So how much longer, lord? Really? I mean, how much longer? This is not fair. It keeps coming back to. Yep. It might not be fair. It absolutely might not be fair.
Yeah.
Don't shrink back. Hold your confidence. Remember the possession that you have that supersedes everything that this world has to offer. Have faith and preserve your soul.
Well, hello again, and welcome to the Trim the Wick podcast. I'm Dan.
And I'm Becky.
And we are back with you again this week, and we are glad that you are with us.
We are.
We are always excited to do this, and we just wanted to, right off the bat, say thank you for all of you who have been listening to the podcast and, giving us likes and encouraging us. If you want to know more about what we're doing, you can go to our website. It's Matthew two five seven.com. and that will let you know more about what Becky and I do, the ministry that we're doing around the world. First of all, we just kind of wanted to say, hey, how are you doing?
That's a loaded question these days, isn't it? Yeah.
Ah. Is everything okay? If you're looking on the news or reading Twitter or xdev, as it's called now, or you're just kind of living life right now, seems like everything's really difficult.
A lot of people are facing a lot of things, and we've been talking about this a lot recently. It's, you know, you've got the grand scale stuff. You have the. The political state of our nation as we're going into another election cycle.
And election time is always difficult. It is.
It's always just craziness and the dichotomy.
And just the constant inundation of stuff.
Right. It just seems M to invite division and argument and walking on eggshells around friends and things like that, stuff that's not good. And, you know, so we've got the. The election cycle going on. We've got wars and rumors of wars, right?
Yeah.
Pretty much every corner of the globe is on fire in that way. Individuals that we have been speaking to, family, friends, work, clients, connections. It seems like everybody's going through something. There's. They're sick. Their family member is sick. They've just lost a loved one. They've come up against financial difficulties, and then on top of that, they're just trying to do the normal day
to day life stuff. Right. We've got air conditioners that break down and tires that go flat and groceries that need to be purchased and meals that need to be cooked. And I thinking that has to happen to make day to day decisions. Right.
It does seem like there's just this added layer of stress that seems to be out there on everything right now. And, you know, we've talked to a couple of our friends and family members and stuff who are dealing with things, and it just seems like everywhere you turn, it's like, what's behind this door, right? What's the next thing? Oh, we got this fixed. What else is going to break? You know? And we just dealt with that just the other day with a tire situation. It's like,
oh, okay, here you go. Here, you need this tire. Oh, by the way, the other tire is, really bad, too. So, you, know, it's just those things. It just seems like right now, there's just constant stress. Even when things are good, right? They're not great. They're just. They're just good. Okay. We can keep moving on. We can keep moving forward. None of this surprises God at all, right?
He said that there would be trials in this world, right?
He told us specifically that we would be going through these things. And also, we know just because the fallen nature of humanity at large, we know we're going to come against things, and there's going to be stuff that's going to come against us. It's going to be, you know, there's thorns and there's thistles.
Right. Sometimes it's not even a straight up attack of the enemy. Sometimes it's just, this is the world in which we live. Our fallenness is coming up against other people's fallenness, and it's. It's a sight to behold sometimes.
Right. So Becky and I, when we were talking about this and kind of putting some of this together, we were kind of, like, going. We just felt like it was time for a big encouragement.
Yeah.
And we wanted to kind of share some scripture with you and talk about it and just talk about how God's encouraging us and how he will encourage you.
Yeah. And do hear it from that standpoint that it's a place where God's been working with us. I was. You know, I was describing some of this stuff that we've been going through lately to a friend recently, and I told her, I said, it feels like that it's just one of those times in life where the enemy is trying really hard, throwing things at you and going, where can I find the hole in the armor?
Right?
Like, what's gonna make it through and really mess with you? And, thus far, praise God, he has kept me strong and all, but it's that onslaught, that weight of the constant onslaught. Ah, we are not the only ones.
No. And so we think, we believe this is going to be a timely message for everyone, because we know that there are so many, that this is what you go through, and there is that battle. And God told us there was going to be a battle. That's why he told us to put the armor on, right? So we knew there was going to be a battle. But even the hardened soldier that's out in it every once in a while needs a selahe. Yes. Needs that moment to just. Just relax, you know, that's why it was so important.
I remember when I was in the.
Gulf war, the first one, you need to. The first one, sorry, I gotta classify that now.
Bush won, that one. It was so nice. We were there and we worked and we. It was this high stress, high stress, high stress. And then we got this thing called r and rhino, which is, rest and relaxation. And we got to go away and go water skiing for a day and got to play, had a big barbecue and stuff like that. So there is time. Even soldiers that are in the midst of the battle, you need a break, you need a breather. You need to have some refreshing come upon you.
But you don't get to give up, right?
No, because you know what? Even that after the refreshing what we did, we went right back out to the battle, you know, went right back to the front lines, and that's what we need. And so we're hoping that today, that's what we're going to talk about. And if you're going through some things, even if you're not going through something, we know you probably will be very.
Soon, or you're ministering to somebody who is, or definitely.
So we just want to encourage you with some of these words today. So you want to start off with a verse. Beck, that was kind of, encouraging to you.
So, yeah, there was one over. In Hebrews, chapter ten, the author is speaking to the church. And he says, in verse 32, he says, but remember the former days when, after being enlightened, right, when you first came to Christ, you endured a, great conflict of sufferings. Partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations. Some of us are being made public spectacles of, for one thing or another in our lives, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.
Some of us are standing alongside others that are being mistreated. You showed sympathy to the prisoners you accepted joyfully the seizure of your property. Y'all, I'm struggling with that one. Not happy about being taxed to death over here, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one in Christ Jesus. Right. You have an enduring one, therefore. And here's where he really spoke to me and said, hey, you know, because I was. I was in a place
where I was losing confidence. I was going, you know, I'm not sure I can stand under this. I'm not sure I can keep going with this. I'm not sure that the path I've chosen is really the right one. Did I hear him right? You know, you have those questions. Come in. Chapter ten, verse 35 of Hebrews. He says, therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. Hang on to it. For you have need of endurance so that when you've done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
For yet in a very little while, hope in those words, right? Yes, in a very little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we, we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but we are of those who have faith
to the preserving of the soul. And, y'all, I have had to hang on to that, as we've been going through some of this stuff, because you do, you know, you kind of want to go when you're getting tested in so many areas, and when you feel like the hole in the armor hasn't been found yet, but it's imminent. and you just kind of want to crawl back in bed, pull up the covers and shrink back, right? You want to crawl in your hole and shrink
back. There's such encouragement there that we're not the first to have faced things like this. We will not be the last to have faced things like this. This is the walk of faith, that there are things that are going to come against us. There are times when you're going to be mocked and made fun of in the public square. You're going to have your intentions or your testimony questioned or belittled or diminished. You're going to face a number
of things, and we're going to need endurance. And the things that give us endurance are the remembering that we do have a better possession and a lasting one than anything that we own.
Right?
Right. Our homes, our cars, our clothing. We can lose all of that.
Yeah.
And we still have a better and a lasting reward. That faith that we have, that. That remembering and that trusting in the possession which is ours, which is the eternal life in Jesus Christ. Right. That possession, that faith in that possession, that hope that we look forward to, preserves our souls.
Yeah.
It gives our mind and our will and our emotions something to rest in. Yeah, yeah, I've needed that.
Yes. And we do. And this is why faith is so important and why we really need to build up that shield of faith.
Yeah.
And you know, one of the things that the early church prayed for was to increase their faith. Jesus even told, told the disciples, I pray that you increase your faith because the faith is the shield that is your biggest protection against the enemy's arrows and snares. That's the biggest protection against the things that are coming against you. Not even just from the enemy, but the things that you deal with. The shield is not just in battle, but you use the shield to protect you
in all kinds of things. When you're walking through the forest or you're walking through different things, the shield you can put up on your side or on your back, it protects you from the sun. There's a lot of things that, the shield does to protect you, and that is the faith that you have.
Well, and one of the beautiful things about that shield, too, is that it's not just yours to carry. At the time that these things were written, the shields that they would have referenced were shields that would be held in a line together as well.
Right?
There would be, yes. Each individual had their own shield, and it was imperative that you had your own shield. But if you got into some real conflict, you and your brothers in arms. Yeah, your brothers in arms. There you go. That's a good term. Leave it to the soldier to come up with the right term. You and your brothers in arms would link up together.
Right.
And my shield of faith interlocked with your shield of faith and interlocked with their shield of faith. And somebody else's shield of faith is running up over top in the turtle formation. Right. And we're all covered together against the bigger stuff.
And again, this is where there are certain things when you're battling, when you're fighting, that seems basic. Oh, yeah. Okay, I need to have faith. But the first thing you lose when you're in a battle is you start.
Losing faith because you get distracted.
Can God really help me through this? Am I going to be able to make my, you know, I don't think I can make my bills, so maybe I need to start looking for a new job. Maybe I need to, you know, maybe. Maybe we need to move. Or maybe you start losing faith where God said, no, no, no, I have you here for this, right? You know, I am going to carry you through this, and the first thing you do is you start doubting that you start. And then what do you do
when you doubt, when you lose faith? You're putting that shield down, which is opening you up for even more attack.
Right?
And so, again, that's where these illustrations the writer Hebrews is giving us is this idea that, you know, your faith is something that is going to protect you, propel you. And I love how it talks about the endurance that we've got to have, because the thing with endurance is, is that if I decided, you know, what, I'm going to run a marathon, well, I might be able to physically make 23 miles, or what is it? 23 point whatever miles it is.
I don't know. I've never done one.
I might actually be able to physically move my body from one spot, you know, point a to point b. But, oh, my gosh, I'll probably have to spend a month or two, you know, in recovery. In recovery, you know, for my. The blisters and everything else, because I don't have any endurance to run that distance. I might be able to physically make it, but I'm not running it right. I'm not running it with confidence. I'm not running it with a. Anything to win the race. it would literally just be
pure survival, you know? And God doesn't want us to live a life of pure survival.
Right?
He wants us to live an abundant life, a life of victory. That means we're gonna have to do some work to build up endurance.
There's training involved.
There's training involved, and there's things that we're gonna have to do to put ourselves in that situation so that when it's time to run the race, we can run it. And there's a lot of things that when we go through these trials, when we go through these tribulations, when we go through these struggles, you know, we look at them as an attack, as, you know, it's just the devil having his way with me or, oh, I'm, just as bad as job. When a lot of times these attacks,
they're building us. They're actually building our faith. They're growing us. If we are going through these attacks and we're getting stronger and stronger and stronger in our faith, it's actually building more endurance in us than tearing us down. And that's the double side of this.
It's that holding on to the confidence and understanding that the confidence is not in ourselves. The confidence is in who we are in him.
Right.
That, he's. He's gonna give us what we need.
Yep. How do we endure? We're going through the struggle. We're going through the fight. How do we get from point a to point b in victory and not just survive and licking our wounds and bandaging ourselves afterwards? I believe that God has kind of placed some things for us to help us in these times of struggle, these times of attacks, these times of when the world is just crazy and it's almost hard to find which way is
up. So I wanted to talk about Romans chapter twelve, because Romans chapter twelve is an incredible chapter. First, it starts off by presenting our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And it's a spiritual act of worship. That idea of being a living sacrifice is an oxymoron, because when you sacrifice something, you kill it.
Right?
You kill it. That's the whole thing of sacrifice. Sacrifice, blood, death. Well, Jesus was that sacrifice for us. So now the man who I was has been crucified with Christ, as Paul says. So now I'm still living my life because Jesus died for me.
So.
Now I live a life devoted to him. As a living sacrifice, I live for him. In verse two, it says, do not be conformed, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And we've talked about this and, how the Holy Spirit helps us do that and transforms us and renews our mind. But I wanted to go down to verse nine because I think this is where we can build up that endurance. I believe that God can just work in us and build that faith and that endurance that we need.
So let's look in Romans chapter twelve, starting in verse nine, it says, let love be genuine, abhor, what is evil, hold fast to what is good. And I think this is something that's actually easy, but it's getting harder and harder and harder because our society is pushing evil on us.
The definitions of what's evil and what's good seem to be changing on a societal level. Right?
Constantly. And even in church world. You know, even in the religious world, we're seeing how what was evil is being called good, and what was good is now being called evil. And there is a battle there. So I love what Paul's writing here. He says, let love be genuine. And then he compares it to love as an abhorring evil. So genuine love abhors evil, but holds fast to what is good. So, love isn't just love that's.
Really important because one of those things where truth is being turned on its head is that if you abhor anything, then it's hatred.
Yeah.
Right. No, God hates what's evil because what's evil seeks to destroy the things that he loves, the people he loves, those that he poured out his life for, and he hates what's trying to destroy them.
Yes.
and if we have the same love for one another that God has, we're going to hate the things that are seeking to destroy our loved ones.
We are, as we follow the scriptures, we need to let our love be genuine and abhorred the things that are evil. And then verse ten says, love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. M that is something again.
So wait, we're not in competition with one another.
We're not in competition with one another. We're lifting each other up and we're loving one another and a brotherly affection. verse eleven, we're going to kind of go through, then we'll talk some more on this. Is that, Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord.
Do the do with energy.
We can't. What did you say in your verse? We can't.
We can't shrink back. We can't throw away our confidence.
We can't throw away our confidence. We can't shrink back. We can't be slothful in zeal. We must be fervent in spirit to serve the Lord. Verse twelve, rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. You want to have help getting through these things. You want to have the endurance to hold your faith and to stand strong to what's going on. Well, we've got to rejoice in hope, right? We've got to have joy again.
That mirrors that Hebrews passage of holding on to what kept you joyful through all of that persecution and tribulation was knowing that you had a better possession and a lasting one in Christ. Yeah, we got to hang on to that stuff.
The second part there. Be patient in tribulation. Now, to me, why would you say that? Because to me, when I'm going through tribulation, I don't know how many times the words out of my mouth is, when is this going to end? You know? Right. Can this just end now?
Like I'm done.
I'm done now. It's time for this to be over. But what God's telling us and teaching us is that we've got to be patient in that tribulation. Man, that is difficult.
It is.
But again, these are things that are going to build us up, that are building the endurance in us and our faith, and then be constant in prayer.
Constant, constant, constant in prayer.
Constant.
That is something that you and I have really built into life over the years is that there's a lot of different takes on how you should and shouldn't do prayer life. And I grew up with a lot of, you know, you have a devotional life, right? You get up in the morning, you read your bible, you pray, and then you do what you're doing and, you know, you get up and you put on your armor for the day and then you walk. The problem is, is that our relationship with God is a relationship. It's an
ongoing. You would be very upset with me if I got up in the morning, said hello to you, spoke to you, and then didn't talk to you the rest of the day because I had done my due diligence.
Right. I prefer that you talk to me all day long.
Yeah. Okay. Remember that, that's what God wants too.
Yes.
Constant in prayer. And that's keeping that relationship fed. Helps us to keep that faith fed. Because the more we talk to the one who is our possession, that is more lasting than this temporary stuff that we're going through, the easier it is to remember, that he's the one that's got us.
Yep. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Verse 13. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. You know, again, these are these things that build endurance in us. They are building faith in us. These are the things that help us through the struggles of life. Because what happens a lot of times is when we're going through something, we isolate ourselves, we, actually pull back, we shrink. We shrink back. And so we're not wanting to do
that. So in doing these things, these are going to help keep us from isolating ourselves, from shrinking back and, from losing heart and losing hope.
And this doesn't contributing to the needs of the saints and practicing hospitality, that's a lot like that. Linking together of those shields of faith. Right. That's. We're not supposed to let each other shrink back. No, because again, it's abhorring what's evil. Right. I hate anything that's going to destroy my brothers and sisters and shrinking back. Isolating is going to lead to their destruction.
so if I see somebody shrinking back because they're just buried under these needs that are going on in their lives, I'm going to go contribute to their needs so that their faith is built.
Right?
Right. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna offer hospitality. I'm gonna say, come on over. Come to my place, have a little bit of respite. Let's talk. Yeah, let's pray together. Let's build one another up in our most holy faith. Right?
There you go.
You know, but I do. I think because of that societal thing, right? It's that simultaneous. We want to be seen, but we don't want to be seen. I want you to see my carefully curated version of myself. And I don't want you to see where the holes are and where the needs are. And yet we're meant to build one another up in those places.
Yeah. The idea this perfect Christian who doesn't have any warts or doesn't have any problems and stuff.
Yeah, it doesn't exist.
Is such a damaging idea because we all live this life. We all know that there's struggles. And the sooner we can get over that false feeling and false humility of. I can't show anybody my faults. I can't burden anyone with the things that I carry. Once we get over that, we can see how God really can bless us and draw the body together. Which we're all one body together. A couple more verses here before we, finish out.
But this is where it gets really difficult. Like, if that was not the easy part at the beginning there, but verse 14, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. I'm going to say that again. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Let me tell you, you turn the news on, you watch, you know, you drive around town, whatever. That is a difficult, difficult thing. Even though they're not
persecuting you directly, boy, it's. It's hard not to curse people who do things bad to you.
Well, and especially when you understand that that's not just talking about don't use swear words at them.
Right.
that's not saying don't use swear words at them. That's saying, do nothing, speak, and wish ill upon them.
Yep. And that is,
Man, that's hard.
Yeah. While we're going through this again, we gotta remember we're building endurance, right. For the fight and for the battle. Verse 15. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. You know, as believers, we should.
Emotions are gonna happen.
We should be encouraged and excited when good things happen to our brethren and to people in general. A, friend of ours gets. Has a. Has a baby. And they're excited.
We throw a party.
We throw a party. We get excited for them. We rejoice with them. a friend who has a loss in the family. We weep with them. Even if they're not even good friends, right. Even if these are work acquaintances that kind of drive us nuts.
We care.
We do. We are. To rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Again. This is what it really means, you know, to walk in faith. Verse 16. We're gonna keep going here. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. In other words, we should just love one another and encourage one another.
Not think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Nope.
Yep. Mingle with them all.
Yep. Never be wise in our own sight. There you go. Remember, we should be humble. True humility. And then verse 17. Repay no one evil for evil. You know, this is one of the things that it's hard when you're teaching your children, you know, well, they hit me. Well, you can't hit your sister back. You can't hit your brother. But they hit me. No, you can't hit your brother or sister back. We never
repay evil for evil. And it gets frustrating because when you see people that are doing straight up evil. To us or to the things of.
God or to people we love.
Yeah, it's hard not to bow up, get your cackles up and go, you know what? I'm going to do something to them.
It doesn't mean you don't speak the truth. But there's a difference between speaking the truth and making sure everybody knows who they are. Right? There's a difference.
Yep. Let's keep going here. Wow. Verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you. Live peaceable with all. Do whatever you can. Verse 19. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. The idea that we have to trust God, that he's the one who is the true justice. That my justice is not true justice. My justice is a justice that is built out of anger, selfishness, desire to be right, desire to win the
conflict. But God's vengeance and his justice is the only one that's right.
And waiting for his justice in his timing can have you sitting there going, so how much longer, lord? Really? I mean, how much longer? This is not fair. It keeps coming back to. Yep. It might not be fair. It absolutely might not be fair.
Yeah.
Don't shrink back.
No.
Hold your confidence. Remember the possession that you have that supersedes everything that this world has to offer. Have faith and preserve your soul.
I just want to finish out the chapter here. Verse 20, do not avenge yourselves. It says to the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so, you heap burning coals on his head.
That is, not to be your motivation, though, y'all.
You know, I wonder when Paul was writing that, you know, if he was throwing a zinger in there or was he just trying to encourage them and say, listen, they are already condemned.
Right?
You don't need to condemn them.
Right.
They are already condemned. And in doing so, they're going to burn and feeding them and encouraging and giving them drink.
It exposes their condemnation, and it's going.
To be like, they're going to burn, like, it's going to have hot coals on your head.
Yeah. That is not a statement of do this in glee.
Right.
Because you can take pleasure in the fact that you're here heaping condemnation on them. You know, it's a, Don't join them in their condemnation.
And that's hard.
It is.
Especially when you're going through something. Verse 21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. It is hard right now. There is a lot that's happening in the world. There's a lot, personally, for a lot of people, and, you know, we've always heard this phrase, or I've heard the phrase so many times that, you know, if you're not going through something
right now, it's just a matter of time. You will be going through something or, you know, somebody that's going through something difficult. And we just want to encourage you with this message that keep the faith.
Yeah. Help each other keep the faith, y'all.
Encourage one another. Build each other up, you know, let your love be genuine. Build that endurance. That's going to carry you through the end.
Yeah. There is a beautiful, glorious inheritance awaiting us.
Right. Which is exactly what you read in Hebrews.
And there is a possession that is ours now. And I think that's something we lose sight of. The possession that we have, the better possession in Hebrews 1034 that we have, the better possession that we have is life in Jesus Christ. We hold that now and we forget and we get distracted by the very loud life that's going to pass away eventually.
Yeah.
We hold that eternal possession, that relationship with the father through Jesus Christ, empowered and sealed by the Holy Spirit. We possess that now.
Yeah.
Hold on to it. Don't lose sight of that. In the face of temporary troubles in the face of finances that, I mean, eventually aren't going to matter to you anymore. In the face of opinions and persecutions of people saying unfair things, which eventually they will not be able to do anymore. In light of what you have, in light of what you hold in Jesus Christ, let that stuff be in its proper place, which is not the
focus of your life. Hold the faith, look at what really does matter, and hold each other up through the tough stuff.
This is, a message that is hitting with you, and you need an encouragement or you would like to just encourage us, please let us know. Write a comment, in one of the, comment bar there. also you can email us at danathew two five seven.com and let us know if you're going through something. We would love to pray for you and encourage you. If, you want to pray for us and encourage us, we would love to have that as well.
Please do.
Yes. And reach out to us in that way. Guys, thank you so much. Becky and I's heart here is we really want to encourage and we want to trim away burnt up, charred up areas of our lives and get rid of that so that the spirit can flow freely through us and we can burn bright. even when we're going through tough times and stuff, we want to be able to burn bright. So, guys, thank you so much for hanging out with us this week, and.
We'Ll see you next week.
Okay? Love you.
Bye.