Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: Welcome, everyone, to another episode of the Jonathan Project podcast where iron is sharpening iron. And we help men navigate the complexity of the world around them by taking the inspiration from David and Jonathan, their friendship and their loyalty to help inspire the show.
If you have found any inspiration in me and Jason and followed us along, please reach out to us at the Jonathan Project podcastmail.com Again, the Jonathan Project podcastmail.com We would love to be one of your local events. Could be at a business, church, whatever the case may be. Love to be there for you. Or if you need prayer. We also have a free devotional. We put that out there. You can find it in all of our episode links. We'll have it, but it's 28 days, about two minutes a day, and it's really a great tool to help you build into some of those great titles that a lot of us men carry. Husband, father, et cetera. Jason. Welcome to episode 10 of season five. Can you believe it? We've been doing this a year and here we are.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Yeah, we were discussing. We thought it was episode 50. I was all excited, but we passed episode 50 a while.
I think we did extra episodes in season one. Yes. The devotional is absolutely free. It's inflation. It's insulated against inflation.
That's get it. Check it out. I appreciate all your feedback if you do read it, so. But. Welcome. Colby.
How's the week been?
[00:01:39] Speaker B: It's been. It's been a roller coaster of stuff, but it's been good. I mean, I think it's. It's raining pretty hard here in the Sunshine State. Liquid sunshine today. Yeah, but no, it's good. The final book in the series came out this week. The Painting Back, so the book is fully launched. That was, that was exciting to get done and. Yeah, man. So how are you been doing this week?
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Oh, man, just trucking along. Just trucking along. We're, you know, it's. It's Saturday morning. Enjoying my cup of coffee. Enjoyed a little bit of rest last night. Everything's good here.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: That's good. That's good. Well, we, we have an interesting topic to kind of get into this week. You know, it's not a story, to be quite honest. Right. That you hear a lot. And me and you were having one of our great discussions and we were like, yep, this is, this is the episode. You know, over five seasons. You know, folks, we've, we've given you. And this one might run a little longer, just to be quite honest with you, to give you a preview. So please, if you, if you get to work and you're still in the parking lot, stick with us a minute. And the reason being is, you know, five seasons we've kind of laid out trying to build you up. We tried to lay out, you know, paths and, and our experiences and our heart for the Lord to say how to be a stronger man. We know we have a lot of female listeners as well of how to encourage those men in your lives.
But you know, this episode really, we're going to talk about where the rubber meets the road, right? And it's really a tough kind of thing when you think about what sometimes the Bible asks some of its main characters to go through. I know Jason has a good comparison as far as cooking recipes go that he's going to talk about, but really, folks, we want to leave you with this episode of one of the best things you can do in your life as a man especially is to be consistent and to give that stability to your family, that perseverance to the next generation. And we're going to give you an example. And Mr. Hosea, and if you, if, if that doesn't trigger something in your mind, I'd most definitely tell you, go back and read that story. But we're going to get into it for you, Jason. So what, what do you have?
[00:03:40] Speaker A: Some thoughts I was thinking, you know, as we were talking the other day about, you know, a lot of people make a lot of promises or things like that, but when it comes to, when it comes to your faith, right, like we, we go to Sunday school, we go to church, read our Bible, we move forward, but at some point it comes to the contact space. We often pray and Jesus even prayed, hey, you know, keep us from temptation, right?
But we know and just like with our kids, that temptation's going to come, problems are going to come, and we know those are going to be there. And so what happens when we enter into that contact space?
Jesus told Peter, he said, satan wants to sift you, but I pray that your faith will endure. Right?
And sometimes that contact space, when we, we go, we meet the world. It's kind of like me and my old truck, you know, that Dodge just takes off slow. It's, it's an old truck, can't take off fast. Yeah, sometimes it's like me and my 16 year old self in a muscle car and I am absolutely leaving all the rubber on the road that I can, but it is. So when that happens, just like you said, believe it or not, just enduring, that's, that's it, you know, I think about that old muscle car. I hoped it endured quite often when I would drive it.
I hope my truck endures. But the greatest superpower can be just showing up, right?
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, they're out there. They're, you know, you're out there as a dad or as a mom, as a friend, you know, a fellow brother, sister in Christ showing up every day. That's important.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: No, you're right, Jason. You're so right, because.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: And I will kind of get into Hosea, but, you know, a lot of times we want God to call us to victories, right?
But sometimes, what if God calls you somewhere else? Right? What if. What if? That's not what if. What if what we determine to be a victory is not part of your story?
And, and that's the truth. It doesn't mean it's not part of God's plan. It's not. You know, God doesn't have an ultimate victory there because the Bible says all things work for the good of him and those that love him. Right?
[00:06:00] Speaker B: No, I love it.
I think, you know, with Hosea's story is just.
And for those who have read it, you know, you can quickly get focused on the marital drama, and that's, That's a kind way of putting what he's going through and what he was called to even more important. But it's really a divine mirror for us as men. You know, it really shows us how God pursues us and how wayward we can be in our own lives.
But what you see Hosea physically demonstrating for all of eternity what is captured in the Bible is really what God does for us. He is consistent. He goes about his responsibilities. Right. Hosea does as a husband and a father, father and spiritual leader with unwavering consistency. And we have to do the same thing. You know, the key scripture that kind of jumps out at you is Hosea three, one, two, go again. Love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel.
So you can see very quickly that this story is very powerful, it's impactful, and it's one that I think a lot of us as men, you know, we go through life and sometimes you may feel like. And I'm sure you can relate when I tee this question up for you, have you ever loved someone that didn't love you back? Could have been in high school, could be wherever, Right.
And those feelings, you know, that you have might not align with the responsibilities that come with that relationship. Right. But when we pull out even further. And we look at our relationship with. With God. How often have we been like that, where he gave his only son to love us.
And we're out here doing some really wild and strange things, right? But he's still there consistently loving us. From the sun rising to the heart that's beating in your chest, he consistently loves us. Right?
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I mean, it says in Hosea 1 and 2, in the King James version, he says, go and take unto. Unto thee a wife of whoredom. And children of whoredom doesn't even hide it.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: That's rough.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: This is who you're gonna go, Mary. And you're right, things weren't working out for him. It says here, if you follow it on down, you're gonna have a child. It says, and bear him a son. So the first one, I love the way it puts it in chapter one three, he goes, and bear him a son. So that's Jezreel. Then you go on down to six. And she conceived again and bear a daughter. There's a phrase missing. She didn't bear him a daughter, she bore a daughter.
And it says.
Then it goes on down and there's another child. I thought, oh, yeah, and she also leaned forward, man. A third one. A third son, Right? And she bear a son.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: Pronounce his name La. Rohama something. Something like that.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: I'm sure I messed it up.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: I'm sure.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah, he had a rough go, man, but he showed up every day just like God shows up for us.
And that's Hosea, you know him. And so you look at Ezekiel and I, I thought it was Jeremiah, but 100%, it's Ezekiel.
Ezekiel was the prophet. You know, we talk about people going through it. We'll kind of go back to Hosea. But Ezekiel, God told him, said, hey, I want you to lay on your side for a whole. For a whole year. I'm going to give you this minuscule amount of bread. You're going to eat it. It's down to the ounce, right? And he says, I want you to cook it with dung. Now, they don't know if that's intermingled or if that's cooked on it.
Right.
But as we all go through our problems, you know that Hosea was probably like, I think I would eat some of that poop versus deal with this problem.
Right? Yeah, yeah. And quite positive that Ezekiel was probably thinking, you know, I think I could distance myself from a woman and, and. And put that away. We all go through it at different.
It's different, but it's, it's all catastrophic for all of us, right? Yeah, but just like, just like Hosea, you know, he showed up every day. That's a superpower.
[00:10:24] Speaker B: It is.
But let's think about like some of those gifts that spawn off of that. I mean, he's a prophet of God, obviously. God called him to a very difficult task. And I think that's, that's literally lesson 1A for all of us is that God can call you somewhere and you can be in the midst of, as my good buddy here says, getting it tore out the frame where every day you wake up, you hate your job, you hate just life in general. And, and we've had seasons, all of us, if we're honest, we've had those seasons. And sometimes that season can feel like it's going on forever. But maybe God called you to that. To have you go through that experience to help the next person down the road that's going to walk into a similar season. And when I think about those three children that he had. Let's think about this for a second. As a father, you know, kids get to a point, we all did because we can relate as adults. Where you saw your parents and you're like, okay, they, they are human, right? And what I mean by that is it's good or bad or wherever your parents fell on the parenting spectrum or where you believe they did. They were human beings, they have flaws, they had hopes, they had dreams and fears. And at some point you see all of that, right? You go beyond this mythical thing as a kid that you see and you're like, oh man, like my parents have human feelings. Right? Like it's that eye opening moment. Well, I think about those three kids that they saw their mom, who the Bible doesn't shun away from the label that she was in her profession.
[00:11:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: And then they see the man that was stepping in and being their father. Because the Bible doesn't give us the picture that the other dudes that or helped in that biological process were there.
And they also see the message that he was carrying. And so what I'm saying is, guys, sometimes you can be in a situation where the best gift that you're given, it could be in your family, it could be at your job, it could be where God has called you, is you showing up every day and being engaged.
That is a powerful thing to give to the people around you, especially children.
[00:12:19] Speaker A: No. You know, Herschel Walker, I like, I like Herschel. He says his only God given talent is to stay at something longer than the other person.
And I think that's right.
It's a great talent. It's a great. I know when I was younger and I was bigger into some of the more high intensity exercises, I found that if I just put my hands on the bar, I could do more than the other person because everybody wouldn't take a break. Right.
And I think that's. As a, as a dad, just show up, put your hands on the bar.
Right?
It's, you know, that's where God's called you. But just like you were alluding to there with the kids, that's an impact. Hey, dad showed up every day.
That's a good one. Yeah. It's not going to be easy, but it is.
It's what's called. And sometimes you got to go a little bit more. As a matter of fact, the Lady Hosea's wife, I think her name was Gomer Gomer. So Gomer is sold into slavery. I. I don't know how she gets there, right?
But he has to go back and repurchase her. Think about that one. Now. That's embarrassing.
That's hugely embarrassing. First off, you're a prophet. You got kids that were created by another man, right.
While you're married.
His household's completely out of order. And he's not only trying to hold it together, but God's told him, says it's not going to be held together. But I need you to do this because this represents what Israel's like and I'm. You're going to represent me.
So. And believe it or not, you know, psychology was as dads, you, when, when children, there's a reason it's called the Father, you know, God the Father, right? When children look at what Jesus is like, or look like, look at, they envision what God is like in their head.
You lay that foundation by your relationship with them, right? Are you kind? Are you loving? Are you forgiving?
You know, it kind of, kind of alludes to a question I had. I'm going to keep around Colby. But Peter, when Peter, Jesus looked at Peter and says, hey, Satan wishes to sift you, but I pray that your faith doesn't fail, right? And I thought about that and I'm like, faith, Peter, you were there the whole time. Does that mean, like, Jesus knew you were going to fail?
Because he says, because when you're restored, I want you to go feed my. Feed the brethren. Then later at the restoration, he goes, you need to feed the sheep.
And of course, Jesus is omniscient, right? Knows everything but that faith, right? Faith in what? Like, was it the faith in Jesus's ability to forgive him? I think that was what he was like, your faith.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: Not in the resurrection, because Peter saw that, like, with both eyes. Yeah, both eyes. And had a foot in that too. Like, probably skinned his head getting in there.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah.
[00:15:24] Speaker A: All however many pounds of, you know, Jewish momentum just making it out.
So the faith in forgiveness. So I think as a father, that's when you look at Hosea, like, he's like, hey, I gotta represent, you know, I gotta represent.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: That's good.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: You imagine what those kids were saying, let's leave her.
[00:15:48] Speaker B: You know, Jason, you.
It is a powerful point. You know, we don't, we don't get so many of those kind of those very human element stories. Right. Like, what was some of those conversations that Hosea had as Gomer comes slinking back in the house from doing, you know, who, who knows what, Right?
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:16:06] Speaker B: And what those kids saw. But, you know, the point really is, for us, you know, for, for men, is really to think about is that obedience to God, your obedience to God has nothing to do with what your partner, what your business partner doing, your spouse, someone else is doing, has zero to do with that. And Jose is a good example.
Completely out of control, like you said, Jason, there's no other way to say it. And, and we're being kind and not using a lot of phrases. A lot of people say maybe potentially the world would call her, but as a man, that hasn't. God makes it very clear. I, I don't care.
Right. And it's not. I shouldn't say it so strongly. And please forgive me, I have limited human knowledge to express it. Yeah, God cared, but what he really cared about was his heart. And really trying to convict the nation of Israel and really us in the modern day is, again, we're very similar to Israel and this wandering thing that we had going on. But following Jesus.
And men need to understand this. This is a phrase that I know you've heard me say, and, and I use it with my son. And I really got it from something that you said to me in the past is men, you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
You know, and there's a generation of men, there's, there's a big thing in society where men don't want, they want to chase comfort. Right?
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: God's covenant is greater than your comfort. And if you don't believe me, go read your Bible, because there were a lot of uncomfortable people and he was like, you better keep stepping.
So. Yeah, go ahead.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: No, Ezekiel, that wasn't comfortable cooking with food.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: I mean, we. Go on. We could talk about everybody. Abraham, hey, go over, take your son, sacrifice him. Leave your parents home, Moses, David. I mean, everyone, right? Some. This. This notion of comfort. I really believe in a Western church kind of thing, because I know you have traveled just a few places in the world, seen a couple things, time or two, but there are a lot of people out there that are not comfortable. But when you talk to them, especially if you talk to a Christian in other places, they have an absolute faith. And you watch these people walk miles to get water or food, or they live with, like, basically nothing.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Right. So we have to kind of understand. And this is where the rubber meets the road. And Hosea is such a powerful example of just being a kingdom man. One of the guys I really look forward to talking to in the kingdom is Jose, because, brother, I want to shake your hand for showing up every day, because I don't know if I had it in me. I just be alligator man. I have, like, lord, I got you. I'm about to pull a Jonah, because this. This is nuts. Like, this woman is embarrassing. Yeah.
I feel like less than a man. So, you know, you got to hang in there, guys. Obedience is greater than your comfort, and it can take you to some uncomfortable places.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Yeah. No, Your role as a Christian, a husband, as a mother. Right.
Or as a. As a wife, your role to your duty to Jesus Christ counts more than your personal feelings.
It does. You know, Colby, you and I both have held positions in the military where, you know, the position exceeds my personal feelings, Right?
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Or exceed yours. Like, I have a duty and responsibility. And that's where Hosea was. You hit a. You said something very, very important when you said, like, jonah, I'm ready to go.
We all hit those moments. What's interesting about Jonah and I do like the story is that when Jonah decided to go get in a boat, there was a boat there.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Oh, I love it. I'm glad you brought that up, because we had talked about that. Yeah, go ahead.
[00:19:47] Speaker A: Well, I think as a.
When you are in the fray of this, there is. Satan will provide you an opportunity. Man provides an opportunity to mess up. He's gonna provide you an opportunity to leave your faith. You know, I. I have no doubt there were people there that took pity on Hosea that said, man, I got it.
Don't do it.
Don't go back after.
And, you know, just like with Jonah, when he got ready to Leave magically, there's a boat. And even in the storm, Jonah was so content. This, I love this because people go, well, I slept on it. I feel pretty good about it.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: Yeah, we've heard that, right?
[00:20:28] Speaker A: I hear that all the time. Well, I feel good.
Tell you something, Jonah slept in the bottom of the boat and storm. Yeah, he could go to sleep too.
So don't. Don't use that as your litmus test.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Right. No, and that's great, Jason. Now, I'm so glad you brought that up. Is that Satan, he's such, such a terrible, terrible being. Right? Like, he will. That goes right saying, right. He. He will provide just what you need. Because I guarantee you with Mr. Hosea, you know, a prophet of God, which carries a lot of weight in the Israeli culture, back then there was somebody who was like, look, I. I really respect you. I could be a good wife to you.
You don't think that was happening? You don't think, like, as Jason said, there was someone that's saying, like, you know what? Just leave her. But again, Hosea had to follow what God said, and God put him on this path. And it's hard for. It is. Well, I'll say it for me, I'll speak for myself. It's hard for me to understand this. It is hard to understand how it is to call someone to such pain.
Right.
But I also know this about my God, is that he knows us better than we know ourselves, and he also knows how much we can carry. And Hosea is a man's man. I don't care what you might look at him, say he was weak. I don't know many men that would go through that as their calling, where your wife is just out there for the streets.
And so, you know, it's such a great thing that you said. Like you said, you have to be careful, gentlemen. And as much as we've encouraged you to hit the easy button or what you think is the easy button, because the counsel that you're getting, if you don't know and have a Jonathan in your life, someone that's following the Lord and the purpose that he sees in you and helping you be ironed, you can get advice that can lead you on a very, very bad path. And you have to be careful because Satan has that boat, as Jason said, there is that boat, that relationship, that whatever it is out there that is waiting to pull you away from what God is calling you and for your family.
[00:22:32] Speaker A: If you look at it, Satan, you know, initially, it's all about division. That's his single strategy is to divide.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: And he looked at it. He divided the angels in heaven and then he divided Adam and Eve. He always tries to divide the husband and the wife. That's where it starts.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: Because you know, that's, that's that center foundation.
And there's an interesting. When you look at now I'm writing this leadership course for. For the state here.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: Now.
And one of the things we talk about, about how do you solve problems?
Well, you have to. I love this phrase, you have to get to the balcony. Because they view a lot of complex problems, like being on a. Like being on a dance floor is what they called it now.
And it's so confusing. And it's super confusing when you're on it and you're getting bounced around or, you know, you can't see the whole thing.
So one of the suggestions in figuring out how to solve problems problem is to remove yourself emotionally from it, to step up onto the balcony so that you can see everything that's kind of going on as a.
When you're caught in the fray of this, Jesus calls us to look to him, right. Which is kind of that stepping away from the balcony, I look, I move from a horizontal viewpoint to a vertical viewpoint. Right.
And by doing that, it does clear my mind. It helps set my priorities so that just like Hosea who was here, he goes, woo, man, this, this may not be for me, but it was him and God were in this relationship. And Gomer was along.
She was just kind of part of it.
And to the kids and I love. You know, if you follow Jose in the story, look on in chapter two, chapter two, six, God talks about, hey, he loves us enough that he will put a hedge up. Hedge up your way with thorns, right. And make a wall that she doesn't find her paths.
When he talks about that, you know, God, God absolutely tries to insulate us, right? Does. Hey, I'm gonna provide you a way out.
You know, you're getting ready to do some wrong. I'm gonna. Hey, you may get a strange phone call from a friend. You may get a text from a buddy. You may notice something that was part of your prayer life. You know, take me out for the good thing. Don't take the out for the, you know, or take the out. Go to the good and so forth. Right.
But then even later in 2:14, talks about alluring.
It's a gentle type of alluring to bring her in the wilderness and speak comfortably to her. Like, that's how God views Israel. He says Look, I. I love you. He views us that way. He tells us that he loves us.
And, you know, it's all about the restoration.
It's all about that. That was what the faith part was about with. With Peter was the restoration because Satan provided him three outs, you know. You're gonna deny me three times?
[00:25:32] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:25:32] Speaker A: And Big Peter was punked by a little girl, you know, and so, you know, I think with Hosea showing up, guys, you don't.
Sometimes it's like boxing. Just be the last guy to quit, you know?
[00:25:51] Speaker B: Now keep swinging.
[00:25:52] Speaker A: Yeah, keep swinging. You never know when that one punch will be the one. And I'm not condoning domestic violence in any way.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: No.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: But in life.
Yeah, don't, Don't. Don't mistake that. But in life, that one, you never know. Right? Like, you could just be. It's that last push.
[00:26:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
No, Jason, I think I'm gonna give some jumping off points. Like, I want to leave the men with a couple. Couple thoughts that I jotted down. Seven lessons that I pulled away. And I encourage you again, guys, ladies, study this out. But for the men, here's seven modern lessons I pulled out. One, love requires commitment, not just emotion. Okay, Hosea 1 and 2, we talked about this a little bit earlier, but I'm going to slow it down a little bit. Covenant is greater than your comfort.
Marriage is a what for the class is a covenant. And it's not just the covenant between you and your spouse. It is a covenant most definitely between you and the Lord. Again, want to emphasize this point. Are you showing up consistently in your relationship, even when it's hard? Rhetorical question for all of us out there.
But your obedience, your part of that covenant has nothing.
Nothing. Let me say that again. For what is going on on the other part of the covenant, that is for God to deal with just as much as he dealt with Israel. He will deal with it in his way. But you have to be committed and stay in and focus on what God has for that commitment for you. Forgiveness is a mark of strength.
Hosea 3 and 2. Forgiveness isn't passive. I get it. You say Kobe. You don't know how this has been going for me. This has been years. And Kobe, or this is this. This business partner stole from me. You don't know. I. I don't. And I can't pretend to know. I can't walk in anyone else's shoes. But I can tell you that from this example of Hosea, it cost him money, AKA silver. He had a rebuyer. It cost him barley he had to rebuyer, and it cost him pride. And any of us that spent time in the Middle east, you know how it is for a man to be shamed in public and what a big deal that is. So where do we need to extend grace? Is the lesson from that part that it's going to cost you? Just know to be committed, to stay, and to be what God has asked you to be. Sometimes it's going to cost and it's going to hurt. God uses pain for purpose. Hosea 4 and 6. Hosea's suffering became a sermon that we're still talking about to this day. Is God trying to preach through your praying? Is there some way that you can take that and help someone else? Right.
Faithfulness is a solo discipline.
Hosea's unwavering obedience. Leadership isn't about who's watching. It's about who. Who called you.
You know, would you still walk in integrity if no one gave you credit? No one was applauding Hosea for this mission. I mean, this was the ultimate solo riot, and he did it for God. God is our love. God's love is our standard. Hosea 14 4. Love isn't earned, is given because it reflects God. Do you lead your home like God leads you, with compassion and truth?
Or are you fickle as much as the weather is in Florida? And you love when it's convenient and when you want something, you want your needs met, and then when it's not, you punch out, you pull a Jonah. Okay, rhetorical questions. And then last, what my good buddies say. So I don't hog up the airwaves here, but restoration is always on the table. I mean, that is, if you get anything. You listen to our podcast. We're always talking about, it's the restoration. Because ultimately that's what the Bible is about.
Jesus restoring God, restoring the relationship between humanity and himself. Hosea 14:1 highlights this. No one is beyond God's reach, okay? I don't care how bad the relationship is. I don't care what was said, what was done.
No one is beyond God's reach. Not even Gomer. Right? You see this restoration process or Israel. God didn't give up on Israel, and he hasn't. He has a great plan for them.
You know, is there a relationship or calling that you've given up on that God still wants you to restore? So, Jason, go ahead. Thoughts on anything I might have said.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: You know, to that restoration point in. In Hosea 6 and 6, God says, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And the Knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. I thought a lot about that. And. And that's really. When you talk about God wanting that relationship. Think about it. Burnt offerings cost something. I mean, it really does. A lot of times people don't. Don't be mistaken. Your tithe in the offering is not as valuable as your relationship.
Right. As I've gotten older, handwritten cards mean a lot. They really do. As a matter of fact, I'm less concerned with the money that's in there, you know, and more what's. What's written. What's written beyond Hallmark.
Yeah, Right.
And that's. That's it, like, you know, as a.
That's what God desires. He desires that relationship. It begins with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says, hey, I'm. I'm it. I'm the only way to the Father, Right? Don't be confused. I'm the only way to the father.
So, you know, get that right. As we kind of move forward, no matter what you got going on, get that vertical view of, okay, Jesus, it's me and you. There's a lot of problems.
And, you know, before we. I don't want guys to think, oh, well, hey, I've got it. Or girls, well, I'm. I'm righteous. And. And this, that, and the other. I got to tell you, I've been married for a long time.
I will not speak about the other part, but I will tell you, I know I'm unlovable some days. We all. We all hit it, right?
[00:31:20] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely, man. Absolutely.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Yeah. But it's by grace and mercy that we're all in it.
And I don't have any of that unless I start paying attention to Jesus Christ.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: I love it. Jason, that's a. That's a great point, that you can't love another person.
You cannot be in a marriage for any length of time. And you see this a lot. And this is why it's absolutely troubling. What. What is going on in. In Western society, which I understand better, is that marriage is now just a. It's convenient until happiness runs out, which, if any of us have been really understanding what happiness is. It's a fleeting thing. You can chase happiness all day long and still not find it. Right? And when you base your marriage on that, like, you're in trouble, right? You base your relationship on God, on happiness, you're in trouble. Because that is the ultimate point here. Not necessarily focusing on. Again, like I said up front, in the part of the episode we open, it's not about the marital bliss and the drama, the heart of the story, is about obedience. First and foremost, following God's calling, wherever it takes you. And it's going to take you when you're obedient to him. Some very painful places internally, there might be an addiction you need to give up, a habit, a friendship, and sometimes even outside of marriage, that, that boyfriend, girlfriend, you need to reevaluate that. Right?
So God wants again, your comfort is secondary to his covenant and, and being obedient to him. And guys, if you want to really be strong and build and have the families, have the full measure of confidence and the purpose that you're walking out with God, first and foremost, you have to be obedient. And second, you have to be able to understand that you might not be comfortable.
And it's not that he doesn't love you and he doesn't care that you're not comfortable. What he cares more about is that big beating heart, that spirit of you and, and what he gave you to walk in, that purpose.
And you know, I just think about one other thing. You know, what I saw from Hosea, I didn't mention it. He led with grace. And this is something that I heard you talk about several times, Jason. It's not control.
And you notice he, he never got physical, or at least we don't get that part in the Bible. He never was screaming and flipping out. He never went high and. Right, as a lot of us in military would say, where he is absolutely talking to his spouse like she was less than a human being.
Right. And it would be very easy to do that. He could have called her all kinds of names. He could have made her feel less than what she was, but he loved her even though she wasn't lovable. And we have to ask ourselves again, don't worry about the other person.
Speak for yourself in your relationship with God, am I loving from grace or out of fear?
And then let God deal with the rest. Right.
Powerful lesson from Hosea, guys. I will leave you with that because I know you're probably in your parking lot or wherever you're at, but I'm mostly giving the mic back to Jason. But think about this, guys. I would tell you to, you know, do a little challenge with Hosea and read through it, man, because there's a lot to it.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's any spouse, anybody. Read, read Hosea. You don't even have to be a spouse. Read. No, it's beautiful. If you feel like, you know, the last chapter, Hosea is phenomenal. But when you talk about grace, yeah, you absolutely can make that conclusion because Hosea had every single legal right by moses law to Stoner. 200% did.
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: He and everybody probably would have cheered him on and said, hey, you are a prophet of God. You know, the wrath of you are. You're here to represent that wrath component. But that's not what God was saying. He says it's a sad situation because, Israel, you're a sad situation.
And, you know, I think sometimes we all enter into that sad situation in our life where we may go away from Christ or we may just be going through that contact space. Right.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: And I love how you put it, you know, with the grace going forward and keeping Jesus in our hearts.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: So, no, folks, so grateful first. You know, that's another great episode of the Jonathan Project podcast. And if you haven't jumped on the train, this is what we talk about. We try to be honest and real as guys and. And just having a heart for helping men see all that God really has put into them, the unique gifts and strengths that he's given them. But I want to just take the time to think as we wrap up season five. Thank everyone that supports us, everyone that's listening out there.
It doesn't go unnoticed. You know, Sam's of the world, just so faithful, so supportive. I dare not try to name everybody else that is out there because I will inevitably forget someone. But I haven't forgot you.
Just. Just thankful for all the support for five seasons. It's been a great ride and yeah. Jason, your thoughts?
[00:36:06] Speaker A: No, really do appreciate everybody. I know there's a lot of folks that start their mornings with us. I really do appreciate those people. Hope you get some encouragement out of this as we kind of conclude season five. Appreciate all the technical Animal Planet working throughs. We figured this. Actually this one came off pretty good.
Yeah. Pretty seamless. As I say that it could cut out at any moment, at any say. But I do appreciate our families and friends and those out there that we don't know. If you do need prayer requests, drop us online. Happy to pray for you.
[00:36:40] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: All right, that's it. Thanks, Coach.
[00:36:43] Speaker B: Yeah, greatly appreciate it, but no worries. So this episode and every great episode from the Jonathan Project podcast can be found on places like Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Apple.
You can find this five seasons going strong. Please subscribe so you don't miss any. Any episode. And all this great knowledge that we're sharing for 100 free. Think about that. Where can you find something for free nowadays? You can't, right Besides here we also have a great devotional right. We talk about this all the time but men really encourage you women out there that are listening, you want to give this to a son, you know, friend, co worker, whoever it is that you know that you can really use a little bit of encouragement. 28 days, two minutes a day. Not a heavy lift, but it puts you into a position to be stronger, which is always a good thing. We'll have that in the links again. You can find us at the Jonathan Project podcast gmail.com the Jonathan Project podcast gmail.com Please invite us out. If you have something. Please reach out to us for prayer. You have episodes you want us to give our perspectives on.
Please reach out. That's the place to do it. Again, thank you for all the support over five seasons. We'll see you here soon and season six, see you. Bye.
