It’s the Love of God for Me Podcast

Transcript source: Whisper (large-v3, cleaned).

Hello, and welcome to the podcast, It’s the Love of God for Me, hosted by none other than Lanisha, a former non-believer turned into a believer of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Subscribe on Apple and Spotify for weekly mind-blowing interviews, actionable tips, powerful revelations, and spiritual strategies that will transform your lives daily. Thanks for spending time with me today. Now let’s jump right into our daily dose of practical spiritual food. So yeah, my husband and I live in Northern Virginia. We’ve been here for about four years, Terry, so we move around quite a bit, but it’s been a blessing to be stable for a few years and we have ages 2 to 12 so that’s kind of what’s been my main thing the last 12 years is raising my children. I also am a counselor so I have my master’s in counseling have done that some on it and recently have been doing more writing. I started a blog a few years ago and wrote a book last year and have been doing freelance writing from some different non-profit organizations so kind of what I do of course first and more foremost I should have started with that I am I am a child of God and that’s really what is the foundation of who I am and of everything I do I’m so blessed to have been raised in a Christian home and to know Jesus as my savior my lord my friend and that’s what my husband and I really we always there’s you know in our lives try to follow the model of seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness and then everything else will be added to us so that’s yeah that’s a little bit about me awesome and we’re so excited you know just to hear more about because I’m pretty sure you have so much more that you want to tell us today. And so I’m super excited to hear more about that. Of course, my audience is always excited when we have guests on our show because they’re just so nosy and they always want to hear the good stuff about the Lord. So I know that everyone that is tuning in today is looking forward to hear your testimony of what God has done for you. You mentioned that you wrote a book last year. Do you want to tell us a little bit more about that? Sure. So it was nothing I ever thought I would do. I never thought of myself as really even a writer. But I’ve been living with some chronic illness, some chronic conditions for about 18 years now. And about five years ago, I got to a pretty low point physically. I had a diagnosis that was pretty devastating and just really challenging me, really challenging me in my faith. And at that time, God spoke to me and it just was a very clear calling that I should start right but at the time I felt very confused because it wasn’t you know I didn’t feel like I had anything great to write about and for a while but the Lord just kind of kept pressing that on my heart and so I did and then it just kind of opened up a door for me to shape first through a Facebook group that I started called Suffering Well and then a blog and then a lot of the content that over the years the beginning of 2022 I just was really praying about you know what me kind of going and I felt him saying that I should put that all that content into a book and so several months later in October of 2022 I put out it’s called Suffering Redeemed to endure purpose in pain and hope for tomorrow and really it’s it’s a book of my journey and just how God led me through it is continuing to lead me through I’m still I’m still in that place as I’m still in a place where I have challenges every physically with my health and which also a part of my being you know emotionally and mentally and socially and and so a lot of just questioning and wrestling with God and just through the Bible I really had to dig in and ask and find questions for a lot of things I was really struggling with And so it’s a journey of finding God to be faithful in the midst of affliction and finding the intimacy that God brings us when we’re going through suffering, of learning to live. What purposes does God have in our suffering? And sometimes there’s unexpected gifts that God gives us in our pain. And what does it look like to suffer well? So just a lot of things that I personally had to struggle through and apply, but it’s not, for me, a lot of my suffering was around physical conditions, but it’s not specifically for that. It could be for any kind of suffering that we endure in this world, and I think by now most people realize that that’s something go through it one way or another you know is is some type of suffering whether long or short and lots of different but um it’s a journey i’m still on wow i’m so sorry to hear that you are not yet um and i’m using the word yet because we’re still believing God, but you’re not yet at that place of complete healing, you know, from the Lord. And we’ll talk a little bit more about that at the end of the show, because, you know, I feel in my heart that, you know, I want to do something for you, but we’ll get more into that as we wrap things up. It also takes extraordinary faith to continue to believe God or to continue to stay in a relationship with the Lord when you’ve read that he is a healer. You’ve seen the miracles that he has done in his word for others. And sometimes the hardest part is having people in your life or knowing of other people’s situation where God healed them. And you’re still waiting for that from the Lord and have not yet received it. Again, it takes extraordinary faith to do that. But I know you didn’t just get here in terms of having that solid faith in God for something that you have been waiting for over 18 years, as you mentioned. I want you to take us back all the way back to your childhood when what it just started out for you before you get to know the Lord and build on such a strong faith. Yeah. So as I mentioned, I was raised in a Christian. Parents are missionaries, and so we spent time overseas and had a broad, you know, just different, diverse situations and cultures that I was exposed to, which I am so thankful for, and I, you know, I can’t ever remember not trusting in Jesus, not believing in God. That was kind of something that, you know, I’ve always, always had a relationship with God. In my teen years, I had years of probably just call it rebellion and trying ways of the world and that there wasn’t life there. But it was really after my freshman year of college, I went to a Bible school in Costa Rica where it was an intense Bible training, language training and mission school where we did a lot of just outreach to the community. And it was that year where my faith just grew so much and my relationship and intimacy with Jesus and really the joy, learning the joy of the Spirit. During that year, I found, I think, more of the goodness of God, I would say. I think before that, a lot of, maybe I was more focused on and religion and what we shouldn’t do and kind of trying to stay away from what is bad versus all the goodness that God has and the joy in relating to Jesus and just the presence, the Holy Spirit, and how we really have to depend on the Holy Spirit to change, to have lasting change and transformation so that was it was a very foundational year for me and then it was a few years after that where I initially got sick and um and so I again like I’m so full that I already had a foundation of trust and relationship and you know just that was like I remember I was living in Alaska at the time when I when I first got sick because my husband was stationed there and he was deployed and it was it was quite hard first because I had I was 25 years old be active and before that and so suddenly to be in this body where um like it should and i couldn’t do the things i used to um it was it was very but i remember just you know crying out to god at that point and i did not know what that i did not know that be a journey this long but i know it was from the beginning that i really You know, God was the one that I went to first, and it was a process of learning how to relate to God through the suffering. But, yeah, like you said, knowing that God is a healer, knowing 100% heal anyone at any time. And we see in the scripture, you know, how Jesus, he just, he’s so good in his goodness. he heals and so I believe that wholeheartedly and yet I think there have been times and waves of journey because it’s easy when we’re praying for something that we know is God’s out of his goodness he wants to bless us with and it’s not coming it’s it’s easy to put our hope in that thing so for me it’d be easy for me but my hope in healing God himself and then to kind of go on this like pendulum of like okay I’m gonna be you know 100% for healing and trust and have so much faith and then and then be disappointed and then and um so that that kind of happened to me for I don’t know for some years where I was kind of until I figured out like there’s a place in between where we can be you know where we can be fully surrendered and fully you know saying God not my will but your will same time also fully expectant that that he can heal and so anyways that’s that’s a little bit of my journey you do have a beautiful story though um and it’s in the making um I want you to tell us a time where God instantly answer your prior like you blew your mind with something um during your years with him by the way I don’t know if I missed this part but did you share with us how long you’ve been walking with the Lord um I don’t remember exactly how old I was I remember several times praying to receive Jesus when I was a kid um so I don’t know probably at least 38 years I’m 43 now so that’s young okay so you’ve known the Lord um or you know have knowledge of the Lord you know since you were a child um how long you started to like take that relationship with the Lord serious so I mean I did um having dreams from the Lord and journaling and really relating on a personal level when I was eight or nine and then again I you know those probably three or four years in high school when I was two or three where I was kind of had one foot in and one foot out and I wasn’t but I Lord it was just I was I was not in full obedience I was not walking in full obedience with him so um it’s you know I think I think since I was probably four or five I have had a personal relationship it’s just not always looked the same for nobody for nobody it’s really that that life of school uh when we walk with the lord there’s so much to learn um it’s never perfect for anyone um the reason why i asked because you know some persons they they do say that you know they’ve been walking with the lord for ever since they were a child but then when you would ask like specific questions like okay but how long did you guys you know start being personal then they say oh you know it was when i was 25 or you know something like that i wanted to be sure that even though you had knowledge of the lord since you were a child was it personal and then you said yes of course so that’s pretty a long time to give your heart to the Lord. I think that’s absolutely amazing. And so again, can you tell us, I’m sure having walking with the Lord for so long, there are times, many times that the Lord blow your mind in situations. Can you share with us one today of a moment where you prayed and instantly the Lord responded which is fill your mind that’s a great question and yeah any God is he’s so good and amazing the one that comes first to my mind is um about three or four years ago I was I had a hair appointment and I was having I was just having a harder day physically um some days are definitely more challenging and so I was I was struggling but I prayed on the way that I would have an opportunity to share to share Jesus with I hadn’t met we had recently moved here and so I hadn’t met her before this lady and so yeah I just started talking to her and she was asking me some questions and just really opened the door for me to share my testimony and the gospel of Jesus with her and she was um she had a hard background and was kind of had been turned off but she was she was asking him and then part way through that she um she just shared with me that she had hurt back if she had hurt her back so she had to sit down on and off And so anyways, I asked her and she said yes. And so I prayed for her and she was immediately healed. And it really, I mean, she started coming to church after that with me and we developed this relationship, but it was just so amazing. first of all that God would just soften her heart away and on one of my hard days where I feel like I felt like I had nothing to give by the spirit God was able to use Lady’s life and then also to see how his healing touch on her body just opened her heart and a little bit because I’m like Lord i’ve been praying for healing for so long and i’ve been following you and then i just pray once for this lady who’s not even following you and then you heal her you know but that’s just god doesn’t work you know like it’s not you know a give and take system his grace and his mercy is you know so much farther than we can believe or imagine but it was just a beautiful picture to to see how God uses, uses us in our weakness and is glorified through that. Awesome. I think as I’m listening to you right now, the Lord is also ministering to my spirit and I can see how God, you know, he knows what to do, when to do, as you know, well, my listeners they don’t know this but guys um Karista and I we were trying to get together for weeks now and every time we try something always happen and um you know at one point I was wondering if she was going to you know cancel because of course having to rebook and I’m not sure like what her schedule is like of course I know she’s a mom she’s a wife and a servant of the Lord and I being one myself well I’m not a mom yet but you know having so many things to do you know sometimes we just don’t have that extra time and I was concerned whether or not she was going to cancel and I wanted to um try to you know you know give that just to like okay, do you want to cancel? I was going to say that to her, like, do you want to cancel? Because I don’t, I don’t really want to put like the pressure on, again, my guests having to rebook after they did try before. And so, um, the Lord spoke to my spirit and he said, no, and you know, she will not cancel and don’t initiate the cancel either. And I couldn’t understand why now last night when I was at the gym the Lord gave me word and the Lord was speaking to my heart about this word and I was I was really amazed by what the Lord said to me and now I’m listening to your testimony and the Lord is ministering to me that the word is actually for you because at the time when the Lord gave it to me I wanted to post it on social media and there was this resistance like i couldn’t so i was wondering why did i receive this word and then i realized the lord wanted to give this word to you i’m saying all of that guys to say that god just know what to do he chose the perfect time um because he had a word that he also wanted to release to his daughter you know of course she’s here to bless us but god in return wants to bless with a word. And so before I get into that word for you today, Charisse, because this was really not planned, I want to say to my listeners as well, guys, especially those who have not yet made the decision to build that personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, you hear it from Charisse that we, even as servant of the Lord, we go through things, not because we are followers of christ doesn’t mean that we just have an easy free ride and it’s just all beauty and sunshine over the side of the fence no sometimes we suffer greatly um jesus christ said for his name’s sake we will have to go through a lot of things and it’s really just for the trying of our faith. Um, it’s just to try the, the, our faith is our faith pure. Do we genuinely love the Lord? Even when the thing that we desire the most, we cannot receive, or we have not received it yet. Um, Karis, I want you to know that there’s so many servants of the Lord, even on this season of the show that I’ve spoke to. Oh my gosh. We had a guest whom lost his both his legs and i think i don’t i don’t remember clearly if it’s both of his arms or one of his arms or none of them but i know he lost both of his legs and he is out there in the field working for the lord so there’s so many of god’s servants that have their cross i call it your personal cross that you carry with the lord you know um jesus said if any man if any man loves me let him first deny himself daily pick up his cross and follow me so we each have a cross that that is heavy and sometimes we do get tired and sometimes we fall just like when Jesus fell with the cross and the man came and intervened you know we fall sometimes we want to throw the cross away and be like okay God I’m done I’m not taking this any further but because we love the Lord, we have to keep on. And I just want someone that’s listening today, you know, that I have a friend, she said, listen, if you walk with Christ, you suffer. And if you don’t walk with him, you suffer. Might as well you walk with him and suffer because the end of it will be worth it. And so, so you’re saying the Lord used you, Charisse, to heal this, this woman who didn’t even have faith in him how great is our god um do you know if she had submitted herself to the lord after that or even you know wanting to look into the gospel of jesus christ because of her healing yes so now she is does have a relationship with jesus and um and god she moved away, but we still connect, um, um, through email and text. So yeah, it’s, it’s really amazing. Beautiful, beautiful. And by you, um, moving in that act of faith to pray for her, um, I do believe that was the seed that was planted in her heart to the point where she now give you know turn to the lord and that’s beautiful that you were able to to pull a soul to the lord in that way um and so now that you are walking with the lord for so many years is there do you have like any favorite uh bible scriptures what tell us what that mean to you and why well yes i do but before that i just wanted to add that um it really is amazing because when i was praying for this interview and just asking god because usually i just wait on the lord and ask him for a verse or you know topic or because there’s just so many things we can talk about in view of in light of suffering but the verse the verses that he gave me was matthew 16 24 to 26 which is just what you quoted you know if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take this cross and follow me um and so i think the holy spirit is just amazing in us but anyways i just it what the lord was just showing me what is you know right before that is where um peter rebukes jesus for talking about you know having to suffer and to die in the cross and then jesus says get behind me satan you are hindrance to me for you’re not sit in your mind and the things of god but the things of men and so um you know the disciples were just so resistant of this idea that jesus would have to suffer and die because they had in mind coming and reigning and ruling and taking away their suffering and um and so just yeah i mean just exactly what you’re saying i just want to re-emphasize that because obviously the lord gave it to me also that that you know crucifixion is a it’s a shocking discipleship like we to take up to deny ourselves to die to our own self-will to take up our cross and to embrace what that is and to follow christ is it’s easy said but it’s it’s hard to do right especially when we don’t when it’s something that is just given to us and we have to we have to keep carrying it you know it’s it’s it’s gonna look different in all our lives but just because it’s not you know sometimes i’ve struggled because i think you know i’m willing to get persecuted but if it’s something like you know sickness or something that seems avoidable um or like in some ways um it seems harder and you know just like is god is this really producing any good and yet know that God will turn all of this for good if we’re walking in the path of obedience to him. He will take all of our pain and our suffering and turn it for our good somehow in his plan. And so I just, yeah, I just want to, verses have been very meaningful to me over the years and I continue to think about the following verse after that says you know for whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it and so again just this idea of being willing to give up our lives give it up our plans give up our dreams our agendas whatever and say okay god i’m gonna surrender this is not how i expected or wanted my life to go um but i’m gonna render it to you and um and know that the truth is that in eternity it is going to be with it and so that’s another verse that you know from second corinthians four that i’ve really held on to over the years is just not losing heart and knowing that all you know that we’re gonna x you know inwardly i mean outwardly we’re wasting away day by day, but inwardly we are being renewed day. And that happens in relationship to Jesus in the word of God, through praise, through prayer, through fellowship. And so it’s just a constant thing that we have to keep refilling ourselves. And honestly, that’s, that’s how I do it today. I don’t, I don’t know how else I would be able to not lose heart unless it was a, it was day-by-day dependence and really believing that that what is these the affliction that we have is light and like paul says it’s it feels it feels heavy and hard but it is really light and momentary compared to the eternal glory that we have to look forward to with jesus amen amen of course um that is a wonderful uh word of encouragement right there um as you were speaking the lord led me to galatians chapter 5 verse 22 to 23 and it says but the fruit of the spirit is a love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness and temperance which means self-control um and this is how many one two three four five six seven eight nine nine fruits of the holy spirit um there’s a lot of in our human understanding there’s a lot of beautiful fruit here that the Holy Spirit produced love I mean we enjoy knowing that the Lord loves us and also to share love with others joy we love to be in the joy of the Holy Ghost I mean I love to be in the joy of the Lord we love when we can experience the peace of the Lord or when we can extend gentleness to others and goodness and all that wonderful stuff but when it comes to there’s this one fruit that is here well actually not one but two which is um self-control which is not easy to birth um you know because there are there are different areas that we need to have self-control one we need to have self-control over our mouth like the words that comes out of our mouth you know and there’s another scripture that tells us that no man can tame the tongue so that in itself is hard especially if we get upset um to do but we have to have self-control in the area of our tongues our body and so much more but there’s also another fruit here that is one of the hardest and if i should say lord i think and i could be wrong but i think this is actually the hardest to bear out of all nine fruit or well it’s one one fruit in general but a part of let’s just say part of this fruit is um long suffering notice it didn’t say suffering but it says long suffering and so um i think in this is the scripture also as you mentioned you know i just wanted to add to what you’re saying the scripture from galatians chapter five um we can know that if we’re going to carry the holy spirit and if he’s going to work through us then he’s looking to cultivate this fruit he’s really looking to ensure that at the end of our lives we did represent all of this fruit not just a part of it or the part that tastes the sweetest or the part that is the most enjoyable like the joy and the peace and all of but also we know what it means to happen to bear the fruit of long-suffering um again as i said all believers that i know personally including myself we do have that cross that we carry for years um as i’m speaking to you right now charisse i’ve been the last time i checked i looked in the book that i had i saw where i was um praying to the lord for something from I think 2020 maybe or 2019 and we’re now in 2023 and I’ve not yet received that which I asked the Lord for I see him working though I see things changing but I mean I was very specific with what I asked the Lord and I’ve not yet seen that completed so and And it has not been an easy journey, having seen God do for others and show up in my life many ways as well. But this one thing that I need to just put me to rest, you know, give me that moment of fresh air, you know, like, OK, I don’t have to deal with this anymore. The Lord has not yet answered. And many other believers that I know, it’s just our journey of walking with the Lord. Like you said earlier that, you know, sometimes you wonder what is good in this suffering? It depends on what we’re looking for as good, because what God sees is completely different from what we see. You know, we see it as wasted. We see it as just, you know, crying and just being at that low place and all that stuff. But what God is seeing is that through it all, you still love him. through it all you’re still telling others about him through it all you still are not allowing the fact that you didn’t get this that you wanted from the Lord to close your heart to him or the things of him and that’s what he wants from each and every one of us now here’s the word that the Lord gave me last night which I do believe is personally for you and also if there’s anyone that is tuning into today’s episode I want to believe that this word is also for you it’s not long it’s very simple but if you can hear it in the realms of the spirit I do believe that you you can really meditate on this word and it will shift also your perspective of your situation because I know somewhere out there is someone that is also struggling with something that you have been praying to the Lord for and you think that God has closed his ears or God is just refusing to do the thing when really and truly God is up to something greater. So last night I hear the Spirit of the Lord said, have you ever wondered why sometimes you pray and immediately your prayers are answered, some of them. You know, immediately you ask the Lord, like, for example, that’s why I asked you earlier to share with us a moment when you witness God immediately manifested his power right before your eyes that really just took your breath away. So sometimes we pray and immediately our prayers are answered. We might pray for others and immediately answer or just talk to the Lord. Lord, I want when I show up in the parking lot, there’s a space for me because I don’t want to wait. And you show up and it’s there, even though that sounds simple. But God is the one that heard your fire and answer. Or it could be any other thing. You ask the Lord, God, I want this. I want my child to do or my husband to this to go for my husband. And it works out. But then there is something that you’re praying to the Lord for. and you’ve not yet seen that come to pass um and to you this is way more important than the other stuff that you asked the lord for well it’s because it could be many reasons why god has not answered um that particular thing guys and sometimes you’re just not going to get the answer that you’re expecting that’s that’s the reality of it for whatever reason only God knows I don’t um and he doesn’t didn’t reveal to me why sometimes some prayers are not he doesn’t answer but one of the things the Lord said to me yesterday was this that there’s sometimes when you ask him to do something what he’s doing he could share it with us but he chooses not to um because Because what he’s doing in that season of our life, while we’re waiting on him, it is so precious. It is so important that if he goes ahead and release that information to us, let’s say, said, okay, this is my plan. Again, the scripture says, I know the plans I have for you. So the Lord goes and said, okay, this is my plan to get you through the season. You have to go through the season. You must go because in order for you to grow and to bear the fruit that will be able to be effective in the earth, you have to be buried like a seed. I mean, look at a seed. A seed is buried in that dark ground. It’s cold. Imagine the gardener pouring water on that soil after burying that seed covered the seed all alone in the mud the seed is there by itself um and then the gardener goes and pour water on that wet soil so the seed is cold it is alone it is wet from the seed perspective it might seem as though the this is the end of it you know um the seed is just looking to die right now because it’s alone again it’s cold it’s wet but from the gardener’s perspective the gardeners see a strong and mighty tree that is going to come up if you continue to cultivate the seed right and so the seed only feel the way it feels because it is the one that is in the soil but the gardener sees completely different and so as the seeds stay there in that soil in that situation alone feeling like there’s no one that’s coming to its rescue eventually if that seed is willing and just stay right there be still know that i am god save the lord then the gardener will be able to work to cultivate to do whatever he wants to do to get the seed to grow the way he um intended for it to grow spiritually now we’re this what i’m sharing with with you it’s all spiritual right but we’re using a natural example so God knows what he’s doing to you in the realms of the spirit you can’t see it but he sees it in the natural you see yourself as someone that is just in that place alone but in the realms of the spirit God see a mighty woman of valor okay um and so last night the lord was saying to me that sometimes he especially in in seasons where he’s cultivating us like a seed he’s cultivating us he can’t share that information with us because if god tells you chris or who’s listening today let’s say uh delia or sarah mark whomever if the lord says it’s gonna take you five years to grow and bear fruits you’re gonna say hell no i don’t want to suffer for five years you know um in your situation chris feeling pain all over and the lord says it’s gonna take you seven years to get through this um until you get to that stage where you’re now bearing fruit in the kingdom you’re going to tell the lord god i cannot do it i can’t do seven years especially if you’re just at day one okay um and also when the lord released that information to you that information can become accessible to the enemy because you know how we are the lord shares something in private to us about our life and we start telling other people, then the enemy hears that. He’s going to fight that. He’s going to make your journey even more difficult than God intended it to be. So what I understood from the Spirit of the Lord is that sometimes when we have to go through a season, you can’t escape it because that is the method in which God has chosen to cultivate your seed. That’s just His way, and you can’t escape it. You might say, why? Because there’s a minister that I read his book, which, um, you know, I absolutely love T.D. Jakes. He talks about, um, um, the topic of the book is pressure produce power. And I really do believe that he gave the story, the example of even the grape, you crushed a grape under your feet, but it produced or in a machine, whichever, but it produced a tasteful wine you know so I mean not to draw this out any further but in a nutshell the Lord was just saying that sometimes when you have to go through a season which is designed to cultivate your seed he will be silent all you will get from him is silence it’s best for him not to share with you the plans because one you probably will resist it and run away and then he’s gonna have to you know you know rebuke us a little bit to get us back to the part where he wants or sometimes the devil will try to fight that example okay and then we i’m gonna again go move on to you in case the lord share anything on your heart that you want to share with us. Look at Joseph. When Joseph, when the Lord showed Joseph the plan, he talked about it. He talked about it. And the devil wastes no time to make sure that his journey was hard for him. Okay. So sometimes God just, he hides stuff from us. And you might ask, okay, so what do I do know. God is silent. I’m suffering. What do I do now? Well, what the Lord said to me last night, this is where you learn to trust me. This is where you have to trust him. Have you ever fly before, like travel by air? And to those that are listening today, maybe you travel by air before, or maybe not by air, but you travel by mobile vehicles, right? When you enter into the airplane or the vehicle of the taxi driver you don’t know them personally we don’t know them but we would sit and we would trust our life in their hands to take us from point a to point b we believe that they are qualified for this right and so if we didn’t trust them we would not sit in that for example that airplane for them to take us from point a to point b but because We trust that they’re skilled, they’re trained for this, they know what they’re doing. We do not know these people. We don’t even know if at that moment they’re on drugs or they’re completely knocked out with alcohol. But we sit there with confidence, trusting them to take us from point A to point B. How much more should we trust the Lord? This is a season now where we just have to endure. said, okay, God, I see that you’re trying to cultivate long suffering in me, which is one of the fruit, which is a part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And I’m just asking you to give me the strength. In my situation, carrying my cross, I used to pray to get out, but I stopped because I realized I have to go through. It’s what God is using to make and to mold me into this person that I never knew was in me. Strong, courageous, bold. And so I start to pray now for endurance. And when I tell you that it shifts my perspective of things so much, I don’t feel burnt out anymore. Because even if I feel sad or faithless, I just start to say, Lord, give me endurance to go another mile. Hallelujah. So that is the word that I got from the Lord for you today. And I don’t know, did the Lord lay anything on your heart that you want to share with us before we wrap things up today? Well, first of all, thank you so much for sharing that. That’s very meaningful. You know, it’s interesting. I mean, it resonates with me a lot. And I’m sure you are listening too. It’s God’s heart for us. And often when I have had at a decision point, especially medically, you know, asking about, should I do this or should I do that? Or oftentimes how God would respond is, Karis, I want you to trust me. He wouldn’t necessarily answer the question I was asking. I mean, sometimes he would make it clear, but most of the times it was, Karis, trust me. like I learned to trust me in this and with this and it’s hard it’s a hard answer when you’re looking for specific it’s a it’s a hard and you would rather do something it’s more comfortable when we feel a little bit more control but I think you’re right let me place we can really learn to trust God is when things are hidden from us and something God is just recently is just idea of kind of like you’re saying like just embracing the mystery of so many unknowns and you know our time on earth is really our only chance to live by faith because when we see Jesus in heaven we won’t have to live by all these questions and we won’t have to live by faith will be our sight then. And so just to not miss the opportunities that we get with trials, tribulations and suffering and pain will only come in this lifetime. And so, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s such, such a step-by-step thing that I think we do learn to trust God more over time, but it’s still, it’s a surrender that we have to, we have to keep, we have to keep doing and keep and keep. So. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Um, and is there anything else that you, you didn’t get to share as it relates to your testimony? You know, I think, i think beautiful god um brought this together and you know i think it’s good what you were sharing here just at the end about surrendering that that part and not striving to i think for many years too i straw i like i wanted so much to get healing and i felt like i was trying to do everything I could do. Instead of surrendering to the Lord and saying, okay, God, yes, just help me to endure under this. Go to keep expectant and hopeful and know that God is a God who does surprise us with his goodness and blessing. And it may look different than we think it should or could just holding all, all things with an open hand. Yes. Awesome. I’m so glad that you were able to, um, receive that word, you know, and I, I hope that you meditate on it as well. Um, because, and, and even those that are listening today, guys, I, I, I believe God wants us to know that were not alone he says i will never leave you and sometimes you i hear the lord said i should share a dream with you guys that i had some time ago which is so identical to what we’re talking about today um there’s this time i had a vision where i was i was walking in a very dark place um it was very dark i couldn’t see anything um if i lift my hands up i couldn’t see that’s how dark it was um now i understand that and i’ve seen myself in that place again but that time the lord showed me exactly what was happening he was showing me it was shortly after i got save and he wanted to show me how close I was to falling into, um, the eternal cutoff. Um, so he used that, that journey again to show me that, but this, this time when I had this vision, I was walking in this very dark place and this was while I was safe. Um, I couldn’t see anyone, but for some reason I knew that I was not alone and that someone was with me and this person was for me and I started to sing the song I am not alone the Lord Jesus is with me and I was just skipping walking mind you I can’t see where I was going and it was it was terrifying dark um why am I sharing that today because the Lord wants us to know there are times we’re going to go through seasons that is so dark it’s it’s it’s it’s going to be so dark but he wants us to know that he’s with us he doesn’t have to speak to us about the situation or take us out of it for us to trust that he’s there he already spoken he says I will never leave you and he’s always with us and this is what sometimes the enemy does he comes and he tries just like Job Job, he tries to tell, he spoke through Job’s wife, trying to tell Job, why don’t you just curse God and die? Because God is not with you. You’re going through this and you’re still holding your faith in him? Just give up. You know, that’s his way of trying to take away our faith in the Lord. Remember, it is written, the just shall live by faith. And that’s what we as servants live by. we hope for the things that we believe and sometimes the devil knows that he can’t get us to come back out there in the lifestyle that the lord took us from right but if he can get us to live um with the mindset of what is contrary to what god has promised then he feels like okay i have this one even though technically he doesn’t but if you get what i’m saying so he have us live in that place of I’m alone. God don’t care about me. What kind of loving God would allow me to suffer this way? But those are all lies from the devil. God says, I will never leave you. And sometimes God is very quiet, especially when we’re being processed. And that’s a fact. When Job was being processed, God was quiet. Did God respond to Job? He did not. Job cried. Job picked his sword. Job would not eat. His friends told him, accused him that it was his fault. That he must have done some kind of sin for him to be going through this. And at the same time, while he’s going through, God is not responding. So obviously you did something wrong. This is what the devil does. But Job held his faith. He knew that his deliverance was in the Lord’s hands. And he’d rather die than to curse the Lord. And so we just have to be strong in the Lord and know that not because we’re servant of the Lord. All the apostles, they suffer. You know, they were beaten. I remember reading the life of Paul. Oh, my gosh. He was beaten to near death. When they beat him, they throw him out the city, thought that he was dead. His disciples gather around him, thought that he was dead. that that must be a horrible beating and the wife said he got up and he continued to preach the gospel all of us will suffer when we walk with the lord we become on the top list for the enemy because he wants our faith but as our fate like the evil boys is being tried by fire it’s in the fire furnace the devil says turn it seven times higher okay i am afflicting her body with pain and she’s still praising the Lord, turn the pain a little higher in that fire. Stay there and don’t ask God to come out because maybe God’s will is to process you in that fire. But ask the Lord, God, give me endurance. Let my enemy not laugh and say, aha, I’ve swallowed him up, right? Because I crumbled. But give me endurance. I will go through, Lord, because you said you’re with me. whatever you’re doing i don’t understand it doesn’t make sense but give me endurance and so i believe the lord um wanting to bless you today with that word the lord don’t usually move this way um it’s really since the start of the season if my memory can remember clearly god and i hope i am remembering clearly but i think since the start of season seven it’s the first the lord um really put in my heart a word um like this for someone so i know god you thought you were coming here to pour out today but god wanted to pour back into you um so i hope that you just take this word with you today and those who are listening i know someone out there need this word as well um do you have anything else you want to say and then we just wrap things up oh just thank you for being to sharing with Lord, put on your heart. I think, you know, it’s where the body of Christ is so beautiful. And when we’re on our part and, and, um, you know, just encouraging each other, we just need encouragement and we need to spur each other on. Um, so I’m just, I’m so thankful, um, for you and for the listeners and just that we can, we can do this together alone and um yeah i’m just i’m just very thankful for that and we are thankful uh charisse for you coming here and sharing your story i don’t know about you but i see a strong woman of faith and i believe my listeners will also agree with that with me that for you to be walking with the lord for so long um that in itself is an inspiration for me because i just started what almost four years now um and it seemed like forever but because of you know the different challenges that come along but i wouldn’t trade for anything and you have been with the lord for so many years and to see that you’re going through the season of i call it season of uncertainty um simply because we’re not certain god knows he’s certain but we’re not um and to see you hold on to your faith for the Lord and still push to do his work. Push to be on platform so you can testify even in your midst of suffering. If that’s not courage, I don’t know what is. So thank you for coming and sharing with us. You are a blessing to the body of Christ and inspiration. And I know someone out there is listening and they go, oh my gosh, if she can be going through all this and she’s still proclaiming the gospel so can i what would you say um before we go guys what would you say a chris amir to someone out there that is um in the situation that you’re in right now and also someone that feel like they want to come to the lord but they’re not really sure if they could they could um endure the journey with god what would you say to them so I you know I think God is he pursues us he pursues us in so many ways and he is so patient he’s so patient with us I think you know in times of suffering or struggle we have two main options with God right I think there’s a lot of people who say I cannot reconcile how difficult life is suffering pain with a God who claims to be good and faithful. And so I’m going to turn away from God, um, you know, which is one, one option. And there’s like, God is the greatest good, the most faithful ever present help time of need we could ever ask for. And he will show himself worthy. He will show himself trustworthy. And I have witnessed time and time again. There’s so many times where I felt like I am at the rock bottom and I can’t go on. And somehow God turns that around and gives me what I need to keep going and to be afraid to just be real with God. The Psalms are, they’re just so full of prayers that we can pray to God in our rawness, in our struggle, in our pain, and find intimacy with Him, but also to bolster our faith and remind us of who God is. And so just, I don’t know, just to remember that He’s waiting for you. He is waiting to be gracious to you, and He will not let not fail you sometimes you know I felt like okay God I feel kind of like you’re failing me right now but it our feeling the truth is that he will not and he does not um and he’s really the only the only thing can count on the only person that is never going to forsake us or let us down besides anyone else or anything else and oh yeah just don’t give up don’t give up on God and reach out to him draw near instead of push away times when maybe you’re tempted to do that he is always with us thank you so much um Chris for that word today I am blessed again by your story and I know someone else is blessed to hear this courage from someone that is currently going through because sometimes people testify of what they’ve been through you know and where they were and where God brought them from but you are saying hey I’m in the midst of a storm but my faith is is in the Lord and we’re really grateful to have you again on the show so thank you so much for coming. Okay. Thank you for having me. Awesome. Thank you. And guys, this is where we come to an end of today’s episode. As always, I am blessed by my guests. I mean, every time I interview a guest, I go, wow, this, this can’t get any better. And then someone else shows up and it sounds even better when you hear their testimony of what God has done or what God mean to them and what I absolutely love about the servant of the Lord today and her testimony is that she’s currently in that ship where Jesus is seem like he’s asleep you know that story of the disciples and they were in the ship and the storm was raging and seemed like Jesus is asleep um but even in the midst of her, her being in that ship, she’s still trusting the Lord, um, believe in that one day, one day. And I am really, really thankful to hear from, from her today. I think it helps to remind me as well, that as I said before, we don’t serve the Lord because of what he can do for us. Because whether he does it or he doesn’t, we will remain loving him, trusting him, keeping our faith in him, and proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so thank you guys for listening today. Remember to go ahead and like and share today’s episode. By the way, Karis, I didn’t get from you your book you told us about the book where can we find your book in case we want to get a copy is it up for sale so you can find it on amazon uh there’s kindle edition and paperback and then also on my website which is kerrypressmeyer.com all right guys so you heard it and in case you missed what she said i’m gonna go ahead and post in the description box below all the website the link that you can get access to her book i do believe that this book is a must have um again it is titled suffering redeemed correct caress suffering redeemed awesome so um go ahead guys and show some support get that book hear more about her story i’m pretty sure that she didn’t of course she can’t tell us every single detail of that that experience that she’s experiencing in just an hour so there’s so much more that you want to hear what she learned what the Lord has taught her in her journey of suffering with him. And so go ahead and get your copy today. Again, the link to those are in the description box below. And so as we wrap things up today, I always say, guys, remember, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not onto your own understanding. And in all your ways, remember, acknowledge him and he shall direct your path until next time see you next week tuesday at 12 p.m eastern for the season finale god bless you all are you searching for powerful insights and divine revelations to deepen your relationship with god look no further introducing bible nation international your go-to source for spiritual growth and enlightenment we are a people that believes in the power of prior unity love and most importantly studying the word of god every wednesdays and saturdays at 7 p.m join us for an unforgettable journey as we together dive deeper into the mysteries of faith and unlock the secrets to a more meaningful relationship with God. 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