Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast I am your host Danielle Townsend and
today's episode is titled many are called But
few are chosen now it's rare that I actually
have like a title of the episode before Recording
the episode as you guys know Most of the time
I have kind of a general idea after prayer scripture
reading of what I'm gonna be getting into but
Once I start the episode. It's really where the
spirit leads me, you know, I don't have a lot
written out a lot planned out but The Lord was
making it very clear to me this morning The message
today and he was doing that through scripture
reading There are two chapters in the Bible that
I'm gonna be heavily focusing on today That the
Lord had me reading this morning and that is
John chapter 15 and Matthew chapter 22 The Lord
already gave me the title many are called But
few are chosen and I have heard that saying many
many times and When I tell you my first couple
times hearing it it was really hard for me to
grasp and understand and even when it was Explained
to me at first it was hard for me to grasp and
it wasn't until I was further along in my walk
with Christ that I began to truly believe it
and I Began to truly understand it Now when I
say many are called but few are chosen I am referring
to Matthew chapter 22 Right in verse 14 where
it says many are invited But few are chosen and
honestly that that might end up being the title
now that I'm saying that that sounds a lot better
Many are invited, but few are chosen. We'll see
what happens here But what I have written down
next to that is the call that the invitation
being referred to that is an invitation that's
extended to many that's extended to everybody
right that that's the call of salvation that
any of us any of us are able to receive salvation
through our faith in Jesus Christ all of us it's
an invitation God isn't excluding a single one
of us all of us are invited to enter the kingdom
of heaven But the chosen are those that accept
in faith and obedience Those who are chosen are
the ones that once they accept Jesus Christ when
they have their faith in Jesus Christ I've shared
in past Testimonies on here and I won't get into
it too much y 'all. I know from experience what
it's like To praise Jesus with your mouth to
go to church on Sundays the whole shebang But
to have a heart that is far from the lord to
have faith that isn't in jesus christ I did it
growing up. I went to church every sunday. I
went to mass every sunday I went to all my sunday
school classes. I did all of that. I would say
I love jesus But my heart was very far from him
and honestly, it was revealed through my works
We've talked about works In a lot of previous
episodes how works do not buy your salvation,
but they are a sign of your faith where you kind
of add on your walk with Christ because once
you have your faith in him those who believe
in him will do the works that he does and that
is John chapter 14 I believe those who believe
in Jesus will try to live more like Jesus and
that's not a night and day thing and that's not
saying that it comes totally easily but when
you believe in him when you have your faith in
him There is this urge there is this fire there
is this desire To be more like Jesus To do the
things that Jesus is calling you to do which
is creating disciples being fishers of men, right?
The whole shebang and we'll get into that too
But the way when I look back I could tell that
my heart was far from the Lord is a lot of these
things were not coming out of me There wasn't
a desire to be more like Jesus There wasn't a
desire to deny my flesh. There wasn't a desire
to pick up my cross. There wasn't a desire to
do all of these things. And at that time, I would
have believed I was full -on Christian. I was
a full -on believer. You can't tell me nothing.
And it wasn't until I have experienced life with
true belief and faith in Jesus. I have experienced
what it's like to want to be more Christlike.
I've experienced what it's like to have the desire
to please God. Overpleasing the world so much
I've been willing to release things and willing
to let things go and willing to deal with persecution
and willing to deal with Whatever comes my way
on behalf of speaking up for Jesus Christ And
now that I have experienced that I am able to
see the difference, right? So I just wanted to
give y 'all a little bit a little bit of my personal
background with that I know what it's like to
show up every Sunday and glorify God with my
mouth glorify Jesus all these things but not
actually have my faith or my belief in him I've
said this many times before when I was growing
up in the church and everything like that I didn't
truly believe I needed what Jesus Christ had
to offer I didn't see myself as someone who needed
saved from my sins I didn't see myself as someone
who needed saved from myself. Which every single
one of us, we do need saved from ourselves. We
need what Jesus Christ did on the cross to enter
the kingdom of heaven. Every single one of us
is a sinner that needs what Jesus did. But I
didn't see that most of my life. Instead, I saw
myself as a victim of an unjust world. and that
I needed God to save me from everybody else around
me. I was like, God, this person's hurting me
and this person's doing this and this person's
doing that. And ABCDFG, I was pointing out everything
that everyone else was doing. I was like, God,
why aren't you protecting me from them? Why aren't
you saving me from them? Why aren't you? That
was what I was focused on. So I didn't truly
believe or have my faith in Jesus because I didn't
feel like I needed what he had to offer. And
God allowed me to get to a point in my life where
I was so down, where I had been humbled. I had
recognized that I was a sinner and I had so much
weight on me. But that was the moment where I
was able to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance.
to experience what it's like to be forgiven like
I know what it feels like now to have that weight
lifted off my shoulders after I confess my sins
and truly believe that I can be forgiven for
them and that is just a little bit of my experience
of like recognizing the difference because I
feel like I have a unique experience here y 'all
where I have kind of been Both boats. I have
been on both sides. I have been the person who's
responding to the call Like they're showing up
to the party they accepted the invitation, but
they're not responding to the call Meaning they're
not putting their faith in Jesus. They're not
allowing Jesus to change their heart. They're
not doing that They want the blessings they want
all that but they don't want to do the work.
I Have been that person and I have also now then
that person that accepts the invitation and Puts
my faith in Jesus and sees transformation because
of that Now let's get in on some scripture reading
y 'all let's get in on some scripture reading
we're in the CSB Where my she reads truth a study
Bible today starting in Matthew chapter 22 Once
more Jesus spoke to them in parables the kingdom
of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet
for his son He sent his servants to summon those
invited to the banquet, but they didn't want
to come again He sent out other servants and
said tell those who are invited see I've prepared
my dinner my oxen and fattened cattle have been
slaughtered and Everything is ready come to the
wedding banquet But they paid no attention and
went away, one to his own farm, another to his
business, while the rest seized his servants,
mistreated them, and killed them. The king was
enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those
murderers, and burned down their city. Then he
told his servants, the banquet is ready, but
those who were invited are not worthy. Go, then,
to where the roads exit the city, and invite
everyone you find to the banquet. So those servants
went out on the roads and gathered everyone they
found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet
was filled with guests. When the king came in
to see the guests, he saw a man there who was
not dressed for a wedding. So he said to them,
friend, how did you get in here without wedding
clothes? The man was speechless. The king told
the attendants, tie him up hand and foot. Throw
him into the outer darkness, where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are
invited, but few are chosen." Now, when we first
read this, this parable, right? Because this
parable was given to us by Jesus. We can see
how it relates to that time period, right? Because
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Jews had been
waiting on the Messiah to come. Jesus is here.
Right? And we can see that here with the servants,
right? Where the king sends out his servants
to invite people to the banquet. God is sending
Jesus Christ to go minister to these people,
to bring them closer to God. But the Jews reject
Jesus. We see that. We see a lot of the confrontations
with the Pharisees. We see how Jesus Christ ended
up going to the cross, right? He was the rejected
stone. He was rejected. He came here. He invited
them and he was rejected by them. They turned
away the invite. They didn't want to come. They
didn't want what Jesus had to offer. But the
interesting thing that felt highlighted to me
this morning was God didn't just take that one
rejection and walk away God tried many times
right because after after they were rejected
After they had rejected God where it says here.
They didn't want to come again He sent out other
servants and said tell those who are invited
see I've prepared my dinner my oxen fattened
cattle Have been slaughtered and everything is
ready come to the wedding banquet, like God tries
again. He doesn't just take one crack at someone's
heart. He doesn't just offer Jesus one time.
He doesn't just offer salvation one time. It's
many times over. It's many, many, many times
over. That says here that they still paid no
attention and went away One to his own farm another
to his business while the rest seized his servants
mistreated them and killed them And that's what
we see happen with Jesus, right? They seize him
they mistreat him he's whipped he's beaten He's
persecuted he's hung on the cross And when I
when I first read that I'm able to see okay This
is how that parable relates to that time period,
right? Jesus Christ came, invited people to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven, salvation through belief
in Him, experience forgiveness for their sins.
They didn't feel like they needed that. So they
rejected it. They rejected what Jesus was trying
to offer to them. God was giving them a blessing
and they were rejecting it because they didn't
feel like that's what they needed. They weren't
expecting the Messiah to look like Jesus Christ.
They were expecting the Messiah to look very
different. And they weren't expecting the Messiah
to come and tell them, you need to fix this,
you need to repent, you need to do all this.
They were expecting the Messiah to come and all
out war and like hand the Romans over to them
and they're conquered and all of these things.
So they rejected the blessing God was trying
to offer them. And in rejecting that, it was
offered to other people. The doors were open
for the Gentiles. for me, for someone who's listening
to us today, to be integrated into God's chosen
people. The Jews rejecting opened up the door
for the rest of us to accept Jesus Christ as
Lord. As we see here, after multiple times of
God trying at their hearts, he sent the servants
out to other people. He said, okay, go find other
people. there are other people out there who
will accept the invitation and the call go find
those people get everybody and i will worry about
i will weed them out later and how many times
do we see like jesus kind of referring to that
in the bible to write like fishers and men like
collect the people when the harvest time comes
that is when we'll do the sifting like worry
more about grabbing people i will do the sifting
We kind of see that here where the servants are
they're inviting everybody Everybody receives
a call. It's once people show up Right that then
the Lord can kind of do the sifting and moving
through But we see that here. We see how that
how that kind of ties in to Jesus's time period,
right? And I started thinking about how much
this relates to our daily life. God's Word is
living and breathing, right? This scripture,
I cannot tell y 'all. Every time I have a problem,
there is an answer for it somewhere in the Bible.
And I was praying to God where I was like, God,
how does this relate to my life today? How does
this relate to other people's lives today? And
he showed me the walk. of ministry, the walk
of evangelizing, the walk of bringing other people
to Christ. Y 'all sharing from personal experience,
I know that there is a call that God has for
me to create disciples and to bring people closer
to Jesus. That is what we're all supposed to
do as followers of Christ, right? It's not just
the pastor's job. It's not just that person who's
like head of evangelism's job. It's every single
one of our jobs. Everyone who has had an encounter
with Jesus Christ, whether or not you realize
it, yet you have a testimony to his goodness
that can be used to bring other people closer
to Christ. And I recognize that that is a role
and a responsibility I carry. And we each have
giftings, spiritual gifts, to be used to further
the kingdom of heaven. And I've been able to
recognize some of those gifts. And one thing
that the Lord has really been highlighting to
me over the past year is I have a lot of testimonies.
Where my life was one way, I experienced Jesus
and now I'm another way. And there are groups
of people that I can reach out to and that I
can communicate with that I never in my life
thought would be possible. There are groups that
I'm able to reach because of my past mistakes
that God has redeemed. that God has used to glorify
Him and for His good. And I have, whether or
not I realize it was what I was stepping into,
an evangelism walk. Right? I am learning how
to use the testimonies and use the gifts that
God has given me to bring other people closer
to the Kingdom of Heaven. And that is what He
has highlighted. today for me and I know that
there are other people listening to this podcast
today that need to hear this too okay because
we we are like the servants that the king sent
out we see here that the king wants to have a
banquet he wants to have a party so he sends
a servant out and says go spread the invitation
go tell all these people We're gonna break this
down as we walk through it. That is what God
calls us to do, right? To make disciples to show
other people the love of Jesus and we're doing
it in different ways There are some people who
know by will go and start preaching the gospel
to them and start telling them about who Jesus
was And their ears perk up and they want to hear
more There are other people we do it more by
showing them the love of Jesus or actions, right?
Maybe they don't want to pick up a Bible. Maybe
they're not ready to hear that sermon But they
see how you live your life and how you show Christ
like love how you move in kindness how you're
forgiving and You're ministering to these people
by the choices you make in the way you choose
to live your life You're showing them the love
of Jesus. They're experiencing Jesus's love through
you Whatever way it is Whatever method God has
called us to invite people to the Kingdom of
Heaven, right? He has called us to invite people
into a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I've
shared with this, for me personally, a lot of
it comes to sharing my past experiences and my
past testimonies. God has gifted me, blessed
me with the ability to communicate those testimonies.
And whatever your gift is, God's gonna use that
too. But the root of it is is to invite people
into a relationship with Jesus That they may
See salvation So we have this job right we have
this call and now we're out doing this call right
and Not everybody is going to respond well to
this call and that's what we see here next that
like There are people who didn't want to come.
When Jesus was inviting them, there were people
who didn't want to come. When Jesus was preaching
repentance and the forgiveness of your sins and
loving one another and things like that, a lot
of people didn't want that. They rejected that.
And the message that God is calling you to carry,
the things that he's calling you to do, not everybody
is going to want to accept it. Not everybody
will accept it. And I want to refer back to some
scripture right John 15 Verse 18 if the world
hates you understand it hated me before it hated
you if the world rejected Jesus and His message
and what he what he was offering Yeah, it's gonna
hate you. It's gonna reject you especially when
you were doing God's will when you are walking
in God's will, when you are showing people the
love of Jesus Christ, when you have that Holy
Spirit residing in you and it's shining through,
there are going to be people, and I want to pull
from John chapter 15 verse 25, that will hate
you for no reason. I don't know what it is about
them but I just don't like them. I don't know
what it is about them but I just don't want to
hear it. If they hated Jesus, they're gonna hate
the person that looks like Jesus. Your message,
whatever it is that you're bringing to the table
that is from God, do not let whether or not people
accept it or want to hear it be like how you
determine whether or not this is from God. And
this is something I have had to really, as someone
who I used to gauge my performance based off
of other people's reactions, and I used to gauge
if what I was doing was right based off of how
many likes or how many comments or how many interactions
or how just many positive words I would get,
right? When I stepped into a relationship with
Jesus Christ, and when I started answering the
call to create disciples, to start spreading
the gospel, The way that people responded at
first I started noticing was kind of like my
gauge to is this what God is calling me to do?
Is this what God is calling me to say? And when
I would have some hateful responses and some
pushback my brain would first go to oh this must
not be what God's calling me to do because if
he called me to spread this message or do this
thing wouldn't more people be accepting of it?
Wouldn't more people want to be hearing it? Wouldn't
there be less pushback? Wouldn't it be easier
to move through? There are some cases where when
God has called me to speak and a situation goes
even better than I could expect, but there have
been many situations I've stepped into where
God has called me to speak and I have been rejected.
And that doesn't mean that God wasn't calling
me to speak that thing. He has really had to
show this to me. Just because you are rejected
or someone doesn't want to hear it or there's
some opposition to it doesn't mean That it's
not from God That's what you need to take it
to God if you have concerns of God is this message
from you Like is this thing from you take it
straight to him? But also start to trust a bit
more in the discernment that he is giving you
We walk by faith, not by sight. I feel called
to refer back to the story of Nehemiah. When
they're rebuilding that temple, they were doing
what God called them to do, but there was opposition
every single step of the way. There were lies,
there were slander, there were false accusations,
there were plots and plans like off Nehemiah.
Like the enemy was working in any way possible
to stop the rebuilding. And if they would have
thought, hmm. Don't think this is from God because
if it was from God Like there wouldn't be opposition
like this the temple would have never gotten
built the opposition was an attempt to get them
to stop before it could be completed and They
had to continue to work forward Regardless of
the opposition going on around them and in doing
that and putting their faith in God and saying
well God has called me to it God has spoken it
So regardless of the opposition, I'm going to
trust, I'm going to get to that endpoint. If
God has spoken it, I'm going to trust in God's
word over what I see and over my fear. Because
they did that, the temple was rebuilt. And God
blessed that building in ways. And the blessing
looked like the weapons formed, but they didn't
prosper. But Nehemiah, the builders had to trust
in God's word that the weapons will form, but
they will not prosper. They had to trust in the
end vision that God gave them. Now to go back
to Matthew 22, so we have the people who have
rejected Jesus and will also reject what you
have to say. And I will share with y 'all just
a little bit of personal experience. And it was
really rough when I was like very fresh in my
walk with Jesus and I had so much like enthusiasm
and I just wanted to tell everybody because I
had just experienced some Miraculous miracles
and I had this fire in this desire. I just want
to tell everybody in their mama what Jesus did
in my life But the people that I was telling
Were people who weren't believers and some of
these people were people who were actually really
angry at God um some of these people were people
who you know had a lot of animosity towards some
things that my past testimonies were for those
of y 'all who have been here with me for a minute
you know i had a history but when i gave my life
to jesus i was in new age i was a tarot card
reader i had entertained witchcraft all of these
things and there are some people who like the
best way i can word it is um there is already
like a lot of anger and hostility towards the
new age community you know um So in me even speaking
that I was delivered from that or coming out
of that, there was already a skewed perception
of who I was as a person. There was already like
a real, I don't want to hear her message, you
know? And that was something that the Lord has
had to take me through and overcoming fears and
worries in regards to that and speaking up anyways.
But I had all this fire in me and I started speaking
to a lot of people who didn't want to hear the
message. It wasn't like I was going and speaking
to believers who had also experienced all these
miracles and also experienced all these amazing
things and loved Jesus and believed in Jesus,
too I was speaking to a lot of people who were
like, what are you talking about? I was speaking
to people who had anger who had envy who had
jealousy and very quickly the fire I had for
Jesus and to share that testimony really started
to dwindle out and it started to be replaced
with fear and that part I started kind of being
pushed into a little bit of a hiding space because
I kept being rejected and I kept having like
side comments or different things being poked
at. I wanted to hold on to what Jesus had did
for me and I didn't want to hear it being poked
at, right? I didn't want to hear any more death
being spoken over it. I didn't want to be told
I was crazy anymore, so I stopped speaking up
about it as much. And I started keeping it to
myself more for a while. And fears started overtaking.
And before I knew it, I was allowing the enemy
to take territory. There is a story in the Bible
that's coming to mind, and I cannot tell you
the names of these people. It's been so long
since I've read the story, so bear with me, y
'all. But there was a king, right? Who like they
had a temple for the Lord like there was gold
and all these things and there was another king
that pulled up and was like I'm here to overtake
your territory and he's like God isn't with you
and God wasn't with any of the other people I
came up against so you might as well just give
everything over to me right now and surrender
to me and That king was kind of like Yeah, you
know what you're right you're right I'll give
you whatever you want. If you just like leave
us be what what's your price and I'll pay it
and he gave him like this high amount and What
this man did was he? He didn't this king didn't
have everything like in his personal storage
to pay that other king. So he took from God's
temple He took the gold. He took the things off
the doorframe again y 'all. This is I it's been
so long since I've read this So this is like
a very rough trying to pull it out of my brain.
Bear with me. Okay But he he gave to this King
All the things that were meant to be that were
God's right and the things that God had given
And that was a little bit of the recognition
the realization I had had at the time that was
actually the time when I when I read that story
The first time I had really read and remembered
reading that story in the Bible because I had
started to recognize that there was a lot of
territory that God had given me, right? He had
given me a vision of creating disciples and sharing
my testimony and doing all these things and he
had given me a fire and he had given me a voice
and all of this and I was faced with a lot of
opposition and I didn't feel prepared to deal
with the opposition and I wasn't truly yet relying
on God to defend me and entrusting that like
it will all work out for my good. So I started
making compromises. I stopped speaking up as
much. I stopped spreading the gospel as much.
I stopped sharing my testimonies. I stopped speaking
to the miracles. I stopped trying to bring people
closer to Christ. It wasn't like I was walking
away from my relationship with Christ, but I
put the evangelism to the side. I put the disciple
making to the side, right? Like I put those things
to the side and went kind of into a survival
mode of just protecting what Jesus had already
done in my life. And when I look at that was
what that King was trying to do, right? Like
he was just trying to hold on to his kingdom
in general, but he was willing to like give up.
I wanted, I know he didn't technically give up
territory, but he was kind of giving up territory
in other areas, right? And in trying to conserve
what God had given him, he had started giving
away other things that God had given him. And
that was kind of what I was doing, right? I was
holding on so tightly to like, well, God gave
me this call and he gave me this desire and he
gave me this fire. And like, I want to hold onto
that so badly. So I'll make compromises in these
other areas. And when I tell y 'all that it took
a while. and it wasn't very easy to earn that
back. God helped me, but to work with that back,
there was warfare, there were battles I had to
go through to get that territory back that I
had given up to the enemy. And it had taken months
and months. I had to go through multiple instances
of having to stay on my ground and facing legit
loss and some very harsh words and a lot of pain.
in order to get back that boldness that I had
lost. When I spent so long making compromises,
I lost a boldness, right? I had to start getting
back to that place of not fearing. And God helped
me do that. And I'm here today to tell you that's
possible. If you have surrendered territory to
the enemy, if you have like out of fear, giving
up things and compromise, God will help you get
that back. He will. I'm just saying it's not
an easy process. But he helped me with it. I'm
here speaking to you all today, aren't I? And
I'm just a little over a year of giving my life
to Christ. I gave my life to Christ in September
of 2024. So I know when I'm talking about this,
I make it sound like it's been 25 years, but
all of this has happened in a little over a year.
A lot can happen in a year. So let this be testimony
for you too, that all of this has happened in
a year and I'm standing here talking to y 'all
about this today, God is good. But let's keep
moving forward. They paid attention and went
away, one to his own farm, another to his business,
while the rest seized to servants, mistreated
them and killed them. Now we see there are some
people who just went back to their daily lives.
They hear the gospel spread to them, and they're
like, nah, but I can't leave my lifestyle behind.
Nah, but I can't give this up. Nah, but I can't
release this. We know as followers of Christ,
there is a dying to self that has to happen,
right? Like it starts with us believing in Jesus,
believing in who he is, believing in what he
did, that he resurrected, believing that he's
coming back one day, believing that we can be
forgiven for our sins. It starts with the belief.
Because if you don't believe, Then your your
life isn't gonna change if you don't actually
believe right once you believe Is when Jesus
starts working in your heart and Your life is
supposed to change and the most loving way I
can say this your life is supposed to change
when you're walking with grace The things that
you were once relying on in the world for fulfillment
and for peace and for love, now that you know
peace and love that surpasses all understanding
from Jesus, you should be slowly letting those
things go and accepting Jesus Christ instead.
You may have at one point been someone who is
very unforgiving and had a really hardened heart
but experiencing the love of Jesus Christ and
the forgiveness that he is giving you being able
to start showing that forgiveness and that love
to other people in receiving it you're able to
give it and Experiencing it you're able to show
it to other people right and Then seeing that
there's something better I'm not saying it's
easy, but there's a letting go of thing that
used to bring you comfort and instead grabbing
on to Jesus understanding and recognizing that's
much better. He's much better than any of these
other things. I've shared before y 'all I had
to go through that right when I gave my life
to Jesus it was very soon it was very soon after
he called me to leave I had to throw away all
the tarot cards I had to throw away all the new
age stuff I kept being led to scripture if your
hand causes you to sin cut it off and I recognized
that that was a temptation that was an open door
I couldn't keep in my life I trusted Jesus was
going to reveal to me what I needed to see. I
trusted that He is the way, the truth, the life.
I trusted that in Him all those things are going
to be provided. So I had to let those other things
go. They couldn't be my comfort. They couldn't
be my guide anymore. Smoking and drinking, Jesus
Christ told me, you are never going to need that
again. You need to give it up. I'm calling you
to a sober lifestyle. And that was my comfort,
my detachment, my relaxing for the past like
15 years of my life. But when I had experienced
a peace that surpassed all understanding from
Jesus, I understood that. I didn't understand
completely what He meant when He told me, if
you throw these things out, I'll give you something
much better. I didn't totally understand what
that meant, but because I knew Jesus could give
me a peace, because I knew He was a miracle worker,
I trusted in that and I threw away. I threw away
my grinder. I threw away anything that could
have allowed me to go back to that lifestyle
easily. And it wasn't an easy transition, but
God did exceedingly and abundantly. Those were
areas of dying to my old self, of giving up what
brought me comfort before, giving up my peace
before, giving up these things and trusting that
whatever Jesus Christ was bringing to the table
was much better. I received a new life, but it
required me to release my old life. And we see
these people here who they hear the gospel, they
get the invitation. But they don't want to leave
that life behind. They don't want to leave those
comforts behind. They don't want to leave that
peace. And that they go back to that. I cannot
tell you how many opportunities I had growing
up throughout my life when people would try to
talk about Jesus to me or try to preach the gospel
or be going through something. They try to give
me a biblical answer and I'd say, yeah, OK, cool,
whatever. And then I would go right back to doing
what I would do. And it was years down the road
that I gave my life to Jesus years down the road
Which is also an evidence here that he doesn't
stop inviting you He was inviting me my entire
life and I was rejecting it my entire life And
that's the great thing with God is like he doesn't
stop chasing you down He doesn't stop inviting
you. He doesn't stop sending people Even when
I was In the middle of the desert, nothing to
my name, there was a couple that I truly believe
God sent to me that, you know, they weren't telling
me give your life up, leave behind tarot, they
weren't any of that. But they were planting seeds
by showing me the love of Jesus in ways that
like really stuck with me. Because these people
didn't have a lot to give, but they were still
always willing to give. Whenever they found out
I needed something, they were so quick to give.
and showing me a love that made no sense. Even
when I was in the lowest of the low, even when
I had rejected Jesus so many times over, I was
still being sent to people. God was still sending
his servants. And someone needs to hear that
today. That's something that we have to be willing
to do as servants of Christ. is continuing, despite
of how many times we've been rejected before,
to do what God has called us to do. Understandingly,
that's part of the walk is to be rejected. There's
a message God wants you to put out. Not everybody
wants to hear it. There's a thing he's calling
you to do. Not everybody is going to support
it. That doesn't mean that he hasn't called you
to do it. And don't let the rejection that you
face create a fear that steers you away from
continuing down that path. I'll share this with
y 'all real quick a personal testimony of I was
really scared to share that I had been in new
age It was really scared to there was a time
period my life when I wanted to act like I hadn't
been in it before And the Lord revealed to me
that that was me like Hiding the testimony that
he had given me and he didn't give me a testimony
to hide But I had faced some opposition right
um and there were a lot of fearful words spoken
into i remember when i first gave my life to
christ um that there there were that's why i
couldn't word this is there were some videos
i remember seeing on my tiktok that spoke some
real fear into my situation because remember
at this time i'm leaving behind tarot cards i'm
leaving behind mediums i'm leaving behind all
that and pursuing relationship with christ and
there is a period in my life where i was really
fearful of prophetic words because i i didn't
know how to discern what is from the lord and
what isn't um so i just shut it off completely
but i remember when i was really trying to like
give my life to christ and this was right before
the lord called me to do like a total social
media fast where i i stopped listening to all
of those voices so i could be trained to listen
to his voice alone glory be to god he did that
i didn't understand at the time but i remember
right before that there were a couple videos
that I had seen that were supposedly prophetic
words that were speaking some real fear into
my situation. That sounded Christian because
they were coming in the name of the Lord, right?
They were saying like, you're giving your life
to Jesus and you're leaving your old life behind
and God's gonna do amazing things in your life.
But this was a thing that a lot of fear was spoken
into is I remember specifically this person in
this word saying, people are gonna accuse you
of witchcraft. people are going to accuse you
of wickedness people are going to accuse you
of being like a false this and a false that and
like all of these things and that stuck with
me that stuck with me and of course as followers
of christ when of course that is going to happen
at some point right i i see some pastors i love
to listen to their messages like philip anthony
mitchell for one that that man is anointed and
appointed Now I'm not saying he's perfect, but
that man, when he is speaking, I know that the
Holy Spirit, their messages I've heard were,
I'm blown away. The Holy Spirit is speaking through
that man. God is working through him. He is doing
some wonderful things for the kingdom of heaven.
But there are so many people there. He's a false
prophet. He's a falseless. He's a falseless,
like tearing him down so quick. I cannot tell
y 'all how many people that like, I see the Holy
Spirit speaking through them. I know that that
is I know that God is working through them and
they're being accused and all those things and
there was a real fear at the beginning of my
walk hearing that that had been really ingrained
in me right and I had noticed that start to come
out the more I was walking with Christ Um, when
I started connecting there a couple people I
connected with I hadn't talked to in years But
the last they had seen of me or heard of me.
I was in new age And they had bad experiences
with new age and some of them I think that they're
even trying to work out their way out of new
age still, um, some of them have Points where
they've kind of dipped in and fallen into it
But they did not want to accept they gave my
life to jesus And they're very quick to say you're
a witch Like to my face y 'all I was called a
witch. To my face I was called demonic. I was
told you're you're just pretending to love Jesus
and you're just pretending to be part of the
church and you're just all these things and you're
really wicked and like the idea of repenting
and give my life to Jesus whatever fruit they
could see they they didn't want to see that fruit
they didn't care about the fruit they were very
focused on like you were once this you're always
going to be this I don't believe any of it and
that instilled a lot of fear in me and it kept
bringing me back to that first what I believed
to be a word from God before I went on my social
media fast of like the opposition that would
come up and I didn't want that. I recognize that,
well, when people know I have a history of New
Age, they're more likely to accuse me of those
things and do all those things. I know they're
gonna do it regardless, but when I tell them
about my past, they're more likely to do it.
So why don't I just not tell them about that?
And I went through a period where I didn't tell
anyone about it, where I very much limited it
and watered it down out of fear of judgment and
accusation. And the Lord convicted me so heavily
if I gave you that testimony. I redeemed that,
not saying that God blessed me doing that thing,
that thing was a sin. But when I came out of
it, God told me, I will use this as a testimony
for you to connect with other people. There are
people who are dealing with new age, who are
not dealing with new age, who have totally opposite
problems that can relate to the reasons why I
got new age, that can relate to things that will
still be impacted by that testimony. He's like
I turned this Past into a testimony not for you
to keep silent but for you to share it. Do not
let the fear stop you And man it was it was a
hard work back to that point But God did it And
I know that there's someone who's going to be
moved by that testimony or hear that testimony
that I just shared with that and relate to that
in some way of like being scared to share your
past and being shared to scare a testimony that
God has given you out of fear of like the way
people are going to respond and react out of
judgment. God has already planned for however
these people are going to react. God has already
planned for whatever words are going to be spoken.
God has already planned for all that and he's
still calling you to it? Trust in God not in
the fear. Let's move forward here. And then he
told his servants. Oh One to pause right here.
We see the king was enraged. He sent out his
troops killed those murders and burned down their
city I won't spend too much time on that but
Some someone someone who's listening to say you
need to hear this There's a reason why God says
to give vengeance over to him. Vengeance is not
ours. Vengeance is God's and trust in his divine
justice I'm not saying it's going to look like
that. I'm not saying it's going to look like
he's burning down people's cities or doing all
of that. But trust in God's ability to teach
lessons, trust in God's ability to humble people
and their hearts. I was someone who didn't think
I needed humbling, but wasn't until I was humbled
that I was able to receive the gospel. I was
one of those people that I was going to rely
on everything outside of Christ and it wasn't
until I realized that none of those things I
couldn't rely on that I was open to giving Christ
a chance, to be honest. But I just want to stop
and pause here. For someone who needs to see
this, there's a reason why God calls you to give
vengeance over. He can do it a lot better than
we ever could because He does it for the good
of all. When we look at revenge and teaching
lessons, we look at more ways to embarrass people
or to hurt people or to make them feel some type
of way or to ruin things or to do all this. We
look for just pain, honestly, just pain and suffering
and things that make us feel better too. But
when God handles justice, when God, when vengeance
is His, He does it for the good of all. He's
still doing it in a way that maybe this person
will open up and receive salvation He's still
doing it in a way that's gonna bless and touch
like ten other people he's doing things for the
good and even if Someone on the receiving and
it doesn't feel very good It can be used as a
humbling moment to bring them closer to Christ.
It can be used as a moment to open their eyes
Vengeance is God's for a reason Let's move forward.
Then he told us servants the banquet is ready,
but those who were invited were not worthy Go
then to where the roads exit the city and invite
everyone you find to the banquet So those servants
went out to the roads and gathered everyone they
found both evil and good And I wanted to pause
here and I wanted to share with y 'all one thing
that was just interesting of how I felt this
relate We're relaying this today to modern day
ministering to others and creating disciples
how I shared with y 'all that when I was when
I was first spreading the gospel and sharing
Jesus with people sharing it to a lot of people
who didn't want to hear it who didn't have eyes
to see or ears to hear and God used that to build
an endurance in me God used that as like a training
ground because after I'd given up a lot of that
territory with God we had to gain that territory
back and that came through spiritual warfare
that came through When I started speaking up
in boldness and there was a lot of opposition
There were a lot of things coming up trying to
get me to pipe down and back down and I had to
keep standing up I had to get my strength from
God There were times there was a time when I
was literally told I had to leave the place I
was living in Like when I tell you like I there
were some big things that I had to trust in God
for in order to earn that boldness and that territory
back But it was after I went through that really
big period and God produced an endurance in me
and the thing where when someone would say something
I wouldn't be shaken I would keep moving forward.
I was no longer backing down It was crazy how
God there were more connections in my life and
people who actually wanted to hear it And when
I look back You know, God was take God takes
us through different trainings and different
preparations before we step into something and
God had been taking me through the time where
no one around me wanted to hear the gospel and
it was just it seemed like constant death being
spoken and Constant opposition all these things
and me still putting my faith in God regardless
me still stepping up to the call Regardless,
and it didn't always look perfect And once God
had me trained up enough, he started actually
sending me to people who wanted to hear what
I had to say, because I had a point where I stopped
watering down my testimony. I stopped watering
it down to make it more digestible. I stopped
leaving out the new age. I stopped leaving out
the alcohol and the smoking. I stopped leaving
out these things I dealt with. Because when I
look back, I was in conversations with believers.
I was even leaving those out of fear of judgment
from them. But God had gotten me to a point where
I was like, I'm just gonna speak what he tells
me to speak point one period and Then he started
placing me in rooms and around people that actually
wanted to hear what I have to say Because I had
started to overcome that fear and I'm not saying
I'm perfect but with God's strength I overcame
that fear of judgment of Rejection I was rejected
so much that I stopped fearing rejection. I call
it I call it God's exposure therapy He gives
you a lesson, He gives you something to stay
rooted in, and then He'll allow the testing of
your faith. And I have been through it in some
ways that, glory be to God, He's gotten me through.
So I'm here to share that with y 'all today.
These hardships, these testings of your faith,
they produce endurance. And that is also biblical.
I believe is that 2 John, I'll have to look back
to it, but these testings of your faith produce
an endurance, right? They produce an endurance.
Consider it a joy when you receive this testing
of your faith. And trust that God will give you
a time of rest. Trust that you stay rooted in
your faith. He's gonna bless it in some way.
All right, that might look like an outpouring
of just his spirit and... and you know a piece
and all of these things, I don't know what it'll
look like. But God blesses obedience, okay? Let's
move forward. When the king came in to see the
guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed
for a wedding. So he said to him, friend, how
did you get in here without wedding clothes?
The man was speechless. Then the king told the
attendants, tie him up, hand and foot, and throw
him into the outer darkness. Where there will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth for many are
invited but few are chosen And what I have written
down next this is there are many who will show
up to be blessed, right? There there are a lot
of people who show up to church on Sunday I was
one of them growing up. There are a lot of people
who will call themselves Christian There are
a lot of people who will sing some gospel music
will sing praises to the Lord but the second
They are called to like legit discipleship The
second they are called to deny themselves and
throw these are things out the second they're
called to forgive The second they're called to
love Like a Jesus kind of love. It's easy to
love people who love you Not ones that this is
biblical to it anybody can love People who love
them the tax collectors do it Showing love to
people who despise you not everybody can do that
That's how you're set apart. Because when you
show love to people not because they did something
to earn it or because you think they're deserving
of it, but because you know that because they
are creation, God's creation, they are deserving
regardless. We owe everybody love. But there
are a lot of people who will sit down at the
table who want to eat the meal who want to be
blessed who want to have all these things but
do not want to walk in obedience and I want to
be so clear again our works do not buy our salvation
so that way no one may boast it's not about how
much money I donate it's not about how many times
I volunteer it's not about how many podcast episodes
I make it's not about any of that it's not about
how many exorcisms someone does it's not about
any of that None of that buys your way in heaven.
What keeps us out of heaven is our sin, and every
single one of us is a sinner, point blank period.
And the only thing that can pay the debt for
our sins is the blood of Jesus. And the way that
you receive the blood of Jesus is by putting
your faith in him and believing in him. And once
you put your faith in him and believe in him,
your life starts to change because the one who
believes in him will do the works that he does.
That is John 14. The one who believes in him
will do the works that he does. I want to pull
from this part of John 2. Y 'all, bear with me.
Where it says right here, this is my command.
Love one another as I have loved you. We're in
John chapter 15. No one has greater love than
this to lay down his life for his friends. You
are my friends if you do what I command you.
I do not call you servants anymore because a
servant does not know his master is doing. I
have called you friends because I have made known
to you everything I've heard from my father.
You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed
you to go and produce fruit that your fruit should
remain so that whatever you ask the father my
name he will give you. I want to highlight this
part here. You are my friends if you do what
I command you. Believing Like, the first step
in our relationship with Jesus is believing in
Him, right? Because it's hard to obey if you
don't actually believe. It's hard to make those
life changes if you don't actually believe. But
when you actually believe and have your faith
in Him, your life should look different. You
should experience changes. You should be striving
to be more like Jesus, not looking for scripture
to excuse why you're not like Jesus. but striving
to be more like Jesus. Right? And there are the
invitation for salvation. We should be telling
everybody and their mama about Jesus Christ.
We shouldn't be picking and choosing, well, that
person dealt with this sin, or this person dealt
with this, or this person dealt with that, so
I'm not going to talk to them. No, we should
be spreading the gospel with everybody. Everybody
needs to hear. Let God worry about the leading
out. Let God worry about weeding people out It's
not our job. We cannot read people's minds We
can't see people's hearts. We can't see the future.
We can't see what God has planned or God has
stored for them It's not our place to decide
who is and isn't deserving of the gospel message.
It's not our place to decide who is and isn't
Going to receive transformation and change. I
know there are a lot of people who didn't believe
I was ever going to give my life to Jesus that
me, me being who I am today, speaking how I'm
speaking, is a godsent miracle. Is like a Hail
Mary buzzer ball. Like there are a lot of people
who thought no shot. And I'm saying that in hopes
that if there is someone that you're thinking,
yeah, there's no way. Stop believing that. Because
it is possible it is possible it is possible
pray pray for that person every day Pray for
that person every single day There are people
I'm praying to come to Jesus right now for That
like everything up to this moment has told me
that they never intend on receiving the gospel
But they never intend on but I'm still praying
for him because I know a lot of people believe
the same thing about me Many are invited But
few are chosen many are gonna show up to that
table Many people many people are gonna show
up in order to be blessed and hopes to be blessed
without the intention of Actually changing their
lives. Let God handle that situation. Let God
Handle them let God sift them out. I Think we
have like such a and I want to be so thoughtful
with the way I word this because I didn't expect
on saying this on today's episode but There is
like a big Cancel culture has been a thing right?
I'd say like the past five or six years And one
thing I've noticed just now being a Christian
Seeing more Christian community. There is a big
urge to like expose this false prophet You think
this person's doing this expose them you think
this person's doing expose expose expose expose
expose And there are some people who are putting
aside the gospel message who are putting aside
love, who are putting aside forgiveness, who
are putting aside preaching repentance, who are
putting aside the biggest thing. When we believe
that there is something wonky or fishy going
on, take that to God and pray about it, because
God is the one who can shed light like we could
never. God exposes the workings that are going
on in the darkness, right? So if you think that
there's a working that needs exposed, the very
first thing to do is pray to him. And there are
instances where God will tell us to say something,
to speak up. There are instances when he will
call us to, you know, approach that person, say
something to that person. And I want to say this,
and I pray, Holy Spirit, give me the words as
I say this. It is God's job. It is God's job
to weed them out when they go before him one
day. It is God's job to say this person There
are a lot of us Christians that are striving
to step into that judgment role that are striving
and excited to say like this person's a false
this and this person's a this and this person's
actually wicked and this person's going to hell
and this person's this this person's that when
that's not our job when that's not our role to
step into and that's not saying that we aren't
supposed to if we if we notice a brother or sister
in Christ going astray, lovingly lead them back,
lovingly guide them back. I'm not saying that
you're supposed to sit there quietly. But there
are a lot of people who are putting aside love
and forgiveness and preaching the gospel and
repentance and prayer and handling things in
prayer and instead taking things into their own
hands. Trust in God's ability to weed them out.
You don't need to alert these people to God.
God already knows. God knows the hearts. God
knows the mind. He knows exactly where that person's
at in their faith walk. He knows exactly what
they have going on. And there are going to be
times when God may call you to say something,
when God may call you to take an action. But
there are a lot of people who are putting aside
God's guidance and God's timing and God's instructing
and relying on their own works. And that is creating
a lot of division. And we know that the enemy
comes to lie, steal, kill, destroy. The enemy
comes to create division. And there are a lot
of instances in the Bible where we're warned
to stay away from divisive people. To stay away
from people who are just producing division and
just trying to cause strife. and drama and friction
a house against itself like a house that's fighting
against itself can't stand and if Christians
are so busy fighting other Christians and working
against other Christians what good for the kingdom
of heaven is being done and this is my advice
to you take it to God and obey what he is telling
you to do There have been instances when people
have been like where it's been clear as day to
me about like this person doesn't have good intentions
towards me and this person isn't trying to bring
me closer to Jesus and this person may be trying
to create delays or things like that and my first
reaction is like My fleshly reaction is to want
to tell other people. Do you see what they're
doing? Like do y 'all see this here? Do you like
my that be my first reaction is wanting to expose
I'm going to call out wanting to do that But
what God has taught me to do is to take it to
Him first because He already knows this is happening
and He already has a plan for it. To use it for
my good and that person's good. And I'll tell
you that the vast majority of times when I have
taken it to God, He has actually told me to to
wait on Him. And I cannot tell you how many times
I've written down in my journal that they will
fall on their own sword like a Saul and David
moment. that they will reveal themselves. That
they, in God's timing, I won't have to do any
of it. I cannot tell y 'all how many times that
that has happened. That someone's refusal to
let something go, that someone's refusal to repent
is exposed in whatever way by their own needs.
And I'm just over here focusing on what God's
called me to do. My hands are clean of the situation
But that only came through prayer and Obeying
what God has told me to do there were lots of
times where he told me to wait where I was like
I don't want to wait I don't want to do that
and I was like literally it took it took every
ounce of the strength that God was giving me
to not Get involved and then there were other
times Where I've taken it to God and God said
I'll tell you when to speak And sometimes it
was hours later, sometimes it was days later
and a conversation would come up or a thing would
happen, an opportunity for me to be vulnerable
and talk about what's going on. But notice how
all of these things weren't me creating things.
It wasn't me going out of my way to do these
things. It wasn't me relying on my own strength,
my own planning, my own control. It was me trusting
in God's guidance, me trusting in God's Navigation
me going to him daily for my daily bread my daily
guidance my daily instruction I was submitting
and obeying to his plan and sometimes that looked
like me just praying and There are no actions
to take and sometimes that looked like me taking
the action that God called me to take in his
timing And someone needs to hear this today to
trust in God's ability to sift people Trust in
God's ability To plan for whatever is gonna happen
and trust in what he has called you to do It
is very hard to wait on God sometimes, but if
that's where he's called you to be do it God
uses the wisdom the world's wise like God uses
Holy Spirit give me give me the words God uses
what the world finds foolish to shame the wise
And a lot of people in the world find waiting
on God to be foolish. A lot of people in the
world find submitting to God's word and God's
ways foolishness. And that if you want anything
done, if you want this and you want that, you've
got to do it yourself. But God will literally
use what the world finds foolish to shame the
wise. I can't tell you how many times I had people
saying, you're so stupid for waiting. You're
so stupid for waiting on God. How many times
I was shamed for waiting on God whether it be
for God to make a move in my life for God to
bless me with something for God to expose something
and I still chose to wait on God and Then his
timing Things would work out and his timing things
would move accordingly and his timing justice
would be executed and his timing truth would
come out and He used what the world found foolish
to shame What they call the wisdom what they
called being wise And I pray that this message
I know this has been a little bit of a long episode
blesses you and helps you in your walk and again,
and I say this almost every episode I'm not speaking
these things to y 'all from like a place of like
judgment or because I'm perfect because I'm not
in any of this The reason why I'm able to speak
to you with such emotion is because I've been
through it myself. I'm going through it. I'm
a little over a year in on my walk with Christ.
I'm being sanctified. I'm learning. I'm learning
as I go. And I'm sharing with you all what I
learn as I learn it. And I pray that no one feels
any condemnation. Through listening to this thing
thing. Maybe there's a big conviction you feel
I pray that you take that to God and he works
with it It's crazy what he can do in your life
off of you listening to the conviction you're
feeling When you feel that conviction and I just
want to be so clear that there is a difference
between Condemnation and conviction when you
feel condemnation you feel like there's no point.
There's no return. There's no hope. There's no
redemption There's no coming back what conviction
it's recognizing what you're doing is wrong,
but also understanding that there is hope in
Jesus Christ. When the reality hit me when I
was a new age that what I was doing was a sin
and God wasn't pleased and that like I was actually
wicked and I needed a savior for my sin like
when the reality of that hit me the weight on
me was so heavy and that was a defining moment
of do I lean into this as condemnation and do
I feel like well what's done is done there's
no coming back. Or do I accept what Jesus Christ
has to offer? Which is, yes, I feel convicted
about this, but if I repent and open my heart
to Jesus and obey him, he can redeem everything.
It's a defining moment of when you realize the
weight of everything. Do you lean into the condemnation
or do you lean towards Jesus Christ and what
he has to offer? So I think we're gonna close,
we're gonna close this episode off today. I think
this is gonna be the end, but there is a piece
of scripture I wanna share with y 'all. There
is a Bible verse I wanna share with y 'all. There
are two Bible verses that I have had on my whiteboard
this week that I'm feeling called to share with
y 'all. And the first one is 2 Timothy. Chapter
2 verse 15 do your best to present yourself to
God as a tried -and -true worker who isn't ashamed
to teach the word of truth correctly And here's
the second verse 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 15
Dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord Always
be ready to defend your confidence in God when
anyone asks you to explain it However, make your
defense with gentleness and respect. I think
it's kind of interesting how well these verses
actually go along with what today's episode is
about. Something I had to work through y 'all
is to not be ashamed. Not being ashamed of obviously
sharing the testimony, but I've already explained
this to y 'all that the testimony is a way for
me also to share the truth of Jesus Christ. Because
the truth of Jesus Christ is what set me free
from my sin. It was what set me free from that
past and opened me up to redemption. It was soft
in my heart. You can't be ashamed of that truth
and the way that it was revealed to me. And dedicate
your lives to Christ as Lord and always be ready
to defend your confidence in God. Remember the
first couple times I heard that I was thinking
what does that mean? Does that mean I have to
have every Bible verse be prepared to You know
when an unbeliever says what about this? What
about that? Does that mean be prepared to throw
this verse at them and throw that verse at them?
And I'm sure that God will continue to give me
new understandings of that scripture because
it is living Word of God And at one time that
was actually a real encouragement for me to start
memorizing more verses. I'm getting a little
bit better with that But what God has really
been calling me to lean into when I read that
is just be prepared So when someone says why
why do you believe God is good? Why do you believe
these things? God has really revealed to me.
I've already given you testimony to it I'm able
to say Well, I read in god's word that he is
love and I experienced love in this way That
you can that you can repent and receive forgiveness
and this is how this is what I was doing when
I received forgiveness But the testimonies I
had Were actually ways to share why i'm confident
in god when I look back now i'm like man That
is why the enemy has been attacking my testimony
so badly is because that is one of the big ways
that God is going to move through me. That is
one of the big ways I'm going to evangelize.
That is one of the big ways I'm going to spread
the gospel. That is why he attacks it so heavy.
That is why there's so much opposition. And I
want to ask you this question. What opposition
have you been facing in your life? What area
of your life has been facing attack? You've noticed
the enemy has been trying to silence, the enemy
has been trying to bury, the enemy has been trying
to stop, the enemy has been trying to block,
he's been trying to sow seeds of doubt, fear,
whatever, whatever it looks like. What area of
your life has the enemy been attacking? And how
can God use that to bring people closer to Jesus
Christ? How can God use that to spread the gospel?
I wanna thank y 'all so much for listening to
this episode today. I'm your host Danielle Townsend.
I'm so happy we got this episode out. I honestly,
I love this episode. This was a wonderful episode
in my opinion. I'm so glad that the Lord led
this today. And I do ask wherever you're listening
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Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode
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Have a wonderful blessed day