Is It Too Difficult To Follow God’s Rules?

(00:00): True confessions today. Back in my younger day, I had more speeding tickets than I care to admit. I actually had to hire an attorney to help me take care of my speeding tickets. And I couldn't understand why I had to abide by this law when I was in a hurry and I had a lot going on in my life, but in my maturity, I have slowed down. And more importantly, I have learned the importance of law and order in this earth that we're living in. But maybe more importantly, definitely more importantly, I've learned the importance of law and order and why it exists in God's world. God's laws are very simple, not complicated. And we're going to talk about that today. So stay tuned. Welcome to episode 54 of the well-versed

(01:02): Woman podcast. I'm Renee teller and I'm Theresa Morgan. You see Renee and I come to you week after week, imperfect as we are. And we love to share our life's journeys, safe with you. Our faith is

(01:15): All about this big God that created

(01:18): Us. And before we get started, we like to plug into that power source because it's that power source that allows us to open our eyes, to see our ears, to hear and our hearts, to know in our deepest knower, as Theresa says what God would have for us the Sperry day. So we're going to close our eyes, take some slow deep breaths, and actually invite God to sit right where you are this very minute for 20 seconds. Here we go.

(02:12): [inaudible]

(02:13): That was 20 seconds. And if you've been listening to us for over a year,

(02:18): I bet you spend a lot more than 20 seconds being still when your eyes open in the morning, before your feet even hit the bad, just take a pause, take some slow, deep breaths and invite God to direct your day every day. And your life will not be the same. I promise you, but back to this idea of laws and God's laws and how much more simple God's laws are Theresa, then all the laws we've created here as humans on planet earth. It kind of amazes me that his law is very simple. When you think about it. So true Renee, I like how you, that, that his lot is simple. You know? And when we're talking about the law or the laws of God, of course, we're talking about scripture, we're talking about the Bible, the word of God. And I just love God's

(03:13): Word because though it was written

(03:15): Many years ago by many authors. It's timeless. God's word has no expiration date, a few. Well, it can be applied in the society in which we live today, as well as it was applied in centuries ago, because God's word will prosper. You know, we have seen her name in our previous podcasts and we've talked about how God watches over his word. He actually does. We've seen that his word will not return to him void, but accomplished everything that he has sent it forth to accomplish Isaiah 55 11. So when we understand John, one, one, God is the word. The word became life. We can understand how life giving the written word as well as the word that the holy spirit brings to us day in day out to make sure our daily activities as well as the trajectory of our life goes well. So true.

(04:26): I think what happens for a lot of us, Teresa is the Bible is a big book. There's a lot of words in there, but what does God do actually in his word to simplify the law? When we get right down to it, it truly ends up being very simple because it all wraps up in this idea of love tracer. And if we can simplify that in our minds and go back, as I say, go back to the benchmark of, am I loving today? Am I loving God? Am I loving the people around me? It's pretty hard to mess up on all the laws that people tend to think are in the Bible. Does that make sense? That's so very true. After Jesus died on the cross, did the beautiful work for so that sin can be forgiven in the life of a human being. He boiled down his law, if you will really int into two aspects, and this is coming from first, John chapter three verses 22 to 34, the book of first John, the Bible says in whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments in, do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

(05:47): And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ in love. One another, as he gave us commandment. Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he and him in by this, we know that he abides in us the spirit whom he has given us. So I just love the way God set this up for us. He set it up to say, Hey, I'm not only going to give you the simple law be saved. It's my well, that all should be saved. None should perish believe on the name of my son and then love one another. And by the way, you can't do that by yourself. So I'm going to give you the holy spirit who resides in you, who will help you be a beautiful conduit of the love that resides in you. What comes to mind really quickly is not only is it simple, but this idea that we don't have to be perfect, that he asks us to love one another.

(06:56): Then he knows that we're human and we can't do it alone. And he gives us the holy spirit and it just comes back to that. So it comes down to that decision, Theresa, that we're going to try that we're going to raise our hand and say, yes, this is what I want to follow. I want to love one another. And I think in the world we're living in today. There's a lot of talk that everybody wants to do that everybody wants to love one another. Everybody wants us all to be equal and we are under God's eyes, but we all fall short. So we talk about this in the world. We're living in, we start throwing, you know, Spears at each other, so to speak. And it's because we have to remember that we're human. We can't do it alone. And if we're not drawing on the power that comes right from God like we do before every podcast, if we're not plugging in to this power source, it's going to be a very difficult road.

(08:03): Sure is Renee. You know, Romans five, five says that the love of God has been shed abroad in your hearts by Christ Jesus, meaning that the great lover himself lives in your heart. If you know Jesus as your Lord and savior, and he wants to help you get that love from in your heart, in your spirit, through your soul to reach other people in this world that so desperately needs his log in. I love when you say Renee, that we are not perfect. So this is really the antidote to all of the type, a personalities who think, dear Lord, I missed the mark again in field that overburdened a sense of guilt. The beautiful, beautiful thing about the Bible, the truths of the Bible is that we can go to God. We ask for forgiveness first, John chapter one, verse nine, that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So the beautiful thing is, as we walk with the holy spirit, the righteousness that is in our spirit, we never lose, but we're working that out through a soul that is not perfect in the beautiful, beautiful truth is he helps us work that through. And that's Renee. You know, that's not only a blessing for the other individuals in our life who are receiving the love, but it's such a blessing for us. As we walk in the steps of who really we were created to be. Hmm, I so wish I learned this sooner. And

(09:48): If you're young and you're learning

(09:49): This now kudos to you, this idea that it's okay, that we take steps forward and then maybe fall back a little and take steps forward. The idea is that we keep on the path. We keep trying, we keep getting up, we keep moving forward. We don't get complacent. We don't throw our hands up and say, it's impossible. It's a, almost a maturity level. Like I came to with the speeding tickets, Theresa that listen, Renee, you need to slow down. It's for the good of everyone around that. We have these things. It's the same with God, right? He didn't put these laws in the Bible so that he could trip us up and see if we could be good enough. He put them there for the order that he knew needed to exist in a human world here on planet earth. That is so true. And you know, every day, and I I'm sure you know, listeners, if you're a first time listener, um, I'll, I'll repeat that.

(10:58): We've been walking with the Lord for many years now. Um, almost, uh, three, uh, centuries, three decades for me, almost 30 years. And so I can tell you from my own experience, how the holy spirit, he's such a forgiven, he's such a lover. I can tell you that I've grown immeasurably by walking with him. Not perfectly, but by walking with him and learning like a child learns the right thing to say the right thing to do. And I love the holy spirit because there's never a condemnation. There's never a feeling of, well, this is it. I'm going to throw you in jail, lock the keys, see ya. Maybe never. It's always, you can do better. It's just a conviction in this is how we're going to do better. And we're going to walk this road together. Isn't that really what we need in life on a day-to-day basis.

(11:57): We need the wisdom of God. We need the gentle compassion of all loving God. Who's a teacher. Who's an instructor, who's a worker. He likes to get things done. He likes for our lives to change. You know, the essence of our life really is growth and maturity. And he loves to help us to get to that place. Love it. That the essence of our life is growth and maturity. And of course, we've all journeyed through life. Everyone listening is more mature than they were yesterday and you can see it. And don't you love that in our kids tree. So when they come to that place where they're not teenagers anymore, and they see, oh, now I see a little bit of what you're talking about, but that continues right. That continues as we grow older and wiser and have more experiences. The other piece that I love is the relationship piece.

(13:02): We can't do this alone. We can't do it without the holy spirit. And we can't do it without each other, Theresa. Mm. So very true. You know, Renee, when you were just talking, I'm thinking of my grandkids, right? When a child is first born, it's me, me, me, me, right? You have to diaper them. You have to feed them. It's all about them. But he has the CHRO. They start understanding that the world is not just all about them. My grandson who's four yesterday. Um, by accident, he, he hit my face. We were playing and I walked into his room last night and he said, nanny, how are you feeling? Are you doing better? That's the sign of the growth. That's the sign of, Hey, it's no longer about me. I am loving my Nana because I care for her. I want to know how she's doing in really, that plays right in to what the Bible says in the book of Philippians chapter two, verses three and four, it says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

(14:21): Wow. But each of you look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Isn't that maturity. Isn't that saying? I'm going to take responsibility, not only for my life, but Renee. I want to know how you're doing today. Is there a struggle you're facing? Is there something I can come alongside you and assist you in? Can we pray together? What is your need of the hour? And isn't that the definition of love? And I just so enjoy that. I, when I walk in these commandments of love, I'm truly walking in the divine nature because we know at the core of God is love. That's just like getting to that point that you learned as a kid. I remember at Christmas, my grandmother saying it's better to give than receive. I used to Marvel at how she would sit in her chair Christmas morning.

(15:26): And she would just have this big smile on her face, watching the commotion and everybody opening presents. And I would say, grandma, like, you don't have a present. We need to get you a present. And she said, oh honey, this is my present. I love watching everybody. And that's a piece of it as well, Theresa, that you're talking about with your grandson, just getting to that place where you really do love, loving others more than anything. It's, it's great. I think as it relates to Christianity, Theresa and following God and the Bible, people get confused because of the, I think Theresa because of the old Testament law, where there was a lot of law that people were trying to live up to, and maybe we should talk about the difference between that old Testament law and the new Testament living that we're doing in the holy spirit and that distinction because the law has gone away so to speak because now we have the holy spirit.

(16:42): That's so very true. You know, the Bible teaches in the new Testament that the law was given, um, to show people they couldn't, they couldn't keep it right to show that they needed a savior, that they needed Christ Jesus. Um, it here it gives life. So the law was good. Let's make no mistake about it. To keep a law perfectly is to keep the commands of God in shack law in order because everything decently and in order, we can imagine what our world would be like if we had no laws, if we had no order. So true, the old Testament was filled with the laws, eon the Hebrew people, trying to keep the laws and making laws upon laws that no one could ever keep. But Jesus came that we may have life that we may have an abundance because he knew once his sacrifice was made on the cross, the helper, the holy spirit was then poured out and all believers can now have God himself through the holy spirit, living in his spirit so that we can fulfill the law of God, which is love.

(18:21): It. Really Renae is an impossible task, unless one is born again and carries the holy spirit within his spirit because he is the individual that brings the fountain of love in our own strength. We just can't do it. Hmm. We've talked in previous episodes about how we are spirit. And I think is revolved over the years. We forget that. I mean, there's been lots of different kinds of movements about, you know, body, mind, soul, body, mind, spirit, uh, but we are spirit and we need to connect with the one true father, son, holy spirit, in order to fully become all we were meant to be. I think, Theresa, how do we do that? How do we know the spirit is living in us? Yeah, that's a, that's a great question. So, you know, by faith, right, this is a walk of faith and it's a walk where again, we look to the scripture and then we see what the scripture says.

(19:33): And then the holy spirit of God makes it real to us. So we know that the spirit of God lives in us. If we've invited Jesus Christ into our hearts to be Lord and savior, that's when the spirit is then the holy spirit is then given in our spirit is recreated. If you will born again, and then it becomes the pleasure. You and I, we could say the job of one, but it's really a pleasure working out that beautiful new creation work out your salvation through the soul. And that leads to the growth and maturity of the human being. So that's the point of this podcast is that we're trying to help bring the word alive, bring practical application to the words in the Bible and simplify them because unto itself to just pick up the Bible and the big book and start reading or trying to comprehend, first of all, without the holy spirit, helping you, it's very difficult.

(20:46): But secondly, each other, without us coming alongside, it's also very difficult. You know, Theresa has studied this as she was saying for nearly 30 years, she's been in the word and praying. So not just reading, but in the word means immersing herself in it, almost like a picture of this big bathtub of the words where we're just immersing ourself in it, by connecting with the holy spirit while we're studying the word to get the wisdom that comes. And we've met other podcasts on that. And where does wisdom come from? The fact of the matter is we're using this podcast to help you understand the different scriptures that we're reciting and how they apply to our lives. Without that, it's very difficult. And without this stillness, this raising your hand and saying, I need help. I'm just human. I'm not God, please. Holy spirit, come fill me up.

(21:55): That's where you have the perfect storm trees, the perfect storm of growing your faith and really feeling it in the molecules of your body. That's very true. And for our new listeners, I'd like to go back to just a basic scripture. We're talking about being born again. And if we look at the book of John chapter three, verse three, Jesus was talking here and speaking to Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews and Nicodemus wanted to know some things about, about what Jesus was doing. The Bible says, and I'll start in verse two. This man Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know that you're a teacher come from God for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him. And then Jesus answered him and said, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

(22:57): So if we then look at a sister scripture, Romans 14, 17, God defines what is the kingdom of God. And he says, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace enjoy in the holy spirit. Is that beautiful? Just so beautiful when we're born again, the holy spirit is given. He now resides in our spirit and now we have righteousness, which is right standing with God, which brings a lot of peace and a lot of joy. It's just, uh, such a wonderful truth to walk with God, walk with the holy spirit who teaches us all things who keeps us on the plans for our life in day by day, who orders our steps in bring us to a place where fulfilling, uh, God's design for our life in where we're loving one another. Um, so just in summary, the born, again, words come out of the word of God, but it has to do with the fact that we are all born through moms on the surf is we know that it's a fact of life, but our spirits need to make a decision within our spirit.

(24:20): We need to decide that we want to follow this one. True God. And so the terminology was given by Jesus born again, you were born in the flesh now be born in the spirit. Both things need to happen in your life in order to be connected. And one with the one, true God, I think that's great Theresa. And I think it sums up all this podcast is about and what we're trying to do. And this understanding that the line is simple. The book is big. There's a lot of words. We're to come alongside each other, to help understand it, to grow our faith, because we're going to get knocked off that faith pedestal all the time, come alongside with this book and these words to help each other understand through the, through the holy spirit, what it's saying, hopefully that simplifies everything. And hopefully you can stay listening so that you can learn a little bit more each week. We have a foundational scripture on which we based this podcast, because we know that in order to grow, we need to grow our faith and Theresa, what is that scripture? Absolutely. Renee Romans 10 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Thank you for listening. Thank you so much. We love it.

(25:57): Now each week we take those scriptures. We take the words out of the Bible, summarize them on paper so that you can go back and review the words and grow your faith by doing that review. So they're in the show notes. So you just need to click on the details button in your favorite podcast platform and scroll down to you. See the show notes. Secondly, we have a community, the well-versed woman, Facebook group. You can ask to join that group and be in that community. And we can talk to you directly in there. And last but not least, if you subscribe to this channel rate and review it, we're going to you a physical book, the well-versed woman journal, right in the mail where you can take notes and keep track of your own questions and your own favorite verses until next week. We love you. Bye now.