Ryan Swanson: Hello and welcome back to the Satisfied program here on Thee Generation podcast. This is Ryan Swanson and today, if all goes well, we will be wrapping up a series. We’ve been going over the last few months focusing on the relationship with the Lord. We’ve kind of taken a pause from the solely practical emphasis on our purity journey and have looked at what it means to have a relationship with the Lord and why that is so crucial. We began this series by me giving my testimony to you and just showing how my relationship with the Lord and a specific point of desperation a couple years ago was really the crucial pivot point in my life and what initiated this journey that I’ve been on.

And so I couldn’t move on in the aspects of purity that we were discussing without putting that emphasis back on a relationship with the Lord. So in finishing up this series, I thought it would be good to actually go back to where we started the series, and that’s in Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 verse 8 is kind of a reality check for us in what we’re actually seeking in our purity. Why are we doing this? Is this so we can feel better, so our conscience doesn’t bother us, so we have more time to focus on meaningful things?

What exactly is our focus and our reasoning? Now I can’t actually think of a… Wrong reason to be seeking purity and to be developing a more pure heart and mind, but there definitely should be one primary reason, and that’s given in Matthew 5a. It says, are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And that’s why we’ve taken this break from just the practice when we focus, what is your goal?

It must be to see God. That was in a podcast. If you want to go back and listen to it, called the end and the means of our purity, if I remember correctly. I believe that’s what it was called. So in our purity journey, we’ve got to ask ourselves, why are we doing this?

Well, ultimately it should be to see God. And so we spent the next, I don’t know, four podcasts focusing on intimacy, what that means to have an intimate relationship with the Lord. Then we focused on the search and how a search is inherently timeless. It has no time limit on it at all. And then…

We focused on the terms. What are the terms of meeting with the Lord amongst other topics? These are the things we focused on over the past few months. And so now coming to the end of it, I’ve got to ask how’s it going for you? Have you had a moment of meeting with the Lord?

Have you consistently met with the Lord? Where are you at on this? And you may be asking if that hasn’t happened for you yet, you may be asking well, what exactly am I waiting for? I understand I’m meeting on God’s terms, so I’m being patient and I’m going back consistently and I’m believing that He’s going to meet with me. I’m expecting it and so I’m waiting in silence and I’m waiting in humility and all these things we discussed and maybe you’re doing that and still you’re just waiting and wondering what exactly am I waiting for?

So that’s a great question. And some may specifically as we have talked about the glorious moment of meeting with the Lord and when He shows up everything changes and you may be asking, well, okay, if we’re waiting to meet with God, then what’s that gonna feel like? Or if we’re waiting to see God, then what’s that going to look like? And well, if we’re waiting to hear from God, what’s that gonna sound like? When we talked about silence and just how silence proves expectation, the point was that silence is meant to be broken.

And when we wait in silence, it is not for the purpose of the silence, it’s so God can break that silence. And so that’s why this podcast is called, When God Breaks the Silence. But what is that going to sound like? And when it happens, what are we supposed to do? Well, first of all, let me just tell you, when this happens, you are very likely going to be overwhelmed.

Now you say, well, that’s a feeling. And I was told I’m not supposed to be seeking a feeling in this. This sounds a little bit like an experience and that’s kind of scary. Now I get that and I would agree that we shouldn’t be seeking an experience and that’s why this is the last podcast and not the first one. We already have our purpose and why we’re seeking God and that is for His glory.

But at this point we need to understand that we should be overwhelmed. I mean can you imagine me telling you You know, God’s gonna show up and you’re gonna be like, I’ll take it or leave it. Yeah, that’s great. Good to meet with you. And now I’ve got some requests for you.

Let’s move on. I don’t think it’s gonna be like that. If God moves, if God shows up and you’re not changed, if you’re not moved, if you’re not stirred, if you’re not overwhelmed, then probably something’s wrong. You do have a very selfish focus because when God shows up, something supernatural happens. It’s different and expect to be overwhelmed.

Now, what exactly are we going to be overwhelmed about? There’s a couple different things that will probably strike you in that moment. The first one, and this is one I can think of definitely from personal experience, especially if it’s the first time that you are specifically meeting with the Lord, like when you know that He has showed up and you are making a transaction with God at this point. I want you to picture this to kind of explain. Have you ever seen those cartoons or the comics where this boy is out and he’s kind of sad and lonely and he’s sitting in his yard and he picks up a bunch of rocks and he’s just chucking them at the fence and some over the fence and he’s just chucking them over there one by one and looking all mopey and then all of a sudden a rock gets thrown back over the fence at him and lands right beside him.

Now that look on his face, he’s always shocked, you know, and he’s frozen and his eyes get super wide because he just realized what? I’m not alone. Like this whole time he thought he was alone and then I’m not alone. Someone else is on the other side of that fence. It’s a silly illustration, but I think it actually gives it pretty, pretty good.

When you’re there on a regular basis, sitting there and doing your part, you’re pleading with the Lord in desperation to meet with you, maybe day after day, month after month, maybe it’s been years that you’ve been waiting for this, and then all of a sudden that rock that you throw over the fence comes back at you, there’s going to be a sudden awareness of God’s presence. I’m not alone. Now what that rock looks like coming back at you may be different from person to person. In fact, it will. It may be God speaking in your inner spirit to you, presenting a truth, a peace that you have not experienced before.

It’s like nothing you’ve ever known. That is a common phrase with people who have sincerely met with the Lord and they know it, is just explaining it by saying, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. And that’s because it’s supernatural and everything you felt is natural. So it would kind of make sense. It is a peace that passeth all understanding.

So it may be God speaking to your inner spirit, it very well could be, and this has many times been the case for me, what’s been really special is when God will give me a verse. It seems sometimes like it’s been years since I’ve read it or heard it, to the point where I’m asking myself, is that even a verse? I it just came across my mind at just this moment, and man, if that’s a verse, if that’s from the Lord, then that is definitely an answer to my cry right now, and He’s definitely trying to speak to me. And so then you look it up and sure enough that is a verse and you read it and read on in the chapter and discover that this is a promise that’s been given to you but God and the Holy Spirit communicating to you in that moment wanted you to understand that promise that was for you for that day and that is a special thing. And that’s once again that rock coming back over the fence at you.

God’s saying, you’re not alone, I’m here. And here’s a promise that maybe you’ve had this whole time, because it’s been in your Bible, but I want to point it out to you. Man, there was a point I remember getting desperate before the Lord, and I needed a promise for His goodness. And I remember crying out to the Lord, just saying, I need a verse on your goodness, because I’m not convinced of it right now, and I need to be convinced of your goodness. And I ended the prayer time, remember I was at a lake early in the morning, and I got a call and had to go.

So I was kind of disappointed. I’m having to end this prayer time and I haven’t heard anything yet. I haven’t gotten this verse. So got back in my car and I left my phone in there. So I checked my phone before I pulled out and there’s notification on there from a friend who had just sent out this verse, Psalm 27 13.

I had fainted, David said, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And this was exactly what I needed. That’s where I was at. I was ready to give up. I was ready to faint, and give up, was absolutely out of strength on my own and I needed to see God’s goodness and David’s saying, I would have given up too.

I would have given up if I didn’t believe that I would eventually see God’s goodness. And so right there in that parking lot before I pulled out, I committed to the Lord, I am going to wait and I know I will see your goodness and I could go on and explain what that goodness looked like. The point is, God will use different things. That stone coming back across the fence is going to look different person to person. But when that comes, you’re going to know this is God.

This is God. And I’ll tell you, you’ll probably sit there for a second not knowing what to do. Not knowing what to do because this is supernatural. So then the question comes up, when you know God’s there, what do you do? Because you’re probably not going to be able to just go straight into, okay God, now that you’re here, I’ve got a little list here to go through, I wonder if you can heal this person and help me with this test coming up.

You know, those things are going to seem very trite when you’re sitting in the presence of God. It’s just true. Not that you can’t ask God for help in those things, and we should. But the initial response is going to be different. There’ll be time.

You’ll get to those, your requests, and be able to bring those to him. But initially, there’s only going to be one possible response. I’ve got a friend, his name is Scott, and he leads this congregational singing at his church. And so we had a discussion on what does corporate worship look like? What in our church, and what does it look like to worship God?

And we call it a worship service, but how can we focus more and give God the glory through our services. And I remember him making the point, he said, to worship God is simply to come into His presence, because the only possible response to coming into God’s presence is to worship Him. He brought up the point that the angels that are recorded saying, holy, holy, holy in God’s presence, he said, no doubt they are just overwhelmed with God’s holiness every time they turn around and see Him. They’re overwhelmed with God. And so, they have to respond with worship by declaring that praise, holy, holy, holy.

It’s like they just keep turning around, holy and holy, as they see his glory reflected on everything around them. And doesn’t that remind you of Psalm 104? Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. I mean, when you’re walking in standing before the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, if you’re doing anything other than bowing on your face and blessing his name, giving praise and worship to him, then I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, because that’s really the only possible thing at that point.

So when God shows up, when that rock comes back over the fence and you realize, okay, God is here at this moment, you can’t go wrong by starting to praise him. You can’t go wrong by giving him glory. And many times in that moment, you are going to be overwhelmed, not just with the fact that, God is here and I’m not alone anymore, but you’ll likely be overwhelmed and you should be overwhelmed with a specific aspect of God’s character, with an attribute. And it’s not necessarily that you’re going to go through, he’s omniscient and he’s omnipresent and omnipotent and all these things. Now, you can and you could walk through that, but there’s likely going to be something very real and very personal that is coming to your mind like, I just know God’s love for me right now.

I know that’s one for me and one my wife specifically mentioned when she’s been going through hard times and times of trials, that’s when she knows God shows up when she is just overwhelmed with God’s love for her in a way that no one else can love her. God loves her. For me, like I mentioned, being overwhelmed with God’s goodness, with God’s greatness. So again, as you’re wondering what to expect, what is this going to look like, and what should be my response? Well, focus on the aspect of God’s character that He is manifesting to you at that moment.

You can’t possibly cover everything and everything you appreciate about your God. And sometimes when we go and try to give praise, quote unquote, to Him, we don’t exactly know what that means. And so we’re just trying to thank Him for everything that He is and who He is. And that’s just too big to cover in one conversation. So why don’t you focus on the aspect of God’s character that He’s manifesting to you at that moment.

So an attribute, well what part of your life can you attribute to God in the last 24 hours? So maybe sit there once God shows up or even as you’re waiting for Him and just think, well what part of the last 24 hours of my life can I attribute to God? And that becomes the part of the attribute, one of His attributes, that I can praise Him for right now. You can’t go wrong with giving God praise. Praise is both a response and an usher into God’s presence.

I want to emphasize that this isn’t just something to wait until for when you know God shows up. I mean, this is something we should be doing to also usher us into God’s presence. As we’re entering into those courts, we should always, always default to praise when we are initiating a conversation with God. Praises both a response and an usher into God’s presence. Guys, I hope that you see this as attainable for you.

I hope that this is real to you and not just something, yeah, there’s a few people that can meet with God, but I’m not quite there yet. No, this is for you. This is what God wants for you. You don’t need to worry about what’s possible for anyone else. This is possible for you.

And in fact, this kind of meeting is for what you were created for. God didn’t make you just to wait until you get to heaven in order to speak with you and have a relationship with you. He wants that to happen here on earth. That’s why He gave us so many verses that we’ve gone through and looked, telling us that truly, if we will seek after Him and search for Him with all our heart, we will find Him. And the reason He gave us all those verses is because that’s His plan.

That’s what He wants to do with you. And sure, it’s going to a journey of meeting with the Lord. It may take several times. I don’t know. There’s no time limit on the search.

But one thing’s for sure, you can’t give up until you’ve met with Him. Look, if you’re desperate for purity, if you are desperate in your addiction, then you must meet with Jesus. And this is the case no matter what stage you are on in your journey. Whether you are just starting your purity journey, or whether you’re where I’m at, where I’ve been on it for two and a half years, or Maybe you’re 20 years into your period journey. I don’t care.

What you need most right now is to meet with Jesus. At every stage, no matter where you’re at, you need to meet with Jesus. You never grow out of that and you never work your way towards it. It’s the current need of the hour for everyone. And I think another way we get this wrong is that we think these are different levels that we have to come to.

Like right now we know we’re desperate. We don’t feel like we’re in any condition to meet with our God. So we think, okay, the level I’m at right now, I just need to get desperate for God’s help. He’s gonna come in and empower me just to get rid of this impurity, to get me on the right path. And so for the next few months, maybe for 2022, that’s gonna be my goal is just for God to come in and deliver me from this impurity.

Then once we get that cleaned out, then in 2023, I’ll be able to finally see God like it says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And so that’s coming. But right now I just need to get rid of this sin before I can get to that point. You know, this is not a monthly or an annual progression in stages, schedule out the next few months of your life. This is a daily formula.

When you meet with God in the morning, it’s so you can see Him that day. When you meet with God, it’s to find deliverance and desperation from the sin that you are in. And when you currently find that deliverance and He delivers you and gives you purity for that day, then the promise comes that now you can see Him. Not someday, now you can see Him. This needs to be something we’re desperate for every day.

No matter where you’re at in the journey, you can see God and you must see God. This is not for the future, this is for now. Guys, my prayer is that you’ll get desperate not just over the pornography, not just over the addiction, not just over acting out and all these different impure ways, but that you’ll get desperate to see God, the ultimate goal, the end and the means of our purity. Now, I’d like to encourage you one other way. There are many that listen to these podcasts.

There’s probably seven to eight hundred somewhere in there. And I’m guessing that some of you are taking this very seriously and that you have met with the Lord. And I would love to hear about what God is doing in your life. I’d love to hear that this is not just a podcast going out giving you tips and that somehow through a podcast you’ll be helped. I want to hear how God is changing you.

So if that’s you, would you please do me a favor and write me back at satisfied@theegeneration.org. Satisfied@theegeneration.org. Shoot me an email and just give me a short explanation of what it looked like when God showed up to you. What aspect were you overwhelmed with God? What was it that overwhelmed you?

What did it look like? How did you know God was there? And what has He done for you since? Maybe you just want to share one of those things, but whatever it is, I would love to hear from you guys. Several have written me and I appreciate that and I’d love to hear from more.

Well, that concludes our podcast for today. I will say next month we are going to be starting a new series, as I mentioned, and it is going to be on the number one topic that I’ve been asked about in the last don’t know, probably three or four months. It seems like all of a sudden there’s been so many guys seeking after this, and men and ladies just alike, that are coming searching for one thing, and that is emotional purity. What does emotional purity look like? How do we distinguish, especially among single men and women, how do we distinguish between seeking after a spouse as God’s plan for our life and being emotionally involved and even in emotional adultery before we’re ever in a situation where we should be sharing those feelings.

So what does emotional purity look like? What does emotional impurity look like? Where does that lead? And guys, I’m gonna give you some sad examples on how this is devastating marriages now because of guys that did not find victory, men and women who did not find victory in this when they were teenagers. So that’s coming up.

We’ll start that series out next month, and I’m looking forward to it. I appreciate you guys following me through the series on knowing God, and I’m excited on how this is going to integrate now as we set the foundation into other steps that we need to take as we seek to be less gratified and more satisfied with Jesus Christ.