WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:05.059 Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:09.099 podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend and 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.419 I hope you guys have had a wonderful week. I 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:15.279 hope you've had a blessed week Let me tell y 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:20.100 'all the Lord has been dropping some wisdom on 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:23.679 me this week and There was a topic that we're 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:27.699 gonna go in on today that I know a lot of people 00:00:27.699 --> 00:00:30.559 need to hear okay, because I have needed to hear 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.740 it. As someone who was a retired crash out, if 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:36.500 y 'all have been listening to my podcast for 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:38.219 a while, you may have listened to the episode 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:42.500 titled Crash Out, where I have admitted firsthand 00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:46.619 that I did not always handle things in a Christ 00:00:46.619 --> 00:00:50.479 -like way before I gave my life to Christ. I 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.359 was a very petty person. Before I gave my life 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.219 to Christ, I wanted my lick back. I wanted to 00:00:56.219 --> 00:01:00.359 get revenge. I would lean into the things that 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:01.899 people were saying about me, not because they're 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:03.619 true, but because I wanted to prove a point. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:07.920 I was a petty person. And the Lord worked in 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.299 my heart. He taught me how to handle things differently. 00:01:11.930 --> 00:01:15.769 And I had to go through a lot of trials. I had 00:01:15.769 --> 00:01:18.109 to go through a lot of hardships. I had to face 00:01:18.109 --> 00:01:21.969 a lot of opposition for this to be ingrained 00:01:21.969 --> 00:01:26.450 in me. And our topic today is how you respond 00:01:26.450 --> 00:01:35.030 matters. How you respond to opposition matters. 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:40.370 How you respond to gaslighting matters. How you 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:45.879 respond to slander, to lies, to deceit, to wicked 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:53.579 deeds matters. How you respond can actually be 00:01:53.579 --> 00:02:00.000 what leads a person closer to Jesus. Now I want 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.099 to be very clear in saying this because I know 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:06.420 in the past I struggled with a perfectionism 00:02:06.420 --> 00:02:08.699 thing where I would look at the way I handled 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:10.500 situations and be like that wasn't Christ like 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:12.819 enough. I would feel a guilt and I would feel 00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:15.479 a weight and I just want to start By telling 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:17.240 you all that you need to remember that God is 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.460 graceful and he is merciful He doesn't expect 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:21.259 you to handle things perfectly because he knows 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:25.840 that you are not Jesus Okay, he knows that you 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.080 are not Jesus But he does want us to be more 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:38.009 Christ like Okay, so if you right now are looking 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:40.050 and thinking, wow, I didn't handle that situation 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:43.169 with very much grace. I didn't respond to that 00:02:43.169 --> 00:02:45.729 person in the Christ -like way. I let my anger 00:02:45.729 --> 00:02:47.590 get the best of me. I let these things happen. 00:02:48.409 --> 00:02:51.610 It's good that you recognize that. And take that 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:56.129 to God and ask Him to help you with that. Understand 00:02:56.129 --> 00:02:59.830 that when you ask for forgiveness, you are forgiven. 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:03.750 So first thing, take that to God. Ask for forgiveness. 00:03:03.889 --> 00:03:06.349 Have that weight lifted off of you. but then 00:03:06.349 --> 00:03:09.210 ask God to help you be better and do better. 00:03:10.009 --> 00:03:13.349 This isn't about condemning you for not handling 00:03:13.349 --> 00:03:15.669 things well in the past. This is recognizing 00:03:15.669 --> 00:03:18.229 the areas where you can improve and asking God 00:03:18.229 --> 00:03:23.750 to help you improve. I want to start off reading 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:28.090 some scripture to y 'all today. 1st Peter, we're 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:34.590 in 1st Peter chapter 2. Yeah, let's do chapter 00:03:34.590 --> 00:03:39.379 2. Verse 11 and verse 12. Dear friends, I urge 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:42.240 you as strangers in exiles to abstain from sinful 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:45.900 desires that wage war against the soul. Conduct 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:49.139 yourselves honorably among the Gentiles so that 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:52.819 when they slander you as evildoers, they will 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.400 observe your good works and will glorify God 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.919 on the day he visits. Notice how scripture here 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:02.379 says, it doesn't say when or it doesn't say if 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:04.479 they slander you, it says when they slander you. 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:08.300 right it's not about if opposition is going to 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:14.319 come it's not about if lies if deceit if gaslighting 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:18.019 comes it's when lies come when slander comes 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.199 when deceit comes when gaslighting comes it's 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:28.060 not an if it's a win i'm telling you all today 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:30.839 especially like when you when you were freshly 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:34.689 the first couple years out of like leaving your 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:38.230 before Christ life behind and stepping into your 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:42.970 life as a new creation, your past is really going 00:04:42.970 --> 00:04:44.730 to try to come back and grab you by the ankle 00:04:44.730 --> 00:04:48.110 and drag you down. I'm just going to be so blunt 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:53.589 about that. Old habits are going to try to come 00:04:53.589 --> 00:04:56.769 in and pull you back. Old thought processes, 00:04:57.009 --> 00:04:59.250 old ways of dealing with things, people reminding 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:02.139 you of what you used to be. Who you used to be, 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:04.740 what you used to do, how you used to respond. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.199 You'll have the old friends popping in. You'll 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:08.740 have the family members that you haven't talked 00:05:08.740 --> 00:05:12.620 to in way back when. Those things that you thought 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:15.279 were dead and buried coming back to try to grab 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.529 you. I want to make this so clear. The enemy 00:05:19.529 --> 00:05:23.089 the devil is the lowercase G God of this world. 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:26.629 So the things that glorify that the world glorifies 00:05:26.629 --> 00:05:29.069 Obviously are not glorifying the Heavenly Father, 00:05:29.250 --> 00:05:31.550 right? They're things that produce separation 00:05:31.550 --> 00:05:35.790 and Lead you away from the Heavenly Father So, 00:05:35.790 --> 00:05:38.129 of course the world is going to hate you. The 00:05:38.129 --> 00:05:40.970 world is influenced by wickedness. The world 00:05:40.970 --> 00:05:44.790 is influenced by the kingdom of darkness and 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:46.970 what does the kingdom of the kingdom of darkness 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:51.769 the devil does not want you spending eternity 00:05:51.769 --> 00:05:53.509 with the heavenly father but he also doesn't 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:56.209 want you leaving other people closer right so 00:05:56.209 --> 00:06:00.970 when he sees you when the devil sees you pursuing 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:04.269 a relationship with christ accepting him as your 00:06:04.269 --> 00:06:07.290 lord and savior the devil wants to break that 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:11.750 down he wants to get you to lose faith he wants 00:06:11.750 --> 00:06:14.879 to get you to lose heart and he wants you to 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:20.120 lead other people astray. There are so many people 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:26.500 who stay away from Christianity or have a misunderstanding 00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:29.980 or a bad idea of Christianity because of people 00:06:29.980 --> 00:06:33.620 who call themselves Christians but weren't living 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:37.420 a life Christ -like. Now I'm not saying that 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:40.720 they weren't perfect none of us are perfect but 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:43.639 there are people who call themselves Christians 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:49.720 who are representatives of Christ Jesus But do 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:55.899 not show the love of Jesus But do not respond 00:06:55.899 --> 00:07:00.899 in Christ like ways that sow seeds of discourse 00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:06.160 and division and heat That lean into greed that 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:08.860 lean into pride that lean into ego and those 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:14.240 are the people that give a bad rap Now I'm not 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:20.040 saying that Christ God fearing Christians Can't 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:21.660 be misunderstood because we're misunderstood 00:07:21.660 --> 00:07:24.220 all the time. We literally just read scripture 00:07:24.220 --> 00:07:27.019 you could be doing the most Christ like thing 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:31.459 having the best intention and Someone who does 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:35.480 not have eyes to see or ears to hear someone 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:39.939 who isn't able to identify Jesus, someone who 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:44.079 is influenced by the world, someone whose perception 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:50.040 is skewed, will misunderstand what you're doing. 00:07:51.579 --> 00:07:54.899 I have experienced it firsthand when I was doing 00:07:54.899 --> 00:07:56.519 something that was just meant to show the love 00:07:56.519 --> 00:07:59.379 of Jesus and also patience and waiting on God 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:03.290 and someone who was really in the world Really 00:08:03.290 --> 00:08:07.610 rejecting God at the time Really had a different 00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:09.689 perception and a different view of what I was 00:08:09.689 --> 00:08:13.810 doing, you know, they were in a space of Twisting 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.790 what I was doing into wickedness and evil and 00:08:16.790 --> 00:08:19.550 although I knew that wasn't what it was I had 00:08:19.550 --> 00:08:21.350 to accept that that was the way they were seeing 00:08:21.350 --> 00:08:24.889 it and I couldn't combat that with my words. 00:08:25.129 --> 00:08:27.970 I couldn't combat that with explaining myself. 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:32.149 I couldn't even like Create results for myself 00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:34.389 because I was waiting on God right what I had 00:08:34.389 --> 00:08:39.590 to do was just continue To show up through my 00:08:39.590 --> 00:08:44.730 good works and living more Christlike You know 00:08:44.730 --> 00:08:47.450 the interesting thing y 'all when I had people 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:49.730 slandering me and falsely accusing me and doing 00:08:49.730 --> 00:08:53.750 all these things Gossiping about me and I asked 00:08:53.750 --> 00:08:55.850 God how to handle those people. He told me to 00:08:55.850 --> 00:08:58.779 pray for them and actually to serve them There 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:02.299 was a time period where I was made to serve them. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:04.139 Where it was like if they need help with something, 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:06.799 still help them. If they have questions about 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:10.259 God, still answer their questions. If they're 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.399 going through this emotional thing, show them 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:17.139 the love of Jesus. It wasn't a time when I was 00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:18.679 told to, you know, shake the dust off my feet 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:21.120 and turn around. There are times like that, right? 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:23.740 Scripture also says, don't cast your pearls before 00:09:23.740 --> 00:09:25.519 swine. There are times when you are not meant 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.639 to stick around. Continue to talk and explain 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:30.580 and do all these things when it's going to be 00:09:30.580 --> 00:09:33.720 more harmful than helpful But there are also 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:36.120 times when God will call you to continue to minister 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:39.039 to those people to show them the love of Jesus 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:42.419 there are some people who are not going to pick 00:09:42.419 --> 00:09:45.019 up a Bible and They're not going to know the 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:46.960 love of Jesus through reading it in Scripture 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.940 But they're not going to go to the sermons that 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.100 the Bible that they're going to read is you and 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:53.500 how you live your life That they are observing 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:59.250 you And as a follower of Christ, we are called 00:09:59.250 --> 00:10:02.629 to make disciples. We are called to be fishers 00:10:02.629 --> 00:10:05.090 of men, right? We are called to show other people 00:10:05.090 --> 00:10:08.090 the love of Jesus, to bring other people to the 00:10:08.090 --> 00:10:10.330 kingdom of heaven. And that's not always by just 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:12.889 reading scripture and like speaking the gospel 00:10:12.889 --> 00:10:15.389 with our mouths. Oftentimes it's ministering 00:10:15.389 --> 00:10:19.370 to people through how we live our lives, how 00:10:19.370 --> 00:10:24.419 we choose to respond. whoever you are today I 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:27.179 believe you need to hear this that how you respond 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:33.799 to opposition really speaks a lot to people who 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.399 are unbelievers because when you choose to match 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:40.659 energy when you choose to okay well I'll meet 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:45.539 them with the same negative words I'll meet them 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:49.259 with the same sarcasm I'll meet them with the 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:52.149 same hatefulness and all that When the unbeliever 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:54.070 looks at you and looks at that person, they see 00:10:54.070 --> 00:10:58.009 no difference. Which means they don't see the 00:10:58.009 --> 00:11:00.029 difference that accepting Jesus Christ as your 00:11:00.029 --> 00:11:05.730 Lord and Savior makes into your life. Now when 00:11:05.730 --> 00:11:08.970 they see that person with all of the hate and 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:10.929 all of the slander, the envy, the jealousy, all 00:11:10.929 --> 00:11:13.950 that spewing out, and they see you matching it 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:16.610 with love and kindness, good works, obviously 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:19.070 you're holding boundaries, but you're showing 00:11:19.070 --> 00:11:22.289 them the love of Jesus. People aren't going to 00:11:22.289 --> 00:11:24.169 be able to help but notice a difference in the 00:11:24.169 --> 00:11:26.889 response there and sure and the short term Maybe 00:11:26.889 --> 00:11:31.789 their perception is skewed on the situation But 00:11:31.789 --> 00:11:34.309 what is done in the dark will come to light and 00:11:34.309 --> 00:11:40.350 trust in God's timing he will reveal He will 00:11:40.350 --> 00:11:44.470 reveal the truth he will reveal who was the antagonizer 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.750 in the gas lighter He will reveal who was just 00:11:47.750 --> 00:11:49.769 trying to show love who was just trying to show 00:11:49.769 --> 00:11:52.960 kindness And sometimes in the time that we want 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:57.000 Him to, I want to be so clear with that. God 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:00.519 doesn't move on our time clock, y 'all. He moves 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.919 in His own divine time, His own divine plan. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:08.320 Because when we think about what we want, and 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:09.919 what we want God to do, we're usually thinking 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:11.759 about ourselves and how it will just affect us, 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:15.590 right? but God usually aligns things to impact 00:12:15.590 --> 00:12:17.970 like 20 people at the same time I can't tell 00:12:17.970 --> 00:12:19.789 y 'all how many times that one blessing from 00:12:19.789 --> 00:12:22.950 God in my life ended up being a blessing for 00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:25.409 like 10 other people and a lesson for like 20 00:12:25.409 --> 00:12:28.090 other people on top of that and God will align 00:12:28.090 --> 00:12:30.690 things so it's not just benefiting you it's benefiting 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:32.490 all these other people and at the end of the 00:12:32.490 --> 00:12:35.509 day it points back to the kingdom of heaven the 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:37.269 blessings and all these wonderful things yes 00:12:37.269 --> 00:12:41.259 God loves us and he blesses us Because he loves 00:12:41.259 --> 00:12:44.000 us, you know, but he also gives us these blessings 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.200 because it's going to point back to him and glorify 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.500 him and lead people closer to him. What's the 00:12:49.500 --> 00:12:51.100 point of blessing you with something that isn't 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:52.919 going to point back to him, that isn't going 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:56.480 to lead other people closer to him? Because then 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.940 what's it going to point to yourself, your works, 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:05.779 the world, the world's ways? God divinely orchestrates 00:13:05.779 --> 00:13:10.200 things in ways that we could never think of. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.059 And I want to read to you all some more scripture. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:15.639 Matthew chapter five. We're going to start in 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:19.740 verses 13. You are the salt of the earth. But 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:22.340 if the salt should lose its taste, how can it 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:25.200 be made salty? It's no longer good for anything 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.960 but to be thrown out and trampled under people's 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:31.879 feet. You are the light of the world. A city 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:35.960 situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:38.700 a lamp and puts it under a basket. but rather 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:41.639 on a lamp stand and it gives light for all who 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:45.120 are in the house in the same way let your light 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:48.120 shine before others so that they may see your 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.919 good works and give glory to your father in heaven 00:13:50.919 --> 00:13:53.759 when you when we face opposition y 'all it is 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.440 so tempting to dim our light it is so tempting 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:02.460 to pipe down and to quiet down that is actually 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:04.460 a tactic of the enemy have you ever noticed that 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:06.820 like when you start getting that fire and you 00:14:06.820 --> 00:14:09.279 start Spreading the gospel and you start like 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.559 putting yourself out there more sharing your 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:14.240 testimony leading other people closer to Christ 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.259 Just being a light showing the love of Jesus 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:17.779 when all of a sudden you start giving people 00:14:17.779 --> 00:14:21.759 more biblical advice You start pointing people 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:23.860 closer to Christ and before you know it there's 00:14:23.860 --> 00:14:25.620 some kind of opposition that pops up Maybe someone 00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:27.620 makes a rude comment or a sarcastic comment. 00:14:28.019 --> 00:14:31.279 Maybe someone misunderstands you You know, maybe 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:33.120 you get one of those hate comments on social 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:37.330 media Maybe you have someone say something and 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:39.389 like it kind of messes with your relationship 00:14:39.389 --> 00:14:42.629 with the person whatever it is You're you're 00:14:42.629 --> 00:14:44.570 spreading the gospel. You're sharing the light 00:14:44.570 --> 00:14:48.129 of Jesus Christ, right? We have we have we are 00:14:48.129 --> 00:14:51.080 a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit And the 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.259 light of the Holy Spirit shines through when 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:55.399 you are ministering to people when you're speaking 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:57.740 to people When you're doing the good work showing 00:14:57.740 --> 00:14:59.879 the love of Jesus your light whether you even 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:02.379 mean for it to shine the light I'm not even say 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:04.159 I don't even want to say your light the light 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:08.639 of Jesus Christ within you Eliminates and shines 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:12.320 through right and that light interesting thing 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:15.139 Also reveals a lot of things that are working 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:18.879 in darkness, right? That's what you'll see like 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.000 Oftentimes when your light is like because the 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:24.899 light exposes the works that are done in the 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:28.879 dark, right? That's why you'll see sometimes 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.480 people who are operating out of spaces of evilness 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.759 and wickedness that do not want to be near you 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.799 That might want to attack you but they don't 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:40.580 want to be around you too long Because when they're 00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:42.659 around you too long and when they're in your 00:15:42.659 --> 00:15:45.419 light for too long their bad deeds start being 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:47.379 exposed Have you ever noticed when you're around? 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:50.080 Someone who is living very on Christ like and 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.179 you're having a lot more conversations and You 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:55.940 know you start giving advice and the advice that 00:15:55.940 --> 00:15:58.940 you start to give the biblical advice Starts 00:15:58.940 --> 00:16:00.960 to reveal some of the ways that they're not living 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.139 a life obedient to the Lord. They start to feel 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:08.240 conviction Or maybe people start comparing your 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.600 two lives when they're around you too long Yeah, 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.620 darkness sometimes will actually flee that light 00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:17.100 out of fear of being recognized and revealed 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:20.840 so they'll attack and they'll dip out and it's 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:24.639 so important that when you are being attacked 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:30.600 you do not dim that light and i'm speaking from 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:32.259 experience there were times where i was already 00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:35.019 going through like a lot of i was already going 00:16:35.019 --> 00:16:38.279 through a lot of uneasiness in my life and it 00:16:38.279 --> 00:16:39.980 was times when god was calling me to step out 00:16:39.980 --> 00:16:43.039 in faith and really let the light of jesus christ 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.840 shine and it wasn't always met with love There 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:50.159 were times when it was met with opposition and 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.759 animosity and that was a testing of my faith 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.899 and that was used to produce steadfastness. We 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.480 know that God will allow us to face opposition. 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:00.779 He will allow us to face trials. He will allow 00:17:00.779 --> 00:17:03.779 us to face testings of our faith because it will 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:07.819 produce steadfastness. It will produce more faith. 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.200 It will produce something in us to be able to 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.359 carry the calling better. to be able to handle 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:18.359 the next assignment we step into better sometimes 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:20.619 when God calls us into a thing and he confirms 00:17:20.619 --> 00:17:23.019 for us to walk into it we usually assume we're 00:17:23.019 --> 00:17:24.759 just walking into a blessing that's going to 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:27.579 feel good sometimes God is actually confirming 00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:30.700 for us to step into a testing he is confirming 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:35.559 for us to step into a trial knowing that it will 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.779 produce something in us that he is later on going 00:17:37.779 --> 00:17:40.680 to be able to bless or that thing being produced 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:43.819 in us is going to be a blessing in itself a blessing 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:50.380 to others but it is so important not to let the 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:53.279 opposition scare you because i i remember when 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:55.640 i was firstly getting back on social media and 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:57.240 starting to share my testimony and starting to 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:59.220 spread the gospel there are so many different 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:03.640 things popping up opposition doubts fear and 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.759 i would go like a week or two where i would like 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:08.480 pipe down and i would stop talking about jesus 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.049 as much Now there were seasons when I would stop 00:18:11.049 --> 00:18:12.890 ministering to people that I know God has really 00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:14.569 called me to minister to because I didn't like 00:18:14.569 --> 00:18:17.569 their reactions. It didn't make me feel, it wasn't 00:18:17.569 --> 00:18:19.549 encouraging. I didn't feel like those people 00:18:19.549 --> 00:18:21.890 wanted to hear what I had to say. I didn't feel 00:18:21.890 --> 00:18:23.529 like those people wanted to hear about Jesus. 00:18:23.569 --> 00:18:25.369 So I didn't want to talk about Jesus to them 00:18:25.369 --> 00:18:28.269 anymore. I was sick of being rejected, but I 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:32.309 needed to face that rejection. So that way when 00:18:32.309 --> 00:18:34.150 I'm rejected, I don't care and I keep going. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:40.400 The way even y 'all I am able to speak now With 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:42.480 the lack of fear is nothing compared to two months 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.660 ago. If y 'all listen to my first episode I I 00:18:45.660 --> 00:18:48.019 honestly feel when I listen to my earlier episodes 00:18:48.019 --> 00:18:52.299 on the podcast y 'all The way I word things and 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:54.259 the authority I speak with is a lot different 00:18:54.259 --> 00:18:58.079 now compared to then Because of things like God 00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.759 has had me face and when I was speaking then 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:01.579 I thought I was speaking with a lot of authority 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:06.869 So it's it's wild how God and it's beautiful 00:19:06.869 --> 00:19:10.089 at the same time how he will use these trials 00:19:10.089 --> 00:19:12.309 and these things we face to produce things in 00:19:12.309 --> 00:19:14.470 us but someone needs to hear that today do not 00:19:14.470 --> 00:19:19.849 let the opposition make you fearful of speaking 00:19:19.849 --> 00:19:24.490 up of letting the light shine through you when 00:19:24.490 --> 00:19:27.529 you choose to let the light shine anyway when 00:19:27.529 --> 00:19:30.809 you refuse to dampen your light that's when the 00:19:30.809 --> 00:19:33.750 light is able to make an impact the enemy is 00:19:33.750 --> 00:19:37.799 attacking Because he knows that what is about 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:41.059 to happen or what is going on is impactful So 00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:45.900 he can't actually stop it. He can't stop God's 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:49.759 plan But he can get you to delay. That's what 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.099 he tries to do, right? That's what that fear 00:19:52.099 --> 00:19:54.079 in the opposition is is trying to get you to 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:56.619 stop before you break through Trying to get you 00:19:56.619 --> 00:19:59.680 to stop before that person sees the light trying 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.359 to get you to stop before God's will is executed 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.960 in the situation And sure you'll go through seasons 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.759 where you don't keep pursuing and you back down 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:13.039 and God already knows that you're gonna do that 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.859 and I'm not saying that that's the good thing 00:20:15.859 --> 00:20:17.880 to do or the right thing to do I'm saying that 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.400 as people who are going through sanctification 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.359 who are growing and are working that is something 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:27.200 that will likely happen on your process is You're 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:30.059 in a time where God wants you to push through 00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:34.799 But you don't have the spiritual maturity yet 00:20:35.349 --> 00:20:37.710 You were not you haven't learned that lesson 00:20:37.710 --> 00:20:41.230 yet, and he allows you to go through this to 00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:44.650 learn the lesson So that way when you reflect 00:20:44.650 --> 00:20:46.250 and you sit down you're like dang. I shouldn't 00:20:46.250 --> 00:20:47.650 have I shouldn't have pipe down I shouldn't have 00:20:47.650 --> 00:20:49.809 quiet down. I should have kept going I should 00:20:49.809 --> 00:20:52.750 have asked God for the strength. I should have 00:20:52.750 --> 00:20:55.130 prayed that the Holy Spirit speaks through me 00:20:55.130 --> 00:21:02.200 and You know to pray for that a lot of us feel 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:05.339 defeated when we go into a trial like that or 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:11.359 a testing and we feel like we failed but God 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:15.140 already allowed us to walk in knowing how we 00:21:15.140 --> 00:21:17.440 were going to respond and react which means that 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.000 he knew that there was something that you could 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:21.059 learn from us that there was something that could 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:24.779 be grown from this there's a reason he's allowed 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:30.400 you to experience that and you have Pray to him 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.839 that you overcome whatever guilt Condemnation 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.000 feeling I'm speaking as someone who I used to 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:38.759 have that perfectionism thing where when I felt 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:42.140 like I didn't ace a test I felt like I didn't 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:44.119 get through that trial or that tribulation. I 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:46.099 felt like I could have done better I was always 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:50.460 just like pounding on myself Instead of praying 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:54.240 to God like what do I need to be seeing in this? 00:21:54.490 --> 00:21:56.690 And I would eventually pray that prayer, but 00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:58.890 my first reaction would usually be kind of like 00:21:58.890 --> 00:22:03.309 a beating myself up. God was showing me much 00:22:03.309 --> 00:22:06.410 more grace than I was showing myself. And I want 00:22:06.410 --> 00:22:08.529 to remind y 'all today that God is a graceful 00:22:08.529 --> 00:22:15.990 God, a merciful God, a loving God. And as people 00:22:15.990 --> 00:22:19.329 who are walking this walk with Christ for the 00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:24.579 first time, God... plans for our mistakes he 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:26.720 plans for our hiccups now that's not saying that 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:29.039 we make peace in that place of mistake and we 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:30.779 just keep that cycle going and going we're meant 00:22:30.779 --> 00:22:33.079 to learn from the mistakes but don't let making 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:41.559 mistake or stumbling end your walk let it be 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:43.940 kind of your your guide right to where you need 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:45.660 to focus and where you need to work on and what 00:22:45.660 --> 00:22:49.849 you need to pray about more But I want to go 00:22:49.849 --> 00:22:51.650 I want to go back to this part of scripture that 00:22:51.650 --> 00:22:55.109 I just read or it says in the same way Let your 00:22:55.109 --> 00:22:57.450 light shine before others so that they may see 00:22:57.450 --> 00:22:59.130 your good works and give glory to your father 00:22:59.130 --> 00:23:01.390 in heaven And that relates to that first scripture 00:23:01.390 --> 00:23:05.569 we read right that when you do good other people 00:23:05.569 --> 00:23:08.690 cannot help but see the good that you're doing 00:23:08.690 --> 00:23:14.450 And they're going to be able to see the source 00:23:14.450 --> 00:23:17.529 difference is Jesus Christ when you are openly 00:23:18.029 --> 00:23:20.109 glorifying Him. That adds on to it, right? You 00:23:20.109 --> 00:23:22.210 don't even have to guess when you're saying, 00:23:22.329 --> 00:23:29.009 hey, I do this because of Jesus. I know that 00:23:29.009 --> 00:23:30.630 there's so many other people out there who are 00:23:30.630 --> 00:23:32.230 dealing with this because this is something that 00:23:32.230 --> 00:23:37.450 I faced as a follower of Christ. That there are 00:23:37.450 --> 00:23:40.410 people in my life that I want to see come to 00:23:40.410 --> 00:23:43.869 Jesus and that I'm praying for their salvation, 00:23:43.869 --> 00:23:46.549 but they do not want to open a Bible. They do 00:23:46.549 --> 00:23:50.809 not. They reject invites to church they don't 00:23:50.809 --> 00:23:55.089 want to hear about Jesus they actively shut him 00:23:55.089 --> 00:23:59.930 down and how many times I prayed like God I just 00:23:59.930 --> 00:24:02.750 want them to know you I want them to know Jesus 00:24:02.750 --> 00:24:09.049 they think they know you but they don't and I 00:24:09.049 --> 00:24:10.730 remember praying God like I've tried sharing 00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:13.309 scripture I've tried inviting them to church 00:24:13.309 --> 00:24:15.990 I tried doing all these things they don't want 00:24:15.990 --> 00:24:19.259 to hear any of it And the Lord illuminated to 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:22.619 me that the way to minister to them is by how 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:24.640 I live my life. I cannot tell you, I have had 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:30.799 so many opportunities to match anger and slander 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.339 and frustration. There are a lot of times when 00:24:33.339 --> 00:24:37.599 I was, you know, they kind of hit me with backhandedness 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.519 and revenge and all of these things. And I had 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:45.000 the opportunity to just like walk and walk away. 00:24:46.170 --> 00:24:50.289 In some cases, God will call you to love them 00:24:50.289 --> 00:24:52.269 from a distance. This was not one of those situations. 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:58.049 I had so many opportunities to tell other people 00:24:58.049 --> 00:25:00.609 what was going on and make them look like the 00:25:00.609 --> 00:25:03.970 bad guy right then and there. I had so many opportunities 00:25:03.970 --> 00:25:07.710 to say something rude back, to spill a truth, 00:25:08.109 --> 00:25:13.480 to do all those things. But instead I met them 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:17.440 with grace and love and mercy and kindness and 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.420 that looked different Sometimes like that was 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:23.940 me just having a short response and saying something 00:25:23.940 --> 00:25:27.480 like hey, I understand You know, I hope you have 00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:31.740 a good day instead of cursing them blessing them 00:25:31.740 --> 00:25:34.640 Sometimes it looked like they needed help and 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:36.500 there is no one else to help them in that situation 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:39.680 And I went and I helped them after God had led 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:43.200 me to help them Okay, I prayed on that one of 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:45.140 hey God am I am I overstepping on the lesson 00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:47.359 or do you want me involved here? And he showed 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:50.059 me to be involved there. I was ministering and 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.839 serving the people who had just finished cursing 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:59.500 me and Actively trying to sabotage my life There 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:01.700 were some people that like actively took steps 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:04.680 to try to make my life harder and more Complicated 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:08.160 and tried to increase my suffering and God still 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:11.880 called me to bless them God still called me to 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:14.420 serve them when they need to help them when they 00:26:14.420 --> 00:26:19.019 needed help to love them and He revealed to me 00:26:19.019 --> 00:26:21.420 that that is ministering to them because that 00:26:21.420 --> 00:26:23.880 to them is showing them the unconditional love 00:26:23.880 --> 00:26:27.940 of Jesus that I experienced Because in their 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:30.140 mind like it's hard to really grasp Why am I 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:32.480 continuing to show love and kindness and all 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:34.799 these things when by now? I should be resentful 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:36.880 and hateful and angry and doing all these things 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:41.190 like everyone else would And they know I've accepted 00:26:41.190 --> 00:26:43.170 Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. They know 00:26:43.170 --> 00:26:45.549 that I center my life around following Christ. 00:26:46.190 --> 00:26:48.289 And they can't help but see that difference in 00:26:48.289 --> 00:26:52.170 me of who I used to be versus who I am now following 00:26:52.170 --> 00:26:56.890 Jesus and my responses. And that is what's going 00:26:56.890 --> 00:26:59.630 to minister to this person. It's not the words. 00:27:02.130 --> 00:27:05.650 It's my choosing to show love when it doesn't 00:27:05.650 --> 00:27:09.430 make sense to show love. It's my choosing to 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:12.190 do good deeds when it doesn't make sense to do 00:27:12.190 --> 00:27:15.950 good deeds And I want to be so clear that there 00:27:15.950 --> 00:27:19.309 are other people in my life Who created suffering 00:27:19.309 --> 00:27:22.069 and all these things that God did not call me 00:27:22.069 --> 00:27:25.670 to minister like this to There are other people 00:27:25.670 --> 00:27:27.829 who God had made it very clear to pray for these 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:31.009 people Consistently, and I still pray for these 00:27:31.009 --> 00:27:34.210 people. I pray for their salvation. I Pray that 00:27:34.210 --> 00:27:37.609 the scabs fall off their eyes. I pray that the 00:27:37.609 --> 00:27:39.789 deceptive voices are removed from their lives. 00:27:40.650 --> 00:27:42.970 I pray that they are surrounded with Christ -like 00:27:42.970 --> 00:27:45.849 community. I pray that they know the love of 00:27:45.849 --> 00:27:50.309 Jesus and healing and forgiveness. Where it has 00:27:50.309 --> 00:27:53.730 been so revealing, I have to pray for those people. 00:27:55.349 --> 00:27:57.650 But the Lord has made it very clear that if you 00:27:57.650 --> 00:28:02.269 allowed them in your life on a daily basis, there 00:28:02.269 --> 00:28:04.490 would be a lot of damage that God doesn't intend 00:28:04.490 --> 00:28:08.289 for me to have to deal with. That I would be 00:28:08.289 --> 00:28:10.910 kind of opening a door for the devil to take 00:28:10.910 --> 00:28:13.049 root in my life. Not calling that person the 00:28:13.049 --> 00:28:15.210 devil, but the devil is operating and moving 00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:18.769 through them. He's influencing their choices. 00:28:19.470 --> 00:28:21.750 And that I would be opening a door that God didn't 00:28:21.750 --> 00:28:24.309 intend to be open. That there would be suffering 00:28:24.309 --> 00:28:26.769 that I would face that he didn't intend for me 00:28:26.769 --> 00:28:30.269 to face and learn from. That I've already learned. 00:28:30.509 --> 00:28:37.470 I don't need to go through that again. Like there 00:28:37.470 --> 00:28:40.430 there are people that God has really showed me 00:28:40.430 --> 00:28:43.609 pray for them When you have the opportunity to 00:28:43.609 --> 00:28:45.609 gossip and speak negative about them, don't do 00:28:45.609 --> 00:28:47.490 it when you hear that they're doing it about 00:28:47.490 --> 00:28:51.589 you bless them But they weren't people that he 00:28:51.589 --> 00:28:54.589 called me to like call up and still check in 00:28:54.589 --> 00:28:57.750 on and do all those things They weren't people 00:28:57.750 --> 00:29:00.269 who were supposed to have a foot in the door 00:29:00.269 --> 00:29:03.390 of my life And what's interesting is the people 00:29:03.390 --> 00:29:05.920 that God has called me to minister There is even 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:07.759 a little bit of a distance there with those people, 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:12.980 right? There's definitely a lot more of an ability 00:29:12.980 --> 00:29:15.980 to communicate and back and forth, but God has 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:19.539 really revealed to me, and really enforced in 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:24.440 my life, bad company corrupts good morals. And 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:27.720 that is, I believe that's 1 Corinthians, bad 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:30.240 company corrupts good morals. And I had seen 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:33.480 those people that I minister to now, They're 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:35.319 at a little bit of a distance mean they're not 00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:37.640 the first they're not the advice I listen to 00:29:37.640 --> 00:29:41.059 they're not the people I've been to They're not 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:43.839 the people that I look for guidance and instruction 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:45.599 on because where they're gonna point me isn't 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.140 closer to Christ It's closer to the worldly things 00:29:48.140 --> 00:29:52.279 and the worldly desires, right? And if I had 00:29:52.279 --> 00:29:55.460 them as my close confidence if I had them as 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:57.500 my people that I listen to their advice I listen 00:29:57.500 --> 00:29:59.259 to their criticism. I listen to their guidance 00:29:59.259 --> 00:30:01.519 or their instruction. They would be criticizing 00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:04.769 me away from They would be guiding me away from 00:30:04.769 --> 00:30:09.150 Christ to things that serve the flesh. The good 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:10.930 morals I have established, and I had actually 00:30:10.930 --> 00:30:12.630 seen it in the past when I developed closeness 00:30:12.630 --> 00:30:14.630 with those people, was starting to be kind of 00:30:14.630 --> 00:30:18.369 tainted. Some of the good rooted things that 00:30:18.369 --> 00:30:20.329 God had established in me were starting to be 00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:23.450 kind of like pulled at and picked at, and things 00:30:23.450 --> 00:30:25.670 that at one time I was really firm in my belief 00:30:25.670 --> 00:30:29.569 in I was starting to be shaky in. And I was starting 00:30:29.569 --> 00:30:36.920 to get lukewarm in areas. It's important that 00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:41.460 we are not unequally yoked with believers and 00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:43.859 that's definitely important in relationships 00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:46.259 romantic relationships, but that goes into business 00:30:46.259 --> 00:30:48.579 relationships and Friendships and things like 00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:51.140 that. We are to minister to people y 'all Jesus 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:56.140 sat with sinners. He said that it's not The healthy 00:30:56.140 --> 00:30:59.980 that need a doctor. It's the sick It is the people 00:30:59.980 --> 00:31:02.579 who are caught up in their sin It is the people 00:31:02.579 --> 00:31:04.599 who are, you know, the unbelief and all these 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:10.420 things that need ministered to. But you need 00:31:10.420 --> 00:31:13.880 to trust God and the boundaries that he is calling 00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:18.180 you to set. And you need to obey them. I've seen 00:31:18.180 --> 00:31:21.500 firsthand what happens when you don't obey those 00:31:21.500 --> 00:31:24.180 boundaries because you want to please, because 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:26.339 you care about how you're being perceived. And 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.700 next thing you know, your boundaries are being 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:32.849 moved. Your morals are being corrupted. How can 00:31:32.849 --> 00:31:36.750 you minister to someone if you are not even like 00:31:36.750 --> 00:31:39.430 kind of a pure space? And I'm not saying perfect. 00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:43.470 I'm saying a pure space to pull from. How can 00:31:43.470 --> 00:31:46.710 you pour into people if your water is tainted? 00:31:49.309 --> 00:31:52.049 And I honestly wasn't able to minister to these 00:31:52.049 --> 00:31:55.690 people well until I was not in their daily life 00:31:55.690 --> 00:31:58.410 under their daily influence. And I was more someone 00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:03.319 that they could call up occasionally. And that 00:32:03.319 --> 00:32:05.539 is where I feel we're kind of shifting into right 00:32:05.539 --> 00:32:11.299 now is trusting the boundaries that God is calling 00:32:11.299 --> 00:32:14.200 you to set and ask him the boundaries that you 00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:16.259 need to be setting and understand that they are 00:32:16.259 --> 00:32:18.279 different for each person. There are going to 00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:19.740 be some people that you're called to minister 00:32:19.740 --> 00:32:21.059 to and there are going to be some people that 00:32:21.059 --> 00:32:24.500 you're called to pray for and they can see the 00:32:24.500 --> 00:32:26.079 way that you respond and all these things but 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:27.859 you're not supposed to be up in their daily life. 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:31.859 And you have to trust God on the reasoning for 00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:33.839 that. I was also one of those people that I didn't 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:35.720 want to just take God to work for. I wanted to 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:40.940 know why. And the knowing why will lead you to 00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:44.140 do things that you don't need to be doing. It'll 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:46.000 lead you down rabbit holes. It'll lead you to 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.519 making assumptions. It'll lead you to false sets 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:51.019 of beliefs. Coming into agreement with things 00:32:51.019 --> 00:32:52.579 that you don't need to be coming into agreement 00:32:52.579 --> 00:32:57.539 with. Trust in what God has said to you. pray 00:32:57.539 --> 00:32:59.980 that he reveals to you why and if he does he 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:01.960 does and if he doesn't accept that he hasn't 00:33:01.960 --> 00:33:05.559 for a reason and understand too that maybe he 00:33:05.559 --> 00:33:08.400 will just not yet there are some things i didn't 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:10.240 understand why god was calling me to that and 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:12.740 it was like six seven eight months later he he 00:33:12.740 --> 00:33:14.779 reveals to me why he called me to walk away from 00:33:14.779 --> 00:33:18.440 that person place or thing and i'm like oh gosh 00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:20.440 that makes so much sense i wouldn't have understood 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:24.480 it then but i understand it now and we know that 00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:30.200 And I believe this is John chapter 16 Is your 00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:34.279 John chapter 16 or John chapter 15? Where not 00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:38.740 everything is revealed to us at once God so lovingly 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:40.859 will withhold revealing certain things just because 00:33:40.859 --> 00:33:44.299 we are not able to like completely handle and 00:33:44.299 --> 00:33:47.740 conceptualize everything If we were told the 00:33:47.740 --> 00:33:50.039 full plot the full plan, we would probably run 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:52.539 away out of fear And I think back to when I gave 00:33:52.539 --> 00:33:56.359 my life to Christ There was a lot like a lot 00:33:56.359 --> 00:33:58.420 and a lot of warfare that came with it after 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:01.839 and I and I will be the first to say this I don't 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:04.900 know Like if I in that moment, I was in such 00:34:04.900 --> 00:34:06.559 a vulnerable space when I gave my life to Christ 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:08.699 and there's a fire for the Lord if he would have 00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:12.059 said You're gonna face this hardship and this 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:14.119 thing and there's gonna be divisions and this 00:34:14.119 --> 00:34:16.059 and all this pain and all these things are gonna 00:34:16.059 --> 00:34:21.440 come From you obeying me There is a good chance 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:25.099 I may have disobeyed Some of the things he was 00:34:25.099 --> 00:34:28.340 calling me to do out of fear My faith wasn't 00:34:28.340 --> 00:34:31.500 built in Jesus at that time. I I hadn't seen 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:33.440 him do all these wonderful things that was like 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:35.559 really I was really new in my relationship with 00:34:35.559 --> 00:34:38.679 Christ and If I knew I was gonna face because 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.619 I had to face some of the things that I dreaded 00:34:40.619 --> 00:34:43.440 and feared the most in life And if I would have 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:45.239 known that my obedience to God was gonna lead 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:46.699 me to face these things There's a good chance. 00:34:46.699 --> 00:34:49.139 I would have ran away There's a good chance. 00:34:49.139 --> 00:34:53.619 I would have tried to Tweet things and do things 00:34:53.619 --> 00:34:56.239 in my own way that wouldn't have been God's way 00:34:56.239 --> 00:34:59.239 And I know even now there are things that he's 00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:00.739 calling me to that I'm not seeing everything 00:35:00.739 --> 00:35:02.300 that comes along with them because there's some 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:04.539 things that out of here I may delay and I may 00:35:04.539 --> 00:35:09.940 avoid And that's not just for new Christians 00:35:09.940 --> 00:35:12.380 as for seasoned Christians as for people who 00:35:12.380 --> 00:35:14.800 are elders people who have been Following Christ 00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:19.000 for 30 40 50 67 years That they still aren't 00:35:19.000 --> 00:35:21.400 getting the full picture Because God knows what 00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:24.239 they can and what they can't handle at that time. 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:26.460 He knows what is beneficial and what would no 00:35:26.460 --> 00:35:32.860 longer be beneficial That is a loving father 00:35:32.860 --> 00:35:35.820 right there to not overwhelm your overload you 00:35:35.820 --> 00:35:43.019 with more information Than needed Glory be to 00:35:43.019 --> 00:35:46.219 God and you have to be careful when it comes 00:35:46.219 --> 00:35:49.139 to that temptation for information I've shared 00:35:49.139 --> 00:35:50.480 this in the past y 'all, that was one of the 00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:53.260 things that, and this was way before I gave my 00:35:53.260 --> 00:35:54.980 life to Christ, I was a tarot card reader and 00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:56.980 I was in New Age spirituality and I fell for 00:35:56.980 --> 00:35:59.559 the same temptation that Eve fell for in the 00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:04.079 garden. You know, she was told, bite into this 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:05.539 fruit and your eyes will be opened, you'll be 00:36:05.539 --> 00:36:08.260 like God, you'll be able to discern between good 00:36:08.260 --> 00:36:11.019 and evil. That's the big thing with God is he's 00:36:11.019 --> 00:36:13.639 able to, he's all -knowing, you'll get knowledge 00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.599 that you don't have. You'll be able to tell the 00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:18.519 difference between things and what really pulled 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:20.599 me into tarot cards when I got into it was I 00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:22.320 hated the lack of knowledge I felt like I had 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.380 I felt like I was always Done unjustly and I 00:36:25.380 --> 00:36:27.440 felt like if I would have been able to just like 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:30.199 ask If this was a good relationship if I would 00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:32.159 have been able to just see this person's intention 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:33.880 ahead of time all these things I could have avoided 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:36.400 the situation entirely I could have avoided this 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:38.539 pain and suffering entirely. I could have done 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:40.280 this and gotten ahead I could have done this 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:42.800 I went to it at the root for a sense of control 00:36:43.050 --> 00:36:45.409 after feeling like I was being dealt unjustly 00:36:45.409 --> 00:36:48.849 for so long and I felt like it was an open door 00:36:48.849 --> 00:36:52.170 for me to like I can I can get one up I can get 00:36:52.170 --> 00:36:54.070 ahead I can do these things I can avoid pain 00:36:54.070 --> 00:36:55.969 and suffering and all these things which isn't 00:36:55.969 --> 00:36:57.570 true I actually opened the door for more pain 00:36:57.570 --> 00:37:01.389 and suffering because what that is divination 00:37:01.389 --> 00:37:04.250 is demonic point blank period it's not of god 00:37:04.250 --> 00:37:06.730 and you're opening doors to the devil whether 00:37:06.730 --> 00:37:11.099 you believe that you are or not you are You're 00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:13.300 coming into agreement with demonic words because 00:37:13.300 --> 00:37:15.119 person you're talking to the spirits you're talking 00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:17.699 to isn't God It's demonic spirits monitoring 00:37:17.699 --> 00:37:19.300 spirits. Of course, they have information. They 00:37:19.300 --> 00:37:21.559 monitor you they watch you They don't actually 00:37:21.559 --> 00:37:23.539 know your future or anything. So when you come 00:37:23.539 --> 00:37:25.480 into agreement with their false prophecies and 00:37:25.480 --> 00:37:28.880 their false words their deception You're giving 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:33.880 them legal access To hurt you to oppress you 00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:36.469 to do these things in your life they don't actually 00:37:36.469 --> 00:37:38.010 know what's going to happen but they want you 00:37:38.010 --> 00:37:39.889 to come into agreement to make it much easier 00:37:39.889 --> 00:37:42.289 for them to do those things in your life to give 00:37:42.289 --> 00:37:45.469 them legal access to you there are multiple different 00:37:45.469 --> 00:37:47.969 stories especially in the old testament where 00:37:47.969 --> 00:37:51.429 when people are living obedient to god it's it's 00:37:51.429 --> 00:37:53.230 hard for the enemy to attack them and get at 00:37:53.230 --> 00:37:57.090 them it's when people are living in disobedience 00:37:57.090 --> 00:37:59.230 it's when they're giving in to sin giving into 00:37:59.230 --> 00:38:02.630 things of flesh like witchcraft like divination 00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:07.440 But there is more access for the enemy to have 00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:11.019 victory over them the enemy can legally get to 00:38:11.019 --> 00:38:14.119 them They don't have that same protection of 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:16.320 God because they have open doors. They have chinks 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:21.820 in their armor And I'm not saying that when you 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:24.679 obey God Like you should just always be protected 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:26.639 there are people who were very very good on their 00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:29.599 works But still face suffering as we said in 00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:31.599 the beginning this episode God uses that suffering 00:38:31.960 --> 00:38:35.119 reduce steadfastness and endurance actually y 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:39.400 'all suffering is a way for us to connect with 00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:43.159 jesus christ more he came here and he went through 00:38:43.159 --> 00:38:46.179 suffering that he didn't deserve mockery slander 00:38:46.179 --> 00:38:49.900 how many times was he was he called a blasphemer 00:38:49.900 --> 00:38:52.300 how many times did people say he was lying and 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:54.219 he said he was the son of god how many times 00:38:54.219 --> 00:38:57.860 were people painting him out to be who he wasn't 00:38:57.860 --> 00:39:04.780 he literally carried on his body the wounds So 00:39:04.780 --> 00:39:07.139 when we experience just an ounce of that here 00:39:07.139 --> 00:39:11.280 on earth of belittling of suffering of pain on 00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:14.980 the behalf of Jesus Christ Meaning when we are 00:39:14.980 --> 00:39:18.940 doing things in Jesus name And we are facing 00:39:18.940 --> 00:39:23.639 unjust suffering We are actually able to partake 00:39:23.639 --> 00:39:26.300 in what Jesus partook in we're actually able 00:39:26.300 --> 00:39:28.619 in that moment to experience a closeness with 00:39:28.619 --> 00:39:34.739 him We are experiencing what he experienced Consider 00:39:34.739 --> 00:39:39.380 it a great joy when you face suffering of all 00:39:39.380 --> 00:39:43.099 kinds So I'm gonna be so clear that like your 00:39:43.099 --> 00:39:44.619 good works doesn't mean you're never gonna suffer 00:39:44.619 --> 00:39:46.679 God will still allow you to face trials and testing 00:39:46.679 --> 00:39:49.159 and things like that But I will say that your 00:39:49.159 --> 00:39:51.920 refusal to open up demonic doors your refusal 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:54.360 to participate in things that you know are sin 00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:57.099 Will give the devil a lot less legal access to 00:39:57.099 --> 00:40:01.449 you Will allow you to see God's promises fully 00:40:01.449 --> 00:40:05.409 When I was a new age I was so confused why weapons 00:40:05.409 --> 00:40:09.610 warming against me appear to be prospering And 00:40:09.610 --> 00:40:11.710 once I gave my life to Christ and I was covered 00:40:11.710 --> 00:40:14.010 in the blood of Jesus And I started obeying him 00:40:14.010 --> 00:40:15.869 and walking in his ways of searching a protection. 00:40:16.010 --> 00:40:17.469 I didn't think was possible I realized I didn't 00:40:17.469 --> 00:40:19.750 need the evil eye bracelets. I didn't need the 00:40:19.750 --> 00:40:22.130 sage. I didn't need the crystals I didn't need 00:40:22.130 --> 00:40:25.900 any of that And I was like wow the weapons that 00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:27.780 formed against me I'm actively seeing them not 00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:30.000 prosper like it's pretty quick I see God actually 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:32.679 flipped the situation around and all these different 00:40:32.679 --> 00:40:37.360 things and I really understood it was like I 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:38.920 Looked at well, what's different in my life? 00:40:38.920 --> 00:40:41.699 I was like, well I was trusting in Jesus to protect 00:40:41.699 --> 00:40:44.039 me instead of these other things The big thing 00:40:44.039 --> 00:40:47.059 is is I was surrendering control and I was obeying 00:40:47.059 --> 00:40:51.980 God's word. He told me no divination no divination 00:40:52.219 --> 00:40:56.179 No witchcraft, no witchcraft. Forgive, I forgave. 00:40:56.539 --> 00:40:58.300 Pray for these people, I'm praying for them. 00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:01.639 Not to sew magic. It says in Ezekiel, woe to 00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:03.420 you who sew those magic bands on your wrists. 00:41:03.539 --> 00:41:05.539 Woe to y 'all who are wearing those evil eye 00:41:05.539 --> 00:41:07.860 bracelets. Who are wearing those crystal bracelets. 00:41:08.519 --> 00:41:10.760 Those enchanted jewelry that you think is for 00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:12.920 protection. And you're saying, how could this 00:41:12.920 --> 00:41:15.039 be hurtful? It's just protection. You're relying 00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:18.679 on something outside of Christ. All you need 00:41:18.679 --> 00:41:21.110 is the blood of Jesus. And the fact that you're 00:41:21.110 --> 00:41:22.849 unwilling to walk in that means you don't believe 00:41:22.849 --> 00:41:25.809 that. It was a big leap of faith for me when 00:41:25.809 --> 00:41:27.289 I threw out all my crystals and threw out all 00:41:27.289 --> 00:41:29.630 the bracelets and everything like that. But when 00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:32.250 I started closing the open doors I had to the 00:41:32.250 --> 00:41:35.989 enemy, the protection I saw was unmatched. God 00:41:35.989 --> 00:41:38.050 flipping things and using them for my good, it 00:41:38.050 --> 00:41:41.130 was unmatched. It was nothing I'd ever seen when 00:41:41.130 --> 00:41:42.989 I was in New Age. And I thought I saw some real 00:41:42.989 --> 00:41:48.369 things. I realized everything I was seeing in 00:41:48.369 --> 00:41:51.869 New Age. and all that was counterfeit. It wasn't 00:41:51.869 --> 00:41:53.869 actually from God. The devil can appear to bless 00:41:53.869 --> 00:41:56.329 you too. The devil will give you things too. 00:41:56.530 --> 00:41:58.610 Remember, he offered to give Jesus everything. 00:41:58.849 --> 00:42:02.050 If Jesus would just bow down and submit to him, 00:42:02.289 --> 00:42:04.369 Jesus said no. Jesus called scripture back at 00:42:04.369 --> 00:42:07.750 him. A lot of the people that we see having, 00:42:07.829 --> 00:42:10.250 how many times is it referred to, especially 00:42:10.250 --> 00:42:12.940 like in Psalms and Proverbs? where the wicked 00:42:12.940 --> 00:42:15.639 appear to be winning like the wicked appear to 00:42:15.639 --> 00:42:18.840 be living good lives they appear to be blessed 00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:21.699 but the end result that they're going to face 00:42:21.699 --> 00:42:24.539 is death it's it's not these things that they're 00:42:24.539 --> 00:42:26.260 receiving for doing wicked deeds aren't from 00:42:26.260 --> 00:42:31.320 god i want to be so clear the devil only borrows 00:42:31.320 --> 00:42:36.320 to give he can't create things but a lot of the 00:42:36.320 --> 00:42:38.969 people that you see Who appear to have success 00:42:38.969 --> 00:42:40.590 and all these things were doing wicked things 00:42:40.590 --> 00:42:44.469 that blessing is it from god? That's encouragement 00:42:44.469 --> 00:42:47.050 from the enemy and if you have to send to get 00:42:47.050 --> 00:42:49.110 it you're gonna have to send to keep it So before 00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:52.110 you're jealous or envious or thinking well, maybe 00:42:52.110 --> 00:42:54.190 it would just be easier to do that You recognize 00:42:54.190 --> 00:42:57.289 that now they have to continue to live in sin 00:42:57.289 --> 00:42:59.909 to keep that they have to continue to live apart 00:42:59.909 --> 00:43:02.369 from god to keep that And the devil doesn't just 00:43:02.369 --> 00:43:04.489 stop once he has you there. He's gonna push the 00:43:04.489 --> 00:43:07.769 boundary further. He's gonna up the ante That's 00:43:07.769 --> 00:43:10.389 why you see a lot of people increasing in the 00:43:10.389 --> 00:43:14.110 sin lifestyle they live In order to get more 00:43:14.110 --> 00:43:16.050 and more and more they go further and further 00:43:16.050 --> 00:43:19.469 and further away And all of those people it's 00:43:19.469 --> 00:43:21.469 possible most definitely for them to give their 00:43:21.469 --> 00:43:26.070 life to christ and come back, but it's hard It's 00:43:26.070 --> 00:43:27.769 like you're getting on a train and you're going 00:43:27.769 --> 00:43:30.650 for the further away you get it's it is hard 00:43:30.650 --> 00:43:34.480 to work your way back It's possible. Jesus will 00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:36.219 do it with anybody. I was in New Age for years. 00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:38.139 I had left the church for years I was so far 00:43:38.139 --> 00:43:40.340 away. I committed so many sins I didn't ever 00:43:40.340 --> 00:43:42.320 think I was gonna commit and Jesus brought me 00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:46.139 back and is using me here today But I am telling 00:43:46.139 --> 00:43:50.420 y 'all That the further away you get it is hard 00:43:50.420 --> 00:43:54.980 to get back to work back Because all those things 00:43:54.980 --> 00:43:56.980 that now those people have they have to be willing 00:43:56.980 --> 00:44:01.739 to let go of Because when you switch sides when 00:44:01.739 --> 00:44:03.860 you say I am done serving the kingdom of darkness, 00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:06.219 I'm gonna serve the kingdom of heaven You're 00:44:06.219 --> 00:44:08.300 gonna have to let go of like everything that 00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:13.159 the kingdom of darkness has given me Because 00:44:13.159 --> 00:44:15.539 see here's the thing is the devil he doesn't 00:44:15.539 --> 00:44:17.539 love you He's not an all -loving father. And 00:44:17.539 --> 00:44:19.199 when you try to walk away and give your life 00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:22.219 to Christ, he'll start hurting you He'll start 00:44:22.219 --> 00:44:24.579 pulling these things away from you to get you 00:44:24.579 --> 00:44:29.750 to stay with him Remember when I was trying to 00:44:29.750 --> 00:44:32.230 give up tarot card reading and trusting in God 00:44:32.230 --> 00:44:37.250 to provide for me Like there was a lot of I'll 00:44:37.250 --> 00:44:39.909 just say this there was a lot of meanness I was 00:44:39.909 --> 00:44:41.949 getting when I started because I was so used 00:44:41.949 --> 00:44:45.610 to handling people like petty When I started 00:44:45.610 --> 00:44:48.230 handling people the Jesus way and when I stopped 00:44:48.230 --> 00:44:49.989 reading tarot cards and when I stopped doing 00:44:49.989 --> 00:44:53.969 those things there were people That the devil 00:44:53.969 --> 00:44:55.989 used to use to bless me that would buy readings 00:44:55.989 --> 00:44:58.030 from me and all these things and I thought were 00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:01.159 cool but all of a sudden like flipped and it 00:45:01.159 --> 00:45:05.840 was like a meanness it was like a you owe us 00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:09.000 there was guilt there was like all of these things 00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:13.860 to try to pull me back when you try to walk away 00:45:13.860 --> 00:45:16.039 from the kingdom of darkness he is going to start 00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:18.400 trying to pull things to make it uncomfortable 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:20.500 for you to leave to make it scary for you to 00:45:20.500 --> 00:45:25.179 leave to say you can't leave your mind But if 00:45:25.179 --> 00:45:26.800 you put your faith in Jesus Christ his blood 00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:30.260 breaks any and all of that Those demonic agreements 00:45:30.260 --> 00:45:34.460 broken. I have seen it happen. I have experienced 00:45:34.460 --> 00:45:38.260 it But you also have to think that people grow 00:45:38.260 --> 00:45:41.400 accustomed to that they grow accustomed to whatever 00:45:41.400 --> 00:45:43.780 fame money wealth that they've gotten from it 00:45:43.780 --> 00:45:50.960 whatever things that they desire Being a Christian 00:45:50.960 --> 00:45:54.159 is literally like a big thing of following Christ 00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:56.539 is denying yourself It's taking up your cross 00:45:56.539 --> 00:45:59.380 and following Jesus and that's the opposite of 00:45:59.380 --> 00:46:01.500 what the devil the devil gives you whatever your 00:46:01.500 --> 00:46:04.719 heart desires He wants to give you over to your 00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:08.239 fleshly desires and keep you controlled by that 00:46:08.239 --> 00:46:12.739 So when you're used to living that lifestyle 00:46:12.739 --> 00:46:15.239 and you turn to Christ like I will be so for 00:46:15.239 --> 00:46:21.880 real with y 'all. It's not easy But that is also 00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.440 an opportunity for your faith in Jesus to grow. 00:46:26.659 --> 00:46:28.500 When you choose to despite what the devil's doing, 00:46:28.699 --> 00:46:30.920 despite his tactics, despite all of that, continue 00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:33.900 to put your faith in Jesus and you see how he 00:46:33.900 --> 00:46:37.679 shows up, you see what he does, faith unmatched. 00:46:38.409 --> 00:46:40.969 y 'all when I was when I walked away from tarot 00:46:40.969 --> 00:46:42.690 card reading when I walked away from all that 00:46:42.690 --> 00:46:44.469 when I walked away from smoking and drinking 00:46:44.469 --> 00:46:46.110 and I was putting my faith in Christ and I was 00:46:46.110 --> 00:46:47.989 waiting on him to move mountains and to move 00:46:47.989 --> 00:46:49.730 me back to Indiana and to bring me provision 00:46:49.730 --> 00:46:52.130 and to provide food at the time I didn't even 00:46:52.130 --> 00:46:54.849 know where I was gonna eat you all understand 00:46:54.849 --> 00:46:57.190 that like I was waiting on God to provide me 00:46:57.190 --> 00:46:59.909 with food I was waiting on God to provide me 00:46:59.909 --> 00:47:01.710 with a phone my phone bill was about to run up 00:47:01.710 --> 00:47:03.750 I was willing on God to provide me with like 00:47:03.750 --> 00:47:06.329 cat food to feed my cat and if God didn't come 00:47:06.329 --> 00:47:09.219 through I wasn't going to be able to take care 00:47:09.219 --> 00:47:11.900 of myself. It was while I was waiting on God 00:47:11.900 --> 00:47:14.500 to come through. I had so many temptations from 00:47:14.500 --> 00:47:16.760 the enemy. Like, there were literally people 00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:18.579 coming in that were saying, I'll give you money 00:47:18.579 --> 00:47:22.780 right now if you sin. I was offered provision 00:47:22.780 --> 00:47:25.699 to sin. I was offered what I thought I was waiting 00:47:25.699 --> 00:47:27.860 on God from. I was offered the shortcut. I was 00:47:27.860 --> 00:47:30.980 offered the immediate satisfaction. But it required 00:47:30.980 --> 00:47:33.840 me to go against God's Word. It required me to 00:47:33.840 --> 00:47:35.619 sin it required me to go back to my old ways 00:47:35.619 --> 00:47:37.519 There was one person who said you can just do 00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:39.679 it right now and you can get right tomorrow You 00:47:39.679 --> 00:47:41.920 can do the bad thing one time and then get right 00:47:41.920 --> 00:47:44.920 tomorrow You don't have to start today. You can 00:47:44.920 --> 00:47:48.119 start tomorrow And then hearing all that I knew 00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:50.860 all that went against god's word and that actually 00:47:50.860 --> 00:47:53.179 encouraged me to put my faith in god more I remember 00:47:53.179 --> 00:47:55.179 thinking to myself if the devil is trying this 00:47:55.179 --> 00:47:58.199 hard to get me to go back to my old ways God 00:47:58.199 --> 00:48:00.119 is about to come through and he's about to come 00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.269 through exceedingly and abundantly and guess 00:48:02.269 --> 00:48:05.150 what he did and now those experiences although 00:48:05.150 --> 00:48:06.989 those were really painful to go through at the 00:48:06.989 --> 00:48:11.869 time testimony and i was able to see how god 00:48:11.869 --> 00:48:16.269 showed up god showed up i continued to stay rooted 00:48:16.269 --> 00:48:18.849 in him and put my faith in him and god showed 00:48:18.849 --> 00:48:27.780 up and i remember Someone asked me it was it 00:48:27.780 --> 00:48:30.639 was later on and I was definitely a lot more 00:48:30.639 --> 00:48:32.679 in on my walk with Christ and they could not 00:48:32.679 --> 00:48:35.460 understand Fasting and self -denial and they 00:48:35.460 --> 00:48:36.840 looked at me and they said I can't understand 00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:38.880 how you can worship God that would deprive yourself 00:48:38.880 --> 00:48:41.320 What God would call you to do that and I remember 00:48:41.320 --> 00:48:43.860 my response to them just being he showed up every 00:48:43.860 --> 00:48:47.900 single other time I Do it because he has shown 00:48:47.900 --> 00:48:51.340 me Like it says in hit I remember saying it says 00:48:51.340 --> 00:48:54.059 in his word that we are called to deny ourselves 00:48:55.950 --> 00:48:59.849 Prayer fasting we are meant to do this we are 00:48:59.849 --> 00:49:03.130 called to but I have also seen him move mountains 00:49:03.130 --> 00:49:06.710 I have seen him do amazing things in that act 00:49:06.710 --> 00:49:13.250 of obedience I Wasn't shaken because I had seen 00:49:13.250 --> 00:49:16.769 God move in my times of lack enough and in my 00:49:16.769 --> 00:49:19.489 times of denying self enough That doesn't matter 00:49:19.489 --> 00:49:21.489 what doubt someone was about to speak at me. 00:49:21.489 --> 00:49:25.659 I knew that God can and will use it And they'll 00:49:25.659 --> 00:49:28.739 look different every time Y 'all that is what 00:49:28.739 --> 00:49:31.980 the seasons of testing will do for you is they 00:49:31.980 --> 00:49:34.239 will literally give you a rapport So that way 00:49:34.239 --> 00:49:36.159 later on when you're facing a situation able 00:49:36.159 --> 00:49:37.639 to look back and be like well God showed up in 00:49:37.639 --> 00:49:41.039 all these other times So I know he will It's 00:49:41.039 --> 00:49:49.280 a testimony to share with unbelievers Do not 00:49:50.799 --> 00:49:54.900 I know the testing and all the trials, the tribulations, 00:49:55.260 --> 00:49:57.159 they produce a weariness. But I'm telling you 00:49:57.159 --> 00:49:59.800 today to get poured into from God. Get your strength 00:49:59.800 --> 00:50:01.719 from God and understand that he will use these 00:50:01.719 --> 00:50:03.139 things for your good. Don't get angry at God. 00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:05.239 Don't curse God. Don't turn back to the world. 00:50:05.280 --> 00:50:07.480 Don't be conformed to the world around you. Lean 00:50:07.480 --> 00:50:12.500 into God. If you're in the process, I know people 00:50:12.500 --> 00:50:13.960 who are listening to this, there are people who 00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:16.320 listen to this podcast are in all different steps 00:50:16.320 --> 00:50:17.780 in their walk. There are some people who have 00:50:17.780 --> 00:50:19.639 been walking with the Lord for like 20 years 00:50:19.639 --> 00:50:22.579 that listen to this podcast where it's like, 00:50:22.980 --> 00:50:25.480 they have been through a lot of this. There are 00:50:25.480 --> 00:50:27.119 people who are unbelievers who are listening 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:29.480 to this podcast. There are people who are lukewarm 00:50:29.480 --> 00:50:31.320 in their faith and feel convicted at some of 00:50:31.320 --> 00:50:32.960 the things they say. There are people who are 00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:37.269 right now on fire for God and are just, Going 00:50:37.269 --> 00:50:38.809 through these steps. There are people right now 00:50:38.809 --> 00:50:40.610 who are listening to this podcast are actively 00:50:40.610 --> 00:50:43.110 trying to leave the kingdom of darkness and are 00:50:43.110 --> 00:50:45.489 being attacked I know that this episode is gonna 00:50:45.489 --> 00:50:48.329 minister to people on so many different like 00:50:48.329 --> 00:50:51.289 areas in their walk of Christ and I know that 00:50:51.289 --> 00:50:54.929 we have like such a great mishmash of People 00:50:54.929 --> 00:50:56.969 that listen to this podcast are in all different 00:50:56.969 --> 00:51:03.929 spaces in all different steps And if you're that 00:51:03.929 --> 00:51:06.730 person that right now is trying to walk away, 00:51:06.809 --> 00:51:08.949 you are new in your walk with Christ and the 00:51:08.949 --> 00:51:12.329 devil is trying to grab you by the ankle. Stay 00:51:12.329 --> 00:51:16.289 rooted in the word. Stay rooted in your faith. 00:51:16.889 --> 00:51:20.710 Pray that God gives you a clear mind. Pray that 00:51:20.710 --> 00:51:23.050 he gives you an understanding. Use prayer as 00:51:23.050 --> 00:51:24.949 your steering wheel and not your spare tire, 00:51:25.309 --> 00:51:27.389 meaning the decisions that you're making now. 00:51:28.289 --> 00:51:31.900 Use prayer to guide even the small things. The 00:51:31.900 --> 00:51:34.960 jobs you're sending an application in for, pray 00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:40.780 about it. The scripture you decide to read today, 00:51:40.780 --> 00:51:45.940 pray about it. Use prayer to guide you. Before 00:51:45.940 --> 00:51:48.320 you make a judgment call on somebody, before 00:51:48.320 --> 00:51:50.659 you react in that way, pray on what you're supposed 00:51:50.659 --> 00:51:53.639 to be saying. Pray that God reveals the truth 00:51:53.639 --> 00:51:56.840 to you. Pray that you respond in a Christ -like 00:51:56.840 --> 00:52:00.219 way. And what I mean by spare tires, there's 00:52:00.219 --> 00:52:02.019 lots of times where people just do whatever they 00:52:02.019 --> 00:52:05.000 want and then they pray, hey, God bless this 00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.039 decision, bless the situation. Or when things 00:52:08.039 --> 00:52:09.780 go wrong is when they turn to God and say, God, 00:52:09.860 --> 00:52:12.420 please fix this. God, please help me. God, please 00:52:12.420 --> 00:52:16.139 get me out. Prayer cannot be your spare tire. 00:52:16.659 --> 00:52:20.199 Prayer needs to be your guidance. God says literally 00:52:20.199 --> 00:52:23.179 in the Our Father prayer. Give us this day our 00:52:23.179 --> 00:52:25.760 daily bread. We were supposed to go to him daily 00:52:25.760 --> 00:52:28.900 for guidance It's not daily for like hey God 00:52:28.900 --> 00:52:31.539 fix all this. I messed up doing on my own Yes, 00:52:31.539 --> 00:52:33.380 we are to repent but you should be going through 00:52:33.380 --> 00:52:35.179 your guidance and instruction That is how I got 00:52:35.179 --> 00:52:37.519 to this point y 'all is by praying every day 00:52:37.519 --> 00:52:39.360 that God guides my steps and softens my heart 00:52:39.360 --> 00:52:43.099 and changes my heart There is a humbling that 00:52:43.099 --> 00:52:46.219 needs to happen of recognizing that what you 00:52:46.219 --> 00:52:49.289 think is right Isn't what God calls right? What 00:52:49.289 --> 00:52:52.210 you think is good isn't what God says is good 00:52:52.210 --> 00:52:57.030 And when you are able to shut down Okay, even 00:52:57.030 --> 00:52:59.590 though I feel this way God I want you to change 00:52:59.590 --> 00:53:02.489 my heart I've always said that one of the best 00:53:02.489 --> 00:53:04.969 prayers I've ever prayed and I prayed it every 00:53:04.969 --> 00:53:08.230 day to God is God take desires out of my heart 00:53:08.230 --> 00:53:11.289 take beliefs take things that are in my heart 00:53:11.289 --> 00:53:13.769 right now that are wicked and not from you remove 00:53:13.769 --> 00:53:16.369 them and Replace them with desires that align 00:53:16.369 --> 00:53:19.650 with your will Replace them with beliefs that 00:53:19.650 --> 00:53:23.469 align with What you say is good. I prayed that 00:53:23.469 --> 00:53:26.110 God changed my heart and some things it was like 00:53:26.110 --> 00:53:28.230 I just kind of all of a sudden like had different 00:53:28.230 --> 00:53:30.250 perspectives then there are other things where 00:53:30.250 --> 00:53:32.070 it was through reading the word my perspective 00:53:32.070 --> 00:53:33.829 was changed and there are other things through 00:53:33.829 --> 00:53:37.389 I had to face trials and Situations that changed 00:53:37.389 --> 00:53:39.349 my view and change my outlook. I had to be open 00:53:39.349 --> 00:53:41.809 to listening to other people. I had to be open 00:53:41.809 --> 00:53:45.280 to being wrong We live in a society we live in 00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:46.980 a world that doesn't want to hear that they're 00:53:46.980 --> 00:53:49.400 wrong That wants to explain away and defend away 00:53:49.400 --> 00:53:51.500 every choice and action. They're making that 00:53:51.500 --> 00:53:54.679 is told that your truth is your truth They're 00:53:54.679 --> 00:53:56.780 people who claim I hold myself accountable and 00:53:56.780 --> 00:53:59.980 I'll admit when I'm wrong But then you hold up 00:53:59.980 --> 00:54:01.460 the Word of God and they say well, what about 00:54:01.460 --> 00:54:05.059 this or what about this God's Word is truth Jesus 00:54:05.059 --> 00:54:07.019 is the way the truth of life and Jesus is the 00:54:07.019 --> 00:54:11.500 word made flesh So if what you're saying is right 00:54:11.500 --> 00:54:14.780 and good goes against What God says is right 00:54:14.780 --> 00:54:20.619 and good in scripture. There's a humbling that 00:54:20.619 --> 00:54:22.719 needs to happen there, speaking from experience. 00:54:25.320 --> 00:54:30.699 My beliefs and how I live my life is based off 00:54:30.699 --> 00:54:32.800 of God's word, not off of my desires and what 00:54:32.800 --> 00:54:34.800 I want and what I feel because the heart is deceptive 00:54:34.800 --> 00:54:36.699 and feelings are fleeting. And a couple years 00:54:36.699 --> 00:54:38.139 ago, I would have said that was really ignorant 00:54:38.139 --> 00:54:39.639 and I would have laughed at someone saying that. 00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:41.239 I would have said like, oh, Christian nationalism 00:54:41.239 --> 00:54:46.440 or whatever. But I have seen the difference in 00:54:46.440 --> 00:54:50.659 my life. I have seen The love of Jesus I have 00:54:50.659 --> 00:54:53.780 seen how Jesus can move when I am living obedient 00:54:53.780 --> 00:54:58.039 to God's Word God didn't just give us the Bible 00:54:58.039 --> 00:55:00.940 for funsies He gave us the living breathing Word 00:55:00.940 --> 00:55:04.219 of God to live by so that way we may be able 00:55:04.219 --> 00:55:06.340 to live more Christlike so that way we may know 00:55:06.340 --> 00:55:08.800 how to close doors to the devil so that way when 00:55:08.800 --> 00:55:13.599 we are confronted In this world with the works 00:55:13.599 --> 00:55:16.340 of wickedness and the kingdom of darkness we're 00:55:16.340 --> 00:55:19.239 able to discern it and we know how to move accordingly 00:55:19.239 --> 00:55:26.239 To ignore it is folly and ignorance And you'll 00:55:26.239 --> 00:55:30.920 experience it I've shared with y 'all I experienced 00:55:30.920 --> 00:55:32.599 what it was like to deal with warfare and pain 00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:35.139 and suffering and all that when I had blatant 00:55:35.139 --> 00:55:38.360 open doors to the devil And then when I listened 00:55:38.360 --> 00:55:40.300 to God's Word, I was closing those doors and 00:55:40.300 --> 00:55:43.099 wow The difference I saw in my life. I'm not 00:55:43.099 --> 00:55:44.420 saying it was perfect. I'm not saying it was 00:55:44.420 --> 00:55:47.960 a cakewalk. But there was a justice I hadn't 00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:50.219 seen before. There was a protection I hadn't 00:55:50.219 --> 00:55:53.159 seen before. There was a peace that surpassed 00:55:53.159 --> 00:55:55.019 all understanding I hadn't experienced before. 00:55:55.679 --> 00:55:57.800 There was an ability to trust in God and keep 00:55:57.800 --> 00:55:59.780 it pushing and keep it moving. I hadn't experienced 00:55:59.780 --> 00:56:07.280 before. And to the person who's listening to 00:56:07.280 --> 00:56:09.179 this today saying, yeah, yeah, I tried the Jesus 00:56:09.179 --> 00:56:12.500 way, did you? Did you really? The person saying, 00:56:12.519 --> 00:56:14.340 yeah, yeah, I tried surrendering to Christ. I've 00:56:14.340 --> 00:56:16.139 tried living a life to surrender to Christ. I 00:56:16.139 --> 00:56:17.860 grew up in church, I did this, I did that. Did 00:56:17.860 --> 00:56:20.960 you really though? I'm speaking from experience 00:56:20.960 --> 00:56:24.820 and I'm saying this from a place of love. If 00:56:24.820 --> 00:56:29.139 you are actively denying the flesh, seeking first 00:56:29.139 --> 00:56:32.960 Christ, seeking first the kingdom, if you are 00:56:32.960 --> 00:56:39.260 actively praying, Humbling your heart like softening 00:56:39.260 --> 00:56:42.280 your heart. You can you are truly encountering 00:56:42.280 --> 00:56:44.199 Jesus You can know a lot about Jesus. You can 00:56:44.199 --> 00:56:45.860 memorize scripture You can go to church all the 00:56:45.860 --> 00:56:50.500 time and not know Jesus. You cannot know Jesus 00:56:50.500 --> 00:56:53.960 and not be changed. I Was one of those people 00:56:53.960 --> 00:56:56.079 that said I tried church. I tried the Jesus way. 00:56:56.079 --> 00:56:59.480 I was confirmed I did baptism. I did all these 00:56:59.480 --> 00:57:01.360 things. I went to church every Sunday. I did 00:57:01.360 --> 00:57:04.980 all that You know, I I prayed sometimes I did 00:57:04.980 --> 00:57:08.179 these things But when I look back at how I lived 00:57:08.179 --> 00:57:10.199 my life, I wasn't denying the flesh. I was partying 00:57:10.199 --> 00:57:13.239 every weekend. I was fornicating. I was gossiping. 00:57:13.300 --> 00:57:16.699 I was slandering. I was giving into fear and 00:57:16.699 --> 00:57:18.659 opportunities when I should deny myself as denying 00:57:18.659 --> 00:57:23.519 myself. I wasn't looking. I wasn't trying to 00:57:23.519 --> 00:57:27.260 live according to God's Word. I was trying to 00:57:27.260 --> 00:57:29.719 mold my I was trying to mold God's Word to my 00:57:29.719 --> 00:57:32.000 lifestyle. I was looking at what scriptures fit 00:57:32.000 --> 00:57:35.030 what I already believe. How can I twist the scripture 00:57:35.030 --> 00:57:38.289 to mold into this? I wasn't forming, I wasn't 00:57:38.289 --> 00:57:40.090 molding myself to God's Word, I wasn't submitting 00:57:40.090 --> 00:57:41.989 myself to God, I was expecting God's Word to 00:57:41.989 --> 00:57:46.070 submit to me. And you could see it through my 00:57:46.070 --> 00:57:51.030 works. Going into witchcraft, going into divination, 00:57:51.650 --> 00:57:56.750 ornicating, immodesty. Someone needs to hear 00:57:56.750 --> 00:58:00.510 that today, immodesty. Showing off your goodies. 00:58:01.910 --> 00:58:06.369 the physical but there is also there it's more 00:58:06.369 --> 00:58:08.429 than just showing off all those parts of your 00:58:08.429 --> 00:58:17.949 body that is a modesty the lustful speaking the 00:58:17.949 --> 00:58:20.590 leaning into the sexuality and the sensuality 00:58:20.590 --> 00:58:28.449 and all that The making a spectacle of yourself 00:58:28.449 --> 00:58:32.090 in that way a modesty isn't just like showing 00:58:32.090 --> 00:58:37.090 off all your body Because modesty first starts 00:58:37.090 --> 00:58:39.869 internally modesty first starts in your spirit 00:58:39.869 --> 00:58:43.510 and then it's like an outward I remember my modesty 00:58:43.510 --> 00:58:47.630 journey started with me feeling conviction and 00:58:47.630 --> 00:58:50.329 Started with me seeing how my a modesty was actually 00:58:50.329 --> 00:58:55.420 negatively impacting me How my immodesty was 00:58:55.420 --> 00:58:57.760 actually negatively impacting people's ability 00:58:57.760 --> 00:59:00.579 to hear God's word and see God through me They 00:59:00.579 --> 00:59:02.800 were so busy looking at my body and looking at 00:59:02.800 --> 00:59:04.760 what I was showing off and looking at all that 00:59:04.760 --> 00:59:07.340 It kind of negated what I was saying with God's 00:59:07.340 --> 00:59:10.780 word And there are a lot of people who will get 00:59:10.780 --> 00:59:12.159 offended at me saying this because there are 00:59:12.159 --> 00:59:13.659 a lot of people are like it's personal conviction 00:59:13.659 --> 00:59:16.679 and it's personal conviction and sure like the 00:59:16.679 --> 00:59:19.920 way that you threat is personal some people consider 00:59:20.500 --> 00:59:23.880 With their modesty convictions as it's no for 00:59:23.880 --> 00:59:28.099 me. I'm no crop tops. I'm a no crop tops I'm 00:59:28.099 --> 00:59:31.519 I don't do like the top. I don't do like the 00:59:31.519 --> 00:59:34.079 Sleeveless shirts anymore coming from someone 00:59:34.079 --> 00:59:35.840 who used to wear the booty shorts the sleeveless 00:59:35.840 --> 00:59:37.500 shirts the crop top showing off everything I 00:59:37.500 --> 00:59:41.219 didn't care. I don't do leggings that show off 00:59:41.219 --> 00:59:44.739 like my butt The bathing suits I'm a one -piece 00:59:44.739 --> 00:59:48.599 girly now. I was like the skirts for me. It's 00:59:48.599 --> 00:59:51.659 showing the skin and then also like the really 00:59:51.659 --> 00:59:53.500 tight fitting where you can trace all the curves 00:59:53.500 --> 00:59:56.000 that's where my modesty goes for some people 00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:59.159 it's wearing only dresses and only skirts and 00:59:59.159 --> 01:00:03.159 like very loose flowing clothing for some people 01:00:03.159 --> 01:00:05.500 they'll wear the really tight fitting stuff that's 01:00:05.500 --> 01:00:08.980 just not stuff that shows their skin the modesty 01:00:08.980 --> 01:00:13.340 the way that you live out modesty looks different 01:00:13.340 --> 01:00:18.880 it looks different But modesty in itself is a 01:00:18.880 --> 01:00:20.659 conviction that should come in your walk with 01:00:20.659 --> 01:00:25.679 grace It should it should if you are walking 01:00:25.679 --> 01:00:29.059 with Christ and you feel no type of way about 01:00:29.059 --> 01:00:34.159 being lustful being sensual being sexual Throwing 01:00:34.159 --> 01:00:36.800 it all out there and this isn't from a judgmental 01:00:36.800 --> 01:00:39.019 space. Is Christ really working in your heart? 01:00:39.219 --> 01:00:43.300 Are you softening your heart to his word? And 01:00:43.300 --> 01:00:46.610 I'll take this a step further Where are you seeking 01:00:46.610 --> 01:00:49.409 validation from and what is your identity is 01:00:49.409 --> 01:00:53.809 your identity rooted in Christ Jesus? Do you 01:00:53.809 --> 01:00:55.630 truly believe that like you were fearfully and 01:00:55.630 --> 01:00:59.110 wonderfully made in God's image? Do you believe 01:00:59.110 --> 01:01:02.010 that you're like as a valuable and as precious 01:01:02.010 --> 01:01:10.090 as Ruby's do you? Does your view of like your 01:01:10.090 --> 01:01:13.409 worth and what you bring to the table and everything 01:01:14.909 --> 01:01:17.869 Is part of it rooted in the response and the 01:01:17.869 --> 01:01:20.449 reaction the looks that you get from other people? 01:01:22.030 --> 01:01:26.289 Do you feel like what you have to say about Jesus? 01:01:26.489 --> 01:01:28.489 Do you feel like the light of Jesus Christ coming 01:01:28.489 --> 01:01:31.409 out of you is enough to catch a man or a woman's 01:01:31.409 --> 01:01:33.469 attention? Or do you feel like you also have 01:01:33.469 --> 01:01:37.030 to have the goodies out and you have to be appearing 01:01:37.030 --> 01:01:40.829 some type of way? Now it is important that we 01:01:40.829 --> 01:01:43.860 are well -kept and we're taking care of Keep 01:01:43.860 --> 01:01:51.739 up on your hygiene But are you allowing all of 01:01:51.739 --> 01:01:58.940 these physical things To play into part of your 01:01:58.940 --> 01:02:02.139 worth and what you feel you bring to the table 01:02:02.139 --> 01:02:06.300 We know that beauty and charm is fleeting By 01:02:06.300 --> 01:02:08.780 reading scripture. It's what you have internally 01:02:08.780 --> 01:02:13.579 that matters And I know that there's someone 01:02:13.579 --> 01:02:16.360 that's gonna feel convicted hearing this today 01:02:16.360 --> 01:02:20.159 And maybe you need to and there's not there's 01:02:20.159 --> 01:02:24.019 so many people that And I'm one of those people 01:02:24.019 --> 01:02:26.980 that for a long time out of not wanting to offend 01:02:26.980 --> 01:02:29.039 people would say well mom It's just a personal 01:02:29.039 --> 01:02:31.079 conviction the way that you live out your modesty 01:02:31.079 --> 01:02:35.639 is a personal conviction The way that you live 01:02:35.639 --> 01:02:44.110 it out But being modest in itself That's following 01:02:44.110 --> 01:02:47.030 the Word of God. And if you're not feeling convicted 01:02:47.030 --> 01:02:50.010 any type of way about that, that's something 01:02:50.010 --> 01:02:53.750 to pray for God to soften your heart on. And 01:02:53.750 --> 01:02:56.750 if you are finding yourself only attracted to 01:02:56.750 --> 01:02:59.289 those kind of people, you find yourself rejecting 01:02:59.289 --> 01:03:02.050 men or women of God and leaning into the lustful, 01:03:02.429 --> 01:03:05.909 you need to take that to God. There's some work 01:03:05.909 --> 01:03:08.010 that needs to be done there too. And I'm speaking 01:03:08.010 --> 01:03:12.800 from experience on that one too y 'all. Remember, 01:03:13.420 --> 01:03:17.500 I am going through the sanctification process. 01:03:17.599 --> 01:03:22.099 I am learning these things. The things I'm speaking 01:03:22.099 --> 01:03:24.659 to you guys on isn't just something I read and 01:03:24.659 --> 01:03:27.159 I haven't experienced. I'm speaking to y 'all 01:03:27.159 --> 01:03:30.840 with this kind of enthusiasm and authority, but 01:03:30.840 --> 01:03:33.380 also love and empathy because I've been there. 01:03:34.860 --> 01:03:38.340 I know what it's like to go through it. And if 01:03:38.340 --> 01:03:39.860 someone would have told me when I was dealing 01:03:39.860 --> 01:03:42.960 with my immodesty, like, oh, you're looking for, 01:03:42.980 --> 01:03:46.679 you're looking for attention, or you don't have 01:03:46.679 --> 01:03:48.000 your identity in Christ, I would have been like, 01:03:48.059 --> 01:03:50.920 you're stupid. I think honestly, I would have 01:03:50.920 --> 01:03:52.860 deflected and I would have been like, no, that's 01:03:52.860 --> 01:03:55.380 not true. And I would have shut it down. But 01:03:55.380 --> 01:03:57.280 once I gave my life to Christ and started listening 01:03:57.280 --> 01:04:00.340 to that modesty conviction, and really did some 01:04:00.340 --> 01:04:03.219 reflecting and soul searching, I could see actually 01:04:03.219 --> 01:04:09.320 how those things were coming out. and my immodesty 01:04:09.320 --> 01:04:12.480 and how even though I felt like yeah I know that 01:04:12.480 --> 01:04:15.159 I have a lot of good things inside and all that 01:04:15.159 --> 01:04:20.400 I was actually relying a lot more on charm and 01:04:20.400 --> 01:04:26.539 beauty than I wanted to admit to. charm being 01:04:26.539 --> 01:04:29.059 the way that you can flirt in the way that you 01:04:29.059 --> 01:04:31.699 can work with your words and the way that you 01:04:31.699 --> 01:04:34.699 can maneuver and Being able to do that little 01:04:34.699 --> 01:04:39.800 that little smile, you know being called a flirt 01:04:39.800 --> 01:04:44.199 Charm is deceptive Beauty is fleeting, but it's 01:04:44.199 --> 01:04:45.960 what you have going on internally that lasts 01:04:45.960 --> 01:04:49.300 forever And that's what you need to be yoking 01:04:49.300 --> 01:04:51.980 yourself to when you're looking for a partner 01:04:51.980 --> 01:04:54.059 y 'all Is that man or woman of God who's going 01:04:54.059 --> 01:04:55.559 to lead you closer to Christ? And that's not 01:04:55.559 --> 01:04:57.179 saying that physical attraction can't be there. 01:04:57.179 --> 01:05:00.440 Are they leading you closer to Christ? Are you 01:05:00.440 --> 01:05:03.239 feeling pushed more into your calling in a Christ 01:05:03.239 --> 01:05:07.719 -like way? Christ -like methods? Is your relationship 01:05:07.719 --> 01:05:10.840 with God being strengthened? Being encouraged? 01:05:15.940 --> 01:05:18.599 I'm not saying the partner is perfect, but are 01:05:18.599 --> 01:05:22.159 they also pursuing first? the kingdom of heaven 01:05:22.159 --> 01:05:25.460 there's a difference between living it and saying 01:05:25.460 --> 01:05:27.099 it with their mouths there's a difference between 01:05:27.099 --> 01:05:28.780 living it and just going to church or showing 01:05:28.780 --> 01:05:34.539 up to your bible study with you where are they 01:05:34.539 --> 01:05:38.119 leading you to we've focused a lot today on words 01:05:38.119 --> 01:05:41.039 words are one thing but sometimes it's the way 01:05:41.039 --> 01:05:43.670 someone lives their life And that's what really 01:05:43.670 --> 01:05:45.489 points. That's the fruits, right? We talked about 01:05:45.489 --> 01:05:47.389 how you live your life and conduct yourself can 01:05:47.389 --> 01:05:48.809 point other people closer to Christ. So guess 01:05:48.809 --> 01:05:51.250 what? The way people live their lives and conduct 01:05:51.250 --> 01:05:52.949 themselves will also tell you what's really in 01:05:52.949 --> 01:05:55.849 their heart, what they're really pursuing, what 01:05:55.849 --> 01:06:00.909 is really influencing their decisions. Someone 01:06:00.909 --> 01:06:03.010 can be going to church and saying they love Jesus, 01:06:03.909 --> 01:06:07.750 but they're not being influenced by Jesus. They're 01:06:07.750 --> 01:06:09.030 being influenced by the world. They're being 01:06:09.030 --> 01:06:11.230 influenced by their flesh. I know it because 01:06:11.230 --> 01:06:16.300 I've been through it. Want to just get back to 01:06:16.300 --> 01:06:18.000 the root of this message y 'all the way that 01:06:18.000 --> 01:06:22.340 you respond matters The way that you live your 01:06:22.340 --> 01:06:28.000 life is ministry So if you're choosing to only 01:06:28.000 --> 01:06:30.019 if you're only picking and choosing from the 01:06:30.019 --> 01:06:32.300 Bible And you're living out some things and you're 01:06:32.300 --> 01:06:34.059 putting others to the wayside because they don't 01:06:34.059 --> 01:06:36.500 justify your flesh They don't feel good to the 01:06:36.500 --> 01:06:39.739 flesh They convict your lifestyle. They convict 01:06:39.739 --> 01:06:43.699 you what you want and what you desire You're 01:06:43.699 --> 01:06:47.460 not gonna be pointing people closer to Jesus. 01:06:50.480 --> 01:06:53.079 You'll end up falling into that category of lukewarm 01:06:53.079 --> 01:06:55.219 Christian that pointed people away from the church 01:06:55.219 --> 01:07:00.039 and gave them church hurt in all honesty. But 01:07:00.039 --> 01:07:03.300 there's also, I want to speak this to you right 01:07:03.300 --> 01:07:07.159 now. You can regain your fire for the Lord and 01:07:07.159 --> 01:07:11.650 you can live a life obedient to God. You have 01:07:11.650 --> 01:07:13.909 to humble your heart and submit yourself to God's 01:07:13.909 --> 01:07:18.190 Word. Even if it goes against your flesh. There's 01:07:18.190 --> 01:07:20.230 a reason why scripture says many are called but 01:07:20.230 --> 01:07:24.429 few are chosen. God calls us all. So there's 01:07:24.429 --> 01:07:26.469 a select few that will actually deny their flesh 01:07:26.469 --> 01:07:37.289 and live it out. Are you going to be one of those 01:07:37.289 --> 01:07:40.579 people? It's not an easy walk. There's a reason 01:07:40.579 --> 01:07:44.639 why the wide road, the road to destruction is 01:07:44.639 --> 01:07:47.179 wide. It's easy to follow. There's lots of people 01:07:47.179 --> 01:07:50.420 walking down. The road that leads to heaven, 01:07:50.559 --> 01:07:53.460 the road that leads to eternal life is nearer 01:07:53.460 --> 01:07:58.719 and it's not taken by many people comparatively. 01:08:01.159 --> 01:08:04.840 Which path are you going to take? Remember there 01:08:04.840 --> 01:08:06.659 was like this real lie when I was in New Age 01:08:06.659 --> 01:08:08.400 I would hear people say oh the people who left 01:08:08.400 --> 01:08:11.039 New Age went to Christianity are weak people 01:08:11.039 --> 01:08:14.380 that couldn't take it because in New Age it's 01:08:14.380 --> 01:08:16.359 all about like witchcraft and things like that 01:08:16.359 --> 01:08:18.880 and About like constantly healing and having 01:08:18.880 --> 01:08:20.640 spiritual awakenings. It's all about doing it 01:08:20.640 --> 01:08:23.739 on your own, right? And they would claim they're 01:08:23.739 --> 01:08:25.520 going to different deities which are just demonic 01:08:25.520 --> 01:08:27.500 entities and who could build a better demonic 01:08:27.500 --> 01:08:31.609 team basically And New Age and its root like 01:08:31.609 --> 01:08:33.329 when you would have people saying things like 01:08:33.329 --> 01:08:37.890 that. There was a who's Stronger who's stronger 01:08:37.890 --> 01:08:40.470 and when people would go to Christianity and 01:08:40.470 --> 01:08:42.069 submit their lives to Christ They would call 01:08:42.069 --> 01:08:44.189 those people weak and say they couldn't handle 01:08:44.189 --> 01:08:46.449 the walk. They couldn't handle the path. They 01:08:46.449 --> 01:08:55.189 couldn't handle this When actually We aren't 01:08:55.189 --> 01:09:00.409 meant as beings God's creations to do this alone. 01:09:00.409 --> 01:09:02.350 We know that through reading scripture We are 01:09:02.350 --> 01:09:05.229 meant to get our strength from him Ephesians 01:09:05.229 --> 01:09:07.930 6 putting on the armor of God We aren't meant 01:09:07.930 --> 01:09:11.430 to do spiritual warfare alone or with the demonic 01:09:11.430 --> 01:09:15.630 we're meant to do it with God and the enemy will 01:09:15.630 --> 01:09:18.090 say and do whatever he can to get in your head 01:09:18.090 --> 01:09:20.170 and to convince you not to do it with God and 01:09:20.170 --> 01:09:23.069 that was one of the Prime ways I saw it work 01:09:23.069 --> 01:09:25.550 in New Age is where they would try to shame you 01:09:25.550 --> 01:09:27.029 for going to god and say oh well you're just 01:09:27.029 --> 01:09:29.029 not strong enough or well you're just not this 01:09:29.029 --> 01:09:31.590 like trying to shame you for not relying on your 01:09:31.590 --> 01:09:33.829 own strength and not relying on your own control 01:09:33.829 --> 01:09:35.970 and going to god which is doing exactly what 01:09:35.970 --> 01:09:41.090 you're supposed to do is go to god they they 01:09:41.090 --> 01:09:44.829 saw it as a weakness to not rely on your own 01:09:44.829 --> 01:09:49.109 understanding the enemy masquerades as an angel 01:09:49.109 --> 01:09:52.039 of light and the things that will lead to separation 01:09:52.039 --> 01:09:55.180 and sin the enemy will paint as the right way 01:09:55.180 --> 01:09:57.800 and the good way and when you leave that behind 01:09:57.800 --> 01:10:00.420 and you go to christ he'll try to he'll try to 01:10:00.420 --> 01:10:03.939 warp it he'll try to the devil we know from ring 01:10:03.939 --> 01:10:05.779 scripture he's the father of lies and he only 01:10:05.779 --> 01:10:09.819 comes to lie steal kill destroy and it's crazy 01:10:09.819 --> 01:10:13.180 how that that's like one of the real um lies 01:10:13.180 --> 01:10:14.920 that we see going around new age when people 01:10:14.920 --> 01:10:16.439 leave and go to christianity they're like oh 01:10:16.439 --> 01:10:18.300 they just couldn't handle it or they just couldn't 01:10:18.300 --> 01:10:23.439 take it But when I tell y 'all, and I've already 01:10:23.439 --> 01:10:27.920 said this before, having God fighting for you, 01:10:28.079 --> 01:10:31.460 you don't have to worry about whether or not 01:10:31.460 --> 01:10:33.600 there's a victory, because Jesus Christ secured 01:10:33.600 --> 01:10:35.260 victory on the cross. There was already victory 01:10:35.260 --> 01:10:39.859 over darkness and death. When you give your life 01:10:39.859 --> 01:10:43.100 to Christ and you let God fight for you, you're 01:10:43.100 --> 01:10:46.359 joining the winning team. The devil will try 01:10:46.359 --> 01:10:49.619 to convince you otherwise, but... That's why 01:10:49.619 --> 01:10:51.640 we put our faith in Jesus. We walk by faith not 01:10:51.640 --> 01:10:53.739 by sight So y 'all I think we're gonna close 01:10:53.739 --> 01:10:56.020 off this podcast episode today And I pray that 01:10:56.020 --> 01:10:57.560 whoever you are listening to us wherever you 01:10:57.560 --> 01:10:58.899 are on your walk But there is something that 01:10:58.899 --> 01:11:01.260 you've taken out of this today this episode and 01:11:01.260 --> 01:11:03.920 that this episode has ministered to you and helped 01:11:03.920 --> 01:11:06.800 you and I want to thank you for listening to 01:11:06.800 --> 01:11:09.199 this episode and I do ask that you hit subscribe 01:11:09.199 --> 01:11:11.020 wherever it is You're listening to this podcast 01:11:11.020 --> 01:11:13.159 share it share it on social media share it with 01:11:13.159 --> 01:11:14.420 your friends share it with your family share 01:11:14.420 --> 01:11:15.800 it with whoever God is putting on your heart 01:11:15.800 --> 01:11:21.920 to share with and I will see you guys next time. 01:11:22.720 --> 01:11:23.720 Have a blessed day.