Sunday Summary: Days 16-19

Sean Michael Greener (0:00): Good evening. Hello. I wonder if your life or mine for that matter were put on trial this week, what would the evidence say? Not your church attendance. Not certainly not your social media bio.

Unknown Speaker (0:25): Not the Christian words you taught yourself how to say. Not the verses you can quote verbatim, not the image you can project to other people, your actual life, your real reactions, your hidden loyalties. I know. Struggle with them too. Your private choices.

Sean Michael Greener (0:52): Your obedience when no one no one is applauding your trust when the chapter hurts. Would would there be enough evidence to convict you as someone who belongs to the living God? That's not just a clever question. That's not just a Monday morning hook. That's the question Genesis 21, 22, 23, and 24 have been pressing into us all week, this past week.

Unknown Speaker (1:37): Because faith come on now. Faith is easy. Oh, it's easy to discuss when life feels clean. Oh, it's easy. It's easy when everything is going smoothly.

Unknown Speaker (1:59): It's easy to admire when it's printed on a coffee mug that you got at church. But oh, you know what? It's it's also easy to sing about when all the bills are paid, when the children are safe, when the marriage is peaceful, when the diagnosis is good and the future feels manageable. But what happens? What happens when the promise and pain are sharing the same room?

Unknown Speaker (2:40): What happens when obedience touches what you love the most? What happens when grief? Grief stands where fulfillment was supposed to stand. Some of you are living that right now. You're going through it.

Unknown Speaker (3:13): And no, it'll never end. How you manage it, how you view it will never end. These are real questions. They're hard questions. You know, here's one.

Sean Michael Greener (3:27): What happens when the future has to be shaped by prayer instead of by panic. This is faith when the marriage is strained, the money is tight, the diagnosis is unclear, or the child is wandering when the grief is fresh, when the grief is fresh, the future doesn't knock. Look, the future future doesn't answer when you knock. This is where Bible meets real life. This is where slogans go to die.

Sean Michael Greener (4:11): This is where allegiance gets tested, and that's where the evidence starts speaking. This week wasn't a pile of disconnected Bible stories. This week was one sustained courtroom scene. Genesis 21 asks, will you still trust God when fulfilled promises arrived with all kinds of painful fallout? Real question.

Unknown Speaker (4:44): Real question. I don't know if you ever read it that way. I'm just saying that's what it said. I don't know about you, but Genesis 22 asked. It asked, will you still trust God when he touches the thing you love the most?

Sean Michael Greener (5:03): Oof. Genesis 23 asked, will you still trust God when grief stands in the field of promise? Genesis 24 asked, will you let God you you know what? Will you trust God enough to let him guide the future instead of letting fear choose for you. And, you know, Monday's message, I don't know if you heard it, you can go back and list to it.

Sean Michael Greener (5:39): They're all there for free in True Word, Faith for Life with doctor Sean, YouTube and Rumble channel. Subscribe, like, do whatever, all the stuff. Monday's message stood over all of it like the the opening argument of a courtroom scene. If you were accused of being a follower of the way, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Today's not just a recap.

Sean Michael Greener (6:19): Today's a reckoning. Welcome back to True Word, Faith for Life with doctor Sean. That's me. You can just call me Sean. This is our Sunday summary and deepening.

Sean Michael Greener (6:32): I don't know if you went to the blog or not, truewordfaithforlife.com. Truewordfaithforlife.com. Click on blog. There's the blog, and then you keep scrolling, keep reading, and then there's the study guide. It's awesome.

Unknown Speaker (6:45): If I might say so myself. I do it so you don't have to go out and buy it somewhere. And it summarizes and provides you footnotes and bibliography and all that stuff. It's free. I don't ask for anything.

Sean Michael Greener (7:08): So today, we're going deeper into the week's readings from Genesis 21 through Genesis 24. And it makes sense to ask if, you know, maybe you put it in the comments below, Which place feels most like your life right now? The wilderness, the mountain, the grave, or the well? Wilderness Mountain grave or well, that's where we were this past week. We were also in a courtroom, maybe add that too.

Unknown Speaker (7:59): That question matters because those aren't just ancient places in a a long ago written book. Nope. Nope. They're real places, and they're real things that happen, and they contributed to our shaping, and thank God they are. They're spiritual places.

Sean Michael Greener (8:25): They're human places. They're places every serious follower of Yeshua eventually knows. Thank you, brother. Thank you, Christopher. I appreciate that.

Unknown Speaker (8:41): And that's good advice. So the wilderness. Whoo. We went to the wilderness, did we not? We went where Abraham and Sarah and Hagar.

Sean Michael Greener (8:59): It's the wilderness where life feels mixed and painful. Right? Then we went to the mountain. Hey, Lynette. Then we went to the mountain, and this is where obedience feels costly.

Unknown Speaker (9:16): Right? And then we went to the grave where grief becomes unavoidable. And then we went to the well where the future is being formed. And every in every single one of those places, the same question stands, do you trust God here? Do you trust God here?

Unknown Speaker (9:49): Oh, boy. It's a tough question. This episode is brought to you by True Word, Faith for Life by doctor Sean Michael Greener. It's up in the store. It's anywhere you buy books, but if you buy it in the store, true word, faithforlife.com, more of well, we don't have any profits yet.

Unknown Speaker (10:16): We haven't sold enough books to be profitable, but everything that we get from this, that's profit helps us to keep this going. And that photograph is a photograph that I took. I can't get the camera to focus on it. Anyway, never mind. It's textbook quality.

Unknown Speaker (10:34): I went nuts on the paper, the weight of the paper, the sturdiness, the all the quality markers that'll last you forever. Well, I couldn't really well. So you can buy it if you want. You don't have to. Nobody's making you.

Sean Michael Greener (10:56): But it is written to help you quit skimming skimming the Bible like it's some sort of collection of religious notes, and and it'll help you to start seeing the word and its covenant historical and life changing depth. Now let's get after it. Let's begin where the week began. Oh, folk didn't like that one. Oh, my.

Sean Michael Greener (11:22): My. My. Some folk didn't like that one. The inescapable conversation was this. If your life were placed on the witness stand, if my life were placed on the witness stand, what would it say about your allegiance?

Sean Michael Greener (11:41): We live in a time of labels without substance, noise without holiness, religious branding without surrendered life. A lot of people want the vocabulary of faith without the cost of faith. They want the comfort of religion without the lordship of God. They want Christian identity without covenant responsibility. But in the world of the Bible, in the world of the Bible, allegiance was never invisible.

Sean Michael Greener (12:12): Your king was seen in your conduct. Your loyalty showed up in your patterns. Your worship was embodied. Who owned you became visible in how you walked. That's why the earliest followers of Yeshua were not merely known by a label.

Sean Michael Greener (12:32): They were known by life. Their allegiance showed. Their conduct testified. Their mercy testified. Their courage testified.

Sean Michael Greener (12:46): Their holiness testified. Their willingness to suffer testified, and that set the table for everything we read this week. Everything. Because Genesis 21 through Genesis 24 showed us how faith leaves breadcrumbs, faith leaves evidence. Not in theory, not in religious language, not in some sort of cleaned up biography.

Sean Michael Greener (13:14): It was messy. But in chapters soaked with emotion, pressure, grief, and uncertainty. Let's start with Genesis 21. Isaac is born. The impossible child finally arrives.

Sean Michael Greener (13:34): The promise becomes flesh and blood in Sarah's arms. The laughter god promised, well, it finally fills the tent. And if this if this were a shadow of of modern telling, let me tell you something. That'd be the whole story. Be the whole story.

Unknown Speaker (13:59): Cue the emotional music, conductor. I have a conductor. I'm a one man band. What can I tell you? Someday, maybe.

Unknown Speaker (14:08): But for now, yeah, I'm wrestling with this. Worst in all this stuff, knowing how to arrange and whatnot. So you know what? If this were a a shallow modern telling, that wouldn't be the whole story. And this music that's playing in the background, you know, we would smile for the camera.

Sean Michael Greener (14:32): God came through. Roll the credits. But the Bible doesn't lie to people. The Bible doesn't flatten life into inspirational slogans. The same chapter that gives Sarah laughter sends Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness.

Sean Michael Greener (14:47): One room is laughing. The other one is weeping. One promise is blooming, and another one, oh, the wound is breaking wide open. And right there, many of us lose our bearings because we've been trained to think that if God is really at work, pain should disappear, lack should disappear, your body should be totally whole and healed, and disease should disappear. Oh, it will.

Sean Michael Greener (15:20): One day it will when we're in the presence of the king. We think if God kept his word, all fallout should vanish. Right? No consequences. All fallout gone.

Sean Michael Greener (15:35): If the promise finally came, sorrow should be over for us. Right? But no. Genesis 21 says, mm-mm. Nah.

Sean Michael Greener (15:43): Hashtag hard no. Slow down, slam dancer. Sometimes God's faithfulness arrives in a life that still carries consequences from old fear. Sometimes answered prayer enters a house already cracked open by human promise, human compromise. It's so funny the word looks it's com promise.

Sean Michael Greener (16:09): Compromise. Sometimes you can be grateful. And and and look. Some of you, you're in that place right now. I know what this place feels like.

Unknown Speaker (16:23): Sometimes you can be grateful and grieving at the same time. It doesn't make you fake. Makes you human. You and me, humans. You know what?

Unknown Speaker (16:40): That's a word for real people if you're a real person. Some of you know exactly what it feels like. You're thankful, but you're tired. You're sure blessed. You are sure blessed, but you're still healing.

Sean Michael Greener (16:56): You've seen God provide, but you're still living with damage from old decisions. Consequences. You love God. Oh, man. You love God, but your house is complicated.

Unknown Speaker (17:08): You believe the promise, but the room still has tears falling in it. Genesis 21 tells the truth about mixed chapters. By the way, my condolences to the Thibault family. Tim Thibault, if you don't know who he is, he's a great guy. His father passed away from Parkinson's and then, you know, just a bunch of other stuff, and he passed away.

Sean Michael Greener (17:36): And and, for we don't cry is those who have no hope, you know, that's a common thing that people say. And Timmy wrote that on on his post when he announced that his father had passed. But, you know, we grieve. We grieve in the one room. We we know the promise, but we grieve.

Unknown Speaker (17:58): We're real people. We're real human beings with real emotions. So listen. If you have a loss, if you have someone in your family, and I don't know many that don't, good land. Some how you get through life this far in life?

Unknown Speaker (18:12): How does that happen? You get this far in life without that stuff. It's real stuff. You believe the promise, but the tears are still falling. Genesis 21 tells the truth about mixed chapters, and that's why you can believe the Bible.

Sean Michael Greener (18:33): You can believe the Bible because the Bible doesn't gloss over things. Oh, there's some preachers, some slickster preachers. Oh, they're going to gloss over some stuff because that some stuff don't preach so easy. And there's there's many that just don't know. There's some that don't know, and that's okay too.

Unknown Speaker (18:52): That's what I'm here for. Not that I think I'm any better than anybody else. I don't think I'm as good as anybody else. You know, many believers don't know what to do with mixed chapters. They just don't know what box to put them in.

Unknown Speaker (19:08): They know how to praise when everything feels victorious. Everything's going great. Oh, man. Praise the lord. Praise the lord.

Unknown Speaker (19:18): Hit me good. Hit me good. Hit me good. And then something falls through the the the diagnosis is not good, or cars coming at you almost a 100 miles an hour, or the husband you've been married to for all those years, he's dead up in the bed. Or the son's doing nothing wrong.

Sean Michael Greener (19:49): He's just with his buddy, driving in the car, and some freak crazy accident happens, and your son, at 23 years old, is gone. You know, we know how to collapse when everything feels lost. Sometimes we don't know what to do when both are in the room, sorrow and joy. We don't know what to do when laughter and tears sit at the same table. We don't know what to do when God has clearly moved, but life still hurts.

Sean Michael Greener (20:30): Genesis 21 says covenant life is often lived right there. God kept his word to Sarah exactly as he said. That's not in question. We're not questioning that. But the chapter also forces us to stare at the truth that fear driven choices leave real marks.

Sean Michael Greener (20:53): Abraham and Sarah had early they try early earlier, they tried to manufacture what only God could produce. They tried to help God by their own belief. And you know what? When we try to help God through fear, manipulation, compromise, or panic, the consequences the consequences, they don't magically disappear just because the promise finally arrives. Look, that's not condemnation.

Sean Michael Greener (21:27): That's clarity. Some of you are living in chapters where God has truly blessed you, and you're still sorting through damage from old compromise, from old fear, from old fleshly decisions, from old impatience, old attempts to force an outcome because waiting felt unbearable. And the word of the Lord to you through Genesis 21 is this right here. Don't deny the blessing and don't deny the pain. Bring both into the presence of God.

Unknown Speaker (22:01): God doesn't require you to pretend the chapter is simpler than it is. God can handle your gratitude, and he can handle your grief. He can handle your praise, and he can handle your tears. God can handle the whole thing, the whole truth. Genesis 21 does something else we absolutely cannot miss.

Sean Michael Greener (22:23): It shows us the character of God in the wilderness. The covenant line is narrowed through Isaac, and that matters. God doesn't blur his promise. God doesn't rewrite purposes around human improvisation. God doesn't make confusion holy just because human beings created it.

Sean Michael Greener (22:45): The promise is through Isaac, but God isn't blind to Hagar and Ishmael. He hears the cry in the desert. He opens the eyes to provision. He shows mercy in affliction, and that matters deeply because shallow readers can make the God of the Bible sound cold where the text shows him as attentive. The God of Abraham isn't confused.

Unknown Speaker (23:13): He's not vague. He is not cruel. He's precise in promise, and he is merciful in affliction. He keeps his covenant, and he hears the cry. He protects the promise, and he sees the wilderness.

Sean Michael Greener (23:40): He doesn't abandon his purposes, and he he doesn't ignore human suffering. That's the God, the God revealed in this chapter and at the end of Genesis 21, Abraham calls on the name of Elulam, Elulam, the everlasting God. That title isn't decoration. It is interpretation. Who?

Sean Michael Greener (24:07): The everlasting God. Elulam. The everlasting God remains steady when your life feels emotionally split between gratitude and grief, but he's not temporary. He's not reactive. He's not controlled by the chaos of your chapter.

Sean Michael Greener (24:29): He is Elohim, the everlasting God. Then came Genesis 22, and the knife got closer. Why would why would God test Abraham like this? Why would he touch the son he himself promised? Why would he name the attachment so painfully your son, your only son, whom you love?

Sean Michael Greener (25:02): Isaac, whose name means laugh ter in Hebrew. Every phrase tightens the grip. Every phrase exposes the heart. This isn't vague, not some sort of vague obedience. This isn't general religious effort.

Sean Michael Greener (25:19): This test reaches the deepest place because real faith eventually gets tested at the place of deepest affection, not because God's cruel, insecure, not because God needs information. God already knows. He already knows the test reveals what is true. The test exposes allegiance. The test shows whether Abraham fears God, trusts God, believes God beyond the visible future.

Sean Michael Greener (25:47): And this is where Genesis 22 stops being about ancient and starts living and walking in the room you're in right now. Because we all have and Isaac, we all have something good that can become ultimate. We all have something precious that can slowly become untouchable. Relationship. A relationship.

Sean Michael Greener (26:32): Maybe you should listen. You asked the question. Maybe you should listen to the episode because that's not what ends up happening. Believe me, I figured out what your name means. That's why I'm not saying it, but I put it up on the screen for you.

Sean Michael Greener (26:47): You get a little stardom because you got hatred and pain in your heart, and I'm sorry that that happened. I don't know what or who hurt you, but I know this. Listen to the end of the story because that's not how it ended. Now we move on. We all have something precious to us that can become untouchable, the relationship, a child, a ministry, a dream, a reputation, a future, a plan, a version of life that we thought God owed us.

Sean Michael Greener (27:28): You know what? Even a blessing can become dangerous when it starts occupying the place only God deserves. This is why this is why the chapter is so severe. Let me take a pause here. You know, I'm say this to you.

Sean Michael Greener (27:45): I'm gonna address you this way with decency and respect, but I can't imagine. I cannot imagine why you would go and surf the Internet or YouTube and come to this channel, which is clearly and obviously a faith channel, and why you would come on and and wanna throw shots and rocks at scripture and people that believe it. I don't understand it. Why not just go and do your thing? If you're so right, if you're so convinced that you're right, that you're on the right path, if you're so sure of it, why would you do it?

Unknown Speaker (28:23): If your time is so valuable and it's so precious and you're so accurate, why would you do it? Maybe listen. Maybe listen and let it come into you. Taught maybe as you've never heard it taught before. I'm not special.

Sean Michael Greener (28:41): I'm just saying. Ends with patriarchy. Maybe listen. It might bless your life. Look, this is why the chapter is so severe.

Sean Michael Greener (28:58): It asks the question that we'd rather avoid. Do we really love God, Or do we mainly love what God gives us, the stuff, the blessings, the answers? Do we really trust him? Or do we trust the thing we believe secures our future? Do we worship the giver, or have we quietly started worshiping the gift?

Unknown Speaker (29:29): Pause one second. No. I'm not saying that at all. She says, so you're saying you don't wanna hear another perspective. You characterize it as taking potshots.

Sean Michael Greener (29:36): No. I don't characterize it as taking potshots. I said picking up stones. That's very different than a potshot. And here's the other thing.

Sean Michael Greener (29:46): This isn't a discussion. It's a teaching. So there's a blog post at truewordfaithforlife.com. Truewordfaithforlife.com. You can go there, even you.

Sean Michael Greener (29:56): It's free. It's free for you. So this isn't a discussion where you're gonna you're gonna teach me a little something. I bet you I've heard every single argument you're gonna offer. You are not at enmity with me.

Unknown Speaker (30:11): You're in enmity with God. You're angry at him. You're angry at him for all the reasons that are swirling around in your head right now. And I wish it wasn't like that for you because I live a life of joy. I live a life of physical pain, but I live a life of joy.

Sean Michael Greener (30:28): And I wish you would open your heart and your mind to it. But that's the thing. You have free will. Nobody's making you. No one made you come to this live podcast today on truewordfaithforlife.com.

Unknown Speaker (30:47): Your true word faith for life with doctor Sean on YouTube. You're listening on YouTube. I do appreciate you coming. I don't think it was an accident. I just wish you'd open your heart and let it happen.

Unknown Speaker (31:04): But maybe not. That is up to you, and the consequence, I am sad to say, isn't pretty, but the benefit is beautiful. Peace to you as well. God bless you. Come back anytime.

Unknown Speaker (31:27): Look, that question, all of those questions, I guess, is not one question. It's a bunch of questions. Do we worship the giver? Do we worship the gift? Do we trust the thing that we believe secures our future, or do we trust do we trust him?

Sean Michael Greener (31:45): Which is it? We don't like the question because it's not comfortable, but because when a gift becomes ultimate, it becomes an idol. Even if the gift is good. But even it's even if the gift even if the gift is wrapped in promise. Isaac wasn't sinful.

Sean Michael Greener (32:15): Isaac was the promised son, and that's what makes this test so piercing. God wasn't asking Abraham to surrender a vice. He was asking Abraham to surrender the promise that he had given him back into the hands of the promise keeper. That's real faith. Not letting go because some it's you know, oh, just go ahead.

Sean Michael Greener (32:37): This is a worthless thing. Just let go of it. But letting go because God is worth more. And in the end, he provided a sacrifice. Now we have to read Genesis 22 in its ancient Near Eastern context.

Unknown Speaker (32:53): In the ancient Near Eastern world, oh, boy, child sacrifice was it was part of the horror of pagan worship. People believed the gods could be manipulated, appeased, fed, or controlled through terrifying sacrifice. Let me answer this one right quick. He was the one who promised to torture us horrifically forever and ever and ever. But, yeah, so much love.

Unknown Speaker (33:21): Yep. That is love. But I can tell you this, knights of cypher, all you need to do is believe in him and ask him into your heart. Repent of your hurts, habits, and your hang ups. I'm no better than you.

Unknown Speaker (33:40): You're probably better than me. That's the easy bet. Bet that one all day long. You place your faith in him, and you follow him. Doesn't mean we're perfect.

Unknown Speaker (33:50): Doesn't mean we think we're perfect. I don't think I'm perfect. I know I'm not perfect. I know for sure I ain't perfect. God loves you.

Sean Michael Greener (33:58): And I know it's hard for you to see that because you only see that part of it where you go, well, he's you know, a god who loves us is never gonna make us go to hell. Oh, That's some kind of love there. There's a whole lot of chances, a whole lot of opportunity before. I wish I wish I wish I was the type of orator who could say things in a fluffy, fancy way. I'm a highly educated guy, but you know what?

Sean Michael Greener (34:31): That doesn't mean I can present things in a way that's going to convince you. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. This is the real question I wanna ask you, knights of knight of cypher. Why in the world would you waste your time going from channel to channel, YouTube to YouTube?

Sean Michael Greener (34:50): Do you do this on your own podcast? Do you have a podcast? I can't imagine that. I don't understand having that much time where you just wanna go from podcast to, oh, I'll disagree with I'll stir up this one. It's silly.

Unknown Speaker (35:06): It's childish. And the problem is when I talked about consequence before, yeah, you're right. When you close your eyes the last moment, upon that last heartbeat, if you haven't placed your faith, if you haven't confessed your hurts, habits, and hang ups, your sins, I haven't you have them. We all have them. If you haven't done that, you close your eyes at last and none of us know when that is, you absolutely will spend eternity in hell, and I hate that for you.

Sean Michael Greener (35:40): I hate it for you. I wish you wouldn't, but free will goes both ways. But, you know, this thing this thing that was going on in the ancient Near East, it was terrifying. Human beings offered blood upward, killing babies, and adults too, hoping the gods would respond downward. That backdrop matters.

Sean Michael Greener (36:09): That's what was going on in the ancient Near East when all this stuff was happening. Because Genesis 22 isn't God becoming like pagan gods. Genesis 22 is God revealing that he is utterly unlike them. The test reveals Abraham's fear of God. The stopping of the knife reveals the character of God.

Sean Michael Greener (36:34): The Lord doesn't endorse pagan bloodlust. The Lord doesn't need Abraham's son in order to satisfy some divine hunger. The Lord provides. That's the mountain's answer, the Lord will provide. Jehovah kireh.

Sean Michael Greener (36:55): Jehovah kireh. Some would say Jehovah jireh. The Lord will provide. It's not man manipulating deity by sacrificing upward. God providing mercy downward.

Sean Michael Greener (37:11): You're only speaking your truth. There's only one, and it's a capital t. We can think it. We can think that our truth can think that the price for being wrong, my friend, is eternity, your truth. I'd encourage you to listen, and I appreciate you not using profanity or any of that stuff.

Sean Michael Greener (37:35): I appreciate all that. I just encourage you to listen. So this is why you can't stop reading Genesis 22 at the raised knife. That's when a lot of people stop. You have to stay long enough to hear the stop when God says stop.

Sean Michael Greener (37:55): You have to stay long enough in the story to see the ram. You have to stay long enough to understand that the God of Abraham isn't like the God of the nations. Well, he does test, and he reveals, and he provides. And this is where the chapter becomes painfully practical. What in your life feels untouchable?

Sean Michael Greener (38:26): What can God not interrupt without you panicking? What future have you clenched so tightly that surrender feels like death? For some, it's a relationship. You know it's not holy, but you're afraid to be alone. For some, it's a child.

Sean Michael Greener (38:48): You love them so deeply as we should, but your fear has made you try to control only what God can redeem. I hate to say it. For some, it's ministry. You started serving God, but now the platform has become too central. For some, it's reputation.

Sean Michael Greener (39:08): You cannot bear to be misunderstood, corrected, or unseen. And for some, it's money. You say God provides, but your real peace rises and falls with your account balance. For some, it's control yourself. It's control, control, control.

Sean Michael Greener (39:30): I'm in charge. I'm in charge of this. I've gotta manage this. This has gotta come out the way I'm controlling it to come out. You'd rather be exhausted and in charge than surrendered and at peace.

Sean Michael Greener (39:48): Genesis 22 says the thing you grip the hardest may be the very place where God reveals whether you trust him or only what you think he owes you. That's hard, but it's holy because what you place back into God's hands is safer there than in yours. Real faith doesn't preserve the promise by fleshly control. Real faith says, Lord, if this came from you, then it is safer in your hands than in my panic. Come on.

Unknown Speaker (40:20): Somebody take a deep breath. You're gonna need it because here comes Genesis 23, and the whole story slowed down at a grave. Sarah dies. The woman who laughed at the promise, the one who who the woman who carried the miracle, the woman whose tent had known barrenness, doubt, pain, waiting, and finally fulfillment, Sarah dies. And the Bible doesn't rush past it.

Sean Michael Greener (40:52): Abraham mourns. You too, brother. You too. Take good care. Thank you for being respectful.

Unknown Speaker (40:59): Y'all wish our friend at night of cipher well. Thank you for being respectful and decent. We're praying for you. Seriously, we are. Not out of mocking or any kind of thing we think we're better, but because we want you to have what we have, and you have a good one too.

Unknown Speaker (41:23): Come back anytime, Monday through Friday, 7AM Eastern Standard Time. I do a message that's about sometimes it's less than twenty minutes, sometimes a little more than twenty minutes, Monday through Friday, and then this is the summation and the deepening. I hope you'll consider it. So the Bible doesn't rush past this. It's intense.

Sean Michael Greener (41:45): Abraham mourns. Abraham weeps. Abraham feels the loss. Feels. Feels it.

Unknown Speaker (41:52): And real faith isn't numb. It's not silly. It's not silly. Real faith doesn't pretend. Real faith doesn't treat grief like some sort of spiritual failure.

Sean Michael Greener (42:19): Real faith can cry and still believe, and that line matters to some of you today. Real faith can cry and still believe. Some people have been taught that sorrow is weakness. Some people think grief means they lack faith. Some people, they've been told to hurry up and be okay.

Sean Michael Greener (42:43): Hurry up and be okay from this loss because Christians are supposed to be joyful. No. Genesis 23 stands right in the middle of Abraham's story and says otherwise. The man of faith mourned. The friend of God mourned.

Sean Michael Greener (43:02): The covenant bearer mourned, and then he rose. That sequence matters. He mourned, and then he rose. Not because the pain was fake, not because Sarah didn't matter to him. Oh, she mattered.

Sean Michael Greener (43:16): She was everything. Not because the grief was small, but because pain doesn't get the throne. Why buy a grave in a land God has already promised? Why? That was the question Genesis 23 put in front of us.

Sean Michael Greener (43:42): The answer is incredibly powerful because real faith doesn't wait for total visible possession before it obeys in the place of promise. In the ancient Near Eastern world, burial wasn't merely practical disposal of a body. Burial spoke of belonging. Amen, brother. Amen, Robbie.

Sean Michael Greener (44:05): Sorrow is strength. Sorrow, grief, the price of love. Brill spoke of belonging, family, identity, inheritance, continuity, land, memory, future. To bury your dead in a place was to make a statement about where your people belong. My people are buried here.

Sean Michael Greener (44:27): This is where I stay. This is where I belong. So when Abraham bought the Cave Of Machpelah, he wasn't merely handling some sort of funeral arrangement. He was making a public covenant claim through tears. He was saying our family belongs here.

Sean Michael Greener (44:51): God's promise still stands here. Are you hearing me? The future is tied here. Even if right now all I hold is one burial cave, and that is stunning faith. Oh my lands.

Sean Michael Greener (45:09): That's not flashy faith. That's not theatrical faith. That's not loud faith. That's mature faith. Faith that weighs silver while grieving.

Sean Michael Greener (45:18): Faith that handles legal details with a face that's still wet with tears. Faith that plants covenant hope into sorrow soaked ground. That's often what faith looks like in real life. It's not dramatic noise. It's concrete obedience and a painful chapter in the Bible and in our lives.

Sean Michael Greener (45:48): And there's a phrase in Genesis 23 that still preaches, man. Abraham calls himself a sojourner and a foreigner among them. A sojourner and a foreigner among them. That's that's loaded with meaning. He has covenant promise, but it's not fully visible.

Sean Michael Greener (46:08): It's not a full visible possession. God he he has God's word, but not finished manifestation. He belongs by promise, yet he still lives in the tension of not fully possessing what God has said. How many believers live right there? You know what God has spoken to you.

Sean Michael Greener (46:25): You know what he has called you toward. You know the direction of obedience, but you still feel unfinished. You still feel in between. You still feel like you're in the waiting. You're still not fully standing in what God promised.

Sean Michael Greener (46:42): And Genesis 23 says, unfinished doesn't mean untrue. You don't need full visibility to take the next obedient step. That chapter rebukes the modern obsession with certainty before obedience. And a lot of people say that they're waiting on God when what they really mean is they're waiting for obedience to stop requiring courage. But Abraham bought the cave while the tears were still wet, and that is faith.

Unknown Speaker (47:16): And somebody needs to hear that today. You may not be able to fix your whole future today. It may be really jacked up. You may not be able to heal the whole grief today. It may feel like an elephant standing on your chest, and you know what?

Sean Michael Greener (47:38): You may feel like I just can't go on. You may not be able to see the full promise today, but you can buy the cave. You can take the next obedient step. You can do the faithful thing in front of you. You can make the phone call.

Sean Michael Greener (47:55): You can forgive. You can repent. You can stop delaying and procrastinating. You can stop putting off the decision that I'm gonna tell you about in just a few minutes. You can stop procrastinating and putting it off and handle it today.

Sean Michael Greener (48:15): You can stop pretending that uncertainty gives you permission to disobey. You can honor God in the small piece of ground that you're standing on right now because faith doesn't wait until everything is complete before it obeys. Faith obeys before God has shown everything to us. Faith obeys because God is true before everything is complete. Then Genesis 24 turned from grief to future.

Sean Michael Greener (48:51): Sarah is gone. Abraham's old. Isaac is the son of promise. The next generation is no longer theoretical. The covenant future must continue.

Sean Michael Greener (49:07): And suddenly, the Bible gives one of the longest chapters in Genesis to what some modern people might treat like maybe a side issue, a life for Isaac. But this isn't a side issue. This is a future issue, a covenant issue, a disciple a discipleship issue, a worship issue. Because covenant futures can't be built by panic, chemistry, convenience, or impulse. And that chapter hits hard because modern people make life shaping decisions under pressure all the time.

Sean Michael Greener (49:48): Loneliness, lust, flattery, fear, exhaustion, fantasy, desperation. Then we ask God to bless what our impulse is built. Genesis 24 says, that's not discernment. That's self will wearing religious language. Abraham wasn't acting out shallow ethnic pride when he refused a Canaanite wife for Isaac.

Sean Michael Greener (50:19): This wasn't about skin. It was about worship. It was about allegiance. It was about moral formation. The issue in the Bible isn't skin first, it's loyalty.

Sean Michael Greener (50:35): It's worship. It's the shaping power of shared devotion or rival devotion. The Canaanite world was soaked in idolatry, false worship, and distorted moral formation. Abraham understood what many people learn sadly and terribly far too late in their life. Who bind who you how do I put this?

Sean Michael Greener (51:03): Who you marry is important. Who you bind yourself to shapes what your future becomes. And some know that all too well, good and bad. That applies to marriage, and you know it. You've lived it, good and bad.

Sean Michael Greener (51:23): Joy and sorrow. But it doesn't stop at marriage. It applies to friendships, partnerships, mentors, ministries, business relationship, online voices, influencers, people you allow near your soul, the people you let disciple your imagination, the people whose approval begins to matter too much to you. Genesis 24 says, choose the path of your future and the person of your future with reverence, not with panic, not with lust, not with image, not desperation, and not with reverence. Abraham, he makes the servant that's sent to look for this one to swear an oath.

Sean Michael Greener (52:15): And he gets one morning that still burns. Do not take my son back there. Don't take Isaac back. Don't build the future by retreating into an old place. That line is alive today because many people do exactly that.

Sean Michael Greener (52:34): When life gets when your life gets uncertain, you go backwards, back to the old relationship, back to the old compromise, back to the old crowd, back to the old addiction, back to the old coping mechanism, back to the old anger, back to the old patterns of thought, back to the place God already called you out of because it feels safe. It feels familiar, and you call it safe because it feels known. You call it wise because it feels comfortable. You call it peace, but familiar is not the same as faithful. Genesis 24 says covenant futures aren't built by retreat.

Sean Michael Greener (53:17): Don't take the promise back to the place God delivered you from. Then the servant arrives at the well. And we we need the ancient Near Eastern background here because in that world, wells weren't just water sources. They were survival points. You better have a well.

Sean Michael Greener (53:41): It was a 127 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes, better have a survival point, and that meant water. That meant shade, meeting places, public crossroads, family contact points, places where strangers could be observed, places where character became visible because water was life. And the way someone handled water on my lands, you didn't waste water. The way someone handled water and animals and hospitality and strangers revealed something about the heart.

Sean Michael Greener (54:16): So the servant prays at that well and that matters, before he attaches, before he assumes, before he interprets the moment through emotion, before he moves the future forward, he prays. That alone would save many people years of pain. He asks for a sign, yes, but not a shallow sign. He's asking for he's he's asking for more than mere beauty. He's not even asking for mere beauty.

Sean Michael Greener (54:46): He's not even asking for charm. He's not even asking for chemistry. He's not asking, Lord, I just pray that they would vibe. You know, we vibe in. He's not asking for that.

Sean Michael Greener (54:58): He's asking for character to be revealed, hospitality, generosity, strength, servant heart, substance, covenant caliber character. Might wanna write that down. Oh, that's desperately needed. Look, that's a desperately needed word in our age because our world is drunk on appearance, image, charm, style, presentation, filters, chemistry, vibes, but surface lies. Charm lies.

Sean Michael Greener (55:37): Chemistry lies loudly. A beautiful profile can hide a fractured soul. A charming voice can conceal a selfish heart. A spiritual vocabulary can cover a rebellious life. Genesis 24 says, look for what can carry weight when life gets heavy.

Sean Michael Greener (55:57): Look for character. Look for obedience. Look for generosity. Look for reverence. Look for the kind of person who serves when nobody is performing.

Sean Michael Greener (56:09): And Rebecca, she doesn't merely offer the servant a drink, she offers water for the camels, and that's not some cute little thing. That is costly. That's serious labor because do you know what? Camels can drink, and there was a bunch of them. That's labor.

Sean Michael Greener (56:26): That's hard labor. That's stinky labor because camels stink. That's strength carrying those big old things. That's substance. That's character moving before applause.

Sean Michael Greener (56:35): She didn't know why this man was here. She just knew I'm gonna help them. And this is what the servant watches. That's exactly what our age doesn't know how to watch. Then something beautiful happens.

Sean Michael Greener (56:52): Before the servant has finished speaking, God's already moving. Not providence, not hype, not fireworks, not emotional manipulation, providence in timing, providence in sequence, providence in ordinary details. And then the servant does something many people no longer have the it's hard to say it, the discipline to do. The servant watches in silence. He doesn't rush the conclusion.

Sean Michael Greener (57:21): He doesn't crown the moment because he wants it to be true. He doesn't force meaning into coincidence because his emotions are hungry. He watches. He discerns. He waits, and then the Lord's hand becomes clear.

Sean Michael Greener (57:42): When that happens, when the Lord's hand becomes clear, he worships immediately. That order matters. Prayer, observation, discernment, worship, then movement. Prayer, observation, discernment, worship, then movement. Some of us reverse the order.

Sean Michael Greener (58:08): We move, then we panic. Then we pray. Oh, we pray this panic prayer. Then we ask God, why is everything so painful? Genesis 24 gives us a better way.

Sean Michael Greener (58:22): Pray before attachment, watch before conclusion, discern before commitment, worship before advancement. That's how covenant futures are handled by people who fear and revere God. Now let's put the whole week together. Monday asked, is there enough evidence in your life to convict you as a follower of the way? Tough one.

Sean Michael Greener (58:53): Genesis 21 answered, evidence looks like trusting God when fulfillment and fallout share the share the share the share the share the same chapter. Fulfillment and fallout in the same space. Genesis 22 answered, evidence looks like putting your dearest hopes back into God's hands. Genesis 23 answered, evidence looks like obeying in grief when the promise is still not fully visible. Genesis 24, unanswered evidence looks like letting prayer boundaries and worship.

Unknown Speaker (59:42): No worries. No stress. I'm not dying. It's just telling me, hey. You forgot something.

Unknown Speaker (59:49): Something. Look, we hate boundaries. We hate to talk about character because we're all missing some of it. Prayer, boundaries, character, and worship. Genesis 24 said evidence looks like letting prayer boundaries, character, and worship guide the future instead of panic.

Sean Michael Greener (1:00:19): Do you do you see that there? This week wasn't random. And if you listened, you might have picked up on it. It was one argument. Covenant faith is visible.

Sean Michael Greener (1:00:31): Covenant faith is embodied. Covenant faith leaves evidence. Not because the the person is flawless, but because the person belongs to God, not because Abraham never failed. Oh, he failed aplenty. So do I.

Sean Michael Greener (1:00:48): So do you. Not because Sarah never struggled. She struggled. Absolutely. Not because the family was tidy because it was not.

Sean Michael Greener (1:00:56): Hashtag crazy family. They had a mess going on. But through the mess and through the test, through the grief, through the uncertainty, God kept forming a people whose lives had to show allegiance. And there's another thread running through every chapter, every chapter. God kept proving who he is.

Sean Michael Greener (1:01:24): In Genesis 21, he is the God who keeps his word and hears the cry. In Genesis 22, he is the God who tests and provides. In Genesis 23, he is the God whose promises they still fulfill. Oh, they still stand. They still stand in the field of grief.

Sean Michael Greener (1:01:48): In Genesis 24, he is the God who quietly goes ahead and guides the future. That means this week wasn't mainly about the strength of Abraham. It was about the faithfulness of God forming human beings into visible witnesses. This is the difference between biblical faith and religious performance. You say, I'm just so full of fear.

Sean Michael Greener (1:02:12): I'm so full of anxiety. But then you can perform some sort of religious thing where you look a certain way and act a certain way. When the test comes, you fall apart. This is the difference between biblical faith and religious performance. Performance relies on image management.

Sean Michael Greener (1:02:32): Faith relies on the character of God. Performance panics when weaknesses are exposed. Faith repents and keeps on walking. Performance wants easy chapters for public display. Faith obeys God in the wilderness, on mountains and burial fields, and at wells.

Unknown Speaker (1:02:56): You know, performance asks, how do I look? Faith asks, who owns me? The answer to that question will change your life. Who owns me? So bring this directly into your life, yours.

Sean Michael Greener (1:03:19): What has this week exposed in you? Are you in a Genesis 21 chapter of your life right now? Are you thanking God for something real while you're still grieving fallout from old fear? And stop acting like mixed emotions make you faithless. It doesn't.

Sean Michael Greener (1:03:36): Makes you human. Bring both your gratitude and your grief to God. He isn't threatened by the complexity of your chapter earlier. We we engaged with some folks. God's not afraid of that.

Unknown Speaker (1:03:50): Neither am I. I don't mock them. I want them to know. I'm just a look. I'm just a beggar who found bread, and it saved my life, and I want to show others, other hungry folks, oh, they're hungry beggars.

Unknown Speaker (1:04:07): I didn't know I was a beggar either. Some folks don't know they're beggars. I want to help them find the bread. Hey. I gotta ask, are you a Genesis 22?

Sean Michael Greener (1:04:21): Are you in that Genesis 22 chapter? Has God put his finger on something precious to you? Something you don't want touched, something that feels like your whole future, then you have to ask yourself honestly whether the gift has become too central. What you place in his hands isn't lost to him. Right?

Sean Michael Greener (1:04:46): Since we're going in order, Genesis 23, are you in a Genesis 23 chapter? Does the season feel more like burial than breakthrough? And I want you to hear this clearly. Real faith still rises and obeys there. Take the next obedient step even if all you can see is one cave and one pile of fresh dirt over a grave of someone you love dearly, a job you wanted desperately, a man you wanted desperately, a woman you wanted desperately, recognition you wanted desperately.

Unknown Speaker (1:05:22): Are you in Genesis 24 chapter? Are you standing in front of a decision? Your your future is to this this decision that's in front of you, it it could change your whole life. Are you standing in front of a future shaping decision? Is that happening?

Sean Michael Greener (1:05:42): If it is, then slow down. Slow down, slam dancer. Pray first. Pray first. Don't let pressure make your choices for you.

Sean Michael Greener (1:05:55): Don't let chemistry outrank character. Don't let loneliness impersonate discernment. Please don't let familiarity pretend to be faithfulness. Maybe in the comments below, which chapter feels most like your life right now? The wilderness, the mountain, the grave, or the well?

Sean Michael Greener (1:06:16): All week long. All week long, the Bible kept pressing us away from shallow definitions of faith. Wasn't easy for me to write. I'm sure it wasn't easy for you to hear. Faith is not positive thinking.

Sean Michael Greener (1:06:32): Oh, we should be very positive, very happy people. Not fake. Happy people, real happy people. Not because terrible things don't happen to us. They absolutely do.

Sean Michael Greener (1:06:46): But faith isn't positive thinking. Faith isn't emotional intensity either. Faith isn't pretending pain doesn't hurt. Faith isn't getting everything you want quickly. Faith isn't curating an image of strength.

Sean Michael Greener (1:07:05): Faith is covenantal allegiance that stays visible under pressure. Faith is clinging to the character of God when the chapter is mixed, severe, painful, unfinished, or uncertain. Faith says, Lord, you're still true here. You were true in the tent. You were true in the wilderness.

Unknown Speaker (1:07:24): You were true on Mount Moriah. You were true in the field of burial. You were true at the well where futures are formed. And because you are true, I will obey you here. That is what I taught this week from scripture.

Sean Michael Greener (1:07:42): That, and that's why this week matters so much. Because a weak age doesn't need more motivational religion. Oh, there's plenty of that. It needs witnesses, people whose lives can stand trial and show evidence. Not polished people, not perfect people, surrendered people, not flawless people.

Sean Michael Greener (1:08:03): Man, I am so jacked up, y'all. I'm so jacked up. I'm not flawless. I'm not even polished for being real. Faithful people.

Unknown Speaker (1:08:14): Not people who never grieve, never fear, never struggle, never weep. People who bring all of that under the Lordship of God and keep walking. We're good we're glad to have you, Dragonfly Three Wings. Good thing about YouTube and Rumble, True Word Faith for Life with doctor Sean on both of those, either of those, you can listen anytime. Free.

Sean Michael Greener (1:08:39): Glad to have you. Look. That's why Monday's message and these Genesis chapters belong together. I I struggle with whether or not and I'm I'm almost at the end, so don't fret. I struggle with it.

Unknown Speaker (1:08:58): And miss Colleen will tell you, I rewrote the whole week. The whole week. I rewrote it, Sunday into the wee hours, what part of Saturday and through Sunday. And Monday wasn't supposed to be in there, but the Lord pressed on me. He just pressed on me and pressed on me and pressed on me.

Sean Michael Greener (1:09:34): I couldn't I could he wouldn't let go. But that's why I wrote Monday's message. You can go back and listen to it. I think it was day 16. That's why Monday's message brings all of these Genesis chapters.

Sean Michael Greener (1:09:52): This is why they belong together. That's why they're cohesive. Monday told us your life is already preaching a sermon. What sermon is it preaching? Genesis 21 through Genesis 24 showed us what a sermon sounds like when it's written in the key of surrender.

Unknown Speaker (1:10:15): Sounds like this. God kept his word, and I still trust him when the chapter hurts. God touched what I loved most, and I still trust him more than the gift. God met me in grief, and I still obeyed where promise looked unfinished. God held the future, and I refused to let panic choose for me.

Unknown Speaker (1:10:38): That's evidence. That's witness. That is a life that belongs to a whole another kingdom. We need that we need that witness today. We need that today.

Sean Michael Greener (1:11:11): Imagine being those people in that room and hearing the gunshots at the correspondence dinner, and yet another person trying to kill our president. Imagine that being in that room. Imagine being Erica Kirk. Just months ago, her husband was murdered publicly, and now she's in a place where gunshots ring out. Pray for her.

Unknown Speaker (1:11:39): I can't imagine. Pray for our president, the cabinet, the secret service who protects them. What a world. Look. God holds the future.

Sean Michael Greener (1:12:01): It's a jacked up crazy chaotic world. Don't please refuse to let panic choose for you how you're gonna live. People who choose God over panic, that's evidence. That's witness. That's a life that belongs to that kingdom of God.

Sean Michael Greener (1:12:24): And we need more of that today, let me tell you. Not someday. We need it now. We need it in our homes. We need it if we're married in our marriages, in our parenting, in our finances, in our politics, and, oh, we need it in our churches.

Sean Michael Greener (1:12:39): We need it in our private thoughts. We need it on in our online speech in the way we handle disappointment and disagreement, in the way in the way we treat people who can't advance us, can't make us richer, can't make us famous, can't make life easier for us, and the way we respond when life doesn't go the way we prayed it would. Your life is already testifying. The question is whether it's telling the truth about the god you claim to serve or not. So now the challenge.

Sean Michael Greener (1:13:27): It gets very personal. Where are you still curating appearances instead of offering allegiance? Where are you still using your past as an excuse to stay half hidden? Where are you still calling panic wisdom? Where are you still waiting for pain free obedience?

Sean Michael Greener (1:13:47): It's not coming. It's not coming. That's a delusional thing that is preached. In people that wanna get their hand in your wallet more than your heart in heaven. Where are you still waiting for pain free obedience?

Sean Michael Greener (1:14:12): Where are you acting like God has to make the whole future visible before you take the next step? This week didn't leave us room for that. The call is it's it's far clearer than that. Settle your allegiances. Bring your mixed chapter to God.

Sean Michael Greener (1:14:32): Put the idol back in his hands. Obey in grief. Obey in grief. Not easy. Have a friend Roger who listens to this.

Sean Michael Greener (1:14:45): He lost his daughter. Crazy how it happened. It was I don't even know. It was the craziest thing. His beloved daughter, I think she was 16.

Sean Michael Greener (1:14:59): My heart breaks for him every day. I pray I pray for all of you every day. But I'm telling you, man, This is real life, and it has horrific things. It's tough. Pray before moving the future.

Unknown Speaker (1:15:26): That's how covenant people walk. We're not perfect. We're not look. We don't walk. We're not perfect.

Unknown Speaker (1:15:35): We're not. But we walk visibly. We're not flawless. We're not. I'm not.

Sean Michael Greener (1:15:50): And if you listen to me or you watch me or you've come to any of my where I preach live or give any speeches or or or book signings or any of that stuff, and you're expecting a perfect guy, man, I am not. The people that know me best know Sean is not, and he knows it. Not perfectly, not flawlessly, but faithfully, not loudly for display, but steadily before god. Thank you at minutbol. Vintage gaming ninety says or asked the question.

Unknown Speaker (1:16:38): I don't think it's really a question. It's a statement. Why would anyone believe the Bible is truth? I would encourage you to go and listen. I would encourage you to go back and listen.

Unknown Speaker (1:16:46): It's free. It's only time. I can't imagine why you would come. I think I think there's a lot of people out there. I don't think I know it.

Unknown Speaker (1:16:53): There are a lot of people out there that'll search YouTube. They're bored. They have time on their hands, and they search YouTube for things they disagree with, and then they try to disrupt them. They don't make me mad. I I pity them.

Sean Michael Greener (1:17:08): I feel bad for them. But I have, you know, there have been people who started off like that, watching this in ridicule, listening in ridicule. Then they showed up on the subscribe list, and then they sent messages to me through true word faith for life dot com slash contact. And then they placed their faith in Christ. I helped them get their first Bible, And their friends went their friends went, you became what?

Unknown Speaker (1:17:41): You hate Christians. Christians are the worst thing ever. You hate them. You spend your time ridiculing them and arguing with them. That ain't me.

Sean Michael Greener (1:17:54): It's God. Prayer isn't asking for an easy journey. It's asking for a strong back. You know, here's a challenge for you. Stop defining faith by comfort.

Sean Michael Greener (1:18:07): It's They are inextricably they're linked in a way because one day when we place our faith in Christ here, one day in heaven, we we won't have that struggle. We won't have that. We won't have the pain. Praise God. But stop defining faith by the comfort that you live with.

Sean Michael Greener (1:18:44): Stop defining faith by outcomes you can instantly measure. Stop defining faith by how inspired you feel in the moment. Feelings lie, man. They lie. They lie.

Unknown Speaker (1:19:10): Vibing chemistry lies. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have chemistry with somebody. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get along with somebody. I'm not saying that at all. But I'm saying if you're looking for that mysterious little thing, you write, God be like that sometimes.

Sean Michael Greener (1:19:30): Stop defining faith by how inspired you feel in the moment, that emotion. Stop calling yourself forgotten when God is still forming you in costly chapters. Stop calling yourself wise when you're really just moving by pressure. You're reacting to pressure. Stop calling it discernment when it's really only fear with better vocabulary.

Sean Michael Greener (1:19:52): Stop calling it patience when it's actually delayed obedience. Stop calling it peace when it's really just familiarity. Here's the choice. You can keep building a life with religious language and thin evidence, or you can become living proof that you belong to God. You can keep living and hiding.

Sean Michael Greener (1:20:28): You can keep hiding from the mixed chapters, or you can let those chapters train you. You can keep gripping the gift, or you can trust the giver. You can keep delaying obedience until the pain disappears, or you can rise and obey while tears are still wet on your face. You can keep rushing the future because you're afraid to wait, or you can pray, watch, discern, worship, and move only when God makes the way clear, so choose. Wilderness, mountain, grave, or well, choose.

Unknown Speaker (1:21:05): Lord, I am yours here. Teach me to trust you here. Teach me to trust you here. Teach me to obey you here. Teach me to leave evidence here.

Unknown Speaker (1:21:17): Prayer isn't asking for an easy journey. It's asking for a strong back. Don't wait one minute longer. If you've been on the faith you look the fence, your defense knows you so well because you've been on it so long. Get off the fence.

Unknown Speaker (1:21:32): Make the choice for the Lord. Place your faith in him. So what what other people are gonna say? It's your life. It's your faith, and it's your choice.

Unknown Speaker (1:21:48): I'll stand with you. Somebody wants to ridicule, then I have to ridicule you next to me. I want you to pray this prayer. Don't wait anymore. Stop putting it off for real.

Unknown Speaker (1:22:00): Stop putting it off. Pray this prayer. Place your faith in Christ. Father, I've done wrong things, and I need your mercy today. I need your mercy.

Sean Michael Greener (1:22:12): I believe Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died for me, was buried, and he rose again. And today, I turn from my sin, my hurts, my habits, and my hangups. I turn from my pride, my sin, my fear, and I place my trust in him as my Lord and my king. Please forgive me and make me new and fill me with your spirit. Teach me to trust you when life is mixed, When obedience is costly, when grief is real, and when the future feels uncertain, make my life visible evidence that I belong to you.

Unknown Speaker (1:22:57): In Jesus' name, amen. Whoo. Come on, somebody. Somebody say amen. Somebody somebody listening to this will absolutely place their faith in Christ.

Unknown Speaker (1:23:12): It's not come it has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with him. And if you're one of those people and you prayed that prayer today, hear me clearly. Don't mistake it. You are not alone.

Sean Michael Greener (1:23:24): All those friends that you think are with you through thick and thin, you'll ride or die, You come to lunch at your workplace or your school, and you say, hey, man. I gotta tell y'all something. I became a Christian last night. I became a Christian this afternoon when I I was listening to a podcast, and I wanted to ridicule, but something told me to keep listening. Those people were never your friends.

Unknown Speaker (1:23:56): Don't don't reject them out of hand. Just don't go do the stuff with them that you used to do and say, don't know all the answers. I just know I place my faith in Christ, and I'm a work every day to try to live the life he wants me to live. And let me tell you something, the world, your friends, your family, they'll make it hard for you. They will.

Unknown Speaker (1:24:20): I'm sorry to tell you. Listen. You're not alone. Reach out to me. No kidding.

Unknown Speaker (1:24:26): Reach out to me. Truewordfaithforlife.com backslash contact. It is free. Truewordfaithforlife.com backslash contact. I'm telling you, I will help you personally.

Unknown Speaker (1:24:36): I've done it countless times. I'll do it for you. I hope you walk in the way. All you have to do is ask. Friends, when when promise hurts, trust him.

Unknown Speaker (1:24:50): Trust him. When the knife is raised, trust him. When tears fall in the field, trust him. When the future stands at the well, trust him. When your life is put on trial, let the evidence show that you were never flawless, but you were faithful.

Unknown Speaker (1:25:18): Let it show that panic didn't own you. Let it show that your past doesn't rule you. If you're sitting there right now and you say, Sean, I don't you don't even know my past. You don't know what I I've done. You don't know.

Unknown Speaker (1:25:39): Yeah. I think you do. Ask me how I know. I got more dents and rust on my halo than you can even shake your stick at. More skeletons and femurs in that closet.

Unknown Speaker (1:25:56): That femur just fell out just now. I gotta clean that up after. You do not let your past rule you. No. You don't.

Unknown Speaker (1:26:07): No. You don't. Mm-mm. Don't do it. That's the enemy telling you, nope.

Unknown Speaker (1:26:14): Nope. You can't become saved. You know why you can't become saved? Because you remember when you did this? You remember when you did that?

Unknown Speaker (1:26:18): Let me tell you who the enemy uses to remind you of that. They use your family and your friends. Oh, I knew you win. I knew you win. They'll do it.

Unknown Speaker (1:26:30): Sorry to tell you. They'll do it. And that's okay because we will lift you up. Let it show. Let it show.

Sean Michael Greener (1:26:48): Let the evidence show when your life is put on trial. Let it show that grief didn't get the throne. It didn't get to take the throne. That grief that just so totally and completely wrecked you, and you feel wrecked right now. You're like, Sean, you just don't even know.

Unknown Speaker (1:27:13): You don't even know. You don't even know. I do. I do. I am very acquainted with grief.

Unknown Speaker (1:27:44): Don't let it rule you. Do not let grief rule you. I do a whole teaching on grief. It's free. It's free.

Sean Michael Greener (1:27:58): You just go and you look for it on trueword faith for life doc no. True word faith for life with doctor Sean, s h a w n. True word faith for life with doctor Sean, s h a w n, Rumble, YouTube. They're free. It's free.

Sean Michael Greener (1:28:14): Everything is free there. Truewordfaithforlife.com. Bazillions of resources there. I'm on every podcast. Look.

Sean Michael Greener (1:28:23): Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pocket Cast, Overcast, Gasbox, GoodPods. Thank you to all of you and and many more for carrying this. I appreciate it. I don't take that lightly. Mm-mm.

Unknown Speaker (1:28:41): I sure don't. Some of you are terrified that if you come to Christ, maybe you're you're wealthy. You've been healthy. You've been given a lot of gifts. Let the evidence show if your faith gets put on trial that you didn't worship the gift.

Sean Michael Greener (1:29:25): Let it let it show that your future wasn't built on impulse. Let it show that the living God had your allegiance. Hi, Amber. Welcome. Listen.

Unknown Speaker (1:29:43): We're gonna pray. Heavenly father. Heavenly father, we thank you. We're awed and honored by your presence. I'm awed and honored by your patience.

Sean Michael Greener (1:30:06): I guess if I was God, I would never picked me. That's for sure. But I'm praying for so many people right now that are saying, hey. I'm dealing with this thing, my dear sister that needs to hear this today. I'm praying that that person receives it.

Sean Michael Greener (1:30:29): I'm praying for the family that that this person is is begging begging for them to come to Christ, come to you. I just pray that you would move in them. Let them see. I pray that we would live with such joy even though we feel the sorrow that our joy would just be exceptional. Heavenly Father, all of those who are listening now who are in pain physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally.

Sean Michael Greener (1:31:18): I just pray that you would be with them, be present. Let us help them. I thank you for that. For those that may have prayed, we thank you. For those that may have prayed to ask you into their life, to turn their life over to you.

Sean Michael Greener (1:31:50): We know life here isn't easy, but I thank you that you are faithful and that you are patient. Thank you for all those listening, both live and on playback no matter where they're it. I just pray that be blessed. We thank you for this in the name of your son, Yeshua. Amen.

Sean Michael Greener (1:32:19): Listen. Welcome, Amber Howell 2928. It's wonderful to have you and all those who I can't see. It goes fast. The comments thing on my end goes so fast.

Unknown Speaker (1:32:30): I don't see them, so I don't know. So if I missed you, it's not because I don't care about you. I do care about you. It's just like so it goes it just says, I think there's a way to slow it down. I just haven't figured it out yet.

Sean Michael Greener (1:32:45): I'm learning. Listen. If if this message bless you, please just share it with somebody. What's what's the worst that could happen? Post the link too.

Unknown Speaker (1:32:55): Believe it or not, you never know what could happen. You never know. Seriously. Tomorrow morning, 7AM Eastern Standard Time, I can't wait to deliver that message. It's gonna be far shorter than this one here.

Unknown Speaker (1:33:10): Good lands. Far shorter. I've written them a little shorter this coming week. Give you guys a give your ears a little bit of a break so they don't worry you out. Thank you.

Unknown Speaker (1:33:26): That's my dear sister. Tomorrow morning, 7AM, walking through the Bible through the Bible in a year. Can you imagine? What's this? The fourth week we're going into?

Sean Michael Greener (1:33:47): Through the Bible in a year, walking the story of God until tomorrow morning at 7AM, Monday morning at 7AM, or whenever you're listening to it.