In the Vine Podcast
Mondays with Mel: Prepare the Oil
(upbeat music) - Welcome to our newest segment Mondays with Mel on In the Vine Podcast. These episodes, Melissa will be taking the opportunity to get creative, sharing biblical insight and teaching, hosting new guests, and more. Stay tuned, and if you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to show your support, and like, share, and subscribe. (upbeat music) Hi everybody, and welcome to another episode of Mondays with Mel. It is your host, Mel. And I'm so excited to be here with you guys today and talk to you about the favorite, most favorite thing that Christians love to do. Like, man, like, we love the opportunity to do this, and that is to wait. (laughs) Obviously, I'm kidding. It's not our favorite thing to do. It's the reason why patience is a fruit of the spirit. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna talk about three different types of waiting. It's just briefly before I get to the one that I actually wanna talk to you about. And this is not an exhaustive list, so the first one that I wanna mention is the one that we talked about last week, right? Where the delay, where the Israelites didn't know or better yet, they couldn't steward the waiting properly, and so what happened? The delay, which we studied out and we determined, according to the Hebrew word, that it meant to become confounded, disappointed, to become dry, to become ashamed. And so we realized that when people don't know how to wait on God, they tend to have this temptation to step out of God's will, right? And to start bringing in solutions that were never God's intentions. And so that's one kind of waiting. Then we have another type of waiting. This type of waiting is the most ideal type of waiting, right? Where it's kind of like a doctor's appointment at one of the best clinics around. They call you and they're like, "Hey, your appointment at such and such time, "make sure you show up like a two minute early." And you show up and you show up on time, then you register, they know that you're there, they greet you, they're nice. And you just sit in the waiting room, sometimes they have a TV, they give you water, sometimes they have nice music, good reading material, or there's just somebody there that you can have a nice pleasant conversation with. Those types of waiting is kind of like a rest, to be honest, and we're gonna assume that the appointment is something good. And so that's that kind of waiting with the Lord, right? Where it's restful, it's beautiful, it's nice. It's him leading you to still waters and causing you to just rest in green pastures as Psalm 23 would say. The one that I'm gonna focus on today, this type of waiting, it's kind of like an appointment that you've been waiting for for so long. And so it's finally your day off, you have a whole day planned and then you get this phone call and they're like, hey, you better get here right now before you miss this appointment and blah, blah, blah. And you're like, oh my God, I just woke up and you'd shower and you'd do this and you'd do that. And so then you start embarking on this journey to reach an appointed time. So you're embarking on this journey and all of a sudden your car doesn't have enough gas to get there, or you have a flat tire, or you get in a car accident, or the road is closed, or all of a sudden it starts raining or snowing in the middle of summer, and you're just like, do like what in the world it seemed like all of hell has a straight up assignment to keep you from reaching this one appointment. Now we're gonna call this appointment breakthrough, and we're gonna call this appointment the blessing and the promise that God has given you, okay? Now, with that being said, I remember back in 2022, it must have been that year, I don't know, I was living in an apartment and I remember that I was going through some things and I remember I was focusing on the move of God that America is crying out for, right? That the faithful ones are crying out for in America, and that is the supernatural move of God, where families are saved, where people are calling on the name of the Lord, where the dead are being raised, where the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf here, and just this supernatural move of God that America is crying out for, right? They were praying that in, and I was focusing on that, and I was thinking about that, and that was the overarching thought that I was having, but I was comparing it against what I was going through in that moment. As I was having that pensive moment that heard the Lord ask me, how do you wanna be found? And so, if you've ever heard God's questions, you know that God not only gives you the question, but he automatically downloads what he means by that question, right? And so, he's so cool when he does that, 'cause God is just so good, right? And so, I remember I was sitting there in that moment and I was confounded at that question. I was like, okay, because I understood what he was talking about, right? Because in that moment, I was losing heart. I was losing the hope. I was like, is this even gonna happen? Like, am I grasping for straws at this moment? And so, when the Lord asked me that, I realized time is going to pass. So, we each have 24 hours in a day. Each of us has the choice on how we're gonna spend those 24 hours. And so, then the Lord asked me, how do you wanna be found? Do you wanna be found faithful or not? And so, in that moment, I had to face the decision whether I wanted to be that person that was found faithful and that had the testimony of saying, I knew that the Lord was gonna do this. I knew that this move of God was gonna come. I believed until it came and I'm living in it. Do I wanna be found as that person when that time comes? Or do I wanna be found as a person that stopped believing? And now I'm bitter, right? Because I stopped believing and now the move of God has erupted. And because there's, and I would hope that if I ever, I remember in that moment, if any of us are ever in that situation that we would repent. But what if I didn't, right? And this is all speaking hypothetically, right? Because then God, I chose the right choice. But what if I hadn't chosen the right thing? Time is still going to pass. What matters is how we steward the time and the waiting. Now, let me bring you back to the present moment right now. So I feel like a lot of people, including myself, we're in this place and time where it feels like there's so much piling up. If you don't, if this isn't you, then please, like, I'm gonna ask that you pray for the people that are feeling like that's kinda like the story of Peter, right? Peter was, he denied the Lord three times and then he was restored. And then Jesus told him, "Peter, once you're restored, "make sure that you go strengthen your brothers." So just because you don't feel the way that I'm saying that some of us are feeling that there's other people that are feeling, it doesn't mean that that makes you be able to disconnect, right? That gives you an empowerment to pray for your brothers and sisters around the world that are facing this kind of stuff. So anyway, back to case in point, right? So I feel like a lot of us are going through this thing where we're like, we can taste the breakthrough, right? We have the appointment. We got the call and they're like, okay, show up as soon as possible. Again, hypothetically speaking. And we're on a way and we're facing all these obstacles that are keeping us and it's piling up. And now you're just like, bro, like, is this even worth it? And maybe you're even questioning like, is this even the right thing? Like, did I even get the right call? Was I awake when I got that phone call? Was I half asleep? Like, did I get the right direction, the right address? Like you just, all these things start piling up against you and you're just like, what is happening? So currently, this week, honestly, these past three weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride for me in so many different ways. And this last week, I finally got to a place where I had to make a decision about certain things. And I remember, and you know, like you, I'm sure I, and that wasn't sarcastic, I promise, like you. I'm sure I talk to the Lord every day, right? And every day I have this time with the Lord, but however, there's a point at times in the day where I go and I meet with the Lord. It's like a husband and a wife, right? You may be talking every day and you're around each other a lot, but then there's those date nights where you go and you meet and you consecrate each other to be with one another and it's intentional, it's powerful and it's intimate. So I was going to that time with the Lord. And as I was headed there, I was like, okay, how do I wanna show up, right? 'Cause I was feeling sad, I was feeling angry. I had a lot of questions. I was just going through so many, just so many things in my soul. And so I asked myself, like, how do I wanna show up? And of course, I inquired of the Holy Spirit and I was like, what is the appropriate way to show up? Because I don't wanna show up fake. I don't wanna show up thinking that I'm not angry, that I'm pretending that I'm not angry, that I'm not sad, that I don't have these questions. Because then if we show up in God's presence like that, then the only person that we're fooling is ourselves. And now we're building a wall against the Lord, right? Because now we're just like, oh, like this facade, you know, those depression commercials, you know what I'm talking about, right? Where they're wearing like that silly, like happy face mask. Sometimes we do that with the Lord. And the Lord is like, why can't deal with the problem if you're showing up as though you don't have the problem, right? So now I inquired of the Holy Spirit. And then I just felt like, I was like, okay, I'm gonna show up in gratitude. No, no big hurrah there. Like that's how you should always show up in God's presence. Some 100 verse four, I wrote it here, 'cause I didn't wanna mess it up. It says, enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise. So now I was like, okay, I'm going to show up in gratitude. You see, because what the enemy tries to do, what he tries to do is he tries to take our mind and bring it into this very moment in time. And he tries to make us feel as though this is the only thing that matters in this moment. You see, there's focus and then there's obsession. Obsession is addictive. And this is off the cuff here. So, excuse me if I'm being narrow-minded with this, but obsession can be very addictive where it's kind of like lust. Where lust becomes very addictive and very, I need to have it now, undisciplined. And so that's what the enemy tries to do when we're going through tough situations. He tries to bring our focus into the despair. All of a sudden, all you can see is the problem. And he also tries to make us feel as though we don't have the time to be able to respond rather than react as Denise always says. And so, but what does gratitude do? Gratitude in the right context, and I don't know if there's ever any wrong context. Well, maybe there is, but gratitude in the right context, what that does, it starts reminding you of the testimonies of God. So, for example, if I start looking at the things that are going to happen because of this battle and the things that can potentially go wrong or whatever the case may be, instead of the victories that I've had, the way that God has brought me through, the way that the things that he's allowed me to do, the things that he's graced me and the mercy and the empowerment. Like, when I start being grateful for those things, even for being alive, when there's a very real enemy that's trying to kill us each and every day. Like, you start putting things in perspective where it's like, all of a sudden, eternity gets highlighted in our hearts. There's a scripture that says that eternity is in the heart of man, and that is so important, because the moment that we start looking at things through the eyes of eternity, we start seeing that these things that we're facing, like the drama, the turmoil, the pain, the chaos, like, we start to realize, one, that it doesn't matter, and that doesn't mean that we disengage. That's not what I mean at all. What I mean is that in the grand scheme of things, these things are about a vapor. Our life is a vapor. And so then when you realize that what matters is eternity and when you're gonna, where you're gonna spend eternity, 'cause we're all gonna have an eternal life, by the way, we all have that. And so we get to decide, however, if we're gonna spend it in hell, or if we're gonna spend it in heaven, like, that's on you, baby, boop it. We're all gonna have this choice. We're all gonna be faced with this choice. And so then I was sitting there with the Lord, and all of a sudden, you see, as the Psalm says, right, you enter his gates with thanksgiving and go into his courts with praise, because that is such a natural progression. When you start showing gratitude and you start thinking God for the things that he does, I can guarantee you that automatically, you're gonna start praising God, because he's just so wonderful, right? He's just so amazing. You're gonna be like, oh my gosh, like, you brought me out of this. Like, you're the Lord of Heaven's armies. The earth belongs to you. The earth is your footstool. Like, these praises will just come out of your mouth because you're just gonna be reminded how great God is, right? And so, now, as I was sitting here with the Lord, all of a sudden, I did transition into dealing with the sadness, right? Because again, he's our father, okay? So our father is very much acquainted with our ways. Psalm 139 says, you are acquainted with all of my ways. You know, my rising up, you know, my laying down. Even if I set my bed in hell, you will still see me. You know the number of hairs on my head. Like, God is just so intimate with us. So there's no point in trying to hide things from him, right? And so I brought my sadness to the Lord. But what was amazing, right? It's because I entered with Thanksgiving and I ended with praise or went in with praise. All of a sudden, the sadness wasn't rooted in hopelessness. And it wasn't rooted in self-pity. Now the sadness was, it's kind of like that scripture that we talked about in one of our episodes where those who plant with tears will reap harvest of joy. So it felt like now the tears that I was crying, there weren't tears of despair and hopelessness. There were tears of watering the frickin' seed of promise and breakthrough, right? And so now the tears were yes, they were sad, but they were bringing in hope. Now they were watering the joy, right? And so then you see, that's why it's so important to have this perspective and to have discipline. But anyway, I'm gonna move forward because I need to get to the place where I wanna get to. So I had this beautiful time with the Lord and you know, I've been praying with God and again, as I'm sure all of you guys do, but I still was feeling so exhausted. Like it's just been, it's been a doozy, okay? And so then this week, it was kind of like, man, like I just cannot seem to shake this off, right? And so then I've been holding onto scriptures that I'm gonna read for you because they're so important during this time. And what's funny is that so many other people have been posting these same scriptures and it's not like we've been sharing notes or anything. And so I'm like, okay, you know, God is definitely doing something and his people are really going through something. So one of the scriptures that I've been pulling on, and I have a whole network that I'm really pulling on right now, but I'm just gonna pick a handful. So the first one is Joel 310. Let the week say I am a warrior. Other versions say let the week say I am strong. And so that is so important to me, right? Because as I was feeling fatigued and I felt like I had no more fight left in me. And I knew that all I could do was just stay in the presence of the Lord. Like that's all the energy that I had. And even in that, like there was times where I couldn't get out of my car and I had to sit in my car and just pray. And but I just knew that that was enough, right? That that was enough. And even in those moments of weakness, I was like, I am strong, I am strong, I'm strong. And not because of my own strength, right? It's because of the strength of the Lord, which is a beautiful segue into the next scripture, 2 Corinthians 12, 9 through 10. I know a lot of you guys are gonna start hearing this or you're gonna be like, yes honey, I know this. So the scripture is, as it goes, it's three times. This is Paul in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians, I read it, I read it, whatever. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. But he answered me. My grace is always more than enough for you and my power finds its full expression through your weakness. So I will celebrate my weakness for when I am weak, I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I am not defeated by my weakness, but delighted for when I feel my weakness and endure my treatment when I am surrounded with troubles on every side, every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ. I am made yet stronger for my weakness becomes a portal to God's power. Before that, I was talking about his weakness and how the Lord send the messenger to put his body so that he wouldn't get too high-headed. Like, it's just beautiful, right? Because in the midst of him being constantly pounded on, like he's still saying, I'm gonna boast. I recently went to go see the Lord of the Rings and one of the opening scenes, if you guys have seen it, is them in battle. And it was following one of the characters, I forgot his name, I'm not the best when it comes to their names. And he was just in battle and what was crazy, right? If you've ever seen any sort of battle in any sort of war, you're gonna see that there's, at least in a very good scene, you're gonna see multitudes, right? And they're coming at you, you're going at them and you just have to be so in tune with what's going on around you because as soon as you get a kill, it's not like you can rest. Yeah, as soon as you get a kill, you better draw your sword again and you better make sure that it's ready to go into somebody else, right? Or your gun, whatever the case may be like, there is just no let up from the enemy. If your back is changed, that's perfect opportunity for the enemy to get you. And I was like, dang, if the body of Christ can understand that this is really what it looks like when we're in a season of battle and there are seasons of battles. In the Old Testament, there was scripture that said, maybe I should just use the story of David, right? The reason why David got in trouble was because he wasn't out fighting in the time that the kings were out fighting. Like there was seasons for it. There's seasons for us to battle, right? What does the word say? There's times for war, there's time for peace, there's the time to kill, time to heal. And so what happens when we're in a time for battle is that there's this constant, constant hitting, this constant coming at you, this constant thing from the enemy where he's just like pounding and pounding and pounding. You got to understand that we are here for a little bit of time. The enemy has also been here for ancient, like he's ancient, right? He knows patterns. If you guys have never read C.S. Lewis's book, The Scoop Tape Letters, you guys should definitely read that book. Highly recommend. So I saw that movie and then I'm going through, like we're going through, right? Where it's just like this constant beating, this constant obstacle, this constant. It feels like the hell is throwing everything against us. And one thing that I want to say, it always gets much more intense in the midst of the fight right before there's a breakthrough, right? We've heard that saying that it's always a darkness before dawn, Chicana and I just went camping last weekend. And what was crazy, it was like midnight and we were waiting for the fullness of the stars to come out, but the moon was still loud and we could still see the moon, like we could barely see the stars and we're just like, bro, like, where are the freaking stars, right? And so then we went to bed for like a couple of hours and then we woke up and it was like three o'clock and then all of a sudden it was dark. It was dark and it was beautiful and we could see the stars and then maybe like an hour or two later I woke up again and beautiful sunlight. It was just, it's gorgeous, but it's always darkness before the daylight breaks. And then there's another scripture in Zechariah four, six that says not by power, not by my, but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts. And so with this, it's plain and simple. There's those battles that we face that it's nothing that we do as far as like our goodness. It's just, it just belongs to the Lord. The battle just belongs to the Lord. All we have to do is precision ourselves. Psalms 46, 10 says, be still and know that I am God. Exodus 14, 14, the Lord will fight for you. You have only to be silent. Ephesians 6, 13. This was, this has been one of the most recent ones that had been stirring in me. Having done all to stand, stand firm. Now I don't want to take that one out of context, especially because there's this whole, there's this whole process to get to this place. And so I strongly recommend that you read Ephesians. It's not like you do whatever you think you need to do. Like, no, like there's the whole mapping out of what that looks like. But, you know, because I've mentioned before and a few other Ephesians, I think maybe it was like two episodes ago where it's like I'm facing this battle again, but I don't want to revert back to the way that I fought before. And each time that I fought this battle, as I mentioned, has been different. But this time I was like, wait, because that's also the beauty of being in the presence of the Lord. That for that moment, you get to step out of time and step into eternity. And all of a sudden you get this download from heaven and you are able to just be. And, but why that's important too is, again, if you read the Old Testament, there was many times where the Israelites would get in trouble because they attempted to fight a new fight with the same tactic that God gave them in this last fight. And so the reason why they did that is because they didn't take the time to inquire of the Lord. There's been times where the Lord has been, no, you fight, you take up your sword, you stand strong, you do what you need to do, but this time, it's like that scripture that I've also been holding and I didn't write it down in Proverbs where it says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe. And so that brings me back to Ephesians, right? When you've done everything that you can do, stand firm, be immovable, the Lord is on my right hand, I shall not be moved. And so we're in this season of expectation, right? We're in this season of waiting for the breakthrough and we're doing these things. And so it's so important to steward the waiting well because what tends to happen right? It's become, again, back to the Israelites, the word I taught last week where you start building idols or you become dismayed or you become just hopeless. And so it's so important the way that we wait. And so I wanna talk to you guys, which is the gist of this is the story of the parable of the 10 virgins, right? And so I don't remember, I don't remember if I mentioned this at the beginning of the episode, but nonetheless, the parable of the 10 virgins can be found in Matthew 25, verse one, the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, oh, remember that word, delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight, there was a cry. Here is the bridegroom, come out to meet him. Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps and the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying, since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves. And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast and the door was shut. Afterwards, the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered, truly I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know, neither the day nor the hour. What did I say at the beginning, right? And it's so good. Like I didn't know that this was going to fit so well. So the appointment, right? Where all of a sudden you get a phone call and you're like, hey, like it's time you need to come blah, blah, blah. These virgins. Okay, so I honestly hadn't studied this parable in a really long time, but this past week in the midst of all of this, I was reminded of this teaching. So when I was getting my biblical, my bachelor certificate in biblical theology from ISOM, there's this messianic teaching and it's so beautiful. And in it, it talks about the wedding feast. And in ancient times, I don't know if this is a custom that they still do or how many people still practice it in this way, but in ancient Jewish days, like the way of their marriages and all of that nature is such a foreshadowing of our marriage with Christ. And it's so wonderful. It's so beautiful. And so there's this teaching that I thoroughly enjoyed. And so I hadn't listened to it in a very long time. And so I looked it up this week and I highly recommend if you guys want it, let me know, I'll send it to you. But what's beautiful is that at the end, the church does a like a drama, a play of how it looks. And he's reciting scripture at the same time. And it's just wonderful to be able to see the symbolism and to see all those things. And so bringing it back to the 10 virgins, the job of the virgins was to keep the bride excited. And so what would happen is when the bridegroom would come back to get his wife, they would see him coming and then people would see it, right? As it says, there was a cry at midnight and it says, here comes the bridegroom. And so then the bride, the virgins, the pretty much the bridesmaids were to excite the bride and be like, okay, let's go, it's happening, you're about to get married, it's about to pop off. And so that was their job. And so five of them were ready. Five of them kept their lamp burning, five of them had more oil just in case and they trimmed the wick of their lamp. And so what had been used up, they cut it off so that they can use the new, the all 10 virgins. They were all in the same setting. They were all charged with the same job, but only five of them prepared for the delay because what mattered was the promise and they wanted the promise. Five of them said, if he delays, we're gonna stand on guard. The other five, they didn't even plan ahead for that. What did I ask? What did I say that the Lord asked me? How do you wanna be found? So listen, I understand that there's opposition after opposition, after opposition. And I know that you're growing, that you can potentially be growing weary and the Lord is getting really heavy. And only you know the weight of that burden. You can talk to your friends, you can do the things, but only you know the cost that it's costing you. Only you know the true discipline. Only you know the true steadfastness that's being birthed in you. And you're the only one that can steward your season of waiting. The five foolish, wet virgins. They try to use the wise virgins resources. And you may think to yourself, why didn't they share? It wouldn't have been enough. And so maybe you wanna write in on what your friends are doing and sometimes there's space for that. But at the end of the day, at the end of the race, the person that you're going to hold account for is yourself. That is some scary stuff. That right there should really sober us up to realize it doesn't matter what so-and-so did. It doesn't matter what Satan is doing even. And that's a big one. It doesn't matter what Satan is doing. What matters is how you respond to that. Are you gonna wield, I don't even know if that's the right word, but are you gonna use the right sword of the Lord? Are you gonna use the word? Are you gonna stand on business? Are you gonna stand firm? Are you gonna declare that you are strong when you are weak? Are you gonna say that this is the Lord's fire? Are you gonna use and call unholy spirit to get into the fight? Like, what are you gonna do? How are you stewarding the waiting? And please, I'm not saying that this is easy. It's not easy. This kind of life is not for the faint of heart when only you're the one that's experiencing the pain. Only you're the one that's experiencing the restless nights. Only you're experiencing the rejection. Only you're experiencing the disheartening when it's only you that's going through it. I understand that it's difficult. I get it. But listen, in Hebrews, it says that we don't have a high priest that cannot sympathize. Christ went through every single thing that we're going through. And it says, because of that, we can go boldly to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy. Because God knows. God knows. And so in the waiting, don't be like the five foolish virgins that didn't have enough oil. Be a wise virgin, per se. Prepare. Continue to feel the fire. The oil of the Holy Spirit. Stay in the fight. It's always, always super. It's kind of like a labor. It's like the pregnancy, and yeah, you have your pains, you have your struggles, whatever. And then it's time to have the baby. And it's painful, and it's scary. There's all these things happening, but then the baby is delivered. And so, but in that moment, the pain intensifies. There's a ripping. There's this cutting away for a new life. And so I get it. I get it, you guys. I get that is very difficult, but don't disqualify yourself in the waiting. Keep pressing through. If you don't have the strength to... And that's why it's so important to be so in tune with the fight that God is having you fight, right? Is it running into the strong tower of the name of the Lord? Or is it running into the battlefield? It's so important to know that. It's so important to know that. So with that being said, I really hope this encouraged you guys because I understand the struggle, not fully your struggle, right? I never wanna discredit everything that you're going through, but at the same time, I know that it's so important the way that we steward our waiting. Are we going to be hopeless? Are we gonna be hopeful? Are we gonna stand? Are we gonna wait for the deliverance of the Lord? Are we gonna be still in order that the Lord is God? Last day I wanna leave you with this story. I posted it on my Instagram a few days ago. And it's the story of these four lepers, right? And so leprosy, well, not in the Old Testament, just in general, leprosy, right? It's a skin disease. And so lepers where they were supposed to walk around and constantly yell, "Unclean, unclean, unclean," the way people need to avoid them. And so it tells the story of like they're being a famine and they were outside of the city. And it says that I'm probably gonna butcher this a little bit because I don't remember the details. I just remember the storyline, okay? So it says that these four lepers were outside of the city and there was war. And so there was the camp of the enemy and then there was their city. And so they were sitting on the wall of their city and then all of a sudden they're like, bro, like what are we doing here, just waiting to die? We might as well go into the camp of the enemy and see if they're gonna show us some mercy. Maybe they'll even feed us. And so it says that the four lepers start headed to the enemy's camp. And then it gives this wonderful story that what happened is that as they were headed to the enemy's camp, the enemy heard an army. So the Lord caused the sounds of these four lepers approaching the enemy's camp to sound like an entire army. And so then the enemy's camp, which was filled with a whole bunch of enemy soldiers and all these things, they were like, oh my gosh, like they must have hired other people to come against us and blah blah blah. And so it says that they fled. They left their entire camp and they fled. And so then the four lepers show up to the camp and they're like, what the heck is going on here? And so then they looted the camp and then finally they're like, no, this is a really good day. And so they ended up going back to their city and telling the king that the enemy had fled. And so what's crazy to me, right, is that the lepers had the option lepers, not lepers, they had the option to just sit there and die or they had the choice to make a move. And in them making a move, God moved supernaturally and delivered a city. Boom, preach. That is so profound. Make your move. You never know what's waiting on the other side. Make your freaking move. Commit yourself to the Lord and allow him to put his supernatural in there. Listen, I was getting ready for this and I was like, oh, the enemy blah blah blah. And then I was like, wait a minute. And I remembered I'm the enemy's enemy. I am his dread because I'm made in the image of God. The moment that you start realizing that you can push back the realm of darkness without fear or Christianity, the kingdom as a whole is gonna experience violence. That's why the scripture says that the kingdom of God experiences violence and that the violence take it by force because the moment that we realize that we are the ones that are the ones that are coming against the enemy and not the other way around. If you're constantly playing defense with your life, I don't even know if I'm using that term correctly, hallelujah if I'm not. But if you're constantly playing defense, you need to get acquainted with the Lord of Host. All right, I gotta get off of this because it's been a long episode. All right, you guys, thank you so much for tuning in. I hope this blessed you. If it did, please feel free to send us a comment, send us a message, hit me up on Instagram. We are in the bind.connects or just on YouTube, whatever. Whatever, hit us up. We're so excited to be here with you guys and we're so excited to hear from you and you guys are amazing. I hope you have a blessed week and I'm praying for your breakthrough. It's gonna come. It's gonna happen, don't let up. Let the week say I am strong, the Lord's grace, the Lord's power is made perfect in your weakness. Hallelujah, only God can do that. All right, peace out you guys. (upbeat music) - 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 don't forget to visit our website for more information about our upcoming events 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. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]
In this episode I talk about the waiting process. Well, one of them. Tune in to hear about the parable of the 10 Virgins and how that applies when we are in a season of waiting.
This easily turned into my top 2 favorite MWM episode!