WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.259 Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:07.700 podcast I am your host Danielle Townsend and 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:11.359 honestly all this episode Recording was very 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:15.279 unexpected It's actually evening time right now, 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.640 and I usually do not sit down and record episodes 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:22.120 this late in the evening It's more of a morning 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:28.320 afternoon thing for me But as I was reading This 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:34.280 new book that I've started. I felt the Lord guide 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.719 me to what I am supposed to share with y 'all 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:41.439 tonight. Just to give a little book recommendation 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:44.619 y 'all, I have started reading this book called 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:49.439 Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and So 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:51.500 far it has been wonderful. It's going to be one 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:55.399 of my book recommendations. I'm compiling a list 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:57.320 of books that have helped me in my walk with 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:59.979 Christ and this is definitely going to be one 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:05.739 of them. But I, in reading this, have felt a 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:08.939 conviction to share this topic with you today 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:11.219 and it's something that has been coming up in 00:01:11.219 --> 00:01:14.959 conversations for me the past couple weeks and 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:23.180 that is you need to love God more. You need to 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:26.480 love God more than anything in this world. You 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:29.319 need to love Jesus more than anything in this 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:31.540 world. You need to love Jesus more than your 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:36.200 parents. You need to love Jesus more than your 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:40.500 spouse. You need to love Jesus more than your 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:43.560 friends. You need to love Jesus more than your 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.239 coworkers. You need to love Jesus more than your 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:50.379 job. You need to love Jesus more than your calling. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.180 You need to love Jesus more than your gifts. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:55.640 You need to love Jesus more than money. You need 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:00.060 to love Jesus more than attention. What determines 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:05.299 our a successful walk as a Christian is just 00:02:05.299 --> 00:02:09.800 obeying God. You know that that's something that 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:12.319 my eyes have really been opened up to recently 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:19.780 is when we go before God one day the only thing 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:23.159 that allows us to go into heaven is being covered 00:02:23.159 --> 00:02:26.680 in the blood of Jesus of Putting our faith in 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.539 Jesus. It's not how many people we get to give 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.180 their lives to Jesus It's not how many people 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:35.310 we impact with our gift It's not how much money 00:02:35.310 --> 00:02:37.490 we raise or how much money we donate. It's not 00:02:37.490 --> 00:02:42.229 all of these good works. We can't stand before 00:02:42.229 --> 00:02:44.669 God one day and say, I won this many souls for 00:02:44.669 --> 00:02:48.169 Christ. I got this many people baptized. You 00:02:48.169 --> 00:02:50.349 know, this many people listen to the podcast. 00:02:50.889 --> 00:02:54.050 I got this many people to read the Bible. Although 00:02:54.050 --> 00:02:57.270 those are wonderful things. Those are wonderful 00:02:57.270 --> 00:03:01.150 works. Those don't buy our salvation, right? 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:06.060 So we can't use those things to determine how 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:10.960 successful we are in our walk with Christ. I 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.879 have started to see success in my walk with Christ 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:20.960 as obedience to Christ, saying yes to Him. And 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.300 sometimes the outcome of yes doesn't always look 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:26.439 like what we want it to look like, right? Sometimes 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:29.719 Christ puts it on our heart to spread the gospel, 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:33.430 to say something, to share something. Just for 00:03:33.430 --> 00:03:35.750 the sake of planting seed. We don't always get 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:37.909 to see the transformation We don't always get 00:03:37.909 --> 00:03:39.949 to see the big payoff. We don't always get to 00:03:39.949 --> 00:03:42.569 see that person give their life to Jesus We don't 00:03:42.569 --> 00:03:44.969 always get to see that person have that transformation 00:03:44.969 --> 00:03:48.030 sometimes that person rejects us to our face 00:03:48.030 --> 00:03:50.909 and Just because we're rejected doesn't mean 00:03:50.909 --> 00:03:55.370 we failed the success is in obeying the Lord 00:03:55.370 --> 00:04:00.449 But in order to get to that point Obeying the 00:04:00.449 --> 00:04:04.449 Lord you have to overcome fear, right? You have 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:07.430 to overcome the fear of rejection you have to 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:10.969 overcome the fear loss of people laughing at 00:04:10.969 --> 00:04:14.250 you of things being taken from you and the only 00:04:14.250 --> 00:04:17.310 way that you're gonna be able to like Overcome 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:22.490 that is if your love for God is greater Speaking 00:04:22.490 --> 00:04:24.970 from experience as someone who I used to have 00:04:24.970 --> 00:04:32.069 such a consciousness of people pleasing, of not 00:04:32.069 --> 00:04:35.589 wanting other people to feel uncomfortable. Like 00:04:35.589 --> 00:04:37.310 I wanted everybody, I wanted to just be able 00:04:37.310 --> 00:04:39.970 to tell people when I was a new age, before I 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:41.689 gave my life to Jesus, I wanted to be able to 00:04:41.689 --> 00:04:43.750 tell people, your truth is your truth, you do 00:04:43.750 --> 00:04:45.730 what feels right to you, you do what you wanna 00:04:45.730 --> 00:04:50.709 do. I wanted everyone to be happy and feel good, 00:04:50.769 --> 00:04:56.699 and I thought that that was love. And when I 00:04:56.699 --> 00:04:59.199 realized that Jesus Christ was the way, the truth, 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:05.120 the life, and I felt a conviction for that people 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.279 -pleasing behavior and realized that that people 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.360 -pleasing behavior was just loving people to 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:12.220 hell because I wasn't telling them about their 00:05:12.220 --> 00:05:17.160 Savior. I felt a conviction of I can't live that 00:05:17.160 --> 00:05:19.620 way anymore. I can't live in that people -pleasing. 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.100 I can't do that anymore. But there's a fear that 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:24.459 comes with that, right? Because then you start 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:26.639 to fear, well, when I start telling people that 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:29.220 that way is wrong and that Jesus Christ is the 00:05:29.220 --> 00:05:34.959 way, how many people am I going to lose? How 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:37.040 many people are going to get angry at me? How 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.879 many people are going to reject me? How many 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:44.180 people are going to turn on me? How many people 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:48.269 are going to want to hurt me? We know. Jesus 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:51.730 has warned us that if they persecuted him, they 00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:55.009 will persecute us. Being persecuted as a Christian 00:05:55.009 --> 00:05:59.189 isn't a if, it's a when. It's not a possibility. 00:05:59.250 --> 00:06:03.649 It's something that is expected to happen. We're 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:06.149 actually told in the Beatitudes, like blessed 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:09.750 are you when you're persecuted on Jesus's behalf. 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:12.490 Blessed are you when you're mocked and you're 00:06:12.490 --> 00:06:14.529 ridiculed. Like great is your reward in heaven. 00:06:17.170 --> 00:06:20.689 Notice how it's great is your reward in heaven 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:29.730 Part of our walk as Christians is the persecution 00:06:29.730 --> 00:06:36.970 is the ridicule that comes from the world And 00:06:36.970 --> 00:06:39.550 we have to overcome that fear and I feel like 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:42.170 I might be speaking to people today who are working 00:06:42.170 --> 00:06:45.560 through that fear or who are dealing with that 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.939 fear, or who have allowed that fear to just convince 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:55.459 them that evangelizing isn't for them, that creating 00:06:55.459 --> 00:06:57.540 disciples isn't for them. Someone needs to hear 00:06:57.540 --> 00:06:59.459 this today, but that was a command for all of 00:06:59.459 --> 00:07:05.180 us. The Great Commission, all of us are supposed 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:07.620 to share testimony, are supposed to share our 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:10.079 faith, are supposed to be prepared to defend 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:15.759 our confidence in God. God doesn't give us these 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:20.879 testimonies and these miracles and these these 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:25.339 glorious things to keep all to ourselves. He 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.740 wants us to share them with other people. It 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:34.660 is our responsibility as Christians to share, 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:38.920 to spread the gospel with other people. It is 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:41.639 our role. It is our responsibility. It makes 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.699 God happy. It makes God happy for us to do it 00:07:45.699 --> 00:07:48.680 and we have to stop using the excuse of well, 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.779 I'm not a pastor I'm not good with my word. So 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:54.160 I'm not smart enough. I'm not bold enough That's 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.279 what the Holy Spirit is for the Holy Spirit gives 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.660 us the boldness The Holy Spirit gives us the 00:08:00.660 --> 00:08:04.319 strength. The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom 00:08:04.319 --> 00:08:09.860 God Jesus gave us the helper the Holy Spirit 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:15.810 for a reason So we have to stop giving into the 00:08:15.810 --> 00:08:19.410 excuse of I don't know enough. I don't have the 00:08:19.410 --> 00:08:23.129 words I'm not confident enough God doesn't expect 00:08:23.129 --> 00:08:28.550 us to be perfect But he does want us and desires 00:08:28.550 --> 00:08:38.029 us to obey His call And if you are fighting with 00:08:38.029 --> 00:08:39.889 the fear. I want to tell you right now that that 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:43.789 fear isn't from God. That fear is from the enemy. 00:08:44.309 --> 00:08:50.509 Fear is spiritual warfare. And this fear is a 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:53.590 spiritual warfare. God has given you a call. 00:08:53.990 --> 00:08:56.129 God has given you a command which is to spread 00:08:56.129 --> 00:09:01.769 the gospel. To go and make disciples. And the 00:09:01.769 --> 00:09:04.690 enemy's way to combat that is to stop you before 00:09:04.690 --> 00:09:08.019 you can even start. is to get you too worried 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.240 about what's gonna happen when you open your 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.980 mouth, is to get you too fearful about what you're 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:16.200 gonna lose, what feathers are you gonna ruffle, 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:18.360 getting you fearful that you're not good enough, 00:09:18.379 --> 00:09:20.200 that you're gonna mess up, that's not gonna go 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:24.960 right, so you don't even try. Look, the enemy 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:28.960 is gonna try to snuff it out before the ball 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:32.419 even gets rolling, and that's what that fear 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:36.559 does. And I wanna share with y 'all from personal 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:38.200 experience, I believe this is gonna be a shorter 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:40.500 episode, but just sharing with y 'all from personal 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.179 experience of how I was able to overcome that. 00:09:43.379 --> 00:09:46.840 As someone who I dealt with panic disorder, I 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:50.860 dealt with raging anxiety and overthinking. Like 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:52.879 y 'all, the littlest stuff I would take, I would 00:09:52.879 --> 00:09:58.279 overthink it. I went into a period where it was, 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.480 you know, there's fight, fly, or freeze. Yeah, 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:05.990 I was freeze. I was freeze. And I started to 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:09.029 feel convicted and recognize that when I'm frozen 00:10:09.029 --> 00:10:11.210 or when I'm still sure I might not be saying 00:10:11.210 --> 00:10:14.149 anything wrong, but I'm also not saying or doing 00:10:14.149 --> 00:10:17.490 anything that God can use. I'm not being useful. 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:20.649 I became one of those people who was mentioned 00:10:20.649 --> 00:10:26.470 in the Gospels that was burying the talons. You 00:10:26.470 --> 00:10:28.730 know where the master gave this person like five 00:10:28.730 --> 00:10:31.070 talons, another this many, another this many, 00:10:31.389 --> 00:10:33.049 and the person with the smallest amount went 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:35.379 and buried it? when the master came back he's 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.279 like yeah I'm afraid of you and I knew like you 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:40.960 know you would take from this so I just buried 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.100 it so here's your talent back and the master 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:46.879 was upset he was like you could have at least 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.500 put it in the bank so it could a cruel interest 00:10:50.500 --> 00:10:52.720 you could have done something with it but out 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:56.220 of fear you froze and you did nothing with the 00:10:56.220 --> 00:11:00.460 gift I have given you so he took that talent 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:02.600 from him and gave it to the people who did something 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:08.120 with it Right God gives us these testimonies. 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:11.899 He gives us these experiences Jesus gives us 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:14.259 these moments with him because he loves us But 00:11:14.259 --> 00:11:16.340 also so that way we can share them with other 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:20.639 people I'll tell you all personally my my best 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:23.620 experiences in evangelizing is honestly when 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.080 I'm able to share my lived testimonies with other 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:29.320 people Like yes, there are people will I've been 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:31.039 able to sit there and just tell them God says 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.409 this and this is God's Word And it resonates 00:11:34.409 --> 00:11:39.809 with them. But man, I have seen God move in ways 00:11:39.809 --> 00:11:41.710 that are unexplainable when I'm just sitting 00:11:41.710 --> 00:11:44.070 there sharing my testimony. When I'm just sitting 00:11:44.070 --> 00:11:47.049 there talking about how heavy and guilty I felt 00:11:47.049 --> 00:11:50.330 and when I repented the release I felt. When 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:53.289 I'm sharing my testimonies of experiencing the 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:55.470 love of Jesus in the lowest moments of my life. 00:11:56.850 --> 00:12:01.289 When I share about miracles and breakthroughs 00:12:01.289 --> 00:12:06.159 that God delivered in my life. When I share things 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.679 that one time my life I would have been fearful 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.500 to share out of fear that they would be offensive 00:12:09.500 --> 00:12:12.240 to people or that people or that I things that 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.820 I thought I should be embarrassed by all of these 00:12:14.820 --> 00:12:20.100 things I Have seen God move in ways that like 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:24.840 are still mind -blowing to me Off of me just 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:30.159 sharing what he did Like these these testimonies 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:35.600 he's given me are a gift to share to use to evangelize 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:40.139 And you whoever you are listening to this today 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.919 there is an experience with Jesus Christ pray 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:46.840 to him pray to God That he opens up your eyes. 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:49.740 There are so many people out there who don't 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.200 believe that they have a testimony I cannot tell 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.840 y 'all how many people I have talked to that 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:58.070 are wonderful followers of Christ like people 00:12:58.070 --> 00:13:02.190 who love Jesus and they hear about my radical 00:13:02.190 --> 00:13:06.269 transformation you know the radical eye -opening 00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:10.409 and repenting and God did some crazy radical 00:13:10.409 --> 00:13:12.610 things in my life and when they hear that and 00:13:12.610 --> 00:13:14.149 they and they look at me and they say I don't 00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:16.529 really have a testimony like that like I grew 00:13:16.529 --> 00:13:20.570 up in the church and I gave my life to Jesus 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:24.159 and I've just followed him And they're like, 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:27.279 I don't really have a crazy testimony like that. 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.419 And it kind of breaks my heart a little bit when 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:35.320 I hear them say that. And I never really knew 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.580 what to say. Because I knew in the back of my 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:41.120 mind, I couldn't put it into words where it's 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.740 like, I know you have a testimony somewhere. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:47.620 I know that there is a way that you have experienced 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:53.120 Jesus or felt Jesus. That would be impactful 00:13:53.120 --> 00:14:00.759 and point someone to the cross You know in all 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.120 honesty mine is a little bit easier to spot You 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.600 know my testimony is I was in my car in the desert 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:09.559 in California deep in New Age and started reading 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.919 my Bible again and started feeling radical Conviction 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:14.940 and as I started listening to that conviction 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:17.240 and started repenting. I saw Jesus change my 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:20.259 heart and like He worked miracles and all these 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:24.480 crazy, you know, there was a lot of transformational 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:30.500 where I guess some of the things are kind of 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:34.200 in your face, right? They're hard to miss. And 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.379 to some people who have just grown up loving 00:14:37.379 --> 00:14:42.320 God, grown up knowing Jesus, grown up obeying 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:46.019 the Lord, maybe not going as out of pocket sideways 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.090 as I have. when they look at it and they think 00:14:49.090 --> 00:14:51.529 there's nothing that I can really say that'll 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:53.710 radically shift someone or radically transform 00:14:53.710 --> 00:15:00.129 someone maybe there is and you just don't see 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:02.950 it and here's another thing like we said in the 00:15:02.950 --> 00:15:06.309 beginning of the podcast Jesus isn't calling 00:15:06.309 --> 00:15:10.009 us to radically transform people he isn't calling 00:15:10.009 --> 00:15:13.490 us to radically shift people he's calling us 00:15:13.490 --> 00:15:15.649 to obey him and trust that he's gonna do the 00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:21.620 rest And I have seen it firsthand for some people 00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:24.320 be the most impactful thing wasn't when I was 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.259 saying that, oh yeah, like I felt perfectly comfortable 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.279 in the sin for 20 years. And then all of a sudden 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.679 I felt this conviction. And when I share the 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:33.879 radical moments, there's some people that they 00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:35.679 love to hear it, but that's not what impacted 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.559 them. But instead what impacted them was when 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.440 I tell them about a moment when I was just really 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.629 sad. really depressed and felt really weighted. 00:15:44.090 --> 00:15:46.549 And in that moment, instead of like sitting in 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.009 my feelings and turning in my feelings, I chose 00:15:49.009 --> 00:15:50.850 to pick up my Bible and start reading it and 00:15:50.850 --> 00:15:53.330 start praying to Jesus. And in that moment, I 00:15:53.330 --> 00:15:55.149 felt a peace that surpassed all understanding. 00:15:55.470 --> 00:15:57.190 And that's something that could bring some people 00:15:57.190 --> 00:16:00.669 to tears. And my brothers and sisters in Christ 00:16:00.669 --> 00:16:04.899 are raised in the church. When I hear them share 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:06.779 about some experiences and I hear them share 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:08.899 things like that I'm like dude, that's your testimony 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:11.419 right there. That's a testimony of the love of 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:14.460 Jesus That's a testimony of a peace that surpasses 00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:17.000 all understanding. That is a testimony There 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.419 are so many people out there right now with hidden 00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:23.039 testimonies Like with moments that they have 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:27.480 experienced Jesus That in just sharing that is 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:29.559 gonna help other people people don't realize 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:34.460 how much their testimonies our ways to glorify 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:38.679 God and evangelize. And the devil makes us embarrassed 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:40.139 of our testimonies. There are a lot of people 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:41.980 with great testimonies that are too embarrassed 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:45.700 to share them. One of mine that I was embarrassed 00:16:45.700 --> 00:16:47.379 to share for the longest time when I moved out 00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:49.200 to California and went to start a new life and 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.740 at first it was going great. At one point it 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.519 went sideways and I ended up sleeping in my car. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.980 And Jesus delivered me from that. That was what 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:00.850 I was doing when I gave my life to Jesus. For 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:02.809 a long time that was a part of my testimony I'd 00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:04.490 leave out because I was embarrassed to tell people 00:17:04.490 --> 00:17:08.269 that my life hit that low of a point I was embarrassed 00:17:08.269 --> 00:17:10.490 to tell people my life hit that low of a point 00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:13.809 and then Jesus I felt him knocking on my heart 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:15.630 of like you're leaving out something that's gonna 00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:18.910 impact so many people I didn't deliver you from 00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:22.970 that so you could hide it Like when I tell y 00:17:22.970 --> 00:17:28.480 'all Jesus in my obedience deliver miracles that 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.339 delivered me from that situation. And that's 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:34.359 a very hard situation to get out of on your own. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:40.279 In this economy, in this climate we live in right 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:43.039 now, it's hard to even get yourself out of that 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:48.220 situation. And Jesus Christ did it for me, in 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:57.569 my obedience to Him. Felt so convicted that I 00:17:57.569 --> 00:18:00.130 was allowing the enemy to meet me feel embarrassed 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:05.809 of something that Jesus cleaned up And someone 00:18:05.809 --> 00:18:08.250 else needs to hear this today that thing that 00:18:08.250 --> 00:18:10.250 you know Jesus found you and he cleaned you up 00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:12.250 He didn't clean you up so you could pretend like 00:18:12.250 --> 00:18:15.970 you were never dirty You're cleaned up now and 00:18:15.970 --> 00:18:17.809 you can share that testimony with other people 00:18:17.809 --> 00:18:19.809 who feel like it's impossible for them to be 00:18:19.809 --> 00:18:24.480 clean You feel like it's impossible For them 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.579 to be washed of their sins and you're able to 00:18:27.579 --> 00:18:29.500 say Jesus did it for me and he can do it for 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:35.839 you I want to get back to the root of this message 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:39.480 y 'all that you have to love Jesus more Because 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:42.279 the next fear that comes up a lot especially 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:44.019 for people who if your friends or your family 00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:48.000 aren't Christian is What if I lose my friends? 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:51.339 What if I lose my family? By giving my life to 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:55.089 Jesus What if they don't want anything to do 00:18:55.089 --> 00:18:57.089 with me? What if they mock me? What if they reject 00:18:57.089 --> 00:19:01.049 me? Guess what y 'all? That happened to me. That 00:19:01.049 --> 00:19:07.150 happened to me. There were some people that I 00:19:07.150 --> 00:19:13.990 loved dearly that me obeying God has put a real 00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:19.190 wedge between me and them. But they live a life 00:19:19.190 --> 00:19:23.980 that is at the moment Serving the flesh that 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:29.640 they don't understand obedience to God And that 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:33.519 my obedience to God is frustrating for them and 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:37.359 it doesn't make sense to them and It angers them 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.900 and it annoys them and it convicts them. It makes 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:46.180 them every feel every type of way Where it's 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:51.200 hard to have long conversations with them Where 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:54.680 I can't be close with them anymore because every 00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:59.140 time I'm close There is death and there's anger 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:02.119 and I have felt God I have prayed so heavily 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:07.140 to God Months months of prayers of God changed 00:20:07.140 --> 00:20:10.599 the situation changed their heart changed and 00:20:10.599 --> 00:20:12.900 As much as I wanted God to change their heart 00:20:12.900 --> 00:20:16.119 the answer God gave me was you have to pray For 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:21.740 them and love them with boundaries Bad companies 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:25.000 corrupts good morals bad company corrupts good 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:28.240 morals And you have to have boundaries with these 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.000 people still pray for them still love them, but 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:35.099 Jesus came To create division houses of five 00:20:35.099 --> 00:20:37.039 were going to be divided two against three and 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.619 three against two and this was my house divided 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:47.240 And that was the hardest thing for me to experience 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:51.569 the rejection Felt at times when I was trying 00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:53.529 to spread the gospel and I was outright rejected 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:56.430 I was outright laughed at I was outright locked 00:20:56.430 --> 00:21:00.369 God was mocked You know because in that moment 00:21:00.369 --> 00:21:02.309 they weren't rejecting me they were rejecting 00:21:02.309 --> 00:21:09.579 God And then there were other people that, when 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:12.160 I gave my life to Jesus, I was ready to reconnect 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.440 with people. There were some people that I had 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:16.440 been friends with when I was really worldly and 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:18.460 when I went through my little isolation period, 00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:20.539 I hadn't really been talking to anybody. When 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:22.599 I gave my life to Jesus, I wanted to reconnect 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:24.839 every bridge. I wanted to open every door that 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:27.000 had been closed, feeling like I wanted to make 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:28.680 everything right with everybody and I wanted 00:21:28.680 --> 00:21:32.019 to spread sunshine and rainbows. And one thing 00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:35.640 that was really hard for me is... When some of 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:38.440 the doors, when I tried opening, I felt so convicted. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:42.000 And I felt God speak to me like, these are doors 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.579 that aren't meant to be opened up again. And 00:21:45.579 --> 00:21:47.500 there were a couple times when honestly I didn't 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:51.539 really listen. And when I opened up those doors, 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:59.059 I got rejected real quick. The second Jesus was 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:04.099 involved. They didn't want anything to do with 00:22:04.099 --> 00:22:08.599 me. I wasn't the same Danielle. I wasn't the 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:14.400 fun one to them anymore. I was mocked. When I 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.920 gave my life to Jesus, I was mocked by the New 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:19.599 Age community, y 'all. I don't know if you know 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:21.640 this, but in New Age, there's a running thing 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:23.900 where they claim people who give their life to 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:26.789 Jesus are just weak. They claim that, you know, 00:22:26.869 --> 00:22:28.809 in New Age you have to be strong and be able 00:22:28.809 --> 00:22:30.809 to take all the spiritual warfare and the people 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:32.670 who turn to Jesus or people who couldn't do it 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:34.869 on their own. Well, I know from reading the gospel 00:22:34.869 --> 00:22:37.650 that I was never meant to do it alone. That giving 00:22:37.650 --> 00:22:40.369 everything to Jesus is actually what I'm supposed 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:43.289 to do. But in the New Age community, people who 00:22:43.289 --> 00:22:46.609 leave and go to Jesus are mocked. They're seen 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:51.089 as weak. They're seen as the spiritual psychosis. 00:22:52.049 --> 00:22:55.630 Giving my life to Jesus. came with mocking from 00:22:55.630 --> 00:22:57.990 literally every single side. There were people 00:22:57.990 --> 00:23:01.089 who were looking at me like, weren't you just 00:23:01.089 --> 00:23:04.109 like a couple months ago a new -ager saying the 00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:06.250 opposite thing and now you're talking about Jesus? 00:23:06.789 --> 00:23:09.329 I had false accusations flying. I had some people 00:23:09.329 --> 00:23:11.710 who were calling me a liar and a hypocrite. I 00:23:11.710 --> 00:23:13.470 have people too this day who don't want to believe 00:23:13.470 --> 00:23:16.250 I gave my life to Jesus. Who believe I'm like 00:23:16.250 --> 00:23:19.809 some witch, honestly. This is what I've been 00:23:19.809 --> 00:23:27.589 called. And I have to take that to Jesus. And 00:23:27.589 --> 00:23:29.369 part of me is like, you know what, Jesus, you 00:23:29.369 --> 00:23:33.069 warned me about this. And there was a period 00:23:33.069 --> 00:23:35.130 when I gave my life to Jesus where it was about 00:23:35.130 --> 00:23:37.150 three or four months that I was completely silent 00:23:37.150 --> 00:23:39.930 on social media. If you weren't like in my very, 00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:41.569 very close family, you didn't know I gave my 00:23:41.569 --> 00:23:44.569 life to Jesus. You didn't know I left New Age. 00:23:44.589 --> 00:23:46.069 You didn't know any of that. You had no clue 00:23:46.069 --> 00:23:51.819 what happened to me. And I honestly didn't want 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:54.160 to start a podcast. I didn't want to get back 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.900 on social media I was enjoying having no eyes 00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:58.859 on me and no one knowing what was going on in 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:02.619 my life. I was just trying to rebuild But it 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:06.059 was because I loved God so much and I had such 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:09.339 a desire to obey him that when he started convicting 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:11.380 me and I started feeling it so heavy of like 00:24:11.380 --> 00:24:15.079 It's time to share the testimony It's time to 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.240 start speaking the name of Jesus. It's time to 00:24:19.829 --> 00:24:22.630 loudly start pointing people to the cross. Jesus 00:24:22.630 --> 00:24:25.430 didn't do this for me to just, he didn't clean 00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:27.349 me up and restore my life for me to just sit 00:24:27.349 --> 00:24:29.450 here and enjoy it. He did it for me to create 00:24:29.450 --> 00:24:33.329 disciples. He did it for me to lead other people 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:35.549 to the cross, to point other people to the cross. 00:24:36.349 --> 00:24:38.049 I want to say it better that way, point people. 00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:40.009 He's not expecting me to lead people because 00:24:40.009 --> 00:24:43.369 it's not my responsibility to like do all the 00:24:43.369 --> 00:24:45.690 work. I plant seeds and I trust in God to do 00:24:45.690 --> 00:24:50.930 the work. But I'm telling y 'all today that you 00:24:50.930 --> 00:24:54.349 have to love Jesus more and There's someone today 00:24:54.349 --> 00:24:56.309 asking. Well, where's the scripture for that? 00:24:56.630 --> 00:25:00.990 This is the scripture That I remember reading 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:03.630 that helped me make a little bit of peace with 00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:09.269 this which was Matthew 10 Starting in verse We'll 00:25:09.269 --> 00:25:12.190 go ahead and start in verse 32. Therefore everyone 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:14.230 who will acknowledge me before others I will 00:25:14.230 --> 00:25:16.509 also acknowledge him before my father in heaven 00:25:16.910 --> 00:25:20.170 But whoever denies me before others, I will also 00:25:20.170 --> 00:25:23.210 deny him before my father in heaven. Don't assume 00:25:23.210 --> 00:25:26.049 that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did 00:25:26.049 --> 00:25:29.410 not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:32.069 to turn a man against his father, a daughter 00:25:32.069 --> 00:25:34.490 against her mother, a daughter -in -law against 00:25:34.490 --> 00:25:37.170 her mother -in -law, and a man's enemies will 00:25:37.170 --> 00:25:39.809 be the members of his household. The one who 00:25:39.809 --> 00:25:43.130 loves a father or a mother more than me is not 00:25:43.130 --> 00:25:45.930 worthy of me. The one who loves a son or daughter 00:25:45.930 --> 00:25:49.289 more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever 00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:51.990 doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not 00:25:51.990 --> 00:25:54.769 worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will 00:25:54.769 --> 00:25:57.690 lose it, and anyone who loses his life because 00:25:57.690 --> 00:26:00.509 of me will find it. I remember when I was giving 00:26:00.509 --> 00:26:03.329 my life to Jesus, I had to leave just about everything 00:26:03.329 --> 00:26:06.109 behind. Because just about everything in my life, 00:26:06.390 --> 00:26:10.630 I was embracing at that point the sinful. Was 00:26:10.630 --> 00:26:13.369 a tarot card reader in New Age that was my financial 00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:16.089 income and I knew I had to leave that behind 00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:19.369 So I was like, okay. So my source of money is 00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:22.210 about to be gone God Like this is my financial. 00:26:22.269 --> 00:26:24.269 This is how I eat. This is how I pay my bills 00:26:24.269 --> 00:26:28.630 So if I deny myself, this is gone. I don't have 00:26:28.630 --> 00:26:32.549 an answer for this My only way of dealing with 00:26:32.549 --> 00:26:34.630 my anxiety and my stress and my depression was 00:26:34.630 --> 00:26:37.180 smoking and I felt the word convicting of you 00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:39.180 can't use that's an idol you can't use that anymore 00:26:39.180 --> 00:26:46.099 I'm calling you to a sober lifestyle like when 00:26:46.099 --> 00:26:49.660 I tell y 'all that like in following Christ like 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.519 some things that were very big pillars of my 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:54.740 life I was like I'm gonna have to have I'm gonna 00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:59.160 have to let these go giving my life to Christ 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.059 literally felt like dying to my life in that 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:07.339 moment And I had to trust that all these things 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:09.359 that he was calling me to let go, he was going 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.319 to provide for in a way. I used smoking to bring 00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:15.480 me peace. Jesus Christ gave me a peace that surpassed 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:20.359 all understanding. Glory be to God. I gave up 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:23.119 that job and I trusted in God's timing. He would 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.559 guide me and he would financially provide. He 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:30.170 did that. He delivered me. He turned these things 00:27:30.170 --> 00:27:33.150 into testimonies. I can't tell y 'all the the 00:27:33.150 --> 00:27:36.309 nights of just crying and weeping I had because 00:27:36.309 --> 00:27:39.269 when I left all those things behind I didn't 00:27:39.269 --> 00:27:42.710 know what I was walking towards. I remember Describing 00:27:42.710 --> 00:27:45.190 it as if like I'm going down a long dark hallway 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:48.269 like God is calling me to leave these rooms I'm 00:27:48.269 --> 00:27:51.950 in and close the door and I do that and now I'm 00:27:51.950 --> 00:27:55.829 walking down this hallway following his voice 00:27:56.329 --> 00:27:59.170 And I'm just trusting that there's another door 00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:02.849 that's gonna open up from him. And it feels like 00:28:02.849 --> 00:28:05.349 a dark hallway because I can't see more than 00:28:05.349 --> 00:28:07.809 a couple feet in front of me. Like I'm literally 00:28:07.809 --> 00:28:11.670 being led by his voice, by his guidance. I don't 00:28:11.670 --> 00:28:14.690 know what exactly it is waiting on me, but I 00:28:14.690 --> 00:28:16.549 have to trust that it's better than what I'm 00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:19.089 leaving behind. And when you're going down that 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:21.230 hallway, it's important that you keep walking 00:28:21.230 --> 00:28:23.430 forward. There's a temptation, because you don't 00:28:23.430 --> 00:28:25.430 see anything yet or because the hallway feels 00:28:25.430 --> 00:28:27.529 long because you're not at that door yet, to 00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:29.509 turn around and run back and open up that door. 00:28:29.869 --> 00:28:32.069 And I had so many of those temptations to turn 00:28:32.069 --> 00:28:34.619 around and open up that door and go back. but 00:28:34.619 --> 00:28:38.059 I just knew and I had the strength from God. 00:28:38.099 --> 00:28:40.460 It wasn't my own strength. This was a supernatural 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:44.299 strength given to me from God to keep trusting 00:28:44.299 --> 00:28:48.079 in Him and to keep going forward. And that's 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:51.039 a testimony that I use to share with other people, 00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:53.559 with people who are living that lukewarm lifestyle 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:58.380 and that God is calling them to give that thing 00:28:58.380 --> 00:29:01.170 up. I've shared this in previous episodes and 00:29:01.170 --> 00:29:03.190 I won't be thoughtful the way I word this but 00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:05.190 there is a real conviction God gave me at one 00:29:05.190 --> 00:29:10.150 point where he was like how can you expect me 00:29:10.150 --> 00:29:14.490 to bless the disobedience? Like you're mad at 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:17.730 me that I'm not delivering on all of these promises 00:29:17.730 --> 00:29:21.329 or all these things because when I was in new 00:29:21.329 --> 00:29:23.089 age y 'all it was weird like there were certain 00:29:23.089 --> 00:29:25.029 things I believed were gonna happen in my life 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:28.160 There were things I believed to be promises from 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:31.599 God that I was believing for before I stepped 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:34.680 into New Age. I actually believed that New Age 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:39.039 was going to help me with. And I remember when 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:41.440 I was coming out on the other side of that, getting 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.700 ready to leave New Age, just kind of stepped 00:29:44.700 --> 00:29:48.859 out of it and was walking into like giving my 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:50.319 life to Christ. It was like right when I was 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.880 in that in -between. And I remember writing down 00:29:53.880 --> 00:29:55.799 in my journal where I felt the Lord speak to 00:29:55.799 --> 00:29:58.420 me so heavily, your testimony is not that I bless 00:29:58.420 --> 00:30:01.460 disobedience because that's not going to be what 00:30:01.460 --> 00:30:03.500 you share with other people that points them 00:30:03.500 --> 00:30:06.279 to me. Like your testimony isn't going to be, 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:11.619 yeah, I was in new age and I was like a drunkard 00:30:11.619 --> 00:30:13.839 or a stoner. I was doing all these things and 00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:19.000 God said, you know what? Good enough. Here's 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:24.849 all the promises. Run wild. God showed me he's 00:30:24.849 --> 00:30:27.509 like no your testimony is actually gonna be I 00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:31.190 felt convicted when I realized that these things 00:30:31.190 --> 00:30:35.430 go against God's Word I Left them. It wasn't 00:30:35.430 --> 00:30:37.269 that I was leaving them and going to something 00:30:37.269 --> 00:30:39.369 else. I had to leave them and trust that God 00:30:39.369 --> 00:30:43.670 was gonna bring me something else I Endured testing 00:30:43.670 --> 00:30:46.309 I endured temptation to go back and when I didn't 00:30:46.309 --> 00:30:48.910 give in to that and God's timing he delivered 00:30:48.910 --> 00:30:53.319 That was my testimony He revealed to me, he's 00:30:53.319 --> 00:30:56.180 like, I know it was painful and hurtful that 00:30:56.180 --> 00:30:58.640 you were spending so long waiting on the promise. 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:01.720 But like if I would have blessed you while you 00:31:01.720 --> 00:31:03.380 were in that disobedience, you wouldn't have 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:05.740 left that disobedience. You would have assumed 00:31:05.740 --> 00:31:09.440 I'm okay with it. Like I remember writing that 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:11.279 down in my journal because that was who I was. 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:13.319 If God would have given me everything that I 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:15.259 thought he was promising while I was in those 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:17.599 things, I would have been like, well, clearly 00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:22.980 he's okay with me doing this. God knew me and 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:31.799 he knew that I needed to leave those things for 00:31:31.799 --> 00:31:38.420 him to create the testimony. Now the interesting 00:31:38.420 --> 00:31:41.099 thing like how I say we don't clean ourselves 00:31:41.099 --> 00:31:42.980 up and Jesus doesn't expect us to be cleaned 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:46.220 up before I came. before you come to him. I wasn't 00:31:46.220 --> 00:31:48.460 cleaned up. I hadn't left New Age before I started 00:31:48.460 --> 00:31:50.599 reading my Bible. I was in New Age when I was 00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:52.700 reading my Bible. I was in New Age when I started 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:55.740 praying. Jesus wasn't like, I'm not going to 00:31:55.740 --> 00:31:57.720 talk to you until you leave everything behind. 00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:05.019 The Lord started convicting me and working on 00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:07.359 my heart, which led me to leave these things 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:11.180 behind. And I wasn't clean. I wasn't cleaned 00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:15.160 of the guilt and the weight I was carrying Until 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:17.740 Jesus stepped in because once I felt convicted 00:32:17.740 --> 00:32:19.359 and realized that what I was doing a new age 00:32:19.359 --> 00:32:23.000 was wrong I felt so guilty and so shameful and 00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:24.579 it was a heavy weight where I didn't know how 00:32:24.579 --> 00:32:27.819 I was gonna live with myself and it was when 00:32:27.819 --> 00:32:31.420 I repented and Asked the Lord for forgiveness. 00:32:31.420 --> 00:32:33.859 I felt that weight lifted off of me and when 00:32:33.859 --> 00:32:42.559 I knew That he was cleaning me up And the only 00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.440 reason why I am confident enough to share these 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:49.220 things on the podcast today is because I love 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:54.440 Jesus more than I love people Which sounds weird, 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:57.369 right? which sounds weird right because I used 00:32:57.369 --> 00:33:00.769 to have such a I love people and I want people 00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:03.630 to feel good that I would withhold things like 00:33:03.630 --> 00:33:06.369 this in case it would make someone feel convicted 00:33:06.369 --> 00:33:10.250 or make someone angry or upset or hurt or make 00:33:10.250 --> 00:33:13.970 someone feel some type of way and the Lord revealed 00:33:13.970 --> 00:33:15.829 to me that that's not the Christ -like love because 00:33:15.829 --> 00:33:17.809 Christ -like love is truth and honesty and it 00:33:17.809 --> 00:33:21.130 points people closer to the cross what I was 00:33:21.130 --> 00:33:23.880 doing was I was keeping people comfortable And 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:28.960 I love God so much that my love for God surpasses 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:32.380 my desire for people to be comfortable. And actually 00:33:32.380 --> 00:33:35.500 I love God so much that now I love people enough 00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:37.480 too to share this with them. It's weird how that 00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:43.400 works. I remember saying to someone not too long 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:46.170 ago on the phone, there's a family member. That 00:33:46.170 --> 00:33:48.970 I felt God like having me plant seeds within 00:33:48.970 --> 00:33:51.329 this person isn't very happy in all honesty. 00:33:51.329 --> 00:33:54.329 They feel conviction. They don't enjoy it and 00:33:54.329 --> 00:33:58.430 I remember talking to this This person, you know, 00:33:58.509 --> 00:33:59.849 there's someone who's been walking with Christ 00:33:59.849 --> 00:34:02.089 for a long time. It was giving me some good advice 00:34:02.089 --> 00:34:06.789 and I remember saying to them it's like I Hate 00:34:06.789 --> 00:34:09.289 that this person is angry at me. I hate that 00:34:09.289 --> 00:34:12.199 this person feels resentment. I hate You know 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:14.300 that this person is feeling all these types of 00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:19.760 ways and I love them, but I love God more. And 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:22.000 I know God has called me to say this and speak 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:25.940 this and do this. Like if I didn't love God, 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:27.699 I wouldn't be saying and speaking and doing these 00:34:27.699 --> 00:34:29.460 things because I know this person doesn't enjoy 00:34:29.460 --> 00:34:32.300 it. They don't enjoy the conviction that comes 00:34:32.300 --> 00:34:41.469 with me speaking God's word. For the longest 00:34:41.469 --> 00:34:43.869 time, y 'all, I would get that script. One, it's 00:34:43.869 --> 00:34:45.869 crazy, the things that get ingrained in you when 00:34:45.869 --> 00:34:48.989 you're little in Sunday school. And I remember 00:34:48.989 --> 00:34:51.969 the commandment that got so ingrained in me is 00:34:51.969 --> 00:34:55.050 honor your mother and father. And that was always 00:34:55.050 --> 00:34:57.690 a really, really hard one for me because I never 00:34:57.690 --> 00:35:00.710 felt like I was, you know, I was never actually 00:35:00.710 --> 00:35:02.849 taught the depth of that scripture. It actually 00:35:02.849 --> 00:35:05.409 goes on to say, like, you know, don't provoke 00:35:05.409 --> 00:35:07.269 your children to anger and things like that. 00:35:08.820 --> 00:35:11.559 But when you're a child, at least in my instance, 00:35:11.579 --> 00:35:13.519 I was only taught to honor your mother and father, 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:16.119 which was submit and obey to anything. Don't 00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:18.400 disrespect, don't talk back, don't any of that. 00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:22.840 And for me personally, being raised in a household 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:25.940 that didn't follow the scriptures exactly, that 00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:28.199 was hard for me, right? Because I'm like, how 00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:30.239 am I going to keep God's word when no one else 00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:32.280 around me is keeping God's word? It's kind of 00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:34.380 hard to honor things that are un -Christ -like. 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:36.719 Like it was a really hard thing in my brain. 00:35:37.299 --> 00:35:39.659 You know, so when, of course, I got older and 00:35:39.659 --> 00:35:41.460 actually gave my life to Jesus, that one was 00:35:41.460 --> 00:35:44.639 really hard for me. Because I was like, God, 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.019 I want to honor these people, but these people 00:35:47.019 --> 00:35:53.480 aren't honoring me. And someone needs to hear 00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:58.800 this today. But like when you are an adult, when 00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:00.800 you are an adult, when you are now making your 00:36:00.800 --> 00:36:04.019 own decisions for your life. Okay, because I 00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:07.369 know it's one thing when you when you are minor 00:36:07.369 --> 00:36:13.289 and like you are legally under your parents guidance 00:36:13.289 --> 00:36:15.610 but when you were an adult making your own decisions 00:36:15.610 --> 00:36:17.909 I'm telling you right now and this should be 00:36:17.909 --> 00:36:20.190 this should be the way you live your life even 00:36:20.190 --> 00:36:21.869 when you're before you're an adult is that you 00:36:21.869 --> 00:36:24.730 should always love God first but once you're 00:36:24.730 --> 00:36:31.400 an adult like what God what God says goes I can't 00:36:31.400 --> 00:36:34.280 tell y 'all how many times that God has told 00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:36.920 me to do something that my family didn't exactly 00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:43.199 agree with. But I had to trust God. And someone 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:48.099 needs to hear this today. That as an adult, it's 00:36:48.099 --> 00:36:51.940 God first. It should always be God first. I know 00:36:51.940 --> 00:36:53.780 it's harder with that when you're a child because 00:36:53.780 --> 00:36:55.679 you should submit to your parents authority. 00:36:56.440 --> 00:36:59.369 You should. But when you're an adult, you are 00:36:59.369 --> 00:37:01.650 submitted to God's authority. God is your Heavenly 00:37:01.650 --> 00:37:09.150 Father. God is your Father. And you have to submit 00:37:09.150 --> 00:37:15.590 to that. It is biblical that you love Jesus first, 00:37:15.630 --> 00:37:21.969 that you love God first. And if you're looking 00:37:21.969 --> 00:37:25.719 for a way If fear has been at your doorstep and 00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:28.539 you're looking for a way to like, how do I overcome 00:37:28.539 --> 00:37:31.420 this fear of people pleasing? How do I overcome 00:37:31.420 --> 00:37:34.780 this fear of rejection? How do I overcome this 00:37:34.780 --> 00:37:40.219 fear of ridicule and persecution? We know to 00:37:40.219 --> 00:37:43.239 put on the armor of God. We know that, right? 00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:45.480 To be prayed up, to be prayed up, to have up 00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:48.559 that shield of faith. Because I want to be so 00:37:48.559 --> 00:37:50.860 blunt that this fear is a form of spiritual warfare. 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:57.760 To stop you from stepping into it But to be rooted 00:37:57.760 --> 00:38:01.440 in your faith and rooted in your love for God 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:06.440 and for me that love for Jesus came through knowing 00:38:06.440 --> 00:38:10.239 him and Experiencing him and having a relationship 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:12.320 with him which came through reading the scriptures 00:38:12.320 --> 00:38:17.829 and praying to him daily for relying on him for 00:38:17.829 --> 00:38:20.469 in the trials and tribulations leaning on him 00:38:20.469 --> 00:38:23.130 and turning to him and seeing what he can do 00:38:23.130 --> 00:38:28.389 and Being mind blown by what he does It's crazy 00:38:28.389 --> 00:38:33.969 How much the love of God will overpower the fear 00:38:33.969 --> 00:38:39.090 and how the love of God Loving God more than 00:38:39.090 --> 00:38:43.989 yourself loving God more than your fleshly Desires 00:38:43.989 --> 00:38:51.510 loving God more than all of these things It's 00:38:51.510 --> 00:38:56.650 crazy how that love of God will keep you in step 00:38:56.650 --> 00:39:00.349 with him. You know, I said earlier on the podcast, 00:39:00.409 --> 00:39:03.889 we have to love God more than we love our parents. 00:39:03.969 --> 00:39:05.969 We have to love God more than we love our family. 00:39:06.269 --> 00:39:08.530 We have to love God more than we love our spouses. 00:39:08.750 --> 00:39:12.849 And I know as someone who I'm not married, you 00:39:12.849 --> 00:39:15.210 know, I try not to speak too much on marriages 00:39:15.210 --> 00:39:18.909 because I only have, I don't have as much insight 00:39:18.909 --> 00:39:23.559 as someone who is married. Okay, but we know 00:39:23.559 --> 00:39:26.159 wives are supposed to be submitted to the husband's 00:39:26.159 --> 00:39:28.059 husbands are supposed to be submitted to God, 00:39:28.219 --> 00:39:34.900 right? Husbands love your wives as Christ loved 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:39.320 his church. You can't properly love your spouse 00:39:39.320 --> 00:39:43.199 or submit when you're not first submitted to 00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:45.340 Christ and don't know the love of Christ. How 00:39:45.340 --> 00:39:47.679 can you share the love of Christ with people 00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:50.019 if you don't know the love of Christ yourself? 00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:57.940 Husbands, how can you properly guide your wife 00:39:57.940 --> 00:40:02.880 if you are not submitted to God's guidance? If 00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:05.559 you don't know the love of Jesus, how can you 00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:09.699 love her the way Christ loved his Church? When 00:40:09.699 --> 00:40:12.039 that comes to a consistent relationship and submission 00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:15.300 to Jesus. Wives, how can you know how to submit 00:40:15.300 --> 00:40:17.159 to a husband if you don't know how to submit 00:40:17.159 --> 00:40:23.030 to Christ? And how are you able to discern the 00:40:23.030 --> 00:40:25.630 love of Jesus? If you haven't experienced the 00:40:25.630 --> 00:40:28.849 love of Jesus, because I don't want to get too 00:40:28.849 --> 00:40:31.329 deep in on this, but something I have seen a 00:40:31.329 --> 00:40:33.210 lot, you know, there's a lot of trauma. There's 00:40:33.210 --> 00:40:34.969 a lot of people who don't want to submit. Women 00:40:34.969 --> 00:40:39.110 who are like, that's too risky to submit to a 00:40:39.110 --> 00:40:43.070 husband. And I think that comes from us seeing 00:40:43.070 --> 00:40:45.409 what happens when we submit to people who aren't 00:40:45.409 --> 00:40:47.710 submitted to Christ, right? Because we do think 00:40:47.710 --> 00:40:50.440 of the people who take advantage and mistreat 00:40:50.440 --> 00:40:55.000 and misuse and there are stories of that and 00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:57.460 that's why women we have to know the love of 00:40:57.460 --> 00:41:01.980 Jesus we have to know what God calls us to do 00:41:01.980 --> 00:41:04.059 and what he wouldn't call us to do we need to 00:41:04.059 --> 00:41:08.539 know the word of God we need to be locked in 00:41:08.539 --> 00:41:11.739 in taking things to the Lord and have that discernment 00:41:11.739 --> 00:41:15.780 strengthened you know that way we can we can 00:41:15.780 --> 00:41:19.969 look at the fruits We can test the spirit behind 00:41:19.969 --> 00:41:22.309 the words we can see is this man actually like 00:41:22.309 --> 00:41:24.210 is he really shown the love of Jesus Is this 00:41:24.210 --> 00:41:27.730 the love of Jesus or these just like our feelings? 00:41:30.349 --> 00:41:33.050 Was the things he talks about submission wise 00:41:33.050 --> 00:41:35.989 are these things that are in God's Word are these 00:41:35.989 --> 00:41:46.500 things twisted? When you work on pursuing your 00:41:46.500 --> 00:41:50.860 relationship with Christ and receiving the love 00:41:50.860 --> 00:41:52.980 of Christ, there's a love that's gonna develop. 00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:57.360 And that's the root, the basis of this episode, 00:41:57.699 --> 00:42:06.820 y 'all, is you have to love God more. There have 00:42:06.820 --> 00:42:09.599 been times when God has called me to speak a 00:42:09.599 --> 00:42:12.230 word. when God has called me to share a testimony, 00:42:12.289 --> 00:42:14.070 when God has called me to do a thing where I'm 00:42:14.070 --> 00:42:16.449 like, God, if I do that, like there are some 00:42:16.449 --> 00:42:19.550 real things I could lose in life. Like there 00:42:19.550 --> 00:42:23.530 are some things that like if people felt some 00:42:23.530 --> 00:42:26.489 type of way about this, like there's some damage 00:42:26.489 --> 00:42:30.449 that could be done. And I had to trust that God 00:42:30.449 --> 00:42:33.289 has already prepared for whatever reaction is 00:42:33.289 --> 00:42:35.610 going to happen. If y 'all go a couple episodes 00:42:35.610 --> 00:42:38.820 back, I believe it is the opposition episode 00:42:38.820 --> 00:42:41.099 where I'm breaking down how to deal with opposition. 00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:43.900 This fear is a form of opposition. One thing 00:42:43.900 --> 00:42:47.639 God had drilled in me so many times lovingly 00:42:47.639 --> 00:42:52.900 was whatever the outcome of you obeying me is, 00:42:53.099 --> 00:42:55.800 I have already planned for that outcome. If it's 00:42:55.800 --> 00:42:58.139 a lost trust, I've already planned for that and 00:42:58.139 --> 00:43:04.980 you will be restored with better. If you're blessed 00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:07.519 because of it, Trust that I planned for that 00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:09.900 as well. Trust that I have already planned for 00:43:09.900 --> 00:43:14.699 every possible outcome. Like that is why I felt 00:43:14.699 --> 00:43:17.860 God so heavily. I already know what's going to 00:43:17.860 --> 00:43:19.800 happen and I'm still calling you to do this, 00:43:19.820 --> 00:43:30.599 so trust me. And I pray that this helps you today. 00:43:33.510 --> 00:43:35.690 Pray that this helps you and there's just a little 00:43:35.690 --> 00:43:37.889 bit scripture. I'm feeling led to read to y 'all 00:43:37.889 --> 00:43:41.190 and it's the beginning of the book of Jeremiah 00:43:41.190 --> 00:43:45.949 and It says here in chapter 1 verse 4 the word 00:43:45.949 --> 00:43:48.849 of the Lord came to me This is the Lord speaking 00:43:48.849 --> 00:43:53.869 to Jeremiah when he's calling Jeremiah to Be 00:43:53.869 --> 00:43:57.130 a prophet to speak to a group of people who have 00:43:57.130 --> 00:44:01.780 been rejecting God's prophets who have been Leaning 00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:05.760 into their idolatry and he's telling Jeremiah. 00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:09.199 I want you to go speak to them Which must have 00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:11.559 been really intimidating right and this is what 00:44:11.559 --> 00:44:15.380 God says the word of the Lord came to me. I chose 00:44:15.380 --> 00:44:20.239 you Before I formed you in the womb. I set you 00:44:20.239 --> 00:44:24.639 apart before you were born I appointed you a 00:44:24.639 --> 00:44:27.239 prophet to the nations on a pause here. This 00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:32.139 is God saying Before you were even conceived, 00:44:32.300 --> 00:44:35.460 I already had this plan for your life. I already 00:44:35.460 --> 00:44:37.960 decided I was going to anoint you and appoint 00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:42.179 you to be a prophet. This isn't just a luck of 00:44:42.179 --> 00:44:46.380 the draw. This isn't just a whim. I have planned 00:44:46.380 --> 00:44:51.219 this long before you were conscious. You were 00:44:51.219 --> 00:44:55.199 set apart for this. It goes on to say here, Jeremiah 00:44:55.199 --> 00:45:00.269 says, but I protested. oh no lord god look i 00:45:00.269 --> 00:45:02.929 don't know how to speak since i am only a youth 00:45:02.929 --> 00:45:06.309 then the lord said to me do not say i am only 00:45:06.309 --> 00:45:09.769 a youth for you will go to everyone i send you 00:45:09.769 --> 00:45:14.289 to and speak whatever i tell you do not be afraid 00:45:14.289 --> 00:45:19.130 of anyone for i will be with you to rescue you 00:45:19.130 --> 00:45:22.130 this is the lord's declaration i want to pause 00:45:22.130 --> 00:45:25.070 here for a moment How many times do we say that? 00:45:25.190 --> 00:45:26.969 How many times do we say, but God, I don't know 00:45:26.969 --> 00:45:30.650 enough. But God, I'm a new Christian. But God, 00:45:30.730 --> 00:45:33.050 I don't know this. But God, I'm to this. I'm 00:45:33.050 --> 00:45:36.869 to that. Think back to Moses. When God was telling 00:45:36.869 --> 00:45:39.690 Moses, I'm going to be using you to deliver my 00:45:39.690 --> 00:45:42.210 people from the hand of Pharaoh. Moses was saying, 00:45:42.230 --> 00:45:44.469 but I can't speak. I'm not a speaker. Just find 00:45:44.469 --> 00:45:46.449 never a reason to say, God, not me. You can't 00:45:46.449 --> 00:45:50.639 use me. This is God right here saying and I remember 00:45:50.639 --> 00:45:54.280 y 'all when I I didn't want to start this podcast 00:45:54.280 --> 00:45:57.639 Fun fact God had been putting it on my heart. 00:45:57.679 --> 00:46:01.739 I remember it was like March I didn't start this 00:46:01.739 --> 00:46:04.019 until August I remember in March already feeling 00:46:04.019 --> 00:46:06.039 like I feel like this is what God's calling me 00:46:06.039 --> 00:46:08.920 to and I remember saying it out loud in May and 00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:11.340 in June and saying but I don't have the equipment 00:46:11.340 --> 00:46:14.559 and I don't know how to do that I'm not a techie 00:46:14.559 --> 00:46:17.119 person. I remember saying I don't know enough 00:46:18.420 --> 00:46:20.980 I'm not cool. I remember every finding every 00:46:20.980 --> 00:46:23.159 reason and then finally in August the Lord convicted 00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:26.239 me so hard where it's like I have to do it this 00:46:26.239 --> 00:46:28.480 podcast was started out of obedience. Let me 00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:32.239 tell y 'all and I remember the Lord giving me 00:46:32.239 --> 00:46:35.860 the scripture of do not say You're under qualified. 00:46:35.900 --> 00:46:39.599 Do not say you're too young. Don't say any of 00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:43.539 these things I want to repeat this right here 00:46:43.739 --> 00:46:46.539 where God says for you will go to everyone I 00:46:46.539 --> 00:46:50.739 send you saying you are going to obey and you 00:46:50.739 --> 00:46:54.739 will speak whatever I tell you to speak do not 00:46:54.739 --> 00:46:58.440 be afraid of anyone for I will be with you to 00:46:58.440 --> 00:47:00.760 rescue you God's promise right there wherever 00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:04.019 you go I'm going to be with you you're obeying 00:47:04.019 --> 00:47:10.929 me trust and believe I got you And then verse 00:47:10.929 --> 00:47:13.449 9 goes on to say then the Lord reached out his 00:47:13.449 --> 00:47:16.630 hand touched my mouth and told me I have now 00:47:16.630 --> 00:47:19.989 filled your mouth with my words see I have appointed 00:47:19.989 --> 00:47:23.550 you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot 00:47:23.550 --> 00:47:27.929 and tear down to destroy and demolish to build 00:47:27.929 --> 00:47:32.630 and plant Well, I remember When I was starting 00:47:32.630 --> 00:47:35.190 this podcast and something I took to God. I was 00:47:35.190 --> 00:47:37.010 like God I don't know what I'm gonna talk about 00:47:37.309 --> 00:47:39.510 I don't know what I'm gonna say. What do I even 00:47:39.510 --> 00:47:41.489 say this podcast is about? Is this just gonna 00:47:41.489 --> 00:47:44.409 be me sharing testimonies? Is this gonna be me 00:47:44.409 --> 00:47:48.070 reading the Bible? Like what do I do here? And 00:47:48.070 --> 00:47:50.610 I remember God saying like I will I remember 00:47:50.610 --> 00:47:53.389 reading this and I felt the Lord speak to me 00:47:53.389 --> 00:47:56.329 I felt the Holy Spirit stir within me and I just 00:47:56.329 --> 00:47:59.110 had a knowing that God will give me the words 00:47:59.110 --> 00:48:05.599 God will give me the topics And honestly, y 'all, 00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:08.699 I don't know. There has yet to be a day where 00:48:08.699 --> 00:48:12.239 I have had like a podcast episode long had thought 00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:16.360 out. I'll sit down in the morning and start reading 00:48:16.360 --> 00:48:20.480 scripture, start praying. And, you know, if God 00:48:20.480 --> 00:48:23.960 gives me a topic and scripture and leads me to 00:48:23.960 --> 00:48:29.460 it, we have an episode. And if I don't feel like 00:48:29.460 --> 00:48:31.519 there's anything he's speaking to me to relay, 00:48:32.480 --> 00:48:36.099 I wait on him. Like I said, this podcast was 00:48:36.099 --> 00:48:38.039 created out of obedience. I don't want this to 00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:39.840 be something where I'm speaking my own heart 00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:43.940 or my own agenda or my own whatever. I want to 00:48:43.940 --> 00:48:46.440 be strictly speaking about what God calls me 00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:52.400 to speak about. Like that Opposition episode 00:48:52.400 --> 00:48:53.719 that was one where I sat down in the morning 00:48:53.719 --> 00:48:55.659 and I was praying to God and literally y 'all 00:48:55.659 --> 00:48:59.199 I end up making a list of this is one thing This 00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:01.739 isn't everything. This is how to overcome opposition. 00:49:02.059 --> 00:49:03.840 I felt like God was early like I wrote down like 00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:06.519 a bullet point list Most of the time that doesn't 00:49:06.519 --> 00:49:08.460 happen most of the time. I might have a couple 00:49:08.460 --> 00:49:10.860 pieces of scripture, but i'm just here on the 00:49:10.860 --> 00:49:14.300 podcast episode y 'all Speaking what the Lord 00:49:14.300 --> 00:49:17.940 has been speaking to me And relaying it in the 00:49:17.940 --> 00:49:21.760 best way I can and sharing testimonies And that 00:49:21.760 --> 00:49:24.679 has solely been what this podcast is is like 00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:26.619 trusting God will give me the words because I 00:49:26.619 --> 00:49:29.530 don't have them i'm not as wise as god makes 00:49:29.530 --> 00:49:31.690 me sound as the holy spirit in me makes me sound 00:49:31.690 --> 00:49:33.849 to be real there have been times when i say something 00:49:33.849 --> 00:49:35.650 i look back and i'm like yeah that was definitely 00:49:35.650 --> 00:49:38.510 not me and someone needs to hear this today if 00:49:38.510 --> 00:49:40.329 you have a fear that you don't have the words 00:49:40.329 --> 00:49:43.369 or you're not smart enough trust that god will 00:49:43.369 --> 00:49:45.929 be with you you have the holy spirit dwelling 00:49:45.929 --> 00:49:51.530 within you he will give you the words pray to 00:49:51.530 --> 00:49:54.349 him that he gives you the words pray to him that 00:49:54.349 --> 00:49:57.400 you're able to discern And the best way to know 00:49:57.400 --> 00:50:03.139 His voice is to spend time with Him. Now y 'all, 00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:07.019 I pray this episode has blessed you and helps 00:50:07.019 --> 00:50:10.940 you, encourages you. And whatever area you need 00:50:10.940 --> 00:50:12.940 encouragement in, if this is more encouragement 00:50:12.940 --> 00:50:14.980 to work on your relationship with Christ, I pray 00:50:14.980 --> 00:50:17.400 it encourages that. If this is encouraging you 00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:21.789 to share your testimony, to go evangelize, I 00:50:21.789 --> 00:50:23.750 pray this happens. If you have been dealing with 00:50:23.750 --> 00:50:26.150 opposition for stepping into your faith, I pray 00:50:26.150 --> 00:50:31.070 that this gives you the encouragement. I know 00:50:31.070 --> 00:50:33.389 that God is going to use this in a lot of different 00:50:33.389 --> 00:50:38.409 ways with a lot of different people. And I do 00:50:38.409 --> 00:50:40.369 want to encourage you, if you haven't read the 00:50:40.369 --> 00:50:43.590 book of Jeremiah, y 'all, read the book of Jeremiah. 00:50:43.650 --> 00:50:46.030 I know it's a long book. It's like 50 chapters. 00:50:46.710 --> 00:50:50.239 It took me a while to get through. I remember 00:50:50.239 --> 00:50:52.139 sitting down and reading it at the beginning 00:50:52.139 --> 00:50:56.539 of the summer, and it was a transformational 00:50:56.539 --> 00:51:00.079 read for me, but it wasn't an easy read. I'll 00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:02.219 be so real with y 'all, some of it feels repetitive. 00:51:03.000 --> 00:51:06.420 About the first 40 chapters are Jeremiah warnings, 00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:09.340 but you know the beauty with that is it shows 00:51:09.340 --> 00:51:12.440 how many times God is willing to warn. How many 00:51:12.440 --> 00:51:18.949 times He tries to pull out our hearts. So I encourage 00:51:18.949 --> 00:51:21.329 whoever you are listening to today to do a deep 00:51:21.329 --> 00:51:24.650 dive into the book of Jeremiah. It's a wonderful 00:51:24.650 --> 00:51:28.369 read. And I pray that this episode blesses you. 00:51:29.789 --> 00:51:33.530 And that you get your strength, your boldness, 00:51:33.570 --> 00:51:35.730 and your courage from the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:51:36.630 --> 00:51:38.269 Have a wonderful night. God bless.