S2 EP 4: Blessed & Meek

Welcome to the Thirst with Hunger podcast with Pastor Sandy Edwards, where we destroy every obstacle that hinders people from knowing God. Here, you'll be challenged, encouraged, and equipped to pursue his presence, walk in truth, and live with bold faith. Let's dive in.

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Thirst with Hunger podcast. It's been an interesting time here at Thirst with Hunger and just all that God is doing and what he's building through this vision that has turned into something that is way bigger than me. Um, I didn't start this with the intention to Build it around my name. Um, I really believe that the Lord is really after the condition of our souls in the body of Christ, and even those who are not yet saved and will come to know him. And I think when we avoid talking about things that deal with the condition of our soul, our life begins to rot and it begins to smell and it begins to deteriorate. spiritually. And we can try to avoid hard conversations. We can try to skip over addressing the things that are happening in our heart. But as I've said many times here, and as I teach in the Thirst with Hunger Institute, and as I share with other people, we cannot ignore the issues concerning our hearts. We cannot Ignore that we have these things happening in our lives, and we can try to be positive. We can try to overlook, but after a while, the fruit of not addressing and the refusal to address these things that are happening in our lives is going to reveal itself. It may not reveal itself right then as this situation is happening. But later on down the line, you'll start to realize that you've been avoiding and you've been indirect and you've been offended and you've been hurt and you are wounded, deeply wounded. And because you never felt like you had the space or the time or the energy to address these things, you start to, you know, really see how damaged you are as a person. And I'm not ashamed to say that because these are all things that I have lived myself. And I spent many years avoiding issues, not being direct when people would violate my boundaries or violate me. I wouldn't speak up. I wouldn't say anything because somewhere down the line, I was taught and conditioned to believe that using my voice and speaking up when I felt a certain type of way was wrong, and it was a sign of pride and arrogance. But that's so far away from the truth, and we're going to get into that in this episode today. So in our last couple of episodes of season 2 of the Thirst with Hunger podcast, we talked all about The opening lines of one of the most important sermons that Jesus taught to his disciples. And we're moving slow through this, and the reason that we are is because, again, my intention here at Thirst with Hunger and just what this ministry is established to do is to destroy every obstacle that hinders people from knowing God.

Mm-hmm.

It's one thing to hear about God, but it's another thing entirely to know him. And I don't think we know him as well as we say that we do. And that is because when we're reading scripture, we're just skimming through stuff, skipping through stuff, just like, okay, cool, got it. God blesses those who realize their need for him. All right. But are we stopping to actually ask, what does that mean to need God? What does that mean to, to realize that I need him? What does it mean to mourn? What is Jesus talking about here? Those are the questions that we need to start slowing down and reading, because I really believe that the reason why we have biblical illiteracy at such an all-time high right now is because we're not slowing down to meditate on the scriptures. We're meditating on everything else. We're meditating on how we can use the scripture to throw shade at other people. We're meditating on how we can go to a Bible verse and try to combat other people about their beliefs and all the things. We're meditating on that. But I'm talking about when you are sitting alone with you and God, are you meditating on his words? Or are you drawing from the strength of your own understanding? Matthew 5, verse 5 in the NLT says, God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the earth. God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. I know when we hear words like meekness, because in some translations it says meek, blessed are the meek, right? For they, they will inherit the earth. When we hear the word humility or being humble, we associate that word with being weak or being overlooked, or the person who never pushes back or says anything or speaks up for themselves or advocates for the truth. And we also think that that means that you don't have an opinion, or even if you do, you're not allowed to voice it. We think that that's what humility means. We think that that's what meekness means, but meekness is not you choosing to be silent. And this kind of understanding has done serious damage to the body of Christ, particularly to people who have experienced trauma, church hurt, as it's called today. Being hurt by people within the context of the Christian community. And to anyone who is really a Christian, you're taught to be silent, be silent, be silent, be silent. But there comes a time, and there should be moments in your life where vocalizing how you feel, vocalizing when you feel violated or disrespected should be addressed. These are not things that you need to pass over. Like, Jesus is not saying to not say anything. He didn't say anything about being silent here. He just simply told you that God blesses those who are humble. He didn't say God blesses those who are silent. And I really believe that the reason why we're not experiencing blessing in certain areas, and blessing is not always physical things, as I've discussed here many times. I believe strongly that the reason why we're not experiencing blessing the way that God desires for us to experience blessing is because too many of us are being silent when we need to be vocal. So part of God blessing you is also breaking you through. What if the reason why you haven't broken through is because you continue to be silent when God is saying to speak, when God is saying to be vocal? What if the reason why you are not experiencing the strongholds being broken off of your life is because you refuse to be vocal? And you know, one of the ways that the enemy keeps a lot of us silent is because we grew up in environments that taught us and said things to us like, Oh, what happens in this house stays in this house. Not if the house is wicked. Not if the people within the house are strengthening the arms of wickedness. And if we want to put it plainly, like, not in the church that is strengthening the arms of wickedness either. What happens in this church, what happens in this house, what happens in this relationship, what happens in this marriage, all of this stuff If what is happening in those things is wicked, no, it doesn't stay in the house. It has to come out of the house. And the only way it comes out of the house is if someone decides to have enough courage and humility, because humility is vocal. Humility has a voice. It's not silent. Humility has a voice. If what is happening in the house, if what is happening in the church is wicked, it doesn't need to stay within the house. You have to start vocalizing what is happening in the house to get free. You have to start saying and confessing, Uncle so-and-so was touching me inappropriately, or my mother was abusive, or my dad was abusive. And these things, you have to start vocalizing it. Because how will you get free if you don't say anything? How is someone supposed to find out? Who may be further in their walk with the Lord, who has the resources to help you find out that these things are going on if you don't say anything, all because you've been told that what happens in this house stays in this house. I bind Satan and all of his works. Because that is so evil to say when, when you see abuse happening, or if abuse has been happening to you, or someone is doing something that is purely wicked. And causing the harm of children and women and all of these things, and you sit on the other end of that and you say, well, all in the name of what happens in this house or what happens in this church, I'm just gonna be silent. But your silence is the reason why these generational patterns have continued in the family. Your silence is the reason why these things continue to happen within the church community that you're in. Because you protect pedophiles instead of talking about what happened. You honor pedophilia instead of honoring God, who is not okay with the pedophilia. And you think that God is honoring you. You think that God is pleased with you. You think that God is okay with the fact that you keep keeping secrets. And you won't expose the unfruitful works of darkness because all in the name of what happens in this house stays in this house. And that is how the enemy has strengthened the arms of wickedness and slavery. That's how he's done it. So being humble It's not you being silent. Being humble has nothing to do with you being quiet about wickedness. It has nothing to do with that. That's not what humility is. It's not what humility is. Meekness is not the absence of strength. It is strength and authority submitted to God. And how can we submit ourselves to God if we won't be honest and, and tell the truth? God blesses those who are humble. For they will inherit the whole earth. And maybe the reason why we're not inheriting the earth or inheriting the kingdom is because we're not being vocal. We're being silent when God is asking us to be vocal. God blesses those who are humble, meaning God blesses those who come under his authority, who come under his authority. It's the idea of I could be powerful in and of myself. And let's pause right there because, as I said, we've been taught what happens in this house stays in this house, and what happens in this church stays in this church. And that's how generational strongholds and patterns continue generation after generation after generation. And the reason why is because We haven't been properly taught about what humility and meekness, you know, really is. How can we submit to God's authority if we won't tell the truth? The first beatitude was what? God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him. And so when we're sitting here and we have things that are going on in our heart and we're not dealing with it, do we really think that we're realizing our need for God by being silent about the things that are actually affecting us? We go into prayer and we skip right over the stuff that is happening to us and start praying for God to bless us with more stuff. And God is just like, you know what? I love you so much that I'm gonna withhold this good thing that I have from you because you're not really loving me if you're not walking in the truth. How are we placing love and pretending and telling lies on the same level? It's not the same. Like, we can't tell lies and try to say that we're loving God too, because Lying and pretending don't sit on the same level as loving God. He says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So some of us need to revisit those 10 Commandments and find out if we're actually living all of them, if we actually hold to high regard what the Lord says about those of us who say that we love him. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. We think that these things that God is saying in his word for how we should live are just suggestions, that we get to pick and choose what parts of God's word we want to live And what parts of God's word we don't want to live. We think that oh, if I just pray harder, the issue will go away. But again, Matthew five and twenty-four says that if you are standing at this altar and you you realize that you have an issue. With your brother in Christ, your sister in Christ, or with someone— it could be anybody— that you are to go to them. If you're standing at the altar giving your sacrifice, you are to go to them. It says you are to go to them. How will you go if you continue to be silent? But we don't like to read scriptures that command us to do the work, and the reason we don't like to read scriptures that command us to do the work is because it's easier to pretend. It is. It's easier to act like nothing is happening. It's easier to be quiet. But this is the reason why he's spending this time teaching the disciples how to live. In relationship with God. First, you need to acknowledge that you are poor in spirit and that you have a need for God. Secondly, you need to mourn over your own sin and also learn how to mourn with other people in grief and in their sin and all those other things. And there's always promises, these very simple promises that are attached when we follow instructions, when we do only and all that God has required of us. Numbers 12 and verse 3 says that Moses was the meekest man on earth. But Moses was also the same one. I, I wonder why God is referring and letting us know in scripture, very clear on this, that Moses was the meekest man on the earth. I don't think that God just included that for no reason. So recognize that even in Moses being the meekest man on the earth, this is how God described him.

Right.

He was also sent to confront Pharaoh face to face. He also had to stand there and put his staff, the, the thing in the water to part the Red Sea. So Moses wasn't passive in his meekness. He was submitted to the authority of God. And there is a difference. He had strength and power to do all of this stuff on his own, and he could have been driven by his ego. He could have just said, you know what, this is too difficult. Pharaoh's not listening to me. I don't care. I'm just gonna go on and live my life. That's not what he did. He submitted his strength to the authority of God. So he was not passive. He submitted his authority and his power to the one who holds all power and all authority. God said that Moses was the meekest man on earth, but he still, in his meekness, in the authority he was given, had to submit that authority to God, and he had to go And tell Pharaoh to let my people go. That's that's the command from God. Tell Pharaoh to let my people go. Still had to go. Still had to talk to Jesus described himself in Matthew 11:29 as gentle. And lowly in heart. And Philippians 2, you know, explains to us that though Jesus was equal with God, he did not, he did not put himself above God. He took on flesh. He washed people's feet, right? He embodied the authority of God. And it was consistently expressed through submission to the Father. He constantly said, my Father who is in heaven, my Father who is in heaven. And even though Jesus had all authority, he still, while he was walking the earth, submitted that power and that authority to God the Father. So if meekness is power under authority, under God's authority, then the opposite of, of humility, meekness, is power that has not been submitted. And so when our power That God has given us, okay, is not submitted to God, that means that it will be driven and open to being driven by something other than God. And that means that we are open to being territory used by the enemy. And we start living from the place of our wounds all because we did not do The thing that God consistently asks us to do, which is to submit that power to him. So if your worth was always based on conditions growing up, if love was always something that you had to earn, if you felt unseen, What you will do is take power into your own hands and establish brands, ministries, businesses, even pursue education to validate yourself. Instead of serving the purposes of God, you're serving your own woundedness because you like how it feels to be needed and validated. Because again, The power that you have— and it's not that you're not gifted— the power that you have hasn't been submitted to God. So you become really good at performing, and you become really good at making sure that people know who you are. And that's not the strength of God. That's not the plan of God manifesting in your life. It is your own woundedness operating under giftedness. And some of us, we, we're not practicing humility. That comes from God, because we're still trying to prove things to people who don't care about you, who don't even care about you feeling respected or loved or needed or valued. So you stay in this consistent loop of trying to prove yourself to them. For what? You putting on a show for, for an audience that's not there. And as I said before, I'm not telling you guys who are listening to this podcast anything that I am not living or have not lived through myself. There was a season of my life, my entire life, where I wouldn't speak up, and it was not because God asked me to be quiet, but because I feared being rejected by people. I, I literally lived under that lens of being conditioned to believe that speaking up for myself was a form of dishonor and disrespect. And I called it being humble. Just take the low road. And I called it me being so spiritual. I called it me being close to God because I wouldn't use my voice and be vocal. when the Lord wanted me to be vocal and, and told me explicitly that humility does not mean me being silent. And the reason why so many things continue to happen in my life is because I, I won't speak. I won't be vocal. Now, I want to share with you some things that helped me to come out of that. Right. And so what God used to change these things for me was helping me understand what boundaries really are. And so I began to examine what obedience to God looked like based on his word. And as I shared earlier in this episode, if I love God, I keep his commandments. And the question was asked to Jesus, What is the greatest commandment? And he said, to love the Lord your God with all of your soul, all of your heart. And the second one is just like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. And it was then that I realized something that I never paid attention to before, is that when Jesus is expressing what the greatest commandment is, He's telling me the boundaries that I need to have established around my life to live a healthy life in both my soul and in my relationships with others. When God gives us commands, it's to empower us to live not just under his authority, but submitted to his authority so that we are healthy in our mind, will, and emotions, which is our soul. When Jesus is listing what's the greatest commandment, these are not things that we cannot do, and these are not things that I cannot say in his presence. The boundaries are there for protection, and boundaries. Are a form of honor, first toward God, then love toward yourself, and then extending that honor and love to other people. So boundaries— pay attention to this definition of boundaries that God has given me, and it changed my life. Boundaries are a form of honor, first Toward God. Notice what Jesus said, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and then to love toward yourself. Because in order to love my neighbor well, I have to love myself well. But I also cannot love myself well without first Loving God. So all of this will flow and help me to live an honorable life in humility if I'm first honoring God by loving him with all of my mind, heart, soul— and your soul is your mind, will, and emotions— if I'm first loving God and then extending that love towards myself.

Mm-hmm.

Then I am able to extend that honor and love to others. So all of this is self-abandonment when we choose not to live in the first and most important commandment, to love the Lord your God. If we're abandoning love for self all in the name of trying to love others, That is self-abandonment. That is self-abandonment, and it's something that God never asked us to do. God is not saying not to love yourself. What he's saying is don't try to love yourself apart from loving me. What he's saying is don't try to love yourself apart from loving me. Because when you try to love yourself without first loving God, it's gonna cause chaos and mess, not just in your life, but in other people's lives. And this is why we become emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, and sometimes even sexual slaves to other people. We first abandon God and then we start abandoning ourself all in the name of God, trying to say, oh, okay. Well, I'm supposed to take hard hits. As I've said many times before, we wear it as a badge of honor and just be like, look at me, I go through so much spiritual warfare, I can take hard hits. Look at how many hard hits I can take. I just got punched in the face, so I took a hard hit. I just got cussed out, so I took a hard hit. I just— no. That's, that's not the love of God. That is not the boundaries that God has established around your life, and that's not how you should care for your temple. Which is supposed to belong to God, that's not how you should care for your temple, which is your body. And inside of your body is your soul, which is your mind, your will, and your emotions. So you mean to tell me that the way you honor and keep your temple that belongs to the Lord, that is the— that has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the way that you care for that temple is by allowing yourself to be abused? Disrespected, dishonored. And I'm not talking about like you going and cussing people out because you got cussed out. I'm saying that you mean to tell me that the way God wants you to love yourself in him is by you continuing to allow yourself to be abused and disrespected and, and all the other things that you allow to go on for so long. And then you're telling God to bless you and you're praying and asking God for all of this stuff, but you're not honoring him by dishonoring yourself. And I know that we don't like to talk about things like this because there's, there's people who lean all the way to the right who say abandon self, no self is allowed. And then there's people who lean all the way to the left who are full of themselves, right? But God has called us to a place of his word. Mm-hmm. Which says, "I am to love my neighbor as myself." Is it loving to my neighbor to allow myself to be dishonored? Is it loving to my neighbor to allow myself to be disrespected? Is it loving to my neighbor to allow myself to be abused? Is it loving to my neighbor? To allow myself to experience that. And that's not— you will never find God affirming that kind of love in the Bible. But the reason why we allow these things is because we don't search out the meaning of the scripture and sit with it long enough for God to minister to our hearts. And then we're wondering why we're struggling. And take it from somebody who lived this. I'm not sitting here, as I've said before, telling you nothing that I'm not practicing and that I'm not doing. At some point, I had to start looking at myself and say, you know what? I am the reason why this keeps happening because I continue to allow it. I won't say no when I'm supposed to say no. I also won't say yes when I'm supposed to say yes. And I won't speak up about the things that actually do hurt because I'm sitting here trying to be more spiritual than I really am, not even realizing that God never expected me to be spiritual. And he's also not asking me to have all of this knowledge about scripture before I address something. It's enough of this being silent all in the name of humility. All in the name of humility. All in the name of humility. We sit here and we're silent and we think that God is honoring it. John 19. Verse 8 through 11. I want us to pay attention to this and unpack it. When Pilate— it says, when Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, where are you from? But Jesus gave no answer. Why don't you talk to me? Pilate demanded. Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you? Then Jesus said, you would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin. And most people paint Jesus to be this soft, fluffy, warm— I mean, floating on clouds Savior, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But I think Jesus, he clapped back, right? But he wasn't clapping back in the flesh. Pilate's trying to To insert his authority and say, don't you realize I have the power to release you or crucify you? And Jesus said, you would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin. That's John 19:8-11. You would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. So when you got people in your life who's sitting here dominating and inserting their authority, maybe you need to start taking on the attitude of Jesus and understand that you would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. You wouldn't. And here is Jesus even showing us that even though he had all the power to break out of The chains and everything else that they had him in when Pilate was questioning him, he could have broken out of it. He was powerful enough to do so. He could have taken all the strength God had given him and usurped the authority of Pilate. But you see even Jesus submitting that authority to God and, and at the same time being vocal. So we have no excuse. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is showing us what it looks like to submit that strength and that power to the authority of God and to the authority of man, and also being vocal and advocating and, and, and in a very direct way rebuking Pilate, saying that you would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above. So So again, the way that we have been conditioned to believe that love and authority and power and strength unto God, the way that we've been conditioned to believe it is not the way that God has said it in the scriptures. This is why I'm such an advocate for go beyond what you're just reading at face value and look up the definition of words. Find out the context in which Jesus was speaking. Find out the context. And so the questions you need to be asking yourself when you're reading Matthew chapter 5, verse 5. God blesses those who are humble, for they shall inherit the whole earth. And in the ESV translation, it says, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. When God is using words like meekness and humility, he's not talking about being silent. So you need to ask yourself 2 questions. Why am I being silent? Is it because God has specifically told me to hold my peace, or is it because I'm afraid of what happens if I use my voice? And the second question you need to be asking also when you are in any type of conflict or you feel threatened or any of these things, you need to be asking, what response honors God? In this moment, what can I say or do that obeys God, respects the boundary of humility, meekness, that honors the image of God in me and also empowers me to love the person in front of me? So when God says that he blesses those who are humble, he has no intentions to bless you because you continue to be silent when he's called you to speak up, when he's called you to say what needs to be said, and not say it from a place of You being spiteful and just slandering people, but say it from a place of humility in him, which is first I'm gonna seek the authority of God and hear his voice and hear how I should respond, and then I'm gonna respond. God blesses those who are humble, for they shall inherit The earth. You're not humble if you don't realize your need for God, if you're inserting your own authority over the authority of God, if you're inserting your own understanding over the authority of God. The meek shall inherit the earth, not the silent Not the fearful. You will operate at such a higher level in your thought life that agrees with God the moment that you start to practice biblical humility and authority and strength and meekness, which is power submitted to the authority of God. Thank you for listening. God bless you.

Thank you for listening to the Thirst with Hunger podcast. We truly appreciate you joining us on this journey. Your support makes it all possible. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our channel, hit the like button, and leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Right to me, but it's in.