Trust, Faith & Obedience

What does it really mean to follow Jesus?

Is faith enough, or does true faith produce obedience?

In this episode of the Fearless Queens Podcast, Sara and Tina walk through 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John to unpack the powerful relationship between trust, faith, and obedience. Together, they explore what it means to walk in the light, love others as Christ loved us, test everything against God's Word, and live as true followers of Jesus.

They also share reflections from the Jesus March in Chicago and discuss why obedience isn't about legalism—it's the natural response of a heart that fully trusts God.

Whether you're a new believer or have been following Christ for years, this episode will encourage you to examine your walk with Jesus and remind you that we overcome the world through faith in Him.

Scriptures Discussed:
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John

If this episode encouraged you, be sure to follow the Fearless Queens Podcast, leave a review, and share it with someone who wants to grow deeper in their faith.

Done with lukewarm faith. Bold faith. Biblical truth.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Read yours again.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

For every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil, pleasure by trusting Christ to help him. So if you caught that, her Bible says faith, my Bible says trust, and my Bible also says obey. Obedience has the ingredients of faith and trust because you're never going to obey somebody you don't trust. You're not going to put your faith in something that you don't believe. Why would you obey something or someone that you don't trust and have faith that they're leading you to the right thing?

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Hello and welcome to an amazing, wonderful, blessed and highly favored Fearless Friday. We are enthralled to be here today. Let the Holy Spirit have his way. I am one of your hosts, Tina of the Fearless Queens Podcast. And I'm Sarah.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

What an intro we got going on this morning.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I'm just so excited. Today is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad. Amen. A day we have never seen before and a day we will never see again. Isn't that amazing that we are on this earth, that we are in this country, that we can just come on here and share the word of God with you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Thank you, Lord, for freedom. Yes, absolutely. There is freedom in Christ.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Yes, there is. When you are a new creation in Christ, there is freedom. And we, you know, here's the thing, y'all. We didn't necessarily know what we were gonna talk about, but we are realizing we are at a stage in our life that God truly is mapping out every step. You always say, Sarah, I want what God wants. I want what God wants. And sometimes I'm like, well, of course you want what God wants. But what you what I've always said, what you write, you invite. What you say, you will speak over your life because words have power. And so today is just we're reading the word of God over you because that is what he has given us.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Yes. Little Bible study sesh up on this Fearless Friday. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

And it's perfect because it's a it's a great prequel. Prequel is after, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

No, that sequel is after. Sequel.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Prequel is prior. Ah, okay. You're so glad you're the teacher. Um, anyways, to what we've talked about the last two episodes, this is just bringing it all together. I think we weren't planning to do that, but God is God and He is good. And in the Word of God, what the Lord tells us about the last couple episodes we talked about, because it has been a lot of stories, a lot of experiences, and we don't necessarily we always want to bring everything back to the Word because ultimately it's the basic instructor earth. And we want to keep it super simple. The only way we can keep it super simple is reading the word because everything in the word leads to something else and the word to something else to something else. It's all interconnected.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yes, amen. So with that, hang tight with us because I don't think it's just first John. I think it's John 1, 2, and 3. Okay. And they're all, they're all pretty small. I mean, I'm, you know, if you're looking on YouTube, there's it's like probably five pages I just skimmed through. So we're not gonna read all of it verbatim. We pray that you have your own Bible. And if you need one, reach out to us, please, and we will make sure you get one. Yes, please. Um, but in my Bible, they have an introductory, if you will, of what you're about to read. And before we got on, I was like, maybe it's about friendship and like who you hang out with. And I know we've talked about that before on here, but how like it's so needed because to go where you've never gone before, you're gonna meet people that you haven't been with yet and le let go of things that no longer serve you. Um, so this first John it starts with I'm comfy here, dot dot dot. But in the uncomfortability, there is growth. And believe me, every time we come on here, I'm spoon feeding myself, everything that I'm saying out.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So isn't he good hard right now? Isn't he good? You know, I love that you said that because I've always shared with people when they're struggling. Probably I didn't, I don't always do the best job with this, but to go somewhere you've never gone, you have to do something you've never done. Because if you've done it, you're familiar with it and you know what to do. And so I think this episode is definitely somewhere we've never gone before. And in that, it's full reliance on God.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

Which is where he wants all of us to be.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

Yes, and it's beautiful and it's amazing. And know that even though you've had challenges and you've gone through things and maybe you're in friendships right now, maybe you're in situations that you're like, is this really where God wants me? Is this really where I'm meant to be? But how do I say no to this person? How do I say no lovingly? How do I say I can't be a part of this anymore? The Lord's not calling me to be a part of this anymore. But having that confidence in Christ and how to do it in a loving way. And you can't really determine or even know how another person is going to perceive what you have shared, but you can do your part in coming from a place of love. And I think that this is what it's going to teach all of us today.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Amen. So without further ado, let me read the little snippet of what we're getting into today. It says each of us has his own group, his or her own group that we feel that we're connected and we're at home with. So the students that are in my Bible, you know, this is from the 70s, it says they're relaxed, casual, they know where they belong. Yet, even in a group like this, arguments come up, friendships splinter, emptiness deepens, frustration at people's lack of understanding boils inside. How many of you have ever been misunderstood by the person that you understand the most? It happens. We're humans. That's why we need the Lord because He understands us all inside and out. Why? Because He made us.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

The Lord and community. You know, it's kind of like we don't know that this person that we're interacting with. We don't know what they've experienced until that point of interaction. They could have had a really joyful morning, and then people come at them with all their drama. So they have all this like they have joy, but then they have the drama. And then like, I don't want to hold on to this, I don't want this on my shoulders. And then they're confronted with someone who's having a hard morning, a challenging morning. And any other day, they could have been loved to that person and leading that person, but they've already gone through their own thing. Then they come to you, and then another person comes alongside and is witnessing all of this and speaks life over that person. And I know it's kind of a twisted little story, but the thing is, is this happens all the time. We just aren't aware of it. But the more we communicate with each other in love, the more we realize, like, oh, oh, that's why you were feeling this way. Oh, I'm so glad you were open with me. I'm so glad I know because I too was feeling this because this just happened.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Yes. Instead of like behind the scenes, like, can you believe what was up her button around the corner? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Like, oh, I'm so annoyed that she's acting this way.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Communicating is, you know, top notch. It's something that we all can strive to be better at. Yeah. Um, so it goes on to say, we depend on our friends to provide something we deeply need, which is why Jesus needs to be all of our number one best friends, because he's the only one that's gonna provide everything that we all deeply need. And it goes on to say, why does it get so spoiled often? So, John, who we're gonna read his first, second, and third letters, says, John, now an old, warm-hearted man filled with love, shows us that these three letters, the path to the kind of camaraderie that gives us what we need to live quality lives with those around us. The camaraderie, the kumbaya, the more spaghetti, less regretti. Yes, the quality of life. You can have quantity, you could live 80 plus years, but the quality of your life wasn't so great. You know, I can't help but think about Charlie Kirk. He passed way too soon, his life was taken from him way too soon. But his 31 years of living was quality. Yeah. And that's just I don't know him personally. I never will know him personally until I get to see him in heaven. However, I can only imagine because of what he chose to do with his time here on earth, and the ripple effect and the impact that he is still having to this day.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Well, think about even like Martin Luther King. Yeah. Died way too young. The life he lived, the choices that he made, the the courageous things he did, got him killed. But look at it's still ringing true today.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Amen. Amen. Jesus Christ. He was here a short time. Quality. Three years he was in his ministry for, and 30 of those years he was preparing. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

So it's all about the quality, it ain't about the quantity. Yes, indeed. And be very cognizant and prayerful in who you choose to surround yourself with. It doesn't make anyone else bad and you good. It makes you obedient to the Lord and what his desire is over your life.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Because everyone has a purpose. The people over there that you thought you were friends with and you were engaging with them, and then all of a sudden you're like, well, what but wait, I don't want to engage in that. I don't want to be a part of that. It doesn't make them bad. They have a different purpose than you. And so love them and know that that is not your that's not your circus.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

Yeah. And in that, what were you doing prior to meeting them? You know, every it's always a stepping stone to the next thing. And I can think about my own life of who I used to be, but the people that have led me to where I am now came from where I used to be and the people I used to hang out with. So had I not only God knows, but had I not been with the people that I used to surround myself with, had I met the person that got me to be right here, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Yeah, that's that's good. So we're gonna, I'm gonna, where do you want to start? I was gonna start in five, but or one five, sorry, start in John 1 John 1-5.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Okay, let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Okay. Um, and we're just gonna kind of because if we read the whole, I mean we could read the whole thing, it's not that long, but it gets a little monotonous. So you really should do your own reading of the Bible. I've been reading first John over and over because my sister in Christ was doing it, and I was like, ooh, I want to do that, like something different to really get to know and let the word get in you instead of just reading to read. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, this is uh 1 John 1, 6. We lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. And I'm just thinking, walk in the light. What does walking in the light look like? It's gonna look different for any per every person. And I don't think I I don't know that we can always walk in the light, but we should strive to always be the light.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yes, I mean, my my translation, it goes on, it says, the light, the God is light, and in him is no darkness. So for striving to be like Jesus, there is no darkness in him. So the closer you get to Jesus, you're shining his light more because there's less of you, which is the darkness inside of you.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Yeah, I mean, when you go into the world, it's a dark world. There's no question that it's a dark world. But are you going to become dark like the world to fit in, and then say that you're actually of God, but you're just trying to you're just trying to go into those places, but you end up becoming like the world.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Yeah, and we talked a lot about that the last two episodes about misrepresenting Jesus, um, doing things, claiming the name, and doing something different. So it's almost like the Bible says it in so many different ways, yeah, but it's saying the same thing over and over and over. So this is my six. It says, So if we say we're his friends, meaning if we're God's friends, but we go on living in spiritual darkness and sin, we're lying. And the most importantly, we're lying to ourselves. It says, but if we are living in the light of God's presence just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other. And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from every sin. Yeah. So we're washed by the water and washed by the blood, all because of him. Oh, hallelujah. Because when two or more are gathered in his name, there's greater lightness. I mean, there's light when one candle's on, but then if there's two, or if there's one lamp on and now there's two, and if everyone around all has their light shining, the room is, you know, bright, bright, you know, especially if it's in the middle of the night and you just get a bunch of believers around, like boosh, light.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Well, and I'm thinking, and I know you're gonna be here pretty soon. I'm thinking about we went to the Jesus March in Chicago this past weekend, and I there was nothing in me that felt fear of being in Chicago. I thought for like a second, like, oh, I haven't been in Chicago in a long time. I wonder how it's doing. That was like the extent of it. But I had such a peace that we are walking in the light of Christ, that we have the light of Christ within us, that he is shining through us, and four of us were there. So we're, you know, we're two or more are gathered. There he is in the midst of them. And I just knew that it was a strong group of four strong, God-fearing, God-loving Christians, filled with the joy of the Lord as our strength. I just, anyways, all that being said, it was a little gloomy, it wasn't super warm, and we get there and we didn't know what to expect. I had no idea what to expect. I thought we were literally getting there and marching. Well, they had a worship night or they had a worship stage set up, and they were singing and the songs were on, and I saw little kids, I saw fathers with their children, I saw every color under the sun there, worshiping the Lord, and everyone was filled with joy and everyone was happy. And it wasn't like a Christian concert. It was completely different from a Christian concert. Some people were on their knees, some people had their hands up in the air, some people were taking pictures. You know, this one little boy, he couldn't have been older than five. I doubt he was older than five. Almost the entire time we were there, he was holding up his sign. Almost the entire time we were there, and it was so beautiful. And then in the midst of it all happening and this worship happening, the sun just shined so bright and it was so beautiful, and you could feel it coming down. And I'm like, what started out as gloomy and like, oh no, like it's not gonna be super sunny. As we're worshiping, as we're singing his music, the sun comes out and the shining comes out. And then it would be like when we were talking about clouds, the clouds would come over, and then we'd be singing about the sun and the sun would come out. I mean, it was like God was orchestrating that whole event. And then as we marched around the streets, it was we were marching in joy. We were singing. People couldn't help but look at what we were doing. And instead of being in fear, like, are they protesting? Is this a, you know, what is this about? It's like, no, we're in joy. And the people, even the people that came by that were intoxicated, even the people that were doing things that maybe weren't in alignment with the scripture, like whatever that is, they were still looking at us with joy. Did you notice that? I totally did. They were curious, intrigued, yes. Yeah, they were very curious. And how do we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, how do we walk?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

And what I think is so cool about that ministry that is going on in, because I mean it's not just in Chicago, they bop all over the country in the United States. Getting the believers' heart posture ready to march. That was the thing, and being able to discern when to go and when to stay. Because had we left when we were scheduled to, because everything's on an agenda. However, when the Holy Spirit is flowing, we don't want to be people who quench it. We talked about that on here several times. We have a whole um series regarding that. But what I'm getting after is the worship team could feel, and was so, I mean, if you were there, you could feel it. The Holy Spirit's present was thick. And there was like, you know, there they went on the mic and said, We're supposed to move now, but I feel like we are called to continue to worship. And not long after that, there was an altar call, and hundreds of people came up to the altar and gave their life to Christ or rededicated themselves to the Lord, hands and knees. I mean, hands raised, knees bowed. It was a beautiful, a beautiful act to witness.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

And then we, and then they called us to pray over the people who would raise their hands in the crowd needing prayer.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

And just witnessing brothers and sisters coming alongside of other brothers and sisters praying for them. So when I said it wasn't a concert, it really wasn't. It was a moment of complete reverence to the Lord. And it was we were surrendering. Yes. We were surrendering anything that we thought to him to be able to be present for one another and walk alongside of one another. And I'm reading um first John 2, 6, and it says, Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked, meaning Jesus Christ, we're supposed to walk in how he walked. So yes, we were scheduled, they were, we were gonna start walking, but along the way, as we've had a podcast called Along the Way, like about Jesus, he stopped along the way to do to to heal and to serve as God has called him to do, as God ordained him to do. And it was so amazing. I remember this one man who he just, my perception, I didn't know him, I didn't talk to him. He said four words total, but my perception is he was literally curious at what was happening. He had no, I mean, everyone that was there had Jesus stuff on, unless they were the photographers. And he walked in and he's just observing. I mean, I saw him, I stared at him because I was like, there's something, there's something he needs. And he's watching these people in amazement praying for people. And he's just like looking, and I saw his eyes like flutter and I saw his mouth quiver. And I know he was trying to remain strong. He had the, you know, the typical man stance that's like this. And I I I called another, I asked another sister who I'd never met before. I was like, hey, we need to pray over this guy. And so she's like, okay, let's go do it. And we ended up praying over him, and he and I was like, Can we pray for you? And he's like, For me? And I'm like, Yeah, you know, and I like I didn't react to his like, what? You're gonna you you're asking me for prayer or me if you can pray for me. He's like, Well, my throat, my throat kind of hurts. But it was so much deeper than that. I I knew it. I didn't, I didn't know exactly, but I knew that I knew because I received revelation from the Lord and we prayed over him, and it was just like this guy came in off the street, curious about what this Jesus thing is, curious about what all these joyful people are doing. And what did we do in that moment? We walked alongside, we did as Jesus did, and we prayed for this man. I will never know on this side of heaven, probably maybe if the Lord wants to reveal to me what was going on within that man's heart and mind. But what I did know is that we we are to abide in him, we are to walk in the same way as which he walked. And the only way that I was able to observe and at least receive revelation from the Lord of what was happening with this man was because I was present and I was walking in the light of Christ.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Amen. Amen. I mean, of course, we're in here. It says, that is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he's a Christian should live as Christ did. And that's exactly what Jesus did throughout his ministry is he stopped along the way what he was doing to seek out the one who needed him the most in that moment. And they handed out bracelets at that event and it said, reach one more. That's all you're supposed to do. Just one more. Yep. Because you don't know what that one more is gonna affect, the ripple effect for their one more. And then pretty soon you have millions because of that one more.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

I mean, look at Billy Graham, like that's another one of like he was by the grace of God, he was here a long time on earth. Yeah, he was a hundred, ninety-nine years, I think. And you're you're you're like now reaping the benefits of him, and you never got to meet him. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

And then it's also crazy to think about who introduced Billy to Jesus. Does anyone know about that? Does anyone know the man who introduced Billy Graham to Jesus? Like, we all have an impact. We all have something that we're meant to do. And the the reason why we're reading, I believe we're reading part of the reason we're reading through 1 John, 2nd John, 3rd John is because we are called as brothers and sisters in Christ to lead you, to teach you how to walk. And we can only teach you and lead you by doing it ourselves. We can't be doing whatever we want Monday through Saturday, and then we go to church on Sunday and think you're gonna be like, oh yeah, they go to church, they're awesome. Like they love the Lord. Yeah, we may love the Lord, as our pastor said on Sunday. He might be, uh we might follow him, but our have we made him our Lord? Have we changed our ways so much? Well, that's Christ.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

We believe in Jesus, but you're not following him because you're following him. He doesn't just stop on Sundays. Jesus was following God Monday through Sunday. So I want to go on because this leads right into what you were just saying. Um, the top of my Bible says we must love each other. This is 1 John chapter 3. It says, see how very much our heavenly father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children. Think of it. We really are. That's why Christ died for us, so we can have a relationship. He is the bridge between us and God the Father. So we could be a new creation in him. He has adopted us. So it doesn't matter what your earthly parents did or did not do. You have a heavenly father who can do more than anybody can do here on this side of heaven. It goes on to say, but since most people don't know God, naturally they don't understand that we are his children. Yes, dear friends, we are already God's children right now, and we can't even imagine what it is going to be like later on. I love when the Bible does that. It says, but we do know this that when he comes, he we will be like him as a result of seeing him as he really is. And everyone who really believes this will try to stay pure because Christ is pure. And it says, God's children do right. That's also how you're gonna know. Wow. Because it goes on to say, well, if you're not gonna do that, this is what you're gonna be doing. It says, but those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God. And you know that he became a man so that he could take away our sins and that there is no sin in him, no missing of God's will at any time in any way. So if we stay close to him, we're gonna be obedient for him. We won't be sinning either. But as to him, we won't be sinning for realizing this. They sin because they never really known him or because they're his. The difference between believing and following is the obedience.

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Yeah, and I think as I'm listening to you talk, we have said this. You don't know what you don't know. But then once you know it, you're like, I can't unknow it. And I think a lot of times as I'm reading through this, as I'm thinking of just the situations, the challenges, the people that I've that we are presented with to help lead and guide by only God's grace. Because sometimes I'm like, why are you coming to me? I'm a hot mess express. Yes, they come to me because I I believe that they know that I'm gonna point them back to Jesus no matter what. And I think there's a lot of people who really don't know that they are practicing lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. And you only can know that you're practicing this is if the Lord reveals it to you. So if I come to you as a sister in Christ and I'm like, um, I'm concerned for you. I'm concerned by these choices. Can you help me understand your why you think it I don't even know if I can do this properly, but why you think this is okay. So that's it.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Just explain to me what the reasoning behind what you're doing. Just tell me why you're doing what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Because the perception by me and others is this is hurting people or causing another to sin because it looks like from the outside, whether it's true or not, or whether that's the way you're wanting to be perceived, this is what it looks like. And it and it says the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God, God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. There is a lot up in that right there.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Dude, I love that you said that because I wanted to read that next.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

There is so much in that that the only way that you can know is by having the revelation from the Holy Spirit himself.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

I so the next verse, because she had just read 10 and 11. We're still in 1 John chapter 3. So the one after that, this is a gonna be a little Bible lesson in the Bible scripture. So it says, this is verse 13. We are not to be like Cain, who belonged to Satan and killed his brother. So Cain and Abel were the first two children to walk planet Earth. They came from Adam and Eve, and it was after Adam and Eve had fallen. So Cain is the oldest, Abel was next, and Cain killed Abel Jealousy. And so why does the Bible say that Cain belonged to Satan and killed his brother? Actions speak louder than words. He truly was, I mean, it says, don't do works of the devil. You're gonna know by your fruit. So rotten fruit, you do rotten things. Says, why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing wrong and he knew very well that his brother's life was better than his. So don't be surprised, dear friends, if the world hates you. Which is why, if you're doing anything right for the Lord, in the Lord's eyes, you are, you know that you know that what you've been called to do is from Jesus. You have a target on your back, and the and you're moving the kingdom of heaven, and you're pushing back the gates of hell. Keep on marching on. Lace up your boots, put on your backpack, and keep riding on because hell's afraid, and they're gonna try to bring little minions everywhere. Um, and you just keep putting on the armor, yep, and you surround yourself with like-minded Christian people, not because you're better than them, but because you need community. You can't do this battle alone. One person going into battle, it's doable. I mean, look at you know, David and Goliath, the all the faith that David had, but he didn't do every single battle alone after that. There was an army behind him, and David was one of the greatest uh fighters or you know, soldiers that ever was in the Bible. So I just thought that was just wow.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Yeah, and as we let's just skip down to uh 1 John 4, because I think this one's really important. Segueing into oh, oh, how do I know? How do I know? Especially if I'm a new believer or I've just started reading the Bible or I've just started this Jesus, like we talked about the last two episodes. How do I know? And in First John four, because there have been times when I've I've gone to other churches or I've heard things that um leaders are talking about or saying, and I remember my husband telling me, like, we must test everything against the word of God, test everything against the word of God. Because even humans, like whether they are a pastor or your best friend, they fall short. And I think sometimes the enemy will use scripture because he knows the Bible to twist words without even realizing that it's happening. And I think that when it so first John 4, one, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world, and no matter who you look at, no matter who you admire, you must take what they say. I love it. I'm gonna test it against the word of God, not because you don't love them, not because they're not your good friend, not because you even think they're a liar, but because it says in the word of God, okay, this looks not right to me, but I know that they love the Lord. Help me with the in-between, Lord. Help me with the in-between. And I think this can help you. By this, you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. So we have no idea. Sarah and I, you have no idea who could potentially be an antichrist. No idea. The only way that we can um battle against not flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces is with the word of God and reading it.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Amen. I like the way my Bible says it just because I like layman's terms, and sometimes I can get caught up in like what exactly are they saying? Not that that's too wordy for me, but it just brings it on home a little bit more. Um, it says the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask. Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God's son, actually became a man with a human body? Does it really agree? So if so, then the message is from God. If not the message is not from God, but one who is against like the Antichrist. And it goes on to say the same things, different words from what Tina had just read. But, you know, the good news is the battle's already won.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah, and then it goes down to talk about God is love. And I think, I think we have been doing a really good job. I don't just mean we, I think the Capital C church has been doing a really good job talking about let us love one another. Love is from God, God is love, love of God was made manifest among us. Beloved, if God loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and love is perfected in us. I think, in my personal opinion, we've been doing a really good job talking about loving one another. Whether we do it or not, that's between you and Jesus. That's between you and God. But I think that we can just kind of skim over that one and move into overcoming the world. That's uh first John 5.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

Yeah, that's where I wanted to go. Perfect. Um, this is five, one. So it says, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, that he is God's Son and your Savior, then you're a child of God. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. And all who love the Father love his children too. So you can find out how much you love God's children, your brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is how you're gonna find out by how much you love and obey God. Loving God means doing what he tells you to do, and really, that isn't hard at all. For every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What one was that?

SPEAKER_01 31:47

That's first five, one through four.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

So what was the last? So that was four you just read?

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

That is powerful. I'm gonna read it in my version, just four, and then I'm gonna have you read four again in yours. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Read yours again.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

For every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil, pleasure by trusting Christ to help him. So if you caught that, her Bible says faith, my Bible says trust, and my Bible also says obey. Obedience has the ingredients of faith and trust because you're never gonna obey somebody you don't trust. You're not gonna put your faith in something that you don't believe. You're not why would you obey something or someone that you don't trust and have faith that they're leading you to the right thing?

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Woo! Mike drop. And the thing in that is how can you have faith and trust in someone whose words don't match their actions or actions don't match what God is is telling us to abide in? Yes. It's that's where the confusion comes in. That's where the um what did we talk about? Leading people astray or um misrepresenting Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yes. So that's why if you're, I mean, I'm wearing this big old Jesus shirt right now. But if I'm MF and Tina and trying to, you know, punch her before we get up on here, am I really being loving? No, it says that she's gonna know or you're gonna know if we're brothers and sisters in Christ by how much we love and obey God. So doing the things God calls us to do, not because he is um a dictator. No, you obey your parents because they have your best interest at heart. And don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm talking about the majority. Most parents or most people that have children or most friendships, they want what's in your best interest. They're not here to, you know, give you something or do something to hurt you intentionally.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Absolutely. And I think everyone comes to the table with their predetermined um decision of what's gonna happen. I think a lot of people come to the table. Well, everyone comes to the table with the life they've lived up until that point, their experiences, their trauma, their emotions, they're receiving love or not receiving love. And so they're they've already kind of made this decision of, well, this is obviously why this is happening. And I had something happen to me recently where I my heart was in such grief and agony over what is Psalm or not Psalm, Isaiah 53. It's talking about how the Lord um, well, my thoughts are not your thoughts. That's one of them.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

But Isaiah 53.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Yeah, it was basically talking about how the Lord was in such grief.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

Yet it was our grief he bore, our sorrows that weighed him down, and we thought his trouble, troubles were a punishment from God, but for his own sins, but it was ours. He was bruised and wounded for our sins.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

And I I had a moment where I was, and it was crazy because Nate was my husband was actually reading this over me because I was actually in like I felt my body like experience what would be a panic attack, and I was just crying because my heart went out to our community of people who made a choice to do something, and I'm like, how do I how do I respond in love? Because my heart is in agony and grief. And it was like in that little moment, it wasn't about judgment, it wasn't about, oh my gosh, I can't believe this or I can't believe that. It wasn't about gossip, it wasn't about slander, it was about genuine like love for my brother and sister. That how do I, how do I, as a sister in Christ, not only respond, but lead other people in how to respond?

SPEAKER_01 35:38

What's what's so good is when we were in the march, the Jesus March in Chicago, they said um something similar to that of we are here to love and we are gosh, it's it's escaping me. But basically we were chanting, you know, Jesus loves you. Yeah. Um, but you were talking about how leading other people and loving them when it doesn't look so okay, here it is. He came up, the the one of the speakers, like the worship um singers, and was like, in my prayer time this morning, my heart was grieving. I started bawling my eyes out, and I didn't, I was weeping and I didn't understand why. And God had spoken to him, my heart hurts for my people in Chicago.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

And that's exactly how I felt the night before.

SPEAKER_01 36:29

Yes, and it was condemnation, it was no, I am better than it was my heart hurts for what my children are doing. My heart hurts for how the actions and what they're doing to themselves and what the how they feel because the Lord knows what's in everybody's hearts. So people are only doing or giving others what they're giving themselves. And the Lord was showing Tina, the Lord was showing this man that at the march at least, the city of Chicago, how sadden Jesus was. And so I can only I can only imagine how how happy God was to see that his children were shining such light in the streets of Chicago. Um, same thing for you, Tina. Like, he's giving you a little snippet of his heart of what he feels for his children. And it goes on. This is now we're in 2 John. We're moving a groove, and this is 2 John chapter 1, verse number 4. It says, How happy I am to find some of your children here and to see that they are living as they should, following the capital truth, obeying God's commands. And it goes on, this is jumping down to verse six.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

Hold on one second before you do that, because I want to go back to 1 John 5, uh, 13 and 14, because so often I think things come up, things happen, we make decisions, we make choices that we we believe in our hearts. I believe every person must believe things to be true. Like even in Ecclesiastes, uh every person should enjoy their life. Like that is what we're here to do, is enjoy life. And then we go over to first John and like it gives you, okay, enjoy life. However, there's also this. And so often things happen to people after they're enjoying their life and they're like, well, the enemy's attacking me. I'm getting attacked. Uh well, no, actually, what happened was you gave the devil a foothold without even knowing that you gave the devil a foothold. And then when you're you're causing others to stumble because they're new believers or they're within the community and they're watching how you're you're um shining Jesus or not shining Jesus or being Jesus in the world, and they're confused. And then what happens is they're they're confused.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

So it's shining Jesus, claiming you're shining Jesus, but you're actually shining your own light. That's the that's the difference. You want to make sure that when you're going out into the world, you're shining Christ's light and turning off you. And so sometimes that's where you get twisted because you're representing Jesus, but it's actually Sarah. Or it's actually Tina or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 39:03

Like, yeah, it's not actually his Holy Spirit, it's you. Yeah, what are you clothed in? What what I mean, I this is funny, and I'm gonna get back to this, but it's interesting because people will always like a lot of people ask me, like, oh, you know, like how do you your hair is so long, whatever. I will tell you about five years ago, I was I was borderline ready to get a wig because I had my hair was thinning so bad for reasons that we don't need to talk about on this episode. But what I started praying was, God, I want the hair you want me to have. God, I want to wear the clothes you want me to wear to honor and glorify you. I don't want anyone to be tempted by what I'm wearing. God, I want my my face to be what you want it to be. I want my I want my wrinkles to be everywhere you want them to be. I prefer not to have them, but I started praying that because every I want everything I do to glorify you. I want everyone to look at me and see Jesus, not Tina. And I think that is so important. Like you're talking about your shirt and your attire, but it's so much deeper than that because we live in a superficial, aesthetically pleasing world. And it's like, no, we want to be Jesus pleasing.

unknown 40:05

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

I mean, he doesn't look for that, but you you get what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

He's looking for obedience. Are you willing?

SPEAKER_00 40:11

First John 5, 13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Like, what? We have eternal life. I've done nothing. In fact, I've done the complete opposite to determine eternal life, which is why I need Jesus, because only through him being in me can I have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. So are we clothed in Christ? Are we living the way he wants us to live? Are we talking the way he wants us to talk? Are we going the places he wants us to go? Are we saying yes when he wants us to say yes? Are we saying no when he wants us to say no? And then if we're not, how will he hear you? He's not gonna hear you. He says it right here in the word. So if you're getting attacked, if things aren't making sense, if you're not hearing your yes, when you believe you should be hearing your yes, I want you to take a look and assess every single second of your life. Is it obedient to Christ? If it's not, then you're gonna have to make some changes. You're going to have to abide in him, and you're gonna have to say no to things that are of your flesh.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

It is dying to yourself and it's hard and it hurts. And in the moment it may even suck. But what's on the other side of that is so much more. It is you're you are new and you're putting off the old and putting on the new. Your clothes don't just like, you know, come on at you when you like go in your closet, you have to put them on. So it's actually taking off the old things that you used to do and putting on the new things that God is calling you to do. I go ahead. God's wardrobe, if you want to know what it is, the main the main garment is love. Make sure you put that on every day. All some other ones are uh forgiveness, humility, uh, contentness. You're putting on these things every morning. Kindness and gentleness.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Um what is it? What does kindness and gentleness look like? What does it feel like? How would it dress? I mean, I have a couple mentors, women, sisters in Christ, strong, beautiful women, that I'm like, I sometimes have to think to myself, because I wasn't always this way. You can look back on my Instagram and see my flesh was definitely leading my life. And so I have to be like, okay, what would what would Amber wear? What would she dress? What would, what would she look like? What would a pastor's wife dress like when my husband preached at church? Like I had to actually say these things to myself because it's new. You to go somewhere you've never gone, you have to do things you've never done. You can't keep claiming Jesus, you can't keep walking in the way of Jesus on one or two days of the week and then the other days living in your flesh and say that you love the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

And I it is lukewarm faith. You have one foot. It isn't no hokey pokey. You know, you got to put one foot in and the other one with it. You can't ride on the side because one day Jesus is coming back. And what do you want to be caught doing? What do you want to be caught doing?

SPEAKER_00 43:27

You I mean, what I want to be caught doing is worshiping, praising, serving, loving, being like Christ. That's what I want to be caught in.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

I want to be caught in the light. I want to be caught in his light, whatever that looks like. Some of the things that Tina just said, I want to be doing those things too. I don't want to be doing the things that are hidden in the dark.

SPEAKER_00 43:47

And when I say all these things, I don't just want to be praising at church. I want to be praising in downtown Chicago to the unbelievers walking down the street. I'm not just gonna be praying in my prayer closet. I'm actually gonna be going to the stranger. On the street and saying, How can I pray for you today, sister? And she weeps to me because she's like, nobody's ever done that for me before. Like, I like this is going out into all the world and making disciples. It's not becoming like all nations. Yes. It's not becoming like the world in the world. It's being in the world and being different, looking different from the world. I know that I'm weird. I know that I'm different. Thank God I'm weird and I'm different, but it is a hard place to be sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Yeah, we're called to be peculiar.

SPEAKER_00 44:31

Because not everyone accepts the difference.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

People are gonna look at you and be like, what is going on with you? Well, I'm peculiar. People are like, you're fiery, you're passionate. Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

Yes, I am. Thank you, Jesus. And and there's, you know, even Jesus wasn't someone that you would turn your head and be like, oh, he's fine. Like he's not someone who was loved in his hometown. Like he did. He was he left his hometown because he's like, they're not gonna listen to me. I'm not gonna waste my time.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Anyways, go to your scripture. You were gonna go to one. Oh, we already did. Okay, this is um we're on the sixth, second John ver chapter one, verse number six. It says, if we love God, we will do whatever he tells us to do, and he has told us from the very first to love each other. I mean, how many times is he gonna tell us? And how many times do we not listen? I said this the other day because the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit said this through me the other day, and I was like, whoa, that's a jaw dropper. Every, you know, Jesus in um in the gospels, it talks about when Jesus calms the storm and the disciples are freaking out. They're like, How is this dude sleeping? Like, does he not realize like we might drown right now? How is this dude like snoring sound asleep? And they wake Jesus up and they're like, Jesus, like, do you see the storm right now? What's going on? I'm paraphrasing. Read your Bible. But this is like what it sounds like in my head. And Jesus is like, quiet, and the wind obeys, and he rebukes the waves, and everything's calm. And his disciples, his friends, the people who are following him, the people that he's teaching 25-8 are looking at him like this dude, even the wind and the waves obey him. Who is this guy? The wind and waves obey, the creation obeys, but we are the highest of the food chain, and we can't obey. We don't obey. The free will really gets at us. But creation does what he does because it obeys God the Father. You know, the sun comes up and the moon comes up, and the sun comes down, and the stars come out, and the waves move, and the waves come back, and the sand happens, and the birds get fed, and they reproduce, and the lions, you know, they all what is it called? The circle of life, right? And it's all going on, and they are obeying God's creation. Every noise that they make is a worship sound to the Father. But here we are speaking and cursing out of the same mouth. We obey, but in the same second, we're disobeying. And we see that in the Bible. First, Peter, you know, the clo one of the closest disciples to Jesus, who becomes Peter because he used to be Simon, and now it's Peter, you know, my church is built on the rock, you know, and he goes out, it's built on the foundation of Jesus, but he goes out and he spreads the gospel like a firm, solid rock. And he's praising God. And then, you know, in one moment Jesus is praising Peter, and then in the next second, he's like, get behind me, Satan. Like, same sentence. We are human beings, we are going to fall short. Yes, we are. Uh, but how much more what we strive to do each and every moment in each and every day? What are we doing with our time? What are we doing with our finances? What are we doing with the people we're hanging out with? Like prioritizing God's priority, yeah. And obeying to our best availability, the one second at a time.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Yeah. And the thing is, is we are sharing all of this in the hopes that you want to be more like Christ. Not more like Sarah, not more like Tina, not more like your pastor. Though all of them hopefully represent Jesus, that is what you want to be more like. So I'm gonna read. Um I'm gonna read this second John. There's only one chapter, 12, because it it's though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. We're gonna go to 2026. Though I want to speak to you, I would rather not send you a text message. I love it. Instead, I that's Jesus. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy may be complete. And this right here, 13, the children of your elect sister greet you. I just I think it's so powerful because women, it's so much easier. Although I think I witness men do it too. I think it's so much, it's so easy for people to create their own stories and their own dramas based upon what would be if you're looking at YouTube, about this much knowledge of someone's life. Instead, let's meet face to face, let's have a conversation, let's ask, let's talk, let's learn, let's grow, let's love. Because the cool part about God is when you do meet face to face and when you do abide in his word and you do honor and glorify him, and you do have the best interest of love in your brother and sister in Christ, what he does in that is far more beautiful than anything you could think, ask, or imagine. And I know this because I live it daily when I don't want to have a conversation, or I feel uncomfortable, or I avoid something, or I think I know what another person is feeling and thinking. And then I have that courageous conversation, even if it's a little conversation or it's a big conversation, and what God does in and through that obedience, you guys, I'm telling you, it's worth every anxiousness that you feel, because the Lord said, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, prayer and supplication, make your request known, and the God who hears you will grant your request. I know that I I mixed, like I put in a couple different verses, so go read your Bible yourself. But he hears you and he wants to honor you, he wants to give you the desires of your heart, but he needs you to be obedient because God is a God of order and whom he loves, obeys.

SPEAKER_01 50:47

Yes. And I just want to, you know, rephrase that just a smidge because God doesn't need you, he wants you. Yeah. Yeah. A thing of like, he doesn't tell us these things again because he is a dictator and he wants you to live this boxed life. No, he wants you to live such a full, fulfilling life that there is order and borders around what Christians, believers, followers can and cannot do to save and protect you. It's all out of love. It's not, don't do this because he's almighty and better than, and like you aren't allowed to do these things because he's the only one that can and you suck. No, it's because he knows what your yesterday and your tomorrow and your 15 years is from now. And so he's saving you the heartbreak and the heartache because he loves you and he loves your soul, he loves your heart. And we said we were gonna get to one, two, and three. So I gotta put a three in here. Yeah. This is um, and then we're gonna wrap it up.

SPEAKER_00 51:42

I think reading most of three would be good. It's super short.

SPEAKER_01 51:44

Okay, cool. Cause I wanted to start with number one. So it says, um this is you know addressed to Gaius, but that's verse one. But two says, Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is healthy as I know your soul is. So, how healthy is your soul? Because your body's gonna follow. That was the Holy Spirit. Wow. Because whatever, and you can know this all day long, and we've said it before, it's gotta drop between that 18 inches from your head to your heart because you're not gonna do anything that hasn't dropped in your heart because it activates you to do something with your hands, to do something about it. Don't just be hearers of the word, be doers of it. That's James 1, 22.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

Yeah, and I mean it goes back to if you love the Lord, what are you gonna eat? What are you gonna drink? What are you gonna say to yourself? Wow, that was so powerful, Sarah. And I there's so many people that I work with that I I know that I know in the deepest part of my heart that the reason why their health is not where they want it to be and where they desire it to be is most of the time because the words that were spoken over them when they were little. How people treated them that were supposed to love them, the things that they were told, because the more you are told something, the more you will believe it, especially when it's somebody that you love. I I mean, I think to someone that I was with in the past and the words that he spoke over me, and eventually I started to believe it, and I couldn't believe when I met my husband that someone could be so kind and loving. It took his words over and over, it took the reading the word of God over and over and over for me to understand like, oh, it's not what that person said, it's actually what God said, but it creates this, it takes up space in your mind and it's repetitive over and over. And the way that our brain works, we've talked about this before, neurologically, you're told something over and over and over and over and over again, it gets it keeps getting repeated, just like watching horror movie horror movies, just like watching TikToks all day long or however long you watch them, just like listening to certain music, secular music. It's not like we're like anti-horror movies, anti-secular music, anti, anti, anti.

SPEAKER_01 53:57

What is it doing to your soul? Yeah. Because whatever it's doing to your soul is coming out into society.

SPEAKER_00 54:02

And you're going to act as such. You're going to, if you're listening to certain things on the mu in music, you're going to act in certain ways that you don't even realize that you're acting. You're going to talk certain ways, you're going to dress certain ways, you're going to um go and let allow people to talk to you certain ways. And so I am, I, I am pleading to you to change the things you watch, the things you listen to, the things you eat, the things you drink, and the lies that you believe.

SPEAKER_01 54:31

Because that's the thing, is this has to be your standard. At some point, you gotta be, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and listening to people who have been speaking over you that is all false, that you've been believing as true. So you're walking your life in that. If you want to change life, this book will change your life. It will. You put this at the standard and you trust God's word because it doesn't come back void. You gotta believe that. We can sit here until we're blue, green, yellow, orange in the face and tell you that red, you know, fiery red. And but until you believe it, we're just gonna look like we're crazy. And we're gonna have this joy that you don't understand that you almost are like, uh, get away from me because it it seems unfathomable to you, but I promise you, it's so tangible.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

It is, it is, it is, it is. Uh 3 John 4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth. So, what is truth? Truth is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not my truth, not her truth, not his truth. We've said that numerous times before. I love when God shows up and shows off that his scripture is what we've been saying. That's because we read our Bible. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers, and they are who testified to your love before the church. Do you want to read your version? Because mine, you're right, it is wordy, and I love it, but it's wordy.

SPEAKER_01 55:56

I love, I gotta pause because I love what he's calling us. So, like, John is a brother in Christ, and he's calling us beloved. You know, like we're not like, what up, you know, D bag or like hi, loser. Like, we're speaking, he's speaking life. Like, how beautiful is that?

SPEAKER_00 56:13

Oh my gosh. Kids talk to themselves that way these days. Like, I know that this is a normal thing and it's like the teasing. I mean, outside of Jesus, you're gonna talk however you want. And I think in a school, especially well, high school, middle school, whatever, the way that they talk to each other, it breaks my heart. So if you have children in middle school, high school, I encourage you not only to pray for other kids that may be treating your kid unfairly, or but I pray for your own child because I have to ask my son, are you speaking in love and then coming home and complaining to me about how someone's not speaking to you in love? Because you need to be real with yourself. And this doesn't just happen in high school, it happens as adults too. We have to be obedient in how we speak to others and how like we receive what others speak to us. Because maybe kids will just come at you and be jerks to you, but I I have to imagine that everyone is jerks to everyone else. Unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 57:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:17

And we have to be different.

SPEAKER_01 57:19

Uh, we just went to uh just a small store. We went to this new place in uh Maryville, if you're from the northwest Indiana area. It's called House of Garlic. And on there, um, when you come in the door or when you're looking at what you're gonna get, it says um habibi. And so my husband and I looked up what a habibi is, and it's like my dear, my love, because it's like for little habibies. And I'm like, and then it's like welcome, habibi. I'm like, this is so cute. Like, I want to be called a habibi, like my love, my dear, my darling. It's a word of an affirmation of endearment.

SPEAKER_00 57:53

That is so crazy because I sent that to Jeffrey, my son, who's not with us when we went there, and I had no idea what it meant. And I sent it to him, and he's like, uh, so sweet and I didn't.

SPEAKER_01 58:05

So I just thought it was so awesome. It says, I mean, even in here, it says dear friend in my version, but beloved. And we have an amazing woman of God in our life that did a whole um event, event called beloved. But if you break that down and you just have two words, it's be loved. So you're walking in love, you are beloved, you're held, you are you are the apple, you are the you know, spark of the Lord's eye. Like you are his favorite. So am I, so is she. We all are. He has no favorites, but he loves you, he died for you. If there was nobody else on this earth, he still would have died for you. I just, I mean, I'm just in awe of what he does. So Tina's version, we're going on. This is verse number five. Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God and taking care of the traveling teachers and missionaries who are passing through. They have told the church here of your friendship and your love, your loving deeds. I'm glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift. So this is talking about taking care of other people who are spreading the good news, sharing the good news, taking care of your brothers and sisters in Christ along the way. Um, the you know, gift of hospitality. Um, you could keep reading. Yeah, why don't you? Okay, I'm gonna keep going.

SPEAKER_00 59:23

It's good. I think we should close up with this. Okay. Yep. Um, it kind of, I feel like it kind of brings everything together.

SPEAKER_01 59:30

Okay. Um, I am glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift. Generosity is a gift of the spirit. For they are traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they have preached to them. So wait, what one was that? That's verse seven. So for traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they preach to them. So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord's work. So when you give each and every Sunday, it's not because you're giving because the pastor did a good job. You're giving because you're fulfilling the kingdom agenda and building his kingdom forward.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:14

Wow, I'm thinking to myself about how it is better to give than receive, no matter what. When you give away, like what you give away, you have forever. But then I'm also thinking about how we like we live in a world that is very conditional, very expectational. So if I do this, then I'll get this. If I do this, then I'll get this. God is literally telling us to accept nothing from Gentiles. And I believe it doesn't say this in here, but he's saying don't accept it because you don't want to owe anyone anything, but you also want to be a representation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you just give, you give what you have, you give it away because that is what Jesus did. Jesus didn't accept things from the Gentiles, did he?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:00

I don't, I don't think so. Read your Bible.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:03

Yeah, no, I just think that's powerful because how many times you give something to someone and then they're just like waiting, and it creates this awkward thing in a relationship because it's like, well, they didn't give me this. I think I I know I've been guilty of like, well, I'm not gonna do that because they didn't do this. And like you've had to say to me, Well, that's not like that's that's conditional. And I'm like, oh yeah, it is. That like that doesn't sound good, but we don't want to owe anyone anything, and that's I think what he's saying. You want to owe anyone anything, but you want to always give Jesus away. Always, always, always, always.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:34

Amen. Uh, it continues on. This is verse number eight. So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord's work. I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud help me out, Dio Trefus, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me. Don't be a person who refuses to take criticism or critiques. There's a way to be, what's that? Um it's like helpful.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:14

Yeah, I think anything someone shares with you should always, always be an opportunity for you to be like, okay, is this right? Is this accurate what this person is saying, or are they full of bilagna? And either way, if it's bilogna, you brush it off your shoulder, you move on. But if it pierces you, there's some truth to it, and you want to receive it, learn from it, take it to God and let him change you. You're not doing it for that other person, but hopefully that other person is doing it for the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:43

And no matter what, God will turn everything around for your good and his glory. So even if they were being buttholes about it, like God will use it. Give it to him.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

Amen. When I come, I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he's saying about me and what insulting language he's using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself, but tells others not to. And when they do, he tries to put them out of the church. Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do what is right prove that they are God's children, and those who continue in evil prove that they are far from God. But everyone, including Capital Truth itself, speaks highly of Demetrius. I myself may say the same for him, and you know I speak the truth. I have much to say, but I don't want to write it, for I hope to see you soon, and then we will have much to talk about. So goodbye for now, friends. Uh, sending the your love, and please give each of the folks their special greeting from your sincerely John. So remember, he's talking to somebody about something for someone.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:50

And John, you know, John was an old man at this point. So I think he has wisdom enough in his in this ministry that he was doing. And if he's repeating something, if he's repeating over, I could write with pen and paper, but I don't want to. I want to see you face to face. There's probably some truth to it. God doesn't want Jesus doesn't want you to send that text message over and over expecting a different result. That's the definition of insanity by who was that? One of the scientists or something said that. Um so make sure that you are sitting face to face and having that conversation in love. And he will reward you and you will reap the benefits.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:30

Amen. This has been a lengthy, long, hopefully uh spirit-filled, I know spirit-filled, but hopefully helpful to you who have listened today.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:39

We love you. Have a beautifully blessed, fearless Friday. If this added value, if this challenged you, please share it with someone because every time you share it with someone, then it's able to get out to more people. Odd, I know, but that's just how it works. So we would love if you could just take that 20 seconds to share this podcast with somebody that you love and care about that wants to grow closer to the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:00

Yes, and until next Fearless Friday.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:02

Bye.