Linda Goldfarb  00:09

Hello friends, if you’re ready to get real without resistance, you are in the right place. I’m Linda Goldfarb. And each week, I cover a topic pertaining to staying real about faith and family.

You know, I truly believe that transparency transforms. And for that to happen, I have to lean into the Holy Spirit. And ask Him to guide every conversation I have, where you’re going to be a part of that. And I am so glad that you’re here. Let’s go ahead and kick off with prayer.

Linda Goldfarb  00:41

Father God, we just thank You for this day, we thank You for the opportunity to be here with You. Lord, we ask that as we have this time together, as we’re choosing to stay real about faith and family, that You give us exactly what we need to know that the words that come from my mouth, Father God, will be what You want them to be. We are all about You here. We love You. We praise You. We come to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen and amen.

Linda Goldfarb  01:10

In the studio, today is my good friend Heather Greer. And she’s here to keep me on the straight and narrow, so to speak. So how are you doing today, Heather?

Heather Greer  01:19

Well, I have to say I’m kind of like Goldilocks when it comes to the weather. You know, summers too hot, winters too cold, fall is just right. So the weather outside is a little much for me right now. But I am excited for the opportunity to be inside in the air conditioning and getting ready to talk with you about today’s question about faith.

Linda Goldfarb  01:42

Oh, I tell you, I really liked that, I just got that visual really quick of Goldilocks. And you know, we do have that in our lives if we are truly staying real. Some days aren’t so good. Some days are really great. And there are some days when, golly, it’s “Can I get up and start again?” And so as we go through this every week, that’s kind of what we’re going to be looking at, right? We will cover a question and see what the Word says about it. And then I’ll just kind of give my thoughts and what the Holy Spirit downloads into me. And let’s see what everyone thinks about it. Let’s go ahead and kick it off. What is a question that we’re going to be looking at today?

Heather Greer  02:29

Today’s question seems like an easy one. But there’s a lot to unpack. How difficult is it to follow God?

Linda Goldfarb  02:38

Oh, thank you so much for that one. How difficult is it to follow God? Wow, that … you’re right. That’s a very broad brush question. And I could say, if we are really spiritual, we’re going to be able to get on His path and stick on His path. And life is going to be great. But I’m going to tell you, Heather, from my experience, every day is difficult. Finding His path every day. I know in His word that He gives us some promises. That’s something I’m going to cover in a moment, maybe look at a couple of Scripture references, and see what He says to us. But as I get up in the morning, I take into consideration all God does, even my husband and I, Sam, he’ll say, “Lord, show us Your path. Help us to stay on it.” But we don’t pray just one time and hope that it works. It’s every single day, every single opportunity, “Father, is this the direction you want me to go? Is this the path I should take? Is this my next best step?” So difficulty… yeah, we’ll unpack that, as you said, we’re going to look at it in just a moment.

Linda Goldfarb  03:54

What I’d like us to do, is let’s take a look at a Scripture reference. And it’s in the book of 1 John. So this is way at the end of the newer testament. And before Revelation. So we’re going to look at 1 John five, and it’s going to be verse three, and then I’m going to cover a little bit more. And I’m reading from the ESV translation. This is how it reads. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” Whoa, now that’s a heavy word, Heather. So, okay, difficulty … burdensome? But God is telling me right now that it’s not burdensome. What I’d like us to do is let’s go back to 1 John five verse one.

Linda Goldfarb  04:53

Let’s start at verse one. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” That’s the key here. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. I’m gonna go a couple of verses beyond this, Heather, first, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith”, verse five, “Who is it that overcomes the world, except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” All right. That’s a lot of truth. When we’re looking at this truth, this is what I’m led to concentrate on. If I believe in Jesus Christ, something occurs in my life. The Holy Spirit comes into my life once I have received Jesus and acknowleded, “God, you know what? Oh, my word. I did not understand that God is a God who created everything. Now I know there is God the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, and the Son is Jesus Christ, our Messiah, who came and lived the life that He lived, so we would get that He got us. And in the process, He died on the cross and was raised three days later, with the same Spirit who resides in us.” I think that’s one of the key things. Heather, if I try to follow God, yet I do not believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior, I do not have the Holy Spirit in me.

Linda Goldfarb  07:08

I can try to be good I can try to do a lot of things that are in my own strength, it’s in my own capabilities. But unless I am really getting skinny with the Spirit, I mean, I have to lean into him, I have days that it might be difficult to get out of bed. And it’s only on those days that I lean into the Holy Spirit, and I say, “You’ve got to give me the strength. You’ve got to give me all of this. And then that’s when we can look at the reference. 1 John five, three, “the love of God, because God is love Jesus Christ is love, and that love resides in me. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” Why? Because of the Holy Spirit in me, the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the Spirit is in me, and He can do what I cannot do on my own. He is able to help me understand the truth of God to understand the word.  To understand (air quotes) commandments.

Linda Goldfarb  08:23

If I’m not spending time in God’s word, there’s no way I’m going to develop that intimate relationship with Him. God knows everything. God is everything. He is all-powerful. He is all-knowing. He is everywhere. I am not. I am a child of God. So I don’t have the ability that God does. I am not God. I don’t have the ability to know all things, what’s coming around the corner, or expand my mind to myself, but He who is in me, whoa, He who is in me, allows that to happen. How can his commandments be … Not burdensome? We’re gonna go to another scripture reference. Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30. Matthew 11:28-30. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” And this is Jesus who’s speaking? “for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” So how does it work for us? Well, it works because we’re not depending on our own shoulders. We’re not depending on our own strength. We truly get up in the morning and say, “Father, God, this is your day. Do unto me and with me whatever You want to do. Because I desire to walk in Your path, I desire to follow Your lead. I don’t want to take a step unless it’s a step that You have given me to take. So Father, God, command me, tell me what You desire for me to do.” And on those days, when we are tired and weary, there is no promise that says we won’t have those tired and weary days. In truth, when we look at Scripture, the promises are more like, guess what, you’re being tossed to the lions, you’re going to be out in the world that is going to hate you because they hate God, because they hate Jesus Christ. So it’s not a kumbaya, everyone’s going to be great. It truly is. Life is difficult, life is hard. And God loves us. And Jesus, our Messiah, lived the life, died the death, rose again, and is now at the right hand of God, the Father in heaven, making a place for us. And what happens with all of us here, we have the Holy Spirit. I will tell you, folks, I went for many years, as a young girl, raised in the church. And I was familiar with God, the Father, God the Son, and I never heard about God the Holy Spirit. It was mumbling in the background.

Linda Goldfarb  12:02

And when I learned that I wasn’t alone, when I discovered that God truly was with me, in me, My life changed. That’s when I knew I could wake up and have an intimate conversation with God and say, “Today’s a hard day for me.” It’s like, Heather said, like, you know, “it’s a little bit warm. I’m feeling scorched today, God, what, what, what do I do?” And He says, it’s alright. “I am the living water. I’m the water that’s going to give you respite, I’m going to allow a place for you to lie down and get the rest you need. I’m going to be your covering. I’m going to be your shepherd. I am the one who is going to lead you in the way so that each and every day, you’re going to feel my provision.” You know, my friend, I don’t know if you’re feeling that today. Is what I’m saying resonating with you? Are you tracking with the understanding that when the Holy Spirit in us starts carrying that burden, that’s where the yoke comes in? When we hear it in Matthew 11:28-30. We can’t comprehend what God comprehends when we hear that He supplies the rest for our souls. We don’t know what’s around the corner, He does know what’s around the corner. So if I am saying I’m weary, He says, lean into me, I’ve got this. I’ve got this. If I am trusting Him … I’ve had this conversation with God where I was going through a difficult time, and I’m going, “I just, I just don’t know if I can let this go.” And He said, “Linda, I’m either God, or I’m not. So you decide, am I God? If I’m God, are you going to choose to follow?” Mind blown, right. And I didn’t have anything to say to that other than lead me. Lead me, Lord, show me. I know the path is going to be rocky. I know it’s going to be difficult. Yet I also know I’m not alone. And in the process, I will say with the number of years that I have walked with Father, that I have been empowered by Messiah, that I have followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, my life has been extremely different. It is. I have been feeling that peace that passes all understanding. And I will tell you, it doesn’t mean I have all these perfect days. Right? The more you learn about me, the more you’ll know that. Wow, life is still difficult for Linda. It’s not an easy place. It’s not an easy road. It’s not, but the burden of it… the ability to follow God and not feel the weight of the world… That, my friend, is priceless. Absolutely. Priceless. So, Heather, are you tracking with me on this?

Heather Greer  15:53

I think I am. If what you’re saying is what I’m getting here. If scripture says that following God’s commandments isn’t burdensome, if He says we can have an easy yoke, but we feel like our yoke is so heavy, we’re about to crumble under it. Maybe I’m struggling to give the Holy Spirit His place in my day, huh? Is that? Is that what we’re saying?

Linda Goldfarb  16:26

I … I’m saying I’m tracking with you right there! It does come back to us. We are not robots, God is not going to make us do anything. But He gives us an opportunity every single day, every moment of every day, to follow Him to take His lead. And when we do, when we make that decision, it’s what you said, I’ve got to choose to follow God. I’ve got to choose to be in the Word. I’ve got to choose to talk about Him more, ask about Him more, and seek Him more. If I’m not doing that, it’s not going to happen by osmosis. I’m not going to pick a Bible up, put it on the top of my head, and everything in the Bible is going to download into me. That’s not going to happen. That’s not a relationship. That would be a transaction. And God doesn’t do transactions. He does life, real-life relationships. That’s what He does. That’s what He does. So how can everyone get in touch with us or find out more?

Heather Greer  17:37

Well, we would love for everyone to participate in this discussion because it is such a pertinent one to our lives. And they can go to StayingRealwithLinda.com. Again, that’s StayingRealwithLinda.com they can share their comments, they can give us questions that this episode may have sparked something in them that they don’t have an answer to and aren’t sure where to look for it. And they can drop those in with their comments. And we’ll take a look at those.

Linda Goldfarb  18:10

Hmm, I like that this, this really is what we want to do, folks, we want to stay real with you. We want to know what’s happening in your life. That’s real. And as I’ve mentioned before, what I share with you is what my life experience has been. It’s what I find as truth in Scripture. It’s what Messiah has shown me in and through His life. And again, that’s going to happen by really getting skinny with the Spirit, reading His word, and experiencing His truth. And out of that, it’s going to be what you’re going to get every week. So, Heather, I appreciate you being here with me each time. And I’m going to give a consideration to those that are listening. As you go out this week, be alert to what’s around you. Ask yourself, how many times today? Have I stopped and asked Father God about whatever decisions I’m making? How many times have I stopped and said, “Lord, I don’t want to take a step. Unless it’s a step you want me to take,” and then waited to hear what He has to say. Following God is not difficult if we let go of our agenda, ask Him more, and seek Him first. I think that kind of has a biblical bent there. So I hope this has been helpful to you today. My friends, thank you so much for being here. May Yahweh bless you and keep you. Until next time. This is Linda Goldfarb staying real about faith and family