Hey, this is Elizabeth. This is Keisha. Hi, this
is Leslie Sullivan and welcome to the Mustard
Seed podcast. Welcome back to the table. We're
so grateful that everybody's sitting here with
us and it's been a lot of fun here because we've
been meeting a lot more frequently. So we get
to see each other a lot more, which has been
awesome. I always feel like everybody out there
hears us more often than we actually are together.
We do usually a few every night. So just trying
to get everything ready so that we for Leslie's
busy season. So of of church and everything and
everything that the holidays bring and holiday
season and here isn't any any slower, but you
still have you. I know you're the church demands
a lot around the holidays. It does, but it's
all worth it. It is, always. Because without.
That's what I tell myself. Yeah, but without
the stuff that you do and without the stuff that
all the churches do around that area, it wouldn't
be the same. And this is like, it's the whole
point. You're going to see more people coming
in. And so you want to make sure that you're
reaching all of them. And it's exactly, you know,
you guys are doing what. Finding ways to connect.
Exactly. That's our whole job. Exactly. So I
was like. Like yeah, it might not math for everybody
out there that they hear us more often than we
see each other But it's it's accurate. Yeah,
the math is correct We have checked the work
But it is always good to get back together with
you guys Then you know that makes it it's just
it's a good it's a good girl time you guys in
Tennessee and everywhere else is going through
yes I was grateful that Keisha made it home because
they made it home they were they were gone yeah
well we we were already planning on coming up
on Wednesday so it worked out fine and we actually
we didn't see any rain not a raindrop until we
got to the side of Atlanta But from Atlanta,
home was pretty rough. But I mean, that was before
the hurricane even hit. It was just yeah. But
you guys got quite a bit of rain up here. You
got before that, right? Yeah, we got quite a
bit of rain. It was power was going out. We had
tornadoes. I think the night before you guys
got back. Yeah, we had tornado warnings all around
our area. Yeah. And then. yeah so it's and it's
been nuts i mean our area we've all been blessed
yeah in this area our power came back a lot faster
than most oh yeah some still don't have it yeah
um and our county was mostly just dealt with
downed trees and electrical problems so yeah
and then just the surrounding ones not not so
much yeah but it's it is nice to see how everybody's
pulling together and how everybody's trying to
make sure that people are getting fed and watered.
Because in Florida, this is something that you
expect. You expect to be without something for
a little bit when a hurricane hits. You don't
expect that when you're in East Tennessee or
North Carolina. I know South Carolina got hit
too. But mainly, my newsfeed is all North Carolina
and here, because that's where we travel. So
all the areas that we travel in North Carolina,
I'm part of a lot of their pages. And I'm going,
oh my gosh. Yeah, they got it. I mean, just can't
imagine. I have friends in Asheville who are
still stuck in their home, can't get out and
have nothing. I mean, literally have no food,
no gas, no anything to go anywhere. And then
people in Florida where that whole area we used
to live in, Largo's fine, but all the beach area
is decimated. Yep. I saw pictures of clear water
and I'm going... Like I've been on that beach.
Yeah. You know, they did, they showed in June
rocks beach on the news. And I'm like, yeah,
it's scary. It's scary to think about. Oh yeah.
My parents, they live in the northern part of
the panhandle and it looked like it was going
to be a direct hit on them, but ended up going,
um, I think hitting like an hour or two east
of hit Tallahassee but it was an hour or two
from them and they didn't even lose electricity
so the whole time I was telling my parents hey
you know you guys need to come up come up to
our house you sure you don't want to leave and
just come on up to our house and then we lost
electricity for like 28 hours my dad was like
you want to come back down to our house And he
sent me a picture of a twig in his backyard.
He goes, we survived. I was like, you're alive.
I had texted our friend Amanda, and I was like,
you guys are leaving, right? Because I want to
make sure that you guys aren't going to be sitting
in there. And so, yeah, she said she had finally
been able to convince everybody that they should
probably not stay. And I think I'm like, Florida
State's closing. Yeah. You guys need to leave.
And so they did. They went to her in -laws house.
You know, and then I texted her. I was like,
how's your house? Have you seen your house? Like,
do you know if anything happened? Because I'm
not seeing what happened up in Tallahassee, because
that's not a part of like where I was. Tallahassee,
this is the same as you guys, like what you said,
trees and things down and stuff like that, but
not related to flooding. It's that hour, what,
east of Tallahassee, Perry looks like chimney
rock, looks like, I mean, like just decimated,
gone, you know? Yeah, it's, there's a lot of
roads in North Carolina that are gone. There's
people that can't get out because they can't,
there's no way to get out. Yeah. Yeah, I was
talking to a friend last week and telling her
to instead of going into Gatlinburg through like
Knoxville Oh, you should go through this is like
a week before it happened, right? Yeah Cherokee
and 40 and like all these cute little towns like
Maggie Valley chimney rock and all these places
and then today I was like No Can't get there
The road is it's just mine. It's I mean it you
get it, but it's also just mind -boggling to
see we had so we had three of the dams in our
area that I think one failed and then the other
two were holding but they were they were not
holding the water because they couldn't it was
overflowing yeah so yeah so they were they thought
they thought the one failed then it found out
that it didn't fail but it had flooded so much
Yeah, I mean it's and these are dams that were
built in like the early 1900s so Yeah And it's
just I Will be forever grateful that our area
did not get hit like that. Oh, yeah, even our
power was only out for a couple hours and The
only thing I was worried about was our sub pump.
We have enough water in this house. We have enough
food in this house. We can figure that bit out.
But I'm worried about the fact that all our freezers
are, we have an extremely wet basement. Our sub
pump, I think today has been the first day in
over a week that it hasn't been going off every
five minutes. I was worried for it being off.
I had just got my shoes on and was telling Mylin,
get your shoes on. We're going down. I'm like,
I need you. I'm like, I'm going to hold up. Because
you have to get to our basement from the outside.
So I'm like, I'll hold up the storm door. I need
you to go down there. Because it was still windy.
It was some of the gusts going through there.
I thought for sure a chicken was going to be
flying through the yard. And I said, I'll hold
up the storm door. I need you to go down there.
Because I'm like, I'm not getting stuck down
there. Thank you very much. So but I'm like if
I hold it you go and you tell me how deep it
is and right as we were getting our shoes on
did the power come back on okay good and then
but then i'm watching all the water should go
out from our basement through the sub pump and
i'm like oh gosh because we have quail down there
right now like in a brooder so it's like police
lord tell me they weren't floating because that
was my biggest fear yeah i waited it seems like
they'll be fine for at least like an hour or
two like it'll be fine and so i waited it was
about two little like right around two hours
and i looked i was like okay I went down there
and Milan's like, yeah, it's like this deep.
I'm like, OK. Are the birds OK? Like, is it wet
in there? He's like, no, they're fine. Because
they're kind of on the like the brooders on the
ground and it's not exactly watertight. Yeah.
And it's not it's aluminum. So it's not like
it's it's it's not heavy. Just floating around.
Exactly. It's an old locker that we. Gilligan's
Island all up in there. They were fine, though.
They're fine now. But we waited. They're good
to go outside, but we've been waiting because,
well, especially with the weather, like, hey,
welcome to the real world. Let's go out here
where you guys could just literally get blown
away. You don't have to fly. You'll just get
blown. I'm glad your bird survived. I literally
was checking to make sure birds weren't flying
through. Wizard of Oz was going by in my head.
We're in the twister. We're watching everything
driving by. I've never seen wind that strong
go through, and it was coming from a weird direction,
too. Our yard doesn't normally get hit from that
direction, so I didn't know what was going to
lift and what was going to. It was strange, but
I didn't even think about looking at our chickens.
I just assumed they were OK. They probably were
in the coop. Free range and we they don't really
they have a spot to go. We have the availability
But some of our chickens aren't smart enough
to get to that spot So it's like but I mean they
can go in our barn. So there is that they can
go in our barn So they're you know, mainly protected
and I was like I all the doors were open So the
goats could have gotten the barn The only one
that can't fit in the barn is our is our donkey
like she can't get in because we have just little
doors Because if we let her in the whole barn,
she'll eat all the chicken food So she's not
she has other shelters all like she has like
a lean to that she can use But I was just and
I was looking out there and she's just sitting
there underneath the tree Not even, you know,
just not letting it go. She's just like, all
right, we done yet Well back to the whole reason
that we you know that we are here Now that you
guys all got to hear us all catch up, this is
how we work. Sometimes you guys don't get to
hear that we talk about this before. It's been
a little bit more exciting lately. We have a
lot more going on. I had to force them outside
to play soccer today because they haven't had
school. They're not going to have school tomorrow
either. I was like, go outside. Please. It's
not raining. Go outside. Out of the house. Trying
to work. You guys do not need to be on your video
games. I had technically taken my eldest off
his video games this week because of his attitude
working on the farm yesterday. But then when
they called off school, I said, well, that's
not going to work. I limited it today, but I
was like, I'm not taking it all the way away.
I won't survive. So we are gathered here today
to talk about First Peter. Peter is somebody
that... I know everybody goes, oh, I love Paul.
He's the best. He is so much. I love myself some
Peter. Like he is so real. And I feel like you
can identify with him a lot because he's just
what you see is what you're getting. He's not
sugar coated in the Gospels. He's real. Like
he I loved, you know, when we talked about him
in acts, you know, and he was like, well, you
guys killed the. Messiah, like every time he
was like, like, you know, being talking to people,
he's like, well, you know, that guy that you
killed, he's our savior. He's the reason that
we're all going to, you know, and he's just.
He's one of those. Speak before he thinks, you
know, he's one that we. Yeah, you always know
a Peter. Sometimes I am a Peter. Yes. I think.
Me too. And then I cringe about it for the rest
of my life, but sometimes I am a Peter. I don't
want to admit it, but. Right. Oh, Peter. I know.
You know, it's I heard it and it makes sense
because, you know, Peter's viewed a lot differently
than a lot of the disciples because A, he is
who he is and he was just a he was a blue collar
worker, right? Like he was a fisherman. He was
a man of the of the world. He was. Yeah, he didn't
have a hoity toity job. He was likely just educated
enough to get to get by, you know, but, you know,
a lot of it's judging. They judge by his by his
Greek. Right. Well, he wasn't. He wasn't Greek.
So he wasn't his whole life. I don't think his
parents were like, you know what? We're going
to go ahead and make sure he's educated in Greek
just in case he ends up being part walking with
the Messiah and he's going to have to write a
few gospels. Like, no, you know, he he was he
spoke Hebrew. He was Arabic. Like that's how
he wrote very well in his language. But, you
know, you have it, you hear it where. You know.
Paul is like you're talking like he's got his
Masters and his doctorate, right? Right and like
in this day and age and so the way he speaks
is Completely different and the way he writes
is completely different than Peter who's basically
it looks like He's writing in level of a third
grader. Just if you're gonna compare just the
language But what Peter always has to say? Nail
he nails it. Yeah is until we get to that place
of maybe polishing it a little. But he is that
every day. I think of him as the head fisherman,
even though, you know, I'm not saying he was
a fisherman. I'm saying he's that guy that reminds
me of that because he's like, yeah, here to go.
You're going to get on the boat and go fishing
or what you're going to do. Let's go. Like, I
mean, so matter of fact. Yep. He's got just he's
got passion. Like, you know, he's very passionate
about everything. He is like that one friend
that you can call no matter what. Right. He's
all in. He's there. He's going to do what needs
to be done. So if you guys don't know, he is
one of the 12 disciples that walked with Jesus.
He's they considered, I guess, because of the
way that when they list out the disciples, they
considered Peter kind of the leader. Because
he's always listed first Yeah, I always thought
it was because that was succession like Because
I I feel like they were called first you can
correct me if I'm wrong I could be completely
off the while I just always assumed it was because
that was they went in order of who came when
But I don't I don't know that to be true That's
what always the same to you To watch The Chosen.
Yeah, that too. I have a hard time. I should
not be always thinking about, well, he was like,
that was the first one on The Chosen, right?
And it's like, I have to look back at, like,
I know they take liberties with some stuff. They
still have a lot of fact in those liberties.
You know, but I did I looked it up and you know
They list them in Matthew and I know they list
them in other spots But yeah, he's first and
Judas is obviously always last and that there's
reasons for that. Yeah, I feel like we all should
we all know um You know, but he It's purposeful
and I could see that with his the way that Peter
is I feel like he could just kind of Go out and
talk to anybody cuz everybody's gonna some people
are gonna undermine him just cuz they're gonna
assume he doesn't know anything cuz he's this
Fisherman but he also takes command. I think
too. So he's very vocal and He doesn't it's not
wishy -washy. Well, he says is what he says and
what he believes He jumps the gun but I guess
I would think of Peter I think of the alpha male
the one who's telling them all how to do it.
Throw the net over there. I'm going to go over
this way and you're doing, you know, like he's
directive. So why wouldn't he be in charge? Yeah.
So he's going to treat, he's going to, he's going
to, and who knows? We obviously also don't know
all the side conversations that he, Jesus and
the other disciples had. And, and maybe it was
just a natural thing for him, like you said,
to be that alpha male, that director, that, that
head guy who just, I may not know what I'm talking
about, but I know what we're doing. Let's go.
Right, exactly. Just trust me. Yeah, just let's
go. And you know, he was present for all the
big things, it seems like. He was always there
in the forefront. He might not always got a rot,
but he was there. Peter's story, too, I just.
How he's portrayed in the Gospels first of all
We know so much about him because there is so
much written about him and it shows his personality
and his His drive his passions, you know, it
shows how devoted he was to Jesus but I think
it also gives us a great view of God's grace
Because Jesus knew he was gonna deny Peter's
gonna deny him three times But yet Jesus knew
he also was gonna turn right back around and
that's why he was you know He knew he could say
you are the rock of which I'm gonna build my
church, right? Yeah, you are this and so he knew
That when he even though he was gonna deny him
three times. He's gonna come back that much stronger
and just No pun intended but like rock it out,
right? And that he did But it's also what he
was called to be, was to be that rock and foundation.
Because he was that solid guy. He was that alpha
guy who could handle when someone didn't like
what he was saying and move on from it. Paul
sometimes goes, oh, but if only if I'm not offending
you, here's the truth. Depending on it. Then
as he got in prison more, then he became stronger.
His first writings are a little bit. Mm -hmm.
And that's also why the difference, and I know
I don't want to jump to 2nd Peter, but you can
tell that Peter matured because 2nd Peter reads
so differently than 1st Peter. Mm -hmm. Yeah.
And then there's, well, they assume that 1st
Peter was right around 64 AD because it was before
the Rome burning because he doesn't mention it
at all. Nothing's even talked about. But then
2nd Peter. They're thinking that's about four
years later, right before like the year that
he died, like the year that Nero killed him or
had him killed. And he knew it was coming. Mm
-hmm. He did. He mentions it. You know, and I
didn't. Yeah. So Peter's name actually means
in Aramaic, it means rock, like it's it's Kephas,
Kephas, Kephas. which means rock, and then Jesus
renamed him Peter, which would be Petros, which
still also means rock. I heard somebody call
it a pebble, and I'm like, oh, I really hope
it doesn't mean pebble. I feel like rock is -
Pretty sure it's not pebble. I'm pretty sure
it's not, because I'm like, I've only heard that
once. It just kind of doesn't make sense. No,
I'm like, this is sad. Poor Peter. All right.
So again, so we figure this first Peter is written
right around 64 AD. And he is in what's like
Asia Minor, which is now modern day Turkey. So
I'll go ahead and we'll just start it off. And
I'm going to read chapter one. Greetings from
Peter. This letter is from Peter the Apostle
of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God's chosen
people who are living as foreigners in the provinces
of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
God the Father knew you and chose you long ago
and his spirit has made you holy. As a result
you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by
the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more
and more grace and peace. All praise to God the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that it is by
his great mercy that we have been born again
because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead
now we live with great expectation and we have
a priceless inheritance an inheritance that is
kept in heaven for you pure and undefiled beyond
the reach and change and decay beyond the reach
of change and decay excuse me And through your
faith, God is protecting you by his power until
you receive this salvation, which is ready to
be revealed in the last day for you all to see.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead,
even though you must endure many trials for a
little while. These trials will show you that
faith is genuine and it is being tested as fire
tests and purifies gold, though your faith is
more precious than mere gold. So when your faith
remains strong through many trials, it will bring
you much praise and glory and honor on the day
when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen
him. Though you do not see him now, you trust
him and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible
joy. The reward for trusting Him will be the
salvation of your souls. This salvation was something
even the prophets wanted to know more about when
they prophesied about His gracious salvation
prepared for you. They wondered what time or
the situation of the Spirit of Christ within
them was talking about when He told them in advance
about Christ's suffering and His great glory
afterward. They were told that their message
were not for themselves but for you. And now
the good news has been announced to you. by those
who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit
sent from heaven. It is also wonderful that even
the angels are eagerly watching these things
happen. So prepare your minds for action and
exercise self -control. Put all your hope in
the gracious salvation that will come to you
when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So
you must live as God's obedient children. Don't
slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy
your own desires. You didn't know any better
than this, but now you must be holy in everything
that you do. Just as God who chose you is holy,
for the scriptures say, you must be holy because
I am holy. And remember that the Heavenly Father
to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge
or reward you according to what you do. So you
must live in reverent fear of Him during your
time as here is temporary residence. For you
know that God paid a ransom to save you from
the empty life you inherited from your ancestors.
And it was not paid with mere gold or silver
which lose their value. It was the precious blood
of Christ, the sinless spotless of God. God chose
him as your ransom long before the world began
but now in the last days he has been revealed
for your sake. Through Christ you have come to
trust in God and you have placed your faith and
hope in God because he raised Christ from the
dead and gave him great glory. You were cleansed
from your sins when you obeyed the truth. So
now you must show sincere love to each other
as brothers and sisters Love each other deeply
with all of your heart for you have been born
again Not to a life that will quickly end your
new life will last forever Because it comes from
the eternal living word of god as scriptures
say people are like grass Excuse me. Their beauty
is like the flower in the field the grass withers
and the flowers fade but the word of the Lord
remains forever and the and that word is the
good news that was preached to you I knew I loved
this book and but like when you're looking at
it and every time you read it there's something
else like I have like three different colors
or four there were your four different colors
throughout first Peter of highlights because
it was just different times that I was you know
that I was doing this And things hit you differently
each time you read it, too. That's the other
part. Like I said, I reviewed it, listened to
it while I was driving home today just so I could
hear it one more time after reading it a couple
times over the weekend and other times. And other
times I've done it. And I was like, oh, wait,
what did he just say? Something new today, you
know, picked up when I was listening, especially
when we get later into 1 Peter. For me, it's
that section, and I don't want to skip ahead,
but that section that really speaks to me the
most in 1 Peter 1 is that call to holy living,
that kind of 13, so when we get there, I'll speak
to that, but jumping ahead. That's what we do
best. It's so hard. I feel like that just shows
how excited we get because there's just so much
that you can see. Pastors preachers will always
preach on the whole be joy. Yes be joyous in
your suffering and Nobody wants to be joyous
in their suffering, you know, no nobody You know,
and I know we've talked about it before cuz I'm
this he's not the first to say it though that
we've looked at he might have been the first
in succession, but he's not the first that we've
looked at that says no no James is first and
um Nobody wants to nobody wants to go through
the suffering, but I love that at least he's
pointing out you understand that that's a badge
of honor Yeah, you're suffering in Christ's name.
That's a good thing That means you're doing what
you're supposed to be doing you are on the right
track and he has to say that because they are
Being persecuted by Rome You know there hasn't
gotten to that really we haven't gotten to the
complete dark days yet, you know, because it's
pre -burning right now, but it's still like they're
not they're not it's not you know they're not
right now Christianity was just a sect right
a sect of um Judaism is how it was viewed which
was just those that with the the weird section
of Judaism right the ones that are they they
are cannibals because they do the communion right
like The ones that believe that dude rose from
the grave himself. They didn't have a good rip.
No, they were the crazy ones. They were like
the hippies of Judaism. The ones that are a little
bit out there. Excuse me. Again, he's talking
about I'd love that he says in verse 8, you love
him even though you have never seen him. And
you don't see him now, but you still have faith.
Like you're still following him. I think that's
one of the harder questions to ask and to answer
as a Christian is... Some people who don't believe
or don't quite know what it's all about always
say well, you've never seen this person You don't
know anything about about him. You've never like
touched him talk to him But the truth is because
I haven't seen I do know him Yeah, and that's
a that's a hard thing to explain Because sometimes
we don't get it yeah, I would say haven't you
know Faith is very hard to explain because it's
it is it's believing what God says is true I
Know our pastors is preached on in it quite a
few times and every time it's just kind of Mind
blown I Do believe that even though that we've
never obviously had the opportunity to Literally
follow Christ and his footsteps, right? You know,
we didn't we didn't Go to these cities with him
we weren't part of the elite we didn't ever hear
him preach but I think That's partly why the
Holy Spirit got to stay with us. Yes, because
now we still have that connection so we have
the feeling that he's sitting right here and
then you're just you know, you can talk to him
and you know that he's there and you can See
him in the things that he does and that he's
done in your life, you know, and you have that
ability to discern because he you have that Holy
Spirit in you. Whereas they just. They didn't.
Yeah, to begin with, obviously. I was watching
this interview. this morning or yesterday or
last night with a gentleman from either Madeira
or Clearwater Beach in Florida who stayed at
their place during Hurricane right and and he
just and he lost his entire he lost he owns a
business I want to say it's Madeira, but anyway
But he lost everything he lost his Ovens his
fridge his I mean everything furniture. It's
just all destroyed he goes but My house above
the restaurant, I could still live in it. He
just listed all these blessings that he still
had in the midst of complete financial devastation
for his business and his livelihood. But he said,
because I know that the Lord is going to bless
me richly, because he already has. I'm here today.
My family is OK. Yes, we have a big hill to climb.
But I was in tears watching this, because it's
just such a beautiful testament to it. to what
faith is and what we all hope we are in those
really, really hard moments and those really,
really good moments, like all of it, right? And
you know, that's what talks to people the most
is our testimonies, seeing testimonies like that
and how we react to situations like that. That's
what brings people to God, you know? Because
it's real. Yeah. It's as real as we can get on
Earth without him being right here next to us
giving us a hug. Yeah. which sometimes that would
be really nice. But then I can also see myself
being like, you know, listening to his teaching
and being like, oh, can we slow down, do this
tomorrow? Information overload. I think it's
also good to point out that he's bringing the
Gentiles in so he's like you guys are who the
prophets were talking about you know you are
you are also in the scriptures right like your
life is in the scriptures so it's like he's bringing
them in as considering they were you know outsiders
you know since Genesis Right. They were always
on the outside. They weren't what God's chosen
people and now he's like you are Everybody is
God's chosen people. So it's just he wants you
to choose him back Peter's like a roadmap to
like this is the way you should live your life
Yeah, you're going through these hard times and
this is going on, but look at the hope that you
have. It's that constant reminder to don't go
back to the things you used to do or the ways
you used to do things. Stick with this path.
This is the good one. This is the one that's
going to help you go forward, right? And how
to live that abundant life, you know? Yes, you're
saved. Yes, you know, you know what's going to
happen at the end, but it could be so much more.
Well, now's your time to shine. Leslie, what's
you want to talk about a call to the holy living?
Bring it. Well, I just I just the thing I love
most about this, the whole versus 13 to I guess
the end, but it's it's that preparation like
get ready, do your homework. Do the hard work
to know what I've told you, what I've taught
you, what I've said, what the Lord's shown us.
And then go be His children. Be obedient, but
be His children and shine His light. And you
know how to do it. I'm teaching you. Go and then
go do it. I like how you said that, Leslie, because
it is, it's, you know, He laid down His life
for us. He saved us. But we have our part to
you. Yeah. Yeah. You can't have one without the
other. I mean, and that's what that's how that's
how God designed it. Yeah. That it's not it's
not just about that he sent his son. That's obviously
huge. You're so blessed that he sent his son.
But it's also about that he sent his son so that
the work would continue and go forward even when
his son had to make that ultimate sacrifice.
Yeah. so that's i just i just think it's it's
almost like when we did james too and james is
like are you gonna put up or shut up like peter's
like come on i'm you have all these paul's been
here this guy's been here i mean like we've all
been here we've all been teaching you because
we got taught by jesus now what are you gonna
do with it go live this life go live the life
he's put before us and it feels a little bit
like james yelling at us again Should like it
on record that I maybe just said that James was
before Peter, but I didn't bring up I didn't
bring up Peter I Always get in trouble like you
always talk about James. It's like cuz it's a
great book, okay There there's a one stipulation
why you can't sit with us just saying Seventeen
is my favorite out of this section Because I
love and I read it out of the NLTM purpose because
it doesn't read the same in the Christian standard
I tried, you know, I read them and then, you
know, I have them both. I have them both sitting
in front of me right now. And I try to write
the same notes in both because I like to. I'm
a note taker. But, you know, Seventeen says,
and remember that the Heavenly Father to whom
you pray has no favorites. He will judge you.
Excuse me. He will judge and reward you according
to what you do. I'm like, yes, can we put that
on every church door? Thank you very much. You
know, I mean, so many people and I mean, I'm
not saying that we don't sit here and go, oh,
you know, I'm glad that's not me. But yet there's
things that I do. There's no I watched a thing
today and I love the way this man said it. And
it'll end up being on the Instagram for the mustard
seed, because the way he was saying it, he's
like, oh, well, you see her going to the liquor
store, but yet you're out here cussing like a
sailor. There's no difference. Yeah. He's like,
you see them doing a sexual immorality and you're
over here judging them. There is no difference.
You know, it's that he's like, I don't winded.
You know, and he's like, you guys are all like,
well, when did my my. Gossiping get on the same
level as sexual immorality, he was right here.
and he put, you know, this is where Jesus told
us how to do that in the same breath that he
told us not to be like, like how to live. Like
he's telling you this is one level playing field.
Yeah, there are no differences. Yeah, there's
no. That sin is worse than my sin. It is. And
one little sin, one little sin, one little thought
of anger or anything like that is enough to put
us in hell. And so it is. It's definitely it's.
We're not here to judge because what we deserve.
Yeah. Exactly. I was like, that'll preach that'll
preach right there. I mean, that's it. But so
many people forget about that verse. And I know
I know you can't cherry pick verses. Right. I
understand you can't. And, you know, I've heard
many pastors warn against that. Do not listen
to a pastor who's just cherry picking throughout
the whole Bible just to make their point. Yeah.
So you have to understand what the context of
that verses are to make sure they actually are
supposed to be together. Right. And because there's
things that, you know, there's things in Peter
that go with James, right, or that go with Isaiah
or that go, you know, and you're going all the
way back, you know, Jeremiah, you have stuff
that coincides that that shows that this is one
big story. And then, you know, there's there's
a difference in doing that than saying, well,
here, God said this about this and God said this
about women and God said this about children
and slaves. You know, you're going through you
can't cherry pick it because you need to understand
when was this? Who is this written to? like what
letter was this or what you know what was the
context yeah but so i understand that you can't
do that but this verse itself i feel like you
can cherry pick it i mean it's just well it stands
alone it does it's it's it's it's kind of almost
to the heart of what peter's trying to say here
And even still he goes on to say so you must
live in reverent fear of him during your time
here as temporary residents and you know, he's
not talking about your daddy's gonna beat you
because you Acted out turn he's talking about
again that respect of the Lord the fear of God
Because you don't want to fail him. He's not
you know, you don't want to end up where Sinners
who don't repent end up right? You don't want
to go there. Yeah But yet, you still need to
have that respect and that love for the Lord
to understand that that's not who you want to
be. I think you really nailed it on the head
there. It's fear of disappointing Him. That's
when you know the Holy Spirit is really moving
and you are growing towards God. I got saved,
so I know where I'm going. But so I can go ahead
and do this, but I can, you know, I can ask for
forgiveness for that. No, it doesn't work that
way. No, it's not. I get a jail free card. Yeah.
I like that, though. Well, I mean, but that's
what people want. They want it to be like, like,
like you said, pick your own verse, pick your
own, pick your own idea of being, say, pick your
own idea of what you can and can't do. Yolo,
you know, all those things. And it's definitely
not what the Lord. is showing us or telling us
at all. You know, they'll say, and I get stuck.
And I have to, like I said, I have to delete
Facebook a lot of times and Instagram throughout
the week or else I sit there and I find myself
doing that in the evening instead of reading
one of the million books I have on my shelf that
need to be read. Or they don't need it, but.
They called to me from the bookstore, and I rescued
them, and I brought them home, and they've just
been sitting there since. You're a good person.
But they talked about this society and how it's,
they say how it's harder to be sometimes a Christian
in this. World right now because everybody's
just saying oh, no, you're perfect just the way
you are. You're you're you're amazing You're
you know, you don't have to change you don't
need to strive to be better You don't need to
you know, you are who you are and there is truth
in that there is a hundred percent truth in that
I don't I believe everybody is worthy, but it's
not You you know, it's God knows you're worthy.
God knows that you are you're worth it You know,
he made you he knows your quirks He knows the
ones that you should work on and he knows the
ones that you they're just you because but no
matter what You know your thoughts your actions.
He He loves you and I think that I Don't think
there's anything wrong with that as long as we
understand who's giving us the worth and who's
giving us that Security because I I mean I struggle
with I didn't like self -identity issues. I don't
like me a lot of times whether that's physical
or if that's mental or Whatever, but I got to
understand that just because I don't like me
Even though the world's telling me I'm fine.
I got to understand that it doesn't matter what
they say either. I got to listen to Who God says
I am? Yeah, you know in what God's called me
to do and I got to pay attention to when you're
underneath that spiritual attack and try to make
sure that you can recognize what you're in the
middle of and get out of it. Yeah. Yeah. I think
that was very well said. That's been my month.
That's been my month. You know, I think sometimes,
too, we get, especially in today's society, we
forget that we are supposed to have that fear
of God. so many times I hear of, well, God didn't
do this for me. God hasn't done this for me.
And it's, you know, like you said, God knows
us. He loves us. He's called us for a reason,
but we're not here for God to do something for
us. We're here to serve Him. And I think that
gets lost sometimes. It does. He did it for you,
but he's you know, yeah Just not just not just
for you. How about that? I was trying to word
that right like it wasn't just for you You got
salvation girl, but maybe not a million bucks
All right, shall we move on to chapter two So
put away all malice and deceit and all hip hypocrisy
hypocrisy hypocrisy everything's hard for me
an envy in our slander like newborn infants long
for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may
grow up until salvation if indeed you have tasted
that the lord is good As you come to him a living
stone rejected by men in the sight of God chosen
and precious You yourself like living stones
are being built up as a spiritual house to be
a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifice
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ For it
stands in scripture behold. I am desire on a
Behold I am laying in Zion a stone a cornerstone
chosen and precious and whoever believes in him
will not be put to shame So the honor is for
you who believe, but for those who do not believe.
The stone that the builders rejected has become
a cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a
rock of offense. They stumble because they disobeyed
the word, as they were destined to do. But you
are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for his own procession, that
you may proclaim the excellencies of him who
called you and out of the darkness into his marvelous
light. Once you were not a people, but now you
are God's people. Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge
you, as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from
the passions of the flesh which wage war against
your soul. Keep your conduct conduct among the
Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against
you as evildoers They may see that your good
deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation
Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human
institution whether it's to the Emperor as supreme
or to the governor as Sent by him to punish those
who do evil and to praise those who do good for
this is the will of God that by doing good you
should put to silence the ignorance of the foolish
people live as people who are free not using
your freedom as a cover up for evil but living
as servants of God honor everyone love the brotherhood
fear God honor the Emperor servants be subject
to your masters with all respect not only to
the good and gentle but also to the unjust for
this is a gracious thing when a mindful of God
one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly
for what credit is it when you sin and are beaten
for your beaten for it you endure but if you
but if when you do good and suffer for it you
endure this is the gracious thing in the sight
of god for this you have come and called because
god because christ also suffered for you leaving
you in examples that you might follow in his
steps he committed no sin Neither was deceit
found in his mouth, but when he was reviled,
he did not revile in return. When he suffered,
he did not threaten, but continued in trusting
him to him who judged justly. He himself bore
our sins in his body on the tree, that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. But his
wounds you have been healed, for you were straying
like a sheep, but you have returned to the shepherd
and overseer of your souls. So one of the sermons
I listened to on First Peter, after I'd gone
through it on my own and I wanted to hear somebody
else talk about it, he called this the, like
in verse one, the be done with all deceit, hypocrisy,
jealousy, and unkind speech, he called that spiritual
junk food. So, you know, because it's keeping
you, it's filling you up. and keeping you away
from the good stuff, right? The nourishment,
the gourmet food, right? The food that you just
can't get enough of, but yet you fill up on crappy
appetizers. I liked that analogy. I like food.
That makes perfect sense. It preached to me this
morning. But you know, I think this is also how
the the devil works trying trying to separate
us or not having that abundant life is through
these things because that's our our human nature
To feel this stuff to feel malice to feel deceit
to envy It's our distraction. He's doing that
as a distraction to keep us from looking to God
for that fulfillment. Well because we can so
easily seek those other things to fill the voids
that we feel like oh I didn't get included or
I didn't get this or I didn't get that and and
God goes uh no remember look at all this I've
given you it's okay. We're included in the the
most important thing. But that just doesn't seem
like enough sometimes that's when the when we
are being deceited When I read verse eight, well
the second half of verse eight on my own I you
know early in the morning my mind just kind of
took it away but it said they stumble because
they don't obey God's word and so they meet the
fate that was planned for them. I read it as
they stumble because they don't obey God's word
and so they don't meet the face that was planned
for them so in my head I was like well they don't
get to meet Jesus you know they don't get to
stand at his throne and you know worship him
they don't get that and I'm like And obviously,
that's not what it said. When I read it back
through the second time, I was like, oh, wait,
that's not what that says. But I still wrote
it down because I felt like, no matter what,
it's the same meaning. It's just the way I read
it first just said it differently. But that's
a scary thing. And I don't know where it says
it at. And I know I can't quote it very well
or even paraphrase it very well but to me like
the scariest thing is is When it says Jesus says,
you know You didn't know me. So I don't know
you. Yep. I Mean that was just oh I get an image
in my head and it's just horrifying For that
to happen. Mm -hmm. That's No, that's that's
it's terrifying to think that I know he looks
at you. I never knew you. Yeah, who are you?
You know, it's like well shoot, you know, I Don't
ever want to be that person on like us being
here I don't ever want to be that one that leads
somebody astray to the point where God is like
You didn't do what I was telling you to do. I
don't get away from me. I don't know who you
are. Oh, yeah That that is very scary It's scary
He's you've been given this opportunity to be
a living stone. And, you know, Jesus is that
capstone, that cornerstone that holds us all
together, right? That that I love that image
of the cornerstone or the capstone of a building,
right? The thing that that if that stone goes
away, everything crumbles, you know, and so if
we are doing our very best, we are going to stumble
and the rock might break and might chip away
and might happen this way. But If we're doing
our very best, we just have to keep going forward
in faith knowing that he's giving us the words
at the right moment and he's helping direct our,
if we're giving it to him. Obviously we have
to, that's our activity part. That's our active
part. But if we're, if we're honestly going forward
in faith and trying to be those living stones
that he's called us to be, we will stumble. We'll
say something wrong ones. We've done it before.
I'll do it again. But then I'll just go, OK,
I messed up. Let's talk about that again. I know
a lot of it is partly in spiritual growth. Some
of it is growth. We might say something now that
in 10 years, we're like, holy crap, we didn't
fully even understand that. We were just barely.
Scraping the surface and now we understand that
there's a deeper meeting and I think that's the
whole point too There is a point so it's just
a matter of like like like you said It's if we're
doing if we know where the words are coming from
if we know that you know First of all, I feel
like we always say there is a disclaimer like
this is our thoughts on this like this isn't
You know, this is and I'm sure there's flaws
in our theology, you know, because we are flawed
humans trying to understand an un -flawed God.
You know, but it's going to speak to me different
than it speaks to both of you and different than
it speaks to anybody that listens. You know,
there are things that are going to hit home for
me that aren't going to hit home for you. And
it is, it's all about just making sure you're
not being The teacher that James warned against
you know, the one that's just looking for Fame
and glory and stuff like I'm not I just want
to make sure we're doing what we're supposed
to be doing in a way that Glorifies God and it's
bringing people to him. Yeah, you know, I want
it. I wanted You know, I feel like we all are
on the same page and making sure that Christians
We are the Christians that we know we need to
be that society isn't showing You know, they're
only showing the ones that are doing the judging
and not doing the loving. And that's why Christianity
has a bad rap. It's like, I want to be out there
and show the world that this is what Christianity
is. It's three girls sitting around a table talking
about God's word and his love and sharing it
with anybody that'll listen. Yeah. Yeah. And
being real to the point of, I do make mistakes
every day. I get upset about things or people
or politics or situations. And it clouds my judgment
momentarily about something I just read that
morning, right? Even though I know the direction
I'm supposed to be going that day, for that moment
or that whatever, I lose focus. But because of
everything he's done for me, he also helps me
to come right back around to being that person
I'm supposed to be. And that I want to be not
just because he told me to but because it's it
also I know it's not necessarily they were great
Christian thing. It feels right It does feel
right in every sense of the word feel not just
an emotion But your day goes better your week
goes better when you when you've had that time
to focus and be He's called you to be his chosen
priesthood his royal, you know, I mean to be
his living stones his children I mean, what what
terms you want to use all of them, right? but
to be who he's called us to be. And it makes
those stumbling blocks, those things in your
day that's just like, oh, this is the worst day
ever. It's nothing, you know? Well, I'll just
have to step over this and keep on going. No,
Paul Paul. No Peter is getting into the part
two where it was setting Christians apart, right?
You're setting another one of the another black
mark on their on their Credibility is he's explaining
and he's gonna start explaining and even further
in, you know chapter three You're putting the
same people on the same like all the different
types of slaves husbands wives, so slaves men,
women all on the same level, which was unheard
of in that society. But it's something I feel
like that God's preached since day one. Yeah,
yeah. And you see it in Jesus' ministry of who
the apostles were, you know, who was with him.
It wasn't just, you know, men there. He had a
following of women, too. and they were the first
ones to see him. That says a lot. It goes back
to when we do our Women of the Bible stuff. He
held women in high esteem because it's not just,
I mean, we're all here to be his children, all
here to tell his story, all here to be his light.
Yeah. We all have our own rows. It's not the
same rows. It's different, but it's all on the
same level. Exactly. Hey, so we're gonna go ahead
and we're gonna end the episode for this portion
of first Peter here we Know we didn't finish
all of first Peter Only getting through chapter
two, but we try When possible to keep our episodes
less than an hour because we know how hard it
is to fit in time for ourselves So whether that's
you know listening to podcasts or reading books
sometimes we don't have an hour to give or more
and we don't want to make you guys stop the episode
multiple times just so that way you guys can
finish it throughout days or at least if that's
not the goal that's not something that you like
to do so what we're gonna do is like I said we're
gonna end it here and then in two weeks we're
gonna go ahead and we'll start up literally right
where we just stopped and then we'll finish up
first Peter and go through chapter three's four
and five. So we look forward to sitting down
with you and continuing the talk on Peter. He
is such an interesting book of the Bible. I mean
we're loving digging into it, obviously considering
we can't seem to keep this underneath a good
time. But we also didn't want to cut out anything
that Gets to show you guys a little bit into
who we are and how we interact even just without
the podcast So you guys got a little glimpse
of that. So I apologize that I know we didn't
get digging as much as we could into First Peter,
but I promise you the next episode will be just
as great And then we're gonna follow that up
even with going through second Peter So we look
forward to sitting around this table again with
you here in two weeks and finishing up first
Peter We want to thank you all for listening
to the Mustard Seed Podcast and for joining us
on this journey that God laid on our hearts.
I know it's hard to feel connected when we are
on this side of the microphone, so we wanted
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