June 19, 2025 • 26 mins
Today on Bold Steps, Pastor Mark Jobe explains what it means to be a true and authentic follower of Jesus. We’re in an exciting series of messages that’s designed to show us what happens in the life of someone who truly and authentically believes in Jesus. Many Christians have no idea of the riches they have in Christ. But when we come to know Him … accept Him and believe in Him, there is a transformation that happens and everything changes.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe explains what it means
to be a true and authentic follower of Jesus.
S2 (00:07):
They have incredible riches, spiritual riches that are theirs. They've
been given a position in God, but oftentimes live their
lives as though they were much less than who they
are because they have not quite understood how God sees
them and what God has given them.
S1 (00:41):
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president
of the Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. We're working our way
through the book of Ephesians and exciting new series of
messages designed to show us what happens in the life
of someone who truly and authentically Mark believes in Jesus.
S2 (00:58):
Yeah, and Wayne, the apostle Paul starts the book of
Ephesians with our identity, who we are. What is our position?
How do we relate to God? And this is a
message that's so very important, because I believe that even
so many Christians don't really understand their position and what,
you know can really change you.
S1 (01:20):
That's the title of this message from our series. When
you believe Everything Changes, here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:27):
His name was Victor. He felt like a loser. He
didn't do very well in school. In fact, when he
was about 16 years old, a teacher advised him that
it would be better for him to drop out of
high school and get a job. So he did. He
got one job and he lost it and got another
(01:50):
job and didn't do too well, got another job and
another job. By the time he was 32 years old,
Victor had had 76 jobs and not done very well
at any of those jobs. That was about to change.
He applied for his 77th job. Part of the hiring
(02:14):
process at the 77th job was that they required some tests,
personality and IQ tests. Victor took an IQ test. The
normal average IQ was about 100. Victor tested at 161,
(02:35):
in the range where they consider it the range of
a genius. When the results of the test came back,
the the person giving the test said, you have just
tested in a range that we call the range of genius.
(02:56):
Victor was flabbergasted. Shot. Surprised it was a changing moment
for him. He was never to be the same. In fact,
it so altered the way he viewed himself. So changed
the way he perceived himself. That Victor Serenko went on
(03:17):
to become famous for his research in laser surgery and
became the president of an organization called Mensa, an organization
for geniuses. All because a test said that he was special. Oh,
you see, Victor had always been a genius, but he
(03:40):
did not know who he was until the revelation came.
I went into so many Christians that are that way.
They have a lot at their disposal. They have incredible riches,
spiritual riches that are theirs. They've been given a position
(04:01):
in God, but oftentimes live their lives as though they
were much less than who they are, because they have
not quite understood how God sees them and what God
has given them. Well, I'm praying that for some of you,
this passage in Ephesians will be what Victor Sancho's test
(04:25):
was him an eye opening experience that kind of reveals
to you who you really are in God. So are
you ready this morning? Alright, we're going to be reading
in Ephesians chapter one, beginning in verse 11. It says,
In Him, in Christ we were also chosen, having been
(04:49):
predestined according to the plan of him who works out
everything in conformity to the purpose of his will. We
saw this last week, but let me just reiterate it
that you in Christ, you were chosen. Chosen before the
foundation of the world. You are chosen even though God
knew who you were and how you would be. God
(05:12):
knew your character and your weaknesses. God knew your name
and your middle name and your last name and the
names they called you in school when you were growing up.
God knew your blood pressure and God knew your heart rate.
And God knew your genealogy. And God, who knew all
(05:32):
things about you, chose you in advance to belong to him.
He fully understood who you were, and he fully understood
all of your weaknesses and your propensity to the failures
that you have, and yet understanding all of that, God
still chose you. Predestined you because God knew in his
(05:59):
foreknowledge Knowledge that one day you also would believe and
choose him in return. That's a powerful thought. Listen to
what it says. Listen. Having been predestined according to the
plan of him who works out everything in conformity to
(06:21):
the purpose of his will, in order that we who
were the first to hope in Christ may be for
the praise of his glory. I like that God chose us,
predestined us in advance, knew that we would be chosen
because in his foreknowledge he knew also that we would
in turn believe in him and choose him for the
(06:43):
purpose of the praise of his glory. God understood that
your transformation would lead people to praise him and say,
look what God has done in him or her. Thank God.
And it says, it tells us here, listen, verse 13.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard
(07:05):
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed,
you were marked in him with the seal. Here's how
it works. God knew you before you were born. God
knew who you would be and how you would be.
God did not orchestrate that. You would sin even though
(07:27):
he knew you would. Let me just clarify. There's a
difference between foreknowledge. There's a difference between foreknowledge, in other words,
that I know in advance, and the actual making someone
(07:48):
do something. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin,
but God was not the author of evil. How many
of you are tracking with me? with me, just kind
of nod your head. Just because I know something doesn't
mean I've made it happen. Some people believe that because
(08:08):
God knows it. He must be the author of it.
Because God knows that you will fall. Doesn't mean that
God wants you to fall, or makes you fall, or
orchestrates your fall, or desires you to fall. He knows
the future, but he's not the author of evil in
any kind. He knows. He knew that Adam and Eve
(08:29):
would sin, but he was not the author of their sin.
He wasn't the creator of their sin. He wasn't the
planner of their sin. He wasn't. He did not desire
them to sin. But it doesn't preclude the fact that
he knew that it would happen. And for some people,
it's hard to understand the difference between foreknowledge and actually
(08:52):
making something happen or responsibility for it. When God chose
you before the foundation of the world, he knew that
one day, one day. Oh, I love this. That one
day you would choose him in return when you were
(09:15):
still raising your fist at God. And the only time
you use the name of Jesus was to as an
expletive in your swearing when you, uh, criticize Christians, when
you laughed at holy rollers, God already knew that he
had chosen you. God already knew that one day you
(09:37):
would believe God already knew. He was just saying, oh wait, wait,
because yours is coming. God already knew in your hardness
that one day you would bow your knee and weep
and repent and say, I've had enough. Jesus, I need
you to be my Savior and my Lord. I repent
of my ways. I invite you to come into my heart.
(09:58):
You see, he already knew that it didn't catch him
by surprise. Even when you were swearing at God, even
when you were bitter at God, even when you were
hard against God, God already knew that the day and
time would come when you would bow your knee to
his lordship and his sovereignty. Because God is a God
(10:19):
that knows the future. So it says you were included
in Christ. You were chosen before, but you were included
in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. And when you believed, you were
marked in him with a seal the moment that you
(10:43):
believed you were marked. You know, the problem with tattoos
is that they just don't change. You change, but your
tattoo doesn't change. When you're 16 years old and you're
madly in love with Susie. And think she'll be the
(11:05):
love of your life. And you'll never break up. And
you can never love another woman. And you put a
big heart and say, Susie on your arm. And when
you're 18, you don't even know where Susie is. But
let me tell you, you still have that tattoo because
you have changed. But that tattoo doesn't change. I had
(11:27):
a guy that I was mentoring, I was helping in
a Bible study, and, um, one day I showed up
at his house and it was kind of warm, and
we were meeting for a Bible study, and he said, pastor,
I got something to tell you. I really don't like this.
I said, what, what? What's wrong? And he put out
his leg and he had on his leg a big
tattoo that ran up all the leg, and it was
(11:49):
a tattoo of a naked woman. And he said, now
that I'm a Christian, I just. I don't like it.
It's a naked woman on my leg. He said, I
got an idea though, pastor, I'm going to go back
to that tattoo guy and have her dress her up.
So he was going to make her a little bit
(12:09):
more modest, put a little clothes on this woman and okay, whatever.
You see, because the thing with the tattoo is you change.
But but your tattoo doesn't change. It's a mark that
doesn't change. Now, here's the thing. The moment that you
believed in Christ, you were marked. It tells us you
(12:30):
were marked. Now, what kind of marking is that? It
says you were marked in him with a seal.
S1 (12:44):
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark job. We'll continue
today's message in a moment. Mark, there's something I've been
noticing lately that I think many of our listeners are
thinking about, with so many voices competing for our attention.
There's social media news cycles, workplace demands. It's easy to
lose sight of what matters eternally. And I find myself
wondering how many Christians today are investing their best resources
(13:05):
in things that won't ultimately last.
S2 (13:07):
You know, Wayne.
S3 (13:08):
I remember when my youngest son was playing football in
high school. It was a big game and I went there.
I was cheering him on, and I got a phone
call and I thought, well, let me pick up this
phone call just for a moment. So I went down
and I got on the phone call, and it was
right at that time that my son, he intercepted a pass.
(13:29):
And afterwards he said, dad, did you see that? And
I had to say I missed the moment I was
distracted by something. And in the end, it wasn't an
urgent phone call. Listen, right now, there's a lot of distraction.
The political environment in our country, there's a drama every day.
There's a lot that's happening internationally. There's wars, there's natural disasters.
(13:54):
It feels like we are just sucked into it. But
I want to say, don't Miss the moment. I believe
that we are seeing more people come to Christ at
this season at a time, especially under the age of 35,
than I have ever seen in our lifetime. It's happening
in Africa and Europe. It's happening in the United States
(14:15):
of America. We at Bold Steps are committed to not
get distracted, but to make sure that we are proclaiming
the gospel of Jesus at a time of uncertainty so
that people can come to know him in this window
of opportunity that we have. So we want to encourage you. Pray.
(14:35):
Don't miss the moment.
S1 (14:37):
Such an important word, Mark. Thank you. And if you
would like to become part of this eternal work today
by visiting us, you can do that at Bold steps.org
and make a gift or call us at 800 Moody.
That's (800) 356-6639. And when you do, we'll send you a
special gift as a way of saying thanks for partnering
with us and sharing God's truth that will last eternally.
(14:59):
More on that later. But let's get back to the
message now. Again, here's Mark job.
S2 (15:09):
Now let me talk about that for a minute, because
I want you to fully understand what's a mark and
what's a seal. The seal has to do with how
they sent correspondence and official letters. In those days. I
think it was. I was talking to a high school
student not too long ago, and they told me that
(15:32):
one of their assignments in their class was they had
to write a letter, put it in an envelope, put
the address, put a stamp on and mail it. And
these were juniors in high school. And the high school
student was telling me that a whole bunch of people
in the class didn't know how to do it. They
just didn't know how to send a letter. Because we
(15:54):
live in the age of text messaging, emails, Facebook, Book,
and in their world, they never have to send a letter, right?
But in the world that Paul lived in, they had
to send letters often. And the way that they would
authenticate a letter is they would take a someone would
(16:15):
write a letter or an official document. They would put
it in a scroll, tie it, usually with the ribbon.
They would melt wax on the place where the the
paper would meet together. They would melt wax, and then
they would take a signature ring or an emblem, and
they would put the imprint of it on the soft wax.
(16:39):
So when someone received this note or this letter, this
official document, they would look at the wax signature and
they would realize that this is an authentic document, not
a forgery, but this is the real thing. When you
came to Christ The moment that you bowed your knee
(17:02):
and came to Christ, you were marked. You were sealed. Uh,
you were given something that authenticates the fact that you
are truly a follower of Jesus Christ. It's called the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the moment that you came
(17:22):
to Christ, the Holy Spirit is deposited in your being.
So that in the spiritual realm, when every when anybody
looks at you from the angels to the demonic to
God Himself, when he looks at you, he sees the
mark of God upon your life, which is the indwelling
(17:44):
of the Holy Spirit that cannot be raised, that cannot
be taken off, that cannot change because you may change,
but the mark never changes. It's the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit of God. You were marked in him with
a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. Now, I love this
(18:05):
about this passage. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy
Spirit is the third person of the Triune God. Now,
this is difficult for some people to understand. It's difficult,
I think, for all of us to understand in one
way or another. There's a lot of, uh, aberrations of
(18:27):
Christianity that have developed out of a misunderstanding of the
Triune God. But in essence, the way the Bible explains
it is we. We worship one God, not three gods.
We have one God that we worship, but that one
God is manifest in three persons with the same essence
(18:49):
and the same nature. And those three persons have different functions.
They're not three different gods. They are three persons that
exist in one God. So therefore, when we pray, we pray. Technically,
I know you say Jesus when you pray, and that's okay.
(19:12):
I know you may say Holy Spirit when you pray,
and that's okay, but technically you are praying to God
the Father.
S1 (19:27):
You're listening to Bold Steps, the Bible teaching of Mark job.
Today's message was called what you know will Change You.
And you can hear part two of this message tomorrow.
So please keep listening. But before then, we want to
invite you to request our new bold step gift. It's
one that really speaks to the moms and dads of
young boys.
S2 (19:44):
Mark Wayne. We have Jason and Aaron, their authors. They
are a married couple and they have written a book
called Lies Boys Believe and the Epic Quest for truth.
And great to have you in the studio with us.
And one of the lies you address in this book
is that following Jesus is boring. And I think that's well,
(20:09):
that's an important lie. Jesus is anything but boring, isn't it? Uh,
so tell me why you think boys are susceptible to
this particular deception?
S4 (20:18):
Well, a lot of times when boys are introduced to
to faith and to Jesus, it involves a lot of
sitting still, listening to a Bible story. If there is
an activity, a lot of times, at least me growing up,
it was like a flannel board with the story up there. And, uh.
S1 (20:37):
And Moses kept falling off the flannel board in my life. Yeah.
S4 (20:41):
That's right. And, uh, if if our modern boys are
anything like I was, I had a real hard time appreciating, um,
the stories when I had to sit still and be
forced to hold my hands in my lap and, um,
be super well behaved. But what we what we find
(21:01):
in Scripture is that the life of Jesus was anything
but boring. Uh, the things that boys yearn for in
their innermost parts is the adventure of following a leader
and leading other men. And that's exactly what we see
in in The True Stories of Jesus, where he, uh,
(21:23):
he went fishing. And when he was on adventure all
the time, he was, uh, challenging people and encouraging them
and healing them. And, uh, the people who follow Jesus,
the disciples were anything but boring men. Um, they were
very real, very active, very engaged. There were arguments. There
were lots of challenges in their lives. And that's really
(21:47):
part of the adventure that we kind of, I don't know,
whitewash out of Jesus. A lot of times when we're
telling Bible stories to our young men, following him is
anything but boring.
S1 (21:58):
Aaron, I don't know about your four boys, but sometimes
it can be hard to get boys to read. And
I know this book is for parents to use with
their boys. You had that in mind as you wrote
and designed this book, right?
S5 (22:08):
Yeah. It's different. There's actually several books in the live series.
Lies women believe lies, men Believe lies, Girls believe, which
you mentioned. And this book is very different from the
format of those. And yeah, our boys did not love
to read. I remember being a little girl and if
I had a free afternoon, I would spend it with
a book. That's not how my boys operate. They want
to be outside playing swords with sticks. So how do
(22:29):
we get them in the content? So we were really intentional.
It's a fiction book. The others are not. They're just
straight trade books. And it follows a dad and his
sons on this big adventure that actually models a trip
that Jason and our boys have taken. They go out
west and they encounter all kinds of excitement. Um, and
there's also things that happen in the book. They're going
(22:50):
to turn the book all different ways as they're reading it.
They're going to there's things they're supposed to do with
the corners of the book. There's quests they do within
the book. There's cryptograms where they're trying to solve riddles,
and none of that is an attempt to bait and
switch them into the Bible. As Jason said, we think
the Bible is the most exciting book in the world,
and so this is to be in parallel with the Bible.
(23:11):
And what we've heard from parents and boys over and
over again is my boy couldn't put it down, and
he hasn't done that with any other book. And that's
because we intentionally invite him into this story with these
other men and boys that are people they're going to
want to be like, and they're encountering truth all along
the way. And I actually think that models life pretty well.
(23:31):
Life is an adventure, and we are encountering challenges, and
Jesus is with us every step. And so, um, we
we were excited to give it to boys in a
format that we thought they would love, and our boys
loved it. They're fiction readers. Our boys are. We toss
a nonfiction book at them, they might roll their eyes
and they might or might not read it, but a
great fiction story with an epic adventure, they're going to
(23:54):
read it. So we hope this book is that. Yeah.
S2 (23:56):
That's great. Well, there you have it. Jason and Aaron
have written this book specifically for 6 to 12 year
old boys. So if you are a grandparent, a parent,
if you know someone that's raising boys in that category, listen,
this is the book to get into their hands as
soon as possible.
S1 (24:17):
Well, once again, it's written by Jason and Aaron Davis,
and we'll be happy to send you a copy. This
bold step gift today when you give a donation to
support Bold Steps. So call us at 800. D.L. Moody.
That's (800) 356-6639. Or give your gift online at Bold Steps.
You can also send your gift and request the book
(24:39):
Lies Boys Believe by writing to us in the mail.
Just address your letter to Bold Steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 606 ten. And then don't forget if you've missed
any of these messages, you can listen to Mark's daily
program online at Bold steps.org or catch Mark from the
road no matter where you are, just download the Bold
(25:00):
Steps app to your favorite smart device, or subscribe to
the Bold Steps podcast wherever you listen. For more details
on all the ways you can listen, just visit Bold
Steps dot. One more thing before we leave today, why
not sign up for The Bold Stepper Weekly? It's a
free devotional from the desk of pastor Mark Jobe, designed
to help you apply biblical truth to everyday life with
(25:21):
clarity and purpose. Just visit bold steps to get it
delivered to your inbox automatically. And that is our time
for today. I'm Wayne Shepherd on behalf of Mark Jobe
and the entire Bold Steps team. We invite you to
join us again tomorrow. And Mark continues this message. It's
part of our new series. When you believe Everything changes.
And you can hear more Friday right here on Bold
(25:42):
Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Today on Bold Steps, Mark Jobe explains what it means
to be a true and authentic follower of Jesus.
S2 (00:07):
They have incredible riches, spiritual riches that are theirs. They've
been given a position in God, but oftentimes live their
lives as though they were much less than who they
are because they have not quite understood how God sees
them and what God has given them.
S1 (00:41):
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president
of the Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of
New Life Community Church in Chicago. We're working our way
through the book of Ephesians and exciting new series of
messages designed to show us what happens in the life
of someone who truly and authentically Mark believes in Jesus.
S2 (00:58):
Yeah, and Wayne, the apostle Paul starts the book of
Ephesians with our identity, who we are. What is our position?
How do we relate to God? And this is a
message that's so very important, because I believe that even
so many Christians don't really understand their position and what,
you know can really change you.
S1 (01:20):
That's the title of this message from our series. When
you believe Everything Changes, here's Mark Jobe.
S2 (01:27):
His name was Victor. He felt like a loser. He
didn't do very well in school. In fact, when he
was about 16 years old, a teacher advised him that
it would be better for him to drop out of
high school and get a job. So he did. He
got one job and he lost it and got another
(01:50):
job and didn't do too well, got another job and
another job. By the time he was 32 years old,
Victor had had 76 jobs and not done very well
at any of those jobs. That was about to change.
He applied for his 77th job. Part of the hiring
(02:14):
process at the 77th job was that they required some tests,
personality and IQ tests. Victor took an IQ test. The
normal average IQ was about 100. Victor tested at 161,
(02:35):
in the range where they consider it the range of
a genius. When the results of the test came back,
the the person giving the test said, you have just
tested in a range that we call the range of genius.
(02:56):
Victor was flabbergasted. Shot. Surprised it was a changing moment
for him. He was never to be the same. In fact,
it so altered the way he viewed himself. So changed
the way he perceived himself. That Victor Serenko went on
(03:17):
to become famous for his research in laser surgery and
became the president of an organization called Mensa, an organization
for geniuses. All because a test said that he was special. Oh,
you see, Victor had always been a genius, but he
(03:40):
did not know who he was until the revelation came.
I went into so many Christians that are that way.
They have a lot at their disposal. They have incredible riches,
spiritual riches that are theirs. They've been given a position
(04:01):
in God, but oftentimes live their lives as though they
were much less than who they are, because they have
not quite understood how God sees them and what God
has given them. Well, I'm praying that for some of you,
this passage in Ephesians will be what Victor Sancho's test
(04:25):
was him an eye opening experience that kind of reveals
to you who you really are in God. So are
you ready this morning? Alright, we're going to be reading
in Ephesians chapter one, beginning in verse 11. It says,
In Him, in Christ we were also chosen, having been
(04:49):
predestined according to the plan of him who works out
everything in conformity to the purpose of his will. We
saw this last week, but let me just reiterate it
that you in Christ, you were chosen. Chosen before the
foundation of the world. You are chosen even though God
knew who you were and how you would be. God
(05:12):
knew your character and your weaknesses. God knew your name
and your middle name and your last name and the
names they called you in school when you were growing up.
God knew your blood pressure and God knew your heart rate.
And God knew your genealogy. And God, who knew all
(05:32):
things about you, chose you in advance to belong to him.
He fully understood who you were, and he fully understood
all of your weaknesses and your propensity to the failures
that you have, and yet understanding all of that, God
still chose you. Predestined you because God knew in his
(05:59):
foreknowledge Knowledge that one day you also would believe and
choose him in return. That's a powerful thought. Listen to
what it says. Listen. Having been predestined according to the
plan of him who works out everything in conformity to
(06:21):
the purpose of his will, in order that we who
were the first to hope in Christ may be for
the praise of his glory. I like that God chose us,
predestined us in advance, knew that we would be chosen
because in his foreknowledge he knew also that we would
in turn believe in him and choose him for the
(06:43):
purpose of the praise of his glory. God understood that
your transformation would lead people to praise him and say,
look what God has done in him or her. Thank God.
And it says, it tells us here, listen, verse 13.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard
(07:05):
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having believed,
you were marked in him with the seal. Here's how
it works. God knew you before you were born. God
knew who you would be and how you would be.
God did not orchestrate that. You would sin even though
(07:27):
he knew you would. Let me just clarify. There's a
difference between foreknowledge. There's a difference between foreknowledge, in other words,
that I know in advance, and the actual making someone
(07:48):
do something. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin,
but God was not the author of evil. How many
of you are tracking with me? with me, just kind
of nod your head. Just because I know something doesn't
mean I've made it happen. Some people believe that because
(08:08):
God knows it. He must be the author of it.
Because God knows that you will fall. Doesn't mean that
God wants you to fall, or makes you fall, or
orchestrates your fall, or desires you to fall. He knows
the future, but he's not the author of evil in
any kind. He knows. He knew that Adam and Eve
(08:29):
would sin, but he was not the author of their sin.
He wasn't the creator of their sin. He wasn't the
planner of their sin. He wasn't. He did not desire
them to sin. But it doesn't preclude the fact that
he knew that it would happen. And for some people,
it's hard to understand the difference between foreknowledge and actually
(08:52):
making something happen or responsibility for it. When God chose
you before the foundation of the world, he knew that
one day, one day. Oh, I love this. That one
day you would choose him in return when you were
(09:15):
still raising your fist at God. And the only time
you use the name of Jesus was to as an
expletive in your swearing when you, uh, criticize Christians, when
you laughed at holy rollers, God already knew that he
had chosen you. God already knew that one day you
(09:37):
would believe God already knew. He was just saying, oh wait, wait,
because yours is coming. God already knew in your hardness
that one day you would bow your knee and weep
and repent and say, I've had enough. Jesus, I need
you to be my Savior and my Lord. I repent
of my ways. I invite you to come into my heart.
(09:58):
You see, he already knew that it didn't catch him
by surprise. Even when you were swearing at God, even
when you were bitter at God, even when you were
hard against God, God already knew that the day and
time would come when you would bow your knee to
his lordship and his sovereignty. Because God is a God
(10:19):
that knows the future. So it says you were included
in Christ. You were chosen before, but you were included
in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation. And when you believed, you were
marked in him with a seal the moment that you
(10:43):
believed you were marked. You know, the problem with tattoos
is that they just don't change. You change, but your
tattoo doesn't change. When you're 16 years old and you're
madly in love with Susie. And think she'll be the
(11:05):
love of your life. And you'll never break up. And
you can never love another woman. And you put a
big heart and say, Susie on your arm. And when
you're 18, you don't even know where Susie is. But
let me tell you, you still have that tattoo because
you have changed. But that tattoo doesn't change. I had
(11:27):
a guy that I was mentoring, I was helping in
a Bible study, and, um, one day I showed up
at his house and it was kind of warm, and
we were meeting for a Bible study, and he said, pastor,
I got something to tell you. I really don't like this.
I said, what, what? What's wrong? And he put out
his leg and he had on his leg a big
tattoo that ran up all the leg, and it was
(11:49):
a tattoo of a naked woman. And he said, now
that I'm a Christian, I just. I don't like it.
It's a naked woman on my leg. He said, I
got an idea though, pastor, I'm going to go back
to that tattoo guy and have her dress her up.
So he was going to make her a little bit
(12:09):
more modest, put a little clothes on this woman and okay, whatever.
You see, because the thing with the tattoo is you change.
But but your tattoo doesn't change. It's a mark that
doesn't change. Now, here's the thing. The moment that you
believed in Christ, you were marked. It tells us you
(12:30):
were marked. Now, what kind of marking is that? It
says you were marked in him with a seal.
S1 (12:44):
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark job. We'll continue
today's message in a moment. Mark, there's something I've been
noticing lately that I think many of our listeners are
thinking about, with so many voices competing for our attention.
There's social media news cycles, workplace demands. It's easy to
lose sight of what matters eternally. And I find myself
wondering how many Christians today are investing their best resources
(13:05):
in things that won't ultimately last.
S2 (13:07):
You know, Wayne.
S3 (13:08):
I remember when my youngest son was playing football in
high school. It was a big game and I went there.
I was cheering him on, and I got a phone
call and I thought, well, let me pick up this
phone call just for a moment. So I went down
and I got on the phone call, and it was
right at that time that my son, he intercepted a pass.
(13:29):
And afterwards he said, dad, did you see that? And
I had to say I missed the moment I was
distracted by something. And in the end, it wasn't an
urgent phone call. Listen, right now, there's a lot of distraction.
The political environment in our country, there's a drama every day.
There's a lot that's happening internationally. There's wars, there's natural disasters.
(13:54):
It feels like we are just sucked into it. But
I want to say, don't Miss the moment. I believe
that we are seeing more people come to Christ at
this season at a time, especially under the age of 35,
than I have ever seen in our lifetime. It's happening
in Africa and Europe. It's happening in the United States
(14:15):
of America. We at Bold Steps are committed to not
get distracted, but to make sure that we are proclaiming
the gospel of Jesus at a time of uncertainty so
that people can come to know him in this window
of opportunity that we have. So we want to encourage you. Pray.
(14:35):
Don't miss the moment.
S1 (14:37):
Such an important word, Mark. Thank you. And if you
would like to become part of this eternal work today
by visiting us, you can do that at Bold steps.org
and make a gift or call us at 800 Moody.
That's (800) 356-6639. And when you do, we'll send you a
special gift as a way of saying thanks for partnering
with us and sharing God's truth that will last eternally.
(14:59):
More on that later. But let's get back to the
message now. Again, here's Mark job.
S2 (15:09):
Now let me talk about that for a minute, because
I want you to fully understand what's a mark and
what's a seal. The seal has to do with how
they sent correspondence and official letters. In those days. I
think it was. I was talking to a high school
student not too long ago, and they told me that
(15:32):
one of their assignments in their class was they had
to write a letter, put it in an envelope, put
the address, put a stamp on and mail it. And
these were juniors in high school. And the high school
student was telling me that a whole bunch of people
in the class didn't know how to do it. They
just didn't know how to send a letter. Because we
(15:54):
live in the age of text messaging, emails, Facebook, Book,
and in their world, they never have to send a letter, right?
But in the world that Paul lived in, they had
to send letters often. And the way that they would
authenticate a letter is they would take a someone would
(16:15):
write a letter or an official document. They would put
it in a scroll, tie it, usually with the ribbon.
They would melt wax on the place where the the
paper would meet together. They would melt wax, and then
they would take a signature ring or an emblem, and
they would put the imprint of it on the soft wax.
(16:39):
So when someone received this note or this letter, this
official document, they would look at the wax signature and
they would realize that this is an authentic document, not
a forgery, but this is the real thing. When you
came to Christ The moment that you bowed your knee
(17:02):
and came to Christ, you were marked. You were sealed. Uh,
you were given something that authenticates the fact that you
are truly a follower of Jesus Christ. It's called the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the moment that you came
(17:22):
to Christ, the Holy Spirit is deposited in your being.
So that in the spiritual realm, when every when anybody
looks at you from the angels to the demonic to
God Himself, when he looks at you, he sees the
mark of God upon your life, which is the indwelling
(17:44):
of the Holy Spirit that cannot be raised, that cannot
be taken off, that cannot change because you may change,
but the mark never changes. It's the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit of God. You were marked in him with
a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. Now, I love this
(18:05):
about this passage. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy
Spirit is the third person of the Triune God. Now,
this is difficult for some people to understand. It's difficult,
I think, for all of us to understand in one
way or another. There's a lot of, uh, aberrations of
(18:27):
Christianity that have developed out of a misunderstanding of the
Triune God. But in essence, the way the Bible explains
it is we. We worship one God, not three gods.
We have one God that we worship, but that one
God is manifest in three persons with the same essence
(18:49):
and the same nature. And those three persons have different functions.
They're not three different gods. They are three persons that
exist in one God. So therefore, when we pray, we pray. Technically,
I know you say Jesus when you pray, and that's okay.
(19:12):
I know you may say Holy Spirit when you pray,
and that's okay, but technically you are praying to God
the Father.
S1 (19:27):
You're listening to Bold Steps, the Bible teaching of Mark job.
Today's message was called what you know will Change You.
And you can hear part two of this message tomorrow.
So please keep listening. But before then, we want to
invite you to request our new bold step gift. It's
one that really speaks to the moms and dads of
young boys.
S2 (19:44):
Mark Wayne. We have Jason and Aaron, their authors. They
are a married couple and they have written a book
called Lies Boys Believe and the Epic Quest for truth.
And great to have you in the studio with us.
And one of the lies you address in this book
is that following Jesus is boring. And I think that's well,
(20:09):
that's an important lie. Jesus is anything but boring, isn't it? Uh,
so tell me why you think boys are susceptible to
this particular deception?
S4 (20:18):
Well, a lot of times when boys are introduced to
to faith and to Jesus, it involves a lot of
sitting still, listening to a Bible story. If there is
an activity, a lot of times, at least me growing up,
it was like a flannel board with the story up there. And, uh.
S1 (20:37):
And Moses kept falling off the flannel board in my life. Yeah.
S4 (20:41):
That's right. And, uh, if if our modern boys are
anything like I was, I had a real hard time appreciating, um,
the stories when I had to sit still and be
forced to hold my hands in my lap and, um,
be super well behaved. But what we what we find
(21:01):
in Scripture is that the life of Jesus was anything
but boring. Uh, the things that boys yearn for in
their innermost parts is the adventure of following a leader
and leading other men. And that's exactly what we see
in in The True Stories of Jesus, where he, uh,
(21:23):
he went fishing. And when he was on adventure all
the time, he was, uh, challenging people and encouraging them
and healing them. And, uh, the people who follow Jesus,
the disciples were anything but boring men. Um, they were
very real, very active, very engaged. There were arguments. There
were lots of challenges in their lives. And that's really
(21:47):
part of the adventure that we kind of, I don't know,
whitewash out of Jesus. A lot of times when we're
telling Bible stories to our young men, following him is
anything but boring.
S1 (21:58):
Aaron, I don't know about your four boys, but sometimes
it can be hard to get boys to read. And
I know this book is for parents to use with
their boys. You had that in mind as you wrote
and designed this book, right?
S5 (22:08):
Yeah. It's different. There's actually several books in the live series.
Lies women believe lies, men Believe lies, Girls believe, which
you mentioned. And this book is very different from the
format of those. And yeah, our boys did not love
to read. I remember being a little girl and if
I had a free afternoon, I would spend it with
a book. That's not how my boys operate. They want
to be outside playing swords with sticks. So how do
(22:29):
we get them in the content? So we were really intentional.
It's a fiction book. The others are not. They're just
straight trade books. And it follows a dad and his
sons on this big adventure that actually models a trip
that Jason and our boys have taken. They go out
west and they encounter all kinds of excitement. Um, and
there's also things that happen in the book. They're going
(22:50):
to turn the book all different ways as they're reading it.
They're going to there's things they're supposed to do with
the corners of the book. There's quests they do within
the book. There's cryptograms where they're trying to solve riddles,
and none of that is an attempt to bait and
switch them into the Bible. As Jason said, we think
the Bible is the most exciting book in the world,
and so this is to be in parallel with the Bible.
(23:11):
And what we've heard from parents and boys over and
over again is my boy couldn't put it down, and
he hasn't done that with any other book. And that's
because we intentionally invite him into this story with these
other men and boys that are people they're going to
want to be like, and they're encountering truth all along
the way. And I actually think that models life pretty well.
(23:31):
Life is an adventure, and we are encountering challenges, and
Jesus is with us every step. And so, um, we
we were excited to give it to boys in a
format that we thought they would love, and our boys
loved it. They're fiction readers. Our boys are. We toss
a nonfiction book at them, they might roll their eyes
and they might or might not read it, but a
great fiction story with an epic adventure, they're going to
(23:54):
read it. So we hope this book is that. Yeah.
S2 (23:56):
That's great. Well, there you have it. Jason and Aaron
have written this book specifically for 6 to 12 year
old boys. So if you are a grandparent, a parent,
if you know someone that's raising boys in that category, listen,
this is the book to get into their hands as
soon as possible.
S1 (24:17):
Well, once again, it's written by Jason and Aaron Davis,
and we'll be happy to send you a copy. This
bold step gift today when you give a donation to
support Bold Steps. So call us at 800. D.L. Moody.
That's (800) 356-6639. Or give your gift online at Bold Steps.
You can also send your gift and request the book
(24:39):
Lies Boys Believe by writing to us in the mail.
Just address your letter to Bold Steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 606 ten. And then don't forget if you've missed
any of these messages, you can listen to Mark's daily
program online at Bold steps.org or catch Mark from the
road no matter where you are, just download the Bold
(25:00):
Steps app to your favorite smart device, or subscribe to
the Bold Steps podcast wherever you listen. For more details
on all the ways you can listen, just visit Bold
Steps dot. One more thing before we leave today, why
not sign up for The Bold Stepper Weekly? It's a
free devotional from the desk of pastor Mark Jobe, designed
to help you apply biblical truth to everyday life with
(25:21):
clarity and purpose. Just visit bold steps to get it
delivered to your inbox automatically. And that is our time
for today. I'm Wayne Shepherd on behalf of Mark Jobe
and the entire Bold Steps team. We invite you to
join us again tomorrow. And Mark continues this message. It's
part of our new series. When you believe Everything changes.
And you can hear more Friday right here on Bold
(25:42):
Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of
Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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