Hey , welcome to Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha . We are so pumped that you're tuning into this podcast . It has been designed for people just like you . We wanna do life with you , share our wins , our defeats , our ups and our downs , in hopes that you'll grow closer to God and to the people that you love in your life . Sit back and enjoy today's podcast . Hello everybody .
Speaker 2Hey everyone .
Speaker 1Welcome to Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha . We are pumped that you guys are with us today . We got a great episode for you today . We want to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus . I'm talking about if you're not a believer , if you're new to your faith , or even if you've been saved for like 50 years . I'm telling you that this podcast is specifically designed for you .
Speaker 2That's right . Listen if you're new to this podcast . We want to say welcome . Thank you for tuning in . We pray that God will send people that can be blessed by what we're putting out there . So thank you . We hope that you're going to enjoy this .
Speaker 1Yeah , Our podcast has always had one goal in mind is to help you grow closer to God . And then also closer to the people that God has placed in your life . So this is first and foremost the Marriage and Relationship Podcast , but it's also a personal growth podcast , and this is what we believe that when you get better , the marriage , the relationship that you're in will also comment , post , review . Let us know how this is being a blessing to you and our family of Doing Life with Ken and Tabitha .
Speaker 1We're growing . We're growing around the world , and so we just want to say welcome , and we're so glad that you are here .
Speaker 2All right , all right .
Speaker 1Is there anything else you have for us today ? I don't , is there ?
Speaker 2something I'm supposed to have today . I don't know , I don't know .
Speaker 1Today we're going to get in . Today's topic is entitled Growing in Jesus . All right , and we have one simple goal to help you guys grow in Jesus as we grow in Jesus as well . You know , what I figured out is that none of us have arrived . We are all growing in Jesus . Now , I think , how long have you been saved ?
Speaker 2Ooh , since I was 23 , I got saved , and so 25 years , 25 years .
Speaker 1Okay , I came to Jesus when I was 11 . So I'm 46 . So that would be 35 years . I didn't start living fully for God until I was about 22 . But I did believe in God . I did put my faith in Jesus and got water baptized when I was 11 . So you got 25 years , I got 35 years . What I realized over a 35-year journey is that it is a journey , it's a journey .
Speaker 2You didn't know , I was 35 years in the game .
Speaker 1I didn't know that you were 35 years in the game walking with Jesus and not all great years . I've had my ups , I've had my downs , but it still matters , it still counts .
Speaker 2You still said yes to Jesus , even at a young age . That means a lot .
Speaker 1Well , I think it also matters the environment that you were raised in . So both of my parents were people of faith and we went to a church , and so I cut my teeth which simply means that I got my training in understanding the stories of the Bible Shadrach , meshach and Abednego . Moses splitting the Red Sea all of these different things . Even though it seemed a little boring to me , even though I really didn't grasp it fully as a kid , I did have faith in my home .
Speaker 1And so it was easy for me to take a step towards Jesus that way . Now you didn't have it like that . What was your atmosphere ?
Speaker 2I mean , my atmosphere is we kind of didn't . We had a Bible like in the house and we kind of thought that there was a God but we didn't go to church or anything like that . And so in fact I remember growing up we had this big children's Bible . Somebody gave us a Bible . They would come and knock on our door and try to pray with us , and everyone I mean all kinds of faiths would come to our doors .
Speaker 2But we had this big children's Bible and in the Bible there were pictures about everything . There was like Noah and his ark and that was a great picture . It had all of the animals and things like that . But then there was a picture of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and there was a picture of Satan . And Satan was red , he had horns on his head , he had like a cape on and a pitchfork in his hand .
Speaker 2And as kids we opened up and we saw the devil and we were terrified . We closed the book and would leave it under the counter or under the coffee table . We closed the book and would leave it under the counter or under the coffee table and it was like so my view of God and the Bible was like oh , don't open that book because the devil's in there . So like I didn't want to have anything to do with the Bible because the devil was in there . That was kind of like my mindset and so , yeah , it was completely different and so I started to search for God in my early 20s like 2021 , I started looking for God and then I finally got saved at 23 . But my path was a little different , but nonetheless just as powerful .
Speaker 1So you would consider yourself unchurched , Absolutely . You didn't go to church much In your childhood . How many times did you go to church ?
Speaker 2I remember two times . I remember three times . One time the first time I remember I got baptized . It was Easter Sunday and my family took me to a Baptist church and they baptized me and I was terrified . I didn't know these people , I didn't know where I was , but I had to change my clothes and put on this blue plastic robe .
Speaker 1And they dunked me in the water , but you wasn't saved yet . Yeah .
Speaker 2And I wasn't saved yet yeah . So they baptized me in the water Like it felt like hundreds of people in this church Right . And when I came out of the water I busted out laughing because I was so nervous and that's like my nervous response . And then I heard my family saying I think Tabby has the devil because she was laughing during the baptism .
Speaker 1So then I thought I had a devil . So you thought the devil was in the Bible .
Speaker 2It was in the Bible . Now it's in me because I got baptized . This is really outrageous , right ? So that was the first time I remember church . The second time I don't remember church , but I remember coming home on the bus and the kids were singing . Father Abraham had many sons and you would take turns going down in the seats . And I remember I ducked down in the seat and I hid I didn't want to sing the song because I was like I'm not one of father Abraham's sons . Like I , I can't sing this song .
Speaker 1So you felt out of place . Yeah , I was out of place . So it was almost like the church people had this lingo and you didn't have the lingo . Yeah , I'm like get me out of here .
Speaker 2I don't belong here the third time . I remember just being in a service and with a bunch of kids and being like , oh my gosh , get me out of here . So again , different experience . So again different experience .
Speaker 1Well , I think so many people who is in our audience . They have so many different experiences . Some people are still trying to figure out faith , some people are new to it , some people have been it for a while . What I would say , after 35 years in our journey of up and downs , is that it is a journey . It is a journey of where God is revealing himself to us . It's a journey where God is calling us and inviting us closer to him , and my hope for every single person who's watching or listening is that you will make the choice to have a desire to know him better to serve him more faithfully .
Speaker 1And I will say this After 35 years of being saved , I have a desire to be more intimate with Jesus now than ever , a desire to know him and his word better now than ever . And I got to be honest , like ministry can be taxing , you know all of the responsibilities and the weight and all of the things that we have can be taxing and it's almost like you have to find this balance of being tender and tough at the same time .
Speaker 1You got to be tough enough to deal with the warfare that's in the air or you have to be tough enough to lead and build whatever you're building , but you got to be tender enough to not block out the still small voice of God . And so when I say I'm growing in Jesus , what does that bring to you ? Or what does it mean to you ? Anything ?
Speaker 2I think it's , you know , just that constant , everyday growing , so that reality of like I really want to grow daily with Jesus . So the mistake that I made today , I don't want to make that same mistake tomorrow .
Speaker 1That's growth , that's like Jesus .
Speaker 2Help me to now , instead of getting upset and screaming at my children . Help me next time speak peace , words of kindness . Let me take a moment of silence or just go and pray and be with the Lord . So I think when I hear growing with Jesus , it is an everyday event .
Speaker 1Yeah , I guess to me what I hear is like we all need to be growing in . Jesus . So for me , I have not arrived and there's nobody on the planet that's arrived until we are face to face with him . And then all things are new and we're in the new Jerusalem , stuff like that Right None of us have arrived . So we all have this aspect of our soul that we're still renewing our mind and we're still being transformed , we're still being sanctified , so to say , absolutely .
Speaker 2We're still growing in our faith .
Speaker 1It's more of a process and not an event , but you can actually get stuck in growth and it feel like , well , I'm not growing , or you know , and we can maybe talk about that a little bit of how to get unstuck , or why some people feel like they're not growing , oh yeah , but for me it starts with like a choice and then it starts with a passion . So it's almost like you got to be humble and hungry , that I want him not in a perfect way , like I feel a lot of the times that I just don't measure up .
Speaker 1I feel sometimes like man I should study more , I should pray more , but I still have that childlike faith in me that like I want to know him better . I want to serve him more faithfully . So why would you say that this is important , Like growing in Jesus ? Why ? Why is that important to you , I think .
Speaker 2Well , like you said , sometimes if you're not growing , I think that's when you feel stuck . You feel like what am I doing in my life ? Am I accomplishing anything ? Am I making a difference ? I'm bored , I don't like this anymore , I'm tired , those kinds of things . I think that happens when you're not growing , and so growth is , I think , intentional . It's not like when we're growing up and we grow from four feet to five feet . That's unintentional , yeah , it just happens .
Speaker 2But yeah , spiritual growth and growth in your soul that is intentional . So we go to school , starting in kindergarten and end up in high school school and then go to post-secondary education . Because that's intentional growth . You have to do it day after day , after month , after year . You know that's growth and so I think what was your question ?
Speaker 1I don't know . But I mean , there's a bunch of stuff coming to my mind . I forgot my question .
Speaker 2I forgot my , I forgot't know , but I mean there's a bunch of stuff coming to my mind . I forgot my question . I forgot your question .
Speaker 1Let me say do you feel like you grow pretty well , or do you feel like you have ? Because you know we've been married for 25 years now and this is something that I feel like you do really good . I feel like you have a hunger and I feel like you're humble , and I feel like I'm always watching you every single morning , spend time with God , read the Bible , grow in your faith , develop who you are as a person , and so do you feel like that about yourself .
Speaker 2Not always . I mean , I do know that about myself . I know that I am a self feeder and I do like to grow and so , knowing my background , I've been a person just growing up where I had to figure out how to do things for myself . No one's going to give this to me , no one's going to teach me how to do this . If I'm going to do this , I have to figure out how to do this . So , with that mentality , I kind of have that in me now when it comes to God , if there's something that I don't know and the Bible talks about searching the scripture , studying it said that those in Thessalonica was more noble than the others because they searched the scripture daily to make sure that what was said was so .
Speaker 2Something like that .
Speaker 1And I think there's something about us just having the discipline of . I mean , this is what I believe . I believe that every Christian needs a church home and I believe that when you come to church there's a level of edifying and development that happens that won't happen at home , but you don't get everything that you need at church . You need to have a home time where you're searching the scriptures daily . But I believe that many Christians they overcompensate to one or the other . They just come to church and they don't feed themselves at home or they're just somewhere reading a Bible with no leadership and no covering . But if you can ever get to the place where you have a healthy rhythm , where you have a public feeding and a personal private feeding , you have a public gathering and you have a personal time with God .
Speaker 1That is the recipe for good gathering and you have a personal time with .
Speaker 2God . That is the recipe for good , authentic , healthy growth . Yeah , and I think once you become so mature as a believer , once you learn a little bit of information , okay , now I think as soon as you become a believer you can begin testifying and ministering and sharing what God did for you . If God just made you happy , say that God made you happy and tell someone else about it , okay .
Speaker 2But I think what happens sometimes is the church when we come to church on a Sunday or a midweek or whatever , it is also for the equipping of the saints . And so the fivefold ministry gift , which is pastor on the stage , teaching , we are equipping the saints . Why are the saints being equipped ? Teaching we are equipping the saints . Why are the saints being equipped , not just to be victorious in their personal lives , but you are being equipped for ministry , so that you can go out to your neighbors and your coworkers and everyone else , tell them about Jesus , minister to them and then bring them into the house . And so I think we get bored . Once you're in ministry for five years or 10 years or you've been a believer for a little bit of time , you're bored because you've got a minister , you've been equipped . Go out , tell people about .
Speaker 1Jesus Tell people about the Lord , and I think there's a lot of people who say well , I just feel like I'm not growing , and the reason that they're not growing is because they're not feeding other people . They are just over-consuming . I need another small group , I need another book , I need another podcast .
Speaker 2And they're over-consuming .
Speaker 1But the things that we are inputting into our spirit is for there to be an output . There has to be an intake and an outtake . There has to be an input and an output . There has to be an I'm receiving so that I can get it . That's where Christianity actually gets fun and that's when it's healthy , absolutely . One of the things that have really helped me is that I have to preach .
Speaker 1So many messages like Sunday's coming so I don't have time . Sometimes we'll do a sabbatical where we just take off for a month or so and I can see my spiritual disciplines . It's almost like the pulpit , keeps me sharp . The fact that I have to feed people , the fact that I have to do a podcast it actually helps me grow because I'm helping other people grow , and every Christian needs that .
Speaker 2Yeah , I think there's also that point where that , that you have that point where you feel like I'm not growing because you're not , you know pouring out . But then there's a point where you get in ministry where you can pour out , and pour out , and pour out and you feel like you're not growing , that like I'm stuck here because you're so depleted . You've poured out but you have to be intentional about pouring back in , about growing . It's just like this give and take .
Speaker 1This give and take . I love that .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1I love that . What do you think prevents people from growing in Jesus ?
Speaker 2Complacency . I think sometimes we come to Jesus because we're so needy , you know , stuff is going bad in our lives . And then we meet Jesus and we taste and see his goodness and we turn it around with Jesus and we come to a point of victory . And then it's like , okay , I'm married , I have my kids now I have my house , my job is great , everything that I want . So now I don't really need God anymore . We don't say that .
Speaker 1But we back off .
Speaker 2And all of a sudden we find out that we're not in church the way we used to be . We don't serve the way we used to Because we got successful yeah . And our children aren't in church and we're not teaching those biblicals . So I think that happens .
Speaker 1So what you're saying is almost like the blessing of the Lord or the success that we've had has hindered our hunger for Jesus , meaning that when you ain't got nothing and he's all you got , you're like , oh God , I got to pray for there to be food in the pantry and I got to pray for there to be lights on , and I got to pray for all that . But then when you come to the place where you're in Canaan now and you're in that land that's flowing with milk and honey , if you're not careful , you don't have that same fervency , and so it's actually .
Speaker 1success can actually work to your demise . And it's not that we don't want success , because if you have the right mindset , you can actually glorify in your success and use your success in a way to be a blessing to other people . But it can also , if you're not careful , it can be something that hinders it can , it can .
Speaker 2And then you can get to a level of success and when you're on that rise it's like thank you , jesus . Jesus did this for me . This is what the Lord did . I prayed and I declared the word and you're thanking God . But if you get to that level , and once you're there for a minute , you can forget that it's God who brought you here , it's Jesus , it's you're seeking him and confessing and believing . It's your faith that got you here .
Speaker 1And so you know one that I'm thinking of right now that , I think , hinders people growing in Jesus that I'm seeing very popular is what I'm calling unresolved hurt , and I just believe that there are a lot of believers that are carrying so much hurt nowadays . I mean , there's almost like a hurt pandemic . I'm not just talking about like in our church , I'm talking about in churches that I visit , churches around the nation , I mean I've been everywhere , but it just feels like there are so many people that are hurt and they are sitting in churches but they're hurt .
Speaker 1And when you have unresolved hurt that hasn't been healed , you will hear but you're not hearing . You're in the atmosphere but you're not fully receiving , and a lot of it comes from church hurt . Well , I was involved before .
Speaker 1I used to be a worship leader , I used to be on staff , I used to be a team leader at this last church or this last church , but this happened , that happened , this happened and that happened and now I don't know if I want to get too involved . I want to come and I want to receive right now .
Speaker 1I want to be in a season of sitting right now , and a lot of that is because you haven't overcome the hurt that you've experienced and this is what I would say about hurt Stay with me for a moment is that we are all going to be tempted with hurt . You've been tempted to be hurt , am I right ? I've been tempted to be hurt like crazy . I've been tempted to be hurt by those who've been over me , those who've been beside me , the people that I'm trying to lead people online . We live in a world where the temptation to be hurt is going to be so evident . You can be hurt because you got let go from a job , you got let go from a position they used to let you sing , but then there's real hurts now .
Speaker 1Then there's some hurts where somebody like they did something that was criminal against you and I'm so sorry that that happened , but you still can't get stuck in unresolved hurt . Hurt to me is like a wound of the heart and if you don't allow that thing to heal , you will go through life where you're bleeding . It's almost like a spiritual bleeding . I don't know if you can see it . It's almost like this wound that nobody can touch .
Speaker 1And what I'm finding , like when I go into lobbies and foyers , of churches and I just talk to random people and I'm just talking to people . I'm just feeling the vibe of where we are as Christians . There are so many people sitting on their gifts . They come to church . Well , there's a group of people that's deconstructing and they're not coming to church . Okay , now , they've just missed it by a country mile . Then there are people who , at least , are coming to church and their bodies here , but they're so late . Their bodies here , but they don't trust the leadership . Their bodies here , but they don't have community . And what's happening is that many times I see them do a thing .
Speaker 1Well , I just don't feel like I fit in or I just don't feel like I know anybody here . And this is why because the Bible says to have friends , you got to show yourself friendly , but you can't have friends if you're trying to protect yourself . And there are so many people in our generation that they're coming to church and instead of having childlike faith , they're having adult faith and adult faith Okay , I'm just playing off . The childlike faith is a faith that's been through some stuff , like I've been lied to , I've been talked about , I've been mistreated , I've been misunderstood , I've been the outcast , I wasn't invited to your green room , and because I've seen all of these things in ministry , outside of ministry . Now the best decision for me in my mind is that I'm going to protect me .
Speaker 2I'm going to protect .
Speaker 1I'm not going to let people get too close . It's like the person that used to be married and they was all happy-go-lucky to get married and then it was the worst marriage in the world . And now they're like I don't know if marriage is for me . I want to be single all of my life . And it's not really . They want to be single . You know what I'm saying . It's just that hurt has now shaped their personality to where they actually believe that that's what they want and it's actually a self-protection mechanism to stop themselves from future hurts .
Speaker 1And there are too many people that have been called by God , gifted by God , anointed by God , given talents by God , but they're sitting on their gifts because they just don't want to be overused or hurt any longer , not realizing that it is a test we all must overcome . So if you don't pass the test of overcoming hurt , what happens is you lose your anointing and you're not going to be fulfilled . There are so many unfulfilled people . But if you can pass the test and get healed from hurt , you grow in authority , you grow in the anointing , would you agree ?
Speaker 2with that I agree 100% . I think when people are hurt and when you get hurt and I've been hurt before I think it hinders your love walk . I think you're not able to love fully , Like if you've been hurt in a relationship . The saying is love like you've never been hurt before , Love , loves like it's never been hurt before . And I think if you're not walking in love , what are we doing here ?
Speaker 1That's everything , but you know that takes faith to do that , you're going to have to trust that if you do decide to trust again , get involved , go there again that you got to have your faith , that God got you .
Speaker 2But hurt I mean it kind of like when you're hurt like that . It's like unforgiveness . Unforgiveness does nothing to the other person , it does everything to hinder you and to hurt you . That's what hurt does . You're hurt .
Speaker 2The church isn't suffering because of you . Nobody else is suffering . You are the one suffering because you're not allowing love to come into your heart . You're not allowing God to use you , flow in you and through you . You're not allowing yourself to get into those relationships . You're not allowing yourself to get into those relationships . You're not allowing yourself to step into new territories . And so I think we have to open up our heart . But you said something about deconstruction and I just we don't have to talk about it , but I don't even know , I'm not even entertaining the whole deconstruction thing . It's just not my thing , okay . I just I don't do it , but I don't know . I think , if you are a believer , we have two examples here . We have Lot's wife , okay . Lot's wife looked back , okay , and turned into the pillar of salt . That is a principle that we take . We don't look back . And the Bible also says that a man who puts his hand to the plow and turns back , what does the Bible ?
Speaker 1say it's not fit for the kingdom .
Speaker 2It's not fit for the kingdom . Deconstruction is not . It is no .
Speaker 1No , that's all I had to say I'll jump on that real quickly because you did bring it up . Somebody asked me the other day . They said Pastor Kim , what do you think about deconstruction and deconstructing your faith ? And I said I don't think about it . I don't think about it at all , I'm too busy winning souls for Jesus and making disciples and preaching the gospel around the nation is to be thinking about it .
Speaker 2I think what happens is that you have to be bored . That's what we were saying . Go out and minister to people .
Speaker 1anybody Well , what happens is that people are going through things and then they begin to question what they've taught before . But this is what I need somebody to hear is that you can deconstruct your whole life every single day , because there's things that you know today that in next week you'll be like ah , that was the wrong tone , Ah , you got a new revelation , because revelation is progressive . So if you think that you have perfect faith right now , you are being deceived . You have growing faith right now .
Speaker 1And what you know right now , you'll know something better next year , and then in two years you'll know something better , and in five years , god willing , you're going to know something better . And so if you're going to deconstruct your faith because you felt like maybe you got faulty information before , you're going to be deconstructing everything and a lot of people don't understand that deconstruction has to be for reconstruction .
Speaker 1If you're going to say let me analyze what I got going on , it's only to build back something . That's better . But for me , and that's why , for us , that's just not my tone . People can go ahead and do whatever they want . But you know , for me , and that's why many from us , that's just not my tone , that's just not now . People can go ahead and do whatever they want to do , because that's what people are going to do . But I just feel , like many people try to be so deep yeah , and the gospel ain't that deep .
Speaker 2It's very simple .
Speaker 1It's amazing that people are like well , what is the Bible saying ? The Old Testament and the Hebrew and Hebrew , and this was the ? You know , you know they try to get so deep . I'd be like are you tithing ? They're like that's elementary . Do you just take a first of what God gives to you ? Well , no , no , no , because the priest and the priest and the Levites and they did this and they did this . Okay , but what do you do ? Like , why do we got to be so deep ? Like , oh my goodness , like , do you just like ? Okay , well , you know the Hebrew and the Levitical priesthood and the tabernacle in the third heaven and the Shekinah . Ok , no , do you just are you nice ? Like , are you kind to people ? Do you have the fruit of the spirit ? Well , you know the eschatology .
Speaker 2Do you talk to the Lord ? Do you pray ? Do you read the Bible ?
Speaker 1Like do you just Basics ? I mean like basic stuff , and what I found out is that the deeper you are , the more simple you are Like . Jesus was a very simple man .
Speaker 2He talked in parables .
Speaker 1He would talk about wheat and tares he would talk about like sheep and goats he would use like agricultural terms .
Speaker 2You're the salt of the earth .
Speaker 1He's talking to people who are in the agricultural community . He's talking like using , like everyday stuff . So my job as a preacher is not to go into the Hebrew and to the Greek and to give you something that's so complex that you got to go fast for the next three months to figure out what the heck I said . Right , my thing is to take stuff off the top shelf and put it on the bottom .
Speaker 2Yeah , where like babies can understand , so everybody can understand .
Speaker 1I need everybody to be so . It's not that you want to be deep . You want to take deep spiritual truths that are so deep but make them so simple that people can digest them and applaud them . So to me , the deeper people that the like , the real deep thinkers , are the people that have application . It's the people that know how to live it out Monday through . Friday , and then they have fruit and they also have faithfulness .
Speaker 2But I don't know .
Speaker 1I wanted to look at Colossians today and then I want to give some some , some these like these things that I that I see out of Colossians about how to grow in Jesus . You know , I've been , I was reading the book of Colossians , I went back and read it again , went back and read it again because I'm really wanting to grow in this , this love for Jesus and understanding of Jesus . You know , I love the God , the Godhead , the triune nature of God , god , the father , god , the son , god , the Holy spirit in each attribute of his person . It kind of shows me a different aspect of God and and and Jesus as the son of God , emmanuel , the one who died for us , our savior , our Lord .
Speaker 1I'm just really focusing on Jesus right now . I think you feel that as well . Yeah , right , yeah , the person of Jesus you had a dream about Jesus and I'm going to let you share it Well .
Speaker 1I want to read Colossians very quickly . Let's see what we get out of that . Colossians 1 and 15, . It says that the son is the image of the invisible God and he's the firstborn of all creation , for in him all things were created , things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible , where the thrones or powers or rulers or authorities , all things have been created through him and for him . He is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body , the church . He is the beginning and the firstborn from from the dead , so that in everything he might have supremacy . For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him , to reconcile to himself all things , whether things on earth or things in heaven , by making peace through his blood shed on the cross . Um , as I'm reading through the book of Colossians , I see it really focused on Jesus and and revealing who he is as sovereign and uh and supreme . Does anything stick out to you from that passage ?
Speaker 2I just see Jesus , as I see , you know , like a king on the throne and who is God ? I just see Jesus as the son and , yes , he's the king , you know , the king of kings and the Lord of Lords . But next , you know , I see God and I see him being like a son who has been crowned King by a father who ruled you know well who , like the father , entrust everything to this son . It's like I'm so proud of you , you know , like he said this is my son and who I'm in , well pleased . And I just see , like I don't know , that it's just the sonship of Jesus .
Speaker 1I love verse 15 . Here it says the son is the image of the invisible God .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1And he's the firstborn of all creation . So to me it's talking about the deity of Jesus , and so Orthodox Christianity is . Jesus was all God and all man , all at the same time . He didn't stop being divine when he became a son , but the best way I can describe it and help me with this is that he put aside his divinity to walk fully as a man , and so he was the substitute that paid the price for our sin .
Speaker 1And the reason because of that and I'm kind of getting off now is because God created laws in the earth , and one of the laws that he created is that they let men have dominion . And so when he gave men dominion and authority , adam and Eve lost that dominion or they sinned and disobeyed God , and because the laws of God said God had given men dominion , only man could get that dominion back .
Speaker 1Right . So now , in the ultimate plan of God , jesus , the man , god , the God man , emmanuel , with us , he comes back , lives a sinless life . He leads captivity captive basically goes to hell , sets the captive free , appears for 40 days with infallible proof after the resurrection and basically wins us back to the right relationship with God the .
Speaker 1Father , meaning that we are righteous not because we do right things , but because Jesus took back the keys to death , hell and the grave , paid the price for our sin , busted hell wide open and now , when we make him Lord and Savior . So I run that down because that's like the gospel in 30 seconds , but this is where I'm coming back to . In the beginning was the word . The word was with God and the word was God . Jesus is God , God in the flesh .
Speaker 1And when it says the son is the image of the invisible God .
Speaker 1Jesus is the expressed image of everything that God is , and to know that is to love him . To know that is to praise him . To know that is to love him . To know that is to praise him , to know that is to lean into him , to know that this God of all of the universe loves us so much that he put on flesh , drank the water that we drink , eat the food that we ate , walk this land to buy us back from our disobedience so that we could be forever with him in heaven and , eventually , the new Jerusalem . And so for people who say well , how do I start growing in Jesus ? You got to start by loving him .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1And you start by loving him , by understanding that he got on a cross and you got to take that personal Like this man died for me . This man died .
Speaker 2This wasn't just like some kid , this wasn't just like some guy off the street . This was royalty . Right , this was royalty . This was someone who was robed in heavenly garments and royalty , who had authority , power , dominion , who chose to leave heaven and come to earth .
Speaker 1For us , like it's a big deal and pay a price that we couldn't pay ourselves , right , and so I've studied religions for 20 years . Every other religion and cult , whatever it is , is people trying to get to God . Christianity is the only one where God says you're not holy enough to get to me , let me come and get you . So God steps out of heaven , he becomes a man to pay the price for our sin , and that's why Christianity is such a beautiful love story . It's not a religion . It is a relationship that we get to have with a father who loves us being restored by his son so good .
Speaker 2And we talk about growing and reaching other people and telling people about Jesus . We go out and tell other people because Jesus came out for us .
Speaker 1It's what we do you recently said you saw a vision of Jesus in our sanctuary . I did . It was a dream actually .
Speaker 2I had a dream and we were just in the sanctuary like a regular service and Jesus appeared in our services . He was standing there and kind of like I can only describe it as watching , you know , watching the chosen , just the old kind of garments and things like that . He was just like in his in , in a like Jesus on the earth type of rep representation , not with like a crown and things like that . And he was standing there and he had a , a bunch of . It was angels . It wasn't like regular man , because they look like I couldn't see clearly . It wasn't like regular man because they look like I couldn't see clearly , but it was just like huge , like figures , like an army of real angels behind him . And he was just standing there like I'm here like watching services . And so service was going on and somebody was preaching .
Speaker 2I don't know what was going on , but I remember I was looking like , oh my gosh , jesus just manifested . He's here . Does anybody else see this ? And then it was just like when he left I looked around to the audience to see and it was funny because there were like a bunch of men in the audience that I was looking at . I looked at the audience to see , like I thought I was dreaming , like is this real ? Am I like hallucinating , just like shocked sitting there , and so I started like shaking people and asking people hey , did you see that ? Did you see that ? And they couldn't speak , but they had tears coming down their eyes just saying right , and like shaking their head because Jesus manifested presence .
Speaker 1Wow , man , I would love to hear from our audience of what you think that could mean . I'm sure that there's a interpretation that we can have for that For me . I believe that Jesus want to manifest himself in our day and time more than ever . I just believe that .
Speaker 2And .
Speaker 1I believe that Jesus is manifesting himself in our church , and I believe he's manifesting himself in churches across the globe , and not just in buildings , but wherever his name is being lifted up . I just believe he's drawing men to himself . I believe that we live in a great time of revival , in the outpour of the Holy Spirit . I believe stuff is pretty dark in our world today .
Speaker 1I believe that light the glory of Jesus is about to shine brighter than ever , and so I kind of wrote down some things of how to grow in Jesus and I kind of wanted to leave with some real practical steps , because you know how we do .
Speaker 1But for those of you all who are watching and you're like man , how do I grow in this relationship with Jesus ? You know , I'm kind of working with my children right now and I'm sure those of you all who are parents you know how this is is you're trying to move your children from being natural to being a little bit more spiritual . The question is always how do we help them have their own relationship with Jesus ? I don't want my kids just coming to church because I come to church . I don't want them just reading the Bible because I told them to read the Bible . I want them to have , like this inner desire to seek for him themselves . But when I think about my children , I also think about us , like you and me , that we all are just like children sometimes , that we need to make a decision that he's who we want .
Speaker 1We need to put a priority in our life that he's going to be first before golf , before shopping , before traveling .
Speaker 1God's going to be first in my heart and in my mind and I just believe that when you knock it to be open , you know , the scripture says it's in the heart of a King to search out a matter , but that's the glory of the Lord to conceal things , and there's many things that God has concealed , and it's only an invitation to come and seek , and so I'm going to give you like I think I wrote down five things on how to grow in Jesus and you can jump in whenever , because I know this is going to spark a little bit of conversation .
Speaker 2But number one .
Speaker 1You need consistent time in the Word to hear the Word of God , to meditate on the Word of God , to study the Word of God . The Bible is your spiritual nourishment . The scripture is the sword of the spirit , which is the word of God . It's an offensive weapon . It also helps you renew your mind . The things that were written aforetime were written for our learning .
Speaker 1So , the Old Testament and the New Testament is both the word of God . I think that I need to say that because I'm hearing too many , especially younger Christians today , discounting the Old Testament almost like it's . You know , how do we apply it today ? Well , the things that are written are written for our learning . God is immutable . That means that he does not change . Now we're not following laws to be saved . We're being saved because we put our faith in Jesus . But there's a lot of stuff in the Old Testament that are really good principles of how we should live today .
Speaker 1Anything you want to speak to that as it relates to being consistent in the word .
Speaker 2Because I see you , you're consistent in the word , but it's intentional . It's intentional because I'm not naturally . There's so many things to do . We have three kids , I'm a wife , I have a job , there's all kinds of things that I need to do , so I'm intentional with my times , and so there's two times a day for me that I'm typically intentional . That's in the morning . I know that I have to seek God first , because if I don't , there's too many things to do in the day I don't see him . And then at night , before I go to bed , just to make sure I read a scripture , anything like that .
Speaker 2So it's two times a day that I'm touching God . But I heard a new one that I'm about to do . I haven't done this yet , but someone told me that they set a timer on their phone and then when that time rings , you know like they will pray at that or do certain things for the Lord read the word or whatever . But I just wanted I was like you know what I need to put a timer on my phone , like around lunchtime , just so that I can like read a scripture or pray or something to be more intentional . That was just my personal thing , but you can set an alarm .
Speaker 1Yeah , I mean , there's so many apps out there to help you read the Bible . You know , I take prayer walks every morning pretty much , and then I'll do a thing where I'll take a jog and I try to listen to a podcast or listen to a message . I always spend time , you know , and so we won't labor on that one . How to grow in Jesus in time you know , and so we won't labor on that one . How to grow in Jesus you need consistent time . In the word Number two , you need to receive the .
Speaker 2Holy Spirit in his fullness .
Speaker 1Okay , because the scripture says he's our paracletos . That is a Greek word for comforter , which means that he's our standby , our advocate . He is our leader , guide and he leads us into all truth . The scripture says and I think that sometimes we try to make the Holy Spirit like a distant third cousin to the Trinity and he's co-equal and co-powerful with God the Father and God the Son . And when you accept Jesus , the Holy Spirit lives in you . There's a separate experience where he comes , or a second experience where he comes upon you , giving you power from on high . But everything that the Holy Spirit is giving you should go after it , go after the gifts , go after having a relationship with him . Why ? Because he is the person of God that is in the earth and he is the one that reveals Jesus to us . He is the one that illuminates scripture . So right now , where I'm like man , I want to know Jesus better . I'm like Holy Spirit . Help reveal Jesus to me more .
Speaker 1Help me know and that's one of the things the Holy Spirit loves to just reveal Jesus . When people get saved , it's not because of a good sermon . It's that the Holy Spirit has revealed .
Speaker 2Jesus .
Speaker 1And all of a sudden , that people can see their need for him . Anything on that one sweetheart .
Speaker 2I think that's really good . So the Holy Spirit is like God's power in the earth . So every time we feel the presence of God , that's always the Holy Spirit .
Speaker 2I just feel like that was important to say . And it's not hard to seek the Holy Spirit . It's not hard to receive the Holy Spirit . We ask the Holy Spirit . I personally ask the Holy Spirit to just fulfill me in my bedroom , alone , as a baby Christian On my knees . I kneeled at my bed and said I want Holy Spirit come into my heart , come into my life . I want you in my life . And he did , and so it's not something that the world has to know . It's something that can be private , that you can do on your own Easy peasy .
Speaker 1I hear the word gentleness , because I believe that Holy Spirit is a perfect gentleman and he wants to be invited in . He will not kick down the doors of your heart for you to know him . He's gentle but powerful . But anyway , number three is how do you grow in Jesus ? You've got to remove the things that would hinder growth . Known sin like habitual sin will just hinder your relationship with Jesus , toxic relationships .
Speaker 1You're going to have godly people in your life and ungodly people in your life . You must know who's in a court and out of court .
Speaker 2Wow .
Speaker 1Ungodly atmospheres , ungodly music , things that will come into your ear gate , that affects your heart . The scripture says guard your heart above all else , for out of it flows the issues of life , unresolved hurts , like we talked about , traumas , strongholds , all right , all of those things can actually be a hindrance to your growth in Jesus .
Speaker 2Wow , anything else ? No , that's good .
Speaker 1Yeah . Number four is hunger and humility . If you want to grow in Jesus , which you know . This has kind of been the whole thing of what we're talking about today . But you got to be humble and hungry . Humble and hungry . Everybody say humble and hungry humble and hungry .
Speaker 1Um , you have to know that you need him . You have to go after him . You have to be willing to bow the knee and to say you're the Lord of my life . I want to do what you want me to do more than what I want to do . Okay , Um , you need passion . Okay , Passion , fervency , Um , the same passion I can talk to guys . The same way that you will go after a woman that you wanted is the same way you have to go after Jesus . You know what I'm saying . That might sound weird , but what I'm saying is that there's a level of like . That's what I want , that's what I'm going to get . Every person has to say he is what I want , he is my great reward . That's that's . He is the center of my affection .
Speaker 2I'm going after him . That's a choice . Absolutely Anything else on that . No , that that's good . Um , there was something that I was going to say . I forget now .
Speaker 1Okay , well , if it comes back to you , just let me know .
Speaker 2Yeah , it was that that thirst and hunger for God .
Speaker 1It's just well , I'll give you number five . Um , as it relates to growing in Jesus is surrender . You know where ? You just wave the white flag .
Speaker 2And .
Speaker 1I think there's many people watching this , listening around the world , that just need to give away your life for the life that he has for you . You just need to wave the white flag and say I'm not good enough , I'm not smart enough and I don't know enough . He knows more than I do , he's smarter than I do , smarter than I am , and God , I just surrender . And so I felt like I wanted to just take a moment and just lead people in a prayer of salvation because knowing Jesus starts with surrender where you just say you know what , Jesus , I want you to be a part of my life . I don't want to just do life with Ken and Tabitha . I first and foremost want to do life with Jesus . I want to know you better , I want to serve you more faithfully . And if you're watching this or listening to this and you're like I've never prayed the prayer of salvation , or if you've prayed that prayer but you're still disconnected from God you don't have to bow your head .
Speaker 1You can , if you want to , you can close your eyes , but just say this with me Say Lord Jesus , come into my heart today , Forgive me of my sins . I turn away from my sins and I put my trust in you . Jesus , I believe you died on a cross so that I could live forever with you . On today , I make you the Lord of my life . I surrender my life for the life that you've called me to live . I'm saved in Jesus name , Amen , Amen . And I even want to pray for those who you know . Maybe they want to rededicate their life to the Lord . You know , maybe they're just , or maybe there's people out there who's like you know what ? Um , I haven't been growing in Jesus , I've been stale or I've been stuck . Um , I haven't been passionate and I want to get that back . Could you ?
Speaker 1just maybe just take a few seconds and just pray over this stale stuff .
Speaker 2Absolutely . I just want to release the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit upon everyone who's listening right now and joining in an agreement with this prayer with us right now . That , holy Spirit , you will begin to just stir up their faith again , those who are hungry , those who are thirsty , because they've been in a spiritual drought . Maybe they've been hurt , maybe they've just given up and stopped seeking you . Some have been listening to the lies of the enemy and right now , in the name of Jesus , I pray that you will open up the eyes of your understanding , to open up your ears and your heart to receive what God has for you . Holy Spirit , stir up faith , stir up hunger , stir up a thirst for the anointing of God to be manifested in their lives . In Jesus' name , amen .
Speaker 1Amen . Well , if you enjoyed today , we want to hear from you . Please write us in . There's an email address in the bottom . You can write a review . If this has been good to you , like , share , comment , subscribe . Right now , we love to hear from you .
Speaker 2Be a part of our family .
Speaker 1Our community is growing and we're just helping people grow closer to Jesus and closer to the people that Jesus has placed in your life . We're so honored to have you join in with us today . Listen , we drop a new episode every Thursday at 3 pm . You can hit the subscribe , hit the icon . If you're on YouTube , if you're watching or listening via podcast , just hit the download button and do whatever you got to do to make sure that you're the first to get the content whenever it is released . All right , we got a couple of products and we've created some things just to help married people , because God knows married people need help . All right , we have a Devo , a 90-day Devo called the Better Marriage Devo , that you can get hold of , and we also have a Better Marriage Boot Camp .
Speaker 1It's a 90-day journey where we could be your marriage coaches . For more information about our Marriage Online Boot Camp , you can check out our show notes or go to KenandTabithacom and just know that we love you because we love God . You are honored , you are valued and the best is truly yet to come . And when you get better , the marriage gets better . We'll see you next time , peace .