TheeSoulFuel Podcast
Welcome to your essential pitstop, where your soul gets the fuel it needs for life’s journey. In Christ, faith is the vehicle steering us through every twist and turn. Join us as we dive into real conversations about real-life challenges, all viewed through the lens of scripture. Don’t leave empty—come and be filled with the wisdom, strength, and grace to keep going.
TheeSoulFuel Podcast
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Discover the transformative power of positive influence on your spiritual journey in our latest SoulFuel podcast episode. As we unpack the dynamics of personal growth, we delve into the profound effects that our surroundings and companions have on our walk with Christ. I share insights into the necessity of the Holy Spirit's guidance as we face the distractions of social media trends and celebrity culture. The dangers of negative associations are laid bare, with wisdom drawn from Proverbs and 1 Corinthians to illustrate how poor company can tarnish our good character and hinder our spiritual progress.
Embarking on our life's purpose requires a nurturing community, and this episode shines a light on just that. Hear my personal reflections on the shifts in calling I've experienced, from filmmaker to pastor, and the constant pursuit of leading others to Jesus. We discuss the delicate balance of maintaining a marriage immune to toxic influences and the critical role of a church's spirit — far beyond mere attendance. Making tough decisions to change our environment is sometimes necessary for growth, and I share how such choices have shaped my faith journey.
Finally, we explore the essential practice of guarding our hearts against negativity. Using God's Word and discernment as a shield, I emphasize the importance of creating distance from harmful influences to stay true to God's will. We touch on self-discovery within the bounds of our identity in Christ and how it can be a beacon on our path. This episode offers a stirring reminder from Proverbs 13:20 on the impact of our friendships on spiritual growth, and we close with the reassurance of God's unchanging nature. Tune in to empower your faith journey by fostering relationships that elevate rather than impede your spiritual walk.
Sometimes, where we are could be the very reason we haven't seen the results that we want to see. Your location and proximity to negative people can hinder you. This is the SoulFuel podcast. This is the SoulFuel podcast, the pit stop for you to get fueled up and gassed up for your drive and your journey in Christ. I am your host, willie Robbins III.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about how the environment and the people around you can significantly impact our personal growth and success, and it's a powerful concept that resonates both practically and spiritually, and this is the Soul Fuel podcast. So I want you to understand how this can affect you more so spiritually. So here are a few things that I believe that is going to help you in your journey in walking with Christ, because we all have dreams and aspirations where we want to get to, but while our dreams and aspirations are cool and everything, it's important that we understand that what's more important is our souls and the condition of our souls that we're always doing what God has called us to do and what he's purposed for us to do right. And so influence is everything, because Christ called us to not only just to be saved that is the will of the Father but he called us to have influence on people so that when what people see our good works, our good actions, our good deeds, they will glorify our father, who is in heaven. Right, we have to be careful with this, because we need to understand that we can't let people influence us, but we must influence people. The only influence that is had over us, or the only influence that we're under, should be by the Holy Spirit. I mean, it's just that simple. It should be the Holy Spirit, because if we're not, then we're out here moving like celebrities. We are here moving like everybody else. We are here moving like, like, like they move. You know, on social media, know on social media, everybody that's pretending or trying to live that life, chasing the bag, doing whatever it is that they feel is necessary for them to do.
Speaker 1:It's important for us to understand that that is not where our influence is. We should not let these things influence us. Our surroundings, including the people we spend time with, can influence our thoughts, actions and, ultimately, our success, because if we're watching other people, then we can't really see how jacked up we're going, because there's a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to destruction. That is Proverbs. If we're in a negative environment, it can limit our potential, but it's it's important to understand something that paul says in first corinthians, chapter 15, verse 33 one of my favorite verses and it says do not be deceived for evil.
Speaker 1:Communication corrupts good manners. We can say it this way do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good manners. We can say it this way Do not be misled Bad company corrupts good character.
Speaker 1:This verse warns us about the dangers of being in close association with negative or morally corrupt individuals. We know certain people to be not of God, right, we know some people to be not of God. And so when we associate ourselves, like the bishop, associating himself, whether if he is guilty or not guilty, he associated himself with somebody that is considered evil, somebody that is known to be evil. And so what do you expect? What do you expect? Scripture tells us to not let your good be evil spoken of. In other words, when you're doing good, nobody should ever be able to speak evil about it. But here we are, we see the situation that took place several months ago and and probably there's more attention to stopping it now because of what's been said, what's come out in court documents. But I really want you to pay attention to that situation because, guilty or not guilty, my man, you are hanging with people who are known to have these types of parties, who are known to get down with the get down, and then we want to, we want to try to, we want to defend ourselves and say the devil is a liar. Well, you made the devil lie on you. You made it possible I shouldn't say you made the devil lie on you, but you made it possible for the devil to lie on you and I don't. It's just like being in school.
Speaker 1:When we were in school, well, I can say, when I was in school, I was a class clown, right, and there were certain situations I got myself in, such as talking. You know, the teacher would call home on me out of everybody else. When everybody else is talking, I get picked out Out of the whole entire classroom. Right, willie, you're talking, sit over here. And the thing to to to, to pay attention to, is that I was being influenced by others that were talking. And just because I'm the only one that got picked out does not mean that I was not influenced, or it doesn't mean that everybody else wasn't doing the same thing. I just happened to be the one that got called out because it was really looking back at it.
Speaker 1:It was symbolic for me in saying that, hey, I know better. I can't do what everybody else can do. Even to this day, I can't do what everybody else can do. There are certain freedoms that we, that that we have as Christians, and a lot of things that are not sin, uh, that are not considered sin, but for me I can't do it. The Holy spirit convicts me for some of those things. Right, what's important to point out in this illustration of me being a kid and being uh pointed out is the fact that I had to be moved because of my environment, and sometimes little did I know that it was the teacher protecting me from the people that I was hanging with. You understand what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So my environment, and not just the classroom but the area of where I was sitting in the classroom, led to me being unsuccessful in my schoolwork, being unsuccessful to being able to manage my behavior, because I wanted to, you know, make people laugh. I wanted to laugh, I wanted to sit around the people who were goofy. Well, really, those goofy people were people who were kind of bad. They all like, when I look back at it now, those classes that I was, that, that where I had to be moved and and sometimes I was taken out of classes and put into another class just because of my behavior. When I look back at it now, I'm like man. Every, all of those people that were considered class clowns ended up being getting in trouble with the law later on, when we all dispersed and graduated from school Right, I look back at it now and I see some people on Facebook and some people made the news, some people died, some people didn't make it, and I look back at it and I'm like man.
Speaker 1:It was really my environment and even though I was in the same classroom as those people, the teacher again would move me, and I experienced this almost in every grade level, almost every grade level. I always got moved. Willie, go over here. Willie, move to the front, willie, move. And I always had something to say. Man, everybody talking too, Everybody talking too. You're not like other people.
Speaker 1:And this all goes to back to our topic today is that a lot of your success has a lot to do with your location. Sometimes, again, where we are could be the very reason we haven't seen the results that we want to see. It's because of our location and the proximity to negative people who are affecting us. In school, it was my proximity to negativity All the way up into being an adult, being out of school, when you go and work a job. There are negative people everywhere. Some people call them negative Nancy, negative Nicole, negative Nico. You know, and so you have to watch your proximity.
Speaker 1:It doesn't mean don't be cordial to people. It doesn't mean don't be unlikable, don't be cordial to people. It doesn't mean don't don't be uh uh unlikable. Don't be unpleasant doesn't mean be rude. It means that you have to be cautious of who you consider to be in your circle. You got to be cautious because, if you're not, they're going to corrupt your good character and and really what this hints to as people who are cognizant of the condition of our souls, those of us that are believers, right, we got to be aware of who's talking to us and who we're talking to.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you could be talking to the wrong person, putting your ideas into the wrong person's ears, and they'll work against you. Some would even probably try to beat you to the punch. Would that be a reason to not go through what you have been led to do or what the Lord has given you the idea to do. No, that don't mean don't do it because nobody could ever do it like you do it. It just simply means you can't tell everybody everything, and it would mean that your proximity to negativity is really close, especially when you feel like you're in competition. You should never, ever, feel like you're in competition with anybody. If anybody, there could be healthy competition with yourself, healthy competition, but not with anybody else, because that puts you in a place where you shouldn't be spiritually and it's not good for the soul.
Speaker 1:You'll find yourself exhausted trying to keep up with everybody else. You'll find yourself exhausted trying to keep up with Instagram. You'll find yourself exhausted trying to keep up with people that you don't like on Facebook and people that you do like. You'll find yourself exhausted trying to keep up with Instagram. You find yourself exhausted trying to keep up with people that you don't like on Facebook and people that you do like. You'll find yourself exhausted Trying to do what everybody else is doing when all you got to do is just switch it up. Go somewhere else. You need to go somewhere else in your mind, in Jesus, always in God, acknowledging him in everything that you do, because when you acknowledge him, when you acknowledge him, he directs your path.
Speaker 1:So constant exposure to negativity can drain our energy and diminish our ability to focus on positive goals. It will diminish our ability to focus on the things that we are aspiring, not even aspiring the things that we are actively chasing. It's crucial to recognize when relationships or environments are pulling us away from our purpose, and we know that, as believers, we all pretty much share the same purpose. This is what I believe and this is what I believe. The scripture tells us that we all have the same purpose. We may have different callings and our callings might change, but it's all for the same purpose. It's all for the purpose to lead people to Jesus, to live a life that testifies that Jesus saves right. And then we're called to different roles and responsibilities throughout our lifetime. Surrounding ourselves with a supportive, positive community can uplift us and propel us toward achieving our goals.
Speaker 1:This is why church is so important the spirit of church, not church folk, but the spirit of church. I hope you get the difference, because church folk gossip. Church folk don't really love the Lord like they say they do. When I say the spirit of church, I mean the body of Christ, people who are in the body of Christ. You need community, you need fellowship. You do this way, you're not alone. This way, you're not taking in the negativity from work, the negativity from school, wherever you're hearing negative words that try to make love to your mind, to give birth to negative thoughts. You need an encouraging community to hold you accountable and to give you wisdom and to spread wisdom, as you could give wisdom in certain areas of their lives as well, because if we don't do this, we don't grow.
Speaker 1:This is why you have to go. This is why you have to switch up your location. This is why you have to switch up where you can be found. Get this you have to switch up where you can be found or where you used to be found. If you used to be found in doubting, if the enemy could always find you in doubting, that's where he could show up, that's where he could send people or use people to speak to you, to continue to keep you or to try to keep you there in that same place. You got to understand this. You got to see this. You got to see it for what it really is, because you will encounter negative people. If you're listening to me right now, you've already encountered negative people, so you got to remember these several things.
Speaker 1:Influence of environment Again, our surroundings, including the people we spend time with, can influence our thoughts, actions and, ultimately, our success. Proximity to negativity constant exposure to negativity can drain our energy and diminish our ability to focus on positive goals. It's crucial to recognize when relationships or environments are pulling us away from our purpose, and let me say it's our purpose in Christ. Our purpose in Christ. And when we know this, we can't help but pay attention to the importance of community, the encouraging accountability and wisdom that comes from other people that are in Christ, because what can the dark tell the light when the dark cannot comprehend the light? Light has no fellowship with darkness. What do we have in common, even the people that that that live in darkness? What do we have in common, besides the fact that we're human, when we don't, when we don't believe in the same things? You don't serve the same god that I serve. Why are we talking? Why? Why? Why are we see? This is where the negativity comes, and this is why you cannot be deceived for evil again.
Speaker 1:Evil communication corrupts good manners, your manners in talking to the Lord, your manners in your prayer life, your manners to say not yes, sir, no sir, or yes ma'am, no ma'am, but yes, lord, right, because if we're not paying attention to the community, again, we're allowing negativity to go in the ear and not out the other. We like to say that it's going out the other ear, but it's really not. It's really not. Your brain is compartmentalizing it, because you use the negativity when you want to use the negativity and you can't when you expect the peace of god to guard your heart and your mind. How are you supposed to guard your heart? You guard your heart with the word of god. You guard your heart with discernment. You guard your heart from by staying away from negativity. You guard your heart by switching up your location.
Speaker 1:Where you, where the devil could find you, you should no longer be there, because you were once lost and now you've been found, especially if you're a believer. The Lord Jesus has found you and the light shines. And wherever you are, whatever you're looking at, the light of the Lord sheds light on that thing. That's what the sermon is. That's what the Holy Spirit does, that's what he helps us do is to be able to see what we couldn't see before. We would have been blinded to it, we would have been blindsided, we would have been taken advantage of. But we have to learn how to disregard the negativity and know what we're hearing, know who's talking to us, so that we can grow personally, so that we can develop and be the men and women of God that he's called us to be.
Speaker 1:Moving away from negative influences allows us to embark on a personal journey of growth and self-discovery and it's not necessarily self-discovery all the way, because we understand who we're made in and we're made in the image of God, right, we're made in the image of the Father. As believers, we're made new, we're brand new. But when we move away from negative influences, it allows us to flourish, we can flourish and we won't be drained of our energy and our, our, our focus on our goals, whether it be business first, I always want to make sure that we we're understanding that our first goal, our first purpose, is the lord jesus right. That should always be our first goal. But but I also understand that we have businesses, we have dreams, we have aspirations, but at the same time, again, we have to make sure that those are aligned with the will of God.
Speaker 1:But when we have personal growth and development, this only comes again from moving away from negative influence. We got to move away from negative influences. You have to, because when we do this, that the distance away from negativity provides the space to develop our strength and work on our weaknesses the weaknesses in the natural sense, the weaknesses in, maybe, our thought process, our cognitive I don't know the word I'm looking for right here but it just in different ways that we can do better Time management, different, different aspects like money management, finance, financial literacy, digital literacy all of these things we can get better if, if we don't allow the proximity to be close With negativity. I hope this is making sense for you, because the space that it gives us allows us to grow, just like again in the classroom when I was sent to the seat by myself or sent to the back of the classroom, more so in the front of the classroom, because really all the bad through probably almost every generation of children have the cool kids always sat in the back. Rosa Parks did all that sitting in the front and did all that just for folks to grow up generations later to sit in the back and high school and having to move, I grew and I was able to understand my work and what the teacher was teaching, because I didn't have any distractions. I didn't have anything.
Speaker 1:That was Willie, willie, willie. Look at this, look at this. Ah, he's stupid. Look, look, look, look, willie, willie, willie, willie. Hey, willie, willie. Look you stupid bro. Look Willie, look at this, Look at this. Ah, he's stupid. Look, look, look, look, willie, willie, willie. Hey Willie, willie. Look you, stupid bro. Look, look, look at this, look, draw this picture right here. I bet you can't do this. I bet you can't do that.
Speaker 1:All of these were distractions. But when I move, when my proximity changed, when my location changed, from where I could be identified, not calling those, those other students, the devil, but just looking at them. You know, in this, in this illustration, just looking at them as a distraction, as the devil would be a distraction, as the things of this world would be a distraction. Right, all these things are calling out to us to try to get us from learning what we're supposed to be learning, what the Lord has put on the board, what Jesus has taught us through the scriptures. Right, we are able to grow and comprehend and take it in, when we are no longer fellowshipping with the darkness.
Speaker 1:Spiritual health, our spiritual wellbeing can be greatly affected by our environment. Right, and that's kind of the undertone of everything that I've been talking about so far, is that our spiritual well-being, our walk in Jesus, can be greatly affected by our environment. Now, we know we live in this world, but although we live in this world, but although we live in the world, but first John would say do not love the things of the world, do not, do not love the world. I had to get it right Do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. And if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, right?
Speaker 1:So again, although we are in the world, we understand that every environment we can't control, but when we can control it, that's where it counts. And guess what? Where you are controlling the environment, such as your car, such as your house, such as the places where you can control the environment, your work area, where you can control your work area, where you can control the environment. This is going to determine a lot of times how successful you are at remaining in Christ and doing the things that you're supposed to do when you go out into the world, when you leave the environments that you do have control over, when you go out into the world and go into environments that you have no control over. You're able because watch this Whatever you practice in private, it's got to come out in public. Whatever you practice in private, it's got it's gonna come out in public. It will.
Speaker 1:So we have to understand that our, our, our spiritual walk is depending on our ability to switch up our location. Seek the lord, while he may be found, to switch up our location. Seek the Lord, while he may be found. He can be found because he never went anywhere. He is the Lord, our God, jehovah, yahweh, he is, he's the same today, yesterday and forever. I might've said that wrong, but it's the same thing. You know what I'm saying. He is the same. He's not switching it that wrong, but it's the same thing. You know what I'm saying. He is the same. He's not switching it up on nobody. He's the same God, the same God in the Bible, in the New Testament, in the Old Testament. Guess what? He's? The same God before the Bible was even written, before his spirit inspired man to write. He was still God and he was still without error. He was still perfect.
Speaker 1:You got to be careful who you walk with. You got to be careful who you talk with. You got to be careful even who you consider friends. Proverbs 13 and 20 says this walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. See, this is emphasizing the importance of choosing our companions wisely.
Speaker 1:Wives, come on, men, be wise in choosing your wives or your not wives. Let me not say that because y'all going like, ooh, he talking about monogamy, he talking about monogamy? No, I'm not. I'm talking about, I'm talking to all who, who is supposed to have one wife, right, and I'm saying this, I'm gonna say it again. So we have to be careful, men, in choosing your wife. Women, you have to be careful in choosing a husband, for we know that he that finds a wife finds a good thing, and I believe that the man knows his wife when he sees his wife, when he meets her right. It don't take all day, it don't take 100 years for him to propose and know that a woman is his wife, right? That's a whole different topic. Y'all let me know down in the comments, in the reviews, if you want, if you want to go down that road.
Speaker 1:But regardless whether if it's a spouse or a friendship, a friendship relationship or a hot relationship, we must ensure that they share common values and spiritual goals, because we don't realize that we go out of the way to try to be friends and fit in with people who who don't don't care to value what we value. Right. And it doesn't mean that you can't be cordial, you can't be acquaintances to people who don't believe like you believe. It doesn't mean because, guess what, we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves and guess what? The enemy, the people who serve the devil, are still our neighbors and we still have to show them the love of God if we want them to come out of darkness. So, yeah, we still, we still show, we still show that kind of love. But I really just want you to understand that it's important that we choose the people that we call friends wisely, as they can influence our path in life. Call friends wisely, as they can influence our path in life. They can.
Speaker 1:Some of you that are listening, really everybody that is listening right now can literally say, hey, I know some people that met somebody and changed. They turned their life completely around. You didn't met some people, you didn't seen some people who was completely sane until they got with uh, a woman who got with a guy, or a guy who got with a woman and they began to get them to smoking weed and then the weed. Then they got them to go from weed to coke. They got them to go from coke to heroin. You know what I'm saying. So we, we've seen these things before. We've seen people influence people, and this is all we're talking about. And when you change your location, when you heroin, you know what I'm saying. So we've seen these things before. We've seen people influence people, and this is all we're talking about. And when you change your location, when you change where you can be found, when you change where these people can find you at, when you change this, you change the trajectory of your life. You change how they can affect you, because they won't want to come where you are and if they try to, they won't be successful. You understand what I'm saying?
Speaker 1:So again, second Corinthians, second Corinthians tells us I mean first Corinthians, first Corinthians tells us in chapter 15, 33 do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character. And even Paul says this in 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 14, do not be yoked with unbelievers. Do not be yoked together. Know what it is to be yoked together. It means to be tied together. It means to be put in in in one, in a yoke together. A yoke is is, is a is a mechanism that holds necks and holds heads in place. And so this is what he's saying not to do do not be yoked, don't be chained, don't be attached to unbelievers.
Speaker 1:For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Again, what does light and darkness have in common, or what fellowship can light have with darkness? This encourages believers to be mindful of their closest relationships. You got to assess them, ensuring they share common values and spiritual goals. You have to do this. This will help you tremendously as you walk with the Lord. This will help you tremendously as you follow. You know the dreams that the Lord has given you, I should say your aspirations, the things that you want to do according to his will, right. So you have to. You have to Psalm 1, and I want to give you this Psalm 1, verses 1 through 3,.
Speaker 1:Blessed is the one who does not walk in the step with the wicked, in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. Whose what? Whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. I want you to see something right here. He says but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. There's another Psalm that says delight yourself in him and he will give you the desires of your heart. You cannot get the desires of your heart when you are not delighted in him. And what does it mean to delight? Well, according to Psalm one, to delight yourself in him is to delight, is to, is to love the law of the Lord. Plain as day to love the law of the Lord. Plain as day to love the law of the Lord. And what he gives. Paul to write in Corinthians literally speaks to that. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, nor take or sit in the company of markers, but whose delight, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. When you delight yourself in him, you love the law of the Lord and you meditate on this day and night. That's Psalms 1, psalms the first division, verses 1 through 3.
Speaker 1:This is highlighting the blessing of choosing a path aligned with the will of God, away from negative influences. I don't know who's listening to this. I don't know who's listening to this. I don't know. If you're in high school, college, grown and an adult, working your job, moving up the corporate ladder, wherever you are, guess what? You cannot let anything separate you from the love of God, and we know the thing that separates us from the love of God is sin, and we don't want that because we love him. We really do, I know I do. This is the fuel that you need for your soul to have this understanding that you have to change your location, move away from those who are not after the Lord, move away from ideas that that are not of God, and I pray that this episode has blessed you today, because I know it blessed me when I was just thinking about it and I'm like, okay, this got to be episode three, I've got topics to talk about, but I had to jump and make this one the third episode, and so this has been episode three of the Soul Fuel podcast, again, your pit stop to get fueled up for your soul, to get fueled up for your drive and your journey in Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1:Again, I'm your host, willie Robbins III, aka Pastor Will, and this episode is sponsored by Red Passage Productions, where faith-driven artistry meets exceptional media. We specialize in narrative films, event captures and impactful commercial work, all designed to inspire and resonate deeply. So if you are in the Dallas area and you are in need of some cinematography or some good production, go to the website redpassageproductionscom for all of your media needs. All right, listen, it's been real people. I hope this has been good for you, just as it's been good for me. I'm out until next time, peace.
