Informally God
11:55; Yea Though I Walk and Obedience
Hi guys, welcome to another episode of informally God. Today I would like to talk about yay though I walk, um, and obedience. And this is something I realize I am constantly revisiting, um, this whole idea of, uh, what God would and wouldn't do, um, because it's a complete mine F, U, C, K. It's a complete mine F, U, C, K. Because, you know, in the material world in the tangible world, uh, we are taught to deal in tangibles. We are taught to deal in measurables, uh, things that we can measure, uh, so that we know that we are on the right track or on the wrong track. Right? You're on the wrong track if you're homeless. You're on the wrong track if you don't have any money. You're on the wrong track if, um, you don't have a job, but you're on the right track if you have a stack of money. You're on the right track when you have a lot of friends. You're on the right. We deal in, uh, all of these, uh, measurables that are false. Um, because, uh, when you come into, uh, your journey with God, uh, all this will be snatched away from you. You have no idea what God would and would not do, uh, because you have no idea about God and you do not know God. Um, my musings, uh, in the last past couple of days have led me to, uh, Psalm 23, four. And I was like, I was curious about, um, I hadn't been praying. Uh, I've heard of the Lord's prayer before, but I have not, um, really had a lot of experience with it. Uh, so I was like jumbling all these, uh, verses up in my head. You know, it was like, you know, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Oh, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Uh, you know, uh, hallowed be thy name. Uh, I was just, I was, I was, uh, jumbling up all different kinds of prayers. And so this led me to differentiate between, you know, Psalm 23, four and then the Lord's prayer. Um, and so I want to focus on a Psalm 23, four, um, in obedience. And I want to read this really quickly. Um, I'm reading this from, you know, just randomly Bible gateway. Um, and this is the King James version. So the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He may give me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for though, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So of course I want to focus on, uh, 23, four. Um, you know, that's the topic of this episode today. The Psalm 23, four in obedience, uh, cause it's an interesting passage. Uh, there's a, uh, uh, there's a. There's something of a contradiction going on here. Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me. You know, like why, why would you be walking through the valley of the shadow of death? You know, because you're with God. Um, and what I'm coming to understand, you know, and I've said this in the last past couple of episodes of informally God is that getting to know God is about getting to know the devil. Um, you will come face to face with the devil. This whole idea of who I am and the identity of who I am. Uh, I will be shown the devil in knowing God. I will be shown the devil first and foremost within myself. And because I see this devil within myself, I am able to see this devil roaming and prowling around in the vessels in the bodies of other human beings. Uh, in order to know God, you will know the devil. Um, and in order to know the devil, you will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Uh, knees clanking together, hand shaking. Uh, it's a horrible, horrible, horrible thing. Um, but like I said, this is, you know, like a contradiction here because you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Uh, this is something that will happen in God. And this is something that would happen in God. Uh, but at the same time he is with you. Uh, so there is no need to fear, uh, walking through the valley because he is with you in the victory is yours. Uh, but that doesn't save you from having to do the work and that doesn't save you from having to meet the devil, um, in a quote unquote battling with the devil. This will not save you from that. And the other piece of that, uh, is, uh, obedience. Um, will you obey that? Uh, will you obey having to walk through the valley of the shadow of death? Or will you be afraid? Uh, will you, you know, continue to identify with the fear and run away from that? Um, will you trust God, uh, to help you to overcome the valley, um, into overcome the devil, both within yourself and outside of yourself. Uh, you know, will you trust God and do you love God, uh, when you are diagnosed with cancer, do you trust God and do you love God when God, you know, uh, you know, allows your children to be murdered and taken away from you? Do you trust God and do you love God, uh, when you get multiple sclerosis and you are wheelchair bound? Do you trust God and do you love God when, you know, quote unquote bad things happen to you when the devil is allowed, uh, or, you know, uh, do you only love God for that genie in the bottle that you have him as, you know, as long as you grant me my wishes, you know, then, you know, all is okay. Um, you know, yay, the way I walk through the valley of the shadow of death is about obedience. Um, and it's very hard to obey, um, in the valley. It's very hard to obey, um, you know, when you're walking, uh, in the darkness of the devil, it's hard not to flee from that, um, but you must obey. Um, and, you know, this is, uh, you know, growth, spiritual maturation and God. Um, you know, and getting to know the devil and overcoming, you know, slowly, but surely the wilds and the tricks of the devil. And, um, I think that's all I really wanted to say. Um, you know, about obedience and yay, the way I walk. Um, you know, like I said, it's, it's, it's contradictory. Um, you know, this idea of what God would and wouldn't do is totally messed up. Um, you know, and, uh, it's messed up, you know, because, you know, I'll speak for myself personally, uh, that it has been the most confusing thing to be able to know God because I've come with a lot of expectations about what God wouldn't and would do. And, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's confusing because it's like when it comes to God, uh, there's no real such thing as a measurable. Um, you know, you're not doing well in God because you have a lot of money or, you know, it doesn't mean that just because you have a lot of money or a big house, you know, that you're doing well spiritually, that you're doing well with God. There really is no accurate marker here. Um, you know, other than peace. Um, and I don't even want to say that. Um, you know, but, uh, obedience, um, and, you know, walking, uh, walking through the valley, um, is what it's about. Uh, you know, Jesus had to do it. Um, you know, this, you know, like I said in the last episode of informally God, you know, just because you believe in God or just because God is there doesn't mean you're not going to have to go through, uh, some horrible times, you know, like that's, that's what the whole journey in God is about is about all that dirtiness within yourself being sanctified and being cleansed and purified. And in order to do that, you must face the devil that is within, that is the dirty, what is, is dirtying you on the inside. And, you know, what is, you know, causing you to overreact from without on the outside. Um, and on that note, I will talk to you guys in another episode of informally God soon. Thanks for listening. Bye-bye. Hi guys. So I actually wanted to tack on, uh, something else, uh, to this episode because I think it's, uh, fitting. Um, I recently watched a movie, uh, called 1155 and especially for, you know, the seekers out there, um, people who, you know, are, you know, interested in walking with God, I would recommend this very much so, uh, because it deals in everything that I just spoke about. It deals in, uh, Psalm 23, 4. It deals in, um, obedience and, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Now, spoiler alert. Um, 1155 is about, um, a guy, uh, who comes back from the war. Um, I think he served in Afghanistan. He, he either served in Afghanistan or Iran or Iraq, one of those. And then, um, he, um, he, um, uh, he comes back. Um, we, we find out, um, because he ran away. He ran away because he ended up, um, you know, he used to be in the streets, uh, before that, you know, dealing drugs and, you know, all that. And, you know, a guy ended up roughing up one of his friends or a guy in his crew and he ended up shooting the guy. And, uh, from there, he ran away and he went to serve. Um, and so on the day that he comes back, you know, the guy that he initially protected, you know, by shooting the other guy that was beating him up tells him, you know, in the midst of, you know, this celebration that's happening for him, you know, being home, that there's a hit out on his head, you know, that this guy, this guy's brother, you know, is coming into town, uh, to kill him. And, you know, it's, it's a really, really, really amazing movie, amazing story. Um, he has no idea what to do. Uh, you know, people are folding on him. People are, you know, some people are telling him to leave. Some people are telling him to stay. He has no idea what, what, what to do. Um, and it's, it's really about him trying to find his way in this very dark time in this yay, the wide walk through the valley of the death time. Um, and it's, it's all happening within one day, right? Because the guy's bus comes in at 11 55. And one of the most beautiful parts of this movie is when he, uh, visits, uh, this older guy. Now, this older guy appeared at his, his homecoming party at the beginning and offered him, you know, to work for him. I think, you know, getting back in the streets, you know, selling drugs and all this stuff and he declined. So he went to go, uh, visit this older guy because this older guy is like the pejorino or something like that. He's like the godfather, you know, he has a lot of connections and, you know, I guess he has the power to stop, you know, some of this, uh, because, you know, the guy is just like, you know, all I want is a family and to settle down. Like, I don't want this life anymore. I don't want, I don't want this, you know, maybe if you could, you know, sit down with the guy and tell him something. And the, the older guy says to him, you are in the most beautiful position that you can be in right now in life. And so no, I will not help you. And he said, you know, you will know what to do. Um, and of course, you know, the guy is just like, I have no idea what you're talking about, you know, so you're not going to help me. And he goes away. And what he says at one point in the movie is really amazing. You know, he says, you know, somebody puts a gun in my hand, you know, when I shot that guy and I didn't want that, then I run away and then somebody puts another gun in my hand, you know, to start, you know, killing people and Iran and Iraq or Afghanistan. And I, it's just like every time I turn around, somebody's putting a gun in my hand. And so this movie is really all about, um, you know, you stop running and you face the gun. Um, you face the valley. Um, and I don't want to spoil that too much. I just think it's a really amazing movie. Uh, again, it's called 1155. And it's just, it's, it's superb. Uh, as there's a family dynamic going on, you know, the relationship that he has, you know, with, you know, his girl, um, you know, his sister, you know, his old crew, uh, and just, it just overcoming and really having to face, uh, to, to face the music, you know, no longer running away from, you know, that, which, what must be gone through in order to overcome. Um, and I, I recommend that movie. Um, especially for, you know, Christians and, you know, people with a, a God bent out there. Um, I will talk to you guys in another episode of informally God soon. Thanks for listening. Bye bye.