Latest / The Bible Gal / Having good discipleship

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Having good discipleship · The Bible Gal

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the public and complications, and I'm Megan Amber.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just a point of certain one woman, empowering women to step into their own thunder for the Lord mentality.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm encouraging us to live in our faith, to grow, and to believe in the calling that God has for us.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: My vision is to help women break the chains of their past, of inner struggles, and fears to create new chapters that only our father can write for us.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on a mission and passion to empower you and all the women out there.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is going to be your new favorite podcast for daily devotionals and Bible study chats.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Hey guys, welcome back to episode 42.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you're returning here to the podcast, then hi, welcome back.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um and if you're new here, then hi, my name is Amber, and um today we are going to be talking about having good discipleship.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um this was something that I recently learned in my um I've been taking a a um class with my church about being a leader, um, and this was a point in there um that they were talking about, and I was like, this is really good, and um I just felt very connected to this um and wanting to do a self-evaluation on myself, and then the more I was looking at it, the more I was like, you know what?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna make this my uh next episode because it's really just so good.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, but before we get started, I always want to start us off in prayer.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um so before we do anything, let me uh lead us in with that.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray that you open our minds, you open our hearts, fill us up with your Holy Spirit.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I just pray that you speak through me, give me the words to say, give me the thoughts to think, Father, and that this message will touch every single listener, Father.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Alright.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, I really just want to start by saying um that I think this is something that uh should be meditated on uh you know, more than just today.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: I really want to encourage you um to take notes during this um message and um even if you're in in the middle of something, maybe you just come back to it and really listen to it, or you pull up in your notes in your phone and you follow through notes with there, whatever it is.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to encourage you with that because it really is um so so good.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: And honestly, there are five main points that I'm gonna get into.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, e every point is is its own um is its own thing.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so I wanna encourage you to kind of re-com back through this and look in your notes and make notes and dissect this and and pick each pick one thing um slowly to be able to um tell yourself, you know, like okay, you know, on this day or this week I'm gonna work on um this in my discipleship.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then, you know, the next day work on the next thing instead of trying to do all five at the same time, because then you're gonna be overwhelmed and um, you know, you don't wanna be overwhelmed, you don't want to be discouraged, or honestly, let's be honest, forget, you know, three out of the five.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So the first one is to love the Lord above all everybody else.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like this is something that we all know.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, I feel like this is something that we all have heard.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I want to read a verse.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so basically there's gonna be a chunk of scripture and it's called, well, and it's not called, it's in Luke chapter 14, and it's verses 25 through 33.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then so each point is gonna have its own verse that goes along with that point.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So these point or these verses I want to say is verse 14 and 26, and it says this if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: This obviously does not mean that you have to hate your mom or your dad or your kids or your spouse or your your siblings.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: It does not mean that.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: But what he's saying is, if you were compare your love to me in comparison to your family, that you love me so much more, and you know, that it it you would essentially choose the Lord um over everyone else, that the Lord is your priority, that you love the Lord more than you love your your family and your the humans on earth, that we love the Lord more than anything.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and he says, you know, if you do not love me the most and you do not love me to that depth, then you cannot be my disciple.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you you say, Well, that sounds really harsh, but think about it.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: To be a disciple means that you're going out and you're spreading the word and you're spreading the gospel to others.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, if you do not love the Lord with every bone and ounce of being in your body, that you love him and would choose him first, then how are you gonna be a good disciple and bring people to Jesus wholeheartedly without getting burnt out with good intentions and not just doing it because you want to please the Lord, or not just doing it because you want attention from the Lord, not just doing it because you want to have say, oh, I brought, you know, five people to salvation, and you have like this ongoing list, because those are all ill.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to say that they're you know, they're those are all the wrong intentions.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, when we bring to people to salvation, it is out of the love that we have for God that we want to share the gospel, we want to share the good word to everyone else around us because we want to make sure that they know how good our God is, and we want to praise him and we want to worship him, and we want everybody to experience his love the way that we experience his love, and we want him to be glorified because we love him that much that we just would do that for him.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: We love him that much.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: That is what being a good disciple is about, and if we don't love him above all the members of our family, and we don't love him above, you know, our friends, and we don't love him above our job, or we don't love him above our money, and we don't love him above our house, um, we don't love him above our phone, we don't love him above our food, we don't love him above our child children, we don't love him above our spouse.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: How are we supposed to be a good disciple and go out and discipling people and bringing people to the Lord and juggling?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Let's face it, as women, how are we going to juggle being a wife, have you know, being a spouse, having children?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, whether you're a stay-at-home mom or whether you're a working mom, I'll paint both pictures here.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you're a mom, you go to work and you come home and you cook dinner and you take care of the baby and you you spend time with your husband, or maybe you're a stay-at home mom and you have multiple kids and you're cooking and you're cleaning and you're doing laundry and you're playing with the kids and you're putting them down for a nap, and you're doing all of these other things, right?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, now think about where would the Lord fit into that?
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Where's your ministry?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Where's your discipleship fitting into that?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So now we're, you know, you're also putting Jesus and hopefully Jesus is the center of your life, and hopefully you choose his will for your life over your own, and hopefully that you are putting his ministry and his discipleship first.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, you you've also are bringing people to Jesus, you're encouraging people to come to church, you're reaching out to people, you're checking in on those people that you're praying for.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: You maybe have an open Bible study that you either go to or that you host.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you're involved at church, you maybe serve on Sundays, maybe you go to the youth group nights on Tuesday nights, right?
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you're involved.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: And and this could be a lot, and you can easily get burnt out, you can easily get um, you know, discouraged, and you can easily feel tired and weak and weary, and you can easily become frustrated with the ministry and easily become frustrated in our discipleship.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I will I will be very raw and honest with you and say that there have been moments that I have gotten frustrated with the people that I'm discipling, um, you know, because it it can be hard sometimes, you know.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: We do have those people we disciple that's like bing bang boom, and it all happens so beautifully, you know, like butter on toast, and then we have those others that are, you know, really giving us some pushback.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, so we have to love God so much more than our own spouse, more than on our own children, so that we can have the heart of God, so that we can love God, and so that our intentions and our discipleship is pure.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and our second point here is to take up our cross, you know, we pick up our cross and we follow him.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I know there's a song about that, and um, I can't think of what the song is called right now.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but in verse 27, it says, Whoever does not carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what does that mean that we pick up our cross and we follow him?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: We pick ourselves up, we pick up our Bible, we pick up our faith, we pick up our salvation, we pick up our discipleship, and we follow him.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever that means.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: You think about what Jesus did when he picked up his cross to follow.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: He was rejected, he was beaten, he was told no, he was accused, he was mocked, he was told he wasn't doing it right, he was told he wasn't the Messiah, he was told that all of anything you can think of, Jesus was accused of.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: But he picked up his cross and he said for the love that he had for us, he was going to keep going.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't gonna give up, he wasn't gonna give up in his in his mission, in his ministry to die for our sins, right?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so you think about that, and we we want to pick up our cross in the essence of no matter how many times people accuse us, people um, you know, try to tell us we're doing it wrong, we're being a bad Christian, you have no idea what being a real Christian is like.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you blah blah blah blah blah, trust me, I've heard it.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Those are words that have actually come out of somebody's mouth directed towards me.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you you hear these accusations like accusations, I can't speak.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: You, you know, whatever it is, maybe people don't believe you.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe when you speak the the gospel or you speak the word of God or you speak um, you know, the ministry or you speak in your faith, and somebody's like, yeah, uh, okay, Amber, you know, yeah, right, whatever, whatever floats your boat, right?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I hear that every day.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I work with people every day who who don't believe me, and I just continue to pick up my cross.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: I continue to keep going, right?
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Because in our discipleship, that's what we have to do.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: We can't be discouraged.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: We can't.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine if Jesus was carrying that cross and after he was beaten and he was accused and he was persecuted and he was all the things, can you imagine if he dropped his cross and was like, you know what, I'm done, screw all of you, you know, I'm trying to do something nice for you, and you guys just don't understand.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine how different our lives would be and how the entire world would be different to the, you know, if if he didn't pick up his cross and keep going?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so, as a good disciple, we pick up our cross, we keep going.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so, as the Lord says in verse 27, whoever doesn't carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be able to push through the persecution, you have to be able to push through the accusations, you have to be able to push through all of that negativity, all of that, all of that backlash, all of that um rejection, all of that negativity, all of that um, but what ifs?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: You have to you have to push through all of the pushback that you are getting with your cross.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Keep going, keep shining your light, keep having your godly love, keep bringing people to salvation, keep spreading the gospel.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you can take that cross and you sling it over your shoulder and you say, I will keep going, I will keep following you, Lord, I will keep doing your ministry, I will keep following out my purpose, I will keep following out my plan, I will keep following out my vision, I will keep bringing people to salvation because it is life or death, and I will continue to spread the word of God.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: With that being said, I'm gonna roll us into point number three.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have a fancy way to roll us into the point number three.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm feeling super self-conscious if I'm being super honest.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: I just came back from a women's conference at my church, and there was um over 700 women there.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: So praise God for that.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: That was absolutely beautiful.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: It was so amazing, so much breakthrough, so many salvations, so much good word that was poured into us.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but with that being said, like there was the top of the line beautiful pastors who were flying in from South Africa, who are being streamed all over the world, um, to come preach to us.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so as I'm giving this message, I'm gonna be really honest and say I'm a little self-conscious because I was listening back to back.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: I probably listened to, let's see, uh eight or nine sermons over the past over the weekend, and that was um so much.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was so good.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: But now that I'm like, you know, giving my own message, I'm like, you know what?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is not sound half as good as the other eight messages I was listening to.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, anyway, I'm getting off the subject.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Our point number, our third point that we're um looking into is to visualize ourselves having the strength to reach the end of the race.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I personally have this starred and a stricted whatever for myself because this is something I struggle with so so much.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if I'm being completely honest, this is definitely my weakest point.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so in verse 28 it says, Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say first, I just wanna um give a little, I don't want to say testimony, but a little personal story behind this for myself because when I read this, I was like, dang, like I was convicted because when the Lord tells me to do something, I'm gonna be really honest, I will say that I don't, um, my obedience, I would say, is for the most part, obviously I'm human and I sin, but for the most part, it's pretty good.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: If the Lord says, cut this person off, boom, done.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: End of story.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'll cut that person off.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: If the Lord says, go here, boom, I went there.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: If the person says speak to this person, boom, I spoke to that person.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so with that being said, sometimes I catch myself in these predicaments where I'm so submissive to the Lord.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, when he tells me to go somewhere to do something, or he gives me a vision, I just obey and I'll just get up and I'll start it.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Almost like, which is crazy because I have so much of this type A personality, but sometimes I don't plan it.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll just get up and the Lord's like start a podcast, and I'm like, what?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, done.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Record my first episode.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, it's like, okay, we're going, you know, all right, Amber, you're going to open up a new Bible study with a church, or you're going to open up another Bible study.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, or you are going to um, you know, write a book or whatever, whatever it is he's telling me to do.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I get so excited that he is is giving me this new ministry, this new whatever he's telling me to do, right?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can foresee the fruit that can come of this.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: I get so excited and I get so obedient sometimes and I'm like, all right, boom, and I'll just start doing it, but then I won't come up with that blueprint.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't come up and sit down and as this verse says, estimate the cost to see if I have enough money to complete it in that sense.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't make a plan.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then what happens is I'll go, go, go, go, go, and then I'll hit a spot where I'm like, oh crap, well, now what?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then I get discouraged because it doesn't go as I thought it was gonna go.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't go as I thought if I I planned it out in my head.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, then there's there's hiccups and there's bumps along the road, and then I'm like, well, crap, well, what now?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then I get discouraged, and then you know, my faith starts to have doubt, and then my faith starts to have insecurity.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so then I'm gonna be honest, the plan that the Lord had for me starts to lack a little bit because I start to let in that doubt.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: I start to let in that self-consciousness, I start to let in that what if, I start to let in the disappointment of you know, the plan not going perfectly smooth, and so you know, it it kind of hinders.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: And the Lord does always pick me up back up again, and you know, he guides me along the way.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: But when I read this, I was like, dang, I need to be better about planning what the Lord has for me, and not just saying, yeah, okay, let's roll with it, and having no plan, because how am I supposed to have the strength to reach the end of my race if I didn't even visualize my myself on how I could get there, on how I can create a plan.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so very recently, right after I read this, it was right before before, right after I read this, um, actually, pause, I'm getting my timeline missed up.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: I my church asked me to open up a Bible study within the church.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: They I have a Bible study that I already host on Wednesday nights, um, but my church asked me to open up um a Bible study through them, um, and so have like another Bible study with them.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: And um, of course, I said yes right away, absolutely.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And at first I didn't really make a plan.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, all right, yeah, and in my head I had a plan on how I was gonna kind of do that and where what, you know, like what day of the week and who I was gonna invite.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: But then, you know, I was reading this scripture and I was reading this this message, and I was like, dang, I just got another thing that the Lord laid on my heart to do and sent me to do, and I don't have a plan for it.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: And there's gonna come a point because I have learned my lesson in the hard way, and others times when I didn't sit down and estimate how it's gonna go down, and so I'm gonna be honest, there were times I didn't have the strength to finish the race, and there were times that I feel short, and there were times that my Bible study didn't go on um, you know, for for a few weeks, and I had to pick it back up again and rebuild up the, you know, rebuild it all up.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, you know what, I'm not gonna do that this time.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so as I'm getting ready to roll out my new Bible study um next week, I um, you know, recently I sat down and I was like, let's make a plan, let's figure out who I'm inviting.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I started praying and I fasted and I prayed to the Lord, hey, who should I invite?
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Show me the people that I should invite.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and he did, and he revealed to me a few people, and I said, Okay, well, some of these people were necessarily people that I know who they are, but they're not necessarily like, they're not my friends.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so, okay, well, I you can't just go walk up to a stranger and say, Hey, I'm opening a Bible study next week.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Can you come?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, you couldn't, but you've got to plan that, and you've got to plan that fellowship, you've got to plant those seeds, and I've got to plan that.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I've got to plan how I'm working this new Bible study into my schedule as a working wife and a mom who or has other ministries.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: I have to plan that ahead of time.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so I sat down and I was like, you know what?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: I need to, I need to do better.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I so I sat down, I was like, you know what, I'm gonna estimate the cost to see if I have enough money to complete it, as the verse has, right?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get together.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I need to get together my thoughts so I can plan to see and estimate what it's gonna take to get this Bible study running off the ground and successful so that my house is built on the rock, not built in the sand, and I'm gonna have a firm foundation so I can have the strength to reach the end of this race.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Because again, that's what a good disciple does, right?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: We don't just the Lord just hands you this, this, this beautiful, I don't know, think about it, this beautiful glass heart, okay?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Or and and it's this beautiful gift from the Lord, and then and then what?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then you're like, oh my gosh, this is so beautiful.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take such good care of it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: And what do you do?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: You're so excited that you immediately have this gift, and what do you do?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: You carry this glass heart and you put it over and you put it on the ledge and you sit it and you stare at it every day and you wipe it off nice looking pretty and you make sure you keep it clean.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: But then one day somebody comes over and they knock it on the ground, and now you're like crap, and now you gotta pick it back up again, and you gotta try to pick up the pieces and you gotta fix it again.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: But if you were to plan ahead of time when the Lord first gave you that glass heart, and then you were to say, Hey, okay, let me put this somewhere safe so that nothing falls, so no nobody can knock it over.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Let me make sure it's in a safe place, let me make sure that it is sturdy, let me make sure that it won't wobble, make let me make sure that it will stay clean.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so then you you you plan where you put this gift.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: So now you put this gift in a curio cabinet, okay?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe you've got you've got it on a stand to make sure it's nice and uh you know sturdy, and you and and you got the glass door over this curio cabinet, and you put the glass heart in there, okay?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Now what are the odds that that glass heart's gonna fall and break?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, there are still there's still some slim odds here, but now you've planned, you've prepared this gift.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: So now this gift is gonna be so much more beautiful, shining.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody's gonna walk in the dining room and see this beautiful glass heart because you planned for it.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I hope I'm helping somebody today when I mean that you plan and that you need to visualize and you need to plan so that you have the strength that it takes to get to the end of that race, to get to the end of that ministry, to get to the end of that goal, to get to the end of that plan, to get to the End of that vision, you know, to the end of the purpose, whatever that is.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, whether it's that person's salvation, maybe it's somebody specific salvation that's coming to your mind right now, maybe it is a Bible study that you're thinking about, maybe it's a business that you want to start up that the Lord's laid on your heart.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a new church you want to go to, maybe it's your husband's salvation.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're pregnant and you're thinking about your, you know, um, how you want to parent, legacy your kids, right?
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever it is.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we need to plan in uh being a good disciple, we need to plan and we need to visualize how we're gonna do that.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to move right along into my fourth point here.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: To finish the seed that we planted, to finish what we started, okay.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Before I even read this verse, I'm gonna use my own analogy that the Lord is giving me this idea, speaking through me right now.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, I know it's the Lord because Jesus loves to speak in analogies, and the Lord loves to speak in analogies when it comes to plants and trees and fruit, so that's why I know this comes from him.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: But think about a plot a pot.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you plant the seed and you plant a new plant that you're gonna put in your home, and it's gonna look nice and pretty in a kitchen.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a pathos, I don't care.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe it's a pink lady, whatever.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: You put it, you you plant a seed, okay?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you water it.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you water it and you water it, and you put it some sunlight, and it starts to grow, okay?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: But then you get busy in life, and you forgot to water it, and you know, you put the shades down and you forgot to give it sunlight, and it hasn't gotten sunlight in a week.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so now it starts to to deteriorate, and you're like, oh, you know, you come back in the kitchen two weeks later, you know, you're like, oh crap, I got really busy lately, and I I haven't had the chance to um you know, I haven't had the chance to really baby my plant.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't been I haven't been, you know, keeping up with what I started with growing this plant.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, you water it again, you you know, you you open up the sunlight, you know, you check on it, whatever.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Some people talk to their plants, you know, some people brush them, right?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, so I'm I'm starting to become a plant mom and I'm starting to realize that there are levels to plant moms, and you know, just like cat moms, you know, there's levels to this mess.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, um, and so you know, back to my analogy, right?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so, okay, you water it, you you you give it some more sunlight again, and you're like, all right, I am going to write on the calendar every Thursday.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna water this plant because it needs to be watered once a week, and I'm just gonna leave that shade up.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then you write in on the calendar and you forget.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: And three weeks go by, you haven't watered the plant, the plant starts to die, and you're just like, you know what?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: I try to do that already.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was kind of hard to revive it as it started to die.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna just whatever.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you just let it die, and you don't finish what you started.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to do that in our discipleship.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: So as it says in verse 29 and verse 30, for if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, This is the person who began to build and wasn't able to finish.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Now think about this plan, okay?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you told your friends, your mom, your parents, your, I don't know, you told somebody, okay, in your life that, hey, and and please, I know I'm not the only one who who's decided to take on a plant and set and you you told people you're excited, especially if you're a new plant mom, or even maybe if you are a um experienced plant mom, you're excited to get a new plant, okay?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so you tell people, okay.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh most of the time, unless you're like an expert plant mom and you have, you know, 20 plants in your house, and at this point it's nothing new, but you know, for the most time, most of the time, you tell people when you get a new plant.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so can you imagine you tell somebody and then they come over to your house two months later and your plant is still dead there, sitting exactly where you left it the last time you let it die sitting there in the kitchen.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so what's gonna happen?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna laugh at you.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna be like, ha ha, you know, haha, I ever I remember when you told me you were gonna start that and you told me you got a plan, and that didn't last long.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's the same thing in discipleship, right?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: When we go to start a Bible study or we go to start bringing to somebody's salvation, but then we give up for whatever reason along the way because let's be honest, the race is hard.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so we give up that race, we give up juggling all the things, and so when it's time to say, hey, I'm burnt out, I gotta put something down, we put down our ministry.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: We say, I need a break.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what, in discipleship, please, in the nicest way possible.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: I love each and every one of you.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Genuinely I do, and I please hope that I encourage you with this.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: If you're bur if you're if you're burnt out, please, please, please do not let your ministry and your discipleship be what you take a break from.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Going back up to that first point, you should be loving God above every other member of anybody in your life.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Always choose God because if you take care of his work, he will take care of your work.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: So please, please, please never let his ministry be something that you put down and that's something that you say, I can't handle right now.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta take a break from that.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: Please never do that.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: If if it's the dishes that you've got to let down, fine.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: If it's help that you need to cook dinner, fine.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: If it's help because you're not making enough money, fine.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: If it's help that your laundry has heaping baskets in your room for a week and a half, and you've got four heaping baskets that you basically live out of, and then you've got laundry halfway done as you're recording a podcast episode.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know who that is.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: Ha ha me.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, fine.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: But don't let your ministry be what you put down.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Finish what you started.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Be a good disciple.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Please, please, please.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: I I I I pray that you do that today.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Please, if it gets hard, I'm here for you.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: You can reach out to me.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: I will always be there for you.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this is where your sisters and faith come into play.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: This is where your family, if you've got family and faith, this is where your your Bible study leader, your you know, your church leaders, this is where they come into play because it is gonna get hard.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and it, you know, back to my analogy, you know, you might not be the best plan mom, and that might be hard, but you gotta keep pushing, you gotta pick up that cross.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: As again, these points really do all flow beautifully together.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to pick up that cross and you've got to keep going.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to finish what you started because that's what good discipleship is really all about.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so I finish my last point here.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, it's so beautiful these points, because they really just do flow all together.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, they do.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but honestly, each and every one of them is such a dense thing.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: I like I said, I I just encourage you to deep dive into each one of them more.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe I will will.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um in another episode, maybe I'll choose to do one point on each.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, um, I'm just rambling now.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: My last point, and then I will wrap it up here.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: To give up everything we have.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: Be willing to give up all you got.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: In verse 31 through 33 says Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king, won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: He will ask for terms of peace.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything, you cannot be my disciples.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: And what that means is give up everything.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: You have to be willing to give up everything.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to be willing to give up your free time to replace it with the ministry.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to be willing to give up, you know, that that that maybe, I don't know, you are gonna go to the mall, hear me out.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: This is something that's that that happens to me frequently.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: You've got two choices.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can either go to the mall with your friend and then go on a shopping spree, or on this other hand, you've got somebody who's reaching out to you, you're talking to them, and they really are telling you about this mental breakdown, they're really struggling, and they're like, hey, you know, Saturday is the only day that I can get together with you and hang out.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to do something together?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now you've got two options.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: You could easily go with your friend and you can go to the mall and you can go on a shopping spree that Saturday.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Or you can go to this broken person who's had this mental breakdown who's asking you to hang out with you, and you can say, hey, let's go to Starbucks, let's have a coffee in Jesus Day.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, let's go take, let's go take a walk in the park.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let let me pray for you.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Let you know, let me invite you to church.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: You you you find that time on that Saturday to go minister to them, and you've got two options.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is what I mean by giving up everything you have, because you're giving up your desire, you're giving up your wants, you're giving up what you want to do in life, you're giving up your will to say, Lord, yours, your will, your love, your ministry.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your disciple, I'm your child of God, I'm picking up your cross, I'm picking up our cross.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna finish what you started.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I love you more than anything, and I'm going to choose you.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is gonna happen to you a lot.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be real honest.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have to constantly make decisions whether you choose the Lord's ministry or something you want to do.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you haven't done the laundry in two weeks.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, you've got a heaping dirty basket, you've got four heaping clean baskets, you've got a load in the washer, you've got a load in the dryer, because you've got the whole family's worth of laundry everywhere, and you haven't had a chance to actually finish it.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but you've got this, you've got this sister who's crying out for help.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: You've got this friend who lives around the st the corner, you know, in your neighborhood, who is crying out for help.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: You asked the Lord, maybe two weeks ago, you said, Hey Lord, use me.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: I will go where you want me to go, you know, I I will make room for you.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: And now, here, now you've got this choice to give up your time to do the laundry, or to give up your time to take a nap, or to give up your time to whatever it is that you want to do.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you say, I choose you, Jesus, I choose my discipling, I choose your ministry, I choose your love, I choose your work.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I encourage you with that today.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: I encourage you that you give up everything you have, give up your worldly desires.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: If the Lord tells you to be sober-minded, give up drinking.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care if you want it, I don't care if the devil makes you desire it, pray about it.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_01: Cut it off.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: Give it up.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: If the Lord lays it on your heart to cut off a best friend who you've been friends with for four or five years, if he tells you give it up, give it up.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: You love him that much, it really does go circle back up to the top here.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_01: It you give up everything you've got.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: You've got one bedroom left, you've got a three-bedroom house, and you know, one has got you in it, you and your spouse in it, one's got, you know, um a baby on the way, and one you've got one empty extra empty room, and you've got two or three people who need a place to live.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: You don't know what you're gonna do, you don't know how you're gonna fit them in, you don't know who you're gonna say yes to, or who you're gonna say no to.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what, I've been in that place, okay?
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_01: And if you've heard me before, then you've heard this, this, you've heard me talk about this before, and and I was in this situation where I had one bedroom and I had two people I had to move in, and you know what?
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: The Lord laid it all on my heart, and he said, Choose both.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Lord, I don't know how I'm gonna do that.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: He said, It doesn't matter.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna carry you through, it's gonna work out, trust.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: Give up everything you've got, open your doors, open your heart, open your home, open your ministry, and do it, and give up everything you have, and so I did.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, month of June was real hard for me, but you know what?
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: It was worth it.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: I would have choosed the same choice ten times fold.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because let me tell you what, it has brought so much greatness because I chose my discipling, I chose the fruit, I chose the ministry, I picked up my cross.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: I love the Lord above all else.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: I finished what I started.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: I said, you know what?
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: I choose you, Jesus.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up that spare room to that person, I will give up the space in my home.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up the privacy in my home.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up the money to feed these people.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up my freedom to help them do their laundry.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up my sanity to help them, you know, get back on their feet.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: I will give up my my evenings every night to have that intimate time with my husband and alone in the living room to snuggle.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give that privacy up.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do it because I've got your ministry that I've got to do.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give it up for you, Lord.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: And let me tell you what, it is worth it every single dang time.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: There is never a time that it is not worth it.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: It might not look it in the moment.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: If you can have people in your ear, because let me tell you what, I had during that time in June, let me just give this little mini testimony.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be done, I promise.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: I had everybody in my ear telling me, what are you gonna do, Amber?
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: How are you gonna do it?
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna be depressed, you're gonna be overwhelmed, you're gonna be overloaded, you're not gonna have space, you're not gonna have money, you're not gonna have time, you're gonna go crazy.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, they told me all the things to tell me no, that it wasn't right for me.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: In the eyes of the world, I, you know, it's solid advice for somebody in the eyes of the world who doesn't have Jesus in their life.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, I seen higher things, I've seen eternity, I've seen Jesus, I seen my ministry, I've seen that I'm a child of God, I see that I am a disciple, and I said I will give up everything.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I will follow you, I will do your will.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_01: And let me tell you what, it has been the best choice I've ever had.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: Those people I've come extremely close with, I've bonded with.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: They have come, they both know Jesus, they both are involved, they both um are are get starting to get more and more involved in church.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_01: They want to pray before they eat.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're getting back up on their feet.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: They love to be here.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_01: There's great conversations, there's unity, there's love, there's peace, they help offer take care of my baby.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_01: They help me watch her when I need them to, they help out around the house.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: And if I'm being really honest, all that crap that I heard from everybody that it was going to add stress, don't get me wrong.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, some days it does, because I'm gonna be real honest, you know, and I I I'm a teacher, and sometimes at the end of the day, I just want to come home and be around nobody.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to talk to nobody, I don't want to be around nobody.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: My social battery just be so dead.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: I just want to ride in bed with my husband, with my snuggling half-asleep baby on my chest and just do nothing.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: But you know what?
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm not gonna lie, there are days where you know it is overstimulating.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_01: But overall, I would say not six out of the seven days, it is beautiful.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it is so great to be filled with such beautiful company.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: It is so great to be filled with so much love, so much unity.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: People who help me do the dishes when I've got ten things on my plate, people who help me vacuum when I've got 35,000 things on my plate.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now, granted, there are times where, you know, the enemy comes in my head and says, Well, you're doing it all, you do it all by yourself.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm being honest, I had a moment like that earlier today where I was like, I'm the only one who does the dishes in this house.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that was a lie, and I'm so glad that somebody else corrected me.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Was like, nuh-uh, because I needed that because the duffel was in my head at that moment.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm wrapping this up because I'm getting off the subject here, and I feel like I'm just starting to preach and just and talk and not even talk about what I'm supposed to be talking about.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_01: So let me wrap this up.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: I really hope that I'm helping you today to be a good disciple, choose good discipleship.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: Love God above all else.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: Pick up your cross and walk no matter what.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: Visualize yourself to have the strength to finish that race, finish the seed you planted and the thing you started, and be willing to give up everything.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: I promise you that your fruit will be there and it will remain.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: With that being said, I'm gonna go ahead and close us right on out in prayer.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: Dear Lord, I thank you so much for this message.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for speaking with me through me.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for delivering this message.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: I pray for each and every listener, Father, here today, and I pray that it the people who need to hear it hear it.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that you deliver this message to the people who need to hear it.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: I pray that they've got something to take away today that changes them forever today.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that this message wasn't just something that they hear today and they go back about their old ways tomorrow, but this is something that convicted them.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that this is something that changes them, that makes them want to be a better disciple.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that you speak to them, that you lay that on their heart.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that protection over these disciples as they want more of you.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: They want to be a good disciple.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're encouraged to be a better disciple.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that as they go out into the world and as they continue to shine their light, to be godly love, to be a good disciple, Lord, I just pray protection over them, that you protect them from the enemy, you protect them from the persecution, you protect them from the heartbreak, you protect them, even though they're gonna go through hard times.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Father, I pray that you protect them and that you continue to be with them at every moment.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: We know that I know that you are always with us, but Father, I just pray that you are with them and that you let them know, hey, I'm here, and that you let your presence be known.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I just pray comfort over them as they continue to go out and confidence as they continue to go out and to spread the word of God.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys so much for listening, and I will see you all next time.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for listening to today's episode.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: If you'd like to hear more, there are new episodes that drop every Monday and Thursday.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you liked what you heard, please help me give the link by leaving a review.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: You can also give using the link below.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to pray for you.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any prayer requests, please send me an email too.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: You are giving them a little bit.