Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
The hosts of the podcast discuss the difference between artificial and authentic relationships, specifically focusing on friends. They reference a scripture from Proverbs about the value of a friend who sticks closer than a brother. They emphasize the importance of discernment and paying attention to signs and fruits when determining the authenticity of a friendship. They also mention the role of God in bringing together authentic connections and the need to listen to His guidance. The hosts acknowledge that everyone has enemies, even if they may not be aware of who they are, and discuss the spiritual warfare that can occur in relationships. They conclude by discussing the shifting perspective of one host towards being more discerning in friendships. Yo, what it do. Hey, welcome to word of mouth podcast with Nate and Shelby the reboot. We are back in the building. I'm going to clear my throat for this particular part. Yes, because it's going to get intense. It's going to get hot in her. Don't do nothing else but just that part. Just make sure you understand it's going to get hot in here. Don't take off no clothes. Don't do nothing else. Just it's going to get hot. And we're going to talk about some just some stuff. And I say it all the time every week. I will mention, man, we're going to talk about something that's great, wonderful, awesome. I'm hoping that you all are listening to these podcasts and taking in information. But really, really understanding that we take the time to do this to get this stuff out because we have to pay attention. It costs. It costs to pay attention. So please, if if anything, just pay attention. I mean, even if you don't like it, you don't share it. Just pay attention. We do know that is Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit driven. And we know that God is completely in control. Thank you, Jesus. I'm ready to show how you doing first. Good. Yeah. Yeah. When she said I am, I am. I am the I am. I'm just bringing it in. Yes. I'm so glad. Listen, the weather is amazing. I'm loving it. Are you really? I'm sure my legs are not. I was dripping yesterday cleaning a barn. That was not pretty. Yes. And why did you choose the 80 degree to clean? That was the only day I had to do it. And the man was on the tractor. Oh, we can talk about that a couple of times. I bet he made it. Good deal. Yes. Anyways. Right. Later on, we'll talk about it. But but yeah, this 80 degrees, man, I'm digging it. I'm liking it. 70s and 80s. I can't I can stay in that range. Don't go past that. Yeah, I'm not ready for it yet. It needs to back off a bit. Well, I mean, you're from a side of the country where it was always funny. I'll get a little bit of winter. However, it's enjoyable. We'll take it. We'll take it. Hopefully you got to clean the barn today. No. Alrighty. Today you are we want to talk about quite a few things today. And this is going to probably be a part one and a part two to this. Holy Spirit just downloaded some stuff. And I was sharing with Shelby, even on last week, I share with her some different things. So we just want to tackle it. They gave her a couple of assignments. We don't tackle some things today. He gave me homework, y'all. And we're gonna probably tackle some stuff next week. But we don't jump into it today. Oh, my God. And it's I don't know how long ago to tell you the truth. Holy Spirit, you have total control. Yeah. But we're going to talk about the difference between artificial and authentic, artificial and authentic. And if any one of you all know the difference, there is a difference. Trust me, there is a difference. If you ever had artificial candy, compared to the real thing, it's a difference. Artificial. I'm trying not to go into it. So I want Shelby to go into her section. So Shelby's section is the difference between artificial friends versus authentic friends. Buckle up. Get it in here today. All right. All right, Nate, how are you doing? I'm good. Oh, I'm so good. I'm so ready. I need my buddy to come tap on the window because you've been a priest today. Ready for this? We'll see. Whatever God wants to happen. Let's get it. Okay, so which one do you want to do first? Um, which scripture? Hey, if you can go ahead and start in the book of Proverbs. Chapter 18. Wow, I just happened to be there. Okay, 1824. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I mean, that's a lot of meat in that, in that scripture, because you would think that a brother will stick closer, right? I don't know about that. Her laugh just said I don't know. You know, I won't be honest. Oh, you think you would think you would, you would think like, we expect for brothers. But nowadays, there's family that tight. Anymore? Just saying. Obviously not. I don't think so. I think that it has conditions. Like we as family. Now that we see it in this culture, family are conditional. Very. I don't want that for my kids. But they're all really different, which I think most siblings are very different. They're twins of some kind. But you know, when I read this, there's a friend who sticks closer than a brother immediately thought of Jesus, of course. So that's my first thing. That's my first go to that talks that it's talking about. I do think that we we each experience friends, though, that are. You know, our go to's. That are. Our thickest thieves are ride and die, ride or die guys, you know. And they're few and far between. I think you probably get one or two in your lifetime. Maybe three. What do you think? I mean, I. I have to agree with you. I said something a couple of days ago about the difference of that and being able to really examine that you only get a few of those in life that will be, you know, that true authentic, but also be able to understand your assignment and then be able to. Rationalize what God has put together. We've taken the scripture in. In Ecclesiastics about God bringing to and no man put a thunder. We've just attached that to marriage. That's not just for marriage. He didn't say that was just for marriage when he bring two people together. And no man can put a thunder. That was the relationship that David and Jonathan had. That was the relationship of Ruth and Naomi. You know, I'm saying that was those were things that God brought together. Because if you look at how it was done, Jonathan daddy was trying to kill David. Naomi is the mother-in-law, you know, so you look at it. It don't make sense. But when God is in it doesn't have to make it doesn't have to make sense. So those things of when you when you say a friend is closer. Yeah, it won't make sense. You have two different people from two different sides of the world and God will put them together in one city and have them to do something great to build the kingdom. Yeah, that don't make sense. No, but those are the true. That's what this verse is talking about. Those kind of people, those God connections. Yes. And so how do you determine the difference between the artificial and the authentic in those situations? That is very, very good. And an amazing question. If I was to answer that, first thing I would say is pay attention. That's your favorite phrase, period. You all know that Nate's going to say that. Look at the signs. Look at the fruits. Definitely. Definitely. I was told that as a kid, you give someone long enough, they'll show you that they're true. I was told that and that just so happened to be true. Yeah. You know, I think nowadays they say something like. When they show you their true self, don't. Not believe them, don't listen to that sort. Believe them. Yeah. Yeah. I've heard that. When they really show you their true self. Yeah. But sometimes, I mean, I think I think in our instant microwave society, we expect people to show you their true self right off the bat. And that's a bunch of bubble. They ain't going to do that, especially if they have an agenda. The agenda has to get processed first before they're going to show you their true self. Yes. So you have to, number one, have discernment. Number two, be walking with God so that you can hear his voice and he can go, excuse me. I need to talk to you for a second about your friend over here. So very true. Oh, my God. Because we'll abort. That whole situation, whether it's a friendship or something else, we'll abort it as soon as we see something that's familiar. Yeah, we kind of talked about that earlier today. We did. And we'll quickly run from it, not knowing that it can be something that God has actually put in your life and your life for his purpose. So it can work either way. Yes, we can keep people around that we shouldn't. And we can dismiss people that we shouldn't. Yes. So shall we make it a couple of kids? Come on now. I want a friend. And I mean, there are friends that aren't necessarily tight. You're not tight with you have friends. You know, I don't have a lot of friends. I'm not really want to speak on this. I don't think but. The true agenda will always come to the surface if there is one. I agree. What is a friend to you? What do you categorize when a person is either putting your life or just so happens to walk into your life? What makes them a friend? I have a hard time defining that because you and I have talked about it before on the podcast that I consider everyone friends. And you're like, no, you cannot do that. And you're not the only one in my life who's told me that. But that's just my heart. However, I do like we've talked earlier. I think that God is shifting me. I'm getting a little 180 where I have to be more cutthroat about it. More desirable. Yeah. Because I don't consider myself having any enemies. However, I do know there's people that have put things on me. Prayed against me spiritually, all those things. So really, those would be enemies when they because. But instead of praying against them, I pray against what they've. Tried to put on me. So I had a conversation with some preachers a while back, and these guys will say, hey, I don't have any enemies. And I said, that's not true. And the reason why that's not true is there's a scripture in Psalms. Psalms 23, it says he will prepare a table. Absolutely. Everyone has enemies. Yeah. And that is the one thing that convinced me that I do. You might not know who they are. Right. But everyone has an enemy. And not only that, but when you're walking with God, you have a spiritual enemy who is going to come at you and he's going to use people. Thank you. That's doctrine that needs to be said because we may have been taught something different. Thank you for saying that. Well, that's just fact. The enemy is going to use people against you to stop your progress and to stop the whole plan. Just right there. I'm going to use that next week, OK? I just want to insert that. OK. You have to roll it back next week. Roll that one back. But anyways, I do think I do think you can have friends who are closer than brothers. I think the word is literal as well as figurative, because I do think, first of all, it's pointing to God and Jesus Christ. Secondly, it's pointing to actual human friends. I'm not very good at defining what a friend is, though. Well, you told me earlier, I think you did. But in your 180, because I've heard you say in the last couple of weeks, a couple of months, now you're starting to inspect fruit. That's the big difference now. So you now can categorize maybe the difference between a friend and an assignment. So now we have to talk about what an assignment is. I don't want to confuse these people. That's true. That's true. I'm trying not to. Tell me your what's your thought pattern when you do receive a friend, like when you know that God has said this person is connected to you for eternity or for the rest of your life. And don't get it twisted, ladies and gentlemen, your spouse can be that person. I think we've always we've let the world give us information of thinking that your spouse can't be a friend. I don't I don't believe that to be true ever. How could I don't know how you marry someone who's not your friend. People I've heard leaders say your spouse should never be your friend. They should only be that in which God has put in place. I was like, that makes sense. I don't know. I'd be scratching my head on that one. Like, OK, they can only be this. I can't talk to him about anything. Yeah. What is that? Unless it's an arranged situation. But even then, you've got to make friends somehow. It's got to happen. I know. So what what what does Shelby do when you know that that is a friend? What do I know? Well, I mean, that will stick closer than a brother. Well, like I said, I only have a couple. You're one of them. So now I got to think about what I did when I met you. Actually, when I met you, things were sideways. So, yeah, yeah. Well, the end. OK, so here's another thing. Because I'm going to use you and I as an example. OK. OK. We knew each other. Right. We were acquaintances. Yes. Where we work. And then. Stuff broke free a little bit and the enemy was trying to plot me against you without really knowing you. But there were a whole bunch of lies being spun and there was a whole bunch of fodder and gossip going on. And someone was feeding me these things. And so even though you and I were already kind of going toward the friend situation, I backed off and I'm like, oh, I don't know that. I don't know what his agenda is yet. So I'm going to wait and see. But the enemy knew. What was going to come of this relationship? And he wanted to stop it. And that person we know now, looking back, was doing all kinds of evil things and spewing all kinds of lies into the world and pitting a whole bunch of people against each other. So that's another thing when you're talking about true friendship. Sometimes it looks really ugly in the beginning. Oh, my God. So you're saying that you're going to go through that adversity. You're going to go through those trial periods. Wow. That's so good. Yeah. But that's when we run. Yeah. And I did. I backed off. Right. I'm just speaking. But God kept telling me, now you got to go back. You got to go back. I mean, I haven't stopped going to the ministry for a while. There might not be. The thing that was so weird, though, was the last day that I was there before I walked away for a while. I asked you for your number. I said, can we exchange numbers? And that had to be a God thing, because otherwise I never I don't wouldn't have spoken to you for. And I think we continued to communicate, even though I wasn't at the ministry. We did. You fought for something that I didn't see. It wasn't me. This is a Holy Spirit led boy. I mean, you know, absolutely. And I guess we're saying this now because the things that you expect to happen may not happen. Ladies and gentlemen, please understand it may not happen according to how you want it to happen. It's not picket fences and roses and daisies. No, but if it's God's true plan, then it's going to come to fruition regardless. And that's why an enemy will not be able to stop it. And you don't have to fight to write. And people from the outside looking in will not understand. The kind of thing that you and I have, of course, because they're going to assume we're together, they're going to assume that they're going to assume that like people always do. Always. But this is a completely this is this is like the most God thing I've ever in my life. Yes. Real talk. Yeah. And it has nothing to do with man woman has nothing to do with any kind of relationship other than God put this together. Yes. Yes. And it's the enemy has tried to take it down a couple of times. And he may try again, but they ain't gonna work against me or anything. So, right. So, you know, this is I have, you know, I have friends from middle school. I have two friends from middle school. And we'll always be friends. Now, we've had our falling out and all that stuff. And we rarely talk. We text occasionally and we'll do wine time on the phone like once every quarter. Communion, everyone. But, yeah, there's some friends that they do stick with you forever. I agree with that. And, you know, if we're talking about a brother, your brother knows a lot about you, but sometimes your friends know a lot more about you than your brother does. Say that again. Say that two, three times. And I get the concept of why there should be a difference. Because there is a brother that knows you in one capacity. But when you trust a friend. Yeah, brother would never. And we're saying from a family standpoint, a brother would or a family person would never understand that. Because you are more open with a friend than you are with a brother. About some things. Yeah, absolutely. So there's different facets. I think you're in, you know, in different relationships, you're open about different things just because of the basis of that relationship. But, yeah, for sure. And we tend to, I guess, not recognize that in the beginning because we think they have to go through certain trial periods. Friends have to go through the same thing as relationships. They have to go through trial periods. Like I want to see if you're going to endure. Probation. Probation. That's really good. Are you going to endure through this or endure through that? And when God is in it, the only thing, the only fight that we have to do is trust God. We try to make all these other fights the doctrine and just trust God. God is going to open the door, close the door. God is going to do this and that. My trust has to be more in him and not in what I think. Bible says, Proverbs 3, 5, 6, 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. I mean, come on. I don't understand it. Acknowledge your ways. Submit to him. He will direct. So in any kind of way, if I was to have trusted in something that I wanted to happen, I wouldn't be sitting in front of Shelby right now. Especially knowing of the stuff that I have been through already with people. Yeah, I wasn't a people person, and I say that very transparently, so don't judge me. I wasn't people-y for a long period of time. Neither of us are real people-y. But to sit here in front of her and to have this God-driven love for this woman, man, is freaking mind-blowing to me because it's not something that you would see in a normal type of way. It's not. Yeah, I know. It is. It's weird. It's true. It's literally mind-blowing, and I will fight tooth and nail physically but spiritually for this woman and everything that's connected to her, period. That some folk that I've probably been knowing for years and years, man, don't judge me. But I get it. But I've mentioned this before. I think I even talked about it in the last podcast. There was a time when God told me there's three people you need to take into your future, the rest you don't have to worry about. Not that I don't have to care about them or anything, but it was just like, you need to, these are the people you're taking with you. And, I mean, if that's the only three people, that's enough because I have God, too. But, I mean, he was very specific about that. Wow. And it doesn't mean that I kissed everybody else goodbye and I don't talk to them or anything. Yeah, it's just that, I mean, he was kind of teaching me a lesson about a couple of them. But for the most part, it was like, this is it. Like you're, this is, I don't know if y'all are taking me to the finish line or what, but. Wow. But, yeah, it's so, but discerning the authentic from the artificial, you know, it can be a whole mix of things, like how to do that. You have to have discernment. You have to, it will take time. And it doesn't, like if they're artificial, it still won't hurt. So, okay. Ladies and gentlemen, I sent Shelba a text, and it was an artificial intelligence type of text of just this funny meme or something. And it was like dancing or whatever. But it had a different kind of face on a different body. And it was completely artificial, but it looked so real. This is the part that. Scared the hell out of me. Oh, my God, I'm going to have to go whoop him. I'm going to have to go whoop him. And this thing might whoop me in the process. But here's the kicker, though. When you are able to discern the difference, that's your weapon. That's your weapon. Like some of us can't discern the difference. Everybody look the same. So we're calling everybody friends. We're calling everybody ride or dies and, you know, all that other stuff that we call everybody that when they make you feel good. But people make you feel good sometimes just to blow smoke up your ass so they can use you and abuse you on the other side. Tell it again. Been there, done that. I don't know how many times. That part. That's why it's so important to tell the difference. But I think, you know, with with age comes maturity and you get that you get better at it as you get older. So when you're young, it's really difficult, you know. Yes. Even in this culture. Yes. Are you kidding me? So you're saying that these kids cannot recognize or younger generation cannot recognize the difference between artificial and authentic. Well, we're talking friendship, but I know where you're going with that. I think it's very difficult at young ages to discern properly. I would. Now, I'm agreeing with you, but I want you to give context to it because we're not we're not putting down a younger generation. I think what you're saying is you need to take on at least a spirit of discernment. Absolutely. The younger you get it, the better off you're going to be. But you're still going to struggle. And as you said, with age comes. Right. And understanding. And you've been around the block enough to see, you know, the writing on the wall for the most part. I've been around the block quite a few times. God. But, yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Being able to understand outside of being mature and seeing that people can blow smoke. Maturity do come with kind of experience. You have a little bit more experience. I didn't get that as a kid. Like, these guys would tell me some stuff. And it was 40s and 50s. I was like teens and 20s. And they'd be like, just keep living, buddy. You'll see what I mean shortly. And now I get it. Yeah. Ain't that funny how that works. Oh, my God. My grandmother, my granddad, like, they would say these things. And I'd be like, come on. Yeah. What? It don't take all that. Stop. I would go into my grandmother's house, and it would be so hot. I'm like, what? It's like 90 in here, and it's 90 outside. What are you doing? It's my bones. And I'm like, okay. Are you living that already? You're younger than me. You can't be doing that yet. This is going to be hot in my crib. Okay. I get it now. It's okay. Occasionally, we go out to dinner at like 4 in the afternoon. There you go. Oh, my God. I get it. But there's also times we don't eat until midnight. So, you know. Not really, but. So, I get it. I get it. With experience and with age, you do mature. You do. And, you know, I try. I think now that I've raised kids, my daughter, which, you know, daughters are so much different than sons. But the amount of drama that goes on with the girls, with the girlfriends and the friend groups. Wow. 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And especially our children are going to deal with that because, you know, you talked about bullies and this is going to sound wrong. And y'all can hate me, whatever. I was bullied as a kid. I was a fat kid. I was on steroids to keep me alive. No one knew that except for my family. So I was a fat kid. I was the last one picked for the teams all the time. I sucked at sports. You know, any time it had to do with PE or whatever, I was the one that got used and abused and, you know, criticized and whatever. That made me stronger. Y'all. Wow. It made me tougher. Wow. And I'm not saying that I am pro bullying, but there is a certain degree of criticism that our children have to face. And that's what it should be is criticism. Bullying is not OK, but we've gotten away from that so much that our children's skin is so thin. And we're raising a generation that is a bunch of snowflakes. And they can't take any kind of criticism. They can't take any kind of correction. So what the hell are we going to be looking at in 20 to 30 years when they're in charge? Who's going to be in charge? There's not going to be anybody strong enough to be in charge. That's so, so good. I'm going to give context to what you said about the bullying part. We were trained to at least be able to stand up for ourselves when we were bullied as kids. And we have made it OK to – I want to be careful with these words – to not fight back and grow from it. There is a very well-known, devout atheist. His name is William Nietzsche. And this quote has even been repeated by Christians. The quote that he said many years ago, and it's still said today, what doesn't kill you will make you stronger. I'm talking about Christian thought it was in the Bible. OK, I'll wait. But it was so powerful of what you just said, that thing that didn't kill you, it made you who you are today. And we have become snowflakes, in your words, because we don't want to deal with the criticism that is needed to make us stronger. Yeah, I think that's true. And I don't understand that. Because in years to come, I'm going to need some strong people to fight. I told you earlier, my friend Circle, if they don't want to fight with me… You don't need them. I don't need them. Not right now. I don't need them because I'm fighting big, huge stuff. Right. Big demons. And if you finna tuck your tail and you're hanging out with me, bruh, talk to you later. Right. I got time to be, you know, you running and I'm standing there and you just ran away from me while I'm fighting this spiritual fight. You got an armor just like me and you run? You got a sword in your hand just like me and you run? Yeah, the armor isn't to run with. Thank you. Thank you. Too damn heavy. Come on. Use it. So you are so right. And, again, it was the atheists that said that, but it was probably the most profound quote that still have relevance today. What does not kill you will make you stronger. And if we don't take on that mindset, then, of course, we'll find ourselves in bad situations. And I do want to say, like, you know, today's bullying is a lot different than what it was back in our day. We didn't have the social media. We didn't have it plastered on every, you know, whatever. And it wasn't going out on Snapchat. And then it disappears. So you have no proof that it was there. And, I mean, we didn't have all that stuff. So it is much different now. I am not saying that I am pro-bullying, but I am saying that we have lost the capacity to take criticism. And we have really done a disservice to our children because they cannot handle any kind of negative anything. And so, you know, I'll tell you from experience, it did make me stronger. I'm going to go on record and say it, and I'll say it now. Though we have not expressed the fact that we cannot take constructive criticism, we've made adults that way now. The Bible even says that God chastised those he loved. So if God loves me, I'm going to get chastised by because he loves me. It says the ones he'd love. I'm going to be able to receive that criticism, that constructive criticism to make me better, to make me equipped so that I can stand and fight against the wiles of the enemy. And God knows what's coming down the pike for you, so he wants to equip you. Thank you. So why am I scared? He wants you to be strong enough. Why am I scared of somebody saying, hey, I don't like you because you've got a mole on your nose in the center of your face? That used to be like a bad thing for me, and I didn't want this mole to sit on my nose because I was different from everybody, and I thought that that was bullying. And I'm like, now look at my mole because you're going to remember me. Come on, Sage, come on. But I don't know. It's a different era now. It is. I heard you say, you know, we're not putting light on it, but we should have some warriors. In the book of Matthew it says the kingdom of God suffer violence, but the violent have to take it back by force, and I don't want wimps. No, and we're getting to the point. You know, last week was a call to action. We have to start calling a spade a spade. We have to be honest about stuff. You know, I think that we do tend to do this as a society. Like, we see, you know, we get programmed, basically, that one thing is so bad. You know, I'm just going to use bullying as an example. It's so bad. It's doing this. It's doing that. It's harming everybody, blah, blah, blah. So we do the absolute opposite. We swing way, the pendulum goes way to the other side, where then there's no criticism, there's no critical thinking, there's no negative anything. And then we see the ramifications of that, right, where we're at now. Like, people can't take criticism. People can't take discomfort. People can't handle anything that's not roses and rainbows. Life is not roses and rainbows. Even if you're a Christian walking the path with God, it is not. In fact, I can guarantee you it will not be roses and rainbows because you've got an enemy force that's coming at you on an hourly basis just about. But anyways, I wanted to talk about chastisement because I don't know if people understand what that is. So it's rebuke or reprimand severely. Severely. It's not just being critical. It's to reprimand you severely. Severely. That's an adverb that we need. Okay. Go ahead. It's also punish. We talk about the love of God, and that's a great thing, but we don't never want to speak about the wrath of God. No, we don't. Where he can teach you how to handle certain things. We don't want to talk about the wrath of God, period. Are you kidding me? That goes back to snowflakes now. I mean, that's just facts. We don't want to talk about. He's coming back as a warrior. He's not coming back as the loving human he left behind. He's coming back to straighten out. Period. Period. I don't know why we are. We afraid to talk about it. I guess. Are we? I had years ago. I had people to tell me. Oh, my God. I'm so afraid to read Revelation. Why? It's true. It is a scary book. It should be. It should put the fear of God in you. Fear of God is not fearing him. It's not being afraid of him. God is not fearing him. It's not being afraid. It is reverence. It is respect. It is saying, oh, my gosh. I know how holy you are, and I don't measure up at all. That's what the fear of God is. Revelation to me is so dang confusing. My goodness gracious. I actually embrace it. I embrace it because I love knowledge. And when people would have to be able to break it down. Now, this is where I challenge leaders. Leaders, break it down to a point to where people can understand it instead of be afraid of it. Even when you're talking about criticism or when you're talking about taking action. I'm not scaring you to take action. I think the military may have scared some people to say, hey, we want you, and then you have to get on this front line. You got to risk your life. No, it's not. It's not like that. When God is saying, basically, you are. Many are called, but few are chosen. When you are that chosen one. Not that he's a respect or persons. Understand that you have a different assignment. Your calling is there. And the chastisement that you're going to go through may be a little severe than others. Yeah. But you're built for it. Yes, he will equip you. Everybody wasn't David. Okay, I'll wait. Everybody wasn't Moses. Everybody wasn't Noah. We can run through the whole thing. Certainly no one was Jesus. You better know it. Peter, I kind of like Peter. Peter was that dude. But Peter had some issues as well. And we have to understand that you are you. You were born the way that you were born and chosen by God to do this particular work for this reason. If you're here today. And for this time. You're here for this time. You have an assignment. You cannot have artificial people around you. Because artificial is going to melt. When the fire hits. When that fire come down, it's going to burn every bit of that artificial stuff off it. And you'll be sitting there looking at. You was with me. What would have happened? Isn't that what's going to happen to the world? It's not going to get flooded this time. Because the rainbow is the promise of the covenant. The rainbow does not mean anything else. Other than the biblical. That it was given to us as the covenant that he will never flood this earth again. So, doctrine. Amen. Another podcast. Okay, so let's get back to criticism, though. Yes. Because there are some people who are not your friends. And they're going to be critical of you. Yes. And criticism is not always for your benefit. The enemy can use criticism to undermine you. And run you down. Oh, yeah. And ultimately destroy you. Yeah. So, that's why you have to be discerning about your friends. Yes. And you have to know the authentic from the artificial. I'm going to give context to that. So, are you telling me that there are people that may be assigned to me to run me down? I mean, assigned to me by Satan to tear me apart, run me down. Absolutely. And just dismantle my entire life. And that's their whole assignment for their life for me? Yep. Satan has assigned people like demons to my life? What? Yep. That sounds scary, huh, people? But it's true. Well, yeah. And demons are parasitic forces that are attached to people. Please teach. That's why you don't hate the person. You have to hate the spirit behind it. And you rebuke the spirit behind it or the action or whatever is going on. Yes. Anyway, I do want to talk about that, at least with the couple of minutes that we have. Why? Why are we so afraid? Well, I think I kind of answered it already. I think that we are afraid to accept people in our lives because we don't know the difference between artificial and authentic. So, like me, I would just X out everybody. And I ain't got to worry about nobody. Because you were on an island. I ain't got to worry about nobody. Artificial, authentic, it don't matter. I'm good over here. And, of course, we know now, by way of Bible, that's the perfect opportunity for Satan to pick you off when you're by yourself. Right. And it's also the easy way out, Mr. Brown. Of course it is. I hate to tell you. You don't have to do any work there. A friend sat in a restaurant and told me that. That's constructive criticism. That's when a person can tell you because they care about you. Not that they're putting you down, but they care. Hey, sir. Yeah, stop that. You're running. You're trying to run. You're just running. You're forced to go on steroids. Stop that and realize your assignment. That's a friend. Yeah. Now someone else can be like, hey, keep running, bro. I'll run with you. I'll meet you there, right? As long as you ain't over here, we good. We'll see who wins. Because as you said, when these demons are attached to your life, they don't want to see you survive. They don't want to see you surpass the things that you've been dealing with. Of course not. They want to see you die. Yeah. A demon's going to see you run and chase you, so you keep running. Exactly. So it takes an authentic friend, not an artificial friend, but an authentic friend to give you straight truth, no chaser. Give it to me, I mean, just raw. Straight up. Stop running. And I was like, first of all, nobody talked to me like that. Wait a second. Who do you think you're talking to? But we need that. That's why it's important to have authentic friends. At least they care enough to tell you the truth. Yeah. What did Jack Nicholson say in that movie? You can't handle the truth. Okay. Sometimes the truth is not, it ain't. You can't handle it. Facts, I agree. Especially from your part. If nobody tells you the truth, you can go on living in a lie. I've talked about this already on podcasts. Shelby do operate with a major gift of the prophetic, and you are bound to tell the truth regardless. You are a lock and chain. You have to. Sometimes you probably don't want to say, but you actually have to. But that's why I don't think about it, because if I think about it, I'll talk myself out of it, or I'll editorialize it. And I certainly don't want to be putting a spin on God's message. Yes, yes. And so with that, I would rather accept the truth. If you tell me, hey, you think, tell me the truth. Don't sugarcoat it. Well, my office was a little stinky when we were there. I'd be like, dude, you came in here smelling like straight up corn chips. But tell me the truth. Some people, as you said, some people don't know how to handle it. No. They get bent out of shape because they don't know how to handle it. Yeah. And I admit I have a hard time with criticism. I do. Absolutely. I get you. But I get it, and I understand that I'm not perfect. Good Lord, I'm not perfect. Never will be. None of us? No. I feel like I can give the truth, but I make you put some sugar in it. Remember that medicine that we had to take, castor oil? I use it all the time. Oh, you still use it? Okay. I don't take it. It's nasty, though. It is some nasty stuff. It's some nasty stuff. But my mom used to put, you know, like a spoonful of honey. Oh, yeah. Go down, baby. From Mary Poppins. Spoonful of sugar. Exactly. Let the medicine go down. But still, we took it. So it may take a little sprinkle of sugar. Well, okay. Just because it's a call to action and you need to get your hair up and call a spade a spade, you can still be kind. Christians don't have to be kind all the time, though. But we can. I mean, we don't. There's a fine line. There's a balance between critical, like being overly, overtly rude. And if you truly care about the person that you're being, that you're criticizing, then you would be. Ask God. Like are we not asking God for wisdom when we talk to people? No, I don't think we are. Are you kidding me? It's crazy to me. I've counseled a lot of people. And if I have to tell someone the truth, I ask God to give me some type of wisdom so that they can at least digest this. But I'm going to say what you're telling me, but they have to digest it. From a psychological standpoint, if you ever took psychology, you still got to get them to the realm of them understanding what they need to know. What they need to know, not what they want to know. Because we're giving the wants. Because you're so sensitive, I'm going to give you your want. Yeah, people tell you what you want to hear all the time. It is. And there's a necessity that has to be done. The need is, you're about to die, Nate. Stop islandizing the word that you use. Isolating. Stop isolating yourself. Stop it now. Some people can. Some people may not be able to take it that way, but I was like, give it to me with no chaser. Because don't sugarcoat it with me. Some people are not that way. And you just ask God for wisdom of how to talk to them. What you want does not change the truth. There's always going to be truth. You can pray right now. You don't want truth to exist, but there is always going to be truth. There's always going to be black and white. There's always going to be light and dark. There's always going to be good and bad. There's always going to be truth and lies. That's it. So to conclude this, please understand, there is a difference. You have authentic friends and you have artificial friends. Please understand, constructive criticism is really good, but tearing you down is something that you have to pay attention to. Everybody don't want to see you successful. Everybody don't want to see you grow. I would want to capitalize on that. I don't have a lot of time, but the reason why people don't want to keep you or don't want to see you grow, because if you grow past them, jealousy, envy, hatred. So a lot of people try to keep you at that level, because if you keep moving higher, they're going to knock you down. That causes conflict, so please be able to discern. Examine the fruits. Like see, are you a friend or are you something else? A frenemy? A frenemy. Wow. You look like a friend, but you're really an enemy. Wow. And there are different, I mentioned this to Shelby before we got on, there are different categories of people in your life. There's some people that are friends. There's some people that are just assignments, but we make them friends. And there are some people, in Shelby's voice, there are some people that are acquaintances. Oh, that was good. They're just acquaintance. They're acquiring something. They're just your acquaintance. And assignments are seasonal. They're seasonal things. And, you know, when you're not sure about a relationship, ask God about it. If this person is not for me, Lord, pluck them out of my life. Now, you've got to be prepared for the plucking, because it ain't going to be comfortable, but he will prepare you for it. He'll get you through it. You've got to be prepared for the plucking. You've got to be prepared for the plucking. I love it. But I do. I pray. If this person ain't for me, if this relationship ain't for me, if this friendship ain't for me, pluck it. Pluck it, quickly. Amen. Sheva, I have no more. I definitely want you to pray. Please pray. Please. For understanding, please. If anything in this hour have reached or tapped into something in your mindset, as Shelby prayed, just ask God for wisdom and for understanding. Because I know that in this season, in this culture now that we live in, everybody shouldn't be your friend. Honestly. Everybody that's trying to get close to you, yeah, check the fruit. Check the fruit. Please, examine it. Because some of that fruit ain't. Some of it hides a little mold on the bottom when you pick it up. From the top, it looks really good. But you pick it up and it's bruised, soggy, disintegrating. Amen. Oh, hitting the wire. Okay, let's pray. Yes, ma'am. Heavenly Father, we come before you, Lord, to humble ourselves and just give you the glory, Father, because you are the only one deserving of it. There is nothing that we do that has any power or fruit or anything that is not without you. So, Lord, we just thank you and we praise you for being with us. We thank you for giving us this opportunity. I thank you for my friend across the table. I thank you for the understanding and discernment that you give me every day. And I pray that your understanding and discernment would go out across these airwaves to every ear that it's hitting, Lord. If there is anyone that is hearing this that does not know you, Lord, I pray that the veil would be torn off their hearts. I pray that their eyes would be open, their hearts would be open, and they would receive you and that they would receive their salvation, Father. I pray, Father, for those who have been taught that negativity is a bad thing. I pray for those who have been deceived about that. I pray that the deception, the tool the enemy is using against them would be burned in the fiery furnace. I pray that any assignment sent against them would be returned to sender, Mark, returned to sender, back to the pit tenfold. I pray that any assignment, any curse, anything spoken against anyone out there who is listening to this who is a child of God, Lord, I pray that those would be of no effect, that they would be broken, that they would be canceled, that they would be crushed. I just ask that your will would be done. I ask that your will would be done in every believer's life. I pray for our servicemen and women wherever they are, lift them up, and I ask that they be coated in the blood of Jesus. And anyone else, Lord, you know, there's tons of regular Joes out there who do great things every day. They go unseen, they go unappreciated. Father, I lift them up, and I just pray that they be covered in your blood as well, and that you protect them, guide them, and guard them, Lord. May your angels go forth ahead of us and clear our paths of danger, and may armies of angels surround us wherever we go, that the enemy has to step back and take a look and go, what the, what am I up against? Because truly he knows, but if we don't act with the power that you've given us, sometimes he gets a little too confident. So, Father, remind him and help us to remind him by the authority you have given us over the things we have in our lives, over the people we have in our lives, over whatever you've given us as a ministry. We all have a ministry. We all have a purpose. We all have a thing to do here. We are all part of the kingdom, and we all have a job. So, help us to do those jobs, Lord, as best we can to give you glory. Equip us. Help us to weaponize your word, Lord, to learn to speak your word against situations and against things in our lives that are not of you, and to put them back where they belong. Father God, I just thank you for all of the many blessings that I take for granted every day. I thank you for the people in my life that you have put there, for whatever purpose you've put them there, Lord. And I just pray that you would bless everyone listening to this right now. In Jesus' holy name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you all so much for tuning in to Word of Mouth podcast with Nate and Shelly, The Reboot. We will see you all next week. Love ya. Love ya.
