Stepping In Faith
Stepping In Faith is a podcast that deepens your walk with Jesus each week by exploring the heart of faith, love, and relationships from a Spirit-led perspective. Each episode focuses on building intimate relationships with Jesus Christ, strengthening marriages, providing guidance for singles, and fostering healthy, God-centered connections.
Stepping In Faith
You Will Know Them By Their Fruit
Ever wondered how your desires shape your spiritual journey? Join us on Stepping in Faith as we explore the intertwining of spirituality, relationships, and character in our latest episode, "You Will Know Them by Their Fruit." We promise you'll gain insights into how character traits like kindness and self-control can redefine success beyond material wealth. Reflecting on the biblical story of Adam and Eve, we dissect the choices between worldly and divine wisdom, challenging you to consider how these ancient lessons apply to modern life, especially within the beautiful complexity of marriage.
Our discussion takes a deeper look at the cunning nature of deception through the lens of the Garden of Eden narrative. By examining how desires can be tainted, we reveal the importance of being aware of the heart's deceitful nature, as highlighted in Jeremiah 17:9. Our conversation encourages you to recognize the enemy's strategies, maintain spiritual integrity, and navigate the temptations that might lead you off your intended path. Uncover how to protect your desires from being manipulated and how to align them with a higher purpose.
Finally, we journey into the realm of the mind, exploring the battle between the conscious and subconscious as we aim to align our desires with God's will. By diving into Psalms 37:4 and Galatians 5, we emphasize the transformative power of delighting in the Lord and living by the Spirit. This episode challenges you to examine your ambitions, ensuring they fit within God's protective "window" of provision and protection. Discover the true fruits of living by the Spirit and the profound impact of aligning your path with divine guidance.
Ready to dive deeper? 🎧 Join us on YouTube for the full video podcast where we explore faith, love, and relationships through a Christian lens. Whether married, single, or seeking spiritual growth, our episodes offer practical advice and profound insights to strengthen your walk with Jesus. Don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a powerful episode. Let’s grow together in faith and purpose!
👉 Watch the full episode on YouTube now!
Welcome back to another episode of Stepping in Faith, the podcast. I am your host, Walter, and I'm here with my lovely wife.
Speaker 2:Shania.
Speaker 1:And this is episode three, and so, hmm, best way to start it out is in prayer, and then we'll get into what this podcast is all about. Do you want to pray? You want me to pray?
Speaker 2:I prayed last time.
Speaker 1:You did I did.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, let's do it. Father, we welcome you in Holy Spirit, we welcome you and we yield to you. Lord Jesus, we welcome you in Holy Spirit. We welcome you and we yield to you. Lord Jesus, we welcome you. We thank you for taking full control. This podcast belongs to you, this episode belongs to you, and we ask that you will be with us and that you will keep us and guide us. Everything that we say lead and guide us and for those that this is meant to reach, let it reach them, let it pierce their hearts. Father, we give you the praise, the glory and the honor and count it done right now. In Jesus name, we pray Amen. Amen.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this is episode three. The title is you Will Know them by their Fruit and of course, would I be putting you on the spot to say what our podcast is all about.
Speaker 2:You feel like you've been put on the spot.
Speaker 1:You just did. I said it was about relationships.
Speaker 2:I don't remember what you said. I did not. You didn't say anything about what the podcast was about. You were like we just need to pray.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's one of those days. So, bae, what is this podcast? Why does this podcast exist?
Speaker 2:Stepping in Faith is a podcast surrounded around relationships, relationships with God, your relationship with God and your relationship with others, particularly intimate relationships. Yes, like a spouse marriage. This podcast is surrounded particularly for marriage prior to you getting married what God's desire is for marriage. Prior to you getting married what God's desire is for marriage. God has given us a revelation on what marriage looks like and what relationships look like, and that's why we started this podcast.
Speaker 1:Yep. So essentially it's a show that focuses on your relationship with God and how that will impact your relationship with others. I need to get this over to you too.
Speaker 2:Get what over to me.
Speaker 1:I wrote this out we, we.
Speaker 2:Oh, you wrote it down.
Speaker 1:See, there's a whole script you did. Yeah, there's a whole script. I thought you had it.
Speaker 2:No, you didn't you do. I told you that we needed to have a script. It's in. It was part of episode one, the intro. Oh, you didn't get that memo. We're on episode three and four.
Speaker 1:So no, you didn't look Okay, so we can add that and include that.
Speaker 2:In every episode that we start.
Speaker 1:We can start that off, okay. So yeah, my Wife Was Right Stepping in Faith. It literally is a show that focuses on your relationship with God and how that will impact your relationships with others.
Speaker 2:Simply put, that's what I said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what you said. So, yeah, that's what we are. It's something that God placed on our heart to do, and so it was like all right, we're going to do it. It was not that simple. It has not been that simple. No it's not what we envisioned our lives to be, but we are. We're about obedience to the Father. We're being obedient to the Father.
Speaker 2:We're trying our very best.
Speaker 1:To remain committed and obedient to what he's called us to do. Obedient to what he's called us to do. So we may get into that in a later episode, what we thought our lives would look like initially, but that's neither here nor there. So this episode, once again, is entitled, or it's titled you Will Know by their fruits or by their fruit and it focuses on desires. And a side note that I had on here was above all else, guard your heart. So I guess we can just start out. Um, why did wait? We wanted to do an episode on desires initially, right yeah, no, we started off.
Speaker 2:Um started started off. We started off with um talking about desires where does the desires come from? And we had went on this tangent and we had wrote all these things down and we were supposed to record and did not record. And we started again and you were like are we supposed to name this desires? And I was like, let me ask the father and that's when he placed on my spirit to say, to name the pot, not this episode. You will know them by their fruit. You will know them by their fruit. Your desires come from your fruit. Yes, your desires are a manifestation of your fruit, or the fruit is a manifestation of your desires.
Speaker 1:So you would know them by you, would know them by you, you would know them by their fruit, and this was was it what? Because it came randomly, were we discussing galatians 5?
Speaker 2:no it just randomly was talking about desires and we were, we were, we were just going at it, we were talking about okay, everything, and it happens like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, because we knew we were going to discuss desires, but we didn't know where it was going to go and that title came. You would know them by their fruit fruit, um, when we're when we're referring to that, it's more.
Speaker 2:So your character yes, yeah, people think fruit is what is tangible. It's something that you gain in the world like money or some type of success. People think that's what your fruit is, when your fruit is actually really your character yes, the fruits of the spirit are you kind, are you gentle?
Speaker 1:and that's what you have self-control. So you would know them by their fruit. Um, so I mean just digging into it. Definition of desires it's a strong feeling of wanting to have something, or wishing for something to happen, to happen. Excuse me, and that's the webster, the definition of desires. And it's so interesting because everything in life is driven by desires, everything in life, everything we do, right. And so it's interesting that, whether we look into a relationship that we're in, whether we look into a home that we live in, the type of car we drive, our career choices, how many children you have, in many cases, with many people who they end up with because God is not a part of that, it's all driven by your own desires, right, yeah, and so the next point that we have understanding what desires are. Why do we have those desires? Where do those desires come from? So, babe, why do we have those desires?
Speaker 2:um desires are? They're really like, just thoughts. There are thoughts that you have, um, a desire is something that god placed in us to have, but sometimes we take on the desires of the world. Yeah, because after even adam sinned, the world fell and all of everything that God created, the enemy, perverted, corrupted. So we naturally always had these types of desires for family, for wealth, nutrition Everything was placed in us prior to for knowledge.
Speaker 1:Wisdom.
Speaker 2:Wisdom, always wanting to know what's going on. And the enemy just takes those desires, those thoughts, and perverts them. Our desires are a mixture of what God placed in us, and that you said, and that of a fallen world.
Speaker 1:Yes, so what I was saying, so our desires, is a mixture of what God has placed in us and that of a fallen world. Yes, so what I was saying, so our desires, is a mixture of what God has placed in us and that of a fallen world, because you still have, in many cases, there's things that God put in you and the enemy taints it. So that's why we're saying that, because there's things that God gives us a desire for, and that's why we're saying that, because there's things that God gives us a desire for.
Speaker 1:But the enemy for example, like sex, it was meant to be in the confinements of marriage with the person that God had designed for you to be with. But when you have sex outside of marriage, the enemy is taking that and tainting that. Or if you have sex with someone God never desired for you to be with within the marriage, even within the confinements of marriage, you're still tainting something and the enemy's plan is to taint what God has given and make it evil. So the desire to be intimate with someone is there, right, but the enemy always try to come and awaken that or get you to do something that goes contrary to the plan of God for your life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's always. He always comes when you don't know the reason why you're doing what you're doing Exactly.
Speaker 1:And that's why I said so. It was our desires. I said it was a mixture of what God has placed in us and that of a fallen world, life, experiences, culture or, better put, our worldview. So, and I think out of all of this, all of this ties into your worldview. Your desires are nothing more than your worldview. It's a mixture between what God's worldview is for you, the kingdom view, and the worldview, the wisdom of this world versus the wisdom of God. And so we are born into a world of sin. But especially for those that God has called, those that God has chosen, there's things that he placed in you before you were even born. Now we're digging into Psalms 139, right that David was saying in so many words that before I was even born, before I was even formed, you knew me. Every single page, every single day of my life was written in your book. He said where can I go from to escape your presence? If I go down to the lowest places, you're there. If I go up to the highest places, you're there.
Speaker 1:If it's even in the dark times your light still shines forth as if it's day so. So David was saying that there was a revelation that he got, that there's no place I can go and I can escape God. You already know every move. David also said in that passage Psalms 139, that before I think something, you already know what I'm going to think. Before I say something, you already know what I'm going to think. Before I say something, you already know what I'm going to say. So there are things that God has automatically placed in us already, because the Bible says what God pre-planned everything from the end to the beginning. There's nothing you can do that God won't know. There's no move that you are going to make that God don't know that you're going to make. But now we're going to dig into stuff yes, we can go so much deeper.
Speaker 2:Yes, because god exists outside of time. Yes, so you can see everything as it's happening, when it happened, all at the same time because there is no such thing of god created time to contain this universe.
Speaker 1:Time was literally created to contain this world, and so but that's another subject. So when we dig into worldview, do you want to read what worldview is, babe, the definition of that?
Speaker 2:sure um worldview is a person's a person's or society's fundamental way of thinking about the world, and it's made up of their values, beliefs and expectations. It's also known as a philosophy, mindset or outlook on life exactly that.
Speaker 1:That alone explains that when I saw that it was so perfect, because it really summed up what it is that we struggle with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, your world, your worldview, but are your, is your worldview from?
Speaker 1:God. Is it God's point of view or is it from the enemy's point of view? And that digs into Genesis 3, 1 through 6, which I'll read real quick and then we can dig into that Genesis 3, 1 through 6, and this is the New Living Translation version, so NLT. The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made.
Speaker 1:One day he asked the woman did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. The woman replied it's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said you must not eat it or even touch it. If you do, you will die. You won't die, the serpent replied to the woman. God knows that your eyes will be open as soon as you eat it and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.
Speaker 1:The woman was convinced. She saw that the fruit, that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So I think this is so pertinent because it shows what took place when we dig in and we look at it and we'll read that later. This was an example of the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of this world. So when we dig into the worldview of our worldview has been tainted since Adam and Eve ate from that tree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they chose the wrong tree.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it was never the same. It was never the same after that, and so that was when everything began, to where, when you're born into this world, you're born into a world where you are taught and you automatically move in a way where you go based off the wisdom of this world and not the wisdom of God.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's why we have to be born again.
Speaker 1:And our mind has to be renewed, because you, we dug into that before. It says what? Before the fall of the spirit of God or before the fall of the spirit of God? Oh, before the fall of the spirit of God drove their minds, but after the fall the connection was broken. So now we have to get back to renewing our minds so that the spirit of God can lead us again. So before Adam and Eve did what they did, everything they did was literally led by the spirit of God. It was driven by the spirit of God. It was driven by the spirit of God, it was driven by the wisdom of God. What are you looking at?
Speaker 2:No, go ahead.
Speaker 1:You got something.
Speaker 2:No, no, no.
Speaker 1:And so that digs into the whole worldview, showing that our worldview is tainted as soon as we come into this world. Mm-hmm. So that digs into our desires. Our desires are tainted as soon as we come into this world. So that digs into our desires. Our desires are tainted, and the serpent was so cunning yes, because he just slightly shifted it.
Speaker 1:It was always God's desire for there to be wisdom within Adam and Eve. We saw with Adam when he named the animals that came from a place of wisdom and knowledge. It was something that was automatically in him, that he did, that was placed in him by the spirit of God. So it's not wrong that Eve desired wisdom. It's just he came in and he manipulated a little bit.
Speaker 2:He lied.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:He said you won't surely die because she didn't, but because she didn't know the truth, she accepted what he said, she accepted that seed and because she accepted the seed, it bore fruit, which was a thought that she thought oh my gosh, this is tree, is so beautiful, the food looks so good and she ate it, and she wanted the wisdom from it. So she ate it. That was the manifestation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and everything changed. But the thing that was so interesting and you pointed this out last time, we we read it, but there were two trees in the garden. Yes, there were two trees in the garden.
Speaker 2:yes, there were two trees in the middle of the garden of good and evil.
Speaker 1:And then there was tree, the tree of life, the tree of life. So there was a tree that led to death, death, and it was a tree that led to life right.
Speaker 2:And what was interesting is when the serpent came to Eve and she told him or the serpent that it's the it's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said you must not eat it, or even touch it. If you do, you will die.
Speaker 2:That's not what God said no, he referenced two trees god spoke to adam and told him that there were two trees. There was a tree of life and there were. There was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and to not eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil yes and if he did you, and if he did he would die. He didn't say don't touch it. He didn't say don't look at it. He said don't eat the fruit.
Speaker 1:That's not at all what eve said so there was a uh misinterpretation, yes, based on what adam said to eve.
Speaker 2:Well, we assume that adam told eve yeah and not god, because the bible doesn't say that god told eve. Also, he told adam, because adam is the one that tends to the garden and adam was to relay everything, and so there's so many things here and it. It was adam's job to teach her, because that he at eve is his bride. Just like jesus teaches us and adam taught her I don't even say taught her wrong per, but she didn't have a revelation.
Speaker 1:She didn't have a revelation of it, which is why the enemy went to her and not Adam Exactly. Because he knew Adam had a revelation. But then it's interesting, and because she saw it, she ate from it. Then she gave the fruit to Adam Adam ate he did.
Speaker 1:Now that's a whole tangent that we can go upon. Yeah, and I would have to pray, because I really want more wisdom, and it would only be, it would only come from the Holy Spirit To say, okay, was Adam actually there with her? Did Adam know what she was giving him? Did Adam realize that she was giving him this fruit, or I'm? Guessing that.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, he did, because he saw, and that he saw it was good too. So something in Adam made Adam go against what God told him to do, when God spoke directly to him and told him what not to do. But then, the beautiful thing about that, and that's what the Holy Spirit gave to me there was two options there. There was a tree of life and there was a tree of knowledge of good and evil, one that led to life, one that led to death, and it's a reflection of the of the wisdom of this world right versus the wisdom of god right and the way to go ahead.
Speaker 2:No, no, both path. Uh, one path leads to destruction and one path leads to eternal life, and we always make those choices in our lives. In every area, right, so you will know them by their fruit it's which path that you're on.
Speaker 1:And it's so interesting because in every, like you said, in every different aspect of our lives, we are always faced with the choice of being led by the spirit of God versus being led by the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of God versus the wisdom of this world Galatians 5,. You choose to be led by your flesh versus you being led by the spirit. And we saw an example with Adam and Eve. The Bible says that when she saw it immediately, she saw that it was good.
Speaker 2:Well, God made it good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So immediately, what was beginning to happen is she was being driven by her flesh and not the spirit of God, and so that is the challenge that we face. As we dig deeper in right, the Bible says, or what one of the points that was made, and deeper in right, the Bible says, or one of the points that was made, our mind drives everything we do and what the knowledge of this world leads to death. The knowledge of God is what truly leads us to divine revelations and something that people can read upon Genesis 2, 8 through 10, baby, if you want to read that and then Genesis 2, 15 through 17.
Speaker 2:Well, I believe Genesis 2, 8 just talks about what I said. It says then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground, trees that were beautiful, all sorts of trees grow up from the ground, trees that were beautiful, which Eve said.
Speaker 2:The tree was beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. She saw that the fruit was delicious. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was Genesis 2, 8 through 10, referencing, and then you said 15 through 17. Yeah, the Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him you may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.
Speaker 1:So yeah, everything was there, everything was there.
Speaker 2:And that's why the enemy said you won't surely die. God said you are sure to die.
Speaker 1:He misconstrued it, like he essentially, and that's what the enemy does, and that's it, yes, so the enemy is so interesting. He takes the word, he slightly shifts it.
Speaker 2:Because he knows the word.
Speaker 1:But technically speaking, he didn't lie to Eve, he just questioned it. He made her question it. Yeah, he asked, questioned it, he made her question it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he asked the question. You won't surely die?
Speaker 1:It's like asking a question will you really die?
Speaker 2:And then you have to think about did he say surely, or did he say sure? Did he say I will surely die, or did he say I would for sure die? And you have to go back and question, like I'll question myself and then there wasn't a revelation right, because she didn't die immediately.
Speaker 1:Spiritually she did yes spiritually there was a disconnection that took place between her and adam and god, but it which so, essentially, what ended up happening? Is it led to a spiritual death immediately where that disconnection took place? Right.
Speaker 1:It began to really shift things spiritually for them, right, and then it also led to eventually a physical death, yeah, and so we have to be real careful, and the reason I was saying that is because a lot of times that goes back to your, your desires. So, for example, yes, god has called for you to be with a husband or a wife. Yes, god has called for you to be in those relationships. The enemy knows this too, and so he will come in, he'll taint that at the most basic form.
Speaker 1:Something as simple as you having sex outside of marriage. You don't realize that leads to spiritual issues, spiritual wives, spiritual husbands, spirits of perversions, a spirit of lust, all of these different things that you're attaching yourself to, soul ties, illegal contracts within the spiritual realm, and then even, not to mention the things within the natural realm God forbid. You have a child Now you're leading to things within that curses and all of those different things like that contracts, right, the enemy knows this. And the enemy knows that you desire to have that, because it was a natural desire that was placed in you, but it's only meant within the right relationship. So he'll come and say, hey, you can have sex, you've grown, it's not that serious right.
Speaker 2:All he has to do is just plant a seed just one seed, and it only takes one person. It took eve. He didn't have to go to adam, he went to eve, just one person, and corrupted the entire world because everything came through eve the entire world adam, and then everything else came through Eve. Yes.
Speaker 1:And I mean I think Dr Levy touched on that before when you talked about everything comes from the woman. At first it came from the man and then it comes through the woman.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And so he.
Speaker 2:It's birth through the woman she fertilizes the egg.
Speaker 1:And he knew that she didn't have an understanding or a revelation of what God said. He understood that, and so that's another thing that lets us know that the enemy, he was there, he was around during all of this process and that's something that God was dealing with me on, because the fall of man took place prior to God creating the heavens and earth, took place prior to God creating the heavens and earth, and so I mean not the fall of man, the fall of Satan from heaven, all of this. So he was there. That's something that God gave to me early on, maybe last year or year before last, and it blew my mind and it's very dangerous because we forget or we don't realize how cunning the enemy is.
Speaker 2:Very sly we think he's stupid.
Speaker 1:We think that it's just simple and that we have one up on him. He's been doing this for quite some time.
Speaker 2:Or you think that it's just blatant in your face and it's very, very subtle. He said surely you won't die? He didn't say God didn't say you're not going to die, because then Eve would have been like no, he, god, didn't say you're not going to die. Because then Eve would have been like. No, he said we would die.
Speaker 1:I just told you he said we would die. He wouldn't surely Right, did he really say? Did he really say you sure that's what you heard and that's so interesting which can shift your desires to where it can become tainted, so that digs all the way in, right? Are these desires good? We think about Jeremiah 17 and 9, and it says what the human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards according to what their actions deserve. So now, I've read that a lot of times. I've read that so many times because I grew up in a church. But what is it referring to when it's talking about the heart? Because the heart is nothing but an organ, right?
Speaker 1:So it can't be referring to the actual heart. Right, that's the interesting thing. It's referring to what the mind? What is the definition of heart in hebrew, babe?
Speaker 2:definition of heart in hebrew is your mind. Conscious, center, middle. That's what it means. So in hebrew the heart is really referring to your brain, because I don't believe that they had the words for what a brain was. They talked about your heart the entire time. But your heart doesn't drive your body, it doesn't drive your emotions, it doesn't drive your feelings. Your mind does.
Speaker 2:Your subconscious mind drives everything. It tells your body when to walk, when to move, what to do. Fight, flight Not your heart. Your heart literally just pumps blood. Yeah, Throughout your body.
Speaker 1:Why the Bible tells us what that Jesus said as a man thinketh, so shall he be when he talks about. If you think upon committing adultery in your mind, you've already committed adultery.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:That's why the Bible tells us to what Renew our mind. Right. It always referred to us having to do something with our mind.
Speaker 2:Right. So there's your revelation that when you see heart in the Bible, it's talking about your mind.
Speaker 1:It's talking about your subconscious.
Speaker 2:Right. So Proverbs 3, 5, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. So why would this passage say lean not on your own understanding after you trust in the Lord with?
Speaker 1:all your heart. Yes, because the understanding comes from your mind. It's subconscious. It's literally having to shift your subconscious, because we talked about this before right, and this digs into the conscious.
Speaker 1:Versus subconscious and I'm jumping ahead a little bit we know that there are two different parts of our mind is the conscious and the subconscious state. One of the things that we know is what that prior. The revelation that God gave to me was that everything that we had was being, our subconscious was driven by the spirit of God within us. Right, it was driven by the spirit of God. And so, after the fall of man, that disconnected us from being led by the spirit of God, but from the subconscious being led by the Spirit of God, from our subconscious being led by the Spirit of God. And what took place is it shifted and our subconscious began to be led by the wisdom of this world.
Speaker 1:And so now, when we think about salvation, when we think about going through the process of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, when we think about the sanctification process, the consecration process, the wilderness experience, all of these things, it digs back into reattaching our spirit that's intertwined with the spirit of God, to our subconscious, and teaching ourselves now by the guidance and the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit, to now once again be led by the Spirit of God, where we're moved by the Spirit of God first, because Adam and Eve, when we read the scriptures, what they didn't know, they were even naked they didn't see that. They saw everything in the Spirit first. It was after the fall that they once. Now they're like okay, we're naked, we need to put clothes on. Now they started being driven by their natural state.
Speaker 2:Right, like who told you you were naked.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly, and that is the challenge that we are faced with, right, and so we looked this up and it was so good. It says this. This is just a summary. The subconscious mind has a tremendous influence on how we think and act. When in the conscious state, for example, you might not always be thinking about a phone number, but you can easily pull it up when someone asks for it, this is because the phone number is stored in your subconscious mind. So everything you do day to day, without even thinking about it, it is driven by your subconscious mind, everything. And the enemy is always attacking your mind by implanting thoughts in your mind. Right.
Speaker 1:He's always after the mind. What we watch on TV, it's after your mind. Right, he's always after the mind. What we watch on TV, it's after your mind. What we listen to with the music is after your mind.
Speaker 2:Right, and that's why you will know them by their fruit.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's a seed that's planted.
Speaker 2:And once that seed is planted, it grows and it manifests a harvest. And it's like what are you harvesting If you're watching a bunch of violent videos and playing violent video games? And they've done plenty of studies on kids who play violent video games. They're violent in real life. They're violent to their friends, to their teachers, to their parents. They commit crimes, murder, because of what they're putting in there, what they're agreeing to, what they're fertilizing what they're planting.
Speaker 1:That's what we have to focus on, and I think, especially as believers, it's so important that we understand the power of the mind. And even the world teaches you what the power of the mind, and even the world teaches you what the power of the mind. Everybody is gunning for your mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the power of your mind, but also the power of spoken word because, God spoke everything into existence, so words are very, very powerful.
Speaker 1:And let's dig even deeper. Words are powerful. Yeah, it begins with thoughts.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Which is why jesus said yes, stop, yeah, don't even think upon this. If you think upon this, that's why the bible says what as a man thinketh, that shall he be yeah, and so, like in the beginning, in the beginning, the start, it starts with a thought.
Speaker 1:It starts with god thought about the, about creating the world, and then he created the world exactly, and so everything starts there, and this is why our desires are so important, and it's so important that we check our desires. Galatians 5 is a prime example of you checking your desires. What leads your desires? Are your desires led by your flesh or is it led by the spirit of God? And see an example of and this is random, uh, or we didn't have this in to go to to galatians 5, right and I mean galatians 5, 16 through 25 we have it in.
Speaker 2:We didn't live in by the spirit's power so galatians?
Speaker 1:I wanted to read it though. So galatians, uh, 5, 16 says and and I love this the entire chapter. So I say let the Holy Spirit guide your lives, then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants, and the spirit gives us desires that are the opposite. The spirit gives us desires, the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sin for nature desires.
Speaker 1:These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intentions, but when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambitions, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Speaker 1:There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to the cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives yeah, your subconscious mind. That's it right there.
Speaker 2:Because, honestly, you have people who are living in sexual immorality. They're less, they have less full pleasures, they live in a and they have a ton of idols they do, they have sorcery, they are hostile, they quarrel, they're jealous, they're angry, they're selfish, and a lot of times we walk around I'm like why am I even jealous, why am I angry? Why am I having sex so much? I don't even want to have sex with this person. I don't even like this person. This isn't even my type. It's like where does that even come from your mind? It comes from your subconscious.
Speaker 2:It comes from a seed that was planted by the enemy by the enemy, whether you were four, two, three, six.
Speaker 1:Whether it's in your bloodline.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:You were born with it being in your bloodline and then you just feed it and you're setting up these contracts where you're being taught to once again be led by your flesh. So, when we think upon desires and its most basic form, what drives your desires? What drives them First and foremost, if you don't know Jesus, if you haven't accepted him as your Lord and Savior, we already know you're driven by your flesh. Then we also know, based on teachings from Apostle Selman right, that you have Christians that can still also be carnal.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:So you can be a believer, yet. Be carnal, yes, so you can be a believer, yet be carnal, yes, and still led by your flesh, because your mind has not been renewed.
Speaker 2:Your subconscious mind meaning your thoughts your feelings what drives it? What drives it. Your experience in life shifts the way that you think about yourself around other people.
Speaker 1:Culture all of these things, which is why, with all of that, we have to let that go and that's what we now we're digging into the process of what?
Speaker 2:Dying to self.
Speaker 1:So you die to self.
Speaker 2:In being born again.
Speaker 1:Jesus said my brothers, my sisters, my mother, my father essentially are those that do the will of my father. So he said that do the will of my father. So he said I've died to my culture, I've let my culture go. I'm no longer driven by the culture of this world, I am driven by the culture of the kingdom of God. So it's as simple as that.
Speaker 1:It's simply put but, that's a check that you can use to kind of determine what's driving my desires. So, people, I'm sorry you may not like this, but if the first thing, that if I'm you know, you're going to talk on the camera?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my bad. So talk to the people.
Speaker 1:So I would say this, because we do this a lot If the first thing when you think about the person that you're with, the first thing that you think about saying to them is that oh my gosh, she was so sexy or he was this, you know, I love the fact that he was six feet, I love the fact that he was this, I love the fact that she was thick, she was this, she had a bad body.
Speaker 2:Or he got money.
Speaker 1:Or he got money and all of those things. I'm sorry to inform you, but that ain't God. God would never put you in a situation where he places someone in your life that feeds your flesh. That's why we dig into intimacy. Now you have that versus people that's like yo. I don't even know what it was about the person. There was something deeper within them that connected me to them. That's someone who's not being driven by their flesh. They don't understand it, but that's someone who's not being driven by their flesh. Yes, you can recognize a person is pretty. Yes, you can recognize all of these things, but it's not what drives you. That is when God is involved, because God said what Samuel and King David. He said you judge based on the outward appearance. I look at the man's inward appearance. I look at their heart, their mind, their mind, their fruit.
Speaker 2:Are they joyful? Do they have patience?
Speaker 1:Are they kind All of the attributes?
Speaker 2:of what King David were.
Speaker 1:Now we're not saying he was perfect.
Speaker 2:No, but he desired.
Speaker 1:He desired. The Bible says that he was a man after God's own heart. He hated what God hated and he loved what God loved, and he had consistently operated with the heart of what Repentance and conviction. So that's a check right there. For you, it don't sound good, because a lot of people are in relationships like that. That's between you and God. But I'm telling you this is for those who are desiring to be married, those who are designed to get in a relationship. Maybe you're not married yet. This is a conversation you need to have with yourself. Why am I with this person? What drew me to this person? And is what drew me to this person of God? Because you have to understand that, just like God has someone specific for you that he wants to spend the rest of your, he wants you to spend the rest of your life with, because they're tied to your purpose. They're tied to what he's called you all to do. The enemy also has something out there that he wants to take you off track.
Speaker 2:Right and the enemy. The world is going to go against everything God stands for when it comes to marriage. So everything that we've done, the world will be like why? Yeah, that doesn't even make sense.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it's not supposed to make sense to you, because, it's not the wisdom of this world, it's the wisdom of God. Literally, it is the wisdom of God. And it won't make sense to you, but as you dig into it it's like, oh okay, thank you, because I needed these things, I needed this, I needed this. I went through so much because I tried to do these things. And we all have the same questions why do I have these desires? Why do I feel the way I feel? What is this?
Speaker 2:What are these urges? And then you have people in the world saying oh, this is normal, you're supposed to. Boys this age are supposed to be masturbating and lusting after women. Let them do that. It's normal.
Speaker 1:It's not normal, it's not, it's a spirit of lust and it's a spirit of perversion, and you're setting up contracts, and this is why we have to always check what we do, because even in the church, even in the church, even in the body of.
Speaker 1:Christ, the body of Christ. You have people who are struggling with masturbation, people who are struggling with pornography, that think that it's normal and it's okay and that they can't be helped and they can't be changed. You have people that are literally in these situations, where some of them want to be free.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they just don't know how to. They don't know how to, and they don't understand, because the world tells them it's okay, it's okay for you to have these desires, it's normal, it's normal for you to have these desires.
Speaker 1:We can go so far there. It's normal for you to have these desires.
Speaker 2:We can go so far, there's so many, but it's not normal. It's normal in the world, because that's what the enemy wants you to have.
Speaker 1:The world is led by the flesh? Yes, but as a believer, you should be led by the spirit of God and you can be free from every bit of that you can be free. I'm telling you because.
Speaker 1:God freed me. God set me free from desires and things that were not of him, so he can do the same thing with you and literally it. Um, we've already said that we know we got off track. Um, I think what we can go at from here is this cause we we got heavily off track, but it's good. We already said what we have desires that can come from our soul. We have desires that can come from the spirit of God.
Speaker 2:Right, oh yeah, we have to talk about that part.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we just kind of really talked about that, that you have desires that can come from both.
Speaker 2:You want to dig into them more oh, I was talking about um the desires of your heart, god giving you the desires of your heart I was about to talk about okay, that's what. That's what I was psalms 37 and 4 so psalms 37 and 4.
Speaker 1:Do we have that out or do we need to go and? Do you want to read it?
Speaker 2:Let me see, let me pull it up. I didn't write it on the notes.
Speaker 1:Because we read that and we're reading the NLT.
Speaker 2:You can grab the NLT I have the NLT and the thing is people use that scripture so much. Yeah, Psalms 37. Four Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your heart's desires. I kind of like New King James Version.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was looking at that too. Delight yourself also in the Lord.
Speaker 2:Yeah, delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart then verse five commit your way to the lord trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the new day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but and for those. So NLT is a little bit more today's language, so we'll read that part too. Verse three says trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely. Oh, I'm sorry I forgot about that part too. Yeah, that's good Trust in the Lord and do good.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Then you will live safely in the land of prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act.
Speaker 2:But you can only prosper in his way, his way, his will.
Speaker 1:Yes. So when we dig into this because we say God will give you the desires of your heart, God will give you the desires of your heart.
Speaker 2:The church will say just pray about it. God will give you the desires of your heart. No, he will only give you the desires of your heart. The church will say just pray about it.
Speaker 1:God will give you the desires of your heart.
Speaker 2:No, he will only give you the desires of your heart that are in his perfect will for your life, because if it doesn't align with your perfect will, it ain't happening. It's not gonna happen. And it's because he knows. He knows what he's called you for exactly.
Speaker 1:If you fall outside of that, the enemy has legal rights to say okay, well, she out of line, she out of pocket, I'm just gonna bring her over here yep, and he can do whatever he wants he can do whatever he wants, because whenever he wants, and I think apostle selman, he and we'll talk about that a lot because we listen to him a lot but, uh, there was something that he did that was so perfect. He did, um, it was literally like a demonstration, and so it was like it's this window, right? And he talked about like just imagine this window. And he's like, within this window, you are in the perfect will of God.
Speaker 1:So within the perfect will of God, within that window, you have everything you need you have provision, you have grace, you have protection you have favor, you have blessings, you have everything that you need, but if you get outside of that window, it's no longer there, and so, when Adam and Eve was in the perfect world of God no, it's not under protection. So when Adam and Eve was in the perfect world of God, they had everything they need. They didn't have to pray for certain things. It was automatically there. They didn't worry about what they would eat. They didn't worry about how they would support themselves where they would live.
Speaker 2:They didn't worry about their clothes, they didn't worry about food. They didn't worry about anything, they were already covered.
Speaker 1:Everything.
Speaker 2:They were covered.
Speaker 1:And that is what the enemy is consistently trying to do is he gets us out of that so he can have free will to do whatever he wants, however he wants to do it. He can have free will to do whatever he wants, however he wants to do it. And so when you think in, when you think about God giving you the desires of your heart, we have to also. This is why we have to study. This is also why we have to be led by the spirit of God as we read the scripture, because if you aren't being led by the spirit of God that's, I think, first or second Timothys they talk about the scriptures being inspired by the spirit of god. Right, and god really giving me the revelation a couple of years ago about if you don't have the spirit of god in you to interpret the scripture, you won't understand what you're reading, because the bible is coded and the only being that can break the code in the bible is the holy spirit the spirit of truth right.
Speaker 2:That's why it's important on who you listen to. Exactly Like you said, you go to the church and say God will give you the desires of your heart, but they don't tell you that he will only give you those desires if it's his desires for you.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. I'm sorry. If you want to be a multimillionaire and that's not God's desire for you, you're not going to be one. No, you one. No, you can become one, but it won't be God's desire. No, it will be your own thing. It will be. And we have to be so careful because if you're doing something God didn't tell you to do, if you're doing something God didn't call for you to do, we are in what disobedience yes, sin and sin is nothing more than disobedience to God.
Speaker 2:And it doesn't matter if it looks good because it looks good to the world. Oh, I'm going to become a nurse is what I did? Because it looks good. It sounds good, I'm helping people, it's what I like to do.
Speaker 1:But is it God's will for you?
Speaker 2:But is it God's will for my life?
Speaker 1:And if it's not, you're in disobedience and, as you know, when you went through that, you went through hell trying to become a nurse.
Speaker 2:Hell.
Speaker 1:You made it happen, but you went through stuff that God never intended for you to go through.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:It's just like relationships we get into. We want this because we feel like that's what we're supposed to have. People tell you that that's what you're supposed to be in and you go through hell and you say this is God's will for your life and it's not. They don't understand you. They don't know what God's purpose is for your life. They can't speak life into you. They're not there. They're tearing you down. All of these different things. That is not God's desire for your life. Men, I'm sorry. The Bible tells us that we are to love our wives as Christ loves the church. Christ, don't tear us down. Christ, don't control us. Christ, don't manipulate us. Christ accept us where we are. He teaches us how to love. He teaches us how to go through life. He teaches us all of the things we're supposed to be doing. And I'm sorry, in this world we have had too many people that have told men that it is okay for you to show up and not do what you're supposed to do and then blame that woman who's looking to you.
Speaker 2:Including the church. We all know the anti-crisis coming through the church.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:I'm just put that out there.
Speaker 1:But that's another thing. It's another thing we're getting off. Yes, so when it digs into desires, right. That's why it's important for us to renew our mind. We have to go through the process of renewing our mind.
Speaker 2:You have to know the truth. Yes, the truth will set you free it will set us all free.
Speaker 1:We have to, and I think I had on here Romans 5 and 12. As far as renewing the mind, is that Romans 5 and 12? What is that? I think it's Romans 12. And you know where I'm going at.
Speaker 2:Romans 12, 1, 2?.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Why did you have Romans 5?
Speaker 1:I don't know. I think it's on there, but this is what I was thinking about Romans 12. So Romans 12, verse 1, it says and this is NLT, by the way. It says and so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing, and perfect.
Speaker 1:I don't know how else you end that out other than that.
Speaker 2:That's the only way you know you'll know God's will for you and that's the only way you know your desires are'll know God's will for you and that's the only way you know your desires are aligned with God's desires that I don't know how else you end up, but that that's it. You have to go through this process you have to live, breathe, think Holy Spirit yes, outside of that, it will fail yeah outside, and, and this is that's why- it's not an easy process.
Speaker 2:That's why nobody talks about it or teaches about it. Because it's not easy. You have to let go of everything.
Speaker 1:Because everything that you think, you know, everything that you have been taught, you might as well assume if it's outside of God, it is wrong, even when it seems right. The church will tell you to get married rather than to burn in sin, and Paul did say that. But Paul said specifically and this is what you have to get.
Speaker 1:This is Paul speaking not God, because you all are bothering me and you're asking me about something that God hasn't given me a revelation on. So, since this is Paul speaking, I will tell you hey, if you are burning in lust, sure go ahead and get married because it's better to just deal with the demons that you know than a bunch of demons from other people but that was not God.
Speaker 1:God showed us his plan and his design from the beginning, that he created Eve for Adam. God said that it is not good for man to be alone. Not Adam, god said it. He said I will create a helpmate for Adam and bring that helpmate to Adam. And that's where I think we go ahead and stop this, because I think we need to-.
Speaker 2:And get the little ones.
Speaker 1:So until next time and we'll dig in this later until next time. We appreciate you all for spending time with us and we will see you on the next episode. Be, blessed, be blessed. Be, safe, be safe. Hopefully this has been a blessing to you. Yes, all right.