Deception & Credit Card Debt: Joshua 9

Trusting the wrong person can lead to painful lessons, as I discovered during my wedding planning experience. In this episode, I share my deeply personal story involving deception that culminated in $14,000 of credit card debt, leading to a journey of reflection and spiritual growth. It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from the excitement of planning my wedding to grappling with betrayal from a close friend who mismanaged my finances. 

Through this experience, I learned to seek God first before making major decisions, grounding myself in faith as a safeguard against deception. Exploring the biblical parallels to my story, particularly the lessons found in Joshua 9, we uncover the consequences of hasty decisions made without divine counsel. It's crucial to recognize that deception can come in various forms, and awareness can protect us from potential pitfalls. 

Join me for an inspiring conversation on the significance of faith in navigating life's challenges. My hope is that sharing my story will encourage you to deepen your relationship with God and seek His guidance in every area of your life. 

Key passages:

Joshua 9

Joshua 9:3-7

Romans 1: 19-20

Download Birth of Jesus E-book Here - Scroll and download
Click Here for Devotional Link

Follow Jessi Morgan on social:
IG - @JessiMorganlife
TikTok - @JessiMorganlife
IG dedicated to Home & Design - @JessiMorganHome
Website: www.jessimorganhome.com/devotions
Contact: jessi@jessimorganhome.com

Podcast Music by: prazkhanal
Song: Whip

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Episode Overview
• 24:54 The Wedding Planner Scandal
• 6:00:29 Lessons Learned: Seeking God Over Human Wisdom

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello, hello. You're listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast, episode 44. This week's devotional is titled Deception and Credit Card Debt, joshua 9, and I surpassed 2,700 downloads. Woo, let's go. Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan. I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart my journey and love for Jesus Christ, my Savior. Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hot Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:34

This is a weekly devotional. I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier. It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born four months early in 2023. Through that challenging time, god worked in ways that truly amazed me. On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith, woven together with scripture, to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives. My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through. So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together. Let's all pray within Joshua 9, key verses Joshua 9, joshua 9, 3-7, and Joshua 1, 19-20. This week's devotional is hard to share on such a big platform. It's deeply personal and even to this day, it still disappoints me. I've moved past the anger, but, god knows, my heart still aches over the outcome. That said, I am at peace. So here it goes.

Speaker 1: 1:43

Many people know I'm married. I had a beautiful wedding in 2018 in Orlando, florida, surrounded by family and amazing friends. I cherish those memories, but there was some unexpected drama. It all started with a good friend and my first wedding coordinator yes, you read that right. First when I got married. First when I got married, my husband I'm sorry when I got engaged, my husband and I decided to take our time planning the wedding, so we had an almost two-year engagement. About a year and a half before the wedding, I set the date, chose my bridesmaids and began looking for a dress and venue. One of my good friends, someone I've known since she was six, was part of my wedding party. We had grown even closer after college and I loved her and her family dearly. I was excited to have her be a part of my wedding and when she offered to be my coordinator, I was relieved. She lived in Orlando and had great vendor connections and it seemed like, you know, the perfect fit. She helped me find a florist, emcee photographer, my dress and the venue. She even had her own LLC and a structured payment setup. So I shared my payment information and my credit card was billed monthly for the vendors.

Speaker 1: 3:06

Then, about seven months before the wedding, something told me to check my credit card statement. What I found shocked me. The balance, which should have been around $1,200, had skyrocketed to $14,000. I had been making payments but hadn't checked the details for months. I immediately called my friend to question the charges, but she brushed me off, saying she was busy and was about to go on an interview. As I reviewed the transactions, I noticed a strange charge for car insurance in Orlando. Weird, that didn't make sense. I didn't own a car there. When I called the company, they told me the policy was under my friend's boyfriend's name. I was in disbelief. I froze all charges and repeatedly tried to contact my friend. Soon I discovered my photographer was never booked and that I had lost thousands of dollars. In the end she lashed out at me calling me insecure, a liar and pathetic. She even said I couldn't handle anything without my mother, who had stepped in to help because of the stress I was under. Of course. She then dropped out of my wedding and blocked me on all social media platforms.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Mature right Deception at its finest. But you know what? I realized that part of this was my fault too. I relied on human wisdom and knowledge instead of seeking God first. I didn't take the time to research or consider other options, other coordinators. I never thought about working individually. I mean, I never even thought about working with a close friend and establishing boundaries or anything. I just jumped in headfirst, and it cost me.

Speaker 1: 4:56

This reminds me of Joshua 9. After Israel defeated Ai in chapter 8, the people of Gibeon feared they would be the next to be conquered by Israel, so they tricked them. They tricked Israel so badly in Joshua 9, israel, so they tricked them. They tricked Israel so badly in Joshua 9, 3-7. And here is a summarized version. They disguised themselves in raggedy-looking clothes, pretending to be from a far distant land, and begged for a peace treaty. Joshua and the Israelites believed them without consulting God. Later they discovered the deception, but it was too late. Israel had made a treaty and had to honor it, no matter how they felt, and you will see the repercussions of that treaty in the next chapter next week. So, anyways, the lesson.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Deception can take many forms and if you don't seek God first, our hasty decisions can have lasting consequences. For Israel, it was an unwanted alliance. For me, it was $14,000 in credit card debt entering the marriage. It took over four years to pay that off, a financial burden I never should have carried in the first place. And while the debt is gone, the disappointment lingers. And that's what sin does. It lingers. It makes you feel guilty, ashamed and sad. But here's the truth. Sin can also be a teacher. It can strengthen our faith, makes us appreciate God's goodness and reminds us of what truly matters. It also teaches us to look to God first versus making hasty decisions.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Joshua and I both learned valuable lessons about deception, and we both learned that God is nothing like that. With God, what you see is what you get. He is faithful, just and true. He fights for you, he comforts you, he loves you unconditionally. There's no type of deception that lives within the Lord. This is why God needs to be your first counsel, your first confidant. Always, he's here to lead you to the right path in life. So let him.

Speaker 1: 7:05

And to wrap it up, it says Romans. And it says in Romans 1, 19 through 20, since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. So, since the creation of the world, god's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. You see no deception here. God is showing his qualities. Whether they're in your face, invisible, it doesn't matter. God is here. You can see his blessings, you can see the love he has for you through reading his word. There's no deception there. Amen.

Speaker 1: 7:53

Thank you guys for listening and let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for this lesson. Thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable and share something that really was a tough story for me to share. Thank you for the comfort that I hope that brought to someone and inspired someone to understand what deception is, how to avoid it, how to seek you first and then also Lord. I hope people understand listening that they sin, they make mistakes and they can move on. God wants you to move on and God wants you to understand that there's nothing you know, there's nothing deceptive about him. Father, we thank you so much for this lesson in Joshua. We thank you so much for this entire series on it and, lord, I pray that everybody who's listening to this podcast is blessed, encouraged and just knows that they're loved and that their stories are important as well. Father, I love you and I praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Until next time, everyone, we're going to be studying Joshua 10 and maybe 11. Thank you so much for being here. I'm just excited to have everyone here and just support it. Love you Till next time. Well, that wraps up this week's episode. I hope these devotions help you draw closer to God each day. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a weekly episode. Also, if you feel compelled, leaving a nice review would be so appreciated as well. For more information or to reach out, check the show notes or visit jessimorganhomecom or find me on Instagram at jessimorganlife. Remember God's timing is always perfect. Keep trusting him Until next time. This is Jessi Morgan praying off Jesse Morgan Devotions Behind the Scenes, starting right now.

Speaker 1: 9:50

I know some people are going to be like what, jessica? 14,000 in debt? Yeah, 14,000 in debt. It was rough, it was not fun. And dealing with that debt going into your wedding, it was, um, it was a lot, but you know what I remember. My mom said you know what, jessica? No, you're going to enjoy your wedding, god's going to take care of it. And let me tell you the amount of blessings we received with that wedding. And God took care of it and it was just such a beautiful time. And, um, I just still have great memories of my wedding. But the other praise I will say I had 14,000. I called my credit card company and the good thing is I had my statements, everything was online in the account and I was able to get back around $5,000. So the debt went down to like nine grand or so. So that was great and at least I worked towards getting rid of that for the next four years. But I was grateful because at least that happened, you know.

Speaker 1: 10:52

But, man, you know, sometimes even people that you're good, cool with and you know this friend had kind of not the best reputation at times in high school, but they never did anything to me. But sometimes you just have to listen to your instincts. I had some feelings but I ignored them and that deception happened and I never looked at other options. I never sought God first, I never said, hey, maybe I shouldn't do this. I just did. I just went right in and I basically did what Joshua and them did with the Gibeonites and it was, you know, lesson learned. But I'm at peace now with it. Pray for that person all the time and, you know, no hard feelings anymore. Still hurts because it was a friend that I cared about, but no hard feelings, god's good Till next time everyone.