
Hey y'all ! Welcome to another Friday with CWCOI ! In this week's episode, our host, Ally Yost reads through the book of Galatians. Galatians is written by the apostle Paul and it shares the message that we are justified through faith, not by works....
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A
Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Aliost, and it is a joy and honor to be with you guys. I am so grateful to be hanging out with y'. All. I want to thank. This is late. I should have said this so many more episodes ago. Thank you so much to the ones who have been loving and supporting our merch. I am so grateful for you. It actually brings me so much joy to see everybody posting their coffee cups and their T shirts. I am so grateful. I'm so, so grateful for your support and your love, and I really hope that you're loving the pieces. I don't think that this will be the only time that we release merch. So if you guys have any other fun ideas or things that, you know, you would really love, because I want them to be things that you guys would want. You know what I mean? Like, I want you to find use in them. I want you to use them often. I want you to love them. So if there's anything else, any other accessories, I don't know, there's anything else that comes to your mind where you're like, hey, Ali, I would really love this. Let me know, and maybe we can make it happen with our next launch, whenever that is. I haven't even thought about it. But I do think it'd be fun to continue to do more launches.
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But this was a really good, like, first run, so I'm grateful, and I'm.
A
So happy that you guys have been loving it today. I have my travel cup. I have my travel tumbler, which I love. What the heck? I actually really love it. The quality is amazing. It does not leak. Good coffee's all right, though, because I made it from home.
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We have our Christ. Look, we have our Christ. Here he is. Here he is. And we have our coffee on ice. Anyway, how's everyone doing? Love you.
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I hope that the Lord has been blessing you.
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I hope that you have been receiving just fresh revelations, things to learn from him.
A
Listen, guys, I'm stalling because I actually.
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Really don't know what we're gonna do in this episode. So we're just gonna have to let the spirit of God do his thing.
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One thing that I did want to.
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Do with you guys today, if you want to, it would really be an.
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Honor to do it together, because I.
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Love doing this with y', all, is take communion. I'd really love to take communion together. So if you have your little cups. I don't know if you guys have your cups at home or if you have some juice and bread, I think we should take communion together. How fun that we get to do this as a family. I love that Jesus left us this and he encouraged us to do it together. It's beautiful.
A
Jesus, we just honor you. God, we honor you and we love you and we just pour our adorations out to you and our affection to you. God, we thank you for the sacrifice that you took, just giving your life for us. Jesus, I pray that not a day goes by that it is unnoticed or unappreciated. Lord, we appreciate you and we can't thank you enough for the freedom that your death actually gave us, that our sins were nailed to that cross with you and that we died there too. And we get to be resurrected again and reborn through your spirit. God, as we take this bread, Jesus, I just pray that we remember your love for us, that what you did on the cross for us was an act of love that nobody else could do. It was just for you to do. And so, God, we honor you. We thank you for this day. We thank you for a beautiful brand new day that is a gift from you, that we get to commune together over your body and your blood and we get to honor each other and bless one another. And Lord, I also just ask that you examine each and every one of our hearts, that if there's anything that we've been holding onto, that it's is not pure. I just ask that you reveal that to each and every one of us right now and that we have an opportunity to repent and say that that is not who we are. Whether it's bitterness, unforgiveness, anxieties, leaning on our own understanding, worrying. God, I just pray right now that we surrender all of that to you and we give that to you, Jesus, and we say that we that is not who we are. We don't identify in those things and we just give it to you and we repent. God, and we're sorry for believing those lies. And we pray that today is a fresh day, it's a good day, it's a new day of just joy and there's no more heaviness. And regardless of the circumstances in our life, that we just get to rejoice today because you are good.
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And Jesus, we thank you for the blood. We thank you that this blood is a superpower, that this blood protects us from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet. God, I just plead the blood over every single one of us today. God, I pray that you armor us up and you keep us protected. That no weapons formed against us will prosper today. And Jesus, I just thank you that this blood has redeemed every single one of us. That because of this blood we are able to walk with your spirit and we are able to even defend ourselves. That we get to plead the blood of Jesus over us as attacks come and as temptations come. And so, Jesus, your blood is such a gift. And we thank you for it. We thank you that it's alive, that it's forever alive. And it is something that we can depend on, that we can depend on you, God. And so we take this blood in agreement of who you are, Jesus. We believe in the power of the blood, and we're just eternally grateful. We love you, Jesus.
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Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Oh, I love Jesus. I love him so much. Okay, y', all. So I think what we should do today is we should read some scripture.
A
Because we haven't done that in a while either. We haven't just, like, read the word.
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Of God, which is more than enough, right? We've said that before, but it is. It's more than enough.
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Listen, I know that we've read the book of James before. I think. I think we have. It's been on my heart. But also for some reason, I feel God saying, don't. I don't know. Maybe that's my flesh. I can't tell. I can't tell. I really want to read the book of James because it just is like literal flames. It's amazing. It just is awesome. It's short and sweet and it's so jam packed. But maybe we don't read the book of James.
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God, what do we read? What should we read? I'm just going to look at the table of context and see if anything jumps out at me. Lord, what do we read? Have we read Romans? Jesus, I need you to lead me. Galatians. I think I heard him say Galatians. Let's see. Oh, Galatians is not that long. Okay, let's read Galatians. Sure. I feel the Lord said that. So, everybody, this is an episode where we're gonna crack open our Bibles. So get your Bible. I'll give you some time. Time's up. Just kidding. Okay, just as a reminder, my Bible is the NLT translation. So that is what I will be reading. So if it sounds a little different than yours, it's okay. It's still the same word, but there's just, you know, different translations. So it might sound a little different. But if you have nlt, then there won't be an issue. Okay, great.
A
Starting at the top of Galatians 1. This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever. Amen. I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God who called you to Himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the good news, but is not the good news at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God's curse fall on anyone, including us, or even an angel from heaven who preaches a different kind of good news than the one we preached to you. I say again that we have said before. If anyone preaches any other good news than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant. That last sentence is right that that will immediately nip your people pleasing tendencies in the butt. I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant. Moving on to Galatians 1:11. Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion. How I violently persecuted God's church. I did my best to destroy it. I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors. But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal His Son to me so that I would proclaim the good news about Jesus to the Gentiles. I think Paul's transformation is like one of the most insane testimonies we could read about in the Bible. There's tons of them. But like Paul's is crazy. Like he literally was murdering Christians. He had such a zeal, as he said, to destroy the church and, and instead of God turning his back on Paul, he let Paul encounter Jesus face to face, realize that he is the way, the truth and the life. And turned from all of the things that he believed before and started following Jesus and was such a leader for Christianity and literally wrote a majority of the New Testament. So that's crazy. I. I love his testimony and I just love what God did for him and his life. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being, nor do I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia and later I returned to the city of Damiscus. Then three years later, I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter and. And I stayed with him for 15 days. The only other apostle I met at the time was James, the Lord's brother. I declared before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie. After that visit, I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn't know me personally. All they knew was that the people were saying the one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy. And they praised God because of me. Then, 14 years later, I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas. And Titus came along too. I went here because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there, I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile. Even that question came up only because of some so called believers there. False ones really, who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the Gospel message for you. And the leaders of the Church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites. Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews for the Same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter and John, who were known as pillars of the Church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles while they continued their work with the Jews. Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do. But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from the people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter's hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. When I saw that they were not following the truth of the Gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all others, since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish tradition? You and I are Jews by birth, not sinners like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right by God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law. But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ, and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not. Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law. I stopped trying to meet all its requirements so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law can make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. O foolish Galatians, who has cast an evil spell on you. For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cr. Let me ask you this one question. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not. You received the Holy Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be after starting your new lives in the Spirit? Why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again, Does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not. It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. The real children of Abraham then, are those who put their faith in God. What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to the time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, all nations will be blessed through you. So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse. For the Scriptures say cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's book of the Law. It is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say it is through faith that a righteous person has life. This way of faith is very different from the way of law which says it is through obeying the law that a person has life. But Christ has actually rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse of our wrongdoings. For it is written in the Scriptures. Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree through Christ Jesus. God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. So all of that scripture is saying, y', all, if you're not already understanding it, which I'm sure you are, because y' all are smart, is Paul is breaking down. One of the reasons why Jesus had to die was we receive faith through the Holy Spirit, not the law. Meaning religion was not enough. Religion was not enough to save us from our sin and to also be able to be right with God. Him taking upon all the sin of the world on that cross, overcoming it once and for all with one thing, one action, all of it has been overcome. We are made right with God. We are now considered friends of God. And now we've received the Holy Spirit. Now we're at Galatians 3:15. Dear brothers and sisters, here's an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn't say to his children, as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says, to his child. And that, of course, means Christ. This is what I'm trying to say. The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later, when God gave the law to Moses, God would be breaking his promise. For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God's promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise. Why then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. Now, a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham. Is there a conflict then, between God's law and God's promises? Absolutely not. If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin. So we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Wow. Wait.
B
This is so good, y'. All.
A
I love that Paul is showing us that the law was not for nothing. Like there was an order that God had put with giving the law to Moses. And then that being able to sustain us until the coming of Jesus. Let me put it in another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came. It protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. Hello. I want to read that again. That's so good. The law was our guardian until Christ came. It protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, which is Jesus. We no longer need the law as our guardian. For you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs. And God's promise to Abraham belongs to you. Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up. Even though they actually own everything their father had, they have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.
B
This is so good, you guys.
A
Wow. And that's the way it was with us. Before Christ came. We were like children. We were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent His son. Born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent us the spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, abba, Father. Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child.
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And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Wait, I'm obsessed with Galatians 4. Okay. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow.
A
Okay. I love Paul.
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That was so.
A
I love the way he broke that down.
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That was beautiful. Oh, wait, I just want to read.
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That one part again.
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That was so good. But when the right time came, God sent His son. Born of a woman, subject to the law.
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God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law.
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So that he could adopt us as.
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His very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, abba, Father. Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so called gods that do not even exist. So now that you know God, or should I say, now that God knows you, why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. Perhaps all My hard work with you was for nothing. Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles, free from those laws. You did not mistreat me when I first preached to you. Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the good news. But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God, or even Christ Jesus himself. Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible. Have I now become your enemy because I am telling you the truth? Those false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions are not good. They are trying to shut you off from me so that you will pay attention to only them. If someone is eager to do good things for you, that's alright. But let them do it all the time, not just when I'm with you. Oh, my dear children, I feel as if I'm going through labor pains for you again. And they will continue until Christ is fully developed in your lives. I wish I were with you right now so I could change my tone. But at this distance, I don't know how else to help you. Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? The scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God's promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God's own fulfillment of his promise. These two women serve as an illustration of God's two covenants. The first woman, Hagar, represents Mount Sinai, where people received the law that enslaved them. And now Jerusalem is just like Mount Sinai in Arabia, because she and her children live in slavery to the law. But the other woman, Sarah, represents the heavenly Jerusalem. She is the free woman, and she is our mother. As Isaiah said. Rejoice, O childless women. You who have never given birth, break into a joyful shout, you who have never been in labor, for the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband. And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human Effort persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. But what do the Scriptures say about this? Get rid of the slave and her son. For the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman's son. So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman. We are children of the free woman. So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen, I, Paul, tell you, if you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ. You have fallen away from God's grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. You are running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn't God, for He is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough. I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you. Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised, as some say I do, why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command. Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out. Beware of destroying one another. Now we're in Galatians 5:16. We're actually almost done with Galatians, so.
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I say we just finish it really quick.
A
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful Nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear. Sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, adultery, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like this. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living in this sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God. Wow. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against these things. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. Galatians 6 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done. And you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else, for we are each responsible for our own conduct. Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Ooh, that's good. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing what is good at just the right time. We will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith. Paul's final advice Y', all, we're at the very end of Galatians. Notice what large letters I use as I write these closing words in my own handwriting. Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want you to look good to others. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. And even those who advocate circumcision don't keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciple. As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in the world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died. It doesn't matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. And may God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle. They are new people of God. From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Okay, that was so good. Did that speak to y'? All? Wow. Okay. I love Galatians. I also freaking love Paul. I love him. All right, y'. All. Well, that is a wrap to our Bible reading today. Thank you for joining me. I pray that it spoke to you and your spirit. I wish we actually prayed before we went into it, but if there's anything that you just need to sit on and meditate with the spirit of God with. If there's things that you needed clarity on. I really have so much faith that his spirit can do that. And so I just encourage you to reflect on this whole book with the Lord journal about it, if you haven't already, and just really sit with him and let him minister to you through his word. But I love you guys, and I just hope that you have an incredible week until we get to see each other again next Friday. And can we do something cool? Can we do something cool this week? Can we show somebody how cool Jesus is? I encourage all of us to just walk more like Jesus and with our shoulders back a little bit more. I feel that we need to be walking with a little bit more pride and confidence in who we are and that we are heirs and we've inherited such greatness and purity from Jesus, and we are made right with God, and we are his friend. And I just think that's really cool. Like, what an honor that we are friends of God, the one that created everything. We're looking at the creator of the universe. We're friends of his. Like, he looks at you and he's like, you're my friend. I love you. And that's just such an honor. So we're gonna walk in that today and we're gonna remember who we are through Jesus. I love y'. All.
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I'm proud of you.
A
And I will see you next week. Bye. Are some of y' all still listening? Okay, if you're still here, that means you're a real one, which is why I'm about to share this with you. If you've already caught up on all the episodes so far and you don't wanna wait until next Friday for a new one, I have really good news for you. Subscribe to our Patreon to get early access to the episodes every week, early access to MER or any other exciting news, and receive personalized encouraging messages or Bible verses from us. Subscribe to Our Patreon@www.patreon.com. backslash C Backslash CWCOI I do also want to mention that there is a way to give to the podcast, so if you ever feel led to donate, it blesses me so much and it helps allow the podcast to keep running. You can donate to our PayPal at www.paypal.me. backslash CWCOI we appreciate y' all and we love you so, so much.
Host: Ally Yost
Episode: A Life of Freedom
Date: January 10, 2025
In this vulnerable and spirit-led episode, Ally Yost invites listeners to experience "a life of freedom" through Christ. The episode is characterized by raw encouragement, thoughtful scripture reading—primarily the Book of Galatians—and emphasis on the transformation and liberty available to Christians. Ally encourages reflection, community, and confidence in our identity as God’s children, blending personal insights with extended Bible reading and practical takeaways.
[02:00] – [05:45]
Ally begins by expressing gratitude for her listeners and their support of podcast merchandise, fostering a sense of community.
She invites everyone to take communion together, leading a heartfelt prayer:
Repentance: Encourages listeners to bring their anxieties, bitterness, and unforgiveness before Jesus.
Freedom: Emphasizes the belief that Christ’s sacrifice means believers are no longer identified by their struggles but by the new identity in Him.
"We don't identify in those things and we just give it to you and we repent. God, and we're sorry for believing those lies." (Ally, [03:28])
Acknowledges communion as an act of remembrance and unity in Christ's love and sacrifice.
[05:45] – [06:30]
Ally candidly shares her uncertainty about the episode’s direction, choosing to “let the spirit of God do his thing.”
Decides to read scripture directly, expressing an honest, relatable struggle discerning which book to select ("James or Galatians").
"For some reason, I feel God saying, don't. I don't know. Maybe that's my flesh. I can't tell." (Ally, [06:04])
Ends up choosing Galatians, noting the episode will focus on reading and reflecting on this book.
[07:33] – [34:00]
Paul’s Qualifications & Gospel:
"Paul’s transformation is like one of the most insane testimonies we could read about in the Bible...God let Paul encounter Jesus face to face, realize that he is the way, the truth and the life." (Ally, [09:00])
Faith Over Law:
"How foolish can you be after starting your new lives in the Spirit? Why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Scripture read aloud, [15:30])
"Now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. Hello. I want to read that again. That's so good." (Ally, [21:53])
True Freedom and Inheritance:
"Now you are no longer a slave, but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Oh, my gosh. Wow." (Ally, [23:08])
Warning Against Legalism:
"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." (Scripture, [28:47])
Fruit of the Spirit vs. Sinful Nature:
"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against these things." (Scripture, [30:55])
Final Exhortation:
"You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death...But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life..." (Scripture read aloud, [32:56])
Paul's Signature and Conclusion:
Ally highlights Paul’s conclusion that transformation, not outward markers or religious rules, defines a Christian.
"What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation." (Scripture, [34:24])
[34:55] – [36:03]
Ally encourages listeners to meditate on the scripture, suggesting journaling and reflection for deeper understanding.
Urges everyone to show the world “how cool Jesus is” in the coming week:
"We need to be walking with a little bit more pride and confidence in who we are...we are heirs and we’ve inherited such greatness and purity from Jesus, and we are made right with God, and we are his friend." (Ally, [35:40])
Proclaims the profound relational aspect of Christianity—being not just followers, but friends of the creator.
On Communion and Repentance:
"Regardless of the circumstances in our life, that we just get to rejoice today because you are good." (Ally, Prayer, [04:15])
On Paul’s Testimony:
"He literally was murdering Christians...and instead of God turning his back on Paul, he let Paul encounter Jesus face to face." (Ally, [09:00])
On Grace vs. Law:
"If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant." (Scripture read aloud, [08:29])
"No one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." (Scripture, [13:24])
On Identity in Christ:
"Now you are no longer a slave, but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir." (Scripture & Ally, [23:08])
On Living Out Faith:
"Don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love." (Scripture, [28:47])
On Spiritual Fruit:
"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. There is no law against these things." (Scripture, [30:55])
Ally’s parting encouragement:
"Let’s show somebody how cool Jesus is this week...walk in confidence, knowing who we are—friends and heirs of God."