Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I am your host Danielle Townsend I hope
you guys are having a wonderful week now y 'all
Our episode today is about dying to self and
the cost of a life surrendered to Jesus And honestly
a book that I got for Christmas this year has
really had me thinking on this topic and that
book is called The Cost of Discipleship. I haven't
fully finished the book yet. I'm a little bit
more than halfway through it and I would say
y 'all I think this book is going to be one of
my book recommendations. I have a couple books
that we'll just say they are like a staple on
my bookshelf where it's like This is one of my
Christian books that yeah, I'm gonna recommend
it to anybody and everybody And I do feel this
is gonna be one of those and I will warn y 'all
who are Interested and want to go read it It
is a theologically kind of heavy book and all
I see me reading it. I'm like, this is heavy
I'm usually one of those people y 'all there's
sometimes I finish a book in like a day or two
and this is one where I'm fighting to get like
15 to 20 pages in a day. But that's because it
takes me like an hour and a half of just meditating
on it and picking it apart. It's one of those
books that you just can't rush through and you
shouldn't rush through. So I will tell y 'all
I don't think this would be a book that I would
recommend to someone who's like just a couple
weeks in on their walk with Christ and still
From the theological like a little bit the heaviness
of it. I do feel this is something that's good
for everybody Just a fair warning. Okay, it's
a little heavy, but it's a good read I think
everybody should read at some point and their
walk with Christ But the book is about what it
kind of says the title the title speaks for itself
the cost of discipleship You know that the guy
who this book is about Diedrich Bonhoeffer he
he was a He died in world war two. He was martyred
and he had a very And what some people might
view as intense View on the cost of discipleship.
I got to be really y 'all as i'm reading through
i'm like I agree with this And this is true That
it costs something to follow jesus and not just
one time It's gonna cost you throughout your
life. There is suffering we have to endure as
Christians There is suffering assigned to us,
which is the cost that we carry Right. And then
of course there's suffering that we face when
we disobey God and we face consequences of our
own actions There's suffering that's, you know,
the work of the enemy, that's spiritual warfare.
But we know that when we are submitted to Christ
and surrendered to Christ, we are never going
through this suffering alone. And God will use
the suffering for our good. Amen. But reading
through this, we're in the She Reads Truth Study
Bible, which is the Christian standard version,
I believe. Mark 8 verse 34 Says here calling
the crowd along with his disciples Jesus said
to them if anyone wants to follow after me Let
him deny himself take up his cross and follow
me If you want to follow Jesus if you want to
live a life Submitted to Jesus surrender to Jesus
if you want to be a disciple there is a cost
And that cost is self -denial, is denying of
the flesh. I don't know who needs to hear this
today, but once you give your life to Jesus and
you're walking with him and pursuing relationship
with him, you should start to change. And if
you have been walking with Jesus for years, if
you believe you've given your life to him, but
you haven't actually had to die to yourself,
You haven't seen real changes that make you look
more like Jesus. You should take a look because
something, in the most loving way I can say this,
something's not right there. It should cost you
something to follow Jesus. It should cost you
your sinful life it should cost you your old
ways of being that aren't christ -like and that's
not saying that you're going to be perfect and
that's not saying that you're going to look totally
different overnight but you should start to change
and jesus says right here anyone anyone who wants
to follow after me because jesus can't force
you to die to your old self he can't force you
to obey he can't force you to love him he can't
force you to have faith in him he's not going
to that's why god gave us free wills he wants
us to choose to love him he wants us to choose
to obey him and jesus says here anyone that wants
to follow me you have to deny yourself It's not
sometimes you can deny yourself. It's not if
you want to you can You have to deny yourself
and Hmm I didn't I didn't plan on saying this
today, but Holy Spirit give me the words There
are a lot of people who call themselves Christian
and claim that God loves the sin that in his
word it's clear that he hates. We know how God
feels about sexual immorality. We know how God
feels about witchcraft. We know how God feels
about murder. We know how God feels about bearing
false witness. We know how God feels about being
a drunkard. We know how he feels about all of
these things. But people today operate out of
a space of cheap grace Where it's okay. I can
keep doing it. God loves me. Anyway, I'm his
child. He loves me. He loves me. He loves me
No self denial all grace When if you really love
the Lord You would obey him We know that from
scripture to we know Jesus says I believe it's
in John chapter 3 the one who believes in me
Will do the works that I do that if your faith
is really in Jesus if you really love him If
you really believe in what he did on the cross
and you believe in who he is then you will do
what he does now that doesn't mean you will be
perfect but you will to the best of your ability
die to self and live the life that he lived simply
because you know that's what you're supposed
to do not because of some big reward you get
not because of heaven but simply because that
is what you're called to do you want to know
why you're here you're here to serve god you're
here to worship him Man was put here to take
care of God's creation to serve God in that way
and to worship him And does the life you're living
now look like that? Someone today needs to hear
this that if you want to follow Jesus you have
to deny yourself and y 'all As I just said that
there are a lot of Christians who are all about
grace and all about God's love but not about
obedience and not about self -denial. It was
crazy. I have a church that I love to attend
that I go to, but out of curiosity there and
I was looking up different churches in my town
and there was one church that caught my eye because
a lot of their pictures were in their Google
pictures. I want to be so thoughtful the way
I word this. But I'm standing on business at
the same time in the authority of Christ Jesus.
Amen. That what caught my eye is a lot of their
pictures in their Google reviews were symbols
of things that we know that the Bible openly
condemned It says that these things are sins
So in clicking on that Church's profile I start
looking through all of their beliefs and a lot
of the things that they stand for and Say that
they are supportive of and they encourage are
things that God is directly against are things
that God says will are not fruits of the spirit
are the opposite are produced by the flesh and
are sinful and this church glorified them And
even in their information, they even had classes
to help people be more comfortable and inclusive
of these sins, where the people who were against
it, they were actually saying, y 'all are the
bad ones, y 'all are the ignorant ones. And I
want to be so clear, I want to say this right
now, that everybody can be redeemed. And that
Jesus' blood covers, okay? That there is no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus and this is
not a condemning voice I am someone who at one
point in my life was participating in witchcraft
was participating in tarot card reading I was
considered like a drunkard Know that Jesus has
forgiven me and I have seen his grace and his
mercy but repentance means I now flee the temptation
Am I perfect? No, but I flee I quit making excuses
for the sin. I quit making excuses for the flesh.
I quit justifying it. I quit trying to twist
scripture to match my feelings and started asking
God to change the desires of my heart to match
His will and to help me to change and to do better.
And I want to say this from the most loving place.
I've had to stop and evaluate myself so many
times. I'm not innocent in this y 'all as I've
been reading this book The cost of discipleship
along with my scripture reading I've had to take
looks of areas in my life and be like where in
my life Am I relying on cheap grace instead of
costly grace? Where in my life have I not denied
my flesh and said God will forgive me Jesus will
forgive me and just relying on the blood That
is the cheap grace that is the God will forgive
me. He died Jesus died on the cross He didn't
die for nothing. Let his blood cover this sin
Costly grace is where God has forgiven me for
when I slipped up and when I fall in, but I'm
gonna do what I can to not slip up. If my hand
causes me to sin, I'm gonna cut it off. If my
eye causes me to sin, I'm gonna pluck it out.
I'm gonna do what I can to flee temptation. And
then the times when I fall short, glory be to
God. His mercy and his grace covers me. That
is the difference of cheap grace and costly grace.
And operating out of cheap grace will have you
calling yourself a disciple. when you're a lukewarm.
And we know what God does to the lukewarm. You
can be hot, you can be cold, but the lukewarm,
he's gonna chew up and spit out. And I feel like
that is something that someone so heavily listening
to this podcast needs to hear today. And again,
y 'all, I'm not condemning every single person
listening to this. You can repent. You can obey
the Lord. There is no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus. Look at Paul. But repentance
isn't just feeling guilty for something. Repentance
is you stop defending that sin. You stop making
excuses for why you're allowing it in your life.
You stop making excuses. You stop trying to twist
scripture to match it. You stop saying I'll work
on it later. I'll fix it later and you start
saying God says it's wrong point -blank period
I need to cut it out point -blank period Y 'all
when I was giving my life to Jesus, I remember
I was in such a place of pain and sorrow and
suffering and I had seen the consequences of
disobedience and I had seen the consequences
of entertaining sin and the open doors that sin
had in my life and I remember when I started
seeking the Lord and I was like God what do I
need to do like what do you need me to do I felt
like I was getting hurt and like it was like
an endless door of suffering and pain I was like
God I need you to intervene I need you to step
in like what do you need me to do And I remember
the Lord showing I need you to cut off the sin
that you're entertaining in your life And not
that time the really big door to sin. I was a
tarot reader Which we know is a sin in the Bible
God says multiple times not to be diviners not
to be sorcerers not to be witches and that's
clearly fortune -telling and sinful and not from
God and That was the first step That was the
first obedience call Jesus had me take when I
recognized what I was doing went against scripture
and I realized also my life was going to crap
and I was like God I need your hand. I need your
help. I cannot do this on my own What do you
need me to do? What step do you want me to take
and that was what he called me to do. Remember
that man? The rich man who went up to Jesus and
said, hey, I keep all the commandments. What
else do you need me to do? And Jesus said, sell
all your things and follow me. And that rich
man walked away sad because he owned a lot of
stuff. He kept commandments and all these other
areas. But when Jesus said, part with these physical
things, die to yourself in this area and come
after me, that man walked away sad because he's
like, no, I can't do that. Everything else, sure.
But this, no, I refuse to let that go. I can't
let that go. And y 'all, at the time when the
Lord called me to die to myself in that area
of letting the tarot cards go, that was the only
way I was providing for myself. And the living
situation I had and just my life circumstances
at the time, it wasn't very easy, even if I wanted
to. And I actually felt the Lord called me to
sit and wait. I felt the Lord actually give me
specific instructions not to go out and try to
get nine to five. But even if I wanted to, it
would have been very difficult circumstances
to do so. I was very much kind of backed into
a corner. So when the Lord called me to give
up the tarot, although I knew, okay, according
to scripture, yeah, this is what I should be
doing. This is biblically sound. When it came
to my comfortability and my peace, that looked
like the worst decision because that was my only
way of provision. But I had to have faith in
Jesus and the desire to obey what he called me
to do more than I have the desire to please my
flesh. So that was me denying myself. and taking
up my cross. And later on, after repenting and
giving my life to the Lord, there was a part
of me, y 'all, that wanted to be quiet. And I
was like, no one has to know that was my past.
No one has to know that's how I did with my life.
I could act like that never happened. But another
thing that was me taking up my cross was the
Lord telling me, this is a testimony for you
to speak to other people and show other people
who are making excuse for this sin and to show
other people the redemption says in Christ Jesus
the Lord has turned that painful past into a
testimony but that doesn't mean everyone is accepting
of that testimony there are people who don't
treat me very good or keep me at an arm's length
when they hear that testimony that is my cross
in a way of one of the ways the Lord calls me
to serve is by sharing testimonies of things
that I would usually find embarrassing or want
to hide and that's actually part of my cross
is although I'm helping people, I'm happy to
share things that I probably in an ideal world
would want to act like never happened. So when
you're following Jesus, it comes at a cost. It
comes at a cost. You should look different. We
are not meant to conform to the world around
us. You are meant to be set apart. You are meant
to be set apart. That is how we evangelize. That
is how we lead other people closer to Christ.
How are people going to know to look to Jesus
if you look the exact same as your brother and
sister out here in the world that doesn't believe
in Jesus? What difference is it between you and
them? It's also said in the Bible. Like when
it comes to forgiving and loving one another,
when it says to love your enemies, love those
who hate you and pray for those who persecute
you, Scripture actually says even the tax collectors
love those who love them. Meaning even the people
in the world, even the people who are openly
entertained sin, it's easy to love people who
love you. It's easy to do kind things to other
people who are kind to you. It's easy to do those
basic things. It's harder to do it to people
who don't like you. It's hard to do it to people
who have condemned you. But that's what sets
you apart as a Christian. We should look different
than the world. That's how we can minister to
other people Okay Well, let's move forward here
y 'all so we know that Jesus has made has said
this But he has said if you want to follow me
You need to die to yourself. You need to deny
yourself Means if Jesus says you are not supposed
to be doing this if God's Word says No, it doesn't
matter how much your flesh wants to do it. God
said no The world Satan loves to make sin feel
like fun and enjoyable and safe and look like
the good answer But remember God says no for
a reason we've talked about this before y 'all
What open doors do sin is an open door for the
devil to come in and wreak a lot more havoc in
your life God calls us to say no for a reason
So if you want to follow Jesus that comes with
self -denial and there's no way around it Unless
you want to be a lukewarm Moving forward I digress
But for whoever wants to save his life will lose
it But whoever loses his life because of me and
the gospel will save it. This is the next thing
y 'all I remember when I when I was giving my
life to Jesus When I was saying what do you need
me to do because I felt like I was literally
losing my life y 'all I felt like I was wasting
away And I felt like Jesus if you don't step
in like it's done. My life is done. There's no
redemption There is no up from here. If you don't
step in I think I'm gonna die And I remember
reading the scripture when the Lord was calling
me to leave behind tarot card reading and then
for a while He called me to leave behind social
media as a whole And before I know it he started
pruning me in other areas where he was calling
me deny myself in the ways I responded and the
ways I reacted and in the ways I used to comfort
myself to instead turn to the Lord and I remember
reading this where I just I knew that the Lord
was telling me that he's like There is restoration.
This was a personal promise that the Lord made
to me like You will be restored from this. I
will save your life. I will use you To glorify
me and to spread the gospel, but you have to
be willing to die to yourself first and for me
that looked like No more new age. No more tarot
cards. No more relying on my own understanding.
No more relying on my own control denying myself
and the Lord was telling me in order to have
this new life that you're asking me for you've
got to lose your old one first I'm just saying
that that was what the Lord spoke to me personally
over my life When I was reading that scripture
Because I was asking him for a new life. I was
asking him for a second chance at life I was
asking him for another opportunity and him to
step in and Pull me out of the pit and he was
telling me I will do that I will save your life
not not only and I feel like physically but like
actually saved me where like I'm covered in the
blood of Jesus and my sins are paid for because
up until that point when I look back now I recognized
I didn't have that. I was going to hell y 'all.
So the Lord was really speaking two different
things for me of like I would be covered in the
blood of Jesus like giving my life to the Lord
and taking these steps of obedience where me
just showing my Because I want to be so clear
y 'all that we are our salvation is not bought
by our works It doesn't matter how many good
things I do That doesn't buy my way into heaven.
It's faith in Jesus that That covers me in the
blood and pay is my debt, right? And I felt like
the Lord was telling me because up until that
point my faith wasn't really in Jesus But this
was this act of obedience Was also me putting
my faith in Jesus Because I there wasn't anything
for me to see I had to believe in what the Lord
was speaking to me over what I saw around me
and My denying my flesh and my denying myself
was putting my faith in Jesus Over what I saw
and my own control and what logic the world's
logic tells me And let me tell y 'all Jesus kept
his promise he did he did But I feel like there's
someone else who's needing to hear that today
that maybe you're asking Jesus for this new life
You're asking him for the second chance Is there
something that he's calling you to deny yourself
in first is there something he's calling you
to let go of it's really hard to welcome in that
new thing and Grab onto it with both hands when
you're still holding on to that old thing and
honestly that old thing if it's not from Christ
probably isn't going to fare well with a blessing
from Christ. I've shared this before, things
that the Lord had to prune out of me, coping
mechanisms, thought processes, ways that I was
moving in the past that were definitely un -Christ
-like, would not have been able to steward well
over a Christ blessing. Glory be to God, He removed
those things and worked on those things before
He blessed me with things that needed to be stewarded
over well, because Yeah, that wouldn't have cut
it and wouldn't have lasted more than a season.
Let's be real Let's move on here. It says for
what does it benefit me? So for what does it
benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet
lose his life? And when we look here You know,
Jesus is talking more about eternal eternal life
right here, right? Because what what do we? What
did Jesus Christ do? When He went to the cross,
He paid the debt for our sins. So us putting
our faith in Jesus means we get to have eternal
life with our Heavenly Father. Yes, the first
step to relationship with Jesus and like the
first step towards, you know, being covered in
the blood is believing in who Jesus is, believing
that He is the Son of God, believing that He
died and resurrected. believing that he is the
way the truth and the life the word may have
flesh believing that he is Lord and Accepting
him as Lord But once you accept Jesus as Lord
and Savior over your life Once you believe in
who he is that is when you take the action of
obedience There are a lot of people and I was
one of those people Growing up who I had this
belief that as long as I believe like Like I
say, okay. Yeah, Jesus was real and like he died
and you know Resurrected from the dead and like
he came here died for a sins like as long as
I say that with my mouth Go to church sometimes
I'm covered. I'm good to go But as I got older
you could tell that I didn't really have a fear
of God and I didn't actually see Jesus as Lord
because I didn't deny my flesh and I didn't obey
him in any way. I was still lustful, I was still
fornicating, I was still gossiping. I was still
doing all these things that disciples don't do,
that Jesus didn't do. And it wasn't until I actually
repented and denied my flesh and started walking
in obedience to the Lord I could look back and
see just how disobedient I was. I want to be
so clear with y 'all on this. I did not see things
this way when I was calling myself a Christian
growing up or even when I was in new age. It
wasn't until I experienced actual obedience immediate
I experienced actual restoration from God I went
through really repenting I actually started listening
to the convictions that I could realize oh wow
yeah I didn't do that before you know how like
you feel like you have a lot of knowledge on
a subject or a topic and you feel like you're
you're really you're really up there But then
you actually go through a class on it, or then
you actually have to go through and learn the
experience, and you're like, yeah, wow, I didn't
know everything I thought I knew. Yeah, that
was not, I thought I was doing it, yeah, no,
not. That was how it was for me all. I didn't
know just how lukewarm I was and just how disobedient
I was until I started being obedient. And I remember
in reading this part of the scripture Where it
was like what is there to gain? If I have to
lose eternal life with the Heavenly Father Sure
entertaining the things of the flesh are fun
But we know that and I say this fun and quotation
marks all because it's not actually fun Anytime
you entertain a sin, it feels fun until you try
to leave and then you realize how much you're
bound The enemy makes it look fun makes it look
harmless makes it look like Yolo There are a
lot of things our flesh calls us to do every
day. Maybe it's smoking or drinking that thing
We're talking about that thing talking about
that person. Maybe it's that passive scrolling
That lustful action that you're acting on maybe
it's that witchcraft Maybe it's that horoscope
you keep checking, that zodiac you keep identifying
yourself with, that natal chart you keep planning
your life around, that envy, that jealousy. Maybe
it's that false witness, that lie that you keep
lying more and more and more instead of just
telling the truth. These things produce separation.
Know a lot of people get so caught up in the
works don't buy my faith. So it doesn't matter
what good things I do it won't buy my way into
heaven and That is true your faith in Jesus But
those who believe in him will do what he does
The first step is acknowledging and believing
him but the next step is self denial And what's
interesting actually y 'all in this book the
cost of discipleship is he actually kind of flips
it where he says sometimes it's actually taking
the step and faith faith is grown through taking
that step interesting enough y 'all when the
lord was calling me to deny myself to throw away
the tarot card reading i i not only did i stop
becoming a tarot card reader i threw out the
cards and everything entirely so your hand causes
you to send cover off i made it very hard for
me to go back i burned every bridge i could in
that area So that way I couldn't just go back.
And in closing that door, I remembered that I
was waiting on God's provision. I was waiting
on him to take care of me. And it wasn't like
the next door of like, this is my new source
of income and everything opened up immediately.
God was bringing me provision. You all know like
Elijah and the Ravens, God was doing that kind
of thing for me for a little while. But I was
still believing in a bigger restoration and I
remember I started praying to God for God I need
more faith Because I know in Scripture you've
done this you can do this But I haven't seen
this in my own life and I'm declaring you as
Lord Jesus and I'm surrendering my life to you
and you're calling me to Throw out because I
went through a little period where I still holding
on to the cards y 'all. I wasn't touching them
I wasn't doing readings. I wasn't doing any of
that. I had stopped Reading them publicly, but
I had yet to throw them in the trash And I was
going through a period where the Lord was slowly
convicting me of you need to completely throw
it out We need to completely close that door.
So that way you you're not gonna run back to
it And that was a leap of faith. I had already
taken the leap of faith Right of God called me
to stop reading for people I did and I saw how
he provided I was like God I'm waiting on you
to open the door and you haven't yet and that
was the next step of obedience I felt him calling
me to was throw them away entirely and that one
was really hard for me all and I was wrestling
with that where I was like I don't know if I
have the faith for that and I felt and God showed
me a testimony of Jonathan Rumi I've talked about
this before of and God spoke to me in that testimony
of just how he can bring provision out of like
anywhere but that was an instance where my obedience
came before the faith Where God was calling me
to do this and I'm just gonna do it If I thought
about it too long, honestly all I probably wouldn't
have done it and that was an instance where my
obedience came and Then when I saw God deliver
soon after which he did my faith was grown Exponentially,
it was crazy. I had the faith to do some things.
I didn't think I was gonna be able to do I think
someone needs to hear that today. I've had some
instances where I have the faith and then the
obedience, but there are also other instances
where it was obedience and then faith. Sometimes
you just have to obey what God's Word says and
watch how He comes through after that step of
obedience. But someone needed to hear this. how
we're diving in on this today, and I pray that
this is helping you. And I know, y 'all, that
the way I've been wording some of these things
might be uncomfortable to your flesh. It might
be frustrating to some people, in all honesty,
but you can hold these things up to the Word
of God. And if you're convicted by God's Word,
take it to the Lord. That's something for you
to talk about with Him. All right, and I want
to just remind y 'all as we're halfway through
this that these things I'm sharing with you in
these convictions and the way I'm speaking I'm
not speaking this to be preaching down at y 'all.
I'm speaking this because I have been through
this Remember I'm not Someone who's never sinned
before the Lord and pulled me out of the new
age. He pulled me out of divination He pulled
me out of fornication Sexual immorality. He pulled
me out of I had a mental addiction to smoking
and drinking to detach So he pulled me out of
basically being a drunkard He pulled me out of
unforgiveness Lying like there were some heavy
things the same things that I've spoken in here
today saying God doesn't agree with this I'm
saying it as someone who used to defend it But
I have seen what God can do with the self -denial
and the obedience and someone may need to hear
this today too y 'all delayed obedience partial
obedience is still disobedience someone needs
to hear that today when you obey obey don't half
obey don't delay obey if you know the lord has
called you to it do it ask him for the faith
this isn't meaning to rush you You shouldn't
feel rushed But if you know the Lord has given
you the green light and he is guiding you into
something obey him obey him Yeah For what does
it benefit someone to gain the whole world yet
lose his life? How much does it benefit you to
hold on to these comforts and to hold on to these
fleshly desires? If you're gonna lose eternity
with the Heavenly Father What part of you what
area in life is worth? disobeying Jesus and Keeping
him at an arm's length and keeping him at a distance
What sin in your life? Are you justifying and
working everywhere around to be able to hold
on to it in your life? What are you gaining out
of it that is worth your relationship with Jesus?
When I look back, I can't believe that for so
long I was defending us and sexual immorality.
And those are such short -lived experiences and
eventually you're left craving it again and wanting
it again. It only feels good for such a short
period of time. I remember there was a sin I
was really struggling with. And God had delivered
me from it. I actually fell back into that sin
for a little while and after participating in
it I realized that's like The dopamine would
only last for like two minutes and then I would
be left feeling like I wanting wanting more and
wanting to do it again Because the fulfillment
was already kind of gone And then there's a part
of me that felt dirty and gross because I was
like, I know God doesn't approve of this And
then there's a part of me that started seeking
scriptures. I remember googling it and being
like, is this really a sin? And it was like,
well, it's not word for word a sin in the Bible.
I know it falls under this thing. I know God
says this thing is a sin and I know that this
action falls under that. It's clear. I've known
it up and all the times I was denying the flesh,
I knew it was a sin. That's funny how once I
started regularly falling into it, I was trying
to look for like, well, should I even feel bad?
Should I even feel guilty? There were actually
a lot of like threads online that made defenses
for it and said it was okay, but glory be to
God There were some other ones and then trusted
Christian voices, you know that like, you know,
I listen to their podcasts and I listen to You
know their thoughts on things and read their
books where all of them are very clear on You
know this This is a sin and glory be to God.
I I repented and I now flee the temptation and
I believe that there's someone today listening
to this too that like I know sometimes y 'all
I speak to y 'all as if it was like all the sins
were before I gave my life to Jesus and then
I have not walked perfectly I have fallen into
temptation I have times when I have not held
my tongue and I've reacted in ways I shouldn't
I've had times when I've been impatient I have
had sins I've fallen into I have had like mean
thoughts come to mind like judgmental I have
not been perfect But I'm also here today to tell
y 'all that what? Through my experience with
it once I fell into that and recognized that
was the process I recognized was how I was seeking
ways to excuse it and Just trying to find and
there was actually a couple I think it was it
was only like a day and a half Where I was allowing
myself to kind of believe those voices saying
it's okay It's not really a sin and I actually
started noticing just I felt like a distance
between the ward And I started feeling like an
anxiety and just different things that I hadn't
felt in a while. And things that I felt the Lord
delivered me from, all of a sudden I felt like
I was experiencing those again. And it clicked
with me where I was like, oh my gosh, I opened
up a door for the devil in my life. I willfully
sinning and going through this process and not
repenting. I'm opening up a door for Satan to
kind of wiggle back in. I need to repent. I need
to flee the temptation. I need to close that
door no matter how badly I want to fall. I gotta
say no. And sorry y 'all, I had to switch out
my microphone real quick. My other one died.
I feel led to ask this question to someone who's
listening to this episode today and that question
is That thing that as you're listening to this
episode you might be getting a little frustrated
and you're like, but Danielle you don't understand
But then you know, this is just me, but this
is just me. Maybe you're getting frustrated listening
to me talking Maybe you've been feeling a conviction
and you've found ways to excuse and defend Maybe
you found a church that glorifies it even though,
you know Every time you've read that scripture
scripture says something different And this is
the question I'm gonna ask you and this is a
question I've had to ask myself, okay? So I'm
saying this from a loving place Why do you feel
like that sin is worth your closeness with Jesus?
What are you gaining from that sin? Because we
don't hold on to something that's only destructive.
If we refuse to let it go, it's because we feel
like that thing is providing us something. If
it's comfort, you feel like it's providing you.
If it's income, you feel like it's providing
you. For some reason, I felt the need to say
anonymity, like being anonymous, like a hiddenness.
So maybe it's a way to avoid conflict. Whatever
that thing is Like is it really worth? Your obedience
to Jesus. Is it really worth your closeness with
him and why? And I'm not asking you to tell me
I'm asking you to have that conversation with
yourself and take that to the Lord and how how
does that conversation hold up once you take
it to God and You listen Let's move forward y
'all. Let's move forward The next thing Jesus
says here starting in verse 37 What can anyone
give in exchange for his life? For whoever is
ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation The son of man will also
be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory
of his father with his holy angels Y 'all bear
with me if it's a little noisy. I'm fixing my
microphone right now, but This is an interesting
This is an interesting thing here right where
Jesus says whoever is ashamed of me like I'm
gonna be ashamed of you Because we know that
every single one of us has sinned No, none of
us are able to enter the kingdom of heaven on
are able to go before God We know that every
single one of us will have to go before God.
We know this if you've read the Bible that every
single one of us will have to go before God.
And every single one of us has fallen short.
And when God says, why should I let you in? The
only answer we can give. Because our works do
not justify. No one will get in off his work
so that he may not go. So you can't say, well,
I don't any of these things. I was this, I loved
everybody this way. I did all this, I did all
that. God might say, okay, that's awesome. But
you're still a sinner. Sin is what keeps us out
of heaven and every single one of us to sin and
what Jesus Christ did on the cross and That spilling
of our blood because he was sinless and he was
undeserving of going to the cross But he did
that he endured the humiliation the torment and
the suffering that we as Christians It's important
to understand y 'all that when we are suffering
on the behalf of Jesus in the gospel We are partaking
in the suffering that Jesus Christ did on the
cross When we are suffering on the behalf of
Jesus in the gospel when we're I just want to
pause here y 'all when we are suffering because
we are preaching God's Word in truth When we
are suffering on behalf of Jesus Christ, we are
participating we are partaking in His suffering
Which is an amazing thing. It doesn't always
feel amazing But it's an amazing thing that we
have the opportunity to do as Christians. It
brings us closer to Jesus But when we go before
God one day and he says why should I let you
in? The only answer we are actually going to
be able to have is because I put my faith in
Jesus What's gonna be happening as Jesus is our
is our intercessor. He is our mediator Where
we there's nothing we can do to enter the kingdom
of heaven But because our faith is in Jesus Jesus
is gonna be able to say they're covered their
faith was in me they're covered in my blood as
what happens when we put our faith in Jesus is
it's like we're giving our sin debt to him and
his sin is paying it we're literally kind of
in that way our faith is handing over our sin
to him and being covered and I hope that also
helps you all understand why we shouldn't just
willfully sin and say it's covered in the grace
it's all good We should do our best to deny the
flesh having so much gratitude for what Jesus
did But one day we are gonna we are gonna have
to go before the Creator the Heavenly Father
He's gonna know that we fall short, but because
our faith is in Jesus. We're gonna be covered
but here Jesus is saying That like if you are
ashamed of him You're on earth He will be ashamed
of you when you go before the Father. And how
heavy is that? And I just, some ways that are
shame is one way is conformity. There are people
who conform to the world around them because
they're ashamed to live set apart. Our culture
says hookup is cool. Our culture says the fast
and easy and quick ways are the best ways. Literally
the current culture and the current status of
the world, like everything that God is against
is glorified and elevated. Lust, gluttony, greed,
the grind culture, the hustle culture, the unforgiveness,
the let me cut them off. I don't forgive and
I don't forget. Like all of that stuff. There's
people, I can't tell y 'all how many times I
scroll through social media and people are bragging
about how heartless they are. or how good they
can play other people or how good of liars they
are and when these are all the things that God
does not applaud or encourage what the world
does and there are people who are who are ashamed
to be set apart who are ashamed to say I follow
the life of Jesus and I want to live like Jesus
there are things y 'all even on this podcast
In just the beginning of this podcast, when I
had to be so thoughtful with saying that there
are churches who glorify and elevate the very
things that God calls sin and tells us to flee
from, I even felt the need to be so thoughtful
with the way I worded it. Because we live in
an environment now where I would and other people
get cancelled for simply saying God doesn't condone
that. And we get called unaccepting and hateful
in all of these things. And years ago, before
I gave my life to Jesus, I was one of those people.
I'd be like, how dare you? You're hateful and
ignorant and all these things. And now, because
I have a biblical worldview and a Christian worldview,
if God says it's a sin and it's wrong, it's a
sin and it's wrong. And we live in a world that
like literally condemns you and wants to cancel
you. Look at how people treat this It's like
a normal thing now for people online when they
get offended over something to go and try to
get people fired and ruin their lives It's like
get their kids taken away on all these things
and they think that's normal They think that
kind of retribution is normal when vengeance
is the Lord's even that even that act in itself
is unbiblical and Again y 'all. I'm not the perfect
police. I'm not here because saying I'm perfect
But I can look at the Word of God and see what's
going on around me. That the world is elevating
and glorifying doesn't align. Maybe that act
of obedience that God is calling you to do you're
ashamed of taking. Do not be ashamed. There are
people, for instance, who are ashamed to spread
the gospel, who are ashamed to speak up. I was
one of those people for a while. I wanted to
keep my mouth shut. I didn't want any eyes on
me. Part of me was ashamed because I felt like
I didn't know enough to speak. I was afraid of
the questions that would happen. Would I be able
to answer them or would I not? But I can't be
ashamed of Jesus and neither can you. You've
got to be willing to speak the truth. You've
got to be willing to do what God calls you to
do even if the world doesn't want to see you
do it. We know that as followers of Christ there
is opposition we will face our entire lives and
That a student is not greater than his master
and Jesus even told us if they hated him if they
crucified in him and condemned him They're gonna
hate us too They literally crucified Jesus because
they said he was a liar a blasphemer Some tried
to claim he was demonically possessed and he
was Antichrist and all these things and you think
you're gonna I'm saying this in the most loving
way y 'all and if you are Discipled by Jesus
if you are looking like Jesus, do you really
think you're gonna get through life without being
the same accusations? If they called Jesus a
liar and a blasphemer and a false prophet and
all these things you're gonna get called that
too People try to oppose him and stop him it's
gonna happen to you too Satan used the people
close to Jesus to try to stop Jesus look at Peter
Jesus had to say get behind me Satan at Peter
Of course, that's gonna happen to you, too If
it happened to Jesus and you're looking like
him and following him, it's gonna happen to you,
too How many things Did Jesus say that people
disagreed with there was a whole? Message that
he was having to the Pharisees who these were
the most respected people They were supposed
to be the people who were close to God who are
the most knowledgeable who were the most wise
Who were above reproach above criticism and Jesus
was sitting there saying y 'all look good on
the outside But there's a lot of twisted stuff
inside Whitewashed tombs Saying y 'all try to
evangelize and you want people to change but
then when people do repent you send them to hell
anyway Saying you make it impossible for people
to enter the kingdom to heaven You don't hold
yourself to the same standard that you're holding
these other people to you You're ready to condemn
and accuse but sure you deserve forgiveness I've
said this and I will say it again because I've
recognized it myself and I know people listening
to this you may recognize this in yourself, too
There was one day I was doing my makeup where
I had a whole recognition where I was like Lord,
when all these other people, when I just see
one thing wrong or a couple of these things,
I'm immediately ready to write them off as a
liar, ill -intentioned, a deceiver, this, that,
and I'm ready to just like condemn them like
mentally. But if I did the same thing I would
be making excuses for myself I'd say well I did
it because of this and I had a reason here and
I had a reason here God look at my heart. God
look at my intention. It's crazy How when it's
me it's God look at my heart. God look at my
intention I grew I learned all of these things,
but when it's other people they can't grow they
can't learn We live in a society like that, right?
The law the cancel culture where something it's
2026 and something will come out about someone
from like 2014 and People will be ready to end
their lives Even if that person has clearly learned,
doesn't do those things anymore, isn't that type
of person? People will be like, I don't care.
Once they did it, they always did it. But that's
the same person who has their own skeletons in
their closet, that has their own things that
they would hope that the public would never find
out about, their own things that they wish they
never said, they wish they never did. And when
it came out, they would be quick to say, but
I've learned I'm not that person anymore. Why
don't we extend that same groups? And maybe you
listening to this today, you need to hear that
too. I know I need to hear it y 'all. Every single
thing I'm speaking to you today and I'm sharing
to you is things I've had to feel convicted for
too personally. And sometimes I still do. It's
not that I've come out on the other side and
don't feel convicted, that I don't fall into
things. I do. But every day I'm working more
towards God's costly grace instead of the cheap
grace because the cheap grace will keep you lukewarm.
The cheap grace will keep you disobedient. The
cheap grace will keep you far from Jesus. And
we need to start adopting more of a costly grace.
I pray, y 'all, that this episode helps you.
And I pray that this episode blesses you. And
again, I want to say, y 'all, I'm speaking to
you in this way because... Number one of the
fear of the Lord I have I know that some of the
things I'm saying today isn't gonna sit well
with some people Might trigger some people I
know that things I'm saying today aren't technically
culturally Acceptable like this climate a lot
of things I'm saying today, even though I feel
like I'm saying them in a pretty kind way Some
people would still be cancel worthy and disgraceful
But I'm saying it anyway, knowing this because
of the fear I have for God and the reverence
of his word and the truth. And the desire to
obey him over a desire to be liked or receive
likes. And I want to encourage you all to do
the same. What is something God is calling you
to do right now that might not bring you all
the positive applause? that might not make you
the most well -loved person in the room but in
you not doing it you are disobeying him jesus
didn't call us to be loved and liked he did call
us to love others but he didn't promise that
we were going to be more loved than him honestly
if you're being treated like jesus i feel like
that's i want to be so thoughtful with the way
i word this Holy Spirit, give me the words. If
you're 100 % well loved and well received and
no one has any uncomfortability or feeling some
type of way, you might not be looking like Jesus.
And if you're participating in the suffering
on behalf of the gospel, if you're maybe facing
some of the same things Jesus went through, that
might actually be a good indicator. And someone
needs to hear this today, because I really feel
like this episode is going to be speaking some
life into people, it's going to be clarifying
for some people, it's going to be direction for
some people, and I pray that God uses this to
bless your life, amen? That God uses this, this
is the conviction you need, the answer to a question
you've been asking. Y 'all you need to fear God
and desire to obey him And his commands more
than you fear man more than you desire to be
liked more than you desire peace Jesus didn't
come to bring peace He came to bring division
in the household Remember y 'all it'd be like
a mother turning on daughter father on son brother
against sister some people have their faith in
Jesus other people When Jesus came there was
division that got stirred up with Jesus on behalf
of him Now I'm not saying to be a divisive person.
We know what the Bible says about being a divisive
person But I am saying the acts of obedience
that the Lord calls you to at times division
Conflict may arise, but trust in God's guidance
through it and trust in his ability to make a
way and to use it for your good. Remember y 'all,
God called David to show up to that fight with
Goliath. I'm sure a part of David might have
wanted to run away, might have wanted to avoid
conflict in general. God didn't call David to
fight that fight on his own. on his own wisdom
or on his own strength, he just called David
to show up and to trust in him from there. And
someone may be needing to hear this today. With
whatever step that God has given you, just take
that step in obedience and in faith and trust
that he's going to show up. I pray that this
episode blesses y 'all. And I do ask, hit subscribe
wherever it is you're listening to this podcast
and be prepared for the next one. I love you
all so much. Have a wonderful day. God bless.