Childlike Faith: Embracing God's Fatherhood and Divine Provision

Welcome back to another episode of "Walking With God," where we're diving deep into an understanding of seeing God as our Father. In this episode titled "Childlike Faith: Embracing God's Fatherhood and Divine Provision" Hanna explores the experience of developing a childlike faith and the significance of communing with the Lord. Joined by her friend and mentor, Betty Solomon, Hanna looks at the challenges and joys of embracing God's fatherhood in our daily lives. Betty reflects on her journey from singing in church for self-gratification to finding true worship and intimacy with God. Together, they discuss the importance of seeing ourselves as children of God, finding our identity in Him, and how this relationship shapes our interactions and confidence in the world. Tune in as we explore the wonder, dependency, and profound love that comes with seeing God as our Father and embracing our identity as His beloved children.

This episode was created by the SLBF STUDIO. Find more media resources at https://slbf.org/studio.

Produced by Daniel Johnson, Dave Conour, and Brian Beatty

Edited by Dave Conour

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:12

Hey, this is Hannah, and I'm Walking with God. Thanks for listening. This podcast is centered on understanding the importance of communing with the Lord and depending completely on Him. I love talking about Jesus. As many of you have learned in my previous N Pilot episode entitled Finding Strength in God's Presence. Go check that out if you've missed it. In my walk with the Lord, I've had to rediscover what it means to be loved by my quote, Father in Heaven. I've always seen God as Lord and Savior and I've had a reverence for Him. I've seen Him as a close friend whom I can confide in. But Father, for some reason, has been difficult for me. Being fathered by the Lord cultivates a special kind of closeness, which for me can be difficult to lean into because of how messy and vulnerable it can be. But I've come to understand that we all need God to father us. We all need his discipline, his encouragement, his strength, and his comfort in our lives. Recently, I've been reading in Psalms Captivated by the poetic and desperate language used in expressions and conversations with God. Psalm 91, verse 4 says, He will cover you in his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. And after a quick Google search, I found that rampart means spirit protective barrier. These words are comforting, fundamental, but ultimately difficult to understand outside of the context of seeing God as a father. It led me to this question. Like really understood. One song that comes close to capturing the essence of that question is Where You Are by Leland. I love the lyrics because of the childlike desperation of the artist. He says, I just want to be where you are. I just want to be near your heart. There is nothing like your love.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

I just want to be where you are.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

I just want to be near your heart. There is nothing like you.

SPEAKER_05 3:07

You may be familiar with the Lord's Prayer. It starts by saying, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. I think I've said this prayer hundreds of times, but I've only just begun seeing God as my own father. He wants to clothe us in his love and protect us from harm and sin like any other good father. But his love is perfect. His fathering is perfect. His cup will never run empty. He will always be ready to give, and he cannot fall short. It's just not his nature. One thing I always have had a hard time with is not only asking, but believing that God will provide because of my own past disappointments. And we all have them. The world is far from perfect. But God, our perfect Father, wants us to ask, to seek, and to knock, like it says in Matthew 7 7. He wants us to be like children, fully dependent on our Father, who provides and is faithful. Once the Lord showed to me the theme of this episode, I thought of none other than my friend and old discipler, Betty Solomon, who lives her life in the shadow of God's wings with childlike wonder and awe of her father in heaven. I hope you guys enjoy this episode. We'll be right back. This is Hannah, and I'm walking with God. Hi. How are you? I'm good. Good. I'm glad you're here. How's your day going? So far, so good. Happy to be here. Okay. Cool. Well, I'm glad to have you on the podcast. Um, so I want you to tell me about yourself, like your age, year in school, and how long you've been walking with the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

Wow. Okay. So my name's Betty Solomon. I am a senior at UW Madison studying human resources and management. And I grew up in a Christian home with my amazing parents. Um, and what was the other parts of it?

SPEAKER_05 5:08

How long have you and God been walking together?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Well, we've been we've been close for a minute. I don't I mean, I feel like I grew up in a Christian home that genuinely like represented what Christ is like. So I can say that I grew up around a lot of people that really just represented him well to me. So I feel like I've known God through a lot of people when I was younger, but I feel like my personal relationship really began probably high school and then into college with worship leading, but we'll get into that.

SPEAKER_05 5:43

That moves me right into the next question. If you can briefly walk us through your testimony, if that's possible. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Briefly. No, that's totally fair. I'll do my best. Um so yeah, I grew up in a Christian home where I have a mom and dad that genuinely like sat at the feet of Jesus their entire lives and taught me to do the same. My dad is a pastor, so I grew up in the church very much, literally in a church on the upper level of a building. The first floor was literally a chapel. So at a young age, I started singing, and so my dad placed me on worship teams. And at first it was just like, you know, who doesn't love to sing? And so I would just sing and I enjoyed it, and it was really fun. Um, but as the stages kind of grew bigger, and my ego did too, and it just became very empty, and I became very narcissistic and just kind of like thinking about every no or like every single run that I did and every song. And slowly it just became a really anxiety-inducing, like activity-leading worship. And I didn't really know any other way because I was like, the stages are getting bigger, it just felt like it was becoming a talent show. So it was really hard for me to kind of connect with God and worship. And I would go so far as to say I don't think I was worshiping at all for a while there. But then I came to college and I was in Chi Alpha. I went to New Culture Church. Shout out. Shout out. Um, but yeah, I went to New Culture Church and I went to a worship night. And after like literally the first time I've ever been there, I was only there for 30 minutes. And at the end of it, I was like running up to the worship team, like, please let me be on your worship team. Like, I'll do anything. Like, you guys are so amazing. And um, they like said yes, shockingly. But um, they were like, Yeah, we'll start you on backing vocals. And I was like, What is that? Backing what? The background. Like, I don't know what that is. I don't zoo that. The gag is I did do that. And it was literally the most humbling experience, but it truly taught me how God is in the background just as much he's in like the spotlight. And through like a few months of like literally just doing usenas and harmonies in the background of like worship, it truly just like brought me so close to the heart of God and revealed to me that I don't have to do big things or be dramatically in the center or in the spotlight for him to meet me and commune with me and how he loves me the same when I'm like not even on the stage at all and I'm in the background on the floor crying. So, um, but yeah, through that, God has really kind of just like reshaped the way that I see him, like through worship, but especially just like who am I worshiping and understanding the character of God through that. And chains have been broken. Praise God. And then yeah, so now I'm here and I'm just so grateful. Here we are, and now I know you, which is sick.

SPEAKER_05 8:54

So yeah, thank you for sharing. I really appreciate it. Um, I I chose you for this podcast, for this episode specifically, because um a lot of what we're talking about today has to do with childlike faith um and seeing the Lord as a father, which I think is like kind of nuanced for a lot of different a lot of different reasons, and we're gonna get into those. Um, but one scripture that I was marinating on when considering um the themes of this podcast, so to speak, I have it pulled up right here because we love to look at scripture and hold the book. Absolutely. Um, but Matthew 18, verse 3 says, actually, I'll do I'll do two and three. Um, he called the little children to him and placed a child among among them. And he said, Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. So before we tap into all my questions and everything, I just want to like zoom in on this idea, first of all. And I want to hear your thoughts on the concept and what that means to you. Um, just take it away.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Yeah. So like the first thing that I think of when I read this is how dependent children are. Like, there's a sense of wonder and willingness to let someone else lead simply because they don't know anything. Like a little kid is like as adventurous as they are, like when it comes to doing something new, a lot of the time they like want their parent by their side, you know, to like help them through it. And when I read this scripture, just like come and become like little children, it makes me think of like the wonder of like just like curiosity almost. Cause I feel like when we are growing up and stuff, you naturally start thinking like you need to already know everything, which the gag is you don't, but like that unlearning that and like becoming like children once again, and just sitting in the wonder of like, wow, I'm a child, and like God is my father, and like he's so good to me, and I don't deserve it, but he's still faithful and and all of that, like little children, just like their curiosity, and how nothing is like how do I say this? Like, everything is amazing to little kids. Like a little kid will walk up to you and be like, watch this, and he'll do like a jumping jack, and he'll be like, Am I not the coolest person to ever live? And it's like, who are you to tell that kid that they're wrong? Because they really believe it with like their whole heart. And I feel like becoming like a child is seeing everything in the gospel and who Jesus is and who the father is, and being amazed constantly, like nothing ever gets old, everything's always like, Oh my gosh, wait, Jesus loves me? Like, not Jesus loves me, but like me is who he loves, like truly, like everything is always amazing and everything is always like refreshed as a child, like everything is always new almost.

SPEAKER_05 11:49

Yeah, that's great. I know, that's real. Um off of that, so like because you talked about your testimony a little bit, which really really great, and then also talking about this like idea of always being an odd wonder. What was like one of the first moments that you can think of where you were like, Wow, that's God. Yeah, and you felt like a kid, I guess. Yeah. Even if like you were a kid, but like really having that like wonder.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:13

Christ.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

No, that's so good.

SPEAKER_05 12:15

Or experiencing his presence too.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

That's a good question. I would say like 90% of my interactions with God were exemplified through my relationship with my earthly father. I'm very, very blessed and grateful to have my dad who truly like just lived like Christ, and so I got to see the character of God through him. Um, one thing that I always remember growing up was you know, the classic like parents, like, I'm not mad at you, I'm just disappointed. Holy crap, that is worse than you yelling at me. I wish you rather did that. But like, truly, like the way that I would do things, crazy things, and my dad would just like I would just feel so much remorse, and like I would just please, because he wouldn't even yell, he would just be like, Oh, matey, I'm so sorry, and I would just cry and cry and beg him for his forgiveness, and he would always say, like, I've forgiven you, and then like a few days later, I'd be like, Are you sure you forgave me about the other thing? And he's like, I literally don't even remember what you're talking about. And then he says, like, this scripture, which I wanted to read because I was like, This is in there, but um, Micah 7, 19, he would always quote this verse pretty much saying, like, he has thrown our sins into the midst of the sea. So like it's not even in his recollection. Like when the father looks at us, he's not thinking, you did this, this, this, like you stand up though, your rep is crazy. No, he's like looking at us as his child, like blameless and holy, because Jesus gave us his righteousness. And so, like, the same way that my dad would always say that to me, like he'd be like, I don't even remember that. Like, I've thrown it into the midst of the sea. And like that just like raised me to be able to come to God with my sin and like with forgiveness and a heart of repentance, and know that he has thrown it into the mist of the sea. So when he sees me, he doesn't see that. Wow. Or not even that he doesn't see that, it's that he doesn't like there's more to me than that. Like he sees me as his child first, and then everything else like comes after. So yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:32

That's a great way of putting it. Like, if we know, I mean, I'm gonna talk about this later, but how we see God is how we seek God. So, like, do you think that he's mad at you? Do you think that he's upset with you? Um and that goes for anyone, like myself included. Like, I think that that there's such like a barrier or like a wall that you just but God wants us to be desperate. He wants us to be like I don't know, like free to ask and not so afraid. So thank you for bringing that up. Um off of that point, but like what was the first when was the first time you saw God as a father? And was that I mean, you mentioned your own dad, which love him down. Um great man of God. Yeah. Um, but like, was it because was it through him like moments experienced with your dad, or was it like there were also some personal moments of like okay, that's my dad as well.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah, no, I mean one that I can think of, um, it's not as old, it's more like in the last like five years. Um, I was in my house and I was just really feeling just not very worthy, I guess. Like, I was just like, nobody that I'm reaching out to that wants to hang out with me, wants to hang out with me, and I'm deeply offended. I'm like, y'all, y'all don't want to be my friend or what? Like, I was just really, really hurt, and I was just like, it was so funny because I was in my roommate princess's room playing her piano. She wasn't even home, and I was just like playing piano and like being sad, and I just like started like worshiping, and I started like watching YouTube videos of worship and stuff, and this song that I like knew when I was little is called You Know Me by Stephanie Gretzinger. Get wrecked, listen to it. It's all in Psalms of just like you have been, you will be, um, you have seen and you have seen, and like all of these things of how he chooses to know me. Like he knows when the stars rise, when they fall, when I get up, when I go down, every hair on my head, and like he chooses to know me, and it's a choice. Like, it's not like like he everything that he does is so intentional. And I just sat there weeping because I'm like, God, my friends don't really care. Like, I always kept saying, like, it's like they don't know me. Like, you know that this would hurt me. Why wouldn't you do this or not do that? And he was just like, I know you who cares about them, like, truly, like, I'm the creator of the universe, and like I choose to know you, and it's like I know you, and it just really blew me away. And like, as a father, like that is all for me, that meant so much because to be known is to be loved. Like, my dad knows everything going on in my classes, he knows like all my friends' names, probably to a fault, love you though, but like he knows everything, and it's like that shows how much he cares. Like, if I ask him, hey, like, I've been going through this thing with a friend, I don't even have to tell him the backstory half the time because he already knows because I talk to him so much. And so, like, just that relationship of closeness is was revealed to me in that time, or just that he knows me, but yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:43

Yeah. So, like, how do you cultivate that relationship daily? Do you think? Like, what are the things or the rhythms? People like to say balance. I like to say rhythms because I feel like more things. Yeah. Yeah. But how do you think how does that work for you? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Um I think going back to like what I said, like with any relationship, not just my literal dad, but talking with him, like you don't know someone until you spend time with them. And really, like, I know prayer can be a very difficult thing for some people because you feel like you aren't hearing back the way that you would in a regular conversation. But so much of like where my relationship with God is built and like that intimacy is created is in like the secret place, just talking to him. Like whether it's telling him about my day or like, God, this kind of pissed me off today. I'm gonna be real. Like, he just appreciates your honesty and he's always waiting, like he's always there waiting for you to like commune with him. He's never like far away, and he's like, Hey, over here. No, like he's always reaching towards you and he's waiting for you to reach back out. So I think just being intentional with making that daily time of just having whether it's like five minutes, ten minutes, um, just talking to him and telling him about whatever is on your mind. Like it doesn't have to be super biblical. That's another thing I feel like a lot of people don't realize. It's like you don't have to like start like if you don't speak in tongues, you don't have to start speaking in tongues or pretending you can do that or like just all these things. You don't have to pretend to be super religious and like, Lord have mercy on me, I'm worth nothing and you're everything, even though that's true. But if that's not your heart posture, no, like that's if that's not your heart posture, you're wasting your time. Um, and he can only change what is honest, like he can only help you when you're honest. I'm not gonna do that. Let's not go there. But but yeah, so I would just say spending time with him like you would with literally anyone else.

SPEAKER_05 20:44

And do you feel like because I talked previously with Zarya on the last podcast about like having that balance between this is routine and this is also like whole like I want to meet with my dad, my father in heaven. Like I'm it's like hanging out with you. I'm like, oh my gosh, I want to hang out with Betty. Or it's like, okay, like let's hang out, Betty, just check it off the list. Yeah, which is like so crazy. That's crazy. You put it that way, it's crazy, right? But how do you because I know I know we talk about this, it's like the word hardest balance, but like if you could describe it, how do you balance that routine versus like I need him?

unknown 21:18

Right.

SPEAKER_05 21:18

Yeah. Or like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

Um, I think really what it is is asking for a fresh perspective like in prayer. Like for me, I had this really big prayer for like months that God would just not let the blood of Jesus grow stale in my heart. Like, I'm like, that is my greatest fear, is that like when people talk about John 3 16, you're just like, Yeah, yeah, John 3.16, and what? And it's like, and what? That's John 16. And everything. Like, Jesus died for me. And it's like, I just always pray that exactly what you're saying, because it is very easy to get into that routine. And there is like benefits of having a routine, but The thing is, you never want your heart to grow cold or stale, like to the Lord. And I think honestly, just asking him, because he whatever is in his will, he will give, you know. And so I don't think that he would like not give you that if you didn't ask for it. If you seek him with all your heart, like I really believe that he'll help you find that bad balance. But for me, another thing is always switching it up. So, like sometimes if it's like, you know, you only seek him at a certain time of the day, and that time always works for you, it can feel like a routine. But sometimes if I'm like, okay, I've been reading this book and I've read it like a few times, or it's like, hey God, what do you want me to do? Like, I'll start worshiping or I'll start praying, or like there's multiple things you can do with him, or I'll watch a sermon on a topic I haven't like really discovered before. Yeah. Or also getting a discipler because they can help you a ton. Everyone get a discipler, please. It's so powerful. Um, because like having someone that's farther, or not farther, but been with the Lord longer. It truly like it gives you ideas to kind of fight that balance.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

So when you commune with the Lord, like you're just kind of trying to like find these like ways to connect with him differently every time. Which I think is really important. Cause like I feel like whenever I do different things with you, I'm like, oh my gosh, I learned something new about her today, or like a new story came up or anecdote. So I really, really agree with that. I think that's a good way to put it. But what does it mean? What does it mean to be a daughter to you?

unknown 23:28

Woo!

SPEAKER_05 23:30

That's a good deep. Heavy, lighter. Oh my goodness. I think that that's like a really, really soft spot. I mean, for for me, but also for a lot of other girls and even like women of God, yeah, different women, who maybe not didn't have I don't know, like the best experiences just in with people and stuff like that. Um, and being able to kind of um have like that value, like seeing yourself like with that value that God sees us with. Um yeah, it's a loaded question. So I want to hear everything.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

That it is um yeah. So the first thing I think of I think of what does it mean to be a daughter is just like your identity being just being his. And we could talk about that in 25 hours, y'all. I could just talk about that sentence. Cause that has been a big thing for me in this past year of like no matter like, especially when you serve in ministry, like no matter what I do for the Lord, first I'm his. It's not like I'm a worship leader, I'm a Bible leader, I'm a whatever it is. Like, first and foremost, I am his. Period. Everything flows out of that, you know?

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

And I think that's been really, really powerful because a big thing about identity is when it's in anything other than God, it's gonna keep changing. Like the only constant in the entire universe is literally God. So if I want to keep changing and evolving, and like some people are like, yeah, like you're supposed to grow and change. And it's like, but my definition of what is good will always keep changing. The like finish line will just keep changing. Exactly. So, like the idea that God is the only thing that remains the same. He is the God of Abraham, he's the God of G like Jesus, the same father that Jesus had is the same father that I have, and his character has never faltered. But how I feel about myself falters by the minute. Like, literally, like one day I can feel amazing, the next day I'm like, crap, I suck, whatever. And like having your identity be founded and rooted in something that is constant, like the rock of ages. It's not going nowhere, it's not changing. But the biggest thing is like kind of what you were saying, like, how do you know what it means to be a daughter? Like, for me, it's really been knowing what he says. Because like, you don't know how someone feels about you without them telling you. Otherwise, you're trying to read somebody's mind. Like, the way that you know who how someone feels about you is either a what they tell you or two, how they act towards you. And it's like he has shown himself to be very, very loving to us. And like he's also spoken so many things, and I feel like the biggest thing for me was I didn't even like when I think what does God think about me, there's a heavy hesitation. Like, I'm like, what does he think about me? It's like ee I don't know. And it's like, it's in the book, it's literally in the book. Yeah, and like I have a few verses that I was like thinking about please go for it of like things that it says about how he's our father. So like Matthew 6 26, he talks about um, look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, nor do they reap, nor do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? So, like that alone is just like he is literally keeping the world on its axis. I think he can also take care of me. You know? Yeah, maybe he can handle it. Like truly. Wow. Or like even like Matthew 7 11. Um, if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him? And it's like he already says that he will do these things, and then we see in our lives and in other people's lives specific examples of him being faithful and just like knowing and speaking over yourself his words that he's already told you. And like, I mean, you could go back to in your mother's womb. I know every hair on your head. Psalm 39. Literally, like everything. So it's like there's so much scripture that tells us exactly how he feels about us and exactly what he has done to exemplify that. So I would say, yeah, just like the last scripture I'll say. So good. Um, where it's where um Jesus is being baptized and the spirit descends in a dove and he just oh my gosh, so that is like never gets old because Jesus didn't even do any ministry yet, he was just his. That's the only one. Like all he was was literally Jesus' son, or God's son, excuse me. And like all he was doing was just being his, and and God saw that and he said, It is in him who I'm well pleased, and it's like the same way, like Hannah, he's well pleased in you just because you're his. And also, there's like such a freedom that comes with it not having to do with you. Because that means you can't, it can't be taken away from you because you didn't do it. Like, I'm like that verse in in gyra or whatever, where it's like, I can never let you down because I was never holding you up. Oh, wasn't holding you up because of nothing I can do to let you down.

SPEAKER_05 28:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

That song is crazy. That song is crazy. No, but actually, that's a great example of like truly, like when your identity is founded in something that isn't up to you to withhold or keep perfect or carry on your own, it's so freeing. Because it's like it's already on the constant one. I'm ever changing, so it can't be on me. And he knows that. And he knows that I'm not God. Thank God I'm not God. Oh my goodness. That is literally in our discipleship. I said that like 25 times. Literally. Praise God that I'm not him. Yeah. And praise God that I get to grow to be like him. Cause we would all be screwed if I was God, y'all. It would be bad. Praise God. Praise Jesus, truly. But, anyways, so off topic.

SPEAKER_05 29:46

So I want to quickly, quickly, quickly hit on um insecurity and how that is actually pride. Oh my god. Because I feel like this. You I love talking about that. You are really good at explaining that. And I want because it's like a root, I think, of why we're like, I think that security like comes from your father figure. Whoever that is, whatever that might look like. And so, like, if we if we're too afraid or like not willing to ask God for help or ask him for guidance or ask him for literally like provision, whatever that is, protection, defend to defend us, or whatever. It's like, um, I'm just you need you need to tell us this insecurity to to pride pipeline. Insecurity, actually, insecurity rooted in pride pipeline.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

It starts, okay. So, like, I've always been someone who I saw my insecurity as like humility? Like, I was like, oh my god, guys, like that was so bad. Yeah. Waiting for someone to like be no, you're not. No, I'm bloody fishing. No, but like, truly, like, I used to think that as humility, and it is literally the definition of false humidity. Because what I'm saying is, no, whatever God says about me, screw that. What I say about me is that I suck. And we're gonna focus on that. I'm gonna root my my personality in that, and I'm gonna root how I feel today about that. I'm gonna live my life through the lens of what I say about myself, and that's literally like slap to God in the face because you're saying whatever you say, even though you know better and you're God and everything, I'm gonna choose to live my life in sadness because I believe whatever. And I just so yeah, we just we've talked about that so many times about how like insecurity is placing you at the center of the world, but like placing Jesus at the center and seeing everything through the way he sees things, it literally automatically makes you feel confident, not in yourself, but because he is who he says he is. That means I am who he says he is. Like, and we just we've talked about that like a thousand times, but yeah, essentially like insecurity is just a warped version of only thinking about myself, yeah. And thinking about what I think about myself or how other people think about myself, and putting that above what God says about me.

SPEAKER_05 32:04

So that's real. And as you were talking, I was thinking about because you just have so many like things that we always like come back to, but um, when Peter's like, or no, when Jesus asked Peter, like, who do you say I am? And then because Peter is like, like, you're like the Lord my God, and then because of like Peter understanding his own disposition to the Lord and like knowing who he is, he can finally understand who like his own identity, because Jesus is like, Okay, well, you know, you you know who I am, so now I yeah who you are.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Literally, so we can only know who we are once we know who he is, because we're in him. Otherwise, whatever we're doing is just a waste of time because tomorrow I'm gonna feel different, like like truly, and and like even in that verse, exactly what you're talking about. Like when Jesus replies to him saying, like, yes, you are the Messiah, you are the Son of God, he says, like, this has not been revealed to you by your own like man-made thoughts or whatever, like this has been given to you by my father in heaven, like this has been a revelation. And that's another thing I would pray for because there's a lot of things that we're like, how do I do this? Like, ask for help, literally, like ask the spirit. The spirit is help is here to help you. Yeah, like ask for the spirit of revelation to awaken your your spirit, to open your eyes, unveil you to see what God truly thinks about you, and like give that some weight, truly.

SPEAKER_05 33:23

Yeah, yeah. That's real.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

I just feel like there's you're just so profound.

SPEAKER_05 33:28

I'm not, bro. Not me. I'm also thinking about the the guy who like looks in the mirror and then he walks away and he forgets what he looks like.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

The ones that eats his own vomit. Free us. Free us from us. Actually, that's a word. Yeah, 2025. Free us fonts. That's literally what I wrote though. Okay, I'm gonna get off topic. On on the I we did like vision boards, and I literally wrote how sweet it is to be free. Like the end of self is the beginning of God. Truly.

SPEAKER_05 33:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Yeah, we're gonna chew on that. I don't know who this is.

SPEAKER_05 34:02

It might have been, um, it might have been C.S. Lewis, but he was like, um, or Loki, it could be I just consume so much Christian media. Period. I don't know. Love that. Um, but we're like I end, God begins. That's real. But also, Loki, like, I don't even have anything to God, just begins.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

I don't like everything before after Alpha Vegas.

SPEAKER_05 34:25

He gives you like all the desire to like be godly. So it's like, what do I? I'm just here. I'm just here. Just wasting time in these things. True. Let me, yeah. Anyways, okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

So sorry. We'll lock back in. My bad.

SPEAKER_05 34:39

No, we're lit. Um, you have a passion for the lukewarm. And I really wanted to hone in on that. I know we were really silly for a second. Yeah. But I just, yeah. It's really, really like I love I love to see that passion in you because I feel like there's a lot of passion for the lost, like the lost who like aren't even in church and stuff like that. But you have a passion for those who are in the church.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 35:02

Um, and I think a lot, I mean, I don't know everything, of course. I'm just talking from my own perspective, but um, there are a lot of people who because they don't see God rightly, like, it's harder for them to like actually give their life to Jesus because they don't know Jesus, right? Um, so I'm curious, like, what do you think in the positive direction? What is the church doing correctly right now that you think we need to like continue to encourage? And then what are ways we can grow up to?

SPEAKER_01 35:34

I think that the church in a whole, I think that there's like a really great like generation of young people coming and knowing Christ for who he is and not how people have, you know, portrayed him to be or said that they were Christian and acted a different way or whatever. Um, so that's been really encouraging to see. Like, there's a young generation that don't play about God. They are so like they have their intimate time, so they know him well and they represent him well because of that. Um, I think that's something that like, you know, that could be worked on. I think that there is kind of like a pyramid almost I've seen a lot of the time in some churches where it's like you start out as like a tender, right? And the push to go from a tender to a leadership role or a serving role sometimes can be very fast. Whether it's like, you know, second week you're going, they're like, hey, you should join a team, or like you should like serve with us. And as much as like God calls us to serve, first he calls us to him. And I think there's like a certain amount of time. I mean, like, there's not like a specific date, but there's a certain amount of time when you're going to any church, especially for both non-believers and regular believers, where you need to like know who God is before you start serving him. Like, you need to know why you're doing what you're doing before you start doing it. Um, and I think that there's kind of like almost like a fast track a lot of the time where it's like, Yeah, I've been going to the church for two weeks and now I'm on their worship team. Which I mean, with me, it was so powerful because putting me like, and you can still place people on teams, but specifically in places of leadership where they're leading a church in some way, whether it's a Bible study or like a small group, whatever it is, and it's like you need more time in the word, you need to know him well enough to start leading others. And like for me, like when it was like being on like backing vocals, that was so powerful. Not leading, like literally me being one of like 10 people and like very much not having any kind of like I'm doing this, it's just like I'm supporting in the back. But even in my time off of like positions of leadership, like seeing God move as an attender and being able to see him from that perspective is really valuable and like important.

SPEAKER_05 37:59

Yeah. Um, and then what do you think? Because God is a father, bro. Yeah, he's a father to everyone, and by knowing this, like how can we I guess how can we understand God as a father in like unison with understanding the gospel? Like, how like the depth of that does it like because I know for me like it adds so much more depth, but if you could articulate that, what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 38:26

Yeah, um, I think the father sacrificing, like like giving Jesus for us is a part that a lot of people sometimes don't have as much of a strong connection to. I feel like a lot of time we're like, Jesus died for us, and it's like amazing Jesus died for us. God the Father literally gave his son, like his only son. He only had one, and he was like, This is my perfect blameless child, but I'm sending him to save everyone, and like connecting that kind of love to be able to sacrifice, or even thinking about like Abraham and Isaac, like the idea of truly giving like your own kin, your own family to love someone else, like in the purpose of serving and saving like other people, like that kind of sacrifice. I think just it's crazy, it's really crazy. Like, God is just so intentional, and like he knew that so many people still wouldn't even come to him. Like he knew that and he still did that just because of how much he was like, it's worth it, it's worth it regardless.

SPEAKER_05 39:38

And so I think those are my kids.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Literally, like those are my kids. Exactly. And like, even like exactly what we're saying, like leaving the 99 for the one, like he'll do it every time. Every time he's gonna do that. Um and just remembering that it was not a light decision. Like Jesus dying and coming to the earth was not light at all. It was like so intentional and saved so many people. Saved me. Saved you. But yeah.

SPEAKER_05 40:08

It's good. Girl, I really appreciate you. I feel like you have so much wisdom and um I'm gonna mention it. But I like your discipleship has meant a lot to me. Um, the sister has meant a lot to me, but also I feel like you being around you and being around your dad too, has just been like really, really amazing. Just to witness like the power of the gospel in both of your lives, um, and the power of seeing the Lord as a father. And kind of as we close, like I hope that we can all leave with a new perspective of who God is and who we are and how much that matters, um, and just our words here that we shared. Um, and our pastor Abby actually always used to always says I mentioned it before, but um, the way that you see God is the way that you see God. So I hope that we can all see him rightly um and know scripture and know the word of God and know that he who promises is able and he who and he's faithful and that he delights in being our father, and like he actually finds joy in that. And I really see that in you. So I'm just really glad that you that you came to chat with us for a bit. Really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

Thanks. I was honored to be here.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

Okay, bye. Bye.