Coming to you live from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Hey. Good morning. I'm Ali, this is Carl and crew. You know, because I live in a city where I don't have a big, lush backyard. Um, there's not a lot of green space around where I live. I have one single tree on my. On our property. Just one.
Oh, man.
Wow. But let me tell you about this tree, because I. I can't explain why this tree is different, but this tree is different than any other tree on the entire block. How so? And I've. I've watched this for now, several years.
Okay. All right.
So there's a typical cycle that trees go through that they all lose their leaves around the same time. So you'll look and you and come fall. Sure. You'll see all of the colors start to change. That's like October. November. You get like those beautiful, rich hues. The yellows, the oranges, the reds. I love that season too. And then as the months go on, the trees all lose their leaves. Right? Right. Except for my tree. I kid you not.
Really? Even in the winter.
Even in the winter. Really? And I will look and I will see a whole block. Because everyone kind of has a tree in their in the same place in front of their house. It's kind of like they're all, you know, between the tree and the or between the street and the sidewalk. Everyone on my block has a tree for the most part. This is how they designed it.
This isn't some trick story where it's like an evergreen tree.
No no no no. I because I'm really curious and I've not figured out why. And so every tree on the entire block will be leafless except for my tree. My tree doesn't lose its leaves, and they stay green. They don't stay green. They will change colors later. They change colors later than than the rest of them. But they do change colors. But then the leaves remain on the branches and then come like as spring is turning. Then they the leaves will drop off in the spring
and then quickly. Especially this year. It was a very quick turnaround. Quickly replaced by the buds so that it could relief for the for the next season. Interesting. It is. And this isn't like some sort of riddle. You finding anything?
That's what I'm thinking.
Uh, so are they dead when they're on there? But they just don't fall off?
Um, I would say they don't look vibrant.
They're brown.
They're brownish red.
Okay. So I don't know. I don't know how to pronounce this word. There's a process called Mars. Mhm. Mhm. I don't know something like that. M a r c e c e n c e. This is a natural phenomenon where leaves dry up and remain attached to the branches throughout the winter, eventually falling off in the spring.
Interesting.
It's naturally occurring. It doesn't happen on every tree, obviously, but it does happen.
Okay, so I've got a couple of theories from our listeners. Let's see. It's not a native tree says 0362 okay. 7905 Oak tree. Another another vote for maybe it's an oak tree. Uh, 6411 says maybe it's a male walnut tree. Do trees. There's such a thing as a male and a female tree. Am I am I missing that? It just it's it's Ellie's tree. It's.
None of us know anything about trees or plants.
Brown thumbs. So bad. Yeah. It's one of those questions that you're like, is this gonna sound like a dumb question?
Male trees have a, uh, a pollen producer job. That's what they do is to produce pollen. Female trees bear fruit or seeds.
Huh. Okay. So, okay, I don't. So these are good working theories, but it is a fascinating thing to look out in the middle of January and see that you have the only tree on the block with leaves. Makes me feel kind of special.
I hate that.
Sweet. And so it makes me think of Psalm one. My tree, the one tree on our property, the only one we have. And I should also add that it's not as mature as some of the other ones on the block. For those of you who are trying to put together a theory, add that little piece of evidence to whatever you're coming up with. Because I'm if you're an expert on this and have a have a working theory, I'd love to hear it. It's not a mature tree.
There there are many more mature trees. Our our house got rebuilt, and so they must have torn down the original tree and replanted one so that it would look in line with the rest of the block. But I get this special tree that stays with its leaves.
Just for.
You all year round. How can we be like that tree, not losing our leaves, flourishing despite the harsh conditions around us? I want to be like the tree in my yard. The only one I've got. That's my role model. Why would you make a tree? Your role model? I'll explain. Coming up. It's actually a totally biblical to want to be like a tree. Let's go to Psalm one coming up.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Well, once again, the boom crew has come through in a major way. I think the mystery has been solved. Here's what I am have determined to be. Most likely the case because of what the boom crew has reported back. Yes, many of you have said it's probably an oak tree, and one person whose dad was a landscaper says more specifically, a pin oak. They said my dad planted one in the backyard of the house I grew up in. He was a landscaper. The Pin Oak did that every year.
It didn't lose its leaves until spring. So I did a little Google research myself. I looked at some pictures of a pin oak and based on my visual assessment.
Your keen eye.
By your expertise there, Miss Green Thumb? Exactly. The person who can't keep house plants alive has now determined that what is in my yard is likely a pin oak tree, which does not lose its leaves until the new buds push them off in the spring.
Well, there you go.
Which means the rest of my block must have a different type of tree than I do, because I'm the only one that has this little privilege.
There you go.
Boom! Crew. Way to go. Let's go to Psalm one. Mystery solved. Psalm one. We are called to be like a tree. I'm going to read this to you. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all
that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Ultimately, we're going to go one of two ways in terms of how we approach our lives, and really only one of two, two ways we are either going to be like a tree or like chaff
that the wind drives away. Coming up, let's break down why we want to live like a tree. Maybe a pin oak tree, to be more specific.
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
The first time I heard this message or this passage of Scripture preached, it was in a sermon series called Like a Tree. It was preached by my pastor, probably six, seven, maybe eight years ago. And it has stuck with me, and it has remained one of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture, because it is so practical and establishes very clearly the way of the righteous versus the way of the wicked, the way of the righteous. The righteous man is like a tree that's planted by streams of water.
Now a tree that's planted by streams of water is ones that's very close to the source. The water is able to quickly travel through the root system, constantly providing that life sustaining nourishment. Right? Yeah. Perfect spot. The healthiest. That's the picture of the the way of the righteous. Planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in its season. Fruitful. We want to live fruitfully. Its leaf does not wither
in all that he does, he prospers. That's the person who goes the way of the righteous, who is like a tree. But then verse four, the contrast. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Now I had heard about chaff, but I needed to do a refresher on it. So I watched a YouTube video last night to actually see what it looks like to separate wheat from chaff. The chaff is just the husks and the straw. It's not the usable
part of the wheat. So when the wheat is threshed, what the farmer will do is actually throw it in the air by the handfuls. It's kind of a wild thing to watch because it's just it's literally just throwing it in the air. And that's how it's separated, because that kernel of wheat will fall to the ground. The chaff will be driven away by the wind. Literally what it says in the scripture, it will just be carried away.
Because it's hollow. So it just gets carried off.
Yeah, it's lighter in in weight. So it just that's how they separate it out.
That's cool.
I thought wow. Like there's no and that's still I guess the most efficient way of doing it.
That's awesome.
I love that like no real brain science there. The wind just takes it. Okay. So when you think about it that way, like, wow. So the person who does not go the way of God is like the chaff which just the wind is driven wind. The wind drives it away. And you think about the life of somebody who's planted versus someone who's just carried with the wind. And there's so many implications for this. But when it boils down to it hinges on verse two of this
passage of Scripture. His delight is in the law of the Lord. What makes you like a tree delighting in the Lord. Delighting in the law of the Lord, which is just the instruction of God. God's word meditating on God's Word day and night. Making that what drives you, what sustains you as opposed to the wicked? Who is going to get counsel from the wicked? Who's going to stand in the way of sinners? Who's going to sit in the seat of scoffers? The the arrogance and the
haughtiness of thinking that we know the way? Yeah, right.
Oh, goodness. Yeah. We we trust in our own, our own minds, our own logic. Way too often. When my mind can't be trusted for some of the most simple things. Sometimes. Right. So why should it direct the way I go for my entire life?
Right? You want to be rooted. You want to be planted. You don't want to be carried away by the winds of anything that you hear. You know how hard it is to try to keep up with what culture considers right and wrong. Yeah.
Yeah.
You know how much gymnastics you have to do to try to bend and yield, to make what you believe line up with what's popular at any given moment because it changes quickly.
Very.
The just think about the trends, the fashion trends that you wore when you were in high school or college, and how hard it is just to keep up with the fashion trends. Sure. And all of a sudden you find that your current wardrobe is somehow out of date, even though you just bought new clothes, you bought new clothes three, four years ago, and all of a sudden you go, oh, well, I guess that that's not. Are people not wearing skinny jeans anymore? Apparently not. I still
like my skinny jeans. Side note but apparently that's not what's popular. How much harder is it to keep up with the changing tides of what is considered true and right?
Sure. Yeah.
You know, and you think about I think a lot about this because I'm raising children who are in those critical years where they're starting to really develop their own worldview, how they see things. I mean, for a while, when kids are infants, toddlers, they're there's not a lot of questioning in the toddler years.
No, some there's a question. There is some questioning.
Questioning about the different than the teenage questions.
Definitely.
So the why questions of the toddler years. Looking back, boy, those were a lot easier to answer, weren't they? And then kids hit their teen years, and they start to have to grapple with a lot of what they're hearing, a lot of what they're seeing, a lot of what they're told is true. And it's good to be able to give your kids God's Word, because then you're not trying to figure it out as you go.
Yeah, That truth doesn't change with the world. It stays the same, and we can always go back to it, right?
So think about this because things are changing so quickly, it's very possible that three years. Let's say you have a kid who's I have a son now who's 12. He's my youngest. Three years from now, when he's 15, things will have changed.
By a lot.
By a lot. So that means that what it absent the Word of God, absent delighting in the law of the Lord, I'm going to be. I would be telling him something today that won't be true in three years, that I will then have to say, okay, son, I know I told you that this was right. Now I'm going to have to say I. This is right now. Yeah. Imagine how confusing that is.
Yeah, it's super confusing. And it's Sometimes it feels easier or more comfortable when we can change things based on how the world is going, because it's difficult to say, nope, this is still true, even though it's even though it's not popular, it's still true.
It won't change.
It's good that there's an anchor.
An anchor for our souls. And Psalm one is a good passage to read with your kids because it helps them connect. Why the Word of God is so important. It's not enough for kids to know that we just. We read the Bible because that's what Christians do. That's not going to carry them through when their faith comes under attack. No, no it won't. They need to know that there is a way of the righteous that's a delight in the Word of God. That goes God God's way.
That ultimately leads to a life that's like a tree, a life that's free of hardship. Absolutely not. But a life that is planted, that is rooted, that will flourish, that will yield fruit in season, that will prosper. The way of the wicked is the way of saying, I'll take my counsel from X, Y, or Z. I'll lean on my own understanding. I'll see how that goes. Well, that leads to a life that's life. Like chaff that the wind drives away. Show your kids the YouTube video.
Do you want your life to be like this tree that's rooted and planted? That even when storms come, it's not going to move? Or do you want a life that's like poof goes with the wind? Every kid's going to say, I think I want to be more like that tree. So then let's talk about the how. Verse two. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. God's word is our life source. It really is. If we've got God's Word, we've got what we need to flourish and be like a tree.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super dei is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Psalm one is one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible, and it was from that teaching series that I mentioned that I first heard this expression of being privately held and publicly fruitful, and that has been one of the one of the single most transformational sort of approaches to Christian life that has shaped me. This idea that private health has to precede and sustain public fruitfulness. Yeah.
And it's everywhere in Scripture. We see it in John 15, but it's because it's very tempting to try to bear to to look at the fruit first, to look at yielding fruit in season, to try to have leaves that don't wither. It's it's tempting to want to look at what's seen when it's really the unseen things that drive it.
Yes.
And sometimes it's it's almost like it's everywhere. And it can be it can be almost frustrating. And by that, I mean, like, sometimes it's easier to want to chase fruit.
Sure. Yeah, absolutely. We're it's putting the cart before the horse. You're.
Yes.
Good example. You're looking for something that you're like. Well, this is the end goal. I want that, but you're skipping steps to get there. Uh, you have to you have to go in order, because the other stuff doesn't happen without first being with God and focusing inwardly.
Yeah. And this is an ongoing this is an ongoing journey, I think, for, for in the life of the believer. What do you say? I mean.
Oh, goodness. Yeah.
Every day.
Absolutely.
It's that that journey of continuing to focus on the unseen things and coming up, we're going to have a special guest who kind of specializes in this with leaders, particularly leaders who've hit a tough spot in their ministry and need a place to turn. He walks with leaders through who've gone through moral failings, who's who've gone through crisis, or who are just experiencing burnout or the disconnect between man, what I'm what I'm preaching, what I'm trying to, um,
project to the to the public. There's a disconnect between what's going on outwardly versus what's going on inwardly. The root system is no longer sustaining the tree. To continue on with our analogy. His name is Greg Dempster. He's got a powerful ministry based in the Grand Rapids area in Michigan, but he works with leaders from around the country. You're going to hear from him coming up.
A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Hey, I'm Ali, this is Carl and crew. We have been looking at Psalm one this morning, which is one of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture. I want to bring a special guest in. Greg Dempster, founder and director of Christ Life Ministries transformed, authentic, empowered. That's part of their mission. Christ's life exists to help Christian leaders remove the chasm that often exists between what they believe to be true about God and what they're experiencing daily.
So much of this Greg, goes back to Psalm one, right? Delighting in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. I'm sure that this is a familiar passage of scripture for you as well.
It's an amazing passage. Psalm one God is inviting us to himself, right? I mean, we go to his word, to go to him, and that's where we find great delighting. It's not just words in a book. It's it's words that describe that, that help us encounter the living God.
Talk a little bit about your ministry, because you deal specifically with leaders and describe the context that leaders often will find their way to you. What's usually going on that drives them?
Yeah. Ali, we renew leaders. Actually, the better way to say it is that we serve leaders. We accompany them into the presence of the true Jesus, who's the only healer. And then we equip them to bring renewal to the organizations they lead. Most of the leaders that I work with, it's all word of mouth. These guys know someone that's experienced tremendous change and they want the same thing. And so they could be maybe a leader is forwarded along
by their elder team and they're broken. They've made decisions that have shattered their ministry integrity. Or they're guys that are in front of a large organization, a large church, maybe a church of 15 or 20,000. And they really don't have anybody that they can let their guard down with. And my office in Grand Rapids just becomes the safest place in the Midwest for them to do the work necessary to get free.
Yeah. Now, what is it that goes on in the heart of a leader that causes them to start to. They're still trying to produce fruit if we are true to Scripture, but something's going on in there in the underground of their life, right? I mean, there's either some sort of disconnect to describe it as based on what you know to be true about Scripture and what you've seen. It's always something going on underneath the surface, right? Well, before anything is seen, sometimes the first indication is is
a big moral failing or some sort of misstep. But it's been going it's been building. Right.
Yeah. It's what we've all experienced. It's that that sense that Augustine unpacks, he unveils when he says the heart is restless until it finds rest in God. So there's a sense that that things aren't working the way that they should work. You could be in front of the most prolific, growing church in America and go home after an amazing Sunday. And we've all done this. I mean, it doesn't need to be Sunday. It could be just Thursday evening after the big meeting.
Yeah.
And we're just feel broken. We feel like it didn't go as well as we thought it would go. And there's just this sense of reaching internally a thirsting for something. And we reach a point of recognizing that my performance, what I do for my job or my career or my ministry isn't going to satisfy that thirst.
Hmm. Greg Dempster, Christ's Life Ministries with us right now. Coming up, let's talk about what it looks like to come out of that. For the leader. Yes, that Greg works with, but also for you in your personal life, maybe you're in a a season of of man. Dryness. Maybe a desert season where you're still trying to minister to others. But what's going on beneath the surface is discontent. Is a lack of peace, a lack of finding your rest in Christ. Let's talk with Greg coming up.
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Where does a pastor or a leader go when they've experienced some sort of moral failing or some sort of crisis of leadership, or they're just struggling on the inside and not sure who they can talk to as they're continuing to minister to people as they themselves are struggling. Well, oftentimes they go to my guest, Greg Dempster, founder and director of Christ Life Ministries. Your ministry exists to help
leaders who find themselves in this position. What have you learned about some of the warning signs that often can lead to some sort of a public failing? What's going on beneath the surface that usually, if heeded, could potentially prevent something like this from happening?
I just think that a lot of the time, a leader can't put their finger on exactly what it is. They just feel a lot of disruptive emotion, a lot of stress. Maybe they go the other direction. Maybe it's melancholy and discouragement, insecurity, inadequacy. The problem is that disruptive emotion is actually a fruit. It's not the root. The disruptive emotion is is an indicator that distortion is in play.
Somewhere along the line, they've picked up a governing idea that's flawed and they're living their life according to it.
Why have you made this your life's work? What? I'm sure there must be something in your own story that prompted you to really have a passion for this work?
Totally. I mean, it was I think it was 18 years, 19 years of full time pastoral ministry and and God, by his grace, just blessed the things. When I say blessed, I mean that his hand was resting powerfully on the ministries that I got to be a part of. And some of those were with Carl, you know, in both Arkansas and Alaska. But in desperation, we saw we sought God's face, humbled ourselves, fasted and prayed and saw God
move in undeniable ways. And it was in the midst of all of that success that I began to realize, wow, I've got some patterns in my life that don't seem to be all that healthy. Like I would read Isaiah 58 about the fasting that God designed and purposed fasting to be, and it didn't have pride as a result of fasting and performing. And I just realized, wow, I feel like I'm. I'm running too hot too long. I just knew that I couldn't continue the way that I
was living. And that's when I began my own healing journey.
What is key to that healing journey? Obviously there's there's nothing new under the sun, so there's no magic formula here. But what are those steps toward healing when someone is burdened and burnt out?
I think that's really easy. You know, we've got to start with ownership. Romans ten nine clearly lays out the pathway to salvation, and part of that is confessing Jesus as my new master. That's it. That that I'm transferring ownership of my life to him. He owns me now. That's got to be in place. If I'm still running my own life, there's no way I'm going to run it towards health and towards deeper relationship with Jesus. I've got to bow my heart, my knee to the living
God and confess his ownership of my life. Number two is found out of Jeremiah 213, where it says the nation of Israel has committed two grievous sins. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water. And they tried to do it on their own. And oh, by the way, doing it on your own lead in that passage to intense labor and total failure. That's a snapshot of what many of these guys and gals are experiencing in ministry intense labor and total failure.
You know, sometimes when you're walking with the Lord for some, some years, you can feel a quiet frustration like, God, I'm not. I'm not changing the way I want to. I have this desire to be more like you. I'm listening to sermons. I'm trying to read my Bible, and I feel like it's not working. What do you do with that emotion where you feel like you're doing the things to be faithful, but on the inside, you're not sure if it's actually changing you.
I think you've got to learn from it. I think more often than not, we shove those emotions down. I think what God wants us to do is learn from them. He obviously is allowing us to feel what we do for a reason, and it's to draw us back to him. It's like it's like when you're driving on the freeway and you get a red light that begins flashing on your dashboard, it's time to pull over and figure out what's wrong. Disruptive emotion is used by God at times in that same way to show me. Wow. Okay, hold
on a second here. I'm actually operating as my own master, my own center, my own provider, and as a result, I'm feeling stress and tension or discouragement or whatever's disruptive. Emotion teaches us in many different ways about what we're carrying on our own shoulders.
Wow. Last question. I got about a minute left, so give me the kind of the the Reader's Digest version. But sometimes our feelings can be fickle. When should you not lean so heavily on what it is you're feeling?
I think again, going back to where we just were, ownership, we got to practice ownership. Number two, as we feel we've got to submit our how we're feeling, how we're perceiving life to the Almighty. Psalm 139 does say that there's nowhere we can go where the Spirit of God, where we we can flee the presence of God.
Yes.
That we need to bow down, even bowing down right now as you're listening, as you're your listeners are connecting to this program and submitting their lives to God's ownership and asking for John 16, the counseling work of the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to lead them into all truth.
Thank you so much. Greg Dempster. Our guest this morning, uh, took some time out to be with us. If you want more, just text life to 800 555 78. 98 more on Christ Life Ministries. Just text life to 800 555 7898.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
I think back to my freshman year in college. There was a scripture verse that I scrawled out and used some colored highlighters, pink and yellow, and I put this up in my room. It happens to be the verse that YouVersion says was the verse of the year in 2020 for my freshman year in college was years before that, but it was Philippians 461. Oh boy. Philippians four six, which talks all about dealing with fear and anxiety. You
super dye. Will you pull up Philippians four six for me so that I can read it word for word? But I remember how I just needed something to go to. And there was looking back, there were plenty of things in my life that needed to be squared away for peace to come. There was a disconnect for sure. I was hoping that I could apply a verse and not deal with some of the things that needed to be dealt with. That doesn't work so well.
Not so much.
It's like, let's deal with some of this other stuff. I wish I would have had someone to tell me that at the time. But it's common to go to God's Word to try to grab on to something that's going to bring you some comfort. And we know that the Word of God is living and active, and it's powerful. It's sharper than a double edged sword. Useful for teaching and correcting. I didn't have all of that committed to memory at the time, but Philippians four six was the one that I had.
It's do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I want to know from you this morning what is that verse for you? That was the first one that stuck to you. Maybe you actively sought to remember it, wrote it out on a note card, or posted it up somewhere. Or maybe you just heard it and it just stuck to you. You didn't even try to remember it. Do you have one of those that verse that you first remember sticking 800, 555, 78, 98,
855 five 7898. You got a thought on this, Diana?
Oh, mine, without a doubt. I've talked about it. Definitely is in Romans. I mean, I could take all of Romans eight, but to narrow it down just a little bit more, it really is. It's 38 and 39. It just it says, I am convinced. Death, life, whatever. Angels, demons, nothing present, future, whatever. Neither height nor depth. Death. Death, rather, anything in all creation, in all creation, can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. Oh, that's.
A good.
One. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
So I want to hear from you this morning. And this isn't just necessarily like your favorite verse. Maybe it is, but this is the one that you heard it and it stuck to you. 855 five 7898 what was that first Bible verse or passage that you heard and it stuck? 855 five 7898 this is David Crowder. Somebody prayed.
You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
We are really talking about the Word of God today, celebrating the Word of God and its impact in the shaping of us. We've been in Psalm one. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. That person is described as like a tree planted, flourishing, prosperous. I'm asking you, what's the first
passage of scripture? Maybe a single verse that you remember sticking to you? You didn't just hear it, it stuck. 800 555 7898 Roberta calling in this morning from Chicago. Give me the verse and tell me, why is this the one that's stuck?
Okay, this is Matthew 625. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. And yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than the.
Yes.
Well, yeah. This was great to me because I was a single mom. You know, I had my daughter at 19 and, you know, we had a wonderful life. Jesus was always there. That was kind of my go to. You know, you get a little frightened. You're when you're a mom and you really have to produce and know that there's two of you that you're responsible for.
Sure.
So that was the one verse that I don't know how I actually came into it originally, but I was always reading Bible verses. They comforted me. And this one then kind of when I did read it kind of stuck with me. So like I say, it was my go to when I was raising my daughter when she was young, which, by the way, I'm now 84 and she's 65.
Roberta, I love that. Thank you so much. Calling in this morning from Chicago. I'm asking you, what's that verse for you? Not just a favorite verse, but it's the one that you heard it and it it stuck to you. You've held on to it. 805 55, 78, 98. Would love to hear your call. Your verse this morning. 805 55 7898.
She was trying to earn her way to God, but God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Love hearing and seeing these verses. That was the first verse for you that stuck to you. The Word of God is powerful. Sometimes you can be exposed to it for a lot of time and then and not really get it. That was true for me. But then a verse hits you and it sticks. 855 five 7898. What was that for you, Doug? First time caller from Wisconsin. What's that? First time that the word of God it stuck to you?
Um, what stuck to me was John 16. Um, truly, truly, I say to you, I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Curious. Doug, what do you think it was about that verse that stuck for you?
Okay, so I read that there was like a big charismatic movement in the late 70s, um, in our church, in and neighborhoods. And so I was in high school at the time, and a friend of mine, we studied the Bible a lot together. And, um, that was one that stuck to me. I was like I said, in high school, and now it's all more about, you know, I'm a little older today, and, um, it's important that I, you know, get back to, you know, my roots and start reading gospel.
Yeah. Is that something that you're wanting to do, Doug? Get back to really reading God's Word. Am I understanding that correctly?
That is correct. I got this app through the word I started in October of last year and it's awesome. So yeah. And then listening to you guys on the radio.
Awesome. Doug, first time caller from Wisconsin, I want to encourage you in that, that God's bringing you back to his word. Stay faithful in it and and watch how he's going to use it in your life. Uh, be encouraged. I appreciate your call this morning. Let's go to Tamela calling in this morning from Orland Park, Illinois. Tell us, Tamela, what's that verse that stuck to you?
Psalm 27. Psalm the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. And that has been my daily delight. My bishop, my late Bishop Jonathan Greer senior, gave me that scripture, um, and said it would be my life scripture, and it has proven
to be my life scripture. I've seen some dark days, but the light of God has shined on my path each and every time.
Tamela, awesome. Appreciate your call this morning from Illinois. Uh, what about you? What's that verse? The first one that you remember hearing that really stuck to you? 800 555 7898 Kim calling in this morning from Gilberts, Illinois. Uh, tell me, what's the verse for you that stuck with you.
From Matthew 1615 and 16, where Jesus asked the disciples, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answers, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. I taught that over 30 years ago to my Awana girls, and I taught them that. It's the question all of us have to answer for ourselves. Who do we say that Jesus is?
That's good. Matthew. That's Matthew five or Matthew 1615 through 16. Thank you, Kim, for calling in this morning. Says, but what about you? He asked, who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, now verse 16, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. You nailed it, Kim. That's the question that every one of us has to ask. It's who do you say I am? Not just what does everybody else say? What do you say? Who is Jesus to you? Thank you so much for calling in.
Let's go to John from Kentucky. John, give me that verse. That's the first one that you remember sticking to you.
Well, for me, the verse that stuck 25 years ago was Matthew chapter five, verse 16. And it says, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds, and praise your father who is in heaven. And it stuck because I was so excited, you know, when I heard the gospel and gave my life to Christ. But I felt really ill equipped to share. Yeah. And when I heard that verse, boy, it just it just told me once and for all that I didn't have to be a Bible scholar to share with the guy
next to me. I just had to let this light, this new light shine. And it would be compelling towards Jesus. And it has been for a long, long time.
John. You know what I. I love your call because the simplicity of that discovery that, you know, you think about when we come to the word honestly, sometimes we can come like, oh, I've, I've, I've read this before, but when we come with fresh expectation and John coming as a new believer going, I know I want to share my faith, but I feel ill equipped. And then reading that. John 516. Do you grab that for me, Jonathan?
Let me get.
It. I want to I want us to hear that one word for word and catch, catch the impact of it. Even if you've heard it many times before, that we can. We don't have to be a Bible student, a Bible scholar, to be able to share our faith in Christ with other people. You got that pulled up?
Uh, it was Matthew.
Matthew 516. Sorry about that. I think I think I gave you the wrong one.
No problem. I got it in the same way. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.
That people seeing in your life, the light of Christ, allows them to glorify their father in heaven. John. Really, really sweet call this morning. What do you say? What's that verse? That's the first one that you remember hearing that stuck 800 555 7898. Take a couple more calls here. 800 555 78. 98.
He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Death. You are dead to me. Where do we get that from? Well, the word of God. Death. Where is your sting? All of this we get from the Word of God. Everything we know to be true about life, about the world, about our identity. We get from the Word of God. Think about that for a minute. What's that passage of Scripture? That verse? That was the first one that you can remember hearing and it stuck to you. 855 five 7898 let's go to James calling in this
morning from Wisconsin. Tell me the first verse you remember sticking to you.
Um, the Romans 829. Why? Because they I've misquoted Romans 828 like probably everybody on the planet at some point that all things work together for good to them that love God. Yep. I forgot the part. Who are the called according to his purpose? Romans 829 defines his purpose beautifully. That we be conformed to the image of His son, the firstborn among many brethren.
That's a great observation. I'm going to pull this up because, James, you I want to I want to spend a little bit of stay on the can you stay on the line for about one more minute?
Sure.
Okay. So Romans 828 I want to bring this up because this is this is important. A lot of people do. Quote we know and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. That's often quoted that God works all things for the good. But you're right. Sometimes it gets separated from verse 29 for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he might be
the firstborn among many brothers. So the things that God is, are, is working for good are for the conforming. Conforming to the image of his son. Those things are linked together. James does that. When that hits, does that still hit you today? When you even as you're as you're sharing it? Because I, I appreciate it. Does it still hit you in a, in a deep place?
Oh you betcha.
Awesome. James, thank you so much from Wisconsin. Uh, hold on the line. I want to get James a Carling crew prize pack. I appreciate him calling in this morning. Let's go with Eliana from Florida. What's that first verse that you remember hearing and it stuck to you?
Oh, hi. Yes. Um, I was 17 at that time, and I grew up in Brazil. And between mountains, I was surrounded by mountains. I was feeling very lost at 17, not knowing what I was going to do and this and that. Matt and I decided to open the Bible and that verse came up. Psalm 121 I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help comes from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Until this day, that verse pops up all the time. Every time I'm in a situation that I
don't know what to do, who to go to. I'm a widow now, um. And every event that I have, which I have many, I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? Not from this person or that, or this or that. It comes from the Lord, straight through him. And he has helped me all those years. I am the late 60s now, and God's Word is amazing. It's alive.
Wow. From Florida. Thank you so much. I did you go there with her in your mind that.
You're.
You live in a mountainous region and you're searching for direction. You opened the Bible and you see, I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. That's almost breathtaking, thinking about it like that, right? It's amazing how powerful calls this morning. Let's go to Robert from Bolingbrook. Robert, tell me, what's that verse? The first one that you can remember hearing that it really stuck to you.
Uh, the one that I love so much is found in Psalms 139, verse 23. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.
Beautiful. Why that one, Robert? What's that done in your soul?
Because I have a desire to be more like God. And God knows me better than anybody. And I want him to look inside of me and show me the good and the bad. But the aim is to whatever God says to conform to it, fix it. Be more like God, because I think we can handle life a whole lot better if we were more like Jesus.
I think you'll get 100% agreement on that one. Robert. Thank you so much for calling in this morning from Bolingbrook. Let's squeeze one more in here. Let's go. Willie from Chicago. Willie, tell me, what is that verse for you? That's the first one that you remember hearing and it's stuck.
It's not so much. It's the first one. It was what stuck to me for 40 years plus. Okay. I trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not to thine own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledge him. I wasn't about a Bible person, but I was around people. That was Bible, you know. And and God delivered me from a drug addiction, walking and talking. But I had to have something to go by. So every time something wouldn't go. I'd just say, trust in the Lord. Yes, I would put it in my spirit.
Trust in the Lord.
Trust in the Lord my heart.
And lean not to thine own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledge him. It made no difference whether the police picked me up, or whether I was doing something that was damnable. You know, I just knew that trusting in the Lord would get me to where he got me.
Yeah, because we know that when we trust in ourselves. Willie, I'm sure you've seen, like the rest of us, that trusting in our own understanding does not lead us to a good place. Love that. Proverbs three five through six. Leaning on the understanding of the Lord. That's when we walk in true freedom. Fantastic calls this morning. Thank you.
Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. Super dei is in the crew, it's curl and crew on Moody Radio.
It's been a great morning so far. Hearing of all of your scripture verses, especially the ones that have really stuck. It's been a real pleasure. If you missed anything, check the show cast. If you want the show, just text show to 800 555 7898. Text show to 855 five 7898. Coming up here on Carlin Crew, we've got a special guest if you need to freshen up your quiet time. She's got some important, helpful tips for you.
He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's Carlin crew on Moody Radio.
Usually pretty soon after you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you start to hear some of the terminology that gets thrown around. People talk about doing their devos or having their quiet time or their devotional life. And maybe you didn't know what that meant right away, but you didn't really want to ask, what is this thing called quiet time? Or it's possible that you've been in Christ for a lot of years. You know exactly what people are talking
about when they say quiet time. But somehow that close connection with Jesus in that time carved out to spend with him, always feels like it's missing something. Like you're there. But man, are you meeting with Jesus. I want to introduce a special guest Ashreeta ChuChu. This is such a. Your heart is to help people cultivate this quiet time. This intimate time with the Lord. Uh, first of all, welcome to Carl and crew. You're one of our absolute favorites.
Why do you find such joy in talking about this topic in particular?
Because it is just such a mind blowing invitation to come into this space of not just knowing about God, not just learning facts about him and Bible trivia, but actually knowing him and being known by him. A space in which your heart is open to the Spirit of God, and he searches you and speaks to you and leads you in ways that affect your day to day life? That is what I am passionate about helping people delight
in the presence of Jesus. It's so much more than what we typically think of when we think of quiet time.
Ashreeta ChuChu, our guest right now. She is a national speaker, best selling author, founder of One Thing Alone Ministries, which is an online ministry that helps overwhelmed women find joy in Jesus. You mentioned the things that we feel like we're supposed to do. So most people would say, okay, my quiet time. It should consist of some time reading God's Word. So I'm opening my Bible. Maybe I have a devotional book to sort of support me in that, and then maybe I close my Bible and then, okay,
it's time to pray. So I close my eyes and I sit there and I talk to God, or I try to. And then after maybe 15, 20 minutes, maybe an hour even, I'm on to the next thing. Sometimes it can feel like that can become the routine, but we don't feel like it's doing anything. And is it okay for me to even say that?
Doesn't it feel kind of like taboo? Like we shouldn't talk about being bored with a Bible. We shouldn't talk about this unease of am I missing something here? Right? Surely there's got to be something more. And when we talk about quiet time, I mean, even the term itself is kind of like it's got to be quiet. But what if you have toddlers running around the house? What if you're charged with caring with an elder parent who is in your home and needs your attention? What if
your life is not quiet? And even when you sit down to try to spend time in quiet, it doesn't go the way you expect it to or the clouds don't part to to this divine revelation. And I think we need to be careful, even with good practices or best practices. Right? What you described and what's often prescribed to Christians, it's not Word of God. Like there's nowhere in the Bible where God says, thou shalt read your Bible every day. Thou shalt spend 60 minutes in study
or prayer. We need to be careful to not turn into these legalistic things that we ought to do to somehow secure the approval or pleasure of God. If you are in Christ, then when the father looks at you, he sees the perfect righteousness of Jesus. You can't add anything else to that. So let's stop trying to earn God's approval with what we do. That's legalism. That's trying to perform for him. Instead, I like to shift the perspective and the conversation into what is God's invitation to us.
And it is always relationship. So if we want to talk about reading the Bible, it's not to read the Bible to check something off a list. It is asking God, would you open my eyes to understand how you reveal yourself here in the word, to delight in the fact that God wants us to know him, and he does that as we read Scripture. If it's prayer, let's delight in conversation with God. It's not just running through a laundry list of, you know, my kids right now are like, God,
would you help us go on this trip? And would you give us these kinds of neighbors? And would you put a chick fil A in our neighborhood? Like, right. They have this wish list about and hey, God wants to hear the desires of our hearts, but he wants that conversation. He wants us, yes, to share with him. But also do we pause to listen to what he might want to say to us? The good Shepherd still speaks, so in some ways it might be doing some of
the same actions, but the heart motivation is different. Jesus says to the Pharisees, you read the scriptures and yet you miss me. They speak of me. So one of my prayers, Ali years ago that totally transformed how I approach this is God, may I not miss you in Scripture. Would you open my eyes to see and savor Jesus in all of these things?
Ashrita ChuChu, our guest right now. Coming up, I'm going to ask her about a pretty big trip her family just took. And when I say big trip, I mean like months long. They were out of their house on a pretty epic adventure, and I'm going to ask her about it and how it has affected her relationship with God. More coming up here on Karl and crew.
You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
We've got Ashreeta ChuChu with us right now. National speaker, best selling author, founder of One Thing Alone Ministries. Just back from a pretty epic adventure with your family. Tell tell me about this trip you just took.
Oh my gosh, it was epic. We spent two months in the southwest, um, eight weeks of road tripping with our camper like travel trailer, and we lived, I think, a total of 56 days in a space that is about the size of our bathroom and closet put together. Wow. And in so many ways, we were like, are we
crazy for doing this? But it's the culmination of a years long years and years of dreaming and planning, um, and really just kind of following a hunch that for our family in particular, we could use more time together, away from our screens, away from our routines, together in God's nature, adventuring and exploring together. And it was just such a good thing for our family.
As you spent time really outdoors, because obviously you were in your camper for some of it, but you got to really stop and pause and kind of take in the beauty of all that God's created. What did that do for your relationship with God?
Yeah. I mean, how much time do you have it? Part of it, Ali, is just a reminder of how small we are. I think of how Scripture says, what is man that you are mindful of him. We got to hike in the Rocky Mountains. We stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon. We got to see just ancient cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. Just so many incredible natural wonders and also like human made things on this trip. And again and again it was the majesty and beauty
of God in creation. And even though, you know, just kind of to tie this segment with a previous one, my my quiet time quote unquote didn't look anything like what it is at home. It was a whole lot more time hiking outdoors. And as a family we memorized Psalm 121. I lift my eyes up to the hills.
Where does my help come from? And as we would hike down into Bryce Canyon and see these different rock formations, telling our children look at the handiwork of God, and that he would be so good as to give this as a gift to us. What does that say about the heart of God the Father toward us? So many organic, beautiful moments of teaching that would just then boomerang right
back to my heart. Ali. Yeah, like I was there telling my kids something and then it was like God's Spirit saying, no, this is for you too.
It's so beautiful. You know, you took me there just in my mind. And I think about even. I live in a big city. I live in Chicago, and I can sometimes I'll just get to a place and I still see skyscrapers, but I'll just go to a place where I can see lots of grass and lots of trees and some flowers, and I'll just try to look up at the sky and look at the trees and look at the birds. And it's, you know, it's nowhere near the epic adventure that you went on. But there's
something about just getting outside. Even if you live in an urban setting and just taking your eyes up a little bit and talk a little bit about this idea of having a devotional personality. Sometimes we think about devotions as kind of one set way. But what do you mean by the devotional personality?
Yeah. So for years now I've been asking our readers online, like, how do you best connect with God? And I was intrigued that some people, like you said, it's when they stand on the beach and they see the waves coming in or they go out to that urban park and watch the birds fly over their heads. That is when they feel closest to God. And other readers were like, no, no, no, it's it's when I'm doing an inductive Bible study and I learn something new that I didn't know before. Like,
that just expands my heart. And I feel so close to God and others like, no, no, no. It's when I'm out. Like serving those in need, serving in the soup kitchen, being the hands and feet of Jesus, delivering a meal. That is when I feel closest to God. And over the years I was like, I really think God has given us different personality types, so to speak. Like how we connect to him, how we feel close
to him. And I think we do the church a disservice when we compare ourselves to each other, when we say, oh, I'm a better Christian, because look how much time I spend doing X, Y, and Z and you don't. Instead of celebrating the diversity of the body of Christ, that God, our creator, made us in different ways to connect with him. So we put together a quiz to kind of invite people into the freedom of discovering. How did God create you to connect with him? Is it watching the sunrise?
Is it doing an inductive study? Is it, you know, going out and serving the poor or putting on worship music and singing at the top of your lungs? I think we can all do all of these things, but especially if you're feeling bored in your quiet time or you feel like you're stuck in a spiritual rut. Let me just encourage listeners to take that quiz and maybe try a new, fresh, creative way to connect with God.
Ashreeta ChuChu. One thing alone Ministries if you want that devotional personality quiz. Other great resources on her website, as well as a YouTube channel where she has guided prayers, Bible study tips you can get all of that. Just text Delite to 855 five 7898. If you want resources from Ashreeta, just text Delite to 855 five 7898.