EP 06 | The War on Your Faith

In this episode of the Necessary Things Podcast, Dr. Christy Bee discusses yet another experience that Christians cannot escape in their faith walk, which is their faith in God being tested or attacked. She begins by defining what faith is for Christians and how integral it is to their faith walks. This provides listeners with the understanding of why their faith will be under attack throughout their journey. Using scripture and a serious of personal anecdotes, Dr. Christy provides listeners with encouragement, wisdom and practical steps to understand what the war on their faith is and how to navigate it.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Necessary Things Podcast, where we have necessary conversations about faith, life, your soul, and everything in between. And these conversations are to point us to the most necessary thing in life, which is submission to God, His Word, His will, and His Spirit. I'm your host, Dr. Christy B, and listen, before we can jump into today's episode, we've got to address the elephant in the room. Where have we been? It has been seven months since we've last dropped an episode, and I want you to know we have missed you. I have missed this space, the opportunity to cultivate a place of vulnerability and just a safe place to have faith-based conversations. And so, yes, we took a little hiatus. It was much needed for me and my family. However, we are back and we are committed to continue fostering this place for us to have these conversations. Now, for those who reached out to me during the hiatus, you have no idea how encouraging that was to hear your testimonies about how this podcast has been a blessing, how you felt like you've got clarity about the things that you've gone through. You felt encouraged and in some cases challenged to see life differently, to approach your faith walk differently. It has meant the world to hear those testimonies and it has done a lot to encourage me because I've missed this place and I've wanted to come back. And so as we are here, we're ready to jump back in. I want to thank you for taking the time to share those kind words with me. And if you're here and it's your first time, welcome. We are so happy that you are here to join us. We are about to jump into yet another necessary conversation. So get comfy, grab your favorite notebook and pen, and let's have this discussion. Today we're gonna have yet another necessary conversation concerning the war on our faith in God. As believers, we are always engaging in a spiritual fight. While we are growing in our intimacy with the Lord, seeking to be more like Jesus every day and obey his word, we are simultaneously engaging in a spiritual battle. Ephesians 6.12 puts it this way: it says, We're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this age, and against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. All in all, we are engaging in a spiritual battle against the kingdom of hell. So while in your day-to-day you are seeking to grow closer to Jesus at the same token, you are engaging in a fight that requires your intentionality, that requires your awareness of it, and requires you to engage. It is God's will that as we journey with him in faith, that we not only grow in intimacy in him, but that our faith matures and that it grows. And if that's God's will, which it is, that means that the kingdom of hell is seeking to oppose the very things of God. Everything that God wants from us, everything that God wants for us, the enemy and his kingdom want the opposite. The word of God says in John 10, 10 that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I, being Jesus, has come that you may have life and life more abundantly. The two wills of both kingdoms, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, are in opposition to one another. And so as we journey on in faith, we have to come to understand that because faith is so integral to our walk with the Lord, it's the foundation, it's the centerpiece, it is the currency by which we engage in his kingdom. Our faith in God is so important, and it gives us access to so much in his kingdom. Because of that, we have to be aware of the fact that that faith is gonna be tested, that faith is going to have experience contention, that faith is going to be attacked, and the purpose of those attacks, the purpose of that contention is to discourage us and to get us to walk away from God. So today we're gonna have this necessary conversation because every believer in their journey walk with God in more than one way will experience a war on their faith. Before we can talk more about this war, let's first create a foundation for this conversation. What exactly is faith for a believer? In Hebrews 11, verse 1, it says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence of things unseen. What does that mean? If we go to the Greek and break down the word substance, break down the word faith and hope, we come to understand that what the writer of Hebrews is communicating to us is that faith is the very essence or the foundation. It's the proof of the things that we can't see. It's the foundation of the hope that we have in Christ. Faith is a strong conviction that what I believe is true. When I explain faith to people that I am either discipling or walking with in their faith journey, I like to explain it as the currency. It's the main form of currency in God's kingdom. Why? Just like in the world we live in, you can't go far without a few dollars in your pocket. In God's kingdom, you can't go far without faith. According to Hebrews 11, verse 6, without faith, we can't please God. And also, without faith, we can't even access the riches of his kingdom that are embedded in it. What are some of the many riches? And this isn't an extensive list, salvation. Ephesians 2, verse 8, it says that by grace, through faith, that we are saved. So without faith, you can't even step into or have access to the kingdom of God and the salvation that Jesus has given us through his blood shed and through his resurrection. Faith also gives us access to peace with God. In Romans 5 1, it talks about how we were once enemies of God, but by faith we now have peace with God the Father. Faith also gives us grace to stand, to be who we've been called to be in Christ, and to become who we've been called to be in Christ. We see that in Romans 5, verse 2. Faith also gives us access to righteousness. Romans 3, verse 21 to 26 talks about how through faith we are given access to righteousness in Christ. According to Acts 2, verse 38, faith gives us access to the gift of the Holy Spirit after we believe that Christ is who he says he is, that he came down, he shed his blood, conquered death, hell, sin in the grave, and then resurrected and ascended to heaven. When we believe that and accept him as our Savior, we then have access to the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the very gift of God's Spirit, we can't have access to without faith. All throughout the Gospels, we have different accounts of Jesus saying, Woman, your faith has made you well, or Sir, your faith has made you well. One example of this is Matthew 9, verses 18 to 31. Faith gave these individuals access to supernatural healing. Some other things that we have access to through faith in God's kingdom are the benefits of salvation, access to spiritual giftings, favor, protection, provision, everything that we need to walk with God. Everything that we need to be successful in this faith walk cannot be accessed without faith. Faith also gives us hope for a future. Jeremiah 29, verse 11 says, For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord. And these are plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. God has intricate, good plans, not just for the body of Christ at large, not just for nations, but for each of his children individually. And it's faith that gives us access to hope that the plan that God has for me not only is good, but that it will come to pass. Faith also gives us access to boldness or what I like to call holy audacity. When you look at, and again, that's not an extensive list of all of the precious gifts that we have access to through faith, but when you look at these things and you meditate on what you need faith to access, you come to realize that without faith, there's really no true engagement with the Holy Trinity. There's no way for you to build intimacy with God without believing that He is, that He exists, that His Word is true, that He loves you, that He wants good for you, that He wants to be in a relationship with you. None of that is accessible without faith. We also see throughout Scripture that faith allows men and ordinary men and women to partner with God's purposes and plans for their lives and the world around us. For example, God called Moses at the burning bush to have faith in him, and he asked him to put aside the limitations that he had of him on himself. Yes, you see yourself as someone who can't communicate as clearly and effectively as others, but I have called you, Moses, to be a prophet. I have called you to be the leader that is going to lead Israel out of over 400 years of captivity. It was faith that God asked the Israelites to have when they stood in front of the Red Sea, and their enemies are pursuing them, and they're just like, has God let us out of Egypt to die? All throughout their journey in the wilderness, God calls them, have faith in me that I will provide manna, that I will provide the quail, that I will provide the pillar of fire, that I will provide the cloud that's gonna guide you through. God called the Israelites to have faith, and that faith allowed them to not just access freedom, but access a walk of intimacy with him. God also called David to have faith in him, not only to raise him up as a king, but to also establish his name and his kingdom forever. In the book of Ezekiel, God called Ezekiel to have faith and to prophesy to dead and dry bones. In the New Testament, God called through Jesus the disciples to have faith in him, to leave behind their lifestyles, to leave behind their way of living, their sources of livelihood as fishermen and to follow him into the unknown. And even for you and I, Jesus has called us to have faith in him, to not just believe that he is the Son of God, to not just believe that he is the one that gave his life so that we can be reconciled to the Father, to not just believe that he has ascended, that he has conquered all things, that all power and authority is in his hands. He's not just asking us to believe those things. He's also asking us to believe in him as our keeper, as our guide, as our strength, so that we can be the peculiar nation he has called us to be in this earth. Faith is the essence of our walk. There's no Christian without faith. There's no intimacy with God without faith. And there's no becoming without faith. You see, those who have faith in God, they become empowered to live a life that is not just set apart from the world, from its customs and its ways, but also in alignment with his purpose and his plan for them. Some characteristics of people who choose to have faith, and this is not just for those in the scripture, but every believer who chooses to have faith in God should have these characteristics shown in their lives, right? One is that someone who dares to have faith in God will take faith-filled risks. What does that mean? God will call you to the impossible. Or he might say, speak to that mountain, and that mountain will move. Taking faith-filled risk is being bold enough to trust that your God is bigger than the impossibilities that are in front of you. Taking faith-filled risk means not allowing your environment's limitations or not invite, allowing the own personal limitations that you have rehearsed in your mind stop you from obeying what God is calling you to do. It's a life, living a life of boldness, living a life where what God has said is my marching order, even if I look crazy. Even if I don't know how this is gonna work out. Another characteristic of one who dares to have faith in God is a person who believes the word of God over what they think, over what they feel, and over what they see. Listen, every day in the Christian walk, you will have to fight against not just the kingdom of hell, but your own thoughts. You will have to fight against the discouragement that comes. You will have to fight against your own emotions, and I just don't feel like it, right? Those things that come up to try to stop us from being obedient to God. Those who dare to have faith choose to believe what God's word has said over what they think, over what they feel, and over what they see in front of them. Another characteristic of people who dare to have faith in God is that they fight to obey God even when it doesn't make sense. Obedience to God is one of the most difficult things about our faith walk. Why? Because we are choosing to obey a God that we can't see. We are choosing to obey a God who calls us to do things that often don't make sense. Isaiah 55, one of my favorite scriptures. Let's go to it. All throughout my journey, I I run to this scripture when I'm like, God, this doesn't make sense. Isaiah 55, verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my wow, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. That scripture is always an encouragement for me because often what the Lord calls his children to, honestly, it sometimes I'm just like, Lord, this makes no sense. There's nothing about this that makes sense to the to the mortal mind. There's nothing about what you're calling me to do or what you're calling me to say, how you're calling me to live makes sense. But I'm going to trust that your ways are higher, that your thoughts are higher, and I'm going to submit. So those who dare to have faith fight to obey God, especially when it makes the least amount of sense. Last but not least, a characteristic of one who dares to have faith is one who's willing to look silly in the eyes of man. And I can't tell you the number of times people have told me I am crazy to my face, they've said it behind my back, they have misunderstood the decisions I've made, they have criticized the audacity that I've had to pursue God, to pursue his will, to do the things he's asked me to do when he's asked me to do it. But in spite of all of that, to me, it seems minuscule. When I think about the God that I serve, when I made the vow to the Lord that I was going to follow him, it was after an encounter that I had with him at the age of 10. I experienced the tangible love of God in a way that completely shifted my paradigm, my worldview, and my life experience. And when you have a real encounter with Jesus and his love for you, there's really no turning back. And it was in that moment that I knew my life does not belong to me anymore. Because in that moment, I was actively seeking to end my life as a 10, 11-year-old girl. But Jesus' love pulled me up out of depression, pulled me out of suicidal ideations, pulled me out of anxiety, and gave me hope for living. So when I had that experience, I knew this life that I have doesn't belong to me. So I made a vow that I was going to follow him all the days of my life. So if it means that I misunderstood, if it means that I'm ridiculed by man because of my faith, so be it. When I look throughout scriptures, I'm not alone. There are many men and women of the faith who have had the same experiences. And then when I look at the life of Jesus, he went through it too. So all in all, I understand that being misunderstood by man because of your faith is not an uncommon experience for a Christian. Having faith in God is gonna ostracize or separate you from the crowd. It's going to put you on a path that is narrow, a path that many don't take, don't want to take, many run from. But despite the difficulties that come up in choosing to have faith in God and choosing to obey Him, it's always worth it. As someone who has had many experiences where the Lord has called me to some really insane things. When I look back and I share stories with my friends, my families, um, those who I disciple, I chuckle and I'm like scratching my head, like only God could have called me to that, but also given me the grace to walk through that, right? But despite the cost, despite the pain, despite the hardship that comes with being one who chooses and dares to have faith in Jesus Christ, I can tell you it is worth it. And I pray that those who are listening, those who are watching this episode, that you count the cost as Jesus calls us to, and you realize that they pale in comparison to the beauty of being known by God, to the riches of being a part of his kingdom, and even to the eternal glory that we are waiting to behold. So so far we've discussed the reality of our faith being attacked or under attack because it's such an integral part of our relationship with God, right? We've talked about that. We've talked about what faith, our faith in God gives us access to in his kingdom. And then we've also discussed some characteristics of those who dare to believe God. It is not uncommon to be tested to go through trials in your walk of faith. But now that we have laid that foundation, it's important that I clarify this point before we go further. It is because our faith in God is so integral to our walk with Him that we as believers have to safeguard and cultivate this very faith. Earlier in the introduction to this video, I shared that me and my family have been on a hiatus. We have not been posting um much on social media. Episodes on the podcast have not been released, and it was because we needed that time and space. When I look back in retrospect to the last seven months, I see the need for rest, the need to recalibrate because the warfare and just the life experiences that we had undergone. Were a lot. So let's zoom it back out to three years ago and then we'll zoom it back into the last seven months, right? The last three years of my life have been full. They've been jam-packed with swift shifts, with a lot of great wins, fulfilled promises, but also a lot of hardship. Um, some of the highs from the last three years were me moving into my very first apartment after years of pain and instability around my living situation. Um, experiencing promotion at work, excelling in my promotion at work, graduating with my doctorate in ministry, and then meeting and marrying my husband. Um, all of these things were great highs, right? That I experienced in a truncated um period of time. But on the same token, as I was experiencing these great things, I also have had to endure a lot of deep grief, unexpected losses, and great unknowns, financial losses, unplanned career moves, betrayals, ends to relationships, unexplainable health issues that have popped out of nowhere, intense spiritual warfare that they left me feeling like God left me hanging. It is not easy to juggle the good and the bad when it's coming at you full speed ahead. Because what you're trying to do is embrace the joy while having to tend to the pain that your heart is experiencing simultaneously. On one hand, you're grateful to God because He's coming through and like you're seeing the answer to prayers or you're seeing the fruit of your labor. But on the other hand, it's like, Father, have have I sinned against you? Like, have you turned your back on me? What is going on? Um, so when I think about the last three years, and then I zoom into back into the last seven months of our lives, I was trying to understand what was really going on. Because on one hand, I was thankful to God that he had come through and that he had allowed me to experience such joy through the very answered prayers that he that I was experiencing. But on the other hand, I was feeling like the Lord had forgotten about me and that he had left me hanging. So trying to understand and trying to wrestle through the good, the bad, and the ugly left me feeling weak. It left me feeling disoriented in my faith, it left me feeling discouraged and confused and in a way that I had not experienced before. I have walked through multiple trials and testing of my faith, but this past season, it hit me in a way that I wasn't expecting. And so I felt personally that I was crawling my way through every day, just holding on to the little strength that I had and like trying to just make it through what I could see in front of me, which was the day. But it was sometime early last year that when I was in a time of prayer, because I was asking the Lord, like, what is going on? Like, what is this whirlwind that I'm experiencing in life? And he explained to me, he said, Christy, your faith is under attack. And when Holy Spirit whispered that to me that morning, it's like everything made sense. What I was experiencing was a high level of attack where the enemy was trying to slowly but surely kill me off. He was trying to cause my faith to become so weak, he was trying to get my heart to become so faint that I would just exist and not contend for the promises of God, not even try to engage with the deep truths in his word. The enemy was trying to kill me off, slowly but surely. And when the Holy Spirit told me that, it gave me not a lot, even, but it gave me a spark of strength. Like, I have to fight. God has been too good. There's still so much that I have not seen. Like his word is true, even if my life isn't fully aligning with what his word says, I'm not gonna give up. And that was my prayer. Lord, don't let me fall. Don't let my heart fail. Give me the grace to endure this testing, give me the strength to fight when I feel like I don't have strength to fight anymore. And if it wasn't for God's faithfulness to keep us from falling, if it wasn't for God's faithfulness to be faithful even when we are unfaithful, if it wasn't for his mercy and his love, I would not have made it. Not just through these last three years, but the last year, the last seven months, it would have been impossible for me to be on the other side where I am today. Through these seven months and through this last year, the book of Psalm has been, has been my friend. I've been in that book like, help me. One scripture that really held me through this time is Psalm 27, verse 13, which says, I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And every time that scripture would come to my spirit, I would feel just a little bit of strength come upon me. And I would say, I'm gonna see the goodness of God in the land of the living. It gave me what I needed for that day, for that moment, to press through and to believe God because I did not want to become someone who used to believe God, but because of the pain of life, because of the hardships of relationships, because of betrayal, because of losses, that my heart turned into a cold, dark place that wasn't receptive to his love or his truth. There are some of you who are listening or watching this episode that, like me, have just come out of a season where your faith has been tested. Or there are some of you who are right on the precipice of it, or there are some of you who are already knee deep in, feeling like, God, my faith is being tried. You may be struggling to believe that you're gonna make it out of this. You may be struggling to believe that God hears you, that he has a hope for you, that I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, our God is faithful, his word is true, and this test will not take you out. Hold on to him. What you're going through is not special to just you. Every believer either has, is currently, or will experience their faith being tested. Something else that gives me hope, and something else that I cling on to in seasons where my faith is being tested, where I feel like the enemy is coming after me to snuff me out, is the truth that Jesus himself was tested. His faith was tested in multiple ways, right? And something, a truth that I live by is that if Jesus, the perfect Son of God, endured something on this earth, who am I to believe? My little old imperfect self, that I won't endure it as someone who's been called to and is choosing to follow after him. Matthew 4, verse 1 to 11 is one of the first accounts that we have where Jesus is tested in the wilderness. His faith is, his faith in God, his identity, the very essence of who he is and his purpose on the earth was all tested by Satan. Satan was crafty in that he used the word if, if you are the Son of God, right? Turn these rocks into bread. Satan used the word if to question Jesus' identity and to test his certainty in the word of God. And what Jesus models for us is exactly what we see in Ephesians 6 when Paul teaches us on the full armor of God. Let's go to Ephesians 6, verse 10 to 18. And it reads, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes or the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, there's another translation that says, Above all, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. Paul calls us to put on the armor so that we can not only be protected, but so that we can successfully stand against Satan and all of his different schemes. The word stand in this scripture is the Greek word histemi, which means to be ready and prepared. It is someone who is unmovable and secure. When we put on this armor of God, we become people who are prepared for the fight that we are have been enlisted in. People who are unmovable, unshakable, and secure in the truth of God. The truth is we have to be ready for the attacks that not may come, but definitely will come. What I find so interesting in the imagery of the armor of God is that faith is seen as a shield. And when I looked up the word shield in the Greek, it's talking about a large door-shaped shield. Like literally tall, four-cornered, and broad. It is to make sure that none of the darts that the enemy sends are able to come in, take root, and destroy. But what I find so interesting is that when you put up the shield of faith, I am going to believe God. Despite what I see, despite what I'm experiencing, despite what I feel, I believe God. That shield of faith works so well with the sword of the Spirit. What do I mean? Every time I choose to take a stance to believe God, I also include the why. And my why is always rooted in the truth of God's word. So I believe God because he has promised to never leave me or forsake me, even until the end of the age. I believe God because he has promised to provide for all of my needs according to his riches and glory. I believe God because he was wounded for my transgressions. It's by his stripes that I'm healed. I have scripture, which is the sword of the spirit, the very word of God. I have scripture to come against every attack of the enemy. To not just extinguish it, but also to make sure I'm giving an account, rationale for why I am choosing to have faith. God's will for us is that we are not susceptible to the attacks of the enemy. God's will for us is that we are prepared to stand, to be secure, to be ready, to be prepared when the attacks come, that we could stand and be victorious. Last month on March 20th, I had this encounter with the Lord that really crystallized the past seven months, the learnings that I gleaned from the last seven months, and it felt like a big hug from Jesus. On that morning, I was having a time of prayer. I was off from works, which I love those days because I get to linger a little longer in God's presence and really take my time. And while I was in my time of prayer, the Lord led me to go watch a video that I had released a couple years ago from when I released my debut EP. So in releasing my debut EP in 2022, I also had an EP release concert, and that night was just amazing. It was so powerful. By God's grace, I was able to get video footage, and that video footage serves as a memoir of God's faithfulness. It also serves as a reminder. Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard what God has prepared for you. And so this morning, the Lord is like, I want you to go back to that video that you released of that clip where you were singing prophetically Ephesians 3.20. So I'm watching the video and I'm like boohoo crying as I watch the video because everything that the Lord had me minister in that moment to the people in the room was ministering to me. The the strength that I got from that video, the I felt like my faith was like, I got a surcharge of voltage from Holy Spirit. I felt like I was coming alive in a way that I was praying for. Because remember, in these last seven months, like I've been like, Lord, help, give me the grace, give me the strength. And some days it's felt like only just a little bit. But in that moment, as I'm watching this video, I I feel the sweet presence of Holy Spirit, and He's like, Daughter, you must fight. In Christ, your heritage is not just victory, but in Christ, you have a hope for the future. In Christ, you have the promise that there is more. What you see now does not tell the full picture of what I am going to do, of what I have called you to. Daughter, you must fight, you must pray, hold on, and don't give up. And I'm crying my eyes out like, Lord, I hear you. Give me the grace that I don't fail. And what I found was that not only was Holy Spirit like my coach in that moment, like, don't give up, keep going. I was also being reminded of the strength of my faith and the necessity of having faith in God. God is real, and He is who He says He is. That is not something I play with. That is at the center, at the core of what I believe. Another thing that I was being reminded of is that God has not forgotten about me and that He is gonna be the one who fulfills His promises and completes the good work that He has started in me. Let's go to Ephesians 3.20. One of my favorite scriptures, and again, I'm biased. I have so many. It says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly. I love the scripture version that says, exceedingly and abundantly, above all you can ask or think, according to the power at work within us. And in that video, and I'll link the video below for those who may want to watch it and be empowered and encouraged by it. In that video, there's a moment where that's what I hear the Spirit of the Lord singing, and then I start singing it, and it's like crazy. And that morning on March 20th, which I didn't even see the correlation, I ended up sending the video to two of my close friends, and one of them was just like, the fact that it's March 20th, it's 3.20, and you're you're you're singing prophetically 320, Ephesians 3.20. I'm about to throw my phone, and I'm like, whoa, I didn't even realize that, right? Like, just the cool ways that God works and speaks to us, right? But in that moment, God was reminding me, this is who you are, this is what you believe. No matter what this season has been, no matter what these past three years have been, no matter what you've endured, no matter what the enemy has tried to steal from you, no matter what you've endured these past seven months, no matter what you felt, I am with you, I have not forgotten you, and I am carrying you through. And I'm praying, I am praying that for those of you who have felt hopeless, lost, weak, discouraged, forgotten about, that through this episode and the words that I'm sharing, that you're reminded that you're not alone and that God has not forgotten about you. I've come to understand that safeguarding, as I mentioned earlier, like it's imperative that Christians learn to safeguard their faith. It's we have to learn to be protective of what's important to us. Because it's so integral, we have to be careful to protect our faith. I've come to understand that that is so important because when your faith is weakened, you are susceptible to your heart growing cold and resentment resentful against God and his people. You're susceptible to your life losing its sense of direction, its sense of purpose. You're susceptible to losing the desire to serve God and his people. You're susceptible to losing your hope for tomorrow. Like, why am I even here? God should just take me out. Like, when you have weak faith, when you are faint in heart, you are susceptible to the attacks of the enemy because that shield of faith that's supposed to be up to protect you from those fiery darts is now being lowered, and those fiery darts are able to come in and pierce you. And all of that is the direct opposite of God's plan for his children. So to end our time today, I want to present to you again, not an extensive list, but six things that, or six ways that someone can choose to safeguard and cultivate their faith in a time of testing. And these are in no particular order. I just listed them how they came to me. The first is to be wise about who you invite into your faith journey. I can't say this, I can't say this loud enough. Not everyone, I actually said this to a friend yesterday. I was like, not everyone deserves a front row seat to what God is doing in you and what He is cultivating in you. That is precious. Matthew 7, verse 6, Jesus said, Don't cast your pearls before swine. That is a word of wisdom. What is precious to you, what is valuable to you, don't just give it out. I have been guilty of doing that in seasons past, and I have learned my lesson. It does not ever end well. Not everyone can handle, not everyone has the same level of faith, not everyone has the wisdom. Not everyone can handle having an intimate front row seat to the intricate parts of your faith journey. So you must be wise about who you choose to invite into that journey. There are certain things that God is going to ask you to do that. You cannot invite the general public into because they may not have the capacity to understand the why to even understand the vision. So, one way to safeguard your faith, be wise. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance. Who should I be inviting into this faith journey? The second way that you can safeguard and cultivate your faith is by surrounding yourself with spirit and word-filled believers who will fan the flame of your faith in God and not quench it. Have you ever had a conversation with someone like you were on fire, like, oh, God really wants me to go in this direction? Or oh, I'm really feeling like just encouraged, and you have this conversation with a fellow believer, mind you, and then it's like the fire just goes out like you're like, what in the world? What in the world? Like, I actually was expecting to be encouraged, but I feel a hundred percent discouraged right now. Yeah. Yeah. You have to surround yourself with the right people. Surround yourself with people who have their ears to the spirit of God and what he is saying. Surround yourself with people who know their word. People who may not see the full picture, because again, like we see and know in part, and if God gave you a vision, you're the one and those he allows to have clarity, you're the one that's going to understand what he's calling you to do. So surround yourself with people who can hear what the Spirit of God is saying and who know his word so that they end up being an encouragement and not a stumbling block or a hindrance to what God is trying to do in you. I can't tell you the number of times that Satan has used the mouths of family members, of friends, and fellow brothers and sisters in the faith to dissuade me from obeying God. And we have scripture that also like gives us an understanding of that too. Let's go to Matthew 16, verse 21 to 27. To paint the picture for you. This scene is between Jesus and his disciples, and he just asked them, Who do you think I am? And Peter has this amazing moment of revelation. He's like, I know what other people are saying, but for me, I know that you are the son of the living God. And that's like amazing because most people did not have it, had to be God's spirit opening your eyes to see who he was, who Jesus was. So before we read 20 verses 21 to 27, that's what happens. Peter has this moment of revelation, and he confesses to Jesus, you are the Son of the living God, right? And then Jesus says, Ah, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. This is only by God's spirit. Um, I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against him. Amazing, right? And then we get to verses 21 to 27. And it says, From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and then on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, Far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. But he, being Jesus, turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. What? Peter just had this great moment where God changes his name, God calls him out, you know, God prophesied. Like he had this amazing moment of revelation, and then just like that, he was used as a mouthpiece of Satan to try to dissuade Jesus from the very purpose that he had. The very reason why he came to earth was so that he could suffer many things at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scars and be killed, and then on the third day be raised again. That was why he was sent to the earth. And this is just one example of how people who may mean well, right? Peter meant well. He's like, Lord, no, you're not gonna die. You're my Lord. I'm here to serve you and walk with you. But he didn't have a full understanding, and in that moment, the enemy was able to use him to try to dissuade Jesus. But thankfully, Jesus had such a commitment and an understanding and a clarity of who he was called to be and his purpose on the earth that he was like, nah. Peter, I understand I love you, but right now, who's speaking through you is the enemy himself, and Satan, I rebuke you. And we can experience the same thing. So it's important that we surround ourselves with people who are spirit-filled and word-filled, so that they end up fanning the flame and encouraging us, even in the hard things of God, and not dissuading us or quenching the flame in us. Another way that you can safeguard or cultivate your faith is by being intentional about cultivating an intimate walk with God. I could have never made it through any of these tests without intimacy with the Lord, without the safety and the space to process my griefs, to be honest and say, I feel I feel dropped, I feel like you don't love me. Like, let me know if there's a problem. I'm questioning a lot of things. Like, without that safe space to be completely honest with the Lord, I don't think I would have made it through any of the seasons that I've endured. Because that intimacy allows you to not just bear your soul, but then receive the grace that you need from the Lord to keep going. That place of intimacy allows you to confess your weaknesses boldly, to expose your fears and the things that disappoint you. And what that ends up doing is safeguarding your heart from growing resentful towards God. A hardened heart against God can come if you're not careful to guard your heart. Because a lot of times people who are newer to the faith or people who just have not been discipled well, they have this understanding and this false ideology that, you know, life is gonna be good. You know, Jesus is gonna make me a millionaire, he's gonna answer all my prayers. It's just up, up, up, up, up from here. But there are low moments. He is the God of the the hills, the mountains, and the valley. He is the God that leads you to the mountaintop to have the greatest victory of your life, Elijah. But he is also the God that is with you when you're hiding in a cave. You need to have intimacy with God to process all of that so that your heart does not become hard and you don't turn away from him. Another way to safeguard and cultivate your faith is to cultivate gratitude and a culture or even a pattern of remembering. When I wrote that down, I immediately remembered this book of remembrance that the Lord led me to create a couple of years ago. And on the first page it says, I will not on the front cover, actually, it says, I will not forget. My children and future generations will know of your mercy, your goodness, and unending kindness to me. And I remember when Holy Spirit led me to create this book, it was in a season where I was feeling like, man, this Christian walk is ghetto. What have I signed up for? And he was like, You need to remember. I was going through, again, another hard season, and those are the easiest seasons to forget all of God's faithfulness, right? And he was like, I want you to take down, take time to record answered prayers, to record when I've come through, to record my faithfulness, so that not only you can remember, but this is not something that you can pass down to your children, and your children's children can pass it down to their children. Like, this is exactly what the Israelites were admonished to do by Moses. So you don't go astray. Not only remember for yourself, but pass on to your future generations the heritage of God's faithfulness. Psalm 77 is a great psalm to read and meditate on as you're trying to cultivate gratitude because the writer Asaf, he was in a time of distress, but he chose to remember God's faithfulness to him and it consoled him. That is the power of cultivating gratitude in times of testing. Even when Holy Spirit asked me to go back and watch that video, I had so much gratitude in my heart. I'm like, whoa, this was such a powerful moment, and then I remembered all the things that God did to have that moment come to pass and the journey of creating the EP and his faithfulness. I was just like filled with so much gratitude. Cultivate gratitude and a culture of remembering. The next thing you can do is use the word of God as your guide, as your weapon and your anchor. No matter the resistance that will come, no matter the discouragement that will come or the pain that you will feel. Hold on to God's word. I was young, but now I'm old, and never have I seen the righteous forsaken. When I read those words, when I meditate on the words of our forefathers and in the faith, it moves me to a place of faith. Where no matter what I see, if God did it for them, if God was faithful for them, he's not gonna switch up on me now, he's gonna be faithful with me. And last but not least, another way to safeguard and cultivate your faith in God is above all obey him. When he asks you to step out of the boat, when he asks you to take a risk, obey him. No matter the cost, no matter what fears may be invoked in that moment, obey him. And that obedience builds not just a confidence, but a track history with the Father that no one can take away from you. So when the time of testing comes, sometimes I just like there's certain times the enemy comes and I'm like, are you for real? Like you did you forget who I serve? Did you forget what he walked me through? Did you forget what he said in his word? Obey him. Obey him, obey him, obey him. We have come to the end of this necessary conversation, and my prayer is that for those who have been enduring testing, for those who may be right at the cusp of it, for those who have exited a tough season of testing, no matter where you are in your faith walk, that you would hold on to the words of Jesus. That you would hold on to the promises of God. That in this crazy world that we are living in, that your faith would not waver, but that you would, having done all, as Paul says in Ephesians 6, stand. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for who you are. I thank you that you are a God that is intentional, you are a God that is awesome, that is almighty. Your word says that you sit high and you look low, that your arms are not too short, that you can't respond, and act on our behalf, Lord, that your ears are not too dull, that you cannot hear us. You are amazing, Lord. And we choose to anchor ourselves and this interaction with you in the truth of who you are. You are faithful to the end. Even when we are unfaithful, you do not change because you cannot change who you are. Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for the heritage that we have in Christ. We thank you that through faith that we have been made reconciled to you. We thank you that through faith that we have access to such riches in your kingdom. We thank you that through faith we are able to surmount the insurmountable. And Lord, I just pray for my brother and sister, for those who are watching, those who are listening, those who may feel the weight of the test, those who may feel the weight of the warfare that they've been going through, those who may feel discouraged and forgotten about you. Father, I pray that they would come up in strength through these words and through these stories, Lord, that they would feel empowered to fight, to stand in your might. Father, to not let the enemy bully them into a place of hopelessness, that they would not let the enemy bully them into a place of fear, but that they would stand on your word and trust that you are faithful to the end. If you have said it, it shall come to pass. Never does your word go out and return back to you void, but it accomplishes what you have sent it out to do. So, Lord, I pray for those who are feeling weak, for those who don't even feel like they have the strength to contend or to pray for themselves, Lord, that the words that they are hearing now in their ears would be like a jolt of voltage, God, that where they were weakened, Father, that they would feel empowered by your spirit. Father, we pray that through your Holy Spirit that they would be empowered to believe again, that they would be empowered to hold on just a little longer, that they would be empowered to not give up or lose heart. For Father, he who has promised is faithful. And what you have said, not only will it come to pass, but you are watching over your word to perform it. That which you have started in them, you will complete it because you are artists that does not walk away from his canvas. You finish that which you have intended to do. And so, Lord, we pray that every place where there is hardness, where there is darkness harboring in the hearts of your children, every place where the enemy has been taunting them to convince them of a lie, to convince them that you are not faithful. Father, we come against the kingdom of hell right now with the power of the sword of the Spirit, and we declare enemy, Satan, you must back down against the children of God. May the light of God shine through every dark place. Yes, Lord. Hallelujah. May the love of God fall upon your children in a new way. May they know just how wide, how deep, how great your love is for them, that you will never fail them, God. May they not just know it, but may they stand secure in it and not be swayed from left to right. I pray that their minds would be like the mind that is in Christ Jesus, that they would have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. And Lord, in the places where provision is needed, Lord, you will supply all of our needs according to your riches and glory. I pray, Lord, supernatural provision for every need that has gone unmet, even if it's been for years, Lord. Meet this need at the sound of my voice. May there be a release of the needs that your children have. That they will know that you are for them, that you are with them, and you will never forsake them. This we pray in the mighty and matchless, in the holy and omnipotent name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I love you all so deeply, and I can't wait for us to come back next week for another necessary conversation here at the Necessary Things Podcast. I do want to encourage you, don't just hide in my DMs. Let's have a community that is bold and that is public. Um, feel free to comment on the videos below. If you want to share more personal details, you can always DM me at Dr. Christy B on Instagram, at the Necessary Things Pod on Instagram, or you can even send us an email of Necessarythingspod at gmail.com. All of that information will be in the description box below, along with links to some of the other videos that I have referenced in today's episode and even to the album. Um, there is more that God gifted me with that is till this day still encouraging and empowering believers to trust God at His Word. I love you all. I can't wait to chat next week. Meet me here at the Necessary Things Podcast for the next necessary conversation. Peace.