Your Season of Becoming - Episode 51

To be we must first become.

In this episode, hosts Justin Olbrantz and Dr. Don Schaefer discuss the concept of BECOMING. They explore the idea that life, both physically and spiritually, is a continual process of becoming who we are meant to be, aligned with God's purpose. The conversation highlights the cyclical nature of life, the importance of identifying the season one is in, and the transformation toward becoming more like Jesus. They emphasize the need to focus on the Kingdom of God and how important it is to understand the power of inner transformation through faith and the Holy Spirit. The episode encourages listeners to recognize their current season and work towards their God-given potential, ultimately becoming love (agape) and embodying the image of God.

Transcript

Episode 51 - Your Season of Becoming

Justin: [00:00:00] Hi everyone. This is Justin Olbrantz and this is Don Schaefer, and you are listening to The Wise and the Wandering Podcast for those who know “the Way” and for those who are led astray. And if you feel like you fall into either of those categories, then you're in the right place. So let's dive in…

Justin: So Don, what are we going to talk about today? 

Don: Well, this week we're gonna 

Justin: talk about your season of becoming. The Season of becoming. Yes. Okay. So we're in a season, right? Yes. And we're supposed to be coming. What exactly? 

Don: Well, that's where life itself is actually a practice of becoming 

both: Yeah. You know,

Don: we're born into this world as a young child and, and we become, so it's a matter of what we become.

Don: Mm-hmm. And I know God has created us. [00:01:00] With greatness in mind and a plan in mind. He's got, , a plan for everyone and it's a matter of us finding out what that plan is. But then we develop our life. It's a life of excellency. We try to make ourselves excellent in all areas of life. It's a life of habits.

Don: We develop habits, and I know habits are something that, uh, actually give us rest. Mm-hmm. Because once you develop a habit, you don't have to think about it anymore. You just do it. So life is a, a whole series of becoming , the right thing or becoming the right person that God has created you to be.

Justin: Yeah, I do definitely agree with that. And I think, just to look at the root word here, so the word becoming, I just took a definition, uh, off the dictionary it says. Is the process of coming to be something that's great. So however your life goes, however things play out, you can become something good. You can become something bad.

Justin: There's the process of coming to [00:02:00] be right. Right. And I think as believers, I wanted to talk about this today because as believers, we are in a season of becoming and what we want to become is more like him, more like Jesus. Right. That's the goal I think. He came so we can become Yeah. Right. To see who you are becoming because he came Right, that's right.

Justin: To see who you were from the beginning where this whole thing started. Mm-hmm. We were created in his image. Right. We were created in the image of God and Jesus our savior, was essentially sent to bring us back to that, to restore that which was lost. Right, right, right. To bring us back to what we were.

Justin: Always supposed to be from the beginning. Yeah. Right. Yep. So when it comes to the season, I want to touch on this. I wanna start out with the word season. You know, I think that this world, just bear with me. This world is, it happens in cycles. [00:03:00] Everything happens in cycles. Yeah. The trends go in cycles. The fashion goes in cycles.

Justin: Yep. I grew up, when I was growing up, everybody was wearing. Baggy clothes and pants that don't fit 'em shirts that are down to their knees. And now it seems like all that stuff is starting to come back now, bill Bottoms 

Don: for me. Yeah, 

Justin: exactly. And you see the, the cycles repeat themselves. Yeah, they do. And even the world events, the cycles repeat themselves.

Justin: Yeah. And the way things happen. Right. The wars, the uprisings, the, the people that stand up for a nation or whatever the case is. Right. There's, there's certain things and then they get. Taken down, there's, there's certain things that happen in cycles, and I think the world happens in cycles in general. And this translates to seasons, right?

Justin: Because seasons, we have four seasons and they constantly, yeah, just rotate. And , and I think that. I think that in this world we've created this construct of time. Yeah. We've created this whole [00:04:00] thing. Yeah. To mean that this many years is what we have left and this many years and everything is based on a manmade time.

Justin: Yeah. And I think , the world itself, the way things really work, and I think especially the way things work in the spiritual world, is that. Is cyclical. Yeah. It's based on cycles. Mm-hmm. Therefore, right, it's based on seasonal things. Right. So things just happen in repetition. Yeah. So the process of becoming is so important because it's easier to understand this.

Justin: It's easier to get to where you want to go when you understand that things just happen in cycles. Yeah, they do. Because you know you're gonna have another chance, you know, this thing is gonna come back around. You know, if you fail, it's not the end of everything. Right. Right. Right. You're, , you're gonna be able to fail many more times, but you're gonna be able to learn many more times.

Justin: Yep. And then you're eventually gonna be able to succeed many more times. Right. So I feel like the way that we sometimes look at this world and. The way maybe that the enemy has things taught to us in this [00:05:00] world is that it's so easy that if everything is based on time mm-hmm. We always feel like we are racing against time.

Justin: Yeah. Yeah. So what I wanna focus on today is that season right now you are in a season. Mm-hmm. Whoever's listening to this, you're in a season That's right. And you're becoming something, what is it that you're becoming? Yeah. Well we're gonna talk about that. 

Don: Yeah. That's very good there, Justin. Yeah, it's interesting when you're talking there about season and talking about cyclical, you know, they're, they talk about a roundabout, you know, a lot of times people get to the point where they get a roundabout doing something.

Don: Yeah. But, but you have to be able to identify the season and you have to identify the timing of the season. Mm-hmm. You have to know what season you're in. Mm-hmm. And what needs to be done in that season. 'cause you don't plant corn in the fall. You plant it in the spring. Yeah. You harvest. In the fall. In the fall, yeah.

Don: And there's seasons for everything. And you can't get it wrong, but as you were saying, it's cyclical. So there's times where you might not plant in the right season, but next year you're gonna [00:06:00] know you don't plant in the fall, you plant in the spring. 

both: Yep. 

Don: And I know in our life. There's seasons in our life too.

Don: And understanding the timing and the point that you're in. 'cause I know right now it seems like there is a season going on. There's a season of learning, , knowledge. So many things that are going on right now in our society. So it tells us that. In the natural we're seeing a season. But in the spiritual, I believe there's also a duplicate of that.

Justin: Yeah. That 

Don: God is trying to show us things 

Justin: a hundred percent. 

Don: You know, and that's where if we can understand the timing and understand the season that we're working right now, and spiritually open our lives to God, we can allow ourselves to become. The person that God is wanting us to become. 

Justin: Exactly. And I think the person that he's wanting us to become is like Jesus.

Justin: God is very pleased with Jesus. Right. Yeah. Jesus said. Before he committed his spirit over to God, he said that it is finished. Yeah. This means that [00:07:00] the work is done. That's right. I've done all the work. Nobody will ever have to do more work. Amen. To try to save the world. Right. So what we do now is we walk by faith.

Justin: Right. Amen. We are saved. By grace through faith. That's right. But , that isn't where it stops. Mm-hmm. We are saved. Yes. And that is the moment where things should, we should be celebrating. Things should get really good as believers. The tambourine should come out and we should start dancing.

Justin: Yeah. Yeah. But. As Paul says, it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance, right? We become saved, and now it is the goodness of the things that we see in our lives that starts to transform us to become more like him. The people that surrounded Jesus physically when he was here, his disciples, they were discipled, meaning that they were.

Justin: Learners. Right. They were learners of the ways that he taught. Yes. He was the master, the rabbi, the teacher, sometimes [00:08:00] refer to him as a teacher. Mm-hmm. Because he had disciplines about him and he was teaching those disciplines into his closest followers so that they would follow him. Right. And that they would learn those disciplines become disciplined themselves and then transfer them to others.

Justin: That's right. So they were. Constantly becoming more like him. Yeah. Because that's all they saw for three and a half years. Right? That is so true. So we need to rethink about who we are becoming and who we want to become. Because right now in this season, you have the authority right now to make that decision.

Justin: Mm-hmm. You have the power to change your life right now. Yes. And not only just you, but Jesus Christ, the power that's within you. The hope of glory. 

Don: That's right. Yeah. That's where what you're talking about here and what we're talking about in this podcast, this is a masterclass.

Don: You know, as far as becoming what God wants, you know, it is. When you sit here and look at the opportunity of [00:09:00] becoming. What God has designed you to be. I know we talked about this in a past podcast about someday going to heaven and being introduced to the person we could have become. Mm-hmm. You know, and yeah.

Don: To be able to be living right now, and that's where the beauty of podcasts, we're talking to people that are alive right now, so there's opportunity for everyone to continue to become what Jesus came. Allow us to become, and I know it's a walk, and like you're saying, Jesus said, come follow me. You know?

Don: Mm-hmm. And it's an example that he set for us. And , it's a place in life where we actually allow Jesus to take the throne in our life, where we take our life and set it aside. Mm-hmm. But we're, we've been so taught to live our own lives. We don't give room for God to do that. But once he steps into us, then we are.

Don: Product, the beauty, the excitement. You talk about tambourines. Mm-hmm. You talk about shouting and you talk about the [00:10:00] angels in heaven, about one individual that gets this concept. Realizing that it's allowing Jesus to live inside and following the path that he laid for us. And someday we're gonna enter, like you had mentioned there, Justin, a place where we can say it is finished.

Don: Yeah. We have finished that, which he sent and allowed us. They come into this world to do. 

Justin: Yes, exactly. And the work. And and someday we will hear that as well, as well done thy faithful servant, right? Yeah. And what it comes down to though, I think is the whole goal of Christianity, about who you're becoming, has to be about becoming more like him.

Justin: And how do we become more like him, right? Well, to become like him is to become love Jesus. Was love. Yeah. Right. So I feel like sometimes we have this Christianity thing a little bit skewed because the goal itself. Is not to go to heaven [00:11:00] someday and turn this into a point in time later on down the road.

Justin: At the end of our life, physical lives, the goal is not to go to heaven someday. The goal is to get heaven into us. Mm-hmm. The goal is to get heaven into us so that we can become love. That's right. The Bible says that we were made in the image of God. We were made, and I like Dan Moler says this sometimes if anybody ever listens to Dan Moler, but we were made to not operate in a space of needing love or a place of needing love because we had perfect love.

Justin: Yeah. At one point before the fall, before everything got a little dark. Right? We had a perfect communion with our creator. 

Don: Yes, we did. 

Justin: So we didn't need love. So, so the, so the best way to say it is we were love, , we were put in this world to not need love, but to be love for others.

Justin: Mm-hmm. To become love, to be that love for others. [00:12:00] That's what Jesus did. Yeah. He became the love for others, his closest. Disciples, the people that were around him, he said there's no greater love than one has, than to take his own life or his friends. Yeah. And then he went off and he did that. Yeah. They watched him say that to him.

Justin: Yeah. They said, well, I don't know if this is exactly right. You know, maybe they questioned it, but then they watched him go out and, and do it. Mm-hmm. And fulfill what he said and stick to what he said. Right. Yeah. And then that changed them. That transformed them. Right. That, , , that grew their relationship with him even when he was gone. Right. Because it, it forced something to come out of them that they didn't have before. That's right. And I think that is the power of God. That's the power of the Holy Spirit that we have today. It is forcing something to come out of us that we don't already have.

Justin: This is why he says he, he is strong in our weaknesses. Yes. Because he's going to do the impossible, the things that you think you are [00:13:00] capable of. Is not what you're capable of. You're capable of so much more. Yeah. Because with God, all things are possible.

Justin: Right? All things. All things with him. So I think that there is that power that we're maybe not necessarily tapping into because like you were saying, we go through living our lives and just thinking we have to do it all on our own. Right. And , I think that's kind of the way the world, the way the enemy has kind of designed the world because he has you thinking that you need to be.

Justin: Motivated and inspired, and you have to do everything on your own. Mm-hmm. And you, and you see this in the way that the commercials and the movies and the music and everything. Yeah, the media, everything is today. It's like everything is about the self, but it's being motivated, inspired on your own, doing it all on your own.

Justin: Right. Yeah. And it's the hustle. But really that's the greatest deception because we're supposed to be not driven. We're supposed to be led. 

Don: [00:14:00] Right. We were 

Justin: led from the beginning. Yes. And we walked away from our calling. We walked away from the promise. Yes. And now we are becoming more like him to get back to the promise, to get back to our calling, to get back to our identity, to get back to our purpose.

Don: Amen. That's good. Well said there, Justin. No, I know. Like the Bible says that. We must decrease and he must increase inside of us. But you see, we live in a world today, which we've talked about before, where the Bible says to seek he first, the kingdom of God, God and his righteousness, and the rest shall be added.

Don: Where we got this all backwards, you know, we start to seek our own kingdom, our own way of life. We build ourselves up. Yeah. And we keep getting bigger and bigger. All areas of life. It's like the rich man that came to Jesus, you know? And he says, you know, I, I like the things you're saying and all that. And Jesus says, go sell everything you have and give it to the poor.

Don: Yeah. And then come follow me. Yeah. He needed to decrease, so he walked away terribly grieved. The Bible says, and the disciple says, [00:15:00] who can be saved? And Jesus. With man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Yeah. So what we're talking about here is something that God has to get his hands on, you know?

Don: And we do need to decrease to actually become, we have to decrease. You know, we have to take ourselves and a throne and everything that we built up for ourselves and place it in God's hands and say, Hey, you know what? You can take it all. I wanna be a part of you. And then he puts his increase. In you. And what happens when we get together in podcasts like this and we talk about the things of God, we develop a faith.

Don: And that faith is ever such a powerful, precious thing inside of us because it's our faith in believing that Jesus is going to do exactly what he said he's going to do. You see true believers, they are diehards into the word of God. Yeah. They, they don't, they don't. Get away from nothing. They believe everything that Jesus said he was going to do, he's gonna do every, it's kind of a familiar statement.

Don: Every promise he [00:16:00] made, he's going to keep. 

Justin: Yeah. 

Don: You know, and that's where, , Jesus came into the world with a bunch of promises of what we could become. But until we get off the old train of building up ourselves and becoming great, in our own eyes, , we're not gonna get ourselves into a place where Jesus can make.

Don: Us, the man that he wants us to be. 

Justin: Yeah. The whole story of the gospel, the whole gospel is a process, is a story of becoming. It's putting off the old and putting on the new. It's not allowing your former actions, your former identity. What was your former hurts, your former trauma , your former depression, to go beyond this new thing that can come into your life and the grace that can work in you. Yeah. And change you. Right. The idea is to put off the old and put on the new, I mean, we have to think at some point, my life is more than this. You know? He did not just come and shed his blood for [00:17:00] this.

Justin: Yeah. I feel like sometimes we don't realize the fullness of the price that he paid. Yeah, yeah. When he died on the cross. You know, I feel like a lot of the times, the way that I kind of understood it growing up was that Jesus died on the cross because of my sins.

Justin: Mm-hmm. Okay. And, and that's partly true, but. It says that , he died to save that, which was lost. Yeah. Not who that was. Lost that which was lost. That meaning the purpose we once had the identity we once had, yeah. The destiny that we once had before all of this fall. Mm-hmm. He's called the second Adam.

both: Amen. To 

Justin: bring us back to what we were supposed to be originally created as. That's 

both: right. As 

Justin: the image of God. Right? So it's deeper than that. It's much deeper than that. The cross of Christ was never intended to just simply expose your sin. It, [00:18:00] Paul says, it's the goodness of God that leads people to repentance.

Justin: Yes. If you can. Teach people who they're created to be. You can separate them from what they're living right now. Yeah. If you can show them their purpose, they will not want anything to do with the path that they're going down now. That is the process of becoming. It is inward transformation. It is being led by the spirit.

Justin: It is walking. In the things of the spirit. It is, like you were saying, putting off, getting off of the throne of the self, getting off of the altar of the self. 

both: Yep. 

Justin: Taking away the, crown that you've placed on your own head. And, getting away from the God of your own life, which has been yourself and turning.

Justin: In reverence towards the God of all of heaven and all of Earth, and all of the things created everything right. Amen. That's right. It's, it's humbling yourself. It's getting to that place. It might take a little bit of humility. Yeah. It might [00:19:00] take a lot of humility depending on where you have been becoming, where you were.

Justin: Walking into in your life, the path that you are taking. It might take a lot of work, but the end is going to be fruitful. The end is going to be prosperous, the end is going to be worth it, and we know it because he was glorified. Yes, in the same power that rose him from the grave. Is in us today. Amen. But that same power is in me today.

Justin: I better wanna reveal that power to everybody I can. I better wanna become in that power. I better want to be transformed. I better want to be moved and directed and led in that power. 

Don: That's right. That's good stuff. Again. No, and what you're saying there as far as that power and what he's gotten inside of us.

Don: You know, the Bible talks about what he began. He began a good work inside of us and he's faithful to complete all that. And that's where we're in a process of growing and becoming all the time. Mm-hmm. If, you know,, depending on what we do physically. We're in a process of becoming [00:20:00] what we are physically.

both: Yeah. What 

Don: we do mentally, we're in a process mentally, but spiritually, we're in a process too. We grow our spiritual man inside of us , you know,, and that's where the work is not done yet. As long as we're still alive and still breathing, we're becoming, you know, and that's where we have to get ourselves into the place that once we stop becoming, we die, , in our bodies or whatever.

Don: But in our spiritual life as well, so many, so many times, as you're mentioning, people come to a knowledge of who Jesus is and they get their tickets stamped, if you will, to go to heaven, and they stop becoming. Mm-hmm. 

both: You know, 

Don: they stop realizing that we need to continue to grow because everything that we become in life.

Don: We're carrying over, you know, what do we wanna be for eternity right now? We're developing it in our life right now. This is not wasted time that we're in right now. This is time of becoming and realizing there are seasons and areas that things need to grow in our life, and we need to allow things to be planted in us.

Don: Seeds, wisdom or whatever, you know, allowing understanding, be [00:21:00] planted. Allow it to grow germinate inside of us. Allow it to bear the fruit that it needs to bear so that many people can be blessed so that someday, someday on the other side, the sweet by and by, as some people call it, we are gonna be greatly blessed for not have wasted.

Don: The time that we've had here just living life. And that's where they have an understanding that we are in a process, A season of becoming is huge. It's huge. And many people do not see this. I know the Bible talks about being called out of darkness. Mm-hmm. You know, there's a dark area in life where people just don't get it.

both: Mm-hmm. And 

Don: I, I know I get around people sometimes and the way they act, the way they talk, I say to myself. These people just don't get it. 

Justin: Yeah. 

Don: You know? 'cause these are precious times. Every day is precious. Yeah. You know, with this type of understanding. 

Justin: Yeah. And the enemy wants you to think the opposite.

Justin: He wants you to think that time is dwindling. He wants you to think that the promise means nothing. It'll never be fulfilled. Whatever God has spoken [00:22:00] over your life will not come to fulfillment. He wants you to believe in the lives. He wants you to think. That , you've already wasted enough time.

Justin: Mm-hmm. That there's no more potential. 

Don: Yeah. 

Justin: That there's no more hope for you. That's 

Don: right. 

Justin: That you should just stop that. In some cases you shouldn't even start. Yeah. But the kingdom of God. Is all opportunity, 

Don: right? 

Justin: Opportunity is everywhere. If you're focused on the things of God, if you're focused on the kingdom, if your focus is on the kingdom, yeah.

Justin: Every moment is an opportunity. 

Don: That is so true. Yes. So 

Justin: we need to shift our focus because sometimes we go through blessings, seasons, or times of blessing and times of. Curses or whatever the case is. Right. Things just happen and we can really make out what's happening around us. Mm-hmm. We see things for what they are.

Justin: Yeah. But then we go through maybe a period of time where we aren't hearing from God. Yeah. We go from a period of time where [00:23:00] we can't really map out what he's trying to do in our lives. Mm-hmm. We go from a period of time where we feel like maybe we've been neglected or maybe we've been left behind.

Justin: Yeah. Or maybe . Maybe we're doing something wrong. Mm-hmm. Maybe we're constantly letting him down. Maybe we're displeasing him, maybe we're disappointing him. Right. Yeah. We start to, we start to look at this, these things where almost like, we feel like in, in some ways, we go as far as maybe we're being punished.

Justin: Mm-hmm. For what we are doing. Right. Right. And I just want to tell you that these are lies from the enemy because . Because if you don't know exactly what's happening or what's going on or where you are, what you can focus on is the kingdom. Yeah. Like you were saying, Matthew 6 33. Right. Seek first the kingdom.

Justin: That's right. In everything. If you are focused on the kingdom of God, the opportunity is there. Right. You've sought first the kingdom. Yep. And there's nothing that pleases him more that when you seek first the kingdom above all else. That's right. So in these. [00:24:00] Times of waiting. , in these trials, in these sufferings or these times where you feel like you're speaking out into the void, you're speaking to a wall, you're not getting any response back, focus on becoming.

Justin: Amen. Focus on the opportunity. Amen. Seek first the kingdom. Yes. And just be led by that. Yes. Focus, put your head down and just get to work. Mm-hmm. Get to work on advancing the kingdom in all the ways that you know how to do that. Yes. Because if you don't know how to do that, then get in the word amen. And the word is going to show you how to do that.

Justin: Yes. And then follow it. Continue to follow it. Continue to pray. Continue to seek guidance and counsel with God. Amen. And get in that secret place. Yes. But do not let those lies creep in. Yes. And walk you out of, and talk you out of what you're supposed to become. 

Don: Yes. That is so well said there, Justin.. That's well said Justin. And what we're working with right now is, and I'm gonna title you guys, I'm entitled everyone that's listening here [00:25:00] You are Becomers. Yeah. You know, , we are in the process of becoming, we are becomers. We can say that to ourselves every day we wake up.

Don: I'm a becomer. I am trying to get. Better today. That's good. I'm using every moment, and that's where this whole deal is. This whole podcast is about your season of becoming. What season are you in? What season are we working in right now? Yeah. Because we are becoming something great in him. 

Justin: Amen.

Justin: Well, I think that wraps it up for today. This was a good one, Justin. I think so too. Hey, we're glad you guys found your way here today, and we hope you can join us again next week for another good word. Until then, stay blessed by the best. See you [00:26:00] guys.