Woman Evolve with Sarah Jakes Roberts - Called to Action

Episode Date: January 14, 2026

In the second installment of our devotional series, SJR continues the conversation on what it means to go rogue. And at the end of the day, it's conviction over consensus, sis. Romans 12 sets the tone, reminding us that real change doesn't happen overnight. So if evolving feels like a lot, remember that Jesus clocked every flaw and still chose you. Matthew 5 is assigned as homework because living set apart is not for the faint of heart, especially when them old ways try to spin the block. Don't try to dip out early now! The journaling prompts at the end of this episode will help you name what obedience really costs, where resistance shows up, and what you need to break away from.

Okay, so I am back and this is episode two of us going rogue in 26. I am your host, Sarah Dix Roberts, and you are listening or watching the Woman Evolve podcast. Last week, if you didn't hear last week's episode, I spent a lot of time talking about what and why we are going rogue, what it means to go rogue and why it's necessary that we go rogue. Now, I mentioned that if you looked at the definition, going rogue, that you'd be like, I don't know about it. I don't know about it because at first glance, the definition can be jarring and there's words like rebellion in it and it can create a little bit of confusion if you are just looking at it on a surface level. But when you look at it through the context of a spiritual lens, it actually makes sense that we are in this stage where we are going rogue. Going rogue starts to talk about not acting as expected, moving independently, leaving a group and doing something that could be considered erratic to those who don't understand it. But when we look at it through the spiritual context and lens of allowing us to go rogue from this world so that we can align with who Jesus is and ultimately what God

wants for our life, it loses a bit of its sting. If you haven't heard that episode, I highly suggest going back, I am starting this year with a devotional that really lays the foundation for the theme of what it means to go rogue. Anytime that you hear the scripture, Romans 12, verses one through two, to me in my mind when I hear it, I hear God beckoning us to go rogue through the letter that he wrote to the Romans through Paul. He's telling us to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We talked about Ephesians and how we once walked according to the ways of this world, the prince of the power of the air, who is the spirit that is in the sons of disobedience, but how ultimately when we became saved, when we believed by faith that

Jesus is the son of God who was sent on earth to save us from sin, from death, from destruction, that we received a breath of fresh air, and that breath of fresh air should have action attached to it. And so I want to talk a little bit about the action connected with going rogue. and I want to start by hopefully this episode won't be as long. I feel like the last episode, maybe because it was so foundational. It got a little bit lengthy, but hopefully this one won't be as long. I want to start by, first of all, helping you to understand this in a metaphoric way that hopefully grounds the conversation for you.

So imagine I live in America where there are many people from many amazing countries, and who have migrated here for different purposes and intentions. And so, especially when I was living in Los Angeles, I had the privilege of really being surrounded by people who were multicultural and multi-ethnic. And then when I have the opportunity to travel internationally, I also get to experience different cultures, different experiences. We've been fortunate enough to take our children in different places.

And even in that, we tell them before we go into, those regions like, hey, in this country, this is acceptable, but this may not be acceptable because we're in a new country. I want you to understand that through the process of salvation, that we have literally gone from one kingdom to another. So imagine us going from one country to another country. And I haven't been to countries in the Middle East, but I have seen people who have traveled to countries in the Middle East. And in order to respect that culture, they cover their hair. they wear certain clothing because they recognize that that culture requires a different level of action connected to it. So when we talk about moving from being under the influence of the

prince of the power of the air and aligning ourselves with what it means to be followers of the way, those who believe in Jesus and believe that modeling our lives after Jesus is the best way for us to reflect the image of God and the earth for us to be saved from our sins and to show up in a way that really pushes humanity towards Jesus. In order for us to do that, we have to recognize that, yes, I have been saved, but I also need to be transformed. I also need to be changed. There needs to be action connected with that.

And this is where a lot of people start falling off because they get overwhelmed by the idea of all of the changes I need to make. I'm going to have to uproot my entire life. But I need you to understand that this is a process, sanctification. That's what we call the pursuit and transformation from who. who we are in our fallen nature into a righteous royal priesthood that is aligned with Jesus. That process of sanctificate is a process, right? That means that the Lord is going to constantly highlight new things,

and those things are going to be transformed into something that is more holy. And so this is a process. But when we begin to look at our ways and actions, here's the reality of it is sometimes we'll know, like if I am going from, America to maybe a country in the Middle East, I may know, like, okay, I need to cover my hair, but there may be some things that I don't know that I'm not supposed to wear a certain color, or I shouldn't look this way, or look at certain people in their eyes. Like, I may not understand the nuances of that culture.

I'm just using the example. So please forgive me if I have maybe said something a little offensive. I'm trying to really ground this theory because when we move from moving according to the Prince of the Power of the Air, that word Prince, it denotes a kingdom, right? that there's a kingdom connected to the prince of the power. There's the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of heaven. There are certain ways that we know immediately, like, okay, I'm going to need to stop smoking. I'm going to have to let go of this addiction.

I am going to have to see my body as worthy and valuable. I'm going to have to be more judicial in some of the decisions that I'm making. Some of the words that I speak, maybe in some of the behaviors that I have allowed to be permissible, I'm going to have to change. this process is overwhelming sometimes because we think like, man, am I ever going to be good? And if there are so many things that are wrong with me, will I ever get it right? I want you to understand that Jesus knows exactly who you are. And God on the cross anyway, he's like, you know what?

I see their flaws. I see their strengths. I see their trials. I see their triumphs. And I still believe that they are worth of dying for. So you're not doing this to get saved. You're not doing this to get in relationship with Jesus by faith. This is not something that happens.

because of your work. This is by faith. You have received Jesus. By faith, you are walking things out with Jesus. By faith, Jesus is with you. So we're not proving our worth through our actions. However, it is a beautiful journey because it allows us to not just receive salvation, but to experience the transformation that is available to us because of our salvation. It's like getting a phone and never using all of the features. Like, okay, I have the phone. I got the basic. You can call me. I can call you, but I didn't know that it could drive my car. I didn't know that it could balance my bank account. I didn't know that it could help me navigate the stock market. I didn't know that all of these features were available to me. When you receive Jesus, yes, you receive salvation from

sin. You receive salvation from death, but putting it to action and being in relationship with Jesus is when you begin to unlock all of the features. I want to go to Colossians chapter 1, verse 13. And in Colossians chapter 1, verse 13, I told you all last week that many of the epistles of Paul, and I gave a little backstory on who Paul was, so you can go back to that episode if you'd like to listen to it. But he's writing this letter to the church in Coloss. Once again, these are letters that were written. There weren't the numbers in the chapters. This is Paul just like writing his heart out, sending it by messenger. People would gather around and they would listen to it, almost like listening to a sermon. And he's trying to help them understand what has

happened to them. I believe, but what's next? And he grounds this by saying he has delivered us. Jesus has delivered us from the power of darkness. We talked last week about the reality that Satan does have power. You can say that I put him under my feet and his power under my feet and that is true. But to act as if he doesn't have power is foolish, we see so much wickedness and evil that is taking place in the world. It has a source, and that source is the prince of the power of the air. It is the enemy. It is Satan. It is the devil. And to recognize that is to say there's the power of darkness does exist in my world. And it says that he has delivered us from the power of darkness. So Jesus has delivered us and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. I was looking at

the message version because the message version to me is the closest that will ever get to the Ebonyx version of the Bible until the Lord puts it on my heart to actually sit down and go through it. And I want to read to you what it says in the message version. It says, God rescued us from dead end alleys and dark dungeons. Now take a minute, let that marinate. Because you know like I know, that I know that you know, that we know together. It was some dead end relationships, baby. They wasn't taking us nowhere but to a dead end. They were not adding life to us. We had some dead end habits.

They wasn't doing nothing to help us, nothing to bless us. And God rescued us from dead end alleys and dark dungeons. He set us up in the kingdom of the sun he loves so much. So I went from one kingdom to another kingdom. The son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. There was a habit and a behavior that I would have kept repeating had I not been saved. Sanctification is the process of us stopping those patterns. That word conveyed, I looked it up in the Greek, and I want to share it with you. That word conveyed means

transfer, carry away, depose, or exchange to put out, remove, translate, turn away. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred, carried us away, exchanged us, seduced us into the kingdom of the son of his love. I actually like that word seduced because for some of us, the Lord wooed us into relationship with him. The Lord understood the areas where we needed to experience intimacy, where we needed to have vulnerability, where we needed to have our heart soothed and transferred us into the power of darkness. So I need you to understand that in the process of this transfer, that we have an opportunity to understand what are the new laws, what are the new habits, what is the new culture that I am a part of. When you study

scripture, I want you to study scripture considering what is this new culture and how do I need to transform who I am, who I was, so that I can exist within this culture. There is no better, to me, no better sermon, no better scripture. There is no better way of laying hold of this new culture than turning to Matthew 5. Let me tell you, whenever I read Matthew 5, I am just reminded that I, you ain't nothing, you ain't never going to be nothing. That's terrible, but it's actually very true because I just be like, man, I have so much work to do. It's humbling, but it is necessary for us to understand what this kingdom demands of us and what heart posture is required for us to arrive there. I want to read a little bit of Matthew 5 with you to help you understand what the new culture is that we exist in, the new government, the new way of being. And then I want to talk about what makes it risky to go rogue, why it feels like.

something that is dangerous. And if you look at that definition, we're talking about erratic and dangerous. I want to talk about why it feels dangerous and what it threatens. And then I think I'm going to close this out next week. We'll see. But okay, maybe I'll do this. I'll close it out next week. But then episode four, I'll answer some of your questions if you are into that kind of thing. So let's go to Matthew 5. Matthew 5. Jesus has been baptized. He has, no, Matthew 5 is right before Let me get my facts straight. So Matthew 5, yes, he's been baptized and he's faced off with Satan in the wilderness. He's been tempted by the devil.

He's come out on the other side. One of the things that I love about the sequence of this story is that the Holy Spirit falls on him. And after he's been baptized, the Holy Spirit falls upon him. And there's a voice from heaven that says, this is my beloved son, who and whom I am well pleased. So this is the Father God affirming Jesus identity. Just after this Holy Spirit has fallen upon him, he goes into the wilderness. He's tempted by the devil.

After he experiences the temptation of the devil, it says that he came out of the wilderness and he was full of the spirit, which I think really speaks to what happens on the other side of him coming out of that wilderness season. And I want to tell him. So in Matthew 5, he's beginning to have conversation with multitudes. His disciples have come around him and the multitudes, and he's trying to help him understand who he is.

So, you know, he's been baptized. He's faced off with the enemy, and they're still trying to figure out, like, who is this joker? You know what I mean? Like, who is this man? And what does he believe? And how do we align with him? What does it mean for us to leave everything and follow him?

And he starts talking something that is. is, you're talking about going rogue. It breaks all of the rules of what they have become comfortable believing. And it says, you know, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they meek. None of that sounds crazy, right? For they shall inherit the earth. Well, that sounds a little weak because that sounds a little strange because the meek inheriting the earth is in contradiction to who we believe will inherit the earth. We're thinking that those who are powerful, those who have authority, maybe those who take advantage of other people, those are going to be the

people who inherit the earth. And Jesus is saying, nope, that is not so. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Okay. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Okay. So even if we took just this right here and understood the culture of the kingdom of heaven, he's beginning to upset what we believed. Blessed, first of all, to be considered blessed and you're poor in spirit. I don't feel like I am blessed when I am poor in spirit. When I feel poor in spirit, I feel like no one cares about me. I feel alone. I feel isolated. And Jesus is letting us know, actually, that's when I am the closest to you. That's when I long to do life with you the most. That's when I want to walk things out with you. If you can receive that when I am poor in spirit,

it is not a sentence. It is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to dwell with me. Then I can find the blessing and being poor in spirit. I can find the way that God's love is meeting me when I feel poor in spirit. It is for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blesser those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled. First of all, hunger and thirsting for righteousness is more than just I want it. I'm hungry for it. I'm thirsty for it. I believe that in this text that Jesus is showing us that in order for us to pursue righteousness that we have to to be desperate for it. And when we are desperate for it, we will be filled. A lot of times people say, I want to get closer to God. That is hunger pains on the inside of you that is beginning to

hunger for righteousness. The reason why you want to become closer to God is because God is righteousness. And there is something on the inside of you that is tired of living the way that you have been living. There's something on the inside of you that believe that you can do better than the way that you have been showing up. There's a part of you that longs to look like your creator. that your insides would look and match the insides of the creator who brought you into this life. And when you begin to be hungry for it, when you begin to be thirsty for it, Jesus says, then you will be filled. Blessed are those who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness. It is a blessing. Oh, gosh, can you imagine? And we don't even have to imagine.

Those moments where you aren't hungry, you don't get filled. Those moments when you aren't thirsty, you don't get filled. But if you could, oh, I'm just praying right now, God, if there's someone listening right now and they want to start this year off strong, they want to get closer to you, but they're not really hungry for it. Maybe they have an appetite for something else. Maybe they have been disappointed so often they have been let down by other people, let down because their hopes and dreams weren't fulfilled. And they've lost their appetite. And in the process of losing their appetite, they've lost you. God, I'm praying right now that your spirit, your presence would meet them, and that you would make

them hungry again, that you would put a desire on the inside of them to hunger for righteousness, God, that they may see that they have always been made in your image on a spiritual level, and that it's deeper than some of our human inclinations for desire and community and connection that our spirit was made in the image of God. And when our spirit is well, that we can then see our lives as well. And so God, may everything they do start in the spirit, may they hunger for righteousness in their spirit, and then may it overflow into everything that they do. He goes on to talk about all of those who are blessed.

And you got to read Matthew 5. I believe it will really bless you and helping to really wrap your mind around what it means to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. But then he starts to say some crazy things. He starts to love your enemies. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute. Pray, pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. The culture of this kingdom is different than the culture of the world. And if you have been sucked into the culture of this world where you like, You know what?

It's giving very much so I for an eye. It's giving very much so I'm not the one or the two. It's not giving turn the other cheek. It never gave turn the other cheek. And now you're telling me that to be in the kingdom of heaven, it needs to give turn the other cheat. Why would you say that to me? Because I want you to understand how lofty it is,

how much you're going to need God to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. how much humility, how much trust, how much faith you're going to have to have in God in order to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. And so that's your homework, is to read Matthew 5. And I want you to consider some of the things that Jesus mandates as a part of being in the kingdom of heaven that you know you will have to go rogue in order to lay hold of. If this is who I'm going to have to be, if I am going to have to love those who don't just love me, but to love those who are sometimes difficult to love. If this is who I'm going to have to be, that I'm going to have to turn the other cheek, what am I going to have to go rogue from?

Let's put going rogue in action. What am I going to have to break away from in order to lay hold of this as my truth? Read all of Matthew 5. Read all of Matthew 5. It actually stops in Matthew, the thing, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the thing is long. Matthew 7, Matthew 8. It ends really, yeah, read through Matthew 8. And let that be your Bible study. And I will say this, like, the moment that when you read one scripture, it may take you a week, it may take you a month, it may, maybe you breathe through it.

Maybe you won't, because I'm really talking about heart change and transformation. This isn't just about reading. I really want you to take this maybe line by line or a few verses at a time and to consider what is God saying I am who is God saying I'm going to have to be who is Jesus saying I'm going to have to be character wise and where do I fall short from this um if it says blessed are the poor and spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are them meek for they shall inherit the earth okay so what what is that saying and how is it counter what I have believed and where do we I need to build faith in my life to believe differently. What am I going to have to break away from?

I want you to do this because I feel like as you begin to really examine your life, right? In scripture, it talks about searching my heart. Searching my heart is when we allow the Holy Spirit to like take inventory. Let your word challenge me. Let your word be a sword and really slice what's in me that's not supposed to be in me. Let it refine me. Let it bring me to you. Let it bring me to a greater level of identity. I believe that you were made in the image of God. I believe that about you. And I believe that life has happened to you

and it has distorted the way you see yourself. It has distorted the way you see God. But I believe that when God puts a word in front of you, when God allows his word to touch your heart, that God is putting a mirror in front of you so that you can see who you are supposed to be. Who will you have to become in order to walk and step and some of the things that Jesus lays out in Matthew 5, and what are you going to have to go rogue from in order to do it?

I say those two questions because it's easy to say who I'm going to have to become. So this is the top of the year. And a lot of people start setting new year intentions, right? And with these new year intentions, like, I'm going to be a fit mommy, I'm going to muscle mommy. I'm going to be this. I'm going to be that. But like, what am I going to have to break away from when I feel emotional and I want to go get a Starbucks cookie? I'm telling my testimony not yours.

What am I going to have to do differently? How am I going to have to break out of habits that currently exist in order for me to step into whatever this goal is? And in our case, on a spiritual level, this goal is to look like Jesus, to experience discipleship and that we are walking out lives that help us to match God's energy in the earth. And so I want you to know, though, that this is going to have some moments where if feels very difficult. It's going to have moments where it feels tricky. You know why? Because this new identity is going to be a threat to relationships that only exist in your old identity. This new

identity is going to be a threat to dreams, to hopes, to businesses, to ideas that only function in that old kingdom. You got to remember, we're moving from one culture to another culture. And when we move from one culture to another culture, there are some dreams that won't work in that culture, some relationships, some habits, some ways of being that won't work in that new culture. So you're going to have to be willing to sacrifice some things in order to exist and function in this new culture. The old kingdom never stops calling your name. Honey, when you move from one kingdom to the other, you just got to know as I'm moving from one address to the other every now and then, some mail gets sent to that old address. And, you know,

you're like, man, I got to go pick up that mail. I got to go get that peace. That kingdom knows you. That kingdom is familiar. That kingdom with all of its issues and problems offered you moments of comfort, of peace and joy. And because that old kingdom knows your name so well, you're going to have moments where you can feel a calling. You may have moments where you go and visit. You say, listen, I'm going to need to swipe that passport and go back to my old way being. You don't ever have to go back to your old way of being, but sometimes you get a little caught up and life gets you caught up and you find yourself back there without you even really trying. And so maybe this is an invitation for you to scoot your boot and find your way back where you know you're supposed to

be. But in the process, I just want you to not be surprised when some days it's not as easy to resist. John 8th says that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. That means we were once chained to a that really led us to dead ends and dark dungeons and had us chained to identities that didn't reflect God's goodness. However, I need you to understand that as you're moving into this new kingdom, that you can be a slave to Christ, you can be a slave to righteousness. And the easier, the more that you continue to pursue righteousness, the more that you continue to pursue who God says you are, the easier it becomes to tune out that old kingdom when it's saying your name. Before Christ, obedience often felt automatic.

Before we were in relationship with Jesus, we just obeyed whatever sin said. But one of the ways that you'll know that you're beginning to really walk in light is not necessarily that you don't do it anymore. Because if you're waiting for the moment where, like, sin no longer calls your name. If you're waiting for that moment where you no longer feel tempted, you may feel like, man, I'm failing because I still feel temptation, but I'll tell you this. You'll know one of the first signs of transformation is conviction. When you can't do the things that you used to do with ease without feeling something in you that feels bad, that means you're waking up.

That means that God is beginning to transform your mind, that you don't see it the way that you once did. And sometimes I'll be honest with you, you don't feel conviction until after you do it. Like, man, I thought I could dabble in it just like I used to and get back on my square. but I dabbled in it and I feel differently than I ever felt before. That is the Holy Spirit convicting you about something that you once felt comfortable in. You want to lean into that. When salvation happened, I am telling you that freedom doesn't always feel natural at first,

but the more that you function in that freedom, the more that you thank God that you were free from that sin and you walk out what it means to be free from that sin and you find the joy in being free from that sin, you begin to experience transformation. It's resistance. It's like swimming upstream. The current hasn't changed. You did, right? And you keep swimming upstream.

And eventually it gets stronger and stronger. You get stronger and stronger. It gets easier and easier to swim upstream and to swim against the current. Going rogue is going to get easier. It may be hard at first, but it will get easier. You have to build this muscle in Romans.

It talks about walking in the spirit, versus walking in the flesh. Walking in the spirit is a muscle and the more that you do it, the easier it will become, but you got to get some practice reps in. Okay, it's going to feel risky because old relationships are going to feel strange, old habits are going to feel loud, and old comforts are going to feel hollow. That discomfort is not confusion. It is evidence that defection has occurred. Okay. I wrote that down and I want you to write that down. There's one last thing. Let me see. This is, oh, it's 30, okay, look at us. Okay, there's one last thing I want to share with you. Where are my notes? Oh, right here. Okay. So I want to leave you with some reflection questions

before we go. I know I gave you some homework in Matthew 5, but I'd like to leave you with reflection questions for you to marinate on as you take this to the Lord in prayer and really begin to consider what areas in your life you need to go rogue and the action required in order for you to go rogue. And only you and the Lord will be able to figure this out. But once again, like I said, if you're like, I don't know where to start, take it one thing at a time. Don't overwhelm yourself. Jesus wants to be in relationship with you. And it's going to be something that he continues to reveal to you little by little. I'm constantly finding new areas of my life. Like I shared with you last week, new areas of my life. I'm like, okay, Lord, you want to bring healing to this. You want

bring, not just healing, you want to bring holiness to this. Going rogue, oh my goodness, Lord, help me to say this way it just dropped in my spirit, is God revealing the areas in our lives that he wants to bring holiness to that requires us to break away from hollowness, okay? That allows us to the areas where we're going to have to break away from complacency or from the current of this world. Here are your reflection questions, okay? Number one is this. What did you feel when you first realized following Jesus would cost you something? That's, say a lot, deep breath.

Did you feel joy or did you feel grief? It's not uncommon to feel grief in those moments that you realize that following Jesus is going to cost you something. It may not be as easy as you originally. anticipated. It may require some loneliness, some awkward seasons, and I want you to be able to be honest about what you felt. There are plenty of times in scriptures where someone said, I want to follow you Jesus. I want to be with you and Jesus like, okay, drop everything and come with me. And they're like, ugh, I can't do it. Or let me go bury my father. And he's like, you know, the dead can bury the dead. Come with me. And in those moments, you have to imagine that those people

felt, grief, felt disappointment. It's not. uncommon to experience those things, but I will say this. You just got to remember that if you're really at this crossroad, the things that you are giving up were leading to dead ends. What's interesting is if you can imagine this in your mind, you're at a crossroad. And one road is lush and there's fruit and there's trees. And it looks like walking down this road is going to, the sun's going to hit your skin perfectly. They're going to be just moments to stop and enjoy this fresh fruit that are on the trees. There's a breeze.

Then there's another path. And to be honest, it looks a little rocky. It looks like you're going to have to move around a few little sharp pieces of rocks and edges of stone. And it doesn't look as lush as the other path. However, what you can't hear is that there's a garden and an ocean that's at the end of that rocky trail. whereas the one that's lush and looks beautiful ultimately turns into a cemetery and it gets dark that's to me is what it's like when we're choosing

between God's path and the enemy's path is that sometimes when we go rogue we have to break away from things that we love we have to break away from things that feel good we have to break away from things that bring us instant gratification and we have to trust that going through the process of grieving, going through the process of loneliness, maybe of hurting, is worth it because of what awaits us at the end of this path. It's glory, it's righteousness, it's wholeness, it's peace, it's joy, it's power, it's love. If you can survive the transition, if you can survive the path that requires you to own what you believe about God, even though you haven't yet seen the fullness,

of it. If you can survive those moments, there's power on the other side in your spirit, in your core. I'm not making you this promise. Like there's bentley's and houses and mansions waiting on your other side. I'm talking about what's going to happen in your spirit, that you're going to have the capacity to survive whatever comes your way, that you're going to feel empowered to walk into spaces where you once felt insecure. That is what awaits us on the end of that path. But I want you to be honest about what you felt when you first realized that following Jesus would cost you something. Maybe you already felt the joy, but I'm always thinking about the person who maybe feels overlooked, maybe feels like there's something wrong with me because I didn't feel

that way because, hello, that is who I once was. The second question is this, where do you notice resistance when you choose obedience? So where are those moments where you start to feel? For me, like, I know I need to forgive somebody, but they don't deserve it, right? In those moments where I feel that resistance. I know that it's my pride, my ego, trying to determine what a person deserves and what they don't deserve while also thanking God that I didn't get what I deserved. Make that math. Makes sense. It never will. Number three is this. What old allegiances still try to claim your loyalty? What old ways of being in that old kingdom and that old path? How do they still try to claim your loyalty? For me, like I said, I think that forgiveness one translates into this

as well, you know, this idea of like, don't let nobody get over on you. Don't ever let them think that you didn't see what you saw. But I really do believe. Let me tell you something. If this year and last year has taught me nothing else, it is truly that God will defend you. God will take care of your battles for you. You have nothing to worry about. You can be talked about. You can be maligned. You can be judged, misunderstood. If you stay planted. And what you know, know on what you don't know. I think some of my biggest concerns when I was being judged and maligned and misunderstood was like I wanted to defend myself. But most importantly, it was like, what if they're right? Like, what if I'm doing something wrong? But the Lord knows who I am. The Lord

knows the way that I take. And if I'm doing something wrong, I know what it feels like when the Lord convict me. The Lord will convict me and I will have to own it, change it, you know, utilize my influence to undo something that has been said. But I can't allow someone else. as conviction to become my truth. If the Lord hasn't challenged me on it, if the Lord hasn't convicted me on it, and I take everything to prayer, even the negative things that someone says about me,

Lord, is there truth in this? And you're using them as a vessel to get a message to me. I don't want to be like David, where the prophet Nathan comes to him and starts to tell him about who he is. And he's like, that's terrible. Who would do such things like you did it? You don't want to do all these things.

I don't want to be that way. So, Lord, if there's some truth in this, reveal it to me. And I had to learn that the Lord knows how to speak to me, the Lord knows how to convict me, the Lord knows how to change me, challenge me, transform me. And so I don't have to do people the way that they do me. God's going to take care of me and God's going to be God and I'm going to be me

and the rest is going to take care of itself. Amen, amen. Okay, and the last one is this. How does understanding salvation as a transfer change how you see faith? Salvation is not a destination. Salvation is the jump-off point. It is the jump-off point that leads us into a journey of being transformed. And so I honestly feel like that's one of the things that, you know, as someone who was raised in church

and, you know, I was raised in church, maybe I wasn't listening and people were talking about this. Maybe it wasn't said in a way that I could understand, but I need you to understand that it wasn't, it's not just about getting saved. Salvation is the beginning. And I think we lose a lot of people to the faith because it was just about being saved. And once you got saved, people were living any kind of way they wanted to live, doing whatever they wanted to do. And it was like, okay, I'm saved. But like, what am I supposed to be doing day to day? How does that change my heart, my mind, my spirit, my ways? That is sanctification. That is the

beginning process and journey. And so when you realize that salvation is a transfer, that you're now transferred into another kingdom and you got some new cultures and new language, I noticed how I didn't talk about like what you dress in and, you know, I didn't even go into what you listen to. Why? Because it's not just about behaviors. It's about heart transformation. And as your heart is transformed, there are going to be things that you used to listen to, things you used to wear, things you used to say that you no longer feel comfortable with. And so how does understanding salvation as they transfer change how you see your faith? Those are the questions that I want you to answer. And that's the end of this. I'm going to end it now. It's 38 minutes.

a little bit longer than that. I'm going to end it now because I promise it wouldn't be as long as the last episode. I hope these are helping you. I'm doing that. I really feel like I struggled to speak this episode. And I don't think I'm tired because I got eight hours to sleep. Maybe I just feel a little nervous or rushed or something. I don't know.

But thank you for taking the time to be on this journey with me. Thank you for trusting me with this message, even if you're not fully sold on it, even if you're not fully bought in. Thank you for that. the time that you've taken to listen to this message. Take everything I've said to the Lord in prayer. Ask God if there's anything in it for you and if there's something in it for you. I just challenge you to be obedient to what God is saying in this moment. I believe that the Lord allows us to have windows of opportunity because those are windows of transformation

that are available to us. And I believe that those windows of transformation ultimately are connected to what God is doing in the earth. And so if we want to see change in the earth, it starts with us. And so if there's something that's been said here that is wooing you into change, allow it to begin to be the beginning of a conversation that you and God have. Lord, thank you so much for your life, for your love, for your lessons, for a life well-lived and resurrection power that didn't just exist in your body, but is made available to each and every last one of us. God, as we transfer from one kingdom to another, as you highlight areas of our life where we need to experience your transformation, God, I pray that you would allow us to

experience your love in the process, that we wouldn't feel condemned behind, delayed, or guilty, nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you for meeting us right where we are, knowing where we are, and allowing us a bridge to get to where we need to be. God is that this message is landing in the hearts, the ears, the minds of those you love. I pray that it is an invitation to draw near to you, to draw closer to you. Fill them with your spirit, God.

Allow them to experience your love, your comfort, your peace, and then your guidance. God, as they are going rogue and they are extracting themselves, God, the greatest extraction mission they'll ever take as they are extracting themselves from the ways and patterns of this world. May they do so with courage and belief that what awaits them on the other side is greater than anything that they are leaving behind. And I thank you, God, that as always, we don't have to do it alone. Thank you for this community. Thank you for the opportunity to serve what you're doing in their lives. Continue to filter my words through your spirit

and to challenge me in areas where I need to grow and develop, that I may utilize this gift, this voices platform for your glory and your glory alone. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, family. I'll see you next week. Evolve.