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Hello. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Saved Not Soft. Good morning, good evening, wherever you are, no matter what place, time. Welcome to Save Not Soft. I'm so excited to see you guys. We are episode three of season four. So excited. And I already know kind of the tone and I guess the energy that's coming in the room right now, because I know you read the title and I know you're like, oh, we're talking about suffering. And we are. And it's necessary to the Christian life. It's necessary for us to talk about. And this is probably not going to be the cutest conversation we have, but thank goodness that Christianity isn't just cute, okay? Christianity is a journey. It is not for the weak. It's for those with endurance and intentionally seek the feet of God. And I'm just here to help you guys as a teacher, to help you students the word of God correctly, to help you walk along this path of righteousness. And this podcast, Save Not Soft, is curated to let you know that you are heard, loved, and seen by Jesus. And my name is Emmy Moore Brookins, and I'm just a Bible teacher here on YouTube and on the podcast and on social media and just love sharing God's word and more importantly, understanding his word, because we can know what he's saying, but simultaneously not know what he means. So this podcast is curated to show you what God is saying and simultaneously what he actually means, not taking it in from a worse Western worldview, whatever it may be. So this is a podcast curated to let you know that you heard, love, and seen. And this is not a replacement of your time with Jesus. I'm not Jesus. I am a daughter of God. Simultaneously, I did not go on a cross and die for everybody sin. There's one man's death who had paid the price for all of us, and that man is Jesus Christ. And this is not a tool or podcast to replicate your time with him, to replace it. If anything. This is just an additional tool to help you walk along your journey. Amen. Because we need some fellowship. Like, I'm sorry, but there's some times where it's like, we get in these communities that act very perfect and clean as a mirror. And it's like, not like there's actually real suffering in real life that that is happening. And there's so many people suffering all over the world. I mean, as I was praying this morning, going into this message, just incredibly transparently as well, I was stuck on writing another message that I was going to speak on today instead of this one. And I kept hitting a wall and I was like, why am I not clicking with this topic that I believe God has put on my heart? And I believe that the topic that I am going to talk about, it's going to be next week instead. But there's an urgency to speak upon suffering. And as I was praying this morning, and even as I was writing it the past few days, there was just like a flow from the Holy Spirit. It's just like a sprung up well. And every time I was praying, seeking the Lord and studying in regards to suffering, the Lord was just answering and imprinting his word on my heart. So as I share this with you guys, this is something that isn't just, hey, you know, I'm this teacher and I'm this girl speaking on this podcast that hasn't been through suffering before. Oh, no, girl, we all suffer. We're all here. And there's something my husband had said the other day that really meant a lot to me. When he said, when he said it, it was more of like an awareness, I guess, thing sentence that you had said. And he had shared with me that many leaders are condemned and shamed for sharing that they need help and that there are plenty of pastors out there leading sheep, helping a congregation, helping other people. And, and there's this almost doubt and insecurity and shame that leaders. And I'm even just talking about pastors, like if you're in any sort of form of ministry, if you serve in a small group, if you lead in high school ministry, if you help in young adults, like no matter what it is, there's this shame that as a leader you can't say that you need help. And so I really wanted to create a safe space today for all people, Leaders, students, people who are coming to Jesus, people who've been here for a while, however old or little you are. I wanted to create a safe space that of this awareness that everybody suffers and we have an answer to our suffering and a greater hope and a greater gladness. And it's, it's kind of fun to talk about because it makes us all a little more human. Amen. So let's pray. We're going to chat, teach. Yep. Give some application. And I already feel God's glory. I feel myself getting emotional because I know he's going to do something incredibly special. Let's pray over the atmosphere because I have a sneaky little sense that temptation of distraction is going to arise and we need to see this aspect of Jesus. Amen. So let's pray Jesus, we thank you, Lord Jesus, we exalt you and we thank you and we look at what you did on that cross. We thank you for taking our shame, our guilt, our weakness, our crying and our mourning and pinning it on a cross. I thank you that all the things that were meant to be our consequence. Galatians says that not only did you take sin for us, but you became it for us on that cross. I thank you that you have taken on the curse of humanity and you have redeemed it through your precious blood. We exalt you, you incredibly beautiful Jesus. And we thank you, thank you for what you have done. Lord, would you show us today the power of the cross, the power of your blood, the power of your suffering? And would you empathize with us? I thank you that your Word says in Hebrews 4:14 that we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness. Lord, show us today that you are more than able to empathize with every single weakness that a person may be carrying on the other side of the screen. That you bless them, that your word heals the inside of them. I thank you that in who the sun sets free is free indeed. And I thank you that in the Son is the words of the Son, which is the teachings of Jesus. And through the teachings of Jesus we are set free because it is his Word and it is documented and is incredibly, incredibly divine. We thank you Lord, for your majestic power. We thank you Father, that you have sent your son. We thank you Father, that you are the gardener. We thank you for the pruning. We thank you for the seasons that you bring us through. We thank you that you know way more imaginably more than anything we could ever fathom. So we thank you for your majesty. We thank you for your mysteriousness. We thank you for your glory. God, we ask for you to be exalted here today over every heart and every mind and that you saturate every soul and every spirit under the sound of my voice, to be acclimated to the teachings of Jesus, that we will no longer fall to the teachings of man made wisdom. That we rely on the teachings of Jesus and what the scriptures say about Jesus open up our hearts and minds. Help us to get up and out of ourselves for a moment and to see suffering for what it really is. Help us to not take things so personally, Lord, and help us to snap out of anxiety, snap out of depression, snap out of suicidal ideation as you empathize with us. Father, I Ask that you wring out of us despair every ounce of despair that the believer and unbeliever may be having right now. Father, those who hear me, Lord, I ask that you wring out their depression. You wring out their anxiety, you bring out their sadness, their emptiness, their disassociation. And I ask that you minister to them and you fill them with your presence. I thank you that you have formed them, but more importantly, you have filled them with your presence. And that Holy Spirit, your main desire is to fill a person, to show them who Jesus is. Would you fill us here today? Would you fill this room? Would you fill our hearts? Would you fill our minds? Would you fill our hands and show us Jesus? And when we see Jesus, we see salvation, we see freedom, we see liberty. Let us experience liberty here today. I will not stop this podcast and I will not stop teaching and preaching until liberty has broken out. I thank you Lord that you're ministering to these people and I pray a hedge of protection over them from the top of their head to the soles of their feet. We put off any distractions and we declare you as holy. Help us Lord. Help us Lord. Help us Lord. And I even thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Thank you Holy Spirit, that you show me to pray this. I pray for the unbelief in believers hearts. I pray for the unbelief in believers hearts that you sparked their belief system. And we learn to trust you in new ways that have been hesitant for us before. Thank you Lord, that you are faithful and that you answer to those who call on you. Answer us here today. We are expectant for you. As we talk about suffering, we boast in you be exalted. We love you. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen. I'm probably, I sense myself getting, and I'm just saying this, I sense myself getting incredibly emotional just talking about this regarding suffering because as I was getting ready this morning, you know, just doing the hair shower and like hitting my spray tan, you know, the whole thing, you know, the whole regimen, I was weeping over the amount of suffering, the broken and bleeding sheep. Not in America, but all over the world. In America, outside of America, we have a very, very broken people and oh man, I'm a mess, bro. There are so many people suffering and not just in a way that's emotional despair, physical despair. We have so many tragedies that are happening inside the us. We have broken families and households, people being taken away from their families. We have people incarcerated with suicidal ideation and confusion. The United States is Also one of the largest territories for sex trafficking. There has been plenty of young children, abused and mistreated children, men and women, unsolicited violence, suffering, so much suffering. And even outside of the United States, there are people being persecuted, deep persecution. I'm talking genocide and deaths, and even the persecution that's happening amongst Christians beyond the United States, like people being beheaded and the amount of people who are so incarcerated by other people's standards and unmet expectations and abuse sexually, physically, emotionally, mentally. Our world is covered in suffering. And it breaks me. It breaks me the amount of people, which is pretty much everybody, but in different categories, I guess, all over the world to deeply suffer. And when we talk about Jesus, when we talk about the life of Jesus in Christianity, there's often this presumption that the Christian life is perfect and that the Christian life is not going to acquire any type of suffering, that the moment you say yes to Jesus, that no tribulation is going to come your way. And that's quite the opposite. Jesus promises us tribulation and that we're going to face many trials and many, and I mean many discourses. Malik and I were watching a sermon the other day by Tim Keller that was speaking upon the wilderness and going through times of suffering and dark times. And one of the things that he had shared in the sermon is that if us Christians think that we're no longer or ever going to obtain some sight, some sort of suffering because we're with Jesus and everything's going to be sunshine and rainbows. And again, my goal of saying all this is not to share a greater hope of salvation, that we will be free from all of our iniquities and debts and sin, which we've already done. There is a fuller salvation the moment we reach the gates of heaven and the moment we're established fully by Jesus and his blood, righteousness and vindication, which is only through the Son of Jesus Christ. God looks at us as righteous because Jesus is standing. His blood is covered over us. So when God looks at us, he's not just looking at our own efforts, he's looking at the blood of His Son covering us. Therefore, he is pleased. That is the biblical definition of righteousness and justification. My hope in this is to no longer be ignorant to the suffering that that many Americans, people outside of America, the whole world, that Christians have to insert. And transparently, I feel led to say this because it's going to free me. I said earlier that I felt like I was hitting a wall and I couldn't type out the episode that I wanted to say today, and I was like, why am I hitting this wall? And it was because there is this real part of me that is suffering. And I could teach from this place. And if I could teach from this place and help a bleeding sheep, I will do it. There is real suffering that a Christian endures. I would even argue that the suffering that I've had to endure the past year and a half, two years, has been the worst suffering I've experienced in my entire life. Worse than my testimony. And I never, ever, ever, ever want to be a leader and a shepherd that acts like I'm not human. And the thing about suffering is that you can live a completely obedient and vigilant life to Jesus and the world will still feel like it's crumbling around you. But I've boasted through this process because I've looked at Jesus throughout the entirety of it and always depended on him, considered him as worthy, and still prayed to him, even when I felt like I couldn't. And the only gift I can personally give you, like out of myself, the only gift I could give you today is my humility and my honesty that through the Christian walk, it has not been butterfly sunshine, some rainbows for me. And I can attest that for the majority and every Christian that I've met. And you're probably dealing with a lot of suffering too. So let's be honest here today. Let's make a safe space. It's okay to cry. This is a place where we are going to see the suffering of Jesus and the greater hope we have in him being fully established in our salvation. Anyways, about the Tim Keller quote that I wanted to say, but I kind of went off tangent. If us Christians think that we are going to live a perfect, blameless life when we say yes to Jesus, but still dwell here on earth, and we are still inhabited by the earth. This is our physical home as of right now. To say that we'll have a good life because we're a quote unquote great or good Christian makes no sense, because Christ was the perfect human and yet he suffered. And when Tim Keller shared that when we were listening to that sermon, it sparked something on the inside of me of like, why do we have this perception that we're going to have a perfect Christian life? When Jesus was the perfect Christian, he went without sin. He was the only man here on earth to go without sin, and yet he suffered. No servant is greater than his master. And if that's the case, there is an anticipation and A promised tribulation. And now this doesn't necessarily mean that God leaves you or forsakes you. The Scriptures promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us. And what is also said in Scripture and even just proven out through the Old Testament and through the New, is that even in the midst of trial, tribulation and suffering, those very things are used to cultivate God's glory. And I made an episode a few seasons back about like, why do bad things happen to good people? That kind of gets into the theology of free will, sin and etc, that I'm not going to explain today. So if those are questions you have of like I don't understand that, I would totally recommend you to listen to that. But understand that when we say yes to Jesus, we're saying yes to his death, burial and resurrection. Not just the image of him, but his story and everything that he's claimed to be. And we're going to be in the book of John today. We're going to be in John chapter 16 and we're going to jump around in John. So if you have your Bibles, we're going to get to teaching today. We have tons of scripture and I'm actually incredibly excited. This is the, I guess, foundational scripture of today. We're going to go John, chapter 16, verse 33. Jesus says, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcame the world. One more time, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I've overcome the world. The scenery of this verse just to break down kind of where we're at. Why is this being said and breaking down kind of the verse which we're going to go through, the scenery is the upper room. This is where Jesus is sitting with his disciples. Hours before the crucifixion, Judas had already left to go do his little scandalous, little snitchy, snitchy pie stuff. And Judas had already left. Jesus had already prophesied over Peter that he was going to deny him three times. And this is one of the last statements that Jesus gives to disciples before he is ultimately seized by the authorities and taken to Calvary. And this was a very intimidating sentence to share with the disciples. There were plenty of things that Jesus was sharing in the upper room that wasn't the most encouraging in the sense of everything's going to be perfect. Jesus has implied in this conversation in the upper room what was yet to come. And the disciples were in a place of fear, of uncertainty. They kept questioning Jesus. And Jesus in this verse says, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I've overcame the world. There's a few things we can unpack. I think one of the first things that points to the point of this entire podcast is Jesus promises tribulation. In the world, you will have tribulation. So while we reside here on planet earth, tribulation comes grafted into the roots of the earth. There is tribulation and suffering that is seeded and planted into the earth. So Jesus promises, while your feet are still on this earth rotating, that there will always be a suffering in the tribulation that is here. And he rebuttals it with taking heart, being courageous. He has overcame the world. And little did we know this was going to foreshadow because the disciples didn't know the whole story during the time they had to live it out in real life, that there was going to be a cross that Jesus, sinless, blameless, took on the curse of humanity, died on to overcome the world. And even him saying that in me you may have peace. I don't have peace only in the name of Jesus or only just in what he has done. The provision of my life, my circumstances, the abundance of life, flesh, whatever it may be, peace is found on the inside of him. It's peace in him, not apart from him. It's all inside of him. Peace is found completely in Jesus, completely immersed into Jesus. And when he says these things, he promises suffering so it doesn't destroy their faith. Because if Jesus didn't prerequisite that there is going to be a suffering, when suffering did come, there would be no foundational ground for the disciples to understand that, oh, this is something that Jesus said. And he said that I was going to go through this. And I trust his words, I trust what he has said so I could go through the suffering because he promised it to me. If Jesus never promised suffering and there was suffering, imagine when the suffering would come. And I think this is the dangers to every believer. They don't understand that Jesus promises a life of suffering. So when people say yes to Jesus, they think that everything is done. And what I mean everything is done is that there is a greater judgment that Jesus is coming back to to judge the entirety of the earth. What has been paid for is our sin in Him. We are not sinless on our own. We are sinless because I look at Jesus and because his blood on that cross has already been paid for. Amen. So when we hear about suffering and we know that it's promised to us, us as the believers, have an intentionality and an awareness that in this life there will be tribulation. And I don't know what it looks like for you. I don't know if women, because I know the majority of women I'm speaking to, if it's relational problems, if it's sexual abuse, assault, addiction, if it's even incarceration in your mind and you can't get out of anxiety or depression. I empathize and understand with all of these things. And simultaneously you will be healed. Revelation says that he will wipe the tear of every eye the moment we reach the gates of heaven. If you are not healed here on this physical earth, which I do believe, I do believe in great healing. I do believe that Jesus heals. I do believe I've seen the lame walk. I've seen blind eyes open. I've seen all these things. I've seen mental illnesses go and intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation and anxiety and mental illnesses. I've seen them flee. And everybody who says yes to Jesus is waiting for a greater redemption. And we will be healed from everything that is causing tribulation. The moment that we reach the gates of heaven, which we're going to talk more about that. But when Jesus says that in me, you may have peace, what does it mean to, like, be in Jesus? And when it comes to suffering, suffering causes a temptation. Suffering causes a temptation on the inside of us to do one of two things. Either I can lean more into God and I could trust in him as my comforter and provider, or suffering prompts a different type of temptation. And it's to run away from the feet of Jesus and to run into the caves of fear and run into the caves of self doubt and unworthiness and despair and anxiety and depression, anger, discomfort, loneliness, isolation, whatever those things are, There's a temptation and two crossroads. We are hit with the moment that suffering comes across our path. And I wanted to talk about the abiding Christian life because many of us, whenever we suffer, we often think that when I suffer, I'm so scared, I'm so afraid, I don't know what to do. And we cave and rely on ourselves, and we don't know how to look outside of ourselves for a moment and realize that there was a real God, God who Sent his son to die for me. And this God happens to care for me and pave out the ways for me and sustain me in the storm. I will never forget the story of Jesus and the disciples. They're freaking out in the boat like they're a mess and Jesus is still in the midst of them in the storm. We have to understand, while there is quote unquote tribulation, we're never technically unsafe as long as God is with us. If I am always occupied by the presence of God, your mercy and your goodness, they follow me. If he truly follows me, if he is in every single place I am in, especially if I'm obeying the voice of the Lord. Because there's been times gotta think it like this. Daniel, for an example, was in the pit of the lion's den, and God was with him. Dan. Daniel did not give into the pressures of the earth. He did not get into the pressures of leaders and people who was trying to conform his belief system and who he proclaimed as Lord in the midst of danger. Right? Tribulation. In this sense, God completely filled that cave, that pit, that lion's den with his presence. So even in the face of the tribulation, God shut the lion's mouth. Why did this happen to Daniel? Because God was with Daniel. So even when you're in physically, mentally, emotionally, the most dangerous place, God sustains you with his presence. And when he sustains us with his presence, we are safe. So what does it mean to abide in God? The abiding Christian life has been something Malik and I have been studying for some months now. It's been one of the things that have really cultivated and gravitated, I mean, completely shifted our relationship with the Lord. And a lot of this has been a caterance to, I guess, a cadence to the leadership we've been under and some of the services and teachings we've been to that has really sparked so much intimacy with our secret space in the Lord. And when we think of the abiding life, we're going to turn to John, chapter 15, just the page before, about Jesus teaching about how he is the true vine. And we are going to read so much. Okay. He says, I am the true vine and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit. By Itself, unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers. And the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and they burned. If you abide in me and my words and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. This is my Father, or what does it say? By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Right. And I want to talk about this idea of suffering attached to the vine, which is this great word, agricultural world, or agricultural word called pruning, which Jesus had spoken a number of times throughout. Just the matter of these eight verses. How is it we could be fruitful and simultaneously prune? If I'm connected to the vine, the vine dresser, who's God? So we could just kind of like, address roles, like out the gate for the sake of this parable. So Jesus says that he is the true vine and God is the vine dresser, and we are branches connected to the vine. Correct. So Jesus is the vine. He is which everything it flows from. Right. And us being connected to Jesus is what gives us life. It's entirely what fills us. And so Jesus is saying is that when you abide to me, when you're connected to me, everything of which I have will flow into you. Right? And in the sake of a vine. They're talking about vineyards. They're talking about grapes. Hello. Love me a good grape? I love. Malik, do you like green grapes or purple grapes? Do you have one you like more than the other? Maybe green. Malik said he likes maybe green more. I think I like green. I don't. But you know what? I don't know. I love a good purple. They're both good. I love. I love grapes. They're really good. I know a lot of people who, like, have grapes and they freeze them and they eat the frozen grapes. I hate, hate, hate, hate. Double hate the texture of it. I can't do it. I'm so sorry. But it's like, how do you bite into a little icicle pop? It just freezes my teeth. I can't do it. My teeth are just so sensitive. I'm like, I can't do this. But we're talking in the sense of a vineyard, right? And this is the fruit that's being produced. And so when it says that God is the vine dresser, God is the ultimate. Even though the deed of deity of God dwelt bodily, which is in Jesus. God's role in this parable is that God is the one that prunes. God is the one that judges. He is the one that observes the entirety of what it is. Right again. God considers us righteous because of his Son. So we could use that same theology in this picture, that God is judging the branches through the connection, through the. Through the vine. And it even says that branches that are cut off are thrown away and they don't receive any nutrients. Why? Because, bucko, you're not connected like I. That's it. Like, you got to be connected into Jesus. And let me say this. I feel so filled up in my spirit. When Jesus says, connect to the true vine, which is me, it doesn't mean connect to your best friend, connect to your man of God, woman of God, which. These are resources and these are people, and it's great. And they're meant to pour into you. They're meant to exalt you, encourage you, sharpen you. And there are people in our lives that will be used as a temptation to replace the true vine. And that's not where we get our nutrients from. Where we get our nutrients from is the Christ crucified, Jesus Christ. That is the only person. No other person gets that credit. They may have brought you to Jesus. They may have helped you when you were down bad. And that's amazing. But ultimately, God sent them for you. It's been him all along. Give credit where credit is due. And I think a lot of the times when we have a lot of suffering, especially those with anxious attachment. Yeah, anxious attachments, we like to cleave to people and be like, this person saved me. Who saved you is Jesus. And Jesus will send you people in in the order of the means to save you. Correct. So we could honor people. We could give credit where it's due. And people are not the vine. Jesus is the vine. Amen. I love when it talks about abiding. Abide in me as I. I'm the true vine. My Father is the gardener. Remain in me as I also remain in you. Also abide in me, as I also abide in you. Abide in the Greek means mino, which means making one's home. So when it means to abide in God, it doesn't mean that you're visiting God. It means that you stay there so we can. Sorry, I had like three burps come out of me. I'm like, hello. They were all secretive. They all happened on the inside of me. I was kind of scared. But even when we look to a number of other scriptures, I could go, Psalms 91. Those who make shadow of the Most High. Or shadow. Let me just turn there. Psalms 91, that's where we're going. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High. The shelter of the Most High is a place, and dwelling is a place where I stay. I'm not being shaken. I'm not going out. I'm staying here. So when it says that he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty, that means that when I go into the place of the Lord, when I close my eyes, when I pray to him, when I seek him in my secret space, I don't know what it is. Every moment I spend with God, I'm not just visiting Him. My job is to stay connected to him through this thing called abiding. So when I dwell in his shelter and I take him as my refuge, I abide, stay, make his presence my home. And so when Jesus is saying that I am the true vine, he's saying, no, make this, this vineyard your home, and you're connected fully to me. So even in the midst of suffering, we have to make the decision of what we're going to be attached to. And if I'm going to be attached to the true vine, which is Jesus, or through other things that are artificial that what grants me and requires for me to get cut off from the true vine. And I'm gonna keep it a stack. I don't want that. I don't want anything that's apart from Jesus, because why? That's scary. Like, I don't want to be anywhere apart from Jesus. Like, I don't care if I'm the middle of a dang fiery mess if I know Jesus is with me through the midst of that, that is the best place I could be. Because God forbid I'm outside of the will of God and outside of the will of Jesus, and I'm cut off like a branch, and I'm planted into the soil of the earth that gives me rainbow sunshines and all this delusional stuff. I don't know what it is. Materialistics, lust, the eyes, flesh, the world. I don't know what it is. God forbid we ever are deceived, that we're planted in the right place. Like our job is be connected to the real vine. And that true vine is Jesus. And so because we know abide means mino, which is making one's home, it means to allow Jesus's words to be the ongoing atmosphere of my life. Right? Those who abided me in my words, it's not just this picture of Jesus, but also what he says. Faith without works is dead. We know this. So this means that I'm acclimating myself to become more aware and vigilant to the words of Jesus and taking them so seriously that it creates and cultivates the atmosphere of my life. So when Jesus says love thy neighbor, girly Bob, you should probably love thy neighbor. And that doesn't mean your perception of love. It means what First Corinthians 13 says about love, that love is patient and kind and keeps no record of wrongs. I know some of you are clocked because every time someone does you wrong or every time your boyfriend does a little something that makes you a little hypercritical, you keep a tally, you keep a score. We've all fallen short. All of us have been there simultaneously. We cannot exercise our limitations in our definitions of love and put that next to the divine and definitional love which is found in Jesus. For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son. Jesus is the love written letter of God's heart. He's the living communication of God's heart. And so Jesus's words and his teachings and the fulfillment of the history of scriptures is what fills us. It's not simply just the presence of God, but it's also the words that come through Jesus's mouth that teaches us and shows us and comforts us and guides us. So even through the midst of suffering, we are planted and we are rooted. Right? And fruit and pruning is one of the main things and I guess analogies that we see in the Scripture is that he says in John 15:2, every branch in me that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. What does this verse say? If you're fruitful, prepare to be cut. The more fruit you produce, the more susceptible you are to being pruned. And this is what prune does not mean. It doesn't mean all hell is going to break out on you for no reason and God's going to punish you. That is not what pruning means. Pruning is surgical, it's intentional, and it is by God. God is the vinedresser of this parable, correct? He is the vinedresser. Jesus is the vine. Where are the branches? And when the scripture says that every branch in me that bears fruit, he prunes God as the Creator surgically goes into our lives and prunes intentionally, this means cutting off because the goal, the goal of pruning is producing greater fruitfulness. So in order to be more fruitful, I have to be cut. But that cut isn't punishment. It's not consequence, it's not condemnation. And I think that's when we could diversify what is the voice of God and what is just the attacks of the enemy. When God cuts, it may hurt for a moment, but this looks like cutting off friendships. This looks like cutting off the toxic relationship. This looks like cutting off that job opportunity or the job that you had for the past few years that was making you so much money but yet was keeping you egotistical. It could have been your social media platform. It could have been any luxury of life that's tearing you away from the presence of God. God will, and don't get this twisted, he will cut off anything that replaces his presence. We see this time and a time and time again. God will cut you. And this is discipline. He prunes you. It's intentional and it's loving. And if you're like man, God is using me so mightily and simultaneously, I'm getting cut in all these places. That should be further evidence to you that he loves you and that he's taking drastic measures. I mean, praise be to God. He came in and took like, here's my thing. I praise God. He met me when I was 17 years old and, and cut Air Force out of my life. I was about to join the Air Force. Basically sold my dang soul to the, to the military, about to fly these drones and computer science and do like, girl, I was about to be in the tech in the army green. Like, what are we talking about? And God cut that from my life. And I was devastated because I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know what I'm going to do with my life. I have no money to go to college. I can't even apply for dang fafsa. This sucks. I don't even have my high school diploma. Not because I'm stupid, but because I didn't pick it up. And I still haven't turned in a library book, but I paid for it. I still don't know why I don't have it. I just haven't picked it up. I could have my diploma. I just haven't Picked it up from my high school. But I was so upset because I was like, this is where I was supposed to go. And God audibly, that was the first thing he took into my life. And I was devastated because I didn't have a plan and I felt like I didn't have guidance. I didn't know where I was supposed to go. There's been plenty of times I can even talk about low key. My season right now I was back in California. Live laugh and loving. Hey, live laughing lovin. I had my routine, my favorite coffee shop. I would go to Pilates, my friend group, the local church. I've been serving for the past five years. Like I had everything. And God told me that when I stepped into a new season that I was supposed to leave all those things behind. He cut all of those things. It's devastating. And I know that God did those things and he's with me even in the midst of this obedience because it's going to produce a greater faithfulness and greater fruit. And that's not even going into other things that I've had to do. Like, oh my gosh, like the mental load and tribulations and stuff that I might share a few years from now, but with that being said is that there's going to be things that we go through and God is surgically going to insert himself into our branches and cut us in places where there needs to be more fruit. Or he's like, you know what I'm looking at? Like, think of us as a branch and there's all these little tiny branches coming out of us that's producing fruit, right? And he's thinking, man, she's growing here. But in a way that's not fruitful. If I were just cut it and if the root system would bring its nutrients up to this branch, it would produce a greater fruit. If I were just cut this off. And it doesn't mean he's going to snap the branch in half. He's not going to break you in half, but he will prune you. And I think that's the testament to we were talking about last week. An identification that I'm a son and a daughter and God is his discipline. Pruning looks like discipline. Hebrews 12 talked about that last episode. And fruit that is being seared, I guess fruit that is being seared is drawn from the root system, the true vine, right? And branches have no independent root system. Like branches cannot be independent. They have to be connected to something. Which is why Jesus says, abide in me as I abide in you, right? If you stay connected to me, everything of which flows from me will flow into you, which will make you bear fruit. What does bearing fruit mean? Bearing fruit means anything that gives God glorification and exaltation. This could be through your job, through your ministry, through your relationships, through your personal life, through your writing and your reading and your job and your career and things that God has set you out to do, your creative styles and your hobbies, things of which produce fruit. So all of them give God glory, right? The only primary. The primary job, the only job of the branches stay connected to divine. That's literally the job we have as believers. Our only job in this Christian life is to stay connected. And it's a lot easier said than done. I know that sounds incredibly simple, but Christianity is simple. But it's not easy, right? That's why Jesus says that I will give you. Come to me. Come to me all who are weary, burdened and heavy laden. I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So when Jesus says that I have a yoke, he has a yoke, it's easy and the burden is light. But it doesn't say that there's not going to be a burden and there's not going to be a yoke. There will be a yoke and a burden even when we come to him in the midst of rest. But it is easy and it is light because of his blood. Does that make sense? The branches only job is to stay connected. And the vines roots go deep inside of the soil, drawing water and the nutrients of which flow through the vine into each branch with SAP. I went to Sai con when I was like, what, like 10 years old? That's when like in sixth grade you go, I don't know if everybody does this, like where you go to like a summer camp for like with your school, like people you're in class with for like a week. And we learned that live oak. Live oak. Ooh, baby. Ledgers island flow. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, I know all about SAP. I'm a SAP educated queen. Like we learned about SAP in sixth grade. And I remember well because we would see so much SAP on trees and then because there were live oak trees and we would sing the song. And when I was reading about Jesus being the true vine and that the vine reaches down to the depths of its roots to pull up nutrients, to give that same nutrients to the branches through SAP. And I started, I like re saying the song in my head again. I was like, live O, live oak. Ooh, baby, let your xylem flow, flow. So there's a flowing system that happens on the inside of trees and plants. So when the vine, AKA Jesus, is rooted into the depths of the soil and its roots are pulling out nutrients to give to the rest of the branches. So what does this look like? Righteousness of us being in Christ because we're connected to Him. God looks at us and deems us as worthy that whenever these nutrients flow to the branches, scientifically, SAP is synonymous to something like blood. It's SAP is the plant version of blood. So this actually has everything to do with the blood of Jesus. That when Christ as the true vine, is deeply planted into the soil and gains its nutrients, what flows all the way from the branches to the outside or on the inside of the vine, outside to the branches that flow is blood. That SAP is synonymous. And even synonymous to the parable, that SAP is blood. Just like how Jesus is. Just like how Jesus is the vine and us as believers are the branches, and God being the vine dresser, it's nuts to think about. So it's the blood of Jesus that fills us. It's the blood of Jesus that gives us nutrients. Right? John 14, 13, 14. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become like a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And when we're connected to the well, when we're connected to the vine, we are like what Jeremiah 17, 7, 8 says. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, who trusts in the Lord, whose trust in the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes, for it leaves remain green. And it is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. When we are connected to the true vine, which is Jesus, and his roots are planted into the very soils of the ground, knowing that it's planted to a living stream of water, you could take me through the hottest summer, you could take me through the craziest drought. And I know that I will always be connected to him, because I know what he has done. I know who he's truly connected to. That's why Jesus says that you want to get to my Father, you got to go through the gate. And guess what, bucko? I'm the gate. This is being a plant, being a tree planted next to the living streams of water. Jesus gives us access to the well. And that well is eternal life. And if you're suffering and you're like, dang, I don't see the end of it. I'm stuck in hopelessness and despair. Meditate on first. On first Thessalonians 5, 9. For God has not destined us for wrath, but salvation through Jesus Christ. That salvation looks like being planted next to a watery root system that keeps us a nutrient, I guess neurified by the blood of Jesus. And that happens when we're connected to the vine and the vine. And I guess we could even use the analogy of the tree and the roots do all the hard work. Our primary, our primary job primarily. Dang, that was just really hard to get out right there. Primarily our job is to stay connected. That's the job, is to stay connected. Right? SAP is the fluid that circulates inside of a plant like blood. And SAP is the life giving substance that gives branches life, just like the blood of Jesus. Are you kidding me? This is profound. This is nuts. And Jesus is telling these disciples this and they don't even know what he's about to do. Stay connected to me. And what's going to fill you and give you nutrients is my blood. And he's telling the disciples this and they're like, Jesus, like what do you mean? And Jesus is prophetically and mysteriously implying to the disciples that there's an awaiting suffering that's about to come through him that they don't even know about. Because here's the thing, just like how there's SAP that's going through the vine to give nutrients to the branches. And that blood isn't the disciples blood, it's the blood of Jesus. Jesus was prophetically implying to this the, to the disciples that did not know yet that there was going to be a suffering that the Son would have to endure. And that blood, just like SAP, will flow through me, the true vine, and give nutrients to the branches, which is the believers all over the world, Gentiles and Jews, and they will be filled with God's presence. And they will no longer fear or tremble when drought and heat comes and famine, because they are rooted in the presence of God. He was prophetically implying that. And when we see that there is a promise to be persecuted, even just a few verses later of John chapter 15, we're reading verse 18 through 21. He says, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would have loved you as its own. But because you are not of the world. I chose you out of the world, therefore. Hold on, I skipped. I skipped a line. If you were of the world, the world would have loved you as his own. But because you are not of the world. But I have chose you out of the world, therefore the world is hates you. Remember the word I had said to you. A servant is no greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they catch my word, they will also keep yours. I'm going to go one more verse. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. This is a crazy verse. And this is after the adjustment of the true vine. And Jesus is telling his disciples, there's a piece of. There's a persecution coming. It's a promised persecuted life. Jesus says this as it relates to suffering. Even when it says no servant is greater than his master, meaning that if the master suffer, if the master suffers, how much would the servant. Persecution's motives is to attack one name. And that name is Jesus. So when persecutions come into your life, we just read right in verse 21. But all these things they will do on. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him who sent me. Regarding that. All the persecution that comes out of this world to attack the believer is not something that's incredibly personable. It is because of the name of Jesus. We have to understand the demonic Satan hates Jesus with every bone in his body. He hates the cross. He hates the believer that boasts in Jesus. He hates the fact that Jesus descended into the depths of hell and ascended back into the right hand of the Father. Like Satan absolutely hates that. And his demons also hate it as well. So persecution isn't just, oh, this is just the life. While we're still here on earth, there is earthly persecution, or I guess a soil of suffering. But persecution, demonic persecution, intentional persecution comes from those who do not know Jesus and not know that he was sent by God. Persecution's motive is to attack one name, and that name is Jesus. Let's go back to our foundational verse in John chapter 1633. I've said these things to you. What has he said? All the things we just said. And to the disciples, they lied. This sounds freaky scary. Like I'm going to be persecuted and I need to be connected to the vine and prunes. And these are all conversations that are incredibly weighty, right? But he says, I said all these things to you. That in me you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world. That is the greater assurance. That is the greater hope. The blood of Jesus that he just recently shared with his disciples, that was yet to come, would overcome. And it has. And we live in that reality 2,000 years later. And I just want to give a moment for you on the other side of the screen. I don't know what type of persecution, suffering you are going through right now, but I am encouraged to assure you that the blood of Jesus has paid the price of your sin, shame and guilt. And he has given you the endurance through his blood to be sustained. And that there is a real safe place. And that safe place is abiding on the inside of Jesus. You will not find that in a person. You will not find that in social media status. You will not find that in the acceptance of man. You will not find that in a relationship. You will not find that simply, coherently, specifically only in your marriage and friend groups and materialistics and the lust of the eyes flesh of the world. You will not find that anywhere else, except for in the presence of Jesus and all the other things outside of that could possibly give you happiness temporarily, but not provoke a joy that sustains. There is one truth, one way and one life, and that's through the life of Jesus. And even after this, we could go John, chapter 17. I love the heading because it says the high priestly prayer. I am incredibly fascinated that Jesus is our high priest. I think it's like, as of right now, I think that's one of the attributes about Jesus that makes me so encapsulated by so much wonder. Like I just, even as I'm talking about Jesus being the high priest, like right now in this moment, I just feel like this butterfly of excitement of what that means. And I've talked about that echoing even, even the first two episodes of Save. Not soft, uh, but the high priestly prayer when Jesus is interceding on the behalf of the disciples and he's becoming aware of the suffering that he's having to endure in order to pay the sins on behalf of all humanity. Like we understand that Jesus paid the price, but it's like internalize and meditate on a moment that there was one singular man, one time, one place, with only one vial of blood that has paid the price for all of humanity. We're living on a spinning earth occupied by 8 billion people. And Jesus died for the people before and after that. The entirety of the world all of existence. That's nuts to think about one man. But this wasn't just a man. This was man. Fully, fully. The incarnation is Jesus coming. Fully man, with full deity of God. Fully man, fully God on the behalf of all of humanity. What great love. What did we do to deserve. It's nuts. And after Jesus had shared these things with the disciples, he has the high priestly prayer and then he seized by the authorities. And he's approaching the crucifixion of the cross. But even as he's in the garden Gethsemane, he's approached with this thing called the cup of suffering. And I talked about this a little bit in the last episode is that when we don't understand what we're truly inheriting when we say yes to Jesus, is that we pray for great anointing. God grants me great anointing. Anointing does not mean talent. Anointing is God giving gifts that God has placed on the inside of you. And his spirit actively breathes on those things that he's placed on the inside of you. An anointing often comes with persecution. As Jesus is taking the cup of suffering and he's asking God to take it away from him. This happened right after Jesus was anointed in Bethany. What is Bethany? Bethany is the place where Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, who was raised from the dead. And Mary anointed Jesus feet with her oil, very expensive perfume. And he was anointed foreshadowing a death that was about to come. Because usually after bodies have died, they would be anointed with oil. Mary had done it right before Jesus was about to go on the cross. And after Jesus was anointed, he was faced with a cup of suffering. If we would die in a death like his and be raised in a resurrection like his, we also have to know that there is going to be a cup of suffering. Cup representing the pouring out of God's hand that Jesus took on. And Bethany, where he was anointed Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Bethany also meant house of the poor in other translations, house of humility. Places where officials and Pharisaic leaders thought that Jesus was going to be exalted through military status, was being anointed in a humble and a lowly place. Like we even look at King David. King David wasn't anointed in a pretty palace. Samuel came and found him in a field as a shepherd. Meek, lowly Jesus, like you got to think all Old Testament breathes about Jesus. Jesus was anointed in humility. Blessed are those who are poor, for they shall seek and inherit the kingdom of God. Even in the Beatitudes, there's a greater inheritance for those who are poor in spirit. Jesus is in the atmosphere of humility, and he is anointed in that place. And from that place he receives a cup. And that cup of suffering led to him dying on a cross. Like, we have to understand, Jesus took on a mass amount of suffering, and he was perfect and sinless. They plucked his beard, they opened up his back, they cut off his genitalia. And yet he did all of that for you and I. He was thinking personably of. I'm thinking of Emmy Moore Brookins the moment I'm on this cross. And the worst thing she did, make it personal to you, like, exercise that this week, like, as I'm thinking about the cross of Jesus, I'm going to actively think about how personal what he did was for me. The cup of suffering precedes anointing. And simultaneously, when he's presented with the cup of suffering, what follows is that he was crowned through humble love and suffering as us, by being placed the crown of thorns and even back to the cup of suffering. Romans 6, 5, the verse I was quoting earlier. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. And Luke 9, chapter 23 says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and daily and follow me. The cup is on the inside of it, a bloody cross. And Jesus says, if anyone would come after me if we had made a decision in a pursuit to follow the Lord, our decision and our activation to that decision is carrying up a cross. What is the destination of that cross? It's a death. It's a death and a denying of self even in the midst of suffering. Like there's even a crucifixion that Christians have to walk through even in the midst of suffering. And I know you're going through a hard time. I know you may not like to hear that. Even to me as the believer, this is a hard truth. I have to deny the ways of despair in the midst of suffering, because I know that when I follow him and I have a cross to carry, there is a definition, there is a destination of death in the midst of it. And the moment I am walking and enduring the Christian life, which is with a cross on my back, I have a greater vision that when I reach the destination of death with the cross that I am carrying that just as like Romans 6. 5 says, for we have been united with him in a death like him, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. My point of pursuing death in Jesus is to the greater point, that we will receive eternal salvation in him when with his resurrection, when I pursue the cross, when I take up my baggage, when I take up the depression, when I take up the anxiety, when I take up the anger and the frustration and the bitterness, even in the midst of my suffering. Because you carrying your cross is going to take some sweat. It's going to take some calf and leg work. It is going to take work and suffering for you to get up to that hill and pin that cross on it and die a death like Jesus. It will take work. So even in the midst of suffering, I'm ringing out every time, every part of my flesh that wants to give up, that wants to drop it, and knows that there is a God who is there with me, that there is a God who had sent his one and only Son to already carry the cross to that destination of death. And simultaneously I'm being commanded to come after Him. By denying myself, denying my own despair, denying my own anxiousness, I can embrace it while also simultaneously not allowing it to compass me somewhere. My compass is faith. It's Thy word. A lamp onto my feet and a light onto my path. So even in the midst of suffering, I still have an occupational partnership with God to carry this cross to a place where I will be restored and redeemed through a resurrection with Jesus Christ. And that's the greater hope, through the everyday believer who believes their suffering is never going to stop. Your suffering is a walking Christian life with the expectation that is covered in certainty that you will resurrect in a life just like how Jesus did. That is the hope. That's the hope we're all striving for. It doesn't take away the endurance of suffering. If anything, it adds the relatability we get to have with Jesus and how he gets to empathize with us. And even Jesus talks about, not even Jesus talks about he received a crown of thorns. Where else do we hear about thorns in Scripture? We hear about 2 Corinthians 12 when Paul talks about the thorn in his side. A thorn as he refers to a curse sent by the enemy to keep him humble, to keep him at the feet of God. And. And yet Paul wrote the New Testament without the New Testament being written. Does that make sense? So Paul is writing about a thorn in his side when there's a God who Sent his son where his whole entire crown of his head was covered in thorns. Jesus bore the entirety of thorns and curses of what? Galatians says that not only did he bear the cross and bore our sins, but became. It became the curse of our sins. Thorns thistles around his mind. So the moment that you think, dang, my mind feels really incarcerated. Imagine how Jesus felt when there was physical thorns piercing his mind all around. And I even believe that in 2nd Corinthians 12, one says, so keep it. So to keep me from becoming conceited, because of the surpassing greatness of the Revelations, a thorn was given to me in the flesh. A messenger is Satan to harass me to keep me from becoming conceited. You peep that. Paul is like. So I didn't get too ahead of myself. Paul's like. I got massive revelation theology. I got it. I know Christ. I know him crucified. But so I would no longer boast in myself. A messenger of the enemy has placed a thorn in my side. And Paul never writes what this thorn is. And I believe that this thorn isn't named. So we could figure out what specifically Paul's thorn was, but so we could look inwardly to ourselves and ask what's ours. And once we have the answer to that question, knowing that there was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore, the moment that heaven enthroned him, they throned him and declared him as holy. And kingdom was simultaneously being mocked by the earth, he's wearing the consequences of the fall. Like, even in Galatians 3, it talks about. Not Galatians. Excuse me. Genesis 3. When God curses Adam, he says everything. Let me go there for a moment. And this is gonna be the last thing because we going overtime on this one, but it's been really good. I feel really like Jesus. Okay, Where'd he tell you this? The Fall. Okay, cursed. Chapter three, we're gonna go verse. There we go. Verse 18. You shall not eat of it. Curse, it is ground because of you. The pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you and shall eat the plants of the fields. So even in the fall, that was the consequence of the fall was thorns. Jesus paying the price of the first Adam, Jesus becoming the second Adam bearing the curse of the thorns. Hello. Like everything, everything breathes and attests to Jesus. Like John, chapter 5, verse 39 says that those who search and seek the scriptures to grant eternal life are the very scriptures that breathe and speak about Jesus, and yet they don't believe who sent him or him alone because it doesn't align with their ideology. And the greater hope, the reward we're pulling from James 1:12. James, where you at? You so small. Oh, is right there. James, in my Bible is like two pages. I'm like, Dang, James 1:12. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial for when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. That's the greater hope. The while it feels like there's a crown of thorns over your mind, that the thorns are on your side, at your feet, in your finances, in your friend group, in your family. The greater hope is that there is a crown of life, the opposite of a curse, eternal life, which God has promised to those who love him. We love him by abiding in him. Staying connected. What does staying connected practically look like? It's having such a unfathomable, I guess, love and admiration, awe for Jesus that it prompts you to become more curious through reading your word, not just hearing what he says, but understanding what he says through loving your neighbor. That's one of the two greatest commandments. Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself, as you would to God, right? And if we keep his commandments, if we listen to the Scriptures, if we pursue a life to seek Jesus and everything of which he is, we remain and abide in the vine. I abide in the vine when I dwell in the shelter of the Most High, when I make the secret place my home. And I don't just make it something I visit. Like, I don't live at the gym, right? I visit the gym. You know, you get what I'm saying? It's a place I go every day. But God wants you to make his presence a dwelling place. And that happens. The impartation and the receiving of His Holy Spirit. So since we are now walking mobile temples of the Holy Spirit to fully fill us, so my encouragement today is not to tell you that suffering is going to end here on this earth. It will one day. I would be a liar if I told you that you're probably not going to go through anything else. And it would be indoctrinal teaching. I am here to teach you that there's a greater hope. And that greater hope is when we find full salvation in Jesus. We boast being connected to him and we stay curious and we stay abiding and dwelling and staying connected, right? So with that being said, Applications of this week. Read your Bible and read your Bible in a way I'm not saying just turn to a random page and read. Ask questions and find them. Whatever's curious on the inside of you. I want to know this about God. Find it and he'll teach you and he'll show you. And a greater application is notice how God is with us. Speak the gospel over yourself. Let's what Jesus has done on that cross become real. And if you think your circumstance is bad, you have a God who has also suffered. There's plenty of other gods and things, practices that people fall for here in this earth. And yet Jesus Christ is the only man who has suffered on the behalf of those who follow him. It's worth investigating and seeing him as a real person. He's not a mythical creature. Jesus is real and he lived and walked on this earth. And yeah, I feel incredibly blessed, incredibly pleased and I pray that I just want to pray for you as we go. I'm going to say the announcements and then we're going to pray. But for those who are looking to get plugged into an online community, Save Not Soft has an extension called Saved Society, which is a online fellowship and discipleship program through Patreon to where we pray together. We talk through chats daily. I also have exclusive content I've done. We're about to actually shoot an episode which will probably have been up for a while about just things I would love to talk about but it's going to be exclusive on the Patreon. Things about creativity and stewardship. Really awesome stuff. But more importantly cultivating a community to fellowship with like minded women. So you can find that in the link below. Also if you're interested in giving back to this ministry, this is also how we are helping our not weekly, our monthly live events called Saved irl, Saved in Real Life. So it's going away from the digital space and it's bringing women together in person once a month in Central Florida. And not only do we gather women for fellowship, but also discipleship, teaching God's word and sprouting to other places for us to serve, to give back into the community. We're working something out even in the midst right now of working with a team that's going to actively give back to the homeless and spend time with them and make them feel at home and preach the goal gospel. So really awesome stuff that we get to do. And for people who have questions of where certain stuff goes to, Save Not Soft has also had the opportunity to fill classrooms all over The United States. For teachers who did not have resources. We have been able to fill classrooms we've been able to give back to families who have lost a lot of possessions. We've been able to give makeup and toiletries and beauty supplies to domestic shelters. There has been so much that's been able to come out of this podcast, which is nuts. And so when you do that, we're also creating something really greater and helping people and even projects that cultivate more races, more resources to help more people. So that's just transparently what's been happening. But, yeah, let me pray for you, and we're gonna go. Father, I just thank you for. I thank you for this message. I thank you that I feel liberated. I thank you that there's been great liberation that has broke out on the inside of people's homes and spirits. And even in myself, Lord, and even in this midst of suffering that the person on the other side of the screen may be going through. Lord, I ask that you restore them through your spirit. Lord, I ask that you keep them and protect them. And I bless them, Lord. Lord, I bless them with your spirit. And Lord, I ask for your holy spirit to fill the inside of them, Father. And Lord, I ask for you to fan the flame on the inside of the believer on the other side of the screen that they are fans with greater awareness, curiosity, courage to pursue you, Lord. And Lord, I ask for you to fan that flame and for that fire to spread on the inside of them, for it to flow out of their hands, Lord. Lord, I ask that you give them a fresh revelation of their suffering, that they boast in Jesus and him crucified, that they look to him as the highest priest and the highest prize, keeping our eyes on one prize, which is Jesus. Would you fill that person? Would you bless them? Would you show them that through pruning and through suffering, there's greater fruitfulness? And that fruitfulness will come, that fruit will come. I thank you, Jesus, that you don't promise pruning apart from fruitfulness, that pruning and fruitfulness go together. I thank you that the hope for the believer is that there is a fruitfulness that is coming. Would you give them the endurance to see, stay and to keep them? And my prayer is for you to keep these people. You are the greatest shepherd, such a great shepherd. You won't watch your sheep bleed. Thank you, Lord. We praise you. We thank you. Be blessed. Amen. I love you guys so much. What an amazing episode. This was a long one, I know, but I think it was needed. There's too many broken people to not talk about suffering. Amen. I love you guys. More importantly, the love. The love. The Lord loves you more. And he wants to talk to you continually. Not just once every two weeks. He wants to talk to you every single day, every single moment. Right? So lean into him. Amen, you guys. I love you guys so much. And until next time, see you guys. Bye.