Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend. I hope
you guys are having a wonderful start to your
week Now when I woke up today there was a Scripture
that was put on my heart the honesty like would
not leave me at all when I got up It was the
first thing on my brain when I was taking a shower,
when I was doing my skincare, when I was drinking
my coffee, and finally I sat down and I started
reading the scripture. I knew that the Lord put
it on my heart for a reason. And what I was led
to, what kept popping in my head was, touch not
my anointed and do my prophets no harm. And I
was led to Psalm 105. And in Psalm 105, I'm going
to flip to it real quick. so I can read this
to y 'all. This was where the Lord led me to
read today. Starting in verse 13, it says here,
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was
sold as a servant. His feet, they hurt with feathers.
He was laid in chains of iron, and his soul entered
into the iron, until his word came true, until
the word of the Lord tried and tested him. I
wanna pause here. Y 'all usually I'm reading
from the CSB or the ESB. Today I am reading from
the Amplified Classic Edition. Just so you know,
if the wording sounds a little bit different,
we are in a different Bible today. But in reading
that this morning, that reminded me I needed
that reminder of who God is. Because oftentimes
we can get caught up in the God is love and God
is mercy and God is grace because he shows us
Love and mercy like way more love and mercy and
grace and we deserve right? I cannot tell y 'all
how many times I mess up I say something I shouldn't
I treat someone in a way that I shouldn't I do
something that I'm like I know God calls me to
hire and I know God calls me to better and when
I repent I I Receive his forgiveness and he gives
me an opportunity to do better. And when we're
so used to experiencing that, we can start to
forget just how much God doesn't play when it
comes to his people. You know, y 'all, I believe
it's first Samuel where God is saying, like,
go to these people, say what I tell you to say,
and understand that they are not rejecting you,
they are rejecting me. that when God appoints
someone to speak something when God is using
someone when someone is carrying that anointing
when they were walking out that anointing and
walking out their calling and people are moving
against them or coming up against them when they're
rejecting the words that God is giving they're
not rejecting the person the vessel but they
are rejecting God And when one starts to do harm
to the vessel, when one starts to slander and
gossip and whatever this harm looks like, right?
Because sometimes it can look like physically
hurting. Sometimes it can look like being deceptive.
Sometimes it can look like starting rumors. Sometimes
it can look like going out of their way to try
to close doors or stop opportunities. Whatever
it looks like, God doesn't play. about people
coming up against his anointed. And that's just
one area I'm feeling led to touch on today. But
there's a bigger picture here that I feel we're
being pulled to get to today, right? And that
is... I feel this tags along on to that past
episode we had of prophets and talking about
what prophets are and kind of like, you know,
how does the Lord use prophets? And today this
episode feels more about rejecting God's people,
rejecting God's word, rejecting prophetic words,
rejecting the chosen. and the way that God moves
when that happens. And I just want to start with,
I want to openly pray this on this as we record
this episode that I pray that the Lord keeps
my heart soft as I discuss this topic and I pray
that, you know, my own words don't come out but
the words that the Lord wants me to speak come
out instead because this can be, you know, personally
this is a hard topic for me. I want to make sure
that my heart is right and discussing this and
talking about this There's a piece of scripture.
I want to read to y 'all and this is Daniel chapter
4 And this is the warning This is the prophetic
warning that Daniel gives to King Nebuchadnezzar,
right? And we're going to start here in verse
25 of chapter 4, where Daniel is saying to King
Nebuchadnezzar, and seven times shall pass over
you until you learn and know and recognize that
the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind
and gives it to whomever He will. In that it
was commanded to leave the stump of the roots
of the tree. Your kingdom shall be sure to you
after you have learned and know that God of heaven
rules. Therefore, O King, Let my counsel be acceptable
to you. Break off your sins and show the reality
of your repentance by righteousness. And deliberate
yourselves from your iniquities by showing mercy
and loving kindness to the poor and oppressed.
That there may possibly be a continuance and
lengthening of your peace and tranquility and
healing of your error. All this was fulfilled
and came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. I want to
pause here. I'm gonna pause here for a moment
y 'all and just identify a couple of the continuing
problems King Nebuchadnezzar seemed to have that
weren't changing or shifting because if you've
read about King Nebuchadnezzar before this has
happened like King Nebuchadnezzar has seen God
move through Daniel He's seen, you know, dreams
interpreted. He has seen amazing things happen,
right? King Nebuchadnezzar has seen God move.
He's had moments where he glorifies God, where
he's like glory to the God of Daniel, praising
God. But there were parts of his heart that were
hardened and refused to be shifted or changed.
And one of the things that we see here, we see
that this word is being given to Daniel, right?
This hardship that he's about to go through.
God has a reason for this, right? And it is so
that way. He may repent so that way he may see
transformation. God recognized that Nebuchadnezzar
wasn't going to give up his old ways. There wasn't
going to be this shift. There wasn't going to
be this transformation until he had to learn
the hard way. And that hard way was kind of losing
his mind. Living as an animal with the animals,
losing his kingdom, losing these things. That
kept him in the state of pride that kept him
in that judgmental seat Because I believe that
is what we are being shown here with King Nebuchadnezzar
is that he Appointed himself in some ways above
God in the judgment seat But it says here until
you learn and know and recognize That the most
high God rules the kingdom of mankind and gives
it to whomever he will So it seems like Nebuchadnezzar
had a problem with who God was choosing to use
Who God was choosing to bless who God Was giving
the kingdom of heaven to And how many times do
we see Christians today struggling with that
I can tell y 'all I have met many Christians
there are some who've called themselves Christians
their whole lives who say they they they love
God and you know they they say well God chooses
and God's the judge until it's someone that they
don't think is worthy or deserving now once it's
someone that they don't think is worthy or deserving
it's almost like they put like an x Over this
person if there's no way God can use them anything
good that's happening. It's a lie. It's deception
It's not God. It's not they paint it up to be
demonic and evil Because they refuse in their
mind to accept God chooses people and uses people
Solely because he wills solely because he wants
to. God doesn't have to explain to us why he
chooses people, why he chooses to use them in
that way, but it seems like Nebuchadnezzar had
a problem with God's authority in that area.
It seemed like in reading this that Nebuchadnezzar
did not believe in his heart that God had the
authority to give it to whoever he wills. I cannot
tell y 'all how many times I have seen people
who have a really rough past, you know, who were
being used by the Kingdom of Darkness for a long
time, that had a radical transformation in Christ
Jesus. And of course, they're not perfect. You
know, they're going through the sanctification
process, but they're being used by God in mighty
ways. And I've seen people who call themselves
Christians that refuse to accept. That Jesus
could clean them up that refused to accept that
they could be repentant that refused to accept
and instead of calling them children of God They
call them sons of Satan. They call them children
of the devil They say well this much this must
be witchcraft or this must be wickedness or this
must be lies. This must be deception It's like
in their mind they don't believe that God can
truly use anyone They don't believe that God
can truly soften any heart. They don't believe
that God can use all things for their good. They
don't believe that the kingdom of heaven is more
powerful than the kingdom of darkness. It's like
they believe that the devil, that the wickedness,
that the evil is more powerful than God. Because
if they truly believe that God Could soften a
heart that God could have radical transformation
that God could use someone with the messiest
past if they truly believe that Then where is
this coming from? Let's take a moment to look
at Saul Who was killing Christians who was persecuting
Christians who was breaking going directly against
Who we would today in modern day see as the most
evil and wicked person. And when he was happily
walking along his way to go persecute more people,
he encountered the truth of Jesus Christ. He
experienced miraculous healing from his blindness.
And God started sending him to testify. And he
ended up being used in really big ways. Look
how many books are in the Bible. You can't say
that that wasn't God's blessing. But how many
people, if they saw that happen today, would
claim that's the devil? That's the wickedness.
That's no way God could use him, no way God could
bless. Anything that appears to be miraculous
or anything that's evil, that's wicked. You know,
there are a good amount of what's coming to mind
right now of people that unfortunately, like,
I have seen... People that were very famous for
living lifestyles that didn't glorify God, who
experienced radical shifts, transformations,
and gave their lives to Christ. And they're being
used miraculously. Every time I see their comment
section online, every time I see people interacting
with them online, there's always a handful of
people that are like, this is fake. There's no
rebirth. Once you did this you always did this
that refused to let go and you know I look in
their bio and I see Christian I think do these
people really think that they're being used by
God right now? Because saying those things and
causing that hurt and causing that harm that's
not of God Vengeance exposure all those things
are God's not ours There are some people who
are so blinded by their own pride, who are blinded
by their own version of God in their head, who
are blinded by anger and hostility and confusion
and lies of the enemy that they refuse to see
the fruit, that they refuse to see God. We see
here with King Nebuchadnezzar another one of
his problems. It looks like he wasn't showing
loving kindness to be oppressed Says here we
are in verse 27 and liberate yourself from your
iniquities by showing mercy and loving kindness
to the poor and oppressed Now this was this was
a revelation moment the Lord gave me this morning
and reading this amen is when I saw oppressed
My first thought comes to people who are like
oppressed by the government or people who are
bullied by others or people who are you know
When you think oppressed like showing kindness
to other people who are down bad and other people
who are hurt by people But the lord actually
highlighted to me What about the demonically
oppressed? It's crazy how I the lord has changed
the way that I handle people that I can tell
are not submitted to Christ, right? When I first
gave my life to Jesus and when I was moving through
spiritual warfare, anyone that didn't have their
life surrendered to Christ, I had immediate red
flags up. I want nothing to do with you. I want
to push you away because bad company corrupts
good morals, right? And I was in a really, I
was in a delicate place where the Lord really
showed me, hey, you got to be careful who you
hang around because the wrong influences. you'll
find yourself going in a bad direction. But as
I matured more in my faith and as I was able
to identify God's voice more, you know, as I
was spending more time in the Word and rooted
more in the Word, and as I started to trust more
the discernment that the Lord was building up
in me, the more the Lord was able to use me to
actually help people who were oppressed. people
who needed delivered You know because there was
there was a stage especially when I was like
a very new Christian where I Was just trying
to stay rooted in my faith I was in the space
to go and start leading all these other people
to Christ and away from these things I I was
just holding on by a thread And as the Lord started,
you know working in me and as I was being brought
around people who were oppressed, demonically
oppressed, meaning their thoughts, their actions,
their words, their decisions were being influenced
by a spirit that wasn't, wasn't God. They were
being influenced, you know, when those whispers
in the ears of hateful thoughts, hateful words,
lies, slander, they were believing the lies of
the enemy and moving through those lies. They
had the temptation to act on You know those fleshly
things of anger and unforgiveness and greed and
lust and they were acting on them The people
who were oppressed You know my first reactions
were to be really hateful and say and try to
try to expose the demon and I was really trying
to fight fire with fire and over time the Lord
showed me how to Actually fight it with love
because I'm not supposed to repay evil for evil
And the Lord showed me how to show love and kindness
how to show the love of Christ how to be forgiving
to those people and that was actually What pointed
people to the cross? That was actually what allowed
me to trample on the scorpions, right? That was
actually what allowed me to see victory in situations
was matching it matching the evil with love with
Christ like love With a kindness and that's not
saying let down my boundaries and that's not
saying be like a people pleaser You can love
people in a Christ like way and still hold your
boundaries But we see that that must have been
a problem for King Nebuchadnezzar Right that
he had a problem with showing love and kindness
to the people who were poor and the people who
were oppressed But we see with a lot of Christians
today that have struggles with showing love to
the people who are poor in spirit and the people
who are oppressed. And when I say showing love,
y 'all, I'm not saying telling people, well,
your truth is your truth, or you believe what
you believe. Love doesn't mean enabling. Love
doesn't mean agreeing. If you've been here with
me for a while, you know that is not what I'm
saying. But it is to show a Christ -like love.
It is to be forgiving. Our lives, our ministry,
the way that we respond, the way that we react,
people should glorify our Father who is in heaven.
So showing love to these people is moving in
a way that glorifies God and stays true to His
Word. So when I was reading this today, I was
like, these are the problems that King Nebuchadnezzar
dealt with. I feel like these are the problems
that a lot of people who call themselves Christians
deal with, right? Because there is a new wave
of people coming in who are having radical transformation
and God is using them in miraculous ways. I feel
like I'm one of those people that falls into
that group, which is why I said, y 'all, that
this is a little bit of a sticky subject for
me. Because I fall into that grip of someone
who I was a new -ager. I was a tarot reader I
was all of these things and the Lord gave me
revelation and transformed my heart and I was
repentant and I gave my life to the Lord and
he is now using me and moving through me and
I have had to go through seasons where there
were people who refused to believe that I gave
my life to Jesus Where there are people who refuse
no matter how much fruit they see no matter how
guilty they feel they they still refuse in their
heart to believe that God could be using me that
God could be moving through me that my blessings
could truly be because God is well pleased with
the work I was doing that refused to believe
that God gives his kingdom to those he desires
and that's the only reason he needs You know,
I've been so clear with y 'all before that when
the Lord gave me promises of restoration He made
it very clear to me. It's not because I prayed
a specific prayer. It's not because I did a specific
work It's not because I'm extra special or I'm
a better person or anything like that God said
I can use you I've made it so clear So you know
that that's why y 'all I had to pray in the beginning
this episode that my heart is clean and clear
in this Because I want to make sure that this
is the Lord's wisdom and not my own wisdom not
my own desires not my own experience speaking
And the Lord is I want to say this and I want
to be so clear with this that the Lord is merciful
and the Lord is forgiving and the Lord is gracious
but sometimes His mercy and His grace looks like
turning us over so that way our soul may be saved.
And I have from personal experience seen people
experience God the way that King Nebuchadnezzar
had to experience God. I'm someone who had to
experience God in the way that the people in
the book of Jeremiah experienced God. I've shared
this testimony with you all before. When God
turned me over for the destruction of my flesh,
I refused to repent. I refused to turn from New
Age or anything like that. You know, I didn't
have the clarity, but I was rejecting the people
that God was sending to me to kind of like point
me lovingly to the cross. So I was turned over,
I went through suffering and hardship and it
was in that suffering and hardship that my heart
was softened enough for God to truly penetrate,
right? For the word of God to truly penetrate
my heart and for things to truly start taking
root and for me to have revelation and for me
to be repentant. That I wasn't able, I wasn't
ready to receive until I was in a space where
I was humble enough. And I have seen people Holy
Spirit give me the words and I am actively seeing
people I have to learn that lesson through situations
like the book of Jeremiah or situations like
this with King Nebuchadnezzar Where they're put
in a space They're allowed to go through hardships
God is allowing them to go through things after
rejecting warnings after rejecting the word of
God. Having to go through situations that are
going to soften their heart and humble them to
a space where they are obedient and submit to
God's will. There's a scripture that the Lord
Showed to me yesterday that I feel called to
share with you all in this moment And that is
job 22 verse 11 where it says submit to god and
be at peace with him In this way prosperity will
come to you You know these people that i'm referring
to that i've seen this happen are people that
Will submit in some areas to god's word, but
there are other areas where their pride Is so
strong and they're leaning on their own understanding
and the Word of God cannot penetrate and take
root in their heart. And because He loves them
so much and because He wants to see them repentant
and because He wants to see them give their lives
to Him. Fully because he wants to be able to
use them to because he wants to give them promises
Because he wants to see them also walk out their
kingdom of segments. He will allow them to go
through this You know, that was a big thing that
the Lord had revealed to me with these people
He was that it's not like they're going through
suffering or hardship because just because God's
angry or because God's wrathful He still has
a hope at the end of this just like he did for
the people in Jeremiah Just how he has for King
Nebuchadnezzar that the hope of what they're
going through is that they may repent That God's
Word may be able to pierce their heart and take
root We see here with King Nebuchadnezzar right
says here in verse 27 break off your sins and
Show the reality of your repentance by righteousness
And it says here I'm gonna repeat it again and
liberate yourself from your iniquities by showing
mercy and loving kindness to the poor and oppressed
Shown here these were the commands he was given
is to stop Sending to truly break off the sin
not just a thing of like, okay. I'm gonna like
abstain for right now It's break it off of your
life. Stop entertaining the sin Stop entertaining
it stop making allowances for it ring it out
and cut it off and Then show fruits as signs
of your repentance being repentant and I've said
this many times y 'all Feeling guilty and saying
sorry and taking ownership that is a part, right?
Like recognizing you've done wrong Taking accountability,
but the other part of it is having a change of
heart. Repentance isn't just feeling bad or sorry.
It is a change of your heart placement where
you truly recognize it's wrong and you cannot
continue to do it because you know it goes against
God. So you will take the active steps to stop
doing it. For example, if it's gossiping or slander,
you'll stop hanging out with people that you
find you gossip and slander all the time. You'll
stop entertaining those conversations. If you're
repentant for it, you'll do what you can to flee
it. If you're repentant for sexual immorality,
you'll stop hanging around with the people that
you get sexually immoral with. You'll stop looking
up the online stuff. If you're repenting for
listening to voices that aren't the Lord's, you'll
stop scrolling all day listening to the psychic
mediums. On social media. You'll stop listening
to his words that claim they're from God But
if you hold it up to the if you hold up to the
word, it's clearly not from God If you are repentant
from things you will stop doing it If you are
repentant for demonizing someone or lying or
slandering you'll stop doing it to them If you're
repentant for whole if you're repentant for holding
someone unforgiveness You'll start taking the
active steps to forgive them God knows when you're
just saying sorry to say sorry. God knows when
you feel bad, but you're gonna do it again. God
knows your heart and your mind. You can't play
God. And this was something that the Lord was
trying to establish in King Nebuchadnezzar. It's
not just that you're gonna stop keeping sin as
a pet. You're gonna stop entertaining it. You're
gonna you're gonna stop dismissing it and saying
like it's okay You're gonna stop making allowances
for it and you're going to produce fruits They're
gonna be signs of your repentance Y 'all repentance
isn't just saying I'm sorry repentance is shown
in the way you live your life and the choices
you make If you say sorry, but there's no fruit,
where your heart lies is evident. And we see,
I want to read a little bit further, right? I
want to read here in Daniel 4 .35. It says, and
all the inhabitants of the earth are counted
as nothing. he does according to his will and
the host of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth and none can stay his hand or say
to him what are you doing and I felt I felt led
to I felt led to read this and ask y 'all are
you questioning God not now we should we should
be asking God wants us to ask questions God wants
us to ask questions I think a better way to word
this is are you in Disagreement with God's will
to where your heart is hardened and you are refusing
to accept his will It's his will that he speaks
through this person if it's his will that he
uses this ministry if it's his will That this
blessing is delivered and you're sitting there
like now. I don't agree with that. I don't like
that I don't think that's right. I Don't think
they deserve that. I don't think Okay, that's
you But you aren't God It's fine to ask God questions
he wants us to ask him questions he wants us
to communicate with him Are you asking questions
to understand? Or are you from a lack of faith
and a lack of trust trying to take away that
authority from him? And in you assuming that
authority are you rejecting the will of God?
Are you rejecting the Word of God? Want to read
further it says now at the same time My reason
and understanding returned to me and For the
glory of my kingdom my majesty and splendor returned
to me and my counselors and my Lord sought me
out I was reestablished in my kingdom and still
more greatness than before was added to me and
that's King Nebuchadnezzar right after He went
through the suffering and He submitted to God.
His heart was changed. He was repentant. And
how God restored Him. And that is God's love
and that's mercy. God is a loving and merciful
God. But He is so loving and so merciful that
because He wants to see that change in you, because
He wants to use you. because he wants to deliver
on the promises he's made for you. If he knows
that you're gonna have to go through whatever
period this is to soften your heart to get there,
he loves you so much, he'll take you through
it. And he loves you so much that he'll restore
you on the other side. It's so important, someone
needs to hear this today, that when you go through
these sufferings and these hardships because
of a hardened heart, because of an opposition
to God, He still has the loving intent to restore
you. But we see here that the restoration required
repentance. There's something I'd highlighted
here in Daniel 4 verse 30 where it says, and
the king said, is not this the great Babylon
that I have built as the royal residence and
seat of government by the might of my power?
for the honor and glory of my majesty we see
the lack of humility that King Nebuchadnezzar
had by glorifying himself right he was so busy
on himself of his good intent of what he built
of what he has done and y 'all I'm not preaching
at you from some mountaintop I'm able to speak
these things because yes I have been on the side
of someone who you know, people didn't believe
that God would use me. I've been on that side,
but I have also before been on the other side
of feeling so consumed in myself and what is
going on in my own life and my own intention
that I was refusing, that I refused to see how
God used other people. Before God softened my
heart when I was a new -ager, when I look back
I can see that there were people who were being
kind to me and trying to show me the love of
Jesus. And because I was entertaining the lies
of the enemy, I was twisting the motives of all
of those people. What's crazy is the people that
God sent me, oftentimes I was actually viewing
those people as evil or wicked or ulterior motives
because they were trying to deliver me. I remember
that there was, when I was a tarot card reader
and I would do the reading online, there was
this couple that they loved Jesus. Every time
they they came around me like they would be around
me and I would be online I would make no money.
I would get like no purchases that day And I
started attributing it in my head this sounds
so crazy y 'all, but I was actually saying to
myself I was like They're they're cursing my
finances every time they come around somehow.
I don't make money. They don't want me doing
these readings They don't want me doing these
things and because at the time I didn't see what
I was doing as evil or demonic I viewed them
as the evil ones, right? I was like how dare
they stop my money. I'm trying to eat I'm trying
to do these things and I recognized that later
on that these people were praying for my deliverance
That these people were praying that I would leave
The tarot card reading they were praying that
I would leave these demonic things behind right
and Me not making money that they are not an
income was frustrating that work and was actually
kind of encouraging me What's interesting enough
is I went through so many random days or periods
of that I actually start praying I want a new
job This isn't stable enough. This isn't steady
enough and it actually opened the door for me
to be delivered later on But so crazy that at
the time, now I can look back and see that that
was clearly God sending those people to pray
for me. God sending those people to plant seeds.
You know, they would every so often say, why
don't you apply for a different job? Why don't
you do this? And, you know, I would shake them
off and I would get frustrated. I would get offended.
I went through a time period where I felt like,
well, I'm just trying to provide for myself and
I'm just trying to take care of myself and I'm
helping people and I'm doing this is what I was
telling myself at the time that I viewed them.
as more wicked in that scenario. I was viewing
them as the ones who were throwing a wrench in
my plans and attacking me and hurting me and
harming me. And now on the other side of it,
I'm like, nah, they were servants of the Most
High. They were doing, they were literally, if
I held what they were doing to Scripture, I was
the one in the wrong. And they were the ones
pointing me in the right direction. But because
I was rooted in my pride, because I was in an
ego space, because I was so focused on my intent
and what I think I'm doing and how I feel and,
you know, how I think God should view me, I was
ready to write like everything off as opposition
and wickedness when I didn't realize that I was
the one opposing God's will. I've never shared
that testimony on here before. And I hope that
that helps someone. And I just wanna say, I pray
God blesses that couple for the seeds that they
planted and the work that they did in my life.
And you know, it really is... At that time, I
was very oppressed, y 'all. I needed heavy deliverance.
I went through heavy deliverance. I wouldn't
have ever said I needed deliverance. It was once
I gave my life to the Lord and I started, the
Lord took me through a period of intermittent
fasting and I was reading the scripture for like
12 hours a day that there were things being purged
from me. There were mindsets and thought processes.
It wasn't until I was going through that fasting
and I was really going through a self -denial.
That the word was able to penetrate me I want
to be so clear with this y 'all that when I went
through that transformation It wasn't when I
was keeping sin as a pet anymore I'm not I'm
not saying I was perfect but when the word was
actually able to penetrate my heart and Like
old coping mechanisms and old thought processes
were being broken off and I was truly repenting
at that point I was denying self. I was going
through fasting. So I was denying my flesh like
food wise I was no longer smoking or drinking.
I was denying my flesh in that area. I was no
longer scrolling on social media. I was denying
my flesh in that area. I was no longer doing
tarot card reading. I had yet to throw away the
cards but I refused to touch them at that point.
I was denying myself of all the things that I
once was able to defend and in doing that and
seeking God and prayer and keeping the faith
Because there were times when I was tempted to
go back to those things because I didn't feel
like I saw God move yet Or I felt like my enemies
were winning or I felt like these things I continued
to trust in God And the word was able to penetrate
and break things off of me You know, I'm speaking
to y 'all today as someone who I have been on
both sides I've been on both sides. I've been
on the side of feeling judged and feeling turned
away and having to understand that, you know,
they're not rejecting me. They're rejecting God
and allow God to handle it. And I've seen God
do that. I have seen God take care of me, babes.
I have seen God correct people. I've seen God
do His thing. And I want to say right now, it
is so important that God won't do that until,
in my experience, I've never had where God does
that when I'm in a space of I would gloat and
rejoice Each time I've seen God deliver justice
in that way. I'm at a point where I'm actually
more like empathizing with the person I'm not
gonna rub it in their face or get excited or
all of those things about it Oftentimes when
God delivers a justice or a thing like that I'm
in a space where I don't really care if justice
is delivered or not Like meaning like I've already
made peace with if it never happens I trust God
would do it but I made peace with where I was
at and focused on him and I understood because
and I think that's because I had already forgiven
those people I think that's such a better way
to word this y 'all is I haven't seen God like
really deliver justice in that way or move in
that way until I have truly forgiven those people
Or I'm in a space where I wouldn't gloat or rejoice
or throw it back in their face But I have also
been the person where There were people God chose
and a point and I and it was really hard for
me to accept some of the people He sent because
they had pasts You know when I was thinking that
God sending me a Christian God send me someone
to speak his word I was thinking it was gonna
be someone who's clean and proper and like You
know, they were just the perfect little minister
or whatever. And a lot of the people God was
sending me were people with pasts. People who
their lives weren't perfect. People where I wanted
to look at them and be like, you're one to talk.
And that was honestly because I didn't have an
understanding of who God was or who he can use.
So I was passing judgment because I was relying
on my own understanding of who God can use and
what they would look like and what they would
sound like. It was a mixture of that, of not
truly knowing God's Word, of not truly believing
God's Word, right? And then it was also a mixture
of I was blinded by the lies of the enemy and
the deception and the sin I was entertaining
in my life. We've talked about open doors for
the devil and how... It's hard to compartmentalize
how giving into gossip or giving into lust, giving
into gluttony, giving into these things in one
area of our life can give license for the enemy
to blind us or block things in a lot of areas.
Kind of almost like give him legal access. We're
opening up the door and allowing him to come
in, right? Which is why it's so important to
flee the temptation and to not keep sin, to cut
it off. Sin feels good. We don't sin. I want
to say this, Holy Spirit, give me the words.
We don't sin because we immediately see it as
this is horrible, this is bad, and this is going
to separate us from Christ. Oftentimes the reason
why we say yes to the temptation and give in
to the sin is because it looks like it's going
to feel good. It looks like it's going to improve
our situation. It looks like it's the solution.
And then later on when we try to leave, we find
out just how much it's a bondage. Sin feels good
and looks good at first the devil masquerades
as an angel of light You know what God God calls
us to be forgiving and that's not very appealing
having to forgive someone who's doing you wrong
or continuing to do you wrong and Saying like
I'm gonna trust God to take care of it It doesn't
feel good that doesn't feel like a win that doesn't
even look like a win Until God does it But what
does that forgiving do? When you choose to forgive
instead of living in unforgiveness that closes
off the enemy is no longer allowed to use you
The enemy is not able to work on your unforgiveness
and use you to attack God's children And use
you to plant seeds of doubt fear hate anger all
these things And that's just an example So my
biggest problem y 'all was I there were certain
sins that I refused to see as simple or even
though I knew like God yeah God doesn't exactly
approve this I felt like I had a reason to be
rooted in it or I would twist scripture to explain
away what I was doing and I know that there's
multiple groups of people that this may resonate
with in different ways y 'all this this episode
This isn't for just like one specific group of
people. I feel like there are a lot of people
who can take something from this today And there
may be people who like this is and I want to
say this in the most loving way And if you've
been asking the Lord for clarity you've been
asking the Lord for truth I Feel like there's
someone today There is a truth and there is a
clarity in this for you. You're struggling of
understanding the suffering you're going through.
You're struggling of understanding the hardship
or maybe you're struggling of seeing the hope
on the other side. Maybe you're someone who's
watching people go through suffering and hardship
and you're trying to understand. I believe that
there is a truth to be revealed to you in listening
to this today and I pray that you see it. And
I pray that every single one of you who is listening
to this episode today Delivered from that bondage
whatever bondage in your life Delivered from
the lies delivered from the deceit that you're
able to operate and move in truth And that you
remember who God is You know, there was something
there was a situation that happened not long
ago that was so impactful for me and I needed
this reminder Where God reminded me that I'm
not his only child The other people who I believe
are good Christians are not his only children
Like are not his only creations that he loves
everybody that Jesus died for everybody when
there is a situation a scenario There is a conversation
as in with a person where I used a tone and some
words that When I looked back I was like no those
were hurtful and I and it's not very often that
I do get that way I thought I had moved past
that the situation had gotten so heated where
I responded in that way And when I had time to
reflect on it I went and I apologized to that
person because I remember as soon as I had a
moment to breathe on it I started taking to God
and I just started crying and Asking God for
forgiveness of God. I'm so sorry. I talked to
your child that way I'm so sorry that I talked
to that this person you love this person and
I talked to them in a way that you wouldn't talk
to them in that way You wouldn't correct them
in that way. You wouldn't say it in that way
And I you know had to be very open with that
person and apologize to them For my wording and
my tone and saying I shouldn't have spoken it
to you or communicated it to you in that way
And that was wrong with me to do And maybe someone
needs to hear this today of like maybe you just
need a little bit of this reminder today that
like Jesus died for all of us, for all of us,
in hopes that each of us would give our life.
He knows that not everybody is going to give
their lives and submit to him. The path is narrow,
but that door is open for every single one of
us. We should be cheering on when hell lost another
one, but just remember that God loves that person
too. God wants to see that person repent too.
And maybe ask God, how can you be showing His
love to those people? How can you be ministering?
How can you help point people to the cross? How
can you help deliver? And most of the time, and
this is from my personal experience, When you're
just focusing on your relationship with God and
what he has called you to do The things around
you will fall into place. He will give you steps
to take Every time I have seen a promise every
time I've seen a breakthrough every time I've
seen a deliverance Every time I've seen something
like that. It wasn't while I was saying they're
like God. How do I operate? How do I do this?
How do I let's make a plan together? It was never
those times. It was always the times when I was
just Focusing on God. What do you want me to
do? What do you want me to learn today? What
can we talk about today? It was when I was just
seeking him and asking him you tell me what what's
the small steps to take today and sometimes I
wouldn't see how those small steps would add
up into something big and if you're if you're
wondering like well, where do I start start with
God start with your relationship with God and
Trust that these things will be added on to you
when you're seeking first God and his kingdom
his righteousness He will take care of you. He
will guide you he will leave you You know, it's
crazy how I'm Reflecting on this as I'm speaking
to y 'all It's crazy how many people when I was
in a space of oppression when I was believing
lies of the enemy before the Lord had delivered
me and I truly submitted with all my heart to
God's word. There were a lot of people that I
viewed as my enemy. There were a lot of people
that were children of God. But I wasn't able
to see that they were children of the Most High.
I was blinded in a way. I wasn't able to see
their good intention. But there were a lot of
people who I believed to be my enemy. upon deliverance
and upon it wasn't always immediately of like
once I once I was delivered I saw everything
clearly it wasn't I can see clearly now the rain
is gone it was as I progressed as I was submitting
to God's Word and as he was working in my heart
and as he was transforming me and as I was just
focused on obeying his Word as he was bringing
out forgiveness and love and kindness and the
fruits of the Spirit in me that the way that
I viewed a lot of these people, the people who
I once viewed as my enemies, I was actually able
to see as servants of the Most High. I was actually
able to later on look back and be like, no, they
were trying to help me. They were trying to plant
a seed. God was trying to use them. They were
actually a blessing. When you stop believing
the lies of the enemy, the way that you view
some people is actually going to shift and change.
When you start being rooted in God's Word and
submitting to His will and submitting to Him
as the authority, it's crazy how your perspective
and the way that you perceive the things going
on around you and the people around you starts
to shift. And it's also crazy how we're able
to see how easy it is for the enemy to twist
and manipulate when we're not rooted in God's
Word and don't have a submission to God's Word.
When we're not truly taking His Word and moving
by faith with His Word. You know y 'all, I'm
thinking about flipping to, I believe it was
Hebrews that I was reading this morning. I think
this is going to be a really helpful read for
somebody. Again, we're in the new Amplified Version,
chapter 11. It says here, now faith is the assurance
of the things we hope for, being the proof of
things we do not see and the conviction of their
reality. For by faith The men of old had divine
testimony born to them and obtained by a good
report by faith we understand That the worlds
were framed by the Word of God So that what we
see was not made out of things which are visible
Prompted by faith Abel brought God a better and
more acceptable sacrifice than came because of
which it was testified of him that he was righteous
and God bore witness by accepting and acknowledging
his gifts and though he died yet he is still
speaking because of faith Enoch was caught up
and transferred to heaven so that he did not
have a glimpse of death and he was not found
because God had translated him For even before
he was taken to heaven, he received testimony
that he had pleased and been satisfactory to
God. But without faith it is impossible to please
and be satisfactory to him. For whoever would
come near to God must believe that God exists
and that he is the rewarder of those who earnestly
and diligently seek him out. prompted by faith
Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events
of which as yet there was no visible sign, took
heed and diligently and reverently constructed
and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his
own family. By this faith he passed judgment
and sentence on the world's unbelief and became
an heir and possessor of righteousness. By faith
Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went
out to a place which he was destined to receive
as an inheritance. And he went, although he did
not know or trouble his mind about where he was
to go. By faith he dwelt as a temporary resident
in the land which was designated in the promise.
In a strange country living in tents with Isaac
and Jacob fellow heirs with him of the same promise
for he was looking forward to the city which
had fixed and firm foundations whose architect
and builder is God because of faith also Sarah
herself received physical power to conceive a
child even when she was long past the age for
it because she considered God who had given her
the promise to be reliable and trustworthy and
true to his word So from one man, though he was
physically as good as dead, there have sprung
descendants whose number is as the stars of heaven
and as countless as the innumerable sands on
the seashore. These people all died controlled
and sustained by their faith, but not having
received the tangible fulfillment of God's promises,
only having seen it and greeted it from a great
distance by faith. and all the while acknowledging
and confessing that they were strangers and temporary
residents in exiles upon the earth." I just wanted
to read that. I felt led to read that to you
all, to show you the importance of faith in God
and His promises and His ability, His authority,
and who He is. These are all examples of people
who put their faith in God's Word they hadn't
yet seen. evidence. Faith isn't seeing. Faith
is believing. Believing in God's ability. Believing
in God's character. Believing in what God speaks.
And when you believe, you take leaps of faith.
You move by faith. When you believe what God
has spoken, and you know there is a move he's
calling you to make, you make it. That is faith
is moving and trusting in God's Word I remember
y 'all just how much Faith it took for me to
leave behind Those sins that I was defending
and give my life to Jesus. It wasn't easy I was
in my car. I was hungry. I was tired. I was weary.
And I felt like the Lord was telling me, keep
fasting. Because I kept praying to God every
day. God, do I need to go get a job? God, do
I need to do something for finances? Like this
feels so irresponsible. This feels exactly the
opposite of what I should be doing. And I felt
like the Lord was speaking to me. No, this is
my opportunity to show you that I am a provider.
This is my opportunity to show you how I can
show up when you obey. Because that was the first
time in my life I was trusting in God to do it
and not doing it myself. And I felt like God
was telling me it would be a sin for me to disobey
in that way. He has given me a commandment. And
I want to be very clear. That wasn't always a
commandment I lived by. I work a job now, y 'all.
That was a season in my life where God was telling
me to leave a sinful job behind. Trust in his
provision and in his timing he would point to
me what I needed to do and where I need to go
next In the next season. I did have a job. I
was working. I Want to be so clear with that.
It wasn't like God just said I'm gonna provide
free forever for it He has called me to do work
and do things. Okay? But that was a season and
so I was already keep my job. I was hungry and
I was tired and I had just gotten out of a time
where every time I was on social media online
people were making fun of me and I could tell
people were being friendly to my face with ulterior
motives behind my back and I felt like everyone
thought I was stupid and I felt like I was being
attacked like so you I wasn't talking to anybody
I didn't have friends I was talking to I didn't
have family I was talking to I was cynical towards
people I didn't trust anybody so I was already
going through that to add on to that I was hungry
and I was tired I didn't have any of the conveniences.
I was in my car in the desert. So think about
the frustration that comes with that too. I don't
have easy access to all the stuff you normally
do. I was inconvenienced in almost every way
you could think. I was also, in that time, I
was called, the Lord was calling me to be sober.
He was calling me to leave behind smoking completely,
throw it all out. He was calling me, leave behind
the tarot cards, throw it all out. was dealing
with all these things all of my once securities
were like stripped away and I felt like I was
put in a place where it was like all you can
do is sit wait and pray and Seek God with all
your heart and trust in his timing. He'll move
and he'll do his thing And while I was in that
space of waiting that took faith alone y 'all
as someone who I was used to my entire life Trying
to save things when it looked like they were
falling through trying to make up ways trying
to find all these ways and for the first time
my life I was submitting and God was calling
me to do nothing except to seek him and pray
to him and spend my time with him and That felt
like the opposite of productive That felt like
Lord if I do that Then my enemies will surely
win then I'll probably die here then I'll probably
all these things. I felt like surrender was calling
it quits. But I had faith in what God spoke He
would do. He spoke that He would deliver me,
that He would restore me. There were promises
and I held on to those. And because I had faith
in those, because I went through that humbling
period where God's Word was able to pierce my
heart and I was able to see I needed Him, And
I've talked in the last episode about the mental
process I went through. If I've tried everything
else, it's time to try God. When I try giving
it to God 100%, try submitting 100 % in the Rooted
in Faith episode. And giving all of this to Him
by faith, I don't think I can push it hard enough.
And it wasn't easy, right? It wasn't easy to
conjure up that faith. I was actually praying
to God where I was like, God, how do some other
people just have faith that you're gonna do it?
How do some other people read the word and just
submit to the word and trust in the word? I don't
feel like I've seen that in my life. How do you
expect me to trust it now? I was like, Lord,
this is the hardest position I've ever been in
in life. This is the time where I need, I need
help. And you're calling me to not try to do
it at all and to just submit to you It was mind
-blowing for me because I felt like this is the
worst timing to do this God But that was also
the time where God could show up and show up
the most and I remember every day I was praying
to God God increase my faith God, please give
me the faith help my unbelief Like help my unbelief
help me to have the faith and I was holding on
to the like I hope it really only takes like
a mustard seed because God I'm trying And the
Lord sent me testimonies that actually strengthened
my faith and increased my faith. I listened to
a couple different people's testimonies. In the
rare times I got online, I listened to testimonies
like Jonathan Rumi's. And it gave me the encouragement
of God did it for them, he can do it for me.
I'm going to trust in his word that he is the
same now, always and forever. And it was by faith
in his promises and who he is that I fled those
sins, that I cut those things off. Trusted like
God it said he has these things for me, but he
says I need to cut these things off first I'm
gonna cut these things off and have faith that
he will keep his word. I'll have faith that vengeance
is his I'll have faith and in his timing all
those things I was stressed and worried about
my name was restored Relationships were redeemed
the air was cleared My provision came things
happen. God kept his promises, but the most important
thing was there was transformation in my heart.
I've said this in previous episodes, y 'all,
that it is so important that before God delivers
on his promises, before he blesses you with things,
that he prunes you and he makes you into the
person who can be a good steward over those things.
I wasn't ready to steward over the things when
God promised them to me in the moment. When God
gave me the promises and visions and words, they
were something to put, it was something to move
towards. It was a goal to work towards and something
to have my faith in God. And God is going to
restore this. God is going to heal this. God
is going to do this. I was able to move by faith
towards the vision that he had given me. Which
required cutting off and printing just an example
y 'all There were things there were things that
God couldn't do in my life until the unforgiveness
was broken off of me or until the sobriety convictions
really took root God wasn't about to bless me
with like regular Finances until he knew I wasn't
going to be spending it on like alcohol or smoking
I can't imagine like if God would have given
me like a big financial blessing It probably
would have been blown in a year on things that
God didn't intend me to spend it on or use it
for There were a lot of things where I'm like,
yeah if God would have given it to me in that
time It wouldn't have been stewarded over well
It would have been used. It wouldn't have been
built up and multiplied, right? So it's why it's
so important to have faith for God's promises
but understand that the promises don't always
happen the moment He promises them to you a lot
of these people we read about that moved by faith
It wasn't the next day that God did those things.
It wasn't the next day that the floods came Noah
had that time to build that ark. It wasn't the
next day that Abraham and Sarah had that kid.
It was decades when he looked She was completely
seen to be unbarren and he looked like there
was no possibility he could have kids. They were
like a hundred years old. That's why it took
faith, right? Because their physical reality
said like, this is impossible. And the longer
they waited, the more their physical reality
said no, there's no way this is possible. But
God is bigger than what they see around them.
That's why it's so important that we establish
that faith isn't seeing. Faith is believing in
what God says. And faith also requires action.
God, Holy Spirit -led action. Take those actions
and hold them up to the Word. Do they align with
the Word of God? Because God will not contradict
Himself. God gives you a promise for marriage.
I'm telling you right now, He's not calling you
to go out and be lustful. He's not calling you
to go out and start... Making friendly with people
like getting with people who are unequally yoked
God gives you a marriage promise God. What can
I do to work towards that? What do you need to
break off in me? Who do you need me to be? It's
not about going once you have a promise and trying
to force it God doesn't give you the vision or
the promise for you to force it it's something
for you to work towards with your faith in and
By his guidance stepping out in faith I pray
that this episode has blessed you and helps you
and I pray that there is a truth and there is
a clarity that you have received through this.
I know that the Lord is more than able to use
this episode to impact lives in ways that I could
never imagine and I could never see and I pray
that he uses it. in that way. I pray that he
moves on your heart. I pray that he moves on
everyone who listens to this episode today. It
moves in their lives. I want to thank y 'all
so much for listening to this episode, and I
do ask that you subscribe wherever it is you're
listening to this podcast, that you share it,
share it with friends, share it with family,
and I'll see you guys on the next episode. God
bless.