{"id":304208,"date":"2016-10-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/embracing-gods-character\/"},"modified":"2016-10-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T15:00:00","slug":"embracing-gods-character","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/embracing-gods-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing God&#8217;s Character"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jen Wilkin explains the self-sufficiency of God, as well as his eternality, which means He is not bound by time like we are, but exists outside of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2016-10-13.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"26.64M","filesize_raw":"27934229","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[6089,4602,6087,6088],"podcast_series":[8168],"cwp_profile":[3337],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-304208","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-gods-character","tag-gods-promises","tag-the-attributes-of-god","tag-who-is-god","podcast_series-none-like-him","cwp_profile-jen-wilkin","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/304208\/embracing-gods-character","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/304208\/embracing-gods-character","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"PlcKLTp4ZH\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/embracing-gods-character\/\">Embracing God&#8217;s Character<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/embracing-gods-character\/embed\/#?secret=PlcKLTp4ZH\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Embracing God&#8217;s Character&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"PlcKLTp4ZH\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Jen Wilkin explains the self-sufficiency of God, as well as his eternality, which means He is not bound by time like we are, but exists outside of time.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2016-10-13.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>One of the things the Bible teaches us about God is that He is eternal. Jen Wilkin says it\u2019s good for us to remember that we\u2019re not\u2014we\u2019re finite.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>We tend to become idolatrous in the way we think about ourselves when we are either stuck in the past, or always consumed with what\u2019s going to happen in the future, and then, we take for granted the present. We have to recognize that we are bound by time\u2014and not because there\u2019s something wrong with us\u2014but that\u2019s the way we were created to be. And then we should live within those boundaries in a way that is glorifying to our Creator.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, October 13<sup>th<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. Today, we\u2019ll explore how our understanding of who God is has an impact on how we live our lives, day in and day out. Our guest is Jen Wilkin. Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>1:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. Was there a time in your life when you can remember that your understanding of God kind of went from, \u201cOh, He\u2019s this,\u201d to \u201cOh! He\u2019s this!\u201d\u2014I mean, the picture got enlarged for you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes. I would say I was a junior in college. I wasn\u2019t exactly walking with God \/ experiencing Him\u2014didn\u2019t really care about Him. But when the spiritual lights began to come on in my life and I began to understand, through the reading of the Bible, that God\u2019s love was still coming at me, whether I loved Him or not, I\u2019ve never gotten over that. It was like, \u201cHow can that be?\u201d because I, as a human being\u2014you know, I don\u2019t love perfectly \/ I don\u2019t keep on coming after people\u2014but God\u2019s not like me. He is totally different than me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have a guest here who\u2019s actually written a book pointing out the differences between us and God. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>2:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe book is called <em>None Like Him<\/em>, and the guest is Jen Wilkin. Welcome back to the broadcast, Jen.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Thanks for having me on!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>She\u2019s really talking about the characteristics of God. She\u2019s a Bible teacher, mom, wife, and has written other books: <em>Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds.<\/em> \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis book you\u2019ve written, <em>None Like Him<\/em>\u2014this book really kind of leans into our minds; does it not?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes. I\u2019m asking people to think hard about who the Bible says God is\u2014who the Bible says God is\u2014is not something that we would probably arrive at, intellectually, on our own; because we would want to make a god who fits into a box a little better than the God of the Bible does.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>I\u2019m thinking of some of the big, thick, old books I\u2019ve seen on this subject. A.W. Pink wrote a book called <em>The Attributes of God<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>I mean, I don\u2019t know how many pages you have, but he has more pages than you on the subject.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>3:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is something that people, centuries ago, thought about more than we think about today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Absolutely. Stephen Charnock has one that\u2019s just <em>huge<\/em>\u2014<em>The Existence and the Attributes of God<\/em>. It\u2019s a topic that I feel like is so important. One of he reasons I wanted to write this particular book is because I think, sometimes, we forget to go back to people like Arthur Pink or Stephen Charnock. Arthur Pink didn\u2019t live that long ago; and even A.W. Tozer\u2014not everyone has had access to <em>The Knowledge of the Holy<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI wanted to take what those men had written on and extend it, because I loved that they gave you a heightened vision for who God was; but I also wanted to add a practical piece to it: \u201cHow is it that we actually try to mimic these things that are only true about God?\u201d and \u201cWhy is that such a dangerous and unhealthy way for us to live?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>And what happens when somebody\u2019s picture of who God is\u2014is or it\u2019s less than who God really is? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>4:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you have kind of that dumbed-down view of who God is\u2014which I think is where a lot of us start in our spiritual journey\u2014how does that affect our lives?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Well, I think that, initially, we think it will be comforting to have a manageable God. Then we begin to realize that, if God is manageable, then we\u2019re the ones who have to manage all of the big issues. I think about the story of Gideon in Judges, and how he wanted to make God sort of play his game\u2014so he\u2019s laying out these fleeces and telling God: \u201cOh, now, make it wet,\u201d \/ \u201cNow, make it dry.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat you see in that whole story is that he ends up being more panicked than he was at the outset of the story, because he\u2019s still in control of things. As long as he\u2014we think that we want a God whom we can command; but the truth is\u2014we want a God who is commanding us \/ who is absolutely capable of being in charge. That\u2019s what Gideon learned, and it\u2019s what we must learn as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Whether we want that for God or not, that\u2019s the God who is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Right! [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>At the end of the day, that\u2019s what we have to come around and understand\u2014is it\u2019s not the God we want\u2014it\u2019s the God who is that we\u2019re called to worship.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>5:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Well, and you think about the first command. I thought about the first command <em>so<\/em> much as I was writing this book, because I\u2019m writing about all these things that are only true about God\u2014His infinitude, and just how He is immeasurable and unquantifiable, and so much bigger than anything we ever would have come up with on our own.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you learn about who God is described to be in Scripture, it becomes really apparent that there cannot possibly be any other gods. That\u2019s essentially what the first command is telling us when it says, \u201cYou shall have no other gods before Me.\u201d It\u2019s saying it because there <em>are<\/em> no other gods. When we focus our attention on who the Bible proclaims God to be, it helps us obey the first command; because we realize the insanity of thinking there could be any rivals.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Talk about the self-suffiency of God\u2014it\u2019s one of the attributes that you talk about. We are dependant creatures \/ God is self-sufficient. He doesn\u2019t need us for anything; does He?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>6:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Right! That\u2019s a little bit disappointing to some of us. I think that some of us grew up with a narrative that God created us to fill a little human-shaped hole in His heart. And yet, God has always had complete sufficiency. He didn\u2019t need our love\u2014He had that within the Trinity. The Triune God has always had love and fellowship. He wasn\u2019t lonely; and we don\u2019t supply Him with anything, which intuitively makes sense once we\u2019ve acknowledged that He\u2019s the origin of all things. He can\u2019t possibly have been dependant on any of the created things if they didn\u2019t exist prior to Him speaking them into existence.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo then we get left with: \u201cSo then why does He love me? Why did He create me?\u201d We know we\u2019re created for His glory; but we\u2019re not really told why He loves us, other than that it was according to His good pleasure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>We\u2019re talking about how God is self-sufficient. I find the paradox here is that God wants to teach us to be dependent upon Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>7:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>He wants to wean us away from being self-sufficient. I was actually thinking of a neighbor I had for a number of years. This guy could do anything \/ he knew the answer to everything\u2014he was self-sufficient. But he was a very proud man. Ultimately, he died without Christ even though I went to talk with him\u2014and sat on his porch and talked to him about how he was an eternal being and that there was a God he was going to stand before someday and give an account of his life. He was so self-sufficient he could not bend his will to depend upon Jesus Christ for his salvation. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tComment on what God\u2019s trying to do in our lives here, teaching us not to be self-sufficient.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Sometimes, the greater obstacle to the gospel is not, \u201cI\u2019m such a wretched sinner,\u201d\u2014it\u2019s\u2014\u201cI\u2019m pretty awesome, and I\u2019m doing okay on my own\u201d; right? It\u2019s that whole, \u201cI have got the game.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>8:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut then I think the other issue we run into is thinking that to be needy is somehow to be flawed. If you look at the garden of Eden, you can see that human beings did not become needy after the Fall\u2014now, certainly, we developed a whole new set of needs and a certain kind of needs that were born out of brokenness\u2014but we had needs before that whole issue with the serpent, and the lies, and everything that came after. Why?\u2014because we were created to acknowledge that we had need of our Creator. That way, we would offer right worship to Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo to be human is to need. We\u2019re created, not just to need God, but also to need one another\u2014to live in community with one another. That\u2019s Adam and Eve\u2014created for one another and created to rule and subdue the earth together. Those two relationships get messed up once sin enters into the picture, but it\u2019s not the <em>neediness<\/em> that is the issue; it\u2019s the <em>sin<\/em> factored into the neediness that then makes it reach out to have less than excellent things meet the needs.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>9:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tUltimately, we have to recognize that our greatest need is met in the work of Christ \/ in His restoring a relationship to God. Then we\u2019re able to place our needs in the order that they ought to be, and use them as ways that cause us to worship and have right dependence instead of in ways that cause us to raise up idols of things that aren\u2019t capable of bearing them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>And what is our greatest need? If you\u2019re just zeroing in on the thing we need more than anything else, what is it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>We need restoration\u2014we need our sins removed by the atoning work of Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes. It was thinking about the <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaway. This year, we\u2019ll have about 84\/85 of these events\u2014have about 48\/50,000 people attend these conferences. At the conference, when we talk about the purpose that God had for marriage, one of the things we talk about is that God chose to create a need in man that could only be met by God. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>10:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe made us with a need that can only be filled by the person of Jesus Christ engaging us, entering our lives, coming and dwelling inside of us, and us surrendering ourselves\u2014back to self-sufficiency again\u2014us surrendering ourselves to Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFor some people at the conference\u2014when they begin to see this big, grand picture\u2014all of a sudden, marriage moves out of this arena where it\u2019s two people trying to make each other happy to two people who were made in the image of God with a high and noble purpose of showing God off to a planet full of broken people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s really a great privilege to engage God, and to know God through the person of Jesus Christ, and to have Him begin to change your life, and to teach you how to love\u2014how to love another broken person \/ another selfish person\u2014and how to repent and ask for forgiveness when you\u2019ve offended another person, just like He\u2019s forgiven you. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>11:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMarriage is really one of the great training-grounds, I think, for showing God off in our world today.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>And I think that the whole issue of neediness within marriage\u2014there are right things that we should need from a spouse. Those things grow the longer that you\u2019re married to them. That\u2019s one of the interesting things\u2014is you find yourself becoming increasingly interdependent. That can be a strange feeling to the person who has gravitated towards self-sufficiency. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut there\u2019s also\u2014the sin problem means that we have a tendency to want to need things from them that they cannot and should not be giving to us. They can\u2019t be the source of our ultimate fulfillment. We cannot put them on, as you would say, a pedestal and make an idol out of them. It\u2019s a delicate balancing act\u2014to recognize: \u201cThis is a legitimate need that this person can meet,\u201d and \u201cThis is a need that can only be met by God.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Let me ask you about the issue of eternality\u2014God\u2019s eternality\u2014because we\u2019ve talked about the fact that He\u2019s infinite. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>12:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo to talk about the fact that He\u2019s eternal\u2014there\u2019s a nuance there. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me just say, by the way, we\u2019re talking to Jen Wilkin about the attributes of God. She\u2019s written a book called <em>None Like Him<\/em>, which is a book that we have in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can go to FamilyLifeToday.com if you\u2019re interested in getting a copy of the book or finding out more about it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s the difference between eternality and the infinite nature of God?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>His infinitude touches His eternality, because it means that He has an infinite amount of time; but it\u2019s probably more proper to say that He\u2019s not bound by time \/ He\u2019s not limited by time. He exists outside of time; but then, we would also say that He exists within time, fully present. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe doesn\u2019t\u2014you know, I think I give the example in the book of taking a trip to Paris and how I wanted to remember it\u2014I wanted to remember what the Eiffel Tower was like. So I kept a journal and I took photos. But God doesn\u2019t have to remember it, because He is in the past \/ He\u2019s still there; and He\u2019s in the future. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>13:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat a comfort to us that He is the God of the past and the God of the future, and tell us: \u201cYou know what your responsibility is?\u2014right now. If you would just live in the present, that\u2019s all you need to be.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe tend to become idolatrous in the way we think about ourselves when we are either stuck in the past or always consumed with what\u2019s going to happen in the future. Then I would say the third way that that can look is when we take for granted the present. We have to recognize that we are bound by time\u2014and not because there\u2019s something wrong with us\u2014but that that\u2019s the way we were created to be. And then we should live within those boundaries in a way that is glorifying to our Creator.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I\u2019ve never forgotten this statement\u2014I don\u2019t know who said it: \u201cIt is upon time that all of eternity depends.\u201d I think one of the things we\u2019re not talking about, in terms of who God is and also the existence of eternity\u2014that we are going to spend eternity somewhere. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>14:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are living souls that will either spend it in fellowship with God\u2014in eternity \/ in heaven\u2014a place He\u2019s prepared for us\u2014or there is a place of judgment. It\u2019s a place called hell, and it is a place of eternal torment.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tComment, if you would, just about the lack of discussion today in our Christian community about the contrast between heaven and hell and calling people to evaluate, \u201cWhere are they going to spend eternity?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Well, I think we tend to be a little embarrassed about hell. The problem with that is that the person who talks about it the most in the Bible is Jesus. So you have to have some theology around it\u2014and a good theology would be\u2014just look at the parables. They talk again and again about\u2014there is time, and time, and time, and then there is no more time. The time for decision is past. Jesus did not shy away from emphasizing this. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>15:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe actually seems to have placed greater emphasis on it than He did on other themes. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe also ought to ask ourselves, \u201cDo we spend enough time weighing our own lives in light of this?\u201d and also dealing with other people, who we\u2019re in relationship with, in light of these truths that are very important.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>You had to kind of get your head around the whole idea of the reality of eternity when you got a diagnosis that\u2014it\u2019s the same diagnosis my dad got, and it took his life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>It was maligna melanoma. When was that? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>I had just had my first child\u2014so that was 1996. I was 27 years old, and I had gone in for a routine skin check. The first doctor sent me home, said, \u201cI think nothing needs to come off.\u201d I said, \u201cI just really think I\u2019d like you to look at this one.\u201d I went and scheduled another appointment \/ went back in. They removed it; and while I was waiting for the pathology reports, I got a pregnancy test back that I was pregnant with my second child.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>16:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Wow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes. And then, eventually\u2014you know, I kept getting the no phone call coming \/ no phone call coming, and then, \u201cThe doctor\u2019s going to call you.\u201d So you just knew it wasn\u2019t going to be good; right? They were able to remove it with a wide excision\u2014praise the Lord\u2014and then I ended up being actually a patient at M.D. Anderson for 15 years after that, going in and just having everything removed\u2014I\u2019ve had upwards of 90 moles taken off over those years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, I look back on that and I think, \u201cWhat was the Lord\u2026\u201d\u2014I remember, at the time, having\u2014I had four kids in four years \/ I kept having these kids. I\u2019m staring my mortality in the face and thinking, \u201cWhat is the Lord wanting to teach me in all of this?\u201d and not wanting to learn it, frankly. You know, when you\u2019re 26, you don\u2019t want to think about that; but I can see the Lord\u2019s faithfulness. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>17:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had to get to a place where I could look at my children\u2014and rather than say, \u201cWhat will they do if I\u2019m not here?\u201d\u2014be able to say, \u201cI can trust the Lord; and that if He is the God of the Bible, then my not being here will ultimately [emotion in voice]\u2014not in the moment\u2014would ultimately be something that is for their good in some way that I can\u2019t possibly understand.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt was a good chance\u2014thanks for making me cry on the show, guys!\u2014it was a good chance for me to examine\u2014you know, it\u2019s both your significance and your insignificance\u2014is kind of what you have to pull into sight there\u2014because it definitely changed the way that I spend my time. I see every day as more precious than I might otherwise have. And it changed the way that I parented, because the crazy thing is\u2014is that God is able to bring eternal results from our time-bound efforts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI see that with my children in particular, where I thought: \u201cI\u2019m not going to be distracted. I\u2019m not going to let this be a day where I\u2019m pulled into a thousand different directions when there\u2019s a chance to build something eternal in these young lives that have been entrusted to me. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>18:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2014I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019m going to have with them, but I\u2019m not going to fritter it.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And, there was a reason why you could have a peace. You made a commitment to Jesus Christ that secured that peace in your soul, so you could look at eternity without fear. Explain how a person, who\u2019s listening to us right now\u2014maybe in listening to us, they have come to grips with the reality that this life is terminal.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014they\u2019re terminal.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes. Everybody\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>You know, that\u2019s actually what my dad would say to me. You have to know my dad\u2014he has a great sense of humor \/ loves me deeply. He\u2019d say: \u201cHow was your doctor\u2019s appointment? Did they tell you you\u2019re not dying?\u2014because they lied.\u201d That was his way to add some levity into\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>What a great dad; huh?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>No; I know it makes him sound like a troll, but he\u2019s actually\u2014I mean, he <em>knew<\/em> it\u2019s exactly what I needed to hear. So that\u2019s the message, I think, that we all have to come to terms with\u2014is, as you said, \u201cWe\u2019re all terminal.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>19:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And \u201cIt is upon time that all of eternity depends.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes; absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Where you\u2019re going to spend eternity is determined\u2014by decisions and where you place your faith\u2014while you\u2019re here, in the midst of time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>You\u2019re going to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, whether you do it now or whether you do it as you enter into eternal wrath. So\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Every knee will bow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Jen: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Every tongue will confess [based on Philippians 2:10-11]. It\u2019s just a question of whether you do it willingly or whether you do it unwillingly as you face the judgment that\u2019s before you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And what I would say to the person who\u2019s listening to us right now: \u201cIf you don\u2019t know where you\u2019d spend eternity\u2014if you\u2019re not certain you\u2019re forgiven by the Lord God Almighty \/ the Creator of the universe because of the work that He did through His Son\u2019s life, and death, and resurrection from the dead\u2014if you don\u2019t know that forgiveness through Jesus Christ, <em>yield<\/em>\u2014deny the desire to be self-sufficient and say, \u2018Lord, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.\u2019\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>20:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you do that, I have it on good word, the Bible, that you will be forgiven. If you cry out in faith upon Jesus Christ to forgive you, He will forgive you; and He will take residence up inside your life, and He will begin to change you from the inside out.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>You know where this is explained\u2014if you go to our website, at FamilyLifeToday.com, there\u2019s a link to what\u2019s called \u201cTwo Ways to Live\u201d that lays out very clearly what it is you\u2019re talking about\u2014the difference between living a self-directed life and living a God-directed life \/ the difference between living with yourself at the center or with living a life where God is at the center of your life. You can go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, and just click on that link for a clear explanation of what it is that Dennis has been talking about here today and an opportunity to examine your own life and say, \u201cWhom am I living for?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>21:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can also find Jen Wilkin\u2019s book available online. It\u2019s called <em>None Like Him: Ten Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That\u2019s a Good Thing)<\/em>. It would be a great book to use in homeschool \/ in family devotions. This might be a book you\u2019d want to go through with others in a small group setting. We have copies of it in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. Again, it\u2019s called<em> None Like Him.<\/em> Go to FamilyLifeToday.com to order from us online. It\u2019s FamilyLifeToday.com, or call 1-800-FL-TODAY to order Jen Wilkin\u2019s book\u20141-800-358-6329\u2014that\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, back in 2008\u2014there\u2019s a couple, who live in Catonsville, Maryland\u2014they were getting married, and their pastor sent them to a <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> as their marriage was getting started. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>22:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThey have told us that that beginning for their marriage led them, not only to have a healthy relationship in their marriage, but it really lit a fire under them to reach out to others in their community. They\u2019ve developed a ministry called Keys of Philadelphia, based on the church in Philadelphia in Revelation, Chapter 3. Their names are Mark and Tove Baker. Today is their eighth anniversary: \u201cHappy anniversary!\u201d to the Bakers; and we pray for many more anniversary celebrations to come.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOur goal, here at FamilyLife, is that what happened with the Bakers would happen with more and more couples. First of all, that your marriage and your family would be firmly grounded in God\u2019s Word; and then beyond that, that you would have a fire lit underneath you to want to help the marriages and families of those around you in your community, in your neighborhood, in your church\u2014wherever God leads you. We want to effectively develop godly marriages and families who will change the world one home at a time. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>23:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we have partners who help us with this. It\u2019s those of you who contribute to the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Every time you contribute, you\u2019re contributing so that couples like the Bakers will get a solid foundation for their own relationship and then turn around and help others in their community. So \u201cThanks!\u201d for your support of this ministry. We\u2019re grateful for your participation in what God is doing through this ministry. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you can help with a donation today, we have a thank-you gift we\u2019d like to send you. It\u2019s a new resource Barbara Rainey has created\u2014a banner that hangs in your home that declares that your home is an embassy of the kingdom of heaven. It\u2019s a good reminder that our hope is in heaven, that our King is in heaven, and that our allegiance belongs to Him. You can request the banner when you make an online donation at FamilyLifeToday.com, or you can call 1-800-FL-TODAY and donate over the phone and request the banner. Or you can request the banner when you mail your donation to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> at PO Box 7111, Little Rock, AR; and our zip code is 72223.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>24:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, tomorrow, we\u2019ll continue talking about the attributes of God. We want to talk about the age-old question: \u201cIf God is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful, why is there still suffering in our world and in our lives?\u201d We\u2019ll talk about that tomorrow with Jen Wilkin. Hope you can be back with us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t______________________________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\"><u>donating today<\/u><\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2016 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/304208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304208"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=304208"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=304208"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=304208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}