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45. Encountering God Changes You More Than Trying Harder · Believe & Become | Ministry, Biblical Encouragement, God's Will, How to Change, Holy Spirit

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And this is so important. But where do we get that information that we renew our mind with? Well, one of those places is God's presence. When we encounter him, we are changed by his face. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that as we behold his glory, we are transformed into the same image, into his image. And he takes that higher and higher when we encounter him, then we can be transformed and become more like Him. And so today we're gonna talk all what does that look like? How do you do that? And what it means to really encounter the Lord? It's going to be a good one. Let's dive in.
• 0:43
  Speaker B: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare
• 0:48
  Speaker A: and you want practical tools to renew your mind and walk boldly in your
• 0:52
  Speaker B: calling as a leader, you're in the right place. Welcome to Believe and become.
• 0:56
  Speaker A: We're Josh and Corina Your spirit filled coach is here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently.
• 1:03
  Speaker B: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the everyday silence.
• 1:10
  Speaker A: Those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in.
• 1:20
  Speaker B: So you want to hear God's voice again and you want clarity in your purpose, but you feel stuck and might be thinking is that God's voice or just me?
• 1:29
  Speaker A: Listen, it doesn't have to be this way. Our Clarity coaching program is designed to reconnect you to God's voice and demolish those lies trying to hold you back.
• 1:38
  Speaker B: As you work with us, you'll learn our simple, proven five step process for overcoming lies and limiting beliefs and reconnecting with God's truth.
• 1:47
  Speaker A: We'll give you the tools you need to succeed to move forward with confidence and stay plugged in to God's voice.
• 1:53
  Speaker B: Book your Clarity coaching session today to build confidence in your identity in Christ and move forward in your purpose.
• 2:00
  Speaker A: Just go to Josh and Corina coaching that's J-O-S-H-A-N-C-O-R-I-N A.com coaching and book your first session now.
• 2:11
  Speaker B: Today we're talking about encountering the Lord for transformation. Those encounters in our lives are so key we all can think back over our lives of different moments where we met with the Lord the first time we accepted Jesus. You encountered the Lord. Then he continues just to show up in powerful ways throughout our lives to transform us and to change us from the inside out, to release extra grace over us, to help us do what we couldn't do before, to release identity so that we know who we were created to be, who he created us to be. And that is so important. I remember when I was in high school just going on a choir tour. We used to do that. We had a big youth choir and a band that I was in. And we would travel up and down the west coast or to Dip, Montana, Canada, we went all over. Every summer we'd do a different trip. And I just remember being on the bus one time. I don't even remember which trip it was or where we were driving, but I just remember reading my Bible and just hearing so clearly the voice of the Lord as I read 2 Timothy that he is telling me to fan into flame the gift of God which was in me through the laying on of hands. And I just knew this was God's call on my life to be a minister of the Gospel, to love on people and to just be used by God powerfully. And it was this desire that just. I met with the Lord and it filled me up from the inside out. And I just knew that was what I was called to do for my life. And that really transformed my life. It set me on this process of just seeking after the Lord and figuring out, what does that mean? What does that mean for me? How do I live that out even to this day? That is a motivating thing for me. As I think back to that memory, I remember that encounter that I had with the Lord. I met with Him. He spoke into me. He gave me my identity. And that continues to this day. I live out of that every single day. And we all need those encounters with the Lord to keep us going throughout our lives. It's like those stones of remembrance that the Israelites had. Remember when the Lord did this? And every time you walk past it in your mind, you go, oh, yeah, I remember when he spoke this into my life, when he gave me my identity, when he, you know, told me, gave me my mission. What am I supposed to do? Or what am I supposed to believe? Sometimes it's just that encounter with the Father's love that is so huge, that to know that you are deeply loved, no matter what you did, what you're going to do, God is pleased in you, pleased with you, because you're his child. It is so, so powerful to have those moments with the Lord. So how do we kind of cultivate those? Do you have a story you want to share?
• 5:03
  Speaker A: I do. I was trying to think back as. Even as you're sharing, I'm like, when was it that I knew? Like, when did I feel called? But I don't think I ever had a calling moment. I just always knew that's who I was going to be. I just was always. I always was. So, like, I wanted to be a pastor. I wanted to declare the word. I wanted to teach and share. That's just part of who God made me. I was as a young person, really, like, childhood, middle school, high school, was it. Probably the kindest person. I often just said whatever was on my mind. It's. It's a. You know, one of those things that happens when you have a lot of words. You just say them all the time. And I didn't have a lot of filters, mostly because I just didn't think that I needed them. My sophomore year of high school, we went to snow camp. And when you're raised in a charismatic Pentecostal environment, you know, there's always Holy Spirit Night at camp. And so we had Holy Spirit Night. We didn't call it that, but that's basically what it was. It was kind of like our last night of camp when we just kind of pressed in for a little bit more and we had this, like, kind of crazy, like, Holy Spirit breakout in our service, where, I mean, people were, like, rolling on the floor laughing, and we were, you know, I'm falling out. And the sermon had been about forgiveness. And it's not often that I remember that far, you know, that long ago, like, what the sermon was about. But I remember that it was about forgiveness. And we were all going around saying, like, I forgive you. I'm so sorry. Like, we were extending forgiveness and we were repenting. I was crying and shaking, and I shook for a week. I think afterwards, like, God really encountered me in that place. And there I. Like I said, I was raised in a Pentecostal environment, so there was often lots of emotion and lots of things happening. But there were a few times when I know this is what God was. And in that moment, he really met us and kind of released some grace in me to continue to forgive, but also to begin to live in a way that was not so abrasive and offensive to those around me. And it still took years for God to work those things out of me and for me to tell those. That kind of story. And people be like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe you were like that. I'm like, yeah, it took a while, but God began a Good work in me at that moment where he was really preparing me for what he was calling me to. Because it's not really. Can't really minister to people, you know, in. In one moment and then be telling them what's wrong with them, you know, like what's wrong with their outfit or what you think about whatever, you know. And so it really. He just began to. To change my heart for people. And it changed our youth group. That that moment for a lot of us was a defining moment where we encountered God in such power for the first time ever. And he did a really good work in us. And so it's just to me, it' that we do encounter him in those ways where it feels like this is so much more than I could make up or than I could muster. Because those are the experiences that, you know, nobody can tell me that didn't happen. Nobody can take that away from me because one, I was there and it happened to me, but also because of the fruit that I've seen in my life and the lives of those that happen too as well. And the encounter is important because experiencing God to that level where he is moving in you beyond what you can understand and where he speaks to your heart, that's what really changes you.
• 8:40
  Speaker B: I love that story, how you received grace in the moment. That's God's supernatural power to change his enabling power. There was a moment where you received that and it marked you and changed you for the rest of your life. And I love that forgiveness is like a bonus tip, but forgiveness can be such a thing that holds us bound, it holds us chained. And as we release forgiveness, it gives us free.
• 9:07
  Speaker A: We're set free.
• 9:08
  Speaker B: We're set free. And so that's a bonus tip for today. A little off topic, but I just love what God did in you and in your youth group in that moment. It was really powerful. And we're not just making this up out of our experience, right? This is throughout the Bible. So many characters in the Bible, so many of God's most important people that he used to change the course of history. They all had an encountering moment with God where they were changed forever, where they were marked, where they were given power to do the assignment that God gave to them. God doesn't. He doesn't call us to something and say, good luck. Hope you figure it out. Good luck doing that on your own. No, he doesn't do that. He gives us his supernatural power to do it. And that's why we need those encountering moments with God. We are all called, we all have an assignment to reach the loss, to love on people, just to live our lives the way God would have us. We all have that assignment, but we need God's grace to do it. We can't do it on our own. So I think about all these different characters. Moses, you know, he was wandering in the desert and he saw a burning bush. God spoke to him from the bush. If that's not an encounter, a marking moment, I don't know what it is. It's incredible. And Moses actually kind of argues with the Lord, and he says, I can't do it. I'm not good at speaking. I can't. He had all these excuses, and the Lord's like, I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna help you do it. Okay, I'll send your brother. You know, he gives him what he needs. He says, you're gonna set my people free. He gives him that identity. You are a liberator, a freer of my people, and here's the grace to do it. And Moses led the people. I mean, he was probably the greatest leader of that nation. So there's just time and time again throughout the Bible, these stories of people that have these marking, encountering moments with the Lord, and it changes their lives.
• 11:08
  Speaker A: Yeah. And I love, too, that Moses argued with God, because I think that often we feel like that we're like, God, I could never do that. I'm not that smart. I'm not that special. I'm not, you know, whatever enough to do the thing that you. You, for whatever reason, think that I could do. And, you know, we have Gideon, who was like, I'm the smallest. I'm the least person from the smallest tribe. Like, why would you call me? We have Jeremiah, who was like, I'm just a kid. I don't know what you're talking about. Why? How are you calling me a prophet? There's so many time after time in the Word where God is imparting identity, and the person is like, absolutely not.
• 11:48
  Speaker B: I don't think so.
• 11:48
  Speaker A: You got the wrong guy. And I think so often we feel that way. And so it's. It is easy when other people say, like, oh, I see this on your life, or like, you would be really good at. It's so easy to be like.
• 12:00
  Speaker B: That doesn't sound right.
• 12:01
  Speaker A: That doesn't sound. You don't know me very well. Right. We have all the excuses, but when God speaks it, when you have that moment and we're talking about encountering God. So this is like, you're experiencing him in a way that is extraordinary. Not something maybe that happens every day, but in a way where you're coming into contact with his voice, his nature, his presence. Something that is. It feels different. And even with you just reading your Bible and knowing that God was speaking to your heart, it doesn't have to be like Moses and the burning bush. It doesn't have to be angels coming down, but it's that something's different. And I hear God's voice, I feel his presence. It's so special when we hear him tell us who we are. And it can be difficult though to receive. But when we encounter him face to face. 2 Corinthians 3, 18 says that we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, into his image from God, one degree of glory to another, or from glory to glory. And so when we encounter him face to face, then he's taking us from glory to glory, from one degree of looking like Jesus to a greater degree of looking like Jesus. He is making you more like him. And so there is purpose in that encounter. And I think that is often where we get a little bit like mixed up. Like we're just being emotional or why do you need to have the feelings? Or why do you need whatever. No, it's when I encounter his presence, then I am changed and become more like Him. And so whether I understand what he's doing or whether it's just in my spirit, it's a valuable and important experience for us as believers to make us more like him.
• 13:48
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we really all need these types of encounters with the Lord and some of them are very dramatic. Hopefully you can think back through your life where God showed up so powerfully to touch you, to speak to you, to change you. I think about the Apostle Paul actually has one of the most dramatic conversion stories where here he was a murderer of Christians, he is blinded, meets Jesus on the road to Damascus and then has completely changed to. He wrote most of the New Testament. He's basically the apostle of all of us, you know, to all of the Gentiles. So he knew that he had a calling on his life to change the world and to serve God. But go. God was like, you're doing the wrong thing. You need a 180 buddy. You're going the wrong direction. Here's your true identity. You're going to actually speak truth and freedom to all of my people for the rest of history. That hasn't happened yet. It was incredible. And so that's obviously a very dramatic one, but it doesn't have to be that. We actually need a series of encounters that happen throughout our lives where we're encountering him on a daily basis. We need God to speak into our lives. It's that verse that says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We need that freshly spoken word, that freshly baked bread that he has for us to live off of every single day. And so we're just going to talk about how do we set ourselves up to encounter the Lord on a daily basis? Because it's so vital. It's one thing to read His Word and we can be changed by that. But when we encounter his voice through His Word, through the time that we spend with him, through being intentional to seek him out, then that's when that transformation really starts to happen. And so if you're tired of just being a little transformed and you want to be really different, seek after those encounters not for the emotional high, but because it's a gift of God for you to change and be different and be more like Jesus.
• 15:55
  Speaker A: Okay, so how do we do this? This is. We love to get practical. How do we encounter the Lord? How do we set ourselves up to encounter him on a regular basis? How do we do that? Right. I think the first thing is just to expect to encounter Him. Right? And I think when you think about somebody like Moses or Paul, they weren't expecting to meet the Lord the way they did. But when we are expectant, then we're actually looking for what He's. Where is God moving? What is he doing? How can I position myself? It really comes down to your heart posture. Right? Because we're not closed off. We're not like, this is what I'm doing. I have my mindset. No, I'm open to what the Lord is going to say to me today. I'm open to what he wants to do. Maybe he's gonna redirect me. I was gonna go do this, but now he's calling me over here. I can't know that if I'm not paying attention. And so just being expectant that when you open your word, he's gonna show up. So there's a verse in Proverbs that says it' Glory of God to conceal a matter. It's the glory of kings to search it out. What that means is God has hidden things for you to find. And I like to think about him waiting in the Bible, in my Bible and being like, I can't wait for Karita to get here because I'm gonna surprise her. Like, I literally think of it like, God is throwing me a surprise party. So every time I open the word, he's like, surprise, I have something to show you today. He's gonna jump out and surprise me. He's gonna reveal things that I never could have known. But if I go to my sleep in my eyes, and I'm like, ugh, I have to read my Bible again, like, it's not going to be as exciting, you know, and I'm probably going to miss him. And so if I'm going expectant, like, oh, I bet God has something really good for me today. Oh, I bet there's something. The Lord wants to speak to me, then I'm coming with an attitude and a heart posture that is ready to receive when I am in prayer, when I'm in worship. I love how you talk about when you're in worship. You often get ideas. You know, it's. It's the way that we can encounter Him. His presence is welcome in that place. And so it just opens everything up. But if we come in, same way if we come in with a bad attitude, if I come in thinking about all the things that happened today or, you know, just complaining and upset, it's going to take me 20 minutes to get into worship, and then it's over, you know? And so we want to come in with expectation and everything you're doing throughout your day, but especially in those times when you're making space and your quiet time, your devotions that you expect for God to make.
• 18:25
  Speaker B: We have to have the right belief that God wants us to encounter him, that he wants to show up powerfully. So many times we think, well, am I really worth it? Do I deserve that? Or does God even do that anymore? And I think so many of us have these stories of where God has shown up. Even if you go to a church that doesn't think that God does that anymore, you encounter Jesus when you accepted him into your heart. And. And we all have testimonies of where God showed up miraculously, where God spoke. And maybe you can explain it, but you know, that was God. God did this. And you can think back through your life and remember all of those testimonies, and that actually sets us up for more encounters with the Lord. He's so good. He wants to show up in your life every single day and speak into you, to speak into your identity so that you can be who he created you to be. We can't do that on our own, we can't just muster up the strength to do it on our own. We need God's grace in order to live out our identity and our calling.
• 19:32
  Speaker A: And the next thing is to give him space. We want to make room in our lives for God to speak. And so we've talked a lot about, you know, that daily intentional habit of spending time with the Lord. But I think there's something really special about setting yourself up in a space where it's me and the Lord. And I'm going to talk to him and I'm going to ask him questions, and I'm going to allow him to speak into this situation, into my identity, into whatever it might be.
• 20:03
  Speaker B: And it's so powerful. When we know that God has spoken to us, it makes all the difference because we can kind of know in our minds what God is saying about a situation. We kind of know the principles of the Bible. Especially if you've been a Christian for a long time or your whole life, you grew up in church, listen to countless sermons, you kind of know the truth. You're like, well, this is what I probably should do. It's another thing when you invite the Lord into that process and he really illuminates it to you. He speaks it to you, and then you go, oh, God actually said this to me. That's totally different. It's kind of like instead of having that telephone conversation where you get it third, fourth, fifth, sixth hand. And if the message is kind of garbled a little bit, which. Which, okay, maybe that's a bad analogy because, you know, we get the word straight from the word, but it's the same idea. When you hear it firsthand from somebody, it has a different impact. So we like the model from Habakkuk 1 and 2. It's so interesting. But he actually comes to the Lord, he asks him a bunch of questions. He inquires of the Lord and then he listens. He sets himself up to receive. He says, I'm actually going to wait for the Lord until He speaks. And then the Lord actually, he speaks and he says, write it down, make it plain. And so these are our steps. We're going to inquire of the Lord. We can ask him questions. We're going to listen, set ourselves up to receive from Him. And that could mean in the moment, he's going to speak to us, or just being open to, God's going to speak to me over the next several days, weeks, months, he's going to speak into this situation, but I'm paying attention to. To what God is doing. And then when I receive something from the Lord, I'm going to write it down so that I don't have to remember it. And if I get confused or I lose my way, I can go back. No, this is what the Lord said. I love to write down a date and say, on this day, the Lord said this to me. This is what I sensed him communicating to me. And of course, as we hear things from the Lord, we're going to run it by our trusted faith community, by a pastor, by friends that hear from the Lord, that can surround us in prayer and make sure that is a genuine word from the Lord. We don't do this in isolation. We do it in community, and we run it through the filter of God's word. All of those tests that we've spoken about several times in our podcasts, we want to make sure that we're hearing accurately, that it lines up with God's word. And he's never going to condemn you. He's always going to be speaking for your benefit because he loves you so much.
• 22:47
  Speaker A: Yeah, it's really as easy as just asking God questions and listening. Right. So I love to journal with the Holy Spirit. And really, it's literally just I get my notebook out and I ask him a question, and then whatever pops up, I start writing. And almost, I would say every time, I don't know that there's a time when I've just been like, nothing. Like, almost every time there's something that I receive in that moment. And so it is important to write it down. I think that's huge because we will forget. Yeah, we get caught up in our circumstances and our feelings, whatever it might be, and we forget what he has said. And so writing it down is just such a great way to remember the word of the Lord for your life and for your heart. And sometimes maybe you are going throughout your day and you have asked him a question, and then something pops up and you're like, that's God. I know that's God. Right. Put a note in your phone, scribble it on a napkin or whatever you have handy, and then spend time with him later. Ask him more questions. God, what did that mean? Why did you say that? Why did you use that word? What else do you want me to know about this? And then just listening. It's so important that we listen carefully and we kind of remove the clutter and the noise of everything else. The. The responsibilities, the worries, the concerns, all of those things, set them aside, take Some deep breaths and just listen because he wants to speak to you.
• 24:13
  Speaker B: I love to experiment with different places, different situations where I can hear from the Lord better. Some people connect with God in nature. People, it's in your prayer closet. Some people, it's at a coffee shop. It could be lots of different places. Wherever you feel really connected to the Lord. Maybe there's a special park that you like to go take walks at, and it's beautiful. Or in the mountains, at the ocean. Wherever the Lord speaks to you, set yourself up. Make a date with God. Hey, I'm going to go on that hike that I really love. I'm going to sit at the top and just meet with God. We're going to have a conversation. I'm going to bring my journal so I can write down what you're saying to me. I love to go on walks with the Lord. And I actually will just open up a voice memo or I'll dictate it into my phone. Instead of trying to type it in or writing it, you can just say, oh, I feel like the Lord is saying this. And then when I get back, I can process that with the Lord and say, okay, tell me more about that. What does that mean? What do I need to do about this? What do I need to believe about my situation? Then what do I need to do? Do? And so that leads us into our next point, which is acting on what you receive from the Lord. We don't want to just be hearers of the Word. We want to be doers. It's so important that we don't just receive this. Sometimes we need to receive just for, you know, receive his love. But sometimes God will say, okay, this is what I want you to do with this information.
• 25:42
  Speaker A: I agree. It's so important that we be doers of the Word. What is the word that God has spoken to you? God? Start walking it out. What? And we ask those questions, what do I need to believe about this situation? What do I need to do? And don't just go recklessly like, well, God said, I'm going to speak to millions. Okay, Now I'm suddenly, you know, going to go try to do that. No, he's taking you on a journey to become that. But what is the next step? What is the next logical step or the next thing that he's asking you to do, you to do if you don't hear a next step from him? Okay, we're gonna talk to people that believe God speaks. We're gonna say, this is what I think the Lord is Saying, what can I do to partner with it? Because we wanna partner with the word of the Lord. We wanna say yes to God with our actions, not just with our agreement. And this is really the biggest step to transformation is to do what we hear him saying. Because I can sit and I can listen, but if I don't put action to it, then there's not gonna be change. Allowing him to speak to us and then walking it out hand in hand with him because he's going to take us on that journey together.
• 26:50
  Speaker B: And this is something that we love to do with our clients. Part of our Clarity coaching program is we encounter the Lord together. We come to God and we say, we ask him to speak into our lives. Where am I lacking hope? Are there lies? I'm believing what is the truth you want to give me in place of this lie? And it's so much fun for us because seeing people encounter the Lord and having him speak so powerfully into their situation, into their lives, and then they're transformed by it because it's that freshly spoken word of God. It's so incredible to see what God does. He always shows up and he always speaks so powerfully. God is really into destroying lies and he really loves imparting identity because he's a really, really good father. So if that's something that you've struggled with and you say, actually I need to encounter the Lord for this situation, I need his grace in my life to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Come look at our website joshandkarina.com coaching the link is in the show notes in the description. You can click on that, check out our program. We would be so excited, privileged and honored to work with you, to come alongside you and lead you into an encounter with the Lord and just kind of model that. We just are so excited to share that with you. So I just want to end with releasing encounters over here. You right now, the Lord is releasing grace over you to encounter him in new ways like never before. And God, I just ask for encounters, radical encounters, dramatic ones and also those small, so important ones that happen every single day.
• 28:31
  Speaker A: Thank you God.
• 28:32
  Speaker B: Thank you God that you always want to meet with us. You are always pursuing us and you are always speaking. We are always connected to you. God, thank you that Holy Spirit. Since you live inside of us, we couldn't get any closer than we already are right now. So I just thank you for what you're doing in our lives and I just thank you for radical encounters that change us from the inside out. And lead us into our true identity, our calling, our purpose for our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.
• 29:03
  Speaker A: Amen. Have a great week, friend. Hey friend. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle?
• 29:21
  Speaker B: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide.
• 29:26
  Speaker A: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose, and maybe a tiny bit of guffing.
• 29:31
  Speaker B: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode.
• 29:34
  Speaker A: Bye. It.