FCC Etown Podcast

God wants us to work and has given us gifts and talents to work differently in this world. But, none of us work hard enough or in some unique way to earn our most incredible help from God. God helps those who ask. God helps those who are weak and who are in over their head. None of us have done enough work at any point to earn the grace he has given us. Dallas Willard said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning."

The comment of, "love the sinner and hate the sin," puts the emphasis and focus on everybody else and identifies how to view and respond to everyone else. When was the last time you confessed to God or asked God to convict you of any sin?

Money is not bad. Money is not the root of all evil. The love of money. The obsession with money. The stranglehold of money is the root of all kinds of evil. These attitudes toward money are the root of evil, not the inanimate object itself.

The cure for these attitudes is not more money to satisfy us—instead, its generosity.

God will never give you more than you can handle. When we get to the point where we can’t handle it anymore, that’s when God takes over. That’s when HE becomes most visible in me and powerful through me; when I can’t handle it, and I know I can’t handle it, God flexes his muscles and takes over, for when I can’t handle it, he is strong. Because life is more than any of us can handle.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. There are some crucial times when words are needed. Sometimes people need to hear the weight of the words that matter, but sometimes the greatest gift you can give in a moment, in a season, into a relationship happens when you remember quick-slow-slow and say nothing.

Receiving forgiveness from God sets us free but saying, "I forgive you," to others, keeps us free. 

Forgiveness isn't forgetting something that happened, condoning their actions, and forgiveness is not dependent on someone admitting their wrong. Forgiveness is the willingness to let someone go free. When we make that decision, we often find that the person set free is us!

The more we think we deserve, the less thankful we are. Saying "Thank you" helps us focus on what we have instead of what we don't have. When we're focused on what we do have instead of what we don't, it does incredible things for us mentally and for others. When we say thank you out loud, when we remember to come back and express feelings of gratitude, good things happen to us, and maybe to others too. Best of all, thankful people are contagious people. The grateful attitude is magnetic.

When was the last time you said I love you? When was the last time you said I love you to Jesus?

There are many ways to convey to Jesus I love you. Our baptism is the initial way we say I love you to Jesus. We can say it in our prayer time instead of presenting Him with needs and wants. We can sing it in worship when we lift our voices instead of letting others do it. We have so many ways to say it, but the most important thing is to say it.

Godly sorrow can see, godly sorrow leads to repentance, and godly sorrow always leads to confession. God’s goal is not to make you feel bad or beat you up. Instead, God’s truth helps you see the way, see the sin, confess the wrong, and move away from it. As you will learn, David set a clear example of following these steps, so allow his example to be a blueprint for you. When we confess our sin to our Heavenly Father, he forgives us. Just as important, though, the enemy loses power over us.

We don’t have to be afraid of questions, because God is not afraid of questions. So use your doubt as the way to grow stronger in your faith than ever before. God says bring me your doubt. Bring me your questions. He is big enough and great enough to handle them all. He says, “Bring all of your doubt and your questions so I can show you what is true and real.”