This episode explores the question of whether God wants us to be happy, using Paul's life and writings as the central case study. It argues that God's goal is not our temporal happiness or comfort, but our growth, faithfulness, and deep reliance on Him through every circumstance. Paul's suffering — beatings, imprisonment, anxiety — shows that hardship is normal even for the faithful, and that the proper response is not to suppress emotions but to bring them honestly to God in humble, thankful prayer. True contentment, Paul teaches, is a learned secret: not the absence of hardship, but unwavering trust in a God who delivers at just the right time.

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/086-does-god-want-us-to-be-happy/

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Discussing Paul’s thorn in the flesh and why God’s answer “My grace is sufficient” reframes weakness as the place where Christ’s power becomes clear. We connect Paul’s suffering, Satan’s limited role, and the call to endure so we stop relying on ourselves and start building on Christ with lasting strength.
• questioning whether we are spiritually hungry and what grace means in daily life
• unpacking the “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12 and why it stays
• seeing weakness as the stage for God’s power rather than a spiritual failure
• applying Paul’s thorn to our own hardships and personal limits
• clarifying how God could use Satan’s actions without authoring evil
• tracing the theme of suffering in Paul’s calling from Acts 9:15
• learning from the church discipline story where restoration follows repentance
• responding to fear and anxiety with prayer, memory, and God’s promises
• rethinking “the way of escape” as endurance in Christ, not avoidance
• warning against self-reliance with the building and fire imagery in 1 Corinthians 3
• resting in God’s faithfulness even when we falter from 2 Timothy 2:13

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/085-what-was-pauls-thorn-in-the-flesh-2-corinthians-12-7/

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• Modern churches misdefine fellowship as something broken and restored through repeated confession and repentance — scripture does not support this.
• The Holy Spirit permanently perfected fellowship between believers and God; seeking ongoing reconciliation is no longer necessary.
• Fellowship is not earned through good behavior; it is about walking by the Spirit in daily trust and dependence on God.
• Suffering is a gift God uses to mature believers and conform them to Christ's image — not a sign of broken fellowship or God's punishment.
• The prosperity gospel contradicts apostolic teaching; Paul and Peter both modeled rejoicing in suffering, not avoiding it.
• Suffering takes many forms — persecution, loneliness, loss, illness, doubt — all of which invite deeper dependence on God.
• Christians can fall away from grace (Galatians 5:4) by turning to rules, worldly distractions, or self-reliance, but this is not a loss of eternal salvation.
• Eternal life is a once-for-all gift received by faith; the Holy Spirit remains with believers forever (John 14:16).
• Fellowship with God is ultimately about present-day salvation — daily deliverance from the destruction caused by turning away from God's guidance.
• Believers are called to endure through all circumstances, lean on one another, and trust God as their deliverer (Romans 5:3-5).

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/084-what-is-fellowship-with-god/

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We challenge the modern end-times script by testing rapture language, second coming claims, and “watch the news” theology against Jesus’ own timeline in Luke 21. We argue that AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem sit at the centre of the prophecy many believers keep pushing into the future, and we call for a return to the finished work of Christ and our identity under the new covenant.

• spiritual hunger created by rhetoric and double talk
• asking whether beliefs come from Scripture or hearsay
• a personal trigger moment that exposes rapture assumptions
• comparing Moody Bible Institute claims with biblical timelines
• Jesus’ sign of Jerusalem surrounded by armies
• “this generation” as a first-century time marker
• AD 70 history and parallels drawn with Revelation
• questioning third-temple expectations and modern Israel narratives
• challenging dispensational claims that recast the cross as accidental
• returning to grace, finality, and believers as God’s temple

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/083-is-jesus-coming-back/

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We take on the hardest form of the question “Did God create good and evil?” and refuse to settle for rhetoric that leaves us doubting God’s goodness. We read Isaiah alongside Paul, Jesus, and Martin Luther to find a sober, grace-filled way to trust God’s sovereignty without making him the author of sin.

• why Isaiah 45:7 and Isaiah 53:10 sound jarring at first read
• the difference between God revealed in the Word and God’s hidden will in Luther’s Bondage of the Will
• how the free will debate changes when you ask who is actually in control
• what Romans 8:28 means when suffering is real
• Paul’s “not rely on ourselves” lens in 2 Corinthians 1
• why Jesus and Stephen forgive their killers instead of blaming God
• how God brings good out of evil without evil ruling him

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/082-did-god-create-good-and-evil/

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We trace the fear around “I never knew you,” set it in its first century context, and show why Jesus’ demand for perfection aims to drive us to faith in him, not to tally our works. We contrast false confidence in religious performance with the simple obedience of believing the Son.

• why “be perfect” exposes need and points to Christ
• who Jesus addresses in Matthew 7 and why context matters
• the will of the Father defined as believing in the Son
• false prophets identified by fruit that diverts from Christ
• why resumes of power do not prove salvation
• being known by God as union with Christ, not awareness
• assurance grounded in Jesus’ finished work, not effort
• practical method: let Scripture interpret Scripture

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/081-i-never-knew-you-matthew-7-21-23/

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We challenge the habit of treating God as absent and call listeners to the freedom of Galatians 2:20—Christ living in us through the indwelling Spirit. Stories, Scripture, and honest questions expose legalism, replace anxiety with abiding, and invite a return to first love.

• the living center of Galatians 2:20
• Luther’s story as a grace wake-up
• mistaking church culture for self-help
• be still and know as a practice
• Jesus’ union with the Father as the pattern
• the promised indwelling of the Spirit
• new heart, new spirit, real regeneration
• abiding in the Vine versus self-effort
• jars of clay carrying divine power
• remembering cleansing to resist corruption
• serving from freedom, not for favor

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/080-christ-lives-in-me-galatians-2-20/

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We question whether heavenly rewards are wages for effort or the present fruits of abiding in Christ, using Scripture and a Wizard of Oz parable to rethink crowns, timing, and Paul’s race. We land on a simple call: stop striving for what grace already gave and live from union with Jesus.

• the five crowns as facets of salvation in Christ
• Paul’s race as focused dependence, not merit
• Hebrews on Jesus’ perfected obedience through suffering
• abiding as the source of true fruit, not activity
• rethinking timing and urgency language in the New Testament
• Revelation’s crowns as worship, not status
• practical shift from earning to receiving and stewarding

Blog Post: https://wakinguptograce.com/079-heavenly-rewards-and-crowns-oh-my/

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