May 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Freedom in Christ allows us to enjoy unbreakable fellowship with God, but we must be careful not to get lost in that freedom and find ourselves in bondage to sin. This episode explores the tension between God's grace and our responsibility to follow His lead rather than our own desires.
• We are set free from sin by God's grace, but we need to see sin the way the Lord sees it
• The world is godless, but Christians have become property of the Lord and now represent Him on earth
• Yahweh made Israel different to be set apart, and Christians should embrace a similar distinct identity
• Many believers misunderstand freedom in Christ, thinking Jesus accepts everything without guidance
• Some dismiss Bible study as unnecessary, but Scripture is our primary source for renewing our minds
• Walking by the Spirit requires constant focus, not autopilot spirituality
• Presenting our bodies as "living sacrifices" means allowing God to guide us according to His will
• Mind renewal through Scripture transforms us and prevents conformity to worldly patterns
• Falling away from grace happens when we turn from God's guidance to our own selfish desires
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Episode Transcript
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Announcement (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
platform.
You can also listen to ourepisodes and read our full
transcripts atwakinguptogracecom.
And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast everyone.
And now here's Lenny.
Welcome back to the podcasteveryone.
Last week we looked at whatPaul wrote about homosexuality
and sexual immorality.
We often see the verses onhomosexuality isolated for the
purpose of making that sin worse, in the sense of how bad God
will be punishing that person orhow angry God is with that
person.
(00:42):
But we have to look at the restof the passage before we start
placing Christians who arestruggling with homosexuality
outside of our Lord's mercy andgrace.
We also need to recognize theseverity of all sin and, most
importantly, how we should viewsin as Christians.
We left off our last study withPaul saying in Romans, 1.24 and
(01:04):
25,.
Therefore, god gave them up inthe lusts of their hearts, to
impurity, to the dishonoring oftheir bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truthabout God for a lie and
worshipped and served thecreature rather than the Creator
, who is blessed forever, amen.
And Paul begins with sexualimmorality.
When he speaks of the godlessand their behavior, we determine
(01:27):
that, apart from Yahweh, man iswicked and when he hands them
over to their lusts, thingsnever get better.
They became consumed.
I guess it goes to show howimportant it is that we now have
unbreakable fellowship with theLord in the new covenant that
he's made for us as believers.
We need a counselor, don't we?
Mankind really needs guidancefrom the Lord, don't they?
(01:50):
That is certainly why wereceive the Holy Spirit.
We were set free from sin byGod's grace.
Our debt has been paid.
We're reconciled to God.
You're right with God now, butis he right with you?
Do you see sin the way our Lordsees sin?
(02:12):
In our next passage of study weread they're full of evil,
covetousness, malice.
They're full of envy, murder,strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They're gossips, slanderers,haters of God, insolent, haughty
(02:35):
, boastful inventors of evil,disobedient to parents, foolish,
faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God's decreethat those who practice such
things deserve to die, they notonly do them, but give approval
to those who practice them.
According to our Lord'srighteous judgment, does mankind
(03:05):
deserve death for all thesesins?
Yeah, it says it right there.
And did godless people who werecommitting these acts realize
that they deserve death?
Yeah, it says that, though theyknew God's decree that they
deserve death, they not only dothem, but they give approval to
those who practice them.
Does approving others doing thesame things display another
level of evil?
When we approve of sin and tellothers that we approve of it
(03:29):
and that it's okay.
Is that a whole other level ofevil?
And the answer to that isdefinitely a yes.
I would say Satan was theoriginal author and the
ambassador for these views.
Pride, pride in sin, pride inseeking your own righteousness
apart from God's guidance.
That was what Satan taught.
(03:50):
When we look at these passagesand we really got to think on
this, do you see any of thesegodless sins in your life?
When we look at the list envy,murder, strife.
Have you ever caused strife insomebody's life?
Have you ever envied?
We know what Christ said aboutmurder in the Sermon on the
Mount Deceit, anything dishonestand deceiving, maliciousness,
(04:15):
gossip, slander.
Ever done that?
Haters of God, insolent,haughty, boastful, disobedient
to parents, foolish, faithless,heartless.
Yeah, I think we could all findthat in our lives, can't we?
We can all find godlessness andgodless behavior in our lives,
(04:35):
can't we?
But the question is do youdespise these things or do you
make light of these thingsBecause you've been set free
from sin by the sacrifice ofChrist Yeshua?
Is it possible to get lost inthe freedom of the gospel and
find yourself in bondage to sin?
Can Christians become consumedin sin.
(04:55):
Are you asking the Lord to leadthe way in your life?
Are you seeking what he wantsfor you, or do you live how you
want and figure he will work outall things for good?
Do you fully understand thepurpose behind why you've been
set free from your sin and whatit means to be sanctified or set
apart for the Lord's purpose?
(05:16):
Are you aware that Yahweh isyour God now?
Have you ever been afraid toask Yahweh to guide you to what
he would desire in your life?
When you read scripture,sometimes Yahweh's views of
things wasn't exactly in linewith how we would see things,
what we would want out of ourlives.
Is it always going to be whatYahweh wants out of our lives?
(05:37):
Are we afraid to ask Himsometimes what His will would be
At the end of the episode?
I'm going to talk about thatquestion a little bit more and
talk about something that reallyhelped me in my life as a
Christian.
But last week we determined thatYahweh is not in fact,
everyone's God.
We live in a godless world.
If we find our identity inChrist Yeshua, then we have
(06:00):
become property of the Lord.
We now represent him.
Think about that for a moment.
We bear the image of the Lord.
We now represent Him.
Think about that for a moment.
We bear the image of our Lord.
We represent Him here on earth.
The rest of the world is notHis.
We are His holy people and wehave a higher calling.
We are in union with Yahweh now, through His Holy Spirit.
(06:20):
Christ Yeshua is not ashamed tocall us brothers and sisters
and we now call Yahweh Father.
As Christians, we all haveHebraic roots.
Our forefathers are the same asIsrael's.
We are Israel now, according toPaul in Christ, who is always
true Israel all along.
This was a mystery that Paulreveals later in Romans 11.
(06:44):
Today's Christians often gethung up on certain aspects of
the law.
We wonder why in the worldIsrael couldn't get tattoos or
eat shellfish.
What's the deal with that?
If you love seafood, gracemight take on a whole new
meaning here.
Thank God for your freedom inChrist.
If you love to eat some lobster, it's easy to understand why
(07:05):
there would be laws for murder,stealing, lying and so on, but
why the food restrictions andthe seemingly odd laws that made
Israel seem very different incomparison to other nations?
Well, I think that questionactually reveals its own answer.
Our Lord wanted Israel to bedifferent.
He wanted them to be set apart.
Yahweh was revealing himselfthrough Israel.
(07:27):
They were the holy nation ofYahweh and he made them so
different they would never blendin with the rest of the world
if they were to be faithful tohis covenant with them.
Do you think that Christianswould carry on this same purpose
being set apart from the worldby Yahweh for a higher purpose?
I believe so, absolutely so.
(07:50):
Should we try to blend in withsociety or should we embrace who
we are in Christ?
I would say the latter handsdown, wouldn't you?
Should we be guided by the waysof the world or purely by the
Spirit of God that leads us toall truth?
If error puts us in bondage andtruth sets us free, should we
not seek to see all things theway our Lord would see them and
(08:13):
not by the influence of oursociety?
We discussed walking by thespirit on our last study and how
it's not an automated process.
Is it possible that Christiansall over the world are walking
in ignorance to what God wantsfor them in favor of what they
want for themselves?
An automated process?
Is it possible that Christiansall over the world are walking
in ignorance to what God wantsfor them in favor of what they
want for themselves.
I constantly speak againstreligion and how it does not
change our true desires.
(08:34):
It creates legalism, ignoranceand a guilty conscience before
the Lord.
But I also see a growing errorin grace teaching circles.
The error I see is in regardsto our freedom in Christ and how
we perceive that freedom.
I believe many are becominglost in the freedom of the
gospel.
Can you imagine a country let'sjust say America where you have
(08:57):
full freedom but no law toguide you to what is good or bad
?
What would people be doing?
As Christians we shouldn't needlaw and order to do what is
right, but the rest of the worldmost certainly does, don't they
?
But I see this rhetoricemerging that says Jesus wants
us to be ourselves.
Jesus is just there for us,keeping us company while we live
(09:21):
our lives, just letting us doour own thing and being
supportive.
Many are promoting that studyingthe Bible is not for everyone
and it's not necessary at allfor Christians to read.
Gathering as a church underthis perspective, presents more
like simply hanging out andhaving small talk.
Studying scripture becomesviewed as having some kind of
(09:43):
agenda in a negative sense.
A friendship based on doctrineis one that will not last.
People under this view havepromoted.
I've even heard people say theyare triggered by the Bible so
they just stay away from it.
These views truly revealungratefulness for what Yahweh
did to the performers in the16th century giving us all
(10:04):
Bibles so that we can read allabout the Lord for ourselves.
It is just disturbing hearingpeople talk like this.
You gotta wonder what in theworld would make someone teach
scripture from the Bible andthen tell people they don't need
a Bible.
Whatever their intention,they're asking for tyranny and
trampling on our primary sourceof truth as Christians.
(10:25):
They've turned Christ Yeshuainto some kind of hippie that
just accepts everything we doand exists only for the purpose
of helping us out.
If we decide we need his help,man, we need to be very cautious
.
Heading into that kind ofteaching.
Freedom in Christ will lead youinto bondage.
If you decide you are leadingthe way, anyone with experience
(10:46):
in this area could tell you thatI doubt anyone's going to admit
that they're not led by Christ.
But most of those who teach theviews I describe will also
proclaim that Christ is theirco-pilot.
Now, that's not to say that wecan't also believe that we do
what we want and God, being thepilot, will just change us as he
wants to.
We don't need to do anything orpay any attention.
(11:08):
It just happens if he wants itto.
In this way, many believe theChristian life is on autopilot.
What kind of relationship isthat?
In the first century, we hadapostles and spiritual gifts
being given that extended farbeyond human limitations For the
purpose of establishing thechurch.
Before the end of the age, wesaw spiritual miracles that are
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far from normal today.
The apostle Paul, and hismission itself, was a miracle.
He was given supernaturalpowers and his understanding of
grace was second to none.
He was able to walk by theSpirit better than any man ever
to walk the earth.
In my opinion, apart fromChrist, obviously, who was God
and man?
(11:50):
Christ Yeshua chose Paul forthat mission and gave him
everything he needed to fulfillit.
Who better to learn aboutwalking by the Spirit than from
Paul himself, and we have somany of his letters to study.
It's incredible.
We see moments in Scripturewhere those who already had the
Spirit of God were quote filledwith the Spirit.
(12:11):
They already were filled withthe Spirit at salvation, but
then it says they were filledwith the Spirit in these places
and it confuses a lot of people,but to me it seems to have
placed them under the fullcontrol of our Lord.
He sovereignly consumed themunder his control at times, but
we don't see that being the norm.
We don't see that being theeveryday life of all the members
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of the church, do we?
Yahweh was not messing aroundin the times of the apostles.
He had a plan to usher in thenew covenant age and he did just
that.
He established the church, thebody of Christ, the more perfect
tabernacle, before wiping outthe old one.
The destruction of Jerusalemmarked the full establishment of
(12:54):
the new age and the end of theold or, as many would call it,
the end of the world.
In regards to people who say wedon't need a Bible, as
Christians, in a sense there'ssome truth to that.
We don't have to have a Biblein our hands to fend off
vampires or to get through everymoment of our day.
We have a bond with Christ.
But what did Paul teach from?
(13:15):
He taught from the Tanakh.
We see it all through Scripturewritten.
He used the Hebrew Bible, whichis our Old Testament.
And what did the early churchesstudy when he wasn't around?
Do you think they studied hisletters?
They definitely studied hisletters.
Peter even refers to Paul'sletter as scripture.
(13:35):
In 2 Peter 3.15.
We read and count the patienceof our Lord as salvation, just
as our beloved brother Paul alsowrote to you according to the
wisdom given him, as he does inall his letters when he speaks
in them of these matters.
There are some things in themthat are hard to understand,
which the ignorant and unstabletwist to their own destruction,
(13:56):
as they do other scriptures.
See that you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take
care that you're not carriedaway with the error of lawless
people and lose your ownstability, but grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord andSavior, jesus Christ.
To him be the glory now and tothe day of eternity.
(14:17):
Amen.
Today most Christians also seePaul's letters as scripture,
just like Peter.
So did the early churches havea New Testament?
They actually did.
The apostles were the NewTestament.
They got to hear them preachand read their letters.
And now we're going to makelight of all this and say we can
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just be guided by our ownthoughts without this knowledge.
Light of all this and say wecan just be guided by our own
thoughts without this knowledge,are we going to say we're
apostles, we were directly sentby Yahweh and Christ himself?
I don't think so.
What does Peter also say inverse 17 and 18?
He says you therefore, beloved,knowing this beforehand, take
care that you are not carriedaway with the error of lawless
(15:01):
people and lose your ownstability, but grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord andSavior, christ Yeshua.
So how do we discern error?
How do we know what the errorof lawlessness is?
We're learning about it righthere in Paul's writing, aren't
we?
Are you going to go to churchand learn this directly from a
(15:21):
pastor, or are you going tolearn it from the scripture?
Does your pastor have to lineup with scripture or does
scripture have to line up withpastor?
So why do we want to confusepeople by making light of our
Bibles?
It's just silly and misleading.
We play the role of blindguides in doing so.
Where are you trying to leadpeople by saying such a thing?
Where are you trying to leadpeople by saying such a thing
(15:43):
when we see people reading theirBibles and quoting Scripture
completely out of context?
It's extremely frustrating anddiscouraging, isn't it?
There's nothing worse thanpeople proof-texting passages
that they don't even know themeaning of.
It's like using fancy words outof context and communication
while not even knowing what theymean.
How do you even have aconversation like that with
someone?
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You can plainly see thatChristians are conforming the
Scripture to what they're toldat church, and they're not
letting the Scripture shapetheir thoughts.
It's much easier to superimposeour views onto Scripture when
it comes to difficult passagesthan to actually pursue the true
meaning.
It's just laziness, though, butshould we set down our Bibles
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because other people are beingtrained to read ignorantly and
just say, oh, we don't need thisanyway?
Look what happens when you read.
The Bible Doesn't do any good.
You're just creating a wholeother circus by doing those
things and promoting that.
Although we don't have freeautonomy, we cannot be equal to
or above a God that can changeanything as he pleases for his
(16:47):
glory.
We do have a will as Christians, and we're taught to exercise
it In Philippians 2.12,.
Paul writes Therefore, mybeloved, as you have always
obeyed, so now, not only as inmy presence, but much more in my
absence, work out your ownsalvation with fear and
trembling.
Do you see this passage asworking out what the Lord worked
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in to you spiritually.
He worked salvation into youand now you work it out with awe
and reverence.
That's what fear and tremblingis in reverence.
That's what fear and tremblingis in this case.
That's what it means You're notterrified of the Lord.
It is God who works in you towill and to work for his good
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pleasure.
When he's working in you,you're working for him.
If we have to work out what heworked in, isn't that just like
following his lead?
Work out what he worked in.
Isn't that just like followinghis lead?
Or, as Paul writes, walking bythe spirit.
What do we walk by when we leadthe way and don't seek his
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guidance?
That would be where Paul writeswalking by the flesh.
Turn away from God.
Look what happens as we'rereading our Romans chapter 1
passages Mankind apart, apartfrom God, does not turn to godly
things.
We become selfish.
Do you think that walking bythe Spirit would take a steady
and constant focus?
Hands down, yes, it absolutelytakes focus.
(18:13):
You take our eyes off of Godfor a minute.
Next thing, you know, you'rewrapped up in worldly things,
aren't we?
We get all caught up in thethings that we can see right in
front of us, and forget't we?
We get all caught up in thethings that we can see right in
front of us and forget about theunseen, and we put it in the
back burner, can't we?
It's really easy to do.
Later, in Romans, paul writes Iappeal to you, therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a
(18:36):
living sacrifice holy andacceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed.
So we see what sin is in Romans, chapter 1.
This is in chapter 12.
(18:56):
This is much later on.
We're jumping forward a littlebit.
Does this sound like Paultelling us to just be ourselves?
Does this sound like Paulteaching us how to be the holy
people that we are in Christ?
He's definitely not telling usto just be ourselves, unless
he's referring to the new self,and that's guided by Christ,
right.
So would following the guidanceof the Spirit then be a form of
(19:20):
worship?
Just following the Lord's lead,seeking his guidance?
Yeah, he calls that ourspiritual worship.
Presenting our bodies as aliving sacrifice holy and
acceptable to God, that's sayingGod, use me for your will, lead
me by your will.
Would not being conformed tothe world be a radical change
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from the rest of mankind.
Would this set you apart fromthe rest of the world?
Would you be odd?
Would you be different the wayIsrael was?
Would you consider this aradical teaching?
Yes, I would definitelyconsider this a radical teaching
.
What do you think Paul means bybe transformed by the renewal of
your mind, if we look at thispassage, be transformed by the
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renewal of your mind?
Would mind renewal be the firststop here?
Yeah, be transformed by therenewal of your mind.
That means, as your mind isrenewed, you become transformed,
right?
So what does renewing our mindlook like?
What do you think that wouldlook like?
What is the best source we haveas Christians when we seek mind
renewal?
We're going to have to go toscripture, aren't we?
(20:30):
We've got to go to scripture Ifwe have it, if we're blessed
enough to have it.
What takes place when our mindsare renewed?
Based on this passage, whatwould take place when our minds
are renewed?
We become transformed.
So what are the ways of theworld?
In this passage?
Do not conform to the ways ofthe world in this passage.
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Do not conform to the ways ofthe world.
Well, we got to go back to ourRomans 1 passage that we just
read at the beginning of ourstudy don't we Look at all those
sins?
That's the ways of the world.
Self-seeking, it's not love,it's self-seeking.
Does understanding sin have aplace in this mind renewal?
Absolutely.
If you want to realize how tonot be conformed to the ways of
(21:11):
the world, if you want to be intune to oh, I'm becoming
conformed to the ways of theworld, you've got to know what
those ways are, don't you?
And Paul tells us here in ourfirst chapter of Romans these
are about godless people.
These passages are writtenabout godless people, but who
are they written for and who isit written to?
He was writing to Christians.
(21:33):
Why did Christians need to knowabout godless people?
Paul obviously saw that therewas a need for that, didn't he?
He didn't want us to think thatgodlessness was any part of the
gospel.
In Galatians, paul writes Itestify again to every man who
accepts circumcision that he isobligated to keep the whole law.
You are severed from Christ,you who would be justified by
(21:57):
the law.
You have fallen away from grace.
That's Galatians, chapter 5,verse 3.
Paul speaks to Christians herewho are going back to observing
the law.
Now, we're not directly on thatsubject right now, but
circumcision was a procedurethat was required for national
Israel under the first covenantlaw.
These Christians were beingpersuaded to put themselves back
(22:19):
under the law of Moses that wasfulfilled in them by the
sacrifice of Christ.
Paul tells them that they havefallen away from grace.
What do you think he means bythat?
Could Paul be telling thesepeople they're not walking by
the Spirit in their thoughts andbehavior, that they're
conforming to the ways of theworld instead of renewing their
(22:39):
minds to the things of theSpirit?
Observing the law of Moses inorder to be right with God was
not in line with grace.
Was it?
When we have a properunderstanding?
No, it's not at all.
It was turning away from faithbecause the Lord told us I
fulfilled that.
Now, falling away from grace iscomparable to not following the
Lord's guidance.
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Can we not also apply theprinciple to being guided by our
own selfish desires versus thewill of our Lord, diving into
sin unguided by the Spirit?
I say we can't.
Turning away from the Lord inour lives is falling away from
grace.
My sheep hear my voice and Iknow them and they follow me.
(23:21):
So when we change our mindsabout sin and we decide oh, sin
isn't displeasing to the Lord orI have no problem with my sin.
I'm proud of my sin.
You know what are we doing?
We're shaping our minds poorlyand we're conforming to the ways
of the world.
The whole world is tellingthemselves these things
ignorantly, making up their ownrules so that they can figure
(23:44):
that they're okay with a holyGod.
So that they can figure thatthey're okay with a holy God.
My sheep hear my voice and Iknow them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life andthey will never perish and no
one will snatch them out of myhand.
We read in John 10.27.
As Christians, we get to enjoyour walk with the Lord, knowing
that he will never let us go.
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We can't fail at this.
We only need to let Him do whathe does.
Let us go.
We can't fail at this.
We only need to let him do whathe does.
Counsel us.
We follow his lead, not theother way around.
This is our purpose asChristians.
It's so simple, yet can be sodifficult at times, can it?
As humans, we believe what wesee, what we see with our eyes,
(24:26):
shapes our thoughts.
Living by the Spirit places ourfocus on the unseen.
This is not natural.
It's supernatural.
In order to live this way, weneed the Lord, we need to be in
communication with him, we needto be listening.
In Hebrews 11, we read Nowfaith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction ofthings not seen.
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And in Matthew 6, yeshua tellshis audience Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earthwhere moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven whereneither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not breakin and steal, for where your
treasure is there, your heartwill be also.
(25:08):
Do you believe your life willbe blessed if you live by faith
in what is unseen?
I do.
Should we not see the life wehave in Christ as our treasure,
the true treasure that we get tohave here on earth?
Paul writes to the Galatians,and because you are sons, god
has sent the spirit of his soninto our hearts, crying Abba,
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father, galatians 4, 6.
If we're to live by what is notseen, we need a guide.
That's most certainly why we'vebeen given the Holy Spirit.
If we do this, we're promised afulfilling life in Christ, true
fulfillment, not just temporarypleasure.
I have a challenge for you guys,should you choose to take it.
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This is related to my questionearlier that I mentioned about
have you ever been afraid to askGod for His will about
something in your life?
This happened to me and itchanged my life forever, so I
wanted to share it with you guys.
Something came upon mespiritually as I was meditating
one day and I just really feltlike I had to let go.
(26:15):
I had to let go of things ofthe world further than what I
had already done.
I felt strongly that there wassomething that I was hanging on
to too tightly, so I thought ofthe two most important things in
my life.
I want to challenge you guys todo it.
Think of the two most importantthings in your life.
Whether it be your wife, yourkids, your home, your property.
(26:35):
You know something that reallymatters to you in this world and
tell Yahweh I trust you withthis.
Whatever your will is, whateveryour will is, whatever your
will is, whatever your will is,I trust you with these things
because you have given them tome, and I want to please you
with my life and be guided byyou and your will and what I
(26:58):
should be doing and what youwould like me to do with my life
.
Tell the Lord that you trusthim with these things, no matter
what his will is.
You want his will to be done.
Just let him go and give themto the Lord for his purpose.
Ask him to lead you, guide you,to reveal to you how he wants
you to serve him in your life.
Just give it a try.
(27:19):
Don't be afraid of what theLord might do in your life.
Our God is an awesome God,isn't he?
When I did these things,something changed.
My views on life changed.
My views on the unseen realmsbecame more visible to me on
that day when I did that, andthere was something that took
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place, and you know, just thethought of that maybe that could
happen with somebody else makesme want to share it.
So I just wanted to let youguys know.
I wanted to give you thatchallenge today.
Give it a try and don't getlost in the freedom of Christ.
Be guided by his spirit thatdwells within you.
Hope you guys have a great dayout there.
Talk to you again next week.
Announcement (28:02):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast, brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord,
jesus Christ.
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Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
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And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast everyone.
And now here's Lenny.
Welcome back to the podcasteveryone.
Last week we looked at whatPaul wrote about homosexuality
and sexual immorality.
We often see the verses onhomosexuality isolated for the
purpose of making that sin worse, in the sense of how bad God
will be punishing that person orhow angry God is with that
person.
(00:42):
But we have to look at the restof the passage before we start
placing Christians who arestruggling with homosexuality
outside of our Lord's mercy andgrace.
We also need to recognize theseverity of all sin and, most
importantly, how we should viewsin as Christians.
We left off our last study withPaul saying in Romans, 1.24 and
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25,.
Therefore, god gave them up inthe lusts of their hearts, to
impurity, to the dishonoring oftheir bodies among themselves,
because they exchanged the truthabout God for a lie and
worshipped and served thecreature rather than the Creator
, who is blessed forever, amen.
And Paul begins with sexualimmorality.
When he speaks of the godlessand their behavior, we determine
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that, apart from Yahweh, man iswicked and when he hands them
over to their lusts, thingsnever get better.
They became consumed.
I guess it goes to show howimportant it is that we now have
unbreakable fellowship with theLord in the new covenant that
he's made for us as believers.
We need a counselor, don't we?
Mankind really needs guidancefrom the Lord, don't they?
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That is certainly why wereceive the Holy Spirit.
We were set free from sin byGod's grace.
Our debt has been paid.
We're reconciled to God.
You're right with God now, butis he right with you?
Do you see sin the way our Lordsees sin?
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In our next passage of study weread they're full of evil,
covetousness, malice.
They're full of envy, murder,strife, deceit, maliciousness.
They're gossips, slanderers,haters of God, insolent, haughty
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, boastful inventors of evil,disobedient to parents, foolish,
faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God's decreethat those who practice such
things deserve to die, they notonly do them, but give approval
to those who practice them.
According to our Lord'srighteous judgment, does mankind
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deserve death for all thesesins?
Yeah, it says it right there.
And did godless people who werecommitting these acts realize
that they deserve death?
Yeah, it says that, though theyknew God's decree that they
deserve death, they not only dothem, but they give approval to
those who practice them.
Does approving others doing thesame things display another
level of evil?
When we approve of sin and tellothers that we approve of it
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and that it's okay.
Is that a whole other level ofevil?
And the answer to that isdefinitely a yes.
I would say Satan was theoriginal author and the
ambassador for these views.
Pride, pride in sin, pride inseeking your own righteousness
apart from God's guidance.
That was what Satan taught.
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When we look at these passagesand we really got to think on
this, do you see any of thesegodless sins in your life?
When we look at the list envy,murder, strife.
Have you ever caused strife insomebody's life?
Have you ever envied?
We know what Christ said aboutmurder in the Sermon on the
Mount Deceit, anything dishonestand deceiving, maliciousness,
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gossip, slander.
Ever done that?
Haters of God, insolent,haughty, boastful, disobedient
to parents, foolish, faithless,heartless.
Yeah, I think we could all findthat in our lives, can't we?
We can all find godlessness andgodless behavior in our lives,
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can't we?
But the question is do youdespise these things or do you
make light of these thingsBecause you've been set free
from sin by the sacrifice ofChrist Yeshua?
Is it possible to get lost inthe freedom of the gospel and
find yourself in bondage to sin?
Can Christians become consumedin sin.
(04:55):
Are you asking the Lord to leadthe way in your life?
Are you seeking what he wantsfor you, or do you live how you
want and figure he will work outall things for good?
Do you fully understand thepurpose behind why you've been
set free from your sin and whatit means to be sanctified or set
apart for the Lord's purpose?
(05:16):
Are you aware that Yahweh isyour God now?
Have you ever been afraid toask Yahweh to guide you to what
he would desire in your life?
When you read scripture,sometimes Yahweh's views of
things wasn't exactly in linewith how we would see things,
what we would want out of ourlives.
Is it always going to be whatYahweh wants out of our lives?
(05:37):
Are we afraid to ask Himsometimes what His will would be
At the end of the episode?
I'm going to talk about thatquestion a little bit more and
talk about something that reallyhelped me in my life as a
Christian.
But last week we determined thatYahweh is not in fact,
everyone's God.
We live in a godless world.
If we find our identity inChrist Yeshua, then we have
(06:00):
become property of the Lord.
We now represent him.
Think about that for a moment.
We bear the image of the Lord.
We now represent Him.
Think about that for a moment.
We bear the image of our Lord.
We represent Him here on earth.
The rest of the world is notHis.
We are His holy people and wehave a higher calling.
We are in union with Yahweh now, through His Holy Spirit.
(06:20):
Christ Yeshua is not ashamed tocall us brothers and sisters
and we now call Yahweh Father.
As Christians, we all haveHebraic roots.
Our forefathers are the same asIsrael's.
We are Israel now, according toPaul in Christ, who is always
true Israel all along.
This was a mystery that Paulreveals later in Romans 11.
(06:44):
Today's Christians often gethung up on certain aspects of
the law.
We wonder why in the worldIsrael couldn't get tattoos or
eat shellfish.
What's the deal with that?
If you love seafood, gracemight take on a whole new
meaning here.
Thank God for your freedom inChrist.
If you love to eat some lobster, it's easy to understand why
(07:05):
there would be laws for murder,stealing, lying and so on, but
why the food restrictions andthe seemingly odd laws that made
Israel seem very different incomparison to other nations?
Well, I think that questionactually reveals its own answer.
Our Lord wanted Israel to bedifferent.
He wanted them to be set apart.
Yahweh was revealing himselfthrough Israel.
(07:27):
They were the holy nation ofYahweh and he made them so
different they would never blendin with the rest of the world
if they were to be faithful tohis covenant with them.
Do you think that Christianswould carry on this same purpose
being set apart from the worldby Yahweh for a higher purpose?
I believe so, absolutely so.
(07:50):
Should we try to blend in withsociety or should we embrace who
we are in Christ?
I would say the latter handsdown, wouldn't you?
Should we be guided by the waysof the world or purely by the
Spirit of God that leads us toall truth?
If error puts us in bondage andtruth sets us free, should we
not seek to see all things theway our Lord would see them and
(08:13):
not by the influence of oursociety?
We discussed walking by thespirit on our last study and how
it's not an automated process.
Is it possible that Christiansall over the world are walking
in ignorance to what God wantsfor them in favor of what they
want for themselves?
An automated process?
Is it possible that Christiansall over the world are walking
in ignorance to what God wantsfor them in favor of what they
want for themselves.
I constantly speak againstreligion and how it does not
change our true desires.
(08:34):
It creates legalism, ignoranceand a guilty conscience before
the Lord.
But I also see a growing errorin grace teaching circles.
The error I see is in regardsto our freedom in Christ and how
we perceive that freedom.
I believe many are becominglost in the freedom of the
gospel.
Can you imagine a country let'sjust say America where you have
(08:57):
full freedom but no law toguide you to what is good or bad
?
What would people be doing?
As Christians we shouldn't needlaw and order to do what is
right, but the rest of the worldmost certainly does, don't they
?
But I see this rhetoricemerging that says Jesus wants
us to be ourselves.
Jesus is just there for us,keeping us company while we live
(09:21):
our lives, just letting us doour own thing and being
supportive.
Many are promoting that studyingthe Bible is not for everyone
and it's not necessary at allfor Christians to read.
Gathering as a church underthis perspective, presents more
like simply hanging out andhaving small talk.
Studying scripture becomesviewed as having some kind of
(09:43):
agenda in a negative sense.
A friendship based on doctrineis one that will not last.
People under this view havepromoted.
I've even heard people say theyare triggered by the Bible so
they just stay away from it.
These views truly revealungratefulness for what Yahweh
did to the performers in the16th century giving us all
(10:04):
Bibles so that we can read allabout the Lord for ourselves.
It is just disturbing hearingpeople talk like this.
You gotta wonder what in theworld would make someone teach
scripture from the Bible andthen tell people they don't need
a Bible.
Whatever their intention,they're asking for tyranny and
trampling on our primary sourceof truth as Christians.
(10:25):
They've turned Christ Yeshuainto some kind of hippie that
just accepts everything we doand exists only for the purpose
of helping us out.
If we decide we need his help,man, we need to be very cautious
.
Heading into that kind ofteaching.
Freedom in Christ will lead youinto bondage.
If you decide you are leadingthe way, anyone with experience
(10:46):
in this area could tell you thatI doubt anyone's going to admit
that they're not led by Christ.
But most of those who teach theviews I describe will also
proclaim that Christ is theirco-pilot.
Now, that's not to say that wecan't also believe that we do
what we want and God, being thepilot, will just change us as he
wants to.
We don't need to do anything orpay any attention.
(11:08):
It just happens if he wants itto.
In this way, many believe theChristian life is on autopilot.
What kind of relationship isthat?
In the first century, we hadapostles and spiritual gifts
being given that extended farbeyond human limitations For the
purpose of establishing thechurch.
Before the end of the age, wesaw spiritual miracles that are
(11:30):
far from normal today.
The apostle Paul, and hismission itself, was a miracle.
He was given supernaturalpowers and his understanding of
grace was second to none.
He was able to walk by theSpirit better than any man ever
to walk the earth.
In my opinion, apart fromChrist, obviously, who was God
and man?
(11:50):
Christ Yeshua chose Paul forthat mission and gave him
everything he needed to fulfillit.
Who better to learn aboutwalking by the Spirit than from
Paul himself, and we have somany of his letters to study.
It's incredible.
We see moments in Scripturewhere those who already had the
Spirit of God were quote filledwith the Spirit.
(12:11):
They already were filled withthe Spirit at salvation, but
then it says they were filledwith the Spirit in these places
and it confuses a lot of people,but to me it seems to have
placed them under the fullcontrol of our Lord.
He sovereignly consumed themunder his control at times, but
we don't see that being the norm.
We don't see that being theeveryday life of all the members
(12:34):
of the church, do we?
Yahweh was not messing aroundin the times of the apostles.
He had a plan to usher in thenew covenant age and he did just
that.
He established the church, thebody of Christ, the more perfect
tabernacle, before wiping outthe old one.
The destruction of Jerusalemmarked the full establishment of
(12:54):
the new age and the end of theold or, as many would call it,
the end of the world.
In regards to people who say wedon't need a Bible, as
Christians, in a sense there'ssome truth to that.
We don't have to have a Biblein our hands to fend off
vampires or to get through everymoment of our day.
We have a bond with Christ.
But what did Paul teach from?
(13:15):
He taught from the Tanakh.
We see it all through Scripturewritten.
He used the Hebrew Bible, whichis our Old Testament.
And what did the early churchesstudy when he wasn't around?
Do you think they studied hisletters?
They definitely studied hisletters.
Peter even refers to Paul'sletter as scripture.
(13:35):
In 2 Peter 3.15.
We read and count the patienceof our Lord as salvation, just
as our beloved brother Paul alsowrote to you according to the
wisdom given him, as he does inall his letters when he speaks
in them of these matters.
There are some things in themthat are hard to understand,
which the ignorant and unstabletwist to their own destruction,
(13:56):
as they do other scriptures.
See that you therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take
care that you're not carriedaway with the error of lawless
people and lose your ownstability, but grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord andSavior, jesus Christ.
To him be the glory now and tothe day of eternity.
(14:17):
Amen.
Today most Christians also seePaul's letters as scripture,
just like Peter.
So did the early churches havea New Testament?
They actually did.
The apostles were the NewTestament.
They got to hear them preachand read their letters.
And now we're going to makelight of all this and say we can
(14:38):
just be guided by our ownthoughts without this knowledge.
Light of all this and say wecan just be guided by our own
thoughts without this knowledge,are we going to say we're
apostles, we were directly sentby Yahweh and Christ himself?
I don't think so.
What does Peter also say inverse 17 and 18?
He says you therefore, beloved,knowing this beforehand, take
care that you are not carriedaway with the error of lawless
(15:01):
people and lose your ownstability, but grow in the grace
and knowledge of our Lord andSavior, christ Yeshua.
So how do we discern error?
How do we know what the errorof lawlessness is?
We're learning about it righthere in Paul's writing, aren't
we?
Are you going to go to churchand learn this directly from a
(15:21):
pastor, or are you going tolearn it from the scripture?
Does your pastor have to lineup with scripture or does
scripture have to line up withpastor?
So why do we want to confusepeople by making light of our
Bibles?
It's just silly and misleading.
We play the role of blindguides in doing so.
Where are you trying to leadpeople by saying such a thing?
Where are you trying to leadpeople by saying such a thing
(15:43):
when we see people reading theirBibles and quoting Scripture
completely out of context?
It's extremely frustrating anddiscouraging, isn't it?
There's nothing worse thanpeople proof-texting passages
that they don't even know themeaning of.
It's like using fancy words outof context and communication
while not even knowing what theymean.
How do you even have aconversation like that with
someone?
(16:04):
You can plainly see thatChristians are conforming the
Scripture to what they're toldat church, and they're not
letting the Scripture shapetheir thoughts.
It's much easier to superimposeour views onto Scripture when
it comes to difficult passagesthan to actually pursue the true
meaning.
It's just laziness, though, butshould we set down our Bibles
(16:26):
because other people are beingtrained to read ignorantly and
just say, oh, we don't need thisanyway?
Look what happens when you read.
The Bible Doesn't do any good.
You're just creating a wholeother circus by doing those
things and promoting that.
Although we don't have freeautonomy, we cannot be equal to
or above a God that can changeanything as he pleases for his
(16:47):
glory.
We do have a will as Christians, and we're taught to exercise
it In Philippians 2.12,.
Paul writes Therefore, mybeloved, as you have always
obeyed, so now, not only as inmy presence, but much more in my
absence, work out your ownsalvation with fear and
trembling.
Do you see this passage asworking out what the Lord worked
(17:07):
in to you spiritually.
He worked salvation into youand now you work it out with awe
and reverence.
That's what fear and tremblingis in reverence.
That's what fear and tremblingis in this case.
That's what it means You're notterrified of the Lord.
It is God who works in you towill and to work for his good
(17:32):
pleasure.
When he's working in you,you're working for him.
If we have to work out what heworked in, isn't that just like
following his lead?
Work out what he worked in.
Isn't that just like followinghis lead?
Or, as Paul writes, walking bythe spirit.
What do we walk by when we leadthe way and don't seek his
(17:53):
guidance?
That would be where Paul writeswalking by the flesh.
Turn away from God.
Look what happens as we'rereading our Romans chapter 1
passages Mankind apart, apartfrom God, does not turn to godly
things.
We become selfish.
Do you think that walking bythe Spirit would take a steady
and constant focus?
Hands down, yes, it absolutelytakes focus.
(18:13):
You take our eyes off of Godfor a minute.
Next thing, you know, you'rewrapped up in worldly things,
aren't we?
We get all caught up in thethings that we can see right in
front of us, and forget't we?
We get all caught up in thethings that we can see right in
front of us and forget about theunseen, and we put it in the
back burner, can't we?
It's really easy to do.
Later, in Romans, paul writes Iappeal to you, therefore,
brothers, by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a
(18:36):
living sacrifice holy andacceptable to God, which is your
spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to thisworld, but be transformed.
So we see what sin is in Romans, chapter 1.
This is in chapter 12.
(18:56):
This is much later on.
We're jumping forward a littlebit.
Does this sound like Paultelling us to just be ourselves?
Does this sound like Paulteaching us how to be the holy
people that we are in Christ?
He's definitely not telling usto just be ourselves, unless
he's referring to the new self,and that's guided by Christ,
right.
So would following the guidanceof the Spirit then be a form of
(19:20):
worship?
Just following the Lord's lead,seeking his guidance?
Yeah, he calls that ourspiritual worship.
Presenting our bodies as aliving sacrifice holy and
acceptable to God, that's sayingGod, use me for your will, lead
me by your will.
Would not being conformed tothe world be a radical change
(19:43):
from the rest of mankind.
Would this set you apart fromthe rest of the world?
Would you be odd?
Would you be different the wayIsrael was?
Would you consider this aradical teaching?
Yes, I would definitelyconsider this a radical teaching
.
What do you think Paul means bybe transformed by the renewal of
your mind, if we look at thispassage, be transformed by the
(20:07):
renewal of your mind?
Would mind renewal be the firststop here?
Yeah, be transformed by therenewal of your mind.
That means, as your mind isrenewed, you become transformed,
right?
So what does renewing our mindlook like?
What do you think that wouldlook like?
What is the best source we haveas Christians when we seek mind
renewal?
We're going to have to go toscripture, aren't we?
(20:30):
We've got to go to scripture Ifwe have it, if we're blessed
enough to have it.
What takes place when our mindsare renewed?
Based on this passage, whatwould take place when our minds
are renewed?
We become transformed.
So what are the ways of theworld?
In this passage?
Do not conform to the ways ofthe world in this passage.
(20:51):
Do not conform to the ways ofthe world.
Well, we got to go back to ourRomans 1 passage that we just
read at the beginning of ourstudy don't we Look at all those
sins?
That's the ways of the world.
Self-seeking, it's not love,it's self-seeking.
Does understanding sin have aplace in this mind renewal?
Absolutely.
If you want to realize how tonot be conformed to the ways of
(21:11):
the world, if you want to be intune to oh, I'm becoming
conformed to the ways of theworld, you've got to know what
those ways are, don't you?
And Paul tells us here in ourfirst chapter of Romans these
are about godless people.
These passages are writtenabout godless people, but who
are they written for and who isit written to?
He was writing to Christians.
(21:33):
Why did Christians need to knowabout godless people?
Paul obviously saw that therewas a need for that, didn't he?
He didn't want us to think thatgodlessness was any part of the
gospel.
In Galatians, paul writes Itestify again to every man who
accepts circumcision that he isobligated to keep the whole law.
You are severed from Christ,you who would be justified by
(21:57):
the law.
You have fallen away from grace.
That's Galatians, chapter 5,verse 3.
Paul speaks to Christians herewho are going back to observing
the law.
Now, we're not directly on thatsubject right now, but
circumcision was a procedurethat was required for national
Israel under the first covenantlaw.
These Christians were beingpersuaded to put themselves back
(22:19):
under the law of Moses that wasfulfilled in them by the
sacrifice of Christ.
Paul tells them that they havefallen away from grace.
What do you think he means bythat?
Could Paul be telling thesepeople they're not walking by
the Spirit in their thoughts andbehavior, that they're
conforming to the ways of theworld instead of renewing their
(22:39):
minds to the things of theSpirit?
Observing the law of Moses inorder to be right with God was
not in line with grace.
Was it?
When we have a properunderstanding?
No, it's not at all.
It was turning away from faithbecause the Lord told us I
fulfilled that.
Now, falling away from grace iscomparable to not following the
Lord's guidance.
(23:00):
Can we not also apply theprinciple to being guided by our
own selfish desires versus thewill of our Lord, diving into
sin unguided by the Spirit?
I say we can't.
Turning away from the Lord inour lives is falling away from
grace.
My sheep hear my voice and Iknow them and they follow me.
(23:21):
So when we change our mindsabout sin and we decide oh, sin
isn't displeasing to the Lord orI have no problem with my sin.
I'm proud of my sin.
You know what are we doing?
We're shaping our minds poorlyand we're conforming to the ways
of the world.
The whole world is tellingthemselves these things
ignorantly, making up their ownrules so that they can figure
(23:44):
that they're okay with a holyGod.
So that they can figure thatthey're okay with a holy God.
My sheep hear my voice and Iknow them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life andthey will never perish and no
one will snatch them out of myhand.
We read in John 10.27.
As Christians, we get to enjoyour walk with the Lord, knowing
that he will never let us go.
(24:05):
We can't fail at this.
We only need to let Him do whathe does.
Let us go.
We can't fail at this.
We only need to let him do whathe does.
Counsel us.
We follow his lead, not theother way around.
This is our purpose asChristians.
It's so simple, yet can be sodifficult at times, can it?
As humans, we believe what wesee, what we see with our eyes,
(24:26):
shapes our thoughts.
Living by the Spirit places ourfocus on the unseen.
This is not natural.
It's supernatural.
In order to live this way, weneed the Lord, we need to be in
communication with him, we needto be listening.
In Hebrews 11, we read Nowfaith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction ofthings not seen.
(24:48):
And in Matthew 6, yeshua tellshis audience Do not lay up for
yourselves treasures on earthwhere moth and rust destroy and
where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven whereneither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not breakin and steal, for where your
treasure is there, your heartwill be also.
(25:08):
Do you believe your life willbe blessed if you live by faith
in what is unseen?
I do.
Should we not see the life wehave in Christ as our treasure,
the true treasure that we get tohave here on earth?
Paul writes to the Galatians,and because you are sons, god
has sent the spirit of his soninto our hearts, crying Abba,
(25:32):
father, galatians 4, 6.
If we're to live by what is notseen, we need a guide.
That's most certainly why we'vebeen given the Holy Spirit.
If we do this, we're promised afulfilling life in Christ, true
fulfillment, not just temporarypleasure.
I have a challenge for you guys,should you choose to take it.
(25:53):
This is related to my questionearlier that I mentioned about
have you ever been afraid to askGod for His will about
something in your life?
This happened to me and itchanged my life forever, so I
wanted to share it with you guys.
Something came upon mespiritually as I was meditating
one day and I just really feltlike I had to let go.
(26:15):
I had to let go of things ofthe world further than what I
had already done.
I felt strongly that there wassomething that I was hanging on
to too tightly, so I thought ofthe two most important things in
my life.
I want to challenge you guys todo it.
Think of the two most importantthings in your life.
Whether it be your wife, yourkids, your home, your property.
(26:35):
You know something that reallymatters to you in this world and
tell Yahweh I trust you withthis.
Whatever your will is, whateveryour will is, whatever your
will is, whatever your will is,I trust you with these things
because you have given them tome, and I want to please you
with my life and be guided byyou and your will and what I
(26:58):
should be doing and what youwould like me to do with my life
.
Tell the Lord that you trusthim with these things, no matter
what his will is.
You want his will to be done.
Just let him go and give themto the Lord for his purpose.
Ask him to lead you, guide you,to reveal to you how he wants
you to serve him in your life.
Just give it a try.
(27:19):
Don't be afraid of what theLord might do in your life.
Our God is an awesome God,isn't he?
When I did these things,something changed.
My views on life changed.
My views on the unseen realmsbecame more visible to me on
that day when I did that, andthere was something that took
(27:40):
place, and you know, just thethought of that maybe that could
happen with somebody else makesme want to share it.
So I just wanted to let youguys know.
I wanted to give you thatchallenge today.
Give it a try and don't getlost in the freedom of Christ.
Be guided by his spirit thatdwells within you.
Hope you guys have a great dayout there.
Talk to you again next week.
Announcement (28:02):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast, brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord,
jesus Christ.
If you enjoyed today's episode,we would love to hear from you.
You can send encouragement ourway right from our episodes and
transcripts page or reach Lennyprivately from the contact form
at wakinguptogracecom.
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.