More of Jesus: Conference Session 1

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Arkansas Baptist Women podcast. This year we are focusing on what it means to be an Arkansas Baptist woman. A woman who loves the Lord, lives on mission for the gospel, is present in her calling, is trained and equipped to lead, and is sold out to Jesus. I'm excited to talk about life, ministry and our relationship with Jesus. So grab a cup of coffee and join the conversation. Hey, sweet friends, it's Andrea. I hope that your day is off to a great start. We had the best time at conference. I hope you were able to listen to last week's episode where we featured testimony of three Arkansas Baptist women who shared about more of Jesus in their everyday lives. I'm so thankful that God is faithful to meet us at our greatest point of need, that we can trust him, that we can follow him, that we can know that he is all in with us and we can be all in with him today. I'm so excited to bring the first session of conference to you. Rachel loving, good, she brought a powerful message. I know you're going to be blessed as she tells you a little bit about what more of Jesus looks like in her life. So thankful for Corey and Stephanie Epps, the way they led us in worship. And let me just say something. I love the women of Arkansas. You always show up. You are always ready for whatever God has for you, and it was just a joy to be in the room with you. So enjoy this session from Arkansas Baptist women conference as we talk about more of Jesus and less of me. [00:01:32] Speaker B: All right, good morning, everybody. How we feeling? We feeling okay this morning? [00:01:37] Speaker C: Good deal. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Well, hey, let's all stand to our feet. Let's lift high the name of the Lord in this place. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who gives us every good blessing, every good thing comes from him. Amen. Hey, let's just start it off just like this right here. Okay, here we go. [00:01:51] Speaker C: Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures hear me lovingly your praise father, Son and Holy Ghost praise God from whom you sing. [00:02:38] Speaker D: Praise in all creatures. [00:02:48] Speaker C: Crazy heavenly host praise Father, Son and holy Ghost. [00:03:19] Speaker B: All right, y'all, let's look alive this morning. [00:03:20] Speaker C: Here we go. It's so good to be back with y'all once again. [00:03:26] Speaker B: Let's start off a little bit rallied this morning, y'all just repeat after me, just like this. Here we go, everybody. [00:03:32] Speaker C: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Come on. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. [00:03:47] Speaker D: I praise in the valley praise on the mountain. I praise when I'm sure and praise when I'm doubting I'll praise when I'm number praise when surrounded cause praise is the water my enemy drowning as long, as long as I'm breathing I've got a reason to praise. [00:04:24] Speaker C: The Lord of. [00:04:26] Speaker D: My soul praise. [00:04:32] Speaker C: The Lord broke my. [00:04:34] Speaker D: Soul I'll praise when I feel it and praise when I go I'll praise cause I know you still in control my praise, my praise is a weapon, it's more than a sound my praise is a shout I praise Terry for now as long, as long as I'm breathing I got a reason to pray praise. [00:05:21] Speaker C: The Lord. [00:05:25] Speaker D: No, I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? [00:05:32] Speaker C: I gotta pray. [00:05:41] Speaker B: All right, y'all, hands together. [00:05:42] Speaker C: Here we go. [00:05:45] Speaker B: We're gonna lift high the name of the Lord in this place. [00:05:47] Speaker C: Because he is worthy of all the praise. Amen. [00:05:50] Speaker B: He's worthy cause he's sovereign he's worthy because he's true. Come on, y'all, let's sing it together. Here we go. [00:05:55] Speaker D: I praise cause you sovereign praise cause you rain praise cause you rose and defeated the grave I'll praise cause you're faithful praise cause you're true praise cause there's nobody greater than you. I'll praise cause you're sorry I'll praise cause you raise praise cause you rose and defeated the grave I'll praise cause you're faithful praise cause you're true I'll praise cause there's nobody greater than you. [00:06:26] Speaker C: Praise. [00:06:29] Speaker D: The Lord. Oh, my soul. [00:06:33] Speaker C: Praise the Lord. [00:06:38] Speaker D: Oh, my soul, praise. Praise the Lord. [00:06:45] Speaker C: Oh, my soul. Praise. [00:06:52] Speaker D: The Lord. Oh, my God. [00:06:55] Speaker C: I won't be quiet. [00:06:56] Speaker D: No, I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. I got his alive. How could I keep it inside? No, I won't be quiet. [00:07:13] Speaker C: My God is alive. [00:07:15] Speaker D: How could I keep it inside? I gotta praise the Lord. [00:07:25] Speaker C: Hands together. Here we go. Come on, balcony. Where y'all at this morning? Here we go. All right, one more time. Here we go. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Louder. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Amen. Amen. Yeah. [00:08:08] Speaker B: All right, y'all, let's keep it going. [00:08:09] Speaker C: Keep giving the Lord the praise that he is worthy. We say, I raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemy. And I raise a hallelujah louder than the unbelief. I raise a hallelujah. My weapon is a melody. Oh, and I raise a hallelujah heaven comes heaven comes to fight for me come on, y'all, lift it up. We say I'm gonna sing in the. [00:09:01] Speaker D: Middle of a storm louder and louder. [00:09:06] Speaker C: You'Re gonna hear my praises roar from the ashes hope will arise the king is alive how many of y'all believe. [00:09:25] Speaker B: That the king is alive and well this morning? [00:09:27] Speaker C: Amen. Come on. I raise a hallelujah hallelujah. With everything inside of me? Oh, and I raise a hallelujah oh, I will watch the darkness flee yes, and I raise a hallelujah? No matter what comes in the middle of the mystery and I raise a hallelujah? Fear has no hope fear you long you hold on me and we say I'm gonna sing in the middle of. [00:10:17] Speaker D: The storm louder and louder? You're gonna hear my praise and roar. [00:10:25] Speaker C: From the eyes hope will arise alive. [00:10:47] Speaker B: All right, ladies, let's sing a bit louder. [00:10:49] Speaker C: Here we go. Sing a little louder sing a little louder louder than your belief sing a little louder my weapon is melody yes sing a little louder and we lift sing a little louder sing a little louder louder than beyond the leave sing a little louder my weapon is ready sing a little louder I'm gonna see you sing hope will arise death is defeated the king alive I'm gonna see. [00:12:02] Speaker D: In the middle of the storm louder. [00:12:06] Speaker C: And louder you're gonna hear my praises hope will arise defeated the king is alive I'll raise a high hallelujah. I raise it hallelujah I raise a hallelujah amen. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Let's be reminded this morning that no matter what we face, no matter what trials we face we know that our future is sure. [00:13:10] Speaker C: Amen. Come on. We sin there's peace that outlasts darkness and hope that's in the blood and there's future grace that's mine today that Jesus Christ has won so I can face tomorrow for tomorrow's in your hands and all I need you will provide just like you always have amen. I'm fighting a battle you already won and no matter what comes my way I will overcome don't know what you do but I know what you've done yes, I'm fighting the battle you've already won. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Just keep singing. [00:14:34] Speaker C: There's mercy, there's mercy, see in the way and afore today and when it's gone, I know you're not you are my hope let's be reminded that when the sea is raging, your spirit is mine. He'll fix my eyes on Jesus Christ, I'll say that it is well, yes. Oh, I know that it is? Well, I'm fighting the battle that you've already won? No matter, no matter what comes my way, I will overcome? Don't know what you're doing, but I know what you've done? I'm fighting a battle you've already wondez? I know how the story ends? We will be with you again? You're my savior, you're my savior, my dear? No more fear, no more fear in life or death. [00:16:34] Speaker D: Amen. [00:16:34] Speaker B: Let's sing it again. [00:16:35] Speaker C: I know how I know how the story ends? We will be with you again? You're my savior, you're my savior, my dear? No more fear? All right, lift it up one more time, we say? And I know how the story end? Oh, we will be with you again? You're my savior, you're my savior, my deepest hold no more spirit, life or death? Cause I know how this story ends? I'm fighting a battle we search, you've already won? No matter, no matter what comes my way, I will overcome? Don't know what you do, but I don't know, but I know what you've done? Thank you, God. I'm fighting battle you've already won? Yeah, I'm fighting the battle you've already wondez? [00:19:21] Speaker D: I was a wretch, I remember who I was. I was lost, I was blind. I was running out of time. Sin separated. The breach was far too wide. From the far side of the chasm, you had me in your side. So you made a way across the great divide. Left behind heaven to build it here inside and there at the for the first time. I have always washed me out. Thank you, Jesus. You have saved my life. Brought me from the darkness into glorious light. We're so grateful for that. Today. [00:21:01] Speaker C: You took my place. [00:21:04] Speaker D: You laid inside my tomb of sin. You were buried for three days, but then you walked right out again. And out there has no sin. And life has gone. [00:21:28] Speaker C: By. The blood of the lamb. [00:21:33] Speaker D: Thank you, Jesus. [00:21:40] Speaker C: Thank you, Jesus. [00:21:43] Speaker D: It has washed me. [00:21:48] Speaker C: Thank you, Jesus. [00:21:51] Speaker D: You have my life. You brought me from the darkness to glorious life. Than the wonder working power of the light. [00:22:53] Speaker C: Love, we are with you. Thank you, Jesus. [00:23:15] Speaker D: Thank you, Jesus. [00:23:20] Speaker C: I know it's one thing I thank you, Jesus. [00:23:28] Speaker D: You are safe. You brought me from the darkness into glory. So we sing. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. There to my heart was the blood of delight. Glory to you. [00:24:32] Speaker B: Amen. [00:24:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:32] Speaker B: Let's give the Lord another praise. And Lord, we do praise your name in this place. God, we praise you for your sacrifice. We praise you for loving us when we didn't deserve it. God, we thank you for the precious blood that brings us redemption that brings us salvation today. And God, we thank you for a future hope that is found in you and in you alone. And God, we thank you that you are not just our savior, but that you are our refuge and our defense. God, that we can cry out to you today knowing with full confidence and assurance that you hear every word that. [00:25:12] Speaker C: We cry out to you. [00:25:15] Speaker B: So, Lord, we pray today that we would be faithful to cry out to you knowing that Christ is already interceding for us. He's already gone before us and he has already completed the work. Lord, it's already. And so, God, would you speak to us through your word today? God, we thank you for your word. God, we thank you that it's true that it is able to withstand any scrutiny, God, that it's unchanging through the time. And, Lord, even in this dark world and dark culture that we live in, God, we rely on every promise and every word that comes from you. And so, Lord, as we, as we open your word today, as we hear from you today, God, we acknowledge that everything is laid bare before you. God, you see everything. Lord, you know our deepest, darkest secrets, and you choose to love us anyways. And you choose to speak to us anyways. So, God, would you bless my sister now as she comes and preaches a faithful word? God, I pray that you would give her the words that we need to hear. And, God, that you would give us ears to hear it. So, Lord, open our ears, open our hearts today. We love you, we praise you and you are worthy of all the praise, honor, adoration, and attention and devotion today in this time. We love you, we praise you, we pray this all in the mighty name of Jesus and all God's people said, amen. [00:26:45] Speaker E: Amen. As you're taking a seat, will you give it up for some really good worship this morning? Right? Did anybody else need that drastically like I did? Like, this is definitely the way to start a weekend, right? It's a way to start a Saturday. And after the week that we've had in my life, I'm just thrilled to be here. Like y'all, I have so been looking forward to coming to this event. There. I look around the room. I've been out in the hallway, hallway hugging everybody because I just feel like it's like a family reunion. There's so many of you that I know from various places across the state. When Andrea said that Arkansas loves me, but I love Arkansas women. That's so true. Y'all are my people. I feel like this is my second home. I am from Tennessee, but I feel like this is my second home because I know so many. And we don't do that anymore, do we? So I've had you very boringly on this date in my phone, and I just feel like there's not enough emphasis in just having it say, you know, Arkansas conference for women on here. It's just so dull and boring because if. Remember the old anybody? A paper calendar and you could put a star, you could make your own little emojis, a kissy face, you could circle it. It would be all dramatic. And now we just, it just is on our phone. It's like somebody should create an app where you can actually fix them, like circle things on your calendar electronically. Wouldn't that be cool? So whoever does that, if you make a lot of money on it, you should tithe part of it to me because I gave you that. So I'm kidding. You run with it, girl. You go do it. It'll be good. But anyway, I've so been looking forward to being here, whether I circled you on my calendar or not, because I'll always have such a fun time. I know so many of you. But also y'all, the people who are behind this conference, the conference team Andrea, then the conference team Lori, all of these ladies, y'all, they have prayed so fervently over this event that I'm positive that God is here, that he is ready to do a work, and that if any of us leave here without it, that's going to be our own fault. Y'all know how you tell your kids, now, listen, if you missed this, this is your fault. Well, here's the deal, girls. I'm going to be your mama for a second and tell you, don't walk out of these doors today the same as you were when you came in. Because if you miss what God wants to do in your life today, that's going to be your own fault. And I don't want that for you. And you're like, gosh, why would she bring that up now? It's because of this. It's because I have the privilege and the opportunity of doing women's events all over the place. And do you know what I keep seeing to be true in women? And this is true in the women that I'm just friends with at home or, you know, that I'm just bumping into and all of these other places. The thing that I'm seeing to be true of women is that there's way too many of us who say we know Jesus and yet we're living in defeat. Anybody? Anybody, self included at various times. And I just, and I'm just so taken aback by the fact that any of us, self included, could, could know Jesus as our savior and yet not be experiencing the victory that we've been singing about. We're saying, you've already won the battles, you've already fought the fight, you've already done it. I trust you, Lord. And we sing it and we raise our hand or it brings a tear to our eye or whatever. But yet on Tuesday, we're just feeling defeated because we can't stop doing that thing we know we shouldn't be doing, or we can't break up that relationship, break off that relationship that is bringing us nothing but harm, or we. Anybody with me. Do you ever get frustrated with your own self over your spiritual life? So that's what we're going to do today. We're going to. We're going to. We're going to attempt to give the Lord some time here to do a work in us. Does that sound good? And here's our word. Actually, let me pause and let me do this first, y'all, because I was here so many years ago, I've been talking to people and they've been saying, tell us what's going on with your kids. So let me just back up. Sorry I got so up. I get so worked up over things. Can you tell? Let me introduce my family to you. Let me catch you up on them really quick. So this picture, yeah, this picture is from Christmas this year. And a lot of y'all know Jeff. He's my husband, there in the middle. He kind of looks a little different than he would have when you had met him before because he had a heart attack a few years ago. And the man is a miracle. He shouldn't be with us, and he's here. So story for another day. But that's Jeff in the middle. We've been married for 37 years. Obviously married to him when I was about ten, young, back in the day, that was okay. And I'm just kidding. I'm so kidding. But y'all are Arkansas, so y'all are like, no, my cousin did that. Right? I. So we're all good. Okay, so stay with me. Stay with me. So that's my husband Jeff there in the middle. And 37 years we've been in ministry all over the place. I just talked to, she goes, I'm from Ruston, Louisiana. That's the first place that we ever served out of seminary is first Baptist Ruston girl history. So that's Jeff right there. Our oldest son is the one to the far left, Trevor. And he is married to Erica, the one that's in front of him with the little blond haired kidde that we really don't know. He doesn't look like any of us. We love him, but we don't know where he came from. And then the little guy in the middle, the little dark haired one in the middle in the green, and the one next to him in the striped shirt, those are Trevor's kids. That's London, Leo, and Zeke, and y'all. Trevor and Erica used to live 1 hour from my house. I could leave my door and be at their door in 1 hour. And then they did this to us. They said, well, we think God is calling us. And I was like, no, I'm pretty sure he's not right, because you raise kids to love Jesus, and then they go off to serve, and you're like, that is not what I was thinking about. But anyway, Trevor and Erica just felt God calling them to plant a church in a very unreached place. And so they moved to Denver, Colorado, where it is not just cold in the winter, it is cold spiritually. And they've been there for about 15 months with my. So they moved my three babies that were an hour from me, and they moved to Denver. And when he said Denver, I said, is there a Denver in Tennessee that I don't know about? And he said, no, no, no. This is the one in Colorado. They went from an hour to a very long plane ride. And I'm not bitter about it or anything, but. But they've been out there for about 15 months. And let me just tell you something. If you want to know how to reach lost people, follow what Trevor does. In 1516 months, he and Erica have started a church from zero. Not a soul that they knew, and they have personally witnessed to, baptized, and put into discipleship groups around something like 130 people. That's pretty incredible. Pretty incredible. Trevor has a giftedness that doesn't come from me. It's just a gift of the Lord. But he has a giftedness to be able to take that person that nobody else knows how to talk to about Jesus and just. And just do it. And it just works. It's hilarious, and it's so cool. So that's Trevor, Erica there in Denver. I got to go faster. Kelsey and Luke are the tall ones. Kelsey's holding the little, the little girl with a squinty face in the white outfit. And then their daughter is. Layla is in the pink over here. Kelsey's married to Luke. Anybody from Fayetteville. He used to serve as the college pastor at cross church in Fayetteville and had led that, that shout out and led that college ministry and did a phenomenal job there. Reached so many college kids. And then God called him to be a senior pastor. So they moved to Tallahassee, Florida, which, praise God, near the beach. But they, so he's a senior pastor in Tallahassee. They just went at Easter. And they've got Layla, she's six, and Roy Kate, who is two. And then over on the far right is Riley and Grace. And Riley and Grace got married a couple years ago, two and a half years ago. And he's the one that you guys prayed me through when he was playing football. Remember that? And I used to wear orange on Saturdays. I have an orange bracelet. But I wasn't trying to be all up in your business. But Riley played football for Tennessee, and then he married grace, and she's a lawyer. He did football. He did politics. He went back and played professional football, and then he decided to start a business. And so he does everything his own way, and he's doing great with it. And then they just had this baby. Look at this sweet baby, charlie, three weeks ago. Have you got that one? The baby picture? That is the yummiest yum, right? He's so cute. So he's three and a half weeks old. So, y'all, that's, that's the world that I'm in right now. And, and family is so very important to us both. The family that God gives you with and the ones that you just meet out here, so many of you feel like family to me now. And so I wanted to kind of catch you up on them and also just to kind of give us this word. To give us this word, the word more. When I was talking to sheri and sherry, lori and andrea, I don't sherry, I love Sherri, but I was talking to lori and Andrea about this, and we were talking topics and all this. I just kept coming back to this word because really, isn't the opposite of living in defeat, living in the more abundant life that God has for us? Isn't that the opposite? And that whole thing of women being plagued and just, and just really struggling to deal with all that this world is coming at us with, it just keeps coming back to me that God wants the more abundant life for us. We know that from John 1010, the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I've come that you might have more, that you might have a more abundant life. And we sang so many songs about battle and victory and fighting because why? Because, y'all, there's a real battle going on for your life and my life today. And the enemy wants to keep us settling for less. And God wants to continue to elevate our spiritual lives so that we experience more. And ephesians 320 and 21, we prayed it last night when we were praying over this, as a group says, but my God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, more than you can ask or imagine. And we hear it and we know it. One of the first resources that I ever wrote is literally called expect more. Because why? Because we say, I believe God can do more, but do we live like it? And whenever I find myself singing about something to the Lord or teaching something to the Lord, I'll hear him whisper in my ear. Then you might want to start doing that yourself. Because why? Because if not, I'm missing the whole boat, and so are you. And so because of all of that, I began to pray about this topic. And see, I'm from the south, so I'm a southern lady, so more is all up my business, right? Because if one bracelet looks good, more would look better. If some eye shadow is good, put a little bit more on. If, you know, if one pair of shoes. Can I get a witness? Is good, more would be better, right? And so we kind of have this more philosophy going on, and then the world is all about more, but the world's version of more is the kind that's going to kill us. And that's what we're going to talk about today. And so I was praying about, Lord, where do we need to go for this? Because we could be anywhere in scripture. And he sent me to a passage of scripture that I bet you money you have never studied in vacation Bible school. And it is, here it is, two kings, chapter four. And we're just going to read about four verses. Okay, this is a fun passage. It's kind of weird, but I think you're going to be good with it when we get into it because of this, it's time for us to stop accepting a watered down gospel that the world wants us to promote, and it's time for us to go straight to God's word and get, what's the meat of this? Okay, so that's what we're doing today. And here we go. Second kings, chapter four. Y'all ready? This is such a. Just think about this for a second. This is such a good analogy, illustration, and picture of the world we live in today. Now, when Elisha, who was the prophet of God, okay, I'm gonna add some commentary as we go, which I'm not officially adding to scripture, but just so that, you know, I don't have to do a lot of background. Okay. So when Elisha, he was the prophet of God, he returned to Gilgal. There was a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his attendant, put on a large pot and make stew for some of the prophet, for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine from which he gathered as many wild gourds as his garment would hold. And then he came back and cut them up into a pot of soup. Anybody ever make that kind of soup? Just a little bit of everything. What you got, just toss it in, right? They would just look for what they could find and made soup, but they were unaware of what they were, and so they served some for the men to eat. But when the men ate the stew, they cried out, there's death in the pot, man of God. And they were unable to eat it. And then Elisha said, get some flour. And he threw it into the pot and said, serve it for the people to eat. And there was nothing bad in the pot. Raise your hand if you have sermon notes in your Bible on this passage. Sometimes the most obscure passage is Corey and I were talking about. Sometimes the most obscure passages in scripture can have. Can pack the greatest punch. So let's look at this today and consider this fact, or consider the idea that this is a really good representation of the world we live in. So if there was a famine in the land, that meant that the people were desperate, right? Could that apply to our world today? People are desperate. They're seeking more. They want more. They want to know, but they keep going to the wrong places. And when you're chasing after the things of the world to find fulfillment or satisfaction, is it ever going to work? Everybody shake your head. Remember, we're super interactive. If you've never heard me teach, we got to interact, so I got to know you're with me. And so the things that we chase after of the world are never going to fulfill us. But what they're going to do is they're going to keep drawing us back for a little bit more and a little bit more, until we're just desperately going after all of these things that are never going to do or lead us to the more abundant life or to experiencing more of God and more of Jesus like we need to. Very indicative of our culture. Let me ask you this. So if there was a famine in the land, the implication is that the people were very hungry, right? And Elisha, he's the leader of the group now, listen, by the way, Elisha was with who? What does it say? The sons of the prophets. That doesn't mean they were his sons. They were just fellow students of religious and spiritual things. So basically, it was Elisha's Bible study group, okay? It was his. It was his accountability group. He was mentoring these people. And when it says that they were sitting at his feet, in biblical days, you sat at the feet of someone you wanted to learn from, okay? And so just like Mary and Martha, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. You know, this concept is just over and over in scripture. And so these men, these sons of prophets, Elisha's proteges, probably is a good way to put it, sat at his feet to learn from him. But he, all of a sudden, you can hear all their stomachs rumbling, right? And he's like, oh, man, we better deal with this, because, by the way, when you're hungry in church, are you listening to the preacher? No. When you're hungry, what happens? All the attention goes where? Right here. And you think, I'm probably going to die. You know, I'm so hungry that I'm not going to live through this message. And. And I need a baby to cry and fake it so I can get out or whatever, but. Because when we're hungry, everything in us just goes to, you know, starvation mode kind of thing really quickly. And these men were hungry. And so Elisha just stays calm, and he's like, hey, whoever, go, why don't you put on a pot of soup? And so I'm sure he was kind of taking advantage of teachable moments. The guy goes out and he finds what he can to make the soup. And here's the deal. When you're hungry, you are focused on anything to satisfy that hungry. And then listen to this thought. When you're hungry enough, you'll compromise and put just about anything in your stomach to fill that void if you get hungry enough, right? Do y'all watch those weird tv shows, the survivor and, you know, naked people out in the woods? Which I'm just like, what in the world? Right? But those people go out there, and when they can't find food. What do you see them eating? They're eating leaves. I don't watch it, but I hear about it. They're eating leaves and bugs and things that, you know, I'm never going over to outback and ordering, but they're over there eating them because why? Because they were hungry enough that they were willing to take anything in. Well, let's twist. Let's apply that to the spiritual. The things that you crave, the things that you're hungry for, the things that you crave. Attention, appreciation. Nobody cares what I do. Success. I gotta get a little bit more. I gotta get ahead. I gotta make more understanding. Happiness. Anything, anything that you crave and that you're hungry for can become dangerous because it can drive you to places for fulfillment that God never intended. And what begins to happen is this. The world can never satisfy our need. And if listen to this, you might wanna write this down. Oh, I forgot to warn y'all. Grab out, grab some note paper and a fast pen because we don't have a lot of time, and I've got a lot of notes. So a fast pan. If you don't guard what you're hungry for, it can drive you to the wrong places for fulfillment, and it can poison your soul. If you're not careful about what you're hungry for, it can drive you to the wrong places for fulfillment, and it can become poison in your life and poison your soul. Your soul. Now think about this, y'all. The stew looked good. They were hungry and the stew looked good, by all appearances sake. This is going to be a really good moment for us. This is going to be a good experience. It looked good, and it was probably even tasty because it doesn't say that anybody ate it and spit it out because it was. Somebody got the salt and the sugar confused, right? It wasn't one of those kind of things, but it's like they were eating it. And here's the deal. They had no idea that this food that looked good could poison them even unto death. And how often in our lives does something that looks appealing on the outside actually cause sickness or actually begin to destroy us from the inside? Has anybody ever experienced food poisoning? Okay, well, I told you that my son Riley played football at Tennessee. And he was on, he was there for five years, and in five years, did not miss one football game anywhere. Home away, anywhere. Five years. And I love to give my husband a hard time because he missed one. Because we went out to eat on a Friday night was a home game. And so we go out to eat on a Friday night, and I can't remember exactly what he ordered. He probably can. And he, he got something that looked really good, and he ate all of it. And by the way, in our family, a lot of times we, we eat our way. We eat our way through the stress or the, you know, the anxiety or whatever. And whenever, you know, Riley was going to play a big game, Jeff would get a little worked up because if he wasn't a minister, he'd be a football coach. And so this is his thing. So we're out to eat. He's eating, and it looks good, and he's eating. At about two in the morning, we realized it probably hadn't been good. Anybody with me? So he gets up and he's up all night long being sick. And I'm thinking, what are we going to do? He's never going to make it to the game. And finally, about five, he goes, I think it's all gone. I think I can make it. And I was like, okay, well, take a shower and see how you feel. So he takes a shower, and he comes out into the living room, and he's like, it's almost time to leave. And he comes out in the living room, he's like, okay. Yeah, okay. I think I'm okay. And then all of a sudden, he just gets up and goes in the bathroom. And I could hear what was happening. And so I just go over to the door and I said, hey, babe, I'll get somebody to drop off some Gatorade. I got a run to get to the game one time. I'll see you later, right? And he's like, uh, you know, he's just, like, moaning in the bathroom. So I text our friend, hey, can you grab some Gatorade and leave it at the door for Jeff? Cause I've got to get to the game on time. Because I didn't want Riley to walk through the vault walk and not see me or to get worried about where we were. I was just thinking of the team. All that to say, food poisoning is real, right? It looked good. It even tasted appetizing at the time. And he took it in, and it so destroyed his insides that he wasn't even able to go. And y'all, here's the thing to remember. We've got to be careful in our spiritual lives of overlooking things that are potentially harmful or poisonous, because we just, we just wave them off like, oh, well, that won't really get to me, or it won't be a big deal or whatever. And the question becomes this. I wrote it down so I wouldn't mess it up. What do you allow into your heart and mind that could be considered spiritual poisoning? What do you allow into your heart and mind that could be considered spiritual poisoning? Big question. You see, the truth is that sometimes we don't just accidentally take it in. Sometimes we invite the poisoning of the world into our lives, and you're like, gosh, this feels kind of downer. That's because of this. If we want to experience more of Jesus, I've lived long enough to know that sometimes we gotta work through why we aren't so that we can get to how do we. Does that make sense? That means we're gonna talk about why we aren't right now. And then this afternoon, we'll have fun, and we'll go with how do we sound? Good. But I was thinking about this, and the Lord was kind of bringing to mind some different things. What are some of the things that we actually are? I wanted to say dumb enough, but I don't know if we should say dumb enough. Okay, I'm gonna say dumb enough. What are some of the things that we're actually dumb enough or clueless enough that we're actually. That we're not just allowing, but we're inviting them into our lives. And these just started coming to me. It's the things that we're entertained by. It's the television shows you're binging. Is it something that you're reading that is steamy fiction, but since nobody knows you're reading it, you don't feel badland. Is it what you're listening to on podcast? Kelsey told me that there's a real. There's a lot of popularity in listening to those real dark podcasts, like, dark topics and all that. Y'all. That's. Let me just tell you this. That is a place you do not want to venture, is into the dark magic, the dark side of the world, because there is a real enemy out there. Okay? So you don't want to venture there. But anytime that we're involved in these kind of things, in wrong thinking, in misconception, misplaced priorities, all of these things, we're not just. We're not just letting, but we're actually inviting, y'all. We pay money. We pay money to be entertained by sin. Hello. And here's the deal. Don't ever forget that the enemy that's out there, the very real enemy hat that we have, he has an agenda. And can I tell you what? One of his big agendas is if I can get the christians to laugh at it, then they will be desensitized to it. And so if I can get the christians to laugh at sin and be entertained by sin, then they will become desensitized to it. And, y'all, every time we do that, we're drinking the poison of the world. There's death in the pot, and we are filling up on it, and we've got to be careful about that. And how do we do that? Well, let me throw this in there real quick. So sometimes we actually, we go out and seek it, we invite it, we pay for it, but then sometimes it sneaks in, kind of just because we didn't, we didn't prevent it. Does that make sense? So one time Jeff and I were sitting there in the evening. It was just us. We're sitting there, and something caught my eye. And don't freak out, but I saw a mouse run right by, you know, right across the room. And I was like, are you serious? We have a mouse, right? And I see the mouse, and we go and try to catch it. It was a complete and utter fiasco. And then we began to see, now that we knew there was a mouse, we began to see evidence of everywhere the mouse had been. So I called my people. I'm like, I got a mouse. I need you out here ASAP. So the guy comes out, and he's like, yep, you've definitely got a mouse. Maybe more than one. I'm like, okay, what are we gonna do? And so he's like, well, let me go out to my truck. And so I opened the garage door so he could go in and out easier. He goes out, comes back in. He's got sticky traps, and he's doing everything everywhere. Oh, this is the terrible. And so he comes back in, and I say, tell me that this is going to work. Are we going to get this thing? You know, are we going to catch this mouse? And we had a discussion about humane and inhumane. I'm not going to tell you which side I came down on. You can guess. And, and then he says this. He said, oh, yeah, we'll get the mouse, but what do you want to do about the snake? At which, at that point, and I know you might not believe this, but I literally became almost speechless, and my mouth fell open, and I went, I'm sorry, snake? Like, what? And he goes, yeah, when I. You've got a snake in the garage? And I said, I'm sorry one more time, you know? And. And he goes, yeah, as I went out, I noticed the signs that there's been a snake that's been hanging out in your garage. And I said, what in the world? And he goes, let me show you. And so, literally, the door to my garage is, like, kind of just right outside the kitchen. And you open the door, and there's three steps, and then you're in the garage, and he goes, look. And he opens the door, and right on the top step, where I go in and out daily like this a hundred times a day, right? Without ever looking, he said, look, here's snake droppings, by the way. Did you know snake had droppings? Didn't know. It looks like bird poop. Just kind of stretched out a little bit. There you go. That's free for y'all. But anyway, he goes, look. He goes, look, the snake has been laying right here, like, right up against the door. So, Andrea, every time I've stepped out, I could have even like, you know, what in the world is happening? I'm like, jeff, we have to sell our house. But anyway, all that to say this, I never, never would invite a snake into my house, because, by the way, often left that door open to the garage for various things. So I'm just saying, you know, he could have come on in after the mouse, but anyway, I never would invite him in, but. And I said, why is he coming in my garage? And he said, well, here's the deal. You've got this stuff over here, all the lizards like this, and the snake follows the lizard. Anybody tracking with me. So I would never invite the snake in, but I allowed conditions to occur that made him want to be there and made it probable that he would come in. And that wasn't on purpose, but it was because I overlooked the fact that a snake might want in, y'all. There are times we invite the poison, and there are times we create conditions so that the poison occurs. Is that tracking with anybody? And can I promise you something? We need to be on guard. We need to be on guard about both of those different things in our lives. Because why? Because. Can I just tell you something? No more do I just casually go in and out of my garage. There's not been a day since that man told me about the snake in the garage that I haven't looked down first before I stepped into my garage, even to the. When I left here, my house yesterday morning, I always take a look because I'm not really looking to have a heart attack overdose that I got on guard because I became aware of the conditions that were ripe for the enemy to come in, for the poison to be happening. And so we need to be on guard. We need to ask for discernment. You're like, what do I do about, how am I supposed to taste the death in the pot? That one guy. So, see, Elisha, he's not a farmer. He's not even a cook. He's a prophet. He don't know nothing about making meals. And so he's like, oh, the gorgeous, you know, and so, da da da. And they're eating it. But somebody out there's mama taught him, don't eat those gourds. They'll poison you. And so that guy goes, uh oh, there's death in the pot. Because why? Because he had been trained to recognize it. He had learned how to pick the good from the bad, the poisonous from the helpful, the harmful, whatever. And so here's the deal, girls. No, no, we don't have to do that. But we can pray, and we can ask for God for discernment, and we can ask him to make us so sensitive. I call it two different things. Either red flags or spiritual discernment. I mean, either spiritual red flags or spiritual taste buds. You can ask God, develop my spiritual taste buds so that I recognize when I open that book, I shouldn't be as if y'all open books like this anymore. When I pull that book up on my phone, you know, whatever, and I began to read, is that. Is that going to be harmful to my spiritual walk? When I'm listening to that podcaster who is so funny, and she says everything I wish I could have thought of to say about being an end of the year mom or a back to school mom or whatever, but then when she talks about Jesus and she talks about the Bible and she talks about faith, and she claims to be a believer, something in me says that does not line up with scripture. Let me just help you understand something. In this world, just because somebody makes you laugh doesn't mean you should buy into everything, and you should not allow them to speak into your life. And we have a culture, Andrea, of younger generation. Listen, I'm so happy to see so many younger generation here. And I would tell you this. You guys are on the front lines, and you are the most vulnerable to this, because it is everywhere. And girls, no matter your age, start to guard the voices that you invite into your life. And you be careful what you're listening to, because in the blink of an eye, you can be drawn away from what God's word says. Okay, we got to keep going. Y'all are not listening fast enough, and I need you to turn it up a notch, okay? There's way too many things in the world that are innocent. We must ask for discernment. Okay, I'm gonna keep going. We gotta be alert. Okay? We're doing good. What does it mean to develop your spiritual taste buds so you can have that red flag about what you listen to? That kind of thing. So there's three things in this world that I hate, and I will not eat them. And if I eat them, I will spit them out of my mouth. Okay, sorry. I'm kind of dramatic sometimes. I don't make a big deal, but I just get a napkin and spit it out. Okay. I hate coconut, I hate onions, and I hate mustard. And if there's any of those in your food, I can't eat it. I just can't, especially if the onions are raw. Oh, my gosh. So here's the deal. We sometimes travel overseas and go to other places, and when I go there, I'm hypersensitive, because I also don't like spicy food. And so Luke Harper, my son in law, he can eat the spiciest things in the world, and he can eat heat, spicy things. Like, he can take something like a scoop of soup out of a boiling pot and put it in his mouth and eat it. And I don't understand. He has leather taste buds, I think. But I love to cook for him because he loves all the food, and he always talks about how good it is. And some of my other people in my family are kind of bougie about stuff, and I'm like, no, I want to feed Luke. I like him, but. But he can eat the spiciest things. And so sometimes we'll go out to eat, and I'll say, hey, hey, I was going to get this. You know, should I get that? And Luke will say, oh, yeah, it's not very spicy. And Kelsey, go, mom. It will burn your mouth off. So, you know, like, Luke's version of it's not very spicy. And Kelsey's, she knows me better. I'm a spice wimp. And so all that to say, I have these certain idiosyncrasies about food, different things that I eat. And so when I travel to places that I don't even know or recognize anything, I love it, because our friends, they'll be like, oh, you've got to eat this. You'll love it. And I'm like, I'm so sure I'm not gonna love it. You know, but so I'm. So I maybe take a little bite and I test it, because if it has coconut, onions, or mustard in it, I just can't eat it. And, you know, because why? Because I recognize that I'm sensitive to those. Are y'all tracking with me? So to develop your spiritual taste buds is to recognize this issue. Sometimes we are more vulnerable to allowing things in. We're more vulnerable to the death in the pot than other times. Think about it. When are the times that you're vulnerable? When you're. These men were vulnerable because they were starving. They were desperate. They were hungry. Physically. When you're physically depleted or drained, you're vulnerable. When you're. When you're stuck in a rut, spiritually, you're vulnerable. Anybody been stuck in a rut spiritually? Right? If you've been a Christian for longer than five days, you've been stuck in a rut probably at some point. But when we're stuck in a rut, spiritually, we're like, oh, I got to try anything to get out of this. I'll try. I'll listen to her. I'll pay attention to this preacher, you know, whatever. After a spiritual high, we're very vulnerable. Did you realize that? So when you come home from here, this will be a spiritual high. When you leave here, then you're going to be a bit vulnerable. And you know how I know this to be true? I've experienced it. But Elijah. So, Elisha's predecessor, Elijah, he had a huge victory on Mount Carmel, one of my favorite passages of scripture, where he called down fire from heaven, and it was huge. And they. Next day, I mean, just hours later, Queen Jezebel threatens to kill him. So he calls down fire from heaven. He kills all the prophets of Baal. And then a woman threatens to kill him. And he goes and hides under a tree and says, I wish I could die. Because he was spiritually drained and physically drained and spiritually depeated. And do you know what he did? He fell asleep. You should write this down. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is eat a snack and take a nap. Amen, sister, I'm here for you. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take care of your body is take a rest, go to sleep, have a snack. They'll come take. But we want to recognize where we're weak, because. Why y'all? I used to coach tennis in high school. I coached tennis. I played high school. I mean, I played high school. I didn't like high school. I played tennis all the way through in college, and then my kids were in high school, and sometimes we would have practice matches to get ready for an opponent. And you know what I would do? So, like, if Andrea was playing number one, because I'm sure you were quite good. And if Andrea was going to play number one, I'd put her up against somebody else for a practice match. And I would say, now, andrea, tell Stephanie how to beat you. And they would go, what? And I would say, tell Stephanie. Stephanie, right. Okay, good. I thought I said that wrong. Tell Stephanie how to beat you. Tell her where your weak points are. Okay. For Andrea, it would be to her backhand and run her, then drop shot her, and then lob over her. You'll get the point. Okay, now, Stephanie, tell Andrea how to beat you. And they're like, this is, why would we tell each other? And for her, it would be hit it back three times because she wants the point in fast. So if you're willing to just hit it back three or four times, you're gonna win the point on her and close in on her second serve. Whatever. Are y'all tracking with me yet? Has anybody picked up on what's going on? The reason why I. We're having a practice match where two people who both want to win tomorrow tell each other how to beat themselves. It's because they need to identify where their weak spots are so we can make a plan to protect them. See, because you have a real enemy who knows all your weaknesses. He pays attention to you. He listens to you. He watches you, all of these things, and he knows your weaknesses. But here's the deal. We are delusional about our own weaknesses. You need to know where you're weak. You need to know, here's how you would beat me. Here's how you would beat me in tennis. Then I can protect myself. I can say, then I'm always going to serve to her backhand, or I'm going to do this, you know, I'm going to have a counter attack. Why? Part of that is recognizing when will I be vulnerable to the death in the pot and to the point that I just keep eating it until it destroys me. And then we're almost done. And let me tell you a couple more things really quick. There's a lot of implications in this, these four verses for us personally, but also for us corporately. Okay? And you can be part of a group, or you can be part of a relationship, or you can be part of a community. You can be part of a Bible study, a friend, group, anything like that, in which you need to recognize death in the pot. Okay, so death in the pot can creep in in my own life spiritually. Just spiritually creep into my life personally, but it can also creep into our lives as a group. How do you know when you hear the grumbling, when you hear the mumbling, when complaining is happening, when there's a lot of negativity, when the gossip is going on? Right. Anybody? One of the biggest places that I think you can. That I think is an issue for this. It comes about, and I can't tell you the story because we don't have time. But when Riley played football at Tennessee, I wrote this called playbook for parents. And it's all prayers out of scripture. And we started a prayer group, and literally every game except the first three, because it took me that long to catch up with God. But again, first three, for five years, we had a prayer time in the stands of a public university home and away, and we prayed over the students out loud. And sometimes, y'all, I'd have, like, 100, 150 people join me, like, circle up to pray. How cool is that? Only because God. And they said, where are you getting these prayers? Because most of them were lost. So we put that playbook for parents on Amazon. Okay? That was just. That's where it came from. The application is this. Do you know where you're part of a group where there's a lot of death in the pot that the world is watching? When you're in the stands and your kids playing t ball? When you're in the stands and your grandkids playing basketball. Listen, honey, they're nine years old. They are not signing a pro contract yet. Relax. That referee is doing the best he can. But what happens is your kid, your grandkid, puts on a uniform, and you all become like enemies. You all become vessels of Satan. And y'all are up there and you are yelling at everybody, and you're. That's a foul. And that was in. And I can't believe you. All of these things are going on because why? Because you're passionate about that kid. You're passionate about that team, and that's good. But here's the deal. That's death in the pot. You're sitting in the stands, and you are spreading death in the pot because you're involved in the same things. I would say, girl, you need to start praying before that game. And you need to remember that the way you live your life is a witness to others. And look what Elisha did. In the moment when they realized there was death in the pot. Did he freak out? No. One of your great lessons in his life is, just stay calm. Just stay calm. Take a deep breath. And Elisha didn't take the pot and dump it out, did he? What did he say? He threw a little flower in. He threw a little flower in, and miraculously, that was all. It was all good. There was no more death in the potential flower is the godly stuff. That means I'm in the group, and the group starts going south with this. I can say, whoa, girls, that's probably not helping anything. We need to be more careful. Whoa. Let's watch out. That's not being a good witness over here. Hey, hey, hey. And I'll joke around, or I'll just call it out. Depends on the people in the group, you know? But you. You address it, and you're in the stands and you're hearing that, you might say, hey, let's all remember these are seven and eight year olds, okay? These are seven and eight year olds. And we all go to first baptist, so we all need to wash our mouths. You know what that is? Flower. Flower. What if it's your marriage? What if it's a relationship like that? And death, the poison of the world has creeped in. Into what? You're thinking different things, and you're tempted to do different things, and different conversations are happening. It's time for a little flower. And you follow Elisha's every. So they'll flower in. You know what flower is? Flowers. Understanding. It's the fruit of the spirit. It's love, it's joy, it's peace. It's forgiveness. It's all of these kind of things we look for. Here's a few other ways you can throw flour in the pot. The spiritual disciplines to just practice those. You can apply God's word to the situation. Look past people. If you're in a situation where somebody is continually hurting, remember that hurting people hurt people. And so you can give some. Some interaction. That way, y'all, here's the deal. And we're done. The enemy is preparing a feast constantly for us as believers. He's setting a table in the world that's full of death in the pot. Death in the pot. Death in the pot. Death in the pot. Appetizers. Death in the pot. Main dish, death in the pot. Dessert. I'll have two. Right? He's continually slipping the poisonous gourds into the soup of your life and my life. And he'd like nothing better than to poison us and poison our walk with Jesus. And now that we've had this discussion, I'm praying that your eyes are going to be opened and we're going to be enlightened to his approach and his game plan as far as that goes. And now that you know what to look for, you don't have to settle for less than we're going to be able to go to more. And this afternoon, we're going to talk specifically about how do we do that? How do we actually experience more of Jesus, more of God, and live the more abundant life? But I want us to take just a minute, y'all put down what you have in your hands, and we're going to pray. And. And we've gone over just a couple minutes, but we're all going to move really fast after this, and you all will be able to get to your stuff. Okay? Here's how I want us to pray. The questions I was thinking about at the end of this is, do you even want to experience the victory and power that comes from Jesus, a life closer to him? Where are you allowing death in the pot of your life? It's time for us to stop allowing it, inviting it, and for us to spit it out. Right? That's one of the first things you do, is you go, oh, there's death in the pot. I'm gonna have to spit that out. I'm gonna have to stop whatever it is I'm doing. I'm gonna have to pay attention. I'm gonna have to make a different choice, y'all. I don't like onions. I hate them. So guess what? I don't buy them at the store. I don't cut them up and leave them on the counter in case I need them. I don't go visit them. I don't take them out to dinner. Anybody with me. When there's some poison in your life, you've got to be willing to. Once you recognize what it is, it's time to make a plan to stop entertaining it. And if you struggle with alcohol, then don't go to the parties where they're serving alcohol. Don't hang out at the dinner table where somebody buys the bottle and puts it on the table. If you're struggling with temptation outside of your marriage, then don't go hang out where other people that do that are. Does that make sense? And you think that, well, duh. And I'm like, well, duh, look at our own lives. That's how dumb we are sometimes, personally speaking. Here's what I want to do. We're going to close this way. I'm going to ask you if there is something that you know, and you do not have to say what it is, there's something that you know you need to remove from your life that God has already made abundantly clear. Would you just stand up quietly? Nope. You're not gonna have to say a word to anybody. Just stand up. We're just gonna have a minute here where we're gonna. We're gonna be sisters. We're gonna be sisters. [01:09:38] Speaker C: Okay. [01:09:38] Speaker E: Okay. Okay. Anybody around these people, would y'all just put your hand on them and pray out loud real quick. Just pray for them out loud. Everybody, all at the same time, just pray. Y'all put your hands on each other and pray for strength. Pray for wisdom. Pray for discernment. You can move around as you need to. This is one of those times in which the body is gonna minister to the body. And so if there's somebody around you, just reach back and touch them. And y'all pray. We should hear voices all over the room. Y'all ask for them to have wisdom. Ask for discernment. Ask for spiritual taste buds, and then ask for courage. Ask the holy spirit to give them the strength to make the choices and decisions they need to make. Pray that. There you go. Just pray it quick. That's good. Okay, now I'm going to ask another group of people to stand. If you need wisdom and discernment about something specific, you're not sure how to handle something, would you stand? And if you don't need it, you can sit back down for a second. Stand up so we see you. Okay, y'all lay hands on each other. Same thing. Keep moving. Y'all move around. That's what this is for. The body of Christ is fluid and we're here for each other. So y'all pray now. You pray that God would open the eyes of your heart. You pray that the Holy Spirit would give you wisdom and discernment and direction. There you go. Pray it real quick. And last but not least, if you want to stop settling for less and you're willing to do whatever God says it's going to take for you to experience more of him that we're going to talk about this afternoon, would you stand and let me pray over all? Anybody who's willing to do that, anybody who says, I want to experience victory and power, I'm going to stop settling for less. Would you just stand where you are? Father God, I thank you for the power of your holy spirit. At work in this place. I thank you that you were invited here. I thank you that you go where you're invited. And Father, we pray for your presence and your power in this place. I pray over my sisters in this room who say I want to live in victory and power. God, that's the first step. So I pray now that you would help them to have an open mind and an open heart and that they would have the wisdom and the courage that comes from you so that they can follow through on whatever it is that you show them going forward. Father, I pray for the rest of this day that you would use it as a time to draw them closer to you, that you would move us past this mindset of settling for just ho hum faith in this aggressive world. And Father, that you would move us so that we are, that we are your daughters on the path and walking in the freedom that you give us. Lord Jesus, we love you. And I pray that every aspect of the rest of this day would put us in the right direction. We love you, Lord, and it's in Jesus name and all God's people said. Amen. [01:12:33] Speaker A: Thanks for listening. I hope today's episode helps you embrace the full, free, abundant life that Jesus provides. Don't forget to follow, like and subscribe to the Arkansas Baptist Women podcast. If you would like more encouragement to help you grow in your faith, visit our [email protected], abw. Come back next next time as we continue to talk about how we can worship, grow, connect, serve and share together. I can't wait to talk to you soon.