The Choice is Yours

Join Joe and Kelly as they discuss choices.  They refer to the scripture Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Through a lot of laughter and joking along with some serious conversation they discuss choices and how what you decide relates to what God has placed on your life. 

Join them in the journey as they decide to follow Jesus and the call God has placed on their life. Please remember to like and subscribe to our podcast and share it with others if it blesses you in some way.   

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Transcript

Episode 12 The Choice is Yours 

Kelly: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Blessings on Hope Road podcast, where we talk about life, family, and what it all looks like through the lens of our walk with God, as we step into our calling as His children.

Welcome to episode 12. Wait, what did we name

Joe: this one? I don't know. He said you wanted some quiet so you could do the intro and because sometimes I am a six year old, like being quiet just brought on mass hysteria. 

Kelly: Okay, wait, I 

Joe: must start over. No, you don't have to, we're just going to roll with it. was. 

Kelly: I totally drew 

Joe: a blank. See, I'm over here just kind of loose, having a good time.

You're trying to be all serious. Like, and you should, it's a good thing to be that.[00:01:00] 

Kelly: We prayed and then I like lost it, it went out of my head. 

Joe: It was gone. Ah, I guess we must have needed strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength, so joy is all you've got. 

Kelly: Oh, okay. So it's episode 12 and the choice 

is 

Joe: yours. Yes. The choice is yours because we decided that title sounded better than no 

Kelly: excuses.

Joe: She said that was a little harsh. No excuses. Sounded a little like smack you in the mouth, but, um, yeah. So this episode, uh, we are going to dig into, um, I don't want to say the fullness, but, um, Maybe a little bit, pull back the curtain on the why. Like, it seems like a lot of people ask that question. You know, you hear people, if God is good, God this.

If God is this, then why is [00:02:00] that? Right. If this is this, is that? If that, if God is this, then why is that that way? Ultimately, at the end of the day, there's no use in arguing. Sometimes people just want to argue. They do. Um, but there are some people who genuinely are asking because they're like, Hey, I want to know.

Um, God is a good God at the end of the day, why he did this? Why he did that? I don't know. He's God. He can do whatever he wants to do. Why did God put the tree in the garden? If he knew the people were going to eat from it. Don't know. He's God. It's his garden. So he can plant whatever he wants to plant in his garden, but kind of kicking all that off to the side and saying.

What is behind all this? God doesn't keep anything mysterious. He's not mysterious. There's one part in Romans I know where Paul talks about he's [00:03:00] made his power and his glory. He's made himself evident through all of creation. Yeah. Like you can look at all creation and you can see him. This is kind of going back to the roots of that, so to speak.

So when he pulled his people, the Hebrews out of Egypt. And he kind of takes them through and gives them the law, the commandments, all these different things. In Deuteronomy, and this is where this stems from, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 19, this is God speaking. He says, I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death.

The blessings and the curses, therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live, verse 20, and may love the Lord your God, obey his voice and cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days that you may dwell in the land [00:04:00] which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

There's a whole lot going on and I was telling Kelly it just like literally that was the scripture. That I knew we were going to kind of base this whole thing off of but as I was reading it to her before we prayed You know, it was kind of funny. It jumped out and smacked me and it's what it's where the name came from The choice is yours.

The Lord said I call heaven and earth to witness this day Against you that I have set before you life and death the blessings and the curses He's that is God's way of saying All of heaven and all of earth be my witness, I have given you the choice. Yeah. Choose me, choose life, or choose your way, choose sin, and choose death.

Like that's... [00:05:00] 

Kelly: And it's the choice we were given from the beginning. It is the very choice, exactly. Adam and Eve were given the choice, and they didn't make the right choice. So here we are, in a fallen 

Joe: world. In a fallen world, but at the end of the day, it's... But we still have a choice. We... Have redemption available to us.

Yes, we very much have redemption available to us. And that's a Hopefully as we talk about this stuff the the hope not only is it that God is glorified But the confusion is taken out of it so you can just kind of see it for what it is and It's I know it's my personal prayer that as you listen to this as you listen to these And you listen to us just discuss it in simple terms It puts puzzle pieces in place.

I pray that the Holy Spirit works through all this to put puzzle pieces in place. Because I know when I was a new believer, it took a while to catch traction. [00:06:00] Yeah. But as things started to catch, I can remember coming home and telling you like, oh my gosh, it was like another puzzle piece fell into place.

Yep. Like, oh my gosh. Yeah. Like things started to 

Kelly: click. And it made sense. Because sometimes you wonder like, Why he tells you to do something because it completely does not make any sense, but down the road, if you make the right choice, just go, just do what he says and obey him. And then it's like, Oh, now I understand.

Joe: And just don't, don't miss what Kelly just said. That's the right choice. To obey him. Yes. God is not giving you a tightrope to walk. He's not throwing 80 options at you and saying, okay, there's only one that's right. And if you don't pick it and you choose one of the other 79, well, you're in trouble. No, it's not like that.

It's not like that at all. Yeah. The Lord speaks very plainly. He speaks very clearly. [00:07:00] And a lot of times the things don't make sense. No. They don't make sense to us because we can't rationalize it because we can't see how we can do it in our own strength, which is how a lot of times you know it's God.

Yeah. Because if we could do it in our own strength, we don't need Him. Exactly. So He wants us to depend on Him. I mean, think about what we just sat there and read in Deuteronomy. When you get into verse 20, it says that you may love the Lord your God, obey His voice. And cling to him. He wants you to cling to him.

That's him saying. Cling to him. Cling to me. That is a beautiful thing. And it was Moses speaking through. It was God speaking through Moses. Excuse me. When I say that it wasn't like God didn't descend and say, Hey, look, I mean, if you read scripture, you know that God talked to Moses, then Moses gave this word to the people from 

Kelly: God.

I mean, it makes me think of like, visualize like [00:08:00] a child, like, you know, when you have kids and they meet somebody new, at least our kids did, grabbed my leg and were like holding on to me because I was protecting them. Like, I was her protection, God's our, like, that's what he does, he's dad, you know, he's our father and he is there to protect us and we're to cling to him and do as he says and because he 

Joe: knows best.

Yes. He works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And we're all called all of us because we're all created in his image and he wants us all to become children of him. So. It's a very good thing though. It's what you just said. He wants us like it's he genuinely has that affection for us.

What you talked about our kids when they were little, like that's the affection he has toward us. He doesn't, there is [00:09:00] nothing in any of his plans. There is nothing in any of his thoughts that he has or thinks towards us. That is harm, to bring us harm. He's not, and I think about, man, I think about how when our kids were little, how, and it wasn't, it still was kind of tough, but not nearly as tough as what it was on Ashlyn as it was for Brayden, because Ashlyn was, she, she lived through me at my absolute worst.

Yeah. Um, and she was little, but praise God, he's working things out. 

Kelly: Yeah. I mean, she still has some 

Joe: memories of it, but she still has some memories, but yeah, there is, 

Kelly: but there's been a lot of positive that 

Joe: have come out of it. It's positive. But what I'm getting at, like, I think about how, how mad I used to get and how frustrated I used to get and how my.

First instinct was always [00:10:00] just to yell at them and scream at them. And, uh, part of that has to do with kind of what I was around growing up, but to know that he doesn't view us, that that's not how he approaches us. It's not, it's gentle. Yeah. It's love. Yes. He speaks, he speaks correction. Believe you me. I, I hear a lot of correction some days, but it's never harsh.

It's never, I never get this condemning because he doesn't condemn, and when you start to realize that when you're a man, when you're on your kids like that, that's what you're doing. You're condemning 

Kelly: them. Exactly. We talked about that last 

Joe: time. Yeah. That's harsh. That's rough. But that's not, he's saying cling to me.

Cling to me. Obey me. Cling to me. That's all he ever wanted. And when you think about that, [00:11:00] that's how that's the oldest. It's literally it was the original trick. He tries to get you to doubt. Exactly. Let me get you to doubt what God said. Yep. So now think about when you did when you mentioned those choices, right?

So God put something on your heart to leave your job, okay? Leave your job, you are living a good life, like for us it was two incomes, things were nice, they were not strained, they were not tight, it was not 

Kelly: the last thing I really wanted to do, but 

Joe: But when you heard it, you knew you had to move on it, but what happens immediately that one house is gonna work?

Yeah, this really can't work. This isn't gonna and yeah part of that. I'm not saying that the devil possessed my wife Those things because our 

Kelly: flesh. Yeah [00:12:00] Try to figure it out ourselves and how like This doesn't make any sense. So how is this going to work? And yeah, it was, it was hard, but I know what I 

Joe: heard.

Oh, you go, you go back to the garden. Yeah. The devil did not, Satan did not convince Eve that the tree was good for food. It said, he looked at her and said, God didn't really say you would die if you touch the tree. He just doesn't want you to be like. Him. Right. Because he knows if you eat from that, your eyes will be opened.

That's what he said. And then it says Eve looked at the tree and saw that it was good for food. So she started thinking about what he was saying. Like, I mean, it does look good. Right. I can take some of that fruit. Mmm, I mean, it's just a bite. I probably won't really die. It'll be [00:13:00] okay. It was a, he just won that little seed planet and the rest was in between her ears.

Kelly: Yeah. And the devil comes at us that way today. I mean, even after I left, you know, it was, did I make the right decision? And it was always the question. And it was like, Nope. I know what I heard. I had to stand strong on that for the longest time, um, because the devil did try to come in and make me doubt what I had done.

And it's like, No, I know exactly what he said to me. And I couldn't compromise myself. I couldn't. 

Joe: So now the cool part is, is now you get all the promise. Because you obeyed his voice. It doesn't mean you're going to get all the promise when you think you should get it. But you're going to get the promise.

Kelly: That's 

Joe: what his word says. That's what it says. And if that's what his word says and [00:14:00] that's what we believe, then it settles it. No matter how difficult it may be at times. Sure. It's what we do. It's what we have to do. Right. Because he literally, to choose not to do it, you are bringing a curse on yourself.

Yeah. Now your family 

Kelly: and you're exactly like it has ripple effects. Like it 

Joe: definitely does. And once you're of the faith, don't get hung up on the The land that he swore to give to your fathers to Abraham Isaac and Jacob don't get hung up on that and go like well I'm not even Jewish. How can Abraham Isaac and Jacob be my father's there our fathers in the faith?

Yeah, we were crafted in we talked about that a couple episodes ago You're grafted in like no, we were not part of the original tree. No, but When Jesus came, he made a way for us to be grafted in. Yes. And now once we say yes to Jesus, we are grafted into that tree [00:15:00] making. Us descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Yes. It's not, you got to get out of your head and thinking it's naturally. No. Yeah. Supernaturally. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Because that's what he desired. He desired for that to happen and gave him good pleasure. So all those things, but think about this for a second in this, this is something that it kind of makes me, I don't want to say ponder, but it does kind of get my wheels turning a little bit.

Now that happened to Adam and Eve when it was just Adam and Eve. Right. They were in perfect union with all. None. Yeah. None. Man was not falling yet and

they still got hoodwinked. Yes. And I'm going somewhere [00:16:00] with all this. So he's called all of heaven and earth to witness against us that he has set before us life and death, blessing and curse. Oh, that we would choose life. Now think about all the distractions, all the distractions, all the things that go on.

And I'm hoping some puzzle pieces are falling into place for some folks now, because everything that takes place in the natural is a ripple of what's going on in the supernatural. What's going on in the, in the realm that we cannot see. These are all ripples. So all these, all these things, you turn on the TV, you hear all these stories, all these ridiculous things that we see going on.

And as a believer, it's how we have the ability to not really be phased by [00:17:00] it. People bring up the world economic forum, they bring up the climate change, they bring up all these different things. But if you know your God, if you know your dad, your heavenly father, And you know what his word says. All that stuff comes and you're not shocked by it.

You're like, yep, it said that was going to happen. It said it was going to happen. Now, it doesn't say anywhere in scripture that the world economic forum is going to, but we know. What is behind that we don't get phased by climate change now, sorry, but the ice is melting I don't care even if it is melting a little bit Because there is a rainbow that I see in the sky that goes all the way back to Genesis that tells me He's never gonna flood the earth again.

Nope So, I don't care what you're trying to convince me of, it's not gonna work. [00:18:00] And besides, there ain't too many polar ice caps melting, the earth is not flooding when there's rivers drying up, so stop it. Yeah. Stop it. Anyway, sorry. A little side rant. A little side rant. I get tired. Well, and the funny, but you, but then you begin to understand and if you listen long enough and you pay close enough attention and do your own digging, you will see there are, there's already stuff that's come out.

Sure. That is said yet. They're, they're telling you that, but they're telling you that because they're using data from 20 years ago. Oh, huh. The coral reef is dying. Yeah. But they're not telling you that that's data from 30 years ago. For the last 30 years, they've witnessed more growth than they've ever seen in the coral reef.

Oh, well, why is that? Because there is a spirit behind the news that is trying to put you over into fear to distract you from what from God, this spirit wants to [00:19:00] drag you straight to hell with it. That's that's what it wants. I know that's like, wow, that escalated quick, but that's what's going on. See why 

Kelly: I said no excuses.

Joe: That's what is happening. He doesn't, Satan is our adversary. He does not like us and he is playing for keeps. We're playing games. He's playing war. Well, and 

Kelly: he's not playing. Yeah. He's at war. And you talk about media and how, well, I think of how much they have made the devil seem like this guy with horns and, you know, tail and.

He's equal to God. He's not. Sorry. 

Joe: He's not God's opposite. Just so you know, he is a created being. 

Kelly: Hell is not a party. So let's just talk about that. You're not going to enjoy it down there. I don't want gnashing of teeth in my ear 24 seven. 

Joe: Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yeah. Sounds like fun. Outer darkness.

Yeah. No, thank you. [00:20:00] Eternal torment. Yeah. But I used to say that. I used to say that. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I'm going to hell. I'll drive the bus because that's where all the cool people are going to be anyway. Yeah, 

Kelly: no. It's not what you think. 

Joe: I would just like to say I have since retracted that statement and no longer associate or condone it.

No. That is a terrible statement. And if you have made that statement, I urge you, please. Retract that statement. Do not cling to that statement. 

Kelly: No. Turn your life. Turn the bus around. Turn 

Joe: it around. Jesus talked more about hell than he did about heaven. And the things he had to say about hell were not what you would call inviting.

Not at all. At all. But. The adversary. That's his destination. That's where he's going to go. And that's where he ultimately wants us to go to. He wants us separated from God. He does not [00:21:00] want us in God's presence. He wants to take us out. So everything that we see, and this might not be the best thing to say, but it is what it is.

It is the truth. When you sit back and look at stuff, and you just take time, get, just allow yourself. To not be swayed by everything everybody else says, right? Look at it for what it is and ask yourself, why is there such a harsh attack against identity? Yeah. Why is there such, it started out with an attack against men.

I mean, and this has been going on. I'm just talking to like the last three or four years. I'm not, please don't, there's been stuff going on since there's nothing new under the sun. We know that there's always been cycles of stuff, but you go in like the last five years or so, three to five years, the me too thing happened.

And I'm not saying that there's not men who abused. [00:22:00] I'm not saying that. Right. I'm not because I'm sure I know there was proven that there was, but it started all of that. They took something that they knew And I'm talking about the, the spirits of darkness, evil, the spirit of Antichrist ultimately, they take something and they make it seem as if they're champion, championing this, this noble cause, it's not fair for women to be subject to these things.

It's absolutely apprehensible. It's an abomination. It's not fair. Women deserve better. Okay. I'm not going to sit here and argue with you at all. No woman deserves to go through what some of these ladies actually went through. Yeah, absolutely. But let me ask you something. Why are the same people, [00:23:00] why are the same people who drove that five years ago now saying that if a man wants to identify as a woman and use a woman's bathroom, it's just fine?

Yeah, that is not, wait a minute. The very thing you were championing against, Five years ago, with women being protected, you were opening the door wide open for sexual predators to say, Oh, I identify as a woman. I'm going in a woman's bathroom and do the very thing you were claiming to try and protect women from five years ago.

Hmm.

What's behind that? The enemy. Yeah, it is the enemy in his purest Form he found an opening he wiggled in [00:24:00] and then just snowballed and it's there's like I said There's always been things but these are just observations that i've had just quietly sitting back and watching but it works twofold So now you've got men choosing to do these things and it's largely and i'm not saying i'm sure there are women who want to be Men, and I know there are cases of that, but largely it always seems to be men going that route.

Well, now you're taking the head of the household down. So now what are you doing? You're destroying the family. So now you've got dads trying to be moms, moms trying to be dads, and kids being sent to school to be told that it's okay if you want to be another gender. It's okay if you're all of this is [00:25:00] distraction.

It's so you don't know the truth, which is God is real. He loves you, and he's literally giving you the keys to everything if you would just choose to Him. John 1 12 was the other scripture I had for this one. Yeah. And it's one of my favorite ones. But to as many as did receive and welcome him, talking about Jesus, he gave the authority.

What is the authority? The power, privilege, and right to become the children of God. That is, to those who believe in his name. We have been given authority. The right to be called children of God. It does not come by default. It is not automatic. We have to make a choice. [00:26:00] Do we choose Jesus? And then when it says to believe in him, it's not just saying, admit that he's real.

Scripture tells us the demons believe and they tremble because the demons are going to be. Send straight to hell along with Satan, right? But that word believe there and have this beautiful new Bible. So it's amplified and I can break it down for you. That word believe means adhere to trust in and rely on.

It doesn't say anywhere in there to those who think Jesus is real. It doesn't say that. To those who adhere to him, trust in him, rely on him. And it's been that way [00:27:00] from the beginning. That was the apostle John. That's the New Testament. That's one of the four Gospels. Go back to Deuteronomy in the beginning when he was telling his, his chosen, originally chosen people

that you would choose life, that you would love the Lord, your God, obey his voice and cling to him. Adhere to him, trust him because when you trust somebody, you'll do what they're asking you to do or what they're telling you to do, because you know that that person, if they're telling you this, most likely.

It's for your benefit. And if it's for your benefit, why not? If somebody said to you, Hey, I think it would be a really good idea for you to go to [00:28:00] the grocery store today because they have a special going on 50 percent off your total grocery bill. I know because check this out. I was just there. You'll be like, yes, I'm going to go.

Nobody's going to, nobody's going to hear that and go, well, I usually go to the store on Saturdays and it's Thursday. I'm not going to do that today because that's, it doesn't really fit my schedule. If somebody told you that gas tomorrow, Is gonna be now. Don't listen to me. Do not say I'm not going to go sit in the line.

Let all that go. If somebody came to you and told you gas was only gonna be 2 a gallon tomorrow. I'm there. And you've got a half a tank of gas. You're not going to look at your gas gauge in the morning and go, well, I got another half a tank yet. Yeah, I won't get no [00:29:00] because after tomorrow it's going to go back up.

You're going to go, you're not going to say, well, it's not really, I don't think I have time to do that. You're going to make time to go do that. Why? Because it's for your benefit. Yeah. Why can't we make time for God? Ooh. 

Kelly: Yeah. Ouchy. Well, that's just like what we heard earlier this week. What we saw, you know, we saw on Instagram or something, I don't even remember what we were looking at, but it was, you saw a guy and I saw a girl, so obviously like it's going around.

Um, Yeah. Yeah. They said, what if we picked up our Bible as much as we pick up our 

Joe: phone? Oh, as much as we 

Kelly: picked up our phone, yeah. Yeah. And like, you know, hers, like she pulled it out of her purse while she was sitting in Carline or whatever and started reading it. And you said. 

Joe: My man was brushing his teeth reading it.

Like first thing in the morning, reached over, grabbed his Bible, walked in the bathroom, started brushing his teeth while I was reading scripture. I was like. [00:30:00] But it's 

Kelly: so true. What if we picked up our Bible as much as we picked up our 

Joe: phone? What if we just made time for God? Yeah. And had a relationship with God.

And this is part, I mean, that's part of it. Reading scripture is part of it. But that's, and that's something that hit me last week. He took me back to a place of kind of reigniting that first love. Right. And it just happened just walking in here, like I purposed in my heart because I realized some things were starting to get parched and it wasn't in a bad way.

Right. It wasn't like I was walking around moving or bitter or angry or, you know, disgusted, nothing like that. But I just realized like something just seemed, it just was not where it needed to be. Like where, what's going on? And I walked in here last, like it was, it was last Friday morning and I got ready to sit down and.

Literally, the Lord was like, just sit and be still,[00:31:00] 

and I did, and it was like. And I mean, it was instantaneous because normally my habit is I get up, I come downstairs because you started taking the dogs out when you get up a little bit later to give you a little bit of time. So it gives me about a 45, 50 minute window to actually sit in some peace and quiet.

But I come downstairs, I fix coffee, I fix my lunch, fix myself something to eat for breakfast, pour myself a cup of coffee, come in here, sit down, read scripture, pray. You come down. We talk for a little bit. I get up. I go to work. Well, that's a routine. It is a routine. That is not a relationship. So he pulled and I got this nice new Bible.

So I was excited to come down here and read and he was like, no, just sit and be still and I Obeyed him. Right. [00:32:00] I listened to him and I sat here and it was hard for the first minute or two. Sure Read your word, let me read your word and he it was just that little nudge like this is gonna be worth it I just need you to trust me And I just sat and that I'm telling you, it was just like a piece slowly started to wash over me.

And I was like,

I didn't even know I needed that at 5 15 in the morning. Right. But you did. But it was instantaneous. And it was just like, I just spent time and I prayed, I talked to him and then I just sat here and listened and let him talk to me, let him 

Kelly: talk to you all day, 

Joe: all day long. Yeah. It was just one of those and it was all from that [00:33:00] place of being refreshed in his presence.

Right. His presence. Now do you know why the enemy so badly wants to keep you from that? Because He can't touch you. Yeah. When you're in God's presence. He's got nothing for you. No, nothing. Nothing. So he, he throws everything he can. Right. At you. Yeah, and that's part of that is exactly what you touched on earlier We have managed to turn him into a little red figure with horns and a pointed tail and a pitchfork And in some cartoons, he pops up on one shoulder with an angel on the other.

He is not God's Equal he is [00:34:00] not the flip side of the eternal coin God is not heads. He is not tails Satan is a created being. He is not God's opponent. Or he's not God's equal, excuse me. No. He's not even close to being on the same playing field as God. He was an angel who got prideful and got thrown out of heaven.

So now he's down here. Picking fights with us causing chaos with us because he wants us to suffer the same fate as him, right? What is his fate you ask a fire? An internal fire a lake of fire to be exact that will not be extinguished. It doesn't sound like very much fun That's hell and I know that's not a fun topic, but it [00:35:00] is what it is That's what scripture says and that's what he wants for us.

But God is over here going. Hey You don't have to have that. Right. I literally sent my son and the whole purpose of Jesus was not a get out of hell free card. No. It was not fire insurance. Yes. John 3, 16 for God so loved the world that whosoever would believe in him being Jesus, we won't perish. We have eternal life.

Yes, that is it. He also, Jesus said, I came that they may have life and habit more abundantly. Yes. So, yes. He set the stage for us to live eternally with Him, but He also washed us clean, not just for eternity, but for now. Because [00:36:00] that gives us the ability to do exactly what scripture says, come boldly before the throne because He's our Father.

There is no longer any wrath that needs to be poured out on me for my sinful ways. Jesus washed all that clean. It's gone. Now I get to come before God. And I get to choose life. I get to choose blessing. Not for eternity. I don't need blessing on the other side of eternity because I'm already going to be in the presence of God.

That's the greatest blessing there is. I'm going to have a new body. It's for now. It's for right now. People don't want to, some people just, they want to make it harder. Yeah, but I gotta do this. No, it doesn't, no. It says choose, choose him, obey him, cling to him, and it's yours. That's all you have to do.[00:37:00] 

There's nothing you are going to do that's going to make God love you any more than he loves you right now. But don't get that twisted.

If we're not obeying him, he's not pleased, we can do things to make him a little bit more pleased. Yeah. We can do things to make him not so pleased. Yes. He's God. We get pleased and unpleased with things regularly. We're made in his image. We're made in his likeness. And I don't read anywhere in scripture where God was always happy.

No. No. But he is love. And his love for us never changes. That's the beauty of the gospel. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He loved us so much that he said to himself, [00:38:00] I don't care. They're, they're never going to be able to do it in their own power. They can't. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to get up from my place in heaven and I'm going to go down and I'm going to live a life like they live and I'm going to experience everything they experience, but I'm going to show them what they could experience.

If they choose me, and then I'm going to show them what's going to happen that even though you will die a natural death I'm gonna raise you up. Yeah, and you're gonna spend eternity. There's two parts to the story. That is Incredible it is to me now in that is the key as to why the enemy hates us. Yeah Because even though we are made lower than the angels and he was an angel.

He's a fallen angel Yeah, but we were [00:39:00] made lower than the angels Satan's sin kicked out of heaven. You're going to hell, buddy. We sin, I'm going to die to cancel that sin. Yeah. Are you kidding me right now? Who does that? God. God. There is no other. Nope. There is one. And hear this right now. I do not mean this to be offensive.

So if you are offended by it, I'm sorry you're offended. I'm not sorry for what I'm getting ready to say. There is no Buddha. There is no Confucius. There is no, I don't care about Muhammad. I don't care about any of it. There is one God. Yes. Yahweh. It's him. That's it. The one true living God. All other [00:40:00] are false gods.

Jesus said, behold, I am the way, the truth, a life, not a way, not some truth, not some of the life. He is the way, truth, and life. Mm hmm. The only one, nobody comes to the Father except through me. Yes. 

Kelly: And it's a choice. And 

Joe: it is a choice. He makes it plain, behold, I call heaven and earth as a witness against you this day.

That's kind of stiff terminology. Yeah. But God said from the word go, I am the Lord your God and I am a jealous God. You will have no gods before me. Yeah. And anything we choose to believe over him becomes a God to us. So if I [00:41:00] choose to believe I have to do this and that to have the life that God's put in my heart and God's not a part of that, then I am choosing to make that, let's just say it's my career.

Yeah. If I choose to say that I have to do X, Y, and Z to make this amount of money because that's where I'll be comfortable and then God can use me, I'm missing it. Yeah, you're missing a whole part. Unless God said, hey, I need you to stay here and I want you to do this and I want you to do that and I'm going to bless you for it and then I'm going to move you.

Because he will do that too. He will, but usually you don't get all those steps. You just get it as you're doing it. You get baby steps and you look back and you go, oh, okay, I see what he did there.

It's not on you. It says cling to him. Cling to him. And a couple chapters before that, if you've never read Deuteronomy chapter 28, go read it. It's wonderful. It is wonderful. Like he literally tells [00:42:00] you that if you do what he says, he will command blessings to come on you. He will command. Just so you know, if God commands it, it's, it's going to happen.

Yeah. It has to happen because it's his word.

Kelly: His words are good and they're true, but you have to listen and you have to 

Joe: obey. So what do you want to do? That's the question. What do you want to do? The choice is yours. Yes. You can ultimately, and I'm not saying this, I'm not sitting in this chair right now saying this from a place of arrogance, trying to make everybody think I've got, well, Joe's got it all figured out.

No, Joe does not. No. Wrong. Neither do I. Joe does not have it figured out. I just know that he's good. I just know that he loves me. And I just know that every single thing he's told me to do has worked for my good. [00:43:00] Not everything has worked out the way I thought it was going to work out. Not everything has looked the way I thought it was going to look.

As a matter of fact, it hasn't really ever looked the way I thought it was going to look. Right. And sometimes the hardest spots that I've ever been in have brought the greatest blessing. Yeah. Because there's nothing better than falling into his arms and saying, it's gotta be you. I can't do this. I cannot.

Because then you see things happen that are just completely supernatural. You see things take place that you're like, how is this even happening right now? Are you kidding me? So even with this, you know, you and I are sitting here and I know we say this a lot, but I can't, I'm still in awe of it. I can't help it.

Like here we are sitting here recording a podcast. Like are you kidding me right now? Yeah. [00:44:00] Like this is ridiculous. And I fought this for so long. Yes, you 

Kelly: did. Many years 

Joe: arguing with him. Yeah. But now we're doing it, and it's, I, please don't misunderstand me, I don't mean it arrogantly, but this has been one of the first things I've ever done in my life where I've taken to it like a duck to water, I just, I, I enjoy this, this is not, it's not a burden, it is not a burden in my life, it comes easily.

His word was the first thing I ever read that came easily once I stopped trying to figure it all out in my head and just said, please help me understand this father. It just comes naturally. Let him tell you, let him lead you. Don't shut all that other stuff down. And I'm not saying that because we all go through situations where we're like, there's [00:45:00] no way.

Yeah. There is a way. His name is Jesus. Yeah. I promise it doesn't. So, you know, with everything that's going on right now, with all the stuff that they're talking about, and there is a lot of people trying to push a lot of fear right now. Yeah, they definitely are. Don't fear is not of God. No, I know scripture says fear the Lord.

It does not mean Run away terrified screaming when it says fear the Lord. It means Understand have a reverence. Yeah and understand just who it is. You're talking to when you talk to God. Yes. He's our father He's our he's my dad. He loves me,

but I need to go to him understanding exactly who he is Right. He's the author of creation. He is the one who spoke things into existence. [00:46:00] The last time I checked, I have never spoke anything into existence. I didn't look at this microphone, I didn't look at my desk and say, let there be a microphone. And I never worked outside and said, let there be a tree in my front yard and sprouted a tree.

It didn't work like that. Let there be a river running through the field in front of us. Oh my gosh, there's a river. I don't have that power. But he does. He has the power of life. And he holds the keys to death. Which means I don't have to die. Which means my covenant with him that I had. We talked about that last time.

It's irrevocable. It's untouchable. Yeah. Because the only thing that breaks a covenant is death

eternally. [00:47:00] My physical body will die. Yeah. But my spirit can't. And it won't. It'll be with him. Yes, best present ever. But I want to see until then, I want to see what he's going to do.

So what do you choose? What do you choose if you're listening to this right now? What do you choose? Ask yourself that.

If you're not living for God, ask yourself, why am I not? Maybe ask yourself this, this question right here. What do I have to lose? Right. If I do. Like, really. What do I have to lose?[00:48:00] 

Nothing. You know what you have to lose? Hurt. Yeah. You know what you have to lose? Heartache. You know what you have to lose? Depression. You know what you have to lose? Sleepless nights. Mm hmm.

You have 

Kelly: everything to 

Joe: gain. Everything. Everything. He wants what's best. Yeah. Not, not later, now. He wants you to have it right now. So what do we want? What do you want? What do you choose? And if you are living for the Lord, if you are walking with God, what do you want to see him do that he had, that you haven't seen?

Is there something stirring in your heart that he, that you know he's [00:49:00] placed in there? That he wants you to walk out. Don't take that to the grave with you. Walk it out. Go.

It doesn't mean every step you take will be perfect. I have taken many wrong steps. But the incredible part is, is he's taken even my wrong steps. I made them right. And he's used them for my good. Yeah. The absolute worst case scenario I've had from a misstep since I've been walking with him is an intense understanding of something that I didn't understand before.

Right. To where it's like, oh my gosh, okay, all right. I didn't, but now I get it. Okay. And if you don't know the Lord, period, what do [00:50:00] you choose? The choice is yours, life or death. Do you really want to leave it to chance?

Do you really want to?

What do you have to lose with that? If God is real, how do you know he's real? I know he's real. I've seen him move in my life, but I can't convince you of that. But what I can do is ask you a question.

What if he is real?

What if everything this book says? What if that scripture I just read to you is very real

and you turn your nose up at it? And God forbid you walk out that door tomorrow, and it's your last day on this earth.[00:51:00] 

There's no going back then. You can't undo that.

The absolute worst case scenario can happen. Don't let it. Make a choice. Say yes. And I've been hurt. I used to blame God. I'm not coming from a place of telling you that I've walked with the Lord all my life. If you've listened, if you've been on board with us from the beginning, you've heard a little bit.

I did not. I was not a godly person. I ran from God. I cursed God, despised him, hated Christians. Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. I worked with a young man once. I've been in construction for a long time and I worked with a fairly young guy. He was in his early 20s. And I can remember talking with him.

We were on lunch break. We were sitting in the truck eating lunch. And I was [00:52:00] talking about my daughter, and I hated Christians, and I hated God, I hated everything about it. And he said, what are you gonna do if one day your daughter ever decides to go to church? I said, I will take her to the church, and I will drop her off, and I will sit in the vehicle and wait.

I'll make sure she gets in. He's like, come on man, you really don't think you're just gonna go in? No, I really don't think I'm going to go in. What part of I hate all that are you not picking up on? But I'm not going to stop my daughter. If she wants to do it, if any of my kids ever want to do it, he's like, what if your wife wants to do it?

Well, that's even better. Cause now she can take my daughter and I can stay home. Now I don't even have to go sit in the vehicle and wait. Yeah. But 

Kelly: that is so not 

Joe: what happened. Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor because now the guy who swore he would never do that as a pastor. Yeah. Are you for real?[00:53:00] 

Yeah. Yeah. I'm for real. God has a sense of humor. He does.

Because one day I came to the end of myself. Yeah. Don't let it get to that point. If you're listening to this and you don't know God, do not let it get to that point. Just say yes now. Just say yes. Now, God, I believe you are the author of all creation. I believe that you sent your son to die for me and for my sins.

I acknowledge him and receive him as my Lord and Savior. Forgive me for my sins. Wash me clean. Thank you, God, for this new beginning. Thank you that you have made me new. Thank you for welcoming me into your family. It's seriously, it's that simple.[00:54:00] 

It is that simple.

And if you already know God, you already know how easy it is. So I encourage you as a brother or sister in Christ, I encourage you, press in, spend time with him, cultivate that relationship with him, choose him. Don't choose routine. Don't choose religion. Choose. Relationship.

Let him be your dad. Let him lead you. See what he has for you. I guarantee you it will exceed anything you thought. Anything you could dream up.

A farm boy from Southersville is sitting here recording a podcast right now. [00:55:00] While his wife is staring at her phone.

I know. She just mouthed like, 

Kelly: I just mouthed I'm checking on our daughter to see where she's at. I 

Joe: know. She'll be okay. She's on her way home. I know. Glory to God. She will get here safely. But now you started the vibration drain. I'm just playing.

Hey, look out the window. I know she's just pulled in. She's home. I know she's safe. Yes, so if you prayed that prayer for the very first time, let us know. We have an email address. Kelly, what's the email address? Blessings 

Kelly: on Hope Road at gmail. com 

Joe: Does that thing actually work? Yeah I had trouble clicking on it the other day like I wanted to see if it would work and I couldn't I Like tried to click the hyperlink in the description and it wouldn't [00:56:00] it didn't hyperlink Well, 

Kelly: I don't know why it didn't hyperlink, but I'll check into that, but pretty soon it'll hyperlink to our website.

Joe: Yes. Be on the lookout for that. We just, we, we've had some technical difficulties, some things that I had originally set up back in the day were just not conducive with, 

Kelly: we're talking like five years ago when you first 

Joe: were told So, I kind of started and then I stutter stepped and it, the platform that it was on was not.

It's not 

Kelly: my favorite, 

Joe: that's for sure. It's not efficient. No. Did not flow easily. Everything was very choppy and difficult and just very frustrating. So I 

Kelly: made the executive decision to switch. 

Joe: We said phooey and by we I mean she said phooey. And she said, I'm switching it and I said, okay. Yep. 

Kelly: So hopefully by the end of this week.

Right on. It will be up and running. I just have to get your, um, writings uploaded. 

Joe: Yes, [00:57:00] we will get those for sure. Um, but like I said, if we prayed, if you prayed that prayer for the first time, let us know if you have anything that you want to hear us, if you have any questions, email us your questions. Um, I'm literally believing this thing is going to blow up at some point and that to where we might even have.

Um, we might even have like the ability to call in. Well, yeah, 

Kelly: absolutely. And you can always DM us on Instagram or you can, you know, inbox us on Facebook, whatever you would like and reach out to us either of those ways. So Instagram is blessings on hope road and Facebook is blessings on hope road. So feel free to reach out to us, 

Joe: Ashland, come back and say hi.

Well, I gave you a look because I didn't know if you knew who you were still recording. You can come say hi. She's okay. If you, if you, if you continue to listen to us and hang out with us, you will learn that I have [00:58:00] the innate ability to upset people with a single look. I'm very good at it. I don't mean to be good at it, but it's something I seem to be good at.

So I need to get my face caught up to my heart. Yeah. She's coming. I'm just explaining to everybody that I have a terrible way of. That is terrible. That sounds like you're yelling from an empty soup can. 

Kelly: No, that's so wrong. Hey guys, 

Joe: what'd I miss? We were just talking about choices and how the choice is yours.

Ooh, choices. 

Kelly: Yeah, it's 

Joe: a good one. Ch ch choices. That's not the song. Ch ch chia. I was not, I was not on a chia pet. I'm sorry guys.

Kelly: So that, that's going to wrap up this episode. Yes. So we will see you guys on the next one, but, uh, definitely reach out if you have any questions for us or just reach out and say, hi. Yeah. We love people. Yeah. We do. Very much. And if there's like a topic that you want us to [00:59:00] touch on, let us know 

Joe: for sure.

So thank you guys. So very much for hanging out with us. Yeah. Thanks for the conversation and we will be 

Kelly: back. We will. And remember to like and share our podcast. We are so grateful for you guys. We have over 300 downloads and we're, that's exciting for us. That blows my mind. We're like at 325 or something now.

I need to check it. 

Joe: Yeah. That's something else. But yeah, hopefully this encouraged you. We're praying for you. We love you and we'll see you next time.

Kelly: Thanks for listening to the blessings on hope road podcast. If you'd like to support the show, click on the link in the description and don't forget to follow the show to get notifications whenever there's new content.[01:00:00]