Revelation Within On the Go!
God's Love: Reshaping Lives and Renewing Minds
Feeling adrift in a sea of uncertainty, have you grappled with the hefty questions of identity and belonging? Join us, Heidi and Christina, as we guide you through a heartfelt journey of discovery in our latest podcast episode exploring the Revelation Within. We share personal stories and insights into how God's love can reshape our decision-making and renew our minds, fostering a deeper connection with the Almighty, even through life's tumultuous storms.
Our conversation takes us through the powerful shifts in perspective when we choose to lean on God's love rather than seeking fleeting solace in temporary comforts. We delve into the intricate dance of drawing nearer to God, shedding light on how this sacred relationship impacts our sense of self-worth and belonging. We ponder the unique transformation that occurs when we start to see ourselves as God's cherished masterpieces, and how this realization can move us to walk hand-in-hand with Him in the face of life's myriad challenges.
In the spirit of renewal and transformation, we also reflect on the profound influence that faith can have on our approach to body image and self-care. Together, we discuss how our motivations can evolve from vanity-driven to service-oriented, aligning our health and wellness practices with a readiness to heed God's calling. As we wrap up our discussion, we extend an invitation to you, our listeners, to continue this enriching journey with us, embracing God's truth to witness a life-altering personal metamorphosis.
Ashley T. Lee Podcast will cover many life issues such as overcoming stress, anxiety...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Feeling adrift in a sea of uncertainty, have you grappled with the hefty questions of identity and belonging? Join us, Heidi and Christina, as we guide you through a heartfelt journey of discovery in our latest podcast episode exploring the Revelation Within. We share personal stories and insights into how God's love can reshape our decision-making and renew our minds, fostering a deeper connection with the Almighty, even through life's tumultuous storms.
Our conversation takes us through the powerful shifts in perspective when we choose to lean on God's love rather than seeking fleeting solace in temporary comforts. We delve into the intricate dance of drawing nearer to God, shedding light on how this sacred relationship impacts our sense of self-worth and belonging. We ponder the unique transformation that occurs when we start to see ourselves as God's cherished masterpieces, and how this realization can move us to walk hand-in-hand with Him in the face of life's myriad challenges.
In the spirit of renewal and transformation, we also reflect on the profound influence that faith can have on our approach to body image and self-care. Together, we discuss how our motivations can evolve from vanity-driven to service-oriented, aligning our health and wellness practices with a readiness to heed God's calling. As we wrap up our discussion, we extend an invitation to you, our listeners, to continue this enriching journey with us, embracing God's truth to witness a life-altering personal metamorphosis.
Ashley T. Lee Podcast will cover many life issues such as overcoming stress, anxiety...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Hi, welcome to our podcast Revelation Within on the Go. I'm Heidi Bilesma-Epperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the Revelation Within ministry, and I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within.
Speaker 2:We are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within on the Go. Yay, we're so glad you're here with us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, in February, we spent some time in our online community at Mighty Networks that's Rev Withinteam, if you're interested in joining us and we focused on love appropriately enough, because it was the minth demure or whatever, anyway, and what we do in the community is we do pick a theme every month, but that was our theme for February, and we talked about the love God has for us. We talked about nurturing our love for God through Mind Renewal and other things that we can do to experience our own hearts swelling up with love for Him. We talked about how we can love others with that same love, and then we also talked about all the other ways that resting in God's love for us and nurturing our love for Him can impact our lives, and we thought we would bring some of that to you today in the podcast. So that's kind of what we're heading towards. That's the goal.
Speaker 1:That sounds awesome, and underlying all of this is the fact that anything we experience in this life is against the backdrop of the cross. Really, Romans 5.8 tells us that God demonstrates His own love for us in that, even while we were still sinners, christ died for us, even while we were doing our own thing, going our own way and we had not a Godward thought, he nevertheless chose to give Christ for us. So that is kind of the backdrop. Our Mind Renewal has everything to do with that and we talk about love of God for God and all of that so often. But is it just something for a Hallmark greeting card or does it really matter? And yeah, it kind of does.
Speaker 2:It does it, does it does so, I guess.
Speaker 1:to sum it up, how does loving God and being loved by God actually make a difference in our lives? How does it impact the way my feet hit the pavement of this life? Really?
Speaker 2:So how about let's take some time to explore together how embracing God's love and reciprocating that love can bring about a radical shift in our lives? So let's look at, kind of, some of the things that you know in our lives that would be impacted by this.
Speaker 1:Okay, daily decisions can really be impacted. So how about this? Let's go where we often go first and foremost, and that's to Mind Renewal practices. How, christina, has resting in the truth of God's love for you and nurturing your own love for Him impacted your practicing of the Mind Renewal that we talk about so much. What difference does loving God make?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, so much of our Mind Renewal has to do with praise and worship and gratitude. It's all about a relationship that we have with the Lord. We're looking to Him for His thoughts, yes, but in doing so that creates this wonderful intimacy with Him. And so what I find is that if I go through a day where I'm just reacting to this and that and this, and now this and now this, and you know that kind of busy day where you can't even take a breath, I realize by the end of the day that I miss God. And I know that sounds kind of strange because of course he hasn't gone anywhere but I miss the interaction that I have with Him.
Speaker 2:On more of a normal day and it's not like it has to take long, it can be a minute of interaction but I miss that on those really busy days. So when I am soaked already kind of soaked, you know saturated in God's love and how he sees me, you know how he has created me, how he loves me, when all of that is set up ahead of time, it's really easy for me to go to Him. I want to go to Him, I want to connect with Him, I want to hear His thoughts, his wisdom. I want to. It really affects my mind renewal practice in a huge way, what I am believing about who God is, how he loves me, how he sees me and who I am because of Him.
Speaker 1:Hmm, you know it's interesting you telling the story about missing God. I remember when I was going through a lot of trials and I had this one moment, where that's it, I'm done, and I threw in the towel in many respects. I had trained myself, with the use of an alarm on my watch, to check in with God at least every hour. The alarm would sound and I would talk to God, whether it was to check in with Him or to ask Him something or to just praise Him for a brief moment, and I turned the timer off on my watch because I was not interested in talking to Him and I was mad, which is very childish, you know. Admittedly I hate to admit this to y'all, but that's where I was at and I remember midway through the day of being intentional to turn a cold shoulder or turn the tail to God. Really, I missed Him. My heart was.
Speaker 1:I mean I would even catch myself going well, lord, I would just automatically check in with Him and I'd say no, I'm not going to check in with you.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not going to worship you.
Speaker 1:And I mean it was the craziest thing. And then it was like oh, but I miss you so much. He's like I haven't gone anywhere. I mean that's a really good place to be, not where I tried to be, but where I was.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't think that's unusual, heidi. I think that we all feel that way sometimes, where it's like you know what, I'm gonna do my own thing, lord, I'm just gonna go this way. Or sometimes for me, I get frustrated with him for allowing certain things or maybe ordaining them. You know, we don't really know how that works exactly with him, but sometimes you know I'll get another piece of bad news from someone and it's like, really, you know, it's just hard sometimes to deal with that. So I mean I get that. But then there's there's times when I think where else am I gonna go, do I?
Speaker 1:really think that my way of running the world, or certainly even just my own world, is better, then the God of the universe's ideas about running my life well, I mean, it's like duh. And so what I find happens when I'm really present and attentive to his love for me is ever ongoing in immutable Be, diminished, not by anything I do not buy, anything anybody does. When I really resting in that, I wanna go to him, I wanna run to him when I'm faced with challenges.
Speaker 2:I think for me. In some ways it's kind of become like a signal for me. When I am feeling like I'm pushing back Against God, you know, I'm kind of putting out my hand like whoa, that's too much whoa. It usually means that I need to deal with some kind of fear that I have or something, something that's in the way. I need to go to him even more. Yeah, good point, because it's like I'm feeling that sense of fear and maybe not trusting him, but again going into the word and soaking in his love. That's like one of the best things that I can do when I'm feeling like that yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm reminded. You know what? I'm okay, you know I am God's girl, no matter what, and he's got this. But if I don't go and do that, I just keep pushing him away. If I'm in those in that place, yeah. So I'm glad you brought that up. Okay, so let's go to another one. How about the way that we treat others? How does living and kind of breathing you know the truth of God's love and who we are to him? How does that affect how we treat others? What do you think, heidi?
Speaker 1:I know it's impacted me a lot, not always like it should.
Speaker 1:So anybody who knows me very well knows that Michael and I moved from paradise Cadillina Island to come to central ish California and live with his mom and help out around here.
Speaker 1:She's had some health things come up at the ripe old age of 81. Well, this week was a really good example of a way that the way I would treat her was impacted by the fact that I know I'm loved by God and I love him and so I want to love Others well. So I had to get up at 430 in the morning to take her to a teacher out of town and my plan was I'm just gonna keep my jammies on and I'll just drop her off. But instead at 430 in the morning I decided you know, I'm gonna do the unlikely thing and I'm gonna put on my clothes and put on my shoes and I'm gonna be ready to walk in with her and take her all the way up to wheel her out for her procedure. And that is what I did and she seemed to really be thrilled with that because she knew my plan was to wear my jammies because she said what if you get a flat tire?
Speaker 2:That's what I always say what if your car breaks down anyway? But I love that you did that, heidi. I love that you loved her well. I think so definitely.
Speaker 1:That was so special and at 430 in the morning to oh, my goodness. So yeah, how about you?
Speaker 2:well, so I've been thinking about this, especially in terms of my marriage. I think I mean any relationship, certainly you could think about it, but I'm thinking about my husband, david, and the way that we interact and I think, okay, so when my heart and soul are already full and satisfied you know, when I've been going to the Lord regularly and we've been keeping up and having conversations and I'm really dwelling on his love for me, that really frees me up to love David In a totally different way, I'm not deeper way because I'm not looking to him, for I need this and I'm expecting this and I need this to, and I'm disappointed now because it didn't come.
Speaker 2:You know those kinds of things right, and I certainly been in that place many, many times. But when I'm already filled up with the Lord, I can be very generous in my love for David, I can be very gracious and I can be very grateful to, and that that's a huge difference from, you know, one scenario to the other. I mean, that's a huge difference in our relationship.
Speaker 1:Well, but that's such a good point because when I allow God to be enough and fill me full of himself and the joy I have in knowing that his love is immutable and steadfast and it's there and present and accessible, I don't need to as much turn to. I mean, yes, god does use people to meet certain needs, but I don't become that needy person that I am so much of the time when I am not allowing myself to be filled up with the Lord's own enoughness, if that's a way of putting it. But anyway, it is.
Speaker 2:It's just really there's a huge shift there. I notice it in myself and, again, if I'm feeling that sense of neediness in any relationship where I have expectations that I feel like maybe aren't being met, I was listening to someone just the other day who was telling me the same thing and she was very upset because she felt like her friends weren't meeting her needs. And I get that, but in some ways it was so good for me to hear that, just as a reminder that we know exactly what we can do when that happens. Can we change the friends? No, no, I mean that's almost impossible. But what we can do is go to the Lord and be filled from Him and then, when the friends are disappointing as friends often are because we're all human, you know we're already filled in the Lord and then we can be generous, then we can be gracious and grateful for them.
Speaker 1:So here's a question that's not on the anticipated list, Since so many people come to Revelation within with overeating challenges and a desire to have a peaceful relationship with food eating in their bodies. How, if any way at all, does resting in the reality of God's love, nurturing a deeper love for Him in return, impact our perspective on those things, those counterfeit comforts I turn to? Whatever it is that causes me to go to food, or causes me to go to scrolling, or causes me to go to spending money I don't have. Whatever it is, how does God's love matter in those cases? What do you think?
Speaker 2:I think it's huge. It's so, so, so important. In fact, I think it's so much more important than I ever realized for a long, long time. You know that's so much. There's a roadblock for so many of us there with counterfeit comforts, like you said, whatever they are.
Speaker 2:We all go to something Sometimes when we want to numb or not feel, or we're stressed or needing comfort. So why aren't we going to the Lord in those times when we know Him Well? Sometimes we just don't know Him well enough is what I think. I mean, I think that's been true for myself. The more that I get to know Him, the more that I walk into His welcoming embrace when I'm feeling sorrow and disappointment and heartache or whatever it may be. The more I get to know Him in that way, the more I want to be on His team for me. You know what I mean. I want to walk with Him. I don't want to go my own way when I'm feeling, yeah, god really loves me, he really cares for me, he really cares about the details, he cares about my wounds and my heart, the ones that need healing. He's there and so I don't want to go off on my own when I'm feeling that way. I want to be on God's team. I want to be partnering with Him and walking with Him and sharing with Him and talking with Him, and I think that that's something that we know for sure that we can go to.
Speaker 2:But often we don't and we think you know this counterfeit. It's a fake. Most of us even know it as we're going to it. Okay, I'm going to watch hours of TV tonight. It's going to calm me down, it's going to make me feel better, it's going to solve my problems. We already know that's not true, but we still go to it. And God is ready. He's ready and willing. But the more experiences we have with the Lord, in that comfort, in that intimacy with Him, the more TV. Hours of TV feels like nothing anymore. It feels like it falls flat compared to Him. Yeah, but our part in it, and my part in it, certainly is go to Him, take that step, go to him beyond God's team. See what it's like to be on God's team, instead of going on your own to try to fix it on your own. Yeah, what?
Speaker 1:do you think the well? I think it's related to one of the other questions that we were talking about in our community, and that's how do I treat myself? Is that impacted at all when I am aware of God's love for me and have nurtured, through my know, usually, my love for him, and I think it's connected in that. Like for me, I am God's masterpiece, and I've talked about this for a couple months now. Nothing that I do makes me less of a masterpiece. Nothing I could do would make me more of a masterpiece, and I am a masterpiece simply because the master made me, and as I am sitting in that, it floors me that he could do that, that he just calls me, he calls me his beloved, he calls me his precious child, calls me his inheritance. It just blows my mind. It's like his, his reward, what, and so that's just amazing to me. And then I'm in a place where I then want to. Okay, I've been created in christ jesus, to do good works, which got prepared in advance for me to do so. Then my motivation for anything I do or don't do with my body, like eating or exercising or whatever it might be choosing a plan, if you will Is impacted by my desire to be ready for what he calls me to, and I know we've talked about this before, but this has totally changed my perspective and the way that I treat myself. It's like okay, if before I was only motivated by how am I gonna look, you know, that's just, that's not it anymore. It's I want to be ready, and so that has caused me to make decisions that will Support me actually being able to be ready to go, if he calls me I don't mean overseas necessarily, or to the mission field, but even across town, you know. Or to stand on my feet for a couple of hours for whatever reason, whatever it might be, I want to be ready. And so Some of my self soothing Tactics, if you will run counter to being ready, you know, like, for instance, if I over each sugar, my joints get inflamed and then ask me to do anything, and I meant to miserable to want to do it, and so now I'm not gonna be ready. So for me, it helps me to want to be ready for him, what he calls me to do. You know, somebody that I was interacting with this last week said something like how can I possibly be ready to do god's will when my body is in this condition, somebody who is very concerned about her size. I made me so sad, because god is not limited by what size I am. He will call me to do a good work in wherever I am right now, but I want to do what I can to be ready for whatever is next, and so god's not limited.
Speaker 1:My mother in law was amazing my first mother. That's another story, but anyway she was an amazing woman of god, but she had so many health problems she couldn't be out and about, she couldn't be on her feet for long. She prayed. She was a prayer warrior. That was the good work that god called her to do in advance, that she could walk in. She could walk in that good work. She couldn't walk outside, but she could walk in, got a color to do. So I think that we need to consider god is not limited by my physical parents, unless he's called you to be a model or something, maybe. So anyway, all that to say that I treat myself differently because I am aware of god's love for me.
Speaker 2:I'm aware of my love for him, which is growing, and I want to be ready for what he's calling me to I think that's so, so valuable, hidey, I love that you shared that because, like you said, your motivation is coming from a place that's much, much deeper than just looking at the, and that's true for me too. I mean, for so many years I was so self focused about my body, about my size, what's the number on the tag on the jeans? You know that was all my focus for so long, and I was walking with the lord. I love the lord, you know I was in the word.
Speaker 2:Anyway, I was just so self focused, and so when you describe what your motivation is now, hidey, it is very much got focused. It is focused on him and what's important to him and bringing glory to him and his will and his purposes in your life. That's very, very different than the dieting world that you and I both came from, very, very, very different. It's like night and day. I mean, how many of us have come from that dieting background? And so we know it's shallow, there's no depth to it and it doesn't. Our motivation doesn't stick.
Speaker 1:Well, and even even aside from dieting, even since I've been a non diet since, you know, years ago, like 1998, I was still all about weight loss and appearance and being awesome, recognition for it, and I love the accolades for the weight loss and all of that, all of that but it's like that was my motivation and that was shallow to.
Speaker 1:Even though I was not dieting, I was still using this as an alternative to dieting. You know, eating between hunger and satisfaction, and what god is done is he is rooted out, completely torn out that old motivation, and has given me a heart to just be ready for whatever he calls me to which I like that motivation. I mean, I'm on the edge of my seat looking for what. What's it gonna be god? Is it gonna be any one of the number of things that I currently expect him to do? It could be mom, it could be michael, it could be this, it could be that Daniel, look at you all, my, all my family members and their needs. Or it could be something totally unexpected that I'm, I'm ready, I'm ready or I want to be, which is so much better than a gene size?
Speaker 2:No, it really is, and I just I think for me that has been something that you know, a huge shift for me when I first came to thin within which is now revelation within my motivation was a couple different things. I wanted to lose weight, but honestly, I knew that there was something much deeper going on, because I had lost weight before on diets but I just kept gaining it back, and so my motivation wasn't only lose weight and look great. That wasn't my only motivation. I knew that there was something much, much, much deeper and I knew that I was dealing with a stronghold, something where that I couldn't fix on my own. So over time I mean over it's been almost 10 years now since I started renewing my mind and my size has shifted a little bit, but not that much really. I mean, I've been about the same, and so you know you mentioned the accolades for weight loss and all of that for me was long, long, long gone. Nobody even remembers for me.
Speaker 2:But when I am looking to the Lord for what he needs of me, what he wants and the way he sees me, that's freedom. That is freedom for me, and I know, you know I've mentioned before that I was raised in Los Angeles, where you have this incredible pressure to look a certain way and be tan and fit and all this kind of thing, and it is so freeing to be at a place in my life where that is not pulling on me anymore. Yeah, every so often yes, every so often there's thoughts that come into my mind that are self condemning about myself, for sure, but I know exactly what to do with those thoughts and if they don't line up with God's thoughts, they're out. I don't want to deal with that anymore. I don't want to mess around with those old beliefs anymore that used to just take me down. There is so much freedom in going to God's focus on what is important to him rather than what's important to this world, which is all going to pass away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so this kind of connects really well to another question we want to talk about. What is the difference between renewing my mind, which we are all about in Revelation within, versus just avoiding negative thoughts? Are they the same? Is there a difference? How are they distinguished from one another? Or are they?
Speaker 2:So when I think about avoiding negative thinking, I think about all those years really that I tried to just think positively you know, I'm going to be fine, it's going to be great, it'll be good, I'm okay, it's okay, I'm fine.
Speaker 2:But what happens is that's a lot of pretending and it doesn't go deeper than the surface. It doesn't really help or heal or solve anything, and we're back to self focus again. We're back to focus on me and my needs and what I'm thinking and what my insights might be, and somehow I'm trying to change things by saying these statements that really don't mean anything. It's going to be fine, I can handle it, it's all good. Yeah, it's kind of like pretending that I'm in control. No, and I'm really not. I'm really absolutely not. And so what happens to me when I go down that road, when I used to go down that road, was I would be tired, I would feel drained from that, I would be very inconsistent, I couldn't keep it up. It wasn't sustainable. I would be discouraged from trying to constantly convince myself that everything was okay somehow. I don't know what about you?
Speaker 1:Heidi, for me, avoiding negative thoughts is exactly what you were saying. It's almost like okay, just don't think about a pink elephant. Yes, okay, don't think negatively. Mm-mm. Don't think negatively on negative thoughts, as opposed to thinking God's thoughts after him, which impacts everything. As I think God's thoughts after him, I take on his thoughts and I think with the mind of Christ, which 1 Corinthians 2, 16 says, I have and I'm looking at everything through the lens that is God focused. It's what do you have to say about that, lord? An eternal focus even. It's radically transformative to the way I think about everything from a new diagnosis to a difficult person, to I can't see what's going on in front of me at the sports auditorium or whatever, the concert, whatever. So thinking God's thoughts after him, inviting him to, like you know, help me, renew my mind so that I can be transformed, is hugely different from avoiding negative thoughts.
Speaker 2:Yes. So the piece that, one of my favorite things about mind renewal, all the things that you just said, heidi, that are so, so good. But then what is the result of that? You know, the result is that we don't get tired, it's not draining, it's actually life giving, and the results are that it doesn't fail and it doesn't fall short and it's always consistent because it's focused on the Lord and it brings encouragement and hope. That is what I love so much about renewing my mind, thinking God's thoughts after him, and then, when the challenges come, I'm ready. I'm ready, my mind is renewed, I've got God's thoughts in my mind. You know, obviously I'm a work in progress, always Right but I know that he will see me through. He is faithful and steadfast. The whole thing is on him, it's not on me, right?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That's a beautiful thing, Okay. So how does your love for God and resting in that love and nurturing your love for him impact decisions and the kind of just the disposition of your life? You know, decisions about where to move and when and why to move those have all been impacted which jobs to take or which jobs not to take All of that has impacted by. Okay, God, you love me and you have a plan for my life, and I believe that with all my heart, I've renewed my mind with the truth about how you feel about me. So what will I do in response to that?
Speaker 1:In July of 2019, Michael and I were living in a camp up in the Sierra Nevada foothills outside of Sonora California, and we were told we needed to be out by the end of the week. And that was like what that's? Because they were getting cleared the whole premises and get new staff and new programming and all of that someday. And it's like what are we going to do? Well, knowing that God loved us, that he had a plan for us, we could take a step back from that freak out. We were about ready to go into and go. Huh, God knew this was coming and he loves us and he is good and he is sovereign, and all those things about him and the fact that we knew that he had something in store was so reassuring in that moment and we could move forward in faith and make a decision. There were decisions upon decisions made at that time.
Speaker 2:Well, yes, and so you and Michael, really, since before you were married, you had that intention, you had that God focus to say, okay, Lord, where will you send us? We want to be ready. I mean, that's really where you guys were. And so there were a number of things that happened and it was difficult and unsure and unsettling, and then things worked out in an amazing way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if you hadn't known, if you and Michael hadn't known God's love and weren't focused on him, but focused on yourselves and your finances, and you know the way things looked. I mean, that would have been very, very difficult and it would have taken you in a completely different direction. Okay, so I was talking to a dear friend of mine a few days ago, and she's a person who's been through all kinds of life situations and hard knocks and heartaches, but she and her husband are at a point right now in their lives where they are able to set aside funds as they wait to be generous to someone.
Speaker 1:That's so awesome, they even know who.
Speaker 2:They have money set aside in case there's a need, and something often comes up. I mean, how amazing is that that your finances would be impacted that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to just wait on God. Here's a pot of money and I'm going to wait on God and see where it's needed. I mean I love that. That is amazing. Again, just an amazing example of decisions and the way you live your life really set up because, in a way, that is God focused. And so their most recent one was a young girl who wanted to go to a Christian retreat and didn't have the money, and the money was sitting in that fund. It was just waiting for her need. I love that. I think that's a beautiful example.
Speaker 1:It really is to be living with a predisposition to God. What do you need? What? Show me where I can step in, Show me where I can send in or pray in or whatever. I mean, that's a beautiful place to be, and you know what I think, Because God has created us for those things for himself, to worship him, to honor him and to love him well and others well. I think that it changes our desire for counterfeit comforts. I really do. If I am living with my resources at God's disposal, I'm not nearly as likely to spend them on myself or use my time just for myself. I mean, really, it's definitely for me. I find myself really convicted by that story in a good way.
Speaker 1:I want to press on to what God is calling me to do with my resources, with Michael's and my resources.
Speaker 2:I know for myself. You know, the more that I kind of taste that sweet relationship with the Lord, the more that my trust in him is built. You know, circumstance after circumstance, the more I want that, I want to be going in his direction, I want to be following his leading. And it's a beautiful thing, it's not then. It's not hard to do that, because you've tasted it and it feels good, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's good to know that you're honoring God instead of undermining the work he wants to do, both in me and in the world. I mean, I just want to be his girl.
Speaker 2:And you are, and I am, and I love that we are his girls.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I know there's at least one guy who's listening to this because he told me so. So you are his guy, special guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So one more question, Heidi how does knowing God's love for you, knowing and understanding and living as if you know it, how does it change the way you see yourself?
Speaker 1:Well, and I've shared about this a little bit, you know Ephesians 2.10, that I am his masterpiece, really, as I can rest in his love and know that it is immutable, unchanging, it's steadfast, it's not going anywhere, it's not diminishing, no matter what I do or what I don't do. I am his masterpiece because he's the master and he made me and it gives him joy to lavish his love on me. Sometimes one tells me that it's for the praise of his glory that he does so many wonderful things in my life and for my life and others who know Christ too, of course. But it's like that changes everything. It changes my whole perspective on who I am in this world, how I feel about myself, and then if I feel out of sorts or disgruntled by the way somebody else seems to treat me, I am aware of the fact that that is not what defines me. It is.
Speaker 2:God alone.
Speaker 1:He is alone who defines me and I can remind myself of those truths, and so it totally shifts my perspective from poor me you know I'm a victim, all of those things that I have struggled with over my years to you know, god was in that, with me. God has called me to the challenges in my life to become, you know, a part of the story that I have of his glory and sharing him and redemption with others.
Speaker 2:So, then, what really matters is how God sees us. What is important to him. We are his girls and guys. As you said, we are chosen, adopted, redeemed, celebrated, sung over by the master, the one who created us with his own loving hands. So what matters is that we're ready to do what he's called us to do. It doesn't matter what the world says or society says, or culture, about what we should or shouldn't do or look like or whatever. We are focused on what is important to God, and that just clarifies everything and brings the most beautiful freedom for us.
Speaker 1:Amen. There's not a whole lot I could say after that, no true. So if you have yet to be convinced that God loves you, listener, I want to encourage you to renew your mind with what he says in his word. And he says in his word that you are loved. You were loved so much that he demonstrated that love for you. Before you had a God word thought before you thought of him, before you acted beautifully, before you were a good little girl or guy, he gave Christ for you and he loves you as you are. Remind yourself of that truth again. That's what Christina and I have done. That makes us and the people in our community that's what we do Remind ourselves of what God says to be true, and then we start to actually believe it. And as we believe it, it changes everything. It changes our beliefs, it changes our actions, it changes our desires. It does yeah, there's transformation there, and we hope that there's been something enjoyable and beneficial and encouraging to you here in this podcast episode today.
Speaker 2:We are so glad that you've been here today and we hope that you will join us for our next episode of Revelation Within on the go. Bye.
Speaker 1:We'll see you next time. Bye, bye, bye. We'll see you next time, bye.