WEBVTT

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Hey guys and welcome back to the salt not sweetener

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podcast. I'm your host Danielle Townsend I hope

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you all are having a wonderful week. We have

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Easter Sunday coming up This weekend is Easter

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and I do pray that these past couple weeks Leading

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up to Easter for you have been a time for you

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to pursue your relationship with Jesus I pray

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that you have found a closeness with him and

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you're really developing a reverence for what

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he did on the cross and understanding of how

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he died for every single one of us and I do pray

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that whatever opportunities y 'all have to Grow

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in closeness or to learn more you take them just

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to give you all an example of one Tomorrow my

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church is offering stations of cross All day

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where you can stop in and go through stations.

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I haven't done stations in years. So I'm really

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excited I'm looking forward to I'm going in there

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and bring the family member with me and I'm looking

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forward to how I encountered Jesus What he reveals

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to me how how I feel it's been a while since

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that so I'm interested to even see like how is

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this emotionally going to affect me what's gonna

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go on like I'm looking forward to it and I'm

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also looking forward to Sunday service and I

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pray that y 'all take the opportunities that

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are being presented to you pursuing a closeness

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with the Lord and learning more about Him. So

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y 'all, we are continuing 2nd Timothy, but this

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is a little bit of a surprise. We are finishing

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it today. I know there are four chapters in the

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book of Timothy, and we've only done two episodes.

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We've done chapter 1 and chapter 2, and at first

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I planned to do an episode for chapter 3 and

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a separate episode for chapter 4, but the Lord

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works in ways that are unexpected, and I recorded

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an episode 3 earlier this week. But after recording

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it getting it drafted and put up on and ready

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to like, you know go through I Really felt the

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Lord say this ain't it and we're gonna be rerecording.

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There's more there's more there's a better way

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and As I was going and actually sitting down

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to read chapter 4 preparing for next week's chapter

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4 As I was reading it. I was like Lord this really

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merges well with chapter 3 I think it's gonna

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be really hard to do a separate episode of chapter

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4 and like not just combine it with three. I

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feel like these two need to be connected. I feel

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that they flow really well. It's really hard

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to do one without the other, and I don't think

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that's what I'm meant to do. And it felt like

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the word kind of doink, like hit me on the head,

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like duh. Girl, this is what I've been trying

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to tell you. So glory be to God. He revealed

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that to me and that is what we're doing today

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So we're going through chapters three and four

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and we're finishing up second Timothy today If

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you don't have your Bibles out yet, go ahead

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and get them out flip to second Timothy I'll

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give y 'all a minute. I'll jab her for a moment

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While y 'all get that situated and ready if you

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don't have a Bible a physical copy There are

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free free apps the Bible app download it and

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if you're like, well Danielle, there are lots

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of versions which one I personally really like

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the ESV. That's my go -to. That's my main is

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ESV Today I'm going to be reading from the CSB,

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the Christian Standard Bible, which is from my

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She Reads Truth Study Bible. But other than that,

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I really, my favorite translation, my go -to

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is ESV. I love ESV. I'll always recommend ESV.

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If you haven't checked out before and you are

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looking for like a new Bible even, Check it out.

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Check out that version. I enjoy it. I like it.

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It flows really well It's easy for me to understand

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why I'm reading and from my understanding It

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is a very true to the original text, which I

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love I do also have I was gifted the amplified

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classic edition For Christmas and that's what

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I like to use for cross referencing like actually

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use that today When I'm reading a piece of scripture

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and I don't feel like I'm fully grasping it or

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fully understanding it or there's just more I

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could be getting I like to cross reference it

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I like to open up my amplified edition and like

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hold them up next to each other because the amplified

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has a lot more of like a detailed description

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I will say the amplified is not my favorite when

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it comes to memorizing scripture because there

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is description than there were The text is kind

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of like broken up, where you're not able to just

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get like that clear, easy to like tattoo it on

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your heart, you know what I mean? But it is great

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for studying and cross -referencing. All right,

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y 'all, we are going to get into Second Timothy,

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chapter three. And we're going to start here

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just to give y 'all a little context, a little

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bit of background. The person who's talking is

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Paul. Paul is locked up in a Roman prison. He's

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locked up in a prison because he's a Christian.

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It's not popular to be a Christian. It's not

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popular to because not only was Paul a Christian

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and saying his faith was in Jesus, but he was

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rebuking and correcting. And people didn't like

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being called out in their sin. People didn't

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like being told what they're doing is wrong and

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wicked. It wasn't popular to be a Christian.

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It was a very similar cancel culture to what

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it is today There weren't a lot of people standing

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with Paul. He didn't have a lot of reasons to

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be as bold as he was like this meet like Worldly

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to us we would look at him and be like man. There's

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so much pain and suffering Why are you still

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doing this? He did because he knew it was what

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he's supposed to do All right, y 'all. Let's

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start reading. We are in second Timothy chapter

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3 and this opening Opening a line, Paul is gonna

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be referring to the last days. Okay, this whole

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chapter is titled, Difficult Times Ahead, where

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Paul is gonna be talking about the hard times

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that we are going to face in the last days. If

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you don't know what the last days are, I'm gonna

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give you a bit of a rundown. Maybe you haven't

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read scripture, and if you're Christian, I wanna

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tell you today. The most loving way I can say

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this you need to read the Bible because you need

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to know what you're believing in You need to

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know what your faith is in and this isn't to

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shame you If it makes you feel any more comfortable

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hearing this y 'all as I read the Bible and as

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I know the word now I grew up in the church and

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I can confidently say that I didn't know 80 percent

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Where I do now like as a child I could have told

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you like Jesus went to the cross for sins died

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and resurrected But I wouldn't have been able

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to tell you he ascended to heaven and the Holy

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Spirit poured out and been able to say and this

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is what we believe is gonna happen we believe

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Jesus is gonna return and we believe that you

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know Satan's basically gonna be evicted and now

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all the people who their faith isn't in Jesus

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are going to be evicted to and Jesus is gonna

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create a new heaven where there's no suffering

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and there's no pain I wouldn't been able to tell

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you any of that. I didn't know what I believe

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to happen later on I didn't know Now I do And

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I just want to encourage y 'all and I pray that

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me sharing that with you has just given me a

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little bit of comfort You're not alone. This

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isn't a condemnation. This isn't a shame, but

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this needs to be your encouragement to go and

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read Okay, because God has made this information

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readily available to you It's in the Bible that

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his people perish for a lack of knowledge and

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it's not that he hasn't given you Knowledge the

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Bible is right here. It's for you to reach out

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and grab but you have to be willing to grab it

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I believe it's Matthew 7 7 where it's like knock

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and the door will be open to you. It's like Ask

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and you'll receive seek and you'll find You want

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wisdom you want knowledge the Bible's right here.

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You've got to be willing to take that step. Okay,

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okay But anyway the last days the last days we're

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in the last days right now I want to be very

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clear about that today. We are in the last days

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They were already in the last days with Paul

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like once Jesus ascended into heaven because

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the last days are literally the time between

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the first coming and the second coming of Jesus

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we've already had the first coming where he was

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born died resurrected ascended into heaven and

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then we have that period of time in between and

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one day and it's going to happen like a thief

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in the night Jesus is going to come back and

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when I say like a thief in the night From the

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Bible. Okay, and that means it's gonna be an

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unexpected time. It's gonna take us all by surprise

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There is nobody who's going to be able to prophesy

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or say it's gonna be this day in this time Jesus

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made that very clear that only the Father knows

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so you can know today if someone says Jesus is

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coming back like April 17th or Jesus is coming

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back in 2028 on this day you can already immediately

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mark that as a false prophecy and Likely a false

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prophet. Okay, and that's not my opinion. That's

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biblical That's why it's so important that you

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know the Bible because there are things that

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people are walking around saying and declaring

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all the time that if you Knew what the word of

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God said you could instantly say that's false

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doctrine and false teaching And I cannot believe

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that so it's so important. Let this be your encouragement

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today y 'all but anyway, yeah, the last days

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are the days in between so we are in the last

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days until Jesus comes back and I'm sure y 'all

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have heard in time prophecies a lot of them are

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in Matthew where it's talking about wars and

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famines and maybe when you hear people talking

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about the last days and the end times you hear

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about those things and people who The most I

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hear those things talked about is actually usually

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really out of context with people who call themselves

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Christians But don't know the word or people

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who aren't Christians But want to pick and use

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the Bible when they feel like it suits them and

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there are a lot of people who have different

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beliefs What's gonna happen one day, you know

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that aren't Christian you rely on your own understanding

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and myths and different things like that Where

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you'll hear them a lot of times saying well,

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we know it's gonna happen when there's wars and

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there's earthquakes and there's different things

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like that This is what they're referring to.

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Okay? Because Jesus told us about like the birthing

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pains of like they're gonna be signs before he

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comes back Where you're gonna be able to say,

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okay, we're getting close and it's happening

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Jesus God is so good that after he gives us a

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prophecy, after he gives us a promise, he'll

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often give us signs to look for so that we can

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continue to be encouraged and our faith can be

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strengthened. And that's kind of what these things

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were, right? Amen. It's like Jesus told us there's

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going to be, these different things are going

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to happen if that's famines, the wars. Well,

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Paul is discussing that here in 2nd Timothy,

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but he's actually talking more about the moral

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and societal decline. We're not going to be hearing

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about, like, all the physical things we're going

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to be seeing. We're actually going to be hearing

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from Paul about all of the moral and societal

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things that we're going to be seeing declining

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and unfortunately happening. And as I read through

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this, y 'all, I want you to keep an open mind

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of just, has Paul lists off? the hard things

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that we're going to face. Think about how, oh

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my goodness, I see this in the world today. This

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is something that the world elevates. This is

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something that the world exemplifies. This is

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something that the world puts on the pedestal.

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As I was reading through this, I was like, man,

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like most well -known people are known for these

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things. Man, before I gave my life to Jesus,

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I used to take pride in all these things. I see

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these things in society. I see these things.

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Just because it's accepted and just because it's

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legal in the world doesn't mean it's good in

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God's eyes, right? So I want you all to keep

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these things in mind as we're reading through

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So let's start here second Timothy chapter 3

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but know this Hard times will come in the last

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days for people will be lovers of self lovers

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of money boastful proud demeaning, disobedient

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to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,

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slanderers, without self -control, brutal, without

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love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited,

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lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

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holding to the form of godliness but denying

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its power. Avoid these people." And you all,

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this last line where it says, Holding to the

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form of godliness, but denying its power I was

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having trouble fully grasping that and understanding

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that and I was actually praying to God like God

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Can give me a deeper understanding for what this

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means? Can you show me how this is happening

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today and the Lord actually? Ended up answering

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that prayer by like I was scrolling on social

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media And I was watching the celebrity who was

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interviewed and I've known the celebrity known

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of this celebrity since I was a child and as

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a child I thought this person was a very strong

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Christian and they talked about being a Christian

00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:03.240
but you know As I can look back now, I can see

00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.720
how they really kind of went into secular and

00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.539
carnal things. They're really of the world. They

00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:12.360
really kind of pushed away from Jesus as they

00:12:12.360 --> 00:12:16.340
got. more famous and one day they married someone

00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:19.360
who is Definitely a very different religion than

00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.639
Christian and they had a child with this person

00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:23.360
and in this interview They were saying about

00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:25.500
how they raised this person to know some Christian

00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:28.799
beliefs but then a lot of that other religious

00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.580
beliefs the mom is the other religion right and

00:12:32.580 --> 00:12:35.220
You know immediately my stomach kind of turned

00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.539
hearing that because I was like man it might

00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:39.679
as well just be and I hate to say it this way

00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:41.659
but might as well just not be telling them about

00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:44.720
Jesus at all because what this person is teaching

00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.980
them is a false Jesus isn't the real Jesus because

00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.460
if they knew about the real Jesus if they were

00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.460
receiving sound doctrine they would be knowing

00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:55.139
that they can't be entertaining false gods that

00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.919
they can't be entertaining the values and the

00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:04.179
works -based mindset and the cycles that this

00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.539
other religion elevates, you know? So the fact

00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:10.240
that they're even receiving a Jesus that is enabling

00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.080
and understanding and like saying it's totally

00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:16.179
fine to do that is not the real Jesus, right?

00:13:17.419 --> 00:13:20.460
I was like, okay, we're just, I'm going to pray

00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:21.820
since this is what's coming up, I'm going to

00:13:21.820 --> 00:13:23.659
pray for this person. But it was interesting,

00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:25.580
I started hearing this person say things that

00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:27.700
sounded very Christian. where they were talking

00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:29.519
about pain and suffering and saying like, you

00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.659
know, everything happens for a reason. Like there's

00:13:31.659 --> 00:13:33.620
a plan and there's a reason for the suffering

00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:35.379
and it'll be used for your good and all these

00:13:35.379 --> 00:13:37.480
things. And I was like, that sounds a lot like

00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:41.720
God. It sounds like they're moving through life.

00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:45.960
with the mindset of God of how God handles things

00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:47.220
of like it's okay that I'm going through the

00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.620
suffering because God but when I started hearing

00:13:49.620 --> 00:13:51.940
the person that they credited they weren't crediting

00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.480
God they weren't crediting Jesus they were crediting

00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.840
the universe universal cycles and it sounded

00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.820
very all truth is the truth and they start saying

00:14:00.820 --> 00:14:03.460
the universe aligns people and the universe does

00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:06.720
this in the universe and I was like God I see

00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.980
right here what you mean is they're holding on

00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:14.529
to the forms of godliness. They're holding on

00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:20.350
to how God moves and like God's laws and God's

00:14:20.350 --> 00:14:24.789
promises, but they're denying the power. They're

00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:27.850
they're refusing God they're refusing Jesus,

00:14:28.009 --> 00:14:30.090
which means they're also refusing the accountability

00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:32.889
that comes along with following Jesus the self

00:14:32.889 --> 00:14:37.190
denial right the evangelizing the rebuking and

00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:39.470
correcting all these things that come along with

00:14:39.470 --> 00:14:43.450
suffering and persecution and I was like, oh

00:14:43.450 --> 00:14:45.789
god, I see what you mean. I was like man. We

00:14:45.789 --> 00:14:47.610
see that all the time I cannot tell you how many

00:14:47.610 --> 00:14:49.629
there's so many people who they don't credit

00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:51.570
God. They don't credit Jesus. They credit the

00:14:51.570 --> 00:14:54.570
universe They just say the universe something

00:14:54.570 --> 00:14:58.990
bigger than me there's a celebrity I Used to

00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:03.049
love and then once I became Christian like really

00:15:03.049 --> 00:15:07.850
gave my life to Jesus You know a false idol thing

00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:09.309
really picked up for me where I was like it was

00:15:09.309 --> 00:15:13.370
idolizing this person but I also start being

00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:15.929
able to see all the ways that they were like

00:15:15.929 --> 00:15:19.379
leading people astray and false teaching you

00:15:19.379 --> 00:15:21.659
know because they would say Christian but then

00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:23.659
a lot of the ideals that they spread weren't

00:15:23.659 --> 00:15:26.600
Christian and this person never glorified God

00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:30.399
never glorified Jesus by name but would say there

00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:35.799
are powers greater than myself and a lot of people

00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:40.240
do that as a way to not stir the pot and to keep

00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.059
everybody comfortable but that's not what we're

00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:46.360
called to do that's called lukewarm that's called

00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.299
false doctrine That's called watering down the

00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:52.240
gospel. That's not creating disciples. That's

00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.820
not spreading the truth That's giving in to the

00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:56.980
enemy and that's what we're not supposed to be

00:15:56.980 --> 00:16:01.039
doing, right? but yeah, I saw as you'll read

00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.080
through those I encourage you we're not gonna

00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:06.480
stop and talk on those too much because I'm sure

00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.039
we could go on for hours on how we see that play

00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.139
out in our society, okay? But I encourage y 'all

00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:13.700
to look through and just see how relevant these

00:16:13.700 --> 00:16:16.559
things are and I hope that this really reminds

00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:20.940
you and helps you to see that like these things

00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:23.120
Paul talked about aren't 10 ,000 years from now,

00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:26.240
they're now. They were then and they're now the

00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.080
bible is relevant now the laws that we're told

00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:32.440
to live by like god when he the commandments

00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:35.539
he gives us love your neighbor as yourself the

00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:40.940
gospel jesus spread is Active now it's relevant

00:16:40.940 --> 00:16:45.139
now and we see here paul goes on to say for among

00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:49.659
them after he says avoid these people Like paul

00:16:49.659 --> 00:16:52.000
is saying all these things are going to happen

00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.330
avoid them Like these aren't the people that

00:16:55.330 --> 00:16:57.429
you're supposed to be best friends with. These

00:16:57.429 --> 00:16:58.809
aren't the people that you're supposed to be

00:16:58.809 --> 00:17:03.450
communing with every day. And if y 'all want

00:17:03.450 --> 00:17:05.230
an example of how we're supposed to be moving

00:17:05.230 --> 00:17:08.049
through these people, and this is something I've

00:17:08.049 --> 00:17:09.930
had to prey on a lot, I think Bryce Crawford

00:17:09.930 --> 00:17:14.470
is a pretty decent example. He's someone who,

00:17:14.470 --> 00:17:16.369
and he's not perfect, he falls short, he's a

00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:20.789
man. But he's someone who leaves the 99 to kind

00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:25.099
of go find the one. Like he goes, He mimics Jesus

00:17:25.099 --> 00:17:28.940
in that way, if he's not afraid to go into environments

00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:33.519
of lost people and try to plant seeds. But those

00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:36.960
lost people that you're planting seeds for, just

00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.200
as Jesus sat with tax collectors and sinners

00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.240
because it's not the healthy that need a doctor,

00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:43.319
it's the sick, those weren't the people Jesus

00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:44.880
was around all the time. In fact, he actually

00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:46.779
took a lot of time away from even his disciples

00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:49.119
that loved him to go pray and be alone with the

00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:53.210
Father. Right? I think it's very important to

00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:55.250
remember that God will use you to go plant seeds.

00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:57.430
Okay? God will use you. If you're only around

00:17:57.430 --> 00:17:58.970
people with a like mind, you're not actually

00:17:58.970 --> 00:18:01.029
going out and creating disciples. To create disciples

00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:02.670
means you're going to have to talk to people

00:18:02.670 --> 00:18:06.869
who might not yet be disciples. Right? Evangelizing

00:18:06.869 --> 00:18:09.930
is literally going out and telling people about

00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:12.769
Jesus. But these aren't the people that you're

00:18:12.769 --> 00:18:14.529
supposed to be integrating in your daily life.

00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:15.930
These aren't the people that are supposed to

00:18:15.930 --> 00:18:17.230
be your besties that you spend all your time

00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:18.950
with. These aren't the people that you're supposed

00:18:18.950 --> 00:18:20.289
to be talking on the phone with all the time,

00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:21.710
getting your advice from, getting your hype ups.

00:18:21.750 --> 00:18:23.009
These aren't the people who are supposed to be

00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.329
knowing about your struggles, especially in your

00:18:25.329 --> 00:18:26.589
faith, because they're not the people who are

00:18:26.589 --> 00:18:31.150
going to point you down the right path. You are

00:18:31.150 --> 00:18:32.750
to avoid these people. These aren't supposed

00:18:32.750 --> 00:18:35.059
to be the people in your daily life. People who

00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:38.059
elevate these things you are bad company corrupts

00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:40.079
good morals and you can be sound in your faith

00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:42.079
But this is all you surround yourself with you're

00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.279
gonna find yourself starting to fall short and

00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.319
Paul goes on to say For among them are those

00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:50.740
who worm their way into households and deceive

00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:54.000
gullible women Overwhelmed by sin and led astray

00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:57.240
by a variety of passions always learning and

00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.460
never able to come to a knowledge of the truth

00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.740
And when I read this, amen, it made me think

00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:07.299
a lot on, for those of y 'all who don't know,

00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:09.220
and I'm sure you do now, if you've listened to

00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:11.299
episodes before, I was raised in the church.

00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:13.200
I didn't have a relationship with Jesus. When

00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.839
I was 17, I left, and as a young adult, I started

00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.700
to explore New Age, and I put my faith in New

00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:19.119
Age for a while until Jesus found me where I

00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.180
was, convicted me, repented. I repented, and

00:19:22.180 --> 00:19:24.319
then I had to do a rewiring of Jesus, rewire

00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:28.240
my brain. He deconstructed things and helped

00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.730
me rebuild. On a firm foundation, which is jesus

00:19:30.730 --> 00:19:34.609
christ, right? Um, and when I look back The time

00:19:34.609 --> 00:19:36.789
when I actually fell into it and I was the most

00:19:36.789 --> 00:19:38.670
susceptible was in a time when I was overwhelmed

00:19:38.670 --> 00:19:42.509
by sin I was open to false doctrine I was open

00:19:42.509 --> 00:19:44.769
to the new age ideal of you are your own creator

00:19:44.769 --> 00:19:46.650
and it's in your power to change this and fix

00:19:46.650 --> 00:19:48.390
this and like this false sense of empowerment

00:19:48.390 --> 00:19:51.710
Because I was deep in my own sin I had faced

00:19:51.710 --> 00:19:53.529
a lot of pain and suffering because of my own

00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:56.529
sin whether that be gossiping lust drinking smoking

00:19:56.529 --> 00:19:58.630
idolatry like all these things like to excess

00:19:59.159 --> 00:20:02.279
all of these things, but I was also the victim

00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:04.259
of a lot of other people's sin. I was used to

00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:06.359
people hurting me, lying to me, deceiving me,

00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:10.019
using me, doing all these things, and I was overwhelmed

00:20:10.019 --> 00:20:12.579
by all this sin, and I was seeking a way out.

00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:14.900
I was seeking healing. I was seeking comfort.

00:20:14.980 --> 00:20:16.720
I was seeking control. I was seeking fulfillment,

00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:19.960
and I was ready for something to plop right down

00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:24.640
in front of me and say, this is the answer. Because

00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.880
my heart was hardened to the gospel. I didn't

00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:29.750
want to hear the gospel. The gospel comes along

00:20:29.750 --> 00:20:33.369
with accountability Where you need saved it doesn't

00:20:33.369 --> 00:20:34.990
matter what other people did to you You need

00:20:34.990 --> 00:20:37.809
what Jesus did and first Jesus deals with you

00:20:37.809 --> 00:20:40.369
and then he'll deal with the other people First

00:20:40.369 --> 00:20:42.309
he has to work things out of you and he works

00:20:42.309 --> 00:20:45.529
on your heart and as you start producing these

00:20:45.529 --> 00:20:47.369
other fruits You can start seeing the changes

00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:49.420
and your environment around you. It starts with

00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:52.539
you first, right? But I thought I could do that

00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:54.299
apart from Jesus. That's what New Age offers

00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:56.099
with all the shadow work and the reiki healing

00:20:56.099 --> 00:20:58.140
and all this stuff is like healing apart from

00:20:58.140 --> 00:21:01.000
Jesus, but it's never actual healing because

00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:02.920
that's where my mind went to next on here, y

00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:04.980
'all, where it says, always learning and never

00:21:04.980 --> 00:21:08.039
able to come to a knowledge of the truth. And

00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:09.420
that's why you hear a lot of people, especially

00:21:09.420 --> 00:21:11.789
New Age. And I'm sure you all will see this in

00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:14.450
other things. I just knew age was what I had

00:21:14.450 --> 00:21:17.130
the most experience with. No one can ever come

00:21:17.130 --> 00:21:20.150
to a definite truth. That's why it always ends

00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:23.049
with we all go to the same place. And as long

00:21:23.049 --> 00:21:25.210
as you live this way and everyone's truth is

00:21:25.210 --> 00:21:27.650
the truth. And that's why their brain is always

00:21:27.650 --> 00:21:30.549
shifting on what our actual purpose is and why

00:21:30.549 --> 00:21:32.950
we're actually here every few months. and like

00:21:32.950 --> 00:21:34.789
it sounds crazy now when I listen back to it

00:21:34.789 --> 00:21:36.349
but there are people who believe you're a star

00:21:36.349 --> 00:21:38.650
seed from outer space here to awaken like a new

00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:40.869
vibration and to like save the earth and a new

00:21:40.869 --> 00:21:45.029
technology or whatever and then like two months

00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:47.329
later they believe actually we're reincarnated

00:21:47.329 --> 00:21:49.549
and we're dealing with the karma from our past

00:21:49.549 --> 00:21:54.170
lives and like working it off and like like a

00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:57.410
twisted a twisted new age ideal of like past

00:21:57.410 --> 00:22:01.069
religion they never have an actual truth Which

00:22:01.069 --> 00:22:03.990
is why they're always so easily swayed, right?

00:22:04.849 --> 00:22:06.769
Their stances on things are always shifting and

00:22:06.769 --> 00:22:08.730
always changing and that's why they're so used

00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:10.950
to Making other people feel uncomfortable and

00:22:10.950 --> 00:22:12.710
they easily cave into not making other people

00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:14.589
feel uncomfortable and I fell into that for longest

00:22:14.589 --> 00:22:17.309
time and I'm looking at and I'm like, oh my gosh

00:22:17.309 --> 00:22:20.009
Paul knew that Paul talked about this God knew

00:22:20.009 --> 00:22:22.930
this was gonna happen God's not surprised by

00:22:22.930 --> 00:22:28.440
any of this And Paul goes on to say, just as

00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:31.299
Janes and Johnbrays resisted Moses, so these

00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:33.779
also resist the truth. And if y 'all are anything

00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:36.700
like me, I was like, who are Janes and Johnbrays?

00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:38.339
I've never heard these names. Who are these men?

00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:41.299
And I had to go look them up. And I found out

00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:44.460
y 'all that these men were the magicians back

00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:46.640
with Moses and Pharaoh. If y 'all remember when

00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.920
God told Moses, go tell Pharaoh to let my people

00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.839
go and God was with him and worked signs. that

00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:55.240
pharaoh rejected and eventually they got so bad

00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:58.380
they were like the plagues like bad like like

00:22:58.380 --> 00:23:00.400
the plagues of like the death and like the low

00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:04.880
it got crazy okay the firstborn well at first

00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.720
if y 'all if y 'all haven't read i want y 'all

00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.599
to at some point please go read exodus it's a

00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:10.160
very important all everything in the bible is

00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.180
important okay i'm not even going to act like

00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:13.559
it's more important than another part it's all

00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:17.240
important but go read it okay because james and

00:23:17.240 --> 00:23:21.480
jombrace are the magicians What Pharaoh did when

00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:24.000
Moses first came in and was like saying let my

00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.240
people go God says let my people go and started

00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:30.680
doing these signs there was like my magicians

00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:34.160
can do that I Know some people who can make who

00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.880
can do that to God isn't special your God isn't

00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:39.460
special I can do that Which sounds like really

00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:41.559
similar to the New Age now right of like I can

00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:44.539
find healing and shadow work. I can heal this

00:23:44.539 --> 00:23:49.539
I can do that I can make this happen. The magicians

00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:54.259
back then are comparable to the witches, warlocks,

00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.460
wiccans that we see today, the new -agers, the

00:23:57.460 --> 00:24:01.900
reiki healers, the root work people, the voodoo,

00:24:02.019 --> 00:24:05.940
the hoodoo, the pagan ritualistic people. Same

00:24:05.940 --> 00:24:09.039
thing. Same thing, okay? And Pharaoh was cocky

00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:11.000
at first, and so were the magicians. And at first,

00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:13.380
the magicians were able to replicate. They were

00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:15.440
able to do things that look similar to what God

00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:19.059
did. And because they could do that at first,

00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:22.480
their confidence grew. They got overly confident

00:24:22.480 --> 00:24:26.319
in it. They got a puffed up chest. They thought,

00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.660
oh, this is the way. My way is, why do I need

00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:31.900
to submit to God's way if I can get the same

00:24:31.900 --> 00:24:34.579
results doing it my way? Fun fact, y 'all, that

00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:36.980
was actually what led me into new age. When I

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:39.039
first started going, doing some practices, I

00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:40.880
felt like I was seeing serious results. And I

00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:43.980
was like, Well, if I can get quick results this

00:24:43.980 --> 00:24:47.819
way, I'd rather do it this way than God's like

00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:50.799
long his way, not my way. This way looks more

00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:57.460
like satisfies the flesh, desirable. I'm going

00:24:57.460 --> 00:24:59.400
to do it that way. And there are a lot of people,

00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:00.720
it's not just me, there are a lot of people facing

00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:03.519
that. That's not just new age. There are people

00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.359
who are agnostic, who are atheists, who choose

00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:09.740
their way over God's way because they feel like

00:25:09.740 --> 00:25:13.509
they can get the same result. But we go on here

00:25:13.509 --> 00:25:17.089
to see they also resist the truth. There are

00:25:17.089 --> 00:25:19.089
men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard

00:25:19.089 --> 00:25:21.170
to the faith, but they will not make further

00:25:21.170 --> 00:25:23.049
progress, for their foolishness will be clear

00:25:23.049 --> 00:25:25.309
to all, as was the foolishness of James and John

00:25:25.309 --> 00:25:27.089
Brace. What happened to James and John Brace?

00:25:27.329 --> 00:25:30.750
You may ask. Eventually, God started doing things

00:25:30.750 --> 00:25:33.430
that they could not replicate, they could not

00:25:33.430 --> 00:25:37.299
duplicate, and they were put to shame. It was

00:25:37.299 --> 00:25:39.819
clear that they cannot hold a candle to God man

00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:42.279
cannot hold a candle to God and fun fact I don't

00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:45.099
care whether or not y 'all believe me. It is

00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:49.220
the truth. It is biblical if it's not from God

00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:58.420
It's from the devil Goodness is from God if it's

00:25:58.420 --> 00:26:00.900
not from God. There's only one other thing it's

00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:09.240
fleshly It's fleshly or it's wicked It was so

00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:11.039
hard for me, y 'all, when I was in New Age to

00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:13.000
believe that. I went so hard to believe everything

00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:17.380
was so much more of a gray area. It is not. It's

00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:20.039
from God or it's not. It's good or it's not.

00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:24.440
It's not about my definition of good. It's God's.

00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.799
And what happened with James and John Bray's

00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:30.640
is they could not replicate. They can't compete

00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.519
where they can't compare and their demons couldn't

00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:34.619
either. the things that are helping in witchcraft

00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:36.960
those are demons the things they're talking to

00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:42.900
in astrology demons agents of satan just wanting

00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.779
to deceive you and lead you away from christ

00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:48.160
there are people who are like well why is it

00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:50.279
when i put my faith in witchcraft or these things

00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:52.000
like it seems to work out at first the devil

00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.200
would love for you to have your faith in that

00:26:55.800 --> 00:26:58.099
Like if you feel it a lot of people I remember

00:26:58.099 --> 00:27:00.400
hearing this and I believe this when I was in

00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:01.940
New Age In which right when people would be like

00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:03.579
you actually believe in it I would be like, well,

00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:07.039
I'm not doing it because I think it's fake and

00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:10.000
I heard so many other people saying that I Wouldn't

00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.039
spend all my money or invest all this if I thought

00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:17.019
it was fake if I thought it wouldn't work Until

00:27:17.019 --> 00:27:19.480
y 'all me personally glory be to God he let it

00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.160
ruin my life God said I have a plan for you and

00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:23.420
you're not gonna be allowed to put your faith

00:27:23.420 --> 00:27:26.039
in this all your life God loved me so much that

00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:29.180
he made me a Jonah. I got swallowed up. It stopped

00:27:29.180 --> 00:27:31.339
working out for me. I ended up living in my car,

00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:34.240
having people hating me, slander, broken relationships,

00:27:34.460 --> 00:27:36.680
everything going on that led me to an existential

00:27:36.680 --> 00:27:38.119
crisis where I was like, it doesn't matter how

00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:40.019
much money I have, how much, if I had fame or

00:27:40.019 --> 00:27:42.779
any of that, nothing would fix the damage that's

00:27:42.779 --> 00:27:44.339
been done. The only person who can fix it is

00:27:44.339 --> 00:27:47.759
God. And the first time in my life, I was like,

00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:51.039
it doesn't matter. Like I can't, it's clear none

00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.900
of these things work. I'm going to try God. I'm

00:27:53.900 --> 00:27:55.519
gonna try God's way. I'm gonna put my faith in

00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:57.539
Jesus and I'm just gonna submit to him and Jesus

00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:01.319
developed a love and a fear and a reverence Where

00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:03.960
even when he did restore my life and fix it where

00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:08.160
I have the option to rely on myself and go apart

00:28:08.160 --> 00:28:12.319
from Jesus I can't I don't want to I physically

00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:17.500
I the convict I I can't I Love God so much and

00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:19.380
I have such a fear and a reverence for what he

00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:23.390
did. I owe my life to the word where once I'm

00:28:23.390 --> 00:28:26.109
faced with opposition, it's like, hey, this opposition

00:28:26.109 --> 00:28:28.009
will stop if you just shut up and you stop doing

00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:30.630
God's will. I can't. I love God and I fear him

00:28:30.630 --> 00:28:33.029
so much. I have to despite what happens to me.

00:28:33.630 --> 00:28:35.950
I have to be sacrificial in that way. I can't

00:28:35.950 --> 00:28:38.950
not. I can't not. But the first time I understand

00:28:38.950 --> 00:28:41.150
Paul and the disciples where it's like, I understand

00:28:41.150 --> 00:28:43.450
their love and their reverence for Jesus so much.

00:28:43.509 --> 00:28:47.150
It doesn't matter what you do to me here because

00:28:47.150 --> 00:28:51.109
my eyes are set on heaven, you know? I get emotionally

00:28:51.109 --> 00:28:52.690
even speaking about like that y 'all, but that's

00:28:52.690 --> 00:28:54.950
where my mind is It's like you can crucify me

00:28:54.950 --> 00:28:57.130
here. You can call me whatever you want to call

00:28:57.130 --> 00:28:58.910
me here You can laugh at me. You can make fun

00:28:58.910 --> 00:29:01.490
of me. My riches are in heaven. My reward is

00:29:01.490 --> 00:29:04.769
in heaven I don't care. It's not about this life

00:29:04.769 --> 00:29:09.609
And that's the mentality Paul had and the disciples

00:29:09.609 --> 00:29:11.849
have and I hope that and I pray that's the mentality

00:29:11.849 --> 00:29:15.170
I'll get to you and I really encourage y 'all

00:29:15.170 --> 00:29:17.950
to read This book for yourself multiple times

00:29:17.950 --> 00:29:19.730
not just as you're bringing it with me but multiple

00:29:19.730 --> 00:29:21.930
times yourself Because it has really brought

00:29:21.930 --> 00:29:24.650
this out of me, right? But to go back to this

00:29:24.650 --> 00:29:27.109
It's interesting what paul says about james and

00:29:27.109 --> 00:29:29.289
john brace. He says they also resist the truth

00:29:29.289 --> 00:29:31.109
That's the interesting thing though. They were

00:29:31.109 --> 00:29:33.369
there. They saw firsthand the miracles of god

00:29:33.369 --> 00:29:36.589
and moses Glorifying god and saying this is from

00:29:36.589 --> 00:29:39.529
god. They saw it all firsthand They saw too that

00:29:39.529 --> 00:29:41.849
their works did not match god's works that they

00:29:41.849 --> 00:29:43.269
couldn't duplicate. They couldn't replicate.

00:29:43.269 --> 00:29:45.480
They couldn't fake the fruit for a while they

00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:47.220
thought they could and they saw they couldn't

00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:49.660
but even when all that realization hit them even

00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:53.220
when they saw god delivering the Israelites they

00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:56.740
didn't repent they didn't put their faith in

00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:01.099
jesus they didn't deny the flesh or at that time

00:30:01.099 --> 00:30:03.640
i know this is you know before we had jesus they

00:30:03.640 --> 00:30:07.440
they didn't put their faith in god this was before

00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.579
jesus was here on earth that was new that was

00:30:09.579 --> 00:30:13.180
old testament when that happened they didn't

00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:18.099
repent for what they did and stop. They doubled

00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:24.579
down. And Paul is saying, you know, just as they

00:30:24.579 --> 00:30:27.339
did that then, that's what's happening now. How

00:30:27.339 --> 00:30:29.480
many people hear the gospel, see miracles of

00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:31.700
God, see restoration, hear people's testimonies

00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:33.839
because God moves through testimonies and they

00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.220
reject it all. How many people wake up and see

00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:38.140
God move in miraculous ways in their life that

00:30:38.140 --> 00:30:40.200
make no sense and they still refuse to glorify

00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:43.480
God. They still refuse to see God. How many?

00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:49.319
Paul is saying just as it happened then It's

00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:53.259
gonna continue to happen But and he says these

00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:55.519
men are corrupted mind and worthless in regard

00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:59.079
to the faith And that's a crazy thing to feel

00:30:59.079 --> 00:31:01.680
worthless in regard to the faith Because we were

00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.740
literally God created man to steward over God's

00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:07.180
creation We were created to take care of God's

00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:10.099
creation to serve God to worship him and to praise

00:31:10.099 --> 00:31:13.930
him And when He knits us in our mother's womb,

00:31:14.109 --> 00:31:15.470
before He even knits us in our mother's womb,

00:31:15.609 --> 00:31:17.410
He already has a plan for our lives. He has a

00:31:17.410 --> 00:31:19.750
purpose. He has a way that we can evangelize

00:31:19.750 --> 00:31:22.170
and create disciples. We're here not to serve

00:31:22.170 --> 00:31:24.190
ourselves and our flesh and to feel good. We're

00:31:24.190 --> 00:31:26.250
here to further the Kingdom of Heaven, to create

00:31:26.250 --> 00:31:27.890
disciples, to bring people closer to Christ,

00:31:28.009 --> 00:31:30.529
to further God's will, and to help do our part

00:31:30.529 --> 00:31:37.130
ushering in when Jesus comes back. And Paul is

00:31:37.130 --> 00:31:39.210
saying here that the people who have their faith

00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:41.049
in themselves the people who have their faith

00:31:41.049 --> 00:31:43.910
in false doctrine The people who hear the truth

00:31:43.910 --> 00:31:47.569
and reject the truth The people who are lukewarm

00:31:47.569 --> 00:31:49.710
are not doing anything to bring others closer

00:31:49.710 --> 00:31:52.089
to Jesus to actually point people to the cross

00:31:52.089 --> 00:31:54.210
Their testimonies aren't being heard like they

00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:59.809
could be They're kind of like useless to the

00:31:59.809 --> 00:32:03.630
faith they're just here serving themselves but

00:32:03.630 --> 00:32:06.230
Paul also speaks to the end result the outcome

00:32:06.230 --> 00:32:10.250
for these people and it's that they will not

00:32:10.250 --> 00:32:12.609
make further progress and their foolishness will

00:32:12.609 --> 00:32:17.230
be cleared all now as we read further Paul says

00:32:17.230 --> 00:32:20.970
here but you have followed my teaching conduct

00:32:20.970 --> 00:32:24.230
purpose faith patience love and endurance along

00:32:24.230 --> 00:32:26.170
with the persecutions and sufferings that came

00:32:26.170 --> 00:32:29.869
to me in Antioch Iconium Listeria what persecutions

00:32:29.869 --> 00:32:32.640
I endured And yet the Lord rescued me from them

00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:34.539
all. And what really stood out to me is right

00:32:34.539 --> 00:32:36.440
here, Paul was lifting off a lot of things that

00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:38.920
are fruits of the spirit, right? Like love, peace,

00:32:39.380 --> 00:32:42.779
patience, endurance, like the endurance throughout

00:32:42.779 --> 00:32:45.140
the suffering, the long suffering, which is patience.

00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:48.960
A lot of these things he's listing off are things

00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:52.359
that develop in us, are produced through having

00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:59.859
a relationship with Jesus. And you don't actually

00:32:59.859 --> 00:33:01.700
know, someone needs to hear this today, let's

00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:03.779
listen to this, you don't actually know how loving

00:33:03.779 --> 00:33:08.700
you are, how patient you are, how deep your faith

00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:11.440
is until you're put in a situation that actually

00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:13.420
puts it to the test. It's really easy to say

00:33:13.420 --> 00:33:15.119
you're a loving person when you're surrounded

00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:17.680
with people who love you. It's really easy to

00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:19.980
say you're a patient person when you aren't really

00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:22.500
put in a lot of high stress situations or situations

00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:24.869
that... It's another thing to say you're patient

00:33:24.869 --> 00:33:26.930
when it's like maybe one or two instances that

00:33:26.930 --> 00:33:28.410
day, it's different when you have to go through

00:33:28.410 --> 00:33:31.269
long suffering. When it's that thorn in your

00:33:31.269 --> 00:33:36.990
side for weeks, four months, four years. And

00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:39.730
I really feel like what we should be seeing right

00:33:39.730 --> 00:33:41.089
here and what stood out to me and why I feel

00:33:41.089 --> 00:33:44.069
like Paul really exemplifies is like, Paul is

00:33:44.069 --> 00:33:47.009
showing patience and love and faithfulness and

00:33:47.009 --> 00:33:50.049
he's been in and out of prison. Since he gave

00:33:50.049 --> 00:33:52.250
his life to Jesus, it's people slandering him

00:33:52.250 --> 00:33:55.170
and rejecting him, stoning him, leaving him for

00:33:55.170 --> 00:33:57.130
dead, falsely accusing him, he's shipwrecked,

00:33:57.130 --> 00:34:00.069
he's going through all this suffering. Like he

00:34:00.069 --> 00:34:01.769
does not have a peaceful or calm life. It was

00:34:01.769 --> 00:34:05.410
actually when he was blinded, when Paul was blinded

00:34:05.410 --> 00:34:07.609
and waiting on God to send that man to come heal

00:34:07.609 --> 00:34:10.269
him was his name Ananias. Ananias was like, are

00:34:10.269 --> 00:34:12.730
you sure God? Like the Paul that was going around

00:34:12.730 --> 00:34:14.309
killing Christians, like persecuting him, are

00:34:14.309 --> 00:34:17.349
you sure? And God had made, and this is me paraphrasing

00:34:17.349 --> 00:34:19.920
y 'all, Saying to him like Paul is gonna have

00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:21.980
enough suffering on behalf of the gospel it Paul

00:34:21.980 --> 00:34:25.179
is gonna have this bill God already knew he's

00:34:25.179 --> 00:34:26.719
like there's gonna be a lot of suffering Paul

00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.000
has to face He is not gonna have a life without

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:35.579
like God God made that point Suffering is not

00:34:35.579 --> 00:34:38.139
a sign that God's mad at you now there are sometimes

00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:40.199
when we face suffering because of our disobedience

00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:42.980
like Jonah but a lot of times we're suffering

00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:45.510
on behalf of the gospel because If you're walking

00:34:45.510 --> 00:34:47.090
like jesus, you're going to look like jesus a

00:34:47.090 --> 00:34:48.789
servant is not greater than his master We talked

00:34:48.789 --> 00:34:50.550
about this in the previous episodes. We've touched

00:34:50.550 --> 00:34:52.110
a lot more on suffering in previous episodes

00:34:52.110 --> 00:34:55.269
So I won't get on the last two of second timothy.

00:34:55.269 --> 00:34:57.909
So I won't get too deep into it now But we know

00:34:57.909 --> 00:34:59.909
that suffering is our portion as a christian,

00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:05.829
okay? Um, but it's how you react That says a

00:35:05.829 --> 00:35:08.869
lot right like you think about taking your mind

00:35:08.869 --> 00:35:11.829
like go back to primary school go back to Middle

00:35:11.829 --> 00:35:14.659
school and high school for a moment and think

00:35:14.659 --> 00:35:19.840
about like state testing day, where like before

00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.340
that moment you get, you're in class, you're

00:35:22.340 --> 00:35:24.179
learning the stuff, you're getting the homework

00:35:24.179 --> 00:35:25.760
assignments, you're doing the workbooks, you're

00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.820
doing the worksheets to get out of class, the

00:35:27.820 --> 00:35:29.639
teacher has a lot of the resources up on the

00:35:29.639 --> 00:35:32.500
wall, you have notes, and you think you know

00:35:32.500 --> 00:35:34.980
the stuff because you're easily able to go through

00:35:34.980 --> 00:35:37.000
and refer back. You're not really being tested,

00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:39.119
right? It's not really being put to the test.

00:35:39.710 --> 00:35:41.489
And if you fall short, it's not that big of a

00:35:41.489 --> 00:35:43.130
deal. It's not that big of a deal. No one knows

00:35:43.130 --> 00:35:45.010
because you can just erase it and rewrite it.

00:35:45.929 --> 00:35:48.929
But once you go to state testing day where there's

00:35:48.929 --> 00:35:52.610
a proctor and it's like a lockdown and you don't

00:35:52.610 --> 00:35:57.269
have other resources to look at, where it's right

00:35:57.269 --> 00:35:58.829
there in that moment that you can see, do you

00:35:58.829 --> 00:36:03.489
really know this material or not? And if you

00:36:03.489 --> 00:36:06.230
don't, there's no faking it. There's no faking

00:36:06.230 --> 00:36:09.420
it. Especially if you have to have like the written

00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:12.119
results It feels that way when our faith is put

00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:14.159
to the test when our patience is put to the test

00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:16.260
when our love is put to the test Right when you're

00:36:16.260 --> 00:36:18.360
put in a situation where it does not produce

00:36:18.360 --> 00:36:20.280
feelings of love yet You're still called to show

00:36:20.280 --> 00:36:22.500
love and as I was reading this it made me think

00:36:22.500 --> 00:36:26.500
about When Jesus I believe this was in the book

00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:28.820
of Matthew. This was Matthew 5 I wrote this down

00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:34.039
Matthew 5 46 We're talking about like Jesus is

00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:35.400
addressing them and he's telling them he's like

00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:39.480
It's easy to love someone who loves you. Even

00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:41.619
a tax collector, which was supposed to be the

00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:44.119
biggest sinner at the time, can do that. It's

00:36:44.119 --> 00:36:46.300
easy to love people who love you. It's easy to

00:36:46.300 --> 00:36:48.639
be kind to people who are kind to you. It's easy

00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:51.340
to give to people who have given to you. It's

00:36:51.340 --> 00:36:54.500
harder to love someone who hates you. It's harder

00:36:54.500 --> 00:36:57.099
to be kind to someone who just disrespected you.

00:36:57.940 --> 00:36:59.360
It's harder to give to someone you know would

00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:03.250
never want to give to you. But that's where you're

00:37:03.250 --> 00:37:04.869
able to see are you really a giving person? Are

00:37:04.869 --> 00:37:06.989
you really a loving person? Are you really a

00:37:06.989 --> 00:37:11.489
kind person? And I think we need to we need to

00:37:11.489 --> 00:37:13.670
really understand y 'all this isn't just like

00:37:13.670 --> 00:37:15.590
Sometimes I mean sometimes it can come out of

00:37:15.590 --> 00:37:17.789
like you had a day with like back -to -back things

00:37:17.789 --> 00:37:21.550
But sometimes this is weeks or months. I actually

00:37:21.550 --> 00:37:25.789
hadn't had me thinking on it. Amen It started

00:37:25.789 --> 00:37:29.360
like in November really, really heavy where I

00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:30.980
just felt like I was going through a job season

00:37:30.980 --> 00:37:35.039
that lasted months, like up until mid February.

00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:37.280
And mid February was when God delivered on a

00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:39.159
real breakthrough and something I'd been waiting

00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:40.599
for in my life. And I look back and there was

00:37:40.599 --> 00:37:43.699
so much spiritual warfare. for like months leading

00:37:43.699 --> 00:37:45.460
up to this breakthrough. It was just one thing

00:37:45.460 --> 00:37:47.000
after another where it felt like I didn't have

00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:48.900
any peace. It felt like I couldn't catch a break.

00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:51.159
It felt like my patience was always being tested.

00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:53.079
My faith was always being tested where it just

00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:55.039
never, there was like an underlying anxiety.

00:37:55.179 --> 00:37:57.360
I woke up almost every day with just like already

00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:02.519
problems having to deal with. But I can look

00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:04.559
back and see how it tested my faith, how it tested

00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:06.840
my patience and how it tested my love, like my

00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:09.239
endurance. And the cool thing with these tests

00:38:09.239 --> 00:38:11.829
y 'all is they're not pointless. Okay, because

00:38:11.829 --> 00:38:14.070
once you get tested God isn't expecting us to

00:38:14.070 --> 00:38:15.789
be perfect and he understands that we're going

00:38:15.789 --> 00:38:19.130
to fall short Okay, but I want to be so clear

00:38:19.130 --> 00:38:21.670
suffering is not an excuse to sin There is no

00:38:21.670 --> 00:38:23.909
suffering no trial no test no tribulation that

00:38:23.909 --> 00:38:25.809
you are facing that someone else has not already

00:38:25.809 --> 00:38:28.809
faced God makes that very clear that's in the

00:38:28.809 --> 00:38:31.690
bible And also he's not going to allow you to

00:38:31.690 --> 00:38:33.590
face anything that there's not a way out But

00:38:33.590 --> 00:38:35.869
the thing is is you might not like the way out

00:38:35.869 --> 00:38:39.050
the way out might be shutting your mouth The

00:38:39.050 --> 00:38:42.269
way out might be giving vengeance to God. The

00:38:42.269 --> 00:38:44.530
way out might be waiting and saying no to the

00:38:44.530 --> 00:38:46.269
opportunity even though you don't have another

00:38:46.269 --> 00:38:49.730
door to immediately go to. I can think of multiple

00:38:49.730 --> 00:38:51.429
times in my life where I was waiting on God and

00:38:51.429 --> 00:38:53.650
before God came through there were opportunities

00:38:53.650 --> 00:38:55.510
that presented themselves to me, that painted

00:38:55.510 --> 00:38:57.829
themselves up as shiny, short -term, like easy

00:38:57.829 --> 00:39:00.449
solutions. I would have had to send or disobey

00:39:00.449 --> 00:39:03.409
God to get those things. And I had to say no,

00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:05.449
not because I had other provision or another

00:39:05.449 --> 00:39:08.139
way out. I actually was in a space of lack. and

00:39:08.139 --> 00:39:11.380
had to continue in lack. But I said no because

00:39:11.380 --> 00:39:13.000
God's going to come through in a way that doesn't

00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:15.980
require me to contradict Him or sin. And then

00:39:15.980 --> 00:39:17.639
God's timing, He came through exceedingly and

00:39:17.639 --> 00:39:20.059
abundantly and restored everything I needed.

00:39:21.619 --> 00:39:23.519
Your suffering is not an excuse to sin. It's

00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:25.340
not an excuse to crash out. It's not an excuse

00:39:25.340 --> 00:39:27.960
to participate in witchcraft. It's not an excuse

00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:30.739
to turn your back on God. It's not an excuse

00:39:30.739 --> 00:39:32.699
to spread false doctrine. It's not an excuse

00:39:32.699 --> 00:39:35.559
to cut corners. And if you have, I want to tell

00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:37.500
you right now, this is your, you can repent.

00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:40.579
There's not, there's not condemnation here. Okay,

00:39:40.579 --> 00:39:42.719
because what tests do is it reveals to you where

00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:45.039
your heart is at, how far you've grown and what

00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:46.480
you need to work on. You're able to look and

00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:48.300
see, yeah, I didn't handle that well. This needs

00:39:48.300 --> 00:39:50.059
work. And you're also able to say, okay, well,

00:39:50.199 --> 00:39:53.000
last time I was tested like this, I reacted in

00:39:53.000 --> 00:39:54.880
a lot worse way. So I can see that I am starting

00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:58.460
to grow. This is good. You can see the progress.

00:40:01.059 --> 00:40:03.400
And what was really cool here, And it made me

00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:05.019
think about the three men in the fiery furnace.

00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:07.460
The Lord Paul says, what persecutions I endured,

00:40:08.059 --> 00:40:09.900
and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. And

00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:11.199
what I thought about was the three men in the

00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:12.960
fiery furnace. These were the men, I believe

00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:16.019
this was in the book of Daniel, where they worshiped

00:40:16.019 --> 00:40:19.260
God, right? And there was a law, the king brought

00:40:19.260 --> 00:40:24.480
about a law, where they were actually, everyone

00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:26.900
was supposed to bow down and worship the king.

00:40:27.219 --> 00:40:28.940
And these men were like, we bow down and worship

00:40:28.940 --> 00:40:32.570
no one but God. like not happening and they knew

00:40:32.570 --> 00:40:35.389
that in doing that the king wasn't going to let

00:40:35.389 --> 00:40:37.349
that slide and they were probably going to be

00:40:37.349 --> 00:40:42.289
harmed but they trusted in god and wanted to

00:40:42.289 --> 00:40:46.530
obey god more than they feared man and when they

00:40:46.530 --> 00:40:48.610
were about to be tossed in this fairy furnace

00:40:48.610 --> 00:40:50.250
and this is me paraphrasing i'm not reading it

00:40:50.250 --> 00:40:52.550
word for word y 'all this is off of memory they're

00:40:52.550 --> 00:40:54.909
basically saying they're like we know that god

00:40:54.909 --> 00:40:57.659
has the power to deliver us Like we know that

00:40:57.659 --> 00:40:59.679
God can stop us from even going in this furnace

00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:03.440
or can deliver us from the furnace. But even

00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:06.659
if God doesn't do it, even if we burn up in this

00:41:06.659 --> 00:41:10.760
furnace, God is still good. He is still sovereign.

00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:15.679
And that's the same faith I see in Paul. Of where

00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:17.480
he says, he's like, God has delivered me every

00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:20.260
time. He goes in these situations understanding

00:41:20.260 --> 00:41:22.780
in God's ability to deliver him. But it's interesting

00:41:22.780 --> 00:41:25.710
as we read through In the next chapter we see

00:41:25.710 --> 00:41:27.690
Paul being very clear that like he knows this

00:41:27.690 --> 00:41:29.590
time is coming that he's about to die He knows

00:41:29.590 --> 00:41:31.550
that there's a day where God isn't going to deliver

00:41:31.550 --> 00:41:33.969
him where God is going to allow this to happen

00:41:33.969 --> 00:41:36.329
And he's gonna go be with the father and that's

00:41:36.329 --> 00:41:38.230
actually gonna be freeing for him Because he

00:41:38.230 --> 00:41:40.150
finally gets to be in heaven with the heavenly

00:41:40.150 --> 00:41:42.789
father like he gets to be with Jesus, right?

00:41:44.550 --> 00:41:46.610
It's actually a relief in a way that's why for

00:41:46.610 --> 00:41:49.929
us Christians like death isn't a sad thing. It's

00:41:49.929 --> 00:41:53.219
actually a joy because Earth is the closest we

00:41:53.219 --> 00:41:55.900
get to hell. The closest we get to the devil.

00:41:56.579 --> 00:41:58.719
It's actually a good thing. Your faith is in

00:41:58.719 --> 00:42:02.199
Jesus. You know, when you die, you're with the

00:42:02.199 --> 00:42:03.840
Father. You're away from this pain and suffering.

00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:07.159
You're in a better space with him. But we see

00:42:07.159 --> 00:42:09.280
here where Paul is saying, what persecutions

00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:11.440
I endured, and yet the Lord rescued me from them

00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.360
all. He has that same faith, Paul does, of like,

00:42:14.559 --> 00:42:16.420
God is good to deliver me. God has the power.

00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:19.659
I know who God is. Even if he doesn't, he's still

00:42:19.659 --> 00:42:23.369
good. When Paul goes on to say in fact all who

00:42:23.369 --> 00:42:25.469
want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will

00:42:25.469 --> 00:42:27.570
be persecuted That's the thing we talked about

00:42:27.570 --> 00:42:29.590
in previous episodes y 'all. It's not if it's

00:42:29.590 --> 00:42:32.630
a win. It's not if you'll be persecuted. It's

00:42:32.630 --> 00:42:35.389
a win But Paul goes on to say evil people and

00:42:35.389 --> 00:42:37.650
imposters will become worse deceiving and being

00:42:37.650 --> 00:42:39.849
deceived and this is a worldview that Christians

00:42:39.849 --> 00:42:42.130
have that people who aren't Christian It's hard

00:42:42.130 --> 00:42:45.039
for them to grasp and understand Me when I was

00:42:45.039 --> 00:42:48.039
a teenager and like early young adult this was

00:42:48.039 --> 00:42:49.619
something that actually really aggravated me

00:42:49.619 --> 00:42:51.539
with Christians but this was before I read my

00:42:51.539 --> 00:42:54.880
Bible and before I had faith in Jesus and Understood

00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:57.179
what's actually going to be happening and what

00:42:57.179 --> 00:43:00.280
we should be looking towards If you, and this

00:43:00.280 --> 00:43:02.059
is again why I encourage you to read the Bible,

00:43:02.380 --> 00:43:04.840
read the book of Revelation, read all of this,

00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:07.920
okay? You'll know what to expect and what to

00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:09.800
look out for and what you should actually be

00:43:09.800 --> 00:43:12.380
focusing your time and energy on. And when I

00:43:12.380 --> 00:43:14.119
was younger, I thought what we should be focusing

00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:16.460
all of our time and energy on is creating a perfect

00:43:16.460 --> 00:43:20.079
society. And that came through, you know, cancel

00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:23.639
culture and holding people accountable in ways

00:43:23.639 --> 00:43:26.900
that don't align with scripture. And that led

00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:33.059
to the mentality of Like that group think and

00:43:33.059 --> 00:43:37.340
that like conformity. I don't know if there's

00:43:37.340 --> 00:43:39.320
a better way to word it than the people pleasing.

00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:42.159
Like it really snowballed into that where I started

00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:44.440
with thinking this world is a horrible place.

00:43:44.519 --> 00:43:46.719
I see the wicked things going on. We need to

00:43:46.719 --> 00:43:49.179
make the world better. And I think that a lot

00:43:49.179 --> 00:43:51.639
of us have that feeling, right? Of we see the

00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:53.519
wickedness and the thing that comes after that

00:43:53.519 --> 00:43:55.550
is I want to make it better. and this is where

00:43:55.550 --> 00:43:57.469
we see a lot of people who are angry and all

00:43:57.469 --> 00:43:58.849
these people are people who don't have their

00:43:58.849 --> 00:44:00.789
faith in the Lord that have very extreme views

00:44:00.789 --> 00:44:03.670
that elevate a lot of things that don't align

00:44:03.670 --> 00:44:07.329
with scripture that fall into the just like enabling

00:44:07.329 --> 00:44:11.190
sin and love is love and just all truth is the

00:44:11.190 --> 00:44:14.849
truth and a million genders and whatever people

00:44:14.849 --> 00:44:17.530
want to you know whatever the way the devil chooses

00:44:17.530 --> 00:44:22.000
to package it right but it A lot of these people

00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:24.420
look at Christians as they don't care and they're

00:44:24.420 --> 00:44:26.639
not doing anything to make society better, making

00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:28.360
the world better. Instead they're praying about

00:44:28.360 --> 00:44:29.940
it and they're giving it to God. What's it gonna

00:44:29.940 --> 00:44:32.980
do? I used to have that same mentality. When

00:44:32.980 --> 00:44:35.119
I would get so angry seeing people say like,

00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:36.800
you're in my prayers and I'm praying about thoughts

00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:38.380
and prayers and you see a lot of people who are

00:44:38.380 --> 00:44:40.019
in the world make fun of Christians and thoughts

00:44:40.019 --> 00:44:44.059
and prayers because they see it as doing nothing.

00:44:44.400 --> 00:44:46.920
When us Christians we see and we know that this

00:44:46.920 --> 00:44:49.780
is the ultimate battle strategy is taking it

00:44:49.780 --> 00:44:53.920
to God And paul says here that there are many

00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:57.460
deceivers and it's going to grow It's going to

00:44:57.460 --> 00:45:00.059
get worse paul isn't prophesying and saying it's

00:45:00.059 --> 00:45:02.119
going to get better in all of our efforts and

00:45:02.119 --> 00:45:03.519
working collectively We're going to create a

00:45:03.519 --> 00:45:06.099
perfect earth. No, it's going to get progressively

00:45:06.099 --> 00:45:10.539
worse until jesus comes back It's a fact it's

00:45:10.539 --> 00:45:13.420
the truth it's going to get progressively worse

00:45:13.820 --> 00:45:17.980
And we know that we don't have the power to control

00:45:17.980 --> 00:45:21.400
or shift or change what's God. So we as Christians

00:45:21.400 --> 00:45:23.300
are operating out of a space of understanding

00:45:23.300 --> 00:45:25.780
it is going to get progressively worse. And the

00:45:25.780 --> 00:45:27.739
fact that it is getting progressively worse is

00:45:27.739 --> 00:45:30.320
our confirmation of Jesus is coming back soon.

00:45:30.659 --> 00:45:35.679
All of this is true. All of this is true. So

00:45:35.679 --> 00:45:39.139
as we as Christians, how we view the world. We

00:45:39.139 --> 00:45:42.019
have the biblical worldview is it is worse and

00:45:42.019 --> 00:45:45.039
is going to get progressively worse Because we're

00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:48.099
inching closer to Jesus coming back and what

00:45:48.099 --> 00:45:51.619
we're supposed to be doing isn't Conforming of

00:45:51.619 --> 00:45:54.679
trying to like your truth is the truth and abandoning

00:45:54.679 --> 00:45:57.300
morals abandoning God's truth abandoning the

00:45:57.300 --> 00:46:00.159
gospel and Taking our own control and just trying

00:46:00.159 --> 00:46:02.900
to make everything perfect in a utopia. No, we

00:46:02.900 --> 00:46:05.519
understand that these things mean Jesus is coming

00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:08.699
back soon and we understand that the only thing

00:46:08.699 --> 00:46:11.760
that is going to save you is your faith in Jesus

00:46:11.760 --> 00:46:13.659
so we understand it's not about making everyone

00:46:13.659 --> 00:46:16.880
feel good it's about winning hearts for the gospel

00:46:16.880 --> 00:46:19.599
and pointing people closer to Christ because

00:46:19.599 --> 00:46:21.579
all of these things that we're seeing are just

00:46:21.579 --> 00:46:23.840
distractions in a way like they're a way for

00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:25.940
the devil to get us to focus and invest our energy

00:46:25.940 --> 00:46:29.940
in fixing instead focusing our energy on investing

00:46:29.940 --> 00:46:32.179
it in what God is calling us to do which is creating

00:46:32.179 --> 00:46:34.300
disciples, evangelizing, pointing people to the

00:46:34.300 --> 00:46:36.719
cross, being used in that way, using our gifts

00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:38.579
not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God.

00:46:38.679 --> 00:46:42.900
Amen. Amen. And we understand that Jesus is coming

00:46:42.900 --> 00:46:45.320
back one day and he will create the perfect.

00:46:46.119 --> 00:46:49.639
It will be a place where there is no pain, no

00:46:49.639 --> 00:46:52.820
suffering, like everyone, every knee shall bow

00:46:52.820 --> 00:46:57.519
and tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. That

00:46:57.519 --> 00:47:01.559
is only achieved. The only people welcome into

00:47:01.559 --> 00:47:03.360
that are the people with their faith in Jesus

00:47:03.360 --> 00:47:05.019
There are gonna be a lot of people who don't

00:47:05.019 --> 00:47:06.739
have their faith in Jesus who are unfortunately

00:47:06.739 --> 00:47:09.860
not going to be here for that They chose not

00:47:09.860 --> 00:47:12.059
to want a relationship with him in this life.

00:47:12.059 --> 00:47:15.639
He's gonna honor that for them in eternity He's

00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:17.280
not letting them into it. He's not gonna let

00:47:17.280 --> 00:47:20.400
a stranger into his house They wanted nothing

00:47:20.400 --> 00:47:22.420
to do with him here. He is just simply granting

00:47:22.420 --> 00:47:28.789
that And once you actually like realize that

00:47:28.789 --> 00:47:33.170
this is what's going on. It's good because you

00:47:33.170 --> 00:47:35.269
finally have a battle strategy, a game plan.

00:47:35.309 --> 00:47:37.510
It gets weary relying on your own control and

00:47:37.510 --> 00:47:39.369
your own ways of fixing things. When you finally

00:47:39.369 --> 00:47:41.110
realize that prayer is the answer and giving

00:47:41.110 --> 00:47:44.230
it to God is the answer, and that our job here

00:47:44.230 --> 00:47:46.690
isn't to make everything perfect, but it's to

00:47:46.690 --> 00:47:49.750
make a way for the one who is perfect, things

00:47:49.750 --> 00:47:54.269
start flowing, okay? And it says here, But as

00:47:54.269 --> 00:47:56.050
for you continue in what you have learned and

00:47:56.050 --> 00:47:58.590
firmly believe you know those who taught you

00:47:58.590 --> 00:48:01.929
and you know that from infancy You have known

00:48:01.929 --> 00:48:03.829
the sacred scriptures which are able to give

00:48:03.829 --> 00:48:05.750
you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ

00:48:05.750 --> 00:48:07.789
Jesus And this is you know Paul talking to Timothy

00:48:07.789 --> 00:48:10.030
and encouraging him like you grew up in the faith

00:48:10.030 --> 00:48:12.289
Do not reject what you know do not conform to

00:48:12.289 --> 00:48:14.150
those around you. It's gonna be tempting don't

00:48:14.150 --> 00:48:19.849
throw it out He says all scripture is inspired

00:48:20.369 --> 00:48:23.550
by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking,

00:48:23.690 --> 00:48:25.369
for correcting, for training in righteousness,

00:48:25.869 --> 00:48:27.909
so that the man of God may be complete, equipped

00:48:27.909 --> 00:48:29.989
for every good work. I'm sure y 'all have heard

00:48:29.989 --> 00:48:31.969
people before, the Bible is man -made, the Bible

00:48:31.969 --> 00:48:34.110
is written by men. Why should I believe in it?

00:48:34.110 --> 00:48:38.070
I used to be that person too. And it's right

00:48:38.070 --> 00:48:40.949
here in scripture. The Bible is God -inspired.

00:48:41.050 --> 00:48:44.190
God worked through men to write the Bible. There

00:48:44.190 --> 00:48:48.070
are multiple different human authors. All right,

00:48:48.070 --> 00:48:52.559
we have different men like Paul. Mark. We have

00:48:52.559 --> 00:48:54.760
multiple different people, okay? We have multiple

00:48:54.760 --> 00:48:56.280
different people. We have people, Matthew, we

00:48:56.280 --> 00:49:00.300
have people that wrote, okay? But it was God

00:49:00.300 --> 00:49:03.019
inspired. It was God speaking to them and through

00:49:03.019 --> 00:49:07.139
them. No, God didn't sit here with the book and

00:49:07.139 --> 00:49:09.940
write it and print it. He spoke to these people.

00:49:09.980 --> 00:49:11.860
What's so crazy is that these people were in

00:49:11.860 --> 00:49:15.239
different parts of the world, having never met

00:49:15.239 --> 00:49:19.139
each other. Yet they all have testimony and have

00:49:19.139 --> 00:49:22.260
experienced God Experienced Jesus in ways that

00:49:22.260 --> 00:49:25.159
do not contradict each other if anything they

00:49:25.159 --> 00:49:29.780
contribute and they add on and if y 'all are

00:49:29.780 --> 00:49:31.780
some if y 'all are one of the people who are

00:49:31.780 --> 00:49:35.559
like the Smarty pants I have to have like all

00:49:35.559 --> 00:49:37.639
these evidence factual historians I encourage

00:49:37.639 --> 00:49:40.739
y 'all to go read case for Christ or watch the

00:49:40.739 --> 00:49:43.079
documentary. It's free on YouTube. I watched

00:49:43.079 --> 00:49:47.000
it wonderful Think that might be something that

00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:48.739
interests you if you all know someone like that

00:49:48.739 --> 00:49:51.739
show them case for Christ This isn't the episode

00:49:51.739 --> 00:49:53.880
today to go in all those details, and I'm honestly

00:49:53.880 --> 00:49:55.940
not the perfect person for that I'm not a big

00:49:55.940 --> 00:49:58.800
like I love history stuff. I'm I'm I don't have

00:49:58.800 --> 00:50:01.920
all the documented historical facts to like feed

00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:05.699
you Okay, but there are people who that is what

00:50:05.699 --> 00:50:08.260
pointed them to Christ the guy who wrote case

00:50:08.260 --> 00:50:13.159
for Christ was actually an atheist his wife was

00:50:13.159 --> 00:50:15.219
agnostic and his wife started believing in Jesus

00:50:15.219 --> 00:50:16.940
and he actually thought I was ruining his marriage

00:50:16.940 --> 00:50:19.039
and he hated it and he was actually he started

00:50:19.039 --> 00:50:22.219
looking for facts to prove Jesus was false and

00:50:22.219 --> 00:50:25.219
all these things to disprove it and Ended up

00:50:25.219 --> 00:50:27.260
putting his faith in Jesus. It's an interesting

00:50:27.260 --> 00:50:30.940
one. I recommend you go read watch it Okay, but

00:50:30.940 --> 00:50:32.880
it's interesting here how Paul says what the

00:50:32.880 --> 00:50:35.860
Bible is for what God has given us the scripture

00:50:35.860 --> 00:50:40.269
for and it is for teaching as Helping kind of

00:50:40.269 --> 00:50:41.769
I believe what I'm doing is kind of helping teach

00:50:41.769 --> 00:50:43.909
y 'all today It's used to teach me in the Bible

00:50:43.909 --> 00:50:46.809
says it's to educate us as we said earlier the

00:50:46.809 --> 00:50:48.530
knowledge is here You need to go grab it for

00:50:48.530 --> 00:50:51.650
yourself the Bible is created for us to be taught

00:50:51.650 --> 00:50:57.829
But it was also for rebuking and correcting Meaning

00:50:57.829 --> 00:51:00.150
to identify where someone is falling off where

00:51:00.150 --> 00:51:03.050
someone is doing something wrong to expose the

00:51:03.050 --> 00:51:07.119
misdeed the bad doing But the correcting to say

00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:09.260
this is the right path to point them down the

00:51:09.260 --> 00:51:10.820
right path You can't have one without the other

00:51:10.820 --> 00:51:12.800
and be pointing people closer to Christ If all

00:51:12.800 --> 00:51:14.460
you're doing is exposing and saying this person

00:51:14.460 --> 00:51:16.480
is wicked this person is evil and this person's

00:51:16.480 --> 00:51:18.599
this and this person's that but you're not leading

00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:23.119
them to Repentance you're not pointing them to

00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:25.699
the cross. You're not reminding them that this

00:51:25.699 --> 00:51:28.360
is conviction and not condemnation You're not

00:51:28.360 --> 00:51:30.539
doing the work of the gospel You're not doing

00:51:30.539 --> 00:51:32.320
the work on behalf of Jesus and you need to check

00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:34.570
your motives because you might be doing more

00:51:34.570 --> 00:51:37.070
of the work of the enemy and I can think of one

00:51:37.070 --> 00:51:40.409
person and I won't name them right now but one

00:51:40.409 --> 00:51:42.670
person who's really well known who fits a lot

00:51:42.670 --> 00:51:44.730
of these qualities earlier for like slander like

00:51:44.730 --> 00:51:47.309
someone who's just really well known right now

00:51:47.309 --> 00:51:50.070
for uh conspiracy theories and all they do is

00:51:50.070 --> 00:51:52.750
like slander and try to expose other people and

00:51:52.750 --> 00:51:54.550
say this person's doing this they run with a

00:51:54.550 --> 00:51:56.469
ton of conspiracy theories and like when they

00:51:56.469 --> 00:51:59.130
hit a dead end they just jump onto another they

00:51:59.130 --> 00:52:04.640
ruin a lot of people's lives and reputations

00:52:04.640 --> 00:52:09.539
right like and they they claim to be Christian

00:52:09.539 --> 00:52:11.420
and they're saying they're exposing all these

00:52:11.420 --> 00:52:14.139
things but you rarely ever see this person talking

00:52:14.139 --> 00:52:17.079
about repentance and the gospel and like pointing

00:52:17.079 --> 00:52:19.980
them to repentance and showing love and when

00:52:19.980 --> 00:52:22.059
someone does repent and when someone does change

00:52:22.059 --> 00:52:25.320
you rarely see this person actually accept them

00:52:25.320 --> 00:52:27.920
as repented reminds me of you know the pharisees

00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:30.260
where jesus is like doing the woes to the pharisees

00:52:30.260 --> 00:52:33.019
and he's like um you make them like a prostate

00:52:33.019 --> 00:52:35.239
like like he was saying like y 'all go out of

00:52:35.239 --> 00:52:37.659
your way to get this person to repent but once

00:52:37.659 --> 00:52:40.550
they do you make them twice a child of hell Like,

00:52:40.829 --> 00:52:42.949
you go out of their way to expose and lead them

00:52:42.949 --> 00:52:45.329
to repentance, but once they do, you don't accept

00:52:45.329 --> 00:52:51.269
it. You're irreconcilable, you know? But anyway,

00:52:51.449 --> 00:52:52.909
yeah, that's another thing scripture is supposed

00:52:52.909 --> 00:52:54.969
to be used for, is we are actually supposed to

00:52:54.969 --> 00:52:58.190
use scripture to rebuke someone and to correct

00:52:58.190 --> 00:53:00.699
them. They're people who are like you use the

00:53:00.699 --> 00:53:02.800
gospel to hurt people like you hear them say

00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:05.039
that all the time Christians just they always

00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:06.619
use the Bible to say you're doing this wrong

00:53:06.619 --> 00:53:08.480
You're doing this is that's literally part of

00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:11.119
what we're supposed to use it for is to point

00:53:11.119 --> 00:53:14.940
out When something is against scripture to point

00:53:14.940 --> 00:53:18.179
out when something is wrong It says here for

00:53:18.179 --> 00:53:20.460
training and righteousness so that the man of

00:53:20.460 --> 00:53:22.800
God may be complete equipped for every good work

00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:25.360
if you want to be Equipped for what God is calling

00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:28.920
you to do you need to know the word? Amen. Amen.

00:53:29.219 --> 00:53:31.079
Now we're in chapter four. It says here I solemnly

00:53:31.079 --> 00:53:33.500
charge you before God and Christ Jesus who is

00:53:33.500 --> 00:53:36.000
going to judge the living and the dead and Because

00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:38.940
of his appearing in his kingdom preach the word

00:53:38.940 --> 00:53:42.000
and this is and I want to pause here. Okay, this

00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:45.260
is the instruction from Paul Remember what he

00:53:45.260 --> 00:53:47.480
is telling Timothy at this time Timothy is going

00:53:47.480 --> 00:53:48.860
through all the things that we're going through

00:53:48.860 --> 00:53:51.980
now The world that Paul is living in looks like

00:53:51.980 --> 00:53:54.320
the world we're living in right now And I truly

00:53:54.320 --> 00:53:57.320
believe that this encouragement and these instructions

00:53:57.320 --> 00:54:00.500
Paul was giving Timothy are instructions that

00:54:00.500 --> 00:54:02.500
would be very profitable for us today. And it

00:54:02.500 --> 00:54:06.460
says here, preach the word, be ready in season

00:54:06.460 --> 00:54:08.960
and out of season. I want to pause here. It's

00:54:08.960 --> 00:54:12.219
saying preach the gospel, tell people about Jesus,

00:54:12.739 --> 00:54:15.480
the whole truth, nothing but the truth in season,

00:54:15.699 --> 00:54:17.039
out of season, meaning when it's comfortable

00:54:17.039 --> 00:54:19.519
and when it's uncomfortable, when society welcomes

00:54:19.519 --> 00:54:22.369
it and when they don't welcome it. When it feels

00:54:22.369 --> 00:54:24.429
profitable and when it feels unprofitable you

00:54:24.429 --> 00:54:27.010
don't just do it when it's a crowd that you think

00:54:27.010 --> 00:54:29.789
would love it and eat it up and Wants to hear

00:54:29.789 --> 00:54:31.730
it you also do it when it's a crowd that you

00:54:31.730 --> 00:54:33.369
don't think wants to hear it and probably won't

00:54:33.369 --> 00:54:36.710
eat it up But they need to hear it anyway You

00:54:36.710 --> 00:54:39.130
have to be willing to do it in all circumstances

00:54:39.130 --> 00:54:48.710
Says here Correct, rebuke, and encourage with

00:54:48.710 --> 00:54:51.329
great patience and teaching. We are supposed

00:54:51.329 --> 00:54:54.530
to correct. We are supposed to rebuke. That is

00:54:54.530 --> 00:54:58.769
part of the walk. But again, and we can hold

00:54:58.769 --> 00:55:00.789
this to other pieces of scripture, we're also,

00:55:00.789 --> 00:55:03.769
we know, not supposed to point out the splinter

00:55:03.769 --> 00:55:05.750
in someone else's eye when we have a log in our

00:55:05.750 --> 00:55:07.949
own. How are you gonna call that person out in

00:55:07.949 --> 00:55:09.969
that sin when you are willfully walking in sin

00:55:09.969 --> 00:55:12.730
too? You gotta be mindful of yourself. There

00:55:12.730 --> 00:55:14.989
are some people who want to jump to correction

00:55:14.989 --> 00:55:18.949
but don't want to be corrected. If you're following

00:55:18.949 --> 00:55:20.809
God and he's never correcting you and he's just

00:55:20.809 --> 00:55:22.130
defending everything you're doing and you're

00:55:22.130 --> 00:55:23.630
walking perfectly, you might not be following

00:55:23.630 --> 00:55:27.050
God. Like uppercase G, God. You might be following

00:55:27.050 --> 00:55:29.829
yourself and your own doctored up version of

00:55:29.829 --> 00:55:31.210
Jesus, but you're not really following Jesus.

00:55:31.329 --> 00:55:32.889
And I felt convicted for that too. There have

00:55:32.889 --> 00:55:34.510
been times where I'm like, mmm, am I ignoring

00:55:34.510 --> 00:55:37.650
conviction? Am I explaining away my sin but holding

00:55:37.650 --> 00:55:42.449
other people accountable for theirs? Mmm. And

00:55:42.449 --> 00:55:44.949
it says here to encourage with great patience

00:55:44.949 --> 00:55:49.409
and teaching that as we rebuke and correct It's

00:55:49.409 --> 00:55:51.530
not supposed to be a thing of like we're mean

00:55:51.530 --> 00:55:53.710
and crashing out and embarrassing and just shaming

00:55:53.710 --> 00:55:56.190
people You're supposed to be doing this with

00:55:56.190 --> 00:55:59.250
patience and love encouraging people in the gospel

00:55:59.250 --> 00:56:01.849
to point them to Jesus It's not a thing about

00:56:01.849 --> 00:56:03.710
just shaming them and making them feel stupid

00:56:03.710 --> 00:56:06.050
Which is what a lot of people want to do they

00:56:06.050 --> 00:56:07.530
want to use the Bible to shame and make people

00:56:07.530 --> 00:56:09.190
feel stupid That's not what you're supposed to

00:56:09.190 --> 00:56:11.510
be doing You're supposed to expose where they're

00:56:11.510 --> 00:56:13.289
walking short, but then point them on the path

00:56:13.289 --> 00:56:15.969
that's righteous. Point them on the right path

00:56:15.969 --> 00:56:19.530
and pray for them consistently and be willing

00:56:19.530 --> 00:56:22.190
to accept when they have a change of heart. Amen.

00:56:22.489 --> 00:56:25.929
Amen. It says here, for the time will come when

00:56:25.929 --> 00:56:29.190
people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but

00:56:29.190 --> 00:56:31.070
according to their own desires, will multiply

00:56:31.070 --> 00:56:32.869
teachers for themselves because they have an

00:56:32.869 --> 00:56:35.150
itch to hear what they want to hear. And that's

00:56:35.150 --> 00:56:37.190
all the whole time is reading this. I was just

00:56:37.190 --> 00:56:40.829
thinking a new age. where it was like man and

00:56:40.829 --> 00:56:42.750
and just in the world in general where you have

00:56:42.750 --> 00:56:46.369
people hear the like all the self -love and the

00:56:46.369 --> 00:56:49.849
like manifestation ideals and the speaking things

00:56:49.849 --> 00:56:54.190
into existence and affirmations and that's something

00:56:54.190 --> 00:56:56.090
paul warned us about he's saying there's going

00:56:56.090 --> 00:56:58.389
to be a time that comes when people don't want

00:56:58.389 --> 00:57:01.429
to hear the gospel anymore There's gonna be a

00:57:01.429 --> 00:57:03.250
time that comes when people do not want to hear

00:57:03.250 --> 00:57:05.409
the truth the truth holds them accountable and

00:57:05.409 --> 00:57:07.429
calls them higher There's gonna be a time when

00:57:07.429 --> 00:57:09.510
people say we don't we're sick of that We don't

00:57:09.510 --> 00:57:11.130
want to hear that anymore and they are going

00:57:11.130 --> 00:57:14.409
to reject that. That's what we see now y 'all

00:57:14.409 --> 00:57:18.429
But according to their own desires what they

00:57:18.429 --> 00:57:20.230
want what they feel right now what feels good

00:57:20.230 --> 00:57:22.469
to them what they claim is natural for that what

00:57:22.469 --> 00:57:26.409
whatever they desire They're gonna lean into

00:57:26.409 --> 00:57:29.559
that And they're going to find people who tell

00:57:29.559 --> 00:57:32.420
them that's fine, who condone that, who enable

00:57:32.420 --> 00:57:36.300
that. They're going to seek out those voices

00:57:36.300 --> 00:57:38.639
and they're going to surround themselves with

00:57:38.639 --> 00:57:40.320
those voices. They're going to multiply the teachers.

00:57:40.380 --> 00:57:42.179
They're going to surround themselves with yes

00:57:42.179 --> 00:57:45.280
men and people who do not hold them accountable,

00:57:45.280 --> 00:57:47.380
but instead make them feel good for being angry

00:57:47.380 --> 00:57:53.420
and resentful and all these things. Haters of

00:57:53.420 --> 00:57:56.019
truth, rejectors of truth. All these things,

00:57:56.260 --> 00:57:58.639
they're going to surround themselves with people

00:57:58.639 --> 00:58:03.860
who just say it's okay to do that. And that's

00:58:03.860 --> 00:58:06.619
because they have an itch. They have itchy ears.

00:58:06.940 --> 00:58:08.840
They have a desire to hear what they want to

00:58:08.840 --> 00:58:12.039
hear. And when they hear the gospel, when they

00:58:12.039 --> 00:58:15.239
hear denial of flesh, when they hear accountability,

00:58:15.780 --> 00:58:17.739
that isn't what they want to hear. That doesn't

00:58:17.739 --> 00:58:21.699
itch that itch. For the people who say, no, you're

00:58:21.699 --> 00:58:23.559
right. You're good. Do what you want to do. Love

00:58:23.559 --> 00:58:26.679
yourself. Yolo. You only live once. Everyone

00:58:26.679 --> 00:58:28.840
else is just judging you. You're just the victim.

00:58:29.280 --> 00:58:30.800
That's what they want to hear. So that's what

00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:32.179
they surround themselves with. And that's what

00:58:32.179 --> 00:58:34.420
we see now today, right? It's so easy to do that

00:58:34.420 --> 00:58:37.340
with social media and the block button and algorithms.

00:58:38.460 --> 00:58:40.119
You can live in a bubble. And before you know

00:58:40.119 --> 00:58:41.719
it, you think everyone in the world has the same

00:58:41.719 --> 00:58:46.659
opinion as you when they don't. And says here

00:58:46.659 --> 00:58:49.219
they will turn away from hearing the truth and

00:58:49.219 --> 00:58:53.659
will turn aside to myths And when I was looking

00:58:53.659 --> 00:58:57.639
at my amplified it said actually myths and man

00:58:57.639 --> 00:59:06.699
-made beliefs man -made doctrine People who don't

00:59:06.699 --> 00:59:09.519
want to hear the truth and they they reject the

00:59:09.519 --> 00:59:13.639
gospel and they turn to man -made beliefs they

00:59:13.639 --> 00:59:15.780
rely on their own understanding what they think

00:59:15.780 --> 00:59:18.340
makes the most sense and they make that truth

00:59:18.340 --> 00:59:21.179
and we see that with people who have wandered

00:59:21.179 --> 00:59:25.360
off into like old paganism and new age works

00:59:25.360 --> 00:59:27.400
that was immediately where my mind went y 'all

00:59:27.400 --> 00:59:28.920
because when I was in new age there were a lot

00:59:28.920 --> 00:59:32.000
of people who practice like old paganism like

00:59:32.000 --> 00:59:35.380
that practice Norse paganism and Greek and Roman

00:59:35.380 --> 00:59:37.860
and like worship like Greek deities and I was

00:59:37.860 --> 00:59:39.599
someone who before I gave my life to Jesus again

00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:41.420
y 'all I fell into those different practices

00:59:42.730 --> 00:59:45.530
I was in the mishmash of all these things before

00:59:45.530 --> 00:59:47.269
I knew Jesus was the way, the truth, the life.

00:59:48.130 --> 00:59:50.409
And you see a lot, it's actually, it's... crazy

00:59:50.409 --> 00:59:52.630
y 'all and I think that like social media has

00:59:52.630 --> 00:59:54.510
had a big impact and there was a trend a couple

00:59:54.510 --> 00:59:56.130
years ago with like witch talk and what people

00:59:56.130 --> 00:59:58.289
were really into witchcraft and new age. And

00:59:58.289 --> 01:00:00.230
I think people believe that trend died out more

01:00:00.230 --> 01:00:02.650
than it did. I think that unfortunately took

01:00:02.650 --> 01:00:04.989
roots with a lot of people. We see how popularized

01:00:04.989 --> 01:00:07.429
like horoscopes and natal charts is. You can't

01:00:07.429 --> 01:00:10.230
log on an app now without like putting in your

01:00:10.230 --> 01:00:12.250
birthday and it giving you a zodiac half the

01:00:12.250 --> 01:00:14.530
time. Even like Snapchat, it's kind of sad. Or

01:00:14.530 --> 01:00:21.280
dating apps, it's kind of sad. We see y 'all

01:00:21.280 --> 01:00:23.280
that there are a lot of people who are reverting

01:00:23.280 --> 01:00:25.719
back to these beliefs that there are people who

01:00:25.719 --> 01:00:29.300
are instead of rejecting the gospel Rejecting

01:00:29.300 --> 01:00:31.940
the it's not even though you only even have to

01:00:31.940 --> 01:00:33.380
worry about your works. It's not even a work

01:00:33.380 --> 01:00:35.460
-based salvation It's a faith -based salvation

01:00:35.460 --> 01:00:37.739
actually heals you that we have evidence for

01:00:37.739 --> 01:00:39.880
we have proof for a man resurrected from the

01:00:39.880 --> 01:00:42.760
dead And you have people who would rather just

01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:45.840
reject that because it calls them to hire and

01:00:45.840 --> 01:00:47.840
it makes them uncomfortable and they can't just

01:00:47.840 --> 01:00:49.539
do whatever they want to do they're told that

01:00:49.539 --> 01:00:51.099
some of the things they want to do are wicked

01:00:51.099 --> 01:00:55.340
and they're reverting back to like that old age

01:00:55.340 --> 01:00:59.519
mythology or you have people that are going to

01:00:59.519 --> 01:01:02.539
new age beliefs who are relying on their own

01:01:02.539 --> 01:01:04.519
understanding who are taking pieces from different

01:01:04.519 --> 01:01:06.699
religions and now you have people who believe

01:01:06.699 --> 01:01:09.380
that they're star seeds or you have people that

01:01:09.380 --> 01:01:12.599
believe that they're reincarnated and like they're

01:01:12.599 --> 01:01:14.519
just going through these different cycles in

01:01:14.519 --> 01:01:19.110
life You have people who, they're attaching onto

01:01:19.110 --> 01:01:20.969
all these beliefs that are constantly shifting

01:01:20.969 --> 01:01:25.590
and constantly changing, right? And this is what

01:01:25.590 --> 01:01:29.170
Paul predicted, that there was gonna be, there's

01:01:29.170 --> 01:01:34.730
no lie, there's no hiding that new age and deceptive

01:01:34.730 --> 01:01:37.809
religion have really risen up in the past couple

01:01:37.809 --> 01:01:42.190
decades. People relying on their own understanding

01:01:42.190 --> 01:01:44.599
and their own beliefs and passing it off. God

01:01:44.599 --> 01:01:49.440
people starting their own religions It's crazy,

01:01:49.440 --> 01:01:53.739
but Paul predicted this y 'all He says but as

01:01:53.739 --> 01:01:55.800
for you and this is the instruction he's saying

01:01:55.800 --> 01:01:59.019
even when all of this is happening exercise self

01:01:59.019 --> 01:02:02.539
-control in everything Endure every hardship

01:02:02.539 --> 01:02:04.579
do the work of an evangelist to fulfill your

01:02:04.579 --> 01:02:07.940
ministry policy Even with all this happening

01:02:07.940 --> 01:02:10.239
you have to remain calm and cool and collected

01:02:10.239 --> 01:02:13.010
like you can't lose your you can't lose it You

01:02:13.010 --> 01:02:16.289
can't crash out. You can't go sideways. You have

01:02:16.289 --> 01:02:19.369
to stay rooted He's saying hardships are gonna

01:02:19.369 --> 01:02:22.269
come you have to take it on the chin. You have

01:02:22.269 --> 01:02:25.929
to accept that it's coming suffer through it

01:02:25.929 --> 01:02:29.329
with faith knowing in God's ability to deliver

01:02:29.329 --> 01:02:33.210
you Don't back down on your faith or do all these

01:02:33.210 --> 01:02:35.010
things to try to avoid it. Take it on the chin

01:02:37.349 --> 01:02:40.449
He's saying do the evangelizing work go out and

01:02:40.449 --> 01:02:44.050
bring when people for Christ plant seeds we plant

01:02:44.050 --> 01:02:48.269
the seeds God changes the heart and Fully step

01:02:48.269 --> 01:02:51.869
into your ministry Don't reject your calling

01:02:51.869 --> 01:02:55.010
Says here for I am already being poured out as

01:02:55.010 --> 01:02:57.230
a drink offering and the time of my departure

01:02:57.230 --> 01:02:58.570
is close And this is what I was talking about

01:02:58.570 --> 01:03:01.150
y 'all Blake Paul acknowledges. He's getting

01:03:01.150 --> 01:03:04.599
close to death He knows and I believe that God

01:03:04.599 --> 01:03:07.139
was speaking to him. I believe God was preparing

01:03:07.139 --> 01:03:10.380
him by the way He is just you know in past times

01:03:10.380 --> 01:03:12.619
he was saying like, you know God's gonna deliver

01:03:12.619 --> 01:03:14.059
me God's gonna get me out and this is a time

01:03:14.059 --> 01:03:16.460
where he's like I know I'm coming to the end

01:03:16.460 --> 01:03:19.639
of my race. I believe God was preparing him for

01:03:19.639 --> 01:03:23.260
this and He acknowledges he's like my time for

01:03:23.260 --> 01:03:25.059
departure is close Paul is saying I'm gonna be

01:03:25.059 --> 01:03:28.380
martyred soon. Like I'm gonna be dying I'm gonna

01:03:28.380 --> 01:03:31.340
be freed This life was a bondage for him like

01:03:31.340 --> 01:03:35.380
he knew he was being used by god But he also

01:03:35.380 --> 01:03:37.400
of course wanted to be with the heavenly father

01:03:37.400 --> 01:03:41.619
And this was a freedom, right? And paul says

01:03:41.619 --> 01:03:45.320
I have fought the good fight I have finished

01:03:45.320 --> 01:03:52.480
the race and I have kept the faith There is reserved

01:03:52.480 --> 01:03:54.780
for me the crown of righteousness which the lord

01:03:54.780 --> 01:03:56.679
the righteous judge will give me on that day

01:03:56.679 --> 01:04:00.780
not only to me but to all those who loved his

01:04:00.780 --> 01:04:03.780
appearing. And as I talked about in the episode

01:04:03.780 --> 01:04:06.840
earlier, y 'all, that I know that it's not about

01:04:06.840 --> 01:04:09.360
the rewards of this earth, that I know that God

01:04:09.360 --> 01:04:11.340
has something so much better for me in heaven.

01:04:12.099 --> 01:04:13.980
Like, sure, I'll see God in my life and I'll

01:04:13.980 --> 01:04:15.719
see him pour out blessings and I'll see him do

01:04:15.719 --> 01:04:18.159
things for me here while I'm on earth, but it's

01:04:18.159 --> 01:04:20.920
nothing compared to what's in heaven. Our works

01:04:20.920 --> 01:04:23.039
do not buy our salvation. Our entry into heaven

01:04:23.039 --> 01:04:24.659
is off the faith of Jesus alone. I want to be

01:04:24.659 --> 01:04:26.099
so clear about that and I've always been clear

01:04:26.099 --> 01:04:28.550
about that. That's why I say that we do not have

01:04:28.550 --> 01:04:31.030
a workspace salvation. You've heard me say we

01:04:31.030 --> 01:04:32.789
don't have a workspace salvation, but then heard

01:04:32.789 --> 01:04:36.690
me mention works. And y 'all know that I often

01:04:36.690 --> 01:04:38.389
refer back to the scripture, the one who believes

01:04:38.389 --> 01:04:40.469
in Jesus will do the works he does. He says that

01:04:40.469 --> 01:04:41.829
in the book of John, the one who believes in

01:04:41.829 --> 01:04:44.769
me will do the works that I do. But we also know,

01:04:44.909 --> 01:04:49.130
and it's biblical, that the entry, our salvation

01:04:49.130 --> 01:04:50.969
is not based off of our works, so that way no

01:04:50.969 --> 01:04:54.170
man may boast. It's off of Jesus alone. The only

01:04:54.170 --> 01:04:55.869
thing that lets us into heaven is our faith in

01:04:55.869 --> 01:05:01.500
Jesus. But we have riches stored up in heaven

01:05:01.500 --> 01:05:06.360
once we're in heaven rewards from God based off

01:05:06.360 --> 01:05:10.559
of Our like our righteousness here on earth of

01:05:10.559 --> 01:05:13.880
just being in right standing with God obeying

01:05:13.880 --> 01:05:18.480
God Submitting to God and that's what Paul is

01:05:18.480 --> 01:05:20.699
talking about here. Paul is saying I have fought

01:05:20.699 --> 01:05:23.119
the good fight. He acknowledges that faith is

01:05:23.119 --> 01:05:27.179
a fight Evangelizing your calling is a fight

01:05:27.579 --> 01:05:30.679
It's not an easy walk. It's not a cakewalk. He's

01:05:30.679 --> 01:05:34.860
saying that I have fought honorably and I have

01:05:34.860 --> 01:05:39.199
firmly held on to my faith That's what he's saying.

01:05:39.199 --> 01:05:42.059
I have finished the race. I've kept the faith.

01:05:42.079 --> 01:05:47.400
I have stayed consistent And he's saying There

01:05:47.400 --> 01:05:49.780
is reserved for me the crown of righteousness

01:05:49.780 --> 01:05:52.500
Which the Lord the righteous judge will give

01:05:52.500 --> 01:05:55.300
me on that day the day that he goes before father

01:05:56.820 --> 01:06:00.340
and not only to me, but to all those who have

01:06:00.340 --> 01:06:02.800
loved his appearing. And you know, this is Paul's

01:06:02.800 --> 01:06:04.480
reminder, Paul isn't just talking about himself,

01:06:04.539 --> 01:06:07.039
and he's not saying it's just him specially that

01:06:07.039 --> 01:06:09.400
has something certain, but it's all those who

01:06:09.400 --> 01:06:12.780
follow Jesus, who love the Lord, who uphold him,

01:06:12.940 --> 01:06:15.360
who walk in right standing with him, who are

01:06:15.360 --> 01:06:18.840
reverent of him. It's not only Paul, it's those

01:06:18.840 --> 01:06:22.300
who love Jesus, who welcomed and yearned for

01:06:22.300 --> 01:06:25.349
his return. As I said earlier, y 'all, we are

01:06:25.349 --> 01:06:29.030
preparing for Jesus to come back. We're doing

01:06:29.030 --> 01:06:31.110
what we can. You remember how John the Baptist

01:06:31.110 --> 01:06:34.369
was making a way for the one who comes after

01:06:34.369 --> 01:06:39.329
him? He made a way for Jesus before Jesus started

01:06:39.329 --> 01:06:41.409
stepping into ministry. John the Baptist was

01:06:41.409 --> 01:06:45.090
making a way. And I've really felt that there's

01:06:45.090 --> 01:06:47.030
so many times in my heart kind of make that connection

01:06:47.030 --> 01:06:51.570
with us and Jesus coming back of like, We're

01:06:51.570 --> 01:06:56.289
spreading the gospel so every ear has heard Everyone

01:06:56.289 --> 01:06:59.110
has the opportunity to hear about God's glory

01:06:59.110 --> 01:07:03.150
And to put their faith in Jesus like we're doing

01:07:03.150 --> 01:07:06.170
our part to spread the gospel and try to win

01:07:06.170 --> 01:07:10.210
souls for Christ Before Jesus comes back and

01:07:10.210 --> 01:07:14.670
that's an amazing thing to be a part of Now here

01:07:14.670 --> 01:07:17.170
Paul is closing the letter he says make every

01:07:17.170 --> 01:07:20.099
effort to come to see me soon because Demas has

01:07:20.099 --> 01:07:22.659
deserted me since he loved this present world

01:07:22.659 --> 01:07:25.639
and has gone to Thessalonica and I want to just

01:07:25.639 --> 01:07:27.380
make a little pause here and that's our reminder

01:07:27.380 --> 01:07:30.059
of like a lot of people left Paul when Paul was

01:07:30.059 --> 01:07:32.460
going through hardship and suffering on behalf

01:07:32.460 --> 01:07:35.039
of like being a Christian and they saw that it

01:07:35.039 --> 01:07:38.340
was more popular to be of the world than to be

01:07:38.340 --> 01:07:41.400
set apart a lot of people chose to conform to

01:07:41.400 --> 01:07:45.019
the world and this was someone right here Demas

01:07:45.019 --> 01:07:47.239
since he loved this present world he loved the

01:07:47.239 --> 01:07:49.250
world He didn't want to be set apart. He chose

01:07:49.250 --> 01:07:53.050
the world. Says here, Crescent has gone to Galatia,

01:07:53.269 --> 01:07:57.050
Titus to Demalta. Only Luke is with me. Bring

01:07:57.050 --> 01:07:59.750
Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the

01:07:59.750 --> 01:08:03.570
ministry. I have sent Titus to Ephesus. When

01:08:03.570 --> 01:08:06.090
you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with

01:08:06.090 --> 01:08:09.250
Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the

01:08:09.250 --> 01:08:12.369
parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did great

01:08:12.369 --> 01:08:15.110
harm to me. The Lord will repay him according

01:08:15.110 --> 01:08:18.159
to his works. Watch out for him yourself because

01:08:18.159 --> 01:08:20.920
he strongly opposed our words. And I took note

01:08:20.920 --> 01:08:23.000
of this y 'all when I was reading this up in

01:08:23.000 --> 01:08:26.399
Paul's closing letter. What he decided to do

01:08:26.399 --> 01:08:28.560
to end it was he decided to end with giving up

01:08:28.560 --> 01:08:33.020
vengeance. As I'm about to read this to y 'all,

01:08:33.119 --> 01:08:38.859
he gave up vengeance. He noticed that Alexander

01:08:38.859 --> 01:08:42.439
the coppersmith did great harm to him. was a

01:08:42.439 --> 01:08:45.060
thorn in his side was opposing the work he was

01:08:45.060 --> 01:08:48.399
doing for Christ whatever that looked like and

01:08:48.399 --> 01:08:50.739
Instead of trying to seek vengeance in his final

01:08:50.739 --> 01:08:54.760
days. He gave it to God He says here the Lord

01:08:54.760 --> 01:08:56.880
will repay him according to his works. He said

01:08:56.880 --> 01:08:59.899
God will teach him God will do what he needs

01:08:59.899 --> 01:09:04.840
to do. He says but then he goes on to warn Because

01:09:04.840 --> 01:09:07.819
he understands Alexander has not repented that

01:09:07.819 --> 01:09:11.510
there is a pattern here, right and he say It

01:09:11.510 --> 01:09:14.829
happened to me and y 'all need to be watchful

01:09:14.829 --> 01:09:18.250
because he strongly opposed in the past. This

01:09:18.250 --> 01:09:23.789
is a pattern. Don't neglect this warning. Paul

01:09:23.789 --> 01:09:29.470
used that moment to warn. And we've touched on

01:09:29.470 --> 01:09:32.850
this before y 'all. Guilt and repentance don't

01:09:32.850 --> 01:09:34.829
mean the same thing. If you're guilty, you'll

01:09:34.829 --> 01:09:40.920
still go do it again. We are to forgive everybody

01:09:40.920 --> 01:09:42.939
But just because you forgive someone doesn't

01:09:42.939 --> 01:09:44.960
mean you let them back in if they haven't repented

01:09:44.960 --> 01:09:47.239
and haven't had to change heart Paul was kind

01:09:47.239 --> 01:09:49.460
of reminding and recognizing this Paul was saying

01:09:49.460 --> 01:09:54.060
God will teach him a lesson God will defend God

01:09:54.060 --> 01:09:56.579
will work it out. But be wary of this person

01:09:56.579 --> 01:09:58.880
because he has not repented He has not changed

01:09:58.880 --> 01:10:01.760
his ways. He was in opposition then and he'll

01:10:01.760 --> 01:10:06.750
be in opposition again Then he goes on to say

01:10:06.750 --> 01:10:09.409
at my first defense. No one stood up for me,

01:10:09.489 --> 01:10:12.770
but everyone deserted me May it not be counted

01:10:12.770 --> 01:10:16.609
against them But the Lord stood with me and strengthened

01:10:16.609 --> 01:10:18.710
me so that I might fully preach the word and

01:10:18.710 --> 01:10:20.890
all the Gentiles might hear it This was right

01:10:20.890 --> 01:10:24.789
here. I wrote down y 'all Paul's next thing after

01:10:24.789 --> 01:10:27.590
giving vengeance to the Lord and warning He went

01:10:27.590 --> 01:10:29.489
on to forgive all the people who didn't stand

01:10:29.489 --> 01:10:32.010
by him the people who might have called him crazy

01:10:32.010 --> 01:10:34.750
People said I don't know him the people who left

01:10:34.750 --> 01:10:38.789
him when the going got rough he forgave them

01:10:38.789 --> 01:10:41.989
he said may it not be counted against them like

01:10:41.989 --> 01:10:43.750
i pray like god forgives them for that like god

01:10:43.750 --> 01:10:46.850
don't hold it against them and then he went on

01:10:46.850 --> 01:10:49.289
to glorify god and he recognized he's like look

01:10:49.289 --> 01:10:51.270
i didn't have people strengthening me i didn't

01:10:51.270 --> 01:10:54.810
have people encouraging me It wasn't my strength

01:10:54.810 --> 01:10:57.050
alone. He said it was God who strengthened me.

01:10:57.050 --> 01:11:00.250
It was God who got me through. His final words

01:11:00.250 --> 01:11:02.829
in this letter, y 'all, were those of giving

01:11:02.829 --> 01:11:10.149
vengeance to God, warning, forgiveness, and then

01:11:10.149 --> 01:11:11.970
glorifying God, recognizing that he wouldn't

01:11:11.970 --> 01:11:13.649
have gotten through it at all if it weren't for

01:11:13.649 --> 01:11:17.890
God. And although he had the moment to take the

01:11:17.890 --> 01:11:19.829
glory for himself, he didn't because he knew

01:11:19.829 --> 01:11:23.039
the glory didn't belong to him. It says here

01:11:23.039 --> 01:11:26.319
so I was rescued from the lion's mouth The Lord

01:11:26.319 --> 01:11:28.880
will rescue me from every evil work and will

01:11:28.880 --> 01:11:32.039
bring me Safely into his heavenly kingdom to

01:11:32.039 --> 01:11:36.319
him be the glory forever and ever amen And goes

01:11:36.319 --> 01:11:39.060
on to say greet Priscilla and Aquila in the household

01:11:39.060 --> 01:11:41.680
of once if I always mispronounce this y 'all

01:11:41.680 --> 01:11:45.460
one Cypherus Erastus has remained at Corinth.

01:11:45.460 --> 01:11:49.520
I left to find us sick at Miletus Make every

01:11:49.520 --> 01:12:06.779
effort to come before winter I'm glad we got

01:12:06.779 --> 01:12:10.140
these two chapters in. I just want to encourage

01:12:10.140 --> 01:12:12.199
you all to read this for yourself outside of

01:12:12.199 --> 01:12:15.319
this podcast and start praying to the Lord that

01:12:15.319 --> 01:12:19.130
he reveals to you what you're not seeing. Every

01:12:19.130 --> 01:12:20.770
time you read scripture because as the living

01:12:20.770 --> 01:12:22.470
word of God something different is gonna stand

01:12:22.470 --> 01:12:24.470
out to you and something different can be revealed

01:12:24.470 --> 01:12:26.350
Well as I was reading this and going through

01:12:26.350 --> 01:12:28.569
this I felt the Lord giving me revelations of

01:12:28.569 --> 01:12:31.430
things in my personal life I'm gonna have to

01:12:31.430 --> 01:12:32.930
pray on after I'm done recording this episode

01:12:32.930 --> 01:12:35.409
That's how good God is when you just take intentional

01:12:35.409 --> 01:12:37.369
time to read his word as we were talking about

01:12:37.369 --> 01:12:40.010
earlier y 'all Or like God will direct you on

01:12:40.010 --> 01:12:41.569
what you need to do when you just take time to

01:12:41.569 --> 01:12:43.920
be alone with him One of those things you can

01:12:43.920 --> 01:12:45.300
do just to be alone with him is just reading

01:12:45.300 --> 01:12:47.720
his word and not reading it because you're like

01:12:47.720 --> 01:12:49.600
Seeking something or seeking an answer you're

01:12:49.600 --> 01:12:51.159
looking out for an answer, but just because you

01:12:51.159 --> 01:12:55.279
want to be in his presence and know God Like

01:12:55.279 --> 01:12:57.079
I was reading the book of numbers earlier y 'all

01:12:57.079 --> 01:12:58.939
not because I felt in numbers could relate to

01:12:58.939 --> 01:13:01.720
me This was not because I felt like let me read

01:13:01.720 --> 01:13:03.739
the book of numbers I'm sure like a lot of stuff

01:13:03.739 --> 01:13:05.640
going on there is stuff that will relate to me

01:13:05.640 --> 01:13:08.779
today. No, I Was reading it number one because

01:13:08.779 --> 01:13:12.149
that's what we're reading as a church Also, just

01:13:12.149 --> 01:13:13.810
because that was my way of getting in God's presence

01:13:13.810 --> 01:13:16.189
and as I was reading numbers There are certain

01:13:16.189 --> 01:13:18.430
things sticking out to me and God speaking to

01:13:18.430 --> 01:13:20.270
me and giving me revelation understanding I was

01:13:20.270 --> 01:13:22.569
like, oh my gosh, I've been waiting on like this

01:13:22.569 --> 01:13:24.609
understanding from God Thank you so much and

01:13:24.609 --> 01:13:26.470
it wasn't because I was seeking that understanding.

01:13:26.470 --> 01:13:30.350
I was just seeking God Just to know him and to

01:13:30.350 --> 01:13:31.989
grow in closeness with him and I'm current and

01:13:31.989 --> 01:13:34.409
I'm encouraging y 'all to do that today to just

01:13:34.409 --> 01:13:38.109
pursue the word Pursue intimacy with him one

01:13:38.109 --> 01:13:40.390
of the biggest compliments I've gotten from people

01:13:40.569 --> 01:13:43.489
It's actually been a big compliment again from

01:13:43.489 --> 01:13:45.689
people recently that I love to hear and then

01:13:45.689 --> 01:13:48.529
It made me really reflect on my relationship

01:13:48.529 --> 01:13:50.710
words. I've had people say like I really admire

01:13:50.710 --> 01:13:54.850
your intimacy with God Like the way he just speaks

01:13:54.850 --> 01:13:57.989
to you I've had other people say like the way

01:13:57.989 --> 01:14:01.250
you can just like pick up on that quiet way that

01:14:01.250 --> 01:14:04.020
God speaks to you and that nudging like I admire

01:14:04.020 --> 01:14:05.779
that. And when I think about that, I'm like,

01:14:05.880 --> 01:14:08.319
dude, I thought that was I guess that's not something

01:14:08.319 --> 01:14:12.500
everybody like everybody can have it. I'm not

01:14:12.500 --> 01:14:14.819
special in that way of like God would have that

01:14:14.819 --> 01:14:17.899
relationship with anybody. But I had just gotten

01:14:17.899 --> 01:14:20.399
so accustomed to that being how me and God were.

01:14:20.539 --> 01:14:22.600
I just thought that was how everybody was. I

01:14:22.600 --> 01:14:25.579
didn't think like that was something to glorify

01:14:25.579 --> 01:14:29.020
God for and to be thankful for. But when I look

01:14:29.020 --> 01:14:31.020
back now I can see how that was developed and

01:14:31.020 --> 01:14:32.840
that was through just so much intimate time with

01:14:32.840 --> 01:14:36.260
the Lord of just days of reading and seeking

01:14:36.260 --> 01:14:40.000
his word of seeking his presence through his

01:14:40.000 --> 01:14:44.420
word of prayer of Denying self and fasting how

01:14:44.420 --> 01:14:46.079
many times y 'all I've said no and stayed home

01:14:46.079 --> 01:14:47.779
from things I want to go to because I knew the

01:14:47.779 --> 01:14:49.300
Lord was calling me to just read the Bible and

01:14:49.300 --> 01:14:54.380
get in his presence I have this intimacy with

01:14:54.380 --> 01:14:57.619
God because of how much time I spend alone with

01:14:57.619 --> 01:15:01.020
God, which is every day. Every day I have to

01:15:01.020 --> 01:15:03.439
have quiet time apart from people with God. And

01:15:03.439 --> 01:15:05.539
I remember reading in the Bible, like when I

01:15:05.539 --> 01:15:07.640
was reading the Gospels of how Jesus moved, I

01:15:07.640 --> 01:15:09.880
remember seeing how frequently He would leave

01:15:09.880 --> 01:15:12.279
places. Even when things were going really good

01:15:12.279 --> 01:15:14.079
and people were inviting Him places, He was like,

01:15:14.079 --> 01:15:16.239
no, I have to go be alone with the Father. And

01:15:16.239 --> 01:15:19.220
it was hours, sometimes days. And He would wake

01:15:19.220 --> 01:15:22.470
up at times that were inconvenient. to be able

01:15:22.470 --> 01:15:26.229
to get away from the group. And you know, there

01:15:26.229 --> 01:15:27.930
were times when God called me, I know that thing

01:15:27.930 --> 01:15:29.489
sounds like fun and you want to go out and do

01:15:29.489 --> 01:15:32.369
it, but I want you to take this time to be in

01:15:32.369 --> 01:15:34.630
my presence instead. Y 'all, I work throughout

01:15:34.630 --> 01:15:36.529
the week, so my weekends are like my time off.

01:15:36.989 --> 01:15:38.510
But the weekends are also when people want to

01:15:38.510 --> 01:15:40.229
hang out and do things. And there are times when

01:15:40.229 --> 01:15:42.029
God has said like, no, stay home this weekend.

01:15:42.449 --> 01:15:44.670
Stay home this day and dedicate this day to scripture

01:15:44.670 --> 01:15:47.270
reading and praying. And although you might feel

01:15:47.270 --> 01:15:49.149
like it's a bummer now, you're going to like

01:15:49.149 --> 01:15:51.729
happen to say no to things. Like you're gonna

01:15:51.729 --> 01:15:54.529
see how this obedience is multiplied and how

01:15:54.529 --> 01:15:56.729
I'm just gonna pour out my spirit on you. And

01:15:56.729 --> 01:15:59.029
I'm encouraging y 'all today to do that. I'm

01:15:59.029 --> 01:16:01.130
encouraging y 'all today to seek the Lord and

01:16:01.130 --> 01:16:04.210
just have private time with him. And when I say

01:16:04.210 --> 01:16:06.710
private time, I don't mean private time of other

01:16:06.710 --> 01:16:08.569
people's time. So I don't mean sit quietly in

01:16:08.569 --> 01:16:10.949
your room and listen to a sermon or even on the

01:16:10.949 --> 01:16:12.770
walk listening to a sermon. I mean, take that

01:16:12.770 --> 01:16:14.649
prayer walk where it's just you talking to God.

01:16:15.789 --> 01:16:17.409
That's you pacing around your living room like

01:16:17.409 --> 01:16:19.449
I do. Like I am right now talking to y 'all on

01:16:19.449 --> 01:16:21.729
the podcast. Fun fact, y 'all, a lot of my prayer

01:16:21.729 --> 01:16:23.350
is me pacing back and forth around my living

01:16:23.350 --> 01:16:25.470
room. When no one's home, like when I have the

01:16:25.470 --> 01:16:27.010
house to myself, I use that as my opportunity

01:16:27.010 --> 01:16:29.729
to just pray. Even if it's like not a time where

01:16:29.729 --> 01:16:31.449
I'm like ready to go into prayer, I'm like, oh,

01:16:31.489 --> 01:16:32.989
this is a time when no one's around. I can just

01:16:32.989 --> 01:16:34.750
pray out loud, really fervently and loud. I'm

01:16:34.750 --> 01:16:37.029
going to do it. Like, whatever I'm doing, I'm

01:16:37.029 --> 01:16:39.489
going to put that aside and just pray. And if

01:16:39.489 --> 01:16:40.909
I can't, if that's not going to happen that day,

01:16:40.909 --> 01:16:43.090
I go out on my prayer walk and I take a walk

01:16:43.090 --> 01:16:44.550
on the trail that I know not a lot of people

01:16:44.550 --> 01:16:46.850
go on. And for hours, I'll just talk out loud,

01:16:47.029 --> 01:16:49.939
praying to God. And then when I come home, I

01:16:49.939 --> 01:16:51.319
still set aside that time. You're like, let me

01:16:51.319 --> 01:16:53.020
read in the Bible. God, where are you leading

01:16:53.020 --> 01:16:55.520
me today? And it's not always where I think I'm

01:16:55.520 --> 01:16:57.359
gonna hear from him, but I end up hearing from

01:16:57.359 --> 01:17:00.140
him. It's not about seeking for yourself. It's

01:17:00.140 --> 01:17:02.659
just about seeking him. Seek first his kingdom

01:17:02.659 --> 01:17:04.119
and his righteousness and all these things are

01:17:04.119 --> 01:17:07.819
gonna be added on to y 'all. So thank you all

01:17:07.819 --> 01:17:09.460
so much for listening. I'm so glad we finished

01:17:09.460 --> 01:17:11.699
like this little series. This is so cool. And

01:17:11.699 --> 01:17:13.939
I'm excited to see what God leads us to next.

01:17:14.039 --> 01:17:16.000
I have no idea the next thing we're gonna go

01:17:16.000 --> 01:17:18.859
to, but I'm looking forward to it. I do ask you

01:17:18.859 --> 01:17:20.659
all, hit subscribe wherever it is you're listening

01:17:20.659 --> 01:17:23.199
to this podcast. Share it with someone who you

01:17:23.199 --> 01:17:24.920
think would benefit off hearing this. Don't be

01:17:24.920 --> 01:17:26.939
afraid to listen to it again. If you feel like

01:17:26.939 --> 01:17:28.699
there's more for you to grasp, listen to this

01:17:28.699 --> 01:17:31.409
back. Make sure to like leave a comment where

01:17:31.409 --> 01:17:32.949
it is you're listening to us if you're on Spotify

01:17:32.949 --> 01:17:35.689
Apple one of the apps leave a review It definitely

01:17:35.689 --> 01:17:37.609
helps when you leave a review if you're on YouTube

01:17:37.609 --> 01:17:40.130
leave a comment, and I will see you guys next

01:17:40.130 --> 01:17:41.229
time bye guys