The Bible Speaks to You James Early

164 – Wouldn't it be great to be sitting with Christ in heavenly places?
Have you ever just wanted to get away from all the struggle, the challenges, and the busyness of daily life? Sometimes it seems the cycle of events never stops and we don’t have time to just be still and feel God’s presence as much as we’d like to.

I have certainly felt this way many times. But a phrase from Ephesians has been coming to me the last week or so which has given me a lot of comfort: “sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6
That actually sounds pretty good doesn’t it? To sit in heavenly places in Christ.
But how on earth do we do that? Or, how in heaven do we do that, I should say. How can we get there, sitting in heavenly places?

In this week's episode I explore what this means:
The verb tense indicates that God has already made us sit in heavenly placesIt's not just way off in the futureTo sit in heavenly places is part of our spiritual inheritance as co-heirs with ChristIt is spiritually true now, we just can't see it looking through a distorted lensWe need to accept the fact we are heirs to the kingdom and that we deserve this inheritance because God has ordained it for us, and us for itWhen we look the the lens of God's grace, we can see more of our divine heritageBefore we can completely accept our divine inheritance we must give up a sin-oriented mindset that sees everyone, including ourselves, as miserable sinnersJesus looked at people through the lens of what's true in the kingdom of heaven and saw them "sitting with him in heavenly places."Take a moment right now, and open your spiritual vision to see yourself sitting in these heavenly places we’ve been talking about. Quit looking through the smudged and cracked lens of a world full of sin. Look at yourself, and everyone you meet, through the lens of God’s grace, God’s divine influence in your heart.
This is not something to do just once or twice. It begins with that. But it’s a daily practice. It’s a mindset shift. The more you look through the lens of grace, the more grace you’ll see everywhere you go. And you will see yourself and everyone you meet sitting in the heavenly places in Christ.

For Bible references in this episode: thebiblespeakstoyou.com/164
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

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163 – What are you most grateful for?

What’s the first thing you think of? Is it something big or small? Something recent, something in the distant past, or is it for something in the future that hasn’t even happened yet?

Recently, when I asked someone in a class I was teaching what he was grateful for, he said it was his toothbrush. There's more to the story when you listen to the full episode, but it got me to thinking.

What does the Bible say about gratitude? A lot actually.

But most of the references I found have to do with thanking and praising God for the great things  He has done, like create the heavens and the earth, deliver the children of Israel from Egypt and warring armies, and other grand and important things.

But I got curious about what the Bible says about being grateful for the little things in our lives. 

I found some wonderful examples where the Bible brings out the importance of small things.

Here are just a few:
Jesus giving thanks before a mealAn angel tells Zechariah not to despise small beginningsJesus telling his disciples they needed faith as a grain of mustard seedThe widow who gave two copper coins to the Temple treasuryBits in the mouths of horsesA rudder on a shipYeast in bread doughBut we can take our gratitude way beyond just being grateful for these things. How about turning them into spiritual metaphors!

For example, Jesus's parable of the woman putting yeast in the bread dough gives us a hint of when we get a little taste of the kingdom of heaven, it completely changes our lives.

In this episode, I give a lot more examples of how to take the everyday things in your life, and see them as spiritual metaphors. Things like a light switch, a window and door, a steering wheel in your car. Check it out.

I'd love to know what are the little things you're grateful for.

To see the full show notes with all the Bible references mentioned in this week's episode, go to thebiblespeakstoyou.com/163.

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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

Subscribe to the podcast Make a donation to support the show

162 – How do you define success?

Too many people today define success by how much money they have, their career, the things they have, their education, and lots of other externals.

But we need to redefine what success really is according to Tim Winders, my guest this week.

Tim made some very insightful observations about success:
Redefining  success is about busting up the Babylonian or worldly system of approaching life and business and how success is defined. And then asking 'What does the kingdom of God success look like? That’s really the bottom line.'What is success in the kingdom of heaven?Are you walking  in the assignment God has given you?The three types of language Jesus used with different types of peopleWhy brokenness often causes us to finally turn to God for helpTo be a good leader, you need a relationship with your CreatorThe difference between the Babylonian approach to success and the kingdom of heaven approachservant leadership and steward leadershipI also asked Tim three final questions:
If you could talk to anyone in the Bible other than Jesus, who would it be? Who do you identify with in the Bible?How does Jesus really want us to live our lives?Tune it to hear his answers.

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Resources:
Website: timwinders.com
Book: Coach - A Story of Success Redefined*

For Tim's bio and the Bible verses mentioned go to thebiblespeakstoyou.com/162

Previous episodes mentioned:
155 – Aramaic in the New Testament with Roy Gessford160 – Why Does the Sabbath Still Matter Today?* Affiliate link
Support the show_________________________
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

Subscribe to the podcast Make a donation to support the show

161 – Did you know that as the image and likeness of God, in a sense, you are already complete and whole.

When I was a kid, I usually felt there was something missing in my life. I didn't have everything I needed. I felt incomplete. I often thought I needed some thing or situation to make me complete, but it was actually a mindset issue. Way down inside, I felt incomplete as a person.

As I grew in my faith, I came to see that as a child of God made in the divine image and likeness, my completeness came from God, not external things or just good human thoughts internally.

In this week's episode, I talk about how Jesus saw the completeness of the people he came in contact with and the healing effect it had on their lives. I discuss:
The woman who touched Jesus's clothes for healing and how Jesus took that healing to a deeper dimension Bartimaeus, whom Jesus could see as whole before he was was healedThe two aspects of Jesus's mindset that revealed a person's wholeness and then healed themWhere did Jesus see someone's completeness? What Jesus said to the woman who couldn't stand up that revealed she was already complete, even before she was healedChrist represents the fullness of God. All God’s fullness is in Christ. 
When you truly embrace this idea that Christ embodies the fullness, the full nature, of God, then,  “you also are complete through your union with Christ.” (Colossians 2:10  NLT)
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Bible references in this week's episode: thebiblespeakstoyou.com/161
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Support the show_________________________
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

Subscribe to the podcast Make a donation to support the show

160 – Why is the Sabbath still important?

In the world today, lots of people don't really think too much about honoring the Sabbath. They may be glad to have a day off from work, but they’re not aware of its deep spiritual significance. 
Other folks who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, may think it’s just some old-fashioned religious tradition. They may be thinking, “Why can’t we just celebrate and be spiritual however we want to? Why should one day be more important than another?”

And some people take a very ritualistic approach to observing the Sabbath.

In this week's episode, I talk about
Where the idea of the Sabbath comes fromThe origin of the Hebrew word that refers to the SabbathGod's displeasure with the way the Children of Israel were sometimes celebrating the Sabbath in the Old TestamentHow Jesus healed on the Sabbath and why that is so significantHow the Pharisees felt about Jesus healing on the Sabbath (hint: they did NOT like it one bit)The spiritual essence of the SabbathHow we can remember the Sabbath all week long, not just on one day.__________________
Bible references in this week's episode: thebiblespeakstoyou.com/160
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Support the show_________________________
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

Subscribe to the podcast Make a donation to support the show

159 – The Bible is full of women who speak with wisdom and have positions of authority.

Several years ago in my Bible class at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT, I put together a class on all the women in the Bible.

It was fascinating to look at the Bible from the perspective of what women were doing and what was being done to them. 

One of the first things I realized in preparing for and teaching this class was that the Bible is full of examples when women were in charge, had great authority, were sought out by men for advice, and were chosen for important roles. 

These women were not subservient to men. They owned their power and fulfilled their God-given purpose by being true to themselves and to God.

In this week’s episode, we’re going to look at a few of these women and see what we can learn from them. This not just for you if you’re a woman. Guys, there are lots of lessons we can learn from what God does with women in the Bible.

Here are the women I talk about in this week's episode:
Sarah: God commanded Abraham to obey wife and do everything she told him, in regards to sending Hagar and Ishmael awayAbraham obeyed his wifeHusbands who think their wives should always obey them need to remember what God told AbrahamDeborah was a prophet and a judge in Israel, before there were kingsThe people came to Deborah as a judge and prophet because they truested her. Her reputation spoke for her. They did not discredit her because she was a woman.Deborah commanded Barak to gather 10,000 troops and he obeyedBarak wanted Deborah to go with him into battle. He valued what she had to offer.Barak was willing not to take credit for the victory because he knew Deborah was the one who brought the victoryHuldah was a prophet during the reign of King JosiahWhen the book of the Law was found in the Temple and read to the Josiah, he sent the priest and others to Huldah, a prophetess, to inquire what God wanted him to doThe king, the mightiest man in the kingdom, asked for advice from a womanMary Magdalene was commissioned by Jesus to proclaim his resurrection to the disciplesThis is a case where men should have listened to a woman but didn'tPriscilla, along with her husband, taught a very educated man, who thought he already knew the Bible, about how Jesus fulfilled the Messianic propheciesHow many times throughout history has God given wisdom to women, but people did not listen?

Ask yourself: Who is God appointing today to share His wisdom with the world? When it’s you, are you sharing it? When it’s someone else, are you listening?

Bible reference and full transcript: thebiblespeakstoyou.com/159

Support the show_________________________
James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.

Subscribe to the podcast Make a donation to support the show