December 13, 2024 • 28 mins
What if your personal convictions are more than just preferences, but deeply rooted in biblical interpretation? Join us as we promise to unravel the intricate connections between holiness, personal convictions, and Christianity, shedding light on how these elements shape our daily actions and choices. We explore the "come as you are" mentality, challenging the notion that it means remaining unchanged, and consider the "better safe than sorry" approach in areas like clothing, all grounded in scriptural understanding. By emphasizing that God is not the author of confusion, we highlight the importance of clarity and the authority of scripture in guiding us.
Discover the transformative power of a personal relationship with God in the pursuit of holiness. Inspired by Romans 12:1-3, we encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, allowing God to renew your mind and discern His perfect will. Through a thoughtful discussion on the pitfalls of comparison and the illusion of spiritual superiority, we emphasize patience and persistence in your spiritual journey. With Hebrews 12:14 guiding us, we stress the ongoing processes of peace and holiness, while expressing heartfelt gratitude for our listeners. Share love with others, and remember that even the simplest gestures can have a profound impact.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, welcome to today's episode of
Walk With Me.
I am your host, jj.
So good to have each and everyone of you here.
I know I say this every weekSometimes you might get tired of
hearing me say it, but I reallymean it.
It's so good to have each andevery one of you here.
As a matter of fact, if itwasn't for you, there'd be no
need for me.
That's how I see it, becauseyou know God has me here and god
(00:28):
has you here since we weregathered here.
God is here with us, right.
So good to have each and everyone of you here.
So good.
I love each and every one ofyou.
Thank you all for yourquestions.
Thank you all for the birthdaywishes even that was, uh.
That was very special.
I'm not sure how it got kind ofput out there and last month,
(00:48):
but it was so good to have eachand every one of you.
Thank you so much for thesponsors, uh, who have raised
this platform and trusted mewith your products and services.
I still have that one sponsor,that, uh, is just waiting.
I'm just waiting for a replyand I know how sponsors are.
(01:11):
This time of year is very busy,so I'm not really concerned
about them getting back to me,but they are already a sponsor.
I'm just waiting for the goahead to go ahead and announce
them.
Thank you so much for Two Barsthe lyricist who does the intro
and the outro.
Drew, I'm going to be lookingto you to probably maybe change
(01:35):
the song here.
I'm not sure.
Whatever you want to do, it'sup to you.
Thank you so much for ExquisiteCreations.
We're going to be doing more.
We're going to be doing more.
We're going to be doing more.
You know what we call swag, Isuppose like tumblers and stuff
like that, and I know I kind ofteased it earlier.
(01:58):
I'm just waiting for thegovernment to get back to me
with an okay so I can announcethat we're going to be part of a
bigger ministry.
All right, so it's so good tohave each and every one.
God is doing a marvelous work.
I think we are getting close toa big, big, big revival and I
want each and every one of youto be a part of it.
(02:19):
Thank you all so much.
Let's get into our show today.
Now we were talking aboutdenominationalism and how
holiness plays into it and oneof the questions that kind of
brought on thisdenominationalist study, if you
(02:40):
will, or series if you will, waslike how does the Bible guide
me?
Uh and by me I mean JJ, or byyou, whoever you are, whatever
your name is uh, how does it,how does it guide us into
holiness, and why is holinesssuch a thing?
So it's one of the things thatand you know, I know, we get the
(03:04):
, we get sign of the kind of thementality well, the Bible says
come as you are.
Yes, the Bible does say come asyou are, but it does not say to
stay as you are.
So, and words are veryimportant, and words are very
important.
So, when you take words out ofcontext when I take words out of
(03:26):
context, when anyone takeswords out of context, the only
thing we do it's diminish themeaning of words and then create
confusion.
And you know as well as I doour God is not a God of
confusion, not an author ofconfusion, but we know who is
right.
So we're going to continue thisand we're going to get into
(03:50):
what I would like to call thebetter safe than sorry approach.
Called the better safe thansorry approach.
There are, um different thingsthat you know.
We do that and I like to callthem convictions, right.
For instance, there are certainthings that I don't wear
because they're convicted.
I don't believe that, um, youknow, good good Christians
(04:14):
should be dressing like that.
And you say well, jj, what doesthat mean?
That means that it presents thewrong message.
Now, the Bible does notnecessarily say and let's just
use this, for example disclaimer.
I'm not saying this is a sin,this thing I'm about to talk
about, right now, at this verymoment.
I'm not saying this is a sin,I'm just using this as an
(04:35):
example.
But right now, at this verymoment, I'm not saying this is a
sin, I'm just using this as anexample.
So let's just say, if I got aconviction of, you know, wearing
pink shirts, now, anybody whoknows me knows that JJ does not
really like to wear pink and forwhatever reason, it's just a
dumb sort of societal norm.
And I know, I know, if you'relistening to this and you know
(04:58):
me personally, you probably likethat.
Yeah, jj, you won't wear pink,absolutely not, I won't wear
pink.
That doesn't mean that theBible says and so men should not
(05:22):
wear pink.
We sort of dilute the reasonfor the scripture.
Now there is we in society havemade this blue as boys and
girls and pink as guys.
But that doesn't mean that ifyou wear pink as a guy, you're
(05:42):
going to hit the burning place,and that has to be said.
However, that being said, jj isnot wearing pink, but it's less
to say for, again, the sake ofargument, but that jj has a
conviction that he will.
He should not wear pink.
And again, you see how Ichanged it there.
(06:05):
I went from I will not wearpink to I have a conviction
about wearing pink.
That is two completelydifferent things, and I'm
spending a lot of time on thisbecause, um, because there's a
couple of questions that I'vegot.
So there's a difference betweenyour desire and what there's a
conviction of, and what theconviction of would generally be
(06:28):
backed up by scripture.
Okay, would generally be backedup by scripture.
So let's talk about that.
Let's talk about why theScriptures hold authority.
And we can go back to Proverbs 3, chapter 3, 5, and 6.
And I'm going to read it out ofthe New Living Translation
(06:50):
again, I prefer the King James,but I'm really warming up to
this New Living Translation,okay.
So it says Trust in the Lordwith all your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
Seek his will in all you do andhe will show you the path to
take.
Now it's also going to requirefor you to trust in the Lord
(07:14):
with all your heart.
It's going to require a lot ofprayer, a lot of seeking God,
and that's why you know Proverbs3 and 5 starts off with prayer,
but then it goes throughseeking.
These are active things thatwe're going to have to do.
You are seeking His will.
You are not just letting itcome to you.
(07:34):
You are actually trying to findout what he wants you to do,
and by he I mean God.
I know Seems elementary, butsometimes you gotta be specific.
Isaiah 55, verse 68 says seekthe Lord while you can find him.
See.
There it is again that wordseek.
Now it's not just looking outthe window, seeing what you can
see.
(07:54):
This is more like finding alost pair of keys.
This is you turning upeverything you can find, going
back to where you last saw themor going back, and by that I
mean you had an experience withGod and now you've kind of
gotten away from it.
Now you have to go back towhere you last felt it and at
(08:17):
that one particular level ofexperience, and so you go back
to it and you seek these things.
You're tearing up yourspiritual life trying to find
out what you added that got youaway from God.
And then this there it was.
Oh my gosh, it was when Istarted wearing a pink shirt.
Again, I'm using the pink shirtas an example.
I'm not saying the bible saysyou can't wear pink.
(08:41):
I want to be clear.
All right.
So and Isaiah 5 sorry, 55, 68continues with let the wicked
change their ways and banish thevery thought of doing wrong.
In the King James version itsays let the wicked forsake his
way and the unrighteous man histhought.
(09:02):
Let him return unto the lordand he will have mercy on him,
and to our god, he willabundantly pardon.
In the new living translation,it says let the wicked change
their ways and banish the verythought of wrongdoing.
Let them turn to the Lord thathe may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for hewill forgive generously.
(09:26):
My thoughts are nothing likeyour thoughts, saith the Lord,
and my ways are far beyondanything you can imagine.
So if you have a conviction,they have to come from God.
It can't be because Bishopso-and-so said it or Pastor
so-and-so said it.
Even if I come to you, likehere's a really good example I
(09:51):
do not wear short sleeves orshorts outside.
I do not, and I often usescriptures talking about fully
dressed, fully clothed, whatthat really means, and we're
going to talk about that.
I don't want to get ahead ofmyself, but let's just say I
come to you and I say this is athing, this is my conviction,
(10:12):
this is where I get this from.
That does not necessarily meanthat you have to do it, because
what I'm the point is you areseeking this level of holiness.
You are seeking a level ofholiness let's put it that way,
not necessarily mine.
Do not compare yourself toJesus, do not Compare yourself
to the word of God.
(10:32):
That's what judges you, not me,okay.
So at the end of the day, wehave to ask ourselves a very big
question Is it, should I, isholiness a thing, or does it
(10:55):
have to be a thing?
Or is being safer, rather thansorry, a thing?
Is it safe, better to be safethan sorry?
And how important is the truthof scripture to my family?
And then, does god expect himto bathe him all the time?
Like all the time, like everywaking moment?
Can I not breathe, can I notlive?
(11:17):
But this is this, is that lastquestion is a lot.
It's a very heartbreakingquestion and I'm I get that
question a lot too.
Um, they put it generally likea one, one word answer, one line
answer.
But yes, it's a veryheartbreaking question because
(11:37):
it assumes the point that livingfor God is a birth, it assumes
the fact that holiness is abirth, or it assumes the fact
that JJ is making the rules upas he goes along.
And if I'm using Scripture,then none of these are true.
Romans 12, 1 3 lays it out Again.
(11:59):
I'm going to read it throughthe New Living Translation for
the sake of time.
And so, dear brothers andsisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God becauseof all he has done for you.
Let them, by them, your bodies,be your sacrifice, the way, the
kind he will find acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship.
(12:20):
Yes, having a great song and adance and a shout and a clap is
great, that's lovely, but livingholy is what God really wants.
That's how we worship him.
We choose to live holy.
I'm going to continue.
Don't copy the behaviors and thecustoms of this world, but let
God transform you.
(12:41):
And everybody say transform.
Transform you into a new personby changing the way you think.
Then you will know how God'swill for you, you'll know God's
will for you which is good andpleasing and perfect.
God's will will always be good,pleasing and perfect.
(13:05):
But if you're not, if your mindhasn't been transformed this
way, then it may seem to be bad,it may seem to be restrictive,
it may seem to be cumbersome, itmay seem even just to be
inconvenient, but if God hastransformed your mind, then none
of this will happen.
(13:25):
Verse 3 Because the privilegeand authority God has given me,
I give each of you this warningDon't think you're better than
you really are.
Be honest in your evaluation ofyourselves, measuring
yourselves by the faith God hasgiven us.
We, and we talk about, as amatter of fact I'm probably
(13:48):
going to be speaking about thison Sunday we talk about, as a
matter of fact, I'm probablygoing to be speaking about this
on Sunday we talk aboutspiritual sort of a spiritual
superiority conflict, spiritualsupremacy, as it was, and we
want to be more spiritual thanthe brothers next to us in the
church field.
We want to be more spiritualthan a dope addict.
And then you get out.
We want to be more spiritualthan a dope addict.
(14:08):
And then you get out we want toknow more, we want to know more
scripture than the prostitute.
And you get out there and thenthe prostitute just starts out
quoting you scripture.
Because you are comparingyourselves among yourselves.
You're comparing the wrongthing.
Let God do this.
Hebrews 12, 14 work at living inpeace with everyone and work at
(14:33):
living a holy life, for thosewho are not holy will not see
the Lord.
Now look for brother Joe,brother, ron, brother, so forth
and so on will tell you well,it's not how it works that any
(14:55):
should post.
Well, I'm sorry, this righthere tells you that you are
supposed to work at it.
And by again, like we talkedabout in the very beginning of
this episode, when you takethings out of context and you
twist them, you reduce theirmeaning and then you kind of
reduce the effectiveness of thetruth.
We are supposed to be workingtowards it.
(15:17):
This is a work in progress.
You don't live it for God.
It's kind of like building askyscraper Right, you get
permits and you lay out thefoundation and you, you set the
foundation and you pour thefoundation and then you stick
rebar.
While you're pouring thefoundation, you stick rebar in
it, then you start building upthe sides, the walls, until as
(15:39):
high as you're going to go, andthen you top it off.
That is not if you can findanyone that can do that
overnight, let me know.
This thing generally takes alot of time and the well-built
skyscrapers take years.
It takes years to do so.
(16:00):
It's not about coming justbecause you you walked in off uh
off of uh addiction corner.
You know in off of addictioncorner.
You know the intersection ofaddiction and fornication last
weekend and came here to churchon Sunday and all of a sudden,
now you're supposed to be theperfect Christian and
everything's great and, yes, theHoly Ghost will begin to change
(16:23):
you.
But the Holy Ghost will beremoving things out of you so
that you can put God in you.
This is building a Christian,building a person who's living
for God, building a person who'swalking in his truth.
You are walking, you're notsprinting, you're not instant
teleporting.
(16:43):
So we, and by doing this welearn in these scriptures and
we're learning what God istelling us.
So, 1 Peter 1, verse 14-17 soyou must live as God's obedient
children, not God's half-knowncousin, not as God's overbearing
(17:05):
sister.
You must live as God'soverbearing sister.
You must live as God's obedientchildren.
Don't slip back into your oldways of living to satisfy your
own desires.
And this is where we get into aproblem.
As church geologists as youknow church geologists, you know
what I mean we start going tochurch a little while and then
(17:27):
we say I don't think we need todo all that.
I don't think we need to.
I don't think all that'snecessary.
I think I can get away withwearing shorts to the store and
I'm using this because it's myown conviction, based on
scripture.
I don't, I just I think I canget away with.
(17:52):
In the Bible, if you finish thatverse, that verse in 1 Peter,
it says you didn't know anybetter than me, so don't go back
to those times.
You didn't know any better.
But now you must be holy ineverything you do.
This is God who chose you.
God is holy.
He wants you to be holy.
He wants me must be holy ineverything you do.
This is God who chose you.
God is holy, he wants you to beholy, he wants me to be holy.
(18:13):
And for the scriptures say youmust be holy because I am holy,
verse 17.
And remember that the heavenlyfather to whom you pray has no
favor.
It doesn't matter if it's JJbehind his microphone, bishop,
apostolic Doctrine, dr, deaconof Master, theology, richardson
over there, it doesn't matter.
(18:33):
Neither one of us are.
We are all the same.
We'll all be judged by the samebook.
He will judge or reward youaccording to what you do, but JJ
works with his God of works, asany man should boast about.
Peter said it right here hewould judge or reward you
(18:54):
according to what you do.
So you must live in reverentfear of him during your time as
foreigners in the land.
So what we do matters, otherwisethere'd be no reason, there'd
be no reason for church.
We just come as we are and westay as we are and we do as we
do.
But what's the purpose?
(19:16):
The purpose is living for God.
The purpose is shedding thatold man, that old woman, that
person who could not be trusted,that person that was not be
trusted, that person that was aliar and a thief and did all the
things that you later regretted, that I later regretted.
(19:38):
It's leaving that person behindand becoming a new person and
looking forward to going toheaven.
And 2 Peter 3 11-14 is probablygoing to heaven and 2 Peter
3.11-14 is probably going to bethe end.
But since everything around usis going to be destroyed like
this he's talking about thetemple that was destroyed what
(20:00):
holy and godly lives you shouldlive, looking forward to the day
of God and hurrying it along.
On that day, he will set theheavens on fire and the elements
will melt away in the flame,but we are looking forward to
the new heavens and new earth.
He has promised a world filledwith God's righteousness and so,
dear friends, while you arewaiting for these things to
(20:23):
happen, make every effort to befound living peaceful lives that
are pure and blameless in hissight.
Second, peter, this letter thatPeter writes.
It really kind of sets up andanswers a lot of questions that
a lot of us have, because therewill be a day that everything is
(20:45):
going to be destroyed.
There's no way around it.
It doesn't matter who we votefor, who we support.
This will happen, but what doesmatter is that you and I live
holy and godly lives, because ifwe do, then we're going to be
looking forward to the end times, not in fear of it.
(21:08):
Let me say something to you,walker, if you are living in
fear of the end time.
If I am living in fear of theend time, then there is
something that you or I must getout of our lives.
I don't know what that is foryou, because I'm not your pastor
(21:28):
.
If there is something in yourlife that you have to get out,
that you have to pull out, thatyou have to pray out or fast out
or study out, if you're livingin fear, god should tell you
something we are actually to belooking forward to, even though
(21:50):
it's as awesome as it sounds thesky being on fire, gold and
diamonds melting with heat.
We should be looking forward tothat, because right after that
is the new heaven and a newearth that we have promised, and
this is a world that's filledwith God's righteousness.
(22:12):
No essay going on, no childbothering going on.
No abortions happening, nofornication, no getting cheated
on, nothing getting stolen fromyou, no one lying to you,
everyone walking in God'srighteousness, everyone, I mean.
(22:36):
Just think about what type ofworld that would be.
No one is lazy, everyone isdoing what they're supposed to
be doing.
No one's hungry.
No one's hungry, no one'shomeless.
Everything is perfect.
(22:56):
This is God's righteousnessbeing perfect.
There's no war.
No one's selling drugs out oftheir house and people running
up in that house and shootingeverybody up.
No one going through a schooleliminating people.
Can you just imagine what thatwould be?
(23:18):
This is what we look forward to.
This isn't about going to churchand seeing who has on the best
suit, or which one of y'all iswearing the best hat, which one
of y'all's got the flyest shoeson, or how we call it now, who
has the best drip.
None of this, none of thismatters.
(23:41):
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
What really matters is what'sto come.
In order to get to what's tocome, you have to do the right
thing now, and this is wherehaving a holiness standard comes
in right now.
And how are you going to getthe holiness standard?
(24:02):
You've got to go to where theholiness standard is given.
And the only way you can go towhere the holiness standard is
given don't be listening to JJ.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
You have a Bible of your own.
I mean, of course you'relistening to this podcast
because we're going to talkabout these scriptures.
That's why you're here, that'swhy I'm here.
(24:23):
But at the end of the day, thatBible in your hand is the word.
That's God's word.
That's God's word, not JJ'sword.
I didn't write it.
And guess what?
There are things in there thatin my flesh, I disagreed with.
I absolutely disagree with it,because I like that thing that
(24:43):
the Bible speaks against.
But I have to make a choice.
I would rather be safe thansorry.
I would rather be okay, I gotrid of that thing.
And God says well, you know,when I finally get to you know,
see him face to face he sayswell, aj, you know, you really
(25:06):
got to be safe.
I'd rather be safe than saying,well, get up there and say,
well, my words said to you this.
You didn't do it, you thoughtit wasn't worth it.
And then I have to say I'msorry, but then sorry is too
late, too late to be sorry, toolate to'm sorry, but then sorry
(25:26):
is too late.
It's too late to be sorry, it'stoo late to be sorry.
So I'd rather be safe thansorry, and I'd rather for each
one of you to be safe than sorry.
So we are still laying thescriptural foundation right now
of holiness, because holiness isimportant, is important, and
(25:48):
I'm going to say something toyou that a lot of people may not
like, and also it goes to howyou're celebrating holidays, and
I'm just going to leave it likethat because, again, I'm not
dressed.
How you celebrate holidays goesinto your holiness.
So I mean, if you belong to theLord, god Almighty, then you
(26:17):
belong to him, and next week,when we get started, we are
really going to drill down intowhat holiness means how to talk,
how to dress, and I get it.
Some of you guys probably won'tlisten to me after that, but I
am required to deliver this toyou all.
(26:39):
Right, it's so good to have youguys here.
It's so good we got to wrap itup for today.
It's so good to have you.
I love each and every one of you.
Thank you all so much, thankyou.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for telling everybodyabout it.
I realized that someone somehowhad got, I had been blocked or
(27:02):
something like that.
Thank you all so much for stillsharing it.
I appreciate each and every oneof you.
I thank you all.
Love you all.
See you all on the next one andtell somebody out there that
God loves them While you'retelling them about this podcast.
Tell them that God loves them.
That might be the only timethat day that someone realizes
(27:25):
that they are cared for.
Okay, all right, love you all.
See y'all in the next one.
Hello everybody, welcome to today's episode of
Walk With Me.
I am your host, jj.
So good to have each and everyone of you here.
I know I say this every weekSometimes you might get tired of
hearing me say it, but I reallymean it.
It's so good to have each andevery one of you here.
As a matter of fact, if itwasn't for you, there'd be no
need for me.
That's how I see it, becauseyou know God has me here and god
(00:28):
has you here since we weregathered here.
God is here with us, right.
So good to have each and everyone of you here.
So good.
I love each and every one ofyou.
Thank you all for yourquestions.
Thank you all for the birthdaywishes even that was, uh.
That was very special.
I'm not sure how it got kind ofput out there and last month,
(00:48):
but it was so good to have eachand every one of you.
Thank you so much for thesponsors, uh, who have raised
this platform and trusted mewith your products and services.
I still have that one sponsor,that, uh, is just waiting.
I'm just waiting for a replyand I know how sponsors are.
(01:11):
This time of year is very busy,so I'm not really concerned
about them getting back to me,but they are already a sponsor.
I'm just waiting for the goahead to go ahead and announce
them.
Thank you so much for Two Barsthe lyricist who does the intro
and the outro.
Drew, I'm going to be lookingto you to probably maybe change
(01:35):
the song here.
I'm not sure.
Whatever you want to do, it'sup to you.
Thank you so much for ExquisiteCreations.
We're going to be doing more.
We're going to be doing more.
We're going to be doing more.
You know what we call swag, Isuppose like tumblers and stuff
like that, and I know I kind ofteased it earlier.
(01:58):
I'm just waiting for thegovernment to get back to me
with an okay so I can announcethat we're going to be part of a
bigger ministry.
All right, so it's so good tohave each and every one.
God is doing a marvelous work.
I think we are getting close toa big, big, big revival and I
want each and every one of youto be a part of it.
(02:19):
Thank you all so much.
Let's get into our show today.
Now we were talking aboutdenominationalism and how
holiness plays into it and oneof the questions that kind of
brought on thisdenominationalist study, if you
(02:40):
will, or series if you will, waslike how does the Bible guide
me?
Uh and by me I mean JJ, or byyou, whoever you are, whatever
your name is uh, how does it,how does it guide us into
holiness, and why is holinesssuch a thing?
So it's one of the things thatand you know, I know, we get the
(03:04):
, we get sign of the kind of thementality well, the Bible says
come as you are.
Yes, the Bible does say come asyou are, but it does not say to
stay as you are.
So, and words are veryimportant, and words are very
important.
So, when you take words out ofcontext when I take words out of
(03:26):
context, when anyone takeswords out of context, the only
thing we do it's diminish themeaning of words and then create
confusion.
And you know as well as I doour God is not a God of
confusion, not an author ofconfusion, but we know who is
right.
So we're going to continue thisand we're going to get into
(03:50):
what I would like to call thebetter safe than sorry approach.
Called the better safe thansorry approach.
There are, um different thingsthat you know.
We do that and I like to callthem convictions, right.
For instance, there are certainthings that I don't wear
because they're convicted.
I don't believe that, um, youknow, good good Christians
(04:14):
should be dressing like that.
And you say well, jj, what doesthat mean?
That means that it presents thewrong message.
Now, the Bible does notnecessarily say and let's just
use this, for example disclaimer.
I'm not saying this is a sin,this thing I'm about to talk
about, right now, at this verymoment.
I'm not saying this is a sin,I'm just using this as an
(04:35):
example.
But right now, at this verymoment, I'm not saying this is a
sin, I'm just using this as anexample.
So let's just say, if I got aconviction of, you know, wearing
pink shirts, now, anybody whoknows me knows that JJ does not
really like to wear pink and forwhatever reason, it's just a
dumb sort of societal norm.
And I know, I know, if you'relistening to this and you know
(04:58):
me personally, you probably likethat.
Yeah, jj, you won't wear pink,absolutely not, I won't wear
pink.
That doesn't mean that theBible says and so men should not
(05:22):
wear pink.
We sort of dilute the reasonfor the scripture.
Now there is we in society havemade this blue as boys and
girls and pink as guys.
But that doesn't mean that ifyou wear pink as a guy, you're
(05:42):
going to hit the burning place,and that has to be said.
However, that being said, jj isnot wearing pink, but it's less
to say for, again, the sake ofargument, but that jj has a
conviction that he will.
He should not wear pink.
And again, you see how Ichanged it there.
(06:05):
I went from I will not wearpink to I have a conviction
about wearing pink.
That is two completelydifferent things, and I'm
spending a lot of time on thisbecause, um, because there's a
couple of questions that I'vegot.
So there's a difference betweenyour desire and what there's a
conviction of, and what theconviction of would generally be
(06:28):
backed up by scripture.
Okay, would generally be backedup by scripture.
So let's talk about that.
Let's talk about why theScriptures hold authority.
And we can go back to Proverbs 3, chapter 3, 5, and 6.
And I'm going to read it out ofthe New Living Translation
(06:50):
again, I prefer the King James,but I'm really warming up to
this New Living Translation,okay.
So it says Trust in the Lordwith all your heart.
Do not depend on your ownunderstanding.
Seek his will in all you do andhe will show you the path to
take.
Now it's also going to requirefor you to trust in the Lord
(07:14):
with all your heart.
It's going to require a lot ofprayer, a lot of seeking God,
and that's why you know Proverbs3 and 5 starts off with prayer,
but then it goes throughseeking.
These are active things thatwe're going to have to do.
You are seeking His will.
You are not just letting itcome to you.
(07:34):
You are actually trying to findout what he wants you to do,
and by he I mean God.
I know Seems elementary, butsometimes you gotta be specific.
Isaiah 55, verse 68 says seekthe Lord while you can find him.
See.
There it is again that wordseek.
Now it's not just looking outthe window, seeing what you can
see.
(07:54):
This is more like finding alost pair of keys.
This is you turning upeverything you can find, going
back to where you last saw themor going back, and by that I
mean you had an experience withGod and now you've kind of
gotten away from it.
Now you have to go back towhere you last felt it and at
(08:17):
that one particular level ofexperience, and so you go back
to it and you seek these things.
You're tearing up yourspiritual life trying to find
out what you added that got youaway from God.
And then this there it was.
Oh my gosh, it was when Istarted wearing a pink shirt.
Again, I'm using the pink shirtas an example.
I'm not saying the bible saysyou can't wear pink.
(08:41):
I want to be clear.
All right.
So and Isaiah 5 sorry, 55, 68continues with let the wicked
change their ways and banish thevery thought of doing wrong.
In the King James version itsays let the wicked forsake his
way and the unrighteous man histhought.
(09:02):
Let him return unto the lordand he will have mercy on him,
and to our god, he willabundantly pardon.
In the new living translation,it says let the wicked change
their ways and banish the verythought of wrongdoing.
Let them turn to the Lord thathe may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for hewill forgive generously.
(09:26):
My thoughts are nothing likeyour thoughts, saith the Lord,
and my ways are far beyondanything you can imagine.
So if you have a conviction,they have to come from God.
It can't be because Bishopso-and-so said it or Pastor
so-and-so said it.
Even if I come to you, likehere's a really good example I
(09:51):
do not wear short sleeves orshorts outside.
I do not, and I often usescriptures talking about fully
dressed, fully clothed, whatthat really means, and we're
going to talk about that.
I don't want to get ahead ofmyself, but let's just say I
come to you and I say this is athing, this is my conviction,
(10:12):
this is where I get this from.
That does not necessarily meanthat you have to do it, because
what I'm the point is you areseeking this level of holiness.
You are seeking a level ofholiness let's put it that way,
not necessarily mine.
Do not compare yourself toJesus, do not Compare yourself
to the word of God.
(10:32):
That's what judges you, not me,okay.
So at the end of the day, wehave to ask ourselves a very big
question Is it, should I, isholiness a thing, or does it
(10:55):
have to be a thing?
Or is being safer, rather thansorry, a thing?
Is it safe, better to be safethan sorry?
And how important is the truthof scripture to my family?
And then, does god expect himto bathe him all the time?
Like all the time, like everywaking moment?
Can I not breathe, can I notlive?
(11:17):
But this is this, is that lastquestion is a lot.
It's a very heartbreakingquestion and I'm I get that
question a lot too.
Um, they put it generally likea one, one word answer, one line
answer.
But yes, it's a veryheartbreaking question because
(11:37):
it assumes the point that livingfor God is a birth, it assumes
the fact that holiness is abirth, or it assumes the fact
that JJ is making the rules upas he goes along.
And if I'm using Scripture,then none of these are true.
Romans 12, 1 3 lays it out Again.
(11:59):
I'm going to read it throughthe New Living Translation for
the sake of time.
And so, dear brothers andsisters, I plead with you to
give your bodies to God becauseof all he has done for you.
Let them, by them, your bodies,be your sacrifice, the way, the
kind he will find acceptable.
This is truly the way toworship.
(12:20):
Yes, having a great song and adance and a shout and a clap is
great, that's lovely, but livingholy is what God really wants.
That's how we worship him.
We choose to live holy.
I'm going to continue.
Don't copy the behaviors and thecustoms of this world, but let
God transform you.
(12:41):
And everybody say transform.
Transform you into a new personby changing the way you think.
Then you will know how God'swill for you, you'll know God's
will for you which is good andpleasing and perfect.
God's will will always be good,pleasing and perfect.
(13:05):
But if you're not, if your mindhasn't been transformed this
way, then it may seem to be bad,it may seem to be restrictive,
it may seem to be cumbersome, itmay seem even just to be
inconvenient, but if God hastransformed your mind, then none
of this will happen.
(13:25):
Verse 3 Because the privilegeand authority God has given me,
I give each of you this warningDon't think you're better than
you really are.
Be honest in your evaluation ofyourselves, measuring
yourselves by the faith God hasgiven us.
We, and we talk about, as amatter of fact I'm probably
(13:48):
going to be speaking about thison Sunday we talk about, as a
matter of fact, I'm probablygoing to be speaking about this
on Sunday we talk aboutspiritual sort of a spiritual
superiority conflict, spiritualsupremacy, as it was, and we
want to be more spiritual thanthe brothers next to us in the
church field.
We want to be more spiritualthan a dope addict.
And then you get out.
We want to be more spiritualthan a dope addict.
(14:08):
And then you get out we want toknow more, we want to know more
scripture than the prostitute.
And you get out there and thenthe prostitute just starts out
quoting you scripture.
Because you are comparingyourselves among yourselves.
You're comparing the wrongthing.
Let God do this.
Hebrews 12, 14 work at living inpeace with everyone and work at
(14:33):
living a holy life, for thosewho are not holy will not see
the Lord.
Now look for brother Joe,brother, ron, brother, so forth
and so on will tell you well,it's not how it works that any
(14:55):
should post.
Well, I'm sorry, this righthere tells you that you are
supposed to work at it.
And by again, like we talkedabout in the very beginning of
this episode, when you takethings out of context and you
twist them, you reduce theirmeaning and then you kind of
reduce the effectiveness of thetruth.
We are supposed to be workingtowards it.
(15:17):
This is a work in progress.
You don't live it for God.
It's kind of like building askyscraper Right, you get
permits and you lay out thefoundation and you, you set the
foundation and you pour thefoundation and then you stick
rebar.
While you're pouring thefoundation, you stick rebar in
it, then you start building upthe sides, the walls, until as
(15:39):
high as you're going to go, andthen you top it off.
That is not if you can findanyone that can do that
overnight, let me know.
This thing generally takes alot of time and the well-built
skyscrapers take years.
It takes years to do so.
(16:00):
It's not about coming justbecause you you walked in off uh
off of uh addiction corner.
You know in off of addictioncorner.
You know the intersection ofaddiction and fornication last
weekend and came here to churchon Sunday and all of a sudden,
now you're supposed to be theperfect Christian and
everything's great and, yes, theHoly Ghost will begin to change
(16:23):
you.
But the Holy Ghost will beremoving things out of you so
that you can put God in you.
This is building a Christian,building a person who's living
for God, building a person who'swalking in his truth.
You are walking, you're notsprinting, you're not instant
teleporting.
(16:43):
So we, and by doing this welearn in these scriptures and
we're learning what God istelling us.
So, 1 Peter 1, verse 14-17 soyou must live as God's obedient
children, not God's half-knowncousin, not as God's overbearing
(17:05):
sister.
You must live as God'soverbearing sister.
You must live as God's obedientchildren.
Don't slip back into your oldways of living to satisfy your
own desires.
And this is where we get into aproblem.
As church geologists as youknow church geologists, you know
what I mean we start going tochurch a little while and then
(17:27):
we say I don't think we need todo all that.
I don't think we need to.
I don't think all that'snecessary.
I think I can get away withwearing shorts to the store and
I'm using this because it's myown conviction, based on
scripture.
I don't, I just I think I canget away with.
(17:52):
In the Bible, if you finish thatverse, that verse in 1 Peter,
it says you didn't know anybetter than me, so don't go back
to those times.
You didn't know any better.
But now you must be holy ineverything you do.
This is God who chose you.
God is holy.
He wants you to be holy.
He wants me must be holy ineverything you do.
This is God who chose you.
God is holy, he wants you to beholy, he wants me to be holy.
(18:13):
And for the scriptures say youmust be holy because I am holy,
verse 17.
And remember that the heavenlyfather to whom you pray has no
favor.
It doesn't matter if it's JJbehind his microphone, bishop,
apostolic Doctrine, dr, deaconof Master, theology, richardson
over there, it doesn't matter.
(18:33):
Neither one of us are.
We are all the same.
We'll all be judged by the samebook.
He will judge or reward youaccording to what you do, but JJ
works with his God of works, asany man should boast about.
Peter said it right here hewould judge or reward you
(18:54):
according to what you do.
So you must live in reverentfear of him during your time as
foreigners in the land.
So what we do matters, otherwisethere'd be no reason, there'd
be no reason for church.
We just come as we are and westay as we are and we do as we
do.
But what's the purpose?
(19:16):
The purpose is living for God.
The purpose is shedding thatold man, that old woman, that
person who could not be trusted,that person that was not be
trusted, that person that was aliar and a thief and did all the
things that you later regretted, that I later regretted.
(19:38):
It's leaving that person behindand becoming a new person and
looking forward to going toheaven.
And 2 Peter 3 11-14 is probablygoing to heaven and 2 Peter
3.11-14 is probably going to bethe end.
But since everything around usis going to be destroyed like
this he's talking about thetemple that was destroyed what
(20:00):
holy and godly lives you shouldlive, looking forward to the day
of God and hurrying it along.
On that day, he will set theheavens on fire and the elements
will melt away in the flame,but we are looking forward to
the new heavens and new earth.
He has promised a world filledwith God's righteousness and so,
dear friends, while you arewaiting for these things to
(20:23):
happen, make every effort to befound living peaceful lives that
are pure and blameless in hissight.
Second, peter, this letter thatPeter writes.
It really kind of sets up andanswers a lot of questions that
a lot of us have, because therewill be a day that everything is
(20:45):
going to be destroyed.
There's no way around it.
It doesn't matter who we votefor, who we support.
This will happen, but what doesmatter is that you and I live
holy and godly lives, because ifwe do, then we're going to be
looking forward to the end times, not in fear of it.
(21:08):
Let me say something to you,walker, if you are living in
fear of the end time.
If I am living in fear of theend time, then there is
something that you or I must getout of our lives.
I don't know what that is foryou, because I'm not your pastor
(21:28):
.
If there is something in yourlife that you have to get out,
that you have to pull out, thatyou have to pray out or fast out
or study out, if you're livingin fear, god should tell you
something we are actually to belooking forward to, even though
(21:50):
it's as awesome as it sounds thesky being on fire, gold and
diamonds melting with heat.
We should be looking forward tothat, because right after that
is the new heaven and a newearth that we have promised, and
this is a world that's filledwith God's righteousness.
(22:12):
No essay going on, no childbothering going on.
No abortions happening, nofornication, no getting cheated
on, nothing getting stolen fromyou, no one lying to you,
everyone walking in God'srighteousness, everyone, I mean.
(22:36):
Just think about what type ofworld that would be.
No one is lazy, everyone isdoing what they're supposed to
be doing.
No one's hungry.
No one's hungry, no one'shomeless.
Everything is perfect.
(22:56):
This is God's righteousnessbeing perfect.
There's no war.
No one's selling drugs out oftheir house and people running
up in that house and shootingeverybody up.
No one going through a schooleliminating people.
Can you just imagine what thatwould be?
(23:18):
This is what we look forward to.
This isn't about going to churchand seeing who has on the best
suit, or which one of y'all iswearing the best hat, which one
of y'all's got the flyest shoeson, or how we call it now, who
has the best drip.
None of this, none of thismatters.
(23:41):
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
What really matters is what'sto come.
In order to get to what's tocome, you have to do the right
thing now, and this is wherehaving a holiness standard comes
in right now.
And how are you going to getthe holiness standard?
(24:02):
You've got to go to where theholiness standard is given.
And the only way you can go towhere the holiness standard is
given don't be listening to JJ.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
You have a Bible of your own.
I mean, of course you'relistening to this podcast
because we're going to talkabout these scriptures.
That's why you're here, that'swhy I'm here.
(24:23):
But at the end of the day, thatBible in your hand is the word.
That's God's word.
That's God's word, not JJ'sword.
I didn't write it.
And guess what?
There are things in there thatin my flesh, I disagreed with.
I absolutely disagree with it,because I like that thing that
(24:43):
the Bible speaks against.
But I have to make a choice.
I would rather be safe thansorry.
I would rather be okay, I gotrid of that thing.
And God says well, you know,when I finally get to you know,
see him face to face he sayswell, aj, you know, you really
(25:06):
got to be safe.
I'd rather be safe than saying,well, get up there and say,
well, my words said to you this.
You didn't do it, you thoughtit wasn't worth it.
And then I have to say I'msorry, but then sorry is too
late, too late to be sorry, toolate to'm sorry, but then sorry
(25:26):
is too late.
It's too late to be sorry, it'stoo late to be sorry.
So I'd rather be safe thansorry, and I'd rather for each
one of you to be safe than sorry.
So we are still laying thescriptural foundation right now
of holiness, because holiness isimportant, is important, and
(25:48):
I'm going to say something toyou that a lot of people may not
like, and also it goes to howyou're celebrating holidays, and
I'm just going to leave it likethat because, again, I'm not
dressed.
How you celebrate holidays goesinto your holiness.
So I mean, if you belong to theLord, god Almighty, then you
(26:17):
belong to him, and next week,when we get started, we are
really going to drill down intowhat holiness means how to talk,
how to dress, and I get it.
Some of you guys probably won'tlisten to me after that, but I
am required to deliver this toyou all.
(26:39):
Right, it's so good to have youguys here.
It's so good we got to wrap itup for today.
It's so good to have you.
I love each and every one of you.
Thank you all so much, thankyou.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for telling everybodyabout it.
I realized that someone somehowhad got, I had been blocked or
(27:02):
something like that.
Thank you all so much for stillsharing it.
I appreciate each and every oneof you.
I thank you all.
Love you all.
See you all on the next one andtell somebody out there that
God loves them While you'retelling them about this podcast.
Tell them that God loves them.
That might be the only timethat day that someone realizes
(27:25):
that they are cared for.
Okay, all right, love you all.
See y'all in the next one.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
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.