How to Abide in God’s Word

Claire Black: This is True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together we’ll explore God’s truth for us one drive at a time. If you want to be so full of truth that there’s no room for this world’s lies, you’re in the right place. 

Now, knowing what is true and what is not can be pretty complicated in our world, do you think? Well, this season of True Girl is all about helping you win the battle for truth in your mind. And we’ll do it using one magnificent and melodious tool, music! The songs you listen to affect how you feel and what you’re tempted to believe. Bottom line: it is important to listen to the right kind of songs. 

Today, we’ll figure out if your playlist is a big thumbs down, or it might be the kind of music that you turn up and sing at the top of your lungs. Let’s get moving for the first episode of our third season, titled “How to Abide in God’s Word.”

Here’s your co-host, Staci Rudolph. 

Staci Rudolph: Hey, hey, hey! Welcome back, true girl! I missed ya! If you’re new here, what’s up? I’m Staci Rudolph. 

Dannah Gresh: And I’m Dannah Gresh. 

Staci: And let’s just get right to it, true girl.

Dannah: Yeah, let’s do it. 

Staci: I gotta a question for you. Do you ever hear a certain song and all of the sudden it just totally changes your mood?

Dannah: Entirely. I have one actually. You want to hear it? Let me play it for you.

It's a beautiful morning . . .

Staci: Uh, Dannah? I hate to break it to you, and that’s a classic. It’s nice, but it’s super old. 

Dannah: Yeah exactly! That’s the point; it’s a golden oldie. That was “It’s a Beautiful Morning” by The Rascals. I was a big hit way back in the 1960s. I wasn’t even born when it became a hit. But I play that song in the morning when my twin grandbabies Adi and Zoe stay overnight. So, it’s not just that the words are happy, peaceful, hopeful words, but I have an experience that I attach to that song, because I’m happy. I’m giddy with joy when those sweet, little twin girls are in my house when I wake up. 

Staci: I love it! Okay okay, I got one like that, now it’s another oldie, but it’s a goodie if you ask me, okay? 

It's a lovely day . . .

("Lovely Day" by Bill Withers)

Dannah: Well, I gotta say Staci, it’s kind of a lovely day. 

Staci: Okay, I see what you did there. I don’t know, but it just makes me happy. It just makes me look forward to the day ahead. I feel like things are going to be lovely.

Dannah: Yeah. I love that! It’s lovely. Okay, so the point is some songs make us feel good feelings, and that’s good right? 

Staci: Yeah. But some can make you feel real bad. 

Dannah: Mmm. 

Staci: And that is real bad. 

Dannah: Yeah. I don’t want to play a song that makes me feel real bad. I’m not going to play one of those for you, but you need to know about this, since you’re the person in charge of your emotions. So, I did a little research for you. 

Staci: You love your research. 

Dannah: I do. I do. So, in one study of music from the 1950s until the year 2016, the expression or the words of anger and sadness in most music in our world, gradually replaced happy and hopeful positive words. 

Staci: That is true. Songs like “It’s a Beautiful Morning” have been replaced with titles like “I Wanna Die but I Can’t.” 

Dannah: Yeah. That’s actually a song title. 

Staci: Ugh . . .

Dannah: Can you believe it? Okay, today’s most popular songs are violent, they’re aggressive, angry, even sometimes, Staci, they’re disrespectful towards girls and women. 

Staci: I’m going to guess you’re going to tell us how that’s impacting us as girls and women, right?

Dannah: Of course, I am! So during five separate experiments, females and males, so both boys and girls, have felt angrier and more unhappy after they listened to some of today’s most popular songs. 

What? Okay, so the bottom line is this: music does impact your emotions. And if you listen to the wrong kind of music long enough, you could get stuck with sticky feelings that make you mad, sad, and all other kinds of bad.

Staci: Exactly. And listen up: the music, Netflix, YouTube, all that stuff we put into our minds, is not only making us feel good or bad about ourselves, but it’s impacting what we believe about ourselves, God, and our world. 

All that crazy talk on the TV is sending us messages about who we should be, and we don’t want you to be blind to the impact that those things can have on your faith. 

Dannah: Preciously. In fact, that’s the most important thing we’re going to talk about. You have to be careful about what you listen to, what you watch. In fact, let’s check the Bible to find out how to be set free from any confusing emotions or messages the media may be telling you. 

Here’s my friend and True Girl lead teacher, Chizzy Anderson. She’s going to read John 8:31 and 32 for us. 

Chizzy Anderson: “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ’If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

Dannah: Wow! I mean think about that! Jesus made us a pretty big promise when He said that. He was saying you don’t have to feel confused about what you believe. You don’t have to feel imprisoned by bad feelings, instead you can be free. 

But, did you hear there’s something you have to do to experience that freedom? You’ve got to abide in God’s Words.

Staci: I gotta be honest though, Dannah, that sounds great and all, but how? How do you abide in God’s Word. 

Dannah: Well, let’s take a look at the word “abide,” okay? Because that’s kind of a word we don’t use a whole lot, so we need to define it. One definition says it means, “to continue without fading.” Another definition for abide means to “remain stable.” So, to abide means “to continue or to remain.” 

So, to abide in Jesus’ Words, which we find in the Bible, you would spend a lot of time reading the Bible, thinking about it, talking about it, learning about it, your mind stays on it, continues thinking about, remains on the topic of it. It’s like your thoughts are superglued to the truthful words of Jesus. 

Staci: I like that. Superglued to the truth of Jesus. But I gotta know, Dannah, we’re getting vulnerable here, right?

Dannah: Yup. 

Staci: I’ll be the first to admit, sometimes I am actually superglued to my screens and not my Bible. If I’m not careful I can catch myself spending too much time watching YouTube or listening to music videos.

Dannah: Yeah, I get that. I have the same problem. I want to be super clear, okay? It’s not that everything we find in those places is bad, but a lot of times the messages you hear are not truthful. And when they aren’t, that can make us feel confused. It can distract us from staying superglued to the truth of Jesus. 

But if you take time every single day to read the Bible, you’ll start to recognize what is true and what is a lie when you watch Netflix or hear a song. So, that will help you filter your music and stuff, and by that, I mean you’ll know what you should put on your playlist. 

You’ll also know what you should give a big thumbs down to and never listen to again. It’s all about keeping your mind on truth. 

Staci: Okay, I find that I like to abide in God’s Word by listening or singing worship songs. 

Dannah: Yeah, me too. 

Staci: I’ve always just kind of loved music, you know that about me. 

Dannah: Yeah. 

Staci: I learned early on that it was just a good way for me to remember things. It helped me focus on the characteristics of God and learn what His Word was teaching me and kind of put it in my heart. 

Dannah: Well that, my friend, is precisely why we made the True Girl original album. It’s worshipful, fun songs created specifically to help us abide in truth. Each song tackles a topic that you might need help with—your emotions or friendship or beauty. And there are lots of songs that help us focus on God. 

Staci: One of my favorite parts of the True Girl tour is just getting to share those songs live from stage. You know I love that; I love to sing. 

Dannah: Yup. Me, too. 

Staci: I really want you to know that those songs are based on Bible verses, and each song is full of truth. So, they most definitely get a big thumbs up, if you ask me.

Dannah: You bet. 

Staci: So, you should be blasting those songs and singing them as loud as you can.

Dannah: Yup. In this season of the True Girl podcast, we’re going to go through some of those songs. We’re going to talk about the Bible verse behind each song and what it means. And then we’ll actually play the song for you so you can soak in it. And remember that’s one way that we can abide in truth. 

Staci: Okay, so first up is the True Girl theme song based on John chapter 8, verses 31 and 32, which Chizzy read for us earlier. But just as a reminder, let me run it back. It says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Dannah: Okay, so now as we play each of these songs, I want you to listen closely and try to hear how we included the Bible verse in that song. 

Staci: Okay, are y’all ready?

Dannah: I’m ready.

Staci: Here we go, here’s “True Girl” from the True Girl original album:

All the crazy talk I hear on the TV, TV
They want to tell me what to believe.
Who I should be, should be 
I don’t want to jump in blind
Just to be seen, be seen.
I want to spend my life
With my eyes on eternity.

‘Cause I know who I am
Got joy down in my heart.
I know God’s got a plan
He’s told me from the start.

I am a true girl.
Jesus is my foundation.
Tell the whole world
I am a new creation.
I am free;
I am a masterpiece.
And I fearfully and wonderfully me;
I am a true girl. 

I am I am I am a true girl
Won’t believe the lies that 
Beauty’s on the outside, outside.
When the world’s against me, 
I want to shine bright, shine bright.
The love of Jesus will show 
In my life, my life
The truth that set me free will always shine.

‘Cause I know who I am
Got joy down in my heart.
I know God’s got a plan
He’s told me from the start.

I am a true girl.
Jesus is my foundation.
Tell the whole world
I am a new creation.
I am free;
I am a masterpiece.
And I fearfully and wonderfully me;
I am a true girl. 

I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am a true girl.

I am a true girl 
Jesus is my foundation. 
Tell the whole world
I am a new creation.
I am free
I am a masterpiece.
And I fearfully and wonderfully me;
I am a true girl. 

I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am I am a true girl.
I am I am I am a true girl.

("I Am a True Girl." True Girl Album.)

Staci: Oh man, I’m ready for that song to abide in my head all day, that’s for sure. 

Dannah: Nice way to use the word “abide,” Staci. Yeah, that one will do it to you. But here’s the good news, this song brings truth into your life. 

So let me ask, true girl, did you find the lines or the words that went with our key verse? Do you find any, Staci?

Staci: You know I did. I heard the one where it says, “I am free.”

Dannah: Ah. 

Staci: Now, that one definitely lines up with John chapter 8:31–32, if you ask me.

Dannah: Yeah, exactly. The one that I heard, a verse that really stood out to me says, “The love of Jesus will show in my life, my life. The truth has set me free and now Your light will always shine.” That last line there reminds us that the truth does set us free from the world’s lies and all those confusing fears and feelings that the world sometimes brings our way. 

Staci: Now, maybe you already read your Bible in the morning, or maybe you have devos at dinner with your family. It doesn’t matter what your abiding time looks like. 

Dannah: Right. 

Staci: It’s just important to have that time to abide in God’s Word. 

Dannah: Exactly.

Staci: Because when you do, you’re going to know the truth, and that truth is going to set you free. 

Dannah: I mean, think about it. This is logical, right? It’s just logical. If you spend all day with people who gossip, and then you go home and you watch a show about gossip, and then the music you listen to is all about gossip, what do you think you’re going to start doing?

Staci: Gossiping. 

Dannah: You better believe it. The same goes for truth. If you surround yourself with friends who speak kindly, and you read stories in the Bible about kind people, and you listen to music that encourages kindness, your heart will become more kind, just like Jesus’ heart.

Staci: That’s right. We’re just trying to stick close to the truth, Jesus, stuck like superglue. Or to put it another way, John chapter 15, I love this passage, Jesus said “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain [or abide, you could put that there] in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). 

When we remain or abide in Him our fruit begins to look more like His. We become more loving, more joyful, more peaceful, more patient. I think you get the idea. 

Dannah: Yup. I got it. As we end today’s episode, I have two things I want to share with you. 

Number 1: Remember that to know what to believe and to find truth, we have to abide in Jesus and His Words. He’ll teach you exactly what you need to be taught at the right time, because true girl, He loves you. 

Number 2: I just want to share a clip of my precious grandbabies singing True Girl. We like to play the True Girl album around the house for them, and well . . . Adi has started to catch on. So, enjoy the cuteness. Here it is.

Twins singing

Staci: Aww, that’s so cute! 

Dannah: I know! Oh my goodness, I’ve got to go squeeze her right now. See ya! 

Claire: So, does the music you listen to help you abide in truth? I sure hope so. But if you need some tunes to help to keep your mind on Jesus and His Word, check out the True Girl original album created just for you. You’ll find it on Spotify and Apple Music or you can just download the whole album and find more resources to bring moms and daughters closer to each other and closer to Jesus, just visit MyTrueGirl.com. 

Join us next time, we’ll talk about what to do if you think your family is weird. And why that might actually be a good thing. 

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to abide in God’s Word. 

True Girl song lyrics and music by Carmen Hadley and David Tulen.

All Scripture is taken from NLT.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.