Girls Gone Bible - Devil Wants You Distracted | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

Hiiii GGB!   in this episode we talk about how DISTRACTIONS are the number one way the enemy pulls you away from Jesus, your purpose and the people He put in your life.   Satan is after the attention of this generation. He wants their attention. But Jesus is just a look away.   C.S. Lewis – “The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.”   episode starts around 11 mins.   we love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari   Miracle Made https://trymiracle.com/GGB   Good ranchers special offer for this month: Free ground beef, bacon, chicken nuggets, or salmon in every order for a year + $40 off with code GGB. https://go.goodranchers.com/ggb   JOIN US ON GGB+ 🥹❤️ https://ggb.supportingcast.fm   WE ARE ON THE OFFICIAL GIRLS GONE BIBLE LIVE TOUR! www.girlsgonebible.com/tour   WE LOVE YOU AND CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU!

Hi, I'm Ari. Let's switch places today. Yeah, let's both get on our bad side. You guys want us to get over vanity, let's both get on our bad side. Come on. I also brought makeup wipes. Oh, you did? Yeah, time to take it.

Just me. Yeah, take it off. You first. Maybe next time. Slick your hair back. Yeah, that to take it. Just me? Yeah, take it off, you first. Mmm, maybe next time. Slick your hair back. Yeah, that's the one thing I will not. Oh, bruski. You know when I do that? What?

I'm like, I want a bruski when I do it, do it. When I take the lady from the monster. Do it, I want a bruski. Say it. Do you guys know the lady from the monster? Come and get her up. the lady from The Monster? Come and get her up. Charlize Theron from The Monster,

she like has her hair slicked back and I always feel like her some days when I'm just at home with my oversized t-shirt. That was just when we were smoking cigarettes that one time. No, this is actually me in my hard time. This is me. This is me. That's you and me.

I picked you up from the airport. Oh, you like. I lied all. One time Ari picked me up from the airport. That was bad. Have we told that? Ari picks me up from the airport. I go visit John and I had the flu.

I was literally so sick. I hadn't showered in four days. John, sweet John, looks at me at the end and goes, baby, don't you think you should take a shower? I was so upset. I'm like, I have the flu. I come out of the airport and what did I look like? I couldn't believe it. I said, Angela, I think we told the story. Did we? I think so. All right, well, here we go again. You had like sauce on you.

Oh no, I had sauce on my shirt. No, no, that was you. When I gained 25 pounds. That was you. You had a really fun summer in Austin. I had a fun summer in Austin. And I'm not gonna say it, but you were just enjoying raising kids.

And I was really enjoying raising canes. You were having a good time and you came out of that airport and I look at you and you had sauce on your clothes. Cane sauce dripping off my shirt. Your hair was all matted and I was like, all right. They go in and out in the South. They really- Charlize Theron, monster.

What does she say? You want a bruskie? Oh, you want a bruskie? Oh, this is, no, this is actually me. Like, this is us when we go through breakups. That's literally me. That is me. No, that's me.

That's me the past two weeks. That's us when we wake up in the morning with our supermodel friends. What happens to us? Why do we look like that in photos? I don't know. It's not fair. I'm like.

Anyways, hi, I'm Ange. And I'm Ari. And this is Girls Gone Bible. We are a faith-based, I'm just kicking off And I'm Ari. And this is Girls Gone Bible. We are faith-based. I'm just kicking off. We are a faith-based podcast where we talk all things, spirituality, mental health, everything to do with life, relationships,

but always from a biblical point of view because we love Jesus so much. He saved our lives. The hardest part of all of this is the intro. Don't know why, it's about to be two years. Two years, we have to do something. Guys, it's about to be our two year anniversary. In May.

Yeah, May something. 19th. How do you know? I was at a bikini photo shoot on May 19th when we released it. I really appreciate you saying that. I really don't care, isn't that crazy? I'll never forget. I was at a bikini photo shoot. I'll never you saying that. I really don't care. Isn't that crazy? I was at a bikini photo shoot.

I'll never forget that day. I'm calling you being like, R, it's up. I talked about being a mess for the first time on the internet. We didn't know what was going on. We didn't. But here we are. Here we are.

And we're really happy to be here. We love you guys so much. What's up, Pa? I have an announcement to make. You're pregnant? Yeah. Natural. Okay, I have an announcement to make

for you and to GGB. Yeah. Are you ready? Mm-hmm. I'm moving to Boston. Next month. Really? Yeah. Really? Really?

How hilarious, Ritsma. As if I don't know, it's April 1st, and as if I would ever, as if I would ever, ever allow, and that's not very nice. That's not very nice because you had me for literally.01 seconds, and I knew from before you said it, but it still hurt Yeah, yeah, yeah, I wanted you to cry yeah, and I'm coming with you we were we going

Southie do where we go in? We're going to Southie and we're gonna drink some scotch and we're gonna get some- They literally loved Angela in Boston. I take her out to an Italian restaurant, North End. The guys were going- Can I be honest? What a fog that.

She was eating up every minute. I was, I've never been so confident. I said, I will be back. Yeah, that's gonna be you in Albania. Yeah. Should we, what do you think about first leg of tour we celebrate in Albania? I love first leg of tour. First leg that we finish the first leg of spring. I love it.

I love you so much. You got a big, big, big GSE. I can't believe it. I'm so mad right now. Yeah. How did you know? Oh, come here. Let me get that.

I thought I could get you. It was close, but then I saw Dre a post, don't talk to her. Oh, how did you see that? Because I follow her. Yeah. Oh, I said no, no. We went on Fox and Friends this past week and I wore this dress because I have an actual, like, I buy something and then I wear it 30 times in a row.

And I'll wear on this episode, I'll wear it on tour, I'll wear it on Fox and Friends. So sorry, guys. We went on Fox and Friends and you know what's so fun? Is they are just letting us preach the gospel on the news. Yeah. Like, you guys don't understand, we aren't such an interesting, every person that I talk to from, like, the church on the news. Yeah. Like you guys don't understand,

we are in such an interesting, every person that I talk to from like the church, the local church, everyone who's grown up in church, they're like, we've never seen anything like this. Why are people allowing you to like say whatever you want? We go on, we talk about the Holy Spirit, we talk about, it's about a relationship, not a religion. And everyone is like, just God is moving so much.

We can't even see right now. He is literally giving us favor, not just us, like so many people in social media, like letting us go into so many spaces that He's like, I'm going to give you favor with man, because we've spent a long time not being able to say what we want about faith. You know what I mean? Like it's so surface level to go on the news and talk about something like talk about the Holy Spirit and talk about giving your life to Jesus because you were in hell before. It's like a massive deal. I know that's why we have to keep our eyes open because even people that are working anywhere, like keep your eyes open because He's calling you to these places even if it feels dark, like preach the gospel.

We're all... This is like a revival. I feel it right now. There is something so significant happening specifically in Southern California. There is, like, there is... God is doing something really significant, and we're about to see major revival happen, like, like back in the day. I know. And we're going to be a part of it. Don't know what we're going to do, but thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. The weather is heating up and your nighttime bedroom

temperature has a huge impact on your sleep quality. If you wake up too hot or too cold, I highly recommend that you check out Miracle Made's bedsheets. Miracle Made sheets are inspired by NASA and use silver infused fabrics that are temperature regulating so you can sleep at the perfect temperature all night long. These sheets are infused with silver that prevent up to 99% of bacterial growth, leaving them to stay cleaner and fresh three times longer than other sheets. No more gross odors. Using silver infused fabrics inspired by NASA, Miracle-made sheets are thermoregulating and

designed to keep you at the perfect temperature all night long, no matter the weather, so you get to sleep better every single night. Stop sleeping on bacteria. Bacteria can clog your pores, causing breakouts and acne, or you can sleep clean with Miracle. Miracle sheets are luxuriously comfortable without the high price tag of other luxury brands and they feel as nice if not nicer than sheets used by some five-star hotels. I was so happy that yesterday was laundry day because I switched from my regular sheets to my Miracle sheets and I had a much much better night of sleep last night. Upgrade your sleep this year. Go to

trymiracle.com slash ggb to try Miracle Made Sheets today and whether you're buying them for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. If you order today, you can save over 40 percent. And if you use our promo code ggb at checkout, you'll get a free three piece towel set and save an extra 20 percent. And you guys, Miracle is so confident in their product that it's backed with a 30 day money back guarantee. So if you aren't 100 percent satisfied, you'll get a full refund. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made. Go to trymiracle.com slash ggb and use the code ggb to claim your free three-piece towel set and save 40% off.

Again, that's trymiracle.com slash ggb to treat yourself. Thank you Miracle Made for sponsoring this episode. It is harder than ever to find food that you feel good about feeding your family. I get it. And honestly, that's why we switched to GoodRanchers.com. All of their beef, chicken, pork, and wild-caught seafood is 100% American and then delivered right to my door. And we have a big issue, guys.

By the end of this episode, another family farm will have closed in the U.S. But with Good Ranchers, you can make an impact and support American farms and ranches. And here's why. Good Ranchers Me is 100% American sourced. It's free from hidden additives and they vow to uphold the values of tradition by exclusively sourcing their products

from local farmers and ranchers. And honestly, it has made my life so much easier. I don't have to spend forever in the grocery store reading labels. Everything I need shows up to my doorstep. The packaging makes it simple to portion things out for my busy weeknights. And most of all, I have peace of mind knowing exactly what's going on my table and in my body. Their seed oil free chicken nuggets might be the greatest things Ari and I have ever tasted. These chicken nuggets are made with whole cuts of chicken and we are absolutely obsessed. And you guys know how I am about my fish and their salmon is so fresh and so good without a fishy taste and that's so rare to find honestly.

As part of their Spring Into Action special right now, when you subscribe to any Good Ranchers box, you'll get free bacon, ground beef, chicken nuggets, or salmon in every box for a whole year plus $40 off with our code GGB. Go to GoodRanchers.com and make mealtime something you feel good about again. Don't forget to use our code GGB. Good Ranchers, American meat delivered. What are we talking about today? Distractions, which we all have. Oh, buddy.

I had it the other day. Oh, I had it two hours ago. I know. What'd you experience? So today we want to talk to you guys about being distracted. We want to call this episode, The Devil Wants You Distracted, because so much of what we go through, so much of what we experience, like the key, the root, the intention, and the motive behind Satan doing it, sending it, or like making something happen to us

is that he wants us distracted. He wants us distracted from Jesus, distracted from our purpose, distracted from other people. It's all about distraction. So- I will say though, I was having a little bit of a hard day the other day.

I go on TikTok and I'm going down the rabbit hole watching dog videos. And I was, it made me me so, oh you guys, do you guys ever watch those videos of the owners with the dogs? And they're like, they're giving them so much love. That's like me with the baking videos. Oh that is, yeah.

That's how I am with the dogs. It calms me. Yeah, I love watching them. I want a dog, so bad. You should get one. I can't. I know. You know? We can take him. I went a dog, so bad. You should get one. I can't. I know. You know?

We can take him. I went through the worst heartbreak of my life with Riley. Riley, let's put a picture up. But I'm just so. Riley was your dog? He was my boy. You know, I feel like I know him.

I know, he would have loved you. He would have loved Auntie Anne. I would have slept with her every night. He lost his soul. But yeah, I lost him. I would have loved watching you discipline Riley. Oh my god. I was such an East Coast mom, I'd have him,

I'd be like, don't you act like that. Behave. He was so well behaved, that was my boy. But I don't want to go through that heartbreak again. I know, it's tough. What was your experience the other day with being distracted? Oh, we always talk about this. You go on your phone and then next thing you know,

it's like two hours later and you're just watching videos and you got so sucked in. Oh, we're going to talk about the phone today, baby. We're going to talk about the phone because I am. Yeah, I just wanted to read this little quote by C.S. Lewis. Literally, Satan is after the attention of this generation. He is after our attention. He's after our focus.

And he's succeeding. Like he really is. It is so subtle. It is so deceitful. And he succeeds a lot of the time. But the beautiful thing is that Jesus is just one look away. Like Jesus is just one look away. Like Jesus is just like, you just shift your attention.

You shift your focus. Like it can feel so hard to get yourself out of being so distracted, but truly it is easier than we think. And I love this quote from C.S. Lewis. He said, the moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back, in listening to that other voice,

taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. I can't tell you when I wake up in the morning my fight between just getting my coffee and going and sitting and like, I'm telling you, I battle every morning so hard. I want to check my phone.

I want to check my phone. It's like insane. It is the weirdest addiction. Like if you actually sit, if you, if you're not aware, you can just like let it go by and it doesn't seem like a big deal. But if you're actually trying to not be on your phone, like that trying to not pick up your phone in the morning,

you feel, and it's like, it's warfare. Like you're, it's a major struggle. And I want to talk about, so I literally listened to what happened to me today. I'm in my quiet time. And I think a way that the enemy has been attacking me a lot recently is through irritability. Like, I just want to say that irritability is something

like obviously, and it's an attack, obviously. Like sometimes you're just having a bad day and whatever. But I can tell sometimes like the way if I'm getting irritable at people, at things, at a situation for no reason, it is such a distraction because it just like completely moves you off of your purpose and focus into like just being irritated. Like it's just the worst feeling ever. So I'm in my quiet time this morning and all of a sudden I like literally sit down, I'm in my quiet time this morning, and all of a sudden, I like literally sit down, I'm spending time with Jesus,

and then I think of a situation with John, that like I'm not even annoyed about, I don't even care about, didn't bother me, it's all good. All of a sudden, my body gets so irritable, and I actually feel a force, like literally forcing me to get up out of quiet time to go call him and address this frustration and I'm not even like upset like I don't eat was out of nowhere and I literally like almost gave in for a second because it became so irritating that I was like oh my gosh

I have to have this conversation because I can't even focus on Jesus. Wow. And then I literally was like, are you literally kidding me right now? Like I'm not about to get up and leave to go do that. I don't even care. It was just so obvious what happened. And then like, I stick it out. I stay and I feel myself. I have like irritation. I'm just like irritable and I'm just distracted.

There's so many things pulling on me. I keep having thought after thought after thought. All of a sudden I'm sitting on the couch. I get a new couch, you guys, and I'm sitting on this couch and I realized that it's not the depth that I wanted it to be. I'm sitting on the couch. I'm in the middle of quite, I am literally like, holy, holy, like I am with the Lord. I am literally like, holy, holy, like I am with the Lord, I am with Jesus.

And all of a sudden my body gets so hot and I get so peed off over the couch, not being the depth, like what am I gonna do about it right now? What am I gonna do? I was just, I literally in my head, I start laughing and go, get behind me, Satan. Like I'm so tired of it.

And then I start thinking about this charge that I saw on Chase the other day that I didn't do and I need to tired of it. And then I start thinking about this charge that I saw on Chase the other day that I didn't do and I need to go dispute it. And then so I'm just, and I literally go how this is insane that this is happening today when I want to go film this episode and I can't find focus to save my life today. It's like, Oh, you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, but we're going to just pull you back out and bring you somewhere else. Like it is so, it's like creepy.

It just upsets me so much. And tell me how you feel about this. This is what I've noticed. Pain pushes me into the arms of God. When I'm in pain, like, I seek God's face. I look for Him. I like... I like, will just... I use... I go to Him for refuge. I go to Him for comfort. Like when I'm in pain, that's what pushes me into the arms of God.

When I'm anxious, it does the opposite. And that's what I've noticed. Because I'm wondering why sometimes some bad situations push me closer to God and why some situations cause me to turn my face. And it's anxiety. The spirit of anxiety causes me to turn away from God. And I don't know why that is. I actually just realized that today when I was sitting because the past few weeks I've been battling severe anxiety. And I noticed that I'm repenting 30

times a day. I am consistently repenting. Jesus, forgive me Lord for turning away from you. Forgive me for pushing you out. Forgive me from, you know what I mean? Like it's been really, so I noticed that that's what happens with anxiety. I can't believe you're saying this. It's because anxiety, anxiety causes you to doubt. Anxiety shakes your faith.

Cause like pain is hard, but it's like we know that we're going to suffer. We know that we're going to feel pain. We know there's something, like His power really is made perfect in our weakness. So maybe that's it. But then anxiety is the unknown and it causes doubt and it shakes your faith. Sometimes when I'm in pain, I still have faith and hope for the future. Sometimes when things are uncertain and I'm scared, it's literally we're about to talk about, we're about to read the story in Matthew, I think chapter 16, about Peter walking on

water. Should we read that really quick? Yeah. All right, you guys, so we're reading out of the NLT version. We're going to go to Matthew chapter 14 verse 22, reading from the NLT version. And this is immediately after Jesus performs His miracle of feeding the 5,000 with the five loaves of bread and two fish. So I love this moment where Jesus performs this massive miracle. It's a massive deal, and then you find Him going to be by Himself to pray to God. Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that His disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake. Sorry, we didn't pray. Can we just pray real quick?

Jesus, we love You, Lord. We invite You, Holy Spirit. I pray that You would teach us the Scriptures, that You would teach through us, God. I pray that you would join in and co-labor with us in teaching your word and telling people about why distraction is such a scheme from the devil. And we pray, God, today that we expose the devil for his tactics, Lord, and that we bring freedom in Jesus' name. Amen. Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake while he sent the other people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.

When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, it's a ghost." Do you see that's why we, in this moment where in their fear, they were terrified, they cried out, it's a ghost. They had doubt in God. They couldn't even see who Jesus was, so they called him a ghost. That's how distorted and disillusioning fear is. It literally makes you confused and you don't... it's so crazy. But Jesus spoke to them at once. Don't be afraid, He said, take courage, I am here. Then Peter called to Him, Lord, if it's really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water. And I just want to say that this moment of Peter

saying this is not him testing Jesus. Peter was actually the one person on the boat who reacted in faith. So this isn't a moment of him doubting God. This is actually him having faith in Jesus. And then Jesus says, yes, come. So Peter went over to the other side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. We have to read this for what it really is. This is a supernatural miracle that's happening. You obviously can't walk on water. Nobody can walk on water. You step on water, your foot goes down,

you sink if you're in the middle of the ocean. Jesus gave Peter the ability to walk on water. So Peter went over to the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. over to the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and waves, he was terrified and began to sink. Save me, Lord, he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. You have so little faith, Jesus said. Why did you doubt me?

When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. The disciples worshiped Him. You really are the Son of God, they exclaimed. Duh. I love this moment so much because obviously we see Peter steps off of the boat onto the water defying any natural laws of physics. He steps on the water and he doesn't sink. As long as he keeps his eyes fixed on Jesus, he walks in the supernatural. Every time that we take our gaze off of Jesus

onto something else, we immediately begin to sink. He's literally able to walk on water because his eyes are fixed on Jesus, because he hears Jesus call him and he steps out in faith. But the second that he starts to look around and he sees the wind and the storms and everything happening around him, he gets distracted. The moment he gets distracted, he sinks. This is not just metaphorical. This is truth. This is what happens when we take our eyes off of Jesus. And I know how much easier said it is than done to focus on Jesus when you have waves crashing around you and all of this stuff happening.

But it's crucial. It's so crucial. Yeah. I mean, I don't know, just reading the story right now, it just goes to show you like, yes, did he lack faith? Yes. It just goes to show you how much of a human being Peter was. How, just like us, can you imagine we get on this black murky water? I imagine stepping out on water and I'm getting told to walk. Of course we're going to be afraid. And of course He knows, and I love when Jesus says, don't be afraid, take courage, I am here.

So even in Peter's doubt, he still is looking at us, say, have courage, I'm right here. I know that we get distracted so much and we have these doubts, but this story is a perfect illustration of, He knows. He knows we have weaknesses, He knows we have doubts. He knows we're living in the world where we get distracted. And then I love... Can I say something about what you just said? Yeah. About how He steps at... I love that too about Peter. He's so human.

Like, He tries to stay... Like, we do this all the time. He tries to take a step out in faith. Yeah. So, He does the right thing. Yeah. And then his faith is not strong enough. And then he falters and he falls. But even in, Jesus literally always gives an opportunity for redemption. He messed up. He did. He looked away. He doubted. He got anxious. Not that getting anxious is you messing up, but you know what I mean. But then Jesus, the second he cries out to Jesus, redemption is there. Jesus redeems the situation, you know? I read this story and I see myself so much in this story. This has been my journey the past two years of like stepping out, wanting courage, but

I'm so scared and I'm like, wait, wait, I don't know. Like, especially when you're new in your faith and you have to trust something you've never known about or walked through. It's scary, you know? And I just love, I love when Peter says, he was terrified and he began to sink. And he says, save me. He shouted, save me Lord.

I love that so much because it's like that, that vulnerability and that honesty. And that is what I've learned. And when you were talking about anxiety, I got this picture of myself when I was in a moment where I couldn't think straight and I'm sweating and I'm like having a panic attack. And I just like, I cry out, help me Jesus, I need help.

Sometimes it's like, save me, I need help. I'm looking the other way, I'm distracted. I don't know which way to go. I'm in bondage, I feel like I'm in shackles right now. I can't get over this person. I can't let go. I can in bondage. I feel like I'm in shackles right now. I can't get over this person. I can't let go. I can't stop thinking about it. My mind's tormented." And so it's like, you just, you can relate to that, right? When he says, save me Lord, help me. And Jesus in his grace just reaches out and grabs him through his doubt, through his just unknowingness. And it just shows the power of Jesus.

And I love this story so much. Yeah. Wow, wow, wow. There's something so that it's like, what is it? Hebrews 12.2 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. And this means intentionally removing anything that shifts our focus off of Jesus onto anything else

And I love what you just brought up. I was gonna talk about this a little later but I love what you just brought up about how like Bringing being honest like being so honest This is something that I've learned because every single one of us we're gonna I saw someone comment the other day and say what? Is the secret place we're gonna talk about the secret place a lot because everything is found in the secret place. Your life, your intimacy, your relationship with Jesus is found, established, and cultivated in the secret place.

Church is, it's unbiblical to not go to church. Like you have to go to church, but church is not your secret place. Your house church isn't the secret place. You fellowship with other believers is incredibly important, and I know my life in just the past six months of actually cultivating like real godly community has changed me and my relationship with Jesus. I know Jesus better because of the people in my life, but the secret place is you and

Jesus. And the secret place, Jesus describes it that you go in your room, you the secret place is you and Jesus. And the secret place, Jesus describes it, that you go in your room, you shut the door, you basically cut out the rest of the world, and you speak to your Father in heaven, you speak to Him in private, and then He rewards you in public. And so everything that we do,

we're gonna talk about the secret place a lot, and like the secret place is where you sit, and you pray, and you you abide and you dwell in the presence of God, where you sit and you just talk to Jesus when nobody else is around. And you can literally get to a point in your spiritual life where you feel like Jesus just walked in the room. Like that's what Ari and I believe in. We believe in the glory of God, the manifest presence of God that God is not, Jesus is

not just some person that's far away in heaven. He is in heaven, but he also literally died so that he could come live on earth, live in us, not even around us, in us and be with us. That's what the secret place is. And so when we're in the secret place, distractions come up so much. My phone, I'm going to throw it off of a bridge. It is so like, someone's gonna clip this and whatever,

but like there is something so beautiful because people wouldn't be able to watch us if they didn't have the phone. But there's something so dark about the attachment that we have to our phone, so much so that if my phone is in my room, when I'm spending time with Jesus, I am aware of where my phone is. Like I literally have to put it in a different room, otherwise I want it. I want to be on

it. I have people to talk to, I have things to do. It's like so insane. But something that I think is so important is to when you're in the secret place and you're spending time with Jesus, sometimes I can find myself like trying to stuff down the things that are happening. I want to stuff down the anxiety. I want to stuff down and I'm just going to worship it away, which like sure might work sometimes, but sometimes it's like you're, you're swimming upstream. Like you're fighting, you're fighting a battle that you're going to lose instead of just being honest and being like Jesus. this is what I'm feeling right now. I'm anxious, I'm distracted, I have an idol. It's not just that like Satan is attacking me, I actually want to be doing something

else. You know what I mean? I'm being really honest. And I think about that moment with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have that moment where Jesus is praying to God, He's praying to the Father, and He prays that really beautiful prayer where He says, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. And we know He ends with, nevertheless not my will be done, but yours.

But there's this moment of honesty. And so I'm like, yes, Jesus defeated sin on the cross, but I almost wonder, I just feel like He also defeated sin and temptation literally in that garden, because there was something, there was like a strength to get to the cross that was birth in His surrender and honesty with the Father. And that carried Him through. Like, there's just something so strong, so significant about being honest, because once you lay it out on the table,

it loses its power. And this is convicting for me, because I can sit there and pretend like, no, this isn't happening, I don't actually, I love you, Jesus, but it's like, that's not helpful, you know? And God's not expecting that of you. I know, and I think it comes a lot

with understanding the love of God, right? And I think that's been a process for the both of us. Because we both have felt like he's looking down at us being like, you know. It's striving. Just think, just feeling like he's gonna, I don't know. I've just, I'm just like, he's gonna condemn me. Like he hates me.

Like I've had these intrusive thoughts of like, oh gosh. And it really does make you hide away when you do something that's not right. You do. Yeah, so it's just been this journey of understanding His grace, His mercy, His love. And once you really understand the love of God, which we are still trying to understand We would not be hiding. We would not be panicking. We would literally live stress free stress free Stress free life. Yeah, but

He's really not mad at us I know we need to remember I had a moment in the my quiet time the other day where I go You're not mad at me. I. Why do I act like this? Why do I act like you're like, it's just like, if we could only truly understand how he sees us and how he looks at us. You really do start to cultivate that in the secret place. When you're sitting there and you can't go to anyone

and tell them your deepest, darkest secrets, and then you sit there. And lately what I've been doing is I will not leave till I'm completely honest. And so I'll start to talk and I'll be like, okay, all right, okay, listen. And I- Listen, I can't even imagine how you talk to him.

Can you imagine me in my secret place? It is truly the funniest thing ever. It's really so cute. I'm like, listen, like, but I really. You're like, seriously. Seriously. But I always say this, but he is dad. Yeah.

So that's how we should go to him, a dad that just holds you and doesn't leave. Like, I'm really understanding through all of my abandonment issues and all of my losses that I have had this past two years, Jesus stays. He doesn't leave. And so to have a dad that doesn't leave, that simply holds that, I've messed up so many times and he still loves me, wow. So I can tell him anything. So when we understand that, we are able to just sit there and be like,

okay, you love me, you simply hold me, you're never gonna leave me. So I can open my heart and tell you anything. And that's truly when he gets to work, when we're so open with him. But we have to really see him as dad. And I think so many people live in this like religious thing and that's why they run because we've made life

with Jesus so religious and that is, that's hell. Like how can we have a relationship when we're reciting prayers over and over again, when we're just, I know it's relationship. Tell him your deepest, darkest secrets. Sit there and just talk to him and cry out to him and tell him, I need help. It's insane what he does through that. It's so special.

It's so special. And it really is so simple. Today's episode is sponsored by strawberry.me. You guys, have you ever worked hard to get where you are but then you're like, well what's next? Are you aiming for that big promotion? Are you searching for a job that you truly love? Or are you just feeling stuck and unsure of your next move because I know that I've been there. At Strawberry.me Career Coaching, they help professionals like me, like you, take the next step with confidence. They match you with a certified career coach

who gets your challenges and goals. And this isn't just generic advice. It's personalized, results-driven coaching experiences that uncover your hidden strengths. It gives you the strategies to stand out and move up faster, and most importantly, it keeps you accountable so you follow through and you actually make real progress.

Because knowing what to do is one thing, but having a coach to push you, guide you, and keep you on track, well that's how real career growth happens. Your next opportunity is out there. Let's make sure that you're ready for it. Get started today at strawberry.me slash ggb and claim your $50 credit.

That's strawberry.me slash ggb because your career success should not wait. Have you guys noticed the explosion of products in the supplement industry? With so many companies making big bold claims on TikTok and Instagram, but keeping their proprietary formula secret, leaving you to wonder what's real and what's just snake oil.

Well, that's why clean supplement company Ritual has pledged to complete clinical trials on all of its products by 2030, with trials already done for best-selling products like their Essential for Women's 18 Plus Multivitamin and Skin Hydration Supplement. And I chose Ritual for their Essential for Women Multivitamin,

but their daily protein has now actually become a staple in my routine and you guys know how I feel about my protein. Ritual conducted a university-led clinical trial for their essential for women multivitamin to assess its efficacy. The results? Well it increased vitamin D levels by 43% and omega-3 DHA levels by 41% in just 12 weeks. They're essential for women's. 18 plus multivitamin contains nine key nutrients in two delayed release capsules designed for optimal absorption per day. Designed to be gentle on the stomach with a minty essence in every bottle that helps make taking your multis actually enjoyable. Essential for women is third-party

tested for heavy metals and clean label project certified so you know you can trust what you're putting in your body. Ritual vitamins are vegan, non-GMO, gluten and major allergen free and made traceable. No more shady business you guys. Ritual Essential for Women's 18 and over is a multivitamin that you can actually trust. Get 25% off your first month only at ritual.com slash ggb. Start ritual or add essential for women 18 and over to your subscription today. That's ritual.com slash ggb for 25% off. The Chosen is a groundbreaking historical drama based on the life of

Jesus played by Jonathan Rumi, seen through the eyes of those who knew him. Set against the backdrop of Roman oppression in the first century Israel, the seven season series shares an authentic and intimate look at Jesus's revolutionary life and teachings. With over 250 million viewers, The Chosen is one of the most watched shows in the entire world. The series is consistently a top performer across streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Peacock, and Netflix, plus a top-rated broadcast weekly on the CW. What started as a crowdfunded project has now garnered over 800 million episode views and more than 17 million social media followers.

The Chosen is an independent production written, directed, and executive produced by Dallas Jenkins and distributed globally by Lionsgate. And you guys know that The Chosen has such a special place in both Ari and I's hearts because when we first became friends before Ari started reading the Bible I showed her The Chosen to really give her a look into the life of Jesus and teach her about all of the people that we'd be reading about in the Bible. The Chosen is back for Holy Week, the most pivotal week in human history. Tables are turned, friends are betrayed, and powerful leaders plot the death of Jesus. The Chosen Last Supper is the must-see event of the

Easter season. It's in theaters March 28th in the US and April 10th worldwide. And to give you a little season 5 synopsis, the people of Israel welcomed Jesus as king while his disciples anticipate his crowning. But instead of confronting Rome, he turns the tables on the Jewish religious festival. Their powers threatened, the country's religious and political leaders will go to any length to ensure that this Passover meal is Jesus' last. And you can get your tickets to the Chosen Last Supper at thechosenlastsupper.com. Distraction comes from so many things. So it could be like Satan coming in

and attacking you in your quiet time, getting you to focus on things that don't actually matter, focus on the worries in your life, which like your worries are valid. Everything you go through is valid. Everything that you have fear about, everything that is weighing on you, like it's completely valid.

But something that I pray quite often, and I would encourage everyone to pray it, is I always go, Jesus, let me feel what I'm supposed to feel, and I rebuke anything that's being exaggerated in Jesus' name. Because literally the devil is such an exaggerator. Things are real. Sure, I went through something with someone, and it did suck, and it did did hurt and it did happen. Is it as big as I think it is? Do they really think that? Did they actually mean that when they said that? You know what I mean? So that's a way that he distracts us. He loves turning us against each other. He loves making you hear

something that the other person didn't actually say. He loves making you conjure up all these narratives that aren't actually happening. This person thinks this about me and they probably so I'm just going to be, you know, like that's, he loves distracting us within relationships. That's why the Bible says go to the person and talk to them. Go to the person and talk to them. Talk it out. Can you say that? Yeah. When you have a problem with someone, you go to them and talk to them. Do not keep things and do not have the pride. It's just you live in hell like that. So you make sure you go to that person and talk to them right away. 100%. And I think one other way, and we'll read this, the rich young ruler. Why is that

funny? Did we have a joke about the rich young ruler? Yeah, we didn't know what that was. Oh, OK. Yeah, and then another way that he distracts us is with all of this, with all of this stuff, with things in the world, with money and career. And you know what I mean, external stuff. He can distract us internally.

He plants seeds. He gets us to turn inwards. He gets us to think about things that don't really matter about ourselves. For example, for me, one thing that he's used to distract me my entire life is body image, is food struggles. Like, oh, you have no idea, two years ago,

I finally opened my eyes and wake up to the fact that this freaking guy has been distracting me so hard, making me focus on my body. And did I just eat too much? And oh my gosh, what am I going to eat at dinner later when we all go together? Oh my gosh, am I going to have a bite of that cake? I can't tell you the mental warfare that I've gone through over my body and food issues that have, I can't imagine how many things of God it's distracted me from. Like with women, that's what he... He loves... He loves to attack the body, the looks.

The looks, everything. He's been attacking us since we were little. He's been attacking us since Adam and Eve. He's been attacking us. I wrote this down, and then we'll go to the Rich Young R ruler, but we know with Adam and Eve, from the very first time that we sin, from the very beginning, from the fall, Satan tempts us in three ways. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. The lust of the eyes, what looks good, what's appealing. The lust of the flesh, what feels good, what tastes good, what can bring us pleasure physically.

And then the pride of life, anything that feeds our pride, anything that feeds our ego, anything that gives us wisdom and status and blah, blah, blah, all this stuff. And for Eve, the apple. We all know about Eve biting into the apple that caused enmity between us and God for the rest of history until Jesus came. For Eve, the apple looked good, it tasted good, and it was gonna make her wise. And so when you're looking, when you're going through life and you have all these distractions coming at you, I can guarantee that every single one of

them you can get down to the root of it and it's one of these three things. Yeah. Can I tell you something that I'm walking through right now? Yeah. Well, like I've been walking through, lately what I have been walking through is comparison. And I think that's one of the ways the enemy really tries to distract you. And I'm really getting a hold of it. And yeah, like, and he does that a lot. And so constantly, like I'm in this

place where I'm so settled and I'm doing something so great but he I hear the whispers I catch them now I hear the whispers in my ear of being like look at all your friends they're out there all and they're all gonna get married you're gonna be alone like what are you? Is there something wrong with you? Maybe he'll never come. Or maybe, like, it is the state of comparison of looking at everyone else and being like, oh my gosh, this is happening for them.

And that, even in social media, we see that so much. I'm sure you guys go through that too, where you're comparing yourself constantly. And it's like, it's a constant uphill battle of not having enough, not having enough. And so I've been really catching that lately of that comparison because I'm in this beautiful place, I'm with my friends, it's a beautiful day out

and then I hear those voices of being like, but look at your friends and look at you, you're alone. You know what I mean? And so it's been, it's stolen from my joy and my happiness. So it makes me feel so stuck and it distracts me away from the present moment of having all of these beautiful things, my health, my family, my friends, Girls Gone Bible, it is like, it has stolen my joy and distracted me so much.

So that's something that I have been really walking through lately, you know? I'm so happy that you said that, because it's the number one way. We always say it's the number one, whatever. It's a massive way that he distracts us by getting us to compare ourselves. Yeah. You know, it's so funny about you saying that about comparison. Mm-hmm. I was reading my journal from last year, and I get to this part where I'm like,

praying about you consistently for like, quite a long time, for probably a couple months. When we first started the podcast, I had like, and we'll have a whole episode on comparison one day, but like, I have, I had never, and we'll have a whole episode on comparison one day, but like I have, I had never dealt with comparison to this level and I literally like would journal Jesus, help me to stop comparing myself to Ari. Like I literally was fighting comparison so hard. I would literally write like, she's so beautiful. She's so funny. I am suffering because I can't get the thoughts out of my head. Like, this is

my best friend. I don't want to compare. It is like comparison is the weirdest, hardest thing to go through because it makes you feel like a bad person when it's not your thoughts. Like you don't actually feel this way. It's like, and I just, I remember looking back on that time because like you are literally the most beautiful girl in the world. When she told me this, by the way, I actually laughed at her and I didn't believe her. I was like, yeah, I don't, I don't, that didn't,

I really did, I was like, okay, and. It's so intrusive and so like, and I remember what a distraction that was when we first, and I have like, I have prayed my heart out for a long time. So you know what I mean? I've really had massive breakthrough. You know this, we've talked about this stuff so many times, but like, and so there is hope in this area.

Like you can with prayer, you get to a beautiful place of security within yourself and like, you can kill comparison with the help of Jesus. But it's the biggest distraction, especially as women looking at. Oh, I'm so happy you brought that up. Yeah. We'll do a whole episode on comparison. I really want to. We have so much to talk about. Is his name Rich Young Ruler? Because I didn't see that in our version.

So is that another version? Rich Young Ruler. Rich Young Ruler. Mark who? Maki Mak. Maki Mak.ocky and the Funky Bunch. Mocky and the Funky Bunch, where? The Funky Bunch crew. Oh, can you guys, by the way, give us guests that you wanna see on the podcast? Oh, that's a great idea, yes.

Right? Like, who do you guys wanna see? Mocky Mock, that's who we want. Mark Wahlberg and? Everybody in Boston says that that's their cousin or they're related to him, because they wanna be cool. When I went to Boston.

I literally asked every single person. Do you know Mark Walberg? You related to Maki Mac. I look for him everywhere. Oh, oh, right here. Oh, how am I here? Okay. It's Mark 10 Mark 10 verse 17, the rich man. 10 verse 17, the rich man. As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down and asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good? Jesus asked. Only God is truly good. But to answer your question, you know the commandments.

You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother. Teacher, the man replied, I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young. Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. There is still one thing you haven't done, he told him. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.' At this the man's face fell and he went away sad for he had many possessions.' Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? This amazed them, but Jesus said again, dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God.

In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. I just love this story so much because wealth has been, I love this because wealth has been one of the biggest distractions in our society. It is just, I mean, what I love about this story is this guy was wealthy and he comes to Jesus because clearly there was something missing. And he's like, what can I do to inherit internal life? And then at the end when he says, after he told him that he must give away his possessions,

the man's face fell and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. And how many of us do that? The man walked away because he knew there was something missing, but he still couldn't forfeit his possessions. So now he knew he had to live his life with a hole in his heart because the only thing that can ever fill you in this life is Jesus. You can have all the money, you can

get to the top, that's why you see it and so many successful people and even celebrities. The Bible says Satan comes masquerading as an angel of light, so it's not always destructive. He'll come and present this beautiful life to you and he'll say, oh, here's all the possessions and I'll give you this. You see it all the time with celebrities and successful people, but then they get to the top

and they end up falling and crashing because they will never be filled. You will get to the top, you will have all the money, you will have all the riches, you will have all the houses and all these things, but you can't take that with you because the only thing that can fill you is Jesus. We see it all the time. We see it. We see people have everything, and they are the most empty people. And so I just, I see it all the time. Everybody is so focused on making it

and having this money and making it to the top, but they're so empty. There's something missing, and they don't understand what it is. It's because you've made an idol out of money and you cannot focus on Jesus. If Jesus isn't the first thing you're thinking about, you've missed it. You've missed it. Arth, that's so good. You know what I love about you so much? You preach one message,

really, and it's fulfillment in Jesus. You always bring it back to that. And it's so simple. And Jesus is like, well, that's all I need. Like, that's what I need. People overcomplicate it so much. And what Ari just said is the absolute truth. Like, you cannot put anything above Jesus. I love with the rich young ruler or the rich young man. I'm not sure. But he talks about how he's like, I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young. He's never broken any of the laws. And he probably even kept the Pharisees like additional agreements. Like he literally did everything so right.

And then Jesus lovingly challenges him and tells him, yeah, you did everything right, but you can't even obey my first commandment. That is to love God above everything else. So he's saying, sure, you've done everything right, but the most important thing, you can't do it because you're holding on to everything. You've made an idol out of them. And so it's like people walk around and this is not to put anybody down, this is to call them higher, but people are walking around saying that they do everything right for Jesus,

but they don't follow the number one thing, and that's to love God more than money. That's to love God more than riches and career and wealth and all of the things. It is the most important thing. You can't call yourself a Christian if you don't obey the first commandment. You know what I mean?

And it's okay to want, to have a good life. It's okay to work hard. No one is saying that it's not okay. We love working hard. We love to have a good life. It's okay to work hard. No one is saying that it's not okay. We love working hard. We love to have purpose. But when it is the first thing you think about, you've made an idol out of it. Whatever person, place, or thing

that you have made priority over Jesus, you have made an idol over. I have had so many of them. I was watching Stephanie E.K., our pastor, the other day, and it was about exposing deception. She said something that hit me so hard. She said, if something is tormenting your mind and you can't stop thinking about it, there's something wrong. You have to understand that's not from God. She said, if you are going on burner accounts, I told you this, if you're going on burner accounts and stalking someone and you can't stop thinking about them and you're obsessing them and you're going from person to person, you have to understand that is not normal and that is not

from God and you have to break that. And I feel like so many of us are so, our mind is so consumed. We've made idols out of people. we've made idols out of relationships, and we stalk all day, and we're on the internet all day, and we can't even function, and we can't even focus on Jesus, because that's one of the biggest distractions, is a partner, is a person, is your heartbreak. And I know it hurts, and I know it's such a process, and I know it's just so tough when everything is put

in your face with social media, and you're going through a really tough when everything is put in your face with social media and you're going through a really tough breakup and you can't help but look every two seconds but it's hindering you and it's keeping you and he wants to set you free from that and I don't know who I'm talking to right now but he's like if you would just stop if you would just put the effort in if you would just I took that away from you for a reason. Stop obsessing, stop stalking. Come to me, talk to me about it, ask me to help you through this.

Ask me to break these change of bondage that you're in from the obsessive thoughts and just looking constantly and the mental torment that you're going through. I will set you free, but you have to come and do that with me and you have to put some effort into it. Yes, you have to come into agreement with it. I'm so happy you said that I was I wanted to talk about this a little bit. One of the major distractions that the devil himself will send to you is an obsession with wanting your old life. So many people and I've been one of those people, I know so many of us can be

so caught up and consumed by the past. A person in the past, a career in the past. You thought you were in your prime back then. You thought that life was better back then. So many of us can be so consumed by the past and wanting to go back. And it is just the biggest distraction. I know what Jesus wants. And he says, behold, I have, I don't know exactly how the scripture goes, but it's like, behold, a new thing has sprung up. The new has come, the old has gone. Don't you see that I'm doing a new thing?

I'm doing a new thing. New, new, new. Like I just, I know he speaks a message of new and we press on and we move forward and we press forward like it's always Going forward God does not ask us to go back. I just know that he doesn't ask us to go back And I think about this moment in Luke 962 basically Jesus is telling his disciples or his followers like you guys have to come in follow me wholeheartedly And people are agreeing but they're saying okay, we just have to go take care of some

things back there. We have to go take care of our family. We have to go, you know, do all these things in the past. And Jesus says to them, anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God. If you're trying to have a relationship with Jesus, do things for the kingdom of God, move forward, but you're looking back, He is so clear, you are not fit. And that's not to put you down. You could become fit right now in this very moment. But if you're choosing to look back, you're not fit for the kingdom because it is a forward, moving,

ever-growing, ever-prospering kingdom of life. Life is not back there. And then I just, I think about Lot's wife, they're fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. And I know a lot of us know this story. They're fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife is, she's running and God gives her one explicit command. He says, do not look back. What does she do? She looks back and she becomes a pillar of salt.

I know that can sound really funny to people. It might not make any sense. But listen to the point. Lot's wife lost her life because she looked back. She lost her life. We can actually lose our life because we keep looking back. We could lose the life that God is offering us because we keep looking back. Whoever's listening to this right now who's stuck in the past, this is your invitation

to move forward in Jesus' name. And I can't even tell you how many times I thought that God was going to put me in, turn me into a pillar or something. Because I would say all the time to Angie, up here we go, lots of white, here I am. It is one of the most difficult things. It's so difficult. And I give, and Jesus gives you grace, and I give you grace.

Going through a heartbreak, having to move on, being forced to have to move on, but not look back and not wonder, but have to keep plowing through is one of the most difficult things. It's so hard. And I don't wish it on my worst enemy, the people that have to plowing through is one of the most difficult things. It's so hard. And I don't wish it on my worst enemy, the people that have to plow through and keep grieving

and keep moving forward, it's really hard. It is. And yeah, give yourself grace, but I'll tell you who you'll be when you keep moving forward and you stop looking back and going back to the mud. In my journey, I realized that he just, what he takes away, he doesn't make any mistakes. It is for his greater good,

because his ways are better than our ways. So I love that. That is so good. That's so good. And you're so right that grief is real. Grief is normal. But you grieve moving forward. You have to grieve moving forward. No, I just wanted to say that during my journey before I found Jesus, this just came to my mind. I was, I actually told you guys how I bought a lucky rock. I was like reading manifesting books.

Can I manifest how to get out of this? Or I have a good life. I was, I called psychics. I went to mediums. We closed them doors, don't you guys worry? You said to me one time, did you remember that? I said, did you close those doors? I would go to mediums in my moments of weakness when I was feeling such deep grief about my

stepdad that I lost. I was doing it all because that is one of the biggest distractions of the anime. Yeah, why don't you, you know, anything to get you away from Jesus and look, here's healing. Look, here's joy. Look, here's joy. Yeah, go to this. Go to this. And I see it in so many people. They find comfort in angel numbers.

They find comfort in crystals and sage and all of these things. They even praise the universe and they do the horoscopes and the stars and the moon and the sun. And it is the biggest scheme, it is the biggest way to get you distracted. It's crazy. It is, please, anything you are worshipping other than Jesus Christ, you have handed yourself

over to the enemy. You are in a web of deception. We're just going to replay that one more time so people hear it again because it's so important. Thank you so much for saying that. Talk about distraction. Talk about distraction. The biggest distraction. Getting us to look to anything else

for things that are good. Like we've talked about this before, but the way really is so narrow. Like scripture says that narrow is the way few will find it. And what I've noticed, and through my relationship with Jesus, is that the way gets significantly more and progressively more narrow as time goes on. There are things

that I used to tolerate six months ago that I don't tolerate now. There are things I would have watched six months ago that I won't watch now. I literally two days ago deleted all of the music off of my phone and I decided like I'm going full on, no secular music, not even at the gym, which was my... Not even Bad Bunny? Not even Bad Bunny. She loves Spanish music. Well, I love Spanish music because it's secular music, but I don't know what they're saying. So that's how I've justified it of being like, I'm listening to Pepas and like, I'm like dancing.

I don't know what God knows what they're saying, like bless them, but I don't know what they're saying. And so I literally decided like I'm done with everything. Just country? No country, I'm like, I will, I'll listen to- Whoa, we're going into real narrow waters. We're going into, I'm done. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not giving up. I am not giving up my country music.

I don't think country music's bad. I'm just, for me, I'm just like, I'm like good. I wanna go, not that I'll never listen to it, but like I won't go, like it's just like always the gym where I justify listening to music. Like I'm just good. I just know where God wants to take me and like it's getting more narrow.

But like it's things that aren't evil, they're not bad, but you just like progress in your relationship and you realize that even things that aren't inherently evil or bad, it's just, they can't come with me. You know what I mean? So it's not like things are necessarily bad, but things can be so distracting.

And like, that's what I've noticed. I know that music can be really distracting for me. It could be really, I can get lost in it. I can get lost in the feeling that it gives me. And like, I just... Removing distractions is a form of purification. Like that's what it is. And I'm not talking about music, I'm talking about distractions in general.

Anything in your life that hinders your relationship with Jesus because reducing our life to the most simplest form of intimacy with Jesus is what we need to do. It needs to become simple. Our time with Jesus needs to become simple. Our time with Jesus needs to become simple. Everything about our life with Jesus just needs to be... It's like this reduction that needs to happen. And I think about water. When water is being purified, the way that you purify water is by removing everything but the water. And so water in its purest form is water

that has no external material in it. It's that reduction. You know what I mean? It's about removing and reducing and simplifying. So the more simple we are, the more pure we are, the more simple our relationship with Jesus, the more pure our relationship is with Jesus. And so I'm like consistently just moving into this place of being like,

oh, this has to go, this has to go. And I know that sounds really extreme, but it's the call of God. It is the call of God. You want to hear God's voice, you want to know the things of God, you want God to trust you with the mysteries of heaven. Like that's what he offers us, but like we have to prove that we're trusted. So you have to go all in, and then you go even more in, and then you go even deeper, because you never get to a point in your spiritual life where Jesus has given you enough. He always has more. You can always go deeper. And I know for me, I will never stop trying to go deeper, because it's life. It's life. And then I just wanted to say one more thing.

because it's life. It's life. And then I just wanted to say one more thing. Technology, TV, the phones. John Piper wrote this. He said one of... John Piper. He said, one of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the last day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time. Would you like me to read that again? One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook, so he's talking about social media, Twitter, Facebook, the best, the great use of it will be to prove at the last day, so when Jesus comes back, Twitter and Facebook will prove that prayerlessness, our lack of prayer, our saying that we don't have time

to pray will not be from a lack of time. Social media will prove that it was literally, we had way more time than we thought, but we were so distracted by social media. I am speaking to myself. I delete Instagram off my phone for a month. I'm good for a month. I download it back.

I go right back where I was. This is my greatest battle. It is my greatest struggle of like Do you know how thankful I am that I grew up didn't have phones? Yeah, I was actually playing outside where you do. Yeah, of course I'm like I can't imagine how kids I can't imagine being in this generation as a kid with my phone The iPad, I know. Do you know that I went to Italy when I was in Italy no one was on phones. Everybody was just interacting with each other as families. It was the most beautiful thing. They

actually ate together. They didn't have everyone. It's crazy. And like there are obvious things that you shouldn't watch but then you get progressively deeper and you're like oh even this has to go. You know and that's not legalistic. It's not religious. It's not too much. It's not this. It's like, God is worth it. Jesus is worth it. And He has more to offer us than what the world has to offer us.

And sure, we might become weird Christians, but I would love to be a weird Christian. I would love to be someone who's weird and following Jesus. And you know what I mean? Destructions will come and they will try to take you away from the secret place. They'll try to get you to do anything except spend time with Jesus. But you have to spend time with Jesus. You have to spend quality time with Jesus like He's your friend, like you would spend

quality time with a friend. That's how you have to spend time with Jesus. You have to get in the secret place and you have to wait long enough Because the distractions do fade away, maybe not every time but from my experience I could go in being so distracted so anxious so consumed with so many things pulling at me but if I just wait if I just linger they do start to fade away and One thing that I would encourage you guys

is don't leave until you're satisfied. Don't leave until you're satisfied. Don't stop reading until you're full. Don't stop seeking Jesus' face until you find it, until you see it. Like everything, Jesus is our bread. The Word is our daily bread, and we must read, we must feast on the bread until we're full because if we're not full then we're spiritually starved. If we're spiritually starved, we're dead. Yeah, and to just add on to that, don't start your day without being in the sacred place. If you're someone who's like, but I'll do it later after work, you're literally robbing yourself. And then one more thing I'll say is, one thing I've been doing lately before bed,

because I used to go on TikTok before bed, and it would help me go to sleep. And the Psalms are just my favorite. It brings me comfort. It heals my heart. It just, I love the Psalms. It brings me so much comfort. Start with Psalms before you go to bed.

That's such a good idea. Yeah, soak in the Psalms. Start reading them before bed. Force yourself, even if your mind is telling you not to, start reading the Psalms before bed. Search for Jesus in the Psalms until you find it. That's what I heard a pastor say. Oh yes, I've heard that too.

I think that was Michael Kouliatos. I think it was Michael Kouliatos. Yeah, please. It's gonna change the course of your sleep, your dreams, everything. When we're sitting there distracted on social media, we can't even hear from Jesus properly. You're numbing out. Yeah.

You're numbing out. I think of that. And just to go off what Ari was saying, you give God the first fruits of your day. Like, we're supposed to give him the first fruits, the first 10%, the first of our finances. It literally translates into our devotion and our relationship with Him, that you give Him the first fruits of your day as much time as you can. But I'm telling you, you are able to give Him more time than

you think. In Matthew 26, Jesus is talking to His disciples and He tells them, I need you guys to stay awake and I need you to pray. He gives them a very simple command. He asks his friends to stay awake with him and to pray. And every time that he goes to see them, he finds them asleep and he goes, could you not pray with me? Could you not wait with me for one hour? They couldn't give him one hour of their time. He just he asked them for an hour.

They couldn't give him an hour. So we encourage you guys to give Jesus an hour. You can find it. We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He turn His face towards you and give you peace. Shalom, shalom.