0006 Taking Territory for the Kingdom

When Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee He found a man infested with 5,000 demons. You'll recall that He had encountered fierce opposition before arriving:

• The deadly storm stirred up by the forces of hell
• The open sea which threatened to capsize the boat
• The unfortunate lack of faith amongst His disciples

It turns out that Jesus had a significant purpose in making this trip. The ultimate goal was not only to liberate the man infested with demons.

What if the storm wasn't random? 

What if the challenge to Jesus' compassion exposed an important attitude in His disciples?

What does it tell us when the demons knew Jesus and His identity as the son of God when no one else did?
                                   _________________________________________________

In this episode of The Biblical Passages Podcast, Brittany and Eric explore a subtle,  powerful passage in Mark 5 that reveals a deeper truth about spiritual warfare, identity, and assignment.

At first glance, this story simply looks like a dramatic moment of deliverance—a man set free from demonic torment but listen carefully to how this story wraps up. What happens to the poor tormented man?  Does Jesus fulfill his request? What's the reaction of the towns people to this miraculous event? What are the implications for God's Kingdom? 

We trust you will enjoy this next episode in our Biblical Passages Series.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome to the Strategic Passages Podcast, where biblical wisdom meets real life application. We turn God's word into practical strategies for everyday life and spiritual growth. Let me ask you something. Have you ever felt like you're being hit with way more opposition than you deserved? I know I have. Like the level of spiritual warfare or discouragement or self-doubt didn't match where you were yet. What if it's because the enemy saw your assignment before you did? What if the battle isn't personal? It's about the territory that you're called to. That you may not even know you're called to yet. Erica, that's really what today's episode's about. Because when I was reading over Mark chapter five, I realized this isn't just a story about a man getting delivered. It's about identity, it's about assignment, and it's about how the enemy will try to derail someone long before they ever step into the territory God has for them. So let me ask you this to start off. Do you think the enemy sometimes sees a person's calling before they see it themselves?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Oh, absolutely. Oh my gosh. Because he he lives in a supernatural realm. And my gosh, he can see he has a kingdom he's trying to preserve. And people like you and I, and many people that are listening, they they have assignments. They are ambassadors on uh appointed by the living God to faithfully represent him uh here on the planet earth. A kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven. I I mean you can't get away. That's in the Sermon on the Mount, that's in the Lord's Prayer, and we pray that, but do we really understand what it means?

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So, yeah, so the enemy uh can see that future that we have that oftentimes before we can, and he'll do what he can to throw obstacles in our way. And I love the story uh the about this crossing of the s the Sea of Galilee, because Jesus could perceive the spiritual warfare, since you mentioned that term, uh, that he was in just as he woke up. He rebuked the wind because why? Satan was stirring up that wind. He spoke peace to the sea. Why? Because he's the author and creator of creation, and then he challenged his uh his crew members and his disciples, you know, why do you have such little faith? We're headed somewhere. This boat is not going to capsize. I've got an assignment. And then we get to to to meet the man that he's assigned to. Okay, and then later in in the chapter of Mark, uh, it doesn't take long before he arrives on the other side, and the Bible says immediately this man came up, and these uh and these these demons knew exactly who he was. His disciples on the boat didn't know who he was, but he they certainly did, because they said, What have I to do with you, Jesus? Gave him his name, son of the most high God. Son. Again, they were attributing to him something the Pharisees would not attribute to him, telling him that he was the son of the most high God. So that's a quick uh quick entry to response to your uh to your important question.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Yeah, so the enemy could definitely see a person's calling because he's been watching them their whole lives. So let's set the stage for everyone listening. Jesus crosses the sea into Gadera, and immediately he's met by this violently tormented man filled with demons, which we talked about in the previous episode. He casts the demons out, sends them into the swine, and a massive public moment happens. But what happens next, it's what really caught my attention. So let's go to Mark 5, 14 through 17. It says, So those who fed the slap the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had had the legion sitting in sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him. This is crazy to me. They began to plead with him to depart from their region. Why do you think people can witness a real move of God and still feel I feel like they felt maybe uncomfortable instead of grateful?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Well, that's the end of this important passage that you just read. Uh, and I'd love to answer that. But if but once again, our we're we're after dissecting these passages so that we can see, again, just so that we don't skip over stuff. So those who fed the swine fled. Okay. So that there were there were some swine keepers, okay, and they told it, they told the report of it in the city and in the country, which means there were agriculture type people in the country. I even looked up the Greek word earlier today, just before our our discussion. It was it was the agricultural people, the people who were farmers, and they told it in the city. There were people who were living in the in the town. And they, that's that's those two groups of people now, they went out to see what it was that happened. Again, instant spectacle. Then they came to Jesus. This whole crowd came to Jesus, and they they knew about this demonic man with his demons, and saw the one who had been, who had been demon-possessed, past tense, and had the legion, which is what the five thousand demons, sitting and clothed in his and in his right mind. Sitting and clothed. He wasn't tormented, he wasn't pulling at chains, he was clothed because he used to tear at his clothes, and he was in his right mind. Something had changed. And they were afraid. Now that's what's fact captivating. They were afraid of this change. How could this man change so rapidly? He didn't have to go to therapy, he didn't have to go to some government school. He they were he was instantly transformed and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them, the those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed and about the swine. They gave the whole report. Then going back to your question, then they began to plead with him to depart from their region, to part to plead with Jesus to depart from their region. Now, what your question was, why would they ask him to leave? Well, sometimes change is too fearful. They were used to, they had settled in their mind about this demonic man. They stayed away from him, kept their kids away from him, but but they were settled in their mind, so here's a here's a rapid change. They don't know what's coming next. Is this guy are they going to come to trust this guy and he's gonna get infested with these demons again? Uh who is the what what is maybe they had a backstory with this guy, and they that so they're they're afraid of what's happened. Again, this fear of of change, and remember that um you know that that region they were not, they were probably um they were non-Jews because Jews don't raise swine. So they're not the Jewish people. So there's any number of regions as to why the reasons rather why they would ask him to leave the region. Uh, but uh we would be guessing, unless the Bible tells us, we would probably be just guessing.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Listening to you explain that that makes me think of like when people are in traumatic homes when they grow up and they get into a traumatic relationship themselves, they're used to that. And when something is calm, it almost puts them on a little bit of an edge and makes them uncomfortable instead of realizing that that's how it should be because you're used to such chaos.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

That's an incredible point that you made. Yes. I totally, I totally agree. And uh it that chaos becomes normalized. And if it's not chaotic and it's not screaming and hollering and and pots and pans being thrown through windows, then it's not normal. I hate to say it, but trauma can become normal. And once it's becomes it rewires the human brain too. And so uh who knows what these people we'd be but that's a that's a great point that you make, and we need to be sensitive to that. And so but they're saying to Jesus, please leave. We we we got used to who this guy was. But again, yeah, we got that that was a really good point that you just made.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

We got used to who this guy was, and the one thing that I think is very interesting about Jesus is he never judged this man's behavior, even though other people had maybe gotten used to that's how it was or that's who it was. He never judged him whatsoever. And I think a lot of times in our lives we look at our past or what we've done or how we're acting, and we're like, there's no way that Jesus could do anything in this situation because this is the chaos we're used to.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Yes, and yes, very, very good point. And sometimes people uh feel then useless, worthless, and un uh um unwilling, unwilling or unable to uh to live up to whatever standards that uh that Jesus has. So again, he he could have been it could have been also that they were afraid, well, if you can do that for this crazed demonic man, you might try to do that to me, and I'm I like who I am. I I've gotten used to who I am. I'm down with this issue that I've got. And I I don't need you coming along, Jesus, and revolutionizing my life. Okay, so why don't you just leave town and leave me alone and my townspeople, okay, and my family?

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Oh, I feel that. Okay, so Jesus saw past this man's behavior, though. He saw what this man was capable of, and even though he was out there ripping his clothes off, cutting himself, acting a fool, filled with these demons, he still gave him an opportunity to go and do what he had called him to do. And he spoke directly to those demons. I feel like a lot of times in our lives, just like you said, we may be comfortable with how we are or what we're doing, if maybe you're drinking or you're smoking or whatever you're doing to try and numb all these things. These demons were trying to numb this man from seeing who Jesus was. And Jesus was able to call them out and immediately, immediately, transformation followed for this man.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Yes. I I love the uh the speed at which the supernatural operates. Jesus was you know all God and all man, and he could instantly downshift or upshift to the circumstances that he was facing. Uh when when necessary, he could raise the dead. When necessary, he could cast out demons. When necessary, he could multiply fish and bread to be able to feed thousands of people. There were some miracles he was able capable of doing. And then sometimes he was just an educator, sometimes he was a moral teacher, sometimes he was bringing incredible teaching so that people were astonished at his doctrine. He didn't speak like the scribes and the Pharisees. Uh he spoke as one having authority. I just as you talk about having chills. I I love that. How do you get to speak at that level? Okay, my gosh, it's incredible. He raised the bar from behavior, that was Mosaic law, up to intention. That was the law he was bringing, you know, excuse me, the new standards that he was bringing, uh, which I love, but not to get too distracted. But here he was, he crossed the sea, had one assignment, cast out these demons, and then he gets back in the boat. And when he gets when he's near getting into the boat, go ahead. You got verse 18 and through to 20.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yes, verses 18 through 20. And when he, Jesus, got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim into Capolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled. You know, when I first read this, and even growing up, I grew up in Christian school my whole life, and I am so guilty of looking at this story and going, Okay, Jesus crossed over the sea, Jesus held this demon-possessed man. That's amazing. Threw out these, you know, 5,000 demons into the slime, they went off the hill. Have a good day. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Yeah, what's for lunch? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

The next part though, I've never caught that before. That this man, after all these were thrown out of him, he became a living testimony, not in spite of his past, but because of his past.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Amen. Amen. So he when he Jesus got into the boat, so he's leaving. Okay, he came over, did one assignment, and he's out of town. Okay. He who had been demon-possessed, we still don't know this man's name, by the way. We know the name of the demons. They were called Legion. That was a collective title for 5,000 years. But the man begged him, Jesus, that he might be with him. No wonder you want to be with Jesus. When somebody offers you that sort of deliverance, you want to hang out with that guy who knows what else he has for you.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

I'm not leaving your side. What else are you going to do in my life?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

But Jesus did not permit him. Now he called other people. You know, he he would call Peter, he would call James, he would call people to himself. But he said to this guy, go home to your friends. This guy still has friends, by the way. Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

I don't think I want to be his friend. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

I think he's he's pulling at chains, he's breaking shackles. But go home to your friends and tell them, oh, that's an assignment, what great things the Lord has done for you. In other words, you now have a testimony. And I want you to share that testimony. That builds the reputation of Jesus and God Himself, who is seeking glory and deserves it. What great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had what? Compassion on you.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Okay. He showed him compassion. He did not judge this man for acting crazy and foolish and demonic and cursing. No, he had compassion on him. And then the man departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis. Now, not everybody knows what Decapolis is, but when you break it out, Decca is ten, Polis is towns, and there were ten towns surrounding the Sea of Galilee. That was the region. That's the entire region that Jesus visited during his entire ministry. He just went from town to town. And he asked this man to do the same, to be an evangelist, to tell the story, to be a to give testimony in the Decapolis, all that Jesus had done for him. And all marveled. Oh God, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

What? Oh, Wild King. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

From the Sea of Galilee. See, do you think the devil didn't know what was about to happen? This man was about to be delivered and become an evangelist. That does not do good for the kingdom of good of darkness. So he's got to find a way to prevent it. Stirs up a storm. Jesus is asleep, but he gets up, handles his business, and as soon as he gets off the boat, immediately this man comes up and the demons start speaking to him. You know, what have we got to do with you, Jesus, son of the son of the most high God? I mean, they knew who he was. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

This is like a like a miracle chain reaction, is what I'm going to call it. Because if there were no demons, he would not have been able to be delivered. If there's no deliverance, there's no uh, what are they like astonished herdsmen? Like they wouldn't have done anything. If there's no herdsmen, there's no city that responds to this miracle. If there's no response, there's no awakening to their spiritual side. They're just dead in the water. So even chaos becomes this catalyst for change. And I feel like that is, man, I feel like that's my whole life right there, is when chaos starts to consume that there is a catalyst for change, and you can use all the chaos that you've had in your life as a testimony to go, but God, look at this now.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yes. And the word that comes to my mind as you're speaking is redemption. Yes. So God can take the very difficult, even tragic and disappointing and hurtful aspects of a person's life and say, put them on the altar and watch what I can do. I will redeem them and I will turn what's been tragic into something triumphant. I will turn your your demon-possessed situation and I'll turn you into an evangelist for me. And but we have to we have to allow it. It's one thing for him to offer it, it's another thing for us to receive it. Some people are very good at praying for God's deliverance and for his healing and for his his his attention and his his relationship with him. But can they receive? And that's sometimes they don't feel worthy, Brittany, of being of receiving from the living God. It it makes them nervous. So they're they're again they've normalized the chaos, the difficulties, the pain, the sickness, the illness, the poor being poor, being uneducated, but they they will they receive it when the Lord has something to offer them.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

That reminds me of a phrase that I've heard recently that says, uh, the worst thing that you've done in your life cannot outweigh the God's calling on your life. And that's exactly what this is. The very thing that was meant to destroy this man, that was meant to make him an outcast, that was meant to make him die alone among the the big rocks that he was living in out there, that is exactly what ended up drawing this entire region to Jesus through him.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

Yes. And all the other towns around the uh around the sea, the Dicapus.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

So is it possible that some of the hardest seasons in our lives are actually setting the stage for God to move publicly?

SPEAKER_00 18:56

That's very likely. Not as possible, it's it's likely because again, God is in the redemption business. Okay, the um there's nothing that occurs that he can't turn from from tr tragedy to triumph. But we we've got to cooperate. He's looking for us to cooperate with that with him.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

And even Jesus, though, I think this is interesting that while we encounter storms in our lives, it shows that Jesus encountered the storm first. And he gave us the the wherewithal to know what to do. He gave us a living example of hey, you come out here, you speak to it, you stand up in the face of it, and you say, Peace be still, this is what we're doing, this is where we're going. Yes, calm the storm. He faced it, he didn't run away from it.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Well said. Well said.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

So there's a storm at the sea, demonic confrontation, uh, resistance, even before the assignment. The storm wasn't random at all. It was connected to his territory. Why is territory so important and what does that even mean?

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Sure. Well, everybody lives somewhere. I'm being very simplistic. Everybody lives somewhere that we're geocentric in this case, back especially back 2,000 years ago. Uh they didn't have uh public transportation, they didn't have electronic communication. So, you know, you can just imagine, put yourself in the shoes of those people. They moved around on foot and they and in by horse or donkey, I guess, but they moved around pretty much on foot and uh and communicated uh in person. When Jesus spoke to that crowd, he asked Peter to push back his boat off of the sea from the sea from the shore a little bit, and then he was able to address a lot of people and and get their attention. So uh we're um so territory matters because people live somewhere, they have jobs, they have uh influence over certain individuals. And what I find exciting is to try to con to persuade people to recognize that they are, as Paul, the apostle Paul says, you are ambassadors for Christ. Ambassadors. So what is an ambassador? An ambassador is a representative from one government to another one.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

So he represents, he or she represents the um the policies and the beliefs and the strength and the economics of one nation to another nation. And we are ambassadors from this kingdom of God. Now, again, this is not a kingdom built on strong arms and delta forces and and uh and and um and economic power. It's built upon uh spiritual strength, spiritual wisdom. Uh it's a bit the king of our our king is the Lord God Himself. Okay. Okay, and we are assigned to do that now. You say, well, I don't really have that much influence. I just have a schoolroom. I'm a school teacher.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Or I work in a dental office. Or I'm uh I'm a bus driver. Uh I'm I'm an iron worker. You know, I'm uh and you can fill in the blank, whatever that person is. But each of us has, and I would maintain that that the bus driver, that bus is his embassy, and he gets to use that embassy and represent faithfully the Lord's uh wisdom, his principles, and he can be a uh uh an individual that has influence over the people that ride his bus every day. I'm reading the millions of people riding buses in New York City every day. Imagine the influence that those bus drivers can have over their guests that are and riders that are on the on those buses. So I I just would like to persuade people who are listening to us to have an identity, to say, I'm a I'm an ambassador of the of the kingdom of heaven. Lord, how would you have me use that and let me spot any ways that the enemy might try to distract me like he did with Jesus on this boat and his disciples, and then um and then with the uh with the man that had this legion of demons. You know, that that those those um those demons said, Don't don't take us out of the territory. It's put us in those swine. So they wanted to stay in the territory. And I know they those swine ran down a hill and died, but the point is they wanted to stay in the territory. They felt they wanted to have influence, and they were probably doing a pretty good job of it for a while until Jesus came along, cast them out, and now this man gets freed and he becomes an evangelist.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

You know, I feel like a lot of times when we talk about our calling or what we're doing, and somebody doesn't exactly know what their calling is, they don't know how to make where their job is or whatever they're doing, their little ambassador headquarters. And it is literally as simple as showing people love. Jesus said in the Bible that you will know my disciples by the way that they love. This is just being kind. This is if you're a bus driver or somebody getting on the bus, you're being like, Hey, I hope you have a great day. No matter what they say, no matter what they do, no matter how they respond, it is pouring out love. Jesus, like Jesus poured out his blood on the cross for us. It's a pouring out of our souls to other people. And it's so simple if we can look at it as just a compliment, just a nice statement, just something like that. It doesn't have to be, did you know Jesus died on the cross for you as soon as they opened the bus door?

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Like that's right. Yeah, it doesn't have to be. Not everybody's called to be an evangelist. Some people are called to express just what you said compassion. Jesus, it is um uh Jesus told this previously demonic man, tell everyone how he, the Lord, has had compassion on you. So he wanted the story, exactly what you're saying. Tell other people how I had compassion on you. Okay, so that's a way of sharing love. It's by virtue of testimony. So that's a great point that you make. Gosh.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

I think it's interesting too that one of one of the most powerful insights for me is the enemy wasn't just attacking a man. So a lot of times when I feel attacked in my life, I'm like, what did I do? Why did why is this happening to me? And you know, before I get my brains about me, and I'm like, no, I'm made for this. This is you're supposed to go through suffering so that you can look up instead of looking around. But the enemy was trying to stop a regional assignment. Like this was something this guy, I'm sure, had no earthly idea as he was cutting himself and losing his marbles and ripping these chains off of him that he was one day going to be someone who would bring people to the very healer.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Yes, that's that's a great point. Who knows what he did beforehand before he had this uh attack. He may have had early signs of um of being a person of influence in his town. Maybe he had some sort of early budding ambassadorship, as we're talking about, and and suddenly he gets this infestation of these demons. And so I but the the one question that you've raised here is the idea of do you think that the devil can get to a territory before you do because he's anticipating your arrival and he's trying to dissuade you from accomplishing what the Lord has in store for you. And I'd just like to encourage people that the uh the issues that you're facing at this moment, uh, don't let them stop you because you know let the Lord come in and uh um effect change on your behalf.

unknown 26:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

That's okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:49

Yeah, the enemy, he tried to destroy his confidence, his identity. He tried to isolate him. I think isolation is one of the biggest tactics of the enemy. Shame him. He had already leaned into self-harm. He attempted to disqualify every single part of his identity. And I think that's what the enemy comes for most often in us, is if he can attack our identity, he can take us out. Because if we don't believe who God says we are, we have nothing.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

That's what the devil did to Jesus uh in the in the um after the 40-day fast. He uh it's so artful. He said, if you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. And two more ifs. But he kept he kept saying, if you are, I'm not I'm not disagreeing, but I'm not agreeing. I'm saying, if you are, I want to put a perf prove it by performance. Okay, it's performance orientation. And so many of us get caught up thinking, well, I gotta perform. I didn't James said faith without works is dead. I've got to perform. But but oh my gosh, the the enemy attempts to strip away our identity by questioning who we are relationally with the with the living God. Goodness.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I can this one just keeps coming up in my head so much about just our personal testimony, and I'd like you to take a moment and just explain why is our personal testimony used as a kingdom tool and why is it so effective?

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Oh, because even in a courtroom, think about eyewitness testimony is considered to be one of the most powerful uh forms of uh of witness, witnessing. I'm talking about a secular courtroom. I was there at the uh at the diner at 11 o'clock at night picking up some chicken sandwiches. Yes, I saw that man come in the the door with a cat ball cap and a backpack, and I left before, but I know I saw that man.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

Okay. That's eyewitness testimony. That is very heavy. Now somebody may try to undermine that testimony, but that is considered to be very powerful. I even read an legal document about eyewitness testimony, and uh they put a lot of weight on that in uh yeah. So we actually have a founders journal about that, I believe, that um uh it that uh talks about the um the the trials that Jesus went through were just totally illegal. You know, the six trials that he is uh uh submitted to on the night before his execution.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

So essentially the personal testimonies that is top tier. When you hear somebody say, I went through drug addiction, I went through losing a baby and losing my mind, I went through depression and anxiety, you can take that as man, take it to the courts of heaven. If you are through that and you have personal experience and testimony, you can tell me how to get out of it. And I think that's what we forget is we get stuck in the shame so much of I've been here, this has happened to me, I've experienced this, and I don't want to let anybody know because then they're gonna judge me or look at me in some kind of light. Instead of going, if I tell them, God gets all the glory, and I can tell them how amazing God is and what he did through this story, and he can do it for you too.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Yes, and that is what Jesus said to this demonic man before he left. He says, Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. When you can report like that, that will break other people. If they have pride, if they feel shame, if they feel guilt, any of the things that stop people from from a relationship with the living God, my gosh, somebody else's testimony is uh is just remarkable to them. So yeah, thank you for bringing that up. That's that's very powerful.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

Yes. So my one last question, because I think this is very important. How can listeners begin to refocus on their kingdom inside instead of all their wounds, instead of every bad thing that has happened to them?

SPEAKER_00 31:20

Sure. Well, one important thing would be to to first just pray about it. That's no harm in that at all. But then another thing is to start making really take out pen and paper and make a list, or a device if you want to type in. That's fine. I'm a little old school. But the the uh there's there's something about listing. What are your talents? What are you good at? What do people compliment you about? Uh what uh you know, even if it's something that, well, I did that in school and that was no big deal. No, no, no, you don't get to judge it. You just have to list it. And when you do that, you begin seeing um something coalesce around those micro talents. Maybe somebody's a great cook, somebody has a gift of hospitality, uh, somebody has a a way of um of um caring for the home, somebody has a way of of of dealing with children and or dealing with elderly. There's any number of things. I could go on a big list, but find make that list and and does and uh go ahead and um and decide what the uh what what they coalesce around, okay? And then all what will happen is the Lord will begin revealing what it is that he has in store for you. And then don't argue with it, don't don't fight it. Just go ahead and try it on to you on for size. Give it a whirl, give it a give it an attempt. And if it's not, if it doesn't bear fruit, fine, don't get discouraged. Just say, well, there's there's something else around this and near this. Okay, maybe there's something a little different that I'm now and I'm in my 30s or 40s than I was in my teens, but it's it's still in the neighborhood of using those talents. Okay. So um I I think that's a great question. And but it starts with acknowledging what am I good at? What do I have talent for? What do I get complimented for by other people? How do I um it bless other people? And don't just don't poo-poo it either. Don't say, oh no, no, it's not, it's not uh it's not that important, it's not that big a deal. I I'm I'm I've always been good at that. No, what you're good at is a blessing to other people. Okay? And and here's another thing. Uh we we have no right to steal another person's blessing when they are when they are good at something and they want to give to you and care for you. You know, some of us uh need uh you know better organization. And and uh I know if with me I I had a basket full of documents that that were loaded up for years, and I I was I look at it and I'd get discouraged because it's like where do I begin to die to to dive into this and to sort it and everything else? And uh I know that you and a good friend of yours, Cassie, came along to to to be supportive, and my goodness, it's been such a blessing to me to feel like, okay, it's being it's being organized, it's being there's discipline coming to it. I can't uh mock that or think it's of no regard. No, this is important to me. And so I appreciate the fact that you all have this gift for that. You're you're good at it, you're willing to, you're supportive, and you're joyful about it. It's not a it's not a burden. And I'm like, gosh, I'm I'm not gonna discourage that. I'm gonna I'm gonna be grateful for that. And so that's that's an example of find out what you're good at. And and some people some people don't think they have a lot of worth or value, okay, until they can apply a skill like organization, administration, call it what you will, and and serve another individual with that, and it builds their confidence. I have a I have a sign right next to me that says protect your confidence. And I that's just not to be prideful, my goodness. But protect your confidence, and that is your it's a it's a holy word, your sense of identity, your sense of value, your sense of what God made you for. That is uh an important quality. But it starts with decide to figure out what is it that you're good at? What do people depend on you for? You could send a message out, a note to half a dozen people and say, What do you depend on me for? What do you think I'm good at? What value do I bring to your life? Okay, and watch for the responses. And not only will you get six responses back, but you'll find patterns in there. Okay, when you find patterns in there, you'll think you'll come back to what you just asked about, and that's discovering.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:57

This could be something as simple as making food for people, volunteering. Like, there are so many little things that people are like, oh, well, I mean, yeah, I cook, but there's no but. Like, that's that's a gift. There's a lot of people. I know I've been to their house, they cannot cook. So if you can cook, it's an amazing thing, and you should be able to bless people with that. So thank you. Thank you for sharing how we can kind of get back to our kingdom assignments. So I think we should just close by saying, you know, if you're in a storm right now and if you've been battling discouragement or identity struggles or a lot of resistance, it may not be random. It is possibly and likely connected to your territory, what you're supposed to take back. And I don't know if you've ever been to war or seen any war movies, but when you go to war, it is to take back territory, and that's not taken lightly. People will come for you on the opposing side, and we are taking back the enemy's territory. So you have to expect a war will break out. And the same Jesus who crossed a storm to reach one man, he's there crossing the storm to reach you.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 37:01

And the very place you thought was ruined, your past, everything that happened, that will be the place where God uses to release your testimony. So be encouraged, don't be discouraged. Let that storm come, but speak to it like Jesus did. Peace be still and move through it.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Amen.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Yes. Thank you guys for listening. We will see you next time.