Latest / The Bible Gal / Where focus goes, your faith flows

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Where focus goes, your faith flows · The Bible Gal

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Bobacco podcast, and I'm Miguel Amber.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just a Proverbs 31 woman, empowering women to step into their on-the-fire for the Lord mentality.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage us to live on our faith, to grow, and to believe in the calling that God has for us.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: My vision is to help women break the chains of their past of inner struggles and fears to create new chapters that only our father can write for us.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm on a mission and passion to empower you and all the women out there.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be your new favorite podcast for daily devotionals and Bible study chats.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hey guys, welcome to episode 44.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where our today's topic is where focus goes, your faith flows.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so today's was a actually a requested topic um that somebody had asked me to cover and kind of talk about.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if you that somebody had reached out to me on TikTok, so if you have like a topic that you ever want me to talk about, I would absolutely love to hear from you.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I absolutely will get into it.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, shoot me a message on wherever you find me, either on Instagram, TikTok, um, I have um my email, which is your biblegal at gmail.com.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can always shoot me an email over there as well.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but with that being said, I always like to start us off in prayer.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get started.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray over every single listener right now.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that you open their hearts, open their minds, fill them up with your Holy Spirit.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray protection over them wherever they are right now, that you protect them as they hear your word, Father.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I just pray that you speak to their heart, Father, speak to their mind, speak to their soul.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: May what is said today be coming through you.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I ask that you um speak through me, Lord, and help me give this message and give the words to say um that they walk away today, change, that they walk away today with something to um sit on their heart and to remember and to be encouraged to um get closer to you.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so first I want to jump into the book of Luke.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm gonna kind of give like a little quick synopsis of a um of a little a little story, not a story, a little a little piece.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: So in Luke chapter 11, verse 1 and 2 says, Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, as he finished, one of his disciples had came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Jesus said, This is how you should pray.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Father, you may be may your name be kept as holy, may your kingdom come.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so I stopped it there because it does go on, and um, you know, this the whole prayer template that Jesus gives us on how to pray.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I really wanted to focus on the very first thing here because he focuses um we're we're focusing on um the gratitude and how he in the very beginning of our prayer we are you know praising the Lord and we're giving him that honor.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, so as he's giving us these directions, you know, he says, Father, may be your name kept holy.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So he starts by giving the Lord that praise, right?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so um I really want to think about that because as think about that in relationship to our prayer life.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how do you start your prayer life?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Do you start it with gratitude?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are you starting it with giving the Lord your praise?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, even by starting our our day each and every morning, right, praising the Lord, um, then it kind of kicks out any of our fleshly, worldly thoughts that we are filled with, um, and immediately just filling ourselves up with that Holy Spirit of an eternal mindset and eternal heart.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um now, obviously, the praising the Lord can look different, right?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it could be morning, 6 a.m.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Zoom prayer, maybe with your church when you first wake up.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe it's just worship music when you get up and you're getting ready in the morning.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe it's you know praising the Lord in prayer, um, just as this um scripture was you know explaining.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's giving him gratitude for all that he has done for you and just all his goodness, right?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: By choosing the Lord and his goodness in the morning before you do anything else, it fills you up with this love, fills you up with his love and his spirit and his strength.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, when you first open your eyes, but and I know I'm sure this is all over social media, but it's so true, like where you reach for your Bible before you reach for your phone, like it's it's so true.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, granted, I reach for my phone first because I always have to turn off my alarms because I always snooze them 17,000 million times, but then actually, like once I snooze them, I'm like, okay, stop before I actually like go on social media or check the weather or whatever.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let me stop and let me at least say good morning.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so I will immediately stop.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'll stop my alarms and I'll be like, okay, you know, I'll sit up or you know, at least kind of prop myself up to where I'm like awake enough to actually like you know speak and think, and I'll be like, you know, good morning, Lord, acknowledging the Lord, acknowledging the Holy Spirit.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let him be the very first one I ever say good morning to.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Before I say good morning to my husband or my kids or anybody else, I say good morning to the Lord because it is only because of the Lord that I have that breath in my lungs in that morning to be able to be, you know, even able to say that.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so just expressing that gratitude first thing in the morning by saying good morning and honoring him, um, and really just praising him and saying, you know what, Lord, thank you for another day for these breath in my lungs before anything else gets started.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it really does just fill you up with his love and his spirit and his goodness, um, his strength first thing in the morning before our sinful fleshly, you know, self has the chance to even think or feel anything at all.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's the first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning is Jesus.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and obviously this takes, you know, this doesn't happen overnight.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: This definitely takes um, you know, habit and this definitely takes practice of of um you know waking up and and really trying to make sure that the Lord is the first thing on your mind and that your gratitude for him is the first thing on your mind.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I promise this is true.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I promise I'm not just like trying to preach this, you know, to encourage you to spend time with the Lord in the morning is yes, you know, I do want to encourage you to do that, um, and you know, to give him that praise, but it really is so just life-changing, and it really is so different on how your day operates.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I actually have like a little testimony of that, and on just kind of, you know, to back that up because so last Friday, um, I woke up in the morning, I stopped my alarms, and my phone was like blowing up.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: I normally have my phone um on do not disturb, and so that way all I get is my alarms, and so that way I don't ever even like be tempted to see my text messages or look at them.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm a teacher, and I feel like I've said that before.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, there's so many emails and text messages flooding my phone.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I, you know, I I don't want any of that to like, you know, disrupt my thinking in the morning.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, however, the other Friday I woke up, I turned off my alarms, and somehow I had my notifications turned on and my phone was not on.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Do not disturb.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it was dinging and dinging and dinging.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so what did I do?
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be real honest.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: I looked at my phone and I skipped that step in the morning.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I skipped skipped that step where I I immediately told the Lord good morning.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, I sat on my phone and I started reading this group chat, it's going off um with my boss and some coworkers asking me to cover, you know, go substitute um in a different school and they really needed my coverage somewhere.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I immediately was very upset because the school was like a good hour away from where I live, and um there was no way that I was gonna be able to um drop my kid off at daycare and make it to work on time, um, because I had woken up at normal time and I definitely was not prepared to like wake up to this t last minute, hey, can you cover this place?
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I was immediately filled with frustration, filled with bitterness, anger, filled with all of the fleshly, you know, sinful emotions of like why do I have to go?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't want to go, like now I'm frustrated, and I was like, I'm gonna have to like not even I'm gonna have to cut out my morning like the Bible devotion because I'm barely gonna have enough time to like get myself dressed and the baby dressed, and I was just really frustrated.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, I just I caught myself for the rest of the morning, like just being full of anger, full of bitterness, full of frustration, just you know, having all of these negative thoughts of like I don't want to go, I don't want to do this, this is stupid, right?
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like all of just the frustration, and that kept kind of leading on in my morning as I was getting ready.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was dropping things, you know, I was dropping the diaper cream and dropping the wipes, and um, you know, when to leave and realized my my water cup was empty, and I was literally getting in the car with the empty water cup, and I'm running back in to fill up my water, and it was just like at that point, you know, I had let the enemy in in my brain in the morning, and it was just a domino effect, one thing after another, and you're like, bam, bam, bam.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I was realizing like how much me not waking up and spending my first waking breath in the of my time with the Lord changed my everything.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because if I woke up in the Lord, I would have had a completely different mindset on covering this other school.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would have had a completely different mindset on um, you know, getting up in the morning and getting ready.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, I still would have been a little, you know, stressed and trying to figure out how I was gonna get out the door on time to make it to work on time to accommodate this extra drive time, but I definitely would have been centered in the Lord.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And in this time, I wasn't centered in the Lord.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I get in the car and I was like, you know what?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I need to recenter.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like before my day continues to go on, I need to recenter because I recognized and was like, you know what?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot allow the enemy to continue to domino affect the rest of my day.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna affect how I treat these kids, it's gonna affect how I treat my coworkers, it's gonna affect how I speak about my job, it's gonna affect how I speak about my boss, it's gonna affect how I respond to my coworkers and respond to the kids and respond to my boss.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't want, you know, my sinful fleshly self to to seep out into my life.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, I need to stop and I need to recenter.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so on my way to work, I did and I stopped and I prayed, and I was like very like passionately, fervently praying and um, you know, repenting for not waking up and spending that first time giving great gratitude to the Lord and focusing on the Lord.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I was like, let me refocus because I know that's where my faith will go.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously in the morning, my focus was on nothing but the negative stuff.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: So I my where did my faith go?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: My faith was going down the gutter, down the drain.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't there.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I had to recenter, and so I just started praying, and I probably prayed like the whole 15 minutes to my kid's daycare.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I drop her off, I get back in the car, and I feel a little bit better, definitely.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that I repented and spoke to the Lord and recentered, but I still feel off.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, why do I still feel off?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, because Amber, you didn't have that time with the Lord, you didn't focus on the word, you didn't focus on the gratitude, you didn't focus on the blessings, you didn't focus on what God has done for you in your life, you didn't focus on, you know, the people you're supposed to be interceding and praying for in the morning.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: You skipped right to, you know, the stress of the of your life.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, you know what?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, okay, I recentered.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely feel better and not as angry, and I definitely do feel better about going to work, but I'm like, I need to completely re not just recenter, but refocus.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I needed to put my focus into the Lord and into his gratitude.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I started praying worship music, um, which my favorite song right now, and that um is Jesus Thank You and Jesus be the name.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I I played those songs and because they're kind of more uh geared towards like you know being thankful.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really was really singing them, and as I got done singing them, I just was like, all right, Lord, obviously I can't open my word right now, but I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna spend time in you.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um I was like, I have a podcast of somebody who I like to listen to, so I listened to her.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she was giving, she kind of gives these like um declarations that you can speak over yourself.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I was reading her word and repeating after the word and making these declarations over myself um and declaring the word over my life and refocusing so that I could declare that word and refocusing on the word and refocusing on God and refocusing on his presence and you know my gratitude for him.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so as I transition out of that testimony to show you really how true it is on what you choose to focus on first thing in the morning.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I want to transition into a scripture.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Psalms 34, verse 1 says, I will praise the Lord at all times, I will constantly speak his praises.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna jump down in verse 3 now, and um it continues to go on.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: It says, Let us tell of the Lord's greatness, let us exalt his name together.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I want to paint some scenarios here.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I I gave a testimony of of real life of my life and what that looked like when I didn't have my focus straight and where my faith went and how I had to refocus so that my faith would get back on track and go to the in the right direction.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I've got some two scenarios here, and I just really want you to think about, you know, maybe one of these scenarios or maybe some of the things in the scenarios you can relate to.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um just really think about what that person or you um where your focus would be and be honest with yourself, right?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're listening to this episode right now, and wherever you are, you're you know, whether you're alone or whether you're with somebody else, like you can think, you know, what would you genuinely do?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that can just be between you and the Lord.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um so the first one I the first scenario I have is somebody who has um you maybe you have an autoimmune disease and you've lived with this your entire life, and right now you're in a season where you've having really bad health issues, you're having a flare-up, you've been in a lot of pain, um, you know, you're trying to juggle, being extremely scary, um, and scared for your health, and trying to work, and maybe you're trying to be a mommy to your kid who's been sick a lot lately, or maybe you know, your kid or kids have you know been having behavioral issues at school recently, or um, you know, they've just been having behavior issues recently, and you're trying to juggle all of that, and as if that wasn't enough or more than enough, or too much, you're also trying to cook dinner, and you're also trying to make time for yourself, and you're also trying to keep up with reading your Bible and your time in the Lord, and you're also trying to keep up with the house.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so, because of all of this, you're super emotional, you're super on edge, and you're really just in a season where everything feels against you.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: I want to let's let's see on how where your focus goes, your faith flows.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because this scenario, and especially in this season, if you focus on all of the negative things, because I'm I tell you what, I just listed so many of them.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, your health, um, you know, juggling, working, being a mom who's having a sick kid, who's having behavioral issues, um, trying to juggle time management with um your kid and your job and cooking dinner and giving time for yourself and keeping up with the house, um, making time for the Lord.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've maybe you haven't had as much time with the Lord as you normally would want to.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: So all of these things are negative, you know, bam, bam, bam, bam.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's smack after smack.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you putting your focus?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, are you are you praising all the times, you know, just like that verse said, are you praising at all times?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Are you praising, you know, all day and all night?
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, are you speaking about his praises?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Are you speaking about his goodness?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Are you speaking about the blessings, you know, that you have and that he has given you?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Are are you are you praising the Lord even in the midst of all this?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Where's your focus?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the scary stuff, you know, the depressing stuff, the you know, the rough waters, or are you focusing on the constant thing that never changes?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the one who never leaves your side?
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the one who is good regardless of your circumstances or not?
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the one who will be there for you, who will wipe every tear, who will carry you through that season, or are you focusing on the thing that is almost breaking you?
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I have a second scenario here.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're in college, you're a full-time student, you're juggling work, you're juggling school, you know, schoolwork, all the time management, okay?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Your grandmother just passed away, your car got a hit and run in the neighborhood, you came out to work, um, you know, you came out in the morning to go to work and somebody nicked your car in a hit and run.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been battling anxiety on top of all of that, and you've just been having this weird anxiety flare-up, you've been extra anxious, you don't know why, you've been stressed because you're trying to joggle all of these things, you know, work and school and schoolwork and and fixing trying to get your car fixed and finding the money to get it fixed.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so at this point, you're super anxious, and at this point you're super emotional, but maybe you're the kind of person who doesn't get emotional and cry, but you get easily irritated and you're easily irritable and you're easily, you know, angry and bitter at everything, and you just want to rot on the couch all day and ignore life because you're just so irritated all the time.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: What are you focusing on?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Where's your focus?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the depression?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the anxiety?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on the frustration?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on you know why you're frustrated that you're frustrated?
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you other because I've done that, you know?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on that you're frustrated with yourself that you're frustrated instead of just focusing on the one who never changes?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: I personally can't can can say there have been times where you're focusing on the emotion that you're feeling, and you're like, you know, Lord, I really am.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying, you know, I'm trying to continue in my prayer, and I'm trying to stay grounded in my faith, but I'm struggling.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm angry, I don't know why, and I'm angry that I'm angry, or I'm anxious that I'm anxious, or that I'm sad that I'm sad, and you're focusing on that emotion, and you're really just intensifying it instead of focusing on the one who ceases all storms, the one who gives all blessings, the one who is good when your circumstances are not, the one who can heal your anxiety, the one who can heal your anger, the one that can give you money for your car, the one who can give you time and energy to do your schoolwork, the one who can heal your heart for your grandmother passing away, the one who gives blessings, the one who is there when you give breath in the morning, the one who is there for you when you realize that you're you don't have the money to get your car face, the one who wipes your tears, the one who is there no matter what, where is your focus?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are you praising the Lord through this all day and all night?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Are you speaking about his praise to other people when you go to work, when you go to school, when you're talking to your kids, you know, are you saying, I'm having a rough time because of A, B, C, D?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you saying, you know what, yeah, it's been rough lately, but God is good.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: God is good.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: You don't even tell them what you're going through.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: You say, no, God is good.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do you wake up in the morning and you get to work and you say, you have no idea what just happened to me?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody paid for my donut in the Dunkin' Donuts line.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's at that moment the only good thing that you feel like you've got going for you.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: But where is your focus?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Are you focusing on that beautiful blessing that you just the Lord just provided you with food for a free donut on your way to work because that was like literally the thing that was gonna keep you from having a whole you know crash out?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Are you saying, hey, you know what?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: But God is good.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I woke up this morning, but I have breath in my lungs, I have gas in my car, I had a free donut, I got to work on time, I got to work safely.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you focusing on the storm?
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: What are you focusing on?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's where your faith will be.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I have to acknowledge that these scenarios and pictures that I painted are women in my life right now that I watch go through life.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And these scenarios are from a few women.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I say a few, not just one, not just two.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's a good three or four women in my life that I watch go through these exact scenarios who I have to shout out.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: I won't name drop them because.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's just not, I won't do that to them.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I have to shout them out for their faith in the way that they keep their focus on the Lord and they keep their focus on the blessings and they keep their focus on his goodness, even when they're in a season such as this.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And every time they start to, you know, have the whatever, whenever they start to struggle, have the anxious thoughts, the, you know, the frustrated thoughts, whatever, they're like, you know what, let me recenter.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because me recentering is where my focus is, is where my faith will be.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I just have to shout them out and say, I'm so proud of you for choosing to praise the Lord.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: I am so proud of every single one of my listeners right now.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: I am.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you for choosing to focus on the Lord.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you for choosing this podcast episode over Instagram.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you for choosing this podcast episode and listening to the word of God over doom scrolling.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm proud of you for choosing to focus on the Lord.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to encourage you to keep focusing on the Lord.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3 and 4 says, We are human, but we do not wage war as humans do.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy all false arguments.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Paul writes here that our battle's ongoing, that we're fighting, and what we're fighting isn't flesh and blood.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's the spiritual realm where the devil does everything he can to throw us off, everything he can to destroy our faith, everything he can to destroy our vision, our ministry, our obedience, our light, our love that we have in Christ.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and and Paul goes on and he says in this verse, God's mighty weapons.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: What are God's mighty weapons?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: His word, focusing on his word, focusing on his blessings, his goodness, just that.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: One of our biggest weapons against the devil that we can use to knock down the accusations, knock down the strongholds, knock down the thoughts and the arguments that the enemy tries to tempt us on.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's focusing on the blessings and his goodness and praising the Lord, giving the Lord praise.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: That weapon right there.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you start swinging your weapon first thing in the morning when you wake up and say, Good morning, Jesus.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Lord.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Father.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Holy Spirit.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for another day with breath in my lungs.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the bed that I'm laying in.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the roof over my head.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: How good are you?
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let all the glory belong to you, Father.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Let all the glory belong to you.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: You are so worthy.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: You deserve all the glory, Father.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: All the praise, Father.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: You are so holy.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: As I wrap us up here, he continues in verse 5 and he says, We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Every time you want to stray that focus, I encourage you to take that thought captive.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: Refocus on the word.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Refocus on his blessing.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Refocus on his goodness and his praise.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: Praise him.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's where your faith will go.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: So as I close this out, I want to encourage you today to pray with me over this guided prayer.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Dear Father, you deserve all the praise, all the glory.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for this day that you have given me.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Breath in my lungs.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: This time that I have with you right now to spend and praise you.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for dying on the cross, taking the beatings, the accusation, the hurt, the denying, most importantly, the bloodshed for my salvation.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: The opportunity to have a relationship with you.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: I ask you today, help keep my focus on your blessings.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Help keep my focus on your goodness.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Please help guide me today and every day to wake up earlier to praise you.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Help guide me when I need to take my thoughts captive.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Guide me and fight with your weapons against the spiritual battle.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord, for your love that endures me forever.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And as I completely close this out and end us up here, I really just want to encourage you to set aside time the next few days and just make an intimate date with the Lord, whether it's a letter in your journal, a painting, pumpkin, you know, for most of us, you know, fall the fall days are here, and you know, we won't do something folly.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sit in his presence, write down everything that he's done in your life, all the blessings, everything that you're thankful for.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: Write it down, have it like a date, like literally put it in your calendar somewhere.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Make a date with the Lord.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: However, you want to see that.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you paint it, write it, speak it, sing it, decorate it on a pumpkin, whatever, however you want the date to look.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to do that today.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to set aside that time and to set that date up.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: And last but not least, one last thing, because I have to, I can't close without this.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking to yourself, you know what, like I don't think after listening to this episode, like this is so good, but you know, I really want to start, you know, focusing on the Lord more, but I don't think I've ever actually truly given my heart to the Lord.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you have, and you just noticed yourself, you know, falling away lately and just really not living with Him and really obeying Him, and you just want to get right back and I just want to open that opportunity together and have one more prayer together and just pray salvation together.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: So pray with me.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Dear Father, I'm sorry for living my life without you.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: I repent for sinning against you and not walking with you.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: I do believe and trust that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: I choose today to invite you into my heart.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: That from this day forward I will live for you.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: I choose today to do my life with you.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Please change my heart and my life today.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Help my faith grow closer to you.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot overcome these struggles of life without you.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: I need you.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want you by my side today and forever.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, guys, thank you so much for listening.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if you have a topic request, I would absolutely love if you reached out to me and we can talk about it and um, you know, get it on the schedule for you know, maybe the next episode.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, thank you guys so much for listening, and I'll see you all next time.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening to today's episode.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to hear more, there are new episodes that drop every Monday and Thursday.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you liked what you heard, please help me gamble up by leaving a review.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can also give using the link below.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to pray for you.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any prayer requests, please send me an email to your bumblegamble at gmail.com, which is some of the links below on my other social media so you know where to find me.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, sisters, only in faith this week.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is with you every step of the way.