The Danger Of A Divided Walk With God

We challenge ourselves to face a hard truth: a divided walk with God cannot last, and trying to serve Jesus while holding on to the world leads to instability and spiritual danger. We walk through Scripture and real-life warning signs that show why surrender is not about church attendance, but about giving Christ our whole heart. 
• the proverb about one foot in church and one in the world as a warning against fence-straddling 
• Jesus’ words on divided loyalty in Matthew 6:24 and the danger of lukewarm faith in Revelation 3:16 
• double-mindedness and spiritual instability from James 1:8 
• how compromise happens slowly through small choices and neglected prayer and Bible reading 
• why a divided life weakens our witness and confuses people watching our faith 
• Solomon as an example of a heart that drifts before a life changes 
• the rich young ruler and the cost of refusing surrender 
• Elijah’s challenge to stop living between two opinions 
• Joshua’s call to choose today because we are not promised later 
Go visit our website at HOR421Show.bussprout.com. 
And if you’d like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash HOR421. 

Transcript

Opening Audio And Soundcheck

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But I woke up morning with mama. They woke me on eat. I woke up on mama. I woke up morning with mama.

Welcome And Ways To Support

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You're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Hollywood. I would like to give a thanks and a shout out to all the supporters and listeners of the show. And go visit our website at HOR421Show.bussprout.com. Always keep us in your prayers as we spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash HOR421. Or you can go through our website at HOR421Show.bussprout.com. And if you'd like to contact Sister Dev, you can email her at osburndeverk at gmail.com. Now I'll give you your host, the Bible talk, Sister Epp Osborne.

The Proverb About Two Paths

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord how awesome it is to be back in the studio talking about the word. Praise the Lord. I thank God every day for the Word of God. And I hope you enjoy the show today. I hope you enjoy this message today. So today I want to talk to you about first I want to start off with the old proverb. It's I I say old, I'm not sure. I know 20th century preachers and evangelists use it. A proverb, of course, is a short, well-known saying that expresses maybe a common truth or a practical experience or even a piece of advice. And so when I heard the piece of advice thing, so this proverb, and this is what it says, it says one foot in the church and one foot in the world will result in two feet in hell. So today, my friends, uh, I want to talk to you about a divided walk and the dangers thereof. Now this famous saying is it's a single, it's not a single Bible quote. Uh like I said, it was popularized in the 20th century by certain uh 20th century preachers and evangelists. And it's a scriptural warning, it's a s it's a scriptural warning against fence straddling. And and like, you know, like in Revelation 3.16, Jesus' condemnation of warning of lukewarm Christians, right? Uh and he says, Revelation 3.16 says, and so because they are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew them thee out of my mouth. So this proverb, when we read it and we think about it, it it warns believers that uh trying to blend worldly habits with your faith will ultimately lead to spiritual failure. And this proverb is a very strong proverb, it's a very strong saying, and uh, but while it's not a Bible quote or a verse, it does point to a biblical truth that we can all move up to. Uh Jesus said in Matthew 20 in Matthew 6 24, Jesus said, No man can serve two masters. There's so many things in the Word about uh uh about trying to serve two different masters. Um James 1 and 8 says, a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. So think about this. What happens when someone tries to walk in two directions at the same time? You cannot walk north and south at the same time. Eventually, one direction is going to win. And the same is true spiritually. Many people want the blessings of God while still holding on to the things of the world. They want heaven as their destination, but they want the world as their companion. And you know, my friends, today a divided walk is a

Serving Two Masters Fails

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dangerous spot to try to be in. It it creates instability. Like I said, James 1 and 8 says that if a if we're double-minded, that we will be unstable. You know, uh a person who constantly switches between God's will and the desires of the world, you never find peace. You never find peace. You're always looking for something that is missing. You know, one one day you're praying and the next day you're compromising, and then one day you're trusting God, and the next day you're trying to follow the world or follow the crowd. And see, the problem isn't that that that they're unstable or that they stumble. We all stumble. We all stumble. The problem is friends, is refusing to choose a destiny, a direction. You know, we have to choose a direction and stay on it. We cannot go in two separate directions at the same time. Now, another thing about a divided walk, uh, it weakens our witness to people. People watch how Christians live their lives. People watch when, and you better believe sinners are watching every move you make. They watch your home, they watch how you talk, they watch who you talk to, they watch your speech. If they're in your house, they're watching what you're listening to, what you're watching on TV. People listen and go by every single word you say, waiting on you to stumble. People watch how we live. And when we say, when our words say, well, Jesus is Lord, but our lives say other word, otherwise, people see that contradiction. People see that. And you know, today, my friends, what the world needs is genuine Christians, not Christians trying to live with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world. You know, God has called all these people wholeheartedly devotion, wholeheartedly, not partial commitment. Amen. Matthew 7, 21 through 23 reminds us that simply claiming God's name isn't enough. We must have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And see, that's where your old proverb comes in. One

Instability And Losing Peace

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foot in the church and one foot in the world will result in two feet in hell. And friends, listen to me. The issue isn't church attendance, the issue is surrender. Because listen to me, God is not asking for one foot, he's asking for everything. Because trust me, Jesus never carried half a cross, he never shed half of his blood, he never gave half of his life for us. He gave everything he had. He put everything he had into it. And friends, today, our question shouldn't be whether God's given everything for us. The question is, have we given everything to him? Now, friends, a divided walk will always lead to a divided heart. And when you start having a divided heart, it will always drift away from God. And it's time we stop straddling the fence. It's time we stop walking in two directions, and it's time we choose who we're going to serve. Because trust me, the danger in a divided walk is hellfire. Trust me, that's a danger, a big danger in trying to hold on to the world and trying to walk with God at the same time. You cannot do it. And Jesus spoke more about hellfire than anybody in Scripture. And he didn't do it to frighten people and to fall on him, he did it because he loved us enough to warn us. And because there's so many people out there that actually believe with one foot in God's kingdom and one foot in the world indefinitely. They believe they can live like that. But my friends, Scripture teaches us different. We there is a road that we're gonna have to get on, and one of one of the roads leads, of course, to uh destruction. Amen. Now, when you have when you when you call yourself having a divided walk, you may seem it may seem harmless at first too. You know, you have a little bit of compromise and a little bit of disobedience and a little bit of drifting away from prayer, maybe less spend a little less time in God's word. But trust me, people, every step step away from God takes us further from his will. You know? We didn't just wake up, we don't just wake up one morning and suddenly find ourselves far from God. It happens one compromise at a time. It happens one step at a time, you know. Trust me, friends, trust me. We have to choose who we're gonna follow. I mean, uh imagine yourself standing at a fork in the road, and one road is narrow and it's difficult, but it leads to life. It leads to life. The other road is broad and it's crowded, but it leads to destruction. And you can't walk both roads at the same time. Eventually, you're gonna have to decide which path that you are truly on. And in Matthew 6, 24, Jesus stated that divided loyalty is very impossible. No man can serve two masters. No man can serve two masters. God demands that we choose one way or the other. We can't have it both ways, and you're probably gonna hear me say that several times over. One foot in the church and one foot in the world may look balanced today, but eternity is going to tell you the truth. You know? And a divided walk never stays divided,

Witness, Surrender, And Lordship

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friends. Sooner or later, it chooses a side. Now listen to me. A divided walk produces a divided heart, right? Before anybody walks away from God, they first drift away in their heart. Listen at this one. King Solomon, he loved the Lord. When he was young, he loved the Lord. He sought God's wisdom. But as he got older in the years past, he allowed other influences into his life that his heart became divided. And eventually his walk followed. The wisest man who ever lived became an example of what can happen when a heart is no longer divide devoted to God. You see, when the enemy gets in our head and he gets in our thoughts and it gets in our mind, he don't just very rarely does he say, Turn your back on God today. No. No. Instead, he whispers, he whispers in your ear, Well, let's just miss prayer this once. It won't hurt you. Or you can just skip reading your Bible today. You you don't have to do it every day. I mean, you know the word of God, you know all you gotta do is pick it up. You don't have to do it today. Or he whispers in your in your head, Well, a little compromise won't hurt you. Or better yet, he whispers, nobody will know. Listen to me, friends. One small step may not seem dangerous. One small step may not seem dangerous, but it will lead to another step and another step and another step, and I'm telling you, eventually, to me there's no small steps. Eventually it will take a person away from God. Those small steps, those little bitty things that you're neglecting to do, those little bitty things that you're neglected to lay down, that can take you a far away from God. You know? Listen, I I I there's a story, it's in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There's a story in the Word of God. It's about a a rich young ruler. And he came running to Jesus, and he was very religious, he was moral, he was respected. And he asked Jesus, What do I have to do to live forever? Something to that assort. Uh you need to go read it. It's in Matthew 19, Mark, uh, it looks like Mark 10, maybe, and Luke 18. It's in those three gospels. It's such a story that's an important story that it was per it was told three times in the Word of God. So it was something that the Lord really wanted us to let get in our heart and our mind. So he goes to talking to Jesus, and Jesus tells him, you know, uh he says, you know, if I'm not mistaken, he it goes something like, Jesus says, Well, you know, you you have to go by the rules and the will of my father. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, the young man says, Well, you know what, I've been doing this all my life. Uh since I was young and younger, I've been I've been going by the but by the word of God. And uh, but Jesus said, you know what? He tells him, you know what? Then

Compromise Starts One Step At Time

SPEAKER_02 14:32

sell everything, give your money to the poor people and follow me. In other words, Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me. Let all your riches go, let all the things of the world go and follow me. But see, when Jesus touched on the one thing that he loved more than God, apparently, he walked away sorrowful. This young man chose his money over eternal life. He chose, he wanted eternal life, but he also wanted to hold on to the world. And how many people do we know today are trying to do the same thing? They want heaven without surrender, they want salvation without sacrifice, and they want Jesus as their savior, but they don't want him as their Lord. Amen. My friends, that old proverb, one foot in the world and one foot in the church. Now these words, uh, you know, they are a there's a there's a stern warning behind these words. There's a warning behind them. And today Jesus Christ is asking everybody for your heart, not just half of it, for your whole heart. Not there's no middle ground at the foot of the cross. One day, my friends, trust me, it's not gonna matter how much money we made. One day your Bible's gonna be closed for the last time. The last invitation is gonna be given, the last prayer is gonna be prayed, the last opportunity to repent will have passed. One day, every one of us is gonna take our last breath, and it's not gonna matter what title we carried or how many people we knew of, or how many people knew our name. Only one question is gonna matter, friends. And that's did you truly belong to Christ, heart and soul? Or was you have did you have one foot in the church and one foot in the world? I'm telling you now, my friends, hell it's not a fairy tale. It wasn't uh it was not a fairy tale invented just to frighten people. Jesus warned us about it because he loved us. And the greatest tragedy was gonna be standing before the one who died for you. The one who died for you, and hearing that you spent your life trying to stand with one foot in his kingdom and one foot in the world. I might add a world that's passing away. Listen to me, friends. The world never shed one drop of blood for your soul. The world and nothing in the world ever conquered the grave. But Jesus Christ did. He forgave you when you were guilty. He made a way when there was no way. Trust me. Friends, he made a way when there was no way. So, what I don't understand is why would we give our hearts to a world that can't save us when the Savior has already given everything to redeem us?

Solomon And A Divided Heart

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Brothers and sisters, today, why would we keep one foot in the world and one foot in a world that's passing away? Why gamble with our eternity? Amen. See, you can't you can you can't live Monday through Saturday like the world belongs to you and then walk through the church doors on Sunday uh expecting Christianity uh to be a costume that you put on. Listen to me. Listen to me. Hear me, please. You can fool the church and still be lost. You can fool your family and still be lost. You can even fool yourself and be lost, but you will never fool God. Friends, trust me, Jesus Christ said in Matthew 7, 21 through 223, he said that people were gonna stand before him and they're gonna be saying, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all of these things? He's gonna say, I never knew you. And that's terrifying because these are the people who called him Lord. These are the people who were supposed to have been serving Jesus. James 4 and 4, Jesus says, James 4 and 4 says, No, know ye not that friendship of the world is an in enmity with God, enemity with God. I probably hope I got that right. Then that's telling us that uh that choosing a friendship with the world makes a person an enemy of God. You cannot fully love God while embracing a lifestyle driven by selfish and worldly desires. Now, maybe some of you have been straddling the fence on a standing on the fence for a long time with one foot in the church and one foot in the world. Maybe you've had one foot saying, Jesus, I love you, while the other foot's saying, But man, I want to give this up. My friends, trust me, one day, eventually, you will have to choose which kingdom you belong to. And friends, trust me, eternity is too long to live divided. You cannot spend your life holding on to the world with one hand, expecting Jesus to hold on to you with the other. There comes a moment when you're gonna have to let go. You're gonna have to let go of the world, you're gonna have to let go of compromise, of secret sin, of excuses. You're gonna have to let go of all of that and grab a hold of Jesus Christ with both hands. How long are you gonna say, well, Jesus is my Lord while holding on to the very things that he's asking you to surrender? How long are you gonna live one way on Sunday in another way the rest of the week? Listen, let me tell you about the Israelites in 1 Kings chapter 18. Awesome, awesome chapter. You should read that. The Israelites had a very serious problem, you know. Their problem was they knew about God, they had experienced God, they had seen his power, he had done what all that he could for them, but they were trying to serve God while also worshiping Baal. Okay, they they wanted both. They wanted the blessings of God without completely giving up the things of the world. And Elijah stood before him and asked him, he said, you know what? He said, How long, how, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal Then follow him. In other words, Elijah's saying, you know what? You need to choose today. If God is the God, then follow him. If God is your God, follow him. If Baal is your God, then follow him. Stop standing in the middle. Stop being in the middle. Stop living in the middle.

The Rich Young Ruler’s Choice

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That's what Elijah stood up and said to him. And I believe that exactly those words exactly still speak to the church today. Get on one side and stay there. Stop standing in the middle. Because trust me, the fence is a very dangerous place. You think about standing on a fence, one foot on one side, one foot on the other, and you're going to, you may feel balanced for a while, but you can't stay there forever. You get tired, you lose your balance, the world is going to throw things at you, and you're going to fall in one direction. And spiritually, that's the same way. You can't live between two kingdoms. And my friends, listen, if you don't listen to nothing else, listen to this. Revelations calls it lukewarm. And lukewarm is a very dangerous spot to be in because it starts feeling comfortable. You know, you're not completely away from God, but you're not completely surrendered either. You're close enough to the church to feel religious, but you're far enough away from Jesus to keep your own life, your old life. Lukewarm is not the place to be, my friends. He said he would spew us out of his mouth, did he not? And listen at this. Romans 12 and 1 says, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. People a living sacrifice. And you know what that means? That means telling the Lord, Lord, my life is yours. My life belongs to you. My plans, my future, my time, everything I own belongs to you. That's what being a living sacrifice means. My friends, Joshua said in Joshua 24, 15, he said, choose you this day, whom you will serve. He said, choose. Today, not tomorrow, not someday. Today. He's not saying, don't say I'll do it later, I'll pray later, or I'll stop doing this later, or I'll choose later, I'll change later. My friends, we are not promised later. We're not promised later. Picture Elijah. Close your eyes and picture Elijah standing before Israel, telling them, you know what? He's standing in front of a whole nation, telling all these people. He'd ask one question, how long? He's asking them, how long are you going to live divided? Friends, listen to me. You need to take your foot off the fence. If Jesus is your Lord, then follow him. If he asks you to surrender for something, then surrender it. If you've fallen, he will pick you back up. If you've wandered away, just come home. And if you have been living lukewarm, I beg you people, get on fire again. Let go of the world and grab a hold of Christ with both hands. Put both feet on his side. Both feet on his side. And I am going to finish with this. The cemeteries all around us is filled with people who thought they had more time. They're filled with people who said, I'm going to get right with God tomorrow. I'm going to pray to God tomorrow. I'm going to change my life around tomorrow. I'm going to listen tomorrow. I'm going to read the Bible tomorrow. They thought they had time. Hell is filled with people who intended to get right tomorrow. But my friends, heaven is filled with people who answered his call today. I I'm asking you and I'm begging you to not walk around with a divided walk or a divided heart. Don't walk around with one foot

Elijah’s Question And Choosing Today

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in the church and one foot in the world. My friends, walk around with both feet planted on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. The solid rock that doesn't roll. Eternity is too long to be wrong. Joshua said again, Joshua said in 25, 24, verse 15, choose you this day whom you will serve. And the choice is yours. And I must say there's consequences with those choices. And I must also warn that consequences last forever. Choose you this day, whom you will serve. And my friends, if my voice sounds urgent right now, it's because eternity is urgent. If if these words sound serious, it's because heaven is real. Hell is real. And the cross is real. And I don't want to see anybody, anyone, not one person walking around with a divided heart or divided walk. My friends, Jesus Christ gave everything to save us. He deserves our everything. Now I wish I could sit down and and just put it right in your head and your heart and and and make I wish I could force you. I mean, I really do, but I I can't force anybody to open up their hearts and their minds and listen. That's the Holy Spirit's working. I'm sure he's working. My friends, trust me, today. Choose this day whom you will serve. Because he told us we can't have we can't serve two masters. We can't serve two masters. I hope this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me to bring it to you. And I hope and pray that you've heard what I've said here today. And I hope and pray that you open up your heart and your mind and you ask yourself, have I given myself wholeheartedly? Have I gave everything I can in my life? Have I gave it all? Have I surrendered it all? Have I gave him my all? Because he gave his all. Ask yourself that. Do you have one foot in the church and one foot in the world? Because, friends, this world, I'll repeat it, this friends, friends, this world is going to pass away. And this world never gave you nothing. This world never shed its blood for you. This world never gave you nothing.

Urgent Appeal, Prayer, And Closing

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Trust me on that. I'm going to end this with a prayer. Our Father in heaven, Lord, I hope and pray that somebody heard these words. I hope and pray, Lord, I ask you to just let these words penetrate the hearts and the minds of the people out there today that need to hear it. I hope people wake up and open their eyes and pull this out of their hearts and their souls and ask themselves, am I really living? Have I really given my all? Have I really got my feet out of the world? Lord, I ask you to touch these people out there today that needs to hear this. Let the people that need to hear it, let them open up their hearts and their minds. Let them that have an ear to hear. Let them hear it. Because you said your word would never come back void, and I believe that wholeheartedly. Lord, just let them understand. Let them understand before it's too late. Lord, we thank you for this word. We thank you for everything you've given us. We thank you most of all for giving your son the die on the cross so that we can all live. We ask these in all things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

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Go visit our website at HOR421 Show.com. More content and information. Recorded at 421 Studio. Contact information, you can email at HOR421 Ministry at gmail.com. Phone number 239-8495.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

So I'm singing the place with my mind. I'm singing the praising with my mind.