Skip to content Choosing to Risk Resistance, Rejection, and Revilement Jun 30 · 45 min ...more
Choosing to Risk Resistance, Rejection, and Revilement
June 30, 2026 · 45 min
A testimony that God weaves joy, suffering, and faithful journaling into a life prepared for His purposes and carries us when we cannot walk.
Series Russell Gray's Morning Muse June 30, 2026 · 45 min · Russell Gray's Morning Muse
A testimony that God weaves joy, suffering, and faithful journaling into a life prepared for His purposes and carries us when we cannot walk. ...more Show the full description Show less A testimony that God weaves joy, suffering, and faithful journaling into a life prepared for His purposes and carries us when we cannot walk.
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In this video 0:00 Matthew 10: Freely Give and Biblical Capitalism5:14 Facing Resistance, Rejection, and Revilement10:22 Personal Journey and Turning Point Ties21:08 Choosing Time: Deny Self, Embrace the Call41:01 Mountain Musing Wrap-Up
Matthew 10: Freely Give and Biblical Capitalism 0:03 Welcome to another morning news. I am your host, Russell Gray, excited to be with you as I always am. This time, I'm not in my normal thinking chair. This time, I'm up in Sedona, Arizona at my0:15 wife's home, and it's beautiful up here. And I always feel like I have a deeper connection with God when I'm up here. I don't know why. You know, you'd look in the scripture and it talks about these mountaintop0:26 experiences and you would go into the mountains to meet with God. And I know that it's not like that anymore that we can go directly into the throne room to obtain grace and mercy through our salvation, through0:37 our relationship with Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No 1 comes to the father except by me, says Jesus. And so when you're in Christ, you have direct access to God the father through the Holy0:48 Spirit, and the Holy Spirit comes and dwell within you to give you understanding. And so whenever I spend time with the Lord, I always invite the Holy Spirit in, and I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to1:00 me truth, to give me insight when I read the Bible, to make the word come alive, to have it really have meaning to me. And I have to say that the Lord is very faithful to do that. And part of1:12 the reason I share these muses with you is not to necessarily share with you everything the Lord is sharing with me, but to encourage you that I think if you spend time with him in the word and invite the Holy Spirit to
1:23 fill you, that you will have the same experiences I have. And he will speak to you in the intimate areas of your life. He knows your needs, your wants, your desires, better than you do. He knows
1:35 what's best for you clearly. He knows the end from the beginning. And I know that as I progressed in my journey of faith, I've had to come to the realization that sometimes I don't even know how to pray. I don't know
1:46 what I need. I don't know what I want. I certainly don't know how things are gonna turn out. Nothing about my life has turned out the way I thought it would. But now that I'm at this, what I call somewhat advanced stage,
1:59 I can look back and I can see how god had been orchestrating all of my life through a unique set of experiences, good and bad, hard and fun,
2:11 and some tragic, but preparing me for such a day as this, just like, Esther. And so I wanna encourage you if you're younger and you haven't had this experience yet, I gotta
2:23 believe if God is doing this in my life, he's doing it in all of our lives. He's doing it in your life. And you may not realize it. You may not think he's always with you. It's like that old footprints poster
2:35 where it talks about, lord, I see that there's 2 sets of footprints in in the sand, and we were walking together. And now there's only 1 set of footprints. What happened to you? And of course, famously,
2:47 the response is nothing happened to me. That's just where I was carrying you. You weren't able to walk on your own. And, of course, you know, I knew that earlier in my life, but when I went through my life, I actually
2:58 didn't really appreciate it. And, now I do. So I I hope that encourages you. So today, I got up this morning, and I opened up my Bible as I often do. And I I came to Matthew chapter 10. So I've been
3:10 working my way through Matthew. So for those of you that don't know, I went through an entire probably 18 months or so. I don't exactly know. Just reading through the Bible, and I made it through the entire
3:21 Bible, every word, every verse, and lots of journaling. And I didn't have a set reading script. I didn't have to get through anything by any date. I was just
3:33 camping out. Sometimes I would spend a whole session just on 1 verse. Other times I could read a whole chapter or 2. And it was just whatever the Lord was revealing to me in my life,
3:45 and I chronicled all that in my journals. And so then I created an index in an excel spreadsheet because I kinda like to do that stuff. And I would write down kinda the highlights of what God
3:57 revealed to me in that session so I could go back into my journals, which are all dated, and I could see what the Lord was saying to me in greater detail and how I was processing it and what
4:09 it meant. And every once in a while, I go back into those, and it's encouraging for me. I don't know what's ever gonna happen with these things. I mean, honestly, you know, when I die, maybe I just want somebody to burn
4:18 them all because it's pretty intimate just about me and everything that I go through. I don't know. Or maybe I'll be 1 of those guys that, you know, somebody finds it and find some value in it and someday many years from
4:30 now, somebody will read it and by then I'll be long gone and maybe won't care about whatever embarrassments are out there. If somebody can have a better life, if somebody can have a deeper relationship with the Lord, if
4:41 somebody can come to a saving understanding and into a relationship with Jesus Christ because of me being embarrassed, then then I'm all for it. I'm at a point where I really, I'm not gonna say I don't care because that
4:53 would be disingenuous, but I'm I'm certainly willing. And I've realized that it's all God's anyway, and so I might as well just make it all available. So I'm reading in Matthew chapter 10. This is where Jesus
5:05 sends the 12 disciples out. He gives them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. He sends them out, and he says, don't go to the Gentiles, don't go to the Samaritans,
Facing Resistance, Rejection, and Revilement
5:16 which were half Gentile, half Jew, but just go directly to the lost sheep of Israel. And that was, I think, the way I understand it anyway, not being a theologian was to fulfill the scripture that that salvation would
5:28 come 1st, to or through the Jews. And so that needed to happen to fulfill. Of course, later, we know with Paul's ministry that it all opened up to the Gentiles, that Jesus came to save all, and it was just the the line
5:40 of the the Jews from Abraham and that whole messianic line was designed to provide the savior and the Messiah, but he's come. And so now it's all opened up to everybody. I I know there's some people
5:52 out there who don't believe that's the way it works, but that I believe is what the Bible says. He says in verse 8, freely you've received, freely give. I think that's really important, especially in dealing with pride.
6:02 I know that there's times in my life where I get an insight. I have providentially beneficial circumstance. Something good happens. Some people would call that luck. I call it divine providence. But whatever you call it,
6:13 and then all of a sudden you wake up and you think you're a genius. You think somehow you've done something. Or you get scarcity mentality and you don't wanna share. Right? So I think that, you know, freely you've
6:23 received, freely gift. That's a choice. Again, we're talking about choices here. The choice is when you've received something. Do you hoard it? Do you keep it? Do you take credit for it? Or do you acknowledge this was a
6:32 gift from God? God gave me this gift to share with others. I always close out these podcasts with the admonition and the prayer that you're blessed to be a blessing. The purpose in being blessed is to be a
6:44 blessing to other people. You're a conduit. So Jesus says here, freely you've received, freely give. And then he says in verse 10, a worker is worthy of his food. And so sometimes I think we in ministry,
6:56 we just feel like we should give everything away for free, and I don't believe in that. I believe capitalism is the principle of creating value in your own life by being diligent, by working, by being fruitful, if you
7:07 will, and then taking the produce of your labor, the fruits of your labor, the fruits of your study, the things you've learned, the things you've gained, the things you've created, the things you've received, and then
7:19 sharing them with other people in an exchange of values like going to a potluck. I say this all the time. I'm going to bring something to the potluck. I'm going to take something from the potluck. If you go to a potluck
7:30 where everybody is just taking and nobody is creating or giving, then you have communism. You have you have very unproductive
7:42 obligation to love their neighbor by being a productive human being and bringing the fruit of that labor into the marketplace into an exchange of value. That's capitalism. I think capitalism, true main street capitalism
7:53 is a biblically sound Christian concept. And I know not everybody believes that part of my ministry is the Christian capitalist is to help people reconcile faith and
8:05 commerce. I I don't believe that money is the root of all evil. I believe that the love of money is the root of all evil. In other words, when you prefer money over service, when you it
8:17 becomes an object of pride or it becomes something you use to control or coerce other people, and it becomes a a means of oppression. That's like saying a gun is
8:29 bad. A gun is a tool. A gun isn't bad. The person holding the gun and what they do with the gun, it's either gonna be good or bad. You're either gonna protect the innocent or you're going to harm the innocent. Right? So
8:39 the tool doesn't do that. The human behind the tool does. And I think it's the same thing with capitalism, the same thing with money. And so it's it's really the choice of how you choose to live and how you
8:51 choose to see yourself in regard to God, how you choose to see yourself in regard to other people. So these are all choices that you make. And so then he says, when you go out into a household, greet it. If the
9:01 household's worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it's not worthy, let your peace return to you. And so what does that mean? Well, to me, you know, being in sales, being in business, and really just being an
9:12 evangelist. When you go out of the marketplace, you're gonna face the 3 r's. You're gonna face the possibility of resistance, and some of that's gonna be internal resistance. If you're on track doing what the Lord wants
9:22 you to do, there's a possibility, a probability you're gonna be resisted by the devil, 1st of all, lying to you, trying to discourage you, doing anything he can to distract you from God's plan and purpose for your
9:34 life, that's number 1. Then, you're going to meet people who are gonna resist you because you're a threat to them. You're a threat to their power. You're a threat to their paradigm. You're a threat to their world view.
9:44 And so, they're gonna resist you. If you look like you're gonna make any real progress, you're gonna meet not only resistance, you're gonna be rejection, and you're gonna be rejected, and then ultimately potentially
9:56 reviled. So I have resistance, rejection, and revilement. And that's just part of being anybody that's out there that is bringing forth any type of a message and asking people to
10:08 make hard choices. And Jesus in Matthew 10 is talking about making hard choices. And so he sends the disciples out and he says, extend your peace. If you're not received, then just move
10:20 on. And it made me think of Proverbs. I think it's 20 what is it? Proverbs 26 4 and 5. 1st 1 is, don't argue with a fool or don't answer a fool according to his folly, lest
Personal Journey and Turning Point Ties
10:32 you be like him. And then the exact verse seems to undermine that which says, answer a fool according to his folly unless he's wise in his own eyes. And so when I think about going into the market place and I'm trying to
10:42 persuade people whether I'm trying to convince them to choose Jesus, to choose life, to choose salvation, and reject lies, reject sin, reject separation from God, or
10:54 whether I'm offering them a product or service that can help them. And yet for whatever reason, they choose not to do it. And you have to understand in sales, you're not there to convince people to do
11:06 things that are bad for them. You're not there to convince them to do something because you need something out of it. You're there to help them overcome their own propensity to stay the same and resist
11:18 change. So if you think about it, if you go to a doctor and you're grossly overweight, you've got high blood pressure, and you are a heart attack waiting to happen, and the doctor
11:29 is trying to persuade you to choose to eat better, to exercise, to lose the weight, to make better choices about what you put into your body and how you use your
11:41 body. He's not trying to sell you something for his own profit even though he may charge you for the doctor's visit. He may charge you But if you join a gym, you're gonna pay to be a member of the
11:53 gym. But all of those people are providing essential services and opportunities in a support network to help you do something that is actually good for you, but for whatever reason, you're struggling
12:05 making the good choice. If you know and believe in your heart of hearts when you're offering somebody a product or a service in your business, and you know it's good for them because you've taken time to get to know
12:15 them, you understand their goals, you understand what they're trying to achieve in their life, but you also understand the things that are bringing resistance into their life. You're going to have to confront that
12:27 resistance. You're gonna help them overcome their own inability to make a commitment to make a decision and encourage them to make that good choice. So whether you're trying to get them to encourage them to make that
12:35 good choice. So whether you're trying to get them to make a good choice and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and eternal life, or you're asking them to make a good choice about taking care of their body or their
12:46 finances or doing a better job in their relationships, whatever your product or service is. If you believe it is in their best interest, then you have to push them to the point where they are gonna be confronted
12:58 with making a choice. And sometimes people don't like that, and sometimes people don't like it when they're holding on to a a paradigm. And there are things that we get told in marketing,
13:10 people that are selling products or service that actually aren't good for you, and people wanna believe that. Right? There was a time when doctors were being paid and were actually promoting that smoking
13:21 was healthy. They were encouraging pregnant women to smoke. My mother smoked when I was born. She was part of that generation of women that were being told it was okay. It wasn't harmful. Later, we found out that
13:33 it was, and a lot of that ended up being propaganda. Then later, you've gotta come convince somebody that's got an addiction to nicotine and smoking, maybe has created a self
13:45 image about who they are and what they enjoy and a whole lifestyle around smoking. And they are literally killing themselves, poisoning themselves, could be drinking,
13:57 could be any other form of addiction. Now, you know, you could make the argument. Okay. Well, some things are okay in moderation. That's a personal choice. I'm not here to judge. I'm not telling you. I'm just giving this
14:06 as an example of what happens when you confront somebody who's addicted or is committed to something that is actually leading them down a path that is not good.
14:19 And when you do that, they're going to resist you. The world resists Jesus Christ. They resist the name of Jesus. A lot of people say, oh, yeah. You know, I believe in God, and God can be, you
14:31 know, different things to different people. Jesus was pretty clear. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No 1 comes to the father except through me. And you say, well, yeah. But that's just a guy talking his
14:41 book. Okay. But if you look at it, really get it down to it, and I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but, you know, if you look at it, Jesus is the 1 that rose from the dead. I don't know that anybody else made
14:51 that claim. I don't know that there was any witnesses, you know. There's there's a lot of proof in creation. I think evidence that's pretty clear that there is a God, but that's only the beginning of the journey. The
15:01 next thing is who is he, and what is my relationship with him, and why did he create me, and what is expected of me. And if I'm part of an ecosystem, I'm part of a
15:13 creation, and I have a role to play, it seems logical that the best chance of having the best of whatever was intended for me to fit into the master's plan is to be busy doing whatever it is
15:25 he wants me to do. And that is that whole thing about seeking and finding and following. But when it comes down to actually confronting the issue of sin, of things that people are
15:37 addicted to, things that they're doing that are not good, they're not healthy, they're not right, then when you bring that to their attention, they don't like it. They don't like it. And so you're gonna meet some
15:48 resistance. If you push, you're gonna potentially meet some rejection. And what Jesus is saying, look, when you go out here, your job isn't to argue with people. And if you look at the proverb that
16:00 talks about don't argue with a fool, or don't answer a fool according to his folly, you have to ask yourself, what's the definition of a fool? Well, the Bible says in 2 different places, Psalm 14 1 and Psalm 53 1, the
16:12 fool has said in his heart, in his heart, in his desires, there is no God. I don't want there to be a God because if there's a God, then there's accountability. If there's a God, then I need to make a choice. I'm either
16:24 going to serve or not serve. Joshua made it clear in Joshua 24 15. He's talking to the people as they're getting ready to go into the promised land. He says, look, if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose choose
16:35 for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served, which were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will
16:46 serve the Lord. And he challenged them. He didn't argue with them. He said, you do what you want. You do you, I'm gonna do me, but this is what I'm gonna do. And then you can take that a step further and be prepared
16:58 apologetically to explain why. Why are you doing what you're doing? Why do you recommend other people do that too? And they may or may not receive you, but you don't answer a fool according to his folly lest
17:09 you be like him. Well, what does that mean? Well to me, when you answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own eyes, you're dealing with his rationale. You're talking to somebody who is open, who
17:21 is interested, who is curious, who is generally interested in understanding the truth and is open to other perspectives in order to discover that truth. I don't find fault in anyone who's curious
17:33 even if their starting point is an abject disagreement with me. Conversely, I don't mind engaging in a conversation when someone is trying to convince me or present evidence to me of a point of view that I
17:45 may not initially accept. I believe that if I'm grounded in the word in the Bible, and I understand the principles of the Bible, and I'm in a relationship with Jesus Christ. And because of that, I
17:57 have the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, so I have discernment. That if somebody presents untruths to me, if somebody presents to me things that are antithetical to Christianity and my faith in God and and his
18:09 principles and purposes, that I will recognize that, and then I have an intellectual basis. Even if it sounds good, even if it sounds noble. I mean, there's so many things that happen
18:21 politically that sound good. They have great names. They have great causes. They have interesting people supporting them. But when you get into what they actually are, they're not good. And of course, you find that out
18:31 later because you know them by their fruits. Right? Policies are known by their fruits. What happens on the back end? Communism, socialism, bad policy, bad practice. Why? Because what happens when
18:43 a society adopts that? And certainly what happens when society forgets history that shows what happens every time societies adopt that. And so you have a responsibility part of again, Christian
18:55 capitalist is to go out and explain, especially Christians, why this rising tide of democratic socialism is actually quite dangerous to human prosperity and antithetical to the principles that I
19:07 think about commerce and productivity and exchange that are built into the Bible and the biblical worldview. Now I know not everybody agrees with me. So same thing. I'm gonna meet resistance. I will
19:19 make a argument, an intellectual argument, and as long as we're engaged in that kind of conversation, I'm answering a fool, if you will, according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. I'm imparting
19:30 wisdom. Now the flip side of that is that if I'm answering a fool according to his folly, I don't wanna become like him. What does that look like? Ad hominem attacks, emotional arguments that I can't back up with logic.
19:42 It becomes a shouting match. There's nothing productive gonna come from that. It just turns from frustration into anger and hatred, and hatred, if you follow it all the way through, becomes violence. And you see some of
19:53 that in society right now. You see fools, if you will, who in their heart have decided I don't want there to be a god. I don't want there to be accountability. If you stand for god in the marketplace, they're gonna
20:03 resist you because you're a threat to the decisions that they've made and the things they wanna do. You know, I'm a bit of a libertarian. I think the constitution allows people to choose like Joshua said, hey. Choose.
20:13 You get to choose. I think god says, hey. You get to choose. His whole point about going out and putting your peace out there, and if you get resisted, then just move on. It's not your job to convict their heart.
20:25 That's the holy spirit's job. Your job is to cast the seed. The lord brings the increase. I think the bible teaches that pretty clearly. And so you just have to understand whether it's a foolish conversation or whether
20:36 it's a potentially productive. And so I believe the bible has those 2 back to back Proverbs 26 4 and 5 so that you understand they're 2 different sides of the same coin. You're dealing with somebody who doesn't want
20:48 to acknowledge God, doesn't want there to be a God, but 1 is open and 1 is not. And if you're dealing with someone who cannot be reasoned with, then don't bother. Move on.
21:00 But if you're talking to somebody who is open, then plant the seed and then pray that God will grant the increase because that's his job not yours. Now with that said, I wanna share because I just got back. I I wentShow more
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