Podcast Transcripts

Knowing who you are and whose you are is key. Ted Dekker’s Beyond the Circle Series is being used in a unique book review where nuggets are shared by the host, Lyvita, to remind believers who they are in Christ. 

Introduction

Saints, welcome to Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast, I’m Lyvita Brooks, Christian author, Bible teacher, and founder of The Me Project Academy bringing you interviews, book reviews, Christian news, reminders about who you are and whose you are in Christ Jesus and information on how to live a purpose-filled life in Christ.

You can find this episode transcript, our free Christian Blueprint, Newsletter and much more at www.hangingoutwithjesuspodcast.com.

That will come up later ...

Please enjoy this podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Although efforts were made in editing, this transcript may include a few typos. It’s difficult to catch some minor errors. Enjoy!

1:02 - Saints, it’s funny how art can depict life and spark spiritual awakening. I said that to say this, I read the Beyond The Circle series by Ted Dekker, one of my favorite authors, and it shined light on a few nuggets that I’d like to share on this episode.

1:52 - Nuggets are simply, bite size pieces of knowledge, that are highlighted by the Holy Spirit within you, which causes an AHA moment which impacts all of you, body and spirit. 

2:28 - First let me begin with how delightful and suspenseful this series of two books were. They are The 49th Mystic and The Rise of The Mystic. It was all centered on Rachelle finding her true identity and realizing that she lives in two different worlds.

Whoa! Does that sound familiar?

2: 59 - Aren’t we always trying to find our authentic self, our true identity, the me that God’s made me and trying to comprehend how to live in two kingdoms: God’s kingdom and satan’s kingdom which is on this earth.

3:24 - Some of you just paused when I said comprehend how to live in two kingdoms. Well yes we do. Remember we live in this world but are not of this world. Read 1 John 2 especially verses 16 to 17.

3: 49 - Now we will discuss more about the nuggets I found in the book. The actual book review can be found on Goodreads.com/lyvitabrooks or the blog on Hanging Out With Jesus Podcast.

Christian News

4:15 - So in Christian news, did you get to see the funeral for Queen Elizabeth the Second Former Queen of the United Kingdom? I’ve been talking to the Lord about this event because I feel like it is the end of an era. Anyone else feel this way? It’s not just that Queen Elizabeth’s reign is over but there is a new realm of possibilities that is about to take place in the UK. A different style of leadership is about to blossom, (sort of speak).

5:09 - Believer’s I think that we have seen the end of what was normal and are now on the brink of making a new design of what is to be. That means as believers we have to truly look at how we are impacting our families, coworkers, church members, neighborhood, county, state, country, even people we meet in the grocery store. What impact are we making. Queen Elizabeth has made some type of impact on you simply by the fact you have an idea of her name or know something about her history. Can someone say that same thing about you? Or me?

6:49 - Saints we are to be the kingdom changers because we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood found in 1Peter 2:9, that reads,”

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

7:27 - Wow, that’s deep!

 A 7 Week Creative Guided Project Book Study where you learn about who you are, whom your God is and your relationship to each other.

8:26 - Don’t think of the news like they present it to you. Begin to see what is in the news as areas for prayer, for growth, for seeing how the enemy is moving because satan goes around seeking whom he may devour and look at the news as one who is a foreigner in this land on a mission to share the Gospel as God’s design. You are more than flesh and blood, but also spirit.

Now on to the topic at hand ...

The Episode

9:32 - Saints, have you ever heard of walking on water? Or for that matter a Water Walker? Well one of the characters in the Beyond The Circle series, actually walks on water and teaches others how to do it.

9:56 - You know what that reminded me of: Jesus telling the lake to be silent and walked on water, then asked Peter to join him, after Peter asked Him to do so. But there is something else that jumped up out while reading that section I hadn’t known or forgot about. Three things:

10:28 - One, Jesus spoke to the water. Two, Jesus gave Peter the power to walk on the water when he asked. And Lastly, water can be commanded therefore, our understanding of it has been tampered with.

11:04 - Let me share more of what I am talking about. Two events jumped into my thinking: Matthew 8:23–27 which reads:

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

12:16 - And Matthew 14:22-33 which reads:

2 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

14:06 - So here are my questions, and maybe yours also: How does water understand what you are saying? This is baffling. Is it not? Well when we look at it through our wisdom, man’s wisdom, the one we have grown up with all our lives, it shouldn’t make sense because after all we live in a world where the only thing that is possible can come through how much money you make or who you know or your own strength. So how is this possible? Was it his sandals? Was it trickery or did the 3 authors (Matthew 14:22-33 and also in Mark 6:45-52 and John 6:16-21.) of the Bible get it wrong? NO to all those questions!

16:41 - And yet that is just one of the nuggets I gleamed from this book. Here is the second thing.

16:47 - It is a statement that was written in the first book of the series called The 49th Mystics. Let me read it for you now and no this isn’t a review of the book but more of moments of pondering nuggets. Here’s the statement, “all people’s brains had been taught what to believe.”

17:25 - Does that sound familiar? When we think about propaganda. That thought comes to mind. But what about having daily reports of who has died each day. Is that not propaganda? Or better yet being taught what to believe because it’s repeated through images on our phone, across the internet and TV’s and radio, podcast?

18:01 - Let’s check out a few comments we have grown up with: School really doesn’t end until you finish college. What about … you must get married and have children or something’s wrong with you. Or you can be whatever you want to be, look or do to your body because after all, it is your body and that’s the only thing you have control over. Ya’ll there is error in that statement, if you are a believer and I hope you caught it. If not email me at [email protected]. I know you have heard this one, you must have money, money, money to be rich.

20:03 - WOW! It makes you think what else have I been taught to believe that isn’t true?

20:10 - Well that brings me to this. If from birth we have been taught to believe a certain thing, then why are we having such difficulty in allowing God’s word to change our thinking? Yes, His word has to break through a lot of mess and twisted beliefs that we held dear to our hearts, but if we want to grow and become the warriors that God’s called us to be then, we need to allow this change.

21:04 – Our, your brain can be reprogramed, taught what to think even the scientist agree to that. Check out Learned Behaviors, Learning Behaviors, or the processes of learning and behavior in humans. Now, if God says raise up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22: 6) and to renew your mind in  Romans 12:2 and scientist say that behaviors can be learned which is essentially what God is saying, then why don’t you believe that you have to learn to be who you are. Don’t you realize that studying the Bible and applying its principles and commands help remove the crowded and weighted down lies and stuff which have clogged the truth of who you are.

22:40 - Even if you know who you are, there is more to learn because getting to know, believe and understand that God is God, is a forever learning. It never stops. And the same is true for you, you are always finding out new things about yourself, even if you don’t want to admit it.

22:54 - Here’s another nugget I took from the Beyond The Circle series. It reads, “A human being can’t function without an identity, so you cling to the one you remember.” And then goes on to say, “But what if someone figured out how to both reformat the hard drive up there (referring to your brain) and reprogram it with a new identity, complete with new memories? Then they would wake up and be someone else, wouldn’t they?”

23:35 - That statement reminds me of us, Christians. People search and search for their identity. Teens get all confused and depressed because they are identified in a way that is not popular. Identity is encased by the words accepted, befriended and loved.  As we grow up we grow into the identity that is formed by our family, experiences, relationships, successes, culture, and failures. It is who we think we become, therefore we are.

24:32 - But here’s the problem and the solution. The problem is that isn’t your identity. The solution, you never really get to know you until you get to know Jesus Christ. Don’t fight me on this, just listen. I’ve been through this conversation before with the Lord, as has many others and I am clear that our identity isn’t wrapped up in what we see but whom we belong to.

25:23 - Saints, we are the people, servants, followers of King Jesus, The Christ, our Lord and Savior. And we serve Him in spirit and in truth. King Jesus, The Christ’s, kingdom is being formed in us, right now. We pray to God “thy kingdom come” and we read “seek ye first the kingdom of God” but in order for us to understand and accept the kingdom we must first know who is the King. We think it is God. It is, but we don’t have access to Him or His kingdom, unless we come through our King. King Jesus, The Christ who gave his life for us so that we could live in God’s kingdom. We either accept this truth about Jesus Christ or not. Either way, can’t enter God’s Kingdom, the one talked about in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible without accepting that Jesus is the Son of God.

26: 57 - Here’s the third and final statement for this episode I gleamed from reading this book:

“The thing about humans that few of them realized – they were powerful beyond imagination. Law just blinded them to it.” and later you read, “Watch. Look. Lift up your eyes. Change your cognitive perception…Reclaim your innocence. Become like an infant, a little child who hasn’t yet learned not to believe the impossible, because, in truth, nothing is impossible.” Then you read how the girl is trying to do these things and no matter how hard she tries she continues to fail. And then the response to her failing, “You aren’t ready yet, dear daughter. You have more lies to unlearn.”

28:14 - I took that last line personally, “You aren’t ready yet, dear daughter. You have more lies to unlearn.”

28:49 - Accepting Christ consisted of a new mindset which was ever transforming. My cognitive perception of life changed as I began to grasp my level of faith, my mission/ purpose on this earth, and the why and how of navigating in this two-faced world.

29:21 - This is when I found out that hanging out with Jesus is a thing. It’s where I learned to spend time with the Lord, pondering over scripture nuggets, practicing them in my mind so that I could apply them in life and learning that I’m not just flesh and blood but spirit, and what that really means. It’s where you grasp clarity that you are not the victim but the victor even when your life is a mess or sickness is trying to entrap you. It’s where you learn that you need to allow God to shake the lies off you so that you can contain His glory.

30:50 - Saints, it’s time to let God do the shaking! Shake us where all the lies will fall off, so we can see the cracks in our thinking, our walking, our believing in order to be taught the truth unhindered by lies, compromises and confusions that have glued themselves to our beliefs. Twisted our understanding and has made man’s wisdom dominate over all else.

31:45 - It’s time to walk on our problems instead of swimming through them, drowning in them, fighting with them, sinking in them or floating with them. It’s time to walk on them, just as Jesus walked on the water and invited Peter to do so. Peter did until he looked and saw the water as a problem instead of the power Jesus had just given him over the water. How easily we forget!

32:21 - Just imagine being more powerful than the water until you can speak to a raging sea, “Be still”. Whoa!!

32:46 - Saints, our brains can be taught, reprogrammed, but that comes from studying God’s word and then practicing it until you get it. Not giving up because the world has shown you something more exciting. What you want you put effort into it. So study the Bible on your own with Holy Spirit and with others, with the Holy Spirit. The Bible is where you learn your identity. Cling to your real identity that is found in Christ. To you it will be new but it’s not, it’s really “the you” who realized that you are more than flesh and blood but also spirit. The Bible is where you learn that you have a unique identity and that identity is found in Christ. Interestingly, it was never lost, just waiting for you to find your way back into the arms of Jesus.

34:01 - The laws, philosophies and wisdoms of this world blinded you into believing lies, twisted truths for the benefits of their beliefs system. It’s time to grab hold to your child-like innocence by bathing yourself in the truth of God’s word to unlearn the lies.

34:09 - It’s time for a shake-n-ing. Time for renewal. Time for exposing the lies. Time for greater growth in the Lord. Time for standing up against the lies and deception without worrying about the consequences, trusting in God. Time for binding up and casting out fear. Time for liberation in you. It’s time for painful moments to elevate you and not depress you. It’s time for believers to become disciples and disciples’ warriors. It's time to move from revival to shake-n-ing. It’s time to practice what we preach not just in the flesh but the spirit. It’s time to win battles in the spirit.

35:36 - I believe that is what Paul was getting across to the Church at Corinth. Read First and Second Corinthians, it sounds like it’s something that is happening in our churches today, even after coming out of a pandemic.

35:58 - Well Saints, I can’t exactly tell you what the next episode is going to be about because God’s doing some shake-n-ing in my life. I’m trying to embrace it with my big girl draws on, with a child-like heart.

36:39 - Let me know what nuggets you gleamed from this episode or what you got out of reading the book series, if you read it. Don’t forget to like and share it.

38:17 - In the meantime, check out The Me Project Academy newsletter. It contains the free Christian Blueprint and other ways to assist you in becoming the who you are and in knowing who your God is.

38:32 - Also don’t forget to sign up for the Bible Study. Our topic is Psalm 91 and it’s from September 27th to December 27th on Zoom. Check the podcast website or the links in the show notes and comments below to register.

39:00 - So until we meet again over the airwaves, intentionally and daily, hang out with Jesus. Shalom.

Resources Mentioned on the Episode and suggested reading & social media handles:

• Psalm 91 Bible Study from September 27 to December 27, 2022, Tuesdays from 6:30 pm to 8 pm
• Ted Dekker, Beyond The Circle Series

Calls to Action:

• Sign up for The Me Project Academy Newsletter for resources on book reviews, prayer and new releases of the podcast, all focused around learning who you are and whose you are.
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• Website: www.hangingoutwithjesuspodcast.com
• @hangingoutwithjesuspodcast (Instagram)
• @themeprojectacademy (Pinterest)
• [email protected] (for comments)
• www.goodreads.com/lyvitabrooks