Seek The Giver

On this episode we discuss and break down what the Lord's Prayer means to us. It is an awesome prayer once you realize its meaning. We hope you enjoy this episode and please gp follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome. This is the Testaments of Faith Podcast. I'm your host, Ray Bratshaw. I'm glad you've chosen to listen to the testimonies of our brothers and sisters in Christ. There's no better way to confess your love of Jesus than a testimony of what Christ has done in your life. Welcome to the Testaments of Faith Podcast. I'm Ray Bratshaw, and you're with me tonight is John Paul Murphy and John Quinn of the Word of Faith Ministries Church in Kingsville, North Carolina. And tonight on the podcast, our put our topic's going to be don't chase the gift, chase the giver. And I come up with that subject because we've been talking about how people are obedient to God when they want something. When we need to look at what he's already given us, be thankful for that. As Christians, we should not show obedience and hopes of receiving something in return. We should be obedient because what we have been given. God gave us Jesus, and Jesus gave us the ultimate gift. John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We think about that. We've been raised to believe if we behave a certain way, we'll get rewarded. I mean it's just like you know, I've done it with my kids and my parents probably done it with me. You go in a store and you're fussy because you want something, they tell you no about five times, and they finally tell you if you be quiet for five minutes, they'll buy it for you. So then we start expecting prizes. Kind of like training a dog with treats. I mean, you can train a dog without food, but dogs are food driven, so it makes it easy. But every time that dog does something, he's going to expect a treat in life. Christ has given us we have God's grace, and Christ has redeemed our sins by going to that cross, and that is the ultimate gift, and that's why that's why we should be obedient to the Lord and nothing else. Not when we want something, not when we're car shopping or you know, trying to find a mate, or anything like that. And there's a lot of people pray for things, and we've discussed this out here before. Everybody's always praying for something wants and worldly needs. But we should be thankful every day for what God has already given us and what He has done for us in our life. I got Ephesians two eight For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. So there again we shouldn't be chasing that gift because we've already been given the gift. We should be chasing the giver, which was God. In Romans 5 19 Or as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. And then again we go back to Jesus dying for us on that cross, which was the ultimate gift. I mean you think even in even like our war heroes, I mean that's the ultimate gift to us and him going to sacrifice near lives for our freedoms. And just think, you know, what Jesus done.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

And I another one I have now here that I really like was 2 John one verses 5 and 6. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the g beginning, that we love one another. This is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. And that right there, if you seek out to love your neighbor like Jesus commanded, like God commanded, then we will be seeking the giver and not the gift. Absolutely. What do y'all think?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Well, I mean, Jesus spoke to the people um that was following him in John 6 um 20 surely 26. Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. That he you know, Jesus even had to deal with this in his ministry during his time on the earth. Yeah. That people were chasing after the food, the oaves and the fishes.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Well, if you think about it, from the days of Moses, I mean, that every every time they had a famine or God put something on them, that's when they would be obedient. Well, yeah. They'd had to be punished to be obedient. Whereas if if you're obedient to start with, and they would have if if they would have done what God asked them to do, he wouldn't have had to do that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah, God was ready to give up on them at one point. And Moses plead for them to save them because you know they were so disobedient and so out of line. That was one of the things that they they dealt with. John, I'm gonna go ahead and go say it, John 6, 633. But seek first the kingdom of God. What does it start with? Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. So it didn't say seek the gift, it didn't seek the things that you're after. The very first thing he's telling you here is don't seek the things, seek the kingdom first. And if you understand what the kingdom is, you understand what his principles is behind that, you know, you're not gonna you're not gonna seek a kingdom without seeking the king.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Because the king is over the whole entire kingdom. So to be seeking the kingdom, you're seeking the king, and that's to build his kingdom for his glory. So if you're busy building his kingdom, you know, what's his kingdom? Adding more people. I I'm always kingdom principal. I talked to you when I'm talking at church and about this podcast. I'm like, we're building God's kingdom, and it's not gonna be an empty kingdom, it's gonna be full of people. So our mind is set on a kingdom standpoint that I'm building a kingdom for the Lord. He's king. Amen. I'm one of the people that works for him. I'm a representative of the king. I'm a king's kid, and I'm growing the kingdom for him. That's what does the whole mindset that you should have when he's talking about this in Matthew 6, 33, is seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added on to you. You know, the things that you're things will be added on to you, but if you've got your mindset on the things of this world, you know, I am all about talking about the blessings of God. I'm I talk about the blessings of God a lot. I do. I talk about the gifts of God, I talk about what all God will do for you. In my ministry where we're pastor at, I do that a lot. I do. But the thing is, even in Deuteronomy 28, when you if y'all gotta add something to add, you can on flipping over to Deuteronomy.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Well, you know, you got you got to chase the giver, the giver, not the gift. I mean, because here's the thing the main thing, the gifts flow from a relationship. What what you receive comes through a relationship, and a relationship is proven by what? Obedience. I mean, if you love me, Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments. I'm gonna say one thing here. In Paul in Philippians 3 8, he said, Yeah, doubtless, yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them as dung. He said, you know, he said, he said, I've suffered loss. He said, but it's all worth it just because of knowing him.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Getting back, I'm gonna read over to where are we going in Deuteronomy? Talking about all the blessings that I preach on sometimes and people look at me like I'm kind of strange. Look, look at the very first part of this. Well now I'm looking at um verse one. Twenty-eight, verse one. Now it should come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord. That's all about having a relationship. That's right. You know, it's not just the rules that's in this Bible. Now he's came up and it's about a relationship with God, just like John was talking about. Obey the voice of the Lord your God, observe carefully all his commandments which I have given you today, and that the Lord will set you upon high above all the nations. But if you don't do that first part, that's right. You don't do the first part. Don't expect all the way to verse 14 and what you're gonna get if you don't do the first very first part of it. You know, that's the key to it. I think our camera audio went back up. Yeah. So the then Colossians, I'm going over there in Colossians 3, 2, where I'm headed. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. So that shows you right there. What are you setting your mind upon? He's telling you here that how to position a believer. Believers should be set, and my Bible has it up at the top of there, the position of a believer, that we are disposed to set our minds on Christ. Christ, that's right. Not on the things of this earth, like you were saying, the cars, the the things that we we want, the things is that you set your mind upon him. And when you get yourself focused, you know, even though I I preach all the things that God will do toward you and he'll bless you. Yes, I believe that 100% because I'm living proof of it. But my mind is one set track. I'm on focus on God. I'm focused on what he's doing even throughout not just lately, but a long time. My mind focus has been on him and what I can do for him more than just the things here. But as I do what he wants me to do, as he will, he does bless me. I mean, he will, he does, he he does bless me.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

But you know, it says uh to how is it don't lay up treasures where moth and dust just corrupt. But lay up treasures in heaven, because where a mass treasure is, there his heart will be also. That goes right with putting your focus on God and kingdom things versus the things of the world. Psalms 63, one.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh longs for you, and a dry and thirsty land where there's no water. David, you know, you talk about a man after God's own heart coming up to a place where he's like, you know, his principle. Why was he a man after God's own heart? Because he loved God and he wanted it, you know, even though he had made a lot of mistakes. David was full of mistakes. If you read the Bible and you get to know David, he was full of mistakes.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

I I had I had a psalm written there too, 3914. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. Yeah. Because he realized without God, he wouldn't be where he would.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, that's right. That's everything goes back to you thanking God, not for what he's about to do or can do. And what he already has done. What he's already done. And who he is. And who he is. That's right. Thank you, God.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

For everything. So you get a you get an understanding through a relationship of of who he really is. And in order to understand that he wants to reward you, you have to know him to even know that because you don't know the depth of the love until you know have a relationship.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

I mean, yeah, I didn't realize that too until my rick, too, you know, you it was like I was always chasing the wrong thing. I was chasing the mammon and not the mammon giver.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

And you don't whenever whenever you first met Marie, y'all didn't you didn't know everything about her the first time you went out with her. It won't you have to get to know her. That's right. And you there's probably things you're still learning about her now after however many years y'all have been married. You're trying to get me in trouble. I've been I've been with CC nineteen years. Yeah, we've been married 33 years. And you know, I I'm sitting here, I still learn stuff about her.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

Yeah, that's right. I know. I'm the same way. I learn something new every day about her, about the Lord, about everything. John Paul's over there acting like he knows. He's been right quiet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

I'm reading scriptures, reading 'em out loud, trying to figure out which way we were going with this.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

And every one of us has been there. No doubt. And you know, what's our best route to explaining to people other than through our testimony that we've all d that we have done that to get them to realize I know I see people every day that I know real close they're doing that. And I'm you know, I'm like I'm always thinking, how can I turn them around?

SPEAKER_01 12:42

The only way they can really turn that around is with a relationship. You're not just you know, it's you just love him because he's Lord. And people I see it too. I mean, I'm pastor of a church. I see people all the time that you know that they chase that. And in fact, you heard a sermon yesterday. I was talking about this. I told you when you were even text me this, you know, talking about this topic. Yeah, I was like, this is already in my sermon. I'm just letting you know, I didn't want you to think I started it out because of you, because I it was already in my sermon that don't get a thing that you're looking for what God will bless you and study on the blessing more than you're studied on Him.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Well, I say, you know, because I I said we were gonna talk about this, but I didn't have a title for it yet. But as we were sitting in church yesterday, I typed it up on my notes on my phone.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

And I mean, I'm telling you, 30 seconds later it came out of his mouth.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

I was like, hey, man, that that's a that that's a giving right there. That's what we got to talk about.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Well, you know, I pretty much I preached along the same lines the Sunday before, you know, about seeking God. It if you put him as your main focus, everything else flows in line. Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

Yeah. But if you get into this thing where you're looking after like all these people were following around Jesus even in his time. You know, he was walking around the earth. I mean, this is not nothing new. It's been happening for over 2,000 years. They followed him around to get what he could get. I mean, they did. They wanted a miracle, they wanted they wanted to touch, they wanted to be healed.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

They were following him because they wanted something. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

And it's because they wanted what he could do for them, and not just to be with him. But it is some people that followed him because he loved him. That's that's the disciple. He had 120 in the room after he left.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

You know, it was at 500, and then it dwindled down to 120 on the day of Pentecost. Yeah. You know, there's always gonna be this throughout the time, but there is people that want a relationship with God.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Well, I mean, that to bring up to the modern days, I've always heard that, you know, when times get tough, when you find out who your true friends are. Yeah. And even though they end up that same case back then, too.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Yeah, it was the same exact case. They they were after, you know, in fact, it was so bad with Jesus he had to go to the other side of the sea to get away from the people that was following him for the food. Yeah. You know, they got fed, and you don't believe it, go check out, you know, when you have a food giveaway at uh at anywhere. Yeah, food giveaway. You'll have five hundred people come up to get food and no, but they don't want to hear what you got to do. Yeah, you might get ten out of five hundred that want to come to church because then that's they want to make me king because of what I can do for you.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

I used to volunteer at a food kitchen at a church here in town for a little while. My mama was going to, and I'd watch people come in and half the time they wouldn't even want to bow their head to pray, they just come there to eat leaves.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Yeah, that's the same when you have something to eat at church. A lot of times you'll have people you've never seen show up. Yeah, if you advertise it, you will. And that's okay. I I advertise it anyhow because you know I try to get people to come in.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

We're here to give anyway. I mean, we're not gonna turn anybody away.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

We had a we had a family function one time, family dinner at the warehouse after you know. And anyway, we're sitting there and somebody came in random, just come in off the street and fixed him a plate and sat out and started eating with us.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

I thought you were having a church service. Yeah, having homecoming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

That's all right. We just settled anyhow.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yeah, you know what? That's what we're called to do. Everybody's like, I mean, you know, I don't say something about that, but like that food bank down there with church. That kitchen we done we volunteered at. I mean, I've seen people come in there and they're like, those guy these guys, they're just coming because it's free. I mean, but then I got to thinking it don't matter if it's free or not. If they want it to give it to 'em.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

That's right. It's not my job.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

We had somebody come in and and they had a newer diesel pickup, and this was about four or five years ago when diesel fuel was high, it's high now. But they come in and it was right after, you know, COVID and best in around 2020, and this guy comes in driving this newer model diesel truck, and they're like, Do we give him food? I'm like, Yeah, have you seen the price of diesel fuel? That's right. You don't know why he might have just got laid off.

SPEAKER_02 17:09

You know, I tell my wife that too, you could down here where we're at, there's somebody on every corner holding a sign. And it's not to us to judge them. Right. But if we feel it in our heart to give to them, then that's why we give. Because it's in our heart to give. Not because you feel sorry for them, but I mean that's your nature. That should be your nature to give and help others. Oh, yeah. I mean, love thy neighbor. I mean, that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

But this has been happening forever for a long time. And Jesus didn't turn any of them away. I mean, he multiplied the fish and the cloves and he fed them all. There's 5,000 just men. Yeah. No. And you think most families had two, two kids? Probably 10,000, 15,000 people there. Easy.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Easy. The families were large by now.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Think about this. Look in the church today. Is there more women in church or more men?

SPEAKER_02 18:01

Right now it's going to be more women.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Okay, well, I'm saying was all think about it. If they just counted men, that's right. There could be a lot of women there that didn't have yeah, and they could have been, there's no telling how many people were there. There's really no telling how many people were there. And he fed them. And they had leftovers. Yeah. And so that's you know, but even then they had people that followed just because they wanted what he had. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

And so that we I think you're gonna have not for who he was, but for what he had and what he could give.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, you're gonna have that throughout time. Right. But it's not something that should discourage a believer. You know, it doesn't discourage me, it doesn't weigh me down. I'm like, you know, it's been happening for a long time. That's not me. I'm seeking God, whatever thing. And, you know, you shouldn't put somebody down because of it. You should just be the example a light and show everybody else. Say, hey, you know, you want what I'm blessed with. You want to live like I'm living, you know, your light should be so bright and let other people. I tell people all the time, live with a smile on your face, be a happy person, let them know that there is a better life, you know, that Jesus has paid for that you can live in, that you don't have to live in depression, you don't have to live in sickness, you don't have to live in things, and you can be a smile on your face, and that'll show them that you got the peace of God. That's right. Right. You're not living like a beggar. No, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

I mean, that's why, you know, I watched another podcast this morning, and I know John Paul myself has talked about it a million times. When we leave church on Sunday, it's all of our jobs to go spread the word.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Well, you're supposed to the Bible tells us to get equipped. When it talks about in the Bible, you can look it up. It's talks about getting equipment. That's right. When you go hear the word, you're to get equipped. If I'm going to go get equipped, I I've done carpentry, working on houses and stuff like that. When I'm going to get equipment, I'm going to go to my tool trailer, I'm going to pull that thing up, and I'm going to have all my equipment. So what you're supposed to do is when you go to church, you're getting equipment to go work.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

You're building that equipment to go work.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

It's not, you've got a tool bag, I'm going to fill it up with tools, and now I'm about to go to work.

SPEAKER_02 20:06

It's not to sanctify your seal from Sunday to Sunday to get you by. Yeah, it's. And that's what we see it, but what I was bringing that up because I was glad to see that on another podcast. That's actually the first one I've seen actually talk about it. I know we've talked about it, but I was like, man, thank you. Somebody else is finally seeing it too.

SPEAKER_01 20:23

Yeah. I mean, you can't make people want to go to work, and just like we were talking about earlier, about some people just don't want to work. All right. That's the same thing, and you know, but God's put a desire in a in some of us that's sitting here at this table that we want to go to we want to do more. And there's a hunger, that's the Holy Ghost hunger fire that lives on the inside of you that comes and makes you want to do more for Christ. That gives you a burning desire to do more. And, you know, I think a lot of the problem is that people don't, you know, yield to the Holy Spirit letting them control letting him do what he wants to do in them to do more.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Um they want to control like I used to be. They thought I was I thought I was in control.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

As you let the Holy Spirit lead you, I can promise you one thing you won't have to worry about. You won't have to worry about getting your eyes off of Christ because when the Holy Spirit starts getting in you, it says he'll lead you and guide you. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

And another thing, when you get so full of it, you can't help but it come out because he said, Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. And he was referring to the spirit that's going to be inside of you and be on upon you. That's right. And you're going to be willing to give and help do for others just like Jesus was doing. And the thing is, when you get to that point and you get so full of the spirit, so full of a relationship, so full of of him and him leading and guiding you, like John Paul was just talking, you can't help but tell others about how good he's been to you. That's right. About what he's done for you, about where he's brought you from and where he's carried you to. You know, and and it you carry yourself different. When you when you get a right relationship, you carry because you you go from being what I just said a while ago, begging God for your next thing, the next thing that you want, you go from looking at the next thing you want to being kingdom driven and seeking his kingdom and he's he's everything else comes in life.

SPEAKER_01 22:23

And here's the best part. This is what I love so much. You go from looking for a blessing to being a blessing. Now, now there was a place that in my life I was looking for a blessing. I'm a blessing. I can go and bless other people. I can be a blessing. I have more than enough. I can go and help other people out. When I see somebody in need, I'm not having to say, well, can you come help me help this person out? I got it. You know, because that's what God's done to my life. So, but I didn't get that by seeking, God, I thank you for giving me something. No, I just sit there and and study on what he wants me to do in the church. And it's not have me being a pastor that's got me this blessed. It's by seeking, you know, his word, studying this Bible, studying his principles, because you you have to understand in Christ there's some principles that you have to follow by. There's a partnership that you have to do, a covenant, let's put it that way. A covenant between you and God. And when you do your part in the covenant, he's obligated to do his part. But in, you know, seek his face. In Psalms 105, it says, Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face evermore. That's an important part of you know what we're talking about is if you're not seeking God, you know, it shouldn't be about the things of this world. They're gonna pass away. It says this stuff is gonna rust, it's gonna fall away, it's gonna never be no more.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

No I was I was gonna save this verse for my my ending verse like I usually do, but I'm gonna have to go ahead and read it then. We're talking about that. Let it rip. Chapter one verse uh forty-eight. For he has regarded the lowly state of his maid servant. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. Because Mary was seeking him and not what he could do for her.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

And she has she was blessed. Yeah. I mean, just like you are. I mean, you've been a blessing to me. Yeah. You've been a blessing to me. Well, I appreciate that, brother. I mean, you know, through prayer, you know, and everything there in my accident and everything else. I mean, working with dogs, I mean Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

So I mean it's like But it changes you around. When you start seeking God, it turns everything around that you're not seeking a blessing. I'm not seeking what he can give me. I'm seeking the one that does it all, and I thank him for just what it is. And I said this Sunday morning, if he never does anything else for me ever again. He's done enough to for me to praise him to the day I go home. He's been a good God to me. And I thank him for everything. I just do. I I praise him. I'm not saying he's not gonna do things because he will. He's going to, but I just thank him because he's so good. Yeah, he tells us time and time he's going to. But I'm saying I'm not based on that life that I've got to thank him for my next meal. I've got to thank him for that. No, I'm thankful because he's God and he died for me. He found me at my low place. You heard my testimony at my low place at rock bottom. He picked me up. That's right. And that's why I praise him. That's why I get in there and I give a radical praise because I was lost and not just you're lost. No, I was messed up. I was messed up. And then he saved me and he loved me that much. When I understood how much he loved me, it brought to the realization, man, I'm gonna give you everything I got. Oh, you give me two butt, brother. Yeah, you give I'm gonna give you everything I got.

SPEAKER_02 25:52

I know because all they think about leaning that road down is you save my life if I'm worthy. Yeah. And he after dying twice in the operating room, yeah. Thank you, Jesus. The devil thought he had you. My life is yours.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yeah. And that's what that's what turned around. When you were like, I'm giving everything I got to you now. It started turning things around. Yeah. And you had a lot of people praying for you and believing for you.

SPEAKER_02 26:14

You can feel every bit of it too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

So I know we're talking about, you know, the serving him, you know, seeking after God, but it talks about obedience to and talks about faith. Now looking at Genesis one, I mean Genesis uh twelve, one and four. Yeah. Now the Lord said to Abraham, get out of your country from your family, and from your father's house, to a land I will show you, and I'll make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I'll make your name great, and you shall be blessed. I will bless you and those who bless you, and I will curse him who curse you, and in you and all your families of earth shall be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord spoken to him. What does this say? Now the Lord said to Abraham, He followed directions in obedience of the Lord. When you follow directions and listen to God, you know the Holy Spirit will still speak to you. I mean, he speaks to me all the time. He shows me things. People say, Well, God don't speak to you only. I'm telling you. If you'll start praying in the Holy Spirit, God will show you things, He'll give you visions, He'll speak to you, He'll clearly let you know things, He'll give it to you in His Word as well. I read things in the Word, sometimes God will lead me to a certain scripture. But also He speaks to you and He'll show you things and He'll give you guidance and let you know what you need to do. It's not always a condemning thing, it's usually you, hey, you're doing this, do this instead, and this is what'll happen.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

So it seemed like every day I picked a Bible up or picked that daily devotional up that was written by a pastor man. It's like, and did this guy know what I was gonna do today or what was on my mind. And it's the same thing in that Bible too. Every time I read something, I'm like, it hit hung.

SPEAKER_00 27:55

Abraham, God didn't tell him exactly where to go there. He didn't and he didn't wait for clarity. He obedience started walking. A lot of people are are waiting on God to move, but God's still waiting on them to do what he told them.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

He's always been waiting on us.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

That's right. They always say, I'm waiting on the Lord, and I'm like, He's waiting on you, bro. He's been waiting on you.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

I get so tired of hearing that.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

I know. It's just like, please stop. That's that religion talking.

SPEAKER_02 28:23

I've prayed about it, so I'm just waiting for the Lord to lay it in my lap. You've got to take that first step. Yeah, you get to tell you.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

You took you took the step to building in the studio to getting out here and sharing the gospel. And you're taking that step, and as you take that step, he says, I'll bless the works of your hands. Just that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

I'm out here, people say it all the time. I'm like, you can't be that way. I mean, if God give you a talent, be it building houses, portraying dogs, and you're sitting in the house going, or painting or whatever, and you're sitting in the house and you're going, Well, I've prayed about it. I'm just waiting on an answer from the Lord. He's already given it to you. It's up to you to take that first step. I mean, the courage is there. If you have faith, you have courage. Sometimes you just got to knock it off your shoulder and go for it, man.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

Yeah. Take the first step out of the boat.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Get over there.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Look, like Noah building an ark. You gotta take that step.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Even though it had never rained before.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

How many years did he go through ridiculing for building a boat? Yeah, everybody was messing with it. Miles. That's right. How you gonna get it to the water? Yeah. How you gonna get it to the water, there boy?

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Don't worry, the water coming to it. Yeah, and and everybody looking at him, crazy talking. But now look, it'll all start changing. It'll all start changing around when it works. I'm living proof of it. Everybody'll sit there and say you're crazy about preaching this stuff and you're well, you you know, because I preached the same I preached blessings when I didn't have a thing in this world. Was it Peter that stepped out the boot when Jesus?

SPEAKER_02 29:51

Yeah, Peter. Peter he stepped out.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Yeah, but everybody said, Come to me. Yeah, he said, come to him. He said, All right. But everybody looks at Peter because of that one moment where he took his eyes off Jesus. Right. They don't look at the other eleven that never had the faith to get out the boat.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

That's right. He got out the boat. I I I can then like you jump out, man, go with it. That's right. You know, they like he slipped because they want to always talk about how you slip. And they, you know, preachers are always, well, you know, even Peter slipped and took when he took his eyes off. Yeah, but he got out the boat. Give the man a little bit of credit here.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

The first step.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Yeah, that's right. He took the first step. That's right. And guess what? When he did slip, guess who had his hand out to grab him? That's right. Jesus. The life preserver. That's right. And guess what? Even you think about it. When you step out, guess who's going to be there to grab your hand? You don't have to worry. He's going to be there. You got promises in this word right here that if you'll take this obedience and go out, he will help you in your time of need. He will help you in your time of need. It's over and over in this Bible. He'll help you in your time of need.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

I feel a lot of people too, because I used to be the same way. Don't have patience to wait. And I think that's another place we mess up. I used to be that way. I mean, I'd pray about something, but then I'm like.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

You're preaching to the choir on patience because we don't have it. It doesn't run in our family very good, not in our genes at all. Nah, I don't have patience either. I mean When we were the line of patience was up there and they was giving out in heaven, we passed by there because we didn't have time to wait in the line. I got to bypass pants for that one. Yeah, well, I was like, I don't have pace. So, but I can tell you something. You can learn to have more patience. And people say, Don't pray for patience, you know. Because then God's going to pitch. No, God's a good God. I managed that on there yesterday. And I said, God's a good God. You need to know that on the inside. God's a good, good God. And he loves you. That's who he is. Amen. He loves you.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

I mean, uh, and he wants us to succeed. He does.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

Only thing he wants to do is be first in your life. That's it. That's all he wants. That's it. He wants to be first in your life. If you'll put him first, if you'll pit him first, that's all he wants. He's not, he just wants to be first priority. What did he want in the garden? He wanted to spend a relationship with Adam and Eve. He wanted to be first in their life. He wanted to spend time with them. That's all God wants is to first.

SPEAKER_02 32:27

He gave them simple instructions. Yep. So they could have all that, but they were not obedient. He just spun that right around. That's right, because I mean that's what that's what our topic is anyway.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Think about this. How many people look down on Adam and Eve because they walked with God in the cool of the day and they messed up? All right. Well, whenever you do, when you point the finger at them, all right. Jesus came. You have the right to go boldly before the throne of grace now. You mess up. How can you look back? How can you look at them and point a finger at them because they messed up when we mess up every day too?

SPEAKER_01 33:08

What's the old saying? You point your finger at somebody, you got three more point back at you. But getting back to it, Abraham didn't chase a blessing. He obeyed God. And because he obeyed God, the blessings flowed on his life. It gives you a clear path. The Bible is not full of confusion. It's a clear path that when you obey, guess what? It's gonna come. But I'm not chasing that. I'm chasing listening to God. I don't care about anything else. Like I said, he's blessed me a plenty. I've been blessed so much. But the one probably reason if you ever heard me preach and you hear me talk about, you know, the blessings and I talk about how good God is and things like that, is because I've heard so many people beat people down and talk about how bad they are and how they're never gonna get anything and you're condemned. And so when I read the Bible, it's a good book. Right. It's good news. The disciples said, Have you heard the good news? They were talking about Jesus. Have you heard the good news? They didn't say have you heard the bad news? They said you heard the good news. And that's what the Bible is, is good news. And I I want to share the good news with people. I don't want to share that, you know, it you know that if you're doing wrong, you got there's a there's a cost to sin. There is a cost. I will tell you that. I'm not denying that one bit. You know, if you're you're doing wrong, you there's hell to pay, and there's sin there, and there's it there's causes death.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Wages of sin is death.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

I'm not denying that one bit, but I just want people to understand you can live a better life. You can walk in what I'm walking in.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Because it's not for one person, it's for all to receive. Teach about the blessings of serving and versus to how rotten of a center you are.

SPEAKER_01 34:48

Because this brings back to what John says all the time. If you tell me what not to do, and I'm always focusing on what not to do, you're looking at that. Like you say, don't look over here. What does everybody do? They look over there. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

You go to go use the bathroom outside and say, Don't look. And you have three everybody look.

SPEAKER_02 35:05

Everybody's gonna look that direction because you just told them not to look. It's like that saying, John, like you, John likes to use too if you keep looking in your rearview mirror. You're telling everybody to look. So I mean, yeah, I don't I can't think of hardly any more obedient person in the old testament than Abraham. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:21

He was faithful, he listened to God. He didn't question what God said, he didn't ask anything. It requires trust without fully understanding. That's right. But without faith, it's impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe he is and that he is a rewarder, those who diligently seek him. Without faith, it starts this very beginning off. You gotta have faith in God, you gotta trust in him, you gotta have that walk. For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5, 7. You're walking in faith in this life with Christ, that you know, he's a good God. And I love him, and I'm just uh just want to spend time with him. And um go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 36:05

I'm trying to I hardly know this, but I can't remember. It was Abraham that God told him to sacrifice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:13

I mean, or was it uh Mount Mount Rare?

SPEAKER_02 36:18

I wanted to make sure because that's where I was going back. I mean, there's nobody more faithful than that. If you're willing to sacrifice for himself because God told you to do it.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

You know it is and then look at what he got blessed with. Now look at if you'll read that story though, he said to his servants, Y'all stay here, me and the boy, we'll return. He had enough faith to know that that God has given him Isaac already out of the deadness of his womb. And I out of the deadness of his body and the deadness of Sarah's had already given he had already brought him forth out of death. Right. So he knew that even if he did make, God said, Out of Isaac, will your seed be blessed? So he knew God gave him to me. God says this is the one's gonna bless that my seed's gonna be blessed through. God can't lie. All right, I'll do what you say. Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

And another one that I'm gonna lay on you is an old old boy named Job. Old Job. What about Job? Yeah, old Job. Old Job. Yeah, Job was a there was a man in the land of Zeus whose name was Job. And that man was blameless, upright, who feared God and shunned away evil. I want you to see something. In verses 20, then Job arises. Verse 20, let me get over here to it.

SPEAKER_02 37:39

What chapter again?

SPEAKER_01 37:40

Uh, the first chapter. Very first chapter. Suddenly a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and fell on the young man, and they died along alone, and I escaped. This is one of his servants coming back to tell Job what had happened. Now, at this point, things just came, the camels come and raided, took care and killed the servants. They had just had a storm come up, killed his kids. Everything has happened to him. He's lost a bunch of things, and this is what Job did next. Then Job arose and tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground in worship. And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gives and the Lord is taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Amen. Even through anything he was going through, his mind was focusing on God. And what happened to Job at the end of the story? Even though he, through everything that happened, he still praised God. You know, some people get mad at God and say, Oh, you took away somebody. No, you should get throw up your holy hands and say, I thank you, God. It doesn't matter what it looks like. God didn't take anything away.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

What do you say? The devil comes to what still kill and destroy.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

Yeah, you can actually see this in here. Then the Lord said to Satan, You have considered my servant Job. There is none like him in the earth. He's blameless and upright who fears the Lord. Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made him a hedge around him and around his household and around all on every side? You bless the works of his hands and possessions and increase his lands. So the devil is having a conversation with God like that. If you take it down, guess what he's going to do? He's going to turn away. But when you got your face, he'll curse you to your face. But Job didn't. What did he do? When all this started happening, he still blessed the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

And you got to realize that was Job's words that he said the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

It wasn't God that took it. It was all Satan that took it all that said that the Lord gives and the Lord took it away. But blessed be the name of the Lord. And he praised God and this. And then if you read to the end of this, everything that the devil took from him, God restored back to him double. Yep. So when you just praise God and just have your mind focused, he wasn't focused in on what he could get. He still was like, I'm serving you. I'm going to praise you. Yep. I'm going to thank you, God. And this ties back into 1 Thessalonians 5, 18. And everything, give thanks for this. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

This is this is Job got so bad. I mean, he wished he weren't, he was never born. Yeah, he had sores all over his body. I mean, but he never gave up his faith in God. Yeah, the only thing the devil did. I've been on the sayings kicking it up, but there's another one until you got the patience of Yoga.

SPEAKER_01 40:38

And uh Psalms 104. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise. Be thankful with him and bless his name. You know, you're not looking at the blessing. You're just blessing the Savior that did everything for you. Just give thanks and tell God Yeah, a good God. That's what I say all the time when I'm missing. I I serve a good God. A good God. I serve a good God and I love him. And just you give him all your things.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Well, too many people have been taught that he's waiting around the corner to bop you over the head for messing up. Yeah, that hellfire and brimstone.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

Yeah, that hellfire and brimstone.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

Every day I wake up and it's like, Lord, I cannot thank you enough. Yeah, no. Yeah, that's the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

Yeah. I mean, you know, it's even on the cloudiest day. Right. I mean, even on you know, even even on the worst day, God's been so good for me, I can't help but thank you.

SPEAKER_02 41:35

I I went to a thing at my brother's church a while back and one of the ladies in there and it was nasty and cold outside, and she came and she saw me, go, Hey, how are you doing? I'm doing good. She goes, Well, I was well, I thought you need to stop back up. I said, I I told her, I said, I don't care if it was a hurricane running out of her, I'm gonna praise God.

SPEAKER_00 41:52

Thank you for the rain, Lord. You got you got to think about it though, when the the children of Israel they had walked around Jericho, they had to shout, they had to praise God before they ever seen the first movement of that law. That's what it's talking about in everything. Give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. I mean, they had to walk around silent to start with, and then they had to shout for victory. That's right. Who was the I can't remember the name of the king. And the Lord give it to him. You remember the king where uh they told them to go out and and shout, and the armies turned on each other. Uh defend and they when they shouted for victory, you know, and and praise God, they turned on each other and there was so much spools that it took them three days to gather it up.

SPEAKER_01 42:45

Yeah. That's just by praising God. Being thankful. Yeah. I know this has turned into praising God a little bit, but I mean just showing this is how you're seeking God.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

This is what this whole podcast is about.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Is seeking God. As you seek him, you start praising him because you understand that he's worthy to be praised.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

You can't help it with praise him. When y'all first came on, I told you what we have a topic we're discussing. And wherever it goes from there, hey man, that's where it goes, because that's where the Lord's leading us.

SPEAKER_01 43:11

That's right. Trust the Lord with all your heart. That's right. So if you get into this, that's the reason I think we've we've trailed off into praising God. Really, you see our hearts that we're talking about here. We see that, you know, when you really seeking after God, you can't help but praise him. It says, give thanks for all things to God the Father in His name, our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. That's Ephesians 520. Right. So you're thankful for what he does. You're thankful. You're just saying, I thank you, God. I praise you. So that's the first thing about seeking God is you're not thanking him for the oh Lord, I thank you for this truck or you got me, or I thank you for this. No, I thank you, God, because you're a good God. I tell him that every I'm ever morning, Lord. I thank you a good God. I let him know how. Good you are. It's just like my my son, he comes to me and says, I love you, Daddy. You're a good dad. And he just loves on me, and that does my heart so good.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

And let me ask you this if he if he has if there was a need after he said that.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

Oh yeah. I want to bless him.

SPEAKER_02 44:15

I want to bless him. Let me tell you something. Sunday, when I walk back out to my church, he'd come running after to me and look at me and said, I love you. Now fist button, I said, I love you too, buddy. You got a good kid. He came out there when I got there and helped me took the camera stuff in. Then he came back out and told me he'd love me when I was leaving.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

I got him a little booted. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. So Romans 8, um 32, this is one of my favorite scriptures. He who did not spare his own son, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? When you to understand that God's a good God, that he give his only son for us, he loves you. And he just wants your love back. That's all he wants. He wants you to spend a relationship, as John was saying, as we all have been saying. He wants that relationship to do just to spend time with you.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

That's what I said in the intro too. You know, God gave us Jesus, and Jesus gave us the ultimate gift, his life on that cross.

SPEAKER_01 45:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 45:16

Absolutely. I mean, you can't you can't get anything more than that than somebody giving their life for you.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

Yeah. So, you know, giving thanks to God is a key to you know, just showing him how much you care.

SPEAKER_02 45:28

It's appreciation.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

Yeah, it's appreciation. I mean, don't wake up every day wanting something.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Wake up and appreciate what you have and what God's giving you.

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Yeah, I see so many people, you know, it's fine when you first start coming in. I tell people this a lot of time. It's fine when you first start coming into the kingdom of God to want things and you know, come in. God, I need you to because a lot of people come to church and get find Christ because they have a need. That's fine at the beginning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:55

But there's call something called maturity as a Christian. You mature along the way. And it's no longer I need a blessing, but I am a blessing. That's right. You move out of that. I need this till I can be a blessing now. So that's called maturity. I say this all the time in my messages. A five-year-old can tell me his tummy hurts, but it is time to grow up past a five-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 46:21

And why don't you say it like you said in church yesterday?

SPEAKER_01 46:23

A five-year-old can say, My tummy hurts. But don't be like that all the time. That's what I try to see. People that's in church, you know, 20 years or more, and I see them and I'm like, you know, you're going to sit here and talk about the problem. Why don't you just praise the Lord? Why don't you instead quote what the Bible says and start quoting that? Because you're getting, you should be maturing in Christ Jesus. You know, you're not supposed to just drink off milk all the time. There's a time that you, you know, you suck on the milk for a little while when you're a baby, but there's a time that we need some look, we need some meat. We need some bigger things on us, like them shrimp we ate tonight. I didn't want no good gallon of milk. I wanted some, I wanted some food, you know. So you there's a time of maturity in Christ. And I'm not condemning anybody on here tonight to say, oh well, you want you just want things from God. No, there's a time that I came that I needed. When I first came to Jesus, like you, when you first came, you needed help. I needed him. Because you were in that highway down there, you were in bad shape. At that time, you did need a blessing. You needed something for God. And then, but as you've matured, now you're a blessing to others and you've moved out of that. Right. I'm not hunting that now. I got it. I thank you for it. And now you've moved on. And that's what I think what we're trying to share with people tonight is you know, there's a time for that. But don't stay stuck in that stay stuck in it for your whole entire life.

SPEAKER_00 47:51

Because if you do, you're missing out, but he's still gonna be a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. He's still right. Here's the thing it it's gotta shift. What you're saying is basically it's gotta shift from hey, I want the things to hey, I want you, and therefore the things are coming. It's it's maturity. It's it's a shift in your mind. You're thinking, hey, to start with, people coming is hey, I can get something from God.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

And I need healing, I need a financial breakthrough. I need uh my family's messed up. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Yeah. When you get that, then you you're still gonna have blessings coming at you because you're uh because that's what the Bible says, He's gonna bless you. But you have to get to a point that it's not the blessing you're after, you're after him, and the blessings are a side effect. You know how when the doctor gives you medicine, there's a side effect? Well, there's a side effect of seeking God, and it's called being blessed.

SPEAKER_02 48:48

I feel like a lot of people too, going by what you were saying, do they're not seeking the kingdom. Right. What they feel like they're seeking the kingdom because they pray every day, they pray for this or they pray for that. And they feel like they're really having a discussion with God when they're really not seeking the kingdom. And when you get that kingdom, that's when you get when you get into that kingdom, that's when you start getting blessed.

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Well, a lot of the people they'll pray for a mountain house, and when they get in the mountain house, they don't come to church because they're too busy up there in the mountain house. They're too busy. I gotta go work on this how. I don't have time for God, I gotta go fix this.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Yeah, I gotta go work on this how. We had we had some people that's that's in the church that, you know, they always like they believe God for things, and then when they got it, they little have the boldness to look at me and tell me that they gotta go work on it now instead of helping out in the church, and I'm like, What? I would be careful, buddy. You'd be b you'll be lucky if the whole thing don't get torn all to pieces. I'm sorry, that was John Paul's flesh coming up in me.

SPEAKER_02 49:47

But that was John Paul, first John Paul. Yeah, that was first John Paul. I I used to be one of them people that didn't think. I believed. Like I said, I've always believed, but I've never been I never sought the kingdom to get to where I'm at now with it. And and and I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm getting there. But if you want it, I guarantee you'll get it. But for yeah, but for the church thing, I was always like, well, you know, because I my old job, I work two weekends a month, and the other two weekends I was like, they're gonna be mine. I'm tired, I need to rest. And I used to think, well, you don't need to go to church to believe anyway. But now I'm like, wait a minute. And I've told people that. And now I I I've changed my mind completely on that because the more I seek him, the more I want to be around other people that are like me. And that will happen if you truly want to seek him.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

Absolutely. You'll find somewhere to go to church. You know, that he will give you the desires of your heart. Well, here's the thing that works two ways. He'll give you the desires of your heart, but he'll change your desires as well. He'll give you what you're desiring. But as you that relationship, it changes your desires. And your desires will start lining up with his desires. And when your desires line up with his desire, what what have we said his desire was? A relationship. Draw nigh to me and I'll draw nigh to you. Well, with you and God together, it says with God, all two things are possible. When you get God and and you get that relationship with him, you and God, there's nothing impossible with you anymore.

SPEAKER_02 51:20

Yeah, I believe that too.

SPEAKER_01 51:22

So I got another scripture while we were bringing it up. Bring it on, brother. Matthew 13. We're going to work. And again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man finds and hides and finds, and hides for great joy over it, and goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. You gotta understand, you know, when you find this treasure, you find the kingdom, you find Jesus, you find this thing, you're willing to give up everything else you got.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

Well, that's what he told the rich young ruler to get rid of everything he had and follow me. But he couldn't do it. Yep, that's right. He couldn't do it. He couldn't give it up. That's right, because he didn't have that faith. He wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, but he didn't have that faith to give up everything that he owned to follow him.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

Yeah. You want you didn't it was not a blessing, it was not a breakthrough, it was not an open door, it was not an increase. He said, you know, when you find, when you truly find Jesus, you found the treasure. That's the treasure. That's right. It's not the blessing, it's not the increase, it's not any of the other stuff. When you find the treasure, the treasure is Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 52:38

Yep. What good does it do a man to gain the whole world yet lose his very soul? That's the Bible.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

Sure enough. How about bend their tooth?

SPEAKER_03 52:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 52:49

It don't work out. You got to turn away from that.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

So um Deuteronomy 8, 11, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God and keep his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes I commend you this day. And when you've eaten and you're full, and you have built a beautiful house and you dwell in 'em, and you and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold multiply, and all that you have multiply, when your heart is lifted up, and and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt in the house. Look at this. It's saying, Beh where do you know I hear some features stroke the cat the wrong way with me, and I'll I'll probably wear it. Yeah, verse 11 through And when you hear people talk about, well, when you get when God blesses you, you'll forget him and you'll go on. Uh-uh. Because I've been blessed. Unless you got that mountain half. I know not to focus on. But when you get blessed, people sit there and say, When you get so blessed, you'll forget God. No, it says, beware that you do not forget God. Don't forget him. You know, you're so Lord God.

SPEAKER_02 54:00

Keep your not keeping his commandments.

SPEAKER_01 54:03

Yeah. Keep an eye on Christ. Follow after him. And this is the best part that I try so hard to explain to people. Let the Holy Spirit in your life. Let him flow in your life. When you get saved, that's good. Then ask for a fillment of the Holy Spirit. Let him come in, let him fill you up. Surrender. Yep. Surrender. Surrender. When you get in there and let him come in and he's just leading, you won't be, you won't be led away from God. You'll be led closer to God and you'll have this hunger. I've got to do more. I've got to have. I've got to do more. I've got to do more for God. How can I do more? And the more you kindle that fire, the more you're going to want to do more. You know, like you, you started out with a podcast, now you're doing more, and you're doing more, and you're not satisfied. Yet even now, tonight, you're not satisfied. You want to do more. It's the same thing with us. I truly thirst. Yeah. You thirst. Yeah. You want to do it. And that's what happens.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

I want them living waters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:58

To flow in you. And so, and so, and I want to go in this every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and it comes down from the Father of Lives. That's James 1.17. I I just want to keep this in balance that we're not against the gifts. I'm not against the blessings. I'm not against the provisions. I'm not against any of it. We're very pro exactly. I am, but I just want to under you to understand that that comes along with when you seek after God. I wouldn't have all that I have, and I wouldn't, you know, we wouldn't be seeing the church blessed. We wouldn't be seeing the things that we see if our mind was focused in on what God would give us and we forgot God. No, the sinner should be worshiping Him. The sinner should be praising Him. The sinner should be God. The sinner should be getting, you know, the center of all that we're doing should be going and getting people to come into Christ Jesus, getting life saved. And so that's the the center part of what you should be doing. So not looking for the things that he can do for us.

SPEAKER_02 56:01

Right, man, because that's why one of the reasons I picked this topic, because I mean that's where I've been. I was always chasing the gift. Yeah. And weren't chasing the giver.

SPEAKER_01 56:10

Yeah. Well we've all been there. I've been there. I've you know And almost had it all taken away from me.

SPEAKER_02 56:16

Yeah, yeah. And I don't need it. No. No he won't.

SPEAKER_01 56:19

Yeah. I just see that well, it doesn't matter if you want it or not, God'll give you some beautiful things anyhow.

SPEAKER_02 56:26

That's part of the blessings though.

SPEAKER_01 56:28

That's part of the blessing. You can't you know, I was telling that yesterday, you know, the devil thought he took you out when he pitched in that hospital. I said, you know, the thing is with a believer, the devil tries to take you out and you might it says you may stumble and you may fall, but you'll rise again. And I love that scripture because like even you might fall down a little bit, but you might stumble, but you're gonna rise again. And I said this yesterday. You know, he thought he knocked you out, he thought he got you down, but he can't knock you out. And so then you got back up and then you knocked him out by doing this podcast, by getting involved doing all this thing. You turned it around when he thought he had you down. You jumped back up when he turned his back to walk off and you sucker punched him and give it to him. So that's what you that's what a born-again believer does. You know, yes, you might be down right now that you're listening to us. You might have things that you're going through. But if you'll keep on pressing on, you'll turn it around that you're not needing that blessing. You're able to bless other. And then you take it to the enemy's camp, and now you're starting to bless your family. You're starting to tell other people about God, and it'll change everything around you when you get that focus in on Christ that you're thinking, you're just thinking Him, and it'll turn everything around. It will. I mean, I've seen it time and time again.

SPEAKER_02 57:43

So I mean, what to say, say somebody is coming to Christ and getting all involved in it, but they have family members that aren't quite into it as they are. I mean, how would you handle that?

SPEAKER_01 57:57

I reminded of a story about Peter, and it talks about his whole when he went and seen, was it, who was it? I can't remember. The one that he went and seen and his whole house was saved. When when you go to you got to realize that when God changes one person and one person in the house, it'll bring salvation to the whole house. And then you got a promise from God in four different places, and I can pull them all up to you, that when one person gives their life to the Lord, it'll save up to you got a promise to a thousand generations. But now, when you're believing for these things, it's not that you just say it, oh well, God will save it to a thousand. You've got an envision. You have to have a vision in your mind of seeing, just like seeing yourself walk again. When you were laying there, you've seen yourself, I'm sure at some point I'm gonna I'm gonna get up and walk. I'm gonna get up and walk again. They're saying I won't walk, but I see myself walking. You have to see that in your mind before you'll ever walk in it.

SPEAKER_00 58:52

And another thing, they'll see the change in you and they'll see the joy, the new joy that is on you. They'll see the new walk that you have. Because I mean it it it's a uh a spirit-filled believer, you know, they walk with authority, they walk with joy, they walk with, you know, a a whole different walk. And and when people see that on you, they automatically want what you got. You know, you walk into a lot of places that where people call themselves Christians, um, and there's no joy there. They're sad, you see. I mean, you know, they're they're just sad. I mean and look like they've been uh pickled in pickled in vinegar and sucked on a lemon. I mean they're outside. And well, I've been a Christian for fifty years. Not to the same God I'm serving. Apparently not to the same one. I've I've been in churches like that in the past. You know, there there's a happy are those people whose God is the Lord. That's the thing. And people will see that on you and it will cause them to want what you have. And then you share what you have with 'em.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:01

When when I walk into church when if people just start coming up to me, introducing themselves and greeting me and thinking me be here, I know I'm in a good jerk. But when you go in one of them, they just look at you like who's this? Who's this guy? Who does he think he is? It's time to start backing up. And I think I'm afraid that's turn that's why it turns a lot of people off from going to church too. It's comes the way the people in the pews were treating them. The self-righteous people.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:26

Oh Lord, I can't stand that. Yeah. I can't stand it. Yeah. We have cultivated that in the church, our church, that you know, one thing I've always said is it doesn't matter what it look like coming in here. What it's like or what it's wearing like, it doesn't matter. You show them love.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:42

If you ever start getting on somebody about what they wear and what they look like, I will come at you and I will We've even got blankets. You can ask them to wrap up if they got too much revealed.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:52

I watched a preacher on, I think it was Instagram. He w that that's why he was giving this service on. He was up there on the pulpit with a hat on. And he said, if you see somebody come, if you say something that comes at somebody in this church, if you walk up to them and tell them to take their hat off before you introduce yourself or thank them for coming here, you might as well get up and leave. Because I don't want you here.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:12

I will rip you a new one. I'm serious. And I'm a nice person, I'm a loving person, but I hate religion. And I hate when you come at somebody.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:23

That's church clothes.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:24

That's what I tell people in our line all the time. They come. I give out food to people and I tell them, they say, Well, I don't have no clothes to wear. I said, Looks like you're wearing something right now. What do you got on your back now? We'll take you just as you are. We love you just how you are. Yeah, I don't care. I'm not you don't have to dress up to come as you are. You come as you are and we'll take you. We'll take you, we love you, and we'll show love to you. And you know. Yeah. So this is the therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, that he's faithful God, who keeps his covenant and mercies for a thousand generations for those who love him and keep his commandments. Starting on the seventh and nine. So you got a covenant that with God. You gotta understand that covenant with God is a covenant that'll save, that'll take care of your family. That's the reason I get up there so boldly on a Sunday morning. I say, I'm not worried about my kids, I'm not worried about my marriage, I'm not worried about who they're gonna meet, I'm not worried about anything, because I say I got a covenant with God. And if I got a covenant with God, I'm gonna stand on that covenant. I'm gonna say, God, because I read the scriptures yesterday talking about Joshua and Caleb. They believed that God said, You're going into promised land. He they said, by God, are we going into promised land? You have to make up your mind. If God says it in this word, it's gonna happen. I'm gonna have it. Then start seeing it. Start seeing the vision. Start believing because everything in God, you have to start seeing things. Like if you want to be healed, start seeing yourself healed. If you don't start seeing yourself healed, start seeing yourself how the Bible says it. That's right. You have to start seeing how the Bible says it, not how you think. Renew your mind in Christ Jesus. I know we're getting off topic here, but you get you have to start seeing it. You ask me this question, and I'm answering it. You have to start seeing your children safe. You got to start seeing your loved ones safe. You got to start seeing them in church. You got to start seeing them serving in church. You got to start seeing that, having that vision. I don't see them lost anymore. I see them, I don't see them on drugs and alcohol anymore. I don't see them bound in sin anymore. I see them in church. You start having that vision of them. Close your eyes if you have to, lift your hands to God and say, I see them in church, and have that image in your mind, and then start thanking God for it. If that's what you're believing for, because you got a covenant with him, you've got to remember who you are. And that's all you got to do when you're asking me a question. How would somebody deal with when they've got other people in their church, you know, in their family that's not doing what they need to do? Your first thing is this Bible, and I can prove it to you. I can prove everything I'm backing up in the Bible. I'm not just spuddling them off. I I don't have all the scriptures here to prove it to you, but I can. That you have to have a vision. People without a vision perish. You gotta have a vision. You gotta see God doing things in your life. And, you know, I'm this goes back to, I'm still saying we're not chasing the blessing, but if you're believing God for that, that is not a blessing, that's just a covenant thing that you need God to do still, yes, because I mean, I had a grandma, my Mima, she was believing God for me and John to get saved. Now we're saved and we're pastors, but she was seeing us even in our mother. She seen us preaching. She had a vision and she would tell us that. I see you preaching. And I'm like, I don't know about that. Yeah, I don't know about it. I love you. I love you. I'll eat some more biscuits with you, you know. But I I don't know about that. Gang blessings, grandma. Yeah. So that's what you've got to you, you know. This is what I would speak to somebody, you know, quote the scriptures, don't quote the problem. Quote the scriptures. I would get on this quote that you, Lord, you said a thousand to up the thousand generations. And Lord, I would, and I would get my scripture on. If one person will give their life to the Lord, it'll save the whole house. I would hold on to them scriptures, and then I would start seeing that what I was believing for.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Stop talking about what they're doing and start talking about what God can do.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:17

What God's gonna do what he's gonna do. Say, hey, this is what you're gonna do. I've said it on my little three-minute video. Go to that scripture. Whatever problem you have is in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart. I believe that's true.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:30

I'm I'm the happiest I've ever been. And you'll be happy when you're serving the Lord. You will. He'll give you joy. You don't have to be in depression. You know, I hear people, you know, come to church and they're like, I'm in depression, I'm dealing with this, that, and other. And I'm not doubting it. I was there too. I had that the t shirt for it. But I have to I try to tell people there's a way out of that, that you're not you don't have to stay stuck in that. You can live a joyful life, that you're happy, and you'll have so much joy on the inside of you that you can share the joy with other people. Like I it like I said again, it goes from needing a blessing to being a blessing. Yeah, now you're being that blessing.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:07

Excuse me.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:08

Yeah. That food got you tired. Might be the amount there.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:13

I should have made a pot of coffee before we started this. I'm gonna get me a cure egg put out here. That was a lot of thought.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:19

There was a lot of shrimp there.

unknown 1:06:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:22

You ready to hook us up if we advertise for them?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:26

I don't need them to I don't need them to do it. Give me a double portion. Like that did the prophets in the Bible. I don't need a double portion. I don't need you to give me a prophet's reward on that. I was good. Man, that was it was good though. Mine was good. All right, where you what you got? Um, I had to reach on your ruler like you had on there. You already covered him. See great minds, think a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:46

Jesus said it said to him, If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have the treasures in heaven. Come and follow me. But a young man heard this saying and was went away sorrowful, for he had great possession. And you know, that's that's a lot of people now. They think, Well, I've got this, and I if I've got to give it all up to Father Jesus, I'm not doing you don't realize when you come to follow Jesus, you don't give anything up. I mean, you know, you might give things up, but I can guarantee you it doesn't matter how much I've gave up. You're getting a lot more. I'm getting a lot more. I got peace of mind.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:24

And it's free. Yeah. But the things you give up weren't worth having to start with. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:28

That's right, that's right. I mean, but it's free though. That's what I don't understand. It it costs you nothing to give your life to Christ. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:36

Absolutely nothing. No, but it's a blessing when you do.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

Yeah, I mean, and when you really truly start seeking him, you really do not have to give up anything. You'll start gaining. Yeah. So even my hap my happiness right now is worth way more than any hurley I've ever owned.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:52

So Jesus Peter even went through this. Peter answered and said to him, See, we have left all and followed you, therefore, what shall we have? So Jesus said to them, Assuredly, I say to you that in the regeneration, when you, the Son of Man, sits on the throne in his glory, you who have followed me will sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes, and everyone in his house, or his brothers or sisters and fathers and mothers, or wives or children of lands, for my namesake shall receive a hundredfold inheritance, everlasting life, but many of you who were first will be will be who who are first will be last, and the last will be first. So, you know, even Peter said, you know, we have left everything to follow you, giving everything up that we had, you know, he was looking at his life, you know, we was fishermen. He's like, We give up everything to follow you. But look at Peter's life, how many lives he touched, and what all he did, God gave him a blessing and blessed him up on the way through. You know, he ended up being a leader of the temple then. He ended up being, you know, one of the great people that preached to the 3,000, and people joined the church. That's what happened, you know, in your life. He was able to go just to just going down, he said, you know, and being able to lay hands on the sick and watching people be healed and the things that happened in Peter's life. It was such a great blessing upon his life. So, you know, you'll have things that come along, not just physical things on this earth, but there's also spiritual blessings that come along with this that I don't think we've covered a lot now. But I'm saying when you start coming into Christ Jesus and seeking after God, that's where these miracles come about. That when people need a miracle, it says, lay hands on the sick and they shall be healed. So all these things, as you're seeking God and you're spending time with Him, that gives you the ability to be that blessing to people. Because there's people everywhere. You think you're hurting right now, but there's other people hurting even worse that need healing, that need things, and that's where it turns it around. We're supposed to be Jesus walking around here on this earth, helping people that are oppressed by the devil, that are dealing with problems because the devil's real and he hurts people all the time. But some people don't know how to fight against it, some people don't know how to do anything about it. They just sit there and deal with it. And some of them have mental illnesses and they don't realize it's an evil spirit that's coming to attack their minds. And that's the thing we're called to do is cast out devils. We're called to heal people. And so when we get this relationship, the more we spend with Christ, the more that stronger that anointing, that thing that we're believing for, that blessing, it comes and lives upon us and you know gives us the ability to do what God has called us to do. You know, we had a lady um Saturday, she couldn't see out of her eyes, laid hands on her eyes. So I said, a little bit better. I said, All right. I laid my hands back on her eyes, pray for her again. She says, I can see better. I'm like, good. And I laid our hands on her, she said, I can see better. And I was like, Well, Lord, I thank you right now for complete eyesight. So you get to a place that I'm no longer needing a blessing. That's uh, I'm not just some special person. I am a child of God, yes, but this is for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:16

You can have the power to rebuke the Lord. I mean to Satan. And the power of the Lord is what I meant to say.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:22

Yeah, the power of the Lord upon you.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:24

So Well, this has been a good one.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:27

I need to get me some notes over here because now I can write down topics for new ones. Like you said, we can get on right into the blessings of this.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:35

Well, you know, you were talking about that right there, about that that's for everybody. It says these signs shall follow them that believe. All that believe. All that believe. And it don't say the pastors that don't. And that's what a lot of people think. Well, that was just for the apostles, or that was just for the disciples. It's plainly all believers believe.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:56

Read your Bible.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

We're listening to it. And that's why I'm saying it's not just a pastor's job on Sunday. Yeah. And then it's a pastor's job Monday through Saturday to go to the hospitals and lay hands on the sick and go to the homes. It's all of our jobs. We've all been commanded to do it. The pastor's there to teach and guide us in that way. And then it and it's our all of our jobs to go do these things.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:20

If if people will just quit listening to doubt and unbelief people and just read the word for for what it really is, the infallible, true word of God, right and obey it and follow it, they'd see a big difference. But because too many too many people like to flavor the Kool-Aid.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:38

Yeah. I mean, they want they want the they want to pre or teach on how they feel it should be and not the way it actually is.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:47

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:49

And they ought to put that in the Bible. They should. Well, it is in the Bible. So yeah. You know, in tonight's whole entire thing that we're talking about, you know, being obedient, being faithful, seeking God over the gifts, you know, this is key to everybody that's listening. You know, you can find a place in Christ that you you mature in, you'll grow in, you're no longer seeking things. So don't feel bad in anything that we're saying tonight. I don't want anybody to come out of here feeling bad, like, oh, well, I I've I've been doing it all wrong. Yes, but understand you're growing in Christ. Jesus loves you. He is going to keep on blessing you, and he's going to do things. Just start reading your Bible and be encouraged by it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:34

Well, you know, there was a time I had to realize that I had been believing wrong. Oh, yeah. Me too. There's still things I find that I I was like, that ain't what I was taught on that is completely opposite of the way it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:47

Yeah. Yeah, that's good. I'm going to close this out on my part. We have the power, just like when Jesus was being tempted by the the evil one. I mean the evil one told him to throw himself down from here. For it is written, He shall give us angels. His angels charge over you to keep you. And in their hands they shall bear up lest you dash your foot against a stone. But Jesus said to him, It has been said you shall not tempt the Lord your God. Therefore we should be obedient to him at all time. I mean you know that's why when you let the devil in your life be through alcohol, drug, depression, or sickness or anything, and not truly be obedient to God, that's when people start thinking, Well, God don't love me. And He's not healing me. Well we all have that power inside us through the Holy Spirit to rebuke that devil and rebuke that sickness and anything else that's going wrong with us. I mean we you got to put that faith out.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:44

Yeah. This says you have power to tread upon circuits.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:47

And over anything that kind of any means hurts you. So I could go on on that one for about ten minutes or fifteen minutes. I'll contain myself.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:58

Yeah, contain myself. I'm pretty sure we got enough to last a lifetime. Well, guys, I've enjoyed this one.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:05

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:06

As always, we're glad y'all watched. We're hope you're watching and getting something out of the Testament's Faith Podcast. I'm Ray Bradshaw over John Paul Murphy and John Quinn. Remember, God bless you. We love you, and Jesus does too. John Paul closes out with a prayer.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:21

Remember to like and share the video. Lord, we thank you tonight for your love for us that you sent your only son. Lord, and we thank you tonight for all you have done for us. Not for what all you've just done, but because you you sent your son, because you loved us first. Even when we were still in sin, even when we were bound up, you loved us. So God, we just thank you tonight that you're ministering to your people, helping lift them up. Lord, we thank you that this word goes out and reaches many people and bless them. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Y'all have a blessed week.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:59

You have been listening to the Testaments of Faith Podcast. We hope you enjoyed our show. Please go and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can also find us on all the popular podcasts and host sites. If you would like to be on our show, please email us a short below of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for you and your life. Our email is all or case at testaments of faith at gmail.com. God bless you and have a great day.