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The Truth Of The Matter Is - Episode: 162 Bible Study Reflection Solo or W/Friends- Solo ( Go To The Lord…He Knows Best)
27 Plays4 months ago
Bible study reflection solo or with friends is an inspirational segment for Johnathan as a result of getting together for bible study with friends Erik and Jennifer and still having more to say. Thus far, the segment is about unpacking different passages of scripture read in bible study and feeling the need to explore it even more deeply. This week however it was a scripture in Bible study that had me thinking deeply. It actually was two conversations I had with friends that inspired me to wanna have this conversation. This week I reflect on trials and tribulation and when they arrive the first person that you need to come to isn’t your friends, family, brothers and sister in Christ, nor counsel but God. I touch on the importance of responding instead of reacting to things that happen to you. The verse that brought it all together is Ephesians 4:26.
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Transcript
Introduction to Bible Study Reflections
00:00:00
Speaker
this is the truth of the matter is podcast welcome back to another additional bible study reflections solo or with friends this is episode 162 i'm your host johnathan and for those who are unfamiliar with this segment let me give you a quick background story to it it was inspired by a bible study that i had with two of my friends that we did once a week Basically, we would choose a book in the Bible to unpack together, choose two or three chapters, read them independently, and see what we could unpack by ourselves. Then we would come together, fellowship with one another, and learn about what God has revealed to us, individually. Remember scripture says, anytime two or three are gathered,
00:00:54
Speaker
there am I and you miss. When I concluded following these talks, as I will still be full of information and yet still curious about a lot of those things. So I decided to create this segment called Bible Study Reflections solo with friends and the goal is ultimately to grow and fellowship with others.
00:01:19
Speaker
course if you are open to fellowshiping with me then on the next Bible study reflection episode you can reach out to me on TikTok or IG and the handle is thetruthoftmis again the truth of TMIS and I'm open to fellowship you can also reach out to me on our Facebook group called I'm a believer again it's called I'm a believer Lastly, there's also email. You can reach out to me through email. speedit83 at gmo.com. Again, it's s-p-e-e-d-e-d-3 at gmo.com. And I'm looking forward to hearing from some of you.
Emotional Experiences and God's Truth
00:02:08
Speaker
So where to begin? So in the last two to three weeks, it's been a mixture of emotions for myself.
00:02:20
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That's how I believe it is appropriate that I can describe it. If I were to choose words, I would say this ethic ain't yet promising, concerning, yet truthful, uncertain, and yet revealing.
00:02:44
Speaker
As always, I plan to be honest and forthcoming. This is the Truth for the Matters podcast at the wall, which means we are concerned with the truth. Of course, in society at large, there are many different truths, but we are much more concerned with God's truth. We know that truth isn't just an idea as a person, and we know that person to be in Jesus Christ. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Amen.
Recognizing Blessings and God's Presence
00:03:18
Speaker
So, as always, two ways in which I've been blessed by God. This past week. For one, I'm continuously learning.
00:03:30
Speaker
with God so many different things but one that stood out to me and that I might have overlooked is that I need to go to Him for all things. I need to go to Him for all things.
00:03:48
Speaker
This is an important one because I understand the uncertainty when it comes to going to a God in which you hope would speak back to you like a regular conversation that you have with a friend or a family member, a loved one. The rules of engagement is slightly different where God does talk back to you, but it's through the avenue of his word.
00:04:21
Speaker
Honestly couldn't wait to be vulnerable with you in this one. So we're going to touch on that in greater detail in a little bit The second way I've been blessed by God is learning That he knows what's best for you Learning that he knows what's best for you. Yes. These are simple but when you see things play out before your very eyes and You know that it only could have been him and it it becomes abundantly clear that it is him because it can blow your mind a bit, especially due to the exposure in which how he can step into human history and change circumstances, situations, predicaments, also through the avenue of prayer.
00:05:11
Speaker
When this happens, it can change how you see God's hand on thing. That he's not just resting in heaven, but as Jesus said, he is at work. He is at work.
00:05:29
Speaker
When you see these things, you can become fascinated. I believe you can feel the same way about how God is moving, not just on your own personal life, but on others as well, especially close to you. That way you both can praise God because not only are you supporting the person that God is blessing, but you are a witness to the person that God is blessing.
Daily Reflections and Seeking God
00:06:04
Speaker
Now, the goal today, of course, is to unpack and expand on these two ways in which God has blessed me, while also including what verse has led me to share this Bible study reflection with you today, solely as well. The reason why I begin, of course, with reflection is because time and time again, we should be encouraged to reflect. By doing this you will notice the presence of God with you daily. If you pay close attention to the details of your life you will start to easily notice that God is blessing you, that God is looking out for you. So I encourage you to give it a try and see His grace and His mercy over your life.
00:06:54
Speaker
and just the little things, amen? Okay, now this is gonna lead us right into prayer. So let's get that started. O God in the name of Jesus, you are awesome and greatly to be praised. You are brilliant in all that you do. You are strategic in ways that as pass us finding out. Your ways are further
00:07:24
Speaker
than anything that we can imagine. In fact, they are unique and distinct. Lord, I pray that as we continue to live our lives, your way, you will continue to show up and reveal yourself in ways that not only humble us, but blow us away. We know that your ways are not just supernatural, but they're also very practical. And as we get real today about several matters, I hope that there is something beneficial for all who have decided to press play and listen. Of course, Lord, if it is just you that I ain't speaking with, that you are that one member, that one audience who ever hears this, I am glad and therefore speak boldly and truthful in your presence.
00:08:21
Speaker
Bless all minds to comprehend, all hearts to receive, who are tuning in at this juncture in their own convenience. And I say this, Lord, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Life's Unpredictability and Trusting God
00:08:39
Speaker
You know, life is full of surprises. It's unpredictable. What's uncertain is situations in circumstance that we find ourselves in on consecutive basis. There are things in life that are out of your control and there are things that are in your control. And those can vary. An example of something that cant that you can't control would be the weather. You can't control it to rain, to snow, for it to be hot.
00:09:14
Speaker
that is something that cannot be manipulated by your mind, cannot be manipulated in any fashion by what you say. Interesting enough, there is a portion in James that talks about praying to God who did not allow it to rain for three days. But the influencer of that is the inquiring of God. the acquiring of him to do something on behalf for you. Something you can control is your ability to respond and not react. Now that's critical. The last three weeks, I've been dealing with some serious tension with others. I've been talked about in negative fashions,
00:10:11
Speaker
And the impact of those words led others to distance themselves from me. Where this was happening was regarded as a setting that promotes love, care, and yet my experience was not the same. In fact, I would say the behavior wasn't Christ-centric. Instead, it was filled with gossip,
00:10:41
Speaker
And it was malicious. Now I have to be honest with you. This had me wondering about various things. I was a little uncertain about myself because my character was questioned. My intentions were misunderstood and a narrative was created that was not true. I was puzzled at the matter.
00:11:09
Speaker
And it annoyed me in so many ways that I began to ponder on solutions. So what did I do in this situation? Well, I started out counsel from a few individuals that I trusted and I had built and established relationships with over the last 10 years. In fact, I knew what I was doing was biblical because the book of Proverbs is clear on this matter. If you go to Proverbs 27 verse nine, it says, oil and perfume make the heart glad and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
00:12:05
Speaker
Oil and perfume make the heart glad and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
00:12:17
Speaker
Now here is what came as a surprise to me. I reached out to those four individuals, all four individuals that I reached out to promise to me that they would call me back, that they would be in touch. And guess what?
Turning to God Over Friends
00:12:39
Speaker
None of them ever did. Till this day, none of the four never reached back out to me. Did you hear what I said? No one ever reached back out to me.
00:12:58
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So this is when I needed to think for a second.
00:13:02
Speaker
Instead of reacting to a rather unfortunate secret of events, it required a response. So what was my response? I'm glad you asked. I went back to the word of God. I went back to scripture. And there's a passage that I've mentioned here often, and I'm pretty sure quite a few of you are familiarized. And that's Romans 8.28. And it says, and we know that God calls us everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. So I simply asked myself, what was for my good that God had caused?
00:13:56
Speaker
I will have to say a lot, but in this particular moment, this particular situation, what came to mind was the benefits that I reaped of majoring in philosophy. It was because of philosophy, I saw the value in looking at things from several different perspectives. I picked up the skill of reasoning and genuinely later on saw the value of biblical reasoning.
00:14:30
Speaker
What practical reasoning does is it helps you make a decision that provides the best outcome for your longevity as a person, where you can function with full capabilities without emotion necessarily playing a pivotal role and the conclusion that you come to.
00:14:50
Speaker
And what I learned here is that you have to learn to evaluate situations where you might be right in the matter, but you also could be wrong as well. So I asked myself genuinely, without having all the information, can I blame those four individuals for never getting back to me? No, I can't control people and who they decide to prioritize. I can't control people and their morality. I can't control people to be respectful towards me. I can't do that. The reasoning of never getting back to me could be justified and then again, it might not be. I don't know, but God knows.
00:15:45
Speaker
Another thing that has led me to believe
00:15:50
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is that I believe God wanted me to understand something. For one, we shouldn't be placing our faith in humans.
00:16:03
Speaker
But most importantly, there's something that I didn't do that I should have done from the beginning. And that was come to God first. I didn't come to God first. I immediately went to individuals Could I have desired to want to vent? Sure. Could I have desired to want to discuss things and get a different perspective? Absolutely. One of the benefits that I love about my mindset philosophically is that by evaluating everything and coming to different conclusions,
00:16:46
Speaker
Most of the time when I look back at something and I've done that exercise, it's helped me tremendously because whatever the outcome eventually is, I took the time to consider that that might be the very
Biblical Teachings on Love and Responsibility
00:17:03
Speaker
thing. And therefore it allows me to live with certain decisions that I ultimately make because I thoroughly thought it out. Now, let me also be clear about something.
00:17:18
Speaker
What makes what I'm saying so powerful is that God does not always handle things the same way for everybody.
00:17:32
Speaker
Can God send someone to you? Absolutely. He sure can. He's done it for me on several times. In the past, I've been in tough situations and somehow, someway, someone showed up and loved me right in the moment with words of affirmation.
00:17:52
Speaker
It's happened to me. The beautiful thing about biblical reasoning is that
00:18:01
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If it doesn't happen one way, it doesn't mean that it hasn't happened or it won't happen in another way. Remember, God's ways is past us finding out. They are unique. And in some instances, if we think God is going to respond in one way, He has responded another way. In fact, He continues to surprise us. That's a beautiful thing about God.
00:18:33
Speaker
Four scriptures that support the narrative that I'm mentioning here is let's go to the Gospel of John chapter 13 verse 35 and it says, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
00:18:52
Speaker
Let's go to 1 John chapter 4 verse 12. 1 John chapter 4 verse 12 says, No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us and His love is brought to full expression in us.
00:19:12
Speaker
Let's go to 1 John chapter 3 verse 18. Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other. Let us show the truth by our actions.
00:19:29
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That was 1 John chapter 3 verse 18. And lastly, let's go to 1 John chapter 3 verse 17. Now easily I could have put those two together, but I love these two verses as separate ideas. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? It's a great question by John. the question of morality, that if you claim to love others, and you see them in desperate need, but yet you turn a debt a deaf ear or a blind eye, where is the love that you're expressing? Remember we just read in 1 John 3 18, let us show the truth by our actions if we say that we merely love one another.
00:20:22
Speaker
All these passages were read in the NLT, by the way. The point here is that God sends humans to solve problems.
00:20:34
Speaker
The point here is that God sends humans to solve human problems. And I can make that assumption and connection with God sending Gideon in the book of Judges, chapter six, verse 14. If you go to Judges 6, 14, it says, then the Lord turned to him and said, go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the many heights I am sending you. I am sending you. I am sending you.
00:21:16
Speaker
So I'm suggesting here that before we go to friends, family, advisors, pastors, sisters, and brothers in Christ, maybe we ought to go to God first.
Importance of Seeking God First
00:21:34
Speaker
It's not a mistake that Jesus told the devil or Satan in Matthew four, verse four, No, the scriptures say, people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
00:21:59
Speaker
God needs to be number one in our lives. And I believe sometimes I can lose sight of it and some of you can lose sight of it.
00:22:17
Speaker
In a soft open, I express why I think this is. And for me, it might be for others that there's this desire to have a back and forth conversation where we could talk and hear the other person and what they have to say. And there's a desire that we want to talk to God and have that similar interaction, like a regular conversation. The truth of the matter is God does not talk back to us. unless it is in his word. The more you know it, the more you realize how he speaks to you and how much often he can speak to you and how much often that he does speak to you and how his word is alive and well. Now there are some that say that they do have conversations with God.
00:23:17
Speaker
I'm not here to call them a liar. I'm here to provide to you something very practical and reasonable to equip people to see how it is that God communicates.
00:23:34
Speaker
So again, I'm not frowning or turning a side eye to those who proclaim that they talk to God audibly. I'll leave the door open for that possibility.
00:23:52
Speaker
Psalm sturdy verse two says, Lord, my God, I call to you for help and you healed me. This tells me that God is faithful and that he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Seeking Peace and Trusting God
00:24:10
Speaker
Second Thessalonians 3 16 says, now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times. And in every way, the Lord would be with you all, all of you. Which means when you are faced with difficult or trying circumstances,
00:24:36
Speaker
Rather than pout, rather than complain, which the children of Israel did a lot of in Paul expressed in first Corinthians chapter 10, that murmuring was not something that God wants us to do. Complaining is not in the right spirit of hope and confidence in God.
00:25:06
Speaker
What his word does is it helps us to focus on what he can provide. Humans have flaws. They have inconsistencies. They are not reliable. They can be a bit selfish and self-centered. I believe we all fall to pray to those things. And therefore, that is the failure that comes with placing your trust in men and in women is that when they fall short, we want to blame them. And we want to talk about the expectation that we have for them has failed, not realizing their own mortality, not realizing that they're not perfect.
00:25:55
Speaker
not realizing that if you placed your trust in them and they failed, maybe you had too much trust in them. And therefore you feel the reaction and the response to it. And it hurts. It hurts pretty bad.
00:26:15
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The second Thessalonians passage always reminds me that we can pray for this peace. both for ourselves and for others.
00:26:29
Speaker
And of course, here's the verse that I came across in the Bible that led me to tie it to the importance of responding instead of reacting.
Controlling Responses and Avoiding Sin
00:26:39
Speaker
This of course is the verse that I'm sharing that is part of my Bible study reflection with you today. It's a simple verse. It's Ephesians 4.26. And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry. The most important portion is the top portion, the first sentence. And don't sin by letting anger control you.
00:27:13
Speaker
Remember, as James says, be quick to listen, slowly speak, slowly become angry because human anger is not the righteousness that God our Father desires. Do you understand how sinful we can be if we let it control us?
00:27:34
Speaker
Do you understand how nasty we can be by letting sin control us? What if I decided to curse out those four individuals that never responded to me. What if I took it personal? What if I decided not to be friends with them anymore?
00:27:56
Speaker
The heights we are willing to go when we are hurt are extremely dangerous, which is why we need to be even killed with not reacting, but responding. The truth of the matter is when things don't go our way, We can use that disappointment as license to sin. And no, this is not the way we ought to go. When things don't go our way, we look for things to comfort us. Fornication is one of them. Drinking is another. Sex is another.
00:28:40
Speaker
Outlets that don't sustain us, but keep us in bondage.
Trusting God's Plan and Timing
00:28:48
Speaker
This leads me to talk about the other way that God blessed me this week and that is knowing and accepting that God knows what's best for me. You know, the mistake that we can make is when things don't go our way, we want to blame God and accuse him of lacking his love for us.
00:29:13
Speaker
And I want to say we can't get in the habit of anti-promophisizing God. And I've used this word before. Anti-promophisizing God simply means limiting God's ability by placing restrictions on what we believe he's capable of doing for you and others.
00:29:36
Speaker
Anti-promorphizing God simply means limiting God's ability by placing restrictions on what you believe He's capable of doing for you and others. In the same book of Ephesians chapter 3, verse 19-20 says, May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. That's interesting. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
00:30:19
Speaker
And this is how we have to see who God is. He's Alpha, He's Omega, He's beginning, He's the end. He's the creator of all things. Nothing ever occurs to Him. He knows all, He sees all, He hears all. That is how we have to see God. When we request things, we have to know that we have it, if it's according to His will. So what's the right response we ought to have when we ask for things, when we pray for things to God?
00:30:50
Speaker
Romans 8.25. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, or that we yet have, you must wait patiently and confidently.
00:31:06
Speaker
The key to living life sometimes is being patient and confident. Patient and confident. So whatever it is that we ask for God, whatever it is that we ask from God, We need to be patient. Again, God knows all, he sees all, he hears all. Nothing ever occurs to him. And therefore his timing is impeccable. He's always right on time.
00:31:39
Speaker
You know, sometimes in order for doors to open on your behalf, God has to move certain pieces around for opportunity to open up. God just has a way of revealing matters and as we evaluate them, we know.
00:31:58
Speaker
it had to be him and that his hand was all over this. Another reason why prayers might take a while is we are not mature enough to handle the things that we request to God to do. These are truth realities that we have to succumb to as to why certain things aren't happening or they're not happening at the pace we thought we ought to have it at.
00:32:25
Speaker
You know, there's a beautiful passes in the book of day that highlights how Daniel put in a prayer request and it took 21 days. So, you know, when you complain about things not happening, I think you have to stop and realize that you need to change your perspective and learn to lean into God doing things behind the scene for your benefit. and that you don't need to know everything. What you do need to know is that it takes time. God is a God of process and we have to believe that He's moving on your behalf and for your best, He has your best at heart.
00:33:17
Speaker
Let's look at that passage. Book of Daniel chapter 10 verse 12 through 17. Then he said to me, fear not Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand the humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard and have come because of your words. the prince of the kingdom of persia withstood me 21 days but mica one of the chief princess came to help me hua was for for i was left there with the king of persia and came to make you understand what it is to happen to your people in the latter days
00:33:58
Speaker
For the vision is for the days yet to come. When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face towards the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of a child of a children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him, who stood before me? Oh, my Lord. By reason of the vision, pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my Lord's servant talk with my Lord? For now, no strength remains in me and no breath is left in me." Interesting passage.
00:34:36
Speaker
probably gives us a glimpse of what it is to stand before those who are of a different kind that aren't humans who are inject beings and the aura that they have in nature that is completely different and there's so much that could be discussed there which is probably interesting to why While we stand before the presence of the Lord on Judgment Day, whether we're going to hear a well done, good and faithful servant, or whether we're going to be judged for things that we didn't do as in accordance to
00:35:20
Speaker
what we declared we would do as files of Christ or those who don't believe in Christ.
Christlike Responses to Challenges
00:35:26
Speaker
How much confident will people be to express themselves, having being that they lived and sinned their whole entire life, never repenting of it, never turning them away from those ways that they've practiced. what that experience is going to actually look like will be a phenomenal question to ponder and think about with little glimpses of information in the text that we have here about the signs of being weakened and not having enough strength to say or express what it is that we think. I want to conclude by saying this. It's not about how we react to things.
00:36:11
Speaker
that don't make sense to us is about how we respond. And if that response is Christlike and honorable in the midst of chaotic experiences and environments and how we could be uncomfortable.
00:36:30
Speaker
And by doing it, if we respond appropriately, how much we are making our father proud. And when it comes to opportunity, or openings we must trust in God for the right one for us. It's not about just any opportunity. It's about the right one which He only knows and He will open the doors for for us to experience those very things that bring us joy and our happiness.
00:37:08
Speaker
Only God knows the right fit. And that right fit is what we should be leaning to experience. Of course, today there will be no devotional time. We don't do that for Bible study reflections. Therefore, we will close out in prayer. By close out in prayer, I hope that what I had to say today was helpful in the blessing some way, somehow, for someone out there. Again, my motivation to you is for us to evaluate scripture and appreciate how scripture are the very words of God. All scripture is Holy Spirit-breathed.
00:37:50
Speaker
And as a result, the more and more we get familiarized with the scripture, the more and more we can see how when signature situations are created, we can see clearly and authentically what God will say in those moments. I believe scripture was written for every moment, every situation under the sun. and nothing that is new is under the sun. But instead, it's moments and times that are repetitive, and if we think thoroughly and clearly see God's Word and how it's alive and it's active and it's sharper than any double-edged sword, we can clearly see and recognize and interpret how there are certain scriptures that not only give us strength, but give us comfort in the time of need.
00:38:42
Speaker
So of course we close out in prayer. Heavenly Father in Jesus name, I repent of all my sins. Those that I am aware of, those that I am not aware of. And Lord, I ask for forgiveness on behalf of those sins that I've committed. I pray that everyone who's listened considers to do the same thing. For Christ desires us to repent. And repentance is not just to ask enough forgiveness, but it's to turn away from that such of which is not and right standing with God. As we go forth throughout the week, I pray that we use caution. If any of us are still waiting on things from God, I ask that you give them patience and confidence to wait on Him, to wait on you, Lord, rather. Remember, whatever is bothering you, come to the throne of grace and tell God so He can give you rest and peace on the matter.
00:39:41
Speaker
If you agree with this, please join me as we say these things in Jesus name. We pray, amen and amen. And I will talk to you next time. Be blessed and be watchful.