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Understanding

28-Year-Old Influencer Ally Yost Shares How ‘Obedience Unlocks Understanding’

by Christel Berns February 12, 2024

written by Christel Berns

The 28-year-old social media influencer, Ally Yost, shared a powerful message about how “obedience unlocks understanding” for Christians.

Thoughts Turn To Action

Sometimes, individuals undergo transformation when their minds come across wisdom they have never encountered before. This could explain the power of thoughts, as whatever one allows into their mind becomes a thought. These thoughts, in turn, have the potential to shape reality through one’s actions. The Scripture explains this in Proverbs 4:23, which says, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”

Ally Yost [@ally_yost]. Influencer. Instagram, 9 Dec. 2023, https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0mb5_JJsQW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

In a brief message, social media influencer Ally Yost shared a profound phrase from a book she recently read, which greatly impacted her. She expressed how this simple sentence brought about a transformative change within her. Furthermore, she elaborated on how it opened her mind to the wisdom of God.

Obedience Unlocks Understanding

“I just read the most impactful yet simple sentence ever,” she said. “Obedience unlocks understanding.”

According to the 28-year-old influencer, individuals are not obligated to provide God with an explanation for everything. Instead, she suggests that it is truly commendable for a person to trust in God even in times of limited understanding.

“Understanding can wait but obedience can’t,” she stressed. “You will never understand some commands until you obey them first.”

MISS UNIVERSE 4TH-PLACER FINALLY MARRIED AFTER ‘GOD ALLOWED’ HER TO BE SINGLE FOR 8 YEARS

“More times than not, God asks us to trust Him, obey what He asks of us, and the understanding will come after that,” Ally further explained. “Sometimes God doesn’t even have time to explain everything He asks of us. Sometimes He needs us to just trust Him. And then we will see the puzzle pieces fall together so perfectly.”

“First comes the trust without really even knowing all the details for the understanding to come after that,” she remarked.

Ally Yost, a renowned 28-year-old social media influencer, boasts a following of over a million on TikTok and more than 300,000 followers on Instagram.

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A post shared by Ally Yost (@ally_yost)

Reference | Instagram – Ally Yost

Header Image: Ally Yost [@ally_yost]. Influencer. Instagram, 17 Jan. 2024, https://www.instagram.com/p/C2LTF98JpN8/

February 12, 2024 0 comments

Faith

Faith Comes By Hearing And Understanding The Word Of God

by John Mathai June 27, 2022

written by John Mathai

Faith is trust and one must trust God to believe He exists. God is Spirit and we need to trust Hm through our spirit to believe and trust in Him. When we hear God’s word we hear the sound but may not understand His word. Faith appears to be a word with no substance till it is believed. This is the difference between knowing about God and knowing Him intimately as a Father. Many believe in God but do not have the experience of knowing Him. This gap in belief and experience is because we are not believing with our heart. It is heart knowledge that leads to transformation. Merely knowing something does not change anything.

Knowledge

Knowledge alone is not enough to trust. Trust comes from a conviction of the heart that what is written in His word is true. Once we are convinced we become convicted of the truth. It is this conviction that leads to transformation of our mind. Mere head knowledge does not bring conviction. Many believe God heals but then do not receive the healing. Could it be that the knowledge has not been translated into a conviction? I know from experience that the sun will set each day and a new morning will dawn the next day. In the same way we must trust God and know He is who He says He is.

Understanding

Today let us not just be satisfied with knowing about God and be convinced in our heart that He is. This will bring a transformation in our mind that will affect our body. Healing and miracles will manifest and we will be made whole. Let us believe with our heart and see our neighbourhood, city and nation change as we trust God to move in our midst. In the spirit there is a whole new dimension that we can tap into if we would believe. God is waiting for the sons of God to be revealed and this is the time for it. The glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the water covers the sea.

Dr. John Mathai

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June 27, 2022 0 comments

Faith

Knowledge Without Understanding Is Useless

by John Mathai May 8, 2022

written by John Mathai

In this world we have a lot of knowledge about things and matters to do with our physical world. This is good but a lot of knowledge without understanding does no one any good. I may know a lot about the workings of a motor car engine but what use is it if I can’t apply what I know practically? Knowledge in itself is not bad but has no power to change me if I fail to understand what I know. This lack of understanding blinds people to the truth. This can be applied in all areas of our life especially to our spiritual world. We know a lot about God but do not know Him as a person.

Understanding

We were born again in our spirit. This means that once our spirit was dead but in Jesus our spirit has come alive. We have a new spirit in us. Many are satisfied with this position and do not go any further. However God has more for us then just having a new spirit. He desires to give us His own Holy Spirit to indwell us. This is called the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the manifestation in tongues. Few either lack this knowledge or refuse to accept that this is required to live an abundant life. It is only by revelation that one becomes aware of the need to be baptised in the Spirit.

Application

When we read the scriptures we can read it as an inspiring word. However His word becomes flesh when we understand and receive His word personally. There is a big difference between knowing about His word and knowing His word. I can know all the rules about driving a car but it is only when I drive a car do I really understand how to drive a car. Many fail to understand that God is a person and desires a relationship with us. We maybe saved and bound for heaven but fail to know Jesus as a person in a relationship with Him. What a wonder this is that we can have a relationship with God who is as real as our next door neighbour. Let us enter into the fullness that God has prepared for us and live.

Dr. John Mathai

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May 8, 2022 0 comments

Faith

Seeing But Not Understanding

by John Mathai January 20, 2022

written by John Mathai

Mind blindness is real. Many times in conversation we cannot progress because the other person fails to understand us. This is a form of mind blindness. They appear to see and hear yet they fail to comprehend. Why is this so? This is so because their mind is blocked from seeing. How does this block occur? This occurs when people are fixed in their thoughts about a certain subject or person and can’t see beyond their own thoughts. How sad a state this is! Blockages can occur due to different reasons. It could be that the person just fails to understand. They are unable to process the information in a way that they can understand.

Parables

Jesus spoke in parables. The disciples could not understand and so Jesus had to explain the parable using literal language. Many times we don’t see what the scripture we read is saying. We get confused by the language and metaphors used. The writer has written the text in the context of the culture of his time. We use a western lens to understand scripture and fail to see. Our western images of eastern culture fail to get across the real meaning of what was written. So Jesus had to explain this in simple terms but they still failed to understand. To this day the Jews fail to see Jesus as the Messiah. Their spiritual eyes are blind. Yet some have seen and understand.

Understanding

We need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to understand. We can have a lot of information but without understanding we fail to see. We hear that seeing is believing like Thomas claimed. Yet Jesus said we must believe to see. Is this a contradiction. Faith believes even when it does not see. Faith than is able to see into the supernatural and bring it into the natural. The feeding of the five thousand is an example of how faith multiplied the loaf and fishes. God wants us to see with our spiritual eyes so we can understand His ways and be transformed.

Dr. John Mathai

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January 20, 2022 0 comments

Let go anything that stops you from getting closer to God

Articles

God Understands Like No One Else Does

by John Mathai December 26, 2021

written by John Mathai

God is all knowing and all present. We lack understanding and think we know when we really don’t. Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus is God and He knows what He is doing. Why should a man die for the sins of another? Why suffer when God has promised us an abundant life? Some of the things that happen to us do not make sense. No one understands what I am going through is a frequent thought we have. We think we are unique to our problems. Yet God understands our situation. He is the only one who understands and can get us out of the mess we are in. We can then share the message with others.

Understanding

We know all about everything but we lack understanding. Knowing is not understanding. We read a lot and we see a lot but still lack understanding. We can read the word of God but still not understand. Jesus spent three and a half years with His disciples to get them to understand. When they understood He was prepared to leave them to finish the job of sharing the good news of His death and resurrection. Yet they did not understand till they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter denied him three times before His death. How much do we understand and think we know when we really don’t?

Revelation

When we come to God He will reveal to us Himself. In Him we understand that all things work for good to those who love God and who are called to fulfil His purpose. He has an assignment for each one of us. When we are fulfilling His call then we do not have to question His purpose. He is in control and He will fulfil His purpose. His purpose is that we become like His Son, Jesus. We may think we have a job to do but His purpose is to make us like His Son. Now we understand because we know Him as our Father. We thank Him for all things that have happened, good and not so good in our lives because we know He knows best.

Dr. John Mathai

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December 26, 2021 0 comments

Articles

Using Wisdom & Understanding To Fight Against Temptation

by Rhoda Gayle July 24, 2021

written by Rhoda Gayle

Ward Simpson shares how he used God’s wisdom and understanding to fight against temptation.

Fighting Against Temptation

He teaches us that we can use wisdom to avoid temptations by sharing his own testimony. About a week ago, he set up his phone to restrict all sexual content and gave it to his wife, Lydia, for her to put a password for it. Only Lydia will know the password and he can’t change the settings. He did it because wisdom taught him how he could avoid temptations.

“The enemy attacks and we have weaknesses,” he said. “It’s by God’s mercy and by God’s faithfulness that we could stand here today.”

Everyone is tempted by the enemy and all of our hearts are deceitful. But we can use the wisdom that God gave us to make wise decisions to avoid sinning.

“Every one of us, the Bible says our hearts are deceitful and that’s why we need wisdom,” Ward emphasized.

Wisdom

He then continued to reference the Scripture to highlight how important wisdom and understanding are.

“He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.” – Jeremiah 10:12

God has used wisdom to lay the foundations of the earth and He is still using it until today to keep us from the snares of the enemy. Let us always rely on wisdom and understanding in every step that we make.

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July 24, 2021 0 comments

Faith

Hearing And Understanding, Seeing And Perceiving

by John Mathai June 6, 2021

written by John Mathai

We hear a lot of things and see a lot of things. However this hearing and seeing is wasteful if there is no understanding of what we hear. This was the problem when Jesus walked on earth and it is still a problem today. We hear things but we do not always understand. What we hear passes through our brain and then we forget what we heard. To understand what we hear, we need to listen to what is said. Listening is a higher form of hearing. We listen to understand what is said. Even here we can understand with our mind or with our heart. Both are essential to understand what we hear. It is understanding with the heart that results in revelation, which is the so-called aha! experience when the light bulb comes on.

Seeing

We also see a lot of things especially through media and films. We are a very visual generation and are bombarded with images all day. Yet we need to perceive what we see to understand what we see. Many today see life as a movie. We watch our lives passing by like we watch a movie and then forget what we just saw until the next movie. What a waste of life! Life is for living not just to watch and forget. When we perceive what we see we will get rooted and changed. Transformation only comes through understanding the truth. Jesus died and rose again. This is the truth but lack of understanding keeps many from receiving the truth. Many hear the good news of the gospel but never receive the salvation in it.

Understanding

As in the days of the apostles so also today we declare the Good News but few listen and perceive the truth in it. They either oppose it or ignore it. The devil has blinded us from seeing and receiving. This applies in all areas of life. What we dismiss will not have any lasting effect on us. We will be like dreamers who dream but no action follows. We will be like clouds with no rain. Come today and listen to the good news of God’s message of salvation and receive the truth that Jesus is the only way to the Father and be saved. This will change your life forever and heaven will be your final destiny.

John Mathai

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June 6, 2021 0 comments

Family

Fostering Empathy And Kindness In Children

by Joanna Flavin June 5, 2020

written by Joanna Flavin

I remember when my eldest son was watching an episode of Sesame Street and he was getting visibly distressed. The character, Baby Bear, lost his pet bird. So Baby Bear was also visibly distressed. My child was reacting to the emotion he was seeing Baby Bear express. And he was in turn expressing that emotion with Baby Bear. My son put himself in Baby Bear’s shoes, in other words, my son was showing empathy.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…” (Philippians 2:3)

Empathy Is In Us All

It was such a proud moment for me. It showed me that the capacity for empathy is in us all, but it is something developed by watching others show compassion. Because my son saw my husband and I comforting him and others in times of distress and offering compassion, kindness, and love to others, he was able to do it too. In order to show our kids how to be empathic friends, we need to show them that we are empathic friends. When we surround ourselves with kindhearted, gentle, sensitive people, then our kids will follow our lead and behave that way as well. They will also want to have friends with the same qualities.

Some of my favorite moments as a mom are when I see my three boys empathizing with each other. When I look over and see one of my boys picking up his brother after he has fallen down, or offering a hug when he’s having a hard moment, my heart swells with pride. One time, my middle son was yelling at me for disciplining the youngest for dumping his milk all over the floor. My middle boy tried to defend the youngest by saying it was an accident and he didn’t mean to do it. Although, I was certain that picking your milk cup up and deliberately dumping it upside down was DEFINITELY no accident, I was still proud of my middle boy for empathizing with the youngest and trying to protect him.

Be Kind

We have all heard the quote, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” (Jennifer Dukes Lee) My prayer is that I raise kind, empathetic children. Of course, I want them to be happy, successful, God-fearing, confident people. But I really hope their kindness emanates to all those around them. And that it is apparent that they love others deeply.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

June 5, 2020 0 comments

Faith

7 Keys to Making it Through Life’s Storms

by GOD TV July 3, 2018

written by GOD TV

7 Keys for Life’s Storms

As we all know, when life is going well for us it is as if the world itself has turned into the most beautiful place to be. The sun shines brightly but not too warm, birds softly sing, and we walk with a joyful bounce in our step. We are filled with so much peace that it cannot help but ooze out of us and flood over into the way we view our lives.

However, when things go wrong and storms eventually come: It seems like we just cannot catch a break, our perspectives of our lives usually do a complete 180-degree turn. Suddenly everything is dark and gloomy, the world is against us, and just getting out of bed in the morning can seem like an impossible task.

When we are going through these dark times in life the most important thing to do is to remember that there is hope for brighter days ahead if we only persevere. Focusing our eyes on God and our minds on his promises for our lives is not an instant problem solver – but it will give the help and strength we need to get through difficult times.

Below are 7 things we should remind ourselves of daily when we are struggling to stay filled with hope in the middle of life’s storms:

#1: Prayer is an instant way to connect to God.

If your faith is wavering on the unsteadiness of life, turn to God in prayer immediately and ask for God to intervene in your situation. You might be surprised to find just how quickly he will fill your day with joy and peace once you ask him for it.

#2: This hardship will not end your life.

Even when it feels as if the weight of the world is crashing down on you, remember that this situation you are dealing with does not have the power to end your life.

#3: Worry is counter-productive.

Filling your mind with worried and nervous thoughts will only continue to brew more anxiety and hopelessness. Allowing yourself to become filled with worry will not get you anywhere. Instead you must focus your thoughts on faith and hope in order to combat the anxiety.

#4: Just keep moving forward.

Instead of allowing yourself to become stuck in the bog of this hard time, push yourself to keep moving forward. Somewhere through the journey you will find the blessing that has been hidden in this struggle. So until then, have the confidence and the trust in the Lord to know that he has a bigger plan for your life than you could ever ask for or imagine.

#5: Even Jesus suffered.

The Bible never promised that our lives would be free of suffering. Because we live in a broken and sinful world, there really is no way around it. Though suffering is inevitable for our lives, we must push through to the other side in order to find the joy that is waiting for us there.

#6: Surrender your expectations.

The plans and expectations that we have for our lives are nothing in comparison to what God has in store for our future. Let go of your expectations and allow God’s infinite love for you to take over your plans with his will for your life.

#7: God has not abandoned you.

Do not allow yourself to give into the lie that God has abandoned you in this season. He is very much alive, active, and present in your situation and wants nothing more but for you to go to him for the strength you need to persevere.

July 3, 2018 0 comments

Articles

You Can Have a Peace That Transcends Understanding

by Kelsie Fargo July 26, 2017

written by Kelsie Fargo

Peace That Transcends Understanding

Human nature is to take control. We hear motivational speakers saying things like, “take control of your life” and our ears perk up because it’s something we so desperately seek. Our stress and anxiety are like a big web that we’re trying to untangle ourselves and we jump from one task to the next in hopes that we can relieve some of the pressure. When we attempt to take control of our lives, we ultimately end up pushing out the One who gave us our life in the first place.

In Philippians 4:6-7 it says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The fact that this verse doesn’t just say peace, but it says a peace that transcends ALL understanding means that it goes far beyond an earthly idea of peace. It’s not a peace that makes sense because all is well in our lives at the time. It is a peace that our human mind (understanding) can’t even begin to comprehend because of a knowing that despite our circumstances, God is working things together for our good.

The key to experiencing that peace is to approach God with a stilled heart. There are three central words in these verses that I want to focus on: Anxious; prayer; and peace. Being anxious is the problem we try to solve ourselves; prayer is the procedure we are told to practice; peace is the product we are promised by God. When we withdraw from our busy lives to spend time with Him, we experience the reality of His peaceful presence.

July 26, 2017 0 comments

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