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That Doesn’t Work: What NOT To Do To Rekindle Your Fire · The Higher Pursuit Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're in that season, it's very, very tempting to try very hard in our own strength to do all the things, cross every T, dot every I, that every professional and pundit says we need to do.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it becomes very easy to get disconnected from the peace of the Lord when honestly the Holy Spirit is right there saying, There's a bed over there.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna stub your toe.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, you weren't listening.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was at least the situation with me.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I wasted so much time when I stepped into ministry following after things that I thought were absolutely necessary.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that cost me time with the Lord.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Cecily LaChapelle, and this is the Higher Pursuit Podcast.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that you're tuned into this podcast where we talk specifically about things that will encourage you and strengthen you in your pursuit of the Lord.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: For more content, check out our ministry website at HirePursuit Ministries.com.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find me on YouTube at Cecily LaChapelle with Higher Pursuit Ministries.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, now let's dive into the podcast.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everyone.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me ask you something right at the beginning.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever felt like you're doing all the right things spiritually, but you still feel dry?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you love God, you want to grow, you're going to church, reading your devotions most of the time, but something just feels off.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like the fruit isn't there, the fire isn't there, and you don't know why.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: You prayed and you asked God to rekindle your first love for him, and you still feel as dry as a saltine.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: What if I told you that you're not actually stuck?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: You might just be disconnected, disconnected from your source of life.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And once you see it, you can change it.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Lisa, hi, Kate, hi Leanne.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So good to see you.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So good to see you guys.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, everyone, welcome to the Higher Pursuit live stream and podcast.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Cecily LaChapelle, and I'm so glad you're here.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is a space where we're all pursuing more of Jesus together in our everyday, sometimes messy lives, and where we have honest conversations about what is working and what doesn't.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And today's conversation is about what doesn't work if we want to rekindle the fire in our hearts for the Lord.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you guys know this, but this world system has one goal to chill the passion that we have for God and to make us impotent regarding bearing fruit for the kingdom.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: So in this episode, we're going to look at how we combat a very real enemy and regain our fire for Jesus.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because that is what the kingdom is all about.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's knowing Jesus and making him known.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Dr.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Shari Robinson, thank you so much for being here.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: I hope everything is well in Mississippi.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: So let's see, we have Mississippi here, we have Alabama here, John La Chapelle is on, so I know we have New Hampshire here.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Kate is in Maine.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Lisa, are you in New Hampshire, right?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we have four states represented already.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this is so cool.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love this, you guys.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when it comes to this situation of feeling disconnected, there are things that work and things that don't work.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so glad that you guys told me where you're tuning in from.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is awesome.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: The last time we were together, we talked about something that I think resonated with a lot of people.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I've gotten a lot of feedback on it, which is why I'm doing sort of a deeper dive in this live stream.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that was the feeling of being stuck spiritually.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Roll Tide, Leanne says.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when people feel stuck spiritually, they feel like they aren't moving forward, right?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: They're not seeing fruit, feeling dry, overwhelmed by the pressures of life.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Last week we had people talking about how they were grieving losses and just that feeling of disconnection.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I've been sitting with that, honestly, since our last live stream.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And then something happened in one of my prayer time that I'm going to talk about in a second that made me realize I think there's a little bit more to this topic that we need to talk about.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I really felt like the Lord wanted to take us a step deeper tonight.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because what if, I mean, last week we talked about being stuck, but what if you're actually not stuck?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: What if what you're experiencing is not a lack of desire or discipline, but it's a disconnect from your source of life.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to paint a picture for you that God gives us in scripture.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm also going to, for the very first time, try doing this as a PowerPoint as well.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll see how that goes.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It talks about a tree, a tree planted by streams of living water.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Its roots go down deep, its leaves don't wither, and it bears fruit in its season.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: We see this in Psalm 1, and also it's echoed in Jeremiah 17.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: So let's look at Psalm 1, verse 3.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: It says, He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I actually pray this verse from Psalm 1 all the time.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, my ministry logo is a tree because of this psalm.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And last week, this is the prayer experience I was talking about.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was praying this psalm, and something really gripped me that I'm going to share about in a minute.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: But I thought of the topic that we had just talked about on the live stream.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden, some thoughts started trickling down the funnel of my mind about how a tree can have leaves that don't wither, and it can be a tree that always bears fruit.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So then I looked up this scripture in Jeremiah that echoes Psalm 1.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's verse 7 and 8.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: It says, But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: He's like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots towards the stream.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: It does not fear when the heat comes.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And its leaves are always green.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, this is not just poetry.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is design.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is what life connected to God is meant to exemplify.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is what a life connected to God's word, to his presence is supposed to look like.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Stable, nourished, alive, consistently fruitful?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this, guys.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: When you hear that picture of a tree with deep roots, leaves that never wither, fruit in every season, does that feel like your life right now?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Drop a yes if it does, or not really, in the comments.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And while you're dropping your emoji in the comment, I want to ask you a question.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: If that's the design to be consistently bearing fruit, leaves that don't wither, even in drought, why do so many of us feel dry?
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: While there are quite a few reasons that this could be happening, here's what I've come to see.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: We can be planted in the right place, saved, loved by God, called, but still be drawing from the wrong system.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Hey Pat, so good to see you, my friend.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we can be drawing from the wrong system because there are two things.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: First, there's the system of the world that started at the fall in the garden.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 3 19 says, um that well, that's it says, by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is when God told Adam that because of the fall, a curse had come upon the earth.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And where Adam had previously worked in the garden, now he was going to toil on the earth.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: And mankind has been toiling by the sweat of his brow ever since.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the system of the world is push, strive, fight to achieve, compare, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, try to beat the clock and fit more things into our already busy lives.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Try multitasking, scroll on three different apps at one time.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's the world system.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Make it happen by the sweat of our brow.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: But the and it this system creates cycles of performance-driven habits and mindsets.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne just said plenty of sweat in Bama.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I bet.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: We haven't even gotten to heat yet, Leanne.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: So don't rub it in that you are nice and warm down in Alabama.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that world system creates cycles of performance-driven habits and mindsets, constant pressure, mountaintop experiences that are based on performance that we can't sustain, that are followed by burnout cycles.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: But if we scroll back to the beginning of creation before the fall, we can see how it was supposed to function before mankind broke it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: There was a pace of peace.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there was work, but there was peace and there was rest.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And most importantly, my soapbox, there was communion, God with man, man with God.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: We read that Adam had work before the fall, right?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: One of his tasks that gets mentioned is the assignment of naming everything.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And even God worked.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 2 tells us that we see, let me see.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, Genesis 2, 2 to 3.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: On the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all of his work that he had done.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: So God is obviously wanting to point out that yes, although I am God, it was still work for me to create everything.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And even in God's productivity, the Father never lost his peace.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he made time to rest.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, granted, I understand God didn't need to take a break.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't like he was saying, Oh, I'm I'm exhausted, I'm depleted, I have to have Sunday off.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: That wasn't it at all.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: He rested, took a Sabbath, so that would be our example.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that we would understand there's a time to work, there's a time to rest, there's a way to work, there's a way to rest.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Unless we think that that system of heaven went kaput here on earth after the fall, listen to these words by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's in 15, so 1 Corinthians 15, 10.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says, No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: So even Paul is saying, I worked, I worked harder than anybody around me, but it wasn't me working.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was working by the grace of God.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So the system of heaven is very different from the system of the earth.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's fruitfulness in and through the grace of God.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's peace, it's rest, it's life that continually flows, it's intimate communion between God and His children, and it's achievement that comes from connection, not striving.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it's living and working from grace, not self-effort.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of us are trying to live with one foot in the world system and the one foot in heaven system.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: We want the peace of heaven, but we're still operating by the pressure of earth, and that doesn't work.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus makes this so clear in the Gospel of John, chapter 15, when he says, I am the vine and you are the branches of the fruit.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: That means something really important.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: The branch doesn't fruit produce fruit by trying harder.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: It produces fruit by staying connected.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes on to say, apart from me or disconnected from me, you can do nothing.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want us all to catch.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is described as a life-giving spirit.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see, let me get to the right one.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is described as a life-giving spirit in 1 Corinthians 15, 45.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: The last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: This completely blew my mind when I started studying this.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: It became part of my study of Romans, and I actually did a whole teaching on it called Free From and Free To.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you can find that on my YouTube channel.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Believe me, it's actually one of my favorite teachings.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: I would kind of like to do it again.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I loved it.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: I absolutely loved it because it was one of those moments for me as I was studying the book of Romans and then had to go into Galatians and 1 Corinthians and a little in Hebrews to really get the full understanding of what Jesus did for us.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: But so Jesus is a life-giving spirit, different than what Adam was.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And when we are connected to Jesus, we're not just trying to get life.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: So we're not uh we're not just trying to sort of suck life out of the vine.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we are connected to the very source of life itself, but we have become fruit of that vine.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: So now we have become life-giving people.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: We have been raised in the likeness of Jesus.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: So if we find ourselves in a place where we don't feel like we have life in ourselves and we're feeling depleted, and we certainly don't feel like we can give life to other people, then we have to ask, what happened?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Why are my leaves withering right now?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Why does it feel like there's no fruit there?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to say this gently but honestly if the leaves are withering, it's not because God stops applying life.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's because somewhere along the low the way we disconnected from the vine.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we might not be in a backslidden state, but somewhere we have allowed a place of disconnect from that source of life that is the presence of Jesus.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we don't even realize we've done it.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: We're still doing all the right things and we're like we're going through the motions, but inwardly we shifted into striving instead of abiding.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't work.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: We end up living with constant spiritual dryness.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: We end up living in our pr in pressure instead of peace.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: We end up living with no desire for the word or prayer and chasing outcomes instead of abiding.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne said the difference between doing and being, yes, so true.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where it gets real.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the hard truth.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of us don't actually want to make the changes that would restore that connection.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: We want peace, but we keep the same overloaded schedules.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: We want fruit, but we resist the habits that keep us connected to the sap of the vine.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we feed habits like this that reconnect us to that toxic vine.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: We want intimacy with God, but He gets reprioritized to the bottom of our list.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: We want life, but we're still plugged into systems that drain it.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't work.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: At some point, something has to give.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I got a prophetic word from the prophet Ed Trout years ago.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what he said to me.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear that I am not speaking this as someone who has not walked this multiple times and had to have God do this because he was trying to get through to me.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Here was the prophetic word.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: It said, Your life's too busy.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: Your candle has been lit at both ends.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: No one has done that to your life but yourself.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: You have a hard time not being fully busy.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's true.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: You like the productivity.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: You lay in bed at night going through the list and you love it.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: That gives you a sense of achievement, but that's not God's plan.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oops, I think I need to move over here.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not God's plan.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Achievement is really have I been doing what He asked me to do.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the important thing.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord, through that word, brought a massive alignment in me that resulted in me leaving my corporate job a year later to step out in faith in full-time ministry.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Does any of that word that Ed prophesied to me resonate with you?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Does it shed some light on maybe why you might be feeling disconnected from the source of your spiritual life?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me in the chat, does any of that word, any of what Prophet Ed said to me, does any of that resonate with you?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Have you been there?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Shari says you're reading my mail.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Girl, I know what track you're on.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know what track you're on.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: I have been there and it's a lot.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: It is a lot.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: When we're starting something new, we're launching into a new season.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: God has called us out of a place where we knew we could walk around, sort of like if someone blindfolded you in your bedroom.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't probably stub your toe because you know where all the furniture is.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: But if somebody blindfolded you and put you in a whole new room, you'd be hurting because you don't know where everything is.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how it feels when we get picked up out of one place and put in another.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're in that season, it's very, very tempting to try very hard in our own strength to do all the things, cross every T, dot every I that every professional and pundit says we need to do.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it becomes very easy to get disconnected from the peace of the Lord when honestly the Holy Spirit is right there saying, There's a bed over there.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna stub your toe.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, you weren't listening.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was at least the situation with me.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I wasted so much time when I stepped into ministry.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Following after things that I thought were absolutely necessary.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that cost me time with the Lord.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Kate says, have been there resulted in burnout.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne says, since I'm retired, I don't have that same problem.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: John La Chapelle says, yes, he's been there.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: The pro Leanne says, the problem is different, but the same lack of action.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I got you.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: I hear that.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have to try harder.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: We just need to reconnect.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because the life is still flowing.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: It hasn't stopped.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're invited to come boldly before the throne of grace to find help in our time of need and to access God's unlimited mercy that's new every morning.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does reconnection look like?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Reconnection, it looks like repenting for disobedience.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about any of you, but I have to do this almost daily.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many times that the Lord is speaking to me, saying, Come away, come away.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want to speak to you.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: I have something to say.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: And my task list screams louder.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So repenting for turning a deaf ear to God's voice when he beckoned you to draw near and listen.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't want you didn't want to listen because you were afraid of what he would say, that he would prune you.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: But actually, that's where faithfulness comes from.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then stepping out in faith.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's that can be challenging to do, but that's where reconnection comes from.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: Putting faith in the fact that when we put God first and we take that time to breathe and to be in his presence and to be still in his presence, that he's going to work all the other stuff out.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then it looks like slowing down long enough to actually be with God.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Reconnection looks like opening his word and letting it speak, not just checking a box, but really letting it speak.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like praying in a way that is real and relational.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Praying until we know that we grabbed a hold of God.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: And most of us have um oh, it also looks like creating space in our life for God to move.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us have zero margin for meditation and contemplation.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Something the father of fathers of our faith would never have been able to wrap their brain around.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Many of the fathers of our faith would read a scripture and then pray for a couple hours or more on that one scripture, asking for revelation and understanding.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us are happy to settle for someone else's revelation.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: And even then, we squawk because we don't feel satisfied.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: Reconnection is not complicated, but it's also not easy.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: It does require intention.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne said, Do you think we make connection too hard?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne, that's a really good question.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just said, reconnection isn't complicated.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: It should not be complicated because relationship with God is supposed to be the easiest, most natural thing we have.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it should be organic.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: It should be leaning in to the presence of the Lord.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to fight our flesh to do that.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have to fight the world's system to do that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where it's not easy because we have to take thoughts captive.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: We have to surrender our desire to control things, to be in charge, to really uh submit to his lordship and to allow him to be our heavenly father and our closest companion.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: You would think that would be easy.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is simple, but it isn't easy, if that makes any sense.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it just requires intention.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to say something that I think might shift some perspectives.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: On Earth, we experience seasons, don't we?
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: Things die, things go dormant.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, here in New England, we are the poster child for seasons.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: We have a very long season of winter where things are dead for a long time, or they look dead.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: They're dormant for a long time.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we have things are starting to get green, then everything comes to life, then things change color, leaves fall off, and then there's barrenness for a long time.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: But that's what we don't, we don't see that in heaven.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: In heaven, every picture that anybody has ever described of heaven, life is always flowing.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: We don't read in any of the descriptions of heaven about dead leaves falling off the trees or barrenness of any kind.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: We don't read about, I don't know, stark, empty branches waiting for spring or of dark, dreary coldness of winter.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if God's perfect design is for constant fruitfulness, then we can pray into that.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: We can ask that we live in that reality rather than under the curse that came upon the earth at the fall.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: We also, let me correlate it to healing.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: We know that Jesus went everywhere and healed all who were oppressed of the enemy.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: He healed everyone he prayed for.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we also know that it's God's will that we would be healed.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: We have tons of scriptures.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: By his stripes, we have been healed, that God desires that we prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: We know that God wants us sozod, completely saved, healed, and delivered, spirit, soul, and body.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: But does everybody, every believer in Jesus walk around completely healed all the time?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: No, we don't.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: But that doesn't mean that we don't know that that's God's will, that we don't keep pressing toward his will, that we don't keep believing that his perfect will be made manifest in our physical body, that we don't continue to speak the word, to worship God as our healer.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: So what I'm saying is if there's no withering leaves and fruitless trees in heaven, and if Psalm 1 and Jeremiah tell us that we can be those trees that don't have seasons of barrenness, then let's make that our vision.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of being okay with these burnout cycles and just accepting them like they're a part of life.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, well, you know, it's just what happens.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm on fire for a little bit, and then the fire kind of goes down, and then I got to work myself back up and I get myself worked up and then it kind of goes back out.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think we accept these like seasons, like that's okay.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: But correct me if I'm wrong.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you see things differently, I'd love to hear it.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: But I feel like the word is teaching us that as long as we stay connected to the vine, that we shouldn't have these dry seasons.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: That when we're in a dry season, the source we're connected to isn't dry and the stream is still flowing.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the question for us then isn't, is there life available?
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: The question is, as I'm I drawing from it.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne says, but there are some trees that only grow where there's winter.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: Very good point.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Very good point.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: There are some trees that only grow where there's where there's winter.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that is very interesting.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: The trees, though, that I'm seeing in the scripture seem to be ones that are bearing fruit and their leaves aren't withering in every season, even in drought.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: So when we fight feel like we're stuck or we're dry, I just want to gently challenge us tonight that maybe we're not stuck.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we just got disconnected from the flow of our life.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want us to ask the Lord where have we been drawing from the wrong source?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Or where have I gotten disconnected from the source of life?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: And is there anything that needs to shift in my life so that I can reconnect to you?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know that I've said this on previous live streams, but when when we pray that prayer, the Lord is going to show us.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, the Lord shows me.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the Lord, okay, Leanne just asked a question.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Can you define what you mean by the flow of our life?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the um being connected to the vine, that that flow of the life of God coming into us, helping us to bear fruit.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so while we are, we don't disconnect in that um, you know, we're we're not cut off from the Lord, but there are things that can interrupt that flow so that we're not experiencing the fullness of the life of God, the flesh being one of them.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Leanne said, but fruit has a season.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly the point that I was just making, which is the interesting thing.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is a great conversation.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: The fruit that is talked about in Psalm 1 and in Jeremiah doesn't have a season.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: It says it bears fruit in every season, and its leaf doesn't wither even in the drought.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I had gotten praying about of Lord, I mean, there are there's fruit.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: We might have different fruit in different seasons, but we should never be experiencing barrenness.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: Barrenness isn't um, isn't a reflection of the life of God.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we're connected to the vine, Jesus said, if you abide in me and I abide in you, then you will bear much fruit.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so that Jesus made that correlation right there that being connected, if we abide in him and his word abides in us, then we are going to be fruitful.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to bear much fruit.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: So our fruit might be in various um various um seasons of maturity.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: There we go.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Various places of maturity.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: But we should always be in that process of bearing fruit.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so if we're feeling like there's barrenness, we need to go to the Lord and ask the Lord, is my fruit immature or is there truly no fruit?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if I'm not bearing fruit for you, is there something that has disconnected me from abiding in you because you or your word abiding in me?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I would recommend that if any of us are feeling like we are not bearing fruit, can we ask the Lord, Father, is there something that is causing me to not be bearing fruit or my leaf to wither, for me to feel like all my leaves fell off in this season.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: The drought really got me.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: But don't pray that prayer if you're not willing to do what the Lord tells you.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because once you know his will, but we don't do it, then we might enter into a valley of serious discomfort.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, I did.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: After that, after the word that I got from Prophet Ed, I was in a serious place of discomfort.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about what parents do when they ask their children to do something.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then children willfully disobey.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Does the parent roll out rewards or do they pull the child up on their lap and pretend that the child is not really in disobedience?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, no, a good parent is gonna stand their ground.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if the child stands their ground in rebellion, the parent's gonna start pulling away privileges, right?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: And doing whatever they can to make the child's life so uncomfortable that the child can't think of anything else except the choice that they have in front of them.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_00: The parent is actually hoping that the pain of not obeying becomes greater than the pain of obeying, so that they can stop that torment of disobedience and get back into sweet fellowship with the parent.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if you ask God to tell you what needs to shift in your life, and he tells you, like for me, the thing that needed to shift in my life was stepping out in faith to answer the call.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: My husband and I, we needed to trust God for finances in a whole new way.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the thing that needed to shift in my life was holding on to comfort, holding on to what I understood I could control.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: I was good at my job, I liked my job, I had a great boss, I didn't want to leave my job.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: And yet I knew that God was calling me in, calling me to do that.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so the year between when I got that word and when I actually stepped out, there were there were some really challenging times there.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if you ask God this question, God is going to answer you.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to take it to the Lord, journal about it, talk to other people about it, say, Lord, I want to lay down anything that is between you and me.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm asking you to, John said, you also had a nice income.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I did.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: I had a very nice income.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that was another hard thing to walk away from.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, this is one who has been there and sadly will probably be there again.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: It stinks when the Lord points out the thing that is getting in the way.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Either an area where we have not obeyed, or an area of rebellion where the Lord says, I want this time, or I'm asking for this sacrifice of your life, or I want more of this part of you.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: And we refuse to give it, we refuse to surrender, we refuse to let go.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: We we try to maintain control.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we go into that season of discipline and challenge.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there and I'm sure it'll happen again.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you right now, you might not want to pray that prayer until you can say to the Lord, Father God, I know I won't want to change.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: I won't be able to see how I can make adjustments in my life.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: I might even disagree with what you command, but I'm asking you, Lord, please pour out a grace upon me to receive, to believe, to obey your word when it comes.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Help me to reconnect to the vine of your presence and put my roots down even deeper into the river of life so my leaves won't wither, so that I can bear fruit in every season, even in the hard ones.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we connect.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we connect to the Lord.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: So let me just before I pray us out, I just want to um please put any prayer requests in the chat.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to be praying for you this week and hold you up before the Lord.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if any of this content that I share speaks to you, don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel, share this with someone who needs it, and stay connected so we can keep pursuing the presence of the Lord together.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just close this out in prayer.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, I thank you that you are the source of life.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you never run dry, you never stop flowing.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_00: You are always, always flowing and bringing, putting your life into our heart, into our soul.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: You are our refreshing.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: You never withhold from us.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray that every person listening right now, if they've been feeling dry or weary or overwhelmed or overburdened, that you would gently reveal if there's a disconnect.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, where has it happened?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not with condemnation, but with invitation.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Draw them back to you every bit, every part, any area where we have been withholding, any area of our life where we've kept a room shut off from you, or where we know something you've asked us to do, and we're just saying, Lord, I can't, I can't want to, I can't like it.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about it later.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: God, these are the things that bring disconnect.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't want those.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: We want all of you, we want to be completely surrendered.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: So teach us how to abide, how to slow down, how to reconnect to the life that's already available.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I thank you, Lord, that as we do, fruit will come, peace will come the fullness of your life, what was once a trickle will be a flood.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: It will flow again in Jesus' name.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well, guys, thank you so much for being with me.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was a great conversation.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for um being here and jumping in the chat.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope you all have a wonderful night and a wonderful week.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll see you next time.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, this is Cecily and this is the Higher Pursuit live stream and podcast.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hey family, I pray that you were blessed and encouraged by that episode and that you took away something you can use in your walk with the Lord starting today.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us in Matthew 6 to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you for making me a part of your pursuit.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, abide in Him.