1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,640 Aloha, and welcome back to Amen Podcast. 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,840 I'm Lokelani, your host, and I'm joined by my husband, Alex, who 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:11,080 is continuing our Stress Less series In the book of 4 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,480 Philippians. Today, we're looking at chapter 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,200 2, verses 12 and 13. Alex, tell us what you're 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,520 talking about. Going to be a shorter episode 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,720 today and it's going to give you some time to catch up on the 8 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:25,520 series. But we're talking about 9 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:29,680 unearning. You can't earn this, this love 10 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,280 from God, this relationship with God, but he also tells us to 11 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,080 work out our salvation. You've heard this verse before. 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,320 It's been very abused by Christian culture. 13 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,640 We're going to break down what it means and then we're going to 14 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,600 find out the freedom in not having to earn our salvation and 15 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,320 the stressless life that comes from unearning. 16 00:00:50,480 --> 00:00:51,640 Amen. Let's jump in. 17 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,520 Philippians chapter 212 and 13. Let's do it. 18 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,560 Verse 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,120 now not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, 20 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:10,160 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is 21 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,920 God who works in you both to will and to work for his good 22 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:15,400 pleasure. Amen. 23 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,960 Lucky Lonnie's gonna most likely grab the baby here in a moment 24 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,440 as she is waking up from her morning nap. 25 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,320 But in verse 12, I love how it starts off saying, therefore, 26 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,680 every time we read Scripture, we need to ask ourselves what is 27 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,480 the therefore therefore, and this therefore is going to 28 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:36,240 transition us into what it means to live unearning, to not live a 29 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,760 life earning the approval, the acceptance of God. 30 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,720 The reason or the what behind all this is right there in that 31 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:48,080 therefore Jesus and the verses before this hymn that Paul talks 32 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,200 about is the one that was most humble, most obedient, most 33 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,280 beautiful in his life and lays down his life humbly taken on 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,480 the form of a servant in our place. 35 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:01,920 And because he perfectly obeyed God, we can rest in the fact 36 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,040 that when we do not perfectly obey God, we're going to be OK 37 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:09,039 because we're justified not by what we do, but why he has done 38 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:13,800 not what, not what people think of you, but what God thinks of 39 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:14,800 you. We can get this weird thing 40 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,200 mixed up in our heads where we think if people think highly of 41 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,920 us, then of course God thinks highly of us. 42 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,640 If Christians think highly of us, then God thinks highly of 43 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:26,240 us. But then Jesus reminds us that 44 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,840 blessed are you when you are persecuted and people revile you 45 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,560 for my sake. Woe to you if everyone thinks 46 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,280 highly of you, He says. So God doesn't look at the 47 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,920 outward appearance like it says in First Jam 1 chapter 6. 48 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:41,000 Make sure you're following along. 49 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,560 In our David series on my channel, we talked about that. 50 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,240 He looks at the inward appearance. 51 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,200 He looks at what you look like on the inside. 52 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,560 So he says therefore, if based on whatever thing Jesus has done 53 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:58,000 earning for us, therefore dearest friends or beloved, he 54 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,480 says you are a part of the beloved of God because God chose 55 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,040 you before the foundations of the earth, because Jesus paid 56 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,360 for those that belong to God on the cross, you are dear to God, 57 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,320 you are dearest friends, you are beloved. 58 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,640 You're not on the outside anymore, you're on the inside. 59 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,960 And he says, when I was there with you, you were always so 60 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:18,600 careful to follow my instructions. 61 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,680 This is just how what it means. This is what it means to be a 62 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,160 parent. When you're in the same room as 63 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,520 your kids, they obey you perfectly. 64 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,160 But when you're outside of the room, they start to push the 65 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:31,360 limits a little bit. And Paul says the Philippians 66 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,360 are just like that too. When I was there, you guys are 67 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,560 doing all fine, great and dandy. But when I left, then you start 68 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,920 acting up. Let it not be so with God 69 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,640 because one God is never with us and then not with us. 70 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,960 He's always with us. So knowing that his presence is 71 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,560 near, that he is near just as much as he was with Peter, but 72 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,160 in a different sense, he is with you right now. 73 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,960 It may not be the physical Lord Jesus standing in your in your 74 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,040 room, but the physical Lord Jesus is on the throne and his 75 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,360 real active, powerful spirit is with you right now. 76 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,240 So he's anxious that they would follow him all the time, not 77 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,520 just when he's there. And now that I am away from you, 78 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,560 you must also be more careful to do the good things that result 79 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,760 from being saved. Notice he says now that I'm not 80 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,440 there. You should continue to do the 81 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,880 good stuff that happens as a result of you, of you being 82 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,840 saved, not do the good things that will result in you being 83 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:28,680 saved, right? There is no good things you can 84 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,280 do that will result in you being saved. 85 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:36,240 There is good things that come out of a result of you already 86 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,920 being saved. So it says things that are 87 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,520 obeying God with deep reverence, obeying God with deep reverence. 88 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,040 Your translation might say working out your salvation with 89 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,600 fear and trembling. This isn't mean. 90 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,000 This isn't meaning that God is standing over us with a 91 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,160 clipboard and waiting for us to make a mistake. 92 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,680 And then he can like write off the mistake, like, OK, you did 93 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:00,160 this, you did that. That's not what it means. 94 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:05,680 It means that because we are right with God, he says we are 95 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,600 made holy and his holy presence is right here with us. 96 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,880 And that means that we should have complete deep reverence for 97 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,280 who it is we're serving and live that out. 98 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,720 And as we do, we shouldn't shrink back from all. 99 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,320 We should shrink back from all that might displease Him. 100 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,000 So working out your salvation with fear and trembling is 101 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,880 saying if you know God is holy and you've been made right with 102 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,000 God, you should let that be a reality in your heart and we'll 103 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,760 talk about how, and you should shrink back from that stuff that 104 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:37,120 displeases God. So why don't we do that? 105 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,000 It's because we do not have that deep reverence for God. 106 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,360 Where does that come from? It comes from seeing God as big 107 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:48,240 and you as small. Jesus in our culture is made fun 108 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,800 of or just belittled. I do not think that the devil's 109 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,400 plan is to make you think that Jesus doesn't exist the devil's 110 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,040 plan is to make you think that Jesus is small. 111 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:02,080 So here's a couple examples #1 would be Tim Ross, who is 112 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,760 Michael Todd's pastor. He stood up in front of the 113 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,280 entire congregation at Transformation Church and said 114 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,000 we don't make it rain on strippers. 115 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,200 We only make it rain on one stripper and that is Jesus who 116 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:18,160 stripped off glory and and took off and got butt naked on a 117 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,040 cross. These are his exact words. 118 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,200 You can just search Tim Ross stripper on on Google and it'll 119 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,360 bring up this exact clip from a sermon at Transformation Church. 120 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:29,640 Is that any way that we should talk about Jesus? 121 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,400 Of course not. Now just show him some grace 122 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,080 'cause I need grace as a communicator. 123 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,600 I see what he's trying to do. He's trying to connect with an 124 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,760 urban audience who has left the world and is now. 125 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,320 He's trying to connect Christ to something that they can 126 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,560 visualize and understand. The problem with that 127 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,880 illustration, though, is you're making Jesus very small. 128 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,000 And that is not good because the smaller Jesus gets for you, the 129 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,360 least reverent you will be towards him. 130 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,800 That's a problem. But when God is big, we have 131 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,040 extreme reverence for him and and awe towards him. 132 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,080 Another thing that I'll end with to just transition out of this 133 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,600 is the way Jesus is depicted in media. 134 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,280 Jesus did not have long straight hair. 135 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,400 He did not. That is something that our 136 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:23,800 culture because of people like Fabio and people like Thor, we 137 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,720 have over centralized that and made that an attractive thing 138 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,120 for a man. That is not how Christ's hair 139 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,120 looked. Christ didn't look like that and 140 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:38,320 even like he was very masculine, but we've we've feminized him 141 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,600 and made him like this like movie character that looks like 142 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:45,200 he's just like this. I don't know, a caricature of 143 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,640 like other men that we see in other movies. 144 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,120 That is not OK. Again, that's making Christ 145 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,800 small. Not to say that he wasn't in 146 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,600 touched with his feminine side, right? 147 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,640 He's very gentle. He's very kind to children as 148 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,000 well, but he's extremely masculine. 149 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,840 I talked about this on one of our shorts that most of the 150 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,400 times when the Bible talks about carpentry, it's also talking 151 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,880 about construction workers, people who would fix a door 152 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,360 frame or add an extra room onto your house. 153 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,440 And So what I'm trying to say is even as a blue collar worker, 154 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:23,440 Christ was extremely capable. Extremely competent like can do 155 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:28,120 hard work that would require a man to do even in today's 156 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,480 culture that is that's a side of Christ we just do not see. 157 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,440 And that amazingly somehow that doesn't belittle Christ. 158 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,919 Isn't that insane that talking about our God who sits on the 159 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:41,600 throne as a blue collar worker doesn't belittle him. 160 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,320 It elevates him somehow. It's just the mystery of the 161 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,880 incarnation. If you want to have reverence 162 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,760 for God, if you want to work out your salvation with deep 163 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,040 reverence, with fear and trembling, if you want to live a 164 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,800 stress less life, God has to be big for you. 165 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,840 If you want to stop waking up every day thinking is, is God 166 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,520 disappointed in me? Is God displeased with me? 167 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,640 If you want to let go of that and walk in the confidence of 168 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,360 knowing I am made right with God everywhere I go and I do not 169 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,720 have to win the approval of anyone, much less God. 170 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,960 You have to have a big view of God because the bigger view of 171 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,640 God you get, the smaller view of yourself you get, which means 172 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:25,200 you're free from having the self help stuff, the self promotion 173 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,680 stuff, the selfish stuff. You can let go of all that 174 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:30,600 because God is big and you are small. 175 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:37,240 Now how does that happen? Verse 13 for God, That's how it 176 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,120 happens because God, that's how we change. 177 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,040 That's how we have a stress less life. 178 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:47,560 That's how we stop earning because God, everything begins 179 00:09:47,560 --> 00:09:51,600 with God and ends with God and everything is because God and 180 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,320 for the glory of God, the bad things happen in your life. 181 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,920 It's not because God is making those bad things happen. 182 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,720 It's because in those bad things, in the sinful world that 183 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,600 we live, in this broken world we live in, with spiritual warfare, 184 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,240 in those things, God is going to be elevated, God's going to be 185 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:06,960 glorified. And you will be truly, deeply 186 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,800 satisfied by turning away from the things of the world and 187 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,560 being able to know what life is all about. 188 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:15,840 For God is at work within you. So he says, work out your 189 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,400 salvation with fear and trembling, but also know that 190 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:19,960 it's God doing the work within you. 191 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,600 It's not up to you. It's not reliant on you. 192 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,440 You can go to bed at night, stress less. 193 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,560 Why? Because it doesn't ultimately 194 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:30,600 depend on you. God is the one that is at work 195 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,880 within you, doing two things, helping you to want to obey Him 196 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,360 and then actually to obey Him. Those are the two things that 197 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,920 God does in you. One, to obey Him. 198 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,000 Two, to actually make you want to obey Him. 199 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,600 There's a big difference, right? When I ask my kids to do the 200 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,760 dishes, they obey. They don't want to obey, but 201 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:57,360 there's a time where they will obey and want obey, and that is 202 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,120 the discipline and the love and the care and the presence that 203 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,200 we are working within them every single day. 204 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,880 So it is with God. God through His Holy Spirit, 205 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,760 through Scripture, through fellowship, through church, 206 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,680 through the singing of hymns, the singing of songs, through 207 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:17,200 confession, through obedience to His Word, through all that the 208 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:21,880 Holy Spirit is working within you to make you want to obey Him 209 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,320 and then actually to obey Him. Christ is the only one that ever 210 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,960 do this perfectly. Christ is the only one that 211 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,120 lived a perfect life who worked out every single day of his 212 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,720 moment with fear and trembling with deep reverence for God. 213 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,880 Bible says on his days on earth in the book of Hebrews it says 214 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,800 he would groan with these groanings and deep reverence 215 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,240 unto God because he loved God and he feared God. 216 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:53,480 Even Christ who is one with God and has been for eternity had 217 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:55,560 great reverence and fear for God. 218 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:59,440 You see how messed up we are that we just don't even of all 219 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,640 people we should have that right because we are created by Him 220 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:07,280 and yet Christ had that and lived that perfect life for us. 221 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,760 So if that is true and that means when we trust in Him, His 222 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,760 Spirit indwells us and starts to work out this salvation in US. 223 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,440 Do you believe that? Do you believe that he died 224 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,560 instead of you, took your place, rose from the grave, has 225 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:24,880 ascended on high, and because he's on the throne, the Spirit 226 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:29,120 of God has fallen down at Pentecost and now has indwelled 227 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,960 all believers from 2000 years ago on to now. 228 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,400 Do you believe that? If you do, then you have 229 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,080 definitely seen the work of God working within you? 230 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,960 So that would be my question. Where have you seen God's work 231 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,120 within you? Where have you seen God's work 232 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:47,760 within you? Father, we thank you for the 233 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,480 salvation story, how we are wrapped up and you are drawing 234 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,120 us into the middle of it. And we're so grateful for that. 235 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,440 And we pray God that we would rest in the fact that it is you 236 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,480 that is working it out within us. 237 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:04,480 It is you that has earned it for us, Christ, and we can rest in 238 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:07,120 that. And thank you so much, Lord, for 239 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,720 your grace and mercy towards us. And your name we pray. 240 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:11,080 Amen. Amen. 241 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,120 This is the part of the episode called After the Amen where we 242 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,040 ask you a question to help apply this message to your life. 243 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:22,360 A question for you today, as Alex said, is where do you see 244 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,080 God at work within you? Where do you see God at work 245 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,120 within you? And I'll answer 1st and then 246 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:32,600 it'll be your turn to respond. Let's see. 247 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:39,880 I think I just love this passage because I think about all of the 248 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,560 times that I want to make a change in my life or I have 249 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:50,960 wanted to make a change even before Christ and how I would 250 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,440 just try to create new habits. And I think, you know that that 251 00:13:54,440 --> 00:14:02,760 still works in small ways, but it really is like, I just love 252 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:04,720 how this these verses like summed it up. 253 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:10,320 It really is like when I have a deep awe and reverence and fear 254 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:16,280 of the Lord that he he produces those things within us instead 255 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,440 of just trying harder or behavior modification. 256 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:28,760 I just think about like the people in my life that have like 257 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,880 really great character traits or maybe they're very generous or 258 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:35,400 maybe they're great listeners. There's just something that I 259 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,080 admire and how I'd love to emulate that. 260 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:44,840 But I might be able to do it one or two times, you know, like by 261 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:49,680 just copying their behavior or being inspired by that and 262 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:54,240 trying to be a better listener, trying to whatever The thing is. 263 00:14:55,480 --> 00:15:04,080 But when I actually, like, reflect upon the work of Christ 264 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:09,040 and who he is, spend time in my word and spend time seeking him, 265 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,040 he produces that change within me instead of me trying to force 266 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,040 the change, you know? And so I think that, yeah, I 267 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:25,480 think it's obedience. You know, I think that believers 268 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:30,120 who live the life of obedience have a really deep fear and 269 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,200 reverence for the Lord. And it's through that obedience 270 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,800 that he produces these different changes in your life that you're 271 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:44,680 able to like, think about who you were even as a Christian 234 272 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,480 years ago and think, wow, why don't I not struggle with those 273 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,280 things? Why do I not have the same fears 274 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:54,480 or whatever it is? And it's because through your 275 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,560 obedience, like he produces that change, like you just continuing 276 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,920 to abide in him, He starts to make that produce that change. 277 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:10,360 And it's just like when you, if you have a child, you don't 278 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,120 really notice how much they're growing. 279 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,000 But say a friend who hasn't seen them in a couple years comes to 280 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,160 visit and they're like, oh, wow, your child's so big. 281 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,160 Like you don't always notice the change if you're walking with 282 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:22,960 him every day. But there will be those moments 283 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:25,600 or even those people in your life who a year or two down the 284 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,320 line, you're like, oh, wow, I cannot believe like that this is 285 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,520 still not a struggle for me or that this comes so naturally 286 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:35,520 now. And I think in those moments, 287 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,920 like if it really isn't just behavior modification, you 288 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:42,760 really do like give glory to God 'cause even in the Christian 289 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:46,240 life, you know, like I couldn't just do that on my own. 290 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:48,240 Like that was the Lord's work within me. 291 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:53,480 And I think he uses it like just back to like what I described 292 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,520 about seeing those good qualities and other people 293 00:16:55,520 --> 00:17:01,440 around me. I think he uses others to in our 294 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,480 lives, not so that we can just make behavioral changes, but 295 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,480 like that gives him glory as well. 296 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:12,160 And so seeing that work in others should just draw us to 297 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,359 him more, not draw us to jealousy or draw us to like 298 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,000 comparison or trying to figure out on our own. 299 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,680 But like, oh wow, this person is so, so to speak, like that is a 300 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,119 character of Christ. Like that's how he was. 301 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,320 He had a listening ear. Like I see Christ in that like, 302 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,960 and so that's to draw us near to him and in communion with him 303 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,760 and he starts to produce those changes as well. 304 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:44,240 And so, yeah, I've definitely seen that work in my life a lot 305 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:49,640 Like yeah, obviously, as all of y'all know, if you've been 306 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:54,120 listening, like motherhood has been the and marriage too, but 307 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:59,600 motherhood has been like the engine to drive those changes in 308 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,920 my life for sure. And it's so fun to walk 309 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:09,000 alongside like new mothers and just the questions that they 310 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:12,160 have and be able to encourage them. 311 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,480 Like I had those fears. I had those questions too when I 312 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,840 was your at your stage. And like, it's not me just be 313 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:25,080 gaining more knowledge or just being so great at it that like 314 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,680 I'm don't I don't worry about those things now or whatever it 315 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,480 is. But it's like the Lord producing 316 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,520 that through just continuing to mother year after year, day 317 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:41,200 after day, hour after hour. And so it's just it's beautiful 318 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:49,720 to see his work within us. And yeah, it's true freedom to 319 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:54,440 not try to have to earn it. Yeah. 320 00:18:54,640 --> 00:19:00,200 And I think knowing that we can't earn it also just is the 321 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,960 cure to comparison. Because then, like I said, we 322 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:06,440 can. When we see great qualities in 323 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,720 others, we don't have to compare ourselves to them, but we can 324 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,120 give God glory for what He's doing in their lives too. 325 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:19,480 Yep. Yeah, and it's about motherhood 326 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,480 totally, because when you're in the middle of it, you really 327 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,360 can't compare yourself to anybody you like, Just like, I 328 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:30,280 have to change this diaper, I have to nurse, I have to, like, 329 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,360 feed this kid. And there's no time to be like, 330 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,600 well, what would this mother do? What would that mother do? 331 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,680 Or am I doing this right? Or am IA good mother? 332 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:41,320 There's some downtown in between when you do that and you compare 333 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,520 and it's just OK. I have to earn a level of 334 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,360 motherhood that the culture approves of. 335 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,320 Or even someone else in your life who's putting pressure on 336 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:52,560 you or something. Totally. 337 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:56,360 Yeah, but Christians have the ability to just abide and not 338 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,120 earn or not grind. You know, like grind culture is 339 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:02,760 like really big when everyone's trying to like, earn a certain 340 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,240 paycheck or earn a certain amount of followers and grind, 341 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,320 grind, grind, grind, grind so that I can earn my social 342 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,240 currency. But Christians have the ability 343 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,360 to not have to live for social currency at all. 344 00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:16,240 We have more social currency than we know what to do with. 345 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,040 We have more. Social cred then we know what to 346 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,840 do with because God has declared us right with himself. 347 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,880 And so these short 80 years that we have on earth and all the 348 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:30,360 different people who maybe love us in that time is great, but 349 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:33,440 none of it is to to be compared with the glory that we have in 350 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,840 Christ. And so ultimately what matters 351 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,400 is what does God think about me? And if that is the highest 352 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,040 amount of currency there is and that means we are free from 353 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:44,960 having to look for it anywhere else, you know? 354 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,680 And so that's really good. I love what you had to say. 355 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:49,960 Thank you I. Love what you had to say too. 356 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,320 Well, it's been a very good episode and a little bit 357 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,280 shorter, but we pray have time to catch up on the other 358 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,320 episodes and catch up also on all the stuff we're doing on 359 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,520 other platforms as well. So I started an Instagram called 360 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,040 Alexander Dion Wilson, which is just a lot of like short videos 361 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,880 that I used to do. Most likely the videos that you 362 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,440 fell in love with that brought you to Aemon podcast. 363 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,480 Just videos like I talk about my life, I talk about something 364 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,600 that God is teaching me. It's like directly looking at 365 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,160 the camera and just short little sound bites that a lot of you 366 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:24,720 guys fell in love with. And so Alexander Dionne Wilson, 367 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:28,960 which is my full birth government name for anybody 368 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:30,960 asking like who's Alexander? That's me. 369 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:33,240 What's Dionne? Yeah, what's Dionne? 370 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,680 Alexander Dion Wilson So follow that on Instagram. 371 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,040 That'll help us a lot. The goal with that Channel is 372 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,520 again, to give these like short little videos just to you that 373 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,520 like don't belong anywhere else, that they're just personal 374 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,880 little sound bites behind our behind the scenes of our life. 375 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,960 But also I really want to write a book one day for you guys. 376 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,560 And what content creators and publishers are looking for is an 377 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,600 author who has a following, especially on Instagram. 378 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,520 So please help us out if you'd like to have a book out there 379 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,840 one day within the next year or two years, that could be a 380 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:09,920 really big engine for that. So that's my goal for that. 381 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,480 And then yeah, if you love Eamonn podcast, you can follow 382 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,720 us on Instagram too and see a lot of the clips and just some 383 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,160 fun little like screenshots of parts of the episode that we 384 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,560 liked, which is a really good way for you to share our episode 385 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:26,840 of people. So if you love something, you 386 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,280 love to share it. And if you love Amen podcasts, 387 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,080 we want to give you an opportunity to share Amen 388 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,120 podcasts with others. It's also a really good resource 389 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:38,360 for like your college group or your youth group or your church 390 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:41,840 group or your small group to like get around the TV and turn 391 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,760 on YouTube and watch this together and have used after the 392 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,880 Amen for a discussion time that's already happening all 393 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:50,920 over the world. And we want to continue to do 394 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:52,520 that. And we're trying to get more 395 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:55,600 organized with our playlist and our and our series. 396 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,960 So like everything's neatly discoverable on our YouTube 397 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,600 channel and a playlist. And so the Philippians series is 398 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:04,160 all on a playlist right now. And so you can go through that 399 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,760 with your church and it's free. Everything is free. 400 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,360 The study guides are free, which you got to remember to help me 401 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:12,440 to remember to put a study guide on every episode. 402 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:13,800 I think I missed the last episode. 403 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,240 Our battery just died because I was filming right before this. 404 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,200 And so you can't see us anymore, but we're pretty much done. 405 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,840 And yeah, we love you guys. Thank you for being here. 406 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:29,080 aimandpodcast.com/donate, if you'd like to support 407 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:32,480 financially, that keeps everything free and everything 408 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,200 available across all platforms. So we cannot do that without 409 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:37,560 you. And you guys have been amazing 410 00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,360 since day one, so thank you so much. 411 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,800 Thank you guys. Well, we love you guys. 412 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,360 It's always a joy to bring you an episode every week. 413 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,800 And until the next one, go out and be the church. 414 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,040 And don't forget to. Change or charge your battery. 415 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,920 There you go. Hey, Matt.