As a kid what was your favorite game to play? Do you remember wanting to be picked when you were picking sides and not wanting to be the last one picked? I felt so bad every time somebody had to be the last one, but somebody had to! Well, guess what? We've got great news because you were chosen and it was not last!! In this week's episode co-hosts Renée and Theresa reveal ways that you have been chosen by your creator!
As a kid what was your favorite game to play? Do you remember wanting to be picked when you were picking sides and not wanting to be the last one picked? I felt so bad every time somebody had to be the last one, but somebody had to! Well, guess what? We've got great news because you were chosen and it was not last!! In this week's episode co-hosts Renée and Theresa reveal ways that you have been chosen by your creator!
I want you to insert your name. When I say this red Rover red Rover send right over. Do you remember that game? Oh my gosh. And do you remember wanting to be picked when you were picking sides and not wanting to be the last one picked? Oh, I feel so bad every time somebody had to be the last one, but somebody had to, and once in Ohio it was me and it made you feel so sad inside that you were chosen last. Well, guess what? We've got great news because you were chosen and it was not last stayed tuned for this week's episode. You're going to want to hear about this and you will never feel bad about red Rover. Again, Welcome to episode 73 of the well-versed woman podcast. I'm Renee teller,
Speaker 2:Theresa Morgan. You see Renee. And I know that we're two perfectly imperfect women. We love to come to you and share our faith and our life's journeys with the Lord week after week in hopes that you will be inspired and that your faith will grow.
Speaker 1:And boy has it been a journey and I bet your life has been too. And that's why we cannot navigate it alone. We need each other. We need this podcast. Most importantly, we need a relationship with the very person that created us. And that's what this podcast is all about. A relationship with our creator, God himself. And in order to start, we know we have to plug in each and every week we go through the same thing. We try to be still for 20 seconds and actually shoot an invitation right up to heaven, asking God to come and be with each one of us right here today. So before we get started, let's do that. Close your eyes, open your ears and open your heart and ask God what he would impart to you today. We're going to do that for 20 seconds. Take some slow deep breaths. And those 20 seconds we'll start right now.
Speaker 3:[inaudible]
Speaker 1:That's it. It's those 20 little seconds. And it doesn't take much more than that. Although I can assure you, if you do take more than that, it's exponentially more beneficial. But back to this idea of being chosen of being pecked and how we feel when we are chosen, whether it's in a relationship with a loved one, or whether it's playing a game, when you were a little kid, it is so beautiful and great to be chosen. Isn't it true?
Speaker 2:It sure is Renee. And I love that opening red Rover red Rover. It reminds me of being a kid and, you know, kickball was, uh, the sport of the day when we were little right. And, um, you know, you just were hoping even past the, um, talent of the team you were going on, you know, we had a deep, inner, longing to be chosen. Please choose me. I don't want to be the last one. And God knows that desire of wanting to be chosen. And I just love in his plan of salvation. He chose us. Let's listen to what he says in the book of Ephesians chapter one verses three to six, God says blessed, be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So when Christ died on the cross, when his work was completed, that gives us the opportunity to receive the gift of salvation. The choice I'm going to continue on in this, in this scripture, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, while Rene, he saw down the quarters of time, because God sits outside of time. He is eternal. He saw Rene, he saw Theresa and he saw all of you that are listening. He saw that you were going to be born and he chose you. So we've been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestined us to adoption as sons, by Jesus Christ to himself. According to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved Renee, that beautiful verses three through six of Ephesians. One is a mouthful. But if we can meditate on some of these words that we're blessed in Christ, that he chose us, he saw our lives and he chose us. He said, Renee, your mind, Theresa your mind, and through the receiving of salvation and our putting our faith in the work that Christ did on the cross, we are accepted in the beloved. It's such a beautiful fact that that salvation, we can't work to be saved. That it's a free gift, as he says in his word, Renee.
Speaker 1:So amazing that bad chose us of all the games I played as a kid. If I knew then what I know now that God chose me all along, I never would have been sad, Theresa. I never would have been sad. And it's so freeing. If like you say, we can meditate on that. And just in the morning when you're in that still time and I have to do this. Oh, so, so much with my mind that wants to play tricks on me. He chose you Renee. He chose you Renee. But just this idea. If I could remind myself that God chose me, it makes all the difference in the world. And this point that you're making Theresa that if we would just meditate on the words in this one scripture in Ephesians, that he's blessed us with every spiritual blessing just as he chose us before the foundation of the world. It's, it's so difficult to even wrap our brain around how that can be, but we understand it by faith that the words in this book are true. And so I train my mind, Tracy, that it is true. I fill my mind with all those good words and it makes a difference in our entire life.
Speaker 2:It sure does Renee, you know, and I want to share with our listeners today, a scripture that points to the fact that we just need to receive. We just need to believe. I know there are so many who have been raised in a religious tradition. There've been so many myself included thinking that I could earn my way to have him, that I could somehow, you know, be good enough. So the scripture that I was referring to when I first spoke today is from John chapter one, verses 12 to 13. Listen, let's listen to what God has to say in his word. But as many as received him, Jesus Christ to them, God gave them the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born out of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So that scripture is very clear that when we hear the gospel Rene, and we believe we put our faith in it and we receive the free gift of salvation, we are then born born of God, born again. And, uh, we're in his family if you will. And so because of God's, um, munitions, right? He's all knowing. And he sits outside of time. He knows through the corridors of time who will accept his son, who will not. So to meditate that I've been chosen of God. He knows my name. He knew I would come into his family in time. It's such a beautiful fact, especially because we are frail human beings, we make mistakes. And so when we're feeling so, so down on herself, Renee, that, you know, life, life can work on our emotions to bring the scripture, to recall the scripture, to say, wait a minute, wait a minute. I've been chosen. I'm accepted. Even when I make my mistake, my spirit is kept righteously intact. And I'm working that out is the Bible says in Philippians chapter two in God is for me, God is on my side. He lives inside of me and he's helping me to grow and temperature. And okay, that was a mistake. I missed the mark, but God is helping me. I'm still chosen. I'm still loved. I'm still accepted.
Speaker 1:It is such a hard thing to understand because it's not how we work in our humanness, even in our relationships with each other, you know, something goes wrong and we're at odds with another person. And it's so beautiful and, and so difficult to, to grasp that. That's not how it is with God, that he is full of forgiveness and full of love and perfect. So many of us have that perfection issue. And so many of us that know and have walked with the Lord, Theresa know that it's okay to be imperfect because perfection is something that doesn't exist in our humanness. So you start to unravel all these little pieces and it gives you a Shorenstein that God is perfect and that we can trust in what we're saying right now that he won't stop forgiving. He won't stop loving. He won't stop receiving us as his own. And I always love to go back to this idea of our children that we brought into the world and that even now, no matter what Patrick could do, I could never ever feel like he's not my child, that I would never stop loving him. And I feel the same with my parents, that my mother would never, despite all I did and all the things that she may have disagreed with, even in my adulthood, she never stopped loving me. And I knew that. And if we in our humanness, the scripture Theresa, like if even, you know how to take care of your own, imagine how much more our God, our perfect omniscient, all powerful being our creator. Imagine how much more he is like that. If we know enough to take care of our children and our family, I know you're looking up that scripture right now for me.
Speaker 2:That's so funny because I'm looking it up right this minute. And it is Renee it's Romans 8 32. The Bible says that he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also along with him, graciously, give us all things. We're gonna just love your we've walked together for so long. It's it's just great. Um, and I was looking it up, but you know, when we look at this scripture, he did not spare his own son. You know, he gave his son and he gave his son freely that all who should come to his son would, would never be rejected. Right? And he not only saves us, but then he has given us all things. The Bible says that pertain to life and godliness. So we have a God that not only came to earth, became man shed his blood suffered on our behalf to appease the righteousness of God in. Then once that was done, he loves to help us on a daily basis. You know, our steps are ordered of the Lord. He's working out all things together for our good in Renee. When you were talking a little bit earlier, I was thinking about that. We have a God that just is there. He's the best father in the world. We get to see him work. He watches over his word to perform it. We get to corroborate with God. And it's, it's a beautiful way to live life, knowing that you're loved and that you don't need to be afraid to make a mistake because your father is there continuing, like we love our children and we would never disown, um, or do anything to harm our children. Even when they make a mistake, we still have that relationship with them. So God is the same way that, you know, when we do fall, we get up and he helps us to move on.
Speaker 1:I don't know, for whatever reason what's coming to me is that one comment I was raised with God helps those who help themselves. So, you know, you need to do, you need to perform. You need to, and it's, it's just not the case and love that. You said don't be afraid to make a mistake. Oh my gosh, Theresa, that's so freeing. I can't tell you how many years I lived my life as a little kid and as a big kid, worrying about making a mistake, worrying about being perfect. And this episode, all about the freedom that we have, because the word says, we are chosen. We are children of a king. We have rights in a kingdom. We are righteous because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. It's all a free gift. We can't work for it. We can't earn it. And we have to rest in the fact of the fact that once we accept Jesus, we are entitled, frankly, we're entitled. And we're going to talk about that next week. I think Theresa that we can rest in this, in these things. And boy, for somebody like me, that is so freeing and yet is freeing as it is. I can tell you if you're listening, it's a lot more difficult to put into practice that I embraced that and remind myself that I have to do it every single day, every single day, I have to wake up and remind myself even after all these years. And yes, it gets better and better. And there are things that I can, you know, turn on Jesus reminder very quickly. And other things that come by a little more difficultly, but each of these things I have to work out, you know, right. Theresa and I just keep working it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That that's exactly right. You know, Renee, one of my favorite scriptures is in Ephesians two 13. I believe it is to work out that salvation that he's given us. And he helps us to work out our salvation that is tucked away in our spirit, where he lives. You know, I feel like, uh, I wouldn't be remiss though, if I didn't remind our listeners of a scripture in Romans chapter six, verse 23 that says for the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So we can see again, that salvation in Jesus is a free gift that we're chosen it actually Renee and I, I love what God says in first, Peter chapter two, verses nine and 10, he says, but you're a chosen generation. There it is again, right? A Royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who wants, we're not a people, but are now the people of God who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy that beautiful, everything we do in life in Jesus Christ is by grace, through faith, by grace, through faith. So it's, it takes the pressure off Renee. Like you, I grew up a type, a personality trying to be perfect. And what I found is it caused a lot of anxiety and angst because I was trying to be something that I was not, we're not perfect beings. And in God, there's forgiveness and God there's maturity. We've said on this podcast, that really the essence of life is to mature and grow. And you know what child do we know when they were learning to walk, they didn't stumble a few times and get some scraped knees, right? So God is expecting us along our path to make wrong choices, to make mistakes. And then those are the really the best lessons in life is when we do make a mistake. Now, God doesn't want us to stay in situations, right? But his gracious, holy spirit in his gracious love is there. Time and time again, he will never leave us nor forsake us. He is the lifter of our heads. He's the lifter of our accountants. He's the lover of our souls. These things that I am saying, they're all scriptural. And the best part is Renee. And I can attest that his word is true because that's what he's done for us. Year after year in life, Renee, right? We've matured. We can, pre-claim his praises because we know who he is and we know what he's done in our lives.
Speaker 1:So true. Teresa. I love that scripture that I had to stand on. So frequently in the beginning of my walk here, you know, he will never leave us or forsake us again in my striving to be perfect and falling constantly. And thinking that God was then going to desert me. You know, that scripture, which is Hebrews 13, five, and six, let your conduct be without covetousness, covetousness, be content with such things as you have for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what can men do to me? Thanks for bringing that up. It is so, so important to remember that we cannot fall out of his grace out of his goodness, out of being chosen, we are chosen on the team forever. There will never be another backyard game that we have to play and get chosen over and over again, Theresa, we are chosen once and for all,
Speaker 2:No, but it's, it's true. And sometimes, you know, Renee, I'll just put my Bible recording on it night and you know, I'll go right to Ephesians. And I just love to listen that I've been chosen in him, that I am accepted in the beloved, that he loves me with an everlasting love that I'm the apple of his eye. That when he thinks of me, he dances, his thoughts of me are more than the grains of sand on a seashore. These are all scriptural shrews that just bathe their soul. You know, Rene, as long as we're in the world, we're going to have disappointments, right? We can't control other people. We can't control the, of course the weather we can't control all circumstances. We only can control things in our own life. So we're in this world, but God's word comes in to what I like to call bathe the soul, right? Bathe the injuries, uh, in our life, in our saw in when we meditate in his word, that's when faith comes alive in that's when we see the holy Spirit's movement in our life. And the fact of the matter is life is good in him, no matter how good or how bad of a day we've had. When we go back into the word, when we go back into prayer, when we go back into praise and worship, these are the weapons of our warfare. If you will, sometimes to keep our souls in a stable place so that we can be that beautiful conduit of love that God has called us to be, as he says, in Romans five, five, the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts. And he wants that love and the experiences Renee that Renee and I have had with him, he wants that love to overflow, to others so that others can experience his goodness, his grace and his salvation. Hmm.
Speaker 1:I love that reminder that what Theresa is saying, and I do the same thing when I go to sleep at night, if I'm going to put something on it's one of these and the, so we're so fortunate today to be living in the times we are where we can go to YouTube, we can go to a podcast and we can have the reciting of the word of God, constantly playing in our ears. And it's important. You know, we've talked in previous podcasts about the renewing of our mind, the training of our brain. If you don't follow me, you should. I'm so big on that and how I've had to train my brain all over again. So that's what we're doing. And it reminds me Theresa of how fortunate and precious we are with the word of God and why he gave it. Because without these, without the words in this book, I, I don't know where any of us would be. It's that profound, which is why the foundational scripture of this podcast exists. Theresa. You know that we stand on this word. Yeah,
Speaker 2:No, it's exactly what I was going to share with our listeners. Renee, before we wrap up is that you hear Renee and I talk about a good Bible, you know, on your electronic device. So the one that I absolutely love is the you version of the Bible. And if you go to your app store and just search you version of the Bible, download it in there. Once you scroll to the version of the Bible that has audio to it, you can actually hit the audio and there's a timer that comes along with it. So it night, if you just want to fall asleep to the word being spoken and being read, um, you can, and that is a beautiful way to, to fall asleep. Renee
Speaker 1:Sure is. And by the way, that's you version Y O U the word U version is what you're going to search for in your Bible app store or your phone app store. That's a great reminder. Thank you, Theresa. And I think we should do our favorite well-versed woman scripture. Yes,
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Renee Romans 10 17. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing
Speaker 1:By the word of God. Thank you for listening. We so appreciate you being here week after week. We'd love for you to subscribe to this channel. If you haven't already, my guess is you've probably have, but if you also rate and review it, we'll send you a journal that you can use to write down anything you want right? In the mail. We also have a community, the well-versed woman, Facebook group asked to join that we'll approve you to get in there. You can ask additional questions if you'd like and converse with us. And last but not least the show notes contain every scripture that we talk about in this specific episode. So go ahead and scroll down in your favorite app into the details button, and you'll be able to download the show notes. Don't forget. Last week had Teresa's top 10 go-to scriptures. So if you didn't listen to last week's episode, go ahead and do that as well. And grab those top 10 Theresa. We'll call it Theresa's top tag, the TTT list, download and print out those as well. Thank you so much for listening until next week. We love you.
Speaker 2:Goodbye.