Ep. 85 Can You Believe It?!?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: I love this statement, can you believe it? And specifically I put like a question mark with an exclamation mark with a question mark because it is like this, this statement. Like I'm. Can you believe it? Like, yeah, this is so exciting. Like it's unbelievable. And at the same time it's this question and I think it's when Christ really presses in, when grace presses in to our hearts, it, it's this question that can you believe? Can you really trust, even when your emotions are overwhelming you, can you really believe this? Can you really trust it that it's true? Because it's not just this hyped up thing, it's this reality that God declares over you that you are a new creation. Welcome to let's Talk Life. It's us, Carl, Zach Cousins, just talking life in Christ. And today, episode 85 even that I can't believe, Carl. But the title is can you believe it? And it's like a question, but it's also this just exclamation. The statement, can you believe it? You know, God, you call me worthy, you say I'm forgiven, you name me righteous and holy and beloved and accepted. And so it's not, it's not just this exclamation, it's also this invitation to trust these, these realities. And so it's this question that says, can you believe this truth? Because sometimes my feelings don't line up with the truth. And, and the reality with that is that the truth is louder than my mood if I trust it. If I trust the truth, it's louder than my mood. So in Christ, you know, I'm not begging for forgiveness, I'm standing in it. I love that. I'm not begging for forgiveness. I'm standing in the forgiveness that is already a reality for me. I'm not trying to become something that, that God hasn't already declared. I'm learning to live out of who he's made me, that I'm new, that I'm a new creation. And so feelings can get loud for sure. But I choose faith. I trust him. So Carl, can you believe? [00:02:03] Speaker B: It depends on the day, depends on the time. [00:02:06] Speaker A: That's. That's true. [00:02:07] Speaker B: And which, which is why it's so, so good. You know anything about Jesus saying I'm the way, the truth and the life, only truth trusted can transform. [00:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:19] Speaker B: And so if it's just a, if it's just a knowledge, then, then it doesn't transform. And so, so then, so I can go back there mentally and say, oh well, maybe am, I am I really forgive, you know, when the attacks come from the enemy, and which they will. Which they are, you know, so Satan is, is giving permission to, to go after Job. Jesus says, satan has asked to sift you like wheat, which could be a world or could just be specifically, Peter, we have an enemy. And so when I'm not grounded with a brother who can remind me, oh, yeah, this is who I am. I can forget, right? And then I can go return back to the vomit. You know, I can go back to what, whatever sort of medication, you know, work or sports or whatever it may be, Right. And it's like, no, no, I am, I am who Jesus says I am. I am Christ in me on my worst day. I'm Christ in me for today, this morning. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:18] Speaker B: So it's when I trust it, when I, When I trust this truth. [00:03:21] Speaker A: Yep. [00:03:22] Speaker B: And so can I believe it? Depends on the day, man. Depends on the day. How about you? [00:03:26] Speaker A: Right? No, it's, it's the same thing. I, I, I love that statement. I do use it all the time. Truth, trusted, transforms, you know, you already said it. It's, it's so good. Yeah. Because just like I said, feelings can be louder. We talked about it, I think, even in our last podcast. It's like the noise of how I'm feeling can be really noisy. And it's really amazing that when I trust this truth of who I truly am in Christ, that's actually, it's not necessarily always louder. It's just that it's more. It brings rest, it brings peace, it brings joy. It just, it brings everything that I'm really looking for sometimes that I'm always striving for. [00:04:07] Speaker B: Right? [00:04:08] Speaker A: And the striving gets me nowhere. It's like a hamster wheel or treadmill. I'm just, Just, you know, on this incline, on this treadmill, and it's, it's exhausting. It's wearing me out, and it's frustrating me. And then all of a sudden, I just turn back to this truth and go, oh, I should just, I should trust that. And suddenly it's like just this weight off of my shoulders. [00:04:28] Speaker B: Right? And so to, to say that, that we're worthy, to, to say that I'm forgiven, that I'm righteous, holy, beloved, accepted and accepted. It's hard for me to believe it when I, When I'm seeing God through the shame, when I'm, When I'm seeing God through my shame. And yet when I understand that he took all my shame at the cross, you know, Hebrews 12. Two, when I. When I realize that, I can begin to see myself. I can begin to see myself the way he sees me, which is full, complete right now, because I've received his son. [00:05:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:05:06] Speaker A: You know, it's interesting. I drove by this morning. I drive by it often. It's a church that I drive by regularly. It's close to my house, and they have a sign out front recently, for the last number of days, maybe the last couple weeks. It's a women's conference that they're doing, and it's called Beloved. And every time I drive by in. This morning was similar, and it just kind of hit me this morning because I've been using that word. I used these words, and I'm using this. This thought from Sunday morning yesterday, when I was leading some music and church, and then I'm bringing that to our discussion. But I saw that on the sign this morning, Beloved. And I thought it's really interesting because I think generally, culturally speaking, when it's a women's thing, we call it beloved, but if it was a men's thing, we would never call it beloved. And why is that? Because men, they don't even want to associate with that. And I think that's. There's a huge. There's a huge blockade there to keep men from receiving this reality that we are God's beloved. So it's something that hit me this morning. [00:06:08] Speaker B: Wow, that's. That's really good. That's really good. Yeah. We're gonna. We're gonna have a bunch of men. We're gonna have a men's conference, and we're call it Beloved. You might get three guys. [00:06:19] Speaker A: Right, Right. [00:06:20] Speaker B: But isn't that the truth, that we are his beloved? [00:06:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:25] Speaker B: You know, John. John was very comfortable. [00:06:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:28] Speaker B: With. With the disciple whom Jesus loved. [00:06:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:06:33] Speaker B: The beloved. [00:06:34] Speaker A: Yeah. But culturally speaking, that's not the man's man. And we all want to be the man's man. We want to. We got to prove ourselves. And proving ourselves isn't that. And it's. [00:06:43] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. There's a billion podcasts that anyone could listen to try to figure out what is a man. What is biblical masculinity. Authentic masculinity is like, man. There's a lot just like with anything. Right. There's just so much. So much. You gotta cut through so much to get to the heart of God. [00:07:01] Speaker A: Right. [00:07:02] Speaker B: And when the heart of God. Right. The heart of God is what? Beloved? [00:07:05] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it is just amazing when I think about God personally and relationally, he calls me Worthy. When. On the flip side, for me, I'm used to measuring my worth by my performance. [00:07:19] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:20] Speaker A: You know, it's like from being a child, like, when you're born into this world, you realize that if I do this good thing, mom and dad are like, good job. If I do this bad thing. No, you don't do. You know, So I learn right away. And then you learn it in school and you learn it at work, and that's. That's a performance mindset that we just are grown into. And so stepping into this whole different mindset of, okay, I'm in Christ and God loves me, and he sent his son for me because he loves me, because he likes me, and that he doesn't love me more when I perform good, he just loves me. It's a whole different dynamic. And so, yeah, for him to say, you're worthy, like, I love you. I think probably one of the most gripping things for me over the last few years is that God likes me. [00:08:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:12] Speaker A: Because I could never process it that way. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Right. [00:08:15] Speaker A: It's like, oh, God loves me, but he doesn't really like me that much. I can receive that. God loves me. I can believe that. But I can't believe that he, you know, he really likes me. So it's a. It's an interesting dynamic, for sure. [00:08:26] Speaker B: Yeah. There's a lot of things that can keep us from believing this, this truth, this reality, you know, past, present, you know, we have capability of still sinning. We can. We can sin. [00:08:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:41] Speaker B: If you want to use that word. I can still sin. Right. [00:08:43] Speaker A: Right. [00:08:43] Speaker B: And so when I sin, then I start to wonder, well, am I really forgiven? And am I really precious to him? Am I. Am I really his beloved? [00:08:53] Speaker A: Sure. [00:08:54] Speaker B: And that. Because we put it back on us. And. And I say, well, if I was, then I wouldn't do this. If I was, I shouldn't have done that. Or why do I keep, you know, even. Even with. Even dealing with, like, really lust and sexual sins? Because we in the church have said these are the worst. And so these are the. The ones that we really keep hidden. And it's okay to talk about every other sin, but. But when pastors are, you know, ministry leaders are saying, I thought. I thought it'd be past this, you know, in their. In their 50s or 60s. And I thought it'd be past this. And I said, no, because we're human. We're human. Right. You know, And. And so it's so important to say, okay, what's the truth about me? Right. What's the truth about me on my worst day. [00:09:37] Speaker A: Right? And that's what I love this statement. Can you believe it? And specifically I put like a question mark with an exclamation mark with a question mark because it is like this, this statement, like I'm. Can you believe it? Like, yeah, this is so exciting. Like, it's unbelievable. And at the same time, it's this question and I think it's when, when Christ really presses in, when grace presses in to our hearts, it. It's this question that can you believe? Can you really trust, even when your emotions are overwhelming you, can you really believe this? Can you really trust it that it's true? Because it's not just this hyped up thing. It's this, it's this reality that God declares over you that you are a new creation, that you are beautiful. [00:10:25] Speaker B: Right? [00:10:26] Speaker A: I had Colossians chapter two because I just thought this was really awesome. And because it says you, you were dead in your transgressions. He made you alive. Together with him, having forgiven us of all of our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. And I just love those words. He has taken it out of the way. And it's like, isn't it true that in, in our thinking and I think in our North American mindset. [00:10:59] Speaker B: Right. Right. [00:11:00] Speaker A: In the church and everything. [00:11:01] Speaker B: Right. [00:11:02] Speaker A: Is we're trying to, we're still, still trying to focus on the thing that's out of the way. We're still trying to work on our sin. [00:11:09] Speaker B: Right? Right. [00:11:09] Speaker A: We're almost like we're trying to pull it back in the way so we can work on it. And God is saying, but I've removed that thing I've taken out of the way. And so it's such a beautiful thing to rest in that. Can. Can I believe that truth? Can you believe it? [00:11:23] Speaker B: And, and I just love this too, Zach, because especially in the North American church, is, is we. We have a. We have an incomplete go. And the incompleteness of is is. It's lacking fullness of Christ. That's. That's when we say about incomplete, not that we're not forgiven or we're not going to heaven, but it's incomplete because there's a, there's a lack of fullness that he literally says in Colossians 2:13, God, he has made alive together with him that I was dead and he made me alive. Sometimes there's been this propensity to advertise Jesus as, hey, your life's sad. Jesus will make it better. Oh, you're going through tough time. Jesus will make it better. It was. I was dead and he made me alive. And just that fullness of life, you know, the fullness of life. That, that, yeah, he did, he did remove it. He took it out of the way. Everything. Everything. Right, right. Everything is taken out of the way. So, so how do, how does he see me now? And how do I see myself? I mean, going back to your questions. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it's. It's so good. Can you believe this? Can you trust this reality? And, and I go back to just as we received Christ, right? So walk in him. [00:12:45] Speaker B: So walking him. [00:12:46] Speaker A: So how do we receive him? How did we receive him? It was by faith. It was by trust. [00:12:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:52] Speaker A: So how do we walk in Him? It's also by faith and it's by trust. And it's. It's not by following a list of things that. That's the reality. And, and so like he calls me worthy because of who he's made me, not because of what I do. It's like on a given day, it's like, oh, yep, I live today as holy as I possibly could. And so God is really pleased with me. It's like, no, from the very beginning of the day, God was pleased with me. Even if it was been my worst day, he's still pleased with me because that's who he has made me. He has removed these things that were the blockade, the thing that kept me from him. And he's removed those things so I have access to Him. And it's. It's really just a beautiful thing. Grace doesn't just cover my failures. It. It actually gives me a new identity. [00:13:43] Speaker B: Abundance of grace. Grace upon grace lavished upon us. It's not just a little. A little condiment we sprinkle on our sin. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:52] Speaker B: And I like that. I like what? I like your question in the notes. It's not really a question. It's. It's not just an exclamation. Can you believe it? It's an invitation to trust. It's an invitation to trust. Is God bigger than this? Is. Is God greater than my sin? Right. Is he greater than my failures? Is he greater than our enemies? Is he greater than those that oppose this beautiful grace of life? Do I believe he is? And at the core I want to say yes. And so it's like the fruit of that life looks different, right? The fruit of that life looks Different. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So true. And I really appreciated, too, your explanation of the incompleteness of the gospel. Because we're not here to say you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong about this, and we're right. [00:14:40] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:40] Speaker A: It has nothing to do with. With that. Because the gospel, even that we taught and brought to the table for people was a gospel that people could believe and they could receive and they could find salvation and understand that they're. Yeah, but the incompleteness was that it didn't take them into this life. And I just love. You know, so this is. I was. I led the music here on Sunday, yesterday. It doesn't apply to the people listening. Whatever day of the week. [00:15:10] Speaker B: We missed it. Dang it. We missed it. [00:15:12] Speaker A: Right. So anyways, like, I've shared before, you know, and it was actually with. With you, Carl, the first time I did new music with the retreat, and God just, like, create space. Those were words that he gave me. I was asking him, God, what does this look like? Yeah. He gave me that clarity of just create space. And then. Then I enter into these realities of like a couple of books, the Path and the Cure both. And I just love the way that true face brings out these questions. [00:15:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:43] Speaker A: And the path, I don't remember it off the top of my head, but I have it written here differently that the way of Jesus. This. This is what I presented yesterday. I said, can you believe it? I. I started with that question, and then I said, the way of Jesus is different than you think. And it's like, that's kind of like a little. Little bit cutting edge, maybe to people [00:16:02] Speaker B: that have been in the church for [00:16:03] Speaker A: their whole lives for a long time. [00:16:05] Speaker B: Decades. Yeah. Right. [00:16:07] Speaker A: But when you think about God and his ways and his thoughts, I mean, they're. There's things about God that we'll never know. And so his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways. Now he's invited us into some of those. He's brought some revelation into those realities. [00:16:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:23] Speaker A: But there's some aspects that we're never gonna really get. And so I think it's still true that the way of Jesus is different than you think. Yes. Like, you think he's gonna work because you're doing these things. And that's true. But he's also gonna do this over here that's gonna rattle so that. I mean, I think that's kind of what you and I both still experience you stuff right now. Right, that you. [00:16:44] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:16:45] Speaker A: It's like this is what I think God is doing. But then all of a sudden, this over here blows up. And now that's, you know, it just takes us in a whole different direction. [00:16:53] Speaker B: Sure. And here's an example. It's like, okay, am I. Am I willing to submit myself to God? [00:17:00] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:00] Speaker B: Or am I going to resist? I mean, it comes down to that. It's like, okay, God, am I trusting you that what I'm walking through is what you want me to? And if. And if I trust you, then I. Then I submit to you. And in. In that passage I sent you yesterday that just really was so crazy. Matthew 5, it's like. And I say this all the time, too, Zach, man, this. This way of Jesus is different. [00:17:23] Speaker A: Right. [00:17:23] Speaker B: It's different than anything I thought of for 42 years, you know, thinking I was doing the way of Jesus. And I've even had people challenge me, saying, what if what you're talking about is the narrow road and few find it? And I'm just like, wow, that's true. So Matthew 5. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. [00:17:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:57] Speaker B: And they persecute the prophets who were before you. And Zach, that. Just. Just allowing God to minister to me in a lot of confusion and some. Some pain. And he's saying, your rewards great in heaven. You're. You're not overlooked. I see this. And your reward. Your rewards not fame and your rewards not money. You know, so much, so many pastors, right. We want to be famous. We want to have a lot of followers on Tick Tock or Facebook or whatever. Right. We want. We want to be. We want. We want to feel worthy, dude. The. The creator of the universe says I'm worthy. He says I am accepted and beloved. [00:18:35] Speaker A: Right. [00:18:35] Speaker B: Right now. Right now. And so it was like, rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Wow. So just on this path of. All right, God, surrender it. Whatever you want. [00:18:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:47] Speaker B: Whatever you want. [00:18:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So beautiful. [00:18:50] Speaker B: The. The. [00:18:51] Speaker A: The life of. Of trust. And. And doesn't that translate into other people's lives? Like, it's such a testimony to other people. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:00] Speaker A: Because they see. They see that you're even in the midst of difficult times, but they see you at rest in the midst of it. And. And it's like, that's such a testament to, like, just. I want what you have. Yeah, I want that. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:16] Speaker A: You know, when I think back to probably the. The message that resonates with people, the most that I've experienced is, is me just saying, you know, I'm. I'm really at rest. I have joy with the Lord in knowing Christ in me. [00:19:32] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:32] Speaker A: And people are like, whoa, Like, I want that. I think people are hungering for that. Like, we live in a world where rest is. Is not something that we experience a whole lot. [00:19:45] Speaker B: Right. [00:19:45] Speaker A: And so we're exhausted. We're exhausted from our families and our work and all these different things. The schedules and schedules are just getting busier now because school starting and it's like we're back the thick of it. Rest is not absence from all that stuff. There's still a lot of busyness, but in the busyness, I can live and be at rest. Right. And that's, that's really the invitation of Jesus. That's what he said. Yeah. You know, I'll bring you rest for your weary soul. And it's not like all that stuff that's causing weariness is going to disappear. [00:20:19] Speaker B: No, it's that it doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Right. Doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Doesn't mean it's not. Sure, but he who is in me is greater. [00:20:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. [00:20:29] Speaker B: He who's in me is greater all than all of it. [00:20:32] Speaker A: Yeah. It's so good. Incredibly good stuff. So. Yeah. I mean, coming off of that, yesterday, I just, I. I shared a couple of songs, Arrested by Grace. And then our. Our favorite song, Enough. And both, both of these songs just like really nail some of these points. And that's where God. This is. This was what was so amazing about it. That's where God brought my attention to. Can you believe this? Like, I almost wanted to make a T shirt. And I think I might start still. Can you believe it? Like, this is so exciting. And then at the same time, on your worst day, it's like a good invitation and question of will you trust this? Can you believe this truth? [00:21:06] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:21:07] Speaker A: And. And so as. As I was just sharing those things with our little body here, it was like so amazing to just take the word enough, the song enough, but the word enough and saying, am I trusting the enoughness of Jesus? Am I trusting that he is enough that he's made me new? Can. Can we believe that? Can I believe the Father's love for me? Another just new song that I. That I just barely learned before Sunday even. But it was just so beautiful to Just play out. What does the Father say of me? What is the Father's love for me? What does it look like? And it's like he wants to not just love me, but he wants to know me on my daily life. And he's interested in me. And it's such a different way to process everything. So, yeah, the way of Jesus is different than we think. Or like the cure. You know, I mentioned that too. Their subtitle is what if God isn't who you think he is and neither are you? And I've said this before. Like, just those subtitles to me would have kept me from reading those books 10 years ago. But now they're like the key questions to really ponder and to process and to recognize and to ask God. Like, okay, God, if I'm missing something, would you show me? That takes me back to Ephesians. That's what started this all for me. Ephesians 1:17. God, you bring the revelation. You give me that spirit of wisdom and revelation. And he broke through. He did. And he will for you and he will for anybody that asked him. Because that's God. He loves us and he wants to have that relationship. So it's just such a beautiful reality. So, man, I guess we're out of time. And that shuts down. Let's talk life for today. But we continue talking life with everybody around us. That's the whole journey. And the question for today is, can you believe it? Statement, question. Be excited, because you have something that you can't believe in Christ in you. The hope of glory. Amen.