Episode 97 – In STEP with the Spirit

Speaker 1 (00:01):

Welcome to a podcast designed to bring biblical encouragement to your weary soul. We are so glad you’re listening and we pray God blesses you and strengthens you in your walk with him. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is brought to you by the cooperative efforts of Sweet Selah Ministries and Word Radio. Sit back and enjoy.

Nicole (00:27):

Welcome to the Sweet Selah Moments Podcast. This is episode 97, Staying in Step with the Spirit. As we start to look at the fruits of the Spirit in the series, we have to start with the Holy Spirit. He’s a member of the Trinity, which in itself is a complicated topic, Sharon, want to try to explain Trinity to us?

Sharon (00:45):

Oh, well, let’s just dive in at the deep end, Nicole. Okay. So, Trinity is a mystery that theologians have wrestled with for centuries. So I don’t know that I’ll exactly solve it for us, but, God is big. He is not like us. He is so big that within one person there are three. And that is such an amazing concept and part of what makes him God and not us. So there’s God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, which I love because it’s the Holy Spirit that lives in me that means that God’s with me here. You know, there’s sort of like God in heaven and there’s God here. So God is with me. And the best explanation I’ve ever heard of the Trinity that’s helped me, that maybe will help and maybe won’t. But here it is. It’s all about two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen, H2 O, which is water.

Nicole (01:44):

Yeah.

Sharon (01:45):

Right? But H2 O shows itself in three extremely different ways. It can show itself as ice, it can show itself as liquid and it can show itself as steam, but it’s all two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. It’s the same substance. It is not a different substance. (Nicole: Wow) But, it’s shown in three different ways. So I kind of wonder, Lord, did you do that on purpose so that I could understand the Trinity better? Because it really helps me. That’s because ice is so distinct from water, which is so distinct from steam, but it’s the same. (Nicole: Wow) So that’s my best explanation of the Trinity from a layman non-seminary trained person. You’re welcome.

Nicole (02:27):

That’s pretty good actually. That helps me a little bit too.

Sharon (02:32):

So how did you handle the Holy Spirit when you were a little kid? Because I know some kids are like, when they hear that the Spirit’s within them, that Jesus lives in their heart, they try to feed him, and you know, things like that,

Nicole (02:44):

It is kind of cute, isn’t it?

Sharon (02:46):

Yeah, yeah!

Nicole (02:47):

No. So I remember, I remember accepting Jesus and just feeling like this joy come over me. I’ll never forget that day, but I never really gave him too much thought, I don’t think. I don’t think it was ever really expressed to me in a way that, um, I kind of grasped onto until I was a little bit older. And then I was like, oh, yeah, there’s the Holy Spirit, and I kind of don’t really pay much attention to him. Maybe I should try to talk to him or pray to him. Do I pray to the Holy Spirit?

Sharon (03:12):

Or does the Spirit enable me to pray to talk to Jesus and God?

Nicole (03:15):

Just like hi Holy Spirit, you kind of get ignored. I talk to God and Jesus. So I just tried to wrestle with that growing up. Um, but it’s funny, my kids, I just bought a book for the girls called The Holy Spirit, My Best Friend.

Sharon (03:27):

What?

Nicole (03:27):

Before we did this podcast.

Sharon (03:28):

No kidding?

Nicole (03:29):

So I was like, you know what? I’m just now starting to really understand or trying to understand the Holy Spirit and his power. My kids have no idea either. We should try to learn this together. It’s such a simple explanation too, to kind of go through. (Sharon: Yeah) About how he’s with you and how he helps you, enables you to remember the things that you’ve learned from God. Like, Hey, be kind. So I thought that was kind of neat and a little bit, you know,

Sharon (03:52):

I love the timing. That’s amazing.

Nicole (03:54):

Yeah!

Sharon (03:54):

And you know, sometimes the best explanations are the ones given to children, at least for my brain.

Nicole (03:59):

Yes. That’s why I love the Jesus Storybook Bible so much.

Sharon (04:01):

Yes, yes.

Nicole (04:02):

It takes those big stories and it’s so beautifully simple.

Sharon (04:04):

It distills it. Yeah. I love that about God. It’s simple enough for a child to, to grasp and yet complex enough that men can argue about it forever. Right? So.

Nicole (04:15):

Oh, for sure. Yeah. And that’s the mystery and beauty of God. If we understood him, then we’d be like, oh, all right. Check that off. Moving on to the next thing.

Sharon (04:22):

Exactly.

Nicole (04:22):

There’s always more to know about him.

Sharon (04:24):

There’s more depth.

Nicole (04:24):

It’s incredible.

Sharon (04:25):

All the time. Absolutely. I had the same kind of experience when I accepted Christ. I didn’t think of Holy Spirit. I asked Jesus into my heart. (Nicole: Right) And seeing God, Jesus. Holy Spirit are One. That’s cool. That’s fine. God is in me. Jesus is in me. The Spirit is in me because they’re One. But, I never, I never misunderstood it like physically I had to feed God or anything like I’ve heard some children do. But the same glow, the same knowing as a four year old, as a four-year-old, that God had entered me, I knew it.

Nicole (05:00):

You’re not alone anymore. (Sharon: Oh, yes!) I just felt this presence with me, so strongly. It was, (Sharon: Yeah) it’s hard to explain.

Sharon (05:05):

It is. But that’s, I think, the beauty of the Spirit being left with us. Remember Jesus saying, you know, it’s better actually that I go, you know, right now I’m in a physical body. I’m in one place at one time, and if you know, like I’m visiting Nazareth and you’re in Cana, I’m not with you. But when I go, I send the Spirit who’ll always be with you. And that’s what we’ve got. The Holy Spirit is the ‘always be with you’ part of the Trinity where we can be in a prison. We can be like Corrie ten Boom in a flea-infested, horrible hole, you know? But he’s within us. They can’t get to him.

Nicole (05:45):

(They can’t kick him out.) Oh, I love that. I love it.

Sharon (05:47):

I love it so much. So, well, I do a series of talks on the portion of scripture we’re gonna read today, and it’s called In Step With the Spirit. So it’s all about, about the Holy Spirit, and I’m excited to share it on a podcast in this format, for a change. So we’re gonna read the passage that goes along with the In Step With the Spirit Talk, and then unpack some principles that God kind of showed me from it. So why don’t you start the reading, Nicole, and we’ll read back and forth.

Nicole (06:17):

All right. I’m gonna start with Galatians 5:13-26, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Sharon (06:30):

“For the whole law can be summed up in this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Nicole (06:36):

“But if you’re always biting and devouring one another, watch out. Beware of destroying one another.”

Sharon (06:43):

“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”

Nicole (06:50):

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

Sharon (07:05):

“But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.”

Nicole (07:11):

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear. Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures.”

Sharon (07:18):

“Idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division.”

Nicole (07:31):

(And the list goes on) “Envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Sharon (07:44):

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

Nicole (07:58):

“Gentleness, and self-control. There’s no law against these things.”

Sharon (08:02):

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

Nicole (08:10):

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirits’ leading in every part of our lives.”

Sharon (08:16):

“Let us not become conceited or provoke one another or be jealous of one another.” Okay, So we’re studying fruit, fruitful living. What do you learn from this passage, my friend, about cultivating fruit?

Nicole (08:31):

Yeah. So I think we definitely need the Holy Spirit for this one, seeing as they are the fruits of the Spirit. (Sharon: Yes) So first and foremost, we need to belong to Jesus.

Sharon (08:40):

Yes.

Nicole (08:40):

He needs to be, He needs to be our Savior. We need the Holy Spirit within us. We cannot do this on our own And we also need to walk in the Spirit, which really means just keeping him in the front of our minds. You know, filtering life through him. Like the verse said, that even though we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we are still at war with our flesh.

Sharon (08:59):

We are.

Nicole (09:00):

So we need his help.

Sharon (09:01):

It’s so true.

Nicole (09:02):

Yeah. And our sinful nature’s trying to get us to do the exact opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. It’s a battle.

Sharon (09:08):

It is.

Nicole (09:09):

And we desperately need to lean into him to win that battle.

Sharon (09:12):

Mm-hmm. You are so right. You are so right. And you know, one thing that I noticed about this passage, which I hadn’t really picked up on before, is if you look at the beginning, um, he’s talking about loving your neighbor as yourselves, not biting and devouring each other. You know, he’s, he’s telling the church at Galatia, Hey, hey, hey. Behave nicely towards each other. Right? (Nicole: Yeah) And then at the very end, he, he kind of concludes with it, “Let us not become conceited or provoke one another or be jealous to one another”. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) And so in between this message to the church to behave nicely. (Nicole: Yeah) Behave yourselves, basically. (Nicole: Right) In the middle, it tells you how, you know. (Nicole: Right) All these things are, we’re still capable of all these things. This I think is what is so sad. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) Even as Christ followers, we are still capable of jealousy, of stirring up dissension of (Nicole: Yeah) ‘You’re not gonna believe what she said’. (Nicole: Oh yeah) ‘Are you kidding me?’ You know, all that kind of thing isn’t just eradicated when we accept Christ. And you’re right. We have to have the Holy Spirit at the forefront in order, in order to conquer the flesh that wants to be jealous, that wants to be conceited, that, that is offended if people don’t ask us how we are, you know? I mean, really?

Nicole (10:26):

Yeah. It does. That sinful nature rears it’s ugly head so easily. It’s shocking. You’ll start the day feeling so good and kind of like, you know, in the Spirit, and you just kind of like go on your way and then, bam! You’re angry, (Sharon: Angry about something) you’re angry or jealous or gossipy so quickly. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) So it is, it’s a battle. And we have to lean into him.

Sharon (10:43):

We do.

Nicole (10:43):

We have no chance without him.

Sharon (10:44):

We have no chance. And as Christians, we live in community with each other.

Nicole (10:48):

Yes.

Sharon (10:49):

So, you know, we bump shoulders all the time. And so if we don’t learn to lean into the Spirit, uh, it’s not gonna be a very healthy church community situation. It really isn’t.

Nicole (10:58):

Yeah. It can get ugly really quickly.

Sharon (10:59):

So, this is a warning to us. And it’s, it’s a good one. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) It really is.

Nicole (11:03):

Yeah.

Sharon (11:04):

So, well, as I studied all this, I came back and kinda landed on Galatians 6:25. In the NIV it reads this way, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” So that word, step, okay, if the Spirit’s in me, how do I stay in step with him?

Nicole (11:09):

Yeah.

Sharon (11:09):

Because God lets me walk away if I want to. I am not a robot completely controlled by God. I want to be controlled by God.

Nicole (11:33):

I know.

Sharon (11:33):

But I have to yield. (Nicole: Yes) He won’t take it. And that brings me to my step thing. So here we go. We’re supposed to walk in the Spirit and stay in step with it. So what do you think that means? Do you have any other thoughts before we go into my four little steps?

Nicole (11:51):

Yeah. Well, okay. So I know in my life when nothing is going horribly wrong, you know, that those times when you feel like you need constant communication and instruction and encouragement from God, that’s actually when I start to go wrong when things feel good. Because in reality, I still need him step by step. (Sharon: Yeah) And when I start to go, oh, thanks God, things are going good, I’m good for a while, I usually get in trouble. But I find that the things that trip me up the most are the little daily things that build up. You know?

Sharon (12:20):

Yes!

Nicole (12:20):

Like, do I really need to be angry at my kids for not turning their clothes right side out when they put it in the laundry? Or, should I really lash out at my husband and ignore the fact that he had a really rough day at work and maybe give him some grace? You know? I remember doing this bible study once on motherhood and it said that when you’re frustrated and you’re trying to discipline your children, that when you look at them, envision the cross in front of them. (Sharon: Oh) So you have to look through the cross or around the cross, to see your children. And when you look at the cross, you’re seeing what God did for you and how he forgave you. And that for me is a very powerful reminder to get me back in step with the Spirit and go, okay, God, I did not start out this discipline session with you, with me. Can you help me please?

Sharon (13:00):

Yes. Yes.

Nicole (13:01):

And then all of a sudden my words are seasoned with kindness, (Sharon: Uh huh) and more toward, I want to encourage you to be better, instead of I want to beat you for doing the wrong thing.

Sharon (13:10):

Exactly so.

Nicole (13:10):

Man, it makes such a difference. Just like a switch.

Sharon (13:13):

Yes. And I love the way you said it’s little things, cuz I do think it is, I don’t think we wake up one morning and say, I would like to be a mass murderer. Right?

Nicole (13:22):

Right. Let’s have a drunken party.

Sharon (13:23):

No!

Nicole (13:23):

No, no. It’s small, little slides.

Sharon (13:24):

Yeah. Or I think I’ll rob a bank today. But, but small steps of allowing bitterness in, of allowing, our rights to make us feel justified in anger or bitterness. Those small steps pull us away from being yoked with God. (Nicole: Yes) Away from staying in step with the Spirit because the Spirit’s not walking in that direction.

Nicole (13:46):

That’s true.

Sharon (13:46):

He’s not walking towards bitterness and anger. Right.

Nicole (13:49):

That’s a great point.

Sharon (13:50):

Yeah. So you’re right. It’s the small things. (Nicole: Yeah) It is. So, okay, so here we go. I wanted to just make sure I let you say everything before we walk into our steps. The first step, and what I did was I took the letters S, T, E and P, and I made each of them a word that I think is part of staying in step with the Spirit.

Nicole (14:10):

This will be fun.

Sharon (14:10):

The first, letter is S in step and I used the word ‘surrender’. Yeah.

Nicole (14:18):

Yeah. That word.

Sharon (14:19):

Because, because really that’s what it is. It’s our will or his will all the time. My will is to wanna snap, you know, when the kid does something wrong. It’s funny you talk about the laundry inside out. Ray always has one sleeve the wrong way. Just one. I’m like, how does he do this? He takes one sleeve off right. And the other one’s inside out all the time.

Nicole (14:38):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (14:39):

You know, and yet that’s such a piddly little—, whatever.

Nicole (14:41):

But it can really get to you after a while.

Sharon (14:44):

It can get just so silly.

Nicole (14:44):

Yes. And you’re like, why am I so angry over this turned inside out sock? Like, Nicole, let it go.

Sharon (14:49):

Just turn the sock. Yeah, exactly. (Nicole: Yes, Oh) So this surrendered heart. So, um, the verse in the Bible that I chose to go with the S is from Paul’s talk to the church at Rome in Romans 12:1 and 2. And this is what he says. “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you’ll be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good pleasing and perfect will.” Love that. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) And it works with surrender well. So why don’t you define surrender and talk to us about it a bit.

Nicole (15:36):

So I liked what GotQuestions.org had said that, surrender is a battle term. And I kind of didn’t realize that, that it implies giving up your rights to the conqueror.

Sharon (15:47):

Interesting.

Nicole (15:47):

Yeah. And then a more traditional definition would be “to yield to the power of another, to give or deliver a possession of anything upon compulsion or demand”. So it’s a battle term for surrendering, but there’s a willingness to, I think with Jesus (Sharon: Mm-hmm) there’s more of a willingness. We’re more—, cause he’s a gentle conqueror. He doesn’t come in and demand.

Sharon (16:10):

True. Yes.

Nicole (16:11):

He gives us freely the gift of salvation. And then in return, it’s all we can do is give him our hearts and our lives. Like, I’ll take it, you’ll do much better with it than me. But there’s an act of willingly surrendering. So in my own life, things I struggle to surrender is my children. It always comes back to my kids right now in this season of life.

Sharon (16:30):

Well of course it does.

Nicole (16:31):

But it’s really hard to surrender my children’s health and wellbeing and futures to God sometimes. We think we know better and we think we can control it. So to surrender my children to him, knowing that he has great plans for them and he’s gonna do a lot better with them than I am.

Sharon (16:47):

Uh huh, uh huh.

Nicole (16:48):

And then just leaving them in his hands.

Sharon (16:53):

It’s the leaving too, isn’t it? Yes, yes.

Nicole (16:55):

It’s the leaving that’s even harder, you know? And then even on a simpler, just starting my day with him before I go and start to do my to-do lists like, God, what do you want from my day today? So if you take off all these things from my list and give me an interruption, that’s what you want me to do. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) And being willing to surrender to his leading through things that don’t seem like that’s part of the plan.

Sharon (17:15):

Right.

Nicole (17:15):

You know, I mean, most of Jesus’ ministry was interruptions.

Sharon (17:18):

It was.

Nicole (17:18):

And he surrendered to his Father’s will, and he would stop for those interruptions and surrender and deal with them instead of going to the main mission where he was going, (Sharon: Uh huh) and Oh, I want a heart more like that.

Sharon (17:28):

Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yes. Surrender in the small things and the big things. And the big thing is the children. (Nicole: Yeah) Oh my goodness. And yet you’re right. He knows better. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) His will is like we just read in Romans 12, his good pleasing and Oh, perfect will.

Nicole (17:44):

Yeah. And I can’t, I can’t match that.

Sharon (17:46):

No, no, no, no. I was thinking even of small surrenders like I’m going to church on Sunday. (Nicole: Oh, true) That’s a surrender of free time in a culture that says, you know, do other things on a Sunday. But it’s a surrendering of time and it’s saying, you know, this is important and this is my weekly surrender. And I like the thought of, you know, the daily surrender too. When we pray at the beginning of the day. (Nicole: Yes) That surrendered heart to, and I yield to you, I wanna stay in step with you. So I surrender my will to yours. Because if you lead me this way, I wanna walk with you and not be, Wait, where are you going? You know, I wanna be with him. So I think that’s so good. I was trying to think of a biblical example of surrender. And I think one of the very, very best is Jesus’ mother, Mary.

Nicole (18:34):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (18:35):

She has a plan for her life. It’s a nice plan. It’s a simple plan. She just wants to marry Joseph and have kids. Right?

Nicole (18:40):

Right.

Sharon (18:41):

And God comes in and says, no, you’re going to be the mother of the Messiah, so, and you’re gonna get pregnant and people are gonna think bad things about you. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) And she said, may it be to me as you have said. I mean, just, okay. She surrendered everything to stay in step with the Holy Spirit who had a special plan for her life. Talk about an interruption.

Nicole (19:03):

Absolutely. Her whole life was kind of derailed there.

Sharon (19:06):

So, man alive. Okay, well that’s surrender.

Nicole (19:10):

All right. So the next one we’re gonna talk about is T for trust. So the verse is Proverbs 3:5. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Sharon (19:21):

(Both) Mmmm. Trust with all your heart. That all is so like inclusive.

Nicole (19:27):

Yes. Like, oh, that part too, God, are you sure? I think I can do that one. No, no, I can’t.

Sharon (19:31):

No. All, all, all. So I looked up trust and I came up with this definition, “A firm belief in the reliability or ability or truth or strength of something or someone”. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) That’s what it is.

Nicole (19:44):

That’s good.

Sharon (19:44):

You know, it’s, it’s as simple, as firmly believing that when I flump down on my couch to do my daily quiet time that the couch will hold me up. I, I don’t actually worry about it. It’s quite, quite the nice couch.

Nicole (19:57):

Right.

Sharon (19:57):

You know, there’s trust there. Or I can remember, this was a little more scary. My kids catching me unaware. They’ll be like walking on a wall.

Nicole (20:06):

Yes.

Sharon (20:07):

Catch me mom. And leaping

Nicole (20:08):

Oh my goodness.

Sharon (20:09):

Totally convinced that I’m capable of catching them.

Nicole (20:12):

Yes. Of rushing and saving them in the nick of time.

Sharon (20:14):

Yes. Yes. And I’m like, oh, for crying out loud. I wasn’t even looking at you. It’s a good thing I caught you. So trust, trust is just a firm belief that it’s gonna work the way you think it’s gonna. And really with this step principle, you know, the fact that to stay in step with the Spirit, we gotta trust, where he’s leading. Right?

Nicole (20:31):

That’s true.

Sharon (20:31):

We surrender, but we also have to trust that that path where, you know, he’s taking us a way we didn’t really wanna go. (Nicole: Right) We need to trust it.

Nicole (20:39):

Absolutely.

Sharon (20:40):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (20:40):

That’s so tough. I remember doing that with my dad too. I would leap up off of six or seven steps and go, Daddy catch me, I’d say it as I was mid-air, and he would reach over and grab me just in time. He never dropped me that poor man. I would just go, Daddy, catch me and leap off the stairs so many (times). He’s like, you gave me so many gray hairs doing that.

Sharon (20:58):

Oh it was so much fun Dad.

Nicole (20:59):

And I trusted him. I just knew he was going to catch me. Poor guy. (Sharon: Yeah. So funny) Whether he was ready or not. (Sharon: Oh man) So yeah. So it was surrendering and then I think trust is so good. It comes after surrendering because once you surrender something, trusting that God’s going to keep it.

Sharon (21:14):

Yes.

Nicole (21:14):

Like your kids, God, you’ve got them. And now don’t try to take them back, Nicole. God’s got them. (Sharon: I trust you) I trust you Lord. (Sharon: Mm-hmm) I trust you in my life; you’ll have my children as well. (Sharon: Mm-hmm, Mm-hmm) So thinking of a biblical example, Abraham, he’s a really good one. He trusted and without knowing where he was going and you know, I didn’t realize that the city he left was really nice, that Abraham was a wealthy man, or his uncle was, and he lived—

Sharon (21:38):

Yes.

Nicole (21:39):

And so he lived,

Sharon (21:40):

He lived well.

Nicole (21:40):

He lived well and he left all of that behind, going to the unknown to tent and live in the desert. Isn’t that wild to think about that?

Sharon (21:47):

Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole (21:47):

Like if we’re like, hey Josh, God is calling us to leave everything behind. A nice job, a nice cozy warm house.

Sharon (21:53):

And I don’t know where we’re going.

Nicole (21:54):

We don’t know where we’re going. And we may not even, I don’t know if God told Abraham at that time, if he wouldn’t see the fulfillment of like, if he, he wouldn’t be the one to see the promise.

Sharon (22:01):

I don’t think he did. Yeah.

Nicole (22:01):

So he didn’t even know.

Sharon (22:03):

No. He just left.

Nicole (22:03):

It’s crazy. And he trusted God and took his family and left.

Sharon (22:06):

Yeah. Abraham’s not just known as a man of faith because he trusted about Isaac who got born when Abraham was a hundred. (Nicole: Oh yeah) Just leaving comfort for the unknown (Nicole: Mm-hmm) is an incredible act of faith and trust. And you know what came from it was beautiful, beautiful.

Nicole (22:23):

Oh yeah.

Sharon (22:24):

But man alive. That’s, that’s big trust.

Nicole (22:27):

That is. Yep. He started his whole journey out with God with that huge trust.

Sharon (22:31):

Yeah. Yeah. So, okay. So we’ve done S, we Surrender. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) if we’re gonna stay in step with the Spirit, we have to have a surrendered life and then we Trust. And then the E is Expect. We actually expect that this is gonna result in good things.

Nicole (22:46):

Oh I love that.

Sharon (22:46):

It’s a happy word.

Nicole (22:47):

Yeah. I like this one.

Sharon (22:48):

I like expect. So, alright, so the verse for that is Psalm 27:14. “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord. Be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes. Wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”

Nicole (23:05):

Oh. That’s so nice.

Sharon (23:08):

Isn’t that nice?

Nicole (23:09):

Yeah. I love it.

Sharon (23:09):

That’s the Amplified. I like that version.

Nicole (23:11):

Yeah, that sounds great. I love the wait and hope for and expect the Lord. (Sharon: Yeah, yeah). That’s great. So the definition of expect is “to regard something as likely to happen or regard someone as likely to do something or be something or even believe that someone will arrive soon”. So that’s kind of neat.

Sharon (23:31):

That’s kind of nice.

Nicole (23:32):

We do, we expect all of these things. We can expect safely all of these things of Jesus because he will not let us down.

Sharon (23:38):

He won’t.

Nicole (23:38):

So I love that we can expect him to arrive soon. Come back and take us home, Jesus.

Sharon (23:42):

Yes, please.

Nicole (23:43):

We can expect that and we can trust that he will. (Sharon: Uh huh) They all kind of come together. You surrender trust and then you expect, but you can trust in that expectation of Jesus, you know?

Sharon (23:51):

Yes we can. Yeah.

Nicole (23:52):

So what that would look like, you know, I think when we trust him, we expect him to lead us and we have to watch for in our daily lives. So we surrender, we trust him and then we expect, okay God, how is this gonna show up in our lives? And we watch for it because it’s going to happen.

Sharon (24:06):

And we watch for it. Exactly.

Nicole (24:08):

Yeah. So being ready to see it.

Sharon (24:09):

Yeah, yeah. It’s kinda like your example of the interruptions. We’re expecting that if there’s an interruption, he has a purpose in it.

Nicole (24:15):

Absolutely.

Sharon (24:16):

And so then it’s not a negative thing, it’s a positive thing. Ah, well I didn’t expect this person to show up at my door. (Nicole: Right) Okie dokie, Lord, I expect you’re gonna do something through this cause I prayed (Nicole: Mm-hmm) that this would be a day led by you. You know? (Nicole: Yeah) And then that kind of changes the whole tenor of it.

Nicole (24:32):

Oh it does, on the whole heart of the matter.

Sharon (24:35):

Yeah. It really, really does.

Nicole (24:36):

Oh that’s so good. Yeah. And you know and trust that if we ask for help in what to say or what to do, that he will come through and he will give us what we need.

Sharon (24:43):

Absolutely.

Nicole (24:44):

It’s relying on him. Yeah. It’s tough but it’s good.

Sharon (24:47):

It’s tough but it’s good. This is a silly example but it makes me think of Bella. Whenever we take a walk with Bella and we come back in cause I mean Bella has little tiny legs and we walk her like crazy. She does like five miles a day some days.

Nicole (25:01):

Good for her, little thing.

Sharon (25:02):

And she’s just a little tiny teddy bear puppy. Most teddy bear puppies are not abused like that. But she trots along with us as good as gold. So her reward is a dream bone. They’re called dream bones and oh my word. I don’t know what’s in ’em but she loves them. So we come in from the walk and I take off her leash and I take off her little coat if it’s cold out and then she starts to dance because she knows, she expects (Nicole: Right) that something good is gonna happen. (Nicole: Yeah) You know, after that walk. And sure enough it does. And then she leaps for her little bone and she runs off. It’s just so cute. So.

Nicole (25:39):

That’s so sweet.

Sharon (25:39):

She’s got a happy expectation.

Nicole (25:41):

Yeah.

Sharon (25:41):

And it makes her trot along on the walks quite nicely.

Nicole (25:44):

Knowing that she’s got something to expect on the way home.

Sharon (25:46):

Yes. Yes.

Nicole (25:46):

That’s good.

Sharon (25:47):

And we should have that happy expectation too that when we’re in step with the Spirit, it’s not like God is out to hurt us. (Nicole: Yeah) When we ask for fish, he doesn’t give us a scorpion.

Nicole (25:57):

Right.

Sharon (25:58):

You know, we can expect (Nicole: Mm-hmm) that he’s gonna bring good from it.

Nicole (26:01):

That’s wonderful.

Sharon (26:01):

So I love that. I was thinking of a Bible example again cause that’s sort of our theme song here. And I was thinking of the time when Paul was so convinced he was going to, I think Asia Minor, I should have looked this up, but I did not. So I think it was Asia Minor. And he has a dream. And in the dream a guy from Macedonia in the Greek area says, please come. And Paul, who expects God to interrupt him (Nicole: Right) immediately changes his plans and goes to Greece. (Nicole: Hmm) Just like that, you know, he had an expectation that God would direct. And so if he’s gonna close the door in one place, all right then, I receive it, says Paul. I’m not gonna kick that door in. Um, where would you like me? Oh, Macedonia? Got it Lord. And so off he goes.

Nicole (26:45):

Isn’t that—? And he didn’t even say, well, let me make sure, let me pray, let me ponder. Are you sure God? He just, he just obeyed.

Sharon (26:51):

There was a dream and he believed it was from the Lord cause he expected God (Nicole: Right) to do things like that.

Nicole (26:56):

Because he was walking in step with him.

Sharon (26:57):

Yes. Yeah. Isn’t that cool?

Nicole (26:59):

Oh, I love it. All right now to the P. So we did Surrender, Trust, Expect, and now Persevere. “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9.

Sharon (27:15):

I love that verse so much cause you can get weary of doing good. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) Especially when you’re not seeing immediate results and we’re the instant society, we like immediate results.

Nicole (27:24):

Yes. Absolutely.

Sharon (27:25):

So here’s our definition, “to keep at something in spite of difficulties, opposition, or discouragement.” (Nicole: Mmm) “To keep at it.”

Nicole (27:33):

That’s a good one.

Sharon (27:34):

So, and I saw that when I taught piano lessons. The ones that practiced, amazingly got better. Yeah, I know. Strange.

Nicole (27:40):

What a concept!

Sharon (27:40):

Right. They played their scales, they did their dozen a day, these little finger exercises to get their fingers stronger. And then my goodness, they advanced.

Nicole (27:52):

Wow.

Sharon (27:53):

Those that would come every week and explain why they couldn’t possibly have spent 15 minutes a day on the piano did not progress, shall we say? You know, or very slowly.

Nicole (28:01):

Right. Not surprisingly.

Sharon (28:05):

So, they needed to persevere in the daily boredom of the ‘dozen a days’ in order to progress. And I, I found the same thing when I did my diet a couple years ago and lost my 50 pounds. (Nicole: Mmm) There were days, there were weeks, they weren’t just days, there were weeks of discouragement where I’m doing all the right things and I’m not dropping one pound.

Nicole (28:24):

Right.

Sharon (28:24):

And that’s just not fair.

Nicole (28:25):

Right.

Sharon (28:26):

Because I was hungry a lot.

Nicole (28:28):

Right.

Sharon (28:28):

Good gravy, but by persevering the weight did come off. (Nicole: Yeah) I just had to keep going and not let discouragement and opposition stay in the way. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) So perseverance is hard.

Nicole (28:42):

It is, it is. You need to be in step with the Spirit to keep that perseverance up because it’s really, really hard. So that verse is on my fridge, on my mirror. It’s everywhere in my house because in the season of life I’m in, I just get so worn out during the mundane tasks, you know?

Sharon (28:58):

Yes.

Nicole (28:59):

Dishes and, it just gets a little monotonous for me. Um, and this verse has been such an encouragement to me. Um, I hold onto the promise that I will reap a harvest of plenty if I don’t give up. I pray that over all the little interactions with my kiddos and you know, it adds up to them really truly loving and walking with the Lord in their lives. And that would be amazing.

Sharon (29:18):

Yes.

Nicole (29:18):

You know, I pray that, you know?

Sharon (29:20):

Yes.

Nicole (29:20):

I pray that every extra effort I put toward my marriage results in a husband that feels loved and who loves freely in return. But it’s the not giving up it. We must keep on doing the right thing even when we don’t want to.

Sharon (29:33):

Amen. Sister. Yes.

Nicole (29:35):

Which is a lot of the time. Let’s be honest. (Sharon: Oh) So Bible example of perseverance. Daniel was pretty good. Daniel kept doing the right thing in Babylon despite being pulled away from the life he knew and all. And from, you know, he did that whole special diet in a land where there was a lot of decadence and delights.

Sharon (29:56):

Oh my goodness. Yes.

Nicole (29:57):

And he could have eaten whatever he wanted.

Sharon (29:58):

He was encouraged to eat whatever he wanted.

Nicole (30:00):

Yeah. And almost threatened. But the fact that he stayed—, talking about dieting and doing the right thing, that’s really hard.

Sharon (30:06):

Yes.

Nicole (30:06):

It’s easier in your own little home, kind of, you don’t have the goodies when you’re at a party. You’re at a banquet, at a kingdom with food all around you to stay the course and persevere is amazing. And when he would pray three times a day, despite the order for death, if he did it.

Sharon (30:20):

Yeah. Despite death.

Nicole (30:20):

Despite death being the consequence of being caught, he persevered.

Sharon (30:25):

He did. I love Daniel.

Nicole (30:27):

So Daniel’s a good one.

Sharon (30:27):

He stayed good. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) Even though he was ripped away from everything good. (Nicole: Yeah) And forced to be in a land he didn’t want with people over him. (Nicole: Mm-hmm) But he didn’t, he just kept doing the right thing.

Nicole (30:38):

He did.

Sharon (30:39):

Oh my goodness. Let’s, let’s keep in step with the Spirit. Let’s Surrender, Trust, Expect, and Persevere.

Nicole (30:45):

I think that’s a good idea.

Sharon (30:46):

All right. Let’s do it. Okay. Well, it’s time to pray. My goodness that went fast. Oh, heavenly Father, I thank you. I thank you that there is the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we’re not told that all on our own we’ve got to manufacture that love, joy, peace, patience, stuff, Lord. You live within us and if we will surrender and trust, we can expect if we persevere that you will give us that fruit that we can’t do on our own. Thank you Lord. Help us to live fruitfully. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole (31:21):

Amen. Well, we’ve got a lot to practice this week as we ask for God to help us to stay in step with his Spirit. Remember, if you’re new to this, babies are called toddlers for a reason. When they first learn to walk, they don’t just glide across the room, they wobble and teeter totter for quite some time. So let’s take our first toddler steps today and do our best to surrender, trust, expect and persevere. We love hearing from you. Write us at Sweet Selah.org/podcast and tell us your thoughts on Spirit-led living. Tell us how God is teaching you. We also would be so grateful for reviews of this podcast so that it can be shown to more people. Would you consider doing that for us? And as always, we’re grateful when you support us financially. Go to sweetselah.org/donations to make a donation and write ‘podcast partner’ on the memo line so we can send you our monthly newsletter. You might especially want to get that newsletter this month as we plan our 100th episode party. We hope you’ll be back next week as we examine the fruit one at a time. We’ll start with the greatest fruit, love, in episode 99, Love Like Jesus. Until then, watch your step.

Speaker 1 (32:31):

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found@sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us.you for joining us.