Faith Matters Podcast

#617 - Cultivate Joy; Day 2

#616 - Cultivate Joy; Day 1

“I can’t get no . . . satisfaction.”More than 50 years ago Mick Jagger and the Stones made this line famous . . . and more than 50 years later, we’re still singing right along with them. Not because it’s catchy, but because it’s true. Satisfaction is one of the most elusive things in life. How do we find it?While the Bible doesn’t have much to say about satisfaction, it does have a great deal to say about joy. Joy is like satisfaction, only better. When you finish a good meal, you feel satisfied. When you watch a good movie or listen to a favorite song, you are satisfied. Sounds great, right? Except for the fact that a few hours later you are hungry again. Or the novelty of the new movie has worn off, or you’re tired of that song that’s been overplayed on the radio. The problem with satisfaction is that it is usually fleeting.Not so with joy. Joy is built around something more permanent, more lasting, something that can’t be overplayed or consumed. It is built to last.So what exactly is it? Over the next few days, we’ll talk more about what joy is and what it is not. More importantly, we’ll talk about how to have joy in your life so that, even when you can’t “get no satisfaction”, you can still have something deeper and more meaningful. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, keep reading. But before you do, check out the attached verses – they’ll lay the foundation for all that we’ll be talking about over the next few days.A Prayer for JoyLord, in a world that provides only fleeting happiness and satisfaction, help me to look to you to find true lasting joy. Help me to understand what this looks like and how to have joy in my life. Thank you for being a God who brings joy, even amid life's challenging circumstances. Amen.

#611 - Faith Matters; Book of Signs - Ch 11 Apathy

Faith Matters with Brian and Andi HaleThe Book of Signs by Dr. David Jeremiah, Ch 11 - ApathyChristians, rather than being distinct from the world around them and living in expectation of their Lord's return, have become so much like the world that sometimes you can scarcely tell the difference between the two.People stubbornly refuse to listen to the truth, because their minds become filled with other things. don't be one of those people.

#610 - Way of the Warrior; Day 5

PlansVideosSearch Bible.comGet the appBavatarThe Way of the WarriorThe Way of the WarriorDay 5 • 1 of 5DevotionalListen to this audio devotional now in the Bible App.THE WARRIOR STANDS IN THE PAINThe warrior stands in their pain. Their wounds are their badge of honor. Every battle is first fought within. Every victory secured for your future is first fought for in your struggle for faith. To live in the light, you must first face your inner darkness. Your external battles are won or lost in your inner world. You cannot separate world peace from inner peace.The battles we fight become inescapably both internal and external. Victory in one battle does not secure us victory in another. You may be winning the battle within to live your most heroic and courageous life and yet still lose your job and find yourself in financial peril. You can in the same moment that you achieved the pinnacle of success in your career come home to face the end of your marriage.The prophet Elijah called down fire from heaven and proved to the prophets of Baal that the Lord was the one true God. After this defining moment in Elijah’s life, in which the presence and power of God was undeniable, Jezebel sent a message to Elijah promising his death and Elijah fled. He sat down under a bush and, instead of praying to see God’s power again, he prayed that God would take his life. Life carries great weight, and if you find the courage to take on great battles, you will feel an even greater weight that will sometimes seem more than you can bear.Even Jesus did not want to face his darkest moment alone. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before he was to die on the cross, he chose to take three of his closest friends with him. When you need to run, don’t run from God; run to him. Don’t run from the people you need in your life; run to them.Hidden in your fears is the faith that you’re searching for. If you want to meet God, stand in your fears. Stand in your pain. Stand when everything inside you tells you to withdraw. I want you to know that God will give you the strength you need not simply to face the challenges that are right in front of you but to continue the journey that awaits. This is the profound nature of God – that when we are weak, he is strong. When we have lost our strength, he replenishes it. You are a warrior of peace. Do not fear the battle within.GUIDING QUESTIONSWhen you are in pain, do you run to God or from him? Do you run toward community or away from your friends and family? Do you wear your wounds with honor? Do you celebrate each victory in your life to prepare yourself for the bigger battle that is coming? When you need your strength replenished, do you pray to God that he would give you strength?

#609 - Way of the Warrior; Day 4

VideosSearch Bible.comGet the appBavatarThe Way of the WarriorThe Way of the WarriorDay 4 • 1 of 5DevotionalListen to this audio devotional now in the Bible App.THE WARRIOR HARNESSES STRENGTHThe warrior knows their power. Even in defeat, the warrior is never powerless. Even when they are weak, the warrior knows their true strength. The warrior has learned how to harness their strength, focus their power, and replenish their energy. You must be mindful of what makes you feel most fully alive.Nothing will steal our strength like living lives we do not love. The way we store energy is through our desires, values, passions, hopes, dreams, and aspirations, and ultimately our greatest capacity for energy storage is through what we love.If getting up in the morning is a struggle and you find yourself lacking the energy to engage life fully, you can be certain that you are not living the life you were created to live. The warrior knows their energy flows out of their passions, that their passion must flow out of love, that it is love that gives them ultimate joy, and that it is joy in which they find their strength.Negative emotions pose as fuel or passion. And although they do cause you do burn, they do not lead you to create but rather to destroy. There is a default mode we can surrender to where we simply just exist, paralyzed by apathy or despair or discouragement. Worry consumes your energy without productivity. It may seem as if fear is a fuel to the fire that burns within you, but in the end, all it does is diminish. Fear consumes our energy, while faith restores it.You must find the why in the battle you are fighting. Choose the right people to fight next to. Remember that your tribe will shape your identity and your identity will shape your future.Those fueled by greed and hatred will always prevail if their only opposition is those living in apathy and indifference. The future will be created by those with the courage to create it. A better world will happen only if we find the strength and energy to give our lives to it. The warrior knows they were created by God who is Spirit. All our energy comes from God. What we do with our energy is up to us.GUIDING QUESTIONSWhat is it that ignites your passions? What are the moments in which you feel most energized? Have you been letting negative emotions fuel you? What is the ‘why’ you are fighting for? Imagine the warrior you want to be – do you see that warrior in the people you surround yourself with?

#608 - Way of the Warrior; Day 3

THE WARRIOR OWNS DEFEATThe warrior knows that honor is not found in the victory. Honor is found in the nobility of the battle. If the battle is not worthy of the warrior’s life, there is no honor in its victory. In the same way, the warrior knows there is no dishonor in defeat. Failure and defeat are not the same.The warrior never claims victory for themselves but only for others. In the same way, the warrior never gives blame for defeat but owns it for themselves. The warrior owns defeat, therefore defeat never owns the warrior.The warrior takes complete responsibility while never holding tightly to anything. Because the warrior lives with open hands, nothing can be taken from them. The warrior is free from all things and therefore is free to enjoy all things.Ownership is not about possession; it is about responsibility. What you own matters far less than what you take ownership for. We are responsible for far more than what we have been given; we are responsible for what could have been done with all that we have been entrusted with.At the beginning of humanity, God gave Adam and Eve ownership – not possession but responsibility – over all creation. Yet when Adam and Eve both ate from the one forbidden tree in the garden, neither took responsibility for their actions and instead blamed someone else.You cannot change what you do not take responsibility for. When you blame someone else, you become dependent on that individual to solve your problem and change your circumstance. After all, if it is that person’s fault, then he or she is the only one who has the power to change your condition.There is an unexpected relationship between blame and fear. When you blame others for your failure, you become powerless to change the world around you. You begin to live your life filled with fear, paralyzed by uncertainty and embittered by a sense of victimization. Fear may cause you to abdicate responsibility, but the abdication of responsibility will most certainly cause you to live in fear.GUIDING QUESTIONSDo you take responsibility for things in your life that you don’t own? How can you transition into a mindset of ownership? How have you abdicated the power to change a failure in your life by placing blame on others? How can you relinquish fear by reclaiming responsibility for your life?