S4 EP3. Gifts Of The Spirit and Communion
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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 for every single one of you. Hi, everybody. Hi. How are you guys? I love today. I love today because I get to hang out with you guys and we get to talk about Jesus together. So, let's get started.

Today is a good day. Happy Friday. I hope that you guys are thriving. I hope that you are filled with gratitude today because it is only because of the Lord that we are alive and breathing right now. So thank you, Jesus, for another day of life. We did communion a few weeks ago, and it was at the end of season three, and I loved that. I loved that. And

I might continue to make it a thing here on the podcast. So just know to always keep some grape juice or some cranberry juice.

And bread nearby because I would love to make this a thing. And I think the importance of taking communion is it just really brings us to a heart posture of gratitude. And I feel like it's a really beautiful way to just kind of zoom out and take a moment to stop and

Just stop. Actually, that's just the end of the sentence. And just take a moment to stop. I think there's something so beautiful in that. Just kind of stopping, slowing down, and just being. And being grateful to the Lord and thanking him for everything. And it's funny because before I really started my journey with the Lord, communion was just like kind of a thing that I would see as a special occasion. I don't know. I think it's just because I didn't really fully understand it.

And so I had taken communion a few times, but it was only ever in like circumstances of maybe going to like a Catholic church with one of my friends or something like random. I wasn't raised Catholic, but that was pretty much the only times I would take communion or maybe a couple times at church for holidays.

And because only the real times I would go to church growing up was on the holidays, I guess I just kind of associated communion with just special occasions, like a holiday. I didn't know that it was something you could do multiple times a day. I didn't know it was something you could do every day, but I've really felt it on my heart, like so heavy y'all from the Lord, like from dad. So there's no arguing with that. This is from the Lord.

that I'm supposed to be taking communion every day. Like I've been doing it every day while getting in the secret place and just being with him. Like I can't go into the secret place without taking communion now. It's funny because it wasn't even something that I was like, okay, I need to take communion every day. It wasn't even religious.

It was just something that kind of integrated into my routine with him where I was like, I need to be taking communion every time I'm in the secret place with him. It's just another level of honoring him. And like I said, I think it's just taking it to the next level of really genuinely pouring out so much gratitude to him. I almost kind of treat it as just like a new covenant that I make with the Lord every day, like just a new agreement and bond that I make with him that day where I'm like, Lord, I am yours.

I'm yours today. I'm yours every day for the rest of my life, but I am yours today, you know? And this is like that tie. It's like, I'm like marrying him every day, but for real, that's just kind of how I look at it. And so, yeah, it's beautiful. And I don't think it needs to be anything that we look at super religiously. I think it definitely shouldn't be taken casually, but there are no rules when it comes to communion or how often you can take it.

And so I really want to make it a habit in the podcast. I think it'd be really special and beautiful for us to do together every so often. We don't have to do it every episode, but if that becomes routine, hey, why not? Every Friday we take communion together. That's kind of lit. I don't know. Maybe the Lord will lead us to that, but I felt led to do it together today. If you have juice...

If you have anything that could resemble the blood, I would encourage you guys to do that. And then some type of bread. I would love for us to do this together as a family and just pour our gratitude out to the Lord. Okay? Okay.

You can pause this actually. Just pause the episode. Go get your juice, girl. Go get your juice out of the fridge. Wherever. Or if you have little communion cups, okay? This is Miracle Meal and I got a huge bulk of them off of Amazon. So there's a plug. Ashley and I, we have like a whole container in our kitchen filled with communion cups. So even when we have friends over and stuff and we just spontaneously feel like taking communion together, we just have it.

So this is also a good thing to have on hand. I never saw these outside of church.

And to think of having them in my home, I was like, whoa. You know who actually inspired me to have these on hand in my house is Angela from Girls Gone Bible. We love Ange. We love Ari too. But Ashley and I, the first time we came out here to California to record actually with Girls Gone Bible, Angela was sweet enough to let us stay in her apartment. And so we stayed with her and we saw that she like had a whole thing of communion cups in her house. And I was like, wait, I'm sorry.

That's legit genius. So she was my inspiration. So now Ashley and I, we just keep cups in our home and it's amazing. Like what the heck? And then you can take communion whenever you feel led to. So, okay. I think we've given enough time to go grab our juice and our bread. So I'm going to lead us in prayer. I would love for everybody to just bow their heads and close their eyes. And we'll start with the bread. Lord Jesus, I just thank you so much.

for bringing us all here together to honor you, Lord. I thank you that you have encouraged both I and everybody else listening to slow down and to just stop. And so that's what we're doing. We're going to stop and we're going to fix our eyes on you, Lord. God, we're going to lock our eyes with you. And I just thank you so much for your gentleness. God, I thank you for your compassion and

And Lord, I thank you that you're always willing to meet us where we're at, that we don't have to go and meet you. Like you come to us and you meet us where we're at. And so I thank you for being such a loving father. I thank you for the sacrifice that you made on the cross, that we get to live a life with you, that we get to experience your spirit because of the sacrifice that you made, Lord, and that all of our sins are forgiven because of the death that you died. And so,

God, as I break this bread, as we all break this bread, let it be a reminder of the way that your body was broken on the cross, that you chose to do that. That, Lord, you had every power, you had all the power in the world to remove yourself from that cross, but you chose to stay on it to save us so that we could be reborn through your death and resurrection.

And God, we just repent. And Lord, we ask you to just analyze our hearts now in Jesus' name. That if there's anything impure in our hearts, God, will you reveal it to us so that we can hand it to you. God, we ask you to purify our hearts and make us more like you today. God, and I thank you that there's nothing we have to do to strive to do that other than just having an open heart and allowing you to remove it. God, that there's actually nothing we have to do because you've already done it all.

that we get to just be as you cleanse us and purify us that it is your blood that makes us white as snow thank you jesus for the bread lord thank you for your presence jesus thank you for your presence and so lord now we thank you for the blood lord we thank you that this blood gives us the authority to step and stomp and crush the heads of scorpions and snakes lord if it wasn't for the blood

We would not be able to carry any authority through Christ, through you. And so, Lord, we just thank you for the blood. We thank you for the protection that it gives us and our families and our homes, God. It is the blood that protects us. God, thank you that we are covered in the blood. Lord, we ask for more protection today over our minds, our hearts, God, over our families, Jesus. Lord, we just ask for more of your protection through the blood.

And God, we're so grateful. God, we are so grateful. We come to you with a grateful heart. Let this never get old to us, God. I pray that it never becomes stale. It never becomes something that we get used to. Lord, let this stay alive in our hearts every day of your goodness. This wasn't something you had to do for us, but you did it out of love.

And so, God, we're thankful today. Lord, thank you for gathering us as a big family and that this is actually a cup of joy that we don't need to mourn. We get to be joyous because of the blood, because we believe in the power of your blood. And so I just seal this in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you, God. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord. We got our coffee on ice.

Yeah, I got coffee today from my favorite coffee spot.

I don't know if I'm ready to give it away just yet. I might gatekeep it a little bit longer. Oh, but it's my favorite coffee in LA. All right, y'all. Well, what a great episode so far. Thanks, Lord. Love you. So can I be honest with y'all and tell you about how I woke up this morning and was feeling? I was feeling like a weirdo. I was feeling like a freaking weirdo. I just felt off like spiritually. And I know that's relatable because that's just real life. So I was like,

So yeah, I know I'm not alone in that, but I woke up kind of off today and I felt it was the consequences of my own actions because the last couple of days I haven't been the best about getting in my word or really getting into the secret place. Like it's just so easy for me to get up and start thinking about all the millions of things that I need to get done and

And I just tell myself that I don't have time to get in the secret place. Like there are people who are waiting for my reply. There are people who are waiting for answers from me. And that's kind of a weakness of mine that I feel the Lord still needs to fully deliver me from. Like I sometimes struggle with jumping right into all the things that I need to get done instead of just starting my day off with the Lord. I'd say more times than not, I can do it. But there are definitely times where I don't.

And the last couple of days I haven't done that. And I woke up feeling really off. And then I was like, yeah, the math is mathing alley. These are the consequences of you not prioritizing your heavenly father first thing in your day for a couple of days now, you know? And I feel like it kind of catches up to you. Like the first day you do it, it's not that bad, but it's, it's

it's like as if you're not eating, like the first day of not eating isn't as awful, but then, you know, you're not eating for two, three, four days and you're like on the verge of passing out, you know? So that's kind of how I was feeling this morning. And I,

I just sat with the Lord and I, you know, I was like, I'm not going to neglect my quality time with the Lord today. I like, I need quality time with the Lord too. It's more than just, you know, listening to worship music or even being in community, you know, because whenever I'm in community, like when me and Ash are with friends, all we're doing is eating, sleeping, breathing Jesus. Um,

So, you know, most of my activities through the day or it's things like this where I'm recording or a majority of my things in the day have to do with Jesus, you know, but that isn't enough. I need quality time with the Lord alone time with him shutting the door, just me and him. Do you know what I mean?

And I need him to pour into me. Otherwise, I'm not okay. I'm not doing well. If I haven't allowed the Lord to pour into me that day, if I haven't been able to sit down with him and just dine with him and let him talk to me and really listen to him. And kind of like how we started this episode, just stopping, just stop, you know, and just allowing him to speak.

And so if I'm not doing that, I'm like down bad and not good. And so I kind of woke up this morning feeling down bad and not good. And I knew exactly why. I knew exactly why. As I got into the secret place this morning, because I was aware of what was happening, like I knew why I was feeling this way. I immediately was striving. I was like, okay, I need to repent. I need to

praise him I need to love him I need to sing to him like I love singing to the Lord it's like my favorite I was like I need to do all this stuff I need to I need to be a good daughter and I need to show up I haven't been showing up for the Lord and he deserves it I need to show up and so I'm doing all of this and I'm still not really feeling the best and I just felt the Lord tell me stop I

I felt him tell me, I need you to just receive right now. And I was like, but God, I like, I like haven't been able to praise you. Like I haven't really done that in the last couple of days, you know, like I've talked to you, but I haven't really like sat down and told you how much I love you. And it's just his grace because I feel like any other God, there is no other God, but like any other God would be like crossing his arms and he'd be like, yeah, you haven't praised me in a couple of days.

But that wasn't his response. His response was like, no, I know you haven't, but I do know how much you love me. And so you don't need to sit here and strive, Allie. You don't need to try. I need you to rest.

Resting is truly allowing yourself to be in the presence of God and slowing down. That's rest. Anytime I'm operating outside of the Lord, I'm striving, I'm working, I'm like trying to get to goals, I'm doing all the things I'm supposed to do, you know, taking care of my responsibilities, whatever, but I can't treat my time with the Lord that way.

Or I'm not actually allowing him to fill me. Does that even make sense? I hope that that's like coming across in a way that's comprehensible. But I just, I can't go to the feet of Jesus and strive because that just doesn't work because it's not anything we can earn and it's not anything we work for. He just loves us and he just asks us to be, just be at my feet.

Like I'm not asking you to strive or do anything else. Just be at my feet and be still and know that I am God. Be still and I will be the one to fight for you. I will be the one to pour into you. I will be the one that gives you life today. Like I went into the secret place being like, I need to work and then he's going to pour into me and then I have life. And he's like, no, all you need to do is come to my feet, rest, close your eyes, lay down if you need to.

And then I will fill you and give you life. Sometimes you guys, I don't even understand that. I don't understand that. I don't understand how he just gives. I don't understand how he just gives without needing really anything in return other than just us. All he wants is us. That's it. He's like, can you just be at my feet? I just want you.

And that's so hard for me to comprehend. I don't know why, but I literally actually don't understand how he is a God that says, just come to my feet and just be and I will give. You just want to give? You've already given so much. Like you've already died on the cross. Like he just gives. That's all he wants to do is he just wants to give to us. And he wants to give us life. And he wants to feed us, you know, spiritually. And he wants to fill us. That's all he wants to do.

Okay, God, you're crazy for that. What do you mean there's nothing I have to do to earn that? What do you mean there's nothing I have to strive for to get that? That doesn't make sense.

But I think that's also us like having to kind of unlearn or at least separate God from the world because anything else in the world you have to like strive for and earn in a way. But when it comes to the Lord, he doesn't ask you to do anything other than to just be and to and have an appetite for him, like just be hungry for him. And even that he gives.

Even that he gives having like a hunger and a desire for the Lord is something he gives. So if you feel like you don't have that, you can ask him for it and he'll give it. Like everything is given to us by the Lord. There's nothing that we like take from ourselves, like take out of ourselves to give to him. Like he gives, and then it's just a flow like this.

And that is so hard to understand because the rest of the world is not that way. And that is just something we have to unlearn, I guess. I don't know. God's just different from anything else. Like he just is. That's actually what makes him different. That's actually what makes him Lord. That's actually what makes him God is that he is different than anything else. He's like in his own lane.

He's in his own category. Everything else is over here. And then it's like, God, you know, like it doesn't make sense because he's just in his own category. He's just here. And then everything else is over here. So obviously it's not, it doesn't look the same because there's nothing else like him. There's nothing else like the Lord. Okay. Okay.

Not me having a whole freaking moment right now. But it's true. Anything else in life, we have to literally strive and prove ourselves for, which is actually ugly. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with working hard because that's also biblical. The Bible says, don't be lazy. Don't sleep all day. All right. Hard work is good. It's the way that in the world we have to do that to like prove that we're worthy.

And we're already worthy in God's eyes, which is also so backwards to me because we're legit not worthy. But he sees us that way. He sees us worthy enough to have died on the cross for us and to save us. Like, okay, that doesn't make sense to me either because we're so unworthy like we are.

We're only worthy because of him, because of the way that he makes us new and he purifies us. The only reason that we have any good qualities is because they are the qualities of Jesus.

Like, I wasn't an awful person before I really knew the Lord, but also any of the qualities that were in my heart before were definitely from him because I had a little bit of an understanding, tiny, tiny bit of who he was, kind of, sorta. And I would pray from time to time. I did believe that there was a God in the sky. And I did believe Jesus. Didn't really fully understand anything about who he was. So yeah, I wasn't...

an awful he i wasn't a good person there were some qualities about my heart that have always been the same and it's because i'm made in the image of him so like again anything good that comes out of me that is of me is because of him like i'm only likable because of jesus that's the truth i'm only lovable because of jesus i'm only caring i only have a big heart because of jesus

All of it goes back to him. Like we're not worthy, but he thinks we're worthy enough to sanctify us and purify us and make us good. Even though all we do in humanity really is we're just prideful and we reject him.

What the heck? He's so good. Okay, this is gonna feel kind of out of left field, but I felt this on my heart. The gifts of the Spirit. Okay, so now that we're talking about like qualities that we have, okay, this kind of ties in. Like qualities that we can have, right? As followers of Christ.

what those could look like and being in tune with the spirit and hearing from the Lord and the gifts of the spirit. I guess this is kind of controversial because I know that there are some people that don't believe in the gifts of the spirit anymore and they think that it just like stopped at the Bible. But that is not true because I have personally witnessed it in other people and myself. Whoa, fun, fun. So it's not dead. The Holy Spirit is very much still alive and the gifts of the spirit, the way that the

still is very much real and alive. I can say that because I have physically seen it, felt it, experienced it. Cool. So let's talk about that. Whoa, what are the gifts of the spirit? All right, let's break out our Bibles, everyone. This is fun. This is so spirit because I had no idea what we were gonna talk about after that, but this is fun. Okay, we're going to 1 Corinthians 12, eight through 10. And just as a reminder,

My version of the Bible, I have the NLT translation. Okay, so this is 1 Corinthians 12, 8. And it says, actually, no, we're going to start in 12, 7. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

To one person, the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice. To another, the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another. And to someone else, the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern or

whether a message is from the spirit of God or from another spirit, still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. Paul is talking about tongues right there. It is the one and only spirit who distributes all of these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

That is so fun. Spiritual gifts are so fun. Okay. I had no idea about spiritual gifts until I moved to Nashville and I met Ashley. And then I started to kind of meet other people in community there in Nashville because up until that point, it was just me and Jesus.

chilling you know so I really didn't have any experience with like experiencing spiritual gifts first-handedly what was funny is I was already experiencing the gifts of the spirit without knowing that that's what it was if that makes sense which also just testifies to how real it is because I was experiencing it and I didn't even know what it was

So no one like got in my head and said, oh, you know, like it was like I was already experiencing it. But then I had knowledge and like words for it. And also I feel like I've always had this desire just in my spirit to give advice and

If you've been here long, long term, like even before this podcast, you know that I had another podcast before this and that's like basically all I did. Granted, it's funny because we all kind of have these gifts that are supposed to be like this with the spirit, like with the Lord. But if we're not operating in the Lord, it'll be used for something else, which is

not with God. So was I giving very worldly leaning on my own understanding type of advice? Yes. But I always like had that desire in my heart. And so now it's cool to see the way that that gift that I've always had, where I just, I love to give wise advice. I love to counsel and I love to help people. It's just always something I've loved to do. I love talking through things with people and helping them like walk through things and understand things.

But it's cool that I get to do it like with the Lord now because that's what it was always meant to be used for. Have you ever wanted to learn another language? Maybe it's something you've always wanted to do. Or maybe you're planning a trip abroad, but trying to memorize endless vocabulary words never works. That's where Rosetta Stone comes in. For over 30 years, they've been the trusted experts in language learning, helping millions of people get the chance to learn different languages.

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I also had always kind of gotten like special messages of like knowledge for people. Like I felt like I had things to tell people that maybe I shouldn't have known, I guess, other than from the Lord. I was low-key prophesying and didn't know that that's what was happening.

And so I think talking about spiritual gifts is important because it's important to understand which gift you have, like what that looks like, what it means and how to steward it well. You know, I will never forget the first moment that I ever experienced prophecy in my life. And it's funny because when you think about the demonic side,

Okay, I know, quick turn. But when you think about the demonic and you think about Satan and like all that he tries to do, everything that he tries to do in his sad little kingdom of evil and destruction is mimic everything that the Lord does.

does and has already curated and made. So when you look at the ways that the enemy operates, it really is just a mirror of what the Lord does, but darkness and evil, right? He's not original at all. Psychics and like people who can see into the future, it's literally giving profits, but they're not, you know what I mean? But it was cool because it kind of, it was like, as if I was

Talking to a psychic, but it's not. This is actually the OG. This is like what it's supposed to be. Psychics are channeling other spirits that are not of the Lord and it's very dangerous and inaccurate and not good. Misleading, evil, icky, don't do that. We've talked about that here on the podcast, but...

But it's just cool to see like prophets and then it's like, oh, and then of course the enemy has something that he just wants what the Lord can only provide. Right. So when I experienced that though, I was like, it was one of our good friends. His name is Jay and he was sitting in my home and he was telling me of all these things, like all of these desires of my heart and all of these things that the Lord is going to do through me.

you know, in the future. And it was really eye-opening to me. I was like, wait, whoa, there's like so much more to the spirit of God than what I had been experiencing at that point, you know? And I think it was really sweet that the Lord allowed me to kind of walk through a season with him for a while before experiencing these things, because I don't know how much that would have freaked me out, I guess. Like,

I think sometimes it's okay that we don't like experience those things right off the bat that, you know, there's like a growing up process with the Lord. And so I don't know if those things should have been introduced to me, like right off the bat in my journey, you know, I had been following the Lord for quite some time by that point that my heart was open to it. And I was like, wait, this is like so good.

cool like I was hungry for like the next level you know of learning about the spirit and how far it goes and all the different ways that he operates through and I want to touch on the gift of prophecy for a second too because I think ultimately what the Lord also tells us when it comes to the gifts of the spirit as well is like we need to be able to steward them well and not be careless with them and

And sometimes people do that. It also says in the Bible in 1 John 4, it says...

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God, for there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God.

such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. Okay, so that goes back to psychics and fortune telling and all of that stuff. If those people are not...

claiming that Christ is Lord, that Jesus did come down in real human form, right? That they're not operating in the spirit of God, then they're operating in something else and they are a false prophet. There also can be people in the church. So just because they say Jesus is Lord doesn't mean that you should take every prophetic word that is given to you. I'm always open to receiving a prophetic word.

If it feels appropriate. And I mean, I've definitely taken them from strangers, but I think the best thing that you could do is then bring it to the Lord and ask God to reveal whether it was truly from him. Because ultimately that's what a prophetic word is. It is a word from God.

operating through one of his children who heard it, downloaded it, and is communicating it to you. And so if it's supposed to stick, you can just ask the Lord and say, hey, Lord, let it stick. But if it's not, pray that it falls and it doesn't hold. You know what I mean? Because I think sometimes people can operate out of their flesh and

Sometimes people really love the just the status of being a prophet. And so that's kind of icky. And I think it's a little dangerous because that is a way to just operate out of our flesh. Like people just want to be seen as a prophet when maybe they're not.

So yeah, so I think that it's always good to test every spirit. As it says in 1 John 4, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the spirit. We shouldn't be naive, but it's nothing to be afraid of either. I mean, honestly, every time I'm just like, hey, Lord, what was that? And if he gives me a weird feeling in my tummy, I'm like, oh, okay. Yeah, I'm not like sometimes even when I get like when somebody is giving me a prophetic word and my tummy feels a little bit off, I'm like,

you know, like it feels kind of fleshy. The Lord will give you that discernment. Ultimately, when it comes to the gifts of the spirit though, and being able to trust somebody with it is seeing that they steward it in a responsible way. And they're not just throwing it around all willy nilly. I don't think we're supposed to withhold. Like if the Lord is really putting it on our hearts,

to share some type of word of knowledge or give a prophetic word or if you've had a vision or a dream or something, I don't think we're supposed to withhold because there have been times where I've given words to people that I haven't even spoken to in years and I feel the Lord putting it on my heart to share it with them so heavy that I'm like, okay, I just need to be obedient and just trust the Lord even if it doesn't make sense to us.

Most times it doesn't like I'm like, I really hope this just connects with you. And this is just kind of like a little inside moment with the Lord. Like there's no reason I should know this.

about unicorns or I don't know, it could be anything. Sometimes it can be so random and weird, but we just have to trust God and just be obedient in that moment. Cause it's not about us. It's about him and his child, like getting that word to them. But I think that one of the most impressive ways that I've received prophetic words is, well, first off they, they ask me permission, you know, they're like, Hey, can I, can I, is this okay?

The other thing that I really admire when I see it being done responsibly and well is that they say, if this sticks, then great. If it doesn't, that's okay too. You know, like there's no pressure anymore.

to receive it if it doesn't actually resonate with me at all. And sometimes I think it's really great when people just lead it in with prayer and they're like, Lord, I pray that, you know, as I'm delivering this, that it's not out of flesh at all. You know, that this is just you speaking right now, Jesus.

I received this prophetic word from a girl not too long ago. I don't know her personally, but she's like a friend of a friend. And she said that she felt it so, so heavy on her heart. Like she like kind of fought the Lord for a little bit about even like telling me it. And so she, she gave me this word and at the end she was like, was there anything that didn't

resonate with you and I just think that that was really beautiful too like it wasn't like she was like so like what fit she wasn't gonna stick her nose in that because a lot of it can be so personal with the Lord but to me I felt it was her kind of making sure that she was stewarding her gift well and that if there wasn't anything like she was trying to also learn moving forward in that gift and

And it's funny that we're talking about this because I got a question from somebody not too long ago. She had said prophetic words not coming true and then confusion from it. Oh, okay. Wait, can we talk about that for a second? I guess we're just going to talk about prophecy today. Maybe we can talk more about like the other gifts of the spirit. Another in, we have more episodes, but I think that's really good because sometimes we can actually receive prophetic words and

That could be like so far in the future that if we don't see it happening, it kind of starts to make us doubt. Even like this could be you receiving it from other people or this could be just like a download that you got from the Lord, you know? And I think it's also really good to test yourself.

If you get something directly from the Lord or you think you do, or you get a dream or something and you're like, okay, how do I discern if this is actually from the Lord or not? I'll speak on my, my own experience, but I receive a lot from the Lord in dreams. And that was something that I prayed for because it also says in the Bible, first Corinthians 14, one says,

The Lord tells us, let love be your highest goal, but you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially the ability to prophesy. For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking to only God. Since people won't be able to understand you, you will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious.

But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church."

I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more, I wish you could all prophesy for prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened. So I love this because this is Paul saying that we should all desire prophecy.

to earnestly desire and ask God for the gifts of the spirit. But the thing that we should desire the most out of all the gifts, yeah, tongues is cool and all these other things are really great and it is available if that's, you know, his will and you earnestly ask for it and he grants it.

But the thing we should truly desire the most is the gift of prophecy, is the gift of being able to strengthen others, encourage them and comfort them through prophecy. And that is just through the Lord. Like the Lord is the one who strengthens us. The Lord is the one who encourages us and comforts us. So if we're able to get a download from the Lord and encourage the church, encourage our brothers and sisters, that's the best gift we could receive from the spirit.

because ultimately we are strengthening each other in the church, you know, as long as we are earnestly desiring those gifts, right? So I earnestly and so desperately begged the Lord to talk to me through dreams. I wanted to see visions. I wanted to be able to just hear from him and see things that he sees, whether that's the future or if that's desires. I don't know. I just, I was like, Lord, I want you to communicate to me in my sleep, please.

And that was something I had to pray for often. I even had like friends, you know, I would bring it to my other friends in the community and I'd say, I really, really want more dreams from the Lord. And we would pray for it. So never give up praying. Okay. Period. Period. Never give up praying, but never give up

praying for, you know, the things that you desire. And just because the Lord hasn't delivered it after praying about it a couple of times, doesn't mean he never will. Cause it was something I needed to pray for a lot. And I'm still like, God speak to me tonight. Give me a dream. Sometimes he doesn't, but a lot of times he does. So prayer is never a waste. Yeah. So I asked, I said, Lord, give me dreams.

And so he started to give me dreams. And the only challenge that I feel like I still kind of hit from time to time is I'm like, okay, Lord, is this just what I want? Or is this something you've actually given me and communicated to me? I think sometimes we can go, okay, gift of prophecy. Is this from me though? Or is this from flesh? Or is this from the Lord? Like how do we discern what is actually sent to us from the Lord? Because sometimes, right?

like Miss Gurley said, we're still waiting on things to happen, which can put us in a place of confusion and maybe discouragement and being like, all right, so was this just, did I just make this up? Or was this actually a word that I received from the Lord? Whether he spoke it to you directly or it was communicated to you through somebody else, like how do we discern that? And I really think the best way that we can discern whether something is from the Lord or not is one, y'all, it's detail.

Okay. If there are times that I am receiving something prophetic from the Lord in my sleep, it is like, it is like a movie. Like, you know how dreams can be really weird and kind of like random and a little blurry and a little foggy and a little this and a little that, and it doesn't really make sense. I feel like most times that's just me and I can discern. I'm like, okay, that was just me. That's so silly. But it's the dreams that are so unbelievably detailed. Like

Like it feels as if you're living in a movie or you've already lived it. Does that make sense? So I don't know. Sometimes that's a good way that I am able to actually discern if it's from the Lord or not is when it actually feels like it's something that could legitimately happen. Okay. Not you having five tentacles growing out of your arms and legs. Like it's like it actually could legitimately happen. Like it's that real where you're like, well, wait, actually,

That could happen in real life. A lot of ways that I also know if it's prophetic is if there's like a lot of scripture that backs it up.

Okay. Sometimes when I have dreams, it'll be like Bible is intertwined in it. You're hearing words of wisdom from the Bible in those dreams. A lot of times too, when prophecy is given, there's always Bible to back it up, if that makes sense. So I think that's another way to kind of test it on whether it's from the Lord or not, is that if it supports his word, like if it's giving Bible,

You know, there's scripture in it. There's scripture backing it up. I also think another way to discern whether you've received a word that is truly prophetic and you're still waiting on it. You're like, Lord, is this even like a real thing? Because it hasn't happened yet. Is when you go to him and you ask him and you're like, God, I'm feeling really discouraged because you told me this thing.

I feel like Ashley is so qualified to answer this because we've talked about that. Like she's experienced that where she's actually received prophetic words from the Lord or like a word of knowledge from God that isn't really making sense yet. And it's like months have gone by and then she's like, okay, I don't understand. Was that even you, God? Was that even real? But I think the best way to even test that, because sometimes I really do believe that the Lord gives us words and tells us things kind of far in advance.

to almost like prepare our hearts and keep our eyes open to it, if that makes sense. Like he's preparing us, you know, he's like, I need you to know this now so that you're prepared when it comes. But sometimes we don't know how long that looks, which can be like discouraging, right? And so a lot of times I think just bringing that discouragement to the Lord and bringing those concerns to him and saying, okay, God, it's been a while. Is this even going to happen? Is this real?

And I think that when you bring that to him and then you feel his peace and his love, sometimes you may even hear his voice and you might hear him say, yes, that was me. Wait.

He uses very few words. That's just from my experience, but the Lord really isn't a God of many, many, many words. Sometimes he'll just be like, yes, that was me. And I'm like, okay, God. So how much longer am I waiting? Okay, God, are you sure that was you? Yes, that was me. And that's all he'll say. And so then we just have to have faith and believe. Okay, wait. You know,

You know, the crosswalks sometimes when you're like, you press the button and you're waiting to go, wait, that's God, wait. And I'm like, God, okay, but like how, wait, that's all he says. So I think a lot of times, like just bringing that to him, like if you're feeling discouraged and you're like, Lord, is this even right?

He'll tell you or he'll give you peace. If you're feeling peace, just take that as a sign that it was from God. But if it's making you angsty and you're feeling anxious and like nervous and freaked out, I don't know if that's necessarily from the Lord, you know? But discernment is really important. And I think if you feel like you need more of that in situations like this, then just ask the Lord. He'll give you more discernment. Hey, Fidelity.

How can I remember to invest every month? With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs. Oh, that sounds easier than I thought. You got this. Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys? You will find them where you left them. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, member NYSE SIPC.

Earnestly ask, and discernment is a gift from the spirit. We only have discernment and gut feelings in our tummies because of the Lord Almighty, because of the spirit that lives inside of us. So that is a gift. And so we shall earnestly ask and say, God, I need more discernment, more, more, more. And he will gladly give you more. He will, because that's like low-key how we survive is off of discernment. Discernment is like what keeps us safe, you know? Is the spirit being like, ooh,

And don't do this. Do this.

Like the Lord told me to do something today that like really confused me. And I was like, I don't understand that. But it's really fun to listen to that discernment and that like gut feeling. Wait, okay. You may not totally understand it in the moment, but this is giving Matthew. Is it Matthew? Just kidding. It's John. John, John 13, seven. Jesus replied, you do not understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.

So sometimes it doesn't make sense, but we just have to abide and we just have to say yes. And we just have to do what he says, even if it doesn't make sense. The thing that he told me to do today, I said, what? I still don't really get it actually. Still haven't seen the fruit of that, but I know there's fruit to come because he would never tell me to do something that doesn't make sense. He would never encourage me in something that would never come. But it's kind of fun because then like the math maths eventually...

And you see it and you're like, oh wait, no. So that's why the Lord told me that. That's why he said I needed to do this because if I didn't do this, then that wouldn't have happened. And if that didn't happen, that wouldn't have happened. And then I wouldn't have been here. But it's the trusting. It's the trusting and having faith in him part. Even if he doesn't tell us all the details. Even if he's just like, wait. So don't be discouraged.

If you received a prophetic word from the Lord and if you keep bringing it to him and he's like, yep, that was me. And you have peace about it and you know, deep down in your gut, you're like, no, I know, I know that was the Lord, but why hasn't it happened yet?

That doesn't mean it wasn't from the Lord. It just means you got to still have faith in him that he's sorting it all out. And it's cool because like, this is something that Ashley and I talk about often and we have to continue to remind ourselves is that there are so many things that the Lord is doing behind the scenes that we probably will never know about or see. And just keeping that in mind too, that...

If we've received something from the Lord, a vision, a dream, a prophetic word, whatever, and it hasn't come to pass yet, we just need to have faith in the fact that he's still working. And there are probably a million bajillion little puzzle pieces that he's putting together in the background that you will never see until it happens. Or maybe never at all. But it will happen. But confusion is also never from the Lord. So if there's a prophetic word that you receive that feels confusing...

Literally the best thing we can always do in any scenario is just bring it to the feet of Jesus and let him reveal what's the truth or not.

Like he is the one that will tell us if it's accurate or not. You don't have to figure it out on your own. You don't have to like try to like bring this two over here and drag the four and you don't have to try to figure it out on your own. He'll figure it out and he'll give you the discernment on whether you're supposed to have peace about that or not. But nothing from the Lord is confusing. It shouldn't be. Confusion is not from the Lord. That's Bible too. It's kind of cool how much I'm like unintentionally

quoting from first corinthians today that just actually should show you how much we really apparently needed to be in first corinthians and talk about this but yeah first corinthians 14 33 i think says for god is not a god of disorder but of peace as in all the meetings of god's holy people

Wow, we're talking about prophecy literally so much. The verse right before that says, remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.

Cute. Cute.

Prophecy is cute. You're just supposed to help encourage each other. Aw, cute. I love the gifts of the spirit. It's like the coolest thing like actually ever, ever. Whoa, we should keep reading 1 Corinthians. This is fire. Okay, guys, was that cool? Was that fun? I actually think that was fun. We should talk more about the gifts. It's a little controversial. It shouldn't be though because it's Bible. It's Bible.

And it's still alive today. The gifts of the Spirit is alive today. And I am so grateful for the gifts of the Spirit because I probably wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for the gifts of the Spirit. If it wasn't for the way that the Lord speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. If it wasn't the way that I have been able to receive and give prophetic words and just experience the...

Spirit. It's really cool the way that the spirit just communicates through us and to us. And it's sweet. It's intimate. And it's the Lord. It's just the Lord wanting to talk to his kids.

and strengthen each other and encourage each other. That's also side note, how you know if somebody is operating out of their flesh instead of operating in the spirit is if it leaves you feeling cruddy. I'm gonna keep it a buck. I've experienced that where people have like prophesied

or, you know, iron sharpening iron is always good, right? We're supposed to be honest with one another, you know, and hold each other accountable within the church. Loving each other is also correcting each other. But there is a way to do, when you're in tune with the spirit though, because the Lord is good and he's kind and he's loving and he's gentle. He corrects us and it might kind of feel a little, but it shouldn't leave us feeling discouraged,

cruddy, not feeling good about ourselves, down bad on ourselves. No, that's not from our heavenly father. So hello. Actually, I'm so glad that that just came to mind. Thank you, Holy Spirit. If it is leaving you feeling discouraged, if a prophetic word or somebody who is operating in the spirit gives you a message or a word or whatever, and it doesn't leave you feeling encouraged. Do you notice that Paul mentions that multiple times?

saying that the gift of prophecy and operating in the spirit that way is only supposed to uplift one another and encourage one another. Even if you're having to be like, hey sister or hey brother, this might not feel the best, but I feel this on my heart to share with you. Like if there's not a cushion and there isn't love in it and there's like a weird spirit of judgment or condemnation, no, that's flesh.

That's fleshy. No matter how tough the conversation was. I don't know. Sometimes they can be tough. No matter that conversation.

It should always leave you feeling encouraged and loved by the Lord. So just know that. Pay attention to the way that it makes you feel once all is said and done. And I think that would really reveal a lot of truth in it too. I love you guys. This was kind of a fun episode actually. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you for taking communion with me. All of us together. That was so sweet. This was special. I'm grateful for y'all. I really am praying that you have a beautiful day. That you have a great rest of your week. Can we do something cool?

Can we do something cool today? Can we do something cool? Can we show somebody how cool Jesus is? Let's do it. These are my rings. I love, these are literally my spirit fingers and I wear rings because it's fun. Show somebody how cool Jesus is today. Let's be more like Jesus. Let's walk like him. Let's talk like him. Let's love people like the Lord would. I'm so proud of you guys. I love you and I will see you next week.

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