1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,360 Aloha and welcome to Amen podcast. 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,520 I'm Lukilani, and today my husband Alex is preaching 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:12,240 through Matthew chapter 27 verses 57 through 61 in an 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,880 episode we're calling devotion. What does it actually look like 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,280 to follow Jesus with your whole life? 6 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,600 Not halfway, not just when it's convenient, not when it costs 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:27,280 you nothing. But full devotion, the kind that 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,000 doesn't disappear when things get dark. 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,520 Alex is going to walk us through this text and show us that 10 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,320 devotion isn't a feeling, it's a posture. 11 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,800 It's who you are when no one's watching, when the outcome is 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,360 uncertain, and when following Jesus is the harder Rd. 13 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,560 Before we dive in, let's read the passage. 14 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:54,480 This is Matthew 27 verses 57 through 61 we're reading from 15 00:00:54,480 --> 00:01:00,040 the English Standard Version. When it was evening, there came 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:06,600 a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple 17 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,640 of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for 18 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,040 the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be 19 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,840 given to him, and Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a 20 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:22,880 clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he 21 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,920 had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to 22 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,400 the entrance of the tomb and went away. 23 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,160 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting 24 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,600 opposite the tomb. Amen, going to talk to you 25 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,240 today. I need a microphone. 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,960 Amen guys, I'm going to talk to you today about devotion, 27 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,640 following Jesus with full devotion. 28 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,720 Before we get started and jump into this text, think about Mark 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,680 chapter 6 where that little boy brings his lunch to Jesus and 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,960 Jesus multiplies it, right? The little boy's faced with a 31 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:00,400 question, do I want 5 sandwiches or do I want 5000? 32 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,160 Right? He left his house. 33 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,880 Maybe his mom gave him that lunch before they left and 34 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:07,960 decided and said, hey, we're going to follow Jesus today and 35 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,800 and see what he's going to teach us. 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:11,880 We're going to go it with him wherever he goes. 37 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:16,240 And as a family, they set out and maybe with that little lunch 38 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,320 holding in his lunch pail or his bag or wherever he had it, he 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,040 didn't know what the significance of that was, right? 40 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,200 He's just thinking it's fish and loaves. 41 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:27,200 But Christ is thinking about him. 42 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,120 And Christ is thinking about using him as a lesson to feed 43 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,360 5000 people what seems so or over 5000 people. 44 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,680 Most commentators believe what seems so small and significant 45 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,760 to that boy when he was packing it up or his mom was packing it 46 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,760 up and giving to him had great, great potential and great 47 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,640 significance and great beauty. And that's why we love that 48 00:02:50,640 --> 00:02:53,000 story. And in today's story, very 49 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,320 similarly, there's some fish and loaves stuff going on. 50 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,080 And Joseph and Nicodemus and both of the Marys don't really 51 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,160 know what they're doing. They're just kind of packing 52 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:06,760 their lunch, you know, like that, that boy in Mark chapter 53 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,360 6, they're just doing stuff that they would have done before. 54 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,880 Not extraordinary things, but in this the story of God prevails, 55 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,800 and this the victory of God over our sin through God's 56 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,120 sovereignty is seen. And So what we see is 4 people 57 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,760 who are devoted to Christ, and what we see is at least three 58 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:33,280 different places in these passages that show us what 59 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,920 devotion to Christ looks like. And then lastly, we'll end with 60 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,160 talking about how to be devoted to Christ fully as we follow 61 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,400 him. So let's look at verse 57 and 62 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,400 58. It says when it was evening, 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,960 there came a rich man from Aratha Maya named Joseph who 64 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,480 also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for 65 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,840 the body of Jesus. So in 57 it says it's evening, 66 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,000 which means it's 3:00 to 6:00 PM. 67 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,400 Jesus died at three. He lift yielded up his spirit at 68 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,600 3. Sabbath starts at 6:00 PM on 69 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,640 Friday. So we know Sabbath is Saturday, 70 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,200 but they start celebrating it and and acknowledging it at 6:00 71 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,399 PM the day before on Friday also called the day of preparation. 72 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,399 So that's why it says it's evening even though it's 3:00 to 73 00:04:20,399 --> 00:04:24,240 6:00 PM. It says there's a rich man from 74 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,280 Airthemia. Rich man. 75 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,800 This rich man is Joseph, and Joseph is rich. 76 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,680 One of the ways we know that he's rich is that it says in 77 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,760 verse 60 that he laid Jesus in his own tomb. 78 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,800 So he had a tomb, and in that tomb he puts Jesus in it. 79 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,160 So if he has his own tomb and it's new, that shows us how rich 80 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,600 he is. But Joseph here is also a part 81 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,800 of the Sanhedrin. Now remember, this is different 82 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,160 from the Pharisees who often oppose Jesus. 83 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,960 The Sanhedrin were responsible to handing Jesus over to Pilate. 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,680 And the Sanhedrin were a religious group, but they were a 85 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:02,920 much more politically motivated group. 86 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,360 And that they were an evil group of Jewish individuals, Jewish 87 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:11,600 men who hated Christ and they wanted to silence him and they 88 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:13,200 wanted to kill him. And so they handed him over to 89 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,080 Pilate. Joseph is a part of that group. 90 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:22,280 But in Luke chapter 23, verse 50 through 51, it tells us that he 91 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,360 was not down with what his colleagues were down for when it 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,160 came to Jesus. They he didn't feel the same way 93 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,840 about Christ as his colleagues did. 94 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:37,440 And so in verse 57, it says that he was also a disciple of Jesus, 95 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:39,800 even though he was a part of Sanhedrin. 96 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,880 He's a disciple of Jesus. He's following Jesus. 97 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:47,560 Now in 58, it says he went to Pilate to ask for the body of 98 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,200 Jesus and Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 99 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:56,480 So in going to Pilate to ask for this body, he's, he's most 100 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,600 likely getting himself in trouble because Jesus was 101 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,000 technically killed for treason because the Sanhedrin told 102 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,360 Pilate that he's going around calling himself the king of the 103 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,840 Jews, which he wasn't. What is what is what does this 104 00:06:09,840 --> 00:06:19,240 show us in this meeting between Joseph and Pilate? 105 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,280 Let me slow down. That's the first point. 106 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,920 The meeting. We're going to see three places 107 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,040 that show us what full devotion to Christ looks like and the 108 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:31,000 first one is the meeting. This is the meeting between 109 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,960 Joseph and Pilate. Joseph wanted the body. 110 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,080 Why? Well, if you in the 1st century 111 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,880 and you were Jewish, you would know Deuteronomy 2123 which says 112 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,160 cursed as anyone that dies on the tree and if he dies on a 113 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,760 tree, take him down and bury his body that day so that the land 114 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,000 won't be cursed. So Joseph is a disciple of 115 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,440 Jesus, he's devoted to Jesus, he loves Jesus. 116 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:01,280 He's also just obeying the word of God as a man of God in his 117 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,160 community. So he goes to Pilate and says, 118 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,920 hey Pilate, it's actually against our Jewish law to let a 119 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:11,640 body hang overnight because in our in our mindset and in our 120 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,720 work, in our book, it tells us that that body is cursed and 121 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,360 it's going to curse the land if it lays overnight. 122 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,560 So he obeyed the word, not knowing it was actually a 123 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,480 fulfillment of prophecy. So Isaiah chapter 53, verse 9 124 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,600 says that the Messiah would be buried in a rich man's tomb. 125 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,960 Now that's written over 1000 years before Jesus is even on 126 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:35,880 the scene. So what's going on here? 127 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,760 In this meeting, the sovereignty of God is there. 128 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,920 In this meeting, the perseverance of the Saints is 129 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,080 there. Joseph is just obeying God, not 130 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,360 knowing the huge significance and the fulfillment of prophecy 131 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,680 in so doing. What does it mean to be devoted 132 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,840 to Christ? It means doing what God says, 133 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,560 even if I can't see the big picture. 134 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,600 Being devoted to Jesus means I've obey what God tells me to 135 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,120 do, even if I can't see the big picture. 136 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,760 That's Joseph. Now maybe Joseph knew Isaiah 53 137 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:12,320 verse 9 and he said, you know what? 138 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:17,360 I got to fulfill this prophecy. I got to go in a in a get Jesus 139 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,400 down from the crossing and put him in my tomb because I'm rich. 140 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,160 That is highly unlikely because the sadness around this, the 141 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,480 despair around this, all the stuff, the whole point of this 142 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,480 whole thing is that even though it is prophesied, everybody 143 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,320 missed it. Everyone missed it and Christ 144 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:37,880 knew what was going on the whole time. 145 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,480 He knew Joseph would take his body and put it in that tomb. 146 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,480 Following Jesus isn't about doing what's obvious. 147 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,800 In fact, following Jesus is not always going to be obvious. 148 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:54,560 An example of this is John chapter 13 verse 7 where Jesus 149 00:08:54,560 --> 00:08:58,600 says to Peter, as Jesus is washing the disciples feet and 150 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:01,880 Peter's like Jesus Rabbi, do you wash my feet? 151 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,800 And Jesus says you don't know what I'm doing right now, but 152 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,120 someday you will. One day you will. 153 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:09,200 You don't get it. You don't see the big picture 154 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,400 right now, but you will. What Jesus is telling Peter is 155 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:18,040 look, Peter following me isn't about what doing what's obvious. 156 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:23,080 In fact, sometimes God is going to call you into things and 157 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,040 elevate the things that you're doing and it isn't going to be 158 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,800 the, the, the obvious answer, the obvious way to go. 159 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:31,040 It's going to be a different way. 160 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:33,680 So let's look at the second place. 161 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:37,800 We see devotion to Christ in our passage today. 162 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,680 The 2nd place is the myrrh, the myrh in verses 59 through 60. 163 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,800 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen 164 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:50,800 shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in 165 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,840 the rock. And he rolled a great stone in 166 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,480 the entrance of the tomb and went away. 167 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,960 So you might be saying, where is the myrrh, Alex, in this? 168 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,560 If you look at John chapter 1939 through 40, it tells us that 169 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,000 another detail that Matthew leaves out for a good reason, a 170 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:10,680 reason that we don't really know today. 171 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,040 But John chapter 19 verses 39 through 40 introduced Nicodemus 172 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,840 and says that Nicodemus was actually there, the same 173 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,520 Nicodemus that came to Jesus that night, who asked Jesus, you 174 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,720 know, how do we become born again? 175 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,720 And Nicodemus is the one that actually brings myrrh and aloe, 176 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,080 it says in John chapter 1939 through 40. 177 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,760 This myrrh in the Jewish mind was a beautifully smelling 178 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:40,880 aromatic fragrance and in part of the embalming process, so 179 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,120 that the the body wouldn't decay right away, they would embalm it 180 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,160 with myrrh and aloes and other things. 181 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:50,680 And in the Jewish mind this was a picture of resurrection 182 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,680 because though the body might start to smell bad because of 183 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:56,520 the decay, the myrrh would overpower it and smell 184 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,880 beautiful. And it was a reminder that one 185 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,120 day we will rise. Now remember the Pharisees, they 186 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,960 believed in the resurrection and, and so did Nicodemus. 187 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,600 And so he brings the myrrh and they wrap it and they in a in a 188 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,280 clean linen shroud. But what's happening here? 189 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,520 Even though on the Jewish mind myrrh was a picture of 190 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,960 resurrection, they didn't really know Jesus was going to 191 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,560 resurrect. Jesus surprised everyone. 192 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,480 Being fully devoted to God means following Jesus, even if I don't 193 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,800 know the significance of where he has me or what he has me 194 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,600 doing. So they're wrapping Jesus in 195 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,960 this myrrh, a picture of resurrection, not knowing he's 196 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,840 going to resurrect. But what beautiful significance 197 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,040 was in their actions? And that's what look, that's 198 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:47,880 what being devoted to Christ is all about. 199 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,680 These guys are there when no one else is there. 200 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,720 These guys, these men show up when no other, none of Jesus 201 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,320 apostles show up. None of his disciples show up. 202 00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,560 These are two other Jewish men that show up to show their 203 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:07,240 devotion to Christ, but also to show us that loving Jesus is the 204 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,120 most important, the most satisfying thing that we could 205 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,040 do in our life. And being fully devoted to him 206 00:12:11,280 --> 00:12:15,800 means loving him, even if and specifically loving the body of 207 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,040 Christ. Remember, they're wrapping the 208 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,360 body of Christ who is the body of Christ, the church. 209 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,720 As men of God, as Christians, fully devoted, they are loving 210 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,160 the church. They're loving the body of 211 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:33,200 Christ, even if they don't know the significance of what they're 212 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:39,960 doing or why He has them doing it or where He has them in that 213 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:45,480 season or in that moment. Following Jesus is not always 214 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,440 going to be the big, bold, beautiful act of service, right? 215 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,360 It's going to be the mundane, ordinary things we've done a 216 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:57,600 million times, wrapping a body that is bloody, skin falling 217 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:02,080 off, you know, sweaty, just disgusting and dirty. 218 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,320 That's not a very big, bold, beautiful act of service that 219 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,200 Nicodemus and Joseph are doing, and most likely Mary and Mary 220 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,480 are helping out as well, commentators believe. 221 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,040 But it is a beautiful act of devotion. 222 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,240 Following Jesus is not just about, you know, leading worship 223 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:23,840 teams. It's about leading your family. 224 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:29,000 It's not about, you know, making sure the church gathering has a 225 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,640 Bible in front of every seat on every Pew. 226 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:33,440 It's also about making sure there's clean. 227 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:35,480 There's clean diapers in the closet. 228 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:39,040 We think that following Jesus and being devoted to him has to 229 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,680 be these big, bold, beautiful acts of service that everybody 230 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:46,360 can see and applaud. But God is calling you to the 231 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:52,360 mundane, obscure, unseen ways of, of, of loving him and, and 232 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,240 serving the body of Christ. Remember, they're serving 233 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,320 Christ, but they're also serving the body of Christ because 234 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,160 they're literally holding the body of Christ. 235 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,320 So when you look at your own church and your own church 236 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,760 community, the one of the if you are a parent, one of the biggest 237 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,040 ways that you can serve your church is by leading your family 238 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,400 well because the next generation of the church is in your living 239 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,960 room. What are the smaller ways that 240 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,840 we might be overlooking because we're so focused on the big, 241 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:22,960 bold, beautiful ways of serving God? 242 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:29,120 What are the smaller ways? Remember, Christ came to serve, 243 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,200 not to be served, and we still serve Him out of love and 244 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,880 thankfulness. But if our main goal is just to 245 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:38,440 serve Him, serve Him, serve Him, serve Him, we may be missing the 246 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:43,920 big picture because He came to serve us and out of thankfulness 247 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,520 we serve back, but not out of works. 248 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,360 Amen. The 3rd place that we see 249 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,360 devotion to Christ and what it looks like is the Marys. 250 00:14:55,520 --> 00:15:00,840 So we looked at the meeting in 57 and 58, we looked at the 251 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:06,360 myrrh in 59 and 60, but also the Marys show us what it looks like 252 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,320 to be devoted to Christ. And then we'll talk about how to 253 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,680 actually do this. In verse 61, it says Mary 254 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,200 Magdalene and the other Mary. We're sitting there sitting 255 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,760 opposite the tomb. Now what do we know about these 256 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:19,960 Marys? It's Mary Magdalene who had 257 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:24,640 seven spirits that God, evil spirits that God cast out, and 258 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,040 also most likely Mary the mother of James and Joseph. 259 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:31,120 Now we talked about this in the last episode, but Mary the 260 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,600 mother of James and Joseph. James was a disciple also known 261 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,240 as James the Less or James the Younger throughout church 262 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:43,800 history. Also Mary related to Clopus or 263 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,840 Alpheus mentioned in Matthew chapter 10 verse 3, and then 264 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,560 also the same Alpheus or Clopus. It's the same guy that is 265 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:54,840 mentioned on the Emmaus bound disciples story after Jesus 266 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:56,720 resurrects. What do we know about them? 267 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,360 We know that they are women of God. 268 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,440 We know that they love to serve. In the last episode, in the last 269 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:07,040 verses, it talked about them coming from Galilee and then 270 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,600 also ministering to Jesus throughout his three years of 271 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,560 ministry. And so do you think they would 272 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,880 just sit there while Jesus is lying there dead and Joseph and 273 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:17,200 Nicodemus are taking care of the body? 274 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:18,920 Of course not. They're going to jump up and 275 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,720 want to help as well, which is what most commentators believe. 276 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,720 What this shows us is that following Jesus or being devoted 277 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,600 to Jesus means following him, even if I don't know where he's 278 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,120 leading. Again, when it was when Jesus 279 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,840 was 32 or his second year of ministry and he's preaching and 280 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,080 teaching everyone's, you know, having a good time and they're 281 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,920 eating and they're, they're celebrating just the beauty of 282 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,600 the of the covenant, the new covenant in Christ coming, the 283 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,520 Messiah leading them out of sin. They weren't thinking about the 284 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,120 day Christ might die, even though he talked about it. 285 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,640 They may be thought of as a metaphor, but they didn't know 286 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,240 he was going to die like this. And so they're sitting there 287 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,760 outside the tomb watching their best friend, their leader, their 288 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,839 savior, their Lord dead, but they're still there. 289 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,800 Remember last episode we talked about how the women were present 290 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,400 but distant? That's starting to leave in 291 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,800 these verses. Not only they press, not only 292 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,560 are they present, they're less distant, they're drawing nearer 293 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,720 to God. If you're going to be devoted to 294 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,520 God, that means you're going to have to follow Jesus. 295 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,000 Even if you don't know where he's leading you, will you still 296 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,600 walk behind him? Will you still follow him? 297 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:40,520 Following Jesus isn't about knowing all the details. 298 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,920 It's about drawing near. Remember what James, the little 299 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,360 brother of Jesus says in in James chapter 4 verse 8, he says 300 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:50,960 draw near to God and he will draw near to you. 301 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:58,200 Now that is not a, what's it called conditional work 302 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,360 dependent on us, right? It's not. 303 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,960 What James is not saying is if I draw near to God, if I do that 304 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,880 work, then God will respond to me in my work and then draw near 305 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,320 to me. He's saying true children of God 306 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:14,640 who are already connected to God and close to God. 307 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:20,400 They don't stop there. They continue to press in and 308 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,760 the Chronicles of Narnia, one of the characters looking at the 309 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:29,120 Kingdom of God, looking at the Kingdom of Narnia, he says come 310 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:35,360 further up and further in. That's what eternity will be 311 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,880 like. Further up and further in, 312 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,720 higher up and further in, excuse me, into the presence of God, 313 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,360 pressing into who he is, drawing near to him. 314 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,480 True children of God do that. And the promise here is that 315 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:52,560 when they do that, once God gives them that new heart and 316 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,960 that new spirit, so they want to and they're willing to and they 317 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,800 can draw near the promises, God will draw near to them. 318 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,000 So how do we do this? Well, Philippians chapter one 319 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,640 verse 6 is a good verse to remind us that it is not a work 320 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,640 that we're doing. Being devoted to Jesus is not 321 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:13,840 about trying harder. It's about trusting. 322 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,800 So Philippians chapter one verse 6 says he who began a good work 323 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:22,640 in you will complete it all the way down to the day of 324 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,000 redemption. He will complete it. 325 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:28,480 Why He started the work. You didn't start it. 326 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,160 I didn't start it. He started the work inside of 327 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,240 us. And this work is a work of 328 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,320 creating a people for himself that are fully devoted to Him 329 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,680 that are free from their sins and love their Savior and love 330 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,560 their God. Psalms 119 one O 5 is another 331 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:48,600 reminder that shows us where we get the power to be devoted to 332 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,960 Him fully. It says your word is a light 333 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,280 unto my feet and a lamp into my path. 334 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,760 You guys might remember our Psalms 119 series that we did, 335 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,720 by far our favorite series that we ever did. 336 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,640 And he's saying, as I follow your word, which is, by the way, 337 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,320 what all the members of our story today are doing, Joseph, 338 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,400 Nicodemus, Mary and the other Mary, they're all following the 339 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,720 word. He might be saying, yeah, as I 340 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,280 get that because, you know, Joseph probably knew Deuteronomy 341 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,680 2123 about the hanging body on a tree and how you're supposed to 342 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:25,640 take it down that evening. It's more than that. 343 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,200 John chapter 1 tells us that Jesus is the word of God, and 344 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,400 they literally are following Jesus into the tomb. 345 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,280 They're following his body, carrying his body in the tomb. 346 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,280 They're metaphorically but also beautifully sovereignly 347 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,240 following Jesus to death, the word of God. 348 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,680 And the psalmist says if we follow the word of God, he is, 349 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,800 he is like a light into our feet so we know where to walk, we 350 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:54,760 know where to step so we don't trip. 351 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:58,440 He's also a lamp into our path. That doesn't mean these lamps 352 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,640 back then were these bowls that had this pinched top that could 353 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,760 hold a Wick and they were small. They gave off not a lot of 354 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,200 light, but only enough the light for what's in front of you. 355 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,360 You're not going to know your next step. 356 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,240 You're not going to know a few miles down the path. 357 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,040 You're going to know what's right in front of you. 358 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,640 If you're truly walking on the narrow Rd. if you're truly 359 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,480 walking with God, he doesn't give you. 360 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:25,840 He gives you enough light to light your feet, not to light 361 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,360 the highway. It's the feet. 362 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:34,200 So step faithfully knowing where He's taking you in with two 363 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,840 things. First one from from the culture 364 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,760 and then second from Scripture. Number one from the culture. 365 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,840 Disney's cars where Lightning McQueen meets Mader and Mader 366 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,120 shows him that he can drive backwards in reverse. 367 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:56,320 Lightning is really impressed by it and asked Mader, how do you 368 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,160 do that? How do you do that so well? 369 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,200 And Mader says an iconic line played by Larry the Cable Guy. 370 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,440 I don't need to know where I'm going. 371 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:06,960 I just need to know where I've been. 372 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:12,080 As you follow Jesus, you will not always know where you're 373 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,760 going. You just need to know where God 374 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:23,240 has taken you. Taking, not TAKTAKING, taken, 375 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,800 TAKEN. Where have you been? 376 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,040 Where has He taken you? What has He done in your life? 377 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,440 How has He showed His salvation to you time and time again? 378 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:35,720 You don't even know where you're going. 379 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:37,440 You just need to know where you've been. 380 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,440 The second thing I want to end with is something that I thought 381 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,280 was significant and yet fascinating here is it says that 382 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:50,720 Joseph is putting Jesus body in his family tomb and it's a new 383 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,000 tomb. So in these tombs they were cut 384 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,920 out of rock or like a cave like structure and they would have 385 00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:01,920 these rectangular spaces to lay the bodies and they would make 386 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,120 one for all the all the members of your family. 387 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,600 Scripture just told us this is a new tomb, which means there's no 388 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,800 bodies in it yet. Who is the first body in Joseph 389 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,360 of Erythemaea's family's tomb? Jesus. 390 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,800 We must let the first death in our family be Christ. 391 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,840 If we want our tombs to be empty, we must let the first 392 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,720 death in our family be Christ. The first body that was ever 393 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,400 going to lay in his family's tomb was Christ wasn't going to 394 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,520 stay there, but it's the first body to use it. 395 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,920 Ironically, because Jesus's body went into that tomb, none of 396 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,080 Joseph and his family and their bodies were going to stay in 397 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,320 that tomb because the Bible talks about something called the 398 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,280 resurrection of the Saints a coming day. 399 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:49,720 How ironic is that, that he didn't know. 400 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,520 Again, he didn't know the significance of what he was 401 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:54,960 doing. He was just devoted to Christ 402 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,240 and walking with him. Even when it didn't make sense, 403 00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,600 even when he couldn't see the big picture, even when he didn't 404 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,960 know why it mattered. He was being devoted to Christ 405 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:07,440 and showing his devotion to him and God and the sovereignty and 406 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,040 his sovereignty was already working. 407 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,720 This beautiful juxtaposition that because Jesus's body went 408 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,400 into that tomb, none of Joseph's family's bodies, we're going to 409 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,360 stay in that tomb and in your families and in your life. 410 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:28,640 May we look to the may the first death in our family be Christ as 411 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,720 I everyone in my family is going to die at some point. 412 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:34,000 My kids, I'm going to obviously die first. 413 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,720 God willing, my wife, everyone in my family is going to die. 414 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,280 But because I bring before my family every week, the death of 415 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:48,200 Jesus, Jesus's death is the first death in our family. 416 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:51,960 And he didn't stay dead, but as long as he was that first death 417 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,640 in our family, that means we will not experience death. 418 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,400 We will not truly die. So rest in that. 419 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,640 Think about that. That's where you get the power 420 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:04,800 to be devoted to him. And we pray that these three 421 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,080 places that we looked at today were very eye opening and 422 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,880 encouraging. Lord, we thank you so much for 423 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,920 the opportunity to hear Your word, to preach Your word, to 424 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,080 know Your word, to experience Your word, and to look at it in 425 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:20,480 a new light. And we pray God, that you would 426 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,000 just bless us and make this come home to us and transform us, 427 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,800 Lord, so that we might live fully free and fully devoted to 428 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:27,720 you. In your name we pray. 429 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,440 Amen. Amen. 430 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,480 This is the part of the episode called After the Amen where we 431 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,320 ask you a question to help you apply this message to your life. 432 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,360 Our question for you today is how does your life show full 433 00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,000 devotion to God? How does your life show full 434 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,840 devotion to God? I'll answer and then it'll be 435 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:53,000 your turn to answer honestly, whether it's in a notebook or 436 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:57,560 through prayer with God or maybe talking to a friend or leaving a 437 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:05,880 comment, which we love to read. Yeah, I think I struggled for a 438 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:11,080 few years. Like I wouldn't say I struggled 439 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,880 like fully submitting to motherhood, but I think I 440 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:20,080 struggled with like being OK that that was like where my full 441 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:27,480 devotion was what most of my time was spent doing because of 442 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:32,000 culture, because of even Christian culture of like always 443 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,080 pushing that we should like be doing more and we should be 444 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:41,240 building platforms or we should be like inspiring others outside 445 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,720 of our family and like discipling others, which there 446 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,600 is 100% of time and place for that. 447 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:52,200 But I think sometimes in motherhood when you're a mom, 448 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,160 like you can feel like, oh, I can't lose myself in motherhood. 449 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:01,560 I have to also be doing other meaningful things outside of it. 450 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,440 And God will give you wisdom and discernment on what that does 451 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,800 look like. But I think when I decided like 452 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:16,840 to fully devote myself to motherhood into fully see 453 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,960 motherhood as discipleship and devotion to God, because that's 454 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,440 what that's where he brought me like, you know, through 455 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,560 marriage. I think, I don't know if Alex 456 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,080 shared this in the podcast or if it was at church and like have a 457 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:37,480 pregnancy brain a little bit, but he was saying like that like 458 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,840 the natural, like we don't need children. 459 00:27:40,840 --> 00:27:43,040 A married couple doesn't need children, but that's like the 460 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,120 natural product of being married. 461 00:27:46,120 --> 00:27:49,680 That's the life that comes through from marriage is 462 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,000 children. And it's a blessing just like 463 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,000 the word talks about. And I've experienced that and I 464 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:03,080 agree with that. And yeah, I think that that is 465 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:09,480 just so true. And I think like just allowing 466 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,920 God to work in my life, like him leading us to marriage and me 467 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:16,920 saying yes, even though it was crazy. 468 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:21,040 And we had so much opposition from people in our church, not 469 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,040 because they didn't think that we were like godly, but just 470 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,040 because that we're so young. What about school? 471 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:28,920 It was all worldly things that they were concerned with, not 472 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,000 like our relationship with Christ or anything like that. 473 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,680 And just like being devoted anyway. 474 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,720 And then the natural product of that was children. 475 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:47,480 And just like the like doing what's right in front of you, 476 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,760 you know, like doing what he's like showed you. 477 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,520 And sometimes there's a longing for children and that's not 478 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:55,960 happening. And but like, what can we be 479 00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:02,160 doing in the meantime? You know, like sometimes we see 480 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,080 a glimpse in the future maybe of what we would love God to do. 481 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,760 But if that's not the reality, like how can we like fully 482 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,680 devote ourselves to him now? And I think once I learned that 483 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,800 and once I fully submitted to motherhood, like I was saying, 484 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:21,360 like I just reaped so much of the benefit and reward from 485 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,360 that. And it can be hard because it's 486 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,640 hard to see discipleship as if you're a first time mom. 487 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:33,000 Like it's hard to see like just the day-to-day, like changing of 488 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,600 diapers and taking care of your home and taking care of your 489 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:38,840 children and, you know, sewing into your marriage. 490 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,400 Like it could be hard to see that as discipleship because 491 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:43,960 there's not a lot of feedback yet. 492 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,480 Like your child isn't like you're at seeing like the fruit 493 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:54,000 of the Jesus loves you, Jesus loves me songs that you're 494 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,040 singing over them. Like you're not seeing you like 495 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,520 if they're grasping the gospel at all yet, but it, it, the 496 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,360 reward does come, you know, and then there's hard seasons and 497 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:06,640 you keep doing what's right in front of you. 498 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:13,360 And I, although it's hard, like I just, I feel so much purpose. 499 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:19,360 I feel so much like joy in that. And I don't feel lost. 500 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:24,640 And I think that is really pushed in like the lives of 501 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,520 parents. It's like, don't lose yourself. 502 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:28,680 Don't lose yourself. Like make sure you're like 503 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,400 making time for yourself and doing something that like makes 504 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,760 you happy and excited. And of course, take care of 505 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,120 yourself. Of course, you can do things 506 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,320 that you enjoy outside of motherhood or parenting or 507 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:45,200 whatever, but just this like pressure of like that, like 508 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:47,880 motherhood is not your identity. Like yes, it is your identity 509 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,920 like God, that is a great gift. And if that's like your season 510 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,360 and whatever it is, like your identity is first and foremost 511 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:59,320 like found in Christ. And so we don't get our like 512 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,640 worth and value from it, but it is who he's made you. 513 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,360 Like if he's called you to be a parent, like that is who you 514 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:07,080 are. And it will never change. 515 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:10,440 It'll look different once kids are adults, but like, it will 516 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,200 never change. And so just like fully embracing 517 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,200 that. And so, yeah, you might not be a 518 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,920 mother or a father, but he has you somewhere and just giving, 519 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:26,840 being fully devoted to him there and allowing him to work, you 520 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,520 know, like eventually he'll probably fulfill those longings 521 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,800 and desires that you don't feel like our reality right now. 522 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:46,040 But I love how you just kind of said like that the like death of 523 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:52,520 Jesus is like the first, you know, death that or yeah, the 524 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,720 first death in our families. But also at the very end there, 525 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:59,240 you were saying like the death of Jesus, like we don't have to 526 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,800 be like afraid of anything because of his death. 527 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,720 Like that's how we we become fully devoted to him because we 528 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:10,680 see like his full devotion to the Father and what that did, 529 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,840 like what we reap from that and being reconciled, but reconciled 530 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:18,000 back to the Father because of that full devotion he had. 531 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:24,960 And like, yeah, when we really look to the cross, really look 532 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,440 at the gospel, like there's no death that we might be 533 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:34,640 experiencing that we can't handle through him, you know, 534 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,440 like, because because we have him, because we, the 535 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,600 resurrection shows that like Alex always says, like the worst 536 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:46,160 thing is not the last thing. Like his death was the worst 537 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,440 thing for many people who experienced it face to face, but 538 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,960 then it wasn't the last thing. His resurrection gave them life, 539 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,480 gave us life, gave their those people who witnessed it like 540 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:02,320 their future generations life. And so it's a it's a beautiful 541 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,360 thing. And so when we look at that like 542 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:08,600 we, there's nothing that could come against us that is too 543 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,480 scary. And so whether it's a death of a 544 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,960 relationship, death of a dream, death of a career, death of a 545 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:19,360 place you live, your home, childhood home, maybe something 546 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,000 happened. You know, there's all of us are 547 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:28,520 going through something and it can feel like unbearable. 548 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:34,440 But his his death proves that it's not the worst thing. 549 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,280 And there will be resurrection, like Alex was saying. 550 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,920 And so just fully bracing what's fully embracing what's right in 551 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:49,760 front of you and just show if it's good, obviously, like, 552 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,200 yeah. And just allowing him to work 553 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:57,520 with him, yeah. Yeah, I agree that there's like 554 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,760 a difference between identity and like occupation or even 555 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,960 identity and a hobbyist, you know, like there's identity is 556 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,360 like who you are, right? Like the cop pulls you over ask 557 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:13,239 you identify yourself. You don't say I am a lawyer or I 558 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:15,880 am a grocery store clerk. You know, that's your 559 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,400 occupation. You say what you what your name 560 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,560 is, you know, and kids call you mom, kids call me dad. 561 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:27,760 That means my identity is apparent, you know, And then, 562 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,560 but kids don't call me. People don't call me skater, you 563 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,080 know, because that's a hobby. Or people don't call me preacher 564 00:34:34,199 --> 00:34:38,360 unless, you know, I don't know, that are encouraging me or 565 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,760 mocking me. But I think it's a way that we 566 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,440 identify ourselves as really important and we get that messed 567 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:46,880 up. Like your identity is not this. 568 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,440 Your identity is not this. And we forget what that word 569 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,880 actually means. And it's actually helpful. 570 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,480 Yeah, to have an identity, you know, it's helpful for us to 571 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,679 know that, wait, what am I doing? 572 00:34:56,679 --> 00:34:59,400 I'm a, I'm a dad. I don't need to be wearing that. 573 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,520 I don't need to be listening to that or doing that. 574 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,080 I'm a dad. But I was obviously, like you 575 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,040 said, the greatest identity is in Christ. 576 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,680 So, yeah, really good stuff. And yeah, that's something that 577 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,400 Lokelani's been saying a lot lately around the house is just 578 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,680 do what's right in front of you, you know, And I think that's the 579 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,000 kind of the way we've been framing this season of our life. 580 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:24,160 Have your new baby coming up #7 Leading house, church in our in 581 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,400 our garage, slash family room outside. 582 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:31,320 It takes one step at a time. It's not knowing what's what's 583 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,600 going to be like in five years. Well, it's good to have a vision 584 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,280 and a plan. We don't know what it's going to 585 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:37,880 be like in five years. We don't know what it's going to 586 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,440 be like in five days. And so taking it one day at a 587 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:44,760 time is the best way to live. It's the only way to live as a 588 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:48,600 narrow Rd., fully devoted Christian, and it's the way that 589 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,360 these people and our story live, and it's the way that the early 590 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:53,240 church lived and it's the way that we want to live. 591 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,560 And so, yeah, we pray that we would not allow social media, 592 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,360 the world influencers, to try to get you to plan too far ahead. 593 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,040 We're not talking about being irresponsible, but you don't 594 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,880 need to know what life's going to be like in five years, in 10 595 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:12,800 years and, you know, three months. 596 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:15,960 You just need to know where your feet are and where the word of 597 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,760 God is and just walk in that. You know, it's about following 598 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:23,480 him and trusting him, even if you don't know where he's why he 599 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:28,360 placed you, where he placed you or why he has you doing whatever 600 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:32,360 you are doing at the time. Just stay consistent and be 601 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,680 responsible with it. And so, yeah, may that be an may 602 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,080 that be an encouragement to you. It's definitely to us, 603 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:41,280 aimandpodcast.com if you want to learn more about us and if you 604 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,000 want to support us, you can also listen to this podcast available 605 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:49,400 everywhere you get your podcasts and like subscribe, pray for us. 606 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,720 All that stuff really means a lot. 607 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,280 If this blessed you and you know someone needs to hear it, tag a 608 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:59,000 friend, send it to a friend and follow us on Instagram to help 609 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,040 us reach more people on there as well. 610 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,360 But yeah, rate and review any of that stuff really just helps us 611 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,680 reach more people as well. We love you, we thank you, and 612 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,480 we'll see you the next one. Until then, go out and be the 613 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,040 church. Amen.