Fit For Her Journey
The FIT FOR HER JOURNEY podcast was created to inspire and uplift women on their journey to personal growth and fulfillment in faith, health, and wellness. Through real insight, wisdom and the word of God, join Allie as she shares a bit of church, a bit of life, health and wellness and a lot of the word, God’s Word! Allie deep dives into the word of God and shares with her audience empowering and heartfelt reflections while creating a safe space for women, where vulnerability, truth and growth can exist on their journey. Life comes with its own challenges and setbacks, and Allie invites her audience to draw near to God for hope, grace and restoration. Be encouraged to surrender, abide, and step into the incredible will of God that He created for you. Be her. You are her. Become FIT FOR HER JOURNEY.
Fit For Her Journey
What Shall I Do
What shall we do when we're feeling disconnected from our spiritual path, like a ship adrift at sea? Join me, Allie Gibbs, the journey of grappling with feelings of inadequacy and distance from God. Through biblical teachings, we explore the profound connection between spiritual reflection and realigning our hearts with God's love. Discover how the story of a man questioning Jesus about how to inherit eternal life can serve as a catalyst for us to closely examine our own spiritual paths and the challenges that can present underlying motives to our connection with God.
In our heartfelt discussion, we take a closer look at how Jesus calls us to reassess the role of possessions and idolatry in our lives. A man's struggle becomes a mirror reflecting our own battles between worldly desires and spiritual devotion. Together, we'll dismantle the misconception that one's relationship with God should be transactional rather than deeply relational, emphasizing the essence of faith as genuine love and obedience not performance. Through personal anecdotes, I invite you to journey with me towards transforming our hearts by prioritizing a sincere connection with God and remaining open to the transformative changes He brings.
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You are now listening to the Fit for Her Journey podcast with Allie Gibbs. Hey, and welcome back to another episode of the Fit for Her Journey podcast, where we have a bit of church, a bit of life, health and wellness and a lot of the word God's word. I am your host, allie Gibbs. If you haven't done so already, head over and give this podcast a five-star rating, on whichever platform you're tuning in from, and, if the podcast has been a blessing to you in any way, leave a comment. You can also help us spread this platform to others by sharing it and blessing someone. Don't forget to hit the subscribe or follow button so you are notified first on all new episodes, and for that and listening I thank you all. It is an honor that I am able to share this podcast with you. Let's get into it. Listen. It feels like it has been a long time since I last met you all here on the podcast. How are you doing and, sis, how is your heart today? Oftentimes, when we check on family, friends or just anyone connected to us, we often lead by asking how are you doing, which is natural, it's polite, but just think how we can better serve, love and pray for others if we just ask how is your heart? It's not a trick question, but it's an honest question. Humanly speaking, all of us are in different spaces and places in life. Rather you are in a mountaintop season or a dry valley season, but no matter where you are, as believers we all can use a heart check. Jesus teaches us this in Matthew 22 as the second commandment you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I'm sure I can speak for many of my fellow sisters in Christ that you want your heart cleansed and purified out of love. So let's check on our sisters or brothers in Christ to ensure their hearts are cleansed as well. Well, as you already can see, it's about to get deep in this episode, so let's jump into it. Today I want to jump right into Mark 10, beginning at verse 17. But first I want to share how I was led to this text.
Speaker 1:For several weeks I have been battling in my mind about feeling inadequate and far off from God, because I was thinking back to the times when I was spending hours and hours of my day reading God's word, praying and weeping, asking God to cleanse me of my past sins and to cleanse my heart. I was able to see how God was moving in my life and I was convicted of things that required me to change, Changes directly linked to the way I think, the way I speak, the way I see and the things I did. By my actions, he was softening the stony areas in my heart. God was pruning me step by step, day by day, bringing me closer to the woman he created me to be, and today, as I look back, I'm able to apply new language as to what that process was and is. As to what that process was and is. I'm not there yet and, truthfully, none of us really are, as we will continue our pruning process until the Lord says it is finished. Today I was on the Lord's wake-up list and I praise Him with great gratitude because in that I know he's not done with me yet.
Speaker 1:But as of late, the past few weeks have been a struggle because I haven't been spending those same amount of hours and hours of my day reading God's word. It has been more like listening to a few chapters in the car as I drive to take my children to school, viewing and briefly reflecting on a verse of the day, less frequent prayers. Throughout my day, I've been feeling blocked of creativity and vision, and for that I have felt guilt. That led me to feelings of disobedience and distance from God, because I wasn't sure he still saw or heard me. It had me thinking I wasn't doing enough. How can I share the gospel if I'm not doing what I think is enough? And for that, how could God use me, child, when I say the enemy used that as his playground. He was hopscotching all over it. It was similar to the feeling of being on the monkey bars with no momentum to swing forward, so you just drop because you can't hold on any longer. But as I searched and read the word of God, my eyes were open to many scriptures. But in the midst of it I was led to the book of Mark, because what I knew for sure was that the enemy was not going to continue to play with me. I don't want to assume. Everyone listening already knows who Mark is, so I want to share that.
Speaker 1:Mark was not one of Jesus's 12 disciples, but he did accompany Paul on his first missionary journey of spreading the gospel. Paul, formerly named Saul, once condemned the Christian faith and persecuted Christians, to then having a personal encounter with Jesus, where he was transformed and began preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles across the nations. Mark was probably the first gospel written of the New Testament to present the person of Jesus Christ, his work and teachings. So I want to jump into Mark, where it talks about Jesus speaking. And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness. And he said at him, loved him and said to him you lack one thing. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:This message is rich in text and worthy to unpack, because this story applies to so many of us today. The text begins by saying the man came running to Jesus, knelt down before him, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. For some of us, we too come running to Jesus wanting to be sure we too get eternal life. So we ask what we need to do to inherit it in our prayers. For others, life has lifed you so hard and you've experienced loss after loss, so heavy, that the weight of it all leads you to Jesus thinking if he doesn't step in to tell you what to do next, all hope is lost. But Jesus tells him six of the commandments Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. Why does he share these commandments with him? He shares them because they can be seen by people from the outside. We can track our progress in a checklist format with these commandments. It's a visual reminder of accountability and as humans in society today, we even use them as a comparison tool to deem how worthy we are to be in the presence and sight of God.
Speaker 1:And the text says the man said Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth. Surely he thought he had done all the things, so he should be good. We too think if we haven't murdered like he did, committed adultery like she did, stole or lied about anything, committed fraud like they did, and honored our father and mother, regardless of how they rejected and abandoned us. We too should be good, but watch this. The text says and Jesus, looking at him, loved him Sis. Looking at him, loved him Sis. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Just like this man, jesus looks on the inside, the things people can't see, the part of you you can't track on a checklist. He was checking for the heart.
Speaker 1:Jesus didn't condemn the man in that moment. He lovingly broke through the man's pride, sin, idolatry, yep, with a challenge that revealed his true motives. The verse continues saying and he said to him you lack one thing. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me. Disheartened by the saying, he went away, sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. I'm going to end it right here.
Speaker 1:It was this barrier for the man, his idolatry and pride, and equally so for many of us today, that could potentially keep us out of the kingdom of God, the love of money. The man had wealth. The man had accomplishments. Money, the man had wealth. The man had accomplishments. This man had a name for himself by his humanized self-effort. The man had pride. So, yes, the man's face sunk and fell low. Because why would I separate myself from all of what I have built and established thus far? This man had face-to-face access to the Savior, y'all literally up close and personal, on the cusp of salvation, as he knelt before him, not realizing that his earthly possessions were all temporary and will pass away. But if he could just be obedient to the call of following Jesus, oh what great reward awaited him in heaven.
Speaker 1:Jesus isn't saying wealth is bad. He's not even saying that this is meant for all of us. God is not against any of us having wealth or requiring every believer to sell all their possessions, but we all have to be honest with ourselves and check our hearts for pride and idolatry. What does our wealth and our possessions mean to us? And the wisdom here is that we must not let it keep us from following Jesus. Whatever we grasp so tightly to will eventually strangle our hearts.
Speaker 1:Proverbs 4.23 says keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. See, our hearts are centered around how we live our desires and how we show up in the world. We can't take account on just the good deeds that are seen outwardly, but we must guard our hearts for what's on the inside, to rid ourselves of desires that keep us out of alignment with the path and will of God, that causes us to miss Jesus. We can't become sidetracked by distractions and moral implications that can ultimately lead to sin. If Jesus asked could you give up your house, your car, relocate, give up your level of income, your position, in line to the next promotion? That relationship, your position in line to the next promotion? That relationship, that friend circle? No-transcript? Hmm, ironically, if we're honest, just like the man in this story, many of our reactions to Jesus's challenge would place us in the category of being unable to keep the first and greatest commandment to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Speaker 1:Too many of us today fall short of not letting anything be more important to us than God. This man was face to face with Jesus y'all and could not turn his whole heart over to God. So, while many of us are trying to see what deeds we can do daily to be made right with God and inherit eternal life in his kingdom. Jesus is showing us with love the thing we are not willing to do, and that's giving up idolatry, repentance of our sins and turning our life completely over to Jesus to follow him. So many believers today believe they are guaranteed a place in the kingdom of heaven just because they are saved and are doing good deeds. But, my God, how is your heart?
Speaker 1:God was dealing with me in a similar way because, as I was looking back over the past few weeks where I was feeling inadequate and questioning if I could really be used by God because I wasn't doing all the things I did in a different pruning season of my life, I felt I wasn't hearing from God and struggled with if I was being disobedient. I was questioning my faith because there was a shift in how I spent time with him and as I prayed over this, what I believed God revealed to me was that I was trying to perform my way into his presence by means of doing good deed after good deed. I was getting into a routine and I was reminded that I can't earn his presence by working for it, nor will I deserve it because morally, as a sinful human, I am imperfect before a perfect God. Talk about a hard truth, but he reminded me that he already sees and hears me. And to continue to follow Jesus and build relationship with him, to keep my eyes on him, because he is the Savior who clothes me in righteousness. Not only is my father able to give me that hard truth, he also loves enough that he sent Jesus to ensure my relationship can be established. Jesus paid the price so we can be made right with God.
Speaker 1:How can we, as undeserving as we are, not follow Jesus? How can we not let go of our pride, idolatry and sinful ways to be clothed by our Savior? Nobody but Jesus. There is no other way we can be presentable to God. We have to get serious in seeking the Lord, because ask yourself this question who are you without him? I know for me, I want to be everything God created me to be, and I can only do that with Jesus.
Speaker 1:Way too often people are misled by thinking their relationship with God is transactional instead of relational. Let's talk about it. We don't serve a God who interacts with us by way of a reward system where we do something morally good and think he will reward us for doing it. As a mother and parent, you wouldn't reward your teenager for cleaning his or her room after you told them to. Truthfully, they should be doing it anyway, without expectation of an instant reward, not looking at it as a good deed but a form of obedience, because in their heart they honor their mother.
Speaker 1:He showed me that, although I may not be in position to spend hours and hours of my day reading scripture and praying unto him in solitude, as I once did which for me in that time was very necessary but now listening to scripture in the car on my way to take my children to school wasn't only for me but has become a form of discipleship for my children, planted as a seed to connect them to the word of God and to be a gateway to their own relationship with God. Through Jesus, come on, somebody body. He showed me that, although I'm not weeping as heavily over past sins, he's showing me how my convictions are transforming me and how I pray and repent more fervently when I recognize sin in me, dealing with it more aggressively, so my heart may be cleansed and healing can take place in areas where only God can fulfill because Jesus is enough. And in those moments of feeling inadequate, of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to others, I was recently reminded that he knew I wasn't a theologian when he gave me a word. He knew what I struggled with my insecurities, flaws and all, but still he redeemed me, chose me by clothing me in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and deemed me worthy. If I just stay focused on Jesus, god revealed to me that Jesus died for my sins so I can live. And he did this for you too.
Speaker 1:I think to when Jesus called Matthew, who was a tax collector, to follow him, and how the text says that Matthew got up and followed him. He left everything and honored Jesus immediately to others. Matthew didn't have practice as a disciple, he didn't have it all figured out, he had questions and, I'm sure, moments of doubt, but he walked by faith and not by sight anyway. So when fear creeps in, doubt strikes, when the enemy tries to bombard me with insecurities and pass in, I will stand firm that he will have to take it to my father because I am and have been clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. So I leave you with this.
Speaker 1:No good deed can earn you eternal life and our acceptance by God is not determined by our performance or how well we do something. We can't earn it because, humanly speaking, it is impossible, because our flesh is weak. Rid yourself of idolatry, pride and sin. Yes, read God's word in your Bible and pray daily. Disciple others and serve. Yes, do good deeds, but understand that those outward deeds can't manipulate God or allow you to control your eternal reward. Equally, do the internal heart work. Guard your heart, deal aggressively with your sin and repent. Pick up your cross and follow Jesus daily because I, like many of you, my fellow sisters, want my name written in the book of life in heaven. Amen, amen. Family, I'm sending you much love and until next time, peace, love and blessings.