February 5, 2025 • 38 mins
Ever felt the pull of social media as a refuge from life's chaos, only to find it leaving you more disconnected? We've been there too. Join us, as we share our personal journeys of navigating the distractions and counterfeit comforts in a world that often feels daunting. We open up about the challenges of living in a Genesis 3 world and uncover how seemingly positive activities can morph into barriers to experiencing God's true comfort. Through candid stories and insights, we explore the vast difference between temporary relief and the lasting solace found in God's promises, as highlighted in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. From embracing gratitude and overcoming shame, to the powerful practice of "look and learn" in moments of failure, we share tools that can shift your reliance from self to full reliance on the Lord. Tune in and discover how to resist the counterfeit comforts that distance us from our true source of peace.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi and welcome to our podcast, Revelation Within On
the Go.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Heidi Wiles-Mafferson, one of your
hosts and the owner and leadcoach of the RevelationWithinorg
ministry, and I'm ChristinaMotley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we're sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin On the Go.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Oh, yay.
Well, it is another fine day todo a podcast.
It is it absolutely is yeah,and today we thought we would
talk a little bit about ourmission as Revelation Withiners.
We exist to help lovers ofJesus escape counterfeit
comforts and equip them, equipyou, equip us with
(00:59):
Christ-centered copingstrategies.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh, I love the Revelation Withiners
Christ-centered copingstrategies.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh, I love the revelation withiners.
Yeah, so we're going to talktoday about breaking free from
counterfeit comforts whatcounterfeit comforts even are
and Christ-centered copingmechanisms to gravitate towards
instead.
You know, I thought a reallygood place to start would be the
fact that we live in a Genesis3 world yes, yes, which
basically means sin happens.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Oh my gosh, does it ever?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, and there will be trouble.
And scripture tells us thatthere will be trouble, and I'm
not going to quote the verses inentirety, and neither will
Christina, but just some versesthat mention that we're going to
have trouble.
John 16, 33 jumps into mindimmediately, where Jesus says in
this world you will havetrouble.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, that's pretty clear.
I mean, it's not like I'm notsure.
I wonder, are you sure we'regoing to have trouble?
It's like it's right there.
Yeah, life's hard, yes, yes.
And then James, one, two andthree heart, yes, yes, and then
James, one, two and three.
(02:11):
Dear brothers and sisters, when, when, when, troubles of any
kind come, your way when that,when your faith is tested,
there's two wins in that inthose verses with James when
troubles come and when yourfaith is tested, it's going to
happen.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And it's.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
If it's not happening right now, it's going to happen
tomorrow, I know, or the nextday.
I mean, we all experience thiscontinually.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yes, and in 1 Peter 1 , verses 6 and 7, Peter says you
must endure many trials for alittle while.
Oh, I'm so glad that God is sohonest with us.
He doesn't pull his punches.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, when he says a little, while, you know, when he
says that he's talking aboutGod time for us sometimes it
feels like forever.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I think it's the same author, Peter, who said with
the Lord, a day is as a thousandyears, and a thousand years is
a day.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So that's not very helpful when we're talking about
a little while.
Yeah, that could mean athousand years.
Well, we won't live that longon this earth, so that's okay,
that's a little bit encouraging,anyway.
And then in 2 Corinthians 4, 17and 18, there is a phrase for
our present troubles, andpresent means right now, and
(03:38):
many of you know that I strugglewith chronic Lyme disease and
that's one of my now struggles.
It is now, right now as I'mdoing this podcast.
It's right now and it's everyday now.
It's not just once a week now,or you know, I'll be done in a
(03:59):
few weeks.
This is a big long now.
This is a big present troublefor me.
It goes on and on and on.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So, yeah, that's an example for me, and these
troubles, these challenges thatwe are promised in God's word,
we will have or are having,cause us to want to respond,
sometimes by putting our headsin the proverbial sand.
Yes, by numbing out, sometimesby doing anyway, I'm getting
ahead of myself.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, I can tell you what happened last night.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Okay, okay, let's hear it, it's just a quick.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean, here we are, we're on the podcast, we're
talking about counterfeitcomfort, so I might as well just
be totally honest and tell youwhat happened last night.
Yeah, I do, Because a lot oftimes what I do well, I've been
every other day lately is takinga bath with Epsom salts to help
my body detox.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And in the moment it doesn't feel good at all.
It actually increases mysymptoms while I'm in the bath.
It's not a relaxing bath at allbut, then afterwards I'll rest
for an hour or two and feel muchbetter.
Okay, so what did I do lastnight?
Last night, I get in the bath,I've got my phone in hand, I
(05:18):
went right to social media andstarted watching reels.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Now.
Normally I just have to insertthis here One of Christina's
most creative times for writingamazing things is that bath time
.
She will use her phone in thebath which I still can't wrap my
brain around and she will writewonderful little devotional
messages or articles for ourcommunity or something really
(05:45):
good.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But this time we didn't get the benefits of that.
You didn't give me anassignment this time, no, but
usually I have a little routine,you know, so that I am not
going sideways with some kind ofcounterfeit, especially
something I can do on my phone.
(06:06):
But this time I just like Ijust raced right by everything I
know.
Everything I know to be trueabout how draining it is to look
at reels for an hour.
That's embarrassing.
But that's what I did, and wasit life-giving?
No, not at all.
(06:28):
And you know, instagram hasfigured out some of the things
that I really am interested inlooking at and it's like, oh,
come on.
Anyway, I took it off my phoneagain, but just so that you know
, we're talking about ourselveshere too.
Definitely, not just everybodyelse Right.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There are so many different options for
counterfeit comforts that wehave when we're faced with a
challenge.
You know the kind of troublethat Jesus promised us.
You know my daughter and herdad.
My daughter's 30 years old.
Her dad is taking her toDisneyland and that's this
weekend.
I'm going to start crying.
(07:08):
Anyway, historically,disneyland was our family thing.
Specifically, my former husbandand I went to Disneyland so
many times.
In fact, I know for a fact thatthe last time he went to
Disneyland was with me and nowhe's taking Michaela there.
Obviously, I don't hope to besomebody he goes to Disneyland
with again, but anyway, and hehas broken my daughter's heart
(07:31):
so many times where I'm havingsome real anxiety about thinking
of her being with her dad forthe whole weekend.
And I suppose there's somejealousy there too.
So what is my tendency?
It's to want to numb out, it'sto shut down.
I don't want to be present tothose feelings.
And so how do I do that?
Well, one of those ginormouscans of Mike's harder lemonade
(07:57):
maybe we are keeping it realtoday.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
We are.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I'm embarrassed to tell you that, yeah.
Or wonderful Mexican food, wow,and that's not even something
that I have to face because it'sa concern of mine.
I'm not hearing from mydaughter on the phone saying dad
won't get off his work phone orsomething like that that I
stress out about.
(08:20):
What are some other optionsthat we tend to lean towards
that are counterfeit options,things that don't really bring
that satisfaction that we longfor.
You know that don't like we'vetalked about before.
They don't fill that hole inour heart but that we tend to
throw in there anyway.
You know, obviously overeatingis one.
What else?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, well for me, watching shows like over, you
know, binge watching.
I guess we call it these dayswhich is so interesting Binge
watching, because binge is likea food word.
Anyway certainly food, yes, butyou know, shows like how, how
many can I watch?
That's one for me.
And then just being distracted,any distraction, and they can
(09:05):
be things that are good, right,but if we're using them to numb
out, if we're using them to notfeel those feelings, I know
what's going to happen with me.
They're going to come outreally, really big in a few days
and I'll be spending two hourscrying.
I mean, I just I don't do thatwell, I can't push things under
(09:28):
for very long.
They end up, coming up.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So shows and movies for sure, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And food and drink for me, and probably video games
, lots of video games and, oh mygoodness, lots of video games
and, oh my goodness, lots ofvideo games you mean, like the
little games you play on yourphone.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Oh, the Star Wars one .
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah, that's on my iPad.
But I have another reallypathetic little game I'm playing
on my iPad and see that hascombined with sneaking, because
I'm sneaking, buying thedifferent upgrades in the app so
that I can play better, andyeah, so that's got to stop and
(10:13):
so it's counterfeit because inthe moment I can continue to
numb out because I just bought150 energies.
It's real money.
Oh, it's real money.
I wish I really could buyenergy, you know for me, I know,
I know.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It would probably be really expensive though.
Yeah, for sure, yeah, so I mean, and the real things.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I love looking at reels.
It's funny how they do peg youIf you slow down for even a
minute.
One of them I slow down forapparently a lot is men's like
overhauling their hairstyle andI, so I'm getting a ton of those
now.
I find it so it's like oh darn,I you know the horses.
(10:59):
I love watching the horses andthe doggies and the kitties and
the kitties.
That's kitties, that's not bad,that's not a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
No, but it's excessive, it's a counterfeit,
right?
If it's excessive, if it'ssomething for me like I think,
is it something that I'm likelooking forward to, is it
something that I'm planningahead for?
Another one for me is shopping.
I do a lot of window shoppingonline, if you know what I mean.
I have one website inparticular.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Don't tell me what it is.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
No, you already know I'm not going to say it.
It's like a boho.
Okay, got it, got it, yeah, andthey have all kinds of things,
not just clothes, but I will sitthere and just look at things.
I do have some of theirproducts, but you know, it's
like something to distract me.
Oh, these, you know, theseskirts are so beautiful.
(11:52):
And oh, look at this blanket.
And this is really fun.
What if I had this?
And it's, you know, it's likewow.
We are so easily pulled in tocounterfeit comforts.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, so, because our ministry exists to help people
who recognize this in theirlives and then to equip you and
us as well, like we said, withlegitimate, christ-centered
coping mechanisms, and we'retrying to cope with these
troubles that Jesus promised us.
Thank you, jesus.
(12:25):
We want to talk today aboutokay, so what are some
alternatives?
But let's just clarify a littlebit, christina.
Let's in a nutshell, reallywhat are counterfeit comforts?
To me, it's anything that I useto seek comfort or numbness,
like shutting down outside ofwhat God is inviting me to step
(12:48):
into.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Really Like an escape .
Yes, when you feel like I justwant to get in a space pod and
be shot off and really have abreak from my life we all feel
that way.
It's like I know, heidi and Ihave joked in the past with some
physical issues where we'd sayI just want to run away from my
(13:10):
life, but I'd have to take mybody with me.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's such a bummer and you know whether we are at
peace with our physical body andthe way it looks or not isn't
even the point.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It's the way it functions, the way it feels the
way it functions.
What hurts, what feels not good.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, I know, it's so interesting, you know, waking
up in the morning and doing thislittle inventory Huh, I don't
hurt, today, that's surprising.
Or when I get out of bed going,oh okay, that again, yeah,
that's okay.
So, of course, you know we'vementioned a lot of examples and
I bet you can think, listener,of all kinds of additional
(13:53):
examples of things you mighttend to turn to to not have to
face the life that God has givenyou.
I don't know, are we the onlyones I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Are we the only ones?
We're definitely not the onlyones, because these things that
we've named business is booming.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Oh, that's true, so we're definitely not the only
ones.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I mean, things are flying off the shelves and
social media is at the heightthat it's ever been, and some of
these things that we've namedit can be something good like
being involved in a Bible study,or three or five or 10.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Or being on eight tennis teams at once.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yes, I wonder who did that.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I can't even imagine you should get in her face.
Yes, or going to the gymexcessively.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I used to do that or even dieting, you know that's.
That can be not necessarily inand of itself an evil, right as
it is, but if we do it to getour sense of identity, value and
purpose and that is like takingthe bandwidth up in our head,
yeah it's not so good and Inever could really diet without
(15:05):
having it take up way too muchbandwidth.
That's why I turned tonon-dieting early on, sort of
hunger satisfied eating tomanage all of that way early on.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yes Gosh, for years, for decades, I remember thinking
you know, this is wrong in mylife and this is wrong.
Oh, I need to go on a diet,like that's going to fix
everything.
And I really, really believethat.
You know, every so often itpops up again.
I'll see something come up onsocial media which again, I've
(15:36):
taken it off my phone.
But I'll see something come upLike how many days do you have
to walk that walking thing?
Oh my gosh, why does that pullme in?
I'm already walking on the daysthat my body feels well enough,
like I can't do any more and Ilove walking, but there's
(15:58):
something that pulls me in aboutthat woman.
She's smiling, she's she lookslike the picture of health and
she's loves life.
She doesn't have a care in theworld, and I'm like not living
in a Genesis three world.
I'm sure she's living in acomputer world.
She's not even real, oh man.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And one of the things , of course, god invites us to
recognize and to trust him for,and to build an understanding of
and an experience of, is thathe is our ultimate source of
comfort, that, even when we havethings in our lives that we do
not want to face, when we feellike we want to you know, beam
me up, scotty you know we wantto escape, whether it's into
(16:43):
social media or into outer space, whatever it might be.
It's God who is our ultimatesource of comfort, and he speaks
about this in his word.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
So 2 Corinthians, 1, 3 through 5,.
Praise be to the God and fatherof our Lord, jesus Christ, the
father of compassion and the Godof all comfort that's what you
just said, heidi who comforts usin all of our troubles, so that
we can comfort those in anytrouble with the comfort we
(17:16):
ourselves receive from God.
For just as we share abundantlyin the sufferings of Christ, so
also our comfort aboundsthrough Christ.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Wow, there it is yeah , when we're equipped with God's
comfort, we can learn.
He wants to teach us, he wantsto walk arm in arm with us.
We can learn to face thosethings, those troubles, those
challenges that God has told uswe should expect in this life.
(17:47):
Told us we should expect inthis life, and so really, it's a
beautiful promise that God isgoing to.
He wants to comfort us so thatwe can make it through, knowing
with confidence that this isn'tall there is.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Right, yes, yes, well , and we've just talked a lot
about counterfeits.
So what's the opposite of theword counterfeit?
This is the real deal.
This is it.
This is our true source.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
One of the things we might want to consider is not
only how destructive counterfeitcomforts can be to what God
intends for us to experience, asif we were to depend on him,
but how it can influence ourdecision-making as we go forward
, which I don't know.
It's something I hadn't reallythought that much about until
probably the last few years.
(18:38):
So think about this for aminute.
As we succumb to counterfeitcomforts, things that don't
really satisfy, they don'treally comfort, or if they bring
any short-term comfort, itcomes with a price that costs,
so succumbing to these kinds ofthings can lead to regrettable
decisions.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Also a sense of distance from God.
Even though we know that HisWord says that he will never
leave our side never, ever, everwe still feel that way.
We are feeling say, oh no, Ipushed God away.
And there's this sense ofdistance.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, and another thing about making decisions and
way that counterfeit comfortscan influence us, because they
promise quick relief and leaveus feeling kind of disconnected
from our true values andintentions we're going to make
decisions outside of our truevalues and our intentions.
(19:37):
So even if I have an intentionto honor God, maybe with my
eating, by saying no to my fleshwhen it wants to grab at
something as I walk through thekitchen, I'm going to be more
likely, if I've given in alreadyand I have a pattern of giving
in, I'm going to give in again.
I'm not going to be as resolved, and I found this to be true in
(20:01):
my life for sure.
Definitely the pattern for me,I think, if I look back over the
10 years the last 10 years it'sbeen there have been a lot of
hardships for you as well.
And as I look back over thoseyears, god was expecting a lot
of me and the thing is, is heexpected a lot of me, maybe, but
(20:24):
he has provided everything Ineed to manage what he has
called me to do, as long as Ilean on him.
But because I kind of got intomy own head and I kind of went
into this little spiral likeGod's expecting too much of me,
I can't do this, I'm not able.
So that's not leaning into him,that's leaning away.
(20:48):
And what I found is I developedan attitude towards the Lord
that was really feedingdecisions that I would make on
the fly and I turned intosomebody who was eating for just
because I want it, because itmakes life better to eat, and
yeah, it's been really aninteresting slide for me over
(21:10):
the last 10 years how far I havefallen from that place where I
was.
Of course it doesn't need to bepermanent.
God is right there at anymoment to lift me up out of that
pit.
He does.
He lifts me up out of that pit.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yeah, he does, he sure does.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Have you experienced any of that sort of thing though
?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
No One of the things that comes to mind for me just
while we've been talking aboutall of this, and when things get
piled on top of us and it'slike Lord, this is too much, I
can't even breathe, I can't evenbreathe.
And then what comes into myhead?
(21:52):
It's better now, because I'vedone a lot of mind renewal on
this, but it still pops upsometimes.
I don't care and it doesn'tmatter.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, yeah, both.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Of those, those two statements.
You know things come up,they're lies.
Yes, I know I do care and itdoes matter.
So in the moment I'moverwhelmed.
Maybe I'm not feeling well,maybe it's an emotional
situation, it could be 25 thingshave happened all at once and I
know that those of youlistening you have felt this way
(22:27):
.
And then you go to a counterfeitbecause you know, kind of
feeling desperate here.
I'm feeling desperate, lord, Ican't even breathe, although I
wouldn't be even talking to himwhen I'm doing this.
I go to a counterfeit and thenI want more because it doesn't
satisfy.
So I'm like well, I'm watchinga show and this is not
(22:48):
satisfying me, so I'm going toadd in eating.
Well, that's not satisfying.
So I'm like well, I'm watchinga show and this is not
satisfying me, so I'm going toadd in eating.
Well, that's not satisfying, soI'm going to add in more eating
.
And then I'm going to add thisand I'm going to add this, and
none of it's satisfying.
And so in my mind I'm saying Idon't care, like like a child
really, or oh yeah.
And then the other one is itdoesn't matter, and that is so
(23:10):
real.
It's so real and I know that alot of people have felt this way
, and so the way that I renew mymind about this is ahead of
time.
I've come up with a list ofthree word sentences to say to
replace I don't care and toreplace it doesn't matter,
because I know that's not true.
(23:31):
The words that you know, someof the sentences and you can
come up with your own.
Lord, help me, I need you.
You know things like that.
I'm in trouble here.
God, okay, that's more thanthree, but basically that's what
I'm saying when I'm going tocounterfeits one after another
(23:53):
and my mind says I don't care,it doesn't matter, I don't care,
it doesn't matter.
What I'm really saying is God,help me, I'm a mess, I need you,
I need you, I need you.
I can't do this on my own, so Ipractice that ahead of time.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I'm glad you brought that up because we say that you
know our ministry exists to helppeople move from counterfeit
comforts to Christ-centeredcoping mechanisms as we navigate
through these troubles thatJesus says we'll have.
And those are practicalstrategies that you just shared,
that can be, instead of turningto a counterfeit comfort to not
feel you know, speak the truthand and those are great things
(24:34):
you know, why do we give in tocounterfeit comforts?
If it costs us in the long haul, you know.
We know that comfort isn'tgoing to last, or the numbing
isn't going to last, or whateverit is isn't going to last.
In fact, there's a lot of timessubsequent you know problem that
comes up because I have spenttime engaging in a counterfeit
(24:55):
comfort behavior, and so youknow, for me counterfeit
comforts become more temptingwhen I've been struggling a lot
with my boundaries or I haven'tmade boundaries.
I mean and, and sometimes I canmake boundaries and not practice
them.
So I'm talking about if I, youknow, if I have made, I can make
boundaries and not practicethem.
So I'm talking about if I, youknow, if I have made them but
I'm not practicing them.
I'm not really committed tothem.
(25:15):
I'm definitely going to turn tocounterfeits more frequently.
Yes, another reason I mightturn to counterfeit comforts is
I feel entitled.
With all the hardships in life,I feel entitled to instant
gratification.
You know, I want to have alittle fun, and then, really, if
(25:36):
I don't have at the readyChrist-centered coping
strategies, I'm going to turn tocounterfeits.
And so I think that recognizingthese helps kind of resist that
counterfeit.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
That is so so, so true.
Other factors that mightcontribute to giving in include
how well we're taking care ofourselves in positive, godly
ways, things that we're doingconsistently.
If we aren't caring for oursouls so we're not talking about
self-care, we're talking aboutsoul care we may end up grabbing
(26:14):
at something that's acounterfeit, and this is because
we were wired for the Lord sowe need to be sure we're giving
ourselves what we need daily tomeet that emptiness.
So, for example, lack of rest.
Even the types of food we fuelourselves with can affect giving
in.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
So what can we do to stop running to counterfeits and
turn instead to the Lord?
And really, again, this is whatRevelation Within exists for,
and our community is there forour classes, our coaching and
our community.
We want to equip people withChrist-centered coping
strategies so that they canexperience God's best for them,
(26:57):
no matter what they face.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yes.
So really, we've said this amillion times.
We're going to say it a millionmore the best, most reliable
means of resisting counterfeitcomforts is renewing our minds,
filling our minds with God'struth consistently, in an
ongoing way, not just once, butthroughout the day.
(27:21):
It can even take 10 seconds, itcan take longer if you have
longer, but it is a lifechanging practice.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Oh yeah.
And if we pay attention toourselves and where are we going
, where are our thoughts going,what's happening inside of me,
then we'll recognize indicatorslike self-pity or indulgence, or
a desire to seek escape fromchallenging emotions.
I don't want to feel this rightnow.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So here at Revelation , within we have so many tools
and strategies, and it's notlike rocket science or anything,
it's just a wonderful,wonderful, many wonderful ways
to get us into a place ofhumility and joy and connection
with the Lord Again, thinkinghis thoughts after him, asking
(28:13):
him for his own thoughts.
We're not running aroundlooking for our own wisdom.
No, because that would be dumb.
No, and we've done that.
We've done that for many, manyyears.
Oh, I have an insight.
Yeah, how'd that work?
It did not.
I mean, I used to come up withokay, I'm going to.
This is a list of things thatI'm going to do this week that
are going to help me to blah,blah, blah.
(28:35):
And then what?
By the second okay, the secondhour, by the second hour, I'm
like I don't want to do this.
Why did I even want to do this?
It's not something that's goingto really change me from the
inside.
So these are strategies that hitour hearts and our minds, and
(28:55):
for every single one, we inviteGod in first.
They're Christ-centered,absolutely yes, they're
Christ-centered.
So, for example and we're notgoing to do them all right now,
but we would love for you tocome and join us, because these
are strategies and tools we useconstantly in our community, in
(29:15):
our classes, in our coaching so,for example, we have a whole
set of strategies that focus onpraise, praise and worship.
Praising God for who he is andwhat he does for us, what he
does for people and what, lord,what do you want me to believe
about yourself, according toyour word?
(29:37):
So we have a whole category ofpraise and worship.
Another one is gratitude.
We have a bunch of tools thatuse gratitude to turn our hearts
toward the Lord, to soften ourhearts.
So we've got praise and worship.
We've got gratitude.
So we've got praise and worship, we've got gratitude.
We have another set of toolsthat really help us with our
(29:58):
view of ourselves and our viewof failure.
We have tools that help us withshame and getting out of that
awful shame guilt cycle.
We have tools that help us withperfectionism.
You know, let's get out of that.
Let's get out of perfectionism.
You know, let's get out of that.
Let's get out of perfectionism.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
One of the tools that we have that has impacted me
absolutely the most when itcomes to moving from
counterfeits to getting incloser to the Lord during those
times when I'm struggling somuch is how I'm going to handle
failure.
It's look and learn, especiallygiven so many people come to us
(30:40):
struggling with food and eating.
They eat too much.
They feel like I've got to dosomething about my food problem.
Some call it food addiction,some call it other things.
Whatever it is, they recognizeI'm going to food instead of the
Lord.
So, instead of beatingourselves up for this, I love
(31:01):
this strategy that says I'mgoing to sit with the Lord.
I could be driving, I could bein the shower, maybe not
literally sit, but in my mindI'm inviting God to come and be
with me and I'm saying okay, yousaw this, you saw what I did,
you saw how much I ate, you sawthat I might've had a binge or
whatever, and recognizing that Iwent off the rails in some way
(31:25):
from what my godly intentionshad been and asking him to show
me what I need to know, what Ineed to know about what was
going on.
What did I need that I turned tofood for instead?
And obviously the first answeris going to be well, you needed
me, child, you needed the Lord.
But what he'll do is he willshow me things like why was I
(31:49):
drawn to food instead of goingto God?
Did I have a belief operating?
That was actually a lie.
What is it that caused me toact out in that way?
And what can I do to beequipped for victory in the
future?
If, if, things are equal in thefuture, if situation is the same
(32:09):
, if I have feelings that arethe same, if I have feelings
that are the same, how can Iguarantee that I won't turn to
the counterfeit, but will turninstead to the Lord or what he
leads me to?
(32:38):
And so for me, that's a gamechanger, because before look and
learn, all I had was trying tohate myself into positive change
.
And so, when it comes tonavigating through this life and
doing so in a way that honorsGod and honors my deeper
intentions and desires to lovehim, well, I need to be able to
handle my failures in a way thatisn't condemning, isn't beating
myself up because I can't hatemyself into positive change and
he wants to teach me the onlyreal failure is the failure I
(33:00):
fail to learn from.
Think how smart I will be if Ilearn from all my failures.
Well, that's a big one.
For me, that is definitely aChrist-centered coping strategy
that can help me move from thosedestructive patterns and habits
that I have developed over theyears to God-centered,
(33:23):
christ-centered, exalting Christyes.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
For sure.
Oh, I love that, heidi.
Yeah, that is huge.
At Revelation Within Boy.
We value those stumbles andtrips and we value them instead
of I just wasted another twohours.
No, there is value in it if wecan learn from it by inviting
(33:48):
God in.
That is so freeing, such arelief, especially, like you
said, heidi, for those of usthat have tried to hate
ourselves into positive changesince we were 12 years old or
whatever it is.
I'll just share one more thatthis is one that Heidi and I
both use constantly, and that iswhat is true.
(34:09):
What is true?
So I'll give you an example andit's not what is true from my
perspective, because I alreadyknow that and it doesn't get me
anywhere.
It's what is true from God'sperspective.
Like, let's stop for a minuteand figure this out.
(34:31):
My body is not feeling well.
All of a sudden, I'm feelinglike I have the flu it's not the
flu, though, it's my chronicillness and other things start
bothering me.
Maybe I get sad, or maybe Ifeel a little bit lonely in how
my body is feeling and I startthinking of things that have
(34:52):
nothing to do with my physicalbody.
So I can stop myself and saywait a minute, wait a minute,
wait a minute.
What is true here?
What is true is that I willfeel better.
What is true is that there issomething physically going on
with my body.
What is true is that I'm notalone.
God is with me.
What is true is that my body isfighting infection.
(35:14):
Is that my body is fightinginfection?
What is true is that I oftenfeel bombarded with lies when
I'm not feeling well.
What is true is that I am oftenoversensitive when I'm not
feeling well.
What is true is that I needrest.
I can lay down, I can put onsome praise and worship.
(35:36):
I can send the enemy packing,because he loves when I get in
this frame of mind what is trueis that God is enough for me.
He is my healer and he willprovide for me.
So in the moment and of course,heidi and I have done this a
lot, so we're kind of, you know,good at pulling those out
(35:57):
really, really quick but evenjust one truth in the moment
will change things.
You know, maybe I'm feelingdrawn to food in that moment and
my what is true is what is trueis that's a counterfeit, that's
a fake.
It's not going to help me.
I'm going to the Lord instead.
Just one truth what is true isan amazing tool and it uplifts
(36:21):
you, it brings you up, it fillsyour heart, it takes care of
your soul, your body, your mind.
It's Christ-centered, it'scentered on what God can do and
what his thoughts are.
So, before we go, we want to besure to invite you to our mind
renewal class that we will bestarting up at the beginning of
February.
Watch your emails and if you'realready in the community, you
(36:47):
know, watch for announcements.
We're going to be starting thatclass and we would absolutely
love to have you join us.
We'll go much, much deeper intomind renewal.
It is an eight week class andit is absolutely fabulous.
So we just want to be sure thatwe invite you to that class.
We're really excited about it.
Come and join us, yeah, allright.
(37:09):
And then come and join us forour next podcast as well,
because we're so glad thatyou've been here today at
Revelation Within.
See you next time.
Bye for now, bye-bye.
Hi and welcome to our podcast, Revelation Within On
the Go.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Heidi Wiles-Mafferson, one of your
hosts and the owner and leadcoach of the RevelationWithinorg
ministry, and I'm ChristinaMotley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we're sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin On the Go.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Oh, yay.
Well, it is another fine day todo a podcast.
It is it absolutely is yeah,and today we thought we would
talk a little bit about ourmission as Revelation Withiners.
We exist to help lovers ofJesus escape counterfeit
comforts and equip them, equipyou, equip us with
(00:59):
Christ-centered copingstrategies.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh, I love the Revelation Withiners
Christ-centered copingstrategies.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Oh, I love the revelation withiners.
Yeah, so we're going to talktoday about breaking free from
counterfeit comforts whatcounterfeit comforts even are
and Christ-centered copingmechanisms to gravitate towards
instead.
You know, I thought a reallygood place to start would be the
fact that we live in a Genesis3 world yes, yes, which
basically means sin happens.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Oh my gosh, does it ever?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yeah, and there will be trouble.
And scripture tells us thatthere will be trouble, and I'm
not going to quote the verses inentirety, and neither will
Christina, but just some versesthat mention that we're going to
have trouble.
John 16, 33 jumps into mindimmediately, where Jesus says in
this world you will havetrouble.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yeah, that's pretty clear.
I mean, it's not like I'm notsure.
I wonder, are you sure we'regoing to have trouble?
It's like it's right there.
Yeah, life's hard, yes, yes.
And then James, one, two andthree heart, yes, yes, and then
James, one, two and three.
(02:11):
Dear brothers and sisters, when, when, when, troubles of any
kind come, your way when that,when your faith is tested,
there's two wins in that inthose verses with James when
troubles come and when yourfaith is tested, it's going to
happen.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
And it's.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
If it's not happening right now, it's going to happen
tomorrow, I know, or the nextday.
I mean, we all experience thiscontinually.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yes, and in 1 Peter 1 , verses 6 and 7, Peter says you
must endure many trials for alittle while.
Oh, I'm so glad that God is sohonest with us.
He doesn't pull his punches.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, when he says a little, while, you know, when he
says that he's talking aboutGod time for us sometimes it
feels like forever.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I think it's the same author, Peter, who said with
the Lord, a day is as a thousandyears, and a thousand years is
a day.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So that's not very helpful when we're talking about
a little while.
Yeah, that could mean athousand years.
Well, we won't live that longon this earth, so that's okay,
that's a little bit encouraging,anyway.
And then in 2 Corinthians 4, 17and 18, there is a phrase for
our present troubles, andpresent means right now, and
(03:38):
many of you know that I strugglewith chronic Lyme disease and
that's one of my now struggles.
It is now, right now as I'mdoing this podcast.
It's right now and it's everyday now.
It's not just once a week now,or you know, I'll be done in a
(03:59):
few weeks.
This is a big long now.
This is a big present troublefor me.
It goes on and on and on.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So, yeah, that's an example for me, and these
troubles, these challenges thatwe are promised in God's word,
we will have or are having,cause us to want to respond,
sometimes by putting our headsin the proverbial sand.
Yes, by numbing out, sometimesby doing anyway, I'm getting
ahead of myself.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, I can tell you what happened last night.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Okay, okay, let's hear it, it's just a quick.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean, here we are, we're on the podcast, we're
talking about counterfeitcomfort, so I might as well just
be totally honest and tell youwhat happened last night.
Yeah, I do, Because a lot oftimes what I do well, I've been
every other day lately is takinga bath with Epsom salts to help
my body detox.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And in the moment it doesn't feel good at all.
It actually increases mysymptoms while I'm in the bath.
It's not a relaxing bath at allbut, then afterwards I'll rest
for an hour or two and feel muchbetter.
Okay, so what did I do lastnight?
Last night, I get in the bath,I've got my phone in hand, I
(05:18):
went right to social media andstarted watching reels.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Now.
Normally I just have to insertthis here One of Christina's
most creative times for writingamazing things is that bath time
.
She will use her phone in thebath which I still can't wrap my
brain around and she will writewonderful little devotional
messages or articles for ourcommunity or something really
(05:45):
good.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But this time we didn't get the benefits of that.
You didn't give me anassignment this time, no, but
usually I have a little routine,you know, so that I am not
going sideways with some kind ofcounterfeit, especially
something I can do on my phone.
(06:06):
But this time I just like Ijust raced right by everything I
know.
Everything I know to be trueabout how draining it is to look
at reels for an hour.
That's embarrassing.
But that's what I did, and wasit life-giving?
No, not at all.
(06:28):
And you know, instagram hasfigured out some of the things
that I really am interested inlooking at and it's like, oh,
come on.
Anyway, I took it off my phoneagain, but just so that you know
, we're talking about ourselveshere too.
Definitely, not just everybodyelse Right.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
There are so many different options for
counterfeit comforts that wehave when we're faced with a
challenge.
You know the kind of troublethat Jesus promised us.
You know my daughter and herdad.
My daughter's 30 years old.
Her dad is taking her toDisneyland and that's this
weekend.
I'm going to start crying.
(07:08):
Anyway, historically,disneyland was our family thing.
Specifically, my former husbandand I went to Disneyland so
many times.
In fact, I know for a fact thatthe last time he went to
Disneyland was with me and nowhe's taking Michaela there.
Obviously, I don't hope to besomebody he goes to Disneyland
with again, but anyway, and hehas broken my daughter's heart
(07:31):
so many times where I'm havingsome real anxiety about thinking
of her being with her dad forthe whole weekend.
And I suppose there's somejealousy there too.
So what is my tendency?
It's to want to numb out, it'sto shut down.
I don't want to be present tothose feelings.
And so how do I do that?
Well, one of those ginormouscans of Mike's harder lemonade
(07:57):
maybe we are keeping it realtoday.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
We are.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I'm embarrassed to tell you that, yeah.
Or wonderful Mexican food, wow,and that's not even something
that I have to face because it'sa concern of mine.
I'm not hearing from mydaughter on the phone saying dad
won't get off his work phone orsomething like that that I
stress out about.
(08:20):
What are some other optionsthat we tend to lean towards
that are counterfeit options,things that don't really bring
that satisfaction that we longfor.
You know that don't like we'vetalked about before.
They don't fill that hole inour heart but that we tend to
throw in there anyway.
You know, obviously overeatingis one.
What else?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, well for me, watching shows like over, you
know, binge watching.
I guess we call it these dayswhich is so interesting Binge
watching, because binge is likea food word.
Anyway certainly food, yes, butyou know, shows like how, how
many can I watch?
That's one for me.
And then just being distracted,any distraction, and they can
(09:05):
be things that are good, right,but if we're using them to numb
out, if we're using them to notfeel those feelings, I know
what's going to happen with me.
They're going to come outreally, really big in a few days
and I'll be spending two hourscrying.
I mean, I just I don't do thatwell, I can't push things under
(09:28):
for very long.
They end up, coming up.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So shows and movies for sure, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And food and drink for me, and probably video games
, lots of video games and, oh mygoodness, lots of video games
and, oh my goodness, lots ofvideo games you mean, like the
little games you play on yourphone.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Oh, the Star Wars one .
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah, that's on my iPad.
But I have another reallypathetic little game I'm playing
on my iPad and see that hascombined with sneaking, because
I'm sneaking, buying thedifferent upgrades in the app so
that I can play better, andyeah, so that's got to stop and
(10:13):
so it's counterfeit because inthe moment I can continue to
numb out because I just bought150 energies.
It's real money.
Oh, it's real money.
I wish I really could buyenergy, you know for me, I know,
I know.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
It would probably be really expensive though.
Yeah, for sure, yeah, so I mean, and the real things.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I love looking at reels.
It's funny how they do peg youIf you slow down for even a
minute.
One of them I slow down forapparently a lot is men's like
overhauling their hairstyle andI, so I'm getting a ton of those
now.
I find it so it's like oh darn,I you know the horses.
(10:59):
I love watching the horses andthe doggies and the kitties and
the kitties.
That's kitties, that's not bad,that's not a bad thing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
No, but it's excessive, it's a counterfeit,
right?
If it's excessive, if it'ssomething for me like I think,
is it something that I'm likelooking forward to, is it
something that I'm planningahead for?
Another one for me is shopping.
I do a lot of window shoppingonline, if you know what I mean.
I have one website inparticular.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Don't tell me what it is.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
No, you already know I'm not going to say it.
It's like a boho.
Okay, got it, got it, yeah, andthey have all kinds of things,
not just clothes, but I will sitthere and just look at things.
I do have some of theirproducts, but you know, it's
like something to distract me.
Oh, these, you know, theseskirts are so beautiful.
(11:52):
And oh, look at this blanket.
And this is really fun.
What if I had this?
And it's, you know, it's likewow.
We are so easily pulled in tocounterfeit comforts.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Yeah, so, because our ministry exists to help people
who recognize this in theirlives and then to equip you and
us as well, like we said, withlegitimate, christ-centered
coping mechanisms, and we'retrying to cope with these
troubles that Jesus promised us.
Thank you, jesus.
(12:25):
We want to talk today aboutokay, so what are some
alternatives?
But let's just clarify a littlebit, christina.
Let's in a nutshell, reallywhat are counterfeit comforts?
To me, it's anything that I useto seek comfort or numbness,
like shutting down outside ofwhat God is inviting me to step
(12:48):
into.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Really Like an escape .
Yes, when you feel like I justwant to get in a space pod and
be shot off and really have abreak from my life we all feel
that way.
It's like I know, heidi and Ihave joked in the past with some
physical issues where we'd sayI just want to run away from my
(13:10):
life, but I'd have to take mybody with me.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
That's such a bummer and you know whether we are at
peace with our physical body andthe way it looks or not isn't
even the point.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It's the way it functions, the way it feels the
way it functions.
What hurts, what feels not good.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Yeah, I know, it's so interesting, you know, waking
up in the morning and doing thislittle inventory Huh, I don't
hurt, today, that's surprising.
Or when I get out of bed going,oh okay, that again, yeah,
that's okay.
So, of course, you know we'vementioned a lot of examples and
I bet you can think, listener,of all kinds of additional
(13:53):
examples of things you mighttend to turn to to not have to
face the life that God has givenyou.
I don't know, are we the onlyones I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Are we the only ones?
We're definitely not the onlyones, because these things that
we've named business is booming.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Oh, that's true, so we're definitely not the only
ones.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I mean, things are flying off the shelves and
social media is at the heightthat it's ever been, and some of
these things that we've namedit can be something good like
being involved in a Bible study,or three or five or 10.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Or being on eight tennis teams at once.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yes, I wonder who did that.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I can't even imagine you should get in her face.
Yes, or going to the gymexcessively.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I used to do that or even dieting, you know that's.
That can be not necessarily inand of itself an evil, right as
it is, but if we do it to getour sense of identity, value and
purpose and that is like takingthe bandwidth up in our head,
yeah it's not so good and Inever could really diet without
(15:05):
having it take up way too muchbandwidth.
That's why I turned tonon-dieting early on, sort of
hunger satisfied eating tomanage all of that way early on.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yes Gosh, for years, for decades, I remember thinking
you know, this is wrong in mylife and this is wrong.
Oh, I need to go on a diet,like that's going to fix
everything.
And I really, really believethat.
You know, every so often itpops up again.
I'll see something come up onsocial media which again, I've
(15:36):
taken it off my phone.
But I'll see something come upLike how many days do you have
to walk that walking thing?
Oh my gosh, why does that pullme in?
I'm already walking on the daysthat my body feels well enough,
like I can't do any more and Ilove walking, but there's
(15:58):
something that pulls me in aboutthat woman.
She's smiling, she's she lookslike the picture of health and
she's loves life.
She doesn't have a care in theworld, and I'm like not living
in a Genesis three world.
I'm sure she's living in acomputer world.
She's not even real, oh man.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And one of the things , of course, god invites us to
recognize and to trust him for,and to build an understanding of
and an experience of, is thathe is our ultimate source of
comfort, that, even when we havethings in our lives that we do
not want to face, when we feellike we want to you know, beam
me up, scotty you know we wantto escape, whether it's into
(16:43):
social media or into outer space, whatever it might be.
It's God who is our ultimatesource of comfort, and he speaks
about this in his word.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
So 2 Corinthians, 1, 3 through 5,.
Praise be to the God and fatherof our Lord, jesus Christ, the
father of compassion and the Godof all comfort that's what you
just said, heidi who comforts usin all of our troubles, so that
we can comfort those in anytrouble with the comfort we
(17:16):
ourselves receive from God.
For just as we share abundantlyin the sufferings of Christ, so
also our comfort aboundsthrough Christ.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Wow, there it is yeah , when we're equipped with God's
comfort, we can learn.
He wants to teach us, he wantsto walk arm in arm with us.
We can learn to face thosethings, those troubles, those
challenges that God has told uswe should expect in this life.
(17:47):
Told us we should expect inthis life, and so really, it's a
beautiful promise that God isgoing to.
He wants to comfort us so thatwe can make it through, knowing
with confidence that this isn'tall there is.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Right, yes, yes, well , and we've just talked a lot
about counterfeits.
So what's the opposite of theword counterfeit?
This is the real deal.
This is it.
This is our true source.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
One of the things we might want to consider is not
only how destructive counterfeitcomforts can be to what God
intends for us to experience, asif we were to depend on him,
but how it can influence ourdecision-making as we go forward
, which I don't know.
It's something I hadn't reallythought that much about until
probably the last few years.
(18:38):
So think about this for aminute.
As we succumb to counterfeitcomforts, things that don't
really satisfy, they don'treally comfort, or if they bring
any short-term comfort, itcomes with a price that costs,
so succumbing to these kinds ofthings can lead to regrettable
decisions.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Also a sense of distance from God.
Even though we know that HisWord says that he will never
leave our side never, ever, everwe still feel that way.
We are feeling say, oh no, Ipushed God away.
And there's this sense ofdistance.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, and another thing about making decisions and
way that counterfeit comfortscan influence us, because they
promise quick relief and leaveus feeling kind of disconnected
from our true values andintentions we're going to make
decisions outside of our truevalues and our intentions.
(19:37):
So even if I have an intentionto honor God, maybe with my
eating, by saying no to my fleshwhen it wants to grab at
something as I walk through thekitchen, I'm going to be more
likely, if I've given in alreadyand I have a pattern of giving
in, I'm going to give in again.
I'm not going to be as resolved, and I found this to be true in
(20:01):
my life for sure.
Definitely the pattern for me,I think, if I look back over the
10 years the last 10 years it'sbeen there have been a lot of
hardships for you as well.
And as I look back over thoseyears, god was expecting a lot
of me and the thing is, is heexpected a lot of me, maybe, but
(20:24):
he has provided everything Ineed to manage what he has
called me to do, as long as Ilean on him.
But because I kind of got intomy own head and I kind of went
into this little spiral likeGod's expecting too much of me,
I can't do this, I'm not able.
So that's not leaning into him,that's leaning away.
(20:48):
And what I found is I developedan attitude towards the Lord
that was really feedingdecisions that I would make on
the fly and I turned intosomebody who was eating for just
because I want it, because itmakes life better to eat, and
yeah, it's been really aninteresting slide for me over
(21:10):
the last 10 years how far I havefallen from that place where I
was.
Of course it doesn't need to bepermanent.
God is right there at anymoment to lift me up out of that
pit.
He does.
He lifts me up out of that pit.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yeah, he does, he sure does.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Have you experienced any of that sort of thing though
?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
No One of the things that comes to mind for me just
while we've been talking aboutall of this, and when things get
piled on top of us and it'slike Lord, this is too much, I
can't even breathe, I can't evenbreathe.
And then what comes into myhead?
(21:52):
It's better now, because I'vedone a lot of mind renewal on
this, but it still pops upsometimes.
I don't care and it doesn'tmatter.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, yeah, both.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Of those, those two statements.
You know things come up,they're lies.
Yes, I know I do care and itdoes matter.
So in the moment I'moverwhelmed.
Maybe I'm not feeling well,maybe it's an emotional
situation, it could be 25 thingshave happened all at once and I
know that those of youlistening you have felt this way
(22:27):
.
And then you go to a counterfeitbecause you know, kind of
feeling desperate here.
I'm feeling desperate, lord, Ican't even breathe, although I
wouldn't be even talking to himwhen I'm doing this.
I go to a counterfeit and thenI want more because it doesn't
satisfy.
So I'm like well, I'm watchinga show and this is not
(22:48):
satisfying me, so I'm going toadd in eating.
Well, that's not satisfying.
So I'm like well, I'm watchinga show and this is not
satisfying me, so I'm going toadd in eating.
Well, that's not satisfying, soI'm going to add in more eating
.
And then I'm going to add thisand I'm going to add this, and
none of it's satisfying.
And so in my mind I'm saying Idon't care, like like a child
really, or oh yeah.
And then the other one is itdoesn't matter, and that is so
(23:10):
real.
It's so real and I know that alot of people have felt this way
, and so the way that I renew mymind about this is ahead of
time.
I've come up with a list ofthree word sentences to say to
replace I don't care and toreplace it doesn't matter,
because I know that's not true.
(23:31):
The words that you know, someof the sentences and you can
come up with your own.
Lord, help me, I need you.
You know things like that.
I'm in trouble here.
God, okay, that's more thanthree, but basically that's what
I'm saying when I'm going tocounterfeits one after another
(23:53):
and my mind says I don't care,it doesn't matter, I don't care,
it doesn't matter.
What I'm really saying is God,help me, I'm a mess, I need you,
I need you, I need you.
I can't do this on my own, so Ipractice that ahead of time.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I'm glad you brought that up because we say that you
know our ministry exists to helppeople move from counterfeit
comforts to Christ-centeredcoping mechanisms as we navigate
through these troubles thatJesus says we'll have.
And those are practicalstrategies that you just shared,
that can be, instead of turningto a counterfeit comfort to not
feel you know, speak the truthand and those are great things
(24:34):
you know, why do we give in tocounterfeit comforts?
If it costs us in the long haul, you know.
We know that comfort isn'tgoing to last, or the numbing
isn't going to last, or whateverit is isn't going to last.
In fact, there's a lot of timessubsequent you know problem that
comes up because I have spenttime engaging in a counterfeit
(24:55):
comfort behavior, and so youknow, for me counterfeit
comforts become more temptingwhen I've been struggling a lot
with my boundaries or I haven'tmade boundaries.
I mean and, and sometimes I canmake boundaries and not practice
them.
So I'm talking about if I, youknow, if I have made, I can make
boundaries and not practicethem.
So I'm talking about if I, youknow, if I have made them but
I'm not practicing them.
I'm not really committed tothem.
(25:15):
I'm definitely going to turn tocounterfeits more frequently.
Yes, another reason I mightturn to counterfeit comforts is
I feel entitled.
With all the hardships in life,I feel entitled to instant
gratification.
You know, I want to have alittle fun, and then, really, if
(25:36):
I don't have at the readyChrist-centered coping
strategies, I'm going to turn tocounterfeits.
And so I think that recognizingthese helps kind of resist that
counterfeit.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
That is so so, so true.
Other factors that mightcontribute to giving in include
how well we're taking care ofourselves in positive, godly
ways, things that we're doingconsistently.
If we aren't caring for oursouls so we're not talking about
self-care, we're talking aboutsoul care we may end up grabbing
(26:14):
at something that's acounterfeit, and this is because
we were wired for the Lord sowe need to be sure we're giving
ourselves what we need daily tomeet that emptiness.
So, for example, lack of rest.
Even the types of food we fuelourselves with can affect giving
in.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
So what can we do to stop running to counterfeits and
turn instead to the Lord?
And really, again, this is whatRevelation Within exists for,
and our community is there forour classes, our coaching and
our community.
We want to equip people withChrist-centered coping
strategies so that they canexperience God's best for them,
(26:57):
no matter what they face.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yes.
So really, we've said this amillion times.
We're going to say it a millionmore the best, most reliable
means of resisting counterfeitcomforts is renewing our minds,
filling our minds with God'struth consistently, in an
ongoing way, not just once, butthroughout the day.
(27:21):
It can even take 10 seconds, itcan take longer if you have
longer, but it is a lifechanging practice.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Oh yeah.
And if we pay attention toourselves and where are we going
, where are our thoughts going,what's happening inside of me,
then we'll recognize indicatorslike self-pity or indulgence, or
a desire to seek escape fromchallenging emotions.
I don't want to feel this rightnow.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
So here at Revelation , within we have so many tools
and strategies, and it's notlike rocket science or anything,
it's just a wonderful,wonderful, many wonderful ways
to get us into a place ofhumility and joy and connection
with the Lord Again, thinkinghis thoughts after him, asking
(28:13):
him for his own thoughts.
We're not running aroundlooking for our own wisdom.
No, because that would be dumb.
No, and we've done that.
We've done that for many, manyyears.
Oh, I have an insight.
Yeah, how'd that work?
It did not.
I mean, I used to come up withokay, I'm going to.
This is a list of things thatI'm going to do this week that
are going to help me to blah,blah, blah.
(28:35):
And then what?
By the second okay, the secondhour, by the second hour, I'm
like I don't want to do this.
Why did I even want to do this?
It's not something that's goingto really change me from the
inside.
So these are strategies that hitour hearts and our minds, and
(28:55):
for every single one, we inviteGod in first.
They're Christ-centered,absolutely yes, they're
Christ-centered.
So, for example and we're notgoing to do them all right now,
but we would love for you tocome and join us, because these
are strategies and tools we useconstantly in our community, in
(29:15):
our classes, in our coaching so,for example, we have a whole
set of strategies that focus onpraise, praise and worship.
Praising God for who he is andwhat he does for us, what he
does for people and what, lord,what do you want me to believe
about yourself, according toyour word?
(29:37):
So we have a whole category ofpraise and worship.
Another one is gratitude.
We have a bunch of tools thatuse gratitude to turn our hearts
toward the Lord, to soften ourhearts.
So we've got praise and worship.
We've got gratitude.
So we've got praise and worship, we've got gratitude.
We have another set of toolsthat really help us with our
(29:58):
view of ourselves and our viewof failure.
We have tools that help us withshame and getting out of that
awful shame guilt cycle.
We have tools that help us withperfectionism.
You know, let's get out of that.
Let's get out of perfectionism.
You know, let's get out of that.
Let's get out of perfectionism.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
One of the tools that we have that has impacted me
absolutely the most when itcomes to moving from
counterfeits to getting incloser to the Lord during those
times when I'm struggling somuch is how I'm going to handle
failure.
It's look and learn, especiallygiven so many people come to us
(30:40):
struggling with food and eating.
They eat too much.
They feel like I've got to dosomething about my food problem.
Some call it food addiction,some call it other things.
Whatever it is, they recognizeI'm going to food instead of the
Lord.
So, instead of beatingourselves up for this, I love
(31:01):
this strategy that says I'mgoing to sit with the Lord.
I could be driving, I could bein the shower, maybe not
literally sit, but in my mindI'm inviting God to come and be
with me and I'm saying okay, yousaw this, you saw what I did,
you saw how much I ate, you sawthat I might've had a binge or
whatever, and recognizing that Iwent off the rails in some way
(31:25):
from what my godly intentionshad been and asking him to show
me what I need to know, what Ineed to know about what was
going on.
What did I need that I turned tofood for instead?
And obviously the first answeris going to be well, you needed
me, child, you needed the Lord.
But what he'll do is he willshow me things like why was I
(31:49):
drawn to food instead of goingto God?
Did I have a belief operating?
That was actually a lie.
What is it that caused me toact out in that way?
And what can I do to beequipped for victory in the
future?
If, if, things are equal in thefuture, if situation is the same
(32:09):
, if I have feelings that arethe same, if I have feelings
that are the same, how can Iguarantee that I won't turn to
the counterfeit, but will turninstead to the Lord or what he
leads me to?
(32:38):
And so for me, that's a gamechanger, because before look and
learn, all I had was trying tohate myself into positive change
.
And so, when it comes tonavigating through this life and
doing so in a way that honorsGod and honors my deeper
intentions and desires to lovehim, well, I need to be able to
handle my failures in a way thatisn't condemning, isn't beating
myself up because I can't hatemyself into positive change and
he wants to teach me the onlyreal failure is the failure I
(33:00):
fail to learn from.
Think how smart I will be if Ilearn from all my failures.
Well, that's a big one.
For me, that is definitely aChrist-centered coping strategy
that can help me move from thosedestructive patterns and habits
that I have developed over theyears to God-centered,
(33:23):
christ-centered, exalting Christyes.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
For sure.
Oh, I love that, heidi.
Yeah, that is huge.
At Revelation Within Boy.
We value those stumbles andtrips and we value them instead
of I just wasted another twohours.
No, there is value in it if wecan learn from it by inviting
(33:48):
God in.
That is so freeing, such arelief, especially, like you
said, heidi, for those of usthat have tried to hate
ourselves into positive changesince we were 12 years old or
whatever it is.
I'll just share one more thatthis is one that Heidi and I
both use constantly, and that iswhat is true.
(34:09):
What is true?
So I'll give you an example andit's not what is true from my
perspective, because I alreadyknow that and it doesn't get me
anywhere.
It's what is true from God'sperspective.
Like, let's stop for a minuteand figure this out.
(34:31):
My body is not feeling well.
All of a sudden, I'm feelinglike I have the flu it's not the
flu, though, it's my chronicillness and other things start
bothering me.
Maybe I get sad, or maybe Ifeel a little bit lonely in how
my body is feeling and I startthinking of things that have
(34:52):
nothing to do with my physicalbody.
So I can stop myself and saywait a minute, wait a minute,
wait a minute.
What is true here?
What is true is that I willfeel better.
What is true is that there issomething physically going on
with my body.
What is true is that I'm notalone.
God is with me.
What is true is that my body isfighting infection.
(35:14):
Is that my body is fightinginfection?
What is true is that I oftenfeel bombarded with lies when
I'm not feeling well.
What is true is that I am oftenoversensitive when I'm not
feeling well.
What is true is that I needrest.
I can lay down, I can put onsome praise and worship.
(35:36):
I can send the enemy packing,because he loves when I get in
this frame of mind what is trueis that God is enough for me.
He is my healer and he willprovide for me.
So in the moment and of course,heidi and I have done this a
lot, so we're kind of, you know,good at pulling those out
(35:57):
really, really quick but evenjust one truth in the moment
will change things.
You know, maybe I'm feelingdrawn to food in that moment and
my what is true is what is trueis that's a counterfeit, that's
a fake.
It's not going to help me.
I'm going to the Lord instead.
Just one truth what is true isan amazing tool and it uplifts
(36:21):
you, it brings you up, it fillsyour heart, it takes care of
your soul, your body, your mind.
It's Christ-centered, it'scentered on what God can do and
what his thoughts are.
So, before we go, we want to besure to invite you to our mind
renewal class that we will bestarting up at the beginning of
February.
Watch your emails and if you'realready in the community, you
(36:47):
know, watch for announcements.
We're going to be starting thatclass and we would absolutely
love to have you join us.
We'll go much, much deeper intomind renewal.
It is an eight week class andit is absolutely fabulous.
So we just want to be sure thatwe invite you to that class.
We're really excited about it.
Come and join us, yeah, allright.
(37:09):
And then come and join us forour next podcast as well,
because we're so glad thatyou've been here today at
Revelation Within.
See you next time.
Bye for now, bye-bye.
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