Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by a Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_04 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined again with Pastor Tim, and we are in week three of our series, Miked Up, where we are looking at some of the questions that God asks of his people. And so we spent three weeks in our uh hard question series asking God some questions. And now uh not necessarily a rebuttal, um, but God's getting the chance to ask the questions now. And so uh we are in week three of that series. Week one, we looked at uh his question to Adam and Eve, where are you? Then we uh looked at in week two that question, what do you want me to do for you uh when Jesus is talking to that blind man? And then now uh question from this past Sunday is what is your name?

SPEAKER_02 1:19

It's uh I I've preached this sermon before, um, but I called it He Knows Your Name and uh kind of went through the the the same process and as you tell the story of Jacob, uh there's a lot of things involved there that uh I'd love to have a two-hour sermon. I didn't get to preach it because of the child death.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

I think you had about ten minutes left.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Yeah, and uh, but I I got the last section of it in there. Um but um how should I put this together? There's in the life of Jacob, there's we should probably do a sermon series on Jacob. There's a lot of things involved. There's trust, there's parenting, there's um trusting God with his word. Uh and there's a lot of things that develops in this story that goes on to affect Jacob when he has his own kids dealing with his own wives, that type of thing. And it's just uh it's like a

God Has A Name For You

SPEAKER_02 2:30

tough piece of meat, you know. You start chewing on it and it feels like it's getting bigger, not smaller, you know. And uh so yeah, there's a lot of things in there um I would like to talk about. And um, but I think God uh he has a name for every one of us who calls him king. And uh Revelation tells us that he's gonna give us a stone with our name on it. And most scholars believe that that stone is the stone that the Romans uh Senate would use. They would get a stone to cast a ballot, and there would be a specific number of stones, and uh so that was the stone that you voted with, and then you got it back after the vote was over. And uh so it was a kind of a precious thing, kind of like a a signet ring, you know. This is from Senator so-and-so, so there was no um anonymous voting, and they knew who put which rock and which side. So everybody seems to think that that's what uh John was kind of lining it up. So we don't know if it's a a rock, but it just seemed like the same thing to John, so he um he wrote it that way, and and that's the way we interpret it. I don't know. We don't know, and uh but the thing is that it has a name. And uh I've argued all the way around that situation when we study Revelations, and um, so I'm gonna just tell you flat out what it is. I don't know. But uh I think God has a a name for us. He has uh He created us for purpose, He gave us the abilities for that purpose, and I believe when we get to heaven on that day, we're gonna find out what the rest of eternity is gonna um how we're gonna be involved in that. And uh so it's it's not um teacher, preacher, um, childcare, nursing. It's this is gonna be forever. So it's gonna be so much bigger than just uh what we would classify as a talent or a career or something like that. It'll be so much bigger. You know how your life is. You know, I was an air traffic controller for years, but I was also a preacher, I was also a dad, I was also a hiker, you know, there's just raising kids, and I was also married, I should have put that first. There's um all kinds of things that I am um that I love. And uh so you whatever your name is is gonna incorporate everything he made you to be. And I'm a at that's the kind of stuff that gets me excited about heaven. You know, just who am I really? You know, I got so many things dragging me down, my own thoughts, my own lust, my own um just just bends me left and right. If I didn't have that, who would I be? You know, because I think I'm great now.

SPEAKER_04 5:47

Just wait till heaven. Yeah, when you read scripture and you look at names, they they carried a whole lot more significance. You know,

Why Names Matter In Scripture

SPEAKER_04 6:00

I mean we pick names today because we like them, they're cute, whatever the case is. Um but I mean, names like really defined a person. Um in the old testament. Yeah, you you talked about the one guy his name was Payne, you know. Uh J.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Beth.

SPEAKER_04 6:16

Yeah. What did Naomi say? Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara because um bitter. Bitter, yeah. And it's like it names were a defining characteristic of that person. Absolutely. And you know, you had about 10 minutes. Man, we had I think it ended up being 10 families. We had one whose uh kid was sick, so they couldn't be a part of it, they'll be part of the next one. Um, but I think it was nine or ten families that dedicated their kids to the Lord. And what a great day. Oh man, it was awesome. And the stage is just full, which I I told you all, you better start inviting your friends, or God, you know, we're praying God'll make you pregnant. Apparently, you're not inviting enough friends because we got babies everywhere in this place. But you so you only had about 10 minutes, and it's so hard in in 10 minutes to truly and I man, I I thought you did great. I listened to both sermons, first service and second one, and man, I thought in the first service you were really forced to like hit the highlights, right? Like, here is but man, I thought it was so impactful. Um but it's hard in that 10 minutes to really capture who Jacob was. That name deceiver, heel grabber. Like it it defined so much about how he lived his life, the kind of person he was, um the thoughts, the you know, how do I measure up to this and you know, all these things um that he dealt with, his name just captured it so perfectly. And man, I was like, how do you do that in 10 minutes? We're talking chapters, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

When we look uh just with his relationship with his mom, you know, at first, uh when we first see Rebecca

Rebekah’s Scheme And Our Control

SPEAKER_02 8:00

and Isaac, Rebecca's like, yeah, I want a princess like that. She she was something else. But God gives her tells her what's going on. She asks him a question. She said, What's going on with these? She says, Well, you're and you're you're pregnant with two nations and they're battling it out now, which kind of um foretells you know what's what's gonna happen between them, and it actually does happen. And uh, but he he when God told her that the older will serve the younger, she takes on that responsibility. And and it messes everything up. It just it it really um she she takes a hold of that and she starts scheming, and then Jacob um since he was her favorite and probably spent more time with her, she did he learned a scheme. And uh unfortunately those schemes worked. And so, you know, he's living a life. Well, uh, you know, I don't need to be honest here, I'll just scheme and I'll make it out on top. And uh unfortunately she learned it from Lehman who schemed Joseph. Right, right. And so he's living this life, and and if you stand back and you think about it from uh intersectionality here, you know, we've been talking about this since 2015, 16, you know, who is the most hurt and who is the most they got, you know, we gotta look at that and decide, you know, who we who's who's got the best foundation for morality, which I have a hard time with all that, uh, just to let you know. But if you look at Jacob, he fits right in. He was his mom showed him how to scheme, he didn't know anything else, his brother didn't take him hunting, his dad didn't uh care about him or whatever it was, and it looks like that he was just in the pipe to end up being Jacob. Right, right? And uh so we wanna we wanna look at that and and say, well, you know, it makes sense that he would go that way. Look, it makes sense. All right, I get it. It makes sense to us but right is right and wrong is wrong. And you know, and Jacob knew. Right and so when you choose to do wrong to grasp you know, stuff that's not yours, then it yeah, of course. Um things can go terribly wrong, or they can go terribly well. Look at Congress. You go in there, you make $170,000 a year, and you walk out with $20 million. Millionaire. Yeah, that is some Wow.

SPEAKER_04 11:09

You know, you have his mom doing all this scheming in the background, right? And God had already told her what was gonna happen. He didn't need her to do the scheming to make this.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

And that's the point I meant to make when I started that whole essay. Bring that out because that's important because we do this to God all the time.

SPEAKER_04 11:29

And it's happened over and over. You had it with Abraham, right? And Sarah. Right. He said, here's what's gonna happen. And Sarah, before she was Sarah, was like, uh, well, you know what? Why don't you take Hagar and and go make this happen, Abraham? Yeah, and then what happens there? She's ticked off, she's upset, she you need to send them away, divides this whole family. Then you have Rebecca doing the same thing here with Jacob. I got a scheme, I gotta make this. This is what God said is gonna happen, and so we gotta, you know, we gotta figure this out. We gotta figure it out so that he can be on top. And in the process, has divided this family. And then when if he finally takes not just the birthright, but the blessing, he he leaves and she never sees him again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Well we don't know if that if that happened or not, and it's not mentioned in the Bible, but she's out, she's out of the picture.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

Yeah, she's never mentioned after that. So you wouldn't, I guess you're making an assumption there. Right. But that it was likely she probably passed away while he was gone. And I mean he was gone a long time. Um what it ended up being, 20-something years. Yeah, because he worked 14 for the the daughters, and then he had to work again to get uh the sheep or goats or whatever. So he I think it was like 20-something years. He was there working for Laban. His mom likely passed away and probably never got to see him, never got to meet his wife, never got to see the grandkids that we know of. I mean, did they ever make trips in that time to go see the grandkids? I don't know. Um most people didn't travel that far, you know? And and all that scheming, and it was like, for what? God could have done all that.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

Right. He told you what was gonna happen, and he didn't get any of it because he was gone for 20 years. He didn't get any of it. He came back with his own riches, right? Uh and uh Esau came back, and I know we have a hard time with Esau because of that scripture verse that says, I despised Esau and I Jacob I loved and Esau I hated. Yeah. Well, and we we kind of put connotations in that, but I tell you what, Esau just seems like a normal guy to me.

SPEAKER_04 13:47

Well, you you want to look at if if you're God and you're like, which of these two boys am I gonna pick? I got the the guy who goes out and hunts provides, or I got the guy who dwells in tents. I got this guy who's a deceiver and a schemer and all this stuff. Or Esau, who I mean, he was he was furious. I'm gonna kill him. But then after 20 years, when his brother comes back, he's like, Welcome home. I forgive you, brother. Like, we're just glad you're here. It's like, oh God, I'm not sure if we're picking the right man here.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Um now I'm sure that there's some things in Esau. Um he didn't marry the right women, and then um his dad said, you know, he didn't marry. So he divorced them and went and married some other women. Um so there is um there's some things that you can pick out in just about anybody, but from our mindset, we think, well, if you're choosing because of who they're gonna become, why would you choose this guy? And the answer to that is really simple, because I'm God and you're not. And uh we we tend to think that uh somehow that's placed on me, and that's what Rebecca actually did. We we have to make this happen. Isaac, I told Isaac what God said, and he's still gonna let Esau uh inherit everything. And um, which the inheritance, the blessing, had nothing to do with God's promise to Jacob. He said, I'm gonna do this for ya. And then she connected it to worldly things, which is something we do all the time. One of our biggest problems in the church uh for the last 25 years has been uh prosperity gospel. You know, this we're gonna take God's promises and make it about stuff. And um we man, we gotta learn that that's God doesn't care about stuff. Yeah all the stuff is his. So yeah, but you know, he'll he'll give good gifts to his son. Not if he don't want to. He he's still God. And so we need to understand uh sometimes that when we get out ahead of God, like uh Rebecca did, that um there's gonna be a reckoning. She lost her son for 20 years.

Rest In God’s Promise

SPEAKER_02 16:26

And uh so when God makes you a promise or you think he answered your prayer, but you don't see it yet, that if he said, Okay, I'm gonna do that, and uh you feel like you back that up with scripture, and then relax in it. Trust God's word. You don't have to make it happen. Right. He makes it happen. I'm glad you brought that out.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

That's such a good reminder because we we want to well, we're just tempted. And I think the the pressure of society and our culture pushes us into that. You you gotta make this thing happen. And in the very first more pathway class, we were talking about the word believe, you know, and it as it relates to salvation, but it means to transfer your weight to something, right? It's not just a mental ascent to say, okay, God, I believe that you're gonna save me. But if you look at even God's promises, his blessings in our life, okay, God, I I believe that you said that. But then we go out and we work like it's all dependent upon us still. Um we we have to transfer, we have to sit rest, like you just said, in that God's gonna do it. Now, does that mean you need to be faithful? Yes, you need to be faithful. But being faithful is not scheming and manipulating and deceiving your way into getting the the promise of God. You know, that that's not what we're talking about here.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Um But I I know I know it's confusing, guys, and and I want to um jump in here a minute because we're taught through the Old Testament prophets that God is saying, I'm gonna do this if you will just do that. This is not what we're talking about. We're not talking about that. He went out, he told her, I'm gonna do this for Jacob. That's done and said, okay? He's gonna do it. It had nothing to do with what she does, and she didn't have to make it happen. But at the same time, we read other scriptures where uh be my treasure, be faithful to me, and I won't let these guys attack you. You're not faithful to me, so I'm gonna let them attack you. You know, those are two different things. One where God puts the onus on you to stay faithful. Basically, he's just warning you what's gonna happen. I'm gonna let me come out and tell you, if you go this route, this is what you're gonna get. Which is what a good father always does, right? If you go this route, this is what you're gonna get. Um, but this is this is not the same thing as what she he told Rebecca. This is completely different. Uh Jacob's gonna be the guy. You don't have to worry about it, I got it. And uh but she worried about it. She thought it had to do with being the head of the family. Right. And it wasn't. And uh she lost him over it.

SPEAKER_04 19:13

Which, how many things have we lost because we tried to fight for it ourselves, you know? Um, and then you miss it. And uh breaks my heart, but um you have that, and that's that's the the model that Jacob grows up under, right? And so it's who he is, and then even when he runs, he has that you know dream, whatever, where he lays his head on that rock and you read it and you're like, I think you hit your head on the rock. I don't I'm not sure you were laying. I think you tripped and fell and got a concussion. Um, but he has this whole dream and all this, but he has this conversation with the Lord, and there's a whole lot of ifs thens. Right. If you'll do this, and if you'll do this, and if you'll do this, then you'll be my God, and all this. Yeah, and he's still now he's not just scheming with his dad or you know, his brother, he's talking to the Lord, and if you will do all of these things, then I'll serve you. Right. And so he goes, he's with his his uncle for 20-something years, and I mean it's it was rough.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

It was it was scheming scheme after scheme after scheme, and I'm sure the ones we know about weren't all the schemes that were happening in those 20 years. You know, it's it's been a um it's probably been a long 20 years for him because in the God that he put all the ifs to, when God says, I want you to go back home, he's like, I'm out. He just takes off.

SPEAKER_04 20:50

Yeah, yeah. We're gonna leave in the middle of the night, let's just go. Um, yeah. And imagine the that pressure, you know, of constantly who's lying to me, who's telling the truth, who's what are you trying to get out of this situation? And you could just never trust any of them. Even your father-in-law, who should be good to you, he's scheming the whole time, you know, and it's like so this is who Jacob is. Right. He's lived under this this system forever. And of course it's who he is. Yeah, how could he be any different? Now, you said it earlier, he still knows right from wrong, right? No, but it's everything in his way, and in that path, that pipe you called it earlier. This is the man it's shaping him up to be. And and he

Wrestling With God And Self

SPEAKER_04 21:40

just falls into it. And it's not until he gets back, the Lord calls him back home, he leaves, gets to that place, and he brought it out yesterday. Hey, your brother's coming, he's got four hundred guys. All right, line up all these people, you guys go and I'll see what happens over here. Right. He's a man who dwells in tents. I ain't getting out there fighting him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Um I mean No protection, no nothing for his family. Yeah, just smaller. I wonder how Leah and Rachel treated him after the situation. You know, they they really struggled with each other their whole lives, and Leah just wanted Jacob to love her and he wouldn't do it. But I I bet at this time they became sisters.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

Yeah. You see that schmuck we're married to? Yeah, what a what a mess that was. But he he sits there on the other side of the river there, and he has this wrestling match, and the Lord asked him a question. Who are you? What is your or what is your name? Right. And finally, Jacob has to confront all of that.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Right.

SPEAKER_04 22:55

So now, I mean, we're talking I don't I don't know how old he is at that point. 40s.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

Yeah, he he's probably older than that. He's got like 11 kids at this point.

SPEAKER_04 23:09

Yeah. Yeah. So maybe 50, 60. I mean, he's been gone at least 20 something years, plus all of his time growing up, you know. I don't know how old he was when he ran away. Um but I he's not a young guy anymore. And he comes to this place and has this wrestling match. And when he gets asked that question, what is your name? And I loved how you brought up the last time he was asked that same question, who are you? He lied. I'm Esau. I'm your firstborn son. And now, when he says Jacob, he's not just, you know, this isn't just what is your name on an application or on the connect card in the seat back in front of you. This is this is him coming to terms, coming to grips, coming clean with who he is. I I'm this isn't just my name. This is me. I'm the deceiver. I'm the manipulator. I'm the one who's been scheming this whole time. My name is Jacob. That's who I am.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

And I love um the

Jacob Confesses And Gets Renamed

SPEAKER_02 24:15

answer to that. You'll no longer be Jacob. And there's a scripture verse, and your wife used it as she was teaching uh the class on Sunday night. Um in uh Isaiah 43.1. Said, now this is what the Lord says the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel. And that's when we come to the Lord, um we've got to confess who we are. And I know we don't know who we are, but our attitude of our heart should be, I'm coming clean. Whoever I am, whoever, whatever you see, I'm gonna agree with. And um, I am Jacob. And God says, Well then let me change your name and inform you into

Trading A Birthright For Stew

SPEAKER_02 25:10

Israel. What a great um, I mean, we didn't even talk about the whole birthright thing where where Esau comes in and he's just he's hungry and he's mad and he's like, Give me some of your red stew. And Jacob's like, You gotta give me your birthright first. Now, right away, I'd like, I'm gonna beat you to death and take your stew. You know? Right, yeah. I don't know how this ended up in the the story this way. Um, but he said, Give me your birthright. And and because of his demand for gratification, he doesn't even think through it. He says, What difference does it make if I die here? Well, if you're that hungry, hit him over the head and eat his stew. But not even saying kill him. Yeah, just knock him out for him. Right. It's just uh it's a it's a weird thing. So you gotta think about it because all these stories are put in here for you to marinate on. So what's going on here? Well, what I think is going on, and he is so used to instant gratification that everything is mine and I want what I want, and I'm gonna take it like his first wife's. Um that he doesn't even think about. What what do you mean? Dude, if I want that soup, I'll take that soup. You can't stop me. No, his first thing is is I don't care about my birthright. And I think that's the I think that's the big thing right there. I want this more than my birthright. If Jacob said, I'm not gonna give you any of the soup, I think he gets hit on the head and he eats soup. I really do. I I think when he brought up the birthright, he was trying to show that I don't need that stuff. I don't need my dad to pat me on the head, I don't need uh whatever, and I I just the Bible says he despised his birthright. And so basically saying, Okay, I'll give it to you. I don't care. Just give me some of that soup. And I preached a sermon, The Red Stuff, um, years ago, and it was a it was a sermon about um that's the Hebrew word, the soup, was the red stuff, like it was beans and lentils or something like that. And I wonder how much red stuff is in our lives that we just flippantly give up our birthright to have. And I don't know if that's betting fan-duel. We have so many so many things that can that we can give up our birthright for. It could be lust, it could be your rage, it could be every time I get mad driving with someone, my wife says, You're a pastor, you know. And um and I think we're just in here alone. But she's right. If I let that rage, and it's not rage, I just get angry when people do something stupid in the car. And uh they call that road rage, but I don't know. And it's it's not, it's not, I don't get mad uh where I want to get out of the car and you know, uh bust their windows in and stuff like that. I just say something. And I would never say that thing to their face, but Theresa's right, that is a crack in my character. And if I don't do something about that, that instant gratification is when someone because as a pastor, when someone does something stupid, you just don't get to say, Hey, stupid. That's it's the kindness that leads people to repentance, right? So you gotta lock down on all that stuff. And uh until you get them alone and and then you can confront them on what's going on, and uh, but um that's a crack in my character. Why does that set me off? Why do I let it set me off? Is that gonna cost me some of my birthright? Well, yeah, sooner or later, uh it'll it'll cost me something.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

For so many of us, I think it's that it is, it's that momentary pleasure, and we're so short-sighted. You know, I want it and I want it now. Um C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory. He said this. It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased. That is that is here. He has his birthright, and you gotta wait, right? You generally don't get it until dad passes away. But right here's soup.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

Yeah, and I'm hungry. And I'm hungry, and how dare you put that in front of me that way? How dare you say, you know, give me your birthright. You think that I care about that? I'm the man, you know? So there's a lot of things uh to read into that. I believe um we struggle a lot with this issue in our lives. And uh, you know, you quoted your favorite guy, C.S. Lewis. I'm gonna quote Paul, so I won't up to you there. He said, training in godliness is better.

unknown 31:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Because it brings I forgot the verse.

SPEAKER_04 31:23

It brings it profits you this in this life and this life and the next.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

And uh what that when I'm out driving and that and that thing comes in, uh my training and godliness should kick in and say, This is not who God's called me to be.

SPEAKER_04 31:38

Well, and get this, what Paul says there is it's not just about that moment. Right. There's

Training In Godliness For Eternity

SPEAKER_04 31:45

something about that moment that's shaping you for eternity, right? And it's gonna matter over there. Right. Again, we're we're so short-sighted, man. We think this is all there is, and there's a whole other life on the other side of this thing, you know. Um man, what that training is gonna matter. Your your obedience here matters for there. Absolutely. And I was talking to a guy the other day about spiritual reps, you know, and we look at temptation and sin and all these things that easily beset us, you know, whatever. And we're always like, I just oh, I'm so tired. I'm so tired of it. I'm like, man, it's it's like any other thing. We have to train. We have to train. We have to, we have to learn to say no to things. That's how we get strong. Every time I push that bar up, every time I put on my running shoes when it's cold and I don't want to do it, I'm training my body, right? Well, spiritually, we got to train to say no to self and yes to Christ, to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Jesus. All of that matters, and it's how we build fortitude in the spiritual life so that we're not so easily beset by these things. And the things that you know we've been praying about for 10 years one day aren't a problem anymore. And we're praying about something different, but we should be growing in that way. And Paul says, all of that matters not just for right now, but for the life God's preparing you to live in eternity. That that stone with your name on it, it it's got a plan and a purpose in heaven. You we we're not just gonna be sitting around on clouds, you know, floating around with harps and in our diapers. Like God's has a plan for us when we get there. And what man, who no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can even conceive what God has prepared.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

For those who love him, and that's not Tim Holton, the diaper, I do.

SPEAKER_04 33:47

No, no, I can I can attest.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Although no eye has seen. Listen, I think uh I think this name change thing is a is a big thing. I think this whole story of Jacob as he as he goes on, he fights with being a schemer from all his life. It's not like um at the end when Esau threw his arms around him and said, I'm so glad to see you, that it's all over and he's fixed. And it wasn't too much after this that someone hurt his um daughter in a in a bad way, and and uh his sons were all out um taking care of the sheep and all the livestock that they had. And the people who did it, the father of the guy who did it, came and said, I'm so sorry, you know, uh I'll make my son marry her, we'll give you this big bride price, we want to make this right. And Jacob's just nodding his head, and yeah, well, yeah, okay. And but he's scheming the whole time, and he's scheming in a horrible way. He finally said, If you want her to be your um in your family, then you all have to be circumcised. And the guy says, Okay, we will do it. And then when they were all hurting over that, his sons went in and killed them all. So I'm I'm not saying that when you have an experience with God, you see a stairway to heaven, he wrestles with you, and you say yes, it doesn't mean that you're done. You have to produce that character. You you have to say uh what you say all the time, do the next right thing.

unknown 35:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

And

Don’t Coast Keep Growing

SPEAKER_02 35:35

uh grow in godliness. So hey, I know we get a little bit older, we go to church every week, and uh, but I know a lot of times um men and women that we we just sort of check out. We think we did our thing when we were younger, and and uh we worked for the church, we went on mission trips, and now I'm just gonna coast along and uh hopefully the Guardians will get in the World Series. They didn't, but you know, just sitting there watching things and wondering what's gonna happen in France, and um uh God loves me, I'm gonna go to heaven, and you just check out. You're giving up time where you can be working out and getting stronger and building your character and letting God change you. So um don't give up. You're I think you're gonna need everything that God is is doing in you when you get to heaven.

SPEAKER_04 36:38

You said on Sunday, live in such a way that when you get that new stone, you're not surprised. Yeah. Lord, I could see this is what you've been building in me all along, you know. It how devastating it would be to get there and demand you a stone. You're like, what? That's who I'm supposed to be. How'd I miss it? How'd I get so far off track?

SPEAKER_02 37:03

You get you miss it by um your instant gratification, not doing the next right thing. And as God leads you in this life and he starts to build your character, you start to realize who God has made you to be, and you need to embrace it. It's exciting um to preach about these things. I'm all about new purpose and new life, and and I want people to grow in the knowledge, uh, grace and knowledge of the Lord, and I want to see what God's gonna do with them, but He doesn't stop even when you're in heaven. You're like, well, aren't I gonna be perfect in heaven? Yes, but you're gonna have responsibilities in that perfect body. And uh I I think you're gonna be when you get to heaven, you're gonna be getting to work. Well, what am I gonna do? I don't know, but you're gonna do something.

unknown 37:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

And um, I mean, we're gonna, he's gonna live right next to us, and we're gonna um learn to know him for the rest of eternity. And, you know, the day day angels been, whenever he created the angels, they've been circling around him saying, holy, holy, holy, with that question. Oh my gosh, did you see this about God? And that's who we're gonna be, as we do whatever he calls us to do. Now you can make up a lot of stuff there. Don't don't do that. That's what gets so many people in trouble. But uh God's gonna put us to work. This thing is not over when we close our eyes for the last time. We're just getting ready, so keep getting ready. I hate working out. It's my well, look at me. Do you think I'm lying? I hate working out, and uh there was a time in my life when I really liked it, but now to get to that point, it just seems like the mountain's so high that I'll just do what I can do. And um, I was talking to my PT guy the other day, and I said, Well, um, I'm a C student when it comes to work out, I just want to do the least amount. He goes, Man, you gotta change your attitude about that. You can have a great life with a brand new knee. It's great. Or can just be okay. Who do you want to be? And um, so today I went down, got my all all my workout stuff set up the way I wanted to work out, because now I'm you know, I'm gonna start training and uh and get myself together. And the first thing I did um this confession time is like, how can I make this easier on me? Here, I'm gonna I'm gonna lift up this um well, what do you call the dumbbells with the handle loop across the top? Kettlebell. I'm gonna do this kettlebell, and um I said, Well, I can swing it or I can do squats or you know, I'm gonna lay down on this bench and just do my triceps. So um this is not how we're supposed to be looking at the the uh spiritual training God has us in right now. We need to get stronger and better. Not just to resist temptation. I get so tired of the I don't even know how to put it, this attitude that my life is about not sinning.

Following Jesus Not Just Avoiding Sin

unknown 40:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

It's just no, it's not. It's it was never there. It was never that, it has never been that. It's about you following Jesus wherever he leads you, right? And you need to be strong for that. Because remember what I said on Sunday He's a lion and he is not safe.

SPEAKER_04 41:05

That's so good. And I think one of the greatest schemes of the enemy is he has made the Christian life about not sinning. Listen, you can you can do nothing wrong and still not do anything right. Absolutely. It that is not what it's about. Uh it's about like what you just said, following Jesus, and these reps matter. Train yourself in godliness. Um, yeah, that involves saying no to sin, but it involves saying yes to Jesus before we even get started too. Oh, I knew that was coming.

Classes Invitation Prayer And Close

SPEAKER_04 41:40

One of the man, one of the best things I think you can do to train is come to these more classes on Sunday night.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:46

You're gonna talk uh this uh this Sunday about the story of Scripture. Week after that, we're gonna train you on how to how to study the Bible faithfully and keep things in context and so that you can know with confidence what God's Word says and what he's speaking to you. You need to be there for these next two, they're important. You you learn these things and listen, it doesn't just matter for now, it matters for then. And he's gonna use it. And he's got a new name, and we want you to live in such a way that when he gives it to you, everything falls into place. It all makes sense. This is what he's been doing and building in you all along. Will you pray for us?

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Father, I want to thank you for um Jacob. Who would have thought that you could read two chapters and talk about 30 different things that apply to you fift uh let's see, that's about 3,500 years later. That it's crazy. But Father, I want to thank you that he's there and the lessons you teach through his life. Um, you're amazing to us. Lord, let us not be let us our don't let our life become just trying to not sin, but following you into the next life, into the person you're creating us to be. Let us work for our sancks sanctification, even though you've already promised it fully. I pray that you'll give us um freedom. That's your you've already made a promise to us. We're always we're gonna be there, we're gonna get a new name. And Lord, that's that's freedom because you're gonna do it. Thank you that it's not our responsibility to do it. Thank you that we don't have to be like Rebecca and say, I gotta make this thing that God has promised happen. No, you don't. But Lord, we pray that we'll work like we can, so that we will become godly people. Not knowledgeable, not doctrinal, but godly people. In Jesus' name.

unknown 44:05

Amen. Amen.

Contact And Support Details

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering you resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.