What If Listening To God Costs You Comfort

A single day can hold grief, Scripture, and a hard mirror for our own hearts. We start with Psalm 69, where God hears the cries of the needy, and we pray for repentance, for the injured and ill, for the brokenhearted, and for those who serve our country and communities. That prayerful foundation matters because the episode does not stay theoretical; it acknowledges real violence and loss, then asks what faith looks like when the world feels cruel.

From there we turn to a challenging marriage passage from 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 and the pressure many Christians feel to treat biblical teaching as optional when modern standards disagree. We talk about the cost of picking and choosing Scripture, especially inside the church, and why obedience is not the enemy of love. Then we settle into Luke 8 and Jesus’ parable of the sower, unpacking the different “soils” that receive God’s Word, the temptations that pull people away, and the slow work of producing a harvest through patience and deep roots. Proverbs 12 reinforces the theme: stability comes from godliness, not from drifting with whatever is loudest today.

We also remember a documented honor-killing case tied to forced marriage, and we read a Medal of Honor citation for Daniel Dean Bruce, whose selfless courage saved fellow Marines at the cost of his life. We close with a quote from John Hancock’s last will and testament that points to the founders’ language of faith and mortality, and we end with a blessing over families, marriages, and the nation. If this helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Transcript

Tragedy In Sunnyvale Remembered

Welcome And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Psalm sixty nine, verses thirty two and thirty-three. The humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God's help be encouraged. For the Lord hears the cries of the needy. He does not despise his imprisoned people. Seventh january twenty twenty six, Sunnyville, California. Kimberly Chirinos Flores, twenty-four-year-old mother who was shot and killed in her vehicle by two illegal immigrants from Honduras, Gerson Chirinos Manguilla, the father of her five-year-old son, and Franklin Insterosa Martinez. Just this year. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray. For me and for the podcast, thank you very much. Very, very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Thank you for your love, your mercy, your grace. Thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ.

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Thank you, Jesus, for being willing to come and die for our sins in our place so that we wouldn't have to. Please forgive us our sins. Help us to truly repent of them and change our actions. Help us to turn back to you, Father, both as individuals and as a nation. Here in America and around the world, wherever people are listening.

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Guide us in all that we do.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Help us to help those that have less than we do. Help us to care for the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Be with those who are injured and ill. Be with those who are brokenhearted. Give them your peace and your comfort and your joy.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Be with those in our military overseas, defending our nation. Bring them home safe. Keep their families safe. Be with those in law enforcement, firefighters, EMS who protect us here internally.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Keep them safe. Keep their families safe. Give us, Father, the wisdom to see what things we could change and what things we can't. The courage and the faith to act on it.

Marriage Verse And Cultural Pushback

Parable Of The Sower Explained

Psalm 69 Lament And Rescue

Proverbs On Stability And Roots

Book Series And Podcast Support

Honor Killing And Forced Marriage

Medal Of Honor Selfless Courage

John Hancock On Faith And Death

SPEAKER_00 3:26

Be with those listening to the podcast, please bless them and their families. And God, my words here in your son's name we pray. Amen. Marriage verse for today. 1 Corinthians 11, 7 through 9. A man shouldn't have his head covered because he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is man's glory. Man didn't have his origin from woman, but woman from man, and man wasn't created for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man. How many Christians, how many people inside the church, how many men and women do you feel like abide by that, honor that statement, that the woman was created for the sake of man, not the other way around? And when you hear somebody tell you, oh, well, society's different today, we have to abide by today's standards. That argument has absolutely no ability to hold water because if that's true, the majority of Americans today, the majority of Western civilization, do not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ as the only Son of God, as the only path to salvation and eternal life. So we would have to throw that out too, which means that you'd have to throw Christianity out completely. Which is, after all, what many people are looking for. Our inability or our outright choice to ignore God's clear scripture in marriage, excuse me, is why our marriages are so dysfunctional today, particularly inside the church, where we claim to follow Christ, but we pick and choose what scripture we like and don't like. Luke 8, 4 through 21. One day Jesus told a story in the form of a parable to a large crowd that had gathered from many towns to hear him. A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted. When he had said this, he called out, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He replied, You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God. But I used parables to teach the others so that the scriptures might be fulfilled. When they look, they won't really see. When they hear, they won't understand. This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is God's word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while, then fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest. No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all. That ought to make us a little cautious, huh? So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them. Then Jesus's mother and brothers came to see him, but they couldn't get to him because of the crowd. Someone told Jesus, Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to see you. Jesus replied, My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God's word and obey it. Psalm sixty nine, verses nineteen through thirty six. You know of my shame, scorn, and disgrace, you see all that my enemies are doing. Their insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. If only one person would show some pity, if only one would turn and comfort me, but instead they give me poison for food, they offer me sour wine for my thirst. Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare, and their prosperity become a trap. Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and make their bodies shake continually. Pour out your fury on them, consume them with your burning anger. Let their homes become desolate and their tents be deserted. To the one you have punished, they add insult to injury, they add to the pain of those you have hurt. Pile their sins up high and don't let them go free. Erase their names from the book of life, don't let them be counted among the righteous. I am suffering and in pain, rescue me, O God, by your saving power. Then I will praise God's name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving. For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle, more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves. The humble will see God their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God's help be encouraged. For the Lord hears the cries of the needy, he does not despise his imprisoned people. Praise him, O heaven and earth, the seas and all that move in them, for God will save Jerusalem and rebuild the towns of Judah. His people will live there and settle in their own land. The descendants of those who obey him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there in safety. Proverbs twelve, two, and three. The Lord approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness. Wickedness never brings stability, but the godly have deep roots. Interesting that that proverb, deep roots, goes along with the parable, right, from today that Jesus taught us. Countryside. If you're looking for a family-friendly middle-grade book series, if you would check out the Countryside series, here's the first book, The Book of the Wise. There's some of the reviews. There's some more online if you want to check those out. And here's the second book in the series, The Tears of Adina, and some reviews for that. And if you enjoy the book, it's kind of along the lines of Narnia, The Hobbit, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, that kind of stuff. If you would leave a review and tell others about it, I would appreciate that. It helps immensely. Same thing for the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, if you would leave a review online. And if you have five or ten dollars a month that you can donate to the podcast, I would be very grateful for that. Those all help. So thank you. April 23rd, 2005, South Hall, London, UK, Samaria Nazir, 25-year-old British Pakistani woman, was stabbed to death by her brother and cousin, Muslim family members, in an honor killing after refusing an arranged marriage and rejecting her parents' choices of suitors from Pakistan. That is mainstream Islam. Medal of Honor for today, Daniel Dean Bruce, Private First Class, Vietnam War, HS Company, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division Reinforced, Fleet Marine Force, U.S. Marine Corps, March 1st, 1969. Fire Support Base Tomahawk, Kuang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam. For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a mortar man with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion against the enemy. Early in the morning, PFC Bruce was on watch in his night defensive position at fire support base Tomahawk when he heard movements ahead of him. An enemy explosive charge was thrown toward his position and he reacted instantly, catching the device and shouting to alert his companions. Realizing the danger to the adjacent position with its two occupants, PFC Bruce held the device to his body and attempted to carry it from the vicinity of the entrenched Marines. As he moved away, the charge detonated and he absorbed the full force of the explosion. PFC Bruce's indomitable courage, inspiring valor, and selfless devotion to duty saved the lives of three of his fellow Marines and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country. When you see these professional athletes and entertainers kneeling for the flag and the anthem, when you see them condemning America, talking about how bad America is, remember this story and stories like it. A credit to Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, awarded posthumously, presented February 16, 1971, the White House East Paul Room by President Richard M. Nixon to his family. Remember this man's family, too, when you see these millionaires condemning these people that are allowed to wear the USA jersey or play professional sports or act or sing for a living that are soaking up the blessings of America while condemning it. Remember the sacrifice of his family. Born May 18, 1950, Michigan City, Indiana, died March 1st, 1969, Quang Nan Province, Republic of Vietnam, buried Greenwood Cemetery, All Wars Monument, Circle 8, Michigan City, Indiana. Location of Metal Disabled American Veterans Post 23, Michigan City, Indiana. Daniel Dean Bruce. I had a couple quotes today, folks, but I think we're only going to get time for one. When you hear people tell that our founding fathers didn't have a strong faith, we talked about this on one of the previous podcasts. Go and read some of the last wills and testimonies of our founding fathers. This is John Hancock, his last will and testament. He was, if you'll remember, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. And he died in 1793. I, John Hancock, being advanced in years and being of perfect mind and memory, thanks be given to God. Therefore, calling to mind the mortality of my body, and knowing it is appointed for all men once to die, Hebrews 9 27, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. Principally and first of all, I give and recommend my soul into the hands of God that gave it, and my body I recommend to the earth. Nothing doubting, but at the general resurrection I shall receive the same again by the mercy and power of God.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

John Hancock.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages, your nation. God bless America. We'll talk to y'all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.