The Difference Between Believing and Following Jesus: Representing Christ Well

How do we represent Jesus well in a world that increasingly rejects biblical truth?

In Part 2 of this conversation, Sara and Tina explore what it means to live as true followers of Christ and accurately reflect His character to those around us.

Through scripture from Timothy, Ephesians, James, Peter, and Jude, they discuss humility, obedience, spiritual fruit, and the importance of loving people without compromising God's truth. They also challenge believers to examine whether their lives point others toward Jesus or create confusion about who He is.

In this episode:
 • Why Christians should be known by their fruit
 • The danger of "holier than thou" Christianity
 • Being a doer of the Word, not just a hearer
 • Pride, humility, and spiritual maturity
 • Loving people while standing on biblical truth
 • How God changes our hearts and desires
 • Representing Christ well in today's culture

Jesus calls us to be different—not because we're better than others, but because He is transforming us from the inside out.

🎙️ Fearless Queens Podcast
 Bold Biblical Truth for Women Done With Lukewarm Christianity

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So I'm thinking about, you know, it is the month of June as we're recording. And the month of June has been twisted and turned to represent the rainbow of something that it is absolutely not. And we celebrate pride here in America. We're they celebrate pride around the world. And you can see the demise and the fall of humanity that is happening before our eyes. But there's hope. I mean, the Bible says that if my people cry out to me and pray and repent, I will hear from them and heal their land. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another Fearless Queens Podcast episode. We are your host. My name is Sarah. I am Tina. And today we are part twoing from last week's episode, talking about um non-believers, believers, followers, and now we're talking about how to represent Christ well.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Yeah. Not the we don't want misconception, we don't want confusion, we don't want people who are maybe deciding to walk with Jesus, or maybe they are they have started and they're looking around at these believers like they kind of look like the world. And how do we represent the Jesus way?

SPEAKER_01 1:10

The Jesus in the Bible. Yes. That is the Jesus we are representing. Because some people claim in the name of Jesus, and I don't know what their Jesus is, but it's not the one from the Bible.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

So a lot of at least people that I've spoken with don't read the Bible. And if you don't read the Bible, you're not gonna hear from the Lord because the Bible is the living, breathing word of God. Yes. And you want to hear his voice, you read his word.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Amen. There's many ways he talks, but I mean, if you want him to just talk, read. Read his word. Uh and people will, that's your own research to do and your own journey with the Lord as far as debunking the Bible or it's not real, or so many people's hands are all over it. There's so much evidence out there to go look at. I mean, if this wasn't written by God, man's too stupid to read to make this all coincide. Okay, so there's too many things that pinpoint to something else. Um, so his word doesn't contradict it. Um, let's just read from it, okay? Enough of the talking about it. Let's read from it because the Bible will tell it'll the Bible's gonna tell you what the Bible says. Oh, yeah. Okay, this is we're in Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 3. This is verse 16. The whole Bible was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. So, not anybody else, the Bible, the Lord, He'll use people absolutely, but if it's not biblically sound, test everything.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Yeah, test every spirit. You know, the cool thing about Timothy too is Timothy was was younger and he was led by Paul, and Paul used to be a killer of Christians because he thought he was doing the right thing. Used to be called Saul, used to be called Saul, and the Lord changed him, took away his eyesight, gave his eyesight back, and he became he wrote most of the New Testament. So there's really cool truths behind it. Like, of course, he Timothy is younger and he's teaching us.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yes. Also, praise God. I was telling Tina before we started, God had something on my mind and I didn't remember. Now I remember. So Saul DePaul. So when you come to the Lord, he doesn't, he wants you to come as you are, but he doesn't want to leave you the same. And we have a podcast on the episode, it's called Don't Remain the Same, something along those lines. But that's the difference between a believer and a follower. There should be fruit that is evident that there's something different about you now because you don't just believe in what you believing is the first step. And then doing what the what God calls you to is the action that believers take to become a follower.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Yeah. And yo, you just made me think about sometimes people who have really never strayed away from the Lord, like they've been believers all their life. And we've I've said this before, you're not a believer learning and growing over 40, 30, 50 years, or even 20 years if you've been walking with the Lord since you were born or in utero.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

And praise the Lord that that's your that's your story.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

For real. However, you're living the same year over and over and over again. You are not better because you've been walking with Jesus longer.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

You're called to be better and different, but you're not any better than the next person, which I think is so powerful.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yes. The difference should be the mature fruit. You have more self-control, you have more patience, you have more kindness, you have more forgiveness than the person who was saved yesterday because they got baby fruit. And praise the Lord for the baby fruit. We all are in a different walk, which is why it is foolish to compare. Yeah. But that is why the Bible says you will know them by their fruit. And so you want to come as you are, come. You are a sinner in need of a savior. Come. All are welcome in the, and you can you can belong before you believe. Absolutely. When you go to a church, you can belong there before you believe in what they're saying. And then once you believe, there'll be a flip, a switch that goes off, that the veil has been torn, you have eyes to see, ears to hear, that you then become a follower, a doer of the word, not just a hearer of.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

And we're talking today about that, how to really walk that way. And as you were talking, the Lord led me to uh Ephesians 5. Looks like it's one. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fake, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Like, just think about that. God's or Jesus' death is a fragrant offering to his father for us. So we should really. I just think about that song, let incense arise, let incense arise. Like incense is your gift to the Lord, your worship, your prayer.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

You want to smell like Jesus. You don't want to smell like you anymore. Yeah. Um, and we talked about that at the end of last episode of Jesus stands in the gap for all of us. No matter where you've come from, no matter what you've done, he stands in the gap and he can represent you to be as white as snow, not of anything that you have done or can ever do, but it's all of what Jesus has done already for every person who has ever been born, whoever will be born until he comes back. Um, I just want to continue because I we kind of paused on Timothy 3, verse 16. So we talked about that it's an inspire, the whole Bible was given to us as inspiration from God. Useful to teach us um what is true to make us realize that it is wrong, what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and helps us to do what is right. This is 17 now. It is God's way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone. So not just your bestie, not just your friends, not just your family to everyone, the person that you don't like, the person who gives you trouble, whatever it may be. And it's God that is preparing you at every point to be fully equipped to do good to everyone. It's nothing that we can do, and it praise God that He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's how we're able to do this.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

I like Matthew 5 46. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that? Even sinners love those who love them. That's it. That I did too, but that one was in Luke. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. Like we as God-fearing, Jesus-loving, narrow path walkers are called to love everyone. Even the prickly ones.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Amen. Amen. Uh, this one, because I feel like last episode was more of a conversation. This is gonna be a lot of scripture. Scripture. Um, so let's go to this is in James now, and we chose well, the Holy Spirit led us to James because in my Bible it has a little synopsis of what we're about to read. And it says for James that it's described as a rugged, sometimes painful kind of Christian living. James is practical, gutsy, crystal clear in meaning, though we'd like to avoid its impact. Uh, I believe James is also where it says, don't just be a hearer of the word, be a doer of. Because you can hear all day long. But here's the thing people would rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Absolutely. Let me see what this Jesus thing is all about. I can hear about it all the time.

SPEAKER_03 9:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Um, we live in a world where there is an abundance of knowledge out there. You can pick whatever topic you want and find something about it. But the encounters that you have with people are something that are few and far between. It can be. But if you ask the Lord and you ask him for divine appointments, he'll give them to you. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

What does it say in the front of your Ephesians book about Ephesians? Because as you were talking before, I thought to myself, uh, Ephesians 3.20, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. And so I feel like there's like a joining. Obviously, the whole Bible is joined together, but like even between Ephesians and James.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

I wonder what it says.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

So okay. So this is I'm just gonna read in the dumps, is what the synopsis says. It says if you hit the blues, when they hit, they wipe out every tingle of joy and excitement. Nothing matters except the depressed, pitying way you feel about yourself. You need a compliment and an uplifter, but you look so miserable, no one will even approach you, much less compliment you. Where can you turn? If you ever feel this way, so low that down is up, take a deep breath and read the next six chapters. Paul cuts loose with an explosion of words about how great you are through Jesus. God took away all our sins and cruddiness. Paul says and showered down upon us his richness. God understands us and knows what is best for us at all times. At all times, God knows what's best for us.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

It's like Ephesians is an encouragement, but also a reminder, like a reminder of where you were and an encouragement to the new believer.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yes. It goes on to say, are things looking up? Read on. God is shaping us so well that we are gifts to him that he delights in. Encore upon encore, Paul piles on a stream of applause. He rightly gives the praise for what has happened to God, but we are the ones who benefit. Ephesians shows what we look like from God's viewpoint. If we're his children, we look dazzling to him. Wow. Even when we're feeling low. That's amazing. God loves you, and you know I am guilty as charged because sometimes I and I believe it is a lie from where I have come from that God isn't loving because I have parents who have misloved me in the past. And you know, forgive them for they know not what they do. My parents have are the best examples of what not to do and have done the best with what they knew how to do of who they were then and who they are now. And God can be misrepresented. We talked all about that, but you read his word, you will see his character. You want to know who God is, you want to know who Jesus is, you want to know the whole Holy Spirit is. I mean, he is a triune God. There's three in one, three parts in one of who God is. And right here, I mean, he's dazzled by us, he loves us, he thinks highly of us, he saved us, he sent his own son who is perfect to die for us.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

In Ephesians 4, it talks about I, therefore, Paul is talking, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humil humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And it goes on and on and on. And I just keep thinking about he has called you for a purpose, he has called you for uh a time such as this, and every person's purpose within it is going to be different. And so when you're when you're, as we talked about in the episode last week, if you're looking at the the new believer or the non-believer, let's just say that, or maybe the one who doesn't go to church and you're you're looking at them and judging them, you're missing the mark of what God has called you to do. Humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love. You actually have to do a better job loving that person who isn't coming to church, who isn't reading their Bible, who isn't doing what you think they should be doing. Right? Yeah. I mean, this is what the Bible is saying, like or to bear one another, bear one another's burdens. And so it's it maybe there's burdens that they're carrying and they don't want to bring it to the church because the church is not loving them as Jesus has ordained us to love others.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Amen. So, how do we debunk a misrepresentation of Jesus? Well, this is what the Bible says. Uh, this is Ephesians 2, chapter 2, starting from verse 1. And the top of my Bible gives you little um titles, and it says, God's rich mercy and love. Says, once you were under God's curse, doomed forever for your sins. We talked about that last week. You went along with the crowd and you were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan. Pause. Because you're either obeying Satan or obeying the Lord. There is no in-between. And so when you choose to do what you want to do without the Lord, that's obeying Satan. When you choose to do what God is calling you to do, it might not make sense to anybody, it might not even make sense to you. But if it if God has called you to do it, you do it. And it says the mighty prince of the power of the air, talking about Satan, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. So everybody who is from Adam and they are not in Christ yet, their hearts are being molded by Satan. Which is why it's so hard to have it can be hard to have a conversation and not and be loving and patient and kind and forgiving and graceful and merciful because you're not fighting them and you have to remember you're not fighting them. So when their words are coming at you like daggers, remember that those daggers are being thrown from the spirits behind them.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

Yeah, there's cosmic powers in the dark forces.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Yes. So it's it's working against the Lord because if you're in Christ, you're for the Lord, and it's the spirit realm versus spirit realm, and we are just the conduits of the spirits or the or the capital spirit, the Holy Spirit says all of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us to. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and we were under God's anger, just like everyone else, but God.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

But God is so rich in mercy. He loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised up Christ from the dead. Only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms, all because of what Christ Jesus did. Woo! It's all Jesus. Yeah, it's all Jesus. So if somebody is claiming the name and they're like, I am the greatest, I am the best pastor, I'm the best podcaster. I challenge you. Are are they humbling themselves? Are they walking in humility? Is there mercy? Because it we can boasting in the Lord is righteous. Boast about God and what he is in all day long. That is what the gospel is all about. You know, let let me go tell you about my Jesus. Absolutely. You gotta tell somebody who told somebody who told somebody about Jesus to then they can go tell somebody who's gonna go tell somebody, and it keeps going. Just like prayer, somebody's prayer has led us to here, and somebody else's prayer has led them there. Like the power of prayer is incredibly raw and real.

SPEAKER_03 17:57

You know, and as you were talking, I was thinking about um I listen to Billy Graham often, big evangelist, he loved people, but he spoke the truth. He had a fear and reverence for the Lord. And he said a while ago, and I've heard it a couple of times recently, if you've sinned once, you've sinned, you've broken all the commandments. And he said, I, Billy Graham, and am a sinner. And it to me, it was such a humbling thing. I'm like, Billy Graham, you're a sinner? What? But you know, we I think sometimes put people who are in a position of authority on a pedestal because we just we hear and we're inspired and they they speak the words of Jesus. And so we're we're kind of blown away. And then all of a sudden, if they're doing their job correctly, they bring it back down to the level of we are all the same. So if you've broken any commandment in your life, anything at all, you've broken them all and you are equal to the person who is a, you know, a lying sinner every minute of every day. And so I think it's a big challenge as believers when they start walking with the Lord and they start following the ways of the Lord and they start following the Bible. It's so easy for humans to point out everyone else's wrong. I'm guilty of it, especially with my kids. Like you could have done a better job cleaning this. You could have, you know, you go back and forth. You want to teach them, you know, as I'm thinking about my kids and they maybe don't clean the way I would. And, you know, sometimes it's why are you so critical? But then I think to myself, you are going out into a critical world. You are going out in into a difficult world where people are difficult. I have to teach you the different way, the better way. And then once you go out there, it's up to you to decide. And that's what the Bible is. You're gonna go out into this world and you're gonna struggle and it's gonna be hard, and people are gonna be challenging. And the people who are walking with the Lord are gonna be the most challenging most of the time. So I'm gonna give you this word, I'm gonna give you this book, and it's gonna give you direction and you do your best to read it and follow it. And hopefully, people will see your life and they'll be like, What is it? What do you do? I read the Bible and I pray.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Yeah, let me tell you about Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

And he loves his kids, he loves his children, and that is what we are called to do. And that's the scriptures that we're reading is we're telling, we're sharing, not telling, we're sharing with you what he has said about how to live in the law of the Lord and how to show others how to walk this way, talk this way, because it's the way, it's the only way. And this isn't to nitpick on you, this isn't to tell you what you're doing wrong and you need to fix it. It's for his Holy Spirit to fill you, indwell in you so much that you want to love so deeply because of how deeply he loved you. And if you're loving so deeply, you have no space for condemnation. Now, I'm not talking about correction, not talking about iron sharpened iron. That's that's different and that's important. And there's a time. Yeah. That is conviction. I look at the Ten Commandments as a conviction from God, and then I look at the sermon on the mound as conviction from Jesus who walked on earth, leading you and guiding you and teaching you.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Uh, I want to flip over to James. This is one verse 22. And it says, and remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. And that's where I think so often as believers, we stop at just believing and we forget that the message is to obey. It says, So don't fool yourselves, for if a person just listens and doesn't obey. He is like a man who wow who is looking at his face in a mirror. As soon as he walks away, he can't see himself anymore or remember what he looks like. But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men, he will not only remember it is he will do what it says and God will greatly bless him in everything he does. So God will greatly bless him in everything that he does because God, he that man is doing what God told him to do. Wow, that's so good.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

That's so powerful.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Everyone you meet's a mirror, whether it's oh, I thank you, Lord, for bringing me this far. I I no longer am doing these things. Or thank, or like, oh God, that is in me, and I see it in them. And thank you for showing me. Or like, oh man, I don't want to be anything like this person that I just met. Like, Lord, help me to stick to what I know that you are, and I I can't I can't go back there any longer.

SPEAKER_03 23:03

Oh, and I think I think about as you're talking, I think about how we we have said many times, and our pastor even said it on Sunday, you become like the five people you surround yourself with. And I think to myself, do I want to hang out with me? Do I want to be around me? Do I want to be the the that friend? Do I want someone to be the friend that I am? And I I had to reassess that a few years ago and really, gosh, a few months ago, really think to myself, am I the friend that I want, that I need, that God has called me to be, more importantly, that God has called me to be. Because so often, you know, I've looked at other people who have been walking with the Lord who are Christians. And I say that in quotations because just because you're Christian doesn't mean that you are a God-fearing, Jesus-loving supporter and reader of the Bible, saved soul, bringing others. The great commission is to go out into all the world and make disciples. The great commission received from Jesus Himself while on earth is go out into all the world and make disciples. But so often Christians are in their little bubble and they're doing their little thing and they've they've been walking with the Lord for a certain amount of time and they just don't see the point.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Yeah, you don't want to be a catty clicky Christian.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

It's for all. Yeah. And there's so many of them. There's so many of them out there, and they And Lord forgive me when I have been that. Yep, absolutely. The term that we were um when we were praying over our last episode was we don't want to appear holier than thou, because so many Christians appear holier than thou. And that is such a turnoff. You're actually doing the opposite. Jesus came to wash, Jesus came and he washed feet. The night he was going to die, he washed feet. You can't be holier than thou and wash someone's feet. He is a sir, he came as a servant. And you serving within your own four walls at your church is phenomenal. It's beautiful. We need this, right? The church needs you to serve, but you're called to go into the world and serve the people that maybe aren't so easy to serve. Love the people that maybe aren't so easy to love. Love the people that don't look like you, that don't act like you, that don't work in the same places you work.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

And also, God handpicks everybody that's in your life. Like nobody's there for no reason. Some people are there longer than others, some people are it's just for a moment. However, if you step back and think, God handpicked your siblings, your parents, your the family that you were born into, he handpicked for you for whatever mission, for whatever story he wants to tell in and through you. And you sometimes gotta wonder why. And that's when you go back to Job and you're like, you know, you were not there when God created the heavens and the earth. This is above your pay grade. This is above my pay grade, but it's for a purpose. And God disciplines those he loves. He is a loving father. If there was no correction in your life, then he wouldn't love you. And that's unfortunately the fall of man is pride. I don't need Jesus because I know everything. I don't need to be saved. I am good without everybody and everything. I can do it all by myself. So the difference between a saint and a sinner is truly coming to the end of oneself. I mean, we talked about the difference between being an Adam versus being in Christ. They don't have eyes to see and ears to hear. The veil has not been torn yet. So I'm thinking about, you know, it is the month of June as we're recording. And the month of June has been twisted and turned to represent the rainbow of something that it is absolutely not. And we celebrate pride here in America. They celebrate pride around the world, and you can see the demise and the fall of humanity that is happening before our eyes. But there's hope. I mean, the Bible says that if my people cry out to me and pray and repent, I will hear from them and heal their land. And in that, I'm thinking about the holier than thou that Tina was talking about. It is not that a saint is better than a sinner. It's just that the saint has come to the end of themselves and cried out and said, I can't do this by myself anymore. I need help. I need, if you exist, if you are real, if you are really who you say you are, I need you right now and I need you to show me who you are to me because I can't do this how I'm doing it any longer. And the sinner is going about saying, I don't need any of that. I don't need, I know better and I can do better, and I don't need a savior. Yeah. And that's the sad part because there's pride and ego in the way.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Yeah, absolutely. And of course, you know, the enemy would use the word pride to represent what this month represents. And I think back to Steven's podcast when he came on and how he he was walking in the ways of that world and that life. And he realized he needed, he, he realized with the Holy Spirit, he came to the end of himself and he realized I can't do it. Exactly what you describe is what he came to. He's still attracted to men. He will tell you, he's still attracted to men. He thinks boobs are gross. But God is changing his heart and not allowing him to give in to his fleshly desires. And it's beautiful to watch in that what God is doing in and through his life with it, it was like the moment he chose that and understood that, and the way he is able to go into the community of the gay people and shine Jesus in a way that a straight person couldn't. And I just think it's phenomenal. I think it's beautiful. And so often we we look at people who are sinning, and we'll just use as an example, and we're like, oh my God, they're they're sinners and they're gay. So I can't talk to them and they're going to hell. No, no, no. Just you saying that and judging them, you're going to hell, right? Like if you want to pinpoint that, and I'm not the judge of any of that, so please don't hear what I'm not saying. But the thing is, is we are called to love them as Jesus loves them, just like he did tax collectors, just like he did leprosy, like he loved everybody to himself. And so I'm gonna stop on that rant.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

I want to just say though, there is something too, I mean, the the way to hell is paved through good intention. So there is truth to be told, and truth, it is not hate speech. It's speech that you hate. And so for us to come on here and say that there is not consequences for actions that are done when somebody is living in a sinful way, let that be whatever it is. But if we're talking about the month of June and it's Pride Mont, the rainbow does not represent gay pride or homosexuality in any way, shape, or form. It represents that the Lord will not destroy the world ever again through a world flood. Because he's done it once before because of the wickedness of the world. And it would be a disservice to humans if we didn't tell them to his creations that, hey, there is somewhere that you're going if you don't turn and repent. Yeah. And this is us standing on the line saying, Hey, I love you so much, and there is a better way, and you're not gonna go past Tina and Sarah because we didn't tell you that there was a better way. Yeah, that there is a way and you need to turn. And that's for anybody dealing with any kind of sin. But I'm specifically talking about the month of June and what it has represented, unfortunately, in this nation. And that is what pastors' jobs are too. I mean, we are called to shine the light of Christ, his word, it's not our opinion, it's not our truth, it is the Lord's truth. And if you're going us the if you're going the wrong way in a one way, wouldn't you want somebody to tell you that you're going the wrong way because you're gonna crash and the crash could lead to your death? You are going the wrong way. Oh my gosh. And so we are holding, clinging on to you. And if you want to push us aside and jump over us, the next phase, because tomorrow's not guaranteed. I don't want to stand before God and say, Why didn't you tell him? Or you stand before the Lord and you go to hell and you say, Why didn't somebody tell me?

SPEAKER_03 31:31

And I am thinking about how we as believers are called to love, right? And so we and also we become like the five people that we surround ourselves with or the people that we surround ourselves with most. And I think there is a there is a group of Christians who are loving on the the gay community, which I think is great. We're supposed to, just like I told you about with Steven. But if you are engaging and participating in the activities that they are doing, you are going to become like them whether you want to or not. I will tell you, if I am around people who swear, even though I can try and try and try not to, eventually a word will come out. And I'm like, ugh, where did that come from? It is because I'm around that person. I repent, I give it to God. He, I don't spend as much time with them, not because I don't love them or because they're bad influence, it's because my heart is wicked above all else. And I know that if I'm around it, I will become it. And so, yes, you are called to love every single person, but that doesn't mean you go and support and encourage what they do. You love them to Jesus, not to hell.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

I want to, the Lord has brought me to Judge. This is the book of Judge, and this is chapter one, verse seven. Judge? Jude, lol. I can't read. Judges is Judge, Jude, J-U-D-E. I just read that this weekend. Okay. And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind, including lust of men for other men. Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a hell in which sinners are punished. And so I don't say this in any other way, but the Lord loves everyone. He wants all his creation to be saved. But there is a place, if you don't want to be with God, that you're gonna burn for eternity. And Sodom and Gomorrah, read it for yourself if you want to know what their land was like and why they were. I mean, it says it right there if you want to know more, but it says there was lust, men for men and women for women. And we are living in those times where that's normal. We're teaching our children that, and this is not a pod about that yet. I think we're gonna get to one soon. But um, you represent the Lord well, and Christ did, He was around sinners, but he wasn't sinning, he wasn't doing what they were doing, he was loving them. He hates sin, but he loves the sinner.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

And he spent a lot of time alone and a lot of time in prayer. A lot, a lot, a lot. And I'm as you're talking, I'm I'm at uh James 3, and it says, Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness, for we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is perfect, he is a perfect man, but able also to bridle his whole body. And I'm thinking to myself about, you know, if you are in a church, if you are leading, if you are singing, if you are wearing the cross, if you have a sign on the back of your car that represents Jesus in some way, you insert your thing. If you're serving on the worship team, if you're serving at the door, whatever it is, there is some element of you that is teaching. You're teaching something and people are following you. And so you are actually held to a greater strictness. And so the people that are looking, right in the in the last episode, the people that are looking in on these Christians and they're like, yeah, she worships, but I also saw her in a pride parade. I'm confused. I don't even think they're judging, and I'm not even judging. It's confusing. What like are they are they hot or are they cold?

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Oh, I just read that.

SPEAKER_03 35:34

They're lukewarm.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

And so if you are in any way representing the Lord, you are held to a greater strictness. You have to die to yourself every day. You have to leave it at the foot of the cross. You say you're loving or you're supporting or you're encouraging somebody, but I would challenge you to really assess where is your heart with the Lord? How much time did you spend in prayer before you went to the Pride Fest? How many time how much how many hours did you spend reading the word before you went and engaged in that thing that you know you shouldn't have been engaged in? And it's not, again, it's not a condemnation. This is conviction from the Lord in the word of God, breathe life into this book, and he's telling us.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Yes. So there was one man who found favor in Sodom. And it says this is in 2 Peter chapter 2, verse 7 and 8. But at the same time, the Lord rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man, sick of the terrible wickedness he saw everywhere around him, day after day. So also the Lord can rescue you and me from the temptations that surround us and continue to punish the ungodly until the day of final judgment comes. One day there's going to be a final day on earth. God is a God of suddenly. It seems like gradual, but then all of a sudden change happens and your life is never the same again. And if today was our last day, I would want you, I would want somebody to tell me. I would want somebody to tell my family that there is a God who loves you and there is forgiveness, and you just repent, meaning you just for say, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I have judged. I'm sorry that I have broken every commandment and then I am a sinner who needs a savior. You just come and ask for forgiveness and don't be so prideful that you're thinking that you don't need it because everybody does.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

And Psalm 147, 11. The Lord delights. Okay, the word is delight. Can you imagine the Lord delighting in you? In those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love? And when we share what we share, we're not again, I'm gonna say it again and again and again. We're not condemning. We hope it's the Lord convicting you because we want the Lord to delight in you.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Amen. He does he delights in you because you're his child. And Tina has many children, they mess up. That doesn't mean she doesn't love them any less. There's a sense of disappointment, but the Lord He doesn't dwell there. It's a little my Bible study teacher, it's a little pad on the tushy, and you carry on your merry way, and now you know a different way. We're not gonna dwell in the ick. Mistakes are meant to learn from.

SPEAKER_03 38:25

Life is hard. Put on a helmet, and when someone corrects you, know that it came from the place, hopefully, it came from the place of love and go on your merry way and make better choices moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Yes. Uh, go ahead. Are you gonna say okay? This is um now we're in 2nd Peter chapter one. This is verse number six on. Um, I'm gonna start with five, end of five. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do. Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. This will make possible the next step, because it's always one step at a time, which, and then it goes on, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply. The more you go on this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ.

unknown 39:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

But anyone who fails to go after these additions to faith is blinded indeed, or at least very short-sighted, and has forgotten that God delivered him from the old life of sin so that now he can live a strong, good life for the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

That is so beautiful. That's so powerful. It's such a reminder of what God has called us to do and how he's called us to live. This whole episode is just directive after directive after directive because he loves you, because he delights in you, because he has good things for you, not because he wants to destroy you. I know a lot of people when they come to the Lord, they're like, I don't know, is it gonna be fun?

SPEAKER_02 40:09

Can I still play video games and listen to bad music? And you know, am I gonna not be able to ever go out again?

SPEAKER_03 40:14

He will change you. Yes. It will be him one step at a time, one day at a time, one minute at a time. Don't jump ahead because that is you trying to control. It's not you surrendering to him. If you can control it, then you know the outcome. We don't know the outcome. Yeah, we know the outcome, outcome. But like day to day today, he gives you mana for he gave them mana for one day so that they could build their trust in him. They still complain. Obviously, I can't wait to taste that mana in heaven. It sounds delicious. But the point I'm making is one day at a time.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Amen. I mean, that's why it says God have his way with you.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

Yeah. And um not let people have their way with you.

SPEAKER_01 40:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 40:51

The world has corrupted and perverted this. Yes. So much. Turn away. I'm telling you, it's so much better. Even in the craziness, even in the turmoil, even in the struggles, having Jesus by my side, having Jesus with me, it I could be bawling about something that's happening and stressed out, but I could feel a peace in my heart that I've I never felt before Jesus without drugs.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Amen. And the Lord, this is all in um, this is in 1 Peter chapter 4. Read it for yourself, but it's talking about how much Christ suffered. And don't think that you're not gonna suffer if you're a Christian, because if you're being pure persecuted, if you're being talked about, if you're being shamed by people who don't believe, or even if they are, you're doing something right for the Lord if you are obeying him and his word. Great, preach! And and Tino talked about, you know, the Lord will give you um a new taste for that. I just shared this analogy the other the other day with some friends. The fact that it was weird for me to be dating my now husband, and he was nice to me, and he wasn't yelling at me, and he wasn't name-calling. Yeah, doing all of these things that I was so used to, and I thought it was ick. It's like when you've been eating McDonald's for your whole life, and then somebody gives you a salad, but you're really wanting to be healthy now, and you know that the salad is better for you, and you're like, Lord, help me have a taste for the healthy. Oh my god. So the Lord is like, hey, you have dealt with you know ill um hurt people hurt people. Okay, so you've been dealing with hurting people all your life, and you've been in flight or fight mode forever. And now I have you for your for myself, and I'm teaching you who you are in Christ. So now that there's this man who is healthy, I'm gonna show you that you do have taste buds for healthy. Yeah, he will switch your palette around for him. And that's in everything of life. I the things I wear now, the list, the music I listen to, the people I hang out with, it's not because I am holier than thou. It's the Lord has changed, renewed my mind. It starts all up here because everything from here drops into your heart and flows out head, heart, hand, and it flows out to the lifestyle you're living.

SPEAKER_03 43:06

Ooh, some, you know, ooh, girl, some of the music that I used to listen to. My girlfriend, it's so I love it. My girlfriend has just recently accepted Christ into her heart. We're gonna baptize her this weekend or this week or whatever. And she messaged me last night and she was like, I had on my playlist like a Jesus song, and then all of a sudden this other thing song came on. She was like, What? And she's like, I shake my tushy for a minute and then I turned it off, and I was like, girl, he's changing your desire. And then she goes, But why they gotta drop the beat like it's so hot.

SPEAKER_01 43:39

Because the the music realm is from Satan.

SPEAKER_03 43:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

I mean, everything is twisted. Okay, God owns everything, but this is his playground.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

This is the enemy's playground. Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 43:55

But the but there's good news, God owns the playground.

SPEAKER_03 43:58

Yeah, absolutely. Cool because there's two sides here. She knows that this was fun, this was enjoyable for a season, but she also knows that God is changing her. And it was nothing that I could have said or done. It was God working in and through her. And He will do the same for you. He will do for the same to those around you. My challenge is, and I just because we're on this kick right now, have you prayed for that gay person? Have you prayed for that person who is living in this prideful, you know, whether they're transgender or whatever, not for any other reason but to love them how Jesus has ordained us to love, who has called us to be different, who has challenged the teachers that you are held to a different standard. How often do you pray that God would reveal themself to these people?

SPEAKER_01 44:49

Yes. Um I just want to state this. This is in um 1 Peter chapter 5, verse number six on, and then um I'm gonna end with 12. So it says, if you will humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, in his time, he will lift you up. I love that one. So the Lord lifts people up. It's not this is my own good advice, you should take it. This is I know the way, you are doing it wrong. How dare you? This is you're living wrong, and I'm better because I have God. It's none of that.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

Oh, I think about that. It's called humility.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

We eat the humble pie all day long. Let that be your taste buds for the humility, humbleness in his time.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

I think about that song, and it's just it's in his time. It is his timing is perfect. Amen. He's patient. The reason why he hasn't come back yet, why Jesus has not come back yet, is because God is patient with us.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

Yes. Um, it says to continue on, let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. Wow. Be careful, watch out for attacks, for the attacks from Satan, your great enemy, who prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for victims to tear apart. Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too. Amen. And after you suffered a little while, our God, who was full of kindness through Christ, will give you his eternal glory. And it keeps going on and on, but it ends with what I have told you here should help you stand firmly in his love. And this is Peter talking. So we stand firm on who God, who is love. He is the rock, he is the solid foundation. When the winds come and the rains are gushing out, you want to be on the solid rock, not the sands of the world, who are here one moment and gone the next.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Who shift just like the wind.

SPEAKER_03 46:53

Yeah, so good. That's oh, I we could keep, I see more scripture in Peter, and we just keep reading and reading and reading because it's message after message after message of how he loves us, how he died for us, how he suffered for us, so that the unrighteous might bring, be brought to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. You can choose the Jesus way and just worry about yourself for a little bit. Because anytime you want to point out someone else's wrong, I want you to take those three fingers that are that are pointing back at you and look at your life first and assess that. We love you guys. We're so grateful. We're grateful that you heard this message. We hope that this fire hose of just that it isn't a holier than thou, but it's holy woes, that you will allow the Lord to change your heart, map your steps, plan out your ways, change your heart, give the desires of your heart, may they be his desires. May the things you look at with his eye with your eyes be the things he wants you to look at. May the things you listen to with your ears be the things he wants you to listen to because he wants to change you. Because out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So we want going into your heart, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, his desires. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 48:10

Go out and represent the Lord well today.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

Have a blessed day. Bye.