Girls Gone Bible - Spiritual Blindness| Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

hiiii GGB:)   In this episode of Girls Gone Bible, we read the story of Jesus healing the blind man and explore the deeper reality of spiritual blindness. What keeps us from seeing Jesus clearly? And what happens when He opens our eyes? We pray this conversation helps you encounter Him in a fresh way.   Teaching begins at    we love you soooooo much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari ORDER OUR BOOK! You can order our new book "Out of the Wilderness— 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons" at girlsgonebible.com/book   JOIN US ON GGB+ 🥹❤ https://ggb.supportingcast.fm/   COME SEE US ON TOUR: Tickets for our tour are now on sale. Go to https://www.GirlsGoneBible.com/tour WE LOVE YOU AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU!   BetterHelp Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/GIRLSGONEBIBLE   Glorify Get full access to Glorify for just $29.99 for the entire year at glorify-app.com/GGB   Boll & Branch Get 20% off your first order plus free shipping during the Memorial Day Sale at BollAndBranch.com/GGB with code GGB   Brodo Get 20% off your first subscription order plus an additional $10 off at Brodo.com/GGB   Fast Growing Trees Get an additional 20% off your first purchase at FastGrowingTrees.com with code GGB   Grand Canyon University Find your purpose at GCU. Visit gcu.edu to learn more   Just Thrive Health Start your 90-day risk-free trial and save 20% on your first order at JustThriveHealth.com/GGB with code GGB

Um, so do you see my bony elbow? I have bony elbows. I could hurt someone. You do have bony elbows and I honestly wish I could say the same, but I can't. You have great elbows. I have like a thick elbow. You don't say stuff like that. And it's also super wrinkly too.

Your elbow? It's like unbelievably wrinkly. You know that's called a weenis? You didn't know this is called a weenus, I swear. On my life, this part of your elbow is the weenis. No, to be confused. I've noticed that my legs get super ashy and you've taught me to just soak in creams. No, your skin has gotten so smooth.

You and your mom taught me that. No, my mom has taught me to put lotion on my body since I was a kid. You have gotten so soft. And like at night. Both physically and mentally. Yes. Why is Thomas dying today? You've gotten super soft.

Like when I touch your legs, Well, see, you know how we go to the Korean spa? So, yes. You do like, we go to the- I love the Korean spa. We get body scrubs at the Korean spa. So I, you know how they give us the mitts? Like the scrub mits?

Yeah, oh, I'm obsessed with those. I never used those after I left. Oh, I'm scrubbing my body with those like three or four times a week. And you're probably so soft. Well, you know I am. So soft. So, yeah, yeah. Well, can I tell you guys something?

So I've had, can I tell them? What? Do you know about the thing on my arm? No. I don't know if I can tell this. So I have like a pore in my arm. Okay. Is it like an ingrown or is it pop-able?

Because I would love to pop it. Well, I would like you pop it. Okay. So here's the thing. I love post too. No, you, no, you actually, it's actually disgusting. I love to pump my own pimples. You are high of pumping mine.

Yeah. For my birthday, I want one of those pimple pops. proper faces, you know? I want that. Listen, you would never leave the house. Oh, if I had that, I literally would never leave that. I'd bring it to dinner. I'd be popping pimples at dinner. But look, so I have this, I have this like pour in my arm. Can I see it? I've had it for two years. There's nothing in there. Look it right there. That little hole. Do you see that? Do you see that? Right there. Right there. So, and it like is a little bit raised. Every couple days, I get to pop it and something comes out. You're kidding. I swear. And it's been there for years. I don't know what

it is. It doesn't go away. GGB, like our medical GGB, can you guys tell me what you think that is? It's just like a pore in my arm that it fills up and then I get to... Do you get so excited every morning? I got so excited every time I know it's full. Is it like full pause? No, it's like literally like a little worm that comes out. This is weird. See, this is the stuff, Vange? This is the stuff that you don't get to see. Okay, it's fun. Did you have a smoothie?

Yeah, it's the wild blueberries, and then they... I know. I just saw in line that the dolosols, or what are they? Driscolls. The Driscoll strawberries give you cancer. I know. What can we eat? I don't know, but it's just like, I don't know if all...

Is that our business, like, genuinely? Do you think it's for us to worry about? Probably because, I don't know. And then I'm never eating raw sushi. Again, there's literally live parasites that are screaming around on the sushi. I just want you to guys to know there's a long list of things since becoming friends with Ari that I don't eat anymore because she tells me all of a sudden it gives you cancer or it has parasites. We can't eat sushi anymore. I saw a video with a live parasite.

There's so many parasites on them. All right. Anyways, get your wienuses off the table. Let's get into it. Okay, guys, what's up? Oh, I'm Ange. Okay, we've lost it. We've fully lost it.

That's the problem with me and you. Give us an open mic and it becomes... But we stay on one subject for too long and like... I know. It's past funny. I know. It's not funny anymore. It's funny.

for a couple minutes. I know. If there's a horse, we will beat it till instead. Oh, my favorite thing about me and Ari actually is we will talk about the same thing. Fix my hair? Shut up. Seriously. Shut up.

My favorite thing about me and Ari is that we'll talk about the same thing 10,000 times, but somehow always have it like a new angle to come at it. Yeah, and we can talk, like we'll be on the plane ride in five hours go by and we're still on. seen subject and we're like landed. Yeah, but we've attacked it from so many different angles. It's not. And it's still so fresh. And it's still so fresh.

We're not tired of talking about it. We love hearing each other talk and we love hearing ourselves talk about specific topics. And then we can get off the five hour flight after talking, leave, get on the phone. Get on the phone and keep talking. And it's like we haven't talked and we just keep talking. What are we talking about? I don't know. How have we not run out of things to talk about?

Because our lives are our movie. I'm Ange. And I'm Ari. This is what we do to each other. And this is Girls Gone Bible. We are a faith-based podcast where we talk all things, spirituality, mental health, the Bible. We love Jesus. We love the Word of God so much.

Oh, we both have little Bibles today. This is yours, by the way. It's my now. So is the shirt. It's my now. And we read the Bible here. What was I saying? We read the Bible.

A book. It's a book. So we read the Bible and we love Jesus so much. We are Christians and this is so, this is the best intro I've ever seen. When we're just so hard, Christians, we're all on this ride together. Welcome. Welcome. Hey, come as you are.

Just don't stay that way. Just don't say that way. We're doing our best and this is us. We're truly, truly doing our best. That's what I've realized more than anything. We're all just doing our best. Some people aren't doing their best, actually. Some people definitely aren't doing their best.

We weren't at one point. Whoa. Speak for yourself. Are we ever going to get bookmarks? I don't know, but this is yours. And I find a bunch of stuff. There's parking tickets in your Bible. Is that my Bible for real?

Yeah. It's my now. So is this shirt. I can't find my big Bible. I'm freaking out with all my notes. Wait. Do you have it? No.

So my Hosanna Bible that I like. wrote, I had so many notes in, but this is like such a blessing. I drove home with an Uber driver the other day, Joseph, the sweetest guy, literally, he was like a young guy, maybe 21 years old. And we're talking about Jesus the whole way. And he promised me that he was going to start praying. And he promised me he was going to start reading the Bible. When he dropped me off, I ran inside. And the first Bible that I saw to give to him was my Bible with like all my notes and all my stuff. I gave him that one. because it was yellow and I was like, you know what, this is going to stand out on his bedside. Like, he's not going to be able to get away.

It's not going to blend in. So he's going to have to read it. That was really kind. I know, but we went on stage for tour and I didn't have that Bible and I didn't have any of my notes to preach from. But it's okay. And I bless Joseph in Jesus' name. That is really nice of you. Thank you.

You do a lot of nice things too. Thank you. You're welcome. One thing about us is we can't take a compliment. Without complimenting the other person. We could just take it and say thank you. You don't let me compliment you. I literally, I don't know how to receive a compliment.

I'm like, no, you are. Yeah, you don't. I feel so stupid when somebody gives me a compliment. Does anybody else feel like that? I like squirm. I know. This girl out of dinner I was at last night was like, I have trouble receiving compliments in my head.

I go, I don't. I'm brilliant. I love it. I'm so brilliant. Maybe not to my face, but you can text it to me. Yeah. You know, everybody can text me nice things, please. Want to write to me on Instagram?

Yeah. What's the best compliment you've ever gotten? Wow. I don't know. Do you know? I mean, I'll always take the heart of gold one. Yeah. What's mine?

You know. My favorite compliment is, I don't know. That you're brilliant? That I'm so smart. It's just brilliant. My favorite compliment is someone told me you're so smart. I think you're autistic. And I said, I know you loved that one.

So I'm loving this new TikTok trend, the top, my top five horror movies. What are yours? I can't tell you mine because I can't say. Okay, aside from the ones that you've. That I already know. Okay, fine. My top five horror movies. Like just off the top of your head, I don't even know what I was.

You go first. Okay. Everything that's coming up, I can't say. Oh, it's like things that haven't happened that would be. Yeah. Oh, I thought it was things that have happened in your life. Okay. Not being able to wear a lip liner.

Yes. Oh. Can you imagine? I don't know. Parking garages. Why? They're just like, it's like being in a horror movie. I get lost.

It takes, I have. You could die. No, no, it's not even that. I genuinely get lost every single time. I know. You could die. I feel like a lot of scary movies happen in parking garages. Low-rise baggy jeans.

I love low-rise. It's your worst nightmare. A crock. That's a horror movie. My Rothies. Any shoes that I wear? Just a little update. Shalom had babies.

So I'm now a grandmother. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I can't believe I'm a grandma. mother. Do you think, and did she have the babies on the bird feeder? The nest? Sorry. Yeah, the nest. Is the nest near your house? Oh my gosh, it's right on my, like right by my window. And how many eggs were there? Well, she, they hatched. So now there's all little baby, there's little baby hummingbirds. Can you feed them? Well, yeah, I mean, yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. crazy. I can't believe animals just live out there. And they make their nests with their beaks. Can you imagine? We can't even like, some of us can't even like find our way out of a mall.

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GCU is purpose-driven education. Take action. Find your purpose at GCU. Private, Christian, affordable, non-profit. Visit gCU.org.com. Isn't that so cute? Yeah. So I'm a grandmother. Wait, I can't believe Nana Ari.

I know. What do you think they would call me if they could talk? Good question. What do you want to be called as a grandma? Definitely not Nana. I think I'd want to be called. What is a lus call your mom? Nana.

Nana. That's the Albanian way to say it. That would be so cute. I like that. Nana. Nana's super American. My nan. Nan.

Nan. Nan. Hey, miss your. It's my best friend. My Nian. my nanny banini. All right, guys, today we're going to read from John chapter 9. We're basically going to read the whole chapter.

We're going to be in the NLT version. This portion of scripture is called Jesus Heels a Man Born Blind. And it's a full chapter and there's so much in it that we need to read the whole thing. And I kind of feel like the text like preaches itself because it's so rich and it's so nuanced. And I love Jesus. and I love the way he speaks and I love like how he comes to shatter, like, religion and he comes to shatter expectations. What I take from this story more than anything is Jesus always comes back to one thing. He's always pointing back to spiritual poverty. Like he always wants to build people's

faith and he always wants to bring truth to situations and he does that in such unique ways. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. Rabbi, his disciples asked him, why was this man born blind? Was it because of his sins or his parents' sins? Really quickly, before we even start this question that the disciples had, this was like a cultural, this was like a cultural, this was a cultural belief where people at this time believed that if somebody was sick, it was automatically because of sin. It was automatically because they've sinned, they've been bad, they're far from God, God's not happy with them, and God, like, it's their fault. And basically the reason why they did this was because they

wanted to always take the blame off of God as if, and make it so that God would never do something like this. So it has to be this person's fault, which was just such a condemning way to live. And these days, we know that there's so much sickness that does come from sin. Like you can be spiritually sick, emotionally sick, physically sick, but there's also so much sickness that's not directly correlated to sin. It is directly correlated to the original sin in Genesis 3, but it's not that like because I've sinned, I am sick in my body or I'm struggling with my mental health. Like, it's not a punishment. And how many people feel like that now? So I do. I do too. I'm like, did I do something? Always. Always. It was not because of him. It was not because of

his sins or his parents sins, Jesus answered. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. So this is the first time that we basically see Jesus being like, no, no, no, this is happening for the glory of God. I am actually allowing this to happen. And I think it's so comforting for me. Like when I read that this morning, I was just like, okay. So so much of what I've had to endure and go through, it's not my fault necessarily. Maybe some moments, maybe some things have been consequences, but for the most part in my life, I can trust and believe that if things are hard or if things are wrong or out of order, like the Lord genuinely wants to get glory for the outcome of the situation. And that brings so much healing and freedom to me knowing that like his point

in all of this is to get glory. Yeah. And I always say too, like not everything is in his perfect well because we do go through such, we do live in a fallen world where we go through things that God would never want to happen to us, like, you know, molestation or abuse or, you know, cancer, all of these things. But I just love that scripture. But what the enemy meant for evil, he will always turn around for good. And I just love that because I think back to when you and I were younger and everything we went through. Like he has shined his glory through so much of the trauma we went through as kids, our past, everything. And he said, He's really shined his glory to say, but now look, you know?

So it's just, it's comforting and it's so beautiful. Yeah. It's such a beautiful thing. That's why you should never shame yourself because he will get the glory for everything that you go through. I, um, to go off of what you're saying, I went through a season where for the first time I was like, oh, God can't make good from this. Like God can't make good from this pain.

And I like had such a skewed perception of God for a little. bit where I was like, I like weirdly took on, I'm like just now realizing I'm like, I took on the disciples mentality of like if something is wrong or if someone's sick or if something bad happens or if your mental health is bad, it's your fault. Like you did something for it to be like that. And it skewed my perception of Jesus so much. I was so confused. I was literally like, how can genuinely, how can God be good if things are this bad? And now being on the other side of that and being free from that, it's so amazing to look back and be like, oh, that was why. Oh, so Jesus could get the glory. And it's given me so much like

endurance for the future to where the next time I hit like a bump in the road or something, I can remember. Like, he gets the glory. He allows us to go through things. Not because he wants us to hurt. He doesn't cause suffering. It's not his fault, but he does allow things to happen so that he can show himself through it. And so we want to encourage anybody who's listening. Like, if you're walking through something, God's not absent. If things are bad, that doesn't mean that God's not there. That doesn't mean that God's not in it. He will get the glory through it. It's literally what he does. Can I say one thing about when your mind was so skewed when all that stuff was happening to you. I just want to speak to that real quick because when our minds get skewed when something

happens to us or we're going through something really difficult, it is so hard to go to Jesus. Yeah. That bitterness, when you go through something, it literally hardened your heart so much. I could not open my Bible. I could not go into the secret place. And I just wonder if any of you guys go through that. And I opened up the story of Hannah actually yesterday and I was just reading how she just bitterly weeped out to the Lord. Yeah. Like she was so bitter because I almost feel a little bit embarrassed when I feel bitter because I'm like, he saved my life.

How can I be bitter? How can I talk like that? How can I cry out like that? Like I really do have these thoughts. And it was so comforting hearing, reading about Hannah crying, weeping so bitterly. That's why I love the Psalms too because they're so like they just, so I'm just saying, And even through that bitterness, cry out in that bitterness. That is what it means.

Blessed are those who are pure and heart. It's not a perfect heart. It's when you cry out and you speak out in your messiness and your honesty. Yeah. And you will feel the freedom of just even in your bitterness. Just say it. I'm bitter. I'm frustrated.

I'm mad. Yeah. I just had a moment of that because I wasn't in my Bible. I was bitter. I was just, I had that like hard and tart. And once I released that, I just felt so much better. There's nothing he can't handle. That's like that's what partnership is with him.

A hundred percent. And we've said it a million times and we'll keep saying it. We'll remind you if you're going through something and it feels hard to open your Bible, it feels hard to spend time with Jesus. It feels so difficult to pray. Do it anyways. Do it anyways. Do it, do it, do it. Show up.

Be faithful. Ari and I this morning. We were on the phone and we were talking about how in the seasons or in the seasons or the moments around the days that you don't feel like you don't feel good you don't feel it you don't feel him you don't feel whatever we both were like but you stay faithful and you show up and you do what you know you should do um and that doesn't need to look like a beautiful spiritual like warrior like prayer no it's literally you can lay on the ground and be like holy spirit come be comfort yeah come love me wash me And literally this morning I go, hey, fill me with your love and wash me with your peace.

That's what I ask for right now. You know what I mean? Like it can be that simple, but just show up one more thing. Okay, this is so off topic, but one more thing. Francis Chan had a video. Did we talk about this? Please say this because I love that video. I want to say this to them every week because this changed my life.

Every single morning that I'm in the secret place, you know how I start? I put my hands around my body and pretend that it's Jesus and go, this is what we're doing right now. Yeah. And that's what it is. That's what it is. And we didn't even tell him. So Francis Chan basically brought, he was on stage speaking and he brought his daughter on stage and he was talking about her and then they hugged and he was like a dad hugging a daughter. And it was just like this beautiful. It's just this dad hugging his daughter like this and he keeps talking and he keeps talking. And then he goes, by the way, does any of your guys prayer life look just like this? And if it doesn't, why? It should. That's what all it is. Yeah. He's.

Your prayer life is literally you and Jesus hugging. It changed my life because I was like, oh, I'm not going into this secret place trying to get something or trying to give him something. Like, no, no, I'm going to hug my dad. That's what prayer is. That's what spending time with Jesus should look like. It should begin as like this mutual like, hey, I love you or you love me first and then I love you. And now let's love on each other. And once you get that.

Remind yourself of that every time. Yeah. I'm just going to get loved. I'm just going to go fall into his arms right now. Literally. We got two sentences in. Okay, this happened so the power of God, sorry, verse three. It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins, Jesus answered.

This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. I want to say one more thing about this. Yes. This could literally be. I have to say this. This doesn't have to be a sickness. This could be you have been in your waiting season for a long time.

And God wants to shine the glory through someone who is older and wants and is, you know, they say, oh, you'll never be able to conceive and he wants to shine his glory through that. This is through so many things. This is why we need to have faith. This is through someone who just has, I just keep thinking about someone who is trying, wants to get pregnant and is at an age where you feel like you can't. and he is going to shine the glory through you. I just have to say that.

So good. Because it was so heavily on my spirit. So good. Okay. The night is coming and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world. Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes. What do you get when you read that when you get like the mud and the spit?

I don't know. What do you? I don't know. I just when I read it this morning. I just got that it's so ordinary. That's what he does. Right. Okay, mud spit.

Like he uses ordinary things. Right. Always. Yeah. Verse seven is he told him, go wash yourself in the pool of Saloam. Saloam means scent. So the man went and washed and came back seeing.

His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, isn't this the man who used to sit and beg? Some said he was, and others said, no, he looks just like him. But the beggar kept saying, yes, I am the same one. They asked who healed you, what happened? He told them, the man they called Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, go to the pool of him and wash yourself. So I went and washed, and now I can see.

Where is he now? they asked. I don't know, he replied. Then he took the man who had been blind to the. the Pharisees because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it, so he told them, he put the mud over my eyes and when I washed it away, I could see. Some of the Pharisees said, this man, Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath. Yes. All right, let's stop there really quick or read the rest of that. And others said, but how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous sign? So there was a

deep division of opinions among them. Okay. I love this moment so much because what I, as I studied this, what I realized was in God's original law, he basically commanded us to recognize the Sabbath, right? Like we do today, like we're supposed to do today, to rest, to not work. And then one of the main things that the Pharisees took to like accuse Jesus of being a criminal was saying that he was working on the Sabbath, that he was healing people, he was healing the sick, he was opening ears, he was opening eyes. And what I think is so interesting is that they not only had a rule, they were adding, the Pharisees were adding rules to God's original law. Like there was actually nothing wrong with Jesus helping a person. And one of the claims that he makes is that the Sabbath

was not made, the man was not made for Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man. So, Jesus was never actually breaking God's law by healing on the Sabbath, but because the Pharisees created all these rules that were all these like rules and traditions and things, and they called it a fence around God's law. It was never, like they made so many rules that were never God's original law. So Jesus comes and he's breaking the law because he's healing a man's blindness on the Sabbath. That's one rule. But listen to this, the reason why he uses the spit in the mud is because he wanted to break two rules because they added another rule around God's law as offense saying that you're not allowed to spit on the ground. You're not allowed to spit in the dirt on the Sabbath because it's

too close to a type of work that someone did. It really made no sense. They were just trying to get people in trouble. They were just trying to be legalistic. They were just trying to have rules that didn't actually pertain to the heart. God's law that he originally made for us was not a set of rules. It's parameters to keep our hearts safe, to keep our hearts pure, to keep us close to them, to keep us close to him. The Pharisees, we're adding a bunch of stuff that doesn't actually affect our heart or our relationship to Jesus. And that's what we see a lot of today. That's where legalism and religion comes in, that like you're telling people that this is impure or that's impure when really nothing, it has nothing to do with the heart. That has nothing to do with the posture of

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Yes. And we just see that so much in the church and within ourselves. Yeah. And Christianity. You know, and so I just love that moment because he just was like, no. Like this is about relationship, not legalism. This is about people. This is about, like, for example, I'm just going to say it. I'm not a church critic. I love the church. I love all types of churches. But it's like if you if there if you're having a church service and every 10 minutes of the service is planned down to the wire and you leave no space for the Lord to move in some way or another. You don't leave space to stop for the one or like follow where the spirits going. You know what I mean? That's like that's I just feel like those are so it's like the same thing with the Pharisees. You're that uptight.

that you're not, you care more about the tradition than you care about the person that's in front of you. Yeah. That's never how Jesus operated. I agree. I agree. And then I even wrote down, you know, when people criticize how God is using someone because they don't fit the traditional molds. That happens so much. Thank you.

Yeah. And then just when religion becomes performance base instead of religion, religion base. And it's like, you go, I, some of these religions, how can people, really know Jesus as a father and a friend when there are so many rigid rules and all these things. Yeah, 100%. So we're going to start on verse 17. Then the Pharisees again questioned the man that had been blind and demanded, what's your opinion about this man who healed you?

The man replied, I think he must be a prophet. The Jewish leaders. And by the way, the man, Jesus went, healed the man and then walked away. So the man never saw Jesus. He just knows his name is Jesus. And I want you guys to, I want you guys to see this man. First he calls him, what did he call him first? He called him the prophet.

First he calls him just Jesus. Jesus. Then he calls him the man. Maybe he's a prophet. So just follow along with that. Go ahead. The Jewish leader still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see. So they called his parents.

They asked him, is this your son? son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see? His parents replied, we know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don't know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him, he's old enough to speak for himself. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That's why they said he is old enough, ask him. So his parents didn't want to get in trouble. And yeah, and by the way, when I read this, the first thing that came to my mind is how so many people, especially in Hollywood, that are Christians, are so afraid to speak up about Jesus. I see it all the time.

Yeah. Yeah. And you just... It should be the one thing you're not afraid to do. If you're going to be bold about anything, don't ever be scared to preach Jesus. Seriously. When I see people that know the Lord. and yet they're doing everything against him and they won't even say his name. Even I see like when I watch the award shows and they don't even thank him because they're so afraid to be criticized.

I know. I can't even imagine what that does to the heart of Jesus. Yeah. I can't even imagine. Yeah. No, it's really sad. He literally says, don't deny me before men or I will deny you before the father. That's right.

You know? So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, God should get the glory for this because we know that this man Jesus is a sinner The poor Pharisees They were trying so hard to put G... They were trying to say it's so interesting

Because you could be like one degree off In their minds they really thought That they were doing good right by God You know what I mean? They really thought that they were giving God the glory But really it was like all self-serving Everything they were doing was self-serving I don't know whether he is a sinner

The man replied but I know this I was blind and now I see me too. But what did he do? They asked. How did he heal you? Look, the man exclaimed, I told you once, didn't you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?

Which is a little cheeky by our guy here. Then they cursed him and said, you are his disciple, but we are the disciples of Moses. We know God spoke to Moses, but we don't even know where this man comes from. Why, that's very strange, the man replied, he healed my eyes, and yet you don't know where he comes from. We know that God sent him, sorry, we know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone who was born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn't have done it. You were born a total sinner, they answered.

Are you trying to teach us? And they threw him out of the synagogue. I just I do think it's crazy. I want to maybe speak to something for like one second that's on my heart with this. We talk about it all the time, but oh Lord, being one degree off messes everything up. I heard this analogy the other day that was like on a compass. If you're like in the woods or something, you might think like, oh, being one degree off isn't that big of a deal, right? Like it's only a little bit off.

but 10 miles down the road you're in a complete you've ended up somewhere you shouldn't be um and i just want to speak to people who have like a little bit of mixture maybe and maybe you're confused in your beliefs and maybe you think you can have a little bit of this and a little bit of that you can't have jesus and anything else in your life like you you can't there is no other god there is no other way there is no other option and I just see so many situations of people being like, no way, I love Jesus. I believe in Jesus. And I'm just a little bit like into this or into that.

Could be the universe. Could be the universe. Even like the littlest thing of like I believe in Jesus. But there's a there can be another way for other people. Even opening yourself up to that belief, even opening yourself up to that doubt, that's an open door. and that doubt will only grow if you don't give it to Jesus. And I understand doubt.

I understand unbelief. Literally, Jesus blessed the man in the Bible who said, Lord, help me in my unbelief. That's all it takes, right? Yeah, that's all he needs. Help me with my unbelief. Do you know when I went through a season where my faith was a little bit shaky, every day I said, Lord, have mercy on my weakness.

Help me in my unbelief. Don't leave me because of my doubt. Don't leave me because I'm not seeing clearly. but it's just to have that humility and that awareness of like we need Jesus to show us the truth we need Jesus to see Jesus we need Jesus to love Jesus like we can't do any of this in our own strength so you ask the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit show me the truth and destroy every lie that I'm believing these Pharisees they genuinely thought they were doing the right thing some of them a lot of them and a lot of them were selfish and a lot of them culturally were brought up a certain way.

That's another thing too. We could talk about a million things. But even culturally, if you're, I was taught things culturally. I was taught to believe in the evil eye. I was taught to believe in so many superstitions. I was taught to believe that going to psychics was okay, that go into tarot card readers. I know a lot of Albanian Christians and Catholics who like genuinely love Jesus and they go to Mass and they go to church and they also go to the psychic. You can't do both. Ask Jesus to show you the truth, no matter how many times we tell you,

unless the Holy Spirit opens your eyes, you won't get it. Ask Jesus to show you the truth. Yeah, that's great. Spiritual blindness. Verse 35, when Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man in us. Do you believe in the son of man? The man answered, who is he, sir? I want to believe in him. And I love this moment because this is all that Jesus requires. This man has called him a prophet called, I don't know. First he was just an ordinary man. And then he was called a prophet.

And then he said, I want to believe. And this is all God asked for. Even when you were talking about, you know, the psychics and all. I remember going to psychics every single week living in Massachusetts. And I was just so blind. And all he asked for, he's not mad at you. He just needs a humble heart. heart. Look at how he works through this boy right now. The man answered, who is he? Sir, I want to

believe in him. You have seen him, Jesus said, and he is speaking to you. Yes, Lord, I believe the man said. That's so humble. And that is what faith looks like. Even when you don't even, even when you're new into your faith, you're like, I guess I believe. And he worshipped Jesus. Then Jesus told him, I entered this world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to show those who think they see that they are blind. Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, are you saying we're blind? If you were blind, you wouldn't be guilty, Jesus replied, but you remain guilty because you claim you can see. I want to talk about this for a second. I relate to this so much of this whole story just shows you how,

God truly does deal with you in processes, how he doesn't expect you to have it all together, or just to believe right away, right? But all it takes is a humble heart. And what I take from this story from this boy is his humble heart, his willing and open heart to just say, I believe, I don't really know what's going on. And I remember that in my journey of being in that church and not knowing anything. Yeah. You're smart enough to know when something's not working. Like when you can't focus at work, when you're dragging by 2 p.m. Or when your stomach feels like it's fighting you after every meal. Here's the thing.

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Be the best you with Just Thrive. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and honestly, we felt like this week. was such an important conversation because so many people are carrying things silently right now. I think sometimes we assume everyone else has it all figured out and we're the only one struggling, overthinking, anxious, overwhelmed, or even lying awake at night, trying to hold everything together. But the truth is nobody has all the answers and no journey is supposed to be walked alone. Something we've really been learning is that healing doesn't always happen by pretending you're okay

you're trying to just get over it. Sometimes it starts with actually talking to someone. Having someone with you who can listen, who can understand, and help you process what you're carrying can genuinely make such a difference. And therapy can be a really helpful space for that. BetterHelp has over 30,000 licensed therapists and has helped more than 6 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. They match you with a therapist based on a question.

about your needs and preferences. And if you ever feel like it's not the right fit, you can switch therapists at any time. Mental Health Awareness Month is a really good reminder to check in with yourself honestly. Not who you pretend to be online, not who you think you should be, but really ask yourself how you're doing. And one thing we always want to remind you is that God can meet you while also using people wisdom and support to help carry you through hard seasons. Reaching out for help does not make your faith weak, you guys. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash girls gone Bible. That's better help.com slash girls gone Bible. Seeing the miracle, encountering God in that moment of that

peace in my heart of when I wanted to give up and not really understanding, but I just kept hanging on and kept learning and kept seeking. And that's all he. requires is an open, willing heart. It brings me to revelation, if you don't mind if I read this real quick. Because it goes to what we were talking about. It says, I know all things you do that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other. But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing. This was literally me. And you don't realize. that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

So I advise you to buy gold for me. That's the richest from Jesus. Everything from him, not of this world. Gold that has been purified by fire, then you will be rich. Also, buy white garments for me so that you will not be shamed, meaning purity. Let me wash you clean. Let me make you new. Let me do that.

So you will not be shamed by your nakedness. ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turned from your indifference. I was so blind. I thought I had everything. My career, money, that's what I thought would make me rich and fulfilled in this life. And I realized that I was, it was nothing that I was lost. I was miserable. And what I realized on my journey is this, that he will correct and discipline everyone he loves. And all you need to do, like it says in the Psalms, I don't require sacrifice. I only need a broken and repentant spirit. That is what it looks like to be humble. To stop saying, you know it all. That's what the Pharisees,

they were blind because they thought they knew it all. And so the first thing we have to do on, and what I need to do every single day is I know nothing. Show me my unknowing sins that I even know, teach me. That is what it looks like to turn from your indifference. And don't complain so much because it is the love of God when he corrects you, when it hurts, when you go through these weird things in your life. I remember being like, why is this happening to me? And as I've matured in my faith, I'm like, what are you trying to teach me in this? We're not all going to have the Saul to Paul story, the road to Damascus, where, you know, God just completely encounters him. And I I feel like a lot of us are like, well, God will teach me. Well, God will show me. But the thing is, is we really do need people. And when you see when Paul was encountered Ananias, the one thing God uses is people.

Yeah. When Ananias confronted Saul and then the scales fell off his eyes, when David slept with what's her name? Bathsheba. Bathsheba. And when Nathan confronted David, when he slept with Fisheba, and then his eyes opened. opened up. Let people correct you. That's why it is so important to have strong people of faith in our lives. I can't stress this enough that we cannot do this on our own. I was so spiritually blind when I was having sex. I was blind. I was ignorant. And it wasn't until I had some people that God spoke through that woke me up and convicted my heart. We cannot be lukewarm. I remember how painful it was when I had one foot in and one foot out. I didn't even remember. know what it meant, but I'm so happy that I listened to the convictions, that I humbled myself. And I have fallen a lot in my journey. And I have had a heart and heart. I've had pride and

bitterness throughout my journey. This has not been an easy ride for me at all. But I love this story, because it just, it really does teach you. This is what walking with the Lord is. It is the safest place. It is not this judgment wrath. It is, it is humble yourself before me. come to me bring your messiness before me tell me repent to me all i require is a broken and repentant spirit do you know what that means yeah that is a father saying i i want the best for you come to me tell me let's let's clean this up together i'll clean you up you don't have to do it just come to me that is so safe that is such a loving father and we forget that and we hide and we sit in shame as i mature more and more and I go through very painful things, I now have noticed and I'm like, what is he trying to teach me?

Yeah. And so just don't let these lessons pass you by by sitting in complaint and being like, oh my gosh, why, why, why? Let the Lord teach you, let him discipline you because who you'll be on the other side of it. It's you, you blossom. Yeah, of course. You become so anchored and so strong and so different, but you have to allow the Lord to discipline you. Yeah.

Sorry. Preach. That was so good and so encouraging. I think I needed that just as much as everybody else did because it's so true. Like instead of consistently asking why, why, why? Why not? Yeah. You're being taught something. You're being conformed into the image of Jesus. You are literally becoming more like Jesus through whatever or God is at least trying to do that in your life and trying to sanctify you in that way and trying to teach you. And if we stop resisting, whatever's taking place and we embrace it and say, this isn't what I wanted, but I'm going to lean in and just learn and grow. And there's just so much, so much beauty in that. Many of you have gone through things that you feel so shameful about and it's hard and it's messy

and it's weird and it's things that you don't want to talk about. But many things, these things that have hurt you and that you've suffered from is how. God really does get his glory. Yeah. And I remember how hard it was to be so open and vulnerable on this podcast. And there is nothing more special than being able to look at someone, sit with them and meet them where they're at, sit with them in the dirt and say, hey, me too. I went through this with you too. So I'm just going to encourage you that when we read the story of God saying, I did this so my glory would shine through him, there's, I know you guys have.

been through some stuff and God wants to shine his glory through your testimony matters and it means something and you have the ability to be a vessel for Jesus and change lives through everything you've been through. So don't sit back and keep that to yourself. Use it because you have no idea how many people will feel seen and how many people this will help by all the things you've suffered through. So good. And let's just pray for, if you're you guys made it this far. These are our warriors and our prayer warriors. Guys, let's come into agreement and pray for ourselves first because all of us have blindness we're not aware of and all of us have weaknesses and blind spots and hidden sin and sin that we're unaware of.

And also for the people in our lives, I know one of the scariest things about our walks can be the people in our lives that either are completely away from God or they're confused. And like for me personally, that's one of the hardest parts of life is like looking at people that I love so much and being like, oh my gosh, you're confused, you're off, you don't get it, you're not getting it. You're really far from Jesus. It's so hard. And I know for so many people, that's like one of the most painful parts. And so let's just pray together first for ourselves and for the people that we love. So Jesus, we love you so much.

me, Ari, and every single person who's listening to this, God. I pray Holy Spirit of the living God, would you fall fresh? Would you fill us with your spirit, Jesus? Would you fill us with your wonder and awe and majesty? We bless your holy name, God, and we praise the wonderful works of your hands. We praise who you are. We praise your faithfulness. We're grateful for you, Jesus. We're grateful for your ability to absolutely tear through heart and hearts. Thank you that you turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Lord, I pray for us and every single person that we love that is confused, that's far off. I pray, Lord, Jesus, that you would have mercy on our frailty. You'd have mercy on our weaknesses. And you would truly help us in our unbelief, Lord. You would truly help us in our doubt.

God, I pray that where we've gotten it wrong, you would make it right, where we have gone off course, you would set us straight. Jesus, if our compasses are one degree off, Holy Spirit, would you set us straight? Holy Spirit, would you reveal truth? Holy Spirit, would you tear down lies and break through confusion, breakthrough perversion, breakthrough spiritual blindness? Help us, Jesus. Help us in our unbelief. Help us in our deceit and our confusion. And we pray for every single family member, loved one who's away from you, who doesn't know you, who's walked away from you. Bring them back, Lord Jesus. Encounter them with your spirit. Encounter them with the face of Jesus. Lead them to repentance. Lead them into your heart, Jesus. We love you. We bless your holy name. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's beautiful. If there's anybody listening or watching that you haven't given your life to Jesus yet. If there's anybody who you have been on the precipice, the cusp of wanting to know God, wanting to know Jesus, but you feel like you've been spiritually blind or you've walked away or you've never known him and this is your first time ever hearing about Jesus. Like if any of that resonates with you or if you're somebody who you've said you are a Christian your whole life but you know you haven't been truly walking with him. You know that there's so much deception. in your life.

Now, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day of salvation. Today is truly the day that Jesus has made for you to repent, to turn from your old ways and give yourself to him completely. Give your heart to him completely. Again, Ari and I are two girls who come from the world. We come from sin. We come from darkness.

We come from as much deception, confusion, and perversion there is. Like, we know what it's like to have our compass way off. And we have no reason to tell you this other than the fact that we have seen that sort of life. We've lived it and it offers you nothing except darkness. It's just dark. And living a life with Jesus isn't perfect, but there's peace, there's joy, there's light. And a life after this one where you get to live with Jesus in eternity forever. So if you want that life, if you truly want to say, like this man said,

Jesus said, do you believe in the son of man? And he said, who is he, sir? I want to believe in him. And Jesus said, you have seen him and he is speaking to you right now. The Lord Jesus is speaking to you and saying you have lived a really tough life. It has been really hard. Let me take that burden from you. You don't have to keep doing this by yourself.

I want to carry it for you. I want to do it with you. I want to handle it for you. So if that's you, pray this with us right now. Dear Jesus, I give you my life. I believe you died on a cross for the forgiveness of my sins. And I believe that you were buried. And three days later, you rose again.

And you are seated at the right hand of the Father. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. I renounce my sin. I renounce the world. I renounce the devil. I repent from my sin. I turn away from the life that I was living. I turn away from my sinful nature.

And I turn directly to Jesus. And I say, Jesus, help me. I give you everything. Help me in my unbelief. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Baptize me with your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. show me Jesus. I want to see Jesus. In Jesus' name. Amen. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Right in the comments,

if you guys have any prayers. Yeah, yeah. Let's do some prayer chains again. Let's talk about something that you're going through right now, something that you want to talk about, which God has shined the glory through your life through a really hard circumstance, whether it's physical or emotionally, mentally, whatever it is. We're a family here. And I just love hearing stories and seeing your prayers. That's what keeps us together as a community. So please, let's keep that up in the comments. We read everything. So we would really appreciate that. We love you guys so, so, so much. Thank you for being here with us. Thanks for being our best friends. Thanks for loving Jesus. Thank you for, yeah. Thank you. Thank you for being our best friends. We love.

you guys we love you may the lord bless you and keep you may he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you may he turn his face towards you and give you peace shalom shalom we love you shalom just had babies