With The Perrys - Fighting Distractions Upon Waking

Episode Date: November 6, 2023

The thought of writing a devotional never crossed Jackie's mind, but the Lord changed that. In this episode, the Perrys highlight a few things that compete for our attention and take away from adequate time in God’s Word. Jackie's new devotional, Upon Waking, was created to help us all cultivate a daily habit of seeking the Lord before anything else.  Grab your copy of Upon Waking here. Take our brief listener survey.  Subscribe to the Perrys' newsletter: https://withtheperrys.myflodesk.com/zhfus4jx1s Join Preston's discipleship community for men: https://www.patreon.com/PrestonPerry/membership To support the work of the Perrys, donate via PayPal: https://paypal.me/withtheperrys Shop BOLD Apparel: boldapparel.shop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victory is mine. Victory is mine. Victory today is mine. What did you tell Satan? I told Satan to do what? Get thee behind. Victory today is mine. Oh.

Stam for some. I didn't grow up in church. Don't judge me. It's obvious. Like, what are you saying? I just realized I got the hat on. That ain't for sale because we can't seem to keep an online store working. Craper us.

It's having a hard time. But the people want it. That's the, you know, y'all been solo. Y'all always want our stuff. It'll be available one day. It'll be on sale soon. Stop judging us. Speak those things that are not as if they were.

Right. Even though that's a misinterpretation of that passage, because it was talking about how Abraham believed the God who could speak those things. Girl, you was always... And it was accounted to him as righteousness, okay? Which is crazy because we used that verse and attributed to ourselves. Clearly, you didn't read the chapter. But, you know, prosperity teachers that made us read the Bible in a way that, like, makes us love ourselves instead of love God more.

Wow. So... Okay. That was a lot to chew on. Okay, so about a pun waking. It bubbled up. It ended up K-I. It just bubbled.

doubled up. All righty. That's my wife y'all. You wrote another book called Upon Waking. With a little bird on it. You said it right. That's so good. I said it wrong one time. Because you started a whole race of people who say upon awakening. Yeah, I did. I'm sorry. That's how influential you are. We was just in Germany and the person got on the stage and said, she said, she wrote a book called Upon Awakening. And then she said, oh, I did the same thing. Preston did. Yeah.

Definitely did. But yes, I did. Yeah, man. So why did you write this book? The publisher asked me to. Oh, wow. I love the honesty. So we had a meeting and they were like, hey, what do you think about writing a

devotional? I was like, I don't like devotional. I don't want to write something that I don't even like. You know what I'm saying? Because it's not that I'm anti-devotional, is that I'm anti-shallow devotinals. I'm anti-exallel. self-centered devotionals. I'm anti-n-scriptural devotional.

And so I think that I already had like kind of like a pushback against it because that's my framework for a lot of the contemporary devotionals. But then I thought about it and it was like, why don't you create what you think is lacking? Yeah. Like why don't you write the kind of devotional that you want to read? And so I did. That's good.

And it was very hard to do. It was not easy. What was hard about it? And I would like to know because I never asked you this question What was hard about it And how was it different In writing your other books?

Yeah. So other books, Gay Girl Good God is my story, right? So the only difficulty with that is arranging the story in such a way that is honest, theological, and winsome or persuasive, right? Holier than thou was difficult

because I'm broaching a topic that is actually very complex, which is the holiness of the living and yet invisible God. That's hard. Devotional, I had this like assumption, oh, 60 days, 500, 500 word count, 500 to 800 word count. Like, oh, I could do that. But you got to understand that's 500 to 800 word count for 60 days of different topics.

Wow. Right? So originally it was supposed to be 90 days. I don't know if you remember that. Yeah. It was supposed to be a 90 day devotional. He was like, I can't do that. I said, I literally can't do it.

Yeah. We're going to have to move into two months because that this. everything is too much. I'm not Tony Evans. I'm not. I'm not Priscilla Shire. Yeah. I'm not Crystal Evanshurst.

I'm not none of the Evans. I don't have the degree of wisdom required. Yeah. To write for 90 days of different ideas. Yeah, that's good. I feel like you wrote where you were at. You know, everybody that you named, they're older, you know? Yeah.

And so Tony Evans has a fountain of wisdom, you know? You know, the strategy. So upon waking part two when you're 50. Yeah. You know, the strategy is, or a pun going to bed or something like that. But the strategy was we went through before I shut down my Twitter because they're crazy.

And I opened my Twitter back up for a week for my publisher to download all of my tweets. Yeah. And so they downloaded all of my tweets over the last five or six years and we put each tweet in a particular category. So there was theology, there was stewardship, there was ministry, there was parenting. And so a lot of upon waking is me taking

particular tweets and fleshing them out. Wow. Which was kind of cool. It was like how God is able to, it's not even necessarily that I needed new content. I did need a lot of new content, but it's also that God just gave me the grace to repurpose content that I had already put out into the world.

Because if you think about all the tweets that you tweeted in the past, it was a lot. It was a lot of things that, you know, you thought about when you first woke up. A lot of the things that the Lord kind of shared with you that day. And so it's so many things that the Lord didn't, you know, then shared with us that we didn't forget about it. So that's actually a really good idea for people to do.

Well, one of the things you talk about in this book, you talk about how the society that we live in and social media and all the things kind of fight for our attention. Yes. And it's just we have so many distractions, but also this level of boredom that we can experience in our quiet time or our intimacy with the Lord. And so, one, me personally, I thought that was really good to talk about because you are a young woman who's very much enthralled in the social media life or whatever.

And so I feel like... Because that's probably a wrong word. Involved? Involved. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I feel like you're active on social media. You're a Christian influencer, but you're also... Are we influencers?

I think we are. Are we? Do we really fit that kind of thing? Z's might call us that, right? Can I Google what an influencer is? We influence people to love Jesus, right? I don't want to be one, but I feel like... You are.

I feel like I am. Influencer, a person or thing that influences another. If that's the case, we're all influencers. Yeah, we are. Kim's an influencer? Kim's a big influencer. Yes, she is. I literally texted him the other night and said, Kim,

where did you get those shoes from or your stories? Influencing that. She influences me all the time. She influences me with cardigans. Sometimes I see Kim's cardigans and I say, huh? The only thing Kim... I'm influenced. The only thing Kim doesn't influence me

while her cardigans is wearing them in June. Yeah, that's... I resist that. She wears them at the height of the summer. Yeah, but you know what's crazy? I don't get it. I'm influenced by the fact she's never been musty. I can't recall one time.

That is a testimony. That Kim has been musty. Kim, I've never smoked Kim Musty. That's influence right there. That is steward in your leadership. Your armpits have never smelled like... My God. Your armpits have never smelled like...

You use natural deal? That's because you're Jamaican. Okay. She said she spent... But anyways... Sorry. You were saying that I'm on social media. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it's not like... I guess my point is it's not like you're some 55-year-old person who posts on social media. once every two months. You know what I'm saying? And so for you as a young person to write about how things distract us and you're so

involved in social media one, I feel like you're writing from a place of experience. So what led you to write about those things? Well, I think the bigger picture is if we are people who have

been redeemed, right? We've been saved. One of the things, one of the reasons we've been saved is that It says that we've been delivered out of darkness into his marvelous light to proclaim the excellencies of him. Yeah. To even proclaim excellencies about God,

his nature, his character, his kingdom, we got to know what the excellencies are. Yeah. I mean, we have to know his nature. That you have things like Matthew 28, go therefore make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. What has he commanded?

You got to know, right? And so some of the temptation, I think, is that there are so many things taking our attention where we're not learning about God. We're not learning about his nature. We're not learning about truth because this TikTok is more interesting or this concert is more fun or this movie is more enthralling. And I think all of those are good. Music is good. Entertainment is good.

art is good. But if they are treated with this kind of, how do you say it? If they take up more of our attention than our time, our lives are going to struggle. Because it's crazy to me. That's so good. It's crazy.

I complicated that. But at the end of the day. It wasn't complicated. It was actually really good. Our lives are going to struggle if we don't have adequate time at God's work. Because it's crazy to me how one thing can be such a blessing, but also can be not a blessing if you don't allow the Lord

to also govern that thing, which is social media, because social media, it has this ability to put things in front of you so fast, so frequent, you know, so constant that if you don't be careful,

it's not that it is merely taking away your attention, but it can't take away your affection. You know what has often showed me how distracted I am? Because I think we know we're distracted, but there's times where something happens where I realize the degree of the distraction when I fasted from social media.

Times when I fasted, it's like an impulse to pick up my phone. Yeah. Or an impulse to click on an app. It's like I didn't even think about it. It's like my hand just was used to it. And I'm like, do I do this all day? Yeah.

Where I just impulsively pick up my, it's just a thing. And I think about times when I was young, I used to read books all the time as a kid. And I would just sit in my bed and read for hours. Even now, as much as I like information, as much as I like books, if I get through a paragraph, I'm tempted to pick up my phone, I'm tempted to look at the news, or I'm tempted to answer this email, or like my mind just goes to all these different places. It's like I've lost my ability to just sit and be still.

And I just wonder how that's affecting our intimacy, because much of what goes, God has called us to do requires stillness. In light of you writing this book and naming it upon waking, which is a very beautiful title, by the way. That's the poet in you. I wanted to call it a, I don't remember the other title. The other option was like, hello, hello or good morning or something. I think it was good morning.

Oh. I like Good Morning too. Yeah, that's a good title. In light of you naming it upon waking, how important is it for a Christian, to just dedicate their first to the Lord. You tell me. Well, you wrote the book.

Yeah, but you're a Christian. I think it's really important, you know. I think, you know, and I would love for you to answer it after me because, like I said, you wrote the book, but I think it's really important because I think it's good for the Lord to hear your heart and also for you to be centered on the day that you wake up. you know, by also having the chance to hear from the Lord before you do anything else.

There have been times where I've realized that it was one, two, maybe three o'clock in the afternoon, and I feel so anxious. Or it's been times where you, I've texted you about being frustrated. And you was like, did you really spend time with the Lord this morning? And maybe I have like, sometimes I have like a habit of just throwing like a quick prayer up, you know, but not really spending time with him, giving him my day. And I think even when we think about the fact that God gave us this day, like he literally gave you this day.

Like every breath is a breath from him. Yeah, today is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. And so for you to even acknowledge him first with this day, you know, I think lets us know that it governs. how we will experience this day. How we will experience his creation? How we experience our family? How we experience him.

And so I think it's really important for us to give him, like, this is the day that you literally made it. Yeah. And so I want to honor you for that. Yeah, I think we are very competent and resourceful people. Yeah. And therefore we live with a sense of sufficiency. And that self-sufficientness is what keeps us

from prayer is what keeps us from intimacy, which what keeps us from devotion, is that we think we have all the resources we need to accomplish today well. And to some degree we do, right? We have cars, we have calendars, we have calendars, we have money, we have friends, we have food, we have all of that. But even the fact you got it is because God reigns on the just and the unjust.

And so even to not say thank you, at the very least, God, thank you. You get what I'm saying? Yeah. It says something about your own heart. but I also think we haven't even tapped into the degree to which we can bear more fruit if we laid aside our sufficiency to be filled with God's sufficiency. And what I mean is like we can accomplish a lot in the flesh. You really can't.

And by flesh, I don't even mean in sin. Like the sin, like the humanity. You can do so much in your humanity. Yeah. But like when you look at the disciples and God told them, hey, these people are hungry, go feed them. He gave them the task to go feed them. And all they really had, though, was five loaves and a couple fish. That was the sufficiency that they brought to the table. Was we got some fish and we got some loaves, but we actually don't have enough to do everything that you called us to do. What does Jesus say? Jesus says, bring it to me. They bring their sufficiency to God and he multiplies the bread. And I think that is what is being threatened when we don't get with God.

is that our resources aren't even capable of giving us the multiplicity needed to do all that God has called us to do. I often thought, that. Period. I often thought about that how gracious God is because we're human beings, we're spiritual beings, right? And because of that, like, even us being used, you said, how you mentioned in the flesh, like, he created us human anyway. So even what we do in the flesh is a testament to him. Yeah, all of it. All of it, right?

But he tells us to depend on his spirit. And so the fact that he still allows us to even make it. Because if I made us, if I made people, I'm like, okay, y'all don't want to, you know, operate in my spirit. Yeah. No, I don't need to be here. You know what I'm saying? The Lord used that text to like humble me a couple months ago

because I don't know if I said this on our podcast yet. Maybe I did. You can tell me if I did. But I was, I had to do this interview at TBN, a couple months ago. And I felt dry. Yeah. Did I say this online yet?

No, I don't think so. I felt like usually when I go into spaces where I have to do ministry, I know how it feels when the Lord is with me. It feels a certain way. There's like a freedom of speech. There's a clarity. There's a precision. There's a like God is bringing ideas to my mind to articulate.

And I didn't have none of that. And I prayed. God, you. me do all the things. But I just felt so dry. And I was like, what is this? But I also felt a little joyless in it. And I said, God, I don't think I'm abiding. And I said, I don't think I'm abiding because what the scripture that came to my mind is when Jesus says, if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit. And so even my inability to be as fruitful as what I know I can be was a signal that I haven't really been abiding with the Lord. And I, and I, and I,

I had went in the closet and I got on my face and I felt the Lord speak to my heart and was like, you are not sufficient for these things. Yeah. Like what I've called you to do, you cannot do if you do not abide in me. Yeah, because the scripture goes on to say, without me, without abiding in me, you could do nothing.

You can do nothing. And it doesn't mean you can't do nothing at all. It means you can do nothing good. Like you have no, like there's nothing good that flows from us when we're not abiding in the one who is the source of all goodness. And so, you know, that's good because I've also found myself like that. Like, Lord, like, why do I feel dry? And Laura's like, have you been with me?

Yeah. You feel dry because you haven't spent time with me. Like, you know, and so that's really good. I want to talk about that, though, because we want to spend time with the Lord so that we can be useful, so we could be fruitful. But we also want to spend time with the Lord just to spend time with the Lord. Yeah. So can you give us an example or just even speak to the delight that can come with intimacy?

Yeah, because I think God wants to use us, but I don't think that he wants us to have a relationship with him just so we can be used. Right? I think that he wants a relationship with us because he loves us. I think that because when we think about being used by God, it's not that he wants to use us because he needs us. right. God doesn't need us. He prefers to use us because of his goodness, right? He can be self-sufficient by himself, right?

But I do think that ultimately the Lord wants us to be close to him, not to not to merely be used, but because being close to him is the best thing for us. If he's a, because God is just not some God. He's a father, right? That's good. Right? And so, like, I want the best for my,

children. I want the best for my children. And so God is saying, I want the best for y'all too. That's why you should be with me. Yeah. I'm literally the best for you. Yeah. Like you, you lack joy because you haven't been with me. You lack peace because you haven't been with me. You're selfish because you haven't spent time with me. You know what I'm saying? Like, like you, you like patience with your children because you haven't spent time and meditated on the fact that I've been patient with you. Like all of the things that you lack, right? Right. And I don't want you to lack these things. It's because you haven't been with me.

And so I think God wants us to spend that time with him because he knows he's literally the best thing for us. That's good. Because it's in the secret place. It's in the intimacy. It's in the devotion. It's in the time with God that he fills you with himself. And by filling you with himself that spills over into everything that you do. Right.

Because when you have any kind of deficiency. So, for example, when you don't feel, I'm going to use one that I struggle with the most. When you don't feel secure, you kind of move with an insecurity where the things that you do become the things that give you security. So it could be the preaching that makes me feel secure, right? It could be the praise that makes me feel secure. It could be being mean is a source of security for some people. Yeah. Because it's like, I don't want you to think I'm weak.

So let me deflect, let me like stiff arm you because that makes me feel secure. Yeah, well, it makes me look strong. Yeah, which is a source of, yeah, I don't know. So like when you meet with the Lord and say, God, I feel insecure. I don't feel safe. I don't feel careful.

I don't, I don't, like when you tell him that, then you give him the opportunity to be that for you, for him to be your refuge. That's good. For him to be your strong tower. That's good. For him to be your security, for him to be a rock. And so that when you leave the next day, now when you preach, you don't preach for security.

You preach to serve. Now when you're in your relationships, you don't have to stiff arm people because you're secure. And so I think, I guess I'm saying there's a sense in which the delight that God is able to give us in time with him, then kind of clarifies everything that we do for him. That's good. Because there have been times with me and you have both been honest and was just like, I just kind of felt God handle me at this particular event. because it's just been evident that I've been with them and many times it's like, okay, I'm off. Yeah.

I'm off and it's because I haven't really spent adequate time. How do you discern that? Because I guess I'm hearing people say, how do I know if I'm off? Is that not a subjective experience? No, I don't. Is there a difference between that and shame? Well, yeah, I don't think, because one, I think even God can also use our offness, right?

Okay. And so I don't think that we should ever be shamed at all, you know, But I do think, you know, the beautiful thing about the Christian faith, it is something that is, you know, objectively true that we can research, but it's also an experience. And so having a relationship with this personal being, like you experience certain ways in which he's using you in the moment. It is not just some religion will be just practicing things. So it's like, it's like when I'm on a stage and I'm doing this Q&A, I know, because I know myself, I know, I know answers shouldn't be coming to my head automatically that way.

And I have this relationship with this transcendent, you know, infinite God. And I know he's empowering me in this moment. And I know it's a testament to my prayer life. And I can tell the difference because, one, he is naturally gifted me to be a communicator, right? And so I can wing it. And people can be blessed. But sometimes, you being used by the Lord,

you know what I'm saying? It is, it's, I don't think it's always things that people can notice. That's good. But you notice it. That's good.

And I think, and I, and also too, I think people can be blessed, but I think when you are used by the Lord, that's when the Lord can allow you to kind of shift some things in the room. And I've seen, I've seen God use you in that way.

Yeah. You know, I had experience like that in Toronto. You know what I'm saying? Well, I was just really dependent on the Lord. And he used me. that night. And so like, you know, I just kind of feel like you shouldn't condemn yourself, you know, but I think that it should be a consistent reminder of the Lord just gently saying, okay, I use you, but you could have been tapped in a little more. Like you could have been

sensitive to what I wanted you to say a little more. And don't get it twisted and think that because he used you on Thursday, that that doesn't mean you could skip being with him on Friday. Yeah. You know, because we get, we're very easily satisfied. So it's like, shoot, the Lord was with me last night. But it's like, no, you need him to, like, give us this day our daily bread. Daily, daily, daily, daily. I always need him every single day. You know what I'm saying?

Even ministry aside, the Lord had convicted me before at a glory where at my glory events, I really, you would think I'm the most saved as person. person alive. I am just praying and seeking the Lord and not watching too much TV, meditating. I'm over here getting on my knees and the bed, just doing a lot to be

useful. And I remember the Lord was like, okay, that's awesome. I want you to do this at home too as it relates to your family. I want you to be this thirsty to seek me as it relates to loving your husband. I want you to be this adamant and seeking me as it relates to your children. And it's like sometimes,

Sometimes we will pursue intimacy with God so fervently for ministry, but we don't do that when it comes to loving our neighbor. When it comes to loving our enemy. When it comes to being nice to our spouse. And that's the part that's been tripping me up. But I also think it can reveal a lot of things. I don't know. I want to speak for you.

But I'm about to preach. No, I'm not going to preach. I'm just saying I think it can reveal a lot of things because I don't want to speak for you, but I know for me, I've leaned in, you know, leaned in more or sought the Lord more or cried out for his help more. And because he's faithful, he's helped me. But I didn't, like, I think God had to show me.

And I, because I experienced what you experienced for glory at times when I was writing my book. I was like, Lord, I can remember begging him from help. Like, Lord, help me finish this chapter. I feel slow. I feel slow. I can't think of one word. Help me, God, please.

And at times I feel like, at times I felt like how Eden begs me for stuff. Like how she just be like, why are you begging me this much for a snicker? It's not your life. That's kind of how I felt. Like, God, please help me. Okay, okay, Lord, I am slow.

I'm slow. Just humble. And the Lord, Okay, you're trying to reveal that I'm slow. I need your help. Be smarting me, right? Be smarting me. Okay.

And I feel like the Lord was like, because I've allowed you to operate in these gifts that I gave you, you don't beg me for everything with it. You don't bet, you should beg me for everything just like that. Right? And so, like, I think God in his, he's so.

gracious that he will allow us to operate with not truly trusting him and not truly leaning on him like we should at times. But then he'll allow things like glory when you have all of these women depending on you to speak, right? He'll depend on me having to write my first book and say, you know what? You're not tight. Yeah. You consistently need me.

And you're reinforcing by original point, which was that we have a sufficiency problem. to be more prayerful, to spend more time in your word, to do all of that, it's not about time, it's not about scheduling, it's not about busyness, it's not about productivity,

it's about dependence. Are you dependent on God for everything? Yeah. If you were or are, it will show up in your spiritual disciplines. Yeah. Period. Because we have to look at God like a father

Because sometimes we can give our kids too much And they can start feeling themselves And sometimes you have to like take something away to say Like man no this is still daddy and mommy doing X Y Z And so God has given us the intelligence that we have But there's some people lean too much on it Yeah God has given us

And he'll take your mind Yeah and God has given us the ability to plan Yeah But sometimes we can depend too much on it Come on. God has given us the ability to write but sometimes we can depend too much on it. Uh-huh.

Right? And God is saying, I gave you these things, but you still should trust in me to operate in these things. You know, I felt like that when I was pregnant. I felt so, I felt like a dunce. Like, not even stupid. Like a dunn. I'd be feeling, I always feel sorry for you

because it's to trying to get out the bed. Will you be doing this? No, forget that. I couldn't think. I couldn't create sentences. I didn't feel smart. And I remember sitting in my car, I said, Lord, please, restore back

to me all of my intelligence when this is all said and done. But I say, it just, I think those moments reinforce that I even need you for my brain. For my brain to function accordingly. I need you. I need you for everything.

Yeah. Which is frustrating. So back to the boring question. I think our society is constructed in such a way where we don't know how to be bored no more. And because we don't know how to be bored no more, it's affecting our prayer life. You know what I'm saying? Because when you got Eden in autumn, for example,

if they're watching anything, they can skip commercials. If they're watching the show that they don't like, they could exit out of the show and find 17,000 other cartoons to replace that one. If we are in a waiting area in the doctor's office, guess what we could do? We could pull up our phone and scroll. Like we are so entertained.

Like we're entertained to death. And so when the Lord is like, yeah, read through the whole book of Amos. Huh? Yeah. That's boring. Right? Like, it's not as entertaining. Yeah, absolutely.

And that's a really good point. I think one of the reasons why I feel like it was dope that you wrote. wrote this book is because the fact that you are challenging the body of Christ to seek the Lord upon waking because I think it's dope it's because God is not a God who he fights for our attention but he don't fight for our attention what you mean I mean so so he will allow things to happen for us to to to to um for us to know that like we've kind of straight away but like when we get in the in the in the crux of our day and we and we and we're so. busy with stuff. God often speaks

to us in the quiet. Like he waits for us to be alone and to be silent. And he's not going to compete with so much because he doesn't have to. He shouldn't have to. Yeah. Right? And so for you to challenge us

to like seek the Lord before all of that even hits you. Yeah. So I think that's the important thing. That's true. Because once we get out and start enjoying our day, it's so much to distract us. But when when we first wake up, that's for a lot of us, that's when we have the least distractions.

That's true. Right? That's practice. So, like, if you could just practice not picking up your phone first, you know, before you get in the car, before you think about listening to the podcast, before the kids wake up, before all, if you do it first, I feel like you and your relationship with the Lord can be just, it can become closer because he's not competing with nothing. What did your time, I feel like we probably,

talked about this before, but what did your time look like when you were single? Oh my gosh. I had, I said too much time. Versus how your time with the Lord looks like now. I would love to hear your answer too. It looked great. I mean, I was known in

Chicago as the poet evangelist. And so at night, you can catch me at open mics or then I start traveling, United States, doing poetry. But at home, I man, me and my homies, we stayed on trains, west side, south side, north side, evangelizing.

Everywhere. Everywhere. So we was just, you know. A little compass. Yeah, we were just evangelist. And so that's what my time looked like. And so I woke up in the morning. I did my devotion.

Would you read the Bible? Did you do it? A devotional? Did you? No, my devotion was reading the Bible. And I had my cousin and my friend angel. And so what we would do is we would read the Bible. Bible and then when we get up around 12 when we get out of room like 11 o'clock when we didn't

have work or whatever we were all discussed what we will be what we're okay so accountability account of yeah we that's that's kind of what we did and that's what my day looked like and so my day was just so free with doing what I wanted to do but I also had the flexibility if I didn't pray at night you know in the morning or whatever I can pray at night before I go to bed but like when you have kids and when you have a ministry and a wife and you're traveling, it just becomes more difficult. And maybe we should speak to that. Because I also think that God is not some mechanical God

where he wants us to be like other faiths where they have to pray five times a day or whatever, yada, yada, yada. But he is a relational God. And because he's a relational God, he understands how our lives has changed. Right? And so God understands, I don't really think it's about, necessarily always giving God your time at that particular time,

but like being intentional. Yeah. What you have. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I think as a single person, I think it was the same tension. It's like I had a lot more time to get in the word, but I also had a lot more time to do everything else.

Right? And so it's like, oh, y'all want to go here? Let's go. Like, oh, let's go to the mall. Like I had so much freedom. that that also was a distraction. Yeah. You know?

And so I do think that the season isn't necessarily the issue. I think it's always the heart. That's good. It's the heart that then governs how you leverage the season. And so for me, I think when I got married, it was an adjustment. One, it was an adjustment to wake up with a whole human being next to you, right? That's a distraction. A good one.

Yeah. Praise God for you. Like some... The shade. No, it's not, it's like... I'm just playing. We start talking or we start engaging with one another or we, you know, you want to go to breakfast. Like this, having a person next to you immediately takes your attention off of, I think, just some stuff, some stuff.

Then when we start having babies, it was like, Lord, I'm too tired. Yeah. I'm tired. And so I felt like I was getting wisdom from older mothers who were like, just try to add some type of spiritual discipline into your normal rhythm. And so when I would get up in the middle of the night to feed sage, August, Eden, whoever, I would listen to the Bible or listen to worship music about the Bible.

And that's all I could give him at that time. That's all I had because I was just exhausted. And I felt like there was grace for it. That's good. I felt like I was in a season where the Lord was like, it's like the, you know, when Jesus saw that lady where she had gave like a little penny or something like that and he was like she gave from her lack,

not of her abundance. It felt like that, like I'm giving you the most I have from my lack. Yeah. But then there was a shift. When August started sleeping through the night, I really sensed that the Lord was like, okay. You got more time.

You got more grace now. Right. You can wake up early. Yeah. Like, everybody's sleeping. Yeah. It kind of reminds me of the John of the new winter song, like, where he says,

I'll make room for what I like, you know. And. I'm in time for me. What I treasure I make time for what I want Justice I priority Jesus, you're my number

Yeah, yeah We jacking up. Sorry, Jonathan for jacking up your song. Because if we posted his hill, he would be mad. You know, he hates people messing up his lyrics. And? But yeah, like, I feel like God is saying,

like, you make time for what you like. You know? And for me, like, I feel like early on in my walk I didn't have a lot of distractions you know I didn't have a lot of things competing for my time but at the same time like when

when my life became busier it became an excuse but it wasn't an excuse because God is saying no you can pray you can pray with me you can talk with me and there's moments where you can talk with me you just don't choose to yeah you literally don't choose to you know

I was going to say something else I forgot. I've been trying to be more deliberate about that. And so it's going to sound weird. But I've been like, okay, what are spaces in my day where I can listen to scripture? And it might not be as entertaining, but I think it would be good for my soul. And so when I work out now, when I stop listening to profane secular music, I'm making a distinction. When I stopped listening to that, that was my workout music. And I was like, I'm going to listen to the Bible.

And it's not, it don't pump up, you know, your heart rate too much. It doesn't feel exciting. It doesn't give me the energy. But for me, it feels like this is a time that I could make use. Yeah. Of, like, learning and listening to God talk to me, you know, and try to medit. Like, because even the scripture says, like, meditate on him. No, bless is the man who walks, not in the council of the wicked,

nor stands in the seat of scoffer, nor sits, son, da, da, da, but meditates on his law day and night. So that means throughout the day, how am I looking for moments to meditate? Yeah. On his word, day and night. Yeah. And if that's on the treadmill, then that's on the treadmill. And I want to say this, too. That's good.

because I think this may be helpful to some people because I know it has helped me tremendously in my walk with the Lord because I think when we talk about all of these things that fight for our attention, what I said earlier is they also fight for our affection. That's good. Because what takes our attention

will eventually take our affection, right? We become affectionate with things we spend time with. That's just... That's a word. Yeah, we become affectionate for the things that we spend time with. And I think a lot of times the temptation can be, I don't know how to tell the Lord.

I don't want you. I don't know how to tell the Lord. I'd rather get on TikTok before I spend time with you, Lord. I rather, I don't want to read my word like I wanted to read my word when I first got saved. I think a lot of times people can't a fathom being honest with the Lord about how you don't want him. And I think we have to understand one of my favorite passages in Scripture, Hebrews 414, that God is not just some God who stayed up in heaven, but he's a God who condescended and became like us. The Bible, that scripture also said he was without sin.

So he didn't become sinful like us, but he did become human like us. And it says that he can empathize without weakness because of it. And so we have to understand that God knows. first of all, he knows that your affections is gone in some ways because he's God. And so, and secondly, we serve a God who experientially came like us. And so because of that, like God is never going to be so offended by you saying, God, I don't want you, help me, that he does not help you. That's good.

And so the way we become more like God and get more and become, and, and, and, and, and, get closer to God in this walk is being honest with him in those in those seasons where we don't want him and saying like like like the like the way you become more like God in those seasons that you don't want him is by saying God I don't want you like I used to help me he's the only one that can help you want him yeah you know what I'm saying and so for me I just had those moments in my walk while I was just like God I don't want you like I used to and what happened he helped me How? He helped me by giving me more of an affection.

It's been times in my walk where I was like, Lord, give me more of a passion to read your word. I don't want to just trust in the things that I know. I know a whole lot of Bible. But like I don't feel close to you because I'm not in my word like I used to. Like give me, like if God can give you an affection to forgive your neighbor or your brother or your dad or somebody that offended you, why can't he give you more of an affection

to love him more? If you ask him for it, right? And so, like, it's been times where I've waken up and I'm like, why do I feel the need to read Second Peter? And it's like, oh, I pray for God to give me that desire last week. I think you just said a lot. I think what's helpful is to know that the Lord can,

And it's kind of when David said, like, give me a new heart and renew a right sphere within me. Give me the joy of your salvation. Like, give me, give me, give me. And he does it. But we also have to respond. Yeah. Right. And so when the Lord place it on your heart for you to read Peter or whatever, if you rejected that prompting,

then you therefore continue to harden your heart to getting a new effect. Yeah. And so the fact that you responded to it is what God then uses to move you towards worship. You know what I'm saying? Can I give you one example? Yes. That's to give the people a tangible example. I've been asking the Lord to give me more of a passion, not to just study the things that I like to study about apologetics and stuff. Because I think, to be honest, I've struggled with that.

Like I can be passionate about one particular thing and I can study it for a year. I know. Yeah, you know. But I was like, Lord, give me a passion to study your more. And to discover new things about you that I can give to your people and yada, yada, yada. So I could feel closer to you, right? And so we were coming back from Germany. And one of the things that I love to do on planes is to watch TV.

Especially if we got a good seat, you know what I'm saying? And I didn't turn on that TV not one time. Yeah, coming back or whatever. and I got out my Bible and the only thing that I felt compelled to do was to read God's word and to just learn about him and that was because

for the last couple of weeks I've been asking the Lord to give me more of a passion to read his word. And he's done it. He's answered that prayer. And so I was able to see like I think God gives us that grace to see

I'm more valuable than watching TV. Yeah. Like he, at the that moment, I didn't even have a desire, which before it would have been like, man, like the last hour I probably would have tried to get my phone out. Yeah. But I actually pulled out the little leather joint. I'm a little Bible. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? And so I think God, he just honest prayers like that. That's good. I wanted to read 2nd Corinthians 3, verse 16, but when one turns to the Lord,

the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. and we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit. I read this because, like, looking at the Lord is what makes you like the Lord. Right? And so there is, it's so practical fellowship with God is. It's if you want to love me more, look at me.

If you want to worship me more, look at me. If you want to know me more, look at me. If you want to be holier, look at me. And so what are you looking at most will typically determine who you look like. And I think that's a very practical way for us to kind of frame the whole conversation of seeking God in the morning. Is that who I watch the most is typically who I will look like. And I think when you look at Jesus's life, if I look at Jesus a lot, I'm going to pray like Jesus pray. That's just the reality.

Yeah. The Jesus disciplining us. Yeah. The spirit leading us into all truth. Which is leading us into Christ. That's good. And towards Christ. And so I want to say, I don't know if we've ever talked about this, but I feel like we should.

I feel like there is so much spiritual warfare when it comes. comes to people reading the Bible. I think praying, listening to worship, even reading my book feels safer. Hmm. Because I think people feel like they don't, they don't read, not just because they don't want the Lord, but because they don't understand.

Mm-hmm. And so I kind of want to talk to that insecurity of feeling like, I don't get it. I'm reading it, but I don't get it. Like I don't, why am I? So that's a part of the board. is that I don't get it. Like, can we, can we process through that?

I think, I think a lot of it is a lack of, a lack of education for some, just some very practical. Advice, I think people who really want to learn the Bible. I think you can ask your past or your local community. what is a hermeneutics class and to have like a class to just to know how to study the Bible to know how to look for Jesus

in the Old Testament to know how to re-cross references to know to learn how to ask yourself good questions and reading the word and so if I'm reading if what I'm reading is a letter who wrote this letter

why is he writing this letter? Who is he writing the letter to all of these things All these these trainings can give you more context and have you less confused when you read it, when you read the Bible. But also, too, I think, so with that, that's one, too, I think we have to realize that it's also spiritual. It's a spiritual component to it. It's not merely because the Bible is a spiritual book. It is not just, you know, the scripture says that God's word is God breathed, which means literally breathe by the breath of God. John one says,

in the beginning was the word, and the words with God, and the word was God, right? And so because this is a spiritual book, we have to understand that in Corinthians it says that a natural man does not understand spiritual things for they are spiritually discerned.

That's good. Right? And so if they are spiritually discern, there is, I think, a person, I think there's a begging that we should do. Not just asking. God, because your word is spirit,

like help me understand this. and because God made our brains, right? And because this word is literally him, he can make the two meet. Yeah. Right? If we ask them for it. And so I think, I think from a practical standpoint,

we need to learn how to practically study the Bible, but also how to practically learn how to trust in the spirit. I'm going to read something. That was excellent, by the way. Oh, thank you, baby. That was really good. I like when my wife affirming me, makes me feel real good.

I'm glad you're affirmable. I knew it was good. Huh? I'm in the head. If you weren't affirmable, that'll be rough. All right, so after Jesus resurrects from the grave, he meets a few of the disciples, and he starts to, you know, say,

hey, like, look at my hands, look at my feet, touch him. You see the wounds and stuff like that. And then verse 2042, he asks for some fish, which is funny because it's like, why are you hungry? but maybe he wasn't, I don't know. They gave him a piece of broiled fish. He took it at eight before them. Then he said to them,

these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Here it is, verse 44, 45. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures

and said to them, thus is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. So it's, he talks about, the law. He talks about Moses. He talks about the prophets, but it's by his power that they get it. And so I'm just affirming what you're saying is that we are even dependent on God to understand God's word. And so some of it is, yes, we need to be taught. Yes, we need to be instructed. Yes, we need to

listen to leaders and teachers who are teaching accurately, but also be dependent on the Holy Spirit to help you understand the word that he inspired. That's good. And he will. That's real good. And he has. So in closing, what do you want people to walk away with upon reading upon waking? Upon waking. Upon waking. I just wanted to be a means by which you get in the rhythm of having a disciplined time with God. I want it to be a resource. I don't want this to be bread.

I want this to be an appetizer. The bread is the scripture. Like, it's the scripture that is God breathe. It's the scripture that is profitable. It's the scripture that is useful. And it's not just the scripture, it's who the scripture communicates about, which is God himself, right? And so I just kind of want this to take away some of the awkwardness and the instability of our time with God and just kind of be like a, I don't know, a tool. Yeah, that's good. Because like this is a new book for some. And what, if you go to a new restaurant, right?

When you go to a new restaurant, the appetizer, the appetizer is great. It just makes you more excited for the entree. Yeah. And so I think that's what this book, its book is great. Yeah. But I think what it should ultimately do is to make you say, man, if this book is good,

the Bible is better. Yeah. So I would say before you read it, pray, ask the Lord to communicate with you to speak to you, to soften your heart so you can hear from them.

Yes. And then read the day, but also read the scripture that the day is communicating about. And so read the chapter or read the book, if you got time, and then do that every day.

And don't, I just, I just, I really, it would be hard for me to believe that if you seek God with your whole heart that you won't find Him. That's good. That's good. I think you will. Well, your resources have been a body, a blessing to the body of Christ. What about you?

I'm not talking about me right now. I'm talking about you. We're grateful. We're grateful for all your resources. Peace. With the Perry's is produced by the Perrys with support from Amanda Reed and Channing B. McBride. editing by Xavier Fairley, video recording and audio production by Kim Powell, artwork by hop, and music by school. If you'd like to support The Perrys, you can visit the link in the show notes.

This is with the Perrys. Thank you for listening. Now go with God.