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Revelation Within On the Go!
Revelation Within equips people with life-giving, grace-infused mind renewal tools to deepen their intimacy with Jesus so that counterfeit comforts (like overeating) lose their allure, and the joy and hope of Jesus fills their lives, satisfying their souls.
In our podcast we talk about mind renewal, tips and tricks for getting and staying free from counterfeit comforts like overeating (over-scrolling, over-drinking, over-anythinging...)
We began as Thin Within in 1975, a pioneer in intuitive, mindful eating back when diets were in their hey day! Thin Within has taught people how to tune in to their body's natural signals of hunger and satisfaction, remaining present with their meals and delighting in tastes and textures--and the Lord!
In the 1980s, Thin Within became a Christian ministry, showing people that the emptiness that they have felt and often filled with food that their bodies don't require, was really placed in there to be filled full with God through Jesus. He wants to set us free from all strongholds!
We rebranded our ministry and our podcast in 2023 to Revelation Within.
Join us!
Visit us in our RevWithin.Team community as well! (https://revwithin.team)
Find our listing of classes at https://www.revelationwithin.org
Revelation Within On the Go!
God's Resume: The "You Were Faithful When" Tool
When life feels anything but good, can we truly trust God's faithfulness? In this episode, we explore that question with honesty, acknowledging the real tension between intellectually knowing God is faithful and emotionally struggling to feel it. Drawing from Psalm 88, we find comfort in knowing that even biblical writers wrestled with doubt. We also share personalized Scripture prayers that affirm God's unchanging character and introduce the powerful "You Were Faithful When" mind renewal tool. This simple practice helps us recall specific moments of God's faithfulness, declaring: "You were faithful then, and You will be faithful now."
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
Hi, welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On the Go. I'm Heidi Biles-Maepperson, one of your hosts and the owner and lead coach of the Revelation Within ministry.
Speaker 2:And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a Revelation Within coach and Heidi's partner in all things Revelation Within. We are so happy to invite you to join us for this episode of Revelation Within on the go. Oh my goodness, welcome. We are so glad you're here, yeah.
Speaker 1:Christina has something really fun to share with you today, and so I'm just going to let her take over.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, I don't know if it begins fun. I think it begins hard and then it ends fun. So what we want to do is end up at a place of peace, a place of okay, all right, we can keep going Just like yes, encouragement and hope. But where we're going to start is kind of a hard place.
Speaker 2:So many of you have felt this way, I'm sure, many times, where you're wondering I know God is faithful from what it says in the Bible. I know he's faithful. There are many verses about God being faithful, many stories about him being faithful, and I've read those. Maybe this is something that you might say. I've read them, I've studied them, I've done studies on them, I've heard sermons on them. I've even heard podcasts on God's faithfulness. I have really spent time on that subject.
Speaker 2:But, as you said just before we started, heidi, it's a hard subject. It's a hard subject for many of us because there have been so many difficult things that God has either allowed or ordained or whatever. They're there, and so God is 100% faithful. We know it from what he says, but sometimes we're not sure, sometimes we don't feel it, sometimes we wonder where are you in this situation, god? Are you being faithful because you just chose the worst thing that I can imagine, or you allowed it to happen, and that's the hard thing. That's the hard place. How do I deal with that? That might be something that you have struggled with before. I certainly have, and I know you have too, heidi.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I just know that there've been so many hard things and you know that because of what God says in his word, your brain knows, your intellect agrees with okay, that's what God's word says. God's word is truth. So I know that God is faithful because he says so and he's God, so he gets to define what faithful is. I mean, this is a hard topic for me because of the season of really hard things that has been in my life. But yeah, it's been hard and God has been there. He's steadfast, he's immovable. It's hard though I don't know about you, Christina, but when it comes to talking about God's faithfulness, sometimes I feel like I'm waiting for a shoe to fall, a boom to lower.
Speaker 2:Well, and Heidi, you just said I shouldn't feel that way. But yes, you should, why not? You should feel the way you feel and God can take it. And we've talked about that lots and lots of times. Remember Psalm 88. You're the one that took me to Psalm 88, heidi, that Psalm where that person who is speaking is saying this is too much, God, you have given me too much. I am buried, I am desolate, all the things, and darkness is my best friend.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it is really hard to think on God's faithfulness and think how could this be your faithfulness? It could also be, you know. Some people will say well, I know God is good because it says that he's good in the Bible again and again and again, but this doesn't feel good. This doesn't feel at all good. In fact, there's a song like that, but that's exactly what she says in her song. She says I know you're good, but life doesn't feel good right now, mm-hmm. So I think that that is a very common challenge. It's a common place to be in this world, on this earth, where we live, and life is just really hard. And I don't know about you, but when I look at people around me, people that I've known for years and their lives. It does seem like when it rains, it pours it really does. It seems like we go through seasons of life that are more calm and things aren't so difficult, and then boom, boom, boom, boom, we get hit by several things at once and we get so weary and so tired and it's just really hard. And so, yeah, this is when we look at God's faithfulness. It's like wow, lord, I don't understand you at all. Your ways are so much higher than mine. I don't understand.
Speaker 2:One of the seasons of life for me just recently in the last several years that has been incredibly difficult was caring for my mom who had Alzheimer's disease and managing her care as it got worse and worse, and helping my dad be able to take care of her. That was an incredible challenge and a lot of the hard stuff God did not take away. In his faithfulness, in his goodness, he allowed for a lot of it to happen and it was really really hard. Now I don't really know what he protected us from. I'm sure there was a lot, a lot, and you know there were so many days that I thought I couldn't handle.
Speaker 2:But God was faithful, god showed up, he made a way, again and again and again and again, over about 10 years really, he made a way and now my mom's in heaven, my dad's in heaven, that whole season of my life is over and I can look back and I can see moments, a moment here, a moment there, a decision here, something that was said here of his faithfulness and it's amazing to see. In the moment it's hard to see it. Sometimes we need that time to be able to look back and say, oh yeah, look at that. God was so faithful in that situation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think one of the troubles for me has come from having an earthly mindset versus an eternal one, because a lot of the things that God has allowed in his faithfulness and in his goodness, when I think about the here and now, it just doesn't compute that it would be good or faithful or whatever.
Speaker 1:But, I have to recall that God operates in a different economy. He is all about eternity and I just want to give a quick example of this. During 9-11, people died, a lot of people died, as we all know, going back in time to that horrific event. But later on I met people who were attending the church I went to at the time this was much later who said that they came to Christ through that very event. They weren't anywhere near New York or Philadelphia or wherever else the Pentagon and they had nothing to do with it. They didn't know anybody was involved and lost their lives. That they didn't know anybody was involved and lost their lives. But watching the events unfold made them wonder what is life after this life and they began to ask questions and began to attend church. And not that attending church is the answer, but Jesus is, and they found Jesus. I know two people who I was very close with later who came to the Lord through 9-11.
Speaker 2:Well, and I do think that there are thousands and thousands of examples like that and other horrific events that happen. You hear about hurricanes, you hear about fires, all kinds of things that happen, and then later you hear these stories and it's like, wow, god really used that to turn someone's heart toward him. Yeah, and that's eternal. Yeah, and that's like you said, there's an eternal view. God's purposes are so different. Ours are like make this easy, lord, can you just fix this? That's our purposes. His purposes are, like, completely different from ours. He is drawing us into himself, he is building our faith, he is helping us to be able to persevere, building that in us strength. You know, there's all this, all these things that have nothing, you know, to do with an easy life. Certainly.
Speaker 1:Well, and if Jesus had to go through what he went through, especially in his final week on this planet, how could I expect any less? I mean, really, he's so gracious, anyway.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, let's go to the word let's and let's see what the word says about faithfulness. And these are just a tiny, tiny little handful of verses that we picked out for this, and we're going to go ahead and personalize them too. So I'm going to start with Hebrews 10, 23. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. So I'm just going to personalize that and I'm actually going to pray it. I think I'll just go ahead and pray it. Lord, help me to hold on to hope and hold on to you unswervingly. I love that word. I'm not going to swerve. I'm not going to swerve to the right or the left. I'm going to hold on because you who promised is faithful. Thank you, god, for your faithfulness.
Speaker 1:And 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 3 says but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. So I'm going to personalize this. It says but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen me and protect me from the evil one. Thank you, lord, that you are faithful and that you strengthen me and you protect me from the evil one.
Speaker 2:And then I know this is both Heidi and I. We love this verse Lamentations 3, 22 and 23. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So, lord Jesus, for Heidi and I and for our listeners, your steadfast love never ceases, it never ends, it never stops, it never slows down. There aren't any holes in it. It is strong and solid. Your mercies never come to an end, never, not once. They are new every morning. Your faithfulness is 100%. Great is your faithfulness. Thank you, god.
Speaker 1:Psalm 36.5 says your love, lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. And I'm just going to pray, using this as kind of a prayer prompt. Lord, I'm so grateful for your love. It is beyond my imagination, it extends beyond what I can see in the sky. And your faithfulness also, lord, it's huge, it's never ending, it's steadfast and immovable. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, amen and amen. Hebrews 13, 8,. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. I love this verse. It is just so simple, easy to memorize. There's no change. Christ is the same, god is the same. He is faithful, steadfast, solid. He is the same.
Speaker 1:Thank you, god, for this truth 1 Corinthians 10.13 says no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind, and God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. When you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it. I love this because it speaks of his faithfulness in the context of my struggles, specifically temptations. Even more specifically, so I'll go ahead and pray it.
Speaker 1:Lord, I'm so grateful that there is not a single temptation on this planet that could overtake me heart, soul, mind or body that you haven't first given others to experience. I can learn from their examples, and you are faithful to me in this, but you will not let me be tempted, taken away astray. Let us stray beyond what I can bear, and you won't let me fall into those traps. When I am tempted, lord, I thank you that you provide a way out so that I can endure it. And, lord, I just want to ask one more thing Could I please have your strength and wisdom to take that way out each time you provide it?
Speaker 2:Yes, oh, I love that. Okay, one more, Psalm 23,. Four, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. So, even though, lord, even though I'm going through or have been through so many incredibly difficult times, I'm not going to be afraid, because you're with me, you're walking with me, your love is steadfast, you're faithful and you're comforting me. I can count on you. Thank you, god, for that.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I have a brand new mind renewal tool to share with you today. I'm so excited about this tool, and what are you calling it? Calling it, you Were Faithful when Yay, you Were Faithful when, this morning, I went for a walk and I used this tool the entire way and it brought so much encouragement to my weary soul. It was so, so good and I didn't want to stop. And I've done it with a couple of the ladies now, just in the last couple of days that I coach with, and I think you're going to love it. It's incredibly encouraging.
Speaker 2:So, basically, what we're doing is looking back over our own lives for those times when God was absolutely faithful and you saw it and you knew it. Maybe you didn't know it till later, but we can look back and see those moments when you were a child, when you were a teenager. Look back and see those moments when you were a child, when you were a teenager, when you were in your twenties, in college, a young parent maybe you're a young single person and then later in life, with your career, with illnesses or injuries, with relationships that fell apart or anything at all, when you saw that God was faithful, and so you begin with God. You were faithful then and you will be faithful now. And so the end is always the same and you will be faithful now. That is for sure. It's rock solid and true. We know it's true from his word and all of us actually know it's true from our lives too. We can look back and see wow, god, you were faithful then. So I'll start and we'll go back and forth.
Speaker 2:Lord, god, when one of my daughters was in third grade and she put her hand on the stove while it was on high and had this horrible, horrible burn on her hand, it was so scary. We were so scared that she wouldn't have function in her hand and that it wouldn't heal. Well, and it did. Now it may not have, but it did. We were so scared and you met us in that scariness. You were faithful then and, lord God, you will be faithful now.
Speaker 1:And Lauren, I think of not even that long ago, really a couple of years ago, when Daniel had to move, my son had to move up here to this area from where he lived with his dad before. I was concerned about a lot of different things, about how he would manage living without, you know, constant availability or accessibility to one of his parents, and he has done really well on his own.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm so proud of him and I know that it's your hand in his life that's made a difference, lord. You were faithful then and you will be faithful now.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's a great example. I love that one. I remember when my other daughter was crawling around on the floor so she was a year and a half under our dining room table and we were pouring over our finances, my husband and I, and we were fighting and we were just having a terrible time. We did not have the income to pay our bills and over time, somehow you worked it all out for us over time. You were faithful then, Lord, and you will be faithful now.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking back now to a time right after Michael and I got married and we were told that we had a week to vacate the campgrounds where we were living. Michael was working there, that they had made some changes and they were clearing the staff out and we were the staff that were on the premises and it was scary, not sure what was going on and how we were going to make it, and how can we only have a week to have a new place to live? And then you provided an invitation for us to move and live on Catalina Island where.
Speaker 1:Michael would run the food service program which he is perfectly suited for, and I just it was amazing that you supplied that in your time, which was instant, practically to the need. You were faithful then and you'll be faithful now.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yes, another fantastic example. So, lord, not that long ago, my husband was really struggling in his job. He felt very defeated. It was a place that was not a healthy place for him to be emotionally anymore, and it was our main income and health insurance and we didn't know what was going to happen. We were struggling with which way to go next and if there was another job opportunity for him. And you provided, lord, you provided everything we needed. You were faithful then and you will be faithful now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, amen. I remember a season when I was injured severely. I was a mom of my kids were small at the time and we homeschooled. It was a very active life that we had and I had my leg in a cast and because of what was going on with its healing, I needed to be in bed rest. It was crazy no walking cast for me, yeah. So I was thrown for a loop, but God met me in a beautiful way in his word and ministered to me in such deep and when I think of that season I actually have a longing for that kind of intimacy with God that that season fostered. I mean, it was God was so faithful. You were faithful then, lord, and you will be faithful now.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay, so I'll do one more. That's another beautiful example, heidi. So 11 years ago I was desperate and frustrated and in despair and hiding a stronghold that was huge in my life and I didn't know what to do or where to turn or what I might do next. I thought I had tried absolutely everything and you were faithful, god, and you provided.
Speaker 1:And you were faithful then and you will be faithful now. Yay, I like that new tool.
Speaker 2:Way to go. It's powerful because it really it encourages, it helps us to go back and to see those times. And what's happened with me is the more I've done it, the more times come up I was going to say yeah, it seems like it would be that way.
Speaker 2:It's like it's shaking my memory loose of these stories. You know the stories it's like, and then one story leads to another, leads to another and pretty soon you're just kind of you've got this whole basket of stories of God's faithfulness to go back to, and it's encouraging when we are running out of hope, when we are in despair, when we feel like we're at the end of ourselves. God, you were faithful then. When we feel like we're at the end of ourselves, god, you were faithful then and you will be faithful now. I love that. Yeah, I'm glad you love it. We're so glad that you've been here with us today and we we hope that you'll use that tool, give it a try this week. We think it will really bless you. Anyway, we'd love to invite you to our next podcast episode. We'll see you then. We'd love to invite you to our next podcast episode.
Speaker 1:We'll see you then Revelation Within on the go, we'll see you then. Bye-bye.
