(0:00)New Year, New Religious Pressure?
unfilter happy New Year everybody what's good people happy new year new year new things New Seasons all the things we're happy that you guys are back welcome to pfm filtered we're happy to have you guys New Year's resolutions all the things goals yeah New Seasons new reasons for Seasons I don't know s right new reasons New Seasons that's that's not my thing man yeah um new new everything everything um jez 2025 that's serious though yeah I'm feeling excited I feel really really happy to be coming into the new year for real I do like I looked forward to it and so now that we're here I am excited that's what's up new things in store amen good things hopefully how it goes Grace hopefully um so PF this uh this episode is I guess should pay some views real quick right so this episode is brought to you by uh Barra Avenue yeah yeah Avenue
(1:07)The Bread Test (Is this even ministry?)
Great cakes great cakes and they bread ah and they bread my guy that bread it's Heavenly with suya with Jesus is Lord yeah had a lot of options I need to I've only had a couple of options so okay they were really really good n they're phenomenal and from someone that doesn't really like big Goods how what kind of person doesn't like big Goods psychopaths psychopaths people yeah I'm one of them um so yeah if you're interested in sponsoring you know uh doing the Lord's work uh check out the comments or in the description below there should be a link let us know and uh we would greatly appreciate your contributions uh as always and your support so uh PF uh yes this this episode uh I stand we talking about about this before and um she got super excited which is good cuz I was not too excited you know I think sometimes I feel like when I try and do any sort of internal query it can be uncomfortable um so what we trying to do now is just to to talk to kind of we we'll talk about a few we'll list a few scriptures yeah um and we obviously want to hear your I guess perspective on it perspective on the scripture biblical accuracy right and and its applicability for like of a better word Goa right um oh that was actually applic yeah okay big big big one new year new one yeah new year new words um so are we are we cool yeah okay I'm cool I'm going to start off with see okay so this one I I feel like I feel like okay I'm just going to read the script on have you guys have you have you guys talk about it let me start with this one this one
(3:17)The 'I Never Knew You' Reality Check
is Matthew 7 okay 21-23 uh which says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven many would say to me on that day Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles then I will I will tell them plainly I never knew you away from me you evil doers yeah yeah yeah yeah first one okay Jesus said that okay so to the point right yeah I'm curious once saved always saved or what does that have to do with this scripture yeah I guess I'm just I'm because I think people misuse it the scripture yeah oh what's your point what's my point is more so like when it comes to that examination of ourselves if we ever do that like when you hear this scripture what comes to mind do you cuz for me it's like okay I want to make sure that even even my actions are important right but my motives are also like a sincere cuz I don't want to be institution in which I did all these things in the name of God right my actions and my words but I hear oh yeah you did all this in my name but I don't know you okay that's why I brought the scripture up okay so so so with the interpretation of scripture you always have to look at context you know we say this all the time who was he talking to when did he say it was it before he died or after he died yeah you
(5:00)Religious Performance vs Knowing Christ
know and all of that stuff and looking at that story right it gives you it's almost to me it's clear right he was talking about two categories of people right he was talking about the religious people who did things in the name of God right um great things in the name of God but they did it out of Their Own Strength right good motivation but out of Their Own Strength out of their own righteousness out of their own um position so to speak and then there are the folks who actually are in Christ right who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior who accept that Jesus Christ sacrifice is what makes them righteous that's the differention there the people who are doing all of these things right the the the the great things so to speak even casting out demons they were doing it on the basis of their religious position right of their obedience on the basis of their OB obedience to the laws of Moses right he was talking to the religious Elite he was talking to the Pharisees he was talking to the scribes he was talking to the people who had built so to speak right a system of rules and regulations by which Men followed God and then Jesus Christ came and he was saying well all of this stuff you guys have done good but if you don't know me if I don't know you if you have not if I have not died for you if you have not if you do not abide in in me then all of that is nothing that's why the Bible says you can give your body to be burned and you do not have love the love that Jesus is speaking about is not the love in the in terms of what you do it is love in terms of who he is right you can give your body to be burned and do not have Christ it profits you nothing right ultimately right the defining um the defining issue by which men by which God will judge men is not what you do but who you know that's what Jesus was trying to say right who you know Christ a lot of us you know are in church but we do not know Christ right we are in church and the emphasis the dominating um thinking is what do I need to do to be right with God as opposed to what has Jesus done to make me right with God when your attention is on what Jesus Christ has done to make you right with God and you rest rest in that identity in that position that is what the Bible calls abiding in Christ yeah where you live you move you breathe out of that Revelation yeah so when things happen this is just a little test I do for myself and I think I've said this here before if something happened to you
(7:45)The 'What Have I Done' Syndrome
now right something negative happened to you right what is the first question you ask yourself for many of us instinctively the first question what have I done to deserve this right right the implication of that question is that you believe right that you've made a mistake or something yes or you believe that life deals with you or God deals with you right God rewards you or not based off of your Deeds or not but ultimately that is not how it works if you are in Christ God rewards you based on what Christ did not what you did right right because if God were to look at what you did judgment is inevitable right the Bible says that it is the altar right that sanctifies the gift the gift does not sanctify The Altar and if the altar is dirty there's no gift you put on it that is acceptable our altars are dirty right our altars were stained by the sin of Adam right and the only thing that washes away that sin is the blood of Jesus right what many people do is on that filthy altar they bring all of these things right and Jesus says I I don't know you right and that's what I keep saying to folks that the fact that you are in church and you are calling yourself a Christian does not make you a Christian what makes you a Christian is that you are in Christ and you're living out of that Revelation that is why I said once safe always saved because that's why I POS the question because I think people do think that that one saved always saved yes let me tell you what what determines your position saved or unsaved using saved right saved is a very interesting word okay right it describes a benefit of being in Christ correct saved implies
(9:30)Is 'Once Saved Always Saved' a Myth?
that you will not suffer Hell Fire correct right that's where that comes from but that is that doesn't encapsulate the whole experience right what determines whether you're saved or not is not what you do right it's who you know it is who you know and where you stand you can reject that person would you still be saved no there you go so I guess you're saying like if you reject Christ yes I guess say I I'm you're saying like if you accept Christ then you're saved yes right you reject Christ once you have accepted Christ and you're saved then you're always saved right that's as long as as long as abide right so what Jesus Christ says is this he says if you abide in me abide implies that you can leave correct right if you leave you're not saved correct right the Bible says he that dwells in the secret place of the most high and abides under the shadow of the Almighty you can step away from the secret place of the most high you can change your abod right the Bible says that we have not come onto a mountain of gloom and doom right and fear and all that but we have come onto Mount Zion as you have come you can leave right when you leave you have left right you say what we so what we used to determine one saved or not saved is sin right so if somebody says I'm I'm saved and they sin right we believe that the sin terminates their salvation right or that the sin can terminate their salvation if righteousness cannot procure you salvation how can sin
(11:10)Can Sin Kill Your Salvation?
terminate salvation did you get my point yes if your good deeds cannot give you salvation then how can bad Deeds take salvation away from you do you see the error of that or the fallacy in that argument right we are saved because we believe we remain saved because we believe we stop being saved when we stop believing it is our faith that connects us to God if that Faith were to end by whatever means our connection is broken so like so this and this is why I wanted to talk about this particular scripture because so would you say that most of us in the church we we qualify our Christianity through our actions actions our Deeds yeah our Deeds yeah so then where is how do we reconcile that because to me this scripture is extremely important like if I'm all I'm doing is just qualifying my Christianity by what I do and then there's a possibility that Christ looks at me and says great today but I don't know you and if that's most people with the church then there has to be some sort of I'm not going to say Revel like you know Recon Mass reconciliation because what are we doing then because but there's the other side of that that people that say well I do believe but then their life is completely in they do everything that's contrary to who they say they believe their actions do not follow what their belief is words what are the actions what actions should follow your belief I mean what there are a lot of I mean I can't think off this like on the spot but the Bible says by their fruits you shall know them correct right mm and the Bible tells us what the fruit is yes right the fruit of the spirit is love mhm and then it breaks down love patience kindness gentleness right faithfulness um longsuffering there are
(13:00)Identifying Real Spiritual Fruit
like seven or eight of those things right that is the fruit right that you look for to determine whether a person is a Christian or not but people don't people don't abide in that you don't see those like if I look at my like if you look at your life again I know it's a little bit disturbing and uncomfortable to query ourselves but let's say we just without condemnation or judgment or justification and you don't see those fruits see the fruit of your flesh the natural Next Step would be okay like almost like David God M some like check me expose my anxious thoughts but is that that's not our natural okay so so so this is what the Bible says that the Holy Spirit Bears witness with our spirit that we're the children of God right the holy spirit will bear witness with your spirit the holy spirit will tell you if you're a child of God right what we do is that we judge people based off of their actions not their position right we say that if you are a Christian then you should not tell lies right the Bible says by their fruit you shall know them telling lies is not one of those fruits right because we still are in this body we still have this nature in the physical what has happened is in the spiritual right and there is a transformation that is taking place in the physical the transformation that takes place in the physical is a process and everybody is at different stages of that process right right I cannot look at you right because I am at stage five and you're at stage one then decide that you are not born again you're not saved right and if I'm looking at myself I need to be real with myself right right and ask myself right not overly critical
(14:40)Growth is a Process, Not a Performance
right but honestly am I the same person I was right have I changed am I Kinder am I gentler am I more faithful am I better in any way right than I used to be if the answer is no right then you've got a problem right but if the answer objectively truthfully is yes yeah then you are growing this is the thing right Jesus Christ intentionally and deliberately used um intentionally deliberately the same things intentionally used um the analogy of a plant right because implied in the existence in that word of plant is growth yeah right so a Christian grows the Bible says that a righteous man right his life gets brighter in the same way that the sun gets brighter right so you meet me at 5:00 a.m. in the morning not very bright almost dark but the sun is already coming out right but you can't really see it but it's there yeah now you come back at 11:00 and it's warm you come back at 12:00 it's at its Zenith right that is the way the life of a righteous man gets yeah we're growing yeah yeah what God looks at is this and this is the thing people always forget and don't read in their Bible yeah and I don't know why and I think it's because let me know say I don't know why we're human and we have a tendency to focus on our own abilities God he says he looks at you in
(16:15)Wearing Christ Like a Garment
Christ he listens to your prayers in Christ when he starts to look at you in you right remember God says I am not like men I don't judge based on the external yeah I judge on the internal and the external when God looks at you let me tell you what he sees he sees you from before the foundations of the earth were laid and you at the end he sees all of you he sees your heart he sees the nature of Adam and even if your hands are clean right you haven't done any dirty nonsense right your hands are clean but he sees that Adam sin he has to judge you right he has to judge you right so guess what he does he sends Christ and Christ the Bible says put put on Christ like a garment yeah so that when God looks at you he doesn't see you he sees you in Christ yeah and when he sees Christ he sees the guy who paid for your sins right we think God still sees us outside of Christ so we try to be righteous outside of Christ and we judge people based on that because I think when you were even talking I was even thinking like you know it is a self it's almost like a self-righteous mindset to think that you have aride somewhere to be better than the next person when you two who are still learning and growing yes do you know what the Bible says say all of your righteousness as a f the scriptures yeah so so ask yourself that what can you do to impress God now I have another question to follow up right yeah when you hear people say you know what does light have to do with Darkness yeah right based on what you're saying how do you then um deal with maybe the in congruence that people can have between what you have said and that scripture because people again I feel do not read the Bible yeah they take Snippets of scripture they don't put it in the whole context right that scripture you quoted what does light have to do with Darkness right it's talking about do not be unequally yolked with an unbeliever right you have to understand what a yoke is what the terminology there a yoke is not a relationship a yoke is a binding that is good right a yoke is a binding right a yoke is when you have and this is how yolks used to work yeah you have one Ox right and you have another ox and you need them to work together as a team you would yoke them together you put this big wooden slab on their necks that tied them together right so when we're talking about light and darkness talking about being tied right legally right which is the biggest TI contractually yeah right to the point where you are obligated because think about it one when when you're yoked when you yoke two oxen together usually what they did was that they would yoke an older Ox right who's strong but they would attach him to a young one a young bull who's strong and and and and DFT right seriously and what and what they did was they were training they were training yes lot of you exuberant they were training him right they're training the young one so when the young one tries to pull to the left the older one corrects him it's like I've got two dogs Arie and Hugo Arie is the older one right and is the more sensible one Hugo is the one that's feisty I use a leash that's a newer dog aie yeah Hugo sorry Hugo is younger than a okay Hugo is about three plus years old now I use one leash that has two prongs two two leads right so they are yolked together so when Hugo wants to run off on a tangent a is like I ain't going nowhere so aie corrects Hugo right a actions affect Hugo right that's what a yoke does right so when the Bible says what does light have to do with Darkness he saying don't join yourself to the point where your choices are determined or influenced by someone else influenced that's good not influenced in in a in an inspired way influenced in a forced way right right because if Hugo is determined to run he's going to drag out you with him right right so when he talks about light and darkness right that's what he's talking about don't don't join yourself to to to to the things that do not um do not share your values so it's like when the Bible says do not um do not be unequally yolked with an unbeliever right it's not asking you not to have not to have a relationship with an unbeliever because many times those relationships win the unbelievers over right but do not put yourself under contractual obligation to an unbeliever because the unbeliever can determine the choices you make right are you going to act in faith right are you going to act you you you you you wake up in the morning and decide you you want to marry somebody who's not a Christian right good guy great guy he's not a Christian right but then the choices he makes dangerous place to be right the choices he makes right will impact your life so God is ministering to you God is saying to you today hey I want you to come and serve in the ministry right I want you to preach the gospel you know um leave your nice engineering Consulting what eight figures now whatever I mean we doing it we doing it though we doing it though leave all of that and come you know come preach the gospel but then you marry this girl beautiful girl kind girl nice girl and she's like man I ain't I ain't doing none of I have church what's that absolutely not right and she makes your life miserable right to the point where you're like you know what if you love your wife but than you love me you're not worthy of being my I don't know about that wait does the scripture say that does it say wife abely it says mother so so this is the thing calm down calm down calm down let's not go off I'm going with this story so so so wait wait wait hear me T now marries this beautiful girl but she's not she doesn't share his faith right so tday does not go to preach the gospel T we go to heaven because when God looks at him he's looking at Christ Jesus died for him God loves him but he will not achieve or fulfill his potential in this life right because he he joined himself to somebody right but she doesn't beat him she doesn't cheat on him she treats him well but his potential the reason why he was made will not be fulfilled right right like Samson that's a great example yeah so it become to like a Samson God forb it comes like a Samson thank you for go forbid yeah but you get my point and that's what people miss right that it is not about righteousness your righteousness is not from who you marry it is from Christ right and Paul even said if you are married to an unbeliever don't divorce them because you are now a Christian correct because you can win them over by your behavior right no it is about in this life Paul actually said what Paul said he said listen if I were you I wouldn't marry right because the people that marry have to deal with the issues that come with marriage right and that's whether scripture comes up the most in terms of marriage and I I I get tired of saying to folks right Muslims are not a problem Christians Muslims are not a problem in fact they are less of a problem to your faith than religious Christians in quote right because a religious Christian will force you into Works Paul said to the Galatians oh foolish Galatians who has Bewitched you to think what you were doing before is what going to keep you what you started in the spirit you will finish in the flesh and that's why I want to get and that's my own person invested interest is religious Christians MH the question which might not even be answered today is that's a kind of a contradiction in terms religious and Christian but we we'll leave it right yeah because even as you were saying like if you marry someone that is not a Christian or overly critical well I think the Christians can be I think some Christians can be overly critical it's not possible to be a Christian and be overly critical well Christian but you're not Christ being a Christian inherent in the the terminology Christian in temp of Christ is a follower of Christ somebody who understands that I am saved by grace through faith not by works so that I or any man can boast right so if I cannot boast about it how can I be overly critical of you right so the reason why I brought this topic up was because I was watching something around um Christian artists collaborating with um quote unquote circular artist uh and it was around uh Kurt Franklin and Maverick music collaborating with Gorilla glorilla I have no idea who that is a rapper the jines know who that isni know who that is okay they know who she is and so um on the podcast I was watching you know uh it was Christians kind of reviewing what had happened and kind of discussing it and you know different scriptures were brought up around this particular scripture that you know what does light have to do with darkness and you know that particular artist said you know like me and this person are in relationship like you know there are a lot of conversation that we're having behind the scene and if I'm being asked to do something I you know and I feel led to do that thing then I'm going to go ahead and collaborate on a on a song you know this per you know uh glorilla grew up in a a relatively Christian household and you know um I think there was something that she was discussing on like with there was something that she was discussing with them and so as a result of that obviously music came out of that and so because of her background what she wanted to talk about on the record they chose to collaborate and so just hearing Christians consider the decisions that were made by another Christian around collaborating with a again C quote unquote circular artist there was issue right and so there was claims that you know they were joint they were unequally yolked unequally yolked in a sense right so this is the thing right the Bible says that do not judge another man's servant right so I'm not going to sit here and judge Maverick music or who was the other person glor glorilla glorilla but there was another crankin yeah that's not my place personally yeah right the question that I would if somebody asked me if one of them asked me m Franklin or mavick said that okay so should we do this or not I would ask them why what is the goal right what are you trying to achieve are you trying to minister to somebody right and the method does it undermine the purpose right are you trying to worship God the method does it undermine the purpose right in the song they were worshiping okay but the other tracks around that album around gorilla's album were a bit wild so again the methodology right does it undermine the purpose right if I'm trying to draw attention to God right can I achieve that when I rap that song I put it in an album with things that are with other songs full of profanity and sexually explicit lyrics right right have I really achieved my goal you know I'm going to say it's like I want you to eat healthy food right I want I want you to eat um broccoli but I'm going to wrap the broccoli right in 6 in of chocolates and sugar that's a little bit more right no you know I'm saying yeah have I really have you really eaten see I strug that because I feel like it's so context based because if you have a prophet that is told and this is way again I think that self valuation is key to marry a pro to marry a prostitute most people obviously we have the benefit of knowing what the Bible says about that story it's easy to like yeah that's the Bible but if that happened today most no it wasn't Sam it was josea Jose okay and most people again in their right to say are you sure that this is going to achieve whatever goal you claim that God told you to do but that is that is the only question I can ask you right that's the only question I can ask it's not for me to then right if you say if you say to me right Pastor Fey I think it will achieve those goals that to you my friend but that is my responsibility right what you trying to achieve and if I don't think it will I will tell you right I mean first right I will tell you that really I don't think you rapping broccoli right in six Ines of sugar is going to make anybody a healthy meal however if that's what you want to do that's on you I would not do that right so that is how I would look at that right I would look at what is the goal right is God going to be glor glorified if that's your goal is God glorified by this right it is not for me to determine for you it's for me to determine for me mhm you I'm saying right now if another person who is a Christian comes to me and starts to Yap about what you did I will say well do not judge another man's servant go and ask his master what errand he sent him on right and that's where I would leave it but if you ask me personally would I do that the way my mind works right if the holy spirit says for me do this then I do it corre right and let the chips fall where they may but if I'm doing it out of a sense of this is a great idea right then I want to know if my actions or my methodology will undermine my goals and many times we do that right we do things that are great but the way that we have done it undermines the efficacy of what we're doing but it is not for me to determine that cuz I don't know what the goal is right right I don't know what the goal is yeah and maybe it is God who knows right but all we can do as people who were not in on the conversation if the conversation ever happened right is look at it with our own eyes but always remember do not judge another man's servant that's good that's where for me that's where it ends right but if you're talking about it from a practical pragmatic everyday perspective not a judgmental ad they Christians this is you know I'll be like from a strategic perspective right would say I don't know I really don't know you know because yeah even somebody who say oh that song ministers to me right will they follow through to investigate on the God it is glorifying 5 seconds after they just talked about you know whatever the rest of the songs on the album are talking about right so strategically I would question it spiritually I think what drives most of this is going to be a like wild statement to make but I think what drives most of us is not necessarily God but ASE as Christians but I our ideas of him like a father that can I feel like it's it's a lowkey pleasure Chase like you know it's still God is still a means to an end and I say that because of I've seen certain things in my life where my fruits for lack of bed are showing me that okay way like God in this particular context is a means to an end it's not this is not to glorify God this is the hope that God can help you glorify your own ly self and that is why we need Christ because if you dig through your motivations sincerely you find you're full of crap and it's it's difficult thing to do when you see yeah but a lot of us won't and that is why we very quickly stray back into religion and when I say religion I'm not talking religion in the context of you know Sunday Sunday church I'm talking about religion in the context of your Faith your confidence is in the rituals is in The Obedience and adherance to the laws right that is what religion is if if you think about it right what is the difference between what a lot of us who call ourselves Christians do and what the Jews do right there really isn't a lot and these days in fact it's even getting I I see pastors now pastors wearing um Shaws yamas and all of these things right doing all these quotequote spiritual things right but really what they have done or what they're trying to do is go back to the old Covenant right and there it's almost like you're wearing a shadow when you have the Sun so to that point the scripture that tunday brought up was John 539 and it says you search you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are and these are they which testify of me well Christ but you are not willing to come to me that you may have life I do not receive honor from men but I love you that you do not have the love of God in you yeah I think I think you know that scripture is um is profoundly accurate and and and it's precient yeah cuz it describes Our Generation we Ser search the scriptures right for how it can make us better how we can better people but all the scriptures do is testify of Christ so we're searching the scriptures for eternal life doing the right things but the eternal life that we're searching for is Christ Christ though we reject yes it's the eternal life we want now we which is kind of backward we we're better than the folks Jesus is talking to or we think we're better because we at some point accepted Christ right about to say I don't I I want say we okay sorry because it's a little bit more Sinister we feel well is is I'm saying how what we think okay okay okay so we don't consider ourselves Pharisees because at some point we accepted Christ and when we pray we pray in the name of Jesus but when we assess ourselves when we want to check if we qualify for a blessing we don't look at Christ we look at our Deeds right and that tells you all you need Che to see have I been doing the right thing yes like I think this is a great example so I was on a flight and um first just saying saying I was on a flight and um I wasn't I was already I was all the way at the back of the plane and um they told us that we're going to um come down for an emergency landing but they told us to brace for impact so it was a very traumatic flight um to say the least but my job does require me to travel so I was back on a plane you know four months later after therapy and all the things m shut out and so um on the flight people started you know calling their family members and all the things and you know I was the plane bobbing up and down or what it wasn't but it was coming down very quickly the pilot was bringing the plane down very quickly C and so um and like I said the flight attendant told us to you know they told us to put our hands across our chest and down W so everybody had already started like it was like a silent weep I would say um and when I was coming down the thoughts that I was thinking about was like what's going to happen with my kids who's going to take care of my children but I was like I'm actually genuinely fine with dying because I know Christ that was what I was thinking when I was going through that process but then after the fact I feel like I had to reexamine because then I'm like oh did I make sure I did the right after the whole experience end ended I was like you know like well I've been living my life according to like how the Bible tells me I should live my life but it's not about my works so you see that's that right there right there right there is the problem you're you're about to die right God forbid thank God you didn't I'm so glad you're here and the first thing the thought that comes to your mind is your position in Christ yeah and when you are like clear there's an assurance and and and there's there's there's a good I'm good I know Christ yeah yeah the minute you get out of there you start to focus on all the things that you have done or not done then you need therapy right yeah if you had stayed in that place of I have Christ yeah peace would have stayed someone someone told me that they wish that it's weird it's funny that we experien as Christians uh uh near-death experiences so we can understand that it's not about our works so we can actually not just be in Christ but stay there but it seems like this experiences make us like wake up like maybe it's not about what I'm doing but you see that's the thing right what you what happened to you right is is is let's call it a test yeah right so that you could see where you stood right after that incident if Paul was talking to writing you a letter he would have said oh foolish Esther who would have who has Bewitched you to think that you survived the plane crash right because of my actions because of your actions that's what he would have said to you right and that's what we do that is at the root of our our departure from his presence we think it is prayer that brings us into his presence we think it is worship that brings us into his presence is that in Christ in his presence and he says if you abide in me if you live in me and I in you my words in you you will bear fruit and you will ask God for anything and he will grant it to you our challenge is we don't abide we visit we visit right we visit and when we we we go there we check the box okay I'm here now let's go back to Moses right because it's important that I obey all those 613 laws right because you know the Bible says that if you obey the laws God is going to bless you but the Bible says by The Works of the law shall no man be justified how can you how can God say you will not be justified by The Works of the law then determine whether to bless you by The Works of the law it's interesting because when you're talking about something just hit me about the the rich man the pr of the rich man in Christ where he you know Christ's initial response is okay cuz he asked him how do I get into heaven right and his respon like okay go and do all this XYZ and he said yeah I've thought like you know with doing that what you talking about like I I got that part figured out and then Christ now goes and says okay s your possessions and obviously there was a little bit of follow me yeah he says that after yeah cuz oh man like yeah but do you know what Christ was trying you what he was trying to do that you can obey the laws and still be a mess right right right people obey the 613 laws that guy had been doing it from his childhood he was a good person yes and Jesus Christ did not say you're you're a liar right he said you you have done well now go and sell all you have what he what Jesus Christ did was show him his nature his heart yeah like you see your righteousness is as a f right he say he walked away sad yeah that's you know was heavy heavy heart like us man yes because his faith was in the money Andes and that's where the disciples had asked okay like who can enter Heaven then for a rich man because when you are rich yeah attached there's a tendency it's not attached you don't think it's attachment it's confidence your confidence is in the Salvation that your wealth can provide the stability the security the Comfort right your wealth becomes an idol not in the sense that oh I don't want to lose it but a source right okay that's interesting your source is God and he will use whatever vessel he chooses so you don't get attached to the vessel because you know the source right right so today God feeds you with Ravens tomorrow he feeds you with you know you'd have to drink from a brook the next week it's a widow yeah your attachment is to God what we do right classic story the Israelites are wanding around in the wilderness and they do some stupid crap and snakes come out and bite them right and God says to um Moses take a take some bronze put it make it into a serpent and lift it up right and anybody who looks upon the serpent they will be healed right so they looked up to the serpent and they were healed and guess what they did they gave the serpent a name and they started to worship it they called it nushan nushan was a god-given means of healing they turned it into a God right it is easy to turn a god-given blessing into an idol right the golden Cal that they were worshiping at the foot of the mountain where Moses went up to collect Ten Commandments they made it with the gold that God gave them yes that God gave them from Egypt right and that's what we do we turn God's blessings into an idol right and I think God permits it particularly when we are self-righteous to show us right that give us over to ourselves in a sense yes to show us that is fut yes that's see it's almost like you see yourself right see yourself right because he he knew what was there right but he wants you to see it because we have a tendency to think that we are good because of what we do yeah on that note of good right and to stay with a theme of New Year so trying to like renew our thinking not to be conformed with the world right on that not that same scripture about the parable of the rich man the first thing he asked Christ was good teacher and I like when he said good and Christ imate response which still blows my mind is why do you call me good how have you identified me as good only your father in Heaven is good and now now I'm seeing that is again crisis this next level a a way for you to understand that there's nothing you can do yeah otherwise self-righteousness will go easily I can see how self rightous at least in my heart I can see how it can come in even if I mean well let me tell you self rightousness is inevitable right it's inevit so self-righteousness is the fruit of legalism legalism gives you a set of parameters right which you must over come or a set of you know yeah rules to follow rules to follow it's measurable it's measurable there 613 laws right I can count how many you have you are keeping and I can count how many I'm keeping so is it for me to look down on you we can measure even if you mean well right we can measure you're still on number 6 you doing my G hey come on man come and be like us yeah and that reinforces more of my yes you who can say you still behaving like an unbeliever because why they don't drink they don't smoke right but they are heart the way they are with money they will never commit adultery they will never fornicate but money yeah they're like that Rich Young Ruler if Christ said to those guys right some of them in churches go sell everything you have and follow me and I'm not saying follow me because you see when we say follow me we're saying follow me on the premise that oh there's there's triple yeah that's typically that's typ that's typically the follow me and leave it zero what did you say the birs of the air do not have a nest so the son of man has nowhere to rest he said so I'm not asking you to follow me because I have trouble for your trouble no I'm asking you to follow me and just not have that mansion and trust me yeah trust me for for food yeah we don't part of why we don't we we are so frustrated when we don't have jobs is that we now have to trust God for our daily bread and it's uncomfortable oh yeah so so like going back to the original like right yeah what are we you know I think we had this conversation before and I'm not seeing what are we doing from a standpoint of like trying to be funny what are we doing as Christians when we've not come to like a come to terms with the fact that our righteousness are as F rxs that it's not through our work works but through Christ yeah I I I I I I feel like your point if that's most of us then PF what I really saying is that only a few of us are going to enter into life it's narrow and difficult let me tell you what I think I think that there's a Remnant most of are I I think there's a Remnant I think there's I think there's a Remnant I think some of us are meditating on this thing yeah I think that there's a Remnant I think that that a lot of people who call themselves Christians are going to have trouble because they're not really Christians they are Jud it's pseudo Judaism Judaism light right and now some people are actually trying to enter the full Judaism on the premise of Christianity right I think that the church you know I tell folks that one of the reasons why I Think Jesus has not come we think the whole world has heard the gospel right that's what we think they've heard the religion they've not heard about the good news they've not heard the Gospel of Jesus they've heard the Gospel of John the Baptist it a with the sprinkling of Jesus come and baptize yourself come and do all the things come and just be good come and be good and Jesus Christ said nobody is good except the father at the root of our problem right is the way of the world one word merit we grow up in a system of Merit not favor not Grace Merit yeah even favor you have to Merit my favor yeah yeah for me to do something that you do not deserve you have to deserve it you know what I'm saying school work it reinfor there's something that you have done so you go to the office the administrative office at your University right and the lady does something good for you you know makees sure you know a grade you something you didn't sign off for and you're like what did I do well you went in there you gave her a big smile just happened to that day when her favorite color and we all know that that in this world you never get anything for nothing so it is too good to be true that God will bless me for nothing that I have done so I have to do something to earn it I have to do something to deserve it when I have done something I feel a little bit more confident right but my confidence is in what I have done and he says that there's nothing that I can do because everything I do is a meal on a dirty plate but I need to do something to be able to come with confidence you know what I'm saying yeah if I haven't anything I feel some type of way right calling you up in the middle of the night I've never done anything for you never done anything for you fact I've been the exact opposite of doing anything for and I call you night I say hey come help me you know why I think because when you hear it again it's always using scripture when you hear things like um those that love um those that love me obey my commands mhm right mhm so it's like if you're not that means you don't love God if you're not obeying his command what's what's the command love your father with all your might all love God all your power all your soul and your might and then love your neighbor as yourself okay that's the summary that's it and and what is the personification of that Christ Christ there you go there you go so Christ is the Commandment Christ is the command but people don't hear that they hear the works but to your point and the scripture you talked about like we're searching the scriptures for eternal life yeah but it's in Christ but like in like so I guess I keep I want to what is the reconciliation like where is the reconciliation the reconciliation is in that the gospel of the of Jesus must be preached that we have to preach that's why I'm here that's why we're doing exactly but it seems like there's still squ squ in our heads no no no there a lot of people there A lot of people so so this is the thing right yeah the renewal of our mind is a bit is not as simple as we think makes sense because we don't understand or we don't know what we're trying to Ren we think that we're trying to renew our mind so that we don't lost after women right we're trying to Ren our mind so that we don't do bad things do bad things yeah we have to renew our mind to understand that it is not about what you do it's not about us Paul said good we can now come with boldness before the throne of grace and mercy yeah that boldness comes from the knowledge of what God did right yeah we don't operate like that we don't have boldness unless we have done something it's like when you fast after you've done a 30-day fast and a sick person walks by you you lay hands on that person without thinking twice you just pray for them there's a boldness that come I fast I I don't touch anything I don't do anything I'm clean yeah I'm spiritually high there you go there you go there you go no seriously High like bro this yeah yeah so you feel very bold but that boldness is because you fasted MH right is he there if you don't fast that's the problem that is what we need to renew our minds from to know that our boldness our ability to pray for somebody is not because of how long you fasted but because of what the holy spirit is doing in you the Holy Spirit resides in you because of what Christ did that's it that's it and as you Behold Him you are trans formed into the same image as you behold him with unveiled face like in a mirror you're transformed into the same image from glory to glory that is where the transformation comes from that is the the renewing of the mind yeah that you do not conform to the world the world is based on Merit yeah that's the way we think the patterns of the world is whe it's school competition everything is Merit work yeah it's mared B would you ever yeah would you ever apply for a job right now right would you go to a hospital and apply for a job as their top surgeon absolutely not I mean because tday went to medical school I might do it I might not get it though you have no you have no expectation that you get interv and in your mind the question is why would they give me a job that I did not prepare for I did not train for I did not earn I did not deserve that's how we approach God so it's easier for us to believe that I have to jump through hoops to get God to bless me it's so much easier to believe that so even if you on the pet and you said tnd day is not by your power or your might or by the spirit says the Lord I be like n PF I we talk about and you and you know what you might actually be like really yay but then you get home and you're like man you quickly cuz it's I guess it's weird right when you when someone tells you is finished if he came and told me today there's nothing it's done it is finished you're good some part of me is like more it feels uncomfortable yeah like what you mean nothing you spent all your life all your life being trained to believe that in order to get God's favor you have to do ABCD e f g you've been taught that it is possible to attain God's favor by doing ABCD e fgh but what the scripture says that it is impossible to obtain to to obtain God's favor it's impossible yes and that was why God did a way with that system and people don't understand that the role of the law is not to make you perfect it is to show you your imperfection perfect yeah right it's to show you that boy you are a mess and when you realize that then you try and you try and you try and you keep failing then Jesus comes and says let me help you yeah come and rest then you then you be like you know what that's why he says that blessed are they that mourn blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness but they shall be filled right if you have tried to obey the laws and you have failed over and over you have failed like that Rich Young Ruler right at the certain point I'm sure he would have gone back to Jesus because he would have thought to himself man I'm really not as good as I thought right and that was why Jesus asked him to do that to show him so that he can come that's such a tough confession though to realize that you're not that good yeah good even though I know I mean for I think from to your point humanly speaking like cuz I think for me it was I I guess I guess I guess I was fortunate in the sense that I failed right I I hit rock bottom failure and when you fail and God shows you grace and mercy right yeah not Doom and Gloom as expected right It Go reset your mind but sometimes I think what if if I'm thinking about okay I failed but maybe it's because Esther fasted for 30 days and I only fasted for 10 well I have fasted for 30 days too I know but like OB person that's what I'm saying if if if you have done everything you're supposed to do and fail right if you've done supped to you fail you stop questioning yourself right and you start questioning the things that you did but if you're still looking above your fence yes cuz he's one thing to like I've done everything I failed but maybe it's because cuz I can see over my face I can see Esters no I know didn't didn't do Jack oh yeah oh no I didn't do Jack I know's life I know she didn't do Jack right so so so this is yeah I know what has been up to and she has all the blessings I want that's you say so I didn't get the blessings after doing all the things Esther got it I say about go about about us what kind of God would make it harder for his children to be blessed that he does for unbelievers some of us are going to give testimonies that we just got a new Tesla me were the person that owns Tesla you know say he's not doing half of the jumping jacks doing my gu so that's the question I always ask that honestly I wouldn't serve that God so if I'm not your child my life is easier seriously so being your child now is a sin that's why my life is going to be hard because I'm your child it doesn't work like that the Bible says exactly it says he causes the rain to fall on both the believer and the unbeliever alike right and the sun to shine on both the believer and unbeliever alike right if God is blessing Elon Musk he cannot make me fast 40 days before He blesses me he can't I'm his son Elon Musk is not his son the counter argument would be well you don't know what El MO is going through in his personal life he going it's okay it's okay you don't know he might see all the the person that is saying that has not had problem before in his life never when you catch s you my guy it's okay let me give me some El mus problem I want to say in 2025 like has you know we're starting the year you know I want I do want to encourage us to like just spend some time thinking about what was discussed today just around like the right like being righteous in Christ because you know him and from that position yeah you have to you have to I I tell people now that I cling to Christ yeah I cling to the knowledge of his sacrifice I I do not you know I used to despise that crucifix we War right because I felt like people were building castles around the cross meanwhile Jesus Christ has left the cross right but the truth is that that crucifix is the most profound thing right your your the the the the etching it into your memory that on that cross he paid the price and that is all that counts nothing else counts right nothing else counts it's it is I'm trying to etch it into my memory into my mind so that no matter what you know the Bible says do not let this word of the Lord depart from your mind and your heart my only day and night he's speaking about Christ right I'm trying to make sure that Christ does not depart from my mind in all that I do because I know that as long as I'm abiding in Christ me and God are good and I will be transformed as I Behold Him I will get better some things I struggle with as long as I'm on this Earth there are some things I will struggle with but there are some things I don't struggle with anymore right but I am not sitting now looking at myself well because of my struggles therefore God is going to judge me punish me because people who have worse struggles than me he blessing quality he's blessing them yeah you know Christians in quote who are criminals criminals yeah they would never look at a woman sideways they would never drink a drop of alcohol they would never smoke weed they would never curse but when they see money so and and is it you know people who would still who would not touch money that is not their own they would not touch a woman they would not they are holy but when they open their mouth there's no Grace there's no love and to your point like the reason why I I feel what you're saying is like the um the part where Christ was saying you even if even if you didn't commit murder but you have anger in your heart which at first was kind of hard yeah you're guilty of the same sin I'm like to us anger he was elev he was elevating the conversation he was trying show them your hands are theist the list of your problems or the one that is committing adultery he's looking at babe looking at babe and he's still saying you gu I I didn't touch her now I didn't touch her I just you looked at her but Accord to Christ like look don't think you are listen even if pass your mind right that's the powerful thing about one of the things that people don't get is that Jesus Christ was actually trying to elevate the conversation yeah and that's why he said to that rich young r go sell everything you have right people thought it was the laws the Rich Young Ruler thought it was the laws that he had obeyed J was like guy you never even start that's why I tell folks that you don't get it it's not the gift that sanctifies the altar it's the altar that sanctifies the gift Matthew 23 yeah you can put anything you want on it put anything you want on it is God is not going to accept it right and that is what we don't realize so we're bringing this beautiful gifts of Holiness in quot on dirty altars stained with Adam's sin and until the blood of Jesus washes away that sin and we stay in that place right everything we offer is like a filthy rag to finalize the episode PF obviously again we we I appreciate and I'm sure Esther does the depth of this conversations because to reminder has like we going like as we're in the new year to think differently do things differently remember to abide not just I mean to abide that's you got to abide don't don't ever get don't ever drink your own Kool-Aid God has not God is not touching so like God know they touch that's the initial sweetness but once you swallow it like this is very bitter you are up today you're down tomorrow on Sunday after service you're feeling charged before you enter your car you and your spouse you fought should lightning strike you yeah we don't we don't we don't do the math the math doesn't math he not mathing not mathing man so we have to question our formula the algorithm is messed up 2 + 2 is four but minus one is not three there you go was I don't understand that I don't understand that one yeah because the matter doesn't matter right two plus two four one one should be three anyway no I didn't I was just I wanted to kind of wrap it up and you know first and foremost again like ushering you know all being ushered into the new year and I'm sure everyone has their goals and um priorities um but like as sent you kind of throughout the episode is being able to I guess the word reconciliation understanding what Grace really means and then understanding what abiding in Christ really means yeah um not through actions but but it's even hard to put in words right yeah um I think that's kind of what I wanted to highlight yeah but PF uh to wrap up this episode uh if there was one word you wanted to tell this is this new year you wanted to tell the amazing audience um what would that what would that be H you know just before you asked me that question I actually thought about that and I didn't know you were going to ask it to Spirit is working I would give you one test to test yourself right as a test of abiding how quickly do you forgive it's hard to be forgiven all and not forgive all if you cannot forgive all if you cannot forgive all then you should question whether you really believe you've been forgiven many of us believe we have been forgiven because we have not done certain things if you really believe you've been forgiven you will forgive all so if you're listening ask yourself that there's a parable in in the Bible that Jesus Christ told of the servant who had been forgiven thousands and thousands and thousands and he could not get over the person who owed him so little I question whether he actually understood the magnitude of what had been done for him cuz I can't imagine that you understand what has been done for you and then you want to kill somebody over nothing right people say oh if you don't forgive God will not forgive you a lot of that was from the old Covenant right I don't think God's forgiveness is conditioned on your forgiveness but I think your understanding and receiving of God's forgiveness is evidenced by your forgiving if you don't forgive then I have to question whether you have actually received forgiveness does that make sense yeah aome on that note thank you guys um and we will see you on the next one like subscribe comment yeah feedback if you're enjoying like yeah if you're enjoying what you're listening to shout out out if you don't if you don't like it shout us out too I'm All Join we all join yeah join all right guys have a fantastic year peace 2025 we Gucci unfilter n