Why You’re Not Receiving From God

0:00:00 – (Steve Gray): Do you know what doubt is? Do you think it’s like just convincing yourself over and over and over to believe God? I’m going to show you a better way and a more scriptural way to get rid of doubt in the next More Faith, More Life podcast.

0:00:12 – (Steve Gray): You were made for more than the status quo. I’m Pastor Steve Gray and this is the More Faith, More Life podcast. This podcast is for Christians with an ambitious heart who want to be more for their family, do more with their career, and see more of God’s promises in their life. I’ve spent many years as a worship artist, minister, non-profit leader, bold truth speaker, and most importantly, father and spouse.

0:00:37 – (Steve Gray): When I was in my early 40s.

0:00:39 – (Steve Gray): I was craving more.

0:00:40 – (Steve Gray): More from God and more from life. I’d done everything I was supposed to do. My life was good, but it wasn’t good enough. So I spent the following years diving into the Word of God and searching for the biblical principles that that would bring me closer to God and help my purpose and life flourish. That’s what I want to share with you. In every episode, you’ll get practical tools based on real life experiences that you can put into action to redefine your faith and ultimately your life.

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0:01:23 – (Steve Gray): Hello everyone and welcome to another More Faith, More Life podcast. I’m here with Zion Vierra and we’re enjoying talking together. We’ve been talking together for a while now. We’re warmed up, aren’t we? I think we’re going good and strong and we want to pick up, Zion, where we were the last podcast, which was from James Chapter one, verse five,  well verses two, three, four and five, where we talked about perseverance and if you’re going through trials and troubles.

0:01:52 – (Steve Gray): James wrote who we said probably the brother of Jesus, James probably. Some say it’s another James, but most people agree that that’s. And most people agree this would be a more Jewish audience. But they’re Jewish believers in Jesus audience. Obviously James is. And so they’re going through a time. Just some more back. Just quick review background. He’s writing these things for a purpose, not just to say, hey, here’s some good thoughts.

0:02:21 – (Steve Gray): They were being persecuted as believers in Jesus as Jewish people. So they were being persecuted by Rome because we kind of don’t get how fierce Rome was when you begin to say Jesus is Lord or Jesus is God or God is God. Adonai is God. However, they said Yahweh is God, which they probably did. They don’t say that today. Since the Babylonian times, they don’t say the name of God anymore. But back then I think they did.

0:02:50 – (Steve Gray): But anyway you say that that means if Jesus is Lord, then that means Caesar is not Lord. And we forget the insinuation. That’s why they had to be so careful sometimes of what they said. So they’re going through Roman persecution and they’re also going through Jewish persecution at the time, which is so unfortunate because, you know, in the early church, very early, there wasn’t Jewish persecution like we think many Jews and believing Jews and non-believing Jews, they, they work together for a season and with Christians, what we call for a season. But yeah, trouble came and just, you know, and, and some of the, this isn’t totally but interesting point.

0:03:34 – (Steve Gray): Some of the persecution from the Jewish community that is persecuting Jewish believers actually came from Gentile Jews. Gentiles converted to Jews who converted. Okay, so we don’t want to get interesting too medical here, but when they converted, they had to go through a lot of processes, some physical changes, right? Yeah. And they went through that and they did everything they were supposed to do to become Jews and they did the medical thing and everything.

0:04:10 – (Steve Gray): Okay, okay. Now we’ve got people, Jewish believers, that are telling non Jews, Gentiles, that you don’t have to go through any of that, you just have to believe by faith. And we’re going like, what, what are you saying?

0:04:24 – (Zion Vierra): I was just freaking.

0:04:25 – (Steve Gray): Yeah, so they would persecute them. Now there’s not totally them that obviously some Jews. But during the time of persecution, when Stephen was stoned, everybody scattered. Not that, not the 12. Well, the 11 who. They got 12, they stayed in Jerusalem, they stayed in town. They didn’t, they didn’t run away because it. A lot of the persecution and, and Paul would go around and they’d beat him up and do all that and beat him with sticks and stuff like that.

0:04:56 – (Steve Gray): A lot of the history, this is so interesting. Surely there were some Jewish high ups. Okay. But the majority, my understanding and my belief is, were Gentile converts who went through Jewish practices to become a Jew. Now Paul is telling other Gentiles, you don’t have to go through that because he’s not really making them Jew, but he’s also making them believers. Now you can be a believer just by faith.

0:05:21 – (Steve Gray): And they didn’t like that said, no, you got to do Jewish things. And a lot of them were actually gentile Jews in that. Interesting. And they were beating him up.

0:05:29 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:05:30 – (Steve Gray): There’s some. There’s some history to that. I invite people to study. I’m off the subject, of course, But. But to study that, to see if that follows through. Maybe somebody can say, well, I don’t. I think you were off. That’s. But obviously there’s both sides. But I believe a lot of the persecution that Jewish believers were doing because they said, like Paul, you do it by faith. And so then Jewish people who had to do it by obedience.

0:05:58 – (Steve Gray): Yeah. Physical things and other things and rituals and eating. No, don’t eat that food. And they did all those things to become a Jew. And you’re saying we can just join this flock now? By what? By faith. Ah. And. But, but see. But why the regular. Regular Jews. By the Jewish people who were Jew, real natural Jews. Yeah. Didn’t rise up so much because Paul never told them not to be Jewish. But that’s what history.

0:06:25 – (Steve Gray): People think. He’s telling them not to be Jewish. He’s telling the gentiles who converted to believe. You don’t have to be Jewish. Rest of you Jews, enjoy your Judaism. Enjoy your identity.

0:06:38 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:06:39 – (Steve Gray): Enjoy it, but do it by faith. Put faith in there.

0:06:42 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:06:43 – (Steve Gray): But you can still enjoy the. By faith that these are good things. Like Sabbath is a good thing by faith. And so I’ve done the Sabbath with Jewish believers, and it’s a wonderful thing because faith is involved in it.

0:06:56 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:06:57 – (Steve Gray): But anyway, okay, so all that’s going on, that persecution. But it’s complicated in a way. Okay. So they’re going through all that. So when he. So he said, when you go through these trials, so what you need to do is you’ve got to have perseverance. And you and I talked about. Not a fun word. Like I said, if I prayed for you and said today I’m going to pray that you get perseverance.

0:07:18 – (Zion Vierra): You know, expect hardships.

0:07:20 – (Steve Gray): Yeah. Diver tell you the story. I don’t know if it’s proper, but since we already leaned a little bit on the medical Jewish side.

0:07:26 – (Zion Vierra): Oh, gosh.

0:07:27 – (Steve Gray): Story where a young college guy came up. I think I was on a college seminary campus or someplace. College Bible student. And he was in distress at the end. He came up, he wanted prayer. And I really didn’t want to talk to people. I don’t like to talk to people and counsel. I want to pray for people and make it quick. But he got up and he got a hold of me. It Was sort of toward the end so he could grab me and he’s really in distress. I don’t know what to do.

0:07:51 – (Steve Gray): What’s your problem? He says, I don’t know what my gift is. Everybody seems to have a gift to do something and I don’t have a gift. Would you pray for me to get my gift? I said, yes. I pray for you now in the name of Jesus, that, that you get the gift of celibacy.

0:08:13 – (Zion Vierra): That’s terrible.

0:08:15 – (Steve Gray): So I did say that. His face dropped. Other people laughed.

0:08:19 – (Zion Vierra): He’s like, no, no.

0:08:20 – (Steve Gray): The people around me were kind of.

0:08:22 – (Zion Vierra): Helping, like, ha, ha, that’s good.

0:08:24 – (Steve Gray): Okay, let’s move on. But so perseverance, though, is one we don’t want sometimes to happen to us. But it says you have to let it if you’re going through troubles. And people do. And some and big, big things to let because the testing of your faith, we talk about more faith, more life. It’ll be tested. Testing produces perseverance. So even though we don’t like the word, we got to hang in there and be and have it.

0:08:51 – (Steve Gray): Because perseverance, then it gets completed. You don’t have to be in perseverance mode every day of your life. There’s a finish line, There’s a finish line and the finish line. And this is such good news. So when perseverance finishes at work so that you may mature complete and the goal then is to get you not lacking anything. So over here, you got a big problem. You feel lack or you feel lack in your relationships or in your just emotional strength, or I’m not smart enough, or I don’t like my job, I lack the finances, whatever. Here’s the big problem. It’s just booming at you, you know, he said, but God wants you to learn how to get to the not lacking. And we talked about that last week.

0:09:27 – (Steve Gray): If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God who gives generously. He’s not here to find fault with you. He’s going to give it to you. Then we describe, because James has the Jewish roots and these are a lot of Jewish roots. People, when they said wisdom, they wouldn’t think, okay, he’s going to. God’s going to tell me how to fix this problem. And then we’ll just go on, we’ll fix it, go on and just go and live life. It was a long term fix. And that was God.

0:09:51 – (Steve Gray): They would think wisdom means how to serve God, how to be loyal. God’s going to say, I’m calling you to be a wise person. Be loyal in your relationship to God, be loyal to the word of God and, and persevere in that too. And then what happens is when you do that, then you’re get your, your, as we said last week, you’re just igniting the covenant.

0:10:15 – (Zion Vierra): Right.

0:10:15 – (Steve Gray): So the wisdom says do this to ignite the covenant because in the covenant is the promises to get you out of trouble. Okay, so the wisdom is not always. It could be God says turn left down here and meet a strange man who will, who has a Cadillac waiting for you and will hand over the keys and. Yeah. And so. Yes. And so that’ll solve your car problems. And you’re going to be driving a Cadillac by the way.

0:10:41 – (Steve Gray): Okay, could that happen has it probably has happened to somebody. But the wisdom that the Jewish people would think is God. God will give me the wisdom of how to get out of this by how to live, not just snap. Here’s an answer. So if we figure that out, then we can get out of trouble because we’re going to ignite the covenant. And I love this, what I said last week, such great wisdom that what we’re doing when we need wisdom or we need help, where God’s going to help us and give us that wisdom to the lack anything is we’re not really asking God to really do anything new because in the covenant of God that he has made with his people, Gentile people fortunately is into it now too. By faith, in that covenant are all the promises, it’s all the action, it’s all the things God said he will do.

0:11:30 – (Steve Gray): In other words, not saying God could you really need to do something. He said, well I already promised you to do it, but you’re out of the, you’re not operating within the covenant, which is what happened to Israel. They were doing religious things, but they weren’t operating. And so Jesus came and renewed the covenant, called it a new covenant, but it was sort of like a renewable covenant, you know.

0:11:49 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:11:50 – (Steve Gray): And, and, and all those promises of the old went in there. Some of the harsher things don’t have to because now faith overtook some of the activities. But for Jewish people, they like I said they could keep doing it, but they need to do it by faith. But for non-Jews like myself, then I don’t have to do all those things and I don’t know what they are anyway. So I just need to get faith in what I do.

0:12:13 – (Zion Vierra): Right.

0:12:13 – (Steve Gray): What you do. And what I do is I have loyalty, I live by faith, I believe in the promises and I want to ignite that start that fire burning again from a smoldering wick to a fire of the promises that already exist are plenty enough to get me to the lack of nothing. Okay, so that’s where we were. We kind of left off there. And. And he does it with, you know, he’s not going to say, you were so stupid, you don’t deserve it.

0:12:40 – (Steve Gray): He’s generous. He wants to give you the wisdom. But the wisdom is not always the wisdom we’re looking for. And so we think, well, God didn’t give me any wisdom. And he says, go back to church and start believing my word and give a little prayer time and not watch some get off Netflix and get off.

0:12:54 – (Zion Vierra): That’s perseverance.

0:12:55 – (Steve Gray): Yeah, get off some of this stuff and give me some time and give me some heart. Love me. I need your heart. That’s basically what it is. I need your heart. And you’re wanting wisdom and not following through. Which brings us to the next verse, which is verse six. Okay, but when you ask. So we’re going to go through, we’re all this. And we’re going to say, okay, I did all that. I’m perseverance. I’m believing for no lack of anything. I’m believing for wisdom.

0:13:23 – (Steve Gray): Yeah, all that. And I’ve asked for wisdom that he says, okay. And God gives generously. He says, okay. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. Because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. And I think the next. We didn’t put it down there. And it says, but that person should not expect to receive anything from God. That person. Because they get tossed to and fro. All right, double minded. It says unstable.

0:13:56 – (Steve Gray): Double minded. That’s what that wave tossed by the wave of the sea means. Unstable actually means without an anchor. So if you’re out in a boat and you want to stop and you need to throw out the anchor and you go like you didn’t remember, put the anchor in, didn’t you? The anchor. I thought you were going to bring the anchor. No, you said you would bring it. We don’t have it. Okay, so now you’re just going to go.

0:14:18 – (Steve Gray): And that’s what it means. You’re out there on the sea without an anchor. And so tossed. Blown, tossed by the wind. And then as we look to the further verse, then it’s. You become. Okay, yeah, it’s unstable. You can’t stand up. You just got to sit and hold on. Don’t know where you’re going to go. So you’re unstable now. Your life has become unstable in all your ways. Because if you’re in the boat that’s tossing and turning like that, there, there is no stability in any way. Anything you do right, you can’t, you know, can’t stand on your head, you can’t go, you can’t do anything. You just got to hold on.

0:14:51 – (Steve Gray): So the picture is now you’ve become unstable in all your ways. Double minded. So it says when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. Okay, here’s the key. When he says, when you ask, he’s talking to believers, he’s not talking to a non-believer. So if they are believers, let’s just put a number on it. Okay? Let’s just say, okay, well, they’re at least 50% in because they’re asking, they’re asking for wisdom, they’re praying, they’ve, they’ve been involved, but they’re going through some hard times, as we said, persecution and things.

0:15:28 – (Steve Gray): So when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. Okay, so what I have always taken that to mean is not doubt is just, I don’t know how to describe it, like just, well, perseverance, but just push myself to convince myself. Be convinced, sure, be convinced by. But if you realize as you look at the whole passage that we studied, that’s a little bit out of context. If we’re going to go through all the things leading up to this, don’t doubt. And it all of a sudden says, now what you need to do is be absolutely convinced of something, that God’s going to do it or that the wisdom you got is from God.

0:16:07 – (Steve Gray): It sort of is that. But the doubt goes back to the wisdom. If you really, you must not doubt because your doubting is demonstrated by the other 50% that doesn’t believe, that doesn’t trust, that doesn’t. But lives in the world that worries like the world, that, well, I guess just lives like the world. So we go back to the believers who are being persecuted. They’re being tempted to shave off a little bit, go 50% but not the whole 100% percent.

0:16:37 – (Steve Gray): Because maybe if I just go 50%, I can still hang on to God and I won’t get beat up, you know, or lose my home. They take, they took property away sometimes. And so it’s his saying, the doubt didn’t mean convince yourself that these are true. The doubt meant convince yourself that the wisdom you’re getting is to give yourself 100 percent—more than 50%—give hopefully 100% of your heart over to God.

0:17:04 – (Steve Gray): Because if you don’t do that, you’re really not going to. You’re double minded and you’re like, you’re in the boat of Jesus world, right? You’re in the boat of Jesus because you’re, you’re asking God, you’re trying, you’re a believer in Jesus, so you’re in the boat, but you’re in the boat without the anchor. Yeah, because the anchor of your soul and getting rid of the drifting and the double minded and falling, living like this, being tossed to and fro is the other 50% that needs to believe that the wisdom of giving your heart more, your time, more, your effort, more is worthwhile.

0:17:43 – (Steve Gray): Because that’s going to be an anchor that’s going to anchor you in this journey. In the boat you’re not going to be tossed, you’re going to be solid. And now you’re not double minded anymore. Being tossed to and fro. You’re anchored in life. And now you can get the wisdom. You do it because then as we said, I like this, it says he who when it says toss to and fro or the double minded, the man of two, two minds. That’s why half, 50% is God’s, the other half is, I’m still thinking like everybody else or some way.

0:18:18 – (Steve Gray): Okay, and it says, interesting phrase, that person, person should not expect to receive anything. Now notice the wording of that. Here’s how I hear it. That person should not expect God to give them anything.

0:18:35 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah, right.

0:18:35 – (Steve Gray): But he says he gives generously without finding fault. How? I mean, okay, so you’re contradictory almost. Yeah, because okay, so you were so stupid, you got in the boat without an anchor. Yeah, okay, now you’re out there, but God’s going to give you away. He’s going to give you wisdom how to anchor your life.

0:18:50 – (Zion Vierra): Right.

0:18:51 – (Steve Gray): So your life has been drifting without you just don’t have that anchorage. But he’s not going to find fault with you. But it doesn’t say God’s. Because without fault he’s going to give generously. Without fault can’t mean that if I’m double minded then all of a sudden God’s going to cut me off and not going to give me anything. Notice it says the double minded person is so unstable in all their ways, they cannot receive.

0:19:17 – (Steve Gray): So ah, they’re double minded. They can’t like oh, okay, I believe I. Okay, yeah, well maybe not, maybe not. I’m going to try this. And so it’s hanging out there. God’s gift of wisdom. God’s gift of no lack. Eventually, no lack of anything. He’s not finding fault, he’s being generous. There’s a generous. There’s promises of God, all the things that God would like to do in your life. It’s hanging there and you’re going, I don’t know.

0:19:42 – (Steve Gray): I don’t know.

0:19:42 – (Zion Vierra): Can I trust this or not?

0:19:43 – (Steve Gray): Yeah. Should I go? You know, okay. Should I shut the TV off and give some time? You know, God’s. I’m sitting in church. I feel like God’s saying to me, give an offering. Just give. Give something. I don’t. I don’t normally do the offering, and I’m a little short on cash. And all of a sudden I feel, do a promise, hear a promise. I promise you that if you’re generous to me and give, you’re going to get back. So try it. Do it.

0:20:06 – (Steve Gray): Well, God has a gift hanging out here for you that’s going to help you financially, but you’re not going to receive it because you’re not receiving your wisdom. That’s right. Right. And so interesting.

0:20:16 – (Zion Vierra): I like that perspective.

0:20:17 – (Steve Gray): Yeah, that’s good. So that person should not expect to receive anything from God.

0:20:22 – (Zion Vierra): And it doesn’t say that God’s not going to give to them. It just says that you’re not going to receive. Yeah, I really like that. And that really clears up the air on that. Yeah.

0:20:29 – (Steve Gray): And even if somebody tried to change the translation, say, no, no, no, it means give. It doesn’t fit contextually.

0:20:37 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah, it doesn’t.

0:20:37 – (Steve Gray): No matter who translated it into English on whatever version of the.

0:20:41 – (Zion Vierra): That’s really good.

0:20:42 – (Steve Gray): Yeah. Because it doesn’t fit contextually with the rest of it. Here’s God generous and not finding fault and giving like that man. Here’s a person who can’t receive it.

0:20:51 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah.

0:20:51 – (Steve Gray): Because they’re tossed. They’re unstable. And they’re not just unstable in their walk with God. Let’s clarify that before we end this. It’s not just. They’re. They’re unstable in all their ways. So, you know, they’re probably an unstable wife or there’s. It’s an unstable husband or you’re unstable in your job. You know, you go to work and you do it, but you’re the guy that’s unstable. You know, you’re the one that just can’t get it together.

0:21:16 – (Steve Gray): Well, you need to take God’s wisdom now, persevere in his wisdom and not doubt that the way to freedom is through the wisdom of God. And that’s more loyalty and more Believing, giving your heart to him, giving more time to him. And I still believe giving money to him. But because where your treasure, that’s where your heart, you know, if it’s money then that’s where your heart is and you need to get your heart over and give some money, get your heart out of that thing and give it over to God. So what a passage.

0:21:47 – (Zion Vierra): Yeah, that’s really good.

0:21:48 – (Steve Gray): I’ve been thinking about it. I might have to preach this at our church. I haven’t.

0:21:53 – (Zion Vierra): It would go over well.

0:21:55 – (Steve Gray): It’s fascinating to me of what it actually says and what it’ll actually do. So that’s why we want you to keep, keep listening and keep tuning in and telling your friends and subscribing to Steve Gray to the podcast and also go to https://stevegrayministries.com where there’s more things. Books—and we’re working on a new book.

0:22:14 – (Zion Vierra): You know, exciting stuff coming.

0:22:15 – (Steve Gray): It’s going to be coming your way. The old books, If You Only Knew and Mighty Like Gideon and all the others, they have jewels like this all the way through them that you can’t get very seldom because I’m not trying to soothe you and say you’re okay. Just keep going. It’s going to turn out all right. I’m saying you might be in big trouble, but this can get you out. You could be unstable and just be drifting in life and this will get you out. That’s why I want to try to help you.

0:22:43 – (Steve Gray): I think we mentioned last time too, or did we mention it this time? Maybe consider a gift to this ministry. I don’t ever ask for money.

0:22:49 – (Zion Vierra): Might as well.

0:22:50 – (Steve Gray): And some people are experts at it, you know. But we’re supporting things that help people really get out of trouble. Practical things they can do. So keep that in mind. Until next time, bye-bye.