Reflection

Hey, this is Mike Zwick from If Not For God Podcast, our show.

Stories of hopelessness turned into hope. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome to The Masculine Journey. We are glad to have you with us today, and we are doing a different topic, aren't we, Jim? It's different than what we've done in the last week. Well, very much. And viva la difference.

I don't speak French, though, so I don't know if that's right. The topic actually came out of the fact that when I left, the next program before I left was our Word of the Year. And I didn't have one.

And I kicked a few around, but none of them landed. And we, as I think we made fun of me last week, I've been cruising for a few weeks at the beginning of the year. And it was a time that was spent with God. And I was trying to figure out, okay, what's my Word of the Year? And I realized, well, I'm reflecting on words I could use. And then I said, reflecting. And then I paid attention to the name of the ship, and it was the reflection, and God said, duh, you got it. So that is our topic, reflection. And I left it kind of ambiguous so everybody could come up with what that meant to them. And that's the show tonight as we're looking at reflection. Okay, that's good. It's, it definitely we had a lot of conversation pre-show, you know, we were all kind of coming from different places going, what's the topic again? So, you know, it did work, you know, everybody.

And that's my goal in life. Yeah, well, Jim had selected Rodney. This is a first in a long time. You're actually the first clip.

You look shocked over there, Sam. Why? Well, I lost the over under.

I don't bet. Yeah, sure. Yeah.

Yeah. So the first clip is going to be back to Christmas time with the Grinch that stole Christmas. This clip is just after, you know, he's stolen all the presents and the Whoville-ians are down there singing their Whoville songs. And the Grinch comes to realize that there's more to Christmas than presents and packages and all that kind of stuff.

It's not the superficial gifts and all that kind of stuff. There's more to it. There's a meaning that's deeper and that's where this clip comes in. Now, this is from the original cartoon version. Oh, yeah. There is another one. Yeah. So is there a connection between puzzler and reflection? I'm puzzled about that. Okay.

Just checking before you play it. And then the other question I know everybody's going to ask is they listen to this, you know, was Harold there? Because – and does he know how to sing Ahu More? I mean, there's – okay, other – wow, somebody can say the song. He's watched it a few times.

I think so. We'll get to the clip. The sound wasn't sad. What? The sound sounded glad.

Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was singing without any presents at all. He hadn't stopped Christmas from coming. It came somehow or other. It came just the same. And the Grinch with his Grinch feet, ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling.

How could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags. He puzzled and fuzzed till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more. And what happened then? Well, in Whoville, they say, that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through and the Grinch found the strength of 10 Grinches plus two. When I started thinking about the reflection and trying to figure out, okay, where has God taken me? What I love about this clip is you've got the Grinch who lived in the past.

And we just did the show very recently on Don't Look Back and Don't Live in the Past. And I was like, oh, this, I kind of like all that. You've got a guy who's concerned and worried about all the things that he doesn't have and he's not involved in and can't do.

And they have everything. And again, he signs all the superficial meaning to Christmas and the season, which Jesus is the reason for the season, obviously. But you have something where he reflects on that and he thinks, oh, I'm going to remove the superficial things from their life, which is going to change how we go forward.

It does change how they go forward, because he realizes that, hey, there's so much more to Christmas, there's so much more to life, there's so much more to other things than just all the superficial stuff. And that's one of the things when God does come into your life and he does enlarge your heart greatly, because immediately there's this growth in your heart of, wow, I believe. And I believe in so many things and all of a sudden your attitude towards so many things in life changes instantly. But then there's the whole sanctification process where you grow and grow and grow and grow. That's the most beautiful part, I think, about the Christian life is that there's never stopping growth, there's never stopping learning. I mean, you've got the whole Hebrew path you want to go down if you want to do that, right, Robby?

You can do that. And you just never stop learning. But there's so much in the Christian walk and the Christian life, because there's life events that are happening around you that you have to always kind of figure out and take a stand on it.

Is it right or is it wrong? And then there's those conscience things. But there's just so much to live for and live in when you're living that Christian life that you need to reflect and figure out, remember, that's who I was. And remember that this is who God made me now. And in his strength, our heart does grow and we do have that superhuman strength, but it's not in physical strength, but it's in spiritual strength.

And that's what really makes us strong to be able to take on things that would normally have defeated us in the past. Well, thank you. It was good. The next clip is mine because I got to choose. But this is from the Lord of the Rings. This is the end of the journey for Frodo and Samwise together. Frodo has been overcome by the evil and Sam goes into this. And then we also get to see the final part of this.

But Sam is reflecting at the beginning of this. Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? It'll be spring soon. The orchards will be a blossom and the birds will be nested in the hazel thicket.

And they'll be sowing the summer barley in the lower fields. And he did the first of the strawberries with cream. Do you remember the taste of strawberries?

I can't recall the taste of food. You know the sound of water. The touch of grass.

And naked in the dark. There's nothing, no veil between me and the wheel of fire. I can see you with my waking eyes. Then let us be rid of it. Once and for all. Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you. But I can carry you.

Come on. It's done. Yes, Mr. Frodo. It's over now. I can see the Shire. I'm running around the river.

Back in. Gandalf's fireworks. The party tree. Rosie caught dancing. She had ribbons in her hair. If ever I was to marry someone, it would have been her.

It would have been her. I'm glad to be with you, Sam Wise Gamgee. It begins with reflecting on what they both love. And Sam is describing their home. But it progresses till the point of relying on the love that they have for each other. And that gives Sam the strength to carry Frodo to the end where he does ultimately get rid of the ring. And then he can remember the good things. But I think that a big part of my reflection are all the people in my lives.

Not just what God has done for me, but those that have had a significant impact on my life. So that was where I went with my particular reflection on that one. And then finally, I think we have you.

No, no, it'll be after the break because we're getting ready to go into break. And so we could get it over to Harold. Harold, would you like to add a little bit before we go into break? Just share a little with us. Yeah, I don't have a clip.

I had thought I would get one from the family man, but I don't know how to do clips. And it didn't get done. But the thing that was important to me out of that one was that he talks about how he had been so successful in early years that he was confident he was sure. And now he's not sure. And his wife asked him, well, what are you sure of? And he said, I'm sure that I'd rather be no place other than here with you.

And, of course, all these guys know how I feel about my sweetheart. And so that one reached out and grabbed me. The other thing that relates to me in this particular lesson is I had the opportunity to do a lesson recently. And I chose the topic of the rearview mirror approach. And it dealt with the same thing of looking back and seeing what has gone on and realize how many times God has pulled your fat out of the fire.

If he's done it in the past, he'll do it in the future. Yeah, now you miss your wife so much you actually wore her hat today, right? Or is that not for the air? Mine got laundry. Okay, there we go.

And so she has one that she'd like it that she seldom wears. So I've done it before. Okay, yeah. Then I'll do it again. Yeah, that's right. With her blessing. Robby did notice, though.

He was very astute to that. It's not about it, though. It's not about it. Yeah.

Yeah, I just hadn't seen one of those hats with a veil before. Well, guys, we're going to talk to you after the break. We'll come back, but let the music kind of play us out and we'll come back then. What we have at our boot camp is something that makes you stronger and gives you the strength to go on your regular walk with God. It's something that will make you be bigger than you were when you got there. I've been coming regularly and it's just such a blessing. When you guys invited me, I was at the worst time of my Christian walk. I was going through some things. The first time I came, I don't know if you remember, I couldn't even walk.

I couldn't even stand up straight, and I'm walking now. I ain't running around the lake yet, but you know. The greatest things is just being around a group of men that love the Lord and sharing his kindness and his love. All of you guys, I done sat and talked with all of you guys, different occasions, different conversations, and it's all been unique and refreshing. You guys gave me a whole different perspective in life, and you can't hide the true genuine love of God. You can't hide it.

Register today at masculinejourney.org. That was probably our most uplifting bump yet. I know how excited we got at it earlier when we listened. Yeah, I'm sure the words are amazing. Just the melody.

Yeah, it was good. That, as I said to them earlier, that's probably the first time we've gotten the entire lyrics of a song in a bump. And I went after Simon and Garfunkel because they do have a lot of reflective type music, but this is the one that I landed on, and I'm not sure I'm thrilled about that at this point. And it is kind of a doubter at the end, but reflection on our past, I think, and I was sort of expecting Harold to address this.

We can bail you out. We can go ahead and Sam's clip later, if you listen to the after hours, that what happened there actually was, you know, obviously the Lion King was reflecting on his time. It was time, you know, the exact same memory, but that memory makes all the difference. If we don't have our memories, we're not going to be who we are.

And there's a horrible disease that shows that to us. And I did sort of want this to be a counterpoint to the, you know, don't look back, don't look back at the stuff that drags you down. But if we do reflect on the times in our past, and some of us have more of those than others, right, Harold, but it is actually a good place to be.

And it really renewed my spirit over the three weeks we were playing in the Caribbean. Throughout the whole Old Testament, how often did God say, you know, build a monument here, build a something here, right, to remember? Exactly, right. There is something healthy in the reflection process, or God wouldn't have told his people to do that. And he's continuing to tell his people to do that, you know, but again, difference between looking back at things that cripple us versus reflecting on things that give us life and power.

And things that cripple us is an excellent lead into Robby's clip, right? Well, Robby, that you wrote? Yeah, how cool. And to rush to Andy's defense, that cool for me is I think about the word reflection in the whole idea of the topic, is it doesn't necessarily mean that you're reflecting back.

That's true. Because from God's standpoint, time is eternal, right? So you're reflecting on Christ, and Christ is in the past and he's in the future, but very cool that, as we talked about before the show, the letter Zion, for those of us who love Hebrew, has to do with reflection.

And so in this particular clip, we have the most amazing idea here from the chosen. And they're going through this disciples, and there's little James and big James. But little James, as he's portrayed in the chosen, is crippled. And short, kind of, I won't mention any names, but like Harold.

He's on his short. But, you know, Harold's not crippled, as Jim will tell you. But anyway, so Jesus sends them out two by two, which is significant. He sends them out two by two in order to heal people.

Well, obviously little James is like, are you missing something? Like, are you going to heal me before you, you know, send me out to heal? Because, you know, and it leads to where I want to think about how we reflect to Jesus. But what a cool conversation.

And I bet you anything when you think about it, you've had this conversation with Jesus. So go ahead. Have a good story to tell, yes?

Yes. But there are already dozens who can tell that story. And there will be hundreds more, even thousands. But think of the story that you have, especially in this journey to come, if I don't hear you. To know how to proclaim that you still praise God in spite of this. To know how to focus on all that matters so much more than the body.

To show people that you can be patient with your suffering here on earth, because you know you'll spend eternity with no suffering. Not everyone can understand that. How many people do you think the Father and I trust this with? Not many. Are you fast?

Do you look impressive when you walk? Maybe not. So many people need healing in order to believe in me. Or they need healing because their hearts are so sick. That doesn't apply to you. And many are healed or not healed, because the Father in heaven has a plan for them, which may be a mystery.

So hold on a little longer. And when you discover yourself finding true strength because of your weakness, and when you do great things in my name, in spite of this, the impact will last for generations. Do you understand?

So, you know, my original idea of what the topic was, which I was wrong, apparently, was— No, you weren't. —that what Bible verse do you reflect on? Or Bible verses, you know, the idea from the Psalm 1 on is, you know, those words we reflect all the time. And that's exactly right, that as we can get our mind reflecting back on the Word of God, essentially, you know, that's where your strength comes from. But so often, you know, for me, well, number one, my strength is made perfect in weakness. It certainly is pointed out in this as far as a verse I think about often as well. But I pray the Lord's Prayer at least two or three times a day. And a lot of people think I'm religious because I do that.

But actually, I so love where it takes my reflection. As I'm reflecting on Christ, I have forever wondered intellectually, why am I asking God in this prayer not to lead me into temptation? Because I'm like, I know he wouldn't take me someplace and I'm not supposed to go. Like, why am I asking, like, why am I praying that God won't take me someplace that I don't want to go? Well, I came to understand this week, as I'm reflecting constantly on that prayer, I do reflect on it a lot.

And Harold knows how much I've puzzled on this till my puzzler was sore. And all of a sudden it hit me, actually through a John Eldridge podcast, that we have a tendency to put God on trial. It's like, God, I thought you were going to heal me, or I thought you were going to answer this prayer that I had, or I thought, you know, the studio was fixed tonight.

We wouldn't have to, you know, poor Keith worked and worked to work to get this thing. I thought, you know, we prayed about this. But in a sense, every time we do that, we're testing God. And I had never seen it really that we're, as we go, like, God, you're not enough.

And that was the whole problem with Eve and Adam and all that. Like, they had tested God and come up with, he's short of what we need. And so all of a sudden I understood why the disciples, when they were saying, like, man, like, man, Jesus told them, pray that you don't fall into temptation. You don't need to be at this place when I'm on the cross wondering if God is enough, because you don't understand does not mean that God is not enough. And so to not put the Lord to the test is what it means to fall in temptation. And I did not understand that, but the more I looked at the word maribba, which is, you know, the waters where the testing happened, the more I came to see, oh my goodness, this is me weighing God, trying to decide if he's enough. And I can see why, as I'm praying that I'm asking God to heal my heart so I don't go there. I don't, you know, the real issue with the Lord's prayer is like your will be done, right?

That I don't put you in that particular position. So I, as I can reflect on those things, as I pray that, I just think it's spectacular. It really has helped me this week. And so I love the idea of reflection this week, Jim, as I have thought about it a lot. It does have that benefit of being Hebraic in logic. It's not you don't look back or you do look back. It's both, both and not one or the other.

And that was the reason you didn't get it wrong is because I was setting it up so that everyone would reflect on what reflection was to them. And we're going to, or we could all get it wrong. Well, you know, the big thing, the big thing I loved about your clip, Robby, was that it addresses such a common issue with believers, strong believers think, well, God wants us to be healthy. Yes, He does. He wants to heal us all. Yes, He does.

And He will. But that clip points out beautifully that sometimes the best healing we can have is learning to have the strength that He gives us in our weaknesses. And it breaks my heart knowing that so many people do, as you put it, okay, this is a test for God. You cure my cancer and I'll know you're there.

And if you don't, well, where are you? Why don't you love me enough to do that? Maybe He loves you enough not to do that. And just fill in the blank, you know, fix my marriage, you know, heal my kid, you know, whatever the, the thing is, we're constantly putting God to the test, you know, with that, whether we're intentionally doing it or not, you know, it's just, it's, it just seems to be where we go. Right.

And so that's, that's kind of hard. Robby, I will say that's my favorite chosen clip. That is, that is by far my favorite chosen clip. That was a good one. I liked that.

It made me, it made my puzzler puzzle just a little bit. Which is saying a lot today. Is it sore yet? It was sore before it started, but yeah, it is.

It is sore just a little bit. So we got just a little under a minute. Jim, anything you want to add before we head out of the regular show and go into the after hours? Well, the love that we have for one another, the love we have for God is where we need to spend most of our reflective time. And that was something that, like I said, I really came back renewed, re-energized, and he wants us all to finish well, but he doesn't necessarily want us doing a bunch of stuff that we're doing for him and miss out on the relationship that he wants most of all for us. So if we're going to him where, as you pointed out in the Lord's prayer, that we're seeking his will and not our own, that's what we need to reflect on.

And that's the place I'd like everybody to go, including myself. Jim, that was really good. Unfortunately, we still have another minute because I didn't do my time right.

Any more you'd like to add, we could probably do that. I think Rodney was raising his hand that he wanted to speak or he was holding one minute. He's looking at the clock. My puzzler was too puzzled. It was sore. So I'll close it out. So yeah, we do have a bootcamp coming up. If you haven't been to a bootcamp before, you're not able to come to this one. We will have another one in the fall for you to go to. But if you've been to a bootcamp or been to an entrenchment, go to masculinejourney.org to register March 30th through April 2nd. We'll talk to you a little bit later. This is the Truth Network.