Have you ever heard someone say that we should always be grateful? Or maybe you've wondered why bad things happen to good people?
It can be frustrating when someone speaks that way, but in this episode co-hosts Renée and Theresa dissect scripture to reveal the real meaning of what God is saying to us. It may be found in the little tiny words like "in" and "for". Tiny words can have big meanings and even change the way we understand the truth.
Have you ever heard someone say that we should always be grateful? Or maybe you've wondered why bad things happen to good people?
It can be frustrating when someone speaks that way, but in this episode co-hosts Renée and Theresa dissect scripture to reveal the real meaning of what God is saying to us. It may be found in the little tiny words like "in" and "for". Tiny words can have big meanings and even change the way we understand the truth.
I absolutely loved that movie grease and one of my favorite songs and that movie was hopelessly devoted to you. And I think about last week's podcast, where we talked about the battle and how to survive the battle, and we're going to continue with that today. But we know that the answer was being hopelessly surrendered and devoted to God in order to survive and win these battles that have been before us for some months now. So stay tuned. You're going to want to hear more about hopelessly devoted to you. Welcome to episode 70 of the well-versed woman podcast. I'm Renee teller, and I'm Theresa.
Speaker 2:You see Renee and I are two perfectly imperfect women. As we tell you, week after week, they come on this podcast to share our faith in Christ. And all of us have means for us in this life
Speaker 1:With you. And what we love to share with you in this life and for this life is a relationship with God, an actual conversation and friendship and deep, deep relationship with the person that created each and every one of us. And before we get started, we know that we have to talk to him and actually invite him to be right here with you today. So that the words and the teaching that is being shared in this podcast is coming from him very specifically for you. That's how profound this word from God is each and every time you decide to be still and sit with him and speaking of being still, that's how we start every podcast. We're going to take 20 seconds right now, close our eyes and invite God to be right in your space with you to open your eyes, to see your ears, to hear and your hearts. To know that he's right here with you, giving you the words that he has for you. So those 20 seconds are going to start right now. So get comfortable, take some slow deep breaths. Here we go.
Speaker 3:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:That's it. That was 20 seconds. Boy, that felt a little longer to me today. I've been running for a couple of days and haven't had as much still time as I like. And that 20 seconds really felt good. I hope it did for you too. I'm going to encourage you to grow that still time. It's going to make all the difference in your life. And more importantly, in this relationship, because God is trying to break through this noise here on planet earth all the time. And he breaks through it when we invite him. So go ahead and grow that time. And I also want to share tree. So we were talking about this perfectly imperfect and laughing before we started about how much more imperfect we feel every day, which ties right in to this idea of surrender. The more we get to know this big God, this big creator of ours, the more imperfect we realize we are. And the more I know for me, Theresa, that I'm able to surrender and say, yes, these battles, this fight I cannot do alone. I am just going to surrender and I am going to allow, give God permission, allow him to come on in and take it over. Boy. That's, that's one of the hardest lessons I ever learned.
Speaker 2:That's so very true, Renee. And I love that. God is a God that we can experience him in this life. Experiential is what the word that I love because when we interact with God, that's where our faith deepens and grows, right? So if we're believing God, for instance, to work a citric or relationship situation out, because we know Romans 8, 28 says he is always working things out together for our good. And when we watch him work the situation out, we say, wow, his word can be trusted and he can be trusted. So Renee, that word surrender is so very important because as we grow in faith with the Lord through our day-to-day lives, are the transactions in our lives. We see, we can trust him. We see he is an integral. God, we see that God's word is based up upon God's integrity. And then the surrender becomes, oh, so sweet Renee. And we can move in life and we can trust him. And we see amazing, amazing situations turn around. So it is a surrender and it's a daily surrender. And as you and I were laughing before we turned the switch on to record this podcast, we realize just how big he is. Wonderful. He is, which shows really how much we need him in how he works out. All of the imperfections, all of the imperfect situations. Then our life in that brings a lot of joy and comfort to us,
Speaker 1:Joy and comfort to us. And it was coming to me funny that you say that is that the surrender gives us such peace. When I finally let go and just say, that's it. I am done, you know, digging my heels in and trying to bear up under things. I'm just going to put my hands up in the air. We talked about that roller coaster ride and just let it go. Just let God in and take control over it. And again, like I said, that is very hard for most of us humans. It's really hard for me because of course, I think I've controlled so much in my life and been responsible for so many things happening. And as I've grown and as I've grown that relationship, I realize more and more, what really wasn't you at all Renee? It was those times when you got on your knees and gave it to God that the biggest impact that the biggest outcomes were achieved. So it's, it's amazing. And it's so hard for so many of us when these big battles come tree Suh to get to that place where I'm going to let go. It's so scary, like the rollercoaster ride, right? So scary to take your hands off the safety bar, so to speak
Speaker 2:So true. So true. You know, when you were talking, uh, the scripture that came up into my heart was from first Thessalonians, chapter five, verses 16 to 18. This is in the new international version. And the truth of God's word says, rejoice, always pray, continually give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So let's unpack this just a minute. We Joyce, all the ways when we rejoice, even in situations that are difficulty, we're turning our mind to God's intellect. God's love God's power in a situation. So we can always rejoin that when we pray, when we ask God to be on the job, that we can be confident that he is working through our situations in that brings, I like to call it Rene it bay. This is my soul. When I know the truth of God, the truth of his word and that he is on the job is I am praying continually. The Bible in this scripture says give thanks in all circumstances. So we're not giving thanks for all circumstances, right? If, uh, a sickness perhaps, uh, comes, uh, to our, one of our loved ones or even ourselves, we're not thanking God for sickness, he doesn't give sickness. He brings healing, but we're thanking him in the circumstance. And what happens when we start thanking God, our mind is taking off of the situation off our control, and we're looking to him to solve it. We're looking for his input. We get to collaborate with God is God all mighty. Isn't that amazing Renee, knowing that his word is true, knowing that Hebrews 10 23, hold fast, your confession of faith for he who promised is faithful in his. We wait for God to move. And as we do what he is instructing us to do, he's leading us to do, he's doing his part. We're doing our part. And that's why we can be we joisting. And we can be thankful in the situation, looking forward for the blessing to manifest the conclusion, the working out of our situation. And I can speak for Renee and I'm going to speak for myself because we know the goodness and the faithfulness of God, right? Renee. He comes through time and time. Again. It might not be exactly what we thought, but it's always even better than we could have hoped for or asked for. Right Renee.
Speaker 1:So absolutely true. I love the distinction that you made, because I think that that is really key for, you know, a lot of us listeners and a lot of us new believers who are trying to get to that place because we hear so many people who do trust in God, say just, you know, just thank God for, for everything. And that distinction that you just made is so powerful, the word, which we constantly in this podcast, try to reveal and go back to and help the listeners, understand the word says give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. And you know, as, as followers, we sometimes just say, you know, I'm giving him thanks for everything. Just because it's kind of the word that we use and really that in all, everything makes all the difference because we can F we've walked long enough. And if we're just starting, we can believe in all circumstances that we can give. It doesn't mean that we're conceding that we like my cancer diagnosis. For example, we didn't like that. But because of the trust, such a big word, because of the trust that we have in this big creator, we know that his plan is bigger again. And thinking back Theresa to my mom, losing her battle with cancer at 65 years old, it is so young. And I so wanted to be upset that surely couldn't couldn't, she have had such a great impact. God, if she had lived, you know, 20 more years to 85, which you know, is somewhat a normal age, 20 years, we lost. And yet when I, even in my finite human mind can today see all the things we just celebrated her 20 years in heaven, um, this week, Theresa. And to think that the li the things that have been accomplished in these 20 years, just as a result of her, you know, going to heaven early with the things that the five daughters have done alone, the impact that that had of her not being here is huge. Our whole perspective changed of the life of these, you know, the five sisters and what we went out and accomplished and did in the world, simply because we knew that the mission and was bigger, it was bigger. So we, we don't always see, we don't always know, but we trust and we can give him thanks in the, in the circumstances. I just really want to drive that home because I think it's so big Theresa, for so many of us,
Speaker 2:That's, that's so very right. Renee sat brings peace, right? The Bible says that he will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on the Lord. So it's exactly what we're talking about here. That when we trust, when we rejoice, our mind is off the off us, controlling the circumstance off humans, controlling the circumstance. It's onto God almighty, uh, taking care of the circumstance. And in that it is a rejoicing like phew. And when the, and I I'll find the scripture before the podcast is over, it's in Isaiah, that the Bible says that he keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on me in the rejoicing, in the praying, our minds are focused on God and peace comes. Sometimes we have to fight a good fight of faith, Renee, which is our next scripture. First Timothy chapter six verse 12 says to fight the good fight of faith. They hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. So there is a fight, right? Fear will try to come in. Once you've given it to God, people will come in with different ideas. But when we know the word of God, we can stand on God's word. And we keep focusing on what he is telling us to do what he's leading us to do. We focus that he's taken care of it. So we can say to people when they're trying to interject their views, thank you very much, but I know God is working this out. And that is, that is our faith Renee. That is the foundation of our faith is the integrity of God's word. The foundation of our faith is being led by the holy spirit, the foundation of our faith, as the Ephesians says, he does exceedingly abundantly beyond what we could ask hope or think so what that scripture is saying, pray, but I'm going to, I'm going to exceed your expectations, boy, Renee. And I'm thinking Renee, you know, of the, the diagnosis for yourself. And I'm thinking how we prayed because of the tumor on the kidney. And we saw at the end, right, that it was a benign unusual right thing. And we gave him all the glory. And during the process of trusting him, praying, researching the scriptures, understanding what God was saying, we grew Rene. We grew with the Lord. We, our faith grew. We grew in our relationship. You and me, we grew with others who also were on team Renee in prayer. And just going through all of the natural doctor's visits and interviewing, you know, where should this be taken care of? We grew. And so part of that growth Renee has led us to this podcast today that we have such a strong conviction, such a strong revelation of his goodness, his interaction in our human lives, that and how we can share it with the world. So praise him, Renee. We were fighting the good fight of faith and look where it brought us today.
Speaker 1:I love that summary. And I love driving home. This, you know, this journey that we had with my tumor, Theresa, the foundation of our faith that you just talked about is the integrity of God's word. If you're listening and you're doing a weekly listen to this podcast, that's awesome. But frankly, we need a daily, a daily practice of being in the word. And if you don't have a Bible, it's so easy today to get one. This is a public service announcement go to Amazon. I'm not a promoter of Amazon necessarily, but it will be the quickest way to get a Bible in your hands. Go to Amazon. I would recommend if you're starting the passion Bible right now, it's just the new Testament. I know Theresa, they're working on it for the whole Bible, old and new Testament. I don't think it's out yet. It may be, but there is the new Testament, which is really, you know, a great place to start, but get the passion translation as one translation, as you'll hear, you know, Theresa talk about frequently, we work in, in many translations, but if you're just starting, I do love that and read two sentences a day. It's that simple, but like Theresa is saying the foundation of our faith is the integrity of God's word. And when you fill your minds with the word, I love the analogy, Theresa, to a good, a good diet or a good detox. What do we do physically? When we're doing a health plan, a good diet, a good nutrition plan. We attempt to feed our bodies with lots of good food so that anything bad inside of us gets pushed out, right? I mean, that's the basic premise. It's the same thing with these beautiful words that are in this beautiful book. If we just consume these words, constantly, the other things get blocked out of our mind and it ties right into what you were saying, Teresa, they get blocked out of our mind. We get filled with the word like you and I did during that journey with my tumor every morning and every night, I just bathed myself in those good words. So that the, the things that were scaring me and causing me deep fear that I was going to end up like my mom, you know, kept getting pushed out because I was filling my mind and fixing my mind on these good, beautiful, strong words, right from God himself. And then the second thing, the holy spirit, you know, understanding that the holy spirit is where all our wisdom comes from. So that when we mix the words on the page with the invitation of asking the holy spirit to reveal the meaning and the depth and the infinite wisdom of the words that are in that book, so that we can trust it so that we can in our humanness grasp it. It's, you know, like we say, game over and, and then we can trust that he will do exceedingly abundantly beyond what our finite minds can fathom. I just was perfect the way you laid that out. Thank you for that.
Speaker 2:Um, well thank you, Renee, for the analogy of a detox or, um, just a good, healthy diet. It reminded me as you were talking that Jesus, you know, Jesus says, man does not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So how, how true, how apropos Renee, you know, I wanted to get back. I told our listeners, I would look up the Isaiah scripture and it is it's Isaiah chapter 26, verse three. I'm going to read this in the amplified Bible. You know, for those of you who are new to the Bible, um, there are different versions. I especially loved the amplified Bible because it takes the initial languages of the Bible Hebrew for old Testament, Greek for new Testament in it, expounds in those very languages. You know, Rene Greek is so much more expressive. For instance, they have four words for the word love. There are many more descriptive words in the Greek, and that's what the Bible does in the amplified version. So I'm going to read out of this amplified version for Isaiah 26 verse three, because it captures exactly what we're saying here, Renee. And of course the Isaiah is in the old Testament. So this is an amplification of the Hebrew language. Let, let's listen to this and let's let this be that our souls today, the Bible says you will keep in perfect and constant peace. The one whose mind is steadfast, that is committed and focused on you, Lord in both inclination and character, because he trusts and takes refuge in you with hope and confident expectation. Wow, Renee, that confident expectation is the definition of faith. When we, when we go over to the book of Hebrews, faith is the, is being confident, having confident expectations that what God's word says he will do will come to pass in our life. So when we consistently, and sometimes it's a fight, absolutely because when we don't see the situation change immediately, right? Fear tries to attack us. But when we understand the perfect love of God is the Bible says perfect love, casts out, all fear in that perfect love and that perfect knowledge of God, knowing that he's never let anybody down. He's never disappointed anyone. And he's not going to start with me knowing that he will perform his word. He watches over it to performance. When we understand these things, perfect peace comps, and it's a beautiful way to live our lives and why Renee, who doesn't want to live life with God.
Speaker 1:Wow. That's a great statement to end today's episode with Teresa, who doesn't want to live life with God, if we could even understand how big that statement is in terms of this relationship, Theresa, that we talk about all the time. You can live this life here on earth with God. We don't have to wait till we get to heaven. We can live this life with God. I love that.
Speaker 2:And that, you know, Renee, if I could leave our listeners today with Psalm 23, verse six, I think it would be a blessing. Uh, and I'm going to do it in a prayer format. Renee. Again, this is from the amplified Bible. It's Psalm 23 verse six father. I just want to thank you and praise you. I want to say thank you for your son in the work that he did to bring us back to you. Lord. I'm so grateful for the blood of Christ that was shed on our behalf. He who knew no sin. Your son took sin and became sin that we might become your righteousness in walk and fellowship with you father for all of our days in father. I just thank you for the integrity of your word. I thank you that this word is for Renee and me and for those listening today. And I just want to thank you that surely goodness and mercy and your unfailing love follows us all the days of our lives. And I thank you father, that we dwell forever throughout all of our days here in this earth and in the next in the house and in the presence of the Lord. I thank you father, that we are eternally yours. I thank you, father God, as we said in a few episodes, again, a few episodes before that to be absent from the bodies to be present with you. I thank you that when we accept your son into our life, it's not only for now, but it's throughout eternity. We get to be with you and in this life and in the next, in this, we live and move and have our being in you. And I want to thank you for the pleasure of that. I thank you that you grow us in faith. And I thank you that your perfect plan for our lives truly comes to pass in the name of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was beautiful. Again, we talk about being in the word and praying the word. So when we talked about grabbing those Bibles on a daily basis, you can be as on planned, as opening it up and praying like Theresa just did Theresa read Psalm 23, 6 without all your prayer in it so that the listeners can hear the difference between what you just did and what that Psalm says. So simply certainly
Speaker 2:Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell forever throughout all my days in the house and in the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Um, so great. And yet that became Theresa's entire prayer that became, you know, that one sentence became a couple of minute prayer and it's that simple. It's that simple. When we say, you know, be in the word, pray the word, talk to God, you can talk to him just like we're talking right here. Or you can get some words out of his book that he, you know, where he directs us. They're his words and incorporate them. It's all very simple. But the most important thing is let's do a detox from all that. You know, we're fighting in the world today by pushing all those words and craziness out and filling ourselves with these good, wholesome, healthy words. It's like the difference between living in a G-rated environment, Theresa and whatever you want to rate everything else that's going on around you, or, you know, oh my goodness. Thank you, Theresa, for all those great scriptures. And what is the one scripture that we have founded this podcast on?
Speaker 2:Absolutely Renee Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing
Speaker 1:And hearing by the word of God. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you. We
Speaker 2:Love you.
Speaker 1:Well, as you know, this is the well-versed woman podcast, and we would love for you to subscribe to this. We would love for you to rate and review it and put a comment. It would so encourage us and so encourage others and a way for you to be your own little disciple by sharing your thoughts about this podcast. So others can enjoy and understand it as well. Secondly, we have a Facebook community group it's called well-versed woman. You just need to find it, search for it and request to join. And we'll approve you to be part of our community. And last but not least are those show notes, which in many podcasts means the notes about the podcast in our podcast. The show notes are very, very important because they are the word of God. They are the scriptures that we talked about in that very episode. So if you don't have your Bible yet, go ahead and download the scriptures. The word of God, right from the show notes until next week. Thank you for listening. Bye now.