Hello everyone. Welcome back to another mini-sode. So what did you think of the episode with Kathy Garland, the author of Revelationship? Side note, she's also the book that we are giving away during the last week, this week and next week, so if you don't know anything about the giveaway, I will include that episode in the show don'ts link for this mini-sode. You can check that out and figure out what it is you need to do in order to be in the running to get a copy of her book for free. I hope you enjoyed this episode with Kathy.

Speaker 0: 0:36

She is such a beautiful woman, so knowledgeable and so friendly and easy to talk to. She helped me, for sure, understanding God in a deeper way. That wasn't too complicated. I didn't have to go to seminary to learn this. I just had to talk with a friend Ever since I started reading her book, as I did mention in the episode.

Speaker 0: 0:58

I hadn't read it at the time of the recording, but I have been reading it recently and I'm almost done with it. I think I have two more chapters left, but it's a very deep book. I know I'm going to have to read it more than once to grasp everything that's in there, but I have learned so many different ways that I can read the Bible in a way to understand God more, to feel his presence more. To understand God more, to feel his presence more and to know what it is that he wants to say to me and what he has for me. We're all looking for purpose. We're all wondering why we're here on this earth. The Bible holds those answers, and I don't know about you, but I don't like surprises. I don't like to be kept in the dark on things. So I have a book with all the answers I need for every issue I'm going through. And yet here I am, wandering through life on certain things and wondering, well, what about this? When should I do this? Should I do that? I have the answers to those questions in the Bible. I have access to the one who breathed his life into the Bible. I can talk to him like a friend, like I talk with Kathy. I can talk to God that way, and that's the beauty of her book. That is the beauty of the conversation that her and I had is that we can have a deep, meaningful relationship with God, where he is revealing himself to us in new, exciting ways that are biblical and we can learn about him on a deeper level and we can appreciate the Old Testament more. We can appreciate God more because we see that the depth of who he is.

Speaker 0: 2:38

And if you want to have that kind of relationship, it is going to take time, it is going to take sacrifice and I think that's why a lot of us don't really do it, including myself. I have four kids at home. It's not exactly easy for me to find any alone time to just be silent and hear God and, as I mentioned in the episode, I'm not really a fan of being outside in the summer months. But that would be a sacrifice that I would have to make if I wanted to go deeper and have some absolute silence with God. Going into nature is the perfect way to experience Him and experience silence. Go walking in the woods. That is something that I would have to get out of my comfort zone and sacrifice so that I could have that encounter with Christ.

Speaker 0: 3:25

But if you're not ready to make those commitments to that kind of relationship, then I guess we shouldn't complain about how we feel in our relationship with God. He's not going to force himself on us. He wants us to want him and if you don't, he's going to be patient and he's going to wait for you, but you should not wait, because we don't know how much time we have on this earth. Today could be your last day, and did you do the most with it? That is a sobering thought, and I know I could say for sure that I did not.

Speaker 0: 3:59

I don't want to live that way. I want to live a deeper relationship with God. I want my children to see that there is value in having a deeper relationship with God. It starts with me and my heart and my desires, and I think we get too caught up in what we want that we forget that we aren't even here for ourselves. We're here for God.

Speaker 0: 4:20

I know this is something that I need to work on, so your weekly challenge is to make time for God, make a sacrifice, whether it's a big one or a small one, in your opinion. For me, it would be walking outside and staying out there for a little bit of time and either reading the Bible or just staying silent one or the other. Forget if the mosquitoes come and eat me alive. I want to have that encounter with God. That would be a sacrifice for me.

Speaker 0: 4:48

Maybe it's the same for you, but whatever it is that you feel God saying, do this for me and you get that twinge of I don't want to. That's what you should be doing. That's the Holy Spirit talking to you. That is the Holy Spirit leading you. He's telling you what he's craving from you, what he needs from you, what he wants from you, and you should listen to that and you should obey that and you will be blessed by that and your relationship with God will deepen. So that is my challenge to you Figure it out, what it is that makes you uncomfortable, that you feel the Holy Spirit is telling you to do, to get closer to him and do it. All right, everyone, have a wonderful day, god bless.