0:00

to see how dying to myself

0:02

can give me such peace. I

0:04

just am blown away, like I

0:06

could just cry about that because

0:08

he's so faithful when we let

0:11

go of I and I focus

0:13

on you. He just is so

0:15

good to show up. Hey

0:20

everyone welcome to talk it

0:22

out Aaron and I are here

0:24

for you today with something new

0:26

and exciting now first it looks

0:29

a little different today because Aaron

0:31

is home with a sick little

0:33

guy Aaron I'm so sorry Oh,

0:35

thank you. That's okay. We're gonna

0:37

we're gonna make it but look

0:39

at my cute puppy boy you

0:41

talk about that dog like he's

0:44

not the precious angel that he

0:46

is It's good that people

0:48

finally get to meet him,

0:50

see that he is some joy in our

0:52

life. You said he's really good

0:54

when he's sleeping. Yeah, like

0:56

right now he's so great. Well,

0:58

I am also out of town.

1:01

I'm visiting our daughter's family and

1:03

have been able to commandeer my

1:05

son-in-law's podcast. studio today at home.

1:07

So thank you Ryan. We're very

1:09

grateful to be able to sneak

1:11

in here and do what we

1:13

want to do with our friends

1:15

because today we're doing something like

1:17

I said brand new. It's called

1:19

talk it out small talk because

1:22

you know what? None of us

1:24

got the time we think we

1:26

have. We want more time. We

1:28

need more time. But what we

1:30

are doing here together every week

1:32

is so important, studying the word,

1:34

talking about how it impacts our

1:36

life, encouraging one another as friends.

1:38

It's vital. And so we can

1:40

do it in smaller portions of

1:42

time every now and then, and

1:44

that's what this is all about.

1:46

So what we're going to do

1:48

is take a scripture or a

1:50

passage and we're going to look

1:52

at it together. Joyce is going

1:54

to give us some great insight. Aaron

1:56

and I are going to share a

1:59

few, just quick... thoughts from our own

2:01

life and it will be just

2:03

enough to really fuel your own

2:05

Bible study and to get you

2:07

thinking and concentrating and meditating on

2:09

this passage and wait and see

2:11

what God does in your life.

2:13

So I'm really excited about it.

2:15

What do you think, Erin? Me

2:17

too. I think, let's just be

2:19

honest with our friends here, the

2:21

hardest part of this is going

2:23

to be the quick ideas that

2:25

you and I have to not

2:27

say them and then more of

2:29

them. So we're going to do

2:31

this and we can... We can

2:33

do hard things. We can say

2:35

less. We can. We can. We

2:37

can. Small talk. Talk small. Yeah,

2:39

we can do it. We can

2:41

do this like small talk and

2:43

still be deep and meaningful. And

2:45

like now, as we continue to

2:47

talk about how we can do

2:49

it shorter, it's getting longer. But

2:51

we can do it. I know,

2:53

so stop talking. Anyway, Erin, I'm

2:55

happy to see you from so

2:57

far away, because I've missed you.

2:59

Well, I've missed you. Okay, here

3:01

is today's verse for small talk.

3:04

Galations 220, we're going to read

3:06

it together. It says, I have

3:08

been crucified with Christ and I

3:10

no longer live, but Christ lives

3:12

in me. The life I now

3:14

live in the body, I live

3:16

by faith in the Son of

3:18

God, in Jesus, who loved me

3:20

and gave himself for me. Now,

3:22

here's what we want to invite

3:24

you to do. If you want,

3:26

you don't have to, but if

3:28

you want, you can pause right

3:30

now. You can go to other

3:32

versions of that scripture, maybe read

3:34

it a few times. Think about

3:36

it just a little bit and

3:38

come back, and we will be

3:40

right here ready when you are

3:42

for our small talk. Are you

3:44

ready? So Aaron, let's pause, okay?

3:46

You ready, pause. Are they gone?

3:50

Your father's is so much

3:52

cheater, I'm not sure what

3:54

I got stuck doing. Anyway,

3:56

okay, we're back. Okay, so

3:58

let's jump right in with

4:00

Joyce because This is one

4:02

of those verses that I

4:04

think is really easy to

4:06

hear and think, well, that

4:08

is a really important scripture

4:11

for Christians, right? It states

4:13

who Christ is and what

4:15

he did for us, but

4:17

it's really easy to gloss

4:19

over because it's maybe a

4:21

little theological or deeper than,

4:23

you know, we like to

4:25

stick with, for God to

4:27

love the world, or the

4:29

Lord is my shepherd, because

4:31

those are real good scriptures.

4:33

is not a feel-good scripture,

4:36

but it is life-changing. So

4:38

let's see what Joyce has

4:40

to say about it. Galations

4:42

220, Paul said, I've been

4:44

crucified with Christ. In him,

4:46

I have shared his crucifixion.

4:48

It is no longer I

4:50

who live. The Christ the

4:52

Messiah lives in me. and

4:54

the life I now live

4:56

in the body I live

4:59

by faith in adherence to

5:01

reliance on and complete trust

5:03

in the son of God

5:05

who loved me and gave

5:07

himself up for me. So

5:09

this scripture that many of

5:11

you know very well is

5:13

talking about exactly what I'm

5:15

talking about here this weekend.

5:17

But somehow we read that

5:19

and I don't know if

5:21

we just think it's nice

5:24

that Paul died the self,

5:26

but... This is something that

5:28

we need to apply to

5:30

our lives. So I want

5:32

to assure you that everything

5:34

I'm saying I can back

5:36

up in scripture. Because I'm

5:38

going to say a few

5:40

things that you're going to

5:42

go. Eye is my flesh.

5:44

This eye. Now there's a

5:47

new eye inside of you,

5:49

but the eye he's talking

5:51

about here is your flesh.

5:53

And your flesh is composed

5:55

of your body. your fleshly

5:57

body, and whatever part of

5:59

your soul you have not

6:01

yet given over to God.

6:03

So... Dying to self literally

6:05

means that I'm going to

6:07

have thoughts, but if I

6:09

think something that doesn't agree

6:12

with God's word, then what

6:14

I think has to go

6:16

and God's word takes precedence

6:18

over that. If I say,

6:20

well, I feel, and what

6:22

I feel doesn't agree with

6:24

God's word, then I don't

6:26

live according to that feeling.

6:30

I live according to the word of

6:32

God. Don't be a kind of Christian

6:35

who just does what you think you

6:37

can get by with and still slip

6:39

into heaven. Be the kind of Christian

6:42

that wants to glorify God here on

6:44

this earth and who you want your

6:46

life to make other people want to

6:49

have what you have. I love that

6:51

she explained this so clearly, that the

6:53

dying to flesh, that the flesh is

6:55

I. And I has been a really

6:58

big word for me at different times

7:00

in my life. I'll just be so

7:02

honest with y'all. I have been way

7:05

too big at different points in my

7:07

life. And so this has hurt. Letting

7:09

go of I is really, really hard.

7:12

Tell me what you thought listening to

7:14

this. Well, I looked at this verse

7:16

in C.E.V. translation just because, like you

7:19

said, it sounds really big, and so

7:21

I wanted to break it down practically.

7:23

So the first thing it says is

7:26

I have died. I thought, well, maybe

7:28

I should stop there because I prefer

7:30

we don't go on. This can't be

7:33

fun. But I have died, but Christ

7:35

lives in me, and now I live

7:37

by faith in the Son of God

7:40

who love me and gave his life

7:42

for me and gave his life for

7:44

me. So I. And it just brought

7:46

me back to this whole top. I

7:49

got this video someone put on Instagram

7:51

of this speaking event that I did

7:53

a few months ago and it was

7:56

this really great video of like something

7:58

I said it actually made sense and

8:00

like I had my great suit on

8:03

thank you I know when you get

8:05

those videos of my speaking somewhere and

8:07

it can either be oh thank you

8:10

Lord for helping me you're like oh

8:12

that did not go like a song

8:14

that was like a distinct thought who

8:17

knew But anyways, like my hair looked

8:19

good. And then minutes later, I'm home

8:21

with a kid who's got like the

8:24

gross kind of sick. And I don't

8:26

look like that girl that I just

8:28

saw this video of. So my first

8:31

thought was like, well, God, that's good.

8:33

That's some humble, humble pie right there

8:35

that grounds me. And this is just,

8:37

yeah. Here's where we are. But then

8:40

I had a thought in the middle

8:42

of the night last night at one

8:44

when I was up that the same

8:47

girl who was in her suit. and

8:49

felt confident in what she had to

8:51

say from God is the same girl

8:54

who's sitting broken or just overwhelmed by

8:56

her circumstances right now as a mom

8:58

who has not showered in a few

9:01

days and just feels overwhelmed. I have

9:03

to die to myself in both of

9:05

those circumstances. That's so good. When I

9:08

got on that stage and got to

9:10

speak at that saying I had to,

9:12

I was so nervous because you understand

9:15

like when we get to talk about

9:17

Jesus, it's a big deal. And I

9:19

don't ever take that for granted. Like,

9:22

it's so important. So I have to

9:24

die to myself when he asked me

9:26

to do something that feels scary. Lord,

9:29

let it be you, let it not

9:31

be me. At the same time, I

9:33

have to die to myself and I

9:35

have to serve people who are sick

9:38

or I have to do something that

9:40

I don't want to do. And it's

9:42

just this constant giving my thoughts and

9:45

my feelings to God and saying. not

9:47

my will but yours. And I want

9:49

to think the way that you think

9:52

not the way that I think. So

9:54

I love what I love what Joy

9:56

said in that. I think that's profound

9:59

no matter which which part of life

10:01

you're into. Yeah, that's so good because

10:03

there are those times you really do

10:06

feel like I'm not even exactly sure

10:08

everything I said I did and I've

10:10

done that before you know I've spoken

10:13

a lot and and then you think

10:15

sometimes I did all right and then

10:17

you see it and you're just like

10:20

oh no and then other times you

10:22

really do feel like I'm not even

10:24

exactly sure everything I said But I

10:26

really do feel like the Holy Spirit

10:29

was guiding me and helping me and

10:31

I'm so grateful for that and I

10:33

would much rather have that experience than

10:36

the experience of I, you know, I

10:38

was telling you that I can be

10:40

really important to me and especially in

10:43

the past in my life and if

10:45

I'm not super careful it can be

10:47

all the time. So it's like that

10:50

constant putting it down and dying to

10:52

self and I have learned that they

10:54

are so much more important than I,

10:57

you know, others, and that he is

10:59

just infinitely greater than I am. So

11:01

it's hard to understand why. Dine to

11:04

I gives you more freedom than anything

11:06

else you can do. It takes the

11:08

pressure off of everything because it's saying,

11:11

okay God I'm relying on you, I'm

11:13

trusting you, it's yours, the good and

11:15

the bad, and I'm not taking responsibility

11:17

for it. There's something beautiful in dine

11:20

to that I. It's true because just

11:22

because I'm really in it right now.

11:24

the sickness in our home is one

11:27

that gets me really anxious anytime it

11:29

happens. It just, it causes me to

11:31

feel so anxious and out of control

11:34

because I can't control the situation. And

11:36

so, you do, you understand this. And

11:38

so, I have been amazed at the

11:41

piece I've had in the past few

11:43

days because it's not normal. This is

11:45

not how I typically respond. And I

11:48

can, it makes me teary because like

11:50

I feel like I've been on this

11:52

journey with all of you guys over

11:55

the five years of just work. through

11:57

anxiety and I'm taking one step a

11:59

day and so to see God work

12:02

in a situation where I have so

12:04

so I put so much effort into

12:06

dying to myself in this when those

12:08

thoughts have crept in I have replaced

12:11

them with no I know I can

12:13

do all things through Christ who strengthens

12:15

me I know that God will give

12:18

me what I need and the grace

12:20

I need for this moment and I

12:22

don't need to worry about tomorrow tomorrow

12:25

will take care of itself and so

12:27

to see how dying to myself can

12:29

give me such peace I just am

12:32

blown away, like I could just cry

12:34

about that because he's so faithful when

12:36

we let go of I and I

12:39

focus on you. He just is so

12:41

good to show up. No, he definitely

12:43

is. That's so true. And you sharing

12:46

that journey with anxiety I think has

12:48

been so big for so many people.

12:50

So thank you. Really, really appreciate that.

12:53

My eye is much more of, well,

12:55

you said control. It is. It is

12:57

that too. And so, you know, we

12:59

live far away from our family that

13:02

we're here visiting so we don't get

13:04

a lot of time like this. And

13:06

this is more of an extended time.

13:09

And I've been just with a nasty

13:11

cold, just sick for like, I don't

13:13

know, almost two weeks while part of

13:16

it being here, part of it being

13:18

at home. And I just wanted it

13:20

to be so perfect and we planned

13:23

all these things. And here I was

13:25

just fighting through no voice just trying

13:27

to make it make it happen. And

13:30

it's so disappointing, you know. And then

13:32

we, I, I, we fought through, we

13:34

went to the special place. Okay, we,

13:37

we took our grandson and our family

13:39

to Disneyland for the first time and

13:41

don't give me any, any Disney stuff.

13:44

I don't want to hear about it.

13:46

But that's okay. We all have our

13:48

points of view. But anyway, he took

13:50

a header. He fell down. in the

13:53

happiest place on earth and just came

13:55

up covered in blood. And it was

13:57

like one of those moments where you're

14:00

just waiting. to see what you're gonna

14:02

find when you pick him up. And,

14:04

you know, of course, he was hurting

14:07

and so scared. And so God was

14:09

just with all of us, gave everyone

14:11

peace. He, we glued his head shut

14:14

and he's okay. You know, everything's good.

14:16

That's such a traumatic statement to say

14:18

like it was no big deal. Put

14:21

some glue on it, he's fine. You

14:23

know, glue is a wonderful thing now.

14:25

You don't always have to have stitches.

14:28

So I'm grateful for that. There's so

14:30

many things that I'm grateful for in

14:32

all of that. And again, it comes

14:35

to dying to what I wanted. I

14:37

wanted this perfect experience for all of

14:39

us together. And it hasn't been that,

14:41

but I'll tell you what it has

14:44

been. It has been beautiful because... dying

14:47

to all the things that I

14:49

wanted to be right. You know,

14:51

we've had other time together, you

14:53

know, we've had some special moments,

14:55

we've had some good talks, I've

14:57

had more good listens because I'm

14:59

not talking all the time with

15:02

my boys. I

15:04

think God just does things that

15:06

you don't even expect through the

15:08

hard stuff. And that's a wonderful

15:10

thing. And it makes me think

15:12

about when we when we die

15:15

to self, when we delight in

15:17

him, right? Psalm 374 says, delight

15:19

yourself in the Lord and he

15:21

will give you the desires of

15:23

your heart. Because the other verses

15:25

that is really important in this

15:27

is Galatians 5, 22 to 25.

15:29

It says, but the fruit of

15:31

the spirit is love, joy, peace,

15:33

forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and

15:35

self-control. These are the things we

15:37

want. Against such thing there is

15:39

no law. Those who belong to

15:42

Christ have crucified the flesh with

15:44

its passions and desires. Since we

15:46

We live by the spirit, let

15:48

us keep in step with the

15:50

spirit. But he doesn't say that

15:52

our desires are not important. He

15:54

says that he replaces our desires

15:56

with the desires that line. up

15:58

in his word. And so when

16:00

we die to self, those desires

16:02

begin to change. And the things

16:04

that seem so important, the perfect

16:06

day together, is not as important

16:08

as God's protection and guidance and

16:11

what he brings us. So my

16:13

mind is just always blown when

16:15

I think I've got to have

16:17

it this way, but God says,

16:19

you know, no, it's going to

16:21

be okay this way. Yeah, it's

16:23

so true. I love, I love

16:25

this small talk. direction because I

16:27

think that one verse it's one that

16:29

you could just blow past but we

16:31

just spent a few minutes talking about

16:34

this one thing and there's so much

16:36

to it like the word of God

16:38

has so many so many facets to

16:40

it and when we take time to

16:42

spend on just one one passage the

16:44

things that come out of it are

16:46

so good Like this first could apply

16:48

to so many different parts of our

16:50

life. All the time. All the time.

16:52

All of it. And that's why it's

16:55

important for us to meditate on the

16:57

word. Don't let it leave us. So

16:59

when things do happen throughout the day

17:01

to throw us off, we can come

17:03

back to it. No, you know. I

17:05

can let this go. My flesh doesn't

17:07

have to win in this situation because

17:09

I'm led by the Holy Spirit and

17:11

I'm filled with Christ who died for

17:13

me and loves me. And if we

17:15

can just remind ourselves of that every

17:18

day. So focus on this today. I

17:20

hope you've enjoyed our little small talk

17:22

today and let it sink into you

17:24

and then share with us in the

17:26

comments what you find, what you are

17:28

learning, and what God teaches you. Erin,

17:30

thank you. I hope everyone feels better

17:32

because there's a lot of stuff going

17:34

around these days, a lot of illness,

17:36

but anyway, God is still with us.

17:39

We're gonna make it. We're gonna survive,

17:41

we're gonna be okay. And we invite

17:43

you of course as always to go

17:45

to Joyce meyer.org/talk it out and check

17:47

up on our other episodes if you've

17:49

got more time go to some of

17:51

those longer episodes so get in enjoy

17:53

it yeah we'll see you here next

17:55

week with more and then about every

17:57

other week with some

17:59

small talk. We

18:02

love you all. Bye. bye.