WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.839 Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:07.960 podcast I am your host Danielle Townsend and 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:14.080 this is episode 24 and this episode is going 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:20.859 to be about rebellion and I have felt the Lord 00:00:20.859 --> 00:00:26.760 heavily place this topic on my heart today you 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:30.399 know this past week God has really been giving 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.280 me opportunities to share my testimony and Thursday 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:39.119 night I I was really overwhelmed y 'all and I 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:41.780 was just taking a country drive to pray to the 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:45.679 Lord and Just trying to like sort out my feelings 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:48.899 and on this country drive I passed by a church 00:00:48.899 --> 00:00:51.659 that was having an evening service And I felt 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:54.299 the Lord put it on my heart to go to that church 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:57.399 service and I did And it was a wonderful service. 00:00:57.659 --> 00:01:00.000 And I, the Lord really spoke to me through that 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.380 service. And I was actually, it was a really 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:05.519 small group. It was like 15 people. And I was 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.099 actually invited to go out and eat dinner with 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:09.439 them afterwards. And when I did, I had a really 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:12.939 good conversation. And I was telling these people 00:01:12.939 --> 00:01:15.719 about, we were just talking about God and how 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:18.340 good He was. And I was sharing with them some 00:01:18.340 --> 00:01:20.560 testimonies of things that He did in my life. 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:27.790 And somehow the conversation landed on our favorite 00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:31.370 scriptures. And for me, it was the book of Jonah 00:01:31.370 --> 00:01:35.010 and the story of Jonah. And, you know, when I 00:01:35.010 --> 00:01:37.209 said that, I got some really quizzical looks. 00:01:37.489 --> 00:01:39.549 I was like, yeah, I know that's not everybody's 00:01:39.549 --> 00:01:42.750 first. It's kind of a unique one. I told them 00:01:42.750 --> 00:01:47.079 of how I related to Jonah. my period of rebellion 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.040 and rebelling against the Lord and I told them 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:51.459 about how heavily I related to the book of Jeremiah 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:56.019 and How I truly for a time my life rebelled I 00:01:56.019 --> 00:01:59.159 left the Lord. I turned my back on the Lord I 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:01.040 thought I was just turning my back on the church 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:02.920 and turning my back on religion I was turning 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:06.799 my back on Jesus Christ and I had turned my back 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.639 on The covenants and the promises that I had 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.199 made with God and I had lived in active rebellion 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.610 and I was sharing with them about how I suffered 00:02:15.610 --> 00:02:18.349 because of that, but also how the Lord redeemed 00:02:18.349 --> 00:02:20.590 me and that was just a real opportunity to share 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:25.129 my testimonies. And I sat down today to start 00:02:25.129 --> 00:02:27.129 reading some scripture and recently I've been 00:02:27.129 --> 00:02:30.990 feeling called to read the book of Ezekiel. And 00:02:30.990 --> 00:02:33.229 around the time when I gave my life to Christ 00:02:33.229 --> 00:02:35.389 was the time when I was reading the book of Ezekiel. 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:37.800 you know, y 'all I've shared on here before when 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:39.879 I gave my life to Christ, I was deep in New Age 00:02:39.879 --> 00:02:41.780 spirituality, I was deep in divination, I was 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:44.360 deep in witchcraft, I was in all of those things. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.919 And reading the book of Ezekiel, specifically 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.500 chapters 13 and on, was really convicting for 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:54.539 me because it was spelled out for me in scripture 00:02:54.539 --> 00:02:57.780 of how sinful my life was and how God is not 00:02:57.780 --> 00:03:01.340 for that and how God does not support that. And 00:03:01.340 --> 00:03:03.819 you know, we see in the beginning of the book 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:07.479 of Ezekiel where Ezekiel is having visions and 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:09.879 one of them is an angel and I've shared in a 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.900 podcast episode a couple episodes back in my 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:14.580 time of turning my back on the Lord how when 00:03:14.580 --> 00:03:20.080 I was in a meditation in new age and I believe 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:23.479 that I spoke to an angel there is a vision of 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.180 an angel all of these eyeballs are very biblically 00:03:26.180 --> 00:03:29.099 the same way it is described in the book of Ezekiel 00:03:29.099 --> 00:03:33.539 is the same thing I experienced And after that 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:35.680 I went through a season where I truly felt like 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.199 I lost favor with the Lord You know in that in 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:43.219 that meditation in that vision. I had told that 00:03:43.219 --> 00:03:46.979 angel that I was Open to other deities and open 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:51.180 to other spiritualities and just exploring in 00:03:51.180 --> 00:03:53.319 short, I was turning my back on the Lord and 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:57.939 I was pursuing false gods and false idols and 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:01.620 I was uplifting myself and putting myself first. 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:07.479 And I'm here to tell y 'all today about what 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:12.340 that rebellion did in my life, but also about 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:15.819 how God is graceful and merciful and he can and 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:18.540 will restore you. But this podcast episode today 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:21.879 I really feel is more of a warning to those who 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:26.430 are an active rebellion. And this is also a redemption 00:04:26.430 --> 00:04:28.610 to those who are trying to come back to the Lord 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:30.870 after a time period of rebellion But I really 00:04:30.870 --> 00:04:32.889 feel today that the Lord is sending me to speak 00:04:32.889 --> 00:04:36.410 to people who are in rebellion Who are rebelling 00:04:36.410 --> 00:04:38.730 against the Lord and he has already made it very 00:04:38.730 --> 00:04:40.829 clear to me that not everybody is going to have 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:44.329 ears to hear this message And I'm gonna read 00:04:44.329 --> 00:04:46.069 you some scripture that the Lord guided me to 00:04:46.069 --> 00:04:48.350 in just a moment He's already made it very clear 00:04:48.350 --> 00:04:50.750 to me that everybody is going to receive this 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.670 well Not everybody is gonna have eyes to see 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:55.290 is gonna have ears to hear there are gonna be 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:57.709 some people who still choose active rebellion 00:04:57.709 --> 00:05:02.430 but he is sending me anyway and You know, I'm 00:05:02.430 --> 00:05:06.910 not unique and this the Lord wants us to create 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:09.129 disciples as our responsibility as followers 00:05:09.129 --> 00:05:11.250 of Christ is to share the gospel to spread the 00:05:11.250 --> 00:05:13.449 gospel to tell people about the Lord to create 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.649 disciples It's not just the pastor's job all 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:19.839 of us who have encountered Jesus, all of us who 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:22.279 have experienced the love of the Lord, the grace, 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:26.500 the mercy are supposed to be sharing that with 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:30.579 others and helping lead other people to Jesus 00:05:30.579 --> 00:05:35.000 Christ, planting seeds. So this isn't like some 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.519 unique thing. All of us should be doing this, 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:41.920 but I've really felt the Lord give me a clear 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.779 understanding of who I am supposed to be target 00:05:44.779 --> 00:05:49.149 audienceing. today in this message and who my 00:05:49.149 --> 00:05:53.069 testimonies are really Meant to be used on right 00:05:53.069 --> 00:05:56.029 now at this time because God will take all of 00:05:56.029 --> 00:06:00.110 our past mistakes and mess -ups and Experiences 00:06:00.110 --> 00:06:03.410 and turn them into powerful testimonies that 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:07.449 show the goodness of God Y 'all even in my rebellion 00:06:07.449 --> 00:06:10.050 even in all my suffering. I am able to look back 00:06:10.050 --> 00:06:13.629 and see how The Lord was a light and how he used 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:18.500 it all for my good So I'm going to read to y 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:48.370 'all. They and their fathers have transgressed 00:06:48.370 --> 00:06:52.170 against me to this very day. The descendants 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:57.069 are also impudent and stubborn. I send you to 00:06:57.069 --> 00:06:59.870 them, and you shall say to them, Thus says the 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:03.050 Lord God, and whether they hear or refuse to 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.149 hear, for they are a rebellious house, they will 00:07:06.149 --> 00:07:09.790 know that a prophet has been among them. And 00:07:09.790 --> 00:07:13.649 you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be 00:07:13.649 --> 00:07:17.120 afraid of their words. Though briars and thorns 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:20.300 are with you, and you sit on scorpions, be not 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:23.019 afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:26.339 looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:28.920 shall speak my words to them, whether they hear 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:31.639 or refuse to hear, that they are a rebellious 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.120 house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.120 you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house. 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:41.060 Open your mouth and eat what I give you. when 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:43.720 I looked behold a hand was stretched out to me 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:47.620 and behold a scroll of a book was in it and He 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:50.439 spread it before me and it had writing on the 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:53.680 front and on the back and There were written 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.800 on words of lamination and mourning and woe and 00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:02.600 that was what I read this morning Where I felt 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:10.420 the Lord guiding me So, you know today listening 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:17.240 to this that God is trying to speak to you whether 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:23.839 or not you soften your heart and it is in the 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.980 character of the Heavenly Father to send his 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:30.180 children to send people to speak on his behalf 00:08:30.180 --> 00:08:32.440 to groups knowing that not everybody is going 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:35.379 to listen knowing that not everybody is going 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:39.870 to want to hear But understand that God is such 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:44.049 a loving father that He loves you and wants to 00:08:44.049 --> 00:08:47.169 see you repent so much that He will send people 00:08:47.169 --> 00:08:50.409 to you knowing that you're still gonna try to 00:08:50.409 --> 00:08:52.669 reject them. Y 'all, I cannot tell you how many 00:08:52.669 --> 00:08:55.970 times I look back in my rebellious time period 00:08:55.970 --> 00:08:58.529 of my life and realize that God was sending me 00:08:58.529 --> 00:09:01.990 people and God was sending words and God was 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:05.960 trying to get through to me. but I had hardened 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:10.940 my heart and I had refused to see it and that 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:13.179 right there is a testimony in itself of how good 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:15.059 God is how I'm able to look back and being like 00:09:15.059 --> 00:09:17.759 wow even though I was actively in divination 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.399 I was actively in witchcraft I was actively in 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.519 sexual immorality I was in idolatry I was in 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:27.799 all of these things and God was still sending 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.460 people to me he still wanted me to turn back 00:09:31.460 --> 00:09:37.110 to him That is how good he is. I want to remind 00:09:37.110 --> 00:09:42.009 y 'all today about the story of Jonah. Jonah 00:09:42.009 --> 00:09:45.250 knew that God was forgiving. Jonah knew that 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:47.870 God was merciful. Jonah knew that God was all 00:09:47.870 --> 00:09:51.429 -powerful. And when God called Jonah to go to 00:09:51.429 --> 00:09:54.210 Nineveh and to preach repentance to the Ninevites, 00:09:54.549 --> 00:09:58.149 Jonah didn't want to go. Now I've done some historical 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:00.269 looking into the Ninevites, and I guess the Ninevites 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:02.870 were a scary group of people. They weren't above 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:05.149 sacrificing and a lot of violence. They worship 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:08.250 the fish god They weren't really a group of people 00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:10.230 that you'd want to come up to and say hey, you're 00:10:10.230 --> 00:10:17.970 wrong But the more I Look into that story and 00:10:17.970 --> 00:10:22.409 the more that I read different biblical scholars 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:25.830 Perspectives on it because I've looked a lot. 00:10:26.049 --> 00:10:28.190 I've I've heard a lot of different perspectives 00:10:28.190 --> 00:10:31.820 with the book of Jonah, I guess You know, Jonah 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:35.919 already understood that God was in the business 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.360 of forgiveness and of giving people second chances 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:41.980 and of not immediately condemning or immediately 00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:45.179 striking down. And a partial reason Jonah didn't 00:10:45.179 --> 00:10:47.480 want to go to Nineveh was because he was like, 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:50.700 watch, I'm going to go and tell them that destruction's 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:53.210 coming and you're going to forgive them. there's 00:10:53.210 --> 00:10:54.970 no point in going I know you're forgiving God 00:10:54.970 --> 00:10:56.429 I know you're going to forgive them and that's 00:10:56.429 --> 00:10:59.330 actually stated more near the end of the book 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:01.889 of Jonah when for that time period the Lord spares 00:11:01.889 --> 00:11:03.649 the Ninevites because they repent we do know 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:07.889 later on in scripture that the Ninevites do get 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:12.029 got for a little while they do see the wrath 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:15.289 of the Lord because they turn back to their ways 00:11:15.739 --> 00:11:18.159 um we know that repentant is a change of heart 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.500 it's not just feeling guilt or just feeling sorrow 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:24.080 and these people did eventually turn back to 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.820 their ways but in that time period we do see 00:11:26.820 --> 00:11:28.919 that Jonah says to the Lord in prayer he's like 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:31.919 I knew this was gonna happen I knew I was gonna 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.279 declare um that you you were about to take him 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.519 out and that you would forgive them and Jonah 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.460 was getting really upset and petty and God had 00:11:39.460 --> 00:11:43.039 to you know kind of teach him and he used the 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:45.899 leaf that was giving shade and then taking that 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:48.320 away and just he went through and really kind 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.659 of revealed Jonah's heart to himself you know 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:53.440 the way that we respond to the way God moves 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.519 and works really tells us a lot about ourselves 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:58.320 and that was a really revealing time for Jonah 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.639 but we see that God called Jonah saying hey go 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:04.720 preach to these people go tell these people that 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.639 I'm about to destroy them they need to repent 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:11.350 and Jonah said no I'm gonna do my own thing. 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:13.490 And what Jonah did is he went and he got on a 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:16.409 boat and tried to sail off to the other side 00:12:16.409 --> 00:12:18.710 of the world. Like he just he started running 00:12:18.710 --> 00:12:21.110 away from God's calling. He said no to God and 00:12:21.110 --> 00:12:23.129 started running in the other direction. And he 00:12:23.129 --> 00:12:25.110 got other people involved. He was getting on 00:12:25.110 --> 00:12:27.230 other people's boats and it was when he was sleeping 00:12:27.230 --> 00:12:29.549 at the bottom of the boat that a storm started 00:12:29.549 --> 00:12:32.029 going crazy and the people on the boat were freaking 00:12:32.029 --> 00:12:35.230 out thinking like dude we're gonna die. And they 00:12:35.230 --> 00:12:37.570 were like trying they were they were trying to 00:12:37.570 --> 00:12:40.679 figure out who angered Because you gotta keep 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:42.320 in mind these people on the boat these these 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:46.419 were all people that Were followers of the Lord 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:48.820 God some these people were pagans they had their 00:12:48.820 --> 00:12:51.299 other gods They had their other other beliefs 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:53.360 going on right so they were trying to figure 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:58.100 out like the spiritual side of this like Who's 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:00.639 mad right now? Why is this happening and they 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.240 started casting wads? You know and they they 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.139 recognized that it was Jonah's fault And they 00:13:07.139 --> 00:13:09.200 start asking Jonah, like, who are you? What's 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:10.940 going on? And Jonah was like, all right, I'm 00:13:10.940 --> 00:13:14.480 gonna be real with y 'all. I follow God. I'm 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:18.039 a follower of the Heavenly Father and I disobeyed 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:20.539 him. So yeah, there's a storm going on right 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:23.360 now because he's mad that I'm running away. I've 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.480 angered the Lord. And they actually at first 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:28.580 try to keep Jonah on the boat and try to save 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:30.059 him because they're like, well, what do we do? 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:32.600 He was like, I'm gonna be real with y 'all. Throw 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.179 me in the water. like he was like if you want 00:13:35.179 --> 00:13:37.500 to please the situation toss me off the boat 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:39.960 and at first they didn't do that they helped 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.639 him get away further they kept him on the boat 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:44.139 and they were trying to do their thing to keep 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.480 getting away but eventually the storm got so 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.879 crazy that they were like okay we've got to throw 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:51.600 them in the water and they threw Jonah aside 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.000 and you know they were the storm resided they 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.759 were good It worked out for them, but what happened 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.600 is a big fish came and swallowed up Jonah. And 00:14:02.600 --> 00:14:05.700 he was in the belly of that fish for days. And 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:07.620 once he was in the belly of that fish, he was 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:11.360 forced to sit and reflect. And in that time, 00:14:11.659 --> 00:14:14.299 he was repentant for his disobeying the Lord. 00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:18.059 And when he repented and he was crying out to 00:14:18.059 --> 00:14:22.240 the Lord, the Lord caused him to be spit up from 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.379 the belly of that fish. And when he was spit 00:14:24.379 --> 00:14:28.470 up, the Lord spoke to him. and the Lord gave 00:14:28.470 --> 00:14:31.190 him the same command that he ran from in the 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:35.070 first place which was go to Nineveh and tell 00:14:35.070 --> 00:14:38.029 him what I'm telling you to tell him and this 00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:40.639 time around because he was repentant Remember 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:42.659 y 'all, repentant isn't just feeling guilty and 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:44.899 recognizing you did wrong. Repentant is a change 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:46.860 of heart, meaning you can no longer defend that 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:48.539 thing, which means that you're going to start 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:51.419 taking different actions, okay? So this time, 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.820 because Jonah was repentant, he agreed and he 00:14:54.820 --> 00:14:58.399 went and he did what God told him to do. And 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:01.340 we see that the people of Nunavut believed him. 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.679 And because they believed him and they repented, 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.120 God decided to spare them in that time period 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.320 and then we see that Jonah goes and gets salty 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:14.720 He's upset that God spared them. He was like 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.860 see I told you I told you this was what was gonna 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:18.320 happen I knew I was gonna come here and waste 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.539 my time and say all this stuff and then you were 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:23.419 just gonna spare him anyway and God used that 00:15:23.419 --> 00:15:25.100 as a little bit like a teaching moment where 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:29.840 God gave him some shade from like a leaf and 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:32.100 The next day that leaf was gone and Jonah started 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:35.240 getting I might as well just die Lord, why'd 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.059 you take this away and God was kind of getting 00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:40.259 real with him of why are you so upset? I took 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.100 that away when you never had to work for it in 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:43.659 the first place That wasn't your leaf. That was 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:45.980 my leaf. I was just allowing you to use it. Why 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:50.279 are you mad? Why are you mad? Like, you know, 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:52.519 that was just a time of revealing Jonah's heart 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:56.179 to him and God using that as a moment to work 00:15:56.179 --> 00:16:00.440 on him and I related when I was talking to those 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:02.799 people the other night that to the book of Jeremiah 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:06.980 because we see in the book of Jeremiah that God's 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:11.360 people have become rebellious. They are idolizing 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.340 they they are Really putting their fleshly desires 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:18.360 number one They are doing a lot of things that 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:19.639 they shouldn't be doing. They're listening to 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:22.960 false prophets They listen to a lot of false 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.519 prophets We have a problem modern day now with 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.600 a lot of false prophets speaking from personal 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:29.659 experience y 'all I was a tarot card reader we 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:32.460 see it in the mediums we see it in the psychics 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:35.919 we see it in the The astrologers, we see it in 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:37.820 the horoscope readers, the natal chart people, 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:40.059 we see it in the tarot readers, oracle card readers, 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:41.940 we see it in the people who are saying that they're 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:43.840 speaking from the Lord, but if you held what 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:45.799 they said to the Bible, it does not match scripture 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:48.480 whatsoever. It goes against the word of God. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.620 We see a lot of people doing a lot of that. Just 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:54.480 as prevalent as it was back then is prevalent 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.700 now. And these people... in the book of Jeremiah 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:00.659 were putting their faith in those false prophets 00:17:00.659 --> 00:17:02.700 and what they had to say they were putting their 00:17:02.700 --> 00:17:04.519 faith in their own works and their own things 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:08.099 and you know every so often um they would go 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:11.720 and have like a short repentance or they would 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.259 go and say okay yeah what i did was wrong or 00:17:14.259 --> 00:17:15.819 what i did was bad but they would always turn 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:19.220 right back to what they did you know they didn't 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:21.240 actually have a change of heart they were actually 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.359 pursuing the relationship with the heavenly father 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:25.480 you know once they felt like they were in the 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:27.059 clear they would go back to doing what they were 00:17:27.059 --> 00:17:30.920 doing before and god like literally the first 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.000 30 chapters in the book of jeremiah y 'all is 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:35.559 just the lord warning them saying stop doing 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:38.000 this stop doing this the lord sent them multiple 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:40.900 prophets he sent them jeremiah which was like 00:17:40.900 --> 00:17:43.559 the final prophet before all this stuff started 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:47.130 going down crazy And God was just sending them 00:17:47.130 --> 00:17:49.809 warning after warning after warning time after 00:17:49.809 --> 00:17:52.069 time after time saying like if y 'all don't turn 00:17:52.069 --> 00:17:54.170 from this I am going to allow your enemies to 00:17:54.170 --> 00:17:56.490 conquer over you. I'm going to allow your land 00:17:56.490 --> 00:17:58.950 to be taken from you I'm gonna allow you to be 00:17:58.950 --> 00:18:00.730 dispersed. I'm good You're gonna have to serve 00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:03.650 these other people and it's gonna be a long time 00:18:03.650 --> 00:18:06.450 coming back Like God is warning them saying y 00:18:06.450 --> 00:18:08.849 'all are gonna lose everything if you keep doing 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:17.680 this Y 'all are gonna lose it all yet they didn't 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:21.680 listen instead they chose to listen to the false 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.880 prophets because at the same time that God was 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:25.460 sending them prophets saying what you're doing 00:18:25.460 --> 00:18:28.339 is wrong repent you need to deny your flesh you 00:18:28.339 --> 00:18:30.799 need to put first you need to put God first and 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.539 put yourself second don't be taking the shortcuts 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:36.259 don't be taking the easy ways don't be taking 00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:38.559 the idolatry ways don't be giving to greed don't 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:40.599 be given into lust don't be giving in to all 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:43.579 of this false stuff Put your faith in the Lord 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:48.660 Or you will be destroyed God is showing you grace 00:18:48.660 --> 00:18:50.180 and mercy right now, but he's not going to show 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:52.059 you that grace that mercy forever that will run 00:18:52.059 --> 00:18:56.319 out But then they had false prophets in their 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.579 ears saying no God loves you God God loves you 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:02.599 and everything that you're doing continue doing 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:05.480 this You're gonna be totally fine. Your enemies 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:08.539 aren't gonna conquer over you Like, God's grace 00:19:08.539 --> 00:19:10.359 is never going to run out. God's mercy on you 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:12.660 is never going to run out. You can continue doing 00:19:12.660 --> 00:19:14.960 what you're doing. You have a reason for it. 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.019 I'm paraphrasing right now. But these were the 00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:18.700 voices that they had. They had the voices that 00:19:18.700 --> 00:19:22.940 were telling them straight up biblically. But 00:19:22.940 --> 00:19:25.079 it had an ending that they didn't want to hear 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:27.000 of. If you continue down this path, there is 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:29.240 destruction afoot. And then they had another 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:30.839 voice saying, no, keep doing what you're doing. 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:34.140 God loves you. He won't allow that to happen. 00:19:34.220 --> 00:19:36.039 He won't allow this to happen. You're good. Keep 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:38.539 doing it. It'll work out in your favor. And they 00:19:38.539 --> 00:19:40.700 put their faith in those voices because those 00:19:40.700 --> 00:19:43.519 voices didn't require them to change. Those voices 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.059 didn't require them to do better. Those voices 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.160 told them what they wanted to hear. Those voices 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.220 comforted their flesh. And we know from reading 00:19:51.220 --> 00:19:53.180 scripture that the flesh and the spirit are enemies. 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:55.259 What your flesh wants to do, your spirit does 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:57.079 not want to do. What your spirit wants to do, 00:19:57.099 --> 00:20:00.799 your flesh does not want to do. And we know That 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.299 Jesus has said multiple times to deny yourself. 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:05.980 We need to take up our cross and follow him. 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:08.660 Jesus never says entertain the flesh, satisfy 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:12.920 the flesh. He says deny the flesh. Deny yourself. 00:20:13.480 --> 00:20:18.579 He who loses his life will save it. Jesus told 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:20.480 that rich man, if you want to follow me, sell 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:22.940 everything you own. And that man was not willing 00:20:22.940 --> 00:20:28.819 to do that and turned his back. These people 00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:31.200 in the book of Jeremiah listen to the sweet voices 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.740 that told them Everything they're doing is fine. 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:35.799 They're perfect the way they are. It's all defensible. 00:20:36.380 --> 00:20:38.940 You're good Everyone else is just a liar and 00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:41.400 because they continue to listen to those lies 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.180 and put their faith in those lies They ended 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:46.779 up having to serve the Babylonians. They ended 00:20:46.779 --> 00:20:50.680 up being split They end up having all of that 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:55.509 time But we see that the mercy and the grace 00:20:55.509 --> 00:20:58.190 of God in the book of Jeremiah where he allowed 00:20:58.190 --> 00:21:02.170 this to happen in hopes that one day They would 00:21:02.170 --> 00:21:05.289 turn to the Lord Because once they were in this 00:21:05.289 --> 00:21:07.950 low low place now They need a Savior and now 00:21:07.950 --> 00:21:09.769 their hearts are finally humbled enough to say 00:21:09.769 --> 00:21:12.170 okay. My way isn't the best way I'm gonna turn 00:21:12.170 --> 00:21:15.829 to God Because when everything when they were 00:21:15.829 --> 00:21:18.029 able to continue doing what they were doing and 00:21:18.029 --> 00:21:19.529 trying to make things work for themselves They 00:21:19.529 --> 00:21:22.549 didn't need God like that. So God allowed them 00:21:22.549 --> 00:21:27.299 to be putting themselves into a position through 00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:32.859 their rebellion that they needed him and once 00:21:32.859 --> 00:21:34.920 they did that he could have their hearts again. 00:21:35.740 --> 00:21:37.700 So there is still redemption in that story because 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:39.440 we do see after the book of Jeremiah that God 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.200 eventually does rebuild the temple and he does 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:44.660 take the Babylonians out of that place of power. 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:49.259 But what has to happen is the humility and the 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:52.210 humbling of their hearts. And I want to share 00:21:52.210 --> 00:21:54.470 with y 'all from personal experience and there's 00:21:54.470 --> 00:21:55.710 still some more scripture that I'm gonna read 00:21:55.710 --> 00:21:57.910 with you that that is what the word did to me. 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:02.630 I turned away from him y 'all. I believed I was 00:22:02.630 --> 00:22:05.069 turning my back on the church because I was raised 00:22:05.069 --> 00:22:07.450 in the, I was raised going to church and I was 00:22:07.450 --> 00:22:10.130 raised in more, you know, in Catholicism there 00:22:10.130 --> 00:22:11.890 are a lot more religious requirements than maybe 00:22:11.890 --> 00:22:14.309 like a non -denominational, which I attend now. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.799 And in my mind, I was really more in religion 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:20.839 than I was in relationship. And when I look back, 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:23.019 I didn't have that solid relationship with Jesus. 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:24.940 I didn't view him as a savior. I didn't view 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:28.180 myself as someone who truly needed saved. Did 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:31.420 I view myself as a victim? Yes. But I defended 00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:33.319 everything I did and I didn't see the things 00:22:33.319 --> 00:22:36.799 I was doing that were sinful as sinful. I didn't 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:39.019 truly, I viewed myself as needing a savior from 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:41.220 other people, but not needing a savior from myself. 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:44.619 And that was the real big problem. Which shows 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.220 when you look about kind of the Jews problem, 00:22:47.220 --> 00:22:50.839 right when Jesus came was They were looking at 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:52.480 the Messiah as someone to save them from the 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.039 Romans and save them from other people but Jesus 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:58.359 came to save them from themselves and They refused 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:00.880 to believe that they needed a Savior in that 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:03.140 way they wanted the Savior that was gonna come 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:07.140 through and take out Rome and elevate them and 00:23:07.140 --> 00:23:09.420 When I look back now, I'm like dang. That's what 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:11.200 I was looking for because you know, y 'all know 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:14.099 I grew up in addiction and I grew up around like 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:16.759 a lot of narcissistic behaviors and there was 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:18.839 a lot of emotional manipulation there was a lot 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.240 of in my friends and in my relationships and 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:24.559 I felt like I was constantly getting taken advantage 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.859 of or suffering or made to hurt in all these 00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:29.380 different ways and I viewed myself as a victim 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:31.460 of a lot of unjust things and there were a lot 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:33.819 of things I faced that were harsh and traumatic 00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:36.579 and you know that I empathize with other people 00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:39.420 when they experience that. And after a long period 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:42.059 of time, I didn't realize but a lot of that started 00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:44.779 to turn into anger that I directed at God and 00:23:44.779 --> 00:23:47.279 misunderstanding of why. Why would you let that 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:49.700 happen? How is this good? How are you going to 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:51.920 use this for my good? How is this? How is that? 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:54.859 And my view of the world slowly started being 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:58.759 a warped situation. Where I just viewed everyone 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:01.079 else as the enemy and me as a helpless victim 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:03.160 and of course, I wasn't perfect I had a reason 00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:05.440 for why I do everything else and when I really 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.039 took myself out of the bubble I realized that 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:08.980 that is everyone else that everyone else can 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:11.720 make up that same justification When I'm sitting 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:13.500 here thinking I am the biggest victim in the 00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:15.779 world boohoo. This person did this thing to me 00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:18.660 I'm sure they're saying they're thinking well, 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:21.039 I did it for this reason. I have this pain I 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:23.640 have this trauma or I I needed this to be done. 00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:30.829 I needed this It makes me think of you know Forgive 00:24:30.829 --> 00:24:33.809 and judge to the measure that you want to be 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:37.509 judged And the Lord really had to get real with 00:24:37.509 --> 00:24:40.230 me on that one this past year where it was like 00:24:40.230 --> 00:24:42.690 I'm making up all these excuses for myself Why 00:24:42.690 --> 00:24:44.450 can't I make up these excuses for other people? 00:24:44.450 --> 00:24:46.670 Why is everyone else is the bad guy? I'm the 00:24:46.670 --> 00:24:49.569 one with the reason I'm the one with the justification 00:24:49.569 --> 00:24:51.970 I'm telling y 'all that the source of my rebellion 00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:53.970 was I felt like there was a lack of justice and 00:24:53.970 --> 00:24:56.940 a lack of control in my life I felt like I was 00:24:56.940 --> 00:24:59.400 dealt with unjustly and I felt like God wasn't 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:01.980 dealing the justice. I didn't even see it that 00:25:01.980 --> 00:25:04.160 way because I wasn't going out trying to hurt 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.299 people. That wasn't my way of trying to get justice, 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:09.000 but I was trying to avoid the constant cycle 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.480 of pain. That's why I turned to divination. That's 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:15.180 why I started putting my faith in that is I felt 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:17.480 like I had information that could help me avoid 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:20.920 painful situations and that I could just uplift 00:25:20.920 --> 00:25:23.940 myself. And I also felt like I could use that 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:27.619 as a career path to help other people, too. But 00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:30.119 I see that those desires and those needs were 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.480 deeply rooted in a past history of, like, feeling 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:35.420 like I had dealt with things unjustly. And that 00:25:35.420 --> 00:25:37.400 was also why I stopped giving thanks to God, 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:39.200 or I never fully tried to give things to God, 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:41.500 is because I felt like he wasn't dealing with 00:25:41.500 --> 00:25:43.519 it the way I wanted to deal with it, and because 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:46.259 I didn't understand his ways. I didn't understand 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:51.569 what he allowed. and I turned my back on him. 00:25:51.910 --> 00:25:54.930 I've shared that testimony of when I had that 00:25:54.930 --> 00:25:57.190 meditation, I said, I'm gonna, because once I 00:25:57.190 --> 00:25:58.849 got into new age spirituality, I started learning 00:25:58.849 --> 00:26:01.849 about other, I'm using quotation marks of other 00:26:01.849 --> 00:26:03.930 deities. I now recognize that these are all just 00:26:03.930 --> 00:26:05.690 demonic spirits. If it's not from God, who's 00:26:05.690 --> 00:26:08.460 it from? It's demonic. about that time I viewed 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:11.140 them as deities. I was interested in learning 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:13.900 about them and I was interested in learning about 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:16.759 the meditations and all these different things 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:19.160 and how you're your own manifestor and you're 00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:22.829 in control of everything. You know as someone 00:26:22.829 --> 00:26:25.329 who I had felt like a whole lack of control throughout 00:26:25.329 --> 00:26:28.009 my life New Age virtuality to me was like, oh 00:26:28.009 --> 00:26:31.029 my gosh I can have control. I can create things. 00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:33.549 I can do this. I can do that I don't have to 00:26:33.549 --> 00:26:35.809 like wait on someone else's timing. I can just 00:26:35.809 --> 00:26:39.769 do it whenever I want to do it When I when I 00:26:39.769 --> 00:26:42.190 look at it now like New Age spirituality y 'all, 00:26:42.569 --> 00:26:44.869 you know, there's fruits of the spirit New Age 00:26:44.869 --> 00:26:46.730 spirituality is like anti fruits of the spirit, 00:26:46.950 --> 00:26:49.789 you know God has really been developing self 00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:52.109 -control in me New Age spirituality is like the 00:26:52.109 --> 00:26:54.109 lack of self -control because what brought me 00:26:54.109 --> 00:26:56.670 in was the fact that you can manifest it like 00:26:56.670 --> 00:27:00.049 that You can create it like that That's what 00:27:00.049 --> 00:27:01.869 a lot of witchcraft is because witchcraft is 00:27:01.869 --> 00:27:03.710 about control and doing what you want to do and 00:27:03.710 --> 00:27:07.079 executing your will At the root of it, witchcraft 00:27:07.079 --> 00:27:11.160 is executing your will over God's will. And that 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:14.200 is rooted in impatience. That is rooted in a 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:16.480 lack of joy. You don't have true joy or gratitude 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:18.519 for what God has already done in you or is doing 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:20.140 in your life, and you're trying to bring in more 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:23.099 and create more. Really, witchcraft in New Age 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:27.079 is like anti -fruits of the spirit. Now, I'll 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:29.319 say that the Lord was developing the fruits of 00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:31.700 the spirit in me while I was still in New Age, 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:34.569 and I've talked about that. very over time but 00:27:34.569 --> 00:27:38.569 what draws you in i've heard it in my testimony 00:27:38.569 --> 00:27:40.950 and a lot of other people's testimonies at the 00:27:40.950 --> 00:27:45.109 root of it is seeking something that is not christ 00:27:45.109 --> 00:27:47.509 -like um that is not brits's spirit you're so 00:27:47.509 --> 00:27:50.269 sick of waiting on god's timing witchcraft provides 00:27:50.269 --> 00:27:53.630 for you your own timing you're so sick of waiting 00:27:53.630 --> 00:27:56.670 on answers well you know this provides for you 00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:58.970 you can go seek out whatever answers from the 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:01.750 demonic sources that you're going to I rebelled 00:28:01.750 --> 00:28:04.970 from the Lord y 'all because I did not understand 00:28:04.970 --> 00:28:07.970 his ways. I was angry and I blamed him for the 00:28:07.970 --> 00:28:10.369 bad things that happened in my life and I felt 00:28:10.369 --> 00:28:12.650 like I had been a victim most of my life and 00:28:12.650 --> 00:28:14.950 this was my opportunity to create my own happiness 00:28:14.950 --> 00:28:16.430 and do what I wanted to do and I felt like I 00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:18.990 wasn't hurting anybody and all of these things. 00:28:19.529 --> 00:28:22.509 There's a really popular celebrity that I really 00:28:22.509 --> 00:28:25.990 used to look up to and like I loved her a lot. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.779 um I listen all of her music like I knew every 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:33.099 one of her lyrics and you know the past couple 00:28:33.629 --> 00:28:36.730 The past year, especially I've really started 00:28:36.730 --> 00:28:38.470 recognizing because I know she used to call she 00:28:38.470 --> 00:28:41.910 used to admittedly call herself a Christian And 00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:44.250 when I wasn't reading my Bible when I wasn't 00:28:44.250 --> 00:28:46.470 listening to my discernment When I didn't really 00:28:46.470 --> 00:28:48.130 have relationship with Christ anyone could told 00:28:48.130 --> 00:28:50.549 me they were a Christian and like quoted some 00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:53.210 scripture Or done some nice things and I would 00:28:53.210 --> 00:28:55.410 have believed them and now I'm saying more like 00:28:55.410 --> 00:28:58.490 the Lord has really helped me to see and discern 00:28:58.490 --> 00:29:02.799 and I pay a lot more attention to people's words 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.559 and the way that they live their lives and you 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:08.359 know this artist I used to love her music and 00:29:08.359 --> 00:29:11.000 last year I started listening to a new album 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:14.259 that she had and there were so many songs that 00:29:14.259 --> 00:29:17.400 were just straight nods to witchcraft where it 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:21.200 was undeniable and I felt a real conviction listening 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:23.180 I couldn't listen to her songs anymore you know 00:29:23.180 --> 00:29:25.880 there was one where she was talking about having 00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:29.549 cards laid out on a table and talking about the 00:29:29.549 --> 00:29:32.750 Fool, and the Fool is the beginning of the Tarot, 00:29:33.230 --> 00:29:36.430 and is the beginning, it's called the Fool's 00:29:36.430 --> 00:29:38.369 Journey in the Tarot card, like in the Major 00:29:38.369 --> 00:29:42.829 Arcana, and she was talking about being gathered 00:29:42.829 --> 00:29:44.990 with a coven around a sorcerer's table, and I 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:46.910 noticed some people, those are play on words. 00:29:47.950 --> 00:29:50.210 But to me as someone who's in New Age spirituality 00:29:50.210 --> 00:29:53.190 and that was my life the fact that she could 00:29:53.190 --> 00:29:56.910 use those words in those ways and throughout 00:29:56.910 --> 00:29:59.250 that was talking more about prophecies throughout 00:29:59.250 --> 00:30:02.750 more songs prophetic words and I start noticing 00:30:02.750 --> 00:30:04.569 even in past songs where she's talking about 00:30:04.569 --> 00:30:06.450 a lot of deals with the devil and a lot of different 00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:07.950 things like that where I'm really starting to 00:30:07.950 --> 00:30:10.470 recognize that you know Satan knew scripture 00:30:10.470 --> 00:30:13.710 too and we know that that he quoted scripture 00:30:13.710 --> 00:30:16.690 and twisted scripture too. He did that to Jesus 00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:22.990 and you can't be lukewarm and I felt really convicted 00:30:22.990 --> 00:30:24.769 listening to that where it was like I could tell 00:30:24.769 --> 00:30:28.029 that maybe she had one foot in but there is definitely 00:30:28.029 --> 00:30:31.849 one foot out and these were not glorifying the 00:30:31.849 --> 00:30:35.170 Lord lyrics and we know that it doesn't matter 00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:37.930 how many works you do that does not mean that 00:30:37.930 --> 00:30:40.230 you have a relationship with the Heavenly Father 00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:45.200 and there was a new album that like recently 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:49.660 came out that I couldn't even listen to like 00:30:49.660 --> 00:30:54.160 three songs further I tried to give another chance 00:30:54.160 --> 00:31:00.019 and I couldn't do it y 'all I just had to pause 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:02.640 and take a moment because I needed to regroup 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:08.259 with the direction we were going in and just 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:13.319 laying the Holy Spirit guide me back and the 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:16.700 root of where I was going with this is there 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:22.140 are so many influences out there right now that 00:31:22.140 --> 00:31:26.819 seem to be Christ -like that actually lead you 00:31:26.819 --> 00:31:31.740 very far away from the Lord Because with example, 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:35.619 if I started listening to every one of these 00:31:35.619 --> 00:31:37.680 songs or every one of these lyrics or even maybe 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:39.619 looking more at the way this person lives their 00:31:39.619 --> 00:31:42.579 life, when it comes to maybe some of the good 00:31:42.579 --> 00:31:44.599 works that they do, sure, I see the good works, 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:47.400 but in the messages that are being spread at 00:31:47.400 --> 00:31:50.099 the root, are they glorifying God or they glorifying 00:31:50.099 --> 00:31:54.000 self? And it's so easy to be led away and led 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:56.400 astray by things that sound similar to scripture. 00:31:57.319 --> 00:32:00.259 Or by people who say that they're rooted in scripture 00:32:00.259 --> 00:32:02.339 and there's a personal testimony I'll share with 00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.660 that in a minute But where I was going at was 00:32:04.660 --> 00:32:06.940 I was listening to an interview with this person 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:08.680 the other day because they had just recently 00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:13.839 had a new Album and they they had said in this 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:16.980 interview that you can create your own happiness 00:32:16.980 --> 00:32:21.539 and like That was an immediate red flag and I 00:32:21.539 --> 00:32:25.339 know that a lot of people would probably hear 00:32:25.339 --> 00:32:27.339 that and on the surface level defend that because 00:32:27.339 --> 00:32:31.200 that is the day and age that we're living in 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:33.440 is put yourself first do what makes you happy 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:35.640 YOLO I grew up in the era where everyone was 00:32:35.640 --> 00:32:37.920 saying you only live once YOLO young wild and 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:41.779 free do what you want to do just pursue whatever 00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:43.380 makes you happy but that's not what scripture 00:32:43.380 --> 00:32:48.759 says scripture says to deny your flesh we know 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:52.240 that joy will be found when you seek first the 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:54.319 kingdom of heaven that will be added on to you 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:57.799 and as someone who spent my entire life trying 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:00.180 to create happiness for myself seeking it in 00:33:00.180 --> 00:33:01.940 the world seeking it in relationships seeking 00:33:01.940 --> 00:33:04.599 it in money seeking it in trips seeking it in 00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:06.980 vibes and all these things and I would find some 00:33:06.980 --> 00:33:09.900 real high highs and some really good feeling 00:33:09.900 --> 00:33:13.549 moments but eventually there is a dissatisfaction 00:33:13.549 --> 00:33:16.930 and there is a you need more or you need different 00:33:16.930 --> 00:33:20.150 or you need something else but i have never had 00:33:20.150 --> 00:33:23.549 that once i started finding my joy in jesus christ 00:33:23.549 --> 00:33:25.970 now that's not saying that i'm completely satisfied 00:33:25.970 --> 00:33:27.609 with every situation in my life but there is 00:33:27.609 --> 00:33:29.910 a joy that doesn't run out there's not those 00:33:29.910 --> 00:33:32.710 low crashes there's not those depleting because 00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:35.849 i know that i am rooted in the lord and i've 00:33:35.849 --> 00:33:38.670 heard so many other christians share that testimony 00:33:38.670 --> 00:33:41.779 and we know that that is scriptural We know that 00:33:41.779 --> 00:33:45.079 Jesus is the light that he is the source of all 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:48.079 things good and happiness is a good thing and 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:52.500 when I was listening to that like I I just My 00:33:52.500 --> 00:33:56.200 heart like hurt for so many people that I know 00:33:56.200 --> 00:34:00.799 are listening to that and will take that Because 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:03.720 you cannot create your own happiness, but it's 00:34:03.720 --> 00:34:05.579 just simple things like that that don't feel 00:34:05.579 --> 00:34:08.440 too harmful that just feel like a simple idea 00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:11.340 that when you are actually starting to take root 00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:13.820 in that and pursue that, you're going to find 00:34:13.820 --> 00:34:16.139 yourself in a direction that is not leading you 00:34:16.139 --> 00:34:19.260 towards Christ. Because pursuing Christ isn't 00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:21.360 pursuing ourselves or pursuing our own desires. 00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.739 It's pursuing being more Christ -like, seeking 00:34:24.739 --> 00:34:27.159 for the Kingdom of Heaven, setting your mind 00:34:27.159 --> 00:34:30.480 on the Heavenly Father. pursuing that and all 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:32.800 of these other things will fall into place and 00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:35.719 I'll tell y 'all that when I was taking step 00:34:35.719 --> 00:34:38.860 after step after step into new age I was listening 00:34:38.860 --> 00:34:41.960 to voices that at times sounded Christ -like 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:46.239 when I I was eating up there was a there was 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:51.099 a I'm doing quotation marks prophetic person 00:34:51.099 --> 00:34:54.159 i was eating up the things that they were saying 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:57.900 on tiktok y 'all like i i loved to listen to 00:34:57.900 --> 00:34:59.860 their words and they would call them channel 00:34:59.860 --> 00:35:02.599 messages that i didn't see them with a tarot 00:35:02.599 --> 00:35:04.320 card i didn't see them with an oracle card the 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:06.199 things that they were saying would sound very 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:09.800 accurate and they were always giving god they 00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:13.539 were saying god told me god said this god spoke 00:35:13.539 --> 00:35:19.309 this and because i I knew that prophets were 00:35:19.309 --> 00:35:22.449 a thing. I believed to have a prophetic gift 00:35:22.449 --> 00:35:25.829 myself from the Lord But I wasn't scriptural 00:35:25.829 --> 00:35:27.809 based. I wasn't holding these things to scripture. 00:35:27.829 --> 00:35:29.570 I wasn't praying to God. Is this person from 00:35:29.570 --> 00:35:32.949 you? I wasn't looking deeper I wasn't testing 00:35:32.949 --> 00:35:35.789 the spirit and I was eating up the things that 00:35:35.789 --> 00:35:39.750 this person was saying and They weren't the only 00:35:39.750 --> 00:35:41.369 voice I was listening to but when I think to 00:35:41.369 --> 00:35:44.110 my book of Jeremiah moment I was listening to 00:35:44.110 --> 00:35:45.809 that false prophet that was giving me comfort 00:35:45.809 --> 00:35:47.309 because they were telling me, keep doing this 00:35:47.309 --> 00:35:49.570 and do this and do this. And like, you know, 00:35:49.650 --> 00:35:52.210 God's so pleased with you and you're going to 00:35:52.210 --> 00:35:53.829 have blessing in your life. And you're going 00:35:53.829 --> 00:35:55.949 to all of these things and all the people do 00:35:55.949 --> 00:35:58.909 wrong. You are going to be struck down like all 00:35:58.909 --> 00:36:01.070 of these things. And I was just so adamantly 00:36:01.070 --> 00:36:03.210 believing, yeah, this is this is a prophet from 00:36:03.210 --> 00:36:05.949 the Lord. But then, you know, I was also listening 00:36:05.949 --> 00:36:08.309 to terror readers and other people and I was 00:36:08.309 --> 00:36:10.130 doing my own readings and my own meditations 00:36:10.130 --> 00:36:12.800 and things like that. And when I gave my life 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:15.019 to the Lord and I stopped listening to all those 00:36:15.019 --> 00:36:19.239 voices in general, like I shut out any kind of 00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:20.679 prophetic word, any kind of anything, I shut 00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:22.219 down all my social media, like I was trying to 00:36:22.219 --> 00:36:25.019 avoid anything and only communing with God through 00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:28.079 a prayer and scripture reading. And he actually 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:31.300 really had to work on me to get me open to even 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:35.159 entertaining the idea of how he does send people 00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:37.260 with prophetic words, because I have a lot of 00:36:37.260 --> 00:36:41.230 trauma in regards to that. and I had to recognize 00:36:41.230 --> 00:36:43.269 and realize I was listening to someone who wasn't 00:36:43.269 --> 00:36:46.610 from the Lord and the more I was praying to the 00:36:46.610 --> 00:36:49.110 Lord like to reveal things to me the Lord started 00:36:49.110 --> 00:36:52.969 revealing this person to me and this person actually 00:36:52.969 --> 00:36:56.630 married a very popular witch on TikTok like who 00:36:56.630 --> 00:36:58.829 does a lot of love spells and all these witchcraft 00:36:58.829 --> 00:37:01.050 things and does a lot of tarot card reading and 00:37:01.050 --> 00:37:03.889 this person actually started selling a lot of 00:37:03.889 --> 00:37:06.130 TikTok tarot readings and oracle card readings 00:37:06.130 --> 00:37:08.489 and became and started selling spell work where 00:37:08.489 --> 00:37:11.929 they um do protection but like label it saint 00:37:11.929 --> 00:37:14.329 work and different things and the lord openly 00:37:14.329 --> 00:37:16.550 revealed to me that this person was in witchcraft 00:37:16.550 --> 00:37:19.630 and that this person wasn't divination they were 00:37:19.630 --> 00:37:23.030 heavily um and that was a really big confirmation 00:37:23.030 --> 00:37:25.670 word be to god that he revealed that to me and 00:37:25.670 --> 00:37:27.590 but i started looking back and i started realizing 00:37:27.590 --> 00:37:30.730 if i would have been biblically literate if i 00:37:30.730 --> 00:37:33.530 would have prayed for an understanding of the 00:37:33.530 --> 00:37:34.849 Lord. I would have seen that a lot of things 00:37:34.849 --> 00:37:37.329 that this person was encouraging me to do were 00:37:37.329 --> 00:37:39.750 things that were of the flesh and were things 00:37:39.750 --> 00:37:42.710 that were fleshly desires and things that so 00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:44.989 clearly, although they sounded good to the ears, 00:37:45.230 --> 00:37:47.090 when I held them up to scripture, they were not 00:37:47.090 --> 00:37:51.139 Christ -like methods in Christ -like ways. I 00:37:51.139 --> 00:37:53.000 wasn't always being told to go hurt other people, 00:37:53.039 --> 00:37:55.780 but I was being told consistently to exalt myself 00:37:55.780 --> 00:37:59.539 and to put myself first, and just being okay 00:37:59.539 --> 00:38:02.480 to continue in divination and continue in tarot 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:04.440 reading and continue in crystals and all that 00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:07.119 kind of thing. I wasn't being told to go in the 00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:09.500 other direction, right? And if that was from 00:38:09.500 --> 00:38:11.880 God, I would have been told to put down the divination. 00:38:12.300 --> 00:38:14.000 I would have been told to put down the witchcraft. 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:15.239 I would have been told it doesn't matter why 00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:16.659 you're doing it, you shouldn't be doing it, point 00:38:16.659 --> 00:38:19.210 blank, period. And the Lord had to really reveal 00:38:19.210 --> 00:38:21.389 to me that I had been listening to a lot of other 00:38:21.389 --> 00:38:24.070 voices in that rebellion And I'm not blaming 00:38:24.070 --> 00:38:26.449 my decisions on those people at all. I made the 00:38:26.449 --> 00:38:29.130 decisions that I made But the voices that you're 00:38:29.130 --> 00:38:32.630 listening to are so important And testing the 00:38:32.630 --> 00:38:34.909 spirit behind the voices that you listen to is 00:38:34.909 --> 00:38:36.590 so important because sometimes these messages 00:38:36.590 --> 00:38:39.090 are so small And you think how can this be hurtful? 00:38:39.130 --> 00:38:41.170 How can this lead to separation when you start 00:38:41.170 --> 00:38:43.070 implementing that in your daily life? You see 00:38:43.070 --> 00:38:46.000 just how much separation that can create Y 'all 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.119 trying to create your own happiness Trying to 00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:51.440 do something you are not going to be able to 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:55.280 do that scripture tells us That Jesus is the 00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:57.199 vine the father of the vine dresser and we can 00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:01.320 do nothing apart from him We cannot have endless 00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:04.559 happiness endless joy endless love if he is not 00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:06.820 the source if he is not what we are tapping into 00:39:06.820 --> 00:39:10.980 We cannot create that for ourselves You might 00:39:10.980 --> 00:39:13.280 be able to find a temporary high but there is 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:15.559 going to be a crash There is going to be a low 00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:17.199 there is going to be a lack There is going to 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:20.179 be a seeking for more and needing more if you 00:39:20.179 --> 00:39:23.280 are not Founded and rooted in Jesus if he is 00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:27.800 not pouring into you And I want to say today 00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:29.699 too if you have found that you are in a position 00:39:29.699 --> 00:39:31.300 right now where you are trying to do things apart 00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:33.860 from him You can go to him and start working 00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:38.179 with him any moment any hour Do it. I did it 00:39:38.539 --> 00:39:42.219 Well, I spent years starting to develop and cultivate 00:39:42.219 --> 00:39:46.820 and grow a new age tarot reading thing for myself 00:39:46.820 --> 00:39:49.280 Social media platform all of those things and 00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:51.800 when Jesus when I realized that all of that was 00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:54.679 apart from him And I listened to what he wanted 00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:56.619 me to do. Obviously. I was called to shut it 00:39:56.619 --> 00:40:01.500 down. I Deleted the courses I had I deleted all 00:40:01.500 --> 00:40:04.360 the videos. I deleted the email accounts like 00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:09.199 anything that glorified tarot reading and all 00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:12.159 of that and the Lord helped me to build something 00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:16.219 new hand in hand with him this podcast alone 00:40:16.219 --> 00:40:18.659 is something that I honestly didn't consider 00:40:18.659 --> 00:40:23.079 pursuing myself but building it with the Lord 00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:28.139 step by step I'm telling y 'all today that rebellion 00:40:28.139 --> 00:40:31.340 turning from the Lord because it's not what you 00:40:31.340 --> 00:40:35.960 want to do It feels good to the flesh to do what 00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:40.179 you want to do Whatever reasons might be something 00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:42.760 deeper and more painful where you feel like something 00:40:42.760 --> 00:40:45.539 is just so unjust or because you can't Understand 00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:47.820 why this thing was allowed to happen or because 00:40:47.820 --> 00:40:50.619 you can't grasp this thing why he would allow 00:40:50.619 --> 00:40:54.480 this You want to rebel and go in the other direction 00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:56.710 because you feel like Well, you've been trying 00:40:56.710 --> 00:40:58.150 and you haven't seen the works. I'm gonna be 00:40:58.150 --> 00:40:59.829 real y 'all. I used to say that I used to say 00:40:59.829 --> 00:41:02.289 well I've been I tried the Jesus way I tried 00:41:02.289 --> 00:41:05.550 but did I really though Because the whole time 00:41:05.550 --> 00:41:09.010 I was going and I was going to church every Sunday, 00:41:09.010 --> 00:41:12.210 but I was still fornicating I was still having 00:41:12.210 --> 00:41:14.829 sex before marriage. I was still cussing all 00:41:14.829 --> 00:41:16.829 the time. I was still gossiping about people 00:41:16.829 --> 00:41:19.349 I was still putting myself around people that 00:41:19.349 --> 00:41:21.030 were not pursuing a relationship with the Lord. 00:41:21.030 --> 00:41:24.730 I was having bad influences Bad company corrupts 00:41:24.730 --> 00:41:27.090 good morals. I was still idolizing things. I 00:41:27.090 --> 00:41:28.949 was still idolizing jobs. I was still idolizing 00:41:28.949 --> 00:41:33.050 money. I was still idolizing substances. I was 00:41:33.050 --> 00:41:36.630 still willfully sinning in a lot of different 00:41:36.630 --> 00:41:39.349 areas of my life, finding reasons to defend it. 00:41:40.230 --> 00:41:42.530 I wasn't praying to the Lord every day. I wasn't 00:41:42.530 --> 00:41:45.130 denying the flesh. I wasn't truly trying to surrender 00:41:45.130 --> 00:41:48.010 my way to the Jesus way. I wasn't seeking him 00:41:48.010 --> 00:41:50.369 in scripture. I wasn't doing any of that, yet 00:41:50.369 --> 00:41:53.000 I said, well, I tried the Jesus way. I tried 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:57.239 His way. Well, I've been patient. I pray every 00:41:57.239 --> 00:41:59.599 so often, Lord, but I wasn't doing what He was 00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.480 telling me. That's the thing, y 'all, is communication. 00:42:01.619 --> 00:42:04.440 Prayer is a conversation with the Lord. And yes, 00:42:04.440 --> 00:42:06.860 you can talk, but you also need to listen. And 00:42:06.860 --> 00:42:08.840 when the Lord gives you an answer, you have to 00:42:08.840 --> 00:42:10.780 deny your flesh and accept that answer. When 00:42:10.780 --> 00:42:14.099 He calls you to something, you say yes. And that 00:42:14.099 --> 00:42:15.599 was my biggest problem is when he would call 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.699 me to things I wouldn't want to say yes Because 00:42:17.699 --> 00:42:19.539 I didn't immediately see how it would all pan 00:42:19.539 --> 00:42:21.340 out and I didn't have it all spelled out to me 00:42:21.340 --> 00:42:23.300 Because it might make me uncomfortable or because 00:42:23.300 --> 00:42:24.880 it might take a little bit longer. I didn't want 00:42:24.880 --> 00:42:27.300 to take that way I wanted the fast -paced way 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:31.000 at the root the rebellion. I was in this selfish 00:42:31.000 --> 00:42:35.699 Rebellion is selfishness And it is not gonna 00:42:35.699 --> 00:42:39.059 lead you anywhere, but separation It doesn't 00:42:39.059 --> 00:42:42.760 matter what you gain on this earth if you lose 00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:47.000 your soul And I want to share with y 'all some 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:51.519 scripture someone who had it all and in rebellion 00:42:51.519 --> 00:42:57.219 Lost it all in his name was Saul You know that 00:42:57.219 --> 00:43:01.320 the people were getting the Israelites were asking 00:43:01.320 --> 00:43:06.059 God we want a king give us a king they themselves 00:43:06.059 --> 00:43:08.659 demanded a king and God finally said okay fine 00:43:08.659 --> 00:43:13.019 I will I will pick a king for you and God chose 00:43:13.019 --> 00:43:16.619 Saul and this is talking about rebellion there 00:43:16.619 --> 00:43:21.219 is so many different we can see so many different 00:43:21.219 --> 00:43:26.619 examples of rebellion in the scripture And Saul's 00:43:26.619 --> 00:43:29.440 rebellion was one where God placed him in the 00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:33.460 high place. At one time, he had God's favor. 00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:39.360 He had God's anointing. God had chosen him. But 00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:43.340 in his rebellion, he lost the favor. He lost 00:43:43.340 --> 00:43:45.920 the grace. He lost the mercy. And eventually, 00:43:46.340 --> 00:43:50.239 he lost it all. He lost his life. Because we 00:43:50.239 --> 00:43:56.190 see Saul. Saul is put as king. and God is giving 00:43:56.190 --> 00:44:01.429 him orders and I'm paraphrasing y 'all the story 00:44:01.429 --> 00:44:07.590 off memory but Saul was ordered by the Lord to 00:44:07.590 --> 00:44:09.809 go and take out the enemy saying God is gonna 00:44:09.809 --> 00:44:12.110 be with you take them out do not take anything 00:44:12.110 --> 00:44:16.570 for yourself leave it all destroy it all kill 00:44:16.570 --> 00:44:20.519 it all And Saul disobeys that. Saul does partial 00:44:20.519 --> 00:44:23.400 obedience. He goes and conquers the people. He 00:44:23.400 --> 00:44:25.980 goes and conquers all of that and lays people 00:44:25.980 --> 00:44:29.260 out like God told him to, to take the land, to 00:44:29.260 --> 00:44:34.159 take the people. But then he starts seeing some 00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:37.480 things, some material things that look really 00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:42.179 good to him. You know, the sheep, the animals, 00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:44.119 those things are looking really good to him. 00:44:45.059 --> 00:44:47.000 There's some material things are looking really 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:49.739 good to him and he's like I'm actually gonna 00:44:49.739 --> 00:44:52.619 take the best of these but his way of Defending 00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:54.380 it and like pushing off this thing, but I'll 00:44:54.380 --> 00:44:56.699 use them as offerings for God. So they're like 00:44:56.699 --> 00:44:59.780 not mine They're God's but we're gonna go ahead 00:44:59.780 --> 00:45:01.500 and take these and then there were some lives 00:45:01.500 --> 00:45:03.920 that he spared He was not called the spare. He's 00:45:03.920 --> 00:45:07.780 taking people prisoner instead And God had sent 00:45:07.780 --> 00:45:10.260 a prophet to talk to him saying you blatantly 00:45:10.260 --> 00:45:15.420 disobeyed you were blatantly in rebellion Partial 00:45:15.420 --> 00:45:17.579 obedience is still disobedience and Saul had 00:45:17.579 --> 00:45:20.940 multiple instances of Partial disobedience or 00:45:20.940 --> 00:45:24.400 like full disobedience. He chose to people please 00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.099 Instead of doing what God called him to do and 00:45:28.099 --> 00:45:29.860 we know from reading scripture time and time 00:45:29.860 --> 00:45:32.739 again That if you are doing things of Jesus way, 00:45:32.840 --> 00:45:35.159 the world is gonna hate you Jesus told us that 00:45:35.159 --> 00:45:37.860 a lot in the New Testament We see it in the Beatitudes 00:45:37.860 --> 00:45:39.599 right? Blessed are you when you're mocked or 00:45:39.599 --> 00:45:44.550 reviled persecuted for my sake? We know scripture 00:45:44.550 --> 00:45:46.349 tells us that you are not gonna be more beloved 00:45:46.349 --> 00:45:48.809 than your master than the person that came before 00:45:48.809 --> 00:45:51.849 you than your teacher If we were doing things 00:45:51.849 --> 00:45:55.949 the Jesus way The world is gonna hate us. They 00:45:55.949 --> 00:45:59.150 might call us ignorant. They might call us Judgmental 00:45:59.150 --> 00:46:01.050 they might call us mean they might call us cold 00:46:01.050 --> 00:46:03.849 They might there's gonna be a different way to 00:46:03.849 --> 00:46:06.449 spin it out of every mouth But the world is going 00:46:06.449 --> 00:46:11.010 to find a reason to not like you when you when 00:46:11.010 --> 00:46:15.179 Jesus is being shown through you okay but we 00:46:15.179 --> 00:46:17.719 have to make the conscious decision to choose 00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:21.139 the jesus way anyway to choose god's way even 00:46:21.139 --> 00:46:23.420 if that means that there are going to be people 00:46:23.420 --> 00:46:27.219 who persecute us who mock us who hate us who 00:46:27.219 --> 00:46:29.860 lie about us who slander us who do all of these 00:46:29.860 --> 00:46:34.559 things but you know there there's the option 00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:37.699 that the flush wants so bad, which is to just 00:46:37.699 --> 00:46:41.119 people please and to water it down and to start 00:46:41.119 --> 00:46:43.960 making compromises and start getting lukewarm 00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:46.719 just to keep everybody happy and to limit the 00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:49.559 drama and limit the conflict and sing kumbaya. 00:46:49.880 --> 00:46:51.860 And there are a lot of people who give into that. 00:46:51.860 --> 00:46:53.500 I'm one of those people who gave into that for 00:46:53.500 --> 00:46:57.849 the longest time. For the longest time. And that 00:46:57.849 --> 00:47:01.449 is not what the Lord calls you to do. We like 00:47:01.449 --> 00:47:04.170 to, the world masks that as well. Keeping everybody 00:47:04.170 --> 00:47:05.789 comfortable in that way is actually the best 00:47:05.789 --> 00:47:08.230 way to love somebody. And that's actually the 00:47:08.230 --> 00:47:10.070 kindness thing you can do. If you're gonna show 00:47:10.070 --> 00:47:12.429 kindness, Christ like love and Christ like kindness, 00:47:12.530 --> 00:47:14.530 that's the way. And I used to believe that, but 00:47:14.530 --> 00:47:18.050 that's not true. That's not true. Because sometimes 00:47:18.050 --> 00:47:19.909 the most loving thing you can do is say that 00:47:19.909 --> 00:47:22.050 this is a sin and you need to break away from 00:47:22.050 --> 00:47:24.630 that. It's calling it out when the Lord tells 00:47:24.630 --> 00:47:27.230 you to call it out. The most loving thing you 00:47:27.230 --> 00:47:30.610 can do is show an example of how Christ lived 00:47:30.610 --> 00:47:34.289 set apart He spoke with sinners. He dined with 00:47:34.289 --> 00:47:37.050 them. He sat with them, but he was not then he 00:47:37.050 --> 00:47:40.550 did not copy them He didn't blend in with them. 00:47:40.809 --> 00:47:45.849 He led them away. He didn't fall into it Okay, 00:47:45.989 --> 00:47:48.369 then Saul had two different directions. He could 00:47:48.369 --> 00:47:51.190 go in is he gonna people please his kingdom? 00:47:52.489 --> 00:47:55.019 Or is he gonna do what God? told him to do because 00:47:55.019 --> 00:47:57.019 God gave him that position so the only person 00:47:57.019 --> 00:47:58.880 who's gonna be able to take him out of that position 00:47:58.880 --> 00:48:02.579 is God but in his mind he started treating it 00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:07.000 as if the people put him in that position he 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.099 started bending to the people's will he started 00:48:09.099 --> 00:48:12.019 bending to his own fleshly will his own fleshly 00:48:12.019 --> 00:48:14.599 desire we see in the book of Solomon we see King 00:48:14.599 --> 00:48:18.659 Solomon okay King Solomon had a problem with 00:48:18.659 --> 00:48:20.780 that too right a bending to the will of people 00:48:20.780 --> 00:48:27.139 he bent to lust a lot And when you bow to the 00:48:27.139 --> 00:48:30.460 people instead of God, you got a real problem 00:48:30.460 --> 00:48:32.420 there. Because that's what he started doing. 00:48:32.559 --> 00:48:35.199 He started bowing to his own flesh. He started 00:48:35.199 --> 00:48:38.179 bowing to the people instead of God. And God 00:48:38.179 --> 00:48:42.619 put him there and God took him out. He, and I 00:48:42.619 --> 00:48:44.659 know we're speaking in retrospect, he should 00:48:44.659 --> 00:48:46.739 have remembered that since God put him there, 00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:49.219 the only person that will take him out if he 00:48:49.219 --> 00:48:52.280 is continuing to obey the Lord is the Lord. that 00:48:52.280 --> 00:48:54.099 the people, it doesn't matter whether they are 00:48:54.099 --> 00:48:56.039 mad, salty, happy, whatever, they aren't going 00:48:56.039 --> 00:48:57.659 to take him out of somewhere that God has appointed 00:48:57.659 --> 00:49:01.719 him to be. But since he decided to continue on 00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:05.099 in his own messy mess, in his rebellion, for 00:49:05.099 --> 00:49:09.280 whatever reasons he justified, he recognized 00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:12.099 that his time as king was going to come to an 00:49:12.099 --> 00:49:14.460 end, and it was made clear to him that God's 00:49:14.460 --> 00:49:20.039 favor on him as a king was no more. And God showed 00:49:20.039 --> 00:49:23.219 his favor to David and anointed David to be king 00:49:23.219 --> 00:49:26.480 one day. And we see how Saul was doing the most 00:49:26.480 --> 00:49:28.800 at David, was throwing spears at him, was talking 00:49:28.800 --> 00:49:31.539 crap to him, was plotting, scheming, scamming, 00:49:31.679 --> 00:49:33.440 how he was chasing David down trying to take 00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:36.400 him out. Jealousy, envy, all of these things. 00:49:37.760 --> 00:49:39.760 Because once he knew that he lost the favor of 00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:41.739 God, his eyes were looking out of, who's God 00:49:41.739 --> 00:49:44.039 raising up to take my spot? And how can I take 00:49:44.039 --> 00:49:47.869 them out? That's... what his mind was set on. 00:49:47.909 --> 00:49:51.210 And I want to read to y 'all just a little bit 00:49:51.210 --> 00:49:56.610 from 1st Samuel that calls out rebellion. Okay. 00:49:57.090 --> 00:50:00.409 This is 1st Samuel in chapter 15, and this is 00:50:00.409 --> 00:50:03.289 where the Lord rejects Saul. And we're going 00:50:03.289 --> 00:50:07.489 to start at verse 19. It says here, Why then 00:50:07.489 --> 00:50:10.130 did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did 00:50:10.130 --> 00:50:12.769 you pounce on the soil and do what was evil in 00:50:12.769 --> 00:50:15.110 the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, 00:50:15.519 --> 00:50:18.320 I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone 00:50:18.320 --> 00:50:21.440 on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have 00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:25.920 brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have devoted 00:50:25.920 --> 00:50:29.880 the Amalites to destruction. But the people took 00:50:29.880 --> 00:50:32.880 of the spoil sheep and oxen, the best of the 00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:35.420 things devoted to destruction to sacrifice to 00:50:35.420 --> 00:50:39.280 the Lord your God and Giggle. And Samuel said, 00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:43.019 has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings 00:50:43.019 --> 00:50:46.099 and sacrifices? as in obeying the voice of the 00:50:46.099 --> 00:50:50.519 lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice 00:50:50.519 --> 00:50:55.000 and to listen than the fat of rams or rebellion 00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.719 is as the sin of divination and presumption is 00:50:59.719 --> 00:51:03.380 as iniquity and idolatry because you have rejected 00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:07.139 the word of the lord he has also rejected you 00:51:07.139 --> 00:51:13.719 from being king y 'all For rebellion is as the 00:51:13.719 --> 00:51:17.239 sin of divination your rebellion is just as bad 00:51:17.239 --> 00:51:24.280 as witchcraft Rebellion is just as bad as witchcraft 00:51:24.280 --> 00:51:29.340 Witchcraft is your own control Executing your 00:51:29.340 --> 00:51:32.079 will over God's will that is what rebellion is 00:51:32.079 --> 00:51:36.260 it doesn't matter the reason and Rebellion will 00:51:36.260 --> 00:51:40.920 always lead to loss relationship with the heavenly 00:51:40.920 --> 00:51:43.880 father it will always lead to separation and 00:51:43.880 --> 00:51:47.880 I'm speaking from experience y 'all when I even 00:51:47.880 --> 00:51:51.440 though my life wasn't amazing and I was because 00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:55.119 when I started listening to the New Age direction 00:51:55.119 --> 00:51:57.500 y 'all I started seeing like my life falling 00:51:57.500 --> 00:52:00.199 into pieces things that used to just work out 00:52:01.079 --> 00:52:03.320 even though things seemed to be working out, 00:52:03.320 --> 00:52:06.320 I wasn't having as much of a blessing as I used 00:52:06.320 --> 00:52:09.199 to be seeing. And after I hit that time of when 00:52:09.199 --> 00:52:12.719 I openly kind of turned from the Lord and turned 00:52:12.719 --> 00:52:14.840 to New Age, turned to other deities, turned to 00:52:14.840 --> 00:52:16.719 witchcraft, turned to divination, turned to all 00:52:16.719 --> 00:52:19.980 those things, I started seeing real fallout like 00:52:19.980 --> 00:52:22.440 I had never seen before in my life. Like in the 00:52:22.440 --> 00:52:25.719 past, yes, weapons formed against me, but I guess 00:52:25.719 --> 00:52:28.329 those weapons weren't... always prospering eventually 00:52:28.329 --> 00:52:30.289 they would fall i would really feel the damage 00:52:30.289 --> 00:52:32.090 because i wasn't living a life surrendered to 00:52:32.090 --> 00:52:34.349 christ i wasn't really being covered in the blood 00:52:34.349 --> 00:52:36.750 of jesus i wasn't standing in my authority i 00:52:36.750 --> 00:52:38.730 wasn't handling things in the christ -like way 00:52:38.730 --> 00:52:41.550 meaning that i was getting partial results if 00:52:41.550 --> 00:52:43.889 i'm if i'm not truly submitted or surrendering 00:52:43.889 --> 00:52:47.010 to the lord of course i'm not going to get the 00:52:47.010 --> 00:52:50.329 expected results right if you're one foot in 00:52:50.329 --> 00:52:52.130 and one foot out you can expect that with the 00:52:52.130 --> 00:52:58.940 results but when i was both feet out Man, the 00:52:58.940 --> 00:53:02.980 weapons appeared to be prospering. I had seen 00:53:02.980 --> 00:53:07.320 pain and just suffering and loss like never before. 00:53:09.179 --> 00:53:13.440 I was made to be in a position where finally 00:53:13.440 --> 00:53:15.360 I looked around and I was like, you know what? 00:53:15.550 --> 00:53:18.949 my own works got me to this point new age spirituality 00:53:18.949 --> 00:53:21.130 listening to all these voices that aren't from 00:53:21.130 --> 00:53:23.170 the Lord got me to this point and I have two 00:53:23.170 --> 00:53:26.309 options now to continue down this path and I'm 00:53:26.309 --> 00:53:28.030 just putting on band -aids and it's gonna get 00:53:28.030 --> 00:53:31.010 worse and worse and I'm gonna be on this hamster 00:53:31.010 --> 00:53:35.130 wheel or I can submit my will to God and even 00:53:35.130 --> 00:53:41.230 though his ways aren't my ways give him my heart 00:53:41.230 --> 00:53:45.530 and watch what he does When I chose that path, 00:53:45.809 --> 00:53:48.730 he showed me grace and mercy and love and he 00:53:48.730 --> 00:53:51.949 has rebuilt my life He has done things I could 00:53:51.949 --> 00:53:53.829 never do for myself. He has opened up doors. 00:53:53.829 --> 00:53:55.889 He's giving me revelation He has done things 00:53:55.889 --> 00:53:58.070 I you would not be able to tell I went through 00:53:58.070 --> 00:53:59.789 what I went through if I wasn't telling you the 00:53:59.789 --> 00:54:02.909 testimonies And I'm here today to tell you that 00:54:02.909 --> 00:54:06.090 that is where rebellion will lead you. It's not 00:54:06.090 --> 00:54:10.110 an if it's a win If you are turning from the 00:54:10.110 --> 00:54:12.960 Lord to turn to these things, it's not a Are 00:54:12.960 --> 00:54:15.820 you going to suffer? Are you going to be turned 00:54:15.820 --> 00:54:17.639 over? It's when are you about to suffer and when 00:54:17.639 --> 00:54:19.039 are you going to be turned over? And it's what 00:54:19.039 --> 00:54:25.739 are you going to do when you get there? So many 00:54:25.739 --> 00:54:30.559 people you can hear so many people who have rebelled 00:54:30.559 --> 00:54:33.400 Went through suffering and then turned to the 00:54:33.400 --> 00:54:35.239 Lord will tell you the same thing I'm telling 00:54:35.239 --> 00:54:37.539 you there are so many people in the Bible where 00:54:37.539 --> 00:54:40.739 you can see where their rebellion leads, where 00:54:40.739 --> 00:54:42.699 they're putting themselves before the Lord leads. 00:54:43.139 --> 00:54:45.519 It makes me think of, and it's been a while since 00:54:45.519 --> 00:54:46.840 I've read the scripture, I believe it's in the 00:54:46.840 --> 00:54:49.400 book of Acts, where there's a husband and a wife, 00:54:49.900 --> 00:54:52.699 and God has, you know, he's taking care, this 00:54:52.699 --> 00:54:55.639 is after Jesus has already went to the cross, 00:54:55.840 --> 00:54:59.320 resurrected, ascended into heaven, and his apostles, 00:54:59.420 --> 00:55:02.139 his disciples, are going around and just spreading 00:55:02.139 --> 00:55:04.079 the gospel and doing the works of the Lord, and 00:55:04.079 --> 00:55:06.300 they're trusting on God to provide. when it comes 00:55:06.300 --> 00:55:08.719 to their finances. And God is working, stirring 00:55:08.719 --> 00:55:11.320 up the hearts of people around them to sell portions 00:55:11.320 --> 00:55:13.199 of their land or sell parts of their businesses 00:55:13.199 --> 00:55:16.360 and bringing the money to the apostles, to the 00:55:16.360 --> 00:55:19.019 disciples. And there is a husband and wife who 00:55:19.019 --> 00:55:22.000 sell a portion and they have a load of money 00:55:22.000 --> 00:55:28.730 and they decide in secret to lie. Basically to 00:55:28.730 --> 00:55:31.170 lie to the disciples and say oh we actually only 00:55:31.170 --> 00:55:33.489 made this much So that way they could keep a 00:55:33.489 --> 00:55:35.329 portion for themselves when they knew that that 00:55:35.329 --> 00:55:36.789 wasn't what they're supposed to do That was their 00:55:36.789 --> 00:55:39.929 act of rebellion and the husband came up first 00:55:39.929 --> 00:55:43.429 and Spun the lie and said that to him and God 00:55:43.429 --> 00:55:48.070 struck him down He died right there and he was 00:55:48.070 --> 00:55:50.050 carried out and then his wife a couple hours 00:55:50.050 --> 00:55:52.889 later came in and said the same thing and The 00:55:52.889 --> 00:55:57.829 Lord struck her dead right there For lying and 00:55:57.829 --> 00:56:00.929 going against what God told them to do and um 00:56:00.929 --> 00:56:06.809 again I'm just quoting off a memory but one of 00:56:06.809 --> 00:56:09.010 the disciples had said back to them they were 00:56:09.010 --> 00:56:12.949 like before we came this land just sat idly and 00:56:12.949 --> 00:56:15.789 you you weren't like you weren't selling it no 00:56:15.789 --> 00:56:17.630 reason like you you were just chilling day by 00:56:17.630 --> 00:56:20.110 day and now all of a sudden that God wants you 00:56:20.110 --> 00:56:22.550 to do something with it and give the money now 00:56:22.550 --> 00:56:24.610 you want to keep it now there's something you 00:56:24.610 --> 00:56:28.010 want with it now there's And that was a self 00:56:28.010 --> 00:56:32.210 -reflection moment for them Look at Judas when 00:56:32.210 --> 00:56:36.510 he rebelled and when he betrayed Jesus look at 00:56:36.510 --> 00:56:45.510 where he ended up Not repenting We see time and 00:56:45.510 --> 00:56:48.250 time again in the Bible that rebellion is gonna 00:56:48.250 --> 00:56:53.889 lead you nowhere and a lot of us Choose to only 00:56:53.889 --> 00:56:57.139 worry about what we can get here in the flesh 00:56:57.139 --> 00:56:59.880 just here in the world because we don't see eternity 00:56:59.880 --> 00:57:02.460 so that's part of the thing about faith is walking 00:57:02.460 --> 00:57:05.300 by faith we don't see with our eyes right now 00:57:05.300 --> 00:57:06.980 everything that happens when we die we don't 00:57:06.980 --> 00:57:09.300 see eternity with the heavenly father and we 00:57:09.300 --> 00:57:12.039 don't see eternity and separation so we just 00:57:12.039 --> 00:57:13.820 think about what can we get now that keeps us 00:57:13.820 --> 00:57:15.559 comfortable now what can we do now that keeps 00:57:15.559 --> 00:57:20.960 us satisfied now what can we do now and when 00:57:20.960 --> 00:57:22.539 you're when you're seeking first the kingdom 00:57:22.539 --> 00:57:24.920 of heaven When you're doing things to Jesus, 00:57:24.960 --> 00:57:26.639 well, you're not thinking so much about this 00:57:26.639 --> 00:57:28.880 life. You're thinking about the next. You're 00:57:28.880 --> 00:57:32.679 thinking about the Heavenly Father. So a lot 00:57:32.679 --> 00:57:35.480 of things that we're doing here and now aren't 00:57:35.480 --> 00:57:39.059 meant to get us ahead here and now, but they're 00:57:39.059 --> 00:57:42.679 meant to further the Kingdom of Heaven. When 00:57:42.679 --> 00:57:44.219 you're looking at the world, you're looking at 00:57:44.219 --> 00:57:46.800 just right here and now. You're looking at maybe 00:57:46.800 --> 00:57:48.500 two years in the future, maybe three years in 00:57:48.500 --> 00:57:50.320 the future, but you're not doing things for eternity. 00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:55.840 Someone needs to hear the scripture today, and 00:57:55.840 --> 00:57:57.800 I'm pulling this out the depths of my mind right 00:57:57.800 --> 00:58:01.099 now Jesus have once told a man let your let the 00:58:01.099 --> 00:58:03.420 dead bury the dead And there's a man that wanted 00:58:03.420 --> 00:58:05.380 to follow Jesus and Jesus said yeah, you can 00:58:05.380 --> 00:58:07.079 follow me He's like, but hold on let me let me 00:58:07.079 --> 00:58:09.860 go bury my father first and he's like now let 00:58:09.860 --> 00:58:13.000 the dead bury the dead Saying don't worry about 00:58:13.000 --> 00:58:14.739 that worldly thing right now. We'll worry about 00:58:14.739 --> 00:58:21.219 the spirit. Come follow me So I'm speaking to 00:58:21.219 --> 00:58:24.079 y 'all today who are in active rebellion Who 00:58:24.079 --> 00:58:27.340 maybe maybe right now you the Lord has been pulling 00:58:27.340 --> 00:58:30.039 at your heart and you've noticed him trying to 00:58:30.039 --> 00:58:36.860 talk to you Do not ignore God Don't do it. I 00:58:36.860 --> 00:58:39.420 did it and look at where I ended up for a time 00:58:39.420 --> 00:58:42.519 period. I was living in my car in the desert 00:58:42.519 --> 00:58:47.980 With no money to my name unsure of if I was gonna 00:58:47.980 --> 00:58:51.460 have food to eat the next day with my enemies 00:58:51.460 --> 00:58:53.619 conquering over me with people mocking me with 00:58:53.619 --> 00:58:56.099 people making fun of me with people online stalking 00:58:56.099 --> 00:58:58.960 me and harassing me with lies on my name that 00:58:58.960 --> 00:59:03.239 were crazy no friends I was talking to I wasn't 00:59:03.239 --> 00:59:07.420 talking to my family at the time I couldn't like 00:59:07.420 --> 00:59:09.860 even pay like to go take a shower like anything 00:59:09.860 --> 00:59:15.530 like I felt like I had lost everything And that 00:59:15.530 --> 00:59:19.789 was where rebellion got me. Because so many good 00:59:19.789 --> 00:59:21.369 things I had in my life before then, I didn't 00:59:21.369 --> 00:59:25.550 realize were gifts from God. So when I turned 00:59:25.550 --> 00:59:27.929 my back on Him, He took those things away. And 00:59:27.929 --> 00:59:30.309 I am warning you today that in your rebellion, 00:59:30.369 --> 00:59:33.349 that is what is going to happen. I used to say, 00:59:33.389 --> 00:59:36.530 no, not me. No, not me. I have good intent. God 00:59:36.530 --> 00:59:38.070 won't do that to me. If He really loves me, He 00:59:38.070 --> 00:59:40.210 won't do that. He won't do that. Those are the 00:59:40.210 --> 00:59:44.360 fake voices. And we see that from the book of 00:59:44.360 --> 00:59:49.780 Jeremiah and I remember at that time When I was 00:59:49.780 --> 00:59:54.420 really In my scripture every day and this was 00:59:54.420 --> 00:59:59.039 a weird period of time where I was trying to 00:59:59.039 --> 01:00:05.000 leave behind tarot reading and I was trying to 01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:07.559 seek first the kingdom of heaven and going all 01:00:07.559 --> 01:00:10.800 in with that and I remember the Lord putting 01:00:10.800 --> 01:00:13.980 it on my heart This is one of the where I was 01:00:13.980 --> 01:00:16.460 really getting used to hearing from him and putting 01:00:16.460 --> 01:00:18.599 aside the cards and putting aside all of those 01:00:18.599 --> 01:00:20.920 things instead trusting in the Lord and what 01:00:20.920 --> 01:00:23.619 he was revealing to me and There were a couple 01:00:23.619 --> 01:00:25.780 people who at that time were going very hard 01:00:25.780 --> 01:00:27.840 against me who were mocking me who were lying 01:00:27.840 --> 01:00:31.099 about me who were Trying to keep me from giving 01:00:31.099 --> 01:00:34.179 my life to Christ. They were taking active steps 01:00:34.179 --> 01:00:37.599 to keep me in rebellion They were taking active 01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:41.019 steps to, the big thing is they were taking active 01:00:41.019 --> 01:00:43.500 steps to prevent opportunities from coming my 01:00:43.500 --> 01:00:45.699 way. They really wanted me to get worse and worse 01:00:45.699 --> 01:00:47.239 where I was at. It was like kicking me while 01:00:47.239 --> 01:00:48.900 I was down. It was like twisting the knife that 01:00:48.900 --> 01:00:52.780 was already at me. And if they had the life, 01:00:52.900 --> 01:00:54.400 they had to deceive, whatever they had to do, 01:00:54.420 --> 01:00:56.880 they were doing it. And I felt the Lord really 01:00:56.880 --> 01:01:00.820 tell me to... it was a weird way for me to handle 01:01:00.820 --> 01:01:02.360 it because the way I wanted to handle it was 01:01:02.360 --> 01:01:04.659 to defend myself and put all the truth out there 01:01:04.659 --> 01:01:06.920 and to like Reveal them and expose them and all 01:01:06.920 --> 01:01:09.480 those things and God told me to give it to him 01:01:09.480 --> 01:01:14.000 and trust in him and to have boundaries but also 01:01:14.000 --> 01:01:17.260 Show the love of Jesus and to warn these people 01:01:17.260 --> 01:01:21.380 And this was at least like a year ago now that 01:01:21.380 --> 01:01:24.440 this had happened But the Lord had told me to 01:01:24.440 --> 01:01:29.639 warn just as he's telling me to warn today to 01:01:29.639 --> 01:01:32.099 warn those people about the deception that they 01:01:32.099 --> 01:01:34.880 were listening to and that they think that they're 01:01:34.880 --> 01:01:37.519 protected and that they think that they're good 01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:39.980 to keep doing what they're doing, but one day 01:01:39.980 --> 01:01:43.320 God is going to flip the script and turn it around 01:01:43.320 --> 01:01:46.619 and to repent and to turn away from this rebellion 01:01:46.619 --> 01:01:50.139 before it's too late. And what I mean by too 01:01:50.139 --> 01:01:52.320 late is before the suffering really starts kicking 01:01:52.320 --> 01:01:55.219 in and before they lose things that were given 01:01:55.219 --> 01:01:59.940 to them from God. and they have to rebuild again 01:01:59.940 --> 01:02:03.739 when they turn to the Lord. And I haven't been 01:02:03.739 --> 01:02:06.559 checking in on those people. I haven't, so I 01:02:06.559 --> 01:02:09.239 can't tell you where their lives are, like everything 01:02:09.239 --> 01:02:11.820 that's going on. I don't intend to check in on 01:02:11.820 --> 01:02:14.119 those people. I don't intend to be watching those 01:02:14.119 --> 01:02:17.800 people. God's, I did what I was called to do 01:02:17.800 --> 01:02:25.900 and I have focused since then on my life. But 01:02:25.900 --> 01:02:28.340 what I'm saying is do not ignore the warnings 01:02:28.340 --> 01:02:32.559 I ignore the warnings and I suffered for it and 01:02:32.559 --> 01:02:34.820 Yes, God used all of that for my testimonies 01:02:34.820 --> 01:02:37.320 and he used that to teach me He flipped those 01:02:37.320 --> 01:02:42.059 around like God is using it all for my good But 01:02:42.059 --> 01:02:44.739 I'm saying now have ears to hear and eyes to 01:02:44.739 --> 01:02:48.059 see and humble your heart be receptive to the 01:02:48.059 --> 01:02:50.760 people that the Lord is sending you I Didn't 01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:53.110 want to be receptive I looked at all those other 01:02:53.110 --> 01:02:54.730 people like they were stupid or they didn't know 01:02:54.730 --> 01:02:57.449 what they were talking about. You know I actually 01:02:57.449 --> 01:02:58.670 looked at some of those people like they were 01:02:58.670 --> 01:03:03.010 my enemies. When I was in new age and like there 01:03:03.010 --> 01:03:04.469 were some Christians that were just trying to 01:03:04.469 --> 01:03:06.010 show the love of Jesus to me and just trying 01:03:06.010 --> 01:03:08.389 to like talk about God to me and everything I 01:03:08.389 --> 01:03:11.289 was upset when I realized that they were praying 01:03:11.289 --> 01:03:14.940 for me. And I was upset that that they were doing 01:03:14.940 --> 01:03:16.599 all these other things because I didn't want 01:03:16.599 --> 01:03:18.559 what they wanted for myself They wanted me to 01:03:18.559 --> 01:03:20.619 be surrendered to the Heavenly Father and they 01:03:20.619 --> 01:03:22.199 want me to know the love of Jesus and they want 01:03:22.199 --> 01:03:25.360 me to Live life his way and at that time my desires 01:03:25.360 --> 01:03:27.039 were I want to do what I want to do I want to 01:03:27.039 --> 01:03:28.880 live my life my way and all these things and 01:03:28.880 --> 01:03:30.559 I could tell that God was hearing their prayers 01:03:30.559 --> 01:03:35.940 and I was upset because I was like To me they 01:03:35.940 --> 01:03:38.599 were evil to me they were warfare because i felt 01:03:38.599 --> 01:03:40.559 like they were executing their will over mine 01:03:40.559 --> 01:03:42.840 and then once i now know the love of jesus i 01:03:42.840 --> 01:03:45.480 was like oh my gosh no i am supposed to be submitted 01:03:45.480 --> 01:03:48.119 to jesus and it is his will over mine glory be 01:03:48.119 --> 01:03:49.780 to god he worked on their hearts to pray for 01:03:49.780 --> 01:03:56.619 me my view has so much been shifted and skew 01:03:56.619 --> 01:04:00.420 like now that i am biblically literate now that 01:04:00.420 --> 01:04:03.619 i know the love of jesus christ now that i am 01:04:03.619 --> 01:04:06.610 submitted to it So I'm a walking testimony today 01:04:06.610 --> 01:04:08.570 of what Jesus can do in your life when you do 01:04:08.570 --> 01:04:10.769 submit because he turned my life around in days. 01:04:10.809 --> 01:04:14.650 I remember writing down in my journal on I believe 01:04:14.650 --> 01:04:17.650 it was it was September 28th I give my life to 01:04:17.650 --> 01:04:20.369 Jesus Christ. I remember that day writing that 01:04:20.369 --> 01:04:24.989 down and it was October 8th that I had been miraculously 01:04:24.989 --> 01:04:27.610 moved back to my hometown and God had worked 01:04:27.610 --> 01:04:30.710 a lot of miracles in my life and I look back 01:04:30.710 --> 01:04:33.110 and I'm like oh my gosh I was less than two weeks. 01:04:34.759 --> 01:04:37.340 surrendering and there was a lot leading up to 01:04:37.340 --> 01:04:38.980 that of me reading scripture. I'm not saying 01:04:38.980 --> 01:04:41.460 it was I just wrote that down in my journal and 01:04:41.460 --> 01:04:44.340 all of a sudden it happened because there were 01:04:44.340 --> 01:04:46.880 leaps of faith of throwing away all my tarot 01:04:46.880 --> 01:04:49.900 cards, throwing away all my oracle cards. There 01:04:49.900 --> 01:04:51.719 were opportunities for me to go backwards in 01:04:51.719 --> 01:04:54.239 that time period that I denied and there were 01:04:54.239 --> 01:04:56.820 leaps of faith. It wasn't just this. I'm saying 01:04:56.820 --> 01:04:58.519 I read it down in my journal and it happened. 01:04:58.840 --> 01:05:00.420 It's not what I'm saying, but I remember writing 01:05:00.420 --> 01:05:02.239 down that I submit my life to Christ and then 01:05:02.239 --> 01:05:05.440 taking the actions and submitting, obeying what 01:05:05.440 --> 01:05:07.619 he was calling me to do and walking by faith 01:05:07.619 --> 01:05:11.340 and humbling my heart. And in doing that, within 01:05:11.340 --> 01:05:15.139 weeks, he was already rebuilding me and he was 01:05:15.139 --> 01:05:17.619 doing amazing works. So I'm here to tell you 01:05:17.619 --> 01:05:20.440 that grace and mercy can be shown once you humble 01:05:20.440 --> 01:05:22.579 your heart. But I'm also here to tell you that 01:05:22.579 --> 01:05:25.909 that grace and mercy will run out. If the Lord's 01:05:25.909 --> 01:05:28.809 not able to get through to you in the life you're 01:05:28.809 --> 01:05:30.949 in now, you best believe He'll allow you to be 01:05:30.949 --> 01:05:34.670 turned over to the consequences of your own actions, 01:05:34.929 --> 01:05:36.650 in hopes that then you will see that you need 01:05:36.650 --> 01:05:41.570 God. I pray that this episode blessed you, and 01:05:41.570 --> 01:05:44.190 I don't want you to feel any judgment and will 01:05:44.190 --> 01:05:46.010 sing this because I'm telling you that I was 01:05:46.010 --> 01:05:48.849 in the same boat, but I pray that you hear that 01:05:48.849 --> 01:05:55.849 I was in the same boat. and to not continue down 01:05:55.849 --> 01:06:02.909 that path. Y 'all, those very people that tried 01:06:02.909 --> 01:06:06.150 to keep me where I was, God still has me praying 01:06:06.150 --> 01:06:08.820 for these people very frequently. randomly bring 01:06:08.820 --> 01:06:11.099 them the mind for me to pray for them pray that 01:06:11.099 --> 01:06:12.980 they're healed pray that they submit their lives 01:06:12.980 --> 01:06:15.559 to the Lord pray that they see the goodness of 01:06:15.559 --> 01:06:18.079 God pray that they submit their ways to his ways 01:06:18.079 --> 01:06:20.579 and pray that they become champions for the Lord 01:06:20.579 --> 01:06:23.659 I pray that these people have testimonies and 01:06:23.659 --> 01:06:31.239 that they are used by God in big ways and if 01:06:31.239 --> 01:06:32.760 you're looking for somewhere to start someone 01:06:32.760 --> 01:06:34.239 might need to hear this today if you're looking 01:06:34.239 --> 01:06:36.079 for somewhere to start start by praying for your 01:06:36.079 --> 01:06:38.750 enemies Start by praying for the people who have 01:06:38.750 --> 01:06:41.750 persecuted you because then that opens the door 01:06:41.750 --> 01:06:45.670 for forgiveness and that also really humbles 01:06:45.670 --> 01:06:48.329 your heart. Praying for someone who's caused 01:06:48.329 --> 01:06:50.610 you pain and suffering and praying that they 01:06:50.610 --> 01:06:53.710 are healed and that they are used by God in mighty 01:06:53.710 --> 01:06:57.670 ways and that they know the love of Jesus and 01:06:57.670 --> 01:06:59.250 that they are able to show the love of Jesus 01:06:59.250 --> 01:07:04.510 to other people. Praying that is softening your 01:07:04.510 --> 01:07:09.530 heart. and is humbling yourself. Whether or not 01:07:09.530 --> 01:07:11.210 you realize it, and that's a really good space 01:07:11.210 --> 01:07:14.349 to be in, and I recommend you to do that. I pray 01:07:14.349 --> 01:07:16.730 that this episode blesses you, and I thank you 01:07:16.730 --> 01:07:19.150 so much for listening to this episode. I'm your 01:07:19.150 --> 01:07:21.010 host Danielle Townsend. This was the Salt Not 01:07:21.010 --> 01:07:23.409 Sweetener podcast. I do ask that you subscribe 01:07:23.409 --> 01:07:27.050 to this podcast and share this episode with someone 01:07:27.050 --> 01:07:30.389 that you feel is needing to hear it. Share with 01:07:30.389 --> 01:07:31.909 someone that the Lord is putting on your heart 01:07:31.909 --> 01:07:33.630 to share it with. Share it on your social media. 01:07:34.090 --> 01:07:37.349 Help me get this podcast out there and help people 01:07:37.349 --> 01:07:40.469 who need to hear this message hear this message. 01:07:41.489 --> 01:07:42.170 God bless.