Most dysfunctions and problems in life stem from only seeing yourself from an horizontal point of view. What others think of you and say to you has way too much say in how you see yourself. Define your identity. But you can’t live the bigger and better story without finding your identity from the vertical perspective of God. That’s the subject of this episode. We are setting up a base camp here in Psalm 106 for a little while because it touches on a lot of really crucial issues if we want to walk with God. If we want to live the bigger life. Live into the better story. There are three things you have to believe if you want to walk with God: 1. That God’s word/promises are true. 2. That he loves you specifically with an abundant infinite steadfast love. 3. And that his will for you ultimately is your good. Your only good. Your better story. These three reasons are why you can trust him completely. (Like this podcast? Leave us a rating so others can find it more easily. Also consider texting favorite episodes to a friend or family member who might benefit from this podcast.) Psalm 106 ESV 1 Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! 4 Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people; help me when you save them, 5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation, that I may glory with your inheritance. 6 Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider [Hebrew: they did not remember] your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. 45 For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love. Below are some of the New Testament verses discussed in these episodes: 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. John 17:23–24 NIV 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Romans 5:6–10 NIV 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Titus 3:4-8 ESV But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people....