Flipped Devotional
review weekly readings from Flipped Devotional the Book with the author and her husband
Flipped Devotional
May 26 - June 1
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Here are the scriptures for this week:
May 26 - Psalm 37: 23-29
May 27 - Isaiah 30: 18-22
May 28 - 1 Corinthians 2: 9-16
May 29 - Isaiah 27: 1-5
May 30 - Habakkuk 3: 17-19
May 31 - Psalm 27: 4-14
June 1 - Daniel 12: 1-4, Revelation 5: 1-5
Welcome to Flip Devotional the Podcast. For each week, Martha Shannon, the author of Flip Devotional the Book, and Steve Shannon discuss the readings from the week. If you haven't gotten Flip Devotional the Book, it's available on Amazon and Barnes Noble. The ebook is available at Barnes Noble. The scripture references from each week are available on the podcast website or where you pulled up the podcast in the notes. And the transcript is available there as well. So we are excited to start this podcast this week and excited that we have so many different countries tuning in. And Japan has so many podcast downloads that they are number two below the United States in the most downloads. Could be.
SPEAKER_01And Iraq's included, correct?
SPEAKER_03Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03United Arab Emirates. And it lists the countries, and then we can also see the cities. And you know, the countries I've heard of. But when it lists the cities, it's like, whoa.
SPEAKER_01Like we had to check what country some of these cities were in.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know. And if you're listening in some country, uh, we hope you're not putting yourself at risk based on, you know, maybe what because you're listening to the Bible and in the Bible, yeah. Right. And and we're, you know, we're just gonna we don't know who you are, but we can pray for where you're at, you know, and just hope you're safe.
SPEAKER_03And um, I hope that if that's a reason that you are listening to this, because it's a safe way for you to hear the scripture and to um to to hear about God, um, then I mean I'm really glad that we have offered this for you. Um uh there is a place to leave fan mail on the podcast. Uh and I would love to hear from you all. I would love to hear if you have any questions. Um, if you do, if you leave a question, we'll try to answer it on the podcast. Uh if you just want to tell us like maybe how you happen to start listening to this, that that's what I would really be interested in for those that are outside the United States. Even inside the United States, some of the places is like, how how did you hear about us? Um, you know, what's up with that? But um yeah, it's pretty um humbling to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_03I agree to to have all these different places uh Abu Dhabi, Kirkuk, Githerguri, that's in Cambu County.
SPEAKER_01Doha, so a lot of places I've never heard of.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Thaka, I think I've heard of that, but I couldn't tell you where it is. So we're excited.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And really odd. Yeah. Really. It's impressive.
SPEAKER_03Very, very much so.
SPEAKER_01And it's more impressive that you more impressive that you have a chance to hear about the Bible than hear from Martha and myself.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. All right. So we are doing May 26th through June 1st. So we're just gonna break into the new month at the end of this.
SPEAKER_01Um and the months kind of have a theme.
SPEAKER_03Most of them do.
SPEAKER_01Not all, but yeah, but I think June does.
SPEAKER_03It does. So we'll we'll announce that when we get to June. But yes. Um, so we have the end of May, May 26th. The scripture is Psalm 37, 23 through 29. We've had a lot of psalm scriptures. I'm thinking Steve's attitude towards Psalm is gonna change up a little bit because some of the messages in these are what kind of fill you and um help you keep going. Like this one um just speaks again about how much God is for us, what he does.
SPEAKER_01Um stumble, you will not fall. Right. The Lord makes the steps of the one who delights in him, though they may stumble, he will not fall. For the Lord upholds him by his hand. It really reminds me of a mother or dad with a toddler, right? That that holding and you know, as they're taking the initial steps, uh, some ways almost more of a dad who will let you stumble. Mom may be a bit more cautious than dads are, but it'll make sure you don't fall, you know. So, you know, so for us in our daily life, I think there may be times where we do stumble in our faith and how we act. But if we focus on the Lord, we're not gonna fall.
SPEAKER_03I it's interesting that you said that we may stumble in our faith, because when I was thinking of this, I was thinking more of just kind of stumbling in life. Um, you know, again, going back on where when we talk about it's not rosy all the time and things aren't perfect. And so it in my mind, when I read this, I'm thinking, you know, if I'm going along and something messes me up, or I mess up in something, that it's okay because God is still there, right? He doesn't expect us to be perfect, he expects us to love him and to lean on him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And the the second paragraph says, I was young and now I'm old, so you know, spanning a chunk of time says I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because God is for us, he's gonna stay with us if we stay with him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the last sentence the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. That almost sounds like heaven, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, there is a typo if you have the book. Um the last paragraph unfortunately says wrong spears will be completely destroyed. It's really wrongdoers. Um I correct that in yours. Or maybe you were like, hmm, that's interesting. I think I'll look it up and see if it's right, and found out that it wasn't.
SPEAKER_01But I think wrong spears will be destroyed.
SPEAKER_03Perhaps, wherever that wrong spear is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, doesn't have a point.
SPEAKER_03All right. Move on to May 27th. Um, we have a verse scripture from Isaiah chapter 30, verses 18 through 22. Um, up at the top it says, soak in that first line, the Lord longs to be gracious to you. So it says, Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Gracious, compassion, justice, right?
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Yeah, the next part, for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. You know, at the beginning you mentioned if people are listening who are in a country or in a place where they can't read their Bible, or maybe they don't have a Bible, or they're in danger of following God. To me, this is a very encouraging scripture. And I I would like to memorize this verse and just repeat it to myself over and over. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you. Therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. The next paragraph it says, as soon as he hears, he will answer you.
SPEAKER_01Pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, and I think for you know, quite often we think God isn't answering us.
SPEAKER_03Right, because he didn't give us exactly what we wanted.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But this clearly says as soon as he hears, he will answer. You know, it used to be, you know, yes, no, or go, no, later, or something else. Some, you know, there was four or answers, whatever it may, you know, but still it's it that he will answer, and we have to be listening for that answer and prepared for that answer.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, I was gonna ask you the next sentence. I'm not really sure what it means. It says, although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more. With your own eyes, you will see them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I read that as a thoughts on that? Well, I was a little confused by he will give you the bread of adversity, right? And the water of affliction.
SPEAKER_03I thought the same thing.
SPEAKER_01And maybe it's it's it goes back to he will let you right do some things. You know, and maybe giving isn't a right the right word, you know, maybe a misunderstanding, but I think it's a way of saying, you know, things will happen, right? Whether you like them or not. Um though the coming day may be one of adversity, it will nevertheless be a day when people clearly hear God's word. That's what my notes say for my Bible.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01So as a result, they may throw away idols further to respond. So Okay.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01In the end, Yahweh will turn on the enemies of his people like a rushing torrent. That must be later on. But anyway, so maybe that's, you know, that that because end times doesn't seem like it's a lot of fun, right?
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_01You know, revelation. But maybe that's uh, you know, a reference to that as well.
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_01And again, I like I like the last one. This is the way, walk in it.
SPEAKER_03Well, I like the part that leads up to that. Yeah. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, yeah, like all these verses, except the one that I wasn't sure what it meant. And, you know, perhaps that's encouraging to some of you listening. We've said over and over again, we are not like trained in this.
SPEAKER_01We're just two regular people who read the Bible.
SPEAKER_03And there's times when we read something and we don't understand it. And, you know, Steve turned to his Bible and looked in his notes to see what someone who was trained um said about it. And I appreciate that we have that available to us. But even if we didn't, and even if I still had a question mark by that verse, the rest of the passage I would still hang on to.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_03And still soak in and know that God is still there and still for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And maybe if it's bread and water as one way to, you know, help me understand it, those are staples, right? Means he gives you the bread of adversity. I go back to adversity and affliction will happen. Right? And it's not God's plan, although the Lord gives you the bread. Um I I really do believe the great thing, or one of them about God, the Lord, is he allows us to go forward. He's a, you know, he doesn't dictate to us, he doesn't tell us how we are supposed to act or what are the you know, he gives you a little bit of leeway and then come back and go on from there. So maybe, you know, giving is is permitting, you know, that you will have adversity, you will have a affliction, right? But he's still there, right?
SPEAKER_03And a lot of times it's those times of adversity um that draw us to God that keep us in that close relationship. Sometimes when things are going really well, we kind of forget about them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we think about ourselves. I really got this together.
SPEAKER_03Right. So sometimes when things happen, um it's an opportunity for us to remember. Draw closer. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And maybe it's a learning point for us. You always should be this close to God. Right, right. And maybe that is also is that the bread of adversity in the water of affliction? I don't know. We could ask our pastor, but yeah. But for me, it speaks to again, go back, always focus, remain.
SPEAKER_03Or if someone listening has an answer, like you, you know what this means.
SPEAKER_01Or you think we're nuts.
SPEAKER_03Well, no, no, don't go there. But um, put it in the the fan mail, and again, we'll share it uh later in a podcast and say, we got an answer, yay. Uh, because I know there are people out there smarter than I am, so um I would be happy to hear from you.
SPEAKER_01We're just trying.
SPEAKER_03Yes. All right, May 28th. We have 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 16. So jumping from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Um the the note up at the top um says Paul's writings are sometimes hard to fully understand to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um and the last line of this passage is, but we have the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_03And I said, that's particularly humbling to think that I have the mind of Christ, like, I'm not so sure about that, but okay. Um so this this passage is kind of interesting. Um it says the Spirit of God knows God's thoughts. We have the Spirit of God, so we have the thoughts of God. What is that called?
SPEAKER_01Transitivity.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01If A is more than B and B is more than C, A is more than C.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Transitity. I knew it was a math thing, kind of, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, but as I was reading this, it's like, okay, for me to pull this out to make it where, okay, Paul, I think this is what you're saying. That's that's what I got it down to. The Spirit of God knows God's thoughts. We have the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_01Therefore.
SPEAKER_03Therefore, we have the thoughts of God.
SPEAKER_01And it's almost like, you know, God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit, right? This is reinforcing the value, the importance, and significance of the Holy Spirit. That's one takeaway I have, right? Because it's the word spirit is used, I think I counted ten times.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_01You know, and the spirit is revealed to us by the spirit. The spirit searches all things. Thoughts of God, except in the same way no one knows the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God. We've received, as you said, right? Words taught by the Spirit. So it's a teacher, right? Spirit taught words. Right?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01So Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. The person without the Spirit doesn't accept it, right? So have the Spirit, right? Accept the Spirit. Spirit makes judgments about all things. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things. So some of what we talk about here, we could say, you know, it's the Spirit helping us understand. But yeah, but we have the mind of Christ. Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And God is revealing these things to us by His Spirit.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03So we gotta stay in touch with that spirit.
SPEAKER_01Yes, that's how we get right. Yeah. And remember, at the end of Jesus' life, you know, I must go so the Spirit can come.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01You know?
SPEAKER_03So And it said it'll be better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It'll be better for you that I go so the Spirit can come.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because Jesus in flesh can only be with so many people at a time.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_03But the spirit can be with us all. Us here, those in Bangladesh. Right. Those in Vietnam, Iraq. Is it Ashbourne, Virginia? Is that right? Ashburn. Yeah. Which is that mystery spot. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01You're right. So this Jesus left, Spirit came, and that's what happened, right? Worried about well, maybe I don't know. But we'll hear about an event with the spirit speaking in tongues, everyone understanding.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Later. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Later.
SPEAKER_03All right. Uh May 29th is back to Isaiah. I love the book of Isaiah. One, it's it's pretty long. I think it's like, I don't know, 64 chapters or something. Yeah, it's it's a lot. Um but there's so much good stuff in Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's another book that's kind of hard to understand sometimes. But anyway, May 29th, Isaiah chapter 27, verses 1 through 5. And um the significance of this passage is it it's another one that just makes it obvious how much God is doing. That we we maybe either take for granted or we just don't even think about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, 66.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_01Um and in my Bible about 136 pages.
SPEAKER_03Um It starts out kind of it says in that day the Lord will punish with his sword. Here's his fierce, great and powerful sword. And then it says Le Leviathan, the gliding serpent.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Leviathan the coiling serpent. Yeah. He will slay the monster of the sea. I am not gonna even pretend that I have a clue what that's talking about.
SPEAKER_01Leviathan comes up other places. Um I forget the other one. There's another large animal that gets referenced. Uh and what that is, I think Leviathan is referenced almost. Um anyway, it comes up someplace else as a large, you know, threatening animal. Maybe I don't know. Somewhere else, right? But he will slay the monster of the sea. So if Leviathan's the monster of the sea, he will slay that. Meaning, you know, he he can slay that. It's also, but it goes, in that day, sing about the fruitful vineyard, right? So maybe it is he can destroy these things, God can. And when that happens, we should, you know, be glad about the sing about the vineyard, right?
SPEAKER_05Okay.
SPEAKER_01And the Lord watch over it. I water it continually, I guard it day and night, so no one may harn it. Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and and that's one of the I mean, that's I underlined all of that. It's like this is the reason I included this passage. Um, I I just love this. So our only job is to sing about a fruitful vineyard. So a vineyard that's perhaps not even there yet. It hasn't even produced yet. So we're singing about um what is to come. And he is gonna watch over it, he is gonna water it continually because you gotta water it more than once.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03He's gonna guard it so that no one harms it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I yeah, I just I love that. Now I do have another question mark on this one. So I had it by Leviathan.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I also have this next sentence says, I am not angry. I I I don't know where that came from. I I don't know what that means. It says I am not angry. If only there were briars and thorns confronting me, I would march against them in battle. I would set them all on fire, or else let them come to me for refuge, let them make peace with me. Yes, let them make peace with me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I don't know what all that means.
SPEAKER_01Let me see, we get an answer.
SPEAKER_03You may, you know, be like, well, Martha, why did you even include that if you don't know what it means? And uh tell you why, because I could just pull the verse out that says, Sing about a fruitful vineyard, I the Lord watch over it, I water it. I could just pull that good part out that I understand and that I want to hang on to, but I've learned that scripture, you sometimes you need the um the stuff before it and after it, the context to to really get it. And so I included all that, and I still am not positive of what all this is referring to.
SPEAKER_01Well, this says the song of the Lord's Vineyard is reminiscent, depicts Israel positively rather than negatively, rather example of the passage. So maybe this the vineyard is Israel, right? Okay, and the I am not angry, right, is God. I'm not angry with Israel.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? So he's saying that, and therefore, if there are only briars and thorns, it's that would be easier to fix, maybe, if briars and thorns, right? And maybe there's other things, but I will march out against them in battle, right? And Leviathan is a large animal sea creature, right? Represents evil, chaos, uncontrollable forces. So fierce and untamable sea monster. And it shows up in Job. Job 3 and Job 41.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_01Psalm, another psalm, um, Psalm 74, 105, and uh Isaiah 27, 1.
SPEAKER_03Huh. All right, thank you. So that helps.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but I think it is is if if I guard it, that's really obviously the Lord guards it day and night, right? I'm not angry. Maybe there's some concern that he's mad at Israel. I'm not, right? And if only the briars and thorns, I think maybe it means as um watches over a vineyard or a garden, briars and thorns are relative, I mean, not pleasant to fix, but easier, right?
SPEAKER_03Well, and if if the vineyard is Israel, yeah, which is like you know, his people, then the briars and thorns, I would think, would be the people outside of Israel. And so it because it says if um I would march out against them, or or let them come to me for refuge and I'll take them in.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So if the people outside of Israel who um don't believe, right, uh, who are against God, if they would come to him and say, Okay, we we do believe, we need refuge, then he would take them in too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. And if you're a gardener, vineyard, whatever, right? Briars and thorns are in your vineyard, and you want to do something about that. So it could be outside or people within Israel who are not following God, would be the briars and thorns as well.
SPEAKER_04True, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But either way, I'm glad I've never seen a Leviathan.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah. That'll keep me out of the ocean.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Just have God's mighty sword.
SPEAKER_03All right, May 30th is Habakkuk.
SPEAKER_01Habakkuk. Kind of a cameo. Habakkuk doesn't get a lot of play, right? So book of the Bible, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So we have Habakkuk chapter three, verses 17 through 19. And um I I read this, and what came to my mind was Job.
SPEAKER_01Why is that?
SPEAKER_03Well, though the fig tree doesn't bud, there's no grapes, um, the the olive crop fails, the fields produce no food, uh, there are no sheep in the pen, no cattle. It's like there's nothing, just like with Job when he lost everything.
SPEAKER_01That's true.
SPEAKER_03Um, and so it's it's all gone, and yet it says, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Which is what Job did. He said, Okay, it's yeah, it's all gone. Yeah. And and yet I'm still gonna praise God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. When I read it, I didn't go to Job, I'll confess that, but I did think rejoice in the Lord, and um crops failed, field produced no food, uh, there's no sleep, I mean, no sheep in the pen, no cat, right? To me, very little money in modern-day times, right? Don't have a lot of stuff, maybe no food, not even a job. I am still gonna rejoice in the Lord. Right? Those earthly things aren't gonna keep me away from rejoicing in the Lord. And it's a small little book, right? But that's a pretty significant message, and one that I think we all need to hear and practice regularly.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And then the last sentence: the sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on the heights.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, you know, to me, travel treading on the heights is not an easy walk. It's treacherous, it's difficult, and yet God is gonna make it where you can do it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. There's a book, and I It's like four hundred steps in Waterloo.
SPEAKER_03Um there's a book, and I've referenced it before, um, and it's interesting because it it's tied to this scripture, uh, I think, but there was another scripture that was similar that made me think of it, and it's by Hannah Hernard. I think that's how you say her name. Um, and it's called Ah. Shoot. That should have come to me before right now. Um Google Hannah Hernard real quick.
SPEAKER_01How do you spell it? Oh, there it is.
SPEAKER_03What's our book called? Hindsfeet on High Places. Yes. Yes. So somewhere, uh I I know in our podcast that I've already mentioned it before. It's an old book. Does it have the year?
SPEAKER_01I haven't gotten to that Hannah Hunter yet.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. Um uh yeah, it's it's an old book. I read it probably when I was a teenager, which was a long time ago. And um it's just it's an allegory. And yeah, 1955. So back in March first. Oh goodness, I have we have a repeat. I typically don't do repeats.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_03But we had Habakkuk 319.
SPEAKER_01Really? When was that?
SPEAKER_03Uh it says March 1st. Let me see.
SPEAKER_01Um it's Hannah Burner.
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_01Hind feet in on high places.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's it's an H, it's not a B.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Actually, the scripture for March 1st was not Habakkuk. I must have just pulled that out because is it? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So 2 Samuel chapter 22 says he makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He causes me to stand on the heights. And so that is repeated in Habakkuk. All right, good. So I did not do a repeat. Whew.
SPEAKER_01Explore the profound themes, Hannah Hernard, H-U-R-N-A-R-D.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Hind feet on high places.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah, it's a good book.
SPEAKER_03All right, May 31st.
SPEAKER_01Move it along.
SPEAKER_03Psalm 27, verses 4 through 14. So I put a star by the first sentence. How that's how much I liked it. Says one thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. I love that scripture.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's like no matter what else is going on, this is what I want.
SPEAKER_01And if you're a Christian, you get that.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03I mean, this is what and the next sentence says, for in the day of trouble. Okay, for in the day of trouble, there will be trouble.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03You know, we've we've repeated that many, many times on this podcast.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not a past that everything's gonna be happy, Rosie.
SPEAKER_03And and the reason we keep repeating it is I grew up in the church, and I grew up thinking that because I was a Christian, that things were gonna be okay. And if things weren't okay, that's probably something I did.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So if things started going bad, I would look back at, oh, well, maybe I I didn't read my Bible every day this week. Oh, I haven't been praying to God. Oh, you know, what what did I do? And that's just not how it goes. No, no. There's actually nowhere in the Bible where it says, well, I was gonna say where it says that you need to read your Bible every day. Of course, there wasn't a Bible when the Bible is written. And in Deuteronomy, it set does say to, you know, write it on the doorposts.
SPEAKER_01Right. Put it on your forehead or something. Yeah, memory. Yeah, essentially know know the word. Right.
SPEAKER_03But that was like one scripture. Yeah. That so, so I don't know. I I mean, I'm not saying you shouldn't. I I think you should read your Bible every day. I'm just saying I don't think God is gonna go, hmm, Martha didn't read her Bible on Tuesday. So I'm gonna sit down. Yeah, she's just gonna go flat time.
SPEAKER_01That'll show her. Yeah, and that's not who God, that's not what God wants from us. Right? And in the Old Testament, you know, I guess Leviticus, all the laws. If you do this, you know, if you have a bull and it's killed someone before and it kills someone again, you're responsible, you shall be stoned, right? It becomes with Jesus is just be close to me. Just focus on me, right? Just be with me, right? And and you know, and across your life, it will be okay. Right? I think that's part of it, is it's is and as you said earlier, there's no point where you know your graph goes up and down where Jesus says you're gonna have a graph that's always goes up towards good, right? Everything wonderful, it's not gonna happen. But when that does change, you still need to be focused on him, and that's what we heard earlier, right? It doesn't matter, and that's hard, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. And the purpose of reading your Bible daily is to learn more about God, who he is, how to follow him better, um, and to stay close to him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it's like, you know, you and I, if we didn't talk to each other each day, if we didn't do things together, then we we wouldn't get to know each other.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03And we wouldn't have this relationship that we have.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So God wants a relationship with you.
SPEAKER_01That's yeah, yeah. That's his goal. I think it was Abraham Lincoln that said about a journalist, maybe. I don't like that man very much. I'll have to get to know him better. Yeah. And that's, you know, as you get to know God better, right? Get to know anyone better. You suddenly understand why some of the things happen with a person, but the more time you spend, and the way to know God better is prayer, right? And his word.
SPEAKER_03You know, and like we've said, you can read the same passage multiple times and you will get different things out of it.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03Um, you know, I know some people are reading the flip devotional for the second year. Um, and although I would love for them to read other scriptures, I'm kind of okay with that too, because they're gonna get something different out of it than they did the first time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because that's what God's word is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's living.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, another part of this psalm um says, Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me. At his sacred tent, I will sacrifice with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord. So to me, a sacrifice of joy means it's not an easy thing to give. It's like when things aren't going rosy and you you praise God anyway.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Or you know you have $50 in your wallet, it's easy to give someone five. Right? When you have five dollars in your wallet, it's hard to give someone five. Right? So when life is really good, shouts of joy are easy, right? But if you're sacrifice, you know, if it's not necessarily, regardless, right? Also, like seek his face, which is what we said earlier. Yes, seek his face. Right, God is my savior, right? And for a lot of kids, though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, and then the last um sentence says, I remain confident of this. I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Many times it says, wait for the Lord, be still and wait. He's got this.
SPEAKER_01Right, right, right, right, right. He doesn't have a watch. I've said that many times, didn't have a calendar, didn't have appointments, but wait for the Lord, right? And if you wait for the Lord, if you can do that, he'll tell you, right? Right. And he only wants good for us, but it's hard sometimes. Right. So and we'll all face false accusations. When I heard false accusation, false witnesses, I thought of Jesus.
SPEAKER_04Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01I mean, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Last days.
SPEAKER_03All right. Now we move to June. And June has a very distinct theme.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_03Um, June, and June came about because several years ago, I started making connections with things in the Old Testament and things in the New Testament. And when people would say, Yeah, I I'm not gonna read the Old Testament, I'm just gonna read the New Testament. It's like, but you will understand the New Testament so much more if you read the Old Testament, because there are things referred to in the New Testament that are talked about in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and sometimes the Old Testament is quoted.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01New Testament.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01By Jesus.
SPEAKER_03Or others. Or others. Peter or or Paul.
SPEAKER_01Paul for sure. He was educated. Right, yeah. But still, it's the idea that if Jesus quotes the Old Testament, it's gotta be good enough, right? We talked about earlier the spirit and such. The mind of Christ. Well, the mind of Christ referenced the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_03Right. Right. So each day in June has an Old Testament scripture and a New Testament scripture, and they are paired together because they're talking about the same thing, or they're giving clarification of what the other one is talking about. So we're just going to do the first day of June on this podcast. And June 1st, the title is the scroll. And so we have Daniel chapter 12, verses 1 through 4, and then we have Revelation chapter 5, verses 1 through 5. And uh in the Daniel passage, uh it says, at that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people will arise. Michael, the Archangel.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um and then it says, uh, but you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then Revelation, you go to that, and it says, Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. So I feel like it's the same scroll because it says until the end of time.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03Revelation is talking about the end of times. Um and in my mind, to think that the scroll started then.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And now in Revelation, the scroll is there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03It's like, whoa.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And do not weep. The lion, and this is Revelation 5, 5. Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals, right? That's a reference to Jesus. Right? So we have Daniel, who is directed to roll it up until the time of the end, right?
SPEAKER_03We have Jesus who is able to unroll it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. That's that's really it. And also in the Daniel verse, it's everlasting life, right? Others to shame and everlasting contempt. Where do you want to be, right? Shine like the brightness of heaven, those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars, right? But it's the scroll and a mighty angel in a loud voice. Who is worthy to break the seals, right?
SPEAKER_04Right. Right.
SPEAKER_01And it says, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll. Revelation 7 seals. I don't know if Daniel put seven on there, but he was clearly directed to roll it up and seal the scroll. So yeah. Clear connections between the two, right?
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Let's see if we get a real quick on Daniel.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so Daniel was clearly being told about the end of times.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And that is at the that is at the very end of Daniel.
SPEAKER_03It says up in Daniel, it says, but at that time your people, everyone whose name is found written in the book, will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And the stories and visions of Daniel are firmly set in the context of events that occurred between 605 and 536 BC. And Jesus, John, was after Jesus. Right? So Revelation was maybe 60 or 7 AD. So here we have scroll and scroll, but the two events were 650 years apart.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know. Yeah. You know. And John probably heard the scrolls of Daniel, and then in his vision of Revelation, he sees it, right? But that's what Daniel set the stage for occurred many, many years later.
SPEAKER_04Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_01So that ends uh the and all of June will have an old and new.
SPEAKER_03Yes. Nice. Yes, yes. So next week we'll uh uh dive fully into June. Um so I just want to maybe offer a a time for those if if you're listening, if you're like I was, and you were raised in a church um that made it sound like your life was going to be rosy, and that discouraged you from following God because you felt like you were doing something wrong.
SPEAKER_01Because it wasn't rosy.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Um I just want to encourage you. Uh a week or two ago, we uh offered people a chance to uh start following God, maybe for the first time. Um, maybe some of you want to do what some people call like rededicating or reaffirming um your or remembering your baptism or uh just making that a new um step, then I encourage you to do that. And we we support you in that of saying, okay, God, I think I understand a little bit more what it means to follow you. And um, I want to do that. Uh I encourage you to just say that. And if you're not reading your Bible regularly, I encourage you to do that because you need to get to know God. Talk to Him. And like we have all these questions about what do scriptures mean and stuff like that. You can question God, He doesn't mind that at all. Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, you can go And it doesn't mean anything about you. If you have questions about Scripture, right, it doesn't mean that God doesn't want to hear them, that He doesn't, you know, that He doesn't think you're a believer or something. You're not challenging Him.
SPEAKER_03Right, right. Um and I think He'll send you answers. You know, I encourage you to be in a group, um, a church, a community of believers who Um you can talk with. Uh many years ago, we went to a church that had people from the seminary that was down the street. Um, they would they would come there because we were close and you know they were going to church while they were going to seminary. There was this one guy who was, I mean, he was smart and um he he knew a lot of answers, but if he didn't, he would search them out and he was in my Sunday school class. Loved him so much. I would go every Sunday with a new question for him. I'd be like, okay, so I was reading this and I don't really know what it means. Can you tell me? And sometimes he would go, yeah, it means blah, blah, blah. Other times he would go, you know what? I'm not sure, but I'll tell you next week. And I I just was so excited to go each week and get my answer to my latest question. So find people that you can ask questions of and who are going to help you learn more about God and who He is. Okay. All right. Well, thanks for listening to this week's Flip Devotional of the Podcast. Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, download, send us some fan mail, and uh read your Bible. Read your Bible, get to know God. We'll see you next week.
