Jonnie T

David W Ebel: Yeah. Welcome to the God Says Yes podcast. You are welcome. Welcome to another episode of God Says Yes. My name is David Ebel, and ⁓ after fifty plus years of ministry, my mission still is to reach those that are struggling. So we're this podcast is here for you. If things have been difficult, if you've been hurt or you've been betrayed, or you've been belittled, you've someone's made made promises they didn't fulfill, or you've become embittered by someone, or maybe you got church hurt. Someone at church should have been really kind, but still Many times people don't think that the church is really the emergency room of the body of Christ. And if you've ever sat in the lobby of an emergency room, you'll know not everybody's happy to be there. And sometimes when new people come in that don't know Jesus yet, the things that come out of their mouths are not encouraging to the believer. And we get hurt. And I want to remind all of us that ⁓ God never hurts you. It's man that gets in there and messes things up. And so we want to encourage you to look past how you got here. Just long enough to realize that God created you to love. You're custom made by love. And God created you to be in relationship with him from the time you were conceived before you were conceived all the way through the time you make it to heaven. He loves you, he created you from the inside out. That's why we don't have to look alike on the outside, as long as we look alike. on the inside where God has created us to be like him. So that's the purpose of this podcast is to encourage, just to encourage. And we are welcoming you to be a part of that. So ⁓ each each of each of our interviews, we interview someone, just a regular person who loves God out out of their their personal walk with life. And today we're in interviewing Johnny T. Johnny is ⁓ an amazing friend and brother ⁓ out of Canada and Johnny, s we welcome you and we're glad you're here. It's a blessing to be here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Sure. I'm Johnny T and I met David through the podcast that I host and produce called Refuge Freedom Stories. We had a great conversation. I would encourage your audience to listen to it. And so I've been doing that since the mid of twenty twenty. I'm also a recently published author, wrote a book called One Thing About God, Individual Experiences with God's Character. And I'm also the author of the Substack from Glory to Glory, which presents articles that I write every now and then about what I believe God is showing me and encouraging me with in his word. And I do live in Canada. Married kids, ⁓ dogs, cats, anything else? Yeah, married, couple of kids, a bunch of grandkids, happy to have all of them, love every one of them dearly. Excellent. Now now at least you're not a stranger, you're somebody we know. That that that's always better. It's easier to to listen to someone and trust someone you know than it is a stranger. So there are no strangers here now. That's awesome. Well, ⁓ my friends, ⁓ I met Johnny through the ⁓ the ⁓ the podcast ⁓ network called Pod Match. And when I was just just starting out, Johnny was very gracious to to answer my questions and get me past the the training meal stage of this whole thing. And we became friends. And I've been waiting for a long time for us to find a time and common that we could do this. Because I believe John has something important to say. And and he's not afraid to tell us the truth about how much he loves God. Matter of fact, if there's anyone I've ever met that's crazy about God, it's Johnny. And I think that's That's one of the best things he could have on his resume is that he loves God more than anything else. ⁓ because that's that's what we all should be aiming for. And I'm I'm grateful that he that he has been able to accomplish that. So J John, ⁓ first question. Who were you before Jesus? Well, I was like everybody else in the world. I was lost. I was directionless, I guess, in a certain way. A lot of hurts, a lot of pains, a lot of struggles in life, things like that. A lot of people go through life without those things, but I wasn't one of them. Came from a broken home. My parents split up when I was eleven. And that created a almost toxic environment to grow up with. You know, I remember standing in a court when my parents were getting divorced. I was eleven years old and the judge looked at me and said, Who do you want to live with? And I was eleven and I thought to myself, Well, I really don't want to live with either of them because I really didn't like what my father had done and and acted, and I really didn't like the the anger and the bitterness and the hurt that my mom was going through. So I realized that I wouldn't be good in either of those two places. But I had to make a choice, so my brother and I decided to stay with my mom. And that was a hard environment because of those hurts. And you you talked in your introduction about hurts and and people losing hope in situations. You know, we were on welfare, social assistance, if you want to call it that, for three years. It was a tough go. It was a really, really tough go. And ⁓ you know, at that age, when you're in school, like your peers play a big part in your life. And so you're always trying to fit in, you're trying to ⁓ present a persona that you're maybe better than you are, or that you're not as poor as everybody else, or whatever it might be. And also, I had ⁓ advanced in school when I was younger, so I was a year younger than everybody else in my classes. So when I got to high school, I'm not sure what they call that in the States, but ⁓ like grade nine. ⁓ I was only four foot eleven and ninety eight pounds. And the first couple of days I was in school, like all the seniors had a lot of fun just bouncing me off lockers and you know, things like that. I I couldn't really defend myself and and so I, you know, I got pushed around a bit when I was young and and those those leave an impact on your life and the way you look at life and things and so on. Tried to fit in, wasn't really too athletic in many ways. I tried a bunch of different sports and none of them really worked. out very well for me. So anyway, I but I grew up with this this huge burden of responsibility on my shoulders because I was the oldest. And so, you know, when I got a part-time job, I helped my mom pay the rent and things like that. So did without a lot of things a lot of other kids would have. So then when I graduated ⁓ high school and was going off to university, I tried to pick a career that I believed would give me the sense of ⁓ per not purpose, but the sense of provision, you know, being able to provide, right? Because just having such a hard time with with ⁓ the funds and everything. I wanted something that was like a reliable job. So I went to university for a year in a career I thought I was supposed to be in and but that didn't work out. And I ended up in an entirely different career ⁓ in the energy industry and I stayed there for a long time. But all all through those early years when I was working, like I remember when I went to university in the first couple of weeks like orientation, they had campus crusade for Christ on the campus. And I had previously given my life to Jesus when I was nineteen. And now I had gone I had gone to university and so I was on campus. I my faith wasn't it was valid, it was real. I remember the Cheshire grin on my face when I gave my heart to the Lord. But the Bible talks about the seed being sown on different types of soil. And because of some things that that took place at that particular church, no no disrespect to the church. It was more of the relationship I was in with a particular girl at that time. When we broke up it was hard to stay there just from the hurt in my heart. So I stopped going and of course the enemy's right there to bring your old friends back around. Well, why don't you come do this? Why don't you come out with us? All that kind of blah, blah, blah. So when I went to university, I was still in that kind of mindset. And so I didn't really I talked to the people at Campus Crusade for Christ, but I never followed up with them and then eventually dropped out. So when I started working, ⁓ you know, I I met a girl who is now my wife. And she had just been saved. And that instantaneous recognition of the spirit that was alive in her heart was recognized by mine. Now God had been dealing with me. You know, I lost one of my best friends to a motorcycle accident. you know, I would go into into the bar and and God was like taking the scales off my eyes very slowly. And I'd be standing there and I remember so clearly. so clearly standing there saying, What am I doing here? I I I don't belong here. There was God was just drawing me and kind of taking that away from me and putting a desire for him in my heart, although I didn't really recognize it. And I I distinctly remember two times during that time period, between when I first got saved and when I gave my heart back to the Lord, there were two specific times where I looked in the mirror and I literally saw death staring back at me. It was my face and everything, but but I didn't look like me. I looked like death had its claws all over me. And ⁓ you know, event after event kind of thing happened and eventually when I when I met my now wife, I wasn't long after I gave my heart back to the Lord and then we ended up getting married and we've been married ever since. And you know, I w I want to encourage people that first off, if if they're listening And they've given their heart to the Lord maybe when they were young and they've drifted away, you're never too far to go back to God. You're never too far that God can't reach you and get a hold of your heart again because he never forgot that day that you put your name in his book of life. So he will work at his very best as he always does to draw us back to him and he'll give us opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, and he'll make sure That we understand that it's him in a bunch of different ways. And and just encourage us to come back, just like the prodigal son, coming back to his father. He's running towards us. You know, we're not running towards him, particularly at that time, but he's running towards us. So I want to encourage your audience about that, that that he is there for them and for you if you're listening, ⁓ just waiting for you to come back. Now that doesn't mean that when you come back. You know, you still got baggage that you brought with you from those those years in the wilderness. So so God has a way of dealing with you about that and and he's he's just so faithful to do so. Amen. And the a the amazing thing is that God because he never left you or forsakes you, he's with you always. There's nowhere you can go. You can't put him on a shelf and close the door and say, Okay, I'll go come back. ⁓ He he knows the thoughts when you think them. Maybe before you think them. He knows you for who you are and he still loves you even when you stink. I'm grateful he loves me when ⁓ when I'm not doing well, because that's when I need him the most. Because every time I do it on my own I end up with road ra ⁓ road rash all over the place. I end up hurting myself again and having to come back to my heavenly father and say, I did it again. Can I come home? And and and he's he's so merciful, he only forgives me. ⁓ But he gives me the courage to forgive myself and to get up off the mud and to I don't have to go back like Monopoly, just go back to go and start again. I can pick up where I left off after he's forgiven me and I've forgiven myself. I can get up and go forward and keep living for him. What a great, wonderful gift that is in itself. Absolutely. Now now, John, the next question. Go ahead. Sorry, go on. Yeah, no, I was just gonna say he tells us in his word in the Bible. that you know he has forgiven all our iniquities and he also tells us that he casts our iniquities as far away as the east is from the west so God is definitely in that business. Absolutely. Second question. Yep. When you met Jesus, how did you meet him? So the first time when I was nineteen, I was in what I thought was a Baptist church, but it turned out to be a brethren church, but I had no idea. I'd never been to church, so I didn't know. And ⁓ you know, there was a guy ⁓ at the front, he spoke his message, and at the end I just knew that I had to go up and talk to him. And so I did, and that's when I when I gave my heart to the Lord. And as I said, I had this big gigantic Cheshire grin smile on my face for hours. And it just didn't leave me. And you know, that was in the I I don't remember the exact date. I know a lot of people do. They say, ⁓ yeah, you know, like September 23rd of 1971, you know, I gave my heart to Jesus. Well, I don't remember the exact date. I know it was in the summer of that particular year, and that's as close as I can get, but it's very distinct in my mind that whole process of walking up there and and that experience of that, that joy. ⁓ like I know a lot of people have very emotional type responses when they meet Jesus. You know, I believe that yourself, you you know, you wept at the altar from what I remember ⁓ you know talking about with you and stuff. For me it wasn't like that. And other people, you know, have like visions or just sense the Holy Spirit's presence, whatever it might be. But for me it was that Cheshire grid and that has stayed in my memory and my heart for all these years. And then when I came back to the Lord. ⁓ you know, as I mentioned, my wife and I were having discussions all the time. And so so I basically just after a short period of time I realized, yeah, this is what God's been drawing me back to. And as I said, he had already opened my eyes along the way. So so I knew it was right and I just, you know, I just prayed on my own and just said, Lord, you know, forgive me and come into my heart and and ⁓ and that started the whole Renaissance with with Jesus, if you want to call it that. And it's funny because, you know, that time period in the in the wilderness that we briefly talked about before, that that same prayer to ask Jesus back in my heart, I'd probably be said it a number of times. I've I've probably gone up to like ten or fifteen altar calls type of thing, because the enemy's quick to condemn us. He's quick to try and maintain that we're still the same person that we used to be. And so it's taken some time for for Jesus to kind of cleanse my heart and my mind of that perception of the old man still being alive. You know, but the Bible says that old things are passed away and all things are become new. And it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So it's taken some time for God to to stir that in my heart and really bring it to a reality. But I'll tell you, it's such a powerful Such a powerful revelation to know that. It is. And you know, you're right, that not everybody has the same experience, but that's because we have a personal relationship with God. Some people are quiet and some people are very vivacious. And ⁓ for some some people all they need is the the the the breath of a feather and they and and they're moved. Other people are like me, they they need the two by four. And I think that's where we're at. He knows us because he created us and he knows what's going to work to get our attention and to lead us and guide us. And it's not because he loves us more or less, he loves us custom. If you have three children, you deal with three children three different ways because they're different people. I mean they get the same they get the same amount of ice cream, but that doesn't mean that otherwise you treat them the same. They eat because they have uniquenesses about them and you deal with them according to their uniquenesses. Well, the Heavenly Father, who is perfect, has no flaws, can't even figure out how to mess up. There's no failure in him. He looks at you and he says, I custom made you. I loved you before, I love you still. I'll always love you. And you can't sin far enough, you can't run far enough, you can't dig holes deep enough. You can't get away from my love because it's permanent. So I love you and I want you. To feel that love. I want you to recognize that all I have for you is wonderful things. When that happens, this profound difference happens. Your heart opens up. The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit coming in and dwelling in your heart. That means God places a piece of Him in you so He can lead you and guide you and heal you and direct you and anoint you. And that's where the freedom begins, because now you're not on your own. You're new in Him. And it's a whole new adventure. And even when it's hard, and believe me, anyone who says, Come to Jesus and your life's gonna be great. You're a car salesman, they're not a Christian. You know. It's come to Jesus and He'll never leave you or forsake you. Good days and bad, he'll always be with you. And he'll give you grace and strength on your bad days, just like he'll be with you and celebrate with your good days. Yep. But you can't you you're never gonna sink too low. Or be alone. So you always have him with you. So now that we've covered that, now comes the important and part to me, the fun part. That is how did it change you and and what what impact has it had in your life? Well, the change was dramatic. You know, like of course when you when you get saved, ⁓ all your all your quote unquote friends tend to disappear because they think you've lost your mind. And it's so I I remember I remember a few weeks later, of course, you know, you're you're trying to explain to every it's like you're trying to explain to everybody what's happened to you because they're asking, and you open your mouth and it's like a fire hose of of everything that you know at that point in time about Jesus. And these people are like standing back all like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you know, just slow down a little bit type of thing. And so Of course my friends saw the changes. I didn't go out with them, you know, partying and stuff like that anymore. And and of course, you know, they've all dropped away and ⁓ over over the years and and it was it was a big change for sure. I remember a friend of mine, still a friend of mine, came up to me and he said, ⁓ Hey Johnny, he says, ⁓ what really happened to you? And so, you know, I ⁓ I explained to him and you know, he's he's a believer and and ⁓ a believer now and And had a sense of God in his life at that time. So he kind of understood. So we we have lots of conversations over the years. But definitely it changed. ⁓ you know, my focus changed on the things that were important to me. The ⁓ the desire to really dig into God's word. You know, I ⁓ even when I was nineteen, I believed that God was calling me into the ministry. I believed that the time that I was supposed to go to Bible college, and I remember talking to my girlfriend at that time. at the church and I I talked to her mom and said, Hey, I think I'm supposed to go to Bible college. She's like, ooh, that's a you know, that's a unique special call. I don't know if you're the right guy for that. And I said, ⁓ okay. Well, I didn't know anything, right? So I said, Okay. And but yet that that call for ministry, however that embodies itself, has never left. And so, you know, with podcasting and writing and things, I I see that as an expression of the call for ministry that God's put in my life. Whether that develops into more or trims down to less, I don't know. But I'm certainly always open and available to God to to do whatever He asks me to do. And and just like I'm ⁓ like on you know Podmatch the tagline there, incredibly passionate about Jesus. I am incredibly passionate about Jesus. Incredibly ⁓ have incredible desire to tell people about Jesus. I'm I'm a big believer in prayer. I pray all the time. ⁓ I pray with faith and believe that God hears and answers those prayers. We've seen lots of answers to prayers. ⁓ I've experienced healing in my own body in a couple of times. ⁓ it's just that whole relationship. The the biggest thing for me is ⁓ knowing Him, to be known by Him and to know Him. That's eternal life. And so that consumes me every day. So I'm constantly thinking about that. I'm constantly, you know, trying to read the word and and ⁓ well I I do read the word every day and pray every day and and just expecting God to reveal himself to me more and more. And as he does, he also reveals more of us to ourselves because he's comparing us to him when he's speaking to us. And so that really that really changes a person when you when you start entering into that kind of relationship with him. Absolutely. So w w we've we've covered who you were, who you is, how that changed you. Now what kind of hope will that give your viewer and listener? Well, we both talked about there's no depth or distance from God that you can go to that he can't reach you. So I would say to the listeners, you know, if you're going through a hard time, you need to know that Jesus is right there with you. There's a scripture in Proverbs eighteen, I believe it's verse twenty four, and it says there's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And I've experienced that to a degree in my own life. And I want to encourage you that are listening that Jesus is that friend. Jesus is the one that, as David said, created created you, knew you before you were even created in your mother's womb. And you have purpose. And that purpose, the enemy wants to steal it away. Because that purpose is first off you coming into a relationship with Christ, secondly, figuring out what that purpose is with him. And then thirdly, operating in that purpose because that is what's going to bring you that sense of fulfillment, that sense of passion, that clarity in your life, that determination, the everything you need to fill that. So don't worry about what's going on around you right now. Look to God because He already knew everything that you're going through right now. And he already has a plan set out ahead of you that you can't even see. And I think the one of the big things about that is we can take confidence in that. It's hard for us sometimes when we're looking around us because we live in a in the real world. We live in a tangible world of things we can touch and feel and sense and hear and so on and so on. God is in his own, and he is, he just is. And so he already knows what's gonna happen tomorrow, the next day, the people you're gonna meet, the podcasts you're gonna listen to, like this one, the books you're gonna read, the connections you're gonna make, the things you're gonna fail at, the things you're gonna succeed at. He knows all of those things. So you can have confidence in him that he also knows, as David said, what's best for you. And so I would just encourage people that there's never a lost cause. Never. a lost cause. I've seen so many testimonies and read so many people's stories. It's unbelievable how God will grab someone by the scruff of the neck and pull them out of that pit and set them on the rock and start their life all over again as a brand new creation. He didn't describe me. You know, it's funny ⁓ when when I learned when when I first felt called into ministry, someone explained to me something that stayed with me for Over fifty f fifty three years now. And that is that ministry is this way. God in you, you in God. He administers love and healing and hope and blessing. And we we minister back to him in praise and worship and obedience and serving. Now when that is a good it's like a fire hose. You get this beautiful power, this big you know, the you hook up a fire hose, there's some power in its at that hose. And and if you it's great until you you block it. Try to stop a fire hose when it's got full power. You're gonna break your arm and it's not gonna bend. But if you were to hinder someone to the point where you you begin to squeeze that and the the power can't get through, the person who needs it for their fire is gonna lose a house. The blessings of God come through like that, and when we receive them, the reflection of that is love and service and helping and preaching and teaching and podcasting and sub stacking and all the other ways. These are all reflections of this. So in your life, you're going to change your assignment. I I've been a pastor, I've been an evangelist, I've been a teacher, I've been a disaster responder and trainer. I've done a lot of different things in my life, but this is still my ministry. Now I'm a now I'm a podcaster. But so I've ch my job description changes, but my relationship does not. If anything, God draws me closer every day and every year. So that I'm more like him and less like I used to be. I now think of me when I was in my early twenties when it first when I first fell in love with Jesus. Now I'm glad I'm not him anymore. I had all that zeal and I had about as much knowledge as you could put in a thimble. But man, I thought I knew everything. But all these years of living for God and learning from God and obeying God and and messing up and being forgiven by God. Have taught me that I know very little, but he knows everything. And if I know him, I get all that all the answers I need. It's like having a key to the library for my my very own. When I need the knowledge, it's available to me, but I don't have to try to be the the all all knowing knowledge person for the universe. I just have to be do this, and the reflection of that is this. So Johnny, Johnny, your your ministry never slowed down, no matter whether or not you got to go to Bible school. Because your ministry is beautiful between him and you. It it's full and your fire hose is running strong. Now all you've got to do is just keep continue to be the a pure reflection. Not a fun house mirror, a pure reflection of the good things of God. And for those that are viewing and listening, don't let someone who who's lived their life as a fun house mirror mirror where they've twisted the truth by how they've lived, how they've acted, how what they've said. Don't let that be your knowledge of God. Reject that and go back to what God says. Take him at his word, not at at what someone says. I don't care who the someone is, if it if it interferes with what God tells us, we're probably fishing in the toilet instead of s instead of going where the good fish are. I would highly recommend that that all of us remember the the foundation of it. ⁓ go to your first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There's your book of love right there. If you go to John first, which is called the Book of Love, and you read that, you understand God's love for us. Then you go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke before you read John a ther a second time, and you learn how the church works and how God's love works in the church and therefore works in you. And if you by the time you finish those four books You understand God a lot different and a lot better than you did before. And I I I I make I'm excited for what people discover. Now that I've tried ⁓ God's allowed me to travel to 49 states and 20 countries and share his good news all over the world, I can tell you with certainty that God never changed. He may he may meet people in different situations, but if their relationship is just as pure as mine. Just as good as mine or better, and his hope for them is just as beautiful. So wherever you are, whatever you're going through, whether you're in prison or you're in a nursing home, or whether you're driving down the street in a car, or you're sitting at home feeling terrible, God is there waiting for the opportunity to to love you and administer his love and healing and like and all his mercy so that you could love him back step by step, an inch at a time, maybe. But you can begin to worship him or love him. And by that loving and obeying him, that opens the hose. So that all the amazing things that God had planned for the before you were born can come and start filling your life. That's we call it the Holy Spirit. When that Holy Spirit is active in our lives, phenomenal things that your brain can't even seem to wrap your head around. Those things become real in your life. That's where you why you end up with that that ⁓ Sheshara smile is because When you get a real dose of how amazing God is, it you can't even contain it. It just l it's like a a glass running over. You just can't stop it. And that's how a life for Jesus is supposed to be. Yeah. There's a couple of things you said there that ⁓ made me think about a couple of things myself. So the first one is you talked about how we see God and how we see ourselves. And it reminded me of that scripture that says we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face. And I think our journey with God starts like that, like we we recognize who he is, our need for him, and we ask him into our heart and soul, but we still see through a glass darkly because we don't have that wisdom. We don't have that that time spent, you know, in the word and praying and getting to know him. But as we as we develop our f as he develops our faith in us and grows more ⁓ in us and and as you said about love and obedience. Like Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commands, right? And so the old things pass away because the more we fall in love with Jesus, the more we become obedient to what he says in his word. And we don't want to entertain those those old ways any longer. So it's a journey, as as you said. And the other thing that it made me think about was I still feel like I'm just dipping my big toe in the ocean of God. It's just such a vast ocean of him and no matter how far along we are in our journey with God, it's still a vast ocean. Like I still feel like I'm just dipping my toe in the ocean. And it creates some g such a hunger to to know more of him, to know him better and to know him more intimately. And so just those those couple of thoughts came to mind. Well Johnny, we always invite our guests to give us a golden nugget, something that they can take from this podcast with them and and pray or meditate or discuss or whatever, however they process things over the the next weeks to come. So what would you share with our viewers and listeners that would be a golden nugget they could polish and learn from? I would say that he is God says, you know, I am that I am. I am the I am. And when you think about the I wrote an article about this on Substack, so I'll I I'll kind of badly quote it here, but when you think about I am, what do we use for a short form for that? I'm I apostrophe am I right? So the Bible tells us that the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. So the I'm in impossible, if you think of I him being the I am and shorten it to the I'm, I'm possible. So everything is possible with God. And because He is in everything, He is everything. It doesn't matter what your situation is, the things that are impossible with men, impossible for you to walk through, impossible for you to get out of, impossible for you to break free from, those things are possible with God because He is. Amen. So when we when we go home from we get out of the car or we we get up from our bed or we're up wherever we're we're we're communing with God or listening on the radio or listening on the computer or however we're ⁓ absorbing this information. We don't have to we don't have to stay stuck ever. We just are we are we go we come from where we are. to the next step of where God wants us to be. If it if it's in millimeters, it's still moving. We don't have to do it all in a week. We just have to give God room to begin to start. Remember, man is a failure. That's why he needs so if you let man impact your life, you're you're you're putting a wedge beh in front of a wheel. If you want your car to not roll, let someone put a brick in front of your wheels. If you want If you want your life to go nowhere, let people get in the way of what God has got planned for you to roll. Let the love of God remove all the obstacles. Even if it takes baby steps, because that's all you can handle right now. Baby steps forward are still forward. Give God room and be amazed. You'll be amazed by how amazing your life will change. I've shared this all over the world, and you know it's the same. It's the same in Haiti as it is here. It's the same in Jamaica or or or in India, the same as it is here. God never changes because he doesn't need to. He doesn't have an doesn't need a new and improved. He is the best. And he can't wait to be the best in your life. Amen to that. So as we close this this interview, I want to pray and then give a challenge. And ⁓ I want you to understand that what we've talked about is not just something in the that we're we're talking in our heads. This is something we've lived in our lives. It's impacted us deeply enough that we want it for you. We want you personally to experience this so that not so you can be like me. No, please not like me. You want to be like you don't want to be like Johnny, even though he's a great guy, you don't want to be like Johnny. You want to be like God wants you to be, personally, from the inside out. Custom made. So his relationship with you is going to be custom. It won't be exactly like mine or his. It'll be exactly like God planned it for you, in spite of people, in spite of situations. God loves you and get us to show you how much that love works in your life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for the privilege we have to share your love. God, we're so grateful that no matter how stuck we started out, you not only got Cleared the way so we could move forward, but you didn't change this from the inside out from where we were, damaged and on the side of life, watching everything go by and us holding back. Lord, you've seen us, you've reached us, we trusted you, and you've got us rolling again, and now you've you're rebuilding us from the inside out. And who we become is not even who we recognize. We're grateful for how you changed us to the point where we Even our friends don't recognize who we've become because how much beautiful more beautiful God in us becomes. Lord, we pray for every one of the listeners and viewers that you'd be real to them. That you'd be real to them in such a way as that somehow your Holy Spirit would change hearts and give hope. And give healing so people can forgive as you have forgiven us, for give them the ability to forgive those that are hindering them. Don't forgive them so that they can be forgiven. Forgive them so we can be we can let go of that and let you get rid of it. So nothing or no one or nothing can stop us from trusting you. Bless every single viewer and listener. Bless Johnny and his ministry and his family. Minister through them, minister to them. Manifest your love in everything they do. And Lord, we pray for all of the you that are that are going to hear this, even months and even years later. That you would know that God customated you to love and he loves you right now, as if it was just a second ago. His love never changes, and it's here for you. I ask Lord that you bless these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And the challenge, the challenge is this: seek after God. He will be found. You want to know him better? Seek Jesus. Jesus said he was the way to God. You want to know more about God, seek Jesus. He is the way to God and he'll reveal himself to you, and you'll never recognize who God will be in you when he's done. Seek after God. You will be finding amazing things. This has been the God Says Yes podcast with David Ebel. To connect with David, email him at GodsaysYespodcast at gmail.com. You can get his latest book, When the Doctors Say No, God Says Yes, at Amazon.com.