How to have hope even during turbulent times

(00:00): A failed marriage, a terminal cancer diagnosis, loss of a job death of a young parent. These are all devastating life-threatening experiences. I remember through each traumatic experience feeling like I was a little girl again, I would visualize hanging onto the string of that helium balloon so tight that it couldn't blow away. The helium balloon in my mind was God and the string was my lifeline to him. I was so steadfast, consistent and determined in my communication with him. I knew I wouldn't survive any of that without him. I know you've experienced one or maybe all of these too, but today it seems we can't put our feet on solid ground. The whole world is shifting and the wind is blowing so hard. That balloon feels like it's going to blow right away. Stay tuned today because we have good news. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. We're going to share how to stand on solid ground and how to keep those lines of communication to God clear and open all the time.

(01:18): Welcome to episode 24 of the well-versed woman podcast. I'm Renee teller and I'm Theresa Morrigan Renee. And I are two perfectly imperfect women who have a heart to share our faith and life's journeys with you, what we've journeyed through in life. And what we've experienced deeply is the love of God. And we know if you stay tuned, you're going to start experiencing the depth of that love as well. And that's going to bring you so much peace, especially in these times we're living in today. But before we get started, we know in order to hear from God, we need to connect. We need to connect to the power source like that helium balloon. We need to connect the string to the balloon to make sure that our hearts, our minds and our ears are open to what he'd have to say to us what we do every episode. If you haven't listened before, go back to those early episodes, hit that subscribe button, because you're going to want to get more information about how to connect. But what we do is we start with 20 seconds of stillness, 20 seconds, where we can breathe in that prayeth of life and connect to the God that created us. 20 seconds are going to start right now. So be still close your eyes, just calm your heart.

(02:59): [inaudible] that's it,

(03:11): 20 seconds. And once again, I'm going to encourage you to grow that still time with God. We have episodes where we talk about that, but it is so important right now, as we enter into exactly what we're going to talk about today, then in order to connect all those times, all those things I went through, I had to allocate time out of my day to be still so that I could hear from God. So today we're going to be revisiting a little deeper. Some of the things that you've heard before, if you've been listening to this podcast, we're going to make it very simple, right, Theresa, so that they can truly understand how it is that we begin this process of our relationship with God. Absolutely. Renee, you know, as I was listening to your introduction, you know, I was reminded that the truth of God's word is such a settling factor in our heart.

(04:15): And when we take the word of God down deep in our heart and being good to meditate on it, that faith arises so beautifully. And the connection to God is made. And it just makes such a difference in our day-to-day lives. But what we're talking about today really is so foundational as human beings. And when we can understand who we are in this world, in the parts of our being that are alive and that are alive to God and how God communicates to us, I think it sets our path. It sets our course for a clearer understanding so that our faith can prevail. So let's start, you know, I think if anything, I'd like to communicate to our listeners today is that the real you is spirit. The real you is spirit. So I am my spirit. I was made in the image of God.

(05:16): The Bible says in Genesis one 26, let us make man in our image. So in the beginning, in the book of Genesis, we have God, the father, God, the son and God, the Holy spirit, creating man men and women creating mankind. And he says, let us make man in our image, we know from the book of John chapter four, verse 24, that God is spirit. So we, as human beings made in the image of God, we are spirit. Isn't that amazing. The real us is spirit and consequentially. The spirit will live on forever, even after death. And we can talk more about that.

(06:06): Reminds me Theresa of a call. I was on a zoom call today. Everybody knows what we mean. When we say a zoom call and the person leading the call said to the participants out of the gate, by show of hands. How many of you believe that a part of you is spirit? And it was so interesting to me because it wasn't a, a podcast like ours about God. It was a zoom call about motivation and business and that kind of thing. But nonetheless, every participant on the call raised their hand. That just intuitively no matter what you believe, they knew that they were part spirit because I bet every one of us, again, no matter what you believe has felt a spirit inside you. We talk about even our animals, Theresa, our dogs and how intuitive they seem. Sometimes people realize that there is a spirit world. I, I believe they do. Regardless of knowing, like you just eloquently stated what the Bible has to say about it. They may not know that, but everyone feels the spirit.

(07:27): They really do. God has packed us when coming into planet earth, if you will, you know, he's packed us with a conscience, he's packed us with some very valuable information inside of us. So yes, that's very true. You know, some may say, okay, I'm a spirit, but I have this flesh and body that, you know, I'm trying to bring under control. My weight is a little higher than I like, et cetera. So how does that interact with my body? My soul? I know I have a brain. So very simply put the Bible says in the book of first [inaudible] chapter five, verse 23, it explains that we are a three-part being. So let's listen to God's word. It says, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit. So in body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

(08:25): He who calls you is faithful. And also we'll do it. So what we're going to concentrate here on is he lists spirit. So in body. So the way I like to think of it and the way I like to communicate it is this. You are a spirit. You live in a body that navigates this world and you have a soul, a mind, a will and emotions. So we can see here, three parts of a human being, but it is the spirit that is the real you. So you think about biology and you think, okay, you know, mom and dad get together. There's a sperm and an egg that you night, boom, flesh is created, right? Cells start multiplying in the womb of a woman. But you know, who gives the spirit? God gives the spirit. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 42, verse five, thus says, God, the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it in spirit to those who walk on it. So God is the creator of heaven in earth. And he's also the creator of you.

(09:39): So good. So that's really cool that we all have a spirit right away. We're made in that image. First, I love that the real me is spirit. So that means Theresa. Everybody has a spirit

(09:56): That's right, Renee. Every one was made in the image of God and what a beautiful thought. However, sin came and disrupted the relationship that we have with God, the union with God. So although God gives the spirit, the Bible teaches when an individual will send the union with God is severed or spiritual death occurs. The bottle the Bible talks about and teaches. So unfortunately when an individual sin that separates us from God, and that is why the human spirit has to be born again or recreated when faith is placed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, which we've talked about in many episodes before. So a person is born into the earth, spirit, soul, and body. The first time that individual sins union with God is broken or spiritual death occurs. But then when faith is placed in the finished work of Jesus Christ, there is a we union or there's a new birth is the Bible costs. So that man is then again, reconnected to God. And when that happens, because God is Holy, the Holy spirit at that point slips in to the spirit, recreates it. And now we have a Holy union with a Holy God.

(11:24): So the sin thing is the beginning of the end, so to speak. And, and I know in my day I always felt like, geez, Teresa, I'm pretty good. I don't sin. And I certainly don't do it intentionally. But the thing that I've been reminded of in my journey is that anytime we don't follow the divine Providence of God, the holiness to which he calls us that sin and the truth of the matter is none of us can be perfect. We've talked about this so much in previous episodes that only the son of God, Jesus who came down here could live without sin. God knows that that is a calling to which we cannot attain. We just cannot be perfect. That's I taken that on as my definition of human is we're two perfectly imperfect women. We just can't. And that's why God came. That's why we need Jesus. That's why we need the Holy spirit to help us through that.

(12:44): Absolutely correct. So if you want to equate perfection and holiness, we can look at it that when we put our as a center, when we repent from our sins, put our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, the Holy spirit recreates our spirit to be Holy in, in right standing or righteous, the Holy spirit slips into our spirit. So our spirit, the real loss is righteous and Holy with God that because remember, we've talked about that. We have a soul. So our mind, our will and emotions, that is the part of us that is being made righteous or being the Bible says it's being sanctified. So that Philippians two 13 says work out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it has got all the while at work in you both to willing to do according to his good pleasure. So you can see the Holy fountain of sanctification. If you will resides in your spirit with the Holy spirit in, then it's a matter of working that out through your soul to become righteous in that's where the imperfections lie. You know, once you read the word and you, and we start cooperating with the indwelling presence of the Holy spirit, that's when life changes for us, our behavioral patterns change success is brought, you know, I know that if someone has perhaps an eating disorder or a problem with alcoholism or smoking, right, right.

(14:25): Teresa or even anxiety and distress in the things that I talked about in the beginning of the episode, loss of a job, you know, these, these difficult life circumstances. Yeah,

(14:39): Absolutely. I think that's why I love the word of God, because as it says, in the book of Hebrews, these promises come, the word comes to anchor our souls. So when I was a young Christian, I struggled with terrible anxiety, panic attacks because I had the wrong thoughts playing in my mind. Once I started reading God's word, being taught by, by wonderful pastor, the truths of God's word, settled in my heart, like an anchor and the deception that would throw me like the Bible says in the book of Ephesians and tossed me to and fro and brought great anxiety into my heart. They began to leave in my soul, became anchored. That is the process of working out the salvation that started in my spirit and came through my mind, my will in my emotions. So I'm stable Renee. When I see what's going on in the world, I hunker into scriptures that come to my mind and the Holy spirit is so faithful.

(15:52): He's that ever present guide that brings the right scripture at the right time to my, to my brain. That brings peace. That brings that stability back into my life so that I can do in accomplished what God has called me to accomplish in this world. I know Romans eight, 28, he work, he's working out all things together for my good, I know he's Keeler he's provider. He is everything I need. And the truth of the matter is I don't have the anxiety I am off of the anxiety medication that I used to take in. It has to do with the word of God in the indwelling presence of the Holy spirit, my ever present helper in time.

(16:44): And by the way, everyone that ever present helper in time of need is S isn't the Bible. I love that we remind each other as a community here about the word of God, even people who don't believe in God, or perhaps even an infinite being like we do understand today, the power of words. And so when Theresa keeps reminding us that we work things out, by going back to these words and then working our souls out by meditating on that and reciting that and standing on that word, that's how we begin to have the sense of we know, because we know, because we know, you know, when I went through my failed marriage, terminal cancer diagnosis, loss of a job death of a parent go on and on of all the things we could heap into that little basket of woes anxiety that Teresa talked about, that string to the helium balloon is the word of God is our communication is our prayer life is our talking to God. That's the whole thing. And it's so, so simple. And it's so true. Even the, again, the most non spiritual people in the world I've seen in the last several years, Theresa understand that words are living, breathing things today. Science can even prove that they can prove the vibration that exists in the words that get spoken. And I love the reminder from one of my favorite mentors, Michael Hyatt, God spoke the world into existence in seven days. That's the power of the words you're talking about Theresa.

(18:48): That's right. Renee. And I love when you said that you speak to God. And this episode today is going to introduce the guests, what God speaks back, God speaks back. And that's the coolest thing that we're going to get into in the next episode, how he speaks so that we're, we're not let off, off base, right? That he leads us by our spirit. Because again, once a person is born again in the Holy spirit, I like to say slips into, to our spirit after recreating it, you know, first Corinthians chapter three verse 16 says, do you not know you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you, uh, what a beautiful thing, you know what Jesus accomplished for mankind through his death, burial and resurrection, the finished work of the cross. It brought the two greatest gifts into the earth. It brought the word of God and it brought the presence of the Holy spirit. So yes, just like in Genesis one, when the Holy spirit was hovering over the face of the earth, waiting for God to speak, let there be light. Same thing happens in the life of every human being. The Holy spirit is just hovering over me and kind of waiting for that invitation of Jesus Christ into their heart. And again, he's moving. So it's just a beautiful thing. Salvation is a beautiful gift

(20:18): And a reminder tree so that you don't need to know the scriptures like Teresa spews them from her mouth. That eloquently. When I went through those trials in the early times of my walk with the Lord, all I had to do was cry out. Abba father cry out Abba father. I got myself a Bible. I would open it to who knows what? I didn't even what, but guess what God knows. And he knows that if you simply take the time to reach out to him, he is faithful to answer. And next week we're going to talk about how does he speak? How do you hear from him? Because you will, you need to take, we all need to take the first step we need to ask. We need to reach out. We need to lift our hands like that little child does pick me up, pick me up.

(21:23): And that's exactly what he does. So remember you want to come back next week, as we talk about how to hear from God, how to hear what he has to say. It's so important right now in these times until next time. What's our favorite well-versed woman scripture. Chaisa amen. Romans 10, 17 Renee faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We're so glad you tuned in today. And remember we have well-versed woman journals for you. You just need to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and also join our Facebook community group. You can see from this episode, the community was so important in my life. It was everything to me to be able to stay fixed on God, I couldn't do it alone. And we're here for you. Just go ahead and ask to be admitted into the well-versed woman, Facebook community group. You'll love it in there. And lastly, all these scriptures, if you haven't got around to buying your Bible, yet, these are free. All you need to do is download. Every single episode has the scriptures that we talked about, where you can do your own reciting of the word of God, reaching out to God and standing on his promises until next week. We love you. Bye.