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
Does He really Care?
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. I hope everyone has had a great and marvelous Christmas and we'll have a great and wonderful New Year. People say, well, you're going to take this week off. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't. I tried, I did, I tried. I thought maybe we should just post like the best of the best episode or whatever the most popular downloaded episode was. But I said no, we should probably continue this thing that we've started. So I'm so glad to have each and every one of you here. You guys could be listening to any other podcast, but taking a few moments If you're here. You guys could be listening to any other podcast, but take a few moments to listen to this one. I am just thankful for you, thankful for God for having me do this, even though sometimes I'm like, oh, I've got to do another episode. It's just the flesh talking. I'm not some superhuman person. I get tired too, but I love each and every one of you. Thank you all for joining this podcast, sharing this podcast. We have now crossed 1,500 downloads. I know it don't sound like a lot, but to me. It's a lot and I'm thankful for each and every one of you who listen. Thank you all so much. Big shout out to our sponsors. Two Bars to Lyricist, with the intro and the outro. Big shout out to our sponsors. Two Bars to Lyricist, with the intro and the outro. He's going to be hopefully sending me some new stuff. God is really blessed with a new house. I'm waiting for him to get his studio all set up the way he wants it and then we'll talk right. Also, exquisite Creations, and she's going to have the tumblers and stuff. She's just getting ready to get started up again. And guess what the big news is? We have now launched Iron Gate Ministries LLC. Yes, iron Gate Ministries LLC. It's just launched. It hasn't. I haven't really made a website for anything, we just got it official. We are officially a part of Iron Gate Ministries and if you are curious about where that came from, look no further and ask where Peter was in prison and had to walk through the Iron Gate to his freedom. That's where that came from. So, so good to have each and every one of you here.
Speaker 1:I got a question, and it was a question that was Kind of along where we were going With the. You know we were talking about holiness and the way we should Actually behave, as you know a Christian. So I'm just going to go ahead and read the question Also. So if you have any other questions or comments, feel free Send them to walkwithmebiblestudy at gmailcom. Walkwithmebiblestudy at gmailcom.
Speaker 1:I love questions. If you do not want your question or you don't want your name to be read on the question, do not I repeat, do not put it in the subject line. But if you just send me an email, I'm going to naturally assume that you prefer to remain anonymous, and that's okay, because when you listen to the episode you know it's your question and if you have any follow-up, please feel free to reply back to the email or send me a new one. Hey, well, what about this part of it? Right, but I love each and every one of you. Thank you all so much for your questions and today's question and today's question, and I'm going to boil it all the way down to the question itself.
Speaker 1:The question itself is does God really care about what we do? Question itself the question itself is does God really care about what we wear? You know it's a short answer. The absolute short answer is yes. But how important is it? How important is it that we wear what we're supposed to wear? And I get it.
Speaker 1:A lot of people don't talk about things like that. A lot of churches don't preach about things like that because they just don't want to offend people. And you just want to get people in the door, right. So you get people in the door and you sit them down and then you don't. Now you kind of got yourself in a little bit of a predicament and you don't want them to leave. So you don't start talking about things like this because you know they will leave.
Speaker 1:But the Bible is very clear on some things, and this is one of the things that the Bible is clear on and denominationalism. We sort of get away with that and it's not about what you wear on certain days, it's about how you dress every day, right? So one of the first things we've noticed that when we look at history, we look down through history, we sort of see, like a decay of modesty, where we went from. You look at our older pictures. You look at the way society was at that time. You know it was. They had some problems back then, but one thing that they always had. They had modesty. It doesn't matter what socioeconomic background you came from, what color your skin was. You were dressed modestly, and I'm not saying we have to go back to wear 45 layers of clothing. I'm saying we should be in a modest state.
Speaker 1:Now, one of the things that we don't really want to talk about and we're just going to jump right into it because scripture is scripture, and we're just going to jump right into it because scripture is scripture, and I also want to point out. I also want to point out that when we read scripture, we read scripture always read a verse or two above, or a verse or two below, because context is key. I prefer you read the whole chapter, but it doesn't make sense for us to take scripture out of context and turn it into what we want it to be. So I'm going to read the same verse of scripture out of two translations. Now, if you've been following this podcast, you've noticed that I've started warming up tremendously towards the New Living Translation, because it gives you the same sort of harsh, no-nonsense language as the King James Version, without all the sugarcoating that some of the other versions have. So let's start with Hosea 2 and 3.
Speaker 1:Now in the King James Version it says Plead with your mother, please, for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Let therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts. Now, if you wasn't ready for that, that kind of hits you in the face. So we're talking about someone who is talking to a child. They're saying please with your mother, please tell your mother not to do this and to get rid of these things. And in the New Living Translation it gets even worse. But now and this is the same one Now call Israel to account, for she is no longer my wife and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to take off her garish makeup and suggestive clothing and stop playing the prosecutor. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Speaker 1:Do you mean to tell me that women are not supposed to dress suggestively? Well, I mean, here's the thing. Here's the thing. It actually works out better for us this way, even though we've been kind of groomed by society and our normal modern day things that you know we can dress how we want to dress. The weirdest thing I see, because I go to the gym now.
Speaker 1:I've been going to the gym now for I don't know off and on for about a year, and I mean more off than on. But one thing I've noticed, like I enjoy now going in the middle of the night, why? Because when you go to the gym and it's during the day, you have everyone there dressing however they feel like they want to dress. And I mean you got guys and you got their their stringed out t-shirts on with everything out, and you know, they got the ladies with these new workout gear and everything's all tight, lifted up and just perfect. And so we used to go to the gym in sweats and of course, that did everything, but we knew what we were doing. We were working out and sweating and we were getting what we. But now we're going. It's almost like we're going there to show off, right, that's not very modest, but now it's almost like we're going there to show off. That's not very modest. I can tell whether you have underwear or not. That's not very modest.
Speaker 1:And so then we got into this situation because guys are wired the way they are, women are wired the way they are, where women have been literally videoing, videotaping or snapchatting or instagramming these guys looking at them when they actually dressed up to be looked at. This is this is sort of a confusion here, but I'm using this as a small microcosm of how we are doing, and then now you go along with the same the men for being how god made us, because god made us to be turned on or attracted by sight, and women to be attracted by emotion, so or, or you know, a feeling or or mentality. So, and I, I know I'm kind of getting off subject here, but this is why modesty is important. It keeps everything in line. So, yeah, does god care about what we wear? Absolutely, and that's just one subject, and the other thing that we're going to talk about real quick would be we just have a little bit of time today.
Speaker 1:Um, we're going to talk about something that a lot of people don't want to talk about. We talk about I've heard it said a lot about makeup and Jezebel, and, besides Hosea, that is really the only other time we've seen a situation where a woman has put on makeup. Now, please understand, please understand what I am saying to you right now. Jj doesn't care if you wear makeup. It's not about what JJ thinks, because, believe it or not, I mean you like a woman with some nice makeup on. This is what we are designed to do. We are designed to like.
Speaker 1:And if you do this in the privacy of your own home, that is a completely different thing versus you doing it outside to attract someone else. Or you want to look pretty for someone else, because that's usually the excuse that we get. Well, I just want to look pretty for someone else, because that's usually the excuse that we get. Well, I just want to look pretty, I just want to look beautiful. You want to look beautiful to who? Another woman? Well, there's some confusion there. Or to another man. That's also confusion there, because the moment that the man says, hey're beautiful, you have to say either I'm married or you've opened the door to adultery. Or if a woman says that, hey, I'm straight, or you just opened the door to adultery and homosexuality, once you've opened that door, the devil's in there. So and I'm not saying we have to walk around with sour faces, so, and I'm not saying we have to walk around with sour faces, but I'm saying that we can't we can't open the door and then get weirded out when the devil is in there. We can't get weirded out. And then, when the devil moves in and sets up his you know, sets up his playstation and then we try to figure out how we get him out. That's, that's kind of bad. So we, a lot of this stuff is really sort of preventative.
Speaker 1:So it's again that's not to say and I've I've heard people preach this it's not to say what you do in your home for your own spouse. That's a completely different thing. If you are a wife and your husband likes, when you wear those shorts, wear those shorts in the house, that's fine. If you're a husband and your wife likes to see your muscles out when you walk around the house, walk around with the muscles out, walk around with the tight underwear on, whatever, that's because you're doing it for your spouse. You're doing it and you're keeping it in the proper context. You're keeping it in the marriage, you're keeping it in the home. You're not trying to attract anyone. If you want to, I mean, that's just the way, that's just the best way to keep it, the best way to explain it and that's not to say again, I'm your pastor, I'm not. But if you want to do that stuff, that's kind of like the only place to do it.
Speaker 1:Because the Bible does say that marriage bread is undefiled. So it doesn't make sense to like, well, I can't wear this stuff outside, I can't wear this stuff inside. It's not, that doesn't make any sense Biblically, it does not make any sense, right? But as far as when you're out, you're presenting yourself to the world, you're presenting yourself to the world, you're presenting yourself to God, you are, we are we, we are to be modest. We should be fully dressed and we should be modest. Now, that's not to say you can't wear nice clothes. Please don't get this twisted, because a lot of people will twist it and say, well, you know fine apparel. But I'll tell you what. Let's's read the script. Uh, exodus 33 and 4. Now I'm going to read this out of the king james version, and then I'm going to read out the living translation, 33 and 4.
Speaker 1:And when the people heard these evil tidings which is a, which is a judgment? Right? They were getting judged by god. I was hey, I'm about to judge you because you guys did all this stuff. When the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned, and no man did put on him his ornaments. By his ornaments they meant his jewelry For the Lord had said unto Moses, say unto the children of Israel you are a stiff-necked people. I will come up into the midst of you in a moment and consume thee. Therefore, now, put off your Now.
Speaker 1:The New Living Translation adds something to this. It says the people heard these stern words. They went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes, but the Lord had told Moses to tell them you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you, remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with them. From that time, they left Mount Sinai. This was just like more normal jewelry and more fine clothes.
Speaker 1:So we have to be we kind of have to be careful about it, because why did God tell them to do that? Why did God tell them to do that? What had they gotten themselves into to where the first thing God said was put off your ornament? Because and this is just out of the book of Deja there's something about when they had those ornaments on they must have thought, they must have gotten way out of box, they must have gotten themselves really rebellious and something had to have happened. And each time there will be other times we will talk about this, more scripture. But each time the children of Israel started to repent of something, the first thing they did was take off their jewelry.
Speaker 1:Now I also heard it preached where, well, god told them to do that, because the last first time they took off their jewelry, they made a bowl of cow fodder and so they were sanctifying themselves unto the calf. Now, that is an interesting theory and it makes sense, because they actually sacrificed themselves, or sacrificed their belongings, to make this golden calf. It makes sense, but I have to study that out a little bit more to actually get on board with that. But what I do know is that they took everything off and then they made this golden calf. Now God got upset at this and every time he, you know, was going to make a judgment on them, he would say, hey, you guys need to repent, you guys need to get this jewelry off you. So I can just think about what I'm going to do. Like it aggravated, god was so angry, like he was in a fury mode where he he really was. Like you know, when we get our, we make our parents mad and our parents don't really just want to come down with the judgment right away, they want to think of a fitting punishment. They say get out of my face and go in your room, god, think about what you did. Mainly, only, what they're doing is they're giving them a bit of a reprieve so that they can calm down and not come in here and do bad things. They want the punishment for their crime.
Speaker 1:And I think at this point in Exodus, this is where Moses had come down with the tablet, and then there was the golden calf and people died. People died in Exodus 32 and Exodus 33. Well, exodus 32, because that's when Moses came down with the tablets. And this is the context where we were at and Moses had to go back to God and say hey, you know, these people sinned and they made them gods of gold. They worshiped the gold and when God decided, god sort of saw that they were worshiping the gold itself and the things that he created rather than the creator himself, he really got angry about it. So God said to Moses you know, whoever sins with me, I'm going to blot them out of the book, take their name out of the book. They're no longer going to be my people, they're no longer going to be who I saved from Egypt. So now he was going to send. He was going to send a big angel and they were just going to wipe out everybody who worshipped the golden calf. Now this was actually taught before the law was in action.
Speaker 1:Let's go to Genesis 35, 2 through 4. Again, we're going to read it first in the New Living Translation and then we're going to read it first in the New Living Translation and then we're going to read it in the King James Version. That's going to be Genesis 2, sorry, 35, 2 and 4. Alright, so in the New Living Translation it says so Jacob told everyone in his household Get rid of all all your pagan idols, purify yourself and put on clean clothing. They'll.
Speaker 1:Now we have a mention of clothing. We are now going to bethel, where I will build an altar to god, who answered my prayers when I was in distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone. So here's verse 4. So they gave the stakes of all their pagan idols and he buried them under the great tree in his statue. Now let's read it out of the King James Version. And Jacob said unto his household and to all that were with him Put away the strange gods that are among you, which are the idols, and be clean and change their garments and let us strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments and let us arise to go to Bethel and I will make thee an altar there, unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me which way I went. And verse 4, they gave us to Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak tree by such. So there we have it again, taking off the jewelry as a form of sanctification. This was absolutely done before the law was given in exodus and deuteronomy and leviticusicus. So this is going to be a recurring theme.
Speaker 1:This is not just one thing that happened, but we don't want to preach that today and we don't want to talk about that today because it is uncomfortable. It's uncomfortable when you look out there and you see people and they're decked out. They got bracelets on and they got this on and that on, and you tell them that and they're decked out. They got bracelets on and this on and that on. You tell them that and they get mad at you. But here's the thing. It's not. I didn't write it. I read it to you out of two translations, and both translations said pretty much exactly the same thing Be modest.
Speaker 1:One of the things about being modest is not about being flashy, and that's what jewelry is. It's flashy. Now, wait a minute. What about gold watches? Well, here's the thing Now. I don't wear me personally. I don't wear gold watches. There are some leather band watches I wear, maybe, but I have a phone. If I need to find out what time it is, I can put it on. I know people have these smart watches now that give you their health readout and stuff like that. You can still do that modestly too. You can still do that modestly too. You can still do that. Well, jj.
Speaker 1:And here's where another one of the questions came in. Jj, what about wedding rings? I do not wear a wedding ring. I am married, but I do not wear a wedding ring only because that wedding ring does not make me married. As a matter of fact and this is just anecdotal, I don't know if this is true or not, but it seemed like when I wore a wedding ring, I got in more trouble than when I didn't wear a wedding ring. Why? Because women of the world only want people that are wanted. They don't want people who are not wanted. So, without a wedding ring, it seemed like I got into less trouble. That's just me, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I, this is not scientific, this is not um, and he's wearing the bible, where you should not wear a wedding ring. I've I've seen people wear wedding rings. Just god told me not, it's just, it just seemed to me how it works. Now I thought about yeah, I saw some jade wedding rings. I thought about it. It's just, god has not allowed me to get past that conviction.
Speaker 1:This is a personal conviction. Y'all out of the book of JJ, remember? I told you we talked about a couple weeks ago about convictions. As long as it doesn't contradict the Bible, it's fine. So if I let's just say I had a conviction about that, I should wear a jewelry. And then I look at all these things and it says where the people didn't wear jewelry and that would be sort of contradictory. If I had a conviction about not being baptized in Jesus' name, that would be contradictory of contradictory. If I had a conviction about not being baptized in Jesus' name, that would be contradictory to the word of God. So I'd have to actually weigh my conviction so that there would not be any contradiction. Weigh your conviction. That sounds pretty good. Weigh your conviction and there will be no contradiction. Weigh your conviction. There won't be any contradiction, right? So just be careful, folks.
Speaker 1:All I'm doing is presenting the Bible. I know some people are going to stop listening to me after this, after this section here, out of modesty and how to dress and stuff like that. People are going to stop listening to me and I'm okay with that. I didn't write the Bible. The only thing I could do is say, hey, this is what it says, right, and you can talk to your pastor about it. I'm not a pastor yet. I say yet.
Speaker 1:There might be some things happening, but the only thing I could do is just give you what the word of God is and understanding that when we go up to heaven, we're going to be judged by the things that are written in the books, not what you heard on JJ's podcast, not what you heard on Walk With Me, not what you heard at so-and-so church on the corner of so-and-so and so-and-so, so-and-so church. That's on the corner, so-and-so, so-and-so, not, you know, the first strike-pole church of the barbershop. That's not what we're going to be judged about. We're going to be judged about what's written in the secretion book. Now I would rather be in a position to say, oh wow, I didn't know that, let me fix that while I'm alive, and getting up to heaven when it's too late and saying, oh my god, I didn't know that. And god said well, ignorance is no excuse for the law. It gave me the book for the rest of my life. I'm just saying I'm. I'm just saying I know that sounds mean. People call me spirit, I don't care, it is what it is. I didn't write it and I'm telling you this.
Speaker 1:This whole podcast, remember now this whole podcast. I love y'all. Okay, I love y'all, and I want, I want to go to heaven and I want as many people as possible to go to heaven. That's, that's right. All right, with that being said, we are going to talk about it more next week. All right, god bless you all. Love you all. Have a great holiday season. We've had a great Christmas. Have a great New Year's. Tell somebody you love them. Tell somebody Jesus loves them. That's probably the only good thing that they've heard that day. All right, love you all. See y'all on the next one. Bye.