The Personal Jesus (Judges 6)

Join Trey Overton, Mavric Herrera, and Lance McAvoy as they reflect on Pastor Greg's Sunday sermon, continuing the Bible recap series. The church started reading the Bible chronologically together, and this sermon continued the series that dives deeper into the readings. During this episode, Trey, Mavric, and Lance shared some insights into their reading and reflected on Greg's sermon, which pointed out that Jesus shows up personally for us today and has since creation. They gave ways this applies to believers today and how that impacts the church. Trey, Mavric, and Lance discussed different points within the reading last week, along with recapping the sermon that Greg provided on the topic. Join in and reflect with us as we discuss the sermon from First Baptist Church in Fort Smith, AR. 

Mavric Herrera - mherrera@fsfbc.org

Trey Overton - toverton@fsfbc.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Psalm 119.11 says that Scripture is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. That means God gave us His Word to guide and equip us in practical ways as we walk through our everyday lives. Join us now for this episode of From State to Street, as our FBC staff and church members talk about how this week's Sunday morning message comes alive as we walk through the streets and moments of everyday life.

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Hey everyone, thanks for joining us. My name is Trey Overton, and I'm your host today, along with my good friend Maverick Correra. Good afternoon morning. This week we've got an extra special guest, my good friend Lance McAvoy. Thanks for having me, guys. I have the pleasure, me and Maverick both have the pleasure of working alongside Lance out there at Chaffee. Um it's been a joy seeing God work in your life and work through your life and the life of others. Um always bringing friends to men's lunch and just um really interact. The interactions have been really good. So uh we've really enjoyed working with you out there. Um just gonna just jump straight straight into this this week. Uh this past this past week, Greg uses used Judges 6 to explain how Jesus reveals himself personally to us. Yeah. And he has throughout scripture, still does today, um, and has, you know, since the beginning of time, right? Um and and just saying that, like, what does that mean that Jesus shows up for us personally?

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Yeah, I think uh Greg did such a great job using judges. I was really curious to see where he was gonna go because I heard judges like okay. Let's see, yeah, you don't really think to to think like that. But um yeah, when when Jesus shows up personally in my life, um, you know, it can go back to Jesus speaking through us or to us through his word, through prayer, um, and through other people. Um, and so I love how Greg emphasized the point, yes, yes, he died for all of us, like he died for all of our sins, but he died for you specifically. Right. You were on his mind when he was hanging up on the cross and before the before the creation of the world, you existed in his mind. You existed before creation, um, waiting to be created by him, and he knit you together. Um so he's always been such a personal being, and his goal from day one has been to be with his people personally, you know. Uh, we can see that through the tabernacle, and Greg again mentioned the idea of tabernacling, you know, with his people. He tabernacled with his people. Um, and so Jesus is the manifest presence of that and the physical presence of a God who wants to just be with his people. Yeah. And so he's constantly showing up for us um through many, many different ways. But for me, I mean he's showing up for me um just through like reminding me of his steadfast love and through the through the scriptures that we're reading. And uh, we just finished Ruth the other day and um just seeing God's faithful like God isn't mentioned in that like very often, you know, it's not like oh God did this, God did this. You know, he if he did anything, it was um kind of behind the scenes and like maybe briefly mentioned. Um but you can just see how active he is in all those things working out and just in the hearts of people. Yeah, you can see his character in the hearts and the actions um of Boaz. And so um that to me it's like God also shows up personally through each other. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:20

And and if you look at the the Bible as a whole, I mean in the beginning, you know, it talks about him walking with uh Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, but it's a personal relationship and ever since that that breakage uh due to sin, uh it's been that striving of becoming that personal relationship again throughout the Old Testament. Uh I loved Ruth what you brought up there, um, seeing the sovereignty and and providence of God throughout that. But then, you know, even when you get into Samuel, which where we're starting right now, and seeing how you know there was a kind of a dry period and then looking at my life as you know being in my mid-50s, there are times where I've had dry periods where I don't see God, I don't feel Jesus, I don't I don't feel that. But I go back to that um uh poem footprints. You know, and you when you look back in your life and you see the one set of footprints and you realize Jesus is carrying you through that because you couldn't do it on your own. Right. You know, you're you're going through such a heart-wrenching time of of dryness. Some of sometimes those are the ones that when you look back, you actually cherish the most because you realize I couldn't have done that on my own. Yeah, that's where Jesus met me, where I was personally. I didn't have to go to him, he came to me. Right. And that that really is is encouraging in a day-to-day walk.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Oh, yeah, 100%. I mean, being able to look back, I mean, there's just there's you can go time and time again when you go through something in life, and you're like, man, how did that happen? How did I get through that? You know, like how did, you know, and and when you get done with it, you look back and you're like, oh, that was Jesus. Yeah. That was that was Jesus, you know, and um it and it's just it's just an awesome way to to, you know, there again, we we talk about that all the time on the podcast, but reflecting, that's why one of the reasons why it's so important why we spend time reflecting, because when we do that, we recognize how we didn't and how he did, yeah, you know, and how he was there. I mean, um it's it it's uh we we we have to come to this realization that that Jesus, you know, it's not like all of a sudden Jesus is showing up personally. I mean, we see it right here with Gideon when when Greg was talking about it. I mean, he's been showing up. He's been showing up, and and he's been showing up since creation. Jesus has been showing up time and time again, and he shows up personally. God showed up personally at the uh at Mount Sinai and the in the tabernacle, and he showed up and he's showing them that he is here, he's with them, he's he's he's personal, and he wants that relationship. That relationship is so important. I talked about this yesterday Tuesday at the men's luncheon, but God, God, this this relationship that he wants with us is so important to him. I mean, he has proven that. Yeah, he's proven that time and time again that this relationship that he wants with us is so important. And it's important that we recognize that he's showing up right now, always has, and he's showing up right now. He shows up to lead us, he shows up to guide us, he shows up to comfort us, he shows up to empower us, you know, he shows up in all those ways, and by us ignoring it, we're not letting him work. I mean, he wants to. Yeah, he wants to, we're not we're not letting him, you know, by not recognizing that, right? Um, but at the end of the day, I mean, um, that's like I said, that's why reflecting a lot of times is so important because it helps us be more aware of his presence and his work, you know. Yeah, so so you know, he we Greg was using Gideon in in the in this uh in Judges six to talk about how you know Jesus shows up personally and how he's he is so personal. Um and and Jesus is active, right? And he was active then, he's active now, um, and he's actively working everywhere, right? Um, how can we join Jesus and his personal mission, just as Gideon had to?

SPEAKER_03 7:26

I think um a couple of ways. Number one, we need to communicate with him. Oh, yeah. Um, you know, without prayer, without getting into the word, you know, it's kind of like having a friend across the nation. If you don't pick up that phone, they're over there, you don't know what's going on with them. They don't know what's going on with you. Yeah. You know, Jesus does know what's going on with us, that's the difference, but he still wants us to talk to him. Oh, yeah. He wants us to pour our heart out. So having that communication first and foremost is important. And then trusting that he's not gonna lie to us. Yeah. You know, he's not a human that will lie, he he's God incarnate. Right. So knowing that number one, we have to communicate. What he's telling us is true, whether we like what he's telling us or not, sometimes, you know. Hey God, I want to know what the winning lottery tickets are. I'm not gonna give you that. I don't like that, but it's for your own good. And then and then also obeying him. I mean, you go back to Gideon, you know, first thing he said was, Oh great and mighty warrior. And Gideon was the youngest and the least of his family. It's like, you talking to me?

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

God, you you talking to me, you got the wrong guy. And but yet God goes on to say, you know, I'm with you. And Gideon had to have the faith and the obedience to do what God said, yeah, and to to partner in with him on that. So communication, trust, and obey.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Yeah, I like that. Yeah, for sure. And I like how God was so patient with Gideon. Like, you know, it right, exactly. I mean, that's my point. Like, he is so patient with Gideon, and it shows how patient he is with us, you know. Um, he and he calls us to something like, are you sure God? I don't know. Let me let me pray about that. You know, it's like, and it's it and when we say, you know, I'm just I know for me, like when I say let me pray about that, it's like I know what God's already telling me to do, right? But you know, I'm struggling with the actual taking action of doing whatever it is, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah, see, that's a good point. I always I always struggle with like, oh, if I'm if I'm seeking the Lord in prayer, does that mean I'm lacking in faith? Yeah, no, absolutely times where it's both, like people they hear the Lord and they're like, That's the Lord, I'm going. You know? Yeah. And then there's other times like Gideon, where he needs, you know, for him it's not really like that. It's like he's really trying to test it and probably trying to get God to be like, forget about me and forget it, never mind. You know, because he doesn't want to be used like that. Right. Um, but I mean, like, there I hope to get to a point where I can hear the voice of the Lord so clearly and to where I'm just able to act in boldness and in faith. Um, but also like again, because of God as a personal being, that pursual, I still see like maybe Gideon didn't have the right intention with questioning the Lord and and you know, testing and going back like that, but there's still a there's still a wisdom to I want I just want to know that I'm aligned with God and I just want to do his will and I just want to be like him. And so even though Gideon may have not had the right intention, I feel like there's something about the pursual of God's will and the pursual of confirming and um but also knowing that confirmation or the lack of confirmation doesn't mean no. Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

You know, yeah. And and if I may, on that you know doubting and still acting is the definition of faith. It's it's it's believing when we don't have proof.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

So there are times where we may pray for discernment. Is this your will? But if we get a definite yes, then then we need to act immediately.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

Right, right. Yeah, oh a hundred percent. And I think we we have the Holy Spirit inside of us. If you're a follower of Christ, you made that decision, we we have the Holy Spirit inside of us, right? We are empowered by the Spirit, and and we have the ability to make and discern those decisions through the Holy Spirit. Yeah, whenever something comes up, and I'm this is you know, this is true for me, maybe it's just me, but I know probably nine times out of ten, God leads me pretty quickly on what it is that I need to do, um, on whatever decision it is. If I take pause in acting on it, it's because I'm unsure on myself, I'm unsure on my ability to do whatever it is, I all of it is a lack of faith. That's what it boils down to. All of it is is a lack of faith and a a snippet or belief in lie, the lie of the devil that I'm insufficient to do whatever it is that God is calling me to do. And and so, like if God, you know, uh somebody asks me, you know, uh, Lance, you walk up to me and you say, Hey, I think um I've been I've been thinking about it, praying about it. I think God's leading, I think we need to do this with Chaffee. Let's just take Chaffee as an example. And you say, I think we need to go this direction, and I would like to start, you know, this such and such. And it's like, okay, well, you know, instinctively, probably more times than not, the Holy Spirit's gonna lead me in that moment to give you an answer. Right. You know, I may pause. Now, I'm not saying the pauses aren't genuine, right? There's not we sometimes we need to late and strategically think through things or whatever. Um, but too often we'll stop and say, okay, I don't know. Let's just stop and let's pray about it. I mean, and I'm not saying we need to jump at everything, and that's not what I'm saying at all. But what I'm saying is your first instinct is usually what the Holy Spirit is leading us to, right? You know, because we have the Holy Spirit in us. And I'm not saying we don't need to stop and and and strategically think through things and plan things out. That's not what I'm saying at all. But that first instinctual thought, that first push is usually the Holy Spirit leading you. I mean, that's that's a fact. Now we second guess that all too often.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

And and I would say going back to the personal Jesus, yeah, the closer you get to Jesus, the louder you can hear the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Uh-huh. Oh, I think.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

So you know, if you're not feeding that relationship, it may take a little bit to to clear through the static that's in your own mind that that's hindering is that or not. Yeah. But that's why it's so important for us to build that relationship that he wants to build with us is so that we can hear the spirit better and clearer throughout the day.

SPEAKER_02 13:43

Oh, hundred percent. And and Blackbee, you know, I was talking about this, I can't even remember, I think it was Greg yesterday or something, but you know, Blackby has that book, Experiencing God, you know, and he talks about how we observe where God's working and we join him. And all, you know, God's working somewhere. He's, you know, Christ is working in somebody's life right now. And if we are faithful to observe where he's working, we can join with him quickly. But to your point, the best way we can do that is have a very, you know, have a strong relationship with him. It's be in communication with him, it's experiencing us, praying, you know, and having conversations with him and and and actively working with him. I mean, um, that starts with doing what he calls us to do. You made that point, Lance. If he calls you to do something, do it. You know, step out in faith. And every time you do that, you'll have more, you'll you'll have less and less fear to do it the next time. Every time you step out in faith and you experience the joy and the empowerment that comes with working with God and doing what he's called you to do, the less fear you'll have to do it again. So let's, you know, so first do what he calls you to do and actively look where he's working.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Actively look, because he's working in somebody's life. You, you know, we're out at Chaffee and we're, you know, you're in the room and and and you can visibly see where he's working, the people he's working on. And you can actively see those things and where he's working, we need to be joining, you know, and I think we need to be actively praying about that in the river valley right now. Where is God working right now and where can we join him? Because that's where we're gonna see the most fruit. He's actively working. And and and the last thing I think is to speak truth into everything we do. You know, everything we do. I mean, speak truth. I mean, and and to line up, and when I say speak truth, that means line everything up with scripture. I mean, line everything up with God's word, line everything. If somebody comes to you with something or you have to make a decision on something, speak truth into it, line it up with God's word. If it doesn't line up with God's word and you can't speak truth at it, then it's not something of God. And that's pretty black and white. Right. Absolutely. Um, so so to join to join Jesus on his personal mission is to be actively looking for Jesus. I mean, that that's to your point, Lance. I mean, like in in order to you have to seek that relationship.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Yeah, and and I I don't know about you guys, but when I know it's God's will and I immediately act on it, the fear turns immediately to peace.

SPEAKER_02 16:08

Oh, 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

And that and you know, there are times where I've had to step out on faith and and basically say, okay, God, I really don't know if this is your will or not, but I'm doing it. And the peace that comes over you immediately, it's it's nothing that you can experience if you're not doing God's will. I mean, that's specific to following God. Right. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

So how does it so we talked about this a little bit already, but you know, when we when you become a follower, you receive the Holy Spirit, right? You sp you receive the power of Jesus. And in Matthew 28, 19 or 18, anyways, he said, All authority of power in heaven I give to you, right? So we receive his power. How does that affect you to know that the power of Jesus is with us since his presence is with us?

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Man, it's just an incredible gift. And I often remember how excited Jesus was to leave, to go to heaven to ascend so that the Holy Spirit could come and live with us, because he knew that the Holy Spirit was going to be a much better helper than he could be, you know, because he was limited by his um by him stepping down and submitting himself and stepping into uh the human body. Um and when I think about you know, this was the thing, the Holy Spirit is is the person of the Trinity who got Jesus excited. You know, he was excited for this and before his excruciating death, this is what he was excited and looking forward to. Um it's just really I I think often about this question that um I heard from a pastor and he was like, How many of you would trade all of your you know, Holy Spirit experiences that you've had for just one sit-down face-to-face conversation with Jesus? And this room, like all the hands go up, and he was just like, Man, that kind of sucks because this was the yeah, this is again, this is the person who Jesus was excited to leave for and make way for, you know. Um and so when I think about it for my own life, um, I don't want to ignore him and I want to know that he is a he's a person of the Trinity and he's not a force. Um I heard a statistic the other year, it was like 2023, and the the the question is not super clear, um, but it's a true or false statement um taken by the like state of theology. And I believe it was like sixty or seventy percent of Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is a force and not a person. Um and obviously that question of person is a little fuzzy. Right. It's like, oh yeah, it's not a physical person. Yeah, that's right. Um, but if even if you're looking at that that question that to even say that the Holy Spirit is a force, you know, I think just derives him of who he is, really. Like he's not just a power that we can wield. Um, he has a power that he gives to us, right? But he himself is not the power we wield, you know. Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

We can't wield the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit Spirit wields us. Yeah, that's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah. Um, and so again, going back to the question, thinking about that for our lives, um, I think knowing the Holy Spirit and spending time with him as well and intentionally making room for him in our hearts, asking intentional prayers that he would um reveal to us our hearts. You know, he knows us inside and out, and so we should want to know him as well and know what are the things that he desires. Um, because this is the literal manifest presence of God within us, um, living within us. We are tabernacled with him. Um, the closest that you could be, like this is it. This is what God wanted for so long. And yes, we still await the day of heaven where we can be restored and everything is uh glorified. But I mean, like, he's here. Yeah, he's here with us. It's it's now, the time is now. Eternity has begun. You know, that that life everlasting has begun. Um, and that happens through the relationship and the power and the meditation of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Um, and so I I just think oftentimes we and me myself, you know, just just tend to not neglect, but you know, maybe just not ascribe him his worth um and acknowledge who he is and what he does and the power and the impact that he's doing. It's almost like I just imagine, I just imagine Jesus, you know, we give we obviously Jesus is the the most high king and worthy to be exalted. Um, but you know, we give him the praise always, but we thank him for doing things, and he's almost like, that was my man, the Holy Spirit, doing that, you know. It's like give him the praise. Like he's he's just as he's just as much working as I am, you know. And um, so I just think that's intentionally making those prayers um very clear and very distinct for the Holy Spirit just begins to change your mindset of the work of our faith and working out our faith um and following in obedience.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Yeah, yeah. And and I kind of like where you were going with that is you know, there's an old saying, we pray that the Holy Spirit will fill us completely. The Holy Spirit's already filled us completely. Are we giving complete control to the Spirit to move is the question? It's it's our free choice of whether or not we allow that. And um so I really like that. The the question about knowing that we have that power, what does that tell us to do? We're to we're not to be timid, we're not to be afraid. Right. And especially in this day and age, you know, I work for a government agency. You hear about separation of church and state. But if I have somebody come in my office and say, Hey, um you know, I you've got this this thing. I know you have this faith. Can you share that with me? Being excited about it and being bold to share it right then and there instead of saying, well, let's go to the get a cup of coffee someplace and do it so that we're not at work. Yeah. You know, jobs are temporary. Christ is eternal. Yeah. And that's what we have to keep our eyes on. And he's given us the power to be bold, to be the warriors that he called Gideon to be, to be the warriors on our knees at times, praying for our church, our city, our country. That's where the power of Jesus lies, is in the spirit that he's given us, even when we don't know what to pray, the Bible says the Spirit will pray for you and through you. So that's I I love what you were what you were saying on that, Maverick. That's just spot on, man.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Right. No, I 100% agree. I mean, there's a reason why salvation is, I mean, what's the what does scripture use to to give a picture of salvation?

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Baptize you.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

No. Marriage, right? Yeah. Marriage. Right. Marriage is the picture that that scripture uses for salvation, right? We are married. And you made a good point, Maver, Maverick. It's like, you know, eternity starts now. Well, that's how I mean that's the picture that scripture uses with marriage. It's like when you join in the bond of marriage, you know, you that's you know, your life starts now, right? And your life together starts now. And our life together with Christ starts now, and we are empowered through that. Like we're no longer alone. We are no longer walking this earth alone by ourselves. We have somebody with us. Now, my wife wishes she had the you know the power that the Holy Spirit has. But but seriously, though, the we have this thing, you know, now by by by accepting and choosing to follow Christ, we are no longer alone. And you made this great point, Liz. Like, there should be zero fear. Right. We should have no fear. Like when we when we realize the power that comes through the Holy Spirit, yeah that we have inside of us, that we neglect, that we we put uh put aside, that we we foreshadow, that we that we we put ourselves over, right? We think that um that the it doesn't have the power, the Holy Spirit doesn't have the power over um our anxieties, doesn't have the power over our fear, doesn't have the power over um our iniquity or our inadequacies, you're right. Um that the Holy Spirit doesn't have the power over that is a lie from the devil. Yep. Is a is a lie from the devil. So if you're listening right now, the the effect that you should have knowing that you have the power of Jesus inside of you is that all of that, all of those lies from the devil should should vanish and you should have no fear. And you made the point, like somebody walks into your office, you should be able to share the gospel in boldness. That it starts there. Yeah, but it it goes even further than that. It's it's it's walking around knowing that you you have victory. It's walking around knowing that there's nothing that can defeat you. If Christ is for you, what can it be against you, right? So, so it there shouldn't be any fear. We should have confidence to speak freely. We should have confidence to speak freely the truth, right? We should we should have the abilities to silence every lie that the enemy throws against us. Because I, you know, it and I and this is just coming from, you know, I deal with that. That's just something that I've always dealt with, is just fighting the lies of the enemy. The the lies of being, you know, that I'm not good enough, that I can't that that nobody's gonna listen to me. Who am I, you know? Um just that all these things, right? I constantly fight that, but the reality is that if I truly um have faith that my relationship with Christ gives me this power, then all those lies should vanish. Yeah, they should go away, right? So I have to walk in boldness, knowing that that's truth. I have to, right? I have to cling to that. And that kind of goes back to what we started with when we're talking about isn't it? It's all about your relationship with Jesus. And the more and the closer that you draw to him, and the more time that you spend with him, and the more all of this, you know, um you'll understand this, and that's this will become more of a truth in your life, right? Um so let's just let's just finish up with this question here. How can we prove that Jesus always and continues to reveal himself personally to us?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Proving it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

So uh I mean uh it's proven to me personally because I see the fruit of the spirit growing. Yeah. Um I see when when I may need discipline, there's pruning that goes on. Um the peace that we talked about. Uh you know, one of the things when when we do accept Christ as our Savior and we build that relationship, you know, the Bible specifically says we're new creation. So all my past mistakes that haunt me, all the guilt and all of that, is a lie that you're mentioning. But I know that I'm I'm now a son of the most high. Right. I'm adopted into that family. So uh seeing that and then having people come up and ask me what it is, you know, ask me about my faith. Okay, things of that nature. I'm not doing anything other than living for Christ. I'm not out there evangelizing, I'm not out there preaching and and teaching Sunday school. I'm living my life day to day, and they're seeing Christ living in me. Yeah. That's what's it's the spirit movie. It's not Lance McAvoy, it's the spirit. Yeah. So that shows me he's showing up on a day-to-day basis so that people can see him through the life that he's allowing me to live in the relationship I have with him.

SPEAKER_01 28:15

Yeah, 100% right. Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, I love that he again, we're seeing the personal being of God. Um, we don't have to prove him, he's proving himself to us, and um, he's showing up in our lives in in many, many different ways. And sometimes when you when you don't see it and you're like, why isn't God show up for me in my life? It's usually not we can look at that and be like, Man, God's just not showing up for me the same way he is for other people. I guess I'm not as important. You know, I've definitely felt that when I've seen people in the moves of the Holy Spirit um you know, being being changed and being affected, and I just feel left out, you know. Um but then my my friend reminded me in one of those moments and he was like, Maverick, if the Holy Spirit never does anything to your life again, let's just say hypothetically that he doesn't transform your heart anymore, that this is where you are for the rest of your life, and then you go out to heaven, you know, would he still be worthy of praise? And that was an an extremely difficult conver uh conversation in question for me. Yeah. Um, because basically I I had been using God for my own benefit, and I'd just been using him for my own personal change so that I could become a better person, so that I could become more like Christ for myself.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:36

You know, not even just for God's glory. So I look more like Christ and that people see me and like, wow, Maverick is such a great image bearer, you know. Yeah. Like, and that's it. And that was the extent. Um and it wasn't until realizing that like I mean, my my only existence, my the reason for my existence is to be with him. And yes, I want to look like him, but I want to look like him because I want to be like him, and that's it. You know, I want to be like him for him. Um, and if that means that people see me and they see Christ, then that's great. That's the that's the great commission, that's what we're doing. We want people to see us and to see Christ and to see that we're different. Um, but with the end result of them realizing that they need to change. Um and so when I think of how God is proving himself to me, it's again like Lance was saying, it's in the fruit, it's all in the fruit, and it's in his graciousness that he still changes my heart even when I don't see it, and even when I don't acknowledge it, and even when it's of of a bad intention, of just like I want to be a better person. He still changes me and he still makes me into like him because he knows that he will complete his work. That's a promise in the Bible is that he will be faithful to complete the work that he has begun in you. Um and so he knows he has the greater the the the greater perspective. Um I mean my my encouragement to anybody feeling like that they're just changing because they feel like they have to, changing because they're a Christian, changing because, you know, and not hearing the voice of God, not seeing, not seeing the things change in your life, just begin to give him praise for what he's done. Like just just praise him anyway. It doesn't matter, you know? It's it's all for his name anyway. And so if you the end result is you praising the Lord, then that's that's the fulfillment of his promise. That's why he's changing you. Right. So that you give him glory, you ascribe him glory, you you turn your face to him. And so often he said, Return to me, just return to me.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

You know, yeah, I I like that. And and I think that at the end of the day, we it's it's like you said, Lance, um, and you pointed to it too is Matt Maverick, but it at the end of the day, Christ said that we are known, we will be known by our fruit. He we you know people will know his children by by by their fruit, and um the fruit of our actions uh point to him and it points to who he is, and and the reality that that he is a personal being and that he shows up personally. Um my testimony, the things in my past, um, everything that he's done that he continues to do today is proof that he not only exists, but he is active and working. Um the lie of the devil that that that he tries to make us believe and get us to believe is that he it is that my past disqualifies me as as as somebody who can provide evidence for his existence. Or may or it it it doesn't make me a credible witness. You know, in court today, you know, they look for credibility in witnesses and and they look at their you know, whether they're saying and and if there's anything that points to them being dishonest or whatever, um, it makes them not credible. But um, what makes us credible is not any of that. It makes what makes us credible witnesses is that we have proof based on who we were and who we are today. And the devil will try to make us think that we're not credible anymore because of our past, because I once was this, you know, and and and I believe that for a long time, for a long time. I wanted to hold that part of me that for a long time I wanted to hold that piece of me. Um that that I couldn't I couldn't let people know who I was before Christ, uh, before I knew Christ. And I couldn't let people know who I was before Christ radically changed my life. I couldn't let people see that side of me because then they're not gonna, they're not, then they're not gonna believe what I say, or or they're gonna look at me a different way, or they're not gonna think I'm a real Christian or anything like that. When that's what the lie of the devil, but the reality is we should have confidence in that because I can look at who I was and who I am now, and that that not only builds my faith, but it provides proof that he exists and he's active and working. I shouldn't be afraid that that or or or fear judgment based on who I was. What I should fear is judgment based on who I am now, and if I'm a follower of Christ or not, period. And if I'm a follower of Christ, then I can prove his existence based on the evidence. The evidence is I used to be an awful human being that only chased after myself, selfish desires and all these things of this world. That's who I was, and now I am somebody who chases God and I who's so who chases a relationship with Christ and who who is a faithful follower of the one true God who sent his only son to die for us. That that is who I am now, right? And and all of that is evidence to his existence, you know, um, and to how to how he actively works. It's I can give you evidence based on me moving to Fort Smith. I can give you evidence that that he set it all up. He he led me this way, and then he opened doors and he did things that only God can do. I can use that and provide it as evidence. And if you're listening today, I don't care what your past is, the lie of the devil is gonna say the lie of the devil is gonna make you try to believe that because you once were this, you can you have no credibility to share the gospel or share your testimony. That's the lie of the devil. I want to tell you your testimony is powerful, it doesn't matter. And it and it provides evidence that he shows up for us personally. You have evidence, use it. And and I want to encourage you today, if you're listening, to to think about your story, think about how God is working now and how he has been working. I mean, we we see these these social media evangelists. I mean, that's all they're doing. They're just sharing how God changed their life. And people want to hear that. People want to hear truth, people want to hear how how hear something true. They want to see the evidence, and and we have it. So I I encourage you today to provide that evidence to everybody you can encounter, be encouraged and know that because we have the power of the Holy Spirit, there's nothing that can stop us. We should have no fear behind that. And uh, I just want to take this second, I mean, I'm gonna close with this. But if you have any questions or concerns, or or maybe you you you want to know the best way to share your testimony, or maybe you have questions about sharing testimony, um, me and Mavericks link, you know, emails, I've said it before, is in the bio. Um reach out to us. You know, we we'd love to give you some advice, some corners. And if I don't have I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert, but I I probably know somebody who who may even have better answers than me. So um just feel free to reach out. Um and also want to take a second for a shameless plug. We have the the um crawfish bull coming this coming Sunday. So this coming Sunday, uh crawfish bull out at Chaffee following the service. So services start at 9 15. We usually finish around 10:30. We'll eat around 11, 11:30 um following the services, crawfish cooked by your boy and hamburgers and hot dogs. Um, we'll have that as well for those that don't want to eat crawfish. Um, so we'll have that. And um, I just want to thank everybody again, once again for listening and um for your support and everything else. Um we are out.

SPEAKER_00 37:27

Thank you for joining us for this week's From Seat to Street Conversation. This podcast is the Ministry of First Baptist Church Fort Smith. As a reminder, you can always listen to each of the messages we discussed here on our chapter and first sermon podcast each week. Thank you for listening.