In the Vine Podcast
Joy in Your Season Part 1
Reunited and it feels sooooo goooood!
Okay, we let go of the outline and just TESTIFIED!
We got so into it that we had to split the recording into two episodes. Tune in to hear how the battle for Joy has manifested in our lives and how we continue to press in and on!
God is so faithful and all those who call to Him shall be saved. Praise God!
Send us your testimonies, thoughts, comments, and concerns. We love to hear from you!
- Duration:
- 39m
- Broadcast on:
- 11 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Welcome to season 3 of In The Vine Podcast with your host, Melissa Chavez, joined by Yassinia, Denise, and Shekinah. This season, we'll be discussing the joy of the Lord, and of course, our monthly and other upcoming events. To find out more, please visit www.InTheVine.org, and if you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to show your support, and like, share, and subscribe. Hi, everyone, and welcome to an episode of In The Vine Connects. And wouldn't you know it, we're all back in the house together. Yes. I'm so excited. It's been like, what, three or four weeks already that we've been kind of just changing seats. However, you guys wouldn't know, but Kat is out of the studio. She's actually going camping with our church kids. So pray for her. Yeah, no whole week, pray for the girl, but yeah, I'm so excited to have her full panel back, although she did amazing. And so it's just exciting to be vibing. So with that being said, it's your host, Melissa Chavez. And with me today, I have Denise, Shekinah, Yessi, and today we're going to talk about the joy of the Lord and how it has manifested. We're just going to testify today. I had a whole outline of a topic that we were going to talk about, which is cool. It's fine, but then Denise was like, can we discuss how the joy of the Lord has manifested in our lives? And if you heard the Mondays with Mal episode, then you know that I actually touched on that. So when she said that it just, it's going to flow so well. So I'm excited to hear what these girls have to say. So you know the drill though, we got to answer your dating questions that you submitted through our Instagram. If you don't follow us, make sure you connect. Our handle is in, I always want to say Instagram. It's in the vine.connects. And you can also make sure you follow our YouTube because if not, we're getting ready for no reason. We can just show up and sweat and a bun, but we do this for you. I'm just kidding. But our YouTube channel is the same. It's in the vine.connects and it's popping up in there. So ladies, hello, I know that we're going to dive into our lives a little bit, but it just, I have to. Like how are you guys doing? My good? Surviving. It's hot. It's, it's hot. Yes. But we just had fellowship cafe at our church. Yes. And that was really fun. It was fun to catch up with all the friends, right? Yeah. And just talk about it. Yeah. Just talk about our lives and just catch up because I know sometimes we can be so busy and it's just high and high. So fellowship cafe was a hit. And then we had Apostle Rian right from South Africa. So he was a pleasure to have too and he's going to be out here on Tuesday. So I know that it's going to be past when you see this. I hope you guys made it. But you can still tune in on the Instagram. Yeah. Our church's Instagram handle is GWCC_AV. Yep. Look at me. Look at you. Sheesh. Not on social media, but she knows all the handles. Yeah. Social media break, but it's been hard, but it's been, it's been good. Um, she gave anything you want to update us on or it's hot. I think God, we're saying. And you were fighting a bug the other day. Weren't you a spider? Oh. Dude, I fight bugs every day. It's horrible. And they're almost the same size. Oh. Bigger than you. I live up in the mountains, which I love. The weather's better up there. There's wild animals. I feel like a Disney princess. The only animals I don't like are the cats. I am spiders. Oh. Yeah. I know. Those are spiders that they're intense. They're just, they're everyday. They're something new. So, you know, I've never seen the same spider twice. So you know, I'm getting educated too. There's so many species. It's the same. There's so many different types. So many different types. I love it. It's great. I go to bed with a flashlight in one hand and a, and a junklet, a mesh mask on your face. I love it. I love it. It's great. I love it. I love it. Over there's spiders take up square inches for sure. Denise. It's hot. Oh my God. The hot. Yeah. Tell us. Denise, tell us. On California residents are non-California listeners. Okay. We live close to Death Valley. Yeah. Why is it named Death Valley? Because it's super hot. Yeah. It started changing. It started changing. Sorry. I didn't mean to pop with you. No. Fun fact. It was going to get like to 130 something degrees that you could cook a steak and it'll be done in like two hours. Wow. Outside. I don't know if Death Valley is the hottest place in the U.S. or if it's the hottest place in the world, but I'm willing to pass place in the world. I think so. We don't live too far from there. So we're in the triple digits here. It is hot. When the wind blows, it feels like you're, there's a heater on you. Yeah. Tomorrow's 1. 11. Yeah. You get in the car and every, it just, it burns. Like you can cook an egg. You got to drive with oven mitts on it. You do. Who's her name? Rebecca actually said she like was able to cook like egg whites outside of her. Of course. She should record these things. Yeah. She has a fascinating life. I always told her. I was like, we need to do like a, like a corner with Rebecca, especially when she was doing camp click. Yeah. Just imagine her wearing like a sweater neck just like floating. Yeah. Some random facts. Um, yeah. It's very hot out here and, um, and that's why I told you guys pray for your single friends. It's getting hot out here. I mean, we're wild in, but nobody listens to that. That's called Hot Girl Summer. Hot Girl Summer. Hot Girl Christian Summer, where we go to the mountains in camp. Um, anyway, so glad to hear that, glad to hear that. Have you been Melissa? That's hot. I'll have, I've been just, just hot. Um, am I right? I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Things have been good. It's been slow, a slow week. So I have no complaints. I've gotten to just be at home. So it's been great. Um, okay. So you're dating questions, um, this one, ladies, actually boggled my mind a little bit. Um, it was submitted by one of our followers. And it is, it's going to a church function together, a good date idea. Yes. And why? What are, like, what could be the cons for that? Yeah. That's a, it's a, it's a someone to ask that there has to be cons floating around their head. I wouldn't know what those are to be honest. I think, I think they, I think it's a great, I think if it's too soon, and you're just like, not ready and then like, you're known, like there's a label, oh, this person was dating that person. And then do you want to be the, that person's second choice type of like, mindset? Yeah. That's where my mind would go. Maybe. And if you, I, I don't know, if you're going to the same church, you are making a statement to the people. Right. If you guys are going to separate churches, I would say it's a little bit easier. Um, but even then you're, invite, you're showing them your church culture, which could be very different from the other person. Yeah. So I guess those would be cons. That's a, that's a good point. Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking like, let's say there was a fellowship cafe, like in our instance, it was a barbecue, right? And they were, let's say it's in the afternoon and it was a church function, like come visit, you know, like come join us. I feel like joining them, you would be viewed by, because you're, everyone's looking at your interaction. Mm hmm. Right. Like, is this, is this woman or man interact well with others? Yeah. Who are they eyeballing or are they looking to talk to? I feel like there's a lot of pressure, but I do feel like the right people are down for it. Yeah. Yeah. And the other stage, you're at, it's like introducing them to your family. Yeah. It's like, we're going to be looking at you and it doesn't work out. Yeah. Yeah. It's been cheesy years. Oh, yeah. What is John three, fifteen? Yeah. You know, when two or more are gathered, what is that key? So having you have lips on dating. I remember, um, had a friend who, when they would like sit together, she would get texts and be like, is there room for Jesus between you guys? It's just funny and so, that was it, but you could have delivered that story a little better. Yeah. That's a good story. I could have lived that out. I could have lived that out. But I'm going to leave it in. Just good. That was like a rosy. You should just want it to be heard. We always, and the girls always say rosy. It's not always all about you. No, that's like Michael Scott, like, right, it's like, I'm going to live that out. I'm going to live that out for sure. Michael Scott just says things and things like that. That was an inside voice. All right. All right. All right. Roxy, when she grows up and hears the breath, she's got tears by her own mouth. Just kidding. It is a phaser. She still does her. Yeah. She still likes her voice weird. It's fine. I love it. Okay. So do we have a consensus? What's the consensus on taking somebody to a church event? Are you right to be public? Yeah. For sure. Oh, that's good. Yeah. If you're both agree, you're right to be public, then yes, absolutely. It's great idea. Oh, and yeah, just know, like you brought up something really good, because what if there was like this guy and he brought this girl, and these girls have been eyeballing this guy, and now it's like, who's this girl? Yeah. You know? And then it could break other girls' hearts too, because they're like, I thought I was going to be the one. Or vice versa. So doing that is a hotel in Novella. It's dating. 2024 is not for the faint of heart at all, but you know, just be ready. Just be ready for what that brings. Yes. I think you guys, you ladies answered that perfectly well without my two cents. You don't want to add your two cents? I have no two cents when it comes to that. Okay. Another question. This one was the one that actually boggled my mind, not the other one. So another one of our followers said, dating to Mary. Why is this such a red flag in the Christian community? And then he said, why is practice divorce a thing Christians are okay with? And he's like, I ask because I have heard it from mostly women that they just want to have fun and date around. So obviously there's different questions here, but when he, I even responded to him and I was like, that is such a different narrative from what we hear, right? Because we're, our church culture is the complete opposite and I don't know that I've ever heard anybody say, oh, let's just have fun. Yeah. Um, so let's answer that first one. Dating to Mary. Why is this a red flag in the Christian community? What do you ladies think? I think that was when we heard that question is really difficult for us to understand it. We are trying to like read into it too much because you're right. It's not a part of our culture at all in our church. It's taught and there's an expectation for all the single women and single men that when you date, you date to Mary, you know, it's, it's not a suggestion really. It's kind of an expectation because we're not going around playing with people's hearts. Yeah. So, um, I think with that questions, there's, there's, I think there's two things you can think about on their end. Maybe you're just a part of a church or I'm not just in your church. I mean, you were just part of a culture or part of a church where these women just are not mature in the faith. And if that's the case, they, if that's what they're saying, then avoid them. Yeah. And then on your end, right, let's examine both sides. Um, maybe you're just coming out a little bit too strong. Yeah. Obviously, like we're speaking generically, generically, we don't know this individual. We know there's a question and I'm, I, I have no idea. I really don't. You know, I'm at the end of the day, follow your convictions. If you make it clear that you are dating to Mary and a woman is uncomfortable with that, she's not for you, bro. And it's okay to move on, you know, um, but, uh, yeah, just, it, it really, it could go both ways. It's hard because we don't know this person. We don't know where it's coming from. We don't know your church culture. We, we don't know anything other than answering the question directly. Right. And all I can do is answer directly, which is you're probably just part of the wrong church culture. Yeah. If that's a red flag. Yeah. For sure. And if you're hearing that from girls that are not in the church, then they're non-Christians. Yeah. Yeah. They think they're Christians. Uh, what do you ladies think? I, I feel like a person should not be known like if you, if you date me that I'm proposing like in two weeks, you know, so just to be very mindful that if I'm dating to Mary, it's just because I'm getting to know you on that level because I see the potential in a, in a future with you. And sometimes it doesn't work out and that's perfectly fine because that's the time that's the stage that you needed to ask those questions to figure it out if this person's where you are not. Um, so I think a lot of people misunderstand that part. They believe that I'm going to date you, which means that I'm already changed to you. Um, and I feel like that can be scary. Yeah. So maybe some people run away from that idea, but it's not that at all. It's like, I'm just going to learn and grow with you on a deeper level to get us to there. And if we can't work together, then I'm glad I found out now then after, you know? Yeah. So do you, I think we, I don't remember if we broke it down in this level, but is it? So do you think it's dating courtship marriage? Oh, I do question. But in order, in order, isn't that like a place to, I feel like there's a decision that's made and it's like, okay, we're entering into courtship or I think it's like friendship courtship. Yeah. Yeah. At least in my case, it was like that. Marriage. Okay. That makes sense. But yeah, it depends on where you're at with the relationship. If you meet on a dating app, for example, you're not really doing a whole friendship thing first. You're right. You're right. Um, but even in that sense, don't view it as dating view it as we're developing a friendship in, you know, we're getting to know each other is actually, I think term, we can get so lost in terminology at the end of the day. But let's just, let's just focus on the description. Let's get to know each other. And then from there, let's decide if we want to court, meaning let's interview each other for marriage. Essentially, let's ask those hard questions. How many kids do you want? Where do you want to live? That kind of a thing. What's your credit score? What's your credit score? Do you have any school debt? Let me see your bank. Yeah. Yeah. I've got season two, the one that's titled bank statement. Exactly. So I think we can get so caught up in terminology. And I've learned that when I just stop and ask, okay, what's your, when we have disagreements on like terminology, I was asked, what's your definition of always, always, because I found that it's always like, okay, now we're differing in our, in our definition. So if we focus on the definition though, I think that technically, yes, there would just be, let's get the know you stage, then let's get to the point where we go deeper and we do start asking those hard hitting questions for the sake of marriage. Yeah. That's good. Good. Did you want to answer it? That's a original question. That's it. All right. Yeah. That's still crazy to me. Okay. So the next question, yes. Why is practice divorced a thing Christians are okay with? Again, it's not something that we hear like, where people are just like, oh, I even said what is practicing? Yeah. Like it's like, I'm trying to think, but yeah, but we can, we can try to dissect that question as much as as possible. But let's just take it at face value. Yeah. There are apparently Christians out there who practice divorce. So let's, let's touch on that. One it's wrong. It's not biblical, right? And this is coming from a divorced woman. So hear me out. You know, listen to my interview, I think it was season, season one, season one. Yeah. My interview, I go much, much deeper into it. So feel free to go back and listen to that. And I explain what divorce looks like in scripture and in the Bible. I've done a lot of study on it, but ultimately it shouldn't be practiced. It, as the word of God says, it is, it makes God weep in some translations. It says it makes a very alter weep, but it breaks God's heart and it makes it very clear. God hates divorce. God is not okay with divorce. Once you get married to somebody, you are saying yes to that person and to everything. So I think a lot of people unfortunately get married just to get married because it's a part of it's what they were told to do and what a scripture say, Paul says, it's better to get married than to burn with desire. And fortunately, people focus on that part alone and go, well, I have desire for this person. I'm just going to marry them instead of practicing self control for getting that there's a Galatians. There's a whole book on marriage, you know, a whole chapters on marriage of what that means and what that entitles, you know, they just feel like, well, I'm burning with passion, so I might as well get married to avoid sin, but then they get divorced, you know, which is kind of worse in my opinion. But yeah, so if again, if this is, if you're a part of a church culture where this is okay, I would highly recommend that you pray about the church that you're in because if dating to Mary's, a red flag among the women there and divorce is super common and it's practiced, you might want to question and start praying about really the church that you're in and the culture that you're part of. And I'm not saying it's coming from your church, might be coming from your family, might be coming from outside the church, but it just might be a trend that you're picking up. Yeah. So I really, again, I don't know who this is. I'm just trying to take it at face value as much as I can, but yeah, I just really pray about the, the influence that's around you because this is not an influence that you want to carry into your relationship and into your marriage. That's good. Ball part right there. Say it again. Ball part right there. Yeah. Out of the ball part. Yeah, she hit the ball part. And do you ladies want to add anything else? No, I think that's good. That's good. Kind of. Keep her breaking it down like that. And I agree. Um, and practice, right. I, when I think of the word practice, I think of like one person doing it multiple times. Yeah. Um, but obviously even if the, the, like you said, like if, um, divorce is common in the church, then definitely reconsider where you're at, um, because then it makes you more susceptible to that. Right. Um, okay. So now we're going to, you know, if you, once again, I, did I say this already? I don't remember. But if you tuned in to the Mondays with Mel episode, I talked, I briefly mentioned our individual interviews, um, not specifically, but I, I mentioned them and, um, I also talked about how the joy of the Lord manifested in my life, especially this past couple of weeks. And so, um, I want to just take the time to hear because I think it's so important for you guys to listen, how there's always, as I mentioned in that episode, a direct opposition to what the Lord is doing. And as I mentioned, even in that episode, how it's so important to pay attention to the way that, um, Jesus introduces himself in your life and seasons is very important to see that because that means that there's a direct correlation to what he's doing in your life. So, um, with that being said, ladies, how has the joy of the Lord manifested in your lives ever since we started this wonderful, wonderful season, which by the way, this is our 10th episode. We have two more episodes after this and we're, wow, I can't believe we're about to have another one in the books. Yeah. So, um, yeah, I'm going to start with, should I start with you? Sure. You ready? You ready? Yeah. Just go ahead. Um, well, first, I just want to say that it's nice for the rest of the world to catch up. Right. Right. Right. Right. No, I'm just, I'm really saying that in the sense because I've seen a lot of on social media, different prophets and people saying, oh, like the joy of the Lord is our strength and, you know, um, and I'm like, yeah, we've been talking about that, right? Like that's been the foundation that we've been laying on. And so even yesterday, when I went out hiking with some of the girls, we were talking about how the Lord's been really speaking about the joy of the Lord. And I'm like, have you all been listening to in the fine podcast, like hello? Yeah. I was like, the Lord has literally told us, and it's something that even today that I prayed out during prayer is like, our church has really been called to be like a trailblazer, right? Which means that not that we're ahead of the game, but we're blazing a trail for something. And so just to hear everybody else just saying how they're stepping into that season, I love the fact that we've done these podcasts to lay a foundation of like, okay, what does that look like? Yeah. How can I pull from it? Right? How can I pull from the revelation that's being spoken about? So that is first and foremost that I want to lay out to, for me personally, I realize that this leaves last four months, I have been really, really trying. And they have been really exhausting, they have been really, I've really had to put into practice literally the joy of the Lord. And so it's really been more of what we've talked about, like it's not a feeling, it's a choice, right? So I mean, I can just give examples, like for the last four months, we haven't slept at night, right? There's always something happening, you know, so I'm exhausted. And I mean, even the other day I told my husband, I said, I'm tired. I'm like, you know, I'm like, worried about when my girls are going to have their next episode of whatever it is, I still have to do laundry, I still have to cook, I still have to clean, I still have to make the trash, make sure the trash is out. I still have to make sure that the girls are getting homeschooled, I still have to make sure that my travel stuff is going, I still have to make sure that my blog is going and I'm like, I'm tired, you know, and so, but I was like, no Lord, like the joy of the Lord is my strength, like I'm choosing to be joyous, like doesn't mean I don't have my pity parties, but I don't stay there, you know, so I'm like, and just choosing to wear the joy. And so I don't think that we always like, for example, we pray for patience, right? And then it's like, you don't realize that you're going to put me put through things that are going to really try your patience and it's the same thing with joy. You're going to be preaching about joy, then you're going to be put through situations where you're going to have to really, really choose to be joyful. So I mean, that that's just been huge to my realize now that it's, it is, I mean, practicing what I'm preaching, right? It's easy to be joyful when things are good, but can truly be joyful when there's trials and tribulations. And so one of the profound things that I came across this week, because I came to the Lord, I was like, and I'm tired. I'm like, what am I doing wrong? Like, what else do I need to do? And I remember I was looking for a book for Shekinah that her and I had talked about and I came across this book from Jennifer Leclerc called forever in faith. And I was like, oh, I haven't read this book. Like, you know, when something just jumps at you and like bears witness with your spirit. So I was like, I need to read this. So anyways, I read it, talked about how a part of the piece of armor that most people neglect to remember put on is zeal, which is passion, which is joy, which is because that is a part of the armor to fight. And so I hadn't known that until I came across the book and now that we're ending even like the podcast, I'm like, Oh my gosh, God, like you're so good. Like you're so intentional, like you prophesy in part, right? So just now knowing even the further understanding of, hey, joy, zeal, passion, fire, refines, like it's a whole thing. So I mean, there's a lot more that I can go on, but it's just, it's been beautiful to just witness God be so intentional with me. Yeah, that's really good. That was a lot in really good ways, right? Because it's absolutely true. You are faced with that. And I mean, personally, right, we, I think the three of us, three of us have witnessed, you go through that in one way or another and two, and you know, even her opening statement and even what she's saying, like what we want to, I think, emphasize on is the fact that when we do it God's way, it works, right? Because I think despite the kind of crap that we've been, that's been thrown at us. At the end of the day, God still has come through. So it doesn't make the lesson any less. It doesn't make it painful. I think it makes the part, the purpose, right? And so to hear what you're saying, like even the zeal aspect, absolutely, like once you have a passion for life, like there's nothing that can deter you away. And unfortunately, I think in today's culture, it's not easy to have that kind of passion because there's so many options. There's so many options. We were pulled in so many directions and one day you're like passionate about exercising. The next day, you're passionate about having a vegan diet. And so you're constantly being pulled in like all these different directions where it's just like, okay, if you're, if you just home it in, hone it in, then once you have like a set goal for your life, then I think the passion just becomes that much more prevalent. But so I have a question for you because we're talking about passion and we're talking about passion. But I feel like zeal and passion, I feel passion can wear off. Yes. But I feel like zeal is, it stays. Yes. Absolutely. Can you explain the difference with that? Because it kind of, it's like the difference between motivation and self-discipline. Yeah, definitely. I think zeal is a, it's an art of practice, right? Because the patience does wear out. If you like the zeal, it's like the root and then like the passion is the fruit of zeal, right? So the fruit dies where there's comes and goes during the seasons, right? But if you have the zeal, you can still bear the fruit of passion. That's good. So it's just, but you have to water that tree. You have to put in that works out the fruit can bear. Yes. You know what I mean? So I don't know if that's a good analogy. That's what the floor showed me. And so one of the things that today was really like, I've been putting into, and this is perfect because I wanted to say this, it ties in is I've been choosing, right, to be joyous. But today, like last night, my daughter got hit with the fever out of nowhere. My AC broke. And so, I know, and then a mirror in my house just randomly broke and shattered. So, but this morning, instead of choosing, like, I didn't have to choose to be joyous. Like, I legit woke up excited. And I'm like, no, I didn't wake up. I was already awake. But I was like, I was never fell asleep, but I was like, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And I put it like in the group chat of the wild group channel, I'm like, I'm genuinely excited. Like, I'm genuinely joyous. Like, I'm like, I didn't even have to fake it. Like, I genuinely felt it, but it because it's, it's the fruit, right? Like, I, the roots there, it's been watered. It's been tilled. And now I'm bearing the fruit of it. And it's been beautiful to just witness that I am being joyous. I am excited. I'm coming to church hungry, despite my circumstance. Right. So, that's really good. It's like a muscle, right? It's like at first, you may struggle picking up a 15 pound weight, but after some time, it's going to feel light and you're going to be able to move on to the next. Right. And I love that because you say despite this circumstance, but I personally, and it's not my story or experience, but I think it's because of your circumstances, because you see all this warfare happening and you know something big is happening. The Lord has something for you. You know, and today we had a profit run come. You know that that's going to be a big deal and a lot of people would have seen this warfare in these tragedies and their kids getting sick and a mirror of all things, you know, breaking out of nowhere and been like, well, I'm not going to church today. I'm going to stay home and go this or deal with this. I just can't, but I think it's so it's encouraging because I think a lot of people fall into the fear and they fall into the doubt and they fall into not recognizing that this is happening to keep you away from the promises that God has for you, but you see it as God has something for me. Yeah. And that's why all this is happening. And you just like plow through it and you're just like, okay, after all this mess, there's something amazing on the other side, and so I think it's so encouraging because it's true. If we just look at what's happening in front of us, yeah, it's scary, it's dark, it's unpredictable, but if we can go, you know what, there's a reason this obstacle is in the way. It's because there's something even better on the other side. Yeah. The enemy does not want me to get to it. And that should excite us and that should make us joyous to know if I just get over this, which you can, there's something amazing on the other side. And that's one of the things that I've always been huge on for myself in my own life. It's like, you're going to throw an ops, and this is me, my nature. You're going to throw an obstacle in my face, like screw you, like watch me go harder. Like, that's just my nature. So even today when I had Rosie had a fever, I was like, she was in my lap, put cold towels during service, but I'm like, there's no better place to be in church. Exactly. And dude, it broke. Like after everything, like it broke and she's fine, you know, but it's like, I would have missed out on all of that if I would have like succumbed to my circumstance. Yeah. And it's not just this time, because now if the enemy knows that he can get you in this way, the next time he'll be like, I'm going to throw in a fever and I hit it. Yeah. And because that's just the enemy. One thing that I've been like meditating on is, and follow me here, right? Because the enemy is, and I said it in one of my episodes where it's just like, the enemy has been here longer than we have. And he knows, like he was there at the cross. We weren't at the cross. The enemy was there at the cross. And when all of that happened, and so he, he knows, but his tricks are still the same. And he's still defeated. He's still on all these things. And what happens though, is that new players come into the, to the game, right? We're born. And so now we're new players and all these things. And so we have to learn the enemy's tactics and all these things. But to me, it's crazy that the Lord still has empowered us to do that because the Holy Spirit has been there from creation. Satan is a created being, Holy Spirit was there at creation. So to me, it's just like, okay, well, at the end of the day, like his tactics are known. And so when we rest in that, when we know that kind of thing, then it's just like, wait a minute, get the hell out of here, like, you know, and so, yeah, like, exactly. And so I love that you said that because it's definitely, I think, Christians as a whole, like we need to get to a place where we're just spiritually minded, and we finally believe on God. We're just listening to a teacher teaching today. And he was like, the enemy believes that God can raise people from the dead. The enemy knows that Christ is the Son of God. The enemy knows all these things. The only difference between the enemy and us, I'm sure there's a lot more, okay? But he brought it to simple terms. He's like, is that we have faith in God and the enemy does not. And so we get to trust God. And so we know that we overcome the enemy has no hope. And so to me, that was just so profound because that is our testimony, right? And revelations it says, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of his testimony. So super profound, Shakaina, you're next. Yeah. Oh, sorry. I got you. Midship. Yeah. Yeah. No, I like what you're saying. It's funny because you guys brought up the spiders. But it's, I think it's just, it goes back to that of, you know, when you pray for something, direct opposition comes in, you know, and it's a silly example. But my biggest fear in the world is spiders. Wow. And last summer, my first time being up at the mountains, there were so, there's just so many spiders. I'm not used to it. I'm freaking out. I had sleepless nights because of them like genuine fear, like spiders decided my hands, which I guess I have small hands with some of you. That's still pretty big. Yeah. Yeah. Like so just, I would see one or even one outside and it was just like, I just couldn't sleep the rest of the night. Praying, Lord, help me get, I need to get rid of the spirit of spiders. It's just as much to creation as anything else. I can pick up lizards and snakes. I don't know what it is about spiders. I just, it freaks me out. And this summer, there's been a lot more spiders in the last. And I'm like, Lord, I was, you, you said you were going to help me out here. You just got, yeah. Yeah. Lots of opportunity. You know, when you pray for patience, you know, you, you put you in a lot of situations where you got to wait. And this is one of those situations. So, but believe it or not, it's been, it's gotten significantly better. And a little video, you guys saw me post on my page, I was freaking out, but I wouldn't even have gotten near that. Like I wouldn't have done even as much as that, but it's got a lot better. But I think this season, that's one of the oppositions that I've been facing and, but it's training me. It's helping me grow. And I'm really scared with the Lord trying to prepare me for it, to be honest. But the joy of the Lord being this season, it's funny. There's just been a lot of things that again, have come against us. But it's been so easy to step into joy and peace and just knowing that this is just confirmation that the Lord has something huge for us. Yes. Huge. And the people who are going to step away from that are people that just haven't been called to it or just really didn't have the strength yet to step into that. And so the fact that we're still here, the fact that we're still doing in the vine, the fact that we're still part of our church, we're here because God has, has established something so incredible and the enemy didn't like it, the enemy has put a lot of opposition. Every single one of us is able, we have a story to tell of what we've been through these last few months. And it's so incredible that we're still here and we're still proclaiming God and we're saying, but the joy of the Lord is our strength. You know what I mean? And even in my personal life, not just with spiders, but with, but even just my personal life. I remember telling Melissa, I was like, you know, there was this point where I just sat back in my car. I prayed a lot in my car. And I was just like, God, I just feel so content and happy. Like there's chaos going on and I just feel so content and happy. And then the very thing that I was thinking about and thanking God for maybe like two weeks after that, it just, this thing appeared in my life again. And I was like, wait, no, like I just said, I was content and happy, you know, but you know what? I think a lot of people would have said like, well, see the enemy's just trying to take that away from you. I started, but it's so strange because I thought, no, I think God allowed that to happen at the time, at this particular time of me feeling content and happy because I was content content and happy, because I was in a place where I could finally face that thing once again, but stronger. And if it would have come even earlier than that, if it would have come at a time where I wasn't content and happy, I would have been far more emotionally manipulated by that thing. And so I think this thing coming into my life at that particular time, it was such a good timing and it was such a profound timing because I was able to step back and go, you know what? Actually, I've been really content and happy and I don't need to be moved by this. And so it was just really profound and it was just a new revelation because in the past I would have been like, yeah, the enemy is just, you know, coming into steel kiln store, the enemy's trying to like, get me off the rails, all this kind of stuff and it would have me blaming the enemy would have put me into a place of emotional turmoil, you know. But in this situation, it wasn't that I was able to go, thank you, God, that this thing came at this time where I was actually ready for it. And so I think that's where the joy of the Lord really steps in is sometimes we, yes, get mad at the enemy, love stuff happens, absolutely cast him out, recognize that it's him. Our battles are not with flesh and blood, with powers and principalities, but sometimes we can use that as an excuse to just express fear in blaming the enemy and blaming the devil. But sometimes just as simple as, I'm not bothered by it. And that's what gets the enemy mad, that's what takes away his power because when you recognize it and you call it out, that's good. But if you're using that as a strategy to just disengage, to react in fear, you're giving him power, you know, and so sometimes as a simple as recognize the enemy going, I see you. Right. And I'm not bothered by you. I'm walking away. Yep. Yeah. And that's where that's really what's been so profound this season that as we've been talking about this and discussing this is every one of this table has had something major in their lives and recently and we're here and we're still talking about God and how good he is and that man, that's profound. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing, and it's really beautiful, I have no follow up to that. It's just so complete. You know what I mean? It really is complete. Not that years. Not that years. But we've been having dialogue about this, so it's different. So Shekin, do you ladies have any comments, questions, concerns about her and her spiders? I'm the other thing. Yeah. She did. She did great. It's beautiful. Yeah. And just because I don't want to leave you without a comment. Right. You're fine. I've been talking to you. No. It reminds me of, again, because I've been meditating a lot on Colossians. I think it's 312. I meditate on the scripture, not on the citation, so don't come at me. And it says to be, oh no wait, this is actually found in Romans. I've been also meditating on Romans. You guys did it. I'm serious, I promise. In Romans, it talks about to have a mind that's given over to reason. So to justify both things, it leads to death. And so it's cool once you start growing and maturing in the spirit where you're able to discern. Right. Like, no, this is God or this is the enemy. And then as you grow up in the Lord, you start realizing like the enemy only has enough foothold that as far as you would give them. And so the moment that you start realizing like, okay, wait a minute, like I don't want to give you my authority in this area, then you start realizing, oh wait, I can totally get that back because the enemy can only jump on our backs and take our authority to the level that we give it to him. And so I'm being, again, off the cuff. So if you guys can disprove that, holler at me, it's totally okay. But to me, that it just makes sense, right? Because the enemy himself has no authority. You can find that in the scriptures that first of all, in the Old Testament, the heaven and the earth belongs to the Lord. And then in the gospels, Jesus is telling his disciples, all authority has been given to me. Now I give it to you. To me, it's just like, okay, well, if the enemy is running rampant in my life, then what's happening? What in the world is happening? You know? So I think it's great. Thanks you, Kina. Thanks you, Kina. I just, I love, I love the passion. Yeah. I love the zeal. That's happening. That dialogue, right? So we needed this. I feel like we haven't done like just like a chopping it up in a minute because we have no notes. Yeah. Just going for it. Going for it. Yeah. Yes. Thanks for joining us for another episode. We ran a little longer than expected. So stay tuned for part two. Thank you for listening. If you liked this episode or we answered any of your questions or you have a question that you would like to be discussed in future episodes, let us know in the comments or share on social media and be sure to hit subscribe so you won't miss out on the amazing content and guests we have lined up for you. Shalom and God bless. (dramatic music)
Reunited and it feels sooooo goooood!
Okay, we let go of the outline and just TESTIFIED!
We got so into it that we had to split the recording into two episodes. Tune in to hear how the battle for Joy has manifested in our lives and how we continue to press in and on!
God is so faithful and all those who call to Him shall be saved. Praise God!
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