Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. Today we will be going over Proverb 2. I will then introduce you to my special guest for the day, Gabriel Breaux. Gabriel is a first year Charis Bible College student. He was born in Louisiana and was raised Catholic. He comes from a large family. He came to the realization of who Jesus was a few years ago and his life changed dramatically.
[00:00:00] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast
[00:00:12] we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:22] So open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today.
[00:00:28] Lord, I pray that you give them ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you
[00:00:33] have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. This is Proverbs 2 beginning
[00:00:41] in verse 1. My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that
[00:00:49] you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yes, if you cry
[00:00:56] out for discernment and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver
[00:01:04] and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord
[00:01:11] and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge
[00:01:19] and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who
[00:01:27] walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints. Then
[00:01:35] you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters
[00:01:43] your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you. Understanding
[00:01:51] will keep you to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things,
[00:02:00] from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice
[00:02:07] in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and who
[00:02:14] are devious in their paths to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who
[00:02:21] flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant
[00:02:29] of her God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the dead, none who go to
[00:02:38] her return nor do they regain the paths of life. So you may walk in the way of goodness
[00:02:47] and keep to the paths of righteousness, for the upright will dwell in the land and the
[00:02:54] blameless will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, and the unfaithful
[00:03:02] will be uprooted from it. Friends today I have a special treat for you
[00:03:07] today. I have a first year, Karris Bible College student Gabriel Bro.
[00:03:14] Gabriel I'd like to thank you for coming on. I really appreciate you taking the time.
[00:03:19] Absolutely. It's my pleasure sir.
[00:03:21] All right Gabriel, we just finished reading Proverbs 2 and I understand there's a verse
[00:03:27] that you'd like to share. Please tell us a verse and share with the audience what that
[00:03:32] speaks to you. Yes sir so my verse is verse number 6 for the Lord gives wisdom from his
[00:03:38] mousecombe knowledge and understanding. To me this is just the accumulation of the pursuit
[00:03:43] of truth. It really reflects my journey and my pursuit of the Lord and understanding
[00:03:51] what he has done for me in growth and just laying down a great foundation for me to build
[00:03:56] up on. I just know that in doing this and pursuing both knowledge and understanding
[00:04:03] and applying those things eventually you will come into wisdom and understand the Lord
[00:04:08] completely and fully as much as we can I guess in this world.
[00:04:12] Yes I just really reflects upon my life and my journey.
[00:04:15] Boy that's really good and that's what this podcast is all about and I often talk about
[00:04:20] knowledge leading to understanding and eventually once you apply that understanding that is
[00:04:28] when wisdom is just going to accumulate so Gabriel you bring up a good point and Gabriel
[00:04:34] what I'd like to do is I know a number of people listening today do not know who you
[00:04:39] are if you would just share a little bit about your upbringing and your fondest memories.
[00:04:45] Yes sir so I'm from Lafayette Louisiana down south moved up here about seven months ago
[00:04:52] with my wife Marlene and I grew up in a large family all together we had eight of us in
[00:04:58] a household a small home my brothers and my sister we all lived in one room in a bunk bed
[00:05:04] so we're all very very close close to the family I was raised in a Catholicism so
[00:05:11] Catholic Church we were homeschooled as well and so that really gave me a better understanding
[00:05:17] about family and how we had to truly rely on one another but yeah so growing up through
[00:05:23] church and everything I've understood eventually once I left high school that you know the foundation
[00:05:32] that was laid for me through Catholicism and you know the upbringing of my parents and such
[00:05:36] wasn't a it wasn't a very good foundation because as soon as I left high school I ended up
[00:05:43] going more towards I would say a decent mindset I guess like no so it could be a better term
[00:05:48] and because I didn't have nothing to fall back on I didn't know what truth was and so
[00:05:54] from that point on I just studied all kinds of things and you know I came to more of a new
[00:06:01] age belief system at one point and I just thought there was truth within it and really and honestly
[00:06:08] there are there's like a three white it's like a quarter percent of it is truth you know so it
[00:06:15] kind of enthralled you in and it makes you go down this particular path where you think you
[00:06:20] know what you think you found it and but there's always a twisting of that truth and so eventually
[00:06:27] once I you know as many years down the road I ended up coming to a point in my life where I on a
[00:06:36] good instinct end up coming to Colorado strangely in the alphabet eight years ago to pursue
[00:06:42] an art degree at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and through that I loved it I mean I
[00:06:49] went there for photogeraldism and such but I was quite broke at that time you know being a college
[00:06:55] and so I ended up having to come back home based because I just wasn't prepared I didn't have
[00:07:03] anything to go off of except my own intuition my own good instincts and so because of that
[00:07:09] I ended up coming back home my friend ended up coming scoop me up bring back to you know
[00:07:15] down south Louisiana and I was going to stay in my friend's south for the time being but I realized that
[00:07:26] you know there was definitely something still missing within me because new age I'm not sure if
[00:07:30] you're too familiar with this Mr. Bill but you know they really did get a concrete explanation
[00:07:35] what would happen to you whenever you died and so that really scared me because I wanted to know
[00:07:41] that was my hope or suit of knowing truth and pursuing that and going wherever truth led me right
[00:07:47] because I whenever it came in front of me and this thing combated my belief system previous to
[00:07:53] that I would always follow that truth you know going forward Gabriel I'm gonna stop you there if
[00:08:00] you would what answer did you find when you ask yourself where you would end up I found nothing
[00:08:10] because there there was so many different explanations so many people who came up with their own
[00:08:16] ideas because it's a free thinking society right within the new age movement there is no particular
[00:08:21] text that you would go back to to find your source of truth nothing of old and old histories and
[00:08:26] sideshow I didn't know that that was the whole point is that there are so there was so convoluted
[00:08:32] in their explanation of this thing so I know there was something missing there and that was my point
[00:08:37] of transitioning maybe thinking this might not be what I am seeking you know but ultimately
[00:08:42] I still didn't understand what I was looking for and so eventually when I got back home
[00:08:50] I was at so my my family is very musically oriented right and we have you know get together all the
[00:08:57] time playing music around the fire and you know a little drum circle here and there and so we have
[00:09:03] quite a few friends I would come over a lot of the times and one of these particular nights this
[00:09:10] girl who ended up becoming my wife was there she somebody I knew throughout high school
[00:09:17] and you know she was a great hearted me because being in homeschool I was held back twice
[00:09:25] and so I didn't have the great level education that I should have had going into school into
[00:09:29] public school which was around fourth grade or so and so I was held back a few times and that was
[00:09:36] a blessing in so many ways you know but because of that I was a little bit younger or you know
[00:09:42] too great levels below her and so we always knew each other we had the same frame groups and stuff
[00:09:47] like that it went to parties and all that but we never really hung out and so she ended up coming
[00:09:54] to my house who was hanging out with my older brother which was kind of strange you know and like
[00:09:59] here she is sitting out a conversation with him and you know she would tell you that from that
[00:10:05] moment on she saw me and knew that I was going to be her husband and for the life of me I can
[00:10:10] understand why because I was rolling on the ground out that was back when I was still you know
[00:10:14] drinking and so in the flesh and all that and so I didn't understand it but she was on a different
[00:10:20] path you know and so eventually she once we got reunited kept pestering me and pestering me to come
[00:10:28] and meet this man and I am one who is I thought I found what I needed for the most part in that no
[00:10:37] Christian was going to come to me because I would debate them all the time and when I found out about
[00:10:41] Christianity when I was still lost in that area was that they didn't know why they believed
[00:10:46] them what they believed in and so it was so easy to debunk what they were coming at me
[00:10:51] and their former truth and so eventually I relented you know and I ended up going to meet this
[00:10:57] gentleman and turns out he was actually a bro so he hasn't seen my name as me and he's a John
[00:11:02] bro as well and so I have my uncle who is John bro Jr. then my grandfather's John bro so here's
[00:11:09] another John bro in my life you know and so he was a Samaritan or a nuclear Samaritan so this
[00:11:16] is a man who was in the military and he once I came into his home you know he just sat me down
[00:11:22] and you know stared into my soul with the like that God face the face you know and just explain
[00:11:28] the Bible in such a way that I I just never saw it in that light before and it rocked me it shocked me
[00:11:37] and it petrified me and unfortunate moment he didn't share Christ with me you know so my foundation
[00:11:45] completely crumbled because it was built on you know woodhands double and eventually when I walked
[00:11:52] outside after this encounter the the world was so much brighter it was so strange and but yet
[00:11:58] I had this fear on the inside of me because I knew that I had nothing to stand on any longer you
[00:12:05] know and so therefore I had to find out what this was and what it meant for my life and so that
[00:12:12] really started my journey journey going forward and pursuing the Lord and trying to discover who he
[00:12:17] is and what he has for me in his life so yeah well that's so good you know I often go to scripture
[00:12:24] and I'm gonna go to second Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 and it says God has not given us a spirit of
[00:12:31] fear but of power and of love and a sound mind so Gabriel I'm gonna pick your brain a little bit
[00:12:40] you said that you were full of fear please go over that elaborate I want to really try to get
[00:12:47] into your heart what were you fearful of? Well I was fearful of the fact that I didn't know
[00:12:53] now going forward if I would step out and traffic and I passed away in that moment in time
[00:12:58] what would happen to my eternal soul and that is what terrified me but what I realized
[00:13:03] in hindsight is that it was more so a fear of the Lord right and that was that all inspiring
[00:13:09] like you exist however not seeing you what do I do now? Like I was so distraught because again
[00:13:16] that foundation was completely gone and and so it was more of an awe inspiring thing and so
[00:13:23] it just drove me though in all honesty it gave me energy and a desire and a hunger to find out
[00:13:30] what this Bible stood for you know the historicity of it all and who was Christ and what he did for
[00:13:36] me and the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the in the New Testament and all these different
[00:13:40] things so yes more of a reverence you know awe inspiring reverence of this God that I denied for
[00:13:48] eight years from that point on you know so yeah that's basically what I was feeling in that moment.
[00:13:54] Well that's so good and you know my whole podcast is the purpose of it is for people to gain
[00:14:03] wisdom and that is what the book of Proverbs is and Proverbs 1 7 says the fear of the Lord is the
[00:14:09] beginning of knowledge and it later goes on to say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
[00:14:15] and you brought this up but it's like a reverential fear. It doesn't mean we're supposed to be
[00:14:21] afraid of God but it really means that we're to be basically in my eyes in awe of God and realizing
[00:14:31] who he is and who we are not. And I say I believe it's chapter 55 it says your ways are not my ways
[00:14:41] nor are your thoughts my thoughts his thoughts are so much higher Gabriel did you come to that
[00:14:47] realization right away or did it take a while for you to get that? Yeah so it took me quite some
[00:14:53] time because I'm a very facts based individual if when it comes to the idea of a spirit in spiritual
[00:15:02] truths I didn't completely understand that and it took me some time because I had to go back
[00:15:07] through you know Genesis all the way up to Revelation and truly understand that Christ came
[00:15:14] as a historical fact and that what he did transformed us as human beings to more of a spiritual
[00:15:22] nature right? And when I saw that Christ fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies
[00:15:28] I couldn't understand it completely because no man could have contrived that right and so if
[00:15:33] so beyond my thinking my scope of you know of fact based things that eventually I had to come face
[00:15:41] to face with this Jesus who for one fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies but died in the cross
[00:15:48] and resurrected for me. And when I saw that I broke down and I started crying and weeping and
[00:15:54] I don't know the exact date unfortunately but I remember coming to my wife and I was just crying
[00:15:59] and trying to explain these things to her but I couldn't you know I couldn't get her to feel what
[00:16:04] I was feeling in that moment in time but yeah it's just the the completed work of Christ
[00:16:10] there's really brought that emotion out in me understand that he did it says he is real
[00:16:15] and what that meant for my life going forward. Wow that's so good Gabriel I think we need to go back
[00:16:21] a little bit because you sound like you're so advanced and yet at that time you really didn't know
[00:16:26] what was going on. I'm gonna go to the third chapter of John and everybody knows verse 16 that
[00:16:33] that God loved us and why he came to you know basically make it available for us to regain right
[00:16:42] standing with him but in verse 3 it says most assuredly I say to you unless one is born again
[00:16:52] he cannot see the kingdom of God. When did you get that realization and what are your thoughts
[00:17:00] on being born again? Yeah so understanding who the first Adam was, what's his place in the garden
[00:17:08] and then you know getting kicked out the garden with that meant for me and humanity as a whole. So I
[00:17:13] saw myself in that first Adam but when the word teaches you in the in the assessment how Christ
[00:17:19] came as a second Adam to fulfill the works of that first Adam right because we're supposed to be
[00:17:25] born into paradise and so everlasting life forever. We're supposed to have eternity with God here on
[00:17:31] earth and so what Christ did is that he brought back that angle to us right. He had to come as man
[00:17:39] as a second Adam and in all our humanity to come and die the sin that we all were supposed to die
[00:17:45] and so we are first born into Adam, the first Adam, but we must be born again through the resurrected
[00:17:52] Christ and so understanding that it's more of a spiritual resurrection because we were spiritually
[00:17:58] dead initially and this is all the things that I'm learning through. Carish right now is that we
[00:18:03] were spiritually dead. That was the cutoff point because Adam and Eve they didn't die physically,
[00:18:07] right? They died spiritually and so it was that resurrection of our spirit man on the inside of us
[00:18:14] and now we are directly connected to our father through the mediator who is Christ and eventually you
[00:18:21] know the eithenic world will be here right when it comes to New Heavens and New Earth but we have
[00:18:25] the kingdom mount right everywhere we step is where is where the kingdom is because we have all
[00:18:31] power and meaning here now in authority and so all these connections is where really help me
[00:18:37] understand what born again meant you know and through baptism you know dying to self to the old man
[00:18:44] resurrected in Christ that's also a symbol outward symbol of our inner transformation that took place
[00:18:50] and so yeah that's understanding I've come to. Well so you were born again so obviously you've
[00:18:58] received Jesus as your Lord and Savior if he would explain to the audience how that changed
[00:19:04] your life and why that's so important. Sure so I didn't know anybody actually else went through this
[00:19:12] but Daniel Bennett was teaching of course not so long ago and that's the son of Barry Bennett
[00:19:17] and he's awesome but you know whenever I was starting to transform into this Christian individual
[00:19:24] I didn't know how to reconcile this Gabe that has always been this Gabriel individual with this new
[00:19:30] Christian person right and so it terrified me because I thought that I had to get rid of all the things
[00:19:36] that made me unique in order to be transformed into this new individual right and it took me so much
[00:19:42] time to understand that it wasn't that I had to become a new person it was the fact that God was
[00:19:49] doing away all those things that were not of him and by what also were not of me that I started
[00:19:56] becoming who have always meant to be and that's who God created me to be and so the closer I got
[00:20:02] to Christ the more I became the person I've always meant to be and and so that new identity seeing
[00:20:09] that I am of Christ and Christ is in me and I am in the Father right it always different things
[00:20:15] it started changing inwardly through my action through my decision of what I wanted in my life
[00:20:22] my pursuits overall it no longer I had no longer desire to do those old habits of you know
[00:20:29] the drugs and alcohol for the most part you know I stumbled back into that whenever I was still
[00:20:34] traversing my faith and trying to figure things out but my desire to please the Father and to do his
[00:20:41] will was the main thing I wanted to do whatever God was calling me to do and many of the times I got
[00:20:47] it wrong so wrong you know but it was that constant pursuit of doing the Father's will that really
[00:20:54] got me closer and closer to the truth I was always seeking and what ultimately brought me to Colorado
[00:20:59] which was a great you know one of the better decisions of my life and that that one decision was
[00:21:04] of really the first time I had so much peace in my heart and I really felt the word of the Lord's
[00:21:10] hand upon this decision you know and so it's a constant growth you know growing so much as I've
[00:21:16] been out here in Colorado going through carrots as well so yeah it's just a never ending journey I see
[00:21:24] well I'm gonna go step back and that's that's great by the way I don't want to you know I mean
[00:21:30] what you're saying is wonderful but you know in the new living translation in 2nd Corinthians
[00:21:36] chapter 5 verse 17 it says this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person
[00:21:47] the old life is gone a new life has begun and you've made that plainly obvious that that
[00:21:57] is what happened to you I kind of would like to go back you mentioned this that your now wife
[00:22:04] is the one who introduced you to this man let's go back and what happened with that and how did we
[00:22:11] go about that transition from knowing her to her becoming your wife yes sir so I in that moment
[00:22:21] of course I was still stuck in my sins and in finding this realization of scripture and by
[00:22:27] what being true you know through mr. John who was again a military man he's the kind of person
[00:22:34] like it right up in your face and I really just he wouldn't allow you to have a cop out in many ways
[00:22:43] right he helped me to a different standard that had never been held to before he was a figure a man
[00:22:50] figure in my life who really took out his time to teach me these things and I had you know my father
[00:22:58] actually passed away probably around seven years ago now and so I was looking for that you know some
[00:23:06] minded to help me along the path because I had difficult times asking questions because I always
[00:23:12] thought I had the answer and so whenever this individual came in front of me he helped me understand
[00:23:18] that I don't know at all and that there's so much to learn and so through this family experience my
[00:23:23] wife was actually really really close to them as a friend you know we just started establishing
[00:23:29] this friendship in this family where we would go over you know every Sunday or so and just I
[00:23:35] would just soak these things up because I didn't know what church to go to I didn't know what books to
[00:23:40] read or any of these things and so I just wanted more and more and unfortunately now I went to him
[00:23:46] as a source because I didn't know any better at that moment in time but because of that you know
[00:23:50] Marlene and I started getting closer and closer and I could tell that she you know like me and all
[00:23:56] that and that she was pursuing me which was one of the few times that it's ever happening in my life
[00:24:03] and it wasn't until I so I was speaking to another woman at the time and I really liked this
[00:24:08] individual but I had to this one the first time I prayed I prayed that Lord whatever woman would
[00:24:15] get me closer to you is the one that I am going to pursue and whatever comes at that comes of it
[00:24:21] but I knew in that moment of time that it was going to be Marlene who is now my wife but you know
[00:24:27] I started pursuing her and in awe so we actually only dated for about two to three months right before
[00:24:34] we got married and because we knew that this was God our name that God's hand was upon this
[00:24:40] and that we knew that this was going to be a union for the rest of our lives and so we rushed it
[00:24:48] you know and of course made many mistakes I actually went to my mom to plan the wedding
[00:24:55] but she was also planning my other brothers wedding at this time but of course you know we weren't
[00:24:59] thinking but regardless of all that yeah we got married within about a four month period and
[00:25:07] we I didn't understand what it meant to be married per se but I knew that through this
[00:25:14] match of money me as a man I was going to grow even the more right and my mom and dad had a good
[00:25:21] relationship but ultimately I'll call God on the way and I saw so much detriment because of that
[00:25:28] and they're constantly fighting and stuff so I didn't know completely what a genuine healthier
[00:25:34] relationship would look like but at this point in time I had the Lord really guiding me and there
[00:25:39] are so many things that Marlene had to deal with within her own emotion baggage is she had taken with
[00:25:43] there you know that I had to kind of push through as the man and really help her see that she's
[00:25:50] also forgiven of her past you know and so like we were both grown so much within you know our first
[00:25:56] year together but yeah so that was we were probably married around six years back home in Louisiana
[00:26:05] you know start a live moving together got a house at one point and yeah we just started growing
[00:26:11] together because we both were pursuing the same thing and that was what was most important I think
[00:26:17] in our relationship is that we both wanted to do the world of father and we were putting him first
[00:26:22] and foremost in our lives so that's really good I'm gonna go over two scriptures I really don't want
[00:26:29] to overlook anything you said because this guy who was leading and guiding you is I'm gonna go
[00:26:34] to proverb 27 17 and for those of you who are used to tuning in on this podcast on a regular basis
[00:26:43] you've heard me talk about this before but 27 17 says as iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens
[00:26:53] the countenance of his friends and also if you go to the book of Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 it says
[00:27:01] you shall not forsake the assembling of the masses and Gabriel what that basically means is once
[00:27:11] we dedicate our life to Christ and we turn over the keys of our life and let him begin to lead us
[00:27:18] and guide us in the way he wants us to go we need to surround ourselves with people that we can
[00:27:25] become accountable to so what that means is if you need prayer if you're going through issues
[00:27:33] you need to have people that you can confide in you have to be very careful about who you
[00:27:41] trust with issues that are going on with you and I'm gonna make reference to Psalm 1
[00:27:47] and if any of you are going through issues like that my homework for you is read Psalm 1 tonight
[00:27:55] and it goes in the detail be careful about who you can fight in and who you put your trust in
[00:28:02] but Gabriel also we go to Proverbs 18 22 and that says he who finds a wife
[00:28:10] finds a good thing but the key is and shall obtain favor from the Lord in other words God desires
[00:28:22] people to get together he desires marriage but if you do get married then you will get
[00:28:30] the favor of the Lord I think that's awesome so go ahead you're with your wife now you're starting to
[00:28:36] be in one accord how did the next few years unravel so within the next few years we've actually
[00:28:44] taken in quite a few individuals in our household there was one so my wife's brother was one and
[00:28:52] he had many issues growing up they still does what to this day but you know we we attempted to do
[00:28:59] the proper thing and help them as much as we could to steward him or to mentor him into a better life
[00:29:06] on his own independent of anybody else and so he ended up moving him with us for about three years
[00:29:13] and we also ended up taking in another young lady Ray Lynn who had an abusive background
[00:29:22] from her father her mother was badly sped certain drugs and almost I would say demonically oppressed
[00:29:29] in many ways and so we took her in as well and so Marlene and I had a desire and a heart to
[00:29:37] really mentor even though we didn't know it all we wanted to help others understand who the
[00:29:43] Lord is through our actions the way that we lived our lives and that there is a better way going
[00:29:48] forward in that you can have an abundance of life if only you knew who the father was and so really
[00:29:55] through our actions and what we did we tried to help them along their own path and you know Marlene
[00:30:01] and I we had great jobs and stuff so we're very comfortable at that time doing so but you know
[00:30:07] in helping them we started realizing faults of our own things that we were in lack of and how
[00:30:13] you know it's really it's really easy for you to say certain things but if you're not living
[00:30:17] the same lifestyle as what you're projecting then you're becoming a hypocrite right and so
[00:30:22] through these relationships first and foremost our relationship with the father and then Marlene
[00:30:26] and I's relationship and then going forward into a relationship with other people trying to help
[00:30:32] them and say who God was it really grew us in that more of a mentor you know father mother type of figure
[00:30:39] even though we're still young of time probably it's around 22 23 years old but that's where our heart
[00:30:46] was and that that showed you right there what God was doing in our lives and so I wanted to see we
[00:30:52] were actually able to allow Marlene to live with us all the way up until graduation and so she
[00:30:58] knew graduating which was an amazing thing and she went on to do other things as well and then
[00:31:04] you know her brother ended moving out also getting his own place being independent and within the
[00:31:09] midst of all this though it's when I actually lost my dad my father and he died he passed
[00:31:16] the way of COPD amidst other complications he was just a really he was a chain smoker I was
[00:31:22] mortal Tommy when he was sick and that was a huge blow obviously to the family I've never lost
[00:31:31] somebody so close to me in my life and you know but what I realized that if I was a different person
[00:31:37] if I was still that atheist agnostic new age who ever right I wouldn't have the hope I had at that
[00:31:43] moment I lost my dad and so that was really growing up point in time for me because even though I'm
[00:31:48] the middle child so I have two older brothers I have three younger than me I was a middle child
[00:31:54] I felt as though I was maturing in such a way that people and the family would look to me for guidance
[00:32:01] and so that was I accepted that responsibility but at the same time it was difficult on me because
[00:32:07] I still needed a father in my life you know I still need to grow and learn understand how to be
[00:32:12] a man especially now that I'm married so my I had to actually take in my youngest brother Ethan
[00:32:19] into our household he didn't want to come but he had to come just because he was just going on the
[00:32:25] improper path and so we did this whole thing all over again you know tried to mentor using the
[00:32:30] things that we learned from the other two individuals living with us and really trying to get
[00:32:35] them into the where I bring them to Bible studies and you know trying to lead him towards the Lord
[00:32:42] as well and so in the midst of all of this so you've been looking with us at this point in time
[00:32:50] a friend of mine ended up introducing me to Andrew Wal-Mack and that point in time is where my
[00:32:57] doctor and started shifting and how I understood my relationship to the Lord and I didn't get it
[00:33:02] at first because it was more of a workspace theology right I mean you had to do things
[00:33:07] at one point I believe that we still had to worship on the Sabbath that we couldn't do anything
[00:33:12] at all you know it's just our day of worship and rest and stuff like that and so eventually when
[00:33:18] I came to this realization of us now having a complete reconciliation with the father through the
[00:33:26] son and how we have full authority now over sickness and death and pains in all of our poverty
[00:33:34] and all the woes that sin had brought into the world it absolutely revolutionized my life
[00:33:40] going forward and at this point that's when I saw as more towards I guess I was studying more like
[00:33:46] conspiratorial things at this time and that was really focused on what the devil was doing you know
[00:33:52] many ways right and I didn't have to love the Lord the peace of the Lord none of these things were
[00:33:58] resonated with me but when I came when Andrew Wal-Mack through his teachings helped me understand
[00:34:03] my relationship truly with the father I wanted to know who Jesus was more so than anything
[00:34:08] and so that took me on a path to really soak up a lot of Andrew Wal-Mack's teachings
[00:34:14] and reading the Bible in a different way and so we started Bible study because really couldn't
[00:34:18] find a church that aligned with that doctrine it was either you know very strict religious
[00:34:25] based traditional or it was off the deep end grace right two extremes that you have and so we
[00:34:32] decided to start our own Bible study to try to bring these teachings into light and help others
[00:34:36] around us our friends and family to help them understand this this new way of looking at our
[00:34:43] father at what crescent down for us and who we are now in the spirit and so all of these things
[00:34:49] within that you know three to four year period of time is what accrued over that time so yeah
[00:34:55] and then eventually I never knew Andrew had a Bible college even after listening to him for so long
[00:35:03] and one day I was working and I took a lunch way later than I was supposed to take a lunch and I
[00:35:12] was normally less to AFR American family radio and on this radio station was Alex McFarlane
[00:35:18] interview in my can carry picket and I never I never know who my can carry picket were at the
[00:35:23] start bringing up carrots I didn't know what carrots was maybe mention Andrew Wal-Mack and I'm like oh
[00:35:27] my god this is exactly what I've been looking for because I desired education and to grow
[00:35:33] on to be around people to help me do that because I was teaching people more so so I was giving more
[00:35:39] so than I was receiving right and even though I didn't know many things per se I was still trying my
[00:35:46] best to give what I did know to people but this was my opportunity to really clean from the Lord
[00:35:51] clean from people who've been through I've been under sitting on the Lord for much longer than I have
[00:35:57] and just to revolutionize revolutionize my walk with the Lord and go on to do the things that he
[00:36:03] has called me to do you know so as soon as I figured out that he was the main location was
[00:36:10] based in Colorado which I've always had a draw to Colorado for some reason I went home to my wife
[00:36:15] like hey babe you know this is what the Lord is speaking to me carrots by our college and
[00:36:20] to Wal-Mack Colorado she was like yes so from that point on you know and of course we prayed about
[00:36:27] it and everything we wanted to wait for my little brother Ethan to graduate also
[00:36:33] before we moved out here so I was like a year and a half in the making but yeah we prepared plan
[00:36:38] prayed and had the peace of the Lord in his hand over the entire experience so I was kind of getting
[00:36:43] us to this point time but yeah well that's so good and you know I'm gonna come up with two
[00:36:49] scriptures and back up what you said in Acts chapter 20 verse 35 Jesus is very clear and he said
[00:36:58] it is more blessed to give them to receive and Gabriel we just got back from our mission trip about
[00:37:06] three weeks ago and that's all we did on our mission trip was basically serve and there's something
[00:37:13] to just serving and being a servant that is one of the examples Jesus came to us especially I
[00:37:21] really like John chapter 13 where this was after the last supper and after supper is ended
[00:37:30] Jesus took off his outer garments and he found a water basin filled it with water and he washed
[00:37:37] the disciples feet and Peter sat there and he said Jesus are you gonna wash my feet
[00:37:44] and he said yes and he goes you'll never wash my feet and Jesus says if I don't wash your feet
[00:37:51] you'll have no part of me and then Peter said well wash not only my feet but my head and everything
[00:37:59] also but Jesus gave us the example Gabriel so anyway you're headed to Colorado where here now
[00:38:07] you are in first year how has first year reading listening a being absorbed in the Bible for hours
[00:38:18] a day five days a week how has that changed your life it's might be a cliche answer but it's life
[00:38:25] changing of course everybody who says like the amount of information is kind of overwhelming initially
[00:38:31] but I have some really good wisdom very early on from an individual that stated you know look to see
[00:38:37] what season you're in at this point time and hear what the Lord is teaching you through these lessons
[00:38:43] and just absorb that for this moment that you're in right the season that you're in and because of
[00:38:48] that wisdom I really focused in on what the Lord is speaking to me really trying to hear His voice
[00:38:53] and act upon those words those ramens from Lord and so the main teaching or understanding I've
[00:39:01] come to again is that we are new identity in Christ is what the main state of foundation of who we
[00:39:09] are and I know that through that identity I can come to the Father with all that I am I can cast
[00:39:18] all of my cares it's so that's the difference between I realized conviction and conviction
[00:39:25] and condemnation right so conviction draws you closer to the Lord saying Lord look I know I've
[00:39:31] done this but I know that you're forgiving that you love me and that you're very paid for all my
[00:39:35] sins like forgive me and I will repent and turn away from this particular thing now condemnation
[00:39:41] is moving away from the Lord saying Lord I am not I am an unclean sinner right I do not deserve
[00:39:48] in it you're grace and mercy and and so like that was my mindset more so that was very I was
[00:39:53] condemning myself self-condemation constantly because of the things that had done but knowing
[00:39:59] that he is a good father and that is the main thing I have been looking for is that father
[00:40:05] that can train me that can help me that can teach me and seeing the Lord as that and of course
[00:40:11] he is the Almighty right the most high but seeing him as my father and knowing the love of God and
[00:40:19] that it's all combined within that you know that resurrected life that news of life and spirit
[00:40:24] that we can now come boldly to the throne of God as it says in Hebrews you know and so knowing
[00:40:31] that now that we have a authority and that he does love me that all the things he has for me
[00:40:35] are just blessings upon blessings um and of course they're going to be far darker to the devil
[00:40:41] of the enemy coming at us but we have all things needed to overcome all the wickedness of the devil
[00:40:46] and uh so it's just about application more so at this point in time like I received my new identity
[00:40:53] in Christ but now you have to go forward and apply that because knowledge is only knowledge but
[00:40:58] you gain wisdom through the application they're in right and so I can see it now through my life
[00:41:03] and applying the things I'm learning the blessing of God over it that it is true
[00:41:07] that is word is true um and that if you just use it within it and let you follow it
[00:41:13] that you will see the blessings manifest within your life as well well that's good and I'm
[00:41:18] going to pull up two scriptures in John 17 verse 3 this is such a powerful verse and for some
[00:41:25] reason it's not really all that well preached or done that often but it says and this is eternal
[00:41:32] life that they may know him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent that is what
[00:41:42] God's desire is for us is that we come to the knowledge of who he is and Gabriel that's something
[00:41:50] that just goes right over the head of most believers they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior
[00:41:56] and yet they've never come to the true knowledge of who God truly is if you would which class
[00:42:08] sticks out in first year and please share with the audience why yes sir I don't remember
[00:42:14] the exact title but Daniel Bennett's class is normally what stood out to me the most because they
[00:42:18] have been inside a relationship with the Lord since he was very very young and you can see that his
[00:42:23] walk and his understanding about who the father is just different than many Christians nowadays
[00:42:28] just because it's so it's so innocent and intimate right and I've never seen a relationship with
[00:42:33] the father besides like Andrew Hallmaker of course you know but the intimacy and innocence in that
[00:42:39] he was speaking to the Lord that he was doing things with the Lord right even if he was watching a
[00:42:43] movie with the Lord or you know playing a game with the Lord like you can do these things that
[00:42:47] he's always with you constantly speaking to you and it was through his teaching that I've come
[00:42:55] to understand the love of the Father he gave a great illustration one time where he was saying he
[00:43:01] had a vision and he was on the beach looking out on the ocean and he knew intuitively that the
[00:43:06] ocean represented the love of God and so he tried to drink the water to receive the love of God
[00:43:12] right but he couldn't fill himself up and then he went out a little bit further and tried to just
[00:43:16] gulp it down and it just couldn't he couldn't get filled with love of God right and he moved out even
[00:43:22] further and he prayed the Lord is it Lord why cannot receive it why don't I understand your love
[00:43:27] completely and fully he said let go surrender say Lord if I do that I'll drown is like exactly
[00:43:35] so to me what that represents that we must surrender ourselves our lives to the Lord
[00:43:41] and through that surrender he was able to produce all his love towards of all of his blessing towards
[00:43:46] us because we are no longer trying to do it ourselves that we are being guided by him in his
[00:43:52] love and his word especially right and knowing that what he has planned for us it's far beyond
[00:43:58] far better than anything that we can plan for ourselves you know so that always stuck out to me
[00:44:04] that I just got a surrender and cast my cares on the Lord and he is able willing to help me
[00:44:10] in this journey called life you know I'm not on my own so wow that's so good and you know I've
[00:44:16] got to piggyback off of that because that's exactly what John is telling us in his gospel chapter 15
[00:44:23] verse 5 Jesus is so clear here and for those of you who walk in pride and sit there and you're
[00:44:31] you know you always think about you know how you have to take everything in yourself and if
[00:44:38] you don't want to let anybody do do anything to help you listen to what Jesus has to say and John
[00:44:45] 15 verse 5 I am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit
[00:44:59] in other words people are going to see that our life is going well things are going to happen
[00:45:06] and people are just going to notice and recognize us but what he says is for without me
[00:45:13] you can do nothing and and I mean that kind of encapsulates everything that you have just talked
[00:45:23] about the last five or six minutes. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you an open mic
[00:45:28] I'm going to have you talk for two or three minutes and share with anyone listening today who may
[00:45:35] not yet know Jesus they haven't received him tell the audience why they need to receive Jesus today
[00:45:46] so for me I believe whoever's hearing this at this moment of time that
[00:45:53] the ultimate journey in life is to know God and to make God known right and that we all have
[00:45:59] this emptiness within us that we attempt to fulfill or fill with all worldly things that are finite
[00:46:07] but there is only one there's only one eternal means way only one way by which we can receive
[00:46:12] that fulfillment the fullness of life in this world but also life in the next world is by accepting
[00:46:19] our Lord Jesus Christ because he has paid all upon that cross he bore everything all of sin and shame
[00:46:26] has been cast upon them all judgment especially been cast upon our Lord and Savior
[00:46:31] and because he defeated death and rose again from the dead and now seated at the right hand of the
[00:46:35] Father that we can now walk with confidence and authority in this world that you don't have to
[00:46:42] subject yourselves to those woes of the devil depression anger sickness whatever poverty whatever
[00:46:50] the devil is trying to push upon your life you are now an over a cumber based on what Christ has done
[00:46:57] and you're receiving that you are a new man you no longer have to face this person the old things
[00:47:04] that you have done all the sins that you committed in your past you can leave that man buried in the
[00:47:09] ground and this new person has never done a single one of those things and so you have a new life
[00:47:14] going forward to where you can change everything about your life and going and it's just so fulfilling
[00:47:22] known that you're living for something more than yourself than your own needs because we have
[00:47:27] we have a word right we have a message to the world because the world is lacking identity right now
[00:47:33] they don't know who they are and at this point in time they need the Lord more so than anything
[00:47:38] and by your testimony you can help thousands if not millions of people through what you have gone
[00:47:44] through and what the Lord has done for you in your life so it is so worth it that you can be blessed
[00:47:52] and that you can bless others through your journey and your testimony um so yeah just what
[00:47:57] what are you waiting for in our honesty um is the journey of a lifetime and we all need to give
[00:48:03] Christ a try we need to pursue truth we need to see where the facts lie and then make a decision
[00:48:11] based off of those facts right um and many of times more of a emotional spiritual connection to
[00:48:18] our Lord uh that really transforms us into this new individual uh but that would be my statement
[00:48:26] all right Gabriel we have one more favor i'm gonna ask you now you have discussed the importance
[00:48:33] of having Jesus now if you would lead anyone in a prayer to encourage them to come into the kingdom
[00:48:40] of God so for anybody out there who has yet to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts
[00:48:48] I just invite you to follow along with me in prayer um and just repeat these words and allow them
[00:48:54] to be your words not just mine right not just verbatim but i'm come from a deep down emotional perspective
[00:49:00] um inside your heart so Lord i know that i am a sinner um and i know that i'm in need of grace
[00:49:07] Lord so i just call upon you Father a call upon you and your mercy and i call upon the name of
[00:49:13] Jesus Christ to come into my heart to transform my life to renew that spirit that is inside
[00:49:22] of me Lord to quicken it to make it a life who can't Father so i can go forward and do
[00:49:29] all that i am called to do based on your word and your will Father i pray that all all the sins
[00:49:35] I've committed they are washed away Lord and know that you are willing and capable of forgiving
[00:49:41] me and forgetting about that individual that i was and i just receive you Lord Jesus Christ as my
[00:49:46] Savior i just thank you for that transformation Jesus name amen
[00:49:51] wow that was so good Gabriel once again i'd like to thank you for coming on you have been
[00:49:56] a tremendous blessing and i know the audience has been blessed friends if there's anyone listening
[00:50:03] and they you have repeated that prayer that Gabriel shared with you i invite you to reach out
[00:50:09] to me on my facebook page bill kelly kellil y and if you have any specific questions about anything
[00:50:18] you heard on today's podcast reach out to me on messenger i'll get right back with you now may the
[00:50:25] Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you
[00:50:32] the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace friends please join me again tomorrow
[00:50:39] as we further explore wisdom today