He Calls Me His Child with Marie Chapian

0:00 Hello, everyone. I'm Stephen Strang, and welcome to this special edition of the Strang Report podcast. And today is my honor to be able to talk to a longtime friend who has written a book that I believe will bless you. Her name is Marie Chapien, and she and I were talking, and I think we've known each other absolutely since the 80s and maybe before. She's written for Charisma Magazine. I even had the honor of publishing a couple of her 40 books. Can you believe it? And she's just written a new one that's just released from Broad Street, and it's called, He Calls Me His Child. And because I've known Marie for so long, I know she's a real woman of God.

0:56 She's very deep, very thoughtful, and she's written a brilliant devotional. And I'm going to ask her about it and also just kind of catch up with what's going on. So first of all, let me greet you and thank you for taking time to work in this podcast. It's a delight to be here, Steve. Well, when I got the publicity from your marketing company about the new book, I said, I know Marie. I've known her for years. In fact, I think we even did some stories about you and Charisma back in the day, lots of mutual friends. And I must say that you must write a book on youth because you look so young. You haven't changed much in all these years. Maybe your hairdo is a little different, but you're looking great. Thank you. You look great too. Wow. Yeah, you haven't aged. Well, we won't go there. So anyway, tell me, you've written 40 books on many different topics, and you've had a lot of success, New York Times bestseller, all that kind of stuff.

2:04 You've had many different publishers. Why did you write this book and what's in it for the reader? You know, when we know that he calls us his child, that God calls us his child, but what does that mean? What does it mean that I'm his child? When you think of Jesus walking the earth, he was his child, the Son of God, and he knew who he was. I often think of him on the ship when the storm came up and they were overcome with fear and terror, and the storm was horrible, and he just stood up and said, you know, peace be still. How could he do that? He did that because he wasn't one with the storm. He didn't identify with the storm like we do if we pray, oh, heal me, heal me, heal me. We're more identifying with what we need healed than who it is who does the healing and who we are in him. Jesus could do what he did on earth as man and as God, because he knew who he was. Absolutely knew. He knew scripture. He knew who he was, and this is the same gift that he gives to us when we know that we are his child. Well, that's beautiful. And the devotional, which

3:40 is how long does it take to read the devotional? And also you have some affirmations. You've got scriptures. Just talk to me about it, because I believe very much in having a personal quiet time. I do it every single day without question, and I always look for something new just to make it interesting and also to draw closer to God so that it doesn't become dead religion or rote or boring. And this is a resource that I think will bless and inspire many people. Well, there are 100 meditations in the book. I call them meditations, not chapters, because it's something to really read and think about. What are we talking about here? And at the end of each one is an affirmation, several of them. And affirmations are the truth that we speak to ourselves. I can do all things through Christ who strengthen us me. I walk in the power of God.

4:45 I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. I have the joy of the Lord in me. I walk in joy. Do you hear what I'm saying? And if I say these things all day long, it's very hard for me to get depressed. It's very hard for me to jump out of the spirit. I'm called to walk in the spirit, right? I'm called to walk in the spirit. I am also called to do something else. I am called to live in joy. How do I do that? I have to know the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness doesn't last. Happiness also needs an antecedent. It needs something before it to happen. Like, you get a good phone call from an old friend, oh, you're so happy. But a year later, you really don't remember that moment, you know, like that. Well, really, a few hours later, you may not remember it. And you're right, or you win a prize or something happens that makes you happy.

5:48 Christmas morning makes you happy. But joy is something that we can be joyful, even if a loved one dies, even if bad things happen to us. Talk to me about that. Because joy lives in us. It lives in us. Galations 522, 23, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. These live in us. They're alive in us, ready for us to call on them. Now, happiness, on the other hand, is something that we think lasts forever, but it doesn't. Happiness doesn't last because it always needs something. Joy needs nothing. Joy does not need things to go well. I think about Paul and Silas, you know, in jail, in Acts 16, they've been beaten miserably, you know, this story. They've just, and they're shackled on the wall, and they're bloody and bleeding. And do they say to each other something like, can you believe this? How long is this going to go on? Where is God? Why doesn't he answer us? I know it's terrible what we go through. How long do we have to go through this? Let's see who can loan the longest, you know? I mean, they know. They, something, they called on from within.

7:12 They called on joy, and I think it might have started sort of just really slowly like, like, in the morning, I think it happened like that, and they sang, and they, and it became so loud that other prisoners, not only did you hear that, what is that singing? You know, they heard him, and not only that, their joy caused an earthquake. You know, joy is power. And when we reach inside for that, when we say, happiness is good, and I love it, thank you, Jesus. I love to be happy. I love those things that make me happy. I love it when people are nice to me, and I get good things, and prayers are answered, and I love all that. But Lord, I thank you that I can call on joy that needs nothing, needs nothing. I can be sick. I can be in prison like Paul and Silas, and it's there for us. And I'll tell you something else. It takes practice. There's that scripture verse that tells us that, that the mature practice, their faith, and this is where quiet prayer comes in. And I'm so glad you mentioned that you have your quiet time every morning. And you know, we all should, we all do more likely. It's all the way, the time we should start the day. For me, it's become a habit, which makes it easier to do. But you know, you talk about self-talk.

8:46 I think that's so important. Most of us are not even aware of how negative our self-talk is. I can't do that. God doesn't hear me. You know, I'll never change. These people in my life will never change. And so to start the morning, being remind, you know, before we really get going in our day to be reminded of who God is, to be reminded of the scripture, to remind of the truth, this is so important. And while you're talking, I realized that maybe this is something I can share. I don't know that I've ever shared this publicly. But recently, I came across some affirmations in a book, not yours, another book. It wasn't even a devotional. And I've recorded them on my cell phone. And when I'm in the car, you know, it's, I hit play and hear myself going over these affirmations. And I really believe that it's helped me, even though there are things, Marie, that I've believed for years and years and years. And in some cases taught other people. But then I find out that I get away from it myself. So I think that we have, it's almost like health.

10:04 You know, you can eat healthy and exercise. And if you quit doing it pretty soon, your health is going to deteriorate a little bit. And then we have to be remembered to eat the right things, to get enough sleep. And it is, it's, it is health, isn't it, Maria? It's spiritual health. And it's much more important than our physical health. I'm so glad you said that because I do the same thing. I do in my darkest hour, one of my dark hours, I just recorded everything. I recorded all the love scriptures. I'm called with an everlasting love with love and kindness. He is drawing me. And I like you would hear my own voice telling myself the truth. And the truth is what lasts forever. The truth is what has the power. The truth is what moves mountains, you know, and the truth is powerful. So when you're talking about, you know, the negative things, that's our mind clutter. We are not aware of how much noise we live with within us, that mind clutter, your mind is going all the time, baby, baby, baby, what a blue, you know, all the time. So in this time, this set apart time, I'll tell you about quiet prayer, the set apart time where you, you say, well, all right, in the next 20 minutes, you set your timer and you sit and you sit very quietly. This is quiet prayer and quiet prayer, Christian meditation. You know, Jesus was our first Christian

11:36 meditator. He taught us how to withdraw and how to pray in the Bible. He even tells us in Mark 1.35 that he withdrew all the time. So here we are. We sit down and we just sit and breathe quietly and ask for nothing and talk about nothing. Simply enter his presence and we drop things, you know, we drop the problems for these minutes. I have no problems. I have nowhere to go. I have nothing to do. Nobody needs me. I have, I lack nothing right now. I have everything. I am nothing, have nothing, but I am everything and have everything in him right now in his presence. And you know, you just sit there. When I first started doing this about 15 years ago, Steve, I was, you know, it was hard for me to sit still. I kept waiting for God to say something, you know, to, for a prophetic word, you know, I kept waiting. But I realized that's not what it was for. So it took me a long time.

12:56 I studied, I traveled, I went to Egypt, I went down to Mount Sinai, I actually climbed Mount Sinai, Steve, can you believe it? Hey, that's something we haven't come and I've climbed Mount Sinai too. 1979. We climbed Jebel Musa, which is, I found out there were two other Mount Sinai's. Yes. So that was incredible. I did it when Israel owned it and now it's gone back to Egypt. So was that the same timeframe as you did? No, I just did it in September. And it was really not easy to get down to the Sinai Peninsula, you know, through the Suez Canal and everything. I mean, that's where the Taliban hides out in the Sinai Peninsula there. And so it was, it was not all that safe. But I made, it's been a life kind of dream for me. And to see that monastery, you know, St. Catharines, to see, I'm not Catholic, but I'm madly in love with, you know, the Christian history of meditation, the Abbas and Amas of the desert who ran from Jerusalem after Jesus was crucified, just to meditate, to be alone with God, to pray for the world, and to just be silent with him.

14:20 And something happens to us and happened to me. You know, I went all over, I've gone all over the country going to silent retreats and hold them now myself and just to teach us how to be quiet and be okay with it. And I don't mean just for a minute or two, you know, take a deep breath, take a deep breath, everything is good, calm down. And it's not for the purpose of calming down, it's for the purpose of being one with him, where everything lives, or everything exists, or every, every gift, every moment exists. These are the best moments. I give him my best moments in those moments. You know, that's when I'm at my very best. When I'm all alone with him, I give that to him. I don't give it to the world or to any place else. It's right there alone, alone with him. And he then makes these the best times of the day. And the quiet prayers begins to go longer and longer. And I just hate it when it's over now. You know, I used to watch the clock, you know, I just think, oh, it's two minutes, only two minutes. Oh, okay, you know.

15:43 And now it's, oh, I think we can all relate. And that is so beautiful. And, you know, I asked you before we went on the air, if you would share one of your meditations. And so I'm going to do my normal wrap up, and then I'm going to want you to just read the meditation, the person who's watching and listening to just quietly listen, let it soak into their spirit and to understand that they can do this every day for 100 days. And I haven't asked yet for people to subscribe to the Strang Report, hit the little bell that lets you know when we're on every Tuesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. Eastern time, and share this with others, particularly people that you believe would really be ministered to. And in fact, we'll just end the podcast at the end of your meditation. I've never done this before, but I want people to get the book. Of course, it's available on Amazon, and I'm sure in many, many bookstores around the country. So tell people how they can get it. It's called, He Calls Me His Child by Marie Chapion, C-H-A-P-I-A-N.

16:56 And so it's easy enough to find. And is there anything you want to say before you start reading the meditation? How about I pray? How about I pray something in the book where I'm not, my eyes aren't down, and I can see who your audience is and just talk? Is that okay? Of course. I'll talk. Okay. Okay. And you can get the book through Amazon, Christian booksellers everywhere. And so they're out there. Oh, and Barnes and Noble carry it. Secular Bookstores carry it. Here we go. When happiness flies away. We talked about that a little bit by Marie Chapion. Happiness is a dependent emotion. It depends on something else to be happy. Happiness is not a permanent emotion. And that's what bothers us. Take, for instance, you receive a phone call from a long lost friend and you're elated. Can that feeling last until the next day when you win a prize?

18:00 Finish a task. Find something you've lost. You feel happy. A year later, the feeling's still there? No. We mistake the word happiness for contentment and well-being, but these are distinctly different because they indicate a state of being, even though also dependent. The word blessed and happy are often used interchangeably, but we don't say, God happy you. Blessing is not something that is fleeting or temporary. We need to trade our exhausting pursuits for happiness and the disappointments that accompany it. For a new understanding of happiness as an emotion that comes and goes, it's not that happiness is fickle. It just needs certain events or things to take place before it can emerge as a happy feeling. There's a feeling better than happiness and it's not temporary. It's part of you that you may not have access fully yet, but because perhaps you didn't know the truth about it, I'm calling it joy. Joy is in you no matter what's going on in the world around you. I don't mean avoidance or denial behavior like we're children of law, law, land.

19:12 If happiness is not permanent, neither is unhappiness. We lose much in a lifetime, including possessions and loved ones, and happiness seems to fly away from us. Grief can move in, outweighing happiness, contentment and well-being, but all of these are impermanent. It's impossible for something greater to move in and to overtake these feelings and that something is joy. Think of joy as a verb. Joy is something we do. As a verb, joy is action and not something that happens to us. Joy depends on nothing outside us. As a child of God, joy lives within you right alongside love and peace. The joy of the Lord is a gift to you from the Holy Spirit. And that's from Galatians 5, 22 and 23. The joy in you awaits you to call. The joy of the Lord within you is calling for activation, is what Paul and Silas called on when they'd been badly beaten and imprisoned from their feet, bound in shackles. They rejoiced and sang so loud the other prisoners could hear them. And that's from Acts chapter 16. They didn't beg God to help them. They didn't ask why us. They weren't angry at injustice or their suffering. No, they rejoiced. They called on joy so beautiful and inspired God to start an earthquake, loosen the chains and split apart the jail. It caused the

20:44 jailkeeper to become a believer in Christ. As happiness is a skill you teach yourself, joy is a spiritual gift you call on. Start affirming today the spiritual power and abilities you have within you to help. You'll find 100 thoughtful meditations that he calls me as a child, followed by almost a thousand scriptural affirmations to repeat daily. Here are three scriptural affirmations to tell yourself when happiness seems to fly away. Number one, moments of happiness are great, but the joy of the Lord is my strength. Nehemiah 8 verse 10. Number two, I choose to rejoice in the Lord always. I counted all joy. Rejoice in the Lord when I meet trials. James 1, 2, and number three, Jesus has given me his joy. I am abundantly filled with joy, which is John 15 verses 10 and 11.

21:46 So that's by Marie Chapion. I think it was beautiful. I wanted to share it and I hope people will get this book. He calls me his child. Brad New from Broad Street, thank you so much for Marie for being with me. Why don't you close in prayer as you suggested before? Okay, thank you. I love the way you read. You just read beautifully. Thank you. So I just want to pray for you now. You who are listening to this podcast and listening to Steve Strang and knowing who he is and all the food and nurturing and love he has for you, just like Jesus.

22:28 There is so much love surrounding you right now. There is so much beauty and I just speak that beauty to reach into the deepest part of you, that part of you that cries out for more of those gifts and those fruit of the Holy Spirit that are right there in you. You know, it's a kind of a shallow soul that cries out for what's already there and you are not a shallow soul. You are a child of God looking forward to understanding what it means to be called his child. And he is saying to you right now, I love you, rise up, be strong, take your joy, take your power, be an earthquake.

23:16 And I just stand with you and I just will keep praying for you because you deserve every good thing that you've asked him for and he hears you and he loves you and all is well. Be still, he says, and know that I am God. Amen. Amen. Do you ever feel discouraged? Do you need hope? The world is so upside down that even if you believe there is power in the Holy Spirit, sometimes you need to be reminded that greater is he that is within us than he is in the world. My new book, Spirit-led Living in an Upside-down world, was written to give you hope, to remind you of things you know, to explain spiritual truths that you didn't understand or maybe have forgotten. I draw in my decades of covering the worldwide move of the Holy Spirit to give you examples and stories of great men and women of God from Jack Hayford to Catherine Kuhlman and many others explaining spiritual gifts and telling stories of victory in the face of trials and temptations. I wrote this book for you and I want you to read it.

24:42 It's easy to read with lots of practical stories to help you. It is not a theological treatise on the Holy Spirit. In a way, it's a self-help book looking at the spiritual side of life. So if you long for more of God and to experience the power of the Holy Spirit and the power to rebuke the spiritual attacks in your life and boldness to stand for God, when the cancel culture wants you to sit down and shut up, then my book, Spirit-led Living in an Upside-down World, is for you. You can find the book wherever Christian books are sold, including amazon.com or mycharismashop.com. Remember, the Holy Spirit is here to help us now and for all the days ahead, no matter how upside down the world gets. Enjoy the book and God bless you.