Do You Want to Be Popular? Or Do You Want to Be Influential? | Lesson 4 of Adamant | Lisa Bevere

and we have to be a culture that

declares the word of God because if

something is not addressed

it’s endorsed

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we’re going to tackle two things that

may not seem related but they are we’re

going to talk about adamant word and

adamant truth of course you’re thinking

good because the subtitle is finding

truth in a universe of opinion so this

needs to be tackled but I need to ask

you a question at the very beginning I

need to ask you do you want to be

popular

or do you want to be influential this is

something the Holy Spirit asked me when

I was writing the book he said Lisa do

you want to be popular or do you want to

be influential I think I knew some of

the things I was writing might not be

popular and he was asking me to count

the cost and I’m going to ask you and so

I said influential I want to be

influential more than I want to be

popular and then he said Look up the

meaning of the words the meaning of the

word popular means common it means

trendy it means generally held opinion I

do not have to tell you that usually the

masses are not correct but the key word

for the word influential

is powerful to be influential is to be

powerful and we can be powerful and not

even popular but sometimes it’s really

hard to try to maintain popularity and

continue to be influential we have to

set it in our hearts as women that we

want to be women of the word and women

of truth that we ultimately want to be

influential more than we want to be

popular that we fear the lord more than

we fear man that we want the approval of

God more than we want the approval of

people so truth like who has not lied

who has not lied here

like Bonnie is the only person that

might have had a chance of not lying at

the table

yeah you know I’ve definitely lied but

you know sometimes you even lie thinking

or telling the truth yeah and and we

live in a day and a time right now where

there’s such a confusion about what is

true and what is not true and what is

truth and what is not truth that a lot

of people are very con confused about

what truth is Saint Augustine said where

I found truth there I found my God who

is truth itself so truth isn’t a what

it’s not what is truth it’s who is truth

Jesus is truth as Christians we believe

him when he says in John 14 verse 6 I am

the way the truth and the life and then

he goes on to say no one no one comes to

the father except through me now let’s

talk about this that is uh very limiting

no one comes to the father except for me

is Jesus really meaning all three of

these things because see if Jesus is

just one of many truths then he can’t be

the way he can’t be the way he’s either

all of these or none of these C.S Lewis

said he’s either lying lunatic or the

Lord and if we say that he is the Lord

then he means absolutely all of these

things that he is the way that he is the

truth not a truth not what’s true in

this moment and he is the life yes and

he is the only way and the only way to

the father is through the son Benjamin

Franklin said a half truth is often a

great lie see you’re not going to

believe something that’s just so

ridiculous but if a lie is seated in a

half truth then sometimes we believe it

in our culture right now has a lot of

half truths that are very dangerous lies

yes I’m just saying this because I’ve

been around long enough to see these

things go in cycles and there’s cycles

of Destruction our culture does not like

absolutes they think absolutes are harsh

absolutes are mean but that’s not true

absolute or core beliefs are

foundational Do you want to build on a

river or do you want to build on Rock

foundational things protect us they

provide guidance for us they there are

anchors so we don’t lose our weight but

I want to clarify something because

there’s a lot of confusion about what’s

truth and what’s true of see true of is

relativism like something could be true

for you Julie that’s not true for me and

so a lot of people say oh that’s your

truth well no there’s only one truth but

there could be a true of like true of is

that you’re the mother of four you have

two girls and two boys yeah two of me is

I am a grandmother you know what was

true of me now though wasn’t true of me

ten years ago 10 years ago I wasn’t a

grandmother so true of can shift and

change with time this is true of like my

age is true right now but it’s not going

to be true two years from now so true of

shifts but truth is it movable

invincible adamant unshakable it is that

rock it does not shift in principle or

according to opinion and if we are not

careful in this day and age truth is

going to actually become a casualty so

we have to be Guardians Of Truth this is

what who we are we’re supposed to be

Guardians Of Truth relativism is

actually the belief that different

things are true right etc for different

people at different times again true of

is that but not truth under this

definition truth varies constantly which

is what you’re hearing a lot people are

like oh yeah God didn’t really mean that

because we’ve evolved so much now he

means something different now no truth

is truth is truth and truth always has

been truth always will be truth and so

we cannot change truth according to our

culture so again we go what is truth

what is truth okay how do we find truth

we know Jesus is who is truth but how do

we know well Jesus is the word of God

made flesh and this is what he says in

John 17 7 team when he’s praying for us

he’s seeing our time and he says

sanctify them in truth Thy word is truth

the word of God is the truth of God

Jesus is the living expression of the

word of God so it doesn’t vary if

Jesus’s expression and the word of God

is truth and we have to be a culture

that declares the word of God because if

something is not addressed

it’s endorsed and silence whether you

realize it or not is saying it’s it’s

okay I don’t want to I don’t really care

enough it’s what we talked about the

hypocrisy I don’t really care enough

about building a relationship with you

or building a relationship with you and

Truth

to tell you the truth yeah I’m gonna I’m

gonna protect my relationship with you

and I’m going to violate what’s going to

actually make you strong when we know

the truth we cannot act as though we

don’t know the truth and if you’re

saying I don’t know the truth then you

know what God invites us to seek the

truth he says seek he says knock I’ll

open seek you’ll find ask I’ll answer we

seek the word of God and we find the

life of Jesus who is truth so we need to

talk about truth Jesus Is Our Truth in a

world of Lies now there’s lots of

opinions but opinions are different than

convictions we build our lives on

convictions convictions are what give us

strength opinions are very easy to form

and very quick to change yeah I’ve

changed my opinion there’s things I

would have killed for 10 years ago that

I don’t even believe anymore because it

was an opinion it wasn’t a conviction it

wasn’t a core belief you know when I was

studying about this whole concept of

Truth and opinions I came across this

article I I guess there is a continent

of plastic in the Pacific there’s been

so much littering that we’ve taken all

this plastic and we’ve put it out into

the Pacific and it’s caught into the

channels and it’s larger than Texas and

so that you can fly over and see it but

it’s all the plastic bottles all the

plastic that can’t ever like go away

it’s degrading but it doesn’t ever go

away and opinions

are kind of the same kind of thing right

now you can say things on the internet

and whatever but it is never going to go

completely away yeah so there’s all of

these plastic bottles and it’s floating

and here’s the problem they break down

and then fish eat it and then birds eat

it and birds die and then fish eat it

and then we eat fish and it’s becoming a

problem for people sorry fishing

industry but anyway it’s talking about

that when we have this kind of situation

where we Litter with opinions they break

down

but they never go away and they continue

to keep revisiting us God knows that

words are so crucial to us I don’t know

about you but I want to be the kind of

woman that I can speak and God can

follow it up so I’ve learned I’m gonna

have to have less opinions less opinions

I have strong opinions I want you to

know I’m passionate I have really strong

opinions but you know what I don’t put

them out there I don’t put them out on

Twitter I don’t put them out on social

media because it’s like littering it’s

like littering and those things are

going to end up defiling other people be

very careful about how you use your

words First Corinthians 16 13 says keep

your eyes open hold tight to your

convictions again we get our convictions

from the word of God give it all you’ve

got and be Resolute I love that Hannah

brought forth one of the definitions of

Adam is be Resolute there are things

that you can weigh favor on like I’m not

sure what I think about sushi that’s

okay have an opinion about that but when

you are wavering whether the word of God

is the word of God whether it’s true now

like it was then that’s when you have to

ask questions and again you know we we

have to understand there’s two kind of

laws in the Old Testament there was the

live life at your best please don’t eat

pork because you don’t have

refrigerators law shrimp might not be a

good idea and then there was the moral

law and the moral law did not change

anything it got stronger Jesus said that

if you even look at a woman to lust of

her you have committed adultery in the

Old Testament you had to actually do it

so we have to understand it’s higher

standard because we’re Grace now we’re

Grace to live in a revelation of the

truth and so we need to be women who say

I’m gonna I’m gonna have a strong anchor

of convictions in the word of God

this is what it says about our day

second Timothy 3 1 says but you need to

be aware so I this is why I’m telling

you that you need to be aware that in

the final days the culture of society

will sink so low into degradation that

it will be extremely difficult for the

people of God I know what I’m asking you

it’s not easy I know it’d be easier for

you to be popular I know it’d be easier

for you to be quiet but I’m going to ask

you to speak out loud with your life I’m

going to ask you to have core

relationships I have some friends we

call every once when we’re like are we

all still on the same page we all still

believe that the word of God is the word

of God or do some of us think it’s

poetry right now we have conversations

because there’s been so much shifting

and degradation of Truth is what begins

the degradation of a society first

Thessalonians chapter 1 verses four

through six says for we know Brothers

loved by God again we’re established in

love that he has chosen you because our

gospel came to you not only in word but

also in power and the Holy Spirit and

with full conviction not partial

conviction like I’m not sure full

conviction you know what kind of men we

prove to be among you for your sake and

you became imitators of us and of the

Lord for you received the word in much

Affliction with the joy of the Holy

Spirit

Affliction but joy of the Holy Spirit

popular

influential you’re going to have to

decide there will be Affliction I

remember when I was writing without

rival I was very upset with a particular

Minister who I felt like had really

degraded women he had said all sorts of

ridiculous stuff and so everything he

said I did the counter say like this is

why this is wrong this is why it’s wrong

and it like the the chapter morphed into

like 30 000 words or something I’m

exaggerating but not by much and so I I

felt like I probably needed another set

of eyes on it so I sent it to a friend

of mine I sent her this chapter and I

said hey and she she got back with me

she said Lisa everything you’re saying

is true

but it’s a rant you have gone on a rant

and you need to cut out all of these

words it was more than half the chapter

I was like What can I can I know she

said you are putting in the wrong spirit

with what you’re saying

and you know what I wanted to leave room

for this guy to change his opinions so

why should I put something in stone when

God doesn’t do that with me yeah we all

need people in our lives that are going

to tell us the things we don’t want to

hear that’s good and that’s often the

truth and the word of God is that

measure for us see we cannot contain

what we cannot measure and right now

there is words without measure and

opinions without measure which is why

there is confusion without Clarity we

have to be people who step back and get

some clarity second Timothy chapter 2

verse 23 says have nothing nothing to do

with foolish ignorant controversies you

know that they breed quarrels if you

don’t have all the information you don’t

need to weigh in on it you don’t need to

weigh in on it you don’t need to be part

of the conversation do I really need to

respond if it’s just a retweet do I

really know what I’m talking about right

no I probably don’t

Power of Words

such an entrustment from God our words

act like seeds our words can change and

shift and shape an environment our words

God could have said you know what

they’re not doing good with it I’m going

to strike them all make them all so they

can’t talk anymore he did it in the

Tower of Babel we couldn’t connect and

now he is saying I need you to

understand the entrustment of your words

I need you to speak to the Eternal realm

I need you to speak what can be instead

of what is you know recently I was

walking on the beach and for some reason

when I came in I felt like the holy

spirit said go look at this particular

person’s Twitter feed and I was like

writing off social media and I was like

I’m not supposed to be doing this right

now so I’m like this can’t be the Lord

but I went ahead and looked and what

happened was they had posted something

about how the church mistreats women and

I’m just going to be here to say the

church has not always treated its

daughters well but this went viral so

many people had so many negative things

to say they said invited people to be

part of the Forum of saying all of the

things that you’ve heard as a daughter

of God that was out of line and it went

crazy on Twitter so many people I heard

this well I heard this well I heard this

well I heard this

it went viral but sometimes when

something goes viral you’re not

influencing people you’re infecting them

that’s right and we need to be people

who understand yes the bright needs to

she needs some help she needs some help

right now but we’re going to have to

choose to be people who are anointed to

prophesy rather than criticize yeah

that’s good and it’s easy to see what’s

wrong with the church but it is a lot

more difficult to gather the right

people around the table and have the

right conversations so something can

change yes you know I am half Sicilian

and um I had never seen The Godfather I

think my mom was worried if I saw it

that I might adopt it and she’s kind of

right but anyway I um I had two lines

from The Godfather that I feel like kind

of needs to be our our Guardian rails as

women number one they said you don’t

ever tell people outside the family what

you’re thinking now I’m going to tell

you something that doesn’t mean you’re

quiet that means you tell the family

what you’re thinking you don’t go

outside of the family and tell all the

secular world that already hates us how

crazy the church is you don’t pull up

the bride’s skirt and show everything

that she’s got wrong going on you cover

her you declare what she’s going to be

if Jesus is committed to his bride if he

is washing us with the water of the word

why would we not do the same thing and

then number two lesson from The

Godfather is you never go against the

family you never go against the family

is the family perfect no but you don’t

go against the family because you’re

going to find yourself wrestling with

God don’t go against the family before

the family I need you to be part of the

solution I cannot have another

generation that does the same things and

gets so upset with things that they

actually are anointed to change not just

talk about so we need to have the right

people having the right conversation who

believe that the word of God is the

truth of God if we are women who are

adamant truth an adamant word if we use

our words to build we’re going to

construct something different now I’m

going to share a scripture with you that

is not a fun scripture for us to read as

women if I can get my notes to be free

here

um Paul wrote this but he talks about

women

who are weak will and Timothy who are

ever hearing but never coming into the

knowledge of the truth that they’re

being taken captive I’m going to tell

you something there’s a lot of happening

in blogs that are amazing they create

Community they connect connection where

women don’t feel isolated

but you cannot be taken emotional

hostage by their drama and what they are

going through can’t become what you’re

going through you cannot be those women

who are vulnerable to what everybody

else says because you don’t know what

God says that’s right when people know

they’re created for something with

purpose and they don’t have opportunity

then they’re subject to deception and so

I am desperate for the church not only

to give women permission to preach

platform to preach so in this group I

want you to talk to each other about

maybe somebody that’s like you know

posting stuff and you know they’re

saying well I I don’t really like my

husband right now and you’re like I

don’t really like my husband right now

is that really what you need to be

feeding

you know I really Julia you were sharing

with me about just the things like

people say about their kids and you’re

like I don’t I don’t want that in my

spirit you know I I want to love my kids

or things that just pervert your Vantage

you you’re the gatekeeper yes you’re the

gatekeeper you can’t blame it on them

that’s good but I will say to leaders

the Bible is very clear that not many of

us should be teachers and instructors

because we will incur a stricter

judgment the Bible also says that you

and I are going to give an account of

Every Idle Word do you know what Idol

means void a function and utility we’re

supposed to use our words to build and

give strength to other people we have to

create our words so that people can

function in this life so I’m going to

challenge you to be women of Truth and

women of the word I’m going to ask you

and again I’m talking to myself here I

write books I need to read I’m going to

ask you to put a watch over your mouth

that God can put a watch over you that

not one word you speak falls to the

ground I’m gonna ask that you would put

away vain imaginations and idle things

and step into the purpose of God on your

life I’m going to ask you to actually be

the gatekeeper so that you make sure the

things that are coming into your life

are inspiring you to love God love your

husband love your children love your

community love the church to edit your

life I can’t tell you how many women I I

hear about having Affairs I’m like wait

how did you have time for that I really

have time for my own husband but they

they sabotage

instead of edit I need you to edit your

life for the glory of God so good so

that you are strong

and you are adamant in your convictions

and in truth know the word of God labor

over the word of God there is so much in

this book but I wanted you to hear my

tone as a sin godmother I need you to

stop going against the family and have

the right conversations with the right

people amen

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