Christ With Coffee On Ice - should i keep my relationship with God to myself (rerun)

Episode Date: August 9, 2024

Happy Friday, everyone ! As we've officially entered into our break between seasons, we thought posting reruns would be a great idea to stay in touch while we take a few weeks off to prepare for season FOUR ! We hope you enjoy these few episodes and as always, we're continually grateful for your endless support :) xx ☆ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON ☆ : https://patreon.com/CWCOI If you would like to give to CWCOI and financially support the podcast, you can do so here ! ➤ https://www.paypal.me/CWCOI _____________________________________________ Connect further with us ! TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@christwithcoffeeonice Instagram ➤ https://instagram.com/christwithcoffeeonice _____________________________________________ Connect further with Ally ! TikTok (2M) ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@ally_yost Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/ally_yost/ ShopMy ➤ https://shopmy.us/allyyost Pinterest ➤ https://www.pinterest.com/ally_yost1/_created/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cwcoi/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with coffee on ice. I am your host, Ali Yost, and I am so thrilled to be back here with you guys on another Friday. Happy Friday, everybody. I got my iced coffee. I got my Christ with me. We got our Bible. Life is good. God is good. You guys are here with me, which is also the biggest blessing. So thank you for being here. Thank you for continuing to have this weekly routine with me of just honoring God, spending time with Jesus, spreading his love and his light and his word, y'all. So today's topic I'm really excited about, but let me just tell you a funny story. Okay.

So this happened about three minutes ago. I found scripture. So I have some examples of scripture that I'm pulling from the Bible today that help kind of back up what we're going to talk about today, right? And one of them being from Philemon, which I haven't even tried. I don't know. How many of us have read it from the Bible? I'm sure a lot of you, probably some of you listening. I don't know.

I've never opened the book of Philemon. So I just had to ask Alexa, but we're sitting down and recording how to pronounce it. Because I love the verse. I just didn't know how to say it. She also told me that it comes from a Greek word and it means like affection or love, which, okay. I love that. So anyway, just an example of how we're all still learning. Okay, y'all, I don't know everything there is to the Bible yet, but that's why we're here together, is to learn and navigate our faith together and, you know, just learn more about the Bible and just the lessons that God is teaching us every day. So we're all in the same boat, and I just always want to make that so clear. And I just want to be transparent with y'all about my walk as well because I am not one to sit up here and act all high and mighty like I know all and I would

never but yeah we're we're all learning together so also y'all the fire alarm was going off all day and it was like every time I tried to sit down to actually film this episode the fire alarm would go off again and I don't know what's going on because the other day they were like doing something to test it and make sure that it was all working well and functioning now a few days later it's like freaking out so I don't know what they did during that, but I feel like something backwards happened because now it's just going off for no, there was no fire. Thank Jesus, actually, there was no fire. But anyway, I really am actually hoping and praying that they don't go off again and interrupt our episode now. So let's just hope for the best, y'all, and pray to God. Okay. So something that has been weighing on my heart, and this has been something

that actually, it came on to me this morning. So I ended up getting up really early this morning, which is so not like me. Actually, can I go on like a little side preachy moment? moment. Okay, because I woke up this morning and it really started last night where I felt the Holy Spirit. I felt God talked to me and say, you're going to get up early tomorrow. And I was like, but I don't have to. And he was like, exactly. You don't have to, but you're going to. And I was like, okay, what do you want me to do? And he says, I want you to get exercise. I want you to get outside and I want you to first thing in the morning as the sun is rising, go outside and get exercise. I said, yes sir got it but it was really interesting because I felt the Holy Spirit speak to me so clearly in

that moment because I have always identified and like truly anyone closest to me in my life knows this like my family my friends they know this about me I have always identified as somebody who is not a morning person right we hear that all the time where people are like are you a morning person or are you more of like an evening person or do you like to sleep in in the mornings or do you wake up early in the mornings. And I've always identified as not a morning person. And I also have always identified as somebody who could not be a morning person, even if she tried to. I mean, that is something I've been preaching since the beginning of time, since my whole life. Like literally, I mean, since school. I mean, I would always complain about how early we'd have to get up for school in the

mornings, which honestly, granted, that was so early. We were getting up insanely early. I would always complain and say, I just can't. Like, I'm literally miserable. I can't get up early in the mornings, I almost used to always envy people who could just spring out of bed in the mornings and get up early. I always felt like I kind of got not the short end of the stick in that matter, but like I just couldn't do it, you know? Up until last night, though, because then I heard God speak to me and he said, he told me and revealed to me that those are chains, telling myself that I am not a morning person, identifying myself, literally saying that it's just a part of my DNA, which is so silly. But I was like, I just can't. It's just not who I am. And if there's anything in your life

that you are saying that about yourself, that really isn't true, like there was nothing physically holding myself back from getting up in the mornings except for my mental. It was just my brain. It was my mindset. It was the way that I viewed myself. It was the way that I allowed these words to create chains on myself where I was never the type of person to get up early in the morning and start her day and be productive right from the gecko in the beginnings of her mornings. I mean, I've always been the type of person that's like, oh, well, I guess I won't be productive till 11 a.m. or noon, you know, or sometimes 1 p.m. is when I would like really start to be productive and start work and stuff. And God spoke to me and he said, those are chains.

That is a lie from the enemy. You are just as much of a morning. You are just as much of a morning. person as the next person. You are just as capable of being a morning person as the next person. I gave you every capability of getting up in the morning and being productive and getting exercise and spending time with me. I gave you all those same capabilities and opportunity as the next person. Stop lying to yourself. And I said, I said, you're right. And honestly, I didn't even get that much sleep last night because I got in bed at like 8 p.m. and I told myself I was going to go to bed early so that it was easier for me to wake up in the morning, but I didn't even fall asleep until 12.30.

It's just, it's because that's kind of how late I've been staying up and then, you know, sleeping in. And so, but I woke up to my alarm in the morning and I almost went back to sleep. Like I legitimately, I was so upset that my alarm went off. Y'all, sorry about this tangent, but I feel like somebody's got to hear this because I can't be the only one in this boat, you know? I slammed my freaking alarm clock shut and I was like so upset that I was awake. I definitely did not feel like I got enough sleep.

and I closed my eyes and I was like, you know what, I'll just do it tomorrow. And I felt so much guilt, y'all. I just felt God on me. I felt him being like shaking his head a little bit, being like, Allie, I've given you the power. Like, you can do this right now. And so I probably sat there for another like 15 minutes where I was just laying there in my thoughts, kind of going back and forth with God, probably being a little stubborn

and arguing with him because aren't we all a little stubborn and just freaking arguing with him like we know best. And then I said, you're right. I said, okay, okay, okay, you're right. Got up, went on this hike at like 7 a.m. felt so good. I listened to worship music the whole way. The sun was rising. It was beautiful. The weather was perfect. There weren't any bugs outside yet. It was great. Truly the best start to my freaking day. And it almost made me emotional. And you know what? It almost made me want to go back and get up earlier tomorrow and go hike even earlier than 7 a.m. tomorrow, which sounds insane. Like, I don't even know who I am right now, y'all. I don't even know who this girl is talking right now, but I just hope and pray that this inspires somebody and truly encourages

somebody in anything. It doesn't even have to be like, oh, I'm a morning person versus a whatever, y'all, if there is anything that is truly setting you back and making you feel like you are not capable of doing something or you were just dealt the short end of the stick, right? And you're like, this is just not the type of person I am. I just can't get in shape. Like, everyone else or I just can't work as hard and as long as everyone else. I don't know. That is so the enemy getting in your head and trying to convince you that you are not capable of what other people are capable of. And I'm going to break it to you. The other people that you're comparing yourself to were created by the same thing that created you, which means they are no better than you. They are no

less than you. They are the same as you, which means whatever they're accomplishing, if they're getting up early in the morning, if they're doing this, if they're doing that. And you're like, I can't do that. That's a literal lie from the enemy. You can get up early in the morning or whatever it is that you are comparing yourself to and saying, I just can't. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. And that was a true lesson that I felt God teaching me this morning. And so I just hope and pray that I can stay on this routine because I really want to prove to myself and to the devil too. Like, bro, buzz off. Like, bother someone else. Preferably no one. But like, definitely not me. Because he's lied to me for way too long, way too many years where I have just slept my life away every single morning. And the thing is,

it's like it's not even just about productivity, y'all. It's also about just spending time with the Lord like early in the morning just hits different. And I think that's because that is how he's wired every single one of us to be. Like he wants us before the sun is even up, which sounds nuts, y'all. He wants us to spend that like precious just moment of just when the world is just starting to wake up. that is the time to spend with the Lord. Like, it makes me emotional. Like, I can't explain it. But that is truly how he's wired us.

And it's just different. It's just different. I've worshipped him in every part of my day. But there is nothing like worshiping God. First thing in the morning. Okay. It's just good, y'all. It's just good.

And I think that that's why, you know, the enemy that's been working so hard on me to, like, not wake up early in the morning. It's not even just about work. It's not even just about productivity. It's also about, like, spending that quality. holiday time with the Lord, like first thing in the morning, because that is like what sets the tone of your day, you know, that will always be setting the tone of your day. If the first thing you're

doing when you're waking up in the morning is checking your phone, I have literally played this science experiment myself, okay? I have paid attention to my behavior, just obviously, you know, since knowing God, he makes you so self-aware, it's not even funny, but like, I pay such close attention to the days that I decide to be lazy and I don't want to prioritize him first thing in my mornings, right? And I'm like, you know what? I'll do it later or I'll do it tonight, you know? And like, there's nothing wrong with spending time at night with God, you know, you should spend time with him literally throughout the day and acknowledging him always and in the mornings and at night, but it's not the same at night, you know, you're tired from your day, you're exhausted, you're kind

of just like winding down. You don't have the same energy as you do when you first wake up in the morning. So there are days where I will not prioritize him in my mornings. And I'll be like, I can just do it at night. Right. And the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is I get on my phone and I scroll on social media. And I don't know where I saw it. I saw on Instagram and I don't even know the specific statistics, but I'm sure y'all could Google it or look it up. But it's like some type of time frame, like the things that you do and maybe I'm making this part up, but like, whatever, you get it. The first. first things that you do or the first things that you consume in the first like one to two hours of your day

when you first wake up is how the rest of your day will look like you're kind of setting that pattern of what the rest of your day will look like so when you immediately get that fix i mean this could probably go for like a cigarette or i don't know addiction too my gosh but i mean we're addicted to our phones like I'm going to admit it, I'm addicted to my phone for sure. And it is something that I like go through every day, you know, just like being on my phone, catching myself saying, oh my gosh, Allie, give it a rest. But, you know, it's like you get that hit like first thing in the morning. And if you're feeding that fix within that short amount of time when you first wake up, it is most likely that you are going to crave that same kind of hit of dopamine from your phone or whatever it is for the rest of your day.

And so days where I did not prioritize the Lord and I prioritized my phone or social media or checking my notifications, checking my emails, whatever. And that was the first thing that I used to kind of hit and get that sense of like dopamine, serotonin, whatever. It was so much harder for me to put my phone down for the rest of the day. But there were a couple mornings where I had a, bit more self-control and I managed to actually not look at my phone at all. Okay. I wake up. I take care of my dogs and I do not touch my phone for the first couple hours, right? I go to my kitchen after I take care of my dogs, open my Bible, turn on some worship music. I spend time with God. I do my devotional. Y'all, I saw a significant difference in my day of one, how much I even grabbed my phone or

wanted that hit of like checking notifications and scrolling on social media, right? My day was totally different. I'm not saying I wasn't scrolling on social media during those days, but like, bro, I was not picking it up nearly as much as I did with the days where it was the first thing I did when I woke up. So I don't know. I knew that statistic and I, and it was funny because with comparing those types of days to each other, I knew like in the back of my head, I was like, whoa, y'all, it's a real

thing. It's a real thing. And so anyway, what made me go on that tangent, though, about the phone and prioritizing God for, oh yeah, prioritizing the Lord first thing in the morning. Yes. Yes. Okay. Y'all, none of that was even about this topic for today. I just felt I needed to share that. And I think that was a freaking episode in itself, but we're going to keep going, okay? Um, so today's topic. All right, y'all. So the reason I brought up my hike thing and we got into all that tangent was because when I was on my hike, this morning though and I was spending time with God and I was listening to worship music. This topic came to my mind and I ended up writing a couple notes in my phone because if I don't do that immediately, I literally will forget and I just, I don't know, it's frustrating. My memory

isn't the best sometimes. But anyway, I immediately am like, click clacking away in my notes, making sure that I got everything down. But what I want to talk about is generosity and sharing the gospel or like telling people about our journey with the Lord, right? And talking about our testimonies or sharing how God has changed our lives. And we see this done in a lot of different ways within the Christian community. But what I feel the Holy Spirit telling me today is the correct way of how we should be sharing the gospel and why? Like why should we be sharing the gospel? I have a few examples of things that have happened to me recently that have all been kind of pointing me in the direction of bringing this topic to the podcast, right? One being, I got a DM from somebody who was like, can you speak about,

you know, if it's okay for us to just kind of build our relationship with the Lord and keep our faith to ourselves, um, rather than like running around and telling everybody about it, you know? So that one was pretty straightforward. Like, is it a sin to prioritize our relationship with the Lord, but privately? And not doing it where the world knows anything about. it. Should I be telling people about it? Should I even put him in my bio on Instagram? Is it okay if I don't? Right? Those of questions. The other thing that kind of directed me to this topic was something kind of on the other side of the spectrum where somebody had mentioned me on their stories. And I don't know if people know this, but you don't have to necessarily mention me in a story for me to see it. There's like this new feature now on Instagram. It's been

going on for a few months where if someone just simply shares one of your posts, it'll come up as like somebody mentioned you. Even if you didn't tag me. It's like I can just see when people are sharing my content on their stories, right? So this person shares one of my reels of me talking about Jesus. And this reel was like, I mean, I literally was just sharing a very like vulnerable moment and thought that I had where I was just praising the Lord in my home and I was thinking about how much I loved him and how much I just wish that I could hug him.

I was like, do you ever just like think about what it would be like to just see Jesus sitting on your couch. Don't you just feel like you could just fall to his freaking feet and just hug him at the ankles? Like I was just having this very vivid envision of Jesus being in my home and what I would do if I actually saw him standing in front of me and I would drop to my knees and hug him in the ankles, you know? So that's what I was talking about. I was literally just being like, I love the Lord. Oh my gosh. Do y'all ever have these kind of visions too, right? And somebody shared that video on their story being like, I don't know this girl and I don't trust her. what are these influencers goals? Like, what is their motive here? Almost implying that like my motive was ill

or maybe I was just trying to seek attention. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know exactly what they were implying. But for me, it spoke like, why are you talking about God online? Like, what's your motive though? Like, okay, great. Like you love Jesus. But what's the point? Like, why are you sharing this online? What's your MO, bro? And then, of course, I get a bunch of messages from you guys. and DMs and everything. And these are great because I feel like these are people who want to get to the level of where God has brought me now, where I am not afraid to talk about him online. And so I'll get a lot of DMs from y'all being like, how the heck did you get there?

Like, I want to get to where you're at right now. Like, how did the Lord lead you to a place of feeling like absolute no shame and just having so much confidence in him and talking so outwardly about him online? like whoa and it's like intense i mean my transformation online is like night and day of what god has done for me and you know just the obedience i've had for just sharing the gospel and talking about him online so all of those lead to this topic right of like whether we should talk about god online talk about the people you know to the people closest to us in our lives even strangers right like why should we talk about the gospel. Why is it important to bring it up? And so I want to share some scripture with you guys

where God has mentioned the importance of sharing our faith with others. Okay. I already forgot how to pronounce this, y'all. Philemon? Okay. Remember the Bible verse I was telling you about that meant love and affection? And yeah, I forgot how to say it already. And I just asked Alexa and she just spelled it back to me. I said, no, I know. I know how to spell it. Okay, anyway, Philemon 1-6 says, and I Pray that sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. Okay. So the way that I'm interpreting this is that, okay, okay, okay, this is good. So obviously one of our past episodes in season one, I spoke about the importance of humility and going out of our way to love on others and just like doing the right thing, right, regardless of how people treat you.

And then one of the things that I said was like, you know, just be over, be so kind to people. Like over the top, like going the extra mile of being kind and considerate and selfless, that it actually makes people like scrunch their eyes and their eyebrows and be like, why is she so nice? Like she didn't even have to be that nice, right? And then I was like, Gateway, you know, if somebody's like, why are you so happy? Why are you so nice? And I'm like, Gateway, Jesus.

Then you can talk about Jesus, right? Hey, guys. How's it going? Are we loving this pod episode? Is it our favorite? Is it absolutely blessing us? Thanks, God. You're the best.

So this is going to kind of give a commercial moment, y'all. But I really just wanted to let you know that there is a way to give to the podcast and help support it financially. We've already been doing this, but we've considered and taken in some of your guys's feedback. And we believe that this is going to be the easiest and simplest way to give to the pod if it is something that you feel led to do. So we're going to do it through PayPal. And you guys can give at www. p-p-p-p-p-p-o-me backslash C-W-C-O-I. It will also be linked in all descriptions below the episode, as well as in the link in our bio

on our social media. If you've already given to the podcast in the past or you decide to do it after this episode, I just want you guys to know that it means the world to me. Thank you for your generosity, and I just appreciate and love you all so much. Okay, now let's get back into the episode. So the thing is, is that it's so good. to do good deeds. And obviously that is something that I wanted to cover on the podcast, but there's a little bit more to that,

you know, and I think the thing that takes a bit further is that doing good in the world is what God would want, but also what he really wants and what's most important is explaining and showing where that goodness comes from, okay? If you are doing good deeds, if you are giving to others, if you are being generous to other people, if you're just going out of your way to be a good person and you're doing it for the sake of Christ, but no one knows, how is anyone supposed to know about Christ? How is anybody supposed to know where they can find that happiness and joy and peace from? Do you get what I'm saying? Like, don't make it a mystery. Let's not gate keep Jesus. Like, there are people who could

and they might not, they might not even outwardly have the courage to ask you, which is why it's important to be so obvious to where your love and your light comes from. It's good to have love and light and it's good to spread it, but we got to let people know where it comes from and credit the creator who has given us this peace, love, understanding, confidence, right? Like, it's even better and actually way more important to let people know where that comes from so that sharing your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in use for the sake of Christ. So people have full knowledge and they know, oh, she is love and light. She is kindness, patience, empathy for the sake of Christ because that's who's giving it to her. Okay. Because the other thing

is, y'all, like, and I've said this before on the podcast, like about other topics, but this totally applies to this too, is that if we continue to wait for somebody else to do it, like, if you just wait for somebody else to spread the gospel or to simply just share Jesus with someone or the world. If we all do that, no one's going to talk about God. And also, no offense. But I think what we really need to remember, which is, I mean, it's crazy because we really do have to remind ourselves this every single day. And honestly, to the glory of God, because he never gets irritated. He's never going to get mad at us. for, you know, needing this reminder every day. Like he knows that we're going to need this reminder every day.

But he did give us his one and only son, okay, John 316, to forgive us of all of our sins. Literally did the, Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice, okay? Don't you think it's the least, like the literal least that he deserves for us to go and talk about him to the world and share his love? The other thing, y'all, is like, when we share our time, testimonies, okay? And we simply just talk about God. There is nothing wrong with that because your intentions should be coming from a place of love. We don't share the gospel to like get right with the Lord. And if that's your motive, you're not doing it right. We are sharing the gospel with the world.

The reason that Christians are so passionate about their God, the reason why we are so passionate about our Jesus is because we have seen what he has done in our lives and we want other. people to feel that. Do you want to know why we want other people to feel that? Because we love everybody. I love everybody. If I had a choice, if it was up to me, y'all, I swear with every freaking fiber in my body down to my bones, I wish that every single person on this planet could feel the love of Christ, could feel the love of God, could experience the miracles that he has worked in my life. I wish every single person could feel it. And that is why I share the gospel. I don't share the gospel for a paycheck. I don't share the gospel

for my own ticket to heaven. I don't share the gospel out of my own selfish reasons, y'all. I mean, talking about God online is a scary thing, but also it is the least that he deserves from us for all that he does for us every single day for the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus has done for us, y'all. Like, come on. Like, we cannot be so selfish and think about ourselves and think about how uncomfortable it is or having uncomfortable conversations or being vulnerable. Like, y'all, Jesus did the ultimate vulnerable thing on planet Earth. It is the least that we could do is spread the gospel. And honestly, it is for Jesus,

but it is also for the love of our brothers and sisters. Like, we are all on the same boat. We all have struggles. We all have inner thoughts. We all have hardships. We all have things that we're dealing with every single day. And no, they don't all look the same. same at the exact same time. But gosh, we're all human at the end of the day. And we all need Jesus.

And we all need a savior. And we all need that protection and love and encouragement. Holy Spirit, thank you so much. Like, we all need Jesus. Like, we can't just gate keep him and hold him to ourselves. And like, yes, it's beautiful to experience him in the four walls of our home. But if we are not boasting about him outside of the four walls of our home, what are we doing? We have to talk about Jesus. We have to talk. about Jesus because if we don't do it, why are we waiting for the next person to do it when we can do it? And I'm not even saying that y'all got to be like starting a podcast like what I'm doing. I mean, if that's what you feel God putting on your heart, y'all better do it because we need more of it.

But if there is somebody in your life that you feel so desperately needs Jesus, tell him about him. And you know what? We don't even have to do it in a way where we are shoving it down anybody's throat. We are simply speaking from experience. We are speaking from a place. where we have felt God move in our life. We have felt Jesus' hand on our situations. We have seen the way that he has transformed our lives, y'all. It is truly just, it comes down to, like, the root of it all is just sharing our testimony and talking about the goodness of God and what he has done for us, you know?

And I think that that is the beauty in every testimony, and that is why none of our lives have been easy or perfect. No, because if they were easy and perfect from the beginning, why would we talk about God? We don't know anything other than His goodness and, you know, blessings. And so we might even take advantage of that and be like, honestly, I've never even, I've never dealt with a single struggle in my life. I've never dealt with a single sin in my life.

I've never had to beg God for anything. I've never had to get down on my knees and completely humble myself and say, Lord, I can't do this by myself. I never had to do that. Like if our lives were just easy, peasy, lemon squeezy, right from the beginning, we didn't go through hardship. it. We didn't go through isolation. We didn't go through loneliness. We didn't go through seasons where we didn't feel the Lord. Like, we didn't go through seasons where we didn't know him. Okay. Like, if we didn't go through

those seasons, we wouldn't have testimonies. There would be no opportunity for him to completely change our lives, flip it upside down. Like, if it wasn't for the struggles without him, there is no testimony of what life is with him. There is no compare and contrast, right? Like, I'm sitting here literally in the flesh. I am living proof of God. And you know what? It's like I've heard sentences like that in the past. I've heard the whole I'm living proof that God exists. And I honestly thought that that just meant like that we were just here existing, which like sure, yeah, Ali, but that's so surface level, babe. Like, I mean, I am living proof that God exists because he has completely changed my heart. And I think anybody who looks at my story, even just looks at my social media,

okay would be lying if they said that they don't see something different in me i don't even actually have to open my mouth at all i'm gonna i am and i will till the day i die but i mean there is a testimony in just the way that people have seen the way that i'm living my life now versus how i was living my life a year ago two years ago three years ago that's a testimony in itself but without a testimony without lows without questioning our lives without going through seasons where we were like, unsure why we were even alive or if we wanted to continue to live, without those seasons, there is no opportunity for God to bring us back to life. So then we can go and boast about our God and talk about how good he is and how forgiving he is

and how faithful he is and how he doesn't leave a single one of us behind. So thank God for my testimony. Truly, thank the Lord for my testimony. And it is something that I am so proud to talk about. I don't want to feel shame about my past because God has turned it into the ultimate blessing. There are times where I do get caught up in like feeling shame of my past and feeling shame over the way that I even spoke. Like I used to freaking cuss every other word, which seems like such a silly example.

But even that, it's like sometimes I literally and like content that I used to make that I would mask in like love and forgiveness. But if I, I mean, the truth of the matter is deep down, there was so. much rooted resentment and anger and grudges against, you know, just things that had happened in my life and people who had hurt me and then I would make light of it and I would just joke about it online or I would like mask it and like forgiveness and love and like moving on. But girl, no, like I was holding on just so much resentment and so many chains of just, you know, grudges and just could not let go of things, but pretending that I had let it go, right?

Pretending that I had given myself my own peace. And I have gone down, though, like rabbit holes of feeling so like embarrassed about that version of myself and wanting to literally delete every piece of content that I made both on Instagram and even my podcast like girly popcast some of the feedback that I would give people it all came from like good intentions but I just I literally want to delete it all like I literally want to just wipe my social media clean from like six months ago and forever back like I have gotten caught up in that feeling that shame. But I also want to tell you all that there is no shame in our past. That is the blueprint of where we've gotten to today. And it is the only way that God can show his power is through

reflecting and see, like, hello, this is who I used to be. I am not who I was yesterday. I am not who I was last year. I am not who I was last month. I am not who I was three years ago, 10 years ago. Like, I mean, that is the beauty of what God can do in our lives. And with without those testimonies, without that proof. Honestly, without those receipts, people can bring up whatever video, you know, because I think about that. I'm like, I think about the day where God takes me wherever I'm supposed to go,

and that could be up on stage somewhere preaching the gospel at a church. I could be singing on a worship team, and then someone, some spiteful, hateful person, I literally daydream about this, like they're nightmares, actually. But I have nightmares about, like, one day if somebody tries to take some type of hateful video that I made years ago, not hateful, but just ignorant. How about we just use the word ignorant? Like, she just needed to grow up. There's a lot of healing and maturing that she needed to do, right? I don't think I've ever been a hateful person. But, you know, just some type

of ignorant video, I don't know. I've made so many videos in my life, right? Like, I don't even remember more than half the videos I've probably made. And I just have nightmares of like, you know, I'm successful. And I'm a woman of the Lord. and I speak so outwardly about my faith in God and how he's changed my life. But then somebody tries to bring up like something from my past being like, oh yeah, Allie, all holy, almighty. Yeah, she thinks she's all that. She's up on stage talking about how good Jesus is.

Well, look who she used to be. And like, if that is not Satan, like trying to do some uno reverse on me, no, that's the whole point though. No, that's the whole point, though, is that if somebody ever tried to come at me and hold my past against me, I would remind them that my past is exactly why God is good, though. No, like that is the point. So there's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to our past.

I am not ashamed of my past. Do I regret? Some of the things that I may have said or done or acted in my past? Oh my gosh, yeah. Oh, my gosh. But those were crucial moments for the story of the glory of God and how good he is and how he can truly transform anybody's lives. I had no idea that Cat Von D had got saved.

If y'all don't know who Kat Von D is, she had a makeup brand a real long time ago. I used to work at Sephora years ago, and I actually really liked her brand a lot. I loved her liquid lipsticks. And she had a really great contour palette. And then she sold her company, and then she got canceled for like,

I don't even freaking know, because everyone just loves to cancel everybody. So see, that's like a thought. That is like something that goes through my brain. So I think that's where like all those, like, freaking day terrors were coming from where somebody would try to bring up something from my past cancel me now like that's just how the internet is people aren't forgiving people aren't gracious but god is and that's all that matters okay but i had no idea that a couple years ago i mean she was literally saved and got

baptized and like knows jesus now and i don't know much about cat fondie's personal life all i know is she was deep in the witchcraft and like you know kind of down that route and if i'm being honest with myself a lot of her brand, even her makeup brand, you know, it all seems harmless, but it was all very dark, you know, and, um, anyway, I just bring that up because it's just like, God loves everybody. He's created Kat Von Dee just the same as he's created you as he's created me as he's created, you know, the next person, which is why it is so important that we do not discriminate. We don't stereotype. We don't look at someone and say, uh, they're probably fine. They, they probably know God or you look at another person and you're like, ooh, they're too far gone.

Uh-uh. Y'all, that is not for us to determine. That is for God to determine. And again, I'm going to reel it back to God created that person with intention, love, care the same way that he has created us. Okay. So we are not profiling anybody. We are sharing the Lord with every single person that we encounter.

Okay? Because you just don't know. You just do not know what is going on. behind closed doors for somebody or, you know, in their mind, I mean, you could think that somebody was the most well off and assume, yeah, yeah, they probably know God or the other way around. Like, we're not making assumptions. We're sharing the Holy Spirit with everybody, okay? Another fun way that I share the gospel without even speaking is I have bumper stickers on my car. I am that, j, y'all, when I tell you, I'm going to say this so many times on the podcast,

when I tell you that if you had told me even eight months ago that I would be this obsessed with the where I am now putting bumper stickers on my car about Jesus, I'd say, bless your heart, honey. Like, I know I probably love the Lord, but I can't be, no, I do. I love the Lord that much. I'm ready to literally put flags on top of my car that says Jesus saves. I mean, I am that crazy about, okay, but I have bumper stickers on my car now, all right? And if you're wondering where I got him from, I got them off Etsy, y'all. Like, Etsy has everything. I legitimately go on Etsy for like most things.

And it says, make heaven crowded. I got one on one side, super cute. It's in like bubbly like kind of 70s fonts, got a flower. It's so cute. And then I got another one for the other side that says love like Jesus, right? And so that is a way to spread the gospel without even speaking. So actually, yes, Holy Spirit, thank you so much. Let me get on to that little tangent right now.

We don't even need to do it with our words, y'all. We don't even need to do it with our, I mean, you should. You actually should. That's number one. But if you can't do it with your words, there are other ways to spread the gospel y'all there's other ways to spread the gospel you know what i daydream about as well is i daydream about like printing out like some type of words of encouragement from the lord right like whether it's a bible verse or just literally something as simple as jesus loves you jesus hears you he sees you

and just leaving it on people's cars you don't even need to look anyone in the eye to spread the gospel y'all hear me let's get creative with it okay if you don't want to feel the pressure let's say that you're new to this like me you're new to this and you don't feel comfortable necessarily looking someone in the eye I mean you got to do it eventually because it's like a muscle you know and i i'm not going to take credit for saying that because there was a girlfriend i was speaking to the other day who was like you know i was expressing to her that i get really nervous about having to pray over people you know like i love praying for people privately with god but i get so nervous that i get so nervous that i get so nervous about praying over people or two people out loud, right?

And she was like, it's like a muscle that you really just have to practice. You just have to start doing it. You will never just like wake up one day and be like, yeah, I'm just good at this now. I mean, anything you just have to get good about. And so, you know, that was something that I get nervous about is like praying over people and speaking to people. So I have been breaking out of my comfort zone with that. And also the other thing that she told me, if this is going to help anyone right now,

is that the only reason. that we don't want to pray over people is because we're making it too much about ourselves and we're putting too much pressure on ourselves that we have to be the ones to find the words. Y'all know that I actually struggle with that sometimes with even sitting down and talking on the podcast. Like this isn't even me speaking right now, y'all, this is the Holy Spirit. I literally was like, God, I give it to you. I don't even know how I'm going to find the words to say this today.

I mean, I got some Bible verses, but other than that, God, just speak through me. I want to be the vessel. I want to be the vehicle. I want to be the tool that you use. speak through me. And the minute that we take ourselves out of the equation and we stop making it about us is when the Holy Spirit can truly speak through us. And it is the same thing with praying over people.

And my girlfriend was like, stop making it about you. Sorry, but like stop. Like stop making it about you. Stop putting the pressure on yourself that you single-handedly and alone have to find the words yourself. Like you can't find the words yourself. And also if you struggle with feeling like you don't feel equipped, Like you don't feel equipped to like speak over somebody.

I mean, technically we're not. Technically we're not like any knowledge, anything that we share with the world. If we're praying to people or over people or if we're spreading the gospel, if we're spreading the word of God, like, yes, of course we're vouching for what he's done in our lives, but also a lot of the knowledge that God gives us, all the knowledge that we have is straight from God. So like there is no pressure. Like we really shouldn't be putting any pressure on ourselves to be like, oh, Allie, you better find the words to pray over this person. Like, no, it's not me. It's not my words. And as long as I do that, I will mess up and I will freeze up because I'm putting the pressure on myself to just be God.

And that's not my job. My job is to be a disciple. My job is to be a follower. My job is to be a vessel, right? So that God can speak to people through me. It's not my job to find the words. This is like a teamwork thing, right? God, you give it to me, I'll give it to them.

Fist bump. Love you so much. You know? So anyway, wow. Okay, this podcast is jam packed. Like, literally jam packed. It's like actually blessing me right now. All right. What was I saying?

Okay, well, I went on that tangent because I was like, it's a muscle. You got to work it. And I do believe in that even when it comes to, like, being vocal and talking about God with people. It was very uncompied for me, and I was a little timid about it in the beginning. But I do have to say that every time I've heard God kind of whispering in my head to like mention him. And I mean it is as simple as the, the really sweet person who's handing me a coffee behind the Starbucks barque barquee bar. The barista at Starbucks, the really sweet girl who was just so

sweet. And I, instead of saying, thank you so much. Have a great day. I say, thank you so much. Have a blessed day. Okay. It's literally like baby steps like that. You don't have to jump all in, but like, God would never encourage you to step into something that was too big for you. So if you feel him calling you to just baby steps and say something as simple as like, God bless you today. I hope God blesses you today. I hope your day is filled with blessings today. You know, like God bless you. If it's as simple as that and then we work our way up, like let's do it, y'all. That's how, I mean, that's kind of how it's been going for me. And each time I do it and I see that I'm getting a very positive response, like people are, I mean, people appreciate it. You're wishing them well,

you know, like there's nothing wrong with it. Gosh, if it's so easy for people to flick other people off, Why is it so hard for us to tell people to have a blessed day? Your intentions are so much more pure than the people who like so easily cuss each other out on the highway. My gosh. But there are ways to spread the gospel nonverbally if that is too intimidating to you. So get a freaking bumper sticker that says make heaven crowded. Get a bumper sticker that talks about how good Jesus is. Get a bumper sticker that says Jesus loves you, y'all.

Like spread the freaking gospel in every way you can. I will proudly wear my cross on my chest. I wear my cross necklaces, y'all. Like, I don't, I want people to know that I love the Lord so much that sometimes I don't even have to say anything, you know? So when they do see how happy and joyous and optimistic I am, even in the midst of how scary and dark this world can be, they go, okay, well, but like, she obviously loves Jesus. I mean, I can see it all over her.

So maybe that's what's giving her so much joy. But I also say that and I don't want us to rely on only that, okay? I don't want us to say, okay, well, we wear a cross necklace. So if I'm kind to people, people will just assume it. I mean, I would like to think so, but also a lot of people wear cross necklaces and they don't know Jesus at all. Okay, that's the tea. That's the tea. But like, I've worn cross necklaces plenty of times in my life and I've hung Bible verses even in my home without even really truly knowing the Lord. Okay? So yes, but no, some cases, but not all. We're going to talk about God, okay? We're going to make it critical.

crystal clear how good he has been in our lives and why we are the people that we are. Where does it come from? What's the source of how good of a person you are? Where does it come from? Y'all, this one literally made me hoot and holler when I saw it. Y'all, this Bible verse literally made me hoot and holler out loud. Okay, we kind of went over this already a little bit. But Luke 1212, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. Sometimes it really is. is just surrendering the pressure of finding the words, making it less about ourselves, don't worry about what you're going to say to them.

If there is a coworker that you feel in your heart, like God is speaking to you saying that they need to know him, right? You see somebody struggling in your life where it's like, you know that if they only knew God, all of their anxieties, all of their depression, all of their worries, all of their self-doubt, all of their struggles with self-image and confidence would go away, right? If they just knew the Lord, okay?

So if there is somebody that comes to your mind right now, y'all, I'm praying so deeply right now that if there is somebody that is coming to your mind right now that is in your life that you are too afraid to speak to them about the Lord and the thing that's holding you back is that you're afraid you won't have the right things to say. You're like, I don't know what to say. Luke 1212. for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. I know that Luke 1212 is true because I've literally been doing it for the past hour right now.

I did not know what Aliost was going to come up with. But it wasn't Aliose that came up with this. I said, God, it's on you, Lord. I prayed over this before I came here. And I said, just give me the words to say. the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. Sometimes if we focus too much on the preparation and what we're going to say and putting all this pressure on ourselves, you are not allowing the Holy Spirit to do its dagum job.

You are not allowing the Holy Spirit to just let it do its job. Let him do his job. He knows this job best. God is the only one being God. It is not our responsibility to try to take on that role because we can't fill those shoes. Those shoes are too big. Those shoes are too big. We can't even comprehend how big those shoes are.

Okay. Like, it's not on us. Just pray to God and tell him that you want to help him bring this person home, right? And that is truly all you're there for is you want to help God bring this person home. Because ultimately, and I want to make this so clear, y'all, when we, okay, okay, I want to make this so clear, y'all, that we are not the ones who bring anybody to Jesus. No, we don't. No, we don't. I am not up for debate right now.

No, we don't. I know this is a fact because this is what God told me directly, and nobody can argue with him, so... No, we don't. We don't bring anyone to Jesus. Nobody brought me to God. God led me to him. God chased me down.

God chased down my heart, and that's what he does for every single one of us. God is the one who pursues us, and calls us home. So the only person calling anyone to Jesus is Jesus himself, right? But it is our job to help Jesus guide people towards him, right? So we can help people, we can encourage others. We can, again, spread the gospel, spread the good news.

We can plant seeds in people's lives around us, right? And planting seeds could even just be like talking about how good God has been for you in your life. like see the biggest thing about knowing god is you actually it comes so naturally you know like the other thing is that you know when people ask me right this is the question that i said that a lot of you guys will ask is how did you get to a place where you are just so unapologetically speaking so outwardly about your faith and your relationship with the lord is like when you truly have and this isn't me bragging this is what god is done for me though y'all like this is just what he's done for me and of course i think a lot of it also

does come with like just discipline and and just wanting to prioritize him every day because the thing is is like you know we said spending time with god early in the morning is going to set the tone of your whole day but like it actually slowly changes just your entire life though the amount of time that i spend with the lord i really truly believe is the only reason that i feel so bold about speaking about him he's just poured all of this confidence into me so yes spending time with him every day helps me day to day, but I think that it is ultimately like built such a strong relationship with him where I am not afraid of talking about him online or talking about him and people in my life, for the most part, I'm still learning and I'm still growing and there's still things that I probably

will always want to work on in my faith. And, you know, there are times where I wish I spoke up more about God. But ultimately, I got to this place through him and, and creating a relationship with him that is so prioritized, you know? And also I pray about it. And I literally ask God. I beg him. I say, use me, Lord. Use me, please.

I will do anything. I will go as far as you call me to God. I am willing to go anywhere with you, Lord. I want to be a vessel. I will literally beg him to use me. Because I have no purpose here on earth if it is not through the glory of him. So if I am not doing his will, my life is useless. That is truly what I believe.

And so I'll beg him. And I'll say, God, please give me the courage today and tomorrow and forever. God, I just want to honor you every single day that I can. So please use me. Please use me. Please give me the courage. Please give me the boldness of just loving you boldly and unapologetically, God. Give me that.

All of our strength comes from him, y'all. Isaiah 4110. So do not fear. for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. That is such a known verse in the Bible. But even that, it is like all of my strength comes from him. All of my courage comes from him. All of my boldness comes from him. If you want to know where it comes from or how I got it, I got it from my God. I got it from my Jesus. He is the source of where all of it comes from.

and I beg him for it. I ask him for it because he is the only place that I could get it from. So also just pray on it. Like if you want to be more bold for Jesus, ask him for the boldness. The thing is, is God has promised us that anything that we pray for and anything we ask of him, he will give us as long as we ask him in faith. If you believe that he is capable of making you a bold Christian and somebody who is unapologetically just in love, like madly in love with the Lord, if that is the type of

person that you want to be, ask him for it. And also prioritize him, spend time with him every single freaking hecken day. Every day spend time with him. But we don't bring anybody to Jesus. Jesus brings everybody to Jesus. We don't lead anybody to the cross. God does. And so that is a stereotype that we need to break. We do as Christians. I'm going to be honest with y'all. we got to stop that, like for real, for real, because it's not going to lead anyone to the cross by pressuring, shoving it down anyone's throat, being judgmental of others, telling them that if they don't do this or that, they're going to hell. I mean, like, trying to scare people into Christianity and believing in God is not the way to do it either. Like, if anything, we can't lead anyone to the cross, but we can definitely lead people away from the cross. Y'all, that's a word. That's a word. We can't lead anyone to the cross, but we can get people spring.

rinting away from it. And as long as we are preaching the gospel in the wrong way, well, one, we are not doing God any justice. That's for sure. We're making him look real bad because we're doing everything opposite of what he tells us to do, which is to share his love and his light through patience and kindness. We're not supposed to scare people into Christianity. We're not supposed to tell them that they're going to go to hell. We're not supposed to force anybody into hearing us out about Jesus. There's no forcing your religious agendas on people. Like if you've got the wrong intentions, you are going to have people running from Jesus. 1 Peter 315 through 16. But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. Okay. So that says, always be prepared that if somebody's going to ask you about why you're so hopeful,

why are you such a happy person, we all need to be prepared. to say it comes from Christ, right? Christ as Lord. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. If that isn't one of the most powerful verses that I've read so far in the Bible, y'all, I got to read that last half one more time, y'all. But do this with gentleness and respect keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. Okay.

What the Bible is saying here is that if somebody questions you or challenges you as to where you get your hope and your happiness and your peace from and you say, I get it from Christ. He's good. He's so good. You want to know him? And they go, I don't want to know him. no God, your fairy-tailed sky daddy that doesn't exist. I don't want to know anything about him and they slander you and they're mean to you and they're unkind to you, right? And they're talking down on you

and your God. And it is easy to get defensive in that minute, right? Because just like I would defend any other family member of mine, I mean, you know I'm going, I am going to defend my God, okay? But he has clearly told us that we cannot fight back with that same sense. of slander. We cannot dish back what they're given because one, that's not what Jesus would do. And two, as long as you are standing your ground in kindness and patience and controlling your emotions, right? We're human. So it's going to be hard. But as long as we do do that, where people are testing us in those moments, show them, you want to know what we convince them so much more that Jesus is real is if you don't budge in your kindness. Like, you're not. You know, you're not. You

Don't budge. Don't stoop down to their level. Because if we're Christians walking this earth talking about how good God is and that our happiness and our hope and our faith comes from him, it is very contradicting if in that same moment

we then are cussing this person back and being malicious back, that is not a believer in God. And honestly, you are not representing him very well at all. You are not looking like a true believer in God. That's for sure. And also, you're making him look really bad. You're preaching one thing that he's so good and he's full of light and love,

but then you're doing another thing and you're not acting in light and love, no matter how they treat you. Because one, you would be proving even more so how real God is by reacting in kindness, right? Gentleness and respect. But your good behavior would also put that person to shame. Like they will literally, and I'm talking even like even, even I'm in, doing this a lot in the comment sections of my videos where people are unkind to me and I will respond to them with so much love and say that like they are truly in my prayers but I don't do it in a

care in way where I'm like well bless your heart on you're in my prayers no I mean like I'm genuine where I'm like I really do pray that God softens your heart and I am so sorry for anything that you have gone through that has made you so resentful towards the world and like strangers online like I I am truly praying for you and I hope that you find him one day. And he's able to give you the same light and peace that he's given me. Like God bless you, sister or brother, God bless your friend, you know? And just truly treating people with kindness because you are also immediately going to put them to shame because it's just going to be embarrassing for them. And of course, we don't ever want to like embarrass anybody, but you're really proving them wrong in that moment, even more so without even having to like explain any further.

It's like, okay, well, you don't believe in God and you're acting with maliciousness and you're being extremely unkind. I'm telling you how good my God is because he brings light and love into the world and I'm acting with love. So, you know, like anyone from the outside seeing that, you're proving my point even more. And I'm proving my point even more so, you know? Anyway, we are called to do all things through gentleness and respect. And that goes for also spreading the gospel. have to do it with gentleness. We have to do it with kindness. We have to do it with compassion. We have to do it with empathy. We have to do it. Because if we don't, we are not given our God justice. That's for one thing. We're

not making him look very good. And two, it's contradicting. It's contradicting to go around and preach about how good God is and he's light and love. And, you know, we were made in the image of him. So we hold this thing in us called the Holy Spirit, which is also light and love. But then we're acting without light and love. and we're slandering others and we're being malicious back to people who are malicious to us. That's why God also calls us to not fight evil with evil. There is no eye for an eye. It is we are going to respond to evil with blessings. And so if anyone rejects you for spreading the gospel, that is okay.

Just continue to treat them with kindness and love them through it. And also pray that God leads them home because that is the only person who can truly lead anybody home. But it is our job to plant seeds and spread the gospel and spread the gospel and spread the good news and talk about how good our God is and how he's changed our lives. And so when I began this episode with using the word generosity, obviously God has used plenty of examples of how we need to be generous to others. And I think when we think of generosity, we also mainly think about giving money and being generous with, you know, the money that God has blessed us, which could be another topic for the episode. But generosity in the sense of like, let's not be selfish with our God. Let's not

gate keep him. Let's let's there's more than enough God to go around y'all and I heard something I don't know if it was my pastor who said it or if I saw it online. I can't remember but somebody was speaking and they had said you know I envisioned one time I envisioned you know the day where you know Jesus comes back and I knew him and I prioritized him and I spent time knowing him and you know I end up reuniting with Jesus and I'm going up to heaven and I turn around though and I see all the people in my life who I didn't bother to tell about Jesus right they weren't believers but I didn't go out of my way to share the gospel I didn't go out of my way to share the good news with them and I turn around and they say to me they go why didn't you tell me? Wait a minute why didn't you tell me that he was real? Why didn't you tell me that

you knew him? Wait you're telling me that you're going to heaven with him to spend eternity with him and like why didn't you tell me y'all that broke my heart, like to envision, like somebody who could have so desperately needed you to tell them about Jesus and how he changed your life and you chose not to. And yeah, it's all good. It's all good that you got to go to heaven. But how selfish is that to not tell others? Y'all, if that wasn't a freaking heavy word today, I literally, I think I'm about to actually just like sit down and contemplate everything that just came out of my mouth because I'm in shock right now. That was such an incredible message. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. What a blessing of an

episode this was. This was so good. I take no credit for this at all. Oh my gosh, I'm grateful. I feel blessed. I hope that y'all do. I hope that this spoke to every single person listening right now. And I just appreciate y'all so much for being here and for loving Jesus with me. This is so much fun. I've never been so on fire for anything in my life. And I think that's because we were meant to be on fire for the Lord. Like that's what he created us to be. Created us to have a relationship with him. And I'm just, I feel so blessed. I feel so blessed to be here with y'all. And I, I encourage all of us to continue to pray for each other, pray over this podcast and pray that we can seriously change the world with this podcast, you know, just within our community. But I mean, another way to spread

the gospel is share this freaking podcast. If there's somebody in your life that you think could truly benefit from hearing this podcast, this alone. Like there's so many ways to spread the gospel. So I challenge all of us this week and forever and always. But this week, if you really have been lacking in the department of spreading the word and spreading the good news, y'all, let's do it. Like let's do it this week. Get a freaking bumper sticker. Write on some note cards that say Jesus hears you. He loves you. He's with you. And put it on someone's car. Put it on someone's door. step, put it on your neighbors, don't, like, just spread the freaking gospel, get creative with it. I want every single one of us to do it. And it, again, like I said, it is the least that we could do

for our God. He is so good and he is so faithful. And I know that it makes him smile to see us spreading that love to our other brothers and sisters. Like, you know, he's got to be such a proud dad to watch us do that, because that is the truth, y'all. He is the truth. He is the life. He is the light. He is the way. And that's just got to make him so proud to see. Well, I love you guys. Why don't we show somebody how cool Jesus is today, huh? I want you guys. Let's just show somebody why Jesus is so cool.

Let's act a little bit more like Jesus today. Let's walk more like Jesus today. I love y'all. I have so much faith in you. Thank you for being here, and I will see you next week. If you guys can't wait until next Friday for another episode, you are in luck. Subscribe to our Patreon where you will have early access to future episodes and occasional surprise bonus episodes.

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