The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Flashback: Motivating Scripture for the New Year

Episode Date: January 3, 2020

We're bringing back Jeff's episode on motivating scripture to help you stick to your New Year's resolutions. Whether you've heard them before or this is your first time hearing them, these twelve motivating Scripture verses will encourage and inspire you during times of fear, impossible situations, and unbelievable obstacles. In Times of Fear * 1 Samuel 12:24 – “Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.” 2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” Joshua 1:7 – “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be in dread of them: for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” 1 Chronicles 22:13 – “Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Fear not; be not dismayed.” Psalms 27:1 – “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” In Seemingly Impossible Situations * Psalms 18:29 – “Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall.” Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Psalms 18:32-36 – “The God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. He made my feet like hinds’ feet, and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me, and thy help made me great. Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.” Ephesians 3:20-21 – “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” When there are Obstacles Ahead * Matthew 17:20 – “For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Colossians 4:6 – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every one.”

Hi, this is Sean. I'm a producer here at Ascension, and I just wanted to introduce this episode of the Jeff Kaven's show, motivating Scripture for the new year. We are bringing it back from the archives because scripture is ever ancient and ever new, and I'm sure that you can glean something out of this episode for this upcoming year, whether you heard it before or whether this is your first time hearing this episode. So I hope you enjoy it. And I want to remind you if you haven't already downloaded the show notes for this episode, go ahead and text Jeff Kavens to 3-3-7777. That's Jeff Kavans, no capitalization, no spaces, just J-E-F-F-F-C-A-V-I-N-S to 33-77.

Or you can email us at the Jeff Kavins show at ascensionpress.com. That's the Jeff Kavans show at ascensionpress.com. And I'd just like to ask you to say a quick prayer for Jeff and some people going with him on another one of his amazing pilgrimages to the Holy Land for safety for their trip and also that they could grow closer to God on such an incredible journey. And so please enjoy this episode, and God bless you. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven's show, episode 97, motivating scriptures for the new year. 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. Hey, welcome to the show and a happy new year to you. Hope you had a great Christmas, and now New Year's behind us. We are now facing 12 months of walking as disciples of the Lord.

And during that time, we're probably going to have a few obstacles in our life and a few hurdles and situations that are going to come up throughout this year. And we need a word from God, don't we? We need some guidance and direction, some comfort. and some solace, and we get that from the Word of God. Every year my wife and I are fascinated with these TV shows that come out at the end of the year, usually around January, you know, the first week of January or so, and it goes through the year, and all of a sudden we are blown away by all the things that happened worldwide, you

know, in the last year from natural disasters, politics, sports, calamities, tragic things that take place in the world, as well as many of the good things that have happened. And, you know, you hear about them on the news here and there, but you don't get the full impact of it until you watch one of these shows. And in the same way, with your own life, in your own life, you know, you look back and you start to think about all the things that happened this last year, and you think, wow, that was either a really good year or, man, that was a hard year. Or every Christmas seems to be harder. Or in the summer, we had a very difficult time with that. this or that, children, health, whatever it might be. And it kind of accumulates. But what I want

to share with you over these next two weeks is I'd like to share with you some scriptures that will be an encouragement to you, a motivation to you, to face difficulties in tough times ahead in your life. Jesus said, be of good cheer. In the world you're going to experience tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. and that is a wonderful, wonderful thing. I want to share with you this week some scriptures on fear, some scriptures on what to do in seemingly impossible situations, and when you're facing unbelievable obstacles, unbelievable obstacles in your life. And I think that these scriptures are going to do you well. So let's jump into some of the topics that I'd like to

give you some scriptures that hopefully will motivate you for the new year. I have a always kept a list of my favorite verses for different situations. And it's amazing how if you memorize them, if you will commit them to your heart, how many times they will come up and speak to you, literally on a daily basis. I can think of several situations where I was faced with difficulties and then suddenly a scripture rose up in my heart and really minister to me in the time that I really needed it. And I hope that these verses will do the same for you. Again, these are going to be in the show notes, and you can take them with you and possibly even share them with other people as the year goes on. You know, God's word is sharp. It is

effective. It's powerful. It'll do what God intended it to do. And it's unlike any other arrangement of English words in the world, because it's God's word. The Holy Spirit is the author. We we talk about how the word of God is inspired and how the word of God is literally a word from a father to a daughter, a father to a son, with the hopes that you will come to know God, his heart and his ways in the middle of your circumstances. And I know that the times we're living in are difficult for some of you, and you need that word of encouragement. So I'm going to group these by category and share a few of them with you as we begin this new year. The first category that I would like to talk about is one that many people face as they go

into a new year, and that is fear. You know, fear is a very powerful, powerful thing in people's lives. It keeps them from doing what they're called to do as a husband, as a wife, as a generous single person, as clergy, religious, whatever vocation you find yourself in life, there are obstacles in life and there are situations that arise that cause us to fear. And it literally grips us and it renders us immobile as far as going forward with the Lord. But the Lord wants you to know that fear is not of God. Love conquers fear in our life. And so I want to share a few of these scriptures to you. There's many more that we could choose from, but this is what I really

felt led to give you this week. Number one is 1 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 24. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you. What a great text for Samuel 1224. It's a great text because it really, it really narrows down the area that we should fear. We fear the Lord. Not in the sense that we're going to get clobbered over the head or that he's unpredictable because he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But the scripture says only fear the Lord, only fear the Lord. And as you go into a new year, keep that in mind when you are faced with fear. You can immediately halt it and say, wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm only going to fear the Lord and not in a way that's going to

cause me to cower in the corner, but I'm going to fear the Lord in awe of what he can do in my life. And I love what it says. at the tail end of that verse, for consider what great things he has done for you. One of the things that you can do this year to conquer fear is you can rehearse what God has done in your life. If you're facing financial situations right now or perhaps family problems or problems at work, think back to the things that God has done in your life and how faithful he is. This is related to praise. where we bring back all those things that God has done, and we proclaim them with all of our

heart. Only fear the Lord. Serve him and serve him faithfully and consider what he's done for you in your life. That is a great text to conquer fear. Another one that I really like is 2 Timothy 1-7, where Paul writes to a fairly young pastor. You know, Timothy was a young pastor in Ephesus. And Ephesus was a center of witchcraft and all kinds of idol worship. And he was young. And it seems to be a part of the equation that he was a little bit timid because of his age, because he was young. And Paul told him, don't worry about that. Don't let that bother you. And here's what he said to Timothy. He said, for God did not give us a spirit of timidity. Some translations say a spirit of fear. But a spirit of power.

and love and self-control. And I like that verse because it gives us three things that we can do in our life when we are facing a spirit of timidity or a spirit of fear, and that is realize that God has given you by virtue of your baptism, by virtue of your confirmation, by virtue of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God has given you a spirit of power. So whatever you're fearing right now, in taking into the new year, realize there's a spirit of power inside of you. Not only that, but Paul mentions two other things. He says that there is a spirit of love, love, love. Not only do we have a spirit of power, but we have love. You might say, well, I don't feel like I'm really lovable, or I don't love in great ways. But remember, one of the theological virtues that you received at

baptism was love, charity. And you can cultivate that. And one of the ways that we deal with fear in our life is that we counter fear not only with the power of the Holy Spirit, but with the love of the Holy Spirit, the love of God. The love of God is so powerful that when you walk in love, as I mentioned earlier, fear is dispelled because God did not give us fear. He gave us love. And so whatever you're facing right now, find out how can I walk in love in this situation? In my relationships with the people that we perceive are causing this fear in my life or the situation that's causing fear in my life, walk in love. And then the third thing that he says, which is so amazingly powerful, is self-control.

Walk in self-control. And this is something that we all need to hear is that when we walk in fear, there is a temptation to just go out of control, you know, and lose the reins and let life just happen. But that's not what we're called to do. We're called, we literally are called to walk in self-control when facing fear. The next verse that I would like to share with you comes from the book of Joshua, and this has been one of my longtime favorite verses. It's at the very beginning of Joshua, And, of course, the book of Joshua takes place. Moses has died.

Joshua is the new young leader. He's going to take him across the Jordan River into Jericho, and they're going to take the land of Canaan. And that's something you could fear. You know, you're going into unknown territory. There's enemies up ahead, and you're not familiar with them. And your great leader has left. You know, this happens in our family sometimes when we lose dad or we lose grandpa or we

lose mom or grandma or we lose our boss or some friend that has been really a, you know, a stalwart in our life, a real tower of strength in our life. And now it seems like we're on our own. And maybe you've gone through that this last year. Maybe you lost a loved one, someone that was an anchor in your life. Listen to what God told Israel in Joshua chapter 1, verse 7 and 8. I love it. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do, to do, to do according to all that

is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success have i not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go and that includes the new year by the way god is with you wherever you go what a beautiful scripture what are we called to do we're called not to depart from the Word of God, but we shall meditate on it. Even when fear is at the door, you shall meditate on the Word of God day and night, and you're going to meditate on it, Joshua says, so that you'll be careful to do all of it. You'll be able to do what is in it. You're going to make your way prosperous. You're going to have success if you will face the fears in your life with the Word of God.

and he is going to be with you wherever you go. That's motivating. That's a motivating text for this new year. And as I go through these, you might even want to pause this and just think about it for a minute, if you're driving, wherever you happen to be, and ask yourself, you know, am I really meditating on God's word? Am I putting it into practice? Am I aware that he's with me wherever I go, or am I frightened and dismayed? Beat that. Beat that with the Word of God. Deuteronomy 31.6 is another great one.

Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear or be in dread of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Are you facing a medical problem this year? Are you facing financial problems? Are you struggling with depression? maybe some anxiety in your life, be strong.

And of good courage, do not fear or be in dread. The Lord will go with you, and he's not going to fail you, and he is not going to forsake you. I think one of the problems that we face with fear is that we feel so isolated and alone. And you know what? That's a ploy. That's a tactic of the enemy. Isolate. You're alone.

There's no one like you. It's a unique situation. nobody cares everyone's busy that's not true god has people all around you that can encourage you and he can be with you in the body of christ as well that's a good word for you from the lord first chronicles 2213 then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the ordinances which the lord commanded commanded moses for israel isn't that so similar isn't it to Joshua, where he says be strong and courageous and meditate on the word of God. First Chronicles 22 goes on and says, be strong. We've heard it again. I hear it again. Be strong and of good

courage. Fear not. Be not dismayed. You know, that seems to be a common denominator, doesn't it? You know, in scriptures that deal with fear is that is that God is not saying, you know, just, you know, put your hands up in the air, give up, okay, sarah, sarah, whatever happens is happening, and it's going to all work out for your good somehow some way. No, he says, you be strong in the midst of this fear. You be strong and of good courage, of good courage. And the reason we can do it is because the Lord is with us. And we don't have to be fearful and dismayed because he is with us. I've often thought to myself, you know, if Jesus were here in the flesh, which he is with us really, his real presence in the Eucharist and the sacraments is the word, the community of the faith.

If Jesus were here, however, in the flesh like he was 2,000 years ago, and he was walking with you throughout yesterday, or last week, or last year, this coming week, honestly, honestly, would you really throw your hands up and say, I give up? I can't handle this. I am so fearful. I'm frozen. Or if you saw him standing next to you, would you say, I don't have any fear? I know he's here. He's going to take care of me. And that's the reality. is that we can't afford to be tied up with fear. We got the Lord with us. One more scripture with fear that will help you this year, which is just a great text, comes from Psalms. And by the way, the Psalms, if you're feeling down and out and you don't know where to go, Psalms are a really good book to read

because there's like a formula that David uses when he writes about the predicament that he's in, how he feels, and sometimes he feels rotten, and then what he does, and how he turns to the Lord and how the Lord will deliver him. There's a great, great reading when you're dealing with fear. And I love Psalm 271, where it says, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Do yourself a favor. Take out a piece of paper when you're out of the car. if you're in the car. Take out a piece of paper seriously and write down, whom shall I fear?

See what you come up with. Who are you going to fear? Who are you going to fear? What are you going to fear this year? And then at the bottom of that piece of paper, write in great big letters, highlight it if you want to, the Lord is my light and my salvation. He's the one. He's the one. And the Lord is the stronghold of my life. Keeping that in mind. then go back to your list. Who should I be afraid of? Who should I be afraid of? Fear the Lord, but don't fear men. I love those verses. I'm going to include all of those in the show notes for you, and I hope that they are a great encouragement. I'm going to take a break when I come back. I've got some scriptures for you if you are facing a seemingly impossible situation. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show.

If you're looking for a way to learn more about your Catholic faith, I invite you to check out the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. You're going to find tons of free videos featuring Catholic presenters like Matt Frad, Leodero, Jackie Bobby Angel, and Emily Wilson. Go to YouTube.com slash ascension presents. That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. Welcome back. We're talking about motivational scriptures for the new year and scriptures that we possibly could memorize, bury in our heart, and allow those scriptures to take root in the soil of our heart and bear fruit rather than just wandering around saying, I'm a victim, I'm a worm, woe is me.

No, God has given us his word as a father, gives his word to a child because he loves them and he wants them to be successful in life. So what about seemingly impossible situations? Have you ever been in a situation where you would have to say? hey, that's impossible. Or maybe you're facing something right now and you're saying, wow, I don't know how I'm going to do this, but you can. Let me give you some scriptures for this. Seemingly impossible situation. Psalm 1829. Scripture says, yes, or it says rather, yay, by thee, I can crush a troop, and by my God, I can leap over a wall. Now, most of the walls that I face,

I don't think in the natural, I could leap over them, to be honest with you. Granted, I jumped close to six feet in high school, but I don't think I can do that now. You know, as you grow older, you don't seem to be able to jump as high as you did when you were younger, naturally speaking. Spiritually speaking, I can jump over higher walls, I think, now than I could when I was younger. But what about you? What are the walls that you are facing these obstacles in your life where you just, You don't know how to get around it. Well, once again, we go back to the help of the Lord.

Yay, by you, Lord, I can crush a troop. And by you, my God, I can leap over a wall. And so if that voice is coming to you over and over that you'll never get beyond that obstacle, that wall's too high, that wall's too thick, that wall's too tough. There's no way. There's no way you're going to do it. Know this. God is the ultimate motivational speaker, and he says, you can leave.

over a wall because you're with him. You're with God. I love it. One of my all-time favorites, and you probably know this one, Philippians 413, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Isn't that great? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. seemingly impossible situation, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You say that at a different cadence, for example, say, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That's you. That's you. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and I can do all things through

Christ who strengthens me. And finally, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I love that verse. Take some time, write it down, get it in the show notes, memorize it this week. You know, that comes at the end of Paul talking about living two different lifestyles, a lifestyle of plenty and a lifestyle of kind of the desert, you know. where everything's quiet and you feel abandoned. Well, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

I can live in the good times, and I can live in the difficult times. I really can. Philippians 413. How about Psalm 18, verses 32 through 36? The God who girded me with strength and made my way safe. I love this one, and I share this every time I go to Israel. In fact, by the way, I'm going to Israel in about a week and a half. Pray for me.

We lead a pilgrimage every January, and we go to Ingetty, out by the Dead Sea, up in the hills in the wilderness of Judea, where this was written. And David writes, and I'll read the first part again, listen to this, the God who girded me with strength and made my way safe. He made my feet like Heinzfeet, like Heinzfeet, like Heinzfeet, like Heinzfeet, and set me secure on the heights. Isn't that great? Now, when we go there and we go up into the springs of Engetti, Ingeti, we'll see these hinds, we'll see these little deer, and they are literally standing on sheer cliffs, and you look at it and you think, how could you possibly get beyond that obstacle? It's impossible to walk where you're walking, yet they are. You go with me, you'll get a picture. And then he goes on and says, he trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bow of bow. bronze. Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me, and

thy help has made me great. Thou dost give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. Man, that's good. I don't know about you. This gets me, it gets me motivated. How many times do we walk in life and we think it's too cramped, it's too small, I can't do this, it's impossible, it's too steep. And God says, I'm going to give you a wide place, a wide place for your steps and your feet are not going to slip. Sooner or later, my friend, we've got to trust God in this. We've got to take those steps in the seemingly impossible situations and trust that he's going to make that path wide, and he's going to allow us not to slip. Maybe other people do slip. Maybe other people panic, but we're the people of God. Seemingly impossible situations, Paul writes to the

Ephesians in chapter 3 in verses 20 and 21, and he says, now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Now, think about that for a moment. That is a really powerful text right there, where Paul talks about something that we mentioned earlier, and that is the spirit of power. You're walking in fear? We counter it with the spirit of power, love.

You know? And here, Paul is saying to the Ephesians that there is a power at work within you. There is. That Holy Spirit is at work within you. And get this. The Holy Spirit is able to do far more abundantly than what? Than anything you can ask. That's right. The situation that you're facing right now or you may face this year, the Holy Spirit can do more in you more abundantly than anything that you can ask. Ask away. He can do more. Ask for this. He can do more. Ask for that. He can do more. And it goes on and I love this part even. It says that the power that's at work within you, the Holy Spirit, can do far more abundantly than all we ask or think. Can you think about God doing a powerful work in your life, in the situation that you're in? Can you? Can you think about that? Can you

meditate upon that? He can do more. He can do more. And I'm here just to remind you, he can do more, and I'm reminding myself as well. That is such good stuff. That word from God is so amazingly powerful. I love it. Let's go through one more category. real quick, what about obstacles ahead? The future. You know, we're looking at not the future so much, but just obstacles that we're facing. Matthew 1720, for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, pretty small, I might add, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible to you. Do you believe that? That's one of the beautiful things about following Jesus, is that you're following the greatest rabbi, the greatest

teacher, second person of the Trinity, and nothing is impossible with God. That's the hope that we have as an anchor for our soul. That's the hope that we received when we were baptized, that theological virtue that is implanted in your soul, faith, hope, and charity, nothing will be impossible to you. And that's something to hang on to. That's an anchor. for your soul that will do you really well this coming year. And one more text, Colossians 4-6, and I put this under the obstacles ahead because so often when we face difficult situations in our life, we get into circumstances that we don't know quite what to do with, sometimes our mouth gets out of control.

We say things we didn't mean to. We say things that hurt people. We defeat ourselves with our own speech, you know, over and over and over. You have kids? How do you feel if your kids are just walking around all day long? I'm a loser. I'm nobody. I'm ugly. Nobody wants me. I don't have any power. I'm not good at anything. Our speech really reflects what's going on inside of our heart. And I say that because no father, no mother wants to hear that from their kids. And your heavenly father doesn't want to hear that from you. And so Paul writes to the Colossians, and he says in chapter four and verse six,

let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Obstacles in your life, work, home, finance, health, whatever it might be, watch your speech. That's a motivational text. Watch your speech. May your speech be gracious, and may it be seasoned with salt. May it be a preserving factor. May it be a May it preserve life and not death. So those are some of the texts I wanted to give you this week, and next week, I've got more for you. So I've decided for two weeks now to just share some texts with you for this new year that are going to bring hope to you and anchor for your soul and new possibility.

Again, I truly do believe that God is the greatest motivational speaker in the world, and you can see them on TV, right? You see motivational speakers on TV. They're selling their wares. They got books, you know, in Amazon and Barnes and Noble and everywhere else. But the problem is that they don't have the power to deliver. There's some adjustments we can make in that looking in the mirror and saying, you know, add a boy, go get them tiger.

I mean, they might work for some things. But the things that you and I face take more. They take the power of God, the presence of God, the love of God in our life. it takes God's perspective rather than our limited perspective. My friend, I hope this year is going to be a good year for you, and I just want to pray for you now. If you want to get in touch with me, I'd like to hear what these mean to you, these texts mean to you, and I'd like to hear how you're doing.

And if you have any questions or topics that you like me to discuss weekly on the show, I'd love to hear from you. My email is the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. let me pray for you right now. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friend to you right now who's facing fear. And I pray, Lord, that they will remember that perfect love drives out fear and that we don't have anything to fear except fearing you in a sense of awe and wonder. Like a child brags about their father. We brag about you. You are all powerful, all wise. You're present everywhere.

we love you. And we give you today the things that we're fearful about, those seemingly impossible situations, the obstacles ahead. We give these to you, Lord, and we walk in your word and meditate on your word in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. My friend, you have a great week.