How Meditating on God's Word Transforms You | Season 03, Episode 03 | Simple Truth Podcast

Have you ever read your Bible, closed it, and then five minutes later, your mind was already somewhere else? You highlighted verses, you nodded at the truth, but your thoughts, your intentions, your behaviors, they didn't really change, did they? Why is this? The answer is simple. Reading the Bible is how you learn about God and yourself. But meditating on God's word internalizes what you learn and transforms your behavior. You see, God never intended for his word to be glanced at and then forgotten. Scripture is designed to be thought about, reflected on. In other words, to be meditated on. The Bible says that the person who meditates on God's word day and night becomes strong, stable, fruitful, unshaken. So, what does that actually look like? How do you meditate biblically and not mystically? and how does it transform your life from the inside out? In this episode of The Simple Truth, we're diving into the second of five key disciplines that moves scripture from off the page and into your heart. Let's get into it in this episode of the Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross, and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth, clearly taught and freely given. This is going to be a great episode because we talk about something that is often misunderstood with Christians and that's meditation. We're going to talk about how meditating on God's word, which is very biblical, transforms your life. So, let's get into it. Why does this episode matter? Well, your mind is under attack every day. So, fight back by meditating on God's word. Meditation isn't what you think. It's a key biblical discipline. one of the five disciplines that we talk about in this season on how Christians grow. It's a key discipline that God uses to transform your thoughts and your behavior. And God commands it. There's scripture after scripture. We're going to take a look at a series of them that talks about how God commands you to meditate, to meditate on his word, to meditate on his instructions and his teachings. And so meditation is actually essential for maturity and growth. but it's going to be the meditation the Bible talks about. So, we're going to talk about why, what, and how to meditate on the Bible. This isn't optional. It's actually critical for your success and for your transformation. And we're going to explain how and why. So, let's get into it. So, what does it mean to meditate on God's word? Well, meditation scripturally is thinking deeply and reflecting on God's word. Let me repeat that. Meditation in the Bible is thinking deeply about and reflecting on God's word. When you meditate on God's word, what are you doing? Well, you are considering what it means. So, you're not just reading it and moving on. You're considering what it actually means to you. You're quietly repeating it back to yourself. In the scriptures, one of the definitions of meditation in Hebrew, in the Old Testament, includes repeating it back to yourself. We're going to take a look at that. It also includes pondering how it affects your life. More than just thinking about it, meditation involves chewing on repeating God's word to understand what it means in your life, right? What does it mean to chew on in your mind God's word to repeat it back to you and to gain and seek understanding for what it means? While reading the Bible out loud helps you learn about God, it's meditation you'll see on God's word that actually internalizes what you learn. So while key principle number one and key discipline number one was about reading the Bible out loud that we discussed in our last episode, this episode number two is about meditating on God's word. And those two are very related and this is a very important addition to that topic. True understanding of scripture. It doesn't come from education. It doesn't come from having some kind of high IQ. But spiritual revelation comes through meditation. I'm going to repeat that folks. True understanding of scripture doesn't come from your education, where you went to school, how much schooling you've had. It doesn't come from a high IQ or having some kind of high level of intelligence, but it really comes from spiritual revelation, which comes through meditating on God's word, which is something everyone can do. In other words, meditation changes how you behave. It transforms you. So, what is biblical meditation and what isn't biblical meditation? Because when I use the term meditation, many of us immediately went somewhere, something we saw on social media or heard in the news or some experience or something someone described to us. And much of that is not scriptural. So biblical meditation first of all is not emptying your mind. Okay? Biblical meditation is about filling your mind with God's truth. It doesn't seek some form of mental blankness. Instead, it's about pondering and considering God's word and what it means for you. Secondly, biblical meditation is not self-focused. Instead, you're to focus on God, on to focus on his word, on revelation, not discovering some kind of inner self to you. Third, biblical meditation is not passive relaxation. We often think of meditation as something maybe even a trance where you calm yourself down and you control your breathing. In the Bible, it's not about passive relaxation. It's about intentional thought, repetition, and engagement with scripture. Fourth, biblical meditation is not mystically detached. It is grounded in revelation. It's grounded in God's truth. It's not about creating some feeling or some altered state and trying to detach yourself mystically from the surroundings around you etc. Biblical meditation is an intentional focus on God's word. It's centered on God's word revealed to you. It's centered on his character, his works. So, you're meditating on what's God revealing to you through a passage of scripture. You're thinking about who God is and what he's done for you. And that brings understanding to you, which we're going to discuss more in a little bit. Biblical meditation is reflective and it is repetitive. Think deeply about the verse. Think deeply about that passage. Quietly rehearse it. Repeat it back to you and ponder what is God's truth in this. The third biblical meditation gives understanding. It actually gives God the opportunity to give you revelation and to give you an understanding of the meaning behind a scripture and how it affects you. Like we said, God's word is not about reading something quickly, checking it off a list, glancing at it, and running away and forgetting what it meant. Remember what we discussed in last episode. God's word is not looking in a mirror, thoroughly understanding what's happening, and then turning away and forgetting who you are. Instead, if you would take a little time to engage with God's word, with scriptures, with passages of scriptures, then God will actually give you revelation. And fourth, biblical meditation transforms you. It actually moves knowledge from your head into your heart. It shapes your thoughts. It shapes your actions. So, it's an opportunity for God's word to actually change you, which by the way, folks, is precious. So, let's take a moment. Meditation, it's thinking deeply and reflecting on God's word. In other words, biblical meditation is intentionally fixing your mind on God's truth, which then shapes your mindset and changes your life. So, that brings us to the first simple truth of this episode. You should meditate on the word of God daily. Let's take a look in Proverbs 4. Remember, all verses of the Bible in this episode are coming out of the New King James Version. So, feel free to follow along. Proverbs 4:20. And before we look at this verse, we're going to see that giving careful attention to God's instructions transforms you. Okay. Proverbs 4:20 says, quote, "My son, give attention to my words. Incline your ear to my sayings. That word son, it's a disciple. It's a student. Honestly, it's anyone who's willing to listen. I think as Christians, it's critical for you and me to be willing to listen to God's word and what God has to say for us. And I know you're willing to listen because you're listening to this podcast. It says, "Give attention." To give attention is to listen closely. To give heed, to take notice. So the writer says, "Give heed. Take notice to my words. Right? Incline your ear to my sayings. To incline is to turn to, to bend towards, to listen, and to ponder. Verse 21. In this verse, we're going to see that keeping God's words in front of you helps you internalize it. Proverbs 4:21, do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. Don't let them depart. So, don't turn aside. Don't remove those words from in front of your eyes. Instead, keep them in the midst of your heart. To be in the midst is to keep it in the middle, at the center, at the core of your heart. What are we describing when we're talking about a heart? We're not talking about the blood pumper. This isn't your physical heart organ inside of you. In the Bible, when we talk about a heart, we're talking about the inward parts of a person where your thoughts, your emotions, your intentions, where your desires dwell. It's really a combination of your soul and spirit. We're going to cover this in more detail when we talk about the parts of a Christian in future episodes. So, keeping God's word in your heart means thinking deeply about it and reflecting on it. In other words, meditating on it. So, these verses say, "Incline to my words. Don't let them depart from in front of your eyes, but instead take those words and keep them in the middle of your heart. Meditate on them." Proverbs 4:22. In here, we're going to see that God's word, it brings life and healing to those who would receive it and internalize it. Proverbs 4:22 says, quote, "For they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh." Those words, God's words, God's instructions and teachings, they are life. That means they're alive. They're living. They have vitality. And it may make you ask the question, well, how could words be alive? Because as Jesus said in the New Testament, God's words, their spirit in their life. They're not just words on a page. God bears witness to those words by his Holy Spirit and they become alive. That's why you can read a verse of scripture and it feels like it jumps off the page and it hits you right in the gut. God's words, they give life. They're alive. They're living. They bring vitality to everyone who finds them. and they bring health, which is to bring healing, medicine, a cure to all of their flesh. It's interesting because in flesh here it's talking about the physical body or body tissue. And really what it does, it implies wholeness. It implies well-being. So God's words are life to those who find them, to those who keep it in the middle of their heart, at their core, to those who meditate on it, and it brings health to their flesh, to their physical body, as well as wholeness and well-being to them. God's scripture, when internalized, they bring vitality to the soul, and they bring health to your physical body. Amen. Let's see Proverbs 4:23. And here we're going to see that you should carefully guard your inner thoughts because they actually determine the direction and the outcome of your entire life. Proverbs 4:23, quote, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Powerful keep to keep is to guard, to watch over, to maintain your heart. The heart is your inner person. Remember what we were discussing about the heart is not your physical body. It's not the outward appearance. It's not the outward organs and tissues that you see. The heart is the inner part of you. It's your thoughts, your desires, your emotions, your intentions. It's your soul and your spirit. So the writer says, "Keep your heart. Guard, watch over your heart, your inner person, your desires, your emotions, your thoughts. And do that with all diligence." He's saying guard it like you're protecting something very valuable. Okay. Interesting. Because out of your heart, out of your desires and your emotions and your thoughts and your intentions, out of those things that you can't see in a person, it actually springs the issues of life. Your heart, your inner person is the source of your decisions. It's the source of your direction. And your inner life literally determines your outer life. Okay, I'm going to repeat that. Your inner life, what happens inside of you in your soul and your spirit actually determines your out of life. It actually determines what's happening outside of you. The directions you take, your behaviors, who you are and what you do. What you allow into your heart shapes who you become. That's why you got to guard it with all diligence. When scripture fills your heart through meditation, it actually steers you into good decisions. When your heart is filled with other things, when it's filled with movies and television and radio and social media and he said, she said, and all these other types of things, it doesn't lead you into great stuff. It actually leads you into all sorts of worldly passions, which we all know about. We've all been partakers of those things. So, guard your heart diligently because what is filling your heart, what's inside of you, is actually what causes the decisions that you make. So fill it with scripture through meditation. Let's take a look at Psalm 119 verse 97. In this verse, we're going to see if you love God's direction, you should meditate daily on God's word. Psalm 119:97. Oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. That word law, it's God's instructions, his teachings, his direction. If we were living back in the Old Testament, we would find God's instructions or his teachings by reading books of the Old Testament like the books of Leviticus and reading through all these laws and trying to keep them. As Christians, we know that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law. And we have revelation through the New Testament where we can understand various aspects of the Old Testament and understand their revelation, their fulfillment in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So when we think about loving God's law, it's about loving God's instructions, his teachings, and his direction. And that means reading Bible verses and coming to understanding through God's Holy Spirit. This is another reason why meditation is very, very important because there's plenty of people who could read something and will misunderstand it for a variety of reasons. So meditating, pondering it, giving God an opportunity to reveal it to you. That is where revelation and understanding comes from. So, oh, I love your law. It is my meditation. That word meditation means reflection and pondering of God's word. It's the deliberate occupation of your minds and your thoughts. So to say it is my meditation all the day is to say I reflect on and ponder your word specifically your instructions your teachings your direction. That means I deliberately occupy my mind and my thoughts with what God is instructing me to do with what God has taught me and with the direction that God is steering me. God's word should be on your mind daily. It should be allowed to shape your thoughts and your actions. aka your behavior. Let's take a look at Psalm 119:98. In this verse, we'll see that meditating on God's word, it gives you wisdom over evil that resists you. Now, we're getting good. Psalm 119:98. You through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. Commandments, that means mandates, instructions. So God through his mandates or instructions to us make us wiser. To be wise, that's what wiser means. To be skillful, to have practical understanding. I want to be wise. You should want to be wise. I want God to give me understanding and wisdom so that I could be skillful on how I apply God's word, on the decisions that I make in my life, and so I have a practical understanding. I don't need to have some high IQ. I don't need to have some great education. I want to be skillful in how I live my life. It says, "Makes me wiser than my enemies. Those are your adversaries. Those are your opponents." Let me be clear. Your opponents is not the person living next door or the person you work with. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood. It says in the New Testament, our opponents and our adversary is the devil and his crew. In fact, the word Satan means adversary. That's literally what that meaning is. So God through his commandments makes us wise, makes us skillful, gives us a practical understanding and even wiser than those who would resist us. Thank God for they are ever with me. The psalmist kept God's words ever with him. In other words, they meditated on God's word daily. Thank God. When God's word is working inside of us, then we are wiser than those who would oppose us. Verse 99. In this verse, we'll see that education may inform you, but it's meditation on God's word that transforms you. Okay? Psalm 119:9. I have more understanding than all my teachers. For your testimonies are my meditation. Praise God. I have more understanding. I have more insight. I have more wisdom. I have more success than all of my teachers. If you're in school right now, please don't quote this to your teacher. True wisdom, it comes not just from instruction, right? It comes from internalizing and reflecting on the Bible, on God's word. The psalmist understood this simple fact that their advantage wasn't their intelligence, but a daily reflection in God's word. In other words, reading God's word and learning God's word and then meditating on it to internalize it in you and to bring wisdom and practical understanding and success. That was their advantage. Testimonies, this idea that your testimonies are my meditation. God's testimonies are his proclamations. It's God's witness and they become our meditation. There's that word again. It becomes our reflection, our pondering of God's word. Remember, meditation is the deliberate occupation of your mind and your thoughts on God's word. So meditation produces a deeper understanding than instruction alone. So internalizing God's word, meditating on God's word, pondering God's word, thinking about how that word applies to you and your life and those around you, it actually produces a deeper understanding than just being taught it by somebody else. Let's take a look at the book of Joshua. In here, we're going to see that speaking God's word, meditating on it, and obeying it brings us success. Joshua 1:8. Quote, "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and you will have good success." this book of the law. Right back to this idea, God's divine instruction, his teachings, his revelation to you. It shall not depart from your mouth. You should be speaking the Bible regularly, right? That's what we were discussing last episode. You should read the Bible out loud. It benefits you, folks. But you shall meditate. You shall ponder deeply. You shall speak softly to yourself. If you may remember earlier in this episode, I talked about the idea that it's thinking deeply. It's internalizing, but it's also repeating softly back to yourself. There's so much that comes from the ability to repeat something, to speak something, and to hear yourself saying it. Remember what we discussed last episode about how faith comes by hearing? There's a great benefit in repeating and restating something back to you. It helps you understand. allows you to intentionally focus and to seek God for understanding on what it means for you. It says for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have good success. Biblical meditation is thinking about and reflecting it and it will make your way prosperous. That means your way, your disciplines, your habits will be prosperous and you'll have good success in it. verse 9 in here we're going to see that speaking or meditating on and obeying God's word it actually brings God's presence Joshua 1 verse 9 have I not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go have I not commanded you God commands Joshua and us to be honest to be courageous and to be strong not be afraid Don't shrink back. Don't panic. Don't lose heart. Instead, be of good courage and be strong. For the Lord your God is with you. God is with you because you are fellowshipping with him, right? You're reading his instructions, his word. You're meditating on what his word means in your life and then you're doing it. The five disciplines are so important because they allow you to have a real relationship with God. And as you have a relationship with him, you then start to see yourself conforming to his behavior. You see your life transforming and you see God blessing you and you having tremendous success. God says to Joshua in chapter 1, verse 9, "Be strong and of good courage and do not be afraid for God is with you wherever you go." Meditating on God's word, it aligns you with God's will, which mean God grants you his presence and success. Praise God. So, let's take a moment. So, we've covered a lot. Meditation is thinking deeply about and reflecting on God's word. Okay? It's how we keep God's word quote in the midst of our heart. End quote. Which brings life and wholeness to us. We saw that in Proverbs 4:21. If we read the Bible and think deeply about what it means for us, aka meditate on it, we will become wiser than our enemies and more successful than even our teachers. That was found in Psalm 119 verses 98 and 99. When we think about God's word, we internalize it and act on it. It makes our ways, our paths prosperous and we become successful. We saw that in Joshua 18. Remember season 3, this season, it's about how Christians grow. Real growth. It includes internalizing and understanding God's word, which comes from meditation. Meditation is number two of the five key disciplines that make you successful. So, what does it mean? You might be asking yourself this question. How exactly do I meditate on God's word? Well, let's discuss some practical advice. So, here are three steps to meditating on God's word. First, focus your attention on the scripture. I'm going to repeat that. Take your attention and focus it on the Bible passage you're reading. Focus on the scripture. Here's a quote from Psalm 119:15. I will meditate on your precepts and I will contemplate, which means to fix my eyes, on your ways. Okay? There's a focus involved in meditation. Take one Bible verse or passage. Remove distractions, right? Remove other distractions. Allow yourself to be able to focus your attention on that verse. Read it slowly out loud if possible. Then fix your mind on that particular tooth. Repeat it slowly if necessary. So take a verse, try to remove distractions, read it slowly, read it out loud, fix your mind on that particular truth and repeat it if necessary. Meditation begins with intentional focus. So the first step to meditate on God's word is to focus your attention on the scripture. The second step is now to consider and ponder that scripture. Okay, here's a quote from Psalm 119:27. Make me understand the way of your precepts. So shall I meditate on your wonderful works. Seek understanding for this Bible passage. Right? You read this passage. You can remove distractions. You're focusing your intention. Now seek to understand it. Ask yourself this. What does this verse reveal about God? What does this passage command or promise or teach? What does it mean? What does this verse mean? And how does it apply in my life? Why is this verse important? Why is this even relevant? These are good questions to ask yourself when you're meditating on a passage in the Bible, when you're meditating on God's word. Also ask yourself, does it apply to the life of someone you know? If so, how? Notice that what we're doing is you're becoming intentional. You're not just reading and forgetting. You're reading. You're pondering. You're considering. And you're asking yourself questions. You are an intelligent person. God has blessed you with wisdom and with understanding. And if you would give a little bit of time for God's spirit to be able to reveal his words to you, if you allow yourself to meditate on scripture throughout the day at various times, to consider, to ponder, to repeat back to yourself, and to ask yourself questions like, "What does this mean? How does this apply to me? Why is this important? What is God teaching here? Then you're going to have tremendous understanding. Meditation is the thoughtful engagement of God's scripture, not just some kind of surface reading. The third step to meditating on God's word is to remember what God's done related to that scripture. I'm going to repeat that. Remember what God has done in your life related to that scripture. Here's a quote from Psalm 143:5. I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your works. I ponder the work of your hands. Think about God's past works, his promises, things he's delivered you from or someone else, and your experiences related to this Bible passage. You may be reading something that God has literally done maybe even recently for you. And when you consider what God has done for you as you read that passage, it gives you understanding of that passage. Ask yourself, how does this passage apply to what God has already done in my life or in others around me? Okay. Meditation, it grows deeper when we connect scripture that we read to God's faithfulness in our past. I'm going to repeat that. Meditation on God's word becomes even deeper when we connect scriptures that we're reading to what God has actually done in our past. In other words, let God's past works shape our understanding and our actions today. Which brings us to our next simple truth. Meditating on God's word matures and transforms you. Let's take a look at this. We're going to look in 1 Timothy 4. So, meditation on God's word, it produces spiritual growth and godly progress that's actually visible to others. 1 Timothy 4:15 says, quote, "Meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all." Meditate. That means to contemplate and settle your mind on. We've moved from Old Testament verses to New Testament. So, you'll notice now we're looking at Greek words. So, that word meditate in the Greek is to contemplate. to settle your mind on. It implies reflecting inwardly that results in practicing outwardly. I'm going to repeat that. It implies reflecting on God's word inwardly inside of you internalizing and it creates results in your practice outwardly. So Paul writes, "Meditate on these things. What are these things?" Well, Paul has God inspired instructions to Timothy, not only in 1 Timothy chapter 4, but in 1 Timothy chapters 1 through3. Remember, Paul is writing a letter to Timothy that later on gets canonized and included scripture because it's clearly inspired by God. So, the letter that Paul is writing to Timothy that Paul is urging Timothy to meditate on is the same letter we're reading as biblical scripture that we are to meditate on. give yourself entirely to them. Paul said that we need to devote yourself. Devote ourselves. Paul is instructing Timothy to meditate on his instructions so that Timothy would do them. And again, what are these instructions? The book of First Timothy, a book that we have that we should be meditating on and instructions that we should be following on because they are clearly God inspired. And it says that your progress may be evident to all. The resulting spiritual maturity and the transformation will be seen by others around you. So Paul is urging Timothy to contemplate, to settle his mind on the things that Paul wrote to him in the book of First Timothy, to devote himself on those things so that Timothy would do those things and that to do all of that so that his progress, his spiritual maturity, his transformation will be seen by others. This is Paul's instruction to you and me. Folks, meditation is a discipline that leads to measurable spiritual growth. So, if you want success as a Christian, it should include meditating on God's word daily. Let's take a look at Romans 12. In Romans 12:2, we're going to see that meditating on God's word renews your mind. It transforms your life, and it reveals God's will and his purpose for you. Romans 12:2, quote, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This is a verse that's often quoted. Paul writes, "Do not be conformed." Don't let worldly thinking shape you. Don't be conformed to worldly thinking. Don't let worldly thoughts and behaviors and intentions and media and all these things that you and I are surrounded with, don't let them shape you, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. To renew is to make new again. It's a complete renovation. For anybody who's owned a home and done a renovation where you have an old kitchen or an old bathroom or an old room and it's completely transformed into a new one, you are being told to be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. By making your mind new again. By a renovation of it. And to be transformed by renewing, transformation happens internally. And as we've seen through the verses in this episode, it happens internally through deliberate daily changing on how you think. In other words, meditation. If you want to be transformed, you need to completely renovate your thoughts, your intentions, your desires. And you do that by internalizing God's word inside of you. And it creates a daily change inside of you as you meditate on God's word. And do so that you may prove renewed thinking. It actually discerns God's purpose. When you are not being conformed to this world, when you're not letting worldly uh worldly thinking shape you and you start to let godly thinking shape you, it then starts to discern God's purpose in your life. And then you could see what is good, acceptable, and perfect according to God's will and purpose for your life. Meditation is more than just sitting out on a pond and reflecting. It's a mind renewing discipline, aka a habit that transforms your perspective, your decisions, and your behavior. Let's talk about now the next episode of the simple truth. If reading the Bible helps you learn about God, which we saw in last episode, and meditation internalizes what you learn and transforms you, which we saw in this episode, then what is the purpose of fasting? Remember key discipline number three is fasting. Well, it's to build spiritual strength. Join us for next episode. Why fasting is a key to spiritual breakthrough. Thank you for joining me for this episode of the simple truth. God's word, it was never meant to pass through your eyes and then just disappear. It was meant to stay to take root in your heart. Remember, out of your heart are the issues of life. Reading the Bible is so powerful, but meditating on the Bible is transformational. That's why both of them are disciplines for Christian growth and success. When you slow down, when you repeat a Bible passage, when you think about and you ponder, when you carry that passage with you throughout the day, God isn't just giving you information. He's giving you revelation and he's reshaping your inner life, aka your heart. And remember, your life, it moves in the direction of your heart and your thoughts. So, here's my challenge to you. For the next seven days, choose one Bible passage each day. maybe three, four, five, six verses. Read it out loud. Then spend 10 to 15 minutes thinking about it. Repeat key phrases in that passage. Ask yourself, "What does this teach me about God? What does this teach me about myself? How should this Bible passage change me today?" Revisit that same passage later in the day. Look at it in the morning. Look at it at night. It's scriptural, right? And don't rush it. Don't multitask. Turn off the distractions for those 10 to 15 minutes. Let that word sit with you. Carry it into your conversations with other people. Bring it into your decisions. Just 7 days of intentional meditation. Try this discipline out. We've seen it in the Bible. God instructs us to do it. Now, give it a try and watch what begins to shift in your thoughts, in your peace, in your desires, and across your life. If this episode helped you, feel free to like, subscribe, and share it with someone else who wants more than just routine Christianity, someone who wants real Christian success. It has been a pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, God keep you, and that God guards your heart and renews your mind through his word. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simple Truth Podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org