How can we apply God’s promises to our daily lives? Are God’s promises conditional? What does it mean to be a child of God? What are some key promises found in the bible? Are God’s promises for me? How can we be sure God will keep His promises? What‘s more important than getting a life-changing handle on what God has promised you specifically? Expect this podcast to help you know who you are...REALLY & to help you live fully believing God‘s promises to you...REALLY.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
Tuesday Nov 29, 2022
Take the quiz "Which of God's Promises is for You?" via this LINK.
Well, hey there! Welcome to the latest episode of the podcast. I’m so thankful you’re listening, and my prayer for this episode has been for it to encourage and bless you right now, in the exact place you find yourself. Whatever is going on in your life as you listen today, I have prayed and asked God to show up in a way that means something special to you. And I’m trusting Him to do just that. Let’s grab hold of the goodness of our God today as we study His Word.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 127.
Psalm 145, getting toward the end of the book of psalms. It’s got some beautiful verbiage that is so helpful for us as we wait on the Lord in our individual circumstances that kind of challenge us, push and pull and yank us here and there, and we need to be able to hit pause and focus on God’s Word. So Psalm 145 gives us that opportunity. It’s like a reset, this passage, and after we read it, and hopefully in the reading of it comes some believing of it, you know as in taking God at His Word, and then we experience the reset. The peace that we’ve been promised, the hope we have in the Lord, the reminders that David provides us with in this psalm are just lovely, like in the truest sense of the word.
Let read verses 4-7 from the New Living Translation.
4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
5
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles.
6
Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
7
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
Don’t we get a boost when we hear someone else sharing about what the Lord has done in their life? The process of telling our children, sharing God’s incredible acts, with the next generation is refreshing. And we see here in verse 4 that each generation is to tell its children, and then allow those children, the next generation, to proclaim God’s power. That’s just how it ought to work in the church. Telling the younger ones what He has done. Not remaining silent, but telling of His mighty acts. And if we can’t recall any mighty acts of God, that’s a whole nother issue. If He hasn’t done anything in our lives that we can recall, we need to be talking to the Lord about that. Have we forgotten? Has praise and thankfulness become too far removed from our daily lives and we just can’t find the good things God has done? Or, do we maybe need to study Jesus’ words in the New Testament, in the four Gospels, to check ourselves and make sure we’re not somehow thinking we’re in the Kingdom if maybe we’re not. If nothing has ever happened, in terms of God’s mighty acts, we need to be looking into that. And Jesus’s words in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are where we should start.
Let’s be thankful children of God who are in the habit, like habitually, talking about what He has done. Has He not done some miraculous things? When we start thinking back over our life and remembering, calling to mind, what He has done for us, it is hard to stop that train once it gets rolling. You’ll remember another thing God did, and something else He did, and oh wow, that one thing way back when, at the time I didn’t realize that was the Lord working on my behalf but now I see it more clearly and I’m so thankful. The snowball starts to roll, ya know? It’s the initial movement, getting the inertia going, that takes a bit work. But it’s such a good work, and so worth it. You’ll be encouraged and the next generation will be so blessed by this picture you paint of what God has done. And why can’t He do even more incredible things in their lives, among their peers? He can. I don’t think He has stopped doing what He loves to do, which is work in people’s lives and bring them into His kingdom. Let’s get excited about that, and let’s try to stay excited about it.
So that’s verses 4 and 5, talking about these things and meditating on His goodness, His splendor, His miracles. Just the majesty that belongs solely and singularly to our God. So much better, more beneficial in every way, as compared to letting the woes of life and the daily news reel be our primary meditation.
In verse 6 we read this: Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
Wouldn’t this world be different, in a good way, if God’s awe inspiring deeds were on every single tongue? If every person on this planet spoke out loud about God’s deeds, and proclaimed His greatness. Nothing would be the same. Not one single thing, I really do believe that. Everything would change, for the better. We can’t make that happen, that’s a big ask right there, a lofty goal, one we can pray for, but what we can do, you and I, is personally proclaim God’s greatness. And we should do that. A lot. A lot lot.
Verse 7 kind of feels like a promise to me - Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
Everyone will share the story of God’s wonderful goodness. That has not happened yet, but since this verse is in the Bible, I have prayed and asked God to make it a reality. That we would all share about His goodness, that we would all sing with joy about His righteousness.
Has it been your experience that the righteousness of Jesus has changed your life?
I want to bounce up to verse 1 of Psalm 145 - I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
We are kind of given a life purpose here. To exalt our God, our King, to praise His name.
Isn’t that the heart of true thankfulness? We recently celebrated Thanksgiving in the US and this verse is fitting for this time of year.
Each generation telling of God’s mighty acts. That’s thankfulness!
Are we proclaiming the Lord’s power? He has power, He is all powerful. Do we believe that? Do we live as if it is true? Do we ever talk about it? It’s not gonna be comfortable for everyone in your life, or in mine, to hear us share about God’s mighty deeds, His power, exalting and praising Him. Some people are not going to like it all that much. It will make some people uncomfortable. But what will do with that discomfort? Stay silent? Give people what they want and not do what God would have us to do, based on this psalm?
Do we fear God more than we fear man? Isn’t the fear of man a snare, a trap? Isn’t a trap or a snare a bad thing? I want to choose what’s better, and I will only find what is really better in the Bible.
He is yet to this day so powerful - let’s proclaim that.
And let’s meditate on God’s majestic and glorious splendor. The majesty of His splendor is so far beyond anything we can relate to, but we can still meditate on it. We should, because the Bible says to. It’s going to be good for me to do what He says to do in His Word. So I want to do those exact things. What’s good for me, God? I want to do that very thing.
He is majestic. He is glorious. And His splendor is beyond all ability to accurately describe.
He performs wonderful miracles. You know, salvation is a miracle. It took Jesus’ death on the cross to make a way, the one single way, for us to have our sin debt paid. That’s miraculous. Every person who knows Jesus is a living miracle. It’s just that simple. This week, start right there, with your own salvation, and praise the Lord for that miracle. I’m guessing more things will come to mind to thank Him for, more miracles will come to your remembrance. But start right there. Eternity with the Lord, fully forgiven, our sins removed as far as the east is from the west. Is that not truly miraculous? Thank You, Lord.
Waking up each day, seeing God’s creation, breathing air into our lungs, feeling our heart beat - these are awe inspiring deeds that ought to be on every tongue. May we not be a people who fail to share about His goodness. Somebody could be on the verge of something terrible, a crisis in their finances, their health, a relationship, work, under an attack from Satan that is so intense, they may want to give up. But they may not be showing it at all, now outward signs, cuz we’re so good at hiding our low places. You might share something that could give them hope, remind them of something they're forgotten about God ro reveal to them something they never knew about God. Just realizing God loves you and does not loathe or despise, that He really is for you… that can be enough to change a life. That could prevent a suicide attempt, in all honesty. And you can do this as part of your normal life, with your normal personality. You don’t have to go to seminary or try to figure out how to be like a preacher. You be you, and just mention something God has done in your conversations as He leads. Trust Him with the results, the way it could impact someone who needs to know God still does miraculous things. That’s really all there is to it. I read it can be described as sharing bread with a starving person because you were once starving and you now have the Bread of Life. That simple. That impactful. That important.
God’s people should be the most thankful people in the world. Nobody else on this planet should be more thankful than us. So let’s just get thankful.
And hey, if it seems like more than you can do, way out of your comfort zone to talk about what God has done, His awesome deeds, let me remind you that most all of us at some point or another, or lots and lots and lots of times, will share about our own awesomeness. Like the movie Bolt, the hamster yelling into the air duct vent, “If you're awesome” - doesn’t he say it’s beyond awesome, it’s be-awesome. Invented a whole new word. We tell those old high school football stories. We tell of our kids football stories. We tell of our favorite NFL teams football stories, and those are not our personal stories, I’m never on the field, right? What about work wins? Yeah, we share about those.
It’s easier to share those things, those awesome deeds, because there’s no real resistance. Nobody gets really, really uncomfortable. The devil isn’t likely to fight against that, cuz it can bleed over into those 1 John mentions, the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. If Satan has a chance at getting you to those places, he’s all for it.
We hold back sharing about God’s awesome deeds because there is resistance and discomfort, for us and those who are listening as we talk.
I’m an extreme introvert, and this kind of stuff is not my natural happy place. Sometimes the Lord takes us to places we would not go unless He called us to go. That can happen even in our conversations.
You will have some degree of push back, internal or external, if you start sharing about God’s awesome deeds. That comes with the territory. You get to choose, but I really hope you choose to do what Psalm 145 encourages us to do. Because as it says in verse 13, the Lord always keeps His promises and is gracious in all He does. He lifts us when we are bent beneath our loads, says verse 14. He satisfies our needs, verses 15 and 16. He is close to all who call on Him, to those who call on Him in truth. Verse 18. He grants the desires of those who fear Him, verse 19. He hears their cries for help, He rescues them, He promises to protect all who love Him in verse 20.
Verse 21 ends this psalm and it says, I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless His holy name forever and ever.
How will they know if nobody tells them about our awesome God?
All the promises I just read from this psalm are promises God intends to keep. Which of those promises do you most need right now?
Can you lean in, trust Him fully, and recount with thanksgiving a heart filled with praise, the miraculous and the awesome things He has done for you?
Let’s roll into this Christmas season with thankful and joy filled songs about His righteousness in our thoughts and on our tongues. Lord bless you, right here and right now, and continue to bless you and do awesome things in your midst.
If you happen to have any prayer needs that I could pray for, feel free to email me at JanLBurt@outlook.com and I will pray. I also have a giveaway to my email subscribers, feel free to sign up for that at JanLBurt.com and the next giveaway winner will be chosen at the very end of November and the December winner will be chosen on December 15th so I can ship the giveaway prizes to get there hopefully by Christmas.
Thanks for listening today. Lord bless you, and I’ll see you next time. Feel free to subscribe and get new episodes as soon as they drop.
Jan L. Burt
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) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan on Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Monday Nov 14, 2022
Monday Nov 14, 2022
Click HERE for a free prayer guide.
I hope you are ready for some hope, some encouragement, and some truth from the Word of God. All God’s promises prove true. And every promise is yes and amen through Christ Jesus.
It’s gonna be a good one today. Ya ready? Alrighty - let’s go!
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 126.
So today I am going to do some straight talk. Very, very straight talk from James chapter 4.
You know, I’ve discovered that when the Lord draws me to read any part of the New Testament book of James, I sort of brace myself. Sanctification and probably some discipline is coming my way. Anybody else ever feel that way? Like, “Oh, I’m going to James. Oooh boy, ooh yikes.”
I may as well just yield and let the Spirit of the Living God do what He needs to do. Teach me, reprove me, guide me, discipline me because He loves me, show me something in my heart and life where I am not quite where He wants me to be. Just lean into it, that is what I’ve learned to do.
So recently, like within the last couple of days, I found myself looking at the fourth chapter of James. James 4:1-7 in the NLT, I was journaling and praying as I read it and I wanted to share it here on the podcast because it ended up being such a blessing to me, I want to pass that blessing along to you.
There is a saying, blessed to be a blessing, and it’s really true.
Let’s just get rolling here. And this is a word for the season, for sure.
James 4:1 - What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?
Vs 1 - here we find the answer for the strife and angst in life. Is something eating at you, or at me? This verse gives us a source. And, it’s not somebody else or circumstances. It’s me. Yeah, so this is sort of why I internally wince when the Lord has me read in James. I’m gonna give an example that came to mind as I was reading through these verses. Regarding recent elections, can I share that in all honesty I kind of feel like this verse fits so perfectly? How’s my attitude? Am I confused by the choices people made and that is rolling right on over into frustration, anger, grouchiness, grrr. I gotta take those emotions, and emotions are real, but I have to take them and give them to the Lord. If I am not upset about the things that His Word clearly state I ought to be upset about, I’m gonna be off track. What is causing this, Jan? What’s at war within you? How irritated am I prone to get when I do not get what I want? This verse leads me to ask that question, and to let the Holy Spirit put a spotlight where He wants it. Sometimes that is uncomfortable. Okay…well, the deal I made with the Lord is that this is no longer my life, but His, and so if He wants to spotlight something that makes me feel uncomfortable, uh, it’s not my life, it’s now His and also, He was so far beyond uncomfortable when He went to the cross for me, it’s just icky how I sometimes get irritated when He is doing with my life the exact thing He said He would do upon my salvation. Take it from garbage and total trash and make it anew. James helps me get my head on straight when I’m seeing things through my own skewed lenses.
Verse 2 - You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Vs 2 - do I not have what I want because I have not asked God for it? It’s not a yes or no question, it’s more of a yes on the regular question. Did I even check in with God on this? If I never, ever ask Him for what I really want, then it’s likely that what I want isn’t something I feel comfortable asking Him for (ding ding ding ding - may have a problem here!) or I am just annoyed when I don't get it but I never asked. Sometimes we just didn’t ask, and we should ask. Why? Because the Bible says so. What do I want & why do I want it? Do I want something that belongs to someone else? What aspect of jealousy might be rearing its head in my life? Can my frustration show me something that is amiss, a place where I am jealous and maybe didn’t fully see it until the Word of God showed me what’s up. Is it important enough to me to take before the God of heaven’s armies? To enter the throne room of grace? To pray with importunity, as Jesus taught? If it’s eating at me so much that I am scheming to try and get, fighting and waging war for it, but I haven’t gone to the Lord about it, maybe this is a really wrong, off base desire or maybe I just forgot to go talk to the Father, to make my requests known with thanksgiving. Be sure you are asking God for the things you want. And letting Him give a yes or a no. That’s a safe place to live our lives, and this world is a hot mess and living in a safe place, oh, that’s a good plan.
Verse 3 - And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
Vs 3 - back to my political example… Do I want my choice of candidate to win because I want what I want for my own ease in life and my own pleasures, what will make things more comfortable for me and mine, or do I want that candidate to be in office in order to glorify God and advance His Kingdom purposes? You know, which is it? What is really in my heart? Jeremiah says that the heart is deceitful above all things, and so we need to let the Holy Spirit be the One to determine the worth of what’s in our hearts and to change our hearts desires if need be. We can’t make that change on our own, but He can. We do need to be willing to let HIm work. And how does my frustration and anger about not getting what I wanted reveal what I need most? My motives are pretty revealing. Lord, fix my eyes and thoughts and heart on You and get my motives in line with Your will. Amen to that.
Verse 4 - You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
Vs 4 - now the Word of God gets blunt. With frankness that would be deemed rude and even “un-Christlike “ James states that even our tiniest want to be friends with the world makes us adulterers against the Lord. He says it twice to bring the point fully home. God is no chump. He ain’t playin’. This is what He deems as adulterous behavior. Let’s get into agreement with Him and treat friendship with the world appropriately per the Word of God. Let’s make no provision for the flesh.
Verse 5 & 6 - Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
Vs 5 & 6 - God is serious about us being fully His. To be fully His requires faithfulness to Him. How would we react if God were merely hit and miss in His faithfulness toward us? It is nonsense to believe that our faithfulness to Him can be taken as lightly (and to our shame, it so often is). He opposes - OPPOSES!! - the proud. Period. And He gives grace to the humble. Also, period. Which will you have? Which will I have? Grace from God, or opposition from God? You and you alone get to choose. I choose for me, you choose for you. Let’s not slap God’s hand away when He is being generous toward us. He gives us grace generously, it says here. Accept that grace, and live with some humility. Man, how would this world look if people lived with some humility and less pride. We are prideful, as a human race, we really are. You and I, though, we can choose every single day to humble ourselves. And then the promise here is that we get grace. I want grace, because I really need grace, so I gotta do the work of being more and more and more humble.
Verse 7 - So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Vs 7 - here we find one of the most beautiful promises in the entire Bible. So humble yourselves before God (that word “so” indicates that we have weighed this out and have made our decision). Resist the devil and he will flee from you. WILL. Here’s that amazing word, will. You first humble yourself before God Almighty and then you resist , put some force and effort into that resisting, and the devil has to flee from you. He has to! This is an iron-clad promise. Do your part and God will most assuredly do His. He can’t break one of His promises. It is, after all, impossible for God to lie. He is not a man that He should lie. We read this in our Bibles and we gotta apply it to our lives if we want to live at the level God has in mind for His children. Level up. Humble ourselves, then resist the devil, and he will flee. Flee. Interesting word choice, and God could have used any word there but the word is flee. Satan turning on his heel and running straight away from you, from me. Don’t let the power of this promise be lost on you simply because you’ve heard time and time again. This is good stuff, good good stuff. God has good, good stuff in store for us in this life and for certain in the next life.
I don’t want to miss any of that, so I go to the books of James when He calls me to study the book of James, and I ask Him to change me in any and every way that He deems is in need of change. Change with God means improvement. We kind of look at it as a loss, but it’s always a win. Always an upgrade. Always an improvement. So I don’t want to avoid that. Show me the money. Show me the good stuff. If this is how I get what God has for me, so be it. I’m in. Let’s do this thing.
And as for the climate of the world right now, it’s not going to poof get all sorts of better. Because Jesus doesn’t have free reign in the hearts and minds of so many people on this planet. Because our enemy satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Not nibble on, not snarl at, but devour. Pretending that anyone or anything outside of Jesus the Messiah can fix what’s broken in this world is really just putting lipstick on a pig. Because what’s broken is internal, it’s the hearts of men and women, it’s sin. Prayer is going to do more to bless you, bless your family, honor your God, bless your church, your workplace, your neighbors, your country, elected officials, lawmakers, the whole wide world - prayer is going to do more to be a blessing than any candidate ever will. Election day is over for 2022 but you know, prayer isn’t over. Let’s be Christ followers who are such tremendous prayer warriors that satan hates it when we hit our knees and fold our hands and bow our heads in prayer.
That’s it for this episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show. Thanks for listening, God bless you and I’ll see you back next time.
Jan L. Burt
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) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Wednesday Nov 02, 2022
Well hey there, hello to ya today. So thankful you are listening to the show today. We’re talking about prayer, which is a hugely important aspect of the Christian life and is incredibly needed in this era in which we find ourselves living. And there is tremendous promise in prayer. The Bible has so much to say about prayer, it’s hard to overemphasize how much hope we have when we stand in prayer.
Paul, in his epistle, Colossians chapter one, that’s our text for today. I’m going to read from the NLT and then I am going to pray this passage for you. And in the show notes for this episode I’m going to attach a link for a pdf you can download that has the prayer I’ll be sharing on the episode, so you can access it on your phone or print it out and keep it with your Bible study items, use it in any way that would be a blessing to you and the people that you are praying for. I’ll put that link at the very top of the show notes so that it will be easy to access no matter what app or podcast player you use to listen to podcasts. I’m really honored to be able to pray for you today, and for the 125th episode of The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, this seemed like a super fitting topic to focus on. Let’s jump into this passage.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 125.
So as I look at Colossians chapter one, I am going to read aloud verses three through fourteen, and I’m a quick reader so don’t get too worried that it’s gonna take me a long while to read this. I want to read it and then pray it. So as I read, would you listen closely, with some intentionality, and think about who you can pray these verses for? Who might God want you to stand in prayer for today?
We want to be disciples who in turn make disciples. A key aspect of the Great Commission, right? Prayer is one excellent way to focus on discipleship. Because you and I, we will grow in our walk with the Lord as we pray for others. And those others for whom we are praying are also going to grow in their life. It is actually a WIN-WIN. And we want as many wins as possible, especially when it feels like life kind of kicks us around a bit, knocks us down. Let’s get some wins, you know what I mean. Right here, this is a big WIN-WIN for us.
I’m reading from the New Living Translation. Colossians 1:3-14
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.[b] 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,[c] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[d] and forgave our sins.
Okay, this is quite a passage. Really so much here for us to believe God for in prayer.
Paul saying that they always pray for the recipients of this letter, can you even imagine what comfort that brought them? You know, when we pray for others, in a committed kind of way in particular, it really has an impact on them. It shores them up, it can steady them where they may not quite be feeling their sea legs ya know, kind of shaky and quaky. It is so good to know that we are not alone and somebody who loves Jesus is praying for us on the regular. It’s a really big deal, and my personal desire is honestly that we all have somebody or several somebodies who pray for us. It’s part of being in the body of Christ, and I really would love to see us get all sorts of fired up about praying for one another. What might change if we really leaned into that? Uh, yeah I actually think everything could change.
And when you pray for others, give thanks to the Lord as you pray. Like, the ability to pray and have our prayers heard by God is huge, so thank Him. And thank Him for your church body, thank Him for your praying friends and family, thank Him for all the things really. I could go on and on about what we should be thankful for.
Verse 4 - Paul is thankful for their faith in Jesus and their love for God’s people. Can the same be said of us? Does anybody see evidence of my faith in Jesus? Is it apparent that I love God’s people? I hope so. And does my love and my faith stem from my confident hope of what is coming for me in the future. Confident. Key word in this passage. Confident hope does not sound like, “Gee I sure hope so.” In Revelation, in His letters to the churches, Jesus said they’d forgotten their first love. When we remember what it was like when we first really got it, what this relationship with Jesus was really all about, man what a moment. Did we have an expectation of what would come in the next life back then? Yes indeed. That can still be our expectation and the source of our hope. God has things reserved for us in heaven. Isn’t that exciting? Hang on to that first love. Jesus is always, always worth it, my friend.
Let’s also pray that the Good News will continue to spread around the world. I have a shirt that says “Make Heaven Crowded” and I’ll be honest, I have some shirts that remind me to pray (and a lock screen for my phone that I created to remind me to pray), a hoodie that reminds me that making disciples and being a good disciple myself, those things matter. I have a shirt to remind me that Esther 4:14 is true, and one to remind me that the work I do in my writing and podcasting, it needs to be handled with care, if you will. Like not flippant, but really focused and prayed up as I do the things I do. Make heaven crowded - three words that might be kind of cheesy in the way that only Christian tshirts can at times be cheesy. But it’s important to me. I wear that shirt when I’m writing, when I’m recording audio content like this podcast. It’s for me, to remind me of something really important. People matter. And where they spend eternity, that matters to Jesus and so it should matter to me.
Now I also have a shirt that mentions it being too people-y outside and a sweatshirt that says homebody. I’m telling you, if you know you know. I love people, but the way God made me, I don’t refuel or recharge with all the peoples. I need to have time alone, and you know what, that’s the time I use to write, to craft out podcast content, to work on things for my next prayer retreat in my private Facebook group. To pray for dozens of people (and I have a prayer list with dozens of names on it) If God had not wired me to be okay, to even be in my sweet spot, without loads of people around me all the time, I don’t know that I could get done the things I do. So, how God wired you is part of how He will accomplish the good works He planned for you to be doing. Don’t get annoyed by the gift (cuz sometimes that’s a shady way of being annoyed at the gift giver). Pray and ask how this gifting fits in with how He made you and His good works that He prepared in advance for you to do. It’s really that simple. I used to think I was a really cruddy Christian because I got worn out by too much people-y stuff. Now, I understand it so much better because I prayed about it and the Lord showed me some stuff. He’ll show us some stuff if we pray and talk to Him about whatever it is we need to talk about.
This Good News about Jesus is bearing fruit everywhere and it is doing that by changing lives. Look, I’ve said it before and this here today won’t be the last time I say this. The Word of God is life changing. God is in the life changing business. So, why are we so surprised when a life is changed by the Lord? Why should that surprise us? It’s His way, so we should expect to see lives changed all the time. And hey, why shouldn't one of those lives be your life? You cannot possibly give me a good reason why not you. Why not you? Let God change your life and let your changed life bear fruit.
In verse 7 Paul mentions the person who told them the Good News. We are coworkers with every other Chrsitian who is sharing the Good News of Jesus. It’s not a contest or a competition. We’re working toward the same goal. Be a faithful servant of Jesus, yourself personally, and pray for others to be the same. And then, don’t let competition get in there. God’s got a crown for you and He’s got a crown for them. No need to compete because what are you competing for? You can’t obtain their crown and they can’t somehow work really really hard and get your crown in place of their own. Let’s pray for one another, and for the Kingdom to advance and take more and more ground. And let’s show that the Holy Spirit really has given us love for one another.
Now, verse 9 on have very clear and specific ways we can pray for one another.
First, don’t stop praying. Be committed in your prayer life. Take it seriously. You know, when Jesus prayed to the Father, He took it seriously. And we don’t always do that. So pray, don’t stop praying and take it seriously.
Next, ask God to give the people you are praying for complete knowledge of His will and to give them spiritual wisdom and understanding. Ask the Lord to enable them to live in a way that always honors and pleases God, and for their lives to produce every kind of good fruit (feel free to study the fruit of the Spirit and to ask for those exact things in the lives of the people for whom you pray). And the last part of verse 10 reminds us to pray for people to grow as they learn to know God better and better.
To grow, so this is showing us what growth as a Christian looks like, what maturity looks like. It shows itself as knowing God better and better. And it says to learn to know God better and better. Do you know Him better now than last year at this time? If you don’t, you may need to LEARN to know Him better. Sit at His feet in prayer, read your Bible and pray and ask Him to teach you (learning means being taught, right?) teach you to know Him better. Take time to listen, to be quiet in His presence, to write down what you are learning, because writing it down will cement it more in your heart and mind. Note takers are world changers. There’s so much truth behind that saying. Learn to know Him better. It’s not enough, my friends, to go to church two Sundays a month and that’s all the time you have for Jesus. That is not learning how to know Him better. Get serious about prayer, get serious about reading your Bible, get serious about heeding the conviction and leading of the Lord, get serious about the things the Bible says to get serious about.
Verse 11 - pray that they (those for whom you’re praying) will be strengthened with all God’s glorious power so they will have all the patience and endurance they need. Ask God to fill them with joy, and to give them a heart of thankfulness that always thanks the Father. Sometimes we are thanking Him in all things, but maybe not for all things. And I also gotta say, while it was not true at first like the first year or two dealing with serious heart problems, but for sure the last couple of years I can honestly say I have gone from thanking God in this situation to thanking Him for it. One result of perpetual thankfulness is that it spreads, and it’s a good kind of spreading. I want to be contagious with things that actually matter. A bad attitude, a complaining spirit, is so contagious. So is gratitude and thankfulness. Pray that those people on your prayer list will be thankful.
Ask God to enable them to share in the inheritance that only belongs to His people. For them to really, really know Jesus personally and to have the assurance of eternity with the Lord and not separated from Him. That’s the only way to obtain our inheritance, so when pray for them to share in this inheritance, we are seeking God to call out to them, to draw them with cords of lovingkindness, for their salvation. We want those people for whom we pray to live in the light. Jesus is the Light of the world, so let’s pray for people to live in the light and not to walk in any kind of darkness.
And be sure to praise Him for the work He has done in your life when He rescued you from the kingdom of darkness and transferred you into the Kingdom of His dear Son. Praise Him for purchasing our freedom and forgiving our sins.
Now that is how I pray Colossians chapter one for those on my prayer list. And to kind of make this grab-able (that’s not a word but for today, let’s pretend it is) I made a pdf you can download and the link is at the very top of the show notes and also down at the bottom with my other links, like to my private prayer group where we are going to begin a new weekly time of prayer and teaching about prayer so you can join that, it will go into mid December and then again in the new year, probably all of January and all of February. And also a link to my book A 60-Day Prayer Journal for Parents on Amazon.
Let me pray now for you based on what I put together in the pdf you can grab at the link. As I pray, just let the Lord comfort you and kind of lean in and choose to believe that He will answer this prayer on your behalf. He’s got blessings and favor and goodness for you and I hope, I really mean this from the bottom of my heart, I hope that no matter where you are in life right now that you can lean in and believe Him for these blessings. Trust again. Love the Lord anew today. Hope in Him and receive whatever it is that He wants to give.
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Today let's take a look at
the book of Joshua. This book of the Bible is amazing. If you haven’t read it in a while, or possibly ever, well a lot of people don’t read that much of the OT (for a lot of reasons) but I have learned so, so much about who my God truly is in the OT. It’s a really wonderful book of the Bible.
So, Joshua chapter 8 verse 18 - and we are looking at this verse in the AMP today.
Joshua 8:18 - AMP - Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Reach out with the spear that is in your hand (and point it) toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” So Joshua reached out with the spear in his hand (and pointed it) toward the city.
It is remarkable to read the LORD speaking to Joshua in this verse. It sort of stops me in my tracks in a way when I see the Lord speaking to anyone! It’s a big deal! And I don’t think Joshua took it lightly - I think the sum total of His life proves that he did not ever take lightly the things of the Lord. Joshua was a listener. He listened well to His God. But starting off this verse with those words, Then the LORD said to Joshua, makes it personal. Don’t forget that He is a personal God for you and for me.
Then the Lord tells Joshua to take the spear that was already in his hand and stretch it out toward Ai. (Ai was the city they needed to take in battle, militarily, next). He may tell us at times to pick something up or to lay something down - He is our God, He is both Lord and Savior, so He has the right of way in every aspect of our lives, right? So yeah He can say pick up this and lay down that and so on. But He also will at times ask you to use what is already in your hand. What is in your hand today? For me, it is often a book or a pen. For most of us, a phone is in our hands a lot. But I am not sure that God’s very best for His dearly loved children is to be mind linked and sucked into a device all of the live long day, ya know? So before you say I know what’s in my hand! My phone! Just hold tight for a second and ask Him if the phone were not in your hand all the time what would be in your hand? I am not knocking anybody here - I am as guilty as the next person and I pretty much always know where my phone is (although sometimes I go out to run errands or take a long drive and I leave it at home on my desk on purpose so I can remind myself that there was a time we lived just fine, thank you very much, with no access to a phone. I was not afraid to drive across the country without a cellular phone. I remember it being referred to like this “answer the phone!” and not “let me check my phone”. The phone vs my phone. In my teen years it would have seemed pretty weird to say my phone rather than the phone. And so now and then I like to go backwards a bit, go old school, the old guard, and leave my phone by the wayside. So, no judgment from me on this - but I do caution you from thinking that the automatic answer to the question What is in your hand? Is “my phone”. Only allow that to be the answer if the Lord makes it really clear that it’s the answer.
Think about what might be in your hand if your phone wasn’t.
Joshua’s answer would have been, obviously because the verse tells us, a spear.
So what is the spear that is in your hand today?
What would you say is a key part, an integral part of who you are? Who you really are, not maybe who you have been told you are or feel like some expectation is on you to be. What is the spear you are already holding, a part of who you are, your God created identity that is intended by Him to be used for His Kingdom purposes?
Are we taking the things, all the varied and beautiful and amazing things that are in all of our varied and beautiful amazing lives, pointing them at the enemy and then seeing God move there? Like, right there?
Does that sound like - whew, way out there? Or does it kind of get you a little bit excited, like Yeah! Yes, I am here to make a Kingdom difference and so is she and so is he and so is my small group and so is my bff and and and. Because you are here to make a difference. If you know Jesus personally, then you are here to make a difference. And if any part of you kind of feels like MEH - she is a bit off today in this episode, Jan is reaching here, I don’t think all of us are here to make a difference, that’s a pretty sweeping and broad statement - well, I would point you to the NT book of John, chapters 14 15 16 specifically and just by reading say John 15, I think you would have a hard time not seeing that you and all who are in Christ, are here to make a difference for the Kingdom of our God.
It’s not beyond you because Jesus said it is the way it ought to be.
Joshua had a call on his life. He had a calling. When it was time to step up, he did. Now I don’t see evidence in the Bible that he was trying to step up before it was time, but every time it was time he was right there, ready and willing. And we have info about Joshua and his life in more than just the book of Joshua - we see him in Exodus and in Deuteronomy and Joshua.
He was always ready because he was always willing to do what God said to do. So pointing the spear in the exact direction the Lord told him to point it was easy peasy lemon squeezy for him because he already had the spear in his hand. The more you do the things God says to do, the easier it is to keep doing the things God says to do. (Can I say that again? It’s so true!) Say it again
So what is the promise here?
Let me skip down in chapter 8 of the book of Joshua and read verse 26 - “For Joshua did not withdraw his hand with which he stretched out the spear until he had utterly destroyed the inhabitants of Ai.”
Joshua listened for the Lord and then when the Lord spoke he listened to the Lord. He did as the Lord said. And he finished it. With totality. Not with partiality. (sometimes I finish with more partial-ness than total-ness and when I do that, well, I am flat wrong).
He just kept holding out that spear that was in his hand, directly toward Ai, the next place they were told by God to conquer, and he did not withdraw his hand until it was done. The word Utterly here is fitting.
You have anything you need to be done with utterly? Have something you know God wants you to do but you are doing it partially and not totally? That’s okay! What won’t really be just okay is if you hear God’s Word today and then keep on not doing that thing totally. Don’t be partial anymore. Be total. Be utterly.
Sometimes we have got to do the thing God wants us to do and then the victory comes. That’s the promise I find here. To not be so afraid anymore. To just do the thing, Jan, and do it utterly. To slay the beast of partiality in my life and just do that thing with some ferocity, with totality.
Don’t put that thing down just yet, my friend. God may have placed it in your hand for this exact season, for such a time as this. Don’t even lower it. Keep your eye on the prize. That which the Lord has called you to point at the enemy, listen, until the enemy and all the inhabitants of the enemy’s domain are utterly destroyed - keep pointing and don’t drop your arm or even lower your arm a little teeny bit.
Make giving up a non-option. And believe that the utterly will come as you do the pointing at the enemy with what’s already in your hand for Kingdom work. That’s a great promise, isn’t it?
Be a Joshua in our generation and see what God might do!
Lord bless you as you continue to live believing God's promises are true for you - because they really, truly are!
Jan L. Burt
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) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
#InternationalPodcastDay
Today is a special day on the podcast - kind of an awesome day, a pretty cool day in the world of podcasting. Today, the day that this episode releases, the very last day of September 2022, is International Podcast Day. How fun is that? That there is a day when you can just throw up that hashtag, and if you are a podcaster just share, maybe a bit more broadly than you normally do - and I say that to say, would you share this episode today?
In this episode I share about one of my all time absolute favorite Bible verses and it was really in many ways a total game changer , a life changer for me in my parenting, even in my marriage, and in my understanding of how the Lord cares for me, how He takes care of me. He used this verse so, so many times to guide me in my decisions, my decision making. It’s just one verse from the OT book of Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 11.
If there is something God is calling you to do, or a time of rest He is asking you to take where it feels like you are pressing the pause button on things, go ahead and do it. God will bless it. He wants you to do that thing, so do it. He loves you enough to lay on your heart to do this thing, so do it. If you have people God has placed in your life who love you enough to tell you what you really need to hear, please listen. Take heed. He speaks to us through His word, the Bible. And remember when Jesus said it was better for us that He go away so that the Holy Spirit would come and remind us of everything we need to know, tell us things we need to know, guide us, counsel us. How amazing is it that God has all these things in place to lead us, to tell us what we need to hear, to bless us, encourage us, help us, protect us, for our good and for His glory. Do that thing.
Gonna get to the episode from Isaiah in a second, but I want to share this verse with you today. It’s from Psalm 55, Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken.
I’m going to read it again, and if you’ve listened to the podcast before then you know I often talk about that word will when we find it in a verse, in one of God’s promises, and this is a promise right? If we do the casting, cast your cares on the Lord, it says He will sustain us. I’m going to read it again and put emphasis on that word will. Because that really cements in my heart and mind that God means it. When He says will, He is not playing. He is not messing around. His will does not mean maybe. When He says will it means WILL. It is absolute.
So, I’m going to read it again. I want you to just listen and think about what cares you have that you need to cast on the Lord today. So, first of all, think about that. I mean that's the first part of this verse. It rings true to what Peter said about casting your cares, your burdens, on the Lord. And what Jesus said about taking His yoke upon you because it is gentle and light. I’ve heard people say that the OT doesn’t apply to them, and I’d be careful to go too far along that line of thinking. Some people don’t ever read the OT due to that way of thinking, so yeah, I’m here to say this verse applies to you. It’s in both the O and NT. God wants you to cast your cares on Him, so his enemy the devil does not want you to do that. Let me read it and you think on what you need to cast onto Him today.
Don’t try to kind of pretty them up, you don’t need to set aside a couple of hours to write them all out. This says cast. Think of throwing off a heavy burden. The very moment you can do that, take off those work boots, get off that cramped plane and stretch out your legs, you do those things as soon as you are able. This is similar. Cast those cares as soon as you are able. And how often are you able? Whenever you realize you are carrying a heavy care. Cast it then, don’t wait till a better time. This is the better time. If you feel like maybe, you don’t have time to do that right now, well, you have time to shoo a wasp away from you right? You don’t ponder if you have time right now. You move quickly. Casting these off of yourself and onto the Lord, chucking them, it doesn't take a ton of time. Like shooing that wasp away, chuck these things away. Just do as the Bible says! Once you do that casting of your cares on the Lord, what will happen? He will sustain you. What’s better than that, my friend?
And He will do it with complete ability, authority, and perfection. You can count on it.
He WILL sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. We’re not righteous in ourselves. There is a zero percent chance of that. But God sees us through Jesus, we are literally gifted His righteousness. So, this promise applies to all who know Jesus, who have repented and received his forgiveness and made Him Lord. It’s our promise, and it’s beautiful.
That’s the intro for this episode, thank you for listening and don’t forget it’s International Podcast Day so please pretty please share this episode. Only comes around once a year!
Isaiah 40:11 (New King James Version)
He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
Have you heard the saying, “Find a need and fill it?”
There was a season of my life when I was going and going and going like crazy - doing all the church things and serving in every way I possibly could. But what I wasn't doing was asking the Lord what His specific will was for me in each area I was serving. Serving is in no way wrong (Jesus said so in Mark 10:45). But serving so much that you haven't been able to go to church or small group and worship the Lord...that's where I was at. God had to get my attention and show me that as the mother of young children, He would lead me gently everywhere He wanted me to go and serve.
I learned to talk to Him about every area service, and knowing that His word clearly said that if I was not being gently led, then I was out of His will made it so much easier to say no to some things and yes to other things.
Regarding "finding a need and filling it", it can be pretty easy to step into some form of service for a while, and then step back out of serving. But when we are letting God lead us gently in all that we do, we end up receiving a calling. And stepping out of our calling for any reason is, quite frankly, sin.
Learning this in my 20s as a mom of young children saved me so much frustration and fatigue. I served BETTER in the areas to which I was called. It was a win-win for everyone.
If you would like to join the online prayer group on Facebook, here is the link (request to join and we'll get you added to the group right away!)
Friday Sep 23, 2022
Friday Sep 23, 2022
T
ake the quiz "Which of God's Promises is for You?" via this LINK.
Luke 3: 1-3 (Amplified) - Now in the fifteenth year of [Emperor]Tiberius Caesar’s reign—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod [Antipas] was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas [his son-in-law], the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises available at Amazon
~~~ While God was doing a work of preparation in John the Baptist's life prior to the start of his ministry, He was also doing a work of preparation to the times & seasons, leaders & authorities in which John's ministry work would take place. God was setting the stage with perfection in the way that only He can.
~~~ The "leaning in" that we need to do during times of preparation is so terribly important. If you find yourself in this place in your life right now, don't become weary or annoyed; instead, choose to lean in and be a good student in whatever it is the Lord is teaching you.
~~~ God is good at time. Never forget this truth! God is perfect when it comes to navigating the times and seasons of our lives.
~~~ We do not need to try and strong-arm God in order to obtain His specific promises and His specific words to us. (See verse 3 above - the Word of God came to John...if it came, then it had been sent. Trust God to send you what you most need, when you most need it.)
~~~ The way to have a truly powerful ministry is to allow God to prepare you, trust Him to set the stage, receive the word that He sends you, and then act in obedience to that word He sent you. Make up your mind in advance that you will do whatever God says to do. What will you do when you get something from the Lord? I truly hope that you will choose to share it with others.
~~~ Three Questions from verses 10-14 (verses are listed below)
#1 - What do I have that I can share today? (see verse 11)
#2 - Am I doing my work or handling resources wrongly or rightly? (see verses 12 & 13)
#3 - Am I content & would I be able to describe myself as "satisfied" with my lot in life? (see verse 14)
10 The crowds asked him, “Then what are we to do?” 11 And John replied, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do the same.” 12 Even some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked, “Teacher, what are we to do?” 13 And he told them, “Collect no more than the fixed amount you have been ordered to [collect].” 14 Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us, what are we to do?” And he replied to them, “Do not extort money from anyone or harass or blackmail anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
Lord bless you as you continue to live believing God's promises are true for you - because they really, truly are!
Jan L. Burt
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) & “The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner” (a multi-grade, multi-subject planning system) – which can be found at JanLBurt.com. She has also been a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Find Jan Instagram: @JanLBurt or at her website JanLBurt.com or at her YouTube channel, “God’s Promises for You with Jan L. Burt”.
Friday Sep 16, 2022
Friday Sep 16, 2022
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises book available on Amazon
#FromTheVault
Today we are looking at a NT verse from the book of Matthew, chapter 19 and verse 26. I will quote the NLT first, and it says, “With God everything is possible.”
Huge promise here. Huge.
Two things to note right off the bat:
#1 - what’s the verb in this sentence? IS - That’s present tense, folks. So right now, RIGHT NOW, with God everything IS possible. IS. This is a present tense promise.
#2 - God is not a liar.
This is really important to remind ourselves of, like, all the time. Every day. And you and I need to say this out loud. God is not a liar. Hey, devil, guess what? Lemme just remind you of this one thing, satan… God is not a liar. Hey, that fear that is creeping in? Speak to that fear and tell it this absolute, immovable, solid like a mountain sized boulder truth: God is not a liar.
Okay, so let’s think about your life right now. Do you have a health issue? Do you have a financial issue? Do you have relationship issues? Do you have problems at work? Is your extended family in a mess or in duress? Does your life look totally unlike you and your spouse or your friends thought it was gonna look like right now?
Let me just read once more the words of Jesus found here in Matthew 19:26 - With God everything is possible.
If it’s your health, it’s possible with Him. Your job your career - possible with Him. Your relationships - possible with God.
But remember, this verse covers over every single thing.
Don’t let your ideas about life get in the way of living the life God has laid out before you. We do it all the time - and if we just keep doing it, what impossibility are we going to miss out on?
He brings dead things to life all the time but we may be missing that in our own lives because we have failed to remind ourselves that the God of the impossible is our God.
This verse is for your present tense life, my friend.
And God? He does not lie to us.
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Deuteronomy 31:8 (New Living Translation) -
"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you."
(and verse 7 of this chapter says: "Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, 'Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors He would give them...")
#FromTheVault
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises available at Amazon
Key Points ~~~
We need to listen up - take notes - pay careful attention - and do whatever we are called to do when we study our Bible and sense the Lord speaking to us.
Don't be an inactive, indifferent student of the Word!
This promise is massive - it is so big that it leaves us no room to talk our way out of it or wiggle our way around it in order to avoid it...we must simply believe it.
The only way God's promises will not be for you is if you refuse to move with the Lord & instead just sit down on the sidelines. Do not sit out on your own life!
The promises of God should go hand-in-glove with our prayer lives. Appropriating God's promises is the real point of knowing God's promises.
Take the quiz "Which of God's Promises is for You?" via this LINK.
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Monday Aug 29, 2022
Well hello there, and welcome to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show podcast.
Take the quiz "Which Promise from the Bible is for You?" here
Take the quiz "What Kind of Mom Are You?" here
Today we are taking a look at four verses from Psalm 27, which is an excellent passage of the Bible to read if you are in need of some extra encouragement or some reassurance that God does hear and answer your prayers.
It’s one of David’s psalms, and those are always encouraging to me in part because they are honest and real and kind of raw. What a good reminder to be honest with God when we pray. He can handle our honesty! He made us with emotions, and He can handle us having emotions. But hiding stuff quote / unquote away from God when we pray, well, it really only harms us, and stuffing stuffing stuffing emotions is hard on us - look, He already knows what we are struggling with and how we are feeling. So let the words of Psalm 27 spur you toward more and more honesty and transparency with the Lord when you pray.
In today’s episode I would like to take a look at verses 7 through 10 of Psalm 27, and I am going to read from the NLT.
7
Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!
8
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”
And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
9
Do not turn your back on me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
O God of my salvation!
10
Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close.
Asking God, crying out to Him, almost pleading with Him to hear you as you pray - that’s heart cry praying, isn’t it? Be merciful and answer me! Sounds very much like a man crying out from the depths of his heart, and there is actually a boldness to this kind of praying. Now I am not saying you get to wag your finger at God and tell Him what to do. No, that’s irreverence and that is unbiblical. However, boldly asking Him to hear you, because you are in a bad way and you really need to be heard! That's boldly coming to His throne of grace to find help and to obtain mercy at your time of need (that’s from the book of Hebrews).
My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me,” and my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
Did you know that the Lord calls out to you to come and talk with Him when you are in those hard, long, taxing places of life? He does! In our modern era, we can so often miss Him calling to us because we are so busy, almost undone at times due to the hectic pace of life, and the constant scroll on our phones only adds to our inability to hear Him calling to us. Remember Elijah’s experience with the Lord, when the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake or the mighty wind or the fire, but was a still small voice, more like a rustling. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God of the Bible is the God of right now. He didn’t yell when Elijah needed to hear from Him, and He most likely is not going to start yelling at you and me today. We need to listen, to pay attention, to heed Him calling to us, saying, “Jan, come and talk with me.” and our response should be, “Lord, I am coming.”
We are not always the best about that, if we are totally honest and forthright.
We want Him to hear us and answer us right away.
But we don’t hurry to spend time with Him when He calls us to come and talk with Him.
Let’s have an attitude of listening well for His call, knowing that His Word says He will call us to come and talk with Him, and then let’s answer Him. Like, without delay. As soon as possible, just get busy about going to talk with Him. Put the phone away. Get somewhere quiet, even if it’s in your car or in the bathroom. Use the john, hit the head, to use old school dude terminology, and shut yourself away for a bit to talk with Him.
With.
Talk WITH Him.
Not at Him. Not just to Him. Not you talk talk talk and then go back to your work or grab your phone again or whatever.
Talking with Him is a conversation, it goes both ways. Talk to Him, yup. And also, be quiet and listen. He has something to say to you, if He is calling you to come and talk with Him. But, are you really listening?
In verse 9 we see what is kind of like David dumping out his feelings, like literally doing a pour out. Maybe that’s not an actual thing, but I like to think of it that way - do a pour out of all the things that I am feeling, thinking, my emotions that are screaming loudly and want to dictate my decisions and what I believe about God. Get that all out, pour it out to the Lord and just purge it. Don’t bottle it up inside.
Let me read verse 9 again - Do not turn your back on me.
Do not reject your servant in anger.
You have always been my helper.
Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me,
O God of my salvation!
This is kind of intense! David had so much emotion, he really was dealing with a whole slew of emotions and feelings that could have left him overwhelmed.
Don’t let your feelings make your decisions.
Take them to the Lord and do a full pour out, share it all with Him in prayer, and then hear what He has to say to you after that.
Just tell Him that you feel like you are on the verge of being rejected or abandoned, if that is how you are feeling. Ask Him not to leave you, but to be a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Ask Him to keep His promise to never leave you nor forsake you. And He never breaks a promise, because our God is a perfect promise maker and a perfect promise keeper.
It’s like a good cry, remember that my female friends, from your teen years? Cry it out. Have a good, long cry and then feel so much better. I’ve heard there is some science to prove why you feel better, that it actually releases endorphins after a good hard cry and also that toxins are expelled through your tears. It’s not a bad thing to cry! Maybe we could start normalizing the “have a good cry” again. I kind of would love that for all of us! How helpful would that be?
The God of your salvation is not going to leave you or abandon you. In fact, dare I say, the God of your salvation isn’t going anywhere! Hang your hat on that truth, my friend!
Verse 10 declares that even if my father and mother abandoned me, the Lord will hold me close. David, the psalmist, is making a very strong point here. He is speaking in extremes so that you can be 1000% certain about this - hope in this - rely on this - know this to be true - even if the craziest things happen in your life, your God, He ain’t going no where. He will not budge. Not one iota. His love for you, it will not stop. It will not cease. He is there, right there with you and that is where He will remain.
This is your promise.
And all of God’s promises prove true, it says in the OT book of Joshua.
In the NT we read that all of God’s promises are yes and amen through Christ Jesus our Lord.
So in the Old or New Testament, we are guaranteed that every single promise is true, will keep on being true, and will come to pass.
Today is going to be a slightly shorter episode of the podcast, but I want to mention just a couple of things real quick.
God is for you, my friend. He is more for you, more in your corner, than you may realize. But I am praying He shows up, shows off, shows out how in your corner He is this fall!
Hang on to Him, do the pour out as often as you need to, and listen to Him in your prayer time. He wants to bless you, and I am encouraging you to believe Him for the blessing today!
See ya next time!
Bye bye.
Saturday Aug 20, 2022
Saturday Aug 20, 2022
Well hello again! Thanks for joining me here at The Burt (Not Ernie) Show - getting the promises of God into the people of God, just stacking up those promises week after week, and praying that God’s people would be so given to belief, that our natural bent would be toward believing fully every single promise from God’s Word, that we would leave a mark, a holy mark, on our generation.
Get access to the Psalm 91 audio course here
The Power of God's Will - 40 Days of God's Promises available at Amazon
Wouldn’t that be an awesome legacy? To be able to look back in your old age, during those golden years, to pause and reflect and know that you truly believed God’s Word and you prayed big, bold, daring and sometimes perhaps even audacious prayers based on nothing in the visible realm but based on what the Bible says. Wowza, what an impact! What a legacy that would be! I want in on that, gimme some of that - more of that, please!
That’s why I do what I do week after week, so that you can have that kind of legacy. A legacy that is rooted in a Kingdom impact. And today, well today is a big day on the show because today we take a look at two verses from the prophet Isaiah that are astoundingly, incredibly remarkable. If we would just choose to believe these words from the Bible.
You’re listening to The Burt (Not Ernie) Show, part of the Spark Network, now playing in the Edifi app. This is episode number 118.
Alrighty, well here we are in the heat of summer here in Wichita, Kansas. And the Farmer’s Almanac says we are going to have an arctic kind of winter, snowfall above normal and hibernation temps. What a contrast from the blasting oven of heat that lies just outside my front door today, to think of cold that is described as a hibernation zone, glacial, snow filled. And that is the kind of contrast we see between Isaiah 55:10-11 and the way we often pray and what we do or do not believe God for in our actual, walking around lives. Blasting heat it’s an oven outside versus arctic hibernation winter temps. What it says in the Bible versus how I pray and what I believe is going to prove true as a result of how I pray. Often a very stark difference, if we are totally honest. But, is that how the Lord wants it to be?
Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11 are ones you have probably heard many times, and portions of these verses are regularly mentioned when people pray. So if it’s familiar, well, that’s good - it should be very familiar to us. I know for me personally, I want people who will pray these verses over my life, over my requests, my needs, my emergencies, my future, my children, the work of my hands, my marriage, and so on like ad nauseum. Pray this, please! And pray it as often as you want to! I’m thankful for it!
Let me read it to you from the Amplified.
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, making it bear and sprout, and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will My word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to Me void (useless, without result), without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Anybody else get a little bit excited, pumped up, when you hear those words?
This is God speaking in quotes here in Isaiah 55. God is making this promise about His Word, and He has not stated this in secret, in a quiet corner, in obscurity. He has loudly and boldly proclaimed it and I believe, with all of my heart, that He wants us to take Him at His word.
He meant what He said here, and He said exactly what He meant.
We can know with absolute certainty the will of God when it comes to His Word accomplishing what He desires. And when we know for certain God’s will on a matter, we need to believe Him and we should pray in accordance with what His will is. It is a dangerous game, and total folly, to do otherwise.
We are not like a senseless animal being led around by a bit in our mouth, right? We are the ones who have this great opportunity to believe God’s Word, right here and right now, in the midst of this generation. And I promise you this: you will never regret believing God for what He has said in the Bible. Conversely, what you doubt Him for, where you refuse to believe, that may well become a regret that weighs on you for a very long time.
Because what we believe God for, especially when it comes to what we ask God for in prayer, has an eternal impact, one way or another. For good or for not good. Your prayers matter. And when you pray knowing that God’s Word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish what He desires and will succeed in the matter for which He sent it? Oh that’s big time praying, my friend.
That’s money, right there. That’s the good life, in the most literal sense that I know of.
Anybody here ever heard of the author Susie Larson? She writes books, like a lot of them, and she has a daily radio show and is a speaker. I really am blessed by her show, by her books, her speaking appearances. She is someone who lives life in the real world, prays boldly based on God’s Word, and believes the Lord continually, at times in the face of a whole lot of difficulty and at times with the devil throwing lies right into her face. There is one thing Susie Larson often says that is just so true, it’s kind of like once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it, ya know? She says that the devil always overplays his hand. It’s like satan can’t not over-do things! He just is so full of pride and loathing for God and is such a liar, like can’t not lie and cannot ever stop lying, that he overdoes things. Susie kind of describes it like this: you and I, we may be thinking that what’s happening in our lives, it’s just life on this planet. And so we just endure it. We bear up under it. We keep on keepin’ on. We may pray about it a little bit, but mostly we just trudge along under the weight of it because we don’t recognize it as an attack sent by the enemy. And then, one day, all of a sudden, something just a wee bit more happens (or maybe something kind of big happens). The thing that happens is linked somehow to what you’ve already been dealing with. For example, health issues. Finances. Maybe your children’s behavior. Like, just that one more thing and then, boom, you see clearly that this is the enemy and it is for sure from him and you know God is not expecting you to just keep taking it. You sort of take pause and realize that this is too much to be just life in a broken world. This is not just life; this is from the enemy. You realize this isn’t about growing the fruit of the Spirit in your life, this is a satanic attack and there is a huge difference in how we respond. I’m talking about a realization that this is something that God wants you to be out from under, and you know that by prayer you will be freed from this particular attack.
Satan has overplayed his hand. And now that he has overplayed his hand, it’s all over but the crying. It’s over, Rover. Done deal. Finito.
Have you had moments like that? When you just knew, in an instant, based on that one more thing, that satan was behind it and now you could see it all clearly, whereas if he had just kept quiet and left well enough alone, so to speak, you never would have known it was him and you would have just kept enduring it. He always, always overplays his hand. He can’t NOT overplay his hand. It’s like a temptation he is unable to resist, gnawing at him, until he adds just a bit more…and then, you see it all clearly and you seek God’s help and then it all turns around for you.
These verses from Isaiah are in direct contradiction to satan overplaying his hand. They give us the keys to overcome him, and we do that in prayer and often in fasting along with our praying.
When it rains, when it snows, the earth is watered. It’s not possible for rain to not water. God sends the rain to water the earth, causing it to bear and to sprout, to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eater. It’s a beautiful picture of how God sustains us. Jesus is the Living Water, and all who come to Him will never thirst again (as He said to the woman at the well). He satisfies spiritually, which is far more important and vital than our physical bodies. And God sends rain to make sure that things keep working according to His design, that we would have seed to sow, to keep on growing more and more food, to keep on harvesting, to keep on sowing more and more seed. And for bread to eat, which of course is a result of the harvest which is a result of sowing, or planting, which grows because of the rain that God sends for that purpose.
And what God sends the rain to do, that is what gets done. Period. It doesn’t get to talk back and tell God it isn’t interested in doing what He wants it to do. It just does as it was sent to do. The intention is fulfilled, always.
And guess what? That is how God wants us to see His Word. It works in our lives, it does what He intends for it to do, it is life giving and life changing and life sustaining. And it never stops working. God set it up that way!
And boy oh boy, I sure don’t want to be one who tries to undo God’s order for things. I don’t want to be a woman who pushes against the way God set things up. I want to honor my Lord, with my daily life, and I want to trust Him so completely that I feel weird not trusting Him. I want to believe His Word so much that I feel out of whack if I don’t believe. I hope you want that, too.
So we have this picture of how rain does what it is sent to do, how it waters the earth and provides seed and food.
In verse 11, God says, “So will My word be which goes out of My mouth”.
Oh boy, that right there gets me excited. Do you know what this means? It means that what God has said is EXACTLY what will take place. You can call it what you like, I’m gonna call it how it be. The word of God, as we find it in our Bibles, that is how it is going to be. Might as well get on board with that starting right now, today. It’s the truth, like it or not. So might as well choose to like it.
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth.
That is a promise for the ages!
How could I ever pray a tiny, small, faithless prayer when I could instead pray a big, bold, believing prayer that reminds all of hell that the word of my God always and in all ways accomplishes that for which He sends it?
The only way I can pray itty bitty snack sized prayers is if I choose to.
I choose NOT to pray teeny weeny prayers, thank you very much.
I want to see the will of my God happening all over this earth that He made, that He created. I want to see that! And so I pray what His word says and I believe that not one bit of it will return to Him void.
Because He says here that it will not return to Him void, useless, or without result.
When God says “WILL NOT”, isn’t it pretty silly for us to say, “Well, maybe it will but maybe it won’t”.
Silly is a nice way of saying, bordering on sinful to doubt God so much.
If you play with fire, what’s the saying? You will get burned.
Expect the Word of God to do what God sends it forth to do. Expect nothing less. You know the One to whom you pray, to Whom you have entrusted your eternity, the One who holds the keys of death and hell, he took them back from satan - do you think He can’t handle whatever it is you are facing? You’re probably not facing death as in you are already dead, as Jesus was in that tomb for three days, and you for sure are not standing in hell, which is a real place, the Bible has a lot to say about hell in the New Testament and before your time here ends you need to read the Gospels and see what Jesus said about heaven and hell. What you are dealing with isn’t too hard for the Lord. He defeated death and hell. Why are you afraid to pray and ask Him to deal with your hard places?
Don’t give in to that fearfulness and thus pray small, unbelieving prayers. Don’t be afraid; just believe, said Jesus to the man whose little daughter had just died. Don’t be afraid, just believe. I think you can do that today. I’m asking you to do that today.
His word will not return to Him without accomplishing what He desires (not what you and I desire, what He desires but remember when you trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, acknowledging Him in all your ways, He will make your paths straight - and on that straight path, you won’t be wanting things that aren’t what He wants. Psalm 37:4 tells us to take delight in the Lord and He will give us our hearts desires. That is the Word of God, my friend, and Isaiah 55 promises that it will not return to Him void but will accomplish what He desires. Isn’t this great news!!! I love this so much!)
The last part of verse 11 says this - and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
When God says something can’t be done, that issue is settled.
Pay attention closely when you see Him say clearly that something cannot be done.
What cannot be done here?
His Word can’t NOT succeed in the matter for which He sent it. It CANNOT return to Him void, useless, without result. It CAN’T NOT accomplish what God desires.
Let’s pray like we believe God on this, okay?
Call me crazy if you want to, I seriously do not care. Crazy enough to get everything God has for me in answer to prayer based on His word? I guess maybe that may seem crazy to the world but it certainly should not seem crazy to the Church, to the Body of Christ. It should be the norm. We should be shocked by unbelief more than bold belief.
Let’s pray big. Start today. Or tomorrow morning during your quiet time. Before you go to sleep tonight. Pray big. Never cease in praying expectantly, knowing God intends for His word to fulfill what He has sent it for.
Thanks for joining me today on the podcast. I’m grateful for you listening and I’d love for you to share this episode if it blessed you or encouraged you or even challenged you today. Share it on your social media maybe, or mention it to a friend or your small group, those are some pretty easy ways to share the show. And if one person is encouraged, wouldn’t that be so wonderful? The prayer they pray may just be the one that breaks that family stronghold, that emboldens someone to do God’s will in some certain part of their life, that brings healing, emotional or physical or both, into someone’s life. The prayer someone prays may be the very prayer God answers and by doing so, totally turns your life around. So, yeah, please share this episode.
I don’t usually feel an urge to ask you to share, but this episode I can’t not ask you to share because it’s not about what Jan says, it’s what the word of God has to say and somebody as a result of a shared post or text or old school email, somebody is about to experience something with God that will bless them and encourage them and be just what they need at this point in their life.
Thanks for sharing the show, and God bless you. Praying for all my listeners, and you probably have a good idea of how I am praying for you after listening to this episode. I’m expecting God to answer my prayers and do mighty things in your life.
See you next time when we will jump back to Psalm 27 and take a look at the promises God provides us there.
Bye bye.