July 11, 2025 • 30 mins
The divine attributes of God aren't just theological concepts—they're the blueprint for authentic living. Brandon and Isabel Dimond take listeners on a profound journey through the characteristics of God and how understanding these attributes equips us to fulfill our purpose while defending against spiritual attacks.
Starting with Ephesians 2:10—"We are God's masterpiece"—the hosts unpack what it means to be created in God's image, designed to reflect His love, mercy, faithfulness, and compassion. Unlike other creations that God simply called "good," humanity was declared "very good"—a testament to our special place in His heart and plan.
What makes this exploration particularly refreshing is the hosts' vulnerable approach. They don't present these characteristics as unattainable ideals but share from personal experience how daily "FaceTime" with God transforms us from the inside out. Brandon candidly shares how this connection helped him navigate depression, restoring his ability to identify and process emotions authentically. Isabel reveals how both hosts, as empaths, have learned to recognize and escape relationships with people who sought to take advantage of their compassionate nature.
The conversation takes a decisive turn when they expose the tactics of the enemy—distraction, dysfunction, confusion, addiction, and idolatry. With remarkable clarity, they reveal how Satan plants seeds of doubt just as he did in the Garden with Eve, asking "Did God really say...?" Their discussion serves as both warning and wisdom for listeners trying to discern the source of various influences in their lives.
Perhaps most encouraging is their emphasis that no one is ever "too far gone" for restoration. God always provides a way of escape from temptation, and in Christ, we become entirely new creations—not with wiped memories, but with rejuvenated souls daily sustained by His presence.
Whether you're struggling to break free from destructive patterns, seeking to deepen your understanding of God's nature, or simply wanting to live with greater purpose, this episode offers both spiritual insight and practical guidance for the journey. Join us next week as we explore practical steps for preparation, planning, and purposeful action.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
what we do on a given day.
You know, we don't have to earnhis admiration and his
affection.
He is consistent day in and dayout, Even if we feel like we're
an amazing person or we feellike we've done everything
completely wrong.
He is so loving and he looksdown upon us with a big smile on
(00:21):
his face, in a metaphoricalsense.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey guys, welcome back to OnTrack Podcast with
your host, brandon and IsabelDiamond.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Hey guys.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We are so excited to tease apart the attributes of
God and how we're able toemulate that within our own life
, as we'll understand who theenemy is, what his goal is to
steal, kill and destroy.
This episode will allow us tobecome more equipped in
defending against any ways theenemy wants to work within our
life, and we'll be discussingwhat we can change to better
move in and through the purposeGod is calling us into.
Sit back, relax and enjoy thisweek's episode.
(01:04):
Yeah, so we're just going toget right into it.
We're going to go over somecharacteristics of God, through
scripture first and foremost,and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, this is a really fun topic because I think
so often when we think aboutGod, we always think about going
to him for our needs and ourwants and our desires.
And it's very rare, I think,for us to go to God and say, oh,
let me explore you, let melearn you, let me, yeah, just
(01:42):
discover the vastness of who Godis or what his character
represents, and it almost feelslike a transactional
relationship or even just aone-sided relationship.
Oftentimes we just think, oh,we need God because our life is
in mayhem and he's the one thatwe run to.
But you know, there's so muchto explore in who God is and
(02:05):
that's what we want to exploretoday, and I think Ephesians
2.10 is a great place to startwhere it says for we are God's
masterpiece.
He has created us anew in ChristJesus so we can do the good
things he has planned for uslong ago.
And this just kind of expandson the idea that we are created
in his image.
And it's kind of fun to thinkback to Genesis, the first book
(02:30):
of the Bible, where God createdeverything and after he created
each thing he said it is good,you know.
After he created you know theplants and the animals he said
it is good.
But after he created mankind,he created Adam and Eve.
He said it is very good.
And so we are his masterpiece,we are his greatest creation.
(02:51):
And the reason we're created inhis image is because we reflect
his characteristics.
And yeah, that is alloriginating from God and yeah,
we'd love to explore this.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The closer we get to the Lord, the easier it is to
understand His characteristicsand really press into that
within ourselves.
And he's really steadfast inall the things that he's
equipping us to do and bringingus in and through.
I think it's just fascinatingthat he instills in us the
(03:28):
things that don't necessarilybring immediate gratification
but allows us to gain long-termbenefit.
Psalm 105, 1,.
But you, o Lord, are a Godmerciful and gracious, slow to
anger and abounding in steadfastlove and faithfulness.
(03:49):
This scripture just reallyshows multiple characteristics
in one psalm, one verse.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
It really explores the vastness that the Lord truly
holds.
Yeah, I love this scripturebecause, you know, not only does
it convey that he is steadfast,which means he's consistent and
he's never changing, andregardless of what we do in a
given day, you know, we don'thave to earn his admiration and
his affection.
He is consistent day in and dayout, even if we feel like we're
(04:25):
an amazing person or we feellike we've done everything
completely wrong.
He is so loving and he looksdown upon us with a big smile on
his face in a metaphoricalsense.
And, yeah, the scripture justconveys that he is merciful,
like he does not condemn us fordoing things that are wrong.
(04:45):
He continually has open armsfor us to run back to.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and I think just to give a little bit of
context.
But merciful is a compassion orforgiveness shown towards
someone who is within one'spower to punish or harm, and he
is a forgiving and compassionateand loving father.
1 John 4, 8,.
Whoever does not love does notknow God, because God is love,
(05:14):
and that's just, ultimately, whoChrist is.
He's a big lover, he's a teddybear, he's a father that will
wrap you up in a heartbeat toreally empathize with you and
the things that you're goingthrough on a daily basis.
We live in a fallen world, so Ithink it's really easy to fall
(05:34):
short, and the Lord iscompassionate towards that and
he will forever forgive you.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, and I think, just to keep in mind when we
talk through differentcharacteristics of god, like god
is the source of all of thesecharacteristics, he is the
origin of all thesecharacteristics, which means
that we can't forticate them orgain them from somebody else.
(06:03):
If we have a significant otherand we're like, oh, like they
make me feel so loved, that's,that's great, but they will and
will fail you.
You know, even in the bestrelationships, people will fail
you because they are not thesource of love God is.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and I think that's why I struggled for so
many years is I think that's whyI failed for so many years is
continual search for somethingthat wasn't possessed within a
person, but it was possessedwithin the Lord, and I think
that is something that I neededto realize earlier on, but I
realized it in the exact momentI needed to.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I think holds a lot of truth for so many different
people.
And, yeah, like, what are someother characteristics of God
that we can hold on to?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Some of the big ones are going to be kind,
compassionate, generous.
He's a faithful, merciful,strong, forgiving, good,
righteous, sovereign andshepherding father.
He's a healer.
He's our refuge and the one whomakes all things new.
He just continually shows uptime and time again for you if
(07:17):
you continue to walk alongsidehim.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So where do you even start with wanting to?
It's like, okay, so we'recreated in god's image, so we
have the ability to live outthese characteristics.
But all these characteristicsjust seem super ideal, right,
but sometimes we're not in ourbest mood or having a bad day,
or so like how do you actuallyapply these things?
(07:42):
But have it be from a genuineplace and not from a place of
facade?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah.
So I personally believe you'renever going to be able to take
these characteristics andfabricate them within yourself
alone.
It's always going to take workfrom the Holy Spirit and Christ
because, as we know, he's theorigin of these emotions and
thoughts and feelings andcharacteristics, and if we don't
(08:08):
have Christ at the center ofour lives, then we fail to
understand where these thingscame from.
Therefore, if we're not havingcontinuous, consistent FaceTime,
we lose sight of what we'recreating within ourselves, and
that can lead to irritabilityanger selfishness, not good
(08:32):
emotions that we don't want.
And so, once we center our mindsand sight on Christ and Christ
alone, each and every day, thatwill transform us and allow us
to adopt these characteristicsthat we truly do want deep down
within our heart, but may beunable to obtain or reach
(08:54):
because of differentcircumstantial things within our
life.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That's good.
I think you mentioned somethingcalled FaceTime.
What did you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, facetime is basically just daily devotion to
God and it's going to lookdifferent for everybody.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
But maybe some things might entail, like reading,
scripture journaling.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Worshiping.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Worshiping.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, there's multiple different things.
I think journaling is a big onefor me.
My heart is a lot.
I'm able to allow my heart toflow through to Christ through
journaling and, yeah, I'm justable to spend my most intimate
time with Jesus.
Well, I'm either journaling orjust being being in his presence
(09:40):
, asking him to be in mypresence and just revolving
myself around him in the mostsimplest forms.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Right and it makes a massive difference.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
To start your day off or to find that consistent time
with the Lord every day, justyeah, I mean, studies have shown
that people that spend dailytime with the Lord reading
scripture, like statistically,they experience less anxiety and
mental health issues anddepression and there's just a
(10:14):
lot of things that dwindlebecause the enemy has less
control and reign over your life, because you're filling your
heart, your mind and your soulwith truth yeah, and I think one
of the most impactful times waswhen I was going through
depression.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
So when you go through depression, I think a
lot of emotions become stuffeddeep down in your heart and
you're unable to identifydifferent emotions.
That's the result of feelingnumb and not really able to
understand what it is you'rethinking, feeling or wanting to
understand.
And this isn't.
(10:57):
None of this is going to befrom a clinical perspective, but
it's just what I've experienced.
And, um, I think the biggestthing is following christ, I'm
able to identify, feel andunderstand my emotions to a
greater degree, and it's notperfect.
It's a continual work inprogress, but knowing I can feel
(11:20):
and understand and think of thethings I'm feeling, I'm able to
better connect with the Lord.
In that.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And you know, I think the best friendship, the best
relationship you can ever haveis one with the Lord, and the
genuineness of that relationshipwill reflect the way you're
able to relate to other peoplein your life.
So it's like our marriagethrives a lot more when we have
(11:51):
a really consistent FaceTimewith the.
Lord Because, yeah, our abilityto connect with him and hear
him speak to us and gain clarityand direction allows us to be
able to love our spouse thatmuch more intentionally, to love
our spouse that much moreintentionally, and so, yeah, I
(12:11):
think that's just kind of a goodlitmus test, so to speak, to
say, okay, my relationships area little funky, what's going on?
Okay, I need to go to the sourceof all of these characteristics
that I want to continue toexplore and I need to really
hone in on the first andforemost, or the most important
(12:31):
love of my life.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, going into the second thought, how do we even
apply these attributes?
I think we mentioned earlierFaceTime is going to be really
important, because that alignsyou with yourself and with
Christ, and once those twothings are aligned, then you're
able to more accuratelyunderstand what it is.
(12:53):
You need to work.
You may not be understandingwhat's going on, but the Lord
knows exactly what's going onwithin your life and what he's
(13:15):
doing within it in order toinstill in you different
attributes or characteristicsthat you want to adopt and that
he wants to adopt within you,because he's ultimately helping
you gain these characteristicsfor your purpose.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
That's good.
So how does all of this tie,then, into your purpose, like,
why is it important?
Because we're talking aboutplanning for your purpose, right
, and I think sometimes we thinkvery practical things, but this
is kind of a different, a wholedifferent ballpark where we're
(13:54):
talking about, like, ourinternal self and the way that
we process and the way that we,you know, are intimate with the
Lord, like why, why does that orwhy is that important?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the Lord has
plans that he said before you.
Yeah, I think it's reallyimportant to understand that the
Lord has already written yourstory and being he's written
your story.
He's already wrotecircumstances that you're going
to go through.
And it's not the Lord's doingwhen bad things happen.
(14:25):
But the enemy wants to work.
He wants to steal, kill anddestroy, so he'll do anything in
his power to do so.
That's why more difficultsituations within your life may
occur, but also there's going tobe trial periods in which the
lord wants to strengthen you ina certain area and ultimately
(14:45):
will help you and direct youtowards the plans and purpose
that you have for your life.
And, yeah, it's just reallyimportant to understand that
every child period is a growingperiod and every circumstance
that you deal with is ultimatelyshaping you into the man or
(15:06):
woman he's creating you to be.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
That's really good.
So it's almost like all theseattributes that we get to grow
into are just like building atool belt, so to speak, for the
things to come and for us toactually be equipped to fulfill
our purpose.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, and I think one of the biggest thing is
understanding that, whoever youhang around your environment,
different circumstances thatimpact you on a day-to-day basis
.
They are circumstantial andsometimes it's in your control,
sometimes it's out of yourcontrol.
But when you revolve yourselfaround an environment that is
(15:45):
destructive, that is partying,drinking, doing whatever the
case may be to get you off yourpath, to distract you, to infuse
dysfunction and confusion andbroken relationships and lies
within yourself, that can, inturn, lead you down a path that
(16:06):
the Lord doesn't want you to bea part of.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, that's really good, and I think there's a
phrase that says, like you arethe average of the five people
you spend the most time with,and so I think that's just like
a good plug to say, hey, I thinkyou just need to evaluate and
we've done this in our personallives as well Evaluate who am I
spending the most time with,because I'm ultimately going to
be portraying their attributesand their characteristics and
(16:32):
their beliefs, and if they arenot pursuing the Lord, then
unfortunately, we're going to bedragged into a situation or
into a lifestyle that we don'twant to.
And yeah, I think one thing tokeep in mind before we segue and
this will help with the segueis that oftentimes, the enemy
(16:53):
likes to sugarcoat a lot ofdifferent things and make things
seem enticing, make things seemmore fun than being a Christian
.
And the reality is this is thetruth, and this is as true as it
can be is that God createdeverything for our good, and so
(17:14):
everything that is of good, thatis of genuine fun and genuine
pleasure, comes in its best formthrough Christ.
So everything that ismanufactured or sugarcoated in
the enemy's world is going toleave you feeling worse off and
(17:37):
feeling more lost and feelingmore confused than you ever have
in your entire life.
Even if you think like, oh,this seems fun, this seems like
it's not going to hurt me, orthis seems way better than being
a Christian or followingwhatever, it's actually just the
enemy confusing you.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Who even is the enemy ?
Like, what are you talkingabout?
Is there good bad?
I thought there was just goodand bad in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, I mean, you could be that black and white.
There's a winning team andthere's a losing team, if you
want to say it that way.
But the enemy we're talkingabout, the devil, he is real and
he was actually an angel.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Lucifer.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
His name was Lucifer, and he was very envious of God
and angels.
They support and help, andthere's so many valuable
components to angels, butlucifer in particular did not
(18:42):
honor christ, did not.
Um, was not obedient and he wasvery jealous of the ability
that God had in ruling overmankind, and so he rebelled, and
because of his rebellion, theLord essentially demoted him and
(19:02):
so he was no longer an angel.
And that's when he reappears inthe first book of the Bible, in
Genesis.
He is a serpent and heconvinces Eve to eat of a fruit
that the Lord clearly told hernot to eat of, and so, basically
, she was disobedient to God,committed the first sin, and
(19:23):
that's how the fall happened.
And so Satan has always tried towiggle his way in and be crafty
.
And yeah, we see the devil andthen we also see demons.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
What he said was clever, and it was just the
slightest.
It planted the slightest seedof doubt, and I think that's one
thing the enemy is good atdoing is planting doubt within
one's mind in order to thenspiral into a self-destructive
manner.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, the serpent was like did God really say, did
God really say that you couldn'teat of this tree of life?
And the enemy, satan, basicallywanted Eve to think oh God's
holding out on me.
There's actually way more thatI'll get to experience by just
(20:15):
doing my own thing and beingdisobedient.
And then so Satan is, you know,the ruler of the world.
You know, god ultimately hasthe most power and authority,
but because of the fall, mankindhas free will.
So, we have the choice to acceptJesus as our Lord and Savior or
(20:38):
not.
Fallen angels that have walkedaway from the Lord and the
demons torment and they pose alot of destruction and they
embed themselves in people andit gets really scary and hairy
(21:00):
quickly.
But just to kind of frameworkaround what we're referring to
when we say the enemy.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, that's absolutely great.
Um, and he implants stuff in usthrough other people, through
situations and circumstances,and again, that's where the
doubt comes in.
But here are some other waysthat you're able to discern when
(21:30):
the enemy is trying tointervene within your life, and
that's through distraction,anything that is taking you away
from what the Lord has setbefore you, disorder, anything
that may cause panic or worry oranxious thoughts, dysfunction
within a family dynamic or,whatever the case may be,
(21:54):
confusion, broken relationships,lies that he wants to instill
in you in order for you tocontinue to lead down a
self-depravated route.
There's also strongholdsgenerational hurt.
There's addiction he lovesusing addiction as a way in and
(22:17):
for a door to be open to yourheart.
That, or your mind, that isn'tstuck yeah, that isn't from the
lord.
Um, unhealthy habits,environmental again, family
dynamics and then idolization, Ithink is a big one, and
idolization it it could beanywhere from idolizing
(22:42):
celebrities yourself, sex, drugs, money, success I think, those
are the most common ones, andyeah, and to kind of piggyback
off of um idolization.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
You know, just, you know we were created with a lot
of things that are designed tobe God's child, right, and one
of those is worship.
We were innately created toworship Worship.
Who Worship God?
Right, but people that are notfollowing Christ.
They don't know where to putthat worship and, again, they
don't know this entirely.
(23:17):
They don't know that they'recreated to worship.
But what we see?
People that are not followingchrist, they worship themselves
and they worship all these otherthings that brandon referred to
sex, drugs, money, success, um,and they put themselves or
other people or other things onpedestals, not recognizing like.
(23:38):
Worship is a good thing, but itwas designed solely for god,
yeah, so just to keep that inmind, if you're finding yourself
worshiping something other thangod, just know, hey, worship
was innately placed in you, butnot for those things yeah,
that's really good, and the lordLord doesn't want us to conform
(24:02):
to the patterns of this worldlike we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
with environments and the people you hang around with
.
Every temptation is able to bebroken free from and that's what
the Lord says in 1 Corinthians10, 13.
No temptation has overtaken youthat is not common to man.
God is faithful and he will notlet you be tempted beyond your
ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way
(24:29):
of escape that you may be ableto endure.
It Meaning, no matter what itis you're dealing with, no
matter the addiction, no matterthe circumstances or situations
you may be wrapped up in, theLord will always allow you a way
out and he will always allowyou to come up with different
(24:50):
tools and resources and peopleto help you escape.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, don't fall into the trap that you think you're
too you know too far gone.
Don't ever think that you'vedone too many bad things in your
life and God will never forgiveyou.
That is again an identifierthat is alive from the enemy.
Do not fall into that trap.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, and I think, lastly, um, yeah, and I
think, lastly, um, a big thingis that the enemy wants to use
is circumstantial,circumstantial oppression, and
what that means is like I hadshared in my testimony with my
(25:34):
parents getting a divorce inthird grade, my cousin
committing suicide, me being apart of the party world or
falling into these sinful habitsand patterns that were not who
I was, my alcohol addiction andnicotine addiction.
(25:57):
All these things arecircumstantial and if we don't
choose to participate or beconformed to again the patterns
of this world, we're able tochange the way in which we
interact and live out thesedifferent things.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, I think that's valuable to reflect on, because
I think there's going to be somany things that trip you up and
so many people that trip you up.
Attempt to Attempt to at leastright, and it's really easy to
fall victim to things and notforgive and hold on to grudges
that will keep you stuck.
(26:41):
So sometimes you're not again.
You're not necessarilycontinually feeling like you're
attacked or tortured throughoutyour life, but there might be
some big event that happened inyour life that's just weighing
you down and you can't seem toshake, and so there are
circumstances in life where weneed to just be really honest
(27:04):
and raw, and Jesus is really theonly place to go for total
healing and total restoration.
I think in my personal life,like something that I've
discovered within the pastseveral years about myself is
that I'm an empath, and so Ifeel things really deeply.
I feel for people really deeply, which is a beautiful thing me
(27:24):
too, and brandon as well um,which just creates such a rich
marriage, um, but we also bothof us actually have fallen privy
to attracting narcissists andpeople that just want to take
advantage of us, and we can diveinto that topic another time.
(27:46):
But there's just, yeah, a longhistory on both of our ends of
people that have just wanted tolatch onto us and just make our
lives harder, and we've beenable to escape from those
situations, and it's just been amassive victory.
Um so much freedom in that.
Yeah.
So again, it's like you couldbe like attacked and tortured
(28:08):
your whole life, or there couldbe circumstances that happened
in an instant that it's just sohard for you to navigate or
figure out if there's like anyhope in it, and so the enemy can
just latch onto those thingsand make you feel like there's
no.
There's no like excitingtriumph in your future.
But the Lord has so many goodthings in store for you and,
(28:32):
like we mentioned in the verybeginning of the podcast, jesus
makes all things new and we arenew creations in Christ, and so
when we decide to give our lifeto Christ, he actually makes us
completely new.
And that doesn't mean that,like our brains are wiped and we
have new memory cards, but itmeans that our souls are
(28:53):
rejuvenated and filled by theLord each and every day, and
that is what sustains us, and itreally is something that is so
transformational and really hardto perfectly articulate.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, that's so good.
I'm just going to leave youwith this Ephesians 5, 13 and 14
.
But everything exposed by thelight becomes visible, and
everything that illuminatesbecomes a light.
This is why it is said Wake Osleeper, rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
We thank you all for listening in on this week's
episode.
We have really been enjoyingdiving into this series Planning
your Purpose.
In this episode we covered someof the core characteristics of
God and how you can grow inthose by making God your number
one daily priority, and wetalked about who the enemy is
and how to identify his tacticsto kill, steal and destroy, so
(29:55):
that we can gain morediscernment and wisdom to walk
out our purpose.
There's so much to explorewithin these topics and we are
just scratching the surface, butour heart is that over time,
the culmination of these topicswill come together and paint a
clear picture of what itultimately looks like to live
purposefully and walk in youridentity.
We can't wait for next week'sepisode where we will dive into
(30:19):
preparation, planning and takingaction in a very practical way.
And again, check us out onInstagram at ontrack underscore
official.
Have an incredible and blessedweek y'all Bye.
what we do on a given day.
You know, we don't have to earnhis admiration and his
affection.
He is consistent day in and dayout, Even if we feel like we're
an amazing person or we feellike we've done everything
completely wrong.
He is so loving and he looksdown upon us with a big smile on
(00:21):
his face, in a metaphoricalsense.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Hey guys, welcome back to OnTrack Podcast with
your host, brandon and IsabelDiamond.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Hey guys.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We are so excited to tease apart the attributes of
God and how we're able toemulate that within our own life
, as we'll understand who theenemy is, what his goal is to
steal, kill and destroy.
This episode will allow us tobecome more equipped in
defending against any ways theenemy wants to work within our
life, and we'll be discussingwhat we can change to better
move in and through the purposeGod is calling us into.
Sit back, relax and enjoy thisweek's episode.
(01:04):
Yeah, so we're just going toget right into it.
We're going to go over somecharacteristics of God, through
scripture first and foremost,and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yeah, this is a really fun topic because I think
so often when we think aboutGod, we always think about going
to him for our needs and ourwants and our desires.
And it's very rare, I think,for us to go to God and say, oh,
let me explore you, let melearn you, let me, yeah, just
(01:42):
discover the vastness of who Godis or what his character
represents, and it almost feelslike a transactional
relationship or even just aone-sided relationship.
Oftentimes we just think, oh,we need God because our life is
in mayhem and he's the one thatwe run to.
But you know, there's so muchto explore in who God is and
(02:05):
that's what we want to exploretoday, and I think Ephesians
2.10 is a great place to startwhere it says for we are God's
masterpiece.
He has created us anew in ChristJesus so we can do the good
things he has planned for uslong ago.
And this just kind of expandson the idea that we are created
in his image.
And it's kind of fun to thinkback to Genesis, the first book
(02:30):
of the Bible, where God createdeverything and after he created
each thing he said it is good,you know.
After he created you know theplants and the animals he said
it is good.
But after he created mankind,he created Adam and Eve.
He said it is very good.
And so we are his masterpiece,we are his greatest creation.
(02:51):
And the reason we're created inhis image is because we reflect
his characteristics.
And yeah, that is alloriginating from God and yeah,
we'd love to explore this.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
The closer we get to the Lord, the easier it is to
understand His characteristicsand really press into that
within ourselves.
And he's really steadfast inall the things that he's
equipping us to do and bringingus in and through.
I think it's just fascinatingthat he instills in us the
(03:28):
things that don't necessarilybring immediate gratification
but allows us to gain long-termbenefit.
Psalm 105, 1,.
But you, o Lord, are a Godmerciful and gracious, slow to
anger and abounding in steadfastlove and faithfulness.
(03:49):
This scripture just reallyshows multiple characteristics
in one psalm, one verse.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
It really explores the vastness that the Lord truly
holds.
Yeah, I love this scripturebecause, you know, not only does
it convey that he is steadfast,which means he's consistent and
he's never changing, andregardless of what we do in a
given day, you know, we don'thave to earn his admiration and
his affection.
He is consistent day in and dayout, even if we feel like we're
(04:25):
an amazing person or we feellike we've done everything
completely wrong.
He is so loving and he looksdown upon us with a big smile on
his face in a metaphoricalsense.
And, yeah, the scripture justconveys that he is merciful,
like he does not condemn us fordoing things that are wrong.
(04:45):
He continually has open armsfor us to run back to.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, and I think just to give a little bit of
context.
But merciful is a compassion orforgiveness shown towards
someone who is within one'spower to punish or harm, and he
is a forgiving and compassionateand loving father.
1 John 4, 8,.
Whoever does not love does notknow God, because God is love,
(05:14):
and that's just, ultimately, whoChrist is.
He's a big lover, he's a teddybear, he's a father that will
wrap you up in a heartbeat toreally empathize with you and
the things that you're goingthrough on a daily basis.
We live in a fallen world, so Ithink it's really easy to fall
(05:34):
short, and the Lord iscompassionate towards that and
he will forever forgive you.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, and I think, just to keep in mind when we
talk through differentcharacteristics of god, like god
is the source of all of thesecharacteristics, he is the
origin of all thesecharacteristics, which means
that we can't forticate them orgain them from somebody else.
(06:03):
If we have a significant otherand we're like, oh, like they
make me feel so loved, that's,that's great, but they will and
will fail you.
You know, even in the bestrelationships, people will fail
you because they are not thesource of love God is.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yeah, and I think that's why I struggled for so
many years is I think that's whyI failed for so many years is
continual search for somethingthat wasn't possessed within a
person, but it was possessedwithin the Lord, and I think
that is something that I neededto realize earlier on, but I
realized it in the exact momentI needed to.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
I think holds a lot of truth for so many different
people.
And, yeah, like, what are someother characteristics of God
that we can hold on to?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Some of the big ones are going to be kind,
compassionate, generous.
He's a faithful, merciful,strong, forgiving, good,
righteous, sovereign andshepherding father.
He's a healer.
He's our refuge and the one whomakes all things new.
He just continually shows uptime and time again for you if
(07:17):
you continue to walk alongsidehim.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
So where do you even start with wanting to?
It's like, okay, so we'recreated in god's image, so we
have the ability to live outthese characteristics.
But all these characteristicsjust seem super ideal, right,
but sometimes we're not in ourbest mood or having a bad day,
or so like how do you actuallyapply these things?
(07:42):
But have it be from a genuineplace and not from a place of
facade?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Yeah.
So I personally believe you'renever going to be able to take
these characteristics andfabricate them within yourself
alone.
It's always going to take workfrom the Holy Spirit and Christ
because, as we know, he's theorigin of these emotions and
thoughts and feelings andcharacteristics, and if we don't
(08:08):
have Christ at the center ofour lives, then we fail to
understand where these thingscame from.
Therefore, if we're not havingcontinuous, consistent FaceTime,
we lose sight of what we'recreating within ourselves, and
that can lead to irritabilityanger selfishness, not good
(08:32):
emotions that we don't want.
And so, once we center our mindsand sight on Christ and Christ
alone, each and every day, thatwill transform us and allow us
to adopt these characteristicsthat we truly do want deep down
within our heart, but may beunable to obtain or reach
(08:54):
because of differentcircumstantial things within our
life.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
That's good.
I think you mentioned somethingcalled FaceTime.
What did you mean by that?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, facetime is basically just daily devotion to
God and it's going to lookdifferent for everybody.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
But maybe some things might entail, like reading,
scripture journaling.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Worshiping.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Worshiping.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, there's multiple different things.
I think journaling is a big onefor me.
My heart is a lot.
I'm able to allow my heart toflow through to Christ through
journaling and, yeah, I'm justable to spend my most intimate
time with Jesus.
Well, I'm either journaling orjust being being in his presence
(09:40):
, asking him to be in mypresence and just revolving
myself around him in the mostsimplest forms.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Right and it makes a massive difference.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
To start your day off or to find that consistent time
with the Lord every day, justyeah, I mean, studies have shown
that people that spend dailytime with the Lord reading
scripture, like statistically,they experience less anxiety and
mental health issues anddepression and there's just a
(10:14):
lot of things that dwindlebecause the enemy has less
control and reign over your life, because you're filling your
heart, your mind and your soulwith truth yeah, and I think one
of the most impactful times waswhen I was going through
depression.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
So when you go through depression, I think a
lot of emotions become stuffeddeep down in your heart and
you're unable to identifydifferent emotions.
That's the result of feelingnumb and not really able to
understand what it is you'rethinking, feeling or wanting to
understand.
And this isn't.
(10:57):
None of this is going to befrom a clinical perspective, but
it's just what I've experienced.
And, um, I think the biggestthing is following christ, I'm
able to identify, feel andunderstand my emotions to a
greater degree, and it's notperfect.
It's a continual work inprogress, but knowing I can feel
(11:20):
and understand and think of thethings I'm feeling, I'm able to
better connect with the Lord.
In that.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And you know, I think the best friendship, the best
relationship you can ever haveis one with the Lord, and the
genuineness of that relationshipwill reflect the way you're
able to relate to other peoplein your life.
So it's like our marriagethrives a lot more when we have
(11:51):
a really consistent FaceTimewith the.
Lord Because, yeah, our abilityto connect with him and hear
him speak to us and gain clarityand direction allows us to be
able to love our spouse thatmuch more intentionally, to love
our spouse that much moreintentionally, and so, yeah, I
(12:11):
think that's just kind of a goodlitmus test, so to speak, to
say, okay, my relationships area little funky, what's going on?
Okay, I need to go to the sourceof all of these characteristics
that I want to continue toexplore and I need to really
hone in on the first andforemost, or the most important
(12:31):
love of my life.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Yeah, going into the second thought, how do we even
apply these attributes?
I think we mentioned earlierFaceTime is going to be really
important, because that alignsyou with yourself and with
Christ, and once those twothings are aligned, then you're
able to more accuratelyunderstand what it is.
(12:53):
You need to work.
You may not be understandingwhat's going on, but the Lord
knows exactly what's going onwithin your life and what he's
(13:15):
doing within it in order toinstill in you different
attributes or characteristicsthat you want to adopt and that
he wants to adopt within you,because he's ultimately helping
you gain these characteristicsfor your purpose.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
That's good.
So how does all of this tie,then, into your purpose, like,
why is it important?
Because we're talking aboutplanning for your purpose, right
, and I think sometimes we thinkvery practical things, but this
is kind of a different, a wholedifferent ballpark where we're
(13:54):
talking about, like, ourinternal self and the way that
we process and the way that we,you know, are intimate with the
Lord, like why, why does that orwhy is that important?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the Lord has
plans that he said before you.
Yeah, I think it's reallyimportant to understand that the
Lord has already written yourstory and being he's written
your story.
He's already wrotecircumstances that you're going
to go through.
And it's not the Lord's doingwhen bad things happen.
(14:25):
But the enemy wants to work.
He wants to steal, kill anddestroy, so he'll do anything in
his power to do so.
That's why more difficultsituations within your life may
occur, but also there's going tobe trial periods in which the
lord wants to strengthen you ina certain area and ultimately
(14:45):
will help you and direct youtowards the plans and purpose
that you have for your life.
And, yeah, it's just reallyimportant to understand that
every child period is a growingperiod and every circumstance
that you deal with is ultimatelyshaping you into the man or
(15:06):
woman he's creating you to be.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
That's really good.
So it's almost like all theseattributes that we get to grow
into are just like building atool belt, so to speak, for the
things to come and for us toactually be equipped to fulfill
our purpose.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, and I think one of the biggest thing is
understanding that, whoever youhang around your environment,
different circumstances thatimpact you on a day-to-day basis
.
They are circumstantial andsometimes it's in your control,
sometimes it's out of yourcontrol.
But when you revolve yourselfaround an environment that is
(15:45):
destructive, that is partying,drinking, doing whatever the
case may be to get you off yourpath, to distract you, to infuse
dysfunction and confusion andbroken relationships and lies
within yourself, that can, inturn, lead you down a path that
(16:06):
the Lord doesn't want you to bea part of.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Yeah, that's really good, and I think there's a
phrase that says, like you arethe average of the five people
you spend the most time with,and so I think that's just like
a good plug to say, hey, I thinkyou just need to evaluate and
we've done this in our personallives as well Evaluate who am I
spending the most time with,because I'm ultimately going to
be portraying their attributesand their characteristics and
(16:32):
their beliefs, and if they arenot pursuing the Lord, then
unfortunately, we're going to bedragged into a situation or
into a lifestyle that we don'twant to.
And yeah, I think one thing tokeep in mind before we segue and
this will help with the segueis that oftentimes, the enemy
(16:53):
likes to sugarcoat a lot ofdifferent things and make things
seem enticing, make things seemmore fun than being a Christian
.
And the reality is this is thetruth, and this is as true as it
can be is that God createdeverything for our good, and so
(17:14):
everything that is of good, thatis of genuine fun and genuine
pleasure, comes in its best formthrough Christ.
So everything that ismanufactured or sugarcoated in
the enemy's world is going toleave you feeling worse off and
(17:37):
feeling more lost and feelingmore confused than you ever have
in your entire life.
Even if you think like, oh,this seems fun, this seems like
it's not going to hurt me, orthis seems way better than being
a Christian or followingwhatever, it's actually just the
enemy confusing you.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Who even is the enemy ?
Like, what are you talkingabout?
Is there good bad?
I thought there was just goodand bad in the world.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Yeah, I mean, you could be that black and white.
There's a winning team andthere's a losing team, if you
want to say it that way.
But the enemy we're talkingabout, the devil, he is real and
he was actually an angel.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Lucifer.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
His name was Lucifer, and he was very envious of God
and angels.
They support and help, andthere's so many valuable
components to angels, butlucifer in particular did not
(18:42):
honor christ, did not.
Um, was not obedient and he wasvery jealous of the ability
that God had in ruling overmankind, and so he rebelled, and
because of his rebellion, theLord essentially demoted him and
(19:02):
so he was no longer an angel.
And that's when he reappears inthe first book of the Bible, in
Genesis.
He is a serpent and heconvinces Eve to eat of a fruit
that the Lord clearly told hernot to eat of, and so, basically
, she was disobedient to God,committed the first sin, and
(19:23):
that's how the fall happened.
And so Satan has always tried towiggle his way in and be crafty
.
And yeah, we see the devil andthen we also see demons.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
What he said was clever, and it was just the
slightest.
It planted the slightest seedof doubt, and I think that's one
thing the enemy is good atdoing is planting doubt within
one's mind in order to thenspiral into a self-destructive
manner.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, the serpent was like did God really say, did
God really say that you couldn'teat of this tree of life?
And the enemy, satan, basicallywanted Eve to think oh God's
holding out on me.
There's actually way more thatI'll get to experience by just
(20:15):
doing my own thing and beingdisobedient.
And then so Satan is, you know,the ruler of the world.
You know, god ultimately hasthe most power and authority,
but because of the fall, mankindhas free will.
So, we have the choice to acceptJesus as our Lord and Savior or
(20:38):
not.
Fallen angels that have walkedaway from the Lord and the
demons torment and they pose alot of destruction and they
embed themselves in people andit gets really scary and hairy
(21:00):
quickly.
But just to kind of frameworkaround what we're referring to
when we say the enemy.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, that's absolutely great.
Um, and he implants stuff in usthrough other people, through
situations and circumstances,and again, that's where the
doubt comes in.
But here are some other waysthat you're able to discern when
(21:30):
the enemy is trying tointervene within your life, and
that's through distraction,anything that is taking you away
from what the Lord has setbefore you, disorder, anything
that may cause panic or worry oranxious thoughts, dysfunction
within a family dynamic or,whatever the case may be,
(21:54):
confusion, broken relationships,lies that he wants to instill
in you in order for you tocontinue to lead down a
self-depravated route.
There's also strongholdsgenerational hurt.
There's addiction he lovesusing addiction as a way in and
(22:17):
for a door to be open to yourheart.
That, or your mind, that isn'tstuck yeah, that isn't from the
lord.
Um, unhealthy habits,environmental again, family
dynamics and then idolization, Ithink is a big one, and
idolization it it could beanywhere from idolizing
(22:42):
celebrities yourself, sex, drugs, money, success I think, those
are the most common ones, andyeah, and to kind of piggyback
off of um idolization.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
You know, just, you know we were created with a lot
of things that are designed tobe God's child, right, and one
of those is worship.
We were innately created toworship Worship.
Who Worship God?
Right, but people that are notfollowing Christ.
They don't know where to putthat worship and, again, they
don't know this entirely.
(23:17):
They don't know that they'recreated to worship.
But what we see?
People that are not followingchrist, they worship themselves
and they worship all these otherthings that brandon referred to
sex, drugs, money, success, um,and they put themselves or
other people or other things onpedestals, not recognizing like.
(23:38):
Worship is a good thing, but itwas designed solely for god,
yeah, so just to keep that inmind, if you're finding yourself
worshiping something other thangod, just know, hey, worship
was innately placed in you, butnot for those things yeah,
that's really good, and the lordLord doesn't want us to conform
(24:02):
to the patterns of this worldlike we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
with environments and the people you hang around with
.
Every temptation is able to bebroken free from and that's what
the Lord says in 1 Corinthians10, 13.
No temptation has overtaken youthat is not common to man.
God is faithful and he will notlet you be tempted beyond your
ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way
(24:29):
of escape that you may be ableto endure.
It Meaning, no matter what itis you're dealing with, no
matter the addiction, no matterthe circumstances or situations
you may be wrapped up in, theLord will always allow you a way
out and he will always allowyou to come up with different
(24:50):
tools and resources and peopleto help you escape.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Yeah, don't fall into the trap that you think you're
too you know too far gone.
Don't ever think that you'vedone too many bad things in your
life and God will never forgiveyou.
That is again an identifierthat is alive from the enemy.
Do not fall into that trap.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, yeah, and I think, lastly, um, yeah, and I
think, lastly, um, a big thingis that the enemy wants to use
is circumstantial,circumstantial oppression, and
what that means is like I hadshared in my testimony with my
(25:34):
parents getting a divorce inthird grade, my cousin
committing suicide, me being apart of the party world or
falling into these sinful habitsand patterns that were not who
I was, my alcohol addiction andnicotine addiction.
(25:57):
All these things arecircumstantial and if we don't
choose to participate or beconformed to again the patterns
of this world, we're able tochange the way in which we
interact and live out thesedifferent things.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, I think that's valuable to reflect on, because
I think there's going to be somany things that trip you up and
so many people that trip you up.
Attempt to Attempt to at leastright, and it's really easy to
fall victim to things and notforgive and hold on to grudges
that will keep you stuck.
(26:41):
So sometimes you're not again.
You're not necessarilycontinually feeling like you're
attacked or tortured throughoutyour life, but there might be
some big event that happened inyour life that's just weighing
you down and you can't seem toshake, and so there are
circumstances in life where weneed to just be really honest
(27:04):
and raw, and Jesus is really theonly place to go for total
healing and total restoration.
I think in my personal life,like something that I've
discovered within the pastseveral years about myself is
that I'm an empath, and so Ifeel things really deeply.
I feel for people really deeply, which is a beautiful thing me
(27:24):
too, and brandon as well um,which just creates such a rich
marriage, um, but we also bothof us actually have fallen privy
to attracting narcissists andpeople that just want to take
advantage of us, and we can diveinto that topic another time.
(27:46):
But there's just, yeah, a longhistory on both of our ends of
people that have just wanted tolatch onto us and just make our
lives harder, and we've beenable to escape from those
situations, and it's just been amassive victory.
Um so much freedom in that.
Yeah.
So again, it's like you couldbe like attacked and tortured
(28:08):
your whole life, or there couldbe circumstances that happened
in an instant that it's just sohard for you to navigate or
figure out if there's like anyhope in it, and so the enemy can
just latch onto those thingsand make you feel like there's
no.
There's no like excitingtriumph in your future.
But the Lord has so many goodthings in store for you and,
(28:32):
like we mentioned in the verybeginning of the podcast, jesus
makes all things new and we arenew creations in Christ, and so
when we decide to give our lifeto Christ, he actually makes us
completely new.
And that doesn't mean that,like our brains are wiped and we
have new memory cards, but itmeans that our souls are
(28:53):
rejuvenated and filled by theLord each and every day, and
that is what sustains us, and itreally is something that is so
transformational and really hardto perfectly articulate.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, that's so good.
I'm just going to leave youwith this Ephesians 5, 13 and 14
.
But everything exposed by thelight becomes visible, and
everything that illuminatesbecomes a light.
This is why it is said Wake Osleeper, rise from the dead, and
Christ will shine on you.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
We thank you all for listening in on this week's
episode.
We have really been enjoyingdiving into this series Planning
your Purpose.
In this episode we covered someof the core characteristics of
God and how you can grow inthose by making God your number
one daily priority, and wetalked about who the enemy is
and how to identify his tacticsto kill, steal and destroy, so
(29:55):
that we can gain morediscernment and wisdom to walk
out our purpose.
There's so much to explorewithin these topics and we are
just scratching the surface, butour heart is that over time,
the culmination of these topicswill come together and paint a
clear picture of what itultimately looks like to live
purposefully and walk in youridentity.
We can't wait for next week'sepisode where we will dive into
(30:19):
preparation, planning and takingaction in a very practical way.
And again, check us out onInstagram at ontrack underscore
official.
Have an incredible and blessedweek y'all Bye.
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