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Podcast 27

(This is a computer generated transcript of this podcast.  This is NOT a typed transcript and it has not been edited. Expect grammatical and syntactical errors.)

Hello and good day. I am B. R. Maul and you are listening to the podcast Living God’s Way in an Ungodly World. Today, I am going to take time just to visit with you. Sounds kind of funny, huh? Yes, I want to just visit with my brothers and sisters in Christ because after all, this podcast is about living God’s way in this very ungodly world.

And all my brothers and sisters that I visit with, there’s not a one of us that isn’t struggling on some level or another with what’s going on in today’s world because first and foremost, Let’s just take a quick look at how fast things are changing. Have you thought about just how quickly our world today changes compared to any time in history?

Take for example, how many thousands of years did people not have electricity? Electricity hasn’t been around very long, especially when we look back at how long the world’s been around. When we’re talking 6,000 plus years, that’s a long time to not have electricity. So for hundreds of years, so much was done just during the daytime when it came to doing a lot of certain kind of work.

Now things have changed so much that this world is 24 7. It’s operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it’s connected 24 7. We no longer have nine to five work days. Now people are working all kinds of shifts. I understand in history, yes, there has always been those who have had to work at night, but not on this level, not where people can be working inside of buildings, manufacturing all day long, all night long, and all week long.

So things in this world are changing so quick, so rapidly that it makes it harder for God’s children. And that’s you, my brothers and sisters in the faith, those who are born again, it does make it much harder for us to separate what’s right and what’s wrong. Because first of all, there is a right and a wrong.

The world that we live in wants everyone to believe that right and wrong is kind of a gray area. It’s relative. Kind of depends on your point of view, what you think of certain things. So some people’s right might not be the next person’s right? Kind of depends on where they live, how they live, and what they do and their attitude towards it.

But that’s not what our Heavenly Father says in the good book. We know there is right and there is wrong. I mean, a lie is a lie. Whether we call it a white lie, a little lie a half a lie, it’s still a lie. So we know from our Heavenly Father’s word what is right and what is wrong. Take proverbs. Just go and start reading Proverbs and you’ll hear so much about the righteous and the unrighteous, the just and the wicked, evil and good. The fact that these are named, we know these categories are true. There is good and evil. In Proverbs, evil tends to reward good for doing evil, and rewards evil for doing good. Isn’t that true today? Around the world? The evil in this world, which is abundant, I feel it.

I feel the evil is all around, but the evil is becoming the norm. Would you agree with that statement, beloved? Think about that for a moment. All around the world, there are leaders. People in power who they want things their way. And as long as people are playing by their rules, which often isn’t righteous, but as long as you’re playing by their rules, it’s okay.

But as soon as you point out that they are doing something wrong, which is exactly what the Bible does, because the law is quick to show us what we are doing wrong. Where mankind falls short. As Christians, we know that that’s a good thing. We know that our loving heavenly Father shows us our shortcomings so we can grow in those areas.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we get to be changed in this process of sanctification. We don’t have to continue to live with our shortcomings. We don’t have to be consumed in our sin, but God’s law still shows us where we fall short. Have you noticed how the world hates that people of the world hate being told they’re wrong?

They hate being told that not every way is the right way. Just because it feels good doesn’t make it right. Just because many people are doing it doesn’t make it righteous. The world hates being told that I’ve noticed the world hates it so much that people are being sued in court, losing their jobs, losing friendships, relationships, because the world is saying what right do we as a human to tell another human that what they are doing is wrong. In America right now, the political climate is horrendous. Evil has such a control in America right now and all over the world, but being I live in America, I can say as I observe the leaders in our country. The leaders in our state and even our communities, they get very upset when people point out what they are doing is unconstitutional.

Ooh, that’s a big one. In America, you tell somebody in any kind of state of power that what they are doing is unconstitutional and they just want to throw you in jail. We have in America education boards, which is all around. In all of our communities, but these education boards are supposed to be the people who are on the board in a community overseeing what is right and wrong, how money is spent, and how our children are being treated.

But since the pre pandemic years, so about 2019 and since then, It has rapidly changed, where now the Board of Education and Communities, most of ’em are more concerned about making teachers comfortable than they are doing the right thing for our children. That’s sad. It’s disheartening, but again, that’s the world that we live in, so think about what God’s word says to us.

We’re told that as we get closer to the day, The second coming of Jesus. As we get closer to that every passing day, week and month and year, it will only get worse. It will not get better. So there’s no reason, beloved for us as Christians, to be surprised because we know our enemy, Satan and his demons are doing everything possible right now.

To shut us up so we don’t talk about the gospel. We don’t talk about how much Jesus loves our neighbor, our family, and even ourselves, so people will become born again. I’m amazed. I don’t know your feelings on this, but myself, I am amazed at how much success the enemy is having. Because the world is so upside down, it seems like some days we’re being told that up is down, down, is up, left is right, right is left, and we’re certainly being told that right is wrong and that wrong is right.

That’s chaos. And chaos. That’s what the devil loves, doesn’t he just love chaos. I mean, our Heavenly Father is quite orderly. If you think about that in the Old Testament, God surely did organize the way he wanted things ran, and even though today people often don’t like to hear that, we don’t like to be told what to do and how to do it.

But Christian, we need to, we need to be able to listen to our Heavenly Father and do as he tells us. Do as we’re told, because he is doing it only for our benefit. None of it for him. It is for our benefit. The 10 Commandments are there for our benefit. And back in the Old Testament, a lot of the laws that were in place that God had put anyway, not man, ’cause man obviously added a lot, but that’s a whole other story.

We won’t talk about that right now, but, You know the things that he put for the Jews? Yes. It was to make sure they were separate from the rest of the world so the world would be able to see just how different God’s people are. But he also put them in place to protect them. The foods, the kind of foods that they were supposed to stay away from, actions that they were or were not to do.

Everything was put in place. Not. So God could just say, oh, here’s the hoops I want you to jump through, and if you make it, you’re successful. ’cause we already know that it’s got nothing to do with the works. Even in the Old Testament, God wasn’t making people live a certain way to impress him, to get into heaven.

Even then in the Old Testament, it’s got everything to do with faith. That’s what it’s about. We need to be serious about reading God’s word so we know what it is to do. Christian, I am also surprised at just how many Christians that I speak to that are not reading God’s word. How are we supposed to follow in his steps?

How are we supposed to follow his lead if we don’t read his word? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is impossible to know God without reading the Bible, and that is one of the enemy’s tactics today. Look at what the world continues to place in front of us. All these things that we can do in our modern times right now.

For those of us who have access to all this modern technology devices, machines, we have so much to do. I think it’s quite ironic that the more technically advanced we get, the smarter that we get, the slower we become and the dumber we become. And what I mean by that is we are not wise. Wisdom only comes from God, as you will learn in Proverbs, wisdom doesn’t come from the world.

We learn stuff living in the world, and there’s much knowledge to be had, but that’s not wisdom, that’s not understanding. And on that surface, we are only learning about the creation. If a Christian has two, three college degrees, but doesn’t read the Bible, They can have a ton of knowledge about the creation, and as much as scholars, some would love to believe that it’s all about us and we are just so smart, and so we’re so advanced.

It’s all created by God. So whether it’s nuclear science, artificial intelligence, creativity, engineering, law, medical, you name it. It’s all created by God, and that’s all we’re doing is spending the time that he has given us here to study and know more about his creation. But as a Christian, we must know about the creator, and that’s why week after week in my podcast, I make sure that I remind you, beloved, that we must be in God’s word.

You as a Christian must be in God’s word. Now, if you’re not a born again Christian and you’re seeking out the Lord, my advice to you is sure, seek him in His word. But there is a catch to reading God’s word, and that is we need the Holy Spirit to interpret God’s word, interpret on the level that it speaks to us.

I know intellects that know God’s word on the surface level, but they are not born again, and that’s all they have is the surface level of the Bible. You know, the history of what was going on at that time, knowing about, uh, traditions and, uh, things that, um, took place in ancient times. So there’s a lot of that knowledge, but for God’s word to actually speak to a soul, that soul needs the help of the Holy Spirit to interpret God’s word.

So if you are not born again, but seeking God, my advice is to pray to him and ask him to open your eyes. To ask him to help you to understand just what it is that he has done for you. And in a lot of my previous podcasts, I go into much detail about that, but we don’t need detail to first take that step of faith.

It is by the grace of God through faith that we come to believe. So that step of faith is your decision. And that doesn’t mean you need head knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ, of ancient times. Not at all. What you need is heart knowledge, and if you are an individual who is sick and tired of losing, losing physically, spiritually, and mentally, because this world continues to promise you.

Time and time again, something different, something new, something better, and it never comes. That’s because this world is only the creation and you need to look to the creator. And take that step of faith, believing that Jesus Christ died for you. That you are indeed a sinful being, that you are broken and that you need a savior.

And you may not understand why or how any of that, but you just know in your heart that you are indeed broken and you live in a broken world and you need a savior, and there is only one savior, and that’s Jesus Christ. So with your mouth, confess the Lord Jesus, that he is your Lord. And if you don’t know how that comes about, what that looks like, it’s okay.

Because again, that’s faith. You just tell God, I have faith that you will teach me that your son died for me and I need a savior. I am yours. My life is yours. Any wording like that. There’s no exact prayer, there’s no exact wording. It’s all in your heart. Proverbs 17 tells us that the refining pot is for silver, the furnace is for gold.

Those are devices used to make gold and silver more pure through fire, through heat. But then it also says in Proverbs 17 three, that the Lord weighs. Some say test the heart. He uses that heat in life, things that we just can’t handle by ourself, but God allows it to happen. Those trials in our life that a person will only get through with the help of God without God, without a savior.

The worldly, the unbelieving continue to get pounded down time and time again, and somehow they might start picking themselves up just a little bit, but they never get any higher than they were before. They get lower and lower. Why do you think we’re seeing such a huge increase in suicides, drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual abuse and just high intensity sexualization in our world? Because a person will turn to whatever or whoever they can to try to get rid of the pain, the sorrow, the emptiness that they feel in their heart. If you’re listening to my voice right now and you are not born again, you are so blessed because you’re seeking, you’re wanting to know more, and the Lord is telling you more right now.

Now, back to my brothers and sisters. Those who are born again, beloved, don’t forget, it is our responsibility not to get caught up in this world. Yes, there are many things in this world that is enticing. There are so many comforts in this world. That we often just want to obtain that we reach for because we are thirsting for that comfort.

But all of it is just temporary and all of it is just part of the creation and cannot do what the creator does for us. If you are born again and if you’re feeling weak, And it doesn’t matter, physically weak, mentally weak, spiritually weak, or all the above, it’s because you have not turned to your Heavenly Father for that guidance.

Psalm 28:7 is one that I often repeat most days when I get up, and that is the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusted it in him. I am helped. So let’s think about that. The Lord is my strength and my shield. That brings me great comfort and that is a promise that the Lord gives to us, that for his children, that turn to him and ask for it, he will give us the strength, the strength to carry out the work that he gives us each and every day.

Now he doesn’t promise to give us the strength to take on the world. Nope, that’s not our job. He doesn’t promise to give us the strength to take care of other people’s problems in life. Trials and issues. Nope. It’s whatever he puts in front of us each and every day that he promises to give us the strength for that day, but also he’s our shield.

We’re told in his word that the name of the Lord is like a strong tower where we take refuge in his name. We take refuge knowing that he has promised us these things in life and he will deliver and he has promised us eternity and he will deliver. So as our shield, he’s protecting us. I think it’ll be very interesting in eternity. I would really like to know just how much he has protected me and continues to protect me. There’s times in my life I can look back and I just know that God interceded and that he protected me or guided me or gave me the resource at the very moment in time that I needed it. But I am too ignorant to really understand, truly be able to comprehend all of it.

So it’ll be, it’ll be amazing.  I look forward to knowing. That it’ll just make me love him all the more. So the Lord is our strength and our shield. Now, the other part of that is my heart, trusted in him, and I am helped. Now there’s two tenses there. My heart trusted, past tense and I am helped. And so that’s currently, it’s an ongoing, I am helped.

Not that he will or did, but I am helped. So even when we’re not aware of it, even if we don’t know how to ask, he’s helping us. And again, this applies to Christians. This does not apply to someone who has not put their faith in Jesus Christ. So Christian, what does it look like day to day in a world that continues to entice you to watch the latest movies, to buy the latest video games, to go shopping and buy the most newest looking, this or that?

I don’t know what you’re into. If it’s clothing or electronics or jewelry, whatever it might be. There are so many ways that the world is enticing you to not open the Bible. It’s the only thing the enemy wants you not to do is read the Bible, because if you’re not reading God’s word, you’re not going to be witnessing either.

Well, how do I know that? Well, it’s not because I’m brilliant ’cause I’m not. It’s because I know that for those who are not reading God’s word, they don’t have the knowledge of what their Heavenly Father is doing. They could be born again. Sure. They have trusted in the Lord Jesus. They have their salvation as sealed.

But one of the first things that the enemy will do when someone is born again is. Do everything possible to convince them that that’s it. You’re done. You don’t need to do anything else. Now, enjoy your time because whatever happens here in the world doesn’t matter. You have eternity. But truth be told, there are so many blessings that God, our heavenly Father wants us to have here and now.

And we only understand those when we read his word. Nobody has the excuse. I don’t have the time because we all have 24 hours in a day and there are only a few things that we need to do. Sleep. That’s definitely one we have to eat. Yep. We need our nutrition. We have to drink water or we will dehydrate. We need to have clothes on our back, so we need either time to make our own clothes or work in order to buy some clothes.

After that, what’s next? Well, for most of us, there’s a whole list of things that we want to do that we feel we need to do, such as put money away for retirement. Make sure I have the nicest car possible, the biggest house possible. My yard must look really nice. Entertainment seems to be a big one in this world.

In fact, it’s gotten to be huge. How much money that we waste and blow on entertainment is wow, amazing. But see all of that stuff, no, not more important than a reading God’s word. As long as you’re getting enough sleep, you’re getting enough food to sustain, to stay alive and drinking water, and you got some clothes on your back, you should be reading God’s word. Of course, not the rest of the day. ’cause I don’t know what that would be… 8, 9, 10, 12 hours a day. But it needs to be a priority. We need to have that in our heart as this is what I need. Man shall not live by bread alone. Jesus says that because he wants to make it perfectly clear that food for our body is only part of it. There’s food for our soul that is just as important. We need food to eat, to stay physically alive, but without the word of God, we are not feeding our soul, which means we are not spiritually alive. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And that’s based on ancient times where most people did not have scripture they could read.

So hearing is also reading God’s word. That’s how we grow in our faith. That’s how our faith becomes stronger as we read God’s word. As we walk through this world and apply God’s word, not just reading it, but we are applying God’s word to our life, then, then our faith grows. So in short, brothers and sisters in this world that is going to do whatever it can to distract you, and that’s exactly what’s going on.

First, make sure your needs are met. You’re taking care of your body, eating and sleeping, your mind and your soul by reading God’s word. Now there’s much more to it because there’s also not watching things that are going to pervert your mind, not listening to things that are, are going to pervert your mind and not hanging around the worldly, the unsaved who are going to have influence over you.

And that influence could take you away from your Lord, not your salvation, but you could easily backslide trying to do. What the world wants you to do and what your Heavenly Father, what God wants you to do. You can’t have both. We have to make that decision and then carry through with that decision that I am going to keep my mind focused on what’s heavenly first and foremost.

That doesn’t mean by the way that we do not associate with nonbelievers. Not at all. In fact, we are to, we are to love everybody, but to live the lifestyle they are living. Well. We just can’t do that because if we’re listening to music that is not glorifying God, if we are watching movies and things on the internet, that does not glorify God.

We’re told in in Psalm101:3 I believe it is, I shall place no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those that turn aside. It will not cleave to me. And turning aside means turning away from the straight path or turning away from God’s ways, but if we keep putting wicked things before our eyes and watching them and listening to them being a part of it. Well, it’s no wonder we’re going to put God’s word to the side, so don’t do that. Brothers and sisters take care of your soul first, first and foremost. And if you don’t have time of the day to have some fun, well, there’s always time tomorrow for that.

But make sure you have time to grow in your walk. Well, I thank you for listening today, brothers and sisters. I love you so much. I pray that you are indeed reading our Heavenly Father’s Word every day. Pray to him. Ask him for guidance every day. Thank him every day, and give him praise every day. Your soul will continue to grow in your love for the Father and Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will thrive inside of you.

Until next time, God bless.

Songs

“Heroes Inspire Hope” and “Mountainscape” by Humans Win

“Dark Beauty” by Media Music Group