Walk With Me
Christian discussion of biblical topics, and a dose of daily application. Yes the Bible is still relevant, and we find out more and more each day how relevant it has always been.
Walk With Me
Better Safe than Sorry, Right?
What if your personal convictions are more than just preferences, but deeply rooted in biblical interpretation? Join us as we promise to unravel the intricate connections between holiness, personal convictions, and Christianity, shedding light on how these elements shape our daily actions and choices. We explore the "come as you are" mentality, challenging the notion that it means remaining unchanged, and consider the "better safe than sorry" approach in areas like clothing, all grounded in scriptural understanding. By emphasizing that God is not the author of confusion, we highlight the importance of clarity and the authority of scripture in guiding us.
Discover the transformative power of a personal relationship with God in the pursuit of holiness. Inspired by Romans 12:1-3, we encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, allowing God to renew your mind and discern His perfect will. Through a thoughtful discussion on the pitfalls of comparison and the illusion of spiritual superiority, we emphasize patience and persistence in your spiritual journey. With Hebrews 12:14 guiding us, we stress the ongoing processes of peace and holiness, while expressing heartfelt gratitude for our listeners. Share love with others, and remember that even the simplest gestures can have a profound impact.
Hello everybody, welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, jj. So good to have each and every one of you here. I know I say this every week Sometimes you might get tired of hearing me say it, but I really mean it. It's so good to have each and every one of you here. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for you, there'd be no need for me. That's how I see it, because you know God has me here and god has you here since we were gathered here. God is here with us, right. So good to have each and every one of you here. So good. I love each and every one of you. Thank you all for your questions. Thank you all for the birthday wishes even that was, uh. That was very special. I'm not sure how it got kind of put out there and last month, but it was so good to have each and every one of you. Thank you so much for the sponsors, uh, who have raised this platform and trusted me with your products and services. I still have that one sponsor, that, uh, is just waiting. I'm just waiting for a reply and I know how sponsors are. This time of year is very busy, so I'm not really concerned about them getting back to me, but they are already a sponsor. I'm just waiting for the go ahead to go ahead and announce them. Thank you so much for Two Bars the lyricist who does the intro and the outro. Drew, I'm going to be looking to you to probably maybe change the song here. I'm not sure. Whatever you want to do, it's up to you. Thank you so much for Exquisite Creations. We're going to be doing more. We're going to be doing more. We're going to be doing more. You know what we call swag, I suppose like tumblers and stuff like that, and I know I kind of teased it earlier. I'm just waiting for the government to get back to me with an okay so I can announce that we're going to be part of a bigger ministry. All right, so it's so good to have each and every one. God is doing a marvelous work. I think we are getting close to a big, big, big revival and I want each and every one of you to be a part of it. Thank you all so much. Let's get into our show today.
Speaker 1:Now we were talking about denominationalism and how holiness plays into it and one of the questions that kind of brought on this denominationalist study, if you will, or series if you will, was like how does the Bible guide me? Uh and by me I mean JJ, or by you, whoever you are, whatever your name is uh, how does it, how does it guide us into holiness, and why is holiness such a thing? So it's one of the things that and you know, I know, we get the, we get sign of the kind of the mentality well, the Bible says come as you are. Yes, the Bible does say come as you are, but it does not say to stay as you are. So, and words are very important, and words are very important. So, when you take words out of context when I take words out of context, when anyone takes words out of context, the only thing we do it's diminish the meaning of words and then create confusion. And you know as well as I do our God is not a God of confusion, not an author of confusion, but we know who is right. So we're going to continue this and we're going to get into what I would like to call the better safe than sorry approach. Called the better safe than sorry approach.
Speaker 1:There are, um different things that you know. We do that and I like to call them convictions, right. For instance, there are certain things that I don't wear because they're convicted. I don't believe that, um, you know, good good Christians should be dressing like that. And you say well, jj, what does that mean? That means that it presents the wrong message.
Speaker 1:Now, the Bible does not necessarily say and let's just use this, for example disclaimer. I'm not saying this is a sin, this thing I'm about to talk about, right now, at this very moment. I'm not saying this is a sin, I'm just using this as an example. But right now, at this very moment, I'm not saying this is a sin, I'm just using this as an example. So let's just say, if I got a conviction of, you know, wearing pink shirts, now, anybody who knows me knows that JJ does not really like to wear pink and for whatever reason, it's just a dumb sort of societal norm. And I know, I know, if you're listening to this and you know me personally, you probably like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jj, you won't wear pink, absolutely not, I won't wear pink. That doesn't mean that the Bible says and so men should not wear pink. We sort of dilute the reason for the scripture. Now there is we in society have made this blue as boys and girls and pink as guys. But that doesn't mean that if you wear pink as a guy, you're going to hit the burning place, and that has to be said.
Speaker 1:However, that being said, jj is not wearing pink, but it's less to say for, again, the sake of argument, but that jj has a conviction that he will. He should not wear pink. And again, you see how I changed it there. I went from I will not wear pink to I have a conviction about wearing pink. That is two completely different things, and I'm spending a lot of time on this because, um, because there's a couple of questions that I've got. So there's a difference between your desire and what there's a conviction of, and what the conviction of would generally be backed up by scripture. Okay, would generally be backed up by scripture. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about why the Scriptures hold authority.
Speaker 1:And we can go back to Proverbs 3, chapter 3, 5, and 6. And I'm going to read it out of the New Living Translation again, I prefer the King James, but I'm really warming up to this New Living Translation, okay. So it says Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you the path to take. Now it's also going to require for you to trust in the Lord with all your heart. It's going to require a lot of prayer, a lot of seeking God, and that's why you know Proverbs 3 and 5 starts off with prayer, but then it goes through seeking. These are active things that we're going to have to do. You are seeking His will. You are not just letting it come to you. You are actually trying to find out what he wants you to do, and by he I mean God. I know Seems elementary, but sometimes you gotta be specific.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 55, verse 68 says seek the Lord while you can find him. See. There it is again that word seek. Now it's not just looking out the window, seeing what you can see. This is more like finding a lost pair of keys. This is you turning up everything you can find, going back to where you last saw them or going back, and by that I mean you had an experience with God and now you've kind of gotten away from it. Now you have to go back to where you last felt it and at that one particular level of experience, and so you go back to it and you seek these things. You're tearing up your spiritual life trying to find out what you added that got you away from God. And then this there it was. Oh my gosh, it was when I started wearing a pink shirt. Again, I'm using the pink shirt as an example. I'm not saying the bible says you can't wear pink. I want to be clear. All right.
Speaker 1:So and Isaiah 5 sorry, 55, 68 continues with let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. In the King James version it says let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thought. Let him return unto the lord and he will have mercy on him, and to our god, he will abundantly pardon. In the new living translation, it says let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of wrongdoing. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
Speaker 1:My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, saith the Lord, and my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine. So if you have a conviction, they have to come from God. It can't be because Bishop so-and-so said it or Pastor so-and-so said it. Even if I come to you, like here's a really good example I do not wear short sleeves or shorts outside. I do not, and I often use scriptures talking about fully dressed, fully clothed, what that really means, and we're going to talk about that. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but let's just say I come to you and I say this is a thing, this is my conviction, this is where I get this from. That does not necessarily mean that you have to do it, because what I'm the point is you are seeking this level of holiness. You are seeking a level of holiness let's put it that way, not necessarily mine. Do not compare yourself to Jesus, do not Compare yourself to the word of God. That's what judges you, not me, okay.
Speaker 1:So at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves a very big question Is it, should I, is holiness a thing, or does it have to be a thing? Or is being safer, rather than sorry, a thing? Is it safe, better to be safe than sorry? And how important is the truth of scripture to my family? And then, does god expect him to bathe him all the time? Like all the time, like every waking moment? Can I not breathe, can I not live? But this is this, is that last question is a lot. It's a very heartbreaking question and I'm I get that question a lot too. Um, they put it generally like a one, one word answer, one line answer. But yes, it's a very heartbreaking question because it assumes the point that living for God is a birth, it assumes the fact that holiness is a birth, or it assumes the fact that JJ is making the rules up as he goes along. And if I'm using Scripture, then none of these are true.
Speaker 1:Romans 12, 1 3 lays it out Again. I'm going to read it through the New Living Translation for the sake of time. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them, by them, your bodies, be your sacrifice, the way, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship. Yes, having a great song and a dance and a shout and a clap is great, that's lovely, but living holy is what God really wants. That's how we worship him. We choose to live holy. I'm going to continue.
Speaker 1:Don't copy the behaviors and the customs of this world, but let God transform you. And everybody say transform. Transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know how God's will for you, you'll know God's will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect. God's will will always be good, pleasing and perfect. But if you're not, if your mind hasn't been transformed this way, then it may seem to be bad, it may seem to be restrictive, it may seem to be cumbersome, it may seem even just to be inconvenient, but if God has transformed your mind, then none of this will happen. Verse 3 Because the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning Don't think you're better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Speaker 1:We, and we talk about, as a matter of fact I'm probably going to be speaking about this on Sunday we talk about, as a matter of fact, I'm probably going to be speaking about this on Sunday we talk about spiritual sort of a spiritual superiority conflict, spiritual supremacy, as it was, and we want to be more spiritual than the brothers next to us in the church field. We want to be more spiritual than a dope addict. And then you get out. We want to be more spiritual than a dope addict. And then you get out we want to know more, we want to know more scripture than the prostitute. And you get out there and then the prostitute just starts out quoting you scripture. Because you are comparing yourselves among yourselves. You're comparing the wrong thing. Let God do this.
Speaker 1:Hebrews 12, 14 work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Now look for brother Joe, brother, ron, brother, so forth and so on will tell you well, it's not how it works that any should post. Well, I'm sorry, this right here tells you that you are supposed to work at it. And by again, like we talked about in the very beginning of this episode, when you take things out of context and you twist them, you reduce their meaning and then you kind of reduce the effectiveness of the truth. We are supposed to be working towards it.
Speaker 1:This is a work in progress. You don't live it for God. It's kind of like building a skyscraper Right, you get permits and you lay out the foundation and you, you set the foundation and you pour the foundation and then you stick rebar. While you're pouring the foundation, you stick rebar in it, then you start building up the sides, the walls, until as high as you're going to go, and then you top it off. That is not if you can find anyone that can do that overnight, let me know. This thing generally takes a lot of time and the well-built skyscrapers take years. It takes years to do so.
Speaker 1:It's not about coming just because you you walked in off uh off of uh addiction corner. You know in off of addiction corner. You know the intersection of addiction and fornication last weekend and came here to church on Sunday and all of a sudden, now you're supposed to be the perfect Christian and everything's great and, yes, the Holy Ghost will begin to change you. But the Holy Ghost will be removing things out of you so that you can put God in you. This is building a Christian, building a person who's living for God, building a person who's walking in his truth. You are walking, you're not sprinting, you're not instant teleporting. So we, and by doing this we learn in these scriptures and we're learning what God is telling us.
Speaker 1:So, 1 Peter 1, verse 14-17 so you must live as God's obedient children, not God's half-known cousin, not as God's overbearing sister. You must live as God's overbearing sister. You must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. And this is where we get into a problem. As church geologists as you know church geologists, you know what I mean we start going to church a little while and then we say I don't think we need to do all that. I don't think we need to. I don't think all that's necessary. I think I can get away with wearing shorts to the store and I'm using this because it's my own conviction, based on scripture. I don't, I just I think I can get away with.
Speaker 1:In the Bible, if you finish that verse, that verse in 1 Peter, it says you didn't know any better than me, so don't go back to those times. You didn't know any better. But now you must be holy in everything you do. This is God who chose you. God is holy. He wants you to be holy. He wants me must be holy in everything you do. This is God who chose you. God is holy, he wants you to be holy, he wants me to be holy. And for the scriptures say you must be holy because I am holy, verse 17.
Speaker 1:And remember that the heavenly father to whom you pray has no favor. It doesn't matter if it's JJ behind his microphone, bishop, apostolic Doctrine, dr, deacon of Master, theology, richardson over there, it doesn't matter. Neither one of us are. We are all the same. We'll all be judged by the same book. He will judge or reward you according to what you do, but JJ works with his God of works, as any man should boast about. Peter said it right here he would judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners in the land.
Speaker 1:So what we do matters, otherwise there'd be no reason, there'd be no reason for church. We just come as we are and we stay as we are and we do as we do. But what's the purpose? The purpose is living for God. The purpose is shedding that old man, that old woman, that person who could not be trusted, that person that was not be trusted, that person that was a liar and a thief and did all the things that you later regretted, that I later regretted. It's leaving that person behind and becoming a new person and looking forward to going to heaven.
Speaker 1:And 2 Peter 3 11-14 is probably going to heaven and 2 Peter 3.11-14 is probably going to be the end. But since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this he's talking about the temple that was destroyed what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flame, but we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth. He has promised a world filled with God's righteousness and so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. Second, peter, this letter that Peter writes.
Speaker 1:It really kind of sets up and answers a lot of questions that a lot of us have, because there will be a day that everything is going to be destroyed. There's no way around it. It doesn't matter who we vote for, who we support. This will happen, but what does matter is that you and I live holy and godly lives, because if we do, then we're going to be looking forward to the end times, not in fear of it. Let me say something to you, walker, if you are living in fear of the end time.
Speaker 1:If I am living in fear of the end time, then there is something that you or I must get out of our lives. I don't know what that is for you, because I'm not your pastor. If there is something in your life that you have to get out, that you have to pull out, that you have to pray out or fast out or study out, if you're living in fear, god should tell you something we are actually to be looking forward to, even though it's as awesome as it sounds the sky being on fire, gold and diamonds melting with heat. We should be looking forward to that, because right after that is the new heaven and a new earth that we have promised, and this is a world that's filled with God's righteousness. No essay going on, no child bothering going on. No abortions happening, no fornication, no getting cheated on, nothing getting stolen from you, no one lying to you, everyone walking in God's righteousness, everyone, I mean.
Speaker 1:Just think about what type of world that would be. No one is lazy, everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing. No one's hungry. No one's hungry, no one's homeless. Everything is perfect. This is God's righteousness being perfect. There's no war. No one's selling drugs out of their house and people running up in that house and shooting everybody up. No one going through a school eliminating people. Can you just imagine what that would be? This is what we look forward to.
Speaker 1:This isn't about going to church and seeing who has on the best suit, or which one of y'all is wearing the best hat, which one of y'all's got the flyest shoes on, or how we call it now, who has the best drip. None of this, none of this matters. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. What really matters is what's to come. In order to get to what's to come, you have to do the right thing now, and this is where having a holiness standard comes in right now. And how are you going to get the holiness standard? You've got to go to where the holiness standard is given. And the only way you can go to where the holiness standard is given don't be listening to JJ. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You have a Bible of your own. I mean, of course you're listening to this podcast because we're going to talk about these scriptures. That's why you're here, that's why I'm here.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day, that Bible in your hand is the word. That's God's word. That's God's word, not JJ's word. I didn't write it. And guess what? There are things in there that in my flesh, I disagreed with. I absolutely disagree with it, because I like that thing that the Bible speaks against.
Speaker 1:But I have to make a choice. I would rather be safe than sorry. I would rather be okay, I got rid of that thing. And God says well, you know, when I finally get to you know, see him face to face he says well, aj, you know, you really got to be safe. I'd rather be safe than saying, well, get up there and say, well, my words said to you this. You didn't do it, you thought it wasn't worth it. And then I have to say I'm sorry, but then sorry is too late, too late to be sorry, too late to'm sorry, but then sorry is too late. It's too late to be sorry, it's too late to be sorry. So I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I'd rather for each one of you to be safe than sorry.
Speaker 1:So we are still laying the scriptural foundation right now of holiness, because holiness is important, is important, and I'm going to say something to you that a lot of people may not like, and also it goes to how you're celebrating holidays, and I'm just going to leave it like that because, again, I'm not dressed. How you celebrate holidays goes into your holiness. So I mean, if you belong to the Lord, god Almighty, then you belong to him, and next week, when we get started, we are really going to drill down into what holiness means how to talk, how to dress, and I get it. Some of you guys probably won't listen to me after that, but I am required to deliver this to you all. Right, it's so good to have you guys here. It's so good we got to wrap it up for today. It's so good to have you.
Speaker 1:I love each and every one of you. Thank you all so much, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for telling everybody about it. I realized that someone somehow had got, I had been blocked or something like that. Thank you all so much for still sharing it. I appreciate each and every one of you. I thank you all. Love you all. See you all on the next one and tell somebody out there that God loves them While you're telling them about this podcast. Tell them that God loves them. That might be the only time that day that someone realizes that they are cared for. Okay, all right, love you all. See y'all in the next one.