Abundant Life

Abundant Life Episode 40

In this episode Saso and Ben interview Lt. Col. Dave Grossman on the topic of the engaging in spiritual warfare. Are you prepared for Spiritual Warfare?

Key verse

Ephesians 6:10-11

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman Bio

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is a US Army Ranger, a paratrooper, and a former West Point Psychology Professor. He has a Black Belt in Hojutsu, the martial art of the firearm, and has been inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

He has published four novels, two children’s’ books, and six non-fiction books to include his “perennial bestseller” On Killing (with over half a million copies sold), and a New York Times best-selling book co-authored with Glenn Beck.

Since his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1998, he has been traveling full time as one of our nation’s leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations.

Resources

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's website

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's books

Follow Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's on Facebook

Follow Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's on Instagram

Abundant Life Episode 39

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of the importance of the church.

The Christian life was not meant to lived out in isolation. Some people say that they can worship God on a mountain away from people. It’s true, you can worship God anywhere, Jonah prayed to God from the belly of a big fish. However, you can’t simply live like a monk because it’s not God’s design. 

The last two episodes were about adoption and unadoption, going from being unadopted to being adopted into the family of God which is what we call the church.

Websters 1828

Church 

A house consecrated to the worship of God, among Christians; the Lords house. This seems to be the original meaning of the word. The Greek, to call out or call together, denotes an assembly or collection. But, Lord, a term applied by the early Christians to Jesus Christ; and the house in which they worshipped was named from the title. So church goods, bona ecclesiastica; the Lords day, dies dominica.

The collective body of Christians, or of those who profess to believe in Christ, and acknowledge him to be the Savior of mankind.

Why do we go to church? Why is it important? 

Key Verse

Hebrews 10:24,25

What does this verse mean? We are to exhort (to incite by argument or advice) each other. We often see brothers and sisters fall away from the church when they desire not be accountable or they do not want to be encouraged to do the right thing. We are in the last days and it is important that we hold each other accountable to the do the right thing and that we have the godly influence to a lost world around us.

What is the church?

Jesus instituted the church.

Matthew 16:18 - And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Catholic church use this verse to say the church was built on Peter, but the Rock spoken of is Jesus Christ. A righteous church can only be built on God and not on man, programs or anything that is not of God.

The name Peter or petros means small stone, or little stone or piece of a big rock. There is a sense in which Peter helped build the church, but the foundation of the church has always been and will always be Jesus.

2 Peter 2:5-8

Jesus not only instituted the church, but He is the cornerstone, or the head of the church and our high priest.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Essentially the church is a big huge family made up of brothers and sisters in Christ. It is so good to be a member of the family of God. 

Romans 8:15

As members of the family of God, we have the privilege of serving God through ministry and in essence we are His hands and feet. God can use us, but we must be willing participants walking in the Spirit. God doesn’t need us but He choses to use us as His hands and feet.

Colossians 3:15

We are called to be one body and not part of our own groups and cliques although it is natural at times to link with those who are of like personalities and likes, but all believers have in common being washed in the blood of the Lamb. We are of the same blood line where we can call each other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Matthew 18:20

What a blessing to be with those who have experienced the washing away of our sins and the cleansing He gives.

To summarize, church is a community of believers that gather together to encourage one another, observe Lord’s table, perform baptism, minister to one another, and most important to carry out the gospel to the ends of the earth.

How do you become a member of the family of God?

Jesus was clear about this, to become a member of the church, you must be born again. Jesus met with a leader of the pharisees named Nicodemus.

John 3:3

How do you become born again?

Romans 10:9-10

This verse is jam packed with the full gospel message. To confess that Jesus is Lord means that you are submitting to His Lordship, you are surrendering your will to His will,

Abundant Life Episode 38

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of being unadopted.

Websters 1828

UNADOPTED - Not adopted; not received as one's own.

WRATH - The just punishment of an offense or crime. Romans 8:1.

Gods wrath in Scripture, is his holy and just indignation against sin. Romans 1:18.

Key Verse

John 3:36

On the last episode we spoke to Bob and he talked about his adoption. We also read verses that talked about the spirit of adoption, and how good it is to be part of the family of God. Hence, why we call each other brother. We talked about how good it is to be part of the family of God, but what about those who have not been “adopted”? What is their current condition? Sadly those who will be left behind on the day of the rapture or those who will split hell wide open because they wanted no part of the spirit of adoption.

Condition of man without Christ

John 3:18

John 3:36

The wrath of God is immediately upon us when we choose not to believe in Him, and there are many in this world who seem to have no care in this world and they are ignorant of their current condition. Oh, the despair of man who is ignorant of his condition and shakes his fist at a just God. 

John 12:48

Judgement is coming for all of us but one will be judged to hell eternal because they chose not to believe. 

Proverbs 11:21

Wickedness is always punished but God will deliver those who have chosen to place their faith and trust in Him.

Matthew 25:46

2 Thessalonians 1:8-10

As mentioned, in the last episode we spoke about being a child of God through the Spirit of adoption, but before being a child of God, we were children of Satan.

John 8:44

Acts 13:9-10

1 John 3:8

This is clear, you are either a son of the Satan or a son of God. There is no middle ground, or on the fence state of life. Every human being, aside from Christ was born a child of Satan.

Ephesians 2:1-3

This passage is clear that we were all sons of disobedience, following the prince of the power of the air which is a reference to Satan, living a life a sin and therefore destined to the wrath of God, hence the term children of wrath. It is a fearful thing to be outside of the family of God, or another way to put it, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, and remember God’s anger is perfectly just and righteous.

Without God, your destination is hell. In Luke 16 there is the story or parable, there is debate over this, but in any case there is a lesson. The rich man died and was in hades or Sheol, and Lazarus was at Abrahams side and Abraham spoke to the rich man telling him to remember his past life. I find it fascinating that in the life to come we may have memory of the lives we lived before our physical death and I think how regret is going to feel. Will you regret not making that choice to receive the precious gift of Jesus?

No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus

Romans 8:1

John 8:11

I believe this woman had repented and therefore Jesus told her to go and sin no more. She had found forgiveness because she had repented, and He did not condemn her because of this.

John 12:47

He came to seek and to save the lost but because He is just He will have to judge but His desire is that all should come to repentance. 

Romans 8:34.

How do we get this hope and how can one became a member of the family of God? 

The term “no condemnation” is used in a judicial setting.

CONDEMNATION - The act of condemning; the judicial act of declaring one guilty, and dooming him to punishment.

The reality is that we will all face the judgement of God.

2 Corinthians 5:10

According to the verse we will appear before Christ who is the judge. God has granted Jesus the authority to execute this judgement.

John 5:27

We are the defendants in this case. Satan is the accuser or the prosecutor who, according to Revelation 12:10 accuses us day and night. The charge brought to us is that we are guilty of s...

Abundant Life Episode 37

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of the Spirit of Adoption.

Websters 1828

Adoption:

The act of adopting, or the state of being adopted; the taking and treating of a stranger as one's own child.

The receiving as one's own, what is new or not natural.

God's taking the sinful children of men into his favor and protection.

Key Verses: Romans 8:15-17

The bible speaks favorably about adoption throughout scripture and some examples are:

Jochebed and Moses (Exodus 1 & 2)

Esther was adopted by Mordecai, became queen and saved the Jews (Esther)

Jesus adopted by Joseph

Children of the devil

Before salvation, everyone is a child of the devil.

Matthew 13:38

John 8:44

Adoption is done by choice and out of love, and when we trust Jesus as Lord and Savior we are adopted into the family of God by means of Jesus, known as the Spirit of adoption.

1 John 3:1

Galatians 4:4-6

Ephesians 1:3-5

Your new identity

Identity issues sometimes come with earthly adoption (disconnected, lost, no sense of identity, unsure about past), however, spiritual adoption is much different.

John 1:12-13

2 Corinthians 5:17

John 15:15

Galatians 2:20

Resources

Exchange Bible Study

Want to learn how to give the Exchange

Show Me the Father

Abundant Life Episode 36

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of truth.

Websters 1828

Truth - Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The truth of history constitutes its whole value. We rely on the truth of the scriptural prophecies.

Key verse

He is the origin of truth

John 1:17

If you follow the news on TV or maybe on Social Media, you are likely constantly wondering whether or not you are consuming truth or lies. In fact it was just a couple years ago that we had a new term coined, fake news which was in effort to call out mainstream news media who are interested in reporting anything but the truth. Then you had so called fact checkers that were checking to see if what people were posting was true or not, but in the end it was admitted that it wasn’t necessarily truth they were seeking but opinion being construed as truth. Needless to say we are in a society where people are extremely confused and starving for truth.

We live in a post modern world where some will say that there is no absolute truth, and ironically they’ve just made an absolute truth statement. Then you have the philosophy of relativism which defines truth as being relative and that everyone can have their own truth. For example you have some that will say that it is all right to believe what you want, as long as you do not try to impose your beliefs on others. But this view itself is a belief about what is right and wrong, and those who hold this view most certainly try to impose it on others.

In a recent study by Barna, they asked different people groups to respond to various statements by whether or not they agree with the statement. Here are 2 different statements that were asked to “practicing christians”.

Whatever is right for your life or works best for you is the only truth you can know. (40% agree)

Every culture must determine what is acceptable morality for its people. (47% agree

There were other people groups that were surveyed like boomers, gen-exers etc, but the fact that practicing Christians would think that truth is relative or that you can get your morality defined by culture is very concerning.

Thankfully we have the truth of the Bible which came from source of truth, God who is truth. God doesn’t just speak truth, His character is the mere definition of truth. Without truth we wouldn’t be able to know God, morality would basically be non-existent and we’d be in a much bigger mess than we are currently. Because we have this truth, we can know God, we can know what sin is, we can know what righteousness is and how to live or lives accordingly.

Redemptive purposes

John 14:6

John 8:32

John 18:37-38

1 John 5:20

The truth about salvation is so critical because it literally determines life or death as your eternal destination.

Sanctification purposes

John 17:17

2 Timothy 2:15

Ephesians 6:14

Psalm 25:5

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Psalm 86:11

Philippians 4:8 

Psalms 43:3

John 14:17

1 John 1:6

The Christian walk is not easy by any means, but without truth, we’d be absolutely lost. Interestingly when reading about the armor of God, the belt of truth is the first item of armor applied and it would seem that truth is the foundation for the Christian life. Without the belt of truth the rest of the armor would be irrelevant because we would then be what Paul described in Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:14

The spiritual battle is not fought in the physical, but in the spiritual, in our minds. If you think about the filth we fill our minds with, the lies and deceptions of this world, its so wonder that we struggle with unbelief.

Unbelief was what Adam and Eve experienced in the garden when they chose to believe the lie of Satan over the truth of God and therefore sent the human race into sin.

The apostle Paul talks about judgement for those who chose to suppress the truth and believe the lie.

Romans 1:18

Romans 1:26

What about you Christian?

Abundant Life Episode 35

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss saving faith and why this is foundational to all Christians.

Freedom That Lasts definition

Saving faith is believing that Jesus Christ is my only Savior.

Many believe that there are many ways to get to heaven but there is no saving faith in that. 

Webster’s 1828

FAITH - is a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God, in all the declarations of his word; or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which God has declared, and because he has declared them.

There is a lot to unpack with that definition of faith but it is saving faith that allows us to say that there is one God and that we take Him at His Word.

Jesus Christ is the only Savior!

Key verse

Acts 4:12

What is saving faith?

Saving faith is what cleanses a sinner of sin and sets his/her eternal destination. We call this justification and sanctification. When you place your faith in Christ, you are justified and set apart, sealed as a child of God.

To have faith in Jesus simply means you trust Him and Him alone that He is God in the flesh and that died and resurrected to atone for our sin. Obviously this trust must be authentic. 

Often times the Bible uses the word believe, in fact John uses "believe" in the Gospel of John and it turns out its there 100 times within 86 different verses. The new testament found 248 times within 220 verses (all KJV). The greek word pist-yoo’-o means to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in

John 1:1

It is extremely important to identify that Jesus is God. Jesus is the second person of the trinity, co-equal with God the father. Some religions will tell you that they believe in Jesus, but the "Jesus" they identify with is either not God, or is not eternal.

John 1:14

Another huge point is that Jesus became man, God in the flesh. Jesus is the keeper of the law, he never sinned once and is the reason that we can have salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

Salvation requires that you place your faith or your trust in Jesus, the correct Jesus, and that you are trusting in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sin.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

John testifies that those who have placed their faith in Jesus are sons and daughters of God.

1 John 5:1

This foundational saving faith is the key to becoming and living as a Christian, if you miss this, then you may have a false hope.

Is Jesus the only way?

There is no other way to get to heaven, only one way, and that is through Jesus.  People look to a lot of things in this world as their savior but there is only one way. 

Matthew 7:13-14

Matthew 7:22-23

People look to a lot of things for their Savior, but they miss out on the one true Savior. The one who died for you and seeks to rescue you from your condemned condition.

John 19:30

John 14:6

Acts 4:12

Once saved always saved!

Jesus knew all of the sin we would commit but He still loved us with an everlasting love and there is nothing that will separate us from this great love. 

Romans 8:35, 38-39

Every Christian at some point doubts their salvation. Typically when you are in sin, or perhaps just not reading your bible, or maybe it’s just that Satan is whispering lies in your ear, it’s inevitable that you will experience doubt.

John 10:28-29

Ephesians 4:30

There are some Christians that believe you can lose your salvation. However, it really wouldn’t make sense. When you get saved you are granted eternal life. It wouldn’t be eternal if it can be broken or haunted. The scripture is clear, we are sealed and sanctified even until the day of redemption.

Once saved, it’s very likely that we will sin, but the beautiful thing is that God does not throw us away like some broken piece of trash. When we sin, we definitely cause a rift in our relationship with God, but the solution is simple, repent and confess.

Sins brings about doubt of in our lives,

Abundant Life Episode 34

In this episode Saso and Ben host special guest George Binoka who talks about his journey from hating God to Missionary.

Key Verses

Ephesians 4:22-24

Resources

Abundant Life

Kenya Baptist Ministries

Stay in the Fight Daily Devotional

Grace and Peace Radio

Show Me The Father Movie

Northwest Valley Baptist Church

Abundant Life Episode 33

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of trials. How do you respond to trials?

Trials -  A test of faith, patience, or stamina through subjection to suffering or temptation broadly : a source of vexation or annoyance. - Websters 1828

Key Verses

James 1:2-4

Sometimes call these sanctification tests, but God allows these into our life for a reason and purpose. Have you ever had your water heater break and counted in all joy? How about a besetting sin in your life? Man, what a joy to be tempted! 

Trials are meant to test and stretch us or grow us as Christians. An athlete that wishes to become the best spends hours in the gym lifting weights, eating right, working out, in order to strengthen his/her body. It takes a lot of discipline, which is why many of us are a little soggy around the midsection!

Essential Virtues, Mark of the Christ-Centered Life - The Christian, however, who faithfully seeks to develop these essential virtues (faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love), will see every circumstance of life as a “fitness station” upon which the Trainer has arranged another repetition of the necessary surrender, dependence and obedience required to develop and manifest that virtue. - Jim Berg

When we go through trials we are being given opportunity to grow in our walk with God. The reality is that if everything were perfect, we’d likely never take the opportunity to seek God.

Why do we go through trials?

1 Peter 5:10

I think of Abraham who was tested and tried, and I cannot imagine how he was strengthen and changed by seeing God work through that trial. We often miss out on the perfect, stablish, and settle part as we fail the initial part of the test. I often cannot see beyond the trial and see only what is in front of me. I am short sighted in many of these cases.

Romans 5:3-4

In retrospect you can apply this to life. Just like this verse as well as our key verse in James, this testing is done so that we can build our endurance which results in hope according to Romans and contentment according to James. In short, trials are allowed in our lives to grow our dependence and faith in God.

1 Peter 1:6-7

It’s pretty clear that trials are not only to test the genuine of our faith but to change us into the image of Christ.

What are God’s promises with regard to trials?

1 Corinthians 10:13

Ecclesiastes tells us there is nothing new under the sun, and there is no temptation that our heavenly Father is not aware of. No new sin, no new circumstance, no nuance or no new red button person that has not been encountered. God promises not to give us a temptation that we will not be able to escape. Joseph was able to resist the pursuit of a married woman and Moses choose to suffer with the children of Israel rather than to indulge in the pleasures that Egypt had to offer.  

John 16:33

In our last podcast we discussed the peace that only comes from our God. Dr. Berg discussed that we will always have all tribulation in this world as this verse states, but there is tribulation with God and tribulation with God. God has overcome the world, and we have hope and joy in this victory. Help is there for the asking. 

Exodus 14:14

Allow God to fight for you! 

Matthew 11:28-30

Typically when we are in a trial, it’s not our first instinct to look to God’s promises. The bible is pretty clear, we as people are really good forgetters. Just think of the Israelites in the desert, seeing amazing miracles, then when trials came, they forgot God, and would complain, even to the point of becoming idolaters.

We as people are no different. In fact if we are honest, many of us have such a weak prayer life, and we only pray when bad things happen. 

The reality is that we must learn and teach ourselves to always have our gaze to God, he is sovereign and he cares.

Romans 8:28

This verse has a couple prerequisites,

Abundant Life Episode 32

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of hope. What do you place your hope in?

Websters 1828

Hope

“A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. hopediffers from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. hopetherefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.

Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

A well founded scriptural hope is, in our religion, the source of ineffable happiness.”

Key Verse

Joel 3:16

We live in a world that gives us anything but hope. We have been guilty of putting our hope in our favorite sports team, our favorite stock, our back accounts, our residency in America and our religious freedoms. We have seen things bubbling in our world whether that be racial divide, countries at war, and even our country divided behind political lines. The news is not full of hope nor is it full of truth. One does not watch the news and walk away with an outlook of hope. As Christians, our hope is in the Lord, and He is still our strength no matter the headline or news breaking story

John 16:33

We were told of the world not being a peaceful place and it has not been a peaceful place for a long time. We sometimes forget that they crucified our Lord, and the world is not a place we can take refuge in or find peace in. That is the bad news, but the good news is that our God has overcome this world, and there is ultimate peace found in Him. Chin up! 

Complacency is a really dangerous place to be, because its like being in a false state of satisfaction. But that’s exactly where we were just a few years after 911. We went through the horrific tragedy and then we just got emerged in life, business, daily routines and such. Then we had somewhat of an awakening in 2008 with the housing market crash and high inflation, but then we were back to our old ways. We were living pretty comfortable from 2010 till March of 2020 when the world was overtaken by Covid.

As churches shut down, business sent employees home, students were sent home and we were sort of left in this state of the unknown. Grocery stores were low on stock, there was no toilet paper, having to social distance and wear uncomfortable masks, it was a sort of a stressful time of uncertainty.

But something interesting happened that hadn’t happened in quite some time. We begin to look up. God was allowing this pandemic trial to happen and we were confronted face to face with our faith. Where was our faith? Was it in the CDC, was it in Dr. Fauci, was in the hope for a coming vaccine or was it in the one who spoke the world into existence?

Fast forward a little to our current day, and we are currently in another point in history where we are entering the unknown. Russia has just invaded the people of Ukraine and news analysts are trying to determine what’s coming next. The people in Ukraine are under attack, and the rest of the world is watching and waiting for the next tyrant to attack. And again we are face to face with our faith.

1 Peter 1:6-7

God Cares for you

Isaiah 41:10

There are going to be times in the present world where we will feel alone, where we will feel defeated, and we will feel without strength. Our strength is not found in anything but the Lord our God. He is the One who upholds us, and He is the One who says, “Fear not!” It does not take much watching of the news to feel fearful of what is going on, and to lose sight that our God is still on the throne 

Isaiah 41:13

We are told again here not to fear as the Lord our God is the One who holds our hand, and He is the One who will help and sustain us. We often get fearful by what we see and hear but ...

Abundant Life Episode 31

In this episode Saso and Ben discuss the topic of time, how short life is and how we should be spending our time.

1828 Websters

A particular portion or part of duration, whether past, present or future. The time was; the time has been; the time is; the time will be.

Lost time is never found again.”

Key Verse

Psalm 90:12

Time is the really the only thing that we have equal access to until we do not. Time is a gift from God and cannot be bought, borrowed or ever found again as the dictionary would define it. We cannot pause time and get an extra hour of sleep or to use it again once it has been used. Time is a precious commodity, and we often take it for granted the time we have been given.  

Why is time important?

The time for salvation is now!

2 Corinthians 6:2

Salvation is not something to put off as the wrath of God abides on everyone who has not put their faith in Jesus Christ

John 3:36

Only a fool waits until it is too late. We look at those that perished in the flood because they would not heed the warning that the waters were coming. Many today feel they are “good” but the time is now!

Hebrews 9:27

It does not matter who you are, how much money you have, how much you spend on health, or if you have a special diet, we will all face the judgment of almighty God. There is nothing wrong with living healthy but there is no “Cocoon” we can enter that will bring back the days of yesteryear. 

Life is short

There are two absolutes when it comes to life, first life is short and secondly we don’t know when our life will end. Death can be a sobering topic and a topic to be avoided, but the truth of the matter is that we will all die one day. Nobody gets a pass and nobody can avoid it. The question is, how will we spend our short time on earth?

In Psalm 90 we read this Psalm of Moses. The children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan into the promise land. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness they were about to reach their destination. It’s as if this Psalm was written as a prayer of thankfulness, humility and blessing. However we see several verses that makes it quite apparent that the children of Israel had an awareness of how short human life is.

Psalm 90:10

It’s very similar to what James said on the issue of living a presumptuous life. He basically said, your life is like a vapor.

James 4:14

Time is such an interesting concept because people for centuries have been searching for a way to prolong their time on this Earth. There is nothing wrong with eating well and taking care of your body, but the fact of the matter is that our lives are in the hands of our Creator and He is the one that determines how many days we have on this earth.

Life is so short and precious and it reiterates once again why we must number our days. 70 when you are 15 seems like a long time but it really seems short the older, we get.

This episode is titled “A Dash of Time” but our life is the dash between the year we are born and the year we end. It is a dash from the time you are born to the time God decides to take you home or calls you to judgment.

The main problem is taking life for granted

The primary issue is that we get comfortable and complacent and therefore we take life for granted and foolishly we make the assumption that we will live to a ripe old age. We assume that we will be around for many years to come like the verse in Psalms which talks about 70 or 80 years, but the reality is that we just don’t know.

The problem with being comfortable and complacent is that we forget about God. Remember what the children of Israel did when Moses went up to Mount Sinai

Exodus 32:1

They completely forgot God and they became impatient with Moses and they gave themselves over to idolatry.

Remember David on the roof top, he was comfortable and complacent when He should have been on the battlefield with his army and in his complacency he fell into sin committing adultery and mur...