Hey guys and welcome back To the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend Now
I just want to give y 'all a bit of a heads up
as we're starting this episode You might be hearing
it in my voice. I might be a little bit slow
speaking right now You might hear me sniffle
and cough y 'all. I woke up today. Just I'm not
feeling my 100 % I'ma be real. I think I'm getting
a cold. I think I'm coming down with something.
I woke up this morning with a dry throat and
I just knew. I just knew cold season has arrived.
Illness has arrived. And you know, y 'all, I
work with kids. Like I'm with kids very regularly.
So honestly, I expect to get sick. I expect to
get sick because y 'all know kids are always
putting their hands in their mouth, their nose,
their eyes. They spread germs are very easy.
Okay So I've already come into the fall recognizing
that like I'm kind of being extra exposed to
germs on a daily basis But I trust in the Lord
to get me through whatever this illness may be
Okay But yeah, y 'all I'm having that nausea
headache my body just feels weak it might be
more than the cold let's be real it might be
the flu who knows we'll find out i'm taking my
cold medication um and we'll we're just going
to be praying to the lord and hope that he continues
to move y 'all i plan on going to my young adult
bible study tonight anyway like we're going to
keep moving forward life goes on, which includes
the recording of this podcast episode. And this
is an episode today that I believe is going to
be helpful for people to hear, for people who
are hoping in Christ, but maybe some people who
are a bit discouraged when it comes to being
a new creation in Christ and just navigating
life after being born again. You know, I am I
am not I am I'm gonna be so honest y 'all that
I am not The most knowledgeable I cannot answer
every single question for you. I am learning
as well Although I was raised when I was younger
going to church I didn't surrender my life to
Christ until a little over a year ago guys and
I'm a little over a year in on this journey and
I am still learning I am going through the sanctification
process and I am sharing with you guys what I
am learning and what the Lord is revealing to
me as I'm moving through it. I'm speaking to
y 'all today as someone who is also working through
it and moving through it. And I had the opportunity
today to really just like get in the word. And
today I read through the entire book of Ephesians
and I started reading through Philippians and
I really felt the Lord tell me. Today as I was
reading because it's been the past couple days
y 'all that I've I've really felt to look focus
more in on Your life after you surrender to Christ
Yesterday I felt so called to look in on Salvation
I was reading heavy on salvation yesterday on
how we are saved Through faith by grace And I
was heavily reflecting on that yesterday of how
God loved us so much That he gave his one and
only son to die on the cross to pay the debt
of our sins He did that not because we deserve
it, but because he loves us that much. It was
by his grace You know, I was reminded in reading
scripture that we we are not saved by our works.
So that way no one may boast It's by our faith
in Jesus Christ. It's by our believing in who
Jesus Christ is Believing that he was the Messiah
believing that he is the son of God believing
that his death on the cross Meant something that
it was in fact the payment for our sins and believing
that if we put our faith in him We are too forgiven
by believing that he after he was crucified.
He resurrected from the dead when we put our
faith in him That that is where our salvation
comes from so that one day when we are standing
before God on our judgment day Jesus is able
to step in and say I have covered this one. This
one is covered in my blood because of their faith
their debt has been forgiven and That's not something
that we can earn right. It's not how much money
we donate how many hours we volunteer, how many
good deeds we did, how many good works we did.
It's not how many prayers we said that we are
allowed into heaven. It is through our faith
in Jesus Christ alone, so that way no one may
boast. No one may go before the Heavenly Father
one day and say, I did all of these good things.
I was a good person by all these accounts, so
I deserve to be let in. No, it's by our faith
in Jesus and what He did on the cross. That we
are allowed in and and you know, it was so hard
y 'all when I once I gave my life to Christ of
understanding Where do works fit in though? Like
if we are saved through grace through by grace
through faith Where do the good works fit in?
Because y 'all, I grew up understanding the Ten
Commandments. Like those were heavy drilled into
me. I understood that like a lot of these different
things were sins and that God called us to flee
from these things, right? And to lean towards
the spirit and away from the flesh. And it was
so hard for me to understand of like, well, if
that's not what our salvation comes from, what's
the point of doing those things? What like what's
the point of good works? Where does good works
fit into all of this if you're not saved because
of your good works? Why do Christians care so
much about how you live your life and the Lord
over the past year? Has revealed to me so many
different reasons And I'm gonna be reading scripture
to y 'all we're about to get into the book of
Ephesians in just a minute But the thing that
the Lord has been placing so heavily on my heart
recently is you may be the only Bible in person
reads in their life. The way that you live your
life as a Christian, the way that you're treating
other people, the choices that you're actively
making, once you are glorifying Christ, once
you identify as a Christian, once you are a representative
of Jesus Christ, The way that you treat other
people and the way that you live your life is
now a reflection of Jesus Christ to people who
don't know Jesus and to people who don't read
the Bible. I've shared the scripture with y 'all
in multiple of these previous podcasts, but I
want to share it with you again. Matthew 5 16,
let your life shine before others so that they
may see your good works and give glory to your
father who is in heaven. There have been many
people Especially over this past year that I
have started praying consistently to God for
their salvation saying like God I pray that they
come to know Jesus and I pray that they put their
faith in Jesus and and you know, like I see all
of this pain all of the suffering that sin is
causing in their life and I know that once someone
knows Jesus I know from experience that once
you know Jesus and when you start walking with
him, he does a change in you I'm like I'm praying
to God so heavily for these people so many times
of like if they just knew Jesus and Loved Jesus
and started walking with Jesus this sin Would
start to fall out of their life like they would
start to desire To be like Christ more than they
would desire this sin But God and I remember
praying so many times for them saying but like
they're not open in their Bible I'm inviting
them to church. They don't want to go to church.
They don't want to hear the sermon Like they
don't want to hear any of this and God has really
revealed to me. He's like Yeah, they're saying
no to going to church. They're saying no to listening
to these sermons They're saying no to reading
the Bible, but they are paying attention to how
you live your life They are paying attention
to are you forgiving? Are you loving? Are you
setting boundaries like they are paying attention
to your good works and Recently all there have
been so many people's testimonies. I've been
hearing where There has been breakthrough there
have been people who I remember my pastor was
sharing just at our last service But there was
someone who for the past couple years You know
didn't do the kindest things to him But he felt
encouraged by the Lord to continue to show this
person the love of Jesus and one day this person
said like Why why have you been so nice to me?
But why? And my pastor is able to say to him
because like that that's what Jesus wants me
to do And that person was able to see Jesus Christ
through my pastor and through my pastor's actions
And the Lord has placed on me so heavily some
of these people although they're not opening
a Bible Although they're not trying to receive
the word. Although they're not on their knees
praying all the time. They are seeing How you
live your life. They're seeing how you handle
things differently They are seeing the good works
that are pouring out of you and they're seeing
you glorify God they can't help but see God's
hand and God like gave me that revelation was
like oh my gosh glory be to God I never thought
of it like that I never thought that my forgiveness
my love like all of these things that were not
me that Jesus instilled in me I shared with y
'all past testimonies about how the Lord gave
me a new heart He like radically changed me the
desires I have now in the way I live my life
now was not my desires a year or two three four
years ago The Lord radically changed me it wasn't
my own works it was the Lord But he that was
him revealing to me that that is how my good
works are actively ministering to other people
Each time I forgive someone, each time I'm showing
the love of Jesus instead of getting a look back,
instead of getting revenge, opportunities where
I could try to deal justice on my own, opportunities
where I could try to hurt people, opportunities
where I could do these things, but I choose the
Jesus way. I choose the Christ -like path. I
choose the way that the Lord is calling me to
go every time that I willingly say no and set
myself apart every time that I'm feeling that
temptation and they're seeing that they can't
help but see Jesus Christ too I'm not saying
I'm perfect by any means guys I'm not navigating
life perfectly I'm not just like Jesus but I'm
saying every time I have the opportunity Choose
the fleshly way to choose the worldly way and
I choose the godly way. I choose the spirit way
I choose the Jesus way that is ministering to
the people who are watching And I'm gonna go
ahead and I'm going to start reading some scripture
to y 'all I do want to read to you second Corinthians
real quick verse Second Corinthians chapter 5
verse 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ he
is a new creation The old has passed away and
see the new has come Everything is from God who
has reconciled us to himself through Christ and
has given us the ministry of reconciliation So
this was the first thing that I want to break
down with y 'all today is whoever is in Christ
is a new creation When you put your faith in
Jesus Christ When you surrender your life to
Christ when you make that because and I'm telling
y 'all that When you finally do it If you're
one of those people who you're like, how do I
know if I'm living a life surrender to Christ
or not? I Just want to share from a little bit
of personal experience y 'all Of how I knew the
difference I was raised going to church. I was
raised saying I love Jesus and all of these things.
But I didn't change. I continued to willfully
sin. I continued to put my fleshly desires before
what the spirit was inclining to do. I continued
to put my faith in myself and everything outside
of Jesus. You know I didn't have and the root
of that, like I didn't have the true faith and
belief that he could actually take care of all
of it. I didn't actually have faith that he was
the son of God, that his word is still living
and breathing and active. that everything is
submitted unto him. Like I didn't have that true
faith or belief in him, right? And because I
didn't have that true faith or belief that being
covered in his blood protected me from the schemes
of the devil, that no weapons that formed against
me would prosper. Because I didn't truly have
my faith rooted in him, I was shaken very easily.
And I put my faith in all of these other things
and my life looked accordingly. Sure, there were
some things that, you know, eventually I kind
of stopped participating in, but I ended up finding
vices in other areas. My life continued to look
un -Christ -like. But it was a day in 2024 when
all of the convictions had finally gotten to
a point. And I looked at my life and realized,
like, there's no way out of this except for you,
Jesus. Like, no one can fix this mess except
for you. for the first time in my life I truly
believe that if you want to I know you're able
to but it's if you will if you want to you can
change all of this so whatever you ask me to
do whatever you call me to do I submit to you
and for me personally y 'all that is how I knew
the difference that's how I knew like that was
the moment when I was truly a new creation in
Christ because I also believed that like I could
be forgiven for everything that I've done in
the past. Up until that point, I had said, well,
I feel like a hypocrite going to church because
I've had premarital sex. I felt like a hypocrite
going to church because I had gossiped and I
had slandered and I had done all these things.
it was like I believed that I was only truly
welcome in there or God would only love me or
be pleased with me if I was clean and I felt
like well I've already soiled myself and there
was no redemption but when I truly believed that
if I put my faith in Jesus and I repented that
all of that would be washed away in Jesus's eyes
I was clean in God's eyes I would be clean And
that was the moment, y 'all, when I truly believed
that that was my new creation moment. Yes, I
had been baptized before. Yes, all of these things.
And these were all outwardly actions. But my
faith never aligned with those actions. I was
getting baptized. I was doing all these other
things to please other people and for the appearance
to other people. But you could tell that I didn't
have my faith in Jesus based off of my works
And that's what we're getting back to right because
I want to talk to y 'all today about works so
I could tell That I didn't actually have my faith
in Jesus because my works didn't change Right
like when you and I'm just I'm speaking from
experience right now y 'all with how things started
to change When I put my faith in Jesus, right?
Before then, I had tried to control every little
aspect of my life and I had a backup plan for
my backup plan. And I would sin if that meant
survival. And I hit a point in my life where
Jesus was telling me, you recognize that I am
the only way that your life is gonna be fixed
and that things are gonna be changed. So you
need to submit to what I'm calling you to do.
And in doing that, I had to submit control. I
couldn't keep doing the backup plans. I couldn't
keep sinning. for survival I had to trust that
God's way doesn't require me to sin and to say
no to things that were sinful that looked like
opportunities and it was those instances when
all the sudden opportunities arise and I said
no simply because I know that's not what God
has aligned for me simply because that's a sin
it was when I started saying no to these shiny
opportunities Which is a good work right is fleeing
Temptation is saying no to sin resist the devil
and he will flee It was in doing those things
That I started to see whoa Like I actually have
faith that God is going not only is he able But
he's gonna take care of me and in the past I
didn't have that faith so I would try to save
myself. I would try to rescue myself and All
of a sudden after consistent prayer life to the
Lord and Submitting my life to him and putting
my faith in him and actively working on my relationship
with the Lord all the sudden even though my Circumstances
haven't changed my reaction to them has changed
The things the works of the flesh I used to condone
before all the sudden I can't condone those anymore
Because I have faith in who Jesus is like I'm
also placing my faith that what he's telling
me to do is the right way and that my ways aren't
above his ways. I hope this is making sense as
I'm speaking it out loud. I know not everybody,
it's very clear in scripture, you know, that
the word of the Lord is folly. It is foolish
to those who are in the world. That was what
I was reading today too in scripture. But the
Lord heavily reminded me of like people who don't
believe in God, who aren't rooted in faith. You
know, the ways of God, the ways of the cross
are going to be foolish in their eyes. Foolish
to their ears. But for those of you all who have
eyes to see and ears to hear, I pray that this
is speaking to you right now. That was my first
experience with good works and why they're important.
right because of course they're not essential
to our salvation we're not saved by our works
your works are a sign of your faith right the
way that you live your life the way that you
surrender the way that you give things to god
the way that you submit things to jesus is your
faith for example your faith that he is almighty
your faith that he is able To fix whatever mess
you're in Understanding that his ways are above
your ways now y 'all I'm gonna read to you Ephesians
and we're gonna be in chapter 5 starting in verse
17 therefore I say this and testify in the Lord
you should no longer walk as the Gentiles do
and the futility of their thoughts they are darkened
in their understanding excluded from the life
of god because of the ignorance that is in them
and because of the hardness of their hearts they
became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity
for the practice of every kind of impurity with
a desire for more and more i want to stop there
y 'all reading that scripture today i was like
wow i feel like i feel like that's perfectly
describing how life was in the world is with
the consistently needing more and more and with
this was something I've been meditating on a
lot recently y 'all is in the world it's like
a constant instant dopamine and I think I had
an addiction to that like constant dopamine hit
and I feel like a lot of people nowadays are
right we get that through scrolling on their
phones through apps through videos through all
that things we get that instant hit like that
pleasure sensor in our brain going off. We're
able to scratch that really easy, right? We're
able to get that really easy. And I honestly
feel like, y 'all, that was why I was really
drawn to new age in the past, and why I was drawn
to terror reading, and why I was drawn to substances,
and why I was drawn to, you know, attention seeking,
getting attention from other people. It's that
quick, instant gratification you get. Online
shopping, that quick instant gratification as
soon as you press that buy button and you know
what's gonna be here. The instant gratification
of smoking or drinking. You know that soon after
you're gonna be feeling that buzz, you're gonna
be put in a different space. The the attention
seeking behaviors if it's posting thirst traps
posting off your body at the gym Like if it's
saying something for attention like just attention
seeking behaviors whether you're seeking male
validation Or just a validation from anybody
who's gonna validate you. That's a quick dopamine
hit right? That's a quick sense of gratification
In the world like we are encouraged to just do
whatever makes you happy Whatever your heart
desires now, we know from reading scripture that
the heart is deceptive, right? But the world
encourages us to pursue whatever our heart wants
Yolo You only live once you're Now is the time
you see so many videos like you know money comes
back, but only be this age at this thing one
time ever Encouraging you to just live for the
plot and all of those and I used to live by that
but the reality is is you're always left with
one more because at the end of the day and each
of these things that we're seeking for for pleasure
or comfort whatever it is we are looking for
in the well that's going to run dry Jesus is
the living water right and our wells need to
be that our wells that are dug should be connected
to him Well, we are trying to find fulfillment
and satisfaction and things apart from jesus
christ We're always going to be left one more
like we're always going to be left one more That's
the thing of the world is you want more you want
more it's good enough You're content with it
for a while. But now you need more Now you need
more now you need more and of course when we
are and and I don't want to um negate growth
Right because as christians as followers of christ
The lord is constantly working in us and helping
us to move forward. He the lord doesn't want
us to be stuck and stagnant But paul and I believe
um I believe this was first corinthians No, this
was actually philippians. I'm so sorry on my
brain. I told you all i'm sick My brain's a little
slow bear with me where paul had said that and
this was right around philippians Is it 413?
Yeah He said that he learned to be content in
all situations in the hills and in the valleys
times when he had nothing and times when he had
everything That's the thing as Christians though
is is we can find gratitude and we can understand
that we lack nothing when we have Jesus and So
I'm not putting aside goals or dreams or anything
like that. It's good to have things that we're
working towards But when your fulfillment is
coming from the world, you're always going to
be wanting more. When your fulfillment comes
from Jesus, just as Psalm 23 says, the Lord is
my shepherd, there's nothing at that. When you're
getting your joy, when you're getting your identity
of who you are from Christ, Jesus, when you're
pulling from Jesus, you're not going to run out
like you run out in the world. And we see here
in Ephesians that we're encouraged that when
we give our lives to Christ, we are supposed
to leave the ways of the world behind, right?
You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do.
And what's interesting here is how it says here
in the text that These people in the world are
darkened in their understanding Excluded from
the life of God because the the ignorance in
them is because of their hardness of hearts It's
so interesting doll and looking at the way that
I perceive situations when I was in the world
versus the way I perceive them when I was in
Christ Jesus once I once I was in Christ Jesus
and I look and I see I had so much more of like
a cynical and like a negative and like a backwards
perspective when i was in the world and i wouldn't
have said that when i when i was living for the
world i would have thought that i was actually
a really hopeful person a glass half full person
all these things but when i look back i there
is always some kind of black mentality there
was always some kind of Hopelessness there was
always I was always trying to play devil's advocate.
Like it was always like this a Rebellion with
it too, right? And like when something bad would
happen like oftentimes it would turn into The
end of the world is just over a kind of thought
process. I would give in to the depression I'd
give in to the anxiety I'd give in to fear I'd
give in to the warrior give in to all of these
feelings Right? And then once I was in Christ
and I started reading scripture and believing
it. When I started having a different view of
these situations, no honestly, like when I started
looking at situations and instead of thinking
like, you know, life's over, this is horrible,
boohoo, poor me, I started looking, what is God
trying to reveal to me? What can I learn from
this? How can God sanctify me? How can God change
me? How can God grow me? I know that God is allowing
this because there's something that he can use
with it. What is he trying to do right now? God,
please reveal to me what you're trying to do
right now. God, help me to handle this well.
You know, back in the, I would think, well, it's
me versus the world. It's just me. And I would
look at situations of how can I do this on my
own strength? How can I do this? How can I do
that? And now when a situation hits, I'm leaning
more into how God show me what you need me to
do. I submit this to you. I give this to you.
I will rest in knowing that you have got this.
Reveal to me what I need to see. Guide me where
I need to go. I'm able to look at situations
now and say God is going to use this for my good.
I don't know how, but I know that God has already
expected this. There's nothing happening right
now that God hasn't already foreseen. That God
doesn't already have a plan for and that he can't
use for my good. I Even when I'm faced with these
hardships There's a hope of knowing God is going
to use this to glorify him and further the kingdom
of heaven somehow This will be used for my good
somehow It's crazy of just being that new creation
and having that faith how your mind is literally
y 'all like rewired And they don't know a better
way to explain it than the Lord literally rewired
my brain when I started putting my faith in him
It was a whole rewiring That had been done now.
I want to move forward. We're still in Ephesians
We're actually in chapter 4 right now. I said
chapter 5. I'm sorry y 'all we're in chapter
4 verse 20 But that is not how you came to know
Christ Assuming you heard about him and you were
taught by him as the truth is in Jesus To take
off your former way of life the old self that
is corrupted by deceitful desires to be renewed
in the spirit of your minds and to put on the
new self the one created according to God's likeness
and righteous and purity of Truth therefore putting
away lying Speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,
because we are members of one another. Be angry
and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on
your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity.
Now this was the next thing that the Lord revealed
to me of why your works are important. Is they
determine whether or not you give the devil an
open door to your life? I hadn't realized how
many of my sins were actually giving the devil
legal access to destroy my life and to mess with
my head. I've shared this with y 'all before
that New Age spirituality was a huge open door
for the devil. Divination is a sin. Witchcraft
is a sin. God does not condone it. Point blank
period. We have seen that reading scripture.
Look in the book of Ezekiel where Ezekiel is
saying woe to you. You tie those magic bands
on your wrist. There are multiple instances in
scripture of God not messing with witchcraft.
And I am here today to tell y 'all that you can
repent and be forgiven. your life can change
i am living proof of that okay but i didn't see
how many times i didn't realize how many times
i was giving the devil legal access to my mind
into my emotions every time i received a tarot
card reading a psychic reading and I started
believing that I was coming into agreement with
things that were not from God I was starting
to believe the lies of the enemy and I was actually
starting to submit to them I was planning accordingly
to these things I was coming into agreement all
my mental health like the paranoia I started
going into the the mental battles that were Constantly
going on in my brain how my depression was getting
worse how my panic was getting worse how my anxiety
was getting worse And you know, I'm looking now
at like I'm looking out scripture and trusting
that no weapons that formed against me shall
prosper But when I was a new creation in Christ
and I was like I thought you said no weapons
work against me would prosper But it looks like
these weapons that were forming were prospering
the devil had my mind for a long time The devil
was I I I cannot tell y 'all how many decisions
I made or like things I said based off of paranoia
or things I believe from tarot card readings
or psychic medium readings and at first you don't
think it's that deep but when you're when you're
doing a reading and someone says like Oh, this
person is jealous of you or this person plans
this against you or this whether or not you You
realize it your view of that person starts to
be skewed. You start to hold this person unforgiveness
You start to react differently when you start
when you truly believe that a thing is happening
You start to move differently Okay, and when
I look back and i'm like how many decisions I
made things I said things I did that were not
Christ -like or ended up being stumbling blocks
or delays, and I realized it was simply because
I was coming into agreement with lies from the
enemy. And the Lord revealed to me, that is why
I tell you to stay away from divination. That's
why I tell you to stay away from psychic greetings.
That's why I tell you to stay away from witchcraft.
It's because at first it looks helpful, but all
it's doing is opening up a door for the devil
to have access to your life. to influence your
mind, to influence your decisions, to influence
your emotions, not even realizing that it's him
doing it. I've shared with y 'all before, I have
a sobriety conviction, a 100 % sobriety conviction.
I don't drink at all, I don't smoke at all. It's
not one sip, it's not one puff, it's nothing.
I'm not a social anything, I am 100 % nothing.
And I know that there are other people who don't
have that conviction. And I know that scripture
says that you should not be a drunkard. And I
know that the Lord warns us against being intoxicated
Because that again is an open door. I cannot
tell y 'all how many times when I looked back
I was like, you know, I wouldn't have said that
thing if I didn't have the liquid courage If
I wasn't fried, I wouldn't have said that thing.
I wouldn't have done that thing. I would have
reacted differently Whether it would be I said
something outrageous or admitted like something
that shouldn't have been said out loud. Like
when I look back and it's like it just altered
my decision making in general. And I used to
say God just doesn't want us to have fun. And
I used to view Christianity and like the rules
of Christianity of like what we can't go out
and get trashed. We can't entertain these things.
Why can't we entertain these things and Lord
has really revealed me It's like because when
you entertain these things you are opening up
the door for the devil every time I was intoxicated
Every time I was tipsy Every time I was turned
like that My decision -making was skewed my boundaries
were moved the things I would usually say no
to things that were usually red flags became
yellow flags the things that I would usually
say no to all of a sudden I found myself saying
yes to Things like my the way that I viewed things
was off my discernment was off People could take
advantage of me when I was in that space and
the devil doesn't play fair he takes major advantage
y 'all He waits He doesn't play fair. He will
he will tempt you into getting drunk And take
advantage of you the second you do it And have
I had so many opportunities to drink, to go out,
to get turned to do those things? Yeah. And have
there been past temptations arise? Like in the
past stress, anxiety, things like that would
tempt me to go do it. Sure stress, anxiety, and
things like that have arisen, but now I put my
faith in Jesus. Now when I'm dealing with stress
or anxiety or those things that go to the Lord,
and I submit them to him instead of submitting
them to a bottle. Instead of submitting them
to a bee that you like. Instead of submitting
them to these things that will only be temporary.
The fix will only be temporary and then you'll
be left with the same problem. I give it back
to the Alpha and the Omega I give it back to
the person who has the answers who can change
things The reason why God calls us to live this
way isn't because he doesn't want to have fun
Isn't because he wants us to have a hard life.
It's because following these ways of life that
he gives us Close the door for the devil y 'all
the hard one for me to swallow was honesty And
we we just read this one in Scripture here was
speaking the truth I was someone who I I would
tell the little white lies all the time. I would
tell people what they wanted to hear I would
tell them what makes them feel better. I didn't
want the uncomfortable conversations. I also
didn't want to hear anyone have something to
say about my actions like And the Lord took me
through a season where he cleared the air on
everything. Where there were some things I was
forced to live in the truth. And before you knew
it, it was crazy. When I started being asked
questions and things started coming up and there
were things in the past I would have lied about.
I would have twisted. I would have like tried
to maneuver around. I straight up told the truth.
It was actually crazy watching how God moved
off that truth I cannot tell y 'all how many
times after telling someone a truthful statement
I was blessed Even though it might make me look
bad I thought well according to the world like
this actually looks kind of bad if I tell the
truth in this there's one time off of me telling
the truth and Then spreading the gospel with
a person I got financially blessed Was one time
off of telling the truth being honest about my
past and what God had done in my life. God used
as an opportunity to glorify him and I ended
up being a job position. God blessed me telling
the truth. Don't be mistaken though, like you
will see sometimes where God will move off of
you obeying. I'm not saying that you do the works
to get blessed. There have been lots of times
when I'm doing what God calls me to and it's
not like I see some big supernatural thing, but
there have been instances of me moving by faith.
just obeying the Lord even when it doesn't feel
very good to a flesh and I see him use that and
bless that but I cannot tell y 'all how many
times that getting caught in white lies or having
to pull back in my brain and think what was that
lie I told what how'd I twist it how'd I do that
how many times actually caused a lot of problems
in my life I cannot tell you how many times the
devil has moved off of anxiety and fear you know
when you tell a lie and you feel like you're
really close to getting caught and that anxiety
that comes up and that fear that comes up and
that overthinking and then all of a sudden you're
digging your hole even deeper I used to end up
in that so many times and now because I'm living
I know I'm not absolutely perfect, but like,
my life now y 'all looks radically different
compared to what it used to look like. And it's
like now that I'm walking in the truth, now that
I'm just speaking the truth, I don't have to
worry about stories and about upkeeping. Sure,
there's a chance someone's gonna be mad or offended
at the truth, but I submit that to God. I give
that to God. I know he's already planned accordingly
for that. Let's move forward y 'all This was
one too don't let the Sun go down on your anger
and don't give the devil an opportunity. There
are so many people That are living in anger and
unforgiveness and don't realize that they that
is a big open door for the devil I didn't realize
that that was an open door for the devil I had
for so long and I thought I was a forgiving person
and I thought I was a loving person. I thought
just because I'm not posting about someone on
social media or because I'm not trying to destroy
their life or because I'm not always talking
bad about them, I forgave them. I wasn't angry
at them. But when the Lord started bringing up
these people and I had to start facing some of
the feelings this feeling I started having to
recognize when this person came to mind my first
thought wasn't you know, I hope that they're
blessed I hope that God works in their life.
I hope that they submit their lives to Jesus.
I hope that they're healed I hope all these things
my mind first are coming to I wonder what they
think about me. I wonder if they feel guilty
I wonder if they feel bad. I wonder if they see
the wrong now Like, I wonder if they... all these
thoughts that were coming up where it was like,
that's not actually really forgiving thoughts.
Each time I thought about these people, I was
wondering like, do they feel guilty yet? Do they
feel bad yet? Do they feel stupid? Like, do they
feel this way? Do they feel that way? When people
would bring them up, I would want to start talking
about the bad things that they did to me. I was
wanting to smear their character. You know when
they reached out to me and like tried to apologize
and stuff. I wouldn't even want to hear it Like
and that's not to confuse forgiveness with letting
down boundaries. That should be up Okay, we're
supposed to forgive everybody. We're not meant
to be close with everybody There is a difference
y 'all and I had to learn that one the Lord put
me through learning that one There were some
people that you know called to forgive but hey,
they're not repentant They're not submitted to
to Christ. So if I let them back in they would
just do the same hurt all over And I would have
to go through the same recovery process all over
I can love them pray for them I can shuttle love
of Jesus through the way I live my life and not
be talking to them every single day Not be filming
them in on my daily life and that is okay But
this is a big one that so many people are dealing
with there are so many people dealing with unforgiveness
That is a big open door for the devil When you
are resentful towards somebody when you're feeling
some type of way towards somebody it's really
easy to start believing the lies of the enemy
You know when you already when you're already
upset or feel in some type of way It's really
easy for when the devil starts whispering and
they're probably doing this to you, too And they
probably think this and they're probably saying
this and they're probably da da da da da And
you know the reason why you're dealing with this
is because of them and the reason why you're
dealing with this is because of them and the
reason why you have this problem isn't actually
an area you need to take accountability you can
actually blame it all on them and before you
know it unforgiveness is also a way for you to
shift accountability off yourself right and before
you know it a thing that jesus has been trying
to tell you you need to heal this you need to
work on this you don't see it as your problem
you see it as the result of someone else Before
you know it you're defending your sin. I have
seen that y 'all so many times in my life the
unforgiveness caused me to defend my sin I'd
say well, I do this because of my trauma and
because of my pain. So it's actually this person's
fault So I have a just reason I'm not going to
change it Unforgiveness and we see it right here
in scripture is an open door for the devil Anger
is an open door for the devil to take advantage
of you And to have legal access to your life
to your mind, to your connections. I'm gonna
continue reading this. Let the thief no longer
steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with
his own hands so that he has something to share
with anyone in need. And this right here is,
you are able to be transformed just because you
did it in the past. Doesn't mean you have to
keep doing it. If anything, you're called to
do different. It says right here, a thief, which
is someone who is known to steal, a stealer,
someone who commits theft, is now called to do
it no more. So if you were a fornicator, you're
called to stop fornicating. And I'm not speaking
from some high mountaintop. I just confess to
you all in this podcast that I had sex before
marriage. That was a problem for me. And the
Lord had to be so for real with me and get so
real with me I have made it very clear that that
is not something you're supposed to do outside
marriage So just because you did it in your past
doesn't mean you're clear to do it now People
with kids who are single just because you have
a kid does not mean you can go and continue to
fornicate People who have been married and now
you're single you've been divorced just because
you've been married in the past doesn't mean
Okay, now I'm okay to fornicate some people have
this thing in their mind Well, they're like well
since i've already done it or like since I have
a kid or since i've been married in the past
like And I know i'm speaking as that was my thought
process y 'all growing up. I I started thinking
well now that i'm not technically pure What's
the point of waiting? Because in my mind you
were just saving yourself for marriage and that
was the only point So like if that's no longer
able to happen What's the point of like staying
away? I know there are some people who are in
their mind thinking well We're called not to
have sex outside of marriage because then you
might end up with kids But since I already have
a kid and since it's obvious to the world since
I have a kid that I'm not a virgin I might as
well do it There are people that well that was
just for a first marriage since I've already
been married You know, what's the point? When
you know you've been living an act of sin and
now you have the knowledge that that sin is wrong
you are called to sin no more just because you
were a fornicator in the past now that you are
a new creation in christ you are called to be
a fornicator no more you were a liar in the past
now that you're a new creation you are called
to lie no more quit lying be a truth teller you
were a diviner in the past now that you're in
christ you divine no more you fortune tell no
more you do these things no more And someone
needs to hear this today. I want to pause here
because I have seen so many people Who I have
seen this so much online of people who are like
in new age who are like terror readers and psychic
mediums and things like that and They believe
they have this prophetic gift right and they're
like well I feel the convictions I'm not supposed
to do this, but how else am I supposed to use
my gift? How else am I supposed to use my gift?
They're like I'm gonna use my gift. God gave
it to me. I'm gonna use it God is very clear
about this in Scripture to y 'all and I believe
this is in Ephesians and I can get to this to
where God We have these gifts, right? This is
the gift of communication. This is the gift of
prophecy whatever the gift of teaching whatever
these gifts are Yes, they are given to us and
we are meant to use them, but we are meant to
use them To further the ministry of Christ Jesus
everything that we do with these gifts should
be pointing back to Jesus and only Jesus To be
pointing back to the kingdom of heaven only the
kingdom of heaven. We are given these gifts To
bring people quote to spread the gospel and to
bring people to God We are not meant to be using
these gifts to point to ourself to our own intuition
I'm doing quotation marks with intuition right
now to point to any spirituality anything outside
of christ jesus I just want to make that very
clear we we are given the gifts that we are given
for a reason yes we are called to use them but
we are called to use them we are all parts of
one body it is not meant for our own glory for
our own whatever it is meant for the kingdom
of heaven and only the kingdom of heaven Okay,
guys, I just want to say that very clearly. Someone
needs to hear that today. Now, let's move forward
here. No foul language should come from your
mouth, but only what is good for building up
someone in need so that it gives grace to those
who hear. And don't grieve God's Holy Spirit.
You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption.
Y 'all, that was a heavy one that I saw change
in my life. Once I started giving my life to
Christ, I stopped cussing and it wasn't at first.
Like at first, I was still saying the f -bombs
and the holy s -word. Like those, I was used
to cursing like a sailor and I would say every
word in the book and didn't care. And it started
with conviction. It started with when I started
saying those words, I started realizing, oh,
those aren't, those aren't good. I'm not supposed
to be using that language. Like it started with
a conviction. Right? And how we've seen here,
don't grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
that dwells within us, right, reveals things
to us, convicts us. And we grieve the Holy Spirit
when we ignore the revelation and when we ignore
the conviction. And I'm giving y 'all that example
with cursing, with cussing for me. I used to
cuss like a sailor. I didn't care. And I would
listen to all the shows that curse profusely
and have like the crudest kind of humor. You
know, all those animated shows that if it were
real people saying those things or shows would
be canceled in like one episode, those were my
main shows. I watched all of those shows. And
it started with a conviction of I would be saying
those words and I'd be like, this doesn't feel
good coming out of my mouth. Like it's coming
out naturally, but I feel convicted. I know that
this doesn't glorify God and I don't hear other
Christians talking like this. And it started
with me making the active decision to listen
to that conviction. And at first it started with
when those would come out, I would like say a
quick prayer of apologizing to the Lord, like,
forgive me Lord, help me to quit cussing. And
he answered my prayer through conviction. I started
feeling a conviction. And over time, I started
just actively choosing to use different language.
Like when I would go to start cussing I would
find myself able to stop like kind of mid -sentence
and redirect and choose another word And for
the longest time I didn't see a problem with
the f -bomb or anything like that And it was
hard for me to see like well, how does this separate
me from grace? How does the devil use this? But
it became enough for me of being able to read
scripture like this I'm like not using not not
using and recognizing and I want to be so thoughtful
the way I word this that when Peter was trying
to separate himself from Jesus he spoke a curse
and I know that there are people with different
interpretations or people who interpret that
as curse words and there are people who interpret
that as a word curse like more witchcraft word
curse speaking death but I felt very convicted
of just using that kind of language as a way
to relate more to the world and to separate yourself
from Christ. And I don't want to be separated
from Christ. I don't want to look like the world.
I want to look like the Lord. So if he tells
me that one of the things I need to adjust and
fix is foul language, although I can't see all
of it, I'm just going to accept that I'm not
supposed to be cursing or cussing. And actually
now, y 'all, when I hear people cuss, like I
cringe. I was the other day around someone who
was like cussing like a sailor and I kept cringing
every single time. And I actually wanted to stray
away from the conversation. And I wasn't like
judging that person. I'm saying like, you know
judging their relationship with Christ or anything
But it was like I just naturally I didn't like
those words like those words to me were like
nails on the chalkboard and a couple years ago
they wouldn't have been and that's how I knew
that the conviction was hitting and the conviction
was sticking and this has been the understanding
that the Lord has really given me with grieving
the Holy Spirit where he says do not grieve the
Holy Spirit like do not ignore the Holy Spirit
don't ignore the conviction. Don't ignore the
revelation. One thing I've noticed over time
y 'all because there have been sometimes at first
when I tried to ignore conviction and that's
a dangerous game to play because at first the
conviction is really loud and the more you ignore
it the quieter and softer it's going to be and
that's what it looks like to defend sin and to
become comfortable in sin right. At first when
you start that sin You feel great where you're
like, I shouldn't have done that I shouldn't
have gone into it But when you start to find
good reasons to justify it and you start to continue
to do it anyway It starts to become more a part
of your daily life and it gets really dangerous
when you start entertaining the flesh Over the
spirit when you start putting the conviction
aside and the Lord we are warned so heavily To
not grieve the Holy Spirit to not ignore the
promptings of the Holy Spirit Let's move forward.
All right. No foul language should come from
your mouth, but only what is good for building
up someone needs. Someone needs to hear this
say too. We're really breaking this down, y 'all.
The things that come out of our mouth should
be constructive, not be constructive. And I wanna
be so clear with this, that this doesn't mean
that you are... Like outwardly lying or rose
-colored glassing things. You shouldn't be putting
on rose -colored glasses when you look at situations
But you need to be thoughtful right of not speaking
death And this was something that the Lord had
to work on my heart So heavily and is I wouldn't
I was one of those people who would say yeah
This person's just a liar or this person's just
a this and they're never gonna get better and
they're never gonna Heal and they're never gonna
be this and they're never gonna be that It's
like instead of looking at because that's me
condemning someone right? That's me closing the
door and saying this is who this person is and
there's no hope and they're never gonna change
and I felt the Lord Convict me so heavily of
instead of saying that you can recognize. Okay.
This person has a problem with lying This person
has a problem with deceiving. This person has
a problem like there's a lot of wickedness coming
out of them But I know through my transformation
in Christ Jesus that transformation is possible
for them. So I'm gonna start building them up
I'm gonna start taking them to the Lord. I'm
gonna start saying Lord I recognize that they're
they're dealing with this thing, but you are
bigger than this thing So I welcome you into
their life. I am praying for them and I pray
that you intercede on their behalf You know when
someone's coming at me and saying I'm dealing
with this financial thing and like it just seems
like I keep getting hit and hit and hit and like
someone who's so Angry and so negative about
the situation the Lord has given me the ability
many times to speak life into it instead of saying
hey I know this is painful and I know this is
rough but this is an opportunity for you to lean
on the Lord right now this isn't this is opportunity
for him to work a real miracle in your life I
know it looks hopeless but God is bigger like
take this to God is there something he's trying
to show you right now is there something he's
trying to do and I have seen people's And this
wasn't me. This was God speaking through me.
God giving me the words. And this was them going
to God and Him working. I have seen people see
miracles and people see breakthrough and people
see things like that after those discussions
and they turn to the Lord. And again, that is
no credit or no glory of mine. God was simply
using me as a messenger in that moment. But that
was an example of speaking things that build
someone up instead of tearing someone down. I've
had so many opportunities to destroy someone
with my words, but I felt convicted by the Lord
of instead tell them what's possible through
Christ Jesus. Tell them the truth, the spiritual
truth. And I have seen the impact it has made
on some people's lives. Glory be to God. Let's
move forward y 'all. So that it gives grace to
those who hear and don't grieve God's Holy Spirit
You were sealed by him for the day of redemption
Let all bitterness anger and wrath shouting and
slander be removed from you along with all malice
The way that you react the crash out isn't Christ
like and y 'all have heard my podcast episode
on here before of crash out where i was a crash
out where the way i responded was i'll raise
my voice and i'll get louder and i'll act in
anger and all these things and the lord has put
me through so many situations where anger is
stirred up when put in very very similar scenarios
where in the past i would crash out and have
a big reaction but this time instead i prayed
for them this time instead i showed them love
this time instead i took it to the lord And that's
not an easy thing to do. And that's not something
that happens overnight. And that's not my own
strength. That was God. And that was God. Jesus
first showing me how much He loved me, I wasn't
able to show this love to others until I experienced
it for myself. I wasn't able to react that way
and handle others that way until I had first
been dealt with like that from before. When I
was in a space of deserving no love, deserving
no grace, but He showed it to me anyway. And
that was how I was able to recognize it and eventually
show it to other people. And we are called to
live that way, right? To not be slanderers, to
not be gossippers, to not be in anger and malice
and shouting, to not be trying to get our revenge
or our look back, to not be manipulators. And
these are all things that naturally we are flesh
is inclined to do. And this is one of the things
that When I would be looking at Christians and
I'd be like, so we're expected to be doormats?
So we're expected to just be walked all over?
No, no, no. When you take things to the Lord,
let me make this very clear. The Lord will tell
you what to do and sometimes the Lord will tell
you set a boundary. Love this person from a distance.
God is a heavenly father and he loves us. You
best believe he will step in and do what he needs
to do. but it requires a level of humility, right?
Our anger and our lick backs and all of these
things, a lot of times the root of these is a
lack of humility and pride, of wanting to prove
that we're right, of wanting to prove that we're
strong, of wanting to prove that we're this,
of wanting to prove that we're that. And submitting
something to God and taking it to God and allowing
him to handle it is a real, it takes a lot of
humility, y 'all. Because sometimes people don't
want to let you go in grace there sometimes the
entire time you're walking away to give it to
God that person's laughing and making fun of
you and Poking you and poking you and poking
you look at Jesus when Jesus was going to the
cross. He was being humiliated and mocked and
laughed and The entire time he was he was only
do it wasn't that he deserved any of that He
was doing what God called him to do and he was
handling it humbly with a meekness and the lovingness.
I want to make that very clear that God doesn't
call us to be doormats or to be stepped on or
expect us to like be like this like scum of the
earth that we first imagine but he does expect
us to humble ourselves and give it to him to
handle because his ways are higher and keep in
mind that those those people who are hurting
you that you want to hurt those are God's children
too and he loves them too. So you best believe
that whatever justice he's doing for you, he's
also gonna make sure that it's capable of helping
them as well, right? Because he loves them as
well. And I'll tell y 'all, I just wanna drop
this in. If you're having troubles with forgiveness,
the first step is... I've learned in personal
experience with the Lord is praying for them.
The second I would find myself cursing someone
or someone who did something wrong came up to
mind. I would start wanting to speak death and
getting angry and upset and wanting to like pray
that the worst things happen to them. When those
thoughts would start coming up, I'd feel convicted
of, okay, now pray for them. And I would feel
convicted to start saying God bless this person.
Heal this person, whatever is going on in their
life that's causing them to be this way. Heal
that. You know if I dealt with someone who is
lying or being deceptive I would start praying
to God God I pray that they live their life in
truth I pray that they submit to you that they
know you and that they live a life of truth like
I would start praying that they are blessed by
his presence in their life and Over a time my
heart placement towards these people truly shifted
and change I'd be I can't tell you there were
some people y 'all I was praying to God like
a hundred times a day of God helped me to forgive
them God helped me to release them helped me
to give them to you and I'll tell y 'all that
it wasn't all those feelings went away immediately,
but God did a work in me. And as followers of
Christ, we are called to let those hateful feelings
go and to submit them to the Lord. I'm gonna
move forward here. It says, be kind and compassionate
to one another, forgiving one another just as
God also forgave you in Christ. Therefore, be
imitators of God. as dearly loved children and
walk in love as Christ also loved us and gave
himself for us a sacrificial and fragrant offering
to God that sexual immorality and any impurity
or greed should not even be heard of among you
as is proper for saints obscene and foolish talking
or crude joking are not suitable but rather giving
thanks Just for anyone here who was wondering
what's wrong with listening to those crude shows
Listening to I love those shows. What's wrong
with them? I'm just saying right here and I'm
reading out of the CSB the she reads truth Christian
standard Bible That we are called to to flee
right from these Obscene and foolish talking
or crude joking the things that we entertain
on social media the people There have been some
people, y 'all, that I felt convicted to not
have as many frequent conversations with them
or to not hang out with them simply because of
their sense of humor. Because the things that
they were taking joy in, the things that they
were, to me it felt like slander, and it felt
like gossip, and it did feel crude. There were
things that I was like, I felt convicted. Whereas
like, I can't participate in these conversations.
These crude conversations, these... crude jokes
these and that was a hard thing to do right because
i would have to look at the lord and be like
but they seem like good people in all these other
areas god it's just the sense of humor it's it's
just these things and it doesn't glorify you
and it doesn't feel like it brings me closer
to you um and i would feel convicted to keep
a distance because the lord which has so heavily
brought me back to scripture y 'all that bad
company corrupts good morals and that you can
have that good set of morals but when you're
around that bad company every day you can start
to be influenced and it's not if bad company
corrupts good morals it's bad company corrupts
good morals that eventually that is going to
rub off on you and I've seen it happen times
already when people and their responses when
I'm with them every single day and their thought
processes where although it doesn't like fully
push me away from the Lord I notice that starts
to be an active struggle to stay right. You know
like I'm going on the path I'm supposed to be
on and it's like being around that consistently
every day is almost like someone like you're
buying bumper cars and I feel like they're constantly
kind of trying to push me into the side or onto
another track or kind of like off the edge and
I'm having to do like exert that extra effort
and that extra work consistently to like stay
on the right path. And when it comes to planting
seeds and everything like that, yeah, like that's
important, right? To be able to stand firm in
your faith and to go into environments and be
able to plant seeds and step out. But we're talking
what you're with consistently, right? Like when
that is your daily life, what you are allowing
in your daily life, that starts to rub off on
you. The way that you respond, before you, for
me personally, all of a sudden I would notice
my patience running out a little bit quicker.
my view of my day when I wake up was just like
a little bit more cynical than it would be before
or like I would just feel less inclined to love
less inclined to these things like it was like
constant having to extra push it out and extra
effort it and there were times when I go into
spaces and the Lord calls me to love people where
it does feel like a little bit extra but he has
really revealed to me like that wasn't meant
to be my life every single day That wasn't meant
to be my close friend group every single day,
right? And that was slowly corrupting, although
it wasn't fully pushing me away from the Lord,
or I wasn't fully walking. There were areas in
my life that were starting to be a bit corroded.
then we're starting to be a bit tainted and we're
starting to be a bit corrupted and i don't know
what they would end up being if that was my consistent
influence a year from then glory be to god i
didn't quench the spirit i i didn't deny the
holy spirit and i listened and someone needs
to hear that today right that those things those
influences it's important who you're around y
'all it's important what you take in As a Christian,
the media, there's lots of accounts and lots
of things I was consuming every day that I don't
consume anymore. There are lots of TV shows and
lots of things that I don't consume anymore.
At first it was because God because I felt God's
Word told me not to consume these things and
then over time I could start to see how yeah
long -term exposure actually kind of shifted
my perspective and shifted my view and like kind
of like shifted my boundaries Just to give you
all an example. There was one TV show I loved
before I was a new creation in Christ and I tried
to go back to it and at first I felt convicted
But I continued to watch it anyway, and I continued
to put it on anyway, and there were a couple
things that the reason why I didn't want to watch
at first I felt solidly convicted on. The more
I was watching it, I started kind of making some
excuses for it, and being like, well, it's actually
like this kind, it's really not that bad if you
look at it this way, and as long as I know God's
way isn't this way, then it's not really that
bad. And I felt convicted. y 'all I felt convicted
and I was like isn't it funny how a couple weeks
before you had a much stronger stance against
this thing but now that you've been consuming
it consistently and around it consistently um
you're starting to make excuses for it and you're
starting to defend it and you're starting to
in your own talking about me all in my own pride
and in my own self -assuredness saying well as
long as i know who got i can stand in this and
not be affected i can stand in this and not be
and um Even saying this out loud y 'all is very
convicting for me of like I need to be more thoughtful
because that's a very slippery slope If you all
listen to my new age testimony that I shared
before I actually got in and gotten a new age
years ago by it was like Movies I was watching
where I was like, huh that sparked my interest.
Let me try it out And before then I'd always
said it's not real. It's not real but in the
things I was consuming I actually started to
be more open -minded to it And that was actually
an open door for the devil just food for thought
for that one for y 'all going on it says but
sexual immorality or any impurity or greed should
not even be heard of among you as proper for
saints saying like and i just want to pause here
y 'all but the things that god clearly says are
sins we should not even be entertaining the possibility
of those things like we we shouldn't be joking
about it or making excuses for it entertaining
the idea of participating in it. If you know
God has said no, turn away from it. Sexual immorality,
turn away from it. Impurity, turn away from it.
Greed, turn away from it. Don't even be entertaining
it in discussion. That's not saying that you
know we can't be in a Christ -centered discussion.
Talking about it right of like hey, this is harmful
and this is bad like that This is how it's gonna
lead us in the separation or anything like that,
but just gossiping about the gossip about it
Entertaining the idea finding ways to defend
it That shouldn't even be a topic of discussion
in our circles Obscene and foolish talking or
crude joking are not suitable but rather giving
thanks for no one recognizes every sexually immoral
or impure or greedy person who is an idolater
does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with
empty arguments for God's wrath is coming on
the disobedient because of these things therefore
do not become their partners. For you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the
light consists of all goodness, righteousness,
and truth, testing what is pleasing to God. Do
not participate in the fruitless works of darkness,
but instead expose them. For it is shameful to
even mention what is done by them in secret.
Everything exposed by the light is made visible.
For what makes everything visible is light. Therefore
it is said, Get up sleeper and rise from the
dead and Christ will shine on you. I want to
go back to this. Do not be their partners. Reading
back even a little bit further. Let no one deceive
you with empty arguments for God's wrath is coming
on the disobedient because of these things. Don't
entertain those arguments of people saying, but
what about this? But what about this? We know
what God's word says. We know that the wage of
sin is. No matter how people want to paint up
why they're doing this and what the sin is how
it's defendable how whatever No matter how our
flesh wants to paint it up and tempt us into
it We know that the wage of sin is death meaning
the payment that we receive is separation from
is separation The wage of sin is death is spiritual
death not saying here do not become their partners
and I want to make this so clear y 'all we have
a responsibility as followers of Christ to plant
seeds I just said earlier in the podcast we use
our gifts to lead other people closer to Christ
to point other people closer to Christ that is
our job as Christians is to plant seeds it's
God's job to to change their hearts work in ways
we share our testimonies we talk about scripture
we plant seeds and I was having a discussion
with someone not too long ago which was a really
good discussion the Lord had been bringing up
to me that scripture of bad company corrupts
good morals and he had recently given me a little
life example where I had in the morning gone
in like I had fresh strawberries in the fridge
and then the morning I was going to get those
strawberries out and there was this huge moldy
strawberry. All of a sudden it was covered in
mold. It wasn't the day before when I bought
it. And the two strawberries next to it were
starting to get mold and I felt the Lord so heavily
that day speak to me. Bad company corrupts good
morals and it happens this quick. You just bought
those strawberries yesterday. There was no mold
yesterday but today there's mold. And today,
it's already spreading. These other two strawberries,
it's touching. They're not completely molded,
but you can already see where they're getting
mushy. And they've already been impacted. Sometimes
that company that corrupts our most doesn't look
like bad company at first. Just like, yo, when
I bought those strawberries, the date says they're
fresh. The outward things, the outward sign says
they're good. They were big, shiny, red, plump.
The date was fresh. The people had just been
stocking them on the shelves. Everything about
it said it's safe. It's good to go. And I bought
them. But in the morning, I take a look and I
cannot deny that that is mold. I could say, well,
I just bought them. Well, all of these other
things. all these outward signs say there should
not be mold there should not be corruption here
but when i'm looking at the strawberry i'm seeing
mold and i'm seeing corruption i'm seeing sin
i am seeing corruption i am seeing what god tells
me to look for i'm checking the fruit and the
fruit ain't good And I'm looking at the fruit
around it and although these fruits are not that
level yet, there's already some squishiness.
There's already some like gray weird, you can
tell that it's spreading. And I don't know if
this is what you're supposed to do or not, but
this is what I did y 'all. I threw those strawberries
out. I kept the rest of the bunch. That looked
fine. that we're not touching those strawberries,
that we're not impacted. I threw those moldy
strawberries out and guess what? The rest of
the strawberries, fine, no mold. I don't know
if that's what you're supposed to do being raised
in the Midwest. I was raised in kind of the country
way where the rest of them don't have the mold.
You can eat the other ones. And the strawberries
have been good now. It's been a while since I've
had them. It's been like a week since I've had
them and they're perfectly fine, plump, fresh
looking strawberries. Everything is Gucci. Everything's
good. But it was because I threw out those moldy
strawberries. If I kept those moldy strawberries
and the bunch and said, I'm not gonna believe
that there's mold on them. I'm not gonna believe
that's mold. I'm not gonna believe that's corruption.
I'm not gonna believe that's sin. Because the
rest of these strawberries were fine. The rest
of these strawberries were good. The date says
they should be good. Everything says they should
be good. If I would have kept them in there,
that entire thing of strawberries would have
been molded. And a lot quicker than I probably
would have expected. Because buying those strawberries,
I would have thought, well, not touching them,
it would take a couple weeks for mold. It was
less than 24 hours. And there was already, the
corruption had already spread. The mold had already
spread and I could not eat those strawberries
anymore. Once there were signs, I couldn't trust
to eat those strawberries anymore. I had to throw
them out. And I remember ensuring that... going
back I was sharing that strawberry testimony
and someone said well you know the interesting
thing with that scripture and I kind of cut them
off and I said yeah I know what I think I know
what you're gonna say is it's about being the
influencer and not the influencee because this
person loves the Lord and I can tell that this
person loves to spread the gospel and I can see
God really moving through this person right I
can tell that this person Is in a stage of really
taking people who are struggling in their walk
with Christ your unbelievers under their wing
and not immediately turning people away Which
is so important, right? It is so important I'm
gonna speak from what? The Lord has shown me
personally in my personal walk and whoever you
are listening to say a hope the Lord speaks to
you through this there is a difference right
and Being the influencer and being the influencing
when you are influencing we are meant to through
our actions and through our words lead other
people We're supposed to plant seeds, but it's
not our responsibility to actually do that work
It's God's job to do the work right and by planting
seeds We're planting seeds by our action to glorify
God the words we say, you know If someone's asking
for advice give them advice if someone's asking
for help give them help We plant seeds by we're
being the hands and feet of Jesus, right? But
when it comes to someone establishing that in
their day -to -day life when it comes to how
someone is routinely That is not our role and
our responsibility. That's God in their life
I had a real problem in the past y 'all that
God really convicted me of I Started to take
on the Savior role and other people's lives which
actually really started to hurt me and this was
my problem actually long before Christ when I
thought I would have advice and I'd have the
answer I would tell someone, but then I would
kind of overexert myself in implementing it in
their day -to -day life. Like whether it would
be trying to set habits for them, trying to set
routines for them, I would start making myself
accountable a little bit too much of the decisions
they were making, right? And I would start to...
Holy Spirit, give me the words. I'm gonna be
so thoughtful with this. I was taking on the
role of like savior and work and not just seed
planting. And it's really easy for us to do that
when we're championing for the Lord, right? It's
really easy for us to. not stop at planting seeds
and want to go further. And before you know it,
we're carrying the spiritual weight that this
other person should be carrying. Before you know
it, our inner meaning and our inner seeding is
taking away lessons that this person should be
learning and opportunities for them to go to
God. Before you know it, we are the savior instead
of God. And when we're always there with the
scripture to give them, when we're always there
with this, when we're always there with that,
what room are we leaving for God to step in and
work, right? What room are we leaving for them
to get in the Bible and seek it out? What room
are we leaving for them to pray and receive clarity
from the Lord? What room are we learning for
them? We know as followers of Christ that not
all of our lessons came from someone else feeding
it to us. Our lessons oftentimes came from experiencing
and having to learn from the Lord. I want to
be so clear here that we are supposed to help
people and we are supposed to plant seeds. And
scripture does tell us, we know that when someone
asks for food, feed them. when someone asks for
help like help them we are supposed to do that
um but there is a difference of doing that and
picking up the weight that someone is supposed
to be learning how to give to god right um and
in doing that and i'm going to be so thoughtful
with the way i word that in doing that There's
often times we can also start to overstep a line
where it comes into excusing sin, right? And
when it comes into excusing things and how we
talked earlier about how flags that were once
red suddenly start to become yellow and boundaries
that in the past you wouldn't allow to be crossed.
All of a sudden you're kind of allowing to be
crossed. The Lord really instilled to me in my
life. that that became a problem, right? When
I was so thoughtful on, I'm going to influence
this person, I'm going to be the influencer,
I started allowing boundaries to be crossed.
I started allowing things to be said that I normally
wouldn't put up with being said. Actions, there
were some things that the Lord had worked on
instilling in me, but all of a sudden I wasn't
holding so strong in those things, and I was
making excuses for, well, I'm trying to help,
and I'm trying to do this, and I'm trying to
do that. And the Lord had to be so, had to really
get real with me of like, but did you ask if
you're supposed to be doing those things? Because
if you did, I might have given you a bit of a
different way to handle things. Yes, you're showing
love, but you're also starting to hurt yourself.
Because I was so focused on I'm the influencer
and I was looking for the outward signs of, well,
I'm still going to church and I'm still praising
God and I'm still doing all these things. I'm
not being led astray. I'm not being led away.
But then I started looking at the closer I was
like, But mmm This boundary that the Lord established
in me I'm laying this person kind of crosses
boundary and I have noticed myself being a bit
more quick to anger I have noticed that my prayer
life has kind of changed my career life has kind
of shifted I'm starting to rely a bit more on
my own strength than I should be. I'm starting
to rely a bit more on my own And a big thing
is I realized how much more of an extra fight
I had to stay rooted in my faith compared to
before and Where the Lord really led me with
this was we are meant to plant seeds Right that
we are not meant to isolate. We're not meant
to step away from people You know, we are meant
to plant seeds with those who are lukewarm and
people who are totally cold But when it comes
to what we implement in our day -to -day life,
what is consistently influencing us, what's consistently
a part of our thought process and our emotional
process, our daily life process, should be things
that are edifying us, right, and bringing us
closer to the board. And I realized, and the
Lord had really convicted me, that the people
that I was supposed to be, that I felt I was
just influencing, and the people that I was meant
to be planting seeds, and then going back to
my private time with the Lord, I had turned into,
and this is just, I'm not saying this literally,
but became my daily life people, right? Where
it was no longer I go and I plant seeds and I
go to my private space. These people became my
day -to -day life These mission these things
that were supposed to be more assignments for
me to plant seeds Became my day -to -day influence
the Lord really revealed to me that there was
a line that needed to be drawn there Okay, and
that was really where the bad company corrupts
good morals came in as I thought well since these
outward things I'm still praising the Lord. I'm
still doing these things. He revealed to me.
He's like, but you're This assignment has not
It has shifted from an assignment to a lifestyle
and it has now become a stumbling block for you.
It has now become a blockage in a way. It's become
a resistance that it was not meant to be. This
was not meant to be your daily life and I pray
that this is freeing for someone to hear today.
I know it will be for someone to hear today.
I know it would be freeing for me to hear too
and it's good to just say out loud that there
really is a difference with that, right? and
we have to be so careful because it's really
easy to step into a self -righteousness when
we feel like I can't be tainted I can't be influenced
or like these type of people can't influence
me or these type of things because oftentimes
we're looking just for those big signs of influence
but really we start off with smaller signs and
for me all the smaller signs again were my boundaries
being crossed and me accepting things I normally
wouldn't accept or me excusing things or condoning
things I normally wouldn't excuse or condone.
And me looking at things that the Lord clearly
says are not fruits of the spirit and just making
excuses. And it, my patience was weird on a lot
of things. And glory be to God, once I came back,
like he helped me. But it takes a while and you
have to fight by faith to get some of those things
back, right? So I pray that this is helping someone
today and I just want to circle this back Y 'all
to works Because that was what our episode today
started with is how do works tie into being a
christian? And the big answer i'm going to give
y 'all Is like the all -encompassing is works
are a sign of your faith Works are not your salvation
Your salvation is not dependent on your works.
Your salvation is By faith through grace we are
saved by our faith through God's grace, but your
works are a sign of your faith Wow guys this
podcast episode went on a lot longer than I thought
it was gonna go on I was recording this and sorry
all the recording stopped because I had an alarm
go off to tell me it's time to get ready for
my young adult group and I looked down and saw
that we're close to we're right At like close
to an hour and a half So this was a really long
podcast episode, but I do pray that this episode
blesses you guys and I was actually getting ready
to close this episode out and I just want to
take a moment to glorify God because These things
I shared with you all today. I didn't wake up
today planning on recording a podcast episode
or even talking about this. This was completely
God -led in my scripture reading today, and these
revelations that He was giving me and these reminders
that He was giving me today are entirely God
-led. I want to make this so clear that this
is not my own wisdom, y 'all. I have learned
through experience from God. It's because of
Him. that I have this perception, I have this
view. And if you're someone right now who you
really are struggling with where works fit in,
maybe you've been kind of cynical and maybe you've
been disregarding works, I just wanna say I was
in that space too. And the way that I'm speaking
to y 'all today and the place I'm speaking to
you from isn't meant to be on a mountain top
and speaking down at you or in any kind of condemning
way, I'm speaking to y 'all as someone who I've
been in your position. And I've had those thoughts,
and I have also had those thoughts that there's
no way, like, this seems way too complicated,
this seems like too many rules, this seems like
too many things, and I just can't live my life
that way. And God has proven me wrong. A lot
of things I thought I was never going to be able
to do, I was able to do. a lot of things and
it was just natural through my walk with Christ
and through my relationship with Christ. And
I want to encourage you today to don't close
your mind to being able to do these things. To
flee temptation, to flee immorality, to flee
crude jokes, to, you know, to flee greed and
gluttony, to die to self. Stop cussing to these
different things. Don't mark it off as impossible.
I used to mark it off as impossible Until I want
this today to be your encouragement to be open
-minded and whatever it is that you feel God
is convicting you of But you're feeling like
it's impossible pray to him and he'll show you
that it's not impossible It's possible through
him And I pray that this is kind of opened your
mind regards to the topic of works and the discussion
of works and I do pray that this has given you
a new perspective and a fresh perspective and
a perspective that leads you closer to Christ.
I want to thank y 'all thank you so much for
listening to this episode today and I do ask
that you hit the subscribe button wherever it
is you're listening to podcasts and that you
share it with somebody a friend a family member
share it on your social media whoever the Lord
is putting you on your heart with today to share
it I pray that you share it with them. Have a
blessed week, guys. God bless.