God’s Promises, Our Response

If you have ever tried faith like a quick experiment and walked away disappointed, we get it, and we challenge it. Dale brings a topic that rarely gets the attention it deserves: God’s promises in the Bible, not as a cherry-picked list, but as a real way of living. We talk about why it’s hard to even catalog biblical promises, why many of them include a response from us, and why God’s promises are far more personal than a “do this, get that” deal.

We unpack examples that cut straight to the point: seek and you will find, believe and you will be saved, come to Christ and you will find rest. Along the way we hit the tension a lot of people feel, especially skeptics, when God isn’t tangible. Why can we trust all kinds of things we cannot fully verify, yet struggle to trust the One who claims to be closer than family? We also talk about how easy it is to read Scripture like a wish book, build expectations instead of relationship, and miss the daily blessings we overlook when we only measure life by what hurts.

The conversation stays grounded in real life: being a light in small places, choosing patience with difficult people, and learning what “rest” can mean when your day is a storm you still have to finish. We close with two promises that bring steady hope: God supplying our needs according to His riches and glory, and Jesus’ promise to return.

If this brought you comfort or conviction, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review. Which promise are you standing on right now?

Transcript

Real Talk Before The Red Button

SPEAKER_05 0:40

Well, Dale, my friend, how you doing this week?

SPEAKER_03 0:43

I'm doing good. I'm doing real good. I'm just uh continuing job search, trying to upgrade more or less. But but you know what?

SPEAKER_05 0:53

I'm just gonna be true with the audience right now. This feels awkward. You know why this feels awkward? Because we're trying to fool the audience right now, because we've already had our hey, how you doing conversation. And then we're trying to do it for the audience. And it's like it's not as good.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

It's artificial.

SPEAKER_05 1:08

But I don't but I don't think uh the audience would have wanted to listen to us talk 15 minutes about writing. No, bubble we know we spend. Attempting to be writers, and so we were just trading some writing secrets and techniques and just trying to you know hash some stuff out about what we think is all of that stuff. Yeah, I had a couple questions for him, and 15 minutes later we're we're just now kicking this thing off. But yeah, yeah. So so it you know, when you're like, hey, how you doing? It's like I've already asked you how you're doing. Like now we get now we gotta now we gotta play for the audience, you know, so they think we're we spare you the heartache of hearing us talk about that. So yeah, so you know, so I just want to throw that out there. Like, yeah, we we do talk before we hit the little red button, and then sometimes, and then sometimes like, oh, we got a show to do. So yeah, I gotta hit the button, and then I gotta start off. Hey Dave, how you doing? I'm like, I know how you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 2:06

Yeah, you're doing good. Absolutely know how I'm doing. So likewise.

SPEAKER_05 2:13

Yeah, so I don't know, man. This this month keeps getting uh tighter and tighter, like lots going on. And as far as the uh moving in the house, like we're we're hoping in the next two weeks it finally gets real that we're gonna finally be able to start doing the actual move and uh see where all this is gonna see where life's gonna take us, you know.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

It's it's I think it's gonna be good for you guys. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 2:41

You know, I'm really looking forward to the office. Yeah. You know, that's one like to have my office back to maybe really be able to start writing again without being bothered or you know, always just trying to fit it in somewhere and just having my own space again.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

You should have a seven-year-old and try to find a space to write for anything.

SPEAKER_05 3:01

Anything. Yeah, you can't even go to the bathroom when you got a seven-year-old.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Yeah. That's that's so true for Connie. It doesn't change much, but she has huge patience for that because I'm not not the one. She ties her.

SPEAKER_05 3:17

Yeah, we just she'd work it on a whole other level.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Yeah, she's gonna come in and have a conversation with me while I'm in the bathroom. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, we're not doing that. But she'll come in and have a full-blown conversation with Connie, and I'm like, yeah, no, no, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:33

We're not my wife can do that to me when she's in the bathroom. She'll start, hey, and what do you think? I'm like, can this wait? I don't we can talk to face.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

I don't know, but yeah, they like they like doing that kind of thing. Yes, I like to focus. You don't really think it's something you should focus on, but I did. Oh my gosh. Okay, I'm just gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_05 3:59

It's like we're trying to get we're trying to get excited, you know. We're we're tired of is this gonna happen? When is this gonna happen? We want to start getting excited, like, okay, we can move now, we can start planning the you know the next step of our lives as far as you know getting in there. And like I said, I'm I'm I'm trying to picture my office how I want it, but at this point I forget even what the room looks like. It's been so long. So I'm like, until I get in there, I can't really plan too much. And it's just like with everything else, it's like, yeah, we want to start trying to, you know, plan where everything's gonna go and how we're gonna do things, and it's just like waiting, waiting, waiting.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Yeah, we're in the waiting, which yeah, and with with me and and Connie and Elsa um and pretty much anybody in our circle right now, we're just kind of trying to gear up for for the fall because summer and for all intents and purposes in my mind is over. It's over. We've got we've had a lot of cloudy days that won't let the you know, won't let the sun come through. So it feels like it's just it's waved goodbye. We've had like storms the last two or two or three days. So I'm like, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:17

I mean, you know it's gonna get really, really hot one more time. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you can't. If we don't see some more 100 degree days before this is all I'll be surprised.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

But there'll be those, there'll be those summer days that you kind of have to cherish because you know they're gonna be few and far between because Ohio will generate what it always does is that blistering cold winter. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:43

I mean, uh when I leave the house now at 5 30, it's pretty much dark now. That time of the summer where you walk out and it's almost daylight, it's over with. Yeah. So that to me is another part of that. I'm like, oh, because I I enjoy that a lot when I can go out and the you know, birds are chirping and the sun's coming up, but that's like over, it's dark.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

Yeah. Well, there was a part in the summer where around 10 it's still light out.

SPEAKER_05 6:10

Yeah, and that's over with.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

And that's long gone now. Yeah. So, you know, I'm we're just kind of trying to button everything down, you know, get the house in a in a situation where when when things start to cool off that we're we're happy with with what we have going on indoors, and because pretty soon you're not gonna be because I'm a in winter, I'm a bear. I I hibernate. I don't I don't go too many places. Yeah. So you wanna be comfortable in your den.

SPEAKER_05 6:48

So 6 30 is late.

SPEAKER_03 6:50

Yeah, and so too late. Yeah, so I just I just wanna get everything where I am not moving a bunch of books off the off the bed or I'm not whatever. So just kind of getting everything situated for when when fall comes and then winter and all of that stuff. Cause I'm a I'm a spring and fall person, but I don't get too much of either one of those. The leaves change like really quick and then it's over, and then spring. I think we get like a week of spring, and then it's into the blazing hot summer.

SPEAKER_05 7:29

Yep, the humidity shows up and yeah, it's over. I get it, yes. Yep. Well, Dale, you're in the lead tonight. You are then in the lead.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

That's a first. I've never led anything. No, no, I'm sure that's not true.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

No, I've I've led a couple of things. Nothing.

SPEAKER_05 7:52

Well, we were we were throwing ideas around after the last episode, and uh, so you brought to me this idea that nobody really talks about all the promises, all God's promises in the Bible. Um now, there's no set list of these promises, not like you're gonna go to the Bible and see one through 8,725. Uh so to get into the word and find all these promises and study them is is a little challenging. So it makes sense that not many people spend a lot of time talking about them because it's

Why God’s Promises Get Overlooked

SPEAKER_05 8:29

a little bit of a complicated subject, it's all extensive. Yeah, absolutely. But you so you brought this idea up to really uh have an episode where we just focus on some of the uh promises that God has made to us. And I thought, well, you know, yeah, that's absolutely something that not too many people talk about. Um and when you when you Google it, if that's the route you choose to take, um it's it's an endless, you know, it it's an endless list. It is. And I think when I Googled it, it said like four thousand something odd promises. Yeah. And you had mentioned to me like over eight thousand.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Yeah. And uh according, because I Googled it as well, and it says it depends on what you are considering as a promise. Yeah. Because so it can go four thousand, five thousand, eight at the at the most like eight thousand some odd promises. But I took I took the eight the eight thousand, but that doesn't that doesn't really uh that doesn't really matter because what I was concerned with or what I wanted to talk about was that very few people, myself included, know what all the pro these promises are in the Bible. I doubt very seriously. I'd be amazed if you found somebody and said, recite all the promises of God in the Bible and they just start rattling them off. I doubt very seriously if there's anybody like that. Um but all of those promises are important, but the thing I wanted to to touch on was that there are almost no promises in the Bible that don't come with a requirement. So it's it's a promise, but either at the beginning of that promise or at the end of it is a requirement from us. It's it's like, and I have a couple, and it's like uh Deuteronomy uh 429, it says uh if we search for him, we will find him. Okay, the promise is we will find him. The requirement is we search for him. If you don't search for him, you ain't gonna find him. So people are like, Where's God at? Where's it, you know. You're not you're not seeking him, you're not looking for him, you're not gonna find him. And that's one of his promises. You you're not gonna look for me, you're not gonna find me. It very is a very simple thing. And then there's uh Romans. Uh God promises salvation to all who believe in Jesus. Salvation. But to all who believe in Jesus. You don't believe in Jesus? You know salvation. And and and everybody tries to make like God is complicated. He's not. That's cut and dry. As far as I'm concerned, whenever he talks about promises, they're fairly cut and dry. There may be other language in the Bible that you'll read and you'll be like, what do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? But when it comes to promises, the promises are almost pretty straightforward. It's like you do this, you get this. You don't do this, you don't get this. And um like I say, I have I have a few of my favorites, and then one is not really directed to us, it's directed

Promises With Conditions And Examples

SPEAKER_03 12:17

to the thief on the cross. And it is, um, this day you'll be with me in paradise. And the reason that's one of my favorites is because all he did, the thief on the cross, was believe. And so that's all it takes. That's what God was trying in in my mind, what God was trying to explain is that if you believe, if you believe in me, you will be with me in paradise. And that that went out to all of us.

SPEAKER_05 12:57

He said it to the thief, but it's for all of us, and that's why I was like, Yeah, it just didn't pertain to to the thief at the time, like, oh, this is your promise. Yeah. Yeah, it's universal.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah, because it was I've got a frog in my throat all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_05 13:16

Yeah, but he wasn't taking Jesus wasn't taking pity on him.

SPEAKER_03 13:19

No, he was saying, You believed on me, and because you believe on me, yeah, you'll be with me in paradise. That same that same promise applies to us, even though he was speaking it to the thief on the cross, that was for all of us. Because it said, Whosoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life. It's the very same thing. He's saying the very same thing. If you believe in me, this day you'll be with me in paradise. And so that's an exciting thing to me. To be all I have to do is what I've been doing, which is I believe in God. I believe that Jesus died and rose again, and I believe that He has all my sins covered. The new ones, the old ones. But just because I make new sins, that's why we repent daily. Because one day that you do a sin and you're like, I'm good to go. He's he's forgiven me for everything. No. That doesn't give you a license to then just run around and do whatever you want to do. Yeah. You're covered, but you have to live that life.

SPEAKER_05 14:36

And that's why I wanted to say, you know, you can't look at this as a grocery list. You know, you can't a lot of things we do in life of like, oh yeah, I'll get out a piece of paper, I'll I'll make an I'll make some notes, uh, I'll make a list so I don't forget anything. Um and then all I gotta do is go out and pick up these items, and this will happen. So it's all these promises to me, it's not so much about here's what you will receive, here here's the reward for that. It's more that all these promises are designed to draw you closer.

SPEAKER_03 15:16

Absolutely. And that's what I was um that's what I meant when I was saying there's a requirement. The requirement is what draws you closer.

Diligence Beats One-Time Expectations

SPEAKER_03 15:27

It's like this is what you have to do to get here. And when you do what what's asked of you, and then you you you receive that promise, or you begin to feel like you're receiving that promise, you are drawn closer to him. You're like, I, you know, I'm diligently seeking you. I read my Bible every day, I talk to my pastor, I do, you know, I do whatever it is you do that you weren't doing before to have a relationship with Jesus, that brings you closer. Everything you do that is pleasing in the sight of the Lord brings you closer to Him.

SPEAKER_05 16:10

Yeah. Because I think a lot of non-Christians look at this as, well, these guys got like a bucket list. And they feel like there's we put ourselves on a pedestal because we've we've checked all the boxes. You know, so it's this, or this this bucket list. And and I think a lot of people, and it may be fair to say that a lot of people can look at that and say, well, all that's not realistic. Like I can't look at that as being realistic. Like, if you do this, then God's gonna do this. Well, they're thinking, like, well, okay, well, I did it yesterday and it didn't happen. You know, I've been, you know, I got into it for a week and nothing happened. A lot of times I feel like that's the attitude um that that people have if they're a non-believer, is just like, these guys are just a there this is just a bunch of and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

I know what you're you're you're trying to say, but this is that's the kind of thing that sometimes bothers me as a Christian because there is a a term that I use frequently from the Bible, and that is diligently. Yeah, diligently isn't a day, diligently isn't a week, diligently is committing it to a lifestyle, to be that's who you are. And when you are and people are like, Well, I did this yesterday and nothing happened, or I've been talking, you know, uh more about God and great things.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

Yeah, or I did this, I did this, but something bad happened yesterday. The um the opposite thing happened of what I expected.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

No, life is still gonna have its trials, but you are you are seeking God. You're not and there are no excuses. It was like I tried this, I tried this yesterday and it it went backward. I tried it the next day and things were okay, or I tried it the day after that and it was nothing really. It wasn't any good, wasn't any bad. But I will always say this when somebody says nothing good happened to me. I'll say, like you're breathing. How many, how many breaths in a day? And you're never guaranteed anything. Yeah, did you count them? How many breaths in a day? How many, you know, how many accidents did he he turn away from you?

SPEAKER_05 18:44

How many accidents did you read about that day and it didn't involve you?

SPEAKER_03 18:48

None of them involved you. Um How many times did your kids come home from school safe and sound? How many, you know, you can go on and on and on and on. And then you want to say, well, I've been I've been reading my Bible and nothing's happening. I'm still I'm still jobless, I'm still whatever. You are still drawing breath, you are still in the presence of the Almighty, and any day and every day can change. There was two weeks. And it's not that's no, that's not a long time. There are two weeks when I was without a job. But I know God. I know God, and I know that whenever that situation happened, something's gonna come, something's gonna come. And now I'm still now I'm staring at possibly being my third possible employer. So I'm like, diligently seek him and don't underestimate the Lord.

SPEAKER_05 19:50

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you and I think sometimes, you know, it's like when you have a child and and you say, Um, this weekend we're gonna go to the movies. So when you tell that to a child, you might as well have said, I promise you we're gonna go to the movies. Oh, yeah. But then if something happens and you're like, I'm sorry, we can't go to the movies, it's like, you promised. Yeah. Because it didn't happen, it didn't happen in the exact moment that they have set in their minds. And sometimes, again, I think for the non-believer, that's how they look at it as okay, you told me to read this part of scripture. I read it, and okay, so now I expect it to happen. But again, like you said, there was no diligence in it. The only thing you had going for you was your expectation. You expect this to happen because somebody told you so. And to me, it's like, okay, you're missing the point of the promise. This is this is a process, this is a relationship. Again, where he's trying to draw you closer. So he's asking you to put your trust in him, all your trust in him. And these are the things that if you can, if you can build the relationship and the trust, these are the things that will come to pass in your life. I'm not saying like here's the date and the time and the you know Well, it's like it's like a it's like a house.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Like say you're a carpenter and you decide, you know, I'm gonna build a house. You put one board up. It's like I put one board up, but the house is incomplete. No, it takes more more than one board to build the house. So in the same way with your faith, it takes more than than one day, it takes more than one favorite verse, it takes more than, you know, you having an idea of what you want. It takes a willingness to do whatever the Father is is calling you to do. It takes a willingness to be in your word and and draw understanding. It takes, you know, I'm gonna go out and in the community, great things. Well, what is that doing to build your relationship? Because it doesn't always doesn't always mean you're in relationship with him because you're trying to show him, look, I did this, I did this, I did this, what do I get? Yeah. And and that's not the way it is. It's like I did this to glorify you. I will do this tomorrow to glorify. You. I will do this forever to glorify you. I am not going to look for that promise. I'm going to stand on the promise, but I'm not going to look for any specific thing to come from God because He is God all by Himself. And I'm not worthy to beg for anything from Him, to demand anything from Him. Because He's He's who He is without me. And He He made me. And because He made me, I I rejoice in that. Because no matter it was it was hard for me when I was when I was younger to rejoice in what God had done for me. Because I would I always felt punished. Because I'm always I'm always bringing it up. I always, you know, too short, too, too dumpy, too slow, too whatever. Um like I never felt like I had enough of all the things that that I had. I I like to sing. People would tell me, you know, you sing really good, but I never sang good enough to be like I would be like a Michael Jackson or nothing like that. Yeah. So it wasn't it wasn't enough. Yeah. And so then you start to understand God gave me enough of what I do have. He gave me enough of those skills that I do have that I affect people regardless. I mean, I I don't know how many people that I know just because I worked at Mako's. That's not a big deal. But they come in and they'll come in and see me in different places and smile and hug, and they're happy to see me. And I affect them in a positive way. And sometimes for people that's not enough to understand that who you are to uh to other people, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven. We forget that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:42

Because Yeah, but some people think if you're not on the world stage, then you're not important.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Yeah,

Let Your Light Show In Small Places

SPEAKER_03 24:47

you're just not doing it. Yeah. It's like, you know, and that's nothing could be further from the truth because the small stage is just as important. That that little old lady that sees you, and every time she sees you, she gets a great big smile because she knows you're going to help her out. Like I I used to, this one lady would come in tomatoes, and um she was a kind of feeble old lady, and I would help her help her out with her groceries, I'd take take them out and everything to her car, and then get out there, and we'd have seriously like a five-minute conversation about stuff, and she'd leave with a smile, and she'd be happier than when she came in. And so we should always want that. We should always want whoever we we contact to be happier after leaving us than when they first came.

SPEAKER_05 25:40

Yeah, I had a lady, you know, because I I bag groceries at IGA as a kid and as a teenager, and you know, right, yeah, down to old Clay Lane. Right. And uh had this woman come in and just mean as a snake. Mean as a snake to everyone that crossed her path. Just like nobody could, nobody could do anything good enough for this lady.

SPEAKER_03 26:01

Except a little Nikki off holder.

SPEAKER_05 26:03

Yep, that's right. And it was like I knew she was mean as a snake, I accepted that fact. I would agree with anybody that she has the worst disposition and she's just looking to strike. Just give me any reason to strike because if you didn't ring that up correctly, uh if you don't bag it correctly, and but I just went into that like I am going to make this woman like me. Like I'm gonna, despite her mean disposition, I I'm gonna do I'm gonna make I'm gonna make her yeah, I'm gonna make her happy. And there her thing was is she like you can only put cans in a bag, and you could only this is like how bad it would get. Like you could only put so many cans in the bag, and you can only put certain things on top of it, you can only group certain things together, and she always wanted one brown bag to be set down inside of another, so she always wanted two bags for every you know, food that you would have. And so I just took it as a challenge. Like, okay, I'm gonna remember what she likes, what she doesn't like, and I'm gonna make sure that I double bag it. And it got to the point where she would request me, even if I was in the back and somebody else was up front, she wanted me to do it. Yep. And we didn't even know it. Like, I it's like, yeah, I got in her good graces, and she would actually then talk to me, small talk, and ask me how I'm doing, how ask me how school's going. Uh, and she would actually kind of laugh and smile a little bit, and but that's the only time you would see this lady do it. And it's just like it just teaches you a lot about you know human nature, and you never really know what people got going on in their head and why they do what they do. I I can't say why she was mean as a snake to everybody else, you know. But she it was maybe she just tested everybody. Maybe she had just had maybe she had such a high standard of herself that she put it on other people. And if that didn't reach her expectation, then that's just the way that she handled it. Yep. Um so and most of the time, of course, people would lash back. If she, you know, lashed at them, they'd lash back. Where me, I was like, oh, you didn't like that? Okay, well, next time I'll go. Next time I remember to do that, you know, and I did. And so it got to the point where, yeah, you know, we got we got along pretty good. And everybody would just kind of shake their heads like, what's going on? Yeah, yeah. That's you know, that's human nature sometimes. Um and I, you know, and what I wanted to say about these promises is that um God loves us, right? And he gives us all these promises. But he never asks, if you think about it, yes, he gives us the Ten Commandments, yes, he instructs us on how to live our lives. But I don't think at any point in the Bible He says, Yo, promise me, promise me you won't

Agape Love And Coming Back Home

SPEAKER_05 29:17

do this. Promise me you will do that. It's like his love is is so divine for us that he doesn't exp he doesn't expect us to promise, even though he gives us a level of expectation, but he never says like promise me or else.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Well, his his love is a love that that none of us uh are capable of having because his love is agape. And that means without you know, without uh demand. There's no there's no expectation on his love.

SPEAKER_05 29:52

Yeah, his promises are like draw you in.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah, it's like it's you could slap him, I wouldn't recommend it, but you could slap him and his love doesn't fade, it doesn't diminish. It's still, I love you. I'm not happy with what you just chose to do, but I still love you. You can say a cross word to somebody down here, and that's the end of your relationship. That's the end of they don't want to they don't want to deal with you.

SPEAKER_05 30:21

And this could be somebody, this could be uh a parent, yeah, a brother, a sister. Yeah, and if you have one argument that just goes really sideways, it might be the last conversation you have.

SPEAKER_03 30:33

How many people say, and I we hear it regularly, all of us, you know, I have me and so-and-so haven't spoken for 20 years, or you know, and and those things, and I find that unbelievable, even though there are probably some family members I'm coasting toward that number with. Right. And not not by my choice, but that's another story. But um we don't we don't stop and think about what we ruin. And in in God's mind, he's like, I'm not willing to let that go. You can you can be who you are with me, but that does not mean I'm not gonna love you. Yeah, and I'm going to give you these promises, and when you follow these pro when you follow these requirements, this promise will be there for you. And that promise requires the the diligence and determination, and it determines it, it depends on your love for him. You have you have to let go of wanting God to love you because he already does. You have to let go of wanting him to love you and focus on loving him, focus on all those blessings he's given you already. Yeah. Those those breaths I was talking about, those uh days of safety, those days of your your family coming home in one piece. Those are those are countless blessings that we take for granted every day. When my my daughter, Elsa, comes home and uh she comes through the door, I don't really think about it. I don't like, you don't she's home safe and sound. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 32:18

Take it for granted, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Yeah, you we all do. It's like and I'm not saying I do every day, because there are some days when she'll come home and she'll look at me and I'll be like, I love that little girl, and I'm so blessed to have her. But for the most part, it's hey, go in, brush your teeth, blah, blah, blah. On with your day.

SPEAKER_04 32:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

But all of that's provided by the Lord above. And we don't we we're quick to crucify him over the troubles of our day. Yeah. But we are so slow to give him praise for those things he's done for us. Yeah. Have a long-lasting marriage or whatever. Yeah. And we just don't we don't lay that at his feet.

SPEAKER_05 33:05

Well, it's just a love that is be is beyond our human understanding. Because there'll be a lot of people in your life, you'll screw up, you'll do something you know you shouldn't have done, and and somebody will say to you, Promise me you'll never do that again. And when you hear it, you're like, Okay, I promise. But but then as a human being, like, let's face it, how many times do you actually mean it when you say I promise cheap? I promise I won't do it again. You see, and and let's just say, okay, yeah, there's plenty of situations where guess what? You do it again. And then you're at the point where somebody can't forgive you because you promised them you would never do it again. God's love isn't that way. No, and that's hard for us humans to understand. Like, okay, this isn't just you know, husband and wife can love each other and make promises to each other. That's one kind of love. But it ain't on it's God's love is on a whole other level.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Oh, absolutely, and it's just um it's comforting to know that at least to me, that I could fall away from God. I can fall as far as as I want to fall away from him. And when I'm ready to come back, he's he's always right where he always was.

SPEAKER_05 34:25

Yeah, and when you were talking about, you know, there's things that you mention all the time, things you can never get over, like being short and stuff. Well, my problem always was like I always like I'm I was always upset when I felt like things were being taken away. Like I had this great childhood, and then my mom gets sick, so something got taken away from me. Right? So then I get married at a young age, and then the marriage fails, so something got taken away from me. Uh, you know, both my parents are gone, so those relationships have been taken away from me. So some that's sometimes been my struggle is I know how good God has been to me, and then something will get taken away from me. And I'm instantly like, okay, I don't get that one.

SPEAKER_03 35:05

Yeah, it's like a rising tide with you.

SPEAKER_05 35:07

And then and then I'm like, okay, he got me over that hump, and now okay, I'm in a place in my life where I'm comfortable again. Oh now he took that away. I don't get that. And so then you get to the point where, like, as I've said before, all right, I'm gonna do it my way now. Because I don't understand why you would give and take it away. You know, you just don't understand. Um, but as you get more spiritually mature, then you start to you start to understand. You start to you start to understand that no matter what happens, God, God is still the driving force in your life. It's like once you're to me, it's like once you're in, you're in. Like God isn't God isn't gonna quit pursuing you, as we talked last week about seeking. God isn't gonna stop looking for you. I I think I mentioned I said, you know, when you're lost and you don't know where to go and you have no idea where you are, what's the one thing you're hoping for? You're hoping that somebody comes and finds you. You know, I whether you're six years old or whether you're 30 years old, you're hoping somebody will find you. Yeah, yeah. And I think it's that way with God. It's like He's not gonna stop, He's not gonna stop looking for you. He's like that parent that your child has gone missing, and that parent is never gonna stop looking for you, even if every other, you know.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Yeah, every other thing.

SPEAKER_05 36:34

If all the facts line up, like, okay, this kid's gone, like your child's gone. He's there, that parent will still, to the day they die, either expect their kid to come home or they'll still be looking for it.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

They need that closure.

SPEAKER_05 36:46

And that's but that's how God pursues us. I mean, it's like he's never gonna stop looking for you. So again, for me, it was always, oh, you know, let me let me try to do this on my own. And then you realize, like, oh yeah, that's that's not the way this works. But when you when you come back, it's like he's like, okay, yeah, well, this is your this is your third time. So now you don't get all the promises. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't work that way. Like they're all still there, like everything he's always promised you is still right there in its place. Yeah, you know, he doesn't put you like he doesn't put you from the gold level to the bronze level.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

You don't fall back, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:27

I mean, we're the ones, we're the ones that fall back. Yep. You know, we're the human beings, we're the ones that, you know, Jesus Christ died for. We're the ones that fall back. Yeah, God doesn't fall back like that. He just doesn't. But sometimes as as we've started this conversation out, it would seem to us, based on our own expectation, that he does fall back.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

Well, and and also we have our we have our own feeling, and we we feel differently than the Lord. And that's uh for for whatever reason. And a lot of people say, well, Adam and Eve and blah no, that's that's part of it. But just as human nature, we we don't have the mind that God has, and so we get in our feelings about everything, and it's no different with God. We we get in our feelings with Him. We're like, Well, I've been doing this for X amount of years, and nothing's ever changed, and He's never been there for me, and blah blah blah, and and just throwing ourselves a great big huge pity party. And God at that that very moment could be sitting there going, I don't need this. But he doesn't, he extends his hand instead, yeah, and and like I don't know how many times I've been in a situation, and I'm like, why are you doing this to me? You know, I've I've been good, you know, and and we do, we make you know, make all the bargains or whatever. I've been good, I've been, you know, reading my Bible, and sometimes we think that reading it is understanding it, and you can read the Bible and not understand it. So I read my Bible. Like, yeah, but you're not committing any of it to your heart, you're not living it. So, but we don't think that far. Yeah, we think it was like a reading the Bible.

SPEAKER_05 39:32

Just an instruction manual or yeah, reading it or good enough, yeah, you know, or a wish book.

SPEAKER_03 39:37

Yeah, just yeah, it's like my you said that made me think of when I was little and had those series and roadblock Christmas catalog.

Relationship Over Proof And Control

SPEAKER_03 39:47

It's a very, it's the very same thing because that that was the kid's Bible. Yeah, you know, open that up and you see all those toys in there, and you're like, my mom would have a circle, one toy that we wanted. And we're like, whatever it is, you know.

SPEAKER_05 40:01

Come on, now you know you circled more than one.

SPEAKER_03 40:03

Oh, I circled more than circle three things. No, don't get me wrong because we had we had ten.

SPEAKER_05 40:11

I can't get to circle something else, so you know, you're like, okay, well, I'll give you three other options.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

Little Dale was like circle.

SPEAKER_05 40:24

You're circling the whole page.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

I'll take that one and the big bike, yeah, and the talking robot. Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, and and we're like that. We look at the Bible sometimes and we think, well, I I read the Bible and I do all these things, but you don't build relationship. And it all it uh in a lot of our our podcasts, it comes back to that. You're not building relationship, you're building expectations, you're building um goals, and God is not about goals, not as God's not, oh, you prayed for 345 days, you're at platinum status. Yeah, it's like a correct. Yeah, it's that's not how it is.

SPEAKER_05 41:13

Why do you think it's so hard for people who don't believe that are where they're mulling this thing over? Why do you think it's so hard for them to look at this as a relationship and not this uh instruction manual or commitment? You know, this like they're signing a contract, like oh, if I commit to this and I can't do this, this, and this, and it's just like I said, it's just instructions on a page, and this is how these people are trying to control me and make me live. Why do you think it's people are uh have such a hard time uh seeing that this is a relationship?

SPEAKER_03 41:58

I think a lot of it has to do with the invisibility of God because a lot of us have a hard time believing in something we can't see. We we feeling if we're if we're honest, when you look at a sunset, I'm always bringing up, you know, the glories that God puts on display daily and nightly, but um you don't see them. It's not like I'm sitting here talking to you, yeah, and you say, Well, tomorrow I'll I'm I'm gonna pick you up at eight o'clock, and you know, it's tangible. Yeah, it's tangible, and and that letdown, at least if like you don't show up at eight o'clock and we don't have breakfast, that's tangible. I can call up and say, Hey, where were you? But uh an all-seeing, all-knowing God, you're not gonna have him right there in front of you. But what people don't realize is he's inside, he's closer than that. I I'm closer than a brother. And so he's closer than anyone could ever be, but we we put that wall of selfishness up, and we put it it's hard to accept that somebody is looking out for us in that in that way, that somebody, their whole heart and soul is in nothing but making sure that we're okay. And a lot of us will be like, well, he's never been there for me and putting putting that wall up when he has. He's been there.

SPEAKER_05 43:40

You've just it's just hard for me to fathom how an atheist can strap on a parachute and jump out of a plane and trust and trust that parachute to this device, trust this device so much that you're willing to jump thousands of feet out of the clear sky and hurdle towards the ground. Yeah. But they can't like give this thing a chance. They they can't give this relationship a chance.

SPEAKER_03 44:06

Well, all the things that man can do now you have with like AI and all this other stuff that that man can do, but we can't believe in an all powerful being forming us out of the dust, breathing the breath of life into us, setting us on a on a path of righteousness, and still being there at the very end of our life and everybody else's life, saying, saying, Come home. You're like, yeah. I set you out there to do great things. The Bible says, greater things than this shall you do. So it's tough. When your parents have an expectation of you, you know, it's like, oh, he's gonna go to college, he's gonna get his degree, he's gonna be a doctor, and he's gonna marry a beautiful woman. And all those things, those are hard expectations. But your father in heaven has even harder expectations because his expectation is for you to love your neighbor as yourself. His expectation is for you to demonstrate the love of God, to demonstrate the love of Jesus. And in a world like we live in now, that's that's difficult. And so it's easier to say, this is too hard, I'm gonna stop. This is this is uh I don't believe. I don't believe. I I've pushed and I've pushed and I've pushed and I don't believe. I'm just gonna let it go. And that in my mind is crazy. I'm sorry, that's when somebody tells me that they don't believe in God, I I look at that as a person that either one is super, super not smart. I know that's not like the literary way to say it, but it's because how can you wake up? And I I say this all the time, how can you wake up? Something completely out of your control, waking up. You are not in control. Once you close your eyes and you are sound asleep, it is up to the good Lord Almighty whether you open them again. So, how can you wake up, put your feet on the floor, put your eyes to the sky, and not feel that he's out there. You know, I mean, it's just it buggers my mind.

SPEAKER_05 46:41

I mean, if you're in a deep sleep and a thief breaks into your house, you are at his mercy.

SPEAKER_03 46:47

Yeah. And or her mercy. We don't want to you women are perfectly capable of being burglars. But yeah, you're you're you're at their mercy. And so it's God that says, thief pass by, you know, day or rise up for another day. It's the Lord that determines that stuff. And when He gives you a day, use it. Don't sit there and gripe about on my back or oh this and my kids don't know. Go out and use your day. Your kids don't love you. Give one a call. Say, hey, you know, I know we've been on rough terms, whatever. Um, can we have coffee? Whatever. You know what I mean? Just and I'm not talking to anyone in particular, but as you go through your day, there are things you can do, there are behaviors you can exhibit because who knows? In that one moment when you say, Hey, can we have coffee? that person on the other line is like, you're right, God. I I said if my my dad or my so-and-so, my significant other called me, I'd I'd give them a shot. So I'm gonna do it. So you may be affecting your Christian relationship and theirs. You don't know because the Lord moves in mysterious ways. And He He has determined what will and won't be. Not us. He has determined it's all in that book that we keep wanting to read and understand, but it all begins with believing his promises and living for him, not living for the promise, living for him.

SPEAKER_05 48:40

Are there some particular promises that you personally live by that you hang on to more than others? Is there one that really stands out for you without having to go look it up? You know, like one that really keeps coming back to you.

SPEAKER_03 48:59

Well, the one there's one that I I don't know if I call it hang my hat on, but it's a for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And it's not a it's not a promise, but it's something that

The Bible Can’t Be Boxed In

SPEAKER_03 49:17

I hold as a promise because it means in my head that no one is better than you, Dale. No one is worse than you. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So you're not better than that person down the street, they're not better than you. You are equal in the sight of the Lord. So live your life, live your day on equal footing with them. Treat them the way you want to be treated, have them treat you the way you want to be treated. Don't don't take a back seat to anybody and don't sit in the front seat in front of anybody. You are equal. You strive side by side. I don't care if they're billionaires, trillionaires, or penniless. We all strive together. We all wanna we all want to get to the end of this life um better. We want to be whether whether atheists admit it or whether whoever admits it, we all want to get to the end and be proven right. I mean, atheists is like, there's a new God, told you, you know, whatever. But I don't believe in their heart that that's what they want to see, because I just find that silly to think that you would take eternal nothingness.

SPEAKER_05 50:37

Well, I I don't want to keep beating up on Bill Maher from week to week, but when you were talking about how intelligent people, and he made the remark, like, I don't see how intelligent intelligent, well-educated people can believe in this stuff. Because it was like you're too smart to fall for it. That's his Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:55

And I'm like, what? We're too smart to fall for the fact that there could be an an afterlife. You would you would prefer emptiness and nothing, and that's that's the end, just bye, Bill.

SPEAKER_05 51:09

Yeah, and all the people that you've loved before, and all the people that you will love to come, and you know, every family member. Yeah, it's like you don't like you don't hope anything for you, your family, your yeah, it's hard.

SPEAKER_03 51:28

And and when you talk to somebody face to face who's that way, it's even harder because usually if you're talking to somebody face to face that way, there's somebody you know. And so you're trying to figure out in your head, how do how did you get to where you don't think there's any.

SPEAKER_05 51:49

I'm always at the point like, I don't even know how you're dealing with life right now.

SPEAKER_03 51:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:52

I'm like, how do you maybe that makes me seem like a a fragile person? No, but I'm just thinking, like, I don't know how you do this life every day. And and be and because I hear it plenty of times. I'm I'm just not that religious of a person. So they're almost saying, like, yeah, I'm I'm religious, but I'm not that religious. So I'm like, what are you saying?

SPEAKER_03 52:12

Saying like too religious. I'm religious, but just just a handful of religious. Not like a whole bag full of it. It's just just like a handful. Yeah. Like, and I'm like, no, it's like uh I had a pastor at this one church I used to go to, uh, St. John's Worship and Praise, and his name was Clifton Kilpatrick. And he had a sermon once talking about how we like to portion out God. It's like some people are like, I just want this teeny tiny little bit of God.

SPEAKER_04 52:49

He was a TV dinner?

SPEAKER_03 52:50

Yeah, he's just, you know, pop him in the oven and give him, you know, microwave him for 30 seconds, or that would be gross. But just microwave him, and okay, he's ready. Well, it's like he's a salad bar, like you're gonna go and just and then there's some people is like, well, I I just want a spoonful, like like medicines. You really don't take, you know. So just how we try to ration out and rationalize him. And God cannot be marginalized. God is infinite, and God is so much more than we understand, which is why we try to put him in a box, is because he is more than we understand. And and because so we try to we try to box him in to where we can grasp what he's all about, and it'll never happen because he's he's too much, he can't be contained. He's and I said this to you before, he's inside time, outside time, he's before time, he's after time. He's infinite, and we don't understand that he is infinite, he's omniscient, he's omnipotent. All these things mean he's everlasting to everlasting. He was before we were, and we don't we don't get that. We don't understand that in the beginning was the word, and the word was God.

SPEAKER_05 54:14

And it's like what what a bang and yeah, well when you really get into it though, you can understand that oh he was prepared for AI. Like if you if you can really if you really get into it and and understand it, yeah, that book was written thousands and thousands of years ago. And you would think like, okay, because there's a lot of literature, so to speak, that it it's very dated. It it's written to appease the people of that time. And it doesn't I mean, yeah, we can read them as classical pieces, anybody who wants to study it, but almost lives and breathes within its own time. And only people that are maybe interested in that time are gonna go back and find it again and make it relevant. But so a lot of times, yeah, most literature it's speaking to the people of the time. Very few things can you point to that's like this is speaking to all people for all time, and that's how the Bible is like you know, he was prepared for AI. Like the Bible, the Bible doesn't change. There's no, you know, there's a lot of manual instruction manuals and books and stuff that come out. You'll see, like, oh, it's the ninth edition, updated version that you know, that kind of tries to keep up with you know, technology and you know, uh as we live.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:42

Uh but the Bible's not like that. There's one, there's one version. It's not it's not being it's not being updated. Yeah, you can translate it a little different. Some people will, you know, switch some words around here and there, but but there's there's no updated version. Like it was all handled the first time around.

SPEAKER_03 55:58

Well, and it's like they point out sometimes. Forty, forty authors, um, sixty-six books, fifteen hundred years, and the distance that these people were apart from each other, to have one cohesive book that tells that tells this story from beginning to end, from start to the future. And there's there's no book like that. And and it's so it's so big and so valuable that people try to disprove it. Yeah. What other book is important enough to try and disprove? Yeah. And nobody's running around trying to disprove, you know, Stephen King uh wrote The Shining or whatever. No one no one's doing that.

SPEAKER_05 56:49

I mean, you you can point to a you could maybe point to a few small things, like is everybody still we're still trying to figure out who killed JFK. Yeah. So how many books have been written about the assassination and how many different people are like, okay, yeah, that person wrote that book, and we're trying to tear down everything that he wrote, and this, you know what I mean? So we do have certain things uh that we keep trying to to figure out, yeah. But um and revise.

SPEAKER_03 57:16

Yeah, but and and that's kind of my point is like there are a few books that will garner our attention for a moment. But the Bible, from from its inception, people tried to break it down. Yeah. And that's not been like a consistent thing with every other book.

SPEAKER_05 57:38

And of course, you know, I've been seeing a lot of things lately on Facebook and and on the internet where oh, they've they've uncovered archaeology, they've uncovered this and uncovered that that links it back to biblical times, so there may be proof of the Last Supper or you know, whatever it might be. And it's like, so we're always looking to try to prove the Bible with you know archaeological research, what have you. And it's like to me, it's like there's no need to do that. It's like to me, it's like people are missing the boat. You're missing the point here. We don't you don't need to find you know the exact place where Paul is imprisoned. You don't need to find all you don't need to find the ark.

SPEAKER_03 58:29

No, you you don't need to find any of the things.

SPEAKER_05 58:31

It's irrelevant to to what you know the Bible means. So it to me it's just always like, yeah, okay, that's that's cool and everything, but if you've spent your whole life either trying to prove or disprove the Bible, you have missed the boat.

SPEAKER_03 58:50

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 58:50

It's like right now, and a lot of people with you know, Iran and Israel, and some people are like, oh, you know, this is the end of times, and Israel is actually the antichrist, and they're coming up with all these conspiracy theories. I'm like, if you spend your whole life wrapped up in these conspiracy theories about what you think, where the Antichrist is and who he is, and what he's doing, and when Jesus is going to return and all this stuff, you are missing you're missing the boat. That's not what God wants you to do. And it even says in the Bible, he says, take care that you're not getting yourself wrapped up into these conspiracy theories.

SPEAKER_03 59:27

And don't concern yours, don't concern yourself with the the worries of the world.

SPEAKER_05 59:33

Yeah. Put your eyes on me. Don't yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:36

Focus, focus on on God. Focus on and it's easy to say focus on God, but when I when I say that, I mean, I mean pretty much that. Focus on what God would have you do in your life. Focus on being closer to Him, focus on forming a relationship with Him. It's always going to be about a relationship. Because when you have a relationship with anyone, a real relationship, it's unshakable. We both have wonderful wives, and we can argue with them. And we can Well, I wouldn't dare. I wouldn't dare no, subtly, subtly argue. You're not influence. Yeah, yeah. Well, you're not gonna like come straight to no, I don't have face-to-face confrontation with my wife. That will not end well. But but we can we can disagree and but it's unshakable because you come in, you come into my house and disrespect my wife, I there's a different dale. Yeah, there's a different dale. And I I never I never show him because no one's ever disrespected my wife, but if you do, there's a different dale. Yeah. And it's this it's the same with with God. You form a relationship with him, and when it's strong, it's unshakable. You can no one can no one can tell you that God won't lift you out of something. No one can tell you that God doesn't exist, no one can tell you he won't help you in your time of trouble. No one's no one can tell you that he's not happy when you when you rise. No one will be happier because the Bible even says when one of these little ones it's just he rejoices at our successes. He doesn't want us to stay there in that that that one success and say, Oh, this was fantastic, I'm gonna stay right here. No, he continually, like any father, wants you to grow and excel. He wants you to continue to love him and he can continually build a relationship with him to see what he has for you because he has plans. And um if you're if you love him, you want to see what those plans are. You want to say what do you what do you want me for? Where where where where do you want me to be? Who who am I supposed to be, Lord? And if I'm supposed to be a penniless bum on the street preaching your word, then that's who I'll be. And some of us are not willing.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:28

Yeah, I mean, it makes you appreciate how unique you are. Because a lot of times you can get wrapped up in again, you're like, I was too short, couldn't do this, couldn't do that. I'm kind of like that. Like, you know, I'm not a Mr. Fixit. So me either. So when you're around other guys that are a Mr. Fixit, you can feel a little small. Like, oh, I don't have any idea what these guys are talking about. I can't do that. I can't, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:54

I feel completely incompetent next to you.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:57

You feel totally incompetent being around certain people, and then you can get wrapped up in that and forget how unique you are. Like, there's other things that like they can't do, that they wish they could do. Absolutely. And you're like, Yeah, well, you know, God has given me gifts, and you and you have to. And if you get to a place with God, you'll start to appreciate how unique you are and not worry so much about all the things that I the things that I haven't been designed to do. The trivia. Like that's not the work that I've been given to do, and that's okay. Like we all can't be, you know, we all can't be plumbers. We all we all can't be, you know, cabin makers. Yeah, we can't do that. I mean, the world wouldn't work if we were all all the same.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:41

That would just be that would be chaos.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:43

Yeah, it would. I mean, it'd be boring, and it'd be boring too. So yeah, you you you really start to appreciate those things. When you see when you see yourself as as God made you, as opposed to how you see yourself, and you know, because a lot of times that's that's a bad image, is how you how you see yourself in the mirror. You're just looking for all the imperfections, you know. Always looking into it. Think about it. When you when you look into a mirror, it's so you can fix your imperfections. That's the main reason why we use a mirror. So we can fix our hair, we can use our teeth, we can stay away from a mirror.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:16

You know, yeah. Too many flaws to fix in one sitting.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:24

Um my and this will tie into what you said just a few minutes ago. So my favorite promise is you know, lay down your burdens, come onto me, and I will give you rest. Yeah. That's that's probably the one that comes back to me the most, and probably one of my favorites. And it's something that on paper, you think, okay, well, when God thinks I need a break, he'll give me a break. Yep. No, it's not exactly what it means. It actually means that a lot of times, even when you are in trouble, even when you are down to the last and to where you think you you're on the last leg to where you just can't go anymore. Uh yeah, the tank is empty. Uh look to him and he'll he'll provide you with a little bit more. He'll provide

Rest Means Strength For The Storm

SPEAKER_05 1:05:17

you that little something extra to go the distance. And when the time comes, yes, then you will find you will find rest in the fact that you you will you will find satisfaction and rest in the fact that you look to him to solve this problem, to you know, complete this, you know, see, and that's another situation with uh with people.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:45

We're very literal on on some of the things the Bible says. And every time I see the word rest, like come unto me and I will give you rest, that's not necessarily meaning relax. I'll give you ten hours of uninterrupted sleep. Yeah, that's not always what it means. It means I will give you what you need. If if uh having a little more money toward the end of the week would give you some kind of mental rest, then maybe that happens. Having your kids leave you alone for an hour or two when you get home, maybe maybe that does it. Not having to worry about someone who's been, you know, hospital hospitalized or something for a little while and now they're starting to heal. That's the kind of rest. Rest means means multiple things, and that's why we have such a hard time understanding God. Because we're like, well, which one of those do you mean? What do you mean? Don't worry about it. Yeah. What are the concerns of your heart? Because he knows them. But what are the concerns of your heart? And look for those concerns to be answered. Those who diligently seek him, when you pray, pray without ceasing. If something's really valuable, and Elsa does this all the time, bless her heart. She's very diligent. Can I have a squishmallow? Can I have a squishmallow? Can I have a squishmallow? And it not just every day. Not just every day. Every hour on the hour. Yeah. Like clockwork, you know, those cuckoo clocks were the little squish guys that come out and bang them and then go back. That's else. Can I have a squishmallow? I'm like, oh my God. It's okay. Yeah, it's okay. Yeah, exactly. And so those kind of things, that's diligence. And that is, you know, without ceasing. Yeah. That is what you have to do. When you're praying, that's what you have to do. If it's valuable to you, important to you, put your prayer life into it. Draw somebody next to you and say, look, this is the situation I'm going to. Where two or more are gathered there as he in the midst. So I need you to come alongside me for this. And don't be afraid to have a partner that you can you can tell something to, and you know it's not going to go anywhere but to heaven. Because we all have to have that person. We all have to have that one or two people that you can come up to and say, look, I've been I've been struggling. Alcoholism is just, you know, it's got the best of me, or whatever it is. I need you to come alongside me. And I I want to break, I want to break this yoke. And God is there. And that that can be the rest he's gonna give you. You don't know. But what you can't do is worry yourself about what promises he's trying to fulfill, what what's the end goal? You worry about creating a relationship with him and all that stuff, just you can relax. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:10

Because Or it's just when you're in the midst of I because I always look at this a lot of times if you're in the midst of a really busy, stressful day, you know, and it just seems like it's just getting tighter and tighter and tighter, and there's no way out, and it's just, you know, you have those days where it's just like I didn't expect this at all. Like I thought I was gonna come in, it was gonna be a nice calm day. I had everything planned, and now it's like I'm in the middle of this whirlwind and in the middle of this hurricane. Yep. I'm in the eye of the storm now, and it's sometimes it's in those moments where I'm like, okay, separate myself from myself, look to the Lord. And it's in that moment, it's like, okay, He's gonna give me rest from this burden in the moment. It doesn't mean I can quit. I still I still have to finish the job, but at this point, it's like it's the calm of the storm.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:59

Like all of a sudden it's it's you can see a light at the end of the tunnel, really.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:03

Everything gets quiet. Everything, even though it's still everything's going on around you, things can get quiet and things can get, you can get everything will get small, and you can just concentrate on what you need to do and just be like, You got you got this, Lord. Everything is going to turn out exactly the way you planned it to. I have no need to be this stressed out about this situation, which it really isn't that big a deal. You know, but sometimes it just takes looking to God to be like, okay, I I need to step back here and let let Him just guide me through this and just give me calm before I lash out at somebody, before I make a stupid decision because I was stressed out and you know didn't slow down enough to think about what I needed to do. It just kind of puts it all on the calm, puts it all in perspective, and you can make the decisions that you're capable of making instead of making mistakes. You know, and that's to me, that's one thing that means. And another thing for me is it takes me all the way to death, to where he's telling me, like, yes, at the end of the race, at the end of this life, you can count on if you if you come to me, if you believe in me, there's gonna be the rest, there's gonna be rest in peace at the end of the day. Real rest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:25

Real rest.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:26

Yeah, but you have to come on to me. It's you're not gonna find rest any other way.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:31

Yeah, don't be so uh wrapped up in yourself because a lot of us are right now just so what can I get? What can I get? What can I get? And um who's looking out for me kind of thing. Yeah. And um we can't we can't be that way. As Christians, we have to say, how can I serve? How can I how can I help? What can I do to show somebody the love of Christ? And when you get to a point where you're more important than the mission God has called you for, that's when that's when you find unrest. That's when problems are gonna start to filter in. That's when all the the I don't know, the the bad situations get bigger because everything is everything is like you said, is like all small and you're getting everything, everything handled, but then you start to concern yourself with you, and this slips through your face.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:37

I mean, if you look at it in your hands, you're like, I can't control, I can't control everything is coming at me from all directions, it's big, like I can't, you know, it's all coming down on me. But then if you like a okay, now now take all that and put it in God's hands, and you're like, oh yeah, it's kind of small. When you think about it, when you think it take it from your hand and put it in, let's just say it's a marble, and you can look at that marble and be like, oh my god, I think it's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:00

Yeah, it's so large. It's like one of those big fat agate marbles.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:04

Or yeah, yeah. Well, you put it in his hand and it it's it's it's a grain of sand. Yeah. It's just like, okay, that's how God sees this problem that you're stressing out about so much. Just not a big deal. No, you know it's not, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:19

And we need to we need to realize that and uh just let God do his thing. Because that's sometimes that's also a problem for us, is letting God do his thing. Because we don't always think that he does his thing in our time. We he's not a McDonald's god. And so because some people say that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:43

I hope he's not a McDonald's guy.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:45

Right?

SPEAKER_05 1:13:50

Forget my forget my fried apple pie in the menu. You know, they brought you know they brought the original fried apple pies back to the menu. They're so good, you know. Like I'm so good. Because I ate

Fast Food Detour And Winding Down

SPEAKER_05 1:14:03

them as a kid, you know, and he fried apple pies.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:06

I've paused for a while.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:08

They've been like baked. Which they are still okay, but nothing beats that real fried apple pie.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:14

I'm gonna tell McDonald's something, and uh I don't want him to get mad at me, but I'm gonna tell McDonald's something. You can stop making the McRib. It doesn't.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:26

Oh, that I doesn't uh Pastor Michael love the McRib?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:30

I don't know if he does or not.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:31

I think he does. That's so watch it.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:33

That's smashing of his taste buttons. No, no, I'm I'm my heart is set on this. Me and Pastor at the butt heads because the McRib is gross. It doesn't, it doesn't taste like a rib. I know what ribs taste.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:49

It's just like it's like they took a slab of meat and used a big cookie cutter that looks like a rib and pressed it in there and then slapped it on the bun with some ketchup. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:59

That's exactly what they did is you just took some Heinz 57 and splashed on it a little bit and stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Your McRib is done. It's not just stop making them. You can make all the shamrock ones you want to, and and the apple pies keep that forever. And uh yeah, stop with the McRib. That's that's gross. That was a public service announcement. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:30

I mean, they did away with the McPizza. That would be a good one. They never brought that, they never, I don't think they ever brought the McPizza back. Um I'm trying to think of some other ones that were pretty wild. Um I'm sure there was a McTaco or a McPhiza.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:46

No, I'm sure when they tried to butt into the taco bills, they said the McPizza, the McTaco. The McCalupa. I don't know. That doesn't even sound tasty. No. The McCchalupa. Yeah. So is that a sign that we're winding down? That is a sign that we are winding down. Talking about fast food, we are winding down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:10

Well, you know, these things are important. You gotta, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:14

Well, I'm gonna tell I'm gonna tell it to you this way. If I'm talking to you sooner or later, we're talking about food. You don't get all this gut without uh eating a couple of meals. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:28

So yeah, I made the I made the mistake of telling my wife that uh more or less that I don't eat for pleasure. No, I don't eat for pleasure. I only eat out of necessity.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:44

You sound like my brother Art.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:46

Uh which is not entirely true, but it kind of is. Like I don't like I don't like really go after food. Like I just want to eat. I don't I don't really enjoy eating. I know there's some people like, oh, they just enjoy eating. Like I've never been like, oh, I just I just want to eat something. Um there's definitely foods that I enjoy that I really like, but but at the end of the day, it's just a meal. Like I just eat because if I didn't have to eat, I would probably skip a lot of meals, I guess is what I'm saying. If it wasn't a true necessity, I I wouldn't think about it that much. Or I'd probably just eat chocolate cake all the time. You know, if if it had no nutritional value, I would probably just eat cereal and chocolate cake.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:33

Wow. And new nutritional value.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:36

Maybe you know, like a sweet potato once in a while, and maybe like chicken parmesan. Oh, probably just eat chips all the time.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:43

Yeah, but just something. He um he eats when he's hungry. And that's the only time he eats. If he's not hungry all day, he doesn't eat.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:54

Uh now Darlene might make him eat here and there because he's, you know, not in the best health and he's gotta he's gotta eat something. But if he has his choice, he only eats when he's hungry. Yeah. I ain't like that. I am uh you gotta be careful with me. I our kitchen is close to the living room and living uh we had dining room table, and as soon as I walk into the kitchen, everything is fair game.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:24

Just that guy opening up the covers is just standing there looking in it like I looked at the dog.

SPEAKER_03 1:18:29

Look at how you talk. I looked at the dog once and thought I was gonna put her on the grill. I thought, mmm, I don't know. But you better hope there's something in this fridge. If not, I I would never grill, I would never grill her. She's she's a sweepie.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:48

But yeah, so you know, to each their own. But yeah, just but now I hear it all the time. Like, oh, you just eat when you have to eat and you don't like my food, or what I'm like, that's not what I said.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:01

That's that's how women hear things. You know, you don't eat for pleasure. Oh, my food doesn't make you happy. Yeah, yeah. That's not what I was saying.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:10

Or it's like, oh, you think I eat for pleasure? You think I just eat all the time? That's and I'm like, no, that's not what I said. It's like, well, what did you say? Yeah, I was like, uh never mind. Yeah, yep. Not important. So all right, sir. Anything else on the promises of God? Anything else you wanted to uh you got a little notepad there? Did you did you cover everything you wanted to cover? I did not.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:36

There are two promises on here that I wanted to uh to comment on. They're not exactly written from the Bible, but they're uh they're from the Bible. So that doesn't really make any sense. Yeah, I I know. I I'm not being very uh uh linguistic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So anyway, that's two verses

Needs Supplied And Jesus Returns

SPEAKER_03 1:20:03

I want to I want to mention. One is uh Matthew 6.33, and it says, God will supply our needs according to his riches and glory. And what I take from that is that means that whatever we need, God will supply. His his riches and glory are infinite. There are there are so many things that, and I'm not even talking promises, there are so many things that the Lord is capable of. Uh Kevin Garnett once, whenever he won his uh NBA championship, he wrapped up the basketball and said, anything is possible. That's 2008 with the Celtics? Yes. Oh and that is that is God. Yeah. Anything is possible, no matter what the size of the hole, no matter how how estranged you are from this person, no matter how uh how no matter how long you've been broken, he will supply you all your needs according to his riches and glory. And the other one was um John uh 14, verses 2 and 3, and it says, Jesus promised he will return for us. And that's the one that um sinks into me because a lot of times I worry about the next day and the next day and the next day. Um what am I doing? What am I living for? What is what is my direction in life? Who who am I supposed to be? I worry I worry about those things kind of in private. Well, not so much anymore, I guess, after after this, but you're a big deal now. Yeah. Well, I know. But but it is um to know that if I stay true, and even if I don't stay true, that he's coming back first. He is he is on his way back. And seeing people don't understand that that he is he is approaching. Yeah, he doesn't say I'll be back if Yeah, he's a he's no matter what year or what day that happens, he is always approaching. And one of these days, whether I'm alive to see it or whether I'm one of those called up from the ground, I'm gonna see it and I'm gonna be happy, I'm going to rejoice, and I lay a lot of my hope and peace in that in in that I might not have had a good day today, but he's coming back. I might not have been the person I wanted to be today, but he's coming back. And so I am always, always happy to know that God is coming back for me. God is coming back for I hope for all my friends and family. That will be the heartbreak of my life to to go and not bring anybody with me. And by anybody I mean family, friends, anybody. And just like anybody that I had contact with and say, I spoke to that person, but I didn't breathe into them anything. And now they're headed the other way. To see that's gonna break my heart to know that I could have said something. I could have come to church, you know, or meet my pastor, or come to men's breakfast, whatever. Yeah. And to see them fall the other direction would will just it will just break my heart. But what also makes me happy is he's coming back. And so that's not all up to me. It's up to us. So if you want to be there and you want to see him and you wanna want him to come back for you, do those things that will put you in his good graces. Don't worry about the promises, don't worry about the heartache, don't worry about any of that stuff. And just worry about building a relationship with him. Get involved with him. Trust him like you would, like you would family, because he is. He birthed you in his mind and then sent you into earth for a reason. And so believe that you have a reason, believe in God, believe that he's going to turn your life around. If things aren't going good, tomorrow's a new day.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:44

Yep. I'll be back. I'll be back. And you don't want to hear him say hasta la vista. No, no, you don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:56

I had to get it.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:57

I thought I was corny, but it was, but I had to. Saw the opportunity, you took it. I am not gonna hold that against you. I'm unique. You're unique. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:10

That's it. Right?

SPEAKER_05 1:25:12

My t shirts being like I'll give you five percent. Oh it's on unique. I'm sorry, one more thing. Nope. Kevin Garnett. Was he the big unit? Uh no.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:26

What was his name? He was the uh Kevin Garnett's name. The big unit was Randy.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:34

Oh, Randy Johnson. Yeah. Yeah, a baseball player. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:37

What was Kevin Garnett? He had a nickname, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:25:40

KG, as far as I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:41

No, but yeah, but no, he's he's something else, though.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:46

I don't know. I'm gonna have to go. There's her homework, folks. Yep, there's her homework.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:50

But I love Kevin Garnett's dad and I were Celtics fans. I remember watching that series. So exciting. Yeah. I was not. And in the way, and you know what? In the way I always said about Kevin Garnett, it didn't matter if it was some meaningless game in the regular season or game seven of the playoffs. He prepared the same way. He played the same way. He played the same way, prepared the same way, got jacked up the same way. And yeah, you could you can almost see God in him. Yeah. Have that kind of preparedness every day was was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:29

Yep, absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:30

Yeah, always impressed me.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:32

I always like Kevin Garnett. Not a Celtics fan, though. My apologies. Just the way it is.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:39

We just broke up, Dale.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:41

That's the end. The dream team is no more.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:46

And we'll work it out. We'll work it out for next year.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:49

Yeah, we got I sort of say we got a whole week to work it, work that out.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:56

Anything else? No, but I think that covers it, man. All right. You want to pray us out? I'll I'll hit the green button here.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:02

Sure thing. Father God, thank you for allowing us to get together once again to have a nice moment of fellowship. I love and appreciate my brother Nick. I also appreciate all those people who are um struggling in whatever whatever situation is going on in their life, finances, children, what uh work situation, whatever, Father God, um, that they can rest on your promises

Prayer For Struggles And Travel

SPEAKER_03 1:27:47

and know that you are there for them, that you hear us when we call. And that we need to just fall in line and just call on you and believe that no matter what's going on in our daily lives, that you are there, and that we can do all things through you because you strengthen us. Thank you once again, Father God, and I pray that you give us traveling mercies as we leave here, and that we meet together again at our appointed time. Pray all these blessings in your most wonderful name, in the name of your son Jesus Christ. Amen.