June 10, 2025 • 24 mins
Have you ever stared at impossible financial numbers, wondering how you'll ever overcome the mountain of debt or save enough for that home? When Jessalyn Adams found herself buried under $43,000 of student loans and car payments on a modest ministry salary, the math simply didn't work. Yet within eight months, every penny was miraculously paid in full.
During this heartfelt conversation between friends who bonded during a life-changing mission trip to Mexico, Jessalyn vulnerably shares her journey from financial anxiety to supernatural provision. Like many young adults, she sought security through credit cards and loans, only to discover that chasing money led to more worry, not less. The breakthrough came through a Crown Financial Bible study that revealed a startling truth: she had surrendered many areas to God but firmly kept her finances under her own control.
What follows is nothing short of miraculous – unexpected inheritance gifts, surprise checks, and divine timing that defies logical explanation. "We can chase money or we can chase God," Jessalyn explains, reflecting on how her perspective transformed when she finally handed her financial worries to her heavenly Father. This isn't prosperity gospel – it's the testimony of a woman who discovered that Jehovah Jireh (God our Provider) takes our impossible situations and creates pathways we could never engineer ourselves.
Beyond the financial testimony, this episode delves into the critical importance of faith-filled community. Both women emphasize how isolation feeds anxiety, while surrounding yourself with friends who speak God's promises brings perspective and peace. The conversation concludes with a powerful reminder about fixing our minds on things above rather than cultural distractions that steal our focus from God's faithfulness.
Whether you're facing financial struggles, waiting for God to open doors for a home purchase, or simply needing reassurance that He still performs miracles today, this conversation will renew your expectation of God's goodness. Listen now and discover how to experience the abundant life Jesus promised – not just someday in heaven, but right here in your daily challenges.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Denise Jackson (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm so glad you're joining ustoday.
I have a very special friendhere today that went with me on
an adventure to Mexico oh yeah,jessalyn Adams.
And we're going to talk todayabout just another time when God
was mighty in the life ofanother woman and because I know
(00:25):
that he's not a respecter ofpersons, I hope you hear, I hope
it gives you ears to hear thathe loves you as much as he loves
me, as much as he loves Jesslyn, he loves his daughter so much
and he will meet every need, nomatter what it is in your life,
and I hope that is just joy foryou this morning as you listen
(00:49):
to us have this conversation.
Thanks for joining us.
Okay, jessalyn, I'm so happyyou're here.
Jesslyn Adams (00:56):
I'm excited to be with you.
It feels like I know you fromanother lifetime because we went
to Mexico together, but it wasone week that was very Life
changing.
Denise Jackson (01:05):
Yeah, it was very life changing.
Yes, I will never, ever, everforget the time I spent with
Benji and Maddie and all theother boys building a wall in
the river.
Oh, my goodness.
Jesslyn Adams (01:21):
See, my favorite memory of you is whenever there
was a vacation Bible school andthey were doing it all in
Spanish and they wanted our boysto memorize it in Spanish.
Denise Jackson (01:32):
Yes, a verse yes .
Jesslyn Adams (01:34):
And little Benji just being so frustrated which
even I was struggling tomemorize it in Spanish.
And you were like I'm not givingup on them, we're going to keep
working through it.
And so that was important to mebecause, as a mom, I'm thinking
I'm not giving up on them,we're going to keep working
through it.
And so that was important to mebecause, as a mom, I'm thinking
I'm just tired and you enteredin and cared for them, and it
was after a few days of usalready working, when we had
that cushion Bible school too.
Denise Jackson (01:54):
So no wonder you were tired and we cleaned, we
cleaned.
We did a lot of hard physicalwork.
That I was not.
My kids are grown and life isnot that hard for me.
But it was hard but it was sucha blessing.
Jesslyn Adams (02:10):
It was a blessing and I'm really grateful.
God said pack a lot of Advil.
Denise Jackson (02:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we went through like we had
some sicknesses, we had someplaces.
We had to just walk throughfaith.
But our kids are still askingabout it, asking when we're
going to go back, and I don'tthink I'll ever fully grasp what
he did during that week youknow, and I met you, really met
you and got to know you when Iwas walking one morning and you
(02:37):
were sitting praying, becausethat's when I started finding
out more about who you are andyour ministry, that you and Matt
work with, matthew work withand have for your whole lives
pretty much now, and just yourfaith, your huge faith, which I
(02:59):
love because you know, ironsharpens iron, he tells us.
The Lord tells us iron sharpensiron, he tells us.
The Lord tells us iron sharpensiron.
And it's not just with men.
When women who have strong faithget together and the word is
coming out of our mouths, it'smighty, it pulls down
strongholds.
It was a blessing, it was sucha blessing for me to be with you
(03:21):
, jessalyn.
It's such a blessing for me tobe with you, jessalyn.
So today we just are going totalk a little bit about your
faith journey and where God'sbeen mighty on your behalf.
And we kind of said, becauseyou have so many stories so
you're going to definitely haveto come back, there you go.
But today we're going to kind oftalk about finances, because
it's such a big deal, so you andI both grew up with a little
(03:46):
bit of financial insecurity.
Is there anything you'd like totalk to women about that you've
learned through that processand just dealing with that as an
adult.
Jesslyn Adams (04:00):
For sure, you know, I was very blessed to grow
up in a home where I was notlacking.
Things were always provided for, I would say, though.
There were times of prosperityin our family, and then there
were times of desolation,college, just longing to be
(04:29):
secure, to be safe, to to feellike there's always a bunch of
money in my savings account,even though there wasn't.
I remember I would.
I started signing up for creditcards because I just didn't
want to be without and I wantedthings just in case, and um,
yeah, I probably didn't make thewisest decisions, but yet, god
in his grace, um, I remember Itook student loans out, and
(04:53):
every time I got a grant check,which you would get two things
you would get a grant check thatyou don't have to pay back, and
then you would get a loan yeahwhich I will eventually have to
pay back with interest.
And I remember something wouldhappen to my car and like all
that grant money would have togo to that.
And I thought to myself are youserious?
Denise Jackson (05:10):
I can't go shopping with that, I'm so mad.
Jesslyn Adams (05:15):
But God was like no, I know you need this.
And so he took care of thosecar payments that I needed to
make.
And then, even after college,like you said, my husband and I
work for a ministry and we raiseall of our financial support.
Really, god does it, but we getto invite people to join with
us, and so I can't believe thatwe've chosen this path.
(05:38):
But I've seen God.
I've been serving now for over20 years and he has always
provided for us.
And I remember, as a singleworking with the ministry,
living in Houston I'm not goingto lie one of those designer
pair jeans, you know I'd workhard for it but just this
greater awareness of oh goodness, I still have student loan debt
(06:00):
.
This is kind of hindering me inbeing able to do some things
with my finances that I thinkGod would desire.
And so what would it look liketo fully depend on him and to
trust him, to kind of go aftersome of this debt?
And I'll be honest, denise,when I saw my student loan debt,
my car loan debt, and I saw mycurrent salary in the ministry,
I thought only God, only God.
Denise Jackson (06:23):
And it was true, only God, because he did it in
our lives too.
When we finally had thatrealization, it was like this
will take us 10 years to pay offand we won't be doing anything
else, and in 18 months, justdedicating it to him, it was
gone.
Jesslyn Adams (06:38):
Yeah, I mean I decided to do this.
Uh, I just knew that I did notmanage money, well, well, I did
not really like to look at myaccount.
I like to deny it.
Yeah, and I did a CrownFinancial Bible Study ministry
with my church and God justshook me and said you've given
me so many things in your life,but you have not given me your
finances.
Denise Jackson (06:59):
Praise God.
Jesslyn Adams (07:00):
And so I said, Lord, here it is.
Every tax refund I get everyextra.
This I'm going to go towardsdebt.
I'm going to go towards debt.
And you know, I was looking at,I think at that point, college
loan debts were $28,000 at thetime and my car note was about
$1,000.
15 grand.
And I thought, okay, this mighttake until I'm like 50, but
(07:22):
here we go, and I am not kiddingDenise, within eight months,
eight months, and it wasimpossible oh yeah, like you're
looking at your money and you'relooking at your debt and you're
saying this is impossible.
Denise Jackson (07:37):
So something impossible happened.
Jesslyn Adams (07:40):
Yeah, I mean it had to be and I was.
And I'll admit, as I'm tryingto be a good steward and pay off
the debt and not spend money onthings that the world tells me
I need, I was very frustrated.
I was doubting God, and thenGod used a family member who
(08:03):
decided that they said hey, Iknow you and your brother have
some student loan debt and Iwould rather see my inheritance
be blessing you now, while I'malive, than when I'm dead.
And so tell me what you owe onyour student loans.
Denise Jackson (08:12):
No, it's just out of the blue.
Jesslyn Adams (08:13):
Out of the blue and she didn't want to support
my ministry, but she did.
Denise Jackson (08:18):
Yeah.
So God says that when we havefavor with him, we have favor
with men, and those men can evenbe enemies, they will still be
peaceful with us and they willhave favor towards us.
So, like we don't know, One ofthe ways our debt got paid off
(08:39):
was randomly from the IRS, whichI've told you I had an
irrational fear of Randomly.
We get this check from the IRSand I mean I can't.
You know, I'm reading thatpaperwork which you never can
understand what the heck thatpaperwork means, and so I
wouldn't even cash it for awhile.
And then finally, we just said,well, I guess it's ours,
(08:59):
because they haven't come backto get it.
I kept watching my bank accountthinking they're just going to
take everything.
I didn't want to use it in casethey came back and required it
back.
And then what was I going to do?
And that was one of the bigchunks to pay it off.
Well, we had no idea that wascoming in.
No idea, god just does stuff,he provides when we trust him,
(09:22):
and I just think that's a lessonI want us to know and share
today is that we can chase moneyor we can chase God, and a lot
of times the world wants us tochase money for security, even
just for security, not even forall the things that we think we
want with our eyes.
You know that we desire.
Jesslyn Adams (09:42):
You know I think when we put our eyes on money it
will lead to anxiety.
And you know and I've seen Goddo this all throughout my life I
mean, there's been otherexpenses.
I mean you know that samefamily member two months later
paid off our car note, oh wow.
And then I saw myself go ohmercy, okay, I'm dating somebody
(10:04):
, I want to save up for thewedding.
Lord, uh, can I go liverent-free somewhere so I could
save up some more money for thewedding?
He opened that door, oh wow.
The girl that opened the houseto me ended up being my
sister-in-law introduced her tomy brother.
uh, and then Matthew and I gotmarried and I remember he had
some student loan debt from hismasters and I said, hey, let's
(10:26):
pay it off with the savings thatI've been able to accrue.
Denise Jackson (10:29):
Because so I'll pay off my debt.
He's like, oh, you want to dothis.
Jesslyn Adams (10:32):
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, god's doing
stuff like this.
And God, continually.
Even when we had kids and wehad trouble having kids and we
had to seek out help and wethought where is this money
going to come from, hecontinually provided for us to
have two precious boys and evenoh my gosh Denise, even in light
(10:53):
of the pandemic.
I mean, we saw everybody youknow struggle financially and
with inflation.
You know I hear him again going, again going.
Well, there's some big costscoming up.
How's this going to happen?
Denise Jackson (11:06):
and you are depending on support from people
yes because you're both inministry yes, and it is tempting
.
Jesslyn Adams (11:14):
I want to get back in the driver's seat.
I want to see a padded savingsaccount.
I don't want to say no to mykids when they ask for things,
and I tend to not trust God, andhe has repeatedly and told me
I'm Jehovah, jireh, I willprovide.
(11:35):
I don't withhold one good thingfrom those whose walk is
blameless, and he hascontinually provided me, and
it's it's something I stillwrestle with, but he is good.
He always takes care of myneeds, um, in my kids needs,
because I think what's unique is, once you start having kids,
you worry about their futureneeds, uh, and God cares for
(11:59):
them even more than I do.
Denise Jackson (12:01):
That's exactly right.
And he's made promises to youabout your children too, and so
you can rest.
We have to remind ourselves ofit pretty regularly.
I think we have to speak it toone another.
Jesslyn Adams (12:14):
I'm talking like multiple times a day, yeah.
Denise Jackson (12:16):
We have to say it to each other.
And so, like we have a group offriends that we, which really
are family from the Mexico trip,a group of girls that I mean
it's so funny because one weektogether and we're like sisters
and I love them so much.
But they are, they do that,they have faith coming out of
(12:36):
their mouth, they're part of her, they're the same group that
she goes to community group fromour church, and so they
encourage one another.
They build each other up.
She was saying one of them wasover watching the game the other
day at football game.
It's just nice that we havethese women in our lives, and so
you know, part of this wholeeffort of ours to record this is
(13:00):
to tell you your friends wholove the Lord are important for
you, and so go find them, goseek them out, be a friend to
somebody who needs a friend.
Get in a church, go to acommunity group, be involved,
because in those places you'regoing to get so blessed, because
you're going to be hearing theword, and that word is going to
(13:22):
strengthen you.
Jesslyn Adams (13:23):
it's also just the same place, because I think
reality is.
Scripture tells us all the timedo not worry, do not worry.
I think god knew that we weregoing to worry about yes yes,
and I think the power oreverything well, and I think
that's the power of being incommunity with one another is
the safe place to go.
This is where I'm struggling.
Can y'all pray and bringingthat out?
Denise Jackson (13:43):
into the light frees you up.
Jesslyn Adams (13:45):
It's almost like giving that burden back to god
and your friends, and so theyall can pray for that and I
think there's power community,because when we live in
isolation and I just worry aboutmoney, it takes me into a
negative nelly spiral and at thesame time I think we talked
about this earlier I'm a crankyperson.
I'm impatient.
Denise Jackson (14:04):
I've never seen you cranky or impatient, oh I
appreciate that.
I have never seen that, so itdoesn't matter, though.
You could be cranky andimpatient with me, and I would
god still, god still loves me,but I think he does love you.
He loves exactly who he madeyou to be he is generous I'd
love to remind you and all thegirls that he called us before
we were born.
(14:24):
He knew our name and he calledus and he put us in our mother's
womb and he knit us togetherfor a purpose and he sent us and
he knew what our mind, will andemotions were going to do, but
he also knew that his spirit wasbreathed into us and his spirit
is mighty, that his spirit wasbreathed into us and his spirit
(14:46):
is mighty, and when we choosehis spirit over what we want
he's, he just does someincredible things.
I can honestly say, like I canlook back, and there is not one
thing that I ever wanted that Ididn't get, and every need was
fully met in my life and I'm 66,so I'm just giving that to you
(15:06):
as you're walking.
Jesslyn Adams (15:07):
You got a few more years I need to hear that
and even you sharing your storyof how god provided a house,
yeah, already speaks to us,because we're in a season of
going lord.
If it is your will to purchasea house, would you make it clear
, um and I'll admit the way howthe housing costs and interest
rates?
I'm like I don't know how.
Denise Jackson (15:25):
But God.
And even back then it wasn't.
You know, every season it seemslike it's more impossible.
Back then it seemed impossiblethat every house was so
expensive, but then we offeredwhat we had and and we had the
house, and I think that wasalways God.
So God can do that in thisseason too.
(15:48):
So he's going to open up a doorto what you've got, what you're
able to do, and it'll justhappen.
Or it might be a gift.
I mean, god pours gifts out onus, he pours them out on us, and
so I think we have to be moreexpectant that our father just
loves.
I expect parking places all thetime, princess parking, I do.
(16:11):
I always do.
My mom like put that in me,because she'd always say I
wonder if there's princessparking.
And I'll always say where's theprincess parking, father?
And you know almost always it'sjust right there, but sometimes
it's far away because he wantsme to walk and get exercise.
So it's all for my good.
But he's got princess parkingbecause we're his precious
(16:32):
daughters and he loves us and hewants good for us, right?
I?
Jesslyn Adams (16:36):
mean he really does.
And even if you know purchasinga home is not God's will for us
, he's there with us, he knowsexactly what we need and I've
got to continually put thattrust back in him.
But if, like you said, if I fixmy eyes on him and delight in
him, I do believe he'll give methe desires of my heart as.
(16:58):
I honor and reflect him, but heis good and he is generous and I
am still learning that, I'mstill in process of that.
But I was just marinating onthat today as he answered some
prayers this morning All right.
Denise Jackson (17:15):
Praise God All right, he did, and so he's good,
he's good and you work inministry crew which works with
college students, right?
Jesslyn Adams (17:25):
It started with the college students and so it
has grown.
It's been around since 1951.
And the main focus of theministry is we want to help
people follow Jesus, know him,love him and share him with
others, and so that ismanifested out in a lot of
different ages that we reach outto and demographics and
locations.
And so my husband actuallyworks with faculty at Texas
(17:48):
State University, helpingencourage professors there how
to be a light to their studentsand other faculty, and I
actually branched even beyondcollege students and I want to
help people get in God's word.
What does this look like?
To look at God's word?
Like you were saying, let'sremember what God has said.
This is the book of wisdom, ofhope, of promise.
Denise Jackson (18:09):
And a living word.
Jesslyn Adams (18:11):
A living word, it is alive and active.
Denise Jackson (18:14):
It's a two-edged sword when it comes out of our
mouths and it cuts asunder thework of the enemy that we don't
see, so we kind of don't evenpay attention to but we don't
see, so we kind of don't evenpay attention to.
But, guys, satan and all hislittle demons that got cast down
are real and they're here andtrying to destroy us.
But we, so they have power,they have some power, lord of
(18:40):
Lords, we've got power andauthority, in the name of Jesus,
to address these enemies thatcome against us.
We do it with the word of Godcoming out of our mouth.
So there, I'm so glad youbrought up that living and
active word that we need.
I mean it's a great ministry.
Jesslyn Adams (19:02):
Without God's word, oh my gosh, I'd be a
struggling bus and so, but weneed A struggling bus, yeah.
Denise Jackson (19:09):
None of the wheels on the bus go round.
Yeah, these wheels are justflat.
You know I love that.
Jesslyn Adams (19:16):
But God has really shown me a lot in his
word lately and has been a placeof hope, because if we can't
offer people the hope and thelight of the world in Jesus,
they're going to be looking tothings of this world like we
were talking about usingfinances to bring security, joy
and hope, and we know that thenext thing is not going to
(19:36):
satisfy no, and it could be gonetomorrow you can get so much
away and it could be gonetomorrow, but our faith in jesus
and our faith in our father isnot going anywhere.
Denise Jackson (19:48):
He's eternal and because of that we are, and so
I hope we all keep that in mindtoday as we walk, uh, and we
encourage one another to be thelight.
So, um, I do have somethingtoday because, really seriously,
we're having more conversations.
This is really good.
But do you have something todayyou'd just like to leave our
(20:12):
listeners with?
That will encourage them.
Jesslyn Adams (20:16):
You know, I think lately God has been showing me
what I fix my mind on is reallywhat's gonna really come up to
the surface and so I I'll admit,lately I've been just focusing
on things of the culture.
I love to binge watch on Netflixyou know all these different
things, but just what I fix mymind on is what I'm gonna dwell
(20:39):
on and what's gonna overflow,and so you know, I have a
tendency to think okay, life inheaven is is where it's going to
be abundant.
But john 10 says I came to havelife and that they would know
me abundantly now like we can doit here and pray that heaven
would be in earth.
Denise Jackson (20:57):
Our father, yeah exactly so yeah, he wants us to
have heaven in earth.
Jesslyn Adams (21:01):
And I'm thinking I don't want that abundant life,
but that comes through thefather to being in his word, and
so I'm just lying down, layingdown, yes, all my worries, my
fears, my desires, and askinghim to make them his um, and so
that's, that's so good.
Denise Jackson (21:18):
That's when I fix my mind on so he says um,
one of the verses is, uh, in theword, is that the words of your
mouth and the meditations ofyour heart would please God, and
I just believe that's.
You know I personalize the wordin my life.
I know you do too, because it'sliving, it's for me.
So I pray that the words of mymouth, the meditations of my
(21:43):
heart, would please you, o Lord.
I pray that Lee's words and medheart would please you, o Lord.
I pray that Lee's words andmeditations would please you, o
Lord.
I pray that Jessalyn andMatthew's words would please you
, o Lord, and their meditationswould please you.
And meditations are important,what you're fixing your mind on,
because it goes into your heartand then it comes out of your
(22:03):
mouth.
And my kids gave me such a hardtime because they wanted to
listen to all the current music.
And they did yes yes, and onetime, and I was telling them you
should not be listening to thismusic.
It will stay in your headBecause I knew that, because the
Beatles were still in my headand Jeremiah was a bullfrog.
Those stay in your head fromyour use and they come out of
(22:26):
your mouth, you know.
And so I was telling them that.
But then I'd let them you know,I'd say okay, whatever.
And they'd be listening.
And they were listening tofriends in low places and one
day I was singing along withthem and they started laughing.
But I said, look, this is whathappens.
You hear it and then it gets inyour heart and it comes out of
your mouth.
So I feel like that's suchgreat advice.
(22:47):
Today.
What we fix our minds on isreally important.
Let's fix our minds on thingsabove.
Let's fix our mind on thethings that god has taught us in
his word, and so, for today, Ijust wish that you would have
joy in the knowledge that he isyour lord and
Good morning.
I'm so glad you're joining ustoday.
I have a very special friendhere today that went with me on
an adventure to Mexico oh yeah,jessalyn Adams.
And we're going to talk todayabout just another time when God
was mighty in the life ofanother woman and because I know
(00:25):
that he's not a respecter ofpersons, I hope you hear, I hope
it gives you ears to hear thathe loves you as much as he loves
me, as much as he loves Jesslyn, he loves his daughter so much
and he will meet every need, nomatter what it is in your life,
and I hope that is just joy foryou this morning as you listen
(00:49):
to us have this conversation.
Thanks for joining us.
Okay, jessalyn, I'm so happyyou're here.
Jesslyn Adams (00:56):
I'm excited to be with you.
It feels like I know you fromanother lifetime because we went
to Mexico together, but it wasone week that was very Life
changing.
Denise Jackson (01:05):
Yeah, it was very life changing.
Yes, I will never, ever, everforget the time I spent with
Benji and Maddie and all theother boys building a wall in
the river.
Oh, my goodness.
Jesslyn Adams (01:21):
See, my favorite memory of you is whenever there
was a vacation Bible school andthey were doing it all in
Spanish and they wanted our boysto memorize it in Spanish.
Denise Jackson (01:32):
Yes, a verse yes .
Jesslyn Adams (01:34):
And little Benji just being so frustrated which
even I was struggling tomemorize it in Spanish.
And you were like I'm not givingup on them, we're going to keep
working through it.
And so that was important to mebecause, as a mom, I'm thinking
I'm not giving up on them,we're going to keep working
through it.
And so that was important to mebecause, as a mom, I'm thinking
I'm just tired and you enteredin and cared for them, and it
was after a few days of usalready working, when we had
that cushion Bible school too.
Denise Jackson (01:54):
So no wonder you were tired and we cleaned, we
cleaned.
We did a lot of hard physicalwork.
That I was not.
My kids are grown and life isnot that hard for me.
But it was hard but it was sucha blessing.
Jesslyn Adams (02:10):
It was a blessing and I'm really grateful.
God said pack a lot of Advil.
Denise Jackson (02:14):
Yes, yeah, yeah, we went through like we had
some sicknesses, we had someplaces.
We had to just walk throughfaith.
But our kids are still askingabout it, asking when we're
going to go back, and I don'tthink I'll ever fully grasp what
he did during that week youknow, and I met you, really met
you and got to know you when Iwas walking one morning and you
(02:37):
were sitting praying, becausethat's when I started finding
out more about who you are andyour ministry, that you and Matt
work with, matthew work withand have for your whole lives
pretty much now, and just yourfaith, your huge faith, which I
(02:59):
love because you know, ironsharpens iron, he tells us.
The Lord tells us iron sharpensiron, he tells us.
The Lord tells us iron sharpensiron.
And it's not just with men.
When women who have strong faithget together and the word is
coming out of our mouths, it'smighty, it pulls down
strongholds.
It was a blessing, it was sucha blessing for me to be with you
(03:21):
, jessalyn.
It's such a blessing for me tobe with you, jessalyn.
So today we just are going totalk a little bit about your
faith journey and where God'sbeen mighty on your behalf.
And we kind of said, becauseyou have so many stories so
you're going to definitely haveto come back, there you go.
But today we're going to kind oftalk about finances, because
it's such a big deal, so you andI both grew up with a little
(03:46):
bit of financial insecurity.
Is there anything you'd like totalk to women about that you've
learned through that processand just dealing with that as an
adult.
Jesslyn Adams (04:00):
For sure, you know, I was very blessed to grow
up in a home where I was notlacking.
Things were always provided for, I would say, though.
There were times of prosperityin our family, and then there
were times of desolation,college, just longing to be
(04:29):
secure, to be safe, to to feellike there's always a bunch of
money in my savings account,even though there wasn't.
I remember I would.
I started signing up for creditcards because I just didn't
want to be without and I wantedthings just in case, and um,
yeah, I probably didn't make thewisest decisions, but yet, god
in his grace, um, I remember Itook student loans out, and
(04:53):
every time I got a grant check,which you would get two things
you would get a grant check thatyou don't have to pay back, and
then you would get a loan yeahwhich I will eventually have to
pay back with interest.
And I remember something wouldhappen to my car and like all
that grant money would have togo to that.
And I thought to myself are youserious?
Denise Jackson (05:10):
I can't go shopping with that, I'm so mad.
Jesslyn Adams (05:15):
But God was like no, I know you need this.
And so he took care of thosecar payments that I needed to
make.
And then, even after college,like you said, my husband and I
work for a ministry and we raiseall of our financial support.
Really, god does it, but we getto invite people to join with
us, and so I can't believe thatwe've chosen this path.
(05:38):
But I've seen God.
I've been serving now for over20 years and he has always
provided for us.
And I remember, as a singleworking with the ministry,
living in Houston I'm not goingto lie one of those designer
pair jeans, you know I'd workhard for it but just this
greater awareness of oh goodness, I still have student loan debt
(06:00):
.
This is kind of hindering me inbeing able to do some things
with my finances that I thinkGod would desire.
And so what would it look liketo fully depend on him and to
trust him, to kind of go aftersome of this debt?
And I'll be honest, denise,when I saw my student loan debt,
my car loan debt, and I saw mycurrent salary in the ministry,
I thought only God, only God.
Denise Jackson (06:23):
And it was true, only God, because he did it in
our lives too.
When we finally had thatrealization, it was like this
will take us 10 years to pay offand we won't be doing anything
else, and in 18 months, justdedicating it to him, it was
gone.
Jesslyn Adams (06:38):
Yeah, I mean I decided to do this.
Uh, I just knew that I did notmanage money, well, well, I did
not really like to look at myaccount.
I like to deny it.
Yeah, and I did a CrownFinancial Bible Study ministry
with my church and God justshook me and said you've given
me so many things in your life,but you have not given me your
finances.
Denise Jackson (06:59):
Praise God.
Jesslyn Adams (07:00):
And so I said, Lord, here it is.
Every tax refund I get everyextra.
This I'm going to go towardsdebt.
I'm going to go towards debt.
And you know, I was looking at,I think at that point, college
loan debts were $28,000 at thetime and my car note was about
$1,000.
15 grand.
And I thought, okay, this mighttake until I'm like 50, but
(07:22):
here we go, and I am not kiddingDenise, within eight months,
eight months, and it wasimpossible oh yeah, like you're
looking at your money and you'relooking at your debt and you're
saying this is impossible.
Denise Jackson (07:37):
So something impossible happened.
Jesslyn Adams (07:40):
Yeah, I mean it had to be and I was.
And I'll admit, as I'm tryingto be a good steward and pay off
the debt and not spend money onthings that the world tells me
I need, I was very frustrated.
I was doubting God, and thenGod used a family member who
(08:03):
decided that they said hey, Iknow you and your brother have
some student loan debt and Iwould rather see my inheritance
be blessing you now, while I'malive, than when I'm dead.
And so tell me what you owe onyour student loans.
Denise Jackson (08:12):
No, it's just out of the blue.
Jesslyn Adams (08:13):
Out of the blue and she didn't want to support
my ministry, but she did.
Denise Jackson (08:18):
Yeah.
So God says that when we havefavor with him, we have favor
with men, and those men can evenbe enemies, they will still be
peaceful with us and they willhave favor towards us.
So, like we don't know, One ofthe ways our debt got paid off
(08:39):
was randomly from the IRS, whichI've told you I had an
irrational fear of Randomly.
We get this check from the IRSand I mean I can't.
You know, I'm reading thatpaperwork which you never can
understand what the heck thatpaperwork means, and so I
wouldn't even cash it for awhile.
And then finally, we just said,well, I guess it's ours,
(08:59):
because they haven't come backto get it.
I kept watching my bank accountthinking they're just going to
take everything.
I didn't want to use it in casethey came back and required it
back.
And then what was I going to do?
And that was one of the bigchunks to pay it off.
Well, we had no idea that wascoming in.
No idea, god just does stuff,he provides when we trust him,
(09:22):
and I just think that's a lessonI want us to know and share
today is that we can chase moneyor we can chase God, and a lot
of times the world wants us tochase money for security, even
just for security, not even forall the things that we think we
want with our eyes.
You know that we desire.
Jesslyn Adams (09:42):
You know I think when we put our eyes on money it
will lead to anxiety.
And you know and I've seen Goddo this all throughout my life I
mean, there's been otherexpenses.
I mean you know that samefamily member two months later
paid off our car note, oh wow.
And then I saw myself go ohmercy, okay, I'm dating somebody
(10:04):
, I want to save up for thewedding.
Lord, uh, can I go liverent-free somewhere so I could
save up some more money for thewedding?
He opened that door, oh wow.
The girl that opened the houseto me ended up being my
sister-in-law introduced her tomy brother.
uh, and then Matthew and I gotmarried and I remember he had
some student loan debt from hismasters and I said, hey, let's
(10:26):
pay it off with the savings thatI've been able to accrue.
Denise Jackson (10:29):
Because so I'll pay off my debt.
He's like, oh, you want to dothis.
Jesslyn Adams (10:32):
And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, god's doing
stuff like this.
And God, continually.
Even when we had kids and wehad trouble having kids and we
had to seek out help and wethought where is this money
going to come from, hecontinually provided for us to
have two precious boys and evenoh my gosh Denise, even in light
(10:53):
of the pandemic.
I mean, we saw everybody youknow struggle financially and
with inflation.
You know I hear him again going, again going.
Well, there's some big costscoming up.
How's this going to happen?
Denise Jackson (11:06):
and you are depending on support from people
yes because you're both inministry yes, and it is tempting
.
Jesslyn Adams (11:14):
I want to get back in the driver's seat.
I want to see a padded savingsaccount.
I don't want to say no to mykids when they ask for things,
and I tend to not trust God, andhe has repeatedly and told me
I'm Jehovah, jireh, I willprovide.
(11:35):
I don't withhold one good thingfrom those whose walk is
blameless, and he hascontinually provided me, and
it's it's something I stillwrestle with, but he is good.
He always takes care of myneeds, um, in my kids needs,
because I think what's unique is, once you start having kids,
you worry about their futureneeds, uh, and God cares for
(11:59):
them even more than I do.
Denise Jackson (12:01):
That's exactly right.
And he's made promises to youabout your children too, and so
you can rest.
We have to remind ourselves ofit pretty regularly.
I think we have to speak it toone another.
Jesslyn Adams (12:14):
I'm talking like multiple times a day, yeah.
Denise Jackson (12:16):
We have to say it to each other.
And so, like we have a group offriends that we, which really
are family from the Mexico trip,a group of girls that I mean
it's so funny because one weektogether and we're like sisters
and I love them so much.
But they are, they do that,they have faith coming out of
(12:36):
their mouth, they're part of her, they're the same group that
she goes to community group fromour church, and so they
encourage one another.
They build each other up.
She was saying one of them wasover watching the game the other
day at football game.
It's just nice that we havethese women in our lives, and so
you know, part of this wholeeffort of ours to record this is
(13:00):
to tell you your friends wholove the Lord are important for
you, and so go find them, goseek them out, be a friend to
somebody who needs a friend.
Get in a church, go to acommunity group, be involved,
because in those places you'regoing to get so blessed, because
you're going to be hearing theword, and that word is going to
(13:22):
strengthen you.
Jesslyn Adams (13:23):
it's also just the same place, because I think
reality is.
Scripture tells us all the timedo not worry, do not worry.
I think god knew that we weregoing to worry about yes yes,
and I think the power oreverything well, and I think
that's the power of being incommunity with one another is
the safe place to go.
This is where I'm struggling.
Can y'all pray and bringingthat out?
Denise Jackson (13:43):
into the light frees you up.
Jesslyn Adams (13:45):
It's almost like giving that burden back to god
and your friends, and so theyall can pray for that and I
think there's power community,because when we live in
isolation and I just worry aboutmoney, it takes me into a
negative nelly spiral and at thesame time I think we talked
about this earlier I'm a crankyperson.
I'm impatient.
Denise Jackson (14:04):
I've never seen you cranky or impatient, oh I
appreciate that.
I have never seen that, so itdoesn't matter, though.
You could be cranky andimpatient with me, and I would
god still, god still loves me,but I think he does love you.
He loves exactly who he madeyou to be he is generous I'd
love to remind you and all thegirls that he called us before
we were born.
(14:24):
He knew our name and he calledus and he put us in our mother's
womb and he knit us togetherfor a purpose and he sent us and
he knew what our mind, will andemotions were going to do, but
he also knew that his spirit wasbreathed into us and his spirit
is mighty, that his spirit wasbreathed into us and his spirit
(14:46):
is mighty, and when we choosehis spirit over what we want
he's, he just does someincredible things.
I can honestly say, like I canlook back, and there is not one
thing that I ever wanted that Ididn't get, and every need was
fully met in my life and I'm 66,so I'm just giving that to you
(15:06):
as you're walking.
Jesslyn Adams (15:07):
You got a few more years I need to hear that
and even you sharing your storyof how god provided a house,
yeah, already speaks to us,because we're in a season of
going lord.
If it is your will to purchasea house, would you make it clear
, um and I'll admit the way howthe housing costs and interest
rates?
I'm like I don't know how.
Denise Jackson (15:25):
But God.
And even back then it wasn't.
You know, every season it seemslike it's more impossible.
Back then it seemed impossiblethat every house was so
expensive, but then we offeredwhat we had and and we had the
house, and I think that wasalways God.
So God can do that in thisseason too.
(15:48):
So he's going to open up a doorto what you've got, what you're
able to do, and it'll justhappen.
Or it might be a gift.
I mean, god pours gifts out onus, he pours them out on us, and
so I think we have to be moreexpectant that our father just
loves.
I expect parking places all thetime, princess parking, I do.
(16:11):
I always do.
My mom like put that in me,because she'd always say I
wonder if there's princessparking.
And I'll always say where's theprincess parking, father?
And you know almost always it'sjust right there, but sometimes
it's far away because he wantsme to walk and get exercise.
So it's all for my good.
But he's got princess parkingbecause we're his precious
(16:32):
daughters and he loves us and hewants good for us, right?
I?
Jesslyn Adams (16:36):
mean he really does.
And even if you know purchasinga home is not God's will for us
, he's there with us, he knowsexactly what we need and I've
got to continually put thattrust back in him.
But if, like you said, if I fixmy eyes on him and delight in
him, I do believe he'll give methe desires of my heart as.
(16:58):
I honor and reflect him, but heis good and he is generous and I
am still learning that, I'mstill in process of that.
But I was just marinating onthat today as he answered some
prayers this morning All right.
Denise Jackson (17:15):
Praise God All right, he did, and so he's good,
he's good and you work inministry crew which works with
college students, right?
Jesslyn Adams (17:25):
It started with the college students and so it
has grown.
It's been around since 1951.
And the main focus of theministry is we want to help
people follow Jesus, know him,love him and share him with
others, and so that ismanifested out in a lot of
different ages that we reach outto and demographics and
locations.
And so my husband actuallyworks with faculty at Texas
(17:48):
State University, helpingencourage professors there how
to be a light to their studentsand other faculty, and I
actually branched even beyondcollege students and I want to
help people get in God's word.
What does this look like?
To look at God's word?
Like you were saying, let'sremember what God has said.
This is the book of wisdom, ofhope, of promise.
Denise Jackson (18:09):
And a living word.
Jesslyn Adams (18:11):
A living word, it is alive and active.
Denise Jackson (18:14):
It's a two-edged sword when it comes out of our
mouths and it cuts asunder thework of the enemy that we don't
see, so we kind of don't evenpay attention to but we don't
see, so we kind of don't evenpay attention to.
But, guys, satan and all hislittle demons that got cast down
are real and they're here andtrying to destroy us.
But we, so they have power,they have some power, lord of
(18:40):
Lords, we've got power andauthority, in the name of Jesus,
to address these enemies thatcome against us.
We do it with the word of Godcoming out of our mouth.
So there, I'm so glad youbrought up that living and
active word that we need.
I mean it's a great ministry.
Jesslyn Adams (19:02):
Without God's word, oh my gosh, I'd be a
struggling bus and so, but weneed A struggling bus, yeah.
Denise Jackson (19:09):
None of the wheels on the bus go round.
Yeah, these wheels are justflat.
You know I love that.
Jesslyn Adams (19:16):
But God has really shown me a lot in his
word lately and has been a placeof hope, because if we can't
offer people the hope and thelight of the world in Jesus,
they're going to be looking tothings of this world like we
were talking about usingfinances to bring security, joy
and hope, and we know that thenext thing is not going to
(19:36):
satisfy no, and it could be gonetomorrow you can get so much
away and it could be gonetomorrow, but our faith in jesus
and our faith in our father isnot going anywhere.
Denise Jackson (19:48):
He's eternal and because of that we are, and so
I hope we all keep that in mindtoday as we walk, uh, and we
encourage one another to be thelight.
So, um, I do have somethingtoday because, really seriously,
we're having more conversations.
This is really good.
But do you have something todayyou'd just like to leave our
(20:12):
listeners with?
That will encourage them.
Jesslyn Adams (20:16):
You know, I think lately God has been showing me
what I fix my mind on is reallywhat's gonna really come up to
the surface and so I I'll admit,lately I've been just focusing
on things of the culture.
I love to binge watch on Netflixyou know all these different
things, but just what I fix mymind on is what I'm gonna dwell
(20:39):
on and what's gonna overflow,and so you know, I have a
tendency to think okay, life inheaven is is where it's going to
be abundant.
But john 10 says I came to havelife and that they would know
me abundantly now like we can doit here and pray that heaven
would be in earth.
Denise Jackson (20:57):
Our father, yeah exactly so yeah, he wants us to
have heaven in earth.
Jesslyn Adams (21:01):
And I'm thinking I don't want that abundant life,
but that comes through thefather to being in his word, and
so I'm just lying down, layingdown, yes, all my worries, my
fears, my desires, and askinghim to make them his um, and so
that's, that's so good.
Denise Jackson (21:18):
That's when I fix my mind on so he says um,
one of the verses is, uh, in theword, is that the words of your
mouth and the meditations ofyour heart would please God, and
I just believe that's.
You know I personalize the wordin my life.
I know you do too, because it'sliving, it's for me.
So I pray that the words of mymouth, the meditations of my
(21:43):
heart, would please you, o Lord.
I pray that Lee's words and medheart would please you, o Lord.
I pray that Lee's words andmeditations would please you, o
Lord.
I pray that Jessalyn andMatthew's words would please you
, o Lord, and their meditationswould please you.
And meditations are important,what you're fixing your mind on,
because it goes into your heartand then it comes out of your
(22:03):
mouth.
And my kids gave me such a hardtime because they wanted to
listen to all the current music.
And they did yes yes, and onetime, and I was telling them you
should not be listening to thismusic.
It will stay in your headBecause I knew that, because the
Beatles were still in my headand Jeremiah was a bullfrog.
Those stay in your head fromyour use and they come out of
(22:26):
your mouth, you know.
And so I was telling them that.
But then I'd let them you know,I'd say okay, whatever.
And they'd be listening.
And they were listening tofriends in low places and one
day I was singing along withthem and they started laughing.
But I said, look, this is whathappens.
You hear it and then it gets inyour heart and it comes out of
your mouth.
So I feel like that's suchgreat advice.
(22:47):
Today.
What we fix our minds on isreally important.
Let's fix our minds on thingsabove.
Let's fix our mind on thethings that god has taught us in
his word, and so, for today, Ijust wish that you would have
joy in the knowledge that he isyour lord and
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