WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:05.339 Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener 00:00:05.339 --> 00:00:10.419 podcast I'm your host Danielle Townsend and today 00:00:10.419 --> 00:00:15.699 we are recording episode 18 and I am so excited 00:00:15.699 --> 00:00:19.679 to say that we have gotten this far and glory 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:24.059 be to God we have gotten this far glory be to 00:00:24.059 --> 00:00:29.859 God he continues to Give me topics and give me 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.479 things to talk about I've said this on here before 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.759 that I never want to make an episode I never 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.320 want to talk about anything that I feel is not 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.579 led by the Lord Because I really feel like this 00:00:42.579 --> 00:00:45.920 podcast is the Lord's it's not mine Which means 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.000 that I really want to be thoughtful with not 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.380 furthering Myself and just like talking about 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:53.719 what I want to talk about I want to talk about 00:00:53.719 --> 00:00:57.229 what the Lord is calling me to talk about and 00:00:57.229 --> 00:00:59.490 y 'all what I feel the lord is calling me to 00:00:59.490 --> 00:01:01.990 talk about and I felt him really pressing it 00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:04.930 on me the past couple days but I was unsure of 00:01:04.930 --> 00:01:07.250 the direction to go in I actually tried to record 00:01:07.250 --> 00:01:09.730 this episode a couple times yesterday and it 00:01:09.730 --> 00:01:12.810 just didn't feel right and I was praying for 00:01:12.810 --> 00:01:16.950 the lord to guide me in this and I feel like 00:01:16.950 --> 00:01:21.349 I now have enough understanding of the direction 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:24.739 he wants me to go in And our topic today is really 00:01:24.739 --> 00:01:27.819 going to focus on works and I know especially 00:01:27.819 --> 00:01:31.159 when I was new in Giving my life to christ. I 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:33.799 had a lot of questions about works because I 00:01:33.799 --> 00:01:36.840 knew the saying faith without works is dead, 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.299 but I also had the understanding of Works don't 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:43.099 buy your way in heaven. Um, so it was really 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:48.760 hard for me to navigate like Does God care about 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:52.079 our works? How important are our works? Do our 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.180 works by our way into heaven? Do our works matter? 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:58.219 And you know, we're gonna cover a lot of those 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:01.540 questions today. But I have an interesting experience 00:02:01.540 --> 00:02:04.620 to share with you guys first that really emphasized 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:08.740 this topic to me. Now this past weekend I went 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:13.159 to my city every year has this street festival 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:15.840 where they have different vendors food vendors 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:19.379 and people selling handmade things and there 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:24.419 are old like Victorian houses that you can have 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:28.400 the opportunity to tour through to walk through 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:33.439 and this year on that tour as well there was 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.360 this building Now, this building, I've known 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:38.580 it since I was a child because I had ballet classes 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:42.840 there as a child. I had my proms there. This 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:45.400 building hosts all kinds of events, weddings, 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.060 prom, dance classes, like just about everything 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.500 you can think of. They have a big auditorium. 00:02:51.780 --> 00:02:54.639 This building was built in the 1920s. It's been 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.740 here for basically 100 years. I believe their 00:02:56.740 --> 00:03:00.550 construction... finished in 1926 so we're just 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:03.289 about at the hundred year point 99 years as I'm 00:03:03.289 --> 00:03:07.990 recording this episode and yeah there were tours 00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:10.650 allowed of this building so me and the person 00:03:10.650 --> 00:03:13.849 I went with we obviously purchased the tours 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:19.150 and we got to go in this place and I learned 00:03:19.150 --> 00:03:23.650 something very interesting that I did not know 00:03:23.650 --> 00:03:28.409 and I did not know that this building was at 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:34.050 one point a Masonic temple. Now I will tell you 00:03:34.050 --> 00:03:39.110 guys I do not know a lot about Freemasonry. I 00:03:39.110 --> 00:03:42.889 am not an expert. I am not even someone who can 00:03:42.889 --> 00:03:45.750 tell you a lot of facts about it. When I found 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:50.990 out that the place we were going into was a Masonic 00:03:50.990 --> 00:03:53.569 temple at one point because the more I was reading 00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:56.569 And I actually have the pamphlet here. It says, 00:03:56.750 --> 00:04:00.050 the building is noteworthy as a significant historic 00:04:00.050 --> 00:04:02.849 landmark in the city due to its size and prominence. 00:04:02.990 --> 00:04:07.210 The interiors include murals by Gustav Brand, 00:04:07.689 --> 00:04:10.370 depicting biblical scenes connected to Masonic 00:04:10.370 --> 00:04:13.710 rituals. And this kind of artwork is rare among 00:04:13.710 --> 00:04:17.110 other Masonic temples of its time. And I'm gonna 00:04:17.110 --> 00:04:19.410 tell y 'all honestly, when I first started reading 00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:22.170 that, my walls went up very quickly. And I kind 00:04:22.170 --> 00:04:24.230 of looked at the person I was sitting next to 00:04:24.230 --> 00:04:27.209 and I was like, what are we getting into? Because 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:30.569 y 'all know I have a history in New Age spirituality. 00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:36.529 And I know that Freemasonry, from what I've looked 00:04:36.529 --> 00:04:39.970 at in New Age, are not similar. But when I hear 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:43.990 rituals from my past experience, my brain... 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:47.560 my walls start going up instantly because my 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.620 mind starts going to what kind of demonic thing 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:52.100 am I stepping into? What kind of demonic thing 00:04:52.100 --> 00:04:54.779 am I walking into? Are there going to be like 00:04:54.779 --> 00:04:57.439 demonic portals that need closing? What's going 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:02.480 on here? But, you know, I chilled out. I relaxed. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:05.779 I recognized, hey, this is no longer an active... 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:10.009 ritualistic place to my knowledge the Freemasons 00:05:10.009 --> 00:05:13.649 I believe on the tour they told me left in 2013 00:05:13.649 --> 00:05:17.949 so but I decided to do a little bit of research 00:05:17.949 --> 00:05:21.230 because I had no clue what Freemasons were at 00:05:21.230 --> 00:05:24.670 this point so I also part of my fear of my anxiety 00:05:24.670 --> 00:05:26.790 was due to a lack of knowledge and hearing the 00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:29.129 word rituals I'll be real with y 'all and hearing 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:33.560 the temple rituals yeah it didn't sit right So 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:36.420 I do a quick Google search of like just what 00:05:36.420 --> 00:05:39.160 are some of the basic differences between Christianity 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:44.000 and Freemasonry and There was a list but one 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:47.720 thing that heavily stood out That I'm just saying 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:51.279 this is what Google had told me was that they 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:55.839 have more of a works based salvation meaning 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:01.069 your works are what gets you into eternal life 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:04.230 or your works is what gets you rewarded and you 00:06:04.230 --> 00:06:07.829 know I didn't go so far into Looking into all 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:09.709 of the rooted beliefs of what happens after death. 00:06:09.709 --> 00:06:13.370 I do under I do recognize My understanding is 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:15.810 that like all the Freemasons believe in a higher 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.110 power or a God not all of them believe in Jesus 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:20.129 Christ as a Savior There are different branches 00:06:20.129 --> 00:06:22.509 of people who do believe in Jesus Christ and 00:06:22.509 --> 00:06:24.850 it kind of branches off in that way but that 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:26.750 was one of the big things that stood out to me 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.889 is that works is a very prevalent and That there 00:06:29.889 --> 00:06:31.970 are many that believe in workspace salvation 00:06:31.970 --> 00:06:35.370 was what I had read and when I went on this tour 00:06:36.330 --> 00:06:41.810 um we went into there was a male temple a temple 00:06:41.810 --> 00:06:43.629 that was for males and where they would do their 00:06:43.629 --> 00:06:46.250 rituals and the artwork was absolutely beautiful 00:06:46.250 --> 00:06:50.829 and there was one for women and there were in 00:06:50.829 --> 00:06:53.769 each room like 10 different biblical scenes depicted 00:06:53.769 --> 00:06:56.410 and just about every single one of them was old 00:06:56.410 --> 00:06:59.329 testament i believe i saw one new testament one 00:06:59.329 --> 00:07:01.680 that was from the book of mark And it seemed 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:04.600 like they really focused in on Moses. It showed 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:09.959 Moses in the reeds, showcasing the works of the 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:13.839 woman that saved him, was that Pharaoh's daughter 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:15.959 at the time, or Pharaoh's wife at the time, that 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:18.759 had saved Moses from the reeds. It showed Moses 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:22.699 striking the rock. It showed Noah's ark. It was 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:25.699 all of these different Old Testament depictions. 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:27.540 And I did very quickly realize that there was 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:32.790 no Jesus up there. And when I asked the man who 00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:36.410 was guiding us on the tour, he had actually I 00:07:36.410 --> 00:07:38.870 just asked him, you know, do they do they tend 00:07:38.870 --> 00:07:40.850 to focus more on Old Testament or New Testament? 00:07:40.850 --> 00:07:43.069 I'm noticing a lot of Old Testament things here. 00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:48.550 And he told me that he was actually he wasn't 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:53.759 a Freemason. exactly. It was a branch, a denomination 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.220 that kind of branches off of Freemason, which 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:58.720 he explained to me was kind of close ideals. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:02.160 And he had explained that the reason why all 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.259 these artworks were depicted, he had confirmed, 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:06.779 was based on the works, as he said that they 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:09.540 were each up there to represent doing good works 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:11.959 or doing good deeds. And he had explained to 00:08:11.959 --> 00:08:14.600 us that good deeds were very important, you know, 00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:17.100 donating to things, volunteering for things, 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:21.079 all of that good stuff. And the more I was in 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.019 there, the more I recognized that there wasn't 00:08:23.019 --> 00:08:27.699 a lot of Jesus and a lot of forgiveness for your 00:08:27.699 --> 00:08:30.920 sins and faith, but there was a lot of works. 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:34.320 And after I left there, I started to think a 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.539 lot more about works. And I really feel like 00:08:37.539 --> 00:08:41.299 that is the topic that the Lord has placed on 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:45.759 my heart today. And I want to be very clear with 00:08:45.950 --> 00:08:49.289 my view and my stance right off the bat. I do 00:08:49.289 --> 00:08:52.210 not believe in workspace salvation. I personally 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:55.309 do not believe in workspace salvation. And I 00:08:55.309 --> 00:08:59.549 want to give you some different scripture real 00:08:59.549 --> 00:09:06.409 quick. Now I want to start in John 3 16. So we're 00:09:06.409 --> 00:09:09.029 going to open up our Bibles. We are going to 00:09:09.029 --> 00:09:12.629 flip to John 3 16. It says here, for God so loved 00:09:12.629 --> 00:09:15.980 the world that he gave his only son. that whoever 00:09:15.980 --> 00:09:19.860 believes in him should not perish but have eternal 00:09:19.860 --> 00:09:24.700 life. Eternal life being eternal life with the 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:28.659 heavenly father. You get to spend after you die 00:09:28.659 --> 00:09:32.139 here on earth your eternal life with the heavenly 00:09:32.139 --> 00:09:34.639 father in heaven. And that is if you put your 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.480 faith in Jesus Christ. And I would like to flip 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:45.379 to Matthew chapter 21. Sorry, I'd like to reword 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:49.500 that. Matthew chapter 7 verse 21. And it says 00:09:49.500 --> 00:10:14.759 here, And this right here, is showing me what 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:17.279 I take from this is that, you know, you can do 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.259 many good things, you can do many, many good 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:21.059 works, and that still isn't going to be what 00:10:21.059 --> 00:10:23.840 buys your way into heaven. See, the Lord, the 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.580 Heavenly Father, Jesus, they pay attention to 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:28.759 the reason why you are doing these good things, 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.039 these good works. Notice how Jesus differentiates 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:34.120 good works from the will of the Father. Not everything 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:36.679 that we consider as good works is something that 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.940 God wills for us to do. And we'll go more in 00:10:39.940 --> 00:10:43.320 depth in this. I'd also like to go to Ephesians 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:47.379 two chapter eight or chapter Ephesians two verses 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:50.460 eight and nine for by grace you have been saved 00:10:50.460 --> 00:10:52.659 through faith and this is not your own doing 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:55.779 it is a gift of God not a result of works so 00:10:55.779 --> 00:10:59.679 that no one may boast and That one to me is the 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:02.379 most clear spelled out thought our salvation 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:08.740 our forgiveness for our sins is graced It is 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:11.120 a gift from the Heavenly Father. It's not something 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.220 that we can earn. Jesus Christ didn't go to the 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:16.500 cross and spill his blood because we earned it, 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:19.600 but there is no worldly works. There's no earthly 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.639 works that we can do here that when we die, we 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.820 can go to the Heavenly Father and say, I did 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:27.480 A, B, C, D, E, F, G. I donated this much money. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:31.059 I did this much stuff. I did these kind of works. 00:11:31.139 --> 00:11:34.879 I deserve to enter heaven. It is by putting our 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:37.419 faith in Jesus Christ. It is by knowing that 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:43.320 Jesus Christ is the Son of God And came here 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:47.820 and died for our sins and rose again and we put 00:11:47.820 --> 00:11:51.840 our faith in him And that is how we are forgiven 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.659 for our sins. The way that it has always been 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:56.580 explained to me, because that is what stops us 00:11:56.580 --> 00:12:00.159 from going into heaven, right? Is that sin? Is 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:02.480 that debt that we are racking up in this lifetime? 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:06.360 That's the way I, when I was really trying to 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:07.840 break this down and really trying to understand 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:09.620 this, because some of these ideals were very 00:12:09.620 --> 00:12:12.179 hard for me to grasp. When I was really getting 00:12:12.179 --> 00:12:14.820 in Scripture and giving my life to Christ, You 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:16.539 know, it's funny growing up in the church I never 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:19.019 really questioned these things because I never 00:12:19.019 --> 00:12:21.919 really put my faith in it and once I started 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:25.059 really putting my faith in it and Really reading 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:27.200 scripture and really trying to build my relationship 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:29.340 with christ is when I actually started questioning 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:32.159 these things more Because I really wanted to 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:34.120 understand them and I really wanted to believe 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:38.120 them and what really helped me it Grasp it at 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:41.000 first is looking at our sin as basically like 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:45.399 a debt almost right like It's something that 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:50.580 it's a debt that we cannot pay for. We do not 00:12:50.580 --> 00:12:53.360 have the coverage to pay for this. So we're here 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:55.600 as we're sending, we're racking up this debt. 00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:58.669 And then one day it's gonna come time that we 00:12:58.669 --> 00:13:01.309 have to pay that debt. And that is something 00:13:01.309 --> 00:13:03.870 that none of us can pay. Our works cannot pay 00:13:03.870 --> 00:13:07.070 it. Our words, the way that we swindle, the way 00:13:07.070 --> 00:13:10.009 that we talk, we can't manipulate our way in. 00:13:10.070 --> 00:13:13.169 We can't bang on the door and con God. We can't 00:13:13.169 --> 00:13:16.929 emotionally manipulate God to let us in. So he 00:13:16.929 --> 00:13:23.279 sent Jesus Christ, who was perfect. Who endured 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:27.200 all of these temptations that we endure but stayed 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:32.659 strong And when he an innocent man was taken 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:36.580 to the cross when he he took our place What he 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:40.019 did was he took our place. He was sinless and 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:43.360 he took our place. He was beaten He was flogged 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.360 his insides were hanging out. He was completely 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.080 like Deformed after everything that he had been 00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:54.690 through And he was made to carry that heavy, 00:13:54.970 --> 00:14:00.149 splintery cross with crowns of thorns in his 00:14:00.149 --> 00:14:03.570 head and hung on that cross with nails in his 00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:10.309 hands and in his feet to die. When he never did 00:14:10.309 --> 00:14:13.590 anything deserving of that death. So what he 00:14:13.590 --> 00:14:16.490 did that day was he took the place where everyone 00:14:16.490 --> 00:14:21.470 who was, everyone who was living and everyone 00:14:21.470 --> 00:14:26.289 who would come to be, which is you and me. And 00:14:26.289 --> 00:14:29.049 when he resurrected from the dead, he conquered 00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:34.190 death, he conquered the enemy, he secured a victory 00:14:34.190 --> 00:14:40.850 for us. And when we Put our faith in him when 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:43.909 we believe that that really happened when we 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:46.350 believe that he really went to the cross When 00:14:46.350 --> 00:14:49.789 we believe that he really resurrected when we 00:14:49.789 --> 00:14:52.769 believe that he is really the son of God When 00:14:52.769 --> 00:14:55.649 we believe that he really did do these things 00:14:55.649 --> 00:14:58.610 and he really is conquering over death. We are 00:14:58.610 --> 00:15:02.850 putting our faith in him Right like what when 00:15:02.850 --> 00:15:08.059 we it starts with that belief And when we do 00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:13.080 that we are accepting His sacrifice and when 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:17.639 we accept his sacrifice it pays our debt You 00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.659 see that's not something that we are able to 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:23.740 pay and Jesus Christ came here and paid it So 00:15:23.740 --> 00:15:27.059 it's like we have a debt in our hands and what 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:30.320 Jesus Christ did is the payment and when you 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:36.690 give that debt to him His blood we it pays for 00:15:36.690 --> 00:15:40.049 it. Does that make sense guys? I hope I'm wording 00:15:40.049 --> 00:15:43.590 this Clearly, so that's why putting your faith 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:46.490 in him is required is because our Sinfulness 00:15:46.490 --> 00:15:49.470 is what stops us from going into heaven So our 00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:52.730 works are not going to pay off that debt how 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:56.549 much? Just you know, we donate and all of that 00:15:56.549 --> 00:15:59.090 like that's awesome to donate to things. That's 00:15:59.090 --> 00:16:03.440 awesome to be a help But that alone is not what 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:06.259 cleanses. Because you see, when we give, when 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:08.700 you hear people say that you are a new creation 00:16:08.700 --> 00:16:10.840 in Christ, and when you repent for your sins, 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.500 and when you lay things at the Lord's feet, you 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:17.539 are forgiven, that is part of that transaction. 00:16:18.410 --> 00:16:21.350 and we can get into one day of how the enemy 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:23.870 spiritual warfare wise likes to remind you of 00:16:23.870 --> 00:16:25.669 your past and likes to convince you of those 00:16:25.669 --> 00:16:28.049 things because that's him trying to strip away 00:16:28.049 --> 00:16:30.210 what Jesus Christ did that's him trying to strip 00:16:30.210 --> 00:16:32.450 away the forgiveness that's him trying to strip 00:16:32.450 --> 00:16:36.649 away the new creation but if you were having 00:16:36.649 --> 00:16:39.090 trouble understanding what Jesus Christ going 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:43.049 to the cross did for you that is what it did 00:16:43.049 --> 00:16:46.649 for you I talked about recently in my spiritual 00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:49.570 warfare episode how also the blood of Jesus is 00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:53.490 a protection for us in spiritual warfare But 00:16:53.490 --> 00:16:56.389 that is why putting your faith in Jesus Christ 00:16:56.389 --> 00:16:59.149 is what gets you access to heaven. Okay, and 00:16:59.149 --> 00:17:02.409 now let's talk about works Because when that 00:17:02.409 --> 00:17:04.670 was another big question I had when I was giving 00:17:04.670 --> 00:17:07.009 my life to Christ I started understanding. Okay, 00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:09.630 so it's my faith in Jesus alone that gets me 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.019 into heaven like that's what forgives me of my 00:17:13.019 --> 00:17:15.299 sins that's what cleanses me so what's the point 00:17:15.299 --> 00:17:17.940 of good works like that that's where my mind 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:19.779 went a little bit where it's like so if works 00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:22.940 don't buy my salvation if works don't get me 00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:25.680 into heaven what's the point of doing good works 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:31.000 what's the point of trying not to sin What's 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:33.700 the point of loving one another? What's the point 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:35.480 of forgiving? What's the point of all these things? 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:38.759 I'm gonna tell y 'all right now that God calls 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.960 us to do everything for a reason Forgiveness 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:45.819 loving one another that was covered in the spiritual 00:17:45.819 --> 00:17:49.420 warfare episode when you have unforgiveness You 00:17:49.420 --> 00:17:51.160 are giving room for the devil to come in your 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:55.359 life. So I'll tell you right now that works Some 00:17:55.359 --> 00:18:00.910 of the works you do of forgiving and loving and 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:02.650 things like that that I don't even know if they 00:18:02.650 --> 00:18:06.849 should be fully considered works, okay? These 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:09.009 are fruits, you know, fruits of spirit, joy, 00:18:09.269 --> 00:18:14.170 love, patience, self -control. But things like 00:18:14.170 --> 00:18:18.549 forgiveness and loving thy neighbor, loving thy 00:18:18.549 --> 00:18:21.670 neighbor as thyself. those things when you keep 00:18:21.670 --> 00:18:24.029 those in practice that is actually protection 00:18:24.029 --> 00:18:27.230 from the devil because once you have unforgiveness 00:18:27.230 --> 00:18:30.109 and once you have things like that in you that 00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:32.309 gives the devil a stronghold in your life that 00:18:32.309 --> 00:18:34.789 gives the enemy a place to operate out of you 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:36.950 know when you are holding people in unforgiveness 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:39.970 when you're refusing to let things go you are 00:18:39.970 --> 00:18:42.470 giving the devil some legal access to your life 00:18:42.470 --> 00:18:45.559 that's an open door Okay, so one of the reasons 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.480 why the Lord calls us not to sin is that way 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.880 We don't give the devil so much access to us 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.319 and so much legal access to us It's harder for 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:58.200 him to operate in areas of our life when we are 00:18:58.200 --> 00:19:01.619 trying our best to be Sin free and trying our 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:04.200 best to be Christ like in those aspects in those 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:08.059 areas And I'll tell you too that and this is 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:10.480 more from my personal experience. God doesn't 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:13.660 like to bless disobedience Have you ever noticed 00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:17.059 that sometimes he's calling you to just, there's 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:19.160 a promise you're waiting on him, maybe you're 00:19:19.160 --> 00:19:22.059 waiting on him to reveal something to you. You 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:23.259 know, you believe that there's a move that he 00:19:23.259 --> 00:19:25.240 wants to make in your life, but he's saying, 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.059 hey, I need you to forgive this person first. 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:31.720 I need you to volunteer for this thing first. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.339 I need you to do this thing. I'm telling y 'all 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:39.000 right now that sometimes that work, how we have 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.750 that scripture that says, Faith without works 00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:45.170 is dead when you put your faith in the lord There 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:47.130 are certain things that he's going to call you 00:19:47.130 --> 00:19:49.490 to do that allow him to move in your life. Thank 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:52.609 you. Holy spirit That's my way to word that um 00:19:52.609 --> 00:19:54.789 So meaning when you place your faith in the lord 00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:57.130 when you believe that he has the ability to move 00:19:57.130 --> 00:19:59.569 in your life When you believe that he has the 00:19:59.569 --> 00:20:02.369 ability To heal the sick when you believe that 00:20:02.369 --> 00:20:05.230 he has the ability to answer your prayers when 00:20:05.230 --> 00:20:07.829 you believe That he was the son of god. You believe 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:09.829 that he is still capable of doing these things 00:20:09.829 --> 00:20:12.349 So once you have your faith in him, you start 00:20:12.349 --> 00:20:16.289 to move differently Okay, and there are works 00:20:16.289 --> 00:20:18.230 that the lord will call you to do he'll call 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:21.349 you to start volunteering to start donating your 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:24.609 time He will call you to start showing love to 00:20:24.609 --> 00:20:26.349 one another. He will call you to start spreading 00:20:26.349 --> 00:20:28.769 the gospel He will call you to start doing these 00:20:28.769 --> 00:20:32.329 things that yes are works But these works allow 00:20:32.329 --> 00:20:34.730 him to move number one. He'll be able to move 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:36.450 in your life I cannot tell you all how many times 00:20:36.450 --> 00:20:38.390 I was waiting on God to answer a prayer when 00:20:38.390 --> 00:20:40.390 I was praying to him for a job When I was praying 00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:42.549 to him for financial provision when I was praying 00:20:42.549 --> 00:20:44.609 to him for reconciliation When I was praying 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:46.529 to him for opportunities to spread the gospel 00:20:46.529 --> 00:20:49.329 when I was praying to him these different things 00:20:49.329 --> 00:20:52.009 and he would answer with an instruction where 00:20:52.009 --> 00:20:54.990 it would be sign up for this thing Attend this 00:20:54.990 --> 00:21:00.109 go to this Donate to this go speak to this person 00:21:00.109 --> 00:21:04.450 Which is a work and once I would do that Somehow 00:21:04.450 --> 00:21:07.089 a door would be open next thing, you know, there's 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:12.009 a blessing in that situation Your disobedience 00:21:12.009 --> 00:21:16.960 and your refusal to do works can actually be 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.359 blocking blessings. The Lord really revealed 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.519 that to me at multiple different times in my 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:25.299 life. Okay, sometimes the answer prayer is on 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:29.259 the other side of an act of obedience. But this 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:31.220 was an interesting thing that the Lord really 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:34.539 showed me is that naturally your work start to 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:36.440 look different as you grow in closeness with 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:39.549 Christ. because that question that I told you 00:21:39.549 --> 00:21:41.849 all about earlier when I was asking myself well 00:21:41.849 --> 00:21:44.349 what's the point of doing good works it's strange 00:21:44.349 --> 00:21:46.970 how once I started building my relationship with 00:21:46.970 --> 00:21:50.750 Christ and the fruits of the spirit started developing 00:21:50.750 --> 00:21:54.130 in me I naturally started to desire to want to 00:21:54.130 --> 00:21:58.289 be more Christ -like when in the past my first 00:21:58.289 --> 00:22:00.410 reaction would be to crash out in situations 00:22:00.410 --> 00:22:02.309 all of a sudden my brain started going to like 00:22:02.309 --> 00:22:06.569 what would Jesus do How would Jesus handle this? 00:22:06.650 --> 00:22:08.849 How would Jesus react? Would Jesus crash out 00:22:08.849 --> 00:22:12.309 or would he be loving? And I started naturally 00:22:12.309 --> 00:22:14.569 wanting to do more because I started feeling 00:22:14.569 --> 00:22:17.089 more of a conviction as well And that's the thing 00:22:17.089 --> 00:22:19.690 is I started listening to the conviction I feel 00:22:19.690 --> 00:22:22.170 when you get a conviction from the Lord and my 00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:23.670 experience and how I've heard a lot of other 00:22:23.670 --> 00:22:25.470 people describe it is some it really starts as 00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:28.670 like a loud voice of like Hey, don't be handling 00:22:28.670 --> 00:22:32.210 it this way react this way, you know turn away 00:22:32.210 --> 00:22:35.779 from this like a loud voice and you had the opportunity 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.900 to either listen to that or to ignore it and 00:22:38.900 --> 00:22:40.400 put it on the back burner and I can tell you 00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:42.079 all from experience too when you ignore it and 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:43.880 put it on the back burner that voice starts to 00:22:43.880 --> 00:22:46.900 get a little bit quieter and quieter and quieter 00:22:46.900 --> 00:22:50.660 and you don't want the voice of the Lord to get 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.140 quieter so that's another thing too is I started 00:22:53.140 --> 00:22:56.079 to feel more conviction now I want to say there's 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.160 a difference between conviction and condemnation 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:00.480 the conviction was hey you know better make a 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.680 better choice Condemnation is not from God. Condemnation 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:06.759 is from the devil. Condemnation is there's no 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:09.039 coming back from this. You screwed it up. It's 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:10.980 done forever. It's dead. There's no redemption. 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:14.819 That's not from the Lord. The Lord is all about 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:17.240 redemption. The Lord is all about redeeming. 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:19.380 Okay, that's literally what he did on the cross. 00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:22.559 It's redemption for us. Alright, so I just want 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:25.039 to make that very clear. That conviction, yes, 00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:27.059 but when you start feeling that condemnation, 00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:29.920 understand that that condemnation isn't from... 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.039 God there's sometimes where I felt conviction 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:34.319 and listen to that and then afterwards the enemy 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:37.299 the devil tries to whisper in my ear With condemnation 00:23:37.299 --> 00:23:39.099 of saying well, there's no coming back. There's 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:40.680 none of this I'm telling you all right now if 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:42.279 you're experiencing that take those intrusive 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:44.539 thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ 00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:47.440 Plead the blood of Jesus over your mind bind 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.140 whatever that is and rebuke it in Jesus name. 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:53.539 Okay But yeah, so it's really important to understand 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:57.700 that God will call us to do good works And doing 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:01.880 good works is part of our faith. But it really 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:05.559 is a product of our faith. And if you've ever 00:24:05.559 --> 00:24:07.920 heard anyone say, you shall know them by their 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.779 fruits, you know that that's in scripture. where 00:24:11.779 --> 00:24:13.940 the Lord says, you shall know people by their 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:15.799 fruits. You shall know believers by their fruits. 00:24:16.299 --> 00:24:18.500 Anybody y 'all can claim that they know the Lord 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.619 Jesus Christ. Anybody can read all scripture 00:24:20.619 --> 00:24:24.480 and quote it off. We saw the devil do it to Jesus 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.680 in the desert. He quotes scripture, but he was 00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:29.539 twisting it and manipulating it. All right, anybody 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:32.720 can quote scripture. Anybody can go to church. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.839 Anybody can talk about the Lord. Anybody can 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.299 talk about God. Fruits of the spirit are different. 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:40.640 And that's why the Lord said, you shall know 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.740 them by their fruits. Because it's really hard 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:45.339 to decipher just by what someone's saying. And 00:24:45.339 --> 00:24:46.880 what are the fruits of spirit? I'll list off 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:50.660 a couple for you. Love, joy, patience, peace, 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:54.440 self -control, long -suffering. A lot of people 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.539 forget about that one or want to ignore that 00:24:57.539 --> 00:25:00.700 one, but long -suffering. And these things aren't 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:03.980 just developed overnight and anybody can develop 00:25:03.980 --> 00:25:07.220 these things. No, you're not just to crash out 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:10.200 stop saying that you can develop self -control 00:25:10.200 --> 00:25:12.960 And the Lord does it through giving you opportunities 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:15.539 to be more self -controlled I remember when I 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:18.180 was praying for self -control and I was praying 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:21.480 for joy and I was praying for love God would 00:25:21.480 --> 00:25:24.339 give me opportunities to be joyous despite my 00:25:24.339 --> 00:25:28.680 situations Because joy is being able to be joyful 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:32.000 Despite what you do have or what you don't have 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:35.509 and there were times when I had a lot that I 00:25:35.509 --> 00:25:37.329 was praising the Lord and there are other times 00:25:37.329 --> 00:25:40.630 where I had to find just a few things I could 00:25:40.630 --> 00:25:43.430 find to be joyful about and be joyful about. 00:25:45.690 --> 00:25:47.829 With self -control, there were opportunities 00:25:47.829 --> 00:25:50.650 for me to go backwards. There were opportunities 00:25:50.650 --> 00:25:53.980 presented to me to lose myself. and to do whatever 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:57.500 I wanted to do and to cast all care to the wind. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:00.380 And I had to decide in that moment to hold myself 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:03.240 accountable and to be self -controlled. These 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:04.980 fruits of the spirit are developed by having 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:07.079 opportunities to do one or the other. When you 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:08.759 pray to the Lord for things, he's gonna give 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:10.779 you opportunities to do that. If you're praying 00:26:10.779 --> 00:26:12.700 for boldness, he's gonna give you opportunities 00:26:12.700 --> 00:26:15.680 to be bold. If you're praying for patience, he's 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:19.430 gonna give you opportunities to be patient. And 00:26:19.430 --> 00:26:21.769 you have to choose to be patient and then get 00:26:21.769 --> 00:26:24.009 your patience from him pray to him get your strength 00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:26.509 from him He's not meaning for you to do it alone 00:26:26.509 --> 00:26:29.049 and you like develop just like your own personal 00:26:29.049 --> 00:26:32.869 muscle You are still supposed to go to God and 00:26:32.869 --> 00:26:35.630 all of these times You're supposed to be getting 00:26:35.630 --> 00:26:38.450 your strength from the Lord but that's the thing 00:26:38.450 --> 00:26:41.329 too is your fruits of the spirit are going to 00:26:41.329 --> 00:26:45.430 start to develop as you continue your relationship 00:26:45.430 --> 00:26:48.859 with Christ, and oftentimes they are going to 00:26:48.859 --> 00:26:52.079 be developed through types of work that the Lord 00:26:52.079 --> 00:26:57.240 calls you to do. Let me think of an example. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:02.799 Patience. Patience. The patience was actually 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.400 developed for me a lot through a type of work 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:09.859 I did, through a job title I had. I was working 00:27:09.859 --> 00:27:12.579 with children every single day, and I don't know 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:14.539 if y 'all know this or not, but working with 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:19.680 young children you have to be very patient like 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:23.759 at all times and when i tell y 'all that the 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.559 lord i was showing up to my job every single 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:31.700 day and there was something new that was unexpected 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:35.000 that i just had to be patient about and that 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:40.740 I had to show love and I had to still be joyous 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:44.940 and still be smiling to keep the kids smiling. 00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:49.500 Like the Lord literally strengthened these things 00:27:49.500 --> 00:27:52.779 through my work, through me showing up to work 00:27:52.779 --> 00:27:59.859 every day. It's not I pray for these things and 00:27:59.859 --> 00:28:04.240 I wake up and I'm all these things. So our works 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:09.859 are important because our works do in a way kind 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:14.640 of reveal our fruits right like Let me think 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:19.859 of an example here with love Okay, love loving 00:28:19.859 --> 00:28:22.160 someone despite whether or not they have the 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:24.900 same opinions or the same beliefs as you now 00:28:24.900 --> 00:28:29.319 I'm not saying that this is like Affirming sin. 00:28:29.420 --> 00:28:34.839 I'm not saying that this is love isn't Affirming 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:39.240 sin. Okay, but love is I love you despite whatever 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:42.500 sin you have going on I'm going to continue to 00:28:42.500 --> 00:28:46.859 pray for you. I'm gonna continue to Show you 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:51.920 kindness. I'm going to continue to You know not 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.140 go out of my way to do anything to just like 00:28:55.140 --> 00:29:00.420 hurt you like loving one another as yourself. 00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:06.400 And one way that we show love is, this was a 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:08.440 very simple one. It was actually in a book that 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:11.980 I've been reading, which is called Servant Warfare, 00:29:12.339 --> 00:29:14.539 where the way that they handle spiritual warfare 00:29:14.539 --> 00:29:16.619 is through being a servant and through being 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:20.859 kind. And the man who wrote the book talked about 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:23.059 how every week his church would do something 00:29:23.059 --> 00:29:25.339 where they would show up to random businesses 00:29:25.339 --> 00:29:27.819 and offer to clean their toilets. They would 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.319 go and feed parking leaders every week of random 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:32.920 people. They would go out and just start cleaning 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.039 off people's windshields of their cars and then 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:37.740 give them cards saying that they're doing this 00:29:37.740 --> 00:29:40.220 to show the love of Jesus Christ in a practical 00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:42.380 way. And sometimes they would show up and there 00:29:42.380 --> 00:29:45.880 would be people being very rude to them. There 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:47.920 was in the book talked about there was a lady 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.519 that they showed up who they showed up to give 00:29:50.519 --> 00:29:54.599 food to her And to her family when she was a 00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:58.950 fortune -teller and a tarot card reader medium 00:29:58.950 --> 00:30:01.009 and showed up to her place of business where 00:30:01.009 --> 00:30:03.269 she had clients sitting there in the door and 00:30:03.269 --> 00:30:05.029 I'm speaking to you all someone who that was 00:30:05.029 --> 00:30:07.609 a former path that I was on I can tell you that 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:10.690 divination is sinful it is a sinful activity 00:30:10.690 --> 00:30:13.549 tarot card reading mediumship that is not of 00:30:13.549 --> 00:30:16.170 the Lord okay so this was a woman who is actively 00:30:16.170 --> 00:30:18.869 in her sin who is doing it and literally called 00:30:18.869 --> 00:30:20.950 the church people to her place of business to 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:26.549 ask for food and they showed up kindness, giving 00:30:26.549 --> 00:30:29.329 her the food and offering to pray for her end 00:30:29.329 --> 00:30:31.349 up praying for her and praying for all the people 00:30:31.349 --> 00:30:34.150 like almost all the people who were there waiting 00:30:34.150 --> 00:30:36.910 for their turns asked to be prayed for and I 00:30:36.910 --> 00:30:38.569 believe it was eight or nine of them gave their 00:30:38.569 --> 00:30:40.910 lives to Christ after hearing the gospel and 00:30:40.910 --> 00:30:43.329 some of them started attending the church and 00:30:43.329 --> 00:30:46.269 everything like that that right there is an example 00:30:46.269 --> 00:30:50.049 still of doing that works and that showed their 00:30:50.049 --> 00:30:53.210 love right their works was donating that food 00:30:53.210 --> 00:30:55.630 and giving that food and donating your time and 00:30:55.630 --> 00:30:57.849 stopping and praying for these people and doing 00:30:57.849 --> 00:31:01.730 these things and that showed their love for this 00:31:01.730 --> 00:31:04.970 woman that even though she is doing what she 00:31:04.970 --> 00:31:07.390 was doing in her life they understood that they 00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:10.529 are no better than her still and they understood 00:31:10.529 --> 00:31:13.089 that loving one another is still praying for 00:31:13.089 --> 00:31:16.390 one another and giving food to one another helping 00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:19.410 to care for one another and that right there 00:31:19.549 --> 00:31:21.950 Yes, that was a works that they were doing but 00:31:21.950 --> 00:31:24.349 it showed their love it showed the fruit of the 00:31:24.349 --> 00:31:26.630 spirit I hope this is making sense the way i'm 00:31:26.630 --> 00:31:30.390 explaining it to y 'all and honestly The longer 00:31:30.390 --> 00:31:32.730 you're in your walk with christ the more you 00:31:32.730 --> 00:31:34.950 are reading scripture the more you're praying 00:31:34.950 --> 00:31:37.369 to him and the more you're just living out your 00:31:37.369 --> 00:31:41.289 life as A christian and you're just going day 00:31:41.289 --> 00:31:43.809 by day trying to be more christ -like and pursue 00:31:43.809 --> 00:31:46.069 a relationship with him These things are going 00:31:46.069 --> 00:31:50.529 to start falling into place And I wish it I wish 00:31:50.529 --> 00:31:55.269 I could say it better but You as you start to 00:31:55.269 --> 00:31:57.609 see it played out in your daily life and you 00:31:57.609 --> 00:32:01.670 start to practice it day by day These things 00:32:01.670 --> 00:32:04.430 are going to start to make more sense as you 00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:06.470 grow in your relationship with Christ and you 00:32:06.470 --> 00:32:08.769 get to know his Character and you get to know 00:32:08.769 --> 00:32:16.450 who he is and you get to know What he does? You're 00:32:16.450 --> 00:32:19.950 going to be able more to kind of separate the 00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:23.309 works From the salvation and I know it's kind 00:32:23.309 --> 00:32:26.210 of hard to at first you're gonna be able to start 00:32:26.210 --> 00:32:30.470 understanding how your works just become a part 00:32:30.470 --> 00:32:34.410 of your daily routine like I Honestly, maybe 00:32:34.410 --> 00:32:35.990 I should make it a little bit more of a point 00:32:35.990 --> 00:32:39.700 to but no honesty. It's like I At first, I used 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:41.500 to wake up in the mornings and be like, okay, 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:43.400 what do I need to work on today? Do I need to 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:44.880 work on discernment? Do I need to work on these 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:46.579 things? And I'd be sitting there like, Lord, 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:48.900 please give me opportunities to strengthen this 00:32:48.900 --> 00:32:50.880 and strengthen that and like, we'll move in this. 00:32:51.220 --> 00:32:52.640 And throughout the day, I'd be looking like, 00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:54.579 okay, how can I be more Christlike in this? How 00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:57.079 can I be more Christlike in this? How can I do 00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:01.089 this? How can I grow this? And now... Yes, I 00:33:01.089 --> 00:33:04.250 pray that the Lord strengthens things and I pray 00:33:04.250 --> 00:33:06.609 that the Lord reveals things and now it's just 00:33:06.609 --> 00:33:08.990 more the things I used to have to remind myself 00:33:08.990 --> 00:33:11.829 to do I find myself just gravitating towards 00:33:11.829 --> 00:33:14.809 doing now It started to become a little bit more 00:33:14.809 --> 00:33:17.470 of a second nature and I start looking back up 00:33:17.470 --> 00:33:19.670 Oh, that was a Christ like move to make like 00:33:19.670 --> 00:33:22.089 oh I read about that in Scripture. I'm glad I 00:33:22.089 --> 00:33:24.490 can see that that took root in me You know, there 00:33:24.490 --> 00:33:26.049 are times when I look back and I'm like, okay, 00:33:26.089 --> 00:33:28.490 I could have handled that better Let's reflect 00:33:28.490 --> 00:33:30.490 on that. Let's figure out the next direction 00:33:30.490 --> 00:33:33.009 we can go in You know, I think this is gonna 00:33:33.009 --> 00:33:35.309 be a little bit of a shorter podcast episode. 00:33:35.609 --> 00:33:40.509 I don't think we're gonna go too much Deeper 00:33:40.509 --> 00:33:42.970 into this but I do want to go back to that scripture 00:33:42.970 --> 00:33:46.650 that I know scares people sometimes and it's 00:33:46.650 --> 00:33:50.109 a scripture that says Or jesus is saying that 00:33:50.109 --> 00:33:53.460 they're gonna be be people one day who prepare 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:55.839 to enter the kingdom of heaven because when we 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:58.859 die and like when it's time for us to enter the 00:33:58.859 --> 00:34:01.140 kingdom of heaven jesus christ is like standing 00:34:01.140 --> 00:34:03.740 in between us and the heavenly father because 00:34:03.740 --> 00:34:06.819 jesus christ is like interceding for us that's 00:34:06.819 --> 00:34:09.219 what his blood does and that there are going 00:34:09.219 --> 00:34:13.550 to be people who go before him and say like Have 00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:16.570 I not done good works? Did I not go and cast 00:34:16.570 --> 00:34:20.030 out demons in your name? Did I not go and prophesy 00:34:20.030 --> 00:34:21.570 in your name that there are going to be people 00:34:21.570 --> 00:34:24.329 who go before him and say that I claim to be 00:34:24.329 --> 00:34:28.429 a follower of Christ? I claim I did these wondrous 00:34:28.429 --> 00:34:33.409 works and I did them in your name. Let me in. 00:34:34.220 --> 00:34:37.920 and he's gonna say, like, depart from me for 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.579 I never knew you, meaning he's gonna say, depart 00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:44.139 from me because we never had a legitimate relationship. 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:49.420 And notice how before that, in that scripture, 00:34:49.500 --> 00:34:51.659 and I had said this in the beginning of our episode, 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:57.699 that Jesus really separated the will of the Father 00:34:57.699 --> 00:35:00.230 from the good works. Because there are a lot 00:35:00.230 --> 00:35:01.809 of things that we want to do where we're like, 00:35:01.949 --> 00:35:03.510 oh, well, I just want to donate all I want to 00:35:03.510 --> 00:35:05.750 spend all my time investing in this. And I'll 00:35:05.750 --> 00:35:08.110 just give all my money to these programs. And 00:35:08.110 --> 00:35:09.989 like, I'll just start up a deliverance ministry 00:35:09.989 --> 00:35:12.070 and I'll start up doing all this. And if we would 00:35:12.070 --> 00:35:13.730 have prayed to God, God would have said, actually, 00:35:13.829 --> 00:35:17.469 I want you over here. Yes, like that's a good 00:35:17.469 --> 00:35:19.829 thing. But there is someone else I have for that 00:35:19.829 --> 00:35:23.409 position. Want you over here? I want you in this 00:35:23.409 --> 00:35:25.929 type of ministry. I want you in this type of 00:35:25.929 --> 00:35:28.690 job I want you investing your time over here. 00:35:28.769 --> 00:35:34.889 I want you to do your tithes over here You know 00:35:34.889 --> 00:35:37.130 they were doing these things because it was what 00:35:37.130 --> 00:35:40.449 they Personally wanted they weren't consulting 00:35:40.449 --> 00:35:46.130 with the Lord where he wanted them What he desired 00:35:46.130 --> 00:35:48.190 for them to do they weren't getting their guidance 00:35:48.190 --> 00:35:50.230 or instruction from them This is so important 00:35:50.230 --> 00:35:52.769 that someone needs to hear today Ask yourself 00:35:52.769 --> 00:35:55.130 and really take a while because I needed to check 00:35:55.130 --> 00:35:57.289 this in sometimes I need to check in with myself 00:35:57.289 --> 00:36:01.030 on this Are you using God as your spirit as your 00:36:01.030 --> 00:36:03.309 are you going him as your steering wheel or as 00:36:03.309 --> 00:36:06.039 your spare tire? Are you praying to him saying 00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:10.219 God where should I go? What should I do? How 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:13.420 should I do this? How do I do this? How do you 00:36:13.420 --> 00:36:17.679 want me like you show me? wait on his answer 00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:21.780 and you submit to his answer or Are you making 00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:25.570 the plans for yourself? and praying that God 00:36:25.570 --> 00:36:27.530 blesses those plans. Are you saying, well, this 00:36:27.530 --> 00:36:30.449 is what I want. This is how I wanna do it. This 00:36:30.449 --> 00:36:32.789 is where I'm gonna go. Lord, I pray that you 00:36:32.789 --> 00:36:36.289 bless it. Let it all work out. Which one are 00:36:36.289 --> 00:36:38.329 you doing? Because the first one is a steering 00:36:38.329 --> 00:36:40.610 wheel. The second one is more the spare tire. 00:36:43.030 --> 00:36:45.150 It's deciding not to pray to him until maybe 00:36:45.150 --> 00:36:48.110 it goes sideways or it goes a little awry too. 00:36:48.309 --> 00:36:52.340 And then you pray to him to fix it. That's really 00:36:52.340 --> 00:36:54.659 using him as a spare tire and I know I've needed 00:36:54.659 --> 00:36:57.179 that check and before God wants to guide us every 00:36:57.179 --> 00:36:59.659 step of the way and having a relationship with 00:36:59.659 --> 00:37:02.400 him You know, that's part of the relationship 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:04.659 is going to him saying what should I do? Please 00:37:04.659 --> 00:37:07.300 guide me. Please direct me. We should be pleasing 00:37:07.300 --> 00:37:12.000 him as well But I know that there's so many people 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.039 that are fearful when they read that scripture 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:17.340 and honestly I used to be very fearful reading 00:37:17.340 --> 00:37:20.340 that scripture and the Lord has really given 00:37:20.340 --> 00:37:23.780 me Peace with that because the thing that he's 00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:27.139 really showed me is where Jesus says the part 00:37:27.139 --> 00:37:30.119 for me for I never knew you Recognizing that 00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:33.579 these people didn't have personal relationships 00:37:33.579 --> 00:37:37.559 with the Lord They used his name, but they weren't 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:42.570 in a personal relationship with him They weren't 00:37:42.570 --> 00:37:44.769 getting their guidance from him. They weren't 00:37:44.769 --> 00:37:47.230 trying to do his will They were trying to execute 00:37:47.230 --> 00:37:50.090 their own will and I hope that this gives someone 00:37:50.090 --> 00:37:53.690 peace and someone Understanding who is listening 00:37:53.690 --> 00:37:55.889 to this today that is very fearful when they 00:37:55.889 --> 00:37:59.329 hear that scripture But I also hope that this 00:37:59.329 --> 00:38:01.510 provokes you to think are some of the works that 00:38:01.510 --> 00:38:03.570 you're doing right now that you think are wonderful 00:38:03.570 --> 00:38:06.530 You think are amazing. Are they works that you 00:38:06.530 --> 00:38:09.360 desire? Are they works that you've created and 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:11.159 you've planned for yourself or are they works 00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:14.840 that the Lord has guided you to? Are you checking 00:38:14.840 --> 00:38:20.300 in with him? Are there some walls you're hitting 00:38:20.300 --> 00:38:22.599 right now and you're like, why am I hitting these 00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:25.000 walls? I prayed that God would bless the situation. 00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:27.119 I prayed that he would change whatever doesn't 00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:31.360 need to work. But did you pray to him before 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:37.179 you made the game plan? Did you listen to his 00:38:37.179 --> 00:38:45.039 yes or no? Can I tell y 'all that there was actually 00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:48.179 such a relief Hey, I wanted to share this when 00:38:48.179 --> 00:38:50.780 I was really giving my life to Christ I was in 00:38:50.780 --> 00:38:52.940 the lowest place I've ever been in my life financially 00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:56.179 and when I started recognizing everything Jesus 00:38:56.179 --> 00:38:59.119 Christ's offering did what Jesus Christ did on 00:38:59.119 --> 00:39:01.690 the cross that wasn't just paying our sins like 00:39:01.690 --> 00:39:04.789 that that was an offering because at that time 00:39:04.789 --> 00:39:09.690 people were having to travel to temples and spend 00:39:09.690 --> 00:39:15.050 their money to buy animals to then sacrifice 00:39:15.050 --> 00:39:20.349 to like pay off their sin and i remember having 00:39:20.349 --> 00:39:22.889 such a gratitude where i was like lord thank 00:39:22.889 --> 00:39:24.769 you so much for jesus christ doing this on the 00:39:24.769 --> 00:39:26.590 cross because i don't have the money for a goat 00:39:27.849 --> 00:39:30.929 i don't have the money for a dove like i remember 00:39:30.929 --> 00:39:32.650 sitting there at that time saying i didn't have 00:39:32.650 --> 00:39:34.849 the resources to buy any of that i didn't have 00:39:34.849 --> 00:39:37.929 the resources to travel to a temple and like 00:39:37.929 --> 00:39:41.389 my mind was like i can't imagine like having 00:39:41.389 --> 00:39:45.050 to do these things and all of the extras that's 00:39:45.050 --> 00:39:46.869 another thing that jesus christ go into the cross 00:39:46.869 --> 00:39:50.050 did is we don't have to do those burnt offerings 00:39:50.050 --> 00:39:52.349 anymore we don't have to do those blood sacrifices 00:39:52.349 --> 00:39:55.940 jesus christ was the blood sacrifice We don't 00:39:55.940 --> 00:39:58.199 have to travel to all these temples. We can pray 00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:01.199 to Jesus in our car. We can pray to the Heavenly 00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:03.139 Father in our car. We can pray in our shower. 00:40:03.460 --> 00:40:06.239 We can pray in our bedroom. We can pray in our 00:40:06.239 --> 00:40:09.679 office building. We can pray wherever. We have 00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:12.420 a direct line to the Heavenly Father. I mean, 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:14.820 what Jesus Christ on the cross gives us the opportunity 00:40:14.820 --> 00:40:17.880 to go to heaven anyway, because before Jesus, 00:40:17.900 --> 00:40:20.239 it was just the Jewish community. It was just 00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:24.579 Israel. It was God's chosen people. Israel not 00:40:24.579 --> 00:40:26.880 meaning the nation at the time meaning the people 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:31.659 that was God's people were Israel Everyone else 00:40:31.659 --> 00:40:38.500 Gentiles They weren't in the game like this you 00:40:38.500 --> 00:40:42.619 know, that's what when when The Jews rejected 00:40:42.619 --> 00:40:45.079 Jesus Christ that actually opened up the door 00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:52.860 for the rest of us to accept Jesus Christ There's 00:40:52.860 --> 00:40:55.139 so many times that I forget that it's like it's 00:40:55.139 --> 00:40:57.320 a blessing that I even had the opportunity to 00:40:57.320 --> 00:41:00.619 go in To heaven to have a relationship with the 00:41:00.619 --> 00:41:05.099 Heavenly Father to be chosen by him Many are 00:41:05.099 --> 00:41:09.059 called fewer chosen To have a relationship with 00:41:09.059 --> 00:41:12.159 the Lord and to be used by the Lord But yeah, 00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:13.820 I remember y 'all that I was just in there and 00:41:13.820 --> 00:41:15.739 I remember saying in my car Just crying saying 00:41:15.739 --> 00:41:18.380 like thank you so much Lord for it not being 00:41:18.380 --> 00:41:22.159 a workspace salvation Because like think about 00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:25.320 how many people in the world don't have the money 00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:28.599 to donate to big firms They don't have hundreds 00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:30.820 of thousands of dollars to invest in companies 00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:34.500 and corporations They don't have that even thousands 00:41:34.500 --> 00:41:37.119 at a time to feed the hungry and to do all of 00:41:37.119 --> 00:41:40.420 these things Do we have our time to donate? Yes 00:41:40.420 --> 00:41:44.199 We we we can volunteer to things we can offer 00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:48.099 but it's like Thank you Lord for it not being 00:41:48.590 --> 00:41:51.190 You rack up so much money, you donate so much 00:41:51.190 --> 00:41:54.289 money, you buy so many animals, you donate so 00:41:54.289 --> 00:41:56.710 many animals, you lead so many people to Christ, 00:41:56.750 --> 00:41:58.309 and you get into heaven. Like, it's not even 00:41:58.309 --> 00:42:00.670 that. It's not even the number of people that 00:42:00.670 --> 00:42:03.349 you share the gospel with. Because there are 00:42:03.349 --> 00:42:05.949 some people who have way more resources than 00:42:05.949 --> 00:42:10.190 other people. There's some people who... Because 00:42:10.190 --> 00:42:12.070 honestly, y 'all, and this was another thing 00:42:12.070 --> 00:42:15.849 that my mind went to is... works based is just 00:42:15.849 --> 00:42:18.969 encouragement to do sketchy things to get it 00:42:18.969 --> 00:42:21.769 done and to get ahead. That's another thing I 00:42:21.769 --> 00:42:24.869 love with the Lord is it's not about how fast 00:42:24.869 --> 00:42:26.650 you get it done. It's about doing it the way 00:42:26.650 --> 00:42:29.489 that he guides you to do it, right? And when 00:42:29.489 --> 00:42:32.750 we think of just outcome based of like, okay, 00:42:32.809 --> 00:42:35.150 I go to heaven if I bring this many people to 00:42:35.150 --> 00:42:37.489 the Lord, or I go to heaven if I donate this 00:42:37.489 --> 00:42:40.210 much money, then that's when a lot of people 00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:42.030 get in the headspace of let me do sketchy stuff 00:42:42.030 --> 00:42:45.010 for money. Let me send for money because honestly, 00:42:45.230 --> 00:42:46.949 this was something I really learned in the world 00:42:46.949 --> 00:42:49.650 is you get things done a lot quicker seemingly 00:42:49.650 --> 00:42:53.190 when you said That's what really got me into 00:42:53.190 --> 00:42:55.090 New Age spirituality and manifesting and all 00:42:55.090 --> 00:42:56.849 that is it appeared to be a lot quicker than 00:42:56.849 --> 00:42:59.690 God's way But I'll also let you in on a little 00:42:59.690 --> 00:43:02.510 secret It doesn't last as long and it's not a 00:43:02.510 --> 00:43:05.010 sturdy because it's not built on a firm foundation 00:43:05.010 --> 00:43:07.710 It's not built to last if it's not God's will 00:43:07.710 --> 00:43:09.449 for you If it's not what he wants you to keep 00:43:09.449 --> 00:43:11.110 in your life, especially once you give your life 00:43:11.110 --> 00:43:13.869 to him. You're gonna let it go So I realized 00:43:13.869 --> 00:43:16.070 that the things that God built were on a firm 00:43:16.070 --> 00:43:18.269 foundation and lasted and the devil couldn't 00:43:18.269 --> 00:43:21.909 just take them away But the things that if you're 00:43:21.909 --> 00:43:23.989 if you are sinning to get things you're not getting 00:43:23.989 --> 00:43:26.050 them from God You're getting them from the devil 00:43:26.050 --> 00:43:28.190 and the devil always gets you to give more than 00:43:28.190 --> 00:43:32.690 what you're willing to bargain for He's very 00:43:32.690 --> 00:43:38.309 conditional So yeah, there's you know, I had 00:43:38.309 --> 00:43:42.079 such it was like this weird but wonderful relief 00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:44.780 I had when I realized that it was about my faiths. 00:43:44.780 --> 00:43:47.260 It wasn't about my works. And yes, my works are 00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:51.599 a byproduct of my faith, but the works I do doesn't 00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:55.340 determine if I get into heaven. Which means also, 00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:57.579 as I started saying a few minutes ago, I'm not 00:43:57.579 --> 00:43:59.940 encouraged to do things just to get the money, 00:44:00.300 --> 00:44:03.019 just to get this, just to talk to people. Imagine 00:44:03.019 --> 00:44:05.300 how many sketchy things people would do for platforms. 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:07.179 That way they could say, well, once I had the 00:44:07.179 --> 00:44:12.039 platform, I told everybody about Christ. Which 00:44:12.039 --> 00:44:14.119 you know goes back to what are the intentions 00:44:14.119 --> 00:44:16.659 behind what you're doing. That's the thing too 00:44:16.659 --> 00:44:21.519 y 'all may Say this prayer to the Lord because 00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:23.820 I used to have a lot of concerns of is my heart 00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:25.739 in the right place Am I doing this for the right 00:44:25.739 --> 00:44:27.860 reasons and I finally started praying to the 00:44:27.860 --> 00:44:31.500 Lord where I was like Lord My will before your 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:35.380 will before my will and Lord Jesus if my will 00:44:35.380 --> 00:44:38.079 is not matching with what you will for my life 00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:40.019 I pray that my will starts to change. I pray 00:44:40.019 --> 00:44:42.739 that my desires start to change I start praying 00:44:42.739 --> 00:44:45.400 to Lord change the desires of my heart or it 00:44:45.400 --> 00:44:47.579 was like Lord These are certain things that I'm 00:44:47.579 --> 00:44:50.079 desiring for myself and I don't know if these 00:44:50.079 --> 00:44:53.170 fit into what you will for my life And if they 00:44:53.170 --> 00:44:55.849 don't, I pray that you naturally change and shift 00:44:55.849 --> 00:44:58.250 these desires. And there are things that like 00:44:58.250 --> 00:45:01.949 years, a year ago even, I really desired, I really 00:45:01.949 --> 00:45:04.070 wanted for myself. Heck, there were some things 00:45:04.070 --> 00:45:05.969 I looked for in a partner that I felt like I 00:45:05.969 --> 00:45:10.250 could never not have this. And now, some of those 00:45:10.250 --> 00:45:12.710 things are not even concerns of mine anymore. 00:45:14.449 --> 00:45:17.050 Like where I don't want that thing at all I don't 00:45:17.050 --> 00:45:18.809 desire that thing at all and I'm looking back 00:45:18.809 --> 00:45:20.510 and I'm like, oh, yeah that thing would not have 00:45:20.510 --> 00:45:23.150 been healthy for me or the path that the Lord 00:45:23.150 --> 00:45:25.010 is guiding me and that thing would have really 00:45:25.010 --> 00:45:28.489 kind of like Gone head -to -head would have been 00:45:28.489 --> 00:45:30.849 opposition. I'm glad the Lord didn't give me 00:45:30.849 --> 00:45:33.710 that thing at that time And he's also stirred 00:45:33.710 --> 00:45:36.809 up new desires in me y 'all one of the crazy 00:45:36.809 --> 00:45:41.079 desires. I never want to be a mom like ever i 00:45:41.079 --> 00:45:42.559 was one of those people who i i would always 00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:45.000 say i never ever want to be a mom i was one of 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:46.800 those people too like i didn't want to get married 00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:50.239 and i was praying to the lord change the desires 00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:51.980 of my heart and he's actually stirred up those 00:45:51.980 --> 00:45:54.039 desires when i've never had those desires before 00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:57.619 in my life there are some viewpoints that i used 00:45:57.619 --> 00:46:01.769 to have That are completely flipped now I'm telling 00:46:01.769 --> 00:46:04.530 y 'all that God really moves in that prayer and 00:46:04.530 --> 00:46:06.869 when you surrender to that prayer There are things 00:46:06.869 --> 00:46:08.989 that he will stir up in you that you never thought 00:46:08.989 --> 00:46:10.909 were gonna be stirred And there are things that 00:46:10.909 --> 00:46:12.489 he'll help you release that you never thought 00:46:12.489 --> 00:46:17.030 you'd be able to release So y 'all I'm gonna 00:46:17.030 --> 00:46:22.409 pray us out I want to pray for you Those of you 00:46:22.409 --> 00:46:27.809 listening to this podcast So Lord Jesus, I want 00:46:27.809 --> 00:46:30.960 to pray for every single person listening to 00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:33.880 this podcast. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that they 00:46:33.880 --> 00:46:37.579 have a clear understanding of your will, that 00:46:37.579 --> 00:46:40.659 they have a clear understanding of who you are 00:46:40.659 --> 00:46:44.079 and what you expect from them, Lord Jesus. I 00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:46.559 pray that they develop a personal relationship 00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:49.570 with you. That they listen to the convictions. 00:46:49.670 --> 00:46:51.989 I pray that they start to feel the convictions 00:46:51.989 --> 00:46:54.449 and that they listen to the convictions I pray 00:46:54.449 --> 00:46:56.269 that they are fruits of the spirit that start 00:46:56.269 --> 00:46:58.769 to develop in their lives. I pray Lord Jesus 00:46:58.769 --> 00:47:00.670 There are some people listening to this today 00:47:00.670 --> 00:47:05.590 that need to develop Better coping mechanisms 00:47:05.590 --> 00:47:07.969 and I pray Heavenly Father that these people 00:47:07.969 --> 00:47:10.090 develop better coping mechanisms I pray Heavenly 00:47:10.090 --> 00:47:12.670 Father that they go to you That you are their 00:47:12.670 --> 00:47:14.630 source of peace that you are their source of 00:47:14.630 --> 00:47:16.349 comfort that you are their source of guidance 00:47:16.349 --> 00:47:19.269 I pray Heavenly Father over all the people listening 00:47:19.269 --> 00:47:21.250 to us that they have a peace that surpasses all 00:47:21.250 --> 00:47:23.309 understanding when it comes to their Relationship 00:47:23.309 --> 00:47:25.510 with you and I pray Heavenly Father that you 00:47:25.510 --> 00:47:27.949 strengthen their discernment I pray Heavenly 00:47:27.949 --> 00:47:29.829 Father that they learn how to plead the blood 00:47:29.829 --> 00:47:32.389 of Jesus over their lives and I pray Heavenly 00:47:32.389 --> 00:47:35.489 Father that they truly put their faith in you 00:47:35.489 --> 00:47:39.369 and what you are able to do in their lives. I 00:47:39.369 --> 00:47:41.730 pray, Lord Jesus, that they remember that it 00:47:41.730 --> 00:47:43.889 is not about the works that they do, but that 00:47:43.889 --> 00:47:45.889 they understand that their works are a byproduct 00:47:45.889 --> 00:47:47.590 of their faith. And I pray, Lord Jesus, that 00:47:47.590 --> 00:47:49.690 they lean into the works that you are calling 00:47:49.690 --> 00:47:52.050 them to do, and that they lean into the steps 00:47:52.050 --> 00:47:54.590 that you are calling them to take. I pray that 00:47:54.590 --> 00:47:57.730 any opposition is broken off of them. Lord Jesus, 00:47:57.750 --> 00:47:59.989 remove people from their lives that are acting 00:47:59.989 --> 00:48:02.269 as opposition or acting as stumbling blocks. 00:48:02.670 --> 00:48:05.210 Lord Jesus, bring people into their lives that 00:48:05.210 --> 00:48:07.469 are going to bring them closer to you and encourage 00:48:07.469 --> 00:48:10.130 them to pursue their relationship with you. Lord 00:48:10.130 --> 00:48:13.530 Jesus, I pray that they truly have an understanding 00:48:13.530 --> 00:48:16.289 of who you are and that they truly develop a 00:48:16.289 --> 00:48:18.670 love for you and they see you not only as their 00:48:18.670 --> 00:48:21.510 savior but as the Lord over their life. In Jesus' 00:48:21.829 --> 00:48:27.210 name, I pray, amen. Thank you all so much for 00:48:27.210 --> 00:48:30.750 listening to this episode and I really hope that 00:48:30.750 --> 00:48:33.809 you share this with other people and That you 00:48:33.809 --> 00:48:36.550 subscribe so that way you don't miss the next 00:48:36.550 --> 00:48:41.329 upload This was the salt not sweetener podcast 00:48:41.329 --> 00:48:44.989 and I am your host Danielle Townsend. Have a 00:48:44.989 --> 00:48:46.730 wonderful day. God bless