Unexpected with Hannah Love That Sounds Fun Network

Taking it back to the old testament, lets grab our popcorn and settle in. I’ll drop a little background info to set the scene. After the great exodus from Egypt and all of the miracles throughout the life of Moses, there begins another era. This is the era of Joshua. 



After Moses’ death, Joshua stepped in as the new leader. Not just a leader but a warrior-leader whose role was to press in and fight for the inheritance God promised His people. This inheritance was the promised land. But here’s the thing about God’s promises. They come with action. See, God promised to give them the land but that didn’t mean that their enemies were just going to pack up and hand it over to them. No. The blessing of a promise comes only through obedience. And obedience means action. They had to fight. 



Gosh, there are so many lessons we could touch on in the story of Gideon. But one of my favorites is the fact that God calls him while he’s hiding from His enemies. Isn’t that so like God? To call us out of hiding. To see us in the dark. To call us into the light. To call us to fight.. To remind us of the promises and the inheritance. To remind us of our commissioning to obey so He can fulfill His word and bless His people? 



The story is also a great reminder that God is patient with us.. There’s a wonderful quote by Tony Evans: “You can ask God a question, but you should not question Him.” Y’all… that can preach! See, God knows we are human. He knows our minds, our hearts, our thoughts.. He knows our weaknesses. I also believe it is part of His nature to want to establish that personal relationship and build on trust. As a father to a child. I can personally share that when God has asked me to do something and I’m hesitant to receive it… I’ll start asking Him to confirm it’s Him. And time and time again…He does! In ways only I would notice or ways that would only be important or meaningful to ME, He does it. God knows how to talk to His kids! 



But, there’s a next step. It’s that obedience bit. Gideon asked God not once but TWICE to confirm what He as asking him to do… and He did it. So, Gideon’s response then HAD to be to obey. Once again… He had obeyed God in destroying the idols of his father’s house. Now, God was asking him to take a bigger step. 



There’s a line I read while researching on this topic that says it like this, “He will not rebuke us for having questions, but when He answered our prayers, we must demonstrate faith to believe what He says.” See, God is always faithful on His end. It is up to us to have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts that recognize Him. Then.. it is up to us to follow through. To obey. 



Today, I want to leave you with this reminder. God calls and uses and equips who He will. When there is humility, sacrifice, and obedience. Victory lies behind every ‘yes’ in obedience to God’s calling. We may not see it in the physical, but God has already gone before us today and for the remainder of our days. He knows. And He’s calling. May we all have the courage to answer with a yes. With clean hands, pure hearts, and a desire to be used for His glory!

I just wanted to pop on today because I feel like something that can be so comforting in this world is that God knows the desires of our hearts. And that could be scary because sometimes we don't even know the desires of our hearts, but let me just tell you the secret to tapping into what those desires are and what the future looks like when we pray this prayer. 

So years ago I started praying this prayer, God, I want your will for my life. I just want, I want what you want. Whatever that is. I didn't know, the desire of my own heart. I didn’t know my dreams. I didn't know what was deep-seated in me. I'd had hints and clues through the years, but no sure direction. And I knew that the Bible made these promises and I know that the bible referred to the desires of our hearts and that God would meet those. And, I used to struggle because I thought to myself, what even are the desires in my own heart? I don't even know if that is. But in Psalms 37, this is the encouragement given. 

I knew that was a promise. I KNEW that it was in the Bible, but I didn't know what the desires of my heart were until God revealed them to me. And the way that He reveals the desires of your own heart is to pray that prayer, God, Your will for my life. It says here, it says, Fix your heart on the promises of God and you will be secure. Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life. See guys, when your eyes, when your gaze is fixed up, when asking for God to guide and direct and lead your steps, there is no failing. 
There is security there. He created you. He formed you before the creations of the world. 

Even before we were born, God planned in advance our destiny and the good works we would do to fulfill it. So we, are preordained for a plan that God wrote. Before we we're born He knew us. He formed us He shaped us He chose the family we would be born into. He chose the time and country we were born in. He knew it all, and he had a plan. So when you submit and surrender, you ask God to lead and direct you, to guide your steps, to align your heart’s will with his own. 

When your heart longs for the will of God be done, it will be so. And let me tell you the neat thing about asking God to align your heart with his own will. See when you do that he will answer prayers for you that you've prayed. 
In the past he doesn't forget anything that we've asked and even if we didn't have the words, even we didn' t know what we were asking for, he knows the heart motive behind it. He knows that thing that we have longed for even, if can't put it into words for ourselves. 

Jessi Green is a passionate revivalist and preaches the Gospel with power, shaking religious systems, casting out demons, and equipping the Saints to be full of fire and making disciples of Jesus. Alongside her husband Parker Green, they lead Saturate Global, a grassroots revival movement baptizing thousands and awakening the nations to the resurrection power in Jesus! She believes that everyone is qualified to share the Good News and challenges status quo Christianity in her most recent book "Wildfires".

I was chatting with my friend Alex the other day and felt like we had to continue this conversation on the podcast to share with you guys! If you are single, newly dating or seeing some "flags" (red or green) - you're going to want to tune into this one!

I feel like culture today fixates on the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Its the thing that makes a headline a headline. Something tragic. Or something feel-good. Rarely, are we given the whole of it. It’s polarizing, really, when you don’t see the whole picture. It’s a trap that grabs attention and brands our thoughts with a narrative; good or bad. 



I would even hazard to say it’s not much different from the versions of Jesus the world proclaims. Over the last few months I keep considering the picture of the Lion and the Lamb. Scripture is full of references to both. Jesus, of course, is both. His nature is complex, intricate, and deeper than human minds can comprehend.



This is what got me thinking about the days of Jesus. Despite being depicted in countless movies and cartoons and shows.. we forget: He was an actual person in history with real stories and encounters. These are canonized forever in what we now call the Bible. 



But here’s the thing; the Jesus that people knew and experienced in Bible times is different than how we perceive Him today. And to be fair, those people really only had half of the story. The Jesus we so often hear about today is the gentle lamb. He is mercy and peace and grace and love. All of this is true… But this is NOT what the people of Jesus’ time were expecting. It’s actually fascinating to me because the people of Jesus’ time were actually expecting Him to come as a conqueror. A reigning king. A roaring Lion. 



At the time, there was only (what we know as) the Old Testament. In fact, the life and death of Jesus ushers in what we now call the New Testament! It was even prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31 .And this prophecy was fulfilled with the death and resurrection of Jesus. The New Testament makes it clear in Matthew 26:28.



When you think of it in this way, about how the culture of that day was familiar with the prophecies it makes sense. It makes sense that they missed it. They were expecting the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10 prophecied.  Right from the start, we get a picture of The Messiah who comes to reign! Later on we see in 2 Samuel 7:12-13.



I feel like today’s culture has it totally flip flopped. Today’s culture (and I hate to say it but sometimes even the Church) prefers to talk about the Lamb version of Christ. It’s true. It’s part of his character and nature. But guys, there’s a whole other piece. It’s the part the Jews were looking for thousands of years ago. And indeed, when Jesus returns, it will be as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He will come with eyes of fire and feet of bronze. He will come with a double edge sword meant to CORRECT us as well as bless us.



The fact is, Jesus the Messiah will return for His bride. He will return to cleanse the earth and make it new. He will return to reign. He won’t be returning to affirm how we feel about truth and morality. Those things have already been defined. He will be returning to establish His kingdom in the manner God always intended. It will be restored, redeemed, and made perfect. 

Jesus is coming back as the Lion. He already came as the Lamb. His life and death met every promise and will meet the ones left unfulfilled upon His return. 



Don’t make the mistake of thinking He loves us and tolerates all that we feel like doing. Sin separates us from God. And Jesus will return to destroy that which separates us from our Father. Don’t live in fear of this but instead, understand we serve a God who loves us enough to correct and rebuke. One who loves us enough to convict and purify the things in us that keep us from deeper intimacy. Let’s not be like the people of Biblical times who Missed it. Let’s see God for who He is in the whole picture. Lion and Lamb. Sacrifice and Savior. Servant King who laid it down for us to return again, and restore what Satan stole. Rejoice as we continue ahead, knowing the battle is won, and we have only to be

Over the last year or so, I have noticed more and more the ease with which we roll into cultural “norms”. With that in mind, there are a few topics I thought it could be interesting to dip into. After all, as Christians, we should be be looking at culture with a Biblical world view. That’s not to say we should be judgy. I simply assert that we SHOULD be applying Biblical principles and a Biblical mindset to the culture we are so deeply entrenched in.



So. Here we are opening up this conversation with a bang. I’m back with my incredible friend and sister-in-law to discuss…. Yoga.



After pulling out some research and sharing some amazing testimonies, we are excited to share what we found about the origins of yoga. Our goal today is to shed light and provide some context around our own convictions! We hope to share a Biblical perspective for what is easily considered a cultural norm.



Join us today as we dive in to yoga and even a few other bonus topics (free of charge, ha)!