The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - What’s Your Favorite Bible Verse?

Episode Date: February 7, 2020

Jeff is reflecting on his favorite Bible verse, Galatians 2:20. He first committed it to memory almost thirty years ago, and it has been with him ever since. This verse reminds him that he must die to himself everyday in order to walk with Christ. Galatians 2:20 - "and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show, episode 152. What's your favorite Bible verse? 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 welcome once again. Whoa, getting over jet lag right now. Just got back from Israel, so today's show is going to be a little bit abbreviated. And, wow, what a trip. What an epic journey. We spent a month in the Holy Land. We led two pilgrimages, and lives were changed. My life was changed.

It always is as you travel around where Jesus taught and Paul and Peter and, of course, the Blessed Virgin Mary. What a time. I hope you can get to go with us sometime. it really is an investment in your spiritual life. In fact, we did a show over there about investing in your spiritual life. Well, I wanted to at least talk for just a few minutes about a topic that is, I think, really important. I think everybody needs to have that Bible verse. You know, I have a lot of favorite Bible verses. I actually do. But on the way home from Israel, I was meditating on this particular verse that I'm going to give you out of Galilee.

which is, I think it's my favorite verse of all the verses in the Bible. And I memorized it years and years ago. And I remember exactly where I was when I memorized it. I was coming back to Iowa from Florida. And I was sitting in the back seat of a friend's car, and I had my Bible open, and I just committed myself to memorizing a bunch of scripture on that particular trip back in, what was it? That was back in like 1981. And in this one verse, verse stuck. I mean, it just stuck with me all these years, and I have quoted it, I've meditated upon it, and it really is sort of a synopsis of my relationship with God in good times and in difficult times. And that verse that I'm talking about is Galatians 220. Let me read it to you. Galatians 220 says,

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me in the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. That has become my life verse. And I love it. I love it so much. You know, sometimes when you're struggling or you're dealing with, you know, issues of the heart, whether it's fear or jealousy or whatever comes along, you know, in life, this verse has always reminded me that I I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live. Dead people don't complain. Dead people don't insist on their own way. Dead people are not concerned about a lot of the things that living people and struggling people are. And I have to keep reminding myself

day in and day out that I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. Now, if I can take that, into every single day and really apply it, really meditate upon it. It is life-altering. It really is life-altering. You know, so many times we find ourselves in situations where we insist on our own way. You know, we want our own way. If we don't get our own way, what do we do? James says we fight, you know, with one another if we don't get what we want. And dead people don't do that. I remember giving a talk years ago about my experience in a prison. I visited some inmates in a prison and I gave a talk and there's about, I don't know, 200 guys in this maximum security class that I was with. And it was really funny

because right in the middle of my talk, I started thinking, wow, there's no door behind me. The doors are all behind these inmates who are looking at me. And I got done with my talk and I opened it up to Q&A and this guy raises his hand. I mean, he was tatted from head to foot, and he raised his hand, and he had a certain swagger about him. And I think he was kind of a leader, the way people were listening to him. And he said, he says, yeah, Mr. Kavens. He has this, you know, this cool accent. He says, I was just wondering, you afraid up there, you scared?

And I thought, oh, my gosh. And he said, because there's no doors behind you. And I thought, this is actually coming to pass. He's mentioning what I was just thinking of. and something came over me, and Galatians 220 came up out of my heart into my mouth. I walked all the way back to the back row where he was. I looked right at him in love, and I said, no. And I'll tell you why I'm not afraid.

I said, I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. He kind of looked at me, and there was silence, and then he says, I like that. And I thought, man, I'm glad you do. I'm really glad you do. Because I told him, I said, you're looking at a dead man. I actually said that to him. And I meant it. He's looking at a dead man. I've been crucified with Christ. So I wanted to share that with you in this brief show. And I wanted just to share that with you for two reasons. One is take that.

yourself and meditate upon that, Galatians 220. And do it for a day. And just tell me what the results are. What did it yield in your life? You can email me at the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com and give me your thoughts. I'd really like to know meditating on Galatians 220 for a day. What happened to you in your thinking? The second thing is, I would encourage you to seriously come up with a life verse. What is your favorite verse? A lot of times do you have different ones, but is there one that continually sticks out? Is there one that continually feeds you and encourages you and it comes up in your heart in difficult times? I'd like to know what your life verse is. Mine, it's Galatians 2.20. I'll be back next week, and I got a big show all lined up,

ready to go, and I'm looking forward to it. You can get a hold of me at The Jeff Haven Show at ascensionpress.com. Oh, and by the way, still some room in June, going back to the Holy Land in June with Father Mike Schmitz. This is June of 2020, if you're listening out of order, and we still have some openings there. It's going to be epic. It's going to be a really, really, really great trip. And it's open to any age level now. Anybody can come, and we're looking forward to spending some time with you over in the Holy Land. Let me pray for you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I thank you for my brothers, my sisters in Christ. I thank you, Lord, for the call on their life to become activated disciples. I pray, Lord, that we truly would walk

Galatians 220 out, and that is that we have been crucified with you. We're no longer alive. The old man is dead. We are alive now with the new man in you. Help us, Lord, to live this out. help us, Lord, to walk this verse in such a way that it would yield tremendous fruit. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. You have a great week. I love you, and I look forward to being with you next week with another show. Thank you.