Words Reveal The Heart

A single line from Luke 6 can expose a lifetime of excuses: a good tree cannot produce bad fruit. We start there, then follow the thread into the way our words reveal our inner life, why hypocrisy is so tempting, and why Jesus pairs moral clarity with personal repentance. If I want to speak boldly, I also have to be willing to pull the “log” out of my own eye and stop pretending that hearing truth is the same thing as obeying it. 

From there we move into practical discipleship, including 1 Corinthians 7 and the often-ignored reality that marriage intimacy, mutual responsibility, and self-control are spiritual matters. We talk about how temptation feeds on distance and resentment, and why agreed, time-limited abstinence is framed as an exception for prayer, not a normal pattern. The goal is not shame, but honesty: what kind of fruit is my home producing? 

We also connect scripture to the real world, including horrific examples of violence and a blunt challenge to modern “compassion” that protects ideology while leaving women and children exposed. Along the way we read Psalm 68 and its picture of God as defender of the vulnerable, revisit the centurion whose faith amazes Jesus, honor a Medal of Honor recipient, and reflect on the forgotten stanzas of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and what it means to trust God as a nation and as individuals. If this kind of biblical worldview matters to you, subscribe, share the show, and leave a five-star review so more people can find it.

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Transcript

Fruit Reveals The Heart

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Luke six, forty three through forty five. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thorn bushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. October fourth, twenty twenty five, Brighton, UK. Woman was raped on Brighton Beach in the early hours by three asylum seekers Egyptian nationals who had entered the UK via small boat months earlier.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

One filmed the attack while the others carried it out.

Prayer For Mercy And Strength

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Hey folks, this is Jesse Coke back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and attention, a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast and tell others about it, thank you. For those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness. Thank you for those people that you put in our lives who encourage us, support us, care for us.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Thank you for those who have gone before us and shown us such a great example of following your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive us when we fail, Father. Forgive us when we go our own way. Forgive us when we ignore those who are stumbling toward the edge of the cliff and pretend we don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Be with those who are hurting and alone. Sick, injured, ill. Those who are dying and those they leave behind.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Be with our military. Our law enforcement, our firefighters, EMS. Those fighting overseas and those fighting here inside the United States to protect us. Be with our leaders in the pulpit and in the state. Give them wisdom and courage. Help them to lead in fear of you. To rule in fear of you. Be with those listening to the podcast, Father, please be with their families. Bless their marriages. Guide us all home to you in the end.

Leftism And Islam In The West

SPEAKER_01 3:09

And God my words are pleased in your sons' name we pray. That case that we read at the beginning, folks.

Marriage Intimacy And Self Control

Logs In Eyes And Obedience

Centurion Faith And Authority

Psalm 68 On Justice

Proverb And Supporting The Podcast

UK Grooming Case And Accountability

Medal Of Honor Spotlight

Star Spangled Banner And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_00 3:27

That's that's what leftism today in Western civilization, particularly in America, but in the UK too. That's what they defend. It doesn't really matter why. It doesn't matter what the reason is. That's the fact. They defend illegal immigration, they defend Islam, they support it. And that's mainstream. It's not fringe, extreme, on the edges. It's mainstream. And just to be perfectly clear, because my pastor often talks about the fact that we like to group people, right, to say they. So when I say they, I'm talking about friends, neighbors, family members, coworkers, acquaintances, anybody internal to the United States that openly, knowingly continues to support the ideology, the values, the virtues of leftism, socialism, communism, Nazism, fascism, or Islam. Marriage verse for today. The husband should meet his wife's sexual needs, and the wife should do the same for her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not refuse to meet each other's needs unless you both agree to for a short period of time to devote yourselves to prayer, then come back together again so that Satan might not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I'm saying this to give you permission. It's not a command to abstain, right? It's permission if you both agree to. And for a limited period of time, how many marriages inside the church today, just talking to the Christians right now that are listening? How many marriages inside the church do you think follow that? Do you think only abstain from sex for for very limited amounts of time, specifically to pray and to fast? And how many marriages do you think where the husband and wife give authority over their body to their spouse? Luke 6.39, verses 7, or 6.39 through 710. Then Jesus gave the following illustration. Can one blind person lead another? Won't they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their teacher, but the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite. First get rid of the log in your own eye, then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye. I think of this often, folks. We want to give advice to other people so often when our own life is an absolute mess in that particular area. I'm not talking about in general, right? Because nobody's perfect. So obviously you can offer advice in certain areas of your life, but a lot of times we like to offer advice in the area of our life that we're most messed up in. And it's we offer advice that makes us look better. It would be one thing if we were messed up in that area, but we offered advice according to God, and we knew that we needed to fix that area too. That would be one thing, but that's not what we do often. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thorn bushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. So why do you keep calling me Lord, Lord, when you don't do what I say? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the flood water dries and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins. When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. If anyone deserves your help, he does, they said, for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us. So Jesus went with them, but just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, Lord, don't trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say go and they go, or come and they come. And if I say to my slaves, do this, they do it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel. And when the officer's friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed. One of my all-time favorite stories, right there, folks, about the centurion. Psalm 68, one through eighteen. Let those who hate God run for their lives, blow them away like smoke, melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God, but let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy. Sing praises to God and to his name, sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord. Rejoice in his presence. Father to the fatherless, defender of the widow, of widows, this is God whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely and families, he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy, but he makes the rebellious live in a sun scorched land. O God, when you led your people out from Egypt, when you marched through the dry wasteland the earth trembled and the heavens poured down rain. Before you the God of Sinai, before God the God of Israel, you sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary land. There your people finally settled, and with a bountiful harvest, O God, you provided for your needy people. The Lord gives the word and a great army brings the good news. Enemy kings and their armies flee, while the women of Israel divide the plunder. Even those who lived among the sheepfolds found treasures, doves with wings of silver and feathers of gold. The Almighty scattered the enemy kings like a blowing snowstorm on Mount Salman. The mountains of Bashan are majestic, with many peaks stretching high into the sky. Why do you look with envy, O rugged mountains, at Mount Zion, where God has chosen to live, where the Lord Himself will live forever, surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots. The Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary. When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives, you received gifts from the people, even from those who rebelled against you. Now the Lord God will live among us there. Proverbs 1128. Trust in your money and down you go. But the godly flourish like leaves in spring. Countryside. If you are looking for a family-friendly middle grade read, if you would check out the Countryside series, I would appreciate it. These are the first two books in the series. The first one, The Book of the Wise. You can find it online. There's some reviews for it. Amazon, Barnes and Noble. There's hardbacks, paperbacks, ebooks. And if you enjoy it, that's the second book, The Tears of Adina. If you would leave a review, those reviews help immensely, especially the five-star ones. Same thing for the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, those five-star reviews help a great deal. And if you have a cup of coffee each month, five or ten dollars that you can donate to the podcast, that helps. There's a link in the show notes where you can buy the book and set that donation up. So thank you very much. Very grateful for that. Kylie. A lot of stuff happened in Kylie, if I'm pronouncing that right in the UK. I'm probably not. Late 1990s. Teenage girl, uh, somewhere around 13 or 14, was groomed, repeatedly raped, and sexually abused by a gang of Muslim men from Pakistan. They were given a term originally around six and a half or nine years, but it was increased to 10 to 11 because they felt it was too lenient. Uh somebody appealed it. And why why was it so lenient? It's still lenient. 10 to 11 years for repeatedly raping a 13 or 14-year-old girl as a group of men. I mean, that should just be the death penalty. Shouldn't really be much of a discussion about it, whether you're in America or the UK or anywhere else. That's that's what your coexistence that's what people don't understand about supporting Islam or supporting the left. They think they're being kind, but you're not being kind. You're abandoning women and children. You're abandoning the most vulnerable among us to evil. It's not kind, it's not caring, it's the opposite. Medal of Honor for today, William H. Brown, Landsman, U.S. Civil War, USS Brooklyn, U.S. Navy, August 5, 1864. Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, Alabama. On board the USS Brooklyn during successful attacks against Fort Morgan rebel gunboats and the Ram, Tennessee in Mobile Bay on 5 August, 1864. Stationed in an immediate vicinity of the shell whips, where, while were twice cleared of men by bursting shells, Brown remained steadfast at his post and performed his duties in the Powder Division throughout the furious action, which resulted in the surrender of the prize Rebel Ram, Tennessee, and in the damaging and destruction of batteries at Fort Morgan. Accredited to Maryland, not awarded posthumously, born 1836, Baltimore, Maryland, died November 5th, 18. Oh, sorry, born 1836, died November 5th, 1896. Buried Arlington National Cemetery 27, TAC 565, TAC 8, Arlington, Virginia. Location of Metal National Museum of the American Sailor, Great Lakes, Illinois. William H. Brown. Another name to add to our list. So I wanted to go in and read the last few stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner, because we don't remember them often enough. But I don't think I think I let myself run out of time. So I'm going to try and read the last two by Francis Scott Key. On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes. What is that which the breeze or the towering steep, as it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? I started with the wrong stanza, so this is going to go over, I'm sorry. Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, and full glory reflected now shines in the stream. 'Tis the star spangled banner, oh long may it wave, Or the land of the free and the home of the brave. When our land is illumined with liberty's smile, if a foe from within strike a blow at her glory, down, down with the traitor that dares to defile the flag of her stars and the page of her story. By the millions unchanged who our birthright have gained, we will keep her bright blazon forever unstained, and the star spangled banner and tribe shall wave, while the land of the free is the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand between their loved homes and the war's desolation. Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just. And this be our motto in God is our trust. And the star-spangled banner and tramp shall wave or the land of the free and the home of the brave. I think those last two stances are important to notice when he's talking about traitors within and the fact that God is our trust. Folks, we we've trusted in God as a nation long before that motto was on our currency, which also actually goes back to the Civil War, by the way, and not the 1900s. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom of the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages, God bless your nation, God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.