The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - Believing God’s Promises & Understanding Your Identity in Christ

All God’s Promises Come to Pass - The Hope of the Book of Joshua - Episode #156

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!

Lavishing His Unfailing Love - A Promise from Deuteronomy - episode #155

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!

Has God Ever Promised and Not Carried It Through? Episode #154

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! 

Every Book A Promise Series - Leviticus 26 - Episode 153

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!

God’s Promised Help When We Are Afraid - Exodus 14:13 - Episode #152

Well hello again, welcome back to the podcast. Getting the promises of God into the people of God, one episode at a time. And right now we are taking a look at a promise from the second book of the Bible, Exodus. There is a bold promise here for us, so long as we are willing to believe God for it. Ready to dive in? Let’s do this!

Jen Metzger's book Joyful, Patient, Faithful - A 90-Day Devotional Book for Moms available at Amazon

Summer 2023 Prayer Retreat $7 Ticket

Know a homeschool mom who could use some encouragement? Check out the Homeschool Super Heroes Summit (get a FREE ticket here). I'm honored to be the prayer coordinator for this event, and will be live in the prayer room daily to take prayer requests & I'd love to see you there!

Looking for a speaker for your women's ministry event? I'd love to chat with you! Reach me anytime at JanLBurt@outlook.com

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 152, and today’s show is sponsored by Jen Metzger, author of the book Joyful, Patient, Faithful - A 90-Day Devotional Book for Moms. Such a great book for moms of all stages and ages. Thanks, Jen, for writing this devotional!

You know, Exodus is an amazing book. There is so much in this book, I feel like I could have chosen any one of a number of promises. And they all would have been a great source of encouragement! I landed on a verse from chapter 14, because it just kind of jumped off the page at me. It’s a big promise, and as such it can fit into all of our lives in some manner.

 

I’m going to read from the Amplified today.

 

Exodus 14:13 - AMP

Then Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid! Take your stand (be firm and confident and undismayed) and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for those Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see again.”

 

Okay, so this is a very specific promise that was made and then immediately kept by God directly to the Israelite people who had just fled Egypt following 400 long years. I want to acknowledge that, yup, this was a specific promise and it was kept to the letter, completely fulfilled.

 

But when we open our Bible and read it, it is so encouraging to read what it says, even in the Old Testament, and glean from it, learn from it, grow in our faith because of it, grab hold of the promises we find because God is the same yesterday, today and forever and every single part of the Word of God is given by inspiration from God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Hebrews 13:8 and 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us those things. 

 

God did indeed make it so that the Egyptians who were chasing after them were not seen again after that day, since they were drowned in the Red Sea when God closed it up after all His people had crossed over in the middle of it on dry ground. 

 

But is there a promise here for us, living some 2000 years after Jesus? So many thousands of years after Moses led them through the Red Sea? 

 

There sure is.

 

First, a huge promise in this verse that is found all throughout the Bible is sort of couched in a command: Do not fear.

God’s commands are His enablements. That’s a saying that has been around for a while, and it’s one worth remembering. If He calls you to something, He will not leave you unable to accomplish it. He provides where He leads, and He enables us to do as He asks of us, or as He commands us. 

When He tells us not to be afraid, He doesn’t then leave us to our own devices as we attempt to not be afraid in our strength. He really does make it possible for us to live fearlessly, to not be afraid. So it is a command, and it is a promise, and our God always, always keeps His promises.

 

Do not be afraid. Take your stand - be firm and confident and undismayed - and see the salvation which He will accomplish for you.

 

Another promise for us!

 

See the salvation which he will accomplish for you.

Two things here.

First, there’s that word will! Y’all know how I feel about that word. Will means will, all means all, and when God says He’s going to do something, we’d best take Him at His word.

Second, it says see the salvation the Lord will accomplish for you.

Just as He did at Calvary, on the cross, the Lord’s salvation is accomplished by His own hand, by His strong arm, and we don’t have the right or the ability to add even one teeny tiny iota to His perfect, finished work.

Likewise, whenever He does some kind of saving work in our lives, it’s HIS WORK. And so, it’s HIS GLORY and HIS HONOR.

 

Let’s make this applicable to our very own lives, right here, right now, in this very moment. Like, today.

 

We only have this moment, right? Because the next moment, the next day, next week, etc…it’s not here yet. So we don’t have it. And the past is just that, past.

We have now to apply the very word of God to our own lives and situations and relationships and circumstances. And we have now to praise God, to live grateful, to express thanksgiving, to point to Jesus with our lives and with our words.

 

You may get a bit nervous, like feeling kinda nervy, about the state of the world. Agendas that are so unbiblical pushing against you on every side. Wars and rumors of wars, well that seems like something that’s happening right now and could swamp our boats with waves of fear. Not because it’s unlikely, but because it’s such a real possibility. Right? We’re not leaning towards fear in areas that it’s unlikely. It’s right in those places where you know it could happen, it is more likely than not, that’s where we need to take the promise of Exodus 14, verse 13 and apply it like a balm. Make our belief of God and His promises the greater truth spoken over those things that push fear on us. The economy, coworker problems, need a big raise and haven’t gotten one in a minute, parenting is hard, not enough hours in the day…I could go on. It’s a long list, these things that can open the door to fear in our hearts and minds. 

But God…

 

The Bible tells us not to be afraid, but to take our stand and be firm and confident and undismayed as we opt to believe that our God is still in the salvation business, and if He saved us from sin and death and hell, then He surely can save us from fear, and from any and every other thing, big or small, that is pressing in on us.

 

Can you choose to believe that today, my friend?

Can you lay all your chips on the table, let it all ride on red number 7, and just rest as you see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you?

 

I’d like to just simply pray this verse for you today, and ask God to do what He is so good at doing, what He does perfectly, and that is to save and deliver, to bless and protect, to favor and guide you in every single part of your life where you need Him to step in and be your strong, loving, powerful God.

Lord, thank You for Your word and the promises You’ve given in it.

Today we choose belief. Big, bold, daring belief that even in the things that loom large and seem scary, we will not fear. And we ask You to make us able to not fear - that Your commands would be our enablements today.

 

In our workplaces, we will not fear. In our families, as we raise our children, with aging parents, difficulties with siblings, when we are lonely or misunderstood, where we’ve been overlooked, slighted, or maligned - we will not fear. When we face health struggles, we choose faith over fear. In a difficult economy, and with the wild and horrible threats of war all around us, we will not fear. Though the earth give way beneath our feet, as it says in Psalm 46, we will not fear. 

 

You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and You will do as You have promised.

 

So, Lord, today I ask that for the one listening to me right now, would You do as You have promised and banish all fear, even as You accomplish Your salvation? Rescue them from whatever and or whomever is making them fearful. Free them to walk in the light of Your love, unafraid, fearless. May they be firm as they stand on the solid Rock of Jesus. May they be confident, because their confidence and trust is rooted and anchored solely in You, Lord. May they be undismayed, no matter what the enemy or the world throws at them, because they know for certain that You are the God who saves - and You will be the God who saves them as often as they need it.

 

Thank You for Your Word. And that when You say will, You surely mean it.

May we live in a state of such total belief that nothing and no one can dissuade us. Make us immovable in our belief that You, O Lord, are the perfect promise maker and the perfect promise keeper. 

 

Take each on listening today on a faith journey with You that leaves them speechless, awash in Your love and care, filled with Your wisdom, blessed to be a child of the Most High God.

 

And then, do it again and again! 

Thank You for making a way for us to live fearless and free, bound only to You, experiencing Your salvation. 

 

You are the One True God, and all our praise goes to You.

In Jesus Name - Amen

Thanks so much for joining me today on the podcast, and for allowing me to pray for you. If you’d like more prayer content, feel free to check out my newest podcast, The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt.

And I’d like to invite you to grab your ticket to the Summer 2023 Online Prayer Retreat. Tickets are just seven dollars, and you’ll get lifetime access to seven prayer sessions, a pdf download Study Guide, plus bonus content and I’d love to see you there.

Oh, if you or anyone you know is a homeschooler, I’m the prayer coordinator for Kerry Beck’s Homeschool Super Heroes summit, and there is a free ticket option that I’d like to share with you. That link, and the link to the prayer retreat, is right here in the show notes.

And the final thing I want to mention today is this: some of you know that I speak at conferences and summits and women’s ministry events, and I really am blessed to be able to do that. If you happen to be looking for a speaker for an event or summit in the coming months, please reach out to me at JanLBurt@outlook.com … and I have a new thingy I’m doing in addition to my speaking via in person events and online events, like Kerry’s homeschool summit… drum roll… I am creating women’s ministry event videos for churches and small groups to purchase at one flat rate, very affordable, and I am super grateful for this new avenue for women’s ministry. Just shoot me an email if you would like to know more, and if you have a certain topic you’d like covered, over the years of speaking I’ve custom written more talks than I can count, so I’d be blessed to do that for your small group or moms event or other event. I’ll reply quickly to your emails, and that is all my new news for today. 

 

Don’t forget, God does not want fear to have any place in your life. I’m believing You will see His salvation accomplished on your behalf in powerful ways. He’s gonna keep His word to you, my friend!

 

Thanks again for joining me on the podcast, and I’ll see ya next time.

Jehovah Jireh - The Lord Who Always Provides - episode #151

Well hey there, hello to you again. Thanks for being here today and also, before I get started with today’s promise I want to invite you to enter the giveaway for the 150th episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Amazon gift card and coffee gift cards and other prizes are in the honey pot, so leave a comment on the post I’m linking here in the show notes, and you’re entered. It’s that simple! Alright, today we are looking at something from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and next week we’ll be in Exodus…maybe I should run with this and go through one  promise from each book of the Bible. Yeah, I may just do that. Let’s check out today’s promise.

GIVEAWAY ENTRY

Recipes for A Sweet Child by Katie J. Trent

Summer 2023 Prayer Retreat $7 Ticket 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 151, and it is sponsored by Katie J. Trent and her new book, Recipes for A Sweet Child - 36 Baking Devotions for the Whole Family (a book of creative, Bible based activities and you can learn more at the link right here in the show notes). 

I tell you what, I really love God’s word. Which means I really love the promises God makes in His word. Genesis 22:14 contains a promise that many of us know, but we might not know the exact context of this promise, the where and how of its origin.

 

Jehovah Jireh. I’m thinking you’ve heard that before. And you probably know what it means, Provider. Jehovah Jireh is the Lord God who provides for His people.

 

So this is from Genesis 22 verse 14. I’m going to read it from the Amplified Bible today, and probably also from the NLT, and then look at the context because the situation all around this verse can really help us to be bold in our faith and in our praying and consistent and quick in our obedience to God. 

 

The AMP says: So Abraham named that place. The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it ]will be seen and provided.”

 

Okay, some things to notice in this version but first let me read from the NLT:

Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

 

Just a bit of difference between the two.

 

We find this in the story, the true story which is a one-of-a-kind true story, ya know? Abraham is on the mountain why? What’s he doing there? He is there with his son Isaac, the son God promised him and who came in his very old age, after the side step when he and Sarah put into place the plan for him to have a child with her servant Hagar, who was the mother of Ishmael…but later on, Sarah did have a son, Isaac, and now some time later, years later, Abraham heeded God’s call to take his son Isaac up on this mountain to, ahem, sacrifice him. On the journey up, just Abraham and his son at this point because he had told his servants to wait for them, they would finish this part on their own, and Isaac said to his father, not a direct quote here I’m saying it from memory of having read this in my Bible, Isaac said to his father, Father, the fire is here and the wood (because they brought those along with them), but where is the sacrifice? Like, dad, I see most of what we’ll need but uh what about the actual sacrifice? Where’s that? And Abraham answered and said God would provide it. 

 

So up on the mountain, Abraham ties up Isaac, and hey not totally sure Isaac’s age, but Abraham was for sure an old man and Isaac likely was old enough to fight this process, ya know? But it does not look as if he did…did he allow himself to be tied up? Seeing his father raise the knife and maybe saw his own reflection in that knife? Isaac had a part to play in all of this too, and I want to make sure we notice his faith in God, how did that play out in his life? Do you think he ever forgot this moment? 

 

 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”;[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”[c]

Even in this impossible thing, Abraham got up early in the morning to obey. Quick obedience even in the hardest thing of his entire life, hands down. What can you and I learn from this? How’s my obedience?  It was a  three day journey to get there (and hey, three days journey, three days Jonah was in the belly of the whale, both of which remind me of Jesus’ three days in the tomb…I often look for things that point to Jesus when I read in the Old Testament. It’s incredibly encouraging when we see glimpses of the Messiah, isn’t it? And when we see the faithfulness of our God, which we see here, it is of tremendous value and strengthens our personal faith.)

So this was a long journey knowing what lay ahead. Man, talk about a tough time, confusing, what’s God doing in all of this? 

Then they arrived at the place God told him to go and Abraham built the altar, laying the wood in order and binding Isaac and placing him on top of the wood. Talk about do or die time, I think that phrase could have originated in Genesis 22. Wowza!

He reached out his hand, took the knife to slaughter his son. This is in the Bible, my friends! Like God does not sugarcoat and the Bible is not a board book for babies, ya know? It’s not lift the flap for a happy surprise. It’s just real, and often if we read it enough and read all of it, not just the parts we choose to read, but read it and study it, like Bible study involves some study (I have known of women’s Bible study groups that spent more time gossiping then they ever spent actually studying the Bible, so hey, word to the wise, that’s not the Bible study you want to attend, might want to be quick on your feet and find another one…)

Real study of the Bible takes us into real life, real fast.

At that moment, the angel of the Lord told him not to lay a hand on the boy, because God had seen Abraham’s obedience and his fear of the Lord. He didn’t withhold his son, the son of promise, and that promise came directly from God.

 

A few things we can note here - our children, they are not to be “off limits” to God. They do not come before the Lord in our lives, at least they ought not to. God knew Abraham’s heart, his total obedience, and so of course the Lord knew Abraham would completely obey in this hard thing, but this was on display for every single future generation via being recorded in the Torah and the Bible. It’s likely that all practicing Jews know this bit of history. Most all Chrsitians do, too. What does it show us, reveal to us, about God? He sees. He sees us obeying Him, even when it makes no sense, we cannot understand what He might be doing, we are confused, we are hurting, we are at a loss, and we cannot make this make sense to ourselves or to those around us asking us, “Why would a kind, good, loving God ask this of you?” He sees when we just obey, even when it’s costly, even when it hurts, even when it seems to be totally misaligned with who God is (like, this seems like child sacrifice and that is not of God, right? He abhors such a thing!). And we also see that it’s kind of like God said, Abraham, it won’t be your son, but it will be Mine. A foreshadowing of what was to come, of what Jesus would do at Calvary.

Yeah, the story surrounding verse 14 is tremendous. People’s stories matter, much more than we often realize. But God, He always realizes the toll things take, how long our journey to our own Mount Moriah can be, and how much we’ve sacrificed in our quest to be obedient to the Lord’s call on our lives. God sees, my friend. Please don’t forget that, not ever.

 

Abraham raised his eyes, and boom, there was a ram caught in the thicket. Born and raised in the briar patch for this very moment, you might say.

 

So Abraham called that place, “The Lord will provide”

When God says WILL, He means it!

Jehovah Jireh is the name given to God in this text. And we should make note of the names of God when we find them in the Bible. They tell us who He is, His character, they guide us in how we ought to pray based on who He is, because He is not a man that He should lie or change His mind and there is no shadow of turning with Him, so who He says He is, that’s exactly who He is. Often when I watch my sweet grandbaby, as he coos and chats I’ll say to him, “That’s exactly right.” Today I’m saying this to you: God is Jehovah Jireh, on your Mount Moriah, right there, after your long journey of obedience and the hardest thing you’ve ever faced, but you did it, you faced it, you laid it all down at the feet of Jesus. That is where God will provide. That’s exactly right, man. Don’t you forget that.

 

The true story of Abrham and Isaac on Mount Moriah must grow our faith and our obedience, our trust must lead to a trust fall with the Lord. Otherwise, what’s it for? Faith and trust are not for nothing, for no purpose. They are to be used fully, and will never be used up or worn thin. And so we need to put them to work, and work them out daily in our lives. Seen True Grit? Too thin, Rooster is a line from that movie and from the book - God never stretches His words til they're too thin. They are not and never will be see through. You know, it would behoove us to often remember that faith, hope and love will remain when all else is burned up and gone. And the word of the Lord shall remain forever. The word of the Lord shall remain forever. 

 

What He has said here is not going anywhere. The word of the Lord endureth forever.

 

May it be said of you, and of me, that on the mountain of our God, He has always and will always provide. He is your Jehovah Jireh. That is a part of the word of God which shall endure forever. It’s true for you now, and will be true for you all of your days. Believe it, knowing for certain that it is true because God’s word says so.

 

Thanks for listening today, and don’t forget you can enter the giveaway via the link in the show notes and also thanks again to our sponsor for this episode. Katie J. Trent and her latest book Recipes for A Sweet Child - 36 Baking Devotions for the Whole Family. Take a look at that via the link I put in the show notes. And be sure to sign up for the Summer 2023 Online Prayer
Retreat for just SEVEN BUCKS! It’s a crazy great value and I’d be remiss if I didn’t invite you to this event happening in late July of 2023. 

 

Hope to see you back here next time and hey, don’t forget that this promise from Genesis 22 is your promise today. Bye bye!

Promises Made, Promises Kept - Celebrating 150 Episodes with a Giveaway!

Well hello to you, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. I am so excited to be sharing some pretty awesome promises straight from God’s Word on the show today, and this is a milestone episode…with some giveaways to celebrate and announcing the official launch of my new podcast, which is titled The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt. I hope you’ll click the link in the show notes to enter the giveaway (there are multiple winners who will win prizes, and I do love a good giveaway) and hopefully you’ll check out the new podcast (shorter form of content on that show, episodes are between 10 and 15 minutes long and of course, prayer happens in every single episode…so when you listen, you’ll also be covered in prayer.) And if you happen to leave a rating or review for the show, that gets you bonus entries in the giveaways. So, big show today. Big promises we’ll look at today. And ya know, with the Lord God Almighty, a promise made is as good as a promise kept. Let’s get started.

Enter the giveaway here!

Find The Prayer Podcast wth Jan L. Burt here! (bonus entries to the giveaway if you rate / review the new podcast! TIA!) 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 150.

So today on the show, we are taking a look at more than just one or two verses. Nope, today for this milestone episode we’re taking it a bit further and looking at a couple of chapters from the New Testament book of Matthew. And the reason we are going to do a sort of fly-over look at these chapters is because there is a whole lot here about God making promises and then boom keeping them, fulfilling them to the letter. These portions of Scripture show us that God will never fail to do every single thing He has promised to do, and when He starts to move, boy does He ever get things moving. No matter how wild these promises and prophecies may have seemed, especially were you to be considering them all and wondering, “How is this gonna work out? How is this possible? And that possible? How? Huh?”, these chapters show us that our God is not only the God who does impossible things, but the God who promises impossible things and then makes good. 

 

In Matthew chapter 1, we first see the genealogy of Jesus listed from Abraham down to Joseph the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus. And as an aside, in this listing of ancestors of Jesus, we find some women mentioned specifically…so if you happen to be a woman who maybe feels as if you aren’t exactly sure if God has a meaningful purpose or place for you, these women being noted so specifically, like in parenthesis as to whose mother they were, that’s a way that the Word of God, the living and active Word of God as is says in the book of Hebrews, God’s Word tells you that you matter. And you matter because God says you do. We have Tamar, the mother of Perez and Zerah whose father was Judah. We have Baoz, whose mother was Rahab, and Boaz of course married Ruth who was the mother of Obed, who was the father of Jesse who was the father of King David. And the fourth woman mentioned in Matthew 1 was Bathsheba, and she is described as the widow or Uriah. Those few words remind me that God sees our deepest points of anguish, grief and pain, and He acknowledges them. He is our Comforter, and He is so good at giving us the comfort we need as we need it. He sees us, and every now and then, as a women, a female Christian, this is a very timely reminder. 

 

Verse 17 in the NLT says: All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

 

Just from this verse, we can see how true it is that God is a God of order and not of chaos. The world, at large or our own small corner of it, can seem pretty chaotic. We can always turn to the One who is not chaotic and will always be a God of order. 

 

Starting with verse 18 in Matthew chapter 1, the focus turns to the birth and early years of the life of our Messiah, Jesus. 

 

Verse 19 says that Joseph planned to break his engagement with Mary quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly, after he learned of her pregnancy. And then, says verse 20, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him who the Child actually was, told him to give the baby the name Jesus, and that He would save His people from their sins. 

 

Verses 22-24 say this: All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through His prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ “ When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

 

So the promise, the prophecy, was originally made as we read it in Isa 7:14; 8:8, 10. And boom, looky here…God kept that promise. Pretty big promise to both make and keep, wouldn’t you say? Virgin birth? That’s a big one. Pretty impossible. Sounds like God’s specialty! 

 

Chapter 2, verse 1 says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea. Let’s read verses 5-6, from the NLT: “In Bethlehem in Judea…for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Juday, are not least among the ruling cities of Juday, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for My people Israel.’ “ Mic 5:2; 2 Sam 5:2

 

Second promise, prophecy, we find fulfilled here. Look how perfectly the Lord keeps His promises. They did not live in Bethlehem, but were there to be counted and registered and to pay taxes. Had to travel to the town that had to do with family lineage, and so there they found themselves as it says in Luke chapter 2, while they were there the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son, the Lord Jesus. 

 

Now, after the wise men had altered evil King Herod to the newborn King of the Jews, he had a major freak out and sent his marauders (look, I am gonna call them that rather than soldiers cuz butchering babies is not something my hubs would have done as a soldier, so marauders it is) to kill all the baby boys two and under. Verse 13 says an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to get up, to flee with the child and his mother, to Egypt and to stay there until they were told to return. Joseph did what he always did, which was to obey right away. Verse 14 says that that night Joseph took them and left for Egypt. Let me tell ya, obedience matters. And the quicker you obey the Lord, the better. Just have your mind made up, be prayed up in this area, ask Him to give you feet that are quick to obey, to move at His leading and command, and to not delay or dawdle. You’ll be blessed by praying that prayer and living obediently, and guess what? Others will be blessed by your obedience too. Win win when we are fast in our obedience. 

 

Verses 17-18, NLT: Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “A cry was heard in Ramah - weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.” 

 

This happened just as Jeremiah prophesied it would. The Lord did not want those baby boys killed, so let’s make note of that important truth. This was foretold to Jeremiah so that when this awful thing occurred, and it was so awful, a cry heard in Ramah, weeping for her children who were dead, so awful, stand out kind of terrible moment in Israel’s history…and to be noted as one more proof of the Messiah, Jesus. Also, never doubt how far the devil will go in his outward acts of hatred toward the Lord. Here he acted through a man, King Herod, who evidently did not have much trouble responding to the prompts of satan to do his dirty work. Evil is real, satan hates Jesus, and there are people who do the devil’s bidding. Jeremiah’s prophetic words were proved true.

 

Now that’s just three astounding and pretty impossible prophecies, promises, that were kept to the tiniest detail just as the Lord predicted through His prophets, and then via the written record of His words as given to those prophets. We are starting to move into the realm of statistical improbability. We should be a bit amazed at this.

 

The last several verses from Matthew chapter 2 remind us that when Herod died, an angel appeared yet again to Joseph in a dream and told him to take the child and his mother back to Israel because those who were trying to kill the child are dead. Joseph didn’t hear this news via the grapevine, the paper landing on his doorstep one toasty warm Egyptian morning. He didn’t have to wait around and get the deets from some relative sending a message via camel or something. Nope. God sent an angel in a dream to tell him, time to go back home. And of course, per his character, verse 21 says that Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. Like, had the dream, got up and got busy doing what he’d been told to do. Man, he was not a dawdler or a delayer or a dream denier. He was a man of obedient action, and I have learned a lot about quick obedience and how the Lord speaks to His people who will listen and heed, from the life of Joseph. I want to obey like this! Like, challenge accepted…Lord, help me to obey like Joseph obeyed.

 

Verses 22-23 finish off this chapter: But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus he was afraid to go back there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. (Those who say it’s not a New Testament, new covenant thing for God to speak to His people through dreams, well, that’s one of those times when I want to use that sound byte, ya know the one, “Find it in the Bible…find it in the Bible…” Cuz what I see in my New Testament is God speaking through dreams, through angels in dreams and in visions, so there’s that…do with it what you will, my friend.”)

 

He left for the regions of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.” 

 

That’s a lot of kept promises, isn’t it? Don’t you just love this? Isn’t this an encouraging reminder that He is gonna do exactly what He said that He will do, no ifs ands or buts about it. He gonna do it! He will. He really, really will. So reassuring and a huge boon to our faith. Like a super booster for faith enhancement. Do you believe better when you hear about fulfilled promises? I hope so! You sure should. This is who Your God is, His character is untarnishable. He said, and He means to do it.

 

So prophecies from Isaiah, from Micah, from 2 Samuel, from Hosea, and from Jeremiah all specifically mentioned here and noted as being fulfilled. So this baby, Messiah, gonna be from Bethlehem somehow and also from Galilee, a Nazarene and also somehow gonna be called out of Egypt? Yes, that’s exactly right. 

 

Now what promise has God given you that seems impossible, like this does not and cannot add up, humanly speaking? 

Is He a different God than the God of the Bible?

Are you willing to lean in and trust all the more for what He has promised He will do?

 

Because with Him, a promise made is a promise kept. 

 

That is what I want you to see from this portion of Scripture for this episode of the podcast. Don’t miss the application for your life, for those you’re praying for, for your local church, for you and the world that is your world, where you live day to day. Don’t miss this. God’s got something for you, and you can trust Him to bring it about in His way and on His timetable. So good to know that. Matthew 1 and 2 teach us a whole lot, don’t they?

 

Now, I have a verse to share with you that is a promise God has made and that God is going to keep. This is for you, so I’m gonna read it and then pray it over you today.

 

2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT - And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

 

Alright, let me read that once more. Gotta get loud sometimes, read it again sometimes, and get the devil off your back, outta your hair, out of your ear whispering his lies…so sometimes, we just need to read it again. Out loud. With some oomph. 

 

And God WILL generously provide ALL (not some, but ALL) you need (not greed, not want, need). Then you WILL ALWAYS have EVERYTHING you need and plenty left over to share with others. 

Some translations say you will have all that you need to abound in every good work.

 

He’s got you, and He is not in the business of letting go or dropping those He is holding on to. He’s got you now and He always will. You are safe in His hands, more than safe, you are engraved on the palms of His hands…so how could He possibly forget you?

 

In my course on Psalm 91 I say again and again that our job is to believe, and when we aren’t believing, we already done lost the whole ball game. That's why satan works so hard to get us to live doubting lives. You choose belief today. The Bible says your work is to believe the One whom God sent. Do that.

 

You will, according to 2 Cor. 9:8, be generously provided for in your needs. And more than that, you are going to have everything you need and plenty left over for what purpose? To share with others.

 

What do you have plenty of? And who are you sharing that with?

 

I have plenty of Bible journals from my daily morning study time, my time with the Lord when I have a pen and a journal open every day. And so, I have plenty to share with others. 

 

That’s just an example of a way to share with others. You can post verses on social media, you can text friends that you’re praying for them, there is so much more that we can be sharing with others from the plenty that God gives us. Take someone to lunch. Make a donation to a ministry, add a bit to your tithe, sponsor a kid to go to camp, support a fundraiser, not everything will be a huge financial donation, but maybe a five dollar bill. You just be like Joseph and obey when God leads, and expect that you are going to have all you need and abundantly. That's the promise,a dn the Holy Spirit put this verse on my heart to add to this episode, to share with in addition to Matthew 1 and 2. Promises made are promises kept with our God. This promise, that He is going to provide all you need, generously, is a promise made and I am counting it as a promise kept on your behalf.

 

Can I repay this verse for you now?

 

Lord, I am coming to You in prayer today, on behalf of the one listening to this podcast episode right now, no matter where they are in the world, in the US, Canada, Kenya, Germany, India, Australia, Poland, Thailand, South Africa, the Philippines, France, Jamaica, UAE, Guatemala, Italy, Nigeria, Peru, Ukraine, Singapore, Brazil…places that I know people hear about your promises on the podcast…and places I don’t know, Lord would you right now at this moment let them know how close You are to them. You are right there, the One who sticks closer than a brother, the One who will never leave them nor forsake them. Show up in their life, in their world, today. Put Your hand of provision and protection on them. Cover them, may Your banner over them be Your love. May Your blessing and favor be on them in ways that comfort them, give them great hope, grow their love and adoration and trust, and Lord, move mountains. Do Your mighty miracles. Bless them richly, abundantly. Generously provide all they need, just as You have promised. Lord, I didn't pick this verse - You wanted me to share it with them. This is Your Word and it is for Your child today. Keep Your Word, as I know that You will. May they have starting now everything they need, and have it always, with plenty left over to share with others. And may they obey as Joseph did, right away, no excuses and no delays. Thank You, Lord, for hearing and answering my prayer on their behalf today. 

 

You are worthy of all honor and glory and power and blessing and we praise Your name.

In the mighty name of Jesus I ask this, Amen. 

It’s always a blessing to pray for you, and I really do mean that. It is a gift that we can give one another that is ends up being a privilege for the one praying. 

 

Be sure to check out the giveaway links and I really do hope you win!

 

Winners will be announced by early July, because of different apps and the way new episodes do auto download to subscribers, and just because it’s summer and I want to make sure as many as possible hear about the giveaway. So early July if you win I will find you…if any of you know about the little girl Willa that we met on vacation poolside at a resort years ago… that’s a Willa quote I just did there - “No matter where you go, I’ll find you.” So if you’re a winner, I’ll find you, just like Willa said.

 

Thanks for making it possible for The Burt (Not Ernie) Show to reach the milestone of 150 episodes. I feel thankful and blessed and blown away, so thanks to you. There’s no show without you!

 

I hope to see you back here next time, and to have you join me on The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt (also, I added my name to the show title for two reasons: to link it to TBNES and also to not confuse it with any other podcast called The Prayer Podcast…to not be like stealing another show name since The Prayer Podcast seems sort of broad.)

 

Links to the new show in the show notes and let me know, like screen shot me your rating or review to JanLBurt@outlook.com or via DM and you’re gonna get bonus giveaway entries. Totally sort of bribing you to help the new show get that extra push, cuz platforms stop pushing your new podcast after a few weeks post launch, and I am hoping to reach as many as I can with prayer. Thanks for your help, it means more than you will ever know this side of eternity. I mean it when I say I am so very thankful for you!

 

See you next time! Bye bye.

The Promise of God’s Comfort Episode 149

Well hello there today, so thankful you’re listening to the podcast for this episode, number 149, and just want to let you know that I’ve got some details about the giveaway items to celebrate episode number 150, which is just about here. I’m giving away things like gift cards for coffee, Amazon, to an online Christian owned small business (who doesn’t like supporting the small biz world?) and some other things. Several prizes, one prize per winner to spread out the fun and your chances of winning. And I’ll be sharing a link to the post with the deets, the details, about how to enter. (Hint: it’s really as simple as leaving a comment on the post either on IG or FB.) So, that’s the news / housekeeping / update… and now, let’s dig into one of God’s promises, shall we?

 

Jan L. Burt (@janlburt) • Instagram photos and videos

 

Facebook

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 149.

After wrapping up the series on Hot Topics, which hopefully encouraged you to lean hard on God’s promises even when it feels hardest to do so - now we are moving on to a promise that is full of comfort. And of course, full of hope, because most of us end up much more hopeful, more optimistic, after we’ve been on the receiving end of a whole lot of comfort. 

 

I want to define the word “comfort” first, and then look at the promise from the Bible that offers us comfort. 

 

Comfort: To soothe in time of affliction or distress.

• To ease physically; relieve.

to give strength and hope to

to ease the grief or trouble of

consolation in time of trouble or worry 

a state or feeling of being less worried, upset, frightened, etc., during a time of trouble or emotional pain

 

Isaiah 51:12 (Amplified)

“I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies

And of a son of man who is made [as destructible] as grass,”

This is the Lord God Almighty speaking in this verse, and it is a very comforting verse. But if we don’t listen to what God says here, if we refuse to take heed, I don’t know that we can receive the comfort He has for us.

 

God says this: “I, even I, am He who comforts you.”

 

When I am in a bad place, things have gone really poorly and I am feeling it. I'm down, I will say that when I am offered comforting words from say my husband, one of my children, a dear friend, it’s great. It makes a difference. When I get a surprise letter in the good old fashioned snail mail, like the mailbox, that is really comforting. An email, a text, also super comforting. A comment on a post, a podcast review or book review, yeah, all those are very comforting. I think if you are an author, a speaker, podcaster, or something like that, maybe even if you are a pastor, it’s not the worst idea to have a “Happiness File” where you put things that are encouraging, like positive reviews, notes, cards, etc. Not to be vain, I want all of that in Jan’s life to hurry up and die already! But to be a comfort and to remind you to keep going, keep serving Jesus, because words like that can very well be sent your way only because the Lord has put it on the writer's heart to send them to you. Don’t quit serving Jesus. 

 

How much better is it, how much more amazing, when God speaks comfort to us? 

And we can know that it is His will to comfort us because we have these words from the pen of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:4: God comforts and encourages us in all our troubles so that we will in turn be able to comfort others with the same comfort we have received. The Holy Spirit is referred to as The Comforter in John 14:26. So this is not a Jan-sized idea, comfort from the Lord. I am drawing directly from the Word of God and am not adding anything to it, so be encouraged that you have verses in the Old Testament and the New Testament to assure you that God wants you to comfort you. (And then, He wants you to comfort others…but not with your own means of comforting them, but with the same comfort He gave to you.) 

God’s promise to you here is that He comforts you. “I, even I, am He who comforts you.” This feels pretty personal, doesn’t it? I think He wants you to take this promise personally.

He comforts you. Present tense, today. Also a promise that when tomorrow becomes today He will comfort you. This is an ongoing promise. On a continual basis, your God will comfort you.

I mean it when I say this feels personal and you should take it personally, because it is personal and it is personally meant for you. Right now. At this very moment. Take this personally.

 

Isaiah 51:12 goes on to remind us of the truth that whomever we fear in life, outside of the Lord God Most High, is not meant to be feared. You and I are to fear the Lord and not man. This verse asks why we fear a man, who dies, who is as destructible as grass.

Well, that’s a good question!

Let’s think on it for a moment and be honest in our thinking. 

We tend to be fearful of people because we see what they can do to us. Cost us our jobs. Do us harm in some manner. Take something from us.

But if we step back and look at the bigger picture, the truest truth, are we trusting God above all else, or do we have a fear that God won’t take care of us in some way, shape or form and that is really what drives us in our fear of what man might do?

 

It’s June, summer time here in Kansas as I record this episode. And the lawn has to be mown (and technically I could say mown or mowed in this sentence used in this tense, but I am gonna go with mown) all summer long. Again and again. So, say I take a trip to visit the Flint Hills and I see natural grassland that will not be cut short all summer long. Contrasting my lawn and the grasslands, what’s the real difference come fall? At best, those grasslands will only grow for a season. And my lawn clippings? They are dead and done for as soon as the mower skims across them. So, that’s the point of reference God gives us. Fearing man is not sensible as believers, because they have the lifespan of a blade of grass in the final estimation of all things. 

 

You cannot manage to go through life in this world and never come up against hard things. Hard things develop good character. Romans 5 says it far better than I just did, so read that chapter if you’d like to look into hard times and good character. Hard things are not always bad things. However, scary things are not something God wants you to live under with a sense of overwhelming doom and utter hopelessness.

That is not how you are to live when you follow Jesus.

 

Stuff happens. That’s a guarantee in this life. 

What will we do when that stuff happens? Give in to fear, to despair, or receive the comfort that God is promising in Isaiah?

 

I am going to do my very best to choose the latter. And when I am really feeling the weight of something, I am going to lean fully on the Holy Spirit and ask Him to intervene, help me to be able to choose belief over fear, and then I will trust Him to do as He has promised.

 

Can you do me a solid and find someone to reach out to this week with something that will be hopeful for them?

How has God comforted you in the past?

Can you extend that comfort to someone in the next few days?

 

I think you may be surprised what God might do when you pass on His comfort to others.

 

This episode is a bit shorter than usual, but that’s probably okay since I’ve been long winded on the show recently!

As always when I drop a shorter episode, I am going to challenge and encourage you with this:

Keep your earbuds in as if the podcast were still playing (if you use earbuds…if you don’t, which I don’t, maybe improvise on this a bit). And use the remaining time that would normally be part of the podcast episode and spend it in prayer and also being quiet before the Lord, in a listening posture if you will.

 

This exercise is never going to add up to wasted or squandered time.

It’s so good to do this regularly, just you and the Lord, together in a quiet, focused setting where you are poised to listen and you share your heart with Him. I do hope you’ll do that today.

 

Thanks so much for listening today. Check out that link for the giveaway and also, along with the 150th episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, I’m dropping the first seven episodes of my new podcast, The Prayer Podcast with Jan L. Burt.

The subject matter is pretty self explanatory and I hope you’ll check it out when it launches. 

 

Have a truly blessed day, my friend, and remember that God’s promise to comfort you is a promise you can depend on, always, day after day. 

I’ll see you next time.

Bye bye. 

 

Hot Topics Series - The Promise of Jesus’ Soon Return - Matthew 24

Well hello again, hey there. Hope you are doing well, growing in grace and knowledge and the love the Lord has for you and that you are abundantly blessed as you seek to follow Jesus. Today we are tackling the final subject in the Hot Topics series, and you don’t want to miss this one. We’re taking a look at the promise of the soon return of our Lord, Jesus. Let’s get started.

Summer 2023 Online Prayer Retreat

 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 148.

Welp, I guess I just couldn’t end this Hot Topics series without getting into the hottest topic of them all. How close are we to the return of Jesus? The Second Coming.

When? How soon? How long? 

 

So of course, the very first verse I’m going to share is from Matthew 24, verse 36, which says that no man, not even the angels, knows the hour or the day of Jesus’ return. 

That’s a true statement, spoken by Jesus. And I am not going to deny the complete truth of that verse. It’s true!

Nobody knows the hour or the day. And that is not a point that can be successfully argued - like, this is the truth that Jesus gave us. And there is no wiggle room or getting around it. 

 

So, in this episode, Hot Topic though it may be, I am not going to talk about dates or times specifically. Nope. That’s unbiblical, and so it goes right out the window and has no place here because the Word of God is the standard (as it should be for any podcast that is talking about God’s promises. No brainer, right?)

 

Next verse I want to look at also from Matthew chapter 24. 

Verse 3 has the disciples asking Jesus this: “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” (This is from the NLT).

They are asking a very direct, super specific question. And we are going to take a look at exactly how Jesus answered this very direct, super specific question.

 

Since Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we can expect that He is telling the truth here in Matthew 24. So this is the truth, according to the King of kings, and we need to pay attention to His words. 

 

Verses 4-8

Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 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. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”

 

So, as I think about these four verses, what things can we identify as having begun to take place? (Note that doing this is paying attention to the signs of the times, not trying to determine the exact day and hour of His return..two very different things, and we don’t want to neglect being among those who are watching and expecting His return just because we are afraid that somehow that makes us the same as those who say “On this exact day…”)

Many have come saying they are the messiah, and many are still doing that. And keeping our eyes on Israel, we know that there is one there right now that is being propped up as their possible messiah, so yes we can put a check mark next to false messiahs coming to deceive. 

How about hearing of wars and rumors or threats of wars? Big check mark next to that!

And thank the Lord that he told us not to panic at the prospect of wars, because these things have to take place. He doesn’t want us afraid - that’s never the point of prophecy or end times information that is found in the Bible. He wants us anticipating, expecting, and excited about His return, hopeful and sharing that hope with others. Any sense of urgency we have is really here to help us share with others, ya know? Wake ourselves up and then wake others up. When the flood came, all those outside the ark (not among Noah and his family) suffered. Is there anybody you can encourage to get in the ark, so to speak, and maybe encourage them to give their life to Jesus (that’s our version of being in the ark, as Christ followers). Who knows that a right view of end times details, as Jesus gave to us here in Matthew 24, could be the wake up call somebody needs to bend the knee and receive eternal salvation. So, it shouldn’t be the scariest thing in the world to talk about His return. It should be hopeful for us, and also make us hyper-aware that many, many people are not living in the hope that Jesus offers. 

These things must take place, said Jesus, but the end won’t follow immediately. 

Okay, good to make note of. Those two things that we can put a check beside because we do see those things in the world today, they do not signify the end. More is to come.

He goes on to say nation will war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Check check.

There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

Famines, sadly yes, in my lifetime I have seen via news sources more info about horrific famines than I would ever imagine possible. And I hate it, people starving to death. I really do mean it when I say I just hate it.

Earthquakes, big check next to this one. By looking at daily stats at earthquaketrack.com or earthquake.usgs.gov, we can see, in real time, the dramatic increase in earthquakes. In diverse places - all over the world. 25 over the course of the last day is the stat as I am recording this. Hawaii, the DR, Texas, Russia, Santa Cruz islands, Myanmar, Ecuador, Fiji, Puerto Rico, China, Turkmenistan, New Zealand to name a few. Yeah, we can put a check by this one. It’s happening just as Jesus said it would.

But all this, He said in verse 8, is only the first of birth pains. With more to come.

Women who’ve given birth, you understand what this means.

Birth pains get closer together, meaning they happen more frequently, last longer, and are more intense. That is the set-up Jesus gives for the end times before His return.

We meet the criteria for moving on to the next level of birth pains, you might say. 

 

Verses 9-14

“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”

 

I think we can honestly say that persecution of Christians has increased and in many countries being a Christian is punishable by death. A study of the history of Christian persecution shows that it is on the uptick and is happening as Jesus said it would. Bible prophecy is always proven true by history, and always will be.

Side note, in Israel there was a recent proposal to enforce the punishment, or persecution, of Christians who share about Jesus with the Jewish populace. Up to a year in prison re: adults, or two years for those under 18. 

Are Christians hated all over the world for following Jesus? Yes.

Have many turned away from the Lord and betrayed Him and hate one another? Yes. We have seen how the great falling away is happening. It just is. It’s real, it’s very intense, and it is hard to see occurring. 

False prophets on the prowl to deceive many? Yes. Check.

Sin rampant everywhere? Uh, yes. Like ten thousand checks next to this one.

The love of many growing cold?

Gotta be honest as I think about this one. And once you get honest, take a hard look at things around you, and the answer is yes. Are people more loving in your world, your sphere, your workplace, your neighborhood? Or less? We can put a check here.

The Good News will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it.

We all know that this is more possible now, and is happening at a far quicker rate than ever before since Jesus spoke these words, due to the great increase in knowledge which has led to the ability to share with such rapidity, even from a distance. Can’t put a check next to this one yet, since I don’t believe every nation has heard, but we’re getting there. (I used to ask people who would say they wanted Jesus to come again soon, I’d ask if they were giving toward missions that are translating the Bible into the world’s languages, going to the farthest reaches, using technology to reach the unreached…cuz that seemed like a way to put their money where their mouth was, ya know? Want Him to come sooner? Put some dollars toward the work Jesus said would happen, and do it joyfully. Just sayin’!)

 

I’m going to read verses 15-28 and I’d love for you to just listen as I read:

 

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]

So, will the Temple be rebuilt? Sure seems like it! This will be a truly terrible moment, when the tables turn and the one who seemed like he was going to take care of world peace and of the Jewish populace, demands to be worshiped himself and sets us the object of desecration in the Temple. The daily sacrifices will stop, and the time of the end of tribulation will be in high-gear. We know it’s that period Jesus is referring to when He says “there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began and it will never be so great again.” Unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. These will be very dark days. Now I am not going to hit on the rapture in this episode, but I will say this: I think the church should be ready to endure hard times, to endure to the end, whatever that end may be, to be committed to Jesus because He is so worth it. The rapture shouldn’t be a ticket out of here, it should be considered a glorious event and as long as we are still here, as His bride, as His church, let’s be willing to suffer for His sake. 

False messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, even if possible God’s chosen ones. Okay, so if you read Revelation you find false prophets doing the miraculous and it will lead to great deception. And in the Bible, when it uses the words “God’s chosen ones” it is usually, if not always and I really think it is always, talking about Israel, His chosen ones. Gentile believers are grafted in, we are the church, we are part of the bride of Christ, Israel is His chosen possession. 

And on that day when He returns, every eye will see Him and He will come like lightning flashes across the sky. This will not be a hidden event. It won’t happen in secret. So anybody saying it has already happened and you just don’t know about it is not being truthful. Jesus said it won’t be hidden, so it won’t be. 

As the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.

 

It’s safe to say the end is near. It’s biblical, even. We need to know the signs of the times so we can do the work with some sense of urgency. People matter. They matter to Jesus and so they ought to matter to those of us who follow Jesus. With no sense of urgency, we just get in a drift and go through life and we aren’t praying and seeking the lost and sharing on our social media and so on. It’s not urgent, and for Americans at least, then it ain’t gettin’ done. Let this be your reminder to apply some urgency to your praying for the lost. Invite that person to church or to Bible study. Who has God put on your heart? What has He put on your heart to do in regard to that person, or persons? Will you now do it? Please?

 

I’m going to finish this episode by reading verses 29-51, but first I want to mention that I have an upcoming online event to invite you to be part of. It’s the Summer 2023 Prayer Retreat. 7 prayer sessions, looking at what the Bible says about prayer and then actual time spent praying, content you can download and use in your own prayer time, and some bonus content. And I am following the Lord’s leading to make my offers super affordable, even to the point of being like dirt cheap. God said do it, and so I am just obeying. It’s $7, like cup of coffee $7 and you can access all the content forever. If you are interested, I’ll put a link. The event won’t be happening until later this summer (I have some stuff coming up first, so it will going live probably the third week of July, but you can get signed up anytime between now and then and I’ll mention it again in the coming weeks. And thanks in advance to everyone who is interested. Prayer changes lives, and I am a firm believer that one of those lives should be yours. And the lives of those for whom you pray. So I really hope you will join me for the Summer 2023 Prayer Retreat).

 

Now, here’s the rest of this chapter, Matthew 24:

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.

 

This has been a heavy episode, but so important. Let’s be about our Father’s work in this current day and age, and let’s not forget that He is indeed coming very soon.

Let’s live well while bearing all these things in mind.

 

Lord bless you, I’ll see ya next time and don’t forget, God’s promises are true for you today.

Bye bye. 

Hot Topics Series - The Promise of God’s Shaking - Episode 147

I’m so thankful you’re listening, and my prayer is that you will be blessed and encouraged and reminded that God’s promises are true, and they are true for you. He gives these promises out of the depths of His unending love for His people, and He keeps those promises in the same manner, from the very depths of His love. We cannot separate the God who loves us from the God who keeps His promises to us. They are both true and cannot be untrue, no, not ever. With that, let’s jump into today’s promise.

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You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 147.

Shaking.

 

This word could sum up so much of the last three years. If you’ve faced an illness, job loss, have parenting struggles, aging parents, financial concerns, the list is long… this word “shaking” can hit close to home. We’re shook, right? I’m shook. 

It’s uncomfortable and it is unnerving, and this is a very real reason for grabbing hold of God’s promises and refusing to let go. The God who made these promises to you is not going to leave you, forsake you, let you down, abandon you or let go of you. He is holding you tightly and you can trust Him. 

 

That’s what we’re looking at in this episode of TBNES.

 

There are a few verses we find in the book of Hebrews, which is located toward the end of the New Testament, that are going to kind of reframe this shaking issue that has been so real for so many of us. I do think it has hit us all in some manner. Here’s one example: I will order something that I’ve ordered over and over again for years and years, and I will be floored at how much it costs now. This is just one area that has such a broad impact on all of us, just one area. If we compile all the other areas where it’s been a long shaking season, it compiles into something that feels overwhelming.

 

Now the reason I mentioned the cost of just, well, anything and everything these days is because I don’t want someone to stop listening to this episode because they don’t think it applies to them. It really does apply to all of us. And I really don’t want you to miss what I’m going to share about shaking.

 

Because the promise of God’s shaking is too important for us to not know and understand, but also a promise we don’t always see as a good thing. But I think, based on the text we’re looking at today, God sees His shaking as very good, and I believe He wants us to see it that way as well. 

 

Hebrews chapter 12, verses 25 through 29 from the NLT:

Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai His voice shook the earth, but now He makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. 

Let’s do a quick recap of what came prior to these verses - God disciplines us as His sons, daughters, and it proves we are His children because He disciplines those He loves and punishes the one He accepts as His child. Heb. 12 vs 1-11 talk about this concept of God’s discipline being evidence of His love and of our sonship. 

 

Verse 12 says, “So take up a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.”

So when we are facing the discipline of the Lord, He wants us to toughen up, mark out that straight path. Nowhere does it say wallow in it, feel sorry for yourself, give up, sit down, pout. Nope. Take a new grip, it says, with your tired hands. God acknowledges you may well be very tired. But then He says to take those tired hands and adjust your grip. And the path you mark out, then and there with new grip in the midst of your own tiredness, ends up being a path so that those coming along after you who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

Can you see how the Lord is clearly telling you that what you do when you are disciplined and when you feel tired, weary, fatigued has a big impact on others? This is not exactly the American way…but it is Jesus’ way, so it must become our way.

 

Verses 14-24 tell us to do the work of living at peace with everyone, to work at living a holy life (for those who are not holy will not see the Lord…did you hear that? That seems important!) To look after one another so none of us fails to receive the grace of God (this is a big part of why I have this podcast and why I am starting another podcast, to do my little part in ensuring nobody within earshot fails to receive God’s grace.) And watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Ensure against immoral godlessness. And realize that you have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children whose names are written in heaven. There is no place else where it matters even a smidge for your name to be put down in permanent ink. When the roll is called up yonder, that’s where it matters that your name is put down. Life kicks us around and sometimes we need to be reminded that if our name is on heaven’s rolls, on the books up there, we can endure the kicking around as we await a far better day that is assuredly coming for us. You have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks of forgiveness.

 

That’s what comes first in Hebrews chapter 12. 

And then we land on our verses about the promise of God’s shaking.

After all those awesome, like inspiring awe in us, reminders, the author tells us that we are to be careful. 

When someone says to you, as an adult, to be careful, do your ears perk up? 

This isn’t like your childhood when you let the words “Y’all be careful out there, ya here?” roll off like water on a duck’s back.

As adults, we take those words more seriously because we’ve seen a thing or two, as the Farmer’s commercials say, and we know others have seen stuff too and their warning could save our hide. So, we listen. And our decisions and our behaviors are modified when we listen. 

 

What does verse 25 tell us to be careful of? That we do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. One is capitalized, and it refers to the Lord. Don’t refuse to listen when He speaks. His chosen people, the Israelites, did not get away with it when they refused to listen to Moses, an earthly messenger, a great man, a man more humble than any other, but a mere man nonetheless, they did not escape for refusing to listen to him. How much more will we, grafted in Gentile believers, not get away with refusing to listen to the Lord God Almighty? And it’s good to note here that when we shrug off God’s word, when we don’t apply it, believe it, adjust where He is telling us to adjust course, that is in His eyes the same as refusing to listen to Him. Thumbing our noses at God when He stoops down to speak with us. This is dangerous ground, and we have this stern warning so that we will know that, like the Israelites, the only solid ground beneath our feet is the Rock of Jesus, on Christ the solid Rock we must stand, or the ground could still open up beneath our very feet and swallow us whole. It’s a strong warning, but a good one.

 

Don’t reject, in any way, shape, or form, the One who speaks to us from heaven.

 

When God spoke from Mount Sinai, His voice shook the earth. And they were terrified! Covering their ears, crying out Moses to ask God to speak to him and he could pass it along to them because they did not think they could survive, like could not remain alive, if they continued to hear God’s voice. We don’t live in that kind of awe, reverence, astounded that this same God tore the veil so we could come directly into His presence as often as we choose to. We should be floored by this! Do we need a radical wake up call? Perhaps we do. Perhaps we need it so badly that without it we are in very dire straits. Or floating on the doldrums. Either image is frightening, and I want us to miss ZERO percent of what God intends for us to have in this life. One thing He wants for us, as made clear here in Hebrews 12, is to listen when He speaks. Pay attention. Listen well. Because verse 26 and 27 tell us that just as He shook the earth when he spoke at Mount Sinai, he makes this promise (this is the promise for today’s episode, so please check back in and listen up!) - Once again God will shake not only the earth, but the heavens also. A great shaking is coming, my friend. And in fact is already beginning. Does it seem like we are in a snowglobe and the hand shaking it just keeps on shaking and shaking? Like the girl in Finding Nemo, who wouldn’t stop shaking the bag, who shook her fish to death and yelled, “Fishy, why are you sleeping??” We’re in a season of shaking. God will do such shaking Himself, or at times allow the evil one to do the shaking, so that all that needs to be removed falls away. Good fruit remains, securely attached to the vine, who is Jesus. Fake fruit, bad fruit, and even so much of the junk that weighs us down and renders us ineffective for the Kingdom of our God, that stuff falls away in times of shaking. And you know, while it may be hard and seem kind of brutal in the midst of it, the end result is so good. When we step into eternity, we will never wish we’d hung on to the things that hindered us in our walk with Jesus. What will matter will be the Lord, and what won’t matter will be the things of this earth, which is destined to fire and will burn up, just as the Bible says. 

How can God’s shaking be bad when the end result, the promise, is so good? 

Verse 27 - This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.

 

Look, what we are dealing with these last few years is very intense in so many ways, in the physical realm and the spiritual realm. But it has a purpose when we view it through the lens of the Word of God. You are becoming unshakable. And only that which is unshakable will remain. Pain and struggle and difficulty become very different when we view them through this passage. What feels impossible to make it through becomes endurable, because God has given us the promise that on the other side of this shaking comes something far beyond our wildest hopes and dreams. In other words, it is worth it. Jesus is always worth it!

 

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. Verses 28 and 29 of Hebrews chapter 12.

 

Your God is a devouring fire. Would you prefer to endure this shaking now so that you can receive His unshakable Kingdom, or would you prefer to face the devouring fire that is our God? He cannot be less than He truly is, and He will not bend the knee to our whims and our fancies. He is who He is, and can be none other. He is an all-consuming, devouring fire. 

 

And He is your loving ABBA Father.

When we live knowing that the One watching over us, taking careful note of all that is happening in our lives, is that devouring fire, it brings so much comfort. How can you not fully trust a Father who will be for you a devouring fire? This is the promise of God’s shaking, and while not always comfortable, it is a beautiful promise all the same.

 

Let Him do His shaking, and expect to see amazing things as you receive His Kingdom, careful to listen when He speaks and remembering that His discipline is your proof that you are His child. 

 

I hope you can rest in the assurance of His love in ever increasing measure and trust even the longest, hardest, shakiest of days to Him, knowing that in His capable and strong hands, you are in the safest place you could possibly be.

 

Thanks for joining me for this Hot Topic podcast episode, and I’d like to share a few things about the 150th episode that is coming up very soon, in just a few weeks. My plan is to launch my new podcast, The Prayer Podcast, alongside the 150th episode of The Burt (Note Ernie) Show…which isn’t going anywhere, I’m still gonna keep talking about God’s promises here. The Prayer Podcast will have slightly shorter episodes and will focus on just one thing - you guessed it, prayer. And I will be praying over listeners regularly as well as sharing what the Bible tells us about prayer. 

And I’m also giving away some fun things - gift cards to your favorite coffee shop, an Amazon gift card, and a gift certificate to a small business run by a fellow Jesus lover, and some other prizes too. You’ll hear more about how to enter the giveaway soon, so stay tuned. Oh, and the prizes will be spread out among several winners, just wanted to clarify that not all the prizes go to one winner. Spreading it around and honestly, as many giveaway prizes as I can afford, that’s how many I’ll give away. Episode 150 is a milestone and I want to say THANKS for being part of this show the last few years.