Flipped Devotional
review weekly readings from Flipped Devotional the Book with the author and her husband
Flipped Devotional
August 4 - 10
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Here are the scriptures for this week:
August 4 - James 1: 22-27
August 5 - Hebrews 11: 1-6
August 6 - Hebrews 11: 7-16
August 7 - Hebrews 11: 17-23
August 8 - Hebrews 11: 24-31
August 9 - Hebrews 11: 32-40
August 10 - Psalm 16: 1-11
Welcome to Flip Devotional the Podcast. For each week, Martha Shannon, the author of Flip Devotional the Book, and Steve Shannon go over the readings for from the week. If you haven't gotten Flip Devotional the Book, it's available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Also available as an ebook on Barnes and Noble. Um, welcome to this week's podcast, where we are in the month of August.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_00Uh, which we do not know what the theme is.
SPEAKER_03Um, no.
SPEAKER_00We we think it's we we know God is involved.
SPEAKER_03Right. And I Which probably doesn't rule out the other elephant buttons.
SPEAKER_00No, but we we've at least got that much.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_00Um as we read through, if you decide you totally know what the theme for August is, um give us a shout-out and let us know. You can do that through it's called fan mail, but it's just kind of like a text.
SPEAKER_03Um But you don't get any information from the person.
SPEAKER_00No, I don't get their phone number or anything.
SPEAKER_03It just shows up and I mean you get yeah, but they they put their name, you get that, you get the message.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, I get whatever message they put in.
SPEAKER_03You can't find them.
SPEAKER_00No, no, can't come hunt you down and say, are you crazy? You think that's the theme for August? Oh my gosh. All right, we ready to jump in?
SPEAKER_03Ready, let's do this.
SPEAKER_00All right, so August 4th comes from the book of James.
SPEAKER_03New Testament.
SPEAKER_00New Testament. We've been in the Old Testament a lot, yep, but that's because the Old Testament is longer.
SPEAKER_03There's more to the Old Testament, so we should be there more.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and there's a lot of good stuff in there that people don't pay attention to all the time.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_00All right, so James chapter one, verses 22 through 27. And um, up at the the top, it says, People sometimes think going to church is all they need to do, but clearly says here what you should do. So, you know, people I think people like having a checklist, really.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, some idea what expectations are and what you're supposed to do. I mean, if you look at even kids in school like a clear assignment, people at work like to know what they are supposed to do, not, you know, here, write this letter for me and go, you know, go on from there. I work for a guy who would tell me to do that. You know, I would get some information. And my pet premise is I'm gonna write a letter and he's gonna then tell me what to do, which was fine. You know, it worked out well. Um, but this and this is we talked, I think before, what are in the Bible, like key phrases. I think we said Genesis, you know, in the beginning, right? This is right. I think this is one that I didn't pay much attention till as I was reading and reviewing to get ready for today's podcast, right? And it's pretty simple, right? Starts out do not merely listen to the word.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Right?
SPEAKER_00Anyone who listens but does not do what it says.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Like, okay, so you're supposed to well, the four words, do what it says. Right. So and again, calling, and this is James, right? You know, New Testament guy. I guess this is James who is one of the twelve, right? That James, right? So knew Jesus, but clearly, do what it says. Right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And um it at the very last, it's very clear. Uh it says religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know if this is true, but for me, if you try to imagine what was taking place when this was written, and it was probably written in for sure the first century, you know, after Jesus' death, right? That was like 32, 33 A.D., right? So it was in that period of time, right? And it's quite often here about orphans and widows. And from what I do for a living, which is public policy work, that was what we would consider the vulnerable populations. Right? Right. I would think. I mean, there were no mechanisms, there's no foster care, right? There's none of that stuff available. There was no social security for widows. So that's who in your community was at most risk.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03So I read this as okay, it's clearly orphans and widows, but it could be in modern day, today, 2026, a broader than just orphans and widows, right? It could be the homeless, could be people with disabilities, it could be, you know, whoever else it might be. But it calls us, right, into an action, right? And it's clear religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, right? To look after orphans, to do that. And it goes back to do what it says. You know, so this makes our faith an action, right? So it's not a passive faith, it's an action faith. Not always identified as such. And that's by being passive is what some people reservations you hear about people not wanting to go to church. Well, you go to church and everyone acts really cool on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time they're not.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03James doesn't say go to church, sit up front, you know, dress up.
SPEAKER_05No.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It really says do what it says.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Very good.
SPEAKER_03So all right. The next one, two, three, four, five. Five days. I think we should just roll these all into one discussion. Do you agree?
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So this is August 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So this is the uh hall of faith. Um this is Hebrews chapter 11.
SPEAKER_03And it's all of chapter 11 spread out over those five days, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because it's it's very long.
SPEAKER_03Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00But this is uh one of those chapters that you could go through slowly because as you read through it, if you get to a name, someone who is named here, okay, because these are the top dogs.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_00These uh I'm thinking your Mount Rushmore people could come from the end here.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yes. Old Testament Mount Rushmore. Well, we got some New Testament down at the end, don't we?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but if you've if you're doing a Mount Rushmore, I'm thinking they should be in the Hall of Faith.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like if you're putting together a a baseball team, you're probably going to the Hall of Fame and pulling people out of there.
SPEAKER_03I would think that would be a good place to start.
SPEAKER_00Maybe can't take them all, but you're yeah, you're gonna make your choices there.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So so if you get to someone on this list and you're like, I don't know who that is, right? You need to go back and look it up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And also, just Hebrews, you know, um, did a little bit of research in preparation. We don't know who wrote Hebrews. People think it was Paul. That was always suggested. Paul was one of the authors, or you know, or our name could have been author. Um biblical scholars said this Hebrews is not a similar style as Paul's other letters. So maybe it wasn't Paul, maybe it was someone who worked for Paul, or it could have been Luke, it could have been somebody else, or we just don't know. But the audience, I didn't realize this, was really for Christian Jews. So they were Jewish, but they were following Jesus, so they were, you know, the Christian Jews at the time. Um, again, first century is when this would have happened, we think. Um and one hypothesis is that it's really written to those Christian Jews to make to encourage them to continue and follow Jesus. Don't give up on the Christian part, go back to your synagogue, remain focused on Jesus and do what that does. And these are examples of people who did those things and were considered righteous. But so that's that's how we get to this place.
SPEAKER_00Very good. Thank you. All right, so the first verse, excuse me, says tells you what faith is. Yeah, clear definition. Yeah, faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. So when you have a prayer request, faith is that it will happen. Right? Right? So we are hoping for it, but you know, we're all hoping as a kid for a new bike at Christmas. But this is a different type of hope, right? This is, you know, uh, I've asked, and you could say, do you ask one time? Well, you know, sometimes you keep going back, the persistent widow before the judge. We had that story. And the judge finally said, I'm gonna do this just because I don't want to be bothered anymore. But this is talk to that, but that's that's what faith is, and assurance, right? And for us, we didn't have the benefit of being one of the 12 or seeing Jesus heal or being one of the four or five thousand, right? So for us, our faith is the assurance of what we don't see happens, right? Yeah, you know so.
SPEAKER_00All right, so we start out with the creation. Yeah, at God's command. And you know, there's I I don't know for how long, many years, the discussion of creation or the big bang theory, evolution, whatever, right? And you know, people say, well, how can you prove God created it? It's like, well, that's the whole the whole thing. It's faith.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I believe that God created the earth.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because that's what it says in the Bible. I believe that.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00So I don't necessarily have proof of it.
SPEAKER_03And that's what this whole first sentence is, right? It's assurance of what we do not see, right? And there was a guy on TV years ago morning show, Phil Donahue, and he did a show and they were talking about it. And I can remember reading that they were talking about the Big Bang Theory, right? And he said, Well, what caused the Big Bang? And there was no answer. But the point is, you know, maybe all that is true, but God caused the Big Bang. So all the things we read about the first book of the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis, that'll all be true. Could have all been the result of the big, but who threw the switch on, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But I feel like some people have difficulty with their with their faith, with their belief in God, because things can't necessarily be proved.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_00And it's like, yeah, that's kind of the whole point.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_00Is you have faith in it because it can't be proved, but you believe it anyway.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03It's not two plus two is four.
SPEAKER_00Every time.
SPEAKER_03Every time. Yeah. But yeah. So it's good.
SPEAKER_00All right. And then we go to Abel. And I'm not no, I was gonna say, is this chronological? But uh yeah, kinda. Yeah, I guess it is.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it's not Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but I think it's sequential. Chronological. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Over time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So Abel was kind of the the first guy to to show faith. And do you want to tell about Abel?
SPEAKER_03Sure. It's really Cain and Abel were the first two children of Adam and Eve. Um, and they were bringing an offering, and Abel brought the best. Cain did not, right? Better offering than, you know. And that really separated them, made Abel righteous. And Cain gets mad and does what?
SPEAKER_00Kills them.
SPEAKER_03Kills Abel, right? So God still protected Cain, but the point is his faith brought the best, right? It's kind of like even today, bring your first offering, which means in our world, we're not all farmers, right? It doesn't mean pay all your bills, put some money aside, you know, put some into savings, whatever, retirement, have a little emergency fund, then give to God. It's start with giving to God.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03And that's a faith move. And Abel did that, right? And it was credited to him as commended as righteousness.
SPEAKER_00Righteousness, yeah.
SPEAKER_03We don't want that to be right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And then we have Enoch.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And kind of interesting, Enoch makes the list. I mean, you don't hear much about Enoch. Except he didn't die. Yeah. But he was commended as one who pleased God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Right? And without faith, it is impossible to please God. Again, the message is faith, right? We get a definition, a working definition of what faith is. And here it is pretty clear, right? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. So all the good things you do. Right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And the opposite side, if you have faith and do all sorts of bad things, you still have faith. Right? So, but even this one, the first one in Hebrews is right, defines faith. An example, Abel had brought a better offering by faith, right? He was commended as righteousness. Enoch was taken from this life, did not experience death, right? God had taken him away, could be found. Right? And he pleased God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's pretty good. You know, I would like to see after my life, Steve pleased God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You seem like that's a strange.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_00No, not at all.
SPEAKER_03Good luck with that one. Change of coming, I would think. Anyway, so we're on to the next day.
SPEAKER_00All right. So August 6th, we have we start with Noah, which you know, I feel like most people are familiar with his story. But um we we know Noah built the ark.
SPEAKER_03And he was an experienced, experienced ark builder.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_03What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00No, he he wasn't. But what we I think don't think about is how long it took him to build this ark. And and he was building it because God said, a lot of rain is gonna come.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like it's gonna flood, you're gonna need a boat.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And there there's been movies done that depict this and show, you know, people made fun of them. Sure. Like, look, there's not a cloud in the sky.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And there's no way you need a boat that big.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But he kept building.
SPEAKER_03All those people said the same thing. I'm sure. Yeah, no, yeah, build an ark. You've never built one, you know. And there's no indication he lived near water.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03You know.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03But he had an ark. Right. And he became the heir of the righteousness. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because it's just him and his family.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And he did exactly what God told him to do. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yep. And then we have Abraham, who did an array of things, but initially it was he went.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00God said, pack up your stuff, you need to go.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he wasn't told where he was going. It was just, you need to go, or I tell you to go.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he did.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um he said he lived in tents, um, as did Isaac and Jacob.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And the significant of that is the tent's mobile, right? So again, he was obedient, he was righteous, knowing he was going to go someplace till God told him to stop, right?
SPEAKER_00I like the line in here that says, for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Sweet.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Sweet.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So.
SPEAKER_00And then with him is Sarah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This is Abraham and Sarah after the name was changed from right. It was Abram and Sarai. Now it's Abraham and Sarah, right?
SPEAKER_00But by faith.
SPEAKER_03By faith.
SPEAKER_00She she had a child.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, when she was way too old to have a child.
SPEAKER_03And he was way too old.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. But by faith.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Because they heard the message and were was obedient to it, right? And Isaac was that person, right?
SPEAKER_00Right. Um the last part of this, it says, all these people were still living by faith when they died.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00They did not receive the things promised. And then at the very end it says they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So even though you don't get what you you think you should get in this life, doesn't mean it's not been fulfilled, right? Doesn't mean God didn't fulfill it, right? It's kind of like you're not done yet, right?
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm. So and the next day, we kind of get Abraham again because he offered Isaac as a sacrifice by faith. By faith.
SPEAKER_03Hebrews 11, 70 through 23.
SPEAKER_00That was the biggie.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because Abraham was told, You shall have a son. Sarah, at that point, Sarah, but kind of laughed. And it's interesting, it didn't laugh like, oh, a laugh of joy. It was more of a cynical laugh. Yeah, right. Um, you know. But they have a son.
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Hadn't, you know, and and God has
SPEAKER_00Said, not just you're gonna have a son, but you're gonna have so many descendants. As many as the stars, as much as just as yeah, yeah. And so he has this one son, one Isaac, and God says, go sacrifice him. And Abraham goes.
SPEAKER_03Abraham goes.
SPEAKER_00And he's not like, well, but what about all the remember all the stars? Does it don't I need to start with this one? Yeah. And he does it. And of course, God stops him before.
SPEAKER_03And what did Abraham say when Isaac said, Where's the sacrifice?
SPEAKER_00God will provide.
SPEAKER_03God will provide.
SPEAKER_00God will provide.
SPEAKER_03That's a faith. That's a faith statement, right?
SPEAKER_00And then we have Isaac and Jacob. Um, and says, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Jacob blessed each of Joseph's sons.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_00Um Joseph said spoke about the Exodus from Egypt and said, Take my bones with you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I want to go home.
SPEAKER_00And then we have Moses' parents.
SPEAKER_03Who, when Moses was born, Pharaoh said, kill all the newborn Jewish males. And they didn't, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. They hit him.
SPEAKER_03Hid him, and then they found him in the Nile, the Pharaoh's daughter. So Moses was raised in the Pharaoh's house. But you quite often throughout the Old Testament, it may be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob becomes Israel. But it's always Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the standard bearers, right? Those are you know the God of. Um, you know, so you go on from there. So this is kind of, again, if you if the theme is faith, Abraham was faithful, right? Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, but really Jacob stole the blessing of the oldest, right? But got that as well. Um, and as Jacob was dying, he blessed Joseph's two son, who was already born in Egypt, and they got a part of the inheritance as well. So these are all things they did, right? And again, it's faith, not my faith. It wasn't clear of any benefit, right? I mean it was value, but it wasn't. I didn't do this because it helped me. Or we can see the results. August 8th.
SPEAKER_00August 8th. So um we continue with Moses, and uh but most of us know Moses' story. Um but he chose to go with his people. Um, not I mean, he could have, I guess, just kept living in Pharaoh's house.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00And stayed in that.
SPEAKER_03Right. But he went out to see the Israelites, to see his people who were being mistreated. And one of the Egyptians, this isn't here, but it's kind of a backstory, was abusing an Israelite, and Moses killed him.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03Right. And buried him. And then Israel said, Are you going to do to us what you did to the Egyptians? Like, oh my gosh, they know. So that's why he left, right?
SPEAKER_00Um, I think there's a line in here, it's kind of interesting. It says he regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. He was looking ahead to his reward.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00For the sake of Christ. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, Christ wasn't a thing back when Moses was No, but this is obviously Hebrews, New Testament, right? So maybe this is an education point for the audience, the Christian Jews, right? That that uh Moses accepted the disgrace of leaving as opposed to being in the royal household to follow God's calling as we are to follow Christ. It doesn't matter what is the sacrifice. You know, we're in the United States, following Christ. The sacrifice may be, you know, we go to church, we have different priorities, but it's not what Moses gave up. You know, Moses gave up wealth and power, right? Earthly value. And he regarded the disgrace. Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Because it was that an earthly thing. And that's what's a value greater than the treasures of Egypt. And at that time, Egypt was the place to be.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So good point.
SPEAKER_00Um, so it says by faith he left Egypt. You know, he got all the people out there. He kept the Passover.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, all those years after it's like, yeah, this is what we do. Um, then we have by faith the people pass through the Red Sea. I'm and I'm thinking that's really a big deal. If you weren't one of the first ones through Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And you you're still, you know, going through Well, you're walking through the sea, and even if you were familiar with it, you knew it was the sea because you saw it as you approached.
SPEAKER_00Well, you got water on both sides of you.
SPEAKER_03You have walls of water on both sides. I always thought if you looked in there, would you see fish? Would you see I mean, yeah, I don't know, you know. Uh and the they went, right? Now, I guess you could say the alternative was to be attacked by the Egyptians, but you still went through that. You still, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I mean, they could have been like maybe they won't kill me, maybe they'll just take me back and I'll be fed and I'll have to work for them. But you know, yeah, look at all this why I I mean for me who doesn't like going through tunnels and over long bridges and stuff, like to me that this would be a big deal. Yeah, I would I would have to have a lot of faith to get through there, and and I'm probably running a little faster than the people beside me.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, and then we have by faith the walls of Jericho. We did that story not too long ago, right? And they marched, and all they did was yell, yeah, and blow their trumpets, and the walls came down, yeah. And I I don't know. Um and I can't remember. Did I did God say if you yell the walls will come down, or he just said do this? I don't remember, and then the walls came down, yeah.
SPEAKER_03But they were prepared, so maybe no, but they were prepared to attack. Obviously, the walls on Jericho were a significant obstacle, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right, right, right. But if you're like okay, that's why they build them. We're walking around, and as you're walking around, you're seeing the enormousity of these walls. Yeah, it's like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_03They did one trip for six days, right? They went out every day and did it and left, right? And then seven trips, and then the last one trumpets yell and get ready. And I guess once the walls came down, everyone knew, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, once the walls are down, it's like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and Joshua was there, right? He he was at that point the anointed one. I'm sure he said, you know, charge.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_03So and then another Rahab reference.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, because she had enough faith in God that she risked everything taking the spies in.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um, and hoped that they would keep their side and remember her.
SPEAKER_03Right. And still, and and that did happen, right? Where if she didn't have the faith, she could have easily probably gone to the leaders, said, Look, these guys are gonna attack you. They got an army, you need to be ready. But she didn't. So, and even this little chapter here, yeah. You know, we always want to point out references that lift up women in the Bible. Here's Sarah and Rahab again, getting referenced.
SPEAKER_00All right, so in the last part of this chapter, um, and you know, rightly so, it says, and what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about the list Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets. Like there's so many more who are worthy to be in the hall of faith.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And briefly, I think we did get Gideon, he was the least of the least, right?
SPEAKER_00He's the one who wanted the was kind of testing. Also the one who um God kept making the his army smaller and smaller.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, down to 300 from 10,000 or 20,000, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Barack was with Deborah. Barack was with Deborah very jail.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. And Barack was the person who was told, well, since you you've asked Deborah, who was like the prophet, to go to be with you, you will not kill Nathan. No, whoever the guy was.
SPEAKER_00Um, yeah, I don't remember.
SPEAKER_03You you you will not, but a woman will. But Barack was a leader and regular leader. We know Samsa. Jeffha's kind of interesting. Jeffha was was the the illegitimate son of some prophet, right? But he was a warrior. But Jeff's the guy who said to God, if you give me victory over the medianites, maybe somebody, right? I will then offer up as a sacrifice the first person I see when I return after the battle.
SPEAKER_00It was his daughter.
SPEAKER_03It was his only daughter. Her only daughter. And she came running out of the house, and Jeff says, Oh no, no, no, no. I think the daughter asked, Well, before you do that, can I go to the mountains for 30 days and celebrate with my friend? You know, he said yes, but he did that very thing, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So Jeff so was military leader and obedient, right? And we heard David or Samuel, right? Those are things people we've talked to, but that's kind of who it is. I also like what happens next year. What? Well, right, women receive back their dead. Jesus did that, right? You know, right? They were raised to life. The son, right? Of the widow is one example. Uh, so they might gain a better resurrection. The resurrection through Jesus would be better, right? Because this has Jesus right, so they have that resurrection, right? But there also would be faced jeers, which Jesus did, right? They mocked him, which is jeering, right? Flogged, he was flogged, right? Right. Um, I don't think he was put in chains, but and he wasn't, but he was crucified, right? Right. But other of the leaders were in prison. Paul was chains, right? He was in prison.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I think some of the other disciples, I mean Peter was crucified upside down, right?
SPEAKER_03Or was that Paul?
SPEAKER_00No, I think that was that was Peter.
SPEAKER_03Okay, who was stoned?
SPEAKER_00Um, Stephen was stoned.
SPEAKER_03Stephen was stoned. Paul was in chains and in prison, right?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Multiple times. Some of the dis 12 disciples were executed by being sawed into, right?
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03And while being alive, you know, and some you're kind of sawed into at the waist, other you're sawed into between the head and the torso. I mean, like someone had a preference. Uh, and some were killed by the sword, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03They were sheepskins, goatskins, destitute, persecuted, mistreated, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know. John the Baptist, right? Was persecuted, right?
SPEAKER_00Decapitated. But I wonder if this is really speaking of the twelve because Paul was um I don't know. I always thought of Paul as was younger because he was at the stoning of Stephen.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But he was kind of a a boy. He was I I always pictured him as a young person at that point. Because he was just kind of like at the side, and yeah. And the disciples were, I mean, were already, you know, this is after Jesus' death, they were already older.
SPEAKER_03Right. But Paul had to be old enough. He was educated, right? And he had to be old enough to get the to the religious leaders to grant him the authority to go to Damascus.
SPEAKER_00That's true. Right.
SPEAKER_03So he wasn't like a 12-year-old. He was old enough and has proven himself to the religious leaders that I am going to stop this religious group, right?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03So, but I think this part here, you know, um, and I don't know if Paul was destitute, but bad things happened to him, but others were, right? Um, so you end up that that this is, you know, they wandered in deserts, mountains, living in caves. But these are the early leaders of the church, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, so the first for us in chapter 11, the first three-quarters of it are, and it is Hebrews, letters to Christian Jews. These are our heroes, right? That we heard stories about around the campfire, right? Whether it was Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, you know, whoever, uh, Moses, Barak, Gideon. And then you talk about not by name, but things happened to the early Christians.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, kind of. But regardless, right? If they faced jeers, flogging, change, they did not give up their faith, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I was just googling the deaths of the disciples, and um uh it says James was stoned. Um Simon the zealot was sawn in half. Um Philip, don't know if he was stoned or crucified. Um Bartholomew skinned alive and beheaded. Um so yeah, it just it makes me think that part of what he's talking about um is some of them who And I think in this reading it's the last half of the day, right?
SPEAKER_03The torture, the res you know, imprisonment, all that stuff is is Yeah. And Stephen wasn't one of the twelve, right?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03And John went to old age.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um then the the very last sentence said these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect. So again, God's plan, God's perfect isn't gonna happen now.
SPEAKER_03Um right, may not happen now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean it could happen. Yeah, but it it it doesn't necessarily mean, right? I've said it before. I always wish God had a watch or a count, a day planner, right? Some idea. But it says, I think in the Old Testament, you know, to God an hour or it could be a thousand years, or a thousand years could be an hour. It's kind of like, you know, on the first day, he created, you know, thought it was good, but it doesn't mean it was 24 hours, right? It could have been a million years. I don't know, right? I don't know, but all that could have taken place. But I think this to me says God's plan will be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_03And when that happens, right, we will be able to go talk to Barack. Right.
SPEAKER_00And um people might say, you know, um they they thought such and such was gonna happen, and it didn't happen, and they died. So what they thought was wrong.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like, no, not because you know, like you said, God has his own schedule.
SPEAKER_03Well, like that's right. And and and what we believe God has told us will happen, if it doesn't happen in our lifetime, it doesn't mean it's not going to happen, right? You know, I've told a story before that when this friend of ours who, you know, is 45, I don't know how old he is now, but older, Andy, right? That you want to go to Dairy Queen or someplace. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I drove past it. Oh, I didn't mean now. And as long as I'm alive, and he's alive, I am not, I I can still fulfill that promise, right? You know, but it's not when I if I die before him and not done that, then yes, I lied. But as long as I'm alive, it's still a possibility. God doesn't have that definitive end time. So when he says this is gonna happen, again, just because we want it to happen now doesn't necessarily mean God's let us down. I think that's the faith message, right? Yeah, because we don't see it doesn't mean it can't happen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So all right, you ready for the last day?
SPEAKER_03Psalms. You know, I love Psalms.
SPEAKER_00So August 10th, correct is Psalm 16, verses 1 through 11. So we finished the Hall of Faith.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_00Glad we got it all in in one week.
SPEAKER_03Yes, as opposed to splitting, coming back.
SPEAKER_00Yes, hate that.
SPEAKER_03Ah, jeez, it's one of the worst.
SPEAKER_00So, yeah, um, up at the top it says, God is your safe place, he is for you. And I know I say this many times throughout this devotional, um, that God is for you. That's it's it's just clear through so many things. He he isn't telling you not to do things because he's against you, because he doesn't want, you know, whatever for you. He is totally for you. He's on your side. So there's stuff in the psalm that supports that.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03Um Yeah, you are my lord, apart from you, I have no other good thing. So whatever I have is nothing compared to you, right? Not a value. Right. You alone are my portion and my cup, meaning you are at, right? You are all I need, right?
SPEAKER_00So um the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Surely I have a delightful inheritance.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And the path of life. You make known to me the path of life. Again, if you focus and listen, those things can happen, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. So you you keep God close, you keep seeking him, he's gonna be there for you.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's very simple, very straightforward.
SPEAKER_03Go back to James. Do what it says.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03This is a similar thing, same message, different words. But do what it says.
SPEAKER_00Do what it says. Yeah. Very good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's it.
SPEAKER_00All right. All done.
SPEAKER_03All done. Excellent. I did a really good job today, I think.
SPEAKER_00You you did. We'll probably get some fan mail about your great job.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Fill out my envelope.
SPEAKER_00Go Steve. Go, Steve.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to this week's Flip Devotional The Podcast. Again, if you haven't gotten the book, you can get a Amazon or Barnes and Noble ebook at Barnes and Noble. Um, keep reading your Bible every day. That's how you keep God close. And we'll see you next week.
