Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
What would you do if your online store converted 36% more shoppers? You could take 36% more vacation. Another pina colada. Yes, please. Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet. Fantastic. Hire 36% more help. You're hired. And you're hired. Shopify has the world's best converting checkout up to 36% better than other e commerce platforms. What you do with those extra sales is up to you. Switch to Shopify today@shopify.com setup and get a $1 trial. Shopify.com setup a vacation rental shouldn't come with surprises. It should come with verbo Care and 24. 7 Life Support. If the hot tub's broken, that's a verbo care thing. If my teenager starts calling me Leslie, that's a family thing. Leslie. VRBoCare and 24. 7 Life Support. If you know you've ERBO terms, apply. See vrbo.com trust for details. Hello, everybody. I have to tell you guys because this has been highly anticipated. I've been hyping it up for weeks now. But I wanted to tell you guys that the merch that I have been hyping up for so long is finally live. It went live yesterday, actually on Thursday. But I'm very excited about these pieces. I'm so excited. You guys. Go ahead and scroll. No pressure to shop, but I am very excited about these pieces. We were finalizing things up until the very last second just a couple days ago. So I did place my order to get a few more pieces in the mail. You guys will be seeing me wearing them on the podcast often. So if it helps anybody, I am five foot six. My weight is 120something pounds. And in the T shirts, I like to get a medium. Actually everything. I like to get a medium. Medium. I feel like it's pretty oversized for me. Like, it's like the cozy amount of oversized. But because they're unisex, I would just be mindful that they might run a little bit bigger than just like something that was just made for women. Obviously we have the glass tumblers as well, which I'm so excited about. I think these designs are so sick, you guys. I think they're so stinking. Cool. One more thing to keep in mind is we do have pajamas on the way. I was telling you guys about polka dot pajamas. I'll put them on the screen right here. So fun. So cute. These. I wanted to make sure that they were cotton and so how we're sourcing them. It's actually going to take a little bit of time to get them. And the quantity of these will be limited, so they're gonna be a little bit more limited edition, but I'm excited to get my hands on a pair of these. And then lastly, we do have some journals that are coming, and these are what the journals look like. Stop, guys. I'm freaking out again. These ones were a little trickier to make. We had to outsource them in a way where they are. It's going to be a limited amount, so. So these will also be a little bit more limited edition. The rest of the pieces that are on the website right now, though, are made to order, so they're shipped within three to five business days after you order them. It's a very quick process. But stay tuned for these guys because they're coming soon, and I am very excited about these as well. Anyway, I love you guys. I hope that you feel my love and intentionality with these pieces. I do think that the quality is really great and the designs are super meaningful. And above all else, you will be spreading the gospel, which I think is awesome. We don't need a hoodie to spread the gospel. We can spread the gospel with our mouths, but it's also really cool to tell people that Jesus loves them through clothing. Okay, I love you guys. Thank you for listening to me. Now let's get into the episode. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Ellie Yost. It is a joy and honor to be here with you guys today. Happy Friday. Feel like I have a different Happy Friday jingle every time I see you guys. I am so, so, so, so, so excited to be here with you guys today. Oh, my gosh. I don't know what happened to me today. You guys probably like Ali. Whoa. Lots of energy there, girl. It's 8:00am what's that about, Al? I don't know. Just filled with the joy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Just literally filled with the best joy of my entire life. I'm having such a good day, and honestly, not much has really happened other than I did my workout this morning, just feeling really inspired. I woke up feeling so inspired today, and now I get to hang out with you guys. So I don't know. It's a pretty freaking awesome day if you ask me. Also, I think what's really fun is that I already feel the Lord is, like, talking and speaking to me. And there was one thing that actually dropped in my brain as I was in the middle of doing my makeup, and I Freaked out so much, I recorded a whole voice memo for myself because I was like, I can't forget this. It was just like, do you guys relate to that? Does that ever happen to you? It's okay if it doesn't. I'm not. Shame. It doesn't. I don't think that this comes naturally for everyone. But I will say the sheep know the sound of their shepherd's voice. And so when God speaks to you in whatever way that looks like, like, you know what it means, though, to be kind of stopped in your tracks when God is trying to grab your attention and trying to tell you something. And that is, like, what I felt like happened to me just now before I came to record with you guys. And I. I was doing my makeup. It was like the most random, most beautiful, prophetic, amazing download. And it's so simple. But that's what's so cool about Jesus, is he's so unbelievably profound and complex, but also so simple at the same time. Something that I've learned about Jesus and continue to learn every day is that he literally is one truth, and then he's also the other truth on the other side of the spectrum. And you'd think that those two things actually don't complement each other at all, but they do. And that's the gospel. And so I'm really excited to share with you guys what God has already been kind of speaking to. And honestly, even the thing that I'm going to share with you, that he spoke to me when I was doing my makeup doesn't actually have anything to do with what I really wanted to talk about today. But we're still going to talk about it anyway. We're just going to talk about all the things. Is that okay? Sorry that I'm speaking 800 million miles a minute. I'm just so filled with joy of the Lord. And I'm so excited to be here with you guys. And can I also say that I am so obsessed with you guys. I also just woke up today with such gratitude for the type of people who follow me, the type of people who listen to this podcast. Like, you guys are some of the most generous, loving, encouraging, incredible, beautiful human beings. And I think that's such a testament to your journey with Jesus that it's clear that you've just allowed him to transform you and lead you. And it shows. Like, your fruit rocks, is what I'm saying. Okay. Your guys's fruit is so good, and it reeks of Jesus in the best way. It's a beautiful aroma. Actually. There is no reek. It's like a gorgeous aroma of Jesus that comes off of your fruit and so whatever that means. Okay, guys, listen. It's official. Our new drop is officially live. I'm very excited about it. Today is what, May 29th. If you just go to Aliost.com youm'll see everything. There we have our new cup. I'm very excited about it. Today my coffee is green again because it's Matcha. Guys, can I tell you, I've been on a little bit of a Matcha kick. I know I love coffee. I'll never stop loving coffee. And there's plenty of different kinds of coffees that I love. But Matcha's just been like. I just like the taste of it. And I like the taste of this Matcha. I've been making it from home. This one is a little light. I probably put a little too much milk in it. Not to mention perfect, gorgeous sacrificial Jesus on the back. I love him so much. But yeah, we did. We did Matcha on ice today. And I've been making it from home. And I have to say this is literally not sponsored or paid at all. If they'd like to work with me, I obviously would love to work with them because I love them. Morning maid. I brought it up from my kitchen to show you guys. Okay. Cuz I wanted you to see a visual. But it's. I also just love the packaging. You just seal it. Here's some more ASMR for you. I don't know. Anyway. Morning maid. Matcha latte. This is their vanilla blend. And what I really love is it actually only has 30 grams of caffeine in it. So, you know, on days where I don't need to be too wired, I really like it. And the ingredients are super simple. Very short and sweet and. And super clean. I do add a little bit of honey to sweeten it as well. But it's so easy. It's a powder. You just put it in with warm water. You mix it up, you put it in with whatever milk of choice. For me, it's almond milk. Put it on ice. There you go. And it's. It tastes so good. I know some people think that matcha tastes like grass, but I don't think this Matcha tastes like grass. Cause it has the vanilla flavoring and I put the honey in it as well. So it's like really cute and gorgeous and sweet. Anyway, that's that. So I've been really loving my Matcha so Whether you have your matcha on ice, your coffee on ice, whatever it is, y', all, we're ready. So we do have our something on ice. But before that, first and foremost, before all else, we do have our Christ with us today. I have my cute little yellow Bible from Hosanna Revival. You know, sometimes I. I've. I. It's crossed my mind I could never do it. I can't take on another project. Sorry. I keep looking at the monitor, I'm looking at my Bible and everything. It has crossed my mind sometimes where I've thought about starting an ASMR PA page on YouTube, and it's just, like, totally mysterious, and I don't talk about it, and it's just out there, and I'm under some kind of different name. That's not me. But I just love ASMR so much, I could never actually do it. But sometimes late at night when it's like 11:30 and my brain is running a million miles a minute, and I'm like, what else could I start? I could start an ASMR page. I don't need to do that, but I do, really. I just love as. I don't know. It does something to my brain. It does something to my overstimulated, buzzing little brain. Guys, this is my Bible, okay? It's nlt, which is the New Living Translation. Hosanna Revival. I've already said that. They're the best. If you guys ever want to shop, they have the most beautiful Bibles. Beautiful Bibles. And what I love about their Bibles, most of them, is they have these sides here where you can take notes, which I love to do. And, yeah, they're gorgeous. So you can use my code Ali Yost, whenever you'd like to save at checkout, my code is forever active. They also have really cute journals and things like that, too. So it's not just Bibles. But anyway, they're the best. So we do have our Christ. Okay. We have Hosanna Revival here. Okay? What the heck can I tell you guys now? All right, let's get into it. So I'm doing my makeup. Okay? This was literally 15 minutes ago. So this is also my favorite thing to do with you guys is as soon as I have a revelation, I tell you, am I pulling a little bit of a Joseph in Genesis 38 or. No, 37, whatever we were reading where he had a prophetic dream and he just bit. That's me right now. Bit. No, but I think this is good. So just to give a little bit of Context today in real time of when I'm recording this. I decided. So obviously you guys know I've talked about this on the podcast a few times. Guys, thanks for listening. Thanks for wanting to hear about my life. If you are fast forwarding, I understand. But anyway, I just have to tell you because this is cool. Obviously, I've been on a journey of working out and training with an actual trainer in person. And I've been posting a lot about her specifically because she just rocks and I really want to bless her and her business. Her name is Lindsay and she's just blessed me so much. She loves Jesus. She's an incredible person. And so I've been posting about my journey with, with Lindsay and how I've been training and all of that. She trains virtually as well. And so I always encourage everyone, like, if this is something that you want to, this is a journey that you want to do, you have to do it with Lindsay because she's the best. Sometimes it's hard for me to find ways to give back to you guys where, like, I just want to be able to bless you guys and, and give back in any way that I can. I don't ever want this to feel like a one sided relationship where, you know, you guys obviously support me and you support the content and I do believe that there's obviously value to the things that I bring to the Internet because of Jesus. It's literally only because of him. But, you know, I just always want to find ways to just sprink some more of just giving back. And so I had an idea this morning. I was like, and it didn't really even feel like it was from me. It really came out of the blue, like just fully, like plopped in my brain. And it was, what if I invested and offered to pay for the first five people who decide to sign up with Lindsay? Like, I'll pay for your first month of training and immediately, like, I don't know if you guys feel this in general with like, generosity, especially when it comes to money and paying for things and giving. It's like that initial thought of like, oh my gosh, I would love to do that. That would be so fun. Like, that would feel so good to be able to do that for somebody. But then there's that immediate voice right after that that tries to be like, but is that smart? But will you recover from giving away that much money? But can you even afford doing that? Should you do that? Ah, that's not responsible though. You got to make sure you're smart. With your money. Like, don't just go spending it. Like those kinds of voices, you know, like the ones that just kind of come in and ruin the freaking party. And so that's what started to happen to me in that moment as I was like, ah, should I be spending this money? And I know a lot of probably think that, like, with, you know, the influence that I have and the followers that I have, that I probably am rolling in it all the time. And the truth is, is I'm not rolling in it all the time. This business comes with a lot of investing and paying things and I still have lots of bills and I live in Southern California, which is still very expensive. And I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, like, even for me, those thoughts come into my mind where it's like, but is that responsible, Ally? You know, you already have all of these other bills that you have to pay this month. You already have all these other things that you need to spend money on. Is it smart? Even though it's literally like for the sake of just trying to bless people, but there's still that voice that's like, yeah, you're trying to do a good thing, but like, is this smart? Should you be doing that? And so, yeah, that voice kind of came into my head and then it was funny. I was like, you know what? I think money has always been, you know, this tug of war for me where it's like, obviously the Lord is the one who provides. And so any money that I have in my life is literally from Jesus. Here at Christ with Coffee on ice. We obviously talk a lot about purpose here, about finding the path God has set for us. And when it comes to education, that path should lead to a future that matters. That's why when I heard about Grand Canyon University, I was so impressed. Because they are a private, non profit Christian university in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona that believes education shouldn't be a privilege, but an affordable path forward for everyone. GCU is grounded in Christian truth. They are working to empower the next generation to lead with integrity and serve with purpose. And they make it accessible. Did you know GCU has kept tuition at the same rate on its traditional campus for 17 years? Plus in 2025 alone, they awarded over $404 million in institutional scholarships. Whether you're looking for a degree on campus or online, find your purpose at gcu. Private Christian, affordable, non profit. Visit GCU Edu to learn more. If you guys can't tell, I've been getting the best sleep of My life lately, I feel like I've had a complete makeover for my sleeping situation. And one of the things that has been really improving my sleep at night are my new Casper pillows. I feel like pillows and sheets and just like bedding in general is one of those things where you have these things for so long and for so many years that you're just so used to it. But then the minute you actually replace a pillow or sheets or even a mattress, you're like, oh, I can't believe I've been sleeping like this the whole time. That's actually exactly what I went through when I finally changed my pillows to these Casper pillows. And since I already just got mattress, Casper was sweet enough to then offer my editor Katie a mattress. And Katie and her husband were actually already on the market for a new mattress. And so she's reported back to me and said that it has literally changed their life. It's so comfortable for all sleeping positions and it feels very cooling and breathable. Casper has their 100 night risk free trial, so you can give Casper's mattress a try risk free. Although with 110,000 five star reviews, I'm sure you're going to love it. Like, Katie and I have been loving our products right now. Save up to 30% off on mattresses and up to 35% off on everything else. When you go to Casper.com one last time, that's C A S P E R dot com and save up to 30% off on the mattress you deserve. I think our first reaction when we receive something like money from God is we want to store it away like a little chipmunk, right? And so then I'm like, I'm getting this vision of what it means to be chipmunk or squirrel. And it's like they're stuffing their cheeks and, you know, they're getting ready for the winter or whatever, they're like storing it away and they're burying it in the ground. Okay? And I think a lot of times when it comes to the blessings and the things like, let's just talk about money, because that's what we're talking about right now. It is so tempting for us to want to store it away. Save it, don't touch it, don't spend too much of it, don't invest too much of it, we want to take the very thing that God has given us. And we think that in that act we're actually being responsible or we're doing the very thing that God would want us to do with our money. Right. It's so tempting to do that, to be like, no, I can't be. Surely I can't be generous with that much money. I can't give that much. And so when that visual came into my mind, then a scripture followed my brain, where I was like, wait a minute, I feel like I've literally read this in the Bible about burying something in the ground. Okay, I just looked it up in my Bible, and this is actually in the Gospel of Matthew. It's chapter 25, verses 14 to 30. So in the parable, a master entrusts his servant servants with talents, which is a form of money. Two of the men invest and multiply what they were given, but one buries his talent out of fear. The master praises the ones who invested, but rebukes the one who hid it. Yeah, let's actually just read it right now, guys. Okay. Matthew 25:14. This is the parable of the three servants. Again. The kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them. While he was gone, he gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last, dividing it in portions to their abilities. Then he left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, and so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more. The master said, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling the small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together. Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn't plant and gathering crops you didn't cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money. So I hid it in the earth. Look, here's your money back. But the master replied, you wicked and lazy servant, if you knew I had harvested crops I didn't plant, and gathered crops I didn't cultivate, why didn't you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it. Then he ordered, take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the 10 bags of silver. To those who use well with what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But those who do nothing, even what little they have, will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into our darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Okay, so that was the parable that came to my mind. Granted, I think that this can be applied to many different parts of our lives, right? This could be obviously about money. This could be about resources. This could be about gifts or talents that the Lord has given you. But if there's any, anything that God has so clearly given you as a gift, it is our responsibility to then do something with them, right? And so what I'm saying is, I think a lot of times it is very tempting for us to be kind of like that last servant, where especially when it comes to money, you just want to bury it away and save it. But the statement that I felt the Lord drop on me as I'm in the middle of putting my blush on is he said, the more that you hang on to, the less God will trust you with. And that sounds like such a paradox again, where it's like, well, wait a minute, what do you mean? The more I hang on to, the less God will actually trust me with? Like, haven't I proven that, like, I can handle and keep and steward, but just like, keep things close to me and I can preserve it and I, I don't spend it, you know, irresponsibly. But the truth is, is like, God gives yes, to bless us in our lives, but also so that we would do something with it. Like, he doesn't just give for us to then hang on to it like little chipmunks and store it away in the ground so no one can see it, no one else is blessed by it and you're not using it. So the more God gives you, the more he actually expects you to then give it away. And it's in partnership with his Holy Spirit that gives you wisdom on how you should be spending that money. But like, in that moment, that thought had come so out of Nowhere for me, as I was driving on my way home today, that thought of, what if you just paid for the first five people? God has given me the resources where I really could do that. Also, the fact that, like the heart posture of this thought was to bless other people, I think clearly indicates that it could have definitely been from God. And then the third thing for me that was pretty confirming on whether it was actually God or not is that it scared me. Me. And usually if a thought like that comes into your brain and it's not something you actually would probably. I mean, like, I'm not saying I wouldn't naturally want to give, but like, something like that, I was like, that scares me. That could definitely be your heavenly Father wanting to grow you and challenge you and say, hey, are you going to trust me in this when I've given you things? Are you also going to freely give it back in the way that I'm leading you to give it back? Right. Even with these servants here, they work given money, but also they invested it in a way that made the Master proud. Okay? They didn't just cling on to that money, hang on to it. They. They let it go. And then it multiplied. And there was more that came from being willing to just steward that money well and give. And again, it doesn't always have to be money. It could be resources, it could be your gifts, whatever that looks like. But I think those are God's expectations of us. As he freely gives us gifts, we are to then freely give it back in however way we feel his spirit is leading us to give it back, even when it looks really scary. And so I think the act of giving gifts, freely, sharing gifts with other people that have been so obviously given to you by God, is also such a beautiful act of trust in the Lord, you know, And I think that another thing that comes from that is not only are you. Are you able to bless somebody else through that, but you are now strengthening your foundation of trust and faith in Jesus in that. So the more that we hang on to, the less God trusts us with. But the more that we let go, the more that we give away, the more God actually trusts us. The servant who buried the talent wasn't rebuked because he had little. He was rebuked because he operated from fear. He clung to what he was given instead of trusting the Master enough to use it, multiply it, and release it. There's this pattern throughout Scripture where God seems to place responsibility, influence, provision, and spiritual weight into the hands of people who don't worship what they've been given. Abraham was willing to lay down. Isaac, the boy with the fish and loaves gave what little he had. The widow poured out her last oil. The early church shared freely with one another. Open hands becomes trustworthy hands. And I think this applies far beyond money. Some people grip to control comfort, relationships, status, image, security, even their calling. But the kingdom of God is often built through surrender, not self protection. There's almost a spiritual principle that says if I know this thing owns you, I can't safely expand it in your life because anything we cling to harder than we cling to God can eventually crush us. Meanwhile, people who live with surrender communicate God. None of this is mine anyway. If you ask for it, I'll obey. If you increase it, I'll steward it. If you take it away, you're still enough. That posture is deeply trustworthy to God. Not because he's trying to test people with deprivation constantly, but because open handedness reveals freedom and freedom makes room for stewardship. That's why Jesus says in the gospel of Luke 16:10, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. The much is not always money. Sometimes it's influence, sometimes it's peace, sometimes it's people, sometimes it's spiritual authority, sometimes it's deeper intimacy with him. Fear buries, love releases, trust multiplies. So I also think like the deeper root of what's being revealed, even in the scripture and the temptation, even for me in that moment where I was like, ooh, is that responsible? Should I be doing this right now? What is that root? It's just fear. And anything driven from fear is probably not a good decision making system. Fear is not a good decision maker. And so as long as we are making decisions from fear, there's like actually not much God can do with you if you are relying more on fear and self protection than stepping out in faith with God and saying, okay God, I trust you. This seems really irresponsible and a little crazy, but I feel like I'm supposed to be doing this. So anyway, that was the mini revelation that I had today as I was doing my makeup and I did go forward with saying that I would, that I would pay for five people for their first month of training. And honestly it felt so good to do. And that might also even be why I'm on cloud nine, because I said yes to God. I get to bless people, I get to help them kick start their fitness journey. And so I hope that with that story it also inspires a lot of you guys to step out more in faith if there are things in your life that you are so afraid of letting go, because maybe there was a time in your life where you didn't have this thing and you know it's from God, but you also know that you're kind of like white knuckling it and you're not actually letting God now use it through you. I think that's a very real lesson for all of us, is to continue to practice having trust in God that he gives us gifts. Yes, yes, yes. To bless us and give us freedom. But it actually. We end up going right back into bondage by then letting ourselves be controlled by that very thing, where now we aren't actually allowing ourselves to receive or to continue to receive freedom by also freely giving, because now you're a slave to fear of losing that thing. That message is for more than just money. Okay, moving on. That was really fun. I did really enjoy that. No, sorry, the episode isn't over yet. Sorry, did I make it sound like that was over? No, just that part of the episode. Just that part of what I wanted to talk about. But the other part that I really wanted to talk about today is I think we need to bring whimsy back to Christianity, and I think we need to bring whimsy back to our journeys with Jesus. And I think we need to start having fun again. Because a pattern that I've been seeing, and this is just me yapping, guys, we're just FaceTiming at this point. But I have been, you know, scrolling. I get the scrolly police sometimes, and I'm scrolling on my. My apps, Tik Tok and Instagram and stuff. And a lot of my content is Christian, probably. You know, it's like Christian related content. And something that I'm just, like, not seeing enough of, in my opinion, is I'm not seeing enough fun. I think that there's a lot of seriousness and granted, do not, like, misunderstand me right now and say that we shouldn't be taking our journeys with Jesus seriously. Of course we should. And there are moments of, you know, like, locking in for sure and being like, all right, Lord, refine me. And we've talked. We've talked so much about what those seasons look like. Even on the podcast here where we've shed tears, it does feel heavy sometimes it is hard. And we do have to lock in and we do have to be obedient and, you know, so there's. There's obviously space for all of it. But I think above all else, like, joy really is a fruit of the Spirit. And I think even in the midst of all of that, we should be able to still find joy and to still be glad and happy and to have fun. Like, I genuinely believe that above all else, like, Jesus actually is about having fun. He wants to have fun. I believe he's a very fun guy. And I'm not saying that in any way that should be interpreted as blasphemous. Like, there is still a way to have a healthy fear of the Lord, but also recognize that Jesus is a fun guy. He wants to have fun. And I also don't think it's a coincidence that he also says in Scripture, the kingdom of God is for those who are childlike. And that doesn't mean immature, but it's like, it's the ones who, in the midst of how hard the journey is, and we've talked about that in the last few episodes of, like, the real hardship, the real raw parts of what it means to be a Christian and to walk with Jesus and to lay your life down for him and others. Like, we know that that path is not easy. It is narrow and it is difficult. But also it's approaching the journey with a childlike mentality. At the same time, though, and I think something that would be really cool to dive into a little bit further is, like, what that even means. Like, if some of you guys listening right now are like, I don't. I just don't know how to do that. I'm sorry, Ellie. Like, I love the idea, but I don't know how to be a child. I don't know how to be childlike. I don't even actually really know what that means because I'm not a kid. And obviously we can't run around like toddlers all the time. But I don't think that's what God is actually asking us to do. I think he obviously is always maturing us and wants us to be adults, but also to keep an innocence to ourselves where we can still navigate the very things of life that are so hard with a childlike mentality and approach every situation that way. And so I think it'd be really cool for us to talk about what that means and what comes with having more joy with Jesus. What does it mean to have fun with Jesus? What does it mean to embrace life even when it's hard? But as a child, Instacart understands that not all bananas are created equal. Some people want them green, some want them ripe, some want them ready right now with Instacart's Preference Picker, now available at most retailers. You can choose how you like certain items, like banana ripeness, deli thickness, even avocados before your shopper even starts. So instead of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, you get groceries picked the way you would pick them. It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference. Download the app and get bananas just how you like with Instacart. All right, we're gonna read. We're in the book of Matthew a lot today, but Matthew 18. I just want to read this one verse to you guys. Let's start at the top of chapter 18. So the disciples are going up to Jesus and they're asking him a very interesting question. And what they say is, so at about that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of God. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. Okay, we're gonna stop right there. So I think what we should all understand about what Jesus is saying right now is that this is probably one of the most controversial things that he could say to people at this time, because when his disciples are coming to Jesus saying, all right, who is the greatest in the kingdom of God? They're thinking in terms of hierarchy, things like status, importance, power, honor. Right? All of those kinds of things. They're basically asking, who's going to rank the highest in the kingdom of God. And so Jesus responds by calling a literal child into the middle of the room. And that alone was radical for people to see, because in that culture, you guys, children were not viewed the way many modern cultures sentimentalize them today. Okay? Children had little social status, little authority, little power, and little influence. They weren't seen as examples of greatness. I think with Jesus using a child, that was probably the lowest example you could give. So imagine how, like, confusing and shocking and a bit offensive that would feel for some people. But Jesus is saying, if you want the kingdom, become like a child, not childish, childlike. And so I think some of the qualities, if we're talking about what does that even mean? Like, I don't even know how to be childlike. And I think that's really good, actually, that there's. There's a distinct difference between being childish and childlike. Childish, I think, displays a lot of negative traits, you know, that are associated with just immaturity, especially emotionally or behavioral immaturity, whether that's emotionally or in the things that that person does. But that is not the same as being childlike. Being childlike, okay. I think by definition some traits of what that means is your dependence. You're humble, you're trusting, you're teachable, you're aware of your needs. Children don't achieve their way into sonship, they receive it. Jesus is saying the kingdom is entered through surrender and dependence, not self sufficiency. And honestly, this cuts directly against both religious pride and worldly pride because religious pride says I'm worthy because I'm good. Worldly pride says I'm worthy, because I'm impressive. Jesus says the doorway is humility. And I think that is one of the most important traits to being childlike. Because humility is such a beautiful gateway to a ton of really incredible fruit. And it is so freeing. Being humble and knowing your place as a child of God and knowing God's place of being provider, comforter, father, like the one that will come through. Just as you think when you're a child. Like you don't ever see a kid worried about when the next meal is going to come. You don't see a three year old or a two year old being like, oh man, I'm so stressed, I don't know if I'm going to be able to. I don't know if dinner will be on the table tonight. It's like in that kid's innocence and humility, aware of their needs, but trusting and dependent on their parents, isn't worried about that stuff. Some other childlike like qualities is soft hearted, sincere, full of wonder, teachable. This is cool too to just like see the contrast, a bit of what it means to be childlike and childish. So a childlike person says I need God. A childish person says, I want what I want right now. One thing I do want to say is I really do think the root of all childlikeness too is it really is just humility. Like it really is, as we said, like knowing your place and knowing the things that you should be worrying about, but also the things you shouldn't be worrying about. And I do think the thing that makes it hard for us to be childlike with Jesus, like the thing, the roadblock that makes it hard for us to get there is control, self protection, worrying, overthinking. I think those are huge Buzz kills to just being free with Jesus and having fun. I think the only way to like truly having fun with Jesus and being joyful is regardless of circumstances. It's like you have enough humility to say, okay, but God's got it. Like, there's actually nothing I can do about this other than to show up every single day the best that I can and rely on him. Like, he's my strength. And the only way you could ever believe that he is your strength is by humbling yourself and putting pride aside and saying, no, I actually, I can't do this without him. I need God. That's being childlike. Just as a child or a baby or whatever a toddler recognizes they need their parents. You remember those days where you'd get lost from your mom in the grocery store for like one minute and you're all already like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? I need my mom. Like, no, I can't go anywhere. This is it. I'm gonna live here. I'm gonna camp out, I'm gonna have to find a tent, I'm gonna get myself a sleeping bag. Like that was it. Like, if you didn't, if you could not find your mom anymore, your life was over. And I think that's how we have to believe our relationship is with Jesus and who he is to us, right? Like that same desperation and dependency of like, oh my gosh, I literally can't live without him. And if you're having a hard time believing that, I think that that would be such a beautiful opportunity for you to be honest and bring that to the feet of Jesus and say, God, I don't feel that way about you, but I did feel that way about my mom once upon a time when I was a little kid. So what can we do? God, help me partner with the Holy Spirit and say, what walls need to be broken down? What do I need to repent in? Because honestly, repentance and allowing the Holy Spirit to soften your heart and break those walls down. Like in ways that your heart has been calloused and hardened over. That's okay, I'm not condemning you. There's no shame. I'm sure there's no. We all have parts of our hearts that probably we're still trying to, you know, either we don't know it's there or we're self protecting in this way. Like, there's no shame or condemnation for those who are in Christ. We're not judging you. But also, like, that's such a beautiful opportunity to Bring that to Jesus and say, okay, God, I need you and I'm gonna need to partner with you, Holy Spirit, because I don't know why I'm this way, but I am and I don't like it. And I want to feel that way about you. I want to feel like I literally can't live, I can't breathe, I can't move on. I can't leave this grocery store without you, God. A lot of beautiful fruit comes from humility. Because humility removes the exhausting burden of constantly protecting, proving, performing and controlling. Those are not qualities of a kiddo, okay? There are no little baby beans running around, protecting themselves, providing for themselves, performing and controlling situations like. Like they're just having fun and they're enjoying their lives and they're playing and they're not worried about anything. Pride is heavy, but humility is actually light. And so, believe it or not, humility does lead to freedom. I think a lot of times our brain wants to think that again, the more that we cling, the more that we hang on to things, the more that we try to control and protect and preserve, we actually think that that's going to make us feel more free or make us feel relief because it's like, okay, everything's in control. I got it. I. Everything. I got everything over here. I got all this stuff buried under the ground over here and I'm harvesting and I'm saving these things. And just in case, worst case scenario, I have this over here and I've got this backup plan and I have plan X over here. Like, you think that that's going to give you more freedom, but it actually does the exact opposite. That is such a heavy, heavy burden. So actually I think these two topics really play into each other, don't they? I do think it takes childlikeness and humility. It takes those traits to trust God in the gifts that he gives us and how we freely give it back. As we were talking earlier. That's good. I like that. Okay, Holy Spirit. Humility frees you from needing to be the best, the smartest, the prettiest, the most successful or the most admired. In every room, you stop living enslaved to comparison. A humble person can celebrate others without feeling threatened because their identity is rooted deeper than status. Light heartedness is another quality that comes with being childlike. Pride makes people rigid and hyper serious because their image constantly feels at stake. Humility allows you to laugh at yourself, admit mistakes, not obsess over appearances, not crumble every time you're misunderstood. This is good, guys this is good. There's a childlike ease that comes with humility. Joy. Joy grows where striving dies. Humble people often experience more peace because they're not carrying the crushing pressure of self glorification. Humility creates room for gratitude, wonder, presence, contentment. Childlikeness also allows for rest. So pride constantly says, do more, be more, prove more. But humility says, I am loved even before I achieve. And that actually produces deep spiritual rest. Another quality of being childlike is you are also very teachable when you are in a childlike heart posture. Humble people grow faster because they're willing to receive correction. Pride resists refinement because it feels threatened by being wrong. Humility allows transformation. Another really beautiful trait and a fruit that comes from being childlike is intimacy with God. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Oh, my gosh. If we don't have this, I die. If I don't have this, I die. Humility keeps the heart open toward God. James 4, 6 actually says this. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Pride pushes God away because pride says, I can rule myself, but humility says, I need you. Grace flows easily into surrendered places. Oh, I just love that statement of like, I need you. It's true. We need him. Oh, we need him. This is actually so cute. I love this one too. Is another fruit of being childlike is having compassion for others. And this actually reminds me of a really sweet moment I had at church where I was on the floor. That's where I am at church, pretty much. I'm just on the floor, just, you know, encountering the Lord. And I just love the Holy Spirit. So I'm having my moment. And this little baby bean, this little toddler, I feel this little hand come up on my back and pat me like this. And I turn around and she's just smiling at me. We've never met before, and it was just the cutest thing. And it was almost as if she, like, literally had compassion. She was like. I'm like, how does this little girl already have empathy? Like, I don't even think she could talk yet. And you know, she's just like patting me on the back. So anyway, compassion for others. When you're humble, you stop viewing people through superiority. She doesn't know anything about superiority. All right, lastly, lastly. This is good. This is a good note taking episode, y'. All. I hope you've had your notepads out. Okay. Your journals. Last fruit that I have for you guys today on childlikeness would also be security. Ironically, humble people are often Most secure because their worth is not hanging by the thread of public opinion. They don't need constant validation to feel okay. Their identity becomes steadier. And humility is not self hatred. It's freedom from self obsession. And that's why the fruit often feels lighter, freer, softer, calmer, more joyful and more peaceful. Pride constantly curves inward towards self, while humility finally gives the soul room to breathe. That's cute. Yeah. So that's what it means to be childlike. I believe that's what God wants for all of us. I believe that there is an opportunity for us today to become more childlike and to have. Have more fun. It doesn't always have to be so serious with Jesus all the time. It can. It. Oh, it can. There are some serious times I've walked through with Jesus for sure. And I'm not saying that that's not a part of the journey, but I do think more times than not, the journey should be fun and it should be joyful and there should be freedom and lightness in it. You know, it shouldn't feel really heavy and weighty all the time. Even as I've gone through heavy things and yeah, I've. I've definitely felt heaviness. Doesn't mean everything is suddenly wrong. If for, you know, all of a sudden you're like, why does it feel so heavy? God, Am I doing it wrong? Am I not acting like a child? Sure. No. Life is life and it's real, okay? And emotions are real. And so things can definitely feel heavy. But I think if we're looking at the majority of our life with Jesus, it shouldn't feel more heavy than not. Not. It's going to be hard. And the journey is definitely sucky sometimes. Right? We talked about that a couple episodes ago where it's not that Jesus sucks, it's not that his character sucks, it's not that being a Christian sucks, but the journey can suck, you know, because we live in a broken world that we broke because of our sin. And so, you know, the journey can be a little sucky most of the time, if we're being honest. But there's still always opportunity to have joy in the midst of all of that. And so this is really cool. I just love that all of these episodes have been, like, woven together and they're making a really pretty quilt right now or something. I just feel like they're all really, like, complimenting each other. Well, so thank you, Holy Spirit. This is so fun. Hey, guys. I'm really proud of you. I'm very, very proud of you guys. And God is so proud of you, too. Try to be a little less hard on yourself. I think that's the reminder for today. Stop being so hard on yourself. Stop taking yourself, like, so seriously. I think this is an invitation from the Holy Spirit to, like, have fun with him today and to do something childlike, like, literally go get ice cream with Jesus today and, like, laugh a little. Oh, my gosh. Let yourself laugh. It's okay. You don't have to feel guilty for that. I don't know who I'm talking to right now. You do not have to feel guilty about being joyful today because I think that that's also a tactic of the enemy to try to manipulate you and say that you don't deserve to, like, like, be joyful. Why? Because of circumstances in your life, because of loss, because of grief, because of maybe your own mistakes that you've made. Even if it was this morning or yesterday. Who care? God loves you so much, and he just wants you to enjoy your life with Him. He doesn't promise an easy life, but he does still want you to have joy. So I triple dog dare you to laugh today. Have fun. Let loose a little bit. It's okay. God wants you to have fun. Okay? I love you guys. I'm so proud of you. But before we go, can we do something really cool today? Can we show somebody how cool Jesus is? Can we walk more like him, talk more like him, be more joyful like him? I love you guys. Hey, same, same time, same place, next week? Week. I'll see you guys next Friday, and I hope that you have the best week ever. And I will see you next time. Bye.