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January 17, 2025 After Thoughts Podcast to Today's Bible Reading
16 Plays9 months ago
Hi there! This is my very first supplementary video to go along with our daily Bible reading event. This is meant for adults who are looking to identify with a real life sister in Christ who is sharing how God is using the very story we read TODAY to show opportunity to learn how to practice our faith in the EXACT SAME WAY we just read about, in real time, in real life situations.
God is so good. He is so faithful. He is so trustworthy. Today I am sharing two things going on in my life RIGHT NOW that are giving me an opportunity to put my faith in God and learn how to be more Christlike.
Please comment below or send me a message from my website using my "Leave Me A Message To Let Me Know You Watched Today's Video" section and let me know how you feel about this supplementary video. I hope to make many more as we read the entire Bible this year and it would be helpful to me to know that the content is beneficial to my viewers. My website page where you can find the "message me" section is here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-recordings/january-2025-daily-readings
I have faith that God will send the right people to view this video/play this audio podcast at the right time they need it, whether it is this year or years from now. Like Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph I am putting my faith into what is not yet seen. (But I do hope to see SOME fruition come from these videos. I can be terribly impatient.) :D
Thank you for listening!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Afterthoughts' Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Hi there. I am starting a new addition to my ah readings and this is like a supplementary podcast that goes along with it, but it's not for the kids unless you feel that it's appropriate. It's not inappropriate, but it might be just too much for the younger kids. So this is my adult type podcast where I have been meaning to talk about ah the day's reading in a personal application and personal testimony. And I'm calling this part of the podcast Afterthoughts, real-time application with real-life events.
00:00:48
Speaker
still kind of working on the name but that's pretty much what I want to call it is afterthoughts because after I do each day's recording i I spend a lot of time reflecting on the day's reading and how it applies and I struggle with the little discussion after the reading to keep it short enough and relevant enough so that it goes along with the the shorter version of the Bible that we're reading.
Reflections on Biblical Readings and Personal Testimony
00:01:17
Speaker
It's just in a slightly abbreviated. It doesn't have absolutely every detail, but as you can see so far, it's pretty complete. And and I hope you're happy with the ah that the content of the Bible stories that we are reading so far this this year.
00:01:36
Speaker
So I wanted to talk about our reading today because God is just ah really applying that in my own life. And I wanted to share that. And I always get like this. So I'm not even going to say I'm sorry, because I'm really not. That's just the way I am, because that's my heart.
Joseph's Story: Forgiveness and Imperfection
00:01:56
Speaker
So as we are reading today's ah story, we we saw Joseph's brothers come to Egypt for the second time. And we saw when they arrived the first time he did not tell them that he was their brother. and But this time he finally broke down and did, but not before he ah got a little bit
00:02:20
Speaker
back at them per se. He was gracious and forgiving and wise um throughout the process. he He was gracious in that he forgave his brothers and and he ah provided for them by paying for their food to send back to the families and especially with Benjamin. He was especially
00:02:47
Speaker
generous with yeah with Benjamin, his his full brother. But I just wanted to point out that as forgiving and how much of a heart ah for God and that Joseph had and how much wisdom he had, he wasn't 100% perfect, Wessie. He did still get that little jab in to his brothers. And that's important to notate because we do that.
00:03:14
Speaker
we we might you know do something that's just a little mean to somebody when they have wronged us and that's what i wanted to talk about is that nobody is perfect but we are supposed to try and do our best so i want to point out this in our lessons today our reading that uh while Joseph did give us some wonderful examples of his faith in God for God's provision. He also made a little bit of a sin there, didn't he? and And I wanted to share with you mine. So I actually have two applications in one day
00:03:59
Speaker
for today's reading and I wanted to share those ah with anybody watching or listening.
Managing Personal Conflicts and Habits
00:04:08
Speaker
So the first one ah occurred last night for me or yesterday I guess I should say while I was at work in the evening where I realized that um ah my husband had purchased something without discussing it with me first, which resulted in a payment plan.
00:04:29
Speaker
And I was was very upset by this because he did not talk with me first, as I mentioned. So I i was not particularly pleased. and um And for instance, like this morning, I didn't want him to be near me in the bed. Don't touch me kind of a thing. I said I'm upset.
00:04:54
Speaker
and ah And not only that, but as I had been talking with a coworker, they had mentioned something that i I applied as well and that I did. And that was that I feel that YouTube is a negative influence in some ways because there is a lot of spending time reviewing products. So it's kind of like a home shopping network channel.
00:05:23
Speaker
And I find that it it creates want for things that are not needed. And my coworker said that they had actually had this exact same issue with their children. And in response to that, ah she and her husband had decided to get rid of the YouTube app. they and They signed out and got rid of the app so that the children could not have access to it.
00:05:51
Speaker
So I thought, well, that seems pretty darn applicable here. So i this morning I ah disconnected the app. I removed the app from our TV in the living room where he watches TV. And my husband is not capable of of ah problem solving that.
00:06:14
Speaker
So I knew what I was doing, but it was, it was like putting me above him, you know, to take charge and say, you're not allowed to watch the YouTube then as though I was, you know, like a parent. And so I was convicted of that this morning as I was talking with God and seeing Joseph. And I thought, you know, the other thing, the other part of that is that there is better ways, there are better ways to handle the situation.
00:06:44
Speaker
So as ah if you have visited my site, you may see that I am a health coach, but I am an appreciative health coach. And so I took courses in how to be an appreciative coach and how to help people make lasting lifestyle changes. So there are things that I learned about how to communicate better And just like when we read these stories in the Bible, we learn lessons in school or wherever, and the ah we are meant to apply those in our own lives, not just teach them.
00:07:28
Speaker
So I was very convicted that I have learned processes of how to deal with conflict better. And yet I reverted to a ah prior knowledge behavior. And so instead of of leaving it like that, i I have yet to go in and correct it. I have not had the opportunity yet, but I will. I decided, OK, God, how do how is it I need to address the issue?
00:07:57
Speaker
So I learned in my appreciative coaching, and I have said this to other people and um in, I'm trying to think of the word, in ah conversation to encourage them and to give advice when people have asked me, there we go, that's the word I was looking for, advice type thing. I have to follow my own advice, my my own coaching.
00:08:22
Speaker
And so in situations where people have described situations, I have explained that there is a process that I learned about called nonviolent communication. And that is where ah we don't judge somebody as being bad or doing something that is wrong. But we say to them, when you do this, it makes me feel this. So I came home this evening.
00:08:50
Speaker
And I'll tell you, it was a little bit of a battle on the way home because part of me did not want to do it. I just wanted to be angry. So it's very important to me that I am completely upfront and honest ah because we are we are all people.
00:09:06
Speaker
So it doesn't matter that it's me, I'm sure you have felt this way as well. And I want to put that out there so that you can learn ah what it looks like in real time as we go through these lessons in real life, in real time.
Faith Journey and Real-World Applications
00:09:24
Speaker
And it's kind of like the concept of you know a doctor reading about how to perform a surgery. They don't actually learn how to do it until they do it.
00:09:35
Speaker
So in the same way, we can read the Bible and we can take lessons in school, but it's not until we actually get into the real world and have um opportunities that present themselves where we can practice the correct way to respond that we learn how to do it.
00:10:00
Speaker
And so, uh, that is part of the good that God is working into our lives is because that is how he is growing us is, is that we have these opportunities as they arise for us to evaluate how am I going to respond to this? So I must say that after I, I actually said the more, um, the, when I actually spoke the words and said, when you don't,
00:10:31
Speaker
ah consult with me before making a purchase that requires a payment plan. ah I feel that you are not respecting me and leaving me out. I feel left out because I handle all of our finances.
00:10:49
Speaker
he had a brain injury, a stroke, a number of years ago. And so he does not handle any of our finances, which can be difficult for us because, well, difficult for me because, and difficult for, it is difficult for us because he wants to buy things and he doesn't have any idea what the budget is.
00:11:12
Speaker
And I do. And so it can feel it can be very difficult when you are in that situation where you want to buy something and you don't know if there's enough money and you don't want to have to ask your spouse for every, you know, thing that you're that you're buying so I make sure that there's money in the account for general spending for him.
00:11:30
Speaker
Not like an allowance, but just for spending purposes, if he goes wants to go out to lunch, if he needs to buy gas, he needs to go to the store and he needs to buy stuff. But I have learned that I have to move money when it needs to be um used for paying bills so that it doesn't accidentally get spent. And then if there's no money in the account, then it can't get spent, right?
00:11:54
Speaker
but ah in so So it's very important to me that he make those discussions with me when he wants to buy things. And we may not agree on the things that one of us wants to buy. And I try very hard to have discussions with him about the things that I'm buying so that he is aware, even though he's not really paying attention.
00:12:24
Speaker
to what's going on. I i feel that that's yeah keeping him involved. And I didn't feel like I was getting that in return. And so it hurt my feelings. And oftentimes when we feel hurt, we want to poke back and hurt back. And so like Joseph, I didn't want to hurt him. I just wanted to be a little bit mean. And so I did that.
00:12:55
Speaker
And so God convicted me of that. And I wanted to, um and in the New Testament, we are encouraged to confess our sins to one another. And I think that this is what God is talking about because we can feel like we are the only ones and we and I know we are not. And I wanted to share that so that you could see in real life, in real time, what that practical application looks like.
Spiritual and Personal Growth
00:13:22
Speaker
And because I know that I'm not the only one who goes through similar situations like this. And i I want you to not feel alone. And I want you to see how it is possible to make those changes in your behavior the same way I'm trying to make those changes in my behavior to be better, because God did convict me of that.
00:13:48
Speaker
um with ah what we learned today about Joseph, where I saw myself in Joseph not being, you know, spiteful, but it could be ah considered a little bit spiteful, but it was just a little bit mean. And it doesn't matter. A little bit mean is not what God is. God is not a little bit mean. God is loving.
00:14:15
Speaker
And so we are supposed to be like God. We are not ever going to be perfect in this world, but this is how he is growing me. And I would like to encourage you in your growth so that you can potentially um grow in that area as well and give God the glory for that. And it won't be easy, but it it it is the right thing to do.
00:14:41
Speaker
So that is part of my podcast here with my after thoughts that I wanted to, um, share about real life application for our, uh, real life story with Joseph.
Workplace Challenges and Maintaining Faith
00:14:55
Speaker
Now I said that there were two things, so I'm going to give you the second one. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a little bit of a doozy too. Now you might've thought that one was pretty good. So, um,
00:15:09
Speaker
ah God ah took care of Joseph when he had things supposedly bad happening to him. And it certainly wasn't good that his brothers sold him into slavery and that ah the guards wife wrongfully lied and accused him falsely of ah wanting to ah sleep with her when she was the one making advances to him.
00:15:39
Speaker
So I find myself in a situation at work where I am being wrong, falsely accused of something. and ah and And I have plenty of evidence to the contrary, but you know there's a little part of me that is concerned that what if they don't find in my favor?
00:16:03
Speaker
So I wanted to share with you that I see myself once again in Joseph. When Joseph was faced with these false accusations of inappropriate behavior,
00:16:18
Speaker
ah What evidence did he have? the The woman had his coat that he left in a hurry when when she had it in his hand her hand. So ah it didn't matter what he said. It looked bad for him. And so I find myself at work with a false accusation and I'm going,
00:16:41
Speaker
And I'm pretty sure I know who it is that's making this false accusation, but there are policies against saying anything, of course. And so I can't say anything to her about that and say, what why are you doing this to me or anything like that? So my faith, however, is in God because I see the faithfulness that Joseph had and i and I see by God's past record.
00:17:09
Speaker
that placing my faith in him is not ill placed. So while I have tears, I am just in general emotional because that's just the way I am. I feel deeply about things that I'm very passionate in general. And, um, so you're not seeing tears of scaredness or tears of fear. Uh, you're just, you're seeing tears of passion. and I do want to clarify that. I am not overly worried.
00:17:39
Speaker
about what what the situation is is ah going to happen, how this situation is going to play out. Because I am actually pretty at peace with it, despite what it may look like.
00:17:55
Speaker
um Because I have told God, I said, you know, you used even supposed bad things. And what happens in our life is that, like in the past, I've had people at jobs. I don't know what it is. ah God moves me to different places. It moves me to different jobs because he knows that I have a tendency to stay where I am.
00:18:19
Speaker
I don't move around a lot. I'm not a mover all the time. When I do something, I tend to just stick with it. So in order for him to move me from one job to the next, there generally has to be a negative thing that happens there. ah Because even when negative things and bad things happen, I tend to stick them out anyways and I tend to just stay.
00:18:44
Speaker
So ah ah ages and ages ago, somebody made um difficult time for me at ah at a particular employment place and and I ended up losing my job. And I hadn't done anything wrong. And in fact, ah other people came to me and said, this particular person is asking me to say things that are not true about you in order to get you in trouble so that you will lose your job.
00:19:15
Speaker
And I was just astonished that somebody would do that. But I was really thankful to hear from somebody that this is what was going on because I didn't know what was going on. I just knew that I was having difficulty with with the management. And it ended up being because God was moving me to a different job. And it didn't take long.
00:19:40
Speaker
But we we oftentimes cannot look or are not interested or our eyes are not open into looking for that next thing because we don't know that there are supposed to be a next thing at this moment. So the situations that occur, even though they look bad, oftentimes are just the means to move us to where we need to be. And in the case with Joseph, he needed to be in Egypt in order to ah help his family and protect his and save his family and provide for them. And so his brother selling him was just the means to get him into Egypt. That didn't make their action any less wrong, but it's just that God knows what's going to happen and he and you know he orchestrates all of this good in the midst of that. And ah so i'm i'm I'm just wondering,
00:20:36
Speaker
I'm curious ah if God will use this as a means to move me into something more exciting and more and much better, because every time he has moved me, it is not to something worse. It is absolutely for something better. And I've always been so happy at my next move, but I wouldn't have done that move unless the supposedly negative thing happened.
00:21:05
Speaker
And the same thing with when my husband had his stroke. I would not be where I am right now from my work ah if my husband had not had his stroke. Excuse me. I should probably pause that, but I did tell you, I don't like to edit. I like to keep everything live and real. I hope that's not a little too real for you. I apologize. Um,
00:21:29
Speaker
So if my husband had not had his stroke, I would not be presented with the situations like we had last night, where I would not be learning how to respond better. And I would not be where I am at my job right now, because I was looking for work that would be suitable for him and I was feeling it. And it turned out that I liked it, so I stayed.
00:21:52
Speaker
because that was how, I partially how I take care of my husband is how I, is that I was testing things out to see what would be appropriate that he could do and what he couldn't do. And his stroke recovery is a whole nother story that I hope to get onto my site at some point. It's just, I just don't have all the time yet, maybe. I mean, look at Paul, for example, I'm suddenly struck with the example of Paul Paul wrote a good portion of the New Testament from jail.
Apostle Paul's Example of Faith in Adversity
00:22:27
Speaker
Not that I'm going to be going to jail, not like that. But he had time to write the New Testament because he wasn't out moving around ministry. His ministry then became his writing.
00:22:41
Speaker
So while it was no pleasant thing for him to be sitting in jail, wrongfully, in chains for Christ, God was using that time to give Him to write the New Testament. So whatever it is that's going to happen, either I will be exonerated ah with these false accusations because I can absolutely with a surety tell you that they are false.
00:23:09
Speaker
um And I have presented my evidence to the contrary. And I'm hoping that they call witnesses that I have mentioned to affirm my innocence and and things.
Developing a Faith-Based Coaching Business
00:23:23
Speaker
But even if I am not, God will use this situation.
00:23:29
Speaker
to take me to where it is I'm supposed to be, to either give me more time to work on my site, to do my podcasting, because I have so, so many things that I am trying to do in growing um my appreciative coaching business, not on the health coaching side, but on the side where I'm doing what I'm doing now where I'm podcasting and helping people to find their purpose and to help people grow their faith in God. So this ah podcast here, the whole purpose of this recording is to give the glory to God and to show that God is ah in charge. And then I want you to see that real life application in my life so that you can see how to apply it in yours.
00:24:22
Speaker
So I guess that's really about it. I don't have anything further to add on that. I don't think I do. I think that's pretty complete. And I don't edit, so this will just be the way that it is.
00:24:38
Speaker
And so thank you very much for viewing. Thank you for listening. And I hope that you um enjoy the time that I took to ah to record it. I hope that you find it relevant. I hope that you find it encouraging.
Techniques for Managing Negative Thoughts
00:24:55
Speaker
And I hope that, oh, I do want to ask just that you pray for me because that can't hurt either, right?
00:25:02
Speaker
just to pray for me as I go through it. Oh, there was one other thing I wanted to add. I almost forgot. I learned a trick. I call a lot of things just tricks. It's not really a trick. I learned a technique um because as these things are happening, sometimes we will have a tendency to ah replay events over and over and over and it's just like maddening because I do not want my thoughts to be consumed with a conversation with the person that I was answering questions to. Especially not when I have come to the conclusion that my faith is in God. Because sometimes having those replayed conversations are really not doing any good.
00:25:51
Speaker
And so they can be considered like negative thoughts and things that will ah can potentially discourage us in our faith because we are focusing on the wrong thing. So in general, ah if you are having difficulty with some negative thought or some some issue that is bothering you and it just doesn't want to go away and you know that you're at the point where, um as Jesus said, who of you can add a day to your life by worrying?
00:26:21
Speaker
and you've decided that you know this is true, but you just can't get rid of those thoughts that just keep repeating and repeating and repeating and repeating in your head. Well, here's a little technique that I learned in my courses last year, and it's called changing the channel. And the thoughts are going to come back, but as many times as they come back, you just make a conscious decision to say,
00:26:50
Speaker
I'm doing this again. My thoughts are focusing on something that I don't really want to be focusing on. So I'm going to change the channel. And so you make a concerted effort to think about something different and the thoughts will return. And then you make a concerted effort again to change those, to change the channel. You don't have to succumb to a repetitive, nonproductive, potentially negative thoughts.
00:27:19
Speaker
And it can be a bad pattern, whether it's it's about ah worries, whatever it happens to be about, an event that's going on. It's generally not good because we we don't tend to have a difficult time replaying positive things. Those don't bother us. They're just wonderful memories. We call those memories. But if you are focusing on something that is bothering at you, then it may be time for you to change the channel.
00:27:48
Speaker
And I also wanted to encourage you to ask God to help you change the channel. So what I have done is I have asked God to help me change the channel and to change it for me when I seem to be having difficulty changing it myself.
00:28:06
Speaker
And I want you to know that you can do that because he does honor that and he will do it. So I have found that God is helping me change the channel today because this all just happened today in one day. So I, um, I feel really good. I'm just, I'm so thankful to God for helping me change the channel. And, uh, I wanted you to be aware of the fact that this technique exists and that that is how it works.
00:28:37
Speaker
And it's not enough just for me to tell people about it. I want you to see it in action. Hence this podcast, Afterthoughts, real life application in real time. I know it seems like kind of a funny title, at least it sounds funny to me, but I feel like it is very accurate in its description.
00:28:58
Speaker
because it is in real time and it is real life. And it is my afterthoughts as to what is happening as God applies, helps me apply what I am reading in my life.
Podcast's Aim: Real-Life Application of Faith
00:29:14
Speaker
So ah that's I think that will be all I have. I think that was everything that I had in my mind planned as I considered the things that I wanted to say and do.
00:29:25
Speaker
ah So this is all this is my evening recording. I am doing this at 9 45 my time It is now 9 45 my time. So I am tired. I have had a long day at work I have not had time to eat my dinner yet because I wanted to get this done because this is my priority I had this was on my heart to do and this is my very first effort to do it and And I was going to make a recording like this the other day, but it just didn't happen. It wasn't quite there yet. But God really put this on my heart today when I had two things going on. And I just really thought that this was it. These are the events that God is going to use to get my next section of podcasts going.
00:30:12
Speaker
And I feel that that's relevant to say too, because God is working every single thing into my purpose. And I am so excited about that.
00:30:23
Speaker
So I hope that you have enjoyed this podcast as much as this subject matter could potentially be enjoyed. And I hope that you are encouraged. And I would like us to give the glory to God for working in such wonderful ways for us. Because I am so excited to see where this is going to play out, believe it or not.
00:30:46
Speaker
I'm excited. I don't know how it's going to play out yet, but I will let you know.
00:30:53
Speaker
And I do feel better with my husband too, because I, I feel, um, that I'm not harboring it now rather than just thinking those things in my mind. I spoke the words and I feel much better there too. And that is what God wants us to do is to not let the sun go down on our anger.
00:31:15
Speaker
So I thought about waiting until tomorrow and he said, no, you really need to do it right away. As soon as you get home, because otherwise I would be tempted into harboring it overnight and being angry and behaving in ways that were reflecting that anger. And then it would have a chance to grow. And I didn't want that to happen either because I had already decided I wasn't angry. I was convicted.
00:31:44
Speaker
Well, I hope you have a good rest of your night. Instead of just constantly saying I'm done, I'm going to be done. Thank you so much again for joining me. I do appreciate your time to view it.