The Mount Podcast
Just some guys that love talking about Jesus.
The Mount Podcast
I Do What I Want because God LOVES ME!? | The Mount Podcast Ep. 10
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If God loves me, why can't I live life on my terms? It's one of the most common questions people ask — if God truly loves me, why does He have rules? Why can't I just live my life the way I want? In this episode, we have an honest conversation about the tension between God's love and His commandments. We explore why change is necessary even when you already feel loved, what it really means to learn how to love, and why following God's commandments feels so difficult. We also unpack the sobering idea that hell is truth seen too late, what it means to be a slave to sin versus a slave to God, and the benefits of choosing to follow Him.
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
17:07 If God loves me, why can’t I do what I want?
22:34 Why should I change if God already loves me?
37:02 Learning How to Love
49:15 Why Is It Hard to Follow God’s Commandments?
57:07 Hell Is Truth Seen Too Late
1:03:06 A Slave to Sin or God?
1:06:54 Benefits of Following God
1:12:42 What will you do with the life God gave you?
1:19:57 Closing Remarks
Credits:
Music: Phoenix by Soundridemusic
Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCCNCJEsRes&list=PLyuakwzSUr6DM1YqTg65HiWG0UrmxdOFk&index=11
#christianpodcast #godsword #faith #obedience #christianliving #followinggod #bible #godslove #purpose #sin #freedominchrist #slavetogod #godthefather #whyshouldichange #godscommandments #learningtolove #christianfaith #biblicalliving #walkingwithgod #christianmotivation
Probably comes for destruction. It's not by your power. We are governed by the flesh, not by the spirit. You see the signs, but you ignore the signs.
SPEAKER_01Sharks just came and ripped into pieces immediately.
SPEAKER_02Turning to anything for fulfillment instead of Christ is so fatal, bro.
SPEAKER_00I don't need my way better. God's not gonna force you to love him. God's not gonna force you to serve him. We were meant to be slaves of one of two things either sin or God. When you come born again, you no longer have part of this earth, you live in heaven, pointing people to Jesus, inviting everyone to the banquet, that there's a king coming. Hell is truth seem too late.
SPEAKER_01I'ma just do it. God can forgive me anyway. Like, who cares? God loves me, he forgives me. Like God can cut you off. He can cut you off. What's up guys? So in today's episode, we answer the question: if God loves me, why can't I live life on my terms? Why do I need to live life on God's terms? And who's really in control of your life? We dive deep into a lot of interesting topics today, so please, before you watch, pray and ask the Lord what he's trying to show you today. Enjoy.
SPEAKER_02I'm Anthony. I'm Maurice. What's up, guys? I'm Jonathan. Oof. It's been a while. Yeah, it's in place, new face. Who's that over there? Oh, yeah. We we got holy anointed drip.
SPEAKER_00Amen, bro. To God be the glory. You know, I'm just uh honored to be here. Um get invited by my brothers here to to you know just share with us on our heart, my heart. Um, yeah, I'm excited what God's gonna do in this um this podcast.
SPEAKER_01Nah, bro, nah, we're excited that you came through. Hey, this is a busy guy right here. He got a whole family, and he was like, bro, the Lord needs me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he clocked out from uh from being a father and a husband for now. And now he's a brother. He's a teacher, he's a rabbi. But shalom.
SPEAKER_03Shalom.
SPEAKER_02I kid you not. He walked into this house and screamed, shalom!
SPEAKER_01But before we even get started, hey Jonathan, what's today's topic? We're going deep dive on if God loves me, why can't I live life on my terms? Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna dive into the mysteries of God's love here.
SPEAKER_02The mysteries, the histories, the word, the scripture. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01The truth and the life.
SPEAKER_02Oof.
SPEAKER_01But first, Maurice, I'm calling you out on right now. I'm not putting you in your spot. This is not a scripted podcast. So, what did the Lord reveal to you this week?
SPEAKER_00Well, or recently. Man, listen, um, he feels so much. Um, just mainly my life. Um, I just recently got a kid uh have a kid. God gave me a kid September 5th. He came. His name is Levi, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_01Hey, that's one way to expand the kingdom. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, brick by brick. Yeah, rebuilding the kingdom. One of the tribes of Levi. And so um just God's revealing to me to be, you know, fatherhood, you know, uh how you know the importance of protecting my family, leading my family the right way, praying over my family, um, um providing for them, and just uh nourishing them and just just really to see uh to be the the high priest over my family, you know, and just just protect them, you know, because like it's like it reminds me where Jesus, you know, how he protects you know us, you know, and just look over his children. You know, and and and just like when he sent his son Jesus, you know, now I understand you know that like having a s now I have a son, it's like it's like when we when we look at Jesus and he he he loves his son so much and and and he also loves us, but the fact that so he loves us so much that he gave his son so we can become the right fellowship with God, you know, and the right relationship with God and be saved. And um and so just just the learning um just like God's taking through like this the journey of being a fatherhood and just loving more my wife and and being a servant to her and just uh attentive. Um have I been perfect? No, but but every day is a new day and his mercy renews every morning.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, so Amen.
SPEAKER_02There you go, amen, brother man. There you go.
SPEAKER_01If you want to get one step closer to God, make sure you find a godly wife and keyword wife, keyword wife, yeah, and then have your own kid, and then you'll see how much it really hurt the father to see Christ on that cross.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Amen. Yeah, and my brother said it well, and that he that finds wife finds a good thing, have favor with the Lord, you know, and and just uh yeah, just it just it's a whole it's a change be in just seeing it's just a it just changed by seeing my son, it just it's just amazing. And I can't words can't explain it.
SPEAKER_02So So by seeing your son you somewhat experience the way God sees us.
SPEAKER_00Yes, that's what I was meant to that's what I was wanting to say. Look at that. Yeah, we're gonna be talking about it. Yep, yeah. It's like it's like yeah, basically, you know, I could see how God looks at us. It's like, you know, um it's like I noticed as I look at my son, he relies on me. He relies, he's very dependent on on us, me and my wife, and depend on me. And it's like, so he trusts everything I do. He he he um believes every word I say, and and if he falls, he knows I'm gonna catch him. If he's you know um crying, he knows I'm gonna pamper him. So when we cry out to the Lord and and we fall, God's gonna catch us. And he's gonna pamper us. And and all we gotta ask God one time. I mean, he knows what we need, when we need it, you know, and by us, by me going to the Father and being like, God, you know I need this, you know, he answered because we I'm his children, I'm his child, you know, by the spirit of doctrine, we call Abba Father. You know, scripture says we got the spirit of doctrine, we call Abba Father, the Holy Spirit, and so we become the adopted sons and and and daughters of God. And so it's just beautiful, and just knowing that, okay, wow, just like my son relies on on me and and he knows I'm gonna always be there for him, Jesus always gonna be there for me in a time in every day every day, every second, every minute, every hour, you know, for for eternity. So it's beautiful.
SPEAKER_02And it's it's it's just crazy that right now, all three of us we're at all at different stages of having a good thing. Because one who finds a wife finds a good thing.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02You're married. Kid. I just got engaged.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_02Jonathan's looking for his Proverbs 31. What should I say? He's trusting in the Lord to provide him one.
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_00Amen. You know, God knows what you need. You know, God knows what we need. Um, you know, my my mother told me one always told me when I was seeking for the wife, it said, uh, if you want a wife, just ask God for a wife, you know. Um and and I and I end up saying, as you know, time go on, I'll say, you know what, God, you you don't give me what I want, you give me what I need, and it ended up being what I want. Because you created me and you know my desires, you know everything about me. And so the Bible says that that that he will give you what you need, you know, according to his rich and the glory by Christ Jesus. God, God is the God who gives you what you need, you know, and so you can glorify him and when he gives you those needs, he will get the glory because it's coming from him and just knowing that that he would he has trust you with that, you know.
SPEAKER_01So I don't even add in there, the closer you get with God, you'll notice your needs are changing because you're aligning with his needs. Yep. So when he gives you something, even if it's something you didn't even realize you wanted, you're gonna be you're gonna be thinking, hey, well, well, I didn't even I even asked for this and God gave it to me. This is great. And you're like, oh, that's right, because the father put that in me. Because he knows what you what you need more than you do, amen.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_02And I think from there, that's a perfect transition to what the Lord has shown me recently. Ooh, oof, right? It's crazy. But so, freshly engaged. Oh, yeah, let me look at the date. About a month and a half. Praise God. Uh, almost a month and three weeks, and I'm about neck deep into wedding planning right now. Oh, yeah, and oof. If there's one thing I've been praying without seizing about, it's that. Because my fiance and I, we we set a hard budget. Hey, we don't want to spend more than this. And we're probably gonna spend more than that, that's always what happens. But but whenever we feel like things aren't going our way, the Lord says, nah, it's going my way. So, from that being said, yesterday, I was called to do something, I didn't want to do it, but I chose to be obedient through me being obedient, and I'm not saying through me being obedient as if it's a transactional thing, it's just me following the Lord's will. But I was obedient, and the Lord opened so many doors from my obedience, right? Long story short, we volunteered at a high school in Trenton where we took Christmas pictures for families. After that, well, not after that, when I was there, I witnessed to someone. Crazy. After witnessing, we went to a a small town nearby. You know, stopped by a little bakery, a little pastry shop, you know, got some croissants, I get the grub.
SPEAKER_01Always gotta get the grub when you're out of town. I think that's a standard.
SPEAKER_02Yup. Got some banana pudding, you know, got some chai lattes. I love banana pudding. Then we went to a sandwich shop, which was literally right down the street. Turns out they opened about a year after we had graduated from that area because we went to college in that area and amazing food with even better prices. And then after that, we went to Princeton, New Jersey. If you know anything about Princeton, New Jersey, right? It's not the type of place that you would expect people to be evangelizing, people to be asking and offering for prayer. It's a it's a very worldly secular town. Yeah. And we went there and there were Christmas carolers, and we found parking after the parking the parking garage was full, and we just see evangelists everywhere, but of all different ages and backgrounds. We literally walked past this group of kids. By kids, I mean teenagers or young adults, and they literally held up a sign like a poster board that someone probably made in their room with Sharpie that says knee prayer. And I walked past them and said, Hey, I love this. And they all turned to me and said, Hey man, do you need prayer? I'm like, No, no, I'm good for now, but I really love what you guys are doing, God bless. Not saying I didn't need prayer, I was just in a rush, but right? Then we went to this Amish market and we ran into a vendor that we might potentially use for our wedding. And they had pretty much everything without us having to go above and beyond, and that alone was a was a blessing. And the Lord's just been straining this path, he's been straining the path with regards to the venue, decorator, day of coordinator, all the small minute details that I didn't even know existed about two months ago, strained the path on. And that's why we need to walk by faith, not by sight. And and whenever things do get hard, and even when things are good, you lean on the Father, you praise him and thank him through the trials. So something that the Lord's been showing me, or should I say reminding me is we need to trust in him, right? Before I even considered proposing, the Lord told me that's the one right there. And I trust in him, and guess what? I am reaping the fruit.
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_01So funny, your story made me think of uh Proverbs 1921. Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.
SPEAKER_02Amen to that. Amen to that.
SPEAKER_01Put down a t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00It probably is. And Proverbs, I think 3.5. Um y'all gonna fact check this.
SPEAKER_01Um it says those who put their trust in the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, trust in Lord, trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not to your own understandings, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path. I believe it's Proverbs 3-5 or 5-3.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um But yeah, you know, we we gotta acknowledge him. We gotta know that that we gotta put all the trust in him because he he knows he knows everything about us, you know, every little hero in our heads. I know sometimes it can be um, you know, hard to trust some someone that you can't see, but that's where we walk by faith, not by sight.
SPEAKER_01So you know that transitions into what I was gonna say. That's what I was gonna say for what the Lord has been teaching me. So, um, so basically what the God's been showing me this well, honestly, very race for like the past like month at this point, is that his grace is sufficient. As in, like, whenever we're working on something, you it's like whenever it's like the verse I just said, many are the plans in a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. Like, I'll make all the plans I want, but in the day, it's gonna happen exactly when the Lord wants things to happen. However, uh there were a lot of things I was planning to do, and I wanted to get done, and it was not getting done because you know, we tend to overestimate our abilities sometimes, and we think we could do X, we can do like a hundred things in like a like in like a few minutes, but in reality, it takes a while to do a hundred things sometimes. So uh I kept setting big goals and then you know, you it just like man, I didn't hit it today. I didn't hit it today, I didn't hit it today without me even like thinking, yo, I should probably uh change my goals, make them smaller, but nah, I just uh I kept kept I kept from my perspective, I kept I looked like I was slipping. But then the Lord like revealed to me that bro, don't worry. Oh my bad, son, don't worry. I already knew you were gonna do this. Nothing goes to waste, you're not too late, you're exactly where you where you need to be. You might feel like you're too late, you might feel like you're behind, but no, you're exactly where I need you to be right now. That was uh I believe Psalms 3723, where the Lord orders the steps of the righteous and he delights in their way. So part of the lighting in your way is God takes I want people to take this the wrong way, but even in your mistakes, God will use it for his glory. Amen. Like literally, like like I've noticed that God will put you in a position, He'll know you fell, but He needs you to fell so you can learn the lesson from that. Amen to that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, amen to that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, can I just say that's gonna be? Nah, go for it, go for it, go for it. I and I tell my brothers all the time. I said, either you're gonna learn from revelation or tribulation. Uh facts, right? Facts. So I had to learn from tribulation to, you know, to catch the revelation, you know, and but but you know, you gotta learn from revelation to have to go to tribulation. But Jesus said that in this life you will have tribulation, but behold, I overcome the world. And so we got we gotta understand that, you know, just like my brother said, that sometimes we gotta go through the mistakes, but God factored all our mistakes in, and and and and he knows the beginning and the end. He knows, he knows when he created us, he factored all that mistakes in. He and us, like you we know, he knows that when we're gonna fall, when we when we're gonna succeed or fail, whatnot, but at the end of the day, it just keeps us, he wants us to continue trusting in him, him, and and his provision and his blueprints. So hope that helps.
SPEAKER_02Amen. And I feel that's the perfect transition into our topic. If God loves me, why can't I do what I want to do? And honestly, in hindsight, because as we always say, none of this is scripted, none of this is planned. We are flowing with the Holy Spirit. This is the perfect topic for a newcome father. Oh, my guy Maurice. So, Maurice, think about your son. He's how many months again?
SPEAKER_00Three months. Just turn three months on the fifth.
SPEAKER_02Right, three months, right? Let's say my guy does not want to eat dinner. But eat dinner, um, like drink milk.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that's an advanced baby.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he did that. I was like, oh wow, praise God. Hey, my guy's eating tomahawk steaks on next we know he needs like fried chicken and everything.
SPEAKER_00Day one ordering macho.
SPEAKER_02Let's say he didn't want to drink his milk. Why why don't you just let him not drink his milk?
SPEAKER_00Let's say he didn't want to drink his milk. Let's not drink the milk. So if you don't want to drink the milk, um, you know, I know it's one thing. We don't I don't force him to drink the milk. Um, however, you know, um if you don't want to drink the milk that time, I always come back and give him a chance to drink the milk. Why? Because he can grow strong and healthy and he he needs to eat. Yeah, he needs to eat. Like, come on. If you met go go uh we're not eating four days, that's not gonna turn out good because your body needs food.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's why, you know, yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01No, I was just gonna say, if the baby don't eat, then Maurice ain't a father anymore.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So, so that goes back to what I was saying that when God was teaching me fatherhood, teaching me to provide, be a provider to my, not to my not only to my wife, but to my son. You know, they when things go wrong in the house, they look up to me. You know, and then I say, and I don't know, I look up to God, I say, God, you gotta show, you gotta show me what you know, where I'm falling short, or where are areas of how I can be a better provider, right? There's a scripture, um, maybe one of us go, it says, it says, God over Christ, Christ over the man, man over the woman. There's an order in God. God is a God of order, He's not an author of confusion, He's a God of peace. So, it goes back when when when when my um son don't want to drink milk, I always gonna keep trying to have him to drink milk because I know through experience that if he don't drink milk, and if he don't if he don't um eat his food, he's not gonna be strong enough. He's not gonna be strong for the tags that God has called him to be. Or uh the the uh just strong period, healthy pretty much. Let's just keep it basic. He's not gonna be healthy, and he's not gonna, you know, he's not gonna fulfill the the calling God have God on his life. So everyone have a calling. You know, many are called, but few are chosen, right?
SPEAKER_01Oh, hold on. 1 Corinthians 11 3. Um, but I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
SPEAKER_00There we go. He says there we go. There we say we, you know, I you know, he he got the scriptures. I want you all to understand that and study that scripture because it it it was showed the order of God.
SPEAKER_01Now that doesn't mean we're you you be a dictator. That's not true. No, no, yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because because it it says why submit to your uh uh um it says why submit to your husbands, but also it says uh husband, love your wives as Christ loved his church.
SPEAKER_01So actually, in Ephesians 5, it says both of you, both partners submit to each other.
SPEAKER_00Yes, exactly. Exactly. So yeah, at the end of the day, it's a partnership. What it comes down to because think about it. What makes a relationship, right? It's not one man, it's two men. So, so if if it's it's not 50-50, it's 100%, 100%. It's not like you do this, I then I do that. No, it's 100%. I'm giving myself to you, you you give yourself to me. It's a covenant, right? And that's what Jesus wants with his children, wants with his people a covenant. He he's a relationship God. We I was talking to my brothers earlier before the podcast, it's like God is a relationship God. A BC, the father's. Son of the Holy Spirit, it's relationship and one and makes the the triumph the the Godhead, you know, and a fullness of the Godhead dwells body in Jesus Christ. And when we see Jesus, we we we and that's when we when we see Jesus, we would know how to you know we see relationship. We we if he wants relationship with his create creation, right? And but he don't force it. But I mean I kind of went off. But all I'm saying is that's what that's what we like here. We want you to go off. That's what I like to see. Listen, listen, bro.
SPEAKER_01Listen, listen. Listen. Now we're going into the topic of love. Hold on. Now I'm about to pull up the verses right now. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Verses 4 through 7. Yo, praise God, man. Praise God. Yeah, amen to that. But the verse is right here. Um 1 Corinthians 13, 4 to 7. This is for like the people that. If you have a heart to, for the record, we don't really understand God's love. We have an idea, at least. But this is how love is described. Um, love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. In a nutshell, that is love. Also, I forgot what the other verses, but love is more than a feeling, it's also an action.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01So if we use this as like the definition of God's love, so let me ask you guys why do you think people can just live life however they want? And they'll and they think, uh, God loves me. Uh but why why should I need to why should I need to change my life if God already loves me? Because it says it says it there, God is that love always perseveres. So go ahead, go ahead. You know, elaborate on how how I twist the scripture a little bit.
SPEAKER_00This is beautiful because um, you know Don't twist scripture, y'all. No, no, no, no, no, don't don't don't twist it. So you have to understand something. That God is the same to the today and yesterday and forevermore. He's omnipresent. He's the beginning, the first and last, the beginning and end, right? So we know that God's a loving father. His way is always going in the best way because he knows He knows that there's a there's a real enemy out there that wants to kill, still, and destroy our lives. According to John 10 10. John 10 10 said, the enemy comes, still, kill, destroy, but I come so you can have life more abundantly. So Jesus for the right. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, I Jesus said, I come so you have life more abundantly, right? So let's take in the earthly things, because if you can't understand earthly, you're not gonna understand spiritual things according to scripture.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_00If you look at if you have a loving father, a loving parent, right? They want the best for you. They want they want you to do well in life, they want you to be the best version of yourself possible. They want you to surpass them. Exactly, pretty much. Pretty much, and right, and so that's why they want more for you than you want for yourself.
SPEAKER_01Yes, that's a fact, yeah. And they and they see more in you than you've seen in each other. It's crazy how our relationships with our parents reflect God. But sorry, continue.
SPEAKER_00No, it's good, and that's what Jesus said that these works you should you should do and greater works, right? Because I go to the father. Ooh, they realize that. That's a bar. That's a bar. That's a bar. So, so, so, so if you know a parent, their job is to protect you, you know, and and and do whatever you can to make sure you you're you're successful, right? So if your father says, or your parents says, your mother or father said, Look, don't play in the street. Why?
SPEAKER_02It's fun.
SPEAKER_00There's a reason why they say the reason why not to play in the street. Because there's a chance that if you if you don't listen, and if you do whatever you want, you're gonna suffer the consequence by getting getting hit by a car, God forbid. And and especially if you're out there by yourself and and you're not you're you're not under supervis uh vision uh was what I'm saying, supervision supervision, supervision. In other words, you just playing by yourself. It won't have to be a street anywhere. Like Oh, supervision. Yeah, supervision, right? If you go somewhere and you say, okay, you said mom, dad, I'm going right here to play right here, the dad or mother's going to say, Where where are you going? Like, why are you going? And okay, let me come with you. Or, you know, you're always gonna be watched, right, by the father. So nothing harm can happen. Now, that's why Jesus said that um when when um he will leave the nine nine to find the one, right? And so because he loved us so much that he would leave the nine-nine, be that listen, I'm gonna find the one that's lost out there, and and and and the danger is if they stay out there, they're gonna get um eaten alive by whoops, or they're gonna get teared up by whoops. So I'm gonna go and I'm gonna save them, you know, and and and you know what? I'll even add on to that as well.
SPEAKER_01Um if you look at it, so if God, if God, God's our father, yeah. He's our he's our heavenly father, right? And that means if he's our father, what does that mean? That means we're children. Yes. So if anyone who's ever dealt with children before, you already know their mentality. As children, literally, a five-year-old, like my five-year-old nephew, he thinks he knows better than me.
SPEAKER_02He's six now.
SPEAKER_01Oh, oh, oh, that's right. I've got his birthday, it was literally yesterday. My six-year-old nephew literally thinks he knows better than everybody. Like, if it was if it was up to him, he'll be eating a whole bunch of junk food and chips every day. Yeah, amen, bro. Amen. So, for instance, my six-year-old nephew, he literally thinks that he's smarter than all of us. Like, if we tell him to do something, he's like, no, I don't want to do that. Or no, I want to do it my way. And obviously, if we just give in and let him do whatever he wants, uh, his life ain't gonna turn out that good. Yeah, obviously. Cause I promise you, there are there have been times where like, say he's having a lot of fun, and then say we let him stay up to like two or three in the morning, which we will never let that happen. Uh he's gonna have poor sleep, and then not only that, he's gonna wake up moody, and then it's it's gonna be a catastrophe. So if what I so what I said previously was our relationship with children on earth is a reflection of our relationship with God. Yes. We like to think that we know more than God. Like my nephew, he knows no matter what he does, we love him. Like he's never gonna stop being provided for, protected, and all that stuff. Like, he knows that. And I believe we know that too. However, there are consequences to when uh you're not listening to authority. Like, obviously, we want the best for him, and and actually, my nephew's a big reason I've grown more in the faith. Because even Jesus says no one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless uh they're they come in like a child.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01And so if we're the children, then guess what that means? God wants better for us than we do, and God's our perfect father. Yes, he's our perfect father. Yes, so if he knows what we need to do to live out the life that will fulfill us and l and live it as abundantly as Jesus uh uh said he was giving it back to us, because we then why wouldn't we listen to him? Yeah, it it doesn't it go it just goes back to like hubris, like we just we want we want to be our own gods.
SPEAKER_00And why do we don't listen to him? Because it's a lack, lack of faith. Uh uh or it could be pride. Oh yeah. It'd be like, oh my way's better. Yeah, but you know, oh I I don't I don't need uh my way is better. You know, all right. Well, God's not gonna force you to to to love them, God's not gonna force you to serve him because he's a loving father. He he he loved you enough, he loved you so much to go against your own will, because he gave us free will, he gave even the angels free will.
SPEAKER_01But and that's the scary thing, though. That's actually like terrified. God, God will give you the opportunity to walk in what he's prepared for you. God imagine God created you for a purpose, he created something specifically for you, amen. In accordance for his will, in accordance with his will, something perfect for you for what you were made for, and he and he'll literally let us just be like, nah, I don't want to do that. And he'll let us do go along our own way, but in doing so, we regret it. You're gonna realize that what you wanted to do isn't what isn't actually what you wanted, isn't what you needed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I mean, I mean, just to answer your question, we are governed by the flesh, not by the spirit.
SPEAKER_01Ooh, amen.
SPEAKER_02Right? And through that, we are free from the bondage of sin through Christ, who died on the cross.
SPEAKER_01If you have the Holy Spirit and your life belongs to Christ, right, right.
SPEAKER_02But we are not free of sin. So John 14 John 14, verses 26 to 27. But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. Yeah, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The Holy Spirit is a teacher, right? The Holy Spirit tells us what's right and tells us what's wrong. Now, if we are leaning too much on our own understanding, which in the Bible says don't lean on your own un on your own understanding.
SPEAKER_01Amen. That's a fact. Don't do that, y'all.
SPEAKER_02Um, if we're leaning too much on our own understanding, that's the flesh. That's not the spirit. Yeah. The Holy Spirit allows us to be his, not its, his workmanship. Don't forget that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I want to add on to that, and I this is so awesome. John 15 5, it says, I am the vine, and you are the branches. He that binds in me, and I am him, I and him, the same brings forth much fruit. Without me, you can do nothing. Nada. Nada. Zip. Why? Because everyone knows their birth date, but they don't know if their death date. We can't predict our own death. Whoa. So, so hear me out, hear me out.
SPEAKER_01Well, hold on, hold on. So I'm going somewhere with that.
SPEAKER_02I know you're going somewhere with that. The Lord gives us our birthday and our end date. Yes. Oh, unless that's where you're going with this, my bad. No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01I think that's what he was going with. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, so let me explain. Let me let me elaborate myself. Let me manipulate myself. We don't know when we're going to take our last breath. God knows. Yeah. We're cre we God has created us.
SPEAKER_01You know what's crazy on that? There was literally a video I saw. A pastor, a priest, died while giving a sermon. See? And his last words were praise the Lord. And then he collapsed.
SPEAKER_00See? We always gotta be ready. Like every day is our last day. We gotta always live our life like every day is our last day, and and Jesus is coming back.
SPEAKER_02I mean it says it says in Romans 9, I think verse actually I don't even want to butcher that. But it says in Romans 9, um, after death comes the judgment.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yes, it said in Hebrews, it said it's point of meant to die once out of this the judgment. I think I meant to say Hebrew. So it's a good thing. I didn't think about a verse. No, I was gonna fact check that. Now, now now I I do want to explain because this is serious. Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02Read your Bibles, y'all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, read the Bibles. You have to know the truth, know the word. Matthew 4, 4 says, Man should not live by bread alone, but every word that perceives out of the mouth of God. Amen. So the you know, so so we gotta listen to God's word. So we can't, so, so without Christ, we can't do nothing, right? And so like I was talking to my brothers earlier, I said, we are the branches. So if you cut a branch off, it has no, it's useless of a tree. It's useful of the vine, it's is is is useless. So, but we connected to the brine, vine, and we're the branches, we gonna, as we continue, be connected to the vine, we're gonna bear fruit. And we we we can become a beautiful tree. And so, and so so we don't know what the future holds for us. But God has written our future out if we trust his it trusts his path, trust his, trust his um uh blueprint. But that's why I said many will uh few will find eternal life, mean the the broad way destruction, but many will uh few is is on the narrow road to eternal life.
SPEAKER_01I will say this. Although we don't know how our life is gonna go, we do know what fruit we will bear if we stay close to Christ.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And like Galatians 5 22 to 23, like well, love, peace, forbearance. Look at that. All the things that God says, we're gonna it's just gonna come out of us if we stay in relationship with him and stay in obedience to him. Versus when you uh decide to go all your own way and you live in the flesh, versus what you're gonna reap death, you're gonna reap uh damnation, you're gonna reap uh lust. Um I don't know what other stuff.
SPEAKER_00Galatians, yeah. Um, you know, those who sow to the spirit for shall reap eternal life, and those who sow to the flesh should reap corruption. And so whatever you sow, you should reap. You know, you sow an apple, you should reap an apple. You so apple seeds, you're gonna reap apples. Um, you know, you sow Jesus, you're gonna read Jesus.
SPEAKER_01You know what's funny? You know, I just read you know I just realized too. So obviously we're advocating that yes, God loves you, and he's even telling you the benefits of walking in accordance to uh his commands because I also now realize when you're a kid, we don't really know how to love. We need to learn how to love when you're a kid. Because if you don't get raised in what love is, you're gonna think, oh, uh, I'm bored today. That means I don't love you today. It could literally be that simple.
SPEAKER_02All right, I want me to cut off Jonathan, but and I will continue to let him cook. Thank you. A lot of our firm foundations in life are established when we are children. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We're getting that. I'm gonna help you out a little bit. We we're getting we're getting molded in that stage, you know. Like, like we're we're our bones are developing, our our memory and uh our brain are developing at the time. Uh and I learned if by just looking at my kid, just he's learning fill things and just like his his his body is still developing. So once you feed as a what whatever you fed being fed as a child, it's gonna get it's gonna be stuck, stick with you as you grow up because it's that it's that beginning stage, right? And so so that's why it's important to raise up your child in the way of the Lord. Uh when he gets older, he will not depart. If you raise your child, even though, even though the child may go when they get older, may in a backslide, it's always gonna, they always gonna come back around to be like they always gonna remember that Sunday school prayer. That our Father which all in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they're gonna come back to the firm, they're gonna come back eventually because because you you rose them up the right way. And again, we're they might not be perfect, but but you're not perfect either. Exactly, exactly. We're not perfect in flesh, but we can perfect being we could be perfect in Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ sees us perfect because we have Christ, but we're not perfect in the flesh. You know what I just realized right now, too?
SPEAKER_01When you become a believer, when you become a believer, what are you called? Born again. Now, when you're born again, what does that mean? That means the old life is dead. That means every everything you held on to in the past, every definition you had about life. Cause before Christ, you're living a lie. Yeah, all your foundations are lies, you're being fed lies from the world. It's not, it's literally like that's why people have so much anxiety. This don't get it twisted, you can still have anxiety as a Christian. But at the very least, at least when you have a Christian, you have hope. You have hope in something eternal versus temporal. But the point I was trying to drive home. So if you're if you have to completely forget about your old life when you come to Christ, yes, what does that mean? That means you now to relearn. You're now you're unlearning and relearning. Oof. And what does and guess what that means? You need to now learn what loving is. A lot of people before they know Jesus, they think, oh, if I just love God, if you just base like it's a statement, like they'll say, Yeah, I love God. Or like, yeah, I could go to heaven. Yeah, I'm a good person. Yeah, I don't think I did anything wrong. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I I cheated here and there, yeah, I did this and that. But nah, I think I'll make it to heaven. When in reality doesn't you can never work your way into heaven.
SPEAKER_02I do want to include this as a disclaimer. Go. Because when you do accept Christ, you are born again. But as you relearn those things, don't compare your own growth to someone else's. Because everyone has a different rate of growth, and that rate of growth is governed and controlled by the Holy Spirit. That's bad. So a couple weeks ago I was at church, and the pastor said how the moment we accept Christ in our lives as Lord and Savior, that is when we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, right? There's nothing you can do to receive more and more of the Holy Spirit because you have the fullness of it. Now you're probably thinking, what does that mean? And he gave this great analogy. We receive the full Holy Spirit, but nothing happens until we stir it up. Picture a glass of milk and you add chocolate syrup to it. Right? You just add it, you take a sip, still tastes like milk. Maybe there's a slight note or slight taste of chocolate, but for the most part it's milk. It only becomes chocolate milk once you stir it up. Think about that.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna add to that. Um 2 Corinthians uh 5 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things have to pass away, behold, all things become new. So literally, you're when you're in Christ, you're in a new creation. The old is is passed away. Jesus said, Behold, I bec I make all things new, right? And that's why when we go to heaven, he's gonna wipe away every tear, he's gonna make a new heaven, new earth. He makes things new, right?
SPEAKER_01And he does out of love.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And then part of being able to so this is also something people don't realize. When you give your life to Christ, literally just look at that statement. You're giving your life to him. Yeah, like you're surrendering to him. So if you're giving your life to him, Jesus, you Jesus even said it, if you love me, obey my commands. What is uh John 14, 15? Yeah, if you love me, obey my commands. Now, what are his commands? They're summed up very simple. Love God with all your heart, mind, body, soul, and strength, and love thy neighbor as thyself. That's right. Imagine that. God's only commandment is love.
SPEAKER_03That's it.
SPEAKER_01That's it. There's love. But what is love? Everything I said previously. Plus, love is more than a feeling, it's an action. And so, why can't you live life on your own terms? It's pretty simple. It's no the life, your life is no longer yours. You've given it to God. So if you've given it to God, that means you have to give him the steering wheel. But again, God's a gentleman, he'll give it, he'll give you back the steering wheel. But like Maurice said, you have to learn through revelation or tribulation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, and I want to add, uh, we were just talking, we were just talking about this before the uh meeting, before the podcast. Me and me and uh my brother here, like there's three things that God wants you us to have. And if you and and and and it it goes together if you if you think about it, if you really number one, faith. Without faith, it's possible please God. Amen. Faith, when you have faith comes obedience, and when you have obedience, that's when you show that you love God. Because if you love him, keep my commandments. If you love your parent, you will obey your pain. Even if it don't make sense, if you don't understand, you you walk by faith, not by sight. So faith, obedience, love, they all work together.
SPEAKER_01And it says faith without works is dead.
SPEAKER_00Because if you can say that you're going to pass the text, but you don't study, you're not going to pass it. That's true. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah, that's facts. And it's up to you if you want to pass it, so you got to study to pass. And have faith that you're going to have faith to pass it. But if you study, you're going to pass it. You know, that's what God. The only way you want to, we, we, we grow with God. The Bible says study so you can show thyself approved. And so we need to study God and know God. And so we can grow in Him. And it's not by works. It's by faith only. Faith and works going to come. But faith won't work is dead. But as we dive in and be rooted in Christ, dive in, rooted Christ, that's when love and obedience and fruits of the Spirit will come. Joy, peace, love. You know, so we gotta be rooted in the Word of God. And that's where fruits will bear.
SPEAKER_02And then something I would just like to add to that, right? A pastor once said the best way to grow in your upwards relationship with God is by going down. You need to humble yourself, you have to have humility before you can grow. And I think a huge step in having humility is accepting you're a sinner, accepting that God is a being who is above us, right? I I used to always debate people saying, and they would always say, Hey, why don't why would I serve someone if I don't know his plans, right? Why would I trust him if I'm going through this, through this, through that, right? And then that's when it hit me. If you are serving a higher power, why do you want to understand what they're doing?
SPEAKER_01I'll even add this onto there. Um, a lot of people that question God, don't get it twisted. I question God too. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I question God too. I don't want to emphasize that a lot. However, I've realized my questions come from a lack of understanding of who he is. As in, like, you can't be in it's like you can't be in a relationship with someone and and enjoy it and experience it to the fullest without also acknowledging your part of that journey is getting to know them. Like Jesus said, eternal life is getting to know God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So part of the walk and getting to well love God is just getting to know him more and more, and that when we do go through um troubles in our life, there's a purpose for it, like, bro, King David, the one of the most anointed people in the old testament, literally, he was known as a man after God's own heart. He had to deal with problems. If you read the Psalms, he literally talks about how he's pleading with God to like, Lord, all the nations are coming after me, people are speaking slander about me, help me, deliver me. And I was reading it and I'm like, yo, that don't sound like a fun life. And then I'm starting, then I started to realize, oh, I I I it's starting to click with me. God allowed all those situations to happen, He allowed the perception of threat to push David to draw nearer to God. Because those Psalms would not exist if David did not go through the chastisement that the Lord was allowing him to go through. And at the same time, that was also the future lessons for the saints to read. So I think people like he even says it in the word. Like, God chastises those he loves. Yes, he does.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then just think about how much David grew from all those trials. Right? Think about when Saul was chasing, was chasing him throughout the whole country trying to find him, right? David gets a one-up on him, cuts off a piece of his robe to let him know, hey, I just want you to know. I could have really done something to you right now, but I respect you so much that I'm not going to do it.
SPEAKER_01Actually, no. Yeah, it wasn't that he respected Saul.
SPEAKER_02It's because he was respected God.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, yeah. He was because he respected God. Yeah, he said, I will not lay hands on God's anointed. Because whether you like Saul or not, he was anointed to be king.
SPEAKER_00He was. He was.
SPEAKER_01And you know what's the beautiful thing about David as well that I also love? It's like a great story. It's like in his in his youth, he was on fire for God. God gave, God blessed him and everything. However, the way God blessed him, he had to prepare him. How did he prepare him? By putting him through a bunch of trials and all a bunch of problems. But every problem he encountered, God always delivered him. He always delivered him. And that but something I also realized: when God puts you in front of a threat, he won't protect you from the perception of the threat, because that's on you, but he will deliver you from the threat if you if but you have to rely on him. And you know, God's even merciful, even if you lack faith, he'll still get you out of it. But you know, I actually want to ask you guys a question. Why do you think it's hard? So if loving God is following his commandments, why do you think it's hard for people to follow his commandments?
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's easy. The flesh. And let me just give you a regular, degular example. All those times your parents would tell you to do something because they knew better and you still did it. All those teenagers that sneak out their houses after their parents say, Oh, you should you should not be out past 10, they still did it. All those times that the professor in the classroom would say, Hey, all your homework is do here, like this day, fun report, all that, make sure you don't say it for the last second. Guess what you do? You say it for the last second. Why? The flesh. We are governed by the flesh, not by the spirit. And I I think that's a perfect answer to your question right there.
SPEAKER_01Amen. Yeah, big facts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And uh sometimes people, you know, trying to see how far they can go. Um, you know what I mean by that is that I was talking to my wife, you know, the other day, I think today about this or yesterday. Is that you see the signs, but it's a well, you know, you ignore the signs.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's a fat.
SPEAKER_00Yo, and and and like it's like it's like oh yeah, no, no, no, no, no, but I was gonna I was gonna say this real quick.
SPEAKER_01Yo, God, God would try to teach you the lesson the easy way first.
SPEAKER_00Yes, he'll try the easy way, but yeah, and it's like it's like how can I put it this so let me see if you can understand the earthy example. So there's signs when you're swimming in the ocean, there's signs there's sharks. But but you just want to say, nah, you know what? I'm gonna test it. I'm gonna see how far I can go because I can handle this on my own. And then you realize the current push you so far out, you know, from from the the the you know the beach, it's like, wait, how'd I get out of here? And next you know, you middle of nowhere, no lifeguards, no nothing. But why? Because you know the signs. You know the signs. You thought like, oh, you was good and you know, like, oh, I could do this by my, you know, I I'm good, I'm a good swimmer, but now you're in the middle of nowhere, and no, and now you gotta figure out how you can get back, and now it's it's dangerous because you can get eat up by a shark and whatnot. Yo, you know what's crazy?
SPEAKER_01I think it was like two years ago. There was like, I think they were high school graduates or college graduates, they were on a boat on in shark-infested water in the middle of the night. One of the kids, I don't know what he was thinking, he jumped into the water and sharks just came and ripped him to pieces immediately after. See, like oh, see, yeah, and then they were still, and then I'll and then I'm just kind of looking at that. I'm like, I wonder what led up to that. But he had the signs dark outside in the ocean, dark in the ocean, in known shark-infested water, and on top of that, there was most likely alcoholic beverages within the vicinity.
SPEAKER_02Jonathan, you wonder what that reminds me of in Matthew when when Satan was trying to tempt Christ, and he said, if God loves you so much, don't jump off this mountain and like have him save you. And it literally says, Don't test God.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, don't tempt the Lord that God. You don't tempt the Lord that God. That's facts. Did we not just I just was speaking to him about this? My my my uh my church, we was preaching about Matthew 4, verses 1 through 11. You know, and it talks about that the temptation. So the enemy tempted Jesus um uh first uh like tempt uh tempted with hunger, then then tempted he he he uh he uh he he said if you're if you're the son of God turn turn these stones to bread.
SPEAKER_01Then he said, I'll give you the nations.
SPEAKER_00And we're riches. So so so so so he tempted those three areas um hunger, um his authority, and riches. And what are people struggling with nowadays, you know, and it Norsehow, those were all the things that satisfy the flesh. Satisfy the flesh, right? And so, and so yeah, it's it's just we we gotta we gotta we gotta be we gotta be aware. We gotta be, you know, look out for the signs and and not not tempt the Lord thy God because um because yeah, it's dangerous. It's dangerous when you think like you know it all, you think you think you do it. It comes pride. That's pride, it's all comes back to pride. You know, Lucifer had pride, you know, and he he he had pride filled his heart and God kicked him out of heaven, you know, and like pop pride pride blinds you, you know, and makes you do stupid, I'm full of stuff. Yeah, you know, and so be like, how the heck, you know, pride be you know comes before a fall, you know, pride becomes before destruction, hearts and spirit before a fall, right? Think about it, you know.
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's in the word. Yeah, that's Matthew 6. It says, God will those those who exalt themselves will be humbled. Those who are humbled will be exalted. Is that that you need to come to God in humility? And something else I also want to add on to that. I just realized we're not just children in God's eyes, we're also his bride. He's the bridegroom, we're the bride. So, what does that imply? That means, just like Maurice was saying earlier, um, the bride looks on to the husband, the husband looks on to God. So if we're the bride and we're looking up to him, what does that mean? We need to be led by him. We have to submit to him. Why? Because he has our best interest in mind. And if imagine the creator of the universe, all-seeing, all powerful, he has your best interest in mind, he knows all perspectives and he had and he knows all possibilities, and he knows your character better than you do. He knows exactly what to do to get you to what he created you to be, which is what you were ultimately created for, which is what will give you the fulfillment. Which will give you fulfillment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that is crazy because turning to anything for fulfillment instead of Christ is so fatal, bro. It's so fatal. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know, Jeremiah 1.5 says, um And I said, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to nations. I was looking at my iPhone, but iPad. But anyway, so God knew you when you was in your mother's womb. So you think you know yourself best. No, God knows you from the end, he knows your inner thoughts, your your hidden desires, he sees you what you're doing in public and behind closed doors, he knows every little hair on your head. He knows you bet more than anyone in this whole universe, you know, because he created you. Think about it. If you was a creator, if you if you was a creator, right, you create something, you would know your creation because you formed it. You you you you you took your time and put the fingers on it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like I you know every you know, you know where the thermal pace goes, bro. You know when it's over the heated, bro.
unknownExactly.
SPEAKER_00Like, yeah, like it's it's intricate. Yeah, it's just it's beautiful. So so yeah, so well one thing. I just want to say this. Like, so it only makes sense to trust to create toward who created you. Not because you're a creation and made by the creator, you can't trust your own self. You gotta trust to create a creator who uh created yourself.
SPEAKER_02Right, and you know just on the top of a Christ, right? Great guy, by the way. Um someone once said that hell is truth seen too late. Elaborate on that.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02Hell is truth seen too late, right? On the day of judgment, you're either going to see Christ as your savior or as your judge.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? On the day of judgment, the same people that have been holding you back from walking with Christ, they're not going to be there. It's only you and the Father. But if you put your faith in Christ, you have an advocate, you have a lawyer who took the penalty with you just putting your faith and living for them. Just think about that, right? Hell is truth seeming too late because think about how many people right now live live with the mindset if they say something terrible, oh, I'm going to hell. There's power in the tongue. Think about and all these people saying, Noah, you know, actually I oof, bro. I've seen atheists say, Noah, I'm not going to put my trust or faith in Christ, but at least I know when I'm in hell, I'll be in good company. And then they start to list off famous atheists. Hell is truth seen to late because it says in John, Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Nobody gets to the Father except through him.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I'll I'll also add that in something in there. Um, a lot of people. So if so, if loving God is obeying God, right?
SPEAKER_02All right.
SPEAKER_01A lot of people that that don't want to obey God, it's well, uh, it goes back to the they don't really know who who God really is. Because they think they I believe, from my at least from what I've seen, a lot, a lot of people think of it as like legalistic, legalistic in a way, because everyone thinks, oh wait, I can't do this, I can't do that, I can't do this, that, and whatever. And I'll I'm gonna just be honest, I get it. However, it's not by your power, like it's like what Anthony always says. Um, Anthony.
SPEAKER_02Right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02When you come when you come to Christ, you don't become sinless, but you begin to sin less. Less.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You sin less, as in it's through your relationship with God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, not by your power, keyword, the Holy Spirit's power. You will slowly not, you won't even want it doesn't even feel forced. Like you just the desires that you used to have are just start falling off. Like you start wanting more of what God wants and what he created you to desire.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Literally, it comes down to perception and perspective, right? And just think about it like this your thumb can literally block out the whole sun from your own perception. Just think about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I want to say this is uh um there's two times you were born, right? Yep, you were born one time, you know, Nashville, right? Um and when you get born again of the spirit, that's when you find out why the reason why you was, you will find out the reason why you were born. So once you find out the reason why you were born, one, you gotta get born again, and you will find out why you were born because God has created everyone for a purpose. Not we're not just here just like, you know, go to work, go to job, you know, marry, and uh no, no, we are created for more. We are made in God's image. We we we serve a there's a whole kingdom out there that we're supposed to represent. And the only way you represent in the kingdom of God is God, you had to be born again of the spirit of God. We cry Abba Father, the spirit of adoption. And so we represent a king. So there's that's what it goes back to that God is giv is comes to give you a life more abundantly because you passing through this earth. You don't live, you're not no longer when you come born again, you're no longer a part, you no longer you no longer live in this earth, you live in heaven. You just passing by and pointing people to Jesus as a sign point and and inviting everyone to the banquet that the king there's a king coming. And so, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? So that's why the Bible always emphasizes on birds and fishes, because those those are the only animals that experience two births. Because they're born the first time when an egg is laid. Then once they hatch through the egg, that's their second birth. Think about that. So just to pick back off of what that wise man over there just said. That's the Holy Spirit right there. But back to what Maurice just said. Um when you walk with Christ let me make sure I say this correctly. When you walk with Christ, you are born twice and die once. But if you don't walk with Christ, you are born once and die twice. That's right. Because you're born once, which is through the flesh, and you're born through the spirit once you accept Christ. But if you don't, not only do you die physically, but you die spiritually. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know what's crazy? I also now just realize the people that want to live life on their own terms and don't want and don't want to live in God and don't and use God's love as an as a reason to do whatever they want. So the will that so I so from my perception, I don't think now I uh this is this may be my opinion. So I want to see what your guys' perspective is on this. I'm under the impression that humans we were meant to be slaves of one of two things, either sin or God. You get to pick which one you are, as in, but you can only be a sl you can only belong to God if you submit your life to God. If because if you you can live your life with sin. You can live your like the like we want the purposes of the world, uh people pick the purposes that the world gave them over the purposes that God wants to give them.
SPEAKER_02So I will say this I agree and I disagree at the same time. Go off because you can be walking with Christ and still be a slave to sin. And what I mean by that is even Paul says he had a thorn in his flesh. And there are so many people that they can walk with God, they can have a relationship with Christ, and they will still fall short because no one will ever be perfect. Every time when I pray, I ask the Lord, please train my path, and and please widen my path. So whenever I slip, I I continue on this journey with you. So I think you can still be slave to sin while having a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I want to add to that. I want to add there's one man said that I heard said you can't lose your salvation, but you can forfeit it. How I what I mean by that is this is that when you when you become a Christian, right, you can easily say, you know what, I don't want to be a Christian no more, I can forfeit it. And it comes down, okay, because it's no the Bible is not biblical when when one saved always saved. That's not biblical, because you can forfeit your salvation. You know, a lot of people think they don't have to go, you know, they they don't it's like they said one sin in prayer and they they could live with however they want. No, the devil is a lie. You can't live with however you want because you gotta live now when you when you when you come to Christ, he's your Lord. So Lordship over you, so it's his way or the highway, right? And so, and so when you make him Lord of your life, you do what he says, you know? And so, and and there's no questions, there's no questions. Well, you know, sometimes we ask questions ask questions, okay. Uh, you know, we question God, but but we're not doubting God. We just ask the question, what do you mean by that? That how can I do this, right? And so, and so so when you will become a Christian, right? You can you can you you have you have free will either continue falling the way of God or you have free will. Will to go and and live in rebellion.
SPEAKER_01So uh let me elaborate on my question, I guess. So when I say slave to sin, when you're a slave to sin, righteousness is not even an option.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01When you're a slave to God, going back to sin is an option. That's what I'm trying to say. Because now you have the option to live right righteousness, but you also have the option to fall back. But the beautiful thing about when you when you're a slave to God is grace. Yeah. That's the whole point of the blood. Jesus died for every mistake you ever made. That's why you can follow him and still fall into sin and still be seen as righteous and perfect before God. Because it is not by your works, it is by what Jesus did that you are made righteous. You are that you are holy, you are you are a saint, you are ever you are every every good thing God says you are.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yep, it comes with benefits, right? Think about it. Look, it's like when you when you when you when you get a job, a job comes with benefits, right? When you come to Christ, there's benefits come there. There's there's eternal life, there's joy, there's peace, there's love, there's there's there's inherit there's inheritance like the scripture said a good man leaves a heritage to his children, children, right? There's a scripture, I I forgot where the scripture at. So basically. Read your Bible, read your Bible, and you know, um, anyway, y'all can fact-track it. So when when when we come to Christ, there's heritage. We get the same heritage Christ had, we can get it too, because Christ lived inside of us, right? We got we be born of the Spirit of God. And so when we come to Christ, um the the the we clothe in Christ, we clothe in righteousness of Christ. So when when we die, God don't see us, God see Christ in us. We we clothe in his righteousness. That's why when we when we when we get in robes, it's and when we become white, it's we're we're renewed, we're renewed and and pure and righteous in God's eyes. We're in right standing. Righteous means right standing with God. And so we get an inheritance that God Christ has, we can get too. It's the mystery of God, it's God in Christ, Christ in us, the hope of glory. So we when Christ is one with the Father, we become one with Christ through the through the power of the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_01And you know what's interesting? I just realized this too. When you come to Christ and you give your life, you give your life to him, you're actually now, you're able to experience who you really are. Amen. Because before Jesus, you're you're living, again, you're living a lie. Everything you've known up since you were born up until then, if you don't have God in your life, uh, is a lie. Everything was a lie. It's all fabricated. There's a reason why so many, it's like that's that's why you see like people who have it all. They have the money, they have the power, they have the authority, but they're never fulfilled, they're never satisfied, they just want more and more and more and more. Not to say, hey, listen, you can still be a Christian and still have all those other things, but if you don't have Jesus, you're none of the things of the world are gonna fulfill you. So essentially what I'm trying to get at is that I I think P the reason why people think uh, okay, if God loves me, I can do whatever I want. I think they think that my way, God they think that if I give control I think they look at it from like human, like a human perspective. If I give control if I give them like it's like uh imagine you you're an employee and you work for a boss. Imagine you hate the boss and the boss is telling you, alright, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, you gotta do that, if you want to be a good employee. I imagine they apply that same concept to God where they think, oh, I gotta do this, this, this, and that. But like, I don't it's true. They're just it's like kids. We're like kids, but it's all because they don't really know God. They don't really know that if you actually give God control of your life, it's his ways are higher than yours. He wants, like, literally, God wants to bless us more than we want the blessing, believe it or not. Like, he wants to do it, but he loves us so much, doesn't want the blessing to destroy us, he has to prepare us for it. So I think people are afraid that their life is getting limited if they obey God's commandments and somehow, some way. And again, that's another lie. Because in the world, they think, yeah, because there's the belief in the world is that if I'm not in charge of my life, then some just giving up my life to somebody else, and they're just gonna use me to waste when that's not true with God. God wants to give, you give your life to God, he's gonna give you life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_00Amen. Isaiah 559, by the way, his ways are higher than weights, or no other thoughts are our thoughts, so okay.
SPEAKER_02Right? And Jonathan, right? So you said we are children of God. Yeah. So if that's the case, we need to represent him in the world. And it says in the word, not once, not twice, but three times at least. And uh Romans 8 14, John 1 12, and Galatians 3.26. All three of those verses say that we are children of God. So if we are children, not only do we need to respect and follow our Father, but we need to put our trust in Him. We have to put our faith in Him, right? We understand that not only is His plan better, but His way is better.
SPEAKER_01I feel like people don't realize when you're in a relationship with God, you can tell Him, Lord, I don't understand this. I feel like I'm wasting my time. Like, I gave you my life. Why is everything looking like hell? And it's like it's like what Anthony was saying. It's perspective. You think everything's falling apart. You're like, well, I don't have my job that I want, why don't I have why I have the apartment that I want? You need like okay. Ask God to show you how He's been faithful, because God is faithful. You're gonna see, oh, I have a car. Oh, I have a job. Oh, I have an apartment. Oh, I'm I I'm uh I'm following the plans of God. I'm seeing the the steps because you know uh Hebrews 11:1, faith, uh faith is accompanied by evidence. Evidence of the is the evidence, yeah. Yeah, faith faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen. So if you keep walking with God and you keep trusting God, and he and you know he's gonna lead you to something greater for yourself than what you have imagined, he's gonna get as you walk, continue to walk with God, he's gonna show you like the little nuggets that's like he's showing you the path of what he's leading you to. Sometimes you don't know the end, but at the very least you know it's gonna be better than where you were. Like, and and if you don't, and if you can't see it and you're and you're in a phase right now where you're like, I don't know where God's leading me, then look back to what you were before and look at what you are now.
SPEAKER_00Romans 8 28. And and we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. His purpose. So if you you're you're a believer in Christ, you may go through trials and tribulation, you may go through times um of testing, but it's all for your good, it's all for the purpose that God's called you to be. Because at the end of the day, God God wants the glory. So sometimes he allows you to go through things so we he can get the glory, so you can have a testimony, a testimony, and how can you have a testimony if you don't go through nothing, right? And so we overcome them by the blood of the land and the word of our testimony, and love not our life unto death, right? And so we we you know the the the testimony in Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, right? And so we testify Jesus, right? Jesus will do the work and draw all men to him. You know, it's all about him at the end of the day. When all is done, when you when we we when we pop our bodies and our soul leaves our body, we're gonna we're gonna stand in front of God and we're gonna realize it was all about Jesus. Nothing, no, none are it don't matter how much money you have, it don't matter how much much the houses you build or career you have, whatnot. Only thing matters what you do for Christ and what what you do, and and that's gonna last for all eternity. What did you do the life that I had given you? I believe God is gonna. What do you have given you that and and and the time you spent on earth? What what did you give do for me, the the gift I had given you and the talents I gave you? You know, did you use it for yourself or you use it for me? You know, and and and and he is Jesus is all about winning souls. We need to win souls for God's kingdom because he's soon to come back. I know I went off and I I want people to understand that is that is that this life will pass away, but God's word will never pass away, it's eternal.
SPEAKER_02So Amen. And just to piggyback off of that, I feel like a lot of people don't want to go through trials, and I don't blame them, it's human nature. We don't want to be uncomfortable, but a lot of bad decisions happen and occur because of instant gratification. A lot of people want to feel good now, right? Just to rewind a little bit about the kid that jumped off that boat in pitch black water and was shark infested. Shark infested waters, right?
SPEAKER_01I don't know why they jumped off that boat, but but he probably I I think I think he was drunk and his friends gassed him up. See, that's what wagon sin is death.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, literally, sums up every friend the mic, mic drop. Oh, wow, yeah. Wow.
SPEAKER_00He circles that square away. Thank you, Holy Spirit. You know, so yeah, we can be playing around with it. Listen, God could cut you off. He could cut you off. He did there's a Bible, there's this verse that says that um he's quick to forgive and slow to anger, right? You know, um, and if we and then there's another verse, you know, I'm paraphrasing saying, like, um, if we don't, if we continue playing with sin, you know, God's gonna give us over. He's going uh, oh, your heart can harden.
SPEAKER_01You literally won't be able to hear God anymore.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And and you know, and my my my you know, wish my testament to come out soon, praise the Lord, hallelujah. Um, is that that that there's time when I was in the past, I used to like, you know, um play with God, be like, oh, I do it, you know, I forgive, forgive me, Lord, but I do it right going right back. And it's got to the point that that Oh, I love that you said that.
SPEAKER_01Just because you ask God for forgiveness, yeah, you need to, okay. The grace does not give us permission to do it. The grace is there for when we do make a mistake. You need to run back to God.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So the grace is there so we can um so so basically the Bible says this is that um should we continue in sin that made grace man bounce? God forbid. If it, you know, so God don't want us to to take his grace for granted because it might become a time that grace is no longer available to you and God just cut you off because you kept playing with, you kept playing with the things of God, you kept playing with with sin to the point that you just like God don't like lukewarm people, right? Like, in other words, he loves everyone. What I'm trying to say is I want to explain this, is that God, whether you be hot for him or cold for him, he don't want you in the middle because the Bible said he will vomit you out of his mouth, right? And so, and so you you can't you can't be one foot in the world and and one foot out of the world, make a decision. You know, God, you know, a double-minded person is unstable all his ways. So think about it. Like God God doesn't want half your heart, he wants your whole heart.
SPEAKER_01Either you're all in or you're out.
SPEAKER_00Think about it, think about the marriage. Do you do you want if you if those you marry out there, right? Don't you you don't want your husband to be just like, you know, half, half, you know, yeah, bro.
SPEAKER_01Like imagine, imagine for everyone who's married out there. Imagine your wife's with you all week, and then on the weekend he's at your boy Jimmy's crib.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, like at your party. You know what I'm saying? Like, like you, you it's like it's like love is a choice.
SPEAKER_01But actually, you know what's interesting about God though? We do that with him every day. Yeah, that's part of the grace because we I well, I'll I'm gonna speak for myself. I'm I'm gonna speak for myself. I don't want to put everything assume anyone else's walk. Uh I'll say I'll put my trust in God, and then I'll be in situations where God will show me I'll run back to myself. Sometimes I'm my own God, and I'd be thinking, yo, I will get myself out of this. And then God will put me in a position, yeah. Nah, I can't. I can't. I'm sorry, Lord. I come back to you. But that's the that's the beauty of the grace. You can always run back to him every single time. However, now acknowledge, I didn't do that thinking, oh man, I'm gonna just do uh I'm gonna just do it. God, God's gonna forgive me anyways. Like, who cares? Like, God, God loves me, he forgives me. Like, uh, I'm gonna just keep doing it, I'm gonna just keep doing it, I'm gonna do it. That's not true. Repentance, it's not true. Repentance is a changing of the mind. And Gali Sar. And repentance is a gift from love that God gives you. Yes. And whenever God chastises you, you go through something, it feels like torture, yes, but you need to acknowledge He's doing that so you can stop doing the action that's hurting you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Just think about how much of a blessing it is that we have the capability of repenting. The fact that the God we serve gives us an owl, He gives us a way to turn through repentance and through faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy. You know, with benefits for Christ, you know, comes with grace. Great, we have grace, and that's one of the benefits that we have in Christ that we can come back to him and and be forgiven.
SPEAKER_01Alright, guys. I think uh we we we beat this horse with a stick long enough. We all know, but we I think we all know our stances here, but uh before we close out, I'm curious. What are some closing thoughts?
SPEAKER_02So today's topic was if God loves me, why can't I live life on my own terms? Aside from us being governed by the flesh and not the spirit, I really want to say this don't feed your flesh so much that you start to question your belief in Christ. Because we wouldn't risk getting so close to the edge of a cliff and risk falling now. Just think about that. We walk by faith, not by sight, and just as Jonathan has said many times, Hebrews 11:1. Faith just doesn't come out of nowhere. Faith is built by the evidence of what Christ has given us already. Why did I put faith that my chair was going to support me today? Because of the evidence in the past that it supported me in the past. Let Christ be that support for you.
SPEAKER_01Amen. So if you're someone that, if you believe you fit this category, that you know what? Nah. God still loves me. I'm gonna still live life on my terms. I don't care what these what these guys say. This is what this is my challenge for you. I want you to give God a chance. Like Jesus says, you can't come to me unless you die to yourself. Put your pride aside, just give it a just give God a chance. And I promise you, what whatever fulfillment you thought you had by doing it your way, whatever God's gonna do in your life is gonna surpass that. It even says Ephesians 3.20 to uh yeah, Ephesians 3.20, God can do exceedingly and abundantly above all we can ever dare ask or imagine. Think of that. God has an infinite mind, and He has more, He could do more with you than you even realize, versus our limited minds, we can think so much. Just trust the Lord, trust me, He got your back. Things might look bad, but I promise you, at the end of it, you're not gonna regret following the Lord.
SPEAKER_00Just my clothes more is it goes back to what I was saying. Just no just look at God as a loving father, a perfect father that you never had, and he's never wrong, he's always right, he's perfect in all his ways. If see, if we could like just I know it's sometimes it's hard to understand that because maybe some of y'all didn't really have a father figure growing up like myself, like wasn't had a best example for you. But I encourage you guys to put your pride aside, put your you know, ask your questions, but really seek truth. Don't seek religion, seek relationship. You know, and God will never fail you, He would never leave you or forsake you, according to the scriptures. And he's a perfect lover father. So all you had to do is take a leap of faith and uh do your best and God will take care of the rest in Jesus' name. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you guys for tuning in. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, let us know. How do you guys like Maurice? He's a great guy with even better drip.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let us know. Is he a return guest, or do you should we like, you know, or should we make him the boob? Or should we have the guard dogs out when he's when he's near the studio?
SPEAKER_02But once again, don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, smash that notification bell. And hey Jonathan, what's that was uh one thing?
SPEAKER_01No, oh yeah, the the one thing, yeah, yeah. And never forget Jesus loves you. Amen.