October 23, 2025 • 20 mins
When was the last time you checked your spiritual compass? It might be time to wake up your faith and walk in God’s direction again.
Have you ever realized you’ve been going through the motions—doing all the right things but missing the deeper purpose behind them? In this heartfelt episode, Vona shares a personal story that reminds us how easy it is to drift from God’s will without even noticing. She explores how to live intentionally, discern truth in a confusing world, and walk boldly in faith—no matter what season you’re in.
You’ll also hear practical ways to recognize false teachings, avoid spiritual complacency, and anchor your heart in gratitude through Vona’s 30-Day Thanksgiving Challenge. It’s a gentle but powerful invitation to wake up your faith and live each day with eternal purpose.
00:00 Living on Autopilot: A Wake-Up Call
00:46 A Humbling Experience at Walmart
02:00 Struggling with Purpose and Passion
03:20 Navigating Social Media and Faith
06:39 The Importance of Discernment
10:20 Understanding Hypocrisy
17:19 A Challenge for Thankfulness
19:32 Conclusion and Invitation to Club More
Quotes from the Show:
"Do I still love people who sin? Of course I do. We all sin and we all need to embrace people wherever they are and love them where they are unconditionally. But that doesn't mean that we celebrate their sins with them. We walk with them and we encourage them to turn to Christ. To help them with their problems. We don't have to fix anybody." Vona Johnson
"We are often distracted by earthly needs and overlook the fact that false teachings are all around us. God invites us to spend time in his Word, learning his promises by heart, so that we will recognize false teachings." Vona Johnson
"Don't think for a minute that if Solomon, the wisest man on earth, can't avoid falling for false prophets, that you'll be immune to them. Many people endeavor to lead us down the path that God did not intend for us." Vona Johnson
Verses Referenced:
Matthew 16:5-12 where Jesus said to the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Luke 12: 1-2+ where Jesus talks about hipocricy.
"Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord. They're serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words, they deceive innocent people." Romans 16:17-18 NLT
"Rejoice always, pray continually. Give thanks In all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ. That give thanks in all circumstances."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
Join ClubMore! https://www.clubmore.live
I'd love to hear from you! Send me a text message!
Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More as you reap the benefits of Courageous Retirement!
To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!
Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at vonajohnson.com!
Schedule a free 15 minute Your Path to More call with Vona.
Join ClubMore!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Have you ever gotten that sensethat you're just living on
(00:02):
autopilot and not really evensure if you're following God's
will for your life anymore?
I had something that happened tome this week that helped me
realize how easy it is to getoff track and to get out of
alignment with God's will for usif we're not paying attention to
what we're doing.
It starts out as a light andfunny story, but it ends up a
reality check in that we need tobe intentional and we need to be
(00:24):
very careful on who and what wealign ourselves with.
Speaker (00:27):
Do you fear?
What lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author, and coachVona Johnson.
Let's get started.
Last week I stopped at localWalmart to grab a few things and
(00:50):
I was able to go to the quickself-checkout.
I pulled up and I startedrunning my things through the
item and ding, ding.
Ding, ding.
You know, you get the beep everytime something goes through and
I'm putting them in my bag, andpretty soon I hear this voice
off to my side and it's like,ma'am, that's not working.
And I thought, well, obviouslyshe's not talking to me.
(01:12):
So I kept ringing up mygroceries and pretty soon it was
like, uh, um, excuse me, ma'am,but that's not working.
And I'm like, what?
I don't, I don't evenunderstand.
What do you mean?
And she pointed to the registerand sure enough, there was this
big old words right in themiddle that said this, this
register does not work.
Find another register, orwhatever it says.
(01:35):
And oh my gosh, I was soembarrassed and I apologized up
and down.
And she's like, ah, you'd besurprised how often it happens.
And I literally laughed atmyself as I checked out the rest
of my items.
But it really got me to thinkingabout how I was literally
working on autopilot.
I was just going through themotions getting done when I
needed to get done, and I wasthinking about other things and
(01:57):
not obviously focused on what Iwas doing.
I.
And it occurred to me that I'vekind of been doing that in, in
my life lately, it's been just alittle over two months now since
my dad passed away.
And I've learned a few things.
I talked about it in an earlierepisode about how I've learned
that it's okay to not be okayand to give myself the grace to,
(02:21):
to walk through the grief, but Ithought I was through that.
I thought everything was good,but I'm still struggling
sometimes to just find purpose,questioning whether I'm really
walking the path that God wantsme to walk.
I gave this talk at Toastmastersearlier this week and I shared
this story about how my sisterand I were talking shortly after
(02:43):
dad's death that our, an excusemy French, but our give a shit
meter was broken.
And I've kind of, that's kind ofcontinued.
It's not really been repaired,and so I have a hard time
getting passionate about some ofthe things.
That I often am very passionateabout.
In fact, this week with thewhole no Kings thing really got
(03:03):
me stirred up again.
I have trouble with that formany reasons.
But one of the primary reasons Ihave trouble with that is
because we do have a king.
Well, there's only one king.
And for me to see Christiansstand up and talk about how
there is no king really, I findthat troubling.
So anyway, I was reallyquestioning whether because it
(03:25):
was bringing me down to be onsocial media and see some of the
negative comments about ourpresident.
And no, he's not perfect by anymeans, but then none of us are.
I think people forget that, theBible is very clear.
That our leaders are placed inauthority by God, and God uses
people regardless of whetherthey're good or evil.
(03:49):
He can use them for good.
I don't question people's, rightto protest.
I think that we are blessed tolive in a country where we can
do just that.
I, you know, we forget thatthere are people in other
countries that if they evenspeak the name of Jesus, they
can be arrested and put inprison or, or worse.
(04:10):
So that's a gift that we haveand, and I respect people's
right.
To do that.
I just sometimes question if thepeople who are using those
rights really are thinking aboutwhat they're protesting and
whether they really wanna standwith some of the things that
those protests really stand for.
(04:31):
Or against either way.
And I really think a lot about,you know, who I align myself
with and, and who I work withbecause, uh, I don't want to
support someone who supportsabortion.
I don't want to align myselfwith someone who celebrates the
sin of homosexuality orencourages.
(04:52):
This whole concept of, you know,the, the gender identity issues
and things like that.
Now, do I still love people whosin?
Of course I do.
We all sin and we all need toembrace people wherever they are
and love them where they areunconditionally.
But that doesn't mean that wecelebrate their sins with them.
(05:15):
We walk with them and weencourage them to turn to
Christ.
To help them with theirproblems.
We don't have to fix anybody.
Like I said, I had contemplatedwhether I even just wanted to
drop out of social mediaaltogether.
I, it was like Sunday morning Igot up and it was like, Lord,
I've had this on my heartbefore.
I just feel like I should just,should I quit facebook at the
(05:36):
very least, or should I drop outof social media?
It's just, it brings me down.
It was funny because hisresponse to me was almost
immediate in church Sundaymorning as they read the epistle
lesson, and I don't have it infront of me right now, but
basically the, the lesson endedwith do not stop the ministry
(05:57):
that I have given you.
Like, whoa, okay, got thatmessage and then that afternoon
I was on LinkedIn and someonethat I follow had a post about
how the world would want us tostop talking about religion and
politics, but that we need tonot stop.
We need to stand up for what webelieve is right.
(06:17):
I had responded to that and, andtalked about how discouraged I
was and that I was grateful forthem sharing that post and
reminding me that no, Ishouldn't walk away.
That I need to continue to behopefully a light in a such a
dark place and continue to speaktruth and point people back to
(06:38):
the Bible and biblical truth.
That's kind of a, a long storyto tell you that I think that we
have a tendency to drift and wehave a tendency to wander away
from, god's purpose for us.
We, we start to doubt whetherour purpose is real.
And so then, recently, my portof the prayer, I do it every day
and I just, I love how it bringstruth to me.
(07:00):
It reminds me of things that Ineed to be focused on.
The scripture lesson for that,that particular day was Matthew
16:5-12.
And in that particular verse ittalked about, Jesus said to them
to beware of the leaven of thePharisees and the Sadducees.
And it was interesting becauseit was a story about how he and
(07:23):
the disciples were out inisolation and there wasn't
anywhere for food.
And the the disciples said, ohmy gosh, we forgot to bring
bread with us.
And Jesus' response was watchand beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees.
And it was kinda like, what?
I, don't, I don't get theconnection there at all.
In the devotion that followed, Iwas really struck by and how it
(07:44):
related to my whole experienceat the store and being
distracted.
It said, we are often distractedby earthly needs and overlook
the fact that false teachingsare all around us.
God invites us to spend time inhis word, learning his promises
by heart, so that we willrecognize false teachings.
(08:05):
May that word and the gospelpromise that it delivers in form
and guide our life and.
I was kinda like, huh, what?
So I started digging, right?
That's what I find myself doingso many times as I'm doing my
devotions.
And that Matthew verse, also isdiscussed in Luke chapter 12.
(08:27):
And, and so here's what Lukesays about it, and I felt like
it went a little deeper.
Meanwhile, the crowds grew untilthousands were milling about and
stepping on each other.
Jesus turned first to hisdisciples and warned them.
Beware of the yeast of thePharisees, their hypocrisy.
The time is coming wheneverything that is covered up
will be revealed, and all thatis secret will be made known to
(08:51):
all.
Whatever you have said in thedark will be heard in the light.
And what you have whisperedbehind closed doors will be
shouted from the housetops forall to hear.
Dear friends, don't be afraid ofthose who want to kill your
body.
They cannot do anymore afterthat, but I'll tell you whom to
fear.
Fear God who has the power tokill you and then throw you into
(09:14):
hell.
Yes, he's the one to fear.
That's some, that's some prettystrong stuff there, guys.
What struck me about that, and,as you know, I've talked about
this often, but so many timeswhen I read the footnote, I, it,
it opens up my mind to thingsthat I hadn't thought about when
I read the scripture and what,what the footnote here says
(09:37):
from, my New Living Translation,the study Bible.
But it says that as Jesuswatched the huge crowds waiting
to hear him, he warned hisdisciples against hypocrisy
trying to appear holy when one'sheart is far from God.
And he goes, it goes on to saythe Pharisees could not keep
their attitudes hidden forever.
(09:58):
Their selfishness would act likeyeast, and soon they would
expose themselves for what theyreally were.
Power hungry imposters, notdevoted religious leaders.
It's easy to be angry at theblatant hypocrisies of the
Pharisees, but each one of usmust resist the temptation to
settle for the appearance ofrespectability.
(10:20):
When our hearts are far fromGod, you might be wondering why
I bring this up now, and Isometimes feel like as we go
through autopilot in our livesand we just mindlessly follow
the people who we love andrespect, we might be following
false leaders.
False teachers, and we need tobe careful of that.
(10:41):
We need to not be supportingpeople who are leading us away
from biblical truth.
Now, does that mean that weseparate them from our lives
and, and completely stay awayfrom them?
No, we still love them, but weengage them in conversations
that bring them back to biblicaltruth and remind them that the
(11:02):
division that the world istrying to create in us does us
no good.
So, I thought I wanna go on justa little bit more here, because
the footnotes, I think does areally great job of talking
about hypocrisy.
What are the signs of hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy is knowing the truthand not obeying it.
People can say they followJesus, but not be obedient to
(11:25):
his word.
Hypocrisy is living aself-serving lie.
People may desire leadershiponly because they love the
position and the control, notbecause they want to serve
others.
Hypocrisy reduces faith to rigidrules.
People can end up worshipingtheir own rules and regulations
(11:46):
about what they think God wants.
Instead of worshiping Godhimself, and then lastly,
hypocrisy is outward conformitywithout inner reality, people
can obey the details but stillbe disobedient in their general
behavior.
For example, a person maycarefully tithe his income and
(12:07):
be rude and obnoxious to hiscoworkers.
Many non-Christians use thesupposed or real hypocrisy of
Christians as an excuse to stayaway from God and the church.
Look carefully at your life.
You are not perfect.
Therefore, at times, your wordsand actions can provide
ammunition for someone else tocall you a hypocrite.
(12:28):
However you must discern yourown heart.
Consider the signs of hypocrisynoted above and make sure that
you are not guilty.
Then ask God to help you liverightly.
I like to tie whatever messageI'm giving in Courageous
Retirement, back to my book ADifferent View.
When I talked about hypocrisy,it talks about discernment.
(12:50):
This is from chapter six, theCry for Discernment In my book,
A Different View.
Solomon received discernmentfrom God to know the best course
of action to take.
He also received the strength ofcharacter to take action on the
knowledge acquired.
Because we have access to God'swritten word.
We know Solomon went on to writethe book of Ecclesiastes.
(13:12):
In that book we learned he spenthis last years looking for the
meaning of life.
And we understand that apartfrom God, life has no meaning.
Any security or contentment wefind in this life is temporary
at best and false at worst.
Honestly, the most effective useof our time is to seek a genuine
(13:34):
relationship with God, thefather and his son, Jesus
Christ, honestly, the mosteffective use of our time, is to
seek a genuine relationship withGod the father and his son Jesus
Christ.
Don't think for a minute that ifSolomon the wisest man on earth
can't avoid falling for falseprophets, that you'll be immune
to them.
(13:55):
Many people endeavor to lead usdown the path that God did not
intend for us.
We must be wary, whether it be apromise toward greater faith, a
more prosperous life, or ahealthier existence.
Many of today's gurus will leadus astray if we are not careful.
Be wary of those who soundreligious but are motivated by
money, fame, or power.
(14:17):
Be wary of experts who placethemselves ahead of Jesus and
his kingdom.
If their message glorifiesthemself, instead of Jesus, be
on guard.
The best way to gauge this is tobe in the word and compare their
message and how they live theirlives to scripture.
While we are all sinners, afalse prophet will deliberately
(14:38):
teach false doctrine and usepractices that are not
biblically based.
There are some pretty impressiveministries out there with some
vast followings, which in and ofitself isn't bad.
But be sure that you focus onJesus and not on the charismatic
leader or the number of peoplewho follow them.
Whoever you are following, Ichallenge you to heed Paul's
(15:00):
advice in his letter to theRomans.
Watch out for people who causedivisions and upset people's
faith by teaching thingscontrary to what you have been
taught.
Stay away from them.
Such people are not servingChrist our Lord.
They're serving their ownpersonal interests.
By smooth talk and glowingwords, they deceive innocent
(15:20):
people.
That's from Romans 16:17 Incautioning you in this, I
include myself as well.
If anything I say doesn't alignwith the Bible, I urge you to
research it and check the versesbefore and after the reference.
Check other similar verses fromother chapters to ensure that it
lines up.
I encourage you to guard againstfollowing anyone who take
(15:44):
anything outta context and usingit to support their point of
view.
Now, the reason that I talkabout this so much is that there
are people, there are churchesthat are telling people things
that are not true.
They're telling people that theBible isn't relevant anymore and
that God didn't really mean whathe said.
(16:06):
Anybody that tells you that, orthat gives you a Bible that has
been modified to tell you whatyou wanna hear.
Is not your friend.
So do we go out and fixeverybody that's sinning?
That's not even possible becausewe all sin.
But we need to be wary of thosewho are not acknowledging sin,
(16:30):
who are celebrating sin, who aretelling you that it's, it's okay
to continue in sin and thatthere is forgiveness.
There is forgiveness.
But there's so much more there.
And if we lead people astray, weare a false profit ourselves.
(16:50):
Something to think about.
Anyway, going back to my littlesituation at the grocery store
and that lesson I learned aboutjust living on autopilot.
Yeah, there are times when weare going to be in the valleys
of life.
We're not gonna be onmountaintop experiences.
In fact, um, much of life issomewhere between the valleys
(17:13):
and the mountaintops.
But that doesn't mean that wecan't live our eternal purpose.
Even in the difficult times.
So I'm gonna give you achallenge today.
Uh, November is always known asthe month.
We, obviously, we haveThanksgiving, but there are many
people who have put outchallenges to try and find
something to be thankful forevery day in November.
(17:36):
Funny thing when I gave my talkat Toastmasters, I said I was
not going to be doing achallenge.
And since then I've thought whynot?
Why not live up to my ownchallenge to everybody else?
So I am going to do a challengeand I am going to do a post
every day of November that willbe giving thanks.
Now, my challenge was to come upwith three things every day.
(18:00):
That we are thankful for andthey can't be the same three
things we've already talkedabout.
So each day, start with youreasy stuff.
Be thankful for your family.
Name'em by name if you wanna do,spread it out over several days.
But then I want you to go deepand I want you to find things to
be thankful for that maybearen't normal every day.
Things that we would give thanksfor.
(18:22):
One of my favorite verses is 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, and it
goes like this.
Rejoice always, praycontinually.
Give thanks In all circumstancesfor this is God's will for you
in Christ.
That give thanks in allcircumstances.
Think about it.
(18:43):
We all know somebody who is in atroubled relationship.
There's division in familieseverywhere, whether it's divorce
or children, disowning theirparents or parents disowning
their children.
There's sickness, there's,division, all over the place.
I already talked about socialmedia and the division that
(19:05):
we're seeing there, but I wouldchallenge you in those things to
find the things to give thanksfor, even if it's just.
Which I hate that word just whenI'm talking about praying and
and relying on Jesus.
But even if it's onlyacknowledging that the Holy
Spirit is there and is gonna getus through to the other side,
(19:28):
that is something to be thankfulfor.
We are never alone.
So if you wanna join me on the30 Day Challenge, I am going to
do it not on social media whereit can stir up all kinds of
crazy things and nobody wantsthat.
We're gonna do it on my,personal community called Club
More, and you can join me inthat if you go to club.live,
(19:53):
that's c-L-U-B-M-O-R-E dot LIVE.
You can join me there.
You can get your pledge to printout, which is basically a pledge
to live your more.
But then you can come into myspace, you'll be invited to that
and I challenge you to put yourthings out there that you are
thankful for.
They don't always have to be themountaintop things, but you can
(20:16):
be thankful for getting throughthe valleys as well.
So I wanna thank you so much forstopping by today.
This kind of got deep, kind ofgot heavy, but you know that I
am sincere in that I believe wecan live our more, we can live
our eternal purpose wherever Godhas placed us, and we can give
thanks for that.
(20:36):
So I look forward to seeing youback here in two weeks, and in
the meantime, I pray that youwill always, always engage your
faith and live your more in yourcourageous retirement.
God bless.
Have you ever gotten that sensethat you're just living on
(00:02):
autopilot and not really evensure if you're following God's
will for your life anymore?
I had something that happened tome this week that helped me
realize how easy it is to getoff track and to get out of
alignment with God's will for usif we're not paying attention to
what we're doing.
It starts out as a light andfunny story, but it ends up a
reality check in that we need tobe intentional and we need to be
(00:24):
very careful on who and what wealign ourselves with.
Speaker (00:27):
Do you fear?
What lies beyond retirement?
What if it's a gateway to a lifefilled with purpose, meaning,
and adventure rather than anend?
Discover peace and fulfillmentas you boldly enter this new
chapter in CourageousRetirement, a Christian podcast.
I'm your host, author, and coachVona Johnson.
Let's get started.
Last week I stopped at localWalmart to grab a few things and
(00:50):
I was able to go to the quickself-checkout.
I pulled up and I startedrunning my things through the
item and ding, ding.
Ding, ding.
You know, you get the beep everytime something goes through and
I'm putting them in my bag, andpretty soon I hear this voice
off to my side and it's like,ma'am, that's not working.
And I thought, well, obviouslyshe's not talking to me.
(01:12):
So I kept ringing up mygroceries and pretty soon it was
like, uh, um, excuse me, ma'am,but that's not working.
And I'm like, what?
I don't, I don't evenunderstand.
What do you mean?
And she pointed to the registerand sure enough, there was this
big old words right in themiddle that said this, this
register does not work.
Find another register, orwhatever it says.
(01:35):
And oh my gosh, I was soembarrassed and I apologized up
and down.
And she's like, ah, you'd besurprised how often it happens.
And I literally laughed atmyself as I checked out the rest
of my items.
But it really got me to thinkingabout how I was literally
working on autopilot.
I was just going through themotions getting done when I
needed to get done, and I wasthinking about other things and
(01:57):
not obviously focused on what Iwas doing.
I.
And it occurred to me that I'vekind of been doing that in, in
my life lately, it's been just alittle over two months now since
my dad passed away.
And I've learned a few things.
I talked about it in an earlierepisode about how I've learned
that it's okay to not be okayand to give myself the grace to,
(02:21):
to walk through the grief, but Ithought I was through that.
I thought everything was good,but I'm still struggling
sometimes to just find purpose,questioning whether I'm really
walking the path that God wantsme to walk.
I gave this talk at Toastmastersearlier this week and I shared
this story about how my sisterand I were talking shortly after
(02:43):
dad's death that our, an excusemy French, but our give a shit
meter was broken.
And I've kind of, that's kind ofcontinued.
It's not really been repaired,and so I have a hard time
getting passionate about some ofthe things.
That I often am very passionateabout.
In fact, this week with thewhole no Kings thing really got
(03:03):
me stirred up again.
I have trouble with that formany reasons.
But one of the primary reasons Ihave trouble with that is
because we do have a king.
Well, there's only one king.
And for me to see Christiansstand up and talk about how
there is no king really, I findthat troubling.
So anyway, I was reallyquestioning whether because it
(03:25):
was bringing me down to be onsocial media and see some of the
negative comments about ourpresident.
And no, he's not perfect by anymeans, but then none of us are.
I think people forget that, theBible is very clear.
That our leaders are placed inauthority by God, and God uses
people regardless of whetherthey're good or evil.
(03:49):
He can use them for good.
I don't question people's, rightto protest.
I think that we are blessed tolive in a country where we can
do just that.
I, you know, we forget thatthere are people in other
countries that if they evenspeak the name of Jesus, they
can be arrested and put inprison or, or worse.
(04:10):
So that's a gift that we haveand, and I respect people's
right.
To do that.
I just sometimes question if thepeople who are using those
rights really are thinking aboutwhat they're protesting and
whether they really wanna standwith some of the things that
those protests really stand for.
(04:31):
Or against either way.
And I really think a lot about,you know, who I align myself
with and, and who I work withbecause, uh, I don't want to
support someone who supportsabortion.
I don't want to align myselfwith someone who celebrates the
sin of homosexuality orencourages.
(04:52):
This whole concept of, you know,the, the gender identity issues
and things like that.
Now, do I still love people whosin?
Of course I do.
We all sin and we all need toembrace people wherever they are
and love them where they areunconditionally.
But that doesn't mean that wecelebrate their sins with them.
(05:15):
We walk with them and weencourage them to turn to
Christ.
To help them with theirproblems.
We don't have to fix anybody.
Like I said, I had contemplatedwhether I even just wanted to
drop out of social mediaaltogether.
I, it was like Sunday morning Igot up and it was like, Lord,
I've had this on my heartbefore.
I just feel like I should just,should I quit facebook at the
(05:36):
very least, or should I drop outof social media?
It's just, it brings me down.
It was funny because hisresponse to me was almost
immediate in church Sundaymorning as they read the epistle
lesson, and I don't have it infront of me right now, but
basically the, the lesson endedwith do not stop the ministry
(05:57):
that I have given you.
Like, whoa, okay, got thatmessage and then that afternoon
I was on LinkedIn and someonethat I follow had a post about
how the world would want us tostop talking about religion and
politics, but that we need tonot stop.
We need to stand up for what webelieve is right.
(06:17):
I had responded to that and, andtalked about how discouraged I
was and that I was grateful forthem sharing that post and
reminding me that no, Ishouldn't walk away.
That I need to continue to behopefully a light in a such a
dark place and continue to speaktruth and point people back to
(06:38):
the Bible and biblical truth.
That's kind of a, a long storyto tell you that I think that we
have a tendency to drift and wehave a tendency to wander away
from, god's purpose for us.
We, we start to doubt whetherour purpose is real.
And so then, recently, my portof the prayer, I do it every day
and I just, I love how it bringstruth to me.
(07:00):
It reminds me of things that Ineed to be focused on.
The scripture lesson for that,that particular day was Matthew
16:5-12.
And in that particular verse ittalked about, Jesus said to them
to beware of the leaven of thePharisees and the Sadducees.
And it was interesting becauseit was a story about how he and
(07:23):
the disciples were out inisolation and there wasn't
anywhere for food.
And the the disciples said, ohmy gosh, we forgot to bring
bread with us.
And Jesus' response was watchand beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and the Sadducees.
And it was kinda like, what?
I, don't, I don't get theconnection there at all.
In the devotion that followed, Iwas really struck by and how it
(07:44):
related to my whole experienceat the store and being
distracted.
It said, we are often distractedby earthly needs and overlook
the fact that false teachingsare all around us.
God invites us to spend time inhis word, learning his promises
by heart, so that we willrecognize false teachings.
(08:05):
May that word and the gospelpromise that it delivers in form
and guide our life and.
I was kinda like, huh, what?
So I started digging, right?
That's what I find myself doingso many times as I'm doing my
devotions.
And that Matthew verse, also isdiscussed in Luke chapter 12.
(08:27):
And, and so here's what Lukesays about it, and I felt like
it went a little deeper.
Meanwhile, the crowds grew untilthousands were milling about and
stepping on each other.
Jesus turned first to hisdisciples and warned them.
Beware of the yeast of thePharisees, their hypocrisy.
The time is coming wheneverything that is covered up
will be revealed, and all thatis secret will be made known to
(08:51):
all.
Whatever you have said in thedark will be heard in the light.
And what you have whisperedbehind closed doors will be
shouted from the housetops forall to hear.
Dear friends, don't be afraid ofthose who want to kill your
body.
They cannot do anymore afterthat, but I'll tell you whom to
fear.
Fear God who has the power tokill you and then throw you into
(09:14):
hell.
Yes, he's the one to fear.
That's some, that's some prettystrong stuff there, guys.
What struck me about that, and,as you know, I've talked about
this often, but so many timeswhen I read the footnote, I, it,
it opens up my mind to thingsthat I hadn't thought about when
I read the scripture and what,what the footnote here says
(09:37):
from, my New Living Translation,the study Bible.
But it says that as Jesuswatched the huge crowds waiting
to hear him, he warned hisdisciples against hypocrisy
trying to appear holy when one'sheart is far from God.
And he goes, it goes on to saythe Pharisees could not keep
their attitudes hidden forever.
(09:58):
Their selfishness would act likeyeast, and soon they would
expose themselves for what theyreally were.
Power hungry imposters, notdevoted religious leaders.
It's easy to be angry at theblatant hypocrisies of the
Pharisees, but each one of usmust resist the temptation to
settle for the appearance ofrespectability.
(10:20):
When our hearts are far fromGod, you might be wondering why
I bring this up now, and Isometimes feel like as we go
through autopilot in our livesand we just mindlessly follow
the people who we love andrespect, we might be following
false leaders.
False teachers, and we need tobe careful of that.
(10:41):
We need to not be supportingpeople who are leading us away
from biblical truth.
Now, does that mean that weseparate them from our lives
and, and completely stay awayfrom them?
No, we still love them, but weengage them in conversations
that bring them back to biblicaltruth and remind them that the
(11:02):
division that the world istrying to create in us does us
no good.
So, I thought I wanna go on justa little bit more here, because
the footnotes, I think does areally great job of talking
about hypocrisy.
What are the signs of hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy is knowing the truthand not obeying it.
People can say they followJesus, but not be obedient to
(11:25):
his word.
Hypocrisy is living aself-serving lie.
People may desire leadershiponly because they love the
position and the control, notbecause they want to serve
others.
Hypocrisy reduces faith to rigidrules.
People can end up worshipingtheir own rules and regulations
(11:46):
about what they think God wants.
Instead of worshiping Godhimself, and then lastly,
hypocrisy is outward conformitywithout inner reality, people
can obey the details but stillbe disobedient in their general
behavior.
For example, a person maycarefully tithe his income and
(12:07):
be rude and obnoxious to hiscoworkers.
Many non-Christians use thesupposed or real hypocrisy of
Christians as an excuse to stayaway from God and the church.
Look carefully at your life.
You are not perfect.
Therefore, at times, your wordsand actions can provide
ammunition for someone else tocall you a hypocrite.
(12:28):
However you must discern yourown heart.
Consider the signs of hypocrisynoted above and make sure that
you are not guilty.
Then ask God to help you liverightly.
I like to tie whatever messageI'm giving in Courageous
Retirement, back to my book ADifferent View.
When I talked about hypocrisy,it talks about discernment.
(12:50):
This is from chapter six, theCry for Discernment In my book,
A Different View.
Solomon received discernmentfrom God to know the best course
of action to take.
He also received the strength ofcharacter to take action on the
knowledge acquired.
Because we have access to God'swritten word.
We know Solomon went on to writethe book of Ecclesiastes.
(13:12):
In that book we learned he spenthis last years looking for the
meaning of life.
And we understand that apartfrom God, life has no meaning.
Any security or contentment wefind in this life is temporary
at best and false at worst.
Honestly, the most effective useof our time is to seek a genuine
(13:34):
relationship with God, thefather and his son, Jesus
Christ, honestly, the mosteffective use of our time, is to
seek a genuine relationship withGod the father and his son Jesus
Christ.
Don't think for a minute that ifSolomon the wisest man on earth
can't avoid falling for falseprophets, that you'll be immune
to them.
(13:55):
Many people endeavor to lead usdown the path that God did not
intend for us.
We must be wary, whether it be apromise toward greater faith, a
more prosperous life, or ahealthier existence.
Many of today's gurus will leadus astray if we are not careful.
Be wary of those who soundreligious but are motivated by
money, fame, or power.
(14:17):
Be wary of experts who placethemselves ahead of Jesus and
his kingdom.
If their message glorifiesthemself, instead of Jesus, be
on guard.
The best way to gauge this is tobe in the word and compare their
message and how they live theirlives to scripture.
While we are all sinners, afalse prophet will deliberately
(14:38):
teach false doctrine and usepractices that are not
biblically based.
There are some pretty impressiveministries out there with some
vast followings, which in and ofitself isn't bad.
But be sure that you focus onJesus and not on the charismatic
leader or the number of peoplewho follow them.
Whoever you are following, Ichallenge you to heed Paul's
(15:00):
advice in his letter to theRomans.
Watch out for people who causedivisions and upset people's
faith by teaching thingscontrary to what you have been
taught.
Stay away from them.
Such people are not servingChrist our Lord.
They're serving their ownpersonal interests.
By smooth talk and glowingwords, they deceive innocent
(15:20):
people.
That's from Romans 16:17 Incautioning you in this, I
include myself as well.
If anything I say doesn't alignwith the Bible, I urge you to
research it and check the versesbefore and after the reference.
Check other similar verses fromother chapters to ensure that it
lines up.
I encourage you to guard againstfollowing anyone who take
(15:44):
anything outta context and usingit to support their point of
view.
Now, the reason that I talkabout this so much is that there
are people, there are churchesthat are telling people things
that are not true.
They're telling people that theBible isn't relevant anymore and
that God didn't really mean whathe said.
(16:06):
Anybody that tells you that, orthat gives you a Bible that has
been modified to tell you whatyou wanna hear.
Is not your friend.
So do we go out and fixeverybody that's sinning?
That's not even possible becausewe all sin.
But we need to be wary of thosewho are not acknowledging sin,
(16:30):
who are celebrating sin, who aretelling you that it's, it's okay
to continue in sin and thatthere is forgiveness.
There is forgiveness.
But there's so much more there.
And if we lead people astray, weare a false profit ourselves.
(16:50):
Something to think about.
Anyway, going back to my littlesituation at the grocery store
and that lesson I learned aboutjust living on autopilot.
Yeah, there are times when weare going to be in the valleys
of life.
We're not gonna be onmountaintop experiences.
In fact, um, much of life issomewhere between the valleys
(17:13):
and the mountaintops.
But that doesn't mean that wecan't live our eternal purpose.
Even in the difficult times.
So I'm gonna give you achallenge today.
Uh, November is always known asthe month.
We, obviously, we haveThanksgiving, but there are many
people who have put outchallenges to try and find
something to be thankful forevery day in November.
(17:36):
Funny thing when I gave my talkat Toastmasters, I said I was
not going to be doing achallenge.
And since then I've thought whynot?
Why not live up to my ownchallenge to everybody else?
So I am going to do a challengeand I am going to do a post
every day of November that willbe giving thanks.
Now, my challenge was to come upwith three things every day.
(18:00):
That we are thankful for andthey can't be the same three
things we've already talkedabout.
So each day, start with youreasy stuff.
Be thankful for your family.
Name'em by name if you wanna do,spread it out over several days.
But then I want you to go deepand I want you to find things to
be thankful for that maybearen't normal every day.
Things that we would give thanksfor.
(18:22):
One of my favorite verses is 1Thessalonians 5:16-18, and it
goes like this.
Rejoice always, praycontinually.
Give thanks In all circumstancesfor this is God's will for you
in Christ.
That give thanks in allcircumstances.
Think about it.
(18:43):
We all know somebody who is in atroubled relationship.
There's division in familieseverywhere, whether it's divorce
or children, disowning theirparents or parents disowning
their children.
There's sickness, there's,division, all over the place.
I already talked about socialmedia and the division that
(19:05):
we're seeing there, but I wouldchallenge you in those things to
find the things to give thanksfor, even if it's just.
Which I hate that word just whenI'm talking about praying and
and relying on Jesus.
But even if it's onlyacknowledging that the Holy
Spirit is there and is gonna getus through to the other side,
(19:28):
that is something to be thankfulfor.
We are never alone.
So if you wanna join me on the30 Day Challenge, I am going to
do it not on social media whereit can stir up all kinds of
crazy things and nobody wantsthat.
We're gonna do it on my,personal community called Club
More, and you can join me inthat if you go to club.live,
(19:53):
that's c-L-U-B-M-O-R-E dot LIVE.
You can join me there.
You can get your pledge to printout, which is basically a pledge
to live your more.
But then you can come into myspace, you'll be invited to that
and I challenge you to put yourthings out there that you are
thankful for.
They don't always have to be themountaintop things, but you can
(20:16):
be thankful for getting throughthe valleys as well.
So I wanna thank you so much forstopping by today.
This kind of got deep, kind ofgot heavy, but you know that I
am sincere in that I believe wecan live our more, we can live
our eternal purpose wherever Godhas placed us, and we can give
thanks for that.
(20:36):
So I look forward to seeing youback here in two weeks, and in
the meantime, I pray that youwill always, always engage your
faith and live your more in yourcourageous retirement.
God bless.
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