The Hope Hotline - The Hope Hotline | S02-E56 | 09-11-2024

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Question #1A lot of us were in the wrong path and God touched our hearts and convicted us to turn to Him. Why can't God then touch Satan's heart and convict him when the Bible says "all things are possible with God?" Acts 12 Bible Study

We are ready to go on Wednesday, November 11th. No, September 11th. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I have November. I'm all over the place. Listen, this is a very important day. Heather's laughing at me, so is the other girls. But today is a very important day.

And I hope that if you have children, I remember Norma was one year old when this happened. Wow. And I remember being in the living room when the Twin Towers fell. Mm-hmm. Tom calling me from the school saying, turn on the TV.

The Twin Towers have just been hit. And then shortly after that, the second one hit. And talking to my mom it was a very solemn uh day solemn doesn't even I don't even I don't even think it even um signifies how big of a day that was Vanessa you lived in New York when that happened right yeah I was in chemistry class I remember every single detail of that day that was. Vanessa, you lived in New York when that happened, right? Yeah, I was in chemistry class. I remember every single detail of that day. I remember what I was wearing. I remember where I was. I just remember all of the children, all the kids in class were getting called on the loudspeaker because our parents were here to pick us up. And I remember my mom picking me up and she didn't say a word. And then when we walked outside, I looked up and I remember my mom picking me up and she didn't say a word and then when we walked outside I looked up and the sky was black I was in high school right on the other side of the bridge

so I was still in Brooklyn but like minutes away from Manhattan uh downtown Manhattan um and then there was no cell signal we couldn't we couldn't find my brother and there was no way to know where he was. And so we were just sitting in our living rooms, just holding our breath. And then all of a sudden my brother walks in and we all like collapse. And he was actually underneath, he was taking the train into the city to go to school. Um, and he was underneath the World Trade Center as it was happening in the subway. And so it was just, it's a time where I think back on and I remember, I remember just being scared and just the unknown, but also I remember the patriotism. Everyone was flying a flag, like cops were like heroes. Like, cops were, like, heroes.

Oh, yeah. Like, there was, you can, like, walk down the street and look at someone in the eye and you know what they were thinking. I just remember, like, the pride we had during that time for our country and our nation. I mean, the thing was is what, we were a united country. We were a united country we were a united front it was it was like i i this is kind of cliche but but it was like it was christmas time yeah it really was because there was no division of any kind with anyone um and people were just happy yeah that they people were alive. Right. Right. Yeah. Like it's,

it's one of those things that you just ban everybody banded together and they banded together with New York. And, um, it was, it's, it was a powerful time, a very patriotic,

powerful time. Uh, it's a shame, though, time has a way of dulling and making us forget what's truly important. And those lives, those lives were very important, and I think to myself, 20-plus years have passed, and it seems like yesterday for me. It really does so make sure make sure make sure you teach your children i mean this day is a very important day let us not forget let us not

forget the lives of the firemen and the policemen as well as the innocent civilians that lost their lives in the Twin Towers, the ones that saved others, but their life was not spared. And let us be people like that, but don't look at the face of a situation and run the opposite direction, but let us go towards. Again, it's like Pastor Pulaski always says, be the lion. Don't bow to a hyena. Be a lion and go towards. And Pastor Adonica, when Pastor Rodney was arrested, she told him, she goes, run to the roar.

And all of us need to do the same. Let us be the one that makes the difference, not the one that. Because cowards, in Revelation, says do not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Let us not be cowards, but let us run to the roar and let us be somebody that makes a difference, even if it costs us a little something. We all should have learned that from COVID. You know, if anything, all of us that didn't stand should let that be a lesson to always stand from this point on. And those of us who did stand let us continue to stand for the others that are too afraid to or are trying to and let us be the example but never forget today

never forget today because those lives deserve not to be forgotten and what a powerful day that is right yep september 11th we'll never forget we'll never forget those and We'll never forget. We'll never forget those, and we'll never forget who tried to harm this country. So you want to do the thing, and then we'll get on with the first questions? Yeah, absolutely. Cool. All right. So as always, we got Facebook.

A little quiet over there. Surprise, surprise. Listen. I know. Facebook is done for us. I really feel like they have i mean they have done everything they they possibly can we might as well just like take facebook off i'm not kidding you know because always they really don't want us they don't they don't like us i mean we don't want them either but they really don't want us. I mean, we don't want them either, but they really don't want us. So true.

They are something else. That's for sure. But as for now, we're here. So if you would like to just pop over to Rumble, Talia will put that link for you guys. And then you can head over. And the advantage to that is you can join the live chat with some other people that are watching. If you want to comment and let us know you're there, but just head over to Rumble. Let us know you're watching. If you want to comment and let us know you're there, but just head over to Rumble. Let us know you're watching. If you're in Rumble right now, we've got Sharon watching, obviously

Talia and Sarah are on, and Mariana is watching from the craft and snack room. And we got Alice and Kim and Fern is watching today. Sean and who's Seabar? Tell me what your name is. Do we know? Oh, Janelle's watching. Yeah.. Do we know? Uh, Oh, Janelle watching. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then who, Oh yeah.

And they, and Marie's watching too from New York and her husband actually was a police officer in New York city at that time. Yeah. And we got Dan watching too. Daniel's watching. So, Hey guys.

Oh yeah. There's Janelle. Um, so everybody in the, in the live chat on rumble, we're glad you're here today. Um, stay tuned. This is're glad you're here today. Stay tuned.

This is going to be a great one today. Very good message and some great questions or question. And then YouTube, another one of our favorites with. They hate us as well. I had a shirt that I was going to wear today. It's one of Jonathan's old ones that he used to get rid of. And it had some choice words to YouTube and I considered wearing it and then I he also had American flag and he met him in that shirt are you sure yeah we hooked her up he was at the stand okay I think it was that when she was that he was at the stand and we got Tren and we found Jonathan.

Oh, that's so funny. So she could take a picture with him with that shirt on. Isn't that what happened, Tal? Yeah. That's so funny. Yeah, I was looking through my shirts today to see what I could find. All right. Well, yep.

So you know how we all feel about YouTube and Facebook. So head over to Rumble, live chat, comment. Make sure you like the video and do all the things you can do to stay in touch with us. We got Black Robe always available for you guys. It's our own platform. There's no censorship. So praise God for being able to do stuff like that. We have our audio podcast, which is available anywhere that you listen to your podcasts.

And we want you guys to send in your questions. There is no stupid question if you don't know the answer to it. So send it in. You might get a little whipping from Hope about reading your Bible, but besides that, you'll get your question answered. So it's worth it. True. So yeah, send your questions in. If we've already answered it, I'll let you know in the email. So just take a chance, send a question in. I know you guys, there's a lot of people that are new to the faith right now and they're really digging in and you're looking for the answer and you're just not finding it or you think that you found the answer, but maybe you're not 100% sure about the context. So you can send in those. You can send in any question, any random one as well.

The biblical ones come obviously. And if you have something that's just going on in your life and you're not sure how to handle it, or a friend doesn't know how to handle something and you don't know how to give advice to them, send the question in, try it out, see what happens. And we've got our merch available at foundationchurchfl.com. Click on shop. Everything is there and available for you. And we haven't shown cute Talia in a while. So not new, new anymore, but, um, this is our most recent merch that we have available for you guys. And of course I'll go back. You have the shirt, the hat, the mug and the spoon. So if you guys want to grab that, it's also available at church on Sunday. And, oh, and we have one more. Do you want me to show that, it's also available at church on Sunday. And we have one more.

Do you want me to show that? Oh, heck yeah. Okay. And then we have Friday, October 4th, 630 to 8 p.m. We will be doing Crave again, another night of worship. So last one I heard was amazing. I was out of town, but I'm excited for this one. Oh, you'll actually be here for this?

I'll actually be here for this one. How nice of you to join us. I know, you know, I know. Heather's like, you're the B team now. I was very missed. Everybody clearly knew I was not there. Just kidding. Nobody knew I was not there.

Oh, they knew. But I am very excited. This will be my first Crave ever in my whole life. In my whole life? Because I never was here this is different though than the other craves but it's still good yeah there's no open mic oh i know i'm kind of disappointed about that there'll be an opportunity for no i never singing voice there'll never be an open mic never say never oh you can trust me on that. Tom, Tom, put the kibosh on that. It's disappointing,

but okay. We're bigger. And sometimes I'm just kidding, but I like secondhand embarrassment. Like when people secondhand, I love that. I attended the old school crave and there was never, I never attended one that there was a weird moment at.

I did. And I went to every single one of them that you went to. You were one of them. Yeah, I know it was Vanessa. I was the weird one. No, Vanessa never went to. You were one of them. Yeah, I know. It was Vanessa. No, Vanessa never. I don't even think talk. But Vanessa is a kind, gentle soul.

Yes, she is. And sometimes the odd and the weird goes right over her head because she's probably praying when the weirdy was saying something. She wasn't even there. She was probably singing her own song or praying her own prayer. I don't know, but trust me on that. Okay. They were there.

I love it. And sometimes every week. Man, I missed it. No, no, no, no. You were there. You were there. You're oblivious. Oh, man, I take it back.

They don't attend. The people I'm referring to, the ones that I'm thinking of, they don't come anymore. Okay. Well, you know. God gives and takes away. He does. The Bible says.

And in those times, you're not sorrowful. You're like, thank you, Jesus. Oh, my gosh. True. Thank you, Jesus. All right, we ready, ladies? Let's do this. Okay, let's go.

Let's go. First question. Now, this question just came in, and I'm going to answer this because it's kind of, I don't want to leave this person hanging, but then some of the, there's some others that we're going to wait on because I'm going to do a couple things in front of them. But in this instance, I'm going to answer this question before that all happens. It says, a lot of us were in the wrong path and God touched our hearts and convicted us to turn to him. Why can't God then touchan's heart and convict him when bible says all things are possible with god remember the holy spirit convicts okay and without the holy spirit there is no conviction

most people walk around with guilt and condemnation and and they feel uh everybody has an innate awareness of right and wrong, okay? But not necessarily do people feel convicted of things because the Holy Spirit does the conviction. But let's look at what the Bible says about our hearts, okay? And how they are turned to him. It says John 12, 32-33 says, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself.

So he draws you in. This, he said, signifying by what death he would die. So he does the drawing in. And hold on one moment because I didn't do a very important thing, which is mute myself from my phone. So he does a drawing in. Now, do people come to him? A lot now do people come to him a lot of times people come to him because they hit rock bottom you mean for me uh saved at five walked away at like 18 19

years of old of age hit rock bottom and was like i know of a better life than this and i'm going back to the way life was better than this. And so I came back to him. And a lot of people, there are a lot of people who come to the Lord because of me, the same reason I did. They didn't necessarily know him, but they are sick of the life that they're living, and there's got to be something better out there, right? And then there's people who get saved because like just so they're happy

go lucky life is always good for them but then they just kind of like stumble upon it and then like I like this and then they get they get saved there's a multiple there's multiple reasons why people get saved but he and in in in the case of which someone comes to him, it's because the Lord is drawing them in. That's why, you know, we're to lay hands on people hastily, not to just pray for somebody. But also, you can't be beaten down every door trying to convince and twist the arm of people to be saved.

Unless he's drawing them in, you're wasting your time. There's something to be said about timing. And there's people who water the seed, and then there's people who harvest. And so you could be one or the other, but don't despise being the waterer of the seed and helping the person harvest. OK, so a lot of people only want to be the one winning. But if you're being an example to somebody and a lot of times it's all about being the example, about making them want what you have.

And if you're doing that, then that's part of the watering. But you could also be the waterer and the harvester. Just know that you cannot, though, force somebody to be saved. And the more you try, it's like a child trying to make them do something that they don't want to do. I mean, in some instances, you must do that because a good parent does not allow a child to be rebellious. But at the same time, there are certain things you keep telling somebody, no, no, no, no, no. And it's

not that big of a deal for them to do. All you make them want to do is do it more. And that creates a person who just pushes away from you, not wants to be drawn to you. And we have to make sure we're not a repeller as well. And I've known a lot of Christians who like, they're not like they're, they're a repellent. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, you don't want to be around them if you're saved or unsaved. And like, they're always trying to convince you of something and it's like you know what back or down like you're not nobody there's a reason why no one hangs out with you nobody wants to be your friend and at thanksgiving time you're the last one to get invited to dinner because people are hoping that you make other plans so

you don't come it's true that is true 100 true it's because all they know is you're going to shove god down their throat the whole entire time before and after the meal and they don't want to deal with that and jesus doesn't force himself on anyone. So let us not force him as well. Let's be Jesus to everyone. If he did it, you do it. If he didn't do it, you don't do it. And I just think people are, sometimes the hearts are in the right place. And in other times, it's more about proving or making a point. And it's not necessary. Do you guys have anything to say to that? And I'm going to keep going after that. Yeah, you got to read the room. If everybody's running away from you, like read the room. You know, like you said,

like some even if it's coming from a good place. Yeah, read the room. Well, it's like soul winning, soul winning, soul winning, right? Right. Super important to win the lost absolutely okay but when somebody is like walking away from you because they know then don't pursue them don't yeah go to the next guy yeah you know um and if somebody would say but they might be walking away that they really need him and they would i say take the chance yeah yeah take the chance and you might be wrong but don't push don't push because the ones that want you they'll like you'll know yeah they'll be they'll be drawn um but soul winning is super important i'm not talking and bashing on that i we have to have people out there, including ourselves. If you're not winning the

lost, you're wrong. 100%. You're wrong. And everybody, I don't care who you are, but everybody either do it with Foundation Church or on your own. But everybody should have one of those soul winning cards and should be using it on a daily basis when the opportunity arises if it does on a daily basis i'm sure if you ask the lord he'd bring them to your path but if you don't know how to do it you need to come on a saturday learn how to win a soul go out do what is what is hard heather you just went out right right? How hard was it, Heather? It's not hard. Is it the most comfortable thing when you first get going? Well, you don't, like, you're not a good judge.

Okay, I'm not. Like, okay, I'm not using you. Because you're like me. You're no stranger. And if somebody goes to tell you pound sand, you're like, okay, whatever. Like, okay, we're not a good barometer on it because I really don't it doesn't bother me to go up to anybody and say do you know my my lord and savior like it doesn't bother me yeah um but I also know you don't go up to everybody and say that either I mean I want to hear a cool story yeah I do please Tracy you know

you know this story so back before we left New, Jeff and I would go soul winning in the city. It's this section of the city called the Villages. If you know, you know. And so our friend had an albino python. Okay. Also a believer. Also worked with us at the church. And so he would bring his albino python around his neck

and we would go into the city and it would draw in a crowd. That's awesome. Eddie Cruz needs to get a python. We would like, hey, do you know Jesus? Jesus loves you. And we would just like talk to him about Jesus. And there were people that left, of course. But there were also other people that were like, that's pretty cool.

Yeah. I'll do it. So, okay. So Eddie needs to get an albino python. Please. Paint Foundation Church on the side of it. Yes. Like my pig. It will draw a crowd. Let me tell you. They'll be coming. Yeah.

They'll be swearing him like flies to honey. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. They do it. Listen, I'm just saying our church has a good, strong group of people from youth, kids, youth, to adults, to mature adults. And if you have breath that you breathe, if you have two legs that walk, you need to be out there. You need to be winning the lost. I mean, what else is it about?

Are you discipling believers? Are you hanging hands on the sick? Probably not. So start with winning the lost. Start with soul winning. I mean, it's not rocket science. No, it's not. But what else are you going to get to take to heaven with you?

I mean, to me, it's a no-brainer you do it so that's a plug i think they meet this saturday do they do they heather it is this saturday what what's the time do they meet 9 30 here at the church you need to come if you don't know how to do it you're not going to go out there by yourself they put you with a team yeah they teach you how to do it and you're not going to go out there by yourself. They put you with a team. They teach you how to do it. You'll make friends as you go. They are great people. Bring a snake.

I don't know if it can This might be the week that they go into rehab. This is the week they go into the rehab. If there's any week that you should go without a snake, this is the week. The reason the rehab. If there's any week that you should go without a snake, this is the week. And the reason why is they're ripe for the pick picking in the rehab.

They just need, they need hope. Yeah, exactly. The rehab was the first one I went to with them. And there's always, listen, fresh meat,

always fresh meat in the rehab. Yeah. Yeah. And they need Jesus. Yeah. Not scary at all. It's not scary at all. It's not like they just went out to a. Yes. Yeah. And they need Jesus. Yeah. Not scary at all. It's not scary at all. It's not like they just went out to a plaza.

Yeah. And we're having to go up to complete strangers that had just gotten their food from Publix. Yeah. Then their hot chicken is in the bag and they're like, back off. I gotta go. Back off. I gotta go eat. You know?

True. And then even in those situations, you're like, happy trails. Yeah, exactly. Have fun. Yeah. Eat some more chicken. At least it's not a cat.

Yeah. Because if you're in Springfield, Ohio, you might be having to watch out for your cats. Oh my gosh. Because they might be eating it in your driveway. I don't know. Allegedly. Allegedly.

I have pictures and video and the woman smiling with cat in her teeth. No, I saw the same video. I can't. Cat and her teeth. Yeah, they had her smile. You could see the dead cat on the ground in the body cam footage. So not allegedly.

Eating it raw without fire. You never know how other people live. Next level. That is another level. Another level. Another level. That is another level. Another level. Another level. Next. She needs Jesus.

She does. Go get her. Go get her, Hope. I don't live in Springfield, Ohio. But I do have friends that live in Cincinnati. Okay. Let's give them a call.

Is this happening in Ohio? Yes. Yes. Makes sense. Hey. True. I got family in Ohio? Yes. Yes. Makes sense. Hey. True. I got family in Ohio. Exactly.

No, the kids, the Gen Zers call everything weird Ohio. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Why is that? I don't know. Vanessa. Yeah.

Is that why you put in the thing Ohio? What? When you made that post yesterday, when you were doing it, you put in Ohio in that? what when you made that that post yesterday you when you were doing it you put in ohio in that deja vu right now i never put that wait no yeah you did with the post that you gave me two options and one of them said uh because that's where it was and but you put ohio so that people will know haiti is also i think but you put haiti and oh Ohio and it didn't make sense at all. Yeah, it's what people knew. It was Ohio. All right. Can you confirm that that's also an adjective?

I think I've heard it. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's skibbity. Oh, jeez. Oh, my God. No. You lost me.

Sorry. We're going down the wrong trail. It's like a turn. Yeah. Yeah, we took a bad turn down a bad road. Never mind. Where swans and geese and cats are getting eaten. That's a bad road.

It's true. Let's back her up and head back to the question. Okay. No beeping noise for backing up. Beep, beep. I was waiting for it. Haiti, a country in the Caribbean. What is that? Haiti, a country in the Caribbean What is that?

Haiti, a country in the Caribbean Baby, I know where Haiti is I know, I'm saying I wanted to make sure people knew that it was Ohio, not there Oh yeah, it's in Ohio Yeah, that's why I put it in the caption Oh, okay

Okay, so I just looked it up Ohio is a slang term used by Gen Z and Alpha to describe something as weird or cringe-worthy. I like your string up. Use it in a sentence, please. You're Ohio. That's Ohio. That's so Ohio.

However you would use the word cringe, you just insert Ohio. Sarah is Ohio. There you go. Go Ohio. There you go. Go Ohio. I'm so up for that one. Yeah, you did.

Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Okay, okay. Okay, for real. Go back to being, go back to Satan being saved.

Okay. Let's do it. Ready? Go. Okay. So everybody has a choice. Everybody makes a personal choice whether to be saved or not saved. The problem is with angels, which Satan, Lucifer, was the head musician.

He was an angel. And he took about a third of the angels with him because they wanted to worship. He wanted to be worshiped instead of God be worshiped. Angels don't have souls and angels don't have redemption because Jesus didn't die for angels. Jesus died for us. So it's basically impossible for Satan to be saved or to feel conviction. And even if if it was possible let's look at what romans says okay because humans can get to a place where they're not even redeemable right it clearly says it in the word and then in revelation it just compounds it even more okay so romans 1 28 through

33 says and so since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of him or consider him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent, but loathsome until they were filled, which is, this is the Amplified Classic, permeated and saturated with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, which is sin, grasping and covetous greed and malice, and they were full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit, and treachery,

ill will and cruel ways. And they were, they were, listen to this one, secret back biters and gossipers. Okay? That's not, like, people just don't get it. Like, they think that it's only murderers going to heaven. But it says they were full of envy, greed, malice, jealousy. Okay?

Strife. People love living in strife. For real. There are some people. They love drama. Yep. Causing strife. People love living in strife. For real. They love drama. Causing strife and drama. You need to be very careful with that. Meaning, don't do it. It is very dangerous.

If you think that you can live like that and go to heaven, eventually you live like that long enough, you don't even realize you're doing it anymore, and you're turned over. Okay. People don't think of it as that. Slanderers. People talk about people, they don't know what they're talking about. And they'll base an opinion on something that they believe is true about somebody, ruin their name and not think a bit about it, even though they know nothing of what they're talking about. Be careful about slandering people. Hateful to and hating God, full of insolence and arrogance and boasting. Boasting's bad, guys. Boasting is bad. Don't think more highly of yourself than you

ought. Inventors of new forms of evil, which we're seeing all day long right now. Disobedient and get this disobedient. So when you allow your children to be disobedient, get this disobedient and undutiful to parents. Be careful what you allow your children to get away with. It can cause them to die and go straight to hell. They were without understanding, consciousness, and faithless, heartless, and people who have no faith, we see it in the church right now,

people who say that God can't do certain things or that was for the past. That's faithless. Heartless and loveless and merciless. Though they are fully aware of God's righteous decree and that those who do such things deserve to die, and they not only do them themselves, but approve and applaud others who practice them. So people can get to a place

where they can't even come back to the Lord because their hearts are cold and they don't even realize anymore. I mean, I was getting to that place before I got my life right with God and God gave me a dream and he warned me, if you don't get right, you're not coming back. And you can get to a place where you're so hard hearted and so callous um and sin is you don't even think of sin as sin anymore it's just lifestyle that you know you lose all consciousnessness of who god is and what god has done for you and you just you hate you hate the goodness of things and

because your mind is so – and most people are like, how can that be? I could never see that. Well, that's because you've never gone that far. That's how it doesn't work for you. But let's look at Revelations 9.20. I'm sitting on this thing. It's jerking out of my ear.

Revelations 9.20. And you say, well, I see that, but how can that be? Because Revelation 9.20, and you say, well, I see that, but how can that be? Because Revelation 9.20 says, but the people who did not die in these plagues. So this is talking about the end times where there is the bowls, the, gosh, I don't think. What are the plagues? It's the bowls. It's the look it up for me really quick because my brain is completely blank.

Tribulation. Severe judgment. What's the plagues? Vials. Seven trumpets. The trumpets and then there's ones before the trumpets. It's the

seals. God bless you. Thank you. I can't even believe I can't remember it. So there's seven seals, there's seven trumpets, and then there's seven bowls. Yeah. And so it says, but the people who did not die in these plagues. So each of those things have plagues in them, right?

Still refused, even though they're going through these plagues and they have not died, okay? They still refuse to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. That's Satan. He wouldn't want to come back. He wants glory. He wants people.

That's the reason why he's trying to win as many people to him so that they worship him. They continue to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. Idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk. And yet they worship him. They worship them. These people do not love God. Their hearts can't be convicted because they're too hardened.

And it's not because they're too hardened. And it's not because God hardened their heart. It's because they walked so long in their own lifestyle and their sin that their sin hardened their heart over a period of time. And so there's no way for them to come back because of their choice, their undoing, not because God. It's all because of that. And there's nothing more that can be done. And God warns us in his word to be very careful not to get that far away.

In Romans, it's very clear. You can get so far. And one of the things is a reprobate mind. And one of the reprobate, the last thing before a reprobate mind is homosexuality. So homosexuals have a very difficult time because the perversion that they've allowed in their life to be, can homosexuals get saved again? Yeah, they can.

It's very hard, but it's possible. But it's one of those things. So people need to be very careful with that. But Satan wouldn't want to be saved. You need to understand that. If he could be, which he can't, he couldn't be. Because even human beings don't. Ladies, do you want to add anything to that?

I got nothing. My chair won't move. I'm trying to get to the mic. Okay. Yes, I have something I would like to share. In 1 Timothy 4, it talks about the Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared. So your conscience is everyone has a conscience. So we all know like when we're doing wrong, even before you're saved,

there's a that conviction, that conscience. But the more that you go against it, it's like other translations talk about it being like seared with a hot iron. Like it's just, you can't, there's no feeling there anymore. Your conscience is burned to a crisp. It's like when you burn your fingers. Like there gets to a point where you can't even feel it anymore but that's what romans talks romans clearly said consciousness it's the same thing they're using the same terminology because it's all one and the same and we're warned throughout scripture to guard our hearts for a reason to renew our minds for a reason it's extremely

important that you know and understand what the Word of God says because when you go to heaven, you're not going to be able to say, I didn't know. Not one, there's a Bible in every bookstore, every hotel room, and there's a church on every corner. Whether or not they're preaching the gospel, they'll be accountable for that. But you can't say, I didn't know. There won't be an excuse for, I don't know, because it's not possible. Especially in America. Europe too. Europe has turned its back on the Lord. Many countries

have turned their back on the Lord. It's staggering to see how many people have no consciousness of Christianity. And being a Christian is basically in the New Testament, in the book of Acts, which we're going to get to today. but one of the things when you said you were a Christian, because the book of Acts is where Christianity actually started itself as far as winning Gentiles and Jews to the Lord, it meant to be a Christ follower. So when you call yourself a Christian, are you following Christ? Lots of people call themselves Christians, but you wouldn't know it because they don't follow him. They follow themselves.

They follow their desires, not his desires. And so are you really a Christian? Are you in a name only? Because that's what everybody says. And that's a dangerous thing. So always the great thing to do is always do self-examination. A lot of people don't like it, but it's the thing that will save you is to be a person who is always examining yourself, not in an OCD level place, but to a place where it's healthy, balanced, things like that.

Anybody else got anything to say? There's actually a Psalms that I pray often and it's search me, oh God, know my heart. I love that one. If there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. And I think that's David. Yes. Saying that. And it's just, it's such a good habit to like adapt. Yes. because sometimes we just get busy with life and with things, and we can become numb to some of the things, and we're constantly asking the Holy Spirit, reveal, convict, and then restore because it's important. I should be a part of every healthy Christian's walk yes self-examination not to the point of OCD like you said yes but to to in order to grow well we're

always like if if if we're always being if our we're to be like a plant that's producing something, right? So the vine is pruned so that it can grow. Well, if you're not self-examining things, how are you pruning things? You won't prune. And then the dead stuff is still trying to get nutrients and it stunts your growth. It's not healthy. So you have to be looking at yourself, and you have to be saying that's got to go, that can't stay,

so that new growth can come on, and Sarah's got something. No, I thought you found something. I'm just arguing with somebody on Facebook about something, about the debate last night. Are you on Rumble? No. Because I didn't know if you were Rumble or thingy. I shouldn't have done it.

I shouldn't have done it. Everybody's posting because apparently last night she said, I speak for all women. And so people are posting, she ain't talking about me. She's not speaking for me. So I just got a little riled up. Sorry about that, guys. I speak for all women.

How in the world do you know all of us and how we think? She don't speak for me that's what she said but she speaks for this lady so i'm trying i'm like pray i pray for you people are crazy distraction action that never mind i don't want to get distracted either sorry Sorry. No, that could get me ugly. Yeah. Yeah? Like, oh my gosh. Yeah, because I have things in my head right now I'm trying to not say.

Let's go to our sponsors. Hallelujah, praise you, Jesus. This is a woman right here. Yes, she is. Hot stuff. And I bet you she doesn't speak for her. Yep, she doesn't. I'm pretty sure of it.

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That's all I'm going to tell you. Hanson Automotive, my good friend Nick Hanson, he does a great job on anything and everything automotive from oil changes to brakes to tires to engines which you really mean he does them but I don't know if that's his favorite thing yeah but he doesn't mm-hmm I mean who wants to do an engine? I mean, it's money. Sometimes big money. Can he do your engine? He worked on parts in my engine. Yeah, and it was a project.

Yeah. I mean, he knows what he's doing. He sure does. Who wants to do that? I mean, I'm not, I shouldn't speak for him. I know. We need to find out what he really wants to advertise. I mean, he'll do it. Well, no. He'll definitely I shouldn't speak for him. I know we need to find out what he really wants. I mean, he'll do it. Well, no, he, he, he'll definitely do engines. I know this, but I'm like, eesh. I know. So don't let my eesh keep you from using him on your engine. Just, I wouldn't want to do an engine. I can't believe he would want to do an engine, but I'm sure he does. And then he does air conditions. Listen, I ain't no

pro at sponsors. We're like, fine. Don't go. Don't go. Don't take your engine to him. No, I'm just kidding. Take your engine to him. Listen, I'm just saying, if you take it to somebody else, the odds are they could tell you something's wrong with it that's

not. And you do not want that. And that's the one thing I can promise you about him integrity and character all day long and you will not have to worry about somebody saying something is wrong or breaking something and so I've heard of mechanics cutting what cutting hose hoses in people's cars and then saying they were broken and they needed to be replaced. I mean, that gets expensive. Of course, yeah. But he will never do that.

You don't have to worry about lying and making up of things. If it's broke, he'll fix it. But if it's not broke, he won't be the one breaking it to fix it. Exactly. And that's important. So give him a call, 941-460-3962. Again, 941-460-3962. Again, 941-460-3962.

And Laura Keller with Real Estate Appraisal Associates, her number, because we have more people listen to us than watch us, 941-743-3700. Again, 941-743-3700. You will want to get ahold of them. All right. So now I'm going to do something a little different. I told the girls I'm going to do that. I'm going to do something different,

but I think it's, I, I know it's for some people who are watching. So, um, this is for you. And then it's not for you. It might be for you someday.

So listen to it because it'll probably be the thing that saves you I can't tell you this story has this story is used a lot but I don't know if it's always used in the way that I'm going to do it and very powerful very powerful story but all of us can

take something from this and use it in our everyday life to change us and to make us be able to have fortitude and strength to go through tough situations, even if we don't feel like we have the strength to do it. Okay? And you do. Everybody has the strength to go through a tough situation

and have the outcome be victorious on the other side. We're going to look at Acts 12, and then I'm going to read it from the New Living Translation because a lot of times people who are newer in their walks, they get, even in the New King James, it doesn't bother me, but it can be like people will be like, can you slow down or can we go back to that? Because I didn't understand that.

Well, New Living Translation is great because it's basically like a story. It's very simply read. Simply, it's not as bad as the message. It's way better than the message. Wow. She's looking at us, Sarah. Each their own. New Living Translation is actually excellent excellent excellent writing of the of the word so

it's a this part of acts 12 what we're going into is where james has been killed uh james is um the brother of john one of the disciples he's the second martyr. Stephen was the first martyr. And James, one of the disciples, John's brother, which is one of Jesus's three, James, John, and Peter. James has been killed by Herod, and he's been martyred by Herod. He was actually beheaded. So what's happened is James is killed and Peter is imprisoned. Peter's imprisoned because Herod saw the reaction of the Jews when he killed James, and he's like, let's go. Let's do another one. He now has Peter in prison. It says, about that time, King Herod Agrippa, who is the same Herod, not the same Herod, but relative to the same Herod that when Jesus was crucified.

Okay. About that time, King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James, John's brother, killed with a sword. And when Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. And this took place during the Passover celebration. So no one can get killed during this time. So Peter's just waiting in prison until after Passover so they can kill him too. Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial over the Passover.

Now listen, you know that Herod thinks Peter's big stuff, like he's something else. Because when you have a guard of four squads of four soldiers each, that's 16 soldiers. That's a lot of guys watching one guy so peter holds a lot of clout with this guy right but while peter was in prison that and remember that's who you are don't forget who you are peter is no different than you and you hold a lot of clout and people like whether you believe it or not, and you should believe it, wherever you go, people are watching you,

and the bigger ruckus you raise for him, and I mean that not in a weirdo, like you're a crazy person, when you're standing up for things that are right, people are going to want to take you out because they're like, that's a person that's dangerous to overturning the way people think.

You're like that. If you're a strong believer in him, it's like with COVID. People hated Tom. They hated this church. They hated lots of the people who came to this church. People that went to Pastor Rodney's, they got fired. Wow.

Yeah. They got fired from their jobs because they were people who attended the river. Yeah. And so you hold a lot of clout. Don't forget that. That's like powerful. And all those people have done nothing but prospered. And favor has, you know,

nothing but good stuff has come their way because of all these things that came against them, and they did not waver. They stood strong. Remember that. Don't waver, stand strong. It says, but while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

So he, Christians, praying, and a lot of times when we're going through things we ask people to pray make sure you have the right people praying for you and that their prayers are actually biblical ones okay because the biblical ones make a difference the others do not stay away from the ones that don't pray correctly so the night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. I want you to notice something in this verse. It says Peter was asleep. Just like Jesus was asleep when the storm was going and the disciples were flailing about in the boat going we're gonna die we're gonna die and then jesus like what are you what are you doing what are you doing that was a good accent

okay you're not they weren't dying and when we're in the midst like he's he's going on trial and the odds are he ain't coming out alive. Right. Okay. But what did he do? He fell asleep. Yeah. What do we do in the midst of things coming against us that look like it's going to take us out? How do we behave in that? Right.

And do we run around like a chicken with our head almost cut off? Like we're going to like, we're frantic and we pace and we're stressed out and we're anxiety ridden. How do we respond in that? And I want to tell you something. I believe that the reason Peter was asleep is because what you see in John 21, 18, which is profound. And this is what, when a prophetic word is spoken over you, you need to draw on that prophetic word and hang tight to it so that you know you ain't going nowhere and that the outcome is different than what Satan's trying to tell you it is. In John 21, 18, it says,

I tell you the truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked. This is what Jesus is saying to Peter. Jesus is prophetically speaking to Peter what is going to happen to him. It says, I tell you the truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked. You dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. Now, is Peter old when he's in the jail? No, he's not. And I think Peter was like, I ain't dying because I ain't old. And God, Jesus told me that I won't even be able to walk myself to where I need to go.

I can still get myself to wherever I want to go right now. So he's asleep because he has peace, because he knows what's been prophetically spoken over him, and it has not come to pass. And see, here's what I will tell you. Things have been like I stand on things, and I pull from when things try and come against me. I pull from what people have either prophetically given us that I trust, prophetically spoken to me. I'll pull from that and I'll say, well, that can't happen because that's what I was told. I go back to this story.

I was in a meeting, and I don't remember when this was. It was several years ago. I was in a meeting where this young man came up on the stage, and he was healed of cancer. And he was given no chance to live. He had stage four. Like, it was a matter of, like, a week or so, and he was supposedly to die. So he went, and he went to a revival, and someone prayed over him.

And he knew he was getting healed. He knew he was getting healed. You know how he knew he was getting healed and he was not going to die of cancer? Because several years prior to this, somebody prophetically spoke over him that did not know him and said that the Lord was going to use him in a certain way at a certain time and that he would fulfill that prophecy. Okay.

Well, the thing is, is that prophecy hadn't happened. So he couldn't die of cancer because what had been spoken over him that he knew there's no way this person knows this stuff like about me. So because of that, he was like, I'm not dying of cancer. I will be healed. And then I will fulfill this prophecy. Guess what? When I saw him, there was no cancer in his body, 100% healed.

And he had just started embarking on the prophetic word that had been spoken over him. So that's what I'm telling you about. That's where I want you to pull from. No matter what circumstances come your way. And it goes even so much as if you pay your tithe and you are tight as tight can be right now. Okay, what does the word tell us about paying tithe? Then you don't believe the lie. You know that whatever the need is, it will be met.

Because the word says that he will meet every need according to his riches and glory. So when you pay your tithes, and I'm not talking about giving, an offering. Offerings are not the same as paying your tithe. But if you are a tither, then you stand on the word of God, and you do not waver on it, And you know, whatever need is coming your way, it's taken care of. And that's just the way it is. You do not believe the lie and the distraction that Satan wants to bring to you. So it goes on to say, suddenly there was a bright light in the cell and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, quick, get up.

And so he basically was hit by the angel, like to get him up. And the chains fell off of his wrists. And then the angel told him, get dressed and put on your sandals. And he did. Now put on your coat and follow me, the angel ordered. So if it takes a miracle to get you out of your situation, then a miracle it will be. That's the way it goes.

If it's as simple as one, two, three, this is what you need to do, then you do the one, two, three. But if it's a miraculous event that needs to take place, don't doubt that God won't pull out the miracle. Because here's the thing, Jesus has already ascended to heaven. He's sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. So Jesus wasn't there doing this. This was miraculous, just like miracles happen today. Don't doubt. So Peter left the cell following the angel. Now the whole entire time,

Peter thinks he's seeing the future. He's like a vision. He doesn't actually think this is real, to be honest with you. Because this is all new stuff for him. Just like it might be all new stuff for you and for me. But it's still the truth. So Peter left the cell following the angel. But all the time, he thought it was a vision.

He didn't realize it was actually happening. And they passed the first and second guard post and came to the Iron Gate, leading to the city. And this opened for them all by itself. Even when people tell you things can't happen, like the guards, I mean, he was probably passing them by and he's thinking, somebody's going to, they're going to stop me. And people may try and stop you. Don't listen to don't listen walk right on by him keep walking so they passed

through and started walking down the street and then the angels suddenly left him peter finally came to his senses it's really true he said the lord has sent his angel and saved me from herod and from what the jewish leaders had planned to do to me. So even he's astonished. And when he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark. Now, John Mark is also the guy who wrote Mark, one of the books in the Bible. John Mark is also Barnabas's cousin. And John Mark is actually the same John or a same Mark that went out with Paul and Barnabas

and caused Paul and Barnabas to have a rift. John Mark is the one that is, remember when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he is taken and arrested and in one of the gospels, it's actually in Mark, in the book of Mark, it says that a young man ran out of the garden naked. Yeah. That's John.

We were just talking about that last night. John Mark is naked as a jaybird. So Barnabas's aunt is Mary. John Mark is Barnabas's cousin. And you say, well, why is that important? Because it's important. You need to know how all these, and I say characters loosely

because we're not talking about Disney characters, but we are talking about people who are in the Bible and the roles that they play. If you understand how everybody is connected, it brings the word to life for you. And you understand how detailed the Lord is brings the word to life for you. And you understand how detailed the Lord is and the word is. It's really important. The intricacies of things is very important. So when he realizes he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark,

where many were gathered for prayer. And he knocked at the door and the gate and the servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. And when she recognized the door and in the gate and the servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. And when she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed that instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone Peter is standing at the door. So she basically closed the door in his face. And he's knocking because he wants in because he just got out of jail. He continues to knock and then she goes and tells everybody that Peter's at the door and they tell her you're out of your mind. Now, how many times have people stood in prayer with you or, and then when it happens, they're like astonished because they have doubt and unbelief. Can't tell you how

many times you tell them. Be very careful. Too many times. I love what Kenneth Hagin says. Kenneth Hagin says now, and there is a difference. He says you can have doubt in your head and belief in your heart. And Jesus, even like when the man who had the sun kept throwing, his son kept being thrown in the fire and he was demon possessed. Well, he was saying that he had doubt in his heart. See, the thing is, is the difference between doubt in your head and doubt in your heart, doubt in your head will tell you it can't happen. It can't happen. And that's where you have to continue to renew your mind and get captive of every thought. See, you're to take captive every thought because if that seed of doubt gets planted in your heart, then you won't, it won't, that's where faith lies. It won't come to pass. But that's where you speak to your head and say, no, no, no, no.

That's not what the Word says. That's not what my God says. And you tell your mind to change. And you take captive of those thoughts and you toss them out. What a lot of times people do is they start thinking about what their head's telling them. And they start pondering, well, what if that happens? And, well, what their head's telling them and they start pondering well what if that happens and well what if that's true instead of saying well that's not what the word says right yeah they they like ponder on the things that Satan is planting in their mind or they're

planting in their mind one of the don't do that so you can have doubt in your head yeah but a belief in your heart yeah just make sure the people that you have praying with you don't have doubt in their heart right and this is what is so funny is because these people they're praying for him to be released and then when he is they think the girl is cuckoo and he's standing at the door knocking yeah when she insisted they decided it must be an his angel because the jewish thought, and we do, Jewish people thought everybody has an angel. So they thought his angel was standing at the door knocking when in fact it was truly him. Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. And when

they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. Let that not be us when we were praying for something. And then somebody tells us it's come to pass that we've been standing with them on. Let us not be like, you're kidding kidding me i can't believe it you should be like well that's what we were praying for i'm not shocked about that like that's my god of course it happened right that's really where we should be but most people are astonished when it comes to pass it's not the way it's supposed to be. It should be like, well, obviously. So when he motioned, he motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. Tell James and the other brothers what happened, he said.

And then he went to another place because the Lord said, Jesus had told them before he left, listen, if you're not received, get the heck out. So that's what he was doing. He wasn't leaving because he was afraid he was following the instructions of Jesus which was like don't stay in a place that doesn't want you just move on at dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter Herod Agrippa now this is what happens guys Take great comfort in knowing when the people come against you, if someone's

going after you, if you feel like an injustice has been done to you, if you feel like things are all, all hell's broken loose against you, whether it's your finances, whether it's sickness, whether it's friends, whether it's family, whatever the case, maybe it's a lawsuit, whatever it is. Remember this, Herod Agrippa ordered through, Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. So Herod is now searching for Peter. And when he couldn't be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Because if a prisoner got loose and you were a soldier or a guard, you died. That's just the way it was. That's why when Paul, remember when Paul was in prison,

and the guard, when Paul and Silas were in the jail, and then all the doors opened, and the guard almost killed himself, and Paul was like starting shouting, no, no, no, no, don't do that. We're all here. Because he knew if they left, he died. He would be killed. Actually, it's because they didn't leave that he and his whole family got saved. What we do in situations

can make a big difference in someone's life. Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward, Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while. Now, this is where it gets good, because God will take care of you. Vengeance is his. You mess with his righteousness, it's like you mess with the bull, you get the horns, right?

That's our God. Now, Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him, because their cities were dependent upon Herod went to this, he liked, they were called the games. He went to the games in a silver like robe outfit and he scared the tarnation out of these people apparently. And they worshiped him because they were scared. They worshiped him as if he was God.

He loved that. He loved that. The people gave him a great ovation shouting, it's the voice of a God, not of a man. Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness because he accepted the people's worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died. Funny, another one of his family members, another Herod, the same thing happened to him later on. Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread and there were many new believers. And when Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission in Jerusalem, which Saul is Paul, his name has changed. They returned taking

John Mark with them. And I'm just telling you, the difference that you make in situations that come against you will determine your faith and how it grows. It will determine how others look at you as an example and how to respond to situations. And at the end of the day, peace be still. Peace be still. Fall asleep in the midst of whatever the situation is. Don't, when calamity comes your way, don't be a part of the chaos.

Be a part of the calm. And it will radically change you and the others around you and how they will also respond and how you will respond the next time something comes your way. Now, I ask the girls, if they have any stories that might, and I know I'm past time,

but I know this is for one person or others. And I just want to build your faith in this because hard times are here for some people. They really are. And maybe hearing how somebody else that you know, because a lot of times you get to know us, you don't know everything about us, but sometimes hearing maybe something that we've gone through might help you to be able to walk through your situation and build your faith. Does any of you guys have a story that you want to share? I didn't, I just asked them if they

had one. I don't know if they do. So that's the reason why I ask. Go ahead. Well, mine is specific to my divorce. When I found out, I was obviously very surprised because it wasn't just like divorce papers. I found out that there was an affair. And so I knew because I was like on my journey of like knowing God that are actually like doing the truth project and figuring out like, I know, I know I believe in God, but is everything really true? Like every part of the Bible is true. And so I found this thing called the truth project. So I was diving into that. And then I found out that my ex-husband, not Jer, my ex-husband was having an affair. And, um, I knew every decision I made was going to be watched. I knew everything I posted on social media, cause this is when

Facebook was way bigger. This is a while ago. And,. And so I was on there more, I was more active and stuff. And so I knew every decision that I made, all the people from high school, I was going to get out like you can't, this people talk. So there's no way of hiding it. There's no hiding it. So I knew everything I did. And I go, it's funny to go look back at what I did do. And everything I did was just to glorify God. And it wasn't me necessarily. I just knew that people were watching me. And it kind of held me accountable at that point. And I've had a lot of people reach out to me after that, going through messy divorces.

And they're like, how did you not? You did this, right? You said this. You did. And I'm like, no, I didn't do it. I did nothing of it. Every once in a while, my flesh got the best of me. Thankfully, God knew that that was like- Reeled it in't do it. I did nothing of it. Every once in a while, like my flesh got the best of me. Thankfully, God like knew that that was like.

Reeled it in. Reeled it in. Yeah, exactly. So it wasn't very often, but I always felt yucky after it. And I don't, I didn't like that. So I just, I know when you're going through something really, really hard and it's not necessarily even something you put yourself in, you are fully going to be equipped with whatever, whatever it is that you

need to get through that season, but you have to rely on God and you can't be carnal during it. So that's like one of the worst situations I've been through. You no longer have, you don't have control over your kids anymore. Like you have to share with somebody that you're like really upset with at the time. And so, And that's somebody who destroyed the family. Yeah, yeah, 100%. You had nothing and you try to fight for it, it doesn't work. So it's like all those terrible situations.

But then if you just, like I've watched people go through the same situation and not have God and their life is still a mess. They're on their like fourth husband and they're alcoholics and they, I almost feel bad. I'm like, if you would have just made a choice in the beginning, you know what? I'm just gonna keep keep my eyes focused on God and he's going to have to

fix this for me no matter how bad it looked. And it would look bad for like five years. Like there was a custody battle and everything. Um, but I just trusted God the entire time. Yeah. Sometimes it's easier said than done, but like, but it's not day by day. Yeah, it is. That's exactly what it is. Day by day choices, minute by minute. Yep. It's sometimes it is. That's exactly what it is. It's day by day. Day by day. Choices. Minute by minute. Yep. Sometimes it's second by second depending on how bad it is. Literally.

Literally. Yep. Just making a choice. You have to make decisions. Yep. And the crazy thing is it's so crazy. It's such a cliche word to say, but to choose joy. Yeah. To put on joy.

Yep. a cliche word to say, but to choose joy, to put on joy. Like when you choose that, even if it's, again, second by second, it's far superior to the other alternatives. And you win. Every time. Every time. Literally. In the natural and supernaturally. Yep.

The best thing you can do in any circumstances when it involves people or things or just satan himself is never let him see you sweat yeah yeah and don't sweat yeah it's not worth never it's not about making sure that you sweat right when nobody's looking right don't even sweat no you don't have anything to sweat he's got it. So don't worry about it. Absolutely. Has anybody else got a story? I think back on like four years ago where we were in an election year. And two very important people in my life chose to walk away from Jeff and I because of our views on abortion and the COVID response and what we stood for. One being my own brother and the other being Jeff's oldest daughter, our oldest daughter, and literally just saying,

we can no longer be in your life and literally walked away and would not even accept a call from us after that point. And I remember like literally surrendering these people that I love with all my heart to the Lord. And exactly what you just said, putting on peace, putting on joy and believing that God would restore. And it was a long time for Gabby, our daughter, it was about two and a half, almost three years of no contact. And then we got a phone call one day and she's like, I need you. I need you in my life.

And God has restored. And she's actually here visiting us with her husband. So I'm seeing the fruit of our obedience already. And then my brother, who I just contacted a couple months ago, and we're now talking and communication's open. And it just reminds me of the goodness of God. And when you surrender and when you lay down and when you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,

all things will be added. And that's just who he is. Yep. And the thing is, is Satan wanted to destroy that. But oftentimes what happens is when there's restoration, it's better than it was before. Yeah, it totally is. And he loses big time. Right. Because it's not lesser. It's better. No, absolutely. And even my marriage, like even that scenario, like it's like two different worlds. Oh, yeah. It doesn't even touch what I had before.

And so, yeah, if you just hold on to that and don't worry about, you have to let go of the past and just trust God for what's going on right now. And Vanessa's story is really cool because that's like your bait, like it's your daughter. And I know it's hard, but you have to, sometimes you just get it. God will tell you and then he'll tell you when to reach out little by little,

just to be like, hey, we love you, but not to overwhelm them. Like you were saying earlier, where you're not shoving it down their throats. So yeah, I think it's super important. Yeah, it's good. Anybody else?

I think back to when Toby was born and I was walking with the Lord at that time. Then I wasn't, and now I am again. So that's kind of like the quick version of that. But he was born not too early, but like three, four weeks early, and his lungs weren't developed. And I was filled with the Holy spirit and had um pastors that came up and we would wait till the nurse would leave the room because he was on no contact orders like he looked he was gigantic but he was in the nick you so we were like you're a faker you know there's

nothing wrong with you and um that they wouldn't let us touch him when they were in the room. But as soon as they would leave, we were laying our hands on him and praying in the spirit and just declaring healing. And so I look at him now and I'm like, God saved my little boy. But I never wavered that whole time when I was praying and believing. And, you know, he healed him. His heart stopped twice. Like they had to resuscitate him. And some of those things I didn't even know until later because the Lord protected me from even knowing that that happened while he was in the hospital.

And then he's at a checkup and the doctor's like, so when he when his heart stopped and we resuscitated, I'm like, come again. What was that that you just said? So, yeah, he's faithful. And now Toby's, like, coming to church. And Tempest is here in church with me. Like, the things that I prayed for for so long and believed and God showed me, like, during worship times, just a picture of all of my children raising their hands and worshiping together. Like, it's happening. And I think part of what happens is we, we despise the day of small beginnings, right?

So I could be like, well, they're not reading their Bible every day and they still like have mouths on them. And they say, and I could look at all of the ways that I'm not to where I hope and know that they will be someday, but I, But I'm praising God for how far we've come. So living in that, the gain of where we've come from two years ago to now, as opposed to the gap of, well, this is where we really should be. Because that in the gain is where God's going to keep moving. Like he can't, that's the sweet spot. That's belief right there.

That's believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. Like, and that's where things keep happening. As soon as you go, well, you know, it's just, it's just this little thing.

I hate when people say, well, I have a small praise report. I'm like, it's usually not small at all. It's like, that's huge. Like,

why would you say that? That's small. Yeah. Praise God. Like that, that's happening. Why would you say that that's small? Praise God that that's happening. Because a lot of times people feel less about themselves. So they don't want to make it they feel like somebody else will be saying well that ain't a big deal.

It's all about them and how they do you know what I'm saying? But I will say something to that and about all these situations and I'll share a short short one with me about me but all of them Do you know what I'm saying? But I will say something to that and about all these situations. And I'll share a short, short one with me about me. But all of them, including myself, I would dare say that none of those things happen just because they happen. They happen because there was a large time of prayer, a large time of being in the word and a large time of fasting and those three things. And I would also would say a lot of times of praising in the midst of times and praise and worship in the midst of times where you just feel like, yeah, this is a sacrifice because I don't

feel like this right now, but I'm going to do it because I'm going to die to my flesh. And I'm going to believe that every word that I've consumed in this, in this, in this truth is meaning the Bible because it is the word of truth that this truth is mine and I receive it. And no matter how I feel, I'm going to die to that. and I'm going to act like I do. And so again, it's the renewing the mind. It's putting on faith. It's acting the opposite of what you feel like, because what you feel like isn't what's true. What the word says is what's true. And so I know the amount of times, how much these women fast and pray and spend time in the word. And you can stand way easier for what you're believing for or in the midst of a storm.

The stronger you have the word, the more you worship him in spirit and in truth. And the more you spend time dying to your carnal nature it's way easier it's like either hitting a pothole or going over a pebble yeah you know it's the same yeah it's it's the same but for people depending on where they're at spiritually it's a different result yeah so and for me I will tell you I remember there was mine is different than theirs, but I remember I did, I worked for this friend of mine and one of my jobs was to take, we were helping people when they were losing their homes back in 2006. And so we were helping people keep their homes.

And one of the things I would do is I would pick up her husband is an attorney so I would pick up the deposit for us to fight against the mortgage companies for people to keep their homes and the checks were usually about 2,500 apiece I picked up for my friend a check for her and her husband to represent this young woman but her father was paying for it what happened is is the banks were dragging their feet. They were putting people's homes through foreclosure. And it was just a nightmare.

Well, these people finally got mad, were done waiting. And it really wasn't the attorney's fault or her fault. It was the dragging of the feet. It's just like the insurance companies with giving us our money. Right now, we're still like we're 12 to 18 months out before the situation with this church is resolved. And it's and what they hope for, based on what the attorney said, is they hope you just go away like you fold like a lot of businesses will fold because they don't have the money to make the repairs. So the business will just be gone. And now they have,

how evil is that? Okay. Well, the same thing happened with here, but what happened is, is because they, the, the, the check was made out to me because I was picking up the check. The check was made out to me. I endorsed it over to them. And because of that, I get sued for $2,500. And at the time, $2,500 was like $100,000. It was that big. Because Tom and I were living on a single income. So I get these papers that are telling me I'm getting sued, go through everything, and I decide I'm going to represent myself.

Now, the whole entire time, I have a complete peace because I know I've done no wrong and I know God's going to pull me out on the other side of it legally I should have lost but I went in there I represented myself and when I came out the outcome should have been that I owed that man $2,500 even the judge said that but because that man didn't do one thing one little thing in the late and the judge kept trying to help him get the one thing and he couldn't do it he just for some reason it just didn't click in his head I believe that was the Lord to be honest with you and because he couldn't do that one thing and she ended up saying to him because you didn't get what I was trying to tell you three times over I am now going to judge for the plaintiff she wins you lose you're

not getting the money I walked out of there free and clear when in all actuality legally I shouldn't have to pay him because I didn't take the money. And plus, they were still representing him. The attorney was still representing him and trying to help him. So nobody had actually screwed this guy over. He was just done trying to help his daughter, and he wanted his money back because they had grown impatient. I don't blame them for that.

But at the same time, it wasn't the attorney's fault either. Whatever the case may be, I should have lost. He should have won. But I knew going into it and I had prayed and I had done my thing. I knew I was coming out and I was going to win. And I did. So I didn't do that whole entire thing. I did not stress. It's so funny because the one thing I needed to prove my case, I sensed in my spirit. I held on to this one thing for three years, never knowing I was going to. I sensed in my spirit, don't throw that away. Don't throw that away. And I was like, I should just throw that away.

I don't need that. And every single time, the Holy Spirit's like, don't throw that away. And then I get sued. And the one thing I didn't, I didn't know that I was going to. And the one thing I needed that I listened to the Holy Spirit and didn't throw away actually was the very thing that saved my hide. Amen. Good.

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Follow him. Sleep. Yes. Sleep. Yeah. Sleep. Be at peace.

Amen. Peace. Be still. Sleep. Yes. Sleep. Yeah. Sleep. Be at peace. Amen. Peace be still. Yeah. Like in the midst of the storm, just rest, relax, know the outcome is yours. You are victorious. Amen. Let's pray really quick because I know there are people that are in turmoil. Whatever you're going through, there's an inner turmoil and you just don't need to be

dealing with that because he's a big God. Yeah. whatever you're going through, there's an inner turmoil and you just don't need to be dealing with that because he's a big God and he can take care of it better than you can take care of it. Let's just pray really quick. Heavenly Father, I just pray. I speak to each and every situation for everybody that is watching, that is dealing with something that is more than they can bear or bigger than they think that they can, that can be overcome. And for the ones that don't have anything going on, but for the future when they face adversity or turmoil or strife, Father God, I just ask that we would pull from Acts 12 and that we would do the same thing that Peter did,

which is just rest and be at peace. Because your word is a prophetic word for us. Long life will you give us? And that is for whatever people believe, whether it's 70 to 80, which Psalms says in determining how you want to believe it, says that for yourself. Some believe it's for the Israelites when they were walking through the desert. Or to 120, just like Moses.

Whatever you want, long life shall be given to you. So sickness, illness and disease is not going to be your demise. You will live and you shall not die. And if you're walking through anything financially, the word is true. Give and it shall be given to you. Press down, shaken together, pouring

over into your bosom. Give your tithe. Pay your tithe. And if you are, you have a promise that you shall never lack. You shall always have more than you need. It will be so much that is pouring out. And Father God, I just speak to the ones that are dealing with depression, anxiety, strife in the home, family members that are against one another, people who are not saved,

that people are believing for to be saved. Lord, help us to know your word is true, and that whatever we say, and whatever we speak, and whatever example we lead, that the outcome will be one that your word says is true, and that if we live by an example, they will come to know you. That's what it says in Peter and in Corinthians. And Father, depression, anxiety, those are not of you. But peace and calm, still, that is of you. Let us pull from that. Let us fast over that. Let us praise you and worship you because your word is true. And draw near to him and he will draw near to you.

We are victors. We are winners and we do not quit no matter what it looks like. We do not quit because quitters never win ever and winners always do. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen. See ya. Bye.