Still Hungry?

You finally got the thing you wanted. And and for a minute, it worked. The purchase arrived, the praise came, the plate was full. Somebody finally noticed you. But then the feeling drained out. It drained completely out of it. That purchase you thought was gonna make you so happy didn't. Wasn't as great as they said, and it didn't feel as good as that you felt like it would feel. It didn't make you as happy as you'd really hoped that it would. The room went quiet again. And there you were, already reaching for the next thing. That's the part that should scare you. That's the part that scares me. The thing that promised to satisfy you keeps asking for more and giving back less. And you keep feeding it. And it never once says, Enough. I'm enough. This is enough. There's a chapter most people skim past as the old food list. And buried in it is a question aimed straight at your life. Does the strength of your appetite get to decide what belongs to you? Welcome. If you don't know me, I'm Dr. Sean. I'm just Sean. This is true word faith for life with Dr. Sean YouTube channel. If you're not a member, subscriber, or whatever, uh click on it. I'd love, I'd very much love for you to uh by the way. I hope my sound is good. Um hello to all of you in live chat. I I appreciate you more than you ever know. Listen, true word faith for life with Dr. Sean, S H A W N YouTube channel, all you have to do is go there, click on subscribe. It's super easy, and then click on the little bell for all notifications. I don't, you know, if you only knew how much thumbs up really mean to the algorithm, um, if you only knew, it's really the biggest thing that matters. And I know that's whiny to ask for. But anyway, why are we here? We're we're at um we're in it we're in a uh unique space, right? Daily walk through the whole story of God. We're walking through the story of God. If this teaching is feeding you, by the way, I have a book, True Word Faith for Life. It's my second book. True Word Faith for Life, I know. Very hard to remember. And even harder to remember is where you can buy it. Now, you can buy it anywhere you buy books, online, in person, whatever. But, but you can buy it from True Word FaithforLife.com under store. It's up at the top, the little button, boop, and you click on that. There's also a link in that for uh Mooseworks Bible. People say, you know, why do you constantly, why are you constantly uh hawking her products and her service? And I say, because she's great, she's not a sponsor, but she's phenomenal, she does phenomenal work. I've gotten six Bibles, I won't do any more because A, can't afford it. B, um, and it's not that they're not worth it, they're very much worth it. It's just I can't afford it. I'm on a fixed income. Um, I have a Bible collection, and but these were the ones that when I passed, these are the ones that were gonna go to select uh family members. So I I need if you need a Bible to last a lifetime and then another lifetime and then another lifetime, this is what you do. This is what you do. I mean, it's even if your Bible is a little ragged, or maybe the cover's coming off or whatever, as long as the binding is in decent shape and it it's not, you know, the pages aren't coming out or coming apart, it's phenomenal. Anyway, you say, Well, why would you say this about somebody that's not sponsoring you, paying you? Well, it's it's because I love what she does. You know? I love what she does, and I love how she does it. So that's why I do it. I mean, who knows? Who knows? It might be a blessing to her one day. Because her work's been a blessing to me, and I know it'll be a blessing to you. You don't have to get something to give something. It just doesn't have to be that. You know what I'm saying? By the way, if this if this teaching blesses you, the book gathers a lot of it in one place and a lot of other stuff. And look, if you're drinking your coffee, I would put it down before you read. Because there are some parts of it that I reread it and I laugh. Um, it was it was written before I got hurt. Um, and uh there was just a tiny bit of it to finish, and and uh anyway, and I wasn't able to write. So I spoke it, you know, text to speech. So please forgive any errors that I didn't catch, um, as far as you know, letter placement and this and that. Uh, but anyway, so here we are. This is exactly where we are, and and I think, man, oh man, you know, this is an interesting place to be. So, you know, I don't know. I would love the link is also in the in the show description. I would love for you to take a look at it and maybe buy it. Maybe buy two, buy one for yourself and buy another for a gift. I believe it'll bless you with all my heart. So, Leviticus 11, grab your Bible if you have one. If you don't have one, contact me through True Word FaithforLife.com. Contact, I'll help you pick out one. You know, I've done a ton of Bible reviews on True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean YouTube channel. Look for the one with about 4,000 um subscribers. Click on that, and if you do Bible reviews or whatever, you know, it'll it'll help you find those. It's all free. Everything's free. They're also in audio on uh true wordfaithforlife.com episodes. There, I'm also on, you know, wherever you get your podcast, I'm guaranteed True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean is there. So I would absolutely love to be able to help you. And um I hope I hope this is a blessing. I teach a little different, but that's okay too. So here's one for the chat before we open it. And honestly, listen, some of these are a lot to put in chat. So send me a message. You can put a comment in there, say, sent message, you know, whatever you want to put, please check email. Um, and I'll and I will absolutely respond. I always respond. And and the countless number of you who have sent me messages over the years, you know that I will. So here's one for the for the chat if if you're up to it. When you feel empty, which hunger gets loudest? Is it comfort, control, approval, distraction? Maybe it's something else. Maybe it's something. Just drop one word if you're comfortable. You you'll see that you're not the only one who typed it. So here's where we are. The day before this, two priests, the Dabanabiyu, died because they brought unauthorized fire before the Lord. They treated holy space as though their own intention was enough. Did I think they meant something they they something nefarious? No, I didn't think that at all. But in the middle of the night, that well, you know, let me just say, they did what they were not instructed to do. They kind of took liberties a little bit, and that's not good. That's not good. So here they were in the middle of the night. The middle of that terrible chair uh uh chapter, God gave Aaron and his sons, not in the middle of the night, in the middle of the chapter, God gave Aaron and his sons a job. It's clear. God gave this to Aaron and his sons. Distinguish between holy, the holy, and the common, the clean and the unclean, and teach Israel to do the same thing. I know, I get it. You wouldn't think that that would be a big deal, but it's a huge deal. It's a huge deal, and we can't minimize it. Today that lesson leaves the sanctuary, it crosses the camp, it's it enters the kitchen, it sits down at the table. Suddenly, holiness isn't about the altar. It has something to do with what you reach for when you're hungry, and appetite is one of the most ordinary and most powerful forces in human nature. Food appetite, food noise, powerful, powerful. Sexual appetite, it can it can it can change, improve, or ruin lives. Power, the appetite for power and control. It can absolutely be good because if it's a good person that's pursuing that power and control and you use it wisely, great. That's a super good thing. But if not, powerful force, not for good, but for bad. Are you following me? I hope you're following. Put in the chat if it's making any sense to you. Leviticus 11 opens with God, telling Moses and Aaron which creatures Israel may eat. And he starts drawing careful lines. Land animals that chew cud and have divided hoof, they're in. Water creatures need fin and scales, they're in. Certain birds are off the table. They're just off the table. Then it moves past eating altogether, into dead animals, pots, water, seed, ovens, clothing, right into the ordinary objects of everyday life. I know the question. I know what you're asking. Why would God care what Israel eats? Is the pig wicked? No. Is a shrimp in rebellion against God? No. That's where we begin. Two Hebrew words run underneath this whole chapter. Taur, spelled tet he vavresh. It means clean, ritually fit. Taba'i, spelled tet mem alef, means unclean, ritually unfit. Here's the thing. Your English can't quite carry. These words don't mean righteous and evil. They never have. A person could become Tame without sinning at all. A woman by giving birth. A man by burying his father. Unclean doesn't mean worthless. It doesn't mean God finds you disgusting. It's a temporary state where you're unfit to approach a sacred space and nothing more. And that matters. Because God made every creature named in this chapter. Genesis says he called his world very good. And Leviticus 11 doesn't overturn Genesis. The pig isn't a mistake. Oh, how'd that get here? The bald eagle isn't a rebellion. It's not in rebellion. It's not doing some bad thing. But you can't eat it. The question was never whether these creatures are good. The question is what's been designated as food for this covenant people. Are you following me? Are we still connected? And that word designated takes us straight back to Nedab and Abil. They acted as though nearness to God could be run by their own initiative, like it was no big deal. Maybe they thought it was a big deal, I don't know. But maybe they just made a mistake. Who knows what they're thinking is. Leviticus 11 teaches Israel they don't get to decide what belongs on the covenant table either. Israel doesn't manufacture holiness by preference. Israel responds to the distinctions God establishes. I get it, it's uncomfortable because appetite feels so personal. What I eat feels like my private business. Hey, it's my body, it's my choice. What enters my body feels like freedom. But look where Israel just came from. For 400 years, Pharaoh, Pharaoh owned their bodies. Their labor, their children, everything. Now they belong to the Lord. Adunaiolim. And he teaches them that freedom was never the right to be ruled by appetite. God didn't bring Israel out of Egypt so every Israelite could become his own little Pharaoh. He brought them out to be his holy people. And holiness isn't mainly a feeling. The Hebrew is kodesh, set apart for God's own purposes, which means it has to reach the ordinary parts of life, or it isn't forming anyone. So God turns every meal into instruction. We eat differently because we belong differently. The table becomes a classroom. An appetite becomes a place of discipleship. So let's look at how the chapter is built. The animals get sorted by features you can see and you can check. Israel's being trained to tell things apart. Leviticus 10 10 told the priests to establish between the holy and the common. Leviticus 11 closes on nearly identical language to make a difference between the clean and unclean. I know. It's hard to take in because it's so foreign to us. It opens with food. It opens with food and it ends with discernment. That is a big deal. This was never a divine menu. It's training in holy perception. Something can be within reach without being yours to take. Somebody else's blessing. Somebody else's assignment by God. Somebody else's flowers or accolade or applause. Maybe they're not yours. It's not mine to take. Sometimes it's not yours to take. God has his own blessings and instructions. And he has them for you. He may tell you, I want you to do this. It will never contradict scripture. Something can be within your reach without being yours to take. I want you to think about what that might be. Over the years, what might that have been for you? Something can be, you know, and envy is terrible. Envy is so destructive. Something can be within reach of someone else. And you, but it's their calling, their anointing. I want you to think about that. Something can be possible without being permitted. Listen, we can do lots and lots of things. Lots and lots of things we can do. Sure we can. Why wouldn't we? We can look at something and go, well, that's possible for me. But it's not permitted. Something can be desirable without being life-giving. I know. That's a tough thing. Take a breath. And that's a word. It's a word this moment needs. Because we've been taught that every distinction is judgmental and every boundary it's unloving. But God cre look, creation the whole of creation was formed through distinction. God separated light from darkness and dry land from sea. Distinction isn't the enemy of creation. It's how God brings order. Erasing every boundary doesn't produce freedom, it produces chaos. Erase the borders, and you have chaos. We're experiencing that in this country, and it's being handled now. But 20 million people that didn't go through the proper channels to be here, many of them not good people. Europe is experiencing it as well. You don't have borders. You don't have a country. You don't have borders. You don't have freedom. But look, it cuts the other way too. It cuts the other way. These distinctions were never meant to grow into pride. This was a calling, not a pedigree. A clean plate never once made up for an unclean heart. Isaiah faced people, keeping every observance while their hands were full of violence, and Isaiah told them God was sick of it. Micah said, What God requires is justice, mercy, and a humble walk. These commands, they were meant to train obedience. They were never a license for self-righteousness. Never once. You say, okay, that's then. What about now? This brings us to Mark 7, because someone always raises it, and they should. Some English translations add a phrase in Mark 7.19. Thus he declared all foods clean. Let's be honest about what's on that page. That phrase is a narrator's comment, not a red letter sentence out of Yeshua's mouth. And the Greek underneath it, it has produced real, ongoing discussion and disagreement. Faithful readers differ on how broadly Mark means it. And I won't pretend to debate it, I won't pretend this debate is settled. It's not. It's not. Hey, no worries. It's just my blood sugar. Let's see what it is. Alright, I'm fine. I got a little time. Ah, you know what? Let me take this. Sorry to do this on camera. You could you could say, well, you know, you can mute it, whatever. Um, I don't want to do that. So I'm just gonna do this.

Boom.

Don't ever get diabetes. By the way, I don't know if you know this. I don't know, you may not know this. And I'm not, I'm not that kind of a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor. Diabetes is not high blood glucose, it's uncontrolled blood glucose. Crazy, right? What do I have to do? I have to chew these things. They don't taste bad. Honestly, it tastes like candy. What's the name of them? I'm not gonna advertise them. Glucose tablets. I won't say the name of the company. I don't know. I have to do it. When I was diagnosed, I had a blood sugar of almost a thousand. Nobody believes that but Miss Colleen, she knows. Almost a thousand. Went into the hospital, and the guy with the doctors are like suspicious. Mm-hmm. Takes my blood. What was it, 20 minutes on? Comes back. Well, I know what's wrong with you. I said, okay, lay it on us. Your blood sugars on your blood glucose is almost a thousand. We were, I didn't know. Is that bad? What's the right number? Oh, I don't know, about a hundred. Couldn't believe I could still talk. Couldn't believe I um, you know, he had a bunch of doctors come in and look at me, and they were like, wow, never seen that. Anyway, I was blessed. God didn't remove my sight, I mean some of it, forever, but he he saved my life. He preserved me. Spent a week in the hospital, got great care. Fact of the matter of it is, is you know, we gotta take care of ourselves, man. You just never know. You never know. I have survived so many things, it's just crazy. I don't know why. I don't know why God keeps me here, but maybe it's his calling to this. Maybe it's his calling on me to bless you. I hope it does. I hope it does. Takes so much to do this. No kidding. No kidding. I'm handicapped. I have a brain injury and I have a I have a spinal injury. And it's not easy. It's just not easy. Um, I have to do this in segments. Thankfully, I have about 4,000 uh pieces that I've written over the years, and that doesn't count doctoral dissertations, master's thesis, all that stuff to draw on. I have all these things to draw in, thank God. And then I use AI to help me cull all of these writings into a message that is understandable. In the modern age, I take out a lot of the scholarly stuff, a lot of the academic stuff, and I try to make it so it's digestible to you. So, anyway, I'm supposed to chew it, but I like sucking on it. It's nice. Anyway, look, I know this is something of great debate. I know what I get it. I get it. There's a lot of debate on it. Yes, there is. Of course there is. It's a hard thing. There's nothing easy about this. There's so much argument though. Why? Why argue? Anyway, look, faithful readers differ on how broadly Mark means it. And I won't pretend the debate is settled when it isn't. Anyway, here's something I want you to put in in uh comments. And I get it. You know, some people will throw shade because they don't know how to make a comment without throwing shade. And some people will be intimidated by that and they won't put it in there. I hate that because I love hearing from you. I do, I love it. Love it, it means a lot to me. Now, not for nothing. You can put in comments. You know, is there, do you feel how do you feel if you're a postmodern Western evangelical, Protestant, Catholic, whatever? And how do you feel about the food that they talk about there? Is have you ever thought, wow, you know, I should probably, I don't know, I don't see that as not applying to me. Or maybe you the certain passages that say everything is is food. You know, how do you feel about it? Put it in comments. So, but what is unmistakable here is the argument itself. The scene doesn't even start as a fight about a Leviticus 11. It started because the disciples ate, and we're talking about New Testament here. The disciples ate with hands traditionally considered ceremonially washed. By the way, some of you have noticed and commented. They said something seems different here. You can't see it because it's out of camera view, but I'm sitting in a special chair called a new chair, N-U-C-H-A-I-R. Um, they are not sponsors. Main America, made it it's unreal. I mean, it's it's an unreal thing. I'm getting used to it. You can't see my brace because it's underneath. Um, I'm doing that on purpose. I'm really trying to do whatever I can to be able to continue doing these, but sitting up is extremely difficult. I can't hold my body up, spinal cord injury. Uh, so I have to find a way to work it out. You know what I mean? So that's what we're doing. So um have this chair, have this because of the blessings that were sent to me uh by Linda, uh, who is recovering. Continue to pray for her. Uh, dear Linda, we love you so much. Um, you are precious to us, and you're precious to me, and you're precious to God, and we pray for you constantly. Um, and and for Susan, Susan um was in on that whole thing, and I gotta tell you, it's unreal. So I have this chair. It's an expensive chair, it's a $900 chair. You but you you want things made in America. America. Well, yeah, but it's gonna cost. It's gonna cost, but it is the construction is phenomenal. So it is helpful for people like me who have spinal injuries and all that. Blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I know you gotta get out of here, so I'm gonna hurry up. Um, so the disciples, they ate with their hands, right? And and their hands were so so let me, you you know the passage is Leviticus 11. So this whole debate, this whole argument, it started because, well, you know, people are gonna argue about stuff. They do it all the time. People come into my comments and they say, Oh, this guy ain't a Christian. He ain't a real Christian because he don't even quote scripture. First of all, I don't know if you're listening, but I quote it all the time. This guy over here wears a hat. He's disrespectful. Why do I wear a hat? Because these lights are super bright, they give me a migraine. And I I have a massive headache most of the time when I do this. I have to do something periodically. Why do you have all that light then? That don't make no sense. Well, if I don't have all this light, can't see me. And some of you, you listen to the audio only because you don't want to see me. And that's okay too. We're on every podcast venue there is. True Word, Faithful Life with Dr. Sean. Follow us, do whatever. I would love that. Maybe write a review. So I get people in my comments all the time say stuff like that. You're disrespectful. Why do you sit when you preach? That's disrespectful. Well, I sit because I can't stand. And I can't sit for very long either. So I have to make accommodations and do things to help. Do am I asking for your pity? No, I am not. I'm just explaining so you're not like, hmm. And that is the thing, accommodation. Sometimes you have to have accommodations. So this started because disciples ate with hands traditionally considered ceremonially unclean, unwashed. And so Yeshua drives down to the real source of defilement. Food passes through the body, but evil thoughts, greed, deceit, envy, pride, these come out of the human heart. His warning is devastating. You can police what goes into your mouth while refusing to face what comes out of your heart. And a lot of that's happening today, all across our country. Hatred killed Charlie Kirk. Hatred killed him. Resentment killed him. God isn't calling God. Look, and understand this. Understand this. The writer, he isn't calling God's distinctions meaningless here. He's saying dietary purity can never stand in for an obedient heart. By the way, one of the comments that I've had, it was a long one, and I was like, wow. And it said, this guy never quotes scripture, therefore, he is a false prophet. Well, first of all, I'm not a prophet. Not a prophet. I'm quoting scripture in ancient Near Eastern language culture and context. If you miss that, I don't know how, but whatever. And then they said, um, what'd they say? They had something to say. Oh, I can't remember. I'll remember it now. Uh oh, you talk too slow. You talk too slow. Why do you talk too slow? I'm talking fast now because I'm trying to talk fast, because I'm running out of energy to sit up. So I gotta get it done. And I think you can handle it. By the way, the person said, I don't know if it's a man, female, female, I don't know which. They, them, whatever. Um, you talk too slow. You got to speed up. I've been in speech therapy for years. My speech therapist is phenomenal. The only reason I can do this is because I get weekly or bi-weekly speech therapy. Come on now. Why are you gonna pick apart somebody's trying to bless you for free? Holla. Anyway, so then there's Acts 10, right? There's Acts 10, where Peter sees a sheet come down. This is probably what a lot of you are thinking of, too, by the way. Peter sees a sheet come down full of animals. And he hears rise, Peter, kill and eat. And he answers that he has never eaten anything common or unclean. We understand that. By the way, I just quoted scripture. So watch what the vision turns out to mean. Because Peter tells you himself, he doesn't walk away announcing he can eat anything now. He gets summoned to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, and he says, God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. The vision was never about lunch. By the way, I just quoted scripture. The vision was never about lunch. The food imagery carried Peter across a line he thought could he could never cross. Hallelujah for that. It tore down a wall between human beings. Now, faithful believers land in different different places on how these instructions apply today, especially for Gentile believers, right? Some, you know, uh people have commented, well, you think you're a Jew. I'm not following you because you're a pretend Jew. I'm not following you because you are a Jew. I, you know, your Jew hatred is is slipping out. Uh I'm not a Jew, but they held the faith for us all these years. Good lands are way over. I gotta hurry. Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. 31 minutes. Good lands. You all got something to do. It's early in the day. Let's get after it. Anyway, so especially for Gentile believers, these were instructions. Some hold them as endearing covenant, I'm sorry, enduring covenant wisdom, and others read them inside Israel's distinct national calling. Wherever you land, that disagreement should send you into careful study, not mockery. Make fun of people for what they eat. That's up to them. Paul says the Torah is holy and the commandment holy and righteous and good, even where the application is debated. The reverence stays. Hallelujah for that. Glory to God. So you say you want a way to obey. I want a concrete way. Tell me the concrete of it today. So here's the step today, small and specific. It's not big and hard thing to do. The next time, the next time, the next time you reach for the thing you use to quiet, you know, whatever it is you use, the whatever it is you use to quiet the emptiness. It could be food, it could be shopping. It could be. We use it. I know people that shopping is a big addiction for them. That next thing, I gotta have that next thing, even though you have 20 of similar things. I get it. I understand it. For that compulsion, that obsession, that thing that you think will quiet the emptiness you feel, and you know what your thing is. Look, you know what your thing is. I want you to stop for three seconds first. Take a deep breath. When you're reaching for that thing, you're going to click by whatever it is. Take a deep breath. Give yourself three seconds. Three seconds. I'm not asking for a million. Don't condemn yourself and don't make some big dramatic promise you won't keep by dinner. Come on. Lunch to dinner, it's a short period of time. Just pause and ask one question. And if it's food, if it's food, you're thinking about eating bad things you know you shouldn't eat because of because of a health situation or whatever. I I want you to understand you can do this. You can do it. Take a nice deep breath. A nice deep breath. This is very possible for you. This is not something that that has to be impossible for you. It doesn't need to be impossible for you. You have the power. If food, things that you shouldn't eat because they'll make you sick, they'll cause you to gain whatever the whatever the deal is. Just pause. Take some deep breaths. Think about it. Think about it. Just pause and ask one question out loud if you can. Why do I always say out loud? Because out loud or in writing gives life to it. It says, okay, this is real. Out loud, am I receiving this with gratitude or is this appetite trying to become my master? If you're addicted to food, that's a great thing to ask yourself. It's a great thing to clarify. Listen, you're not banning the thing. You're just refusing to let the strength of the wanting be your permission. Do it once today. Try it once with one thing today that you struggle with. That's the whole assignment. There you have it. The pause isn't the destination, it's the moment appetite stops getting to speak alone. Are you hearing me? Because the central truth here doesn't move. God has the authority to walk into an ordinary corner of your life and say, this part belongs to me too. Your body, your table, your screen, your hard drive, your hunger. And maybe food was never your real issue. Maybe your hunger, maybe it was your hunger to be admired or to feel indispensable, valued. Maybe you keep scrolling because the silence makes you it makes you feel what hurts. So you keep scrolling. You occupy your time with scrolling. Listen, if you have a dog, guess what? That dog's life is very short. Most dogs' lives are eight years. Eight years. Some 10, 11, 12, 14 years. That dog, that you're your listen, that dog may be in your life, be part of your life. You are their life. Remember that. So instead of scrolling, put your phone down. Pop your phone in your pocket. Take the dog for a W-A-L-K. I can't say it out loud because my dog will be like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm for it. I'm for it. I'm for it. He hates the rain. He won't go out in the rain unless he has his harness on and I grab the grab the uh I put the harness on and I grab the leash. He'll handle it. He'll handle the rain. My last dog, Buckeye, good lands. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful dog. Amazing dog. Best dog I've ever had. Honest to God. She was she was literally my best friend. Seriously, she was she was precious beyond you can imagine. Changed my life. And she was here in my life at a time, inarguably the best possible time. Maybe you have a dog like that. Maybe you're not into dogs. That's okay. Maybe you're a cat person. That's okay too. Pay attention to them. That three-second pause, go pet your dog, go pet your cat. Go go brush your dog. Or if your cat lets you, brush your cat. Take the time. Step away from that temptation. Maybe you reach for one more purchase because the wanting feels better than the having. The culture says a strong enough desire is just your true self. That's just who you are. That's your passion. Scripture asks a different question. You ready? Who does that desire serve? And that lands us at Yeshua. When he was tested in the wilderness, the first temptation was hunger. He'd fasted for 40 days. He wasn't playacting, he was starving. The adversary of the devil told him to turn stones into bread. Bread isn't evil, and hunger isn't sin. The temptation was to satisfy a real, legitimate hunger apart from his father's timing, from God, from Adonaiulim, from his timing. And he answered straight out of Deuteronomy. By the way, I just read scripture for you listener who says I never quote scripture. Do you hear Leviticus 11 in that? Are you listening? Are you catching this? Where Nadab and Abiyu acted on their own initiative. Yeshua, few, listen to me. Yeshua refused to let even real, tearing hunger move him one inch outside of his father's will. He put the father's word above his own appetite. And then he turned around and gave himself as the bread of life on the cross. He didn't just tell starving people to try harder. He did not only command a better appetite, he became the one who actually fills us, who satisfies us. I have for you this morning a challenge and a choice. Here's your choice today. Can you handle this? You can keep treating the strength of wanting as proof you're allowed to have it. And then keep feeding a hunger that hands back less every time. Or you can believe you were redeemed out of Egypt for something better. For something better. And becoming your own Pharaoh. And let even your appetite bow to the true king. One of those roads you've walked far enough already to know exactly where it lands. The other one starts with three quiet seconds and a surrendered question. Father, is this mine to receive? Now I get a lot of questions, and I'm shocked at this. I'm I shouldn't be. I mean, it's it's a big deal. People ask me about GLP 1s. Am I doing the wrong thing by taking GLP ones to help me lose weight? Well, let me just say this: there's some danger there. There's some danger there, and it's a medical danger. I'm a doctor, but I'm not a medical doctor. So this isn't medical advice. I'm just telling you my story. I can tell you that when I was in the hospital, they had me on everything because my life was on the line. They said, listen, we got to save your life. You're admitted to the hospital. I was in there for a week. I resided, I received very specialized, very excellent care. So let me say this to you. Let me say this to you. They gave me uh, they gave me insulin, I think four or six times a day. They gave me, what was the name of the other stuff? Metformin. They gave me that, I think, twice a day. But then they gave me something um called Ozempic. And the reason they gave me that is they're trying to save my life, right? We got to get this thing under control fast, trying to save my vision, trying to save my my pancreas from from complete shutdown. Now it's about shutdown. It doesn't work right. So just I mean, just to be real with you, they gave me that because they were trying to save my life, and that is okay. I'm not mad at them. But it gave me gastroparesis, paralyzed my entire digestive system. And and I pray you never have it because it's permanent, it never goes away. And it's a real problem. But they saved my life, and and I'm not mad at them. Just know that there are dangers. Really communicate with your doctor, really be honest and open with your doctor and say, hey, what are some risks with this? There are risks. Outside of that, I don't know whether God approves of it or not. And I hear a lot of people lie about how they lost 30, 40, 50 pounds in six months or three months. How'd you do it? Ah, just, you know, prayer and fasting. And there's one more thing GLP1s. Don't be ashamed of it. If you've done the homework on them, if you really sought and you've asked God and you're taking them, be honest about it. Stop being ashamed. But while you're doing it, make sure you're taking in enough protein. You're gonna need a lot of protein because you're gonna lose a lot of fat. But if you don't take in protein and you don't work out too, you're gonna lose a lot of muscle. And especially if you're my age, it's very hard to get back. And you can cause yourself real damage. By the way, your heart is a muscle. So that's all I have to say about that. But you pray, Father, is this mine to receive? Pray about it. My friends, prayer isn't asking for an easy journey. I gotta hurry, man. I gotta, I'm so far over. Sorry about this. Sorry, not sorry. You're getting it for free, so you can always press pause and listen to the other part later. Anyway, prayer is not asking for an easy journey, it's asking for a strong back. Are you ready? Do you want to pray with me? Pray with me now. Father, you made every good thing we reach for. You made it all. And you know what we've been reaching for instead of you. We confess, we we let wanting become its own permission. We told ourselves that we should, because we could. We've called it freedom when we really, it was really a chain fastened to something we enjoyed. Father, I ask that you teach us to pause, teach us to receive from your hand, your hand, instead of seizing with our own. I ask you to come into the ordinary places, our kitchens, our screens, our quiet rooms, the hungers we've never said out loud. We don't just want to look disciplined. We want hearts that belong all the way to you. Father, Father, God, teach us to hunger for what actually gives life. Teach us, Father, to pick up your book, your book, your word. Teach us to pick this up and study and stop talking about it. Father, I ask that you help us to gain discipline where it lacks. I ask you to teach us, give us hunger for what actually gives life. In Yeshua's name, Amen. Take a deep breath. Listen, maybe, maybe you've been listening. You've been quietly listening. You're not in chat. You've just been quiet. And something in you already knows. You've spent years feeding a hunger that was never going to save you, and you're tired. So hear this. You don't have to be. I don't know how I put this. You don't have to master your appetites before you come to God. Because you can't. That's the whole point. Yeshua doesn't wait at the finish line of your self-control. He meets you right where you are, right where you're struggling. He meets you right there, right now. He meets you right in the middle of the hunger and offers you himself. I want you to pray this with me, if you're willing. Pray this with me. Yeshua, I need you. I believe you died for me and rose from the grave. I surrender my life to you today. Forgive me. Fill me. Lead me. I am yours. And your matchless name. Amen. If you prayed that today, tell someone. Tell someone real. And listen, I said it wasn't an easy journey. You're going to need a strong back for this because if you tell someone, even somebody you think, wow, they'll receive it well. Maybe they won't. Maybe they won't. Because maybe they know the life you lived. And they might ridicule you. Who cares? Let today be the beginning of who cares? I'm proud of my faith in Christ. And I don't apologize for it. I'm proud of studying God and His Word through His Word and prayer and the Holy Spirit. I'm proud of it. Well, you don't know anything about that. You just watch one episode and you're suddenly going to be some crazy dude, some weirdo on uh what's it called? Uh YouTube. Why would you do that? That's dumb. Who cares about them? They don't matter. And listen, if it's your mom or your dad or your sister, your brother, okay. Hey, look, I just wanted to tell you because I want to make it public. That's your first test. That's your first thing. Tell someone. And look, you can find somebody to tell that's not going to ridicule you. That's totally fine. You can tell me. You can tell me, I'm down for it. Oh man, look at us 47 minutes. Good lands. You're getting your money's worth today. You're getting your money's worth today. So you don't need to clean yourself up before you come to Yeshua. I'm asking you, come exactly as you are and be proud of it. Find people who follow him. They call it a church. Find people who follow him and let them walk beside you. Listen, I got a news flash for you. You're looking for a perfect church, not gonna find it. Because when you walk in, you'll find a bunch of other people who are also not perfect, including the pastors. I am not perfect, so far from it. Let that go, that desire for perfect people. You're trying to find something to put them on a pedestal. As soon as you put them up there, guess what's gonna happen? Guess what's gonna happen? You know what it is. You're gonna go, oh, these are hypocrites. Yes, I'll answer it for you now. They are hypocrites. I am a hypocrite. And by the way, you don't have to understand everything to begin. You've already taken the first step by inviting him into your heart, by asking for forgiveness and asking him to lead your life. You belong to him now. By the way, we're a team. I want you to know that holiness left the sanctuary. It crossed the camp. And it walked right past the altar, into the kitchen, and it sat down beside a hungry person. And it said, Not everything within your reach is yours to take. You were never made to be filled by seizing. You were made to receive your life from his hand. If this met you today, send it to one person you know who's been feeding something that never fills them. And it might be the word that turns them around. I don't know. God uses crazy things. By the way, while you're doing it, subscribe, turn the bell on, click the little thumbs up. So tomorrow it finds you. It ends up in your feed. Listen, I want to pray this over you. I'm going to pray it in the name, the heavenly name of Leshon Al Kodesh, the language of God, Hebrew. That's what he spoke to his people in. That's what his people spoke, Hebrew and Aramaic. It is Leshon Hakodesh, which means the language of God. I want you to hear how it originally sound. And then I'll translate it into English if you don't speak Hebrew. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Until the next time. We meet Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and then we explain the whole week that following Sunday at 6 30 p.m. Until then, I am so pleased that you listened or you watched today. Till we meet again. Shalom Bishem Yeshua.