Christ With Coffee On Ice - you aren't tolerated by God, you are wanted by Him

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

Hey y'all ! Welcome to another Friday with CWCOI ! In this week's episode, our host, Ally Yost opens up the Bible and leads us through Ephesians 1. There's is nothing more fruitful then reading the Word of God together and diving deeper into what Jesus has for us. We know that you guys have expressed loving these types of episodes so please let us know what you'd like us to read through next :) "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." Ephesians 1:5 _____________________________________________ ☆ Download the FREE Upside app now to find out how much money you could earn. Use code 'ONICE' to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas ➤ https://www.upside.com ☆ Give now to end hunger ➤ FeedingAmerica.org ☆ Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to ➤ www.Quo.com/COFFEEONICE ☆ Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University ➤ GCU.edu ☆ OUR NEW MERCH IS LIVE! SHOP AT: https://allyyost.com ☆ MY BIBLE (code 'ALLYYOST' at checkout) ➤ https://hosannarevival.com/products/nlt-notetaking-bible-versailles-theme ☆ TUMBLER LINK ➤ https://allyyost.com/products/cwcoi-glass-tumbler-white _____________________________________________ 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/

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with coffee on ice. I am your host, Ellie Oast. It is a joy and honor to be here with you guys today. Happy Friday, everybody. We made it. We made it through the week. I transparently would just love to give you guys a little update. So I'm going to be honest. I almost didn't make it here today. I had texted my editor, Katie, last night. Because as of recording right now, this episode goes live in like two days, which typically we are

always on top of it. We're always ahead by a couple of weeks. And I have not sat in the studio to record in over a week, almost two weeks. And I could not get myself to record this week at all. And it was like day after day of me being like, all right, Katie, I'm going to really try to record today.

and then it wouldn't happen, I just genuinely would not have it in me to do it, or to do most of anything at all. Like, it wasn't even just recording. It was like, I couldn't do, I couldn't wash my hair. It wasn't in everything shower. I, I had a slick back all week this week. So last night, I was just like, I just felt so down. And I was like, I can't record this week. And so I told her, I was like, Katie, I think we're going to have to do a rerun this week. And maybe I could just do like a quick little, recording in the beginning to be like, hey guys, so sorry about this episode. Like, it might be one you've already heard. Anyway, long story short is I woke up this morning.

I went and I did my workout and I spent time with God. And I was like, no, I'm not throwing in the towel this week. I'm going to push. And so that's what we're doing. And I am really grateful to be here with you guys. and I washed my hair obviously. I did my makeup. I put on a cute outfit. I'm wearing a skirt today. I'm wearing a skirt? Yeah, it's been a while since I've really like put an effort into how I look. I haven't done it all week.

And so I was like, this actually feels really good. And my hopes were high this morning. I felt like I had woken up and I was like, I can do this and I can do this with Jesus and I need him every step of the way but yeah we're doing it we're here and um yeah I think transparently like a lot of the stuff that I was sharing with you guys last week there's just been more that God has been walking me through and to put it in simplest terms is I have never been so desperate for the presence of God in my life and I know that that probably isn't gonna be the last time I say that. Like, this is just the journey. And yeah, I've just never had to face anything like this, I think, in my journey with Jesus as until now, you know? Like, I've been walking with him for three years and I've never had to go through something so

stripping, so humbling. Um, and it's so funny, like truly the only thing I can compare it to of what it feels like is it feels like grief. Like some days, I'm so, so down bad and I can't move and I don't want to get up from a position of either laying in my bed or on my couch. I can't respond to anybody. There have been a couple times where I'm like, am I depressed? I'm okay. I'm fine. But like that's grief, right?

Is it just like hits you in waves and then some days you wake up and you're like, all right, we're okay. Your world is not actually collapsing. It may feel like that right now, Al, but everything's okay. and like truly God genuinely has you and so it's just um yeah it's felt like grief and it's been humbling I've been deeply humbled by God through this and I don't think I'm done I don't think he's done yet I it's also in it's put even more of just fear of the Lord in me like the ways that he's seen things in me that I had no idea we're there. I'm like, oh my gosh, you are God.

You don't know. Like, I don't know. When you're humbled by God, you're like, oh, yeah, you're God. Not that I ever forgot that, but I do think that there's, there's, sometimes we can have a bit of a subconscious pride about how we operate, especially when things are comfortable and things are going really well and you're like, everything's good, you know? It's like kind of easy to fall into that.

Anyway, I don't know if I'm making any sense. now, but ultimately all I'm saying is still going through it, but grateful for going through it because it means that God has something beautiful on the other end. And it's been wildly challenging. One of the most confronting seasons I've had to go through with Jesus, but I'm grateful for it. And I'm really looking forward to who he is creating me to be. I'm excited to meet her. And yeah, we're just all still a work in progress. And it's good to be humbled by God. I just think sometimes when we get knocked down like this

and you get humbled in one way, shape, or form in life and you just really remember who God is and you really remember who you are. And I think a lot of ways that I've been living until I've been going through what I've been going through in the last few weeks, probably almost a month now, is I am not that big.

and I also have been I've been trying to carry things on my own I've been trying to control I've been trying to still be my own God in some ways and I think it's just all been I think a lot of it has been my thinking patterns I think it's a lot of it is internal yeah I'm not gonna get okay I'm gonna stop there

because I really don't want to share too much before I actually really know what the heck is going on because I've had I've had a lot of revelation but I'm definitely I'm not out of it yet so I think it'd be really cool to be able to share it completely and holy when I'm out of it you know okay anyway praise God for today I'd love to pray too let's pray guys um yeah no we're gonna pray have grace have grace for me in this episode because I don't know I'm not I'm not gonna give as clear today I fear I fear I feel fear my brain is not going to be giving a ton of clarity but we're doing it okay we're just going to

give 100% of what we have today so um yeah let's just pray lord we thank you for your presence god we thank you for your discipline jesus we thank you for the ways that you allow us to go through trials and suffering lord we praise you through the suffering we thank you for what you have planned for us god Thank you for Jeremiah 29-11 that says that you actually have plans to prosper us and give us hope in a future. So, Lord, we lift up today to you, God, and we ask for hope. We ask for more of hope from your Holy Spirit. We ask for a refreshing from your Holy Spirit, God.

We ask for a renewing of your mind, of our minds. We ask for your renewal of our minds. Holy Spirit wash us clean of any doubt or shame. or unconfessed sin, if there's any sin or any ways that we've been living, even ways that we've been thinking, things that we've been believing about ourselves or about you or about our circumstances, Lord, I just pray right now, Holy Spirit, you bring those things to our mind and we are able to just repent of those things and let it go and come out of agreement with those things that play in our minds on loop. and if there's ways that we've been thinking that we actually haven't even been that aware of, Lord, Holy Spirit,

will you actually bring awareness to the unhealth that could be going on under the surface, behind the scenes, subconsciously Jesus? And we ask for your mercy and your grace as you continue to uproot these things out of us. We ask for your comfort, Lord, we need you. Thank you, Lord, that you are the healer, but you are also the one that binds up our wounds. and so God we ask for your healing and we ask for you to just bind up any boo-boos once they've been exposed and you've showed us that that's not actually how we're called to live

it's not how we're called to believe who we are or who you are thank you Jesus for calling us higher thank you Jesus that you actually encourage us to take on your yoke which is easy and light help us to trust you more today to trust you more in the plans that you have for us, that you are our father, which means you take care of us. We don't have to perform. We don't have to earn your love.

We don't have to earn the things in our lives. Like we just have to lean on you and trust that you are our dad. Lord, remind us if we've forgotten what it means to believe in you as our father. And so we pray all these things. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray for a good day today. a good day that is filled with your hope and joy in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you for joining that with me, guys. Sorry, the episode's not over. I just met the prayer. I'll close my eyes for so long praying. I open my eyes and I see these lights and I'm like, good morning. Whoa. Jesus, do it. Do it. Do it. It's painful.

But it's for our good. So do it, Lord. Um, okay, today. Have you noticed my cup. I messed up. So I put my cup in the dishwasher, which you're not supposed to do. Okay, it says it in the description. It says it when you buy it. It's not dishwasher safe. You got to hand wash it. Well, I got a little lazy one day

and I put it in the dishwasher and now it says crite with coffee on ice. No s. It's gone. Um, but Jesus is still on the back. He's untouchable. But yeah, that's unfortunate. That's my fault. And we do have matcha on ice, which I know is like totally off brand because this podcast is called Christ with coffee on ice. But today we have crit with matcha on ice. And this matcha I made, ooh, I made it myself. I made it all by myself. I made it all by my sialf. And I say that because I think a few episodes ago I was showing you guys this brand that I've been.

using. Guys, thanks for life. I need to laugh today. Can we laugh a little bit? Oh, I need to laugh. I haven't laughed in a few days and I need to genuinely laugh today. Holy Spirit, bring your joy. Please. We need your joy. I don't know what I would do without it. I think I would actually literally die. I would die without it. So today we live and we laugh. Okay. And we love. We live laugh, love. Stop, Allie. That's the most, okay. That was very Hobby Lobby. boomer of me, but Hobby Lobby kind of rocks, though. You could find some gems in Hobby Lobby. Sorry. What was I saying? Oh, don't put your cup in the dishwasher. That's what I was telling you guys. Otherwise, your cup will no longer say Christ with coffee on ice. It's going to be crit. I don't know

who that is. Um, I ordered a new one. I ordered two more, actually. I ordered the white one here, which, by the way, this is available. I don't know. Sorry, if you're new here, hey. This is not a normal episode. So if this is your first impression of me, I'm actually so sorry. Click on some of my better episodes. We've just been going through it a little bit, but that's all right. We'll get back up because we have Jesus. Oh my gosh. Because we have his Holy Spirit. Okay. So where you can get your crit with coffee on ice cup is off of alios.com. We just launched these, which is so exciting and a bunch of really awesome, epic, incredible, amazing merch. We're going to put it on the screen here. We're Faves, Faves, Faves.

I'm so, I've never been so proud. I don't want to say of anything, but I've never been so proud of a launch, to be honest. It's pretty epic and amazing. I love these pieces so much, and we worked really hard on them for a couple months. No pressure, you don't have to buy it. Just look at them. Just look at them and give me a thumbs up and be like, yep, I like that, Al.

But if you really like them, wear one. It's the best. And it's the best excuse to evangelize and tell people about the goodness of God and how love they are by Jesus. Yes. Yeah. Oh, no, I wasn't actually... Okay. I was telling you about my matcha. I made it from scratch, kind of. Well, I got the powder, and then you do it with the hot water, and then you stir it up with a little thingy, and then you pour it. I did all that today. But can I tell you guys? And then I promise we'll get into the Bible. I promise we'll get into the Word of God. But let's just hang out for a second. Okay, I have to tell you guys. Oh, another life update is this. Where did that come from? So I've been going through it lately And I can't get any comfort really from anything else other than God That okay

Can I tell you guys It's not even just the battle of what God is putting me through Like where he's like we he has been literally pruning the living bejibers out of me I'm dying every day Maybe that's why it feels like grief Because I'm actually physically dying It feels like every day If you're new here you just got to get used to the drama

There's drama I'm just a little I'm just a girl Okay, so there's that aspect, but then what I've been going through, I promise this ties back to the matcha. And actually, believe it or not, also this squishy guy. I got them off Amazon. So I have been going through this journey of serious gut issues. Aren't we all? Raise your hand. Raise your hand if you've been going through gut issues.

Same. For years, probably my whole life, but for a majority of my life, you guys kind of know this about me already. you've been, you know, an active listener of the podcast. I've shared with you guys how I've been on this new journey of wellness and fitness and eating well and moving my body. Look at, I have biceps now. It's awesome. I'm the healthiest I've ever been in my life, spiritually and now physically. A majority of my life, your girl wasn't moving. She wasn't even going on a daily walk. And I think it was one of two things. One, it just wasn't the lifestyle I was living. I think also when you grow up in upstate New York on the East Coast.

The East Coast isn't super great about nutrition. We like our stuff fried and we love potatoes and we really like dairy and Taco Bell. So it's like I just didn't eat the healthiest probably for a majority of my life. My parents would try to get me to eat vegetables but like I have this funny story actually and to this day I still don't really like peas. If you love peas, we might be enemies now. Just kidding. You're still my friend, but you're weird to me. I don't like peas.

And I have this memory of my friend Val. She came over. We've been friends since forever. She came over for a family dinner, and I ate everything on my plate, but I refused to eat my peas. And there was a rule that my dad wouldn't let us leave with dinner table if we didn't finish our veggies. But, I mean, I'd been sitting there for a hot minute. And I was like, I'm not. I'm, I'm, and so my parents were like, Val, do you want the peas?

So Val loved peas. She may still love peas. I should call her and ask. But, yeah, so she ate my peas for me. But anyway, I just didn't really like, no. And then as soon as I went out on my own in life, I just started eating whatever the heck I wanted to. And I'm in my early 20s, okay? My metabolism rocked.

So it didn't matter what I ate. I still looked fine. Now granted on the inside, I'm sure all of my body parts were probably like, Allie, we can't have Taco Bell again. Chipotle again? Yeah. So I went all of my life eating like that. And then in the last couple years, I've decided it was really a conviction where I was like,

I can't keep treating my body like this. My body is a gift. It's not even mine. This body is a gift from the Lord, you know? Treat it right, Al. don't be doing all i didn't know i could stretch it like that should i be or is it going to break so because of that it actually ended up messing up my gut which was so confusing to me because i was like wait a minute i'm eating healthy now though but i think the truth is is that my gut was so used to eating all of the

really awful processed nasty fried greasy stuff lots of cheese that now that i'm eating like a normal normal person. Shocker. I'm eating the things I'm supposed to eat. My stomach's like, what planet are we on now? So my stomach has been wrecked and I think it's also affected my skin. I've told you guys about my skin journey. I've had theories of what's going on with my skin. I think it's all internal. Like genuinely. And I've also learned that like obviously your skin is the biggest organ of your body, but it is such a telling factor of what could be happening internally. And so I'm going down this like naturopath thing with a doctor

where they do it all naturally and they know what they're talking about. I did my research, great reviews, yada, yada. And I'm now on this like protocol, food protocol of things I can eat and can't eat anymore. While also giving me supplements. Because the thing is, is that we want to heal my gut naturally. I don't want to just be put on a bunch of medication. Also found out, this might be TMI.

I don't care. As long as you guys don't care, I don't care. I also apparently had an overgrowth of yeast in my stomach, which I didn't even know could happen. But I was like, what does that mean? And they said that that can actually happen from going from one drastic thing to an ex. Are there doctors listening?

Does this sound right to you? Anyway. any gut doctors out there so because of that we've now had to do like this anti-inflammatory diet protocol where I'm cutting out all foods that would encourage that yeast to stay alive because the yeast has to feed off of something and eat off of something which is typically anything of sugar or major carbs and dairy so I can't eat any of those things and when I listed off like that like it's just three things it doesn't sound like it's that much. It's almost everything. I can't have any dairy, no butter. I can't have any sugar at all, including fruit. No natural or artificial or processed. I mean, you especially shouldn't be having those sugars anyway, but I can't even have natural sugar. Can't have honey. I can't have any sweeteners. I pretty much can only have like, obviously no seed oils, but we shouldn't be having

seed oils anyway. And I realize seed oils actually wreck me. Um, I pretty much can only have meat and vegetables. So I'm on week three right now. And that alone has felt like a fast and like dying to self. Oh my gosh. The first week, I was getting headaches. I was definitely going through withdrawal. I've never cut out.

I can't have bread. I can't have any rice. Like cauliflower rice is what I'm living off of right now. But yeah. It's been crazy, you guys. I can't have vinegar. Anyway, you don't need to know. But I made my matcha from scratch because that pre-packaged one that I love so much that has like the vanilla flavoring in it, it has sugar in it.

And so I can't have it. But there are substitutes. And you know what? This has actually been such a learning experience for me. I can't have DoorDash. Guys, my bank account will actually be really grateful for it because I do be DoorDash in too much. But I can't DoorDash. I can't eat out. I can't go to restaurants. So there are, you know, there's pros. It's forcing me to learn how to

meal prep and cook, like daily. Otherwise, I won't be eating. Like, I have to, I actually have to prepare all my meals and eat all of them. And so there are substitutes that help, like, kind of, like, itch the sweet tooth. And I really do want to still have some kind of, like, flavoring to my drinky poos, you know, like my macha or whatever. And so monk fruit. And, and, also I've been using so much vanilla extract. So I put both of those in this and it's lovely with unsweetened almond milk.

But yeah, we're hanging in there guys. But it's just been a double whammy. I'm like, God, why both of these at the same time? Like, I'm going through this whole process with my gut physically and then there's a bunch of stuff he's walking me through spiritually

mind, mental. And I'm like, I am, okay, sure. Why not do it all at once? You know what? Sure. That's what pruning is, right? I mean, I am being stripped. Naked.

Stripped freaking naked. I feel naked right now. I feel like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. I'm like, where are the leaves? Where are the fig leaves? I need to cover myself. I'm scared and I'm naked. And I can't go to food for comfort.

Like everything, Lord, you are doing a new thing and I am so obsessed with you. I'm so grateful for you. It's fine. I forgive you. I'm not even mad at you. There's nothing to forgive, actually. This is good for me.

I can't even go to food for comfort. Like when I'm, this whole week I've been describing to you guys of being down bad and so like, owchy. All I want to do is eat ice cream. Even healthy ice cream. Even ice cream that's just sweetened with honey. You guys know ice cream for berries? That's like my new thing. I love their ice cream and it's like a third of the calories of a Ben and Jerry. It's great. But it's dairy and there's honey. I can't even have healthy substitutes right now. I can't have potatoes, so I can't even have healthy potato chips. I tried to cook some cucumbers and put them in the oven and make them chips, and that didn't work. I had them in the oven for two hours and it just wasn't. I just in my mind, I was like, ooh, they'll be crispy. chips it didn't happen so anyway guys just send your prayers so with all that being said

it's this squishy guy and jesus that have been bringing me comfort and of course the word of god but geez jesus in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god so jesus oh that was actually pretty good al you did that guys what do we read today he looks like a dot you know the dot candies if all i have in me today is to just simply entertain you guys is that okay because that's what this episode is giving we're almost a half an hour through and all i've done is really just kind of entertain and blab if that's all i have in me and i don't really have a big old message for you is that all right peep beep i also really miss i really miss um smart sweets sweet smarts what's are called and i miss allie pops guys i can't drink

golly pops. All right, enough about me. How are you guys doing? Okay, let's read the Bible. I felt Ephesians for whatever reason. Oh, I have my blue Bible back with me today. I've been doing my yellow one.

I've had it for weeks now, and I love my yellow one, but I was like, this one matches my outfit. And I miss my blue one. So we have the Holy Bible with us today. This is the NLT translation. She is from Hosanna Revival. my fave I shout them out every episode at this point they're the best you guys are welcome to use my code it's ali yost at checkout it wasn't working for a little bit a couple weeks ago because they were doing

like a major sale so if that happened to you I promise the code is probably active now I don't think they're doing that sale anymore but for a second if that ever happens it's probably like just go to their webs if they're like doing like a major like site-wide sale um they said that they typically deactivate any like affiliated codes. So, but it should always be working forever. I think if we're being honest with each other, there are a lot of things about our everyday lives that we don't have to think about that other people do.

Certain privileges like three meals a day. Some of us may not have to worry about hunger, but other people do. And every active change begins with a neighbor, with someone saying we can take care of each other here. In food banks and food pantries, neighbors pack fresh food and dignity. into every box, moving from farms to families through Feeding America's nationwide network. So when that box reaches a home, it carries more than food. It carries a promise that together we can end hunger.

Feeding America led by neighbors. Give now to end hunger at feedingamerica.org. Okay, so this is for all my entrepreneurs and business owners that are listening. Do you ever realize how many customers actually slip through the cracks? That's missed calls, follow-ups that never happen. And it adds up fast. But that's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelled QUO. The business communication system built so you never miss a call.

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I feel like there's a good reason We needed to read Ephesians today So today we're going to read the Word of God How does that sound? And everybody cheers I'm just going to read Ephesians to you And you guys have been really loving These kinds of episodes

I love them too Like genuinely I think there's nothing more fruitful than reading the Word of God and just kind of like, I don't know, processing along with each other. And if we go on like little side quests and just like, I don't know, it's fun. So let's do it. If you have your Bibles with you. Good job. If you don't, that's okay. If you're near one though, pick it up. Let's read it together. If you're capable of reading the Bible with me, let's do it together. I just think it's the best when we're able to read along.

And you can have your highlighter and you can write notes, all those good things. But if you're not able to, you know, if you can't get to a Bible, that's okay, I'll read it to you. Or if you're driving a car, don't do that. I'll just read it to you. Don't do that. Okay, so Ephesians 1.1. Right at the top. Greetings from Paul.

We love Paul. Thank you, Jesus for Paul. God, thank you for Paul. This letter is from Paul. chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to God's holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual

blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy, and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Christ Jesus. Actually, it's Jesus Christ, but same, same thing. Does your brain ever do that? Where it just kind of like puts things. Okay.

This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ, which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan. At the right time, he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

Okay. We've only read nine verses, and I feel like we already could actually need to stop for a second, because that was so rich. Oh, wow. Okay. Let's just take a second. There's a lot there, right? There's a lot to process there. Okay.

big theme here overall theme from what we're getting paul you really laid it down brother okay Ephesians one one through 111 is what we just read it is actually one of the richest passages in the new testament because it opens with a sweeping picture of what god has done for believers through jesus what apostle paul is essentially trying to do for believers right now is he wants us believers to know that our identity is not based on what we have done, but on what God has done for us. The overall message right now is that God chose. He chose. It's, what was the one part that stuck out to me? God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do. This is what he wanted to do.

Wait, we're not done. And it gave him great pleasure. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family. By bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, that is what he wanted to do. And it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us, who belonged to his dear son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his son and forgave our sins.

He is so rich in kindness and grace. I think we forget that this isn't a contract. This wasn't an agreement where God just has to like hold his end, you know? Like he made an agreement with us. He did. if I give my son as a sacrifice and you accept him, you will be saved. So he's holding up his end of the, quote, agreement, but he wanted to. He chose it in advance, actually.

Before you existed, before any of us ever existed, he had already made that decision. It was like, yeah, I want to. And honestly, it actually brings me joy. We forget that God is rich in kindness and grace. It's actually in him choosing. He wants to. And he wants to because it actually brings him joy to love you, to restore you. It gave him great pleasure to sacrifice his one and only son for us.

Before you were born, before you succeeded or failed, before you could earn anything. God's love and plan were already at work. You aren't merely tolerated by God. you are welcomed into his family many people even christians live as though god merely puts up with them they imagine him as a disappointed father who reluctantly lets them stay in the house because jesus convinced him to but that's not the picture ephesians paints paul doesn't say god allowed you into his family he says god adopted you adoption is active intentional desired a tolerated child is one who is endured. An adopted child is one who is chosen.

Toleration says, I guess you can stay. Don't cause problems. Try not to disappoint me. You barely belong. Adoption says, I wanted you. I chose you. You belong here. You carry my name. Everything I have is now yours. That's why Paul emphasizes that God chose us before the creation of the world. He's trying to remove the fear that God accepted us only after weighing our performance. God didn't look at your life and say, well, she's difficult, but I suppose I'll let her in. He said, I want her. For a lot of people, their relationship with God becomes shaped by their experience with people.

if you've ever felt like a burden too emotional, too needy, too much, not enough, difficult to love, then it's easy to project that onto God. And you begin approaching him like someone trying not to be kicked out. You apologize for taking up space. You hide parts of yourself. You assume he's frustrated. You think his love fluctuates based on your latest performance. But family doesn't work that way.

When a little child runs into her father's room at 2 a.m., she doesn't stop and think, have I been good enough today to deserve entry? She simply comes because she knows where she belongs. That's the kind of confidence Paul is describing. The Greek word for adoption in Ephesians literally carries the idea of being placed as a son or daughter with full legal standing. God didn't bring you into the family as a second. class member. He didn't give you a seat at the kids' table while the real children sit somewhere else. He gave you full status, full belonging, full inheritance, and full access. Which means when you pray,

you're not approaching God as a stranger trying to get his attention. You're approaching him as his daughter. Not because of what you've done, but because of what Christ has done. Something else that stands out in Ephesians 1 is that Paul says God adopted us in love, not out of obligation, not because he lost a bet, not because nobody else would take us. Love was the motivation. The father wanted a family, and he wanted you in it. I think one of the enemy's favorite lies is God loves you, but he doesn't really like you. Yet when I read Ephesians 1, I see the opposite. I see a father who planned for his children before the world began, a father who paid a tremendous price to bring them home.

father who calls them his inheritance and treasure, a father who doesn't merely tolerate their presence but delights in it. For someone who has spent years wondering whether they are too much or not enough, Ephesians answers with a simple truth, you are not God's tolerated guest. You are his welcomed daughter or son, and daughters and sons don't earn their place in the family. They live from it. And if you guys are wondering what I just read, believe it or not, that was her. chat and it absolutely destroyed me oh my gosh all i did was ask chat if it could just help like lean in a little bit more of what it means to not be tolerated by god but to be welcomed into his family and that's what chat just said gas groceries eating out even on the tightest budget there's no escaping them but here's

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I'll see you next time. Oh, man, I needed that. Is anyone else weepy right now? I needed that so bad. I need to print that out actually. I literally put it on my wall and read it every day. It's so hard to not feel like a burden to God sometimes or an obligation. It's so hard to remember that it's like he literally just chose to love you and wants to keep loving you. And he made that decision before you did anything ever. Jesus. God, who are you? Like truly who is God? Who is that guy? I don't get it. I think I will live my entire life like knowing God, but I don't. I don't understand it. Who are you? I don't understand that

kind of mercy and grace and kindness. I don't know what that means. All right, we're not done. Let's keep going. I want to read one more thing to you guys though. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Living from a place in God's family instead of for your place in God's family changes almost everything. Okay, because my next question to chat after that, this is me, genuine, I just want to know. I do. How does someone live from it? Because the last thing that chat said in that last statement was, and daughters and sons don't earn their place in family, they live from it. So my question is, okay, so how does somebody do that? Living from your place in God's family instead of for your place in God's family changes almost everything. When we're living for our place, we're constantly trying to secure something we fear we could lose.

When we're living from our place, we're operating from something that's already been given. Here are a few examples. Instead of performing, you can abide. Living for God's approval sounds like, I need to have a good quiet time so God will be pleased with me. I messed up today. God must be disappointed. If I pray enough, read enough, serve enough, then maybe I'll be close to him. Living from your adoption sounds like I'm already his daughter, so I want to spend time with him. I can bring my failures to him because he already knows and loves me.

I'm not trying to earn closeness. I'm enjoying it. Instead of hiding, you can be honest. Think about Adam and Eve after they sinned. They hid. That's often our instinct, too. when we believe we're merely tolerated, we hide our weaknesses, struggles, questions, and wounds. But children who know they're loved tend to run toward their parents when they're hurt. Living from adoption means praying things like, God, I'm jealous right now, God, I'm afraid, God, I don't trust you in this area, God, I'm hurting, not because those things make him happy, but because you're secure enough to be honest. Instead of striving for identity, you receive identity.

When we don't know who we are, we look to other people to tell us. We adapt, we perform, we seek affirmation. We become who we think others need us to be. But adoption says, your identity was settled before anyone else's opinion entered the conversation. You don't have to become valuable. You already are. You don't have to become lovable.

You already are. You don't have to become enough. In Christ, you already belong. Instead of fearing correction, you can trust it. A tolerated employee fears every, every meeting with the boss. A loved child can receive correction without questioning whether they're still a part of the family. When God convicts, disciples, or redirects you, the goal isn't rejection, it's growth. His correction comes from belonging, not as a prerequisite for belonging.

Instead of living with a scarcity mindset, you can rest. Many believers live as though God is reluctantly rationing his love, as though every mistake emptied the account a little more. But Ephesians 1 repeatedly talks about the riches of his grace. Riches, abundance, overflow. The Father is not looking for reasons to withdraw from you. He is looking for ways to draw you closer. Oh, my gosh. One practical way to tell whether you're living from adoption is to pay attention to what you do after you fail.

When you have a bad day, make a mistake, fall into an old pattern or disappoint someone. do you instinctively pull away from God or do you move toward him? A daughter or son may feel conviction, sadness, or regret, but he or she doesn't lose their place at the table. They know where their home is. And over time, living from adoption begins to sound less like, I hope God still wants me, and more like, because God wants me, I can face anything honestly.

That's the confidence Paul is trying to awaken in Ephesians 1. Before he tells believers how to live, he spends an entire chapter reminding them who they already are because lasting transformation doesn't start with behavior it starts with belonging i literally physically got to go like wow wow let's okay now what oh man there's so much to cook with now i need to i need to cook that needs to marinate that needs to I need that to settle and simmer into my literal spirits, mind-body soul. Wow. God is the best thing that's ever happened to us. Okay. Let's just finish Ephesians 1. God's purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.

And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth. The good news that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own. by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance, he promised, and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him. Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus

and your love for God's people everywhere, I had not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your heart will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called, his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead

and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realm. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else, not only in the world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body, which is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

I think our natural response, at least mine, and I don't know if you guys relate, but this is my natural response, is I, I read something like that. And I'm like, surely, how in the world could God actually gain anything from us? If I'm just being so for real, if I'm just being honest, because he's saying his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance, what could God possibly gain from us, from me, from you? After all, God lacks nothing. He doesn't need our accomplishments, our money, our talents, or our productivity. So why would he treasure us? The answer is because love doesn't value something merely for its usefulness. Love values the person. Think about a parent with a child's crayon drawing. Objectively, the drawing itself is worth nothing, but to the parent, it's priceless. Not because of what it is,

because of who it belongs to. Who made it? Who it was from? Throughout scripture, God repeatedly speaks to his people as his treasured possession. The Old Testament, he calls Israel his special treasure. In the New Testament, believers are described as a people belonging to God. Why? Because God delights in having a relationship with his children. Not because he needs them, but because he wants them. Sometimes we subconsciously think the gospel is God wanted servants, so he saved us to work for him. But the gospel is deeper than that. God wanted sons and daughters. A servant is valued for what they do. A child is valued for who they are. The cross reveals what something is worth to the one buying it. If you walked into an antique shop and saw someone pay a million dollars for an old vase,

you would immediately realize they must believe it has extraordinary value. The cross is God's declaration. of the value he places on his people, not because we were inherently deserving, not because we were impressive, but because his love determined our worth. Romans 5 says Christ died for us while we were still sinners, meaning he didn't wait until we became beautiful to love us. His love is what makes us beautiful.

I think many of us struggle in this because we evaluate ourselves by our weaknesses. God sees the finished work he is accomplishing. We see the half-restored house. He sees the completed home. We see the wound, but he sees the healed daughter or son. We see the failures, fears, and securities, and places we're still growing. He sees someone he loved before the foundation of the world,

and someone he is committed to restoring completely. What if God's inheritance isn't merely who you are today, but also who you are becoming? A sculptor looks at a block of marble and sees a masterpiece hidden inside. Everyone else sees a rock. God looks at his children and sees the image of Christ being formed in them. He sees the final restoration. He sees the day when every wound is healed, every false identity is gone, every tear is wiped away, and his children are fully alive in his presence.

And he says, that's mine. That's why the idea of being God's inheritance isn't really a statement about how impressive we are. It's a statement about how astonishing his love is. The wonder of Ephesians is not why would God want something as valuable as me. The wonder is why would a God who needs nothing choose to delight in me at all? And Paul's answer is simply because that's who he is. He is a father who loves having his children near him. So,

I'm left a little speechless after today's episode. I'm very grateful for it. And I'm going to be sitting for a long time. About all of that. Thank you, Jesus, for revelation. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Oh, guys, wow, what an episode. Thank you, Jesus.

Guys, thank you for being here. Thanks for letting snot kind of casually drip down my face. At this point, I think I should just have a tissue box. somewhere. I didn't. So I'm just like wiping my hand. Where's my squish? I'm just wiping my face with my hands. Anyway, great episode. Incredibly impactful for me. Hopefully impactful for you guys too. Wow. Thank you Jesus. Nothing I did. All of him. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you God. Thank you, Lord for speaking to us today. and I just pray God that everything that you had meant for this episode, just have your way with it. I pray every seed that was planted in us, God goes deep. Protect those seeds, Lord, we pray that you

are the one that will continue to water it and love it and nurture it. Thank you, Jesus. I'm really proud of you guys and it was really good to be back. I missed it. um we're in this together and yeah i love you i'll see you uh next next week same time same place i'm not gonna bail no matter how bad i may want to or maybe not maybe next week will be a better week but yeah um i will see you guys next week and i hope you have a beautiful weekend and before we go actually really quick can we just do something really cool today can we show somebody how cool jesus is can we walk more like him, talk more like him, be more like Jesus. But through like knowing that we're just a daughter or son, not out of striving. We're not going to strive to be more like Jesus. We're just going to believe

that because we've been adopted into the kingdom of God through Christ's sacrifice, that we have everything we need through His spirit. We don't need to try to be more like Jesus. We just need to believe that we already have what we need through him. And I do pray that over the next week, until we touch base again, that all of us stand up with our shoulders back a little more. Because we're remembering who we are and who we're loved by and that we're not a burden. And we're not anybody that God is putting up with, but it was simply a choice. And we just accept that. Whether it makes sense or not, we accept that it was a choice God made a long time ago where he chose you before anything. Thank you, Jesus. I love you guys.

I'll see you next week. Have a beautiful week. Okay, bye.