Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
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We went to Target yesterday and got pajamas. Pajamas. I got size XXL. Oh, yeah. I have them tied on the side. She's this girl wants me to walk in with the pants coming off my butt. Can we do a little close-up on the wide shot of Ari's pants? Let me just show you. We're cutting that out. That's horrible. We know the wide is not flattering. If you guys haven't noticed, hi. First of all, my name is Angela. My name is Ari.
All right. Okay, let's try that again. All right. Wet whale. What wet whale? We need to pray. That's what we have to do. Don't laugh. Say in me the truth of the gospel, the beautiful story of the good news of Jesus Christ. May we express it to people and let it be so wondrous to them that it's like the first time they ever heard it. We give ourselves to you right now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Prayers, everything. It's wondrous. It's wondrous. The way he brings us back, like, right into them. It's so cool. You guys are so silly, but you've got to come back. Yeah. Well, that's why we always say, why do you guys think we love Jesus so much? Because he does everything for us. If it weren't for Jesus. He is all. We wouldn't be okay. Hi, guys.
Hi guys, my name is Angela. My name is Arielle or Ari. And this is Girls Gone Bible. We are a faith-based podcast where we talk about Jesus and the Bible and life and mental health struggles and addiction and all sorts of things. And we welcome you no matter if you're Christian or atheist or Buddhist or Mormon or Muslim. Like we don't care. We literally don't care what you are, where you are, where you come from.
You're welcome here, and we really hope that you stay for a fun episode with us. And you're accepted as well. Absolutely. We talk about broken hearts, too. Oh, we talk a lot about broken hearts. Specifically, Ari's broken heart. We're praying for you, sister. I'm just kidding.
So as you guys can tell, today is the best day of our lives. We get to talk about our best friends. Our best friend in the world, you guys. Lord Jesus, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He was born 2,000 years ago, a little over 2,000 years ago now. It's Christmas. The reason for the season is Jesus. And we love Christmas so much. We have been so excited for this episode.
and we're just so excited to be with you here today. We're having a pajama party, so if you can, put on some pajamas, get a good little... Get some popcorn. Get something, get something, get cozy, and let's go through the whole story of the birth of Jesus, and we hope that... You know something I've been thinking a lot about? Like for both of us, before we obviously started reading the Bible, we were Christians our whole life,
Without never even really knowing anything about Jesus or who he was. Through reading the Bible, I realized, like, how did I go to Catholic Mass my whole life? And I don't know any of this. I didn't even know the full story of the birth of Jesus. I didn't know who the people in the nativity scene. I didn't know who any of those people were. I know. You know? I know. And, like, everyone sits there and they're...
stressing about what do I have to, what kind of presents I have to get and glorifying Santa and just all about gifts and what they can get. Yeah. And it's not about that. It is so not about that. Thank you for bringing that up about the Santa and we'll get into all that as well. But, um, so you're so right. The reason is Jesus. That's why we celebrate. Um, how are you?
I'm doing really good. Oh, actually, you know what? Can we touch on something, please? After our singleness episode, I feel like I've had a lot of people tell me that they're praying for me, praying for my husband, and I'm so grateful. I love you guys so much. I'm starting to feel a little pathetic. I just.
I want you guys to know I'm not involuntarily single, okay? I'm okay. Everything is okay. I am too. Every time I keep getting messages like, don't worry, Angela, please, like, don't lose hope. I'm like, guys, I'm okay. That's what they're saying to you? Yeah. They don't say that to me. No, because they're all praying for you. All of America is praying for Ari's husband. So...
On that note, today is the best day of our lives. Lord Jesus, we are so excited. Are we doing that now? So I think so. We have a whole nativity scene. And just like we said, so many people don't know specific characters of the Christmas story. I didn't for a long time. And so we kind of wanted to bring out a nativity scene and lay it out for you guys one by one. Now, let's go to Luke.
I want to brace you guys. There's going to be a lot of reading today. And we thought for a long time, what should we do? Where should we read? Because both Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2 tell the story of the birth of Jesus. But they're different accounts. They're from different points of view and they have different...
They tell a different story, essentially. And I feel like to get the fullness of the story, especially since a lot of us probably are learning about this really for the first time, I want you guys to know the story of the birth of Jesus in its entirety and its fullness. And so we're going to read a little from Luke.
Yeah, we're going to read a little from Luke, then a little from Matthew, then back to Luke, and then back to Matthew. Let's set the scene. The birth of Jesus foretold, yeah, that's Luke chapter 1, verse 26. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and he will be called the son of the most high. The Lord of God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. How will this be? Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin. The angel answered the Holy Spirit.
will come on you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age. And she, who was said to be unable to conceive, is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word to be fulfilled. Then the angel left her.
So I love this so much. So much in these contexts spoke to me. The first thing that stuck out to me was when he said, the angel went to her and said, greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, Mary. You will have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. And I just think because
Mary was just a young girl. She came from Nazareth. She was from a poor city and couldn't conceive a child. And then like that, an angel comes and gives her the news. It just goes to show you that God can... A miracle is right around the corner always. Like God can give you that like that. That's why we always have to remain in faith and hope. And I love when she says...
I love when it says, you know, at first she's, she, she asked the question, Mary asked, how, how can this be since I'm a virgin? And he says, for no word from God will ever fail. I am the Lord's servant. Mary answered, may, may your word to be fulfilled. Then the angel left her. So Mary's doubt was a miracle, which led her to complete submission. And I love that because Mary,
she responded with complete faith. And she was like, I don't know exactly what's happening. And even though this isn't my biological reality, I'm going to, because God said it, I'm going to do what he wants. And I just love that so much because it's such a great example of our own lives that we don't always know what God's doing and what kind of miracle he's doing in our life. But if we just sit back and submit to it,
That's when the supernatural happens in our lives, you know? Absolutely. You're so right because when Mary says, how will this be? She's not doubting God in the sense of like, oh no, this can't happen. She's actually, she's doubting him in a healthy way being like,
How, though? Like, you know what I mean? So Zechariah actually doubts God in a negative way because God says to Zechariah, you're also, you're going to have a child. And he's like, I'm old. He kind of likes Sarah and Abraham. He's like, I'm old. And my wife is way past the age of having a child. And he doubts in a negative way. But Mary doubts in a way that opens her up to God just the way that you said. So basically, so everything that we just read, this is the age.
This represents like the angel Gabriel who comes to tell Mary in a dream that she is going to conceive a child and by the Holy Spirit. So it's going to be the only time that there is a supernatural conception, a conception that is done by the Holy Spirit and not actually...
having relations with another person. I always think about Mary because even though she gave birth to our Savior, she also needed a Savior. So she gave birth to her own Savior and she would one day have to receive salvation from our Savior. And it just, I just think it's really cool what God did, you know? And I think throughout the whole story of Jesus's birth,
A huge common theme that runs through it is this theme of humility. And we'll see it all throughout. I mean, not only is Jesus clearly the most, like he's the picture of humility because God left his perfect and peaceful heaven for
to come down to this messy, dirty, messed up, chaotic world. Like if I was him, I would have stayed up there. I would be like, I have no business down there with you guys. But he decided because he loves us so much, he brought himself down to, as we've said before, the most huge,
humble and vulnerable place you can be in, and that's a baby. And then Mary as well. Like you said, Mary grew up... Mary's from a poor town. She is very common. She's not special. You would have thought that Jesus would have come to be born into a family of kings and queens and royalty. But God was like, that's... I don't need all that. Actually, I'm going to literally come into a little barn, and we'll get into that in the next story. But I just...
I just think God is so cool in the way that he operates. Yep. That's what I love about him. All right, Gigi B. Gang, this episode of Girls Gone Bible is brought to you by Menukora Honey. It's getting colder and it's time to think about presents for the people you love. And this miracle of nature just fell in my lap at the
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earthly father of Jesus. This is who Mary will end up marrying in a little backstory. So at this time that Jesus is, that Mary conceives Jesus,
They are not engaged, but there's something that's called betrothed. So when you're betrothed to somebody back in the day in the Jewish culture, you would be basically engaged, betrothed to somebody for a year before actually getting married. But it's not just an engagement because being betrothed to somebody, you have like a legal obligation to one another so that if you – even though – but you can't have like sexual relations for that whole year.
But if you guys want to separate, you have to actually get like a legal divorce. So it's different than an engagement, but kind of. So Mary was betrothed to Joseph at this point. And we're now going to talk about the point where Mary came to Joseph and told him, hey, I'm having a baby. And he's looking at her like, that's not my baby. And most guys would have either divorced, ran, and he was a faithful man. Oh, he was a good, good man. You're a good man, Savannah. Good man. All right. All right.
Joseph accepts Jesus as his son. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was faithful to the law and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. So
Joseph was such a good man and she could have gotten stoned to death. I mean, it was really like you think purity is a thing in Christianity now, like purity was their way of life. There was no going around it. There was so the idea that she was pregnant by somebody else, like honestly, he had the right to go discard her publicly and really make a disgrace of her. But he decided like because he's such a good man, I'm just going to put her away quietly, basically.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Jesus. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I know. You know, just...
Like he picked, he chose them. I know. That's incredible. Two people that aren't even qualified. No. But they were good people. If you really look into the story, they were so good. They were faithful. Yeah. They were good inside. Yeah. You know? They were obedient. Yeah, they were obedient. They were good. And that's why they were chosen. That's why it's so important to be good in this life. God looks at obedience more than he looks at anything else. And honestly, I was kind of thinking about that.
I, if I'm being honest, I love hearing, and this is a common theme throughout the Bible that God uses people who are unqualified, who it doesn't make sense, but he looks at the heart above everything else. And if they have the ability to be obedient, God is going to use, God would rather use somebody who is a commoner and poor and has nothing, but has a heart of obedience than somebody who
Can come in with like all the resources and everything to complete the job because they might not be obedient. And honestly, kind of reminds me of us a little bit. Not that I'm comparing ourselves to like Mother Mary and Joseph, but I just think like we are so many people would think that we're unqualified for doing what we're doing.
But God knew our heart and he knew we would answer the call and he knew that we would go step by step, you know, listening to his voice and what he wanted from us. And I'm thinking about like, so God, an angel appeared to him in a dream. And like, do you have dreams from God? I don't.
The I will tell you that one time, which was recently when I I knew it was God, it wasn't a dream. It was more I was really I had really been suffering in my sleep when I woke up. I was in a little bit of pain and I had been waking up and it was the scripture I started saying in my sleep. Yeah. And as I was waking up. Yeah. Saying trust in the Lord with all your heart over and over and over again. And as I was waking up, I was like.
And I had this peace. So I know that was from God. But I do read these things where the angel came to them in a dream. And I'm just like...
That's pretty cool. It's so cool. I always ask. I ask God. We all have different gifts. And unfortunately, I wish that God would visit me. I wish I could get dreams and maybe I will one day. But like that's not. But I just want to encourage you guys that these are things you can ask for. You can ask God to give you visions and dreams. And and he will if that's if that's, you know, what he wants for you. But you know what I think? I think we may not have dreams, but we have the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, of course. And I think you especially, you get a lot of clear messages from the Holy Spirit. So clear. Yeah. Yeah. That's why we have different gifts. So that's, yeah, we, it's like a specific gift and not everybody has it and you probably will have something else. But yeah, it's something you can ask for. But I just, I think about Joseph because Joseph,
Joseph also, just like how sometimes people undermine the importance of Mary in the Bible, like people really, I think, undermine the story of Joseph or the character of Joseph because he really,
He was, while he's not Jesus's biological father, he created the structure in which Jesus would grow up in. He was the provider for, you know, Jesus was just as human as he was God. He needed a fatherly figure on earth to take care of him and to raise him and to guide him. And I just, he's so important and he's so, he's so great for doing what he did. Back to Luke, Lukey Luke.
So the birth of Jesus, Luke chapter 2, verse 1. In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while...
So Canarius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to their own town to register. So you guys know what a census is. They go and take account of all the people, and you have to go register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David.
Because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no guest room available for them. It's two years.
Look at our little Jesus. This is like baby Jesus wrecks me. It wrecks me. I love him so much. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terrified.
But the angel said to them,
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those whom his favor rests. When the angels left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. So, a shepherd and all his animals. This is awesome. Look at it. Horses.
I love this. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told about this child. And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Now I just want to go over a couple of things. First, I want to talk about, so it says here,
So if anybody doesn't know, and it's possible that a lot of people don't know, the reason that Jesus came, and we have to do a whole episode on atonement of sins and forgiveness of sins and literally the whole reason why Jesus is here or why he came.
Jesus is the Messiah. The Messiah is basically means the Savior, the one who saves us, that the reason why we receive salvation. Back in the Old Testament, there was always like throughout Isaiah and all of the prophets prophesied that there was going to be a...
that our Savior was going to come, a Messiah, and everything that they prophesied came true. He literally prophesied that he was going to come and be in cloths in a manger. And so Jesus is our Savior, our Messiah, and the reason why we are able to, one, have a relationship with God here on earth, and Jesus is the reason why we are going to make it into heaven. And then I just wanted to say, too, back on our thing about how we talk about how God uses Jesus
common people that you would never think these shepherds were like bad people. They actually weren't allowed to worship in the temple because they were thieves and they were liars and they were cheats and like not good people. And God used them to be basically the first witnesses of the birth of Jesus. That's what he does. Right. Every single time. And then one last thing, when it says, I want you guys to focus on when he says, I bring you good news.
That will cause a great joy for all the people. Good news. So the term gospel, if you hear the word gospel, like these are the gospel, the gospel of Luke, the gospel of John, the gospel is the story of Jesus and our salvation. Gospel literally means good news. That's why in Acts 20, 24, when it says, I dedicate my life to testifying to the good news of God's grace. Good news. Jesus is the good news.
Christmas is good news. We have a lot of, that's why like when you have Jesus in your heart, you're so obsessed with telling people about it because you, you have good news and you want everybody to hear the good news that you know, you know? Yeah.
And in so many, in so many times they're, they're afraid. Yeah. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. And they keep saying, it's okay. I bring you good news. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. Yeah. And I just, I, I, I could relate to that so much because there's so many times where I'm afraid and it's always, it always ends up being okay. Right. It's always good news and it always works out. So true. So true. Mm-hmm.
You look beautiful. Thank you. Aren't we reading one more thing? One more thing. We're just going back to Matthew and we're done, you guys. But honestly, please tell me you're having as good of a time as I am. It's so important to read this because, guys, even this was new to me. And I can't believe how much I learned and how important this is. This is the most important story of the gospel. So I really hope you guys are sitting back really well.
soaking this in and listening to it because this is really what Christmas is all about. It really is. So let me, let me just preface this by saying this is going to be probably about a year later. This is a year after Jesus's birth. So let's put baby Jesus in his mom's arms. Um, the Magi are, it's like the three wise men. That's who are coming to visit Jesus. And, um,
This is the time of... They're living in the time of King Herod. He was the king...
of Jerusalem and King Herod gets very upset that there are people going around like the three wise men are looking for the star it's the star of David they're looking and they when they see the star they travel it takes them about a year on foot to get to where Jesus is and they they told King Herod that they're going to see the king and King Herod gets very mad because he doesn't want anybody else to be called king we don't like King Herod we are not fans of King Herod not it
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. King Herod heard this. He was disturbed and all Jerusalem was with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them,
Where the Messiah was to be born. In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
By the way, I need to stop you and say that King Herod is actually lying. He doesn't want to go worship Jesus. He wants to go kill him. And so he's trying to trick the guys, but you'll see what happens. After they had heard the king, they went on their way and the star that they had seen was
When it rose, went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. So God came to them in a dream and warned them. I really, again, want to talk about...
dreams and warnings from God. And you're going to see actually another warning in a second. But I know me and Ari can tell you countless stories where God has tried to warn us and we
closed our eyes and said, Oh, I don't see you. And we went along with whatever we thought was good. And we ignored the warning of God. God will always warn you. He won't speak to you in fear. I don't think that bad dreams are from God. I don't think that God will ever speak to you in fear. But I do think that he will give you warnings that come with peace. And it's up to you whether you are obedient and discerning of that warning from him.
Listen to God's little nudges and little whispers and little warnings that he gives you. I love that you say that. I've learned that.
A lot this year. And I think that comes with relationship with God is when the closer you get, the louder the conviction will get, the louder the noise will get. And that's why it's so important to really open yourself up to him and be obedient and build relationship because he will make the signs really loud and clear. So the escape to Egypt, when they had gone, an angel of the Lord again, appear to Joseph in a dream, get up. He told Joseph, Mary's husband,
So an angel of the Lord went to Joseph in his dream and said, if you go back to your home place, King Herod is going to kill Jesus.
So he got up in act of obedience. He got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, out of Egypt I called my son.
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time that he had learned from the Magi. When what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was filled, a voice is heard in Ramah, weeping in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.
So if you guys are following along, basically King Herod was so mad that the Magi outwitted him, as it says, that he went and he killed everybody where Jesus was supposed to be. Every boy under two years old was killed. So it was a mass massacre, like absolutely horrific. Last little part, you guys, the return to Nazareth. Absolutely.
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene. That's why we call him Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Whenever I pray, I oftentimes will say Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I really need to start...
paying attention to my dreams after reading these stories because... Do you get dreams? See, I don't dream. I don't really think... Oh, I'm sorry. These are the three wise men. Oh, is King Herod in there? Because I want to... No, he's not King Herod. But these are the three wise men. I thought you were going to put him up here. I was going to... No. These are the three wise men. Thank you, wise men, for doing Jesus is solid and not telling King Herod where he was. I love his outfit.
- Fly. - I love Mary so much. - My dudes are fly. - Okay, GGB gang, have fun studying the Bible with daily trivia and challenge your knowledge out of scripture. Hey R, I have a question. Since the holidays are coming up, do you know the name of the angel that visited Mary to let her know that she was gonna conceive by the Holy Spirit? Or what city was Jesus born in? Daily Bible trivia is a beautiful game that respects the Bible. Test and improve your knowledge of the Bible, Jesus, and the Gospel.
Get a beautiful daily Bible verse that you can share with your friends and save to your phone for inspiration. If you love improving your biblical knowledge like you know I do and you want to be a little Bible nerd, you'll love Daily Bible Trivia. Download Daily Bible Trivia for free today. Just go to the Apple or Google store and search for Daily Bible Trivia. Download Daily Bible Trivia for free today and get ready to flex your brain muscles.
It's, I really love, no, I love, I'm thinking about my auntie Barbara. No, because she used to be a nun. And my aunt, no, my grandmother's sister, she is the biggest Catholic you'll ever meet. But she was a nun. And Mother Mary is her world. I love that so much. I want to do a whole episode on Mary one day because I think all the time about...
Poor Mary, what she had to go through, what she endured having to watch her son because while she knows that her son is...
Our Savior, he's God, he's king of the world. That's also her baby. I know. And she watched him get brutally murdered. I know. That was probably one of the hardest things I had to watch when we watched The Chosen. Yeah. The Passion of the Christ. I mean, The Passion of the Christ, yeah. Oh, that movie wrecks me. Oh, wrecks me. It's my favorite thing to watch on Easter and Christmas. We should watch that tonight. Do you want to? Yeah. Just follow it on Instagram. Whenever I feel far from God, I'll go and read about...
The death of Jesus. And it just brings me to him. Nothing will make you... It's heartbreaking. So, guys, this is the nativity. How beautiful is this? I love it so much. I could just look at this all day. If you want to make me happy, send me photos of your nativity scene at your house. Send me photos of baby Jesus. I'll cry. No, but what I love about... I love what you said earlier about Jesus, how...
He could have lived in a palace, and he really could have. He could have grew up as a king in a palace, and he just came here as a baby in a manger. You do know that... Sorry, I get fired up. Keep going. He grew up just like every other boy, but sinless and just...
I don't know, it just puts everything into perspective, how he was. - Yeah. - You know, just, what were you gonna say? - I was just gonna say that not only did he come as a baby, he came, like yeah, no, you have it exactly right, he could have been born in a palace
God himself, creator of the universe, came down and went to a little hotel, a motel that didn't have enough room for him. He had to be born outside because there was no room. It wrecks me. Not only that, but grew up in a normal home, a poor town in Nazareth. Then he was a carpenter and wanted to live like everybody else. He has so much grace. He is just the kindest.
He is just... He's perfect. He's perfect and sinless. And you look at people who act righteous and not right, and you're just like, you don't want to ever live that way. You don't ever want to be...
just you, you want to live, right? He makes you want to live, right? He makes you want to be good and really be obedient and live, right? When you see how he was and how he lived and how he treated people. Exactly. I love the scripture. Um, my, one of my favorite scripture, God's God resists the, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It's, it's,
He has just taught me so much because there are times where I can be a little snooty or not perfect. And I just think about how he is and how compassionate and gracious he is. And it makes me just always want to live right. Absolutely. And do the right thing. He's, I mean, like we said, the theme throughout the whole story of Jesus is
is the topic of humility because Jesus himself, God himself had to humble himself and then was glorified.
But it always came from a place of humility. And so that's why scripture says that if you humble yourself, you will be exalted. But if you exalt yourself, you will be humbled. And we talk about this all the time. Me and Ari's number one thing is to stay humble. Do not think that your stuff doesn't stink because you just don't want to. You will be humbled. You will be humbled. And if our Lord himself...
was the most humble, down-to-earth, compassionate, kind, sweet, perfect person. Like, we, that is why we're meant to try to live like Jesus. That's why Jesus should be the center of our lives, because we need to look to him for everything, including the way that we are and the character that we possess. You know, and it's like, anytime we start to try to act...
We just have to be like, who do we think we are? Look how Jesus is. Look at how he was. Look at how he lived. Look at how he treated people. You know, he treated the poor with the utmost respect. He raised them up. He loved them. He cared for them. And we all as human beings need to be like that and live like that and be and be like him. Exactly. It's so true. I just I love.
I love the humanness of Jesus. I think that's why we all feel so close to Jesus is because Jesus is literally, he's deity and humanity united in one. And that's what gives us, that's the reason he came is because he wanted to step into human history so that he could completely understand
tear down all of the misconceptions that we had about God. Like, especially back in the day, God was very distant and like separate. And he was something that you could barely even see. You could not get to him. But now today we have him like this. We have him in our hearts. I mean, that's why we, when you start crying because you hear about Jesus or you hear about
you know, somebody else's story with Jesus, that's because Jesus lives within you. If you are sensitive to the story of Jesus or sensitive to prayer or to worship music, Jesus lives inside of you. He's alive right now. He's in this room right now. He's with you right now. Like,
He, he, I can't, he's alive. Like he's literally alive and he, we're just so lucky today, Christmas, the fact that he, God so loved the world. We hear it all the time, but it's like, you really need to understand God.
so loved the world. He sent his son, Jesus, so that we could have everlasting life, that we would not perish, but we would have eternal, beautiful, peaceful, joyful life. We are so grateful. I, Jesus, I am so grateful, God, that you sent your son and I love him so much. Who else will come down, forgive us and give us so much grace for all the dirty things that we do, all the nasty things
And he forgives us when we come to him and repent and we give our lives to him. Who else would do that? Truly. And you know what? And you know, God...
It's not that God loved humanity as a whole. He loves each of us one by one individually. If there was only one person that he would have saved by going on the cross, he would have still came. That's how good he is. He cares about us individually. So much. And he gives his undivided attention to each one of us individually as well. And I just...
He's given me such a safety and I talk about this a lot like he's given me a
He's been such a good father to me and just has made me feel safer than anyone has in this entire world. And I know Christmas can be such a time of grieving. I think I mentioned this in the last episode, but I know a lot of people don't have parents. They don't. They're suffering. They're grieving bad. This is the time where they grieve bad because Christmas is a time that you unite with your families. And
As much as I can't take that pain and that grieving feeling away from you, I just want you to know that you have a father that loves you so much, that has his hands wrapped around you so tight, and he's with you, and he is living in your heart. And have peace in that. Please have peace in that. It's so comforting to know that, isn't it? Yeah, it really is. You are adopted. Like,
You are adopted into the family and we are your family, not just because we love you and we say that we are. No, we are actually, when we all put our faith in Jesus Christ, that means that we are all adopted into the same family. We're united into one body, one family. We are your family. Other Christians, other followers of Jesus are your family and he is your father.
And he loves you so much. What sweeter gift on Christmas can you get than that? Let's talk about that. Let's talk about gifts. Yeah. Because I know, like, my family growing up, we, like, my parents always gave us gifts, but that was never, we were never, like, huge fans.
I'm not crazy about gifts because my parents, that was just never our focus. It wasn't. You either? No, it actually was my focus. Really? My dad went so above and beyond for me. My biggest memory for Christmas is my dad just giving me the greatest Christmases. I'm my dad's only child. So he just went above and beyond and just, yeah, presents were the thing. And Santa Claus was too. Yeah.
He would leave me little notes from Santa Claus and be like, I took your bunny hunter for a sleigh ride. Santa was big. Let's talk about Santa. What do you think about Santa? I mean. I love him. What do you think?
think about santa i'm a fan yeah what do you think about what are your opinions on santa on on because we know a lot of people will argue that you know christmas is a pagan holiday it's not actually it's not actually rooted in the birth of jesus it's not actually a christian so what do you think about what do you think about santa yeah so when when i have when i have my children i'm going to make the first thing i will make them aware of is jesus because i honestly didn't
any of this until I was an adult. I glorified Santa in presence, which you should never do. This is, you know... It's normal. But I think Santa is a fun...
I know a lot of Christians will disagree with me. I think Santa is a fun tradition. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying Santa left you presents under the tree. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I probably will do that with my kids. I know a lot of people will probably disagree with me on that, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I actually don't think that many people will disagree. Sorry, I'm only laughing because my first thought was, I am not giving credit to somebody else. Forget
I'm getting my kids presents. So my mom. I got that for you. So my mom would whisper in my ear as I was opening the presents because my dad would write Santa. And she'd be going, I got that for you and it was $19.99, TJ Maxx. And it wasn't on sale. I can't stand it. $150. I'm like, okay, mom. It was $150. Please. You have to keep this. Wait.
What about my mom? What about my sweet Christina? You know what my mom did? I was like, I think this is why I'm a little cynical as an adult. Because my mom, I'm like five years old. I'm trying to believe in Santa, right? I just want to be a normal kid. Oh, I already know. I just want to be a normal kid. My mom is so, she's just so rooted in logic and reality. She goes, oh.
She told me as a kid, I woke up and I was like, oh my gosh, Santa ate the cookies in the milk. And she goes, that was me. I was like, okay.
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You never believed in Santa. I never believed in Santa. Honestly, it's fine. You know what? I was so bitter I'd go tell all the other kids at school and ruin their day too. I honestly kind of think I was a loser. I actually believed it until I was like 11, I think. Please don't. I'm kidding. I was like the loser at school, sitting on Santa's lap. I won! Oh boy! Get off my lap. You're almost 12.
Wait, I'm sorry, can I say something? Can I say something? Why is it fitting that you believed in the end until you were 12?
I think it's perfect. But I will tell you, prayers really work. This is random, but I'm just thinking back to my auntie Barbara real quick. Every Christmas, she would come in and glorify Jesus. And she would say, you know, I pray for you day and night. I know you have a calling. I know something's... Auntie Bob? Yeah.
Auntie Barbara. She would saturate in prayer for me for years. Wow. And I always would say to her every Christmas, your prayers haven't come true yet. And yeah, I believe she called me. Auntie Barbara, your prayers haven't come true yet. It's not nice. No, I'm just kidding. But I believe like we were talking the other day and she was like, see, those prayers prayed off.
Those prayers pray it out. She called me the other day. She said, see, my prayers paid off. That's crazy. That's why you always pray for your family and your loved ones. Absolutely. Because they work. Absolutely, they work. Yeah, for me with my kids with Santa, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to be like, listen, guys, my mom did it to me. Hey, we never brought in the star. Oh, the star. The star, David. Yeah. Angela has a Boston accent now. Hey, y'all. Hey, y'all.
How funny was I when I went, I love you, Joy? Truly, I have never had so much joy. Well, this is what I'm going to do with my kids. I am going to tell them, listen, there's this little thing called Santa, and it's not real. He's not real. He doesn't actually come, but we can play. We can leave out the things. We can do all the things. You're a kid. Like, let's do it. What's the point of Santa? I'm going to be so, just so intentional about letting them know
that all of this is so fun. I mean, I love decorating for Christmas. None of it matters. All that matters, that's just extra, it's fluff. All that matters is the birth of Jesus, is the life of our Savior. I know. It's funny because I...
My heart would get heavy on the holidays. I don't know why. Sometimes I think it's just that time of the year, you know? And this year, I have so much joy in my heart because this year he truly saved my life. He showed me who he was. He just has had me wrapped around his arms and I just can't wait to just praise
I mean, I praise him every day, but this is when you guys just what a greater gift than Jesus. Just praising him on the day he was born. I'm so excited to just talk about him when I go to my family. I'm just it's. Yeah, you're getting me so fired up. Thank you so much for I honestly I swear not to be weird, but like I feel like God really has you guide our episodes. Yeah.
I'm not even kidding. It's not the first time I've thought about it because sometimes I'll have like a bunch of things in my head that I want to talk about. And like, obviously you get in here and you forget. You will like think about what I'm thinking before I even think it and then bring it up. I don't know. I'm just and I'm being serious. Really? I think it all the time. I'll have so many things I want to talk about, but I'll forget. But then you will like know to bring them up. And we didn't even talk about it. It's very cool. That's why we work as partners. I know.
I don't know. I just... I don't know if you've noticed this, but...
Kids making everything about presents. Oh, they didn't get me this. We want to make sure that's not what it's about. I grew up really, that's what it was all about. Gifts, what you can give me. How many gifts did you get? I remember calling my friends saying, oh, how many gifts did you get? Would you get that? Oh, you didn't? And then the kid would be in a bad mood or sad because he didn't get what he wanted to. And that is what I do not, I am not raising my children like that because...
That really is what most kids see for Christmas. And that really isn't what it's about. It's so normal. You have to give kids grace, obviously, because they're kids. But you're right. It's up to the parents to make sure that they instill in them, that they're aware of why we're actually celebrating what we're celebrating.
And I think when it comes to gifts, I always think like we, the origin of gifts at Christmas is because God gave us a gift. This is the gift. That was the first gift that was given. This is the original gift. And so that's why we even give gifts. That's why it's even a thought. And then the...
the Magi, they brought the frankincense and the gold and the myrrh and that was a gift. And so it was really originally to give gifts in honor of God and to glorify God. And then it got a little bit misconstrued as time went on, as most things do. And we started making it all about gifts for one another when really we're celebrating the gift that was given to us, which is Jesus.
And when I think about presence, I know like the thing, the saying that like, you know, we don't want your present, but we want your presence. And like presence, like when I think about you, I don't want you to give me things. I want to hang out with you because I love you, you know. And God didn't give us material gifts, but he gave us a present in the form of his presence. He showed up. He showed up for us. And he always shows up. What better gift?
than to have the Holy Spirit living within us, in our hearts, guiding us. Wow, how much easier life has been for me. Yeah. How much life. That's why I am just so blessed that we...
this podcast that people can, that people love to tune in and to listen because I hope that this can get through to you guys that you really do have a father that is dwelling within you guys, guiding you through this life and you do not have to be afraid. Exactly. You do not have to be afraid. You can rest easy. Exactly. And live in the joy of life because life is so good. Life is so good. If you trust him and obey him and follow him. Mm-hmm.
On the topic of gifts, I think when instead of now that we've all moved into such a mature place in our faith, because if you watch GGB, we all, that is our goal, and it's to follow Jesus and to care for him.
elevate in our faith constantly. When I really started to follow Jesus, I realized that my, the way that I measure success now has nothing to do with the world or my career or finances or anything like that. My idea of success is actually the closer I get to Jesus and the closer I get to holiness. And like every time I feel God has elevated me in my faith and like revealed something new to me or given me, just given me wisdom or insight, like that's my success. That's beautiful.
And so when we think about gifts, like let's not think about material gifts. Let's think about spiritual gifts. What could God give us? The gift of grace, the gift of peace, the gift of joy, the gift of comfort, the gift of knowledge and wisdom and healing, the gift of healing other people, the gift of evangelizing, the gift of...
of be prophesying. I don't, whatever you want, just like there are so many spiritual gifts that that's what I encourage you guys to focus on this season. And I, I want to touch on what you said about, um, how this can be really a season for, for sorrow for a lot of people. And you said something about how, um,
you used to get sad on Christmas or around the holidays and I used to as well. Wow. A lot. And I think a lot of it has to do, we've touched on it, how like birthdays, for example, feel like such a big deal. And so sometimes you're sad on your birthday cause it doesn't feel like it should. It doesn't. And comparison is the thief of joy. And so when you look at movies and you see these perfect families and you compare yourself and you're like, well, my family doesn't do that. They don't love each other like that. They don't have these traditions. Um,
My family is so tight knit and so close, but we don't have like traditions like we don't do some crazy stuff. But we love each other deeply. But we don't. And I remember growing up, I used to get really sad because my family didn't have traditions like I thought I saw other families had. And so I would get sad on on Christmas after getting truly saved, ashamed.
A few years ago, I remember the first Christmas after I started reading the Bible. And it's just so cool to witness what you're... I feel like you are literally me two years ago. Really? Yeah, because this is your first Christmas after knowing Jesus, knowing the Word and reading the Bible that you have such an awareness of Him all around you at all times. You're about to have the best Christmas of your life. It changes everything. You're going to have the best Christmas. You are going to have a one... You're going to...
you're gonna see the magic of Christmas again. 'Cause when you're a kid, you have that, oh, that magic and that wonder of Christmas, but you lose that as time goes on. It's like the disease of life, honestly, is that as you get older, you start to lose that wonder and awe of life.
I remember my first Christmas after reading the Bible, I was sitting by myself, nothing. I didn't have some grand thing. I didn't have all these people in my, like, I remember because I was so aware of the birth of Jesus and my salvation and what God, God did for us. I had the most magical Christmas of my life.
I just literally read the story of Jesus all day and I prayed all day and I thought about him all day. So I want you guys to just sit and saturate, saturate yourself in the word of God and listen to sermons and listen to worship Christmas, uh, Christmas worship songs. And like literally just sit and live in the fact that this day, 2000 years ago, our savior came and stepped into human in the human race for us.
and that'll bring back the magic. It's true. It's true. And even if you do feel alone, you sit in his presence, you won't be alone anymore. I always tell the story of when I was in my lonely place and my parents couldn't comfort me, my friends couldn't, a therapist couldn't comfort me. And the minute I sat down with God and that church that day, it was the first time I felt a peace and comfort that
any understanding I could even explain. So, um, yeah. Do I bring you comfort at all? And you. I wanted to say, I wanted to say one more thing while we're on the subject of gifts. Um,
The way to give gifts and when I started reading about Jesus, how giving he was and just how, like I said, how compassionate was and how he was always at service for others and bringing people up and helping them. And he was so humble and kind.
Any chance you guys get, you help people. You be there. You be at service for people because healing them is going to heal you. And that is the greatest gift you can give them and you can give to yourself. Thank you. The gift of helping, healing. If Jesus loves anything, it's you be a helper and a servant.
That's the greatest gift. The greatest gift. I am so happy you said that. It makes me want to open it back up because Mary literally says, behold, the servant of the Lord. She immediately said, she could have easily been like, oh.
you're choosing me to do. And honestly, it's good for everybody, especially in ministry, to remember that Mary could have easily puffed up and been like, oh, me? Of course. Well, of course me. I'm the best. Of course you would choose me. I am pure and perfect and holy and whatever. She literally bowed down and said, behold, I am a servant of the Lord. That's
She did not get up on a high horse and say, oh, he chose me. No, no, no, no. She went down and served even harder. And Jesus served. And so thank you for, thank you. And honestly, I just love that reminder too about being a servant is the most important thing in life. It is. It is. And there's so many people that need help.
Yes. People need help and we need to be at service for them because it really does. When I am at service for people and I'm helping children, friends, family, just being there for them, that's why pain is so necessary because without the pain and the struggle, you can't be at service to others. You can't understand what they're going through. You're not able to be at service for them as much as people like us who have been through the mud and the mire. Yeah. Yeah. So...
The fire picked me up and the pit of despair set me on fire. That was awesome. But you think, you see, there's so many people. Like when we go to this shelter, there's so many of them. I don't care how tired you guys are. Get up and go help. People are in need. I started calling Ari empathetic R because she, it's beautiful. Her empathy is nothing I've ever seen before. Like it's actually incredible empathy.
- Healthy? I don't know. She feels bad for everyone. Literally, if there's someone, I don't even mean if there's someone hurting or injured or unwell or something in public. If she sees a guy, a teenage boy that's awkward,
She'll think about him for weeks. It's not healthy. I'm thinking about the guy at the farmer's farm and I feel bad. I feel bad. And I'm like, Ari, he's fine.
He's a little awkward. He's going to be okay. I need to have boundaries like you, Angela, please. I'm learning from her. We went to UFC fights this weekend in Vegas. And Ari, this is the funniest thing of my life. I can't go to the fights with her anymore because Ari, I thought she was going to die every time somebody lost a fight. She had a disease.
Is it a seizure? I started crying too. Oh, yeah. I did start crying. But you did it for every time. And I literally go... You were the emotional one. We're sitting there. The guy starts having a seizure. And I'm looking. I look at Angela and she's like this. I go, Angela, what's going on? She goes...
She's bawling her eyes out. Well, I specifically felt bad for him. It's this guy, Mitch. He was shaken. No, but he loves Jesus so much. Did you know that's his thing? He goes into the octagon with a Bible and goes like this. And I thought he was going to win. You know, God needed to take him through the wilderness season. He's going to use this pen. He's going to. He'll be. You know, sometimes, you guys, sometimes. Oh.
We'll be like sad or in bad moods or something. And we always tell you guys like he healed me. And we'll be like, he healed me. Yeah, we'll be like in a really bad mood. You just said that. I'm going to shut up now. I'm sorry. She's rambling again. Please, I'm going to get these XXL pants off. Shut up, Angela.
You guys should see me so when we edit the video. Okay. Anyways, the light of the world. Sometimes I talk too much. Oh, I'm sorry, Joseph. I really felt bad for her. She put Joseph turned around on the chair and goes, I'm sorry, Joseph. Okay. Okay. That's enough comedic relief. Read some scripture. Or she could tell the John story. Which I won't.
Can I tell it? Please. Okay, you guys. I have one more story. We're going to move on since we're on a joyous Christmas episode. Angela and I go to a meeting. I can't handle it anymore, you guys. Please help me. We're at the meeting and Angela had been trying to memorize this John scripture. I didn't try. I did. Maybe you can do it for us. I know you've been waiting for the moment.
The light of the world. I actually memorized it too because I heard her say it so many times. But she was telling the person at the meeting her testimony, which goes along with how she read the book of John. So it was her perfect opportunity to share the John scripture that she had memorized. So I'm looking at her and I'm like, well, then the guy, he starts...
goes in a John battle with her and says the whole thing. I look at her. So I'm in the middle of the two. They're going through a John scripture battle and I'm just sitting here like this. I was like, oh my gosh, get me out of here. Please, I was going to tell you the one scripture that I know. What is that one scripture you know?
It's Proverbs. I forget. It's trust in the Lord with all your heart. And then I started singing it. Oh, John, John, yeah. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean on your own understanding. I'm like, that's right.
Okay, I'll shut up. Save the ear. Okay. Wait, but you also know the one of the mud in the mud. I know that one, but I've said it five times already, so I can't say that anymore. Oh my gosh, that was friggin' funny. Oh, that was some good stuff. The light of the world. Okay. Go ahead. Stop. Stop.
Okay, so I did want to read this about how... Okay, I can't. No, this is good. You don't even know what it says. I do. It's scripture. Are you trying to go home tomorrow? No. Okay, we've lost it. We've lost the plot. We've got to relax. I just want everyone to know that... No, you guys, really. I just want everyone to know that...
That you aren't alone this Christmas. No, I want everyone to know that you guys really aren't alone this Christmas. And we're all together. Isn't it beautiful?
So I really wanted to read this because I think it's actually important and I want you guys to understand why we go so hard for Jesus and it is because he is the way the truth and the life and nobody gets to the Father except through him. In John chapter 18, Jesus is talking to Pilate and Pilate says to him, "You are a king then," said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth."
In another translation, it says that Jesus said, Jesus said that himself. He is the truth. He tells the truth. He literally says, The reason the truth sets you free is because
Up here, we either have the ability to listen to the truth or to lies. And the only truth that actually matters is the truth of Jesus. That's the only thing that can set you free. Lies keep you in bondage. Lies that you are alone, that you're unworthy, that you're not good, that you're stupid, that you're this, that you're that, that you're dirty and nobody will ever love you. These are all lies. And the only, these are the things that keep you in bondage. And the only thing that can set you free from that bondage is the truth of Jesus.
And so we want to invite everybody to come into a space with us where on this Christmas, we want you guys to receive the only gift that matters. And that's the gift of salvation from Jesus. He is the truth, you guys. And when you accept Jesus into your heart, the reason we suffer is because we listen to lies.
All those lies that I just mentioned. And I want Jesus to set you guys free. I want the truth to set you free of lies. I don't know what it is that you're going through, but all the bondage, any addiction, any habit, any mental health problem, that is all because you're believing lies. And I want Jesus to set you free. I just want to say something that you say to me real quick. Yeah.
I love, like, the reason why I love our friendship so much is because you really do hold me accountable. Like, if I do start having those thoughts, which sometimes, as close as I am to Jesus, sometimes those thoughts will come in. And when I talk to you about it and I'm like, those thoughts are coming in of unworthiness or, and you'll say to me,
Now, is that from God? Is that what God says about you? No. And then I'm telling you, as soon as you say that, I'm like, you're right. That isn't what God says about me. So anytime you guys start to have those thoughts that aren't from God, which is what she said, doubt, unworthiness, feeling dirty, not clean. You say, wait a minute, that's not from God. So that's not the truth. Yes. Yes. And you will see the weight that will be lifted. So good. So true. Yeah.
I, let's get this out. Jesus, as we said in John, as it says in John, Jesus is the light of the world and that life is the light of all mankind. And I want you guys to receive that life today. If there's ever been a time to receive the salvation you get through Jesus Christ today is truly the day. Receive this gift. It's the best thing you'll ever do for your life. I want you guys to say this with me. Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner.
and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and I invite you to come into my heart and life. I want to trust you and follow you as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, amen. If you just said that prayer for the first time, God bless you. May the Lord Jesus be with you every step of your journey. May the peace of God inhabit your heart. May the peace of God...
Infiltrate your mind. May the joy of the Lord strengthen you and give you life. May God go into your mind and heart like a surgeon and heal anything that's been broken. May he restore anything that's been taken. We love you guys so much. Have the best Christmas. Have the best holiday season. Be good to one another. Be good to your family. Pray for peace within your family and focus always.
On Jesus, the light of the world. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, God, that you sent your son, Jesus, into human history. You let you let you gave us your only son. And we are so grateful. And we won't let a minute go by that we are not aware of the sacrifice and the gift that you gave us. One more thing. Go ahead. Get him.
Please be safe on New Year's. We're not going to. We're having our first episode right after New Year's. Have the most beautiful New Year's. Get ready. It's going to be incredible this next year. We're all going to be in it together as a family. Isn't that exciting? So good. This next year, we're going to go in it together. We're going to grow together. We're going to grow in faith together. We're going to grow with Jesus together.
So let's get excited. It's going to be a great new year. We love you guys so much. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. We love you. Actually, thank you for saying that. I can't wait to see you guys all next year. We're going to have such a good time. We love you guys. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Glory to God in the highest heavens. Thank you, Jesus. I love you all. I love you.