Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener
podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend I hope
y 'all are having a wonderful week. It's been
a wacky week here in Indiana The weather has
been crazy. This is past weekend. It was like
tornado level winds Right after having a good
couple days like 60 plus degrees and now there's
snow outside And it's like negative one degree
with the wind chill. So it's been up and down.
I have just decided to, outside of work and the
grocery store, stay in the house right now because
I don't do the cold to this extent. But the wonderful
thing about feeling kind of like cooped up in
the house is it's a fantastic time to read. And
last night... I felt the Lord guide me to 2nd
Timothy and I read through 2nd Timothy. If y
'all have not read 2nd Timothy, I'm encouraging
you today to go read it. It's only four chapters,
y 'all. It's only four chapters. You don't really
have an excuse not to read it. Okay, you can
get a Bible app on your phone for free. You can
look it up on like I am encouraging y 'all I
will always encourage y 'all to read the Bible
for yourself and Over the next couple episodes
We're gonna be focusing on second Timothy Okay,
so not just today today's gonna be like a part
one and we're gonna go over like chapter one
But there are gonna be a couple more episodes
where this is almost like a little series. We're
just gonna dive into 2nd Timothy, which is why
I'm telling y 'all read it for yourself Of course,
I'll be reading a lot of it to y 'all but read
it for yourself Get your Bible out right now
and you can follow along with me And I don't
know if this is gonna be like one episode per
chapter if a couple are gonna be combined together
I have no clue but when I was reading it today
and I knew the Lord was calling me to talk about
just the first chapter I really felt Like the
lord was saying all right, and this is going
to be like a little bit of a series Like this
is just going to be a part one There's going
to be a couple parts to this and y 'all I might
even do second timothy Or I might even do first
timothy. We're starting the second timothy. We're
a little out of order Okay, but we're starting
the second timothy and we might go to first timothy.
I don't know. We'll see But if y 'all have not
read it I encourage you to read it and i'm going
to start with just like giving y 'all a little
context and as i've said previous episodes context
is so important with the Bible okay a lot of
people who don't know the Word of God or who
only know like clips of the Bible and I used
to be one of these people used to say the Bible
contradicts itself all the time and they would
just like pull out which is not true at all but
it would be because they'd be pulling Scripture
out of context in reading it in a way that does
contradict if you do not know the context God
does not contradict himself and his word does
not contradict itself. Once you read it in context.
It's easier to understand what's being talked
about and Second Timothy is a letter from Paul.
Okay And if you know anything about Paul's letters,
oftentimes Paul was writing a letter to like
correct something. It was a rebuke, it was a
correction. So when you're reading, it's really
important for you to know who the audience is.
Okay, that's what context gives you is like,
who is this person talking to? Who is this person
talking about? It's important to know, historically,
like what was going on in that society at that
time? What was the thing that was being addressed?
it's really important to know the context. For
example, and this isn't what we're gonna be reading
today, y 'all, but I really felt the Lord kind
of pointing this example out to me today, amen,
which is from 1 Timothy. And it's in 1 Timothy,
it's near the end of chapter two, and it's where
there are instructions to... men and women and
a lot of people refer back to the scripture when
they are debating on whether or not women can
be pastors whether or not women can be teachers
whether or not women should be in the ministry
and if you just read a clip of that out of context
it would seem like paul is saying all women should
be silent and shut up and really have little
to no say and little to no participation Right.
It's really important. I want to give y 'all
just a little bit of context just to kind of
give an example All right Paul was writing a
letter to Timothy who was Like ministering and
head of the church in Ephesus if I'm pronouncing
this correctly, right and we see Paul is addressing
the women Okay, and he says here a woman is to
learn quietly With full submission. I do not
allow a woman to teach or to have authority over
a man instead She used to remain quiet for Adam
was formed first then Eve and Adam was not deceived
But the woman was deceived and transgressed But
she will be saved through childbearing if they
continue in faith and love and holiness with
good sense Now if you just read that out of context,
you'd read that like okay Paul like if you just
read that alone You think Paul is giving a blanket
statement? and saying, okay, all women are supposed
to shut their mouths, be completely submissive,
no teaching. We would be very quickly taking
all the women out of the education jobs that
they're in, right? No more teaching children,
no more teaching elementary, no more teaching
Sunday school, no more instructing each other,
nursing school, all these different things. We'd
be looking at this and saying, okay, women are
not to teach. If women were to teach no boys
in the classroom, like if we were to read this
as a blanket statement Okay There's a certain
perspective we're gonna get out of this, but
if we look at what's going on as a whole we take
a step back Paul is writing Timothy and Paul
is giving him instructions on how to correct
a problem that he is dealing with with the women
Ephesians if I'm pronouncing that town correctly
because what happened? There's a different dynamic
going on there Okay, the women in that area had
been worshiping. They were part of a cult that
worshiped I believe it was Artemis the goddess
Artemis or was also known as Diana Okay, so women
were used to being priestesses to a female goddess
Women were used to being authority figures. Women
were used to having a level of autonomy where
it wasn't submit to your husband. It was women
instructing. It was women empowered. It was a
flip dynamic. They weren't looking at the way
God created a wife to be submitted to the husband
or like the man to be the head of the household,
right? So the women were in this strange power
dynamic that they weren't really supposed to
be in. And they were used to teaching incorrect
teachings. And when these women started to teach,
they were teaching incorrectly, which was starting
to stir up a lot of problems, right? Arguments
around false doctrine and anger and all these
things. So Paul was giving Timothy, amen, advice
on how to correct this and saying, these women
here that are part of this cult, that are part
of all this stuff, need to be quiet. need to
be silent they are not in the position to be
teaching they are actually supposed to be submitted
to the husband he was correcting the weird like
authority thing that they have going on and right
before this paul addresses their modesty saying
that they shouldn't be adorning themselves and
like doing their hair and wearing all these pearls
and everything but instead focusing on the works
that um glorify christ And it's because a lot
of these women in their society, that was what
they focused on. They paid attention to the hair.
They paid attention to all these things. They
adorn themselves. And that was like a status
thing. And this was Paul correcting them. This
was Paul correcting this group of people. But
if we didn't know that historical context, it
would be really easy to read this as a blanket
statement. But when we look at who Paul is addressing
and the problems that brought this up, It makes
things make a lot more sense, right? And I hope
y 'all are following me. I hope y 'all are following
where I'm going with this so far. This is not
what I'm gonna focus on today. And I know that
this is like a hot topic for debates and like
people are never in agreement on the scripture.
I'm just giving y 'all some historical context
and telling y 'all. The arguments that tend to
fire up around us and why it's so important to
know the historical context So anyway today we
are focusing in on second timothy. Okay, and
i'm going to give y 'all some context Of what
was going on? So we're going to start out with
who is speaking in second timothy paul Paul is
writing a letter to timothy. It's a second letter
to timothy here And at this time Paul is in a
Roman prison. He has been in prison and Paul
is close to his martyrdom. Paul is getting close
to his death. And it's like he kind of knows
it, right? Because he's said near the end, not
to skip ahead too much, but a couple chapters
in that he has ran his race and that he has endured.
And it's clear that he's starting to see that
he has started to reach the end of his walk and
the end of his life, right? But Paul has been
locked up many times before, and he is locked
up in a Roman prison right now. And he is writing
a letter to Timothy, who was overseeing the church
in Ephesus. And at this time, what is going on
in society is Emperor Nero. Emperor Nero is in
power. And while he has been in power, the persecution
of Christians has risen dramatically. Needless
to say, it's dangerous to be a Christian. It's
dangerous to spread the gospel. It's dangerous
to proclaim Christ. It's dangerous to stand on
the truth. And it is also dangerous to be associated
with Paul. As we know, Paul is unapologetically
Following Jesus. He is spreading the gospel.
He is planting seeds. He was rebuking. He is
correcting He is doing what he has been called
to do. God has given him a call and he has answered
it but in doing that He has been the target of
persecution and he has been imprisoned and that
this time there are a lot of people who have
turned their back on Paul There are people who
are not associating with him There are people
who have turned from him who are no longer helping
him who are no longer like really in his corner
A lot of people have fled, right? And Paul is
writing this letter to Timothy, not only to ask
Timothy to come visit him, but also to encourage
him in the time of persecution. So overall, it's
important to note that this is a time when persecution
is at like an all -time high. It's not popular
to be a Christian. Not everyone's being received
with love. Actually going out and doing this,
going out and spreading the gospel, going out
and standing in truth, you're getting persecuted.
You're getting arrested you're getting slandered
you're getting if we pay attention to what happened
to Jesus's disciples Most of them died a very
unfortunate death Pain wise now it was a beautiful
in the terms of martyrdom, but multiple of them
were crucified There's suffering that comes along
with being a follower of Christ so it's important
to understand that it seems like suffering and
persecution Is a big part of life at this time
Right and I want to just get so we've gone through
the purpose we've gone through the context and
Let's start to just break this down. We're going
to read through the chapter together And as I
was writing it this morning as I was reading
through this morning. I was actually writing
notes and I was going through it Y 'all know
I rarely have notes for the episode, but today
I have notes. Today I have notes. And as we read
through chapter one, we're just going through
chapter one, we're gonna stop and we're gonna
start picking things apart. So get ready to do
this with me today. We are in the Christian Standard
Bible, my She Reads Truth Study Bible. Starting
here in 2 Timothy, verse 1, it says, in my prayers
night and day. Remembering your tears I long
to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
I recall your sincere faith that first lived
in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice
and now I am convinced it is in you also. Therefore
I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that
is in you through the laying on of my hands for
God has not given us a spirit of fear but one
of power love and sound judgment and I want to
pause right here that may be a scripture a popular
scripture that you have heard you guys may hear
my cat in the background he's going to town on
this cat scratcher he has the zoomies too he
just bolted but this may be a popular scripture
that you guys are used to hearing I know it's
something that Has gotten me through a lot right
and that is for God has not given us a spirit
of fear But one of power love and sound judgment
that is second Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 and
Then reading that I'm reminded that the fear
that we have the fear of persecution the fear
of what happens When I spread the gospel what
what if this happens? when I speak the truth.
What if this happens when I step into my calling?
What if this happens? The fear, I don't know
about y 'all, but I have experienced this a lot
in my life. When God calls me, there have been
times when he's called me to spread the gospel
with people that I don't know if they want to
receive it. And I don't know if they're going
to receive it well. And there's a fear that immediately
starts flooding over me of like, what if they
react in a bad way? What if they laugh at me?
What if they get angry? What if they get upset?
Or there are opinions that I have, there are
values I have, that come from having a biblical
worldview, that come from God's word and standing
on God's word, that are not popular with society
today. That many people would find cancelable.
I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman.
I believe that we're created, man and woman and
God created us the way that we are intended to
be. Saying those things alone would have a big
group of people hating me, wanting to persecute
me. And I know so many of my brothers and sisters
in Christ experience that too, where there are
values and beliefs you have that are just based
off of God's Word. But you're afraid to even
say them out loud. You're afraid that when someone
asks you your opinion to say, but God's word
says. And this scripture reading this today reminds
me that that fear that we face is not from God.
God gave us a spirit of power, love, and sound
judgment. The boldness. to walk in truth, the
boldness to declare God's Word, the boldness
to plant seeds, the love of Jesus. See, the world
has redefined love. God so loved the world that
he sent his one and only son to die on the cross
so that whoever who believes in him may have
eternal life. Jesus showed us unconditional love
Jesus showed us sacrificial love Jesus showed
us what love looked like and that love did not
look like blind acceptance That love didn't look
like saying everyone's truth is the truth All
roads lead to heaven that wasn't what Jesus said
Jesus didn't even come and affirm people in their
sin Jesus would heal He would forgive and then
he would say go and send no more. Y 'all as I'm
talking I'm looking out the window in the most
beautiful blue jay. It's a big fat blue jay y
'all. This is like a fat blue jay. Is sitting
here on the fence post. Oh, that's so beautiful.
Jesus showed us what love was and that love was
calling people to repentance. That love was meeting
them where they were at but calling them to hire.
And that is not what our generation calls love.
Society right now, the climate that we're in
right now, says love is blind acceptance and
telling people whatever makes you comfortable
and whatever makes you happy. And it's not saying
anything that will offend anybody. Not saying
anything that will make anyone feel some type
of way. And when you stand on God's word, when
you plant seeds, when you try to point people
towards repentance, you're called hateful. You're
called like a bigot. You're called like every
slanderous thing you can be called. It's crazy.
It's important to remember that Jesus showed
us what love looks like. That what we are modeling
as Christians is God's definition of love, is
God's definition of sound judgment. Not the worlds
because the world is constantly changing The
devil is the lowercase G God of this world and
it's no coincidence that a lot of the things
are acceptable and normalized in society and
that you're called hateful and Evil person if
you don't align yourself with are things that
do not align with God's Word Because it's the
devil's little domain for right now But not forever
We know who has the victory But I just want to
remind y 'all of that today. When you are guided
by God to stand on your convictions, when you
are put in a situation where you know persecution
will come for standing on your values and speaking
the truth, but you know it's what you're supposed
to do, the fear is not from God. The fear is
from the enemy. God gave you a boldness and God
will be your strength. We have the Holy Spirit
dwelling within us. To strengthen us and embolden
us and guide us and give us the wisdom. Don't
forget that We're gonna move down further it
says Paul says here in verse 8 so don't be ashamed
of the testimony about our Lord Or of me his
prisoner instead share in the suffering for the
gospel relying on the power of God And we're
gonna pause here Paul Someone who is literally
in chains. He's literally in prison For not being
afraid to share his testimony Paul had an amazing
testimony of how he encountered God on the road
to Damascus He encountered the truth of Jesus
Christ. He was one way and he became another
He was on his way to go crucify or persecute
more Christians he was on his way literally to
go he had just gotten a legal like approval to
be able to just go bind up followers of Christ
he was present at stonings and he was happily
on his way to do it more when God encountered
him on the road to Damascus revealed the truth
of Jesus Christ remember he was blinded and after
days God sent someone to go lay hands on him
And then for years, Paul was kind of in isolation
where the Lord was revealing, giving him revelation.
He experienced revelation from the Lord and the
Lord alone. Paul had amazing testimonies and
he was using those testimonies. All of his past.
Times of persecution and getting in prison and
getting out of prison and the different things
that he has walked into the stonings Y 'all remember
he got stoned. They thought I'm pretty sure it
wasn't that Paul who was stoned and they thought
he was dead He has been through it He has so
many testimonies though that point to God and
glorify God and he was using those to plant seeds
for other people He was using those to correct
and rebuke lovingly and calling people to hire
And he knew that in the current climate, especially
with Nero, that persecution for that was inevitable.
It was clear that that was the path he was going
towards. But he was so rooted in the truth that
the Lord had revealed to him. And he was not
ashamed to be a follower of Christ. He was not
ashamed. To be someone who walked in the light
and believed the truth and knew the truth He
wasn't ashamed and I'm speaking to y 'all today
as my brothers and sisters in Christ the current
environment of the world wants us to be ashamed
of being a Christian I Cannot tell y 'all how
many times I have scrolled on social media and
I see people who you know, just have their have
a bit more conservative values that align with
the word of God and I see in all the comment
sections where people are just ripping them to
shreds and saying we found out you believe in
this we found out you believe in that let's cancel
them you should be ashamed like it's crazy there
are people who are afraid to share their values
because of cancel culture Like there is a real
fear my brothers and sisters in Christ have of
like their livelihoods being ruined just for
being rooted in the truth It's been a thing especially
the past couple years of doxing online Like where
you'll see when someone posts an opinion the
other people don't like they'll literally get
together and figure out this person's Address
and their family members and where they work
and like ruin their lives And it's something
people are proud of unfortunately that people
gang up together and do. And that's a fear that
my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are
walking with today of like, what about the retaliation
that comes? There are people who are ashamed,
who are ashamed into hiding their Christianity,
who are ashamed into hiding that Jesus Christ
is their savior, who are ashamed into hiding,
no, my values are biblical values. My values
align with the Word of God. And I encourage y
'all today not to be ashamed. There are some
people who have testimonies that glorify God.
That will lead other people closer to them, but
they are afraid to share because of the possible
persecution that could come with it. I'm someone
who I walked in that for the longest time. I
had testimony that glorified God with sobriety.
and I had testimony that glorified God when I
left New Age. I was so fearful to share it because
I was fearful of the people in the New Age community
can be mean and vicious and you know for the
people who claim to be all about I'll just say
this they they don't there's not a lot of forgiveness
there's not a lot of love there's not a lot of
grace And I was very afraid to share my testimony
of how and straight up call it for what it is
and say New Age is a lie and a path that leads
you straight to hell. And there are a lot of
people who would get offended by me saying that.
So for a long time out of fear, I didn't say
it. I beat around the bush. I hid that testimony
because I didn't want the retaliation that would
come with me saying I used to be a part of that
group and it's a lie. The truth is Jesus. He
is the way of the truth alive. When it came to
sobriety and sharing how I have a 100 % sobriety
conviction because it was revealed to me that
drinking and smoking was a false idol for me.
It was an idol. It was an idolatry thing. When
I was bored, I smoked. When I was emotional,
I smoked and I drank. It helped me detach. It
helped me to relate. It helped me to regulate.
It helped me to sleep. When I was bored, when
I was happy, when I was sad, that was what I
was doing when I should have been going to Jesus.
It was revealed to me, don't even dabble in it.
God said, keep it out of your life completely.
I was afraid to share that with other people
because I know there are other people who can
have one drink and not get drunk. And they can
walk that line because it is not a sin to have
a drink. It is a sin to be drunk. It is a sin
to be a drunkard that opens the door for the
devil. And I was afraid people would misinterpret
it. And I was afraid in sharing my sobriety testimony
that people would say, well, that's cool for
you, but that's not that it like would tear it
apart and misunderstand and rip it apart. And
that's how each of these things, it was fear
that was preventing me from stepping out and
sharing something that once I finally started
sharing those things, other people were like,
I can relate and I needed to hear this and this
helped me. And it's leading me closer to Jesus.
I needed to hear this thing. I'm urging you today,
brothers and sisters, don't be afraid of the
testimony. Don't be afraid to share what God
has done for you. Don't be afraid to share what
God has revealed to you. Don't be afraid to share
what God has taught you. Don't be afraid to say
that you are a follower of Christ. And to say
this is a sin. And to say this is what God calls
us to do. This is who God calls us to be. Don't
be afraid to call people higher. I was reminded
of this in reading the book of Ezekiel not too
long ago. Where God was talking to him God was
talking to Ezekiel about warning people and he
was saying like these these people like if you
warn them and They don't do it like your hands
are clean their hands are clean if you warn them
and they do it anyway They will see death. We
know the wage of sin is death But your hands
will be clean, but then he goes on to say but
if you see that they're doing this and you do
not warn them They will die and your hands will
be dirty. You will be held accountable. It is
our responsibility as Christians To speak the
truth. It is our responsibility as Christians
to warn Regardless or not of whether they accept
it and in reading that that Scripture has like
kind of like pierced my heart and been my reminder
that I cannot give into fear Because to know
what is right and to keep my mouth quiet is to
disobey God. Now to go on further, 2 Timothy
chapter 1 verse 9, he has saved us and called
us with a holy calling not according to our works
but according to his own purpose and grace which
was given to us in Christ Jesus before that time
began. Paul is acknowledging that he is suffering
on behalf of walking out his calling. And we'll
see, we're gonna read further. Before we stop
here, we're actually gonna read a little bit
further so we can get the full gist of things.
Okay, it says, this has now been made evident
through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,
who has abolished death and has brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.
For this gospel, I was appointed a herald, an
apostle, and teacher. And that is why I suffer
these things. But I am not ashamed Because I
know whom I have believed and then persuaded
that he is able to guard But has been entrusted
to me until that day Paul is in this position
because he is walking out his calling and sometimes
when we see someone in suffering and in bondage
and Just going through unjust treatment our brain
quickly turns on to believing that person must
be disobedient That person must not be walking
in their calling this person must be going incorrectly,
but that's not the truth Paul was walking out
his calling And that led him to bondage But we
see here that he is actually partaking In the
same suffering Jesus did because when we go up
further we can remember that he said share in
the suffering for the gospel He has been in prison
and will eventually be killed for standing in
the truth. That is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus
came here to testify of the truth. He is the
way, the truth, the life. He came to fulfill
the law. He is the Word made flesh and He came
here and when He was here He testified to the
truth. Not just with his words, but people saw
miracles. People were raised from the dead. Blind
people had sight, lepers were healed, demons
were rebuked, the man with a legion of demons.
And he was healed. The lame walk. And yet, even
when the truth was staring people in the face,
they rejected it. And what did they do to Jesus?
They falsely accused him. They beat him. They
called him every name you could think of. Slandered
him. They brought people against him in court
to bear false witness. They had people lying
and lying and lying, spitting on him. Eventually
crucified him. And Jesus warned us. We shouldn't
think it's strange. when we as Christians face
suffering and persecution because Jesus actually
warned us about this in John 15 specifically
in John 15 verses 18 through 25 Jesus is warning
and predicting about the persecution of his followers
but it's not something to be avoided and we know
in the Beatitudes too when he was giving the
sermon on the mount when he was saying like blessed
are those who are persecuted on my behalf Jesus
addressed multiple times that if we are walking
like him if we are looking like him if we are
standing in the truth We will partake in the
suffering that he partook in and I want to read
this scripture to y 'all specifically John 15
verse 20 where it says a servant is not greater
than his master if they persecuted me They will
also persecute you if they kept my word They
will also keep yours and we see Paul walking
this out if they persecuted Jesus for standing
on the truth, for standing in the truth, for
standing in love, for his standing and pursuing
righteousness. If you are doing the same, you
are going to be persecuted. You are not better
than Jesus. I am not better than Jesus. We're
not going to be more. He was perfect, sinless,
loving. forgiving Jesus is so much better than
me Jesus was so much better than you and He faced
this of course, we're gonna face this too. We
are not greater than him That cup didn't pass
from him and the cup of suffering is not gonna
pass from us either When we are walking like
Christ and we see Paul actively living this out
And then later chapters we'll see how to suffer
well but today we're just talking about suffering
as a Christian in general y 'all and suffering
is something that is inevitable. Persecution
is inevitable if you are following Jesus and
standing boldly in his word. Of course you can
avoid persecution as a Christian if you are ashamed
of Christ and no one knows you're a Christian.
But how strong is your faith? If you are not
following the conviction to live it out, if you
do not have the desire to obey God, to do what
you were called to do, which is to create disciples,
to plant seeds for other people, how can you
do that if no one knows that you are a disciple
yourself? How can you do what God has called
you to do if you're not emboldened to take a
footstep out of your door? We should be admiring
Paul. that he has walked so heavily in his calling
that he was led to this type of persecution.
I want to be so clear y 'all, persecution as
a Christian isn't an if, it's a when. When you
face it. It's not an if you face it, it's a when
you face it. And Paul here is referring to himself,
he's saying, I was appointed to be a herald,
an apostle and a teacher. He's identifying the
calling that God gave him. He's an apostle. He's
teaching. He is a herald. He is proclaiming the
Word of God. He is being used in all these ways
and we can see him confidently and boldly doing
it through these letters. How many times he was
almost stoned and almost killed? and then ends
up going back to that place because that's where
God calls him back to. Still writing letters,
still doing his thing. He didn't let fear deter
him or stop him or persecution stop him. He saw
he didn't see persecution as a sign to stop.
He saw it as a sign to keep going because we
know that the enemy doesn't attack what he's
not intimidated by. And I want to address this
with y 'all because I'm someone who I have fallen
into this category to. So many of us want to
call him. We want the anointing We want God to
call us to some Wonderful position where we feel
like we're making such a big difference I cannot
tell you how many times I pray to God to be God
I want to be used by you to the full capacity
and God has revealed My calling and I'm sure
that there is more to be revealed to me Throughout
my life and as I'm walking about and stepping
it out. I am just barely dipping. I am at the
beginning I don't believe God has even done a
tenth, a hundredth of what he intends to do through
me. And the same for many of you who are listening
to this today. And it's great for us to identify
that calling, right? Because it gives us a sense
of purpose. It gives us like a navigation, right?
I know that my purpose here is to serve God.
Like we were created in general to worship. To
worship and to steward over God's creation God
created all of earth and saw it was good But
then he created man to steward over the creepeth
the things that were creeping around on the earth
the animals The steward over we were created
to steward over God's blessing We were created
to worship him to elevate him And we also know
that We're called to create disciples. We're
called to plant seeds. We're called to point
people closer to Jesus. And then our calling
is kind of like the bigger picture way that God
wants us to do it. For me, one of my callings
here is to share testimony that glorifies God
and I believe is to teach other people. And then
your assignments are different ways you can carry
that out. So if you are called to teach, Your
assignment might be being a Sunday school teacher
later on it might be being leading a Bible study
Later on it might be a youth group. There are
different assignments for the calling but we
see that Paul had multiple of these callings
but these callings come along with like suffering
and persecution because what a calling does is
a calling isn't glorifying you and elevating
you The calling is meant to glorify God. Just
like the spiritual gifts that we are given. We
are given these gifts not to get ourselves ahead
in life or to do things for us, but to point
other people closer to Christ and to further
the Kingdom of Heaven. God gives us these gifts
to use in obedience to His will. The gift of
communication. Like that's a wonderful thing
to have, right? The ability to communicate. Well,
glory be to God, I believe that's something I
have. I've always been a good talker and good
at just having conversations with people. But
I don't believe that's just for me to use in
my life. I believe that's for me to use to have
conversations with people, good conversations
with people where I can point them closer to
the cross and where I am able to describe and
put into words. my lessons and experiences. I
understand that there is a way that I'm able
to work and communicate things that maybe not
everybody else can. And then there are things
that those other people can do that I definitely
cannot do and am not very good at. The things,
the natural talents and the abilities that we
have, because I guess I want to separate like
the gifts of the Spirit from like the abilities
and the talents that God has Graciously given
us right because the gifts of the spirit like
the discernment For example, those are things
that come along with the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, right? So I guess I don't want to confuse
those two but even that with when I My discernment
have gotten so strengthened the more I spend
time with the Lord, especially after receiving
the Holy Spirit Where it's like you can kind
of walk into a situation you can just It's like
you can read the room in a way you have not been
able to in the past. And when I'm able to in
communication and conversation and contact with
people, and I feel with the discernment like
the Lord is revealing something to me, it's not
a thing for me to just giggle about and gossip
about, it's something for me to pray on for that
person later. Intercessory prayer. And this wasn't
something I planned on going, this isn't written
down in my notes at all, I didn't plan on even
talking on this, so obviously it's a bit unprepared.
But the gifts, the spiritual gifts that we are
given, the gifts of the spirit, are used to carry
out God's will. Right, teaching, the gift of
teaching, the gift of like the evangelizing.
But the natural abilities and talents we have,
so many of us focus on how can I use that to
better my life? How can I use it for me? How
can I use it for myself? A better question asked
is how can I use it for God? Because we were
created here to glorify God and to serve God.
So the things that he has blessed us with, we
should think of how can we better use it to glorify
him and serve him, right? And we see Paul as
someone who has been using the gifts he has and
the abilities he has to further the gospel and
not further himself and in doing all of that
I believe God's word that just his faith alone
you know he has he he's in heaven man but his
obedience and his self -denial I believe that
he has so many riches and treasures stored up
in heaven But we can also see how God honored
him here on earth at the fact that all of these
letters I I haven't looked this up But I'm pretty
sure just by how many letters from Paul I've
read he's probably like the most frequent author
in the Bible Obviously it is all God inspired.
So God is the author. We know that this is God
inspired But God used different men and I'm pretty
sure Paul is like one of the most like the most
letters recorded in here and the most Written
in here. I don't know a different way to word
it. Oh, I'm sorry Paul was not forgotten Paul
was used as an example For other Christians on
how to be and how to act how to be in times of
suffering how to walk how to correct And that's
not saying Paul was perfect But we even see how
God honored Paul And I'm telling y 'all today
you're calling When you are walking it out You
will at some point face Persecution if you are
be if you are a soldier for God here on earth
Using the gospel wielding it You're gonna face
opposition. You're gonna face persecution. That's
gonna come from people who clearly don't know
Christ and that's also gonna come from people
who call themselves Christians. I know it sucks
to hear that, that your people that you might
consider brothers and sisters will also persecute
you. But the Pharisees believed they knew God
and they were the ones sending Jesus right to
the cross. Okay? Now let's kind of move forward
from here. So we have this identified, okay,
that you're calling. Not only a lot of people,
when they think calling, they think blessing
that comes along with it. When they hear, oh,
God wants me to teach, or God wants me to be
a mouthpiece, and people just think about the
platform, and people just think about the influence,
and people just think about those things, but
they don't think about the false witness. They
don't think about the accusations. They don't
think about the they don't think about all of
the pain and suffering and mischaracterization
Look at Charlie Kirk You want a perfect example
like a great example of modern -day someone walking
out there calling and Being persecuted to the
point of martyrdom with it and there's so many
people like I didn't mean to call Charlie Kirk
a martyr. I will This was a man that his values
and his beliefs were based off of God's Word.
And of course a lot of these were political conversations
he would have and all the political conversations
he could have could be backed up by things that
weren't just God's Word. But his root for his
belief in everything was God's Word. But what
he would do is he would sit down and he would
open the door lovingly to have conversations
with people and plant seeds. now his love didn't
look like the world's love because his love didn't
involve conformity and Saying your truth is every
truth is the truth and all these things as we
talked about earlier the world looked at love
as as long as you don't make anyone feel Uncomfortable
and you make everyone feel justifiable and you
water down your beliefs and you water down the
truth There's only like one truth if everything
is the truth and there is no truth But what the
world and society right now sees is love is the
opposite and that wasn't what Charlie Kirk exhibited
He exhibited the Christ like love Where he welcomed
everybody He stood on the truth he would not
conform But he called people higher and he left
it like as an open door for redemption, right?
It wasn't like a condemnation thing in a shame
thing Now if people wanted to shame themselves
and do that he wasn't going to stand in their
way. And in doing that there are people who were
so angry and hated him so much to the point that
someone was willing to kill him and after that
happened there were so many people that were
so angry at him and hated him so much that they
were cheering on saying he's glad they're glad
he's dead they're glad that his children have
no father. They're glad that that was on a live
video that the kids are probably gonna see one
day They're glad that all these other people
on that college campus young adults had to see
that happen And these are the same people that
say no hate like Christian love These are the
same people that say that their love is the most
loving until you don't agree with me then I'm
fine if you die Those are the same people who
said that he was unloving and he was hateful
because he wouldn't conform. I see Charlie Kirk
as someone who is walking out his column, who
is planting seeds and who is being used by God.
But I want to repeat what Paul says down here
at the bottom, but I am not ashamed because I
know whom I have believed and persuaded that
he is able to guard what has been trusted to
me until that day. And Paul was able to not be
ashamed and walk in this wilderness because he
trusted God. And if you're asking to say, Danielle,
I understand I'm supposed to be bold. I understand
that fear doesn't come from God. I understand
I shouldn't be ashamed of my testimony. But like,
where do I find the strength from? God, He will
give you the strength. He will fight for you.
You need only be still. You need the encouragement.
Pray for the Holy Spirit. If you have not, Prayed
that you are baptized with the Holy Spirit. I
encourage you to pray that God Gives you the
Holy Spirit. I pray that you start receiving
the Holy Spirit If you do not have the Holy Spirit,
I'm telling you that's the very first thing when
I look back like That that is where I started
having the boldness and the empowerment was when
I had the Holy Spirit dwelling within me And
the way I personally knew was I was able to start
praying in a language I didn't understand. And
it came pretty soon after getting baptized a
second time. I was baptized as a child. And I'm
not saying this is a rule of thumb for everybody,
okay? I'm not preaching second baptism by any
means. But my situation was a bit unique. I got
baptized in the Catholic Church. When I was in
second grade and I got baptized because I had
to if I didn't I wasn't able to do my confirmation
classes and my CCD classes to do my first communion
it was something I had to do in order to move
further in the church and it was something that
Was just expected of me. It wasn't That my faith
was in Jesus. It wasn't something I desired to
do for myself It wasn't something I even understood
believe it or not y 'all I actually I actually
believed that baptism was all I needed to go
to heaven I actually believed that I was automatically
going to heaven because I was baptized and I'm
not saying that is what the Catholic Church preached
That was just my personal understanding of it.
Okay So when I got baptized, I did not understand
at all. I had a very incorrect understanding
of what I was doing My faith wasn't in Jesus.
I had no commitment to follow him. I had no desire
to follow him It was just simply something I
thought I just had to do and get through and
let me tell you I sinned the very next day Willfully
did not care what about my life And when I gave
my life to Jesus in 2024, not long after, I really
started feeling a call to get baptized again.
And I'm not saying that is something that God
is calling everybody to do. I'm saying that's
something I was called to personally. And I wrestled
with it very, very heavily. And the Lord gave
me the understanding of why He called me to do
it. And it kind of comforted me to see that the
first time I did it, it wasn't me that wanted
to do it. It was just a conformity thing. I didn't
have the understanding of it. I didn't know what
I was committing to. I didn't even know what
baptism truly was. But this next time around,
when I did have the understanding, and I already
was living a life to go to the Lord and serving
the Lord, I'm not joking y 'all. It was right
after I got baptized. I went through a lot of
spiritual warfare, but it was a couple weeks
later that I started praying, and I found myself
praying in a language I didn't understand, which
I believed to be praying from the Spirit. And
I believe I got baptized with the Holy Spirit
at that time. And I, to this day, pray from the
Spirit. Some of my best prayer and some of my
most restful prayer is when the words coming
out of my mouth aren't English. But my Spirit
knows what I'm praying for. It's crazy the understanding
I can get as I'm praying it. And I don't think
there's a better way to word it than that. And
until you do it, it's kind of hard to understand
it. But I know a lot of people who do it. And
I encourage you all today to pray to receive
the Holy Spirit if you have not yet prayed to
receive the Holy Spirit. I've noticed it and
the understanding I'm able to have now and the
guidance I have and the nudges and the conviction
I have It's like the volume was turned way up.
It's amazing But let's continue on reading it
says Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching
that you have heard from me in the faith and
love that are in Christ Jesus Paul is encouraging
them like do not be shaken and what you know
to be true Do not be shaken And that is something
I feel like we really need to allow to resonate
with us today. Because it's really easy to, bad
companies corrupt good morals, right? Is that
first Corinthians or second Corinthians? That's
another one from Paul. That's another bar. That's
another good one from him. You can have the good
morals. You can be rooted in your values. You
can know the truth of the gospel. You can know
this is what God's word says. But once suffering
comes once persecution comes once you have a
lot of people saying That belief is not right.
You should believe in this Are you sure once
you start hearing false teaching once you start
hearing warped and manipulation sometimes you
start to be led astray and You find your footing
being shifted. I don't know if y 'all have ever
swam in an ocean But I find this to be a frequent
thing when I swim in the ocean of like I'll go
straight from where my towel was out right and
I'll go out into the water and I'll feel like
I'm straight ahead and I'm not moving to the
left I'm not moving to the right. I'm just standing
and like wading in the waves and about five minutes
later I turn around and I'm like Five feet horizontally
from where my towel is like I look back and my
towel is no longer directly behind me. It's diagonal
to me And I turn back around and I'm like wading
in the water and about 10 minutes later I look
down and now I'm like 10 feet away. And it's
like the longer I'm out in it and I'm not like
actively trying to keep myself rooted, I'm pushed
away. And like when I turn back, I'm like, wow,
I'm really far off. And I didn't plan on using
this analogy because this analogy is just now
hitting me. But when we're not consistently in
the word, when we're not consistently praying,
When we're not surrounding ourselves with people
that know the Word of God and encourage us to
stay rooted in the Word of God, it's easy to
become susceptible to being shifted, right? And
that is all our current environment does, the
world environment, because everything that the
world elevates, as we discussed earlier, is not
godly. And when you spend a lot of time outside
of God's Word, And when you spend a lot of time
outside of prayer and when you spend time outside
of denying the flesh That's already it makes
you really vulnerable to deception it makes you
really vulnerable to ideas that are not God ideas
The values are not God values and it makes you
really susceptible to become becoming lukewarm
and when you add that in combination of Maybe
the company that you keep being company that
encourages things aren't Christ like maybe it's
a lot of lying, slandering, gossiping, fornication.
Maybe it's the things that the people, as we
talked about in the beginning of the episode,
Ephesus elevated that was not godly. You can
find your life starting to look like that. And
it's so important that the gospel that you received
when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior, what you know to be true, God's Word
that you know to be true. that you're not shaken
when persecution comes, that you're not shaken
when all these other ideas try penetrating your
brain and your heart, that you stay rooted in
God's Word. And the best advice I can give to
you for that is to be consistently reading God's
Word. To make sure that you are getting sound
biblical teaching is very important for you to
have a church community. And I have said this
in past episodes before. I don't believe that
you have to go to church every Sunday to be saved.
I go to church every Sunday because I love my
church community. It calls me higher. The messages,
the sermons are usually hitting where I need
to hear I really feel God present in that place.
But it's also an opportunity for me to serve
and it's an opportunity for me to carry out my
calling. Your church isn't just a place for you
to go worship God, because yes you can worship
God at home. you can worship God in your car,
you can worship God in your backyard, but your
church is also a place for community, for people
to come together who also have their faith in
Jesus, who also desire to live life pleasing
to the Lord, who are also chasing after Christ's
art, to be able to lift each other up when they're
down. Just as Moses, when you know the battle
was ensuing and every time his hands were up,
His group the Israelites were overtaking and
winning every time his hands fell down They would
start like being overtaken and losing. So was
it Aaron and was it her? That held his hands
up for him. Your church is your place where people
can pray for you Can intercede for you can hold
your hands up Church is the place that when you're
going and you're not sure and you're confused
and you're muddied These are people who are rooted
in God's Word ready to encourage you There was
a message that was shared at my church this past
week and that was so amazing and it was this
couple who they were one was from I believe Pennsylvania
and the other person was from Alaska and They
got together here in Indiana got married and
they missed the mountains They wanted to move
back to one of either place, but they fell in
love with our church community They were serving
here and they were a part of it and the church
became their family where they were like No,
we can't leave we have to stay here and unfortunately
you know after building their family they went
through a tragic loss of one of their children
but the church rallied together for them it was
like 200 people showed up at their house to help
them they were finishing up construction on a
new house to just help them build and that just
embraced them and lifted them up in prayer and
encouraged them and that's some advice i have
to you all not only Being in your word and praying
but having community that is Christ centered
That is going to lift you up and that is often
found in a church now. I want to be very clear
Church is in a place where you're gonna find
perfect people Church is a place for people Christ
is literally a doctor for people who are sick
Every one of us has our faith in Jesus because
we know that we are sinners in need of saving
We know that we fall short of the grace of God
There are some people in the church who are far
along and maybe exhibiting a lot of fruits of
the spirit and maybe looking a Good amount like
Jesus and then there are people who are Fresh
new to treatment and don't really have the best
biblical advice because they don't know the Bible
like that yet They're still working through things
and they're still being healed. There are some
people who are there who are not responding to
treatment That was me most of my life growing
up in the church I went to church, but I didn't
have a relationship with Jesus. So my life looked
nothing like Jesus. I didn't feel convicted.
I didn't feel anything. I was someone going and
not responding to treatment. I want to make that
so clear. Okay, church is not a place where you're
going to find perfect people or everyone's going
to look like Jesus. And you even do have to be
mindful of the people you meet at church. Okay,
I'm saying that that is one place having a Christ
-centered community, which usually is your church,
is a good thing. Okay, it's good to have Christ
Center community point blank period Church is
one of the places where you may find them and
also church is one of the places where you're
going to be able to serve Me I serve on my kids
team. There is a kids ministry. We have a kids
ministry We have students ministry. We have young
adults ministry. I serve in the kids And I volunteer
and I lead I kind of help after our after the
kids pastor teaches and does the sermon and worship
we go in classrooms and I help kind of go over
what the pastor talked about I help the kids
in that way that is me serving Church is a wonderful
way for you to get involved and serve and point
other people closer to the cross Okay, so that's
another way I'm just telling you to to be able
to stay in the sound teaching is to regularly
put yourself in environments that exhibit sound
teaching And the major place is a church Okay,
I'm very blessed with mine. I'm very blessed
with mine and I encourage y 'all to find what
there's not one your community I encourage you
to find one online Two churches that I love to
listen to online. Even though I have my church
I still love to listen to them throughout the
week. I'll listen to their recent sermons is
authentic church which is pastored by Bobby Chandler
in North Carolina and Then 28 19 church, which
is pastor by Philip Anthony Mitchell Those are
two fantastic ministries that I love to listen
to. And I also listen to, if I pronounce his
name correctly, sometimes I listen to Craig Groschel.
If I'm pronouncing his name correctly, I hope
so. But if you don't have a church in your area
for sound biblical teaching, sound sermons, I
just gave you a couple that would be wonderful
to look up and I encourage you all to do so.
But it is so important that you stay grounded.
the teachings so that way you may not be led
astray. We're gonna go on here where Paul says
in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 15 you know that
all those in the province of Asia have deserted
me including y 'all I'm gonna mispronounce these
names by Gellius and Hermogenus may the Lord
grant mercy to the household of once for us because
He often refreshed me and was not ashamed of
my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome,
he diligently searched for me and found me. May
the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from him
on that day. You know very well how much he ministered
at Ephesians. As we talked about in the beginning
of the episode, Paul was kind of like deserted
and left because this was a time period when
a lot of Christians were under persecution. Clearly,
Paul was being persecuted. It wasn't popular
to be a friend with Paul, and it wasn't safe
to be friends with Paul if you wanted to stay
out of jail. That sounds really similar to what
Jesus experienced, right? If y 'all remember
when Jesus was literally talking to his disciples,
and it was the night when he was like, y 'all
remember? And I don't have the scripture written
down. I thought I did. I guess I don't have it
written down. So we are just kind of pulling
out of the depths of my brain right here though,
okay? Oh, I do have it written down. Yes, Mark
14, 27, 28. I have the verse, but I don't have
like the scripture written down. But what had
happened was this was around the time too when
Peter was like, I'll never betray you Jesus.
And Jesus was like, You're gonna deny me three
times before you know, like the bird crows before
the Was that the Raven or the I don't know the
specific bird y 'all it's leaving my brain But
this was a time where Jesus predicted and said
to them like y 'all are gonna scatter. I don't
want to misquote this We're just gonna look it
up. Amen. We're just gonna look it up and read
this but Paul is experiencing right now what
Jesus experienced when he went to the cross,
because when Jesus went to the cross, his disciples
scattered. Peter, the one who was supposed to
love him the most, denied him multiple times,
right? He is literally partaking in a very similar
suffering to Jesus. Let's see where it's at we're
in mark is this mark 15 we're gonna find it y
'all It's not mark 15 it is mark 14 I'm so glad
I looked this up. This is where Jesus is saying
All of you will fall away. I will strike the
shepherd and the sheep will be scattered but
after I have risen I will go ahead of you to
Galilee and this is where Peter told him even
if everyone else falls away I will not and Jesus
says truly I tell you Jesus said to him today
this very night before the rooster crows twice
You'll deny me three times. Okay, it was a rooster
y 'all. I'm so glad we pull it that because I'm
happy I didn't give you all the wrong scripture.
So that was Mark 14 that was mark 14 where we
were in the Talk of the Passover and I just closed
this out. Of course I closed out before I give
you all the verse We're gonna go back and find
the chapter and the verse because I want to be
able to quote this Correctly to y 'all so we
are in mark 14 and this was starting in verse
27 that went to verses 30 Okay, there we go.
I'm happy we cleared that up. Thank you y 'all
for bearing with me But we see right here Jesus
experienced that right When he was walking out
the height of his calling which was to be the
living sacrifice This was the high point of like
the high point right? This was where he defeated
death on the cross This was where like his calling
everything came together and where it's sealed
Victory But this was also the time where no one
was around. This was the time where persecution
was at such a high that people were afraid to
be associated with Jesus. Jesus literally said,
like, y 'all are gonna be scattered. And Peter
said, no, not me. Like, maybe everyone else,
not me. The one who loved Jesus the most, the
one who was gonna, like, I don't wanna say who
loved him the most, but the one who proclaimed
a lot that he loved Jesus. And the one that Jesus
even said, like, you are the rock that the church
will be built upon. Even he. Scattered. Once
it all began, even he denied Jesus three times,
and it was a rooster. It was not a crow. It was
not a whatever. It was a rooster. I'm so glad
we went through and read that. That is what Paul
is facing right when he was referring to those
two people where he was like, they have turned
their back on me. They have left me now. I want
to be clear. I tried to look this up and I couldn't
get a definitive answer It's not clear if they
just turned away from Paul and just quit supporting
Paul or if they turned away from Christianity
itself like renounced Christianity completely
I didn't have that clarification But they did
turn away Paul didn't have those people in his
corner and he was actually blessing that one
person one atheist if I'm pronouncing that correctly
because this person Onephius was not ashamed
of his chains. Didn't cut him off, didn't excommunicate
him, didn't like act like he never knew him.
I believe that was a blessing from God. Where
Paul could see that there were still some people
in his corner. And I wrote this down today, do
not let whether or not people stand with you.
Determine whether or not you are ashamed of the
gospel and you stand in your calling. Sometimes
when you are walking out your calling you're
not going to have a lot of people next to you
being supportive. And do not let whether or not
someone has a crowd of cheerleaders or like a
lot of sounding boards or a lot of supportive
people determine whether or not they are in right
standing with God. We see Paul who had a very
heavy calling. Was also someone who wasn't a
friend like he didn't have all these close besties
I've encouraged y 'all before and I will encourage
y 'all again It was an amazing thing for me to
read up on read about what happened to Paul after
his conversion Okay, because it's really easy
when we're reading scripture to think that Paul
was converted He went through the blindness.
He was healed and then it seems like he immediately
Went into evangelizing and preaching, but he
actually took like a decade Right where God kind
of called him to an isolation where he wasn't
associating with very many people and he was
just having a lot of like New understandings
being brought up and he was receiving divine
revelation from the Lord Like he he wasn't getting
advice from everybody Paul actually was communicating
with a rare few people He wasn't he didn't have
a lot of sounding boards. He didn't have a lot
of people that he was talking to God wanted him
to know his voice and his voice alone. God was
preparing him for a calling where he could not
rely on the advice of other people. Look at when
Paul knew he was called to go to Rome and he
was going to be bound. Everyone was telling Paul,
don't go. No one was encouraging him to go people
who were supposed to be prophets people who were
supposed to be in right standing with God We're
all even saying no don't go I see you in chains
I see you bound and when Paul would hear them
prophesying that they see him in chains He was
like, okay period so I'm definitely supposed
to go because that's what God told me to he knew
that his calling came with suffering and if Paul
was too busy relying on other people's interpretations
and other people's advice He would not have been
following God to this point. When you have like
a very big calling, when God has a calling for
you, like Paul, at least what we see with Paul
is your sounding board has to be God. You have
to have such a relationship with Jesus, where
your ears are open, where you're consistently
connecting with him and hearing from him. Like
that's a unique thing, right? Paul wasn't allowed
to have this big, like this big community, especially
in his learning, where he had like once he became
a new Christian for that like decade. A lot of
his revelation was from God. He wasn't going
to all these other teachers and all these other
knowledgeable people. His family wasn't always
pouring all this advice into him. He was actually
excluded a lot, but that allowed him to receive
directly from the Lord and prepared him for this.
We said earlier that a calling comes with persecution,
but sometimes a calling comes with isolation
and loneliness. Because when Paul was at this
point, when he had written all these letters,
when he had been used by God in all these ways.
And he was in jail just as God revealed to him.
He was in prison just as God revealed to him.
He wasn't surprised. He knew that his obedience
would lead to this point. He didn't have a lot
of people in his corner. He didn't have a lot
of supporters. He didn't have a lot of people,
like, vouching for him, just like Jesus didn't.
All these people witnessed Jesus' miracles. All
these people witnessed his healing. All these
people witnessed these things. But when Jesus
was put before Pilate and put before these people,
what we got was a lot of false witnesses. What
we got was a lot of people scared and scattered.
Just because someone doesn't have a lot of people
doesn't mean God isn't with them. Sometimes that's
exactly where God wants them. Sometimes that's
a confirmation that They refuse to conform. You
get a lot of friends and a lot of supporters,
oftentimes through conforming and through people
-pleasing. I can speak to this personally every
time I had big friend groups in my life. It was
also a time when I was compromising a lot of
my values. Or it was also times when I... I think
that's the best way to word it. I compromise
a lot of my values. Or I made myself cool with
things or made myself go to things or participate
in things that wouldn't be my first thing I jump
at. My personality would shift depending on who
I was around. When I was around these kind of
people I would be more of a gossip. When I'd
be around these people I'd be more of like a
preppy person. Around these people I'd be more
of like a laid -back person. Oftentimes to have
like such a big group like that That comes through
some often times not like trying to walk on eggshells
and not hurt people's feelings. It comes from
conformity I'm not speaking for everybody. I'm
just saying that's often what you see happen.
I Think sometimes when we think of someone who's
blessed by God and like loved by God and being
used Like they must have everyone likes them
and everyone has good things to say about them
and everyone has all these things But that's
not what happened to Jesus Why do you think that
would happen to you or other people if that's
not what happened for Jesus lovingly if we're
walking like him And we're living like him and
we're loving like him our persecution is probably
gonna look like him also So I just want y 'all
to meditate on that and think on that but when
Paul hit this point people People were rejecting
him people were disassociating with him people
left It wasn't a ride -or -die situation when
the going got tough people gave in and people
gave up And all of a sudden, they didn't know
him. It is so important, y 'all, that you don't
allow persecution and the fear of persecution.
It's so important that you don't allow the world.
I just want to hit, we're coming to the end of
the podcast. And there are just a couple points
I want to hit home for y 'all today. Okay, and
the first one here is you are to boldly preach
the gospel Unashamed and not deterred by suffering
and understand that the fear that you are combating
When you're desiring to do this is not from God
The next point is this You need to continue take
the active step and I don't think we got too
heavy in on this I want to I want to address
this real quick How Paul says to stir up the
spiritual gift? Because God how he says earlier
in the text to stir up the spiritual gift and
we discuss that the gift that God had given us
Was he didn't give us a spirit of fear? No, he
gave us the power of love and sound judgment
He gave us the spirit of power love and sound
judgment and we are to stir that up We don't
just hold on to it and sit on it One of the best
ways that you can stir that up is to take some
bold steps of faith What bold steps of faith
is God calling you to take right now? What truths
is he calling you to speak? How maybe is he calling
you to share testimony? How is he calling you
to spread the gospel? How is he calling you?
Maybe it's just making it known that you're a
Christian that you're a follower of Christ Maybe
it's planting seed. Maybe it's a rebuke. I don't
know what it is but one of the best ways that
you can stir up that spiritual gift is give God
an opportunity to show up give that spiritual
gift an opportunity to be used step boldly by
faith into a situation that requires power that
requires love okay that requires a sound judgment
as I'm saying God -led I'm not saying go out
and do all these things outside of God I don't
want you to go ahead of God pray that he guides
you in how to do this The next one is, hold fast
to the teaching and the knowledge of the gospel.
Do not let the world's climate, don't let the
current environment of the world influence your
beliefs. It is constantly changing. The things
that are socially acceptable right now were not
socially acceptable 10 years ago. The things
that were socially acceptable 10 years ago were
not socially acceptable 10 years before then.
It is constantly changing. People's feelings
are constantly changing. The devil always has
a new angle he's working at. Which is why your
values and I encourage y 'all I believe it's
rooted in truth Which was actually one of my
most popular episodes ever people seem to gravitate
towards that one and that's where I talk about
having a biblical worldview and Your values and
your beliefs and your opinions being based off
of what God's Word says So there's nothing new
under the Sun and when sometimes a new a topic
comes up that seems new to me And I'm like, I
don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this
Like I don't know how I feel about this. I take
it to God's Word and God's Word tells me how
I should feel about it I want that to sit with
y 'all. You don't know how you feel about it,
take it to God's Word and I'll tell you how you
should feel. And if that's not what your heart
aligns with, start praying that God takes the
things out of your heart that don't align with
it. The truth is not your truth. And the final
point here y 'all is stay loyal to Jesus and
walking out your calling despite the desertion
of others. Not everybody is going to stay with
you. People are gonna leave when the going gets
rough people are gonna leave when they get offended
God may call you to leave other people because
they are gonna be grabbing you by the ankle every
step you try to take I cannot tell y 'all how
many doors the Lord has lovingly called me to
close because he said you can't they cannot go
with you into this next season if You take them
with you into the next season. They are gonna
drag you down They're gonna give you the worst
advice. They are gonna be a stumbling block They
are gonna be saboteurs Pray for them, love them,
but you do not need to take them with you. Sometimes
they will desert you and sometimes God will call
you to close that door before they ruin it. All
right? And again, y 'all, I'm encouraging you
go read Second Timothy for yourself. Study this
book in the Bible. It's four chapters. You can
read it in like 30 minutes. I encourage y 'all
to study it. pick it apart there are some amazing
things that you can take out of this book and
this is just a part one there is more to come
y 'all i will see you next time make sure you
hit like and subscribe wherever it is you're
listening to this podcast and i will see you
guys next time bye guys