episode 24 season 2-hope

The hosts of the podcast discuss the concept of hope and its importance. They talk about how hope is based on faith and belief in something that cannot be seen. They mention that as a society, we are lacking hope because we often focus on the natural realm and become discouraged when things don't happen quickly. They emphasize the need for each other to strengthen and encourage one another in times of doubt and struggle. They also discuss how Jesus experienced doubt and insecurity, but he overcame them and can relate to our pain. They talk about the need for inward change and finding joy in the Lord, as well as the importance of seeking God and relying on Him for strength. They mention that the world wants us to believe we don't need each other, but in reality, we were designed to need one another. They conclude by emphasizing the need to hold onto hope and trust in God's plan, as well as the importance of seeking Him and following His formula for a blessed life. Overall, they stress t Hey, hey, yo, welcome to Word of Mouth podcast with Nate and Shelby. What it do? What it do? What it do? I know what I did last time. Uh-oh. I know exactly what I did. You did something. Yes. So, editor. We're all good now. Amen. So, welcome back. Listen, we ended the last episode talking about hope, and I definitely want to dive into this episode expressing and really understanding what hope is. If I can start off with this episode with a scripture, the Bible gives an account talking about faith. Now, faith is a substance. It's a substance of things that are hoped for, and it's the evidence of things that are not seen. So, when you look at the word hope, it's something I believe based upon the scripture. It's something that you can't see with the natural eye. It's something that you believe in to come to pass, and it is a substance of your faith. Are we there? It's all about faith. Boom. So, we're lacking hope, Shelby. As a society, you mean? Yeah. As a world. As a whole. As a whole. We're lacking hope. I think we have saw too much in the natural realm that has caused us to have a blurred perspective of things that we do hope for. I hope that my ability to do greater for the kingdom, I hope that it expands. But once I see the natural realm, once I see that things are not happening, I get down on myself, and I begin to lose hope because it's not happening fast enough. And that's the human side of me. And I'll be honest about it. When it's not happening fast enough, whether, let's say if I pray for someone. Now, my prayer, if I'm praying for you and I'm believing God for either physical healing, mental healing, whatever it is, my faith is solid. What happens in that, the questionable part is the person that I've prayed for, if they lose hope, I see it from a cheerleading standpoint. If I'm on the sideline cheering for you and you're on the field defeated, what the world is my cheers for? Get it? I get it, and I understand that. But without your cheers, the person who's defeated may have been crushed. Okay. We don't understand what us standing in the gap does for others. I don't think we can truly see that because it's a spiritual thing. And I do know I can pray and believe for you much stronger than I can pray and believe for myself because I have greater faith for you than I do for myself. Isn't that backwards? I don't know that it's backwards because I know what I endure and I know what goes on in my own head and in my own body. And so if I'm praying for healing but I'm feeling physical manifestations, that's going to chip away at my faith for myself. Whereas I can pray for your healing and I can 100 believe it's going to happen, and I do. But I'm not feeling the physical manifestation, so therefore it makes it easier for me to pray for you and have full faith and expect it to happen. So a person that's receiving that from you, if it was for you and I'm believing it and you're not, you don't think that I would look at you as a hypocrite? You might. I mean, I can't control how you're going to look at me. I'm just saying that my faith for myself is not as strong as it is for others. My faith for myself is weak. Got it. And that's scriptural, and I'll talk about that scripture in a minute. You write about it. Why? That's the big question. Because I'm living it. I know myself. Maybe I know myself so well about my sin and everything that that's what clouds my judgment. I don't know. And I don't know you to the extent that I know myself. And again, if we're if we're praying over physical healing or something of that manner or mental healing, but I know what goes on in my head or I know what's going on in my body because I can feel it. It's hard to stand in faith. I mean, for anybody who's who's believing for healing, it is very hard to stand in faith when you are feeling physical manifestations of a sickness or an injury or trauma. And so that's part of the reason why we have to have each other, I believe, because we have to edify. We have to strengthen. We have to encourage. We have to give hope. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. That's why I want to bring up. You're talking to scriptures that can be very encouraging in our hope today. Let's give an example of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. These are two sisters that I don't think that they struggled in their faith process, but they saw their brother dying right before their eyes and they called out for Jesus. You didn't show up. He took his time because he wanted the miracle, the manifest. Yeah, but they didn't know that. I'm with it. Right. The Mary and Martha, I'm thinking that's some of us at times. Oh, yeah. We're looking at this thing naturally. Yeah. And they're like, man, where were you? Yeah. Don't you love us? They got mad at him. Where were you? Right. So I think that's a challenge in our hope today due to the fact that we're feeling it. I think that's what you were saying. For someone else, you're good. But for you, man, it's a struggle. Another scripture, I believe that that's given the night that Jesus was about to be arrested. He told the disciples, hey, go off and pray. And I'm going to go a little further and I'm going to talk to God. And when he talked to God, the first thing he said was, hey, can you let this cup pass from me? Because, man. But nevertheless, I thought, well, I felt like him being a son of God, he could have just said, whatever he wanted to do. But for himself, it was a little different than when he raised the little girl from the dead. When he raised Lazarus from the dead, when he made blind eyes see, when he cured a woman of a blood issue for 12 years. Like all this stuff, he was confident and knew that it could take place. And when it came to him, he said, can you let this cup? Can you take this from me? Because it might be too much for me. So, man, everything that you said is so powerful to give scriptural reference to it. I think that's the answer to our hope. Sometimes, sometimes I believe that our hope gets so dug under stuff that we buried. Yeah, that we give up. Well, and I think that it also shows that Jesus was completely human. And he experienced everything that we experienced. The doubt, the unbelief, the insecurity, all of it. And he had to so that he could fully identify with us and with our pain. He said the word to identify with us. And to be able to relate. Which I don't think we think enough about. That he actually went through these human experiences because he had to in order to be able to leave them on the cross. For him to go to the Father and say, hey, Daddy, I actually felt what they're feeling right now. I went through what they're going through. So can you give them a chance? I got. Thank you for saying that. To be able to relate should push our hope to another level that we can hope for other people. But why is our hope shot? Here's honesty. I have a lot of hope. In this day and age. Present situation. Yeah. I don't have a lot of hope. I believe. But I'm the guy that came with his son and he brought his son to the disciples and they didn't see nothing. He didn't see nothing take place. And he said to Jesus, Jesus asked him, hey, do you believe? He said, yeah, I believe. But help my unbelief. I'm there. But don't you think that's facts as a believer? That's where we all are. We just don't want to say we are, but that's facts. I go on record saying it. I don't care how to be judging that because I need some. There's times, Shelby, I need you as a friend to help my unbelief because there's some stuff I see. I'd be like, man, what the crap? What is this? That's why we need each other. I mean, that's. It's just facts that we need each other. Yes. Yes. We the world wants us to think that we don't. The world wants us to think that we can be autonomous and we can do our own thing and be islands. And we've lived it and stuff. And you can make it through. But pretty soon it's going to catch up with you. And it hurts pretty much the whole time you're doing it, too. So say that again. We were designed to need each other. Right. And then we get to the place where it's so isolated and we're so divided, so divided. When did it get division is the plot of the enemy. And that has always been his plot from day one in the garden. He divided Adam and Eve and he did it very successfully. And that was before all this other crap came to be. So we have I mean, we're hit on all sides constantly. We're warring against that stuff constantly. And that goes back to the war that you and I were talking about. We are in a constant state of war. Yes. And we're going to be as long as we walk this earth because this earth is against us. And this world is not going to conform to us. We are not to conform to it. We want it to conform to us. But chances are that ain't going to happen. So we have to hold on to hope. And Christ is our hope. And he is where hope lies. And he's always going to be where hope lies. And that's where our strength comes from as well. Thank you. That's the other segue I was going into. When we have this conversation, it is encouraging for me to look at Saturday. I know Saturday is coming. So I can say to myself, I'm encouraged by way of talking to someone else that can say, hey, we're hoping together. And there are conversations that we have to have as believers with other people that may be struggling in that area. And they say, hey, why am I continuing to go through this? And I don't see any manifestation. I don't see any change. I don't see anything taking place. And I got to keep fighting for something that ain't going to change? That's the conversation that I'm having. When do you change? Internal. Internal, you do change. When do we see change? That's the question that's asked, though, Shelby. Well, I think internally, he changes you and your perspective changes. You can't expect change in the world because I don't know that the world's going to, like I just said, the world isn't going to conform to us. We're here to do a good work. We're here to love. We're here to show Jesus. And we don't do a very good job of it. And I'm speaking myself. But that's what we're supposed to do. And in the meantime, we're fighting the good fight. We're never supposed to give up. We're going to face persecution. We're going to face all the crap in the world because it's going to get thrown at us. And sometimes it gets pretty damn unbearable. But he is our hope. He is our salvation. And he is our strength. And those are the things we have to hold on to. And he will change you from within so that the stuff you're fighting and the stuff you're seeing isn't going to bother you. And it will be water off a duck's back. The process is not fun and it sucks, but those are facts. I'm going to revisit that water off a duck's back. I didn't know that water fall off a duck's back like that. We'll talk about that later. It's about the oil and the viscosity of the oil in their feathers so that the water doesn't drain off. Otherwise, they would drown. Thank you so much. Water off a duck's back. I like it. You kind of summed it up, and thank you for giving the perspective of the inward change. We're so waiting for the outward change, like society or things that we can naturally see. But I believe that an inward change is what's spoke about more in the Bible. Let's go to Matthew. Let your light shine so that they can see the good work. We're so wanting the stuff out there to change because of what we're doing. Yeah, that's not how it works, I believe. And I'm listening to what you're saying, and now Scripture is making sense. If we don't change, how are we going to change the world? And you do see – I mean it's not about giving up at all because you will see some changes, and you will have a positive effect. And some positive effects you may not ever know about. But that's between God and that person. It's not between you and them. So you have to have faith in the fact that, especially if you're listening to the Holy Spirit, and you're told to go do something that you think is totally whatever, like why am I here doing this? But then you actually see that there was a reason that you were there that gives you hope to continue to listen. Because you've seen an effect, but there are effects you're never going to see. And you have to have faith that that's what you're there to do. You're not supposed to get the credit for it in the first place. That's the truth. Here's an example I gave to a woman. In personal training, there was a woman I was working with for three months. And I took her away at day one. And she wasn't able to see a lot of change take place after 90 days. And so when I came back to her, we had a consultation. And I'm sitting with her, and I said, because she said, well, I'm still this and I'm still that. And I said, I want you to look at this number, and I want you to look at this number. And I didn't say a huge number difference, but I said something did change. And so the hope that I gave her at that moment was you were probably looking for the bigger thing, but it was a change. Society now, I think we're looking for the whole thing to change automatically. But those small little things, if we can keep. Cracking away, chipping away at it. That's it. It may have not been the 90 pounds, but can you take 20 and keep pushing? Can you keep going at it? Something happened, even if it was just two. Something happened. So I think for us, we're chipping. And I'm talking to me. We have to keep chipping. We're chipping. We're chipping. And this is why, as you keep saying, we need each other to encourage us, because sometimes that chipping, I can say it today, I struggle next week. Like, where are we chipping at? Because. Well, we have already overcome the world. Yes. By His blood. Had nothing to do with us, but it's already done. Yes. So we're just here fighting the good fight. And we've got to keep doing that. We're just here fighting this fight. Shelby, I ask you, can we enjoy in somehow, some way. But that's where the change is. The change is that you will have joy in Him. You may not have joy in the world, necessarily, or what the world does, the way the world has joy, but you have a different joy. You have a peace that surpasses understanding. And He will give you your joy. And you will laugh in the face of crap. You will find joy in stuff that's completely ridiculous. Amen. Because you know who's in charge, and you know where your faith lies, and you know who's got your back. Remember, when you see His back, it doesn't mean He's turned His back on you. It means He's going before you and clearing a path. Come on. Fighting battles for you that you know nothing about. So don't think you're rejected. Or don't think He's upset with you. Because that ain't facts. Those are lies from the pit of hell. Amen. Wow. That's why we have to continue in our hope. You were talking about – I'm hearing something. You were talking about joy. There's a prefix that we put on words to enhance the word or change the definition of the word. And when we put the prefix E-N on something, it makes it bigger, like large and then enlarge. Joy, enjoy. For us to enjoy something, we have to know where that joy is. The Bible gives an account that the joy of the Lord strengthens us. I was singing that song in my head, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It strengthens us. That's where we enjoy. So when the question is asked, and I've been asking this all morning, how do we take joy in the fact of knowing that we've got to fight every day? You're answering what you just said that I heard. You're being strengthened as you fight in joy. That's what I'm hearing. Which you're only going to get from him because you ain't going to get it from this world. You better say that. My grandma used to say, the joy I have, the world didn't give it to me. The world can't take it away. So I get it. I get it. I don't care what people try to give you, how much you gain in power, money, whatever it is. It's a false sense of what you think joy is. Yeah, you put your faith in material possessions. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, that's the truth. That's the only way I can take hope in some things is if I know that I'm going to enjoy it through the process. I don't want to stay in the ring for 12 rounds and get beat up and beat up and beat up and beat up and then lose. Now we understand the battle is not ours. Right, and the victory is already won. It's already won. So if I am getting hit in this ring of life, if I'm getting hit, I can take joy in knowing that I've really already won. And the breakthrough is usually coming when things get the nastiest. Jeremiah 29, 11. Come on. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Jesus Christ. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. He's listening. You just said you will call on him. This is Jeremiah. And he will listen. But if you don't call, he ain't listening. Well, that's not true. I think he's always listening. Always listening. He wants you to ask. He wants you to seek. That's the whole plan. I mean, Exodus tells us that God is God and he wants us to seek after him. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Why are you seeking after other things? If you seek me, I will listen. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29, 13. I will listen. But you've got to seek after me. Here's a formula that God gave to, I think it was Nehemiah at the time, in 2 Chronicles 7 and 14. He gave a formula. He said, now you are part of my people. So I want you to do this formula. Humble. Pray. Seek. And then turn. Gave us a whole formula to do. So we get, we don't do the humble. No, we don't. Sometimes do the seek. We pray over our food. Yes. The turning. Another conversation for another day. But that's the formula. And then he said, I will hear. I'll forgive. And I'll bless you. I got you. All you got to do is the formula. So us that are lacking hope. I think we kind of broke it down in this perspective. Yes, we all have moments. Yes. I want to use the word struggle. I do want to use the word struggle because there are times where I struggle quite a bit. But I don't want to bask in that struggle because I'm a competitive person. So if I'm struggling with something, my mindset is to say I'm not going to give up. So I'm struggling with it. I'm going to overtake this thing. I'm going to keep at it until I get it. If I've struggled with a problem, a math problem, if I've struggled with lifting something, if I've struggled with. Getting off an island. Yeah, I just had a relationship in my head. I can see where your eyes are going. Whoa, I just said it. But if I'm struggling in that area, I'm not the person that's going to give up quick. Like you can't defeat me, devil. I refuse for you to defeat me. And I'm not going to give up quick. He literally can't. But in our heads, we think he can. Yeah. It's the big bark and the no bite. Oh, that's a good one. I mean, what can he do? Take your life from you? Then where are you? Paradise. Absolutely. Absolutely. My God. So that's the part about hope that I do believe. And yes, we all struggle. We all struggle in that hope. That's why we need people. But hope is a necessity. It's a necessity for humans to keep going. It's a necessity. Say it again. Because I think we think hope is just a... It's a necessity. I mean, you and I see it every Sunday. If the people that we deal with didn't have hope, my God. Can you imagine? They have to have something. Something to hold on to. And they might find it with what we do. I don't know. I hope so. I hope they get something. But, I mean, can you imagine? Because those people are really struggling. Well, some actually we need to take a class from them because their hope is a little stronger. Yes, and they're resilient. I was sharing with you about what we saw a couple of Sundays ago at a church. Like the hope of people changed a whole atmosphere because you were expecting one thing and something else happened. Right. And isn't it miraculous when that happens? And you have to experience it to understand it. Yeah. Yeah. And when you experience the Holy Ghost, you want more of it because it's like nothing you've ever... Jesus Christ. It's unworldly because it is unworldly. Yeah. You're right. It's beyond. You're right. But, yes, hope is a necessity. It is. And we have to give it to each other. And we have to encourage each other and build each other up and edify and all those things. We've got to stop isolating people. We need each other. We've got to stop letting ourselves be programmed. We've got to stop thinking that liking a post is the same as checking in with someone. It takes a little more effort. We have to make effort. We really do. We have to make the effort. And we don't. Wow. And we just assume that people are going to be around forever. Nothing's going to happen to them. They're going to be there when I get around to it. That ain't the case necessarily. She said it. It is so. Thank you all so much. Tune in to Word of Mouth podcast with Nate and Shelby. Hey, listen, we'll be back soon, okay? Bye. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.