The following is a pre-recorded version of CORE Christianity.
We'll be back live again on Monday. How do I give thanks to God when I don't feel very thankful? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity.
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you and to your family. I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.
That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites. And if you're busy this Thanksgiving weekend, feel free to email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Amber in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Amber, what's your question for Adriel? My question is about yoga. I am a Christian that wants to practice it because I find it beneficial to my body, but I don't want to do anything that is against my God or glorifies other not-Gods.
Hey, Amber. Thank you for that question. I'm grateful that this is something that you want to think through. Ultimately, you want to honor the Lord.
I've got to be honest with you. I have never done yoga, not because I think it's inherently evil. It's not the form of exercise that I choose, but I have known Christians who go to a yoga studio. For them, it's primarily exercise.
I don't know everything that happens, and I know that there are different kinds of yoga studios, maybe some that are going to be incorporating more of the pagan or anti-Christian ideas or religion. I think that you have to be discerning. Part of the way I've thought about this for myself as we've received this question before is going to 1 Corinthians 8. The discussion that the apostle Paul has concerning food that's been sacrificed or offered to an idol, he says in verse 4, Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one.
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. However, Paul said, not all possess this knowledge, but some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God.
We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do, but take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. In other words, and I think that this is really applicable here, people were getting upset there in the days of the apostle Paul in the Corinthian church because they would see other believers eating this meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. For them, this was just scandal. They couldn't do that, and some of them were caused to stumble because they were coming out of these pagan backgrounds, and Paul says, look, you guys are free. You know that these idols, they really are nothing.
There's only one God in the world, the true God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You know this, but not everybody knows this, and some people, maybe who have a weaker conscience, who are still struggling, they see that food and they think they're participating in this pagan worship world. Well, you have to be sensitive to them, and so I would say, for you, is your conscience defiled, if you will, by going to a yoga studio? If it isn't, if it's not that big of a deal, and you're not participating in this sort of pagan worship, it's exercise, it's stretching, it's good for your body, I don't think that you have anything to be concerned with.
If it is something where maybe you're coming from a new age background or something like that, and every time you go, and maybe they do things in that studio that they're doing chants and whatnot, and it just is really hard for you to actually focus on exercising because there's all this other stuff that's being incorporated as well, then maybe I would say take a step back, but as I mentioned, I've never done it, but I know that there are different kinds of yoga studios, maybe some that are going to focus more on just the exercise component, and maybe others that are also going to incorporate some of the religious background there. And so I think you have to be discerning, but I think that there is a level of freedom here for you as a believer, and that you need to exercise wisdom as you make this decision. So can I just follow up with you, Amber? Does that answer your question, or do you want to go deeper? Honestly, it really does. You just blew my mind.
I am stoked. People talk about demons being released in your body if you do yoga in certain poses, and with that, obviously not, because Christ is within me, and therefore no dark being could possibly be. So I knew that wasn't it, but I didn't want to, I don't know, be bowing to any other gods.
Yeah, you're totally right, and I'm glad that you're encouraged. I mean, just think about it. I mean, I like to stretch before I run. What if I do a stretch that's accidentally in one of these poses? Does that mean I'm going to be attacked by the devil?
No, it's just totally crazy. So appreciate your question, and God bless you, sister. Hey, Amber, thanks so much for calling in to Core Christianity.
That's a great question and great explanation, Adriel. Let's go to Buck in Leavenworth, Kansas. Buck, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello, can you hear me? Hey, Buck, I can hear you.
Okay, great, thank you. Yeah, I was just calling, you know, I'm reading the Word of God now and lately, realizing, you know, I've gotten to the point in my own faith, you know, where I feel, you know, judgment and condemnation in myself, in my heart from my, you know, lifestyle and everything in the way that I've been living. And still trying to, you know, repent and want in a relationship, you know, and, you know, but, you know, I just, you know, realizing that Judas, you know, and Esau and King Saul and Cain who murdered his brother Abel, you know, I feel like all of these men rolled into one, you know, and realizing that I've reached a point, you know, you know, where God has, you know, given me up, you know, to my sin and to myself, and because I just feel this total disconnect, you know, a wall of just hopelessness, you know, just, you know, nothing, you know, just totally condemned.
And I feel like these men, yeah, yeah. Buck, let me ask you, Buck, you believe in Jesus Christ? Yeah, yes, I don't know if I believe in the Bible since, you know, if it's just because, like he said, of, you know, they follow me because of, to get, you know, to get fed, you know, get their needs met, but not where they take a cross and have surrendered as Lord. So, Buck, one, thank you for that question.
I can tell that this is something that really concerns you. Faith in the Bible sense, you know, believing in Jesus in the biblical sense, it's not just affirming that he existed, right, like I believe Abraham Lincoln existed. It's a sort of historical faith. That's not what it means to believe in Jesus.
It's a part of it, right? We do, you know, have this knowledge of Christ through his word, and so that is a part of it, and we do accept that there's this ascent, but the key component is trust. Do you trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? You confessed your sins to him. Now, we can truly do that, genuinely do that, and still struggle, and in fact, as followers of Christ every single day, we're going to struggle with sin, even as we're being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. We sin against the Lord in thought, word, and deed. We continue to bring our sins to God, to repent of them, and to let his Spirit put those sins to death.
Now, I don't know, you mentioned some of your struggle in wanting to repent, and this sort of lifestyle, things that you've done, and feeling like Esau, or feeling like Judas. My mind goes to Hebrews chapter 12, as I listen to you speak. Verse 1, the author of the Hebrews said, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Brother, whatever it is, whatever it is that clings to you, lay it aside, looking to Jesus, that weight that brings you down. And he goes on to say in verse 12, Therefore, lift your drooping hands, and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy, like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears. He's using the example of Esau here, because the Christians that he's writing to, Buck, they were being tempted to abandon Christ, to leave the church, and to go back to trusting, not in Christ, but trusting in the animal sacrifices of the old covenant for the forgiveness of their sins.
And that's a huge issue. If we're not trusting in Jesus, if we're trusting in something else, our own works or our own sacrifices, we're lost. We can't have eternal life, and so the call here is don't fail to obtain the grace of God. Well, how do you obtain the grace of God? You receive it.
It's a free gift, Buck. It's for you, not as a perfect person, but as someone who struggles as a sinner. And so for you and for everyone listening right now who just feels like, man, I fail again and again and again. I struggle, and I don't know if God will accept.
Maybe he's just left me. I'm so bad. Know this. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse you of all of your sins. And again, that's why the author of the Hebrews can say at the beginning of that chapter, in Hebrews chapter 12, let's lay aside every weight, that sin which clings so closely, let's look to Jesus.
And when we look to Jesus, when we see him, we see our sins conquered by what he's done. And so my encouragement to you, Buck, is to take your eyes off of yourself and to raise them to Christ, to receive the grace that he offers to you, to turn from your sins to him and to rest in him, and to know, my friend, that it's going to be a battle, that we're still going to struggle. It's a struggle that Paul talks about in Romans chapter 7. I encourage you to read Romans chapter 7, maybe this afternoon, to meditate on that text as you seek to draw near to the Lord. And if you're not in a church, Buck, I don't know if you're in a church, be in a church where the word of God is faithfully preached, where you can grow together with others. You can't be isolated in the Christian life. And if you are, that's going to make it all the more difficult. We need to be under the faithful ministry of God's word, gathered with other believers, growing together in the grace of God. And even with that, it's not easy.
It's still a struggle. But the Lord is with you in that struggle, and he's for you, Buck, for your sanctification. I want to say a quick prayer for Buck right now.
Let's pray. Gracious Father in heaven, we know, Lord, that the devil would want us to believe that our sins are too great for your son, that his blood is not sufficient for our forgiveness, that we've just done too much, we've failed too many times, we're hopeless, you don't care about us. Oh, Lord, I pray that you would help Buck and all those who are struggling with this to lift their eyes to Christ, to his work, to the gospel, and to see the ocean of his mercy and love, not for the righteous, but for sinners.
Jesus pursues sinners, struggling sinners. I pray for Buck, Lord, that he would be able to rest in the love of your son, Jesus, in the forgiveness of your son, Jesus, as he confesses his sins and repents of them, and that day by day, Lord, he might draw near to you and that you would draw him to yourself by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Lord, surround him with faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who can encourage him in his walk with you. Be with him, I ask now in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we want to take just a moment to wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.
And, you know, Adriel, I've got a question for you. I know you have a big Thanksgiving feast at your house every year. Do you have any special Hispanic items on the menu?
Are you kidding me, man? Of course we do, Bill. We have it all. I mean, this is what we do. We have, like, all the normal Thanksgiving stuff, like turkey and... Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, ours are, you know, dead already and fried.
Let's hope so. But turkey and ham and mashed potatoes. I actually happen to make probably the best mashed potatoes in the world. It's like 50% mashed potatoes and then, like, a ton of cheese and garlic and cream cheese and all this. So we got all that stuff, and we also have a ton of... Tamales? Yeah, tamales are on the menu for sure. My grandmother makes this soup.
It's called pozole, and it's honestly just the best thing. So we have some of that. We have, I mean, all sorts of stuff, Bill.
We have it all, and it's sort of this clash of cultures that's beautiful. Oh, man. It just sounds so good.
I could not get... I've got to be coming over next Thanksgiving to your house because... And I'm going to bring all my family, so you better make extra. We always have enough to feed a small village, and there is plenty.
You can bring everybody you know, Bill, and we can fill them up, so... Okay. Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you, and as we move towards Christmas, we want to tell you about a special free resource we have for you that'll make your holiday celebration even more meaningful this year.
Yeah. At Core Christianity, we've made a brand new 25-day Christmas devotional called The Promised Seed. On December 1st, the devotional starts off with the fall in Genesis 3, and God's promise to put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Through short daily readings, the devotional traces how God's promise of the seed of the woman would one day come and crush the serpent once and for all.
And of course, in the birth of Jesus, the promised seed has come to fulfill God's promise, and this is what Christmas is all about. Our new devotional highlights God's faithfulness in the Bible and his faithfulness to us now in the uncertainties of life, and it's yours for free at corechristianity.com. It really is an excellent devotional put together by our very own Director of Content, Kendra Dahl, and she does an excellent job on this. To get this free download of our new Christmas devotional, just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash Christmas.
Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash Christmas, and you can also call us for that resource or any one of our resources at 843-2673. Well, Adriel, here's an email we received from one of our listeners named Jake, and Jake says, I know that in the Psalms it says we should give thanks to the Lord, and I know that this isn't just good advice, but I often feel uncomfortable giving thanks in prayer because I honestly don't feel very thankful. Is this a form of paying lip service and going through the motions, or should we practice giving thanks even when we don't feel like it? Well, I think we are called to practice giving thanks, if you will, to have a heart of gratitude. When we feel upset, when we don't have that heart of gratitude, to begin to seek the Lord and to ask what it is that's causing this, because we really do have so much to be thankful for. Now, of course, you do have those calls to thanksgiving throughout the Psalms. In fact, there's a particular genre of psalm called the thanksgiving psalm where typically the psalmist will recount something difficult that they'd gone through, maybe suffering, maybe the attack of an enemy or something like that, and they can meditate on God's faithfulness, his deliverance, and they're giving thanks to God. There are other psalms where there isn't a lot of thanksgiving. Sometimes the laments, for example, can just be, God, why are these things happening to me right now?
Why do you feel so distant? So there are seasons in the Christian life, but I think of what the apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and then in verse 18, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Give thanks at all times. Give thanks in all circumstances.
This is God's will for you. Now, I don't think that what he means by that is we should be thankful for the evil things that happen in the world. We should just say, oh, well, thank God for that. No, that's not what the apostle Paul is saying. He's saying, look, in and through everything, we continue to thank God because he's good, even though we don't always see how his plan is going to work out in a good way. We know he's able to make all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Paul says in Romans chapter 8, we thank him because he's in control, because of his mercy, because of his grace.
Usually in scripture, you have Thanksgiving for a couple of things. One, God as creator, and two, God as savior. You see this in the book of Revelation, the hymns that are being sung to God and to Jesus. He's praised as the creator of all things and as the redeemer of his people.
Brothers and sisters, we can give thanks to God in all circumstances because those two things are true no matter what you're going through. God is the creator of the world. As the creator, he's also the one who upholds all things by the word of his power, the author of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 1. That is, his providence is overseeing all things. That providence should lead us to Thanksgiving to say, God, you are in control.
You are on the throne. I give you praise. You are the father in heaven. I give you praise and I give you thanks for who you are, creator, sustainer. We can also, friends, thank God for his redemption, for the mercy he's shown to us in his son Jesus, for the forgiveness of our sins. We might have all sorts of difficulties in life, sickness, pain, sorrow, broken relationships, but that does not change the fact that God sent his son into the world to heal this broken world and to forgive the sins of his people. One day, the new creation is going to be ushered in and the brokenness that we see around us is going to be restored.
That's something we look forward to. Right now, the new creation is already breaking in through the grace of Christ, through the forgiveness that we receive in the church, by his blood, by his mercy, and so we give thanks for that. You can always thank God for his work in creation and you can always thank him for his work in salvation. Let me just give you one other helpful, I think, tip related to Thanksgiving that somebody shared with me years ago.
I think it's just good advice. He said, think about the things that you are blessed by in your life right now. Make a list.
Maybe those are small things. Lord, I'm thankful for the fact that I have a car that runs right now or Lord, I'm thankful for the home that you've provided for me or I'm thankful for this friend in my life or that friend in my life or for the church that you've blessed me with or for the fact that I can listen to edifying Christian content on the radio. Whatever it is, make a list of those things and then as you make that list, cross each one off. Think about what it would be like to not have that. And then after you've thought about that, maybe add them back. Add them back one by one and just think about how kind God has been, not just as creator, not just as redeemer, but in providing us with so many things that we oftentimes overlook and give thanks to the Lord.
Well said. Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Once again, we have a wonderful resource available to you.
It's one of our core guides. It's called Five Biblical Reminders for Thanksgiving. You can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash Thanksgiving. Again, it's called Five Biblical Reminders for Thanksgiving.
Well, before we go today, here's a quick Facebook question we received from Tom. He says, Jeremiah 29 11 is a verse commonly quoted as a personal promise. Others believe this verse is being taken out of context that way and was spoken by Jeremiah to the Jews regarding that specific time.
Can you please shed some light on this particular passage? Verse 10, For thus says the Lord, When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. I know many people who take this verse and say, That's my life verse, the plans that God has for me. In particular, this is speaking to those who are going into captivity in Babylon.
It's God saying, Look, I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to abandon you. I have a plan for you, for your future.
Ultimately, that plan culminates in what? In the sending of His Son, in the gospel. I do think that we can take this verse out of context, but in a general sense, I think we can see it as God's goodwill towards His people, as His promise to provide for them, never to leave them or forsake them. That's a promise, brothers and sisters, that you have directly from the Lord. The author of the Hebrews talks about this.
The God that we worship is the God of Jeremiah 29.11, the God who is good to His people and provides for their salvation, for their healing, for their salvation. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar. Or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.
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