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Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener

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podcast I am your host Danielle Townsend and

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today's episode is titled many are called But

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few are chosen now it's rare that I actually

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have like a title of the episode before Recording

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the episode as you guys know Most of the time

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I have kind of a general idea after prayer scripture

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reading of what I'm gonna be getting into but

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Once I start the episode. It's really where the

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spirit leads me, you know, I don't have a lot

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written out a lot planned out but The Lord was

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making it very clear to me this morning The message

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today and he was doing that through scripture

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reading There are two chapters in the Bible that

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I'm gonna be heavily focusing on today That the

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Lord had me reading this morning and that is

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John chapter 15 and Matthew chapter 22 The Lord

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already gave me the title many are called But

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few are chosen and I have heard that saying many

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many times and When I tell you my first couple

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times hearing it it was really hard for me to

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grasp and understand and even when it was Explained

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to me at first it was hard for me to grasp and

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it wasn't until I was further along in my walk

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with Christ that I began to truly believe it

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and I Began to truly understand it Now when I

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say many are called but few are chosen I am referring

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to Matthew chapter 22 Right in verse 14 where

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it says many are invited But few are chosen and

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honestly that that might end up being the title

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now that I'm saying that that sounds a lot better

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Many are invited, but few are chosen. We'll see

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what happens here But what I have written down

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next to that is the call that the invitation

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being referred to that is an invitation that's

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extended to many that's extended to everybody

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right that that's the call of salvation that

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any of us any of us are able to receive salvation

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through our faith in Jesus Christ all of us it's

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an invitation God isn't excluding a single one

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of us all of us are invited to enter the kingdom

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of heaven But the chosen are those that accept

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in faith and obedience Those who are chosen are

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the ones that once they accept Jesus Christ when

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they have their faith in Jesus Christ I've shared

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in past Testimonies on here and I won't get into

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it too much y 'all. I know from experience what

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it's like To praise Jesus with your mouth to

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go to church on Sundays the whole shebang But

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to have a heart that is far from the lord to

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have faith that isn't in jesus christ I did it

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growing up. I went to church every sunday. I

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went to mass every sunday I went to all my sunday

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school classes. I did all of that. I would say

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I love jesus But my heart was very far from him

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and honestly, it was revealed through my works

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We've talked about works In a lot of previous

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episodes how works do not buy your salvation,

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but they are a sign of your faith where you kind

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of add on your walk with Christ because once

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you have your faith in him those who believe

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in him will do the works that he does and that

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is John chapter 14 I believe those who believe

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in Jesus will try to live more like Jesus and

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that's not a night and day thing and that's not

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saying that it comes totally easily but when

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you believe in him when you have your faith in

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him There is this urge there is this fire there

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is this desire To be more like Jesus To do the

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things that Jesus is calling you to do which

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is creating disciples being fishers of men, right?

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The whole shebang and we'll get into that too

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But the way when I look back I could tell that

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my heart was far from the Lord is a lot of these

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things were not coming out of me There wasn't

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a desire to be more like Jesus There wasn't a

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desire to deny my flesh. There wasn't a desire

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to pick up my cross. There wasn't a desire to

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do all of these things. And at that time, I would

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have believed I was full -on Christian. I was

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a full -on believer. You can't tell me nothing.

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And it wasn't until I have experienced life with

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true belief and faith in Jesus. I have experienced

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what it's like to want to be more Christlike.

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I've experienced what it's like to have the desire

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to please God. Overpleasing the world so much

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I've been willing to release things and willing

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to let things go and willing to deal with persecution

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and willing to deal with Whatever comes my way

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on behalf of speaking up for Jesus Christ And

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now that I have experienced that I am able to

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see the difference, right? So I just wanted to

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give y 'all a little bit a little bit of my personal

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background with that I know what it's like to

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show up every Sunday and glorify God with my

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mouth glorify Jesus all these things but not

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actually have my faith or my belief in him I've

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said this many times before when I was growing

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up in the church and everything like that I didn't

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truly believe I needed what Jesus Christ had

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to offer I didn't see myself as someone who needed

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saved from my sins I didn't see myself as someone

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who needed saved from myself. Which every single

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one of us, we do need saved from ourselves. We

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need what Jesus Christ did on the cross to enter

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the kingdom of heaven. Every single one of us

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is a sinner that needs what Jesus did. But I

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didn't see that most of my life. Instead, I saw

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myself as a victim of an unjust world. and that

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I needed God to save me from everybody else around

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me. I was like, God, this person's hurting me

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and this person's doing this and this person's

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doing that. And ABCDFG, I was pointing out everything

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that everyone else was doing. I was like, God,

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why aren't you protecting me from them? Why aren't

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you saving me from them? Why aren't you? That

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was what I was focused on. So I didn't truly

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believe or have my faith in Jesus because I didn't

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feel like I needed what he had to offer. And

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God allowed me to get to a point in my life where

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I was so down, where I had been humbled. I had

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recognized that I was a sinner and I had so much

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weight on me. But that was the moment where I

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was able to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance.

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to experience what it's like to be forgiven like

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I know what it feels like now to have that weight

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lifted off my shoulders after I confess my sins

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and truly believe that I can be forgiven for

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them and that is just a little bit of my experience

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of like recognizing the difference because I

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feel like I have a unique experience here y 'all

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where I have kind of been Both boats. I have

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been on both sides. I have been the person who's

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responding to the call Like they're showing up

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to the party they accepted the invitation, but

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they're not responding to the call Meaning they're

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not putting their faith in Jesus. They're not

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allowing Jesus to change their heart. They're

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not doing that They want the blessings they want

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all that but they don't want to do the work.

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I Have been that person and I have also now then

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that person that accepts the invitation and Puts

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my faith in Jesus and sees transformation because

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of that Now let's get in on some scripture reading

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y 'all let's get in on some scripture reading

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we're in the CSB Where my she reads truth a study

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Bible today starting in Matthew chapter 22 Once

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more Jesus spoke to them in parables the kingdom

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of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet

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for his son He sent his servants to summon those

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invited to the banquet, but they didn't want

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to come again He sent out other servants and

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said tell those who are invited see I've prepared

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my dinner my oxen and fattened cattle have been

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slaughtered and Everything is ready come to the

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wedding banquet But they paid no attention and

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went away, one to his own farm, another to his

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business, while the rest seized his servants,

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mistreated them, and killed them. The king was

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enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those

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murderers, and burned down their city. Then he

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told his servants, the banquet is ready, but

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those who were invited are not worthy. Go, then,

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to where the roads exit the city, and invite

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everyone you find to the banquet. So those servants

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went out on the roads and gathered everyone they

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found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet

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was filled with guests. When the king came in

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to see the guests, he saw a man there who was

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not dressed for a wedding. So he said to them,

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friend, how did you get in here without wedding

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clothes? The man was speechless. The king told

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the attendants, tie him up hand and foot. Throw

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him into the outer darkness, where there will

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be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are

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invited, but few are chosen." Now, when we first

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read this, this parable, right? Because this

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parable was given to us by Jesus. We can see

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how it relates to that time period, right? Because

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Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Jews had been

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waiting on the Messiah to come. Jesus is here.

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Right? And we can see that here with the servants,

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right? Where the king sends out his servants

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to invite people to the banquet. God is sending

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Jesus Christ to go minister to these people,

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to bring them closer to God. But the Jews reject

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Jesus. We see that. We see a lot of the confrontations

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with the Pharisees. We see how Jesus Christ ended

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up going to the cross, right? He was the rejected

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stone. He was rejected. He came here. He invited

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them and he was rejected by them. They turned

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away the invite. They didn't want to come. They

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didn't want what Jesus had to offer. But the

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interesting thing that felt highlighted to me

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this morning was God didn't just take that one

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rejection and walk away God tried many times

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right because after after they were rejected

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After they had rejected God where it says here.

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They didn't want to come again He sent out other

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servants and said tell those who are invited

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see I've prepared my dinner my oxen fattened

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cattle Have been slaughtered and everything is

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ready come to the wedding banquet, like God tries

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again. He doesn't just take one crack at someone's

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heart. He doesn't just offer Jesus one time.

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He doesn't just offer salvation one time. It's

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many times over. It's many, many, many times

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over. That says here that they still paid no

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attention and went away One to his own farm another

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to his business while the rest seized his servants

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mistreated them and killed them And that's what

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we see happen with Jesus, right? They seize him

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they mistreat him he's whipped he's beaten He's

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persecuted he's hung on the cross And when I

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when I first read that I'm able to see okay This

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is how that parable relates to that time period,

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right? Jesus Christ came, invited people to enter

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the Kingdom of Heaven, salvation through belief

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in Him, experience forgiveness for their sins.

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They didn't feel like they needed that. So they

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rejected it. They rejected what Jesus was trying

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to offer to them. God was giving them a blessing

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and they were rejecting it because they didn't

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feel like that's what they needed. They weren't

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expecting the Messiah to look like Jesus Christ.

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They were expecting the Messiah to look very

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different. And they weren't expecting the Messiah

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to come and tell them, you need to fix this,

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you need to repent, you need to do all this.

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They were expecting the Messiah to come and all

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out war and like hand the Romans over to them

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and they're conquered and all of these things.

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So they rejected the blessing God was trying

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to offer them. And in rejecting that, it was

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offered to other people. The doors were open

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for the Gentiles. for me, for someone who's listening

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to us today, to be integrated into God's chosen

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people. The Jews rejecting opened up the door

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for the rest of us to accept Jesus Christ as

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Lord. As we see here, after multiple times of

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God trying at their hearts, he sent the servants

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out to other people. He said, okay, go find other

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people. there are other people out there who

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will accept the invitation and the call go find

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those people get everybody and i will worry about

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i will weed them out later and how many times

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do we see like jesus kind of referring to that

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in the bible to write like fishers and men like

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collect the people when the harvest time comes

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that is when we'll do the sifting like worry

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more about grabbing people i will do the sifting

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We kind of see that here where the servants are

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they're inviting everybody Everybody receives

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a call. It's once people show up Right that then

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the Lord can kind of do the sifting and moving

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through But we see that here. We see how that

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how that kind of ties in to Jesus's time period,

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right? And I started thinking about how much

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this relates to our daily life. God's Word is

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living and breathing, right? This scripture,

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I cannot tell y 'all. Every time I have a problem,

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there is an answer for it somewhere in the Bible.

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And I was praying to God where I was like, God,

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how does this relate to my life today? How does

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this relate to other people's lives today? And

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he showed me the walk. of ministry, the walk

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of evangelizing, the walk of bringing other people

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to Christ. Y 'all sharing from personal experience,

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I know that there is a call that God has for

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me to create disciples and to bring people closer

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to Jesus. That is what we're all supposed to

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do as followers of Christ, right? It's not just

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the pastor's job. It's not just that person who's

00:15:56.220 --> 00:15:59.139
like head of evangelism's job. It's every single

00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:01.519
one of our jobs. Everyone who has had an encounter

00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.799
with Jesus Christ, whether or not you realize

00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:05.980
it, yet you have a testimony to his goodness

00:16:05.980 --> 00:16:07.960
that can be used to bring other people closer

00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.460
to Christ. And I recognize that that is a role

00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:14.620
and a responsibility I carry. And we each have

00:16:14.620 --> 00:16:18.440
giftings, spiritual gifts, to be used to further

00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:22.360
the kingdom of heaven. And I've been able to

00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.169
recognize some of those gifts. And one thing

00:16:25.169 --> 00:16:26.909
that the Lord has really been highlighting to

00:16:26.909 --> 00:16:30.389
me over the past year is I have a lot of testimonies.

00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:34.450
Where my life was one way, I experienced Jesus

00:16:34.450 --> 00:16:36.850
and now I'm another way. And there are groups

00:16:36.850 --> 00:16:39.429
of people that I can reach out to and that I

00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:42.090
can communicate with that I never in my life

00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:45.149
thought would be possible. There are groups that

00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:48.289
I'm able to reach because of my past mistakes

00:16:48.289 --> 00:16:52.649
that God has redeemed. that God has used to glorify

00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:58.929
Him and for His good. And I have, whether or

00:16:58.929 --> 00:17:00.990
not I realize it was what I was stepping into,

00:17:02.230 --> 00:17:07.069
an evangelism walk. Right? I am learning how

00:17:07.069 --> 00:17:10.210
to use the testimonies and use the gifts that

00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:12.950
God has given me to bring other people closer

00:17:12.950 --> 00:17:15.970
to the Kingdom of Heaven. And that is what He

00:17:15.970 --> 00:17:18.880
has highlighted. today for me and I know that

00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:20.799
there are other people listening to this podcast

00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:25.799
today that need to hear this too okay because

00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:31.759
we we are like the servants that the king sent

00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.960
out we see here that the king wants to have a

00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:37.640
banquet he wants to have a party so he sends

00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.180
a servant out and says go spread the invitation

00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:45.029
go tell all these people We're gonna break this

00:17:45.029 --> 00:17:46.849
down as we walk through it. That is what God

00:17:46.849 --> 00:17:52.109
calls us to do, right? To make disciples to show

00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:53.950
other people the love of Jesus and we're doing

00:17:53.950 --> 00:17:55.890
it in different ways There are some people who

00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:58.569
know by will go and start preaching the gospel

00:17:58.569 --> 00:18:00.170
to them and start telling them about who Jesus

00:18:00.170 --> 00:18:02.670
was And their ears perk up and they want to hear

00:18:02.670 --> 00:18:06.690
more There are other people we do it more by

00:18:06.690 --> 00:18:08.930
showing them the love of Jesus or actions, right?

00:18:09.049 --> 00:18:11.009
Maybe they don't want to pick up a Bible. Maybe

00:18:11.009 --> 00:18:14.809
they're not ready to hear that sermon But they

00:18:14.809 --> 00:18:17.450
see how you live your life and how you show Christ

00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:20.970
like love how you move in kindness how you're

00:18:20.970 --> 00:18:24.950
forgiving and You're ministering to these people

00:18:24.950 --> 00:18:26.890
by the choices you make in the way you choose

00:18:26.890 --> 00:18:29.289
to live your life You're showing them the love

00:18:29.289 --> 00:18:31.789
of Jesus. They're experiencing Jesus's love through

00:18:31.789 --> 00:18:39.349
you Whatever way it is Whatever method God has

00:18:39.349 --> 00:18:42.450
called us to invite people to the Kingdom of

00:18:42.450 --> 00:18:45.150
Heaven, right? He has called us to invite people

00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:48.950
into a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I've

00:18:48.950 --> 00:18:50.630
shared with this, for me personally, a lot of

00:18:50.630 --> 00:18:52.630
it comes to sharing my past experiences and my

00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:57.369
past testimonies. God has gifted me, blessed

00:18:57.369 --> 00:19:01.410
me with the ability to communicate those testimonies.

00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:08.809
And whatever your gift is, God's gonna use that

00:19:08.809 --> 00:19:13.410
too. But the root of it is is to invite people

00:19:13.410 --> 00:19:19.210
into a relationship with Jesus That they may

00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:24.630
See salvation So we have this job right we have

00:19:24.630 --> 00:19:30.410
this call and now we're out doing this call right

00:19:30.410 --> 00:19:35.269
and Not everybody is going to respond well to

00:19:35.269 --> 00:19:38.349
this call and that's what we see here next that

00:19:38.349 --> 00:19:41.130
like There are people who didn't want to come.

00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:43.569
When Jesus was inviting them, there were people

00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:48.869
who didn't want to come. When Jesus was preaching

00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:51.710
repentance and the forgiveness of your sins and

00:19:51.710 --> 00:19:54.009
loving one another and things like that, a lot

00:19:54.009 --> 00:19:57.470
of people didn't want that. They rejected that.

00:19:58.349 --> 00:20:01.930
And the message that God is calling you to carry,

00:20:02.029 --> 00:20:04.170
the things that he's calling you to do, not everybody

00:20:04.170 --> 00:20:06.789
is going to want to accept it. Not everybody

00:20:06.789 --> 00:20:13.890
will accept it. And I want to refer back to some

00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:19.089
scripture right John 15 Verse 18 if the world

00:20:19.089 --> 00:20:23.630
hates you understand it hated me before it hated

00:20:23.630 --> 00:20:30.250
you if the world rejected Jesus and His message

00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:34.329
and what he what he was offering Yeah, it's gonna

00:20:34.329 --> 00:20:36.809
hate you. It's gonna reject you especially when

00:20:36.809 --> 00:20:39.869
you were doing God's will when you are walking

00:20:39.869 --> 00:20:42.390
in God's will, when you are showing people the

00:20:42.390 --> 00:20:44.529
love of Jesus Christ, when you have that Holy

00:20:44.529 --> 00:20:48.349
Spirit residing in you and it's shining through,

00:20:51.349 --> 00:20:53.589
there are going to be people, and I want to pull

00:20:53.589 --> 00:20:56.869
from John chapter 15 verse 25, that will hate

00:20:56.869 --> 00:21:00.069
you for no reason. I don't know what it is about

00:21:00.069 --> 00:21:01.529
them but I just don't like them. I don't know

00:21:01.529 --> 00:21:02.809
what it is about them but I just don't want to

00:21:02.809 --> 00:21:11.319
hear it. If they hated Jesus, they're gonna hate

00:21:11.319 --> 00:21:18.519
the person that looks like Jesus. Your message,

00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.559
whatever it is that you're bringing to the table

00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:27.640
that is from God, do not let whether or not people

00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:31.900
accept it or want to hear it be like how you

00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:37.329
determine whether or not this is from God. And

00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:41.230
this is something I have had to really, as someone

00:21:41.230 --> 00:21:44.029
who I used to gauge my performance based off

00:21:44.029 --> 00:21:46.589
of other people's reactions, and I used to gauge

00:21:46.589 --> 00:21:48.450
if what I was doing was right based off of how

00:21:48.450 --> 00:21:50.809
many likes or how many comments or how many interactions

00:21:50.809 --> 00:21:53.069
or how just many positive words I would get,

00:21:53.170 --> 00:21:58.269
right? When I stepped into a relationship with

00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:01.250
Jesus Christ, and when I started answering the

00:22:01.250 --> 00:22:03.910
call to create disciples, to start spreading

00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:09.180
the gospel, The way that people responded at

00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:11.519
first I started noticing was kind of like my

00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:14.019
gauge to is this what God is calling me to do?

00:22:14.140 --> 00:22:16.380
Is this what God is calling me to say? And when

00:22:16.380 --> 00:22:19.799
I would have some hateful responses and some

00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:22.720
pushback my brain would first go to oh this must

00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.380
not be what God's calling me to do because if

00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:26.099
he called me to spread this message or do this

00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:28.099
thing wouldn't more people be accepting of it?

00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:30.599
Wouldn't more people want to be hearing it? Wouldn't

00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:32.339
there be less pushback? Wouldn't it be easier

00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:38.509
to move through? There are some cases where when

00:22:38.509 --> 00:22:42.950
God has called me to speak and a situation goes

00:22:42.950 --> 00:22:45.890
even better than I could expect, but there have

00:22:45.890 --> 00:22:48.250
been many situations I've stepped into where

00:22:48.250 --> 00:22:52.009
God has called me to speak and I have been rejected.

00:22:53.250 --> 00:22:55.430
And that doesn't mean that God wasn't calling

00:22:55.430 --> 00:23:02.470
me to speak that thing. He has really had to

00:23:02.470 --> 00:23:05.769
show this to me. Just because you are rejected

00:23:05.769 --> 00:23:07.329
or someone doesn't want to hear it or there's

00:23:07.329 --> 00:23:12.309
some opposition to it doesn't mean That it's

00:23:12.309 --> 00:23:17.269
not from God That's what you need to take it

00:23:17.269 --> 00:23:19.970
to God if you have concerns of God is this message

00:23:19.970 --> 00:23:22.569
from you Like is this thing from you take it

00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:29.670
straight to him? But also start to trust a bit

00:23:29.670 --> 00:23:31.970
more in the discernment that he is giving you

00:23:32.009 --> 00:23:34.849
We walk by faith, not by sight. I feel called

00:23:34.849 --> 00:23:38.789
to refer back to the story of Nehemiah. When

00:23:38.789 --> 00:23:41.150
they're rebuilding that temple, they were doing

00:23:41.150 --> 00:23:44.369
what God called them to do, but there was opposition

00:23:44.369 --> 00:23:47.450
every single step of the way. There were lies,

00:23:47.650 --> 00:23:50.089
there were slander, there were false accusations,

00:23:50.549 --> 00:23:53.089
there were plots and plans like off Nehemiah.

00:23:53.410 --> 00:23:56.230
Like the enemy was working in any way possible

00:23:56.230 --> 00:23:59.170
to stop the rebuilding. And if they would have

00:23:59.170 --> 00:24:02.680
thought, hmm. Don't think this is from God because

00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:06.059
if it was from God Like there wouldn't be opposition

00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:07.799
like this the temple would have never gotten

00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:11.619
built the opposition was an attempt to get them

00:24:11.619 --> 00:24:15.799
to stop before it could be completed and They

00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:20.059
had to continue to work forward Regardless of

00:24:20.059 --> 00:24:22.319
the opposition going on around them and in doing

00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:24.539
that and putting their faith in God and saying

00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:27.480
well God has called me to it God has spoken it

00:24:27.529 --> 00:24:29.789
So regardless of the opposition, I'm going to

00:24:29.789 --> 00:24:31.349
trust, I'm going to get to that endpoint. If

00:24:31.349 --> 00:24:33.190
God has spoken it, I'm going to trust in God's

00:24:33.190 --> 00:24:35.849
word over what I see and over my fear. Because

00:24:35.849 --> 00:24:39.670
they did that, the temple was rebuilt. And God

00:24:39.670 --> 00:24:42.990
blessed that building in ways. And the blessing

00:24:42.990 --> 00:24:45.230
looked like the weapons formed, but they didn't

00:24:45.230 --> 00:24:50.490
prosper. But Nehemiah, the builders had to trust

00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:52.710
in God's word that the weapons will form, but

00:24:52.710 --> 00:24:56.250
they will not prosper. They had to trust in the

00:24:56.250 --> 00:25:04.029
end vision that God gave them. Now to go back

00:25:04.029 --> 00:25:08.369
to Matthew 22, so we have the people who have

00:25:08.369 --> 00:25:13.730
rejected Jesus and will also reject what you

00:25:13.730 --> 00:25:16.069
have to say. And I will share with y 'all just

00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:18.940
a little bit of personal experience. And it was

00:25:18.940 --> 00:25:21.279
really rough when I was like very fresh in my

00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:24.259
walk with Jesus and I had so much like enthusiasm

00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:27.220
and I just wanted to tell everybody because I

00:25:27.220 --> 00:25:30.380
had just experienced some Miraculous miracles

00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:32.839
and I had this fire in this desire. I just want

00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:34.279
to tell everybody in their mama what Jesus did

00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:39.380
in my life But the people that I was telling

00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:43.400
Were people who weren't believers and some of

00:25:43.400 --> 00:25:44.859
these people were people who were actually really

00:25:44.859 --> 00:25:48.009
angry at God um some of these people were people

00:25:48.009 --> 00:25:51.609
who you know had a lot of animosity towards some

00:25:51.609 --> 00:25:53.809
things that my past testimonies were for those

00:25:53.809 --> 00:25:55.569
of y 'all who have been here with me for a minute

00:25:55.569 --> 00:25:58.190
you know i had a history but when i gave my life

00:25:58.190 --> 00:26:00.410
to jesus i was in new age i was a tarot card

00:26:00.410 --> 00:26:02.750
reader i had entertained witchcraft all of these

00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:07.089
things and there are some people who like the

00:26:07.089 --> 00:26:10.410
best way i can word it is um there is already

00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:12.750
like a lot of anger and hostility towards the

00:26:12.750 --> 00:26:18.200
new age community you know um So in me even speaking

00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:20.079
that I was delivered from that or coming out

00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:21.880
of that, there was already a skewed perception

00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:24.740
of who I was as a person. There was already like

00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:27.380
a real, I don't want to hear her message, you

00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:30.119
know? And that was something that the Lord has

00:26:30.119 --> 00:26:33.920
had to take me through and overcoming fears and

00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.140
worries in regards to that and speaking up anyways.

00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:40.180
But I had all this fire in me and I started speaking

00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:41.900
to a lot of people who didn't want to hear the

00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:45.890
message. It wasn't like I was going and speaking

00:26:45.890 --> 00:26:47.970
to believers who had also experienced all these

00:26:47.970 --> 00:26:50.150
miracles and also experienced all these amazing

00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:51.890
things and loved Jesus and believed in Jesus,

00:26:52.150 --> 00:26:54.369
too I was speaking to a lot of people who were

00:26:54.369 --> 00:26:58.390
like, what are you talking about? I was speaking

00:26:58.390 --> 00:27:00.809
to people who had anger who had envy who had

00:27:00.809 --> 00:27:03.750
jealousy and very quickly the fire I had for

00:27:03.750 --> 00:27:06.029
Jesus and to share that testimony really started

00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:09.150
to dwindle out and it started to be replaced

00:27:09.150 --> 00:27:13.710
with fear and that part I started kind of being

00:27:13.710 --> 00:27:18.250
pushed into a little bit of a hiding space because

00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:21.890
I kept being rejected and I kept having like

00:27:21.890 --> 00:27:23.730
side comments or different things being poked

00:27:23.730 --> 00:27:28.230
at. I wanted to hold on to what Jesus had did

00:27:28.230 --> 00:27:35.569
for me and I didn't want to hear it being poked

00:27:35.569 --> 00:27:38.650
at, right? I didn't want to hear any more death

00:27:38.650 --> 00:27:40.829
being spoken over it. I didn't want to be told

00:27:40.829 --> 00:27:43.190
I was crazy anymore, so I stopped speaking up

00:27:43.190 --> 00:27:46.089
about it as much. And I started keeping it to

00:27:46.089 --> 00:27:50.869
myself more for a while. And fears started overtaking.

00:27:50.950 --> 00:27:52.910
And before I knew it, I was allowing the enemy

00:27:52.910 --> 00:27:59.349
to take territory. There is a story in the Bible

00:27:59.349 --> 00:28:01.190
that's coming to mind, and I cannot tell you

00:28:01.190 --> 00:28:03.490
the names of these people. It's been so long

00:28:03.490 --> 00:28:05.309
since I've read the story, so bear with me, y

00:28:05.309 --> 00:28:09.900
'all. But there was a king, right? Who like they

00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:11.839
had a temple for the Lord like there was gold

00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:13.900
and all these things and there was another king

00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:16.039
that pulled up and was like I'm here to overtake

00:28:16.039 --> 00:28:19.339
your territory and he's like God isn't with you

00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:21.559
and God wasn't with any of the other people I

00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:23.559
came up against so you might as well just give

00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:25.339
everything over to me right now and surrender

00:28:25.339 --> 00:28:30.779
to me and That king was kind of like Yeah, you

00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:34.579
know what you're right you're right I'll give

00:28:34.579 --> 00:28:36.519
you whatever you want. If you just like leave

00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.359
us be what what's your price and I'll pay it

00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.539
and he gave him like this high amount and What

00:28:42.539 --> 00:28:45.740
this man did was he? He didn't this king didn't

00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:48.140
have everything like in his personal storage

00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:51.039
to pay that other king. So he took from God's

00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:54.200
temple He took the gold. He took the things off

00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:56.799
the doorframe again y 'all. This is I it's been

00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.440
so long since I've read this So this is like

00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:00.839
a very rough trying to pull it out of my brain.

00:29:00.859 --> 00:29:07.950
Bear with me. Okay But he he gave to this King

00:29:07.950 --> 00:29:11.410
All the things that were meant to be that were

00:29:11.410 --> 00:29:14.430
God's right and the things that God had given

00:29:14.430 --> 00:29:21.710
And that was a little bit of the recognition

00:29:21.710 --> 00:29:23.890
the realization I had had at the time that was

00:29:23.890 --> 00:29:26.230
actually the time when I when I read that story

00:29:26.230 --> 00:29:28.910
The first time I had really read and remembered

00:29:28.910 --> 00:29:31.769
reading that story in the Bible because I had

00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:34.029
started to recognize that there was a lot of

00:29:34.029 --> 00:29:38.849
territory that God had given me, right? He had

00:29:38.849 --> 00:29:42.210
given me a vision of creating disciples and sharing

00:29:42.210 --> 00:29:44.289
my testimony and doing all these things and he

00:29:44.289 --> 00:29:46.609
had given me a fire and he had given me a voice

00:29:46.609 --> 00:29:51.450
and all of this and I was faced with a lot of

00:29:51.450 --> 00:29:56.349
opposition and I didn't feel prepared to deal

00:29:56.349 --> 00:29:59.839
with the opposition and I wasn't truly yet relying

00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:03.119
on God to defend me and entrusting that like

00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:05.539
it will all work out for my good. So I started

00:30:05.539 --> 00:30:08.839
making compromises. I stopped speaking up as

00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:12.200
much. I stopped spreading the gospel as much.

00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:15.299
I stopped sharing my testimonies. I stopped speaking

00:30:15.299 --> 00:30:18.720
to the miracles. I stopped trying to bring people

00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:22.279
closer to Christ. It wasn't like I was walking

00:30:22.279 --> 00:30:24.119
away from my relationship with Christ, but I

00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:26.519
put the evangelism to the side. I put the disciple

00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:29.599
making to the side, right? Like I put those things

00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.779
to the side and went kind of into a survival

00:30:32.779 --> 00:30:34.640
mode of just protecting what Jesus had already

00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.220
done in my life. And when I look at that was

00:30:37.220 --> 00:30:38.779
what that King was trying to do, right? Like

00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:40.779
he was just trying to hold on to his kingdom

00:30:40.779 --> 00:30:45.720
in general, but he was willing to like give up.

00:30:47.309 --> 00:30:49.750
I wanted, I know he didn't technically give up

00:30:49.750 --> 00:30:51.589
territory, but he was kind of giving up territory

00:30:51.589 --> 00:30:53.869
in other areas, right? And in trying to conserve

00:30:53.869 --> 00:30:56.849
what God had given him, he had started giving

00:30:56.849 --> 00:30:59.369
away other things that God had given him. And

00:30:59.369 --> 00:31:01.630
that was kind of what I was doing, right? I was

00:31:01.630 --> 00:31:04.369
holding on so tightly to like, well, God gave

00:31:04.369 --> 00:31:06.450
me this call and he gave me this desire and he

00:31:06.450 --> 00:31:08.529
gave me this fire. And like, I want to hold onto

00:31:08.529 --> 00:31:11.170
that so badly. So I'll make compromises in these

00:31:11.170 --> 00:31:15.509
other areas. And when I tell y 'all that it took

00:31:15.509 --> 00:31:18.980
a while. and it wasn't very easy to earn that

00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:23.039
back. God helped me, but to work with that back,

00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:25.460
there was warfare, there were battles I had to

00:31:25.460 --> 00:31:27.519
go through to get that territory back that I

00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:31.980
had given up to the enemy. And it had taken months

00:31:31.980 --> 00:31:36.039
and months. I had to go through multiple instances

00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:39.140
of having to stay on my ground and facing legit

00:31:39.140 --> 00:31:44.480
loss and some very harsh words and a lot of pain.

00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:50.599
in order to get back that boldness that I had

00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:55.460
lost. When I spent so long making compromises,

00:31:55.500 --> 00:31:59.460
I lost a boldness, right? I had to start getting

00:31:59.460 --> 00:32:03.619
back to that place of not fearing. And God helped

00:32:03.619 --> 00:32:05.700
me do that. And I'm here today to tell you that's

00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:07.799
possible. If you have surrendered territory to

00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:11.759
the enemy, if you have like out of fear, giving

00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.279
up things and compromise, God will help you get

00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:18.980
that back. He will. I'm just saying it's not

00:32:18.980 --> 00:32:22.680
an easy process. But he helped me with it. I'm

00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:24.740
here speaking to you all today, aren't I? And

00:32:24.740 --> 00:32:27.359
I'm just a little over a year of giving my life

00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:29.460
to Christ. I gave my life to Christ in September

00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:32.819
of 2024. So I know when I'm talking about this,

00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:35.599
I make it sound like it's been 25 years, but

00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:39.200
all of this has happened in a little over a year.

00:32:40.609 --> 00:32:46.150
A lot can happen in a year. So let this be testimony

00:32:46.150 --> 00:32:48.809
for you too, that all of this has happened in

00:32:48.809 --> 00:32:50.849
a year and I'm standing here talking to y 'all

00:32:50.849 --> 00:32:55.089
about this today, God is good. But let's keep

00:32:55.089 --> 00:32:57.490
moving forward. They paid attention and went

00:32:57.490 --> 00:33:00.490
away, one to his own farm, another to his business,

00:33:00.890 --> 00:33:02.890
while the rest seized to servants, mistreated

00:33:02.890 --> 00:33:06.890
them and killed them. Now we see there are some

00:33:06.890 --> 00:33:09.769
people who just went back to their daily lives.

00:33:09.910 --> 00:33:13.210
They hear the gospel spread to them, and they're

00:33:13.210 --> 00:33:15.549
like, nah, but I can't leave my lifestyle behind.

00:33:16.170 --> 00:33:18.289
Nah, but I can't give this up. Nah, but I can't

00:33:18.289 --> 00:33:20.470
release this. We know as followers of Christ,

00:33:20.829 --> 00:33:22.710
there is a dying to self that has to happen,

00:33:22.809 --> 00:33:26.150
right? Like it starts with us believing in Jesus,

00:33:26.750 --> 00:33:29.410
believing in who he is, believing in what he

00:33:29.410 --> 00:33:31.349
did, that he resurrected, believing that he's

00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:33.930
coming back one day, believing that we can be

00:33:33.930 --> 00:33:35.670
forgiven for our sins. It starts with the belief.

00:33:35.930 --> 00:33:39.619
Because if you don't believe, Then your your

00:33:39.619 --> 00:33:41.339
life isn't gonna change if you don't actually

00:33:41.339 --> 00:33:48.160
believe right once you believe Is when Jesus

00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:55.240
starts working in your heart and Your life is

00:33:55.240 --> 00:33:58.000
supposed to change and the most loving way I

00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:00.059
can say this your life is supposed to change

00:34:00.059 --> 00:34:04.230
when you're walking with grace The things that

00:34:04.230 --> 00:34:06.630
you were once relying on in the world for fulfillment

00:34:06.630 --> 00:34:08.590
and for peace and for love, now that you know

00:34:08.590 --> 00:34:10.690
peace and love that surpasses all understanding

00:34:10.690 --> 00:34:15.250
from Jesus, you should be slowly letting those

00:34:15.250 --> 00:34:18.389
things go and accepting Jesus Christ instead.

00:34:19.929 --> 00:34:22.170
You may have at one point been someone who is

00:34:22.170 --> 00:34:23.949
very unforgiving and had a really hardened heart

00:34:23.949 --> 00:34:26.409
but experiencing the love of Jesus Christ and

00:34:26.409 --> 00:34:28.550
the forgiveness that he is giving you being able

00:34:28.550 --> 00:34:30.269
to start showing that forgiveness and that love

00:34:30.269 --> 00:34:32.949
to other people in receiving it you're able to

00:34:32.949 --> 00:34:35.869
give it and Experiencing it you're able to show

00:34:35.869 --> 00:34:39.489
it to other people right and Then seeing that

00:34:39.489 --> 00:34:42.530
there's something better I'm not saying it's

00:34:42.530 --> 00:34:45.590
easy, but there's a letting go of thing that

00:34:45.590 --> 00:34:47.409
used to bring you comfort and instead grabbing

00:34:47.409 --> 00:34:50.179
on to Jesus understanding and recognizing that's

00:34:50.179 --> 00:34:54.579
much better. He's much better than any of these

00:34:54.579 --> 00:34:56.940
other things. I've shared before y 'all I had

00:34:56.940 --> 00:34:59.360
to go through that right when I gave my life

00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:03.940
to Jesus it was very soon it was very soon after

00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:06.239
he called me to leave I had to throw away all

00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:08.420
the tarot cards I had to throw away all the new

00:35:08.420 --> 00:35:11.019
age stuff I kept being led to scripture if your

00:35:11.019 --> 00:35:13.000
hand causes you to sin cut it off and I recognized

00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.739
that that was a temptation that was an open door

00:35:14.739 --> 00:35:17.760
I couldn't keep in my life I trusted Jesus was

00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:19.940
going to reveal to me what I needed to see. I

00:35:19.940 --> 00:35:21.519
trusted that He is the way, the truth, the life.

00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.139
I trusted that in Him all those things are going

00:35:25.139 --> 00:35:27.880
to be provided. So I had to let those other things

00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:29.860
go. They couldn't be my comfort. They couldn't

00:35:29.860 --> 00:35:33.099
be my guide anymore. Smoking and drinking, Jesus

00:35:33.099 --> 00:35:35.099
Christ told me, you are never going to need that

00:35:35.099 --> 00:35:37.199
again. You need to give it up. I'm calling you

00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:39.840
to a sober lifestyle. And that was my comfort,

00:35:39.980 --> 00:35:42.260
my detachment, my relaxing for the past like

00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:46.929
15 years of my life. But when I had experienced

00:35:46.929 --> 00:35:49.010
a peace that surpassed all understanding from

00:35:49.010 --> 00:35:51.909
Jesus, I understood that. I didn't understand

00:35:51.909 --> 00:35:54.369
completely what He meant when He told me, if

00:35:54.369 --> 00:35:55.989
you throw these things out, I'll give you something

00:35:55.989 --> 00:35:57.889
much better. I didn't totally understand what

00:35:57.889 --> 00:36:00.070
that meant, but because I knew Jesus could give

00:36:00.070 --> 00:36:02.690
me a peace, because I knew He was a miracle worker,

00:36:02.769 --> 00:36:06.369
I trusted in that and I threw away. I threw away

00:36:06.369 --> 00:36:08.309
my grinder. I threw away anything that could

00:36:08.309 --> 00:36:09.809
have allowed me to go back to that lifestyle

00:36:09.809 --> 00:36:16.030
easily. And it wasn't an easy transition, but

00:36:16.030 --> 00:36:18.909
God did exceedingly and abundantly. Those were

00:36:18.909 --> 00:36:24.550
areas of dying to my old self, of giving up what

00:36:24.550 --> 00:36:26.710
brought me comfort before, giving up my peace

00:36:26.710 --> 00:36:30.030
before, giving up these things and trusting that

00:36:30.030 --> 00:36:32.349
whatever Jesus Christ was bringing to the table

00:36:32.349 --> 00:36:36.289
was much better. I received a new life, but it

00:36:36.289 --> 00:36:38.849
required me to release my old life. And we see

00:36:38.849 --> 00:36:41.210
these people here who they hear the gospel, they

00:36:41.210 --> 00:36:44.239
get the invitation. But they don't want to leave

00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:47.920
that life behind. They don't want to leave those

00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:49.579
comforts behind. They don't want to leave that

00:36:49.579 --> 00:36:55.079
peace. And that they go back to that. I cannot

00:36:55.079 --> 00:36:58.480
tell you how many opportunities I had growing

00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:00.159
up throughout my life when people would try to

00:37:00.159 --> 00:37:02.280
talk about Jesus to me or try to preach the gospel

00:37:02.280 --> 00:37:03.760
or be going through something. They try to give

00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:05.840
me a biblical answer and I'd say, yeah, OK, cool,

00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:07.599
whatever. And then I would go right back to doing

00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:11.760
what I would do. And it was years down the road

00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:14.679
that I gave my life to Jesus years down the road

00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:16.800
Which is also an evidence here that he doesn't

00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:19.639
stop inviting you He was inviting me my entire

00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:26.239
life and I was rejecting it my entire life And

00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:28.639
that's the great thing with God is like he doesn't

00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:32.199
stop chasing you down He doesn't stop inviting

00:37:32.199 --> 00:37:37.380
you. He doesn't stop sending people Even when

00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:40.230
I was In the middle of the desert, nothing to

00:37:40.230 --> 00:37:42.969
my name, there was a couple that I truly believe

00:37:42.969 --> 00:37:45.530
God sent to me that, you know, they weren't telling

00:37:45.530 --> 00:37:48.369
me give your life up, leave behind tarot, they

00:37:48.369 --> 00:37:51.449
weren't any of that. But they were planting seeds

00:37:51.449 --> 00:37:53.489
by showing me the love of Jesus in ways that

00:37:53.489 --> 00:37:56.329
like really stuck with me. Because these people

00:37:56.329 --> 00:37:58.170
didn't have a lot to give, but they were still

00:37:58.170 --> 00:38:01.429
always willing to give. Whenever they found out

00:38:01.429 --> 00:38:04.809
I needed something, they were so quick to give.

00:38:05.759 --> 00:38:11.559
and showing me a love that made no sense. Even

00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:13.159
when I was in the lowest of the low, even when

00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:16.599
I had rejected Jesus so many times over, I was

00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:20.539
still being sent to people. God was still sending

00:38:20.539 --> 00:38:24.619
his servants. And someone needs to hear that

00:38:24.619 --> 00:38:27.780
today. That's something that we have to be willing

00:38:27.780 --> 00:38:31.219
to do as servants of Christ. is continuing, despite

00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:33.300
of how many times we've been rejected before,

00:38:33.619 --> 00:38:38.840
to do what God has called us to do. Understandingly,

00:38:38.900 --> 00:38:43.360
that's part of the walk is to be rejected. There's

00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:45.139
a message God wants you to put out. Not everybody

00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:47.659
wants to hear it. There's a thing he's calling

00:38:47.659 --> 00:38:49.119
you to do. Not everybody is going to support

00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:51.059
it. That doesn't mean that he hasn't called you

00:38:51.059 --> 00:38:53.940
to do it. And don't let the rejection that you

00:38:53.940 --> 00:38:58.039
face create a fear that steers you away from

00:38:58.039 --> 00:39:03.489
continuing down that path. I'll share this with

00:39:03.489 --> 00:39:06.130
y 'all real quick a personal testimony of I was

00:39:06.130 --> 00:39:08.449
really scared to share that I had been in new

00:39:08.449 --> 00:39:12.090
age It was really scared to there was a time

00:39:12.090 --> 00:39:13.809
period my life when I wanted to act like I hadn't

00:39:13.809 --> 00:39:18.369
been in it before And the Lord revealed to me

00:39:18.369 --> 00:39:21.369
that that was me like Hiding the testimony that

00:39:21.369 --> 00:39:23.070
he had given me and he didn't give me a testimony

00:39:23.070 --> 00:39:27.869
to hide But I had faced some opposition right

00:39:28.110 --> 00:39:31.230
um and there were a lot of fearful words spoken

00:39:31.230 --> 00:39:33.150
into i remember when i first gave my life to

00:39:33.150 --> 00:39:39.550
christ um that there there were that's why i

00:39:39.550 --> 00:39:44.250
couldn't word this is there were some videos

00:39:44.250 --> 00:39:48.309
i remember seeing on my tiktok that spoke some

00:39:48.309 --> 00:39:50.809
real fear into my situation because remember

00:39:50.809 --> 00:39:52.989
at this time i'm leaving behind tarot cards i'm

00:39:52.989 --> 00:39:55.449
leaving behind mediums i'm leaving behind all

00:39:55.449 --> 00:39:57.369
that and pursuing relationship with christ and

00:39:57.369 --> 00:39:59.449
there is a period in my life where i was really

00:39:59.449 --> 00:40:02.949
fearful of prophetic words because i i didn't

00:40:02.949 --> 00:40:04.710
know how to discern what is from the lord and

00:40:04.710 --> 00:40:07.309
what isn't um so i just shut it off completely

00:40:07.309 --> 00:40:10.710
but i remember when i was really trying to like

00:40:10.909 --> 00:40:13.469
give my life to christ and this was right before

00:40:13.469 --> 00:40:15.610
the lord called me to do like a total social

00:40:15.610 --> 00:40:18.090
media fast where i i stopped listening to all

00:40:18.090 --> 00:40:20.250
of those voices so i could be trained to listen

00:40:20.250 --> 00:40:23.050
to his voice alone glory be to god he did that

00:40:23.050 --> 00:40:26.550
i didn't understand at the time but i remember

00:40:26.550 --> 00:40:29.250
right before that there were a couple videos

00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:31.800
that I had seen that were supposedly prophetic

00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:33.559
words that were speaking some real fear into

00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:37.239
my situation. That sounded Christian because

00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:38.820
they were coming in the name of the Lord, right?

00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:40.780
They were saying like, you're giving your life

00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:42.960
to Jesus and you're leaving your old life behind

00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:45.019
and God's gonna do amazing things in your life.

00:40:45.619 --> 00:40:47.579
But this was a thing that a lot of fear was spoken

00:40:47.579 --> 00:40:50.179
into is I remember specifically this person in

00:40:50.179 --> 00:40:52.559
this word saying, people are gonna accuse you

00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:54.650
of witchcraft. people are going to accuse you

00:40:54.650 --> 00:40:56.230
of wickedness people are going to accuse you

00:40:56.230 --> 00:40:58.530
of being like a false this and a false that and

00:40:58.530 --> 00:41:01.829
like all of these things and that stuck with

00:41:01.829 --> 00:41:06.190
me that stuck with me and of course as followers

00:41:06.190 --> 00:41:09.769
of christ when of course that is going to happen

00:41:09.769 --> 00:41:13.389
at some point right i i see some pastors i love

00:41:13.389 --> 00:41:15.230
to listen to their messages like philip anthony

00:41:15.230 --> 00:41:20.070
mitchell for one that that man is anointed and

00:41:20.070 --> 00:41:22.010
appointed Now I'm not saying he's perfect, but

00:41:22.010 --> 00:41:24.090
that man, when he is speaking, I know that the

00:41:24.090 --> 00:41:26.590
Holy Spirit, their messages I've heard were,

00:41:27.309 --> 00:41:29.250
I'm blown away. The Holy Spirit is speaking through

00:41:29.250 --> 00:41:32.170
that man. God is working through him. He is doing

00:41:32.170 --> 00:41:33.849
some wonderful things for the kingdom of heaven.

00:41:35.050 --> 00:41:37.230
But there are so many people there. He's a false

00:41:37.230 --> 00:41:39.269
prophet. He's a falseless. He's a falseless,

00:41:39.369 --> 00:41:43.730
like tearing him down so quick. I cannot tell

00:41:43.730 --> 00:41:46.889
y 'all how many people that like, I see the Holy

00:41:46.889 --> 00:41:49.380
Spirit speaking through them. I know that that

00:41:49.380 --> 00:41:52.659
is I know that God is working through them and

00:41:52.659 --> 00:41:55.860
they're being accused and all those things and

00:41:55.860 --> 00:41:59.500
there was a real fear at the beginning of my

00:41:59.500 --> 00:42:03.440
walk hearing that that had been really ingrained

00:42:03.440 --> 00:42:07.719
in me right and I had noticed that start to come

00:42:07.719 --> 00:42:11.010
out the more I was walking with Christ Um, when

00:42:11.010 --> 00:42:13.130
I started connecting there a couple people I

00:42:13.130 --> 00:42:15.469
connected with I hadn't talked to in years But

00:42:15.469 --> 00:42:17.269
the last they had seen of me or heard of me.

00:42:17.369 --> 00:42:21.250
I was in new age And they had bad experiences

00:42:21.250 --> 00:42:23.590
with new age and some of them I think that they're

00:42:23.590 --> 00:42:26.829
even trying to work out their way out of new

00:42:26.829 --> 00:42:29.969
age still, um, some of them have Points where

00:42:29.969 --> 00:42:32.409
they've kind of dipped in and fallen into it

00:42:32.409 --> 00:42:35.130
But they did not want to accept they gave my

00:42:35.130 --> 00:42:38.550
life to jesus And they're very quick to say you're

00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:40.829
a witch Like to my face y 'all I was called a

00:42:40.829 --> 00:42:44.050
witch. To my face I was called demonic. I was

00:42:44.050 --> 00:42:46.190
told you're you're just pretending to love Jesus

00:42:46.190 --> 00:42:48.309
and you're just pretending to be part of the

00:42:48.309 --> 00:42:49.909
church and you're just all these things and you're

00:42:49.909 --> 00:42:54.929
really wicked and like the idea of repenting

00:42:54.929 --> 00:42:57.190
and give my life to Jesus whatever fruit they

00:42:57.190 --> 00:42:58.849
could see they they didn't want to see that fruit

00:42:58.849 --> 00:43:01.230
they didn't care about the fruit they were very

00:43:01.230 --> 00:43:05.190
focused on like you were once this you're always

00:43:05.190 --> 00:43:08.389
going to be this I don't believe any of it and

00:43:08.389 --> 00:43:11.769
that instilled a lot of fear in me and it kept

00:43:11.769 --> 00:43:14.570
bringing me back to that first what I believed

00:43:14.570 --> 00:43:17.949
to be a word from God before I went on my social

00:43:17.949 --> 00:43:22.190
media fast of like the opposition that would

00:43:22.190 --> 00:43:27.150
come up and I didn't want that. I recognize that,

00:43:27.150 --> 00:43:29.070
well, when people know I have a history of New

00:43:29.070 --> 00:43:30.769
Age, they're more likely to accuse me of those

00:43:30.769 --> 00:43:32.650
things and do all those things. I know they're

00:43:32.650 --> 00:43:34.710
gonna do it regardless, but when I tell them

00:43:34.710 --> 00:43:36.750
about my past, they're more likely to do it.

00:43:36.909 --> 00:43:39.250
So why don't I just not tell them about that?

00:43:39.489 --> 00:43:41.090
And I went through a period where I didn't tell

00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:43.750
anyone about it, where I very much limited it

00:43:43.750 --> 00:43:46.550
and watered it down out of fear of judgment and

00:43:46.550 --> 00:43:48.969
accusation. And the Lord convicted me so heavily

00:43:48.969 --> 00:43:52.630
if I gave you that testimony. I redeemed that,

00:43:52.929 --> 00:43:55.750
not saying that God blessed me doing that thing,

00:43:56.070 --> 00:43:59.510
that thing was a sin. But when I came out of

00:43:59.510 --> 00:44:02.289
it, God told me, I will use this as a testimony

00:44:02.289 --> 00:44:04.429
for you to connect with other people. There are

00:44:04.429 --> 00:44:06.809
people who are dealing with new age, who are

00:44:06.809 --> 00:44:09.489
not dealing with new age, who have totally opposite

00:44:09.489 --> 00:44:11.849
problems that can relate to the reasons why I

00:44:11.849 --> 00:44:16.230
got new age, that can relate to things that will

00:44:16.230 --> 00:44:19.599
still be impacted by that testimony. He's like

00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:24.139
I turned this Past into a testimony not for you

00:44:24.139 --> 00:44:26.880
to keep silent but for you to share it. Do not

00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:35.380
let the fear stop you And man it was it was a

00:44:35.380 --> 00:44:41.800
hard work back to that point But God did it And

00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:43.760
I know that there's someone who's going to be

00:44:43.760 --> 00:44:45.940
moved by that testimony or hear that testimony

00:44:45.940 --> 00:44:48.380
that I just shared with that and relate to that

00:44:48.380 --> 00:44:50.460
in some way of like being scared to share your

00:44:50.460 --> 00:44:53.099
past and being shared to scare a testimony that

00:44:53.099 --> 00:44:55.219
God has given you out of fear of like the way

00:44:55.219 --> 00:44:57.440
people are going to respond and react out of

00:44:57.440 --> 00:45:02.099
judgment. God has already planned for however

00:45:02.099 --> 00:45:03.940
these people are going to react. God has already

00:45:03.940 --> 00:45:05.579
planned for whatever words are going to be spoken.

00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:07.360
God has already planned for all that and he's

00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:12.199
still calling you to it? Trust in God not in

00:45:12.199 --> 00:45:15.079
the fear. Let's move forward here. And then he

00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:18.480
told his servants. Oh One to pause right here.

00:45:18.940 --> 00:45:21.139
We see the king was enraged. He sent out his

00:45:21.139 --> 00:45:23.199
troops killed those murders and burned down their

00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:28.360
city I won't spend too much time on that but

00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:31.559
Some someone someone who's listening to say you

00:45:31.559 --> 00:45:33.079
need to hear this There's a reason why God says

00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:34.940
to give vengeance over to him. Vengeance is not

00:45:34.940 --> 00:45:37.980
ours. Vengeance is God's and trust in his divine

00:45:37.980 --> 00:45:41.219
justice I'm not saying it's going to look like

00:45:41.219 --> 00:45:42.559
that. I'm not saying it's going to look like

00:45:42.559 --> 00:45:45.900
he's burning down people's cities or doing all

00:45:45.900 --> 00:45:48.780
of that. But trust in God's ability to teach

00:45:48.780 --> 00:45:51.920
lessons, trust in God's ability to humble people

00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:54.039
and their hearts. I was someone who didn't think

00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:56.420
I needed humbling, but wasn't until I was humbled

00:45:56.420 --> 00:46:02.880
that I was able to receive the gospel. I was

00:46:02.880 --> 00:46:04.360
one of those people that I was going to rely

00:46:04.360 --> 00:46:06.039
on everything outside of Christ and it wasn't

00:46:06.039 --> 00:46:08.139
until I realized that none of those things I

00:46:08.139 --> 00:46:10.559
couldn't rely on that I was open to giving Christ

00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:14.780
a chance, to be honest. But I just want to stop

00:46:14.780 --> 00:46:17.239
and pause here. For someone who needs to see

00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:19.539
this, there's a reason why God calls you to give

00:46:19.539 --> 00:46:21.440
vengeance over. He can do it a lot better than

00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:23.079
we ever could because He does it for the good

00:46:23.079 --> 00:46:26.050
of all. When we look at revenge and teaching

00:46:26.050 --> 00:46:29.389
lessons, we look at more ways to embarrass people

00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:31.750
or to hurt people or to make them feel some type

00:46:31.750 --> 00:46:34.150
of way or to ruin things or to do all this. We

00:46:34.150 --> 00:46:37.449
look for just pain, honestly, just pain and suffering

00:46:37.449 --> 00:46:40.090
and things that make us feel better too. But

00:46:40.090 --> 00:46:44.530
when God handles justice, when God, when vengeance

00:46:44.530 --> 00:46:48.280
is His, He does it for the good of all. He's

00:46:48.280 --> 00:46:49.920
still doing it in a way that maybe this person

00:46:49.920 --> 00:46:52.559
will open up and receive salvation He's still

00:46:52.559 --> 00:46:54.780
doing it in a way that's gonna bless and touch

00:46:54.780 --> 00:46:58.780
like ten other people he's doing things for the

00:46:58.780 --> 00:47:02.179
good and even if Someone on the receiving and

00:47:02.179 --> 00:47:05.119
it doesn't feel very good It can be used as a

00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:07.059
humbling moment to bring them closer to Christ.

00:47:07.099 --> 00:47:10.559
It can be used as a moment to open their eyes

00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:15.670
Vengeance is God's for a reason Let's move forward.

00:47:15.909 --> 00:47:17.969
Then he told us servants the banquet is ready,

00:47:17.969 --> 00:47:21.070
but those who were invited were not worthy Go

00:47:21.070 --> 00:47:23.030
then to where the roads exit the city and invite

00:47:23.030 --> 00:47:25.829
everyone you find to the banquet So those servants

00:47:25.829 --> 00:47:28.150
went out to the roads and gathered everyone they

00:47:28.150 --> 00:47:31.090
found both evil and good And I wanted to pause

00:47:31.090 --> 00:47:32.710
here and I wanted to share with y 'all one thing

00:47:32.710 --> 00:47:34.929
that was just interesting of how I felt this

00:47:34.929 --> 00:47:39.610
relate We're relaying this today to modern day

00:47:39.610 --> 00:47:41.969
ministering to others and creating disciples

00:47:41.969 --> 00:47:45.829
how I shared with y 'all that when I was when

00:47:45.829 --> 00:47:49.289
I was first spreading the gospel and sharing

00:47:49.289 --> 00:47:50.909
Jesus with people sharing it to a lot of people

00:47:50.909 --> 00:47:52.789
who didn't want to hear it who didn't have eyes

00:47:52.789 --> 00:47:57.530
to see or ears to hear and God used that to build

00:47:57.530 --> 00:48:02.050
an endurance in me God used that as like a training

00:48:02.050 --> 00:48:05.809
ground because after I'd given up a lot of that

00:48:05.809 --> 00:48:09.170
territory with God we had to gain that territory

00:48:09.170 --> 00:48:11.429
back and that came through spiritual warfare

00:48:11.429 --> 00:48:15.780
that came through When I started speaking up

00:48:15.780 --> 00:48:18.019
in boldness and there was a lot of opposition

00:48:18.019 --> 00:48:20.079
There were a lot of things coming up trying to

00:48:20.079 --> 00:48:22.239
get me to pipe down and back down and I had to

00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:25.199
keep standing up I had to get my strength from

00:48:25.199 --> 00:48:27.639
God There were times there was a time when I

00:48:27.639 --> 00:48:29.719
was literally told I had to leave the place I

00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:34.239
was living in Like when I tell you like I there

00:48:34.239 --> 00:48:37.420
were some big things that I had to trust in God

00:48:37.420 --> 00:48:40.780
for in order to earn that boldness and that territory

00:48:40.780 --> 00:48:48.130
back But it was after I went through that really

00:48:48.130 --> 00:48:52.349
big period and God produced an endurance in me

00:48:52.349 --> 00:48:54.449
and the thing where when someone would say something

00:48:54.449 --> 00:48:58.329
I wouldn't be shaken I would keep moving forward.

00:48:58.409 --> 00:49:02.409
I was no longer backing down It was crazy how

00:49:02.409 --> 00:49:04.530
God there were more connections in my life and

00:49:04.530 --> 00:49:08.789
people who actually wanted to hear it And when

00:49:08.789 --> 00:49:11.920
I look back You know, God was take God takes

00:49:11.920 --> 00:49:13.800
us through different trainings and different

00:49:13.800 --> 00:49:15.780
preparations before we step into something and

00:49:15.780 --> 00:49:19.000
God had been taking me through the time where

00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:21.599
no one around me wanted to hear the gospel and

00:49:21.599 --> 00:49:24.800
it was just it seemed like constant death being

00:49:24.800 --> 00:49:28.260
spoken and Constant opposition all these things

00:49:28.260 --> 00:49:30.980
and me still putting my faith in God regardless

00:49:30.980 --> 00:49:33.980
me still stepping up to the call Regardless,

00:49:33.980 --> 00:49:40.250
and it didn't always look perfect And once God

00:49:40.250 --> 00:49:43.090
had me trained up enough, he started actually

00:49:43.090 --> 00:49:45.170
sending me to people who wanted to hear what

00:49:45.170 --> 00:49:47.469
I had to say, because I had a point where I stopped

00:49:47.469 --> 00:49:50.429
watering down my testimony. I stopped watering

00:49:50.429 --> 00:49:53.230
it down to make it more digestible. I stopped

00:49:53.230 --> 00:49:55.510
leaving out the new age. I stopped leaving out

00:49:55.510 --> 00:49:57.809
the alcohol and the smoking. I stopped leaving

00:49:57.809 --> 00:50:01.650
out these things I dealt with. Because when I

00:50:01.650 --> 00:50:04.389
look back, I was in conversations with believers.

00:50:04.570 --> 00:50:07.030
I was even leaving those out of fear of judgment

00:50:07.030 --> 00:50:10.780
from them. But God had gotten me to a point where

00:50:10.780 --> 00:50:12.159
I was like, I'm just gonna speak what he tells

00:50:12.159 --> 00:50:15.800
me to speak point one period and Then he started

00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:18.280
placing me in rooms and around people that actually

00:50:18.280 --> 00:50:22.119
wanted to hear what I have to say Because I had

00:50:22.119 --> 00:50:24.440
started to overcome that fear and I'm not saying

00:50:24.440 --> 00:50:27.239
I'm perfect but with God's strength I overcame

00:50:27.239 --> 00:50:31.780
that fear of judgment of Rejection I was rejected

00:50:31.780 --> 00:50:34.179
so much that I stopped fearing rejection. I call

00:50:34.179 --> 00:50:38.699
it I call it God's exposure therapy He gives

00:50:38.699 --> 00:50:40.519
you a lesson, He gives you something to stay

00:50:40.519 --> 00:50:42.980
rooted in, and then He'll allow the testing of

00:50:42.980 --> 00:50:47.719
your faith. And I have been through it in some

00:50:47.719 --> 00:50:50.480
ways that, glory be to God, He's gotten me through.

00:50:50.780 --> 00:50:52.800
So I'm here to share that with y 'all today.

00:50:53.800 --> 00:50:57.440
These hardships, these testings of your faith,

00:50:57.639 --> 00:51:01.179
they produce endurance. And that is also biblical.

00:51:01.300 --> 00:51:06.170
I believe is that 2 John, I'll have to look back

00:51:06.170 --> 00:51:08.809
to it, but these testings of your faith produce

00:51:08.809 --> 00:51:12.630
an endurance, right? They produce an endurance.

00:51:14.210 --> 00:51:17.690
Consider it a joy when you receive this testing

00:51:17.690 --> 00:51:22.929
of your faith. And trust that God will give you

00:51:22.929 --> 00:51:25.750
a time of rest. Trust that you stay rooted in

00:51:25.750 --> 00:51:28.309
your faith. He's gonna bless it in some way.

00:51:28.869 --> 00:51:31.250
All right, that might look like an outpouring

00:51:31.250 --> 00:51:35.530
of just his spirit and... and you know a piece

00:51:35.530 --> 00:51:39.309
and all of these things, I don't know what it'll

00:51:39.309 --> 00:51:45.449
look like. But God blesses obedience, okay? Let's

00:51:45.449 --> 00:51:47.329
move forward. When the king came in to see the

00:51:47.329 --> 00:51:49.909
guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed

00:51:49.909 --> 00:51:52.309
for a wedding. So he said to him, friend, how

00:51:52.309 --> 00:51:53.929
did you get in here without wedding clothes?

00:51:54.190 --> 00:51:55.989
The man was speechless. Then the king told the

00:51:55.989 --> 00:51:58.250
attendants, tie him up, hand and foot, and throw

00:51:58.250 --> 00:52:00.989
him into the outer darkness. Where there will

00:52:00.989 --> 00:52:03.530
be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are

00:52:03.530 --> 00:52:06.030
invited but few are chosen And what I have written

00:52:06.030 --> 00:52:08.809
down next this is there are many who will show

00:52:08.809 --> 00:52:11.769
up to be blessed, right? There there are a lot

00:52:11.769 --> 00:52:15.989
of people who show up to church on Sunday I was

00:52:15.989 --> 00:52:18.110
one of them growing up. There are a lot of people

00:52:18.110 --> 00:52:20.769
who will call themselves Christian There are

00:52:20.769 --> 00:52:24.289
a lot of people who will sing some gospel music

00:52:24.289 --> 00:52:28.010
will sing praises to the Lord but the second

00:52:29.300 --> 00:52:34.139
They are called to like legit discipleship The

00:52:34.139 --> 00:52:36.699
second they are called to deny themselves and

00:52:36.699 --> 00:52:38.119
throw these are things out the second they're

00:52:38.119 --> 00:52:40.659
called to forgive The second they're called to

00:52:40.659 --> 00:52:44.519
love Like a Jesus kind of love. It's easy to

00:52:44.519 --> 00:52:48.000
love people who love you Not ones that this is

00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:51.400
biblical to it anybody can love People who love

00:52:51.400 --> 00:52:55.199
them the tax collectors do it Showing love to

00:52:55.199 --> 00:52:57.780
people who despise you not everybody can do that

00:52:57.719 --> 00:53:00.940
That's how you're set apart. Because when you

00:53:00.940 --> 00:53:03.539
show love to people not because they did something

00:53:03.539 --> 00:53:05.460
to earn it or because you think they're deserving

00:53:05.460 --> 00:53:07.219
of it, but because you know that because they

00:53:07.219 --> 00:53:09.199
are creation, God's creation, they are deserving

00:53:09.199 --> 00:53:17.239
regardless. We owe everybody love. But there

00:53:17.239 --> 00:53:20.440
are a lot of people who will sit down at the

00:53:20.440 --> 00:53:23.659
table who want to eat the meal who want to be

00:53:23.659 --> 00:53:26.079
blessed who want to have all these things but

00:53:26.079 --> 00:53:30.340
do not want to walk in obedience and I want to

00:53:30.340 --> 00:53:34.320
be so clear again our works do not buy our salvation

00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:37.760
so that way no one may boast it's not about how

00:53:37.760 --> 00:53:39.679
much money I donate it's not about how many times

00:53:39.679 --> 00:53:42.340
I volunteer it's not about how many podcast episodes

00:53:42.340 --> 00:53:45.440
I make it's not about any of that it's not about

00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:49.300
how many exorcisms someone does it's not about

00:53:49.300 --> 00:53:53.380
any of that None of that buys your way in heaven.

00:53:53.659 --> 00:53:56.000
What keeps us out of heaven is our sin, and every

00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:57.960
single one of us is a sinner, point blank period.

00:53:58.360 --> 00:54:00.639
And the only thing that can pay the debt for

00:54:00.639 --> 00:54:02.800
our sins is the blood of Jesus. And the way that

00:54:02.800 --> 00:54:04.519
you receive the blood of Jesus is by putting

00:54:04.519 --> 00:54:06.820
your faith in him and believing in him. And once

00:54:06.820 --> 00:54:08.820
you put your faith in him and believe in him,

00:54:09.179 --> 00:54:11.019
your life starts to change because the one who

00:54:11.019 --> 00:54:12.920
believes in him will do the works that he does.

00:54:12.940 --> 00:54:17.730
That is John 14. The one who believes in him

00:54:17.730 --> 00:54:20.809
will do the works that he does. I want to pull

00:54:20.809 --> 00:54:29.929
from this part of John 2. Y 'all, bear with me.

00:54:30.190 --> 00:54:32.230
Where it says right here, this is my command.

00:54:32.349 --> 00:54:34.110
Love one another as I have loved you. We're in

00:54:34.110 --> 00:54:36.690
John chapter 15. No one has greater love than

00:54:36.690 --> 00:54:39.130
this to lay down his life for his friends. You

00:54:39.130 --> 00:54:41.590
are my friends if you do what I command you.

00:54:41.760 --> 00:54:43.960
I do not call you servants anymore because a

00:54:43.960 --> 00:54:46.579
servant does not know his master is doing. I

00:54:46.579 --> 00:54:48.860
have called you friends because I have made known

00:54:48.860 --> 00:54:50.599
to you everything I've heard from my father.

00:54:50.860 --> 00:54:53.679
You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed

00:54:53.679 --> 00:54:56.440
you to go and produce fruit that your fruit should

00:54:56.440 --> 00:54:58.860
remain so that whatever you ask the father my

00:54:58.860 --> 00:55:02.199
name he will give you. I want to highlight this

00:55:02.199 --> 00:55:05.559
part here. You are my friends if you do what

00:55:05.559 --> 00:55:11.570
I command you. Believing Like, the first step

00:55:11.570 --> 00:55:13.929
in our relationship with Jesus is believing in

00:55:13.929 --> 00:55:16.969
Him, right? Because it's hard to obey if you

00:55:16.969 --> 00:55:19.030
don't actually believe. It's hard to make those

00:55:19.030 --> 00:55:21.309
life changes if you don't actually believe. But

00:55:21.309 --> 00:55:23.690
when you actually believe and have your faith

00:55:23.690 --> 00:55:28.369
in Him, your life should look different. You

00:55:28.369 --> 00:55:32.389
should experience changes. You should be striving

00:55:32.389 --> 00:55:34.909
to be more like Jesus, not looking for scripture

00:55:34.909 --> 00:55:39.019
to excuse why you're not like Jesus. but striving

00:55:39.019 --> 00:55:44.519
to be more like Jesus. Right? And there are the

00:55:44.519 --> 00:55:47.280
invitation for salvation. We should be telling

00:55:47.280 --> 00:55:49.559
everybody and their mama about Jesus Christ.

00:55:50.760 --> 00:55:52.500
We shouldn't be picking and choosing, well, that

00:55:52.500 --> 00:55:54.260
person dealt with this sin, or this person dealt

00:55:54.260 --> 00:55:55.559
with this, or this person dealt with that, so

00:55:55.559 --> 00:55:56.980
I'm not going to talk to them. No, we should

00:55:56.980 --> 00:56:00.500
be spreading the gospel with everybody. Everybody

00:56:00.500 --> 00:56:05.019
needs to hear. Let God worry about the leading

00:56:05.019 --> 00:56:10.170
out. Let God worry about weeding people out It's

00:56:10.170 --> 00:56:14.570
not our job. We cannot read people's minds We

00:56:14.570 --> 00:56:16.849
can't see people's hearts. We can't see the future.

00:56:16.849 --> 00:56:18.889
We can't see what God has planned or God has

00:56:18.889 --> 00:56:21.570
stored for them It's not our place to decide

00:56:21.570 --> 00:56:24.190
who is and isn't deserving of the gospel message.

00:56:24.389 --> 00:56:29.130
It's not our place to decide who is and isn't

00:56:29.130 --> 00:56:31.869
Going to receive transformation and change. I

00:56:31.869 --> 00:56:33.369
know there are a lot of people who didn't believe

00:56:33.369 --> 00:56:35.860
I was ever going to give my life to Jesus that

00:56:35.860 --> 00:56:39.760
me, me being who I am today, speaking how I'm

00:56:39.760 --> 00:56:44.699
speaking, is a godsent miracle. Is like a Hail

00:56:44.699 --> 00:56:48.500
Mary buzzer ball. Like there are a lot of people

00:56:48.500 --> 00:56:57.739
who thought no shot. And I'm saying that in hopes

00:56:57.739 --> 00:56:59.539
that if there is someone that you're thinking,

00:56:59.559 --> 00:57:05.929
yeah, there's no way. Stop believing that. Because

00:57:05.929 --> 00:57:08.789
it is possible it is possible it is possible

00:57:08.789 --> 00:57:12.969
pray pray for that person every day Pray for

00:57:12.969 --> 00:57:16.530
that person every single day There are people

00:57:16.530 --> 00:57:20.050
I'm praying to come to Jesus right now for That

00:57:20.050 --> 00:57:22.349
like everything up to this moment has told me

00:57:22.349 --> 00:57:24.309
that they never intend on receiving the gospel

00:57:24.309 --> 00:57:26.469
But they never intend on but I'm still praying

00:57:26.469 --> 00:57:28.329
for him because I know a lot of people believe

00:57:28.329 --> 00:57:33.710
the same thing about me Many are invited But

00:57:33.710 --> 00:57:36.190
few are chosen many are gonna show up to that

00:57:36.190 --> 00:57:39.889
table Many people many people are gonna show

00:57:39.889 --> 00:57:42.429
up in order to be blessed and hopes to be blessed

00:57:42.429 --> 00:57:45.849
without the intention of Actually changing their

00:57:45.849 --> 00:57:49.550
lives. Let God handle that situation. Let God

00:57:49.550 --> 00:57:55.929
Handle them let God sift them out. I Think we

00:57:55.929 --> 00:57:58.650
have like such a and I want to be so thoughtful

00:57:58.650 --> 00:58:00.210
with the way I word this because I didn't expect

00:58:00.210 --> 00:58:03.980
on saying this on today's episode but There is

00:58:03.980 --> 00:58:09.300
like a big Cancel culture has been a thing right?

00:58:09.539 --> 00:58:12.699
I'd say like the past five or six years And one

00:58:12.699 --> 00:58:16.320
thing I've noticed just now being a Christian

00:58:16.320 --> 00:58:19.699
Seeing more Christian community. There is a big

00:58:19.699 --> 00:58:22.559
urge to like expose this false prophet You think

00:58:22.559 --> 00:58:24.400
this person's doing this expose them you think

00:58:24.400 --> 00:58:26.820
this person's doing expose expose expose expose

00:58:26.820 --> 00:58:29.239
expose And there are some people who are putting

00:58:29.239 --> 00:58:33.679
aside the gospel message who are putting aside

00:58:33.679 --> 00:58:36.679
love, who are putting aside forgiveness, who

00:58:36.679 --> 00:58:38.800
are putting aside preaching repentance, who are

00:58:38.800 --> 00:58:41.340
putting aside the biggest thing. When we believe

00:58:41.340 --> 00:58:43.039
that there is something wonky or fishy going

00:58:43.039 --> 00:58:46.320
on, take that to God and pray about it, because

00:58:46.320 --> 00:58:48.679
God is the one who can shed light like we could

00:58:48.679 --> 00:58:56.340
never. God exposes the workings that are going

00:58:56.340 --> 00:58:57.820
on in the darkness, right? So if you think that

00:58:57.820 --> 00:58:59.940
there's a working that needs exposed, the very

00:58:59.940 --> 00:59:02.519
first thing to do is pray to him. And there are

00:59:02.519 --> 00:59:05.500
instances where God will tell us to say something,

00:59:06.219 --> 00:59:09.559
to speak up. There are instances when he will

00:59:09.559 --> 00:59:14.780
call us to, you know, approach that person, say

00:59:14.780 --> 00:59:20.000
something to that person. And I want to say this,

00:59:20.360 --> 00:59:22.219
and I pray, Holy Spirit, give me the words as

00:59:22.219 --> 00:59:31.949
I say this. It is God's job. It is God's job

00:59:31.949 --> 00:59:34.969
to weed them out when they go before him one

00:59:34.969 --> 00:59:39.949
day. It is God's job to say this person There

00:59:39.949 --> 00:59:45.969
are a lot of us Christians that are striving

00:59:45.969 --> 00:59:50.789
to step into that judgment role that are striving

00:59:50.789 --> 00:59:55.090
and excited to say like this person's a false

00:59:55.090 --> 00:59:58.150
this and this person's a this and this person's

00:59:58.150 --> 01:00:00.389
actually wicked and this person's going to hell

01:00:00.389 --> 01:00:03.630
and this person's this this person's that when

01:00:03.630 --> 01:00:08.530
that's not our job when that's not our role to

01:00:08.530 --> 01:00:10.309
step into and that's not saying that we aren't

01:00:10.309 --> 01:00:14.000
supposed to if we if we notice a brother or sister

01:00:14.000 --> 01:00:16.780
in Christ going astray, lovingly lead them back,

01:00:16.800 --> 01:00:18.960
lovingly guide them back. I'm not saying that

01:00:18.960 --> 01:00:22.400
you're supposed to sit there quietly. But there

01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:25.179
are a lot of people who are putting aside love

01:00:25.179 --> 01:00:27.980
and forgiveness and preaching the gospel and

01:00:27.980 --> 01:00:31.119
repentance and prayer and handling things in

01:00:31.119 --> 01:00:33.760
prayer and instead taking things into their own

01:00:33.760 --> 01:00:37.519
hands. Trust in God's ability to weed them out.

01:00:37.539 --> 01:00:39.739
You don't need to alert these people to God.

01:00:39.760 --> 01:00:44.599
God already knows. God knows the hearts. God

01:00:44.599 --> 01:00:47.320
knows the mind. He knows exactly where that person's

01:00:47.320 --> 01:00:49.719
at in their faith walk. He knows exactly what

01:00:49.719 --> 01:00:53.619
they have going on. And there are going to be

01:00:53.619 --> 01:00:56.960
times when God may call you to say something,

01:00:57.739 --> 01:01:01.219
when God may call you to take an action. But

01:01:01.219 --> 01:01:03.219
there are a lot of people who are putting aside

01:01:03.219 --> 01:01:07.460
God's guidance and God's timing and God's instructing

01:01:07.460 --> 01:01:13.690
and relying on their own works. And that is creating

01:01:13.690 --> 01:01:19.050
a lot of division. And we know that the enemy

01:01:19.050 --> 01:01:22.769
comes to lie, steal, kill, destroy. The enemy

01:01:22.769 --> 01:01:25.590
comes to create division. And there are a lot

01:01:25.590 --> 01:01:27.530
of instances in the Bible where we're warned

01:01:27.530 --> 01:01:34.150
to stay away from divisive people. To stay away

01:01:34.150 --> 01:01:37.610
from people who are just producing division and

01:01:37.610 --> 01:01:42.130
just trying to cause strife. and drama and friction

01:01:42.130 --> 01:01:46.090
a house against itself like a house that's fighting

01:01:46.090 --> 01:01:49.489
against itself can't stand and if Christians

01:01:49.489 --> 01:01:52.929
are so busy fighting other Christians and working

01:01:52.929 --> 01:01:57.110
against other Christians what good for the kingdom

01:01:57.110 --> 01:02:01.409
of heaven is being done and this is my advice

01:02:01.409 --> 01:02:07.949
to you take it to God and obey what he is telling

01:02:07.949 --> 01:02:11.800
you to do There have been instances when people

01:02:11.800 --> 01:02:14.400
have been like where it's been clear as day to

01:02:14.400 --> 01:02:16.400
me about like this person doesn't have good intentions

01:02:16.400 --> 01:02:18.559
towards me and this person isn't trying to bring

01:02:18.559 --> 01:02:21.579
me closer to Jesus and this person may be trying

01:02:21.579 --> 01:02:24.019
to create delays or things like that and my first

01:02:24.019 --> 01:02:27.559
reaction is like My fleshly reaction is to want

01:02:27.559 --> 01:02:28.980
to tell other people. Do you see what they're

01:02:28.980 --> 01:02:33.760
doing? Like do y 'all see this here? Do you like

01:02:33.760 --> 01:02:36.980
my that be my first reaction is wanting to expose

01:02:36.980 --> 01:02:40.980
I'm going to call out wanting to do that But

01:02:40.980 --> 01:02:42.780
what God has taught me to do is to take it to

01:02:42.780 --> 01:02:44.860
Him first because He already knows this is happening

01:02:44.860 --> 01:02:47.320
and He already has a plan for it. To use it for

01:02:47.320 --> 01:02:50.280
my good and that person's good. And I'll tell

01:02:50.280 --> 01:02:53.420
you that the vast majority of times when I have

01:02:53.420 --> 01:02:56.639
taken it to God, He has actually told me to to

01:02:56.639 --> 01:03:01.079
wait on Him. And I cannot tell you how many times

01:03:01.079 --> 01:03:03.159
I've written down in my journal that they will

01:03:03.159 --> 01:03:05.219
fall on their own sword like a Saul and David

01:03:05.219 --> 01:03:11.630
moment. that they will reveal themselves. That

01:03:11.630 --> 01:03:15.530
they, in God's timing, I won't have to do any

01:03:15.530 --> 01:03:19.550
of it. I cannot tell y 'all how many times that

01:03:19.550 --> 01:03:24.769
that has happened. That someone's refusal to

01:03:24.769 --> 01:03:27.610
let something go, that someone's refusal to repent

01:03:27.610 --> 01:03:30.630
is exposed in whatever way by their own needs.

01:03:32.030 --> 01:03:34.090
And I'm just over here focusing on what God's

01:03:34.090 --> 01:03:37.800
called me to do. My hands are clean of the situation

01:03:37.800 --> 01:03:43.760
But that only came through prayer and Obeying

01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:45.320
what God has told me to do there were lots of

01:03:45.320 --> 01:03:46.480
times where he told me to wait where I was like

01:03:46.480 --> 01:03:49.860
I don't want to wait I don't want to do that

01:03:49.860 --> 01:03:52.780
and I was like literally it took it took every

01:03:52.780 --> 01:03:55.539
ounce of the strength that God was giving me

01:03:55.539 --> 01:03:59.280
to not Get involved and then there were other

01:03:59.280 --> 01:04:03.559
times Where I've taken it to God and God said

01:04:03.559 --> 01:04:06.489
I'll tell you when to speak And sometimes it

01:04:06.489 --> 01:04:08.670
was hours later, sometimes it was days later

01:04:08.670 --> 01:04:10.630
and a conversation would come up or a thing would

01:04:10.630 --> 01:04:12.550
happen, an opportunity for me to be vulnerable

01:04:12.550 --> 01:04:18.949
and talk about what's going on. But notice how

01:04:18.949 --> 01:04:21.789
all of these things weren't me creating things.

01:04:22.010 --> 01:04:24.750
It wasn't me going out of my way to do these

01:04:24.750 --> 01:04:26.929
things. It wasn't me relying on my own strength,

01:04:26.969 --> 01:04:29.070
my own planning, my own control. It was me trusting

01:04:29.070 --> 01:04:35.769
in God's guidance, me trusting in God's Navigation

01:04:35.769 --> 01:04:39.650
me going to him daily for my daily bread my daily

01:04:39.650 --> 01:04:45.090
guidance my daily instruction I was submitting

01:04:45.090 --> 01:04:48.329
and obeying to his plan and sometimes that looked

01:04:48.329 --> 01:04:50.869
like me just praying and There are no actions

01:04:50.869 --> 01:04:52.809
to take and sometimes that looked like me taking

01:04:52.809 --> 01:04:55.130
the action that God called me to take in his

01:04:55.130 --> 01:04:58.690
timing And someone needs to hear this today to

01:04:58.690 --> 01:05:03.090
trust in God's ability to sift people Trust in

01:05:03.090 --> 01:05:06.809
God's ability To plan for whatever is gonna happen

01:05:06.809 --> 01:05:09.650
and trust in what he has called you to do It

01:05:09.650 --> 01:05:11.730
is very hard to wait on God sometimes, but if

01:05:11.730 --> 01:05:19.809
that's where he's called you to be do it God

01:05:19.809 --> 01:05:25.630
uses the wisdom the world's wise like God uses

01:05:25.630 --> 01:05:29.630
Holy Spirit give me give me the words God uses

01:05:29.630 --> 01:05:32.769
what the world finds foolish to shame the wise

01:05:35.730 --> 01:05:37.989
And a lot of people in the world find waiting

01:05:37.989 --> 01:05:41.349
on God to be foolish. A lot of people in the

01:05:41.349 --> 01:05:44.050
world find submitting to God's word and God's

01:05:44.050 --> 01:05:45.969
ways foolishness. And that if you want anything

01:05:45.969 --> 01:05:47.789
done, if you want this and you want that, you've

01:05:47.789 --> 01:05:51.170
got to do it yourself. But God will literally

01:05:51.170 --> 01:05:53.570
use what the world finds foolish to shame the

01:05:53.570 --> 01:05:55.710
wise. I can't tell you how many times I had people

01:05:55.710 --> 01:05:58.789
saying, you're so stupid for waiting. You're

01:05:58.789 --> 01:06:02.269
so stupid for waiting on God. How many times

01:06:02.269 --> 01:06:04.230
I was shamed for waiting on God whether it be

01:06:04.230 --> 01:06:05.849
for God to make a move in my life for God to

01:06:05.849 --> 01:06:08.010
bless me with something for God to expose something

01:06:08.010 --> 01:06:14.530
and I still chose to wait on God and Then his

01:06:14.530 --> 01:06:18.309
timing Things would work out and his timing things

01:06:18.309 --> 01:06:21.610
would move accordingly and his timing justice

01:06:21.610 --> 01:06:23.929
would be executed and his timing truth would

01:06:23.929 --> 01:06:28.030
come out and He used what the world found foolish

01:06:28.030 --> 01:06:32.380
to shame What they call the wisdom what they

01:06:32.380 --> 01:06:37.960
called being wise And I pray that this message

01:06:37.960 --> 01:06:40.400
I know this has been a little bit of a long episode

01:06:40.400 --> 01:06:44.880
blesses you and helps you in your walk and again,

01:06:45.500 --> 01:06:49.699
and I say this almost every episode I'm not speaking

01:06:49.699 --> 01:06:52.119
these things to y 'all from like a place of like

01:06:52.119 --> 01:06:55.280
judgment or because I'm perfect because I'm not

01:06:55.280 --> 01:06:59.860
in any of this The reason why I'm able to speak

01:06:59.860 --> 01:07:02.960
to you with such emotion is because I've been

01:07:02.960 --> 01:07:06.699
through it myself. I'm going through it. I'm

01:07:06.699 --> 01:07:08.780
a little over a year in on my walk with Christ.

01:07:08.840 --> 01:07:13.900
I'm being sanctified. I'm learning. I'm learning

01:07:13.900 --> 01:07:16.559
as I go. And I'm sharing with you all what I

01:07:16.559 --> 01:07:22.699
learn as I learn it. And I pray that no one feels

01:07:22.699 --> 01:07:27.139
any condemnation. Through listening to this thing

01:07:27.139 --> 01:07:29.159
thing. Maybe there's a big conviction you feel

01:07:29.159 --> 01:07:31.239
I pray that you take that to God and he works

01:07:31.239 --> 01:07:34.599
with it It's crazy what he can do in your life

01:07:34.599 --> 01:07:36.320
off of you listening to the conviction you're

01:07:36.320 --> 01:07:41.139
feeling When you feel that conviction and I just

01:07:41.139 --> 01:07:42.780
want to be so clear that there is a difference

01:07:42.780 --> 01:07:44.619
between Condemnation and conviction when you

01:07:44.619 --> 01:07:46.420
feel condemnation you feel like there's no point.

01:07:46.420 --> 01:07:48.119
There's no return. There's no hope. There's no

01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:50.440
redemption There's no coming back what conviction

01:07:50.440 --> 01:07:52.500
it's recognizing what you're doing is wrong,

01:07:52.679 --> 01:07:56.460
but also understanding that there is hope in

01:07:56.460 --> 01:08:02.659
Jesus Christ. When the reality hit me when I

01:08:02.659 --> 01:08:04.679
was a new age that what I was doing was a sin

01:08:04.679 --> 01:08:08.099
and God wasn't pleased and that like I was actually

01:08:08.099 --> 01:08:10.820
wicked and I needed a savior for my sin like

01:08:10.820 --> 01:08:13.119
when the reality of that hit me the weight on

01:08:13.119 --> 01:08:15.980
me was so heavy and that was a defining moment

01:08:15.980 --> 01:08:19.300
of do I lean into this as condemnation and do

01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:20.960
I feel like well what's done is done there's

01:08:20.960 --> 01:08:23.710
no coming back. Or do I accept what Jesus Christ

01:08:23.710 --> 01:08:26.510
has to offer? Which is, yes, I feel convicted

01:08:26.510 --> 01:08:32.250
about this, but if I repent and open my heart

01:08:32.250 --> 01:08:36.390
to Jesus and obey him, he can redeem everything.

01:08:38.729 --> 01:08:41.470
It's a defining moment of when you realize the

01:08:41.470 --> 01:08:44.649
weight of everything. Do you lean into the condemnation

01:08:44.649 --> 01:08:47.869
or do you lean towards Jesus Christ and what

01:08:47.869 --> 01:08:54.369
he has to offer? So I think we're gonna close,

01:08:55.350 --> 01:08:59.350
we're gonna close this episode off today. I think

01:08:59.350 --> 01:09:02.050
this is gonna be the end, but there is a piece

01:09:02.050 --> 01:09:03.489
of scripture I wanna share with y 'all. There

01:09:03.489 --> 01:09:05.630
is a Bible verse I wanna share with y 'all. There

01:09:05.630 --> 01:09:08.750
are two Bible verses that I have had on my whiteboard

01:09:08.750 --> 01:09:12.250
this week that I'm feeling called to share with

01:09:12.250 --> 01:09:15.109
y 'all. And the first one is 2 Timothy. Chapter

01:09:15.109 --> 01:09:18.310
2 verse 15 do your best to present yourself to

01:09:18.310 --> 01:09:21.529
God as a tried -and -true worker who isn't ashamed

01:09:21.529 --> 01:09:27.130
to teach the word of truth correctly And here's

01:09:27.130 --> 01:09:32.390
the second verse 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 15

01:09:32.390 --> 01:09:36.189
Dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord Always

01:09:36.189 --> 01:09:39.289
be ready to defend your confidence in God when

01:09:39.289 --> 01:09:42.979
anyone asks you to explain it However, make your

01:09:42.979 --> 01:09:48.520
defense with gentleness and respect. I think

01:09:48.520 --> 01:09:50.899
it's kind of interesting how well these verses

01:09:50.899 --> 01:09:55.880
actually go along with what today's episode is

01:09:55.880 --> 01:09:58.579
about. Something I had to work through y 'all

01:09:58.579 --> 01:10:04.560
is to not be ashamed. Not being ashamed of obviously

01:10:04.560 --> 01:10:07.170
sharing the testimony, but I've already explained

01:10:07.170 --> 01:10:09.010
this to y 'all that the testimony is a way for

01:10:09.010 --> 01:10:13.289
me also to share the truth of Jesus Christ. Because

01:10:13.289 --> 01:10:15.310
the truth of Jesus Christ is what set me free

01:10:15.310 --> 01:10:19.970
from my sin. It was what set me free from that

01:10:19.970 --> 01:10:22.529
past and opened me up to redemption. It was soft

01:10:22.529 --> 01:10:25.829
in my heart. You can't be ashamed of that truth

01:10:25.829 --> 01:10:30.930
and the way that it was revealed to me. And dedicate

01:10:30.930 --> 01:10:33.090
your lives to Christ as Lord and always be ready

01:10:33.090 --> 01:10:37.619
to defend your confidence in God. Remember the

01:10:37.619 --> 01:10:39.520
first couple times I heard that I was thinking

01:10:39.520 --> 01:10:41.739
what does that mean? Does that mean I have to

01:10:41.739 --> 01:10:45.239
have every Bible verse be prepared to You know

01:10:45.239 --> 01:10:47.100
when an unbeliever says what about this? What

01:10:47.100 --> 01:10:49.239
about that? Does that mean be prepared to throw

01:10:49.239 --> 01:10:51.840
this verse at them and throw that verse at them?

01:10:54.560 --> 01:10:56.939
And I'm sure that God will continue to give me

01:10:56.939 --> 01:10:59.199
new understandings of that scripture because

01:10:59.199 --> 01:11:02.989
it is living Word of God And at one time that

01:11:02.989 --> 01:11:05.390
was actually a real encouragement for me to start

01:11:05.390 --> 01:11:07.090
memorizing more verses. I'm getting a little

01:11:07.090 --> 01:11:12.789
bit better with that But what God has really

01:11:12.789 --> 01:11:14.829
been calling me to lean into when I read that

01:11:14.829 --> 01:11:18.510
is just be prepared So when someone says why

01:11:18.510 --> 01:11:21.850
why do you believe God is good? Why do you believe

01:11:21.850 --> 01:11:24.609
these things? God has really revealed to me.

01:11:24.609 --> 01:11:29.430
I've already given you testimony to it I'm able

01:11:29.430 --> 01:11:32.520
to say Well, I read in god's word that he is

01:11:32.520 --> 01:11:37.600
love and I experienced love in this way That

01:11:37.600 --> 01:11:39.739
you can that you can repent and receive forgiveness

01:11:39.739 --> 01:11:42.220
and this is how this is what I was doing when

01:11:42.220 --> 01:11:47.119
I received forgiveness But the testimonies I

01:11:47.119 --> 01:11:52.079
had Were actually ways to share why i'm confident

01:11:52.079 --> 01:11:54.520
in god when I look back now i'm like man That

01:11:54.520 --> 01:11:57.140
is why the enemy has been attacking my testimony

01:11:57.140 --> 01:12:00.229
so badly is because that is one of the big ways

01:12:00.229 --> 01:12:02.750
that God is going to move through me. That is

01:12:02.750 --> 01:12:04.609
one of the big ways I'm going to evangelize.

01:12:04.649 --> 01:12:07.369
That is one of the big ways I'm going to spread

01:12:07.369 --> 01:12:12.430
the gospel. That is why he attacks it so heavy.

01:12:12.550 --> 01:12:15.550
That is why there's so much opposition. And I

01:12:15.550 --> 01:12:19.329
want to ask you this question. What opposition

01:12:19.329 --> 01:12:23.210
have you been facing in your life? What area

01:12:23.210 --> 01:12:26.449
of your life has been facing attack? You've noticed

01:12:26.449 --> 01:12:28.430
the enemy has been trying to silence, the enemy

01:12:28.430 --> 01:12:30.310
has been trying to bury, the enemy has been trying

01:12:30.310 --> 01:12:31.750
to stop, the enemy has been trying to block,

01:12:31.890 --> 01:12:33.770
he's been trying to sow seeds of doubt, fear,

01:12:34.489 --> 01:12:38.130
whatever, whatever it looks like. What area of

01:12:38.130 --> 01:12:42.470
your life has the enemy been attacking? And how

01:12:42.470 --> 01:12:46.890
can God use that to bring people closer to Jesus

01:12:46.890 --> 01:12:51.170
Christ? How can God use that to spread the gospel?

01:12:53.899 --> 01:12:55.939
I wanna thank y 'all so much for listening to

01:12:55.939 --> 01:12:59.300
this episode today. I'm your host Danielle Townsend.

01:12:59.680 --> 01:13:03.859
I'm so happy we got this episode out. I honestly,

01:13:03.859 --> 01:13:06.579
I love this episode. This was a wonderful episode

01:13:06.579 --> 01:13:10.199
in my opinion. I'm so glad that the Lord led

01:13:10.199 --> 01:13:13.079
this today. And I do ask wherever you're listening

01:13:13.079 --> 01:13:14.960
to this episode, please hit the subscribe button.

01:13:15.779 --> 01:13:18.699
Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode

01:13:18.699 --> 01:13:20.159
with someone. Share it with a friend, share it

01:13:20.159 --> 01:13:22.630
with a family member. Whoever it is that God

01:13:22.630 --> 01:13:24.550
is putting on your heart to share it with share

01:13:24.550 --> 01:13:28.050
it with them And I'll see you guys next time.

01:13:28.050 --> 01:13:30.329
Have a wonderful blessed day