What Do We Give to the God That Has Everything? | Episode 18

Thank you for listening to this week's episode! Today Pastor Johnny asks what do we have to give to the God who has everything? And lands on a clear answer: relationship, faith, and action. We unpack Luke 18 and James 2 to show how persistent prayer and obedient works reveal a living faith that bears fruit.

• the core question of what God desires from us
• persistent prayer in Luke 18 and its meaning
• faith defined as trust that acts
• James 2 and faith proven by works
• fruit of the Spirit versus cravings of the flesh
• living as ambassadors with visible witness
• conviction and discipline as gifts that realign desire
• choosing obedience from acceptance, not for it

Transcript

Welcome And Opening Prayer

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey, Johnny Underwood here with the Undivided Podcast. Thank you for tuning in today, and I really hope you're blessed by this episode. Well, good afternoon, Undivided Podcast listeners. Johnny Underwood here, and I am so excited to engage you today as we embark on this 18th episode. So, yeah, so we're here, and I just wanted to we're gonna do something different today. I'm going to one just talk about something that God's put on my heart. But before we do, I'm just gonna open this up in prayer and then we're gonna jump in and just see where God might want to take us. So, Heavenly Father, we just come before you and we thank you for this opportunity to come, to engage you, to rest in this space and in your presence. Father, your word says we're two or more are gathered in your name, that you are there in the midst. And Father, as my brother Christian and I are both here, um we just dedicate this time to you. And Father, we ask that as we unwind in this episode, that you would guide our words, guide my words, so that you would be edified, that the listeners would be ministered to on exactly what it is that you want to say, whether it's for just one person out there or if it's for just all that would that would dial into this episode uh on this day or the days, the weeks, the months, the years to come, that uh that this message that you want to say, this these words would bring glory to you, God, and then and help develop us, develop us into the sons and daughters that you've called us to be. So we pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

The Core Question: What Do We Give God

SPEAKER_00 1:51

So the question, uh, if you will, that's been on my heart is what do we, the sons and daughters of God, what is it that we have to give to the God of the universe, to the God who comes to earth in the form of a man, Jesus, what do we have to give that God? What is it he actually wants from us? Right? Clearly, as we see throughout the pages of scripture, we are loved, loved, and so incredibly valuable to our God. What is it that we that he desires of us? What is it that we give back to God? So I'm gonna jump in with some scriptures and reference to that question, and then we're just gonna unpack that just a little bit. So the scripture for today, or the first scripture for today, is in Luke 18.

Luke 18 And Persistent Faith

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Jesus is talking about the parable of the persistent widow, and he says, in Luke 1, and he told them a parable of the to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. And this is what he says He says, In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man, and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Give me justice against my adversary. For a while he he, the judge, refused, but afterwards he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge says, and will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? That's the question. Will he delay long over them? And he says, I tell you, he, God, will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? So

Faith Defined And Lived

SPEAKER_00 4:16

the answer to the question, what do we give to the God of the universe who speaks and creation happens? Right? This God who's come to earth in the New Testament and has redeemed man, what do we give this God? We give him relationship, first of all, right? We accept the gift of Jesus Christ. We have previous episodes that talk about that, but in that place of relationship, we give him faith, right? He says here, when the Son of Man comes, will we find faith on the earth? What he desires of us is faith. And the Johnny Underwood definition of faith is believing that God is who he says he is and that he's going to do what he says he's going to do, right? Do we believe that and do we live from that place? Do we trust him, right? In this hostile land as ambassadors here, do we function from a heart of believing in him to the point that we actually act out, live out what he's called us, what he's invited us to as sons? Do we live out relationship with him? So that's the question that we have before us are we living that? So I want to flip over to two other scriptures here.

James 2: Faith Proven By Works

SPEAKER_00 5:34

In James chapter two, verse 18, James says this, but someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, James says, and I will show you my faith by my works. Right? We can say that we believe, we can say that we give God faith, that we believe in him. The question is, is do we believe, is that a that's my posture, or is that really my action? Or is it just my words, or can are there deeds to follow, is there fruit to follow what I profess with my mouth? Right? So what we are called, what we're invited to to give back to God is action, right? It's not that we're working for righteousness, it's because of his righteousness we work. Right? Because of the goodness of God, the generosity of God, the redemption of God in Jesus Christ, I give him my life. I walk out suffering, I walk out generosity, I walk out his heart, his mission for humanity, right? And I live that out in such a way that an on-looking world says, wow, that's a man or woman of God. They're living different. Again, as we've said in other podcasts, there's hope, there's joy, there's peace in that man or that woman's life. Right? Not that that is a pain-free or a trouble-free life, but it's one that's in the midst of trouble, turmoil, trial, that we have hope, joy, peace, that we live something different, right?

Fruit Of The Spirit Versus Flesh

SPEAKER_00 7:12

We live a spirit-filled life, not a works-based life, but a life that says, because I live by the spirit, I will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh. And an onlooking world, an onlooking family, an onlooking community gets to experience the fruits of the spirit, right? Rather than the fruits of the flesh, right? And again, we've done other episodes about the fruits of the flesh, not necessarily termed that exact way, but it's where there's all this carnality that comes because my flesh always wants what my flesh wants. It's never satisfied. The spirit of God in me is satisfied, right? And the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace. And we can unpack those at some point. But it's there that we those things are the byproducts of us fellowshipping with and trusting in him and walking out this relationship with him. So, one more scripture here, it's also in James, and it is for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead, right? We see that when my mortal body dies, my spirit, at least in this under the sun, is separated from it too. Right? They they're not held together. So for as the body apart from the spirit is dead, if they're apart, it's dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. So by my faith, right, by my works, excuse me, I show my faith. And again, it's not just a believing, as in word only, it's by these works. I'm living this out. I'm saying, God, function in me, function through me, flow through me. And one, an on-looking world's observing it, but also I get to experience it.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I get to experience this faith that says and experientially says, I know God. God knows me. We fellowship. I have peace, joy, hope in me. I have conviction in me, I have the ability to conquer or to not live out my flesh, because the Spirit of God rules and reigns in me, right? That I'm able to live there, function there, and be pleasing to God because that's what pleases God, right? Again, to the question, what is it that we give the God who has everything, who and created everything, right? And he says, Come be a son and daughter or daughter in right standing, right? And how do we live out a relationship of right standing? We accept one, the gift of Jesus Christ, and then we fellowship with him and do life his way, not obeying just a list of rules, but in relationship, saying what pleases you, that's what pleases me. I will attune my heart, I will discipline my heart to have an appetite for you and you only. That's what we get. That's the invitation. As of something I like to say on these podcasts, that's the adventure. That's the joy that we get, is knowing that we're pleasing to the Father. And pleasing the Father pleases us when we're walking by the Spirit. So with that, we're just going to pray and just say, God, would you convict

The Invitation To Please The Father

SPEAKER_00 10:37

me today as you hear Pastor Johnny's voice? Would you convict me today where I need conviction? Would you give me guidance and direction how to lay down my flesh to walk out this faith journey with you so that I can be pleasing to you, that I can, that pleasing you will be the desire of my heart, and I will not compromise in that pursuit of that desire. So with that, let's just pray. Well, Heavenly Father, we just come before you today, Lord, myself, Christian, and each person that's listening to this podcast today. And Father, we do, we just ask that you would bring conviction. Father, conviction is a wonderful thing, it's a gift. It's like discipline. Your word says that you discipline those that you love. So, Lord, we're asking for that today. Bring conviction. Father, but not just conviction, but Father, show us the way out of conviction and through the pathway of obedience, of giving you what it is that you desire. Father, show us how we can bring our bodies under submission and then submit them to the discipline of working out this gift, this and this desire that you have for us to fellowship with you and to work in service with you as ambassadors here on earth as we make you known to a lost and dying world. Father, that we would get excited, that we would get that we would get stirred

Closing Prayer And Commitment

SPEAKER_00 12:21

in our own spirits, Father, like a husband and wife who miss each other, that that that that that chemistry, that uh that energy would be there in us, Father, to desire to be with you, to desire to spend time with you, to desire to please you, that we would not have affections for anyone or anything else but you. Father, that you would do that in us, and you would do that through us, Father, that we would set aside any affections for anything else in this world, that we would step away from trying to have one foot in comfort and pleasure and self and one in the spirit. But Father, we would be all in in this relationship with you, Father. We just thank you. We thank you for that invitation, we thank you for the conviction, we thank you for the discipline, and we thank you for the opportunity to be known by you and to make you known to others. We just pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Well, have a great day. We look forward to another podcast in the near future

Final Notes And Resource Mention

SPEAKER_00 13:28

with you. And as I've mentioned in recent podcasts, go to Christian Grant Music.com and check out his new CD. I believe if you download it, you listen to it, you will be blessed by it. So have a great day.