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Faith in the Faithfulness of God
Episode #700
05/03/2020
With Martha Kilpatrick and hosted by John Enslow
Special Guest: Joan Wentzel
Seeing the beautiful tapestry of God’s faithfulness, the tapestry of relationship,His unfailing love and commitment during the troubling times in our world.
Martha:
Yesterday we had a podcast and this morning I think we have another one. And yesterday I realized that “I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live and the life I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who love me and gave Himself for me.” And that means I don’t have to face this crisis. Jesus in me and Jesus in you will face it, deal with it in our body.
Jesus has come to live in our body and He is to live the life that we’re, He’s assigned us to live; not I but Christ. So yesterday I didn’t say that. But I’m not involved in the crisis. He is involved, deeply involved and His prayer will come through me and His life shall face it in my life and my circumstance. I’m not involved. That’s our liberty. I’m going to be fascinated to watch Him and hear Him in this vessel. So I’m not involved. The me of the flesh is dead. Jesus lives my life for me instead of me and He is present within me. So that’s a hard thing to believe.
Do you have anything from your manuscript, John? John’s finished the manuscript on The Exchanged Life.
John:
I don’t have anything in particular to read but I did when I sitting there and I was thinking about what you were saying yesterday it…You know, I have some stuff on sovereignty and both, both books…we’re working both books really kind of the same time. We’re both going to release them real close. We’re just waiting for the final editing of it and then get it printed.
And during this time it may be a little more difficult to print because if they don’t have staff that’s there, it’s something that’s not going to be critical-food, medicine, whatever. So it may be a delay in it.
But we’re, we’re going to have it ready to go right when this is over. Which it will be over. But I’m looking forward to the adventure of, of the exchanged life, of, of seeing Christ do this. I’m…That’s an adventure. That, that takes the fear out of it because I’m saying, “I’m going to see who He is during this time.”
And, and, and, and yesterday I can, I can a little bit about the sovereignty issue. When I thought about it I said, “Who would have thought two months ago, even a month ago, that, that He would shut down everything. That He would shut down all sports events, all concerts, restaurants. That He would put us all in the house, that we would all be in the house. And nobody would have thought that would have happened, you know. I mean unless you’re Nostradamus, you know, I guess. But regardless in seeing the overarching, overreaching, and hugeness of the entire thing, it’s, it’s only God that could have done this. This is sovereign.
Martha:
And we watch yesterday Jentezen Franklin…
John:
Um hmm.
Martha:
…on American’s News.
John:
Yeah. The https://americasvoice.news that…I was amazed that this news organization was having prayer, they were having worship, they were having communion. I mean, I’m, I’m thinking, “Ok, what’s the likelihood of that? What’s the likelihood of that happening?” And, you know, there’s some people on there that I may not personally align with or believe but, but the fact is, is like Paul. I said to you yesterday like Paul said, “The Gospel’s being preached. Who cares! Shut up,” (Philippians 1:15-18) you know. And that’s kind of how I, I saw it. I said, you know, “Wow, you know, “God, You are doing something so dynamic here. That You are…I mean this has never been done in our country that You just shut it down.” That we’re not going to meet, we’re not going, we’re not going to go out, we’re not going to go, you know, gallivanting around, vacationing, bla, bla, bla, bla, whatever. None of it. It’s over. And I, I, I’m shocked at it. But, but the, the shock is how sovereign it is, how perfect it is. And how we’re being taken through this for a deeper purpose and that’s what I’m looking for is the deeper purpose. And so anyway…
Martha:
I have…I did a series and I’ve been led back to it because I’ve been marking my Bible with every place where it says ‘let’, l e t. And it’s let Christ handle this. He’s Lord. He’s powerful. He will tell us what to ask for and, and for my need and your need Christ is all I need. He’s my health, He’s my joy, He’s my master, He’s my truth. He’s my everything, everything. And so…
This morning early the Lord said, “Call Joan and tell her to come now, to call now. She has the message of the day.” So I, I did text her and say, “Call me now.” And, of course, she took the word ‘now’ very literally and called me as she was supposed to do. But that’s what the Lord said. And then she began to share with me her insights and I thought, “Oh my does she have the message of the hour. So I turn it over to Joan and bless her and I’ve asked the Holy Spirit to be as brilliant as He was on the phone and He in you is. So here’s Joan Wentzel.
Joan:
Well, I’m on a…This was nothing special…My reading this morning…I’m on a Bible reading plan and I was just…My reading this morning was Deuteronomy 6-9 and I had read Deuteronomy 6 this weekend and spent some time in there but then I went on to 7 and 8 and was not quite into 9 when Martha called me this morning. So I will preface it with that.
But I just have done this plan for a couple of years and the first time I read through the Old Testament I was so acutely aware of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.
And this time as I’m reading I’m amazingly aware of His faithfulness. I’m not seeing the, the Jews unfaithfulness because I am an unfaithful woman. And so…And I, I very much resonated with Israel’s responses and their sins and the troubles because of it.
But I saw in Deuteronomy 6 God lays a foundation, which is the same foundation for us, which is love. You must love Him with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and your entire being. He wants, He wants everything; all the love. And that’s the establishing of the relationship with Israel as well as us. And it is just the most…
This morning I saw a beautiful tapestry of God’s faithfulness, the tapestry of relationship and His unfailing love and commitment. And I feel like the same it was true for them is true for us and if you are willing to just go through…I think it was…
It’s such an encouragement to see that God had purpose in everything. He had…And He was faithful. Everything He asked them to do, He said, “I’m asking you to go in and possess the land that I have given. I have already gone before and given. I am going before and I am going to dispossess the nations. I’m asking you to be willing to go in but I’m going to do everything.” And I love it because it’s…
And having gone to Israel and I have a, a wonderful Jewish son-in law who I just love. They’re gutty people. They’re not, they’re not surface people. They’re gutty, they have heart reactions and heart responses and, and I love that about the Old Testament. It’s down where we all live. It’s just in real life.
And this is just a picture of all that God will do and how quickly we forget, how we, we in this age of grace believe Him to do everything but kind of forget that He has things that He’s called us to do; not in our own power, never in our own strength but Christ in us is the faith and the faithfulness of our lives.
And Israel…He tells in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that Israel’s our example and they are our warning because we are Israel, Israel is us because we are human and we are dust and we’re as frail as they are and we think the same things as they do because in this I love it because the Lord says, “Now when you get into the land and you’re full and you’re prosperous, you’re going to think your own power did this and I’m going to make it clear to you now that it’s not your power, it’s Mine. And then you’ll go on…”
And I even went into verse, into chapter 9 a little bit and Israel then goes on and just like us. Then they think God’s blessing them because they’re righteous. And He has to make it clear that we’re not righteous.
And, and what I see is He calls us to obedience but the foundation for that obedience is loving Him; everything. He establishes the entire foundation of love and out of loving Him everything else flows because by loving Him He is able to impart Christ to us and impart the love that is the foundation for obedience and for receiving the discipline and instruction that we must have, we absolutely must have.
And all the disciple and instruction He’s clear in here what’s that’s for, too. He says it’s so that we will walk in His ways, we will obey, and we will fear Him. All the same things that He requires of us today He asked Israel for. The indifference is we have the Holy Spirit and Christ living in us. Israel had the living presence of God, the cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night. Christ, I believe, was, was the presence with them. And God, the Father, with sovereignty fed them, clothed them, gave them everything but then said, “But you are Mine. I chose you My people. Not because you are wonderful or grand. You’re small and you’re kind of a little bit of nothing, just like us, but I chose you to be mine.”
And it’s just the most beautiful, beautiful picture if you’re willing. And I would encourage you to go in and underline everything God said He would do because He was willing to do all for them and I feel like the real instruction is for us, for me personally is to be willing and say ‘yes’ to His ‘yes’ that has already gone before me in my life.
Martha:
I think I’ll call her and say, “Ok, the Lord says more.” That’s wonderful, Joan.
Faith in the Faithfulness of God – Episode #700 – Shulamite Podcast
It’s such an encouragement to see that God has purpose in everything, even the crisis we are living in right now. God is doing something so dynamic in this very time. We’re never to live in our own strength but Christ in us is the faith and the faithfulness to walk it out.
Loved this! God is so Rock solid Faithful! This season is an adventure; in place, but without edges to it. It seems like God has ‘decluttered’ what we didn’t know the what or how to get rid of. What comes back, will be without its grip. God is ALL, He will do what He will do. These days have spoken that.
Thank you Joan, for His message to our hearts. And can i say, the things you love, are evident in you! …forthrightness, real heart responses. I see an encouragement tucked away for all of us, in your spontaneity. We don’t always know what’s in us till it’s drawn out. When God brings out, what He’s put in, really, we all listen in, & watch, vessel pouring or vessel receiving. He’s so amazing! You let the person of your heart be engulfed in The Person of His Heart. Your insights where beautifully clear. This! “Be willing & say ‘yes’ to His ‘yes’ that has already gone before me in my life.”
Thank you for this message. God is faithful! I just recently realized that in the coming few months, I will have many opportunities to be afraid and live in fear. The first two paragraphs will be a help to me in choosing not to to that, but instead trust the Lord’s faithfulness, rather than in my illusions of control. I think I’ll print it out and put it somewhere prominent so I don’t forget. Yay on the books…I deem them essential!