"Spiritual Appetites Amidst Cultural Thirsts: Hungry 4 the More" S1 Ep12

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Thirst is something we experience when the pituitary gland secretes two hormones, one

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causing a physical reaction in the kidneys and the other in the hypothalamus, which sends

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a signal to reduce secretion.

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We all thirst for something.

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In this episode of Keep It 100, we hit the table to talk about spiritual appetites and

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cultural thirst.

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The conclusion will change the game for you.

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Sean and Christa Smith with the Keep It 100 podcast.

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I organizations

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about that. Come on. We're talking about what it is to be spiritually thirsty.

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And I love where you're going to take us on this episode.

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It's going to be really good. You know, it's funny today.

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I was looking on the AOL homepage and it said,

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strange meals that people actually ate during the middle ages.

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And as always, I had that little curiosity.

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So I clicked and all of a sudden I found out during the middle ages,

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they ate porpoise pudding. Gross.

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They ate sheep private parts. Okay. That genuinely makes me like gag.

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I feel weird inside. I walked away from the table.

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I wouldn't have been with the Knights of the Round Table on that day. Right?

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No. They ate beaver tails. Okay.

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Texture issues for sure.

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Peter, where are you at? They ate rabbit fetuses. What? Yes.

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Oh, that's horrible. It was a delicacy during the time.

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That is awful. They ate well gunk only because I don't know what else to call it.

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But you know, when your cats cough up fur balls,

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I guess whales cough up something and they ate it. What? In the middle ages.

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Oh, I'm not kidding. This like actually genuinely grosses me out.

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All right. You ready for this? Oh, come on. Where are you at? Cheesecake factory?

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They had deer organ pie. Oh,

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deer organ pie. Oh, in the list. I can't take any more in the list.

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I tell you what, I think we can both agree.

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That's like disgusting. Number one. Number two,

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people definitely had different tastes back in the day. Okay.

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So question for you.

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What is the oddest thing that you've ever eaten?

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Now, at first it was going to say liver, but to many people, that's not odd.

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I just have not developed the palate. But the weirdest thing,

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I was down with a good friend of mine, ET,

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and he took me out in Louisiana and I ate crocodile tail. What?

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I didn't even think I would like it. I picture the crocodile. I'm, you know,

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a little kid. I'm thinking Peter Pan and the thing that bit Captain Hook.

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Right. But guess what? It tastes like chicken.

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Oh my gosh. Did it have the skin on it or was it just to me? No, no, no.

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They didn't have the skin. I don't know if you get a chew through that.

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That's what I was wondering. It was quite chewy, but it tasted like chicken.

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It was actually good.

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They always say that about like meats. They'd like,

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they're like, it tastes like chicken and like weirdly enough it does.

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That's like the drawer in the house that you throw everything in that you don't

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really put in another drawer. Right. Right. Right. Right.

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How about you? What's the oddest thing you ever ate? You know, it's funny.

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I don't know if I've eaten a ton of odd things.

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I would probably say the oddest thing is like S cargo.

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So I did eat snails one time and actually they were just super salty,

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but they weren't that bad. When you're a little girl,

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do you ever think you'd eat snails? No, you accidentally stepped on them.

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Right. That was always me. And then I always felt really bad, but no,

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definitely never was I thinking I was going to eat it.

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I can't think eating a snail. I mean, they leave what looks like snot tracks.

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I know. All underground. This is not good. I know.

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What's the weirdest thing you've ever drank? Well,

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some people are going to be shocked by this,

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but the weirdest thing I ever drank is boba tea. Right.

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Some people are like, that's their daily thing and they love it.

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I know all you hipsters out there are kind of booing me,

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but let me just tell you right now, it is an acquired taste that I have not acquired.

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You know what? I would have to be totally dehydrated and thirsty to drink boba tea.

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You know what? I kind of have to agree. We're not boba fans.

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And I know we might be getting booed right now. Texture. Right? It's all about

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it. It is. It's a texture thing for me. I'm just like, I can't do it. I can't.

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But what's really interesting about that is there is everyone is looking for

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something to refresh them and people are searching for what's that great spiritual

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thirst and we're in a world really trying to find out what's going to quench that

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thirst. And we all know the answer as followers of Jesus,

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but truly there is a collective yearning for the meaning and direction in their

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life. No doubt about it.

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These latter days are definitely a time of great spiritual thirst.

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That reminds me of a quote by Ravi Zacharias. He says,

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no matter how much we try to run away from this thirst for the answer to life,

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for the meaning of life, the intensity, only get stronger and stronger.

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We cannot escape these spiritual hungers.

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And then the Bible says it like this in Proverbs 4.23 above all else,

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guard your heart for out of it is the wellspring of life.

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In other words, your appetite determines your destiny.

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If I know the things that you are hungry for that you thirst for,

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that you have an appetite for,

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I also know what direction your life is heading.

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You know, a real key for our spiritual survival is the control,

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the regulation and even the redirection of our appetites because the reality is

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we crave what we are so used to eating and sometimes those things are not good

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for us. But in order to really develop the right appetites for us,

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we have to feed on the things that are good for us.

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And that might sound elementary, but it really is essential.

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What you feed on is truly what you're going to cultivate in your life.

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So your spiritual appetite is everything connected to your spiritual relationship

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with the Lord.

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And that's really what this episode is all about is that you have to recognize the

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cultural thirst of today are things that are not good.

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And you have to move from those things that are not good for you spiritually to

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the things that are good for you.

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So let's take a minute just to define what we mean by appetites in this

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spiritual sense.

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Your appetites are your thoughts, what you think about,

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how you process, what you gravitate towards,

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what pulls you in, what you're drawn by.

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These are the things that we're speaking of appetites and we're saying your

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appetites determine your destiny.

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We're talking about what are the things that you focus on and what are the

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things that are drawing you in right now.

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We have certain facts about our spiritual appetite.

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One fact is a true spiritual appetite.

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We're talking about a true spiritual appetite as opposed to people have a

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spiritual appetite.

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And as a result of that, some people, they may go to a psychic, some people,

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they may pursue some sort of psychotic drug experience.

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Someone else may try to pursue a sexual liaison.

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It's their way of trying to answer your spiritual appetite,

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but a true spiritual appetite is a gift.

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When I say it's a gift, it's not so much something that you can conjure up.

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You can't conjure up spiritual hunger.

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You only can position yourself to receive it.

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That's right.

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Because true spiritual hunger is a grace.

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And as you wait upon the Lord and you're getting around Him,

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that begins to develop in your life more and more and more.

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And I was thinking about this great healing revivalist during the early 1900s

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named John G. Lake.

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He actually was a contemporary of W. J. Seymour, a one-eyed black man who's

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the catalyst known for the great Azusa Street revival.

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John G. Lake, who was used in healing tremendously, said of W. J. Seymour.

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He says he was the hungriest for God man that he had ever seen.

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He said that he had more in his life than any man he had met up to that point.

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And he begins to describe in his book, Spiritual Hunger,

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he begins to describe W. J. Seymour.

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And he said that he was praying three or four hours a day and he had not yet

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received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

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And so he upped it to seeking God five to six hours a day in prayer.

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And John G. Lake said, when he finally received the baptism of the Holy Spirit,

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it glorified him and it also did the same for everyone who came around him.

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Is that powerful?

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That is so powerful.

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I mean, to seek God that many hours and to really see the manifestation of

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the intimacy he walked in is truly what propelled the healing ministry within him.

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And I think that so many times we forget that personal relationship is truly the

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foundation for everything that's seen in public, that the public ministry that we

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walk in is just a byproduct of that personal spiritual hunger that we're

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seeking in the private place, the secret place.

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You know, another fact of talking about true spiritual appetite,

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it really must be acted upon or it well-fade.

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And here's the truth.

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You feed the appetite you do have.

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And when you sense the urge to draw near, you got to act on it.

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Appetites can be cultivated and dissipated.

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So when you're spiritually hungry, we all know you make a beeline for your prayer

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closet because you know that's where God awaits.

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So you feed what you have and you beeline for God knowing he's what awaits when

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you're drawing near.

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That speaks volume.

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Another fact of spiritual appetites is a true spiritual appetite will release

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heaven's fullness to overflow in your life.

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Jesus talked about this in Matthew five, six, when he said, blessed are those who

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will hunger and thirst for righteousness.

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Now, now wait for it.

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They will be filled.

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And so what he's saying in that is that if you will hunger and thirst for

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righteousness, God is going to come through.

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He's not going to leave you hanging.

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There's even another verse that says God will pour water on them that are thirsty.

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Water there is actually referring to a spiritual outpouring.

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So the bottom line is desperation determines destination.

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And I think of Mariah Woodworth-Ettor who's called the grandmother to Pentecost

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because she received the baptism of the Holy Ghost prior to the Zusa Street revival.

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She's so sought God and so sought for revival that one time there's a story of her

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preaching open air and the then equivalent of hooligans and gangbangers

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bum rushed her open air meeting to disrupt it.

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And they actually were violent.

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Like they were coming through with knives.

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They were going to hurt folks.

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And this grandmother of the faith pointed her finger at them and she says, God will

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judge the next one of you that disrupts this meeting.

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And they all froze like in suspended animation till she got finished.

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And then they got saved and God did mighty things.

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But I thought, here's a woman that was so hungry for God that even people who were

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adversarial, we're not talking about, they were agnostics or atheists.

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We're talking about violent demonstrators got saved on the spot.

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That's what spiritual appetite will do for you.

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Lord, do it today.

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A true spiritual appetite also will influence others for Jesus and impact atmosphere.

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And this is something that I kind of want to share a little story.

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When I went and planted campus ministry at the University of California, Chico, at

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that time, it was the number one party school in America, according to a certain

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periodical, it was being advertised at that time by MTV that if you want a contest,

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they would fly you and your date for what was called Pioneer Week, a week long of

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revelry and party at Chico State.

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And all of a sudden I'm watching this CNN report and I felt the Lord call me to go

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there and to plant a campus ministry.

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When I went there, I began to see people get saved and it was awesome.

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And I felt like I had a Solomon moment, Christa, where God kind of came to me and

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said, what do you want to be the marking on students that would come up in this

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ministry?

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And I thought, man, I want them to be worshipers.

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I want them to be prayer warriors.

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I want them to be evangelistic.

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I want them to be strong in the moving of the Holy Spirit and have a value for him

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as a person in his ministry.

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And I started thinking, I don't know which one I could really put my finger on.

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It's that one thing.

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And then I had a flash, kind of like the SAT test.

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It isn't A, it isn't B, it's in C, it's in D, it's E, all of the above.

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I said, God, what would make them all of the above?

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And then it dawned on me that the thing that would make them all of the above is

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hunger.

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And so I said, God, give me students that are hungry for you because if they were

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hungry for you, they're going to impact people for Jesus and they're going to shift

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atmospheres.

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And so that led me to this verse in Psalms 107.

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And it basically says in Psalms 107 33 to 38 that when God was going to change the

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geography of a land spiritually speaking, he says, I place the hungry there and then

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there will come a great harvest.

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And so hungry people bring about kingdom activity.

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That is so good.

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You know, on Monday night, we were in Cedar Hill, Texas, and we were with the

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Trinity young adults.

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And to date for me, it was one of the most special gatherings I've ever been a

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part of.

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Yes.

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And, you know, we had been invited by Laura and Gabe, we're going to be hearing

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from Laura in this episode and she's amazing.

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She's just been praying and contending and she's always been one that's been

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marked with fire, but she's cultivating an atmosphere of young, young adults and

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young revivalists that have the same fire.

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When you're around people that have a spiritual appetite, it's contagious.

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And so she has run with people that have had this insatiable spiritual appetite

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for God, just always going after the more.

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And that same atmosphere was in this young adult ministry.

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So you and I went on Monday night and there was this incredible outpouring of

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the glory of God and the kids just engaged with it.

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It was a night of marking.

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It was a night of even repentance and exchanging things, things that had been

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previously off limits from the Lord.

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There was a moment where we just all laid things before the Lord and just said,

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God, we choose you.

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We put you above all things.

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We give you all of who we are.

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We fully surrender because we know nothing will ever satisfy because when you

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have an encounter with God and he marks you, you're never the same.

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And then you never settle for the counterfeit because you've encountered

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the genuine love of God.

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What was interesting about that night is when I got up, I hadn't even

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my sermon planned, but as soon as I got up there, I saw all these little seven

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year old Christas in the audience.

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And what was unique about that, if you listen to one of our first podcasts, we

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talked about those moments that marked us in our own personal walk.

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And I believe we called it the fingerprints of God.

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And I really began to share because I felt the Lord share through me that

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evening on Monday night that when I saw myself in the audience, it was going

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to be a night of marking.

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What God did in my life at seven, eight years old was what he was going to do

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that evening for all these young adults.

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Because I remember at seven years old, stepping into the glory of God, being

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around the gifts of the spirit and literally making a vow, a godly vow

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before the Lord saying, if this is available, I will spend my life pursuing

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it and truly I have.

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And Monday night really was a night of marking.

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It was a night of people saying, I'm all in.

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And the spiritual hunger was like tangible.

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It was so powerful.

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It was.

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And didn't they do it all night fast leading up to that?

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Yeah.

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What they had done is because it was Rosh Hashanah weekend and from the

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Friday night to the Saturday evening.

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So just one day, the whole church had done 24 hours of prayer and fasting.

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And they had really created again, a spiritual hunger and a atmosphere and

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culture of intercession prayer and worship.

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And we all know that pre-seeds revival, that prayer, that hunger, that contending.

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And they said they had never before when they have, they've held these

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prayer meetings before, but they've never had the response they had.

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Hundreds and hundreds of people came out for 24 hours of prayer.

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So the attendance, the participation, the engagement and the hunger in the church

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was so significant.

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So here's 24 hours of prayer.

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And then also Laura and the leaders have been getting up like six in the

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morning, every morning to pray and they've been fasting once a week.

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But the point is the leaders have been praying and interceding and fasting

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regularly.

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And then we step in on Monday night and it was like the gates were already open.

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You know, the portal of heaven was already open and accessible.

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It was so powerful.

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Oh, it was.

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There was one point when Christa challenged people to do this prophetic act

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and all of these young adults, which they had their record attendance, all walk

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towards the altar and many of them were on their faces.

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It was truly profound and it was unbelievable.

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It really was a special night.

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It really, really was.

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And it was so powerful.

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I mean, I'll never, never forget that.

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That was awesome.

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And you know what I saw was in that time of repentance, I saw people laying

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down worldliness and in worldliness really is a state of mind in which one's

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thinking is governed by the preferences and outlook of the world.

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And we have so many people that are under the sway of culture, under the sway

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of the world.

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There's such a peer pressure in our social culture of so many people believe

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what is actually wrong.

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They believe is right.

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That's the sway of culture.

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People's theology shifts.

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That's the sway of culture because we know the word of God, it doesn't change.

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And so what I love is there was an exchange that night with the younger

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generation, this millennial and Gen Z generation where they were laying

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down these material things, these belief systems, these compromised lifestyles.

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There was exchanges that were happening, but even just a desire for where

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they have filled their life with the wrong things and saying, God, I'm all in.

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Put in me a fire that burns for you.

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Put in me a hunger that is insatiable for the more of you for the presence of God.

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And I love that I saw the worldliness get laid down from a generation just saying,

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I'm all in.

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I don't care if it's cool.

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I don't care what it looks like.

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I just want more of you, Jesus.

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That not only inspires me, it gets me so excited for what God's going to do in this

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nation.

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It's so true.

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This in time place that we find ourselves is really a battle between the spirit

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of the age, which is worldliness, it's compromise.

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It's, you know, be true to yourself.

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Hey, it's my truth, all that kind of stuff.

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Right.

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It's really a battle between the spirit of the age and the capital S spirit of the ages.

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And I feel like even right now that maybe you're listening and you kind of have this

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one foot kind of in the world, you're influenced by secular mindsets, secular humanism, and

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there's such a mixture that can take place right now.

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I just feel that you have to understand you have a promised land address, but you can't

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have a promised land address and still keep your Egyptian taste buds because all that

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will do is prolong your wilderness season.

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And there's a lot of Christians that are staying in prolonged places of wilderness where

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they, in the wilderness, you don't have the joy and the wilderness, you don't have the

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flow and the wilderness, you don't have the exploits.

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You're just kind of going from God breaking in your world, just giving you some water

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here, some food here.

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You're kind of just on sustenance level, but God wants you to get in the promised

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land.

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So you got to let go of the Egyptian taste buds.

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That's so good.

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The next point that I think is so important is to understand the spirit realm wants to

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weaponize your appetites.

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There's a war over your affections.

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There's a war over your desires because what happens is unaddressed spiritual thirst becomes

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a greenhouse for addictions, obsessions, and demonic activities.

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And there's so many people that don't realize that because they have never truly allowed

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their hunger to be completely dedicated to the things of God.

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In other words, your thought process.

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Remember when we defined it?

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The things that you're drawn towards and instead of allowing that to go towards God with

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that spiritual appetite, they cater to cultural thirst.

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And when you're when you're culturally thirsty, you're always drinking from the wrong

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wells, you're drinking from crowd approval, trying to get the likes on social media.

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You're you're in the midst of materialism and you're just trying to get the next pair

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of kicks that you like or trying to get fitted for your clothes.

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And everybody likes a good outfit now and then, but the hamster wheel of trying to keep

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up with the latest fad.

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And then you have the cult of beauty and people that have obviously overdone it in the area,

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either trying to get the right look through plastic surgery or actually having eating

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disorders, which my heart breaks over that because they feel like they want to look like

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the girl in the magazine and the girl in the magazine.

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By the way, she don't look like that.

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That's called Photoshop, somebody.

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And we have this pool, but those are cultural thirsts of today that there's a way to get

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big in the eyes of the world, but it's totally opposite of the way to get big in the kingdom.

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Keep it 100 tribe.

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We have an incredible person with us today.

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I talked about her already.

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Her name is Laura already.

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We're putting her in the Keep it 100 wisdom window.

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Her and her husband Gabe are on staff at Trinity Church in Cedar Hills, Texas.

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And what I love about Laura is she is such a revivalist and she has run with generals

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of the faith for decades.

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This girl has carried movements for women.

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She's done walks for pro-life.

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And she has just been a voice and advocate for the things of God.

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And so we asked her a key question and I want you to hear this conversation between Laura

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and I.

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Laura, you are one of my favorite human beings and we have this cool kind of prophetic

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connection where our paths have crossed.

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You've always been a woman.

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I've so admired.

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I love the fire you carry.

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And just being able to even call you friend, honestly, is an honor because I believe God

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is raising up women in this hour.

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And so to invite you to be on the wisdom window of Keep it 100 podcast, it really is

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our privilege because of what you carry in the wisdom that I believe you're going to

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impart for our listeners today.

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We have a couple of questions for you.

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Is that okay?

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Bring them.

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So the first question that I want to ask you is what advice would you give a young

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adult as to how to cultivate a spiritual appetite amidst the cultural thirst of today?

401
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Yeah, that's such a great question.

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There are so many things vying for our attention, vying for our passions.

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I preached this message recently to our young adults here at Trinity Church in Psalm 16 verse

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eight and it says, I have set the Lord always before me.

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And because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

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And I love that because there are so many temptations.

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But if you intentionally put the Lord before you every single day, practice his presence,

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it doesn't just happen.

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You have to practice it intentionally.

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You have to set the Lord always before you.

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And, you know, we were actually talking about sexual purity when we were when I was

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preaching this message because he's before me and he is at my right hand.

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I will not be shaken.

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And phrase means I will not be overtaken by sin.

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That's what it means in the Hebrew.

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I will not be overtaken.

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And so I just think you put the Lord before you, you practice his presence, you will not

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be shaken.

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Also, get next to other people who are burning.

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You will catch on fire if you find people who are burning and you just connect to them,

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you will burn for Jesus.

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I love that.

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I mean, the wisdom and the truth you just dropped, if people actually grab ahold of that,

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it's a game changer.

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It changes their life.

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And I know your life was changed because you had those moments where you just got so

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marked by God.

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I know what happened at five years old, but was there a time when you're like teens or

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your twenties that you look back and you're like that shifted everything, that encounter

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changed everything?

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Absolutely.

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There was an encounter in a small church in downtown Houston.

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It was an inner city church.

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It was an outreach church.

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And at the time I was leading evangelistic teams out on the streets to prostitutes and

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transvestites.

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And my, I had a friend of mine preach this message and I was so marked by God.

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It was one of those messages where I was like, Oh, go anywhere, Lord,

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tell me where to go.

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I remember laying on my face on the carpet, gripping the legs of the chairs with

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white knuckles going, I will go anywhere.

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And, and I heard the Lord say, this is so random, right?

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Little Mexican girl from Houston, Texas.

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And I heard the Lord say, I want you to pray for revival in Norway of all places.

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Okay.

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So I'm like, yes, Lord, I'll go.

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I didn't even know where Norway was on the map, but I said yes to the Lord.

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And from that moment, it's a long story.

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But I literally have taken 20 something trips to Norway, preached in with parliament

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members in the parliament, traveled, prayed for revival.

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And just like, it was a whole journey that the Lord opened up.

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Another moment was when I went to the very first call that Papalu Engel did in the

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year of 2000 on the Mall of Washington, DC.

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It was a call, an issue to fast and pray for the nation.

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And I knew I had to be there and I went and I, I was 100,000 other people.

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And the Lord marked me that day, set me apart.

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And ever since then, I've just been running hard after the Lord and not looking back

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and letting Jesus write my story.

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Like, let listening to the Lord practicing his presence and let him tell me what to do

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and then just do it.

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Let him write my story.

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And man, it's been a God adventure.

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I loved it.

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Yeah.

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It has been so fun to watch from afar because I've known who you are and you've

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led movements, you've led marches, you've led, you've done gatherings for women.

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Like you've been such an advocate for God's plans and his purposes for women,

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but also for a generation.

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And so I just want to thank you for your sacrifice because your yes has changed

470
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:44,880
lives.

471
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:46,200
It's impacted my life.

472
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,640
And, and I know you even being asked to lead the young adults here at Trinity

473
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,600
Church in Cedar Hills, Texas, you and Gabe are like this powerhouse couple of what

474
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:55,280
you carry.

475
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,040
There's a deposit of heaven.

476
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,440
And I just feel like our listeners need to be reminded one encounter changes

477
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:02,240
everything.

478
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,960
One encounter when you get marked by God, you're never the same.

479
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,480
And our lives were created to impact other lives.

480
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,000
Laura, thanks for being with us.

481
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:10,760
I love you guys.

482
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:11,360
I love you.

483
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:11,840
It's so fun to have you.

484
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:12,520
What an honor.

485
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,040
I love you guys so much.

486
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:15,440
Thank you so much, Laura.

487
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:15,720
Come on.

488
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:17,480
Wasn't that just so powerful?

489
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:23,880
That woman has such a rich revelation of God and what it is to go after God.

490
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:28,440
Her life has been such a testimony of one that has been filled with a spiritual

491
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:29,560
hunger for God.

492
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:30,280
Yes.

493
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:31,160
I agree with you.

494
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,560
She was powerful.

495
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,320
As always, we have a call to action for our Keep It 100 tribe.

496
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,320
And this week we're focusing on how to cultivate your hunger for God.

497
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,200
The first thing we want you to walk away with is feast on the lamb.

498
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,280
Exodus 12 talks about this and this whole principle of what it is to feast on

499
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,000
God's word and his presence.

500
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:54,520
In the natural, the more you eat, the less hungry you are.

501
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,040
But in the spirit, the more you eat, the hungrier you get.

502
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:02,680
We all know when we go after God, the deeper we go in the things of God,

503
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,720
the more we read his word, the more we worship, the more we pray,

504
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,560
the more we spend time in his presence, the more hungry we get and the more

505
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:11,080
there is to know about God.

506
00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:14,040
And so the more you experience them, the more you crave it.

507
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,040
Friends, we're calling that feast on the lamb.

508
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:18,200
That is so good.

509
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,600
Feasting on the lamb in that Exodus 12 is so important because as they were

510
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,640
coming out of Egypt, they had to pass over and they were told to cook and

511
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:30,200
feast on the lamb and it would give them the strength they needed for the Exodus.

512
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:34,560
And I think there's so many people that are spiritually weak and spiritually

513
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,720
in this place where they don't feel the spiritual energy to do the things of God.

514
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,880
They feel a lack of inspiration, but a large part of that is they're not

515
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:42,840
feasting on the lamb.

516
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:43,560
That's a great point.

517
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:49,320
Another way to cultivate a hunger for God is expose yourself to the moves of God.

518
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:50,680
Expose yourself.

519
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:55,360
And one of the things that I do is get in services and where God is moving

520
00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,760
go to places, take in conferences, invest in your spiritual walk.

521
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:01,680
Get around those who have had encounters.

522
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,080
Seek the Lord for your own encounter with God.

523
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,600
And I think this is so important is that part of that exposure is who you're

524
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:08,600
running with, right?

525
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:13,200
So you want to run with people that make you hungry for God, not people that dull

526
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,360
you. Your crew should have your chew.

527
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,360
In other words, that they should have the same taste for going after God.

528
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,240
And again, I'm an evangelist, so I'm going to have people that I have

529
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,440
relationship with that don't know the Lord.

530
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,680
But when I'm talking about the people who are in my inner circle, the people I run

531
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:33,160
with and are tight with, I want people that make me hungrier for God.

532
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,440
Because if I'm not more hungry for God now than when I first came to Christ,

533
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,840
by definition, then I've gone back in the other direction, which the classic

534
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:43,800
O-timers would call that backslid.

535
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:48,280
Or I'm backsliding if I'm not more hungry for God now than I was then.

536
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,680
The next way to cultivate a hunger for God is consecration,

537
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:54,680
repentance and obedience.

538
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:59,400
That if you want to grow in your hunger for God, you need to have a consecrated

539
00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,520
life. You need to have a life that's set apart under the Lord.

540
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,120
Somewhere in there, there probably needs to be some repentance because the closer

541
00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:10,280
you get to God, the more you begin to discover the things that are running

542
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,560
interference and you certainly don't want them in your life.

543
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:13,720
And of course, obedience.

544
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,880
I had this prophetic sense that in this season, very much like when you go to a

545
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:22,280
doctor and the doctor sticks that wooden, I think of it as like an over-salt

546
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,200
popsicle stick, but he looks down your throat and he asks you to cough and then

547
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,320
he takes a stethoscope, he checks your heart, checks your pulse.

548
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:32,480
I kind of feel like God is doing that to the body of Christ that he's giving us a

549
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,120
checkup and evaluation.

550
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,040
And after you go into the doctor and you have your annual checkup or whatever it

551
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,960
is, that doctor, he or she gives you prescriptions.

552
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,360
Right now, I feel like during this quarantine and this entire season, God is

553
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,600
checking us up and evaluating us and there's a prescription.

554
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,160
And I think it's so important that if you want to grow in your hunger for God,

555
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,440
you have to fulfill the prescription, right?

556
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,480
You take that prescription, your doctor writes out to the pharmacy and they're

557
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,880
the only ones who could read the doctor's hieroglyphics because his handwriting

558
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:06,160
is like very complicated and they give you whatever medicine or prescription that

559
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:06,840
you need to have.

560
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,960
God's prescription for you in this hour is something that if you will follow,

561
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,040
you will grow in the area of hunger for God.

562
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:13,920
So good.

563
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,360
I tell you what, that is rich and that's deep.

564
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,240
You know, another way to cultivate your hunger for God is stop feeding on the

565
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,400
things that take away your spiritual hunger.

566
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,760
Sounds obvious, but so many of us have competing things and then we wonder why

567
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,920
our hunger has kind of gone away, why it's waned away.

568
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,840
And it's often because we've allowed other things to replace it or we've been

569
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:33,960
feeding the wrong thing.

570
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,560
So one of the keys in this is starve competing thirst.

571
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:42,080
So those things that you're craving, one of the best ways to do it is to starve

572
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:43,000
it out of your life.

573
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,320
Don't allow the things of the world to dole your appetite.

574
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,000
So some of those things are simple, but there are not things that maybe we take

575
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:51,240
as serious as we should.

576
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:56,440
The music we listen to, the conversations we engage in, the movies we watch,

577
00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,440
what do we watch on Hulu or whatever platform that you stream on.

578
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:05,200
You know, really what you allow your eye gate to watch, your ear gate to listen

579
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,520
to, your mouth to speak about and to have a conversation with.

580
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,480
Those are the things that you're putting into your life, into your mind, into

581
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,600
your spirit, into your emotions, and they're going to come out in some way,

582
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:17,280
shape or form.

583
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,680
And so let's not, you know, let's not get it twisted.

584
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,000
Let's understand what you put in is going to come out.

585
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,400
So if you're putting in things that are not pulling you closer to God, you're

586
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,360
putting in things that aren't actually cultivating the hunger within your life,

587
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,800
then those are things you need to consider taking out of your life.

588
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:34,760
Yeah, such a great point.

589
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,600
There are people that there's certain foods they won't put in their body.

590
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:38,080
Right.

591
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,320
Because they're trying to stay fit.

592
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:41,840
They're trying to be healthy.

593
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,840
And obviously we live in a more health conscious world today than let's say the

594
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,560
last generation, but it's funny how people will have disciplines on their

595
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,560
physical diet, but they won't have disciplines on their spiritual diet.

596
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,400
Like they won't binge out on certain foods, but they'll binge out spiritually

597
00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:01,520
speaking on certain movies or music or other things that they know that

598
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:03,040
spiritual are unhealthy.

599
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,320
But like you said, if you're going to grow in spiritual hunger, you have to

600
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:12,080
understand and delineate those things that make for spiritual health versus

601
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,640
those things that rob you of spiritual health.

602
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:15,720
Amen.

603
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,800
Lastly, how to cultivate your hunger for God.

604
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:20,160
Set a vision before you.

605
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,040
God wants to give you a dream for your life.

606
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,240
And so many of us have lost sight of who God has created us to be and what he's

607
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:28,120
called us to do.

608
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,120
When you have a vision, when you know where you're going, you're going to

609
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:32,200
train like an athlete.

610
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,840
You know, the word of God talks about that we are trained as athletes to go

611
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:37,000
after the things of God.

612
00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,760
And so there's a discipline that comes when you have a vision.

613
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:44,200
If you know where God's colony, if know who you are, I know that I was always

614
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:45,200
in Nazareth.

615
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:47,240
I knew I was always called to be set apart.

616
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:51,480
So I knew there were things I couldn't engage in, not out of legalism, but

617
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:55,320
because God had put a hunger in me for the things of God.

618
00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:57,200
I believe he's done the same thing for you.

619
00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:01,680
For many of our listeners in the Keep It 100 tribe, he wants to give you a vision

620
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,800
for where he's taking you in your life.

621
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,080
And with that vision comes a spiritual hunger.

622
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,600
God wants to be the pinnacle of our inner longing.

623
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,880
And I believe that only comes when we're putting him first and foremost in our

624
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,800
life. He is the number one thing that it gets our attention.

625
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,720
And I want to tell you friends, you want hunger for God?

626
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:22,960
Make him number one.

627
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:24,280
That is so good.

628
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:25,120
I love that.

629
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:26,360
Keep It 100 tribe.

630
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,040
We love being with you.

631
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,560
I've so enjoyed this conversations week and we always pray that you not only get

632
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:33,440
something out of it.

633
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,800
One of these becomes a revelation that transforms your life.

634
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,800
If you want to stay connected with us during the week, check us out on

635
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:41,920
www.SeanAndChristaSmith.com, of course.

636
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,280
And then find us on social media.

637
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,120
We're always here to get connected with you.

638
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:50,160
And remember, don't forget to rate, review and share this podcast because we want

639
00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:52,440
to impact as many people as we can for Jesus.

640
00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,400
Next week, Keep It 100 tribe, we're going to tackle the great

641
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,040
conversation I've created for influence.

642
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:02,360
I don't know if I've ever seen a generation of influencers like I see right now.

643
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:06,440
They're bloggers, they're creatives, they're fashion drivers, social media voices.

644
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:11,160
But we want to talk next week on how to be the ultimate influencer as we hit

645
00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:12,440
created for influence.

646
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:13,000
All right.

647
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:14,080
Keep It 100 tribe.

648
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:15,160
We'll see you next week.

649
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:16,280
Keep It 100.

650
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:40,280
And remember, relief may change your circumstances, but a revelation can change you.