LIVING RIGHT PODCAST EP #35 w/ Zoe McDowell | "Walking In the Spirit - Cultivating the Fruit of Patience"

"Walking In the Spirit - Cultivating the Fruit of Patience"
with Zoe McDowell

Episode Transcript

(00:14):
Right, good, easy, everybody. Welcome to the Lucius McDowell Living Riot

(00:45):
Podcast. I am just a standin guest tonight. I happen to be
Pastor Lucius McDowell's daughter. Then hepays McDowell. But I am so excited
to join you all, so joinus. Send this here, friends,
We've got links on YouTube, We'vegot caller ideas and pens that you can
share. Make sure that you getthis to somebody so that they can share

(01:07):
it with somebody. Amen. Well, tonight we are going to be jumping
into the word of God as itpertains to living Right. Y'all heard the
song, y'all heard the jingle.It is a Living Right podcast, And
so we'll be talking about a subjectmatter that is vitally important to the rightful
relationship that we need to help withGod. And this bulk of teaching that

(01:32):
my father has been walking through iswalking in the spirit, and so tonight
we're actually going to jump into thefruits of the spirit, focusing on patients.
But before we do that, Iwant to read a couple of scriptures
for you. Second Timothy Chapter three, verses sixteen through seventeen. It tests

(01:53):
all scripture is given by inspiration ofGod, and it's profitable for doctrine,
proof for correction, for instruction,and righteousness, that the Man of God
may be perfect thoroughly furnishing into allgood works. People are perishing you,

(02:14):
guys, left and right, forthe lack of knowledge. And so in
Proverbs four seven it says that wisdomis the principal, saying, therefore get
wisdom, and with all that gettingget some understanding, which is why you
guys are here, right, We'rehere to get understanding. And that's me
included. I'm not above anybody else. My dad isn't above anybody else.

(02:36):
You're all walking this thing out toget understanding. So let's talk about living
right. When I tell you it'sthe key, it is the key to
successful living. So the fruction thatwe're going to be jumping into snite is
Galatians Galatians five. If you havea Bible that you can flip through,
if you've got a phone that youcan open an Apple one and scroll through,

(03:00):
I encourage you to track along withus. Galatians five, sixteen through
twenty seven is or will start AndI'm going to start in the King Stains
version because you know it's got theumps that we need, and then I
will transition over, probably to maybethe NIV or the ESP which every one
you want to follow along with.But here it reads verse sixteen. This

(03:23):
I say, then, walk inthe spirit, and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. Forthe flesh lustice against the spirit, and
the spirit against the flesh. Andthese are contrary the one to the other,
so that ye cannot do the thingsthat you would. But if you

(03:46):
be led of the spirit, weare not under the law. Now the
works of the flesh are manifest,which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanliness,
leviciousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatredsof various emulations, wrath, strife,
ssitations, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such

(04:11):
a like of the witch. Itell you before, as I have also
told you in times past, thatthey which do such things shall not inherit
the Kingdom of God verse twenty two. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

(04:32):
meekness, temperance. Against such thereis no law. And they that are
christs have crucified the flesh with theaffections of us. If we live in
the spirit, let us also walkin the spirit. Well. That is
our text for tonight, And likeI said, I am honored that my

(04:57):
father would give me the opportunity toshare with you guys on the topic of
patients. My parents are the pastorsof a God That International Ministries located in
Hampton, Georgia forty forty Jonesborough Road, and so if you ever like what
you hear here on a Monday atnight, you've got to make sure that
you make your way to our ministry. We have Instagram page, Facebook Live,

(05:21):
but we want you in the building, So come and join us any
given Sunday at ten am and onWednesday night sometimes we have Bible studies that
we have small groups and so it'sa really wonderful community to be a part
of. But I just want tohonor them for the work that they have
done, the way that they havesacrificed their lives for the call of the

(05:42):
Kingdom. Honestly, it is somethingto marvel at and it's something to celebrate,
and I'm grateful that I'm a byproductof it and I get to be
a part of it with you guys. Tonight. So, like I said,
we're going to jump into this scripture, but I'm going to read it
from the NIV and it says versethirteen. I'm gonna back it up just

(06:03):
a little bit because I want usto get all of all that and all
that didn't good understanding. Right,you and my brother and sister, you
are called to be free, fraidGod. So we're called to be free,
called to have freedom in Christ Jesus. But do not use your freedom

(06:23):
to indulge the flesh. Rather serveone another humbly and love. Now,
I don't know about you, guys, but sometimes we do. We tend
to lean on our freedoms more thanwe should. We like to exercise our
rights and what feels good to us, what makes sense to us. But
it says not to indulge them,to endorse the flesh, but rather to

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serve one another humbly and love.Or the entire law is fulfilled in keeping
this one command. Love your neighboras you love yourself. A huge saying.
My father went through He's going througheach of the fruits that are displayed
in the scripture, and he dugin on love. So if you have

(07:08):
missed that go back and catch it, because he got a lot of good
nuggets. But we are to loveour neighbors as we love ourselves, and
sometimes we don't do a good jobwith that because we don't really know how
to love ourselves. Yikes. SoI encourage everyone to get into the practices
of self love according to the scripture, because there's the ways that we can

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We can embody love for ourselves thatactually doesn't glorify God. But we're gonna
get into what glorifying God looks likein just a little bit. Verse fifteen.
If you bien devour each other,watch out, or you will be
destroyed by each other. So inverse sixteen, it says, so I
say, walk by the spirit,and you will not gratify the desires of

(07:51):
the flesh. For the flesh desireswhat is contrary to the spirit, and
the spirit what is contrary to theflesh. The two desire two different things.
You can't have both. They don'treally mix. I remember one time
I was teaching on this topic andI gave the example of oil and water.

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And you know, when you are, I mean people who are cooks
in the kitchen, people who youknow are scientists. We all know that
the properties between oil and water donot mix, and they are not soluble
with each other. And so whenwe say, oh yeah, we're gonna
gratify the flesh, if they wouldsay that the flesh is like oil and
we say the spirit is like water, the fact that the two don't mix

(08:39):
when they're conjoined in the same tube, when they're conjoined in the same container,
you're gonna see a separation of thetwo. And really, depending on
how much you feed one or providesubstance to the other, would let you
know exactly where you stand when youtry to shake it up and it settles
out and you've got more oil thanyou have water, or you've got more

(09:00):
water than you got oil. Ifyou've got some things though, you've gotta
we've got to evaluate, right.So the things are the flesh and the
things of the spirit there contrary,and they will not mix. They are
in conflict with each other, sothat you are not to do whatever you
want, dykes. I don't knowabout you, guys, but I don't
like being told what to do.I don't like being told that my weight

(09:22):
doesn't make any sense, or thatit's not good, or that it's not
permissible. But it says right herein scripture that you do not do whatever
you want, but if you areled by the spirit, you are not
under the law Verse nineteen. Theacts of the flesh are obvious sexual im

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morality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, which God's hatred, discord, jealousy,
fits of rage, selfish ambition,dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness,
orgies and the like. I warnyou, as I did before,
that those who live like this willnot inherit the Kingdom of God. So

(10:07):
we get a long laundry list ofall the things that will not inherit the
Kingdom of God. It's our responsibilityto go through them with a fine tooth,
come and say, all right,God, like, am I tripping?
Do I have envy in my heart? Am I participating in drunkenness?
Am I? Am I having selfishambition? Am I jealous? Am I

(10:30):
seving seeds? A discord? Like? Is their hatred in my heart?
We have to figure out what thosethings are in our hearts so that we
can inherit the Kingdom of God.But here's what we've been told. What
we can embody our lives after itcomes right here in verse twenty two.
But the fruit of the spirit islove, joy, peace, forbearance,

(10:50):
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things,
there is no life. All thosewho long to belong to Christ have
crucified the flesh with its passions anddesires. Since we live by the spirit,

(11:11):
let us keep in step with thespirit. Now my father is already
untapped love, joy, and peace. And so the next the next fruit
of the spirit that is in lineis patient. And you know, I
don't think I realized what I waswhat I was signing up for, but

(11:33):
I said, yeah, I'll doit. I got you. You know,
I just willingly like, I'll helpout however I can. And and
in my process of preparation, Irealized that I was in for a doozy.
And so I looked at what thiswhat patience talks about, or how

(11:54):
it's described, and the amplified andthe amplified version it says that is an
even temper or forbearance, and soan even temper meaning that we're calmly engaging
the things that come our way,and then forbearance, that we have an
endurance about us and all of thethings that are described in the fruits of

(12:20):
the Spirit. Right, the love, the joy, the peace, patience,
the having it even temper, andto have kindness and goodness and faithfulness.
All of those the self control,the restraint, all of those things
are absolutely byproducts of a life withJesus Christ. Let's be very clear.
Let's just make you know, let'sjust cut it straight and dry from the

(12:41):
front, from the jump, right. We cannot embody these things naturally,
you cannot do this apart from Jesus, when I tell you, like his
whole ministry was calling for us torecognize our shortcomings and then to repent from
them, and then to believe inhim and the power of what he did,

(13:03):
and how that power allows us tohave access to authority and things in
the spirit. But it all isa byproduct of a life of Jesus Christ.
And so when he died for oursins and he rose from the dead,
and he returned with the news thathe was going to send the comforter,
the Holy Spirit, he was notsending an accessory to go along with

(13:26):
your new Christian outfit. He wasn'tsending something that you can just pick up
and put down. Or you knowwhat I think this looks nice with my
Christian outfit today, So I'm goingto start wearing love today, or I'm
going to start wearing peace today,or you know what, I think that
I'll need a little patience some Thursday, so I'm going to make sure I
lay that out for my Christian outfits. No, he literally all of these

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things that we're talking about, hegave it to us. But when he
sent the Holy Spirit, it wasso that it would permeate our spirit and
that it would alter our entire modeof existence. So when we talk about
having the fruits of the Spirit,I want us to realize that we're not
talking about having character traits that youtweak as behavior modifications. We are talking

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about the byproduct of what the Spiritis doing at work in you. And
so when you repent, when youdeny your flesh and you say that I
want to be a son or adaughter of Christ, a son or daughter
of Jesus, you are opening yourselfto receive what Jesus did on the cross

(14:37):
and what the Spirit of is goingto do in you, the work you're
going to do in you. Andthen from that place you will embody love,
you will embody peace, You willembody joy and patience and all the
fruits that come after. And Iwant us to think about what it means
to embody something, to embody something literally sounds like what it says to

(15:03):
give a body too right to giveas to cause something to become a part
of or to become a body,or to make a concrete or permissive a
perceptible attribute. So you are nowincorporating something. This is now you're The
fruit of the Spirit is now incarnatein you, right, And so I

(15:28):
want us to understand that the fruitsof the Spirit are one that, like
I said before, it doesn't happenoutside of Jesus Christ. And so if
you're listening to this and you're like, I want to have patience, I
want to walk in true love,I want to walk in true joy.
I want to have long suffering.I want to you know, have great

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self control. I'm telling you stophere, stop here and repent and ask
the Lord to come into your heartand to shift the things in you that
are that are natural, because thetruth be told, we are born in
sin and iniquity, and so thoseattributes are very natural to us. But

(16:08):
it takes the power of the Holyspirit and what is still on the cross
for us to do something different,for us to embody something different, and
for it to come from a trueplace that is rooted in true goodness.
And so yeah, I feel likeI'm saying a lot, but I hope
you guys are getting this. WhatI'm trying to say is I'm not trying

(16:30):
to belittle our humanity, nor amI time to belittle our human experience.
But what I am saying is thatyou know, in this life we have
to remember that we are body,spirit, and soul. We are three
parts, three components. So whenwe accept Christ, our spirit is made

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new. And we know that inTewo Corinthians five and seventeen. You know,
whoever's in Christ is a new creature, right, And so we call
that valivation. That's when we haveour salvation all week subjects into our lives
and we say thank you Jesus forshaving us. But our soul, the
rest of us. The soul isconsisting of our minds, our will,

(17:14):
and our emotions. And that,my dear friends, needs work, that
needs some work. And this process, when we choose to intentionally work on
that is called sanctification, and itis an every day in and out process,
and we work on it until wesee the Lord face to face.

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Right when we see him face toface on that day, we get to
call it glorification. We have workedour sanctification, and then we have made
it to the threshold of seeing ourfavor and he says, good, you
know, well, have done mygood and faithful servant. That is glorification.
But until we get there, weare responsible. We dwell in the

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realm of sanctification, and so wepush for our own sanctification. We are
setting our own preferences. We aremaking sure that we are submitting ourselves,
and we're aware of our behaviors andour coping mechanisms, and we ask God
if they please him. We askGod if the things that we do please

(18:22):
him. And if the answer isno, and we still have work to
do, we still have work todo. And I want to encourage you
because all of us have work todo. That is the whole purpose of
the faith, that is the purposeof the walk. And I think sometimes

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we get discouraged because we have toremind ourselves that we are actually starting back
at ground zero. Like you knowwhat, Darna, I didn't know body
this well today or I didn't getthis today, But it is the recognition
of where you fall and then beingable to recognize the gap that it is
that you from my imperfections to God'sperfection. The gap is Jesus Christ.

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And sometimes I think in the faithand into the Christian world, we get
so caught up and being able topresent ourselves as well or perfect or we've
done this well, We've done thisthing so well. But I think what
God is asking us for us forus to do is to always remember that
we don't do it well. Weactually don't do it well. We don't
do it well enough right. Andbecause we don't do it well, we

(19:33):
get to reach for a savior whodoes. And it's the blood that he
shed that qualifies us to be daughtersand sons of God. And so I
just want to take the pressure offof you. Okay, I'm gonna take
it off myself. Right, youcan't see me, but I just I
took off the cloak. I'm takingoff the pressure of trying to be perfect

(19:56):
because it is not about my perfection. It's about Jesus's perfection and my my
imperfections joined with his perfection that bringsus to the final destination where where we
want to be in Christ Jesus.So I that's all just kind of like
a setup for you know, whatwe're going to talk about. But I

(20:19):
think we just because we continue tohave this conversation with ourselves, make sure
that we that we're we're being honest, we're being honest, we're being uh
because sometimes we can lie to ourselvestoo, right, we want to we
want to think that we're better offthan we are. But but it's okay,

(20:41):
it's okay to be honest. Andso tonight's conversation is about patience.
Like I said, and you guys, when I say I did not know
I was getting into I said thatearlier, but I'm going to say it
again because I'm serious. I didn'tknow what I was getting into. And
so we're just gonna unpack it.Everybody take a deep breath, you know,

(21:02):
both of your seat goats, Becauseas thought pregaring for this talk,
I was like, you know,like, okay, what is patience.
Let's you know, just be verybasic, like what is the definition of
patience? And I realized that Ihad an immature idea of what patience was.
And you know, I'm grown.You know, I'm twenty eight years

(21:23):
old, so I've been alive foryou know, I mean not that long,
my god, but you know justenough right to know what patience is,
and you hear about it, andyou know your your children's trips,
classes and all the things. Andso if I was asked what patience was,
I probably would have told them orwhat I realized that if I would

(21:44):
have told them that patience is likewaiting on something, right, waiting on
something to come to pass. AndI would have said, you know,
patience is patiently waiting on something tocome to pass. And we already know
that that's like not okay, becausewhen you're defining a word, you can't
use the word in the definition,right. But I just would describe it

(22:06):
as, you know, oh,you're just calmly waiting for something to happen.
And in my mind, I thinkI envisioned the picture of a little
kid, you know, uh,in the store asking their mom for candy
and she's like, wait, towe finish? Wait do we finish so
you can get your candy? Orlike, mom, I want to play
this game, or I want toplay with a toy at home or whatever,

(22:29):
and there's like this period of timewhere you don't get to engage the
things that you desire, and theneventually you get it and the kid is
happy and everybody's good, and like, that's what patience is. No,
no, no, no. WhatI came to find out is that it's
actually so much more. I definedpatient patience as void of test or trial

(22:57):
or tribulation. But I'm a toread some definitions and we're gonna clearly see
that that's not what it is atall. So one of the definitions,
and you guys can write these downif you want to just track along with
track along with me. One ofthe definitions of patients is the capacity to

(23:17):
accept or tolerate delay, bubble,or suffering without getting angry or upset.
Yikes, that sounds get up tome. I don't know about y'all,
but I would not accept like Iwouldn't choose that definition of patients. Here.
I got some work. Keep let'skeep going. It is the ability

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to endure difficult circumstances in the faceof delay. It is tolerance of provocation
without responding with disrespect or anger.It is being able to wait a long
time without getting irritated or bored.It is bearing pains or trials calmly without

(24:03):
complaint. It is being steadfast despiteopposition, difficulty, and adversity. And
one of my mentors, she definespatients as the ability to stay the same
in spite of the circumstances around you. Now, I don't know. I

(24:26):
can't even go back through all ofthem because that was just a lot with
a mouthful. But here I amlike, oh yeah, patience is just
you know, patiently waiting. Andall of the definitions that I pulled up,
I think maybe cry a little bitbecause it all they all include pain,

(24:48):
they all include suffering. And soone of the things that I one
of my points that I'm gonna talkabout to know is that patience goes hand
in hand with suffering. I don'tknow about your guys. That's a lot.
That's a lot. Patience goes handin hand with suffering. And in
my moments of trying to define it, I really wondered, I was like,

(25:12):
why did I not associate patience withtrial? Like why did not I
think about patience having like hard things, you know, hard things coupled with
it? And I think the truthis my humanity and I'm sure others humanity
like everybody else too. In myhumanity, nobody wants to suffer. Nobody

(25:34):
wants to suffer. We do notwant to endure hardship. We would happily
omit it like you know what,you know, that's okay for them God,
But let it pass me, youknow, duck and dodge hardship.
And I think everybody can just it, can admit that. Right. We've

(25:56):
much rather let it be a simplebelow waiting instead of the suffering that it
comes coupled with. And I noticedthis in scripture, and so if you
guys would turn with me. InScripture two Romans, chapter five, first
number one, patience goes hand inhand with sufferings. But it's good,

(26:19):
it's good. Okay. Here wego. First number one. It says,
therefore, since we have been justifiedthrough faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we nowstand. And we both in the hope
of the glory of God. Herewe go verse three. Not only so,

(26:44):
but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance, and perseverance character and characterhope, and hope does not put us
to shame because God's love has beenpoured out into our hearts through the Holy

(27:06):
Spirit, who is given, whowas given to us, who has been
given to us. Now in theKing James version which you read earlier,
patience is referred to as long suffering. And so I'm going to read verses
three through five, but I'm goingto replace suffering with patience. Right.

(27:27):
Not only so, but we alsoglory in our patience. We glory in
the moment that we get to bepatient because we know that patience produces perseverance.
Patience produces endurance. Patience brings aboutthe strength, right, and that

(27:51):
brings about character that refines you,that it anchors you. It it pulls
godly principles into your life. Itbuilds your character. And then the character
produces hope, and hope does notput us to shame because God's love has
been poured out into our hearts tothe Holy Spirit, who has been given

(28:14):
to us. Y'all. The endresult, it starts with patience, but
the end result is hope. AndI have been reading this book. It
is a phenomenal book. And ifyou guys want to go look at it
and check it out. I thinkyou guys should. It is called The
Guarding Within my doctor Anita Phillips,and she talks about a lot of emotional

(28:37):
wellness and how emotional wellness is apart of how we cultivate our faith and
our walk with the Lord. Andsometimes in the past it's been omitted or
overlooked, but she does a beautifuljob of marrying the two and she brings
in science and all these things,and so definitely go check out her book.
But she talks about this concept offaith and hope, and it stuck

(28:59):
with me. And she said,faith believes that it can happen, but
hope says it can happen to me, It can happen for me. Right
to have hope is to believe andto have faith, But it is to
have enough that you believe that itis something that God is going to do
for you. And so all ofthese things working together, patience, perseverance,

(29:26):
character, hope comes back to encourageand inspire faith for yourself. Right,
And then I asked myself, Isaid, and what do we need
hope for? What do we needhope for? We need hope for continuous
patience and perseverance. You guys,it's a cycle. Different seasons call for

(29:49):
different expressions of our faith. Atsome point or another, you'll go to
another trial, or you'll faith somefamiliar or foreign difficulty, or your cross
paths with someone else who might needyour encouragement or your testimony. But and
this is where your faith and yourhope becomes their hope, and that allows

(30:11):
them to embody patients to persevere andthen to build character, and then to
have a hope of their own.So I think it's beautiful to see that
the final product, it's a feedbackloop. It's just going to go right
back to the beginning. Your hope, the hope that I now know is

(30:33):
real for me, that's real forZoe Page mc gowls. Is going to
inspire my patience. It's going toinspire me to be steadfast. It's going
to inspire me to still look throughthe hills from which comes my health in
the midst of what is painful,in the midst of what hurts, in
the midst of what doesn't make senseright, And so yeah, it's just

(30:55):
it's a beautiful revelation to know thatthat is what patience produces. And I
won't. Ever, I won't saythat I didn't understand. Like I'm obviously
I'm an intelligent twenty eight year oldwoman, So I knew what patience was,
but I don't think that I understoodits depth, the true depth,
just because you know, things aredifferent in different seasons, but when things

(31:18):
hit different in different seasons, ina real season, when the principal starts
knocking us on your front door andit opens your door and you open your
doors when it comes in your houseand it stays when you'll couch and makes
yourself at home, when that principlebecomes real, you start getting an up
close personal experience with it, andthe things that you thought you knew you

(31:40):
start learning more revelation about. Andso I'm learning the revelation of patience and
that it's not the pretty easy thingto do, but it's what we're called
to do, and so God asksof us. And so when when we're
embracing patients, usually we do it, and it is it's done where you're

(32:07):
reaching for a point, right like, oh, I'm being patient for this,
like the little kid with the candy, patient for the candy. It's
a desired result of goals and achievement, a point of arrival, something that
maybe you set your heart towards.And in this season, I asked myself,

(32:28):
like, Zoe, what are youbeing patient for? What are you
waiting on? What are you expecting? And my answer in the past,
I'm sure would have been some materialthing or you know, a degree,
a job, a relationship. I'mwaiting on this. I'm waiting on that

(32:51):
probably something that would allude to likean immediate need. But in this current
season that I'm walking in, Iam waiting for glory. I am waiting
for glory. And I know thatthat sounds really like, I don't know,

(33:13):
like a concept in the air,like I don't know if people think
about glory. And I even haveto spend time with what glory is,
right, which we'll talk about injust a second. But I know that
I am hungry for God. Iam pursuing the Lord, just with the
expectation that he's going to show upwith all the things that I need in

(33:37):
this season. And so yeah,I could talk about that forever. But
one of the things that has beenbeneficial to me and in this season,
I mean, I've endured so muchtrial, pain, everything in my life
all the pillars in my life.They seem to have the things that were

(33:58):
holding me together. They seem todis here one after the other, and
they were falling. And they allhappened in a quick matter of six weeks.
And I said, God, whatis happening? What are you doing?
And this particular scripture is what hasbeen holding me down in it and
what I have so I have hopeto look forward to. This is this

(34:20):
is literally me walking in patience.Right, I get to be hopeful for
this and I think, I thinkI'm going to read all of it.
I think that's what's going to happeneverybody, if you can. Just turned
to Romans Apes, turned to Romanseight, and what're you going to start
at the first the first verse andwork our way down? But it says

(34:45):
there is therefore now no condemnation forthose who are in Christ. Jesus paused
because that is a huge revelation.And to know that no matter what you've
done, no matter what lie theenemy tries to tell you or reminds you

(35:06):
of, or something he tries tobring up from your past, when you
are in Christ Jesus, you area new creature. Likely that's what it
says, and that's what he means. And so there is no condemnation for
you, right, there is nohell to put you in. You are
a divine appointed daughter and son ofthe King. And so I say that,
and I want to seyvest it becauseit's got good nuggets in it.

(35:29):
Verse two and it says, forthe law of the Spirit of life has
set you free in Christ Jesus fromthe law of sin and death. For
God has done with the law,weakened by the flesh, could not do.
This is talking about Jesus Christ bysending his own son in the likeness

(35:49):
of sinful flesh, and for sinhe condemned sin. He pointed the singer
of the thing that's pointing at usright, And in order that we will
be able to to that the righteousrepirements of the Law would be fulfilled in
us who walk not according to theflesh, but according to the spirit,
which is what we're talking about tonight. Right, we're opening, we're digging

(36:14):
deep into patients, but we're walking. We're doing our best to walk in
the fruits of the spirit, accordingto the spirit. For those who live
according to the flesh, set theirminds on the thing of the flesh.
But those who live according to thespirit set their minds on the things of
the spirit. For the set mindof the flesh is death. Pause,

(36:40):
y'all. I know it sounds heavy. I know that sounds crazy. Flesh
will kill you. Flesh will killyou. You would die. Pears are
death, and then you will diea literal one. Okay. We cannot
let the enemy. I almost saidthis. I thought about this the other

(37:01):
day. We cannot let the enemytrick us into believing that we have freedom
that we don't have. We can'twe can't allow the enemy to present a
freedom to us that it's actually atrap. It's actually sins, actually going
to lure you into more sin andput you in more bondage, and you

(37:24):
won't know what's right from wrong.You won't know what's up from down or
let's from right. And Scripture,I think it's early in Romans where it
talks about God giving people away totheir base mind. It's that's the Romans
one right, where people are socaught up in their sin that He just

(37:44):
lets them, lets them go.Like, you know what, I can't.
I can't, I can't fight this. I can't fight you in this
anymore. If that's what you want, I'll let you have it. But
I'm also grateful that we serve Godand hands are always open, the arms
that are always open, that evenif it's as far as you go,
he chooses to leave the ninety whenI'm for you the ones, and he
will pursue you until you turn aroundand say, you know what, Jesus,

(38:06):
actually this is what I need,not just what I want. Right,
Look, I don't mess the lostplace in those scriptures, but yeah,
I just I wanted to say thatbecause the enemy he plays with us.
And if we think that we getto make a decision or we get
to make a call, but ifwe don't run that back through the filter

(38:29):
of God, like and not evenjust God, but like God does just
glorify you? Like God, doesthis bring you glory? If it doesn't
bring you glory, then I probablyshouldn't be engaging it, right, I
probably shouldn't engage it. Okay,I'm going to just start at I think
I start that time. Yes,for those who live according to the flesh,

(38:53):
that their minds on the things ofthe flesh. For those who live
according to the Spirit, set theirminds on the things of the Spirit.
There here we go for the setFor to set the mind on the flesh
is death, but to set themind on the spirit is life and peace.
For the mind that is set onthe flesh is hostile to God.

(39:15):
Hostile. It's not going to passthe test. It's not going to pass
the glorify God's test because it's hostile. Right, for it is not submit
to God's law. Indeed, itcannot. Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. You can't pleaseand friends, I know you think you
can do both. Yi help us, holy Goths. I know we think

(39:37):
that we can engage this and engagethat, and that we're going to get
away with it, and that it'sgoing to be okay. That God is
saying that it's not going to pleasehim. We can't. We can't do
both. However, you, you, however, are not in the flesh,
okay, because we've been regeemed atHallolu. But you are in the

(39:57):
spirit. If in fact, theSpirit of God w you. Anyone who
does not have the Spirit of Christdoes not belong to him. And if
Christ is in you, although thebody is dead because of sin, the
spirit is life because of righteousness.Thank you, guys, for making us
righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.Verse eleven. If the spirit of Him
who raises Jesus from the dead dwellsin you, he who raised Christ from

(40:22):
the dead will also give life toyour mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells
in you. Okay, this iswhere I wanted to get to first of
all. So, then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, but according to the I'msorry, I remember that we are debtors,

(40:42):
not to the flesh, to liveaccording to the flesh. For if
you live according to the flesh,you will die. But you, but
by the spirit, you put todeath to Jesus the body, you will
live. For all who are loveof the Spirit are sons of Gods.
For you did not receive the spiritof slavery to fall back into fear.

(41:06):
You didn't receive that. You didn'treceive the fear, you didn't receive the
doubt. You didn't receive. Wedidn't receive the spirit of slavery to fall
back into anything the enemy has triedto put on us. But you have
received the spirit of adoption as sonby whom we cry abba Father. The
spirit himself bears witness with our spiritthat we are children of God. And

(41:27):
if then heirs, heirs of Godand fellow airs with Christ, provided be
suffered, here, we got sufferwith Him in order that we may also
be glorified with him. I I'mgonna read his next first, because I'm
getting ahead of myself verse eighteen.For I consider that the sufferings of this

(41:52):
present time are not worth comparing tothe glory that is to be revealed in
us suffering. Patience and suffering gohand in hand. But suffering and glory
also do to that is so goodsuffering by way of Christ. And what

(42:16):
God has for you, like whenyou seek Him and you're trying to to
to seek His kingdom and know whatHe wants for you. The promise,
the promise is glory, the glory, and the true glory is understanding the

(42:36):
glory of God right like the gloryglory is just simply put, it is
the presence of God. Right.It is the evidence of the presence of
God. But it's in his presencethat he reveals purpose, and it's in
his presence that he reveals plans,and it's in his presence that he'll fortify

(42:58):
your spirits as will know right mindwithin you, and he'll he'll grow you
up to be the woman of God, of the man of God that you're
called to be. So if Iwould grab the aim for glory, then
I would any other accomplishment, everyaccomplishment that ever will see Zoe paye me
God will name will come after glory. It will come after I pursue God

(43:21):
for everything that he is, asI am pursuing a true relationship with him.
Then well the things we revealed tome that I should walk into,
and then glory will come, andthen we can celebrate because not only had
Caravi I been this a diligent seekerof him, but that patience is now

(43:42):
going to bring hope. And nowmy hope gets to be somebody else's hope
that is open you a full thing, that is a beautiful thing. In
Psalms sixteen eleven, it says thatthe Lord you make known to me the
path of life in your right,in your presence, there is fullness and
joy, and at your right handsour pleasures. Ever more m I want

(44:10):
to challenge us to be patient,but not for those things that we want,
the natural things that we want.I want us to be patient for
God's glory. I want us tobe patient and seeking him and pursuing him
so that we know the intricacies ofhis heart, that we would have true
relationship with him and He would revealthings to us that then we can accomplish

(44:35):
what He set us out to do. And so it is not glory for
my name, but it is gloryfor his. I'm being excited. I'll
be getting excited by myself on theother side of his microphone. Yeah,
it is. Uh, it isa beautiful thing. And I think I

(44:59):
know that we are talking about thefruits of the spirit and patience and specifically,
but I think there's one as we'reabout to close, one thing that
I appreciate about the scriptures, andin chapter six it talks about of relations.

(45:20):
Chapter six it says that we're tocarry each other's burdens in this way
so that you fulfill the law ofChrist. As we are going through this
process of like actively engaging our sanctification, right because it's not just an accessory
you put on with our Christian outfit. It is like the embodiment of the
spirit, and what is a byproductof our submission to the Lord and to

(45:45):
his Kingdom and how he asks usto live right. It is also equally
important to do it in community andto do it with people. To do
it with godly communities. If youare not in a church, if you
have a Christian you know, asmall group or a friend group, I

(46:06):
encourage you to do so. Idon't know where you've got to go.
I don't know what you got todo, but it is you can't do
the Christian walk alone. And youneed people to be able to help you
be refined. You need people whoare going to remind you of what the
Word says. You need people whoare going to encourage you to stand strong.

(46:28):
And I know that this podcast isone example of how that can work
in your life. But we're onthe other side of a microphone. I
need you to have somebody you cantext and call, you know, because
patient enduring things is not easy.Like I said in this last season of
my life, the last three monthshave been the heaviest things I have ever

(46:49):
endured in my life. In mylife, if I did not have the
community of discipleship, the community ofmy church home, the community of my
parents, my best friend, peoplewho are going to remind you of what
God says about me and how Iwas to show up in the world,
I would crumble. I would crumble, we would not make it, we

(47:10):
would not make it, and thenmy patience would be would just would dwindle
to nothing. So I encourage youto seek that and to walk out this
Christian life with people. So whenyou when you get tried and you have
to endure patience or you have todisplay patients, you have people who are

(47:31):
loving and kind enough to remind youwhat God says. When you have to
embody self control and you want todo something that you know you shouldn't,
you can be able to call yourbrother or your sister in Christ and they
can reaffirm what God is saying aboutyou, or they can they can help
redirect you gentlely or sometimes partially.You know, sometimes you have to take
a little wook and sometimes but youknow, always in love right, and

(47:53):
that's what the scripture says in chaptersix, it says always in love right
Bury We carry each other's burdens.And so I just I employed I implore
you to uh to to get incommunity and to get real with yourself with
the Lord. Right. This isabout our sanctification. This is about how

(48:15):
we can better better display the bodyof Christ on your right, because there
are people who don't know Jesus andpeople who don't know the Lord, and
they're gonna be looking at you andyour fruit. They're gonna be looking at
you and how you embody Christ andmake a decision and if they want to
engage the Jesus that we know cansave them, that we know can heal
them, that we know can setthem free, right, And so we

(48:37):
have a responsibility to show up inthat way. And so as I am,
you know, coming up on theselast few minutes, I wanted to
take just a few moments to prayover everybody who's listening, and to just
pray for our patience, because likeI said, then, I have been

(49:00):
I mean when I say ugly andugly season, but it has been the
prayers of the saints and the prayersof friends, and the prayers of people
who disciple me and who love Godenough to love me that have carried me
through. And so by the GodLord, I just thank you for every

(49:21):
so every being under the sound ofmy voice. God, I don't know
where they are, I don't knowwhat city or country, what state of
mind what condition. But God,I pray that you would bless them.
God, I pray that you wouldbe near to them. God, I
pray that you would you would justbring your comfort to them, that you
would send your comfort, and yousent the Holy Spirit so that we would

(49:44):
be comforted in our moments that arehard. God, in our moments but
don't feel so great God, Andso I thank you that you are doing
just that. God. Your wordsays and I say affording that you are
the creator of the ends of theearth, and that you don't grow faint
or weary. God. And soI thank you that you are strong and
mighty. I thank you that youare bigger than every problem that we will

(50:07):
ever face. I thank you thatyou know the beginning and the end.
God. At the beginning, youknow the process. You know what we're
gonna end up. God. AndI thank you that we get to put
our hope and our trust in you. That I thank you that your thoughts
towards us are good. I thankyou that your heart towards us is good.

(50:27):
God, and you want to reconcileus back to you so that we
could walk in the fullness of life. God. I thank you that you
give your power to the faith.God. I thank you that you are
we are. You are just passingyour angels to support, to undergird,
to surround those who are weary God, those who are faith what. I

(50:47):
thank you that you are increasing theirstrength. That's what the word says it.
So that you increase their strength.And even the youth shall faint and
not be really and men's young menshall feel, shall not fall exhausted because
they wait on the Lord who willrenew their strengths. So God, I
thank you for renewing our strength.I thank you that you are keeping us

(51:09):
above water. I thank you thatyou are mounting us up like egos,
God, and that we will soarGod, above every trial, above every
tribulation. God, I thank youthat our eyes will be fixed on you.
That you are the Alpha and theomega beginning and end. God,
we see you as bigger than anyproblem we're facing. We reach for you

(51:30):
when we go through trial, wereach for you when we're in a hard
time. God, I thank youthat we would run and not be weary.
That I thank you for those whoare running. I thank you for
those who are who have a vision, who have sought you, and who
have been diligent to getting your presenceand to be obedient to what you called

(51:52):
them to do. God, Ipray that you would continue to underdirt them.
God. I pray that they wouldrun, run and run and run
God, and be encouraged and meetpeople along the way who encourage them to
keep bringing and to keep going,and to keep believing and to keep having
faith and to keep believing in thepower of Jesus Christ backs and they continue

(52:15):
to walk in their authority as believers, as Christians. God, I thank
you that they won't faint because youdon't. Thank God. We don't think
because you don't. Thank God.We don't get weary because you don't get
weary. We are relying on yourstrength, not our own. God.
I thank you that it is inour in our weakness, that you are

(52:37):
made strong. That's literally what thescripture says. You are made strong in
our weakness. And so I amgrateful God. I'm grateful to you in
this moment for me. God,I thank you that you know where I
am. But what I've been goingthrough, the things that other people don't
get to see, and in theheaviness that I've walked through. But God,
I thank you that you are indoing a right mind within me,
that you're you're giving me a newstrength. God. And I thank you

(53:00):
that this is something that well isn'tjust for me, God, but it's
for the masses. This is ustapping into You, is for the masses.
God, us looking at you andseeking you and seeking your words,
searching this scriptures, chewing on aday and night. It is for your
glory, God, And so Iask that it would be for your glory

(53:22):
everything we do. I pray thatyou would give us the heart that would
truly embody, that that it's foryour glory God, not ours, but
yours. That we would seek yourrighteousness God, not for us, but
for you God. That we wouldseek sanctification God, not for us but
for you. God. I thankyou that you are making us into the

(53:42):
beautiful bride of Christ, the beautifulbride of Christ. And when the bridegroom
comes back, God, that wewill be ready, and that we would
have we will be linking arms withour neighbors, our friends, our family
members. God, that we wouldhave went out and grabbed a multitude of
souls to be a part of usas we go on to glory Gods and

(54:04):
we get to experience glorification. Weget to experience your goodness. You get
to experience your everlasting presence. God. I thank you for it. I
thank you for it in Jesus Mighty, Mighty, Mighty Mighty, and Mattess
name, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, you guys,
I am. I am so excitedone because this is the big feat.

(54:27):
I'm so grateful and like I saidthat, my father would offer the opportunity
for me to share with you guystonight. And I don't know, I
just I feel like something special ishappening, and so I am open and
I'm excited to what the Lord isdoing and everyone's spirit, especially mine.
But before I sign off, Iwant to just implore you or just encourage

(54:50):
you. You know, as youare going through your weeks, speak the
Lord, pray, be an activeparticipant in your sanctification. You be an
active participant in your sanctification. Iwant you to notice when you don't embody
patience. I want you to noticewhen you don't embody love. I want
you to notice when you don't embodyself control or you know whatever it is

(55:15):
that you know that you know onedrive that I probably wasn't cool. I'm
sorry and repent and get right backon track. You feel me, So,
I'm sorry, Drive, I wastripping. I'm gonna get right back
right because you don't have to beperfect. We could just where ever,
growing ever learning. But as yougo there are three songs. There's just
music. There's I think it's beautifulwhen you cultivate us an atmosphere of worship

(55:37):
throughout your week. And one ofthe songs that I have been chewing on
recently that has been so good andhas been right in line with you know,
just enduring and trusting God and waitingfor Him to do the you know,
whatever he is doing in our lives. It's called trust in God by
elevation worship. When I tell youthis thing has been on reap heat repeat

(56:00):
baby, okay. I will listento it all the time, over and
over and over, and it hasblessed my spirit. The edification that I
received has been wonderful. The secondsong I want to put before you is
wait on You by Elevation Worship aswell. It just goes crazy. You
know, I'm gonna wait on you. You know it just it's good,

(56:23):
it's good, and it's encouraging andbut literally it's singing the words that we
just said in the prayer in Isaiahforty. And I think that's why I
love it, because when you getto sing scripture over yourself, you're singing
promises over yourself. You're singing thingsthat God honors. God honors his word
more than his name, right,and so like because of his word is

(56:45):
his bond. And so he isnot gonna let you fall, right,
He's you're gonna mount up like anego. You're going to shore, You're
gonna run and not be your You'regonna walk in. You're not going to
fay. And so I say,chew on that, chew on that song
as well. And the fun songI will suggest tonight is none other than
the Redferend Bishop Doctor Lucius McDowell.I wish I had a little Found effect

(57:10):
thing for my daddy. But mydad has an album and it is on
all streaming platforms and this song iscalled he Never Failed Me Yet. Okay,
Now, this song is gonna getyou a little happy, you know,
I'm saying it's gonna encourage you inthe word and your feet. Okay,
but it is a google it isa wonderful song, and that entire
project is a beautiful project. SoI encourage you to listen to it.

(57:31):
My mom sings on it, mysister sings on it. I might be
have a little feature on there toowhich I want to hear a little song
or two. But thank you guysso much. Like I said, then,
the name of his album is calledThrough Him, Through Him, Very
Simple by Lucius mc dowell. Sogo check it out. Let us know

(57:52):
what you think. If you guyshave any you know, thoughts or testimonies
regarding this podcast, and it's sopeople's timing every Monday at eight o'clock and
so I employ you to do itagain. But if you want to send
us an email let us know thatyou enjoyed what you've heard a testimony at
Lucius mcgowell Ministries at gmail dot com, givema dot com. And if you

(58:15):
guys want to follow me personally,I am on social media at double Underscore
Zoe z O E. McDowell andyou all, y'all can also follow a
brand of mind that is going tobe an encouragement page and it's called Lewis
Bloom and that's at L I LL I E S dot b l M
on Instagram. And so I justwant to thank you guys for joining us.

(58:37):
So we hope you catch you hereback here next Monday, eight pm.
Until then, you guys, stayright okay and live a blessed life.

(59:00):
Oh about that game, Get enoughto stand? It's near the rides
to the ride in all of Baggetget en after staging Sally Rides si R podcast