Beyond Ourselves Podcast
Hitch Your Wagon to the Right Star
Are you familiar with the saying, “Hitch your wagon to a star”? It’s an idiom that means “to commit to an aspirational goal or course of action that will lead to fulfillment.”* But many today are hitching to the opposite. Instead of hitching to what Romans 1:25 describes as God who is BLESSED FOREVER, they’re hitching to worldly godlessness. The Bible warns us that there are serious repercussions when people don’t honor God, give Him thanks, and exchange the truth of God for a lie. God eventually gives those people over. Over to what? Romans 1:18-25 tells us – over to impurity, over to dishonor, over to degrading passions, and over to depraved minds. What are we hitching our lives to? God who is BLESSED FOREVER or the world’s culture?
Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus, who are BLESSED FOREVER, use us as lights to point people to You.
“BLESSED FOREVER” is one of God’s character traits. To learn other ways you can know God, join us HERE.
Yes, there’s someone we can trust!
We hear the news – one person gives their side of a story. Then another person gives theirs. We’re told one thing, and then find out it was a lie. Is there anyone to whom we can look and fully trust? Yes! Our Lord! “BLAMELESS” is the word that describes Him and in the Hebrew means “whole, entire, sound, complete, wholesome, unimpaired, having integrity, entirely in accord with truth and fact.” And THAT, my friend, describes our LORD. Psalm 18:30 says, “As for God, His way is BLAMELESS;…” He is the One to whom we look heavenward and celebrate in praise. He and HIS Word are what we follow, not the changing culture. Be the LIGHT of the Blameless Lord today.
Lord God, we celebrate YOU, the BLAMELESS One!
If You’re Alone, Broken, Sick
Are you alone? Are you emotionally scattered? Are you broken or sick? Ezekiel 34:16 tell us that God is in the business of tending to the lost, the scattered, the broken, and the sick. Listen to his words, “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick.” Yes, there are times in our lives when distance, disease, and death leave us feeling like we can’t take one more step, that we can’t get through the day or night. But our Father wants us to know that He sees us, He cares, and He is with us. Turn to Him. Rest in His arms. Put your head on His chest. Listen to the heartbeat of His love for you.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for being with us, for BINDING UP the many ways we are BROKEN. Thank You for helping us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
A High and Precious Calling
Would you agree that there’s a lot of darkness in the world; people senselessly hurting one another? Here’s good news. Believers have a different calling than to hurt one another. First Peter 2:21-24 is God’s shout out for us to walk in our high and precious calling. “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, [Calling 1: Follow Christ’s Steps] who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; [Calling 2: Speak the Truth]; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, [Calling 3: Take the High Road in Relationships], but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; [Calling 4: Keep Entrusting Ourself to God]; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; [Calling 5: Live Righteously]; for by His wounds you were healed. [Calling 6: Walk in Christ’s Healing] Yes, there’s a lot of hurt in the world, but Christians are called to a high and precious calling.
Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus and that He bore our sins on His body so that we might die to sin and live righteously. Thank You for the high and precious calling you’ve given us. Help us live up to it in honor of You.
Clean and Empowered
Are you a Christian? Hi. I’m Debbie Taylor Williams.You’ve acknowledged you’ve done or thought wrong things; that you’re not perfect like God. You’ve asked the Heavenly Father to forgive you; acknowledging in faith that Jesus took the punishment for your sins. You’re clean. But are you living the empowered life? Why is this important? John the Baptist baptized people in water, but in John 1:33 he explained this about Jesus. “‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” John baptized repentant sinners in the river symbolizing the washing away of their sins. Jesus baptizes repentant sinners with the river of living water – the Holy Spirit, flowing in them, empowering them.
Thank You, JESUS, that when we come to You in repentance, confessing You as Lord and Savior, that You BAPTIZE us with the HOLY SPIRIT. Help us be mindful of the gift of You Spirit in us so we walk and live by the Spirit
This is 1 of 365 facets of our wonderful Lord. To get this free in your inbox, click HERE.
Why AWESOME is an Important Word
A few years ago, the word “awesome” became a catchphrase for any and everything. “Can you go Monday night? Awesome!” “This meal is awesome!” If you’re like many of us, we began to tire of hearing the word. However, rather than throw out the word, “awesome,” the Bible points us in the right direction for when to use it. In Genesis 28:17, awesome is used in relation to heaven, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Exodus 15:11 uses it in relation to God and His works, “Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?” Yes, we might want to scale down on our use of “awesome” in relation to mundane earthly things, but let’s use it often in relation to God.
We praise You, great and AWESOME GOD and thank You for Your AWESOME works.
So Now That We Know, What Will We Do
Have you ever wondered if you’re doing everything you’re supposed to be doing on earth? If so, consider this. Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (Mt 4:8) Jesus stood against Satan’s temptation and by doing so, He received God’s gift to Him -“all authority in heaven and on earth.” (Mt 28:18) With heaven’s highest authority, Jesus tells us, His followers, in Mt 28:19-20 what we are to be doing during our time on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” So now that we know, what will we do?
Jesus, we praise You, Son of God who has all AUTHORITY in heaven and on earth.
Learn how to share your faith HERE.
Fix. Our. Eyes. On. Jesus.
Have you ever struggled in your faith? Have you wondered how God could let His Son die for us? Have you ever wondered how Jesus could lay there and let the Romans pound nails into His hands? Hebrews 12:2 explains that It was their plan to save us. Now we have a role in relation to their great sacrifice. “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.;” Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. He sacrificed His life for us. Now, He asks us to fix our eyes on Him as we go through life’s up and downs, struggles, and pain. Fix. Our. Eyes. On. Jesus.
Lord Jesus Christ, AUTHOR and PERFECTOR of our faith, we adore You. You bless us in our salvation. You bless us as You perfect our faith. We praise You!
Am I Good Enough
Have you ever wanted to approach someone to visit or discuss an issue, or maybe just to be near them, but felt the person was unapproachable? Maybe you felt you weren’t good enough. Isn’t it incredible that our approaching God has nothing to do with our goodness? As a matter of fact, we’re not good enough to approach Holy God. Then, how do we get to Him? Psalm 65:4 NKJV explains. “Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to APPROACH You, that he may dwell in Your courts.” Our Heavenly Father is APPROACHABLE not because we’re good enough, but rather because Jesus opened the way for us to enter into His presence through His own blood. GOD. APPROACHABLE. It has nothing to do with our goodness. It has everything to do with His grace. Learn more HERE.
LORD, thank You for being an APPROACHABLE GOD to whom we can come through the shed blood of Christ.
DISCOVERING HIS PASSION – Care about others. Share with them the good news of God’s grace. This study guide will prepare you.
A Tip for Everyday Living
Do you like to get tips? Tips on gardening, saving money, home organizing. We do well to pay attention to proven tips. They help us do things smarter and in a more meaningful way. Hebrews 3:1 gives us a tip. “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” What kind of a tip is that? The word “consider” means to “fix your thoughts.” In other words, as partakers of a heavenly calling, we’re to fix our thoughts on Jesus when we wake in the morning, when we get bad news, when we face a difficult decision. Why? Our mind and body follow our eyes. When we look at Jesus and consider Him, we’re more likely to act like partakers of a heavenly calling than if we look at our situation from solely an earthly perspective. Not sure this is a good tip? Try it today.
Jesus, APOSTLE and High Priest of our confession, help us remember that our confession of You as Lord and Savior makes us partakers of a heavenly calling. Help us walk out our calling so we are Your light to others.