Flipped Devotional
review weekly readings from Flipped Devotional the Book with the author and her husband
Flipped Devotional
August 18 - 24
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Here are the scriptures for this week:
August 18 - 2 Thessalonians 1: 3 - 12
August 19 - Matthew 5: 1 - 12
August 20 - 1 Corinthians 6: 12 - 20
August 21 - Deuteronomy 7: 6 - 11
August 22 - John 3: 31 - 36
August 23 - Ecclesiastes 8: 12 - 17
August 24 - 2 Corinthians 7: 8 - 12
Welcome to Flip Devotional the Podcast, where 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. Also available as an ebook on Barnes Noble. Welcome to this week's podcast. We are doing August 18th through August 24th. I would like to give a shout out to Boardman Oregon. Boardman Oregon has been a download of our podcast from early on and quite faithful. Like maybe every week or often they they are showing up as um uh participant on our our podcast. I don't know that I know anyone in Bordman, Oregon. I I looked it up. So um Boardman is a small little town of 3,800.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's what you said. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um it borders Washington State. Um it was homesteaded in 1903. So if you Google Boardman, Oregon, these are the things that pop up. Um, these are things that they think you want to know. Um homestead in 1903, the house we live in in Lexington, Kentucky, um, is downtown. It's a two-story brick house. When we first moved there 30 years ago, um I went down to the deed office because I wanted to see how old the house was. And I kept looking up the deeds and it's oh, this one I'd have to get another book out and look it up. I got it back to 1900, and that wasn't the first deed, but the office was closing. They said I had to leave, and in 30 years I have not gotten back there. So maybe when you retire, that could be a little field trip we take.
SPEAKER_04We could go down together and that would be a good reason to keep working.
SPEAKER_01Um, so anyway, it's just kind of interesting. Our house is older than Boardman, Oregon, but I still would love to know who in Boardman, Oregon is listening and why.
SPEAKER_04Fan mail, right? Fan mail?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You could just, you know, give me a little, hey, I'm the Boardman, Oregon listener, and I found you through such and such. And or is it possible we know someone there?
SPEAKER_04Sure, it's possible.
SPEAKER_01So I don't know.
SPEAKER_04I don't know anyone.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. But um, I'm really I'm super excited to. I mean, I hope Boardman Oregon people listen to this podcast when I give them a shout-out. So um anyway, yeah. So there you go.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, good stuff.
SPEAKER_01August 18th, August 24th. I feel like the month of August was must have been kind of my um my tough month to get through. As I read through these again, um it's it's like, okay, Martha, what were you thinking? What what's the connection between these?
SPEAKER_04Well, the August passage for the month is your world, your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
SPEAKER_01So it's just general passages, just general stuff to help brighten your life. Or, you know, some of these are dark, especially this week. It's like, I don't know. Are they brightening your path? Um or just giving you some knowledge to I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's hard.
SPEAKER_01There you go. But you know what? They're all in the Bible.
SPEAKER_04They're all in the Bible, they're all inspired God's word.
SPEAKER_01And therefore they are all important. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04There's no passage. There may be some that are more popular, but are there passages that are more important? Perhaps. But they're all of value. So we shouldn't dismiss these seven passages.
SPEAKER_01Right. So made the Bible. Let's let's just do it. Let's just jump in and we're gonna get into these, and I think we will be surprised at the end that wasn't so glum after all.
SPEAKER_04Correct.
SPEAKER_01So the the first one.
SPEAKER_04I think we should cover all these seven in less than three hours.
SPEAKER_01All right, and our listeners hope so too. Because they do have a life outside of flip devotional podcasts. All right, so the first one, August 18th, is 2 Thessalonians 1, 3 through 12. And the little ditty up at the top says, Is our faith growing? Is our love for others increasing? And that's because at the very beginning, um, this is written by Paul, a letter to the Thessalonians.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, and he says, We ought always to thank God for you because your faith is growing, and the love you all have for one another is increasing. It's like, wow.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's cool. Like, seriously, would anyone say that about us? Like, oh, your faith is growing.
SPEAKER_04I might say it about you.
SPEAKER_01Your love is increasing?
SPEAKER_04Yes. That one they will not say about me.
SPEAKER_01That's not true. But um, and it says we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you're enduring.
SPEAKER_04So bad things must have happened to them, right? But they haven't, they stuck to it, perseverance, you know. Uh my dad used to say person's finest quality is perseverance. So you don't stop. They kept doing that. Um, and faith in, you know, in all perseverance and faith in all the persecution trials. So stop and think about your faith and your relationship with God at maybe the worst of times.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Now that that all sounds good. It's the next section that um in my notes I put not really a warm, fuzzy passage. So the next part um says, God's judgment is right, God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled. Um, this will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel. See, these are things we don't like to think about.
SPEAKER_04No, and it's two pieces, right? He will punish those who do not know God, right? Mm-hmm. And do not obey the gospel of Lord Jesus. So is that a category of a person who does not obey, does not know God and does not obey the gospel, or is it two classes of people?
SPEAKER_01Right.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_04And you would think if you do not know God, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're probably not obeying because you don't know.
SPEAKER_04You don't know the gospel. Yeah. So I think it's, I don't know this, again, we didn't go to seminary, you haven't studied, but it sure seems like two classes, he will punish those who do not know God. And often we've heard conversations or sermons or someone say that if some group has never heard of God, right? They're good, this may not apply to them, right? Because it is, you'll punish those who do not know God.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So it doesn't mean met God, right? I mean, if you think of your own life, there's people you've met, but you may not spend enough time with them to know them. So is this a piece of telling people, uh, and then if that's the case, do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus. Those two are more closely linked from that perspective. Because if you spend time in the gospel, you will know God more. Right. But again, I don't know that, but I just know what, you know, we've said this before. What words, what word from this do I derive? And those could be, you know. So if you heard of God one time, or you went to church a couple times and never followed through a knowing God, this may apply to that person. Or you go to church regularly, but aren't in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04You know, right. I've often wondered, you know, what should I read in the Bible? It's almost read the gospels. Just read the gospels.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's gonna give you what you need to know. You know, and the Old Testament stories may be referenced there. You could go look at those, but those are things to start with.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SPEAKER_01And then it ends with um, we constantly pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling. I like that verse because the person doing the work, you know, if I go back to my elementary school English classes, they were so good. Capital Day School in Frankfurt, Kentucky. Um, I learned grammar, dissecting sentences, parts of speech, all that good stuff so well. Um, God is the subject, and the verb is make. So God is doing the making, God is doing the work, not not us.
SPEAKER_04Not us.
SPEAKER_01We we don't make ourselves worthy of his calling. God makes us worthy of his calling. I love that.
SPEAKER_04And it could also mean that sentence is he's makes you worthy, but means you are worthy. Right? I mean, there's there's no there's no indication God's gonna stop making you worthy, right? Decide you're not worthy.
SPEAKER_02Right. So yeah, all right.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, there's bad and good, but I think overall, you know, the letter to the second letter to Thessalonians is, you know, God's gonna make you worthy, right? And obey the gospel. And you can't obey the gospel if you don't read the gospel. So be in the word, and God will make you worthy of his calling. Because quite often people say, But am I worthy of God? Am I worthy of God loving me?
SPEAKER_01Um, and is the answer Well, he'll make you worthy, of course. He'll make you worthy, but are we on our own? No.
SPEAKER_04No, no, and it's obviously the point we he's gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04So we need to listen to him.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So when people say that, yeah. Am I worthy of God? He's making you worthy.
SPEAKER_01There's nothing you can do to make yourself worthy of him. But he he chooses you.
SPEAKER_04Recently we read the story of um It's the tax collector. The Pharisee says, I'm not like that guy who stands up in front of everybody in prayers and six guys in the back, you know. He he was trying to make himself worthy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. All right. August 19th is Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12. And uh these are the Beatitudes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This is a passage that um used frequently in sermons. I mean, I've heard, I'm sure, several sermons on this. Um it's it's a positive little section.
SPEAKER_04Um it had to be shocking to the listeners. They had to just turn everything they believed upside down, right? And really, because it starts out blessed are the poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_01For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01I mean, does it get any better than that?
SPEAKER_04No. No.
SPEAKER_01That's like the the big prize.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Although I do have a question mark over poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_04Um it could just be it's not. It could be you feel beaten. You don't feel confident, you don't believe things are gonna get better, right? So blessed are the poor in spirit. I don't think it's goes back to Thessalonians, it's not those who uh do not obey the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04You know, I think it's people who who feel beaten.
SPEAKER_01Now, the companion verse for this one. Now, I haven't talked a lot about companion verses recently. Um no reason, just I don't know, just haven't. But if you read Flip Devotional, say last year, and this year, maybe you're reading again, but you'd like to have a little bit more or something different. Um, on Facebook, Flip Devotional has their own page, and at the beginning of each month is posted a calendar uh with a scripture for each day. You have so you have to look it up. Um but I tried to put a scripture that connects with what the passage for the flip devotional is that day. So on this day, um I have Luke 6, 17 through 26, which is also the Beatitudes, but um Luke's version instead of Matthew's. And it was it's kind of interesting because the wording is just a little different. Um it says, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Um blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. I don't think hunger is in the Matthew one. No. Uh blessed are you who weep, for you will laugh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because because of the Son of Man.
SPEAKER_04But in that one, you're blessed because they reject you because you're a follower of Jesus. Yes. Not for some other reason.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yes. Um some some are the same, some are different. You know, that's kind of interesting.
SPEAKER_04Um but they certainly were radical radical thoughts that no one understood, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04I mean, blessed are those who mourn. You know, the one that really is blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. I mean, no one associates the meek with you know inheriting things, getting things, you know. And it's always fun. Blessed are the peacemakers.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04So I think this is one of those things, the Beatitudes people need to read because I think they are thought-provoking.
SPEAKER_01Well, another thing that's interesting of about the Luke passage is after all the blessed are, blessed are, blessed are, it says, woe to you who are rich, yeah, for you've already received your comfort. Woe to you who are we're well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you. So all the blessings are literally flipped to be woes in in the Luke passage. So that's that's kind of interesting.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But again, I think these are challenging statements. That are things we haven't thought about.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And that was probably part of the reason. And really, because it's the Beatitudes from Jesus' sermon on the mount. I'm not a pastor, but I think pastors would say sermons are intended to be thought provoking.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03All right.
SPEAKER_01All right. August 20th is 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 12 through 20. So this is another letter from Paul to the Corinthians.
SPEAKER_04Um, we have sometimes the letters were calling people out.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_04And some and they become instructional. Some are complimentary, some are instructional. But I think this is much like maybe you could say 2 Thessalonians, this is meant to educate.
unknownYou know.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah. And and I think uh often Paul wrote these letters from jail. So he was in jail a lot. Um, and he would hear about things that were going on uh where he had probably been before and preached, and then he moved on, and and then he hears, okay, this is happening, and so he would write, yeah, because he couldn't get back there, um, at least not right then, he would write them a letter.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And we think when he was doing this, right? First century A.D., we think Jesus 32, 33 AD, which is going on 2,000 years ago, right? Letters got to where they were going. I mean, it wasn't it just the idea. You know, there wasn't an organized postal service.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_04I mean, he wrote a letter. He was in Rome for a long time, right? He said, send me to Caesar. That was his decision, because he was a Roman. Um, and he wrote letters. And people came to visit him, and they just must have taken them. And then, oh, where are you going? Well, I'm going to Corinth. Here, take this to the Yeah, I'm going to go see the church. Here's, you know. So somehow these got Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I thought you were gonna tie that in with the fact that you paid our water bill.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And it came back to us.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And yeah, it wasn't postmarked or anything. It had a stamp, had the address, and everything. Yeah. So I thought you were comparing that letters got there then.
SPEAKER_04But not now.
SPEAKER_01But now, yeah, our WAR bill can't seem to get delivered for some reason. But all right. So the beginning of this passage says, I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. So I feel like right at the beginning, Paul is Establishing the rules. Yeah, referring to something he's heard. It's like, okay, yeah, I understand. You think you can do anything. Okay. Yeah. I mean, technically even today. Yes.
SPEAKER_04You can do anything. Yes.
SPEAKER_01However, is it beneficial? Should you do it? Just because you can, should you?
SPEAKER_04And it's but not everything is beneficial. So I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything is beneficial. So it's not even it may not be it may be beneficial to the person, but not beneficial to everybody, or not of value. It doesn't say it wouldn't be beneficial to you, right? Right.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_04You know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And and yeah, so it starts says, uh again, I have the right to do anything. You know, you can almost kind of feel the uh kind of the tension of that's you know almost sounds like a parent talking their children.
SPEAKER_04And go back to the mill. Someone told Paul this was happened in Corinth, right? Now he may have been there and wrote a letter after he left, but I would think he would have said something there. But it's still the idea of I've heard this from a reliable source, or I witness it myself. You need to understand, right? Just because you could do anything, it doesn't mean it's a beneficial, right? And it's it's if it's especially it's designed for the Lord, is this beneficial to the Lord? Right? And he talks about sexual morality, a very complicated topic, a very difficult topic, and this is then, I guess, as well as now, right? But the question is, as an individual, is this beneficial to you? And I think when you for me, it's there's an immediate and then a long term, right? So is this beneficial for you over time? Right. You know, so that's that's what I think he must have heard was going on. There's a reference to prostitutes, so it's very, I mean, this is probably directed at some people within the church court, and he's holding them accountable. But in our own life, what are we doing that we think is okay, but not beneficial, or tolerable, but not beneficial, you know.
SPEAKER_01And and what are we saying? Um you know, I have the right to do anything.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01You know, like okay, right. That's not the argument. We're we're not saying that. We're saying and the the very last two sentences I I think is probably Paul's here's here's the the real truth. Says you are not your own. You were bought at a price.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Therefore, honor God with your bodies. The price was Jesus.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01Life.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That was a really big price that was paid for each of us.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01And we're choosing to follow him, and we're kind of um accepting that the price that he paid.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So, you know.
SPEAKER_04And I think many times, and you know, I've heard this in sermons, you've heard it in sermons many times. Um it's easy to follow Jesus on the easy stuff. Right. Right. Go to church on Sunday, right? And I follow Jesus from beginning of service till the end of service. You know, and that's what happens. And that's right, and that's great and wonderful. But am I following Jesus on Friday night? You know, or am I following Jesus at two o'clock on Tuesday when I cheat my employer because I sneak out? You know, that's not this topic, but it it's the same premise, you know. So by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are calling yourself to be different.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And to do the right thing.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01This is, you know, kind of I have the right to do anything, yes, but are you doing the right thing?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Are you doing the right thing?
SPEAKER_04That's yeah. I always like to link responsibility with rights or responsible, right? You have the right to do that. Are you being responsible in that action?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04So tough message, though. I mean, again, another one that's not warm fuzzy.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But one that, you know, maybe you need to ponder that a little bit. Right. All right. August 21st is Deuteronomy chapter seven.
SPEAKER_04Old Testament. Previous three were new, right?
SPEAKER_01Yep. Uh, verses six through eleven.
SPEAKER_04And one, he calls us his treasured possession. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. Again.
SPEAKER_01That's a sweet, warm fuzzy.
SPEAKER_04That's the sweet, warm fuzzy, right? And this is to the Israelites, but we believe it applies to Christians and followers of Jesus as well, right? Right? Mm-hmm. You know, because it, but in the next paragraph, but it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that you brought you mighty hand and redeemed you from Egypt, right? We've we've read those stories, right? But God's done that. These are things God has done for his people, right? So he he is a faithful God, so you are to love him and keep his commandments.
SPEAKER_01And it says um that he's faithful, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, he's he's gonna love you. You don't ever have to question, does God love me?
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01He absolutely does. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And what when we question if God loves me, it's do I love, do I know he loves me? Right? I can, and and it's kind of like I often said, many people know two plus two is four in their brain. Mathematicians know it in their heart. It's just something different to them. And this is kind of I know in my brain God loves me, but do I know in my heart God loves me? Am I changed because of his love? Right? So maybe part of this, right? You love him, you keep his commandments, and there's ten of them. Right? Or two. Or two, correct.
SPEAKER_01Depending on how you want to and in the New Testament, Jesus said Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and love others as you love yourself.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Love your neighbor, or however you word it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And the Ten Commandments, the first three is your relationship with God, which is the first one that Jesus says. Four is keep the Sabbath, you know, which is another Which still God. Still God. And then five through ten is how you relate to other people.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_04You know, it's kind of like the Lord's Prayer. Friend of ours and I, the only other person who ever said this to me, he didn't like the Lord's Prayer. I didn't like it. I felt the same thing. Because you say in it, Lord, forgive my sin as I forgive others, which is not at all, right? Because we're not very good at forgiving others. So that's the standard that you gotta be careful of. So I think this is again, you love him, you keep his commandments, right? Yeah, and and I always think, because I guess it's Leviticus who has all sorts of other rules and things you're the Egyptians, I mean the Israelites are supposed to do. But here are the Ten Commandments. These are what Moses had specifically on the tablets. Keep those. And if you keep those, right? Know the Lord before, right? So you know, and it's are there things that interfere with your relationship with God? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Now it does have one not warm, fuzzy statement in here. It says, but those who hate him, he will repay to their face by destruction. He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. So again, there's that um well there's that affair.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, we don't like to think of that, but well, I think part of really when you think about it, it's he says those who love him, right?
SPEAKER_00Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04And those who hate him. There's not a third option.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_04Right? I mean, again, this is Deuteronomy, Old Testament, maybe it's all changed because hell, you know, I don't believe that, but maybe people say that. But regardless, those who love him keep his commandments, right? But those who hate him, he will repay. Right? Right. So from this message here, there's not a third option.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04You know.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you go back to the Beatitudes. Blessed are those who. Yes, yes. Woe to those who.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you don't want to be a woe guy. You know, in my job, I'm a lobbyist and we have legislation, and I tell people you're either other people, legislators either for you or against you. They may not really care. That's gonna fall in the against you category because you can't count on that action. This is you love them, it's really love or non-love. You know, and based on Deuteronomy, the non-love is the hate category, and he will repay to their face by destruction.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's not a warm fuzzy.
SPEAKER_00No.
SPEAKER_04What's the saying? Those who don't believe in God better hope you're right. Or to be in heaven.
SPEAKER_02Oh.
SPEAKER_04Better hope you're right. This is that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But so yeah, so this week is kind of tough messages.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. All right, August 22nd is John 3, 31 through 36.
SPEAKER_04Early in John, right?
SPEAKER_01But after John 3.16, uh-huh. Which a lot of people know, that was the story of Nicodemus. And um John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so those who believe in him will not perish but live everlasting life. This is it's it's very similar to that. Now this is the disciple John writing correct about John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um that's that's kind of what's going on here. Um but it says for the one, sorry. Um whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we don't want that. Right?
SPEAKER_01But basically the same thing John 316 says, it just adds the the non-warm fuzzy part.
SPEAKER_04Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01But if you if you've got one side, you've got the other. I mean, it's it's there, whether you say it out loud or not.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. But again, you're right. This this is just shortly thereafter 316. And it does in my notes refer to John the Baptist, right? And I don't want God's wrath.
SPEAKER_01Um, no. No. Although I was thinking of a passage I read this week in Fironles, when David is called out by God for counting the people, yeah, the sons, the soldiers. Um, he he said, Let's count them. And they're like, Are you sure? He said, Yep, yep, let's count them. And then came back and it's like, yeah, God, God didn't want you to count them. And he said, Oh, I've sinned. I'm so sorry. And God said, Okay, I'll give you three choices.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You can have it was like three months of famine, or maybe three years of famine, three months of your enemy fighting against you, or three days of um God's, basically God's wrath.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01And he chose three days of God's wrath. Now, you know, first of all, I would go three years, three months, three days. Yeah, let's do the three days.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, but he he chose God's because he said, God will have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Whereas the others won't.
SPEAKER_04Looking for my phone, look something up. Must be in the car.
SPEAKER_00Um but yeah.
SPEAKER_04But again, another one that isn't all warm fuzzy. Right? And this is part of again, we were early on, you know, we talked about reading the gospels. This is a message for us all from John, right?
SPEAKER_01Although I can hear a listener saying, okay, so Martha, you just threw that out about David taking God's. What are you saying? So I don't know. I don't know. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I don't know. Either.
SPEAKER_01But as we said before, we know if you follow God, if you believe in God, if you love God, we know what the end of the story is.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And from reading these passages, if you don't know God, if you don't love God, according to these, you know the end of the story too. But but there are people who will say, oh, I'm not sure if that's really true.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm not gonna gamble on that. I don't want to gamble. And to tell you the truth, I don't want to live my life wondering without God with me right now, just regardless of what happens later. I enjoy having God in my life every day.
SPEAKER_04Yes.
SPEAKER_01I want to keep having him where I can rely on him and go to him and talk to him and have him talk to me. And I want that more than I would want any sin I can think of. So I'm I'm good following, but I understand there are people who are like, oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01I'd rather just take a chance.
SPEAKER_04Like I mean, is risk aversive or risk taking? Right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Find out. I mean, I mean, many, many times people say, Well, I just have to accept Jesus before I die. So up to today.
SPEAKER_01This is true. But that's I hope you have some warning.
SPEAKER_04But again, I want to have that relationship now.
SPEAKER_01I enjoy life with God.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's it, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I really do.
SPEAKER_04Accepting Jesus isn't about solely going to heaven.
SPEAKER_01Right. Right. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yeah. It said so they you know, he did this, and it was really Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take the census of Israel. So Satan triggered David to do that. Yeah. Which means David didn't go to consult God.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01And he was questioned. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04He said, are you sure you want to do this, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_04And then God went to Gad, David's seer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Didn't go to David.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_04Many were like, right, didn't go to David. And said, right, go and tell David.
SPEAKER_02Go tell him, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I'm giving you three options. Choose one for me to carry out against you, right? And it was. It was um three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you. Didn't say guns, their swords overtaking you. Or three days of the sword of the Lord, days of plague in the land, where the angel of the Lord ravaging every part of Israel.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_04So he sent the plague of Israel, 70,000 men of Israel fell dead.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_04And it says men. And we know then men were valued, but it doesn't mean women and children didn't die. It's like Jesus fed the 4,000, but there was men and we know there were women and children there. So it seems there's women and children may have died as well.
SPEAKER_01Yep. All right. August 23rd.
SPEAKER_04August 23rd.
SPEAKER_01Ecclesiastes. Back to Ecclesiastes. We had Ecclesiastes last week.
SPEAKER_04Sometime.
SPEAKER_01And I was thinking, oh, that's probably the only one, but hey.
SPEAKER_04There you go. We got Ecclesiastes twice. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Chapter 8, verses 12 through 17. Um, and I I I put this in because you hear people often say, you know, why do bad things happen to good people? And I think I just kind of wanted people to know that back in Ecclesiastes, which is in the Old Testament, so it was a very, very, very long time ago, the same thing came up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um.
SPEAKER_04And it really is, because it talks really about the righteous and the wicked. You know, why do good things happen to the wicked and not the righteous, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it says there's something else meaningless that occurs on earth. The righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.
SPEAKER_04Meaningless.
SPEAKER_01This too, I say, is meaningless. So yeah. It's been happening for a long time. People have been wondering it for a long time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And for me, it goes back. To my eyes versus God's eyes. My eyes makes me angry when the wicked prosper, right? From God's eyes, it's meaningless. You know, it's just, yeah, it happened, it makes you angry. However, it's really not the big deal you think it is.
SPEAKER_01And then at the end, it says no one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01So even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And that's like when we when we try to understand God, what we're doing is we are putting God in a box. We're limiting him.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_01And the the truth is we can't understand him. We can't understand what's going on. Why it goes on.
SPEAKER_04We prayed for that. We prayed for that. We prayed for that. But healing didn't happen. Why not? Why didn't I again I don't know.
SPEAKER_02Right?
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I read a thing that Martha sent me about a person he's been a pastor and a person we were really good friends with, right? Sad, sad things happening to him, right? Our friend Larry. Um, we know his niece, we know his daughter, right? We still talk to them, you know. Uh and why is this happening? And it's just, you know, we'll pray for Larry. You know, we'll pray for Sharon, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, but really Larry's fine.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Larry is good. He knows what's gonna happen, where he's gonna go. He's he's he's ready. It's it's the people who are left behind that yeah that need the prayer. Yeah. That's so hard for. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and they quite, I'm sure they're wondering, this isn't fair.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_04This isn't right, right? You know, and nowhere are we promised fair and right.
SPEAKER_01Right. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Which is hard.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Nowhere are we promised.
SPEAKER_01All right, then August 24th is 2 Corinthians chapter 7, 8 through 12.
SPEAKER_04Back to the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01Back to Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Um, and the little Diddy up at the top says, sometimes the bad things can bring good things. So sometimes when you don't understand something bad happened, why did it happen? Um in this case, uh Paul had, and this is 2 Corinthians, so this is a second letter to the Corinthians. Um, so he says, he he realizes he may have caused sorrow by his letter, so probably from the first letter he sent. Um and again, we just talked about that and how he maybe was calling some people out. Um he says, I don't regret it. Because he said your sorrow led you to repentance.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you know, maybe their feelings were hurt, they were upset about it, but it made them realize what they were doing. And so they repented. Um, which leads to salvation.
SPEAKER_04And he even says godly sorrow.
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_04You know, you know, is that sorrow brought on by realizing you haven't followed God? You know, it's from him, it's right. I don't know. But it says repentance, right? Salvation and leaves no regret. So the experience may have been painful, uh, again, sorrowful, all those things, but ultimately I'm not regretful, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_01So there you go. Kind of a kind of a rough week.
SPEAKER_04Kind of a tough week.
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_04So again, it's even this one. Godly sorrow gets to salvation, right? Gets to salvation, right?
SPEAKER_01Um which is the ultimate goal.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and we talk about it's better to reverent before God, you know, we have the earth, but you know, it's still the relationship with God, right? You know, speak words of God. These are all different things I have in my nose throughout the week, but it really is we still need to focus on God, right? We still need to, that's the deal. That's the source. And it's day to day, it's hard to remember that.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Right. All right. Well tough week. Kind of a tough one. Boardman Oregon, did you make it through the whole podcast today? Hope so. Um appreciate you guys listening. Um, it really does mean a lot to us. Uh I I hope that it means a lot to you too. I hope that it deepens your faith um and enriches your relationship with God. Uh, that's that's what we really want um more than anything from this.
SPEAKER_04So we want it's okay to question.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_04God has answers.
SPEAKER_01Thank God He does.
SPEAKER_04God bless you all.
SPEAKER_01Um thanks for listening to this week's Flip Devotional the podcast. Don't forget to rate, review, subscribe, download, share with your friends, um, get together with other people and discuss and question on your own. And we will see you next week.
