SPEAKER_01 0:03

Good morning and welcome to Fresh Mercy Podcast, where God's mercy is fresh for you each and every morning.

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Good morning, and welcome to another episode of Fresh Mercy Podcast. Hallelujah. Uh, I it feels a little lonely, Vinny.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Hey, what happened?

SPEAKER_00 0:19

What happened, Bray? Uh, we thank the Lord these last six episodes, which was last week and the first week of this episode, all the young men did a phenomenal job. Phenomenal. We thank the Lord for each and every one of them, and we pray that the Lord will continue to use them and build them up. And I just want to thank God because we know that the church and the teaching ministry is in good hands moving forward. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Praise the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

We know that God has the ultimate say and God is in control, but He's enabling and building up and equipping these young men. So I give God all the glory for them. And I'm very excited to go back to just me and Vinny teaching.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Hey, a little lonesome.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

A little lonesome, that's all right. And uh I'm excited to what Deacon Vinny has for us today. So whenever you're ready, Vince.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Donnie, as I was getting ready today, well, really yesterday, the Holy Spirit ministered to me a word. And every time it's my turn to teach, I'm doing a mini-series. Did you understand what I just said?

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, like you're having your own series. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

The Lord showed me that. The Lord showed me that. And it's a good series. Okay. It's really good.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

How long is the series gonna last? So I can know.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Maybe three, four weeks. Okay. It's gonna be good. And I'm looking at everyone here. Can everyone no one left, guys? Everyone's here.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Everyone's still, they're behind the camera.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Yes. And the series is called Hindrance. And we're gonna learn about three things that can hinder you. But this this day, we're gonna learn about one thing. Okay. So every time I come up, and it's my turn, we're gonna learn something that hinders you.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

So now, Vinning, before you go any further, explain what the word hindrance means. Yes, well, that's a teaching, bro. You're just getting right into it, though.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Okay, ready? This is what the word hindrance means. What does it mean? Okay. A hindrance is a person or a thing that interferes with, slows down, or acts as an obstacle to progress or an action. In other words, to delay. Absolutely. You're on the highway and there's a roadblock. That's a hindrance. Yep. It's a delay. It's to be slowed down and held back. You gotta get somewhere, the elevator broke. Hindrance. Hindrance. Uh you're going somewhere, the ATM broke. You gotta get money at ATM, it's out of service. Delay. It's a delay. So there's a lot of things in our life that delays. Well, there's something in our life, a lot of things in our life that delays. Three things. It delays our spiritual growth, it delays our prayer life, and it delays our fellowship with God. So three things can bring hinder uh three things in the hindrance is this it hinders your growth in the Lord, it hinders your prayer life, and hinders your fellowship with God. And the one of the things we're learning about today is jealousy.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Jealousy. So jealousy is a part of that hindrance. Absolutely. It's a part of that group that to delay you and from God's promise and all those things you just mentioned.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

When you have jealousy, it will delay, bring a roadblock, an obstacle to your spiritual growth. So your prayer life and fellowship with God.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Now, Vinny, do you mean physical jealousy, like worldly jealousy, like uh I'm jealous on that guy, he's got this house or he's got that car, or spiritual jealousy?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Both.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Both. Because you can be today someone that is a Christian, goes to church, and you're jealous on everybody. Or you could be a servant and you're jealous on people's ministry. So there's no jealousy holier than the other one. They're both evil. Right. Both of them are evil, and we're gonna go to the scripture about that. And why do I want to talk about this? Because a lot of us, when we talk about sin, it's always three, four top-tier sins: gambling, drinking, smoking. Yeah. There's always there's a lot of other sins.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

That's what it feels like.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Or if you don't do these, or if you don't do these certain top-tier sins, then you are a holy roller.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

You're the best man in the world. Yeah. But I don't drink, I don't gamble, I don't do nothing. But you that's the be all and end all. Yep. There's so much worse stuff out there.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

We're gonna learn about jealousy. Let's go. This is what the word jealous means. To be jealous is to feel bitterness or hostility towards someone because they have something you don't. That's jealousy. Someone has a nice car, you're jealous on them. And not only you're jealous on them, you have a bitterness towards them. You can look at them.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Right. It's one thing to be jealous, but now was a you hate them.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Was uh now you're jealous and you have hate. Look what James chapter 3, verses 13 and 16 says. I know you're a James man.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

I am a James man.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life. You say you know God, you say you know his ways, you say you're wise, prove it. James right off the bat tells you that. Prove it then. You say you're so smart, go ahead and show us that you follow the Lord. By living an honorable life. A life of honor is a life that don't have jealousy, that don't have bitterness, that don't have hate, it's having Christ's character. Doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom. Remember, wisdom, when you are a wise person, automatically you have humility. When you have wisdom, automatically it produces humility in your life. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. This is not Vinny's word, this is the Bible. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

This is God's kind of a word. It's not a commentary, nope, it is the scriptures.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

The Bible tells us, the Holy Spirit wrote it down through James. He said that jealousy is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

So the total opposite of God.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

Opposite. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil and evil of every kind. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. So wherever there's jealousy and wherever is someone that's selfish, you know what's around that area? You're gonna see everything that's evil. Look what it says about jealousy. Today you probably got up with jealousy in your heart. You got up no saying, Why don't I have that? Why does that person have that? And now I'm gonna get into a little bit more in depth. Maybe financially you're not doing too good. You're trying your best, and there are people out there that don't live the best life, but they're pretend to love eight. You're jealous on them. Don't be jealous on them. The Bible says evil is coming because it's in the avenue of evilness. Jealousy, there's a city of evilness. Jealousy is in the middle. That's the center of that city. Wow is evil.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Imagine it's Manhattan and Times Square is jealousy.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Very good. It's the it's it's every kind of evil is around it. Very good, Donnie. It's the middle of the city. Maybe you've been on the Hannah's prayer list a long time. And I'm getting serious now. And you see couples that left each other. And they have four or five kids. Was it the kids are separated? You're saying you're saying yourself, all right, me and my missus is together and they left each other, and all their kids are scattered around. What happened? And you're jealous on them. Don't be jealous. Trust in God. Maybe a servant, you're jealous because one guy is being more used than you. Right. There's a reason why people are used. Remember that. People are not used for no reason. That's right. God uses the obedient and humble.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Night church has it's a popularity contest. No, it's not. It's not well while he talks to the pastor more or he's more closer with the elder. It doesn't go like that. It's very, very simple. If your church, which I believe, if your church is being led by the Holy Spirit, and you had men of God that's being led by the Holy Spirit, trust me, when they call on other men, that is because those men are probably putting in the work that you're not putting in. What? Maybe they're at their knees and at their desk and they're reading and they're studying and maybe they're doing stuff that nobody sees, and then God honors them openly.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Uh Donnie, um I want to be open on this podcast. Many of times I was upset because the pastor didn't ask me to do Thursday in Brooklyn. Look how many years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was upset. How come the pastor's not asking me, Xing me? But then it came to me. The Holy Spirit revealed to me. Well, are you ready? Yeah. Do you have a word? Do you have a word for the people? So now if the pastor asked me on Thursday, Vinny, you're teaching. I don't know what to teach. So why it was a panic? So what what I have to give? So I just wanted to perform.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Bottom line. I just wanted to keep that's the key. You weren't zealous to do the work of the Lord. You were jealous not to get the old mic.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Okay. Very good. And that was evil until the Holy Spirit showed me humility and obedience brings God using you. So to get back to this, I want to say this and we're going to close. Look what it says here. Potty, James chapter 3, and the verses 13 and 16. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up with the truth or boasting the line. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are unspiritual, earthly unspiritual and demonic. The word bitterly in the Greek, this is how it's used. The Greek word for bitter in the scripture means undrinkable water. Got it. Undrinkable water. That's what it means to have a bitterly, a bitterly jealous in your heart. Undrinkable water. Imagine, forgive me for saying this, someone hands you a cup of water and it's mud. It's undrinkable. That's a delay. Because if you're thirsty, I'm real thirsty, and someone ought to be and it's mud. As thirsty as I am, I'll say, I can't take this. It's undrinkable. Well, jealousy is bringing a hindrance in your life. Jealousy is not making you mature. Jealousy is not making you pray, and it's probably hindering your prayer as well. You're praying for something, but pedo jealousy on the lo that's gonna hinder your prayer. And also, it's messing up your fellowship with the Lord. So today, as we come to a close, if you have jealousy, repent of it, and that roadblock will go away. That roadblock's gonna go. A lot of times you're driving on the highway and there's construction and you're sitting there, sitting there, then the traffic clears up. You ever go to that, Donnie? One second travel. Oh, Donnie, the traffic's clear. Was it a GPS instead of saying hour and 20 minutes? Was it 25 minutes? And then you're going to your destination quicker. Well, jealousy is blocking your road from your prayer being answered. It's blocking your spiritual growth, it's blocking your prayer life. Get rid of it and get to your destination quicker. The destination of your healing, of your blessing, of your peace, of your strength from God. Get rid of jealousy. It is evil, it is destroying your life, it is it is evil. We should have nothing to do with evilness in our life because we're Christians. We have the light of God. So, with this, I want to close and Donnie's gonna pray. If you have jealousy today, repent of it, get rid of it, throw it away.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Let us there's nothing for me to add. We're just gonna go to the Lord and we're gonna pray. Hallelujah. Heavenly Father, we come before your throne of grace. Hallelujah. And we give you glory, honor, and praise. Forgive us, Lord, if we have that bitter root in our heart of jealousy. Please, God, remove it from our hearts, Mogodil. Remove it from our minds, Mogodil. Lord, I pray that you would guard our hearts and minds, Father God. That we would get up in the morning, Mogodil, and then we would put on the full armor of God. That way, when those arrows of jealousy come our way, that that armor will be up and then we will be able to withstand anything that comes our way. I pray, Father God, for my brother and sisters that's waiting, Mogodil. As they're being delayed, Father God, let it be open, Mogod. Let it be made clear, Father God. Give them a clear pathway to serve you. Give them a clear pathway for your blessing. Give them a clear pathway for their blessings, Mogad, that they're waiting for and crying out to you for, Mogodad. We pray in the name of Jesus now, Mogodad, that you bless each and every one of us, Mogodil. As they're traveling and work, Mogodil, as they're home, Father God, in the morning or wherever they're watching. Minister to their hearts, Mogodil, to remove this jealousy out of their heart, Mogodil. And that is all made possible by your Holy Spirit. Bless the remainder of this day. Watch God and protect us, Father God, for your glory. Amen and amen.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Amen. Praise the Lord. We thank God for this day. May the Lord be with you. We love you. God bless.