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Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

March 25, 2019

57:30

There is power in your words! Laurie Crouch is joined by her friends, Victoria Osteen and Christine Caine, to talk about how to find your voice and use your words wisely. See another preview of Better Together on this special Praise episode! TBN Prayer Line: 1-888-731-1000

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Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

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- [Announcer] We are getting Better Together on TBN.
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Each week, Laurie Crouch gathers her best friends
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for powerful conversations and so much more.
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The fun starts April 22nd and we are bringing
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you a special preview.
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(upbeat music)
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Tonight on Praise from Los Angeles,
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Laurie Crouch, Victoria Osteen and Christine Caine
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on the power of words.
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Praise starts now.
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We're always better together.
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- Hello and welcome, welcome to this
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special edition of the Praise program
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right here on our new Better Together set.
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- Beautiful. - Come on.
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- Yeah, you like it?
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- [Victoria] Mm-mm.
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- It's pretty, isn't it?
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- It's stunning.
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- We wanna welcome you, this is a brand new program
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that we're just happy that you're here to join us
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and I've got Christine Caine and Victoria Osteen
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and this program is friends, friends getting
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together and talking about life,
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ups and downs, God is good all the time
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and we remind each other and we're just
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here to share it with you and I just want
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to encourage you to be a part of it.
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We start on April 22nd.
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So why are we doing Better Together?
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- Because we're better together.
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(laughing)
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I mean, it's not rocket science.
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Why do life alone?
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- [Laurie] Right.
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- When you can do it together?
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- Absolutely.
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And you know, I love to hear conversation
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because it enlarges me.
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I get ideas from people, I never thought of certain things,
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and so that's what I believe that these programs
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are gonna be about, it's gonna be enlarging
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all of us together.
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- So tonight we're talking about how to find your voice.
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Take a little small look at Better Together.
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- I thank God for my friends because
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whenever I'm weak, they're strong.
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Whenever they're weak, I'm strong.
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So we're helpers of one another.
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We were never called to walk this road alone.
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(upbeat piano music)
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(laughs)
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- There's nothing' greater than being with
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amazing women who will lift you up and support you
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and make you better.
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(laughing and excited group chatter)
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- Better Together.
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(upbeat music)
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We're not done yet?
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Oh, hold the applause please.
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(upbeat piano music)
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- She's the only person on earth than I'm taller than.
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(laughs)
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Makes me feel so good.
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(upbeat music and laughing)
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- [Camera Man] Is that it?
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- That's it, that's it, it's all I got,
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it's all I got right now.
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- You're not gonna wanna miss a second of Better Together.
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We have so many fun things planned
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but none of this would be possible without you.
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You need to connect with us on social media.
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We want to hear from you and tell us
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what you want to talk about.
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This is not just a TV program, it's a community.
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It's built on love and friendship and encouragement
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and it's time that we join together
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to make the world a better place, amen?
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- Amen. - Amen.
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(laughs)
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- If you want to make a difference
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you have to find your voice and know how to use it.
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That's what we're talking about tonight.
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Next, doctor Deedee Freeman kicks off our conversation
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with how she learned the power of words.
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- When Brelynn was little we used to say,
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Brelynn, no, we would just say,
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go ahead with your little black self.
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You know, just playin'
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go on, go on with your little black self.
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We would just say it all the time
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and I remember asking her, I said,
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Brelynn, what color are you?
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And she said, I'm a black self.
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I was like, oh, I'll never call you that again.
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Because she had begin to identify something negative
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opposed to, even though our intentions
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were pure, just fun, you know, just havin'
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lighthearted stuff, conversation, we thinkin'
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this is okay but when she begin to say that,
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it was like, this isn't, this isn't good,
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this isn't positive. - yeah.
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And so we had to begin to change it
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and sittin' here listening to y'all now
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thinking about, what if Vashti knew--
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- Mm. - Ooh.
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- The importance of her words or her voice.
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- [Christine] Totally.
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- If she understood that she would be
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exiled from the kingdom.
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If she would have used her voice properly
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she could have been Ester.
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- That's right. - She absolutely--
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- Or David's wife was Michal, right?
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- Yes.
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- You know, she's the one that mocked and criticized
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and then was barren for the rest of her life
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and I just thought, boy is that, gosh, that's a good point.
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- That's a real good point.
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- Abigail, because Abigail was a smart woman.
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And so, one wife used her words incorrectly, nope, goodbye
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and he upgraded to Abigail who used her words wisely.
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We could be those women today.
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- Could be, 'cause Vashti had a group of women
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that she was responsible for in a party
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and she decides to not use her voice properly
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and she, you know, got kicked outta that spot.
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It's like, I wanna use my words so much so properly
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that God will be glorified.
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- [Christine] Absolutely.
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- You know, I wanna be heard, a lot of times women
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feel like, I can say what I wanna say, I can--
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- Well you can! - Yeah you can.
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- But my thing, even in my relationship with my marriage,
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it's like, I wanna be heard.
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- I wanna be heard.
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(hearty laughing)
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- There's no on like doctor Deedee.
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- Yeah, right, that sometimes gets us in trouble.
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But Chris, what is your voice and how do you find it?
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- You know, I think it's such a huge subject,
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but I think you voice is really
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connected to your influence and in lots of ways
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having you find your voice is first and foremost
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you've got to learn to hear God
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because what we have I think is a lot of opinion
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out there not necessarily voice.
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And sometimes I think that's where we were going
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and Holly was saying, you can kinda sprout what you want
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(laughter)
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but that doesn't mean that your gonna carry (laughs)
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yes, that doesn't mean it's gonna carry to
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actually change anyone for the good
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or it could move someone to the better.
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I think it comes out of listening to God
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and when you listen to God
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and with His Holy Spirit on the inside of you
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I think then courage and strength comes from
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the inside of you to help people around you find wisdom,
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make wise choices, and move forward.
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- Out of the heart the mouth speaks.
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- Totally.
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- And that's what the Scripture says so I think your voice
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has to start also with your thoughts.
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- [Christine] Yes.
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- And what are you thinking about?
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What are you dwelling on?
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And like you said, when you put God's Word in
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it will help your thoughts.
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You know, it will align your thoughts with God
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because you can't be thinking one thing
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and expect to say something different.
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Because what you're thinking is eventually gonna come out.
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What you're putting into you is eventually gonna come out
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so I think we have to start within us first
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and when we have, do our best to have a pure heart,
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like I can't be thinking over there like,
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who does she think she is?
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- Right. - She thinks she is so great.
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And then expect later for those thoughts not to surface,
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not to materialize and just like they were talking about
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Queen Vashti and she was put in a really hard situation
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where she was being demeaned.
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She was expected to do something
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that scholars say to even come and dance for all these men
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with no clothes on so she was in a bad place.
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We find ourselves sometimes in difficult places.
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That's why it's so important
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that our thoughts are going in the right direction
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and that we can harness those thoughts
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so they don't just come out of our mouth.
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- My daddy used to say, garbage in, garbage out.
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- It's not complicated and I think now
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because of the world that we live in
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it's easy to get garbage in because you're looking at it
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on you phone, all the time through social media
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so I think you have to be very careful
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because if you want your voice to carry
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with the authority that can only come from God's Word
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then I think you have to fill yourself with God's Word.
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We need to not confuse our opinion with the Word of God.
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The Bible says, the grass withers the flower fades
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but the Word of the Lord, it will last forever.
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So it's God Word that lasts and I think
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the more of God's Word we put in
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the more authority we carry, the more strength we carry,
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and that's what comes out of us
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which I think is absolutely awesome.
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And I love the fact that, up next,
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sometimes finding your voice
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means that you've gotta face your fears
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and I know for me, that's the case
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in every realm of my life.
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I've had so many fears to overcome
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and there are so many circumstances in my life
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that if I didn't step up and into what God had
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by overcoming fear then there is no way
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that I would have the influence that God has given me today.
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So, I think we're gonna see a little bit more about that.
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- I grew up and my daddy said I couldn't make sense
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'til I was seven.
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- Wow!
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- So it kinda put a damper on me communicating.
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You didn't mean that, you didn't mean for me to have
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a hard time communicating but kinda all my life
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I was thinking, okay I'm a bad communicator
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I've got to be quiet, you know, 'cause I can't,
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you know, if I ever got in a verbal, I never debated.
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I know all four of you--
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(hearty laughter) - No, no, never.
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I had to learn to debate 'cause my husband is the most
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verbal communicator, you guys have probably ever seen.
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- Yes. - Yeah.
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- And I would just completely shut down.
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But then you marry into this family
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and you get handed a microphone.
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So that's where I had to say, okay I'm gonna either
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walk in faith but I didn't want that microphone.
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So this program kinda was birthed out of
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something that my mother-in-law had said
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about Trinity Broadcasting Network
00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:53.280
and waking up to hope and grace
00:09:53.280 --> 00:09:55.210
and she said, baby, this was one of her last,
00:09:55.210 --> 00:09:57.230
well the last time I saw her, she goes,
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baby we are so missin' something here with the women,
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with the ladies and I heard someone talk about fear
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and excitement and that when you feel fear
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it sets off the same dopamines and the same atropophe
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whatever they call it.
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(panel laughs)
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All in your brain, all the same thing.
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- Right. - Yeah.
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- You know, it reacts in your brain as the same feeling,
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excitement and fear, but what you got to tell yourself
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is that we don't walk in fear but we're gonna be excited--
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- But I'm excited!
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- About this, you know?
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So I thought I'm gonna gather my friends
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and be excited about this and try to help the world
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by being better together
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and finding the community of people.
00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:45.120
So I am better because of what you guys
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instill in me everyday.
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I wake up to the most beautiful text from
00:10:52.260 --> 00:10:55.110
Miranda, my assistant, she just said this morning,
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I am so excited about today,
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you guys are gonna change the world.
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That just sets your torch and everybody has the ability,
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and the opportunity to do that to at least one person.
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- That's right.
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- (laughing) So who encourages you to use your voice?
00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.140
- Well, my husband's a great encourager.
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He's always pushing me but I've been blessed in my life
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to have people around me that have encouraged me
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and I've heard other stories and it's just disheartening
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to think that people would use their words
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to tear someone down but I believe that my
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yes, like I like to say, my getting in agreement with God
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it's hidden inside me many times
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and so I have to rely on people,
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just like you were saying that text,
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I have to look for the good 'cause it's easy to find
00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:50.130
negative voices, you know, they're not far,
00:11:50.130 --> 00:11:52.260
even my own voice, so I do, I have to really
00:11:52.260 --> 00:11:55.190
kinda learn to shut out those voices
00:11:55.190 --> 00:11:58.050
and look for the good voices, the yes voices
00:11:58.050 --> 00:12:01.170
because I think there's too many people out today
00:12:01.170 --> 00:12:04.000
and they have had something negative spoken
00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.120
you have to uproot it because it'll come back again
00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:09.200
and again and again until you put something better in.
00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.230
- Wow, next we're gonna watch Bianca
00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:15.130
and she's gonna talk about
00:12:15.130 --> 00:12:16.250
how she dedicated her voice to God.
00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:20.030
- We can talk about having our voice or owning our voice
00:12:20.030 --> 00:12:23.130
but for a whole segment of women they're still tryin'
00:12:23.130 --> 00:12:25.090
to discover what their voice sounds like.
00:12:25.090 --> 00:12:27.290
For me I feel like I was fortunate enough
00:12:27.290 --> 00:12:30.110
to have just an earnest and honest conversation
00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:32.190
with God at a very young age.
00:12:32.190 --> 00:12:34.050
I, like Chris, first generation American,
00:12:34.050 --> 00:12:37.030
well, you're not first generation American.
00:12:37.030 --> 00:12:38.190
- I was gonna say Australian, please!
00:12:38.190 --> 00:12:39.290
(hearty laughter)
00:12:39.290 --> 00:12:41.060
- We're both emigrants.
00:12:41.060 --> 00:12:42.260
(hearty laughter)
00:12:42.260 --> 00:12:43.240
- [Christine] We get the joke.
00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:45.020
- [Bianca] And we get the job done.
00:12:45.020 --> 00:12:46.100
- [Deedee] That's all that matters.
00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:47.150
- I really struggled academically.
00:12:47.150 --> 00:12:48.290
We were raised in the hood, I had a number of things
00:12:48.290 --> 00:12:51.100
that were going on but I couldn't read, write or spell
00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:52.280
at the age of 12 and I just had an honest
00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:55.080
conversation with God and I was tired of being marginalized
00:12:55.080 --> 00:12:58.070
and made fun of, feeling absolutely stupid.
00:12:58.070 --> 00:13:01.280
And so as a frustrated little girl I said,
00:13:01.280 --> 00:13:03.220
God, if you give me words I will give you my voice.
00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:06.280
And God was faithful in that and I think for those
00:13:06.280 --> 00:13:09.050
that want to discover their voice
00:13:09.050 --> 00:13:11.260
I think the first step is having an honest conversation,
00:13:11.260 --> 00:13:15.130
an earnest conversation with God and saying,
00:13:15.130 --> 00:13:17.130
what do you want me to say?
00:13:17.130 --> 00:13:18.280
So we're dealing with a whole generation
00:13:18.280 --> 00:13:20.140
that has a lot to say, my peers have a lot to say.
00:13:20.140 --> 00:13:23.010
This next generation has a lot to say
00:13:23.010 --> 00:13:25.030
but are we saying it, are we saying words
00:13:25.030 --> 00:13:27.220
that are bathed with God, bathed in Jesus?
00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:30.180
- [Holly] Yeah.
00:13:30.180 --> 00:13:31.120
- [Christine] Right.
00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.200
- Miss Deedee had said, Jesus said,
00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:34.100
I speak the words of my father.
00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:36.020
That should come off of our lips as well.
00:13:36.020 --> 00:13:37.250
I think growing up as a first generation American,
00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:40.080
living in urban-hood environment,
00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.290
some of the challenges that I faced
00:13:42.290 --> 00:13:44.140
I wasn't able to read, write or spell at the age of 12.
00:13:44.140 --> 00:13:47.170
I was morbidly obese by the age of 13.
00:13:47.170 --> 00:13:50.070
I had every excuse by statisticians to be quantified
00:13:50.070 --> 00:13:54.190
and listed as a failure, repeating the generational
00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:57.020
cycles of those that have gone before me.
00:13:57.020 --> 00:13:59.050
But that wasn't the story that I was gonna tell.
00:13:59.050 --> 00:14:01.100
At a very young age and a purpose in my heart,
00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:03.180
that God has a plan and a purpose for my life,
00:14:03.180 --> 00:14:05.200
plans for good and not of evil,
00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:07.210
to give me a future and hope that if I really believe that
00:14:07.210 --> 00:14:10.290
then I wanted to step into my story.
00:14:10.290 --> 00:14:13.030
Yes I am brown, yes I am loud, yes I am late but guess what?
00:14:13.030 --> 00:14:17.160
I bring the fun so my voice is gonna be in the church
00:14:17.160 --> 00:14:20.170
and we're gonna talk about Jesus in a fun way.
00:14:20.170 --> 00:14:22.280
I'm gonna make the Bible come alive.
00:14:22.280 --> 00:14:24.130
I get to, and no one else can steal this from me,
00:14:24.130 --> 00:14:27.040
I get to teach the Bible like a novela.
00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:29.070
That is like a Spanish soap opera, next level crazy.
00:14:29.070 --> 00:14:31.290
That is what I get to bring.
00:14:31.290 --> 00:14:33.220
So what do you bring?
00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:35.030
What is your flavor?
00:14:35.030 --> 00:14:36.130
What is your sabor?
00:14:36.130 --> 00:14:37.200
What is your flavor that you get to bring
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.090
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
00:14:39.090 --> 00:14:40.270
- I love that because everybody's got your own flavor,
00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:45.060
everybody's got your own unique voice.
00:14:45.060 --> 00:14:47.150
How important is it to just use your own voice?
00:14:47.150 --> 00:14:49.130
- Oh, God can only anoint you not another version of you
00:14:49.130 --> 00:14:54.100
that's what I always think so I think that's why
00:14:54.100 --> 00:14:57.010
the enemy fights so hard to silence our voice
00:14:57.010 --> 00:15:00.040
and to make us feel full of fear or insecurity or doubt
00:15:00.040 --> 00:15:04.080
and I think just like Bianca was talking about
00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:07.080
coming from a Hispanic background
00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:08.180
and where does that all fit?
00:15:08.180 --> 00:15:09.260
I was the Greek emigrant in Australia,
00:15:09.260 --> 00:15:12.030
it's the same kind of thing and I remember even when I
00:15:12.030 --> 00:15:14.120
first come into women's ministry I thought
00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:16.170
I'm not like the other women, I mean,
00:15:16.170 --> 00:15:19.000
my hair is flatter than your hair (laughs)
00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:22.110
but it was kinda going, I wear a hundred shades black,
00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:26.080
I mean, that's it, we were talking about it
00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.230
but go okay, am I comfortable in my own skin
00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:32.200
so that I can find my own voice
00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:34.020
and know that that's what God has anointed
00:15:34.020 --> 00:15:37.080
and if I try to have someone else's voice
00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:40.150
then how can God anoint something that's not uniquely me?
00:15:40.150 --> 00:15:43.280
- Yeah. - I think.
00:15:43.280 --> 00:15:45.050
- I agree with that, I think that's amazing.
00:15:45.050 --> 00:15:46.120
I think you have to know who you are.
00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:48.080
You know, so many people out there
00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:49.180
like Bianca was sayin' they have an opinion.
00:15:49.180 --> 00:15:51.280
Everybody's got opinion, they all want to have this voice
00:15:51.280 --> 00:15:54.190
but I think sometimes we need to reign in our voice.
00:15:54.190 --> 00:15:58.130
- [Christine] Yes.
00:15:58.130 --> 00:15:59.200
- We need to know that we don't have to always
00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.200
use our voice.
00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.050
We don't have to have an opinion about everything.
00:16:02.050 --> 00:16:04.230
Sometimes we wanna straighten everyone out
00:16:04.230 --> 00:16:06.230
but I really don't think God's called us
00:16:06.230 --> 00:16:09.000
on this earth to straighten everyone out
00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:10.230
and I think that takes a lot of, not only self-respect
00:16:10.230 --> 00:16:14.210
but respect for other people.
00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:16.200
To know that hey number one, I don't have to straighten
00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:18.260
you out but I can have my own opinion
00:16:18.260 --> 00:16:22.030
without having to have conflict with you.
00:16:22.030 --> 00:16:24.030
So I think this voice situation is very complex
00:16:24.030 --> 00:16:28.220
but I do believe that you have to have
00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:31.100
a good enough self-esteem to understand
00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.130
when to use your voice and when not to use you voice.
00:16:33.130 --> 00:16:35.290
- Close your mouth (laughs) that's what I've heard,
00:16:35.290 --> 00:16:39.030
my mom always said, if you don't have something nice to say
00:16:39.030 --> 00:16:42.030
don't say it, but I think we've talked about it before,
00:16:42.030 --> 00:16:44.290
this social media thing, boy it's so easy to get on there
00:16:44.290 --> 00:16:48.110
and just spout your opinions off to people and hurt people.
00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:53.050
Words have the power to build up or to tear down every time.
00:16:53.050 --> 00:16:57.140
- I just want to leave people better off
00:16:57.140 --> 00:16:58.220
than when I got there and that should be our
00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:01.070
point of reference is I'm not here to straighten you out
00:17:01.070 --> 00:17:04.040
I want to leave you better off.
00:17:04.040 --> 00:17:06.100
It's not how what I say to you many times
00:17:06.100 --> 00:17:08.130
it's just how I make you feel.
00:17:08.130 --> 00:17:10.140
- Well next we're gonna see Holly Wagner
00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:12.130
and she's gonna share how a simple
00:17:12.130 --> 00:17:13.250
act of obedience can save a life.
00:17:13.250 --> 00:17:16.120
- So this teenage girl was feeling very vulnerable
00:17:16.120 --> 00:17:21.120
and just insecure and really doubting herself
00:17:22.170 --> 00:17:26.060
and so the amazing thing is that she said
00:17:26.060 --> 00:17:29.220
she went to the Bible, she says, okay,
00:17:29.220 --> 00:17:31.070
I'm just gonna go to the Bible, we have the Bible,
00:17:31.070 --> 00:17:34.050
and I'm gonna write down everything God says about me.
00:17:34.050 --> 00:17:38.160
And so she wrote it down on a piece of paper
00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:40.020
and then, this teenage girl, on her Instagram feed
00:17:40.020 --> 00:17:44.030
she decided to just put on there what God says
00:17:44.030 --> 00:17:46.210
about you or me, she put it on there.
00:17:46.210 --> 00:17:49.080
Well, unbeknownst to her there was this other teenage girl,
00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:54.080
not even in the same city I don't think
00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:57.060
who had just written a suicide note--
00:17:57.060 --> 00:17:59.280
- [Christine] Oh wow.
00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:01.130
- To her family and she thought before I kill myself--
00:18:01.130 --> 00:18:04.040
- [Christine] Oh wow.
00:18:04.040 --> 00:18:05.180
- I'm just gonna, just see what people I know are doing.
00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:08.260
And so she comes across her Instagram feed
00:18:08.260 --> 00:18:11.180
and on the Instagram feed it was,
00:18:11.180 --> 00:18:13.260
daughter of the King and loved and valued and purpose.
00:18:13.260 --> 00:18:16.280
And so she started reading all this stuff
00:18:16.280 --> 00:18:19.020
and it changed, like something was birthed in her then
00:18:19.020 --> 00:18:21.290
or something, I don't know what happened
00:18:21.290 --> 00:18:23.110
but just something changed in her and so then
00:18:23.110 --> 00:18:25.200
she just decides no I have something to live for
00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.160
so then she ends up messaging the girl
00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:31.070
and then of course now the girl is crying
00:18:31.070 --> 00:18:32.130
but then they've reached out to her
00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:34.120
and so she's now got a community of people
00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:36.200
to do life with and be better together and all of that.
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.270
So I started thinking, that's how we're suppose to be
00:18:39.270 --> 00:18:42.070
using social media--
00:18:42.070 --> 00:18:43.170
- Hello, hello. - Or using our voice, right?
00:18:43.170 --> 00:18:45.120
- You know what has made me realize it?
00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:46.260
Is having kids.
00:18:46.260 --> 00:18:48.100
Of how much my words carry, 'cause my younger one's
00:18:48.100 --> 00:18:50.280
really sensitive and I'm not even thinking anything,
00:18:50.280 --> 00:18:54.150
you know what I mean, and she could just start crying
00:18:54.150 --> 00:18:57.200
and I'm like, what on earth?
00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.150
The first time that happened was when I realized
00:19:00.150 --> 00:19:03.030
whoa, what our words carry really is life and death.
00:19:03.030 --> 00:19:07.000
- Life and death, right?
00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:08.090
- Mutually, mutually, yeah.
00:19:08.090 --> 00:19:09.290
- Words are free but it may cost you later.
00:19:09.290 --> 00:19:12.000
- Oh, when it dawned on me that,
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:14.190
that my words could have an impact was
00:19:15.280 --> 00:19:18.250
maybe it was in the first few years of
00:19:20.210 --> 00:19:22.250
traveling and teaching or whatever
00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:24.110
but I would get letters back and from young girls.
00:19:24.110 --> 00:19:27.110
So from teenage girls who would talk to me
00:19:27.110 --> 00:19:29.230
about what they learned and heard
00:19:29.230 --> 00:19:32.030
and it sobered me in a good way
00:19:32.030 --> 00:19:34.160
to know that, to just be really mindful that--
00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:39.030
- You never know.
00:19:39.030 --> 00:19:40.010
- You never know who's listening
00:19:40.010 --> 00:19:41.080
and that, yeah, that the words matter.
00:19:41.080 --> 00:19:46.040
- I've been married for 33 years and praise--
00:19:47.090 --> 00:19:49.040
- Me too, me too!
00:19:49.040 --> 00:19:50.020
(hearty laughter)
00:19:50.020 --> 00:19:51.160
- Congratulations. - Congratulations.
00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:52.250
- Hey, hey. - Goin' on 33 right here.
00:19:52.250 --> 00:19:55.010
- 33. - Yep.
00:19:55.010 --> 00:19:56.090
- Did you know Jesus was crucified at 33?
00:19:56.090 --> 00:19:57.160
I'm just sayin'. - How 'bout that!
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:58.270
(hearty laughter)
00:19:58.270 --> 00:20:00.110
- Listen, if you stay married 33 years
00:20:00.110 --> 00:20:02.170
you die all the time, you die all the time.
00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:05.160
- We have already been crucified.
00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.120
(hearty laughter)
00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:10.110
- But you know like the first seven or eight years
00:20:10.110 --> 00:20:12.070
of our relationship, how we stayed is, it was really hard
00:20:12.070 --> 00:20:16.080
but one of the main reason is because I didn't know
00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:20.260
who I happened to be and I allowed Mike to define me.
00:20:20.260 --> 00:20:25.230
- [Christine] Wow, that's powerful.
00:20:25.230 --> 00:20:27.020
- You know, I did, I allow him to give me
00:20:27.020 --> 00:20:29.230
purpose or even self-esteem, self-worth, value.
00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:33.140
I lost it all because of the insecurities that I had
00:20:34.260 --> 00:20:39.140
in being a wife, not knowin' how to properly
00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:44.090
fulfill that position, it was horrible
00:20:44.090 --> 00:20:47.080
and so he used his words not always to build me up.
00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:52.080
You know, some of those words were very damaging.
00:20:53.210 --> 00:20:55.120
And so, I learned the power of words really through that.
00:20:55.120 --> 00:21:00.110
And so, not until, again I begin to find out
00:21:00.110 --> 00:21:03.100
who I happen to be then that's when I was able
00:21:03.100 --> 00:21:08.060
to put a stop to allow all the negative words
00:21:08.060 --> 00:21:11.190
to influence me, it's like, no, this doesn't define me,
00:21:11.190 --> 00:21:15.100
this word right here defines me
00:21:15.100 --> 00:21:17.190
and when I begin to do that it begin to change him
00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:21.240
because I found me.
00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:22.190
- That's powerful.
00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:24.070
- [Deedee] So I didn't allow him to define me.
00:21:24.070 --> 00:21:25.060
- So it was like a boundary.
00:21:25.060 --> 00:21:26.140
- It was a boundary, it was a boundary,
00:21:26.140 --> 00:21:27.280
I drew that boundary in my purpose though.
00:21:27.280 --> 00:21:31.030
Finding out who I happen to be.
00:21:31.030 --> 00:21:33.000
It's like God, when I found out who God created me to be,
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.060
it's like you've been saying, I'm the daughter of the King!
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.280
You David didn't even want to take the daughter
00:21:40.280 --> 00:21:43.260
of Saul on because he understood it is responsibility.
00:21:43.260 --> 00:21:48.060
You say this like it's a the light thing
00:21:48.060 --> 00:21:50.180
and when I got revelation this ain't no light thing
00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:53.090
being married to the daughter of a King.
00:21:53.090 --> 00:21:55.020
- [Woman] That's right.
00:21:55.020 --> 00:21:56.160
- And you can't use any ol' words talkin' about me.
00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:58.120
When I was growing up I didn't have that voice.
00:21:58.120 --> 00:22:01.040
I didn't feel like I was entitled to a voice, if you will.
00:22:01.040 --> 00:22:05.100
Wasn't raised in a real strong kind of family
00:22:05.100 --> 00:22:09.160
or dynamics with the mother that spoke up
00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:12.060
so I never saw that so when I grew up I didn't have it.
00:22:12.060 --> 00:22:16.050
And then when I got married some things transpired
00:22:16.050 --> 00:22:19.090
and so I still didn't have, you know, that voice.
00:22:19.090 --> 00:22:22.170
And really not until I found purpose
00:22:22.170 --> 00:22:25.260
and started gettin' in the Word to get some kind of identity
00:22:25.260 --> 00:22:29.010
is when I begin to develop and to learn
00:22:29.010 --> 00:22:33.070
that I did have something to say.
00:22:33.070 --> 00:22:35.110
Because it was quite painful growing up
00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:39.210
not thinking you could speak up
00:22:39.210 --> 00:22:42.060
you know and watching everybody else say and do
00:22:42.060 --> 00:22:47.000
what they felt called to do,
00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.210
it was a little degrading as well.
00:22:49.210 --> 00:22:52.120
And so it took away my self-esteem, my value, my worth,
00:22:52.120 --> 00:22:56.250
I didn't know who I happen to be
00:22:56.250 --> 00:22:58.190
and not until I got in the Word is when I begin to
00:22:58.190 --> 00:23:01.170
really find purpose to find my voice,
00:23:01.170 --> 00:23:03.180
finding my voice in His voice.
00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:05.130
- Wow, I like that.
00:23:07.080 --> 00:23:08.210
- Powerful. - That's powerful.
00:23:08.210 --> 00:23:10.070
- So do you think we're all held responsible for our words?
00:23:10.070 --> 00:23:13.170
- It's just about what we ask God (laughing) yeah.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.070
And I think in an era, there is not an absence
00:23:17.070 --> 00:23:21.110
of words we've talked about it.
00:23:21.110 --> 00:23:23.060
I think those of us that are as old as the dinosaurs
00:23:23.060 --> 00:23:25.230
so we grew up before an internet, you know,
00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:28.130
you had to kinda fight to get your words out there.
00:23:28.130 --> 00:23:30.130
Nowadays, you can vent and you don't really have a voice.
00:23:30.130 --> 00:23:33.220
You've just more outrage, I mean, they call it
00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:35.200
the outrage culture, everywhere you go.
00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:37.110
You don't wanna wake up in the morning.
00:23:37.110 --> 00:23:38.250
Whether it's the news or media there's outrage, outrage.
00:23:38.250 --> 00:23:41.250
I'm just gonna vent how I feel
00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:43.160
and yet Scripture talks about us having self-control
00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:47.050
and then renewing our minds by bringing it
00:23:47.050 --> 00:23:49.200
into alignment with the Word of God.
00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:51.170
Once your thoughts and your mind and your heart
00:23:51.170 --> 00:23:53.140
is renewed you could speak words of life
00:23:53.140 --> 00:23:55.290
that can change people's eternal destinies
00:23:55.290 --> 00:23:57.260
and I think the more we are committed to saying
00:23:57.260 --> 00:24:00.240
I wanna build up, I don't wanna tear down
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.090
in my relation instead of complaining about my boss
00:24:03.090 --> 00:24:06.050
or instead of complaining about my friends
00:24:06.050 --> 00:24:08.150
I can start to speak words of life and hope and liberty.
00:24:08.150 --> 00:24:11.210
You change your words, you change your world.
00:24:11.210 --> 00:24:13.250
I'm convinced of that.
00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:15.160
- What's the saying?
00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:16.290
Make your words sweet because you have to eat 'em.
00:24:16.290 --> 00:24:18.150
(hearty laughter)
00:24:18.150 --> 00:24:19.120
- Hello.
00:24:19.120 --> 00:24:20.190
- You know and so the thing is is that
00:24:20.190 --> 00:24:22.160
people don't understand when you build someone else up
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.190
God is gonna make sure you get built up.
00:24:25.190 --> 00:24:27.030
- [Christine] Totally.
00:24:27.030 --> 00:24:28.160
- When you give the Bible says you'll receive.
00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:31.200
And so often people don't use their words,
00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.220
they don't wanna give someone else
00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:35.020
something they don't think they may have.
00:24:35.020 --> 00:24:36.190
- Right. - Mm.
00:24:36.190 --> 00:24:38.040
- So just remember when you encourage, God will always
00:24:38.040 --> 00:24:39.250
make sure someone is gonna encourage you.
00:24:39.250 --> 00:24:41.100
- I study Proverbs a lot and it talks about
00:24:41.100 --> 00:24:44.130
choosing your words, letting your words be few.
00:24:44.130 --> 00:24:47.110
And I think if we concentrate, kinda sometimes
00:24:47.110 --> 00:24:50.100
on just letting my words be few
00:24:50.100 --> 00:24:51.290
then you're not just being held accountable
00:24:51.290 --> 00:24:55.160
for every word that comes out of your mouth.
00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:57.120
- Well mutually, and Scripture says
00:24:57.120 --> 00:24:58.260
there's a lot of sin in a lot of words (laughs) you see.
00:24:58.260 --> 00:25:02.020
- Yeah, right?
00:25:02.020 --> 00:25:03.090
Just to remind you you're watching
00:25:03.090 --> 00:25:04.170
a very special Praise where we're so excited
00:25:04.170 --> 00:25:07.050
that Better Together is coming your way on April 22nd.
00:25:07.050 --> 00:25:11.010
Monday through Friday we're gonna be able to
00:25:11.010 --> 00:25:13.190
talk about things that matter.
00:25:13.190 --> 00:25:15.150
Family, friends, purpose and so much more.
00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:18.090
We can't wait for you to join our conversations.
00:25:18.090 --> 00:25:21.020
Next, Holly Wagner's gonna share
00:25:21.020 --> 00:25:22.190
how a season of crisis almost silenced her voice forever.
00:25:22.190 --> 00:25:27.010
- I think for me I can take one hit
00:25:27.010 --> 00:25:29.250
but when it's hit, after hit, after hit, after hit.
00:25:31.210 --> 00:25:36.030
You know, so for me like within just a short period of time
00:25:36.030 --> 00:25:39.000
my father dies, our identity gets stolen,
00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:41.050
and then they steal our savings account.
00:25:41.050 --> 00:25:42.170
- Like legitimately, they--
00:25:42.170 --> 00:25:43.210
- [Holly] Legitimately.
00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:44.160
- Oh, credit card fraud.
00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:45.230
- Well, they hacked into Philip's email,
00:25:45.230 --> 00:25:47.000
they sorta figured out how to do that,
00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:48.150
then they, anyway, how they did, the FBI got involved
00:25:48.150 --> 00:25:51.040
and everything but we never got the money back.
00:25:51.040 --> 00:25:53.050
So our savings account, gone
00:25:53.050 --> 00:25:54.120
and then Philip gets diagnosed with cancer
00:25:54.120 --> 00:25:56.050
and then has such a bad reaction to the treatment
00:25:56.050 --> 00:25:58.020
that he can't function for about four or five months,
00:25:58.020 --> 00:26:00.120
and then I enter this, what she was referring to,
00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:03.230
this whole situation with friends
00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:05.080
who shouldn't have my back, I felt stabbed in the back
00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:07.040
so it like, pum, pum, pum, pum, pum
00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:08.170
so kind of like you, you can handle one thing
00:26:08.170 --> 00:26:11.200
but one you have so much?
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.190
I just, I wanted to curl into a ball on my couch
00:26:13.190 --> 00:26:18.030
and I became this inter.
00:26:18.030 --> 00:26:22.080
- When Holly was recounting all her punches
00:26:22.080 --> 00:26:25.050
and every time she punched her fist
00:26:25.050 --> 00:26:26.200
you heard the sound of it and it was almost like
00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:28.220
I could empathically feel the blows that were coming at her.
00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:32.050
I mean, these are not one thing like I broke a fingernail.
00:26:32.050 --> 00:26:34.230
This is cancer, this is betrayal, this is loss.
00:26:34.230 --> 00:26:38.260
I empathically felt with her because I think
00:26:38.260 --> 00:26:41.030
all of us have those moments and seasons in life
00:26:41.030 --> 00:26:43.240
where we feel like, I can't take another punch
00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:46.290
'cause I don't know if I'm gonna get back up.
00:26:46.290 --> 00:26:48.210
But seeing Holly get back up
00:26:48.210 --> 00:26:50.210
and knowing Laurie's story and hearing Christine
00:26:50.210 --> 00:26:54.000
and even Miss Deedee, it inspired me.
00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.060
If they took the hits and kept on going, so can I.
00:26:56.060 --> 00:27:00.290
And it was motivation, it was inspiring
00:27:00.290 --> 00:27:02.280
and more than anything it's a testament
00:27:02.280 --> 00:27:04.170
of God's faithfulness in trusting them
00:27:04.170 --> 00:27:07.150
but then also their faithfulness in trusting Him.
00:27:07.150 --> 00:27:10.020
- I just didn't want, I just was like, didn't want
00:27:11.150 --> 00:27:12.200
to talk to people and--
00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.220
- [Bianca] Didn't like people?
00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:14.200
- I didn't like people.
00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:16.040
- And you've gotta know this is the, I took this as
00:27:16.040 --> 00:27:17.280
appalling you know.
00:27:17.280 --> 00:27:19.120
- [Holly] I am the biggest introvert in the room, right?.
00:27:19.120 --> 00:27:21.050
- She has no personal boundary space.
00:27:21.050 --> 00:27:22.220
- No, no, no.
00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:23.170
(exuberant laughter)
00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:26.210
- Man, right in your space!
00:27:26.210 --> 00:27:29.070
You know, there should be some distance between,
00:27:29.070 --> 00:27:31.150
she talks right here!
00:27:31.150 --> 00:27:33.100
- Oh my gosh.
00:27:33.100 --> 00:27:34.180
- So I love him but this is a big deal, yes, yes.
00:27:34.180 --> 00:27:36.170
(hearty laughing)
00:27:36.170 --> 00:27:39.130
- So anyway, that was so much for me
00:27:39.130 --> 00:27:41.060
and so I just, not only lost my voice,
00:27:41.060 --> 00:27:43.070
I almost, like you said identity crisis,
00:27:43.070 --> 00:27:45.090
lost who I was in there.
00:27:45.090 --> 00:27:46.070
- Right.
00:27:46.070 --> 00:27:47.150
- And for me, I felt like in that moment
00:27:47.150 --> 00:27:52.020
that God, oh and I started to get really cynical.
00:27:53.140 --> 00:27:54.210
- Yeah, she did get cynical, I'm a witness.
00:27:54.210 --> 00:27:57.140
(laughing)
00:27:57.140 --> 00:27:58.150
- She's a witness.
00:27:58.150 --> 00:27:59.220
- Yeah, I did and I'm not a cynical person
00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:02.260
and I felt like God showed me the end result of that girl.
00:28:02.260 --> 00:28:07.260
- [Deedee] Wow.
00:28:09.010 --> 00:28:09.260
- [Bianca] Yeah.
00:28:09.260 --> 00:28:10.240
- [Christine] That's powerful.
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:12.020
- And gave me a picture of this bitter old woman
00:28:12.020 --> 00:28:13.170
and I didn't wanna be her, right!
00:28:13.170 --> 00:28:15.260
I didn't want to be her and so I went okay, stop it!
00:28:15.260 --> 00:28:19.020
Stop it, so I had to actually start controlling my thoughts.
00:28:19.020 --> 00:28:23.070
Like you said, we can't always control
00:28:23.070 --> 00:28:26.220
the first thought that runs through our head
00:28:26.220 --> 00:28:28.160
but we can control what we dwell on.
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:30.060
Oh, this is such a lesson I learned.
00:28:30.060 --> 00:28:31.220
I remember having to be in this courtroom
00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:36.040
and in this particular instance I couldn't say anything.
00:28:36.040 --> 00:28:38.190
So, I'm listening to this person spout off
00:28:38.190 --> 00:28:41.170
lies, it's like not true, none of it,
00:28:41.170 --> 00:28:44.070
and then attorneys are doing their thing whatever
00:28:44.070 --> 00:28:47.170
but at the end, we're sitting around a table
00:28:47.170 --> 00:28:49.110
and she's at this table at the end of this court session
00:28:49.110 --> 00:28:53.060
and I felt the spirit of God say to me,
00:28:53.060 --> 00:28:55.050
I want you to go hug her.
00:28:56.040 --> 00:28:57.220
And I was like, yeah I wanna go hug her,
00:28:58.280 --> 00:29:00.140
I wanna hug the life out of her life, squish, right?
00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:02.280
I'm like, whoa.
00:29:04.130 --> 00:29:06.000
So, I went over to her and I hugged her.
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.190
I wanted to do the polite, you know, that thing
00:29:08.190 --> 00:29:11.230
but I just knew what God was asking me to do
00:29:13.130 --> 00:29:15.230
and so I just hugged her and she was trying to say stuff
00:29:15.230 --> 00:29:20.080
but I wasn't even listening 'cause I knew this was
00:29:20.080 --> 00:29:22.050
about me and so I hugged her until the thing in me broke.
00:29:22.050 --> 00:29:26.100
Until I felt like I didn't hate her
00:29:26.100 --> 00:29:28.240
and now I'm probably am not not gonna have coffee
00:29:30.070 --> 00:29:32.280
with her, that wasn't what He was asking me to do
00:29:32.280 --> 00:29:36.180
He was asking me to hug her until I could forgive her
00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:40.090
and release it because He knew where I was headed.
00:29:40.090 --> 00:29:43.180
This is way back in the beginning for me,
00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:44.220
this was 20 something years ago
00:29:44.220 --> 00:29:46.240
and so I just think if I had held on to that
00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.160
I just wonder if the doors that He opened for me
00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:53.270
would have ever been opened if I had held on to that.
00:29:53.270 --> 00:29:56.240
I don't know but wasn't an easy season.
00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:59.170
- The enemy wants to silence our voice,
00:30:02.120 --> 00:30:04.210
for sure, doesn't he?
00:30:04.210 --> 00:30:06.040
- But you have to fight proactively to make a decision
00:30:06.040 --> 00:30:08.280
that I'm going to keep being a voice for God.
00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:12.080
I'm going to continue to be faithful to God.
00:30:12.080 --> 00:30:15.130
I'm gonna continue to speak words of life
00:30:15.130 --> 00:30:17.090
instead of negativity and I think the enemy wanting
00:30:17.090 --> 00:30:21.080
through especially criticism.
00:30:21.080 --> 00:30:22.280
When Nehemiah was tryin' to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem
00:30:22.280 --> 00:30:26.040
he did it in 52 days, it was a miracle,
00:30:26.040 --> 00:30:28.000
but the whole 52 days he had the naysayers
00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:31.080
and the critics tryin' to get him to come off the wall,
00:30:31.080 --> 00:30:34.040
tryin' to accuse him of things
00:30:34.040 --> 00:30:36.200
and then they changed their tact to try to woo him
00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:41.120
to get off his purpose by tapping into his pride
00:30:41.120 --> 00:30:45.280
and I thought the enemy will always do that.
00:30:45.280 --> 00:30:47.140
He's either gonna try to get you off the wall
00:30:47.140 --> 00:30:49.080
and silence your voice and your impact
00:30:49.080 --> 00:30:51.160
by either trying to be negative, critical, accusatory
00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:56.000
or try to make you think you are so much better
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:59.110
than you are, that you begin sprouting off about things
00:30:59.110 --> 00:31:03.020
you really shouldn't be sprouting off about
00:31:03.020 --> 00:31:04.220
and I think it lessens your voice in many ways.
00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:06.270
- Yeah.
00:31:06.270 --> 00:31:08.100
- You know, I had something happen to me one time
00:31:08.100 --> 00:31:09.180
and it was a very hurtful situation
00:31:09.180 --> 00:31:11.100
and I remember I didn't even wanna go outta the house.
00:31:11.100 --> 00:31:13.130
I just felt like that comment, what are people thinking
00:31:13.130 --> 00:31:17.220
and I remember God saying to me, so clearly
00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:21.210
I am your banner of victory, I am Jehovah-Nissi
00:31:21.210 --> 00:31:25.220
and you're walkin' around with a banner of defeat
00:31:25.220 --> 00:31:28.170
but I am your banner of victory.
00:31:28.170 --> 00:31:30.170
So literally, when you have this negative
00:31:30.170 --> 00:31:34.060
thing happen to you, you have to just picture God,
00:31:34.060 --> 00:31:37.000
your banner of victory over your head.
00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.010
Because you're gonna have to push through
00:31:39.010 --> 00:31:40.180
these negative voices, you're gonna have to push through
00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:42.260
your own self-doubt and so that's exactly what I did.
00:31:42.260 --> 00:31:46.090
I just saw this banner over my head
00:31:46.090 --> 00:31:48.200
that said Jehovah-Nissi, God is my victory.
00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:52.010
And I would repeat that and I would go forward
00:31:52.010 --> 00:31:54.210
and it was interesting because if I would have stayed put
00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:58.040
my voice would have truly been silenced.
00:31:58.040 --> 00:32:00.210
And that's exactly what the enemy wants.
00:32:00.210 --> 00:32:02.130
So if anybody's out there and you feel this,
00:32:02.130 --> 00:32:04.220
you've said, I've had even family members criticize me
00:32:04.220 --> 00:32:08.250
and I don't feel like I have worth or self-value,
00:32:08.250 --> 00:32:11.190
you put that banner of victory over your head
00:32:11.190 --> 00:32:14.010
because that's what Jesus is, He is your Jehovah-Nissi,
00:32:14.010 --> 00:32:16.280
your banner of victory, you move forward in faith
00:32:16.280 --> 00:32:19.230
because that's what's gonna help you get
00:32:19.230 --> 00:32:21.260
to that next place with God.
00:32:21.260 --> 00:32:23.260
- Those are some good words (laughs) 'cause sometimes
00:32:23.260 --> 00:32:26.160
those punches don't stop and they come but you know what?
00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:30.100
You get up every day, no matter who you are,
00:32:30.100 --> 00:32:33.180
no matter what you've gone through, you put your pants on.
00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:37.100
Maybe you don't flip both of your legs up
00:32:37.100 --> 00:32:39.110
and do it at the same time, you put 'em on one at a time
00:32:39.110 --> 00:32:41.180
'cause that's all the strength you have
00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:43.050
but you get up and you keep going because you know what?
00:32:43.050 --> 00:32:45.210
God is faithful, all the time, every day.
00:32:45.210 --> 00:32:50.050
But if your words have so much power
00:32:50.050 --> 00:32:52.040
we should learn how to use them.
00:32:52.040 --> 00:32:54.020
The next clip is from Bianca and Deedee
00:32:54.020 --> 00:32:56.090
and they talk about how to take authority
00:32:56.090 --> 00:32:58.270
and stay in the right place.
00:32:58.270 --> 00:33:00.220
- I mean, I look at this, just a sea of women
00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:04.000
and different stories, different backgrounds
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:06.050
and I just can't help feel grateful
00:33:06.050 --> 00:33:08.230
that you guys have gotten back up
00:33:08.230 --> 00:33:10.290
because there's gonna be an assault on our character,
00:33:10.290 --> 00:33:12.190
there's gonna be an assault on our integrity.
00:33:12.190 --> 00:33:14.130
If you step up to lead there's gonna be an assault.
00:33:14.130 --> 00:33:16.230
And you guys just remind me of Deborah, the prophetess
00:33:16.230 --> 00:33:20.110
in the book of Judges, who had every right not to have led.
00:33:20.110 --> 00:33:25.110
She was a woman, she was married,
00:33:26.090 --> 00:33:27.240
there's only one reference, two references to her husband
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:30.180
but other than that she was leady to the prophet
00:33:30.180 --> 00:33:32.090
and a judge and she went to war and brought freedom
00:33:32.090 --> 00:33:36.180
and then sang about it at the end.
00:33:36.180 --> 00:33:38.010
What you guys have done is gone to war
00:33:38.010 --> 00:33:40.070
and fought about it at the end.
00:33:40.070 --> 00:33:41.160
So when I feel like--
00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:42.160
- I won't be singing though.
00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:43.200
(spirited laughter)
00:33:43.200 --> 00:33:44.180
- Hold on, Holly, hold on.
00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:45.160
- Right, we'll hear you singing tomorrow.
00:33:46.210 --> 00:33:48.080
- There's an inner Adele in there somewhere, hold on.
00:33:48.080 --> 00:33:51.160
(hearty laughter)
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:52.150
I know you can sing Miss Laurie.
00:33:52.150 --> 00:33:53.230
I heard you in the bathroom, yes, yes.
00:33:53.230 --> 00:33:56.080
But I'm grateful for that and so seeing other people
00:33:56.080 --> 00:33:58.220
who have gotten back up after a battle
00:33:58.220 --> 00:34:01.120
and keep on fighting, I think it's so inspiring
00:34:01.120 --> 00:34:04.160
and it motivates me when battles come my way.
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:06.250
If they've done it and they have every excuse
00:34:06.250 --> 00:34:09.230
to throw in the towel, yet they got back up
00:34:09.230 --> 00:34:11.220
and did it, I wanna do the same.
00:34:11.220 --> 00:34:13.080
- Well, that's good, at least the scars are helping.
00:34:13.080 --> 00:34:14.200
(hearty laughter)
00:34:14.200 --> 00:34:16.080
- But no, this is good because I think
00:34:16.080 --> 00:34:18.070
this is why the Scripture say, this is why friendships
00:34:18.070 --> 00:34:21.040
are so important because it says to confess your faults
00:34:21.040 --> 00:34:24.280
to one another that you may be healed.
00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:27.030
So sharin' your story can bring healing
00:34:27.030 --> 00:34:30.100
for somebody else to make them regain their voice again.
00:34:30.100 --> 00:34:34.040
I remember when you were goin' through that, Chris
00:34:34.040 --> 00:34:36.080
and I was goin' through something with my husband.
00:34:36.080 --> 00:34:38.220
Most people know that story how the enemy had attacked him.
00:34:38.220 --> 00:34:42.110
His lungs had totally shut down,
00:34:42.110 --> 00:34:45.040
and doctors didn't give him any hope,
00:34:45.040 --> 00:34:46.240
thought he was gonna die and I had to really find my voice
00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:51.240
of authority in that moment.
00:34:52.200 --> 00:34:54.050
From the very beginning when my husband had that attack
00:34:54.050 --> 00:34:57.230
it was like I had to rise up, I didn't have an opportunity
00:34:57.230 --> 00:35:00.270
to think about it or to find my voice,
00:35:00.270 --> 00:35:04.160
I had to already know my voice
00:35:04.160 --> 00:35:06.210
and that's one of the things that I've learned
00:35:06.210 --> 00:35:08.140
that you have to prepare for moments
00:35:08.140 --> 00:35:10.190
and a lot of people don't prepare for bad moments.
00:35:10.190 --> 00:35:12.290
We only prepare for things to go right.
00:35:12.290 --> 00:35:16.050
And because I had begin to prepare as far as learning
00:35:16.050 --> 00:35:19.060
the Word, finding my identity, when he was attacked
00:35:19.060 --> 00:35:23.010
I didn't have a choice to decide
00:35:23.010 --> 00:35:25.160
whether I was gonna stand or I wasn't gonna stand.
00:35:25.160 --> 00:35:28.210
I mean, we heard a lot of bad things,
00:35:28.210 --> 00:35:30.070
people were puttin' out rumors that he had died
00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:32.170
and that he wasn't doin' really good or whatever
00:35:32.170 --> 00:35:36.130
sanded with sin this is where this attack came from
00:35:37.250 --> 00:35:41.040
and I had to silence the naysayers,
00:35:41.040 --> 00:35:44.160
silence all of the people that had something
00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:46.230
negative to say and really focus on
00:35:46.230 --> 00:35:49.180
the promise and the promises of God that said that
00:35:49.180 --> 00:35:52.090
he shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord.
00:35:52.090 --> 00:35:55.040
So I couldn't be concerned about everything else.
00:35:55.040 --> 00:35:57.190
I had to know that I had a voice to stand
00:35:57.190 --> 00:36:00.120
in that authority, that position that he,
00:36:00.120 --> 00:36:02.190
Mike, gave me when he said, I do.
00:36:02.190 --> 00:36:05.000
So, it's so much more to I do than
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.090
just sayin' okay we're married, let's have kids
00:36:07.090 --> 00:36:09.130
and let's be in love but when we say I do
00:36:09.130 --> 00:36:11.260
there's a covenant connection that gives us
00:36:11.260 --> 00:36:14.130
authority over each other.
00:36:14.130 --> 00:36:16.050
And just like in my own family, you know,
00:36:16.050 --> 00:36:18.260
I have seven siblings and we had a big riff
00:36:18.260 --> 00:36:23.230
in our family, split almost down the middle, if you will.
00:36:23.230 --> 00:36:27.230
And I remember Mike ministering a word
00:36:27.230 --> 00:36:31.060
and I said, okay, I'm gonna act on it.
00:36:31.060 --> 00:36:33.060
I called all of them together
00:36:33.060 --> 00:36:35.000
'cause I wanted to use my voice properly
00:36:36.040 --> 00:36:38.110
and I felt some type of way, really, in my feelings about
00:36:39.250 --> 00:36:43.150
some of 'em but it was like they're still my family.
00:36:43.150 --> 00:36:46.190
(laughing)
00:36:46.190 --> 00:36:47.210
And I said--
00:36:47.210 --> 00:36:48.190
- Are you allowed to do that?
00:36:48.190 --> 00:36:49.210
(hearty laughter)
00:36:49.210 --> 00:36:50.280
- Yeah, there is some kind of way.
00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:53.190
I remember telling one of my sisters
00:36:53.190 --> 00:36:55.110
hey, I will see you in heaven.
00:36:55.110 --> 00:36:57.010
Okay, this isn't how we were raised
00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:00.280
and so now I have to use my voice to empower.
00:37:00.280 --> 00:37:04.040
So I brought 'em all together and we shared our hearts
00:37:04.040 --> 00:37:07.040
towards one another and what we were raised on
00:37:07.040 --> 00:37:10.110
and how we wasn't gonna allow Christianity
00:37:10.110 --> 00:37:13.010
to separate us, it's like, now,
00:37:14.040 --> 00:37:16.140
here we become Christians as adults
00:37:16.140 --> 00:37:18.090
and now we can't get along, what is this?
00:37:18.090 --> 00:37:20.130
- I'm surprised that you sent her to heaven.
00:37:21.240 --> 00:37:23.220
(exuberant laughter)
00:37:23.220 --> 00:37:26.080
- I did send her to heaven.
00:37:26.080 --> 00:37:29.010
- On not that day, by the way.
00:37:29.010 --> 00:37:30.150
- But I did, we sat down and we reconciled
00:37:30.150 --> 00:37:33.210
and we talked and we begin to empower one another again
00:37:33.210 --> 00:37:37.250
and we took communion and we said we will never
00:37:37.250 --> 00:37:40.080
allow this to happen again but a lot of times
00:37:40.080 --> 00:37:43.260
you can get so way off of the foundation
00:37:43.260 --> 00:37:48.100
or your core belief system.
00:37:48.100 --> 00:37:50.290
- I think important to recognize
00:37:50.290 --> 00:37:52.070
when something is a spiritual attack
00:37:52.070 --> 00:37:55.020
and when something's suppose to silence you
00:37:55.020 --> 00:37:56.240
or trying to silence you and I think I look back to
00:37:56.240 --> 00:37:59.210
the cancer, I look back to even other scenarios
00:37:59.210 --> 00:38:02.130
and situations where we feel like we've lost our voice
00:38:02.130 --> 00:38:05.140
or we feel that we've lost the sense of influence
00:38:05.140 --> 00:38:07.050
or there's been a season change.
00:38:07.050 --> 00:38:08.260
And then identifying it and then recognizing
00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:12.060
the enemy cannot, the enemy may shackle me,
00:38:12.060 --> 00:38:15.070
he may fetter me, but he cannot keep me
00:38:15.070 --> 00:38:18.100
because I'm free in Christ and I'm gonna declare,
00:38:18.100 --> 00:38:20.230
like you've said, declare and decree
00:38:20.230 --> 00:38:22.160
the freedom that we have and when you were talking
00:38:22.160 --> 00:38:25.250
about your family, like the split between your family,
00:38:25.250 --> 00:38:28.240
the words separated your family
00:38:28.240 --> 00:38:29.220
or the words were the very thing
00:38:29.220 --> 00:38:30.200
that brought them together.
00:38:30.200 --> 00:38:32.100
- Powerful. - Powerful.
00:38:32.100 --> 00:38:33.160
- And again, power of life in the tongue,
00:38:33.160 --> 00:38:34.140
power of life in the tongue.
00:38:34.140 --> 00:38:35.210
But it's using our voice and finding our voice
00:38:35.210 --> 00:38:37.030
and using our voice to reconcile things to God's intent.
00:38:37.030 --> 00:38:39.280
- How powerful is that?
00:38:41.090 --> 00:38:42.160
I know, I'm thinking Bianca was relating to
00:38:42.160 --> 00:38:47.080
when I had a situation when I was diagnosed with cancer
00:38:48.220 --> 00:38:50.110
and the enemy, I mean this was like literal
00:38:50.110 --> 00:38:53.070
that the cancer was between my trachea and my larynx
00:38:53.070 --> 00:38:57.000
which is on your voice box.
00:38:57.000 --> 00:38:58.150
I mean, I'm thinking, how subtle is that, like really.
00:38:58.150 --> 00:39:01.140
There was a two week period where we weren't sure
00:39:03.090 --> 00:39:05.170
because I had a growth on one side of my throat,
00:39:05.170 --> 00:39:08.090
a lump on the other and we didn't know
00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:11.090
was this stage one, stage four, where was it gonna land?
00:39:11.090 --> 00:39:14.140
But I remember I was in Australia
00:39:14.140 --> 00:39:16.070
and the doctor called me 'cause the test just came back
00:39:16.070 --> 00:39:19.090
and she said, Christine the results have come back
00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:22.180
and you have cancer, that's when we didn't know what it was.
00:39:22.180 --> 00:39:26.010
I remember I sort of went into a kind of pastoral care mode
00:39:26.010 --> 00:39:29.100
a little bit because she was like, freaking out a bit,
00:39:29.100 --> 00:39:31.240
and I went, it's okay Leslie, it's going to be okay.
00:39:31.240 --> 00:39:35.000
This is gonna go one of three ways.
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.070
I said, plan A, it's gonna be fine.
00:39:37.070 --> 00:39:39.220
I'm gonna be instantaneously healed.
00:39:39.220 --> 00:39:41.290
I'm gonna come back to American,
00:39:41.290 --> 00:39:43.230
you're gonna run some tests and go, where did it go?
00:39:43.230 --> 00:39:46.070
Now, that didn't happen but I was believing for it
00:39:46.070 --> 00:39:47.250
'cause I've seen that happen, I prayed,
00:39:47.250 --> 00:39:49.150
and I will still pray for everyone for that to happen.
00:39:49.150 --> 00:39:51.260
I said, oh plan B, that we're going to able to
00:39:51.260 --> 00:39:54.030
locate it, the doctor's gonna be able to either
00:39:54.030 --> 00:39:57.060
do surgery, drugs, whatever I'm going to need
00:39:57.060 --> 00:39:59.060
and in my case that's what happened
00:39:59.060 --> 00:40:00.210
and thank God you know had surgery and I'm cancer free.
00:40:00.210 --> 00:40:04.210
Or I said, plan C, Jesus is gonna take me home
00:40:04.210 --> 00:40:08.020
and heal me in heaven, you might all be a little bit sad
00:40:08.020 --> 00:40:10.150
down here, I'll be fine, I'll be happy having a happy time
00:40:10.150 --> 00:40:12.150
but it was just, I go up in either way.
00:40:12.150 --> 00:40:14.270
I am gonna fight this from victory
00:40:14.270 --> 00:40:17.150
'cause Jesus already has the victory
00:40:17.150 --> 00:40:19.130
I said so, it wasn't that I was tryin' to deny anything.
00:40:19.130 --> 00:40:22.070
I'm going, this could go any way
00:40:22.070 --> 00:40:23.150
but any of those options I'm going to win.
00:40:23.150 --> 00:40:26.200
I remember then I downloaded, Victoria, your
00:40:26.200 --> 00:40:30.180
mother-in-law's prayers, you know when the Lord
00:40:30.180 --> 00:40:35.170
healed her miraculously from cancer?
00:40:35.170 --> 00:40:37.200
I went online immediately, the first thing I did,
00:40:37.200 --> 00:40:40.020
oh no the second thing, I called Joyce Meyer first,
00:40:40.020 --> 00:40:42.140
and then I went and I downloaded all of those Scriptures
00:40:42.140 --> 00:40:47.080
and then like breakfast, lunch, and dinner,
00:40:47.080 --> 00:40:49.210
three times a day, I would just declare and decree them
00:40:49.210 --> 00:40:52.190
out loud and Nick would agree with me together.
00:40:52.190 --> 00:40:54.260
We only told about five people.
00:40:54.260 --> 00:40:57.260
I wanted just, I wanted people that were in faith.
00:40:57.260 --> 00:41:01.060
And I thought, you know what, I got a lot of word in me
00:41:01.060 --> 00:41:04.000
and I really believe this word can transform
00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:07.040
and truly, we spoke those Scriptures into
00:41:07.040 --> 00:41:10.200
my body, into the atmosphere, and the faith
00:41:10.200 --> 00:41:14.180
that had built up in me, in every way, by God's grace
00:41:14.180 --> 00:41:18.010
the recovery from the surgery was supernatural.
00:41:18.010 --> 00:41:20.080
I had surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
00:41:20.080 --> 00:41:24.120
I came out on Wednesday, now you'd think I had my throat
00:41:24.120 --> 00:41:27.030
slashed, half a thyroid taken out and a lump removed.
00:41:27.030 --> 00:41:30.000
I said to the doctor, can I travel and can I speak?
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.030
I think he meant, can I get in the car and drive home.
00:41:34.030 --> 00:41:37.200
(laughter) - Yeah.
00:41:37.200 --> 00:41:39.020
- And can I talk to my husband.
00:41:39.020 --> 00:41:40.090
He said yes, I didn't clarify the details
00:41:40.090 --> 00:41:41.270
but I was scheduled to speak at a conference
00:41:41.270 --> 00:41:44.110
with 15000 women in D.C. on the Saturday.
00:41:44.110 --> 00:41:47.130
So on Friday, I'm not recommending this to anyone.
00:41:47.130 --> 00:41:49.090
But I'm just saying where my faith was,
00:41:49.090 --> 00:41:51.060
I really was in a place of, I got on a plane on Friday
00:41:51.060 --> 00:41:55.060
with a scarf on, I had just had surgery.
00:41:55.060 --> 00:41:57.170
I went into that arena in D.C. on Saturday morning.
00:41:57.170 --> 00:42:00.280
I started to talk and then I just ripped
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:02.180
that scarf off, now you know I've got a,
00:42:02.180 --> 00:42:05.160
this thing's just had surgery and I mean
00:42:05.160 --> 00:42:07.250
the faith and the power of God that came into that arena,
00:42:07.250 --> 00:42:10.140
the healings that took place, all I'm saying is
00:42:10.140 --> 00:42:13.010
sometimes you gotta get your, I'm not recommending
00:42:13.010 --> 00:42:14.100
anyone to do that, I'm just going in my case
00:42:14.100 --> 00:42:17.020
there was something supernatural about those words,
00:42:17.020 --> 00:42:20.120
those prayers and God did a miracle.
00:42:20.120 --> 00:42:23.130
- She still reads those-- - yeah.
00:42:23.130 --> 00:42:25.030
- Healing scriptures to this day
00:42:25.030 --> 00:42:27.110
and I think your key was not letting people come in
00:42:27.110 --> 00:42:32.070
and bring their doubt.
00:42:32.070 --> 00:42:33.120
- [Christine] Yes.
00:42:33.120 --> 00:42:34.240
- Because you have enough doubt of your own.
00:42:34.240 --> 00:42:35.170
- Totally.
00:42:35.170 --> 00:42:36.240
- So you don't need anybody else's doubt.
00:42:36.240 --> 00:42:37.180
- [Christine] Exactly.
00:42:37.180 --> 00:42:38.100
- [Laurie] Yeah.
00:42:39.110 --> 00:42:40.260
- So to keep yourself waging war, what does the Bible say?
00:42:40.260 --> 00:42:42.240
Those who find God's Words find life and healing.
00:42:42.240 --> 00:42:46.040
- [Christine] Totally.
00:42:46.040 --> 00:42:47.180
- To their bodies, so you have to find the Word of God.
00:42:47.180 --> 00:42:49.280
You have to find where it's written
00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:51.250
and you have to lay your eyes on those words
00:42:51.250 --> 00:42:54.000
and you have to say, this is it,
00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:55.160
this is my authority right now.
00:42:55.160 --> 00:42:57.060
- [Christine] Totally.
00:42:57.060 --> 00:42:58.120
- I respect the doctors, I go to the doctors
00:42:58.120 --> 00:42:59.240
but my authority has to be the Word of God.
00:42:59.240 --> 00:43:03.000
- Oh, so awesome.
00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:04.100
Have you ever let your fear or insecurity
00:43:04.100 --> 00:43:06.270
stop you from using your voice?
00:43:06.270 --> 00:43:08.280
Let's go back to Bianca and Deedee
00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:10.260
for the truth in consequences.
00:43:10.260 --> 00:43:13.200
- Fear and insecurity are gonna be the things
00:43:13.200 --> 00:43:15.280
that are gonna make us want
00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:18.080
to silence the voice of other people.
00:43:18.080 --> 00:43:20.000
It's gonna come up like a competition
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:22.030
but I do believe that there are seasons
00:43:22.030 --> 00:43:24.050
for all of our roles.
00:43:24.050 --> 00:43:25.290
There's the misesteem in my life every since growing up.
00:43:25.290 --> 00:43:28.170
I'm second, I'm always second, I'm a second born twin,
00:43:28.170 --> 00:43:32.050
I'm a second wife to my husband,
00:43:32.050 --> 00:43:33.200
I'm a second mom to my children,
00:43:33.200 --> 00:43:35.140
second age been won and I think that in a world standard
00:43:35.140 --> 00:43:40.110
we can think that second is subsidiary
00:43:40.110 --> 00:43:42.110
or second is less than and it's not.
00:43:42.110 --> 00:43:44.280
And so we have to stop thinking
00:43:44.280 --> 00:43:46.100
that our voice has to be the loudest.
00:43:46.100 --> 00:43:48.160
What if in this season our voice is to serve?
00:43:48.160 --> 00:43:50.200
What if this season our voice is to shut up?
00:43:50.200 --> 00:43:53.140
What if this voice this season
00:43:53.140 --> 00:43:55.050
is just to do ministry to 10?
00:43:55.050 --> 00:43:56.250
What if our voice in this ministry
00:43:56.250 --> 00:43:58.020
is to do a voice to reach millions?
00:43:58.020 --> 00:44:00.250
But knowing and recognizing who am I gonna be
00:44:00.250 --> 00:44:03.070
in this season and being confident with where God puts me.
00:44:03.070 --> 00:44:05.250
In our modern society everyone wants to be the top.
00:44:05.250 --> 00:44:08.260
Everyone wants to be the top dog,
00:44:08.260 --> 00:44:10.040
first place, number one, numero uno,
00:44:10.040 --> 00:44:12.250
and we kind of discount those that are subservient
00:44:12.250 --> 00:44:17.110
or even in different support roles.
00:44:17.110 --> 00:44:19.260
Where I've come to think there's nothing less than.
00:44:19.260 --> 00:44:23.040
If we have one goal, if we have one vision
00:44:23.040 --> 00:44:25.290
and that's to take the name and glory of Jesus
00:44:25.290 --> 00:44:28.140
across the globe, then who cares if I'm in charge?
00:44:28.140 --> 00:44:31.120
Who cares what my title is?
00:44:31.120 --> 00:44:33.060
And another great learning lesson
00:44:33.060 --> 00:44:35.040
is that in my 20s, I thought I could totally be number one.
00:44:35.040 --> 00:44:39.070
Now in my 30s, I'm thinking I don't care if I'm number 10
00:44:39.070 --> 00:44:42.150
as long as I'm pushing people towards Jesus
00:44:42.150 --> 00:44:44.240
that's who I want to be.
00:44:44.240 --> 00:44:46.010
So this ideas of being number two,
00:44:46.010 --> 00:44:47.200
with phrases like if you're second then you're nothing,
00:44:47.200 --> 00:44:50.040
or if you're second you're first place loser,
00:44:50.040 --> 00:44:52.030
will cause ups to take our eyes off the ultimate prize
00:44:52.030 --> 00:44:54.180
and that's to push towards Jesus.
00:44:54.180 --> 00:44:57.000
So I don't care if I'm second.
00:44:57.000 --> 00:44:58.070
- I think we all do it, right, we compare
00:44:58.070 --> 00:45:00.170
and that I think is the fight.
00:45:00.170 --> 00:45:02.260
- Very much so.
00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:04.080
- So really, really, genuinely, celebrate someone's win.
00:45:04.080 --> 00:45:08.210
- Yeah.
00:45:09.050 --> 00:45:10.030
- When it's a win you want it.
00:45:10.030 --> 00:45:11.160
It's okay for me to celebrate like if you were
00:45:11.160 --> 00:45:12.240
birthing triplets, I could celebrate
00:45:12.240 --> 00:45:14.020
'cause I don't want them.
00:45:14.020 --> 00:45:15.090
- [Bianca] No, I don't want that, I mean honey,
00:45:15.090 --> 00:45:16.160
that is not a win, baby, Not a win!
00:45:16.160 --> 00:45:17.140
- [Christine] Praise the Lord!
00:45:17.140 --> 00:45:18.090
Christine take it back!
00:45:18.090 --> 00:45:19.090
- There's a voice.
00:45:19.090 --> 00:45:20.250
(unreserved laughter)
00:45:20.250 --> 00:45:22.010
- No, back up, we're not, no, no, no.
00:45:22.010 --> 00:45:23.220
(uninhibited laughter)
00:45:23.220 --> 00:45:26.280
- When she don't even need to celebrate a win
00:45:26.280 --> 00:45:29.130
so when it gets you go, I didn't want that anyway
00:45:29.130 --> 00:45:30.290
so yeah, so say maybe it's something that you wanted
00:45:30.290 --> 00:45:35.140
that to me is the real test of celebrating someone, right?
00:45:35.140 --> 00:45:39.060
Can you celebrate someone who has,
00:45:39.060 --> 00:45:41.190
they get married and you've been single
00:45:41.190 --> 00:45:43.050
since dinosaurs roamed the earth, right or whatever?
00:45:43.050 --> 00:45:46.100
- She's pregnant and you can't get pregnant.
00:45:46.100 --> 00:45:47.080
- Right, you can't get pregnant.
00:45:47.080 --> 00:45:48.150
- And you've been trying for so long.
00:45:48.150 --> 00:45:49.130
And she's not even married.
00:45:49.130 --> 00:45:50.080
- [Deedee] Right.
00:45:50.080 --> 00:45:51.240
- Yeah, well, what happened, faithfully serving you, yes.
00:45:51.240 --> 00:45:54.290
- But when you really learn to support
00:45:54.290 --> 00:45:57.020
and so into what you like that's how you reap.
00:45:57.020 --> 00:46:01.000
- [Christine] Exactly.
00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:02.150
- And you know, most people don't know how to do that.
00:46:02.150 --> 00:46:03.210
- Wait, wait, wait, unpack that, unpack that
00:46:03.210 --> 00:46:04.190
'cause that's a good one.
00:46:04.190 --> 00:46:06.040
- When you really so into something that you like,
00:46:06.040 --> 00:46:07.240
that's what you will reap.
00:46:07.240 --> 00:46:09.000
- So you mean something you want.
00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:10.260
- Yeah, that you want or that you like that's how you reap.
00:46:10.260 --> 00:46:14.230
It's like if I attack your wealth then I attract that.
00:46:14.230 --> 00:46:19.220
You understand what I'm sayin'?
00:46:21.160 --> 00:46:22.290
So if I rejoice in your wealth this is what I receive.
00:46:22.290 --> 00:46:27.210
It's like, if I rejoice in your celebration of
00:46:27.210 --> 00:46:30.240
your marriage then this is what I'll reap
00:46:30.240 --> 00:46:33.100
but most people don't know what they attack
00:46:33.100 --> 00:46:35.150
is what they will lack.
00:46:35.150 --> 00:46:36.200
- That's good, it even rhymes.
00:46:37.250 --> 00:46:38.290
That makes it easy to remember.
00:46:38.290 --> 00:46:40.100
(hearty laughter)
00:46:40.100 --> 00:46:42.080
- I feel smart sittin' here with y'all.
00:46:42.080 --> 00:46:45.000
No but really, a lot of people don't know how to celebrate
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:48.100
one another and the Bible talks about
00:46:48.100 --> 00:46:50.070
when you compare yourself with others you're unwise.
00:46:50.070 --> 00:46:52.260
You're foolish.
00:46:52.260 --> 00:46:54.150
- That's why we're better together.
00:46:55.230 --> 00:46:57.040
- Yes. - Yes.
00:46:57.040 --> 00:46:58.200
- We're better to help each other, to sharpen each other
00:46:58.200 --> 00:46:59.180
and just like they were saying,
00:46:59.180 --> 00:47:00.290
when you feel threatened things come out of you
00:47:00.290 --> 00:47:04.210
that you may not want to come out of you
00:47:04.210 --> 00:47:07.010
or have damaged your future, you know,
00:47:07.010 --> 00:47:09.170
that have brought damage to your life.
00:47:09.170 --> 00:47:11.030
- Did you just say repair the (laughs) bullet holes?
00:47:11.030 --> 00:47:13.220
- It's hard to repair those bullet holes sometimes.
00:47:13.220 --> 00:47:15.280
But, you know what, you can though, one word at a time.
00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:17.230
- [Christine] Yes, you can.
00:47:17.230 --> 00:47:19.000
I'll never forget when I married Joel,
00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:20.080
we've been married going on 32 years.
00:47:20.080 --> 00:47:22.060
I was a very young bride, the first year of our marriage,
00:47:22.060 --> 00:47:26.120
and I was used to kinda havin' my own way.
00:47:26.120 --> 00:47:28.240
- [Laurie] Really?
00:47:28.240 --> 00:47:29.240
- I don't know.
00:47:29.240 --> 00:47:30.230
(laughter) Really?
00:47:30.230 --> 00:47:32.050
- I only have one sibling and I was the girl
00:47:32.050 --> 00:47:34.170
- [Laurie] Were you bossy then?
00:47:36.100 --> 00:47:38.160
- I always say, I'm not the boss of the boy's club.
00:47:38.160 --> 00:47:40.270
(laughing)
00:47:40.270 --> 00:47:42.030
But I remember so clearly saying things,
00:47:42.030 --> 00:47:45.100
just throwing my words around
00:47:45.100 --> 00:47:46.260
like I would throw keys in a draw, just without thinking.
00:47:46.260 --> 00:47:51.160
I would say things and I saw it really hurt Joel
00:47:52.220 --> 00:47:55.180
and it was so clear to me that it hurt him.
00:47:55.180 --> 00:47:59.030
I'll never forget what God spoke to me
00:47:59.030 --> 00:48:00.160
and this was our first year of marriage,
00:48:00.160 --> 00:48:02.040
He said, if you don't change your words
00:48:02.040 --> 00:48:04.280
you're gonna change the man you've married.
00:48:04.280 --> 00:48:07.110
- Whoa, whoa!
00:48:07.110 --> 00:48:08.190
- Now, I married him because I loved him.
00:48:08.190 --> 00:48:11.160
I loved the way he was, I loved his disposition,
00:48:11.160 --> 00:48:14.250
I loved the way he thought.
00:48:14.250 --> 00:48:16.030
I didn't want to change this man where he became
00:48:16.030 --> 00:48:20.200
hard towards me or didn't treat me
00:48:20.200 --> 00:48:23.170
the way he did because of my own words.
00:48:23.170 --> 00:48:26.220
So let me tell you, I made a choice that day
00:48:26.220 --> 00:48:30.060
that I was gonna change my attitude,
00:48:30.060 --> 00:48:32.050
I was gonna change my thoughts,
00:48:32.050 --> 00:48:33.190
and I was gonna change my words.
00:48:33.190 --> 00:48:35.140
You can't go back and take those words back
00:48:35.140 --> 00:48:39.130
but you can change your words
00:48:39.130 --> 00:48:41.120
and it can change the atmosphere of your life.
00:48:41.120 --> 00:48:43.240
I'll never forget that and you know, I never went back.
00:48:43.240 --> 00:48:46.190
I was conscience, I've not been perfect.
00:48:46.190 --> 00:48:51.100
I can tell ya, I've not been perfect
00:48:51.100 --> 00:48:53.030
but that is something on the forefront of my mind
00:48:53.030 --> 00:48:55.010
that I don't wanna change this man that God gave me.
00:48:55.010 --> 00:48:57.220
I don't want to change my children.
00:48:57.220 --> 00:48:59.140
I don't want to make people cynical, negative,
00:49:00.270 --> 00:49:03.120
and that's what our words can do.
00:49:03.120 --> 00:49:04.250
So, maybe there's been words spoken in homes
00:49:04.250 --> 00:49:07.170
that have been disrespectful and not above board
00:49:07.170 --> 00:49:10.120
but you can change 'em today.
00:49:10.120 --> 00:49:11.290
You can start making your words sweet.
00:49:11.290 --> 00:49:13.260
You can begin to change the atmosphere in your home,
00:49:13.260 --> 00:49:16.180
in your own life, and it's never too late.
00:49:16.180 --> 00:49:19.040
You're never too old and nothing has never gone too far,
00:49:19.040 --> 00:49:22.000
so I would just say, if you reacted maybe out of
00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.070
feeling threatened, not knowing who you are
00:49:25.070 --> 00:49:27.230
or maybe just want your own way,
00:49:27.230 --> 00:49:29.100
just change your words today and watch God.
00:49:30.160 --> 00:49:33.000
He can multiply.
00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:34.090
- [Christine] Yes, he can.
00:49:34.090 --> 00:49:35.150
- He can change, He can do what we can't do
00:49:35.150 --> 00:49:39.020
and if you pray and you ask God can you help me God?
00:49:39.020 --> 00:49:41.210
Can you make up for lost time?
00:49:41.210 --> 00:49:43.160
God can do that.
00:49:43.160 --> 00:49:44.130
- Yeah.
00:49:44.130 --> 00:49:45.210
- Nick often will say if something happens,
00:49:45.210 --> 00:49:48.090
we'll say something that, we're not even in agreement
00:49:48.090 --> 00:49:51.050
with ourselves like as in, why did we say that?
00:49:51.050 --> 00:49:53.010
Nick will go, I'm prayin' for a crop failure, right now.
00:49:53.010 --> 00:49:55.160
I'm praying those words, but I love what you have said
00:49:55.160 --> 00:49:59.240
because I'm sure that's why someone has tuned in
00:49:59.240 --> 00:50:02.140
to this program right now because a lot of people
00:50:02.140 --> 00:50:04.160
don't realize that actually we live
00:50:04.160 --> 00:50:07.090
with so much guilt and condemnation,
00:50:07.090 --> 00:50:08.240
like, I've said that now look what I've done,
00:50:08.240 --> 00:50:11.170
without realizing that God can redeem
00:50:11.170 --> 00:50:13.220
and restore and He can, He literally can restore
00:50:13.220 --> 00:50:17.080
those years that the canker worm has eaten
00:50:17.080 --> 00:50:18.240
and I love what you said, some people say to me,
00:50:18.240 --> 00:50:21.110
Christine, you're just an optimist.
00:50:21.110 --> 00:50:22.220
I'm like, I don't need a God that can do
00:50:22.220 --> 00:50:24.220
what only I can do, I need a God that can do above what,
00:50:24.220 --> 00:50:27.110
so okay, I can't fix this but God can if my heart's willing.
00:50:27.110 --> 00:50:31.280
So I think what you've just said is so powerful.
00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:34.020
People can change the atmosphere in their home.
00:50:34.020 --> 00:50:36.140
- Well, first of all, how dare you hurt Joel.
00:50:36.140 --> 00:50:38.140
(hearty laughter) - I know.
00:50:38.140 --> 00:50:39.260
- I'm just shocked by that.
00:50:39.260 --> 00:50:41.250
- It's terrible, that's why I have to be very careful.
00:50:41.250 --> 00:50:43.260
I meet people all the time and the first thing they say is
00:50:43.260 --> 00:50:46.060
I love Joel, so do I, I promise I do.
00:50:46.060 --> 00:50:49.120
- Exactly.
00:50:49.120 --> 00:50:50.070
(spirited laughter)
00:50:50.070 --> 00:50:51.050
- I made this man, (laughs) no.
00:50:51.050 --> 00:50:52.120
You know but I love what you always talk about.
00:50:52.120 --> 00:50:55.090
You're very intentional with your words.
00:50:55.090 --> 00:50:57.060
- [Christine] Yeah.
00:50:57.060 --> 00:50:58.130
I think that's just so very important
00:50:58.130 --> 00:50:59.260
because our children are listen, everybody's listening.
00:50:59.260 --> 00:51:04.100
- [Christine] Yes, they are.
00:51:04.100 --> 00:51:05.140
- Someone is listening to you speak.
00:51:05.140 --> 00:51:06.150
- [Christine] Yes, they are.
00:51:06.150 --> 00:51:07.230
- We have one more clip to show you.
00:51:07.230 --> 00:51:09.050
Perhaps the most important one of the night.
00:51:09.050 --> 00:51:10.210
How do you find your voice?
00:51:10.210 --> 00:51:12.110
Take a look at this.
00:51:12.110 --> 00:51:14.070
- You won't find your voice until you learn to hear God's
00:51:14.070 --> 00:51:16.260
voice and I think, when the enemy, nothing has changed,
00:51:16.260 --> 00:51:19.200
the enemy came into the garden he said to eat.
00:51:19.200 --> 00:51:21.180
First question in Scripture did God really say?
00:51:21.180 --> 00:51:24.270
So if you do not know what God really says
00:51:24.270 --> 00:51:28.000
about you, about life, then your voice
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:32.250
is gonna be one of two things.
00:51:32.250 --> 00:51:34.070
It's either gonna be constructive or destructive.
00:51:34.070 --> 00:51:36.070
It will depend on what did God really say.
00:51:36.070 --> 00:51:39.170
It all comes back to the word.
00:51:41.030 --> 00:51:42.220
It actually all comes back to the word.
00:51:42.220 --> 00:51:44.270
- Do you know what?
00:51:44.270 --> 00:51:46.120
If God says you are loved, you are the light of the world,
00:51:46.120 --> 00:51:50.130
you are the salt of the earth
00:51:50.130 --> 00:51:53.070
and He tells us that, why would He not let us be
00:51:53.070 --> 00:51:58.070
the light, put us into a time where we needed to be
00:51:58.070 --> 00:52:02.090
the light, be the salt of the earth?
00:52:02.090 --> 00:52:04.250
- Even when there's darkness there's light
00:52:04.250 --> 00:52:05.200
even evident, right?
00:52:05.200 --> 00:52:06.280
- So it's just, be who I've called you to be.
00:52:06.280 --> 00:52:10.100
- Even looking at the Scripture when you talk about Jesus.
00:52:11.210 --> 00:52:14.040
Jesus said I only say what I hear the Father say
00:52:14.040 --> 00:52:17.100
and so He found His voice in the Father.
00:52:17.100 --> 00:52:20.200
I didn't find my voice until then until I became born again.
00:52:20.200 --> 00:52:25.040
I remember when I was in a pageant, I was 16.
00:52:25.040 --> 00:52:29.000
- You were in a pageant?
00:52:29.000 --> 00:52:30.060
(cheerful laughter)
00:52:30.060 --> 00:52:32.100
- And here I am the shy girl in a pageant
00:52:32.100 --> 00:52:35.090
and the only way I would be a part of this pageant
00:52:35.090 --> 00:52:37.260
is if the guy could get Mike Freeman
00:52:37.260 --> 00:52:40.130
who is now my husband--
00:52:40.130 --> 00:52:42.000
- Come on!
00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:43.020
(hearty laughter)
00:52:43.020 --> 00:52:43.270
- To be my escort.
00:52:43.270 --> 00:52:45.040
And I got up there in that pageant
00:52:45.040 --> 00:52:46.130
and I just said all of the wrong stuff.
00:52:46.130 --> 00:52:49.290
I mean, I forgot everything and I remember vowing that day,
00:52:49.290 --> 00:52:54.290
I vowed that I would never speak publicly again.
00:52:56.110 --> 00:52:59.110
- Whoa.
00:52:59.110 --> 00:53:00.260
- I said, I will never get up in front of people
00:53:00.260 --> 00:53:02.170
and I will never speak again in public.
00:53:02.170 --> 00:53:04.180
- That's what I say after every Praise the Lord program.
00:53:04.180 --> 00:53:06.190
(lively laughter)
00:53:06.190 --> 00:53:08.100
- I'm never gonna do this again.
00:53:08.100 --> 00:53:09.260
Get in the car and just look at each other, we're idiots.
00:53:09.260 --> 00:53:11.100
- But you're so awesome, but really, and that's how I became
00:53:11.100 --> 00:53:15.060
so introvert as it relates to speakin' out in public
00:53:15.060 --> 00:53:20.060
and I really didn't get the confidence
00:53:21.110 --> 00:53:23.190
until I begin to found out who God had created me to be.
00:53:23.190 --> 00:53:28.170
Okay, Who am I because so many people identify
00:53:29.220 --> 00:53:32.190
themselves outside of God.
00:53:32.190 --> 00:53:34.090
- Definitely.
00:53:34.090 --> 00:53:35.220
- How can you do that if He's the one who created you?
00:53:35.220 --> 00:53:38.130
And so I didn't find my voice
00:53:38.130 --> 00:53:39.220
until I found out who He had created.
00:53:39.220 --> 00:53:42.070
- You know, I love the fact that we have
00:53:43.110 --> 00:53:44.270
the Holy Spirit to help us.
00:53:44.270 --> 00:53:46.070
- Yes. - Yes.
00:53:46.070 --> 00:53:47.150
- We don't have to change ourselves.
00:53:47.150 --> 00:53:49.010
We don't have to struggle, we just have to surrender.
00:53:49.010 --> 00:53:51.140
- [Christine] Beautiful.
00:53:51.140 --> 00:53:52.240
- And I love the fact that we can invite
00:53:52.240 --> 00:53:54.010
the Holy Spirit into our hearts, into our lives
00:53:54.010 --> 00:53:56.170
and say, God help me, I may have a temper,
00:53:56.170 --> 00:53:59.020
I may say things I don't want to, I've done so many things,
00:53:59.020 --> 00:54:03.010
but God doesn't judge us, He's there to help us,
00:54:03.010 --> 00:54:05.260
He's there to change us.
00:54:05.260 --> 00:54:07.100
So today, I believe this is a great reminder for everyone
00:54:07.100 --> 00:54:10.240
including myself that my words can put people on their feet.
00:54:10.240 --> 00:54:15.060
My words can propel me in my destiny
00:54:15.060 --> 00:54:19.260
because it's not just about my words helping others
00:54:19.260 --> 00:54:23.010
but my words help me as well 'cause I hear my words.
00:54:23.010 --> 00:54:26.250
What I say about myself is very important.
00:54:26.250 --> 00:54:29.280
So it's not only what you're sayin' about
00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:31.200
someone else or to someone else
00:54:31.200 --> 00:54:33.170
but it's what you're saying about yourself and to yourself.
00:54:33.170 --> 00:54:36.150
So I would just encourage all of us today
00:54:36.150 --> 00:54:38.280
to talk ourselves into what God has for us.
00:54:38.280 --> 00:54:42.020
Build yourself up because when you're built up
00:54:42.020 --> 00:54:45.090
you can build others up.
00:54:45.090 --> 00:54:47.010
- You know and I think obviously the biggest key is that
00:54:47.010 --> 00:54:50.060
first and foremost we have to know who we are in Christ
00:54:50.060 --> 00:54:53.160
and I wonder if you know Jesus Christ
00:54:53.160 --> 00:54:56.280
because the fact is you will not find
00:54:56.280 --> 00:54:58.240
your true authentic voice until you discover
00:54:58.240 --> 00:55:01.110
the voice of the Father that loves you,
00:55:01.110 --> 00:55:03.220
that created you in His image,
00:55:03.220 --> 00:55:05.080
that's got a plan and a purpose and a destiny for your life.
00:55:05.080 --> 00:55:08.060
You were created by God for a relationship with God
00:55:08.060 --> 00:55:10.220
and it's Jesus that connects us to God
00:55:10.220 --> 00:55:12.240
and it's Jesus that connects us to the grace of God
00:55:12.240 --> 00:55:16.040
and you might be watching this going, Chris
00:55:16.040 --> 00:55:18.060
I'm the person, I messed up, my words have been so bad,
00:55:18.060 --> 00:55:21.150
I've done, I want you to know what the voice
00:55:21.150 --> 00:55:23.090
of the Father is saying to you right now.
00:55:23.090 --> 00:55:25.060
He's wooing you, He's saying I love you,
00:55:25.060 --> 00:55:27.250
I forgive you, I've got a plan and a purpose
00:55:27.250 --> 00:55:30.120
and a destiny for your life.
00:55:30.120 --> 00:55:32.110
There's an accuser of the brethren, the enemy
00:55:32.110 --> 00:55:34.230
that wants to tell you that your life is over
00:55:34.230 --> 00:55:36.220
that you've blown it, that God can't forgive you
00:55:36.220 --> 00:55:38.250
but the Bible says that if we confess our sins
00:55:38.250 --> 00:55:41.170
our God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
00:55:41.170 --> 00:55:44.090
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness
00:55:44.090 --> 00:55:47.160
and right here, right now as you're watching this program
00:55:47.160 --> 00:55:50.270
I know that there are many of you
00:55:50.270 --> 00:55:52.080
and you wanna make your peace with God
00:55:52.080 --> 00:55:54.100
and I know that as you do that
00:55:54.100 --> 00:55:56.100
and as you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
00:55:56.100 --> 00:55:59.270
your spirit's gonna be awakened
00:55:59.270 --> 00:56:02.280
and you're gonna be able to hear the voice of God
00:56:02.280 --> 00:56:04.250
in a way that you couldn't when you were dead in your sin.
00:56:04.250 --> 00:56:08.010
You're gonna become alive in Christ
00:56:08.010 --> 00:56:10.120
and you're gonna hear the voice of God so, I'm gonna pray
00:56:10.120 --> 00:56:12.270
and you can say these words right after me.
00:56:12.270 --> 00:56:15.240
Just say Jesus, I receive your grace, your love,
00:56:15.240 --> 00:56:19.280
your forgiveness, and your mercy right now.
00:56:19.280 --> 00:56:23.210
Please forgive me for all of my sins.
00:56:23.210 --> 00:56:25.290
Give me a brand new start today and hope for the future.
00:56:25.290 --> 00:56:30.080
Now if you prayed that prayer
00:56:30.080 --> 00:56:31.290
I want you to know that you are forgiven of your sins.
00:56:31.290 --> 00:56:34.220
That right here, right now, you are connected to God
00:56:34.220 --> 00:56:37.230
through His Son Jesus, so reach out to Him.
00:56:37.230 --> 00:56:40.010
Call out to Him and as you hear His voice,
00:56:40.010 --> 00:56:42.200
you're gonna discover your voice
00:56:42.200 --> 00:56:44.170
and your God-given purpose and destiny
00:56:44.170 --> 00:56:47.010
and you're gonna change the world around you.
00:56:47.010 --> 00:56:49.120
- Ah, I love that.
00:56:49.120 --> 00:56:51.050
There's prayer partners waiting on the other end
00:56:51.050 --> 00:56:53.090
of that phone number on your screen, please call.
00:56:53.090 --> 00:56:56.060
Tonight you've been watching a special, special program
00:56:56.060 --> 00:56:59.050
Better Together, right here, coming your way April 22nd.
00:56:59.050 --> 00:57:03.040
We're so excited but tonight's been a special
00:57:03.040 --> 00:57:05.260
Praise the Lord, I love you guys.
00:57:05.260 --> 00:57:07.200
- We love you.
00:57:07.200 --> 00:57:08.200
- I love you so very much.
00:57:08.200 --> 00:57:09.270
Thank you, thank you for bein' with us.
00:57:09.270 --> 00:57:11.040
Jesus loves you, we love you, bye bye.
00:57:11.040 --> 00:57:13.070
(upbeat music)
00:57:14.030 --> 00:57:16.210

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Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

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Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

Praise | “Better Together” Finding Your Voice | 3/25/19

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