How does God see each of us? We got to see God in the flesh when baby Jesus was born, but what is our image to God? In this episode, co-hosts Renée and Theresa discuss our spirit, how God sees us, and how can we get back to the basics of understanding the truths of what God expects from us. Stay Tuned!
How does God see each of us? We got to see God in the flesh when baby Jesus was born, but what is our image to God? In this episode, co-hosts Renée and Theresa discuss our spirit, how God sees us, and how can we get back to the basics of understanding the truths of what God expects from us. Stay Tuned!
Well, it is December and we are in the full swing of Christmas preparation, but what is it all about? God actually came down in the flesh, in the form of this little baby Jesus so that we could see God so that we could understand God in our human way in our humanness, God actually became a human so that we could understand him better. And of course, so that he could be the reconciliation between humans and our spirit, God. But what about how God sees us? We can see God through that, baby. Jesus. What do you think about how God sees us and looks at us? We're gonna talk about that today. So you wanna stay tuned so that you can understand how God sees you. Welcome to episode 76 of the well versed woman podcast. I'm Renee teller and I'm
Speaker 2:Theresa Morgan. You see Renee and I are two perfectly imperfect women. We just loved to come to you week after week to share our life's journeys of faith in hopes that your faith can grow and you can receive all of the blessings that God has
Speaker 1:For you. We love to share the relationship that we have with an all powerful almighty God. And you can have that relationship as well. And that's what we talk about week after week. But before we get started into those fails, we like to be still and actually invite God to be with each of us in our own special way so that he can open our eyes to see and our ears to hear and our hearts to know what he'd have to teach us today. So let's get started. Let's take 20 little seconds. I want you to slow down really, really slow down in this hectic time and take some slow, deep breaths and see the difference it's gonna make in your entire day. So let's get started. Those 20 seconds start right now. That's it? That was 20 seconds. And if you remember the last episode, I actually went to 30 and I'm really thinking that in the new year, we might go all the way to 30 every week because it's so important. And as hurried as we all are during this season, I encourage you to just do that in the morning. I can tell you it's very difficult for me. I, I go up into my little prayer room and I say, I don't have time for this. I don't have time for this. And by the time I'm done, I'm all calmed down. And I, what someone told me once God has given us enough time in every single day to do everything that he wants accomplished. Well, I, for one there know that I wanna accomplish what God is expecting of me that day and forget everything else. And if that's the case, then we need to be still and we need to spend time with him.
Speaker 2:You know, Renee, that's so true. I love what you said just then, because we do a lot in life and sometimes it's our own plans. It's our own thoughts. It's our own well meaning perhaps well doing that we're involved with, but it is so very important to just stop and prioritize and say, Lord, what would you have me do today? And I think that's a good segue Renee into what we're talking about because when we get God's perspective, God's take on it. If you will, when we collaborate with God, we're gonna begin our mission and our purpose, and really find the true pearls in joy that life has to offer us. So today we're gonna be talking about that. We were made in the image of God. Mm. Let that resonate. Just a moment. I love these foundational scriptures because it anchors us as, as a race, right? Humanity as a race, Renee, it anchors us into what we were supposed to be like. Unfortunately, sin came in and interrupted that, but you know, Renee, as the Bible says, God never changes. So, so he made us in his image and we're gonna see today that he's bringing us back into him at his image. Let's start with Genesis right at the beginning, Renee chapter one versus 26 to 28. And I'm reading today from the amplified Bible, which is a wonderful interpretation of Hebrew because the old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and a little bit of Aramaic. So let's see what Genesis chapter one versus 26 and 28 have to say, then God said, let us, the father, son, and the holy spirit make man in our image. According to our likeness, in the words there likeness means not physical, but a spiritual personality in moral likeness, let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image and likeness of God, he created him, male and female. He created them. Then it goes on to say, God bless them and said be fruitful and multiply. But what I want to, to bring out here today, Renee is that God created us in his image. I mean, that's an amazing fact, an amazing truth that when we can stop and when we can really think about that and let it digest into our, into our minds, we were made in the image of God. The Bible says in John chapter four, verse 24 he's spirit. So we are at our core, a spirit. We've talked about this in the past Renee, we live in a body and we have a soul. We have mind will and emotions, but it's the made in the image of God that we have to rest the with. And we have to say, but wait a minute, God, doesn't sin. God doesn't make mistakes. God's righteousness, his moral and ethical ways of being in doing, we don't see humanity imitating. So what has gone wrong, Renee?
Speaker 1:Isn't that? Isn't that the million dollar question? What have, has gone wrong? But it does remind me Theresa that you're speaking of something that I think was always hard for me to understand that I am spirit, that the real Renee is not this physical thing that I grew up with, so to speak. And when you come to know that the real us is spirit, it really is a difficult thing. And I love the idea that just as God came down and became flesh, you know, we, we get to see God with skin on, but that's not really, really spirit, right? So we are really spirit. And then we just have skin on here on earth as we navigate this physical realm.
Speaker 2:That's very true. Renee. The Bible has a lot to say, you know, in, I believe it's second Corinthians first or second Corinthians that you know, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When you, when you know, Jesus Christ is your Lord and savior in that the Bible literally calls this flesh, this beautiful body that we all, uh, walk planet earth with the Bible really cause it a building, right? A it's the edifice that houses the beautiful spirit. And so, you know, the Bible is a truthful story of how God created man with free will in his image, how man sinned, how sin separated God in man and how the man, Jesus Christ, the baby that was born in that man, JNet, how you so beautifully say grew up, took sin upon him, died on the cross shed, that beautiful blood so that we could be redeemed bought back if you will. And when we put our faith in Christ in the work he did, we are born again, our spirits are recreated and that's when the holy spirit steps into our spirit so that we can now be made back into that image with his help. Because what we're doing is once the beautiful, precious presence of God, his holy spirit is in our spirit. We can work that out as the Bible says, and God is our great helper. And God is the one that helps us to be made back image, bring us back to all of the morals in the ethical ways of being. So when you see Christian Church in Christians, little Christ, if you will doing the work of God, we bring Thanksgiving and glory back to him and truly Renee, we are then operating in the initial plans and purposes that God had for us in the beginning. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1:It is beautiful Theresa. And that idea for me, having a very busy life, once I got college, it kind of hit the ground running and had these goals and was a driven person. And didn't wanna look to the left or right, but just stay focused on my goals, really in the fifth realm until I started to be still, which is why I'm such an advocate of these 20 seconds and this morning stillness, because until we are still to get quiet with our spirit, I feel certainly for me, and I'm better. It's like this for a lot of people, the busyness of the physical realm and being about work and the things we have to do to raise children and have a job. And you know, these responsibilities, if we really stop for a minute and think what if our own only job was to grow close to God was to grow our spirit. And if that was our only job and our only major purpose on earth was to understand God grow closer to him, do his work so that we can grow his king all to do one simple thing, which is share love. The love created by God so that we could be together forever. You know, how much time are we spending on our spirit? You know, I, for one was, was really not doing a good job. And you know, even today, sometimes when I think about Theresa allocating my time and saying, how much time do I spend with God? How much time do I spend working out? As you say, working out my spirit, once the holy spirit came in me, I then had to grow up with him. I had to nurture that and grow up in my spiritual realm. And I'm still growing up just like I did in my physical realm and learn all the things that I learned in the physical world. So we can look at it very simply the same way, you know, when we're babies physically and we get nurtured and we grow, and then we become teenagers and we go to college and we become adults. And we, we have to go through that same process spiritually. We have to grow up. I mean, that's our, that's the big purpose. That's the big purpose for all of us while we journey through this planet earth. Mm-hmm<affirmative>,
Speaker 2:I love that. You, you, that's so true. And I think if we could gain perspective, right? And if, if we could look beyond, uh, I know the church I attend, you know, the pastor did a whole, uh, sermon on the ath of God, meaning what's the latter end ath what, what is the latter end? I believe that's the Greek word. What's our latter end. And really that's what we're talking about. Are we so caught up in the busyness of what the world says we need to do? Are we so caught up with that, that we're missing the plans and the purposes that almighty God has for us, the reason he created us, the reason he, he breathed that spirit in, into, into mom's womb. Are we missing that? And that's why Renee, it's so important that we spend that time, that you so eloquently encourage all of our listeners to spend with God because it's in those very precious moments that God, to direct our steps, that he begins to show us the plans and that he shows us the image that he has for our lives. And when he shows us that image, wow, something takes place that is supernatural and a joy and wellbeing. If you will, comes into our souls to say, yes, I'm walking in the steps that I was created to walk in. And that is the most fulfilling thing in life for me, Renee. And I know it is for you too, because we know at the end of our life, the Bible says we have to give an account to him. And it's not an, it's not in an account of work so that we can get into heaven. Christ secured that when we put our faith in Christ to heaven, if you will, this eternal life that we have here and now are open wide, but at the end of our life, God will wanna know, Hey, did you accomplish those things? And it's a true way street. It brings us purpose and joy, and it advances his kingdom because when we are walk king in the perfect plans and purposes of God, his work on the earth is being accomplished. And it's a beautiful, beautiful thing to be a conduit of that love Renee. And to watch people's lives change because it's God, that is the one who's moving the pieces in another person's life through you. That's, that's the most joyful and fulfilling one of the most joyful and fulfilling things in life.
Speaker 1:Renee, no question, Theresa and I love, you know, John 4 24, where we, it, we talk about God's spirit and those who worship him, which is us must worship him in spirit and truth. So we have to get into that realm, which is what we're talking about. We have to connect with God in the, in the spiritual realm that he lives in. You know, it's funny Traci, of course, I'm getting ready for Christmas. And every year Peter's like, oh honey, why do you put so much into this? Like, are you trying to impress somebody? And I said, no, I look at it Theresa, as a celebration of the birth of this baby Jesus that came and saved us all. And it's, to me, it's like this, the biggest birthday party ever. And I love to share the spirit of that celebration of the birth of baby Jesus. And so I love to decorate and I love the peace that everybody feels from the pretty lights and all those things. But the reality is right. If we don't stop and be still and really think about it, we get caught in this commercialization that has happened over generations and generations of this. So it's really all about stopping and connecting with God and understanding like you taught about what he has for us, what our purpose is and what is the reason for every single thing we do.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm,<affirmative> very, yeah, very true. And, and I love John 4 24 also, you know, part of the reason we're on the earth is yes, to grow close to God, Renee, as you said, it's also, uh, for praise and worship, right? To worship our creator. And the Bible says, we worship him in spirit and in truth. And the Bible says a lot to say about what is truth, right? Um, unfortunately in this day and a age truth is so loose. Renee, what whatever's your truth is your truth. Whatever is my truth is my truth. And we can see how that is operating in the world. There's a lot of lawlessness because he's own truth are driving and directing and it's not going well. So we have to get back to the basics. John 17, John chapter 17 verse 17 says that the word is truth. Meaning the Bible in the Bible says in that verse, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Sanctification is a, is a big word. It just means holiness, right? So how do we become more like God, how do we gain that image of God, right? His moral ways of behaving and acting it's through knowing his word, his word is what is going to clean us up. If you will, you know, at our soul, our mind, our will, our emotions back into a place of holiness and righteousness. And, and that's a process. The Bible says in first IANS chapter five, verse 23 and 24. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you. There's that word again, may God himself sanctify right? Caused the holiness in your spirit to bless your, your soul come right through your soul, permeate your mind, your will and emotions. May he, may he himself do that completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of Lord, Jesus Christ. And I love the last verse says he, God, himself who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. So we're not left on earth with a set of rules. And God's saying up in heaven, Hey, follow the rules. Good luck. You know, uh, I'll I an accounting of how you did when I see later, no, this is an all loving, all powerful God that says these. These are my rules. I operate in righteousness and that's for the good of humanity. And you know what? I'm going to come down to earth. I am going to pay the, a price for sin. When you put your faith in that, now your spirit is restored. I'm gonna slip in and now I'm gonna help that holiness that is in your spirit to be worked out through your soul, your mind, your will, and emotions, and through the flesh that you walk in and God himself is our grand helper. So in every situation in life, every situation is the Bible says in the book of Romans, we can just call out Renee, what a beautiful God we can call out and say is the Bible says, Abha meaning daddy, please help here. I want to act in a way that brings you glory and honor. That is right. And even when we miss it, Renee, we just ask for forgiveness and we continue on. We don't lose our salvation. And so being in Christ, you know, and you, how he's bringing, he's bringing us back into that image of holiness day by day. But the holiness in the reserve is in our spirit already. When we put our faith in
Speaker 1:Christ, it seems so simple.<laugh> it seems so simple. And again, I think, uh, I go right to the analogy of parents and children. You know, we all said to our children, Theresa, of course, I'm here for you anytime all the time. Whenever you need me just call. And we know when they were little Theresa, we didn't wait for them to ask because we knew that they didn't have the intellect to even know what they need did. But now that we have adult children, we wait for them to ask again the same with us, spiritually regrow to this place and Jesus, our Lord and savior, our father in heaven says, ask me, you know, I am here for you, but you have to invite, you have to ask just like we don't force ourselves in the lives of our adult children. So it's such a great, great, uh, lesson Teresa, so that you shared that he's there. Remember that he's there, know he's there and know that you have to raise your hand, reach out, spend time with him. That's what prayer is. It's very simple. It's not routine, um, reciting of prayer. Like I learned as a kid. Yes that's you can use that. But really for me, and for Theresa, it's a conversation that we have because of this relationship with this God. And we talked to him, like I would talk to my mom or dad if they were still on here, here on planet earth. That's the relationship that we continue to share with you week after week so that you could understand that it's possible, right? Theresa it's so possible. Yeah,
Speaker 2:It's, it's so true. And he calls to each one of us here on earth. You know, he knocks on the door of our hearts. Uh, John one 12, you know, says to as many, he has receive him. He gives them the right to become children of God. So it's a, it's a gift, right? If I bought Renee a Christmas gift and she never opened it,<laugh>, uh, you know, she wouldn't receive the benefit of, of my love and my intention in giving it and of the, uh, gift itself and Renee. The other thing I wanted to mention is, you know, when you said that he's near all of us, you know, there's a very endearing scripture to me in Romans chapter 10, where Paul is preaching on the basics of Christianity. That if you believe with your heart and confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus you'll be saved. Right? But it also says in a scripture before that Renee it's Roman's chapter 10, verse eight, it says, but what does it say? Meaning the word, the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith, which we preach. That if you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart, that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Verse 10 for, with the heart. One believes unto righteousness and with the out confession is made in into salvation. So we can see that, you know, the Bible says, God is omnipresent. What does that mean? It means he's everywhere at, in time, at the same time, hard for us to believe with our minds. But he is in Renee. It's exactly what you said. He is here. He's here with us. Now, as we record this podcast, he was with me yesterday. And because he sits outside of time, he's here with me in the future. He, he knows exactly, uh, what is going to happen so he can prepare and prepare us. But that word, the word of faith that Jesus Christ came, he died on that cross. He shut his blood for you. And for me, right, Renee, the Bible says for the joy set before him, he endured the shame of the cross. Wow. What was that? Joy Renee, that joy bringing humanity back to himself, rescuing them, redeeming them, buying them back to himself so that the sin problem once and for all was dealt with. And when we put our faith in that any at any moment at any time, because he's right here, God does the miracle recreates our spirit slips and makes it holy. And then we work that holiness out day to day through our soul, beautiful FA Renee and you, and I could spend much time giving testimony to the work of God and how he has done just that in our life, in the, that he brings us in each and every situation. No
Speaker 1:Question about that. That's why I keep a journal because I can't possibly remember all the blessings because my first focus is him and what he wants me to do. That sounds a little perfect. And I'm not perfect by any means, but when I do fall down and when I do step in a way that where I didn't ask God, first I come right back and say, oh, sorry about that. Can we, can I have a do over? And he gives me a do over, over and over again, because he is a God of forgiveness, which is a whole nother episode to talk about Theresa. But you know, there's really no way to fall out of step with Jesus. As long as you keep your eyes fixed on him and repent step away. The only way to fall short is by turning your back on him and saying, yeah, I don't want you anymore. Right. But other than that, we are forgiven for everything. And life is not the same. Like you said, Theresa, I tried it before him and I tried it after him. And it's much better after him.
Speaker 2:It it's so true. It's so true. You know, Renee, unfortunately, the world can be a tough cold place, right? The world can say, uh, your value, your image is based on how much money you have or, you know, are you in the limelight? You know, what do you do? But in Christ, our value is done our relationship with him. And when we do make a mistake, when we sin, the Bible is so clear Renee, and first John, one nine, that if we confess our sins, he got himself. I is faithful. And just to forgive our sins and to cleanses from all UN rightness. So where is that unrighteous? It's in our soul. It's not in our spirit because God lives in our spirit. And that's where the holy place is. But it's in the soul that is being renewed day by day. The Bible says to conform to, to that image. Um, second Corinthians chapter three verse 18 says, but we all with unveiled faith behold in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. So you can see that God is bringing us back into the original plan and purpose he had for us, right. Which is to be in fellowship with him, which like Adam named all of the animals in the kingdom, you know, God gave him a job to rule over, um, the garden. And we're being brought back into that image. It's a beautiful fact. And it's just, uh, the way he meant us to live.
Speaker 1:So true Teresa. So, so you mean to tell me that my image isn't what's on social media. You mean to God, the way God sees me is just the beautiful, loving child that he created. And that's all he sees. I'm reminded of that verse therea, where they, it talks about our sins, our mistakes being thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. God throws them into the sea of forgetfulness and, and doesn't remember them. I love that. And he only sees us as the beautiful creation that
Speaker 2:He made. Absolutely Renee. I love that scripture too. It's Micah chapter seven verse 19. The Bible says he will again have compassion on us wow. Time. And you mean time and time again, time and time again, he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the, a depths of the sea. Wow. That beautiful. He says also in another place, I don't have the scripture right now, but it says that he forgets our sins there. As far as the east is from the west. He remembers them no more. Wow. Talk about in all loving and forgiving God that every day the Bible says, I believe it's in Lamentations. The, at his mercies are new and fresh every morning. So we can wake up, not with a condemned mind and attitude, but we can wake up saying, thank you, Lord. Th word is truth. Forgive me for X, Y, and Z. Today, I'm gonna start over. And your spirit that dwells in me is gonna give me the power and is gonna give me what I need not to do those things that are causing me pain in, in others' pain. You know, I'm thinking of a young man Renee here where I work and he put his faith in Christ. He invited Jesus into his heart. And, you know, he had some, some, you know, pretty serious problems with, with drugs will just to leave it with that. And boy, when he got a hold of the truths of God's word, and that God will provide all of his need, that the book of Philippians says he, his whole counts changed Renee. And he came back the next day and the week after. And he was telling me the progress that was being made in his life. What a joyful fact, in a testimony of God's word that Hebrews 10 23, 1 of my favorite verses that he who promised God who promised is faithful. He will do what he says he will do. And when the Bible says he is in you, right? Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you first Corinthians chapter three, verse 16, God is in when this young man saw that believe that we saw the holy spirit start to work in his life and his life started to ch change. And that's, that's what it's all about being in Christ is that our life changes. And we start seeing that image come to pass, sort of like in the olden days, Renee, when a photographer would develop a photo, right? There was apparently agitation in a, in a tray film would be put in a tray and it would be agitated with some solution. And as the worker was doing that, the image on the picture started to come to light because the, in the solutions and God is like our great solution provider, if you will, right. He starts to change and clean us up so that the beautiful salvation that is in our spirits works out through our soul. And all of a sudden we say to ourselves, we're not the same person we were, we have in this is who I was meant to be. Mm.
Speaker 1:I love that. That's an awesome summary, Theresa, because it's exactly how I feel. And again, unless I stop and meditate on that, meditate on how far I've come, I can get discouraged. I'm sure you can too. And that beautiful revelation that, you know what I am not, we are not too perfectly, or we are not perfect women. We are two perfectly imperfect women and we're excited about it because we know we're on the journey to become more like God every day. And that's all he asks, that's all he asks and we can see how far we've come. And that my friend is
Speaker 2:Exciting. It sure is when we can wake up and know that he loves us and that he's helping us and that we are being all be, we're becoming all that he created us to become. I mean, isn't, isn't that the purpose of our life. And it's, it's a beautiful fact. I just are walking with the
Speaker 1:Lord Renee. And you also love our favorite scripture of the well versed woman podcast, Theresa. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:In, in, you know, you, you were just saying Medi meditating on his word and, you know, faith comes through the meditation. And so of course the scripture that, uh, you're referring to is the cornerstone of this podcast is Rome chapter 10, 17 Renee. So then faith comes by hearing
Speaker 1:And hearing by the word of God, remember to take time and be still. We love
Speaker 2:You. I know.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this episode of the well versed woman podcast. Remember that we have the script in the show notes. So just go to your podcast platform, scroll down to details and keep scrolling and clicking until you get to the show notes that you can print, because that word is what's gonna keep you sane. During this holiday season. We also have a Facebook community that you can join, just search for well versed women and ask to join. And we'll get you in that group. And last but not least, please subscribe to this channel. It really helps us. We'd really appreciate it, and actually would love for you to great and review. And we'll send you a journal right in the mail until next week. Bye
Speaker 2:Bye.