May 16, 2025 • 39 mins
The imagery of the vine and branches in John 15 reveals how our connection to Christ determines our spiritual fruitfulness and provides practical insights for navigating life's challenges.
• Christ is the true vine while we are the branches, completely dependent on Him for spiritual life and growth
• God prunes branches to increase fruitfulness, removing what hinders our spiritual development
• Seemingly negative life events (toxic relationships ending, job losses) may actually be God's loving pruning process
• Spiritual fruit includes character transformation, positive impact on others, and the multiplication of disciples
• Remaining connected to Christ through prayer, Scripture, and fellowship is essential for bearing fruit
• The fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience) come naturally when we maintain our connection to the vine
• God often works through others to support us, with fellow believers praying and interceding on our behalf
• Our decisions determine our direction – choosing to follow Christ leads to peace and wisdom
If you feel life is hopeless or you're questioning your purpose, we invite you to dedicate your life to Christ. Find a church that will help you grow in faith and develop your relationship with God.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of our
podcast.
It used to be called Labor ofLove and we decided to change up
the name.
For those of you that have beenhere before, the new episodes
are going to be going for theRefined in Truth podcast.
So for those of you that havebeen here before, welcome back
(00:24):
again.
And then the new podcast nameis going to be Refined in Truth
Podcast, and today's episodewe're going to talk about John
15 verses, one through eight.
Basically, I'm here with myco-host and wife, stephanie.
I'm your host, gabe Yepes, andthen we're going to go through
(00:45):
this one chapter, verses onethrough eight.
But we're going to kind of likehave a conversation about it
and be able to relate to thistopic.
So, for those of you that havebeen here before, thanks again.
For those that are new, welcome.
I'm going to start with a prayerbefore we go into these verses.
(01:08):
Father God, we thank you, weask for your guidance, your
provisions, we ask for yourdirection and anything that we
say and speak about in thisepisode, lord, may it be solely
from you.
May it be able to reach thehearts of those listening.
May it be able to teach, toimpact, to help others grow in
(01:34):
your word and in your spirit,just as it's helping us grow In
Jesus' name.
Amen, amen.
Um, like I had mentioned beforein the last episode, we were
making an effort to to do thispodcast more frequently and we,
(01:55):
you know, it's something thatGod has put in our heart and I
mentioned that every episodebecause, you know, life is hard
and things happen, and, and forthose of you that have listened
to a few of the episodes, I justwant to say that, um, you know,
since I last uh recorded, it'sbeen, um, maybe like one or two
months, but we in my family, youknow, we, we have a baby now,
(02:20):
like we have a new baby.
I already had a four-year-oldand then now we have a newborn,
like we have a new baby.
I already had a four-year-oldand now we have a newborn.
So, so, juggling with thethings of work, life, our family
, um, this has basically been apassion project that God has put
in our heart and it'sunfortunately been put on the
back burner a lot of timesbecause we have just been
(02:41):
focusing on a daily grind.
But we want to focus on it morefrequently and we have some
time now that our newborn isaround and we're able to dive
deep in these episodes with youguys.
So hopefully you'll get somevalue from this.
So we'll go into chapter John,go into um, into chapter john.
(03:10):
So we're going to go into john15, the book of john um, chapter
15, and it's going to be we'regoing to be reading verses one
through eight.
Uh, let's see, I have the niv,so it's going to be starting at
15.
I am the true vine and thefather is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in methat bears no fruit, while every
(03:33):
branch that does bear fruit heprunes so that it will be even
more fruitful.
You are already clean becauseof the word I have spoken to you
.
Remain in me, as I also remainin you.
No branch can bear fruit byitself.
It must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruitunless you remain in me, for I
(03:55):
am the vine, you are thebranches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can donothing.
If you do not remain in me, youare like a branch that is
thrown away and withers.
Such branches are picked up,thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and mywords remain in you.
(04:17):
Ask whatever you wish and itwill be done for you.
This is my Father's glory.
That you bear much fruit,showing yourselves to be my
disciples, amen.
Yeah, that was uh, that's,that's like a very um powerful
like verse, or those are somevery powerful verses and they're
(04:39):
very impactful for me.
But, um, I wanted to bring thisbecause god put it in my heart,
especially like with a lot ofthings that have been going on
lately, um in our lifespecifically, um, now I'm I'm
gonna see, uh, if my wifebasically has anything she want
to say or start with on thoseverses.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, so it basically gives an imagery of the vine
and us being the branches, and Ihave a couple of things written
down.
Basically, it's just an imageof us who are followers of
Christ, walking in a true andsanctified walk.
We're able to see that we'reconnected to that vine who,
(05:38):
ultimately, is the one whoprovides, he's the one who leads
, he's the one who directs usright.
And it also speaks of those whoare unwilling to bear fruit.
You know they will be pruned,they'll be cut, they'll be
cleansed off.
And I like the part where itsays that you know he has taught
(06:03):
us these, or we know of thesethings because he has already
taught it to us.
And it kind of just gives usthat example that Jesus, during
the time that he was, you know,with his disciples and teaching
the word, he lets us see thatyou know he has already revealed
(06:25):
himself to us and as long as weremain in him, we're able to,
you know, continue this walk andcontinue what he has instructed
in his word.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, I mean, what really throws me away about this
versus is like the imagery,right, like you know, god being
the tree of life, like he's theone that's providing life.
And you know, up, leading up tothis episode, you know I
started researching more ontrees and like pruning and just
(06:59):
like in general, some of thethings that you know, like
arborists do in regards to trees.
Because, like I'm like you know, this is like, this is some
impactful imagery that you know,not everybody knows about trees
like that and not everybody canreally like relate to these
verses, but or what's even beingsaid there, period, like you
know, we can just say like, oh,yeah, sure, god is divine, you
(07:22):
know, and and we're the branches, like he's the tree, know, and
we're the branches, like he'sthe tree of life, we're the
branches.
But like, what does that liketruly mean?
Right, because you know, Idon't know if, like many of you
know, or even if you knew like,but a lot of times, like, like,
when you're pruning a tree, youknow, like you're cutting off,
(07:42):
like, like branches of a tree ina specific way.
So, like arborists, theybasically like, they cut trees
in a way so that the main stumpcan grow, you know, as strong as
possible, and there's sometimesother other branches that
direct in different ways andthose branches limit the tree
(08:04):
from growing, as you know, asfruitful as it can be.
So sometimes there's, like,branches that are diseased,
sometimes there's branches thatare, um, that are going to
hinder the tree right, and, um,basically, like what or what
john is saying in these verses?
It really throws me away, right, because he's speaking about
(08:26):
you know, god being the truevine.
He says I am the true vine andmy Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in methat bears no fruit.
So, like, in our life, right, alot of times, we really like
don't realize that everythinghappens for a reason, right,
(08:49):
sometimes those relationshipswith people that we know are
toxic, that we know that weshouldn't be involved in, you
know, god finds a way to, like,separate us from them, or that
job environment that basically,like, takes us to be different
people and turns us intosomething that we're truly not,
(09:13):
and we get fired from it.
Like.
Those are all things in my youknow, like, and again, we're
relating to these verses and howwe can apply them in our
everyday lives, right, andthat's how I see it a lot of
times, like you know our lives,sometimes we're being pruned of
(09:33):
like these toxic things in ourlife, for good reason too, right
, because if we stay in thosetoxic relationships, if we stay
in that job, if we stay insomewhere that you know is not
good for us, in thosefriendships that are, um, that
real, you know that, that aredrug abusive or physically
(09:57):
abusive or whatever the case maybe, a lot of times, um, it
leads us to a path that you know, we end up hurting ourselves
more than and it really, youknow it's, I thought it was
really, uh, it was awesome how,basically you know the word is
telling us directly like, if youremain in me, you will bear,
(10:22):
you know.
So it says no branch can bearfruit by itself.
That's verse um.
Verse three, three, verse fourremain in me as I also remain in
you.
No branch can bear fruit byitself.
It must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruitunless you remain in me.
So, like trees connected to abranch is connected to a tree,
(10:44):
right, like if the branch is notconnected to the main tree, the
fruits are not gonna be growingand coming out.
You know it needs thatconnection to it it needs to be
rooted.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
It needs that source in order to be able to give life
, give um positivity, give whatothers are going to need as well
.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Same way, like we need God as our source.
You know, spiritually,physically and mentally, because
a lot of times, if we don't,you know, seek him, we don't
pray, we don't, you know, fast,we don't do these things, we don
don't, we're not remaining inhim, you know, we're basically,
(11:31):
uh, remaining in ourselves andrelying on ourselves.
If we remain in him, if wecontinue to seek him, to read
his word, to pray, to fast, allof these things put the focus on
him and not the focus on thethings that are happening in our
life, and and he gives us thejoy, the peace, the perseverance
to go through the trials thatwe go through right I was going
(11:55):
to say.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Also, there's a part of the commentary it was talking
about um, a verse in in matthew, and it talks about
discipleship and it kind of goeshand in hand.
Because if you're not, you know, remaining in Christ, if you're
not applying your word, ifyou're not praying, fasting, if
you're not speaking to those whoare unbelievers and those who
(12:20):
are, you know, struggling orneed your help, then how are we
to be that example of a discipleof Christ if we can't, you know
, remain in that, in thatroutine right that he commanded
um not to?
You know, not to be um, not tosound like?
(12:42):
You know?
God is reprimanding us for it,right, but through his love and
through his grace, he gives usthat opportunity to have come um
, to have a relationship withhim, and in that relationship he
teaches us and molds us to bethat person for someone else.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know, yeah, for sure, I mean I feel like a lot
of times, um, people that aresuffering and going through
situations they don't realizethat you know, if they seek God,
that God can help them feelbetter.
So they end up seeking, youknow, the things of this world,
(13:21):
like alcohol and drugs andwhatnot and sex and all the
things that you know are onlylike a temporary pleasure.
But, um, when we actually show,you know a lot of times, that
we remain in him, we remain inChrist, that we uh, remain
connected to the vine, we havelike a joy that people don't
(13:42):
really understand a lot of timesand it might be going through.
You know, I've had situationswhere when I was the manager of
an auto parts store, I had someemployees say to me, like man, I
don't know how you handled thatsituation because I would have
spazzed out on that customer,like talk to him, and you know
my calmness helped calm him down.
But what I'm trying to get atis, a lot of times people can
(14:15):
see there's something differentin me, right?
and that's part of remainingconnected to the vine, right?
Uh, it's the aspects of ourlife that glorify him will, you
know, will basically be moresuccessful once we remain in him
.
You know, the things that youknow that we're doing, that are
(14:36):
for the Lord, the things thatwe're doing, um, that he is
pleased with, you know, a lot oftimes they be, they start to
grow and we don't realize like,hey, you know, and even us
personally, like the things inour life, right, we, we are
younger than a lot of our peersand stuff, and a lot of times
(14:57):
we've achieved a lot of things,but I'm not saying that those
achievements have been like bymy soul merits, you know and I
always say to everyone, like,the reason we are where we are
is because the thing that thelord has done in our life and
he's allowed us to, you know,and we've followed, not only
he's a lot, but we've alsolistened and followed to the,
the directions of things that hesaid to speak to this person.
(15:19):
Do that or you know, and itmight have been like a intuition
or whatever people want to callit, but it's at the same time
God has spoken to us to dosomething and we've taken action
and it's worked out like betterthan you know we thought it
could ever have, right?
So a lot of times people gothrough things and things don't
(15:41):
work and situations you know youwant, like, you have a dream
and things are.
You're trying to get to thatdream and things aren't working
to get there maybe, like that'snot what you should be doing,
maybe that dream is not what godhas for you, right, when things
click in line and all thesituations you'd speak to this
person, that person aligns withthat situation and you end up
(16:05):
everything goes in line andthere's no situation like,
there's no problems leading tothat.
Whatever your dream is,whatever you're trying to
accomplish, that's God ordainedin my eyes, right.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, a lot of times too, god can put a desire in
your heart and, again, accordingto his will, as the word says,
he will honor it.
But also there are things thatGod wants us to do, um, and a
lot of times all it takes isjust our obedience, and that our
(16:36):
obedience and, you know, sayingyes to him and allowing him to
guide us.
And you know, we, a lot oftimes I know from experience,
like I've seen, like how myheart has changed to have a
desire to do something that Ifelt led from God, and a lot of
(16:58):
times it may not have beensomething that I originally
wanted to do, right, but becauseI'm seeking him and I'm seeking
his, you know his will for mylife, you know to please him and
to be able to continue thiswalk he wants us to accomplish.
(17:20):
Because, again, at the end, youknow, you don't know what
purpose it's for, only he knowsand you don't know how many
people you can impact if youjust say yes yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, even just with this podcast alone, like
I've been surprised by some, howmany people have like listened
to it and how far it's gone.
Um, we, we don't, like we'renot boastful about her trying to
like, uh, do it for our ownmerits, but just the things of
like trying to do the things ofthe Lord for the sake of doing
(18:03):
them is not really like howthings should work.
It should be more to please Godand to bring the gospel to
everyone.
Right, like?
One of the things that I wasthinking about too when you were
pushing is, like, what?
Like?
The whole aspect of likebearing fruit and being
(18:24):
connected to the vine.
Right, like what?
You know what happens to thosebranches, and it mentions it.
Right, what happens to thosebranches that don't bear fruit?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Those branches that don't bear fruit.
Again, he uses the image ofpruning and cutting and I
believe it said, like in theGreek, that it means to be
cleansed off.
So if it's something thatyou're doing or if it's
something in your life that'snot going according to what it
should be, you know, it getscaught off and gets thrown into
(18:57):
the.
You know, like the word says,it gets thrown into the, burned
into the fire.
Why?
Because it's no good for youand it'll only either attract
more you know it'll attract moreof something that's toxic, more
of something that's gonna, inthe end, jeopardize your walk.
(19:18):
But it can also, you know, besomething that you know at the
end helps you to understand that, like he's just trying to
lovingly guide you to somethingbetter.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, yeah exactly it's like we look at it like our
own lives and our children,right, and you know our I.
I look at my daughter and youknow she's solely dependent on
us, right, and she, she's fouryears old.
She, you know, she comes to usto use the bathroom or whatever
the case might be Like, shecomes to us for everything and
(19:53):
someday, you know, she won't.
But right now, if I put myselfin the same shoes as God right
now I'm not God, but at the sametime saying like, if I put
myself in his shoes and how mydaughter is, you know, I feel
joy, even though sometimes it's,you know, it's a hassle trying
to do this and trying to do that, but I feel joy, um, helping my
(20:18):
daughter do the things, even ifshe knows how to do it too,
because there's some things thatshe can do herself.
But she still seeks me to helpher, seeks us to help her, and
you know it's only going to befor a short period, right,
because with her it's different.
But what I'm saying is like whenwe seek God and we genuinely
(20:40):
seek him and the things thatwe're trying to do and we remain
in him, like it says right, I'msure he joys over that.
Right, he joys over the factthat we are seeking him, that
we're trying to connect with him, have a relationship with him,
which is part of this whole.
You know, the vine and thebranches versus um.
(21:02):
We, we as humans, need thatconnection, that relationship,
right, but why, like?
God made us like that and we'rewe were created to be in in a
relationship with him, toworship him, to connect with him
.
And a lot of the things that wedo in this world are not gonna
(21:24):
bring that fulfillment, that umsatisfaction that we think they
will.
They basically they bring atemporary satisfaction.
Let's just say it like that.
The temporary satisfaction andand fulfillment, especially,
like I feel like, for men, ummen, men are a lot of times
(21:48):
undervalued in this societynowadays.
And, as a Christian, whenyou're trying to take care of
your family, take care of thingsof the Lord, take care of you
know your house, take care ofeveryone, take care of your
parents, take care of all thatand of everyone, take care of
(22:09):
your parents, take care of allthat, and, uh, you know you need
that.
You need a little bit of thatlike feeling that you're
actually loved and cared aboutand and appreciated and and
respected and and needed.
And you know, like the samething with I'm saying with my
daughter, right, Like not thatGod is looking at us the same
way as like he needs that fromus, but it helps.
(22:32):
It's a full circle.
That's how I see it.
It's a full circle, right.
It's just like self-fulfillingthing, like we see God um and
glorify him and he basicallybrings us that peace and that
desire and that um sense offulfillment and then we continue
to seek him and it's a fullcircle there that helps us have
some fulfillment in life and andfeel like what we're doing is
(22:56):
worth it.
It's worth something.
It doesn't feel like we're justwaking up every day, going to
work, doing this, going home,taking a shower, eating, getting
up, going to work.
It's not like.
That doesn't feel fulfillingthe call of the lord and what
god asks us to do does feel morefulfilling.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You get me yeah, um, it's kind of it kind of reminded
me of something I wrote downtoo that you know, it's not just
to say that because god is ahigher like, he's demanding this
and this and that, like he is ahigher authority, he is
commanded things in his word forus, right, but why is that?
(23:35):
You know, a lot of people thinkthat it's just scolding and
just trying to, you know, puppetpeople on this earth around.
But if we really look at theverses, if we really look at
what he says in the whole text,right, it talks about his love
for us and in love like, hewants to see us grow and he
(23:59):
wants us to learn and wants usto be able, like I said, to have
that relationship and like theexamples you were given giving
um, about parenting, right, likenow we're in this new phase
with a new baby, right, and youknow there's things that we have
to learn ourselves and there'sthings that we have to learn
with the baby.
(24:19):
And you know how do we learnthose things?
By having a relationship, by,you know, seeing day to day how
things go.
And you know, again, we all needthat instruction to to grow,
you know, and just like we needthe instruction of our father,
our kids need our instructionfrom us, you know, and it's
(24:45):
crazy because then, and it'scrazy because then, like again,
just reading the text and justseeing how bearing fruit, you
know, we see that, like, when wegive instruction, our children
end up learning and then theyend up passing that along or
they end up being that exampleand you know, saying, look, mom
(25:07):
and dad taught me this and eventhough they may know it
sometimes, like you said, butlike they crave that attention
from us, they crave that lovefrom us, because they know that
we're there to help them and inhelping them, like they're
learning and they get thatsatisfaction to know that, like
you know, we were there to showthem that well, what I was gonna
(25:29):
say, too, is like, what do youthink is meant by like bearing
much fruit?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
right like, and kind of like what you were talking
about a second ago?
Right like, and bearing fruitlike bearing fruit.
I I know some people can takeit as like a materialistic thing
, but it's more than that.
At least that's what I see.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I, yeah, Um, of course, materialistically, like
we can think bearing fruit, likeyou'll get something out of it
or you'll, you know, you'll beable to find something in it
materialistic wise, something init materialistic wise.
(26:10):
But, um, you know, bearingfruit also means, like knowledge
, wisdom, um, you'll gain asense of love.
You'll get, you'll gain, youknow, like the fruits of the
spirit as well.
You know we need the fruits ofthe spirit in order to walk this
, this life, right.
Um, a lot of times, you know, Idon't personally like, I end up
reminding myself of thesethings because, though, learning
(26:30):
of the fruits of the spirithelps me to be a better person,
to interact with other peopleand remind myself that, you know
, although things are happeningaround us, like we don't need to
be in that darkness, we don'tneed to be in that anxious
depression type of a cabinet oryou pull out of your car, you
(26:52):
know it's something deep withinyou that you can just bring out
(27:12):
to light.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
You know yeah, yeah, for sure, and for those of you
that don't know the fruits ofthe spirit.
You know we could do anotherepisode on that and kind of go
into it more deeply, but, um,it's basically like love, joy,
pain, patience, kindness, like alot of the things that you know
we basically do already, but weit's like it's like being more
(27:38):
controlled of yourself thanactually like anger and
maliciously doing things for youknow selfish ways and stuff,
and, like I said, we could gointo it more, but a lot of times
, um, the fruits um itself, like, and I could say, in my
relationship with my wife and myfamily, right, um, if I think
(28:00):
back before, you know, we weremarried a lot of times uh, just
being able to like talk aboutGod and and worship together and
and build a relationship in ourfamily, like, um, yes, uh,
you'll bear much fruit, isreferring to the physical aspect
(28:21):
, but it doesn't.
You know, it doesn't start there.
It starts with you know bearingfruit uh within, with you know
bearing fruit uh within, right,being able to learn to be
patient on certain situationsand learn to be, uh,
understanding and and wanting towant what's better for others
than what's done for you, right,wanting to be able to take care
(28:46):
of other people and help others.
Those are all fruits and thingsthat are referred to in these
verses.
But a lot of times, you know,we can just go back to it and
say, like, and think of ourgoals and what do we want to do?
And I want to start thisbusiness and make a bunch of
money and do that and this and Iwant to, you know, get this job
(29:07):
and make a bunch of money andblah, blah, blah.
But yes, like God is saying,you know, to trust in him and he
will make things happen, butyou need to do your part too.
Um, and that's not necessarilylike in the terms of like,
that's all that he wants for you, right, because our, you know
from what we see, our goals arelike minuscule right, and then
(29:31):
what he sees it's so much biggerright.
And we don't even like sometimeswe can't even comprehend it
right, some of the things thatthat we had a goal and goal to
do or plan to do like evensurpassed what, um, what he
allowed for us and brought to door plan to do like even
surpassed what, um, what heallowed for us and brought to us
(29:51):
, right, it was it's.
It's crazy to think that, but alot of times, um, it's just
like.
You know.
Going back to our kids andstuff we wouldn't want to give
our kids, you know rocks and andand snakes and garbage.
We would want to give themwhat's you know, the best things
, and God sees it the same way.
(30:14):
He's just asking you know thatwe remain in relationship with
him, we remain in the vine inthat connection, because it's
all a love story and it's allpart of being connected with him
and part of this whole you know, the whole gospel just being
(30:39):
able to basically be in unionwith him and that's that'll help
us get through this lifewithout you know feeling.
That'll help us get throughthis life without you know
feeling anxious and stressed andmad all the time and flustered,
and you know we can go throughthis life in a more calming way
and more understanding that he'sin control of the situation.
(31:03):
Whatever happens, he's going totake care of you.
You know, yes, you have to dothings.
Yes, you're going to have toact.
Yes, you're going to have to goto the talk to this person, go
to the unemployment office, goto this place, talk to someone
to help you find a job.
You know, talk, yes, you haveto do things.
(31:27):
But that doesn't necessarilymean that know you're gonna do
it all by yourself.
There's gonna be things thatare gonna be being worked on in
the background that you can'tcontrol, and that's the biggest
thing.
Like a lot of times, there'sthings that we can't control and
that are out of way, out of ourcontrol, and we're gonna be.
We stress out over those thingsand God is telling us not to.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
He's telling us to trust in him, to rely on him say
something quickly yeah andyou're saying that you know,
like entrusting in him and andremaining in him.
Um, it also reminded me, likethere's people who are also.
You know you're not by yourself,that's, that's the first thing.
(32:09):
You're not by yourself and thereare other people who are
remaining in him, right, praying, fasting on your behalf,
whether you know it or not.
Um, and god gives thatdiscernment to other people to
to intercede on your behalf andin you trying to work your way
(32:30):
through this life.
You know there are other peoplewho are covering you in prayer
and who are, you know, speakingon your behalf, and you never
know who that person may be.
You may or may not ever know,but the the thing is to continue
to seek God and allow that.
You know, whatever you'repraying for, whatever you're
(32:53):
asking for, like, you know hecan honor that and you know you
will see evidence of otherpeople who, like I said, are
working on your behalf as well.
And it just goes to show thelove that God has for us because
, you know, many times we hearafterwards like, oh, I was
praying for you on thissituation, and then you see how
(33:16):
God really used that person toencourage you, you know, in your
process in your seeking.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You know, and again, it's just comforting to know
that god's holy spirit can dothat for us, right and yeah,
it's a beautiful imagery and thewhole like uh, tree of the
whole, you know, tree of lifethat god is, and it starts off
(33:44):
with you, a small seedling, andyour family can, you know,
become generations andgenerations of, um, worshipers
or generations and generationsof non-worshipers.
But at the end of the day, god,god is in control and, um,
we're coming up to the end ofthis episode and I do want to
(34:05):
say, you know, and I want to dothis every episode and try my
best to, kind of like, allow forthe time for it, because, you
know, we're trying to keep theseepisodes under a certain amount
of time just to help those thatare, you know, either commuting
or, um, listening on the go,because we want to bring God's
(34:28):
word and be able to relate to iton our everyday lives, right,
but at the same time, a lot ofthese words impact us too.
But there are people out therethat are listening, that are not
, you know, followers of Christ,or are curious or just
listening to learn a little bitmore and see, like, what it is
(34:50):
that this is all about.
And if you are one of thosepeople, you know I want to, you
know I want to invite you toallow God into your heart.
Um, and it's, you know, it'sthe best thing that you can do
in your life.
It's going to bring.
It's not going to bring youriches, it's not going to bring
you all sorts of uh, materialthings that you'd like, because
(35:14):
people say, oh, you know, like Iwant to make a lot of money,
I'm going to go see God and he'sgoing to make things happen.
And no, that's not how it works.
But I will guarantee that he'sgoing to bring peace through all
your trials.
He's going to bring, you know,comfort and understanding and
wisdom, because those are thecharacteristics and traits of
God.
He's a God of order and youknow, those are the things that
(35:36):
he's done in our lives.
And with a level head, yourdecisions are much better.
You make much better decisions.
And don't, you know, do thingslike go out with your friends to
drink or go out and smoke pot,or go out to the club or
whatever those things?
You know they don't lead to theright paths.
(35:57):
And, yes, I know we do need togo out there and talk to these
people, but it's not the bestplace to talk to somebody in a
club.
I'm just saying, and a lot oftimes.
You know it starts with adecision.
It starts off with everydecision that we make, you know,
the decision to follow Christor not to follow Christ, the
(36:17):
decision to go to the club ornot to go to the club, the
decision to smoke weed or notsmoke weed, the decision to
whatever the case and whateveryou're going through, the
decision to cheat on your spouseor not cheat on your spouse.
You know it all starts with adecision and those things are
what we have to live with.
And now you know, I want toinvite you today to.
(36:38):
You know, either close youreyes, if you can, or just bow
your head or just kind of like.
You know, stay in reverence.
But if you have been goingthrough some situations and you
feel like life is hopeless, youfeel like, why am I around?
What is this meaning of life?
(36:59):
Like my family's, you know, abunch of drunkards or whatever
the case that you're goingthrough, and you feel like it's
not.
You know there's something else, there's got to be something
else and God has been pulling onyour heart and you've arrived
here.
I just want to say it's okay,Trust in him and, you know, bow
(37:20):
your heads in reverence and say,father, god, I want to dedicate
my life to you.
I want to learn, god, I want todedicate my life to you.
I want to learn, I want tofollow you.
I want to increase in faith.
Help me to find a place that isgoing to teach me your word,
that is going to help me growcloser to you In Jesus name,
(37:43):
amen, amen.
And, as you guys know, you knowwe haven't really uploaded as
many episodes as we'd like to,but we are all over the place
now I've been able to get us onApple podcast, spotify, youtube.
We're doing these audiopodcasts for now, but we would
(38:05):
like to eventually do video andwe'll get there.
It's a process and whatever.
Just with everything.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Is there anything else you want to say before we
close off?
Thank you guys for listeningand again, trust in God and
allow him to just fill yourheart with his peace.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
So, again, thank you for being here.
You're listening to Gabe andStephanie Yepes in the Refined
in Truth podcast.
We're in Spotify, apple YouTubeFollow us.
(38:53):
Oh, we're on Spotify, apple,youtube, follow us.
Oh, we're on Facebook to followus.
Share if you found any value.
Tell your friends if you feelthat you know somebody that's
going through something likethis and everything.
Trusting God, rely that he'sgonna help you make the right
decision, ask for his wisdom andenjoy the rest of your day.
(39:15):
God bless, thank you.
Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of our
podcast.
It used to be called Labor ofLove and we decided to change up
the name.
For those of you that have beenhere before, the new episodes
are going to be going for theRefined in Truth podcast.
So for those of you that havebeen here before, welcome back
(00:24):
again.
And then the new podcast nameis going to be Refined in Truth
Podcast, and today's episodewe're going to talk about John
15 verses, one through eight.
Basically, I'm here with myco-host and wife, stephanie.
I'm your host, gabe Yepes, andthen we're going to go through
(00:45):
this one chapter, verses onethrough eight.
But we're going to kind of likehave a conversation about it
and be able to relate to thistopic.
So, for those of you that havebeen here before, thanks again.
For those that are new, welcome.
I'm going to start with a prayerbefore we go into these verses.
(01:08):
Father God, we thank you, weask for your guidance, your
provisions, we ask for yourdirection and anything that we
say and speak about in thisepisode, lord, may it be solely
from you.
May it be able to reach thehearts of those listening.
May it be able to teach, toimpact, to help others grow in
(01:34):
your word and in your spirit,just as it's helping us grow In
Jesus' name.
Amen, amen.
Um, like I had mentioned beforein the last episode, we were
making an effort to to do thispodcast more frequently and we,
(01:55):
you know, it's something thatGod has put in our heart and I
mentioned that every episodebecause, you know, life is hard
and things happen, and, and forthose of you that have listened
to a few of the episodes, I justwant to say that, um, you know,
since I last uh recorded, it'sbeen, um, maybe like one or two
months, but we in my family, youknow, we, we have a baby now,
(02:20):
like we have a new baby.
I already had a four-year-oldand then now we have a newborn,
like we have a new baby.
I already had a four-year-oldand now we have a newborn.
So, so, juggling with thethings of work, life, our family
, um, this has basically been apassion project that God has put
in our heart and it'sunfortunately been put on the
back burner a lot of timesbecause we have just been
(02:41):
focusing on a daily grind.
But we want to focus on it morefrequently and we have some
time now that our newborn isaround and we're able to dive
deep in these episodes with youguys.
So hopefully you'll get somevalue from this.
So we'll go into chapter John,go into um, into chapter john.
(03:10):
So we're going to go into john15, the book of john um, chapter
15, and it's going to be we'regoing to be reading verses one
through eight.
Uh, let's see, I have the niv,so it's going to be starting at
15.
I am the true vine and thefather is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in methat bears no fruit, while every
(03:33):
branch that does bear fruit heprunes so that it will be even
more fruitful.
You are already clean becauseof the word I have spoken to you
.
Remain in me, as I also remainin you.
No branch can bear fruit byitself.
It must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruitunless you remain in me, for I
(03:55):
am the vine, you are thebranches.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
Apart from me, you can donothing.
If you do not remain in me, youare like a branch that is
thrown away and withers.
Such branches are picked up,thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and mywords remain in you.
(04:17):
Ask whatever you wish and itwill be done for you.
This is my Father's glory.
That you bear much fruit,showing yourselves to be my
disciples, amen.
Yeah, that was uh, that's,that's like a very um powerful
like verse, or those are somevery powerful verses and they're
(04:39):
very impactful for me.
But, um, I wanted to bring thisbecause god put it in my heart,
especially like with a lot ofthings that have been going on
lately, um in our lifespecifically, um, now I'm I'm
gonna see, uh, if my wifebasically has anything she want
to say or start with on thoseverses.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, so it basically gives an imagery of the vine
and us being the branches, and Ihave a couple of things written
down.
Basically, it's just an imageof us who are followers of
Christ, walking in a true andsanctified walk.
We're able to see that we'reconnected to that vine who,
(05:38):
ultimately, is the one whoprovides, he's the one who leads
, he's the one who directs usright.
And it also speaks of those whoare unwilling to bear fruit.
You know they will be pruned,they'll be cut, they'll be
cleansed off.
And I like the part where itsays that you know he has taught
(06:03):
us these, or we know of thesethings because he has already
taught it to us.
And it kind of just gives usthat example that Jesus, during
the time that he was, you know,with his disciples and teaching
the word, he lets us see thatyou know he has already revealed
(06:25):
himself to us and as long as weremain in him, we're able to,
you know, continue this walk andcontinue what he has instructed
in his word.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, I mean, what really throws me away about this
versus is like the imagery,right, like you know, god being
the tree of life, like he's theone that's providing life.
And you know, up, leading up tothis episode, you know I
started researching more ontrees and like pruning and just
(06:59):
like in general, some of thethings that you know, like
arborists do in regards to trees.
Because, like I'm like you know, this is like, this is some
impactful imagery that you know,not everybody knows about trees
like that and not everybody canreally like relate to these
verses, but or what's even beingsaid there, period, like you
know, we can just say like, oh,yeah, sure, god is divine, you
(07:22):
know, and and we're the branches, like he's the tree, know, and
we're the branches, like he'sthe tree of life, we're the
branches.
But like, what does that liketruly mean?
Right, because you know, Idon't know if, like many of you
know, or even if you knew like,but a lot of times, like, like,
when you're pruning a tree, youknow, like you're cutting off,
(07:42):
like, like branches of a tree ina specific way.
So, like arborists, theybasically like, they cut trees
in a way so that the main stumpcan grow, you know, as strong as
possible, and there's sometimesother other branches that
direct in different ways andthose branches limit the tree
(08:04):
from growing, as you know, asfruitful as it can be.
So sometimes there's, like,branches that are diseased,
sometimes there's branches thatare, um, that are going to
hinder the tree right, and, um,basically, like what or what
john is saying in these verses?
It really throws me away, right, because he's speaking about
(08:26):
you know, god being the truevine.
He says I am the true vine andmy Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in methat bears no fruit.
So, like, in our life, right, alot of times, we really like
don't realize that everythinghappens for a reason, right,
(08:49):
sometimes those relationshipswith people that we know are
toxic, that we know that weshouldn't be involved in, you
know, god finds a way to, like,separate us from them, or that
job environment that basically,like, takes us to be different
people and turns us intosomething that we're truly not,
(09:13):
and we get fired from it.
Like.
Those are all things in my youknow, like, and again, we're
relating to these verses and howwe can apply them in our
everyday lives, right, andthat's how I see it a lot of
times, like you know our lives,sometimes we're being pruned of
(09:33):
like these toxic things in ourlife, for good reason too, right
, because if we stay in thosetoxic relationships, if we stay
in that job, if we stay insomewhere that you know is not
good for us, in thosefriendships that are, um, that
real, you know that, that aredrug abusive or physically
(09:57):
abusive or whatever the case maybe, a lot of times, um, it
leads us to a path that you know, we end up hurting ourselves
more than and it really, youknow it's, I thought it was
really, uh, it was awesome how,basically you know the word is
telling us directly like, if youremain in me, you will bear,
(10:22):
you know.
So it says no branch can bearfruit by itself.
That's verse um.
Verse three, three, verse fourremain in me as I also remain in
you.
No branch can bear fruit byitself.
It must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruitunless you remain in me.
So, like trees connected to abranch is connected to a tree,
(10:44):
right, like if the branch is notconnected to the main tree, the
fruits are not gonna be growingand coming out.
You know it needs thatconnection to it it needs to be
rooted.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
It needs that source in order to be able to give life
, give um positivity, give whatothers are going to need as well
.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Same way, like we need God as our source.
You know, spiritually,physically and mentally, because
a lot of times, if we don't,you know, seek him, we don't
pray, we don't, you know, fast,we don't do these things, we don
don't, we're not remaining inhim, you know, we're basically,
(11:31):
uh, remaining in ourselves andrelying on ourselves.
If we remain in him, if wecontinue to seek him, to read
his word, to pray, to fast, allof these things put the focus on
him and not the focus on thethings that are happening in our
life, and and he gives us thejoy, the peace, the perseverance
to go through the trials thatwe go through right I was going
(11:55):
to say.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Also, there's a part of the commentary it was talking
about um, a verse in in matthew, and it talks about
discipleship and it kind of goeshand in hand.
Because if you're not, you know, remaining in Christ, if you're
not applying your word, ifyou're not praying, fasting, if
you're not speaking to those whoare unbelievers and those who
(12:20):
are, you know, struggling orneed your help, then how are we
to be that example of a discipleof Christ if we can't, you know
, remain in that, in thatroutine right that he commanded
um not to?
You know, not to be um, not tosound like?
(12:42):
You know?
God is reprimanding us for it,right, but through his love and
through his grace, he gives usthat opportunity to have come um
, to have a relationship withhim, and in that relationship he
teaches us and molds us to bethat person for someone else.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
You know, yeah, for sure, I mean I feel like a lot
of times, um, people that aresuffering and going through
situations they don't realizethat you know, if they seek God,
that God can help them feelbetter.
So they end up seeking, youknow, the things of this world,
(13:21):
like alcohol and drugs andwhatnot and sex and all the
things that you know are onlylike a temporary pleasure.
But, um, when we actually show,you know a lot of times, that
we remain in him, we remain inChrist, that we uh, remain
connected to the vine, we havelike a joy that people don't
(13:42):
really understand a lot of timesand it might be going through.
You know, I've had situationswhere when I was the manager of
an auto parts store, I had someemployees say to me, like man, I
don't know how you handled thatsituation because I would have
spazzed out on that customer,like talk to him, and you know
my calmness helped calm him down.
But what I'm trying to get atis, a lot of times people can
(14:15):
see there's something differentin me, right?
and that's part of remainingconnected to the vine, right?
Uh, it's the aspects of ourlife that glorify him will, you
know, will basically be moresuccessful once we remain in him
.
You know, the things that youknow that we're doing, that are
(14:36):
for the Lord, the things thatwe're doing, um, that he is
pleased with, you know, a lot oftimes they be, they start to
grow and we don't realize like,hey, you know, and even us
personally, like the things inour life, right, we, we are
younger than a lot of our peersand stuff, and a lot of times
(14:57):
we've achieved a lot of things,but I'm not saying that those
achievements have been like bymy soul merits, you know and I
always say to everyone, like,the reason we are where we are
is because the thing that thelord has done in our life and
he's allowed us to, you know,and we've followed, not only
he's a lot, but we've alsolistened and followed to the,
the directions of things that hesaid to speak to this person.
(15:19):
Do that or you know, and itmight have been like a intuition
or whatever people want to callit, but it's at the same time
God has spoken to us to dosomething and we've taken action
and it's worked out like betterthan you know we thought it
could ever have, right?
So a lot of times people gothrough things and things don't
(15:41):
work and situations you know youwant, like, you have a dream
and things are.
You're trying to get to thatdream and things aren't working
to get there maybe, like that'snot what you should be doing,
maybe that dream is not what godhas for you, right, when things
click in line and all thesituations you'd speak to this
person, that person aligns withthat situation and you end up
(16:05):
everything goes in line andthere's no situation like,
there's no problems leading tothat.
Whatever your dream is,whatever you're trying to
accomplish, that's God ordainedin my eyes, right.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, a lot of times too, god can put a desire in
your heart and, again, accordingto his will, as the word says,
he will honor it.
But also there are things thatGod wants us to do, um, and a
lot of times all it takes isjust our obedience, and that our
(16:36):
obedience and, you know, sayingyes to him and allowing him to
guide us.
And you know, we, a lot oftimes I know from experience,
like I've seen, like how myheart has changed to have a
desire to do something that Ifelt led from God, and a lot of
(16:58):
times it may not have beensomething that I originally
wanted to do, right, but becauseI'm seeking him and I'm seeking
his, you know his will for mylife, you know to please him and
to be able to continue thiswalk he wants us to accomplish.
(17:20):
Because, again, at the end, youknow, you don't know what
purpose it's for, only he knowsand you don't know how many
people you can impact if youjust say yes yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I mean, even just with this podcast alone, like
I've been surprised by some, howmany people have like listened
to it and how far it's gone.
Um, we, we don't, like we'renot boastful about her trying to
like, uh, do it for our ownmerits, but just the things of
like trying to do the things ofthe Lord for the sake of doing
(18:03):
them is not really like howthings should work.
It should be more to please Godand to bring the gospel to
everyone.
Right, like?
One of the things that I wasthinking about too when you were
pushing is, like, what?
Like?
The whole aspect of likebearing fruit and being
(18:24):
connected to the vine.
Right, like what?
You know what happens to thosebranches, and it mentions it.
Right, what happens to thosebranches that don't bear fruit?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Those branches that don't bear fruit.
Again, he uses the image ofpruning and cutting and I
believe it said, like in theGreek, that it means to be
cleansed off.
So if it's something thatyou're doing or if it's
something in your life that'snot going according to what it
should be, you know, it getscaught off and gets thrown into
(18:57):
the.
You know, like the word says,it gets thrown into the, burned
into the fire.
Why?
Because it's no good for youand it'll only either attract
more you know it'll attract moreof something that's toxic, more
of something that's gonna, inthe end, jeopardize your walk.
(19:18):
But it can also, you know, besomething that you know at the
end helps you to understand that, like he's just trying to
lovingly guide you to somethingbetter.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, yeah exactly it's like we look at it like our
own lives and our children,right, and you know our I.
I look at my daughter and youknow she's solely dependent on
us, right, and she, she's fouryears old.
She, you know, she comes to usto use the bathroom or whatever
the case might be Like, shecomes to us for everything and
(19:53):
someday, you know, she won't.
But right now, if I put myselfin the same shoes as God right
now I'm not God, but at the sametime saying like, if I put
myself in his shoes and how mydaughter is, you know, I feel
joy, even though sometimes it's,you know, it's a hassle trying
to do this and trying to do that, but I feel joy, um, helping my
(20:18):
daughter do the things, even ifshe knows how to do it too,
because there's some things thatshe can do herself.
But she still seeks me to helpher, seeks us to help her, and
you know it's only going to befor a short period, right,
because with her it's different.
But what I'm saying is like whenwe seek God and we genuinely
(20:40):
seek him and the things thatwe're trying to do and we remain
in him, like it says right, I'msure he joys over that.
Right, he joys over the factthat we are seeking him, that
we're trying to connect with him, have a relationship with him,
which is part of this whole.
You know, the vine and thebranches versus um.
(21:02):
We, we as humans, need thatconnection, that relationship,
right, but why, like?
God made us like that and we'rewe were created to be in in a
relationship with him, toworship him, to connect with him
.
And a lot of the things that wedo in this world are not gonna
(21:24):
bring that fulfillment, that umsatisfaction that we think they
will.
They basically they bring atemporary satisfaction.
Let's just say it like that.
The temporary satisfaction andand fulfillment, especially,
like I feel like, for men, ummen, men are a lot of times
(21:48):
undervalued in this societynowadays.
And, as a Christian, whenyou're trying to take care of
your family, take care of thingsof the Lord, take care of you
know your house, take care ofeveryone, take care of your
parents, take care of all thatand of everyone, take care of
(22:09):
your parents, take care of allthat, and, uh, you know you need
that.
You need a little bit of thatlike feeling that you're
actually loved and cared aboutand and appreciated and and
respected and and needed.
And you know, like the samething with I'm saying with my
daughter, right, Like not thatGod is looking at us the same
way as like he needs that fromus, but it helps.
(22:32):
It's a full circle.
That's how I see it.
It's a full circle, right.
It's just like self-fulfillingthing, like we see God um and
glorify him and he basicallybrings us that peace and that
desire and that um sense offulfillment and then we continue
to seek him and it's a fullcircle there that helps us have
some fulfillment in life and andfeel like what we're doing is
(22:56):
worth it.
It's worth something.
It doesn't feel like we're justwaking up every day, going to
work, doing this, going home,taking a shower, eating, getting
up, going to work.
It's not like.
That doesn't feel fulfillingthe call of the lord and what
god asks us to do does feel morefulfilling.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
You get me yeah, um, it's kind of it kind of reminded
me of something I wrote downtoo that you know, it's not just
to say that because god is ahigher like, he's demanding this
and this and that, like he is ahigher authority, he is
commanded things in his word forus, right, but why is that?
(23:35):
You know, a lot of people thinkthat it's just scolding and
just trying to, you know, puppetpeople on this earth around.
But if we really look at theverses, if we really look at
what he says in the whole text,right, it talks about his love
for us and in love like, hewants to see us grow and he
(23:59):
wants us to learn and wants usto be able, like I said, to have
that relationship and like theexamples you were given giving
um, about parenting, right, likenow we're in this new phase
with a new baby, right, and youknow there's things that we have
to learn ourselves and there'sthings that we have to learn
with the baby.
(24:19):
And you know how do we learnthose things?
By having a relationship, by,you know, seeing day to day how
things go.
And you know, again, we all needthat instruction to to grow,
you know, and just like we needthe instruction of our father,
our kids need our instructionfrom us, you know, and it's
(24:45):
crazy because then, and it'scrazy because then, like again,
just reading the text and justseeing how bearing fruit, you
know, we see that, like, when wegive instruction, our children
end up learning and then theyend up passing that along or
they end up being that exampleand you know, saying, look, mom
(25:07):
and dad taught me this and eventhough they may know it
sometimes, like you said, butlike they crave that attention
from us, they crave that lovefrom us, because they know that
we're there to help them and inhelping them, like they're
learning and they get thatsatisfaction to know that, like
you know, we were there to showthem that well, what I was gonna
(25:29):
say, too, is like, what do youthink is meant by like bearing
much fruit?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
right like, and kind of like what you were talking
about a second ago?
Right like, and bearing fruitlike bearing fruit.
I I know some people can takeit as like a materialistic thing
, but it's more than that.
At least that's what I see.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I, yeah, Um, of course, materialistically, like
we can think bearing fruit, likeyou'll get something out of it
or you'll, you know, you'll beable to find something in it
materialistic wise, something init materialistic wise.
(26:10):
But, um, you know, bearingfruit also means, like knowledge
, wisdom, um, you'll gain asense of love.
You'll get, you'll gain, youknow, like the fruits of the
spirit as well.
You know we need the fruits ofthe spirit in order to walk this
, this life, right.
Um, a lot of times, you know, Idon't personally like, I end up
reminding myself of thesethings because, though, learning
(26:30):
of the fruits of the spirithelps me to be a better person,
to interact with other peopleand remind myself that, you know
, although things are happeningaround us, like we don't need to
be in that darkness, we don'tneed to be in that anxious
depression type of a cabinet oryou pull out of your car, you
(26:52):
know it's something deep withinyou that you can just bring out
(27:12):
to light.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
You know yeah, yeah, for sure, and for those of you
that don't know the fruits ofthe spirit.
You know we could do anotherepisode on that and kind of go
into it more deeply, but, um,it's basically like love, joy,
pain, patience, kindness, like alot of the things that you know
we basically do already, but weit's like it's like being more
(27:38):
controlled of yourself thanactually like anger and
maliciously doing things for youknow selfish ways and stuff,
and, like I said, we could gointo it more, but a lot of times
, um, the fruits um itself, like, and I could say, in my
relationship with my wife and myfamily, right, um, if I think
(28:00):
back before, you know, we weremarried a lot of times uh, just
being able to like talk aboutGod and and worship together and
and build a relationship in ourfamily, like, um, yes, uh,
you'll bear much fruit, isreferring to the physical aspect
(28:21):
, but it doesn't.
You know, it doesn't start there.
It starts with you know bearingfruit uh within, with you know
bearing fruit uh within, right,being able to learn to be
patient on certain situationsand learn to be, uh,
understanding and and wanting towant what's better for others
than what's done for you, right,wanting to be able to take care
(28:46):
of other people and help others.
Those are all fruits and thingsthat are referred to in these
verses.
But a lot of times, you know,we can just go back to it and
say, like, and think of ourgoals and what do we want to do?
And I want to start thisbusiness and make a bunch of
money and do that and this and Iwant to, you know, get this job
(29:07):
and make a bunch of money andblah, blah, blah.
But yes, like God is saying,you know, to trust in him and he
will make things happen, butyou need to do your part too.
Um, and that's not necessarilylike in the terms of like,
that's all that he wants for you, right, because our, you know
from what we see, our goals arelike minuscule right, and then
(29:31):
what he sees it's so much biggerright.
And we don't even like sometimeswe can't even comprehend it
right, some of the things thatthat we had a goal and goal to
do or plan to do like evensurpassed what, um, what he
allowed for us and brought to door plan to do like even
surpassed what, um, what heallowed for us and brought to us
(29:51):
, right, it was it's.
It's crazy to think that, but alot of times, um, it's just
like.
You know.
Going back to our kids andstuff we wouldn't want to give
our kids, you know rocks and andand snakes and garbage.
We would want to give themwhat's you know, the best things
, and God sees it the same way.
(30:14):
He's just asking you know thatwe remain in relationship with
him, we remain in the vine inthat connection, because it's
all a love story and it's allpart of being connected with him
and part of this whole you know, the whole gospel just being
(30:39):
able to basically be in unionwith him and that's that'll help
us get through this lifewithout you know feeling.
That'll help us get throughthis life without you know
feeling anxious and stressed andmad all the time and flustered,
and you know we can go throughthis life in a more calming way
and more understanding that he'sin control of the situation.
(31:03):
Whatever happens, he's going totake care of you.
You know, yes, you have to dothings.
Yes, you're going to have toact.
Yes, you're going to have to goto the talk to this person, go
to the unemployment office, goto this place, talk to someone
to help you find a job.
You know, talk, yes, you haveto do things.
(31:27):
But that doesn't necessarilymean that know you're gonna do
it all by yourself.
There's gonna be things thatare gonna be being worked on in
the background that you can'tcontrol, and that's the biggest
thing.
Like a lot of times, there'sthings that we can't control and
that are out of way, out of ourcontrol, and we're gonna be.
We stress out over those thingsand God is telling us not to.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
He's telling us to trust in him, to rely on him say
something quickly yeah andyou're saying that you know,
like entrusting in him and andremaining in him.
Um, it also reminded me, likethere's people who are also.
You know you're not by yourself,that's, that's the first thing.
(32:09):
You're not by yourself and thereare other people who are
remaining in him, right, praying, fasting on your behalf,
whether you know it or not.
Um, and god gives thatdiscernment to other people to
to intercede on your behalf andin you trying to work your way
(32:30):
through this life.
You know there are other peoplewho are covering you in prayer
and who are, you know, speakingon your behalf, and you never
know who that person may be.
You may or may not ever know,but the the thing is to continue
to seek God and allow that.
You know, whatever you'repraying for, whatever you're
(32:53):
asking for, like, you know hecan honor that and you know you
will see evidence of otherpeople who, like I said, are
working on your behalf as well.
And it just goes to show thelove that God has for us because
, you know, many times we hearafterwards like, oh, I was
praying for you on thissituation, and then you see how
(33:16):
God really used that person toencourage you, you know, in your
process in your seeking.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
You know, and again, it's just comforting to know
that god's holy spirit can dothat for us, right and yeah,
it's a beautiful imagery and thewhole like uh, tree of the
whole, you know, tree of lifethat god is, and it starts off
(33:44):
with you, a small seedling, andyour family can, you know,
become generations andgenerations of, um, worshipers
or generations and generationsof non-worshipers.
But at the end of the day, god,god is in control and, um,
we're coming up to the end ofthis episode and I do want to
(34:05):
say, you know, and I want to dothis every episode and try my
best to, kind of like, allow forthe time for it, because, you
know, we're trying to keep theseepisodes under a certain amount
of time just to help those thatare, you know, either commuting
or, um, listening on the go,because we want to bring God's
(34:28):
word and be able to relate to iton our everyday lives, right,
but at the same time, a lot ofthese words impact us too.
But there are people out therethat are listening, that are not
, you know, followers of Christ,or are curious or just
listening to learn a little bitmore and see, like, what it is
(34:50):
that this is all about.
And if you are one of thosepeople, you know I want to, you
know I want to invite you toallow God into your heart.
Um, and it's, you know, it'sthe best thing that you can do
in your life.
It's going to bring.
It's not going to bring youriches, it's not going to bring
you all sorts of uh, materialthings that you'd like, because
(35:14):
people say, oh, you know, like Iwant to make a lot of money,
I'm going to go see God and he'sgoing to make things happen.
And no, that's not how it works.
But I will guarantee that he'sgoing to bring peace through all
your trials.
He's going to bring, you know,comfort and understanding and
wisdom, because those are thecharacteristics and traits of
God.
He's a God of order and youknow, those are the things that
(35:36):
he's done in our lives.
And with a level head, yourdecisions are much better.
You make much better decisions.
And don't, you know, do thingslike go out with your friends to
drink or go out and smoke pot,or go out to the club or
whatever those things?
You know they don't lead to theright paths.
(35:57):
And, yes, I know we do need togo out there and talk to these
people, but it's not the bestplace to talk to somebody in a
club.
I'm just saying, and a lot oftimes.
You know it starts with adecision.
It starts off with everydecision that we make, you know,
the decision to follow Christor not to follow Christ, the
(36:17):
decision to go to the club ornot to go to the club, the
decision to smoke weed or notsmoke weed, the decision to
whatever the case and whateveryou're going through, the
decision to cheat on your spouseor not cheat on your spouse.
You know it all starts with adecision and those things are
what we have to live with.
And now you know, I want toinvite you today to.
(36:38):
You know, either close youreyes, if you can, or just bow
your head or just kind of like.
You know, stay in reverence.
But if you have been goingthrough some situations and you
feel like life is hopeless, youfeel like, why am I around?
What is this meaning of life?
(36:59):
Like my family's, you know, abunch of drunkards or whatever
the case that you're goingthrough, and you feel like it's
not.
You know there's something else, there's got to be something
else and God has been pulling onyour heart and you've arrived
here.
I just want to say it's okay,Trust in him and, you know, bow
(37:20):
your heads in reverence and say,father, god, I want to dedicate
my life to you.
I want to learn, god, I want todedicate my life to you.
I want to learn, I want tofollow you.
I want to increase in faith.
Help me to find a place that isgoing to teach me your word,
that is going to help me growcloser to you In Jesus name,
(37:43):
amen, amen.
And, as you guys know, you knowwe haven't really uploaded as
many episodes as we'd like to,but we are all over the place
now I've been able to get us onApple podcast, spotify, youtube.
We're doing these audiopodcasts for now, but we would
(38:05):
like to eventually do video andwe'll get there.
It's a process and whatever.
Just with everything.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Is there anything else you want to say before we
close off?
Thank you guys for listeningand again, trust in God and
allow him to just fill yourheart with his peace.
Speaker 1 (38:31):
So, again, thank you for being here.
You're listening to Gabe andStephanie Yepes in the Refined
in Truth podcast.
We're in Spotify, apple YouTubeFollow us.
(38:53):
Oh, we're on Spotify, apple,youtube, follow us.
Oh, we're on Facebook to followus.
Share if you found any value.
Tell your friends if you feelthat you know somebody that's
going through something likethis and everything.
Trusting God, rely that he'sgonna help you make the right
decision, ask for his wisdom andenjoy the rest of your day.
(39:15):
God bless, thank you.
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