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Caption transcript for “Who is Your Heavenly Father?”

• 00:10 ♪♪♪ David Hart: Thank you so much for joining us today.
• 00:12 I am a father, you guys are fathers, but today's topic is
• 00:17 about our heavenly Father, yes?
• 00:19 Joshua Colson: It is about our heavenly Father and who he
• 00:22 really is.
• 00:23 I don't know how it was like for you in high school, but you'd
• 00:25 wait and start the next year, and if somebody had talked about
• 00:28 you before you got to class that day, people had an opinion of
• 00:31 you before they ever met you, and especially if they were
• 00:33 trying to slander you.
• 00:34 God is kind of like the king of getting smeared by the world in
• 00:38 history, and it's so bad because all his heart is for us is love,
• 00:42 but mankind throughout history has done nothing but attack him.
• 00:46 So, we want to actually share with you guys the true nature
• 00:49 of God.
• 00:51 We are taking clips from our past episodes that we show from
• 00:54 "The Bearded Bible Brothers" on our online platform, and showing
• 00:57 them for the first time on television.
• 00:59 So, right now we're going to one of those clips where we talk
• 01:01 about the true nature of the Father.
• 01:05 Joshua: I love you, Figey.
• 01:06 Hi, everyone, my name's Joshua and that's my brother reading.
• 01:09 Why are you reading?
• 01:12 Caleb Colson: I always read.
• 01:13 Joshua: Like the Bible, but why are you reading recreationally?
• 01:16 Caleb: This is "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charlie Dickinson.
• 01:20 I had to read this in high school, a sophomore in
• 01:23 high school.
• 01:25 There's a lot of guys named Jacque in here.
• 01:26 Anyhoo, I didn't understand a word back then.
• 01:29 I had to use the Cliff Notes to understand, but once I read
• 01:32 those Cliff Notes, I was like, whoa, this is an amazing story.
• 01:34 Biblical allegory here, it's pretty cool.
• 01:38 Joshua: You know, guys, one of the problems we have in life in
• 01:40 looking at God as our Father is that we've had a lot of
• 01:44 questionable fathers in life.
• 01:46 Not everybody's had an amazing father whose focus was to
• 01:48 cultivate and to grow you into the best person God designed you
• 01:51 to be, who took care of you and provided for you so that you
• 01:54 didn't have to make these questions in your life.
• 01:56 And so, when you just blink it and say God is a Father, that
• 01:59 brings a lot of mixed emotions to different people based on the
• 02:02 experiences they've had.
• 02:03 Caleb: That's why we want to take you to the Bible to be your
• 02:06 Cliff Notes, for example, to help you understand the
• 02:08 goodness, the love, the compassion of our
• 02:11 heavenly Father.
• 02:13 Joshua: Because that's what he wants for you, guys.
• 02:15 In the Old Testament, we had this perception that God was a
• 02:17 little different, right?
• 02:18 That he was angry, and smiting, and doing all this
• 02:20 different stuff.
• 02:22 Caleb: Throwing down lightning bolts, yeah, you see that
• 02:24 throughout different mythologies and from Zeus, you know,
• 02:28 throwing down lightning, you see that with Ba'al Hadad, with
• 02:31 Jupiter, but that's not who God really is.
• 02:32 Joshua: It's not, in Matthew, actually, we clear some things
• 02:34 up here in chapter 7, verses 7 through 11.
• 02:37 It says, "Ask and it will be given to you, seek, and you will
• 02:40 find, knock, and it will be open for you.
• 02:42 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to
• 02:46 him who knocks, it will be opened.
• 02:47 Or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread,
• 02:52 he will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, he will give
• 02:55 him a serpent?
• 02:56 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your
• 02:58 children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven
• 03:00 give good things to those who ask him?"
• 03:03 Caleb: That's amazing.
• 03:04 Joshua: If you ever give somebody a serpent when they ask
• 03:07 for something else, you are not a nice person.
• 03:09 Luckily, God's never gonna do that to you.
• 03:11 Caleb: And I know that's kind of a hard concept, even with that
• 03:13 scripture, for people understand, because back then
• 03:16 children were valued more, people wanted to have more and
• 03:18 more children.
• 03:20 It was an heirship, it was a carrying on of legacy, of
• 03:24 passing down property, and today people are more selfish.
• 03:27 They don't wanna have kids, they wanna do their own thing.
• 03:29 But we see that God calls us to be his children.
• 03:33 It is an heirship.
• 03:35 It's a thing of royalty.
• 03:36 And in this scripture, Romans 8:15 through 17, "For you did
• 03:39 not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you
• 03:42 received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, 'Abba, Father.'
• 03:46 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the
• 03:49 children of God.
• 03:50 And if children, then heirs, heirs of God the Father, and
• 03:53 joint heirs with Christ Jesus," that's amazing.
• 03:56 Joshua: That is amazing.
• 03:57 I don't know what an heirship is, he'll explain that later,
• 03:58 I'm sure, but he's also a provider.
• 04:00 And this is one of my favorite scripture verses, I know most
• 04:03 everyone has heard it, but Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the
• 04:05 birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather
• 04:08 into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
• 04:11 Are you not of more value than they?"
• 04:14 Guys, if he's taking care of birds, and the flowers have way
• 04:17 cooler clothes than you're wearing, how much more is he
• 04:19 gonna be like, this is my son and daughter, I'm gonna take
• 04:21 care of them?
• 04:22 We so often are focused on asking our Father for the things
• 04:26 that he's already committed to providing as a Father.
• 04:28 We don't even delve into the true relationship of a father,
• 04:32 son, a father, daughter, because we're just sitting there asking
• 04:34 for the same things he's already given us already.
• 04:36 Caleb: And he does it because of love.
• 04:37 God is love.
• 04:39 We see that in numerous scriptures.
• 04:40 1 John 4:8, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4 through 5.
• 04:44 All these scriptures explain the unconditional love of a Father,
• 04:47 something that you did not have to earn.
• 04:50 He just gave it freely.
• 04:51 He gave his Son freely, and that's why we know that he
• 04:55 loves us.
• 04:56 Joshua: We know that Psalms 145:8 says, "The Lord is
• 04:57 gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."
• 05:01 He's not waiting for you to mess up so he can bonk you on
• 05:03 the head.
• 05:04 Hebrews 12:6 says, "The Lord disciplines the one he loves,
• 05:07 and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son."
• 05:11 A father's job is to correct you.
• 05:12 We've kind of gotten this mentality today that I'm your
• 05:14 dad, I'm your best friend, let's go do really lotharios things,
• 05:17 lotharios, nefarious, that's two words together.
• 05:20 Let's do bad things together.
• 05:21 This is what I get for trying to do big words.
• 05:23 A father is supposed to be a friend, but a father's job is to
• 05:27 instruct and correct.
• 05:28 That's the reason why kids push boundaries, because they want to
• 05:30 find where the walls are.
• 05:31 No matter what you say out loud, you wanna know there's a
• 05:33 definitive wall because somebody cares about you.
• 05:35 That's what your father's job is.
• 05:36 Caleb: The father is also meant to be the spiritual authority in
• 05:40 the household, to lead you to Messiah, to teach you how to
• 05:43 follow after the Lord.
• 05:44 He's that example.
• 05:46 I know some of you may have not seen that in your families
• 05:49 today, but you can look at your heavenly Father.
• 05:51 You can look how Jesus sought the heavenly Father's advice,
• 05:53 how he always prayed, how he always went to the mountain to a
• 05:55 quiet place to do that.
• 05:57 That's our example of what we should do.
• 05:59 Joshua: God is for you, he is not against you.
• 06:01 Every one of you who has a story that's unfortunate from your
• 06:04 father, it's time to break the cycle.
• 06:06 Instead of you living out the abuse that you went through, and
• 06:09 that his father went through before, and instead of
• 06:11 transferring that to the generation below you, let's draw
• 06:14 a line in the sand.
• 06:15 Let's go I may not understand it, I don't know what this is,
• 06:17 but I'm gonna believe it because God's promised it on his word.
• 06:19 Let's ask the Father today to cultivate a different view.
• 06:23 And in fact, it's not in my notes, but I'm gonna pray for
• 06:25 everybody right now because I think this is very important.
• 06:27 So, dear heavenly Father, we just pray for everyone in the
• 06:29 sound of my voice, that whatever their view of a father is,
• 06:32 however broken, however abandoned they may feel, that
• 06:35 you would change that view today.
• 06:37 That you would give them that Spirit of adoption that you've
• 06:40 promised in your Word.
• 06:41 That you would bind up the brokenhearted and the
• 06:43 expectation of everyone listening would transfer from
• 06:46 being abandoned, and abused, and left, and forgotten, to being
• 06:50 believed in, to being supported, to having a plan for their life,
• 06:53 to being provided for.
• 06:55 That all of those things you promised in your Word are the
• 06:57 expectation of us, not out of trying to get something from
• 06:59 you, but because we know that you love us and you have a plan
• 07:02 for and that's your purpose, dear heavenly Father.
• 07:04 So, I just take authority over all the lies of the enemy, all
• 07:07 the confusion, the rejection, the things that have kept us in
• 07:09 bondage, and everyone in bondage that's listening, and I pray for
• 07:12 a new day today to form in their lives, that they now move in the
• 07:15 plan that their Father has for them to grow to be the men and
• 07:18 women of God that he designed before the foundations of
• 07:20 this earth.
• 07:21 In Yeshua's name, we pray, amen.
• 07:23 Love you guys.
• 07:25 Dad's really nice.
• 07:28 David: I've got to say, I love what you said to us, Joshua,
• 07:31 earlier, that our heavenly Father loves us and he wants the
• 07:35 best for us in our lives.
• 07:36 That's what this is all about.
• 07:37 Joshua: It is, and Satan has created a fantastic smear
• 07:40 campaign of the Father throughout history.
• 07:43 We've just talked about all the times that man has looked at God
• 07:46 with the perception in his eye, he's out to get me.
• 07:48 Kirsten Hart: I will say, Old Testament is kind of rough,
• 07:52 there's some rough stuff.
• 07:53 I'm really thankful for that second testament when that
• 07:57 comes in.
• 07:58 Joshua: And a lot of people will say that, but keep in mind that
• 08:00 he gave people hundreds of years at different points in the Old
• 08:03 Testament to repent, and so when he finally did make a call, it
• 08:06 was after he had given them time, and time, and time again
• 08:09 to make that choice.
• 08:11 Caleb: Well, guys, that leads us to our next subject topic.
• 08:14 It's what is God's perception of us?
• 08:16 Are we these whiny little brats that are always annoying him?
• 08:19 We want this, help me, heal me and all this.
• 08:21 Kirsten: Yes, we are.
• 08:23 Caleb: Yeah, well, sometimes we may think of that as ourselves,
• 08:25 but God has a different perception of who we are.
• 08:27 He holds a high intrinsic value on our lives, and I'll give you
• 08:31 a hint, he gave his own Son to save us.
• 08:34 That's how much he loves us.
• 08:36 So, let's go to God's intrinsic value.
• 08:41 Joshua: Hey, everybody, I'm Joshua.
• 08:42 Caleb: And I'm Caleb.
• 08:44 Joshua: And we're brothers.
• 08:45 Caleb: We're brothers, totally brothers.
• 08:46 Joshua: We were actually nervous for a second because you always
• 08:48 question it.
• 08:49 I had to look.
• 08:51 Oh yeah, that's him, I know him.
• 08:52 Caleb: You know, many of you in our audience may be homeowners,
• 08:54 and you may have purchased your home for a specific price, but
• 08:56 with the market value that's constantly fluctuating and
• 08:59 changing, that price can go up and down.
• 09:01 Well, you may have placed new fixtures into your home, and
• 09:07 bought furniture and all this stuff, and it has a different
• 09:09 intrinsic value to you than the market value based upon supply
• 09:13 and demand.
• 09:15 Joshua: Now, life today is kind of set up in a weird way,
• 09:18 because the world somewhat judges us at a market
• 09:20 value idea.
• 09:22 Everybody kind of looks at each other and says, okay, this is
• 09:24 the position I have at my job, this are the assets I have in my
• 09:26 bank account, this is how my exterior facade looks, and based
• 09:30 on these different things, we find a market value in our life
• 09:33 that isn't accurate to what God looks at our lives in.
• 09:36 When God looks at man's life, he looks at it with an intrinsic
• 09:40 value of saying from the beginning to the end, everything
• 09:42 put together, this is how I see your value.
• 09:45 Not caught up in the exact moment you find yourself in,
• 09:47 where it may be at a place of disarray, or not having arrived
• 09:51 yet, but he looks at the end.
• 09:52 Caleb: That's right, that reminds me of Luke 15.
• 09:55 The Pharisees were complaining that Jesus surrounded himself
• 09:58 with tax collectors and these dirty people that society would
• 10:03 deem of low market value, and Jesus told three parables, the
• 10:06 parable of the lost sheep, of the lost coin, and the
• 10:09 prodigal son.
• 10:11 You know these stories.
• 10:12 The parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd, who is the Father,
• 10:14 has a hundred sheep.
• 10:16 One gets loose, he leaves the 99, and goes to search for that
• 10:19 one lost sheep.
• 10:20 He finds that sheep, celebrates, throws a party.
• 10:22 What was lost is now found.
• 10:23 Lost coin, the woman has ten silver coins, she loses one.
• 10:27 She searches nonstop until she finds that coin.
• 10:29 Tells her neighbors, they celebrate what was lost is
• 10:31 now found.
• 10:32 Parable of the prodigal son.
• 10:34 There's two sons, and one son wants his father's inheritance
• 10:37 before he's even dead.
• 10:39 He goes out, takes the inheritance, spends it
• 10:41 frivolously, comes back destitute, but the father
• 10:43 accepts him with loving arms.
• 10:45 That shows us how God places intrinsic value upon our lives.
• 10:50 That intrinsic values is his desire for a relationship
• 10:53 with us.
• 10:54 Joshua: It is his desire for us, and that's why in these stories
• 10:57 that Jesus shared the importance and value of seeking that
• 11:01 person out.
• 11:02 I can't say it enough how it's programmed into our heads and
• 11:04 hearts, that when we go through life that we run across
• 11:07 somebody, how many times have you've seen somebody who's
• 11:08 homeless on the side of the road, and your brain goes, "Are
• 11:10 they really homeless?
• 11:11 Are they this and that?
• 11:13 Oh, I can't have them around this.
• 11:14 I don't like this person for this."
• 11:15 We immediately devalue each other based off of what we're
• 11:19 seeing and not knowing who they truly are.
• 11:21 And in addition, we as people accept that lower value of
• 11:25 ourselves because of others, too.
• 11:27 So, it's not even just that we're forecasting that on
• 11:29 somebody else, it's that we hear this or we feel this based on
• 11:31 these pressures, and we allow that.
• 11:33 And yet, in verse 10 it says, "Likewise, I say to you, there's
• 11:35 joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
• 11:38 who repents."
• 11:40 We serve a Father who is dedicated and focused to seeking
• 11:43 out that one individual.
• 11:45 Not all of us that have this really high-looking market
• 11:48 value, or because we have arrived at our destination.
• 11:52 When the Father looks at you, it's not about your today, it's
• 11:57 not about your yesterday, it's in the summation of who he
• 12:00 created you to be.
• 12:02 What an amazing thing that is.
• 12:04 Caleb: Now on the other side of the coin, at the end of a
• 12:06 parable of the prodigal son, the good son, the son who obeyed the
• 12:09 father, he looks at the father lavishing his love on the lost
• 12:13 son, and he thinks that the father is playing favorites.
• 12:16 And we see, we look at God sometimes and we think God is
• 12:19 showing more affection to another person.
• 12:21 He gave this person more gifts, he looks prettier than I do, or
• 12:25 more handsome, and you think God is being disproportionate in his
• 12:29 love, because we look at things quantitatively.
• 12:32 This parable in Matthew 20, the parable the workers in
• 12:35 the vineyards, expresses when the Father, who is the
• 12:38 landowner, searches out and he hires workers in the vineyard to
• 12:44 harvest his grapes, and he agrees to pay them a denarius
• 12:48 for an entire day's work.
• 12:49 As they're working throughout the day, hour by hour, he finds
• 12:52 more workers that are stagnant and idle and that they have
• 12:56 nothing to do.
• 12:57 He hires them all to come work in the field.
• 12:59 At the end of the day, he pays every single man a denarius, the
• 13:03 same rate of pay.
• 13:05 Caleb: And people got angry, they grumbled, and the landowner
• 13:09 says, "Don't I have a right to do what I want with my
• 13:12 own money?
• 13:13 Are you being envious because I am generous?"
• 13:15 That shows us that God has the same worth value he places on
• 13:20 all of us.
• 13:21 And we look at things, well, I've been working harder for
• 13:23 God, I've been doing this, but he values us all the same.
• 13:26 We're all working as one in the body of Christ, but we're
• 13:28 looking at things quantitatively.
• 13:30 Joshua: It's not an excuse, guys, to be lazy and sit on your
• 13:32 butt and say God loves me just as much if I do nothing, but at
• 13:34 the same time, it's not an excuse for you to have that
• 13:37 wrong idea that I can earn my way into anything.
• 13:39 And that's the point of the father the entire time.
• 13:41 You can't earn anything, sorry to tell you this.
• 13:43 Your value is completely wrapped up in the fact that I created
• 13:45 you, that I love you, that you're fearfully and
• 13:47 wonderfully made.
• 13:49 It has nothing to do with the application of your works.
• 13:51 What you do and don't do should be a reflection of his love for
• 13:54 you, and that's the entire point.
• 13:56 Caleb: So, don't look at man's market value and what society
• 14:00 deems as how important you are, how beautiful you are, how
• 14:04 popular you are.
• 14:06 Are you good at sports?
• 14:07 Are you really athletic?
• 14:08 Look at God's intrinsic value on your life and trust in him and
• 14:12 be thankful.
• 14:13 Joshua: Get off your diet today, put away your apps with all the
• 14:15 calorie counters like I will, go eat pie.
• 14:18 Eat all the pie, pumpkin pie, eat all the animals on the table
• 14:20 that someone's prepared for you, and enjoy your time with your
• 14:23 family, we know we will.
• 14:27 David: Help spread the word by getting your own Bearded Bible
• 14:30 Brother t-shirt, either for yourself or as a gift for
• 14:33 someone you love.
• 14:34 Decide what size you want and call us at 1-800-WONDERS, or go
• 14:38 to levitt.com/store.
• 14:42 Caleb: There's nothing I love more than scripture.
• 14:44 Jeremiah 31:3 says, "The Lord has appeared of old to me,
• 14:49 saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
• 14:53 Therefore with loving kindness, I have drawn you.'"
• 14:56 This is the Old Testament God you're hearing, that Father who
• 14:59 is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.
• 15:02 He's that father of the prodigal son, and I know everybody's
• 15:05 heard that story, and we get familiar with it, and it doesn't
• 15:08 have that potency that first time we heard it, but he
• 15:12 hasn't changed.
• 15:13 That Old Testament Father was finding any way possible,
• 15:16 through sacrifices and offerings, to draw us to him.
• 15:20 Kirsten: I love the combo of loving kindness.
• 15:25 Sometimes we're taught loving means I have to be harsh and
• 15:30 disciplined, but I love what you said.
• 15:31 Loving kindness is like the nice part of the love.
• 15:35 Do you know what I mean?
• 15:36 There's kindness associated with it, I like that.
• 15:38 Joshua: So, it's important that we do come to him like a little
• 15:41 child when he asks us to.
• 15:43 I think for our perception alone, when we grow up, and like
• 15:47 Caleb was saying, we we forget the potency of those
• 15:51 parables, right?
• 15:52 It just becomes a ritual for us.
• 15:53 But for a little kid, everything they take is brand new.
• 15:56 Oh my goodness, that's so amazing.
• 15:57 When my kids were little, I loved seeing how they would
• 15:59 react to things that they were seeing for the first time that
• 16:02 we take for granted every day.
• 16:04 God has good things for you, but we live in a world where the
• 16:07 enemy wants to stop that, change perception, bring harm to your
• 16:12 life, so we are about to talk about God not being your enemy,
• 16:17 how he does not have bad things for you.
• 16:19 If bad things happen, they only come from the enemy.
• 16:21 Only good can come from the Father.
• 16:25 Joshua: Hey, everybody, I'm Joshua.
• 16:27 Caleb: And I'm Caleb. Joshua: Brothers.
• 16:30 Caleb: We are, and today we're not going to reveal some great
• 16:32 theological mystery or do some outlandish stunt like some--
• 16:40 Joshua: It's toasted good.
• 16:43 It's burnt, oh, thank you.
• 16:46 Caleb: Hopefully we won't need that today, Josh.
• 16:49 Joshua: Oh, it's the other way, hold on.
• 16:51 There we go.
• 16:53 Caleb: Now that we've burned down half the building.
• 16:54 Joshua: These are delicious when you toast them, go on.
• 16:58 Caleb: Today, we just want to tell you a short, sweet message.
• 17:01 God is not your enemy.
• 17:03 Joshua: Duh, God's your enemy?
• 17:06 Caleb: Okay, some of y'all deep down inside may have gotten
• 17:09 bitter or resentful when you prayed for something and then
• 17:13 God doesn't answer you immediately, or you're hit with
• 17:16 some tough times, and you need to know God is not your enemy.
• 17:19 That he is for you, not against you.
• 17:21 That he desires to see you triumph over your foes, and turn
• 17:25 your mourning into dancing, and fill you full of joy.
• 17:28 Joshua: I don't know why y'all aren't dancing in the mourning.
• 17:30 Maybe y'all are different than us, but there's a message going
• 17:34 around that God wants you to be impoverished, that he wants you
• 17:37 to be beat down, that he wants, you know, you to basically hit
• 17:40 yourself in a book whenever a Gregorian monk chants.
• 17:43 You don't wanna do that, that's not helpful.
• 17:45 The thing is, how is God glorified if his people are
• 17:48 suffering, if they're weakened and downtrodden, if they can't
• 17:51 pay their bills, if they're in bad health?
• 17:53 When we read the Bible and God says that he is a God of this,
• 17:56 this, this, this, and all these amazing things, yet if his
• 17:59 people are broke down, beat down, and just living in the
• 18:02 dregs, how does that glorify God?
• 18:05 Caleb: Sometimes people use that as an excuse when the bad things
• 18:08 happen, and they don't wanna take responsibility for it, it
• 18:10 has to be God's fault.
• 18:12 Sometimes when we're waiting for God to fulfill a promise, we
• 18:17 kind of take control.
• 18:18 We're like, we're gonna help God along because we don't want him
• 18:20 to look bad, and we become like Abraham, and we kind of nudge
• 18:22 it along.
• 18:24 God, I'm gonna help you fulfill your promise, you know.
• 18:26 And when you do, you end up with a bunch of Ishmaels.
• 18:28 Joshua: Another problem, a bunch of Ishmaels?
• 18:30 That'd be a crazy thing.
• 18:32 I didn't even think about that.
• 18:33 But another issue is we get too focused on the promise and not
• 18:36 focused on him.
• 18:37 And that's one of the things that happens out of desperation.
• 18:40 We get in this state where we're so focused on when are you gonna
• 18:43 do this, and when are you gonna do this, and our shift becomes
• 18:47 on what he has promised to give to us instead of just being on
• 18:51 him as our Father.
• 18:52 Caleb: That's true, and we have to learn to surrender, guys.
• 18:55 We have to learn to trust God with our dreams and believe that
• 18:59 he loves us and he has our best interests at heart.
• 19:02 I have a personal story for this, very personal.
• 19:06 God has given me so many amazing promises throughout my lifetime,
• 19:10 and he had given me this particular promise about who my
• 19:15 wife was gonna be, who I was gonna marry.
• 19:17 I had these signs, these pointers to find her.
• 19:20 I knew she wasn't gonna come from America, she was gonna come
• 19:23 from across the Atlantic, this specific continent I knew she
• 19:25 was gonna come from.
• 19:26 I knew I was gonna marry young.
• 19:28 I knew how smart and brilliant she was, and how compassionate,
• 19:31 and man, after waiting for God to fulfill this promise, I
• 19:35 started getting, you know, pessimistic, and just negative,
• 19:39 and at the ripe old age of 16, yeah, when you're 16 years old,
• 19:43 you feel like every day takes forever.
• 19:45 I'm ready to give up.
• 19:47 That's it, you know.
• 19:48 Josh, you and I then, we were at Times Square, the year 2000.
• 19:53 ♪ In the year 2000 ♪
• 19:56 Caleb: Y2K, guys, we were crammed with millions of people,
• 19:59 and two days later we went to Times Square Church, David
• 20:03 Wilkerson's church, if you know him.
• 20:04 He's a street evangelist, helped start the story of "Cross and
• 20:08 the Switchblade," you've heard that?
• 20:10 He helped start Teen Challenge.
• 20:12 And he was giving a prophecy that morning, and the presence
• 20:15 of God was there.
• 20:16 I can't even remember the words of this prophecy, but I was just
• 20:19 overwhelmed with the presence of God, and God started to show
• 20:22 areas of my life that I hadn't completely surrendered to him.
• 20:25 And I'm like, okay, you know what, God?
• 20:26 I give up.
• 20:27 I surrender everything to you, all my hopes, all my dreams.
• 20:31 I repent, I ask you, forgive me for all these focuses in my life
• 20:36 that were not of you, and I'm gonna trust you, even if these
• 20:39 dreams are never fulfilled, I'm just gonna spend time with you
• 20:42 and you're gonna be my joy.
• 20:44 And two weeks later, I literally met my future wife.
• 20:47 Now, I didn't know it was her, I wasn't even looking for a
• 20:50 girl now.
• 20:52 Joshua: Even with all those context clues?
• 20:53 Even though she couldn't speak English, and was from that side
• 20:55 of the Atlantic, and clearly never been to America?
• 20:58 Caleb: And she kept coming across my path, coming across my
• 21:01 life, I'm like, man, what's wrong with this girl?
• 21:02 And finally, one day God tapped me on the shoulder, he said,
• 21:04 hey, look at that girl.
• 21:06 Like, yeah, yeah, do you recognize her?
• 21:08 I start looking like, oh, snap?
• 21:11 Well done, sir, well done.
• 21:13 Joshua: So, guys, whether or not you're 16 and been living those
• 21:16 16 whole treacherous years alone by yourself, and thinking that
• 21:20 God has dropped the ball, or maybe you're in your 40's like
• 21:23 me, and it just now happened, it doesn't matter.
• 21:26 The point of it is that God loves you, so he wants to
• 21:29 fulfill his promises to you, but he requires that you give them
• 21:33 to him.
• 21:34 Give that permission over.
• 21:36 So, what we'd like to do right now is read the Word over you,
• 21:38 because his promises are very, very powerful.
• 21:41 And in Romans 8:28 through verse 39 it says, "And we know that
• 21:46 all things work together for good to those who love God, to
• 21:49 those who are called according to his purpose.
• 21:51 For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to
• 21:54 the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
• 21:57 many brethren.
• 21:58 Moreover, whom he predestined then he also called.
• 22:01 Whom he called, these he also justified.
• 22:04 And whom he justified, these he also glorified.
• 22:07 What then shall we say to these things?
• 22:09 If God is for us, who can be against us?
• 22:12 He who did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all,
• 22:16 how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
• 22:20 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?
• 22:23 It is God who justifies.
• 22:25 Who is he who condemns?
• 22:26 It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who
• 22:29 is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession
• 22:32 for us.
• 22:34 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
• 22:35 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
• 22:39 nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
• 22:41 Or the Atlantic Ocean?
• 22:42 "As it is written, 'For your sake we are killed all day long.
• 22:46 We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.'
• 22:49 Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him
• 22:53 who loved us.
• 22:54 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor
• 22:57 principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
• 23:00 come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be
• 23:03 able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
• 23:07 Jesus our Lord."
• 23:08 He loves us. His promises are very clear.
• 23:12 There is no room to misinterpret this, and if you are, it's the
• 23:15 enemy speaking to you, do not listen.
• 23:17 If you believe he didn't love you, then why did he give you
• 23:19 that ability to open a pistachio?
• 23:21 It's already halfway there, he just wants you to do your part
• 23:24 and trust him and get the inside goodness.
• 23:27 Caleb: Join us next time, guys.
• 23:28 We love you and God loves you, too.
• 23:30 Joshua: Don't play with fire, or blowtorches, or try to toast
• 23:32 your own pistachios in your fingertips.
• 23:34 It's real bad for your fingers.
• 23:37 David: "Our Jewish Roots" is more than just a
• 23:39 television program.
• 23:41 See what you are missing on our social media outlets.
• 23:44 Kirsten: On Facebook and Twitter, you'll find our daily
• 23:47 name of God devotional, current news articles, The Bearded Bible
• 23:52 Brothers, and more.
• 23:54 David: On our YouTube channel, you'll find Faith Foundations,
• 23:57 music, interviews, The Bearded Bible Brothers, and more.
• 24:02 Kirsten: Or, find everything on our website, levitt.com.
• 24:06 David: We invite you to keep in touch and join us on
• 24:08 social media.
• 24:12 Kirsten: I would like to thank the two of you for bringing up
• 24:15 the topic in what you just taught, that how is God and
• 24:19 God's love glorified if we're walking around beaten down?
• 24:25 And I think there's such a mentality out there that woe
• 24:29 is me.
• 24:30 I mean, we talk about old hymns, "Such a worm as I, I am
• 24:34 not worthy."
• 24:35 You know, there's two different mindsets.
• 24:37 Either we're so low, or who we are in Christ and God wants to
• 24:41 be glorified in our lives.
• 24:43 If we're walking around defeated, how does that
• 24:45 glorify him?
• 24:46 Caleb: Exactly, he wants us to be conquers and overcomers.
• 24:48 He wants us to walk in the authority of his Son, Yeshua,
• 24:50 and do his miracles and his wonders, and yet we think we're
• 24:56 beaten down when God corrects us.
• 24:57 No, he's trying to protect us, just as we're parents and we
• 25:00 don't want our children running out in the middle of the street
• 25:02 in the middle of traffic.
• 25:04 He's trying to herd us back into the fold like sheep, you know,
• 25:07 and make sure that the enemy doesn't have a place to
• 25:09 destroy us.
• 25:11 David: We were made in his image.
• 25:13 I mean, come on, that's huge.
• 25:15 Caleb: With the beards and all.
• 25:17 Kirsten: Thank you, Lord, that I don't have one, but anyway.
• 25:22 Joshua: It's his love that we've been talking about, because the
• 25:25 most important thing to know about his character is his love
• 25:28 for you.
• 25:29 A lot of us on earth don't understand what love means when
• 25:32 they hear that word truly in respect to the Father.
• 25:35 Some of you didn't have a father.
• 25:37 Some of you had fathers who didn't actually show love to you
• 25:40 but showed abuse, and pain, and disdain, and other things.
• 25:43 It's so important that we understand that characteristic
• 25:46 of love, because it's a free gift.
• 25:49 You don't have to earn that love.
• 25:51 You don't have to be better at anything for him to love
• 25:54 you more.
• 25:55 And in all the broken areas of your life, and the things that
• 25:57 have happened to you before on this planet, and the things that
• 25:59 you've endured, those weren't the Father that did it, it was
• 26:02 the enemy that did that.
• 26:04 And the Father wants to come in and wrap his arms around you,
• 26:07 and love you, and restore you, and heal you, and I just wanted
• 26:11 to pray over you right now.
• 26:13 In the name of Yeshua, I just pray that everyone in the sound
• 26:15 of my voice, all the broken areas of their heart, all the
• 26:18 wrongs that have happened to them, that your loving arms
• 26:20 would restore them right now from the top of their head to
• 26:22 the soles of their feet.
• 26:24 That you would heal up the broken places, that you'd
• 26:26 restore their heart as a child, and that they would look at you
• 26:29 and at life with that childlike wonder again and with the hope
• 26:32 for a positive future and today.
• 26:35 David: Guys, thank you for your teaching today.
• 26:37 It's almost time to go, but I gotta mention your shirt one
• 26:40 more time.
• 26:41 There's a way that we'll show you folks at the end of our
• 26:44 program how you can get one of these, The Bearded Bible
• 26:47 Brothers t-shirts.
• 26:49 Kirsten: Right, and it's pound sign Bearded Bible Brothers.
• 26:53 Caleb: Hashtag, it's a great witnessing tool, it honestly is.
• 26:55 Joshua: That's right, so as we always say, shaalu
• 26:57 shalom yerushalayim.
• 26:58 Kirsten: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
• 27:02 David: Help spread the word by getting your own Bearded Bible
• 27:05 Brother t-shirt, either for yourself or as a gift for
• 27:08 someone you love.
• 27:10 Decide what size you want, and call us at 1-800-WONDERS, or go
• 27:14 to levitt.com/store.
• 27:18 David: Join us right now on our social media sites for
• 27:21 exclusive content.
• 27:23 Visit our website, levitt.com, for tour information, broadcast
• 27:27 schedule, free monthly newsletter, and online store.
• 27:31 Call us any time at 1-800-WONDERS and ask about
• 27:35 this week's resource.
• 27:37 "Our Jewish Roots" as a presentation of Zola Levitt
• 27:39 Ministries, partner with us.
• 27:42 As a 100% viewer-funded ministry, your gifts allow us to
• 27:46 bring you our weekly television series, social media outlets,
• 27:50 website, and other ministry endeavors.
• 27:52 Please remember, we depend on tax-deductible donations
• 27:55 from viewers like you.
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