 This is going to be such a great show. We're talking about fasting. Does God call us all to fast, Flo? He calls us to fast for sure, Kathy, but we're gonna talk more about that. The other thing we're gonna be talking about is how do you hear the Holy Spirit? And we're gonna be talking about salvation too. Are you safe? Yeah, man. Okay. See what the sisters think. Search the sister. So glad you joined us today. You're joining a panel of women, strong, opinionated women, and we bring the answers that you write to us. We bring the answers from a biblical standpoint. Cory's not with us today, but we are four sisters strong. Let's do this, girls. Here's the first question that you wrote to us. It's really good. I'm gonna give it to Amy. If fasting is something we are called to do, because that was in the Old Testament, if so, do you fast? She's asking us, and what are some of the results of fasting? Well, it wasn't just the Old Testament. It was the Old Testament and the New Testament. And honestly, for a believer, fasting to me is not an option. It's like, some people do it differently. There's different kinds of fasts. There's different ways the Lord will lead you. But one thing for sure, fast is denying your flesh food of some, whether you're doing sweets, meats, treats, and wheats, whatever that fast is, and you're just doing the Daniel fast, whatever that is, or I'm doing water only for three days, what you're trying to do is silence the voice of the flesh. The flesh is so consumed with feeding itself and getting its own desires. And it sharpens and it tunes you in more to the voice of the spirit. And I mean, and honestly, one of my favorite Old Testament scriptures in Isaiah is it not the fast that I have chosen to lose the bonds of wickedness? I mean, to undo the straps of the yoke so that the oppressed can go free. Jesus fasted, Daniel fasted, the disciples fasted before they even had the new disciple fill that spot. It's like fasting is not an option and you do it to just clearly hear from heaven. Break the, I mean, you wanna see your kid change fast and pray. And break those bonds of wickedness over them. We've done it many, many times in our life. I should be really thin, actually, now that I'm thinking about it for all of the fasting. Yeah, I don't know where the, I tried to search it out because there is like a mindset out there that fasting is not necessary for today's Christian. And I don't know where they're getting it from because it is all the way from the Old Testament to the New Testament, it's modeled before us. All of what you just said, the benefits of it, of quieting. It's a way to purge our soul, quiet and still our spirit. Have our ear gate open. And I can say that there are levels of ministry. In my opinion, you may never get to if you don't learn the art of that. Now, I will say for me, things have changed because I was, when we would fast, it was just water. Then, we began to learn about the Daniel fast. Now people, well, I fast from TV, I fast from, but the bottom line is denying your flesh. I think one of the things that people miss though, Amy, is that they don't eat and they feel like that's a fast. Well, not eating and not taking that time to pray and spend time in the work is simply you dieting. So that's the whole point of the fast, the time that, so if you are fasting from television and maybe you normally look at a show from eight to nine at night, eight to nine instead of watching that show, you spend that time with the Word and with the Lord. What do you think about fasting? Yes, I do agree it's part of Christianity in the Old and New Testament. Jesus did say the Pharisees said, why don't your disciples fast? And he said the bridegroom's still with them. That's right, that's right. When the bridegroom goes, they're gonna do plenty of it. Just be careful, know your body, know what you can do and can't do and ask the Lord for those parameters. I do have to say this. One of the fruits of the spirit, what's that, Galatians is self-control. That's right. And fasting, whatever it is, the TV, whatever produces, a fruit is produced, it's cultivated, produces self-control in other areas. If you have problems with your tongue, if you have problems with your mouth, what you're saying, your eyes, what they see, you know, this fasting, whatever it is, produces self-control so that whenever temptation comes your way, you learned, I have self-control here, I could do it here. When that young girl comes walking by and you wanna, you know, you've learned how to operate in self-control. So it is one of the fruits of the spirit. God gives grace, he gives the ability, but you've gotta cultivate self-control. Right, but I do wanna say there are people that don't fast. I don't want you to feel that you're any less Christian than we are. I want you to pray about it, and I want you to remember when you were little Catholic girls and you gave up chocolate for Lent, or you did something special for your sisters during a time of prayer. But I just don't want you to feel guilty or shame. I want you to ask the Lord about that. So I'm a person, I don't fast, I give up, but it's my makeup that I get instant migraines. Now, I know from a physical standpoint, fasting is really good to clear all the toxins. I can't have a migraine for three days. I can't operate in the world that I live in. So I just want you to know, don't feel guilty, please, because God is with you anyway. All right, and I'm gonna go to this one, too. This question even is more pertinent, I think, for you. And the question someone wrote is, how can I be assured, Roxy, that I'm saved? Good question. You know, I gave a testimony months ago about how I grew up with a reverence of God. Yes, yes, you have. In the Armenian Orthodox, baptism, and the Presbyterian background, which I loved, and it gave me that reverence for God. And then, when I heard at a corn roast, Romans 10, 9, 10, if we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart, God raised him from the dead, we are saved. Amen. It's that simple. You heard it at a corn roast? Yes, it was a Bible, it was a church's, and they were preaching there. See, but God gets you everywhere. Yes, and Romans 8 says, His Spirit bears witness with your spirit. Amen. That you are His child. And what happens after that? What happened when that touched me, when I went from this reverence to a relationship with Christ, I wanted to know Him more. I wanted to love Him more. I recognized His love for me. You're gonna know when you're saved, when you have a hunger for His Word, when you have a hunger to be with the people that He loves, when you have a hunger to love the people He loves that are unlovely, then you know God has made a transformation in your life that you in your own flesh could not have had. So good, so good girls. How do I know that I'm saved? That is a great question because if you do some research, most Christians, if you ask the different denominations, can a good person go to heaven? A good person. And most of the percentages and most denominations would be a high percentage, yes, they're a good person, they're gonna go to heaven. And I think that's the drawing line is that the only way to the Father is through the Son, Jesus. It's believing in Jesus. It's receiving Jesus into your heart. It's making Him Lord of your life that there is a transformation of I don't look like the person I once was, I don't sound like the person I have been saved. I have been born again. I am a new person or creation in Christ Jesus. So it's not just by your works, it's by what He did for us and the pressures on Him, the attentions on Him, the glories on Him. And when you stand before the Father and He says, why should I let you into paradise? You say, because of the Son, it's all because of Him. And you're saved. And He will say, well done. Well done, my faithful daughter. What do you got, Flo, how do I know I'm saved? I think they really already said it all. It's all based on the person of Jesus Christ. It's not by our works. So the good person thing doesn't, you know, fly, you know, and it bears witness in our spirit. And I'm going to say this one more thing. Salvation has to have repentance. That's right, that's right. You have to turn from sin. You might not turn from all of them, but He will start convicting you of those things He wants to work in your life. Roxanne, that's so good. People can't convict you of it. Don't let me point my finger at you because I'm not allowed to judge you. Right. But the Holy Spirit can't judge you. That's right, speaking of the Holy Spirit, I do have a question that you sent to us and I think it's so important. I'm going to read it exactly as you wrote. How does the Holy Spirit talk to us? And how do I know the difference between the Holy Spirit and my own thoughts? Such a good question. So there's two parts to that question. Let's start with the first. How does the Holy Spirit speak to us? One, I believe He uses all our senses. When I do classes and training and hearing the voice of God, some of the exercises that are done are teaching people how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. And we were talking about fasting and need to do that to quiet your spirit and have your ear gate open. And I think, I know lots of times people miss hearing the voice of God because we're waiting for this big, boisterous win to say something or this crack the sky sign, you know, where God will give you a little nudge in your spirit. Sometimes you just have that knowing. He'll use, sometimes you do hear, but the voice sounds more like your own voice, you know. That's the problem. That's what the person's writing. Well, I'm going to stick with the first part. How do I hear? So you hear through the word, you hear when the pastor is teaching, you may hear through another brother or sister in Christ, you know, or sometimes not even in Christ. He used to rave in two, right? Defeat the prophets. So these are ways that we hear. Now, how am I sure? You need to know the word. Does it line up with the word of God? Now, something can line up with the word of God and still not be being applied like it should. So is it being delivered in the character of God, you know? So here's an example. The word does talk about if your eye offends you to pluck it out, right? Right. Do you really think it's God for you to dig your eye out? No. But there are people who have done that, okay? So you gotta know the character, you wanna know the character of God and how does that happen by spending time in the word, by developing relationship with Him, by being in fellowship with your brother and sister. Okay, Amy, what do you have? I thought about Colossians 315 and what Flo was saying was so right. But like letting the peace of God rule in your heart and your mind. Peace, yes. So letting peace be the umpire. Good. This is what's allowed, this is what's not allowed. And I'll say this, when it's not God, like and a thought comes up, you get like a scratchy, like it doesn't feel right. Like it's not, I don't feel peace. I feel almost a yellow light or a red light or I feel like I'm taking a shower with my socks on. It's just like something is not right. Then that would be like a warning. That's not the voice of the Holy Spirit. That's so good, that's so good. And here's the thing too, it takes time and I think people need to know that. Right. You know, because some people may see like, see you move in the spirit, flow in the prophetic and number one, all ye can prophesy. However, there are the offices, you know, and there is the office of a prophet. But the thing of it is, is like, I think people see us like how they see us now, but you didn't see us go through the process, you know what I mean? And I mean, there were times, right here, people would necessarily believe in the prophetic. I was, you know, I didn't always believe in deliverance and, you know, our conversations and things and answers have even changed because of where we have come, what we have come to know. So be patient with yourself and trust in God. I'm gonna be patient only because I do want a scripture from you, because I know you have it. Because Amy gave us Colossians. What do you have? Yeah, Psalm 119, God's word. Write that down. Psalm 119. Is a lamp to your feet, a light to your pathway. That's good. And everything's gotta be, Paul says, test everything. That's right. Test the spirit, test the word, test me, Paul says. But he called the Bereans wise because they tested what he said to be true. They went back to the scriptures to find out what scripture they go to. They didn't have the New Testament. Right. They had the Old Testament because the Old Testament was concealed. The New Testament reveals they were wise. You've got to make sure it lines up with God's word and His character. So when you say test, can you tell the person who wrote this, what do you mean by that for her? Yes, you test it through God's word. You know, if somebody says, go talk about that person, they upset you. Oh yeah. The Bible says don't gossip. That's right. Right. If it's something contrary to what God has clearly said, you can't do it no matter what prophet told you to do it or what minister or what friend or what parent, you've got to test it with the reality of God's word. The other show we talked about love and patience and kindness and tolerance and not being irritable. Does it line up with love? I'm not sure about that. It doesn't know. Anger does not line up with love, but the Holy Spirit is revealed through the word of God. Stay right there. We have lots more sister to sister coming up. Hello and welcome back. We've got the Holy Spirit with us today and these answers. I'm so grateful that you're with us. And here's the other question that you wrote that I want to know what the sisters think about this and it's about that up here. So Flo, someone wrote, how do I overcome fear? Which is the thought? Yeah, you know, one of the things I think for sure hands down is if you are dealing with fear, the best way to address it is to confront it. But in confronting it, you need to discern as well is what type of fear am I dealing with? Because there is that reverential fear. There is a fear that is useful and helpful. You should have a certain level of fear about just even crossing the street. You need to ponder that, take a little time, look, make sure. Right, you know. So I don't see all fear as something bad or negative, but I do think the way that you handle it is pretty much universal. And that's by confronting it with wisdom, confronting it with the word, confronting it with knowledge, operating in that confrontation with the level of understanding. There are some people that, you know, when we say fear, God, they think we're talking about being afraid. But no, I reverence him, I honor him. On the other side though, too, there are things that like I'm too afraid to do because I don't want God to get me, you know what I mean? So yeah, right, there's consequences for it. I wish everybody felt that. I don't think everyone feels the consequences thing, but I think fear is a thought. I think fear is crippling people right now. And anxiety, the root of anxiety is fear. The root of some diseases, I mean, you can fear something. Fear will open a door in your life and devour you. Fear of stepping out for the next job, fear of I'm gonna die, fear of my kids. Fear can paralyze you. So what I was thinking is that if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then fear comes by hearing, hearing by the news, hearing by your crazy wild thoughts. There is a multi-billion dollar business behind the news, both sides, both everything that are, they need you in fear and anger and anxiety so that they profit. So you keep watching. They're creating and stirring up these emotions or just articles or thoughts or little TikTok clips or whatever, you know. What it's doing is it's feeding something. So you've got, I would watch what you're eating. Watch what you're feasting on. Maybe you need a good dose of Bible school online and just play the scriptures until those fearful demonic thoughts are gone. That's so good. You know, this is an acronym for fear, false evidence appearing real. That's right. That's right. I mean, it's so ties in as I, you know. Yeah, fear, fear, fear. I don't want fear. I want Roxanne. You know, you know what the sad part is? You fear something and it never happens. Right, it's like imagination. It's got you in it's grips. How do I know that? Mine starts with worry. Yes. Something will happen and I like everything in order and it gets out of order. And so I built up this whole scenario like I'm dead by the time it all occurred. And I have to say, maybe I'll say this and be real real. I was so worried about something, couldn't sleep. It's 2 30 in the morning. I go down to my desk and I have a desk calendar and I saved the old ones and this scripture popped up and I'm going to tell you it was like the Holy Spirit lifted a veil off of me. Second Samuel 22 and I just found out two days ago. It's in Psalm 18. He brought me forth into a large place. He delivered me. Why? Because he delighted in me. I said, Lord, you delighted me? I'm fearful. I'm worried. This is going to happen yet. He said, why are you so worried about yourself? I got it covered. Don't worry about anything. Seek my kingdom first. I put you in a broad place. I delight in you. You delighted me? Come on, Roxy. That's so good. It lifted. Did it stay that way? I've got to keep going back to that scripture because what's the scripture say? His word is sharper than a two-edged sword dividing the soul from the spirit, revealing the thoughts and intents of the heart. I mean, his word is amazing. Please just open it. Just open the word. You know, speaking of the word, Amy, I'm going to ask you, how do we meditate then on the word of God? Well, just the word meditate is to think deeply, to ponder. I like the word chew on. I'm chewing on this scripture, this word, but there is one scripture that I chewed on for years and I got it. You know, just because you read a scripture or quote it doesn't mean that you've got it in you. I mean, sometimes you've got to think over it and chew on it. And then what happens is you start to get revelation and the eyes of your heart become flooded with light. So I was dealing with allergy asthma. I mean, multiple trips to the emergency room for breathing treatment. And it was a weird thing that hopped on me at 40 years old. It was weird. It was random. I remember. It was demonic. And I hit a scripture and I just kept thinking about it and writing it down and chewing on it and saying it. And then all of the sudden it was like the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. And I was like, there is a law in the spirit of life and asthma and not breathing and catching your breath that that leads to death. But there is a law of life that supersedes that law of death. And it just hit me. And it became real in my life. And that was the time that the song that says breath in my lungs. And we'll pour, how does that go? In my lungs as we pour out our praise. Yes, and I remember Amy was dealing with that because we were on sister to sister. And at church, then you would get the microphone and you would sing that. And it wasn't that you were singing that, you were saying to God, it is your breath in my lungs. I remember that miracle, Amy. Okay girls, we have time for one of you. Who wants to go? How do we meditate on the word of God? We have one minute. You know, what Amy was saying, I got a scripture, first chronicles and also Jesus says it, set your heart and soul to seek the Lord. Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord. You will find him. What's Jesus saying, Luke 11? Seek, knock, and I will answer you, but we've got to seek, we've got to press in and allow the Holy Spirit to answer. We can't force it, but we're the ones that have to seek. And it's in fear, it's in love, it's in questioning something and it's decisions, it's wisdom, and it's the word of God that changes you. And if your mind is saying, I want to say this to someone, I want to do this. And then you say, wait a minute, God's not telling me that. Those are my own thoughts. So what Flo told me how to find the Holy Spirit, what you told me about fear and what you tell me every Sunday. Love you all so much and love you too. How can you be sure about your salvation? How do you deal with fear? How do you hear the precious Holy Spirit that he gave to us as a gift? Here's the scripture that we would like to leave you with. This scripture is in Deuteronomy seven, verse nine. And I'm reading from the NIV. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandment. To know Him is to be intimate with Him. To know Him is to get into the depths of His character, to have the open gates in you, to open wide. Open wide, here comes the King of glory. To know Him in that intimate place is when you get the revelation that He just is. While you're trying to figure out how to be faithful, He just simply is faithfulness. You serve a God that is beyond anything that you can imagine. He's not some mystical figure in the cosmos. He's not some mystery that you got to figure out under a magnifying glass. He is an all-knowing, all-loving God that created you, that fashioned you, that spent time with you before He placed you in your mother's womb. And everything that you need, He has already given it to you. I'm telling you, I'm gonna go to the church of flow. That was amazing. As iron sharpens iron, so does the countenance of a woman. My sister sharpened the others. Thank you so much. We are sister to sister.