S2E27 Wrapping up for the summer!
Miss and Rachel discuss the last season of podcasting and what they learned this year through the processing of creating episodes with you guys in mind. They will be back sometime in the next school year because they take off for the summer. See you then!
S2E26 Being slow to speak, especially in conflict
Are we slow to speak and quick to listen? Melissa and Rachel cannot say that's something that has come naturally to them! In fact, Rachel is still pretty much straight up bad at it! Melissa shares how God taught her to do just this thing, especially in conflict, and in the end it saved her marriage! We truly cannot know what God can do in the "space" unless we allow there to be "space". Tune in to this episode to hear what the Bible says on the topic and how you can be challenged today to grow in this area (with Rachel!).
Show Notes:
James 1:19 Be quick to listen, slow to speak.
Proverbs 29:20 Do you see people who speak too quickly? There is more hope for a foolish person than them.
Ecclesiastes 3:7 (paraphrase) There is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. But when? How? To discern the difference between knowing when to speak or be silent, we need to humbly seek the Lord through prayer, immerse ourselves in scripture and ask for his wisdom and discernment.
Challenge: Take inventory of yourself in conflict, are you quick to listen and slow to speak? How might your conflicts change if you applied the verse from Ecclesiastes 3:7?
S2E25 Living with being misunderstood
When other people don't see us for who we are, or misunderstand our character, it hurts. It's painful and yet sometimes we aren't meant to defend ourselves. Sometimes we have to surrender the situation to God and trust Him to resolve it when and how He sees fit. Miss and Rachel share about their experiences with the difficult subject and share an abundance of scripture to discuss what the Bible says on the topic.
Show Notes:
1. It sucks. It’s one of the worst feelings ever, IMO
Psalm 56:8 (GNTD) You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren't they listed in your book?
2. Jesus was almost constantly misunderstood, even by his best friends and family!
Mark 3:21 When his family heard about this (people crowding around him and the insanity of his growing ministry), they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
3. We don’t have to defend ourselves
Psalm 62:5-7, David said this: “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter”
Psalm 121 “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Romans 12:19 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.”
1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Proverbs 24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
4. Stand confident in who we are in Christ
In Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT) we see David praying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you.”
Jeremiah 12:3 (NLT) “But as for me, Lord, you know my he
S2E24 Biblical & personal convictions (& let’s talk about legalism too!)
In this episode Miss and Rach talk about the difference between Biblical convictions and personal convictions, and what happens when we put our personal convictions on others—legalism! They share examples from their own lives and talk through what the Bible says about it.
Show notes:
There are things the Bible lays out and we should attempt, as best we can, to interpret, apply and adhere to them (murder, adultery, lying, etc)
There are things the Bible is not clear about and each person should rely on the Holy Spirit to direct, discern and convict. (Alcohol, tv, how we spend our money, etc)
Then there is legalism, and that’s trying to impose a personal conviction on someone else, as if they are conditions for salvation, or meant to be universal standards for holiness. That gets real ugly real fast:Self righteousness (I am better than you, or holier than you, feeling morally superior)
Pride (a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements
The Bible calls us to live with grace and humility, the opposite of those two things:Forgive others and bear with one another (Colossians 3:13), treat others as we want to be treated (Matthew 7:12) Love others (Romans 13:8, Matthew 5:44) this all points to grace.
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Humility - Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
“Those who major in legalistic religion often fail the final exam. If you miss love, you flunk the course. Compassion is a vitaL sign of spirituality. Disregarding others reveals ungodliness, regardless of how much Holy talk or Christian speak you use. (1 john 4:20)”
What do we do when we feel legalism creeping in?Confess, surrender, repent.
Judging isn’t our job
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord se
S2E23 The dangers of confusing feelings with truth
Do you ever find yourself responding to someone or a scenario based on how you feel, rather than on reality? Emotions are not bad, or unbiblical, but responding out of our feelings can get us into a lot of trouble. Join Miss and Rach as they talk about their own issues in the area and the tools they've implemented to hold them accountable.
Show Notes:
There is nothing inherently wrong with feelings:Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Jesus displayed His emotions. He was overwhelmed (Matthew 26:37-38) He cried at the tomb of Lazarus. (John 11:35) There are several places where Jesus rejoiced.
Psalm 2:4 says, “God sits in the heavens and laughs.”
Feelings are not the same as truthIt’s dangerous territory when our feelings begin to replace reality, or be mistaken for truth.
We HAVE to be willing to challenge our feelings (and allow others to) when they begin to take priority over truth and reality.
We cannot always trust our feelingsProverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Emotions would come under the heading, “your own understanding.” We should not allow our emotions to control our lives or our relationships with others.
We are not to suppress our emotions but we must not trust them or allow them to control us.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Phil 4:5a Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
Challenge: Evaluate yourself next time your feelings get big. Do you let yourself respond out of your feelings or do you wait for truth and clarity to come?