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4 Biblical Methods to Discern God's Will · Heart Check Podcast

• 0:00
  If you've ever laid in bed late at night, sitting there
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  thinking, God, what do you want me to do?
• 0:05
  This episode's for you. Yo, what's up, everybody?
• 0:20
  Welcome back to Heart Check podcast.
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  I'm your host, Pastor Los. Yeah, let's go.
• 0:29
  I'm so excited to be with you guys.
• 0:30
  Welcome back to Heart Check podcast.
• 0:33
  I'm so excited that you have joined me.
• 0:35
  I love you guys. I'm praying for you guys, even
• 0:38
  if I don't know you. I pray over all those who listen
• 0:40
  to this video. I pray that you encounter Jesus.
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  I pray that you are in his word. I pray that you're being filled
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  up by him. So last episode we talked about
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  discernment. Specifically, the title was
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  Hearing God's Voice in a noisy world.
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  So we really talked about what the Bible says about
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  discernment, how it's developed and how to avoid confusing God's
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  voice with our own desires. So it was a little bit more
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  informational. We had a lot to unpack and kind
• 1:06
  of get a bird's eye view as to what God says about discernment
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  and it was incredible. I enjoyed it.
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  I hope you enjoyed it. I continue to ask you guys, give
• 1:14
  me feedback, give me topics or questions that you may have.
• 1:18
  Comment below, like comment and subscribe.
• 1:21
  Man, it's it is a beautiful thing.
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  And I'm very grateful for those who have subscribed, who's
• 1:25
  taking the time to like it and comment.
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  I pray that you guys continue to be blessed by this, encouraged
• 1:32
  by this podcast. But today we're getting more
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  practical. We're we talked informational
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  last week on discernment. But today we're going to get a
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  little bit more practical with discernment because it's one
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  thing to understand discernment, but it's another thing to live
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  it out. And I think a lot of us struggle
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  with what does this look like. Now, the last week we talked
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  about what discernment is. What does discernment look like
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  to live it out on a daily basis and in our lives as followers of
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  Jesus. So today I want to talk about
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  two things. Number one, what spiritual
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  health has to do with discernment?
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  What I mean by that is, are you spiritually healthy to even have
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  discernment from the Holy Spirit 'cause that's something we have
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  to ask ourselves and something we have to ask others in our
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  lives as well. So we'll dive into what that
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  means more. But number two thing that we're
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  going to talk about today is 4 biblical methods that I've used
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  personally in my walk with Jesus, discerning God's will in
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  my life. So kind of four real practical
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  biblical wisdom and lessons that I've learned from scripture that
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  I've applied in my own life when I'm walking with Jesus that I
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  want to share with you guys today.
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  So I hope it blesses you and encourages you.
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  And I pray that this episode just fills you with God's truth
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  and leads you more into a life that looks like Jesus, that
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  sounds like Jesus, that represents that's Jesus, that
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  grows you nearer to him through understanding what it looks like
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  to practically live out discernment in your life.
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  But before you can have discernment that .1 I brought
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  up, before we can have discernment from the Holy
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  Spirit, you first have to ask yourself, is your life
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  spiritually healthy? Am I living in sin and
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  disobedience or in a place of unhealthiness spiritually
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  because I will not have spiritual discernment or clarity
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  in my life if I am. I kind of steal this wisdom from
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  my wife 'cause there's been many times when I have not been in a
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  spirit, spiritually healthy place.
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  And Kelly knows that she's my wife.
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  She she's my best friend. She knows these things in my
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  life. And so she'll look at me and
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  she'll say to me, you shouldn't be making this decision right
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  now because you're not even in a spiritually healthy place.
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  And what she's really saying is you're trying to make a decision
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  in your life. You're trying to see what path
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  you should take or what you should do in this situation.
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  And you're not even in a place that's centered on Jesus.
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  You're not even in your word intention.
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  You're not praying through this. You're trying to make a decision
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  from your flesh and your own wants and your own desires.
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  And so she gives me those heart checks in our marriage where she
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  says, are you even in a spiritual healthy place to seek
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  and see and receive discernment from the Holy Spirit 'cause I
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  think a lot of us, sometimes we'll make decisions or think
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  that it's coming from God. As we talked about last week, we
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  think it's God's voice, but really it's just our own because
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  it's what we want to do. Maybe we are in sin, we're in
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  disobedience. We're wanting to respond to that
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  issue or that argument or that thing that's going on in our
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  life with that other person that we're like, Nah, man, that's
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  them. That's not me.
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  I ain't going to apologize. I'm not doing that.
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  We're not really taking time to be in the word to hear what God
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  talks about within conflict, within sin, within these issues
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  and how to handle them in a biblical manner.
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  But to be discerning of that, we have to 1st ask ourselves, am I
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  even in a spiritually healthy place?
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  Because discernment flows from intimacy with Jesus, not
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  convenience. It's not something where, OK,
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  now I just want to grab this real quick and I want to seek
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  out what God wants me to do. I'm going to kind of, I'm going
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  to conveniently ask Him when I need it, but I'm not even
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  walking with Him in an intentional way.
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  I'm not intimate in my walk with Jesus.
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  If I'm not intimate with Jesus, then discernment's going to come
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  from convenience in what I want it to be rather than flowing
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  from a place of intimacy that's centered on Jesus.
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  So 3 signs that will let you know and others know that you're
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  spiritually unhealthy and lacking discernment in your life
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  is this #1A lack of time in God's Word.
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  And we talked about this over and over again last episode, but
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  one for sure sign that you can tell someone's spiritually and
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  how healthy or lacking discernment in their life as if
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  there there's a lack of time in God's word.
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  If you don't know what God has already said, how will you
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  recognize what he is saying? How will you know that God's
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  saying that in your life if you haven't even been in his word to
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  know what he's already said? I always say this and this came
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  from the episode last week. Spiritual maturity sometimes
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  looks like obeying the answer that God's already given to us.
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  A lot of us are praying and asking God to give us this
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  answer to this question we have or this decision that we should
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  make. And the reality is God's already
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  answered that. Now it looks like we have to
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  actually obey what He's already said.
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  That's what spiritual maturity looks like.
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  I already know what God has said, so now I can recognize
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  what He's saying in this current circumstance or this current
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  situation I'm in. So if you don't know what God
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  has already said, which is spending time in God's Word, His
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  truth, then how will you even recognize what He is saying?
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  Discernment overflows from Scripture.
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  It overflows from God's Word as we discussed last week.
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  Number two thing, to know that someone's spiritually unhealthy
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  and lacking discernment in their life, a non existent prayer
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  life. I've said this all the time.
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  There's no such thing as a prayerless Christian.
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  There's no such thing as a follower of Jesus who doesn't
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  pray. So if there's a non existent
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  prayer life, if you only pray when you need something, you are
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  not developing discernment. Remember last week guys,
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  discernment takes practice, not preference.
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  So if you only pray when you need something, you are
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  developing discern. You are not developing
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  discernment, you are managing emergencies.
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  Whoo, that hit, That hit's a little different.
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  Cause I've been in that place before where discernment flows
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  from an intimate walk with Jesus, a daily walk with Jesus.
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  So now when I'm seeking discernment, it's being
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  developed by my time with Christ, by my prayer life, by my
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  time in His Word. But if I'm not, you're trying to
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  manage emergencies, you're trying to, oh Jesus, I need you
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  now. Oh my gosh, this horrible thing
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  just happened. I'm like, Oh my gosh, I don't
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  know what I should do with this decision.
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  Should I take this job? Should I not take this job?
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  Oh my gosh, my, my, my relationship's crumbling and I
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  don't even know if this is something I should stay in or
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  should continue to do. Should I step into this?
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  Should I step away from this? We're in emergency mode.
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  We're in triage. They're already the, the
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  patient's already in the building and they're messed up
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  and wounded and broken. And now we're asking Jesus to be
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  the doctor and take care of us now, rather than what?
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  Before we even got to the hospital, we've already been
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  seeking the doctor's wisdom, Jesus's wisdom.
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  So if you only pray when you need something, you're not
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  developing discernment, you're managing emergencies, and that
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  is not the place you want to be. This is why Paul tells us to
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  pray without ceasing. Always, always talk with Jesus.
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  Sometimes that looks like, guys, I'm at work and someone just
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  said something and I'm about ready to pop off 'cause I'm
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  like, yo, this dude again is talking like this.
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  They're frustrating me right there.
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  Jesus, take these thoughts captive and make them obedient
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  to you. Where do I get that from?
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  Straight from scripture. I've memorized that.
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  I've sat on that verse. I utilize His word in moments
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  when I'm feeling like I'm about ready to crash out.
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  I say, Jesus, please take these thoughts captive, All these
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  false truths that go against your truth, make them obedient
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  to you. Jesus.
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  I've memorized his word to store in my heart to utilize in my
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  prayer life. And sometimes that's just up
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  here in my mental. Sometimes it's between him and I
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  in my in my mind. So it doesn't always have to be
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  an isolated prayer room prayer 'cause that wouldn't be possible
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  without ceasing. But what Paul's saying is, yeah,
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  there is moments biblically where you should isolate and you
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  should have one-on-one time with Jesus.
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  You should go out and into nature and and talk with him.
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  You should have a room or a place in your house, some sort
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  of spot that creates intimacy with you and Jesus.
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  Mine, mine is the shower because I got children and they like to
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  sometimes open. Dad, what are you doing?
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  Take a shower and give me some time with Jesus.
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  You know, sometimes for me that is, that is the most alone time
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  I have in my busy, chaotic life. But I cherish that.
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  I find that to be a time where I can really just tap in and
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  connect with Jesus and have some intimacy with him in my prayer
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  life. So find that place in your life
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  because you should have that, but pray without ceasing.
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  Then you're not managing emergencies.
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  And that's only going to happen if you are praying all the time
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  in all situations before you step into that job or before you
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  go have that hard conversation because you've been in that
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  argument or having conflict in a relationship or with a family
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  member, whatever it looks like, pray before it, pray during it,
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  pray after it, pray constantly over everything because God does
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  care about what's going on, but we have to go to him with it.
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  He says cast your cares on me and I will carry them for you.
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  But notice we have to cast them. We have to give them to Him.
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  He's not just going to grab them from us.
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  It's developing that walk with him.
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  Like we keep talking about God's, that spiritual maturity
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  and growth looks like us going to him and saying God help me in
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  this. Discernment grows in consistent
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  conversations with God. Discernment will grow if we are
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  consistently speaking and talking with Jesus.
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  So number one was lack of time in God's word #2 non existent
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  prayer life and #3 you are disconnected.
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  I added your SO if people are taking notes #3 is disconnected
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  from godly community. Isolation kills clarity.
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  God often clarifies his direction through godly counsel.
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  As we talked about last week, as we quoted, there is there is
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  safety. There is safety and counsel in
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  in godly counsel, God works through his children.
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  And that's why we're connected to one another.
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  We have the body of Christ where we're here on earth that we can
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  do life with one another and we can hear from God even with one
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  another 'cause we have the Holy Spirit within us.
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  So if we're talking with the brother, sister, the people who
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  speak the most into our lives, number one need to be brothers
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  and sisters in Christ. Your inner circle has to be
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  believers because if I have other people speaking into me
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  that don't have the Holy Spirit in them, this isn't something
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  that's going to come from God. Then so #1 your inner circle,
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  your close knit community that you do life with needs to be
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  brothers and sisters in Christ because again, bad company
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  corrupts good character. As we read in scripture.
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  And as I said in last week's episode, and I'll say it again
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  concerning this this topic, if you don't want accountability,
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  you probably don't want discernment because
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  accountability comes with discernment.
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  If I have accountability in my life, then I'm actually seeking
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  discernment 'cause I have welcomed a brother or sister
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  into my life to do life with me and I'm gonna confess things to
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  him. As we talked about in earlier
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  episodes, confession is a part of our walk with Jesus.
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  I confess my sins to a brother or sister that I welcomed into
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  that space with me. And through that accountability,
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  I actually find discernment from the Holy Spirit.
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  So if you don't want accountability, you probably
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  don't want discernment. Now the question is, how do I
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  discern God's will in my life? So I got 4 different biblical
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  methods that I take from scripture that I have used in my
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  own life. And I truly hope guys, that this
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  encourages you and it blesses you in this episode and maybe
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  helps you give some, give some direction on making decisions in
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  your life when it comes to discerning things in your own
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  life and wanting to honor God and be obedient to him.
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  And everything you say, think or do 'cause my heart posture in
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  this is I want to be able to kind of give you guys a look
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  into my walk with Jesus and just kind of share with you some of
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  the things he shared with me through his word that's really
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  helped me in my intimacy with Jesus.
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  And so I hope these 4 biblical methods help you and your walk
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  with Jesus because again, we are we have found out the
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  information concerning discernment.
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  But now the questions I get asked as a local church pastor.
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  And sometimes when I get in these conversations with fellow
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  believers who aren't in ministry.
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  And I don't say that from a pompous place.
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  I just say that from being kind of in those places of
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  discipleship, walking with people who are new to the faith
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  or are really trying to figure out, do I even believe in Jesus?
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  Do I want to follow Jesus? But even from people who are
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  following Jesus, they ask those tough questions to me of like,
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  what does this look like, Pastor Lois?
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  To follow Jesus, to discern his will in my life.
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  Because even the age range that I pastor, which is young adults,
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  18 to 29, yeah, I remember that age.
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  I had a ton of questions of like, what do I do?
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  God, what's next? What decisions should I make?
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  What job should I do? What career, what girl should I
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  do? All those things.
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  You're, you're wondering so many things.
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  And so I know their hearts are I really want to be led by Christ.
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  I want to honor him. I want to, I want to honor him
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  and everything I say, think or do.
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  So I really want to discern his will for me.
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  I don't want to step into something that's not from God.
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  I don't want to make a decision. Sometimes that even causes
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  bondage. And these young adults I talked
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  with because they're so concerned to take any step that
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  they almost get complacent or they get stuck because they're
• 15:02
  nervous to let down God or let down others.
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  And so I truly, truly, guys, I'm praying over this episode.
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  I'm so excited about it because I hope this blesses you and
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  encourages you and rips off some of those chains in your life
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  that's caused you to get complacent in life and not take
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  any steps. Because again, I always say
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  this, God ain't going to drag you into his will.
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  We have to walk with him. We have to take steps of faith
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  into his will. He ain't going to drag us into
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  it just like a good father. He doesn't drag us into
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  salvation. He doesn't say you have to
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  follow me. No, he gives us free will to
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  make those decisions because that's from a place of love.
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  And so he's a good father and he wants to develop this in us.
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  He wants us to get to a place where our faith is isn't creates
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  endurance. As James 1/2 through 4 says,
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  through trials, through suffering, through difficult
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  things, through decisions, our faith is grown.
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  Our spiritual maturity happens when we are relying on Jesus and
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  when we're walking with him and we're we're taking steps towards
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  what he has for us, not just saying like God, I'm just going
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  to stay right here. I'm going to wait till you drag
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  me into what's for me, 'cause I don't want to let you down.
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  I want to let myself down. I want to let others down.
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  You're worried you're, you're stuck in bondage.
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  And so I hope these 4 biblical methods help you because these
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  are not formulas. Let me say this guys, these are
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  not formulas. This isn't do AB and get C or do
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  XY and get Z. These are frameworks rooted in
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  Scripture. So these are not formulas, but
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  frameworks that hopefully give you a good basis to something
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  that can help you in discerning God's Word, God's will through
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  His Word. So #1 you've been waiting.
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  Let's get to it. I keep talking, man.
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  This is a podcast. I mean, you know, I just keep
• 16:45
  going. I'm like Carlos, come on, dog.
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  But listen, forgive me, I just, I just love to chop it up with
• 16:51
  you guys. You know, sometimes like talk
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  too much people like come on, let's get you all, man.
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  Listen, I love y'all, but number one, number one biblical method
• 16:59
  is I like to call this one. You can be like what?
• 17:03
  What you're talking about #1 method, the water from the jug
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  method, The water from the jug method.
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  What you talking about, Pastor Lo, what you talking about,
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  Willis? What's the water from the jug
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  method? My dog, Genesis 24.
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  One of my favorite stories in Scripture.
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  In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant is sent by Abraham to find a
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  wife for Isaac. And so he makes this covenant
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  with Abraham a promise to him that he will go find a wife for
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  I. This is a pretty big deal.
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  This is a pretty big thing that Abraham's trusting this servant
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  with. So this must have been a close
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  confidant of Abraham. And so he asked his, he asked
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  his servant to please go and find a wife for his son Isaac.
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  And so he tells him specific things, please don't get a
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  Canaanite woman cause the Canaanites worship all these
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  false gods. And that will take God's chosen
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  people from him, as God has said many times in scripture.
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  And Israelites still choose to do things that are not what God
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  tells them to do, just like we do.
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  But he says specifically don't find a Canaanite woman for my
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  son Isaac, but try to find a woman from my family line so we
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  can keep this as God's chosen people.
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  So Abraham sends his servant away, and Abraham's servant
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  prays. Specifically Genesis 24 verse
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  12, it starts like this. It says his prayer says, O Lord
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  God of my master Abraham, He prayed, please give me success
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  today and show unfailing love to my master Abraham.
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  See, I am standing here beside the spring, and the young woman
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  of the town are coming out to draw water.
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  This is my request. I will ask one of them, please
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  give me a drink from your jug. If she says yes, you have yes,
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  have a drink and I will water your camels too.
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  Let her be the one you have selected as Isaac's wife.
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  This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my
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  master. And then verse 17 running over
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  to her, the servant said, please give me a little drink of water
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  from your jug. Yes, my Lord, she answered in
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  verse 18, have a drink. And she quickly lowered her jug
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  from her shoulder and gave him a drink.
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  Verse 19 When she had given him a drink, she said, I'll draw
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  water for your camel, camels too, until they have had enough
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  to drink. Verse 20.
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  So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering through and
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  ran back to the well to draw water from all his camels. 26
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  The man bowed low and worshipped the Lord.
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  Verse 27 Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham.
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  He said, The Lord has shown unfailing love and faithfulness
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  to my Master, for he has led me straight to my Master's
• 19:50
  relatives. Praise God, I love this story so
• 19:54
  much. The water from the jug method.
• 19:57
  This is 1 I have used multiple times in my life when discerning
• 20:00
  God's will and and seeking discernment and decisions.
• 20:05
  Listen to the listen to the servant of Abraham.
• 20:08
  He gets specific in his prayers and his request.
• 20:13
  And I've said this to people before, when you are praying and
• 20:16
  talking with Jesus, are you being specific?
• 20:19
  And are you, are you requesting something from him?
• 20:22
  Are you being specific in your request to him?
• 20:25
  And I think sometimes it feels like, yeah, but that feels kind
• 20:27
  of needy. And I've, I have felt that in my
• 20:29
  life, that feels kind of needy. It feels selfish.
• 20:32
  It feels like it's about me. No, it's you actually genuinely
• 20:37
  seeking God's will and discernment from him.
• 20:40
  It's you saying, hey God, I want your will to be done, not mine.
• 20:43
  So I'm going to be overly specific in my prayer.
• 20:46
  I'm going to even say, hey, God, I'm going to walk into this job
• 20:50
  interview and I want right when I walk in, if people are asking
• 20:56
  me how I'm doing, that they're check that they're genuinely
• 20:58
  getting to know me, that they're shaking my hand, they're keeping
• 21:01
  eye contact, that I just feel that this is a place I should be
• 21:05
  by the warm welcome that I get. Or there's a question that they
• 21:08
  specifically ask, the way they respond, whatever.
• 21:11
  Maybe I'm just kind of giving an example.
• 21:13
  You're praying that before you even walk into the job interview
• 21:15
  and then all of a sudden you walk through the door door and
• 21:17
  you're met with a cold personality people.
• 21:19
  Hey, how you doing whatever you just you don't feel like that's
• 21:22
  your place 'cause you just ask this prayer of make these people
• 21:25
  be wanting to welcome me with joy and it's just join the this
• 21:29
  workplace and it feels like this is a place I could connect and
• 21:32
  blah, blah, etcetera. But you walk in it's the
• 21:35
  opposite. I've given specific prayer and
• 21:38
  request to God. Now when that happens, now
• 21:41
  there's we have to have the faith to trust that.
• 21:44
  I just prayed that and asked that and I got the opposite
• 21:46
  opposite or I prayed and asked that and exactly what I prayed
• 21:50
  for specifically and requested. That's what came to fruition.
• 21:53
  That's what happened. I walked in and the people were
• 21:55
  all like, what's up? Nice to meet you.
• 21:57
  I was like, man, this is a place that I would want to work and
• 22:00
  be. Are you asking specific prayers?
• 22:03
  Are you requesting those things in a specific way to God?
• 22:06
  That's what I love about Abraham's prayer.
• 22:09
  I love what Abraham's prayer, Abraham's servant prayer.
• 22:12
  It was not demanding, it was not manipulating, but it was
• 22:16
  specific. Sometimes I think we lack
• 22:19
  discernment because our prayers are vague.
• 22:22
  And I'll say this, guys, I think sometimes our prayers are vague,
• 22:27
  or sometimes my prayers are vague.
• 22:28
  I'll speak for myself because I'm nervous to get an answer
• 22:33
  that I don't want to get. Oh, I might have touched the
• 22:36
  nerve for you too. Sometimes.
• 22:39
  I'm trying to kind of keep it, you know, I'm trying to keep it
• 22:42
  very broad because I'm nervous. If I specifically pray what I'm
• 22:48
  what I know I should and I get real descriptive and I asked for
• 22:52
  that request of God because I know who God is.
• 22:56
  I know that he will answer that. I know that's how he works.
• 23:01
  I had one time I walked with Jesus, I heard a pastor say pray
• 23:04
  in the morning that God will open a door for you to be able
• 23:07
  to connect with someone for him, for his Kingdom.
• 23:09
  Pray that in the morning. I I prayed that that next
• 23:12
  morning and I literally ran into a girl of my past that I did not
• 23:17
  treat well pre Jesus. That I was not a godly man, that
• 23:21
  I was not who I'm called to be. And I ran into she was just
• 23:26
  leaving her just leaving her shift.
• 23:28
  And so if I was anytime later than when I got there, I
• 23:33
  wouldn't have even seen her. So I come in the perfect time.
• 23:35
  There she is. Boom, 'cause I had been praying
• 23:37
  and asking God for me to connect with people that I really needed
• 23:40
  to confess and repent of and ask for forgiveness.
• 23:42
  Now that I had found Jesus. And those were not easy
• 23:45
  conversations, but I prayed that specifically, God, please help
• 23:50
  me connect and cross my paths with someone that I need to
• 23:53
  confess to and repent of and ask for forgiveness.
• 23:55
  God and wherever they're at, that's OK.
• 23:57
  But I know this is what I'm called to do to honor you.
• 23:59
  And I did that that morning. And then boom, right when I
• 24:01
  showed up, I looked at my dad and I was like, oh, shoot, I got
• 24:04
  to go real quick. And he's like, what?
• 24:06
  You all right? I'm like, yeah, I got to go talk
• 24:08
  to somebody. But that's how God works.
• 24:12
  He is moving in that way. But again, I think sometimes we
• 24:15
  try to be vague because we don't want to get the answer we're
• 24:18
  going to get. We don't want the results.
• 24:20
  And so sometimes we're scared to do that.
• 24:22
  Sometimes we keep it vague because we're nervous that God's
• 24:25
  going to show up again. It's, it's the, it's the never
• 24:27
  ending, you know, the old age saying in Christian walk with
• 24:31
  Jesus, like when you ask for patience, now all of a sudden
• 24:33
  God puts someone in your life that really annoys you because
• 24:36
  he's trying to develop you in patience.
• 24:40
  So if you're going to pray that specific prayer that God, I want
• 24:42
  to, I want to learn how to be patient.
• 24:44
  I want to learn how to be long-suffering with people.
• 24:46
  I want to reflect you in the way that I'm kind and, and you know,
• 24:50
  slow to get angry. OK, God's not going to just take
• 24:55
  it from you 'cause he wants you to learn that he wants you to
• 24:57
  grow in it. So he's probably going to put
• 24:59
  somebody around you or put you in a situation that's going to
• 25:02
  stretch you in your patience. That's how he works because he's
• 25:06
  a good father. He, I'm a father myself.
• 25:09
  If I know my kids trying to learn something, I'm not just
• 25:12
  going to do it for him because then he's never going to learn
• 25:15
  how to do it. My girls are never going to
• 25:17
  learn how to do it. I have to walk them through it.
• 25:20
  So then now they've developed that skill in their life in the
• 25:24
  same way that God's our father. He's not just going to RIP it
• 25:28
  from you. He's going to walk you through
• 25:30
  it. He's going to be there with you,
• 25:32
  but he's going to say, all right, Carlos, come on, let's
• 25:35
  go. You prayed this.
• 25:36
  You want to grow in this, You want to you want to have
• 25:38
  spiritual maturity in this. I'm going to put you in a
• 25:40
  situation because I'm a good father and I want you to learn
• 25:43
  this skill. I want you to I want you to get
• 25:45
  nearer to me. I know the good that can come
• 25:47
  from this because God sees everything.
• 25:49
  He's out of time. So don't let your prayers be
• 25:52
  vague because you're scared of what to come.
• 25:54
  Just know and, and I don't say that, I don't say that
• 25:58
  flippantly or to negate your feelings cause I've been there,
• 26:00
  I've been scared of it 'cause I know I'm probably going to be
• 26:02
  convicted. I'm probably going to be
• 26:03
  transformed. I know God's going to do what he
• 26:04
  does, but be specific and ask those requests to God.
• 26:08
  Be specific in your request 'cause he's going to move
• 26:11
  clarity and prayer invites clarity and direction.
• 26:14
  So if I'm, if I'm seeking clarity in my prayer, then I'm
• 26:18
  going to get clarity in God's direction in my life.
• 26:21
  But this happens by coinciding with us taking actual steps of
• 26:26
  faith to find that clarity. So again, what I just said, God
• 26:29
  ain't going to drag us into it. We walk with him.
• 26:33
  We have steps of faith as as Peter took a step of faith out
• 26:38
  of the boat and the rest of the disciples in the boat never did.
• 26:42
  They stayed in the boat. Don't stay in the boat of life.
• 26:46
  Take steps of faith. Step out of the boat, seek after
• 26:50
  Jesus and follow Him. But I've had something like this
• 26:55
  even just personally, I wanted to touch on with you guys,
• 26:57
  'cause maybe you've heard all this and you're like, yeah, but
• 27:00
  what's that kind of look like in my walk?
• 27:03
  I had a time in my life where I got the call in the ministry.
• 27:08
  I felt that call from God. I, I didn't know what that
• 27:11
  looked like. I, my dad was a pastor, my
• 27:14
  grandfather was a pastor. So I'm third generation pastor.
• 27:16
  But again, 16 year old Carl. So if you said I was going to be
• 27:18
  a pastor and be like, yeah, bro, yeah, right.
• 27:21
  You are capping, as the kids say, capping, brother.
• 27:25
  But when I felt this call in the ministry, you know, there was
• 27:28
  moments there where I didn't know what that looked like.
• 27:30
  I'm like, yeah, I want to be a pastor.
• 27:32
  But what specifically, Like, what kind of pastor are you
• 27:34
  doing? You know, everyone's asking me
• 27:35
  these questions, like, what do you want to do in ministry?
• 27:38
  Do you want to be a youth pastor?
• 27:39
  Do you want to be an executive pastor?
• 27:40
  Do you want an associate pastor? Do you want to be a lead pastor?
• 27:42
  And I'm like, no, I don't think any of those.
• 27:46
  And so I had to take steps of faith, though I had to be
• 27:49
  specific in my prayers, in my request to God.
• 27:52
  I'm asking God, lead me to where you want me to be.
• 27:55
  Open doors where they're supposed to open.
• 27:57
  God close this door if that's not where I'm supposed to be.
• 27:59
  But I'm going to keep taking steps of faith into different
• 28:02
  opportunities 'cause I know you're eventually going to lead
• 28:05
  me to where I'm supposed to be. And man, I'm grateful.
• 28:09
  And I know this someone, you might be in a place where I'm
• 28:11
  like, yeah, it's, I think I've been doing that, but I'm still
• 28:13
  kind of stuck in a place that I don't really feel like is where
• 28:16
  I'm supposed to be. Keep trusting God and always
• 28:19
  know that God has you exactly where you're supposed to be.
• 28:21
  Even if you don't feel like that, there is a reason you are
• 28:25
  where you are 'cause God is a God of purpose, not chaos.
• 28:28
  And he's working always. So I'll encourage you in that.
• 28:31
  But I remember that moment. And then eventually, through
• 28:34
  different steps, through different opportunities and open
• 28:37
  doors, I landed where I am. I'm in my lane.
• 28:40
  I'm in my calling. Young adults ministry, I love
• 28:44
  what I do. I'm thriving in my calling, but
• 28:47
  that took time. It didn't happen right away.
• 28:49
  And a lot of things with God, it takes time too.
• 28:53
  He's he's developing, he's working, he's doing things that
• 28:55
  we don't see. And so as I look back now, I see
• 29:00
  the ways that God closed doors or just said not yet because I
• 29:05
  wasn't ready for what he had for me.
• 29:08
  So keep trusting, keep taking steps, be specific in your
• 29:11
  prayers and requests to God. Don't be vague.
• 29:14
  And I promise you clarity and prayer invites clarity and
• 29:18
  direction. So number one was the water from
• 29:23
  the jug method. Come on, I'll do them bold
• 29:26
  prayers as that was bold of Abraham serving.
• 29:29
  I'm going to go over here to this well, and I'm going to say
• 29:32
  the first woman to literally offer me water, but not just
• 29:34
  offer me water, but then also says that she was going to fill
• 29:38
  up water for my camels and give them water.
• 29:41
  That's who's supposed to be Isaacs wife.
• 29:43
  That's a pretty bold prayer. It's a bold prayer, but that's a
• 29:47
  faith. That's a, that's a faith filled
• 29:49
  prayer. The Abraham servant showed us an
• 29:52
  example of what it looks like to pray in faith to trust God.
• 29:55
  So try that water from the jug method in your life.
• 29:59
  Pray those bold prayers. Be specific in them and ask
• 30:02
  those requests of God. I promise you he's listening and
• 30:05
  I promise you he's going to show up.
• 30:07
  So #2 second biblical method for you and seeking discernment of
• 30:12
  God's will in your life. It's the not you but God method.
• 30:16
  The not you but God method When the path you are feeling God
• 30:20
  lead you down requires faith, dependence and surrender to him.
• 30:27
  That's probably from God. Look at scripture guys.
• 30:32
  Look at all the examples of scripture.
• 30:34
  The people who followed God. Noah told to build a boat that
• 30:41
  will keep him and his family safe from a flood that's going
• 30:43
  to destroy the whole world that that's kind of crazy right.
• 30:49
  Got told to go down this path that required a lot of faith
• 30:54
  that people probably looking at him like bro what you building
• 30:57
  this boat for my dog. There ain't even no rain.
• 31:00
  There's no what are you doing but Noah trust that God told him
• 31:05
  what to do and he walked in faith Abraham as we just talked
• 31:09
  about a servant 100 years old guys, but was told he will be
• 31:14
  the father of many descendants as if as many stars in the sky.
• 31:19
  That's how many descendants that Abraham would be father Abraham
• 31:23
  how many sons a father Abraham. Oh and I am one of them.
• 31:28
  Sorry I messed it up a little bit but listen father Abraham,
• 31:32
  our spiritual father. What God was saying is everyone
• 31:35
  who comes to faith in Christ in the future is a part of Abraham.
• 31:39
  He was our he was our first. He was our spiritual father.
• 31:42
  And so Abraham has as many descendants as those in the sky
• 31:45
  and Abraham's looking at God like bro, I'm a haunted.
• 31:48
  I'm 100 years old. My Sarah, his wife was in her
• 31:52
  90s and she's going to get pregnant and give birth to a son
• 31:56
  that all of his descendants will come from.
• 31:58
  But again, that's how God works. Moses.
• 32:03
  Moses was chosen by God to be the leader of the Israelites to
• 32:06
  help deliver his people. Let my people go out of
• 32:10
  captivity, but tried to avoid his calling because of his
• 32:13
  inadequacies. One being a speech impediment.
• 32:16
  We believe theologians when we read that, that Moses had like a
• 32:19
  stutter. He had a speech impediment.
• 32:22
  He, he, he struggled with talking and God saying, Hey, I
• 32:25
  want you to go talk to the Pharaoh and tell him to let my
• 32:29
  people go. And Moses is like I don't I
• 32:33
  don't know how to toss Samuel sprinkle us.
• 32:35
  Sorry, I'm joking. Forgive me if you have a speedy
• 32:37
  pen me or not. Forgive me.
• 32:39
  This is my I got to, you know, keep my frontal lobe working.
• 32:44
  David not the biggest or strongest or he was literally
• 32:48
  David was forgotten about by his dad when the prophet Samuel was
• 32:52
  sent by God to go to go anoint the next king after Saul.
• 32:57
  Samuel shows up and says, God told me to come here and ask
• 33:02
  David's father, Jesse, can you present me your son's?
• 33:05
  Because then I will, God will tell me which one it is.
• 33:08
  Jesse, David's dad didn't even call David to the lineup.
• 33:12
  And he was like, Oh yeah, there ain't no way it's David didn't
• 33:16
  even bring him to the lineup, didn't even let him be seen by
• 33:19
  Samuel. But David is anointed as king.
• 33:23
  And God says in that story, first Samuel 16, seven, one of
• 33:26
  my favorite verses. But the Lord said to Samuel,
• 33:29
  don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.
• 33:33
  The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.
• 33:37
  People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks
• 33:40
  at the heart. Yeah, heart check.
• 33:42
  Got to slide it in there. The Lord judges us by our heart,
• 33:46
  man. What was David known as?
• 33:48
  A man after God's own heart, that's who he was, not by how he
• 33:53
  looks, not by how big he was, how strong he was.
• 33:56
  The stuff that we think makes people adequate or wise or
• 33:59
  intelligent. We have a human standard that we
• 34:02
  go by, that we judge people by. And God's like, yeah, I don't
• 34:05
  work like that. My thoughts are above your
• 34:07
  thoughts. My ways are above your ways.
• 34:08
  I don't see the things the way you guys see things, 'cause I'm
• 34:12
  God, I'm above you guys. And so here is an example of
• 34:18
  this way of not you but God, even in David's story.
• 34:23
  But think about guys, all the disciples, all of the disciples,
• 34:27
  Peter in particular, a fisherman chosen by Jesus to be who he
• 34:32
  would build his church on, that will last all of time, that the
• 34:36
  gates of hell will not prevail, as Scripture says.
• 34:40
  Peter, a fisherman who dropped his Nets while he was fishing to
• 34:46
  follow Jesus. That's incredible.
• 34:50
  And the last but not least, Paul a murderer of Christians and a
• 34:55
  hater of Jesus, who then is radically changed by an
• 34:59
  encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and wrote about 1/4
• 35:05
  of the New Testament of an of the inspired word of God.
• 35:09
  Paul wrote the one who killed Christians and was a hater of
• 35:12
  Jesus. Paul once wrote this and I one
• 35:16
  of my favorite passages in Scripture, First Corinthians one
• 35:20
  starting in verse 26, Paul wrote, Remember, dear brothers
• 35:25
  and sisters, that few of you were wise in in the world's eyes
• 35:30
  or powerful or wealthy when God called you.
• 35:34
  Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order
• 35:39
  to shame those who think they are wise, and He chose things
• 35:44
  that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
• 35:49
  God chose things despised by the world.
• 35:52
  Things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to
• 35:57
  nothing. I'm sorry, and use them to bring
• 36:00
  to nothing what the world considers important.
• 36:03
  Verse 29. As a result, no one can ever
• 36:06
  boast in the presence of God. I love that passage so much, and
• 36:12
  I'll tell you why. If God's, well, I'll tell you
• 36:16
  why eventually, but if God's will for you feels bigger than
• 36:20
  you, that's a good thing. If God's will is, is feels
• 36:25
  bigger than you, that you feel inadequate, that's actually a
• 36:29
  really good thing, 'cause Scripture shows us, so it tells
• 36:33
  us so that's the point. You shouldn't be able to take
• 36:37
  credit. You shouldn't be able to say,
• 36:39
  man, I'm so wise, I'm so strong, I got this done because of me.
• 36:44
  No, that that's, that's the point.
• 36:46
  It's not you and I why this passage means so much to me.
• 36:50
  I'll get to I told you guys, I'll get to in my own life when
• 36:54
  I felt that call to ministry when the Holy Spirit was nudging
• 36:58
  me to step into ministry and I had no idea what that meant.
• 37:00
  I lived I lived such a lifestyle that was far from Jesus
• 37:05
  drinking, smoking, sleeping around.
• 37:08
  I I lived this lifestyle that for me, I had a lot of shame and
• 37:12
  guilt over. And so when I felt this call to
• 37:16
  ministry, I struggled with that because I was nervous, because I
• 37:20
  felt like I was inadequate. I didn't know God's word.
• 37:23
  I barely read Scripture growing up.
• 37:24
  I grew up in a Christian home, but I didn't spend time in God's
• 37:26
  Word myself. I didn't learn about Scripture.
• 37:28
  I wasn't spending time with God's word, having a prayer
• 37:32
  life. I wasn't doing that.
• 37:33
  I was living. I was living a life apart from
• 37:35
  God, living in sin. And so when I felt this call to
• 37:39
  ministry, I honestly just was going to run from it because I'm
• 37:43
  like, yeah, the life I lived, I'm not wise enough to do that.
• 37:47
  I don't have, I don't know the Bible like other people do.
• 37:50
  I'm not able to be a pastor. There's a certain type of person
• 37:53
  that can be a pastor that can't be me.
• 37:54
  I, I was speaking these things over myself.
• 37:57
  And honestly, guys, there was others who were in my circle
• 38:01
  when I told them I felt a call to ministry, sadly, I received a
• 38:05
  lot of discouragement. I received a lot of yeah, no,
• 38:08
  you're not ready. Don't step into that.
• 38:10
  Don't do that. Yeah.
• 38:11
  You need to do this, this and that.
• 38:13
  There there's a formula to this. You need to kind of go get more
• 38:16
  education. You need more experience.
• 38:17
  You need to do this that in the third.
• 38:20
  And so I had hit a point where I was like, I don't think I'm
• 38:22
  supposed to step into this. This seems like it's too hard.
• 38:26
  This seems like it takes a lot of faith, a lot of dependence, a
• 38:28
  lot of surrender. And so I was like, no, I'm gonna
• 38:31
  just follow Jesus. I'm gonna, you know, kind of lay
• 38:33
  low. I'm gonna maybe go into
• 38:35
  insurance or I'll do something with baseball.
• 38:37
  I'll figure it out. But like ministry.
• 38:39
  Nah, man, that's not for me. That that's not who I am.
• 38:43
  But I had this moment, guys. And I always get I get
• 38:46
  emotional. I think about it.
• 38:48
  I was in my house and again, I always tell people man enjoy.
• 38:53
  We'll dive into this into episode coming up.
• 38:55
  Enjoy your singleness. Don't feel like you have to rush
• 38:57
  into something, but also enjoy your marriage as well.
• 39:00
  If that's what God's called you and that's a desire of your
• 39:02
  heart, that's a great thing. I'm in it.
• 39:04
  I love my marriage, but enjoy the time where you're as Paul
• 39:07
  says, when you get married, your time is divided.
• 39:09
  You have divided loyalties. Now I, I have a call in a I have
• 39:14
  a job that God has called me to as a husband and a father.
• 39:18
  Now my first ministry before even my ministry at church is to
• 39:23
  my family. I have a wife, I have kids, I'm
• 39:27
  a, I'm a father. I'm a husband.
• 39:28
  That is my first. That is my priority after Jesus.
• 39:32
  Jesus is my first priority, but my priority right after Jesus is
• 39:34
  my family. I have divided time now, but
• 39:38
  when you're a single man, enjoy that.
• 39:39
  And I always think back to that season of my life when I gave my
• 39:42
  life to Jesus and felt this call to ministry.
• 39:45
  I didn't have anything to do one day and I said, I'm going to go
• 39:48
  into the living room and I'm going to just pray and read
• 39:51
  God's word. And I would do this for hours.
• 39:54
  And I don't say that in a way to boast it myself.
• 39:57
  I had time to, so I loved it. I'm like, I'm going to literally
• 40:00
  sit here. I'm going to be on my face in my
• 40:02
  living room and just run after Jesus.
• 40:04
  I'm going to say God. I'm going to ask those specific
• 40:07
  prayers, I'm going to ask Jesus to reveal in me what his will is
• 40:11
  for my life. And I remember I was on my face.
• 40:13
  It was this beautiful day. The sun was kind of shining
• 40:16
  through the, the blinds. And I remember I'm praying and
• 40:18
  I'm like, God, I don't know if I'm supposed to be in ministry.
• 40:21
  I don't know if I'm supposed to be a pastor.
• 40:23
  I don't know if that's for me. But God help me, give me a word,
• 40:26
  lead me, show me that if this is from you, it's you speaking and
• 40:30
  not me or I'm not being discouraged by other voices.
• 40:33
  I want to hear your voice and I've done this actually multiple
• 40:37
  times when I walk with Jesus. And not that I suggest this, but
• 40:40
  again, it's, it's a method I've used it it it takes us a trust
• 40:45
  and faith in God. I said to him, I said, Lord, I'm
• 40:48
  going to literally open up your word.
• 40:50
  I'm going to literally just one time open it wherever I land.
• 40:54
  I'm going to start reading and I believe from your word, you're
• 40:58
  going to give me a word in this that you're going to answer this
• 41:00
  specific prayer and request that I'm giving to you.
• 41:03
  And so I prayed that I said, God, if this is where you want
• 41:05
  me to be in ministry, I'm going to open up your word.
• 41:08
  I'm going to land exactly where I'm supposed to and, and I'm
• 41:10
  going to get your answer. Do you know what happened?
• 41:14
  I opened up the word and I was in First Corinthians chapter 1
• 41:18
  and I began to read from verse 1 and I entered into verses 26
• 41:23
  through 29 and I saw God chose things despised by the world.
• 41:30
  Things counted as nothing at all and and that's how I felt.
• 41:36
  I had this life I lived and I'm not worthy of being a leader in
• 41:40
  the church, being a pastor, helping others know about Jesus.
• 41:43
  There's no way I'm not wise and I'm reading these words.
• 41:47
  God chose the things the world considered foolish in order to
• 41:51
  shame those who think they're wise.
• 41:54
  He chose these people. Peter, a fisherman who Jesus
• 42:00
  ascends to heaven, and now who's the one preaching the good news
• 42:05
  to thousands of people who come to find faith in Jesus and are
• 42:09
  baptized. Peter.
• 42:12
  Peter's preaching in this powerful way that people are
• 42:16
  like, who is this man? This man who used to fish on a
• 42:20
  boat is now preaching before thousands, the word of God.
• 42:26
  And they're hearing this and they're receiving the good news.
• 42:30
  Peter, who was foolish, who people would have looked like,
• 42:33
  looked at the Pharisees and religious leaders, looked at the
• 42:35
  disciples and were like, who are these people to teach us?
• 42:39
  We've went to school, we've done these things.
• 42:42
  We are intelligent. You start to be boastful in
• 42:45
  yourself, and I'm grateful. And I always have to remind
• 42:48
  myself to be humble before the Lord because it's not me, guys.
• 42:53
  It's the Holy Spirit within me who gives me the ability to
• 42:56
  teach God's word. It's his gifting.
• 42:58
  It's not me, 'cause I promise you, when I was on my hands and
• 43:02
  knees that day, and I'm saying, God, I don't know if I can do
• 43:05
  this. I'm in, I'm inadequate to do
• 43:07
  this. And he led me to his truth and
• 43:10
  reminded me, yeah, cross, it's not you.
• 43:12
  It's me the not you but God method.
• 43:17
  Be reminded God, that's the best place to be when you are weak,
• 43:20
  he is strong. That's how God works in your
• 43:24
  weakness, He is strong. He's saying come to me, come to
• 43:28
  me in that place, that place of you can't do it because guess
• 43:31
  what, nothing is impossible with God.
• 43:34
  That's the point. So when people experience the
• 43:38
  supernatural, that happens when you're like man, how is this
• 43:41
  person like this? They used to be like this.
• 43:43
  The only answer is Jesus. It points people to God.
• 43:48
  That's what's incredible about it.
• 43:50
  He takes what is foolish to shame the wise.
• 43:53
  He takes what people think. No way that person could do
• 43:56
  those things. Yeah, they can't.
• 43:58
  But now God lives in them. The power of God, the same power
• 44:01
  that raised Jesus from the dead, lives in them.
• 44:03
  And they're gonna do incredible things that Jesus says you would
• 44:06
  do even greater things than I did.
• 44:08
  What? What does that mean?
• 44:09
  What? Because it's Him and us, it's
• 44:14
  the Holy Spirit working, and that is incredible.
• 44:18
  Sometimes discernment sounds like this can't be me.
• 44:23
  Exactly. It's not It's him #3 Biblical
• 44:30
  method is the position of peace method.
• 44:35
  Remember the last episode last week if you've heard it.
• 44:38
  If you haven't, I'll get you caught up.
• 44:41
  In the last episode I talked about that God is not a God of
• 44:43
  disorder, but of peace, as we learn in First Corinthians 14
• 44:47
  and when you read in Galatians 5, The fruits of the Spirit.
• 44:51
  What's 1 of the fruits of the Spirit guide guys?
• 44:54
  It's peace. Peace is who God is.
• 44:58
  He's not a God of chaos and disorder.
• 45:00
  He's a God of peace. The Holy Spirit produces fruits
• 45:06
  and one of those fruits is peace.
• 45:08
  Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness,
• 45:11
  faithfulness, and self-control. Peace is God, that's who he is.
• 45:16
  Remember, pray, pray in Philippians 4.
• 45:20
  Pray that you can receive that peace beyond understanding.
• 45:24
  That's what God does. And when he guards our hearts
• 45:26
  and minds in Christ Jesus, He gives us peace that we can't
• 45:29
  even understand. That's otherworldly.
• 45:32
  That's who He is. This doesn't mean that there
• 45:34
  will be No Fear or doubt at times in your walk with Jesus.
• 45:38
  That's not what I'm saying. It means there'll be no chaos.
• 45:42
  It won't be chaotic because that's not who God is.
• 45:46
  The position of peace method is remembering that God is a God of
• 45:49
  peace, not of chaos. When we are seeking discernment
• 45:54
  on a decision, we should have peace about it, not disorder.
• 45:59
  If it feels disorderly and it feels like it's chaotic, that's
• 46:02
  not from God because that's not him.
• 46:04
  So if we're seeking discernment on the decision and what to
• 46:07
  make, we should be filled with peace on it.
• 46:11
  Again, doesn't mean we're not going to have fear or doubt, but
• 46:14
  we should have peace even through that fear or doubt.
• 46:17
  Again, the verse that's taken out of context.
• 46:20
  Philippians 413 I can do all things to Christ Jesus who
• 46:23
  strengthens me. What Paul saying before there is
• 46:25
  I have had a lot and I've had a little.
• 46:28
  I have had tons of food and I've had no food.
• 46:31
  I've been living great and then I've been suffering for Jesus.
• 46:35
  No matter what predicament I'm in, I'm content because of
• 46:40
  Jesus, though. Because of Jesus, no matter
• 46:42
  what, I have peace beyond understanding.
• 46:45
  And so if it feels chaotic and disorderly, that's not from God
• 46:49
  because that's not who He is. If we are stepping into
• 46:52
  something that feels chaotic, rushed, manipulative, forced, or
• 46:57
  disorderly, don't believe that that is from God because that's
• 47:01
  not who God is. So take a step back.
• 47:03
  If there's something right now you're stepping into or a
• 47:05
  decision you're trying to make and it just continues to feel
• 47:08
  chaotic, rushed, you're feeling manipulate, manipulated into it
• 47:12
  or forced into it, or everything's disorderly or
• 47:14
  disorganized and it's just like, bro, what is happening?
• 47:17
  This just feels like everything's crumbling.
• 47:21
  That might not be where you're supposed to be.
• 47:24
  Again, guys, this isn't a formula, it's a framework.
• 47:27
  So everything I say in this episode, I want to, I want to
• 47:30
  voice that this isn't like this is 100% gospel.
• 47:34
  This is just wisdom that God has given to me through the Holy
• 47:37
  Spirit and my walk with Him. I'm just welcoming you into that
• 47:40
  space. So this isn't a formula.
• 47:43
  This is just me giving you godly counsel through my life and
• 47:45
  through situations and decisions that I've made and mistakes that
• 47:49
  I've made that I've learned from.
• 47:51
  And so when it's chaotic and disorderly and just all over the
• 47:54
  place, that's not from God because God's not chaotic and
• 47:59
  disorderly and all over the place.
• 48:02
  He's a God of peace. Now this, this is something that
• 48:06
  I want to touch on. And I want to say this from my
• 48:10
  experience, and this is going to be really speaking towards if
• 48:14
  you're married, If you're not married, I still want you to
• 48:16
  lean in because this can also happen within your relationships
• 48:19
  too. A boyfriend, girlfriend
• 48:21
  relationship. But even in your relationships
• 48:22
  with friends, your inner circle that we talked about, that's
• 48:25
  brothers and sisters in Christ. I, I have practiced this in my
• 48:30
  marriage with my wife, who's my wife.
• 48:33
  So we're one flesh, we're one team, we're one unit.
• 48:35
  We are united as Scripture tells us we are one flesh husband and
• 48:39
  wife. And so we have in our marriage,
• 48:43
  we practice this position of peace method and we have in our
• 48:46
  life. I still remember in 2022, I felt
• 48:51
  that nudge that I really wanted to be in full time ministry in a
• 48:55
  church. I felt called to the local
• 48:56
  church and, and specifically, as we talked about earlier, I was
• 48:59
  feeling called to young adults. And that's where I knew that's
• 49:02
  my lane. That's where I'm supposed to be.
• 49:04
  That's where God wants me to be. And so I had already sought
• 49:07
  discernment on that. I had talked with brothers and
• 49:09
  sisters and godly counsel and also have gotten the clarity
• 49:12
  from them through the Holy Spirit as well that that's,
• 49:14
  yeah, that's what I see in you. And so I hit a point of I'm
• 49:18
  going to, I would love to be at the church I was already at.
• 49:22
  And I was praying through that because it looked like I didn't
• 49:25
  know if there was going to be a full time position available at
• 49:28
  the church that I was at that I, that I loved and I wanted to be
• 49:31
  where I met my wife. And so I kind of had this moment
• 49:37
  where I started applying out for different positions, putting my
• 49:40
  resume out there and I ended up connecting with this church in
• 49:43
  Dallas, TX. And man, it was, it was hard
• 49:46
  guys. I did one interview with the
• 49:49
  lead pastor and went good, then did another interview with more
• 49:52
  people. That went well.
• 49:54
  And then they were ready to fly my wife and I down to Dallas to
• 49:58
  have kind of our final interview.
• 49:59
  And if it would have went well, they were going to offer me the
• 50:02
  position as the young adults pastor down in this church in
• 50:05
  Dallas. And I remember being in that man
• 50:07
  and it was hard 'cause this is my home, where I'm from.
• 50:11
  I've lived here practically all my life.
• 50:13
  All my family's here, all my friends are here, all my wife's
• 50:15
  family, all my wife's friends, our local church, man, we love.
• 50:19
  Those are our brothers and sisters.
• 50:21
  We do life with each other. And to, to leave that was going
• 50:24
  to be so hard. And again, now we have kids
• 50:27
  involved in this too. So to take my kids from their
• 50:29
  school, from their friends, from their church, all of those
• 50:33
  things feeling weighty about that.
• 50:34
  And especially for me, this is the calling I'm having.
• 50:36
  But this isn't just about me now as a, as, as an individual, I
• 50:41
  have a wife and I have kids, I have a home, I have a house that
• 50:44
  God's called me to lead. And So what does this look like?
• 50:48
  And so I, me and my wife said we got to pray through this.
• 50:51
  We got a basket in prayer. And first and foremost, where it
• 50:54
  originally started was I was feeling excited about this and
• 50:58
  my wife was feeling kind of like, I don't, I don't want to
• 51:00
  leave. Like she genuinely didn't want
• 51:02
  to leave. She wasn't excited about it.
• 51:05
  Her, her hope, her will, her desire was that we stay.
• 51:09
  And so she had to pray through that.
• 51:11
  And I remember she came to me through that process and she
• 51:13
  said, hey, Carlos, I've been praying no matter what, I'm OK.
• 51:18
  And I want to follow what God has for us.
• 51:21
  And so if it is Dallas, I'm ready to go and even to see God
• 51:24
  work through that in her heart. And for people who know my wife,
• 51:28
  like, can I say that in a way my wife is loyal.
• 51:31
  She's not just going to bounce out.
• 51:32
  And we were, we were very connected to our church.
• 51:34
  So to leave and to leave our home, that that wasn't easy.
• 51:37
  So for her to say to me, Carlos, I'm good and to see that peace
• 51:42
  in her, I'm like, that's God. So we got to that point where we
• 51:46
  at least were at peace together, that we were ready to go if
• 51:51
  that's what God had for us. And I remember things started to
• 51:55
  get chaotic. All of a sudden, a phone call
• 51:59
  didn't happen. All of a sudden we got a call
• 52:02
  that they had to reschedule our flights.
• 52:05
  And then we got told that we actually couldn't bring our kids
• 52:07
  and it was only Kelly and I. And so all these things are
• 52:09
  happening while Kelly and I are praying separately because we
• 52:11
  said we're going to come back together.
• 52:13
  We're going to take time apart and pray about this because now
• 52:16
  we've been having all these things that continue to fall
• 52:19
  through. And it's feeling a little like
• 52:20
  chaotic and it's feeling like it's not very orderly.
• 52:23
  And so we told each other, hey, we're going to pray
• 52:24
  individually. And it was crazy because I ended
• 52:27
  up getting a stomach bug. Your boy was sick.
• 52:29
  So Kelly was like, basement, you are isolating yourself.
• 52:33
  We do not want that. So I was in the basement
• 52:35
  literally by myself, sick as a dog.
• 52:38
  And we're supposed to be flying to Dallas that weekend.
• 52:41
  And they had to end up canceling that flight while this is
• 52:46
  happening. So Kelly and I are praying.
• 52:47
  We're physically separated from each other because I'm in the
• 52:50
  basement trying to get through this sickness.
• 52:53
  And she's upstairs with the kids.
• 52:54
  And we're both praying that that time once I, you know, came up
• 52:59
  from the basement out of my, you know, confinement, we looked at
• 53:04
  each other and I told it was hilarious because both of us
• 53:06
  looked at each other and almost simultaneously, we're like,
• 53:10
  yeah, it's not Dallas. But while this is happening, the
• 53:14
  church that I'm currently still at, praise God, I got to stay.
• 53:19
  No, I'm truly so grateful for. I love my church.
• 53:23
  They're working out and doing this, which I didn't even know
• 53:25
  about this. Also, you know, my lead pastor,
• 53:27
  my dog, my my best friend Chase is like, hey, man, we have this
• 53:31
  position for you that we're putting together as, as this
• 53:34
  young adults like pastor. And we start talking about that.
• 53:38
  Literally a door opens in the place I wanted to be and it all
• 53:42
  happened and we were so at peace.
• 53:44
  And so sometimes it looks like, is this peace from God or is it
• 53:50
  chaos from the world and the enemy or from myself?
• 53:52
  Am I trying to rush something or I'm trying to make something
• 53:55
  happen that I want to make happen because it's what I want?
• 53:58
  Or am I really leaning into what God has for me and what his will
• 54:02
  is in my life? So the position of peace method
• 54:04
  is so important, guys, because this is biblical.
• 54:08
  God is a God of peace, not chaos.
• 54:09
  So pray, ask brothers and sisters again, if you're not
• 54:12
  married, if you are married, make sure you and your wife are
• 54:16
  seeking peace and decisions. You guys should be aligned in
• 54:19
  them. God cares about your marriage.
• 54:23
  The enemy wants to split marriages up.
• 54:25
  So if he can create chaos and get a foothold to create
• 54:29
  disorder and, and make it disorganized and rush things and
• 54:32
  manipulate it, he's going to God cares about marriage and union
• 54:37
  and the covenant that's been made between a husband and wife.
• 54:39
  So he's going to bless that. He's going to protect that.
• 54:41
  So God wants peace in that. So if your wife and you were at
• 54:44
  each other's throats and you're fighting over a decision that's
• 54:48
  not from the Lord, and it might be 1 of you need to really ask,
• 54:52
  have a heart that's softened to hear from the God, to hear my
• 54:55
  wife come and say, I'm at peace with this.
• 54:57
  But I was even ready, guys. So he said, I'm kind of putting
• 54:59
  my wife in this, but it sounds like, Oh, I'm I was the one
• 55:01
  that's all holy. No, I also was praying and
• 55:05
  saying, God, if I'm trying to pursue this thing in Dallas for
• 55:08
  my own wants, because I really want a job in a past or I want
• 55:12
  to be in the church. If I'm doing this just for my
• 55:14
  own desire, RIP that out of me. Because if I'm trying to
• 55:18
  literally lead my family to a totally different state, move
• 55:23
  across the country, and that's just because I want to make it
• 55:27
  happen, then show me that. So to see us both come to peace
• 55:32
  together, united, that was a reminder of that's from God.
• 55:36
  Peace is a reminder of God's favor and faithfulness in our
• 55:40
  lives. So seek that peace when you're
• 55:44
  making decisions, discern it and see if this is coming from a
• 55:46
  position of peace in your life. 4th biblical method, we made it
• 55:51
  guys. I hope you guys have been
• 55:52
  enjoying this. So 4th biblical method is the
• 55:57
  clarity verse interpretation method.
• 56:00
  I love this one. I love this one.
• 56:04
  I want to read a story in Scripture to start.
• 56:06
  Before we even dive into the clarity verse interpretation
• 56:08
  method, I'm going to read a story in scripture.
• 56:11
  And if you haven't read this one, I hope you enjoy it because
• 56:13
  this one always blows my mind. We're going to start in Acts
• 56:18
  chapter 21, but we're going to start in verse 4.
• 56:21
  Verse 4 says we went ashore. This is Paul.
• 56:23
  Obviously Luke wrote Acts, Luke wrote the gospel, Luke and Acts.
• 56:27
  So Paul, or so Luke's writing from his perspective.
• 56:29
  Luke says we went ashore, found the local believers and stayed
• 56:33
  with them a week. These believers prophesied
• 56:36
  through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to
• 56:39
  Jerusalem. So we're entering into a story
• 56:43
  where Paul is going around and visiting all his brothers and
• 56:46
  sisters, all the churches he's planted, all the places he's
• 56:49
  went on his missionary journeys. He's going and really seeing
• 56:52
  them because Paul knows he's going to Jerusalem.
• 56:56
  And what's waiting for Paul in Jerusalem is for him to be
• 57:02
  killed. And so Paul's going and visiting
• 57:04
  all his brothers and sisters. And so we see it starts here,
• 57:07
  verse 4. It says they went ashore to find
• 57:09
  the local believers, and these believers are prophesying
• 57:12
  through the Holy Spirit. So not through themselves, but
• 57:14
  the Holy Spirit's prophesying through them that Paul should
• 57:17
  stay and not go on to Jerusalem. So then we go to verse 10.
• 57:23
  It says several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the
• 57:27
  gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea.
• 57:30
  He came over, took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands
• 57:35
  with it. Then he said, the Holy Spirit
• 57:38
  declares, so shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish
• 57:43
  leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.
• 57:47
  So he's prophesying what Paul already knows because he's
• 57:50
  received that from the Holy Spirit.
• 57:52
  And now this man's prophesying what the Holy Spirit gave to
• 57:54
  Paul, and now he's giving to him.
• 57:55
  Paul's going to be bound just like this belt is bounding him
• 57:59
  by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the
• 58:01
  Gentiles. When we heard this, we and the
• 58:04
  local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
• 58:08
  So even Luke, now Luke's writing this.
• 58:11
  Luke said, when I heard this, when we heard this, we all said
• 58:16
  and begged Paul, don't go. Their hearts where we love Paul.
• 58:19
  Paul, we if this is what's coming, you can't go to
• 58:22
  Jerusalem. We don't want you to be killed.
• 58:23
  We don't want this to happen to you, so don't go.
• 58:27
  But he said, Paul, why all this weeping?
• 58:31
  You are breaking my heart. I am ready not only to be jailed
• 58:35
  at Jerusalem, but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
• 58:41
  Paul got that faith, a dependency, A surrender.
• 58:46
  When it was clear that we couldn't persuade him, as Luke
• 58:49
  says, we gave up and said the Lord's will be done.
• 58:53
  Yeah, I love that. Not our will, but his will.
• 58:58
  Even Luke. All right man, we need to trust
• 59:01
  that our brother has heard from the Lord and we're going to let
• 59:05
  the Lord's will be done even though we are not wanting him to
• 59:08
  go. The believers tell Paul not to
• 59:12
  go to Jerusalem. Agabus prophecies.
• 59:15
  Paul will be bound. But notice something important
• 59:19
  though, guys. Number one, clarity.
• 59:22
  What God actually said, Agabus's prophecy was clear.
• 59:27
  Paul will be bound and handed over in Jerusalem.
• 59:30
  That's revelation, that's data, that's information from the
• 59:34
  Spirit that Agabus got. No confusion.
• 59:39
  There's no confusion, no chaos, cause Agabus has this gift of
• 59:43
  prophecy that's from the Holy Spirit.
• 59:44
  He prophesized what Paul already knows.
• 59:46
  So we know that it's not confusing that it's that it's a
• 59:49
  lie. It's revelation that Paul's
• 59:51
  already been given. It's data, it's information from
• 59:53
  the Spirit. There's no confusion.
• 59:55
  But notice guys, the Spirit never said don't go.
• 1:00:01
  The Spirit didn't say don't go, but the believer said not to go.
• 1:00:08
  Yeah, wait a second. You're like, wait a second.
• 1:00:09
  No, no, it did. When Agabus prophecies, he just
• 1:00:14
  says what's going to happen to Paul.
• 1:00:16
  The Spirit didn't prophecy through Agabus.
• 1:00:19
  It said the Holy Spirit declared, so shall the owner of
• 1:00:21
  this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned
• 1:00:24
  over to Gentiles quotation. And when they heard this, the
• 1:00:28
  local believers begged Paul not to go.
• 1:00:33
  Not the Holy Spirit. The believers said don't go.
• 1:00:38
  So #2 clarity versus interpretation, the clarity
• 1:00:43
  versus interpretation method interpretation is what what the
• 1:00:48
  people concluded, the the believers concluded, if you'll
• 1:00:52
  be bound, then don't go. That interpretation was rooted
• 1:00:57
  in love. So it wasn't even that it was
• 1:01:00
  coming from a bad place. It wasn't a Jesus looking at
• 1:01:03
  Peter and saying get behind me Satan, because he was trying to
• 1:01:06
  take Jesus out of God's will and he says get behind me Satan.
• 1:01:11
  This interpretation was rooted in love.
• 1:01:14
  It wasn't rebellion. It wasn't even manipulation for
• 1:01:16
  them. It was protection, but
• 1:01:19
  protection is not always direction.
• 1:01:23
  Sometimes we interpret warning as prohibition because we don't
• 1:01:27
  want pain for someone we love. I this is so important guys.
• 1:01:32
  And I've been in this situation in my life where people around
• 1:01:36
  me who are brothers and sisters are saying to me, no, don't go
• 1:01:39
  do this. So just to tell you guys, unpack
• 1:01:43
  my story a little bit more for you.
• 1:01:45
  When I felt that call to ministry, I was at a church that
• 1:01:47
  didn't encourage me in it. And again, not that they were
• 1:01:50
  trying to come from a place of rebellion, but they were
• 1:01:54
  interpreting it through the way they interpreted it.
• 1:01:56
  I heard from God because the church that I'm now still at
• 1:02:00
  that now I'm a full time pastor at back in 2017, the lead pastor
• 1:02:04
  gets lunch with me, who's now my best friend, Lady Chase, who
• 1:02:08
  said, hey, man, do you love Jesus?
• 1:02:10
  And I was like, yeah, he's like, so then why aren't you serving
• 1:02:13
  in ministry somewhere? And I'm like, we I'm supposed to
• 1:02:17
  go to, I need to finish school 1st.
• 1:02:19
  And he's like, oh, you do. And I was like, well, yeah,
• 1:02:21
  that's just kind of what I've been told.
• 1:02:24
  I got to go get my education. I got to get more experience.
• 1:02:27
  He's like, do you love Jesus? I'm like, yes, I just told you,
• 1:02:30
  do you want to serve the Lord right now?
• 1:02:32
  And I was like, well, yeah, I would love to.
• 1:02:34
  I love God. I want to tell others about him.
• 1:02:36
  He's like, so then you should be doing something in that.
• 1:02:39
  Why not? You love Jesus.
• 1:02:40
  You're filled with the Holy Spirit.
• 1:02:42
  Go, go do something for the Lord.
• 1:02:44
  Go serve. Go be in.
• 1:02:46
  If someone offers you an opportunity, would you take it?
• 1:02:47
  And I'm like, I don't know, are you offering me a job?
• 1:02:53
  So come Chase offers me a part time job at the church, at the
• 1:02:57
  church he was leading. And I remember all I could hear
• 1:03:01
  from God was I'm supposed to go. I could literally guys
• 1:03:04
  physically feel this tug from the Holy Spirit to go.
• 1:03:09
  But everybody in my circle, all the people that were in my
• 1:03:12
  confidant in the church I was at were telling me no, don't go.
• 1:03:17
  And so for them through what they were hearing or what from
• 1:03:22
  their experience, they were speaking this don't go.
• 1:03:26
  And it wasn't from a place that I don't want to think that way.
• 1:03:29
  I don't believe it was a place for manipulation, but it was
• 1:03:31
  from just their opinion. But God was saying to go.
• 1:03:36
  I always bring that story up because I ended up going and
• 1:03:40
  obeying what God was saying to me.
• 1:03:42
  And little did I know, God had way more in store than just a
• 1:03:45
  ministry position Job. That church was where I met my
• 1:03:48
  wife and my future son. God blessed me with a wife and a
• 1:03:53
  family, a desire of my heart. So it wasn't that he was just
• 1:03:57
  having me go into a ministry position, pastoral job.
• 1:04:00
  He was literally like, Carlos, you don't even know what I'm
• 1:04:02
  about to do. I'm telling you to go, 'cause I
• 1:04:05
  have your wife and your kid there.
• 1:04:08
  I got plans for you, plans that I planned for you long ago as we
• 1:04:13
  talk about and read about Scripture.
• 1:04:15
  And I'm sitting here hearing this confusion of, well, why is
• 1:04:18
  it that I'm getting told not to go or being discouraged in this
• 1:04:22
  that wasn't from the Spirit. And so the clarity verse
• 1:04:26
  interpretation, biblical method is super important guys.
• 1:04:31
  And so step one, here's the three steps to discern 'cause
• 1:04:36
  you might be asking, well, Carl, that's kind of you're, you're
• 1:04:38
  reading that story. But like, how do we even do
• 1:04:41
  that? How do we live out the clarity
• 1:04:44
  verse interpretation method? So I want to give you guys three
• 1:04:47
  steps. Here's three steps to discern
• 1:04:49
  clarity versus interpretation correctly.
• 1:04:53
  Step one, separate revelation from reaction.
• 1:04:58
  So first ask yourself, what exactly did God say and what am
• 1:05:03
  I? Or so number one, what exactly
• 1:05:05
  did God say #2 What am I adding to it?
• 1:05:09
  And #3 is the don't actually there or am I inserting it?
• 1:05:16
  So did God really say that? Am I adding something to it that
• 1:05:20
  I want to add to it 'cause I want this?
• 1:05:22
  And is the don't or the don't go actually there?
• 1:05:26
  Like is God actually saying that or am I inserting it?
• 1:05:32
  Step 2. Examine the lens.
• 1:05:35
  Every interpretation flows through a lens, guys, All of us
• 1:05:40
  have experienced life. So if you come to me, just for
• 1:05:44
  example, I'll give you this example, guys, the pastor's in
• 1:05:48
  your church, or you know, I'll use just pastors, anybody, but I
• 1:05:51
  want to use this example. The pastor's at your church.
• 1:05:54
  If you went to your lead pastor and asked him for godly counsel
• 1:05:57
  on a certain situation, his godly counsel is not going to
• 1:06:02
  sound the exact same from the executive pastor, the youth
• 1:06:05
  pastor, the other pastors, etcetera.
• 1:06:07
  Why? Because each of them have their
• 1:06:10
  own experience in life. They've been through different
• 1:06:12
  things. They've experienced different
• 1:06:13
  things. I have things that I've been
• 1:06:15
  through that have impacted me and how I see things or
• 1:06:19
  interpret things because of my own experience.
• 1:06:23
  Does that make sense? I have been through things.
• 1:06:27
  I might give counsel to you and say, hey, just like this when
• 1:06:30
  I'm talking to you guys about hey, you and your wife need to
• 1:06:33
  pray separately and find peace in the decision where someone
• 1:06:38
  might have a different opinion on that.
• 1:06:39
  Because again, like I said, guys, this isn't formulas, its
• 1:06:42
  frameworks, which God is a God of peace.
• 1:06:45
  So I believe peace is what we seek, but how we go about that
• 1:06:48
  position of peace might be interpreted different.
• 1:06:50
  How we go about clarity versus interpretation might sound
• 1:06:53
  different, but we're speaking from our experience.
• 1:06:56
  So every interpretation flows through a certain lens of a
• 1:07:01
  person's experience. So it might look like fear, it
• 1:07:05
  might look like comfort, it might look like trauma, it might
• 1:07:07
  look like past disappointment and hurt, it might look like
• 1:07:11
  attachment. So certain things that we've
• 1:07:13
  been through, we we've experienced, we have to examine,
• 1:07:17
  examine the lens that it's coming from or the person that's
• 1:07:19
  speaking it because they may have some fear that impacts that
• 1:07:23
  comfort. And again, this isn't just
• 1:07:25
  someone speaking it, but even ourselves.
• 1:07:27
  We have to seek that clarity of interpretation because is this
• 1:07:31
  being impacted by fear? Is this being impacted by
• 1:07:34
  comfort? Like again, guys, comfort wise,
• 1:07:39
  we didn't want to go to Dallas. That was going to take a lot of
• 1:07:43
  work to move our family to go go build new relationships that are
• 1:07:48
  like deep and real and authentic.
• 1:07:50
  We had those here. So for our comfort sake, we
• 1:07:53
  would have rather stayed in Lansing.
• 1:07:55
  That's that's what's comfortable to us.
• 1:07:57
  So comforts going to impact an interpretation.
• 1:08:00
  That's why we have to surrender our wants, our wills, our
• 1:08:03
  desires that we have to delight in the Lord first and foremost.
• 1:08:06
  So his desire is what's come out of our lives.
• 1:08:08
  So fear could impact us, our own comfort, our trauma in our lives
• 1:08:12
  can impact the decision, our past disappointment her our own
• 1:08:15
  experiences can jade our lens and view on a certain situation
• 1:08:20
  and decision. And it's in an and an attachment
• 1:08:24
  to that person. If I'm speaking to a family
• 1:08:27
  member or a real close friend who's saying, hey, man, I'm
• 1:08:29
  feeling God, call me to South Carolina.
• 1:08:32
  I'm going to be like, oh, you sure, bro?
• 1:08:34
  I don't know, man. Is that going to be good for
• 1:08:36
  you? My initial response, it's going
• 1:08:40
  to be impacted and filter through my own wants.
• 1:08:43
  That's why I have to take time. And I tell everyone this, people
• 1:08:46
  who know me, my young adults, I say this to all the time.
• 1:08:49
  If they ask me, Carlos, can I get your godly counsel on
• 1:08:51
  something? Of course.
• 1:08:52
  But I want to say #1 I want to take time to sit on it.
• 1:08:57
  I want to pray about it because I don't want this to come from
• 1:09:01
  my own wants or something that's impacted because of my own fear,
• 1:09:05
  my own comfort, my own trauma, my own attachment.
• 1:09:08
  I want it to be from the Spirit. So I try not to be super
• 1:09:11
  flippant and quick with my counsel, but I think a lot of us
• 1:09:15
  do. And I would challenge you, don't
• 1:09:18
  just give somebody golly counsel like right away and speak on
• 1:09:22
  something right away before really asking the Holy Spirit to
• 1:09:25
  give you discernment on the counsel you're giving because
• 1:09:29
  you might be getting impacted from your own experience and
• 1:09:33
  your own lens and your own life more than you think.
• 1:09:37
  And so now you're sitting here speaking something into a
• 1:09:41
  brother or sister that's not really from God, but it's from
• 1:09:44
  you because you're interpreting things through your own lens.
• 1:09:48
  So again, Agabus wasn't wrong with his prophecy.
• 1:09:50
  That was from the Spirit. The Spirit was saying, yeah,
• 1:09:52
  Paul's about to go and get bound.
• 1:09:54
  He's going to get given over to the Gentiles and he's going to
• 1:09:56
  be killed. This is what's coming for him.
• 1:09:59
  But I didn't tell him not to go. You did, Agabus, Luke, the local
• 1:10:05
  believers, they told Paul not to go because that was from their
• 1:10:08
  own lens. So examine the lens when you are
• 1:10:14
  the person receiving it. But then even when you're the
• 1:10:16
  person giving the counsel, giving the interpretation, make
• 1:10:21
  sure you seek clarity too. And make sure you're coming from
• 1:10:23
  the Holy Spirit, not from yourself.
• 1:10:26
  The believers lens was affection, but Paul's lens was
• 1:10:31
  assignment. Yeah, Paul was like, no, this is
• 1:10:34
  this is what God has for me. This is what he's calling me
• 1:10:37
  into. I know your guy's
• 1:10:39
  interpretation's coming from a place of affection, but my
• 1:10:43
  interpretation is from assignment.
• 1:10:46
  God's called me to this. This is his will, and I'm going
• 1:10:49
  to obey him more than I obey you.
• 1:10:52
  And I always say this too. I'll add this on there, guys.
• 1:10:54
  You are praying about it more than the other people you're
• 1:10:57
  asking for counsel on Hear me clearly, because I can say that
• 1:11:01
  and some people could say, Oh yeah, I'm a run with that.
• 1:11:03
  I don't want nobody to say nothing to me.
• 1:11:06
  I'm not seeking no accountability, no godly counsel
• 1:11:09
  because I'm, that's not what I'm saying.
• 1:11:11
  But what I'm saying is there might be a situation like this
• 1:11:14
  where you're hearing from people like I was like, Nope, you're
• 1:11:17
  not supposed to go. You're not supposed to go.
• 1:11:18
  You're not supposed to go. And I'm like, I'm praying about
• 1:11:20
  this daily. I'm literally crying, opening up
• 1:11:23
  God's word, asking for his will. I'm, I'm, I'm in my prayer room
• 1:11:27
  all day at times about this and all I can hear from God is that
• 1:11:32
  I'm supposed to go. But then I have these brothers
• 1:11:34
  and sisters tell me, no, you're not supposed to go.
• 1:11:36
  And I had a moment where I'm like, are you even praying about
• 1:11:39
  this? Or are you just telling me your
• 1:11:41
  opinion? So sometimes be very careful
• 1:11:44
  because you're praying about it more than they're praying about
• 1:11:46
  it. That's why I ask people, even
• 1:11:48
  brothers in my life, I say, hey, man, can you pray about this for
• 1:11:52
  me? And I don't.
• 1:11:53
  That's why, again, guys, don't be flippant and like, oh, yeah,
• 1:11:55
  I pray for you. I have started to practice.
• 1:11:57
  If someone texts me or someone comes up to me and says, hey,
• 1:12:00
  Pastor Lois, can you pray for this for me?
• 1:12:01
  I pray for them for that right then and there.
• 1:12:04
  Sometimes it looks like I might get a text right here and say,
• 1:12:06
  hey, my grandma just went to the hospital.
• 1:12:08
  Can you pray for, for me and I'll stop what I'm doing and
• 1:12:11
  real quick say, hey Lord Jesus, I want to pray for their
• 1:12:12
  grandma. I pray for you to be in the
• 1:12:13
  hospital room with them. I pray for everything to go
• 1:12:15
  smooth, the surgery to go great and just for your presence to
• 1:12:18
  fill that room in Jesus name, Amen 'cause I want to honor that
• 1:12:21
  request. And so someone asked me, hey,
• 1:12:24
  can you be praying about this daily for me?
• 1:12:27
  Yeah, 100%. If you're really asking me to
• 1:12:29
  seek God's discernment on it for you, then I will, but I'm not
• 1:12:33
  going to just give you counsel right when you've asked it.
• 1:12:36
  Again, I will tell people, hey, right now I'm going to respond
• 1:12:39
  to this, but don't take this as gospel, but I will give you some
• 1:12:44
  of my wisdom from my own life. I just want to preface that
• 1:12:47
  because I think sometimes we give godly counsel real
• 1:12:50
  flippantly, and we don't realize we're speaking something that is
• 1:12:53
  influenced by our own interpretation and by our own
• 1:12:56
  experiences and by our own fear and by our own comfort and by
• 1:12:59
  our own things that we've went through.
• 1:13:02
  So be very careful. Step #3 check for prior
• 1:13:06
  conviction. Yeah.
• 1:13:08
  Paul already knew Jerusalem was part of his calling.
• 1:13:11
  Paul was already convicted of this.
• 1:13:14
  He had eternal clarity before external prophecy.
• 1:13:17
  Y'all, Paul was like, yo, I already heard this from the
• 1:13:22
  Spirit. I this is from him.
• 1:13:24
  I know what he has for me before external prophecy tried to
• 1:13:28
  change that from him, He had that.
• 1:13:30
  So again, isolation with Jesus, timing your word, prayer without
• 1:13:35
  ceasing, guys, walking with Jesus, being in godly community,
• 1:13:40
  those three things we talked about that shows you're
• 1:13:42
  spiritually healthy. If that is not a part of your
• 1:13:44
  life, that that's not how you're living, then you're probably
• 1:13:49
  going to be swayed. You're probably going to have
• 1:13:52
  moments where you're like, I don't know, it's going to feel
• 1:13:54
  chaotic. It's going to feel minute, but
• 1:13:55
  it's going to feel like, I don't know what to do 'cause you don't
• 1:13:59
  even know God's voice, 'cause you don't even spend time with
• 1:14:01
  God. So if you don't want to just be
• 1:14:03
  swayed by every interpretation, every counsel you get, every
• 1:14:07
  single opinion that you get from somebody, if you don't want
• 1:14:10
  that, then you need to be with Jesus.
• 1:14:14
  You need to seek him daily. You need to know his voice,
• 1:14:18
  'cause Paul had eternal clarity internally he was good.
• 1:14:21
  He knew 'cause he knew God's voice, he knew what the Spirit
• 1:14:24
  had already told him. External voices should confirm,
• 1:14:29
  clarify, or prepare, not override what God has
• 1:14:34
  consistently spoken to you. So if it's from the Spirit with
• 1:14:39
  a brother or sister, it it should be confirming or
• 1:14:42
  clarifying or preparing. So those are three different
• 1:14:45
  things. It could be.
• 1:14:46
  Yeah. No, that is that actually is
• 1:14:48
  from God. I believe that God's calling you
• 1:14:50
  in that. Again, I had people say to me,
• 1:14:51
  which at the time was hard for me here.
• 1:14:53
  He's like, no, no, I'm not. I'm inadequate.
• 1:14:54
  But people are telling me, hey, Carlos, I think you're going to
• 1:14:56
  be a preacher, man. Like you spoke that message
• 1:14:59
  before your baptism. You gave you gave a testimony.
• 1:15:01
  Your testimony, man. I think you're going to be a
• 1:15:03
  preacher, dude. You got you got a gift of
• 1:15:04
  preaching and teaching. People were speaking that to me.
• 1:15:07
  It was a confirmation of something I had already heard
• 1:15:10
  from God. They were clarifying something
• 1:15:12
  that the Spirit was already speaking to me.
• 1:15:14
  They didn't know that though. Behind closed doors I could feel
• 1:15:16
  this tug towards ministry. And then I had people seeing the
• 1:15:20
  spiritual gifts in me and saying and they were confirming that.
• 1:15:22
  So again, I even say that to you guys.
• 1:15:24
  Being a part of a godly community, Encourage each other.
• 1:15:27
  Scripture says encourage each other.
• 1:15:29
  As long as today is today, we should look at brothers and
• 1:15:33
  sisters and say, man, I see this in you.
• 1:15:36
  I see what God created you with that gift that the Holy Spirit
• 1:15:39
  gives you. I can see this in you, man.
• 1:15:41
  You could do incredible things for the Kingdom because of God
• 1:15:43
  in you, not you, but God. Encourage each other with that.
• 1:15:47
  Speak that over one another because we should be voices from
• 1:15:51
  the Holy Spirit within us that confirms God's truth, clarifies
• 1:15:55
  God's truth, but even prepares people for God's will in their
• 1:15:58
  life. So I some of my counsel to
• 1:16:01
  people and I've in times that I've prayed about it, it might
• 1:16:04
  look like me saying to someone, yeah, you need to take some time
• 1:16:08
  before you step into that. And that's not me trying to
• 1:16:11
  discourage you because I've been discouraged before.
• 1:16:13
  I see a certain thing in your life that needs to be put to
• 1:16:17
  death, that needs to change, that needs to be transformed by
• 1:16:20
  the Holy Spirit, renewing of your mind before you step into
• 1:16:23
  this or you go that way. You want to be in this
• 1:16:26
  relationship, but you're still watching porn every night and
• 1:16:28
  you're still sliding into all these girls DMS and you're still
• 1:16:30
  talking to six different girls that you're sleeping with, but
• 1:16:33
  you're telling me that this new girl's the one you want to marry
• 1:16:36
  and you're about to get a ring. Yeah.
• 1:16:39
  No, Doc, you're not ready. You're not even living
• 1:16:43
  obediently to Jesus in your life right now, so who are you to try
• 1:16:47
  to lead a woman closer to Jesus? So there might be times that you
• 1:16:52
  get some accountability in godly counsel that's trying to prepare
• 1:16:56
  you for who God has called you to be.
• 1:17:00
  It might not be easy to hear, but that's what we're supposed
• 1:17:02
  to do for brothers and sisters. We're not supposed to just try
• 1:17:04
  to be. Yes, men, if the Holy Spirit's
• 1:17:06
  showing me something and I'm doing life with you in godly
• 1:17:10
  community, don't just pop into random churches and never get
• 1:17:13
  rooted. This is my opinion guys, so hear
• 1:17:15
  me why I feel so passionate about you should have a local
• 1:17:18
  church that you are rooted in and you are committed to is
• 1:17:23
  because then you have brothers and sisters who really know you,
• 1:17:26
  who do life with you, who can confirm and clarify or prepare
• 1:17:29
  what God's will is in your life that they can speak godly
• 1:17:32
  counsel to you. That's not going to be flippant,
• 1:17:34
  but it's going to be prayed over because we know each other.
• 1:17:37
  So when I'm able to say to you, yeah man, I don't think that's
• 1:17:40
  for you or I do think that's for you.
• 1:17:42
  It's not just coming from a place of randomness or chaotic
• 1:17:46
  or disorderly. It's actually of peace and it's
• 1:17:48
  actually of love, and it's actually something that's coming
• 1:17:51
  from the spirit because again, we do life with each other.
• 1:17:54
  So I want you guys to sit on this.
• 1:17:58
  I want to kind of have this for your takeaways for this episode.
• 1:18:02
  You can hear the Spirit correctly and still apply it
• 1:18:06
  incorrectly. So you could hear the Spirit
• 1:18:09
  correctly, but you could still apply it incorrectly, just like
• 1:18:12
  we saw in the story in Acts. So revelation is pure, but
• 1:18:18
  interpretation is human. Discernment requires asking, am
• 1:18:23
  I responding to what God said or to how I feel about what He
• 1:18:28
  said? Am I walking in faith,
• 1:18:32
  independence of God and surrender to God or am I walking
• 1:18:38
  in a place of, yeah, I don't want that disobedience.
• 1:18:41
  It's a lack of faith. It's a place of I don't want to
• 1:18:43
  give up my wants. I don't want Jesus to be Lord of
• 1:18:46
  my life. So I am I responding to what God
• 1:18:49
  said or to how I feel about what he said.
• 1:18:52
  That's a big difference, my guys.
• 1:18:55
  It's a big difference, Ladies and gentlemen, 'cause you may be
• 1:18:59
  hearing from God what you're supposed to do in that
• 1:19:01
  situation. You're getting that discernment,
• 1:19:04
  but you don't like it. It don't feel good.
• 1:19:07
  And I can promise you as someone who's been walking with Jesus
• 1:19:11
  most of the time, when I'm getting discernment from what
• 1:19:15
  I'm supposed to do from God's Word and his voice, it ain't
• 1:19:19
  easy and it don't feel good, but it's who I'm called to be.
• 1:19:23
  My flesh wants to do this, but the Spirit's saying no, homie,
• 1:19:27
  you are now mine. You are called to live
• 1:19:30
  differently. You're called to seek
• 1:19:32
  reconciliation, you're called to not watch that video.
• 1:19:36
  You're called to not drink that thing.
• 1:19:37
  You're called to live a life that's holy and righteous and
• 1:19:41
  set apart. And it's not going to be easy,
• 1:19:42
  but it's always going to be worth it.
• 1:19:45
  So am I responding to what God said or to how I feel about what
• 1:19:49
  He said? That's a big difference.
• 1:19:52
  Pray on that. I hope this episode blessed you,
• 1:19:56
  encouraged you and LED you closer to Jesus and helped you
• 1:20:00
  grow your faith and trust in Him, especially when it comes to
• 1:20:04
  discernment in your life and walk with him.
• 1:20:06
  That's my prayer for you guys. I truly hope this encouraged you
• 1:20:09
  and blessed you and just LED you closer to Jesus.
• 1:20:12
  That's the point that God has called me into this.
• 1:20:14
  I just want to encourage you guys.
• 1:20:15
  I want to be able to prayer of you guys.
• 1:20:17
  I want the Holy Spirit to impact your hearts, to lead you closer
• 1:20:21
  to Jesus and lead you more into who He created you to be through
• 1:20:24
  His Word. Understanding who He is, growing
• 1:20:27
  in your knowledge and understanding of God, as Paul
• 1:20:29
  said. Paul says in Philippians 19 that
• 1:20:32
  your love will overflow more and more and that you will grow in
• 1:20:34
  knowledge and understanding. That's my prayer for you guys.
• 1:20:38
  Just remember, if you want discernment, stay in the Word,
• 1:20:42
  stay in prayer, stay in godly community, and stay surrendered.
• 1:20:47
  Discernment is not about perfection, it's about
• 1:20:50
  obedience, and the goal isn't to hear God perfectly, it's to
• 1:20:55
  follow him faithfully no matter what.
• 1:20:57
  Let me pray for y'all when you get up out of here.
• 1:21:02
  Lord Jesus, we love you. Lord Jesus, we thank you.
• 1:21:05
  God, I just thank you for your word.
• 1:21:07
  I thank you for your wisdom that you pour out through the Holy
• 1:21:09
  Spirit, that you lead us into all truth.
• 1:21:11
  God, thank you so much Jesus, we love you.
• 1:21:14
  I pray God that this episode just speaks to our hearts that
• 1:21:17
  God, we start to discern your will that we got, that we start
• 1:21:20
  to walk out obedience to you Jesus in our lives and that we
• 1:21:24
  can point others to you because of it as well.
• 1:21:26
  I pray this is not only for us receiving it, but also for the
• 1:21:30
  way that we give others discernment and that we give
• 1:21:33
  counsel in a way that comes from you and not from us.
• 1:21:35
  God, I pray for your hand over our lives.
• 1:21:37
  I pray for us to glorify you and I pray for you to be the Lord of
• 1:21:40
  our lives. Lord Jesus, I thank you so much.
• 1:21:42
  I pray we surrender at your feet the things we're trying to hold
• 1:21:45
  on to that we don't let our fear, we don't let our comfort,
• 1:21:48
  we don't let our attachment don't we don't let our trauma
• 1:21:50
  control us and lead us or our grief to take control of us.
• 1:21:54
  That we live from a place of peace because if your spirits in
• 1:21:57
  US, peace is what comes out. So I pray that you are what's
• 1:22:01
  leading us and not our own wants or our own lengths or our own
• 1:22:04
  interpretation. I love you.
• 1:22:05
  We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
• 1:22:07
  I love y'all. God bless.