David Lee Martin

Being with God and His being with us is the fundamental blessing from which all others flow.

At every stage of the entrepreneurial journey from the first penny to growing great, God’s presence is the one essential.

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Continuing our entrepreneurial journey looking at Genesis chapter 26. We’re going to just keep digging into that beautiful chapter and see what unfolds. I honestly don’t know exactly where the Holy Ghost is going to lead us. I’m kind of just following as you are, and I’m picking up again today on Isaac’s journey, as I say in Genesis 26, and how it might provide insights for our own entrepreneurial pathway as we walk as faithfulpreneurs, looking to build businesses, looking to offer creative contribution to the world. However that may look. And we’re told right at the outset, as we looked at it last time, that Isaac found himself in a land of famine, and looked at how sometimes those lean times are times of learning and times of testing and proving of our character. But we’re told that he first heard God speak. In fact, we’re actually told that God appeared to Isaac. And I suspect that God kind of interrupted in this way because the temptation to go down to Egypt was very real at the time. And so God comes in to intervene before the patriarch derailed heaven’s plan for his future and his prosperity. We read in Genesis 26:2 and 3, the Lord appeared to him and said, don’t go down to Egypt, dwell in the land that I shall tell you of this land, and I will be with you, and I will bless you.

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Just those two verses. Those few lines have so much that we can draw from. I believe several points really strike me regarding my own walk of faith in the realm of business and creative contribution. And so what I want to do today is just share some of the thoughts that have come from this with me as we dig in. And I would love to hear what God speaks to you as you look at these verses. How is God leading you? What is God highlighting to you? And do feel free to jump onto the blog, comment on these things. Let me know what you think and the insights that God is giving you. I’m just going to go through this verse and really pull out a few words. Number one, God said, God is ready and waiting to speak to the problems that we face right here in the midst of extreme challenge. Isaac. God appears to Isaac and speaks to him. Isaac was up against a famine in the land. Prospects looked pretty bleak and hopelessness had taken hold of many, I’m sure, and the world was, in a sense calling him to divert and go down.

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God said to him, Isaac, go not down to Egypt. Now, sometimes the temptation to bring our standards down, to compromise on our convictions, can be very real, especially when we’re, in a sense, between a rock and a hard place. When things look bleak, the temptation sometimes to kind of bend ourselves in the direction of the world and the way that the world wants to do things, and the way that everyone else is doing things can sometimes be very real. But hearing God’s voice kept Isaac on track, and we too, I believe, need to keep our ear tuned to the voice of our King whatever season we’re in. And as I say God said to him, Go not down to Egypt. The seeming rewards of Egypt can be really enticing when we come into the online marketplace. When we come into business, when we begin to hear the different voices and the things that they’re teaching, it can be very seductive. And some of the faithful pathways that God calls us to traverse can appear challenging in comparison. Compromise and marriage to the ways of the world can creep into our thinking and blur our convictions.

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If we’re not careful, as the Scriptures say, a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. And we want to be very careful that we don’t take the yeast of the world’s teaching and the world’s ways of looking at things and basically sow them into the flower of our heart because we might not actually enjoy what comes out of the oven at the end of the day, if we do so. Business in God’s Kingdom as his representatives is very different from that of the world. I believe the call to Kingdom entrepreneurship is a Holy call, and we should come at it with that kind of sensitive, fearful heart, if you like fear of God infused approach to the way that we turn up and to the way that we operate. And I have to admit, by God’s Grace, I’ve had to be forgiven of many times where I feel as though maybe I stepped outside the lines of what I would consider complete honour for his name. And I’ve not done anything illegal, obviously. But what I’m saying is I believe that this road that we’re walking is a Holy one. It is a narrow road that leads to life.

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And we just need to be very careful not to get caught up in some of the pursuits that the world is engaged in and that the world is proposing and understand that although our journey may take sometimes more time, although our journey may sometimes be more stringent and the demands upon us may be greater than if we could rush ahead or take a shortcut, the rewards actually far outweigh whatever price we will pay to do it right and to do it respectfully and honestly and honourably before God and indeed, before people. You know, the end may be the same in some respects. Profit and growth may be the goal of both the worldly wise man and the faithful entrepreneur alike, but the Avenue to that end will often look very different. So many sincere Saints have overcome the test of adversity with flying colours, only to fall at the test of prosperity, utterly tripped up by its glamour. We don’t want to be that dude. We don’t want to be the guy who goes through the straightened years, who walks through the famine, comes into the blessing, and then the blessing consumes us, and we end up falling and failing in that test of prosperity.

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I believe that the development of our character during the times of growth are so important, and we should not fall into the idea that things should happen quicker, that things should happen differently. Why is it not happening for me the way I wanted it to happen? Well, maybe God’s developing a strong foundation upon which he can build a much greater house, rather than just a shallow foundation on which you can just kind of build a shack. And just because others do it this way or that way, and just because they sometimes get seemingly enviable results, doesn’t indicate that the means of getting there are acceptable or advisable for God’s Pilgrim partners, for faithful prayers like you and I, for creative contributors like you and I. Psalm 73, I think, is so telling. It’s such a beautiful Psalm. Isaac is speaking, and he’s confused and conflicted by the apparent streamlined success of the ungodly and the ease with which they are prospering in the world. And then he’s comparing it to his own experience of the resistance and contention that he’s facing and as he makes his way through what appears to be a hostile world.

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But then we read in Psalm 73:17, Until I went into the sanctuary of God, and then I understood their end in the sanctuary. Our perspective changes, sometimes radically. Those things that once maybe appeared precious and worthy of our attention somehow fade. And the measures that we rule and measure our lives by change when we stand in the sanctuary. Because when eternity comes into view, the rewards that we seek are no longer just temporal trinkets and accolades and all of that kind of passing reward, but we seek rewards that are eternal, and all that we do and all that we create are now working towards a more fitting and fulfilling end. We have not just this life, but the life to come in view in how we operate, and then how we utilise the gifts and the talents and the rewards that we received during this life. The verse continues, Dwell God said, dwell in the land that I shall tell you of the land had really been given only in word and promise. Isaac was a Nomad, driven into territory occupied by others who didn’t share his conviction in the one true God.

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And essentially, God told Isaac to find his rest in faith, faith in the Word and the promise of God, faith in the words that God had spoken to him, faith in the faithfulness of the one who spoke them, and really in the face of circumstances that look decidedly contrary. Isaac was called to see with the eyes of his Spirit and dwell in God’s goodness and expressed and internalised through his promises and for me, just this idea of God’s faithfulness, not just the idea of it, but the reality of it, that he has words for you to walk in to, just as he had specific words that he called Isaac to dwell in promises, to dwell in promises to station his heart and his hopes upon. He has the same for you. And his words can become the place of your dwelling. And they’re going to carry and protect you through life and carry you to eternal abodes way beyond the days of our pilgrimage here on Earth. And they work now and forever because that’s their nature, the words of God, the promises of God, this world will pass away, but God’s word will abide forever.

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And we’re called to abide in that word. And the specific personal words that God speaks to us in the sanctuary that we spoke of. They are safe haven. They are a secure anchor that goes way beyond inside the veil and fixes us in the presence of God. He’s told to sojourn that’s the word that’s used and this word sojourn means to live among the people who are not blood relatives. We may be in the world, but we’re not of it. With regard to your entrepreneurial journey, you’re a sojourner. Whereas many place their confidence and stake their future on temporal success, the faithfulpreneur always knows that in this world they’re essentially a spiritual tend to dweller merely passing through. Men may build their cities and empires, but we look for a city whose builder and maker is God. Our foundations and our confidence is not in the markets or even measured by our income. It’s founded in God, whether we’re facing famine or we’re enjoying plenty. I love Hebrews 11:10 speaking of Abraham, it says he looked for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. He had no abiding city on this Earth because he was seeing something far greater and far more enduring.

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The world and its ways are no longer a native language or tongue. As we say. We don’t live among people who are blood relatives anymore. A different blood has purchased us. The blood of God has purchased and brought us fully into God’s family. The old has gone, the new has come, and that old, selfish, Empire building spirit was nailed to the tree together with the Saviour. And certainly our pilgrimage into the world of entrepreneurship can be a blessed and prosperous one. We should be anticipating, expecting, believing, and praying for that. But our foundation remains in another realm, and that’s something that we must never forget. Deuteronomy Eight is a chapter that I often refer to with regard to our financial framework. And the Bible speaks in that chapter of the manner years and the lessons that they teach those lean years. And the most important of these is that it trains us not to conclude in our heart when prosperity does arrive. That and I quote my power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth because it’s not my power or my might or my wisdom or my gift or my talent or my awesomeness that is really in the frame here.

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It is the God who gives our hand the power to get and I believe to distribute wealth, that our security is in Him. We are stewards, not owners. Sojourners, not settlers and business. And blessing are a means to establish God’s Covenant, not just our comfort. Many people come and they’re looking at God’s blessing as a way to bless themselves. But really, we are blessed in order to be a blessing again. Deuteronomy 18 Remember the Lord your God for it is he that gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish His Covenant. That is the end that is spoken of and is put into effect and made possible by the means to establish God’s Covenant in the Earth. And then finally, I will bless thee and I will be with thee and I will bless Thee blessing, I believe, comes from his presence. Prosperity of soul comes from proximity to the King being with God and his being with us is the fundamental blessing from which all others flow. And at every stage of the journey from the very first Penny to growing great, God’s presence is the one essential. And if we’re ever faced with the stark choice between the world and his word Going down to Egypt Or hearing his voice and following his leading, Even if it’s into adverse or seemingly adverse circumstances in order to sow in a Larna of famine, Then whatever situation we’re faced with during times of abasement and during times of abundance, that choice will often and pretty much always be there.

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Will we go the way of the world or will we go the way of his word? Will we dwell in his promise? His word must always be the treasure that we choose thanks for listening to today’s episode.

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Hopefully it was a blessing to you. If it was do please consider leaving a rating in a review on whatever platform you are listening on. I also would love to encourage you to cheque out my new book, Faithful Creative. We’ve got a package of resources Designed specifically to encourage you in your Christian creative call. You can cheque that out at faithfulcreativebook.com and if you choose to pick it up, use the Promo Code Podcast for 50% off so you’ll get it for half price.

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Have a great rest of your day and God bless Jesus first. Everything else follows.

Entrepreneurial and creative life comes with challenges. They change from season to season, and every level has its own devils. Some taunt us to give up, others push us to work harder, want more, and never rest content.

As Jesus said, the road leading to life, real life here and in eternity, is narrow. Staying true to your faithful convictions in all seasons is the challenge every faithful-preneur will face.

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This month, I’m excited to be sharing some of my learnings over time in my entrepreneurial journey. Now it needs to be made absolutely, abundantly clear. I am not standing here as some guru of online entrepreneurism. I am just as much in the trenches as anyone here who’s listening. I’ve had my fair share of successes and my fair share of failures. I guess that’s part of the kind of what qualifies us to call ourselves entrepreneurs. It’s not just generally a smooth road that we traverse. There are challenges along the way. And one of my favourite chapters in the scriptures is Genesis Chapter 26. And as we know, the scriptures are kind of a layer cake at the surface level. We are oftentimes just reading a diary. We’re looking at a real life lived out before our eyes as it actually happened. You know, God, the Holy Spirit, was there to view it all, to see it all transpire, to see how it played out. And then he threw the means of men who were inspired by that same Spirit, by the witness of all that took place. Men were able to give us insight as to the journeys that others have taken.

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But then we go down layer by layer. We read in the New Testament that the Old Testament was given as an example for us, that we might learn from it, and that we might live with hopeful hearts, knowing that there is a bigger plan at work than just the small keyhole that we look through when we’re sometimes even looking at our own lives. We can have a very limited capacity to truly appreciate the breadth of what God is working in us and through us in the world. And indeed the bigger eternal destiny that has been worked out as he builds and develops and shapes our character for something not just in this life, but beyond this life, but Nevertheless, Genesis chapter 26, for me, is absolutely packed with insights that we can draw from in our creative and our entrepreneurial journeys. And I want to begin today talking about the lean land of learning. Entrepreneurial and creative life, as we all know, comes with challenges. And they will change from season to season. And every level, as they say, has its own Devils. Some will taunt us to give up. Others will push us to work harder, want more and never rest content.

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Those early days where maybe things are lean and hard and there are more questions than there are answers. Those are the times where it’s very easy to just throw in the towel. But then we get some success under our belt. And success has a very seductive way never to allow satisfaction. It wants more. It pushes and guides us onward instead of our heart being at rest and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us onward. As Jesus said, the road that leads to life. And I’m talking here about real life right here on the dirty Earth and into eternity is a narrow road. And staying true to our faithful convictions throughout all of the seasons and the challenges that we face is something that every faithful entrepreneur will face. And here in Genesis chapter 26, it begins with these unmistakable words. There was a famine in the land. In the kind of online marketplace particularly, I think, but elsewhere, I’m just talking about places that I am familiar with. There’s so much fanfare around entrepreneurship, highlighting the glamour and the gold waiting just around the corner. It’s almost like entrepreneurship is glamorised and made to be something far more attractive than it actually is.

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In reality, entrepreneurship and creative living is one that demands a great deal of faith and challenges us to our very core. The perpetual carrot chases run from one opportunity to the next, seeking out the luscious land. It reminds me a little of the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot and Lot. When the two parted, we’re told that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. There was this lush land there. There was a beautiful, fruitful land. And Abraham said, look, there’s not enough here where we’re presently situated for us both and our flocks and our people. You choose which way you go, I’ll go the opposite direction. So we won’t have strive. And looked out. He looked for the best of the land. And it says he pitched his tent towards Sodom. And as we know, before long he was in Sodom. In fact, he was in the gate of Sodom. He was a man of influence in that place. And just as Egypt represents the world, Sodom does not represent something necessarily desirable. It may have been the most enticing, it may have promised a great deal. But as we know, the story of Lot in life, as the story plays out, was not something that we would want to emulate.

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Isaac, on the other hand, Abraham goes off in the other direction. And then we fall into the story, continuing through his son, Isaac, the son of promise. And like his father Abraham, Isaac chose to live a tent dwelling pilgrimage. He didn’t kind of put down his roots in this world, if you like. He was a man on a journey. And here we see as he stumbles into Genesis chapter 26. Things are not looking great, and this is not often the case when we begin our dream of creative contribution and financial freedom. Far from the Fame and fortune that maybe are plastered across the sales pages. The land of famine is marked more by an abundance of ideas, but it’s balanced by an equal absence of an audience or even the means with which to reach them. It’s a challenging place to be in and one that requires great faith. The chapter, as I’ve said, begins with these unmistakable words. There was a famine in the land. And even when you go back to the original Hebrew, it means exactly the same thing. There’s no getting out of this. There will be times where we are challenged.

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There will be times where things look contrary to the way that we would like them to look. There will be times where we are called upon to look beyond the immediate situation and believe God for a favourable outcome, despite contrary evidence. Faith, we are told in Hebrews Chapter 11, is the evidence of things not seen. It’s the substance of things hoped for. Once we have those things in our hand. Faith is no longer required, but in this entrepreneurial, in this creative journey that you are on, looking to bring your message to the world, looking to make a difference in people’s lives. Faith is required. Without faith, no one can please God. What? All faith is something that is an essential. Yeah, it’s a non negotiable. And faith often is tested and required of us. Yeah. God allows us to develop our faith. Not through getting everything that we want, when we want it. Faith is built oftentimes in Adversity. And here we find Isaac in the land of famine. He is the man of God, his Papa’s chosen. And we find him here in the land of famine. The thing is, the land of famine is also often a land of learning.

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It’s a place where we learn to trust God, learn to speak up when no one’s listening. Put yourself out in the open while all the world seems to be going in the opposite direction, turning away, heading to Egypt. It’s a time where faith really is required. Believing both in the God who has called us and in the gifts that he has given us to bring to the world. It can be a difficult time. Those early days where we are literally in sowing and sowing and sowing, and it looks like there’s no harvest. It looks like the ground is unyielding. Can be very challenging times. We’ve all been there. Maybe it’s even a time where it seems completely ridiculous for you to think that you can be do or make more through your God given gifts and talents. It’s so easy. The world is designed, yeah, to corral us into the status quo. Just do things the way everyone else is doing them. Who are you to think that you could live differently and prosper from a place of peace? Go to work, go to school, get a job, work all your life, retire for a few years, spend what you’ve saved, and then whatever will depend on where you stand in relation to Jesus Christ.

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But I’m sure that there is a greater destiny for you right now. And it’s not that that pathway is necessarily wrong. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m just talking from the perspective of the fact that many people do lay down their dreams, lay down their hopes and just settle. Yeah, they settle for something less than that which they believe God has called them to it’s a hard training ground, but it’s often a key starting point for so many successful, creatives and in the land of famine, the world shouts so seductively with its come hither call to compromise our convictions and settle for less than the best that we know God is prepared for us. And as I said, that’s not a criticism. The temptation is very real. And if God has called you down a more conventional path, don’t be ashamed of that either. You know God can use us wherever he has planted us. I guess what I’m trying to say is when God speaks, follow his lead. Sometimes that may be into something that is more, if you like, ordinary, and there is nothing wrong with that. But sometimes he’ll call us to do something extraordinary in the sense that it’s outside of what someone would generally or normally do.

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Sowing a bunch of seed into parched, dry, dead ground is maybe not what common sense would say is the best thing to do. And yet here we find that the Lord speaks to Isaac. It says, Then the Lord appeared to him Genesis 26, verse two, and said to him, do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land of which I shall tell you, we don’t want to compromise ourselves, running off in a direction that the Lord is not leading us. Really, I think the key here is hearing, not hustling, leaning Larna close to the heart of God receiving his direction, pointing us to the land of promise. However that looks for us, he is the one doing the leading. We are the ones doing the following. Now, with regard to business, for me, this came several years ago when he told me that words were my way forward despite having several plates spinning with variable success. I had a website, business and lots of different things happening at the time. The direction God gave required not just heading in the direction that he pointed out. It also meant walking away from those things that didn’t kind of fuel that vision or lean in that direction.

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Now the temptation really, at the time, quite honestly, to hold on to a number of activities that provided dollars in the bank is one that I think many people face. Faith is often not just about what we take hold of. It’s also about what we’re called to let go of. At times I was challenged to close several doors, trusting that the writing and publishing door would open wider as I leaned into it. And like Isaac, I guess I was faced with a choice. Do I continue to consider my options in Egypt and spin busy plates, or do I trust God and believe that he could use whatever creative seeds he’d placed within me to bring a harvest even when the ground looked dry? And again, I guess a point to bring out of this is creative. Life takes courage now. Sometimes outside circumstances can look contrary to the vision that we carry in our hearts. How many entrepreneurs are like that? They’ve got this big vision of the dent that they want to make in the universe, the money that they want to generate, the difference they want to make. And yet here we are, like punching away on a keyboard to just a few ears who are kind enough to hear us or read us.

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We’re looking. We carry this big idea on the inside, but outside, the rewards seemed to be kind of remarkably small at times. Those early days, those wilderness years, if you like, can be so, so challenging. I want to encourage you. Keep walking in the direction God has given you. Offers and opportunities will appear to bypass the pain of obedience. And if we heed them, they’ll just keep us spinning in circles, really, or heading woefully and hopefully in the wrong direction altogether. See the foundation of your entrepreneurial endeavours. Your creative life is not the same as the world. In the world’s ways, the end meaning money most often will always justify the means. But in God’s economy, the real riches are found in relation to the one who’s promised to give your hand the power to get wealth, if that is the outcome you’re looking for. Deuteronomy Chapter eight is instructive reading for anyone who’s wanting to bring value to the table and receive wealth in return for that exchange. The key that opens the door is proximity to the God in whom all good things reside and from whom all good things proceed. Now, hearing God’s voice, I believe, is the treasure that we should be seeking.

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There’s a beautiful verse in Proverbs 20:15 there is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. What could be more precious, my friends, than the lips of God speaking wisdom to our heart? And there’s not one treasure on Earth, not the gold or the multitude of rubies can compare with learning to hear our God speak. The first lesson in faithfulpreneurship is to hear God. Until we get that one down, we’ll always be tempted to run down to Egypt. When the challenges come. Only God can satisfy the hunger and especially and even in the land of famine. That is the case too often in business and creative endeavours. We think that money, audience, reputation, success in the marketplace, subscribers, connections, or whatsoever. Whosoever else are going to satisfy our craving? But these are just answers with a small A. Yes, they’re needful. Yes, they’re important, yes, they make a difference, but they can be short lived, they’re changeable. Things can be going well one day and not so well the next. And really, what we’re looking for the sanctuary that will truly satisfy us in the long term.

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The Harbour for your heart is found in hearing God speak. And that alone is the one essential. That’s the answer with a capital A. The answer a life of hearing. Obedience is the one that’s going to weather every storm and overcome every obstacle successfully. In times of abundance and in times of abasement, when things look bleak in the land of famine, you’ll know, the security that eludes the lovers of Egypt, those who are looking to the world for their significance, those who are looking to the world and whatever the world is currently trending for their sense of worth, this sense of well being and this sense of rootedness, this tree planted by Rivers of water that bears fruit in every season at all times, only comes when we plant ourselves in the rich soil of God’s love and Grace. And we are willing to allow Him to do the leading, you’ll know, in the proving of your character that your future prosperity is being incubated. Deuteronomy Eight, Verse 18, as we’ve already mentioned, talks about God giving our hand the power to get wealth. But it’s preceded by this verse. It talks about how he fed his people in the wilderness with manner which their fathers knew not that he might humble them, that he might prove them in order to do them good in their latter end.

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And I believe that we often as creative Christians as men and women seeking to follow a different path and dance to a different drum, will also be given the privilege of being humbled and being proved that God might do us good in our latter end. And when we learn to lean in and hear God’s direction, even a land of famine can look like a field ready for sewing. And we’ll be willing to step out and throw out our very best into the world regardless of the circumstances, because we know that our God is faithful.

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Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Hopefully it was a blessing to you. If it was do, please consider leaving a rating in a review on whatever platform you are listening on. I also would love to encourage you to cheque out my new book, Faithful Creative. We’ve got a package of resources designed specifically to encourage you in your Christian creative call. You can check that out at faithfulcreativebook.com and if you choose to pick it up, use the promo code podcast for 50% off so you’ll get it for half price. Have a great rest of your day and God bless Jesus first. Everything else follows you.

In the words of Jim Elliott:

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

All else will fade but His words will never pass away.

To know Him is eternal life.

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Well, welcome to series three of The David Lee Martin Show. It’s April 1 here. April Fools Day, so I couldn’t think of a more appropriate time to a way back into the waters and begin sharing my heart in this daily dose of encouragement for you. What began as a short break just for some fasting and prayer during January seemed to turn into without my being able to kind of catch up with it. A three month sabbatical from putting out these podcasts. And then as I was lying in bed last night, my son actually said, have you got anything planned to prank anyone tomorrow?

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Which clearly I had not. I had not even realised that we were already rolling straight into April. But it got me thinking about April Fool’s Day and reminded me of the scripture. Many of you will be very, very familiar with this. The fool has said in his heart there is no God.

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Psalm 53:1, or even the indictment that we find in Romans 1:22. It talks about those who profess themselves to be wise, but in doing so they become fools. And really, their foolish rejection of God and their rejection of the clear proofs all around us of his reality, however clever and however well esteemed they may be among men, makes them kind of foolish when they’ll stand before God and give account for their life and for the people whose hearts and minds they’ve influenced away from reality. And really, this clownish cleverness began with the most slippery fool of all, and his nature and methods have never changed, and they always begin just as they did back there in the Garden of Eden with these same whispered words. Did God really say?

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And of course, he doesn’t come in at the outset and completely seek to obliterate truth. He comes in just to smudge the edges. Only later will he outright contradict the Creator and assert that you will not surely die knowing full well that you will. Now, did God really say that the world was created in six literal days? Are you sure it’s not millions of years?

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Did God really say there’s only one way to heaven? Did God really say that the flood covered the whole world in catastrophic judgement? Did God really say not to add or take away from the words of this book called the Bible? Did God really say, If I or even an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be cursed? Did God really say that you are personally accountable and will be answerable to him alone for every action you take and word that you speak?

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And then he comes with all of his creative adaptations of these age old doubt bombs that he wants to drop in our minds Where’s the promise of his coming nothing has changed for centuries. You’re okay? Or how about, how can a loving God send people to an eternal hell? Or you’re a good person. God will not judge you.

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Or how can you be so proud as to say that yours is the only way to God or all religions are the same. Truth? What is truth? There is no God now. There will come a day when the father of fools himself, Satan, will go screaming with his followers to a fiery eternal day that will never end.

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It will be an endless April Fools Day and I just want to encourage you. Don’t be fooled. The Bible is the true and the trustworthy word of God. 66 Books 39 in the Old Testament 27 in the new One book, many writers with one supernatural author. Any additions, adaptions and addendums are false.

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This is the trustworthy word of God. Jesus is real. He is the one and only begotten Son of the eternal God, the Saviour of mankind, the unique and only way to God. There’s no other name under heaven by which a man can be saved. He’s born of a Virgin, slain for the sins of humankind, buried and raised on the third day and he will soon return to judge the Earth.

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Once overcome with water, the world will next face the fierce fires of God’s. Roth whether we like to accept it or not, whether we want to hear it or not, whether the pulpits are somewhat silent on the matter or not, it is going to happen. The same loving God who sent his only son becoming flesh and blood himself to save his beloved mankind is also Holy and bound by his own spotless character to judge rebellion and sin. And no one is exempt. Our only Avenue out.

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Just as the door of the Ark was the only door you could enter in to step out of the judgement that came on the Earth and in the flood. So the only door today that we need to step into if we want to step out onto dry land on the other side of the coming judgement is Jesus Christ Himself and faith in Him and what he has accomplished through the cross. God’s love is reaching out to you today in the person of Jesus Christ. Be reconciled to Him. Repent, turn from your sins, change your mind, do whatever is necessary, humble your heart before Him and believe the good news.

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I love these words of Jim Elliot again, another famous quote that speaks of being no fool and he said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and everything else will fade, but his words and his ways will never pass away. To know Him is eternal life. And so here as I come into series three, I just want to say Jesus is Lord. He is the King of all glory and whatever he has in store for us in this coming season of life, whatever he has in store for you in this coming season of life.

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I pray that your heart would be rooted so deeply in his love and in his truth that whatever comes your way and whatever pressures are exerted upon you whatever comes against you, whatever seeks to entice you not one of those things will find a hook in your heart because of your utter devotion to the one true and only living God who was manifest in the person of his son. Such a great way to start a new season of heartfelt delight in the things of God and the creative plans and purposes that he has for you Jesus first everything else follows. Thanks for listening to today’s episode. Hopefully it was a blessing to you if it was do please consider leaving a rating and a review on whatever platform you are listening on. I also would love to encourage you to cheque out my new book faithful creative we’ve got a package of resources designed specifically to encourage you in your Christian creative call.

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You can check that out at faithfulcreativebook.com and if you choose to pick it up use the promo code podcast for 50% off so you’ll get it for half price. Have a great rest of your day and God bless. Jesus first, everything else follows.