The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - 5 Things You Wouldn’t Say to God!

Episode Date: December 4, 2020

If Jesus showed up at your front door today, what would you say? Today, Jeff lists 5 things you would never say to God out-loud, but might have thought once or twice. Snippet from the Show “He must increase, but I must decrease.” - John 3:30 Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail] Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show, episode 195, five things you wouldn't say to God. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show. And thanks for joining me again this week. We are going to have. have a good time talking together about some things we wouldn't say to God, but maybe we think them. Hey, it is good to have you with me once again. A couple things I want to go over before we get into this week's topic. One is that coming up in June of 2021, Father Mike Schmitz and I

will be leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land that's coming up in June. Last year, we had a out group. And you know what happened last June, COVID-19. We weren't able to go, but we are rescheduled for June. And so far, we have quite a few people that are signed up. They're optimistic as I am that we're going to be able to go over to the Holy Land. And I think by next June, you're going to want a trip to the Holy Land. You're going to want to get out and do some things. And Father Mike Schmitz and I have a wonderful, wonderful trip planned with some amazing singers Taylor Tripodi and Allie Aaliyah and others. And the Swoffords are going to be joining us, Andrew and Sarah Swofford.

It's going to be a great, great trip. You want more information on that. Go to my website, jeffcavens.com, look under pilgrimages, and you'll see the information there. Go ahead. Get your place secured by the deposit, and we're going to go. We're going to have some big surprises for you, not only the music, but we've got some really, really beautiful encounters with the Lord planned, and it's going to be a trip of a lifetime. That's June of 2021, Father Mike Schmitz and myself. Speaking of Father Mike and myself,

there's a new read-through-the-Bible in a year program that Father Mike is putting on with Ascension. I'll be joining him on parts of that, and we have some surprises along the way as well. You can sign up for that at ascensionpress.com. I'll tell you what we'll put both of those in the show notes. And if you do want the show notes, all you got to do is, is type my name, Jeff Kaven's one word, and send it. Text message to 33777. That's 3377. Well, joining you here. And lately, I have just really enjoyed coming out here into the cabin and spending some time with you. So, yes, I am deep in the woods, although all of the leaves are gone.

all the plants are brown. And there's like a settling, a quietness when you walk around outside and preparing for the big snowfalls in the deep winter deep into the woods. But I love it. It's beautiful. It is beautiful. I hope you're doing well. You know, this is a time of the year where some people, they don't respond real well with the shorter days and darkness. But in the middle of the whole thing. We do have the light of Christmas, that's for sure, and that's coming up right around the corner. But I think it's a good time of the year if you don't have as much sunlight and you're spending more time indoors. Just use it wisely, read more, and spend more time with the family. You can always turn this around and make it into a good. Well, I was thinking

about the topic today, five things you wouldn't say to God. And while you might not say these things directly, maybe you would think these things. Maybe you have said some of them, but you might have possibly thought these five things. And when you really think about it, you wouldn't put it on your prayer list, you know, and you wouldn't bring it into the conversation with God. And what's interesting about this is that while I'm talking about, you know, actually talking to God as if we were in heaven face to face. The truth is that we are before God right now. In fact, if you are a believer, God is in you, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, in you. And we are constantly walking in the presence of the Lord, not only in church, which we're experiencing the real

presence of Christ, but throughout our day. And we live in a world that is geared towards making us very self-centered, and it's all about me and my rights and, you know, my mental health and all of that. But the truth of the matter is, is that our message, the message of the gospel, is pretty much diametrically opposed to the thoughts of this age. In fact, I think it was God that said it. My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. And so we have to kind of compare our thinking to his ways and our prayer intentions to his ways and our actions, what we really do with our life. So this is going to be good. Five things that you wouldn't say to God. And I'll give you all the scriptures. Oh, I've got a lot of scriptures. As you know,

I kind of live in that well-worn Bible, and I love to share these with you. And they'll be in the show notes so you can go over them yourself. Are you ready? Are you ready? Number one, The number one thing, this isn't in any particular order. Five things you wouldn't say to God, number one is, for the most part, I agree with you. Now, think about that for a minute. For the most part, I wouldn't, you know, I agree with you. For the most part. Now, when you really take that apart and you think about it, it's absurd, isn't it? To stand before Jesus Christ and say, for the most part, you know, I agree with you. But how many of us actually do that? You know that Jesus gave his teachings to the early apostles, both in what was written and in what was said.

And the church has kept track of all of that through all these years, and that is the deposit of faith. It's what we believe. But God gave that to men. He gave it to the apostles with Peter being the premier apostle, the bishop of Rome, the pope, and they have flawlessly, because the Holy Spirit is over this, kept the truths for us in the deposit of faith. So when the church teaches us about God and about ourselves and heaven, hell, and purgatory, and justice and faithfulness and love and justification and all these different topics, we can rely on the church's teaching. And so if the church teaches us something, then I'm all in. I'm all in because I know that this is the deposit of faith that Jesus left,

but not everybody agrees. In fact, people will look at the teachings of the church and they'll have kind of a cafeteria attitude, and that is I'll take a little bit of this, I'll take a little bit of that, and not so much on that. And I don't know about that birth control and that part about marriage there and divorce. I'm not so much in agreement there. in fact, we may end up saying, well, for the most part, I agree with you, Jesus, which I know you wouldn't say, but our life might counter that. There are some scriptures that go along with this that I think are quite helpful. I'll give you a few of them, as I will, with all of these, all these five items that we wouldn't say before God. For the most part, I agree with you. Well, what does

scripture say. John 1514 says, you are my friends if you do what I command you. So Jesus doesn't come on the scene and say, you are my friends if you basically agree with me. Or you are my friends if for the most part we get along in our philosophy of life. He said, you're my friends if you do what I command you. And so we would never say to Jesus, for the most part, I agree with you. Luke 1433 says, so therefore any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Now, when we think about renouncing all that we have, we typically think about things. We think about things in our life that, well, I can renounce that and, you know, I can renounce this or other things. But when Jesus says, if anyone does not renounce all that he has, he's also thinking about,

philosophy, theology. He's thinking about life and how we live our life, what we believe, and we're all in with him. John 1421 says, he who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. So he doesn't say that we are called to keep the commandments like 75%. He says, He who has my commandments and keeps them. He doesn't qualify it at all. And so again, I'm all in. If I were to stand before Jesus, I'd say not for the most part I agree with you, but Jesus, whatever you say, I will do. And then finally, Luke 646, Jesus, Jesus, said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? That's a good question right there

to take along in today's journey and think about that. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you? I do think that one of the biggest problems we face in the church today is learning but not doing, acquiring knowledge but not putting it into practice. And I think the best way to go forward is to not think about what we agree with and what we don't agree with with Jesus or the church, but we find out what he is commanded, and then we set our hearts on doing it. Again, one thing we would not say to God is, for the most part, I agree with you. Number two, the second thing that we would not say to God if we were to talk to him would be, Lord, help me to come across cool. Now, I know you're probably laughing and you're going,

duh, but how much of our time is spent wanting to be cool, wanting to be accepted, wanting to look good, right? And so I don't think we would ever go before God and say, Lord, help me to come across cool. You know, being cool is, is, um, is, very fleeting. It's like a fad. I don't know if you know what fad means. He said, oh, that's such a fad. A fad is an acronym for for a day. Fad. It's a fad. It's here today. It'll be gone tomorrow. And coming across cool typically is external. You know, it's the way we talk or the way we look or or the people were with, you know, that type of thing. And that's not something we would say to the Lord. Lord help me to come across cool. In fact, Scripture is quite the opposite. We look at Scripture and we see, for example, in 1 Peter 5, 5, 5, likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humility is a proper assessment of who you are in relationship to God.

and who you are in relationship to one another. We want to make sure that our relationship with God and one another is holy, and it really doesn't have anything to do at all with being cool. And I'm afraid that, you know, some people today in the world, both Catholic and evangelical, it's more about being cool. It's about being accepted than it is holy and faithful. If you ever come across someone who you feel like the, you know, their goal is really to be cool. You don't want to follow them. You want to follow the saints. You want to follow holy and faithful leaders, holy and faithful teachers, holy and faithful stewards, holy and faithful disciples. James chapter four and verse six says, but he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. He gives grace to the

humble, and that's what we need, isn't it? Grace is the life of the Trinity. That's what we really need. We don't need to be cool. We need to be faithful. We need to be holy. We need to be humble. And God opposes the proud. You could say, in some ways, if you went before the Lord and said, Lord, help me to come across cool or make me cool, God opposes that. But he gives grace to the humble. Proverbs 11, 2, when pride comes, then comes disgrace. But with the humble is wisdom. See, if you stick with that, you're going to be on the winning side. And that is, you humble yourself before God. You walk in humility before other people, and God will give you wisdom. The next one is Micah, chapter 6 and verse 8, which I absolutely love. And I mentioned

a few weeks ago on the show, it is highlighted in my well-worn Bible. It's a great one. It says, He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. That's the trifecta right there. Justice, kindness, and humility. That's what we are supposed to be going after, not looking cool. imagine Micah saying this. He has told you, oh man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and love kindness, to walk humbly with your God, and to be cool. Anyway, next one. The third thing that we would never say to God is, if I win the powerball, I'll give half of it away.

How many people have gone out and bought a powerball ticket? And they talk with their friends or their spouse and say, well, here's what we would do with the powerball. You know, if we won $38 million, we would give, you know, three quarters of it away. And then we would make sure the kids are taken care of. And then we would, that last million, we would just, you know, use that for ourselves.

There's so much conversation that goes on about that. that, but I have one statement to make about that. If you go before God and say, if I win the Powerball, I'll give half of it away. I think the Lord might say to you, no, you wouldn't. You don't do it now. Look at the record of winners. I did some study on this with the Powerball winners. And to be honest with you, I went through like seven or eight cases and I had probably 50 to go through. And it was so depressing what happened to these people after they won millions of dollars in Canada, in other parts of the world, and certainly the United States. It was so depressing what happened to them that I thought to myself, I'm not even going to let that on the podcast. About 70% of

people who suddenly receive a windfall of cash will lose it within a few years, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education. Plus, many ended up in. divorce, lost everything, and some were even murdered. So when we say to God, hey, God, listen, I'm a trustworthy person. If you give me that winning, if you let me win the powerball, I'll give away half of it. You've got to start with what you're doing today. And if you look at what you give away today, typically people, if they receive more, will stay there. And if they win, you know, a million dollars, they'll stay with what they're giving. If they give away, if they get a hundred million dollars, they typically aren't going to give a lot away. And so I think it's a

funny thing to say in the presence of God. If I win the power ball, I'll give away half of it. Listen to what the scripture says. The scripture says in Mark chapter 12, Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are gods. And they marveled at him. That's one of Jesus's really beautiful teachings about, you know, give to Caesar what is Caesar's. And if the picture of Caesar is on the coin, then pay the tax, you know, pay the tax. But then give to God what is God's. Now, the image of Caesar is on the coin, but you, my friend, are created in the image and likeness of God. And so you are to give everything to the Lord. My point in this third statement, if I win the powerball, I'll give away half of it to you, or half of it to the church, is that you don't own it.

You see, we have to change our relationship with money. Oftentimes we see ourselves as owners of everything that we have when in truth, we're not the owners, we are stewards. And so he gets 100% of it. And we're the steward. It isn't that, look what I got. I got $100 million. Lord, I am just so kind that I'm going to give you half of it. That is the wrong way to look at it. Lord, it's all yours. Now, teach me how to be a good steward of all that you have given me. There is a great quote on the internet that I found, and I couldn't find the author of it, but I thought it was a wonderful quote, so I'll share it with you, anonymous here. The money isn't mine in the sense that I own. it, it's simply mine in the sense that I'm responsible for managing it. So we don't go before God and say, if I win the power ball, I'll give away half of it. A real statement is, if I win the power ball, give me wisdom to be responsible for managing it, for you, for you own it all. In fact, Proverbs 24-1 says, the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

It's all his. It's all his. The psalmist in chapter 50, Psalm 50 in verse 10 said, Every animal of the forest is mine, says the Lord, and the cattle on a thousand hills. You know, David, King David, really understood this. He understood this concept so well. And I want to read this. I don't normally read a longer portion of scripture, but this is really good for those of us that have gone to the Lord and said, if I win the power ball, I'll give away half of it. First Chronicles, 20, wait a minute, isn't that funny? I just got to thinking about that. Why half? Why do people not say maybe 60%, 70%.

Now, you know the answer's 100. I'm going to get, Lord, I'm a steward over this, but it's funny how people say, I'll give away half of it. Maybe that's from Zekees. I don't know. Down in Jericho. David understood this. Listen, First Chronicles 29, verses 10 through 16. He said, therefore David, bless the Lord and the president.

of all the assembly. And David said, bless art thou, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from thee. And thou root. rulest over all. In thy hand our power and might, and in thy hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank thee, O God, our Lord, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I? And what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from thee. And of thy own have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a

shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand and is all thy own. I read that from an older translation, because I think it just sounded really good. But I think you get the point. Those are the first three things that we wouldn't say to God, I have two more, and I'll give you those right after this. What if this year your Advent could be different? What if you could learn how to welcome Jesus into your heart from the people who did it first? This year, Ascensions Rejoice Advent Journal invites you to experience Advent with Joseph and Mary as they await the birth of their son Jesus, the Savior. of the world. Together with the guided meditations found on rejoice program.com, this journal will

help you to see the marriage of Mary and Joseph in a new light. You will ponder what was in their hearts and minds as they awaited the birth of Jesus. Rejoice will help you open your heart to the peace and the joy of the Holy Family as you prepare for the coming of Jesus this Christmas. Visit Rejoiceprogram.com to purchase your copy today. Okay, so we're talking today about the things we would not say to God, and we, of course, have to remember that what we wouldn't say to God we don't dwell on in our thoughts. And we just need to kind of get a correct look at these topics. The first three, if you already forgot, is number one, for the most part, I agree with you, Lord, we don't say that. Number two, Lord help me to come across

cool. That's number two. Number three, if I win the power ball, I'll give away half of it. No, you won't. And number four, I like this. This is a real modern request, you know, that people might have at least unspoken prayer intention. This is it. How do I get more likes on social media? Seriously? Seriously? Is that the desire? of your heart to get more likes, to be well known, to be accepted, drop it. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. That's not payday. That's not what's going to satisfy your soul. You're aiming way too low. You see, you're not created for likes. You're created for love. Don't settle for likes when you're created for love. How do I get more likes on social media? Now, just think about it for a moment.

and it's actually quite funny, can you imagine the Lord sharing with you social media insights? Honestly, would you ask that of the Lord? Is that your intention? Is that your hope? Is that your goal? Maybe we have to readjust this. There's a lot in the scripture about this. Second Chronicle 714,

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my faith, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. You see, the goal here is not to get more likes. The goal is to seek his face. Turn from your wicked ways. And then he says, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. John chapter 3 in verse 30, this is one of the great scriptures that is a lifetime scripture for a life scripture for many people. Mine's Galatians 220, but this is in the top 10 of my life verses. John 3.30 says, he must increase, but I must decrease. Now, if you went before the Lord and said, Lord, I just got to ask you, how do I get more likes on social media? He just may respond

this way. I must increase, but you must decrease. Well, that wasn't the answer I was looking for. No, it wasn't the answer you were looking for, but it was the answer you needed. How do I get more likes on social media? I must increase. You must decrease. It's not about getting likes on social media. Split from that. Divorce yourself from that goal. That's not what life is. is about. Believe me, that's not what life is about. And I'm speaking not only to everybody who's endeavoring to be a disciple of the Lord, but I'm talking to teachers as well and talking to evangelists as well. That's not what it's about. Even though you can take classes on it, you can get YouTube videos, explain how to do it, or you can go deep into God's

word and decrease. Let him increase by the way you live and the way you talk. by how you spend your money, how you treat people. And 2 Corinthians 12, 9, and 10 says, Paul says, most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with no likes. Okay, I put that in there.

Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecution, with difficulties for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Oh, wow, I don't know about you, my friend, that's hitting me like a ton of bricks right now. As I read that, I'm just, it really opens up my eyes and my understanding that if you were to ask Paul how to get more likes on social media, that's his answer. His answer is, I would rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Listen, listen, like seekers. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses. I'm content

with insults. I'm content with distresses. I'm content with persecutions. I'm content with difficulties. For Christ's sake. Because you know why? When I'm weak, I'm strong. Isn't that beautiful? When I'm weak, I am strong. I ran across a great quote from a theologian that I want to read to you that fits right in with this so well. He says, he says, when you and I boast of our strengths, we get the credit and we keep going under our own head of steam. But when we boast in what he is doing in the midst of our brokenness, inability, and inadequacy, Christ comes to the front. His strength comes to our rescue. He is is honored. The very things we dread and run from in our lives are precisely what brought contentment

to Paul. Look at the list again. I am content when I lose. I am content when I am weak. I am content with insults. I am content when I am slandered. I am content in distress. I am content with persecutions. I am content with difficulties and pressures that are so tight I can hardly turn around. Why? Because when I am weak, then I am strong. Great evangelical leader, Chuck Swindall, said that. Give him credit for that. Beautiful thought. And so when you go before the Lord, please do not ask him how to get more likes on social media. He is not interested in that, and neither am I. five, things we wouldn't say to God, autograph my Bible, address it to my favorite believer. You know, this is not far from the truth, actually, because people ingest, ingest. They'll come up sometimes when I'm out speaking and written a number of books and they'll want an autograph on a book, which I understand. People, they like the connection to the author, and that's a beautiful thing. and sometimes people will joke around and say, write it to my best friend, Helen, my best friend, Fred.

So sometimes I do it just as a joke, you know, but I don't think they really mean it. But, you know, in our hearts, in our hearts, do we like to think of ourselves as God's favorite that maybe I am the epitome of a believer? I am the zenith of a disciple. And so, God, would you autograph my Bible and address it to my favorite believer, my favorite Christian? The reason we would want him to do that is so that we could show other people, I guess. Well, the Bible says a lot about that as well, and you could go on and on about this, but let's look at a few scriptures real quick. John 316, it's the big John 316 verse, for God so loved the world, not just you, but the world. world, that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have

eternal life. 1. John 4.10, in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us, and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. You see, God loves everyone with an everlasting love. God does not have favorites. He loves all of us, and his love doesn't change at all. Acts 10, 34, 35. So Peter opened his mouth and said, truly, I understand that God shows no partiality. In other words, he's not going to assign your Bible to my favorite believer. God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Take the Bible back. He doesn't show partiality, but in every nation, any one Anyone who fears him, that's you, anyone who does what's right, that is you, is acceptable to him.

He accepts you, he loves you, he embraces you, he has a plan for you. Zefaniah 317, the Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. That's enough. we don't need the autograph, and he does this for everyone. You know, the proper attitude towards this is that we never become jealous of God

because someone else appears to be closer. We just get closer. We go deep into the Word of God, and we go deep into Scripture, into prayer, going to Mass, meditating and praying, walking as if he is real, and he's with you. and having that deep relationship with him. So you don't need to ask God to autograph your Bible and address it to my favorite believer, Jeff. Because I don't think he's going to do that, to be honest with you. I don't.

And I said I had five things that you would never say to God, but I just can't help it. I've got to leave you with this bonus one. The bonus one, you could call it number six, but the bonus one is, Lord, I can take it from here. I can take it from here. John 15.5, Jesus said, I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

Here it is, listen, for apart from me, you can do nothing. Lord, I can take it from here. No, you can't. Without me, you can do nothing. How often in our lives do we have that attitude? I need enough help to where I can take over and then go from there. Thanks, Lord, for the boost. Thanks, Lord, for that little nudge.

Thanks, Lord, for opening the door. But I got it from here. I don't think that's something we would ever say to God. So there it is, my friend, five things plus a bonus, things we would never say to God. I'm interested in what you have to say about that. Do you have anything that you would add to that list of the things that you would would never say to God. I'll put my email in the show notes. Give me an email. Tell me what that is. I'll include it in the show. I'm really interested to find out what you would not say in the

right to God as you're talking to him. Hey, I hope that you do have a good week. I really do. And I'll be praying for you. And I do ask for you to pray for me as well. I do know that people are going through a difficult time right now. And this is a little bit of levity, but there's truth, in the levity. And it's truth worth listening to and walking in. And again, if you are interested in going to Israel with Father Mike and myself, go to my website, jeffcavens.com. I'll put it in the show notes and get signed up and we'll meet each other in Jerusalem. There'll be a great, great time. Let me pray with you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, we do come to you today, not letting you know about how much we agree with you or asking you to,

to help us become cool or what we will or will not do with the money. We're not asking you to make us big in social media, and we are not asking you to make us your favorite in the way you treat people. But we are asking you, Lord, to help us to go deeper with you, to become humble and to be obedient, and that we will become all that you have called us to become as members of your body, the church. Lord, we can't take it. from here. We're going to always need you. We always, always, always are dependent upon you. You are

everything, and we worship you, and we praise you, and we give you glory. Hallelujah, Lord. You are king of the universe. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Have a great week. Love you. Thank you.