Reviving Recovery Unbound: Beliefs to Freedom

Reviving Recovery: Unbound — Healing the Lie, Finding the Truth (Special Introduction Episode)

If you’re listening today, chances are you’re carrying something — a weight, a habit, a struggle, a lie you’re tired of living with. You are not alone. Every single one of us faces challenges, and God meets us right in the middle of them.

In this special episode, Allen and Stacy Jo introduce Reviving Recovery: Unbound, their Holy Spirit–led ministry designed to break emotional strongholds, dismantle lies, and restore true identity according to God’s Word. Unbound isn’t traditional recovery — it’s deeper. It’s about uprooting the lie at the core and receiving truth that leads to real, lasting freedom.

In this episode, Allen and Stacy walk through:
 • What Reviving Recovery: Unbound is and why it exists
• Why “what you believe” shapes every emotion and reaction
• How lies take root through childhood wounds
• Why recovery isn’t just for addiction — it’s for misplaced identity
• The difference between challenges and “problems”
• How the Holy Spirit speaks, guides, and reveals truth
• Why silence, solitude, and journaling transform the heart
• The 3 Fundamentals of Unbound
• The 4 Essentials of Spirit-Engaged Journaling
• What actually happens in an inner-healing & deliverance session
• One simple first step listeners can take today

Reviving Recovery: Unbound online begins Monday, February 2nd at 7 PM EST.

➡️Learn More
➡️Register

You will need:
 • The Reviving Recovery: Unbound book
• The Reviving Recovery: Unbound journal
• Your Bible
• A willing heart

Key Scriptures: Isaiah 43:19, Proverbs 18:21, Romans 8, Matthew 16, John 14 & 16, 2 Corinthians 5:17

If this episode stirs something in you:
• Pray about joining the Online Unbound Community
• Share the episode with someone who needs healing
• Leave a 5-star review so others can find the show

The Kingdom LeadHERship Conference 2026 is happening January 31st in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This one-day, Spirit-led experience is for Christian women in business and leadership who are ready to step boldly into their God-given calling.

🎟️ Tickets are limited. Sponsorships are available.

👉 Get your ticket now:   www.acbw.org

Reviving Recovery: Unbound starts online Monday, February 2nd at 7:00 PM We worship, we learn, we break out into gender specific groups and we journal with. Each other and with the Holy Spirit. If your heart is stirring listening to this, pay attention Healing begins here. Click the link below to join us at Reviving Recovery Unbound starting February 2nd.

www.revivingrecovery.com

See you in the room!

Transcript

0:01

Are you ready to build a life, business and legacy that truly lasts? Welcome to Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne, where Faith meets real talk. Biblical wisdom meets everyday life and leadership meets laughter. Together we will uncover God's blueprint for leadership, marriage, and mission, helping faith-driven leaders invest in what matters most. Each episode, we explore biblical wisdom, have real conversations, and of course, have some fun along the way because let's be real. Walking in faith is an adventure. It sure is. So pull up a seat, grab your coffee or your sweet tea, and join us as we steward our callings with intention, because when we invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase. Hello friends, and welcome back to Faithfully Invested, where we share our experience on how to steward your whole life, your heart, mind, soul, and strength with Jesus at the center. Yeah. We are so glad you're here. And if you're listening today, chances are you're carrying something, a weight, a habit, a relationship, a relationship, struggle, challenge, challenge, challenges, maybe even a nagging lie that you're tired of having around or living with. Right? And we wanna say, welcome to our Reviving Recovery: Unbound episode. So you might ask, Hey Allen, Stacy, what the heck's Reviving Recovery: Unbound. Yeah. What is Reviving Recovery: Unbound, Allen? Well, the short answer is it's an alternative life recovery aimed at tearing down idols so that we can discover our identity per God's word, or what we like to call our truth, identity. The fact is we all face challenges. You're facing a challenge. I'm facing a challenge. Stacy faces challenges. I face challeng challenges. We all face challenges. Please know that you are not alone in facing your challenges. It's a hundred percent true. Statistics show that 10 out 10 people walking around breathing air are facing challenges, really? 10 out of 10? Well, you know, that's what stats saying. All right. Well, I would totally believe that. So to kick off this, uh, episode today, uh. While we know, uh, Solomon's truth through Ecclesiastes that there's nothing new under the sun. Uh, we at Reviving Recovery: Unbound or, or Unbound for short, uh, through the life recovery community, uh, Unbound isn't something that we commonly see, so we like to frame it up, uh, with the Prophet Isaiah's common, chapter 43, uh, verse 19. Behold. I will do something new. And I, Isaiah is a prophet. So the I in Isaiah's, uh, verse here is, is God. Mm-hmm. He's, he's, he's the mouthpiece for God. Uh, behold I will do something new now. It will spring forth. Will you not be aware of it? I will make a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. And that's the heart of this whole journey. Yeah. That's the heart of our journey through life. Uh, God's doing something new right in the middle of what might feel dry, uh, where you might feel stuck through something that might seem impossible. And it all starts with what we believe. Hmm. Yeah. You know, and that, that's where Unbound starts. That's it. That's the beginning of Unbound. And for those of you who don't know what Unbound is, I mean, we're gonna tell you about it, but I also have the book sitting here, Reviving Recovery: Unbound. And Oh, it has your name on the front of it. Well, the Holy Spirit, let me put my name on it. So yeah, he sure did. And it took a couple years to get it done. Get it done right. But it is transformational at, at the core. It really is. It is. And so I, I would like to take this episode and go through and have you answer some questions about it, talk about it, and explain, um, the fundamentals. Three fundamentals, right? Yeah. So we can definitely go through that. But in, when you, the way you open Reviving Recovery: Unbound is, uh, with a simple but intense question. And that is what do you believe? Mm-hmm. So why start there? Well, we start with there because that's where it all starts at. Because what we believe in our core drives everything, our emotions, our thoughts, our actions, as well as our relationships are all driven by what we believe. And a few questions that we can ask ourselves initially are, you know, what do we believe? What do we believe? At our very core, what, what is the core of our belief structure? Uh, another question. What, what do we passionately stand for? Uh, what belief might be stifling your process? And in contrast, what belief is, uh, what belief drives your success and your joy and most commonly experienced, uh, for people who are in recovery, but you know, mm-hmm. And I would, I would say this. If you're not in recovery, you probably need to be in recovery or would be, or something, or would benefit from recovery because there, there's a misconception out there that recovery is just for drugs and alcohol. Uh, when we, we don't believe that drugs and alcohol are just the medication. That's just what we're covering up the, the, um, the lie with. That's what we're covering up the pain with. Well, can I say something to that? Yeah. Because I didn't, I didn't have an addiction. I wasn't addicted, but I was a people pleaser. Right. And I was codependent. Yeah. And I needed to get my accolades from those that were around me. Right. You had a skewed belief structure. Correct. You were, your identity was misplaced. Right. Right. So was mine. Mm-hmm. Heinously. Right. Uh, so a, a question that we uh, uh, one more question that we might ask ourselves is what provokes anger? Mm. What triggers anger. What, what triggers despair, anxiety, or depression in us. Right. And it all comes down, uh, to what we believe. And the point that cannot ever be overstated is that every emotion, thought, or action flows from what we believe, whether we're aware of it or not, we respond or react to life based on our belief structure. Yeah. So we're not just asking, what do you know? No, that's not what we're saying. But what do you actually believe in your heart of hearts? Yeah, that's exactly true. Knowledge alone does not transform us beliefs. But we operate from our belief structure, beliefs will transform us. Mm-hmm. Beliefs will leave us stuck, or bo or as we, as we sh experience paradigm shifts or, or perspective shifts per God's word and our beliefs are exchanged, maybe alive for the truth, say then, then our beliefs will, will free us, it'll lead us into forward facing freedom. So, and if you, and if our beliefs are shaped, like, like I just mentioned, if our beliefs are shaped by a lie, then our emotions, our reactions will be shaped by a lie as well. But vice versa, if we're, if our, our belief structure is based on the truth, then our reactions and emotions will be fueled by the truth and we'll, and we'll be doing much better. Yeah. Well, I, I for one, believed, believed. That I wasn't worthy, that I wasn't worthy to be loved, that I wasn't worthy of God's love, even Right. At times. And that was just an e an evil lie. Yeah. That had been rooted in my heart. Yeah. And we're gonna dig into that here a little bit. Yeah, for sure. So you also make a big deal out of the word challenge instead of problem. So what is the difference and why does the language matter? Because words matter. Mm. You know, words have power. Uh, that first, that's a, that's a great question. I, so it's just, we, we gotta watch the words that are coming out of our mouth. You know what, whatever's coming out of our mouth is coming from our heart. Our, the, the word says, uh, whatever's in our heart overflows and. Blah. Mm-hmm. Either good stuff or bad stuff. Yeah. So what's in your heart? What do you believe? Uh, so, and bottom line is, is what we say matters. Uh. We don't, so we don't have problems. You know, I've, uh, except when I'm explaining this, I've, uh, pretty much, not pretty much, I've eliminated the word problem from my vocabulary because we don't have problems. We face challenges. Problems, uh, bears a negative connotation. It sounds permanent. Like, like something that is, uh, it's, well, well, it is what it is. That's just how it is. Or, or nothing's ever gonna change. It sounds permanent, right? And very negative. But challenge the word challenge. You know, we're, we're overcomers, you know, challenge bears a, a positive, a more positive connotation of something that can be overcome. And because we are conquerors more than conquerors, actually Romans 8 says, uh, in Christ who loves us, we are, we are built. Uh, to overcome challenges. So when we decide to shift how we speak, uh, and, and this is just one example, replacing problem with the word challenge. We're deciding to speak life over the situation, and we are agreeing that this is temporary, it's not permanent. Uh, and that's a huge perspective shift. And that's, that's just one example, you know? Yeah. So even the language we use starts moving us from bound to unbound. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Because like I just mentioned. Our words have power. It's clearly stated. And Solomon the wisest guy in the world, when, when God asked him what he wanted, he asked for wisdom. That's a pretty wise decision. And, and he wrote the proverbs and Proverbs 18:21 says, death and life are in the power of the tongue. So when we decide to speak life over ourselves, and, uh, and as we, as we decide to do that, we're gonna see, uh, we're gonna provide a better perspective out in front of us. We're gonna, we call it a paradigm shift. And a paradigm is how we see the world. And, and so. We decide to speak life over ourselves, over over our journey, over our recovery, over others, around us. And it gives us a brighter worldview. Now, this is not what, this is not speaking. Life is not the power of positivity, alright? Because we most often, we, we speak God's word over ourselves. Then we're, we're gonna get into that here in a little bit. Yeah. That's the life we're speaking over. Yeah. Biblical truth. Biblical truth speaking, biblical truth, absolutely. Over ourselves. So let's go a little bit deeper in our belief structure. So how do our beliefs shape emotions like anger, anxiety, or despair? Uh, I think. Think about it like this. Uh, many of us have lived through different, we've all been through something, right? Mm-hmm. And we've bought maybe some of us damaging experiences. And out of those moments, uh, we always carry away, whether it's, whether it's consciously or subconsciously, we carry away a lie from that experience. It's not necessarily the experience that damaged us. Mm-hmm. It was, it was, um, difficult, but the experience, it wasn't my father's, uh, my dad's abandonment when I was a kid that, that did some damage. But the lie that I carried away from that abandonment was, was what? The enemy beat the tarnation out of me with most of my life. Uh, and so as, as we carry a lie away, and most commonly that lie would be a. Some sort of derivative of I'm not good enough. Mm-hmm. Or, or, um, I'm not worthy. Right. That was me. Yeah. See, yeah. And it's, it usually comes back to not worthy, not, uh, or not good enough. Not, not pretty enough, not fast enough, not, not smart enough. You know, I had a second grade gym teacher called me fat and stupid. Mm-hmm. So, you know, for the majority of my life, I was, uh, I was fat and I thought I was stupid. But the, the Lord has shown me that I'm, I'm neither now. Right. Uh, some other thing, other lies, uh, may be is I, uh, it's always gonna be like this. I'm a failure. It's, I'm, I'm always gonna fail, or, or no one cares and I'm all alone. And these are lies that settle into our belief structure. So when something happens in the present, it triggers that old wound or it, it lights up that lie. And our, and our emotions get all lit up and we get anxious, we get angry, we get depressed. And not just because of what happened today, but because of what we believe about ourself and and the world. It's the trigger that trigger that's that that reaction comes from the lie that we're believing. It comes from our belief structure. But the trigger, how we respond to react is an association of something that happened in the past. And the lie that we believe from that experience fuels the emotional fire that we're dealing with in the present. Yeah. Kind of took root, like the lie took root. It's the lie is the root Yeah. Of our challenges. Right? Absolutely. So. When someone asks, why did you react like that? Like I, we mentioned, I think in the last episode that like in our first year of marriage, well not even the first year, but the first few years of marriage for a few, several years of marriage, several years of marriage. But you would react in such a way, and I would be like, why did you react that way? Why do you, why do you act like you're and you were, you said, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. So, so what is up with that? Like, why, why don't we know? Yeah. It's, uh, yeah. I, I don't know that truthfully, that I don't know answer is, is not too far from the truth. Um, I didn't know. I had no idea. Uh, we don't always know what's going on under the surface. We, uh. Yeah, we don't always know, but there's hope because there are three who do know our triune Godhead, our creator, father God, Jesus Christ, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They know exactly what's going on, and Unbound is all about shifting our focus from ourselves. We're the creation, we're shifting our focus from the creation to the creator because nobody, no one f fixes the creation like the Creator. And I use, um, I use when, when you, I don't often like to go to the dealership, but when you have a vehicle and there's something wrong with your vehicle, you take it. It to the dealership or you take it to the manufacturer because they know how to fix the vehicle that they built, that they created just the same we are all, whether you decide to believe that you were created in the image of God, you were created in the image of God and no one repairs the creation like the Creator, for sure. Right. So let's talk about one of the big struggles you highlighted early on, actually believing that God via the Holy Spirit wants to talk with us. What are some of the lies people believe about their relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that may or may not keep them from. Feeling that they can talk with the Holy Spirit? Yeah, that's a great question. Um, couple of the big ones are, I don't, I don't think I, I mean, we're walking around in a society that has, uh, that's dealing tremendous amount of insecurity. Mm-hmm. And, uh, or, or narcissism, which is stems from insecurity. Uh, all that aside, uh, they, they were like, well, I don't have that kind of relationship with it from the majority of my life. I was like, well, I don't, I, I don't need God. There's a lot of that going around, unfortunately. But we do need God and I, I needed God. And, and ever since I discovered, I know how much he, how much I did do need him on a daily basis, and how much he really does love me, man. Uh, and I have been able to get past that first question, which is I don't have that kind of relationship with him or he, I've gone too far. Um, he pro he doesn't want to talk with me. I, I remember when a friend of mine called me when the, the entire, uh, all the occupants of that living room were very upset with me'cause I had done it again. And, and he asked me, he goes. How are you with the Lord? And I was like, yeah, he's probably pretty upset with me. Mm-hmm. And he doesn't want to talk with me right now. He's,'cause I saw God as, as the finger waving, uh, God who was just shaking his head going, what's the matter with you boy? And that's not the God we serve. That's right. And, and, uh, but, and a lot of us, a lot of you guys, listen, maybe you're caught up in that, uh, those are lies. Hear me now.'cause I've lived through this. We've lived through this. These are lies. He, he probably doesn't want to talk with me. I don't have that kind of relationship with him. I've gone too far to be forgiven, to talk with, to talk with God. What These are lies that keep that, that the enemy's using against us and we to keep us, keep our distance from our creator. But the truth is that the Holy Spirit. From God through Jesus. He's excited to meet with us and speak with us, and he's just waiting on us to exercise enough faith to start the conversation. Yeah, absolutely. You, you also talk about that still small voice and your mom telling you that some you'd listen to it. Yeah. Someday. Allen Layne, you're gonna listen to that still small voice. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's still the, the still small voice that we speak of is, is, uh, from kings. Uh, Elijah, you know, God wasn't speaking in the, the fire or the earthquake or the, the wind. He was speak. It was a still small voice. Mm-hmm. And, um, mom, mom man, I miss that lady. Yeah. Uh, she often told me that I would do well to listen to that voice and, uh, you know, obvious. I've been stubborn most of my life. I, I can say this because I know me, and, uh, and honesty is very important to the Lord. So, you know, uh, still can be, uh, this lovely lady can attest to that. But over time, I've learned, uh, that, that, uh, go right when I want to go left. That nudge, that's, that's from the Holy Spirit and, uh, listening to, to his prompts, listening to his will and way as part of growing in our faith maturity and, uh, and we do well to listen to that voice. Yes, I would say definitely. But you have gotten so much better at that, you know, now that you do, you know, press in and listen to the Holy Spirit. You're not nearly as stubborn, I would say, as you used to be. Well, that's, that's his progress on my own, you know. Well, this is true. This is true. That's called, that's called sanctification. Right? Right. And it's a lifelong process. But another big struggle in the intro is this tension between living out of our heads. And living from the heart. Yeah. So what does it mean to listen and see with our hearts instead of just our minds? Because we're always taught, you know, since we're knee how to a grasshopper. Yeah. You know, we're told, would you think about what you do before you do it? Right. So how do we, what does it mean to listen with our hearts? Right. And not just our, not just our minds. Absolutely. So before we get into that, uh, to be very clear, uh. We're not talking, the Lord isn't interested. Therefore, Unbound isn't interested in behavior modification, but instead our God, the God that we serve the Father, uh Christ, the Son and the Holy Spirit, he's in the business. They are in the business of spiritual transformation. So let's be clear, we're not talking about behavior modification. You know, one of the most worthless things I ever did was do anger management. Mm. Because, you know, I'm not managing anything because I'm not in control. He is alright. You are not in control. He is. And the sooner we wrap our hearts around that, and the sooner we come to believe that, then the, the sooner we can start healing. So all that said, our our minds deal. With what we see with our natural eyes. Mm-hmm. Logic and I, and I'm not beating up logic here, uh, we're, but we're, we're tied to logic. Our, uh, my, one of my spiritual father's chemo, he says that we're so steeped in Greek culture, uh, and, and the knowledge and the, the philosophies and the, and the, and the, the, the, the gnosticism and all, all that we're, we're just, we're steeped in it. And, and logic. Logic, this logic, this logic, this is, it's gotta make sense, right? And, uh, and that's all the physical stuff that makes sense. And, and like I said, uh, please don't misunderstand me. Logic isn't a bad thing, but logical knowledge by itself is not transformative. And we're interested in spiritual transformation. And, and if it believers, think about what we believe. I was, it doesn't make sense. Uh, there's a line in a, in a Hillsong United song that says, faith makes a fool of what makes sense. Our faith doesn't make sense. You know, that, that, uh, that a man walked this earth and died for our sins 2025 years ago for my sins before I was even born. He knew it. And what I would do and how I would sin today, and how I'm gonna sin. And he died for it all. Amen. Uh, that doesn't make sense, but it's true. Mm-hmm.'cause we're living it. Absolutely. So listening and seeing, bringing it down a notch, that's it. Reeling it back in, reeling it back in. Uh, so listening and seeing with, um, with Paul, the eyes of our hearts is, uh. We move into silence and solitude. Uh, that's two, two spiritual disciplines that are very challenging these days. And they don't call'em spiritual disciplines for nothing. So first to listen and see with the eyes of our hearts, we, we gotta move into silence and solitude with the Lord. And we gotta be willing to sit and, and listen. Uh, and, and as we sit and listen, we're open to the po, the spontaneous, positive, spontaneous thoughts that he says.'cause it's not about what we think, right? We are, we are the finite creation. So I, I want, I want infinite wisdom, you know, because I, I tried to fix myself and that was. Failed miserably. But, you know, so we wanna, we wanna be open to his positive, spontaneous thoughts, uh, that he gives us through the Holy Spirit. And we wanna let the Holy Spirit guide us up to and through the stuff that doesn't make sense. Uh, it's his revelation. Uh, it's his revelation that matters. It's what he says that matters. Uh, when we're bold enough to listen, that's all We listen. We write it down, we follow that, and that's what's the best for us. It's his inside because, uh, God's ways are always, always higher and greater than our own. Uh, so sometimes, uh, he provides us insight that stretches us way past our logic. If our, if, if, if. Our faith is growing. We are allowing our stretch. We are open to his divine perspective, and he's stretching us way past our logic. Uh, so when we, when we listen with the eyes of our hearts now, I'm not saying follow your heart. Mm-hmm. I'm saying listen right to our creator with the eyes of your hearts, we're opening up to his perspective over our own. Yeah. And that feels risky at first, especially if we're used to controlling everything with our thinking. Yeah. It can be, it can feel very risky, but I can tell you it's rewarding. Yeah, it's rewarding. Yeah. It's risky. It's, you know, but it's, it's so fulfilling though. It's, it's more fulfilling than it is risky. Yeah. And uh, and, and really you don't know until you experience it transfer and. Transformation doesn't happen by staying in control. And we're so wound up on that, we're so wound tight to be in control, you know, as, especially as Americans, we gotta be in control, you know? Uh, but transformation doesn't happen being in control. Yeah. And, and one of the most freeing moments was when I realized that I'm not in control, uh, of'cause he's in control. Mm-hmm. I gotta, and I, I write, I write in the book that we got, we use the, a metaphor of a throne as a for control. We gotta yield that throne yield are thrown to the Holy Spirit because God's in control. And that's, and that might sound cliche, but, and when you experience that, when you, when you come to believe that and you walk in that, uh, releasing control to the one who's already in control is liberating. Hmm. Uh, one of our favorite. Unbound word actions is yield. Mm-hmm. Yield. We, uh, we gotta yield to him if we want to experience his healing from the inside out. And it's, and it's experience. It's all about experience. Yeah. So let's move into solutions. You know, we love solutions and there's three fundamentals, and then there's the four journaling, uh, essentials essential. Sure. Plus inner healing and deliverance. So that's a lot. It's a lot. It is a lot. It's something new though. And it's, and it's, but we have seen it work. We have seen transformation. And it's not behavior modification like, like you talked about. Yeah. It's not the white knuckling, you know, not the white knuckling sobriety. Yeah. We're not fixing nothing. Right. Let me be clear about that. I'm not fixing a thing over here about this guy. Yeah. So let's start with the first fundamental, what does it mean? You say the first fundamental in the book is Speak life. Yeah. So what does it mean to speak life, and why is it so essential to Unbound? Yeah. Speaking life is our first fundamental, uh, one out of three. There, there's a lot to it, but the fundamental, the first one is, is speaking life. And usually when you hear that, um, you think I, when I hear that, I think of to, uh, to Toby Mack. Toby, yeah. Speak, speak life, speak LA huh? Right. Uh, but that's our first fundamental and it's, it's declaring. Word based truth over ourselves and others. And when I say word based truth, that's capital W God's word. The, uh, the Bible scripture, scripturally based truth over ourselves and others. And at the end of most chapters and, and unbound, um, we use declarations rooted in scripture because our words carry power, but his word carries way more power because it does it. When we declare his word over us, and it says in the word that it never returns void. Right? Right. So we're shifting our perspectives to a lighter side of life. And when I say lighter side, I mean I'm, I'm talking about Jesus because he's the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness doesn't ever overcome that light. We don't wanna ever settle for mediocrity or our, our low self-esteem. Uh, but we want to continue. We wanna step out and, and truth and speak life and call out the best in ourselves and each other. Yeah. I mean, you use power, you use power, you use Peter. As a powerful example. Yeah. He's a powerful example. All right. I love Peter'cause he's stubborn and messy, and I know another guy like that. Uh, but yet Jesus speaks life over him. And in, uh, Matthew 16, uh, when Jesus asked him, he is like, who do, but who do you say I am? And Peter reveals you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And that was, that was the blemo moment. Uh,'cause Jesus and he, Jesus said, he goes, flesh and blood did not, uh, reveal this to you. Uh, and he, he sees that Pete's finally getting it. Pete, he's finally, Jesus is probably like, whew, this guy's finally catching on. Yeah. But, but Jesus as hepo as he saw. Peter was an ordinary fisherman, just another Jew under Roman oppression, working to pay his taxes. But Jesus, how many do you have any of those moments, but Jesus moments. Jesus says, you are the rock in which I'll build my church. You are the G uh, um, the gates of hell will not overpower you. He said that, uh, I am giving you the keys to the kingdom. Wow. That's, that's what Pete probably said, man. Right. He is like, whoa. You think Jesus called him Pete? Probably not. He probably called him. He, he might have, he called him PHAs. His name was Simon. You know, Peter's got three different names. Yeah. So, uh, in that culture, he probably called us something we couldn't pronounce, but, uh, this is true. Remember, they didn't, you know, I love the chosen, but you know, the disciples and Jesus didn't speak English. True. Uh, but, uh, so, so back to the point. Jesus called out something in Peter that Peter didn't see in himself, called him the rock, says, I'm gonna build my church on you. He said, I'm gonna give you the king keys to the kingdom. The gates of hell will not overcome you. Uh, and, and Peter went on to be that that's what speak and life is. And the same is true for us. We are not the summation of our failures. You are not defined by your failures. Friends, none of us are defined by our failures. We are sons and daughters of the one. True and living God. And if you have a hard time believing that, let me just say that we. Are created in the image of God and we are sons and daughters of the one. True and living God. And that's where we start. Yeah. In Christ, we are new creations. The old is gone and the new has come. Do you believe that?'cause remember, everything comes from what we believe. How we respond or react comes from what we believe. So when you believe that we are new creations in Christ, then your healing journey can truly begin. Whew. You're getting fired up. Yeah. I love, I love I know you love it. I loved it because of lived it. And now, now he's called us to share it. Share it. Yeah. So let's move to the second fundamental. What does communal and personal prayer plus spirit led engaged journaling look like in reviving recovery? Unbound? Well. After the first hour teaching, we come together in a prayerful reflective time and the first hour teaching, we, it is co-ed, you know? Mm-hmm. And then, then, but as we split up into second hour, it's, um, well split up has such a negative connotation that does, it doesn't sound like speaking life. That's, so as we, uh, as we go into our, our gender specific groups, as we regroup, as we regroup in second hour, um, we go into our prayerful reflective time and, and we think about the content of the chapter or chapters that week. Um, this is a, uh, currently it's a 12 week, we started off with a 24 week program, and it was long, it was 24 weeks and a lot. Right. And, uh, so we combine chapters, uh, successfully and it's a 12 week. Yeah. Uh, and it's, it's, man, it's transformational. People are really getting, yeah. Getting, uh. They're progressing through it and it's, and, and back to our point. Yeah. I'm getting, I'm a, yeah, I'm a squirrel. You're getting excited about it. Squirrel. Um, anyway, So, back to the, the prayerful reflective journaling time. Right? So when we get into the journaling sessions, it's, like I said, it's gender specific. Yeah. Uh, so we ponder the content and at the, uh, again, at the end of most chapters, you got, you got to speak life declarations. And there's also prompts to consider about the content and how it applies to you. Uh, but we, in those, in those sessions, in the prayerful reflective sessions, uh, we listen for what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us specifically. Mm-hmm. Because it's not about what we think. And I, and I say to them, I sit with the guys around the table as you sit with the ladies and as like, guys, it might start. With what you think, but it should never end with what you think.'cause it's all about what the, it's a prayerful time. We, it's, it's about what, what the Holy Spirit has to say to us. And then we record down. Uh, we record, we write it down, uh, what we sense, what we hear, what we see, uh, what we, uh, feel. I feel that he's saying to us, not, we're not talking about our feelings, but, uh, it's you either how you sense it, we, everyone's different. You know, it's, we see it, we hear it, uh, or we feel it. Mm-hmm. You know, and, uh, and we write that down and, and at the end, uh, the latter part of the, uh, session, if whoever's willing to share what the Lord showed him, uh, it's a good time for Sharon, but it's not, what it's not is it's not a time to dump your junk. Right. You know, and it, it's a, it's a, a time to share what the Lord, how the Lord's moving with you, what he's saying to you about your individual situation. Yeah. Right. Um, and our ministry, you know, obviously at this point you probably picked up that our ministry, uh, unbound ministry is, is heavily into Holy Spirit connected journaling and that, and that's what we do in second hour. Very different than some other second hours. Uh, but if we're just journaling one day a week, then we're probably not getting too far. So we want to do, we wanna make time, silence, and solitude. Make daily time, make daily time, and, and if it starts out with 10 or 15 minutes, then that's where we start at. Mm-hmm. You know, but the, the journaling, even if it's five, it's better than nothing. It's better than nothing. That's right. Right. So, but the journaling, it builds relationship from the top down, from from God.'cause that's our, that's our most important relationship. It builds relationship from the top down and helps us hear his insight through our challenges, because that's what's gonna get us through. It's his insight, his divine perspective, and it grows our faith exponentially. And all of this is done, all of our sharing, uh, as we're sharing, as we're moved to, it's all confidential in a safe community. Yeah. So like you said, it's not just talk about your weak, um Right. It's what did the Holy Spirit highlight for you and how is he leading you into freedom as, um, Arthur Fonza once said, several times, ex Exactamundo, exactamundo, exactamundo. Uh, that was like back in the seventies, maybe I was in the seventies. Mm-hmm. You just dated yourself, well, I'm 55. I I got no problem with that. So, but some people listening may be thinking, this all sounds good, this all sounds great, but I don't really get the Holy Spirit. Mm. So who is the Holy Spirit according to Jesus, and why can we trust him? Yeah. I like how you framed that question. Who is the Holy Spirit according to Jesus? And, uh, I would say take some time and, and get into John chapter 14 and 16. Uh, that's where Jesus really explains in depth and, and I, and I. Uh, include that in, in the book. Uh, but in short, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the helper. Uh, he refers to him as the spirit of truth, who comes to bring us all the truth. Mm-hmm. And he says that, uh, the Holy Spirit is the one who will, uh, be with us and be in us. Uh, he says The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. It doesn't condemn us. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit one. He's not an it. He's a he. He is, he's a derivative of God, the Father and the Son, three in one. Um, the Holy Spirit doesn't condemn us because in Christ there is no condemnation. Uh, but he invites us into a better way. And for those who believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit brings Jesus's righteousness into us. Uh, the Holy Spirit convicts us when we step off the path, and we do. That's because we're human. Because we're human and we live in a fallen world. And when we step off, he convicts us. And he's like, no, no, no, no. Come on back over here. And, uh, and he teaches us, he, he, he's the, he's a teacher and the word says that he, when when he comes, he will. Jesus says, when he comes, he will remind you of everything that I said and taught. And he, again, he guides us to all the truth. And he takes what belongs to Jesus and discloses it to us. And this is the unity in the Trinity. So what the Father has given to the son, because remember Jesus, or, or if you don't know. I know this, that everything that Jesus did, he got from the Father. He came to fulfill the father's plan to fulfill the father's will. So what the father's given to the son Jesus, the Spirit takes from Jesus and reveals to us. So when the Spirit speaks, we are hearing the heart of the Father and Christ the Son. Right? So y'all get that? Yeah. So we're not dealing with some vague force. We're dealing with God himself. Yeah. Lovingly guiding us. Absolutely. Don't mistake in that. Don't mistake that. That's exactly correct babe. So wrap your heart around that.'cause again, faith doesn't make sense. That's why it's faith. Believe in, believe in the unseen as much as we believe in the scene and we're gonna be doing well. So wrap your heart around that. When you, when you get it, it's pretty cool. It's so cool and liberating and it, it just leads to freedom. Yeah. All right. So let's get super practical with the four journaling essentials that you outlined in Unbound. How can someone start Spirit engaged journaling this week? Well, there are four essentials and they're, uh, and, uh, in the workbook that, uh, we're, we're creating, we'll, we'll have, uh. Have finished here soon. Uh, we have the workbook. Well, this is the journal, oh, sorry. Uh, the workbook will include all of our, all of our lessons and, and the, uh, the four, the, oh, right. Actually five, uh, journaling, uh, spirit led journaling guidelines mm-hmm. That we recite, uh, in at the beginning, after we pray. And we recite the God, the Spirit led journaling guidelines in the beginning of second hour. So the first, um, we'll get into it here as it's in the introduction, uh, is silence and solitude, uh, disciplines, uh, named spiritual disciplines for a reason. So we want to dedicate daily quiet time mm-hmm. Away from the noise and the demands. And I would, um, yeah, this thing, I'd leave it outside because, man, is it a distraction? Right. The, uh, keep. Oh. Uh, so we gotta, we want to. Get away from the noise, away from the distractions, away from life's demands. And if you use, maybe you're like, well, I use the Bible on my phone. Get yourself a paper Bible. Get yourself one of them. Page turner things. Right? And, um, something rewarding about having like the physical Bible in your hand hand. It's pretty cool, man. Yeah, it's pretty cool. I pulled my study Bible out Yeah. Uh, the other day. And I was just going through it and I was like, this is much better. Yeah. Uh, but this time silence is solitude time. Making that time. Uh, we gotta make the time, we gotta plan the time, we gotta dedicate the time daily. Uh, and this is where we talk with the Lord and we listen for his response. Uh, we list, I'll say that again. We listen for his response. So, and, and while we're, as we're listening, we're listening with our heart, not just our head. We covered this a little earlier here. We're not just analyzing. Uh, we're, we're, we're letting our spiritual eyes and ears engage with our creator. Mm-hmm. And with the Holy Spirit. And we stay open to his insight, fully understanding that it doesn't make sense. If it doesn't make sense, that's great.'cause that, that's probably most likely from, from the Lord tr. And we, we just need to listen and trust that God only gives us what's beneficial for our progress. And number three is we recognize his creative, spontaneous thoughts. The Lord's guidance often comes spontaneously. Uh, there, there, if we're, when we're hearing the, the Spirit, it's gentle, it's creative. Uh, and we get this when we, when we ask and we sit and we listen with expectancy. But let me ask you something, because you know, oftentimes there can be. Two voices that are speaking, trying to speak to you Yeah. During that time. So how do you know the difference between the two voices? Oh, there will be two voices. It could even be your own. Your own. It could, could be three. Could be It could be three. Yeah. Right. And, uh,'cause I, I like what, um, my dear, uh, I, I consider Kimo a spiritual father. Yeah. But you know, the common misconception is that the, um, the second, the, the number one greatest power and authority in the world is, is that of, of God. And the common misconception is like the second most powerful, uh, and power in the world is Satan, but it's not, it's the human will. Right. So, so we can, um, so, and take that Satan, you come in third to us. Yes. Um, and that's what he's upset about all this time. That's right. Right. But, uh, anyway, uh, so it. So we wanna be able to discern the voices and, you know, so the spirit's thoughts are peaceful mm-hmm. Loving wise. And they draw us, uh, more toward unity, uh, and freedom. Uh, whereas the enemy's thoughts, the enemy's thoughts and our thoughts aren't gonna be too different. Mm-hmm. Uh,'cause they're, they're gonna be more selfish, manipulative, uh, condemning, uh, on an ultimatum. Uh, you know, when, uh, in. When, when Jesus went to the desert and he was, uh, and he fasted for 40 days and he was tested by the enemy. The enemy gave him an ultimatums, the enemy will give us ultimatums'cause he's got nothing new. Right? Right. And he's like, you, if you bow to me, I'll give you, uh, all this, your kingdoms and this, that and the other. I'll give you everything you see. And, and Jesus, he's probably thinking, I already got that. I'm about to get that. And, uh, so yeah. Uh, anyway, um, but it'll, uh, the enemy's voice will be manipulative, uh, again, condemning, uh, it'll be divisive instead of unity. It'll lead to division. Mm-hmm. Uh, it's pretty, pretty easy to discern. Uh. Or not. If you're new to this, it might not be so easy, but Right. It's, uh, it's really the difference between division and unity. I think that's a good way of separating it. Divisive or unified. Unified. Yeah. Yeah. And, and finally, as, as we're listening, and that's the key here,'cause we're not so good at that as American men, uh, and I'll just speak for myself'cause you know, I'm an American man and, and you're wearing the American flag on your shirt. God bless the American. Um, but, uh, we're, we're one, we're stubborn, and two we're busy and. And we just gotta get out of the noise and we gotta listen. And we're, some of us, we're not too good at listening. We wanna, and especially when we're praying. Do you men, do you guys, folks, do you, do you listen when you're praying? Well, I don't think that just applies to men. I think that applies to women as well. Well, we gotta listen.'cause so often we come and this isn't about coming into a quiet space for, for five minutes and dumping our, our demands list on God. It's about sitting and listening. And I, and I'll bring this back to what my dear friend Dick Smith told me years ago, early in my recovery, uh,'cause I, I, yeah, I talk a lot. Imagine that if you will. Um, and he said, Allen, the Lord gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. And we've mentioned this in other Yeah, other episodes. So you can listen twice as much as you speak. So right now, I just need you to. Be quiet and listen. And that's what we need to do in these. Yeah. We need to be quiet and listen. Yeah. Listen, if we're, if we're speaking for five minutes, we should be listening for at least 10, right? So, and whatever we hear, we wanna write that down and we want to test it. We, that's called, that's journaling. We're writing it down and then we cross-reference that. And whatever we hear from the spirit, that's called the Rhema word. The word that we're getting from the Lord is called the Rhema word. And we want to cross-reference it, that with scripture, which is the logos word. Uh, and when appropriate, when when we're able to do so, when we're comfortable with doing so, we wanna discuss that what we've got and what we've recorded in our journals. We wanna, we wanna discuss that with a trusted, mature Christian. And, and that protects us and, and helps us to discern and, uh, and yeah, to see if it's, to see if it's. What we want it to be. And that's the truth from the Holy Spirit. Yeah. I love that. It's not just listen to whatever pops in your head and run with it. Right. There's discernment, community and scripture built into the process. Absolutely. So, yeah. It's, it's not just you. It's not, it's not. And, uh, and let me and understand this, this is not, we are not just chasing random feelings. Oh gosh. Don't do that. Goodness. Don't do that. Right. Instead, when we sit, silence, solitude out of the noise. We're listening. We're pursuing the Lord's perspective for our life. Yeah. I can't tell you how many times my feelings have led me astray. Don't get me started. Right? Yeah. Don't get me started. I mean, don't go by your feelings. Right. Go by. What the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. That's still a small voice, but to the third fundamental, which is inner healing and deliverance prayer. Mm-hmm. So what happens in a deliverance prayer session and how is it different from just trying harder to behave better? Trying harder. Trying harder doesn't work. Right. That's behavior modification. That's behavior modification. Yeah. And I, I quote Joby Martin on here a lot lately'cause I listen to a lot of Joby Martin. Yeah, I know you do. And uh, he's like, he goes three, three of the uh, most damaging words a guy can say is, I got this. And, uh, so'cause we don't got this, the sooner we understand that we don't got this, that he's got this, the better off we are. And that, and, and our healing can begin there. But back to inner healing and, and deliverance prayer, you know, so. The, the, the participant would sit with a spirit, uh, a, a spirit led ministry partner. Yeah. Uh, someone is trained in, in how to facilitate.'cause it's not about, I'm, I'm a, I'm a trained, uh, inner healing, uh, facilitator. I'm not the Holy Spirit. I'm not a counselor. We're not, this isn't about counseling. We, we're not counselors, we're not licensed professionals. Uh, we're sons and daughters of the one children and living God, who the Holy Spirit has spoken to. And we've learned this process of how to facilitate and navigate through challenges and during a session. So you sit down with a, uh, spirit led ministry partner and you invite the Holy Spirit. Uh. To engage your, you, you gotta engage your feelings and you invite the Holy Spirit into you engage with the Holy Spirit and your emotions. Mm-hmm. So, uh, the emotions that you're experiencing around your current challenge, uh, we'll just may, man, maybe we use this for an example. Maybe you've had an argument with your wife and, and you were triggered and, you know, you're angry. Let's not use argument. Let's not use the word argument. It's, well, what do we, what do we want? Let's, I don't know. You said something else the other day. Well, that's another Joby Martin. Oh, it's a, a, a robust, a robust dialogue. Oh, robust dialogue. Yeah. That was, yeah. I got, I, I gotta quit stealing Joby stuff, but, uh. It's funny though, you know, we gotta come up with something different than argument though.'cause I don't like argument, but, all right, so we came to a disagreement. Yes. So you disagreed. A heated disagreement. A heated disagreement. So we came to a heated disagreement. All right, so you and your spouse have had a heated disagreement. Uh, emotions were charged. And, um, so we wanna eng engage, so we want to engage that emotion, right? We, and that's essential. There, there is no inner healing.'cause the Holy Spirit will ride that emotion into, into the memory where that lie came from. Mm-hmm. And we're, we're gonna get to this, this, this all might not make sense, uh, currently, but we have whatever your trigger was around your current challenge, you the, the participant has to engage that emotion and then holy, and then we. Say Holy Spirit, what do you, what do you have to, what do you have to show'em about this emotion? And the spirit will guide you as long as we're willing. Pliable hearts are essential here. The spirit will guide you with a willing and pliable heart. The Holy Spirit will guide you to the source and origin behind the lie of that challenge. You know?'cause it's not about what's happening today, right? We're triggered from something that happened maybe back in our childhood, most likely. And once that lies is exposed, the, the, the, like I said, the spirit's gonna guide you to the source and the origin of the challenge where the lie is where it was first written on you. And uh, and then once the lie is exposed, and I call that the scene, yeah, I call it scene one. Uh, where's Jesus on the scene? That's the question. So where is Jesus?'cause he's always with us. Yes, he's with us. So where's Jesus on? Even when we didn't think he was with us. Yeah. He was with us. Yeah. I could go, I could get in so many weeds there. We're not gonna get in the weeds. But, uh, so where is Jesus on the scene and what does he have to say about the lie? And this, this gives us an opportunity to, once the Holy Spirit's revealed the lie, we'll have an opportunity to release the lie. Mm-hmm. Uh, and uh, the Holy Spirit reveals the lie. And, and Jesus he'll alway always present the lie opposing truth and offer a chance to exchange. We can. We, we release the lie to him and then there's room to receive the lie. Once. Once. And he's done some pretty cool stuff, man. And uh, as a facilitator, I had this one guy he is. Um, he handed Jesus, uh, his lie, and I, I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was, it was a, a, a, a dripping black ball, uh, an oozing black ball. And it was ugly. It was a mess. And he gave it to Jesus. And I was like, what does he do with it? You know, sometimes he burns it. One guy said he just threw it in a trash can. It's always something different. It's different. Yeah. But this guy, I, I won't forget this, he said, uh, he goes, he, he took it and he, he threw it over the sun. Mm. I threw it, I was like, wow. As far as the east is from the west, maybe, but, uh, that's just me. And it's not about what I think, but, you know. Yeah. But, uh, so it's, it's, it's a vision and a scene. Mm-hmm. And, uh, and as, as we released that lie, we receive his truth, uh, where there was once anger. There's peace. Mm. Because as we're operating from the truth, you know, and this isn't a one time thing, you know, our, our, the pastor of our church has been through, I think, well over, I wanna say 20 or 30. Yeah. I don't know. Uh, I've been through several. This isn't a same, this isn't a one click and done. This isn't a microwave. Um, but it's, it's a great start in the right direction of absolute spiritual transformation.'cause uh, where, uh, when we're in that situation again, where there was anger, there's now peace, where there was fear, there's now a sense of safety. And where there is shame, there's now acceptance. Yeah. And then the, the, then the facilitator, the, uh, trained facilitator will test the scene, uh, by revisiting the original scene with you. The, the heated disagreement. Mm-hmm. We'll go back to that scene and, uh, and as the emotions have shifted, uh, and. Quite honestly, sometimes the emotions haven't shifted. Right. So Holy Spirit, what do you have to say about that? Mm-hmm. It's not about what the facilitator thinks, and it's certainly not about what the participant thinks. Right. But this is entirely in the, in the capable hands of the Holy Spirit. Yeah. But so as we go back to the original scene and, and we test it, uh, the emotions have have shifted. Let's say they've shifted and that's evidence of transformation. And from there, we either move on to another memory or we close the session and, and then process it. And, but, and that's not up to us or it's not up to the participant, it's up to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, what do you have to say about that? Where do we go from here? And we let him, we yield. Yield to him. Yeah. And wow. Wow. Yeah. So the goal isn't just to try harder and stop doing that, right. It's let the spirit move into the wound, reveal the lie like Allen said, so that we can release it to Jesus and ask him to fill the space where the lie once was with his truth. Right. Isn't that right? That's a great, did I get it? That's an excellent summation. Okay, great. Because our, our beliefs, again, uh, and again, I said this couldn't be overstated, uh, and can't ever be underestimated either. Our beliefs affect our actions. Our and our actions are just our behaviors, but our actions stem from our thoughts and our thoughts stem from our emotions, and all of it comes from what we believe, right. Our belief structure. And Jesus addresses that belief and he deals with it. He deals with the lie that we might be believing or that we are believing. He doesn't just deal with the behavior. That's right. Again, Jesus Christ and our creator, father God, they're not interested in behavior modification. They're in the business of spiritual transformation. That's right. So let's land the plane. So for a listener who is saying, this all sounds good, but where do I even start? What's one simple move that they can take this week? Yeah. It sounds a little overwhelming, huh? Wait, I, I remember when I was first learning and, and first, uh, in my first session, I was like, this is a, this is a lot. It's a lot. And I didn't get it. But so, so to keep it simple, man. Mm-hmm. Uh, so we can start by speaking life. That's the first fundamental, right. So we, so we start at the beginning. We, so. Speak life over yourself because let me tell you something, friend, you are not the sum of your failures. You are not defined by your failures. So start with that. I am not, uh, defined by my failures. I am a, a son and a daughter of the one. True. And living God. I am created in the image of God. Yes. You know, my challenges are temporary. Uh, God is doing something new in me. Get into God's word and speak that life over you. Yes. Speak his word over you. So when we speak the scriptures over ourselves, the life and those scriptures over ourselves, perspective shift huge. That's, and the, the truth leads to truth, leads to truth. Yeah. Huge perspective shift. Tremendous paradigm shift. Yeah. So speak the truth over yourself and others starting today. Yeah, and you know, we believe that the whole, well not just believe, we know that the Holy Spirit can do more in a moment than we could accomplish over a lifetime. And your job isn't to fix yourself. It's just to believe and to follow. Right. Listen, listen, because God's making a roadway in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, will you be, ma will you be aware of that? Yeah. We are cheering you on. So set aside some time and we wanna invite you to join us. With Reviving Recovery: Unbound as we go online. February 2nd. February 2nd, at 7:00 pm. That's right. And if you are interested in that, if what we said today has piqued your interest and you're like, you know what, there is a lie that I'm believing there is something that is keeping me bound. Mm-hmm. And I don't wanna be bound anymore. Right. I wanna be unbound. Then come join us February 2nd online, 7:00 pm. You can register in the show notes. Right? Uh, registration link will be there. You can also, you will need your book and your journal because every one of our sessions. It has to do with the book and the journal. Yep. And of course your Bible. Right? So And there is, and we do have to do our part there is read. Yeah, there is reading and yeah. And writing and journaling through the week.'cause like I said, if you're only doing that on our Monday night sessions, then you're probably not seeing too much, uh, evidence of transformation. It's a daily process. You don't have to look broken to need healing. Sometimes the strongest believers are the ones carrying the deepest wounds and what you don't heal, you end up living from. And the enemy attacks our identity, not our circumstances. And God is inviting you into freedom, real freedom, the kind that reaches the roots. Reviving Recovery: Unbound starts online Monday, February 2nd. At 7:00 PM we worship, we learn, we break out into gender specific groups, and we journal with each other and with the Holy Spirit. If your heart is stirring listening to this, pay attention Healing begins here. Click the link below to join us at Reviving Recovery: Unbound starting February 2nd. We look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for joining us on Faithfully Invested with Allen and Stacy Jo if today's conversation encouraged you, challenged you, or helped you see your calling more clearly, don't keep it to yourself. That's right. Share it with a friend. Leave a five star review and keep leaning into God's blueprint for your life, your leadership, and your legacy. So until next time, remember, when you invest in his kingdom, he brings the increase.