Relationship Building

The podcast episode discusses the importance of building a relationship with God and how to do so. The speaker shares their personal journey of relying on worldly things to cope with trauma before finding solace in God. They emphasize that no matter your issues or sins, God wants to help and guide you. They also address the spiritual aspect of the world and caution against relying on astrology or other distorted beliefs. The speaker encourages listeners to seek God through prayer and faith, citing Bible verses that highlight the importance of persistence. They stress the power and authority that comes with a relationship with God and how it can bring true peace and victory. Good night, lovey. Welcome to another episode of Living Water Restoration podcast. I am so happy you guys are here. Another night tuning in. And I'm just so excited to, you know, talk with y'all, fellowship with y'all and all that good stuff. Tonight's episode is going to be on the importance of building a relationship with God and how to build a relationship with God. And you know, the purpose behind why you're building a relationship with God. So prior to me really, like, no longer being like a lukewarm, like being lukewarm with the Lord, I definitely used to depend on like social settings and smoking and relationships and everything physical to feel like okay with the world that I'm living in, to deal with trauma that I didn't speak about, like definitely just depending on everything that I could physically see to be okay with the hurt that I was never physically acknowledging. So I guess the start we'll start off with why you should build a relationship with the Lord. One, I just want you guys to know that you don't have to be without an issue to have a relationship with God. God wants your issue, so he can fix it and heal it and so that you will see the glory of God in your life. So don't let anything stop you from building your relationship with God. Don't let the fact that you're smoking stop you from building a relationship. Don't let the don't let don't let the fact that if you're having if you're fornicating, don't let that stop you from building a relationship. Because at the end of the day, God will the Holy Spirit will start to convict you as you're building a relationship with God. And he, the Holy Spirit will guide you and lead you into what is best for you to do. But don't be ashamed to go to God with your problem because Jesus died on the cross for our sins. That means that God is able to see us through the sin, he can see us past the sin. And he wants he doesn't want you to, you know, like he don't want you to die by your sin. That's why Jesus came here and died for your sin. So you don't have to. So it's important for you to build a relationship with God so that you don't no longer become over that you're no longer getting overcome by your sin, whatever your sin may be. Everybody's sin is different. Everybody battles a different sin. So with that being said, like, it's just super important to have a relationship with God, because the world that we live in, I feel like a lot of people forget, not forget, but choose not to acknowledge that there is a spiritual side to this world. It's not only physical, like there are spiritual things that are constantly going on, like, the spiritual is omnipresent with the physical, like they coincide and they are they are with each other. And let's first of all, let's not even say that y'all don't believe that there's a spiritual side, because a lot of people Yeah, a lot of y'all believe in astrology and signs and all that stuff. And all of that is very much spiritual. So it's not like a spiritual side does not exist. And you guys are not acknowledging that there's a spiritual side because I know a lot of y'all really be on that whole Zodiac thing. But let me tell you that that whole Zodiac stuff, the information that comes from Zodiacs, I mean, like, it's not to say that the information is not correct, you're getting correct information, but you're getting demonic information. So yeah, spirituality definitely exists. And people get wrapped up in what the devil has perverted to seem like it's a normal thing to keep people away from a relationship with God. So it'd be easier for somebody to go pick up a website and be like, Oh, let me see what my Zodiac sign says for the day rather than you go to God with whatever you feel like you're not really getting at the moment, whether it's clarity or whatever the case may be. It'd be easier for you to go to a Zodiac sign than it is for you to go to God with a problem because the devil has perverted. The devil has perverted the relationship with God through religion. Okay. So he will make you feel like you shouldn't go to God with your problem and make you feel like Oh, let me just pick up a Zodiac sign and see better put them Zodiac signs down baby because a Zodiac sign will never tell you what God will tell you. Okay, when you have a true prophet prophesied over your life, it will never be compared to nothing a Zodiac sign can tell you. So you mean to tell me that you and 80 different people who are in different, different, different parts of y'all like y'all doing different things. Some of y'all not even on the same path and you mean to tell me that one Zodiac sign reading is the same thing for 80 different people. See God is going to give you a personal message just for you. When you have a relationship, God will give you careful instruction just for you when you're in a relationship with him. That's why it's important for you to build a relationship with God because he's here to help you maneuver in this life. As a person now it's your choice to decide do you want God to help maneuver you in this life? Or do you want to continue to keep your own small plans and never find out what God's bigger plan is for you. But you will never know what the bigger plan is until you try to develop a relationship with God. So how do you develop a relationship with God? By talking to him. It's literally that simple by talking to him. Let me give you all a Bible verse about how simple it is for you to find God and build a relationship with him. I'm going to start in Matthew. And I'm reading from the Amplified Version. Let me start in Matthew 7 and 7 through 8. It says keep on asking and it will be given to you. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking reverently and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives and he who keeps on seeking finds. And to him who keeps on knocking the door will be opened. So when it says like if you keep on knocking that means if you keep on seeking. If you keep on speaking is what it means to knock. If you keep on talking, keep on talking and he is going to show up. Literally it is so simple for you to just be like God I want to know who you are. Can you show me who you are? This is what I'm going through and I am in need of some guidance because it says here keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened. And I feel like a lot of people feel like oh because they prayed one time and God didn't show up. What? What do you mean you prayed one time and God didn't show up? It says keep on knocking at the door and it will be opened. Don't just pray one time because at the end of the day it's your faith that really gets God moving. Okay? And if you don't got no faith God's not gonna I mean like I'm not gonna say God's not going to move but you're not gonna see him move that quick if your faith is like dwindling. You're just like oh I don't know God yet but I'm not sure. And I mean you're doing it on your own. So I'm not trying to say this the wrong way. When it's time for God to reveal himself to you he will reveal himself to you but what I'm saying is continue to keep on knocking at the door because if you keep on knocking the door will be opened. The door will be open for everyone who keeps on asking, receives, keeps on. Okay? Like nothing here says that it happens one time. All right so let me give y'all another one in Revelations 3 and 20. 3 and 20. It says, Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears and listens to and heeds my voice and opens the door I will come into him and I will eat with him and he will eat with me. Meaning that you know God is also knocking. God is also knocking but when God is knocking sometimes you got to let some stuff go and people don't like letting things go. That's just the truth. You don't want to let go of your old friends. You don't want to let go of that man who's not really doing nothing for you but it's a comfortable situation so you hold on. You don't want to let go of your anger. So he's there knocking at the door for you to hear him and you're like ignoring him and it's not necessarily on purpose that you're ignoring him but that trauma that's built up in you is making you ignore him. It's important for you to have a relationship with God because the world that we live in is not black and white and our fight is not with with flesh and blood. Like a lot of y'all think that y'all gotta like y'all gotta beef with Nancy from around the corner. Y'all gotta beef with your man that's doing you wrong. You gotta beef with the church. You gotta beef with your mom. You gotta be for everybody and y'all feel like y'all beefing with people and it don't be people. It be demons attached to people that y'all fighting with but if you build your relationship with the Lord you have authority over these dark things. Luke 10 19 says that that he has given us the authority to trample over serpents and scorpions. He has given us the authority to have the victory over the things that we're fighting over dark forces. We have authority over those things. We will never know how to use our authority over these things without a relationship with God. So you'll end up fighting the same battle for years because you never tried God but y'all you've tried everything else. You've tried weed. You've tried lean. You've tried ecstasy. You've tried relationships. You have tried going out every night. You have tried making more money. You have tried making yourself look pretty. Y'all have tried every single thing but God and wondering why is it that even if you have all the physical things that you want why have you still not had why had why don't you still have any peace. God is the only one who gives you the peace that surpasses all understanding. It's important for you to have a relationship with God because when you walk with God you cannot lose because you already have the victory. The victory was Jesus dying on the cross. So now if you serve God the one who died on the cross for you how can you lose in this life. Now let me also say that just because you're serving God that doesn't you're serving God that doesn't mean that you get to avoid hardship and I think that's a problem a lot of us want to like just I feel like a lot of people feel like oh if God is in the picture it should not be no issues but there is not or that there shouldn't be no hardship but there is not one story in the Bible. There is not one story in the Bible where anybody avoided hardship. Everyone went through a form of hardship. The difference is is that your hardship with God is lighter than if it was than if it was you just doing this life by yourself. The Bible says yea though I walk through the shadow yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil because thy rod and thy staff comforts me. Right the valley is the dark place the valley is the low place of your life where it's like man nothing's really working out for me. It doesn't say that when you're walking with God that he's gonna speed up your time in the valley it says that he will give you comfort in the valley. So for example I'll give you an example from my life. I lost my car right my car was totaled in the accident my ex totaled my car. I lost my car one time before in 2019 my car was like towed and then I didn't have the money to take it out fast enough so the car was destroyed so I literally just gave my car away for free. So without God in 2019 I went out I went without a car for two years before I got another car and I was taking the bus back and forth to work I was in an abusive relationship and I was literally like the highlight of my day was smoking. I was going to work every day Monday through Friday nine to five and eight to four and the highlight of my day was getting off of work to smoke. I was in such a low and a dark place I was in the valley and I had no comfort in the valley. I had no comfort in the home where I was staying. I had no comfort in my traveling to get back and forth to work. I had no comfort in my mind I was literally a hot mess. I was lost in despair. Mind you same situation I lost my car right it's now 2022 baby and I lose my car again. This time I lose my car for the sake of not being obedient and not listening to the Lord when he told me it's not time for me to be in a relationship it's time for me to be in a relationship with him. I decided to comfort my flesh because I didn't trust God to comfort me in my valley. So now that I have built a relationship with God, God has given me comfort in this valley. Since I have lost my car I have not been without a vehicle to make it back and forth to work. I no longer am in my own apartment I'm living with my dad but I have not I've never had the same peace that I've had. Mentally I feel free I feel like myself again I feel like my whole self again because God has taught me that to survive and to overcome this life means to submit to him and even though I'm not where I thought I would be at the age of 27 I mean when I was younger I definitely thought I would be like married have kids um I'd probably be buying my own house right now like when I graduated school like this is like me in high school thinking about like not me in high school like when I just graduated college I mean when I graduated college when I just graduated high school and was in college I was thinking that by the time I was 27 I would have all these things right yeah that's not what happened but nonetheless what I'm saying is is that now that I have a relationship with God I have nothing but comfort in my valley so I don't fear any evil I have no fear because thy rod and thy staff comforts me while I'm in the valley and I'm not going to be in the valley for very long so now let me give you another bible verse actually while we're here speaking about comfort and being honest with the Lord and that's the key thing to being that's the key thing to building a relationship with God is honesty also in the bible it says that in proverbs it says to trust in me with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding a relationship is built off of trust in the same way God wants you to trust him is the same way God needs to trust you sometimes we be wanting blessings but God can't trust us with that blessing which is why we haven't received it because we haven't developed enough trust for God to be able to give us some things certain things and that we end up not forgetting about him God wants an intimate relationship with us in John 15 15 God calls us his friends let me start there actually let's go to John 15 God wants to have an intimate relationship with you that's his desire is to have an intimate relationship with you I'm going to start at 12 actually and he says this is my commandment this is Jesus talking that you love one another just as I have loved you no one has greater love no one has greater love I'm still reading from the amplified version so there's brackets in here so I'm just going to read it for the brackets no one has greater love no one has shown a stronger affection than to lay down his own life for his friends you are my friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do I do not call you servants any longer for the servant does not know what his master is doing working out but I have called you my friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my father I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from him you have not chosen me but I have chosen you and I still Jesus have appointed you I have planted you that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing and that your fruit may be lasting that it may remain abide so that whatever you ask the father in my name as presenting all that I am he may give it to you intimacy can y'all say that with me say intimacy God desires an intimate relationship with us and an intimate relationship requires us trusting one another God wants you to trust him the same way he wants to trust you that's a friendship and let me tell y'all something a lot of us don't know how to be friends a lot of us don't know how to date a lot of us don't know how to be in relationships because nobody taught us but God is a renewer he wants to renew your mind and renew the way that you think renew the way that you operate renew what you think is normal that actually isn't like the devil has been this the devil has nowhere to go he's literally stuck here he can't go to heaven like he literally can only go back and forth he can literally only wander it's only it's only but so many places he could go so I'm saying that to say this he has spent so much time in this world perverting and making things seem like it's normal when it's actually not so when you build a relationship with God when he renews your mind he shows you the truth the truth in how to date the truth in how to be a friend the truth and how to honor your parents the truth in how to heal Jesus is what heals the blood of Jesus still works it works there is power in the name of Jesus demons have to flee when you call on his name you have a key when you have a relationship with God not only do you have a key but you have peace you have comfort you have validation from the Lord so you no longer seek validation from others so it's important for you to build a relationship with God and it's way simpler than people try to make it seem or way simpler than society tries to make it seem seem God literally called you his friend he wants you to water a river he wants to have a relationship with you and the way to have a relationship with him is to speak to him and when you speak to him be honest because he's omnipresent he sees it all already you can't hide nothing from him but God can't work with what you don't give him so for example I didn't feel like smoking weed was a problem I was still hearing from God while I was smoking but I was hearing from God while I was smoking because Jesus died on the cross for my sins so he can see me through my sin so he can speak to me through my sin that's the reason why but I never came to God and said that I have an issue with smoking it was once I came to God and said I have an issue with smoking that he was able to you know deliver me honey it was once I came to him and say that I have an issue with dating or like how I what I view as normal in dating or the fact that I don't know how to really just be by myself it was once I came to God with all these things and was honest in my relationship with him that he was able to fully deliver me um let's talk about how faith without works is dead that's in Hebrews no I'm sorry that's in James actually it says all right it says what does it this is the New King James version James 4 I mean James 2 14 through 26 but I don't know if I'm gonna read the whole thing let's see let's see let's see let's see oh no I'm gonna read it because y'all need to y'all didn't get this word honey all right faith without works is dead what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save him if a brother or a sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them depart in peace and be warmed and filled but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead I'm gonna stop right there that's James 2 14 through 17 you can have faith for forever and be like I'm gonna wait on the Lord I'm gonna wait on the Lord I'm gonna wait on the Lord I'm gonna wait on the Lord I know he'll deliver me from this but let me tell you something just having faith in God is not enough baby you gotta put that work in um let me just put this in like whole in a whole different I'm gonna put this in a whole different term let's say you a gangbanger right and you are part of the gang so you know there's a segment of the gang that they spin mad blocks like every block gets spent but you don't be spinning the blocks with them however you're still in the gang right so you still ganging them however you're not spinning blocks so now when it's time for ganging them to spin the block for you they're not gonna spin the block for you because you didn't put in no work you wasn't spinning blocks with them so in the same way having faith in God without putting in work is dead you can wait on God for forever and be like God is gonna do it baby God is gonna do it if you put in some effort put in the effort and God will reveal himself to you if you put in the effort and speak to him so in the same way you can't be gangbanging and have faith in the gang that the gang is gonna protect you and they're gonna ride for you if the whole time when you was in the gang you wasn't spinning old blocks like make it make sense the math is not mathing so in the same way like you gotta put that work in like being in a relationship with God is not for soft people okay you gotta be some type of tough to really walk with God like you really do I mean like let's talk about Paul for those of you who don't know Paul at one point in time before he became like first of all Paul wrote the majority of the new testament in the bible but before Paul was writing letters to the church to let people know like how to operate now since Jesus has gone and parted ways Paul was out here putting the people who believed in Jesus in prison and I mean you can't be a soft person to put people in prison you get what I'm saying like Paul was out here hunting people basically so I'm saying that to say this God still used him you get what I'm saying it's characteristics that's in you that God needs to use that the devil has perverted and made it seem like it's for something else you get what I'm saying like you will have a you will have an anger issue and you'll be so quick to want to put your hands on people a whole time the anger issue that you have is really a righteous anger that is supposed to be used to cast demons out of people so the devil will pervert these things that's in you by giving you negative experiences as a child negative experiences in your life to deter you and pull you away from knowing that all you need is a relationship with God but listen y'all not going to know about the relationship to have with God unless you go seek him seek him and God like I told y'all God wants the issue he wants the problem so let me tell y'all let me put y'all on game once again let's go to first Peter in the bible let's go to first Peter chapter five and seven and see what it says because it says something first Peter five all right casting the whole let me start up here therefore humble yourselves meaning to demote meaning to demote lower yourselves in your own estimation under the mighty hand of God that in due time he may exalt you casting the whole of your care all meaning all your anxieties all your worries all your concerns once and for all on him for he cares for you affectionately and he cares about you watchfully be well balanced temperate oh I'm sorry I'm stopping right there because I'm saving I'm saving that verse for another episode because we I'm gonna we're gonna get into it in another episode I kid you not but right here it says casting the whole of your care all of your anxieties all of your worries all of your concerns once and for all on him for he cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully it's important for you to develop a relationship with God because the stuff that you're walking around with carrying you don't have to the stuff like anxiety and your worries that make it hard for you to function and think throughout the day and makes it hard for you to get out of bed and makes it hard for you to get things done you don't have to hold on to that after a while you're making a choice if you want to keep that I'm not keeping none of that the day that I decided I'm not keeping anxiety and worry and anger the day that I decided that I'm not keeping that stuff baby that was the day that I really started to feel like me again I don't no longer need validation from anybody because I give everything to the Lord and I let him have it I literally put it in his hands you know how they always saying oh let go and let God baby that's a practice but it's something worth doing and it's worth doing because this is the word the word said he cares for you affectionately and he cares about you watchfully meaning that it's not a temporary thing he cares all of the time he cared even in the dark some things you just gotta go through to develop your character to be who God called you to be do y'all know Joseph y'all know Joseph the king of Egypt y'all know that story Joseph was Jacob's son right and Joseph was a blessed baby his mother Rachel couldn't have no kids so Joseph was like her first kid after being barren Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery because they were mad jealous of your boy he had a calling on his life and his father Jacob handled him differently because this was a miracle baby Rachel been trying to get pregnant for forever and the baby just came so he's like no I gotta this is my kin I gotta like this is my kinfolk I gotta uphold this one different because it took him a while to get here right so even with all that being said they sold him but when they sold him into slavery he ends up being a house slave for oh man I don't I don't remember how to say his name I think it's like Pirate or something like that he ends up being a slave in his home he ends up being a house slave right but even in like now y'all can't tell me that's not dark your brothers just sold you now you a slave you just went from being a super spoiled kid and now you now you somebody's whole slave in a whole different a whole different um a whole different area are you from the land of Canaan you in Egypt somebody being somebody's whole slave that's a dark time period he was in the valley but the rod and the staff comforted him in the valley because the man that he was serving he ends up finding favor like Joseph ends up um finding favor um in in that situation like now he's not even like uh now he's not even like a slave slave like now he's like in the house doing like different type of soft work whoo god was with him even in the dark okay that's that was the point I was trying to make fast forward right what I mean that we can't avoid those dark things we can't avoid the valley like greatness comes out of you being in the valley like it builds you up to be different like you handle stuff different your heart is set different like god calls you to be set apart from others and if you're going to be set apart from others I mean you got to go through some things that other people don't go through because you built different and in order for anybody to be built different you got to go through some stuff like and that's for anybody like if you built different it's because you went through something when god calls you it's because you built different come on somebody are you built different I know I am y'all can't play with my body period can't nobody play with my body because I'm built different because I went through some stuff because the god because god called me he chose me he called me his friend so I had to go through some things to be able to share his glory that's shining over me you get what I'm saying so oh yeah I was saying all that to say this Joseph went through all that my boy was in a pit for two years like they locked him up because the man's wife was trying to hit on him Joseph was like I'm not doing that to my master the wife was like oh copy I'm gonna tell him you raped me then the man knew that his wife was lying so he was like I'm not gonna kill you but I gotta put you in prison because of you know male ego pride stuff can't be looking crazy to the people and Joseph really ended up in jail for for two years and he was like 17 when this happened like 17 years old he went through all that and he still ended up being the king of Egypt because when god has a calling on your life it don't matter what you go through baby it don't matter what you go through you're still going to reach where you are supposed to reach when you are in a relationship with god it is vital for you to be aligned with the one and true living god in order for you to reach the plans that he has for you you gotta ask yourself what matters more to you the small plans that's in your hand are you willing to risk the small plans that's in your hand to see the glory of god in your life with the plans that he has for you so I'm challenging somebody today to build your relationship with god I'm challenging somebody today to be honest with god about what you're going through do not be ashamed because he is your friend right we first of all all of us now yes all of us we all got that one friend that we tell all the business to they know everything about us because of the comfort that's there I'm challenging somebody to make god that friend that friend that you call up and be like girl you would not believe what I did last night god wants you to be in an intimate relationship with him in the same way god called you his friend you are chosen he picked you so I'm challenging you to go meet your friend and be real with him because he wants to be real with you okay your relationship with god is based off of trust he says to trust in me with all of your heart and me not on your own understanding and he also says to walk by faith in what he can do for you not sight of what you physically can see walk by faith and believing that I will do great things for you because he is your friend so I'm challenging somebody on today to look into their friend to call your friend up and give him all the tea give him all the tea because the things that god is going to reveal to you baby by the time god has done revealing you might not even want friends no more you might not even want no friends no more because it's like this conversation don't hit the same way like it hits when I'm talking to the lord so yeah y'all I ain't gonna keep y'all up too I'm not gonna keep y'all up too long because this month yeah we getting in the word I'm like y'all challenging me like y'all are really challenging me this month I accept the challenge so I'm gonna let y'all go this is where we're gonna start though we're gonna start on building the relationship with god and then we'll get into the nitty-gritty honey but you're not gonna be able to handle the nitty-gritty until you have a form of a relationship with the lord because sometimes the truth is just a little too hard to um eat but this is the season we're gonna eat the truth because god is gonna do great things for you in your life once you release your plans and sometimes releasing your plans don't think it means like you're gonna lose you're not losing anything you know like god is aligning the plans that you thought you had for yourself and he's gonna show you why his plans are so much greater like you will see it and not only you will see this is that he's preparing a table um he's preparing the table in front of your enemies so your enemies is gonna see the glory of god in your life too but you have to be willing because faith without works is dead all right you can't be out here just having faith and not working you got to put that work in put that work in for the lord because he puts the work in for you like you get up you're alive you're breathing right now you're listening you're listening to this podcast by the grace of god by his love for you you were able to breathe and say i'm alive today because god loved us and we still didn't reach our purpose yet and he knows that there is a bigger purpose for you but it's up to you to dig into it and find out what it is so that's all for tonight i love y'all for free and i love y'all on purpose and i can't wait until next week we will be back again uh-oh back again mm-hmm but yeah i will see you guys on the next i will hear from you guys or share with you guys on the next episode of living water restoration podcast i pray that you guys have an awesome night and i pray that tonight will be the night that you will seek the lord your god in a way that you have never seeked him before that you will be honest with him in a way that you have never been honest before please do not be ashamed because nothing can separate you nothing can separate you from the love that god has for you and that's also in the word that's in your bible okay so y'all have a great night be blessed and i hope you guys have an amazing week i love y'all until next time imma holla