May 26, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode, hosts Susan Dies and Keidra Hobley discuss the Christian's responsibility to share the good news about Jesus Christ. They explore the importance of faith, grace, forgiveness and Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The hosts address the common misconception that everyone already knows who Jesus is and emphasizes the significance of actively practicing one's faith. They share several Bible verses to help listeners take steps to make a personal commitment to Jesus as their savior and share practical advice for new believers on how to grow in their faith.
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Episode Transcript
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Susan (00:00):
Welcome to the One Yes At A Time Podcast.
My name is Susan Dies and I'mhere with my co-host, Keidra
Hobley, and I'm so excited abouttoday's podcast because as
Christians, Jesus has given usthe responsibility to share the
good news about what He's donefor us.
And so we're gonna do thattoday, because he wants
everyone, no matter who you are,where you come from, what you've
(00:21):
done, what you haven't done, tohave the opportunity to
experience the grace...
and peace...
and forgiveness...
and love...
and promise of eternal life inheaven when this life is over...
that God offers to anyone who iswilling to put their faith and
trust in Jesus and what he didfor us on the cross.
We don't deserve it.
There's nothing we can do toearn it.
(00:42):
We just have to come to him witha sincere heart and let him do
the rest.
Keidra (00:48):
That's just exciting because it lets us know that we
don't have to have it alltogether before we start this
relationship with the Lord, so Ilove that.
Susan (00:55):
As I was thinking about today's podcast, and all the
things that we're gonna talkabout, the thought came to me
that not everybody who'slistening to us today knows who
Jesus is.
Mm-hmm.
Not everybody even knows whyknowing him matters.
And I think a lot of times wemake the assumption that because
we live in the South...
we live in the Bible belt....
Mm-hmm...
the part of America wherethere's literally a church on
(01:17):
every corner...
that everyone knows who Jesusis.
And yet in reality, that's justnot true.
That's right.
I don't know if you know this ornot, but according to a Gallup
poll..
Okay...
that was done in 2023...
you probably...
Keidra (01:30):
I don't know this if it's a Gallop poll.
No, I don't.
Susan (01:33):
You might know this..
Okay.
About 20% of Americans have noreligious affiliation.
Mm.
Okay.
Another 10% identify as atheist.
Keidra (01:42):
Ooh.
Okay.
Susan (01:43):
And that same poll showed another interesting
statistic.
It said 68% of Americansidentify as Christians.
But only one in four say thatthey are practicing Christians.
Keidra (01:54):
Wow.
Susan (01:55):
Meaning that they prioritize their faith.
Mm-hmm.
They attend church at least oncea month.
That blew my mind.
Wow.
'cause growing up, you know, inthe church.
Mm-hmm.
We were there Sunday morning,Sunday night, Wednesday night.
We were there on Monday nightfor visitation and Thursday
night for softball.
It was literally.
Our life.
Yeah.
But as we talked about lastweek, not everybody grew up that
(02:16):
way.
That's right.
And so that statistic just kindof blew my mind that now to
prioritize your faith is just,even if you attend church just
one time a month, and of coursealso spending time with God in
prayer and in God's Word, makingthat a daily part of their
lives.
Keidra (02:32):
Wow.
So that's really just 25%.
That is, that's what I heard.
Only 25% of America are actualChristians.
Susan (02:40):
Well, it's 25% of the 68% who say they're Christian.
So it's even less than that.
Ooh, I see.
And that's why one of our goalsfor this podcast is to hopefully
encourage people, at least inour spheres of influence, to
realize the importance of notjust identifying as a Christian,
but actually living a life thataligns with the truths that we
find in God's word...
(03:01):
also it just comes down to usbeing willing to share our
personal experiences with God,what he's done for us.
That's good, what Jesus has donefor us, because when we share
our personal stories of howwe're trusting God and how every
word of God that we have appliedto our life has proven to be
true, it gives us a way to sharethe truth of God's word in a way
(03:21):
that others can't refute.
Mm-hmm.
They can refute whether or notthey believe that the Bible is
the word of God...
but when we put it intopractice...
and we say, God's word said todo this, and I didn't really
wanna do it, but when I did it..
Yeah..
what he said would happen isexactly what happened.
People cannot refute that.
And so I think we need tounderstand the importance of us
(03:42):
having the courage to share ourpersonal testimonies of faith
with others...
Then just realizing it's not ourjob to convince people to
believe...
yeah...
or to put their faith in Jesus.
Our responsibility, so to speak,is simply to share the good news
and then leave the rest toGod...
that's good...
the most loving thing anyChristian can ever do is share
(04:03):
the truth of God's word if wetruly believe God's word, that
putting our faith in Jesus isthe only way to be saved, to
have a relationship with God, tobe forgiven of our sins and to
receive eternal life, and wedon't share it.
Mm-hmm.
And no one else shares it.
Not only will the people that wedidn't share it with miss out on
experiencing God's love and allthe blessings and the benefits
(04:25):
of being a child of God, but theBible tells us that they're
gonna spend an eternityseparated from God in a place
called Hell.
Keidra (04:33):
Yeah.
Susan (04:34):
And nobody wants to talk about hell, right.
To be honest, I don't wanna talkabout hell.
Keidra (04:38):
Yeah, we, we have to..
Susan (04:39):
But the Bible says it's a real place.
Mm-hmm.
In fact Jesus taught more abouthell than he did about heaven.
Mm.
And people need to know that.
That the good news is good newsfor a reason.
The fact that there's good newsmeans that there
Keidra (04:53):
it's bad news.
News.
Some bad news.
Yeah.
Susan (04:55):
And 2 Peter 3
to go there.
He wants everyone to come tohim, and to repent, and to
experience the grace and themercy that he offers us in Jesus
so they can go to heaven.
Yeah.
God wants everyone there.
That is his plan.
The only reason anyone goes toHell is because by their own
choice..
(05:16):
Yes...
they reject the most loving giftthat God has ever offered to
this world, which is his sonJesus.
They reject God's invitation tocome to him and to be saved.
And to reject Jesus..
Mm-hmm.
after He sent his one and onlyson to die for us, the Bible
says it is to trample the bloodof God's son.
Keidra (05:37):
Mm.
Susan (05:37):
Treating his sacrifice as nothing, when it was
everything.
Keidra (05:41):
Yeah.
Susan (05:42):
That's the thing.
God doesn't send anyone to hell.
People choose hell over heaven.
Mm-hmm.
And God just simply gives us achoice.
Yeah.
Everyone wants to go to heaven,but not everyone is willing to
accept that Jesus is the way toget there.
And I have to believe it'sbecause they just don't know or
they don't understand what hisdeath on the cross accomplished.
And I thought maybe we couldshare a few verses from God's
(06:03):
word today.
Oh yeah.
To help those who may not getit.
I'm hoping these verses willallow them to hear God's heart
today.
So since you have your Bible..
Yep.
And you've already got it openJohn three 16 is probably the
most well loved, well-knownverse about salvation..
Mm-hmm...
in all the Bible.
And so I wanted to start withthat one.
Keidra (06:22):
Yeah.
And this one is so familiar thatI think sometimes we just rattle
it off and don't really...
I think you're right...
take it to heart.
So I want, even as, we sharethese, I want us to take'em to
heart as if it's the first timewe've heard it, even if it's
not.
Mm-hmm.
John 3 (06:34):
16...
and I'm reading from the NIV, itsays,"For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and onlyson that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but haveeternal life." That's so good.
Susan (06:47):
I don't know if it gets any clearer than that.
Keidra (06:49):
It doesn't get any clearer.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't, I mean, you don'teven have to try to interpret it
because it spells it out for us.
I mean, it, it speaks to hislove for us.
Mm-hmm.
Like we have to be willing toaccept that love.
Yes, he loves us, but we have toaccept it.
And, and the benefit of doingthat is eternal life.
Susan (07:07):
Wow.
Keidra (07:07):
Eternal life instead of eternal death.
Susan (07:09):
And why would anybody not want to believe that?
Yeah.
I mean, we're all looking forsome good news.
That's the best news ever.
Yes.
For God so loved the world.
That's everyone.
That's everyone.
That's everyone.
He's the most inclusive God.
And so I find it so interestingwhen people say that Christians
are intolerant for giving thismessage that God loves everyone.
(07:30):
Yes.
I mean, we're not leaving anyoneout.
And then it says He gave his oneand only son.
And every time I read that.
Wow.
Is the only word that comes tomy mind because we've talked
about this before.
I don't love anyone enough totrade the life of my child..
Mm-hmm.
to save them.
(07:50):
I'm just not that loving.
Yeah.
I'm not that good.
Yeah.
And I honestly don't know anyoneelse on this earth, who is that
good and that loving.
Only God would give his onlyson.
And then it says whosoever.
Keidra (08:05):
Mm-hmm.
Susan (08:06):
So, I mean, that's anyone,
Keidra (08:07):
yes.
Whosoever
Susan (08:08):
I don't know why that word just seems a little more
personal, because a lot ofpeople think, well, God couldn't
love me.
Keidra (08:14):
Mm-hmm.
Susan (08:15):
You know, God surely couldn't save me because all the
things I've done.
Yeah.
But this is whoever believes inhim.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, that's the qualifierright there.
Every person is a whosoever,anyone who believes anyone who's
just willing to look at thefacts.
I mean, he's a fact.
Yeah.
He died on the cross to saveanyone willing to put their
(08:39):
trust in him as their Lord andSavior It's a promise.
Yes.
And so it's just a simplechoice, but it does come down to
faith.
Yes.
Romans 3 23.
Read that one for us.
Okay, let's turn there.
Keidra (08:52):
Romans 3 and 23.
Here we go.
"For all have sinned and fallshort of the glory of God." Mm.
That's nice and sweet and to thepoint too.
Mm-hmm.
I, I think the definition of allin that sentence there is..
All.
Susan (09:11):
Yeah.
We don't have to look up theoriginal language to no,
Keidra (09:14):
no.
All of us have have sin.
We've done wrong.
We've done things that don'tline up with God's will.
Mm-hmm.
And so we've, we're all fallinginto that category.
So there's nobody who does notneed to accept Christ.
Susan (09:27):
I think one of the issues is we compare ourselves
to one another.
Mm-hmm.
All the time.
So we basically think we'rereally good..
Mm-hmm.
Compared to most people.
Yeah.
And people might not want toadmit that that's the way they
think about themselves.
Mm-hmm.
But, I think that we all havethat tendency to compare
ourselves and think, well, I'mnot as bad as her, might not be
(09:50):
as good as her, but I'mdefinitely good overall.
Mm-hmm.
And yet this says all havesinned and fall short of God's
glory.
Yeah.
So what does that mean?
That we fall short of God'sglory?
Keidra (10:03):
That we're not perfect.
That's right.
He's the only one that's perfectthat, that's right.
And so he is the standard Ifwe're gonna compare, we should
be comparing ourself to him.
That's right.
And then we will be able to see,oh, I really don't measure up.
We have to use him as thestandard.
And that shows us that we'vefallen short.
Susan (10:19):
So that's the bad news, that we've all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God.
So what do we do about that?
Romans 5:8, what does it say?
Keidra (10:26):
Let's see, Romans five, eight says,"But God demonstrates
his own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners,Christ died for us." That's so
good.
The part that stood out to me onthat one is while we were still
sinners.
Because I think a lot of timespeople don't come to Christ
because they feel like they haveto get it all together before
(10:50):
they come to Christ, but it saysclearly while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
So he knew we were gonna sin.
He didn't wait for us to cleanourselves up.
And he still chose to die.
Susan (11:00):
That's right.
When I think about Christ dyingfor us while we were still
sinners...
I think about Easter, I thinkabout the cross.
I think about the sinless son ofGod.
What he went through, The mocktrials being humiliated, him
being spit upon, yeah.
Having his beard pulled out.
Mm-hmm.
Being stripped naked, Beingflogged with the cat of nine
(11:22):
tails.
It had pieces of metal.
It says that he was literallyunrecognizable..
They put the crown of thorns onhis head.
They nailed him to the cross,they lifted him up.
What was the very first thing hesaid?
I.
Keidra (11:36):
Father forgive them.
Is that the first thing?
Susan (11:38):
Isn't that crazy?
Keidra (11:39):
Yeah.
For they know not what they do.
Susan (11:40):
And he was giving us an example because you know what?
That's one of the hardest thingshe ever asked us to do..
Mm-hmm..
To forgive people who sinagainst us.
Yeah.
And so all of these things justkind of flooded my mind.
The other thing is the worddemonstrates.
It's in the present tense.
It doesn't say, but Goddemonstrated his love for us in
this.
God's love is continual.
(12:01):
I mean...
that's so good...
it's never ending...
and in Jesus, it's for alleternity.
While we were still sinners,Christ died for us.
But why would he do that?
Look at Romans 6 23.
All right, let's see.
Romans 6 23 says,"For the wagesof sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in ChristJesus, our Lord.
(12:24):
Hmm.
So he, did that for us becausehe knows the wages of sin.
Have you ever thought about thefact that in the Garden of Eden,
with Adam and Eve, mm-hmm...
there was only one rule?
Keidra (12:35):
Okay.
Susan (12:36):
He said, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden,
except this one tree...
the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil.
Mm-hmm.
And he even told them why.
You know, God is so good.
He doesn't just tell us a wholelist of rules that we have to
keep.
Right.
He tells us why and why not.
Mm-hmm.
He tells us the blessing and theconsequences because he's so
(12:56):
good.
Yeah.
And he's so loving.
But he told them on the day thatthey ate from that tree, they
would surely die.
And what'd they do?
Keidra (13:05):
They still ate from the tree they ate.
Susan (13:07):
But aren't we the same way?
Yes.
Aren't we the same way?
Even though we know the wages ofsin is death, like it leads to
death?
Now, interestingly, they didn'timmediately die.
Mm-hmm.
But God did not want them toreach out their hand and eat
from the tree of life and remainin their sinful state forever...
and so he cast them out..
Yes...
of the garden.
(13:27):
He took the life of an animal...
mm-hmm...
and he covered them with theskin of that animal, because the
Bible says without the sheddingof blood, there is no
forgiveness of sin.
And so that was the first typeand shadow looking forward to
the cross.
Yes.
That there would ultimately be asacrifice for sin.
Keidra (13:47):
Yes.
Susan (13:48):
Every person, since Adam and Eve has sinned.
The wages of sin is death, andwe know that.
We can look at our own lives andsee that when we sin, it can
destroy all kinds of things inour life.
So we can see the truth of God'sword...
with regard to the wages of sin,but the gift of God.
Yes, it cost him everything.
(14:09):
Everything.
Yeah.
And so that's the thing thatwe're trying to wrap our minds
around.
This next verse is another thingI want us to try, okay...
and wrap our minds around.
Romans 8 (14:20):
1.
Keidra (14:22):
Romans 8
condemnation for those who arein Christ Jesus.
Mm.
Let me read that again.
Mm.
Therefore, that's so good.
There is no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
Wow.
Susan (14:42):
That is an amazing promise.
Keidra (14:43):
Because we condemn ourselves all the time.
And we condemn each other ifwe're honest about it.
Yes, we do.
But he's saying there is nocondemnation if we're in him.
Susan (14:51):
That's right.
Anyone who puts their faith inJesus.
When they stand before God...
and we all will...
we're gonna be declared notguilty.
Keidra (15:01):
Ooh.
Glory.
Susan (15:02):
Not because we're not guilty.
Keidra (15:04):
Yes.
Susan (15:04):
Not because we did anything worthy of being able to
enter into heaven.
Mm-hmm.
But because of what Jesus didfor us.
Yeah.
When God looks at us, he willnot see our sin.
Even now, we are covered by theblood of Jesus...
amen...
and that's what he sees, and hecounts our faith as
righteousness.
Look at Romans 10 (15:24):
9.
Keidra (15:26):
Romans 10
Jesus is Lord, and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will besaved.
I love that.
Susan (15:39):
I do too.
It's so simple.
It's so simple, and wecomplicate it.
Mm-hmm.
I complicate it at times.
Every person who hears the goodnews about Jesus simply has to
decide for themselves if they'rewilling to believe it.
That's right.
And for those who are willing,the moment that we confess that
Jesus is Lord mm-hmm.
And we receive his Holy Spirit..
(16:00):
Yeah.
We become a new person.
Yeah.
We get a fresh start.
I mean, who doesn't want a freshstart?
Mm-hmm.
We don't have to be weighed downby the guilt and the regret and
the shame of our sin anymore.
We may still bear someconsequences for the sins that
we've committed.
Yeah.
But in God's eyes, we are gonnabe declared not guilty, not
because of anything we've done,but, because of what Jesus has
(16:24):
done for us.
I want us to read one moreverse.
Okay.
Ephesians 2 (16:28):
8.
Keidra (16:29):
Ephesians 2 verse 8.
"For it is by grace, you havebeen saved through faith, and
this is not from ourselves, itis a gift of God.
There's that gift again.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Grace through faith.
Read verse nine.
Okay.
Not by works so that no one canboast.
Susan (16:49):
Yes.
And that's the thing.
Yeah.
We think that we can do enoughgood works.
If I'm a good person, I'm gonnago to heaven.
But it's really not about whatwe do.
The only thing that matters isdo we believe that Jesus paid
that price for us?
Yeah.
And that we are forgiven andthat we have eternal life in
heaven because of him.
Mm-hmm.
(17:10):
And not because of us.
No amount of good that we everdo is gonna make us good enough
or perfect enough, to earn God'sfavor or forgiveness, or to
receive eternal life, it is justa free gift..
Yeah...
that God has offered to us, andwe have to either receive it, or
reject it, because indifferenceis really the same as rejecting
it.
But we make a choice.
(17:30):
Yes.
And it has eternal consequencesas we've talked about today.
And God wants everyone to go toheaven.
Mm-hmm.
He does not want anyone to spendeternity separated from him, let
alone in a place called Hell.
And so in just a moment, Keidra,I'm gonna ask you to lead us in
a prayer.
If you've never accepted Jesusas your savior, if you've never
(17:52):
received or felt God'sforgiveness.
If you don't have the assurancein your heart that one day when
this life is over, that you'regonna spend eternity in heaven,
you can have that assurancetoday.
And so I want you to just prayalong with her.
So Keidra, if you would just goahead and lead us in that
prayer.
Keidra (18:07):
Yeah.
I just wanna say this too,because when you just said that
God gives us a choice, when itcomes to deciding, making a
decision for Christ, this is notthe time to be indecisive.
Mm-hmm.
You need to make a choice.
Because tomorrow's not promised.
And so I'm gonna encourage youright now to be decisive and
make a choice.
And I pray that your choice isfor Jesus.
And as I mentioned earlier, Iknow sometimes people can
(18:29):
struggle to surrender to Godbecause they believe they need
to clean up their life beforethey come to Christ.
But the beautiful part is, we'vealready talked about it, the
good news is that, 1 John 1 (18:39):
9 says, if we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just toforgive us our sins and clean us
from everything that we've everdone wrong.
Like, how awesome is that?
If you knew that you could beclean from everything that
you've ever done wrong, whywould you not, take God up on
his offer to clean you up?
We can take care of that rightnow.
(19:01):
So in your own words, I justwant you to confess to the Lord
the things that you know you'vedone wrong.
Just confess those things beforehim in your own words and let
him know that you're sorry yourepent.
It's that simple.
So I want us to take a minute.
I want you to do that right nowand that's gonna settle it.
(19:24):
You may need to pause therecording...
and come back to it...
if you need a little bit longer,but I want you to just ask him
to forgive you of the thingsthat you know that you've done
wrong.
Let's do that now.
All right.
Now that we've repented, andwe've made the choice to turn
(19:47):
away from our sins...
we've already read Romans 10 (19:49):
9, right?
It says, if you confess withyour mouth, that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
that you will be saved.
There are no magical words...
and that's why I want you to useyour own words...
'cause I don't want you to thinkthat the words that I'm saying
are going to be the magicalwords to save you.
No.
I want you to learn to go toJesus for yourself.
(20:10):
Okay?
So use your own words.
Just confess out loud that youaccept Jesus as your savior, and
that you believe God raised himfrom the dead.
And again, remember, there'snothing magical about the words
because God's not judging yourwords.
He's looking at your heart.
So in your heart...
I need you to be sincere aboutit...
just let him know that these arethings that you are confessing.
(20:33):
Let's take time to do that rightnow.
So, if you with a sincere heart,have repented of your sins...
you've confessed with your mouthand believe in your heart that
Jesus is Lord, then guess what?
It's that simple.
(20:53):
You're saved.
You're saved.
That's right.
You're saved.
You've been born again.
You get that fresh start thatSusan was telling us about
earlier and, and I just wannaadd this too, because...
it's one thing to declare whatwe just declared, but it's
another thing to walk it out.
Okay?
So this is critical...
because sometimes we can gothrough the motions of saying
(21:14):
the right words...
and think we're saved...
when we're not.
Okay?
And so when I say walk it out,if you were sincere in what you
said, then your heart's desireis going to be to walk it out.
1 John 2 (21:26):
3 says,"This is how we know that we know him.
If we keep his commands, and soI wanted to point that out.
So the only way we can keep hiscommands is if we know what his
commands are.
The only way we can know whathis commands are, is if we get
in his word.
So I'm gonna encourage you tostart developing a discipline of
(21:46):
reading your Bible.
And I hear a lot of people say,but I, I don't know where to
start.
Well, I'd encourage you juststart in the book of John.
If you don't know where tostart, just start in the book of
John.
That's a good place to start.
And then you might say, but I,I'm reading it, but I don't
understand it.
Well, I'm gonna encourage you,just keep reading.
Just keep reading and then askthe Lord to give you
(22:08):
understanding of it, becausethere's nobody in the world who
wants you to understand his wordmore than him.
Susan (22:14):
That's right.
Keidra (22:15):
So just ask him to give you an understanding of it, and
you're going to have to make aconscious choice to surround
yourself with other people whobelieve.
And not only that, that they areactively pursuing a life of
holiness.
Because you want to be able towalk alongside people who are
trying to live the same lifeyou're living now.
(22:35):
Okay?
You gotta get yourself out ofthe environments, that may have
been tempting you to live adifferent lifestyle in the past.
And, surrounding yourself withother people who are trying to
live this same lifestyle as younow, this life of holiness, it's
gonna be an encouragement toyou.
When it gets tough, they'll beable to encourage you to stay on
the path.
You'll have people you candiscuss these scriptures with to
(22:58):
help bring understanding andlight, and then it'll help you
to not give up because once youstart on this journey, listen,
the enemy is gonna be after youand try to tempt you to give up.
So you want other like-mindedbelievers who can encourage you
along the way.
And so I just wanna saycongratulations to you...
(23:19):
if that's a choice that you justmade...
welcome to the Kingdom of God.
I'm so glad to have you as mynew sister, my new brother in
Christ, and we're lookingforward to continuing this
journey with you.
Susan (23:30):
All right, well, if you prayed that prayer today, please
tell someone who could help youmaybe get connected in a local
church so that you can begin totake next steps with God and
begin to grow in your faith.
And if you like what you heardtoday and you wanna know more
about what it looks like to putyour faith into practice, be
sure and hit that subscribebutton so that you know when our
next episode is out so we can dothis together.
(23:51):
And if you know of someone whoneeds to hear the good news
about Jesus that we shared intoday's podcast, be sure to
forward that link so that theytoo can have the opportunity to
say yes to God.
Keidra (24:03):
Amen.
I.
Welcome to the One Yes At A Time Podcast.
My name is Susan Dies and I'mhere with my co-host, Keidra
Hobley, and I'm so excited abouttoday's podcast because as
Christians, Jesus has given usthe responsibility to share the
good news about what He's donefor us.
And so we're gonna do thattoday, because he wants
everyone, no matter who you are,where you come from, what you've
(00:21):
done, what you haven't done, tohave the opportunity to
experience the grace...
and peace...
and forgiveness...
and love...
and promise of eternal life inheaven when this life is over...
that God offers to anyone who iswilling to put their faith and
trust in Jesus and what he didfor us on the cross.
We don't deserve it.
There's nothing we can do toearn it.
(00:42):
We just have to come to him witha sincere heart and let him do
the rest.
Keidra (00:48):
That's just exciting because it lets us know that we
don't have to have it alltogether before we start this
relationship with the Lord, so Ilove that.
Susan (00:55):
As I was thinking about today's podcast, and all the
things that we're gonna talkabout, the thought came to me
that not everybody who'slistening to us today knows who
Jesus is.
Mm-hmm.
Not everybody even knows whyknowing him matters.
And I think a lot of times wemake the assumption that because
we live in the South...
we live in the Bible belt....
Mm-hmm...
the part of America wherethere's literally a church on
(01:17):
every corner...
that everyone knows who Jesusis.
And yet in reality, that's justnot true.
That's right.
I don't know if you know this ornot, but according to a Gallup
poll..
Okay...
that was done in 2023...
you probably...
Keidra (01:30):
I don't know this if it's a Gallop poll.
No, I don't.
Susan (01:33):
You might know this..
Okay.
About 20% of Americans have noreligious affiliation.
Mm.
Okay.
Another 10% identify as atheist.
Keidra (01:42):
Ooh.
Okay.
Susan (01:43):
And that same poll showed another interesting
statistic.
It said 68% of Americansidentify as Christians.
But only one in four say thatthey are practicing Christians.
Keidra (01:54):
Wow.
Susan (01:55):
Meaning that they prioritize their faith.
Mm-hmm.
They attend church at least oncea month.
That blew my mind.
Wow.
'cause growing up, you know, inthe church.
Mm-hmm.
We were there Sunday morning,Sunday night, Wednesday night.
We were there on Monday nightfor visitation and Thursday
night for softball.
It was literally.
Our life.
Yeah.
But as we talked about lastweek, not everybody grew up that
(02:16):
way.
That's right.
And so that statistic just kindof blew my mind that now to
prioritize your faith is just,even if you attend church just
one time a month, and of coursealso spending time with God in
prayer and in God's Word, makingthat a daily part of their
lives.
Keidra (02:32):
Wow.
So that's really just 25%.
That is, that's what I heard.
Only 25% of America are actualChristians.
Susan (02:40):
Well, it's 25% of the 68% who say they're Christian.
So it's even less than that.
Ooh, I see.
And that's why one of our goalsfor this podcast is to hopefully
encourage people, at least inour spheres of influence, to
realize the importance of notjust identifying as a Christian,
but actually living a life thataligns with the truths that we
find in God's word...
(03:01):
also it just comes down to usbeing willing to share our
personal experiences with God,what he's done for us.
That's good, what Jesus has donefor us, because when we share
our personal stories of howwe're trusting God and how every
word of God that we have appliedto our life has proven to be
true, it gives us a way to sharethe truth of God's word in a way
(03:21):
that others can't refute.
Mm-hmm.
They can refute whether or notthey believe that the Bible is
the word of God...
but when we put it intopractice...
and we say, God's word said todo this, and I didn't really
wanna do it, but when I did it..
Yeah..
what he said would happen isexactly what happened.
People cannot refute that.
And so I think we need tounderstand the importance of us
(03:42):
having the courage to share ourpersonal testimonies of faith
with others...
Then just realizing it's not ourjob to convince people to
believe...
yeah...
or to put their faith in Jesus.
Our responsibility, so to speak,is simply to share the good news
and then leave the rest toGod...
that's good...
the most loving thing anyChristian can ever do is share
(04:03):
the truth of God's word if wetruly believe God's word, that
putting our faith in Jesus isthe only way to be saved, to
have a relationship with God, tobe forgiven of our sins and to
receive eternal life, and wedon't share it.
Mm-hmm.
And no one else shares it.
Not only will the people that wedidn't share it with miss out on
experiencing God's love and allthe blessings and the benefits
(04:25):
of being a child of God, but theBible tells us that they're
gonna spend an eternityseparated from God in a place
called Hell.
Keidra (04:33):
Yeah.
Susan (04:34):
And nobody wants to talk about hell, right.
To be honest, I don't wanna talkabout hell.
Keidra (04:38):
Yeah, we, we have to..
Susan (04:39):
But the Bible says it's a real place.
Mm-hmm.
In fact Jesus taught more abouthell than he did about heaven.
Mm.
And people need to know that.
That the good news is good newsfor a reason.
The fact that there's good newsmeans that there
Keidra (04:53):
it's bad news.
News.
Some bad news.
Yeah.
Susan (04:55):
And 2 Peter 3
to go there.
He wants everyone to come tohim, and to repent, and to
experience the grace and themercy that he offers us in Jesus
so they can go to heaven.
Yeah.
God wants everyone there.
That is his plan.
The only reason anyone goes toHell is because by their own
choice..
(05:16):
Yes...
they reject the most loving giftthat God has ever offered to
this world, which is his sonJesus.
They reject God's invitation tocome to him and to be saved.
And to reject Jesus..
Mm-hmm.
after He sent his one and onlyson to die for us, the Bible
says it is to trample the bloodof God's son.
Keidra (05:37):
Mm.
Susan (05:37):
Treating his sacrifice as nothing, when it was
everything.
Keidra (05:41):
Yeah.
Susan (05:42):
That's the thing.
God doesn't send anyone to hell.
People choose hell over heaven.
Mm-hmm.
And God just simply gives us achoice.
Yeah.
Everyone wants to go to heaven,but not everyone is willing to
accept that Jesus is the way toget there.
And I have to believe it'sbecause they just don't know or
they don't understand what hisdeath on the cross accomplished.
And I thought maybe we couldshare a few verses from God's
(06:03):
word today.
Oh yeah.
To help those who may not getit.
I'm hoping these verses willallow them to hear God's heart
today.
So since you have your Bible..
Yep.
And you've already got it openJohn three 16 is probably the
most well loved, well-knownverse about salvation..
Mm-hmm...
in all the Bible.
And so I wanted to start withthat one.
Keidra (06:22):
Yeah.
And this one is so familiar thatI think sometimes we just rattle
it off and don't really...
I think you're right...
take it to heart.
So I want, even as, we sharethese, I want us to take'em to
heart as if it's the first timewe've heard it, even if it's
not.
Mm-hmm.
John 3 (06:34):
16...
and I'm reading from the NIV, itsays,"For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and onlyson that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but haveeternal life." That's so good.
Susan (06:47):
I don't know if it gets any clearer than that.
Keidra (06:49):
It doesn't get any clearer.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't, I mean, you don'teven have to try to interpret it
because it spells it out for us.
I mean, it, it speaks to hislove for us.
Mm-hmm.
Like we have to be willing toaccept that love.
Yes, he loves us, but we have toaccept it.
And, and the benefit of doingthat is eternal life.
Susan (07:07):
Wow.
Keidra (07:07):
Eternal life instead of eternal death.
Susan (07:09):
And why would anybody not want to believe that?
Yeah.
I mean, we're all looking forsome good news.
That's the best news ever.
Yes.
For God so loved the world.
That's everyone.
That's everyone.
That's everyone.
He's the most inclusive God.
And so I find it so interestingwhen people say that Christians
are intolerant for giving thismessage that God loves everyone.
(07:30):
Yes.
I mean, we're not leaving anyoneout.
And then it says He gave his oneand only son.
And every time I read that.
Wow.
Is the only word that comes tomy mind because we've talked
about this before.
I don't love anyone enough totrade the life of my child..
Mm-hmm.
to save them.
(07:50):
I'm just not that loving.
Yeah.
I'm not that good.
Yeah.
And I honestly don't know anyoneelse on this earth, who is that
good and that loving.
Only God would give his onlyson.
And then it says whosoever.
Keidra (08:05):
Mm-hmm.
Susan (08:06):
So, I mean, that's anyone,
Keidra (08:07):
yes.
Whosoever
Susan (08:08):
I don't know why that word just seems a little more
personal, because a lot ofpeople think, well, God couldn't
love me.
Keidra (08:14):
Mm-hmm.
Susan (08:15):
You know, God surely couldn't save me because all the
things I've done.
Yeah.
But this is whoever believes inhim.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, that's the qualifierright there.
Every person is a whosoever,anyone who believes anyone who's
just willing to look at thefacts.
I mean, he's a fact.
Yeah.
He died on the cross to saveanyone willing to put their
(08:39):
trust in him as their Lord andSavior It's a promise.
Yes.
And so it's just a simplechoice, but it does come down to
faith.
Yes.
Romans 3 23.
Read that one for us.
Okay, let's turn there.
Keidra (08:52):
Romans 3 and 23.
Here we go.
"For all have sinned and fallshort of the glory of God." Mm.
That's nice and sweet and to thepoint too.
Mm-hmm.
I, I think the definition of allin that sentence there is..
All.
Susan (09:11):
Yeah.
We don't have to look up theoriginal language to no,
Keidra (09:14):
no.
All of us have have sin.
We've done wrong.
We've done things that don'tline up with God's will.
Mm-hmm.
And so we've, we're all fallinginto that category.
So there's nobody who does notneed to accept Christ.
Susan (09:27):
I think one of the issues is we compare ourselves
to one another.
Mm-hmm.
All the time.
So we basically think we'rereally good..
Mm-hmm.
Compared to most people.
Yeah.
And people might not want toadmit that that's the way they
think about themselves.
Mm-hmm.
But, I think that we all havethat tendency to compare
ourselves and think, well, I'mnot as bad as her, might not be
(09:50):
as good as her, but I'mdefinitely good overall.
Mm-hmm.
And yet this says all havesinned and fall short of God's
glory.
Yeah.
So what does that mean?
That we fall short of God'sglory?
Keidra (10:03):
That we're not perfect.
That's right.
He's the only one that's perfectthat, that's right.
And so he is the standard Ifwe're gonna compare, we should
be comparing ourself to him.
That's right.
And then we will be able to see,oh, I really don't measure up.
We have to use him as thestandard.
And that shows us that we'vefallen short.
Susan (10:19):
So that's the bad news, that we've all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God.
So what do we do about that?
Romans 5:8, what does it say?
Keidra (10:26):
Let's see, Romans five, eight says,"But God demonstrates
his own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners,Christ died for us." That's so
good.
The part that stood out to me onthat one is while we were still
sinners.
Because I think a lot of timespeople don't come to Christ
because they feel like they haveto get it all together before
(10:50):
they come to Christ, but it saysclearly while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
So he knew we were gonna sin.
He didn't wait for us to cleanourselves up.
And he still chose to die.
Susan (11:00):
That's right.
When I think about Christ dyingfor us while we were still
sinners...
I think about Easter, I thinkabout the cross.
I think about the sinless son ofGod.
What he went through, The mocktrials being humiliated, him
being spit upon, yeah.
Having his beard pulled out.
Mm-hmm.
Being stripped naked, Beingflogged with the cat of nine
(11:22):
tails.
It had pieces of metal.
It says that he was literallyunrecognizable..
They put the crown of thorns onhis head.
They nailed him to the cross,they lifted him up.
What was the very first thing hesaid?
I.
Keidra (11:36):
Father forgive them.
Is that the first thing?
Susan (11:38):
Isn't that crazy?
Keidra (11:39):
Yeah.
For they know not what they do.
Susan (11:40):
And he was giving us an example because you know what?
That's one of the hardest thingshe ever asked us to do..
Mm-hmm..
To forgive people who sinagainst us.
Yeah.
And so all of these things justkind of flooded my mind.
The other thing is the worddemonstrates.
It's in the present tense.
It doesn't say, but Goddemonstrated his love for us in
this.
God's love is continual.
(12:01):
I mean...
that's so good...
it's never ending...
and in Jesus, it's for alleternity.
While we were still sinners,Christ died for us.
But why would he do that?
Look at Romans 6 23.
All right, let's see.
Romans 6 23 says,"For the wagesof sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in ChristJesus, our Lord.
(12:24):
Hmm.
So he, did that for us becausehe knows the wages of sin.
Have you ever thought about thefact that in the Garden of Eden,
with Adam and Eve, mm-hmm...
there was only one rule?
Keidra (12:35):
Okay.
Susan (12:36):
He said, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden,
except this one tree...
the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil.
Mm-hmm.
And he even told them why.
You know, God is so good.
He doesn't just tell us a wholelist of rules that we have to
keep.
Right.
He tells us why and why not.
Mm-hmm.
He tells us the blessing and theconsequences because he's so
(12:56):
good.
Yeah.
And he's so loving.
But he told them on the day thatthey ate from that tree, they
would surely die.
And what'd they do?
Keidra (13:05):
They still ate from the tree they ate.
Susan (13:07):
But aren't we the same way?
Yes.
Aren't we the same way?
Even though we know the wages ofsin is death, like it leads to
death?
Now, interestingly, they didn'timmediately die.
Mm-hmm.
But God did not want them toreach out their hand and eat
from the tree of life and remainin their sinful state forever...
and so he cast them out..
Yes...
of the garden.
(13:27):
He took the life of an animal...
mm-hmm...
and he covered them with theskin of that animal, because the
Bible says without the sheddingof blood, there is no
forgiveness of sin.
And so that was the first typeand shadow looking forward to
the cross.
Yes.
That there would ultimately be asacrifice for sin.
Keidra (13:47):
Yes.
Susan (13:48):
Every person, since Adam and Eve has sinned.
The wages of sin is death, andwe know that.
We can look at our own lives andsee that when we sin, it can
destroy all kinds of things inour life.
So we can see the truth of God'sword...
with regard to the wages of sin,but the gift of God.
Yes, it cost him everything.
(14:09):
Everything.
Yeah.
And so that's the thing thatwe're trying to wrap our minds
around.
This next verse is another thingI want us to try, okay...
and wrap our minds around.
Romans 8 (14:20):
1.
Keidra (14:22):
Romans 8
condemnation for those who arein Christ Jesus.
Mm.
Let me read that again.
Mm.
Therefore, that's so good.
There is no condemnation forthose who are in Christ Jesus.
Wow.
Susan (14:42):
That is an amazing promise.
Keidra (14:43):
Because we condemn ourselves all the time.
And we condemn each other ifwe're honest about it.
Yes, we do.
But he's saying there is nocondemnation if we're in him.
Susan (14:51):
That's right.
Anyone who puts their faith inJesus.
When they stand before God...
and we all will...
we're gonna be declared notguilty.
Keidra (15:01):
Ooh.
Glory.
Susan (15:02):
Not because we're not guilty.
Keidra (15:04):
Yes.
Susan (15:04):
Not because we did anything worthy of being able to
enter into heaven.
Mm-hmm.
But because of what Jesus didfor us.
Yeah.
When God looks at us, he willnot see our sin.
Even now, we are covered by theblood of Jesus...
amen...
and that's what he sees, and hecounts our faith as
righteousness.
Look at Romans 10 (15:24):
9.
Keidra (15:26):
Romans 10
Jesus is Lord, and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will besaved.
I love that.
Susan (15:39):
I do too.
It's so simple.
It's so simple, and wecomplicate it.
Mm-hmm.
I complicate it at times.
Every person who hears the goodnews about Jesus simply has to
decide for themselves if they'rewilling to believe it.
That's right.
And for those who are willing,the moment that we confess that
Jesus is Lord mm-hmm.
And we receive his Holy Spirit..
(16:00):
Yeah.
We become a new person.
Yeah.
We get a fresh start.
I mean, who doesn't want a freshstart?
Mm-hmm.
We don't have to be weighed downby the guilt and the regret and
the shame of our sin anymore.
We may still bear someconsequences for the sins that
we've committed.
Yeah.
But in God's eyes, we are gonnabe declared not guilty, not
because of anything we've done,but, because of what Jesus has
(16:24):
done for us.
I want us to read one moreverse.
Okay.
Ephesians 2 (16:28):
8.
Keidra (16:29):
Ephesians 2 verse 8.
"For it is by grace, you havebeen saved through faith, and
this is not from ourselves, itis a gift of God.
There's that gift again.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Grace through faith.
Read verse nine.
Okay.
Not by works so that no one canboast.
Susan (16:49):
Yes.
And that's the thing.
Yeah.
We think that we can do enoughgood works.
If I'm a good person, I'm gonnago to heaven.
But it's really not about whatwe do.
The only thing that matters isdo we believe that Jesus paid
that price for us?
Yeah.
And that we are forgiven andthat we have eternal life in
heaven because of him.
Mm-hmm.
(17:10):
And not because of us.
No amount of good that we everdo is gonna make us good enough
or perfect enough, to earn God'sfavor or forgiveness, or to
receive eternal life, it is justa free gift..
Yeah...
that God has offered to us, andwe have to either receive it, or
reject it, because indifferenceis really the same as rejecting
it.
But we make a choice.
(17:30):
Yes.
And it has eternal consequencesas we've talked about today.
And God wants everyone to go toheaven.
Mm-hmm.
He does not want anyone to spendeternity separated from him, let
alone in a place called Hell.
And so in just a moment, Keidra,I'm gonna ask you to lead us in
a prayer.
If you've never accepted Jesusas your savior, if you've never
(17:52):
received or felt God'sforgiveness.
If you don't have the assurancein your heart that one day when
this life is over, that you'regonna spend eternity in heaven,
you can have that assurancetoday.
And so I want you to just prayalong with her.
So Keidra, if you would just goahead and lead us in that
prayer.
Keidra (18:07):
Yeah.
I just wanna say this too,because when you just said that
God gives us a choice, when itcomes to deciding, making a
decision for Christ, this is notthe time to be indecisive.
Mm-hmm.
You need to make a choice.
Because tomorrow's not promised.
And so I'm gonna encourage youright now to be decisive and
make a choice.
And I pray that your choice isfor Jesus.
And as I mentioned earlier, Iknow sometimes people can
(18:29):
struggle to surrender to Godbecause they believe they need
to clean up their life beforethey come to Christ.
But the beautiful part is, we'vealready talked about it, the
good news is that, 1 John 1 (18:39):
9 says, if we confess our sins,
God is faithful and just toforgive us our sins and clean us
from everything that we've everdone wrong.
Like, how awesome is that?
If you knew that you could beclean from everything that
you've ever done wrong, whywould you not, take God up on
his offer to clean you up?
We can take care of that rightnow.
(19:01):
So in your own words, I justwant you to confess to the Lord
the things that you know you'vedone wrong.
Just confess those things beforehim in your own words and let
him know that you're sorry yourepent.
It's that simple.
So I want us to take a minute.
I want you to do that right nowand that's gonna settle it.
(19:24):
You may need to pause therecording...
and come back to it...
if you need a little bit longer,but I want you to just ask him
to forgive you of the thingsthat you know that you've done
wrong.
Let's do that now.
All right.
Now that we've repented, andwe've made the choice to turn
(19:47):
away from our sins...
we've already read Romans 10 (19:49):
9, right?
It says, if you confess withyour mouth, that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
that you will be saved.
There are no magical words...
and that's why I want you to useyour own words...
'cause I don't want you to thinkthat the words that I'm saying
are going to be the magicalwords to save you.
No.
I want you to learn to go toJesus for yourself.
(20:10):
Okay?
So use your own words.
Just confess out loud that youaccept Jesus as your savior, and
that you believe God raised himfrom the dead.
And again, remember, there'snothing magical about the words
because God's not judging yourwords.
He's looking at your heart.
So in your heart...
I need you to be sincere aboutit...
just let him know that these arethings that you are confessing.
(20:33):
Let's take time to do that rightnow.
So, if you with a sincere heart,have repented of your sins...
you've confessed with your mouthand believe in your heart that
Jesus is Lord, then guess what?
It's that simple.
(20:53):
You're saved.
You're saved.
That's right.
You're saved.
You've been born again.
You get that fresh start thatSusan was telling us about
earlier and, and I just wannaadd this too, because...
it's one thing to declare whatwe just declared, but it's
another thing to walk it out.
Okay?
So this is critical...
because sometimes we can gothrough the motions of saying
(21:14):
the right words...
and think we're saved...
when we're not.
Okay?
And so when I say walk it out,if you were sincere in what you
said, then your heart's desireis going to be to walk it out.
1 John 2 (21:26):
3 says,"This is how we know that we know him.
If we keep his commands, and soI wanted to point that out.
So the only way we can keep hiscommands is if we know what his
commands are.
The only way we can know whathis commands are, is if we get
in his word.
So I'm gonna encourage you tostart developing a discipline of
(21:46):
reading your Bible.
And I hear a lot of people say,but I, I don't know where to
start.
Well, I'd encourage you juststart in the book of John.
If you don't know where tostart, just start in the book of
John.
That's a good place to start.
And then you might say, but I,I'm reading it, but I don't
understand it.
Well, I'm gonna encourage you,just keep reading.
Just keep reading and then askthe Lord to give you
(22:08):
understanding of it, becausethere's nobody in the world who
wants you to understand his wordmore than him.
Susan (22:14):
That's right.
Keidra (22:15):
So just ask him to give you an understanding of it, and
you're going to have to make aconscious choice to surround
yourself with other people whobelieve.
And not only that, that they areactively pursuing a life of
holiness.
Because you want to be able towalk alongside people who are
trying to live the same lifeyou're living now.
(22:35):
Okay?
You gotta get yourself out ofthe environments, that may have
been tempting you to live adifferent lifestyle in the past.
And, surrounding yourself withother people who are trying to
live this same lifestyle as younow, this life of holiness, it's
gonna be an encouragement toyou.
When it gets tough, they'll beable to encourage you to stay on
the path.
You'll have people you candiscuss these scriptures with to
(22:58):
help bring understanding andlight, and then it'll help you
to not give up because once youstart on this journey, listen,
the enemy is gonna be after youand try to tempt you to give up.
So you want other like-mindedbelievers who can encourage you
along the way.
And so I just wanna saycongratulations to you...
(23:19):
if that's a choice that you justmade...
welcome to the Kingdom of God.
I'm so glad to have you as mynew sister, my new brother in
Christ, and we're lookingforward to continuing this
journey with you.
Susan (23:30):
All right, well, if you prayed that prayer today, please
tell someone who could help youmaybe get connected in a local
church so that you can begin totake next steps with God and
begin to grow in your faith.
And if you like what you heardtoday and you wanna know more
about what it looks like to putyour faith into practice, be
sure and hit that subscribebutton so that you know when our
next episode is out so we can dothis together.
(23:51):
And if you know of someone whoneeds to hear the good news
about Jesus that we shared intoday's podcast, be sure to
forward that link so that theytoo can have the opportunity to
say yes to God.
Keidra (24:03):
Amen.
I.
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