Epic Journey Podcast – Episode #28 - Make Every Day Count

In this episode of The Epic Journey Podcast, “Make Every Day Count,” Sonny and Cindy discuss the importance of making every day count in light of their recent loss of Sonny’s brother Bob.

Our legacies are made little by little, moment by moment.

Choose to speak life. Offer hope.

And most of all, live with certainty about eternity.

Bob left an incredible legacy and he prepared well ahead, by accepting Christ he was certain that his last breath on earth would lead to his first breath in heaven.

Our time on earth is an uncertainty for all of us, but God has prepared a certain future, if we choose it.

Life is short. Eternity is forever.

Make every day count!

Bob was good at that.

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Epic Journey Podcast #28 – Episode Notes

One of the things that we realize is that we know that each of you have your own story. That you have things going on in your families and other relationships as well that we don’t know about, and we hope that we can be an encouragement to you in whatever you might be going through.

We titled this podcast “Make Every Day Count” because in times like these God will often use our pain and suffering for a purpose and also He will use our circumstances to reveal and remind us of His presence in our lives.

Last Summer, my Brother Bob went for a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer.

This was shocking news really because out of all of us (myself, another brother and sister) we would all agree that he was probably the most healthy and active one.

Not overweight, would run often if not everyday… I would say we really believed that if anybody would beat Cancer he would.

Bob stayed pretty healthy during his fight and we were looking forward to the day he would be told he was in remission.

He was traveling and enjoying his family and awaiting the arrival of twin girls that his oldest daughter was getting ready to have and enjoying his other two grandsons.

He really has been living life to the full.

He went into the hospital on the first Sunday in June and stayed for 5 days and through the power of prayer and hope and faith and surrounded by the love of his wife and children and grandchildren, brothers, sisters, mom, and friends, he was able to get discharged home on he and his wife's 33rd wedding anniversary.

He was still very ill, but he was back home.

Their faith and prayers got him there.

He was able to go home because of them.

It was awesome to see his kids rally together and they got everything ready for them to come home.

Yea, it was so beautiful. They had decorated the house with rose petals and flowers and signs and candles and music and pictures.

And they videotaped him coming in on a stretcher and he had asked them to get his wife long stem roses and he was able to call out her name, “Martha, Happy Anniversary” and he presented her with a single long stem rose.

He smiled and they kissed and it was a beautiful moment.

But it was one of those tear-jerker moments. Whew.

So beautiful though.

And in fact, their marriage and their life together had already been lived out in many beautiful moments.

He never stopped His calling to watch over his wife, and to love her and cherish her in sickness and in health. It is a good reminder to recall our vows and live them out well just like Bob and Martha have.

The other thing that happened in the hospital was when doctors and nurses came into the room, even if they delivered news that was difficult, they were asked by Bobs family if they could pray for them and they did.

There were prayers for a husband that had lost his job, for a son that had autism, prayers to bring on more staff at the hospital, prayers for the physicians and for them to see healing and Gods miracles take place....

Epic Journey Podcast #27 – description

In this episode, Secrets and Treasures, Sonny and Cindy revisit Gods’ invitation to seek His hidden secrets and treasures and the rewards WHEN you find them.

God has a stash of valuable wisdom ready for you to apply to your life for your benefit.

He knows just what you need and when you need it.

Gods word is full of hidden treasures for you and is THE MOST powerful treasure you will ever find.

Join us in this journey and quest for his hidden secrets and treasures.

He has hidden them FOR you, not FROM you!

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Epic Journey Podcast #27 – Episode Notes

God has hidden treasures for you, and there is no greater treasure than finding Gods word and applying it to your life.

God has a stash of valuable wisdom ready for you to find and He knows just what you need and when you need it.

Apply these treasures of wisdom to your life, and you will live out His amazing plan.

revelationcentral.com  sermon notes by Robert Pace about God giving us treasures…

He writes this:

“Several years ago, the Lord spoke to me from Isaiah 45, where God says, “I will give you the treasures of darkness and wealth stored in secret places.”

And then he mentions two ideas that the Holy Spirit suggested from this verse.

(1)   When God says he will “give us the treasures of darkness and wealth stored in secret places,” it means God wants to open your eyes to things that would otherwise remain unseen, so you can claim what would otherwise remain unclaimed. 

(2)    And #2, the question comes up in His mind, Where can I find these “treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places. (45:3)? Think about the answer: The “treasures of darkness” are stored in—of all places—darkness! And the “wealth of secret places” is hidden in—of all locations, secret places.”

We can miss them if we’re not searching for them.

These are hidden treasures that require acting in faith by seeking Him and His word in order to find them.

In Colossians 2:2-3

Paul is encouraging the Colossians, they were believers,

That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery,

And he goes on to reveal what Gods’ mystery is:

That is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Your hearts are valuable to Him and in Deuteronomy 26:18 it reminds you how valuable you are to Him.

It says this:

The Lord has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments;

You are His treasured possession. You are valuable to God. He claims you as His own and says you belong to me.

Proverbs 3:13-15 reminds us of the benefits of wisdom

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding.

For her profit is better than the profit of silver And her gain better than fine gold.

She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her.

So you are reminded of how valuable your search for treasures is going to be.

We hope you’ll get excited about the pursuit, and in knowing that it will lead you to great rewards for your life.

We’re grateful for you and we’re praying for you,

Sonny & Cindy Zentmeyer, 2B1 Life

Epic Journey Podcast #26 – Routines That Restore - Episode Description

In this episode of the Epic Journey Podcast, Sonny and Cindy continue the series on the power of your words and discuss how your routines and the rhythms that God offers can restore your soul and breathe life into your heart, mind, soul and your relationships. They’ll discuss the importance of attending to your soul and breaking free from the automatic negative thoughts that can deplete you and cause division in your relationships.

Join us!

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Neglecting our souls can disrupt our oneness and God will restore our souls – God doesn’t want us to seek relief. He wants us to be restored.

Eldridge, John,2020.Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices For a World Gone Mad, Nashville,Tenn., Nelson Book Publishers.

John Eldridge says this:

“We may have neglected our soul’s need for beauty, we may have neglected our souls need for play. But I have reason to believe that unattended loss is a good place to start if you would recover and heal the vessel God wants to fill, if you would open up room in your life for him to meet you there…”

Our lives can get so busy and distracted that we are experiencing that unattended loss.

The pain that we are experiencing in our marriages sometimes is really our soul crying out longing to be filled.

We make the mistake of assuming this is our spouses responsibility and it’s not!!!. Our souls can slowly, and subtlety become depleted, and our hearts hardened, and then we blame our spouse, our marriage, our work, our finances because we are seeking relief because something has to be responsible for this!!

But blame only gives us temporary relief… like when we run away from an argument…there is a short-term reprieve but there’s no resolution of the problem and we remain distanced from each other. There is an enormous difference between relief and restoration.

God doesn’t want us to seek relief, He wants us to be restored and reconnected…

He wants our conflict resolved, our hearts softened, forgiveness both given and received, oneness with each other and with Him…fully restored.

Neglecting our souls, can disrupt our oneness.

We’re blocking that major artery through which God wants to connect us. We can make choices that not only affect our physical health but our spiritual health too.

John Eldridge also talks about healing the soul and what he found in his own life to be helpful and what has been unhelpful.

I want to share John Eldridges’ list with you because it may hit home with you and it helps us to realize that we do need to stop and consider the health of our own souls.

I’ll start with his unhelpful list:

Grocery stores. Television. Traffic. Draining people that live out of touch with their own soul, airports. The news, especially politics. Social media, your typical dose of movie violence 

Now his helpful list:

Generous amounts of sunshine, everything living and green, long walks, lonesome country roads, swimming, beauty, music, water, friendly dogs, compassion, not expecting myself to produce the same level of work I normally accomplish in a day, yardwork, building a fence…

John goes on to ask these questions:

Now which cluster of the things I just named makes up most of your weekly routine?

Do you begin to see more clearly how essential it is that we intentionally care for our neglected heart and soul?

He’s talking about restoring our souls and our connection with God.

There will be times our oneness is disrupted, and we need healing and restoration.

God has a plan for that. God will restore our souls

In Psalm 23:2-3 ESV God is leading us into nature and the wilderness to do just that…

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.

We need...