S3 EP10. I Want To Be On Fire 52:59

Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Allie Yost, and I am so thrilled and excited to be here with you guys. I'm just filled with so much joy from the Spirit. Also, I have my coffee. It has been a minute since I've announced that I am holding a cup of coffee in my hand. If you're just an audio listener and you don't watch, I've been slacking on my coffee game while recording. And I'm gonna keep it a buck with y'all. This coffee is... I didn't do a good job at making it, so

It is what it is.

What it is. Okay. But anyway, hi, everybody. How is everyone feeling today? I hope you guys are doing all right. Happy Friday. What the heck? We got through the week, guys. And we got through it because the Lord is so good and he sustains us, right? Because the Lord sustains us, not just coffee, right? That's why Christ, and then it's also with coffee on ice, right? Christ will always come first. He sustains us the most, first and foremost. Okay, Allie. Anyway.

Guys, I'm really excited about this episode and it's actually pretty cool because I feel like for a majority of the time, my episodes are inspired by you guys, genuinely. So if you ever doubt if I'm like seeing comments or hearing your feedback, please

just know that I see it because, you know, I honestly sometimes kind of just get a click in my mind, like from the spirit, but it's inspired and kind of ignited by a comment that I'll read or something, you know what I mean? And so this episode was truly sparked from, I'm seeing the same kind of comment on my content and it's along the lines of like, I can't wait to be this on fire for the Lord, right? Like, like I'll

I'll be posting my love for Jesus or, you know, maybe I'm just in my community and I'm dancing like an absolute mad woman and it doesn't make sense. And people are like, wow, I can't wait until I feel that on fire for the Lord. Or I can't wait to be that filled with joy. You know, like I'm still waiting for that moment for me, you know, types of comments like that. Or I can't wait to get this part of my relationship with God. Like I can't wait for this, this part of the relationship to come. You know, I just want this. And yeah,

it really got me to thinking about like why you can't though, you know, I read those comments and I'm like, wait, but why, why do you, why do you feel like you have to wait until you're at a certain point with the Lord to feel this type of joy? Because to be honest, it didn't take very long for me to,

received this type of joy and fire from the Lord. And I think too many times, maybe we fall into this lie and trap that's from the enemy, or maybe other people who have told you this, that it's like a process where it's almost religious. Like, okay, well, when you reach the three or four month mark, or maybe once you reach the one year mark, that's when you become lit on fire. And that's just not the truth. That's exactly why the

the Lord came and died on the cross was to kill that spirit of religion, that you can have an on fire, intimate, amazing relationship with the Lord right now, like right now. So I just pray that that's, that that speaks to y'all. Like if there are some of you that are sitting here and you're like, I don't know why, like I spend all this time with the Lord and I read my Bible and I try to do all these things, but I'm not on fire like Allie, like I'm not on fire like that or anyone else that you, you know, that you might be comparing yourself to. And you're like, why am I not

like that passionate for the Lord, you know? And so I really hope that this episode brings clarity to that. And if it's something you want, it is available to you. You are able to be on fire for the Lord right now, like today, right now. Praise the Lord. That's good news, y'all. Let's rejoice. Like that's such good news. And I just pray that, yeah, this episode just brings clarity to your minds and debunks all of, you know, maybe those religious kind of lies that you've been believing or hearing, um,

But the fire can come today. And it really does. It comes down to you. And it comes down to a few things that we need to do, obviously, to get that fire, you know? So when I think back to the time that I, you know, first pursued the Lord, pursued him.

When I first started to just be like, all right, Lord, I need you, right? When I reflect back to that time, I was in a time of desperation. I was like legitimately so desperate for the Lord. I think that it's very clear to me now that there was a reason why the Lord allowed me to go through as much as I did.

And to go through as much disappointment and essentially hit rock bottom just emotionally and just within myself, I was so sad, girl. You know, we've talked about my testimony and he really did allow me to hit rock bottom. But if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have been so desperate for him. Does that make sense? So for me, at least, and I feel like, you know, when I talk to people around me and I hear all these other testimonies from my friends or even some of you guys, it

It sounds like a common denominator that happens for a lot of us is that we hit a point of desperation.

where nothing else is working, right? And so I tried everything else in the world and nothing was fulfilling me or it would fulfill me temporarily and it wouldn't fulfill me long-term, right? So once you hit that so many times where you're like, all right, this isn't working, this isn't working, this isn't working, you literally do get to the point where you're like, I'm honestly just desperate at this point because nothing else has worked for me. So God, if you're real, Lord, like if you really love me, then I'm,

I'm going to give this a chance. Then fine. I'm throwing, I'm waving my white flag. I'm throwing my hands in the air. Fine. I'm desperate. Right. And so I got curious and I was like, can we just look up the literal definition of desperate? Like what does desperation really mean? And what desperation means just by definition is,

is it's a feeling showing or involving of a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad that it is impossible to deal with.

Late Middle English in despair from Latin desperatus is translated. It means deprived of hope. Like there's no hope. You have no hope. You've no hope, no faith. You don't know how this is going to get better. It's impossible. Like you are desperate, right? That's pretty much sounds like rock bottom to me, which is what I experienced, which is what...

shifted me to turn to the Lord right so that last part deprived of hope it then prompted me and I was I was just going down this like rabbit hole and I feel like this helps us by like really breaking it down and digesting this I was like okay well what's the official definition of hope you know because if we're desperate which sounds like it's the absence of hope deprived of hope what is hope

So the definition of hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen, a feeling of trust. It's also similar to expect, anticipate, look for, wait for, to be hopeful for, to want, wish for, or dream of. But when you think of the word hope, having hope is different than having faith. And I think sometimes when we're in that place of desperation, it starts as hope, where you're just like, well, I hope, I don't know, Lord, if you're real, I'm

I hope that you can help me in this, God, but I'm going to give you a chance. I need your help. You know, if you love me and obviously nothing else in the world is working, I just hope that this works. But God, I need you. Right. It kind of starts with hope. It doesn't really start with faith just yet. At least not.

that's how it happened for me. Like I had, I guess I had a little bit of faith, but I was mostly just hoping. I'm like, I hope the Lord comes through for me because ain't nothing else has. Do you know what I mean? And so the definition of faith, because I want us to see the difference between what it means to have hope and faith. The definition of faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something, a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion. Okay. Based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Do you see the difference in that? Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It's like a feeling of trust. But faith is complete trust.

or confidence in someone or something. According to the dictionary, faith means a strong belief or trust in someone or something. It's being fully confident. Hope, on the other hand, says, yeah, I believe it's possible, but I'm not sure if it will happen. Being in faith is being fully confident, right? But sometimes before you've really even encountered the Lord or seen him, it's hard to have faith because you're like, well, I don't know. I don't know. I haven't even felt him. I haven't even seen him before, right? So I do believe that

It starts with desperation, then hope, and then it filters down to faith. And what takes you from hope to faith is seeing his goodness. Okay. So when you go into it with hope, I feel like that's kind of like the mustard seed that the Lord refers to in the Bible, where he's like, all I need is a mustard seed. He'll take that hope. He'll take that small amount of surrender where you're just like, all right, Lord, you know what? I, nothing else has worked. I'm gonna try you.

He'll take that. That's the mustard seed. So going into it with that hope that the Lord will come through for you. He does because he's God and he's the best and he fulfills all his promises. You go to him and you say, God, I have nothing else. I just hope and I pray that you hear me and that you can save me from my desperation because I'm low, God. I'm low.

And what's cool is that the Lord will use that because he knows that that's an open door for him to show his goodness. And so he will, he shows his goodness and you start to see him and you start to hear from him and your hope then turns into faith. And then you're like, wait a minute. No, like I actually like really trust him because I've, I've been, I've like heard from him and I've, I've seen him and

Wait a minute. I'm not struggling with my anxiety anymore. And you know, I'm just reading this Bible, but it's like speaking to my, it almost feels like it's speaking directly to my soul. And it's like, it just shifts from hope to faith. And then you just got faith. Right. But I think what the thing is, this comment that I see on my socials where y'all are like, okay, yeah, I have faith in God, but like, how are you so on fire for him? Right. Then it turns into like a radical faith, right?

Where your faith is like so untouchable. You're like, I literally have so much faith in the Lord. I can, I know that nothing is in front of me, but I have faith he's going to do it.

I want to read that one part about faith. It says based on spiritual apprehensions rather than proof, right? So then your faith becomes so radical because you start to see you're, you're building that trust and relationship with the Lord, right? He understands that there's a process to it and he has so much patience and grace for it. It's infinite. He loves us so much. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace. But the more that you see his glory and his goodness, the more your faith grows

That turned from hope, turns to faith, turns into radical faith. And then you're like, oh my gosh, no, I've seen the way he's moved before. I don't care that I don't see it in front of me right now. I know he's going to do it. Like I know he's going to do it because I've seen him do it before. So if you are somebody who has been following the Lord or you once had a fire and now you don't have it anymore or you're newer to your faith and you don't have that fire yet, wherever you're at in your walk, it doesn't matter. But you have that lack of fire and you're like,

frustrated because you want it so bad. I have some theories. I have to say I would find it very hard to believe that after these things that you do consistently, because there is discipline that comes with being in any relationship, right? If you have to show up for somebody and you have to be a good blank, whatever that is, daughter to the Lord, son to the Lord, teacher, best friend,

sister brother whatever it is right because we have all these different hats but think about any relationship there has to be discipline in that and there has to be consistency to keep a healthy and like good relationship to stay close with that person right there has to be consistency and a sense of sacrifice because sometimes we don't always want to show up because our flesh is like crying and sad and it's like I don't feel like it but there's sacrifice that comes with it

you know? And so there is that part. Like you do, you do have to be consistent with the Lord and you, you have to be willing to deny your flesh. Even when you don't feel like doing these things, you have to, there is a sense of discipline that comes with it. And even I struggle with it. Y'all like we all do because we're all human and our flesh is always freaking complaining about something. So just know that you're not alone in that, but we do have to try our hardest to stay consistent with the Lord or the flame will just burn out.

I mean, just like any other relationship that you think of, if you stop reaching out to that person, you're not going to be as close. Do you know what I mean? So what should we do in moments of desperation for God? Why do I feel desperate and nothing changes in my relationship with him? Okay. So first and foremost, I'm just going to start off with the meaty truth here.

Okay. And the more I reflected about this, you know, even with my journey, the most important thing when it comes to the closeness that you have with, with God, right. And keeping that flame intimacy, hearing from him all the time, whatever it is, is we have to start off by repenting. We have to repent like that alone just makes me want to cry because it's such a beautiful gift. You guys, repentance is a beautiful gift.

I feel like in the church for a while, repent and repentance has such a dirty attachment and word to it, you know? And,

repent to me is just freedom. Like repentance is actual freedom. It's just going to the feet of your father, your dad, and being like, I need you. I'm so sorry. I've been struggling with this thing. God, I need you. Please forgive me. You know? And it doesn't always have to be the really, really dirty stuff that we think about. Like, like,

Like the really big stuff. Do you know what I mean? Like sometimes repentance comes in smaller, like sneakier things where you're like, when you feel like you're far from the Lord and you're growing numb to him, it's like, okay, I haven't repented for something. And it could be as small as like, I've been bitter towards someone.

You know, like I've been holding resentment in my heart, actually. Wow. I didn't even realize that. But thank you, God, for revealing that. You know, you're sitting down in in the secret place with him. Door shut in your room alone with God. OK. And you're like, wait, whoa, I actually have been really bitter.

And that can cause distance between you and your father because that's sin. We are not supposed to hold bitterness in our heart towards anybody, unforgiveness. And that might not feel like big things, but that will affect your relationship with your heavenly father. And that will affect your flame because it's just gunk. It's gunk that's like falling on this flame that's trying to just burn.

be vibrant and growing and beautiful and bright. And it can't when all these other things are like falling on top of it. I just see it. It's like gunk, you know, and that's what sin is. So even the word sin like sounds like really dirty, but it's just the truth, y'all. Like we'd be slipping up and our heart is awful sometimes and our flesh is awful and we get prideful. Pride is another thing. Like Lord, I recognize

repent for being prideful and thinking that I know anything. Like, I don't know more than you do, Lord. You're sovereign. You're the creator of all. Who am I to think that I know more? I'm sorry for leaning on my own understanding, Jesus. Like, teach me how to lean on you more and less on my own understanding. Y'all, those are things you need to repent for. Those are things that you need to go to your dad and say, I need freedom from this. I keep trying to control things in my life. God, I'm sorry for trying to be such a control freak. Like,

All I want to do is like keep things near to me and I need to give it to you. Repentance is also handing it to him. Like I literally just, when I think about myself repenting and do it every day, literally do it every day. There's something to repent for every day. I mean, again, it could be as small as being like, oh, I'm sorry. I lost my patience with that person today. God, I'm so sorry. Like give me more patience, Lord. Teach me how to have patience.

in situations where it's hard you know i'm sorry i lost my cool on the highway today and i cussed at that person you love them lord i'm sorry you know and it doesn't have to be this shameful thing because the reason why i think of repentance as also being connected to the word freedom is because the lord has promised us that with repentance

He will forgive us. It's repentance and believing in his power, believing in the gospel. He forgives. He forgives us. And his forgiveness is endless. Like he's prepared to hear from us for the rest of our lives. He's prepared to hear us repent for the rest of our lives.

for the rest of our lives. He knew that before we were even conceived in our mother's womb, right? So also that guilt of being like, I keep having to apologize to the Lord. I keep having to repent. No, that's actually like such a crucial part and such a foundation to your relationship with your father. Repentance is like, honestly, the foundation repentance and believing in him. Like

Lord, I'm sorry and I believe you're sovereign. Help me with this thing. Like that's your relationship with the Lord. And so when I think back to the time that I fell on my face for Jesus in my kitchen, like that moment,

I just said I can't do this by myself anymore God I'm sorry that I've I've ignored you that I've neglected you that my whole life you've been standing right here or you've been sitting right here next to me and I'm sorry that I never acknowledged you like that was the moment that I received true freedom y'all and that was the moment that I became literally obsessed with my Jesus like I I

I was like, oh my gosh. Like when you repent, you just feel the love of the father. You just feel his love. You don't feel like condemnation. At least you shouldn't. And if you do, that's the enemy and rebuke that in Jesus name. That's not your father. That's the enemy trying to make you feel like your father could never forgive you or he's mad at you. He is not mad at you. He is not mad at you. His heart breaks for you. Think of any parent, any father, any parent.

parent. Like if your child felt like they couldn't turn to you and tell you, I'm struggling with this. I need your help. And just like fall into your arms with

Would that not break your heart? You're not going to be angry with them. You're going to say, how can I help you, honey? I love you. That's our father. That's our heavenly father. So I rebuke any lie right now in the name of Jesus and under the sound of my voice that if you have ever fallen to that lie from the enemy, from the demonic, that your father would not forgive you or he's mad at you or he's disappointed in you.

in you or he's ashamed of you or he would never take you back, I rebuke that in Jesus' name. It is a lie sent straight from the pits of hell and it's not true. He loves you so much and he is like, I want to help you. Help me help you by just coming to me

and just spill it. That's the other thing is he can take it, like spill it. Say, God, this is gross and dirty and I feel ashamed and I feel awful, but this is the truth. I'm struggling with lust.

I'm struggling with pornography or I'm struggling with bitterness. I can't forgive this person from my life 15 years ago, the way they abused me or whatever it is y'all like truly he can take it no matter how heavy or light it is. He is the creator of our universe and he can handle it. Your baggage is,

Anything that you're carrying is not too heavy for the Lord. It's definitely too heavy for you though. It's absolutely too heavy for you and it will destroy you. Can I be honest? If you continue to carry the sin without repenting and giving it to the Father, he wants to take it from you. He wants to take the burden from you. That's why repentance is freedom. You're taking it off your shoulders and you're giving it to the one who can actually carry all of it. As long as you continue to insist on carrying it yourself. No, no, no, I can do it.

I can do it. I'm going to clean myself up and then I'll go to God. No, no, no. It's fine. I got it. I'll get rid of it. I'll solve it. I'll just like, it's fine. I got it. You will destroy yourself that way. You will never be close to God. You won't be close as close to God as you'd want to be. Okay. You're not going to have that flame. You're not going to have that intimacy with him because you're also just not being honest with him. And the thing is, is he already knows the truth.

He already knows, y'all. So it's like the only person you're hurting in this is yourself. Hear my love right now. The only person you're hurting is yourself. You're not sparing him anything.

You're definitely not sparing yourself anything. You're only hurting your relationship with him and you're hurting yourself. You're burdening yourself. You're literally like you're killing yourself by trying to carry all of this on your own. So give it to him. First and foremost, y'all, if there ain't nothing, if there's something that you haven't repented for, do it because it's a beautiful thing. Repentance is beautiful. Repentance is freedom. Repentance is the beginning of just joy and peace, right?

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So acknowledging your sins, okay? And we're going to walk through like how, and honestly, at the end of this podcast, what we're going to do is I'm going to walk you all through how to repent, okay? If you don't know how to, it also doesn't have to be all that complicated.

religious either so i rebuke the spirit of religion that tries to put any weird pressure on you guys of being like thou shall i art of sin father what no just be real with him and be like god i'm sorry ah geez man this is why i need you i need you actually this is exactly why i need you god i repent forever thinking that i don't you know but we can walk through that at the end of this episode i think that that would be really good we can all do it together

And we can do it with the father and he's the only one who hears it. You know, you don't have to do it in front of anybody, but we can all do it together and we'll just repent for anything. And honestly, I know that there are some things that have already come to y'all's mind as we're talking about this. You're like, oh, wait, okay.

I do need to repent for this thing. So I'm going to give you the opportunity in a few minutes. We'll do that. We will repent and it's going to be great. You're going to receive freedom. Thanks, God. Jesus, you're incredible. Wow. Thank you for freedom. Thank you that we don't have to carry our sins. That's why you died on the cross for all of our sins. That's why he did it. So we don't have to carry them. He did it. He did it. Okay, you get it.

So first and foremost with repentance, we have to acknowledge our sins, right? So sometimes for me though, like sometimes I know most times actually I know exactly what I need to be repenting for. And then I finally do it and I'm like, wow, I wish I did that sooner, right? That's real. Sometimes we be postponing it because you're like, ow, this is going to feel like heart surgery. It does feel like heart surgery y'all. But you know, the good thing about heart surgery is it fixes things. So it might be kind of icky and ouchy while you're getting that heart surgery from the Lord. It doesn't

always have to feel like that actually it's not always that deep I think sometimes we expect repentance to be like this big like like on the floor sobbing and sometimes it really is but sometimes it's like

It's not, you know, I guess sometimes maybe it depends on how long you've been carrying it for. But the reality of it is it can all it can look different for everybody. OK, it doesn't have to be this big, scary thing, but sometimes it does feel like heart surgery and sometimes it's ouchy. But it's beautiful because then you receive that freedom. What was I saying, though? OK. Oh, but sometimes it's

yeah okay sometimes we postpone we delay right we we procrastinate it but sometimes I don't actually know what I need to be repenting for like I know I'm feeling off right this is gonna speak to someone I know it will but like I know I'm feeling off I know that things are weird with me and my dad and I'm like okay why am I not like obsessed with him why am I not feeling as close to him I

where's the flame things are weird right you just know that something's off okay and you're like searching your brain and you're like I don't like what could it be like what am I not repenting for like I thought I I did everything and so the cool thing about this relationship we have with our heavenly father is he is sovereign which means he knows all which means he knows what you don't

Okay. So what's cool is he literally can tell you so you can go, okay, Lord. So what, I don't know what it is, but I know something's off and I miss you and I love you. Will you reveal to me, God, help me now, Jesus.

I need your help. Can you reveal to me what it is that I need to repent for? Like what's lurking, what's hiding God? Reveal it so we can just punch it in the face and tell it to go in Jesus name. And I can go on with my happy life with you. Running off into the sunset with Jesus, right? Like sometimes I have to ask God and be like, what is it? Like what? Something's off God. And he will reveal it. Or a lot of times what I'll do too is I will repent for the things that I know

But then I'll also say, and God, I also repent for the things that I might not know of. Like, I just want you to know that even if there's things that I don't recognize right now, Lord, I'm so sorry. And I repent, God, I pray that you reveal it to me. I'm so sorry. I want to be pure for you, God. I want to be so pure for you, Lord. I want to honor you. I want to make you so proud. And he'll feel your heart in that, guys. Like, he'll feel your heart. If you're going into this and you're like, yeah, yeah, I repent. Okay, look.

That's not genuine. That's not genuine. But if you're going into it and you're like, God, I don't know what it is. I genuinely like don't know what it is, but something's off God. I'm so sorry for, I don't know what it is, but I'm so sorry. God, I pray you reveal it to me. He feels your heart in that.

He feels your heart. He knows you're genuine. He's not going to make you sit there and try to figure it out for the rest of your life if you can't, like if you don't recognize what it is, you know? And honestly, he probably will eventually reveal it to you. Like he will. But if he's not in that moment, as long as your heart is genuine and pure, that's all he cares for. He wants to know that you are genuine and pure. That's it, you know? So I...

I don't know. I also just want to relieve like any weird like pressure that if you're not calling out the sin directly for what it is or if you're still feeling confused about what it could be, he's not a God of like revenge or punishment. He's not going to make you sit there with that and

Even if you have a pure and genuine heart, but you don't know exactly what it is. Does that make sense? Okay. Praise Abba. He's a good father and he has lots of compassion and empathy for you. Okay. Sympathy for you. Next thing is feeling sorrow for your sins. Okay. So, I mean, that's, that's a given, you know, just feeling really bad. Like, and I think that comes down to the genuineness of your heart, you know, the purity, the

The heart posture you have. Like, do you actually feel sorry for the things you did? You know, do you do you actually want change? I think that's a given. You know, again, it's just the purity and the genuineness of your repentance. The next thing you need to do with this. This is really important, y'all, is to give up your sins.

So let's say there's this thing that you're struggling with and you finally, you, you repented and you gave it to the Lord. Now there's something you need to do after this though, which is to stop doing it. Don't do that anymore.

Try your best to not do it anymore. If you are falling to sin and there's this thing that you have been doing and then you repent for it and then you just turn around and do it again because you know your father will forgive you because his forgiveness is infinite. Now we are abusing God and that is not, that's actually very scary. Don't do that. Don't do that because now you're just taking advantage of his forgiveness and that's not why he gave it. So I think that's when the fear of the Lord really falls on us and it's like, ooh, I

That's really disrespectful to the Lord, right? I mean, think of it like any other relationship where if somebody's doing you dirty and they're doing you wrong and maybe they knew that it was wrong or maybe they didn't know it was wrong and you told them, hey, listen, this isn't cool. This is really going to damage our relationship if you keep doing this.

And they said, no, no, no, I am. And from the genuineness of their heart, they said, I am so sorry. Like, please forgive me. I will never do this again. I am so sorry. I never want to hurt you. I never want to abuse our relationship. I don't ever want anything to get in between us. And then that person turns around and does it again. That's just not a good look. And that's just not a way to honor God or your relationship with him. And it is kind of taking advantage of

I mean, no, it is taking advantage of his forgiveness. So don't ever do that. Will we slip up and make the same mistakes over and over again? Yeah. Have I struggled with bitterness more than once? Yeah. Like in full transparency, I just had to repent for it this morning.

So like there obviously there are times where we will fall to the same sin and we'll we'll mess up. But there's a difference between that and like actively choosing to continue to do it because, you know, he'll forgive you. Does that make sense? Again, y'all, it comes down to the heart posture. It really does. If what's crossing your mind is saying, I can repent for this in the morning and it's fine.

Oh my gosh, that's scary. That's scary. And the Lord, that hurts him. So the biggest thing that we need to do is to also say, God, I am not going to do this anymore. I'm so sorry. And turn away from the sin. It doesn't matter anymore.

If it's tempting, if you're coming into a situation where you see, like, let's say it's gossip. Okay. Let's use that as an example. Let's say that gossip is like really hard for you to stop doing. Okay. And you've repented and you've told the Lord, I will not do this anymore. God, I am so sorry. Please forgive me. Right. And then there's an opportunity to gossip. Let's say there's a couple of people around you and they're talking about Sally Mae. Okay.

And you so desperate, you feel it. You're like, you want to part or you're like, you're about to start speaking a little ill of what was her name? Susie May, whatever. Ask God for the awareness, discernment in those situations and the strength to not do it. Because ultimately at the end of the day, we can't do anything without him or his strength.

So one thing we need to keep in mind with this, obviously, is that we can't do anything in our own strength. Okay. So when there are temptations to partake in gossip or whatever it is that you're struggling with in those moments, we just need the Lord's strength. Because like I said, okay, what did I say? We can't do anything out of our own strength.

We can only do things through the Lord's strength. So when it comes to denying sin, turning our back on sin, staying true to the new ways that we live our life instead of going back to all the old ways that honestly only separated us from God, only created distance from him, is to ask him for the strength. We need to get the strength from God. We can't do it on our own. We can't.

So I also don't want anyone to like fall into, okay, now I just have to try my hardest to not do that thing anymore. It's like, no, you just need strength from God. Ask him for it. He'll give it to you. And if there are moments where there's a temptation to partake in that, pray, pray, pray, like literally step away from whatever that is and just pray.

Like under your breath, in your head, out loud to him, where, like, however, but pray to God and say, God, help me right now. I need the strength, Lord Jesus. I don't want to turn back to my old ways, God. I've already repented from this sin. I've turned my back from it, Jesus. Give me the strength. And one day, y'all, believe it or not, one day you will not even crave it anymore. You won't. I do believe that the enemy tries, right?

Like after you've like freshly repented from something or turned your back. Again, I think it's different for everybody. But sometimes like even for me, there were certain things where it was like, nope, never again. And then other things it was like harder for me and there were temptations. I'm going to keep it a book. Like alcohol was that for me where I was like, Lord, I'm not going to drink anymore. I'm sorry. I repent forever thinking that there was anything outside of you that can make me feel better.

good. Like you're the only thing that makes me feel free and gives me peace and relieves me from anxiety, whatever. Right. But I would still like, I would go by in the grocery store and I would see the section of just like wine. And I'd be like,

and honestly you just gotta pray you just gotta pray and there are certain things where it's like you're gonna you're gonna look away and you're never gonna turn back and there's other things that are like a little tempting maybe for a while and you're like oh god I need your strength I need you Jesus but if anything in those moments it really does just strengthen your relationship with him it does because now you look what you're doing you keep turning to him you're like I need you God I need you God help me Jesus I need you right so if anything there

There's so many things that are going on in these situations that are good, right? We're, we're, we are giving up our sins, turning away from them. And then also like just deepening our relationship with the Lord. There's so much goodness in all of it, right? In those challenging moments. So yeah, I just want to encourage y'all in that, that like one day it really won't, it won't be like this. I see alcohol and it doesn't phase me anymore, you know, but for a little bit, it was kind of tough y'all. It was kind of tough.

And I think that's just the enemy's way of tempting us to go back to our past and go back to our old ways. And that will always he will always try that card on us. It's not new news. He will always try to tempt us with old the past and old ways. And there are even times where I get flashbacks of my past and he paints it in this way where it's like sweet. And then when you come back to your senses, which is discernment from the Lord and you're like, wait a minute, wait,

Why is that being romanticized in my mind? That literally was the worst season of my life. Like that wasn't even that fun. Like I was miserable, right? So yeah, even today, I feel like the enemy tries to be like, ooh, but remember? I'm like, yeah, dude, I do remember. And it literally was awful. What are you talking about? But...

Yeah, he tries to romanticize it and make you want to go back. And so I think there's just practice in that and experience in that, you know, with the Lord, where you do just get better at being like, nah, and like debunking what the enemy is trying to do with tempting you to do things that you know you don't want to do anymore.

Another thing that has helped for me, y'all, with sin and things that I struggle with that I've repented from is I will go to the Father and I'll say, God, I'm so sorry. Help me in this.

But also I will go to somebody that I trust dearly in my life and full transparency, that's just Ashley for me. Somebody who also knows the Lord and can give you compassion and has the heart of the father, right? And confessing it to them. I don't confess every single little tiny thing to Ash, but like if there are things that...

I really feel I messed up in and I'm like, dang, I fell to this. And I've, I've told the Lord about it. And I just feel like I need to confess it to someone. Cause that's biblical. The Lord also tells us to confess to one another as well as to him. And I don't know why he does though. Cause he knows all, but it really does. It just,

Being able to bring it to him and then bring it to a sister or a brother or whoever that is in your life, like it does help a lot. And it's great because normally at that moment, we get to pray collectively together about this. And Ashley supports me in that. And she's like, all right, we're going to pray about this. You know, like, thank you for bringing this to me. I actually want to bring up some scripture.

James 5, 16 in the Bible says, This verse encourages believers to confess their sins to each other and pray for each other so they can live together whole and healed. It also says that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Confessing sins to one another can involve identifying sin for what it is,

Honestly acknowledging the offenses committed and turning away from sin. Some say that confessing sins to one another can help people be healed from hurt, empty shame of its power, and feel embraced by God's grace. Others say that confessing sins to one another is important because what people do in their personal lives affects their brothers and sisters in Christ. However, some say that confessing sins should not be done carelessly.

to just anyone but rather to mature believers who can provide spiritual and practical support okay whoa i'm so glad that i just read that part because it's true and that's kind of what i was saying where it's like somebody that you really trust and you know knows the father right so when i say ashley it's like i literally trust her with everything and i know that she spends time with jesus like that girl knows the lord right

And so people like that is who you need to be bringing it to. And I just think it adds a witness to it as well, where it's like, you know, if you need people to help hold you accountable to it as well, other believers in your life and be like, hey, I'm struggling with this. I need, you know, I've repented and I've brought it to dad, but I need to bring it to you too because I'm really struggling in it and I need your support. I need maybe...

just check in on me and hold me accountable and be like hey how are you doing with this thing pray for me you know there's just so much more power when you have brothers and sisters supporting you and helping you in that you know it's not something that you have to do alone obviously you have the lord but he encourages us to confess to one another and be in community for a reason

So aside from repentance, right? If you're not lit on fire after that, there are three other things that I wanted to take note of that have really, that I believe has helped me become so close to dad, obsessed on fire, in love with him, right? Aside from repentance and fully surrendering to him is worshiping unashamedly. So this was something that I...

kind of had to grow into, right? It's actually really crazy, y'all. Like when I first started going to church, this is just an example, okay? When I first started to go to church, it was hard for me to even put up my hands. It was scary. It was scary.

And I think it's just that fear. It's just a spirit of fear. It's a spirit of, you know, fear of man, judgment of others, that they'll think you're weird, which is kind of silly because, I mean, if anyone's going to be raising hands in church, I mean, that just makes sense. That's what people do, you know? And sometimes it's hard because when you're like looking around at other people and maybe not as many people are raising your hands, you don't want to be the one that's like weird. But...

I think I just, I, the more I fell in love with Jesus, the less I cared about what other people thought of me. So I think that comes down to that closeness to him is I am, I am so close to Jesus that I don't care what people think of me. I really don't like in church, I'd be going crazy and I, I'm just free. It's freedom. Like I'm literally just free.

Even fear of man is a sin that you could repent for and be like, wow, God, I'm really sorry that I care about what other people think. And I'm fearful of man. I should only be fearful of you. Help me with that, God. I need you. Help me be able to just be unapologetically and unashamedly obsessed with you and

in church wherever it is like there were times where I remember I was I was rolling down the streets of LA when I first moved here and I wouldn't roll down my windows when I would play worship music because again I was like oh gosh I don't want people to like think I'm just shoving it down their throat or I'm a weirdo and again like the more I just fell in love with Jesus the less I cared about that and now I'd be blasting worship music down freaking Hollywood Boulevard and I don't care I don't care

good news. It's good news. And I feel like the way to do that, like to get to that point is step one, believing the gospel, right?

and trusting it like if you believe in the gospel and you believe in jesus and you trust him and you're in love with him i don't know how you wouldn't unapologetically be rolling down hollywood boulevard blasting he is he was and he will be amen do you know what i mean like if you believe in the gospel and you really trust him and you trust that he is real and true and you know him personally i'm

Bro, I don't care what anybody could say. I don't care what anybody could say or do. Like, I don't care how many side eyes I get. I literally know the truth and I know him. Like, I know him. So it doesn't matter, you know? But that is, that's just something that has helped me become more on fire.

with him. It's just worshiping him unashamedly. And that doesn't always have to look like music. You know, we can worship him in our day to day by being like, God bless you. Jesus loves you. I mean, worshiping him could be just serving others and honoring him and giving credit to him. Right. When people are like, wow, you are so kind. Thank you so much. Be like, praise Jesus. It's because of the Jesus in me. It's because of him, you know?

um another thing that is very important is praying until you fall in love with him pray continually pray all the time and not just when you need help not just when you need something from him like I honestly pray to God a lot in a heart posture of just gratitude like a lot of times I'll just pray because I'm legit so grateful for him I'm like wow God you're amazing I love you I'm obsessed with you you know and just talking to him about

everything. Like, I don't know. Talk to him like a literal friend, but praying continually. Scripture that backs this up is in 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, which reads, "'Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.'"

give thanks in all circumstances and pray all the time that is what will help you fall in love with Jesus is just talking to him how can you have a real relationship and fall madly in love and be on fire for someone if you're not talking to them and inviting them into everything you know so not just when we need things or when we need help but everything treat him like a friend like a literal dad where you just want to call him and be like oh my gosh I had the best day ever like talk to

him about everything. He loves it. He's literally obsessed with it. He's obsessed with it. He's already obsessed and on fire for you. So it's just a matter of you getting there and getting to know him more because he knows you so much. Like he's obsessed with you, but bring him into everything because he cannot wait to hear from you about anything. Not just the hardships. He wants to help you in the hardships. He does, but he also wants to hear from you in everything.

And the last thing I wanted to take note on is exercising our faith. So don't just talk about it, but walk it, right? This is such an important part of our faith and following Jesus. And I think it is another way that we could stay like not as on fire for him because if we just be talking our faith and not walking it, that is something, honestly, that's a sin. Like, Lord, I'm sorry for talking the talk and not walking it. Like I need to walk it out as well. An example of not,

not just talking the talk, but walking it as well. I believe this is mentioned multiple times in the Bible, but this is just an example. It's in Matthew 23, 3. And it's Jesus speaking to the crowds and to his disciples, warning them about the way that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees act and

And he says, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see. So basically what Jesus is saying is anyone who talks the talk and doesn't walk it out can't be trusted, right?

Like, okay, they may be speaking these things and they may be speaking truths, but if their actions aren't aligning with that, they can't be trusted and they're not the real deal, right? So it's very important that in our faith with the Lord and staying close to him, we don't just talk the talk, but we're also walking out the commandments and the things that he tells us, you know? Like if you're saying, God, I'm gonna do these things or Lord, I wanna be like you and then he reveals to you what you need to do to be like him,

right? To be pure, to be free, to have that joy, but you're not walking it out. It's empty. It's all empty. James 2 26 reads for as the body apart from the spirit is dead. So also faith apart from works is dead, right? So talking sounds good, but taking active steps to trust God will be so much more rewarding and keep your heart on fire for Jesus.

And honestly, that makes me think of the episode that Ashley and I just did a couple episodes ago where we talked the talk and we said, God, I trust you. But we did the thing and said, all right, Lord, we believe in you. So not only are we going to say that, we're going to do it, you know? And so we...

Did it and we drove out here in faith believing in him right words and actions look the same So that's really important in your walk with Jesus is also exercising your faith not just saying it okay

so, ooh, last thing I want to say too, this is a given, at least it should be, because you guys know how much I am an advocate for the word of God, and how much I say that it is so important in your closeness, your walk with the Lord, your relationship with him, reading God's word often, reading his word often, that is another way to stay very close, that's another ingredient to staying on fire and close to the Lord, whenever I feel my fire dimming, it's

also because I haven't been in my Bible enough. And so that's really important, y'all. It's really important to stay in the word of God and going into it with an open heart and an open mind and just praying to him, being like, God, speak to me today. Even when your flesh doesn't feel like it, y'all. I know it's a challenge a lot of times, but you have to do it. If you are desperate enough and on fire and you want that fire for the Lord, you will do it. And again, I'm not perfect about reading the Bible every single day, but I'm

Most times I do and I and most times I am fighting my flesh until I do it It's kind of like working out or exercising in other ways, you know Like sometimes you don't always want to do it But it is so important when it comes to the intimacy of your relationship with god. Okay guys grand finale. Let's repent

Let's talk to our dad and ask him for help. Let's ask him for help and freedom, right? So I am really excited. I think that you guys are going to all receive a lot of freedom. So what I want us to do is I want us to all shut our eyes now. Wherever you're at, hopefully you're in a good place to do it. But let's just close our eyes and just look at Jesus. Let's just look at Jesus.

And if there's a heavy burden and a weight that you've been carrying that you either know about or maybe you don't know about, we're going to get rid of it now in Jesus' name through the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Thank you, God. So Jesus, I just invite you right now. God, Holy Spirit, I invite you in this room right now, Jesus. And I just ask you to speak directly to each and every one of our listeners right now, your children, Lord, that they are able to feel your presence, that they feel your love right now.

And they feel your compassion for them. That you are not angry with them. That you're not disappointed in them. That you actually just have so much love and compassion for them. That you actually just want to help them because you love them. And you created them for such a purpose. And so God, I just ask right now that you reveal whatever it is that they need to be repenting for. It could be multiple things. It could be one thing. Anything that has been keeping distance from

between the two, between them and you, God. I pray that you reveal it now in Jesus' name, okay? So Lord, I want you guys to just repeat after me, okay? That's what we'll do. God, I repent for my sin of... Lord, I'm so sorry for partaking in this sin. I need you. God, I can't turn away from this sin without your strength, Lord. I pray right now, God, that you give me the strength so I never turn to this again.

Lord, I want to be on fire for you. I want to be close to you. And I know that as long as I hang on to this, I won't be. God, I surrender this sin to you. Thank you, Jesus. God, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you for the sacrifice that you made on the cross, that you died on the cross for my sins, for this sin, so I could receive freedom.

Thank you, God, that my sins are already forgiven through the sacrifice that you made on the cross. God, thank you for freeing me from any guilt, that from now on I don't need to carry any more guilt of this sin, that it's forgiven by you and forgotten. Thank you, Lord, that you are a merciful God and that you love me enough to give me freedom right now. Thank you, Jesus. In your glorious name, we seal this. Amen. Done. You're forgiven.

Done. And he'll never hold it against you.

He'll never bring it up again. If it's being brought up or it feels like it's being held against you, it's the enemy. So just know that's not your dad, okay? He loves you so much. And I'm really glad we did that. I'm really glad we did that. I feel a lot of freedom right now. Praise God. I pray that you guys have a new fire lit in you for the Lord because he's obsessed with you. And his fire never went away for you, ever. It never will. I hope that this episode was good. I hope it was healing.

I love you guys. Thank you for being here. And yeah, praise Jesus. Praise God. Holy Spirit showed up today, y'all. Thank you, Jesus. Hey guys, can we do something cool this week? So the next time we see each other, can we show somebody just how cool Jesus is?

Can we show somebody just how cool Jesus is? Maybe we let somebody know the freedom of repentance. Let's like share that good news. That's good news, y'all. The freedom you just received right now from the repentance that you did, let's share it with someone else and say, hey, actually, I learned how to do this.

Do you want to know how to receive freedom right now? It's really awesome. And you're going to feel so close to him. Let's just share how cool Jesus is with somebody, y'all. Let's keep it going, right? We're going to practice it. We're going to practice our faith. We're going to walk it out. We're not just going to talk it. We're not just going to keep it to ourselves. We have to share it with the world. We can't gatekeep the Lord. What? Freedom for all. Okay.

Okay, I love you guys. I love you. I'll see you next week. I hope you have a beautiful weekend and a great week until Friday. Until the next Friday. I see y'all. I love you. God bless you. Jesus loves you. And I'll see you next time. Bye.

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