Walk the Walk
Whether you are a new believer, a long-time believer or a pre-believer this podcast is for you! Walk the Walk will help answer some questions you may have. I will talk about the Bible...and what it means to me. Not only will I share, but guests will be invited to share their own stories on how God is moving in their lives. You will be encouraged, uplifted and hopefully you will want to seek God to be a part of your life. You are welcome here.
Walk the Walk
Decoding the Divine Compass: Choosing Our Spiritual "Hotels" Wisely
Have you ever endured the nightmare of a seedy hotel that looked great online? That experience taught me something profound about the choices we make, not just on the road but in our spiritual lives. Join us as we embark on a conversation about the critical nature of informed decision-making, drawing powerful parallels between the physical and the spiritual realms. We'll examine how seeking a '10-star heaven' or falling into a 'zero-star hell' can depend on the everyday choices we make, much like picking the right hotel for a peaceful night's stay. Throughout this episode, I share insights on the deceptive sweetness of sin—how it promises happiness but delivers despair—and the importance of steering our lives towards a Christ-centered existence, with God as our ultimate guide.
As your host, I'll lead you through a thoughtful discussion on why skimming through the Bible isn't enough; we need to dive deep into the scripture to truly grasp the complex roles of the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Understanding the Trinity is as essential to our spiritual journey as AAA is to travelers—providing guidance and protection along the way. We'll talk about the importance of equipping ourselves with knowledge for the 'vacation' of a lifetime, our final destination—Heaven. So buckle up for an episode that's packed with life-changing reflections and practical advice, ensuring your spiritual itinerary is well planned and divinely appointed.
Hello and welcome to Walk the Walk. Have you all ever taken a trip? And I'm going to venture to say probably most of you, maybe, if not all of you will say yes, I have. I have taken a trip myself many a times and the whole process of taking a trip requires some research. I researched the hotel I'm going to stay, the transportation that I'm going to take. One time, a couple months ago, I let Jeff take care of the hotel, which I will never do again. The hotel we stayed in was below a three star hotel. Now to Jeff, the whatever you know. He probably looked more at the price, did not care to look at the reviews and how many stars, but I do a lot of research.
Speaker 1:When we got there, it was less than desirable. It was filthy, dirty. It was in a bad neighborhood. What I felt was dangerous there I had to go and get a washcloth and wash down the headboards and the chair and everything else. The carpet was filthy and the unfortunate thing was is that we were stuck there. We couldn't go anywhere else. We were stuck, we had to stay and as much as I desired to get out of there, we couldn't.
Speaker 1:I want you to parallel that with heaven and hell. That hotel, to me, was like staying in hell. When I travel, I research where I'm going to stay, how I'm going to get there. My hotel choices are generally no less than four stars. Now don't think I'm trying to be arrogant, but I'm just telling you that my experience in anything less than a four star is generally not good. I think that we should kind of do that same thing with heaven and hell, because I know there are people that are willing to stay in two, three star hotels, no matter how filthy they are, no matter how bad the atmosphere is. There is like I don't care. Probably the same way they feel about going to heaven or going to hell. Well, I don't care, I do care and I do my research. In other words, I think heaven is a 10 star for lack of better words hotel and I find hell to be a zero star hotel. In other words, I don't want to stay there and I don't care how cheap it is, I don't care what I, even if it's free, because heaven is free and more luxurious and pleasant and beautiful and I'm with my creator. But ironically, there are people that do not care. As a matter of fact, they have chosen the zero star hotel. That makes no sense to me and I don't understand why.
Speaker 1:What are we doing to research these locations? You know I check out my transportation. I fly sometimes and sometimes I prefer to drive. One of them is going to take a little longer and there have been times in my life where I drive. What I'm trying to say is I have taken my trip to be twice as long as if I just flew there. I'll take back roads, I'll stop more. I sight see more.
Speaker 1:I don't pay attention as much, and I think some of us our path or our trip to heaven. Sometimes we allow ourselves to digress. We stop. We stop reading our Bibles. We stop going to church. We stop trying to be like God. We stop all of that. We take detours. I'm tired of being Christlike. I'm tired of trying to be good. I think I'm going to be like the world for a little bit here. Oh, wait a minute. Now this is what everybody's doing. I think I'll do that Instead of saying you know what? I'm taking the plane straight there. I'm gonna fly right in. I have no control over that plane. I'm gonna let the pilot, I'm gonna let God lead my path.
Speaker 1:I know it's not easy. I know sometimes worldly things are fun. They give you pleasure. Sin is pleasurable for some people, for all people, I think. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing it right. If sin was horrible, right as you start doing them, we wouldn't be doing them. The problem with sin is that it may feel good but then, before you know it, it's not.
Speaker 1:Think about your friends or family who have been hooked on drugs. There's a reason. They started it right. They didn't start it because it was so awful. Oh, here, try this awful drug. That's not how that works. Somebody offered you a drug and it made you feel good, it made you forget, it made you think that you're on top of the world, but before you know it you are in a pit of hell on earth. That doesn't just apply to drugs and alcohol, that applies to affairs, that applies to greed, that applies to selfishness.
Speaker 1:When you get what you want, oh, look what I have. And then in six months what you have is now becoming your greatest thorn in your side, kind of like when you are praying for a job and you're so excited and they say well, you've got to work on Sunday and I know people do. That's just a hard one to get around. You want to feed your family. It's a hard one, and then, before you know it, they've taken you totally away from your God and you have to succumb to that in order to keep your family fed. I've heard of people praying for brand new cars. I want a new car and they feel God's blessed them with that car. And then, before you know it, they can't afford the car and now they're falling bankruptcy because your desire was much more than what you really needed. It's tough. Sin is so delightful for some people that it's really tough to get out of it.
Speaker 1:And God allows us to take whatever transportation we want to take. You want to take a plane, you want to take a car, you can take a train, you can walk. But he says you know, the fastest way to heaven is to keep me as your pilot, to keep me as the owner of the hotel. He knows we're going to do what we want. I know sometimes we're kind of double-minded, like I need to. I really am wanting to do what you want me to do, god, but gosh, taking that plane, I just don't want to do all those layovers. You know it's just as fast sometimes to drive, but I forget all about those things that are on the way In life, all those things, all those temptations that we deal with every day, the arrows of satan who come right at you, right where your weakest point is. Oh, he knows my weak points and, buddy, he goes right after them and sometimes I let him and then I'm like, oh, why did I let satan's arrows pierce me right where it counts? But we do. It's tough. So what do I do?
Speaker 1:Well, I know a lot of you read your bible, and that's awesome, but I'm encouraging you to study your bible. Study your bible. I used to read my bible and you've heard me say this before. I read my bible many a times, but I really never studied it. I Find out who, who he is, who is Jesus? Who is the Holy Spirit? Who are these people in my life and how are they different? Oh, I know the Trinity, they're all God, but they are different.
Speaker 1:I mean, jesus came back to this earth to live like us so that he could say I know exactly how you feel. I've been there, I've been tempted by the devil. He has no dominion over you as a Christian. He does over the earth, but he doesn't have dominion over you. Christian. God created us, jesus lived with us and the Holy Spirit lives within us. I mean, you couldn't ask for anything better.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like your triple a, your triple a triptych you feel? Don't you feel safer when you have triple a? You know? You know what? If my car breaks down, I can call somebody to get me. Without triple a, you're stuck. And then you call somebody to come and get you and Two, three hundred dollars later they're taking you to some place that you don't even know to get your car repaired. Then they might be charging you five, six, seven, eight hundred nine hundred dollars because you have to, because you're stuck. But triple a make sure they get you to where you need to be. Think about it. Do your research. Find out who God is, find out what heaven is about. Find out what hell is about. I think knowing more about what hell is about Would be enough to make you want to go to heaven. Do your research, plan that trip, because you can do it right here and right now. Plan your trip because someday we're all going to go To that 10 star hotel called heaven. Be ready, be knowledgeable and plan your trip.