Seeking Pearls: Recent Episodes
Rebecca Meidinger
Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like a hidden pearl, which, upon finding it, becomes dearer to the finder than anything he or she has ever found. God’s Word is just like that, full of hidden treasures and truths that are more precious than this world has to offer. Join us in this podcast as we study Scripture and seek pearls together.
In his brilliant finish to this beautiful letter, Paul instructs the believer how to get dressed in God's armor. Who are we to think that we can enter a world at war with just our skin on? We can't, and we shouldn't. God has provided, through the power of the Holy Spirit, spiritual armor to cover our minds, hearts, souls, spirits, and wills. Let's get dressed!
In Ephesians 5, Paul tells us more about what it means to live in the light. Namely, it means to walk like Jesus. And that, my friend, means to love. To love God, to love others, to love our families, to love the Church. To love is to be like Jesus.
All too often we fall into a trap of thinking that our Christian faith is private, something we keep to ourselves. That is far from the biblical reality. In Ephesians 4, Paul pleads with the believers in Ephesus to be united in the Body of Christ - to share their gifts with one another so that together they can be built into a strong, mature body of believers.
Following Jesus was never meant to be a solo act - we are in this together!
Ephesians 3 is a magnificent chapter of the Bible, full of mystery and love, drawing us straight into the heart of God. Join me as we discover the mystery of God and dive deep into the ocean of the love of Christ.
In the second chapter of Ephesians, Paul explains the magnificent way in which God saved us through grace and raised us on high in Christ. Because of the great way in which we were saved, there is no room for hostility or barriers. God has done the unthinkable in bringing together Jews and Gentiles into ONE family, and he has torn down the wall of separation. Let us tear down the walls in our own lives!
Join us in a new series going verse by verse through Paul's letter to the Ephesians!
In this magnificent opening chapter, we will learn that through Christ, God has chosen us, lavished us with his loved, and sealed us for the inheritance to come. It absolutely cannot get more beautiful than this chapter!
In the seventh and final episode on our Face to Face series with Moses, we see him seeking more and more of God's glory. The more he gets to know God, the more he wants to know God. The more he sees God, the more he wants to see of God.
Oh! That I would be like Moses!
In the sixth episode of Face to Face, we see Moses really dig into his new role as intercessor for the people of Israel. Though he was a stranger to them all just months ago, he is now the one who prays for them and intercedes on their behalf. When they mess up, he goes up the mountain to meet with a holy God for them. When they are hungry, he asks the Giver of all things for food. When they are thirsty, he begs God to quench their thirst. He is, in every sense, their intercessor.
What is most amazing about this is that it means that Moses has come to a place in his relationship with God that he could talk to God about anything and everything. He knew God intimately, personally, faithfully, and he was brutally honest with God in all things. Let's see how this happened in real life.
In today's episode, we continue to journey with Moses through some extreme obedience training. As he travels the desert with the Israelites, Moses is put to the task of doing everything God asks him to do, and nothing else. Throw the stick, hit the rock, climb the mountain, go down, go back up...everything God says, Moses does. It is obedience training like none other; but as we will see, it also becomes intimacy with God like none other.
Again, it leaves me wanting to be like Moses...
Moses continues to obey God with surprising obedience, even as God asks him to do things beyond what we could imagine. God is the only true God, above all little gods we might worship, and the more we give him time, space, attention, and obedience, the more we will see his wonders.
As God leads the people to the Sea of Reeds, WHO IS WITH THEM???
Moses started out reluctantly at the burning bush, but over the course of time we see him growing in his relationship with God. By the time we are into the plagues, Moses does everything God says without the least bit of arguing or complaining.
What we see is Moses giving God time, space, attention and obedience. These steady habits and routines eventually lead to the beautiful fruit of knowing God personally, intimately, like a friend knows another friend.
I want to be like Moses!
In this episode we will meet with Moses and God at the burning bush. Who was in the bush? Why did Moses argue so much? What in the world possibly convinced Moses that he should reach out and grab that snake??!!
To whom does God want to send me???
In this new series we will look at Moses, and specifically, we will look into his unique and profound relationship with God. At the beginning, does he even know God? In the end, they talk face to face...
How does that happen? What does that mean? Can we do that too??
Join me for a journey through the desert!
In Philippians chapter 4, Paul teaches us a great deal about what it means to press on in the gospel with the community he has given to us. Let us press on together, let us press on by putting our differences aside, let us press on in prayer, and with thanksgiving, and with contentment in what He has given to us. What a Word!
Philippians 3 is one of the most breathtaking chapters of Scripture in the whole Bible. In it, we see Paul's heart to know Jesus more. Here we have this man who has suffered more for the cause of the Gospel than anyone else, and we see that in his deepest heart all he wants is to know Jesus even more. He presses on for that one cause, to be like Jesus and to know Jesus.
Let that be our heart-cry as well!
In this fourth episode of our Philippians series, we see Paul putting into practice the exact things he told the Philippians to exhibit earlier in chapter two...humility, considering others above yourselves, being like-minded to Jesus. Paul and his team clearly strive to live out these exact qualities, and he asks us to do the same. Good news - It's the Spirit of God that enables us to do so!
Jesus, God the Son, is humility incarnate. He is the Supreme One, and yet he humbled himself to the most humiliating death imaginable. He is the Exalted One, and yet he took the lowest form of a slave, a servant, a criminal.
Let us be like Jesus, who laid down his life for others. Let us love like Jesus, serve like Jesus, think like Jesus.
In the second half of Philippians chapter One we see a Paul who is absolutely certain about Jesus, but is uncertain about whether he is to remain in the world to do ministry or if he is soon to be going to be with Jesus. Either way, Paul knows that his life is entirely wrapped up in Christ, and in that he chooses to rejoice.
Paul's letter to the Philippians always takes my breath away. It leaves me speechless, and then makes me want to talk about it with everyone I know. It brings me nearly to tears and makes me want to shout with joy. It teaches me to press on in the midst of whatever hardships surround me. It makes me ache to know Jesus more.
Please join me in this study through Paul's beautiful letter to the Philippians. Let's press on together. Will you be my partner in the gospel?
Unfortunately, we tend to get mad at God when He does pretty much anything we disagree with. Even if it means he is saving people. We get mad at God when his agenda of saving the world messes up with our agenda of suiting ourselves. It was true for Jonah, and it's true for me.
Thankfully, we have a God who uses us anyway. Praise be to God!
We like to decide who does and does not deserve God's mercy...don't we? Jonah did too. Thankfully God's mercies never run out and he will wait for us to get our act together. He doesn't change his mind, he doesn't shift like a shadow, he just stays the course and waits for us to get back on track with what he is doing in the world.
Sometimes we are Jonah, sometimes we are stuck in a fish, and sometimes we are the sinful city of Nineveh. Wherever you are today, God is waiting. He is patient with you. Come back to him.
You've probably not been in the belly of a great fish, and chances are you haven't nearly drowned in the ocean. Yet, you know the experience of drowning. We all do. Drowning in sorrow, grief, loneliness, depression, illness, confusion, abandonment...in some way, we have all be there.
How do you cry out to God in the midst of suffering? Jonah teaches us to turn our face to Him, because He is in fact there and He does in fact desire to save.
Have you found yourself trying to flee from God anytime recently? Maybe trying to avoid the exact people that God has called you to love and serve? (People He loves...)
Have you found yourself in the belly of a big fish, face to face with the very God you were trying to get away from?
Well, so has Jonah. Jonah is just like us, and he points us to Jesus. Jesus is the One who did not try to run away when God send him to save a sin-sick people. Jesus is the One whose mercy is bigger than sometimes we even want it to be.
Jonah is just like me, and he points me to Jesus. Join me in this journey with Jonah to the city of Nineveh, where we will meet a God who's mercy and love is bigger than we can even understand.
In this episode of the recurring Do You See this Woman series, Jesus brings us face to face with our own prejudices. He goes out of his way to pour his mercy upon a dear woman and her daughter who perhaps others think should not get any of the "crumbs" of his healing. Even her, Jesus? Are you sure she deserves your mercy? (As if a person could 'deserve' mercy.) Then he seems to go out of his way to save a woman on a day when the religious elite think he ought not to be healing. But isn't she more valuable than a donkey? Is his love too big? Does he stretch to far? Does his mercy make us uncomfortable???
Oh how I love this woman and her story. She is courageous and strong. She is humble and lovely. On the day when she we certain she would see her death, she instead saw the kind and loving eyes of her Savior, full of compassion and mercy and forgiveness.
She is me. She is you.
In our third recurrence of the "Do You See this Woman?" podcast series, we will look at three women whose names are hidden from us in the pages of Scripture. Though we don't know their names, the Savior does. He meets them right where they are at, in the midst of the muck and mire of real life, and pours his love and mercy upon them.
One of the greatest parenting lessons God has ever taught me is that He is better at it than me! He is wiser, kinder, more patient, gentler, more loving, smarter...everything good...He is more and better than I am. What a relief!
And, He lives in my kids. The great Teacher, Counselor, Comforter, Advocate and Helper...the Paraclete Himself...The Holy Spirit lives inside of my kids. What does it mean as a parent to yield my kids over to His control? And how do I pray for my kids, that they themselves would yield their lives to the Holy Spirit?
In this episode we will dive into the Scriptures and explore those questions.
In this final episode of our series on Paul, we will look past Paul to the Jesus that he preached. Going through each of the 13 letters from Paul in our Bible today, we will look at and discuss beautiful passages about Jesus and His cross, resurrection, and return.
Like Paul, may our heart-cry be "I want to know Christ..."
As Paul journeys to Rome, the Lord stands by him yet again to give him courage and confidence in the midst of tremendous trial. With networking in such a way that challenges us even today, despite all the technology we have at our fingerprints, Paul presses on, with and toward people he loves and who love him in return. No matter the trial or suffering, Paul will not be stopped. He has full assurance that in the end, the Lord will deliver him safely into His kingdom.
Led by the Spirit of God and strengthened by the Lord Jesus himself, Paul goes on to Jerusalem, knowing full well that prison and pain await him there. But, his aim is to preach the Gospel and every ounce of his life is all about Jesus, so to Jerusalem he goes. Come along as he undergoes one trial after another, being found innocent every time, yet remaining a prisoner for the sake of Christ.
As Paul finally gets to minister in Ephesus, we see him battling the forces of darkness as the Name of Jesus is lifted high. When his years in Ephesus draw to a close, we hear the heart of a man who loves Jesus..."My only aim...is to testify to the goodness of the grace of God." That is the heart of a transformed man who loves God and loves people.
May we love one another as purely.
As Paul journeys on from Philippi into Thessalonica to Berea to Athens to Corinth, he tells us that he does so with one single resolve: to preach Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
In a world of false idols and immense suffering, Paul preaches the hope of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. There was literally nothing the people of Greece needed more, and there is still literally NOTHING that we need more today.
Paul...a man who changed the world, wrote to the Corinthians "I resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) No human knowledge, no fancy science or the latest discovery in mathematics. Just Jesus. Only Jesus. Still today, Jesus is the answer.
After being instructed "No!" twice by the Holy Spirit, Paul and Silas finally were given the divine green light to proceed westward across the Aegean Sea into Macedonia (now modern Greece). There, they met a dear woman who would become the first person to house a church in Europe, a demon-possessed slave girl, and a jailer who would come to Christ along with his entire household. Amidst suffering and persecution, Paul and Silas teach prisoners and freemen alike what it means to be filled with the unceasing joy of the Lord.
Illness, persecution, division, even death...nothing can stop Paul's fervor for the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the second half of his first missionary journey, Paul is stoned to death, miraculously healed, and then gets up and goes right back into the city that just tried (successfully?) to kill him. Why? Because Jesus is worth it. Jesus is worth it all.
The first missionary journey for the Apostle Paul and Barnabas has set sail, and there will be no shortage of drama! Preaching to a governor, releasing a man from a demon, illness, controversy, suffering, arduous mountain trails, sleepless nights and a possible shipwreck...
But, far more important than all of that, through it all, lives are saved for the sake of Christ. The gospel is proclaimed, and hope is restored in lives and lands.
Join us for the first installment of the first journey!
In the fourth episode of our series on the Apostle Paul, we zoom in on a key encourager in his life: Barnabas.
Barnabas takes a risk on Saul when everyone else is still scared of him. Barnabas encourages him, remembers him, seeks him out, and mobilizes him for ministry.
What would it look like for you and I to be a Barnabas?
In this third episode of our series on the Apostle Paul, we look into the hidden years. After his conversion and before his first missionary journey is a period of about 14 years. We don't have very many details in the pages of Scripture, but what we do have gives us intriguing insight into the years in which he sought the Lord Jesus and learned personally, directly from Him.
Let us wait on the Lord like Paul did. Let us seek to know Jesus personally, intimately, in the ways that Paul did, as well as so many other men and women from the Bible.
In this second episode of Paul: His Letters, His Journeys, His Jesus, we take a deep dive into his conversion experience. What happened that day, two thousand years ago, on the long, hot road into Damascus?
When Jesus met Paul that day, it changed the world. Paul's obedience, Ananias' courage, and above all else Jesus' grace...it all flipped the world around in an irreversible way.
Join me on the road to Damascus as Saul is taken out of darkness and into the light.
Who was Saul of Tarsus? Join me this summer as I journey with the Apostle Paul through his conversion to Christ, his silent years of learning from Jesus, his travels, his sufferings, and ultimately getting to know his Jesus.
In this first episode of Paul: His Journeys, His Letters, His Jesus, we will look at Paul BC - Paul before Christ. Who was he before Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and flipped his world (and the whole world) upside down?
In the last chapter of his letter to the Colossians, Paul beseeches them to pray. He asks them to pray for one another, to be watchful and thankful in prayer, and to pray for him. For his safety, we might ask? No. He wants them to pray that while he is in prison, they would pray that he would share the Gospel clearly and fearlessly.
They do and he does.
May we live fearlessly too for the sake of the Gospel. May we wrestle in prayer like Paul and Epaphras did, and may the results of that prayer be radical disciples of Jesus who live fearlessly for Him.
Amen and Amen.
In the second half of the third chapter of Colossians, Paul instructs the people of Colossae on how to live like Jesus. They've learned about the cross of Christ, they've received a detailed theology on who Jesus is, they've been instructed to get rid of all leftover sin habits entangling them. Now...live like this. This is how we do it.
In chapter 3 of Colossians Paul teaches what it means to belong to Christ. He alone is true life. He alone is the place on which we should set our hearts and minds. The life that is truly life is found in Him alone, and as believers we have full access to that life. Therefore, let us let go of the sin habits that cling to us and that we so tightly cling to. Let's set our minds on Christ and grow in His image.
Paul gets into the deep details of the Cross in this section of Colossians. What does it mean that we have been circumcised in Christ? What is circumcision of the heart? When was I baptized into the death of Christ? When was the charge against me cancelled? And who are the authorities that Jesus put to shame through His death on the cross? And most of all, what does this all have to do with my freedom in Christ???
Everything! Paul dives in deep...let's dive in also.
What treasure are you seeking? If we are honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that all of us set our heart on something or someone. If we don't set it on Jesus, we will most certainly set it elsewhere.
In Colossians 2:1-8, the Apostle Paul declares that Jesus is not only the great mystery of God, but also the great treasure of mankind. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge - unfathomable riches - are found in Christ alone. Let us seek Him.
In the latter half of Colossians 1, Paul writes a glorious description of Jesus...the King of the Kingdom into which we have been transferred. Jesus is the perfect and total representation of God, He is the One through whom the universe was made, He comes before everything, has superiority in everything, and is the eternal glue that holds all things together. He is everything. And, as we find out, He is also the mystery of God that was hidden for ages past but is now revealed for the world to know. What a mystery!
Paul's letter to the church in Colossae is filled with tremendous truths for you and I, even two thousand years after it was penned. To a city that was filled with competing philosophies and a conglomeration of gods to be worshiped, Paul wrote with remarkable clarity about the unique sovereignty of the Jesus Christ and His Lordship over all creation. Jesus is the treasure for which every human heart was created to seek.
As we near Christmas it is fitting for us to study this beautiful woman whose life of trauma was turned around and used mightily. A woman who others may have considered worthless, loveless, and purposeless God saw as courageous, bold, and fit to be in the lineage of His Son Jesus. Join us as we befriend Rahab, learn her story, and discover that God's plan for our lives goes beyond what we could ever imagine and even beyond what we will ever comprehend while we live on this earth.
If you have ever felt unseen, unnoticed, and unvalued (and I think you have), then Hagar is a sister in Scripture you need to befriend. Hagar too experienced the heartache of wondering if anyone really saw her. And then one day, when she was pregnant and alone, God showed up on the roadside and invited her to tell him her story. Her response after her encounter with the pre-incarnate Christ was "You are the God who sees me."
Friend, there is a God in heaven who sees you, loves you, and invites you to share your story with him as well.
In this extension of our "Do You See this Woman?" Series, we will be meeting beautiful woman from the Scriptures whose life experiences led them to feel unloved. Though they lived thousands of years ago, their stories are timeless.
Leah resonates with any woman who has felt tossed aside, neglected, worthless, and unloved. This is exactly how Leah felt...for years. Praise God that He reached into her story and showed her that He alone can complete her and give her the love her heart was yearning for.
The love of God is the single most powerful force in the world, and I am convinced that the knowledge of the love of God is the greatest need in the world. Can you imagine a world in which every single person knew that they were deeply loved by the God of the universe? The ramifications of that knowledge are almost incomprehensible.
My prayer for my kids is that they would be so rooted and established in God's love that the love of God would flow through them and be almost palpable to the kids in their schools who have never been told that there is a God in heaven who loves them; who created them; who saved them. May the love of God awaken their hearts and fill them to overflowing with His great love.
Our kids live in a world that is vying for their attention and devotion in a thousand different ways. They live in a world filled with trauma, abuse, hatred, isolation, devastation, and addiction. (And, and, and...)
Praise God that where the Holy Spirit goes, the peace of God mightily goes as well. The peace of God is not a flimsy feeling of coziness but a powerful force that protects, quiets and calms our hearts and minds in the midst of the chaos of this world.
Let's pray the peace of God to cover over our kids. Let us lean into this powerful peace that stands guard over our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Our kids, if they know and trust in Jesus, are filled with the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead! Imagine if all our Christ-following kids and adults in our school buildings tapped into that resurrection power every single day! Let's pray for the power of God to work mightily in and through our kids this school year!
Have we actually removed God from our public schools? Is that even possible?
Biblically, I'd say no. God is our Emmanuel, God with us, who indwells believers and is willing to go into the muck and mire of this world to be with us and rescue us.
As parents, we can take a queue from biblical heroes of the past and lean into the presence of God for our kids. We can pray not only that He will be with them (which He will for sure) but also that He would make His presence known to our kids in undeniable ways. As we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Let's lean in.
As our kids head back to school, the single most important thing we can do for them is prepare them spiritually. Basically, pray for them. For the next several podcasts we will be talking about covering our kids through prayer as they head back to school. In this episode I share my daily practice of praying the armor of God (from Ephesians 6) onto our family. We won't ever let our kids go to school without clothes on; why would we ever let them go without the armor of God?
In this final chapter of his letter, Peter challenges the Christ-follower to shepherd well the sheep that are entrusted to our care. The Chief Shepherd indeed is coming, and in the meantime our job is to care for those He loves. Also, we are given a third warning to be alert and sober-minded...this time because the enemy is real and is looking to devour us. But stand firm. You have the power within you to resist the enemy. Amidst all the suffering, for those in Christ, peace will in fact have the final word.
1 Peter 4 continues to teach us about how to live through the suffering that will inevitably come into our lives. For many around the world, this suffering is in direct relation to their commitment to Christ. For us in the western world, that time probably hasn't come; but it will. And in the meantime, there is plenty of suffering in our lives. Through this suffering we can gain beautiful intimacy with Christ, if we will draw near to Him. Peter's words can encourage us to lean into Jesus as we wait for His return.
1 Peter 3 is a challenging bit of Scripture, no doubt! But when we take God's Word line by line, word by word, it reaches deep into our hearts and teaches us, shapes us, and makes us more like Jesus. Let's dig in and tackle this tough section together.
In this challenging chunk of text we learn that while we suffer unjustly on earth, we can follow Jesus, who suffered unjustly for us. We can lean into the Shepherd of our souls who not only shows us how to suffer, but also suffers alongside us and looks upon us with eyes full of favor and love while we suffer.
Jesus is the living Stone and we also are living stones being built together into a temple. All barriers that could stand between us have been broken down through the cross of Christ...we are one body in Christ, holy, chosen, precious to Him.
In the second half of 1 Peter 1, Peter writes to the believers with instructions about how to live as aliens and foreigners in this world. Prepare your mind for action, set your hope fully on the return of the Lord Jesus, live as obedient children, and love each other deeply.
Today we begin a very exciting new series as we journey through 1 Peter. This letter was written to exiles living in what is now northern Turkey, likely fleeing persecution from Rome and also from Jerusalem. They lived in times of great danger but were filled with an even greater joy. We can learn much from this wonderful treasure of a letter, meant every bit as much for us as it was for those dear exiles two thousand years ago.
You know her story but you might not know her name. Her name is found in other places of Scripture, but her story is one that you've learned from your days of youth Sunday School and flannelgraphs. She is bold, brave, beautiful and full of chutzpah. I want to be just like her.
Chutzpah is a Hebrew word that indicates utter audacity or courage that is so bold it is bordering on arrogance...yet it's not arrogant. It's beautiful and admirable.
The woman at the well had chutzpah. She was bold and courageous. When Jesus addressed her with the reality of her past, she didn't flinch but faced it head on. When she realized she was talking to the Savior of the world, she didn't stuff it inside but rather told everyone.
I want to be like her.
Poor Eve. All we really know about her is that she ate the fruit she wasn't supposed to. But there's so much more to this beautiful woman, loved by God. God came (daily?) to walk with her in the garden. When she fell into shame, he still came to walk with her and covered her shame with his own sacrifice. Eve experienced the gospel first hand, and she has much to teach us about letting God cover our own shame.
In this series we will be studying several beautiful women in Scripture and their interactions with the Savior who loves them.
This first episode includes the text in which Jesus asks the probing question: "Do you see this woman?" In such a simple question he challenges us to look beyond our judgments and opinions, further than the reputations and gossip, and to see the heart of the woman in front of us.
This is the sixth and last session in our Romans 8 Spirit Life Bible study. In this session we study Paul's glorious finish to this magnificent chapter, as he declares that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
In this fifth session of the Spirit Life Bible Study series on Romans 8, we will be looking at verses 26-30. These verses are packed with incredible truths about the Holy Spirit and the sovereignty of God. He is the one that can take all the broken pieces of our lives and work them for our good, transforming us into the likeness of Christ. In His great mercy, He has foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified us (past tense!!).
In session 4 of our Romans 8 Spirit Life series we will be studying Romans 8:18-25. In these verses we come face to face with the reality of our groaning and suffering. However, in the midst of the groaning, we learn to wait eagerly and patiently for the one single guarantee in this world - the return of the Lord Jesus.
This is the third episode in a six-session podcast series on Romans 8. In this episode we will be studying the promises of Romans 8:12-17, learning that we are adopted into God's family and made to be heirs with Christ of the Kingdom of God!
This is the second session of our six-session series on Romans 8. In this second installment, we will be studying Romans 8:5-11, learning what it means to set our minds on the Spirit rather than the flesh.
In this podcast we begin our six-week study of Romans 8. This session focuses on Romans 8:1-4, emphasizing the amazing truth that in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.
Romans 8 is one of the most magnificent chapters in the Bible, and it is my honor and joy to study it along with you. For six sessions plus one introductory session, we will dive into the wonders of this glorious chapter and discover the great and mighty promises of God within it. Join us as we seek some tremendous pearls in Romans 8!
Welcome to the introductory trailer for the Seeking Pearls Podcast with Rebecca Meidinger!