the reasons we can trust that God isn’t hiding things from us is because His book, the Bible, doesn’t hide anything. As it was, that’s how it’s put down on paper. Not prettied up and made palatable. Raw in its honesty. That should cause us to trust Him all the more, His willingness to tell it as it was. And when, in your life and in mine, He tells it like it is, that may just be the most loving thing He can do in that moment. Just some food for thought.
As we work our way through the Bible and look at God’s promises throughout, we’re going to look at a couple of verses from Joshua. And I’m going to hit the biggie first, right off the bat, then circle back to the second promise that I’m hoping will be an encouragement for you (even though we will look at chapter 21 first and then hop back to the beginning of this book…kind of going backwards today, you might say).
Joshua 21:45, from the NLT and the AMP
Not a single one of all the good promises that the LORD had given to the family of Israel was left unfulfilled; everything He had spoken came true.
Not one of the good promises which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.
The CSB says, Everything was fulfilled. Young’s Literal says, the whole hath come.
Now I know that not everyone loves words the way that I do. I read a fair bit, probably averaging 5-7 books a month that I finish, and I have several that I am sort of always reading. I’m always reading the Bible, and books like Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style or E.M. Bounds On Prayer, A.E.W. Mason’s The Four Feathers…books I’m always sort of flipping my way through, re-reading for the umpteenth time. But even if you don’t love words like I do, you might still appreciate the tones in these varied translations. All had come to pass. Isn’t that lovely? Everything was fulfilled. Uh, if that doesn’t spark hope, then what will? The whole hath come.That is the end result, the final outcome, for you in regard to all that which God has promised.
While God most certainly does call us to obedience and to faith, He doesn’t leave us holding the bag when it comes to His promises. It’s not on our shoulders to make the impossible come to pass, and we sure don’t need to help God out in order for His will to come to pass. Joshua 21:45 is a reminder that He finishes what He starts, and that He keeps all of His promises. And it also reminds us that His promises to His people are good. Not a single one of all the good promises that the Lord had given them was left unfulfilled. Not one of His good promises to them failed.
He is unfailing, this God of ours. The whole hath come. That may not be your reality in this moment, but it will be your reality one day. How can I say that with such assurance? Because I know the One in whom I believe, the One to whom I have entrusted so very much, the One who kept every good promise He made to the family of Israel, will He not also keep every good promise He has made to the bride of Christ? He will. Everything will be fulfilled, every promise will come true, all will come to pass, and the whole will come. For you. You know that saying, do not doubt in the dark what God told you in the light? Well, it’s great counsel. So don’t. Don’t doubt. Kick doubt to the curb. Put it on the trash heap and set it ablaze, burn it to ash, and then bury the ashes if you need to. Get serious about refusing to let doubt have room in your life, in your heart and mind. It’s toxic, it’s like poison, and you’d never want your child to ingest poison day after day, would you? And likewise, your Father does not want you ingesting toxic and poisonous doubt. Doubt is a dream killer, a relationship killer, a health killer, a faith killer, a hope killer, a peace stealer, and doubt has certainly wrecked homes, damaged families, forced people to give up on their goals, turn on one another, and left so much carnage in its wake. It really isn’t to be placated or tolerated. When it comes to doubt, give it no place in your life because it is up to no good, especially when it comes to the Lord. Doubt and Jesus are two words that do not belong in the same sentence, you might say. Unless your sentence is declaring Jesus the King and doubt as dead in His Kingdom.
Not one word of promise failed.
Not one word of promise will ever fail.
You know what I’m about to say, because I’ve said it so many times before…God is a perfect promise maker and a perfect promise keeper. He leaves nothing undone or half done. Perfection is how He operates. Not one word of promise to you will ever fail.
I’m going to hop back to Joshua chapter one and share a promise with you that is something of a glimpse into the heart of God for His people, I think. Chapter 1, verses 1 through 3 and I’ll read this passage from the Amplified.
Now it happened after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant (attendant), saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise (to take his place), cross over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. I have given you every place on which the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised to Moses.”
Very clear instructions were given. The people knew that God had placed Joshua in the leadership position, taking his place it says here, and they were now to cross over this Jordan into the land God was giving to them, to all the children of Israel.
And verse 3, I will read that again.
Does anything from these three verses jump out at you today? Like, wowza, the Lord is encouraging me! He is speaking to my heart. He is showing me something! And maybe, He is calling you to do something. To cross over some Jordan into the land of promise. Do you need to take a step or two or ten or a thousand to finish the walk into that place? If so, don’t delay. Just get busy walking! It’s kind of like God is just walking us home, in a way, and no I’m not saying if you cross whatever Jordan God may be asking you to cross that means you’ll be going home to be with Jesus super duper soon. I mean, we need to walk with Him and keep walking with Him, yoked to Jesus since His burden is light and easy. And when we are yoked to Him, we aren’t running away from Him, rushing ahead, or lagging behind because we are attached at the hip, ya know? So we are simply taking the next step and then the next one with Him, and it is a lovely way to walk out our days since His yoke is easy and His burden is light. You can hear Him speak to you, and He won’t have to shout to get your attention, because you are right next to Him, walking in step with Him, doing the things He preordained for you to do, as it says in Ephesians. And what happens when we walk with the Lord where the Lord wants us to go? He gives to us the things He wants us to have, and every good and perfect gift comes from the Father, it says in the book of James. Where He leads, your foot will tread. And where it treads, when it is at His leading, under His authority and lordship, is the place of promise for you.
There are so many promises in Joshua, I cannot share them all in this episode. And since this is a series of finding promises in each book of the Bible, I can’t right now do several episodes on this book but I can close out this episode by reading a few more promises in the hope that you will be encouraged and filled with renewed faith and hope in your own personal daily walk with the Lord.
Chapter one, verse 5 “No man will be able to stand before you to oppose you as long as you live. Just as I was present with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.”
Verse 13 “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God is giving you rest and will give you this land.”
Chapter 4, verse 22 Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.
Chapter 5 verse 9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “This is the day I have rolled away the reproach (derision, ridicule) of Egypt from you.”
Chapter 5 verse 12 And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the Israelites no longer had manna, but they ate some of the produce of the land of Canaan during that year.
Thanks so much for joining me today to examine God’s good promises to the people who bear His name, whom He loves very much. It’s a blessing to talk about God’s word and His promises and I’m thankful for the fact that you’re listening today. You can also check out my new-ish podcast, and I’ll put a link to that in the show notes, and hey, if this episode encouraged you, would you share it with a friend or share about the show? And keep standing firmly on the solid rock of Christ Jesus, believing the promises in the Bible, because they are yours, my friend!
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Well, hey there. Hello to ya and welcome to the podcast. So thankful you’re here. We are working our way through the Bible, book by book, and grabbing hold of a promise from each book along the way. So, by the time we get to the book of Revelation, written by John the Revelator (how’s that for a job title?), we will have stored up 66 rock solid promises. Every book a promise has kind of been my moniker for this, and I’m gonna say that a few more times between now and Revelation. Every. Book. A. Promise. For you, God’s got promises, and I am so glad you’re here today so we can take a look at your promise from the Lord in the book of Deuteronomy.
Susie Larson Closer Than Your Next Breath book
Psalm 91 Pray It & Believe Audio Course
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This episode’s recommended resource comes from Susie Larson and her new book, Closer Than Your Next Breath. Susie’s books are always impactful and among those that I read and highlight and read again and underline and read some more and give as gifts and I’ve been very blessed to be on the launch teams for several of her books. This one is a good one, and I’m sharing the link to order in the Show Notes. When you start looking at ideas for book options or study options for your small groups or women’s gatherings this fall, keep this one in mind. Now, let’s dig into God’s promises here in episode number 155.
When I began looking into the book of Deuteronomy in order to find a verse with a promise to share with you on the podcast, well let me just say the pickings were the opposite of slim. There are so many wonderful promises in this book! And it is a great reminder that we don’t need to avoid reading the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, for fear that nothing in the Old Testament will apply to us today since we know Jesus and are under the New Covenant. Every jot and tittle of the law, the Old Testament, was fulfilled by Jesus - that’s what He said in Matthew 5:18. So when we read the OT, we can and should read it with hope, with the knowledge that Jesus fulfilled it all. I really had a lot to choose from as far as promises go when it came to this part of the Bible. So I want to encourage you to maybe just jot this down, make a note of it in your phone, text it to yourself so that you see it later on, but in Deuteronomy chapter 7 starting around verse 12 all the way through chapter 11, right up to verse 25, there are a vast array of promises. Promises to Israel, and one thing you and I can do when we see promises to Israel is to pray them - remind God of His promises to His people Israel, to the nation Israel, and pray for them to see Jesus as Messiah, for their land to be blessed, for all the things God has promised them to come to pass, and for the role Israel is playing in the end times to be seen clearly by a watching world. Keep your eyes on what is going on in Israel, because really if we think about it, the Bible came to us out of what God did in and through and for the people that became the Jewish Nation, the Israelites. It’s where Jesus lived and ministered. It’s the home of God’s chosen people. Jesus and the Bible changed the world, one life at a time, one moment at a time, down through the centuries. What nation is at the heart of the Bible? Israel. It’s more than just a tourist spot and more than just a spot on the map somewhere over by Egypt. In God’s story, it’s the heart of this world we live in, if you will. So, Israel matters. And praying that every promise God has made to the Israelites will come to pass is in accordance with the will of God as we read it in our Bibles.
Add Dueteronomy chapters 7-11 to your upcoming Bible reading, and pray for Israel as you are so led, and if there is anything promised therein that you feel led to pray over yourself, as one who is grafted in and has now become Abraham’s seed, which we read about in Romans chapter 11, then pause and pray those things over your own life, your loved ones.
Among all these promises I was reading in this book, I landed on a promise that you have most likely heard. It’s one of those verses that you may kind of already know, even if you don’t remember exactly where it is located in the Bible. And it is a promise that you and I are to KNOW. To KNOW this promise, know it like we know our own name, that would be really wonderful. Know it without a shadow of any doubt. And understand that the Lord your God, He IS God, the faithful God, who IS keeping His covenant and His steadfast lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.
I’ve kind of given it away already, what this promise verse says.
Let me read it to you from the Amplified and the NLT.
Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.
Got a couple of questions for ya based on this verse.
Do you love the Lord God Almighty?
When is the last time you considered this - like, your love for Him? Yeah, we talk about His love for us, and that is important and foundational! But it’s also good to think about how much you love Him.
Do you keep His ways?
What the Word of God says, what is written on the pages of your Bible, do you do what it says? More than read it, highlight a verse here and there, close the cover and move on but maybe don’t actually do what it says to do. Do you keep God’s ways?
Do you love God? Do you keep His ways?
(Which is a pretty natural response to loving Him and being loved by Him, honestly).
Do you know the Word of God well enough to really know what to do?
Can’t really do what it says and keep God’s ways if we aren’t all that clear on what the Bible has to say, am I right?
It’s not osmosis, this growing in our understanding of the Bible.
Do you know it well enough to do what it says?
And do you know it well enough to know what NOT to do? (also pretty important!)
If not, there’s a fix for that! Read it and apply it to your very own life, read it and then do what it says. Simple fix! And life-changing, too, I might add!
Without any doubt, understand that He is God.
This verb, is, it’s in the present tense here.
He IS God.
Not the God of yesteryear, not the God of down the road a bit. Now. He IS God.
Do you and I live like, act like, behave like, make decisions and choices like He IS God right now. At this very moment. He IS God. If we did make our choices and decisions and speak our words carefully and really live like He IS present tense God, what kind of result could we expect? How would our lives be changed if we lived those lives moment by moment like God is God. IS. Tiny Little word but huge importance in this verse.
I’m going to repeat something I said a few moments ago.
Without any doubt, understand that He IS God.
Live like that present tense IS God is really really real, like the most real thing in your life, and things are going to change for you, my friend. They can’t not change when you live with the continual understanding that He IS God!
Why am I emphasizing the present tense of this verb, you might wonder?
Because if He is the God of the right now, that means there is no later on to be applied to this promise.
This is not for “later on” (whenever in the world that might be…don’t we do this sometimes, think some promise from God is for later on, but we have no idea when that later on may be, and we end up just simply keeping God’s promises in a state of continual deferment…which is sort of like rendering them as inactive, sort of dead…and we know the Word of God is living and active, according to Hebrews 4:12…what if we stopped thinking so much in terms of “later on” as a way to play it safe just in case God doesn’t show up and keep His promises…what if we chose belief, and hey, if God opts to keep His promises to us on this very day, as in today, as in right now, well why not? Who are we to put limits or time limits on God? Let God be God, and do as He sees fit, when He sees fit! Might that not be a life lived in a state of belief, that could very well grow into chronic belief? Contagious belief? Yeah, “later on”...bye bye!) This is for right now.
He is the faithful God.
That’s in the singular. THE faithful God.
Not one among many. And many of us, we have some little g gods in our lives that need to go to the trash heap, need to be ground to fine dust in the Kidron Valley, need to be decimated and destroyed.
If something has no place in the Kingdom of God then it has no place in the life of one of the King’s children.
I am stating plainly that there is ONE GOD and He IS the faithful God.
He cannot be otherwise.
He is faithful, and whoop looky there, another second just passed and He is the faithful God.
The only God.
The one true God.
The Alpha and Omega.
The King of all kings.
The Great I AM.
There is none before Him, and none will come after. He is, He was, and will always be.
Do you know this God as your own?
If so, then this is your promise today.
He is the one true God, and will always be so far in your life.
He is the faithful God, and will always be faithful in your life.
Is.
The.
Two tiny words that bear so much weight on the way we think about God, and about how God behaves toward us.
Two tiny words that change the way we think when we consider them rightly and choose to actually believe that what God has said in the Bible is exactly what He means.
And what happens when your thinking changes?
Well, that’s when your life changes.
Because how you think is how you live, how you think determines the course your life takes.
You think rightly when you think according to the word of God, when you take every thought captive and make it submit to the word of the Lord. That’s what it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
And when your thoughts are submitted to the Lord, your life is, too.
This verse from Deuteronomy, it’s a biggie.
There is one faithful God.
And He expects His people, those who bear His name and claim Him as Father, He expects us to know and understand this.
There is one faithful God.
You don’t need to be out searching for some other form of a god to fill some void in your life. Because you have the one faithful God.
Take God’s word and consider it a balm, a healing balm, to place over the wounds you have in your life - in your mind - your heart - your soul. God is a healer, and His word is powerful.
I hope you are really getting this today. This is FOR YOU, for RIGHT NOW.
He IS keeping His covenant, His promises, and is loving a thousand generations of those who love Him and obey Him.
Now how’s that for a legacy, and inheritance to leave to your descendants? Ain’t nothing else like it, I’ll tell you what.
Love and obey.
Can you be about that today?
And can you add in some real faith that God will do as He has promised here?
Don’t wait another day, another moment, to choose to believe that God’s promises are true. Why wait? I cannot think of a single, solitary good reason.
Believe today, reap the benefits and blessings of that belief today, and keep on reaping for the rest of your days. And when you step into eternity, you surely won’t feel regret for believing God fully and leaving all the results of that belief in His capable hands.
The hands that bear the nail scars are the hands of safest keeping for your life, your hopes and dreams, your loved ones, and your every moment.
Lord bless you today and thank you for listening today.
Hey I’m also gonna add a link to grab the Psalm 91 Pray It & Believe audio course if this series of promises has been encouraging to you, then Psalm 91 is worth studying and praying through.
I’ll see you next time for a promise from the book of Joshua. Now, that’s a book that’s got a lot happening, a lot of proof of God keeping His promises. Remember those geometry proofs we used to have to write out? If you did them, you will never forget them. They are called proofs for a reason. It had to be provable, this process of solving the problems. You had to know the proofs step by step in order to prove you’d solved the problem correctly. Joshua is a book of proofs, in many ways. And we’ll dig into that next time. See ya then, my friend and have a blessed day!
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Hey there! Welcome to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show Podcast - getting the promises of God into the people of God one episode at a time
This episode has a special invitation for you - in October, the Come All Revival 2023 event is happening in Austin, Texas, and my fellow podcaster and speaker Courtnaye Richard is a pivotal part of this important and timely event. The tag line for this event says: The King is coming again. It's time to get ready from the inside out. My friends, Jesus is the King and He is coming again, and soon. Be sure to check out this event at the link in the show notes * Home | Inside Out Media (insideoutww.org)
And here's the link to the Summer 2023 Online Prayer Retreat Event. Sessions begin to be released on July 30th, and with your ticket you have lifetime access plus bonus content that will be added in the coming weeks. Join this important prayer event today because prayer changes lives...why not let it change your life? $7PrayerRetreatTicket
Verse - Numbers 23:19 NLT
God is not a man, so He does not lie.
He is not a human, so He does not change His mind.
Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has He ever promised and not carried it through?
*Also note Numbers chapter 4, which has specific duties for tribes re: the Tabernacle and moving it when God led them to move. The Gershonite clan had the assignment of carrying loads, like the coverings and curtains for the Tabernacle, and so on. They also had a specific person they were responsible to, like giving an account, and they received their instructions from a select few people from Aaron’s lineage. (They did have a load to carry…but notice it wasn’t ALL the loads and they didn’t take orders from ALL the people nor did they give an account to EVERYONE. What can we learn from this? We’d better heed this lesson well, or we are likely to find ourselves wiped out, strung too far, weary and wondering why the load feels so heavy when Jesus promised that His burden is easy, His burden is light.)
- God is not a man. How often do we relate to Him wrongly? Yes, our Savior Jesus came to earth as a man, but still the God-man, the Messiah. Keep in mind that our God is still the all-consuming fire the Bible says He is, and since He is the same yesterday, today and forever, we don’t want to forget that He is the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And because He is the Creator, not the created, He does not lie. A promise that God makes to us in the book of Numbers is that He does not lie. What does that mean for you today? Does it mean you can trust Him for what He has promised? That you can set aside the weight of the world that keeps resetting itself atop your shoulders? That you can be at peace, true and lasting peace, because you have this promise that your God does not lie to you? If you didn’t have much hope left when you queued up this podcast today, let me assure you that you came to the right place (anybody seen the film Hoodwinked? You came to the right goat! Well, the word of God is the place to go when we need hope. And we will always, always find it.) Your God does not lie. There’s your hope. I could end the show right here, with that as a blanket statement over anything and everything you’re facing right now, and it would be a big enough promise to carry you on to a place of real victory in Jesus and complete peace. And that, my friend, is just one of God’s promises to us in His word. Just one has this kind of impact! I’m telling you, when I say the word of God is life-changing & why shouldn’t one of the lives it changes be your life, I really do mean it and I believe it with everything in me.
- He is not a human, so He does not change His mind. Not gonna happen, He will not change His mind. His promises, they are solid. And the trust you place in God is never misplaced. He won’t flip flop around like people do. Isn’t that reassuring? To do a bit of a reset, to refocus and realize that He just won’t change His mind, and so you can take that concern off the table. Look, to be super blunt, let me say this: God is not going to change His mind about you or about the things He has planned concerning you. Rest!
- Has He ever spoken and failed to act? How’s that for a question! Well, has He? So far, how is His track record? There is a worship song on my Tidal playlist and the worship leader sings, “You’ve got a resume, Jesus. You’ve got a history.” And that is so true it should make us shake and quake in our boots, because so often we behave as if Jesus doesn’t have a resume. As if He doesn’t have this amazing history. Another line says, “Years and years of goodness go before me, miles and miles of mercy close behind.” Is that not the total and utter truth? Can you abandon your worries to this truth today - Jesus has a resume, He has a track record, and His history and your future are all tied up together. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever failed in any manner? Just think of His faithfulness. Can you ponder it for a moment and not be grateful, overwhelmed even at the evidence and the proof of His goodness that is all over your life?
- And now, the big finale for this episode…Has He ever promised and not carried it through? The answer is NO! And I want to challenge you today to take the lies of the devil and the doubts that crop up as a result of living in a messed up, jacked up, hurting and broken world and throw them onto the junk heap where they belong. Say this aloud if you possibly can - Has my God ever promised and not carried it through? Has my God EVER promised and not carried it through? Won’t He come through for me? Won’t He do it? He most assuredly will!
You have mighty promises given to you by a mighty God and you will see Him do amazing things in your day. Kick doubt to the curb and enjoy the fruit of living a believing life, because you are numbered among those who know their God and believe His promises!
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Tuesday Jul 18, 2023
Well hey, hello and happy giveaway winner announcement day! Yeah, that’s not an official federal day to celebrate I guess, but I’m going to announce the winners of the Celebrate 150 Episodes Giveaway. And we are on to the next book in the Bible, Leviticus, in this series where we are really just working our way through every single one of the 66 books of the Bible to deep dive into a promise from each book. Here we are in book number 3, Leviticus. This is a good one, really powerful faith-building stuff in today’s promise. I’m ready if you are! Let’s go…
Free Basic Pass to 2023 Homeschool Super Heroes Summit hosted by Kerry Beck
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 Kerry Beck’s Homeschool Super Heroes Summit, an online summit for homeschool families that will bless, equip, and encourage those who have chosen the home education lifestyle. Grab your free ticket at the link in the show notes (and fun fact: I’m blessed to be the prayer coordinator for this event and I will be hosting a live prayer room each day of the summit at 12 noon Central time - and I’d love to be able to connect with you there and pray for you in real time, so feel free to sign up and share this with anyone you know who might be interested.) Big thanks to Kerry for hosting this event year after year. Now, on with the show! This is episode number 153.
Leviticus chapter 26 is a promise chapter. In the NLT, it is entitled “God’s Promises for Those Who Keep His Laws”. So God’s promises play pretty predominantly in Leviticus 26. Now, disclaimer: we are under the New Covenant, thank You Jesus, and I surely do mean that, thank You Jesus, so we aren’t like the religious leaders or legalists who are all about the law. We live by faith, we have a living hope, and we are under grace, recipients of tremendous mercy, not sinning wildly, not grace abusers, not bratty children of the Most High God, not at all. Just not legalists. I’m gonna let you in on something, and so many of you likely already know this…the devil is a legalist. If he can find a way to gain some sort of legal access, like he’s got permission, has been given access, to invade some part of your life, he will take full advantage (and it is an invasion…he won’t stay politely in the guest suite. Invaders just invade, and they aren’t usually super polite about it.) Anywhere he can start to build a stronghold, he’s gonna do it. He’s a destroyer, for sure, but he is a legalist so he wants a legal reason to get all up into your business. So, what does that actually look like for us? Well, if satan can get you to be a legalist, to be religious more than having a relationship with the Lord, that’s a good start for the devil. He would like for all of God’s children to have our own set of adaptations and additions to God’s Word…like the Pharisees and Sadducees had in Jesus’ day. The ten commandments grew into more than 600 rules and regulations. If satan can’t keep you out of the Kingdom, he’ll put some serious effort into turning you into a legalist. And then, as Jesus said, what happens is we end judging others, inside and outside of the Church, and some things in our own life we let slide, we leave wiggle room, because we’re really doing pretty good at following the rules, now the rules may be based on the Bible, but the grace dissipates and do’s versus don’ts spring up in the place where grace ought to be. And then it becomes really easy to judge judge judge everybody else by that set of rules. But it’s a sliding scale, isn’t it? We so easily see the little tiny splinter in someone else’s eye and we can’t see clearly because we have a two by four jutting out of our skull. Is it time to yell, “Timber!” regarding that hunk of wood obstructing our view, cut it down, rip it out, ask the Holy Spirit for grace in place of legalism, and kick the enemy out by revoking his legal access to our life? If he can get at you legally, he will. He is, after, the accuser of the brethren (that’s you and me, my friend) who stands accusing us before the Father day and night. But when you live and walk and exist by grace and stand by grace alone, knowing and even saying out loud at times that you are clean by because the blood of the Lamb has made you clean, you are telling the devil he has overstayed his welcome, time to go. Bye bye.
I hope that is encouraging to somebody listening today. Your freedom in Christ is a big deal. Don’t trade it in for legalism.
Leviticus 26:3-11 NLT
3 “This is what I will do if you will live by my laws and carefully obey my commands:
4 “I will give you rain at the right time. The land will produce its crops, and the trees in the field will produce their fruit. 5 Threshing [a] time will last until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until planting. You will eat all you want and live securely in your land.
6 “I will bring peace to your land. You will lie down with no one to scare you. I will remove dangerous animals, and there will be no war in your land. 7 You will chase your enemies, and you will defeat them. 8 Five of you will chase a hundred of them, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand of them. You will defeat your enemies, 9 and I will be pleased with you. Your families will be large, and I will keep my promise [b] to you. 10 You will clear out old food supplies to make room for new ones.
11 “I will put my tent among you, and I will never look at you with disgust. 12 So I will live among you and be your God, and you will be my people. 13 I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt so that you are no longer slaves of the Egyptians. I have broken their power over you and made you live as a free people.
Yeah, this is awesome. And we can apply this to our lives as disciples of Jesus. Because the Old Testament, if we look and pay attention, it is always pointing toward Jesus. What can we learn about God’s promises for us under the New Covenant from this passage?
First, we see that God loves us enough to warn us of the evil that is after us. And He is so kind, He tells us about the opposite, too. He promises provision, and uses the words “at the right time” which should alleviate our stress. He is a good, faithful provider. Do you need to trust Him more and believe Him better in the area of provision? If so, you are for sure not alone.
God goes on here to promise peace and protection. He mentions wild and dangerous animals, and He mentions war in their land, they will chase their enemies and defeat them. Hey, let’s look at that spiritually. We know based on what Paul told us about who we fight, and who don’t fight - principalities and dark forces in the spiritual realm, that’s who we are really warring with. Can we believe, based on Leviticus 26, that God will allow us to defeat our enemies? The answer is a bold, strong YES! Can we believe that we won’t have war in our land? Well, that comes with a nationwide obedience to the Lord, and we don’t have that happening here in the USA…and as I’ve said before, it is so helpful to remember we are Christians above all else, I just happen to have been born in America but I’m not one to say I am an American Christian because I am a citizen of heaven, as it says in the New Testament. My love of Jesus is far above and beyond the place I live. In this current age, I don’t know that God is breaking a promise if war were to come to our nation, ya know what I mean? We don't fulfill the criteria, we have so much heartbreaking vile sin in the US, maybe our baseline prayer for our country should be for revival, that millions upon millions would have Christ revealed to them. And that would be so beautiful, wouldn’t it?
Here we also find a promised blessing on the family unit. You know it’s a good thing to believe God for His very best for your family, and when your kiddos are younger and still at home, pray boldly and live Biblically, parent Biblically. Expect God to keep His promises, and there are promises about the family in the Bible. A lot of encouragement for us in God’s word, so if you are raising young children, ask boldly for all God’s promises for the family to prove true for you. That’s a big prayer, but man, God is so good at keeping His promises, let’s be so good at believing Him for that.
In verse 10, we sort of touch on provision again, but it’s like combined with the family blessing promise. If God gives you a large family, He is telling You He will provide. You’re gonna have to clear out the old food supply, you won’t even be able to use it all, and the new supply will be at your doorstep and you’ll have to put that in your storehouse. I think you could pray this in a variety of ways for your own life. “Lord, we need some more coming in provision wise for our family. You blessed us with these children, and You have entrusted them to us for a time. Help us to teach them Your Word, to speak of Your miracles as it says in Psalm 78, and to lean fully on the power of Your Spirit in our parenting. Give us all the provision we need, financially, with food and with healthcare and with our home and our cars and clothing and celebrating special days like birthdays and give us amply all that we need to raise them to know You and to love You and to be set apart to live fully for You, even once they leave our home.” That is how I would pray Leviticus 26 verse 10 if my children were still young and living at home. Pray like God is hearing you, and pray like He is answering you. Pray and trust, two really solid spiritual disciplines for Christian living in times when the economy is rough and society is pushy pushy pushy with things that are the exact opposite of what God wants for the people He created. Pray and trust today, and do it again tomorrow.
Verse 11 - “I will put My tent among you, and I will never look at you with disgust.”
He really is God with us. He is Emmanuel. He sees us through the righteousness of Christ, our filthiness becomes wooly white. God does not have to put His tent among us. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. This is a gift of magnitude we cannot fully comprehend. We ought to be the most grateful, thankful, joyful people on this planet because God has put His tent among us. This is a big, big deal! How blessed are we? Boy, we are crazy blessed. It’s so much blessing we’d prolly fall over and faint if we caught even a glimpse of what it looks like in the spiritual realm to have the Lord right here…has God not made great promises and then kept them all to His people?
Verse 12 - “So I will live among you and be your God, and you will be My people.”
Do you know that you are a child of God?
Like, know that you know? And has that knowing changed your thinking and changed your living? Children of God should live knowing how loved they are. They should love others well because they are secure in who they are, due to the love of their Father. Are you numbered among His people? If so, you are so very loved and God’s love poured out on you is going to keep on pouring out on you, in never-ending measure. Live loved. I think if we could do that we could change the world around us, ya know?
Let’s skip down to verse 40 -
40 “But if they confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors—the treacherous things they did to oppose me— 41 I will oppose them and bring them into the lands of their enemies. Then, if they humble their uncircumcised hearts and accept their guilt, 42 I will remember my promise to Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. I will also remember the land. 43 The land, abandoned by them, will enjoy its time to honor the Lord while it lies deserted without them. They must accept their guilt because they rejected my rules and looked at my laws with disgust. 44 Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or look at them with disgust. I will not reject or cancel my promise to them, because I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake, I will remember the promise to their ancestors. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God while nations looked on. I am the Lord.”
Now when we sin, He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all our sin and unrighteousness when we confess it, it says in 1 John 1:9. Be quick to confess when you need to. That saying, keep short accounts with God, that’s good counsel. As quickly as you can, confess. Repentance isn’t a shameful thing; the devil wants us to feel like it’s shameful, but it’s not. It’s a gift. It keeps us clean. Take a shower when you need to, and repent when you need to. And then get the promised blessing! God will not reject or cancel His promise to His people. Because He is the Lord our God.
For our sake, oh man how He loves us, for our sake He will remember the promises He’s made. He brought them out of Egypt, the nation of Israel. And has He not brought you out of something? Some place that was bondage? Where you felt beat down, low, lost, forgotten, weary…has He not brought you out? He is good at that, and He does it for each and every person who will turn to Him and receive Him as Savior.
He is your God today, and He has heaped up these promises in the Bible, piled them up high as can be, and they are but a drop in the bucket compared to His love for you. I hope today you can rest in that love, be at peace in His love, pray boldly with newfound faith because of God’s love, and go to sleep tonight with ease and wake up refreshed and renewed due to the love God has for you.
Thank you so much for listening today, and remember the link for the homeschool summit and also it’s time to announce the giveaway winners…here are the names (not sharing too much like don’t want to be unsafe or anything, but check your DM’s on Instagram or Messenger on Facebook if you hear your like first name). Okay, had several prizes and several winners so hang on with me while I go through them now.
(Names removed from show notes...) Please check your DMs and that will be on it’s way to you soon! Thank you so much for the support with the new podcast and the milestone of 150 episodes of this podcast. It was a good time to pause and reflect and thank God for allowing me to even do this at all, so thank for listening and being part of getting the promises of God into the people of God. I’m truly grateful!
Now, don’t you forget that God’s promises for you are true today, tomorrow, and always! I’ll see ya back here next time as we take a look at a promise from Numbers. Bye for now!