"But God"

Hello, welcome to today's teaching and message. I'm Tammy Toney-Butler, Healing Evangelist. Thanks for tuning in. We'll give folks a little bit of time to grab their Bibles, grab any notes that they want to, anything to write and take notes with, and then we will get started. Holy Spirit, come have your way in this time that we have together. May they see you and not me. May they hear you and not me. And may they glean from your knowledge, your truth. May it penetrate bone and marrow and they be forever changed. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. The Lord placed several passages of scripture on my heart for me to read today. And so we're going to be reading out of different versions of the Bible and going to be just speaking words of truth to you as he downloads them to me. And I totally rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and to guide us into all truth. is the scriptures, the word is living. And we know that the Bible is true. We know it by faith. We trust it. We believe in it. It's everything to us as believers. The infallible word of God, it heals, it restores, it redeems, it rejuvenates, it sets us free. And he who the Son sets free is free indeed. So let me start. I'm going to be reading and starting out of the New Living Translation. Thank you. I see those that are joining us now from all over the world. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for tuning in. And I'm going to start with Matthew four, Matthew four. So grab your Bibles and we will begin. And the title of this message is, But God. How many of you want to talk to God? How many of you do talk to God? How many of you need an answer from God? Let the Holy Spirit guide us today. as we each long for those but God moments. I know I've had my share of but God moments, and that's gonna be the title of our message today, but God. Oh, Holy Spirit, there you are. Just be there with us, bringing us peace and your truth, Clarity, wisdom. Now we'll start. Matthew four. The temptation of Jesus. Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days and forty nights, he fasted and became very hungry. So he was led by the spirit. How many of you are being led by the spirit? Ask yourself that question. This is a time that we look inward and we search our own hearts and look at our actions to see what they say about us. It's a time that we grow. We reflect because we all strive to have the heart and mind of Christ. During that time, the devil came and said to him, if you are the son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus told him, no, these scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So how did Jesus stop Satan, the tempter, the same one that tempted Eve in the garden by getting her to doubt? He answered with scripture, with truth. He used his sword. Are you using your sword today? Are you silencing the enemy's voice when he comes to kill, steal, destroy, or distract? What are you doing to stay strong in the Lord and fight the good fight of faith? We'll keep reading. Then the devil took him to the holy city. Jerusalem to the highest point of the temple and said, if you are the son of God, jump off for the scriptures say he will order his angels to protect you and they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Jesus responded, the scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God. You must not test the Lord your God. Now, did you notice that? Then the devil took him into the holy city. So the devil led him. How many of you are being led by Satan, by the tempter, by the world, by world systems? Or how many of you are being led by the spirit of God? We have to be careful. what voice we're listening to, who we're following. For my sheep know my voice and they follow me. You know the voice of the Holy Spirit when it's guiding you. It's a good voice. There's no condemnation in it. It brings peace and joy, not confusion, not turmoil. not hate. None of those negative words. It's positive. It's a tree of life to those who listen. It's a tree of life to those who listen. Now notice that he, it says, then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the temple and said, if you're the son of God, jump off. So he was testing him, but he also was trying to get him to act out of disobedience, to use scripture in the wrong way, to not follow God, but follow the world. We can misquote scripture and misuse scripture. We have to be careful that we don't take it out of context And that we use other scripture to back up that scripture, as we will see in the last scripture that we read in the last chapter that we read at the end of this message. Jesus responded, the scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God. Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. I will give it all to you, he said, if you will kneel down and worship me. Get out of here, Satan, Jesus told him, for the scriptures say you must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. Then the devil went away and angels came and took care of Jesus. And then we see that the ministry of Jesus begins. When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum beside the Sea of Galilee in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali. This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah. In the land of Zebulon and Naphtali, beside the sea beyond the Jordan River in Galilee, where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. How many of you are living in darkness? How many of you need Jesus to be your light? And for those who lived in the land where death cast its shadow, a light has shined. From then on, Jesus began to preach, repent of your sins and turn to God for the kingdom of heaven is near. Repentance. is for everyone. We need to turn away from our sins. We need to have the courage to turn, to turn towards God, towards Jesus is leading by his Holy Spirit, by the spirit of truth, the spirit of God, not the world, but we need to be led by the spirit. We need to turn away from our old sinful nature and turn towards our new because we're new creatures in Christ Jesus when we've been born again. The first disciples, one day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, also called Peter and Andrew, throwing a net into the water for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, come follow me and I will show you how to fish for people. And they left their nets at once and followed him. They didn't question. They didn't say, well, I can't leave my job. How am I going to leave my family? What am I going to do? They knew they had to obey. Are you obeying that call, that nudge, that Holy Spirit prompt that keeps asking you to go this way, to do this, to let go of the things of the world, maybe some of the material possessions that's pulling you away from your time? with God? Are you following and obeying the spirit, that whisper? Are you following your own path? Those are hard questions, but we have to look inward and ask ourselves this stuff. A little farther up the shore, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. They immediately followed him, leaving their boat, their material possession, and their father behind. When God calls you, you must put first the kingdom of God and all else shall be given unto you. But you have to obey. Disobedience is sin. It's rebellion. And we don't want to do that. We want to make sure we stay in the will of God. and follow his prompting and his leading and stay under his hand, his righteous hand, under his protective wing. Crowds followed Jesus. Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed, he healed them all. Healing is our portion. Large clouds followed him wherever he went. People from Galilee, the ten towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from the east of the Jordan River. They followed him. And when I was looking in the teaching Bible, this is the new international version, the life application study Bible, it pointed out the temptations. And in the first temptation we see, it was make bread. So he was tempting with a physical need, a hunger. And it basically said, put doubts, you know, would God provide food? And what are potential weaknesses that Satan can try to exploit and come at us when we're weak? Well, when we're hungry, when we're impatient, when we need to, you know, when we need something, we truly have a need. Maybe it's a financial need. So we have to understand that Satan can come in then and try to cast doubt. Well, did God really say? And he's basically asking you, do you trust the word of God? Is it true? And you have to praise in the hallway. You have to praise in the valley. Even in the hallway of affliction, you have to praise God and know that he will deliver you out of your afflicted state because he heals, he redeems, he restores by the blood of Jesus, by his work done on Calvary at the cross. And the next way he tempted him, it was an emotional need. Dare God to rescue you. And so he tempted him. And the temptation could be pride or insecurity. And would God really come through? And the last one was a psychological need to worship him. And it speaks of significance and power and how we could misuse power. And if we have a desire for quick power, easy solutions, instant gratification. That's the world that we live in today. We want an instant gratification. And I'm telling you in my walk with him, you have to endure and you may wait years before that promise comes true. That spoken word about you, that he whispered to you. It doesn't mean that you're not chosen, you're not favored, but you have to be at a place of spiritual maturity, rise in your authority as a believer, and be at a certain place of maturity in Christ before he sets you out on that path. He's a good father. Adonai is. He's not going to set you out there and put you out too soon because it can destroy you. We have to learn to wait. We have to build up our faith muscle and endure and be patient. and not get ahead of God's timing. We can try to rush and go against God's timing, try to push and dictate our own path, our own way, but we have to be in obedience. And sometimes that obedience is just resting. It's just sitting still and saying, I trust you, Daddy. I trust you, Father. I know you'll deliver. I know you'll deliver me out of this predicament. And I trust you. I don't know how it's going to come, but I know you've got it. And that's called walking by faith and not by sight. Walking by faith and not by sight. And how can we test God? We can test God by wanting our healing and wanting to walk along that path of wholeness, but not putting the work in. not eating healthy, not going to the gym, not doing the things that we know we need to do to take care of the temple. But then we can quote scripture that says that, well, you know, God's got us, he'll protect us. We're, you know, he restores, he redeems. But I can tell you, he spoke to me very clearly when I was overweight. And I've lost over ninety pounds and and I used food as a coping mechanism for years. You know, I I coped with my being a victim of child sex trafficking and losing my dad to suicide as a teenager. All these things I coped through food and it was such a healing thing for me. But then the Lord spoke to me and says, well, you don't need that for healing. You need me. I will supply all your needs. You don't need an addiction. Don't make food an idol in your life. Put me first. And I was pretty sassy. And I said, well, God, I don't know how to do that. You know, the Holy Spirit, you're going to have to help me. And he did. And he broke off that spirit of gluttony and just helped me. And I've been transformed and living this new healthy lifestyle. For the first time, I went to my checkup at the doctor and I was told that you're not morbidly obese, you're not obese, that you're actually at a healthy weight. And I couldn't believe it. I asked the provider, can you say that one more time? Can you shout that from the rooftops? And so I was quite grateful and thankful because we have to take Jesus where he needs to go, y'all. He's in us. In order for us to do that, we got to take care of our temple, you know, go to the gym, eat healthy. And you can't do this stuff in your own strength. Some of you who've struggled with various addictions and you cope through food or you've had trauma. I can only do it with the Holy Spirit. So I said, Holy Spirit, you got to help me. because I give it to you and he showed me he showed me what to do and how to do it he still sustains me he's my redeemer he's everything so we have to make sure that we're not really testing god I mean you know yeah angels are protecting us so we don't dash our foot against a stone but are we going offshore in a boat uh hundreds of miles without a life vest on you know are are we not tethered on a lifeline to a sailboat When we're up adjusting the sails, is there things that we're doing and then we're testing God? So we got to be careful that we don't test God and I'm guilty of it. I'm guilty of, well, God's got it. He's got me, but he put certain safeguards and safety measures in place that we need to follow. And so that's something that he laid on my heart today. I never know why these things are happening. I never know who's listening or who this is for. I just obey and come and present his scriptures in the order in which he gives them to me. And I just want to look at my notes real quick. Because he spoke to me about the hallway of affliction and trusting God during our trials and not making a dwelling place out of misery and out of pain. And we need to make sure that we are setting healthy boundaries, boundaries for ourselves that say that we love ourselves and also not carrying things that others have called for, you know, that he's called for others to let go of. You know, there are certain things he wants people to let go of and surrender. And we aren't to enable them and allow them to continue into that. We are to speak life into them and life over them and set a healthy boundary and say, well, if you want to partner with that dysfunction or if you want to stay in that place of misery when you've already know how to get out of it, you're because he's brought you that information in those tools. then we can't let that come in and burden us because we can't pour from empty cups so we have to also make sure that we're obeying the lord when he's telling us to surrender something to let it go to to not be in disobedience um because He's trying to deliver us, but sometimes we are our own worst enemy and we keep ourselves from being delivered. We keep ourselves in a place of dysfunction in victimhood and misery, instead of laying that at the cross, at the foot of the cross, because he died. So we don't have to carry those things. Healing is our portion, but we have to take it. We have to own it. And we have to walk forth and go and claim it and say, I will no longer be a victim. I am victorious. I will no longer self-sabotage. I will no longer have imposter syndrome. I will no longer disobey God. I will not tempt the Lord, my God. I will walk in abundant life. I will walk in abundant life. I will let go of the things that no longer serve me. I will let go of the people in my life that are hurting me, that I know I don't need to be with, that I know I need to let go of. but I keep going back and going back and going back and drinking from the same contaminated well and expecting a different result. We cannot do that. God has shown us the way. He sent his son to die on the cross for us so we could have abundant life and we could live and let go of our old sinful nature and have a new creation, be new creations in Christ Jesus. And we are not under the curse of the law. We have our forgiveness in him. There's no condemnation in him. And he gives us the strength to let go of those things, those people, those friends that no longer serve us. We can't keep going to the same environment that destroyed us, the same people, the same friends, and expect a different outcome. We have to say, even though it's uncomfortable, I'm going to walk in a new normal and I'm going to walk in obedience and I'm going to trust them. And that's what we have to do. And we have to walk in that. And that brought me to the Lord talking about spiritual ascent. And what is spiritual ascent? A-S-S-E-N-T. It's a deep transformative commitment of one's whole self, intellect, will, and heart to a religious belief or truth going beyond mere mental agreement to a personal decision to trust and live by what is believed. In Christian context is the active and responsive acceptance of God's word that leads to a transformed life rather than passive acknowledgement. It's knowing. that the bible is true it's knowing it's trusting god it's saying I trust you I surrender it's a renunciation of one's own desires and will in favor of god's plan which leads to transformation A decision to fully embrace the belief system and rely on God, not just in theory, but in practice. What do your actions say about you? When people look at you in your life, do they see Jesus? Do they see that you obey? Do you show Christ off to a world? Are you the light when you enter into a room? Those are questions we need to ask ourselves today. And when we look at heaven and we look at laws and we think about heaven and the courtrooms of heaven and this stuff, I had to bring up the legal definition of assent, A-S-S-E-N-T. In law, assent refers to a clear expression of agreement, approval, or understanding of a matter under consideration, often implying a free and knowledgeable concurrence with the proposed terms or conditions. It is a crucial element of contract formation and is determined by an objective standard. What a reasonable person would understand from a party's words and actions rather than their unspoken thoughts. It's a contract. It's agreement. Ascent is you're saying, I trust this. I trust God's covenant, his promises, that he doesn't go back on his word, that we are in covenant agreement with him by the blood of Jesus. We have been forgiven of our sins by the blood of Jesus. Healing is our portion. By his stripes, ye were healed. That is truth. That is truth. Now, let's keep reading in the next scriptures, passages of scripture that he gave me. Romans two. And again, I'm going to read, keep reading out the New Living Translation. Romans two. God's judgment of sin. You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad and you have no excuse. When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God in his justice will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things? Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. He doesn't show favoritism. When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God's written law. And the Jews who do have God's law will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn't make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. Are we obeying what the scriptures say? Are we living by the Torah? Are we living by the command set forth by God? Are we? Are we loving our neighbor as ourself? Are we? Are we loving others? Are we not passing judgment? Are we showing the love of Jesus, the light and truth of Jesus? Even Gentiles who do not have God's written law show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts for their own conscience and thoughts, either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. And this is the message I proclaim, that the day is coming when God through Christ Jesus will judge everyone's secret life. Wow. Their thought life, their motives. What is the heart posture when they do things? What is your posture in your heart when you go out every day? Is Christ leading you? Is his love written on the tablet of your heart? You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God's law and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants. You know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. for you are certain that God's law gives you complete knowledge and truth. well then if you teach others why don't you teach yourself you tell others not to steal but do you steal you say it is wrong to commit adultery but do you commit adultery you condemn idolatry but do you use items stolen from pagan temples do we have idols in our lives our jobs our boats are some of our hobbies are there things that we're putting before god It's okay to have things, but we aren't to worship them. We are only to need Christ. We are to put first the kingdom of God. He will supply all of our needs. He is the bread of life. He is our sustainer. He is our redeemer. Remember our last teaching on the feeding trough, and he was born in a feeding trough. He was born to feed us, to sustain us, to give us that bread of life so that we never hunger again. You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the scriptures say the Gentiles blasphemy the name of God because of you. The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God's law. But if you don't obey God's law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. And if the Gentiles obey God's law, won't God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God's law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God's law, but don't obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law. Rather, it is a change of heart produced by the spirit. It's an inner circumcision. It is a cleansing of your heart, getting rid of the old stuff, the hardened pieces, the plaque that's causing obstructions in the flow of the living water of the truth of the Redeemer. Do you have a plaque of unforgiveness in your heart, a plaque of bitterness, a plaque of hate? a plaque of pride, of lust? Do we have these things that we're holding on to when we need to let go of them so that we can be, those obstructions can be removed and we can have that purified heart of Christ and out of it flow rivers of living water and love for others and for ourselves. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people, not from people wow and now he wanted me to read ephesians uh four ephesians four and I just want to look at my notes real quick because he brought something to me on the spirit on the circumcision and I just want to make sure that I said it correctly. I just, he had given me notes, guard your heart for out of it flows rivers of living water. And we can look at, you know, Proverbs four, twenty three. We can look at Proverbs four, twenty three. All my notes, don't laugh at me, you guys. Proverbs four, twenty three. And Proverbs three, three, but Proverbs four, twenty three is. Above everything else, guard your heart, for it is the source of life's consequences. Wow. Keep crooked speech out of your mouth, banish deceit from your lips. Wow. Wow. And then when we look at Proverbs three, three. Proverbs three, three. It is do not let grace and trust. I'm sorry. Do not let grace and truth leave you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. what is written on your heart what is flowing out of your mouth write god's word on your heart have the heart of christ because out of it flows the living word which gives life are your words giving life are you speaking life out of your words And that is something. So do we need a spiritual circumcision? We need to protect our inner self, our thoughts, our desires, our motives. We need to cut away the dead things that no longer serve us. The season of death needs to go. We need to step into the abundance that he has for us. we may need to cut people out of our lives and cut things for a season but how do you know how to do that you rely on the holy spirit to guide you an inner transformation of the heart and spirit that occurs through faith in jesus christ it leading to be to a renewed sinful nature I'm sorry, leading to a removal of a sinful nature to a renewal to where you have an obedient spirit. You have your new nature. The old is gone. It's basically symbolizing the cutting away of our sinful nature. That's a spiritual circumcision, a covenant with God. and replaces external religious acts with an internal spirit-led transformation. Because we are in covenant with God. We have that spiritual ascent and we understand that God's word is true. It allows a responsive, obedient heart to God. So that is something that we must have in this season. And now I'm going to read out of Ephesians four. And then we have just one passage left. And why the Lord chose these? Don't know. Holy Spirit wanted me to do it. And then this order, this is for someone. This word is alive. It's true. It doesn't return void and it has life and it gives life. Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace, for there is one body and one spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is over all, in all and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the scriptures say, when he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people. Notice that it says he ascended. This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might fill the entire universe with himself, with his spirit, the spirit of God, the spirit of truth. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Do your words and actions build up the body of Christ, the believers? Do they? Are you casting stones? This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and acknowledge and knowledge of God's son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly as each part does its own special work. It helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Love heals. Love transforms. It redeems. It restores. It's going to save this world. Love drives out hate. Love drives out fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Christ is our example of perfect love. And God the Father who sent his only begotten son to die for us on the cross. Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John three, sixteen. So we need to live as children of the light. With the Lord's authority, I say this, live no longer as the Gentiles do for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness. They wander from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against them. Those plaques they refuse to get rid of, the unforgiveness, the bitterness, the hate, the envy, the strife. You got to let those things go. You gotta let those things go. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. But that isn't what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your formal way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature created to be like God, truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And don't sin by letting anger control you. Don't let the sun go down while you're still angry. Boy, that's one, right? We have to remember. For anger gives a foothold to the devil. Remember, the devil comes in when we're weak, when we're disobedient. He tries to tempt us. We have to try to keep a correct heart posture before the Lord and just fill up our heart with his truth and write the words of this Bible, the living word on the tablets of our heart so that we can recite it in times of temptation. If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for a good hard work and then give generously to others in need. Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Remember, he has identified you as his own. You're his temple, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, all seeds, all plaques of bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, Forgiving one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you. You're forgiven. Forgive yourselves. So many of us have a hard time forgiving ourselves. Yeah, we've messed up. We've missed it. But when you repent, when you ask God to remove that sin from you and you know that Jesus is the Lord and Savior, he's coming to your heart, you're saved and you're a believer and you've asked the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you and worship God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I mean, he has forgiven you. You're not under that condemnation of the law. So forgive yourself. Forgive yourself. And then the last thing, I'm just looking, I write notes everywhere in the Bible and I just want to make sure that that's what he had for me. He wanted me to go over and read Deuteronomy six. A call for a wholehearted commitment. These are the commands, decrees and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. And you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. There's that healthy fear of the Lord, obeying him, doing what he says. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life, especially if they're written on the tablet of your heart. Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors promised you. Listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you're getting up. Basically, every moment, every moment, be that close to God, that close to a relationship with him. It is about relationship and not just religion. It is about, does Jesus know you? Do you know him as your personal savior? Do you have a relationship with him? I talk to him every minute. I talk to him, the Holy Spirit. I'm always praying. I'm praying without ceasing, always. Prayer is the most vital thing that we can do. It keeps us in relationship with God. And I'm talking to him like I'm talking to you right now. I talk to him everywhere. And in my walk with him, he's not said to me, you know, you can't talk to me here. You can't talk to me there. I speak to him every minute. There are times I'm in the floor, prostrating the floor down on my, you know, my knees and I'm just, just surrendering all to him. And there's other times I'm standing, talking to him. I'm sitting, talking to him. I always keep myself in a posture of prayer, a posture of repentance, of a posture of seeking him and the Holy Spirit to guide me. Truly, I follow the Holy Spirit in everything I do and I pray before I do anything. And that's what we have to do now. We have to stay with prayer as our greatest weapon. let's see, talk about them when you are at home and when you're on the road and when you are going to bed and when you're getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you when he made a vow to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land with large prosperous cities that you did not build. The houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. Boy, that speaks of abundance and provision. You will draw water from cisterns you did not dig and you will eat from vineyards and olive trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, be careful not to forget the Lord who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use only his name. You must not worship any of the gods of neighboring nations. For the Lord your God who lives among you is a jealous God. His anger will flare up against you and he will wipe you from the face of the earth. You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massa. You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God, all the laws and decrees he's given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so all will go well with you. Then you will enter and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to give your ancestors. You will drive out all the enemies living in the land, just as the Lord said you would. In the future, your children will ask you, what is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey? Then you must tell them, we were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. he brought us out of egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors and the lord our god commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives as he has done to this day for we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the lord our god has given us The key to abundant life, the key to having those prayers answered is being in obedience to God. Are you following him? Are you in alignment with his will for your life? Are you in your divine purpose? And a lot of times resources will dry up. Things will dry up and you will be in a time to where you are just feeling like you are tested, that you are dead. What is going on? What is happening? I'm not seeing any growth. And you have to ask yourself, am I in alignment spiritually? am I in the will of god or am I outside of his will he's not going to give us things that are outside of his will he's a good father and some prayers will go unanswered because if they are answered then they could destroy you they could destroy you so how do we know what to do we have to be in a relationship with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit that he gave us. He ascended to heaven and left this world so that we could have the helper, the comforter in all of us. He's everywhere all the time at every minute. We're one body, one body under the head, which is Christ operating in one spirit. The Holy Spirit is directing me, directing you, We must follow the Holy Spirit, especially now. We have to be still, get alone with God in that secret place and cultivate that relationship so we have the ear to hear and the eyes of the heart to see what God has for us. May we have spiritual eyesight. May we see with the eyes of our heart Because Christ is in our heart. And we've written the Torah, the law on our heart. His commandments so that we obey them. Living by love. Living by love. Just want to look last at the complete Jewish Bible. Deuteronomy six. I'm going to read it out of this because I think it's important. Now, this is the midst of the commandments, the laws and rulings, which Adonai, your God, order me to teach you for you to obey in the lane you are crossing over to process so that you will fear Adonai, your God, and observe all his regulations and commands that I am giving you. You, your child and your grandchild, as long as you live so that you will have long life. Sin shortens our lifespans. This is my notes. It brings death, but Christ gives life. When we partner with sin and we obey that sinful nature and we obey Satan and not God, sin has consequences. It has consequences. It can impact our health. It can impact our finances, our relationships. We have to be in the will of God. and he will give us abundant life. How many of you are seeking the will of God? How many of you have God's heart, Christ's heart, his heart for his children, for his sheep? How many of you hurt when he hurts? How many of you have empathy for what he has empathy for? Compassion, mercy, for the lost and the broken, those in need of a shepherd. How many of you do that? How many of you? Therefore, listen, Israel, and take care to obey so that things will go well with you and so that you will increase greatly as Adonai, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey. Shema Israel, Adonai Elohim, Adonai Echad, Here, Israel, Adonai our God, Adonai is one. And you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your resources. These words which I am ordering you today are to be on your heart. And you are to teach them carefully to your children. to your children. They are to be written on the tablet of your heart. And a tablet is a flat slab or a stone, clay or a word used. It's like an inscription. Is the word of God written on your heart? Are you following God? Are you following the Torah? Are you following the commands of God? And that's the question that we have to ask ourselves today. And we have to be in this posture of humility. We have to be in this posture of humility. I hope this message has spoken to you today, spoken to your heart, given you something to think about, to reflect on. I want you to seek his truth. I want you to follow him where he's leading you. And I want you to trust that he has you tucked under his protective wing. He's got you in the palm of his hand, protecting you, loving you, showing you the way, the way of truth. Trust him. Surrender to him. If you're with us and listening and you've never accepted Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then I want to give you a prayer to do so. I want to give you time to do so. I want to show you the way. And if you accept Him into your heart on this program, make sure you reach out to us so we can send you resources. Tune into our other podcast, Reflective Hour with Tammy Toni Butler at reflectivehour.com. And then this Reflective Spaces podcast at reflectivespacespodcast.com. These are teachings. You can go back to season one, episode one of Reflective Hour and I share my testimony. and continue to walk through each episode, as I've peeled, as he's peeled layer by layer off of me, and I am ministering to you, then you can learn to do the same. And we can walk by faith and not by sight, strengthened by him, because if he can heal me and shed all the layers and shed all the addictions and all the things I used to cope, he can heal you too. Healing is your portion. Wholeness is your portion. Sickness is not. Sickness is not. How do you do that? How do you get set free? How do you get rid of that old nature? How do you live this life? Well, I had to surrender it all to Jesus. And I had to say, Lord Jesus, I know you died on the cross. I know you were born, you know, to Mary. You came and you were born. You came to the earth fully God, fully man. You died on the cross. You shed your blood on Calvary that washed me clean. You rose again. And you're seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. And you sent your Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us. So I accept you as Lord and Savior of my life. I accept you. I accept you as Lord of my life, Lord Jesus. I accept you. Come into my heart. And when you say that, when you ask him to come into your heart and when you've repented of your sins and say, you know what? Forgive me, Lord. I've missed it. Take all that stuff away. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Lord Jesus, live inside of me. Be Lord of my life. Guide me. I want your spirit to guide me. Holy Spirit, fill me. I surrender it all to you. And when you have that surrendered heart posture to make God, Truly in charge of your life. Lord Jesus in charge of your life. You'll never be the same. If you need any help with that. Any resources. Don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'll be there for you. God's got you. Holy Spirit. We end this. With an opportunity. For anyone lost. To be saved. To find their shepherd. from the storms of life. So I ask you, Lord Jesus, be with them. Strengthen them. Keep them. Strengthen all those who are watching, all those who are listening. Give them fresh oil, Holy Spirit, those that are drained. And may your healing staff cover the wounds of yesterday with your healing blood. Strengthen them, O God. Strengthen them, O God. Strengthen them, O God. Strengthen them. Lord Jesus, I invite you into my heart. Say this prayer with me online if you want to be saved. Oh, Lord Jesus, I invite you into my heart. I know you're fully God, fully man. that you died and rose again, that your blood was shed on Calvary and that you are seated in heavenly places with God the Father. I trust you. I surrender my life to you. I come under your lordship. I repent of all my sins and I ask that you come live in my heart. Cleanse me. Be with me now. And I ask your Holy Spirit to come fill me up and help me Help me to live this new nature, this new life as a believer, as a Christian. Help me, Holy Spirit. Come inside of me. Take control. My old way's not been working. I want you to come take control. I surrender it all to you. And with this prayer, I believe that you've entered my heart and I've been saved. And that the Holy Spirit now lives inside of me. I've been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray these things. And we decree and declare all in Jesus's name. Amen. Just sit in his presence for a moment. Let him heal you of everything that's afflicting you. Let him be with you in that hallway of affliction. Let him strengthen you. Let him hold you with his righteous right hand. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for this time that we have together. Until next week, bask in his love. Draw strength from his eternal well of living water. Hunger and thirst for him. Get into the word. Stay into the word. Put on praise and worship music. Especially if you prayed this prayer and if you've emptied yourself of self and you've let go of things and you've got empty space and something broke off of you and you feel better. We don't go by feelings, but you know something broke off and you were one way and now you're different. It is very important that you fill yourself up with scriptures, with the word of God, that you fill yourself up with scriptures, that you put on praise and worship music, And watch what goes in your ear gate, ear gate and eye gate. Your ear gate and your eye gate. Meaning watch what you watch on television. I don't watch television. I just don't. There's certain things I won't do. Take a fast from social media and get into the word of God and let him speak to you like never before. God bless you. God keep you. I'm Tammy Toney-Butler, Healing Evangelist. Thank you for joining Reflective Spaces Ministry and this teaching that we have, this word that he had for you. Go forth and conquer in his strength. He's got you. He's guiding you. Remember, Jesus loves you and I love you. God bless you. God bless you.