Wearing the Life Jacket: Extra Steps for Spiritual Safety

This episode of the Confidence in God podcast, hosted by Julie McGhghy, explores how to walk with confidence in God by sometimes going beyond the literal requirements of scripture. Julie discusses her favorite groups from the Bible—the Rechabites and the Bereans—and the practical lessons they offer about obedience, spiritual authority, and personal conviction. Through personal stories and biblical examples, she illustrates how God may guide individuals to take extra steps for their own protection and spiritual growth, even when not explicitly required by scripture. The episode encourages listeners to seek what is beneficial, not just permissible, and to be open to God’s unique guidance for their lives.

https://confidenceingod.com/resources/

Timeline

• 0:00 – Introduction by Julie McGhghy; episode goal: walking with confidence in God.
• 0:12 – Julie introduces the topic: learning from her favorite people in the Bible, which are lesser-known groups.
• 0:24 – Discussion of well-known biblical figures: David and Joseph, and the lessons from their lives.
• 1:31 – Julie shares her actual favorites: the Rechabites and the Bereans.
• 1:43 – Introduction of a resource: “Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God.”
• 2:21 – Personal story: family fishing trip and the lesson of the life jacket as a metaphor for extra protection.
• 3:15 – How God sometimes asks us to go beyond scripture’s literal words for our own protection.
• 3:56 – Example: a friend’s conviction to avoid certain environments for spiritual safety.
• 5:41 – Introduction to the Rechabites (Jeremiah 35): their obedience to stricter rules than required.
• 6:22 – The result of the Rechabites’ obedience: God’s commendation and promise.
• 7:09 – Application: following spiritual leaders and personal convictions, not just minimum requirements.
• 8:04 – The Bereans (Acts 17:11): praised for searching the scriptures and confirming teachings.
• 10:28 – Life jacket metaphor revisited: the value of going beyond the minimum for spiritual safety.
• 11:11 – Encouragement to seek what is beneficial, not just permissible, for a closer walk with God.
• 11:27 – Quick summary: God sometimes calls us to go beyond the letter for our own good and to be a light.
• 12:18 – Final encouragement: ask if something is beneficial and glorifies God, not just if it’s allowed.
• 12:50 – Invitation for listener feedback and sharing personal stories.
• 13:10 – Resource reminder: “Five Steps to Experience Confidence in God.”
• 13:22 – Closing: subscribe, rate, and review the show.
• 13:36 – Final encouragement: God will be faithful to complete His work in you. 

Transcript

0:00

Hello, and welcome to the Confidence in God podcast. I am your host, Julie McGhghy, and our goal today is to help you walk with confidence in God. In today's episode, I'm going to discuss some of my favorite people from the Bible, and I am confident that when I identify them, most people won't immediately recall who they are. So often people ask us who are our favorite characters? There are so many. Certainly there's David who God called from being a shepherd to being a king, all the while being a man after God's own heart, even though he committed some very egregious sins when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged for the murder of her husband to cover it up. And of course we can't forget Joseph. He started a life as a favored son of his father, but hated by his brothers. He was sold into slavery, imprisoned on some false accusations, and ultimately he rose to being second only to Pharaoh and saving the children of Israel and the people of other countries from a severe famine. He's the one we learned the principle that others may have meant things for evil, but God meant them for good. What a principle to remember whenever we face difficult times. When I am asked who my favorite people in the Bible are, I can't list individuals. I list groups of people. My favorites are the Rechabites and the Bereans. In this episode, I'll explain the principles these two groups have taught me about practical ways to help me have confidence in my relationship with God. But first, I want to invite you to check out a resource titled Five Steps to Experience More Confidence in God. You can have instant access to it by going to confidenceingod.com/resources. In this resource, you'll learn from the Apostle Paul how we can live a life that is dead to sin. I'll drop the link to the resource in the show notes for your convenience. Many years ago, my husband and I accompanied our sons and their families to a pond to do some fishing. The three grandkids we had with us were the ages of four six, and eight. Both of our sons instructed their kids to be careful around the water, but one of them went one step further. Throughout the afternoon, his daughter wore a life jacket. A life jacket really wasn't necessary because at all times the kids were to stay on the dry. And both parents as well as we grandparents were appropriately caring for their children and supervising them. However, this one son wanted to ensure that if some unexpected thing happened and his daughter found herself in the water, she would be safe. There may be times in our lives when God protects us by asking us to go beyond the actual words of scripture. Through our pastors, other spiritual leaders God may place in our lives, mentors, or through impressions we receive during our prayer and Bible study times, God may seem to go beyond the requirements of His Word by instructing us to do something or refrain from doing something. These instructions may be just for you, not for the whole church or your whole family. And they are for your protection based on your own life, habits, experiences, or weaknesses. As the apostle Paul taught the Corinthian church, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. So God may protect us from some permitted things that are not beneficial. As an example, my husband and I often went bowling with a number of people from our church. Although we seldom bowled on Friday or Saturday evenings, one particular week we invited other friends to join us at the bowling alley on one of those evenings. It was quite lively, but that didn't bother most of us. We all stayed to ourselves and enjoyed the bowling and each other's company. But there was one friend who was really uncomfortable in this setting. Though she was not rude, and she tried to enjoy the evening as much as possible with us, the setting unnerved her because it brought back memories of a life she had left behind years previously. A life of drinking, drugs and other behaviors that were destructive in her life. For her, to ensure she continued walking faithfully with her Lord, she felt God guiding her to avoid atmospheres that resembled her prior life. So although there was nothing in the Bible that tells us we cannot bowl or we cannot frequent bowling alleys, God drew a line to protect her. He guided her to go beyond the black or red letters of scripture and refrain from something that was permissible but not beneficial for her. We can also find this example in the Bible. This is where one of my favorite groups of people come into play. You may not have heard of the Rechabites. You can read about them in Jeremiah 35. The Rechabites were people who obeyed the spiritual authority God had placed over them, despite the fact that his teaching went further than the law required. In the Old Testament, only the priests and the nazarites were required to refrain from drinking wine, and the priests were forbidden to drink wine or strong drink only when they went into the tabernacle to minister before the Lord. Although the law did not require total abstinence from wine, Jonadab, the Recabites ancestor saw the danger of wine to his family. Therefore to ensure they lived for the Lord, He was stricter than the law and taught total abstinence. And the family submitted to this teaching, obeying it for generations. What was the result of the Rechabites obedience? It caught God's attention and he used them as an example to Judah and the inhabitants of Israel, to teach them to obey the Lord. In response to something you were taught to do or refrain from doing, have you ever asked, Is it a heaven or hell issue?" That question indicates you are striving to maintain your relationship, or possibly even to merit it, by doing the minimum required. Instead, we need to do whatever will help us grow in our relationship with God. Jesus taught his disciples to be a light to the world. We are his disciples if we follow him. As a light to the world, we are to be examples just as the Rechabites were. And like the Rechabites, God may ask us to go beyond the black and white requirements of scripture. If your pastor, another spiritual leader or mentor has taught more conservatively than you believe scripture requires, it is important to follow those teachings and not chalk them up to being unnecessary to make it to heaven. And if God has impressed upon you during your prayer time and Bible study, that you need to go beyond the requirements of scripture, follow that impression. He's either protecting you from something or setting you up to be an example to the world. But wait, there's more. According to Jeremiah 35:18-29, because the Rechabites obeyed the commandment of their father, Jonadab, which was more restrictive than the law required, the Rechabites would always have men who would follow the Lord forever. Did you catch that? Submission to our Godly authorities? Even when they apply biblical principles in a way that seems to go beyond the actual requirements of scripture, places us and our families in a place of promise and confidence that God will keep us and our families before him forever. No, this is not eternal security. But living in submission and obedience to the spiritual leaders God places in our lives, and the impressions we receive from God is the way to see generations of our families stay true to God and his teachings. I mentioned the Bereans as also being some of my favorites from scripture. The Apostle Paul taught the church in Philippi to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. And in Acts 17:11, we learned that the Bereans were commended because they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. When your pastor or other spiritual leader teaches you to do or refrain from doing something that seems to be more conservative or restrictive than the Bible requires, be careful that you don't disregard it out of hand by asking,"Is this a heaven or hell issue?" Instead, with reverence for God and the leaders he gives you go to the scriptures to confirm the principles being taught. Be a light and an example in the world. What does any of this have to do with wearing a life jacket on dry ground? We can maintain a relationship with God by following the clear teachings of the Bible. That is similar to my son's instructing their children to be careful around the water. But we can have more confidence in the protection of God and walk more closely with him when we submit to and obey when He impresses on us, or our pastors and spiritual leaders teach us, to go beyond the strict requirements of scripture. That is like our son protecting his daughter be by requiring her to wear a life jacket, even though she would be standing on the shore. We can have confidence in God when we seek to walk closely with him wearing whatever life jacket He offers for protection instead of merely striving to do the minimum required to make it to heaven. Wow, that was a lot in a short period of time. Let me summarize this really quickly. God provides us clear instruction in His Word about how to live a life that glorifies him and shines His light in this world that needs him so badly. But sometimes God draws individuals to go beyond the specific guidance of the word and do things that are not required for everyone, or refrain from doing some things that are permitted for other people. And He does it to protect each of us individually based on our own life habits, experiences, or weaknesses. He guides us so we may be a light in this dark world and that we may enjoy our relationship with him. But we can enjoy a long, close walk with God by limiting ourselves to doing only those things that are beneficial for us as individuals. And by avoiding asking the question,"Is it a heaven or hell issue?" The correct question is,"Is it permitted and beneficial?" You can even go further by asking,"Will it glorify God and help my family to remain faithful to him for generations to come?" I would love to hear from you. Let me know how God has guided you to go beyond the written letter of the Word. Share with me an example how God has built your confidence in him by leading you away from things that might be permissible for other people, but are not beneficial to you. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I invite you to check out a resource titled Five Steps to Experience Confidence in God. Just click the link in the show notes and click on the resource. That's it for today. Please take a second to subscribe to our show so you'll be notified when future episodes come out. Also, it would be great if you would rate or review our show, that way more people can find out about it. Until next time, let's be confident in this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.