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

The Promise of Maturity - Hot Topics Series - Ephesians 4 & Revelation 2 - Episode 146

Well, hey there! Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast, where we focus on getting the promises of God into the people of God, I.E. we move from knowing what God has promised in the Bible to living in a state of belief that what He has promised will prove true for us. I’m grateful you’re joining me for this episode and I’m excited to dive into another hot topic promise from the New Testament book of Ephesians. 

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You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 146.

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Hot topics. Oh, to be sure, the church has had to square up against a whole slew of them through the centuries. And it is not always fun. The conversations can be challenging at times, when culture and the Word of God clash so intensely. But the hot topics I’m addressing in this series are ones that believers may kind of struggle with, oftentimes without even realizing that struggle. In the last two episodes of the show, we’ve talked about power (and yes, living in light of the power of the Holy Spirit and the power promised to Jesus’ followers in the Bible can be hard to actually do, especially when we find ourselves looking at the state of the world and the heartbreak so many people are dealing with and all the difficult and varied aspects of life in a fallen world). It is a faith stretcher to really believe God’s promise to give us the power to live out the Christian life in a post-Christian world, but the Holy Spirit will not fail us and so, faith stretching or not, it is worth it to make the jump from so-so faith to all-in faith.

 

We have also touched on the hot topic of the promise of forgiveness. The difference between feeling like forgiving someone and deciding to forgive them. Forgiving because God has forgiven you, forgiving simply because He has told us we must forgive. Because if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven…so it says in Matthew 6:15. Yup, that’s why this is a hot topic!

 

And today we are taking a look at the hot topic, and the promise God gives us in His word, about maturity. 

 

I’m going to read to you some verses from the book of Ephesians, this book is a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus. And then I am going to share some words that Jesus gave to the church at Ephesus in the book of Revelation. You know, at this particular point in time, when so much is going on in our world, I wonder if I could safely say that anything I read out of Revelation would automatically qualify as a hot topic subject? Probably. But these words to these churches can also be applied to us, today, in our churches and in our individual walks with the Lord, so hot topic or not, we are going to hit on them, directly and head on and without any wavering or watering down of the Word of the Lord.

 

Ephesians 4:11-16 from the NLT

 

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. 

 

Ah, maturity.

The thing we so often emphasize to our teenagers. The thing we bemoan in regard to the “younger generation”. And something we don’t regularly apply to ourselves as disciples of Jesus. 

But, let me tell you, based on this text and the words I’ll share from Revelation in a few minutes, we by golly need to apply them to ourselves. Or we may just find ourselves in a whole bunch of trouble. 

 

God gave certain gifts to the church, and since they are His gifts to give to His church which bears His name and is known as the body of Christ, God’s Son, then I think we need to not negate those gifts and choose to live well in light of what He has given. And living well often means simply being thankful and not wanting something different than what we have. 

 

He gave us leadership. This is good to remember. Leadership is not always perfect, and there are for sure some spiritual leaders who are downright abusive and the Lord isn’t about that. Just as we see again and again in the Old Testament, He does not play around for all that long when the shepherds fail to do what He considers their duty. So let’s just get that out of the way from the get-go. I agree with the Lord and with His word, and that includes Him stating plainly that there is a higher degree of accountability and a very high expectation of caring for the flock, as He says in His word. I don’t condone abuse because God doesn’t. I’ve been under leadership that could care less if you were beat down to smithereens and would even kick you when you were down there because keeping you down can keep you in your place. I’ve know leaders who sin like mad and teach others how to sin more deceptively and never, ever repent, apologize, or move on to maturity. So I do understand the struggles some of you may be facing, or have faced. But God has never led me in those ways, His will was never for those things and far worse things to be happening. And He led me on to safer shepherding, if you will, and some of why I could hear and follow where He led was because I refused to turn away from Him when man was leading poorly in the church.

Leadership is from God. Keep that in mind, and keep trusting Jesus. I promise, He is with you and He will never leave you or forsake you.

Apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers - these are from the Lord and He gave them responsibilities. To equip His people to do His work and to build up the church, His body.

Leaders have tasks, responsibilities. Do you have enough bandwidth in your life for those in these positions and roles to actually equip you and build you up? If you don’t, that’s a mark of immaturity. And if you do, I promise you will mature more and more, week by week, year by year. And that is what God wants!  You to become a mature Christ follower. Immaturity is not of value in the Kingdom of our God.

 

So leadership bears the responsibility of equipping you, but for what? To do God’s work. God has things for you to do that fit in with His Kingdom agenda at this moment in time on His Kingdom calendar. In other words, you matter so incredibly much and your life, your time, matters, too. You are not leftovers, you are not sidelined. Your leaders are equipping you to do the things God has planned for you to be doing. So when you feel convicted or challenged or even encouraged by a message or an admonishment or something you hear in your small group, it may be part of God’s equipping so you can be about His doing. And to build up the church, which includes you. God wants you equipped but not without being built up. Isn’t that comforting to know? How you are doing, like really, how you are doing matters so much to the Lord that He has put leadership in place so that you will be doing well, built up, not torn down.

 

And this will continue until we are mature - now it uses these exact words… until we all come to such unity in our faith (not in our personal likes or dislikes, our hobbies, our meal preferences, what we do for our day to day work, where we live, no… unity in our faith. This isn’t one global amalgamated world wide religion kind of unity. Unity of our faith, our following hard after the Lord Jesus who died to give us true life and real freedom. Unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son. If you and I are not increasing and growing in our knowledge of God’s Son, we are moving in the wrong direction as His people. Are you growing? Every year, month, week, day you should be growing in your unity in the body and your knowledge of God’s Son. Do you know Jesus better than you did last year? Are you measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ? And if you happen to be in some area of church leadership, are you equipping and building up your people? 

 

Verse 14 comes next and it tells us that THEN we will no longer be immature like children.

No longer immature.

Are you ready for this kind of Christian living? 

Don’t answer too quickly, because you need to answer with utter honesty.

Are you ready for this kind of Christian living? There’s a reason this is on the hot topics list! Because it’s touchy and feels dicey and can take us out of our comfort zones and remove us from our ability t o exert control…but that control is only faux control, so really all it does is show us the truth.

 

We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.

Ahh, now we arrive at the promise that comes with maturity!

We will not be tossed and blown about.

How often have you felt that way? I’m thinking you could open TikTok, scroll your feed for a few minutes, and if your algorithm aims you toward content that is Christian in nature, then in those handful of minutes and thumb swipes, you can feel tossed and blown about by winds of new teaching. So this promise is a good one for us. We can apply it every day, and we need to not be blown around or tossed about. That’s exhausting! God wants us to have clarity, and He has given us the means to that end right here in this passage of Ephesians. 

 

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

Anybody need that? Look, there can be a fair amount of truth mixed in with the lies and we can get confuzled about which way is up, is this the best way to honor the Lord and love people well at the same time? In some arenas, there is zero confusion and it is easy as pie to know right from wrong. But there is deception at play in this world, satan used this tactic in the desert with Jesus when he quoted Scripture in just twisted enough ways to try and get the Son of God to do what he wanted rather than what the Father wanted. Do you think we get exempted from this stuff? We don’t. Satan is as Satan does, and what he does is take the Word of God and twist it just enough to try and trick us with clever lies. So,yes, this promise is one we need on the daily. And we can have it on the daily, provided we will grow in maturity.

 

Maturity matters. 

Probably far more than we realize.

 

Instead of being tricked or influenced by clever lies that sound like the truth, we will speak the truth in love.

This is key.

We won’t be influenced, but rather we will speak with influence. You don’t get to know God’s Son more and more, better and better, and dodge the bullet of clever deceptions and stay silent, say nothing, hide in a corner like a mouse. Nope. You are called in this passage to speak the truth in love. And it goes on, you will grow in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the Church. So, you get the promise as your own as you mature, find solid leadership to build you up and equip you, you are no longer tossed around and tricked with lies, and as you speak the truth in love you will grow more, in every way (not in a couple of ways but in every way) and will be more and more like Jesus (hello! Isn’t that the end goal? To know God’s Son and to be conformed to His image, literally becoming more and more like HIm? Yes, that is the goal, and it is a great life goal!) He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. Perfectly. He knows best where you will fit best, so as you yield to Him you will be led more and more by Him and will find your place where you fit perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

 

You will do your special work, in the way that only you can, and others are going to grow as a result. So the speaking the truth in love really is important. You are not called to hide away. You are called to speak the truth in love. The truth, not any old truth, not what feels right at the moment, but the truth (so you need to know what your Bible says or you won’t know what truth you are to be speaking) and to do it in love (not in hate, not in disgust, not in annoyance, not in self righteous piousness, not in a spirit of religion, but in love…sacrificial, generous, goes the second mile love). And then the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

 

And a healthy, growing, full of love church makes an impact on the people around it and the people within it. Isn’t that what we ought to want to take place? That’s what God wants to come to pass. Get on board with His program and see what He will do. Don’t ask Him to get on board with your program. No, take it from me, just skip that step and leave it in the trash bin where it belongs and get on board with what He is doing and what He wants to do next. And that’s all pretty well detailed in Ephesians 4:11-16.

 

And if you think it will be too hard or too outside your depth to speak the truth in love, and if you wonder how that will help you to grow in every way like Christ, bear in mind that what you teach most is what you know best.

Working on cars? You know it better than ever after you’ve taught it. The longer you teach, the better you know it. Teaching is just speaking the truth in love. When you don’t have an answer for something, you can commit to find the answer and then dig into the Word of God and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the wisdom that you need. He’ll lead you. And good church leadership will help you in this, too. You notice how per this portion of the Bible nobody gets off scot free? Everyone, leaders and laymen, pastors and parishioners, have a call to certain things? And will that call comes the assurance that there will be a day of reckoning, a day to give an account to the Lord. 

 

Okay, home stretch here…Revelation 2:1-7 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of  Him who holds the seven stars in His hands…I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place….Whoever has ears. Let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches….

 

Welp, that’s what Jesus said to the exact people whom Paul wrote the letter to…and what He says to us today.

 

He knows. Nothing is missed by Him. We cannot allow our hurts, even and especially our church hurts, to be a reason to just stop being His people. We can’t! We are not allowed to! Doing so is a luxury of sorts that we cannot afford. The price is too high. He will come and take away our lampstand. We won’t be His anymore. This is so serious, my friend! Whatever it takes, remain in the place of your first love. Love Jesus. Love Jesus. Love Jesus. And if you have turned away from your first love, do what the Lord says and consider how far you have fallen and repent. Do the things you did at first. If you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, then please hear. Harken to His call and respond. 

 

Get it? Got it? Good.

 

That’s the end of today’s episode and I’m so thankful you’ve joined me for this third installment of the Hot Topics series. It’s hard, but it’s good. I have a Bible study idea that I call The Good Hard, and that seems fitting for this episode of the podcast. And hey, we are getting close to the 150th episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, and I am planning a fun event / surprise / giveaway for that episode so details to come. 

 

I’d be so honored if you felt like sharing this episode with a friend or even with your pastor - it can be encouraging for those in Christian leadership to know that there are members of the church who are calling the body to live more like Jesus. Trust me, pastors need encouraging too. High five to the church leaders who are all in for Jesus and following the words of Paul in Ephesians chapter 4! 

Hot Topics Series - The Promise of Forgiveness Episode 145

Well, hey there and hello to you today. I hope that the month of May is already a month of blessings, a time when you experience the goodness of the Lord in a whole mess of ways, and that you are able to lean in and draw near to Him each day of this entire month right here at the start of the summer season. And I also hope this podcast, specifically this series on Hot Topics, can be part of your daily walk with the Lord. I’m so thankful you’re listening to the show today as we discuss the second topic in this series…the power of forgiveness. Let’s jump right in.

Jan's books on Amazon

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 145.

 

Connect with Jan here:

Instagram @JanLBurt

TikTok @JanLBurt

Facebook Jan L. Burt Author & Podcaster Page

Well, here we are again taking a hard look at the hard parts of life in this world, but doing so through the lens of God’s Word. 

 

His promises, they are for us and they for our good and they for His glory. Let’s treat them like we believe that. And handle them with care, if you will. Believing they are true, expecting results based on what God has stated in the Bible, and seeking His glory and honor, not our own. The servant is not greater than the Master, those are the words of Jesus, and they are words that help us when we struggle with forgiveness. I’m not talking about surface level forgiveness, where you paint with such a broad brush and have a “of course we all need grace and forgiveness” - while that is totally true, it can be hard to swallow on a personal level at times. So in total honesty, I will tell you that I have had to forgive and then forgive again and then a few more times the same exact person for one singular issue…because it was big. Bigger than me or my ability to just let it go, let it drift off into the vast sea of forgiveness…I needed help. God-sized help. I needed some promises about this hot topic. And I found them. And they did what God intended for them to do (as His Word always does, it never returns to Him void.)

 

There is an actual difference between forgiveness and the feeling of forgiveness. Feelings are so fickle, aren’t they? Sometimes our feelings are just basically useless. Nacho Libre quote coming at you: You are useless, Ignasio… Have you ever had a time when your feelings were so wrong, so off the mark, that by believing and accepting those feelings you ended up in a world of hurt? Like a whole mess came as a result of trusting in the soundness of your feelings. *Does it sound like maybe I’m speaking from personal experience? Cuz it should sound that way, since that would be the truth.

 

This is what makes forgiveness a hot topic, part of this podcast series. The vast difference that lies between Biblical forgiveness and the “feeling” of forgiveness. They are not the same thing. Sure, we know this. You already know this. And yet, we still struggle with the reality of it in our own lives, in those super hard places where we were so wronged, so damaged, used and abused, or our spouse or our kids or our bff or our parents or grandparents, our pastor…you know, people who mean so much to us, they were done wrong and man it can be a big hurdle for us to forgive what has been done to others by others. Cuz hey look, the horrors of the Holocaust were done to actual people by actual people…and a broad, sweeping, overarching decision to “forgive” the German War Machine is something, I suppose, but whatever that something would be it certainly is not forgiveness. We don’t need to forgive things. We are called by God’s Word to forgive people. And it can be so, so difficult. 

 

Now, what about when you have forgiven, like you really truly have, but then out of the seeming blue, this anger arises and oh what am I to do with these emotions, they are strong and powerful emotions, and I already forgave! Why is this reemerging? Well, there can be a ton of reasons why it’s cropping up again, and what I have found is that often we really did forgive. And then, God allows a layer of something that needs healing in us, for our own good and for His glory, to show up, to appear, and then, by choosing to forgive yet again, there is like some maturity and healing and growth that takes place. God uses it for our good, and for Kingdom purposes because it invariably leads us to have more compassion, more empathy, opens new doors to minister to people (which is really a beautiful way to point them to Jesus, the One who holds their eternal life in His hands). So sometimes, for sure, we have to forgive. And then, forgive the same person for the long-past offense or crime against us (you can phrase it any number of ways - the wrong thing done to us or to our loved one). It can feel like we took several steps backward when that feeling came up again and we had forgive again. But what if it is actually a path to several big leaps forward? Not baby steps forward, but giant leaps forward? Spoiler alert: that’s actually what is going on in our spiritual life, our spiritual development, when we forgive the same person for the same issue yet again. 

 

Forgiveness is a heart issue. But we don’t have to feel all warm and fuzzy in our “heart” in order to really extend forgiveness. We can feel just as upset after we genuinely forgive someone as we did the moment before we choose to forgive. Forgiving from our heart doesn’t mean we will “feel” some certain way; it means we choose some certain way. And that way is the way of Jesus, the One who died for us to receive forgiveness. If you struggle with the way you feel, don’t confuse that with having an unforgiving heart. Not necessarily the same thing. 

 

Forgiveness is a decision. And it isn’t a decision we should put off until we have a change of heart or feel like forgiving. 

 

Extend it today, because in light of the Bible verses I am about to share with you, it is a really bad decision to put off, even for one single solitary day. 

 

Ephesians 4:32 says in the ESV - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

God forgave you. So you also must forgive.

 

Mark 11:25, the very words of Jesus, from the ESV - And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Forgive who? Of what?

Anyone. Of anything.

And then what? 

Your Father who is in heaven will forgive you of your, in the plural, trespasses.

 

Matthew 6:15, more words in red, words Jesus Himself spoke, still referencing the ESV - But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

Well now, there is some bit to those words! Like, ouch. I feel that. And it is painful. Jesus says I must forgive, because if I don’t, I won’t be forgiven. Those are His words. And I am pretty sure He was serious when He spoke them, and is equally serious about forgiveness today. 

We have to do it, this act, this decision, of forgiving. We have to. We must. Because our Lord, our Master, our King, says so.

 

Matthew 26:28 - For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus speaking (from the ESV).

 

Think about that. How can we not make the decision to forgive when this is what it cost our beloved Savior? If we love Him, it should not be easy for us to refuse to forgive. Hopefully, as we grow up to more and more maturity in the Lord, we will be more and more unable to extend forgiveness, and quickly!

 

Luke 23:34, spoken by Jesus while He was on the cross - And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

 

Oh, this just wrecks me. How dare I not forgive? Oh Lord, make me quick to forgive! When I don’t think I can do it, may Your Spirit move and enable me to! To only forgive, to always forgive. I need to live my life like that. 

 

Matthew 6:12, from the Lord’s prayer - And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

Jesus was teaching His followers how to pray (not a by rote, verbatim, able to spew it out each day from memory while scrolling Instagram or running through my to-do list, not even engaging as I pray… how to pray, not what exact words to say, cuz I’m not sure that by rote not even clued in stuff can really be called praying…) And so, as He was teaching them how to pray, this was part of that “how”. 

Forgive. Just like you’ve been forgiven. Remembering to be grateful to God for the gift of forgiveness makes the act of forgiving so much easier. I have no right to hold a grudge, to refuse to forgive. I’ve been forgiven of so, so much. And I need to make the choice to forgive a part of my prayer life. Did you catch that? Lord, how should we pray? Teach us to pray! 

Pray like this: forgive us, as we have also forgiven.

 

When forgiving is part of our praying, believe me you, things change as to how much sway our little old feelings have over us. It reframes things, and it refocuses things.

 

I have two more verses to share, both from the New Testament, and I chose them intentionally, because I think it is really a big deal to know what the early church was instructed to do about a certain topic and then for us, the modern church, to do what the book says. 

 

Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV) - Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Some versions say seventy times seven. And I have read that the implication was one person sinning against one other person this many times in a single day…the new round of forgiveness would start again the next day. (And for the Jewish people, each day begins as the sun sets, so each evening would be time to let out that deep sign and begin forgiving again…as in, you literally would not allow the sun to go down on your anger since the new day was beginning as the sun was setting.)

 

Colossians 3?13 - Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

 

It’s not my intention to push you around with the Bible, to shame you (because shame is a tool and tactic of the enemy, and God does not want His people to use satan’s means to try and accomplish His will, so there is no guilt or shame in this message today.)  

I just want you to hear the Word of God on this very hot topic, and to know that you don’t have to feel like forgiving in order to actually forgive. It’s just a decision, it is a simple but important act of obedience to what our Lord has told us we must do. And we must forgive, or we will not be forgiven.

 

Oh yeah, this is for sure a hot topic.

But what promise for us, what hope for us, when we live forgiving others. We cannot even begin to imagine how the Lord will use the life of one of His followers who is so all-in when it comes to forgiving that they don’t know how not to forgive. What might He do with such a life?

You could be that one.

 

Don’t wait another day, another hour, if you know you need to do some forgiving. Do it now, make the decision, and watch God be honored and blessed and bless you in return, because He is such a generous and loving God. 

 

Thanks for joining me today for Part Two of the Hot Topics series.

Episode 144 - Hot Topics Series - The Promise of Power

Hey there and hello to ya today. So glad you are listening to the podcast and hey, I am kicking off a new series on the show called “Hot Topics”. Not exactly the kind of things we might consider hot topics, per se, but some promises we find in the Bible that seem a little bit hard to believe in our very own personal lives. But these are promises God has given us in His Word, hard to believe or not. And I am excited to dig in and stretch our faith as we choose to believe that these promises are true for God’s people. 

Jan's books on Amazon

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 144.

Connect with Jan here:

Instagram @JanLBurt

TikTok @JanLBurt

Facebook Jan L. Burt Author & Podcaster Page

Hot topics. 

 

I have to admit, I am feeling a bit hesitant about this… I mean, it feels awfully big to address the proverbial elephant in the room, right? And in the room of Jesus followers, well, I guess it feels sort of extra big.

 

The first hot topic promise we will look at is the promise of power.

 

Now, the reason this is a hot topic is simply because so many of us do not live with much, if any, power from the Lord in our lives. If we’re honest, we can admit that, right? But can we fairly lay the blame for our semi-powerless Christian lives at the Lord’s feet? Or should we say, with a lot of transparency and honesty, that the devil is really good at duping us into thinking either A) we are living in the power Jesus promised us or B) we don’t know what that ought to look like in our daily life, so we don’t pray and ask for it or C) it never really comes to mind at all. 

 

Let me read you a verse from the book of Acts, chapter one, verse 8. The Amplified says, “But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses (to tell people about Me) both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”

 

These are words in red, the very words of Jesus, spoken after His death, burial and resurrection, before He ascended to heaven. He said this, and I expect that He meant exactly what He said.

He didn’t misspeak. 

That’s just not a possibility with the Lord.

So we know what Jesus said, and we know He meant it, so what comes next? For us to live in a state of belief that this is a promise for us and He will keep this promise to us, in us, through us. 

 

Now, you do need to know Jesus as Lord and Savior for this promise to be your promise. And I think when you yield your life to Him, when you repent and receive His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life with Him, and then obey Him, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. That’s pretty Biblical. In the book of Acts, after Jesus ascended to the Father, the disciples and other believers, men and women, gathered in the upper room and when they were there, praying, and waiting for the Holy Spirit (which is what Jesus told them to do) then the Spirit came in like a rushing wind and they had flames of fire, tongues of fire on their heads, and they all received the Holy Spirit. In other places in Acts, we see the apostles praying that new believers would receive the Holy Spirit. I think you can for sure go to your pastor and have him pray for you to receive the Holy Spirit, and I don’t see in my Bible how that would be wrong. It’s the way the first century church did things, ya know? 

 

Because the promise is that we will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. Now you may be thinking this was only for that select group of people at that time, and I want to share a verse from John, chapter 14, verse 16. And I’ll stick with the Amplified to read this for the sake of continuity. It says, and these are the very words of Jesus and in this portion of Scripture He had a lot to say, John 14, 15, 16, to His disciples but also to all who would believe on His name later on (that’s you and me, right). So John 14:16 says: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor - Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) to be with you forever.”

 

It’s always a good thing to prove the Bible by the Bible, if you would. When you find verses that explain other portions of the Word of God, that’s proving the Bible by the Bible. And that is what John 14:16 does with Acts 1:8. Jesus has asked the Father to give you the Helper, the Holy Spirit. And I don’t think you are the exception, the only child of God who gets left out. That’s really not how our God works, thankfully!

 

This really is your promise. And we really do want to kind of maximize this one in our lives. I mean, think about who will benefit once the people of God are all living in a state of Holy Spirit power. Your family. Your local church, and the global church. Your neighbors, your coworkers, your extended family, your community, your city and state, the nation, the world. This impacts so many people. Your circumstances, well, how can they get the best of you when you are living in those circumstances filled with the power of the Holy Spirit? The same power that raised Jesus from the grave dwells in you. (That’s straight from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, Ephesians 1:19-20). The same power that raised Jesus from the grave now dwells in you. There’s a hot topic promise from the Bible, to be sure!

 

I mean, how do you like them apples?

That’s the power Jesus was talking about in Acts 1:8. Dead man raised up out of the grave power. There is no other comparable power in the world, in the universe. 

It’s His intention, and that should make it our expectation.

I should live expecting that what the Lord has promised is going to be my reality. 

 

Now it’s a hot topic, for sure.

But maybe that’s mostly due to the fact that we just don’t live in His power, for the most part. 

Honestly, we are sort of lulled to sleep in a spiritual sense by the norms and stresses and distractions of our lives and of the times in which we live.

It’s almost automatic to be lulled, am I right? Don’t have to work at it, just sort of drift into a lull. Keep scrolling. Keep flipping through channels. Keep working on the next project, working toward the next goal in life… all these things can lull us to sleep spiritually. And when that happens, we give little thought to the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

 

And that seems like a win for the enemy, that dirty dog the devil.

I don’t know about you, but I am so sick and tired of the devil getting W’s. I would love it if he had no further marks in the Win column. When we live in the power and ability, as the Amplified says, of the Holy Spirit, all we do is win and all those tallies for the devil end up in the L column, all losses for the evil one. 

 

For that to be true, you and I have got to get back in the game. Not bystanders, not spectators, but victors through Christ Jesus. More than conquerors in Christ. We’ve got big promises! Let’s start living them out. You know, in the Old Testament when the Israelites finally were ready to cross the Jordan River after forty long years of wandering in the desert, those men who were assigned to carry God’s Ark of the Covenant had to put their feet into the Jordan River, albeit at flood stage, so like think of a river overflowing its banks, and when they did that, out of obedience to the Lord, then the water stopped flowing and the Bible says it heaped up in a pile all the way back to a town called Adam. They had to get their feet wet, and then the promised miracle happened. Sometimes we haven’t gotten our feet wet. We’re angry at God for not moving us forward, for not keeping His promises, but our car is in the garage, in park, keys out of the ignition, doors locked, garage door down, and we’re inside the house. Is that a driveable car? You already know this saying, “God doesn’t drive parked cars.” Well, it can sure be true, can’t it? You may have to get your feet wet, get back in the game, He may be calling you to step out in faith. If He is, then just obey Him. And see what He will do next. 

 

He wants to keep every single promise, you cannot convince me otherwise. And He also is bringing us to a place of maturity, making us more like His Son, Jesus. That’s sanctification. You don’t want your children to be thirty-five and acting like they are two. Neither does God, our good Father. Step out in faith if that is what He is asking you to do. And know that the promise He has made here in Acts chapter one, verse eight, is going to prove true. Believe it. 

 

Expect to have power and ability in your life. Be a witness for the Lord, be part of the reach Jesus talked about here, even to the ends of the earth. Be part of that! The power isn’t about us, really. It’s about honoring our God, bringing Him glory, and reaching people for Him because He loves them. John 3:16, for God so loved. So loved! You know the verse as well as I do. Let’s love well and we do that when we love others, not when we love ourselves. (Can I say that again, because it kind of matters quite a lot…)

 

Acts 17 verse 6  in the ESV says: And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also..”

 

Okay, so obviously I shared a verse sort of like jumping in right in the middle of a movie, at a super critical and exciting part. So these believers had been making some waves (and anybody who ever makes a real difference in this world, maybe especially a good kind of difference, makes waves - that’s just the reality, the wave makers are the change agents, that’s just the way it is). They had made an impact, influenced some people, disrupted the status quo (the status quo has changed, son… that’s my movie quote for this episode…bonus points if you know what movie that is from…) These men have turned the world upside down.

 

There are far worse things that could be said about us. 

I’d be honored to turn my little corner of the world upside down for Jesus’ name and for the Kingdom of our God.

 

But we cannot do that in our own might (which is basically nill). We need the power that comes from the Holy Spirit, and then we can do great exploits for our King. 

 

This promise is for you today. And I hope that you can walk in the fullness of the power the Holy Spirit wants to pour out into your life and see people’s lives changed and God glorified. My prayer for you today is that you will receive power and ability from the Spirit of the Living God who indwells you, and that you will put the key of your life into the ignition, turn it over and ask, “Where we going today, Lord? Cuz I’m all in.”

 

Lord bless you today, and if this episode has encouraged you, I’d love for you to share it.

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Episode 143 - The Promise of Hebrews 6:18 - It Is Impossible for God to Lie

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Hello to ya today, welcome back to the podcast (and if you’re new to the show, can I just say how excited I am that you’re listening today?). You know, talking about the promises God has given us in the Bible is a privilege that I am highly aware of and so grateful for. And today, we are looking at a promise found in the book of Hebrews that will encourage us and bless us in so many ways. Ready to talk about? Let’s jump right in.

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 143.

Hebrews 6:13-20 NLT

13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

14 

“I will certainly bless you,
    and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”[c]

15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

 

Chapter 7, verse 25 -

25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save[e] those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

 

These are incredible verses of encouragement for us!

 

Here we are, followers of Jesus in 2023, who can bank on the fact that these words are true for us. They are for us, and they show us that our God is for us.

It’s really easy to lose that truth, isn’t it? Sure, this is great stuff, but my life doesn’t seem so great right now and anyway, maybe this just isn’t meant for me, doesn’t apply to me.

Look, if it is for freedom that Jesus set you free, and it is according to the book of Galatians, then these verses are for you and they are not for down the road, later on, to give you hope that is far out there somewhere, but leave you hopeless in the here and now. That sounds like a ploy the devil, our sworn mortal enemy if you will, would use. Oh, sure, give ‘em some hope, but extend it out into the future, into a vastness… If we get on that path and stay on that path, eventually we will walk that path directly into a pit of discouragement. The Lord wants to encourage you now, as in RIGHT NOW. And when the future gets here, when later on become right now, He will encourage you again. But you don’t need to wait around until the time comes when God’s promises and His encouragement will be for you. This is for you, and it is for now, today, this very moment. 

 

Do you think Abraham had any encouragement and blessing from walking as closely with the Lord as he did? Or do you think he only had despair as he awaited the fulfillment of God’s promise? Do you think we can learn anything from the life and the attitude of Abraham? Of course we can! Abraham waited patiently, and then he received what God had promised.

Good counsel, solid advice. If God has made you a specific promise and it hasn’t happened YET, keep waiting with patience, with expectancy, growing in your belief that what He said is what will be, and as you wait, keep loving the Lord with passion and fervency. When the promise is fulfilled, will it be sweet or will it be bittersweet? One of those is a better choice, by far. 

 

It goes on to talk about binding oaths. Look, people used to take it really seriously when they used the words, “I swear!” And Jesus took those words so seriously that He said we should not swear by or on anything or anyone, but let our yes be yes and our no be no. Oaths must be serious then, right?

God bound HImself with this oath. 

Think about that for a moment.

He bound Himself.

So that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change His mind. Can you even? 

Like, why do we ever give ourselves permission to feed our doubts? To fuel our own fears? To wonder and then to wander? When The God who bound Himself with an oath did so in order that we could be perfectly sure He will never, ever change His mind.

A promise made is a promise kept with our God.

That’s who my God is. This God of the Bible, He has never broken a promise. 

Vs 18 says God has given His promise and His oath.

These two things are unchangeable. It is impossible for God to lie.

 

Okay, so I guess if I had to get down to the heart of this episode, the one handful of words that I want to stick with you like glue, it’s this right here.

It. Is. Impossible. For. God. To. Lie.

 

Ain’t gonna happen, my friend. Ain’t gonna happen to you because it isn’t possible. Zero percent probability. 

It is impossible for your God to lie to you.

Can I be more direct somehow? More blunt? More frank with you? 

In the military, they say, “Permission to speak freely, sir.” and the reply is usually, “Permission granted.”

I’m speaking freely to you, and doing so with the permission granted by Hebrews 6:18

 

This is the truth. My question is, is this your personal truth?

How are you doing at living as if this is true for you? This promise that it is impossible for God to lie? How are things in that department of your life?

Listen up, buttercup; this promise is reality whether or not you believe it. It’s true, so why not just accept that and move forward knowing it as a fact? 

Isn’t believing this a big, big part of receiving and living in God’s love? His very personal, completely unending love for you?

 

Let me read all of verse 18 once more:  So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

 

Have you fled to Him for refuge? If you know Jesus, you have given your life to Him, received His payment for your sins, then you have indeed fled to Him for refuge. (And important to note here, if you have done that but have not yet been baptized, don’t wait. We have two sacraments, those are communion and baptism. Go ahead and get baptized as soon as possible if you have yet to do so.) 

So those who have fled to the Lord for refuge can, and should, have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

Look, not everything has come to pass yet, right? So hold on! Keep holding on! Do not let go! And have great confidence because you aren’t holding on to thin air, to anything this world offers, to yourself or to your pastor or spouse or parents. You are holding on to hope, and that hope actually has a name. Jesus. 

 

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

Strong and trustworthy. Not weak and unworthy of our trust. Do we act like this is true? Boy, we sure ought to. Nothing weak about our God. Nothing untrustworthy about Jesus. And it leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. (Talk about this briefly.) Here is what verse 20 says: 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Sometimes I really do think we forget how blessed we are, how good we have it, what has been given to us by Jesus. These verses help me remember what I am far too inclined to forget in the day-to-day. 

Now we jump to the next part of the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25.

25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save[e] those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

 

Huge, huge promise here. He, Jesus, is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him.

And He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

Did you catch that? Like, did that hit you upside the head and sort of rattle your cage and startle you? It should! Every time we read or hear this verse we should be startled! 

He’s got you. And He lives to intercede for you.

He is taking you before the throne of the Father today and interceding for you. 

Is that not great news? A great reminder that you never, ever walk alone through the things in this life, not one single thing and not for one single moment? 

 

He cannot lie to you. That would be impossible. And He always intercedes for you. Which makes all things possible. 

Once more for the folks in the back.

Hebrews teaches us that God cannot lie to you - that would be impossible.

And Jesus always intercedes for you - which makes all things possible.

Today, I want to encourage you to lean the full weight of your life, all the ups and downs and ins and outs of it, onto these verses. They are yours, my friend. And they are yours right now, today, in this very hour.

Thanks so much for listening today. I’d love to connect with you and you can find me via the social medias at the links at the top of the show notes for this episode. And to all who shared the last several episodes, thank you so much. Getting the Word of God spread as far and wide as possible is the goal, and I am very blessed to be a small part of what the Lord is doing in this world. See you next time and Lord bless you today!

Episode 142 Psalm 23 & Resurrection Hope

The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises Devotional on Amazon

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Well, hey there. Welcome to this week’s podcast episode. I’m the host of the show, Jan L. Burt, and I am thankful you’re taking the time to listen to episode 142. It is early April of 2023 as I record this episode, and we are in the midst of Easter week. And the Lord impressed Psalm 23 on my heart for this week’s show. I’m excited to jump in and talk about this well-known psalm and how it can bring us hope as we look toward Resurrection Sunday.

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 142.

So for this episode, I’m going to read verses from Psalm 23, probably going to stick with the Amplified Bible today, and also talk about Jesus and the Resurrection and the hope we have. Hope that did not exist beforehand. You know, hope is kind of like gold in that it is valuable in a special kind of way. Like wedding bands, those have a special value, different than other jewelry. Hope springs eternal, that’s how the saying goes. And when it is hope based in Jesus, that’s the truth. Eternity is placed in the hearts of mankind by God as one of the many means He uses to draw us to Himself. He does not want anybody to perish, to spend eternity apart from Him (and apart from God, well, that means eternity in hell. Hell is a real place, sorry if you were taught differently, but the Bible makes it perfectly clear that hell is real and seriously, I am going to take the authority of the one who died for me over any other so-called authority. The founders, leaders, gods of other religions did not go from God to a baby to a man who was crucified, who went willingly to the cross, and rose again. Christianity is different in that regard, not like any other religious system that has ever been. And so, yes, I do believe that hell is real and has been prepared for satan and his demons and those who do not yield their life to Jesus don’t get heaven.) 

 

Hope. It is critical for the disciple of Jesus. We need it, and He provides it. 

 

Verse one - The LORD is my Shepherd (to feed, to guide and to shield me), I shall not want.

 

1.  

There’s that powerful present-tense verb! Not was, not will be at some point later on, but is, right now, currently.

 

The Lord is my Shepherd. He guides us. Isn’t that great news, hopeful news? Did Jesus stop guiding us after the Ascension? No! He is guiding us right now, and He is a very good, very trustworthy Shepherd. If you need guidance, He has it for you. That’s the first thing I notice when I read this psalm and think of Easter. I have guidance now, and I didn’t have that before Jesus saved me. Whenever I need it, I have it. Boy, that’s awfully good news! 

 

And the Lord feeds us, His sheep, as He is our Shepherd. What areas of your life seem hungry or even starved? You’ve heard of attention starved children, right? Do you feel attention starved? Are you starving or even just slightly hungered in any part of your life right now? The Resurrected Jesus is the One who can feed you. You are not going to lack, you shall not want. I know that seems like too big of a promise for God to keep. We can all evaluate the state of the world, personal experiences, people who did not seem to be taken care of and we can use all those things as our legit reasons to just decide not to believe passages like this one. 

But to what end? My New Testament says that he, or she, who endures to the end will be saved. Not she who punches out when it gets challenging to believe all the things the Bible promises. Pray on those things that try to trip you up, talk to God about those exact areas where you are tempted to doubt Him, let Him comfort you, speak to you on that issue, encourage you as in give you courage that you need to keep on believing even when it seems impossible, and then move forward with the Lord. That’s enduring. And that is a very different thing than many of us do when we bump up against doubts. When we work harder at enduring in our jobs than we do in our, say, marriages, our parenting, our friendships, and our walk with the Lord, that’s an indictment. Every one of us has heard that word indictment a bazillion times the last couple of weeks, and the reason is it’s a serious thing to be indicted. So, we don’t need the indictment on our own lives of working harder at enduring in our work or to run a marathon or our hobbies or or or than we do in our enduring with the Lord. One is vastly more critical than all the others combined. 

 

He said he would feed you. Ask Him to, and be specific. I need this many dollars to pay the car insurance this month. Believe He will keep His word to you. And keep on loving Him, serving Him, enjoying being a child of God while you wait with expectation for Him to do the feeding. Won’t He do it? 

 

And to shield you, to shield me. When you need some protection, some extra covering, He is the One who can take care of you by shielding you. He isn't saying He will send a shield to you but that He will shield you. I love that. He is close to you, right there with you in those hard times. The phone rings, you see the number, the stress starts to increase and guess what? He is there with you, in that moment, and He will guide you, shield you, feed you. And without the Cross, without Easter, you and I do not have hope for this promise. Easter changed everything, and shouldn’t it also keep changing things for us day after day after day until we finally see our Savior face to face? 

 

End of verse 1 says I shall not want.

Believe this to be true, and true for you. God does not want you living in a state of want, feeling alone and maybe even something like an orphan. He wants you to not want, because He is taking care of you continually. He won’t miss some critical thing and say OOPS, my bad. That would be ridiculous. So don’t live your life as if the ridiculous were reality. It isn’t, it never will be. You shall not want. Because God says to. And because Jesus rose from the dead to finalize all of this, for eternity. 

 

Verse 2 - He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.

Sometimes, some days, we need rest. We need to take it easy. And guess what? Sometimes we don’t want to. We want Him to re-energize us to keep doing more, keep pushing forward, keep on keeping on. But what if it is time to rest, to be led by the still and quiet waters for a while? What if that is the season He has for you right now? It’s easy to be so used to being busy that we feel “off” when we slow way down, but when God says this is that time for you, may it be unto you as He desires it to be. There is a time for every season under heaven, and one of those times will be green pastures and quiet waters. Peaceful. 

Easter is the ultimate promise of peace, the ultimate peace accord, the only one that will last and stand the test of time. Be at peace this Easter, because Jesus died to give you that peace.

 

Verse 3 - He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

 

Whenever I run into the wall and I’m just done, and I need some restoring refreshing, well, I can actually have it. God isn’t offering it and then saying nah nah nah nah boo boo, you can’t catch me, you can’t have this. It’s ours! And it is continually, you won’t use it up if you have a need and then another one real soon. Life is hard. The Lord knows that. And so He has made provision. This is that provision. He will restore and refresh, and Easter reminds us of that perhaps more than any other time of the entire year, doesn’t it? 

And He leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

When you and I bear His name, He doesn’t forget that. He does things for His name’s sake. How much less would His name be misused, even defiled, if we really bore this in mind? He leads, so I need to follow that path of righteousness He is leading me on. Cuz it’s about His name, not mine. Would it be better for us if we thought about that more often? Do the right thing, go the way He leads, for His name’s sake? You bear His name as a Christian. Why not pause and reflect on that this Easter? Look what He did for you, for me, can we not follow where He leads and realize when we don’t follow, when we choose not to walk in paths of righteousness, we don’t represent our God properly? We slander His name? Let Him refresh you and restore you this Resurrection Sunday. And also, let Him lead you. Where He leads, will you follow?

 

Verse 4 - Even though I walk through the (sunless) valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod (to protect) and Your staff (to guide), they comfort and console me.

 

Jesus faced death on our behalf, and then He dealt death a final death blow. 

When you walk through those sunless places, remember how He defeated death for you. When evil seems scary, don’t give in to even a smidgen of fear because Jesus secured the victory at Calvary. He is with you, literally the Spirit of the Living God dwells within you, and so, you need not fear. 

He has His rod to protect you, let Him fight off your enemies and foes, and His staff will guide you, so when you feel that nudge, that tap of His staff to get you back on track, don’t get annoyed or feelings hurt or any of that. Instead, be grateful that you get to experience your Good Shepherd's love and care and attention to all the details in your life and allow these to comfort and console you. It’s a blessing to be bumped and reoriented by the staff of our Risen King. Not everyone has this blessing. Rejoice in it. Thank Him for it. It’s a tremendous gift that Easter ensures for us.

 

Verse 5 - You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 

 

Sometimes, right in the middle of the mess, He is going to have you sit down to a feast. A well prepared meal, a well set table, in the presence of your enemies. Sometimes God shows up, shows off, and shows out by feeding us right where they can see it all. Let Him do what He will, when He chooses. Let Him handle things and often, the way He handles them will be very surprising for you and for your enemies. And don’t try to pretend you don’t have any enemies. You do. If not, then beware when all men speak well of you. Jesus said those words. If you are living for Jesus, you will have enemies. Let the Shepherd handle things. Let Him set that table for you to feast in their presence. Let Him.

 

And when He anoints your head with oil, when He refreshes you, when you are filled up to the tippy top and have a renewed vigor and sense of purpose, thank Him, then do as He leads. 

 

Your cup will overflow. Easter is the perfect time to get blessed with an overflowing cup.

 

Verses 6 - Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell forever in the house and in the presence of the LORD.

 

This is the big one, the kicker, the finale of the 23rd Psalm

 

Surely.

Not maybe, not ifs here. Surely.

Goodness and mercy and unfailing shall (that means will!) follow you all the days of your life. All of them. 

 

Celebrate this promise this Easter. 

Then, you will be living in His presence all your days and will just one day move into His presence in eternity and will dwell in the house and presence of your Lord forever.

 

That’s Easter, my friend. Rising from the dead makes this your reality, now and forever. 

 

Lord, may we stay near to You and depend on You and believe You for Your every promise. Your goodness toward us knows no bounds, and this Easter we celebrate You and You alone. Until we are blessed to be with you eternally, we will praise Your name and live for You in this life. May we be an example of Your love to a watching and hurting world, and may Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

Thank You, Jesus, for giving Your life and shedding Your blood so we could live forgiven and free. We glorify You this Resurrection Sunday.

Amen

 

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope to see you back here next time.

If this episode encouraged you, I’d love for you to share it. See you next time!

Keeping Oil in Your Lamp - Matthew 25 Episode 141

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Well hello there, welcome to this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. This week I’m going to share from a passage in the New Testament, from the book of Matthew, and it is one of the parables that Jesus taught. There’s a lot of hope in this parable, and we need that, wouldn’t you say? We need faith, we need hope, we need love, because these three will remain, as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If we apply what Jesus taught in Matthew 25:1-13, I think our faith and our hope will grow, and our love will also increase. Triple threat, coming at ya from the Word of God today. Let’s check it out.

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 141.

So, let me start off by mentioning that Matthew 24, which is one chapter prior to the text I’m referencing today, in that chapter Jesus was sharing about the future. He spoke on the last days, mentioned the book of Daniel, and His return, what we often refer to as His Second Coming. And at the close of chapter 24, the Lord explained pretty clearly what His servants, faithful servants as He put it, ought to be like. A faithful, sensible servant is one the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If he returns and finds that the servants, his servants, not those who serve themselves but those who serve the master, if he finds they’ve done a good job, there will be a reward. But if they have not done what the master finds to be a good job (so, it doesn’t say to do what you or I as His servants consider to be a good job, but to do what He considers a good job…) he will return unannounced and unexpected, 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.

 

See Matthew 24, verses 45-51 if you’d like to read it for yourself. It’s brutal in its honesty, but isn’t that what a good, loving God does? Tells the truth, in its brutal entirety, to those He loves so that they can know exactly what He expects and what the end results will be, for obedience or disobedience? Yeah, it can be hard to read text like this, but it’s a loving reminder of the absolute truth given to us by a loving God who does not want to catch us unawares. 

 

That is the text that comes just prior to the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, or the Ten Virgins (depending on which translation you are reading from). 

 

In the NLT, it says:

 

Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight they were roused by the shout, “Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!” All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, “Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.” But the others replied, “We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.” But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, “Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!” But he called back, “Believe me, I don’t know you!” So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.

 

Reading this directly on the heels of Jesus speaking about the master and the servants and the rewards and punishments that will come at that time opens our eyes to how seriously Jesus wanted the listeners to take this, and us as the readers of the Bible to take it. 

 

We should take it seriously because it is serious.

And today is the day to step up and get real about the fact that Jesus said a lot, quite a lot, about His return. If He talked about it a lot, we should pay attention to it a lot. 

 

Think of it this way: the entire book of Revelation, which is by the way the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to the reader so that’s pretty substantial, but the entire book of Revelation is 22 chapters of loads of prophecy. It’s a book about Jesus, right? Don’t let the scary parts scare you - because Jesus said in regard to the last days, end times things, not to be afraid. Luke 21, He says that exact thing. When you see these things happening, don’t be fearful. So I really hope you and I can trust Him so much that we will do as He said, and choose not to give way to fear. And it is a choice. If Jesus said not to be afraid, we don’t HAVE to be fearful. 

 

In the parable I just read, there is a depiction of a Jewish wedding. Israeli weddings paint a picture of Jesus and His return. They really do. (Share a few details here) 

Isn’t it incredible that thousands of years before He returns the Lord set up this type of wedding and it accurately portrays what His return will be like? 

The Bible is always, always pointing to one thing, to One Man, Jesus. It’s Jesus, Jesus, Jesus from start to finish. And the ten bridesmaids, who were they waiting for? The groom. Who is the groom? If we are the Bride of Christ, then Christ is the groom. 

 

We are waiting for our Groom’s arrival, and like a Jewish wedding, it will come with trumpets sounding. 

 

When the parable mentions the bridesmaids falling asleep, because the hour grew late, that’s convicting, isn’t it? These ten were not five who know the Lord and five who don’t. Nope. Not five who go to church a few times a year, the Christmas and Easter services. Nope. These would be the ones who were paying enough attention to know the groom was on His way. All of them, all ten. 

 

So let’s consider that for a moment. How are you and I doing at recognizing the signs of the times and paying attention to the current season we are in? Are we aware enough to grab our lamps and expectantly wait for what is coming? Or do we even know where we are on the Kingdom calendar? 

 

We have to start there. If we totally miss the season we are in, thinking things will go back to normal, not much is going on right now, sure there are some things happening but you know, mostly it’s all okay, still got a whole lot of time left…well, I want to say that in the spring of 2023, even a modicum of head in the sand thinking can be deceptive and dangerous. Based on this parable, like deadly dangerous. 

 

In this era of history, it is important to keep our eyes on Israel. What’s going on over there? You know, in the age of the Gentile church, when those of us who are not Jewish, have the opportunity to come to salvation through the Messiah, Jesus, we have had a long stretch where we haven’t kept our eyes on Israel. But when I read the Bible, in later days, things shift back to Israel. We want to be watching so we notice even the tiniest of shifts, and then we won’t be taken by surprise when things ramp up. You have to look, because our news sources don’t always talk about Israel. Right now, a lot is happening in Israel. Really interesting stuff, and it all lines up with the Word of God. 

 

Important to pay attention to what is happening in Israel, in Palestine, in Iran, in Syria, etc. What’s up with their government currently? Got some heavy duty protesting going on right now. Key members of government resigning. Some working to pass laws that would end up with prison time for those who share Christianity with the Jewish populace. Red heifers that are being moved to Shiloh and are about two years old now. Important stuff that has to do with what Jesus said would take place right up close to the time of His return.

 

Caveat: I know He said no man, or woman, knows the hour or the day of His return. And that is unarguably true. 

I wonder, though, if there are people who maybe reference that one verse and leave out everything else that Jesus said about knowing the signs of the times as His return draws near. He had some strong words for those who could read the sky and know the next day’s weather but had no clue about the things that matter most. What matters more to the church that bears His name than us knowing what season we are in and paying attention so we will not be caught off guard or un-ready when the Groom arrives? 

 

Okay, let’s frame this through the parable.

 

Ten bridesmaids, all started with oil in the lamp. What’s the oil? Oil is usually representative of the Holy Spirit. Like, always I guess…no need to say usually because it’s always. 

Keep your lamp filled with enough oil that if the hour grows late, like the announcement had come and the groom was on his way and he was delayed and they fell asleep in the streets out there waiting for him, so all ten were dialed in, paying attention, acted on the announcement, and none went home back to their own bed when the hour grew late and he hadn’t shown up yet. Asleep in the street while they waited - Jesus didn’t say anything about falling asleep while they waited. He is telling us it will seem like it’s taking so long, even when all the signs are there to announce His soon arrival. Are we gonna hang if it takes a long, long time? 

And how are we going to hang in there? Only if we keep oil in our lamps. In that moment, we will not have time to say, “Hang on, I need to get prayed up right quick and make sure I have not been quenching the Spirit by my lifestyle, by my neglect of time with Him in my very own everyday life, I need a sec, almost ready, gimme a moment.” Peter, James, Paul introduce themselves like this: “I, Paul…I, Peter… I, James… a slave to Jesus Christ”. If we do only what we want and just flake out on what the Lord wants us to be about, can we refer to ourselves as slaves to Christ? Jesus is not going to say, “Oh, no worries. Take your time. Go find some more oil. Let me just work around your schedule, how would that be?” That is not what will happen. Delay? No good. Keep your own personal lamp filled with oil. Anything else? That will not work, my friend.

We have to have oil ready for when the moment comes.

 

Now, don’t shoot the messenger. It’s in your Bible, too. I didn’t write it, I’m just sharing what Jesus point blank, plainly said. He told us what He wants us to know, so we need to just do what He said. 

 

The last week or so I have heard these exact words said over and over and over again by people in a myriad of different places, via email, instagram, and TikTok. These words: Get Your House In Order

 

And one man, a pastor from Ireland, shared that in conjunction with this parable. Keep oil in your lamp. Most important thing, right there. 

 

When I see or hear or read the same thing again and again, I pay attention. This isn’t random, because our God does not do random.

 

That's why we can, and should, trust Him completely. Random is not a thing in the Kingdom of Almighty God. That fact right there is enough to give us great hope. 

 

Couple that with this amazing, beautiful warning to keep oil in your lamp for this exact moment and then you will be ready when He returns for His bride, and you will go into the wedding supper of the Lamb. You don’t want to miss that, not for the world. 

 

And it’s clear, you can’t share your oil with anybody else. That’s not God’s way, so it wouldn’t be the right way. You’ve heard it said that God has no grandchildren, that’s true. It’s your relationship with Him, and none other, that keeps oil, the Holy Spirit, filled up in the lamp which is like your life. Be much with the Lord, stay filled up with the Spirit of the living God. Don’t neglect Him, take time to be with Him, carve out that time. Put some effort into it. Pay attention, like if your personal time with the Lord costs you nothing at all, what are you really paying into it? How you can you pay attention if it costs zero of you? Something to think about.

Jesus will return for His church, His bride, His people. We are not alone, orphaned, abandoned. We have hope that extends beyond the reach of death, hell, the grave, illness, lack or loss, stress, poverty, and so on. Should we not be the most hopeful, the most excited, the most looking up with anticipation kind of people in the world? Yes! If you have hope, you should be hopeful. And if you need some hope, I know where you can access it. Be much with the Lord. Therein lies all the hope, the joy, the peace, the love, the comfort, the wisdom, the grace, the favor that you need. 

 

Be much with your Lord. Because I can promise you, He wants to be much with you.

 

Next week will be a special episode for Easter, for Resurrection Sunday. Join me for that. And thanks for listening today, Lord bless you exceedingly, abundantly and fill you with hope, and fill your lamp with oil.

 

Thankful for you - see you next time.

In Hot Pursuit of Holiness - The Call of Hebrews 12:14

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Well hey, a big old hello to you today. So glad you’re listening to the show today, and I hope … well, more than hope, I’ve actually prayed that you will be blessed and encouraged and shored up and bolstered in your faith as a result of this episode. God has so much in store for His people, and as we study His word, the Bible, and literally take Him at His word, we will find ourselves in our sweet spot. Not just saying that, I believe it. Every day, I believe it. The older I get, the more I believe it. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The same Lord, the Way, the Truth & the Life, is going to keep His every promise. I know the One in whom I have trusted. He is good, He is faithful, He is powerful, and He is holy. 

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast, part of the Spark Network, playing now via the Edifi app. This is episode number 140.

Holiness.

Boy, I feel like I have said this so many times the last few weeks. Holiness matters. 

Like, a lot. A lot, lot.

 

God called us to holiness, so we need to pursue that to which we have been called. Because the One who did the calling, He is the One who answered the call to go to the Cross in our place. I don’t want my life to be so focused on this life and the things of this world that I totally miss out on heeding God’s call to live a holy life. And hey, I cannot do that on my own. I have no ability to be holy in Jan’s own strength. Nope. I gotta depend completely on the Holy Spirit to work out holiness in me. So that ends up being my sweet spot to live out my life. Anything that draws me to the Lord and keeps me right there up close and personal with Him, I’ve grown to see that as a tremendous gift. Keeps me close to Jesus? Alright! I like that! 

 

The call to holiness and my own in the flesh inability to answer the call to holiness puts me in a position to stay ultra close to the Lord so that He can work out His call to holiness in my life. It’s totally a win-win.

 

There is a verse in the New Testament book of Hebrews, and I’m going to read it from the King James Version today. It’s a powerful verse. 

 

Hebrews 12:14 - Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. 

 

I’d also like to share it with you from the New Living Translation.

 

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

 

Here on TBNES I often mention that little word WILL.

It’s important to note that when a verse states that something will or will not happen, God really does mean will or will not. Will means will. All means all. 

It’s crazy encouraging to remember that one simple truth when we find a promise in God’s Word. It fuels belief. Literally, fans it into flame. Sets our hearts ablaze within us. 

 

And when God says will not? That should also set something ablaze in us. 

A conviction to do, or not do, whatever God is instructing. 

 

Disobedient children. Ever been around one? Ever been one yourself? When you find yourself surrounded by a pack of disobedient children, you become fully aware that nobody else is in charge, because once parents have abdicated their God ordained parental role, things get wild. Backwards. Out of sorts and out of control. All sorts of messed up. It’s not God’s order, and we know that He is a God or order, not of disorder or chaos. See 1 Corinthians 14:33 to read that verse in its entirety.

Disobedient children are unruly, living in a state of chaos. 

It comes with the territory. If the shoe fits, and all that, right?

 

God is not one to parent us in a manner that has ever or will ever warrant our unruly disobedience. Period. If we disobey, it’s on us, not Him. He is, of course, the perfect Father. No way around that fact. Our unruly behavior is not His fault. It just isn’t.

 

If this verse from Hebrews is what He wants from us, and we don’t even try to obey, then we are, by definition, disobedient. 

 

Work at living in peace with everyone (okay…everyone…okay, Lord…because You say so, I’m gonna get after this and trust You to help me where I need helping!) and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

 

Work at this, my friend! Put in some effort. That’s what work is. Work has an actual definition, and we understand that as it relates to the place we go five days a week in exchange for a paycheck, health benefits, retirement plan, etc. We know what work is. We know what it means to work. We just don’t act like that word means what it means when it comes to our own personal walk with Jesus. 

 

Am I stepping on any toes today? Hey, I’m probably stomping on your entire foot with this episode. Mashing all your buttons. Bringing up all kinds of emotions. But that is what God’s Word does at times. If you and I are never startled and kind of awakened from our slumber in some area of our life, we may not be allowing the Bible to penetrate our hearts. 

 

If we can go to workday after day for our earthly provision, if we recognize and act on the importance of work as it pertains to this temporary life, why don’t work hard spiritually speaking, when it impacts eternal life? Not a works-based salvation, that is not a thing per the Bible. Jesus paid it all, and I want to be totally clear about this. I’m not ever going to advocate a works-based salvation. It’s 100% Him, I did nothing to earn my salvation or attain it. But after my salvation, I am responsible to spend time investing in my relationship with my Savior. And one way I do that is by reading, and believing, the Word of God. And in the Bible, here in Hebrews 12, I am flat out told to work at living a holy life. I am not given a pass to dishonor Jesus by my blatant, sinful, outrageously not-Christlike behaviors. Holy living is what I am called to, and that call does not in any way, shape or form negate that my salvation was obtained completely by Jesus at Calvary. The two don’t fight against each other. It’s about maturing in the Lord. Living a holy life matters because God said it does. In fact, He says that those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

 

This is so serious!

 

Will not.

 

God is not playing here. 

 

We must follow holiness, as the KJV says.

 

Follow it. Get after it. Don’t let it be far off in the distance. Keep close to it. 

Let’s view holiness properly, and no longer make excuses within the church or in our own lives for a lack of a holy pursuit. Can we all agree that in light of the Word of God, and in light of what Jesus did for us on the Cross, that holiness is important? 

 

Follow peace. Keep pace with it. That’s a simple way to say live right, live holy. Don’t be lagging in this area. You can’t be a person of peace for other people, on their behalf, in their stead. But as far as it depends on you, be a man or woman of peace. Work at it, says the NLT. That sounds like effort. 

 

Peace and holy living matter to the Lord. So, they both need to matter to His children. 

 

Do we A) understand holiness and do we B) value holiness?

 

Our lives will reveal the answer to both questions. No need to try and hide it, this isn’t a test we can cheat on. Our lives provide the answer. It’s clear, like it or not. 

 

If you are in hot pursuit of something, you are following it, right? If we do not value something, we are not going to pursue it, and certainly not with any fervor. Hot pursuit does not describe the lukewarm believer. People in pursuit of something are going after it to obtain it, to overtake it, to accomplish the end goal. 

Let’s be like that - driving on the Highway of Holiness like it's the Autobahn and we’re in a Bugatti or a McLaren or an Aston Martin or a Gordan Murray. James Bond this thing, ya know? 

Wear the tread off the tires. That kind of fervency!

 

Holiness. I think the Church and the world need a whole lot more of it.

 

A bit shorter episode today, but it gives you a few spare minutes to pause and pray and talk to the Lord about your current biggest, most looming needs and to listen for His reply, His guidance and wisdom and hope and His help. 

 

And next time, in episode 141, we’re gonna dig into God’s promises and grab hold of hope. Kind of hope-dealer over here, that’s my goal. Keep living all in for Jesus, because I tell you what, on that day when you meet Him face to face, you will not regret for one millisecond that choice. 

 

Lord bless you, see ya next time.

Bye bye 

 

 

Impurity, Holiness & A Prayer of Blessing Episode 139

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Well, hello there and a big old Happy Spring to you today. Anybody else glad that spring seems to be here, or almost here? I’m hopeful and praying that good things are growing and bearing fruit in your life as a result of what the Lord is doing in and through you, and the spring season reminds me of that. I’m grateful you are listening today as we think about, talk about, and hopefully also prayerfully consider how holiness makes an impact on us individually and as part of the corporate body of Christ. Let’s get going!

You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show Podcast, part of the Spark Network, now playing via the Edifi app. This is episode number 139. 

In episode 138 I shared from Psalm 30, verse 4, as well as Isaiah 35:8 and 2 Corinthians 7:1. Three fantastic verses from the Bible that kicked off the podcast series on holiness. 

 

Psalm 30:4 KJV - Sing to the LORD, O ye His saints, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.

Let’s rejoice in the fact that the God we love and who loves us is holy. This is such good news for us! He can’t suddenly stop being holy, right? And His holiness comes with assurance to us that He will not quote/unquote mistreat or mishandle the ones He so dearly loves. So good to know this! 

 

Isaiah 35:8 NLT - And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there.

Who you walk with matters. Remember that!

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 Amplified - Therefore, since we have these great and wonderful promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness (living a consecrated life - a life set apart for God's purpose, in the fear of God).

God’s promises are true, and He wants them to be our reality. Maybe not all at once, all on the same day, instantly like our drive-thru fast-food society has gotten so used to…but true for us, nonetheless. Because of this, we should want to live a holy, consecrated life that really is set apart for God’s purposes. 

Now let’s look at 1 Thessalonians 4:7, from the Amplified Bible. 

For God has not called us to impurity, but to holiness (to be dedicated, and set apart by behavior that pleases Him).

 

This verse gives us a working definition, like a one-sentence how-to manual regarding living out a holy life as a follower of the Lord Jesus. 

First things first, it tells us that God has not called us to impurity. 

Like, this could be a mic drop moment all by itself. 

Definitions for impurity include: lack of consistency - contamination or pollution - the quality or condition of being impure - something that makes something else impure - 

So God has not called us to a lack of consistency (hint hint - the way you live out your daily walk with Jesus is actually very important and is a purity issue - it matters enough to God to PUT IT IN THE BIBLE and so it ought to matter to His people, am I right??). He has not called us to contamination or pollution - so, let’s be careful and cautious and not let ourselves just get overrun by the world and it’s systems (and it has systems, like it or not, it just does - and many of those are not aligned with God’s Kingdom and His ways). And don’t be the one doing the polluting and contaminating. Like, if you are into really trashy music, if you play video games and the group you play with online uses garbage language and you kind of do sometimes too, say you drink too much (and for me as the daughter of an alcoholic who died in a tragic manner at age 47 while intoxicated, I can tell you that too much is probably a limit to be reached far below what you might think…it cost me and my family so much, I just think one drop of something that can cause the kind of lasting damage my dad’s death caused is too much. And before you quote Paul to me, when he told Timothy to take a little wine because since it was good for the stomach…well, if you need to use a verse like that, with it’s obvious and totally clear medicinal intent, if you use that verse to explain away or defend your consumption of alcohol…um, that says a lot and none of what it says is positive and maybe I can be the loud, bold voice encouraging you to lay off the sauce and go dry. Remember when we used to be more frank and bold about things like this, things that can literally wake someone up out of a stupor, show them that others can see they are on a bad, bad track and help them do a hard reset that changes their life for the better? Can we get back to that? I guess I just did get back to it. I’m not sorry! Standing at my dad’s freshly dug grave at age 15 - that girl ain’t sorry to be so frank in her speaking either. Too high a price was paid and it was never what the Lord wanted. Nuff said about that for today.) The quality or condition or being impure. God didn’t call us to that. What’s the state you live in? Hard question, important question. The quality of your life is determined by the condition or state in which you live. Is it pure, or impure? Something that makes something else impure - this could turn into a lengthy list of things God has not called us to. It’s okay, it’s good, it’s fitting and appropriate for God’s people to avoid things that make us impure. Don’t think I need to go into great detail, but some things we just avoid. God didn’t call us to certain things. And sometimes, just by taking a verse and breaking it down and actually applying it to our lives, rather than skimming over it, reading the entire paragraph as fast as possible, well that may not bring about the life change that God wants for us. 

 

If He wants real and lasting change in our lives as a result of knowing Him and of knowing what He has said to us in His Word, the Bible, then we should also want that. Make our desires Your desires, Lord. And may we not miss the details that You’ve given us in the Word of God. Amen to that? 

 

So what has He called us to?

To holiness, it says here in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 7. 

Our God has called us to holiness. 

To be dedicated and set apart by behavior that pleases Him.

 

I’m so glad this verse is this clear! Lest you think I’m just harping on you today, a harpy in trousers to quote True Grit, hey I’m not just bagging on you. This isn’t my own idea here, this idea of holiness. Good grief, no! I was a walking, talking disaster before Jesus reached down into the pit that was my existence (not exactly a life I was living, more like existing and drifting along on the byways). I did not know one single thing about holiness. 

 

But God! Is He not mighty to save? Yeah He is! 

 

Are you, am I, dedicated to behavior that pleases God?

Dedicated to it?

When’s the last time you were dedicated to something? 

Sold out working toward a goal. All in. Committed. Could not be deterred or distracted. Focused. Dialed in. In the zone. Nobody pulling you off your A game. Dedicated! 

When?

 

That’s how He wants us to be regarding the way we behave! Dedicated to behavior that pleases Him. And what doesn’t please Him? Go to the Word and see what it says. Sexual sins do not please Him. Filthy language and lying lips do not please Him. Hate in your heart, bitterness, anger, malice, wrath, speaking badly about others, manipulation (yeah, that makes the list… remember King Saul in the Old Testament, first king of Israel, before David was king? He manipulated on a grand scale and God did not take kindly to it). Stealing bits and pieces from your workplace, God’s not good with that. What the Word says, take it seriously and live accordingly and where it seems too hard to live per the Word of God, cry out to the Lord, ask the Holy Spirit of God to do it in you, through you, and for you and He will answer that prayer. You ask God to make a holy life your life and boy won’t He do it? Yes indeed, you’d better believe it. And in this era, this day and age, when the writing is on the wall and the signs of the times all point toward the end of the world coming soon and then soon and very soon we will meet our King, I’m completely serious about this, in this era, you and I need to live holy lives. Because without holiness no man, no woman, no one can see the Lord. That’s a direct quote from Hebrews 12:14.

 

I don’t think the Lord called me to do a podcast series on holiness at this point in time just because. It don’t matter, no big deal, no sweat off my brow, just whatever. 

No, it’s not whatever. It’s critical mass. It’s the end game, and not the Marvel version. You are here on this planet now, and now is the time to understand that if you are not actively keeping oil in your lamp, then you are in for a rude awakening. (Read about that in the parable of the ten virgins - Matthew 25, verses 1 thru 13 - please take time to read it and pray about it…we just don’t have time to put this off.) 

Holiness matters now, right now. Because now is all you actually have, my friend. You are not promised tomorrow. This matters right now. Be dedicated to behavior that pleases God.

And then you will be set apart as a person who knows their God. Isn’t that what we really want? And if we don’t want that, deep down, don’t we want to want it, as Christians? When our behavior sets us apart, we don’t have to stand on a street corner with a cardboard sign screaming at people because the people we work with, our neighbors, our friends on social media, in our small group, the people living in our own homes, our great aunt Bertha from North Dakota and our old best friend from third grade in Tucson, Arizona will see as set apart. As a peculiar people, like it says in Deuteronomy 14. Standing out, different. Marked by God and for God. That’s what holiness looks like. Does it look like that on you? Are you putting on holy living, like you put on your clothes each morning? If not, why not? And why not start putting it on right now? 

Today I’d like to pray before I wrap things up, and I hope this prayer will encourage and bless you because that is truly what my heart desires. For you to be so blessed, so encouraged as you walk so closely with the Lord right now, in the very midst of this rough and tumble world and all the things it brings with it. Blessed right now and also a blessing to those in your life. 

 

Father, I am coming to You today with a heart that is longing for Your people, Your church, to live holy lives. For us to be set apart and recognizable as people who know You, who love You, who live for You. May the one listening today receive a huge, heavy dose of encouragement from You. Pour out Your love on him or her - show them how great Your love is for them in a way that will mean the most to them right here, right now. And bless them with overflowing peace, no matter what is happening in their life currently. Bless them with joy, deep and abiding joy that cannot be altered or removed by anything outside of them. Bless them with good, godly friendships, with church homes that spur them on toward love and good deeds and holy living. For a desire to spend time with You every single day, in prayer, reading Your Word, enjoying Your presence, in praise and worship. Put Your hand on them, leading and guiding them in all that they do. Bring conviction where it is needed, and bring about real and lasting changes where they need to happen. We cannot do this without You, Lord. It is not possible for us to get it all together, to clean ourselves up, but with You nothing is impossible so I am asking You to do what only You can do, and make us people who are marked and noticeable as having been with You. Every time we have an encounter with You, Lord, may we be changed for the better. Let us be a blessing to as many people as we possibly can, and may we never grow so weary that we stop pursuing You. Give us the energy we need for our daily lives, protect each one of us, shield us and also grow us and mature us. Heal us, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and in any other way that will bring glory to Your name. Help us to remember that we simply do not know when our last moment on this planet will be, and to live well with each day we have. Stay near to us, Lord, and keep drawing us closer and closer to You. Sometimes the road seems rough and the walk seems long, but I am asking You to show us today that it’s really just You walking us home, and we can walk well and walk worthy when we walk it side-by-side with You. Make the yoke easy and the burden light for the one listening today. Give them faith to reach out and touch the hem of Your robe if that’s what they need to do. Keep oil in our lamps, Lord, as we await Your glorious return. And when harder times come for those who follow Jesus, as Your Word says they will, ready us, steady us, prepare us, strengthen us, and may we never forsake You because You have promised never to forsake us. Thank You for hearing my prayer today. Hear and answer, move and act, do far above and beyond I could ever ask, think or even imagine. And do it quickly, Lord, because today is the day I am asking and today is the only day we’ve got. Thank You, Lord. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I hope you’ll join me for episode 140 and I’d be so blessed if you feel so led to share this podcast with friends or family or church members and also I’d like to invite you to subscribe to the show on whatever platform you listen to podcasts on. And I’m working on a little something that I’m hoping to give to you in the next episode, just a free item I’m creating that I hope will be a blessing to you, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

 

See you next time and keep on keeping on for Jesus, my friend!

 

Connect with Jan here:

Instagram @JanLBurt

TikTok @JanLBurt

Facebook Jan L. Burt Author & Podcaster Page

A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents on Amazon 

A Holy God Makes Us A Blessed People - Episode 138 - Holiness Series Part 1

Biblical definition of HOLINESS:

The Hebrew word for “holiness” is qōdes, a word that highlights the realm of the sacred in contrast to everything common and profane. The adjective qādôš, “holy,” refers to God and what belongs to him. In various places in the Hebrew Scriptures, God is called by the title the “Holy One of Israel.”

The New Testament uses the words hagiazo, to “make holy” and hagio “holy” or “sacred.” Jesus is called “the Holy One of God.” And those who acclaim Jesus as Lord are called hagioi, or “saints.” As believers, we are literally set apart, made holy, because of our relationship with the one who bridges the gap between a holy God and sinful human beings.

 

Psalm 30:4 KJV - Sing to the LORD, O ye His saints, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.

Thankfulness should be a key characteristic, a marker, for Jesus' followers. We ought to be the most thankful, joyful people on this planet. 

And the remembrance of the holiness of God should inspire us to give thanks. (Keep this in mind the next time you attend a worship service and sing to the Lord Most High.)

 

Because God is holy, and cannot be unholy, we have hope and assurance that in all His ways toward us, He can be trusted. The holiness of God only adds to the faithfulness of God. How could an utterly, completely holy God do wrong, make decisions to harm us, deny of the things that matter most in light of His Kingdom and eternity? He is holy, and so He is good. And that goodness extends to us, His people. 

 

Isaiah 35:8 NLT - And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there.

Who you walk with matters.

If you find yourself surrounded by evil-minded people, or by foolish people, you likely need to pause, examine your surrounding and your life, and determine whether or not you are really walking on God's Highway of Holiness. 

Find people who are walking in God's ways and move on from those who are not. How can two walk together unless they agree, it asks in Ecclesiastes. How, indeed? You can love people who are not walking in the Lord's ways, but it isn't wise to walk side-by-side, hand-in-hand with them. And if you are walking hand-in-hand with foolish, evil-minded people, can I lovingly and caringly as...WHY?

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 Amplified - Therefore, since we have these great and wonderful promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness (living a consecrated life - a life set apart for God's purpose, in the fear of God). 

 

This verse mentions God's promises. It also mentions holiness. 

Do we want God's promises to be our reality? 

If the answer is YES, then we must focus on our own personal holiness. Not perfection, but consecration. 

Would you say that you live your life as one set apart for His purpose? And do you have a healthy fear of God, wherein He is reverenced as He ought to be?

 

Holiness matters so very much.

And a lost, hurting, broken world needs a whole lot of holy living by God's people.

Be sure to subscribe so you'll know when the next episode on this series about holiness drops, and thanks for listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show.

If you'd like to connect with me, you can find me here: 

Find me here:

Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon).  Find Jan on Instagram: @JanLBurt, TikTok @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.

Take the quiz "Which of God's Promises is for You?" via this LINK.

Back to Basics Episode 137

Find me here:

Jan is the author of the new book “A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents” & “The Power of God’s Will – 40 Days of God’s Promises Devotional” (available on Amazon).  Find Jan on Instagram: @JanLBurt, TikTok @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.

 

Let's get back to basics.

 

What are the "basics" for a disciple of the Lord Jesus?

Get into the Word of God - read your Bible daily.

Spend time in prayer - talk to the Lord & listen quietly for His reply daily.

Don't forsake the gathering of the saints - allow iron to sharpen iron by spending time with other followers of Jesus.

And specifically relating to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show Podcast, get back to the basics by finding out what God's promises are and live in a state of chronic, contagious belief that those promises are true and will continue to prove true for you.

 

In this episode, we look at Psalm 12, primarily verse 6, to remind us that God's promises have already been perfected and are trustworthy and certain. 

 

Psalm 12 - New Living Translation

¹ Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing!
    The faithful have vanished from the earth!
² Neighbors lie to each other,
    speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
³ May the Lord cut off their flattering lips
    and silence their boastful tongues.
⁴ They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content.
    Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”

⁵ The Lord replies, “I have seen violence done to the helpless,
    and I have heard the groans of the poor.
Now I will rise up to rescue them,
    as they have longed for me to do.”
⁶ The Lord’s promises are pure,
    like silver refined in a furnace,
    purified seven times over.
⁷ Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
    preserving them forever from this lying generation,
⁸ even though the wicked strut about,
    and evil is praised throughout the land.

 

You have a hope, you have a future, you have a purpose, and I implore you to find a promise in the Bible that you can grab hold of, hang on to, and pray back to God in utter, sold-out belief.

 

Join me starting in episode 138 for a special podcast series on HOLINESS.

~ Jan L. Burt