Lust & Deception | Girls Gone Bible

Summary

Girls Gone Bible Episode Summary: "Lust & Deception"

Release Date: August 5, 2025

In this compelling episode of Girls Gone Bible, hosts Angela Halili and Arielle Reitsma delve deep into the intricate themes of lust and deception, drawing profound lessons from the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. Through personal anecdotes, scriptural analysis, and heartfelt discussions, Ang and Ari explore how worldly temptations can lead believers astray and underscore the importance of maintaining a pure and discerning heart in their walk with Jesus.

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1. Opening Reflections and Personal Stories (00:00 – 07:00)

The episode kicks off with light-hearted banter between Ang and Ari, setting a relatable and engaging tone. As they transition from casual conversation, Ari shares a transformative experience of a friend whose life was changed through studying the story of Samson and Delilah.

Arielle Reitsma (00:49):
"Samson and Delilah is the reason how I found Jesus and how I changed my life."

This introduction underscores the episode's focus on personal transformation through biblical narratives.

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2. The Significance of Samson and Delilah (07:00 – 16:44)

Angela introduces their recently released devotional, "Out of the Wilderness," emphasizing its impact on listeners navigating challenging seasons. She reads a poignant excerpt from her devotional, recounting her own experience with deception rooted in lust.

Angela Halili (08:35):
"I caught my boyfriend, who I was so in lust with, thought I was so in love with... I was so blinded by lust."

The hosts highlight the parallel between Samson’s downfall and their personal struggles, illustrating how unchecked desires can lead to spiritual blindness.

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3. Analyzing the Story of Samson and Delilah (16:44 – 27:33)

Ang and Ari embark on a detailed exploration of Judges Chapter 16, recounting Samson's repeated betrayals and his ultimate downfall at the hands of Delilah. They meticulously dissect each attempt Delilah makes to uncover the secret of Samson's strength, emphasizing the deceit and manipulation involved.

Angela Halili (22:39):
"Delilah, the woman that we're going to read about who comes and seduces Samson, ultimately betrays him to the Philistines because she discovers he actually gives her the secret of his hair being cut."

Arielle Reitsma (26:24):
"Sin leads to death, guys."

Through these retellings, the hosts draw connections between biblical events and contemporary issues of temptation and moral compromise.

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4. Personal Reflections on Lust and Deception (27:33 – 36:05)

Angela shares her heartfelt narrative of being deceived by lust in a past relationship, mirroring Samson's experiences. She discusses the emotional turmoil and spiritual consequences of engaging in lustful entanglements.

Angela Halili (09:18):
"I had no idea... and it was really the betrayal that I went through."

Ari complements this by emphasizing the dangers of living for the world and the importance of maintaining strong communion with Jesus to resist temptations.

Arielle Reitsma (29:40):
"When you stay as close to Jesus as possible, you won't settle for counterfeits."

This segment serves as a cautionary tale, urging listeners to prioritize spiritual discernment over fleeting desires.

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5. Theological Insights and Lessons Learned (36:05 – 49:44)

The conversation shifts to a broader theological analysis of Samson's story, highlighting the cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance depicted in the Book of Judges. Ang references commentaries to reinforce the idea that Samson's tale is a lesson in wasted potential and the necessity of humility and obedience.

Angela Halili (57:03):
"Consecration is the source of strength. Compromise is the beginning of defeat."

They discuss how Samson’s lack of repentance and his reliance on personal strength, rather than divine guidance, led to his downfall. The hosts contrast this with the unyielding grace of Jesus, who offers ultimate redemption despite human imperfections.

Arielle Reitsma (46:55):
"It just shows the character of God."

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6. Application to Modern Life and Encouragement (49:44 – 66:33)

Ang and Ari transition to applying these biblical lessons to listeners' lives. They emphasize the importance of daily repentance, maintaining strong relationships with godly individuals, and prioritizing spiritual growth over personal desires.

Angela Halili (55:09):
"The devil will never stop sending voices to tell us that we're too much. And I just want to encourage us all to continue being way too much."

Ari discusses the significance of recognizing and resisting subtle temptations that can erode one's faith, advocating for a life centered around Jesus to avoid spiritual compromises.

Arielle Reitsma (53:09):
"If you aren't dying to your flesh daily, you're toast."

They also address the challenges of maintaining purity in relationships, urging listeners to seek relationships that honor God and discourage lustful entanglements.

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7. Conclusion and Call to Action (66:33 – 72:39)

In the closing segment, Ang and Ari offer an earnest invitation for listeners to commit their lives to Jesus, underscoring the transformative power of faith. They emphasize that despite human flaws, God's purposes prevail, and His grace is sufficient to overcome any shortcomings.

Angela Halili (67:45):
"Jesus took the penalty. He paid the price. And he loves you so much, and he gave you your life."

A heartfelt prayer is shared, encouraging those who haven't yet embraced faith to do so, highlighting the redemptive power of Jesus' sacrifice.

Arielle Reitsma (71:41):
"Each and every one of you has a purpose. That's why you're here."

The episode concludes with blessings and expressions of love for the listeners, reinforcing the supportive community that Girls Gone Bible aims to foster.

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Key Takeaways:

• Lust and Deception: Engaging in lustful relationships can lead to spiritual blindness and deception, akin to Samson's downfall.

• Importance of Repentance: Continuous self-examination and repentance are crucial to maintain spiritual integrity and avoid moral compromises.

• Divine Strength vs. Personal Ego: True strength comes from a close relationship with Jesus, not from personal achievements or power.

• Community and Support: Surrounding oneself with godly individuals provides necessary support and accountability in the faith journey.

• Redemption Through Jesus: Regardless of past failings, Jesus offers redemption and transformation, emphasizing that God's purposes are unthwarted by human imperfections.

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Notable Quotes:

• Angela Halili (08:35):
  "I caught my boyfriend, who I was so in lust with, thought I was so in love with... I was so blinded by lust."

• Arielle Reitsma (26:24):
  "Sin leads to death, guys."

• Angela Halili (55:09):
  "The devil will never stop sending voices to tell us that we're too much. And I just want to encourage us all to continue being way too much."

• Arielle Reitsma (29:40):
  "When you stay as close to Jesus as possible, you won't settle for counterfeits."

• Angela Halili (67:45):
  "Jesus took the penalty. He paid the price. And he loves you so much, and he gave you your life."

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Conclusion:

"Lust & Deception" serves as a poignant reminder of the perils of temptation and the necessity of unwavering faith and discernment. Through the lens of Samson's story and personal experiences, Girls Gone Bible encourages listeners to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus, prioritize spiritual purity, and embrace the transformative power of God's grace.

Transcript

[Angela]

All right, ladies. Wow.

[Ariel]

Ladies and men. Ladies.

[Angela]

I meant you and Jesse. Slash Andy.

[Ariel]

Andy.

[Angela]

Andy.

[Ariel]

He's starting to look like an Andy, isn't he?

[Angela]

No, he's not. His poor name is. His name's Jesse. Not his poor name.

[Ariel]

Right.

[Angela]

Did you get your eyebrows laminated?

[Ariel]

I didn't. I filled him with eyeshadow this morning.

[Angela]

That's what I do.

[Ariel]

I actually love it. Does it look bad?

[Angela]

It looks really good.

[Ariel]

Really?

[Angela]

But.

[Ariel]

But you. Does it. Picasso.

[Angela]

Picasso. But did you, like.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Glue them up.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

What is it called? Not glue. I can't see anything.

[Ariel]

Yeah, I glued them up. I glued them up. Glued them up.

[Angela]

Glue them up. All right, guys, today we're talking about sex.

[Ariel]

I actually. Today we're talking about Samson and Delilah. And I had told my girlfriend she is from where I'm from, and she moved to Miami. And I told her how we were reading Samson, Delilah, and she was like, samson and Delilah is the reason how I found Jesus and how I changed my life. And she wrote me this text. I go, why? And she told me, I can read it out loud, but can I read it to you guys? I thought this was so. I love her. Me, too.

[Angela]

I'm not jealous of our having other friends, guys.

[Ariel]

I'm not.

[Angela]

I love her.

[Ariel]

She wrote. I go, why did it. Why did it change you? And she said, the book of Samson and Delilah changed my life because a few days before they dissected those pages in church, I was struggling with sin and feeling so empty. I was getting sick of the temporary highs. The money and sex weren't fulfilling me. And I saw how Samson only felt pleasure for a season. A quick fix. I knew certain people in my life were causing me to go in the opposite direction that God wanted me in. She said, I felt like Jonah. I was in the belly of the wheel. But God dropped me off right where I was supposed to be that day. He met me right there when the summary of the text was, what are you flirting with? Because that's what they said in her Bible study. And she said, I knew I was flirting with temptation, but at this point, it had taken over me. I learned God's grace through the text and saw that time and time again. God showed up for Samson even though he wasn't deserving of it. Right then and there, I gave my life to Jesus. I refused to miss the calling God had on my life for my own temporary desire.

[Angela]

Let's go. Okay, little Miss Preacher.

[Ariel]

I was like, oh, my gosh. But I remember when she was studying Samson and Delilah and her whole life transformed through that Bible study of it.

[Angela]

Well, I am so excited. I truly believe that people's lives are actually gonna get transformed by reading Samson and by reading this book or this chapter in Judges today. Really quick. Hi, I'm Angela.

[Ariel]

Yeah, it was the first time you said Angela.

[Angela]

I know. I didn't like it. Hi, I'm Ang.

[Ariel]

Let's say our full names today.

[Angela]

Okay? Hi, I'm Angela.

[Ariel]

And I'm Ariel.

[Angela]

Who's that? Hi, I'm Ang.

[Ariel]

And I'm Ari.

[Angela]

And this is Girls Gone Bible. We are a faith based podcast where talk all things spirituality, mental health, relationships. We basically take people and walk them through the Bible. We walk them through journeying with God. We love Jesus so much here. He saved our lives, transformed our lives. If it weren't for Jesus, we'd be dead in a ditch.

[Ariel]

We would be dead in a ditch.

[Angela]

I'm literally not kidding. I can't do anything. I was talking to some people the other day and I was like, whatever. I'm asking, like, about spending time with Jesus, like, what's appro. Like, you know, I just am curious of what people's measures are and how much time they spend with Jesus. And I talked to someone who's kind of like, you know, gave the argument that you don't have to spend that much time with God, like in quiet. I don't obviously agree with that, but I genuinely came back and I was like, can I ask you a question, though? What about for people who are like, a little bit, like, unwell, like, come from a really broken background and dark history, like, I. Like I. And he goes, they're like, no, no, no, that's good. Some people really do need. And it's good to know, like, if you need more time with him. Anyway, I say that to say, like, I need Jesus because I go. I fly off the handle quick.

[Ariel]

Do you think that's why Paul said it's good that you have a thorn in your flesh because it keeps you so close?

[Angela]

Yeah, yeah. That's the point of it. So it's power to be made perfect in our weakness.

[Ariel]

You were talking about how your anxiety, all this stuff. I'm thinking about when my mom said Arielle, she called me up to me and Angela talking about our toes and our feet and how hers look like a hand and my toes curl over. And she goes, listen, you guys really got to take it down a notch. I mean, you want to get married and you talk about how your toes curl over.

[Angela]

I know. We were so unhinged that day. It was not okay by the way. The updo is up doing so so well right now.

[Ariel]

The up doing is up doing.

[Angela]

I love it. You look so I. It's beautiful.

[Ariel]

I love a good little update Once looks so good. I'm sick of my my hair half up every day.

[Angela]

If you weren't a minister of the gospel, you would be acting in period pieces. I'm being so serious. Why?

[Ariel]

I'm with child.

[Angela]

Foreign.

[Ariel]

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[Angela]

Okay, guys, before we get into the whole episode today, we wanna remind you that we came out with a devotional. It's called out of the Wilderness. It's called out of the wilderness. 31 devotions to walk with God through your hardest seasons. And we love this devotional now more than we ever have. I think the testimonies that have come out of this devotional are absolutely breathtaking and insane. To Ari and I. Our biggest prayer with the devotional, with Tor, with the podcast, with Instagram stories or Instagram posts or little videos that we make is that they lead you to an encounter with Jesus. Everything that we do, we just pray is never done in vain. And that it just leads you into God's presence. And I feel like we've gotten so many messages of people being like, I am experiencing God through this devotional. And that's so crazy. And I think like we're surprised because we're like you'd never know. You'd never think. We had no idea. We just, We. We. We can't even believe it. So thank you to every single person who's gotten our devotional. We'd love to hear your comments about it in the comment section and us. Your experience. And. Yeah, I just. I think it's really good for. It would be good for every single person to get this devotional and learn from our mistakes and our tragedies and our experiences and see, like, the faithfulness of God through it. Yeah.

[Ariel]

You're not alone.

[Angela]

Right.

[Ariel]

Because we've been through it all and we wrote it all in that book. Yeah.

[Angela]

So I just want to read you guys a little bit out of my devotional because we're reading from Judges, chapter 16 today. The story of Samson and Delilah where basically, Samson, it's all his fault. It's really not Delilah's fault, but we all have Delilah's that get sent into our lives to manipulate, to deceive. Sometimes they don't even do it on purpose, but, like, anybody can use. Be used in a way that's not actually beneficial for your life. And so I wrote about this relationship that I was in that was a very short relationship, and it was many years ago. I had. I was very young, just started following Jesus, like, basically just got sober. Love my exes. We love them all.

[Ariel]

Sure.

[Angela]

We love everybody. This was so long ago.

[Ariel]

We really do love everybody.

[Angela]

And it was so you. And it's basically. It's basically, it's called what's Done in the Dark. I want to show you guys our devotional cutie. It's called what's Done in the Dark. And I basically talk about the only time that I've ever been kind of cheated on. And basically, long story short, short, I write all about it. I caught my boyfriend, who I was, like, so in lust with, like, thought I was so in love with. So much lust, so much deception, weird soul ties. Obviously not walking in purity. Absolutely no shame. This is the life that I was living. That's who I was. And I had no idea. And it was really. I had, like, just started following Jesus or just, like, started loving Jesus. And I write about this betrayal that I went through. And like, Samson and Delilah sat. Delilah ultimately betrays Samson, but Samson trusted her. And, like, the whole point of Walking with Jesus is that he gives us discernment. And the Holy Spirit speaks. The Holy Spirit speaks and he tells you maybe not right away, and maybe he allows people into your life to build that discernment to Build that faith in God. But this person came into my life and our whole relationship was built on lust. And I was so blinded. And so. And you'll read in Samson and Delilah, like Samson Simpson also was blinded by the temptation, by the manipulation, by the deception. And so I'll just read a little bit of this. Like, I've always enjoyed my birthday. However, the year I turned 26 was different. It was sad, to say the least. Mainly because it marked the one and only time I was cheated on. I had been dating someone new and it was the most beautiful whirlwind romance. I loved him and he loved me. I was convinced he was the one. Thank you Jesus. To the thank you Jesus. That the ones that we thought were the one ended up not being the one. If you're watching this right now and you thought that was your one or the one, I just want you to know it wasn't the one. And like, I'm just so grateful. Be grateful.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

If you're in the thick of a breakup, you're in the thick of heartache. You're in the thick of betrayal. Just know you will get to the other side of it. No feeling is final. You're not always going to feel like this. I thought I was going die from the situation. A few days before my birthday, I sensed a shift in the relationship. The intense love I had been experiencing had turned cold. There was a massive disconnect, a withdrawal. If you've ever been intensely loved and then had that person draw back, you know what I'm talking about. The shift caused me so much anxiety, so much confusion, so much pain. I knew something was wrong, but I just didn't know what. Fortunately, my faithful Holy Spirit was moving and speaking and doing things in his perfectly divine timing. I spent days in constant desperate prayer asking God to reveal to me what was going on behind the scenes. Had I done something wrong? Did he just not love me anymore? Was it all in my head? I was impatient and anxious and I begged God to give me an answer. But it felt as though God had gone silent. Still, amid the soul crushing anxiety, I faintly heard his voice encouraging me to be pat. The answers would come. And then basically I go into this story about how literally the Holy Spirit got this person to tell me the truth about a situation he was lying about. And I write all about it. You guys want to get the book? It's crazy.

[Ariel]

It's a really good story.

[Angela]

And I just, I. I read this because I want you guys to know this was a situation that I was under so much deception. This was not love. This was all lust. I was so blinded, I couldn't even see the red flags in front of me because I was so full of sin. First of all, I wasn't. I didn't have the spiritual awareness. I didn't have biblical knowledge to know, you know, Corinthians 13, that, like, what love is, that it's patient, it's kind, it's real, it's pure. I didn't know these things. And so I was settling for a counterfeit community, too, right? No community. It was me and sermons and, like, not nothing.

[Ariel]

Nothing.

[Angela]

I had nobody. And I had so much sin in my body, and it blinded me. Sin blinds you. You can literally hear if you have sin, like, running rampant in your body, in your life, you can hear the truth of God and it do nothing to you and it will not pierce your heart because you're so blinded. And so in this situation, guys, I was so blinded by lust. And I just want to encourage anyone who's listening that if you're in a relationship that's full of lust, it's not love. True love is not lustful. True love is not what you can gain. True love is not somebody leading you to the bedroom to have sex with you outside of marriage. It's just not. And I know that can be really confusing, and I know that it's so hard. But I know that if you're watching right now and you're in a relationship, even if you guys aren't having sex, but you know, there's lust. You know, there's like something. This man or this woman isn't looking at you, right? They're sexualizing your body. They're sexualizing you. A girl is coming to you and. And being promiscuous and leading you somewhere that she shouldn't be. Like, you know, this isn't right, or a guy is looking at you and he's just sexualizing you and speaking to you in ways that don't honor you or honor your body. Like, this is your sign, and this is the Lord speaking to you specifically that it's time to be honest with yourself and that God has something so much better for you, so much more pure, and it's just not real love. And it won't lead you to a good place. This. Luckily, Jesus got me out within, like, three months. It exploded, and it took me a long time to recover from it because I was so deeply woven in. Lust is something that, like, gets its nails into your neck, it's claws into your neck. And, like, will not let go of you. So I just encourage. I don't have anything, like, amazing to say other than end it while it's. While it's early. Do not let yourself be in this, like, lustful entanglement for longer than you need to, because it gets that much harder to get out of. And then it's that much more destructive, you know?

[Ariel]

Yeah. Sin leads to death, guys.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ariel]

And there's consequences and soul ties when it's not in the covenant of marriage.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ariel]

That's all I'll say.

[Angela]

Yeah. And we want pure relationships. We want holy relationships. We want relationships that honor God. We want people to look at us in a way that is like, oh, that's how Jesus looks at me. And he doesn't look at us in, like, a dirty, weird way.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Today we're reading the story of Samson and Delilah. We're going to turn to Judges chapter. I think Ari and I would encourage you guys. We're just going to read from chapter 16 today, but we would encourage you guys to go and read the whole story of Samson, which starts at judges. Judges 13 to 16.

[Ariel]

Or.

[Angela]

No, it's longer than 16. The story of Samson is really, really insane. So basically, the whole Book of Judges, it's in the Old Testament. It is a story of the Israelites running away from God after they had finally got to the promised land. We see the Israelites in absolute chaos, absolute destruction, consistently falling disobedience by means of idolatry. We see the Israelites complaining, disobeying, being so unfaithful, falling away constantly. Like, it really is a mess. And during this time, they have no king. And so God keeps sending judges. That's why the book is called Judges. God would raise up these judges from children to be like his chosen one, to go and lead and deliver the Israelites. And. And the issue was that the Israelites were disobedient. And then the people that God would choose to bring up and raise up are also morally flawed and weak, and they would also fall into idolatry, and they would also mess up. And so it was judge after judge after judge. Like, the judges were meant to rescue the Israelites, bring them out of oppression, but they would find themselves doing the same thing that the Israelites were doing. And so it's this cycle of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance, which is like, what we go through all the time. You sin, and then you get oppressed and enslaved by your sin, and then your entire life is a mess. The Israelites are under so Much oppression, so much slavery. And then eventually, finally, they cry out to God and they say, please forgive us. Please come rescue us. This is their repentance. And then God is faithful to always come and rescue them and always come and deliver them. But he does it again and again and again and again. And so Judges, I think is like 21 chapters where almost every single judge, except a select few, all fail. And I was talking to my pastor who told me that, like, the book of Judges is not a story of redemption. It's not a story. Like, it's. It's literally a book telling you who not to be and what not to be.

[Ariel]

Exactly.

[Angela]

You know, and just like the frailty of being human and how easily manipulated we are, how easily deceived we are. What do you think about Samson?

[Ariel]

Oh, Samson, it's just teaches you exactly what not to do. Samson was a man who had the favor of God and did the complete opposite. He was egotistical. He thought, I have so much favor, I can do whatever I want. He abused God's grace over and over and over again. So we just read through this. I just. Please, after we. We really don't have time to. I honestly look at all my notes I write. I went to crazy reading this story.

[Angela]

Because it's so good.

[Ariel]

It's so good. But just if you guys can, after this episode or when you have time.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ariel]

Read the story of Samson 16. So really start on 13.

[Angela]

13, yeah, start on chapter 16.

[Ariel]

Shows his rebellion and all the little sins that added up and how he completely just went against God and how he was the strongest man in the Bible and you see how weak he is.

[Angela]

So I'm like reading commentaries and I wanted to read you this. The difference between Samson and Delilah. Like, listen to how crazy this is. So Samson was a Nazarite chosen by God to deliver Israel from the Philistines. So he was a judge raised up from birth. And like, the whole point of Samson's story is that like Ari said he was, he had insane strength because the spirit of God was within him. With the spirit of God within, within him, he was actually unbeatable. And God gave him, like Ari said, so much favor to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He was known for supernatural strength which was tied to his uncut hair as part of his vow to God. So Samson basically was like covenanted to God from birth, saying that you're never allowed to drink alcohol and you're never allowed to cut your hair. The second that his hair would get cut, all of his strength would go away. And Samson basically represents all that's wrong with Israel during the period of Judges and really what's wrong with us today. He's dedicated from birth to be God's special servant, but he consistently breaks his vows. And every single one of us are dedicated from birth to be God's chosen one, their daughter or his daughter or his son, with a plan, like a really specific, unique plan for your life. And we oftentimes give away our favor and give away God's plan for our life because of these little things, the little foxes, the little idolatry, the little things that we get caught up in. And. And the word Nazarite means to be consecrated and separated. So Samson's whole story is that he is meant from birth to be consecrated and separated unto God, just like we are, every single one of us. And then Samson's name in Hebrew means little sun, Brightness. The brightness of the sun. Like he was meant, created to be the sun, to be bright, to be light in a dark world. Delilah, the woman that we're going to read about who comes and seduces Samson, she ultimately betrays him to the Philistines because she discovers he actually gives her the secret of his hair being cut, makes him lose his strength. And her name means to weaken or to bring low.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

And it also can mean night.

[Ariel]

Temperance of the night.

[Angela]

Is it temptress of the night?

[Ariel]

Temptress of the night.

[Angela]

That's so crazy. Yeah, that's so crazy. Which is a complete contrast in opposite to Samson being the light. And he lets in and is manipulated by Delilah, who is the. Or Samson is the sun, and he's manipulated by Delilah, who is the night. And her name literally means to weaken. Right. So imagine how many Delilah's we have in our lives. This is a story about light versus darkness. And that's the battle that we're in right now.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

So we're so excited to talk about this.

[Ariel]

Let's read Samson and Delilah. Sometime later, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah who lived in the valley of Sirach. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up secur securely. Then each of us will give you a thousand pieces of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely. Samson replied, if I were tied up with seven new bowstrings that have not yet been dried, I would become as weak as anyone else, he's lying, obviously.

[Angela]

He's gonna basically give her a few things that are lies and not the actual way to lose his strength.

[Ariel]

Go ahead, turn.

[Angela]

So the philistine rulers brought Delilah seven new bowstrings, and she tied Samson up with them. She had hidden some men in one of the inner rooms of her house, and she cried out, samson, the philistines have come to capture you. But Samson snapped the bowstrings as a piece of string, as a piece of string snaps when it is burned by a fire. So the secret of his strength was not discovered. Let me tell you right now, we are not meant to move light through life in fear and in suspense, suspicion and in paranoia of people's motives and all this stuff. However, we are meant to move through life with really strong discernment, Being aware that there might be people in your life who have philistines secretly in your room trying to catch you, trying to throw you off. You know what I mean? This is just like, you have to be so careful who you trust.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Afterward, Delilah said to him, you've been making fun of me and telling me lies. Now please tell me how you can be tied up securely. Samson replied, if I were tied up with brand new ropes that have never been used, I would become as weak as anyone else. So Delilah took new rope and tied him up with them. The men were hiding in the inner room as before. And again Delilah cried out, samson, the philistines have come to capture you. But again, Samson snapped the ropes from his arms as if they were thread. Then Delilah said, you've been making fun of me and telling me lies. Now tell me how you can be tied up securely. Samson replied, if you were to weave the seven braids of my hair into the fabric on your loom and tighten it with the loom shuttle, then I would become as weak as anyone else. So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric. Then she tightened it with the loom shuttle. Again she cried out, samson, the philistines have come to capture you. But Samson woke up, pulled back the loom shuttle, and yanked his hair away from the loom in the fabric.

[Ariel]

Then Delilah pouted, How can you tell me I love you when you don't share your secrets with me? You've made fun of me three times now, and you still haven't told me what makes you so strong. She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death with it.

[Angela]

Wow.

[Ariel]

Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. My Hair has never been cut, he confessed, For I was dedicated to God as a Nazarete from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me and I would become as weak as anyone else. So she sent for the Philistine rulers. Come back one more time, she said, for he has finally told me his secret. So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap. And then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way, she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. Then she cried out, samson, the Philistines have come to capture you. Then he woke up. He thought, I will do as before and shake myself free. But he didn't realize the Lord had left him. So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. But before long, his hair began to grow back.

[Angela]

Let's even just go back when it says, you've made fun of me three nows and you still haven't told me. It says she tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it. Imagine how Satan sits all day long nagging you with the same thing day after day after day. You can never think that you're so strong that you won't eventually give into the nagging. That's why, like, literally, give us our day, our day, our daily. Like, give us our daily bread. Feed me today so that I have what I need to fight today. Because he will never stop. Satan will never stop coming after us with the same thing, the same nagging. And if we don't choose every single day to be full of the spirit, to be full of the Word, to be full of God, we will, without a doubt, get. Get sick to death about it. And also give into the temptation.

[Ariel]

Well, that's why I said he was so strong. But you are never too strong when you don't have Jesus. And that was Samson's problem. He was so ignorant. He had such an ego. He thought he had all this power, that he could do whatever he want and God would just keep giving him grace after grace. And if you look at the beginning of the story, it says when he met Delilah, it says Samson fell in love and lust with a woman named Lila. He said, I want her. He never went to Jesus for anything. It was all about Samson. It was all about his desires, his lust, what he wanted, his. He was a maniac. And, and so when I read this story, like when I read this part, yeah, I thought to myself, this isn't Delilah's fault, this is Samson's fault. He chose all of these little sins. Like he wanted her. He flirted with temptation over and over again. Oh, I'll be tied up. Like I'll joke with her. Let me do it again, let me do it again. So he kept doing it and doing it and then he kept getting tormented and tormented instead of saying no, flirting with, stop that. And I love what you said. That's why if you're not filled with the spirit, because if he was filled with the spirit, if he went to God first, if he went in his Bible in the morning, if he wasn't so arrogant and filled with ego and all of these things where he thought he could do whatever he wants. He reminds me of the rich men today that think that they have all the money and they can live however they want, do whatever they want and they're successful and they're whatever and then they always end up falling.

[Angela]

He reminds me of me when I think it's okay to even remotely flirt with temptation. That's right, when I think it's even remotely okay to joke a little bit like this or talk like I used to, or it's okay, you could just like have this type of conversation. You get it? Like it's just like little, little compromises here, little compromises there that add up to this moment where you just completely get demolished by evil.

[Ariel]

And that's what I wanted to say to you guys. Like, like I thought to myself, like, where does temptation occur in your life? Cuz it occurs in all of our lives. And when I sat down and thought about me, I thought like when I'm super lonely, when I turn on those. And I know this sounds so crazy to certain people, but this is why I don't watch certain things, this is why I don't go certain places. Like that sounds so crazy to the world. But when I decided, like, I don't care how crazy I look, like, I, I live for God, not for the world. Because if I lived to the world, I'd end up just like this guy. Crazy, you know, egotistical. That's why we have to be so close in communion with Jesus.

[Angela]

I think something about this story that like stood out to me a lot, which doesn't like necessarily go with the devotional. But I think what I've been dealing with a lot lately is like, like Samson let someone in that he Samson broke so many vows, like, there he. He was never supposed to eat from a. Like, the carcass of a certain type of animal. And he got honey from a dead animal. He married a woman he wasn't supposed to. He then obviously is flirting and being with a prostitute, like, consistently betraying God. But I just think, like, him letting Delilah into his life, trusting her, thinking it's not a big deal, letting her voice in, thinking he could trust her again. Like, we're not meant to move through life paranoid or, like, skeptical of everybody. But what I've noticed in my own life and, like, what you're speaking to, like, the little compromises, the little flirting with, like, the whatever, I feel like I will hear so clearly from God. Like, I will literally hear him tell me, like. Like, I want you to do this specifically. I want you to take this out of your life or I want you to start doing this with me and it'll be specific. And I know that it's him. I believe that it's him. And then I implement it into my life. And I can tell, like, there's fruit in that. Like, this is. Yes, what he said would happen from this is happening. And then I will have either little voices in my own head that make me doubt what God said.

[Ariel]

Right, Right.

[Angela]

Or I've noticed sometimes even, like, voices that I trust in my life. They're not saying anything bad, but it'll be something that's just, like, one degree off.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

And it makes me be like, okay, maybe he didn't say that. Maybe I am being too serious. Maybe I am being too much. And I am, like, in such a battle in my own mind because I'm like. But I know what God. I know what he's asked me to do, and I know what he wants. And. But then I'm, like, letting other people kind of, like, confuse me and they're not doing it on purpose. But I do believe that Satan is able to, like, give. Plant little seeds, even through people who love us, who don't mean it. And that's why God's voice is a million times more important than anybody else's. So I just say that to say, the people you let in your life. It's the most important decision that you make. And. Right. Ari and I would be friends with anyone and everyone. We love everybody. We love everybody. We would be friends with the mailman, but, like, we're not going to let the mailman speak into our lives if we don't know him that well, you know? And I've Been asking God, Lord, just show me what voices I can trust the most. Show me. Just show me. Like, I'm asking him all the time. So I just say that to say, like, yeah, just give out, like, bring everything to Jesus. And if there's any voice or any little thing that someone says that contradicts what you feel, God has spoken to you personally. Because what he says to me is not what he says to Ari. You know, your own convictions. Your own convictions. And. And so, yeah, that's what I'm wrestling through right now.

[Ariel]

Yeah. I love that you say that about, like, one degree off, right? Because it's not just, like, you sin and, like, oh, my gosh, it's all these little sins that are defiled up that end up breaking you. Like, and this is what I love about this story is like, it was all these little sins that added up to him being completely defeated.

[Angela]

Yeah. So good.

[Ariel]

So I love that. We can't. We can't. You can't even be one degree off. You can't. Like, you said that to me. I said I was like, you really can't because you end up falling.

[Angela]

You do. It's confusion. Yeah, you get confused.

[Ariel]

I'm just saying. Yeah, I'm listening as you're talking.

[Angela]

No, I just think we get confused. I just. And I think about the devotional that I'm gonna read guys. Like, I know we all want to be in relationships so badly, and we all. And. And. And I totally get it, and I want to be in a relationship, and I want to be married, and I want all the same things. And I'm just sitting here being like, you have to be so careful, the person that you're with. Like, you really do. I think about, like, people we know and things that have happened and pe. Like, you lay down with the wrong person and you don't know how far you'll end up from God. It's crazy. And it happens so f. It's really. It, like, makes me really sad.

[Ariel]

Makes me sad too.

[Angela]

You know that people have a destiny in Jesus. They have a path and a way that they should go, and then something come. Somebody comes into their life and takes them the completely wrong direction.

[Ariel]

It's the most important thing. Do you have. You can't. Like, you can't be with someone unequally yoked, period. We've been seeing it so much lately, and it just doesn't work. It really doesn't.

[Angela]

I have goosebumps all over my body. Me too. No, seriously.

[Ariel]

Want to finish the story?

[Angela]

Okay, let's get it to Samson's final victory. Let's finish the story because this is crazy how this ends. It's Judges 16, chapter 23, or verse 23. Sorry. The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their God, God Dagan. They said, our God has given us a victory over our enemy, Samson. They have no idea who they're messing with. When the people saw him, they praised their God, saying, our God has delivered our enemy to us. The one who killed so many of us is now in our power. So as you guys know, at this point, Samson, the strongest human being, somebody who is literally undefeatable, you cannot beat him when God is with him, is now blind and being thrown in prison, completely captured by the enemies. And it says half drunk by now. The people demanded, bring out Samson so he can amuse us. So he was brought from the prison to amuse them. And they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof.

[Ariel]

Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them. Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there. And There were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Simpson amused them. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, sovereign Lord, remember me again, oh God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow, let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes. Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, let me die with the Philistines. And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. Later, his brothers and other relatives went down to get his body. They took him back home and buried him between Zorah and Ethatol, where his father Manoah was buried. Samson had judged Israel for 20 years.

[Angela]

This is nuts.

[Ariel]

You know what's more stressful than a packed calendar? Realizing you're out of coffee right before a meeting. I'm serious. That's why I stocked up during the Thrive Market's Back to School sale. Even if you're not heading back to school, this is the perfect time to reset. Thrive makes it easy to shop for high quality pantry staples, snacks, vitamins, even skincare without running around town or decoding ingredient labels. I just restocked with Aloha protein bars, simple mills, crackers, and my favorite poppy drinks, all delivered fast and I saved up to 25%. Their filters make it easy to shop by lifestyle or diet and the Healthy Swaps tool is a game changer. I use Thrive and you should too. Now is the best time to try Thrive Market. You'll get up to 25% off select items and new members get 30% off first order plus a free gift. Go to thrive market.com ggb to start saving. The sale ends 8:31 don't miss it have you ever had a really stressful, unwanted thought pop up during worship? Maybe it made you feel like you needed to start your prayer over because it wasn't right or perfect. You're filled with shame or caused crushing guilt because it felt felt offensive to God. A lot of people have thoughts like this, including Ang and I, and trust us, we know how scary and isolating it can be to struggle with them. They can even lead to compulsive behaviors like constantly asking for reassurance, punishing yourself for having bad thoughts, or worrying about participating in religious practices like praying incorrectly. But here's what's changed everything for us Learning that these thoughts aren't character flaws or signs of weak faith. They might be symptoms of religious ocd, also known as as scrupulosity. OCD is really misunderstood, so a lot of people can be surprised to learn that it can focus on religion. But it's true. OCD can latch onto anything you deeply care about, including your faith and what it does. It can be devastating, but there's hope because with the right kind of therapy, OCD is highly treatable. That's where no CD comes in. With no cd, you can do virtual therapy designed specifically for ocd. There's licensed therapy therapists that deeply understand OCD as well as your faith and how important it is in your life. They'll help you work through these thoughts using Exposure and Response Prevention or erp. My favorite A type of specialized therapy that's the most proven treatment for ocd. NOCD also accepts many major insurance plans including United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna and more, and provides always on support between your therapy sessions. If any of this sounds familiar, you're not alone and NOCD can help. Visit nocd.com to schedule a free 15 minute call and learn more. That's nocd.com to learn more and book a free call. What I want to just say is I When you talked about community and stuff, when you read how the philistine rulers have has had their own God and all these things, that's who Samson was around, right so Samson had no community. He was around people who went against God. So this right here, this little piece where it says the Philistines were praising their God Dagon and all these things, that just goes to show you how you will fall to the ground if you are not surrounded by people who love Jesus. It is imperative to be around godly people. How do we know that? Because it was me and Angela trying to hold each other up.

[Angela]

Preaching the gospel in crop tops is what we were saying.

[Ariel]

Preaching the gospel in from crop tops. So I can't even imagine if her and I kept going on and on with unity.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Ariel]

Okay.

[Angela]

What's so crazy? Go ahead.

[Ariel]

No, keep going.

[Angela]

No, I was going to say about Samson in this last moment. So basically, Samson, God promised. God raised up Samson to have victory over the Philistines. And no matter how, how much we suck, God never changes. God is faithful. Samson was a disaster. And God still did what God planned to do through his life, right? And I think that this is so interesting because Samson got the victory. And Samson also suffered the consequences of his actions. Samson, this man who had all the favor in the world on his life, so gifted, so amazing, chosen, ended up blind and in jail, captured by his own enemies. And he put himself there. And God still didn't let his story be an ultimate fail. God's faithfulness still shined even though Samson's situation was messed up at the end. Samson got the victory that God always promised him to have. And he suffered consequences. And that's what happens in our lives. That's the whole point of this. I wrote this down. Samson is set apart, but acts self indulgently. His power without character leads to destruction. He is a hero who is deeply flawed. And it shows us that none of us are actually heroic. It is the spirit of God in us that accomplishes anything. It's God's faithfulness that leads like, produces fruit, that produces victory. Like it's literally only Jesus in our lives that can accomplish the things that God has promised for us. And it's the second that we think we can do anything without Jesus that we fall to our death. And I think, I just think this is a really interesting point to make, is that like all of the judges in this book, almost all of them are so flawed, so weak. Disaster. And I think a lot of people have so much church hurt because they see pastors fall and leaders fall and they see them have affairs and do really horrific things sometimes. And it's like, how, how, how, how. And some people might even feel like Those people's ministry is invalidated in the books that they've written and the sermons that they've preached. Like, it's all invalid. And that's just not necessarily the truth. Truth. It's not okay at all. At all. And you will be judged, Ari and I will be judged for the incongruency between us here and us in secret, just like every pastor, every leader, and every person watching, no matter if you're in ministry or not. But the point is, and I know that God allows this because he. His point is to prove his own power, that the power really is in nothing that we can do. The gospel is so powerful, so transformational. That's when Paul. When Paul writes that some people treat. Some people preach Jesus for selfish ambition and some from pure motives. Either way, the gospel is being preached. Paul is not giving an allowance saying that it's okay if you're selfish and it's okay if you're pure. Just preach the gospel. That's not even remotely what he's saying. He's saying, this is the truth. Some people are selfish for their own gain when they preach the gospel. And some people are really pure and just want the kingdom to be advanced. Right. Those people who are preaching from selfish motives will be judged, of course. And it's not okay. And it's not an allowance. Paul's not giving an allowance. But he's saying that no matter what's in our hearts, the gospel is so powerful that no matter what broken, impure vessel is preaching it, it has the power to save, transform, heal, and deliver. That's the point. And we see Samson in absolute disaster of a human being. He is so unfaithful, he betrays God time and time again. And the promise of God on his life to deliver Israel from the Philistines comes to pass even in his own destruction.

[Ariel]

It just shows the character of God. Yeah, but I will say that when you see these mega pastors in the church, it's all ego and it's all pride. And when they think they got too big, and that's the same with Samson, they stop reading the Bible. I don't need to pray. I got this. Like, that's. I like, that's what happens in these big churches. They think they got it in the moment. Like you said, the moment you think you got it, you fall. Because it doesn't matter how strong you are, without a surrendered life, you are weak. It's the truth. So the more you are in communion with Jesus, the more you're in your prayer time. The more you're asking people, I don't feel good in my heart. Search my heart. You call people. You ask them to pray for you. You are honest. You are low to the ground. In your prayer time, there is no shot that you will not live in a. That is what a surrendered life is. There's. You will not. The ego and being in communion with God and pride, they don't go together. So the more you're in communion, the more you're low to a surrendered life. And so good. I would argue that when I read that he. When he says, what did I read that I had this revelation of. He says, then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. And pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, let me die with the Philistines. I would argue that he didn't have to die with the Philistines. I would argue that God is so graceful, he is such a good father that he could have had a. With his repentance, could have said, please give me another chance, and God would have. But that's what sin does to you. You fall so low to the point where you feel. Feel like you're defeated. And you read that, like, when you guys go and read before the book of Samson, you read that every time he sinned, it was such a fleeting pleasure at the moment. And then he felt bad. And that's what he does throughout this book. It's like he feels that fleeting pleasure, and then he feels shame. And I believe that's what happened in the end when he said, let me die with the Philistines. And so, yeah, I think just throughout this whole book of Samson, you just see that the one thing he didn't have that set him apart from all the disciples, because the other disciples weren't perfect, but he didn't have a repentant heart. And so we all fall short and we all get caught up sometimes, and we all do wrong. I have many times. But we have the gift of conviction and repentance.

[Angela]

Thank you, God.

[Ariel]

So.

[Angela]

And repentance. By the way, what I've learned, I think I've. I was spending a long time being like, jesus, take the pride out of my heart, or Jesus, take the anger out of my heart, or, Jesus, take this out of my heart. I rebuke it. And like, blah, blah, blah. And I felt the Lord be like, you're not even repenting. You're not even, like, actually saying, I repent. Like, you can't. I was spending a lot of time asking God to take Things out of my heart to take impurity. And, like, I realized we have to be actively repenting. And that's like every five minutes. Like, that's like literally. Ari repents literally every five minutes.

[Ariel]

Well, I believe, like, I got delivered from so many things. And you can be delivered, but that doesn't mean all of a sudden everything's gone. You then need to go into healing and you need to. You go in like. So it's like, just because you're saved, just because you're baptized, just because you got delivered from something doesn't mean that you're all good.

[Angela]

Exactly.

[Ariel]

You have to stay as. As possible. You can never think you're too good. You can never think that the call on your life is too big. And you got this because you never do. Because he was called to defeat the enemy, and he ended up getting defeated by the enemy.

[Angela]

Oh, and God still did what God set out to do.

[Ariel]

God still did.

[Angela]

I don't, I don't want. I have a call of God on my life that whatever God needs from me, he's going to be able to accomplish. Accomplish. I want to. I want to end well in the process. You know, I don't want God to just work through my life and me be just destroyed at the end of it. Yeah. Like, it's. God cares so much more about how he wants us to finish well. He wants us to do well. He wants us to, like, run the race well and just really finish well. It's not just about, like, the achievements that you have and the great things you did for God. And then by the end of your life, you have all this, like, just disaster of the people you've hurt and the mistakes that you've made. And everyone makes mistakes. But do you know what I'm trying to say? It's like, it's about how you finish and your heart in it all.

[Ariel]

And I just want to say, like, I. I just want you to keep reading this, this chapter and just seeing God because so many people just are like, oh, gosh, you Christians, like, God, like, you can't even live your life. You can't. I hear this so much. And it's like, no, God is actually the. The most forgiving, gracious, most amazing. You will never meet anyone like Jesus, not even your own parents. And so you read through this book like, I'm too far gone. I can't do this. I don't want to come into Christianity because I've done so much. Look at how graceful he was to Samson with his ego, his Pride, his mess ups over and over and over again.

[Angela]

It's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. See, I wanted to read this. I wrote down, consecration is the source of strength. Compromise is the beginning of defeat. And like, what Ari just said about how the world and people in your life are going to tell you, you guys are weird, you're crazy, you're annoying, you take it too far, you're religious or legalistic, which, by the way, a lot of things that people call legalistic are literally just scripture. Like, some people are debating things that the Bible literally just like talks about, plain and clear. You know what I mean? It's just, I just want to encourage every single one of us here, Ari and I included, that like, the devil will never stop sending voices to tell us that we're too much. And I just want to encourage us all to continue being way too much. I like that end, like, way too much. Way more consecrated the way. Let it continue to get narrow and narrow, more narrow. Let the road to Jesus get so narrow. It's like a. It's. It's a journey of reduction. You're being reduced and reduced and reduced to Christ and Christ crucified and everything else can go like, that's the point of the Christian walk, is that everything that you once thought was gain becomes loss. And now we just get to live in the fullness and the simplicity of Jesus. Jesus. And that does mean I don't even want to watch that anymore. I don't even want to listen to that anymore. I don't even want to have even. Ari, I'm like, so proud of us. This isn't even about loss and this about, who cares? I'm so proud of us. Recently, like, Ari and I are best friends and we are sisters. And sometimes when you're super close to people, you feel the liberty to say things to them that you might not say to other people. And Ari and I even recently have started being like, okay, the other night we're like, hey, we're processing more than we're praying. We're being a little bit of an FBI right now. Let's pray about this instead.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

And there was not necessarily anything wrong with what we were doing, but that's the point of the walk, is that you reduce and reduce and reduce to like, as much purity as possible. And like, we've never done that before, but we started being like, okay, is this exactly what God, you know, things that aren't necessarily sinful, but what's the most beneficial?

[Ariel]

I don't know.

[Angela]

That was really Good.

[Ariel]

Yeah. I just see there's just such a call in so many lives. And I think about the call in our lives even and if we would have continue and to do those little sins that would defile us. And it's just like, yeah, I just. If you aren't dying to your flesh daily, you're toast. You don't. And there's so many people that miss the call because they keep going the other way. They keep thinking the little thoughts of the world of. But it did. But did God really Is that it was written 2000 years ago. Can I really not sleep with my person outside of marriage? Okay. It's just living together. We have to get to know each other before we get married. I mean, it's just one time, right? Just one time. No, it's never just one time. I want you to remember that it's never just one time.

[Angela]

I something I pray sometimes is I'm always like, lord, please don't pass me by. Please don't pass me by. Because I am flawed and broken and selfish and self centered and I'm so distracted. As much as I try not to be, I'm so distracted and I'm so scared of him passing me by because he, because he, he. He loves us and he pursues us. But there is a reality that like he will pass you by. Like you're blessing the thing that he has for you. It can go to somebody else. Please don't pass me by. Please don't let me be so distracted. Please don't let me be stuck in sin that you pass me by. Like, can I read a little something? So I read this commentary. It's called the Anchor Bible commentary. Jack M. Sassen and it says the tragedy of charisma without character. Sassen emphasizes that Samson's story is one of wasted potential. He is chosen from birth, endowed with divine strength, but he lacks wisdom, obedience and humility. Theologically, this challenges any assumption that giftedness equates to righteousness. Giftedness is not righteousness. Followers is not authority. Being an influencer doesn't mean prophetic wisdom on the Internet. I think we live in such an interesting time with so much Christian content and there's a lot of young people who have a lot of followers and a lot of influence. But influence is not authority. Like it's not. Just because a lot of people listen to you doesn't mean you're actually saying anything. And that's not to put anybody down. But like coming from two people who got thrust into something and we have. There's so much temptation for Ari and I to make this as massive as possible. And it is the grace of God on both of our lives that God has been having us pump the brakes from the very beginning. And while we could be chasing so many big things and making it so much bigger and building and building, both of us are begging people to come around us to teach us as much. Teach us as much as possible so we can actually carry the thing that God has already given us and steward it well. And, like, I just know I do not want any more, like, influence. I don't want power. I don't want anything if God himself didn't give it to me.

[Ariel]

That's right.

[Angela]

And I don't want to mistake charisma for having good character. Like, I really want to have good character. When people are trying to persuade us to do PR and marketing and put your name here and get your name out there and put Girls Gone Bible here and do all this stuff. You can catch Ari and I in the sea secret place, begging God to heal our childhood brokenness and make us the people that he has called us to be so that we can actually have a thriving future. Because Ari and I don't want to have this massive platform and a massive. By the way, God's not here to build your brand. He doesn't care to build any. He. God is not here to build Girls Gone Bible. God is here to bring souls home to Jesus. That's like, truly it. And he uses Girls Gone Bible and he uses different avenues. But. But, like, you guys get what I'm trying to say. This is something I'm really passionate about because Samson had all this stuff, but he wasn't wise and he wasn't obedient and he wasn't humble and look where it got him, you know?

[Ariel]

Yeah. God, I love that you say that because God really can use social media as a tool.

[Angela]

Totally.

[Ariel]

He can. But he doesn't call us to be influencers. He calls us to be obedient.

[Angela]

Yeah. And influencers are important. And that's all. It's all really good. I love Christians, but I hope you guys hear my heart that I'm like, it's more important, like your obedience to Jesus and actually being the person that you're talk. If you're going to talk about Jesus, that's amazing. But what you do in secret is you. You have to become like him.

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

And that's what we learned because we started this and we were not like him.

[Ariel]

Yeah. Like, yeah, be obedient. Be obedient. Because that's when life begins. That's when you will flourish. That's when you won't begin to. To live for the approval of man, right? And when you begin to live with God, that's when life fills you. And that's when. That's what he talks about, the light. I am the light of the world. You become the light. And so, yeah, that's been my journey for sure.

[Angela]

I'm, like, so emotional because I feel like I literally feel the delight of God on this right now too.

[Ariel]

I feel like we're such a beautiful episode.

[Angela]

I feel like the second we decided we're, like, we're going to exalt scripture above everything else, it feels so, like, special.

[Ariel]

It's so beautiful. This is a beautiful episode. I'm so happy. We feel so connected too. I feel like God is here.

[Angela]

The bad news is we're all tempted to trade our calling for comfort. The good news is God's purposes are not thwarted by failure. What is the hope or what is the redemption that God still uses Samson's final act for deliverance, pointing to a greater redeemer. And I read this from the world Biblical commentary by Trent C. Butler. It says, Butler hints that Samson's story foreshadows Christ. And that's what the whole Old Testament does. It points us to Jesus. There's either sim. It's either symbolic for who Jesus is, like the judges, right, represent our one final judge, or the Old Testament, like, shows us and exposes us the lack and the need for a savior and the need for a final judge. Because it says that both Samson and Jesus were both born miraculously. Both were set apart from birth, and both gave up their lives in an act that defeated enemies. But unlike Jesus, Samson is driven by revenge, not love. The contrast heightens the uniqueness of Christ's sacrifice. This whole thing, thing reading the Old Testament, reading Samson and Delilah should literally lead us into an encounter with Jesus. It's all about Jesus. I am so grateful for Jesus giving up his life for us in the way that he did, dying on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins so that we might have life, so that we wouldn't have to continue to have these judges over and over again who fail and who don't actually represent the love of God. Like every judge in this Bible, they're not God. They're meant to lead and deliver the Israelites, but they always come up short because they're not God. And our final judge, our final redeemer, is God in the fullness of who God is. And so he's perfect and he never failed. And so we have an atonement for our sins. That. That is final and it's successful and it's finished. And anybody who gives their life to Jesus doesn't have to worry about judgment, because we've already been judged. Because when God looks at us, he doesn't even see us anymore. He sees Jesus. That's what happens when you give your life to Jesus. It says that he who had no sin became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God. Because before Jesus, or when you're not, not in Jesus, when God looks at you, he sees your sin. He sees stain. And the second you give your life to Jesus, it's a cleansing by his blood. You're covered in the blood of Jesus, and you wear his righteousness. You literally have a robe of righteousness. And God looks at you and says, you're justified, you're redeemed, you're saved. You're safe and on earth. It's a beautiful thing that we get to do. We get to be healed and delivered and go on this journey. We're just Jesus crushes into our story, exposes all of our shortcomings, calls us higher, brings us out of bad situations. And yeah, thank you, Jesus.

[Ariel]

That's right.

[Angela]

I love you.

[Ariel]

Stay as close to Jesus as possible. Because when you stay as close to Jesus, you won't settle for counterfeits. You know, you won't end up where Samson is, where he's flirting with temptation and giving in to certain things. Because when you're close to Jesus, you have strength. He gives you the strength. He gives you the conviction. The greatest blessing that we have on the walk with Jesus is conviction. And the closer we are to Jesus, we want to be more like him. We don't want to go that way. We don't want to live like the world. And God will bless us. But the problem with the Samson story is that he made his blessing bigger than God. And we can never make our blessing bigger than God. Everything should point back to him. And so are we perfect? No. Will we fall short of the glory of God? Of course. Do me and Angela sit up here and act like we've never fallen? Even in our walk as we sit.

[Angela]

Up here five minutes before I got.

[Ariel]

Here, five minutes before we got here. But that's why having a repentant heart is everything. Everything. Search my heart. Oh, Lord, help me. I have these things in me that I don't like. I need help. I need healing. It's daily killing the flesh. And if you do that, you're on the right track.

[Angela]

So good.

[Ariel]

Everything. You're too mighty.

[Angela]

What was that last one?

[Ariel]

Never think you're too high and mighty because you're not. You're never too know. Look, Samson was the perfect description of it. Of a strong man who had all this power but got handed over to the enemy. And that's what will happen if we. If we live in habitual sin.

[Angela]

And if you think your gifts are from you, like, if you. Like, if I look at whatever is gifted in me and be and like, think I'm great because of it, without knowing that I was literally formed from the dust of the earth. Like, I am actually dirt and like I am. I am literally not nothing if not for God breathing life into me and choosing me to be born and then putting every gift inside of me. I did not muster these things up. You know what I mean?

[Ariel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

He gave them to me. Everything.

[Ariel]

You know what I started doing? I swear I didn't even realize I was doing it. I just feel so grateful lately. Like, even like going to a grocery store and getting food. You know how much that pleases the Lord. Like being in that communion of just constant, like, thank you, thank you. I have water. Thank you for my friend. Thank you. Like, that's what communion with the Lord looks like. Constantly. Just. It's so pleasing to him. And a lot of us, like, we don't. We forget to say thank you. That's what relationship is. It's like, thank you, Lord. Like, I can't even imagine how much that pleases him just being like, thank you.

[Angela]

I love that art so much. And if you guys are watching and you've never given your life to Jesus. Jesus, we're so grateful that you're here. Really quickly. I just pray that whoever you are, wherever you are, that the Holy Spirit would come and lift the veil off of your eyes. I pray that Holy Spirit would come into your room, into your car, wherever you are, and just fill whichever room you're in with his presence. I pray that the peace of God would come over you right now. And I pray that the truth of God would be revealed to you. The truth of who? Jesus. Jesus is Holy Spirit. I pray that you reveal the Son to every single person listening or watching this episode. If you've never given your life to Jesus and you think you know a man who died on the cross, that means that all your sins are forgiven and your life is saved and you're going to be able to live in heaven. If you think that's crazy, I get it. If you think the Bible is a little crazy, crazy, I totally understand. But you have two people sitting here right now who testify, who can literally testify to the good news that is this gospel, that it's truth, that Jesus literally saved our lives. I was an alcoholic, anxious, depressed, disaster with a broken family history. Ari has battled so much mental health stuff with a broken family history, and we are walking, making miracles. It makes no sense for us to sit here and be the people that we are. It literally is otherworldly. It's supernatural what has taken place in our lives. And it's because of Jesus, the person of Jesus, the truth of his word, the Bible, and the sacrifice that Jesus made on a cross. Like, it is so beautiful, amazing. And it doesn't make sense sometimes because it's supernatural what takes place. But Jesus took the penalty. He paid the price. And he loves you so much, and he gave you your life. He knows who you are. He knows your name. He knows everything you're going through. He knows your entire family history. He knows what you've been dealing with since you were a child. And he wants to be in it with you. He's literally standing at the door, knocking, and he wants you to invite him in. And he wants to be Lord of your life. He wants to be Lord of your mind, Lord of your body. He wants to heal you of every disease. He wants to forgive you of every one of your sins. That's what the word of God says, that he forgives all of your sins, heals all of your diseases. And so right now, if you want to pray with us, you can give your life to Jesus. Or if you're watching and. And you know that you've been lukewarm and your heart isn't burning for Jesus anymore. And you know that you're in sin, and you know that you've turned away, and you know that you've become numb. This is your time right now, your invitation to give your life to Jesus once and for all. And say, I'm done. I'm done with that life. I'm done with the sin. I'm done with everything that I thought was gain because it's all loss. So just pray this with me. Dear Jesus, I give you my life. I believe you died on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins. I believe you rose from the dead and now you're seated at the right hand of the Father. Father, I believe that you are Lord. I renounce the devil. I renounce my sin. Jesus, I want you to come into my life as my Lord and savior. Be Lord of my mind, Lord of my heart, Lord of my body. Fill me with your holy spirit in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. If you just gave your life to Jesus, welcome to the family. We love you guys so much.

[Ariel]

We're so proud of you. We're so proud of you. And I don't know, when you were talking, I kept hearing some of you may not think you are called. And I want you to know that each and every one of you has a purpose. That's why you're here. Yeah. He knows every single hair on your head. He's got a such something for you, each and every single one of you. So if you think you're too far gone, you're not. You're here for a purpose and a reason. And you're set apart by him. And I really, I want you to hear my words and I really want you to take that in because that is the truth and that's what it says in his word.

[Angela]

I am so emotional. I'm so proud of you. I'm so good. All right. We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn to his face towards you and give you peace.

[Ariel]

Shalom. Shalom.

[Angela]

We love you. If you got to the end of the episode, type gigi Beging in the comments.

[Ariel]

Type it.

[Angela]

We love you. Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn Ads, go to Libsyn ads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.