Spiritual Pancakes: Why God Hates Lukewarm Faith

The journey toward spiritual wholeness often demands confronting our divided hearts. In this compelling episode, we dive deep into Hosea 7:8's mysterious metaphor: "Ephraim is a cake not turned" - a powerful image that speaks directly to Christians caught between devotion to God and attraction to worldly pursuits.

Using this ancient baking metaphor as our foundation, we explore six critical manifestations of spiritual division that plague believers today. From lukewarmness that makes us spiritually repulsive to hypocrisy that makes us modern-day Pharisees, we examine how attempting to live with one foot in God's kingdom and one foot in the world leaves us spiritually half-baked.

The consequences of divided loyalty go beyond mere inconsistency. Through Scripture passages including Revelation 3:16, Matthew 6:24, 1 Kings 18:21, and 1 John 2:15-17, we reveal how serving two masters creates spiritual instability, hinders our prayers, and ultimately pulls us away from authentic relationship with God. Just as a pancake left too long on one side will burn, Christians who spend excessive time engaged with worldly pursuits risk getting spiritually burned.

This episode isn't about condemnation but clarity. We all struggle with competing priorities and attractions, but God desires our wholehearted commitment rather than a relationship of convenience. By examining our hearts honestly and committing fully to Christ, we can experience the fulfillment that comes only through complete devotion.

Are you fully committed to your spiritual journey, or are you trying to maintain a comfortable position with divided loyalties? Join us for this thought-provoking exploration of what it means to turn fully toward God and away from the distractions that threaten to burn us.

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Transcript

Introduction to Journey to Eternity

Mike 0:05

Brothers and sisters, god did not send his son to die on a cross so we could wander aimlessly through life. He had a purpose for us to do his work, submit to his will and glorify his name. Join us on this journey, a journey to eternity.

Luisa 0:31

So welcome to the show. I'm Luisa.

Mike 0:33

And I'm Mike, and this is episode 54 of the Journey to Eternity podcast.

Luisa 0:38

In every episode we help Christians use God's Word to navigate everyday life in a sinful fallen world.

Mike 0:45

Well, good morning babe. It's a beautiful day to be alive and talking about God's Word to navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Luisa 0:50

Well, good morning babe. It's a beautiful day to be alive and talking about God's Word? It sure is, and what a great way to spend the 4th of July.

The Concept of Divided Loyalties

Mike 0:54

Yes, it is Independence Day here in America and our great country is 249 years old today, and while its founding fathers built this nation by trusting in God, that trust has waned over the years and we have paid the price in many ways. Now. This episode is not a political statement about America, but more of a spiritual one, in which we will use Old Testament Israel as an example and make the point of how it relates to Christians as individuals and to the church body as a whole in today's world. But before we get started, let's go to God in prayer.

Luisa 1:29

Lord Jesus, thank you for leading and guiding us in this episode. Please let the Holy Spirit take over this teaching and prepare the hearts of all who would listen, that we all may have understanding and be convicted. May we speak the truth in love and help. Mike and I walk in humility as we do your work In your name we pray Amen.

Mike 1:52

So Luisa and I have a daily devotional that we use, and it's called Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. It's not your standard type of devotional, but one that really requires you to look deeper than what it writes. We were stuck looking for a topic for the podcast, which was part of the reason for the delay in releasing this episode, and then, on June 23rd, the morning devotion opened up our thoughts, and we have been talking about it ever since.

Luisa 2:18

The scripture verses in the devotional is Hosea, chapter 7 and verse 8. We are using the ESV translation and if you look at the many translations out there, this is the most common one used. So let's read it. Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples. Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Mike 2:38

Amen. Now, that sounds simple enough, but in order to get the full understanding, we need to define a few things.

Luisa 2:45

Who is Ephraim?

Mike 2:52

Well, the tribe of Ephraim was one of the 12 tribes of Israel and historically it became the most prominent and influential in the northern kingdom. Hosea frequently uses Ephraim to represent the entire northern kingdom, which had separated from the southern kingdom of Judah.

Luisa 3:05

If we relate Ephraim to the world today, you could compare it to us as individual believers and to the church as a body.

Mike 3:12

And we're going to do that when we start to break down the scripture. So who are the peoples? In this case, it was the surrounding nations, like Egypt and Assyria, whom Israel had sought alliances with.

Luisa 3:25

Without Israel even noticing these peoples had made inroads into the national and religious life and ultimately led to her demise.

Mike 3:35

So, in today's society, the surrounding nations consist not so much as enemy countries as much as the world system in general. And finally, what is a cake not turned?

Luisa 3:49

In the context of this verse, it is used as a metaphor. It signifies a people with divided loyalties, partly devoted to God but also entangled with idolatry and pagan practices and pagan practices. The cake not turned implies uneven cooking, representing an uneven or incomplete spiritual condition Amen.

Mike 4:11

So what does all this mean? How does it relate to Christianity today? So we're going to take that verse and we're going to substitute a few words that might make it a little easier for us to relate to.

Luisa 4:23

Christians mix themselves with the world. Let's start there, baby.

Mike 4:26

When Christians mix themselves with the world. We basically have one foot in and one foot out.

Luisa 4:33

And I think this phrase is the best way to describe it Right.

Mike 4:36

It's suggesting that someone is hesitant, maybe undecided or not fully committed to a situation, action or relationship.

Luisa 4:45

They are partially involved, but also ready to withdraw or focus on other things.

Mike 4:50

And unfortunately there are many professing Christians in this category.

Luisa 4:56

People say they are believers, but their fruit shows otherwise. Ha.

Six Ways Christians Have One Foot Out

Mike 5:00

You could call them binos believers in name only. Now, while the Bible does not use the phrase one foot in and one foot out, there are still many scriptures to describe this way of being. Let's discuss six ways that we can be one foot in and one foot out, and, of course, we're going to back it up with a lot of scripture.

Luisa 5:22

So the first one is Christians can be lukewarm.

Mike 5:26

Lukewarm. In Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 16, jesus is speaking to the church of Laodicea, a city known for its lukewarm water supply. Now, the people of Laodicea were wealthy and self-sufficient, which may have contributed to their spiritual complacency.

Luisa 5:46

So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Mike 5:54

Now this phrase is a powerful metaphor for spiritual indifference or apathy.

Luisa 6:00

They are neither passionately devoted to God hot nor completely disinterested cold.

Mike 6:06

Now, this is good for a shower, but it's not good for a Christian. It's kind of a safe way of being. You're in a little bit here, a little bit there, not enough to freeze, but not enough to get burned either.

Luisa 6:18

Yeah, babe. But you know what? Their lukewarmness is perceived as worse than being openly opposed to God.

Mike 6:25

Now some translations use the word vomit instead of spit. This imagery conveys a strong rejection and disgust. It signifies that Christ finds this state of spiritual indifference repulsive and will reject it and will reject those who remain in it, and it's also often interpreted as a condemnation of believers who are not fully committed to their faith. So, babe, let's look at this a little bit Lukewarm, where sometimes you're not really engaged fully in your walk with Christ. And you might come to church, you might do a little bit here, a little bit there, but what are you doing in between, on maybe Monday to Friday?

Mike 7:06

Right Are you reading, studying? Are you doing anything?

Luisa 7:09

Are you praying? Are you ministering to other people? Are you helping people to bring them to Christ? That's all part of doing God's work.

Mike 7:17

Now there was a movie that came out I don't know, it was probably out about 10 years ago. It was called War Room and you did not like that movie. I sure was not a big fan of that movie, but there was an old Christian lady in there, real believing lady in it, and she had somebody come over for coffee and the coffee when she served it was lukewarm, because when the lady, her guest, came over to drink it she spit it out because it wasn't hot and it wasn't cold. And the old lady did that on purpose, because she knew that that woman was not really fully committed to her walk in Christ. So, in order to make a point, she showed her what being lukewarm as a Christian really tasted like. And it was nasty. And what did she do? She spit it out and she rejected that coffee. In the same way, god is going to reject us who?

Luisa 8:14

are not fully— Walking lukewarm yeah, we are walking lukewarm Right.

Mike 8:17

So I don't care how you look at it, whatever the interpretation is, the message to the Laodicean church and to us is a call to be earnest and wholeheartedly committed to Christ, avoiding spiritual indifference and self-satisfaction.

Luisa 8:32

And this passage serves as a warning against spiritual complacency and emphasizes the importance of a vibrant and active faith. So complacency becomes a habit like anything else, babe.

Mike 8:44

Right You're either hot for Christ or you are not for Christ. Right Number two Christians sometimes serve two masters.

Luisa 8:54

Matthew, chapter six and verse 24 states it clearly no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Mike 9:10

Jesus states that it is impossible to be fully devoted to both God and worldly pursuits, such as wealth and possessions.

Luisa 9:18

Basically, it's either God or anything else. Amen.

Mike 9:21

So in this scripture, money is the example that's used, but anything that keeps you away from God would be considered an idol.

Luisa 9:29

Right. So that can be social media. That could mean power. That can mean work yeah, because sometimes your work becomes an idol. Sex Right.

Mike 9:41

Sex becomes an idol. Let's move on, babe. It'd even be something as simple as a cell phone.

Dangers of Serving Two Masters

Luisa 9:49

Yes, and the cell phone is an idol because people are addicted to it.

Mike 9:54

They are.

Luisa 9:55

And they put that before God. So think about first thing in the morning. You know, when I wake up first thing in the morning, you know I talk to you about this.

Mike 10:02

Yes.

Luisa 10:02

I always say to you the first thing in the morning before I wake up, first thing in the morning you know I talked to you about this I always say to you the first thing in the morning before I open up my eyes I have a choice to go to God. I have a choice to go to God and Thanksgiving for waking me up early in the morning or grabbing my cell phone and think about how people will grab their cell phone and what's the first thing they do?

Luisa 10:23

They check their emails, they go on social media and, right there, the world has gotten you already, before you even started your day.

Mike 10:30

Right. So these masters that we are serving in the place of God, does it keep you from worshiping and praising him? Most often it does. Does it keep you from praying? Most often it does.

Luisa 10:42

Right.

Mike 10:42

So, like you said, with the example of the first thing in the morning, we pray Right, and when you open your eyes, the first thing is pray. Thank God, give him glory, give him honor, thank him for even waking you up.

Luisa 10:56

That day, the cell phone could wait and surrender your day to him, and I think that it took us a long time to do that because, like I mentioned before, it's a habit that we've created, and we create habits for everything else in the world. Make a habit for this. This is the most important habit that you can create.

Mike 11:13

I believe Some of the other things does it keep you from reading and studying your Bible.

Luisa 11:17

Right.

Mike 11:17

These are all part of the things when God wants full devotion. These are the components of it. You have worship and prayers. You have praying. You have reading and studying the Bible. Does it keep you from serving in church? You go to church every Sunday. Are you there helping? Are you there doing something? Are you there trying to expand God's kingdom, or even bigger.

Luisa 11:35

Does it keep you from coming to church?

Mike 11:37

Yeah, even coming to church. How many people stay home? Oh, I'll just watch it online. Oh, I had something better to do today. What are all these things that that are getting in the way? You could fill in the blank. So, if you look at all of this, it's keeping you from complete devotion, right? So God requires devotion.

Mike 11:58

When it says here no one can serve two masters. He's right, because the only master you should be serving is him Right. His authority is king. He is a jealous God and while he loves desire and affection, when you pursue other things it diminishes the relationship that you have with him.

Luisa 12:16

And we all have something that gets in the way of God. Will you dare to admit it? And I just know that this is a process. Okay, you have to give yourself grace and you have to start and you have to pray that the Holy Spirit helps you because, on your own accord, we are fleshly human beings.

Mike 12:35

We are idolatrous people.

Luisa 12:37

And we want what we want while our flesh desires. So it's a conscious decision, as a believer in Christ, to say okay, I have to choose God before I choose this.

Mike 12:46

It's a choice and it might not seem like idolatry, but it really is, and we have to know that God has a dim view of idolatry. And if you want to know more about idolatry and the consequences that go with it, you can go all the way back to our podcast, episode number nine. It was back in May of 2021. And we spoke on the sin of idolatry. So you can go to jtepodcastorg and click on the archives button and you could find that episode and check it out and you know what, babe, sometimes I think people really don't understand.

Luisa 13:19

They might think that choosing whatever they choose is not idolatry. A lot of people don't really understand that anything that you put before God is Idolatry. Right. So number three is Christians can have divided loyalties.

Mike 13:33

We're going to go to the Old Testament here 1 Kings 18 and verse 21. The prophet Elijah challenges Israel to make a choice.

Luisa 13:43

Elijah went before the people and said how long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him.

Mike 13:54

The theme of wholehearted commitment is consistent throughout Scripture and this is an example in the Old Testament.

Luisa 14:02

This verse exposes the danger of spiritual compromise and the importance of wholehearted devotion to God Amen.

Mike 14:08

Elijah's question challenges their indecision, highlighting the need for exclusive devotion.

Luisa 14:14

So again, this is about adultery, which is a wicked sin.

Mike 14:19

The phrase wavering or limping symbolizes their instability. Elijah is telling them to choose.

Luisa 14:26

If you choose God, then follow him wholeheartedly.

Mike 14:30

Right, and if you choose anything else, well then, that's your choice.

Luisa 14:33

And if you choose anything else, you're going to choose that wholeheartedly Right, Whatever whatever. It's a fact. It's just what it is.

Mike 14:43

And there's going to be consequences for whatever you choose.

Luisa 14:46

Right.

Hypocrisy and External Appearances

Mike 14:46

And one of the big choices. When you choose God or you choose something else. You might be choosing heaven or you might be choosing hell.

Luisa 14:54

Just saying Right.

Mike 14:56

So it really just comes down to how we're living Right. Are we living for Christ or are we living for ourselves? Everything has a consequence. If we are living in sin that is unconfessed and unrepentant, we can call ourselves whatever we want, the consequence just might be eternal destruction. That's deep.

Luisa 15:16

Yeah, I really have to say that's really deep, yeah. Okay. So number four as Christians, we also have a tendency to walk in the world. The Apostle John warns us about this in 1 John 2, verses 15 through 17. Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Mike 15:55

Amen. So this passage highlights the world encompassing the sins of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. Loving these worldly things is incompatible with loving God, as it indicates a misplaced focus and a genuine lack of faith. So let's break it down.

Luisa 16:15

So verse 15, do not love the world or anything in the world.

Mike 16:19

This verse emphasizes that believers should not be consumed by the values, desires and pursuits of the world system, which is characterized by sin and opposition to God.

Luisa 16:32

And it highlights the incompatibility between loving the world and loving God. A genuine love for God will lead to a rejection of worldly desires and a focus on pleasing Him. That is so true.

Mike 16:43

So the world system is what we fight against Everything about the world. They hate God, they reject God. They don't want to give Him any honor. They want to give Him glory. They don't even want to admit that God created this world.

Luisa 16:55

Right, because God has a standard and they want to walk in their sin.

Mike 16:58

Right. So they come up with all this big bang theory, they come up with evolution, all this stuff. They don't even want to admit that their very existence is due to God and everything that they put about it is fleshly Everything that they want to talk about-.

Luisa 17:13

Is for self.

Mike 17:14

For self, my wants, I want. I'm great, I'm this, I'm that, I'm powerful, right. And without God, we're nothing.

Luisa 17:22

That's what we are. We are dust. Let's always remember that. That's who we are.

Mike 17:27

In verse 16, it says the lust of the flesh. This refers to sinful desires of the body and uncontrolled appetites such as sexual immorality, gluttony, drunkenness and other physical indulgences. What we need is an uncontrolled appetite for God, not all this other stuff.

Luisa 17:48

The lust of the eyes.

Mike 17:50

This refers to the insatiable desire for material possessions, wealth and anything that appeals to the eye.

Luisa 17:57

It often leads to greed and covetousness. Babe.

Mike 18:00

And we see that we want but we don't have. So when we look at what other people have, you might look at another person in church and say, hey, they have this big house. Okay, why don't we have a big house? And immediately you become jealous. You might do things that are going to like put you in a bad position to get that house. There's so many ways that you could look at it Material possessions and wealth, what we see out in the world, in reality, it's really not what we have ahead of us, right? So we have heaven ahead of us, we have eternity ahead of us. We can't see that. We can look and say, okay, I have this here on earth, but it's really what we have in heaven.

Luisa 18:42

Right, because all this will go away.

Mike 18:44

It's going to go away.

Luisa 18:45

Every single the house, the car, Everything that we covet Right everything Is going to be destroyed and we covet Right everything.

Mike 18:50

It's going to be destroyed and the last part of that verse is the pride of life, and this refers to desire for worldly status, recognition and self-exaltation.

Luisa 18:58

And in the world today, this is really really heavy.

Mike 19:00

This is the world system Right okay. It often manifests in boasting and a focus on outward appearances and achievements.

Luisa 19:09

And pride is a deadly sin and can't creep up quickly and people need to understand that.

Mike 19:14

Right. God hates it when we glorify ourselves, even when others try to tell us how great we are. We should humbly deflect the glory of God. Don't you hear that in church or cave Somebody says, hey, you did a great job today, most people will say well, let's give glory to God, praise God, because you want to take that Well let's give glory to God, praise God, because you want to take that Away from yourself, because it was Christ in you that, whatever you did, god gave you the grace to do that.

Mike 19:38

Exactly. He gave you the strength, he gave you everything that you needed.

Luisa 19:41

He gave you the wisdom. Everything that you needed is not you. We don't have that strength.

Mike 19:46

So we should always be giving God glory, and more of him, less of us.

Luisa 19:49

Right.

Mike 19:50

That's how it really goes.

Luisa 19:51

Right. So instead of pride, walk in humility, correct?

Luisa 19:57

Well, thanks for keeping it simple, babe. I mean, it's simple, it really is. You just have to choose it. You have to be mindful of searching your own heart. Like I say Every day, we have to sit with ourselves and we have to be honest and we have to search and we have to ask God to show us what's deep in our heart and he will show you. So let's walk in humility. Verse 17,. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Mike 20:24

Right, and that's what I was talking about before. We have the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh. It just passes away. The world is temporary, the pleasures are fleeting Right, and when you compare them with eternal life found in obedience to God, you could see which is the better choice.

Luisa 20:42

Right, and you know the world is on a path of destruction.

Mike 20:45

Oh my goodness, yes, that will be hell, yes, it is, and if we do the will of the Father, though, we will live forever, that's heaven Amen. So this passage serves as a call to believers to examine their hearts and priorities, ensuring that their love and affections are directed towards God and His will, rather than being consumed by worldly pursuits and desires. Amen, amen.

Luisa 21:10

And number five, the Bible warns us not to be double-minded. A double-minded person is described as someone who is unsure or wavering in their faith and commitment. James, chapter 1 and verse 8, says a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, amen.

Mike 21:31

So the phrase double-minded literally means two-souled. It refers to a person whose heart is divided, who is not fully committed to God and his ways.

Luisa 21:41

And to be unstable, manifests as an inconsistency in thoughts, emotions, decisions and actions.

Mike 21:48

We could see how people are always. They're wafflers. Right, they drift back and forth. They're like waves tossing the boat to and actions. We could see how people are always. They're wafflers. Right, they drift back and forth. They're like waves tossing the boat to and fro. Right, the person might be swayed by doubts, might be swayed by fears, conflicting desires and making themselves unreliable and prone to shifting opinions and behaviors. Christians should never doubt God and his word, knowing that he cannot lie.

Luisa 22:15

Double-mindedness is presented as a hindrance to receiving anything from God, babe.

Mike 22:19

And it suggests that a lack of wholehearted commitment to God and his wisdom leads to spiritual uncertainty and an inability to receive spiritual guidance and blessings. Notice how that happens when you're not fully devoted to God. Notice, sometimes maybe your prayers don't get answered. Notice how you start looking to God for answers and they don't really come. It's because you're not really, because you're spiritually dead.

Luisa 22:44

That's what starts happening.

Mike 22:46

You're really blunt this morning.

Luisa 22:48

I'm sorry Because it happens. That's what happens, you know, and we have to be really mindful and present to that, because it happens to every single one of us, it does.

Luisa 22:59

Life happens to us and sometimes you know what we're not walking strongly in Christ and that's because we're choosing other things in the world. But you know what? Nobody is immune from that, every single one of us. And if you say you don't go through that, but we all go through that. None of us are perfect. We all walk into this journey to eternity and we all have to remember that without Christ we're going to fall off.

Mike 23:24

We sure are. So, in essence, james 1 and verse 8 highlights the importance of wholehearted commitment to God and warns against a divided loyalty that leads to spiritual instability and uncertainty.

Luisa 23:39

There you go. Finally, number six Jesus addresses hypocrisy.

Mike 23:43

Amen. Hypocrisy is characterized by claiming to follow God outwardly, while inwardly living a life inconsistent with that claim. Matthew, chapter 23,. Verses 27 to 28,. Jesus criticizes the scribes and Pharisees, comparing them to whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on the outside but are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness on the inside.

Luisa 24:12

Woe to you, teachers of the Lord and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Mike 24:33

Amen. So this imagery highlights their hypocrisy, contrasting their outward show of righteousness with their inner corruption and lack of genuine faith. They focus on external appearances and rituals, while neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness.

Luisa 24:51

And you know what, babe, Many Christians are trying to look good, looking to be seen by others using language others don't understand, praying long-winded prayers, just like the Pharisees.

Mike 25:04

Yes, ma'am, so let's talk about that? Yeah, we shouldn't have to try to look good.

Luisa 25:08

No.

Mike 25:09

We shouldn't have to. That's too much work. We shouldn't even have to look good. We shouldn't have to try to look good. No, we shouldn't have to. That's too much work. We shouldn't even have to look good Right.

Luisa 25:16

I think the need to look good is something that corrupts our Christian faith. It's a fleshly desire. It's really a fleshly desire.

Mike 25:19

I really agree with that.

Luisa 25:20

And the word is very clear not to be that way, right.

Mike 25:23

So we judge people sometimes on their outward appearances, and that's wrong when we are looking at ourselves to say, okay, well, I got to look good, I got to be perfect, I got to not confess my sin and again, I'm sure a lot of people go through that.

Luisa 25:38

We've all been through that. This is not pointing at only some people, right.

Mike 25:43

This is everybody.

Luisa 25:44

We, as believers of Christ, we've all had those moments.

Mike 25:47

It's a natural desire to want ourselves to look good.

Luisa 25:50

Right.

Mike 25:51

We don't want to let people know that, hey, we're having some problems. We don't want to let people know that we're in the middle of some trials, that we have sin in our life.

Luisa 25:59

And we all have it, and we all have sin in our life. Every single day, every single one of us sin and the key is to go to the Lord and confess it and turn from it. But we sin every single day.

Mike 26:11

So they use the Pharisees as an example. Those men were fastidiously perfect in their following of the law, but inside their hearts were dark. They had no mercy for the people.

Luisa 26:22

They had no love for the people, no compassion.

Mike 26:25

They were not Christ-like, no, not even a little bit. The core message is that their outward actions and appearances did not match their inner reality.

Luisa 26:34

And I think that's a great time for us Christians to sit with ourselves and again search our hearts. Who are we?

Mike 26:41

So those men focused on the external aspects of religion while neglecting the more important internal aspects of faith and morality.

Luisa 26:51

And God sees everything.

Mike 26:52

He sure does. He saw right through them.

Luisa 26:54

Right.

Mike 26:55

So this passage is part of a series of woe pronouncement by Jesus against the scribes and Pharisees, highlighting their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness.

Luisa 27:04

Right. He condemns their focus on appearances and their failure to live up to the true standards of God's law, and this passage serves as a warning against prioritizing outward appearances over genuine inner transformation.

Mike 27:19

It encourages believers to examine their own hearts and lives, ensuring that their actions align with their faith. Amen, amen. So I hope you get the point. All of these examples essentially say the same thing. They all point to the idea of a lack of complete commitment and dedication, which is what is implied by the idiom one foot in and one foot out. The Bible emphasizes the importance of wholehearted devotion to God and warns against the dangers of divided loyalty.

Luisa 27:55

Oh, babe, but what about the cake not turned?

The Meaning of "A Cake Not Turned"

Mike 27:58

Ah, we almost forgot. Well, babe, it is a strange phrase, so let's think about it in today's world, using the example of a pancake. We've all made pancakes. You put the batter in a hot skillet and wait as you watch the bubbles on the top.

Luisa 28:14

The professing Christian with one foot in the world is like the pancake that stays too long on one side. When you don't turn a pancake, what happens? It gets burned.

Mike 28:26

Now what happens when, as a professing Christian, you spend too much time in the world doing worldly things? You get burned, Amen. And if you receive any amount of grace from God, the burn will just be superficial and your pancake can be flipped.

Luisa 28:43

Or God may just leave you there to burn and ruin the skillet.

Mike 28:47

Amen. Spurgeon says there must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and sin reigning in another.

Luisa 28:55

The effort to appear holy often accompanies a total absence of godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. The cake which is burned on one side is dough on the other.

Mike 29:08

We must plead with the Lord to turn us, for if we are left like a cake, unturned and not warmed on both sides by his grace, we will be consumed by the everlasting burning. Let's pray, heavenly Father. Thank you, lord, that you warn us about what does not please you. You warn our total devotion, not a relationship of convenience. Please give us the fruit of the Spirit and not the desires of the flesh. Please keep us grounded in your word, knowing it will draw us closer to you. We know that you are faithful to those who put their trust in you and that, as a pancake, you will turn us, as we need to stay devoted to you. In Jesus' name, we pray.

Luisa 29:52

Amen.

Mike 29:53

Amen.

Luisa 29:54

So that wraps up episode 54. We thank you for listening. We invite you to leave us a comment or a question by going to our website at jtepodcastorg.

Mike 30:06

That's jtepodcastorg.

Luisa 30:10

Click on the Contact Us page and we will respond within 24 hours. If you don't personally know us, introduce yourselves.

Mike 30:18

We would love to get to know you from across the states or around the world Now while you're there, you can subscribe to the podcast and receive an email the minute a new episode is published. You can also find all of our previous episodes, and we invite you to find one that resonates with you. In addition, the Journey to Eternity podcast can be accessed on any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple and Spotify, along with many other outlets across the web.

Luisa 30:44

And, as always, please support us by sharing this podcast with a friend or on your social media page.

Mike 30:50

So till next time. We wish you God's blessing as you navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Luisa 30:56

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.