Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey everyone, this is Josh Gillespie and I'm here with my co-host and beautiful wife, hannah, on the Measure of Revival podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:09

Hey y'all.

Speaker 1: 0:10

Hey guys. So we're just so excited that you decided to join us today for episode two of the Measure of Revival podcast, and we just ultimately know that this is going to be a very powerful time of encouragement and prophetic insight, with really a message that has kind of been stirring in both of our hearts for about a month or so huh, babe.

Speaker 2: 0:28

Yeah, I would say that and it really just came from. I was in the kitchen one day, I was praying and I heard the Holy Spirit say you know, there are some people who feel very out of season, but just encourage them that they can still bear fruit and that it can be a fruitful time in their lives yeah, yeah, and I think that's ultimately the key is, when we follow christ, we're going to find ourselves in good seasons and bad seasons and situations, and in our control and out of our control and in just various circumstances.

Speaker 1: 1:01

But ultimately, as children of God, hannah and I just believe that, no matter what's going on and it doesn't mean that there is no empathy for what's going on if someone is walking through a hard time and the human emotions that come with that but ultimately God's fruit you know, the fruit of the Spirit is not dependent on our emotions, it's solely dependent on our connection to God. Yeah, that's good and so, really, we just wanted to encourage everyone today that, no matter where you are I don't even care if you're in the greatest season of your life you still need to remain connected to God, because it's about producing fruit, fruit that can be enjoyed and helpful to other people ultimately. But I would say, babe, um, if we had an ultimate goal, I guess, for this podcast, if you want to kind of elaborate on that.

Speaker 2: 1:51

Yeah, I think the goal would be, um, you know, just to encourage you, that, just like Josh said, no matter where you are, what you're doing, that it's still so important to stay connected to the river of God. Um, and the root verse that we pulled from is Jeremiah 17,. Five through eight, and I'll go ahead and read that. It says thus says the Lord cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord, for he shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness and a salt land which is not inhabited. But blessed is the man who trusts in Wow green and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Speaker 2: 2:53

So, um, one of the things that I do kind of want to have like a disclaimer is, I think, oftentimes, when we find ourselves in what we would say an out of season which also, mind you, paul mentions this to Timothy you know that no matter what season to find yourself prepared, but that's not the route that we're going down. Um, but there's also the disclaimer that if you find yourself in a season like this and maybe you know something isn't bearing fruit any longer than trust that the Holy spirit, you know with what he's saying, have the discernment to know that it's okay to cut and to prune those relationships, those dreams, those you know, wants all of those things that you know. He knows what's ahead for you and he knows that maybe something else will bear more fruit. So I would say that we're we're talking less about the fruit of our labor, right, and we're talking more about the fruit of the spirit and what it looks like, no matter what season, to stay planted by the river of God, even when the drought and the heat comes.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Yeah, and I honestly just think that's so beautiful. And something that just came to my mind when you were saying that was, you know is sometimes there's things that hinder us from producing basically exactly what you were saying where God may ask us to remove certain relationships. He may ask us to remove certain relationships, he may ask us to set up boundaries, he may ask us to do certain things, but ultimately he's asking us to do those things, as hard as they may be. It may be hard to let that person go, it may be hard to shift your job, it may be hard to do different things, but it's really because he wants us to produce more fruit, and sometimes there's things in our life that are actually hindering the fruit of God from fully growing in our life.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Yeah, and ultimately, our relationship with God.

Speaker 2: 4:32

Yeah, and I would say that, really, if we want to look back personally, we would say that this is very close, it's very close to our hearts.

Speaker 2: 4:42

I mean the personal example of I'll just use the year 2024, you know, when we were preparing for this, I think at one point we had stopped and we were reflecting on our own. Um, but even before this came about, I think you had actually said one day you know, what's so crazy is that, even though it was just a really tough and difficult year for us, it felt like on the outside, like that we had lost so much and that so much had really been pruned from our lives. It was still one of the most fruitful seasons and I think sitting from this place, we can see that, but when you're in it, you can't see it.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Oh, no, no.

Speaker 2: 5:19

So this is really really what this is at the core of it is you know, no matter where you find yourself, there is hope on the other side of it and you literally have to trust. Trust the process that God has you in and and it seems like so much is being pruned away, so much is being taken, so much, I would even argue, feels like it's being destroyed and shaken, but there is still fruit that has been planted in the ground, because you can't see the seed and you can't really see that the seed is germinating. That's a tongue twister, but you literally have to trust the process and you have to trust the master gardener, god, in this.

Speaker 1: 6:01

And that's I mean. You said it spot on trust. It's really, and it even says in here is blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord. Um, and I don't know about anyone listening, but I'd rather be blessed than cursed. And, um, I'm grateful at times in my life where I felt like I mean even times in our in our life where we felt like, you know, we weren't trusting't trusting God or were we doubting and things like that. God is so much greater than even our minor doubts. God is so much greater than that. But it's really in the choice to keep going that shows that your trust and hope is in God.

Speaker 1: 6:37

So, you may not feel like, well, you know this and that Well, god is way greater than our feelings too. That well, god is way greater than our feelings too. Um, because there was even times, I guess like in, I guess, if we want to say, in our past season where we truly felt out of season, but yet we were still having to show up and pray, we were still having people come up to us and need help, we were still having all these situations happen and we're just like god, I don't feel anointed. God, I don't feel like I got it going on. God, I don't feel like I got the anointing that breaks the yoke, all these things, but yet we still saw fruit from those efforts. Yeah, does that make sense? Because we were still bearing fruit despite our feelings and our circumstances.

Speaker 2: 7:16

And the kindness of God is, there would be like I don't know if you remember this, but there would be like little things that God would ask us to do just out of pure obedience, we one time bought someone a pair of shoes.

Speaker 1: 7:29

It was really weird.

Speaker 2: 7:30

but we did it. We just trusted Him. We didn't feel financially great, but God was like buy that person a pair of shoes and we were obedient in it and there was immediate fruit from it. But it wasn't that tangible fruit that we always look for, you know, like they didn't turn around and bless us with a $500 seed. They turned around and they blessed us with something different, you know which was. We often, you know, expect like seed to be something very tangible which is the fruit of our labor, but really it's the fruit of the spirit, which is intangible but it's so much greater on the scale of the kingdom.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Yeah, and that's just powerful. There is, I mean, I even I even just recall where you know, just like people would like you know, get around us or something. And I'm not trying to make it all about us. I'm actually trying to encourage those that feel like they're out of season and they got nothing to offer that you still have the Holy Spirit in you and you still are connected to God, which means you still have the fruit that is able for others to share. And people will get around us and they say, oh, I just love you guys. You guys just have so much love and so much peace and care.

Speaker 2: 8:38

And on the inside I'm thinking like this is the worst season of my life and I'm thinking. I feel like I cry more than I have joy, but okay.

Speaker 1: 8:46

But it's really because the fruit of the Spirit is so much. Greater is what I'm trying to get out of them, our emotions and really what our external circumstances are trying to say about us, because we all have external circumstances and different things that are trying to write our story, but they don't have the power to write it.

Speaker 2: 9:08

God does, yeah yeah, that's good, you know. The other thing that you had mentioned right before we hit record was that it's really His grace that draws us.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Was that recorded for the first time or the third time?

Speaker 2: 9:20

I think the 20th. No, but what you had said is that it's his grace that draws us and sustains us and it really plants us by the river, which is so powerful, because it's tempting, you know, to just like, want to pick up camp and move because it's tough. And this verse even says let me find it. It says, and will not fear the heat when it comes. So the heat's going to come.

Speaker 1: 9:46

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:47

But you know, I love this because, but because it also says but it's leaf will be green and it won't be anxious in the year of drought that's the new King James version that says that and nor will it cease from yielding fruit, and that is the promise. And this is that it doesn't matter if and when the heat comes. It just matters that you remain planted. And you also have to know that it is by his grace that you remain planted by the river. It's by his grace that you can still continue to yield fruit. It's by his grace that you won't be anxious, even when you see the drop come and it seems like everything is being pruned from your life. It's by his grace that you that you anxious even when you see the drought come and it seems like everything is being pruned from your life. It's by his grace that you are sustained.

Speaker 1: 10:29

That's good, that's good, that's very good. And yeah, because I think we were talking about that before, we were recording. And you know what is like when the heat comes, like, think about a tree, like I just want to think about this for a second A tree planted by the water, when the heat comes, the tree still feels the heat, the tree can still I guess, if you want to say it could see the drought, it knows and it sees these things and it feels them, but yet it's not affected. But what I will say is, when those things come, I can guarantee you that that tree, when it's that hot and the heat's that heavy, it's having to rely more on that river when that stuff comes. And I think that's ultimately the invitation when we feel or we see these different things that cause us to think we're out of season, is that it's really just an invitation to lean more on God's grace and the river of his spirit.

Speaker 2: 11:28

Yeah, yeah, that's good. So, um, the other thing that I kind of wanted to to mention, that, um that we had talked quite a bit about, was fruit and the farmer. So, um, the first part is that, you know, fruit in and of itself contains seeds, which means that if I break open that apple, there's, you know, several apple trees in that right. But there's also this part of what we had mentioned, um, that I believe the Holy Spirit had shown me is that we don't get to choose who comes to our tree and needs something from us. You know that they don't really know what we're going through. I mean, they might know what we're going through but they don't really know that maybe we ourselves need peace, but they might need a word of peace, right, yeah, so it's. It's almost like when the Holy Spirit showed me this. It's like a tree or really like a storehouse that we have built up so much of this, you know love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. We've built up all of these things because really it's just our history with God. So, if someone comes up to me and they need peace, in the immediate moment, my flesh might say, well, I don't have a lot of peace. I'm feeling really anxious, you know that's my flesh that's telling me that, but I have to trust that the Holy Spirit inside of me is going to have the correct and appropriate words to look at them and say you know what I pray peace over you. You know you have a sound mind. You don't have an anxious or a fearful mind, but you have a sound mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it was changing.

Speaker 2: 13:20

I think we have to change our perspective when we start to go into these seasons of drought, because we can get really caught up in what we lack and we think that we lack fruit because it's not the ideal fruit that we think that we have.

Speaker 2: 13:34

But really we have to lean back in and we have to become totally dependent on the Holy Spirit with what he chooses to say, because he knows every single person that's going to come up to us and but we just have to be dependent on him and we have to trust him. That, even though I might not personally feel it because, just like what you had said, it's not an emotion or a feeling I just have to trust that somewhere, that little seed of peace that had been planted in me, because a seed is really meant for multiplication. So I have to trust that that seed that had been planted in me, because a seed is really meant for multiplication, so I have to trust that that seed that's been planted in me can be multiplied to the next person that also needs peace or that also needs joy. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 14:17

No, I mean, that's just spot on, because I think sometimes we get so focused like when we talk about reaping and sowing and planting and seeds, we just all think about money, we just think money is the key and money is the ticket and that's the vehicle.

Speaker 1: 14:31

But really, a seed of kindness, a seed of love, a seed of gentleness, a seed of all these, all the fruits that are born through the spirit and living a godly life, I couldn't tell you how many times, you know, you sow a seed of kindness and that person comes back around and there's a testimony from it. Or you sow a word into someone's life. And I think God is really, in this season, trying to shift our mindsets away from and I believe in the tangible blessing, I believe in the monetary blessing, I believe in all of those things. I think that's a byproduct of the other stuff, like the spiritual fruit that God produces. But ultimately, I think he's trying to shift our perspective that we have more to offer spiritually than maybe what our limitations tangibly and naturally want to put limits on us, as we actually have the anointing and the power to break the yoke, even if around us, you know, we're waiting for God to increase us and bless us.

Speaker 2: 15:28

Yeah, I think that's good, and I also just kind of want to skirt that line of 2 Timothy 4, too. You know, when Paul tells him that, to be ready at all times.

Speaker 1: 15:40

Yeah, all times. All times In season and out of season, not when I'm in the glory and I'm shaking and expecting it or unexpecting it.

Speaker 2: 15:48

So, um, because where I was going with that is we don't get to choose when we go in season or when we come out of season. We just have to be prepared for both. Right, I have to be prepared with the holy spirit, all of the fruit that I've been building with him, because it's going to sustain me through the drought and it's also going to sustain whoever else comes up to me and needs something. So that is the sustaining part of it is that we don't get to choose, but we do get to choose that we remain planted by the river and that we we don't depart from that.

Speaker 1: 16:29

Yeah, yeah, because I think there is always a temptation to depart. You know, it's just like, oh my gosh, like look at all this stuff going on around me, and you know this, and that there there can be a slight temptation to depart, like to go and then fix it in your own strength, like I'm going to go do this in my own strength, I'm going to go trust in myself, I'm going to trust in other people, but the scripture is very clear that blessed is the man whose hope and trust is in the Lord. And there's things that will come and I can I mean we can attest to this right. I mean, like, everything that can be shaken, it will be shaken, and I really believe that the body needs to be reminded that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, but the thing that cannot be shaken will remain, and that's our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the kingdom of God. So really I just think it's just beautiful the life that we do get to live, as challenging as it may be at times.

Speaker 2: 17:30

Yeah, so, if it's okay, we didn't talk about this, it literally just hit me to go down a tangent you're gonna go down?

Speaker 1: 17:37

I mean, usually I'm the one that goes down the tangent okay, here we go. So I was just reading back through this.

Speaker 2: 17:45

Everyone, embrace yourselves. No, I was just reading back through this and it says the NLT version says they are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water, and I love that, because I love plants, I love gardening, I love all of those things. That's no surprise to anyone. But, um, the other day I was messing with one of my plants and when I pulled it out I noticed that the leaves were wilting, they were turning yellow, which I thought, okay, this, there's a root issue with this. Okay, so I took it out of the dirt and when I pulled it out, the roots and the root system, it had a lot of root rot on it, which is just like the.

Speaker 2: 18:31

It's like the roots are normally kind of like a whitish color, but when I pulled it out, those roots were dark and mushy and just gross. So it was preventing the plant from being able to obtain the right nutrients that it needed and also for it to, you know, for its leaves not to burst out and be beautiful. So what I did is I took this little plant and I started cutting off and pruning the roots and normally, like we think, well, if the leaf is turning yellow and it's in the pot. I'll just prune off the yellow leaf, right, so that way it can still stay pretty. Yeah, but I knew it was a root issue, deeper issues? Right, it's in the pot.

Speaker 1: 19:08

I'll just prune off the yellow leaf, right, so that way it can still stay pretty. But I knew it was a root issue. It's a deeper issue. Right, it's a deeper issue. I knew it was a root issue. I knew you were going somewhere with this. It's going somewhere with this.

Speaker 2: 19:15

So when I pulled it out, it's kind of like I did the reverse of what we think pruning is. We think pruning is well, it's just sitting up there on top Like there's this beautiful tree that I see and this branch looks a little dead over here because there's not a lot going on, so I'll just prune that off.

Speaker 1: 19:33

But really. And then what happens when you just prune that off? It's just going to spread.

Speaker 2: 19:38

It's going to spread to another branch. Whatever the issue is, it's going to spread to another branch. But because I have spent so much time with my plants and I know what they look like and I know what they should look like the end result of what they should be I knew it was a root issue, so I pulled it out and I cut the root rod off, I pruned it on the upside of it and where I'm going out with this is that tree that you're looking at or that you really that we are. We are like trees in this scenario, and even I think it's Psalms 1 says this or a shrub Right, or a shrub.

Speaker 1: 20:19

We don't want to be a stunted shrub. I'm going to be honest, but I also think.

Speaker 2: 20:22

Psalm 1 also mentions being planted?

Speaker 1: 20:25

It does, yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:25

So. But where I'm going out with this is that if you look at your life and you see something, sometimes it can also be something a little bit deeper and you have to trust that the Holy Spirit knows. The reason why this particular area of your life isn't producing much fruit is because really it's a deeper thing, Even when it comes down to the fruit of the Spirit. So if I am lacking kindness in an area, it's probably really because it's a deeper issue. Maybe there's some bitterness.

Speaker 1: 20:55

Maybe there's some bitterness.

Speaker 2: 20:57

Maybe there's some bitterness, maybe there's been some resentment, some rejection in my heart, and I am a firm believer I guess from personal testimony that when we go through drought seasons or dry seasons, it is a really good opportunity for us to sit with the Holy Spirit and take an examination of our heart and to take an examination of who we really are on a deep level, because it means that I can safely and securely if he shows me that I'm lacking kindness, then I'm going to say, okay, well then, is there bitterness in my heart? And if there is bitterness in my heart, then I need forgiveness for that Right. I need to forgive and I need forgiveness and so he can safely take us and prune in a really unique way that in another season maybe he can't, you know. So I think that's kind of like. It's kind of like a twofold thing, you know like, because even though that we're saying that someone can come up to us and because they might need peace, Okay, well, if you, if you take inventory and maybe this is just from like a really non-scientific standpoint, but I have noticed that it's in some seasons where it feels like maybe from a last season I felt so overwhelmed with just love and peace, it will be in the next season, in that drought season, that someone's going to come up to me and they're going to need some peace and I'm going to be able to have the right words for them, Even though me myself maybe I was rejected and that's what kind of put me here.

Speaker 2: 22:38

He's going to help work out and help me become more gentle in the process, more patient in the process, and he's going to help me work out my own root system so that when the time comes, I can be more firmly planted in his river, because the roots are in the river and I think that in and of itself, because after I had cut off all that root rot, I didn't put the plant back in the dirt, because that's not really going to help it. The plant does better in water. So I put it in a little propagation jar and it's starting to root, and it's rooting healthier roots, because I took the time to prune it and to cut it off, because I knew what it needed.

Speaker 1: 23:23

Yeah, that's awesome, wow, because it really is about letting God do the deep work. Yeah, and I know I mean it's almost. He just knows us so well, he knows our ins and outs, he knows things that need to come out of us that we don't even know are in us, because I just look back, just those in our first, you know, I guess year and a half of being in marriage and just the hard season on top of that that we were walking through, that God used those situations and circumstances to really do the deep work that he needed to do in us to prepare us for what I believe is in our future. And so I guess that's really just for someone that feels, you know, everything that we're talking about right now is to let God do the deep work, let him sit you aside for a season, let him remove you for a season. I know it feels like you're isolated and it feels like you don't got anything going on and God's not moving in your life and you're not flowing like you used to, but what he's doing is he's doing the deep work in you and he's maturing that fruit, because really that fruit needs to be matured.

Speaker 1: 24:30

You know you had a measure of his love in one season, but by walking through a hard season or an out of season and away season sorry to keep using the word season like 10 times but that can then take you to a new measure and a greater, more mature measure of his love. Because how do you know how much love you have until you know someone that just started working at your company, got the promotion that you've been working four years for? How do you know how much forgiveness you have, how much kindness, how much gentleness, until you have situations that didn't go your way, like Joseph? I mean, think about Joseph, the favor of God, the blessing of God, and the next thing you know he is in a prison.

Speaker 1: 25:10

But he's still producing, but he's still producing because people recognize the hand of God that is on his life. That is undeniable, that even though he is still stuck and stagnant and in his own prison, he is still given responsibility because people know that God is with him and his gifts are still being used, you know, and so ultimately I just want to, I guess, encourage someone that to just keep going.

Speaker 2: 25:33

Yeah, because it's less about the promotion or the money or the next great relationship. It's less, it's really less about those things. You know those things will produce really great and amazing fruit. You know we, we just know that they will. We intrinsically know that. Um, you know, a new promotion will produce fruit in our life. We just know that right, because it's our resources.

Speaker 1: 26:02

But is your but? Is your heart ready for your next level or your promotion or your? All of a sudden, now you're preaching in front of a thousand people, but no one's ever heard your name before. Is your heart ready for that? Is your character ready for that right?

Speaker 2: 26:17

is your root system ready? Is your root system to be able to? Is it strong enough to? Be able to to um uphold that, uphold that yeah, because what?

Speaker 1: 26:26

what we see often is people get exalted because of their gifts and because of their own effort to position themselves in a good way, but ultimately those end up having negative repercussions later on. But it's really like, really, you're going to be grateful for the time that God set you aside and you let him do the deep work to mature you and to grow the fruit in your life, and because that is going to pay dividends later on, because you said it spot on it's not about the promotion, it's not about this, it's not about that. It's about getting our hearts right with God in a deeper level.

Speaker 2: 27:04

Yeah, and I think the really important part that really we can land on is how do we bear fruit in a time like this? How do we bear fruit as being planted like a tree by the river. It's putting our hope and trust in God, yeah, you know it's. It's staying secure, it's staying fastened, it's knowing that you know I do have enough. You know if someone comes up to me and they need something, I do have enough for that. But I also am okay being pruned myself, you know, and letting God do the deep work in me. So that way, when it comes time and I go back into season, you know I go back into a flourishing season, into the growth season. That, um, that whatever work he has done under the ground or behind the scenes, that it is going to flourish, it's going to be multiplied, that's good, and that it is going to produce more testimony in the end.

Speaker 1: 28:08

No, I mean, that's really what it's about. Is it's going to glorify Jesus? Yeah, so really like it's just going to glorify Jesus. Yeah, like that's literally why we live. We don't live so that we can get a million dollar check in the mail. We live our life because it feels like sometimes we're just waiting for a million dollar check and our blessing and I'm just like it's more than that. It's about glorifying our Lord Jesus.

Speaker 1: 28:30

When all hell was breaking loose around your life and you still had hope and trust in God, and you get to that other side.

Speaker 1: 28:36

I couldn't tell you how many times scenarios run through my mind of I can't wait until we can get to another side in a certain area of our life and I can just testify and glorify our Lord Jesus because God wants to set our lives up in such a way that he can get the glory. And that is really what it's all about. Is it's about glorifying Jesus? So when you do get to the other side, the character that was produced in an out of season is going to be the character that allows you to glorify Jesus and not yourself. It allows you to glorify him and not get puffed up with your blessing, because it ain't even your blessing, it's God's blessing. Yeah, it comes from Him, yeah, and so that, I think, is, I guess, the key, and that's why all this stuff seems to happen. It's really to build our character and to mature our fruit and to ultimately cause us to grow in a greater way. Yep.

Speaker 2: 29:32

Yep, and you're still glorifying Jesus even in that drought. Yeah way, and you're still glorifying Jesus even in that drought, because it still says that leaves stay green and you don't stop producing fruit, even in a drought. Those two things still remain because of Jesus. So just imagine if I stay with them and I just trust the process. How much greater, like you said, will it be on the other side of this? It's so much greater, it's exceedingly, abundantly, above everything.

Speaker 1: 30:00

Even anything you can imagine, because, trust me, if we're speaking to you right now and you feel out of season and you feel like there's drought and stuff going on around you, it can definitely weigh on you definitely.

Speaker 2: 30:15

yeah, I mean, it can definitely weigh on you.

Speaker 1: 30:16

It can weigh on you, I mean. I mean we're not sitting here saying live in a, in a, in a, um fictional overflow of god's presence yeah, I think what you'll learn about us is, like you know, we're practical and tangible.

Speaker 2: 30:26

You have.

Speaker 1: 30:26

you have human emotion, like it's okay to grieve, it's okay to mourn, it's all these things, but yet still have love, still have joy, still have peace. Yeah, but because sometimes we put we want to live in this fake overflow world that actually is.

Speaker 2: 30:43

It causes harm.

Speaker 1: 30:45

It actually does. It actually makes you run from the things God wants to deal with. Yeah, because, trust me, I've done it. We can hide behind our gifts all day long and we can hide behind the overflow and the joy of the Lord, but who are you when no one's watching? You know, are you miserable? Are you struggling? Are you doing these types of things? Are you speaking contentious words to people? Are you doing all this stuff?

Speaker 1: 31:06

It's like God wants to deal with that heart issue, and I think that is the time where mighty men and women of God are made. There's those that run from those seasons and then there's those that embrace them and say you know what, god? I may not agree with what's going on, but I'm going to trust and I'm going to glorify your name. Even if the worst thing in the world just happened to me, I'm still going to bless your name. I'm still going to bless your name no matter what, and I believe there's a reward from that. Yeah, because bless your name no matter what and I believe there's a reward from that.

Speaker 2: 31:41

Yeah, yeah because it's, it's in that praise and that thanksgiving, even in the drought, I mean even when, even when you got stuff going around, things and fruit is produced, yeah, it's yeah because those things want to rob, oh, those the enemy and are he wants to rob and distract and destroy the work.

Speaker 1: 31:54

He wants to choke out your connection to god. At the end of the day, if we're to sum up the devil work, he wants to choke out your connection to God. At the end of the day, if we're to sum up the devil's job, if you're connected to God, he wants to choke your connection out because he knows, if you remain connected, there's nothing he can do to stop you from producing fruit, from bearing fruit and from moving forward. So he'll send everything in his way to get you disconnected and I know it's hard, it's hard, it's hard and I'm beyond it. We get it. There can be some troubling things, but don't allow that to disconnect you from the very thing that you need to sustain you through that yeah, well, we better stop yeah, because we could just keep on going.

Speaker 2: 32:32

Now I'm thinking, now I'm thinking Genesis, and let's talk about Genesis with the snake.

Speaker 1: 32:39

But we'll wrap it up. I mean, where were you going to go?

Speaker 2: 32:43

with Genesis. Oh no, I'm good that may be another episode. Maybe another one.

Speaker 1: 32:49

But we're just so excited, ultimately, for everyone listening, because we just know that God is up to something in every person's life, whether you feel it or you see it, or you don't see it. I declare over you that you will see it and that you will see the goodness of God and that you will see his favor and his blessing over your life, even when it feels like you don't even know what that is anymore, because we also get that too. It's like you almost forget the goodness of God, right, but there will come a time that his goodness completely overtakes every expectation and everything that you we have, you have going on in your life right and recall his goodness.

Speaker 2: 33:26

Yeah, you know when it gets tough and it feels yeah, because it's almost like and it feels like nothing is changing or moving.

Speaker 1: 33:31

Recall his goodness, yeah because I mean, I mean, I like, I think I even told you like when we were going, like I just forgot, like Forgot how much God delivered me from addiction and everything. It's like all of a sudden we got these different things going on and you forget how faithful he's been your whole life.

Speaker 2: 33:49

So faithful.

Speaker 1: 33:50

So it's just so beautiful. Just your analogy with the storing up fruit and all that stuff is just like recall his faithfulness. He is a faithful God.

Speaker 2: 33:59

And if he's done it once, he'll do it again.

Speaker 1: 34:02

And if your story isn't good, it's not over. I mean, we hear all these things all the time and it's hard to believe sometimes when you're going through challenging things. But remain connected to God and remain faithful to Him. Remain faithful to the yes. If someone calls you, I'm going to speak this to someone. If you're sitting there and you feel out of season and someone's calling your phone that needs your help, you can either pick it up or you can turn it over. Yeah, and there's a blessing in picking it up and doing what you can, even if you don't feel like it.

Speaker 2: 34:33

There is, there is, that's good, there is, yeah, it's just staying faithful and trusting him and he'll carry you through. You know it's. And his word also doesn't return, void no. So, and I, I do. I think of that song line that you just quoted a lot. Yeah, our words will return void.

Speaker 1: 34:52

Our words can be like rotten fruit sometimes, you know but um, but no.

Speaker 2: 34:57

I think of that song line often that if the story isn't over, then it's not good. So just just hang on. You know, um and it's yeah. And I know it might sound tough and a bit harsh to say well, he's doing a deep work in me, but there's so much blessing and letting him do deep works in us and and don't run from it.

Speaker 2: 35:19

You know like it's okay to feel every single thing that you feel, because your feelings are not the holy spirit, but it's okay to sit with him and to just trust that what he's working and what he is is uprooting and taking is for your benefit in the next season.

Speaker 1: 35:39

Yeah that's good. That's really good, because when he does a deep work is I mean it?

Speaker 2: 35:44

hurts. I'm gonna be honest.

Speaker 1: 35:46

I mean, I had some things ripped out of me in our first year and a half marriage that I didn't even know were there and I'm just like good lord, why, how is this?

Speaker 2: 35:54

what is going on, literally what is going on, and I had someone.

Speaker 1: 35:58

This is just crazy because, like sometimes the word of the lord when it comes to another person, if it's truly the word of lord, sometimes you'll, you will just be like that's not the word of the Lord. When it comes to another person, if it's truly the word of the Lord, sometimes you'll, you'll just be like that's not the word of the Lord. Because because because it's like you know who are they, you know, and I had someone you know, cause of course it is. You know, we've all been there. If we can't be vulnerable and open about it, then you know, maybe we need to work on that deep work. But the thing is I had him say he's like what you think is the devil is actually.

Speaker 2: 36:34

God, because I remember I just kept rebuking the devil in the name of Jesus. We love blaming the devil for everything.

Speaker 1: 36:41

Really it was God's glory wanting to. It was actually God's glory shaking everything out of me that needed to come out Right and same with you.

Speaker 2: 36:51

Oh yeah, it's just, it's his light exposing darkness, so just embrace it. We're trying to say don't resist it. Embrace it. Don't blame the devil, because the blessing is you'll be healed.

Speaker 1: 37:01

You'll be delivered. You'll be free Right and you'll be delivered.

Speaker 2: 37:04

You'll be free and you'll be able to flow in a new capacity that was never thought possible before that and it might feel a bit like warfare. I think that's fair, sure, because I think there's warfare mixed in, that we get it confused. But I think sometimes there can be warfare accompanied with these types of seasons Right, and I would recommend that you just stay guarded in that.

Speaker 1: 37:23

And discern what is God and what is the enemy?

Speaker 1: 37:26

But ultimately I don't care if it's one person. Have someone in your life that is spiritually mature, that you can connect to Amen, that can give you wisdom and discernment over things that maybe in your present circumstances you can't see. Yeah, do a reality check, do I believe that God does remove some people and remove things and, in a way, makes you like sometimes you feel isolated, but there's a difference between being isolated and feeling isolated. You can still be connected to people. You know, and I think that's important in every season in your life is to remain connected to people who are able to help you, you know, to walk through this stuff yeah, that's good we can keep going.

Speaker 1: 38:11

You want to keep going? We can keep going.

Speaker 2: 38:13

You guys want us to keep going no, I think that's a good landing spot just encouragement for you guys just keep going and trust. Put your hope and trust in him and stay planted, stay planted.

Speaker 1: 38:24

Father, we just thank you for today. Lord God, I thank you for every listener. Put your hope and trust in Him and stay planted. Yep, stay planted, father. We just thank you for today. Lord God, I thank you for every listener on this podcast and beyond.

Speaker 1: 38:32

Lord God, and I just ask, in the name of Jesus, lord, that you would help them, lord, that your Spirit would touch them, in the name of Jesus, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. Father, I pray that they would feel your presence, they'd feel your peace, they'd feel your joy. God, whether they're in a season of blessing and increase and promotion, lord God, or they're in a season where they feel like all hell's breaking loose and there's a drought, lord, I pray that their need for you would be so strong, stronger than it's ever been. Lord God, I pray that you'd put a hunger in their hearts, a hunger in their minds to want to seek you, to want to follow you, to want to stay connected to you. And, lord God, I just ask, lord God, that you would keep them, lord.

Speaker 1: 39:09

Your Bible says that your love keeps us, lord. So I pray your love over them would keep them through this season, would keep them into their next season, that it's your love that keeps them, lord, god and Father. I just thank you, lord God, that you know their future. You know, lord God, that they have a future.

Speaker 1: 39:25

Lord and Father, I just specifically pray for those right now that feel they have no hope, they have no joy, they have no peace and, lord, I just pray that you would remind them how good you've been to them, Lord God, and that they would just turn their hearts to you in such a powerful way, and that they would be reminded of, time and time again, when you met them, when no one else would, that you met them. Lord, god and Father, I just pray for strength and courage to keep going and to do everything that you've called them to do, lord God, and I ultimately just pray that you would set their hearts on fire with your love, lord God, you'd set their hearts on fire. In the name of Jesus, lord, we pray.

Speaker 2: 40:01

Amen, yeah, so just don't forget to subscribe. Share about our podcast and we are kind of still in the. We're obviously still in the first stages of this, so we're figuring out recording schedules and all that fun stuff.

Speaker 1: 40:14

Yeah, we're trying to obviously record more. We'll get it on a good pattern as we get going.

Speaker 2: 40:19

But for now, thank you guys. So much for hanging in here with us and listening, and we will talk to you all soon. Bye.

Speaker 1: 40:24

Thank you.