S2 EP9. Finding Jesus For The First Time
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Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice. I am your host, Allie Yost, and I am so grateful to be here, you guys. I'm so excited because, well, one thing, and I know that we've had a few episodes go live already with Ashley Jones. Do we love her, by the way? Like, are we not obsessed with her? I think she's incredible. I just learned so much from her, and I feel like one of the coolest things that the Lord has done for me just in

this particular season of my walk, you know, with him is that he is just slowly bringing some of the coolest freaking people into my life that I have ever met in my life. Like people that I genuinely am learning so much from just obviously through my faith, but like I just love her. I love her so much. So I really hope that you guys have been enjoying these last few episodes that we did together and you just had some serious just revelations and just

really cool moments that were eye-opening. I know that I have just even, you know, going back and listening to them myself. Anyway, I'm really excited to be here. Well, one, because I love y'all and I missed you guys and this is truly like the light of my week and it just, it's something that I'm so grateful for that I've made as a part of my routine with you guys. And so, happy Friday, by the way. I

filming on a Friday too, which is always so fun when I'm actually filming on the day that it goes live. I am, yeah, I'm just so grateful to be here and it's exciting because, so can I get to it already? Okay. This is the first time that I am recording in my new home alone though, because the last few episodes that I recorded with Ashley were the first, you know, episodes that I recorded in my home period. And so this is the first episode that I'm recording alone and

And I'm just so excited to kind of have this QT time with you guys, like quality time with you guys and Jesus. I'm so grateful. So today's episode is really special and I'm going to be totally transparent. And I'm going to say that I have not prepared for this episode the way that I normally would for episodes. Like the biggest thing that the Lord has taught me with this podcast specifically, aside from Girly Popcast, because I feel like a lot of what I did with that podcast was it really was so just...

By the seam of my pants, like I really would just show up and I'd be like, all right, whatever we talk about today, because you guys would lead half of that with the submissions that we would get, you know, every week and then we would talk about it. But the Lord has really been teaching me how to study and prepare, which I feel like I haven't had to do since school, like literally since high school, since college, right?

So it's been a learning thing for me. It's been a humbling thing where it's like, Allie, you can't just show up. Okay, the Bible isn't something. Preaching the gospel, like ministry isn't something that you're just supposed to just jump into and just be like, okay, whatever happens today. Like there is preparation that needs to come into it. And when you are speaking on behalf of the Lord, what?

Okay, holy, I feel the Holy Ghost. When you are speaking about the Lord, that is just not something to just go off, you know, the seam of your pants. So with that being said, most episodes I have felt the Lord really prepare my heart and I've made sure to take notes and I've made sure to bring scripture into it.

And it's just something that I always want to, you know, have as the firm foundation of what this podcast is. I don't want it to solely just come from me and my feelings because that's not what this podcast is about. This podcast is only about Jesus. It's only to glorify his word, his love, who he is.

It's not about me, you know? And so with that, that's been a learning lesson. But today we didn't really do that because I want this episode to be, and the best way I can like compare it is like, you know those books where it's like blank for dummies? I'm like Christianity for dummies, like Jesus for dummies, like people who do not know how to start their faith. Where do I start? How do I do it? I've never been raised in a Christian household. I've actually never known a single Christian in my life. Like people don't,

like that who just have not had that privilege of being around it, but they're curious and they want to know God. Or let's say they've already decided, yes, I've dedicated my life to Jesus, but now I don't know what to do. You know, it's like you've made that declaration. You've had that conversation with the Lord. You felt the Holy Spirit. You feel him in your life, but you're like, OK, but now what do I do? You know what I mean? And so that's what I want this episode to be about. I want this episode to be about where do you start as a Christian? Baby, baby Christian. You can be 24 hours into it.

You could be just rekindling, you know, your relationship with the Lord again. Maybe it's been years since you've even tried to have a conversation or spend time with him, whatever your story looks like. But this episode is meant for you in that sense. Like, where do I start and how do I do it? And so I just pray over this episode. I want to pray right now, actually.

Dear God, I just pray that this is your will, God. I pray that even though I've come into this with not a whole lot of preparation, I just pray that you prepare my heart right now, Jesus, that the only things that come out of my mouth are from you, Jesus, that our listeners truly hear your love right now and they feel it. Like, it's a feeling that they cannot even describe and there's no other explanation other than it is from you, Jesus. And I just pray that this brings so many people home to you, God. I pray that...

even through the trauma and, you know, just maybe religion and hurt that they've had from people in the past or church in the past, or maybe they haven't, God. But I just pray that you just reveal the truth, which is that you are love. You never abandon. You do not hurt us. That people hurt, but you don't, God. And so I just pray for that. I pray for just beauty and realization of who you are and hope, God. I pray for big hope in this episode that

that so many people leave this episode feeling so filled with your love and your hope and that they just feel a sense of purpose knowing you and pursuing this relationship with you. And in this episode, it's just confirmation that it is the best decision that they are ever making. And so I pray that in your mighty name, Jesus. Amen. Okay, so...

Excited for this episode. I truly hope it helps so many people. And I'm gonna speak a lot about like what I did. I know that I've kind of touched a little bit on this stuff in the very first episode of Christ with Coffee on Ice, right? Where I shared my entire testimony, how I came to the Lord, where I've come from, you know, obviously I've come from a Christian household, but I never really truly knew the Lord. So right, we talked about my testimony and how I started, but I really wanna break it down like dumb, like dumb break it down to a T.

step by step, how do you do this? Okay. So you're in a position you've dedicated your life to Jesus or you're curious and you just want to know about it and you want to know how the first things that you need. Well, I have a whole pile of books right here. Okay. I don't know if you can see it from this angle. It's a lot, but the

One thing I want to tell you is that faith is no joke, okay? I think one thing that I have come to the realization of, even just in the past few weeks, is that faith is not only just to like make our lives, I don't want to say easier, but just better. You know what I mean? Like having faith in the Lord and walking with God is so much better than walking alone. It's not even about that, but there is this invisible war

between spirits, we are actively in a war right now. Spiritual war. Like every day. We don't see it, but y'all, it's there, okay? Between lightness...

between the light and the dark, like it's there, right? Between good and evil, it's happening like every day. That's why spiritual warfare, okay? And if you've never heard of that, it's like when you just feel like this tug and this struggle with keeping your faith, right? That is war between the darkness and the light, you know? The enemy, the devil, and also God and his angels. It

so real, y'all. And it's crazy because, you know, we live in this like 3D, you know, life and we see the things that we see. But then there's so much happening in the spiritual realm that we do not see. That's so real. OK, so we are in a war every day, which is why we don't take our faith lightly. OK, it is war. We are serious about this. And I don't

say this to intimidate anyone, that these are all the things that you need right off the bat. I have obviously accumulated these things in the past year, but the very first thing that I started off with, which you absolutely will need, okay, besides prayer, besides, you know, your quiet time with the Lord, is prayer.

A Bible. You need a Bible, okay? And so one of the most common questions that I get on social media is, okay, so where do I get one and what one do you have, okay? So I got my Bible from Barnes & Noble, believe it or not. Barnes & Noble has a whole religious...

like religion section, right? Plenty of different religions. Christianity is one of them. They have a whole section of Bibles and then some, and then they have Christian books. They have devotionals, which we're going to get into. Um, they have all sorts of really incredible resources there that can support you in your faith. Okay. So, um, I got this at Barnes and Noble. This is my book. She's gorgeous. I love my Bible. Um,

This is the NIV version, which is the New International Version, I believe is what it stands for. And how I decided, because we know that there's so many different versions of the Bible, I decided on NIV, believe it or not, by Googling it. I literally did not know where to start, y'all. I was where you're at right now. I had no idea. I said, okay, what's the best version? I want to be able to understand what I'm reading, right? Because I think a lot of our biggest...

worry, an obstacle with approaching a book this big and a book this old is understanding it. And we're like, okay, but I want to understand it. And you know, we've, we've heard scripture and we've, we've heard different versions. Maybe some of us have, and some of it,

really goes over our heads and we go what in the world does that mean and so that's why i think that picking the best version for yourself is important and so starting with niv do that it's just it's the easiest i believe and i think that it's the most relatable to how we speak today in english

And so that's how I decided. I just Googled it. And I encourage y'all in that too. Like if there's something that you still feel is unanswered in this podcast episode, Google it. I think, and I've said this before, I was having this conversation with a friend

Or maybe myself. I don't know. Where was I talking about this? I talked to too many different things. Too many different people. Too many different devices. But I had this moment with the Lord where he had spoken to me and he was like, this is the generation because we have never had more leverage. Like,

I really truly believe that this generation is going to have such a huge awakening in the spirit, like in our faith, right? With Jesus. And I believe it is because we have such an advantage with this day and age, with technology, with the way that we can spread the word so quickly. And of course, we see a lot of darkness on the internet, you know? And of course, the enemy, he has an advantage to a sense. I don't even want to give him that word because he doesn't. But

He's got leverage. Let's say not advantage because he's already lost. Jesus has already won. But, you know, he does have some. But let's not forget the fact that we have everything at our freaking fingertips. Like the minute you want to know the latest drama with Taylor Swift, you can Google that. You can go on Twitter. You can go on TikTok. You know what I mean? Like we have so many resources. It's actually unacceptable.

to ever have an excuse of like oh well I can't because I don't know how it's like we can google anything you can research anything there's so many different sources online that can support you in your faith journey like y'all don't even understand how many things I have literally actively googled even up until today of questions and things that I don't have answers to in my faith and

And Google is great for that. Like there are just so many people out there, like good people who want to help you in your journey. And I think that, I mean, there's gotta be YouTube videos that are like how to start reading the Bible. Like, you know that these things exist. So I want y'all to really be honest with yourself too. Like, let's be so honest and for real with ourselves and say, what is it that I am telling myself?

That is holding me back from having this relationship with Jesus. And is it valid enough? Especially in the year 2024. Like, if people are handing it to you on a silver platter, which also, by the way, is what the Bible is. Every single freaking question that you have in life. What's my purpose? What the heck am I doing here? What happens after death? Like, why are people cruel? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why... Like...

I mean, truly, any question we have in life is answered in this book. So when I say silver platter, when I say blueprint, I mean, literally the Lord has given us all the answers to life in this book. And it's truly just up to us on whether we believe that it's worth our time or not. Like, is it because you don't believe it's worth your time?

Is it because you're feeling lazy and you don't want to put in the effort? I mean, anything that you want badly enough, you have to put effort into, you know? And I think, sorry, I'm kind of going on like a side tangent right now. But another thing that I see on my socials too is people being like, well, how do I strengthen my relationship with the Lord? Like, how do I strengthen it? Like, I want to keep getting stronger with him. And it's like, well, how do you strengthen any relationship?

Ever. Do you strengthen a relationship by continuing to spend time with them and communicating with them and being in the presence of that person? Or do you strengthen it by going off on a hiatus and taking a vacation in Hawaii for three months and not talking to them? You know what I mean? Like...

Let's be honest. Like how do you do in anything else? So anyway, I say that because I hope that this podcast episode can help you with all the questions that you have. But even if it doesn't, I encourage you to go to Google. I encourage you to go online, you know, and obviously be smart about the resources you're picking. Let's not just pick any of them because we can't believe everything that we see on the internet. But the internet is available to you. So if you have questions in your faith,

go online. Like it's there. So that's what I did. I Googled what Bible do I start with? Okay. The next question I had was where in the Bible do I start?

And when I first started, y'all, it was in January of last year, when I first decided to start reading the Bible and taking it seriously, I treated it like any other book and I started at the beginning. I was like, duh. Like, I mean, isn't that what you do with any book? And honestly, I really don't see anything truly wrong with that. But...

What I had learned is that I think it's best to start in the Gospels. And what the Gospels are, I didn't know that word either, guys. I had to Google it. The Gospels are four books that are dedicated to telling the story of Jesus Christ while he was here on earth and

how he died, how he came to earth, how he was born, him and his journey, you know, his walk with the disciples, the miracles that he performed here on earth, the healings that he did, the people that he literally rose from the dead, him rising from the dead. So it's really great to start in the gospel because I

I think it's really cool to get to know who Jesus is. And then you'll see how the rest of the Bible kind of just like supports and falls into who Jesus is so perfectly. But you could start in the beginning in the Old Testament, but the New Testament, and that's where Jesus comes into play, that's where the New Testament begins, is where I do suggest you start.

But I started in Genesis because I was like, like I said, you know, like we should treat this like a regular book and just start from the beginning, right? And so I do believe Genesis is obviously a very important book. I mean, they all are important because it's all written by the Lord. But Genesis is really cool because it tells you literally how everything started, like how we became, you know, Adam and Eve. We know all that good stuff. So you could do that. But I really would suggest if I'm just giving my personal advice and what worked for me

is starting in the gospel, which is the book of John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And I think I literally went in that order. I think the very first book that I read was the book of John. And I really, really enjoy that book. That's actually the book that I'm reading right now in current time because I haven't touched it in a year. Because like I said, this was the first book that I ever read.

So it's been really cool to go back to the book of John one year later and seeing, you know, the thing is, and I want y'all to know this, is that there is no pressure also with completely understanding everything there is now.

to the Bible. So let's say you're opening the Bible for the first time and a lot of this stuff is going over your head. I want to comfort you in that and say that it is okay because the biggest lesson that I've even seen just this week as I've been reading the book of John is that there was so much that so clearly went over my head because I did not highlight it. I mean, y'all, the first, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, the first

six pages of John I didn't even highlight when I first read it, right? And now I'm lighting it up in highlighter. I mean, I have so many notes. I'm like, I'm thinking, how the heck did I not highlight this one section? And I think it's just because I was new. I think it's just because I was new and there's just going to be things that won't speak to you yet. And I think that you just need to remember that that's okay. That's what makes...

you know, this journey so beautiful. That's what makes having faith in the Lord so freaking cool is that he's always going to continue to grow you in your faith and you will continue to receive knowledge and wisdom from him of things that maybe you didn't even understand six months ago, 12 months ago, three weeks ago, you know? So the best way to set yourself up for failure, I'll say this,

is coming into it with an expectancy that you have to understand everything that you're reading because you just won't. And actually, I think that can relate to anyone in any season of your walk. Like, it doesn't even have to be to the person who's just starting their faith right now. That could be for the person who's

Five years into their journey with Jesus and they're reading a passage and they're like, I don't know what this means. And I've been walking with Jesus for five years. How do I not know what this means? And I think I've said this before on the podcast. I think that the Lord so intentionally does that sometimes where maybe you are not yet ready to understand that because you haven't walked into a season of your life where that passage would support it.

You know, like you don't understand it yet because you haven't walked through that yet, you know? Or you could completely understand a passage in one season of your life and let's say it speaks to you in this way and then you go back to it five years later and it speaks to you in a completely different way. That's why they say, I don't know if you've heard this, that the Bible is literally the living word. Like everything.

This is alive and we don't say it's alive like it gets up and it grows legs and it walks away We say it's alive because it literally to this day even thousands of years later Can relate to something that you are going through right freaking now like that's what makes it alive That's what makes it so freaking cool another thing that I want to spare you guys of that took me a while to do which

I don't know why it did. And sometimes I guess some of these things coming out of my mouth feel kind of like, duh.

But it's not duh when you're learning and you're new to this. You don't know. So that's the thing, y'all. I want you guys to come into this with a posture of it's not duh. You're not dumb for not knowing these things. You have nothing to be embarrassed about either, by the way, coming into this and not knowing these things. You're just not going to know until you know. And it's okay. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. But I felt that. That's like such a real feeling. So I want to validate you in that. But I didn't do this in the beginning, but I eventually...

I felt I needed to be praying before I opened my Bible. And I don't always do that even today. But if you want to make sure that your time spent in the Bible is intentional and you are really absorbing everything. Also, I don't know about y'all, but it helps me to say it out loud. Like literally read everything.

scripture out loud. It's really hard for you to get sidetracked and for your mind to go in different places. We know we've all experienced that with reading and, you know, doing things, is that if you're reading in your head, it's easy for your brain to go somewhere else and then you haven't even actually absorbed or heard anything that you just read in the last five minutes, you know? So the biggest thing that helps me with that is literally

literally speaking it out loud, like speaking scripture out loud, which I do believe is also just so powerful in itself is just speaking the word of God out loud, out of your freaking mouth, say it out loud. But yeah, praying over your time, like please pray before you open your Bible because I think that it's important to come to the Lord and say God, and I'll give you an example of something you could pray if you need it. But

Just be like, hey God, I want this time to be intentional. I don't want there to be any distractions. So I pray against any distraction that could be sent in from my mind, that could be sent in from the enemy. In Jesus name, I pray against all of it. I want this time to be so intentional from the Lord and also ask God to speak to you.

like ask God to speak through this book and speak through scripture and say, God, I need you to talk to me. Like I need this. I need you. I want to hear you. I want to continue to just feel strengthened in you in every moment that I spend in you. And so God, I just want this time where I'm sitting down with my Bible to be so intentional. God, I want to learn something new about you today. And I do believe, and again, it's giving religion. The thing is, is like, this is a relationship with him, but the most effective way is

to absorb from the bible is all the ways that i've just said but i think also reading at least

this is just me, at least 15 to 20 minutes of sitting down with uninterrupted, uninterrupted time with the Bible. I don't care how many passages that takes. It could take you 15 minutes to read three passages and fully absorb it, you know, highlight it, write notes, read it over and over again. Let it just like marinate in your head. I

I used to go into this with putting a pressure on myself that I had to read a certain amount of passages or a certain amount of pages. And it's like, that's not how God operates. You could read one freaking verse and it could blow your mind and you could spend the next 15 minutes writing about it, reflecting on it, right? So, I don't know. I go more off of like a timestamp, but...

But I really encourage you to spend as much time in the presence of the Lord as you feel satisfied. And that could be three hours. There are times where I am sitting down and I'm reading my Bible and the next thing I know I look at the clock and it has been an entire hour, y'all. And so I think that that can also come with just like...

trial and error you know like anytime that I've sat down and I've read the bible for anything less than 15 minutes I don't feel like it's really changed anything I do believe that you have to do like unplugged and I mean like put your phone away be so present with the lord for 15 minutes and I truly believe that if you do that every single day it will slowly change your life because 15 minutes in the presence of the lord is the best 15 minutes you could spend in your life

period and he can do so much in that time like he really can do so much in a second he can do so much in 15 minutes so I challenge y'all to do that give yourself a minimum minimum if you feel like doing more do more actually don't look at the clock you know but do 15 minutes with the lord

So that's my advice to you. Start in the gospel. Start in the New Testament. And then the other thing that I want to share with you guys that's been really, really helpful and it's going to kind of bring us back to that topic of like, you know, understanding the Bible and, you know, that feeling of like having a lot of things just going right over your head as you're reading it. So something that I've shared multiple times on my platform, I think I've even brought it to the podcast as well, is the Bible Handbook by the Daily Grace Co.

Y'all need to look up the Daily Grace Co. They were kind enough to gift me this. They've gifted me pretty much everything that I own up there as they sent to me. And it was like the most moving PR package that I've ever received. It wasn't makeup. It wasn't skincare. You know, it wasn't the newest energy drink. It was something to strengthen my faith, which is just like the most thoughtful thing in the whole wide world. So it moved me to tears and I was so grateful for

for it because I do believe this is a common insecurity for all of us, like jumping into the Bible as being like, okay, this is all going right over my head and I want to understand this, you know? So the Bible Handbook is really cool because it's basically a book that helps you study the Bible and just understand it even deeper, right? So the first page is their table of contents where now they have broken up the Bible and

into different sections, right? So they're listing all these different books in the Bible and they're saying, okay, so all of these books, if you're looking for wisdom, these books have wisdom, right? So they say wisdom literature, which is the book of Job, Psalm, Proverbs,

Song of Songs, right? And then they have historical narratives. So then they've listed all the books that have historical narratives in it, right? Then they have another category of prophets. So now they have, it's just so cool. It's literally so cool and they break it down for you so much. So I'm just going to give y'all an example so you can see this. Okay, okay, okay. Let's do the Book of Job, which is an incredible book, by the way. Wow. Wow.

If there's a book to read in the Bible, it's the book of Job. After you've read the gospel, you should read the book of Job. Okay, so it tells you... I don't know if y'all can see this...

It's so cute too, is it not? So it says the book of Job and then it tells you the type of book it is. So this is a book for wisdom, narrative, and poetry. It tells you who wrote the book, right? So now we're even learning more about like, okay, so who wrote this book? When was it written? It's unknown who wrote the book of Job, but it could have possibly been Moses.

And it was in 1440 BC. And the major themes of this book is God's righteousness and governing justice, God's supreme ruling and superior knowledge. Main verse. They also give you a main verse from this book.

And they put Job 42.5, which is, I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you. They give you key words, suffering, humility, righteousness, and justice. So if you are going through things in your life where you're like, I'm going through some suffering or humility, righteousness, justice, right? It's kind of showing you like this is the book that you should read. And it also breaks it down. It gives you an entire introduction of what the book of Job, introduction and outline of what the book

the book of Job is. Isn't that cool? So I think this would be a really great tool for y'all too, us newbies, right? If you are trying to get like an overview of what this book will look like before you get into it and start reading it, the Bible handbook is freaking incredible. Like this is such a thoughtful invention and I do believe that it would help a lot of people understand and grasp parts of the Bible more

better, you know? And again, there's just so many tools that people have made like that. This is another one that was sent to me. I wanted to share this briefly. I haven't even started it, but it's so cool. Um, this is by the wholehearted quiet time. Okay. The quiet time companion, www.wholeheartedquiettime.com. And this is the cutest thing ever because, um, it just has all these different sections for prayer lists, right? Um,

Prayers and praises. You have sermons and notes to put. You have Bible readings where you can literally, I mean, just organize your entire week. If you're like type A, I feel like my mother would love this, where you can just reflect and write and organize all of your thoughts, scripture, sermons, you know, if you're going to church. So freaking cute and fun, okay? And then, um...

The next thing I wanted to share that was so crucial in my faith. Okay. So obviously I got my Bible. You need a daily devotional. You do. You do. I guess you don't need it. It's not in the Bible. It doesn't say. But.

you are supposed to spend time with the Lord every day. And so this is a really wonderful way to keep that habit, you know? And, and I got also got this from Barnes and Noble. I got this a few months after I started reading my Bible. So my routine for like the first five months of my journey was just reading the Bible, you know, and just praying and journaling too. I got myself a journal, which we'll get into. Um,

and then I realized I really wanted a devotional too. And, um, it doesn't take much time. It literally takes 10 minutes out of your day to do, but this one is called Jesus listens. This is a daily devotional prayers of peace, joy, and hope, uh, note taking addition by Sarah young. I do believe it's available on Amazon. And actually I just recently found out that my Bible is available on Amazon as well. I've linked both of them on my Instagram. Um,

But this is so cool. So a devotional, let me tell you all what that means because some people don't know what a daily devotional is and that's okay. It literally is just time devoted to the Lord. It's literally exactly what it sounds like, a daily devotional. You are devoting time in the day, spending quality personal time with the Lord, which is so important. And something that is said in the Bible though, that the Lord encourages us is to spend time with him first thing in the morning. And I believe,

In my heart that he tells us that because it really does set us up for the rest of our day. Like it does. The first thing that I show up for in the day, you know, before social media, before work, before emails, before anything else, I have a much better day. And also like I'm just filled with so much more gratitude and joy, like genuine joy. And I feel like I treat people better. I want to talk with people more, you know, just even in the mundane, like spending time with the Lord first thing in the morning isn't even just about us. It's also about just the way that you,

are in the rest of your day and the way that you treat people. You know, it's like if you're spending time with God first time, first thing in the morning, he's able to just pour his kindness into you and his joy. And, you know, you will just naturally radiate that for the rest of the day. So I do believe that spending time with him first thing in the morning, but a daily devotional is a beautiful way to do it. So I'm going to just use an example. Okay. And it's basically just a

prayer. There's a portion on the side where you can also write notes too. This is from January 21st. It goes, gentle Jesus, as I look at this day that's stretching out before me, I see twisted, complicated path with branches going off in all directions. I start wondering how I can possibly find my way through this maze. But then I remember you are always with me, holding me by my right hand. I recall your promise to guide me with your counsel and I begin to relax.

When I look again at my pathway, I notice that a peaceful fog has settled over it, obscuring my view. I can see only a few steps in front of me, so I turn my attention more fully to you and start to enjoy your presence. Okay, so that's just half of it. And then at the end, it says, in your comforting name, Jesus, amen. And then it ends with a few pieces of scripture.

that that devotional actually pulled from. And you'll notice it because some of the words that they use in this prayer and this devotion that you read to the Lord has pulled literal words from scripture. And then they give you that scripture at the end. And just spending that time with the Lord, I think one of my favorite things to do, and this is just a personal tip, is I love putting on worship music just quietly in the background to just kind of set the tone, you know, like set the date with him. You're kind of on a date with Jesus. Just to set that

tone or like low-key like spa or meditation music has been really fun for me and uh i think also praying before you get into this too and saying lord i just pray that i can be present in this that i can truly just absorb um this time with you and just praying before getting in the presence of the lord at any time period whether that's in your bible whether that's in your devotional um i think that's really important you know so get a devotional get a bible and then if

if you really want to splurge, and I think it's worth the investment, is getting the Bible handbook as well, okay? And then, of course, expansion from there is fun. So the ways that I've expanded from just this is then I got a journal where I literally just talk to the Lord, okay? I just wrote in it today. I wrote in it again yesterday, too. It's been a couple months since I've

wrote in my journal but it's really special and I think that this is also another just opportunity to spend intimate time with the Lord and also just kind of get your thoughts out to him and when I say that I mean bring every emotion to him whether you're feeling frustration whether you're feeling anger it could be towards him it could be towards other people I think one of the things that we feel afraid of is to express how we're even feeling about God at

at times, you know? And the thing that y'all need to know is he already knows what's in your heart. So if you're feeling frustrated, if you're feeling hurt, if you're feeling anything, no matter what that version of yourself is that you believe you need to show up in front of the Lord as, he sees right through it, you know? So I say that not to discourage anybody, but to encourage you to just show up to him and

As whatever that is that day, you know, like wherever you are in that moment, the Lord loves you there and he will meet you there. And so I love that about my like journaling time with Jesus is that I'm so vulnerable with him here, you know, and of course I'm vulnerable with him and all the other times that we spend together, but

journaling my thoughts and like the feelings that I have and it could be gratitude. It could be joy. It could be confusion. Um, it could be painful relationships, friendships that I'm facing. Um, I don't know. It could be anything like the same way that you would talk to a friend or you would talk to yourself in a journal. I think just steering it in a direction where you are directly talking to Jesus and you're praying to him and you're writing it down. I don't know y'all. It's really helped me with just, um,

just really being in such an intimate relationship with the Lord because that's what he wants. He wants intimacy. He wants that vulnerability, you know, because that's where he can take care of you is in your vulnerability. And so I really encourage you to get a journal and just dedicate it to Jesus and speaking to him. And it's actually really funny because the very first time that I wrote in this, I was talking to...

Someone who would be reading it I wasn't whether it was a version of myself in the future Like if I ever wanted to go back and read it whether it was my future children, like I don't know But I wasn't directly writing to god. I was like writing to someone about god Like i'll give an example I said today I am in absolute awe of the lord all the things that i've been praying about all the little things that i've been worried About he's answered my prayers. He's answered every single one, you know, and then

It's really cool you watch the way that I continue to write and now all of a sudden I'm writing directly to Jesus and I'm like, hi Jesus, the past few days have been tough. I've been trying my best to not feel discouraged. I've been listening to my worship music and I've been praying to you and reminding myself of my favorite Bible verses, right? So now I'm like, I am completely talking to Jesus through my writing and I do believe that that's like really where it changed for me. So I encourage you in that. I encourage you in that. I encourage you to write directly to Jesus and

It's just so cool. It's so cool. And then the one other thing that I want to mention, which a friend had told me to do. And again, as you grow in your faith, okay, do not take any of this and get overwhelmed. I want you to pray on this also, by the way. I want you to pray about all the takeaways that you've had from this podcast episode. I want you to bring it to the Lord and I want him to tell you why.

what you need to do right off the bat. I mean, I can confidently say he's going to tell you to get a Bible, that's for sure. And maybe a journal where you can write and reflect and talk to him. But all these other, you know, sources and resources and tools are important, but don't feel overwhelmed by it all. I don't want you to feel like you've got to get all of these things.

But over time, right, I got this just a couple months ago is I got myself a little baby Bible. OK, and I got myself a little tiny Bible, which I also got from Barnes & Noble. They need to just sponsor me at this point. I love going to Barnes & Noble. It's just fun. Like I've never actually enjoyed going to Barnes & Noble until now. But and it is the new international version.

NIV, I got a little baby Bible because one of my good friends had told me, she said, it's really important for you to have your Bible on you at all times because you never know when the Lord is going to want to speak to you. You never know when the Lord is going to call you to speak to another person. You just never know when you're going to need the word of God. And of course, we can all get the Bible app. If you're not familiar, there is something literally called the Bible app.

I have it downloaded on my phone, but I gotta be honest, I hardly ever use it unless I'm really in a crunch where I do not have my book on me, then I will use the app. But I don't use the app in replacement of my Bible because I do believe there is something so powerful about having the word of God tangible and like in your hands, like in

There is something so powerful about having the Bible in your presence. Okay, so I encourage that I will only use my Bible app if I'm like, oh, I forgot my Bible. You know what I mean? But she said it was important to have a little one on you at all times because you just never know. You could be in the grocery store. You could be waiting in line somewhere. You could be on the bus. You could be on a flight. You could be anywhere. You could be in your car in traffic. Girl, I don't know. Stand still like you ain't moving for hours. Okay, like I just think that.

it's important to have it on you at all times. And I never thought about it. I literally never thought about it, but I was like, you know what? She's right. Like you never know when the Lord wants to speak a word to you, or you never know when the Lord wants you to speak a word to someone else, which sounds intimidating if you're new here, but you know what I mean? Like

Whenever that time comes, whenever you're ready, well, I shouldn't even say that because sometimes we're not ready. Whenever the Lord has brought you to a place where he's telling you you're ready. How about that? I think it's good to have a little baby on you at all times. Okay, I thought this was worth sharing. This is another Bible.

I literally just got it in the mail today. This is the English standard version. So this is ESV. And the reason that I got this Bible, this is just personal now. Y'all don't even have to listen to this at all. But I really wanted ESV because I know that that's like one step up, I guess, from NIV. And this is like, I feel like the pretty traditional version for the English language of

Of the Bible. But something that I realized with the Bible that I got. Is that it's a hardcover. And this is preference, y'all. So you don't even have to agree with me. But...

I couldn't really bring this anywhere in my life because it just doesn't fit anywhere because it's a hard cover. You know, like it's not, you can't bend it. You can't like fit it in your purse. Like it's just tough to bring places, which is why, you know, obviously it's good to just bring your little baby one. But for me, I wanted to try out ESV, but also I wanted a soft cover so I could kind of like fold it, you know, like you can do this number with it.

It's easier to bring to church. Y'all, I don't know. So that's just some feedback is I do wish that the Bible that I got from the start was a and I don't know, I thought that I wanted a hardcover, but I think I like having a flimsy kind of like it's leather, but just easier. It's just you can stuff it into things easier that way.

I don't know. So anyway, I can let y'all know how this goes. I haven't even opened it yet. I legitimately just got it out of my box. I got it off Amazon. I just opened it out of its box before I started filming this. But yeah, I hope that that really encourages y'all and helps you in your journey. And I think that aside from making sure that you have all the right materials, I think the next thing that's really important when it comes to your journey and spending time with the Lord is being

Praying for a community. Like please pray for people who can support you in your faith. Obviously the number one supporter and the number one person you need to lean on is the Lord and you might just be leaning on him for a while. Like that actually might be real. You might only be leaning on the Lord.

In the beginning of your journey. Because I don't know what your life looks like. Right? I don't know what your community looks like. You might be the first person in your circle. That's even curious about who Jesus is. And what Christianity is about. Right? And so...

I want to prepare you for that. And I think the Lord can prepare you better in that. But just know that there's nothing wrong with you if you don't have a community right off the bat. And it could look different for all of us. It could be years. It could be months. It could be weeks. For me, it was not until a year after I found the Lord that I really got a community of people. So it might feel lonely for a little bit. But

I do believe that that's also the Lord training us to find companionship and company in him, you know? And once you are fully satisfied with that is when I believe that he's like, okay, they're ready. You know what I mean? Like I was actually so satisfied with the love of Jesus. Like I was like, you know what? I love this. I'm happy with this, you know? And of course I wanted a

a community of people who also loved him and could help me and encourage me. Like I have never in my life experienced

experienced people who want to cover me in prayer, like literally put hands on me and cover me in prayer. I had never been in a community where people had encouraged me to also speak and pray out loud. You know, one of my biggest insecurities coming into my faith too was praying out loud in front of people or for others, you know, and it's just really powerful. It's just really powerful to be in a community of people who love on you and encourage you in your faith and

It feels like you are being poured into and it's like even, you know what I mean? Like how many of us can relate where we feel like we've constantly poured into others and

and we don't know if we've necessarily been poured into in the same way that we pour into other people. And so it's just really cool to like be surrounded by people who just meet you there and just are there. Like they're there. Like they're there with you. They know what you're going through. So when I say pray for a community, I mean like really pray for a community of Christian people who can support you in your faith because sometimes

I think aside from the Lord just completely lighting me on fire for him was also, I mean, meeting people who are also on fire for the Lord. I feel like this is tying in so perfectly to how I started this podcast episode, but you know, how much I'm learning from other people in this community and learning how much they've learned from the Lord. I mean, we can constantly just keep

pouring into each other just through the lessons that the Lord is teaching us all individually. And so pray specific prayers over your community. Like what do you want in friendships? Pray those specific prayers. Don't be like, God, I pray for a Christian community. Like that's a good prayer, but let's make it really specific. Let's go deep. Like let's make it really personal. Let's get raw. Let's get personal with the Lord. Right. And say, you know what, God, I want

friendships who love you first and are loyal to me and encourage me in my faith. People who I know will show up for me when I am in danger, like when I need it, whether it's spiritual warfare, whether it's things that are happening in my life, like I need people in my life like that, you know? So like just don't be afraid.

afraid to get really specific with the Lord because he is a specific God. He is a God who can grant things into your life so specifically. Like, don't be afraid to do that. But I think the next thing is definitely like making sure that you're praying for community. And of course, I do believe that like even the way that the Lord has brought community into my life was so unexpected. It was, I wasn't even really looking for it. He just, I mean, I wasn't. He

He literally said, here are your people, you know? And did it take a long time? Yes. But I do believe also putting yourself in a position where you know that those people would be. So this might sound like a broken record if you've heard this before, but if you haven't, you need to put yourself in situations and environments where you know those types of people would be. And if you don't know, I would pray...

would pray about that too. I'd say, Hey Lord, can you reveal to me the places I need to go? Will you speak to me? Will you show me, show me the places that I need to go? And God, I also pray that I have the eyes to see it. Lord, give me the eyes to see it. I want to receive it. I want to hear you. I want to hear you. And I want to hear, I want to see the signs that you're giving me when you're giving me that, you know, I mean, it's so crazy how deep our prayers can go. It's look how far we've gone. We've gone from praying for a community to then praying

For, you know, God to reveal to you where you need to put yourself to be in those positions. And now we're also praying to have the eyes and the ears to receive it and see it when you're giving it to us. I mean, really break it down. I think that as long as you're doing all those things, I mean, he's going to provide when you're ready, you know, and when the timing is right. But I mean, don't.

was I necessarily putting myself in situations of being in a church? I was. I was going to church. That was also something that I started to prioritize in the beginning of my faith because I think what God's made very important and clear even in his word, through his word, is we need to be in communion with each other.

And so whether that looks like best friends, whether that looks like showing up to church, you have to. I think quiet time with the Lord is so important, but also you need to be in community with people. You have to go. Like, you have to. So I started going to church. I started going to church and I was going alone and I was scared. Okay. It was scary. But you know what you can do in that? Pray.

Pray for the strength. Say, God, I'm really scared. I don't know how I'm going to do it. Well, you're not going to be able to do it. You can't do it unless you have the Lord with you. So invite him into those situations and say, God, give me the strength, give me the courage to go to church and show up to these things alone. And I also pray that you bring people...

in into my space that I meet at church, you know, I just pray that you provide like I'm taking this leap of faith and I'm going out of my comfort zone and I'm doing the scary things. And so God, I just pray that you show me that it was worth it, you know, like reveal to me the people that I'm supposed to meet. Or maybe it's just simply that message at church that day that was so meant for you to hear. So I was going to church, but I do believe that spreading the gospel online and this isn't everyone's calling. Okay. This is

My story. This could look so different for you. But by me...

talking about my faith online is what put me in the situation to find the friends that God had planned for me. And I'm speaking directly to people like Ashley Hetherington. She's an incredible human being that is actually the biggest blessing of my life since coming here to Nashville in this city has been such a blessing to me. And the way she was introduced in my life was online. But if I had never put myself in the position to

And if I had never committed to sharing my journey with Jesus online, I don't know if we ever would have been connected.

The only reason we were connected online was because we both shared the gospel, you know, because I made that commitment and I said, okay, God, I'm going to be vulnerable. I'm going to do this. I'm going to start talking about my faith online. And then he brought this incredible person into my life. You know what I mean? So it could be in so many different ways. So just pray to him and ask him to reveal what that's supposed to be. It could be you joining a group in your church, um,

of people who are also in your same age group or maybe people who are just starting their journey. You have no idea, but you need to put yourself in those positions. You cannot just like sit in your home and hope for the best. And of course, God can do anything. He could introduce your community to you in the grocery store if that's his will. But just take that leap of faith by putting yourself in situations like

to find that community. I believe in that. I believe in that wholeheartedly. He is a God of the impossible, but he needs to work with people who are willing. And as long as you are willing, he will give you the desires of your heart. And I think that, you know, if you have that desire of having a community in your life of people who can support you,

you in your faith. He will give it to you as long as you show him that you are willing, even when it's scary, even when you're unsure, even when you haven't seen the results, you know, he needs that willingness.

Oh, one more thing I want to add, too, because this is so important in your walk with the Lord. Aside from reading your Bible, aside from all of these resources, please, like, I don't know if I made this obvious. Please talk to him, like, all the time. Talk to him all the time. Talk to him about everything.

The little things, the big things. Pray to him about every little thing that you need in your day because, and I've said this on the podcast too, I think, the Lord literally cares about every second of your day. He cares about every little thing in your day just as a parent would, just as a good parent would, a loving parent would. He cares about every part of your day. You're not annoying him. You're not a nuisance. Is that the word I want to use? No.

You're just not a burden to him. You are not a burden to the Lord. And if you were, I've said this, I'm going to say it again, because I think some of us need the reminder. He would have thought twice before. He literally created you. If he had known that it would be too much to handle every second of your day, don't you think he would have thought twice before creating you?

He wants you to talk to him. He's God. He can handle it. Don't think that it's too much. Don't be like, oh, well, God's got so many other people to help. And, you know, there's bigger things happening in the world. No, he knew he could handle it. That's why he created all of us, by the way. It's not too much for God. If it was too much, he would have only made like, I don't know, 80 people. He made billions. Like he can handle it. And he can handle knowing and hearing from every single one of them. You know, however many times a day that means.

You cannot put him in this box. Don't do that, by the way. He's too big for your box that you want to put him in of like, I'm too much. I'm being too needy. I'm asking for too many things. I'm praying too much. I'm talking about a bunch of stuff that's irrelevant. Nothing is irrelevant to the Lord. He wants to know about everything. He wants to hear from you about everything. If you're excited about something, if you want to pray about something, if you literally just want a friend to talk to, if you're having struggles, if you're having little things in your day that you're feeling frustrated about, like bring it to him.

Bring it to him. Talk to him all the time, please. I'm like actually begging you from every little fiber in my body, from experience, just what I've been through in this one simple year of spending time with the Lord, please bring everything to him. Like talk to him in every moment of your day. And I think the coolest thing that he showed me is he's showed me so much fruit and like so much goodness that has come from in,

involving, like giving him that, you know, like making him a part of my everyday. I will literally laugh with him sometimes where I'll be like, LOL, God, remember when? Or I'll be like, LOL, God, did you just see that? Like, haha. Like, bro,

bro, he's a friend. He is a friend and he wants to be in every part of your day. So can you promise me that? Will you pinky promise me that in the presence of the Lord? All right. It's big stuff. Pinky promise me right now that you are going to bring him in every part of your day because he wants to be. And that alone will strengthen your faith in the Lord so much. Like it's really just the quality time and educating yourself.

yourself on who he is. That's also the one thing I want to say about the Bible is it's not only like, what can we get from this? How can we have a better life? Of course, that's all in here. Like, I want to know the questions of the world. Like, it's all in here. But also, it's about understanding who he is. Like, who he is.

He is the creator of the world. He is literally love. He is literally light. Like it's really cool because it's also like just learning about where we came from. Like who's this guy that made us? It's so cool to learn about who God is and that is never ending.

That won't end. Like that will be the rest of our lives is continuing to learn who he is. But I do believe that this time here on earth is just preparation of learning who he is so that one day when we face him, you know, face to face, we have just a little

Just a little snippet, just a little understanding of who he is before we meet him. And so I'm so, first off, I should have led with this, but I'm so proud of you guys for even being curious. You know, if you clicked on this and you weren't even, you weren't even sure if this was something that you would consider, or if you did click this with the intention of knowing that you wanted to start a journey with Jesus, I'm so proud of you for that. Like, you don't understand that.

How much it means to God that your heart is open just this much. Just this much. You know, and we've said this on the podcast too, that all he needs is faith the size of a mustard seed, which is equivalent to like a sesame seed. It's so small. But like, that's all he needs. And so if you're showing up with a sesame seed right now, God is so grateful for that. Like,

He is so grateful for that and he is so excited and I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you for like just even being curious, you know, because I think

A lot of people go their entire life without ever allowing themselves to be curious about the Lord. And so I think you deserve some credit in that, you know, credit to give yourself that you're allowing yourself to be curious about who God is. And I pray that that seed continues to grow and your curiosity continues to grow on wanting to learn who God is.

Who this guy is like who is Jesus like who is God, you know? Yeah. Anyway, so I'm I'm so proud of you I'm so excited for you. This is about to be the most fun you're ever gonna have in your life, by the way It's not perfect doesn't mean you're not gonna cry doesn't mean you're not gonna have pain The thing is is like having faith in the Lord does not take away the obstacles of our life But it gives us that companionship and it gives us somebody who will take care of us through it, you know and

He gives us peace through it. He gives us joy through it where it like does not make sense. Most people would not be joyous. Most people would not have peace. But because you have God, he gives you those things. And so it's fun. It's like actually so fun. Like walking with the Lord is so cool. And I've said this on a TikTok. I'm going to say it again. That you think you're cool now. Just wait until you see where the Lord takes you. You're about to be so much cooler. Like the Lord is going to make you so much cooler. Like you're not ready for it actually. You're about to be so...

cool. Like it's, it's so insane the way that he just pours into you spiritually and like the knowledge you receive. Like you will turn around and be like, whoa, I just said something so smart. He's going to pour so much wisdom into you. It's going to be awesome. I'm so grateful. And thank you for trusting me with this

too like I hope I did a good job Lord Almighty Jesus I hope I did an okay job um I hope that this truly led so many people into curiosity of knowing Jesus I hope it brings a lot of people to Barnes and Noble Barnes and Noble you're welcome and I hope that you just like take time to just be with the Lord and and read his word because if it's if it's accessible that's the thing is that if we have

the privilege to walk into a barnes and noble and buy a bible like if you do have that privilege where you could get a bible or even if it's from your local church like that is such a privilege in itself because there are so many people in the world that do not have these same rights they do not have these same privileges if they even owned a page of this bible they could be killed

I think we need to understand also the privilege that we have where if you've neglected the word of God just simply because of laziness or just unmotivation, I think having that reality check of like there are people in the world that may never know the word of God because of their circumstances, because of where they live. There are languages that just the Bible hasn't even been translated into, you know, and I think

I didn't even realize that, guys. Like before I started my journey, I didn't even realize that, but it's real. So if it's accessible to you and you have the freedom to open the word of God, please do it because there's so many people who would literally give anything to hold something like this in their hands, you know?

So anyway, I hope this episode encouraged you guys. I'm so grateful. My batteries are dying on my cameras. I love y'all. I'm encouraging you guys in this next week. I can't wait to hear more of your testimonies. And like we always say on our way out is I just pray that we walk a little bit more

like Jesus today. I hope that you guys do. Let's walk more like Jesus. Let's show somebody why Jesus is so cool today. Let's spread his love. Let's spread his kindness. Let's spread his empathy. Let's spread his compassion. Let's spread his patience, not only with others, but with ourselves and with him. I love y'all and I will see you next week. Bye.

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