A WOW Moment with Vicki, Jennifer and Pastor Josiah

Whitten Baptist Church

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May 28, 2021

00:02: Oh, I was going for the wiggle, but yeah, high five, too. I'm tough. I'm right here. Go ahead. I didn't know we were on yet.
00:08: Is it crooked? That looks a little crooked. It is. I don't think it matters, but it is crooked. Will you fix it?
00:15: Sure. That's not,
00:20: Mercedes does that part of it. And I know that you are, you're used to doing yours on Saturday, so.
00:29: Is that better? That looks good. Yeah, let's see if we can see him when it sits down. Yeah.
00:36: Yeah, he looks about 100 miles away. I always tell him I look like I'm right up in the front. Well, you did, because you had a handle towards you.
00:43: No, I didn't mean to. It wasn't intentional, that's for sure. I'm going to get me a drink of tea, and then we'll start.
00:52: Whose water is that? I meant to bring my water.
00:58: Do you want your water? I did, but I'll be okay without it. Okay. I'll be okay, too.
01:05: I got water in the car. I haven't even taken any notes or anything yet. I'm not even ready to start.
01:12: Yeah, it looks good. I just like to see it. It looks great. That's because I haven't even told you what verse is yet.
01:27: All right. Me at the height of my procrastination. No, you came in with that sticky note.
01:35: You had the verses ready. Well, and she didn't ask for it. See, there you go. Blame it on her. I don't ask for it anymore.
01:41: She just straight up blamed you. Did you see that? It's fine, because I don't ask for it anymore. But she did ask me the first time I was on.
01:46: I did, because what I would do is I would read over them the night before, give them to Mercedes to where she could read over them the night before, to where she was prepped to read, just to where I knew what direction we were going in.
01:59: But now I don't even ask for it. Because it's a study. It's better that way.
02:04: It's a study, and you don't have to know, because you don't have to be prepped to read Scripture. Why? Because he probably already knows all this.
02:11: Oh, because I already know everything? Is that what you're trying to say? You probably don't even have to read it. I'm saying you probably memorize all these verses.
02:18: No. You don't know those? I know of them. I have not memorized them, no.
02:23: Of course not. Good evening, everybody, and welcome to our Bible study.
02:30: Tonight we are at the church in the workroom, or in the work lounge. And this evening we have the wonderful and beautiful Ms.
02:38: Jennifer Pickler with us. Yay! My co -host tonight is my regular co -host,
02:44: Mercedes is out of town, on a bachelorette trip.
02:55: Your brother's the one getting married. Does it mean I know where the women are going, or that it's even this weekend?
03:01: Oh, your wife's not going. Oh. Okay. That's right. Never mind. Okay. She was going to be in the...
03:07: yeah. But anyways... And I'm too old to be invited, so... They're on a bachelorette trip.
03:13: I'm in the hopeful section. They've gone out of town, and not to worry. They will behave, because they're good girls.
03:24: I just hope that they're very safe, which I'm pretty sure they will be. They will have a shibboleth with them this evening.
03:32: Oh, cool. Ashley will be there twice. Yeah, that will do justice, that'll work. Yes. So... Anyways, so my co -host tonight, my feeling co -host is
03:43: Pastor Josiah himself. I didn't tell Jennifer that Pastor Josiah was going to be our co -host, because Jennifer is one of the biggest questioners on Pastor Josiah's Saturday Afternoons.
03:58: Yes, and I love it. Right. So these two are already a pair when it comes to Facebook stuff, because they're always going back and forth on the
04:09: Saturday Afternoons. So if you watch Saturday Afternoons and you see Jennifer pop up, then this is the
04:15: Jennifer that's popping up. Just giving you all a heads up to who's who. So tonight, this is
04:24: Jennifer's second time. The first time we were at Jennifer's house, and it was great. It was an incredible evening.
04:30: I enjoyed myself so very much. I learned a lot about Jennifer that night, and I've learned even more since then.
04:39: Which is one of the reasons why I love doing this, because I get to know people more of who they are.
04:48: Not just who they are, but who they are. Because when we study, then
04:53: I see where your mind's going with what Scripture reads.
04:59: Yep. And then I learn more about you spiritually that way. Not just who people portray themselves to be.
05:09: You get to know them on a deeper level. To know them. It's really funny, because for many years
05:21: I've gone on mission trips, and Jeremiah has gone with me.
05:27: He's been on all the ones I've been on. The first year, I was sitting outside of my room, at the little tables that they have outside the rooms.
05:36: He came over, and we sat and talked. Well, then it got to be every single night. He would come outside and sit and talk with me every night.
05:44: And then it wasn't just that year. It was the next year. It was every night. And then the next year.
05:51: It was every night. So Jeremiah and I, we had a lot of spiritual discussions.
05:57: You had wow moments. We had wow moments together in the Bahamas, yeah. Then we worked nursery together, so I pretty much know him.
06:08: Yeah. He's my love bug. I love him. Anyways, so tonight we're going to be, it looks like, in the book of Romans.
06:18: I'm not going to say the verse, because that's Jennifer's job. So if you have your
06:23: Bibles and you want to go along with us and study with us, then go ahead and pick it up. Everybody knows that Romans is a wonderful book, as all the books in the
06:33: Bible are. But to me, Romans holds a special place to me, because there's just so much that is told to us and taught to us in this book.
06:46: So, Jennifer, is this a verse that you want to study? Is this just a verse that you want to study, or is this a verse that is one of your favorites?
06:53: This is actually several. It's a few, but not that many.
07:00: These are ones that I've actually been looking at and studying for about the last month, a month and a half or so.
07:08: I've been digging in and studying Romans, not just because we're learning on Wednesday nights with Brother Jeff, but I was ministering to someone, and some of the answers that I was looking for happened to be in Romans.
07:25: And so I started really diving into it, and Brother Jeff loaned me a book on Romans to help me study it.
07:36: Oh, really? It's been great. I love it. So that's why
07:42: I wanted to do these, because these are verses that really spoke to my heart, and I've had several people ask questions along these lines lately, and I just felt like this is what
07:59: I was supposed to talk about tonight. Perfect. Do you want to read all of the scripture at one time, or do you want to read it, discuss it, and then go to the next scripture you've picked, discuss it?
08:11: Because I see that you've got three different sets. It's five verses total.
08:18: They're just kind of spread a little bit. So do you want to read them all at one time? They all kind of go together.
08:24: All in the same chapter, right? Yeah. So you just want to read them all at one time, and then we'll go back and discuss them?
08:29: Mm -hmm. Okay. Pastor Josiah, will you read the scripture, please?
08:36: Look, I've got a big Bible. I don't have to put my glasses on. Look at you go! Look at you go! All right.
08:41: I don't have to put glasses on. Romans chapter 6, verse 1 and 2 to start with.
08:59: Verse 12. Verse 15.
09:11: What, then, are we to sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means. Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are a slave of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
09:29: Mm -hmm. Well, that's pretty cut and dry there, Jennifer. It is pretty cut and dry.
09:36: I was brought the question of, why does it matter if I sin if I'm already saved?
09:50: Because my sin has already been forgiven, so what difference does it make? So I was discussing that with the person, and bringing up just the obvious reasons is,
10:11: I mean, sin is a sin. You're not supposed to do that, whether you're saved or not.
10:18: You know that you're not supposed to sin, but once you're saved, you're supposed to be a new creature.
10:23: You're supposed to be born again. You're supposed to be dead to the desires of sin, for the most part, and you're supposed to be born again in righteousness.
10:34: You're supposed to want to do what's right. You are supposed to despise sin as much as God does, as much as Jesus Christ does.
10:44: And if you continually, perpetually live in sin, then how can you say you were saved in the first place?
10:52: Verse 6, For we know that our old self was crucified with him, in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved in sin.
11:10: I wanted to do the whole chapter, but it was too much. I wanted to do the whole chapter.
11:17: Hey, we would have if Mercedes was here. I mean, I was trying to just piecemeal it together.
11:23: We would have her read the whole chapter. She would love it. Well, she enjoys
11:30: Romans, I think, just as much as we all do. But anyways, but you're right. I mean, once you become a warrior for Christ, saved, warrior for Christ, then how do you...
11:50: Okay, let me just put this image to y 'all. I'm on the football team.
11:56: I got on a red jersey, because that's the color Christ has us wearing is red. Everybody on Christ's team is wearing red.
12:04: Why would I run to the sideline and put on a white jersey and be against his team?
12:11: Do you see what I'm saying? Well, it's like being two -faced. You're one way to someone's face, and then you're another way when you're away from them.
12:20: But what people don't understand is God is always there. He is always watching. Even when you're in private, he knows what you're doing.
12:28: Just because I don't see it, just because someone else doesn't see it, it doesn't matter what's socially acceptable.
12:35: It's what's acceptable to God. And it's trying to get that across to people.
12:41: Well, then my question would be, should you just have a black jersey on anyways?
12:50: Yes, because it's underneath the red one. You don't have to go to the sideline. That's actually your real jersey.
12:56: You have on a red vest, and you just take it off here and there and put it back on. If they're actually saved, right.
13:04: You know, I think, verse 2, I think Paul is asking a genuine question.
13:13: How can we who died to sin still live in it? We've talked about the word struggle before.
13:23: It doesn't say, how can we who have died to sin still struggle with it?
13:29: Struggle is the Christian walk. Struggle means you're fighting against it, right? But it says, how can we who have died to sin still live in it, walk in it?
13:40: That's what verse 2 says. This isn't a question of whether or not the Christian will continue to fight against sin.
13:48: The fact that you are fighting against it is at least a sign that you are now on the other team, as Vicki put it.
13:56: Because you're now fighting against that. But if someone is living in it, they're not fighting against it.
14:04: Paul is asking the question of exactly what we're saying now. How can someone who is supposed to be dead to sin, listen to the words.
14:15: How can someone who is dead to sin still live in it? It's a play on words, right?
14:20: How can you be dead to something you're living in? And the answer is you can't be. Paul's answering the question for us.
14:25: So again, it's not a matter of are you struggling with it? That's every one of us.
14:31: We're talking about people who claim to be dead to sin but are living in it. That's the question.
14:38: And that's a different class of people than a Christian who's struggling. And I think the difference, to make clear, at least for me, the way that I look at it, is yes, we all sin.
14:49: Yes, we all fall short daily. None of us are going to be perfect. And yes,
14:55: Jesus died for our sins that we have committed before and that everything that I have done until the day that I die is already covered.
15:03: But that doesn't mean that I'm just going to take advantage of that. And if I did, then
15:08: I wouldn't truly love Jesus with all my heart. I wouldn't love God with all my heart. Because when you love someone with all your heart, you will go out of your way not to disappoint them.
15:18: You don't want to have them look at you in disappointment.
15:24: The thought of that is worse than anything else that you can imagine. So if you can do something that you know that person you say you love hates and it not fazes you, there's something going on there that you need to self -examine.
15:41: Right, right. Because I know that when
15:47: I was younger, that was me. I wanted to be that person that lived for God and did everything that I was supposed to be doing.
15:59: But then there was that little temptation over here. Drugs was my biggest downfall.
16:04: And I'm going to tell you, it's not a good place.
16:12: It's a horrible place to be. And if you're in that place, then my suggestion is repentance begins with you and only you.
16:28: Because you have to say it to the Lord and you have to mean it with all your heart.
16:36: And then you have to live it every single day following. That's where accountability comes in.
16:43: And if you can't, then you might need to check the salvation door. Because I honestly feel like that if it's something that you truly do, if you honestly and seriously repent to the
16:57: Lord and you honestly and seriously struggle and fight it, I believe that the Lord is big enough and He's bad enough to help you with that struggle to make it easier day after day.
17:11: It's not going to be a snap, but you're going to find it to get easier day after day after day.
17:19: Because you're going to lean more on Him. You're going to love Him more. And you're going to find out He loves you more.
17:24: And you'll find that those sinful urges, that nature that you have is still there.
17:30: But it just feels less and less. It's not like a constant.
17:36: It's just kind of barely there. It's enough to get your attention, but you can kind of brush it off a lot easier.
17:43: Some days you may be weaker than others and it may be harder to brush it off. But you still despise that.
17:50: You still struggle with it. You still immediately feel so bad about it that you repent for it.
17:55: And you're like, okay, I will not ever do that again. It's not, oh, that was fun. I think I'll do that again tomorrow.
18:02: That is not repentance. That is not fruits of faith.
18:08: That is not showing salvation in my mind. But I am glad you're here because I was going to ask this question.
18:17: This. See, I don't even have to type it out. So being the devil's advocate here.
18:25: That's a bad start. On here. So say that, because we've even been in, you know, where Brother Jeff has taught sometimes, saying that the worst thing you could ever be is a backslidden
18:42: Christian, right? When you're living in rebellion to God, that that's the worst time of your life that you'll ever feel.
18:50: Is it just me that remembers him saying that? No. Okay. So I remember him saying this a couple of times.
18:58: And that's when you need to get back. Right. You know, that's why, because you're, you're wanting to do the right thing, but you're actually being in rebellion.
19:08: It's a choice that you're making. I think if we read the Psalms, that's when
19:15: David was the most unhappy. Without a doubt. So my question is, if you are, if you're truly saved, and you go through a period of time where you're living in rebellion, would that not be the same thing as someone, how do you know the difference in someone that's not saved and just living in perpetual sin versus someone that's saved that's in a backslidden state?
19:38: Sure. The short answer to that is you don't know because we are not the Holy Spirit. So we don't know.
19:44: We don't know. We are allowed and called to question that.
19:52: Everyone thinks that Matthew 7, actually no, no one even knows it's in the
19:58: Bible. They say that the Bible says, judge not, and have no idea where it even is or in the context of it.
20:04: Matthew 7. Judge not lest you be judged for the same thing. You're exactly right.
20:10: It is a call to check yourself before you cast that judgment on someone else.
20:17: Take the beam out of your eye before you try to get the speck out of someone else's eye. Actually, the law, the beam that's in your eye, get it out before you take the speck.
20:26: But with that prerequisite, as believers, you are to judge the fruits of the
20:35: Spirit. You know, you're supposed to do that. As far as knowing, you know,
20:40: Jennifer, when I say this, you can't know that I'm saved.
20:46: That's correct. You don't, in that sense, know that I'm saved. You don't. You're not the Holy Spirit.
20:52: But you are allowed to say, okay, the mark of a Christian is
20:57: A, B, C, D. Okay, because the Bible lays it out for us. Galatians 5, Romans 6. The Bible lays it out for us.
21:03: It's pretty clear. I think verse 16 is getting at what Jennifer's asking in this chapter. Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are a slave to the one you obey?
21:17: Listen to that sentence again. You are a slave to whichever one you obey.
21:22: And verse 16 only gives us two options. You are slaves to the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness.
21:33: You are either a slave to sin or of Jesus. You know which one you are by the one that you obey.
21:41: And Jesus puts it a little more plainly. You cannot serve both God and man.
21:46: You cannot have two masters. That's where you have to question which master are you truly serving.
21:54: That is what I wanted to get to. I think the most helpful verse for me for that, Jennifer, is in John 14.
22:01: If you love me, you'll keep my commitments. I think that is...
22:09: When Jesus says that love is the fulfillment of the law, people try to make that into something that it's not.
22:18: What that is, is that you love to please
22:23: Father. Love is a commitment to always do what He wants over your own desires, which is where sacrifice comes in.
22:32: If you're not sacrificing for Him, then you don't love Him. If you don't love Him, then you're not saved.
22:38: Yes. The way that someone put it last night in their Bible study was this. When you die to sin and live for Christ, your sin nature dies.
22:52: But its effects in the flesh, is what Paul calls it, are still there.
22:58: The habits, the effects of it, are ingrained in you.
23:04: That's what we were talking about. If you're missing a limb, you still feel like that limb is there.
23:09: The analogy was, if someone loses their left arm, they forget and they still feel that it's there.
23:16: When our sin nature died, it really did die. But we still feel that it's there, those effects.
23:25: Those habits, those desires, are still in us. That is the flesh.
23:30: That's what Paul calls the flesh. He calls it the old man and the new man. We've heard him say it like this before. Right here, it's not a question of are those desires still there?
23:41: The question is, are you fighting against them? Denying them.
23:47: If anyone wants to come up to me, he must deny himself. Remember. Daily. Daily. Follow me.
23:53: It's not the temptations coming from Satan that were not in you.
23:59: It's already in you. Quit blaming Satan for your failures. Satan makes it easy by distracting you.
24:05: Yes. That's all he has to do is plant one seed, one thought. If you're weak enough, if you're not saved most of the time, you can still be saved and still have issues.
24:16: But for the most part, that's where it all comes from. He distracts you from focusing on God.
24:23: He distracts you from praying every day. From building that relationship with God and talking to Him all the time.
24:30: From reaching out to Him and asking for things. He's not going to answer you if you're not talking to Him. I was having this conversation with Seth the other night.
24:38: He felt like he was distant from God. I said, do you talk to Him every day?
24:45: Because I can tell you, I love you and you love me. That's just a known fact.
24:52: It's known. It's understood. But if we're not talking to each other every day, then we're going to feel distant from each other.
24:59: You can say good morning every now and then. You can say good night every now and then. We can sit down and have dinner
25:04: Wednesdays and Sundays. But if that's all I'm getting out of it, there's something missing there.
25:10: It's the most dangerous thing for especially a pastor or a volunteer is to talk about God more than you talk with God.
25:16: Yes. And that's what Seth said. He felt like, sorry Seth, that just kind of came out.
25:23: But he felt like he was talking about God more than he was talking to God. And that is the biggest thing for me.
25:32: That is what keeps me strong in my faith. That is what keeps my soul at peace.
25:38: And that's what helps me fight off the things that would normally take root in my mind and take over.
25:45: Go back to the other thing. One of the ways that I know, and I know
25:53: I'm a Christian. I didn't always. I used to have severe doubts and insecurities about it.
25:59: But one of the ways I know is when I sin, I hate it. Yes, I hate it. Yes. I hate it.
26:06: And nobody else in the world may know. It's not a matter of getting busted.
26:13: I hate it. And I love the police father. The goal with my daughter, for example,
26:20: I have two daughters. The goal with Ava, my two -year -old, is not that she only obeys me because she's afraid of my discipline.
26:30: Now, going to God, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So it is a starting point.
26:36: That's just the reality. And that is the reality with my daughter at the moment. But the goal is that she obeys me because she wants to please her father, her mother.
26:53: That's the goal. And we're already seeing that to some degree now. And when she disobeys, even before she gets in trouble, on good days, you can tell she wishes she could take back what just happened.
27:13: Even before any punishment has come back. That's a healthy fear of your disappointment. There's a difference.
27:19: There is. And that is the type of fear. That is the disappointment that I do not want
27:25: Father to feel. Exactly. Now, you know, the
27:31: Lord disciplines those he loves and punishes every son he receives. When you feel that conviction disciplined from the
27:39: Lord, that's another sign of your salvation. He punishes every child he receives.
27:46: It's Hebrews, quoting, it's actually quoting Proverbs chapter 3, I don't know, verse 12,
27:52: I think it is. The point being that though everyone is God's creation, not everyone is
27:58: God's child. The Lord disciplines those he loves and punishes every son, every child that he receives.
28:09: And I joyfully take the punishment when it's dealt to me because I know I deserve more.
28:15: Actually, I don't deserve any grace if it comes down to it.
28:20: I mean, even that sentence is the right attitude. There's no such thing as deserving grace because then it would no longer be grace.
28:29: Right. That doesn't exist. If you expect it like it's something that just should be doled out to everybody, you know,
28:36: God loves everybody. We should all have grace. You have grace. You have grace. I've used this example before.
28:42: Yeah, I've used this example before. Imagine Jennifer worked 40 hours this week.
28:50: I'm just going to make something up. Okay. I'm just going to make something up. Okay. Okay. I won't hit you.
28:55: At $20 an hour. And let's pretend that there were no taxes.
29:02: Okay. She should get $800 at the end of the week.
29:07: Everyone follow me? We're pretending. Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot of things going on right now, right? 40 hours a week, $20 an hour, $800 check.
29:16: Friday afternoon. Everyone got it? Yeah. Let's suppose she went into the office
29:21: Friday and the boss says, Hey, Jennifer, let me speak to you. And she says,
29:29: Hey, you know, you worked really great this week. You worked really hard. So you worked 40 hours, $20 an hour.
29:36: I'm willing to give you a really gracious gift. I'm going to give you $800 this week. You would say,
29:47: Excuse me, that's not a gift. That's not a gift. I earned that. That is how some people treat grace.
29:53: Yes. They think that they have earned it. If you earned it, then it's not grace.
29:59: It's what's due to you. Right. Yes. Right here. We know.
30:06: You know who you are a slave to by the one that you love to obey. Yes. Not because you've earned anything from them.
30:14: Right. You love to obey them because of who they are. And that which they give you, that which
30:21: God gives us is by definition, grace cannot be earned. I've never had so much peace and joy in my life, even though I still struggle in a lot of ways.
30:34: I still have a peace about it and a joy. And I don't worry.
30:40: And that's because I am obeying. And I love God with all my heart and all my soul.
30:46: I obey him. And just by doing that and talking to him and praying to him faithfully and trusting and giving it to him, that's the only thing
30:59: I need. Jennifer, you're awesome. Where do you find these people? I'm telling you.
31:05: That's reward enough for me because I see the difference in my life.
31:11: It doesn't matter. I don't care about anything materialistic. That's the right perspective. She's the Jehovah's Witness.
31:17: Oh, my gosh. She was a Jehovah's Witness. Was was the word that you, a minute ago you said she is,
31:23: I thought. She was. She was. Did you hear the was? Yes, I heard the was. I don't know that I ever really was, but I was raised with that mentality.
31:33: So, yes, it was hard for me to get past certain things in my mind.
31:39: But once I got it, I got it. And once I understood, I just understood. I have to say that when the
31:45: Holy Spirit, when you accepted Christ, I have to say that the
31:52: Holy Spirit has just flourished in you because of everything that he has opened your eyes to.
31:59: I pray for wisdom every day. And your ability to accept it is amazing.
32:07: And it only could happen with the grace of Christ.
32:12: Oh, it's all him. Everything. Everything. My life is his, 100%.
32:18: And anyone that's ever had doubts, I think, know the difference.
32:24: They can see the difference. My family sees the difference. Old friends that see me see the difference.
32:32: And it's funny because when I'm telling stories, I refer to myself as the old me.
32:38: I take that, too. So when I'm going back telling stories, I'm like, well, the old me did this.
32:45: Or I'm like. Because you're crazy. Like, oh, okay, all right. Or if a situation comes up and I'm frustrated and I'm like, okay,
32:53: I'm okay. I'm going to pray about it. I'm good. I'm like, but the old me would have opened the can up. Yeah.
32:58: Yeah. But I refer to myself that way because it's true. I am not the same person.
33:06: And I will never be that person again. And I don't care to be. Because that person was miserable.
33:13: Yes. And depressed. Yes. And worried. Yes. And just felt, like, ashamed.
33:19: And I could do nothing right. And nobody loved me. Oh, my gosh. I mean, that person was just a sobbing, just horrible.
33:28: I would not want to be friends with that person. And I'll be honest with you. I had one of my kids. And I'm not going to say their name.
33:35: But I had one of my kids during a situation in my life say, Mama, if you would just let out 10 % of the old you, you can handle this.
33:46: Yeah. And you're like, I can't do that. If I let 10 % out, it's going to be 125%.
33:52: And that's gone. We used our kids' names. She didn't. We should have done it her way. Yeah. I said
33:58: Ava. And you said Seth. Yeah. And she just didn't even say her name. That was good. Do you want me to say it? No, I don't.
34:04: I think that's perfect. Yeah. The whole 10 % thing. I was like, I can't. If I let that little bit out,
34:11: I have so much to flush with the testimony that I have.
34:16: I have to fight that. I have to fight it a lot. When I say that I could literally be in jail right now and never have had my kids,
34:27: I could have been in jail for murder after losing my temper. My testimony goes deep, and I've barely scratched the surface of it here.
34:36: But I thank him every day, every day. I should be dead. Oh, that too.
34:42: I should be dead. Many times over. As an unbeliever. So I would be rotting in hell.
34:48: Oh, for sure. For sure. I remember that he snatched me on up about that. He called me by my name.
34:54: I'll tell you what. That's what I thank him for. I'll tell you what. I thank him for even through all those times that I didn't even know that he was there with me.
35:03: Even though I kept thinking to myself, why would you do this to me? What did
35:08: I do that was so wrong? I mean, I don't remember doing anything this bad. Why are you punishing me? Is there really a
35:14: God that loves like this? Yes, there is. Yeah, right. Almost 40 years of my life,
35:20: I lived in that miserable state. Just thinking that I was just, oh, woe me. I'm being punished and like I did nothing wrong.
35:28: I mean, it's the mindset, the perspective. Once you get it. And his victory is now your victory.
35:36: Yeah. It's all by his glory that I'm here and that I understand it and that I can, you know, that he can use me.
35:44: Did I say that backwards? Whatever way he wants. I think you did. Because I don't have any glory. I thought she said his glory.
35:51: Oh. I don't even remember. We'll reflect. Hey, we rolled with it. Yeah. Okay. We'll reflect. I knew what you meant.
35:57: We're not reflecting. I'll let you know later. Usually if I say something backwards, I do that a lot, but Mercedes will say, didn't you mean?
36:06: I knew what you meant. I just kept going. Me and Jennifer aren't that good at anything like Mercedes.
36:12: I'll just ignore it and keep going. You know, the thankfulness that you just expressed is so beautiful and refreshing in a time and a culture where the most powerful thing you can be is a victim.
36:32: But the thankfulness, we did the Lord's Supper, I guess a couple
36:37: Sundays in a row recently here at Witten. And, you know, just reading 1
36:42: Corinthians 11, it says very plainly, on the night he was betrayed, he brought the bread and gave thanks.
36:53: Gave thanks. Knowing what was about to happen to him. Keeping in mind that, as Luke points out for us,
36:59: Judas was still in the room. And he gave him bread. Keeping in mind,
37:06: Hebrews puts it this way, for the joy that laid before him, he endured the cross.
37:13: Listen to that sentence again. Hebrews says, for the joy that laid before him, he endured the cross.
37:23: And I pray that let our church be known as a people of thankfulness and gratefulness.
37:30: And what Jennifer was just expressing is that attitude that I'm trying to get at. An attitude of gratefulness and thankfulness.
37:38: And it comes from this. Knowing that God owes you nothing, except in one sense, damnation.
37:50: And I am nothing without him. I mean, think about it for a minute. He owes you nothing.
38:00: For someone to love me that much, that hasn't even, in my point of view, met me, even though obviously he has.
38:10: Sure, sure, sure. But for someone to love me so much that he would sacrifice himself, he would humiliate himself, that he would go through that much agony and suffering for me.
38:25: I mean, who am I to not love him the same? To try to, anyways. And that's another thing
38:31: I pray for every day, is to help me love the way you love me. Help me to love others the way that you love me.
38:39: That's what I want. And that's what I pray for every day.
38:46: Because that's what I'm supposed to do. Not only am I commanded to do that, but I want to do that.
38:52: Because I want what he wants. And I've noticed that the more I walk my journey with him,
38:59: I don't want the same things that I used to want. I don't like the same things that I used to like. It doesn't interest me anymore.
39:05: And it's hard sometimes being around family and friends because I am so different.
39:14: And, I mean, I love them and I want to be around them and I want to spend time with them. But I feel like we're almost getting to know each other all over again, if that makes sense.
39:23: Because I'm trying to learn how I can, because I'm not the same person.
39:28: I don't enjoy the same things. So this is what we bonded over. So how can we still be friends in a different way?
39:38: So that's one of my struggles. Well, read 620 and 21.
39:45: No, in 22. For when you were slaves of sin, you were freed in regard to righteousness.
39:52: But what fruit were you getting at? I'm sorry. What fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?
40:00: Right. Right. For the end of those things is death. But now you that have been set free from sin have become slaves of God.
40:08: The fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end is eternal life. Yep. That's the bottom line.
40:16: Yep. For the wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
40:23: Lord. That's all that I need to know, and that's what I focus my life around now.
40:29: Yep. I don't know if it's funny.
40:35: I don't say it's funny. That's how I start sentences off a lot. It's not funny. And then you say something like, wow, that was not funny. No one laughed.
40:41: That was not funny. Is it ironic? No, it's not ironic. It's like when Mercedes tells a joke. She says it's funny, and then no one laughs.
40:47: And then you're like, what did you say? Stop it. But I've gotten to a point now to where I see people as souls, not as people.
40:58: When I meet someone new, it's like I see them as a soul, and if they're not producing fruit where I think they're saved, it really hurts my heart, and it hurts my soul, because I want them to be.
41:10: I want to just pour it in their head and let them get it. I have dreams about it, and I wake up just in mental agony.
41:24: It's hard to explain. That's me. I don't know exactly what you're talking about. And I'm like, what was that about?
41:30: But it just hurts in a way that I've never heard before. And those people that have wronged you in the past, you eventually start to pity them more than you are angry at them.
41:41: I have no anger. I have no hatred. I just pray for them.
41:47: Lord, they are so lost, and they are so desperate, and they are just so miserable, and please show them your peace that they desperately need, because it doesn't affect me.
42:01: It's affecting them. But I tell my kids. Shake the dust off of your sandals.
42:08: Well, I told Seth, I don't say I told my kids, but I'm at a place to where I'm so firm in my faith, and I know, and I'm firm in that, to where I would gladly just drop dead right now if it would save someone else's soul.
42:31: I would do it. Yeah. Because I know where I'm going. Right. I'm not scared of that.
42:36: If it would save someone else, Lord, take me now. That's just, that's my frame of mind right now.
42:42: And that's a lot, you know, because I have gotten to where I talk a lot about, especially with my kids, about death, because I guess because I've gotten to the point and at the age that I am.
42:53: Because you're, well, you are 31 now. I just love you so much.
42:59: That means I'm 18. Gosh, that puts you at 10.
43:06: But anyways, but I've just gotten to where I'm, I know where I'm going, and I'm good with it.
43:20: I know that every breath is a gift, and I know that I'm not guaranteed to get sleep. See, there's that thankfulness we were talking about.
43:26: So at this point, I'm okay with whichever breath doesn't come next.
43:32: I'm okay with that. And I have been talking about it to the kids too, my main thing. The only thing
43:38: I pray for is for him to let me be here long enough to make sure that my kids are okay and they can take care of themselves.
43:44: That's it. I would love for them to be saved before I go, but that's not my decision.
43:50: Right. Right. But, you know, well, what an awesome study.
43:59: To wrap it up, if you live in sin every day, you need to question yourself. I agree.
44:06: Well, we all sin every day. Well, well. But if you're. But she said if you live in sin.
44:13: If you're constantly. And you know, I guess to throw our last thing there, if you're going to word it that way, that's how
44:20: First John words it, right? Instead of live in, he uses the word walk in, which is the same idea, tread in.
44:27: In other words, not climbing out of or fighting against or battling off, wallowing in.
44:34: Right. First John says if you claim to be in the light, but you walk, tread in darkness, you are a liar and the truth is not in you.
44:49: If anyone claims to be in the light, but walks, tread, wallers.
44:55: You like that? Wallers. I love that. In darkness, they are a liar and the truth is not in them.
45:01: That's how First John puts it. It's amazing, isn't it? How Paul and John say the same thing, almost like it's all
45:07: God's word. Yeah. Kind of cool, isn't it? Isn't that something? It's something, isn't it? It must have been a coincidence. They must have called each other before they.
45:14: Yeah. Maybe they just texted real quick and said, hey. Let's get together and let's do this. What's Brother Jeff's word? It's almost like it's harmonutively correct.
45:21: Oh my gosh. Look at Jennifer go. Did you write that down, Jerry? Right there.
45:26: She just made it all these blind points. What the fuck was that? God is gracious. Golly. I think the thing is, is yes, we all sin every day, but if you are having a habitual, perpetual sin of the same nature every day, day in and day out, you're living in it because you're not despising it and you're not hating it and you're not repenting for it.
45:50: There we go. That's the difference. Yes, I sin every day, but it is not the same sin. And when
45:56: I do sin, I hate it and I repent for it. And you sure doubt God planned to do it.
46:02: And I beg God to help me not do it again because I don't want to disappoint him. There is a true difference in your frame of mind.
46:10: Yes. Man. Yes. I hope y 'all got as much out of this Bible study as I did.
46:15: She rocks. You need to bring her on like every other week or something. There you go, Jennifer. I got you.
46:21: Oh, gosh. Speaking of every other week, you're supposed to be once a month. I'll let you have a couple months off because you had a baby.
46:28: You told me to be here April 8th. Last I checked, that's today's date, so why don't you back off? That was a joke, by the way, everybody.
46:36: It was. It was. Don't ever take us seriously because we do this all the time. I'll be putting you down in my book for next month, by the way.
46:45: But it can't be May 8th because I will be watching a child while you are out of town. Yes. We're going to do a pre -recorded with your youngest brother.
46:53: Are you really? For our Thursday night conference. Jefferson? Yeah. Yeah. He's going to do a pre -recorded one to Ryan because that's our first night.
47:02: You told me who's next week. You don't know what to say yet. Jordan. That's who.
47:07: I didn't know that. Jordan McKee is next week. And Anna is my co -host. You've got a team.
47:13: That's stacked. That's stacked. That's going to be good. That's stacked. Yeah, they're excited about it, too.
47:20: So, anyways, y 'all come back next week because I've got Jordan and Anna with me next week. But I will have to tell you, so far, the most entertaining wow moment
47:29: I've done, and this is just off the top of my head because it's still strong in my brain, was when
47:36: I had Anna right here and Rachel right there. Oh, my gosh. That entire hour and a half that we were here.
47:43: I watched that one because I was at home with the kids. That was fun. It was great. It was great. But, anyways,
47:48: I hope y 'all have enjoyed tonight. I have. Pastor Josiah, I always love it when you join me on wow moments.
47:55: Oh, thank you. Either as a guest. This isn't the first time you've co -hosted with me. It has been fun. It has been fun.
48:02: I will have to have you back on. Jordan is our new liaison slash wow representative for the college and career.
48:19: Yep. Oh, wow. Yes. So, she will be on next week. So, if y 'all have not met
48:25: Jordan, I think y 'all probably heard her voice on a wow moment, and you probably heard her voice on Saturday.
48:32: She's behind the scenes a lot. Yes, she is. She's awesome. Yes. But she will actually be on here with us next
48:38: Thursday night, and I'm really excited about it, and I think she is, too. But she is our newest wow team member, and I'm really hyped about it.
48:49: But, Jennifer, whoever you are, whatever, what is it?
48:58: What is the word I'm looking for? Not ministry? Discipling?
49:05: I will be praying about that. Pastor Josiah, I'll ask you to pray for Jennifer, that the
49:11: Lord leads her and guides her and directs her and allow the Holy Spirit to work through her in that situation.
49:19: But I hope y 'all have enjoyed tonight. I have thoroughly enjoyed it again, and thank you,
49:25: Jennifer, for coming. Being with these two studs, as Brother Jeff likes to call everybody studs, let me tell you what, this was enjoyable to me.
49:32: It was fun. It was great. And again, thank you, Pastor. I enjoyed it as well. Y 'all have a great night.
49:37: I need you to push the button, sir. Ask me to push the button. Apparently, my kids were not watching me because they kept calling me.