The Sojo Show
The Sojo Show makes Bible Study fun with spontaneous conversations between Arabah Joy and Jen Evangelista. Together we discover how the study of God's Word can impact our everyday lives.
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The Sojo Show
From Chaos to Calm: How God’s Love and Mercy Anchor Your Soul
In this episode, we’re diving into two life-changing attributes of God: His love and mercy. What does it mean that God doesn’t just show love but is love? And how can we rest in His mercies that are new every morning?
Join us as we unpack these truths, share key Scriptures like 1 John 4:8 and Lamentations 3:22-23, and explore how they shape our faith and daily lives. Plus, don’t miss our fun side chat about ginger tea, Georgia snow days, and the coffee vs. tea debate!
Hit play for encouragement and practical ways to reflect God’s character in your own life.
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Welcome to the Sojo Show with Jen and AJ, where you'll dig deep into God's Word alongside two imperfect, frequently ineloquent women, as we discover fresh ways to walk out God's truth together.
Speaker 2:Well, good morning everybody. Here I am saying morning and it's morning for us, it may not be morning.
Speaker 1:I did that last time. It may not be morning.
Speaker 2:It just feels so natural to say, when it's like crack of dawn, I know?
Speaker 1:Do you know that right now, where I am, it's supposed to be snowing? In Georgia it's supposed to be snowing. That's crazy. I know we um that kids are out of school for snow and I'm looking outside and you're just waiting for it. I'm just watching. It's not even below freezing, it's like 36 degrees or something, so it's not gonna snow, so it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2:But hey, who knows, who knows? I mean, we have some crazy weather right now, so who knows?
Speaker 1:listen to me. I'm disappointed. Most of y'all listening are probably like get the snow out of here. It's like snow, I know.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry. Well, the first thing that popped in my head when you said that was wow, you sound like a pet waiting for their person to come home.
Speaker 1:I know, it's kind of like you know I live in the South, it doesn't ever snow here. It's kind of like you know I live in the South, it doesn't ever snow here, and when it does snow it is a big inconvenience because everything shuts down, but it doesn't last more than about one day and then we're back to normal. So it's kind of a novelty for me where I know that some of you are living in areas where it's a real pain. So I apologize.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:Like there's some total eye rolls going on right now. I'm being so insensitive.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, hey, along those lines I see you are. So people can't see what I'm seeing. Jen just took a drink of something and I felt the total win, because you have to tell them what it is you're drinking, because you have to tell them what it is, you're drinking, okay.
Speaker 1:So I've gotten a new obsession, okay, a new passion, and if you know AJ and I at all, you know that there is a running battle between coffee and tea. Yeah, like for years For years and I am still very pro coffee. I still drink coffee every morning, but in the evenings and some mornings I have gotten into drinking ginger tea. You know what? I'm calling it ginger tea, but I don't think it's really ginger tea. I just have to stop and say really quickly, you're making yourself sound like a very old person.
Speaker 2:It's a new fit sister, what do you mean? An old person?
Speaker 1:No, that just sounds like something a very old person would say Well, if it bans anything, I got hooked on it from a very young person who, oh, okay, that helps, it's a hip and cool thing to do, because I'm really really hip and cool, because so when I was recovering from my surgery last month, so people were bringing me meals, so so sweet, loved it. And this one young she was, she's younger than me, I mean she's in I don't know how she is, I don't want to say, but she's 30, maybe early thirties. Anyway, it doesn't matter, she's young for me. And she, when she brought her meal, she brought me this like jug of like it looked like it looked like, you know, dishwater, and I was like what is this? She says, okay, this is what I've been doing every night.
Speaker 1:It's ginger tea and I had it and I became obsessed and I've had it every day since. So it is just water on the pot, on a pot on the stove, with fresh ginger root in it. That's all it is. I love that. It's taken me a long time to figure out how to do it right so that you get that nice burn going down. I can really taste it and, yeah, I love it. It's supposed to be anti-inflammatory.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, ginger is really good for you. I learned that when we were living overseas. That's what.
Speaker 1:I hear.
Speaker 2:Like, yeah, it's a great fixer of all the things. It's not really tea.
Speaker 1:There's not like tea tea like tea leaves and whatever tea actually is which I really don't know because I'm not a tea person but like it's no actual tea, it's just water and ginger root, but I'm calling it my ginger tea and I'm feeling super like old slash. Cool matter of fact, brad came in. My husband came in the other night and I was just sitting by the. I just sit there and wait for it to boil, right, you just watch pot and he's like what are you doing every night? What is this on the stove every day? Like my ginger, you know. And he's like happening right now. So he thinks I'm old baby, that's okay, that means he's an old man.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I told him, he told me about it and he's like oh okay, she's really young and hip and cool and healthy and all the things.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that, that matters it does matter be sure to include that part of the story if you're listening.
Speaker 1:Thank you, chelsea. Anyway, that that well, that's something to share, that's that's good. So if you guys go out and try, if you're listening, thank you, chelsea, anyway, well, that's something to share, that's good.
Speaker 2:So if you guys go out and try this this week, you'll have to let us know, Drop us a note in our inbox and tell us that you are loving the tea. Yes, the actual tea.
Speaker 1:All right, so that's it. That's way more than you wanted to know about something new that I'm loving.
Speaker 2:Yes, you took the sip and I thought interesting. Okay, Cause a little birdie told me earlier this week that you were enjoying something new.
Speaker 1:So yeah, yeah, so I've gone over to the dark side. So AJ does drink a teeny bit of coffee every once in a while, and I have become ginger root water obsessed. Okay, well, there, you have it All. Right, that's. I think that's enough discussion about coffee and tea. What are we talking about today?
Speaker 2:Well, yes, it is definitely enough, but if you're still with us, it's worth the wait, because we're talking about God's character this month in Sojo Academy, and our topic for today is on something we could not live without, an aspect of his nature that without this, we wouldn't even be alive. He'd just wipe us all off the face of the earth. So we're talking about his mercy and compassion. Is that right? Did I get it right? I actually probably should have.
Speaker 1:Love and mercy. Yes, love, well, they're two different things but they're very connected. So, so right, god's love which is really a misnomer because it's not that God has love God doesn't show love, god doesn't exhibit love. God literally is love, which I think is a whole conversation with that. I think we've had this conversation actually way back yonder. I'll try to find the episode that we had it in. But in 1 John 4, right, 1 John 4, 8, whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. It's not like just like something he does, like we do. It is literally part of who he is and one of the reasons, like AJ said, that we are able to, even we even exist.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love that distinction because you know we're commanded to love. You know the scripture says multiple times love one another. And God doesn't have to think to do that. You know the fact that he is, he just does it. Yeah, that's just what he does. He doesn't have to think about it, he doesn't have to be like, oh, I'm going to forgive them because I need to do this. No, it's just who he is, it's what he does because it's who he is. So I really appreciate that distinction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think last week you gave it. Did you give a Tozer quote last week? Was it a Tozer or somebody else? I?
Speaker 2:can't remember. Yeah, I think it was a Tozer quote.
Speaker 1:Well, I thought about it because I ran into this Tozer quote earlier this week and it fit beautifully with what we're talking about. And basically he said nothing God ever does or ever did or ever will do is separate from the love of God. So you know, and you know that it just encompasses that we talked last week about sovereignty and how he is sovereign over all things, but yet nothing that he has ever done is separate from his love. So I think, my sweet, we talked a little bit how we we like to focus on his love and mercy and not his justice and sovereignty and the and you know those kinds of things. But but the two are there, they're married, the two components are part of I mean they. They're not even part of him, they are him. We can't wrap our brains around it. So, yeah, so nothing is separated from love as far as what he does. And then the Bible also tells us that nothing can separate us from his love when we know him. How amazing is that?
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, that is amazing, you know it's funny because when you're mentioning you know kind of the justice part of God, it really is like his justice is part of his love. Because I just imagine for a second someone doing the most heinous thing to one of your children, you know, and then someone you know who, who was in a position of authority or power who could bring justice to the situation, whether it's the justice system or a judge or whatever. Imagine them saying oh, you know, I'm, I'm not going to do anything about that because I love this person who did this crime. Like that's not that wouldn't be loving to you or your child.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like justice cannot be separated from love and a lot of times we want justice when it comes to us, you know, and people who have wronged us, but we don't want justice, you know, by and large, because we think it's unloving of God to hold people accountable. So it's like our thinking is flawed and God knows perfectly the balance between all the things you know, because he is that. So he knows what perfect justice and love looks like. He knows what love towards a person needs to look like, you know, and and only he knows that. You know, our job is to, first off, receive his love, receive his forgiveness in our own lives, and then try to mimic that, you know, and the way that we live our lives, and sometimes that looks like standing up for someone who is, you know, it looks like standing up for the weak, it looks like being a voice for the voiceless, you know, and so a lot of times, our understanding of love can be a little skewed, you know. There is, though, that justice side of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it there's, it's a it's again because it is who he is. None of these other characteristics we talk about can be separated from the justice part of it, the sovereignty, part of it, the mercy that we're going to talk about. I mean, nothing can be separated from his love, because that is who he is and it's because of that, like you said at the beginning, that we even exist and it's because of that that we are rescued and saved, like we talked about last week. I mean the most quoted verse in the Bible John 3, 16, starts with for God so loved the world. Romans 5, 8,. God demonstrated his own love for us that while we were sinners, you know he died for us. Christ died for us. I'm paraphrasing because I don't have it in front of me, but you know, the point is is that it's all because of his love. So all of the things that you're talking about, all of the justice, all the sovereignty, all the things we've talked to and will talk about over this month, are because he is love.
Speaker 1:I think he gives us earthly relationships in order to display in a small glimmer some of his characteristics, right when we start thinking about how we love, and particularly because he is our father, how we love our children. If you have children, those that you love, that unconditional love, think of that as being just a drop in the bucket of how much he loves us. And so you know, you may not have had if you're listening to me, you may not have had the type of relationship, for example, with your father, where you felt fully loved. Maybe you are in a relationship with a spouse where you don't feel like you are being fully loved. Maybe your children you feel like your children are not loving and respecting you, and so so you feel like these earth, that earthly love, is a little skewed.
Speaker 1:You can know and trust that, um, that that is just a shadow and that the actual love that you get from God is perfect. And I'm not really saying this. Well, you need to help me clarify, because there's a two-edged sword. We love, we understand love and we are loved in the human realm to show God's love, but it's not perfect, and so oftentimes it doesn't, of course, manifest itself as perfect, and so sometimes that makes it harder for us to trust in His love, and that is something we have to fight against and hold on to the fact that His love is perfect and he is. You know, he is love.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, I think that was very well said and I totally agree with you.
Speaker 2:And at our core, heart, emotion level, this is what we all need, Like we have all been made to receive that perfect love of God and unfortunately, as you brought up, a lot of us don't receive it from others and we're disappointed, and it's because we expect it and in some cases rightly so like people should be able to love us, those parents should be able to love us as a parent, should spouse the same, but ultimately no person can meet that need for that kind of love in our lives apart from God, and that's what we have to remember.
Speaker 2:And if we're looking to people to do that and I tell my girls this especially because teenage girls they have that craving and that longing and culture tells them that a boyfriend's going to fix it and that longing and they, you know, culture tells them that a boyfriend's going to fix it and fill it and all the things you know, and it's something that we I think is natural for us to just kind of look for in a person of the opposite sex and and yet there's a trap there if we don't know that it's there and that is that only God can meet those needs. You know, only God can be my savior, Only God can be the love of my life, you know. And so if I'm not aware of that and I'm not like really tuned in to getting those needs met in Christ alone, I'm setting myself up for failure.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right. And sometimes I'm going to go. I'm going to go a step further, and maybe a step too far, and say that because we believe that God is in control and sovereign over all things, like we talked about last week, we can trust that when the love, our human love, fails to some extent or falls short of what we are looking for, that may be an indication that we need to be looking to the one, the only one, that can love, that we need to be looking to the one, the only one, that can love. So, you know, we can look at it all as again, all working together for his glory and our good. And when you feel those deficiencies in your human love relationships, whatever they are, we can know that that may be, in fact, being used by God to point our hearts to him.
Speaker 2:Yes, I definitely agree with that. I think it's something that we can use as a trigger to run to him and get those needs met in him, so as, as I'm sure you have done and I have done many times you know, I think that's if there's anyone younger in our audience or newer to the faith who doesn't know where to get those needs met or who doesn't, hasn't quite understood, you can use that longing, that craving, that disappointment as the trigger to run to Christ Like here's. Here's a lesson. Learn how to do that, because the quicker you do um, the the more you're going to experience the love of your life in Christ.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And part of that love is and we're not going to talk about this a lot, cause we could talk another for another hour on this but part of that love and part of the reason we know we can run to him is because of the second characteristic that we're thinking about today, and that's the mercy, and that's the other reason that he sent his son right. So lamentation says the steadfast love of God, of the Lord, never ceases. And then it says his mercies never come to an end. You know they're new every morning. I love that his mercies are new every morning because we cannot earn our salvation, we cannot earn our righteousness before him, and yet he made a way. Because of that love he made a way and that's what we can hold on to.
Speaker 1:And when AJ says trust him and his love, that's what we need to be thinking. We need to remember the gospel and the fact that he had mercy on us and grace for us. And because of that us and grace for us, and because of that we can trust His faithfulness and trust Him. But we need to remind ourselves of that. We need to listen to podcasts, we need to listen to sermons, we need to go to church. We need to study the Bible, we need to spend time in prayer, we need to do the things that we have to do to remember the gospel, because otherwise we forget all these lessons.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's true, and I think too understanding just a basic definition of what mercy is. And so I was thinking about this this morning, actually before we hopped on here, and to me I remember somebody explaining it like this, explaining it like this Mercy is God withholding punishment, or withholding justice, in one sense, from you for something that you deserve. So you know, we have all sinned, we all deserve death, we all deserve hell. His mercy withholds that from us. And then, on the other hand, there's grace, which is he gives us what we don't deserve. He gives us the good things that we don't deserve. So it's not just that he withholds bad that's mercy but he gives us his favor and his blessing and his goodness, which is grace.
Speaker 2:And so we use we use those terms interchangeably, but I think putting a little bit of putting some teeth to the definitions and then thinking about that, thinking about, okay, wow, what does mercy look like in my life? What are some of the times when I knew I was in the wrong and he withheld punishment or judgment, or like even a harsh discipline. You know, he gave me space to repent and to turn and to do the right thing, like really thinking about that component of it, and then, on the other hand, thinking about how he has gone over and above and beyond and given me his favor and his blessing in ways that he has just truly shown his favor in my life, like thinking about that aspect. That's just a really good exercise for us to engage in from time to time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love thinking through that because we have a God that offers both of those to us and which is so, so encouraging and is enough to help us to face each new day, because the mercies are new. You know, last week. If you haven't listened to last week, go back and listen to it, because I referred to it a lot. Sorry, but last week when I was talking about God's holiness, one of the things that came to my mind was in Exodus 33, when Moses was put in the cleft of the rock because he couldn't see God's glory, because he would die. But if you go back to that passage, I was thinking about that this week actually, because what God actually says to him, when God says, when Moses says, please show me your glory, he says what God does is, he kind of translates his glory into a couple of things.
Speaker 1:He says my goodness, I will make my goodness pass before you, will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. But then he says but I will be and I will be gracious, to whom I will be gracious. That's that grace. And separately, I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy? And he's, he actually God himself, separates those two things, like you just were talking about, I'll be gracious and I'll be merciful, he says. And then he goes on to say you cannot see my face because nobody can see my face and live. But I think it's really telling that when Moses says let me see your glory and we know that his glory is too great, his holiness is too great, his goodness is too great that's a characteristic we could be talking about as well. What he brings forth as kind of evidence of that is I will be gracious to those that I will be gracious to, and I will have mercy on those I will have mercy to. And you know so he, he looks at this as a core characteristic of himself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. I do too and I love that passage. I remember when I was really and I love that passage. I remember when I was really I guess I was new in the faith or maybe I was just new to like some of these concepts of God's glory, because I specifically remember a time when I was like whoa, god's glory is like I was so almost addicted to it and addicted to like seeing it and and just basking in it and understanding, like Whoa, just the awesomeness of God, really just being awed by God. And that verse, that passage was so powerful in my life and it still is.
Speaker 2:It's holds such meaning and the fact that he says his glory is basically his goodness. You know, like, if you want to, if you really want to be awed by God, look at his character, look at his goodness, just how good he is and and, like you said, that's his mercy and his grace right there. You know that's a lifetime of really delving into and looking for those things, those expressions in our day to day lives, looking for them in the people he brings across our paths, in the. This is the little daily things. It's there constantly for us and that is to his glory. You know, that is what makes him Unlike anything else and unlike anyone else and it makes him, it imparts to us, if we allow it to, if we take the time to really gaze upon him and his goodness. It fosters that awe in our hearts that nothing else can do.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. Yeah, and it is his love that really is the common denominator between all of it, between all of it between you know, between the mercy and the grace, and our reaction to him and our response to those truths that you're talking about. So I don't know, we could talk forever. We shouldn't talk forever because nobody's going to listen forever. But I guess, as a takeaway, let's kind of think through these characteristics of God and I'm going to challenge you again. Well, if you're in Sojo Academy or you want to dig deeper in this, we are definitely digging deeper in Sojo Academy. So go to sojoacademycom and let's check it out. But otherwise, even if you're not, dig deeper into these truths and maybe look up some references about his love, about his mercy, and let it seep into your heart and let it bolster your spirit and help you to grow in that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because you know the thing about it is is when we understand God for who he is, then we begin to see him. We begin to understand how he shows up in our lives and act on that Right, and then that totally shapes the way we. It shapes everything, like we mentioned last week. You know, our eye is the is the light of our body. Jesus said in Matthew. And if we can't see correctly, if we can't perceive God correctly, then we can't perceive life correctly. We get offended at every little thing or we think everybody's out to get us. You know, like how we see things affects every single thing we do. It affects our mental and emotional health. It affects our mental, emotional health, it affects our choices in life. And if we could see clearly, which starts with understanding God, his sovereignty, like we talked last week, his love, like this week if we can see and understand God, then we see ourselves and we see everything in life completely differently, and that is a starting place for a healthy person, right?
Speaker 1:And it helps us to treat others in a Christlike manner and thereby and thereby pointing them to the, the um, the giver of those of those characteristics to us Right. So how do we love without understanding the love of God? How are we merciful to those around us without remembering the mercy we've been given? So it does, it should affect our lives. And if it does not, if we are not exhibiting these characteristics, you know they will know we're Christians by our love. If we're not exhibiting these characteristics, you know they will know we're Christians by our love. If we're not showing these things, then I think it takes a little more. We need a little more reflection, a little more work on it.
Speaker 2:So I agree, yeah, you're right. You're right Because 1 John it says you know, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love Like the more we know God, the more we understand him and walk with him. It's like he fills our tank with his nature that we have to give to others. So, yeah, it's it's very important for us to to be talking about this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. Well, I'm going to quote one more scripture to kind of end us, because to me this is something that I need on a regular basis, and it's just from the Psalms. It's Psalm 86. Actually, it says Psalm 86, 15 and 16,.
Speaker 1:It says you, o Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me. Show your strength on behalf of your servants. Save me because I serve you, and I am constantly praying that. Show me your grace and your mercy and your love because I serve you. That little caveat is where I always get a little convicted, because the only way that I can ask these things is when I am living them, as we're talking about, and so not perfectly and not in my own strength, but because of Christ in me. So as we move forward in this week and as I move forward in this week and reflect on these characteristics, then I'm going to remember that as I ask for mercy and grace and love, I'm going to also remember that he's asking me to serve Him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and from that he wants us, he wants a surrendered heart, you know, and that's not always an easy thing to do, but that's, that's the best place to be. So, yeah, I love that ending verse.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, come back next week. We will be talking about other things. I think I remember, but I don't want to say it in case I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:I definitely don't know so yeah, I think I know, but I'm not going to say it because I might be wrong, because there's two more weeks, so I don't want to mix them up, but we will definitely be back and we look forward to talking to you again and leave us a comment that you're listening. It's helpful for other people to find the podcast. Share it with other people if you find it helpful at all. Again, our goal with this podcast is simply to encourage others to get into the Word and to learn these things for themselves, so we would really appreciate the shares and the comments.
Speaker 2:Yes, and until next week we will leave you guys to study the love of the Lord.
Speaker 1:All right, have a good week. Thank you for listening to the Sojo Show. We are so grateful that you did and we're so thankful for the opportunity to spread the good news of the gospel in such a fun and unique way. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love it if you would leave us a rating or review wherever you're listening to this podcast or subscribe to the show. Also, tell your friends. That's the number one way we get people finding out about who we are, and we really appreciate you sharing the Sojo Show. We'll be back every Monday digging into the truth of God's Word, sharing, laughing, glorifying God in all that we do and hopefully, encouraging women from all over the world in the truth of the gospel. Talk to you then. Yeah, I remember the very first time we met we had this conversation. Do you remember that?
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 1:First time we met in person, yes, in like 20,. I think it was 2019 when we actually managed to gather, get together, and I'm so coffee obsessed that you told me you don't drink coffee. And I remember thinking this may be it. What's wrong with her, this may be it, go, go.
