Adventure in the Ascent
Eric Lovin
To the adventure in Him... This phrase has been a rallying cry for me and my circle of friends for years. We were designed for intimate relationship with God. Jesus made this possible through His sacrifice on the Cross. The veil was torn, and we were invited beyond. We were created for a grand adventure in which we come to Him in repentance, maintain intimacy, learn of Him, walk His path, and ascend the hill of the Lord. Let's ascend together and experience the adventure with God. There's more...
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Top 10 Adventure in the Ascent Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Adventure in the Ascent episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Adventure in the Ascent for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Adventure in the Ascent episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Mothers Impacting Generations (Exodus 2:1-10)
Adventure in the Ascent
05/14/25 • 26 min
Scripture: Exodus 2:1-10, Exodus 6:20, Hebrews 11:23-29, Proverbs 22:6, Acts 5:29
- Jochebed’s Faith and Vision:
- Jochebed, Moses’ mother, defied Pharaoh’s decree to kill male Hebrew babies, trusting God’s plan (Exodus 2:1-10, Acts 5:29).
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- Her obedience and closeness to God preserved Moses, the future deliverer of Israel, impacting generations for God’s glory.
- Identity in God:
- As a Levite, Jochebed was dedicated to God, instilling a godly identity in Moses (Hebrews 11:24).
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- Parents must pass down true identity in Christ (John 1:12), not worldly or traumatic legacies.
- Divine Strategy:
- Jochebed followed God’s unconventional plan, hiding Moses and placing him in the Nile despite dangers (Exodus 2:3).
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- Parents should seek God’s higher strategies (Isaiah 55:8, 1 Corinthians 2:16) rather than worldly logic.
- Great Faith:
- Jochebed’s faith is celebrated in Hebrews 11:23, as she trusted God over Pharaoh’s threats.
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- Parents are called to trust God fully (Proverbs 3:5-6), even in risky or uncertain situations.
- Vision for the Future:
- Jochebed saw beyond immediate threats, envisioning Moses’ role in God’s plan.
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- Parents must raise children with a long-term vision for godly impact, exposing them to worship, prayer, and ministry.
- Guarding Against the Enemy:
- The enemy targets children early (e.g., Pharaoh’s decree, Herod’s slaughter, modern challenges).
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- Like Jochebed and David guarding his sheep, parents must protect and train children in God’s ways (Proverbs 22:6).
- True Success:
- Success is not worldly achievements but raising children who love and live for God (1 Peter 4:2).
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- Parents should expose children to God’s presence, fostering a lifelong pursuit of His glory.
- Call to Action:
- Parents, spiritual parents, we pray for divine wisdom, strategy, and strength to raise godly children.
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- Seek Heaven’s strategy...
THE IMMANUEL PRINCIPLE- Development of Life with God: The Desire For You
Adventure in the Ascent
12/31/24 • 40 min
Immanuel (God with us) is not just a Christmas theme, it’s at the core of Scripture/heart of God. He desires to be with His people, and came to live with us so that we could live with Him. How do we take that concept out of the Christmas story and see it developed in the day-to-day? We have been invited into life WITH GOD. You are not meant to do life without Him or apart from Him. Outside of Him, everything is subject to distortion.
↠One of the most powerful themes in scripture is what many call the “Immanuel Principle.” Immanuel simply means “God with us.”
↠Incarnation/It’s more than just a Christmas-time “concept”
↠”God with us” is at the core of the heart of God
↠Matt. 1:23/Isa. 7:14, God has always desired to be with His people
↠“God with us” is the embodiment of all of God’s promises to Israel and to all who will trust in Him
↠Through sacrifice and mercy God makes a way to be with His people through the Old and New Testament
↠Understanding His heart for us
↠Genesis 3:8 sneak peek: the walking with God in the cool of the day, walks are personal, a desire to spend time (In the Garden song, captures concept)
↠The walks stopped (sin), rest of OT His getting us back to Him, points to NT
↠In captivity (Egypt), God delivers them (Ex. 6:7- “As My own people...”)
↠Promised divine fellowship (Lev 26:11–12)
↠Divine fellowship, closeness, through the Old Testament tabernacle
↠”Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (Ex. 25:8)”
↠Was to be a sanctuary/place where God could dwell among His people
↠Moses face to face as a friend, Joshua lingers in divine encounter (Ex. 33:11)
↠We see the draw to communion- We see the Immanuel Principal being developed more and more and now it's not just God’s heart but we see the heart of a few also turning toward their God (Song of Sol. 3:3)
↠Type/Shadow of Jesus- “Made His dwelling among us (John 1:14)”
↠Christ was born and came to “tabernacle” (dwell) with us, to deliver us from sin, enslavement, and live at the center of our own lives, but not in a tent or tabernacle made by human hands (Ez. 36:27 prophecy/1 Cor. 3:16)
↠From slavery/oppression to communion AND guidance
↠His presence/dwelling guided the Israelites (Ex. 40:36-38)
↠The people of God, once stuck in Egypt making bricks without straw, oppressed, now living with God at the center, and following His guidance, leadership, following the Presence to their promised land. We also begin as slaves, oppressed, but we come to Him, He redeems, and makes His dwelling in us, and desires to lead us, guide us- into the life that He has for us, Him at the center, God with us! (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
RESPOND THIS WEEK: Meditate on these verses & see His desire to be with you. Where do you need to simplify? Ask Holy Spirit for the grace & desire to have a Joshua presence longing. As you see His desire, make the daily, communion investment to see your desire for Him kindled deeply...
Live By His Every Word (Matthew 4:1-4)
Adventure in the Ascent
06/12/23 • 38 min
What natural bread is to the human body, the Word of God is to the human spirit...
His Word is the secret to the abundant life (John 10:10). We can’t try to live by natural means when we’re called to live by supernatural ones. What could be more valuable than knowing the personal voice of God our Father? Through Jesus, we have been granted access! What are you feasting on?
Out of the Desert & Shame to the King's Table
Adventure in the Ascent
04/25/23 • 43 min
From 2 Samuel chapters 4 and 9, we explore the life of Mephibosheth. A royal, whose name literally means "Shame Destroyer," living in the pasture-less place (Lodebar). An invite to the King's table of restoration, though, alters his course.
He is calling out those in relationship with Him, from the desert of shame into the palace. Pull up a chair and feast with the King.
1 Peter 2:9- "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
Fellowship- The Shared Life (1 John 1:1-4)
Adventure in the Ascent
04/18/23 • 29 min
We encounter the voice of John, the lovesick disciple, inviting us into a deep, relational fellowship with the Father...
When fellowship is the sweetest, your desire is the strongest that others may have fellowship with you; and when, truly, your fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, you earnestly wish that the whole Christian brotherhood may share the blessing with you.” -Charles Spurgeon
God Is Always at Work (Psalm 66:3-5, John 5:17)
Adventure in the Ascent
04/18/23 • 35 min
“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” -Jesus, John 5:17
God is always at work-- around us, in us, through His handiwork, but do we see it?
“God does not so much want us to do things as to let people see what He can do. . . . We must learn to live on the heavenly side and look at things from above. To contemplate all things as God sees them, as Christ beholds them, overcomes sin, defies Satan, dissolves perplexities, lifts us above trials, separates us from the world and conquers fear of death. . . . God is not looking for extraordinary characters as His instruments, but He is looking for humble instruments through whom He can be honored throughout the ages. . . .” -A. B. Simpson
Growth- Dividing Soul & Spirit (Hebrews 4:12)
Adventure in the Ascent
04/18/23 • 37 min
“...growing in every way more and more like Christ...” -Ephesians 4:15
We want to leave an inheritance of faith, not an inheritance of church attendance. In order to do that, growth must take place.
Part of that growth is rightly dividing soul and spirit as Hebrews 4:12 teaches us.
If you’ve truly come to faith in Christ, you’ve received a new spirit and a new heart. Your spirit has been perfected in Christ. You have every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3). A transformed spirit, yes, but what about your soul?
Are you confident that you are in Him, that your eternal destination is Heaven, yet still struggling in areas-- shame, wrong thinking, habitual sin, etc.?
What are the lingering issues of the soul that have yet to be dealt with or "divided?" Hebrews 4:12 instructs us that it is the Word of God, that is sharper than a two-edged sword, that does the dividing.
We want to become the person that He already says that we are under the blood...
Rain>Growth>Fruit- An Invitation into the garden of a soft heart
Adventure in the Ascent
08/04/23 • 36 min
Isaiah 55 is an invitation to "come..." In verses 10-11, we have a picture of the earth being watered. The guarantee is rain to growth to fruit, not just for the farmer, but for all. He then draws a comparison into how His Word flows and does not return void but goes forth producing fruit (Ps. 1:3). What has He said? What promises have been released? Where have you doubted? A soft garden of your heart is the desire of the Father...
Isaiah 55:10-11, Hosea 10:12, Deut. 32:2, 2 Cor. 9:10, Matthew 13:15
Learning to Lean with a Stayed Mind (Isaiah 26:3)
Adventure in the Ascent
08/30/23 • 37 min
Isaiah 26 is a song of salvation, part of a song of praise that spills over from the previous chapter. The prophet Isaiah celebrates God’s trustworthiness to provide all that the people need, including their ultimate need: salvation.
↠The benefits of possessing the mind of Christ- one is His peace/His shalom
↠“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (v. 3)
↠This beautiful promise was given in one of the darkest periods of Israel’s history, and today is no less of a dark time in our history- anxiety abounds (top issue)
↠Minds are occupied, overridden, anxiety-ridden, and Father comes in with the freedom of the offer of peace, not just peace but perfect peace (Phil. 4-6-7)
↠What is perfect peace (Hebrew: “shalom, shalom”)?
↠Words repeated for emphasis: “peace, fulfillment, completion, the way things ought to be” This perfect peace is offered to us.
↠The Father will “KEEP” us in this perfect peace
↠It’s the idea of a sentry, someone watching guard, He guards the peace that He gives, as we cannot maintain it ourselves
↠God as a sentry, guarding/promoting our peace, releasing His shalom, but there is a condition:
↠You will keep him in perfect peace...WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON YOU
↠It is fixed (Isa. 50:7), not looking to the right or the left (Exodus 2:12)
↠That word stayed is “leaning upon”– a mind leaned upon God
↠As we grow in the mind of Christ, we are learning to lean. Do you remember the song? “I'm learning to lean, learning to lean on Jesus...”
↠Prov. 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and LEAN not on your own understanding...” Putting my weight on/resting upon/fully supported by Him
↠What is “the mind” referenced here?
↠”imagination, imagination of the mind, creative imagination, or form.” The Hebrew word has the idea of that place where thoughts/ideas are formed, and then those inform our life and actions (Romans 1:18-21)
↠God gave us the power of imagination so that we could imagine according to sanctified reasoning- it must be based on His truth with our constant leaning into Him
↠We have to take our thinking and our mind/our imagination seriously (2 Cor. 10:5)
↠“Casting down IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God...” So, we could read Isaiah 26:3 this way: “He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind (his imagination, the form of his thinking) is stayed (leaning, fixed) on Him.”
↠We begin each day leaning/steeping in His Word & Presence, imagining with Him
↠“Because he trusts in You.” It all begins in trust: I trust You, therefore I lean on You, therefore I receive Your perfect peace (Isa. 12:2) He sees you, lean in with everything, trust, and receive His perfect peace, the shalom of God.
We are Created to Worship (Ex. 19-20, Deut. 19-20, John 4:19-24)
Adventure in the Ascent
02/17/25 • 40 min
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” -Jesus, John 4:23
"In worship, we enter, touch and are touched by the presence of God Himself. We've been created to live like that" - C. S. Lewis
God created us for the ultimate priority of worshiping Him. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever...” “Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words, based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself”
↠God was looking for an entire nation of “priests,” but they wanted to settle for an intermediary
↠Ex. 19- IF you will obey My voice, you SHALL be a kingdom of priests, “special treasure”
↠Ex. 20- They respond “No.” Moses, you speak with God, and tell us what He says, we are afraid. God desired a whole nation of priests, but they ended up with one tribe of priests, He wanted to deal directly with them, but they refused and got the law.
↠From SHALL to YOU ARE (1 Peter 2, Rev. 1:6)- New Covenant brings a new priesthood
↠Set apart for relationship, ministering to the Lord, directly, His own special people as He always longed for.
↠Why? “That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you.. (1 Pet. 2:9)”
↠God isn’t looking for worship. He is looking for worshippers- a priesthood proclaiming praise
↠Isaiah 43:21- “This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.”
↠Worship is a supreme responsibility for us, not just in song, but in heartfelt honor
↠We were created for worship (Rev. 4:11) & operating outside of intended purpose skews
↠Jesus explains further what the Father is looking for- a shift is coming! (John 4:19-24)
↠The location of worship no longer matters- we are the temple (Eph. 2)
↠Primary now is how and Whom we worship
↠Everyone worships- The only question is who or what we are worshiping. God designed us so that we would only find true fullness when we minister to and worship Him.
↠God is seeking true worshipers (implies false exist), we can’t honor with our lips when our heart if far from Him (Matt. 15)- come in repentance, hearts are close, focused on God
↠The true worshipers MUST worship Him in spirit and truth- from the heart/within, cultivate our heart for God. We come to Him in TRUTH/honesty, worship according to the whole counsel of God (John 14:6)
↠A few things about true worship:
↠Worship is our response to Him (1 Chronicles 16:29)
↠God is worthy of it, He deserves it (Ps. 145:3, Revelation 4:11)
↠Worship strengthens me (Ps. 103:1-5)
↠In worship, I am reassured of His presence (Psalm 73:23-26)- He is with me!
↠It fills me with true joy (Ps. 16:11), garment of praise for heaviness (Isa. 61)
↠Changes perspectives (Isa. 6)
↠It is warfare/a weapon (Ps. 149:6, 1 Sam. 16, Joshua 6, 2 Chron. 20)
↠Worship magnifies the Lord, releases His light, and dispels darkness!
Respond This Week: Look over these Scriptures this week. Ask Holy Spirit to deepen your understanding of being a true worshiper. Engage with God as you walk in your intended design of worship. Set aside personal times and a specific time in family this week to worship together- get creative and share with us what takes place. Let’s rejoice and worship together!
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FAQ
How many episodes does Adventure in the Ascent have?
Adventure in the Ascent currently has 43 episodes available.
What topics does Adventure in the Ascent cover?
The podcast is about Christianity, Spirituality, Discipleship, Religion & Spirituality, God, Podcasts and Jesus.
What is the most popular episode on Adventure in the Ascent?
The episode title 'BEING ROOTED: Pruning (John 15:1-5)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Adventure in the Ascent?
The average episode length on Adventure in the Ascent is 37 minutes.
How often are episodes of Adventure in the Ascent released?
Episodes of Adventure in the Ascent are typically released every 9 days, 17 hours.
When was the first episode of Adventure in the Ascent?
The first episode of Adventure in the Ascent was released on Mar 16, 2023.
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