WEBVTT 00:00.031 --> 00:04.879 [SPEAKER_00]: You are listening to Blessed and Boston, presented by Anchor DeMedia. 00:05.520 --> 00:11.550 [SPEAKER_00]: In entrepreneurship podcasts for Christians, all about how to make God the CEO of your business. 00:12.171 --> 00:19.643 [SPEAKER_00]: Get ready to be inspired, challenged, but well equipped to live and build your destiny, his way. 00:27.925 --> 00:31.932 [SPEAKER_00]: Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Blessed Embosta podcast. 00:31.952 --> 00:35.097 [SPEAKER_00]: We are continuing on with our book club pick. 00:35.117 --> 00:42.290 [SPEAKER_00]: We are wrapping up the spirit field life by Charles Stanley, discovered the joys of surrendering to the Holy Spirit. 00:42.730 --> 00:47.919 [SPEAKER_00]: As I've said, since we started this book, this is one of my top three Christian books of all time. 00:47.939 --> 00:49.562 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you are new here, 00:49.542 --> 00:52.088 [SPEAKER_00]: And you miss this whole book club picks so far. 00:52.469 --> 00:54.213 [SPEAKER_00]: Go back and listen to the other episodes. 00:54.334 --> 00:55.436 [SPEAKER_00]: Please get this book. 00:55.858 --> 01:01.953 [SPEAKER_00]: It is necessary for every Christian I want to live a life that is led by the Holy Spirit. 01:02.634 --> 01:05.160 [SPEAKER_00]: We are at the end of the book. 01:05.221 --> 01:07.045 [SPEAKER_00]: We are in Part 3. 01:07.025 --> 01:22.992 [SPEAKER_00]: And these last four chapters are all about spiritual markers and so Charles Stanley says that the Holy Spirit uses several spiritual markers to indicate and confirm his will and so we are going to go over the first two markers this week. 01:22.972 --> 01:27.842 [SPEAKER_00]: and then our final episode with this book will end with the last two markers. 01:28.483 --> 01:31.690 [SPEAKER_00]: The first marker in chapter 15 is all about peace. 01:32.151 --> 01:41.470 [SPEAKER_00]: He starts off by saying, as I indicated in the previous chapter many years ago, our church and television ministry experienced a time of immense transition. 01:41.618 --> 01:45.745 [SPEAKER_00]: The majority of the changes revolved around our decision to relocate the church. 01:46.226 --> 01:49.191 [SPEAKER_00]: We sold all of our downtown property in the fall of 1990. 01:49.432 --> 01:54.561 [SPEAKER_00]: The group who bought it allowed us to occupy our main buildings until the spring of 1994. 01:54.721 --> 02:01.132 [SPEAKER_00]: That will give us a chance to build a new building while continuing to have the place to carry on the ministry. 02:01.673 --> 02:06.141 [SPEAKER_00]: The building that housed in touch, which is his television ministry, 02:06.121 --> 02:08.093 [SPEAKER_00]: was not included in the arrangement. 02:08.496 --> 02:13.144 [SPEAKER_00]: According to the contract, we had to vacate the location by July 1991. 02:13.563 --> 02:17.568 [SPEAKER_00]: In April of that same year, we found a building and thought that it would be perfect. 02:17.969 --> 02:21.193 [SPEAKER_00]: The only problem was that it cost $2.7 million. 02:21.833 --> 02:26.359 [SPEAKER_00]: Several of our board members and executive staff felt good about the location and the price. 02:26.820 --> 02:31.025 [SPEAKER_00]: They suggested that we go ahead and borrow the money to purchase the building. 02:31.626 --> 02:36.752 [SPEAKER_00]: Others of us, however, did not have peace about the price or borrowing the money. 02:36.732 --> 02:43.228 [SPEAKER_00]: One Wednesday afternoon in April, a group of us were sitting around a conference table discussing our move and getting nowhere. 02:43.810 --> 02:45.514 [SPEAKER_00]: It was as if we were in a fog. 02:45.975 --> 02:51.990 [SPEAKER_00]: We needed divine direction, and I knew we were not going to receive any answers by sitting around the table. 02:52.139 --> 02:57.569 [SPEAKER_00]: I asked my security to call the Unicoid State Park to see if we could book some cabins for the following week. 02:57.950 --> 03:01.076 [SPEAKER_00]: She gave me a funny look as she left the room to make the call. 03:01.477 --> 03:06.547 [SPEAKER_00]: It was her way of reminding me that to reserve cabins, we should have called four or six months in advance. 03:07.027 --> 03:10.975 [SPEAKER_00]: Ten minutes later, however, she returned and reported that we were all set. 03:10.955 --> 03:16.223 [SPEAKER_00]: On the morning that we left, I asked a friend to begin to go shading the price with the owner of the building. 03:16.643 --> 03:20.168 [SPEAKER_00]: I told him to do his best to get the price down to $2 million. 03:20.889 --> 03:24.294 [SPEAKER_00]: I made one more call before I started out for Unicorn. 03:24.875 --> 03:32.105 [SPEAKER_00]: I instructed our church administrator to contact the group who had bought our property and asked them if we could stay in the building until January. 03:32.466 --> 03:33.908 [SPEAKER_00]: He said he would do his best. 03:34.833 --> 03:38.863 [SPEAKER_00]: The cabins were about a two-hour drive from Atlanta so I had some time to think and pray. 03:39.484 --> 03:42.451 [SPEAKER_00]: During the trip, a familiar passage of Scripture came to mind. 03:43.033 --> 03:50.631 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the word of the Lord to Sarah Babel, saying, not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord of hosts. 03:50.611 --> 03:54.117 [SPEAKER_00]: I took that as a sign that God wanted to do something that we didn't know about. 03:54.718 --> 04:01.149 [SPEAKER_00]: As I drove through the mountains of North Georgia, I kept praying, Lord, whatever you have in mind, please don't let us miss it. 04:01.810 --> 04:05.115 [SPEAKER_00]: For two days we did very little talking and a whole lot of praying. 04:05.536 --> 04:07.479 [SPEAKER_00]: We cried out to God in desperation. 04:07.920 --> 04:08.942 [SPEAKER_00]: We had a deadline. 04:09.322 --> 04:15.673 [SPEAKER_00]: We also had a plan, but we couldn't get corporate peace about moving ahead with the purchase of the building. 04:15.653 --> 04:21.262 [SPEAKER_00]: During a break, I called our administrator and discovered that we were granted an extension all time. 04:22.143 --> 04:24.226 [SPEAKER_00]: We didn't have to move until January. 04:24.467 --> 04:25.408 [SPEAKER_00]: That was a great news. 04:25.909 --> 04:32.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the board member who was negotiating with the owner of the building, called to tell me that we could get the building for $2 million. 04:32.860 --> 04:34.843 [SPEAKER_00]: There was only one problem. 04:34.823 --> 04:41.875 [SPEAKER_00]: The building had a tenant whose lease would not expire until after January, moving them out early will cost us extra. 04:42.356 --> 04:43.278 [SPEAKER_00]: So we kept praying. 04:43.818 --> 04:51.792 [SPEAKER_00]: When we left Unicoid two days later, we still didn't have any clear direction about how to purchase the building, but we were committed to waiting on God. 04:52.293 --> 04:55.178 [SPEAKER_00]: We were confident that God has something in mind, 04:55.158 --> 04:57.041 [SPEAKER_00]: other than borrowing the money. 04:57.822 --> 05:02.530 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, we were so confident we were talking as if everything had already been worked out. 05:03.291 --> 05:08.220 [SPEAKER_00]: When I arrived home Tuesday evening, I had a message to call a man who I never met. 05:08.841 --> 05:10.063 [SPEAKER_00]: He lived in another state. 05:10.583 --> 05:15.351 [SPEAKER_00]: The message said that he was an in touch viewer who was interested in helping the ministry. 05:15.852 --> 05:17.655 [SPEAKER_00]: I called him back immediately. 05:17.635 --> 05:22.221 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, Dr. Stanley, I've had you and your ministry on my mind the past several days. 05:22.702 --> 05:27.568 [SPEAKER_00]: I noticed that you never asked for money on the broadcast and I was wondering if you have any needs. 05:28.309 --> 05:29.851 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 05:30.251 --> 05:34.136 [SPEAKER_00]: I explained our situation with the building, then I told him about our prayer meeting. 05:34.517 --> 05:37.421 [SPEAKER_00]: He asked me how much the building was going to cost. 05:37.441 --> 05:39.924 [SPEAKER_00]: I told him I thought we could get it for $2 million. 05:40.385 --> 05:42.607 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, I think I can handle that. 05:42.647 --> 05:43.709 [SPEAKER_00]: And he did. 05:43.729 --> 05:46.933 [SPEAKER_00]: And we closed 90 days later. 05:46.913 --> 05:54.986 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pause here for a second, like can you imagine, like let's just recap what we just listened to and I read the whole story for a reason. 05:55.788 --> 05:59.534 [SPEAKER_00]: They were in a situation where they had a dilemma with the church. 06:00.575 --> 06:03.801 [SPEAKER_00]: They had an opportunity to buy a building. 06:04.382 --> 06:08.348 [SPEAKER_00]: They didn't have peace about borrowing money for the building. 06:08.328 --> 06:18.355 [SPEAKER_00]: They decided, instead of just trying to make something shake, that they would want to pray until they did have peace, they went away to pray, did not get an answer. 06:18.993 --> 06:28.670 [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't until he got back from the prior retreat that he had a voicemail from somebody who had been watching the ministry's television channel. 06:28.690 --> 06:32.497 [SPEAKER_00]: He told them what was going on and that person wrote him a check for $2 million. 06:33.278 --> 06:38.908 [SPEAKER_00]: And it closed on their building without any debt, not having to borrow and take out a mortgage. 06:39.158 --> 06:50.080 [SPEAKER_00]: How many of you are guilty of seeking the law for something, not getting an answer, having enough foresight to say or enough wisdom to say, I need to pray about this. 06:51.303 --> 06:55.952 [SPEAKER_00]: But then once you get to prayer, if you don't have an answer, then you either panic. 06:57.130 --> 07:01.395 [SPEAKER_00]: or go into self-reliance mode and just do whatever makes the most sense. 07:02.056 --> 07:20.897 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like sometimes we start off the right way of saying that I'm going to pray and I'm going to seek the Lord on this, but if he takes too long, if we don't hear an answer at all, if we feel like he didn't tell us what we wanted to hear, then the outcome is something that we take into our own hands. 07:21.638 --> 07:22.660 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you guilty of this? 07:22.940 --> 07:23.561 [SPEAKER_00]: I know I am. 07:23.621 --> 07:25.703 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been there. 07:25.683 --> 07:35.639 [SPEAKER_00]: where I felt like I was waiting on the lower, but I got impatient, and I made my own decisions, or I prayed about something. 07:35.659 --> 07:38.544 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't get the answer. 07:38.564 --> 07:46.097 [SPEAKER_00]: I either didn't get an answer or didn't get the answer I was looking for, so then I rationalized my way out of obedience. 07:46.117 --> 07:49.282 [SPEAKER_00]: I lodged my way out of just doing what he said. 07:49.362 --> 07:50.003 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been there. 07:51.215 --> 08:08.641 [SPEAKER_00]: But I love how Charles Stanley is emphasizing peace being such an important marker because that is usually either the presence of peace of the lack of peace is usually an indicator of the Holy Spirit responding to a situation in some type of way. 08:09.122 --> 08:13.929 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's usually one that requires us to slow down enough and be sensitive enough. 08:13.949 --> 08:16.613 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, we talked about sensitivity last time. 08:17.154 --> 08:19.838 [SPEAKER_00]: It requires us to be sensitive enough. 08:19.818 --> 08:23.366 [SPEAKER_00]: to be able to inquire about what's happening here. 08:24.329 --> 08:32.367 [SPEAKER_00]: He even says here in the book, the absence or presence of peace is often the first indication that the Holy Spirit is up to something. 08:33.049 --> 08:36.477 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll recall that peace is a fruit of the Spirit. 08:36.457 --> 08:40.245 [SPEAKER_00]: I had no peace whatsoever about borrowing $2.7 million. 08:41.027 --> 08:41.929 [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't explain it. 08:42.309 --> 08:45.716 [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't an unreasonable option in light of our deadline. 08:46.177 --> 08:50.246 [SPEAKER_00]: Borrowing to buy property would not have violated any of my personal convictions. 08:50.627 --> 08:52.170 [SPEAKER_00]: But someone... 08:52.150 --> 09:00.183 [SPEAKER_00]: on the inside of me was saying no, strangely enough, once we decided to wait and let God handle it, my peace returned. 09:00.864 --> 09:06.393 [SPEAKER_00]: Enter peace is a difficult concept to define, but it's easy to identify its absence. 09:06.413 --> 09:11.661 [SPEAKER_00]: Like joy, it goes beyond mere emotion, and it's certainly transcend circumstance. 09:11.641 --> 09:17.089 [SPEAKER_00]: Peace is the ability to lie in bed at night, look up at the ceiling, and know everything is going to be all right. 09:17.449 --> 09:19.312 [SPEAKER_00]: When everything really isn't, all right. 09:19.952 --> 09:21.795 [SPEAKER_00]: Peace is an inner subtleness. 09:22.456 --> 09:30.126 [SPEAKER_00]: The apostle Paul was right on target when he spoke of it as that which surpasses all understanding, which is in Philippians 4 and 7. 09:30.767 --> 09:39.960 [SPEAKER_00]: Both the presence and absence of peace, oftentimes do not make sense, humanly speaking, peace defines human comprehension. 09:39.940 --> 09:59.957 [SPEAKER_00]: I've had so many instances where peace was a definite marker that the Holy Spirit was communicating to me, but even before I was fully committed to this life, one instance that is top of mind is when we were doing the goddess my CEO tour. 10:01.253 --> 10:07.560 [SPEAKER_00]: A couple of months before the tour was supposed to kick off, I had a miscarriage, so I was just like devastated. 10:08.241 --> 10:11.725 [SPEAKER_00]: I was in a position where I had just got married. 10:12.506 --> 10:31.108 [SPEAKER_00]: I had my business shut down at the time because it lowered told me to God gave me this download to do this God is my CEO tour going to all of these cities which was a very scary endeavor, but I committed to doing it. 10:31.088 --> 10:38.981 [SPEAKER_00]: I contemplated just not going or pushing it back and just like taking the second before going on full force into this tour. 10:39.382 --> 10:48.878 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember talking to someone who was like a mentor or like a spiritual covering at that time and she was telling me, you know, tell them if you need a moment, 10:49.094 --> 10:57.027 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to do this, you could push it back, you could post pun and do whatever so that you can make sure that you're good before you go and pour into these women. 10:57.067 --> 11:01.474 [SPEAKER_00]: I had no peace about changing the tour at all. 11:02.756 --> 11:05.620 [SPEAKER_00]: I was upset with God to be honest with you. 11:05.901 --> 11:07.183 [SPEAKER_00]: I was frustrated. 11:07.203 --> 11:08.225 [SPEAKER_00]: I was sad. 11:08.465 --> 11:12.331 [SPEAKER_00]: I had all of these different emotions based off of what I was going through. 11:12.371 --> 11:15.456 [SPEAKER_00]: And at the same time. 11:16.718 --> 11:20.645 [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't, I had no piece whatsoever about pushing this to her back. 11:22.328 --> 11:25.114 [SPEAKER_00]: My rational mind was like, it's okay if you push it back. 11:25.174 --> 11:36.335 [SPEAKER_00]: If we were still a couple of months out, so I was in the time period where if I would have pushed it back, it would have been enough of time before the actual event where I think it would have been fine. 11:37.056 --> 11:39.300 [SPEAKER_00]: But still, I had no piece. 11:39.280 --> 11:43.584 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, my natural mind, I'm like, you know, it makes sense. 11:43.604 --> 11:45.166 [SPEAKER_00]: I could take this time for myself. 11:45.306 --> 11:47.428 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, it makes sense not to do this. 11:47.748 --> 11:51.252 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I really handle this while also dealing with this personal matter? 11:51.893 --> 11:53.674 [SPEAKER_00]: But I had to go with the Holy Spirit. 11:54.395 --> 11:56.297 [SPEAKER_00]: And the tour was phenomenal. 11:57.178 --> 12:04.886 [SPEAKER_00]: And as you guys know, the last day after the last day of the tour, I found out I was pregnant with my oldest son. 12:04.966 --> 12:06.267 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the Lord, 12:06.247 --> 12:33.756 [SPEAKER_00]: honored me after I honored him and it was just such a beautiful moment of worship for me when I found out I was pregnant I only just because I was excited about becoming a mom but also because of the way in which everything had unfolded I knew that that was the Lord letting me know like I saw the sacrifice that you made I saw the way that you obeyed me even when it didn't make sense and now I'm going to honor you with this desire of your heart. 12:34.748 --> 13:01.802 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember even when I met my husband when we met, we met at work and I had already been on a job for a little bit and he was a new hire and it was a random day I was like sick but I was at work, I had a little attitude, I was kind of groggy, I was in the kitchen getting something up to fridge and here he come, BJ, my husband is a very happy girl looking 13:01.782 --> 13:13.360 [SPEAKER_00]: extraverted, super friendly, like he's the guy that knows everybody, because he just is kind, just as a huge kind heart, and speaks to everybody, and cares about everybody. 13:14.122 --> 13:22.575 [SPEAKER_00]: So he just bopping a rail, you'd be in himself, speaking to everybody, introducing himself, and so when he introduced himself to me, 13:22.690 --> 13:27.115 [SPEAKER_00]: the peace that surpasses all understanding was serious in that moment. 13:28.136 --> 13:34.463 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was so out of character for me personally to care that much instantly. 13:34.903 --> 13:38.427 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I am very much a slow bird. 13:38.487 --> 13:42.572 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I will be dating the body for a year before I even liked them for it. 13:42.592 --> 13:50.200 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, that was how I moved. 13:50.180 --> 14:05.202 [SPEAKER_00]: So when I met him, there was this piece that overcame me that threw me off so much so to where I was like, I have to get to know this person because what is it about this person that 14:06.076 --> 14:12.302 [SPEAKER_00]: brought my whole brunt, everything about me to a level of stillness and safety. 14:12.922 --> 14:18.247 [SPEAKER_00]: It made absolutely no sense for me to meet a stranger and feel that way. 14:18.848 --> 14:24.073 [SPEAKER_00]: And at the time, I wasn't even like I was growing in my faith, but I wasn't mature yet. 14:24.593 --> 14:35.003 [SPEAKER_00]: But I knew, and this is the thing, when the Holy Spirit gives you a level of peace, you can't deny where that peace is coming from. 14:34.983 --> 14:35.744 [SPEAKER_00]: and chill. 14:36.104 --> 14:39.929 [SPEAKER_00]: No, that piece is deep and noticeable. 14:40.109 --> 14:42.833 [SPEAKER_00]: It can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit. 14:43.153 --> 14:46.237 [SPEAKER_00]: And so when I felt that, I was like, hold on. 14:47.118 --> 14:47.839 [SPEAKER_00]: What is this? 14:48.500 --> 14:55.388 [SPEAKER_00]: And now, 10 years, 3K's later, here we are, still healthy, happy, and in love with each other. 14:55.368 --> 15:04.885 [SPEAKER_00]: I also remember early on in my entrepreneurial journey, especially after bringing the story up because we are raven on the podcast last week or earlier this week. 15:05.666 --> 15:09.433 [SPEAKER_00]: We were in a, I was in like a program of hers. 15:09.453 --> 15:12.839 [SPEAKER_00]: This was after the first program that I worked with her one. 15:12.939 --> 15:16.245 [SPEAKER_00]: And so at this point, I had just left my nine to five. 15:16.225 --> 15:28.496 [SPEAKER_00]: and there was this other program that she had that I joined because I wanted to learn how to sustain as a full-time entrepreneur and it was like a group program with other women who were all self-employed. 15:28.556 --> 15:33.829 [SPEAKER_00]: We all lived in the same area and we would do like our meetings and stuff in person. 15:33.809 --> 15:47.102 [SPEAKER_00]: So, this is around a time where I was doing the podcast, but very early only, and we were in, like a mastermind and just sharing different business ideas and everybody was giving each other feedback and all of that. 15:47.482 --> 15:53.928 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was this one particular person that was in the group who did not sit right in my spirit at all. 15:55.229 --> 16:02.196 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything she said to me instantly irritated me, I had no piece about 16:02.429 --> 16:09.807 [SPEAKER_00]: And definitely had no peace about her being privy to what God was doing in my business and being able to comment on it. 16:10.107 --> 16:15.954 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember it bothered me so much that I ended up reaching out to Raven about it. 16:16.775 --> 16:19.679 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, we set up like a call or something. 16:19.719 --> 16:23.003 [SPEAKER_00]: And I was telling her about this person. 16:23.424 --> 16:25.106 [SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't have the language again. 16:25.126 --> 16:26.948 [SPEAKER_00]: I was earlier on in my faith. 16:26.968 --> 16:30.873 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't have the language to be able to articulate what I was disarming. 16:31.474 --> 16:34.598 [SPEAKER_00]: And Raven was earlier on in her faith as well. 16:35.379 --> 16:38.443 [SPEAKER_00]: But we were both still growing. 16:38.592 --> 16:45.904 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember telling her just as best as I could at that time that something about this person just essentially wouldn't write. 16:46.185 --> 16:49.491 [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't put my finger on it, but I had no piece about her at all. 16:50.051 --> 16:50.953 [SPEAKER_00]: And she wasn't right. 16:51.474 --> 16:58.566 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember writing and telling me like, well, you know, like she was looking at it like maybe I didn't like something that she had to say. 16:58.726 --> 17:03.334 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, when you run a business and you deal with when you're doing group programs with different, 17:03.314 --> 17:10.386 [SPEAKER_00]: women, sometimes people don't get along, sometimes somebody say something to the other person or like, conflict is to be expected. 17:10.827 --> 17:17.939 [SPEAKER_00]: So I assume that she was looking at it like that, like maybe she says something that I didn't like in this while was bringing it to her. 17:18.159 --> 17:19.922 [SPEAKER_00]: But it really wasn't that. 17:19.902 --> 17:32.292 [SPEAKER_00]: I was bringing it to her because I did not have peace about this person and I know now that this was the Holy Spirit, but I needed to tell her that because she needed to be warned about this person. 17:32.753 --> 17:35.235 [SPEAKER_00]: But again, I don't think that she was seeing it that way. 17:35.355 --> 17:38.177 [SPEAKER_00]: She was just like, well, you know, tell anyone, she gave me some type of advice. 17:38.257 --> 17:49.707 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't remember, but I knew that when she wouldn't pick it up when I was putting down and I was too young in my walk to be able to articulate it. 17:50.547 --> 18:02.624 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe like, I can't even remember how much time that passed, but it ended up being revealed that this person was sabotaging Raven's business, I think something happened with some money. 18:02.644 --> 18:08.573 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if she stole money if she did, I cannot remember because it's been a long time. 18:08.553 --> 18:13.018 [SPEAKER_00]: But she did something that pretty much revealed her true colors. 18:13.738 --> 18:20.525 [SPEAKER_00]: And I believe she was like, uh, plant and seeds that doubt about Raven to other people in the program. 18:20.645 --> 18:23.268 [SPEAKER_00]: It was very sneaky and shiny. 18:23.328 --> 18:25.891 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't remember the particulars. 18:25.911 --> 18:27.793 [SPEAKER_00]: But I remember the gist. 18:27.813 --> 18:29.955 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember not having peace about her. 18:30.075 --> 18:31.857 [SPEAKER_00]: And it later being revealed. 18:31.977 --> 18:33.058 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 18:33.038 --> 18:41.468 [SPEAKER_00]: And I bring that up because I want you to understand that this marker of peace is not just for people who are super spiritually mature. 18:41.508 --> 18:46.794 [SPEAKER_00]: These examples from my own life that I gave you were very early on in my world. 18:47.575 --> 18:49.177 [SPEAKER_00]: The tour was in 2019. 18:49.337 --> 18:51.820 [SPEAKER_00]: I met my husband in 2016. 18:52.080 --> 18:57.426 [SPEAKER_00]: I did this program in 2016. 18:58.418 --> 19:11.459 [SPEAKER_00]: So, all of these things were a long time ago when I was earlier on in my walk with the Lord, but the same concept of peace being a marker of the Holy Spirit speaking was still prevalent then. 19:11.500 --> 19:22.738 [SPEAKER_00]: So for those of you who are earlier on with your walk, maybe you're rebuilding your walk and you're struggling with understanding as this me, as this guy, you're not able to fully trust 19:22.718 --> 19:43.084 [SPEAKER_00]: when you have peace or don't have peace, I want you to lean into and be sensitive to this marker because even if you may not know your Bible from front to back just yet even if you're still trying to figure things out, if you are saved the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you when he's moving, he gets right to work. 19:43.505 --> 19:52.236 [SPEAKER_00]: The second that you accept, Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, 19:53.313 --> 20:10.613 [SPEAKER_00]: And so don't discredit what he's doing because you're you don't feel like you're spiritually mature enough for him to speak to you because he's speaking, he's moving, he's showing you maturity is not a prerequisite for him to be active in your life grace is unearned. 20:11.116 --> 20:14.282 [SPEAKER_00]: We are saved not by anything that we've done. 20:14.362 --> 20:15.505 [SPEAKER_00]: We are saved by grace. 20:15.565 --> 20:19.452 [SPEAKER_00]: His unmerited favor, which means it's undeserving favor. 20:20.254 --> 20:24.382 [SPEAKER_00]: We did nothing to earn or deserve him. 20:24.422 --> 20:27.588 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, he gave himself for us anyway. 20:28.109 --> 20:32.297 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we don't have to reach a certain pinnacle of 20:32.277 --> 20:37.643 [SPEAKER_00]: of spiritual maturity for us to be able to commune with and be led by the Holy Spirit. 20:37.683 --> 20:45.110 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if any of you guys have been believing that lie, but the Lord wants to remind you that he is with you. 20:45.150 --> 20:46.692 [SPEAKER_00]: He is speaking to you. 20:46.792 --> 20:47.733 [SPEAKER_00]: He is moving. 20:48.093 --> 20:49.234 [SPEAKER_00]: You just have to listen. 20:49.635 --> 20:53.359 [SPEAKER_00]: And don't let the enemy try to use your lifestyle. 20:53.419 --> 20:55.060 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe send that you might be in. 20:55.481 --> 21:00.546 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe things that you may not be proud of to discredit the way that the Lord is still. 21:00.526 --> 21:02.789 [SPEAKER_00]: loving you and working in your life. 21:04.412 --> 21:10.281 [SPEAKER_00]: Charles Stanley goes on to say, we need peace when we are on the right track, but others tell us that we are wrong. 21:11.162 --> 21:17.792 [SPEAKER_00]: Peace as a minister through the Holy Spirit assure us that we are instead with God's will for our life. 21:18.616 --> 21:23.582 [SPEAKER_00]: look at this context of Paul's description of peace, and this is in Philippians 4667. 21:25.024 --> 21:32.973 [SPEAKER_00]: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. 21:33.674 --> 21:40.742 [SPEAKER_00]: And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 21:40.722 --> 21:47.549 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, I love these verses, don't worry, pray, Paul says, and notice the immediate result. 21:49.231 --> 21:51.994 [SPEAKER_00]: Even before our prayers are answered, there is peace. 21:52.234 --> 21:55.678 [SPEAKER_00]: Before we have any idea how things will work out, there is peace. 21:56.078 --> 21:56.379 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 21:56.419 --> 22:03.827 [SPEAKER_00]: Because when we cry out to God and unload our cares and burdens on him, he is assured of our dependence on him. 22:04.227 --> 22:05.609 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is his priority. 22:05.949 --> 22:07.911 [SPEAKER_00]: That is what pleases him. 22:07.891 --> 22:11.337 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul describes the role of peace as that of a guard. 22:11.918 --> 22:17.246 [SPEAKER_00]: The picture here is peace as a soldier guarding our hearts emotions in minds. 22:17.707 --> 22:25.680 [SPEAKER_00]: The idea is that peace, if we can personify it for a moment, will inform us of who is influencing our hearts in minds. 22:25.660 --> 22:33.901 [SPEAKER_00]: When the wrong influences tamper with our emotions and minds, peace informs us through a sense of foreboding or hesitancy. 22:34.502 --> 22:35.766 [SPEAKER_00]: We lose our peace. 22:36.267 --> 22:40.277 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't always put a finger on it, but something is just not right. 22:40.966 --> 22:43.694 [SPEAKER_00]: He wraps up this chapter by telling the story of his son. 22:43.714 --> 22:50.754 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he said that there were out school bediving, and his son really wanted to find a sand dollar. 22:51.135 --> 22:52.439 [SPEAKER_00]: And they had been out all day. 22:52.479 --> 22:53.602 [SPEAKER_00]: He hadn't found it. 22:53.622 --> 22:56.089 [SPEAKER_00]: And they were getting ready to wrap up and leave. 22:56.069 --> 23:03.921 [SPEAKER_00]: Then towards the end, he sees some kind of disappear for a second, and then when he came back, he found this teeny teeny tiny sand dollar. 23:04.682 --> 23:12.094 [SPEAKER_00]: And so much so that they're guide who cultivated that area was like he had never even seen one that small before. 23:12.475 --> 23:19.225 [SPEAKER_00]: And so Charles Stanley was trying to figure out, how did you even see this tiny tiny thing out here? 23:19.205 --> 23:27.159 [SPEAKER_00]: And he uses that to drive home this point to say that Andy, his son, found the sand dollar because that was exactly what he was looking for. 23:27.860 --> 23:28.882 [SPEAKER_00]: What are you looking for? 23:29.744 --> 23:32.869 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever it is, that is what you are most likely to find. 23:33.330 --> 23:44.149 [SPEAKER_00]: When you begin looking for the Holy Spirit, when you begin tuning into the absence or presence of his peace, you are going to be overwhelmed by the consistency of his presence. 23:44.129 --> 23:52.295 [SPEAKER_00]: You are going to be amazed that his willingness to lead, and best of all, you are going to be assured of the love of your Heavenly Father. 23:52.315 --> 23:56.890 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the love that reaches into every detail of your life. 23:57.376 --> 24:02.728 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, think about it, this is the ending section when he provides some prayer points. 24:02.788 --> 24:04.171 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to write these down. 24:04.952 --> 24:10.464 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're in the middle of making a decision, now it will be a good time to apply what you have learned in this chapter. 24:10.524 --> 24:14.473 [SPEAKER_00]: Evaluate your situation with these questions. 24:14.453 --> 24:18.998 [SPEAKER_00]: As you think through your options, is there a one in particular you really have peace about? 24:19.819 --> 24:27.367 [SPEAKER_00]: And remember, peace is not just the external calmness, but it's this internal knowing and subtleness that surpasses all understanding. 24:27.748 --> 24:28.969 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what you're looking for. 24:29.029 --> 24:32.173 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the definition of peace that you should be following. 24:33.334 --> 24:35.657 [SPEAKER_00]: He also says, is there one, the next question? 24:35.777 --> 24:43.245 [SPEAKER_00]: Is there a one that looks good on the surface, but as you think about yourself following through with it, something just doesn't seem right. 24:44.002 --> 24:47.026 [SPEAKER_00]: Do any of your options conflict with the Word of God? 24:48.047 --> 24:52.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Is there an option that scares you, but when you pray about it, you have peace? 24:53.413 --> 24:58.039 [SPEAKER_00]: Is there an option that disturbs you, but your friends are encouraging you to follow it? 24:58.940 --> 25:03.866 [SPEAKER_00]: And then do you have a feeling you know what God would have you do, but you don't want to face it? 25:04.647 --> 25:13.317 [SPEAKER_00]: So if any of you have a decision that needs to be made, write those questions down and so them honestly, 25:13.837 --> 25:23.172 [SPEAKER_00]: Now the next marker that he discusses is the conscience and he starts out pretty much just saying how he doesn't hear Christians often talk about the conscience. 25:23.193 --> 25:38.578 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't hear a lot of sermons about it even though the Bible speaks about and mentions the conscience many times in a positive light just in Christian spaces you don't really hear about it too much or you don't hear about it in a positive light. 25:38.558 --> 25:48.429 [SPEAKER_00]: And so he says, as far as the conscience and the Holy Spirit, once a person becomes a child of God, the conscience takes on new significance. 25:48.449 --> 25:54.596 [SPEAKER_00]: It becomes a divine tool if functions as a megaphone in the hands of the Holy Spirit. 25:55.136 --> 25:59.581 [SPEAKER_00]: It becomes the means through which the Holy Spirit reveals the will of God to the mind. 26:00.322 --> 26:08.211 [SPEAKER_00]: In his letter to the Romans, Paul directed his readers attention to the unique relationship 26:08.191 --> 26:10.695 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is Anne Romans 9, 1 through 2. 26:11.697 --> 26:14.201 [SPEAKER_00]: I tell the truth and Christ, I am not lying. 26:14.641 --> 26:22.013 [SPEAKER_00]: My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 26:22.975 --> 26:26.080 [SPEAKER_00]: And the verses that follow Paul made a radical statement. 26:26.500 --> 26:33.051 [SPEAKER_00]: He was so burdened over the loss of Israel that he was willing to forfeit his salvation for their sake. 26:33.554 --> 26:39.278 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul was willing to trade places with the nation of Israel, and that's in Romans 9-3-5. 26:39.511 --> 26:46.179 [SPEAKER_00]: That was an extreme statement, so Paul felt unnecessary to assure his readers that it was something that he had thought through. 26:46.659 --> 26:53.367 [SPEAKER_00]: He was genuinely willing to lose his salvation if in doing so, Israel would acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah. 26:54.008 --> 27:01.097 [SPEAKER_00]: To remove any doubt of his sincerity, Paul began his discourse with the statement quoted in a previous page. 27:01.717 --> 27:06.463 [SPEAKER_00]: So what did he mean by my conscience 27:07.186 --> 27:10.470 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul had a clear conscience concerning his extravagant claim. 27:10.891 --> 27:13.494 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't feel that he was exaggerating in the least. 27:14.055 --> 27:16.618 [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing inside made him doubt his sincerity. 27:17.159 --> 27:20.824 [SPEAKER_00]: As far as he could tell, it was not for effect, it was the truth. 27:21.564 --> 27:31.337 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, he believed his conscience was tuned into the Holy Spirit in such a fashion that his clear conscience was an indication of the Holy Spirit approval. 27:31.317 --> 27:32.539 [SPEAKER_00]: let's turn it around. 27:33.120 --> 27:45.417 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul believed that if he had been stretching the truth for the sake of making his point in other words, lie, the Holy Spirit would have been displeased and would have shown his displeasure by disturbing Paul's conscience. 27:45.437 --> 27:50.564 [SPEAKER_00]: Since his conscience was clear, Paul assumed everything had been cleared by the Holy Spirit. 27:51.065 --> 27:53.308 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul trusted his conscience. 27:53.812 --> 27:56.535 [SPEAKER_00]: He says the conscious functions somewhat like a computer. 27:57.176 --> 28:02.282 [SPEAKER_00]: A computer is programmed to respond in predetermined ways to specific incoming information. 28:02.983 --> 28:07.368 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, it responds to input based on the commands it has been programmed to follow. 28:08.089 --> 28:13.215 [SPEAKER_00]: When I click on my word processing application, my computer knows to open my word processor. 28:13.776 --> 28:18.421 [SPEAKER_00]: When my computer receives the copy command, it copies whatever I have selected. 28:18.922 --> 28:23.127 [SPEAKER_00]: Computers are smart, but for the most part, 28:23.967 --> 28:26.131 [SPEAKER_00]: The conscience is a responder as well. 28:26.592 --> 28:30.700 [SPEAKER_00]: It responds to certain input, the way it has been instructed to respond. 28:31.721 --> 28:37.312 [SPEAKER_00]: God has programmed every man and woman's conscience to respond in particular ways to certain data. 28:38.093 --> 28:40.137 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul describes it like this. 28:40.117 --> 29:03.222 [SPEAKER_00]: For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively, the things of the law, these not having the law are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the law, written in their hearts, their conscience, bearing witness in their thoughts, alternatively accusing or defending them, that's in Romans 2, 14, 2015. 29:03.202 --> 29:08.729 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, God has written or programmed his moral code into the heart of every man in woman. 29:09.089 --> 29:10.130 [SPEAKER_00]: We are born with it. 29:10.551 --> 29:17.279 [SPEAKER_00]: When a person's actions or thoughts or contrary to their code, the conscience responds by sending a no message to the brain. 29:17.899 --> 29:25.969 [SPEAKER_00]: On the other hand, when a person decides to go along with the pre-programmed moral code, the conscience says, go. 29:26.422 --> 29:28.565 [SPEAKER_00]: We experienced this phenomenon every day. 29:29.006 --> 29:34.874 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it comes as an internal hesitancy at other times it is plain old guilt. 29:34.894 --> 29:41.003 [SPEAKER_00]: Then there are times when an opportunity do good comes along and something on the inside urges us to follow through. 29:41.043 --> 29:43.607 [SPEAKER_00]: That something is the conscience. 29:44.288 --> 29:51.518 [SPEAKER_00]: Notice Paul says our thoughts sometimes defend or point out the legitimacy of certain actions. 29:51.498 --> 29:59.273 [SPEAKER_00]: when that happens, if the actions are in line with the law of God written in our hearts, the conscience gives us a go ahead. 29:59.293 --> 30:09.692 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, when I first read this book a couple of years ago, I thought that this was an interesting marker because I'd never, like I understand that we all have a conscience. 30:09.672 --> 30:16.968 [SPEAKER_00]: I do think that is worth noting that most people have a genuine general conviction of right and wrong. 30:17.369 --> 30:23.042 [SPEAKER_00]: And most people, whether you're a Christian or not, generally want to do right by others. 30:23.543 --> 30:27.732 [SPEAKER_00]: This moral compass was given to us by the Lord. 30:27.712 --> 30:40.208 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, I think that it is worth pointing out and showing, but I don't know, I find it interesting to have the conscience be this whole separate marker of conversation. 30:40.248 --> 30:46.976 [SPEAKER_00]: This is probably the only time reading this whole book that I have questioned or disagreed. 30:47.176 --> 30:49.639 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't even think here, I'm fully disagreeing. 30:50.300 --> 30:51.762 [SPEAKER_00]: I just don't know. 30:52.315 --> 31:03.711 [SPEAKER_00]: if the conscience deserves its own marker, just simply because at what point, but it feels as if we're adding another person to this mix. 31:04.192 --> 31:08.638 [SPEAKER_00]: So it feels like with me and my body, there was me, my conscience, and the Holy Spirit. 31:08.938 --> 31:12.383 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's a lie, like at what point, 31:12.532 --> 31:25.852 [SPEAKER_00]: or how does my conscience become separate from me to where it needs to be emphasized in this way and discussed in how the Holy Spirit communicates to me. 31:26.193 --> 31:26.954 [SPEAKER_00]: Does that make sense? 31:28.496 --> 31:30.559 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about this. 31:30.980 --> 31:32.462 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's necessarily wrong. 31:33.183 --> 31:34.806 [SPEAKER_00]: I understand what he's saying. 31:34.866 --> 31:39.653 [SPEAKER_00]: I just think that it isn't unnecessary extra step. 31:40.696 --> 31:42.540 [SPEAKER_00]: That's my on and hey, this is a book club. 31:42.801 --> 31:44.044 [SPEAKER_00]: We here to talk about the book. 31:44.104 --> 31:45.046 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't always agree. 31:45.207 --> 31:48.034 [SPEAKER_00]: I was critical a lot of Joyce Meyer when we went through her book. 31:48.194 --> 31:56.634 [SPEAKER_00]: Even though I historically loved the book, when we were right at, I'm gonna say last year, that was my first time reading it in some years. 31:56.935 --> 31:57.777 [SPEAKER_00]: So, 31:58.145 --> 32:00.548 [SPEAKER_00]: growing spiritually and then reading it again. 32:00.568 --> 32:01.970 [SPEAKER_00]: I found a lot of issues. 32:04.033 --> 32:06.997 [SPEAKER_00]: So here is one instance and reading this book. 32:07.017 --> 32:11.663 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think I questioned the author in the last book a couple of times, as well. 32:11.823 --> 32:17.991 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I think this is probably the only time that I'm questioning a child standing up to this point. 32:18.011 --> 32:24.760 [SPEAKER_00]: Because again, I just don't see it necessary to have this full other marker. 32:26.022 --> 32:26.804 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 32:27.105 --> 32:27.426 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 32:27.446 --> 32:27.948 [SPEAKER_00]: That's just me. 32:28.068 --> 32:29.533 [SPEAKER_00]: Those are my raw thoughts. 32:29.553 --> 32:30.235 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's continue. 32:30.857 --> 32:31.799 [SPEAKER_00]: Tell me if you agree. 32:32.602 --> 32:33.424 [SPEAKER_00]: Send me a message. 32:33.826 --> 32:34.969 [SPEAKER_00]: It's tell me if you agree. 32:36.653 --> 32:38.857 [SPEAKER_00]: He says reprogramming the conscience. 32:39.217 --> 32:42.944 [SPEAKER_00]: When you become a Christian, a change began to occur in your conscience. 32:42.964 --> 32:48.132 [SPEAKER_00]: The basic moral code that everyone is born with was overhaul or reconditioned. 32:48.673 --> 32:51.157 [SPEAKER_00]: The spirit of truth took up residency on your heart. 32:51.718 --> 32:58.189 [SPEAKER_00]: Then, whether you were aware of it or not, he immediately said about to complete the programming of your conscience. 32:58.169 --> 33:06.322 [SPEAKER_00]: Whereas before you had a general sense of right and wrong, the Holy Spirit began renewing your mind to more specific and complete truths. 33:06.903 --> 33:13.753 [SPEAKER_00]: You participated in this renewal process every time you read your Bible, attend worship, memorize a verse, or pray. 33:14.214 --> 33:25.071 [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit uses all this input to reprogram the database through which your conscience evaluates every opportunity, thought, invitation, word, and deed. 33:25.051 --> 33:34.181 [SPEAKER_00]: As this process continues, your conscience tunes in with the moral code of the Holy Spirit, a code reflecting the moral and ethical standards of God. 33:34.881 --> 33:40.607 [SPEAKER_00]: This process sensitizes you not only to God's moral standards, but to the will of God as well. 33:41.408 --> 33:47.574 [SPEAKER_00]: That is why new Christians are often offended by things just days before their salvation didn't bother them at all. 33:48.295 --> 33:51.919 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's a sudden change, other times it's gradual. 33:53.232 --> 34:02.483 [SPEAKER_00]: So again, the more he discusses the conscience and how the Holy Spirit renews it, I don't understand why this is separate from me. 34:02.851 --> 34:04.654 [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit renews my mind. 34:05.275 --> 34:09.643 [SPEAKER_00]: He definitely renews our preferences, our taste buds. 34:09.684 --> 34:17.237 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're somebody who was a smoker before, you got saved and you don't even like the smell of smoke anymore. 34:17.257 --> 34:24.150 [SPEAKER_00]: That is the Lord, the Holy Spirit, refining you renewing your mind, transforming your mind. 34:25.042 --> 34:33.313 [SPEAKER_00]: why do we have to add the conscience in this as if it's something separate from him just changing us? 34:33.714 --> 34:35.296 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't fully get it. 34:36.318 --> 34:38.040 [SPEAKER_00]: But nevertheless, let's continue. 34:38.120 --> 34:42.626 [SPEAKER_00]: He says the Holy Spirit uses the conscience to do three things in particular. 34:43.768 --> 34:48.855 [SPEAKER_00]: The first is the Holy Spirit uses the conscience as an instant warning device. 34:49.544 --> 34:51.106 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, I have a bad habit. 34:51.506 --> 34:53.928 [SPEAKER_00]: And talking with other men, I find that I'm not alone. 34:54.409 --> 34:57.912 [SPEAKER_00]: When the empty gas tank light comes on my dashboard, I keep driving. 34:58.373 --> 35:00.635 [SPEAKER_00]: More than once, I have lost this little game. 35:01.175 --> 35:04.218 [SPEAKER_00]: The consequences I'm embarrassing is sometimes dangerous. 35:04.579 --> 35:07.301 [SPEAKER_00]: The warning light on my dash is therefore a reason. 35:07.842 --> 35:10.224 [SPEAKER_00]: And I am not being sensible when I ignore it. 35:11.365 --> 35:19.213 [SPEAKER_00]: In the same way, the Holy Spirit tries to warn us of moral and physical danger. 35:19.649 --> 35:29.726 [SPEAKER_00]: and talking to the elders from the church of Ephesus, the apostle Paul said, now, compelled by the spirit, I'm going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 35:30.207 --> 35:36.718 [SPEAKER_00]: I only know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardship are facing me. 35:37.259 --> 35:40.645 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's Acts 20, 22, through 23. 35:40.625 --> 35:44.150 [SPEAKER_00]: the Holy Spirit has a divine perspective on our lives. 35:44.590 --> 35:47.014 [SPEAKER_00]: He can see trouble coming mouths down the road. 35:47.594 --> 35:48.976 [SPEAKER_00]: Often he will try to warn us. 35:49.477 --> 35:51.840 [SPEAKER_00]: I believe he uses the conscience to do so. 35:52.821 --> 36:02.835 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't fully see what the difference is between this, what he's saying here, and what he was saying prior about peace. 36:03.322 --> 36:15.017 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember, I've told the story before, back in like 2019, I was pregnant with my oldest son, and I had bought tickets for my husband and I had to go to London for his birthday. 36:15.517 --> 36:20.864 [SPEAKER_00]: My husband's a huge soccer fan, a Liverpool fan, specifically, and so we were going to go to London. 36:20.884 --> 36:26.010 [SPEAKER_00]: We were going to go to a Liverpool game, like I just knew I was finnabby wife of a year. 36:26.451 --> 36:31.557 [SPEAKER_00]: And also I had like a list of things that I wanted to do before I had kids and going to Europe. 36:31.537 --> 36:55.063 [SPEAKER_00]: Was one of the things and those was one of the things on that list and I feel like it was also the last thing that was on my list So this is the perfect opportunity for us to go celebrate this birthday I was get to go to Europe for the first time like I was excited and as we got closer to the trip I didn't have any peace about going at all like it almost I was almost a free to go 36:55.043 --> 37:02.713 [SPEAKER_00]: I was so disturbed at the thought of going to this trip that I had been so excited about that I had no choice but to follow that. 37:03.594 --> 37:05.296 [SPEAKER_00]: And I canceled it. 37:05.336 --> 37:07.138 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm grateful my husband was understanding. 37:07.198 --> 37:09.381 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sure he was disappointed, but he didn't show it. 37:10.222 --> 37:20.275 [SPEAKER_00]: And that was and we were going to go in December 2019 and as we know in March 2020 the world shut down. 37:20.677 --> 37:24.522 [SPEAKER_00]: and COVID-19 started in 2019. 37:24.602 --> 37:32.333 [SPEAKER_00]: So I fully believe that had we gone to Europe, that we would have gotten sick, or something would have happened. 37:32.954 --> 37:41.145 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I am glad that the Holy Spirit checked me, but I wouldn't say the Holy Spirit spoke to my conscience. 37:41.165 --> 37:44.329 [SPEAKER_00]: And I was sending that back to the peace conversation. 37:44.349 --> 37:47.173 [SPEAKER_00]: And anytime that I think of, 37:47.153 --> 38:16.013 [SPEAKER_00]: what he's saying here how the Holy Spirit uses the conscience as a warning device for me it's always come in the form of either a dream or maybe the law is spoke to somebody else maybe it was the absence of peace but again I don't think I've ever attributed my conscience to anything other than just that internal moral compass that we all have 38:15.993 --> 38:19.060 [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm a let him cook because maybe y'all disagree with me. 38:19.160 --> 38:20.723 [SPEAKER_00]: He ain't saying nothing as wrong. 38:21.385 --> 38:22.848 [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm a let him cook. 38:23.569 --> 38:31.707 [SPEAKER_00]: The second point he makes is the Holy Spirit energizes the conscience to function as an accurate evaluator and designer. 38:31.687 --> 38:39.020 [SPEAKER_00]: The conscience once it is in power about the Holy Spirit can correctly discern or evaluate what is and what is not of God. 38:39.661 --> 38:46.694 [SPEAKER_00]: Any apostle Paul's second letter to the believers in Corinth, it is apparent that he was not sure of their confidence in his ministry. 38:47.214 --> 38:52.704 [SPEAKER_00]: He was sure God had approved what he was doing, but he really wanted the Corinthians to trust him as well. 38:53.345 --> 38:55.990 [SPEAKER_00]: From that context, he made this statement. 38:55.970 --> 39:07.865 [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God, and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences, that second Corinthians 5 and 11. 39:08.505 --> 39:14.172 [SPEAKER_00]: The term manifest means clear, obvious, apparent, or self-evident. 39:14.833 --> 39:18.858 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul was arguing, it is clear to God what I am up to. 39:18.878 --> 39:22.703 [SPEAKER_00]: I hope your consciences will make it equally clear to you. 39:22.683 --> 39:28.539 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul acts his readers to evaluate his ministry based on the message they received from their consciences. 39:29.061 --> 39:31.949 [SPEAKER_00]: He believed their consciences will line up with the truth. 39:32.470 --> 39:37.705 [SPEAKER_00]: He believed the conscience wasn't accurate discerner and evaluate her. 39:37.685 --> 39:43.732 [SPEAKER_00]: And at third point he makes is the Holy Spirit energizes the conscience to function as a judge and a jury. 39:44.532 --> 39:49.498 [SPEAKER_00]: The third way in which the Holy Spirit works through the conscience is one which we are most familiar. 39:49.898 --> 39:52.982 [SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit uses the conscience to convict us of Saint. 39:53.562 --> 40:00.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps you are familiar with the following passage where Jesus refers to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. 40:01.765 --> 40:04.388 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is in John 168, the 11. 40:05.049 --> 40:11.636 [SPEAKER_00]: It says, he, the Holy Spirit, when he comes will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. 40:12.157 --> 40:24.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Custarning sin because they do not believe in me and discern and concerning righteousness because I go to the Father and you no longer see me and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged. 40:25.492 --> 40:31.198 [SPEAKER_00]: Now compare it with Jesus said about the Holy Spirit 40:31.870 --> 40:40.379 [SPEAKER_00]: Peter stated, always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. 40:41.160 --> 40:50.170 [SPEAKER_00]: Having a good conscience that when they defamed you as evil doers, those who rival your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 40:51.371 --> 40:59.920 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, Peter viewed the conscience as a trustworthy indicator of the presence or absence of 41:01.165 --> 41:21.776 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul communicated the same idea in his second letter to the believers of the church in Corinth when he wrote, for our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you. 41:22.296 --> 41:24.760 [SPEAKER_00]: That second Corinthians 1 and 12. 41:24.740 --> 41:31.067 [SPEAKER_00]: like Peter Paul viewed the conscience as a trustworthy source of information regarding the presence of Saint. 41:31.888 --> 41:33.130 [SPEAKER_00]: That's an Acts 24, 16. 41:34.371 --> 41:36.934 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus said the Holy Spirit will convict of Saint. 41:37.334 --> 41:40.918 [SPEAKER_00]: Peter and Paul looked to the conscience for evidence of that conviction. 41:41.699 --> 41:47.025 [SPEAKER_00]: The conscience then is the realm in which the Holy Spirit carries out his convicting work. 41:47.526 --> 41:52.131 [SPEAKER_00]: When the conscience is stirred, chances are the 41:52.111 --> 41:55.817 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a reason I have gone to great length to explain this relationship. 41:56.318 --> 41:59.423 [SPEAKER_00]: Many Christians aren't sure when the Holy Spirit speaks to them. 41:59.844 --> 42:03.891 [SPEAKER_00]: Yet these same believers will readily admit that they have an active conscience. 42:04.532 --> 42:10.322 [SPEAKER_00]: When believers feel the prick of conscience, there is a good chance that they are hearing from the Holy Spirit. 42:10.302 --> 42:13.207 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you see how practical the Spirit-filled life is? 42:13.247 --> 42:18.056 [SPEAKER_00]: It is not a mystery that can be grasped only by some elite subs at a Christians. 42:18.476 --> 42:24.707 [SPEAKER_00]: The Spirit-filled life is not uniquely removed from for those who have a deeper understanding of God. 42:24.727 --> 42:27.973 [SPEAKER_00]: The Spirit-filled life is for all Christians. 42:27.953 --> 42:37.450 [SPEAKER_00]: Now take issue with this part of when he says that when believers feel the prick of conscience, there's a good chance they are healing hearing from the Holy Spirit. 42:38.392 --> 42:44.683 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a problem with looking at flesh to validate the Lord. 42:44.703 --> 42:49.472 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like that at all. 42:51.005 --> 43:02.795 [SPEAKER_00]: I understand how he's trying to at a very practical everybody knows this marker in here. 43:03.736 --> 43:07.519 [SPEAKER_00]: But I feel like I don't know. 43:07.840 --> 43:08.240 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 43:08.320 --> 43:10.662 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't fully sit right with me. 43:10.682 --> 43:12.704 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like it. 43:12.744 --> 43:20.050 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't like saying that I'm looking to my flesh to validate that the Lord is speaking. 43:22.207 --> 43:48.564 [SPEAKER_00]: Because peace is a product of the, or evidence of the Holy Spirit and not our flesh, I believe that that's a great marker, but our conscience is a part of our flesh and looking at my flesh to reveal something about the presence or to discern the Lord just doesn't feel like it feels backwards to meet personally. 43:49.345 --> 43:51.268 [SPEAKER_00]: But that again, that could just be me. 43:52.312 --> 43:56.457 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think we can go ahead and wrap this year because I don't want to just keep saying I disagree. 43:59.460 --> 44:03.305 [SPEAKER_00]: So that is the first two markers of the Holy Spirit. 44:03.986 --> 44:05.708 [SPEAKER_00]: Marker one was peace. 44:05.888 --> 44:10.914 [SPEAKER_00]: Marker two was the conscient and it will finish up with the last two in the book. 44:11.354 --> 44:11.795 [SPEAKER_00]: Next week. 44:12.175 --> 44:16.100 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the Blessed and Boston podcast. 44:16.180 --> 44:17.982 [SPEAKER_00]: I love you guys and I'll see you in the next one.