From Hard Soul to Good Soil

WEBVTT

00:00:05.870 --> 00:00:13.648
Hey, welcome to Renewed Mindsets, the totally awesome podcast for Gen Xers who are ready to bust a move with the hand we were dealt.

00:00:13.648 --> 00:00:20.565
I'm Rick, and if you're feeling discontent with the way life has turned out, well, we're the goonies you're looking for.

00:00:20.565 --> 00:00:30.211
We're here to guide you in purging what you think you know, breaking free from conforming to this world and transforming your mind into the Christ-centered powerhouse.

00:00:30.211 --> 00:00:31.382
It was destined to be.

00:00:31.382 --> 00:00:34.228
Calm that mullet and grab a can of new coke.

00:00:34.228 --> 00:00:38.003
It's time to get radical, dude, I'm so glad you're here.

00:00:38.003 --> 00:00:43.960
So let's look at Mark, chapter 4, and we'll start with verse 3.

00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:45.621
So let's look at Mark, chapter 4, and we'll start with verse 3.

00:00:45.642 --> 00:00:47.826
Listen, a farmer went out to plant some seed.

00:00:47.826 --> 00:00:54.255
As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath and the birds came and ate it.

00:00:54.255 --> 00:00:58.862
Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock.

00:00:58.862 --> 00:01:06.501
The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plant soon wilted under the hot sun and, since it didn't have deep roots, it died.

00:01:06.501 --> 00:01:12.742
Other seed fell among the thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants, so they produced no grain.

00:01:12.742 --> 00:01:23.067
Still, other seeds fell on fertile soil and they sprouted and grew and produced a crop that was 30, 60, even 100 times as much as had been planted.

00:01:23.067 --> 00:01:29.808
And then he said anyone with ears to hear should listen to this and understand on how he could go on.

00:01:30.742 --> 00:01:47.873
Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parable meant and he replied You're permitted to understand the secret of the kingdom of God, but I use parables for everything I say to outsiders so that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

00:01:47.873 --> 00:01:51.849
When they see what I do, they'll learn nothing.

00:01:51.849 --> 00:01:54.569
When they hear what I say, they'll not understand.

00:01:54.569 --> 00:01:58.150
Otherwise they'll turn to me and they will be forgiven.

00:01:58.150 --> 00:02:03.947
Then Jesus said to them if you can't understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other ones?

00:02:04.801 --> 00:02:11.546
The seed that fell on a footpath represents those who hear the message only to have Satan come in at once and take it all away.

00:02:11.546 --> 00:02:21.022
The seed that falls on the rocky soul represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy, but since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

00:02:21.022 --> 00:02:26.394
They fall away as soon as they have any problems or they're persecuted for believing in God's word.

00:02:26.394 --> 00:02:38.991
And the seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, by the lure of wealth and the desire for other things.

00:02:38.991 --> 00:02:41.205
So no fruit is produced.

00:02:41.205 --> 00:02:52.829
But the seed that falls on the good soil represents those who hear it and accept God's word and produce a harvest of 30, 60, even 100 times as much that's been planted.

00:02:54.540 --> 00:02:58.151
So today we're going to talk about the different types of soil for just a minute.

00:02:58.151 --> 00:03:02.050
The first one is that hard heart.

00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:11.007
Yeah, some of the seed that fell along the road, but the ground was too hard and the birds came up and ate the seed.

00:03:11.007 --> 00:03:14.628
The first one is that hardened heart.

00:03:14.628 --> 00:03:19.425
Those hardened heart people See that footpath.

00:03:19.425 --> 00:03:23.269
Some of it came upon the seed.

00:03:23.269 --> 00:03:24.564
It was a footpath.

00:03:24.564 --> 00:03:30.087
It was a footpath in a field where they planted grain and they had the footpaths in between the rows.

00:03:30.087 --> 00:03:41.170
Now, these are the people that hear the word of God but they don't have any faith or they don't allow the word of God to actually set in.

00:03:41.170 --> 00:03:45.888
The other seed fell on the rocky soil.

00:03:45.888 --> 00:03:46.789
It had no depth.

00:03:46.789 --> 00:03:52.192
It sprouted quickly, but its roots had no depth because it was shallow.

00:03:52.192 --> 00:03:56.149
So let's just start with these first two.

00:03:56.149 --> 00:04:01.627
We have the shallow heart, we have the hard heart.

00:04:04.741 --> 00:04:11.868
The first one, if you didn't realize it, and when it's talking about the soil, it's talking about the hearts of the people.

00:04:11.868 --> 00:04:13.772
Why?

00:04:13.772 --> 00:04:17.709
Because, believe it or not, we're made out of dirt.

00:04:17.709 --> 00:04:24.372
Yeah, that's why God made dirt Dirt, don't hurt, we're made from dirt.

00:04:24.372 --> 00:04:31.944
God made dirt Dirt, don't hurt, we're made from dirt.

00:04:31.944 --> 00:04:33.305
And so the word Adam is the same as the word dirt.

00:04:33.305 --> 00:04:34.848
The word dirt in the Bible is Adama or Adam.

00:04:34.848 --> 00:04:39.940
So God pretty much named Adam dirt with spirit.

00:04:39.940 --> 00:04:43.228
That'll humble you real quick.

00:04:43.228 --> 00:04:46.274
You are dirt with a spirit in you.

00:04:46.274 --> 00:04:53.692
So God compares us all the time to soil, to the dirt, to the earth.

00:04:53.692 --> 00:05:01.954
So, as we're talking, realize that God compares our soul to the soil.

00:05:01.954 --> 00:05:08.370
Soul S-O-I-L versus soil S-O-U-L.

00:05:09.213 --> 00:05:16.630
Okay, there's different degrees and levels of receiving the word and receptivity to the word of God.

00:05:16.630 --> 00:05:25.041
Okay, some people hear the word and they listen to it on a Sunday morning and they're like man.

00:05:25.041 --> 00:05:28.146
That's a good word and that's as far as it goes.

00:05:28.146 --> 00:05:29.906
Nothing ever changes.

00:05:29.906 --> 00:05:34.011
They don't go home and do anything any different.

00:05:34.011 --> 00:05:37.449
They don't take the word of God and apply it to their life.

00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:41.100
The Bible says it's like somebody that looks in a mirror.

00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:48.927
They see what the problem is, and and then they walk off and they forget about it and they continue doing the same thing.

00:05:48.927 --> 00:05:54.144
The word of God doesn't get in there and penetrate and change them.

00:05:56.110 --> 00:06:01.244
And then you've got those that the word of God immediately penetrates.

00:06:01.244 --> 00:06:06.793
They let the word of God come into their life, but they're so shallow.

00:06:06.793 --> 00:06:11.507
Their desire for study in the word is shallow.

00:06:11.507 --> 00:06:17.764
Their desire for seeking God and learning how to pray and get fired up for God is shallow.

00:06:17.764 --> 00:06:20.810
Their walk with God is shallow.

00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:24.968
There's Christians that don't really want God as a part of their life.

00:06:24.968 --> 00:06:27.447
They're shallow in their relationships.

00:06:27.447 --> 00:06:29.846
They're shallow in their desire.

00:06:29.846 --> 00:06:33.766
They're shallow in their seeking the very surface level.

00:06:36.161 --> 00:06:37.427
Then you got the shallow heart.

00:06:37.427 --> 00:06:49.793
There's a subsurface that looks good on the outside, but below it it's hard rock, rocky, hard soil.

00:06:49.793 --> 00:06:55.612
There's no firm rooting and what grows there eventually falls away.

00:06:55.612 --> 00:07:03.252
What causes them to fall away is when afflictions come or persecutions come.

00:07:03.252 --> 00:07:08.083
To fall away is when afflictions come or persecutions come.

00:07:08.083 --> 00:07:12.089
The Greek word that's used is philipsis, which means stress or pressure or opposition.

00:07:13.391 --> 00:07:15.322
These are the people that look good on the outside.

00:07:15.322 --> 00:07:21.060
They got the Christian ease down, they know how to look the part, but they're shallow.

00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:22.483
They don't go all in.

00:07:22.483 --> 00:07:25.466
They've never studied the word of God for themselves.

00:07:25.466 --> 00:07:32.423
They don't get in their car in the morning and put on praise and worship music and talk to God throughout the week.

00:07:32.423 --> 00:07:37.173
They don't have a relationship with God except for Sunday mornings.

00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:49.569
And so these people, while they look good on the outside, the fact of the matter is they're just very surface level and underneath them, their heart still hasn't changed.

00:07:49.569 --> 00:07:53.550
They haven't allowed God to come in and change their stony heart.

00:07:53.550 --> 00:08:03.529
They look good from the outside, but when they come to church and they play Christian, they're not getting anything out of it.

00:08:03.529 --> 00:08:10.870
Their heart is still just as hard as it was before they came in, because they never truly experienced God.

00:08:10.870 --> 00:08:28.444
They've never allowed the Holy Spirit to come in and change them from the inside out, and so they just begin to try turning another leaf, or in other words, they begin to try to do some more Christian things, but never with a change of heart.

00:08:28.444 --> 00:08:46.174
And so anytime when their stress level goes up or there's some kind of pressure or some kind of opposition that gets in their way, these are the people that every time they get a little bit of sickness, they out Every time they get a little bit of something down, they out.

00:08:46.174 --> 00:08:51.130
Every time something is said or they get offended, they're out.

00:08:51.130 --> 00:08:54.664
They're the benchwarmers in the house of God.

00:08:54.664 --> 00:09:04.601
They're the ones that never get any further with God other than just surface level pew sitting, and they never get themselves to a place where God can use them.

00:09:04.601 --> 00:09:09.692
They can't be used, they can't, they can't be a help to anyone else.

00:09:09.692 --> 00:09:15.081
They're just trying their best to slowly get by.

00:09:15.101 --> 00:09:17.083
And then you got the soul with the crowded heart.

00:09:17.083 --> 00:09:19.106
That's the one with the thorns.

00:09:19.106 --> 00:09:21.769
That's the one that we see the most of.

00:09:21.769 --> 00:09:34.799
This is the heart that's so crowded that it's not able to give God all of their heart, all of their mind, all of their soul, all of their strength.

00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:40.211
This is the heart that's so preoccupied with the things of this world that it says that thorns come in and grow amongst it.

00:09:40.211 --> 00:09:49.682
That's the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth, the pressure and the pleasures of this life.

00:09:49.682 --> 00:09:56.039
Luke talks about it and says the pleasures of this life come in and clatter off.

00:09:56.039 --> 00:09:59.205
These are the people that they love God.

00:09:59.205 --> 00:10:03.090
God came in and really did something in their life at some point.

00:10:03.090 --> 00:10:06.936
At some point God removed their rocky heart.

00:10:06.936 --> 00:10:08.947
He removed that stony heart.

00:10:08.947 --> 00:10:12.750
They had a true Holy Spirit experience in their life.

00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:14.846
They experienced God.

00:10:16.802 --> 00:10:24.091
But the problem is and the Bible says it this way that the enemy comes in and began to plant weeds where the good crops were growing.

00:10:24.091 --> 00:10:27.548
What are those weeds?

00:10:27.548 --> 00:10:30.307
It's the distractions.

00:10:30.307 --> 00:10:33.148
The weeds are the distractions of this life.

00:10:33.148 --> 00:10:36.509
They begin to worry about all the things that don't matter.

00:10:36.509 --> 00:10:43.749
They get preoccupied with everything else in the world, all the pleasures of this world and everything that they didn't have.

00:10:43.749 --> 00:10:46.418
You know where it says the deceitfulness of wealth and the pleasures of this world and everything that they didn't have.

00:10:46.418 --> 00:10:49.929
You know where it says the deceitfulness of wealth and the pleasures of this world.

00:10:50.922 --> 00:10:52.826
It makes me think about the American dream.

00:10:52.826 --> 00:10:58.384
Yeah, let's get everything that we can get and let's get it all on credit.

00:10:58.384 --> 00:11:10.261
And then let's have so many things on credit that we have to work our whole life to pay for these things and we never get to use them because we have to work ourselves to death every day to be able to pay for them.

00:11:10.261 --> 00:11:15.681
And then, when it comes down to it, it begins to preoccupy our life more than God does.

00:11:15.681 --> 00:11:24.456
See, with this Americanized Christianity, it's taught people that it's okay, if you got to work, go to work.

00:11:24.456 --> 00:11:27.600
If it means work or church, always pick work.

00:11:29.044 --> 00:11:38.684
But the bible says that you should take a day that is just god's part of the 10 commandments a day that we just sit down and rest.

00:11:38.684 --> 00:11:40.606
Why?

00:11:40.606 --> 00:11:49.458
Well, for one, it's been proven that you need at least one day a week to rest your body or your body's going to fall apart.

00:11:49.458 --> 00:11:51.405
It's not going to function.

00:11:51.405 --> 00:12:04.173
God knows what he's doing and he's saying there needs to be a time that you take from running around, get out of the rat race, sit down and meditate upon God.

00:12:04.173 --> 00:12:05.706
Meditate upon God.

00:12:05.706 --> 00:12:12.480
You take time to pay attention to what's going on Now.

00:12:12.520 --> 00:12:31.821
In the Old Testament and the New Testament, the people met together in the temple to worship God daily, every day, and we complain that it's a lot if we go to church on Sundays and then Wednesdays and Lord help you if you go to a church that got prayer meeting on Friday night.

00:12:31.821 --> 00:12:37.985
These people met together daily and we say, well, I got a job, I got to work.

00:12:37.985 --> 00:12:42.941
These people were tent makers and shepherds and they walked everywhere.

00:12:42.941 --> 00:12:54.287
They went, they had jobs, but yet they took time out of their day to meet together and take the Lord's Supper and to pray.

00:12:54.287 --> 00:13:20.442
And you can hear it when Paul begins to talk about him, where he says somebody testify, somebody give a word of encouragement, somebody can give out a word of wisdom or knowledge, somebody get up and preach the word, and then you have people begin to pray and he talks about how the church, how they did church back then.

00:13:20.542 --> 00:13:24.866
But today we have crowded our lives with so many things.

00:13:24.866 --> 00:13:30.113
It's so overcrowded us and we don't have time to love God the way we should.

00:13:30.113 --> 00:13:32.655
We don't have time to spend with God.

00:13:32.655 --> 00:13:40.379
We've got God around our edges instead of at our base.

00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:42.001
We've got everything else consuming us.

00:13:42.001 --> 00:13:49.490
Our misplaced priorities choke out the Word of God and the love of God in our heart because of misplaced priorities.

00:13:49.490 --> 00:14:10.480
How we receive the Word of God when it's preached to us, how we receive the Word of God when we read it, how we perceive the Word of God when it's brought to us, it all depends on the health of our heart.

00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:16.913
The word accepted, like accepted the Word of God, in the Greek means to receive, to take it into oneself.

00:14:16.913 --> 00:14:19.823
So they didn't just accept it by saying well, yeah, that's the truth.

00:14:19.823 --> 00:14:23.533
They received it, they took it into themselves.

00:14:23.533 --> 00:14:27.066
They began to eat the word of God.

00:14:27.066 --> 00:14:32.322
They took it in and began to eat it and it began to change their lives.

00:14:32.322 --> 00:14:38.369
Think about it like this Somebody comes up to you and hands you something to eat.

00:14:38.369 --> 00:14:46.730
How many of you have ever had somebody cook you something or give you something to eat and you didn't know them that well?

00:14:46.730 --> 00:14:59.519
I mean, you didn't know how clean they were, how clean their kitchen was, and you're like, thank you so much, and you took it home and you put it in the garbage.

00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:05.726
Anybody Okay, so you received it, but you didn't really accept it.

00:15:05.726 --> 00:15:07.609
You get what I'm saying.

00:15:07.609 --> 00:15:19.446
I mean, I'll receive this casserole, sister, I don't know you with your 47 dogs and 56 cats that are all on the kitchen counter.

00:15:19.446 --> 00:15:24.780
I'll receive this casserole dish that you gave me, but I'm not accepting it enough to eat it.

00:15:24.780 --> 00:15:28.808
That's the way people are when it comes to the Word of God.

00:15:30.552 --> 00:15:33.024
I'm not talking about just when you hear it in a sermon.

00:15:33.024 --> 00:15:34.990
I'm talking about discipleship.

00:15:34.990 --> 00:15:45.889
I'm talking about when you hear your pastors or your elders or your leaders in the church and they're talking and they're trying to teach you how to follow Christ.

00:15:45.889 --> 00:15:49.884
As they follow Christ and they try to tell you.

00:15:49.884 --> 00:15:52.871
They say, hey, you need to change this.

00:15:52.871 --> 00:15:59.092
Hey, this is something that you need to let go of if you expect to move on and grow with God.

00:15:59.092 --> 00:16:02.528
Hey, this is what the Word of God says.

00:16:02.528 --> 00:16:06.830
Well, there's some people that don't take it in at all because they're too hard.

00:16:06.830 --> 00:16:20.231
And some people take it in in front of you, but really their heart is still super hard and when they get in the car they're griping to their husband or wife or whoever's around them, saying I just don't know if I agree with that.

00:16:20.231 --> 00:16:27.861
It blows my mind how many people will disagree with the word of God just because it comes out of somebody else's mouth.

00:16:29.183 --> 00:16:30.907
The word of God is the word of God.

00:16:30.907 --> 00:16:36.115
It doesn't matter if it comes out of my mouth or your mouth or the mouth of a donkey.

00:16:36.115 --> 00:16:38.323
It's still the word of God.

00:16:38.323 --> 00:16:45.846
The word of God should be received and it should be listened to and obeyed, even if it comes from the mouth of a donkey.

00:16:45.846 --> 00:16:55.530
That's why we don't become prideful when God uses us to speak to someone and give them a word, because God used Balaam's donkey.

00:16:55.530 --> 00:16:57.293
You remember that?

00:16:57.293 --> 00:17:12.388
But here's the thing about it Balaam listened to the donkey and we got people that won't listen to a pastor, they won't listen to a preacher, they won't listen to a teacher, they won't listen to a fellow church member.

00:17:12.388 --> 00:17:15.968
Somebody listen to this?

00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:23.808
The Bible tells us to teach each other too, to correct each other, to help each other grow and mature in the faith.

00:17:23.808 --> 00:17:32.050
But to do that we have to have a receptive heart, which is the last heart that he talks about.

00:17:32.050 --> 00:17:35.185
It's a soul that's receptive.

00:17:35.185 --> 00:17:38.012
Look at James 1.21.

00:17:38.012 --> 00:17:48.327
So get rid of all filth and evil in your lives and humbly accept the word of God that has been planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your soul.

00:17:48.327 --> 00:17:50.230
It's right here.

00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:55.390
First of all, how do we begin to be able to even receive what somebody says?

00:17:55.390 --> 00:17:58.769
Get rid of the filth and sin in your life.

00:17:58.769 --> 00:18:03.931
If we humbly accept the word of God that's being planted in your heart.

00:18:03.931 --> 00:18:07.049
You can't accept anything until you humble yourself.

00:18:07.049 --> 00:18:11.990
Why do we accept the word of God that somebody's trying to put in our heart?

00:18:11.990 --> 00:18:15.603
Because it has the power to save your soul.

00:18:15.603 --> 00:18:24.455
Let me say it so you can understand it really well the Word of God has the power to save your soul.

00:18:25.326 --> 00:18:27.834
It's not just a book, it's not.

00:18:27.834 --> 00:18:33.071
It's not, it's power, it's God breathing.

00:18:33.071 --> 00:18:36.511
That's what the Word of God is.

00:18:36.511 --> 00:18:39.933
It's God's breath that you take in.

00:18:39.933 --> 00:18:44.473
It's like somebody giving you CPR and oxygen.

00:18:44.473 --> 00:18:53.436
Every time you hear it, every time you read it, every time you take it in, it's like someone breathing into your lungs the breath of life.

00:18:53.436 --> 00:18:57.910
It will sustain you, it will keep you.

00:18:57.910 --> 00:19:05.053
It's like there's a few people that can't breathe and they get put on ventilators and the ventilator is doing all the breathing.

00:19:06.185 --> 00:19:13.454
If you don't know how to live for God, if you don't know how to walk it out, then play the Word of God in your ears all day long.

00:19:13.454 --> 00:19:16.232
Read it every time you get a chance to read it.

00:19:16.232 --> 00:19:18.633
Let it flow through you.

00:19:18.633 --> 00:19:24.557
Play it in your car to and from work every day, the whole time.

00:19:24.557 --> 00:19:31.078
No radio, no audible, no podcasts, no podcast for real.

00:19:32.686 --> 00:19:34.634
And here's what happens when you begin to do that.

00:19:34.634 --> 00:19:47.060
It begins to break up the land, the dirt, the soul, your soul, the soul, your heart, and it begins to transform you.

00:19:47.060 --> 00:19:50.412
A metamorphosis takes place.

00:19:50.412 --> 00:19:52.652
There's your 25-cent word.

00:19:52.652 --> 00:19:57.175
It's the cocoon that makes the metamorphosis take place.

00:19:57.175 --> 00:19:59.873
It is the Word of God.

00:19:59.873 --> 00:20:06.387
Place, it is the Word of God.

00:20:06.387 --> 00:20:08.795
When we implant the Word of God into us, what happens is we go from a worm to a beautiful butterfly.

00:20:08.795 --> 00:20:11.182
We have a metamorphosis that takes place.

00:20:11.182 --> 00:20:13.487
We don't even look the same way.

00:20:13.487 --> 00:20:17.173
Better yet, we're not even the same creature.

00:20:17.173 --> 00:20:20.718
We become a new creation in Christ Jesus.

00:20:20.718 --> 00:20:22.540
The old has passed away.

00:20:22.540 --> 00:20:25.226
Behold, all things become new.

00:20:25.226 --> 00:20:31.858
But here's the thing you never see butterflies crawling around with caterpillars.

00:20:31.858 --> 00:20:37.076
So we've got to get rid of the filth, the sin in our lives.

00:20:37.076 --> 00:20:40.748
Then we can receive it with a receptive heart.

00:20:40.748 --> 00:20:48.404
The condition of our soul will determine how fruitful the Word of God is going to be in our life and how we will respond to the Word of God.

00:20:48.404 --> 00:20:56.744
When it's taught, preached, explained, read, it's that showing the condition of the soul, of our heart.

00:20:58.426 --> 00:21:00.788
Psalms, chapter 1, 1 through3 says this.

00:21:00.788 --> 00:21:19.214
You hear that I'm going to start with the first sentence and I want you to pay attention to it.

00:21:19.214 --> 00:21:27.851
All of you that struggle with depression, you struggle with having joy, you struggle with feeling contentment.

00:21:27.851 --> 00:21:30.037
You're not content, you're never content.

00:21:30.037 --> 00:21:33.976
You're always looking for the next thing to bring you joy, to bring you happiness.

00:21:33.976 --> 00:21:38.535
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked.

00:21:38.535 --> 00:21:42.134
They don't stand around with sinners and they don't join in with mockers.

00:21:42.134 --> 00:21:45.414
They delight in the law of the Lord and they meditate on it day and night.

00:21:45.414 --> 00:21:51.597
If you want to have joy one, you've got to begin to read the word of God.

00:21:51.597 --> 00:21:59.030
You've got to begin to delight in it, meditate on it day and night.

00:21:59.030 --> 00:22:02.854
They're like trees that are planted along the riverbank.

00:22:02.854 --> 00:22:06.055
They bear fruit each season and their leaves never wither.

00:22:06.055 --> 00:22:07.811
They prosper in all they do.

00:22:07.811 --> 00:22:09.509
I want you to get this.

00:22:10.184 --> 00:22:14.656
I get so tired of seeing Christians that are always broke, busted and disgusted.

00:22:14.656 --> 00:22:19.073
When you first come to the Lord, you're supposed to be a wreck.

00:22:19.073 --> 00:22:19.914
That's normal.

00:22:19.914 --> 00:22:20.837
You're going to be a wreck.

00:22:20.837 --> 00:22:26.257
But if you've been serving God anytime, then there needs to be an absolute turnaround.

00:22:26.257 --> 00:22:30.576
That happens in your life and you need to start being the lender instead of the borrower.

00:22:30.576 --> 00:22:34.031
You need to stop being the beggar and start being the giver.

00:22:34.031 --> 00:22:44.784
You know it's come to a place in your life where you begin to want to be the blessed one and that you're helping other people, where you begin to want to be the blessed one and that you're helping other people.

00:22:44.784 --> 00:22:49.644
And when I see people that have been serving God for two or three or four or five years and they're still broke, they still messed up.

00:22:49.644 --> 00:22:55.417
They're still struggling in the same areas and the same sins still have control in their life.

00:22:55.417 --> 00:23:02.866
That tells me that they're not rooted and planted in a true living word of God and they're not living and planted in a true living word of God and they're not living by the river of life.

00:23:02.866 --> 00:23:09.365
Because where the river of life is, it brings life into everything, every part of your life.

00:23:11.087 --> 00:23:17.705
Let me explain it to you like this when you first come to God, your marriage is probably a mess.

00:23:17.705 --> 00:23:25.017
You probably had some infidelities and if you didn't have some physical infidelities, your eyes sinned against each other for sure.

00:23:25.017 --> 00:23:27.665
You probably got some jealousy issues.

00:23:27.665 --> 00:23:29.309
You probably got some scars.

00:23:29.309 --> 00:23:32.036
You probably got some issues that came up.

00:23:32.036 --> 00:23:33.278
And guess what?

00:23:33.278 --> 00:23:35.809
I bet you're struggling with your finances.

00:23:35.809 --> 00:23:38.096
You're probably struggling with your children.

00:23:38.096 --> 00:23:43.737
Everything in your life is probably a struggle, including your health.

00:23:45.266 --> 00:23:58.098
But when you get firmly planted in God and you begin to let the Word of God dwell and thrive inside of you and you begin to study it, psalms 119 says how can a young person stay pure?

00:23:58.098 --> 00:24:01.516
This is good for all you young people just like me.

00:24:01.516 --> 00:24:04.185
It says by obeying your word.

00:24:04.185 --> 00:24:10.946
He goes on to say Lord, I've searched hard to find you, so don't let me wander from your path.

00:24:10.946 --> 00:24:15.885
And then he goes on to say for I've hidden your word in my heart that I will not sin against you.

00:24:15.885 --> 00:24:20.314
How can a young person stay pure by obeying his word?

00:24:20.314 --> 00:24:22.719
How do we obey his word?

00:24:22.719 --> 00:24:27.531
I have hidden your word in my heart that I won't stray from your path.

00:24:27.531 --> 00:24:35.991
Study it, embrace it, love it, feed on it, then you'll thrive from it.

00:24:35.991 --> 00:24:38.432
It's a living, breathing entity.

00:24:38.432 --> 00:24:40.411
The word of God is not a book.

00:24:40.411 --> 00:24:42.234
It's a living, breathing entity.

00:24:42.234 --> 00:24:43.082
The Word of God is not a book.

00:24:43.082 --> 00:24:47.336
It's a breath, the prophetic, the mysteries, the power of God written in the pages.

00:24:47.336 --> 00:24:50.172
Let me explain to you what it is.

00:24:50.444 --> 00:24:53.755
Your DNA is the story of your whole life.

00:24:53.755 --> 00:24:55.390
It's your genetic code.

00:24:55.390 --> 00:25:01.670
If someone could read your DNA, they would read everything about your ancestors, where you came from, where your ancestors lived.

00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:03.768
They would read everything about your ancestors, where you came from, where your ancestors lived.

00:25:03.768 --> 00:25:06.134
They would read your genealogy.

00:25:06.134 --> 00:25:16.311
They would read every bad thing that ever happened to you, everything that ever changed you a little bit, every good little thing that ever happened to you that changed you just a little.

00:25:16.311 --> 00:25:18.477
That'd be your genetic code.

00:25:18.477 --> 00:25:20.026
That would be your genetic code.

00:25:20.026 --> 00:25:23.249
The Word of God is the genetic code of Jesus Christ.

00:25:23.249 --> 00:25:27.952
It's the very book of life, the DNA of God Almighty.

00:25:27.952 --> 00:25:53.977
So when we begin to receive it and I'm not talking about holding on to it or looking at it, I'm talking about taking it in and eating it and when we read it, when we study it not when you turn it on when you're doing the dishes and you're not really listening to it, but when you sit down and take it in and look at it like this is the code to change my life.

00:25:56.404 --> 00:26:00.752
Back in the 90s, if you played video games they cheat codes.

00:26:00.752 --> 00:26:04.598
You remember a, a left, right, right, bb.

00:26:04.598 --> 00:26:08.511
Remember those to get you to a level.

00:26:08.511 --> 00:26:11.616
That was some kind of mystery the game genie.

00:26:11.616 --> 00:26:13.205
Do you remember the game genie?

00:26:13.205 --> 00:26:17.917
It lowered the bar to get you to a higher level than you could normally go.

00:26:17.917 --> 00:26:20.913
I had one for my Sega Genesis.

00:26:20.913 --> 00:26:27.942
The word of God is your game genie.

00:26:27.942 --> 00:26:34.365
It's the code of Jesus Christ to tell you how to act, how to live, how to talk, how to handle your money, how to handle business affairs.

00:26:34.365 --> 00:26:38.295
It tells you who to stay away from, who to go around.

00:26:39.345 --> 00:26:42.654
Listen, if you didn't have a dad, the word of God is your dad.

00:26:42.654 --> 00:26:45.328
He teaches you how to be a man.

00:26:45.328 --> 00:26:47.453
He teaches you how to work.

00:26:47.453 --> 00:26:49.685
It teaches you how to take care of your family.

00:26:49.685 --> 00:26:53.115
It teaches you how to love your wife, how to love your children properly.

00:26:53.115 --> 00:26:58.615
It tells you what you should do and what you shouldn't do If you didn't have a mom.

00:26:58.615 --> 00:27:00.365
It comforts you when you're sad.

00:27:00.365 --> 00:27:03.596
It heals your wounds and binds up your brokenness.

00:27:03.596 --> 00:27:13.673
You can turn to Psalms when people are talking crap about you and you can feel the warmth and caress of the Holy Spirit nurturing you and telling you that everything's going to be okay.

00:27:13.673 --> 00:27:20.310
The Word of God is your mama, it's your daddy, it's everything to you.

00:27:21.625 --> 00:27:22.970
Well, I've never had a dad.

00:27:22.970 --> 00:27:34.471
Well, you got a dad now and he left instructions on how to act like a man, how to talk like a man, how to love your wife like a man, how to love your children like a man.

00:27:34.471 --> 00:27:37.836
Your dad told you how to act.

00:27:37.836 --> 00:27:40.448
He told it to you, said you can't use that excuse now.

00:27:40.448 --> 00:27:41.633
Well, I didn't know how, because my dad, he even taught you how to act.

00:27:41.633 --> 00:27:42.317
He told it to you, said you can't use that excuse now.

00:27:42.317 --> 00:27:46.240
Well, I didn't know how, because my dad, he even taught you how to handle your finances.

00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.027
Well, I didn't have nobody teach me anything.

00:27:49.027 --> 00:27:50.068
Yeah, you did.

00:27:50.068 --> 00:28:00.935
You got Solomon, you got David, you got Peter, you got Paul, you got Jesus, you got Isaiah, you got Jeremiah man.

00:28:00.935 --> 00:28:09.233
Look at that great cloud of witnesses, mighty men of God that have run the race before you and they tell you exactly how to do it and how to finish.

00:28:09.233 --> 00:28:13.069
Well, paul even includes sports.

00:28:13.069 --> 00:28:20.616
Yeah, paul even said he even talked about working out and shadow boxing.

00:28:20.616 --> 00:28:23.093
He talked about winning races.

00:28:25.026 --> 00:28:30.097
The Word of God has everything that we need in it so that our life can be successful.

00:28:30.097 --> 00:28:35.596
But whether we receive it or not, that's on you.

00:28:35.596 --> 00:28:42.615
Hey, just a quick shout out to our newest community member.

00:28:42.615 --> 00:28:50.838
Heather Bice from Anniston took advantage of our automatic upgrade, so she is now a gold member.

00:28:50.838 --> 00:28:54.537
I love gold.

00:28:54.537 --> 00:28:56.873
Would you like a schmuck and a pancake?

00:28:56.873 --> 00:29:01.574
Well, that's all for this week's show.

00:29:01.574 --> 00:29:05.273
You know, the name of this show speaks my hope for you.

00:29:05.273 --> 00:29:09.134
It's taken from the words of Romans, chapter 12, verse 2.

00:29:09.134 --> 00:29:23.516
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

00:29:25.925 --> 00:29:30.917
If you enjoyed what you heard, do me a favor, please, and tell someone you know about it.

00:29:30.917 --> 00:29:38.296
Send them a link in a text you know you may even need to download it to their phone and show them what a podcast is.

00:29:38.296 --> 00:29:42.315
If it was valuable to you, it will be to them.

00:29:42.315 --> 00:29:58.608
Visit renewedmindsetscom to hear past episodes, read the blog and check out the new merch and, as always while you're there, send me a voicemail by clicking the button at the bottom right corner of the main page.

00:29:58.608 --> 00:30:01.316
Tell me what you think about this show.

00:30:01.316 --> 00:30:08.059
I just might play it on a future episode.

00:30:08.059 --> 00:30:08.424
Until next week.

00:30:08.424 --> 00:30:13.584
I'm Rick.

00:30:13.584 --> 00:30:21.762
I love you.

00:30:21.762 --> 00:30:21.962
See ya.

00:30:21.962 --> 00:30:36.896
Are you ready to go See ya?

00:30:36.896 --> 00:30:45.531
Beat Ministries Incorporated Floodgate can be found on Apple Music and iTunes Music used with permission.