Celebrate // S05E07

Are you celebrating in times of trials or only when things are good? Celebration is a weapon against the enemy! Fight his tactics with gratitude and thankfulness. Let the enemy know who your God is, that regardless of your circumstances God is in control and He deserves all the glory and your celebration. Problems are real but you have full access to everflowing joy and support because God is in your corner, so break free and CELEBRATE.

VERSES FROM CELEBRATE:

Matthew 6:8, 1 Corinthians 13:6, Philippians 4:4, Colossians 1:11, Romans 5:3, Proverbs 31:25, Isaiah 9:3, 1 Chronicles 16 and Psalm 69.

QUESTIONS FROM CELEBRATE:

• Are you celebrating?
• Are you thanking God for His faithfulness?
• How can we rejoice during difficult times?

QUOTES FROM CELEBRATE:

“Every time he answers a prayer, thanking Him. Sharing that testimony, another weapon. Share your testimony because that could bless someone else.”

Michelle Watson, The Pantry Podcast, The Miracle Habit.

“We just want you all to celebrate. Remember how good God is. Don’t be of the world, but be of the spirit and know that victory has already been given.”

Shea Watson, The Pantry Podcast, The Miracle Habit.

ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPT:

Shea: Celebrations can be a weapon of war. Are you struggling to pause and take stock of the victories that have already come and have the plans God has for you? You may already know the power of celebration, but regardless of this episode is short to reinforce the importance and role of thankfulness in our daily walk with Christ.

Shea: I’m Shea

Michelle: I’m Michelle.

Shea: There is a battle being waste. It’s not flesh, it’s not blood, it’s spiritual, and we need to be prepared. The last thing a warrior wants on the battlefield is spiritual anemia. So when the enemy attacks, we need to be prepared,

Michelle: No, we don’t always realize where the attacks are coming from or that we’re being attacked at all. This is the Pantry Podcast, and we’re here to remind you of who we answer to what we’re capable of and how we are called to do it in every aspect of our lives.

Shea: Season five and naturally flourished. We are gearing up where sees a full left off we’re looking at God’s unusual, amazing miraculous methods of elevating relocating, and redeeming us into his purpose in ways the world can’t access,

Michelle: Support our ministry, reaching the lost and found in over 35 countries with spiritual and literal nutrition, every one-time and recurring donation makes a lasting impact donate through Patreon or the pantrypodcast.com.

Shea: And now let’s dig into the meal.

Shea: What is up? It is so good to be here. I know I love these times. I know I love them too. And we get to sit together, be together, talking on microphone with each other.

Michelle: I’m so thankful we should celebrate.

Shea: Ooh, I think that might even be the name of the episode. Celebrate. Now. It is such a awesome topic because no matter what path or road you go down, we as believers need to be in this mindset to celebrate. Yes, we’re going to face different things as we’ll get, as we’ll unpack tonight, right. And different stories that we’ll go through. But at the end of the day, we have Jesus. We have been saved. We are no longer of this world. We no longer choose the path of man, but the path of the spiritual. So we can find all kinds of goodness as we go down that spiritual path. And it is something good to celebrate.

Michelle: Yeah. We often get caught up and don’t take stock of what to be thankful for. And that is something that we’re going to be talking about, how it is actually not just something fun to do something that some people might see as frivolous. Right. But it’s, it can actually be used as a weapon against the enemy at the same time that you are enjoying this moment of gratitude and thankfulness. So I think it’s an important episode because often I don’t think people realize celebration can be an act of war at the same time that it’s just plain fun and lighthearted sometimes, but it can also be hard to do because God does call us to rejoice even in those trials. Right. Even when it’s hard. So it’s not always lighthearted, but I think we sometimes forget to do it and really give it time to happen.

Shea: I like that word lighthearted, in my own life, you know, it’s like I could come out and just, just preach all the time. I mean, I just love the word. I love throwing out the word. I love sharing the word, but sometimes I take on this serious persona. It’s like, okay. Michelle’s like, relax, buddy. It’s okay. And so I’m learning to actually incorporate that blend. See Shea on this side, it’s like, I laugh, I have fun. I joke around all the time. And then I was over here on this other side, it was always like, you know, like, God, Holy Spirit. Alright. And it’s like, I get it. I get it. Cause it’s important. Like I have that passion for people’s souls, but I have to sit on this other side and be like, Oh, you know what? You can still joke about it.

Shea: You can tell those stories. You don’t have fun with it. And so, you know, it’s actually made my life a lot easier. It’s actually made it to where I can live in the victories. I can live in his victory. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. Right. I, you know, I do have worries of today and, and I mean, that’s enough, you know, with everything that goes on in life today is enough and today was enough, but who gave us the victory? Jesus. Right. Yeah. And so it’s like Matthew 6:8, It’s like, I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. You know, I can just worry about today, trust in God today and celebrate knowing that it doesn’t have to be like compounding days out, you know?

Michelle: Yeah. We have a habit and I’m going to drop a little psychological like psychology thought that we have a fight or flight mode because we have a survival instinct. And so when you are not thinking in the eternal, which is, I mean, that’s not normal to think in the eternal, right? We have to train ourselves to do that. But when you’re not thinking in the eternal, you are, you is trained to keep you from death, keep you from pain, keep you from danger. So you’re more likely to remember the negative because your brain knows that if it remembers the negative, it’s less likely to happen again, which it’s faulty logic right here. But our brains still are more likely to remember the negative, but we’re called to refresh our minds with the word of God and to remind ourselves of the faithfulness and of the answered prayers.

Michelle: And so people who say, you know, keep track of your prayers, like a prayer journal. I’m not the type of person who can keep a journal. It’s just not me. But in my mind, I really like to practice reminding myself of what I prayed for checking back in and being like, Oh yeah, you did answer that. Thank you so much. Getting to the point where if it’s an immediately answered prayer, praising him right then and there. While using them as a testimony. So it’s not that you have to throw a literal party with balloons and cake. Every time he answers prayer but shares that testimony another weapon, right. Sharing the testimony because can bless somebody else. And it reinforces in you, his faithfulness that’s so important. And you know, in 1 Corinthians 13:6 it says, love rejoices when the truth wins out, it has y’all Jesus won. He defeated death. But like, yes, we’re in it for the long haul. We have to kind of go through the motions, but truth wins out. And so when truth wins out, we can rejoice. We can always be full of joy in the Lord, right? Like in Philippians 4:4. And you know, we already mentioned it, but you know, Romans 5:3 is where it says to rejoice when you run into these problems and trials because they help us develop endurance. And so all of this celebration like an exercise, you know, it, it can strengthen your faith no matter what level of faith you’re at to just remember what he’s doing.

Shea: I like that. I liked that word, two words you said there strength and endurance, right on topic. Right? And it’s like strength and endurance, patience, long-suffering, you know, endurance technique. These translated also into long-suffering. I was looking at, I mean, it really is because endurance builds

Michelle: As I get older, I want to use long-suffering. It’s such a more appropriate word. Patient sounds nice but long-suffering. Sounds accurate, but anyway, continue

Shea: Enduring long-suffering. Anyways, he said that wrong it’s endurance and long-suffering. And you know what we’re called to do that. We are called to that. We’re, we’re called, um, as saints to endure. And I think that the reason we do that and the reason that we show a, not a lighter side, I don’t want to say it like that. I don’t know how really to say that, but we show that side of joy. We show that side of goodness. Colossians I, I camped out who knows, thinking about celebrating here in Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all might according to his glorious power for all endurance and patience with joy. I mean, this is something we’re called according to his glorious power, right?

Shea: This phrase means that believers are empowered, not in proportion to their need, but according to God’s strength, it’s like, I know like it’s, it’s hard to relinquish. It is so hard to relinquish is so hard that at times, you know, we don’t, we don’t go to the person who can help us. We don’t go to the person who can change us. We don’t go to the person who can give us these moments of celebration. No Colossians one. And it’s really Paul speaking to the church. Right. And he’s just like, look, man, we’re praying for you. We’re praying for you. You know, we’re asking that you be filled with knowledge, wisdom, right? Spiritual understanding. These are, you know, you’re talking about prayer. It’s like this, this one, right? Yeah. You’re just talking to target about fray. Right. And then it’s, you know, he’s also telling him that you know, that you may walk worthy of the Lord.

Shea: See, it’s like, we have movements fully pleasing him. This is a prayer from Paul, for us, or for believers for that church. But I mean, we take this right. We take this as like, wait, I should probably be listening here. Right. Watch. But when we do that, it’s for what being fruitful in every good work, increasing the knowledge of God. And then he gets in that verse 11. Right. But then it goes beyond. I give things to God who qualifies us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. That’s amazing. It’s like, there’s so much in that prayer. There’s so much in that prayer. It’s like, look, this is what we want in your life. We want success. We want you to overcome. We want you to understand who butters the bread. Do you know what I’m saying? It’s like, who butters the bread? Y’all Jace salt. Y’all, not sugar. Anyways.

Michelle: What do you do with the rest of it? Throw some, throw some salt on it. Like the Lord says.

Michelle: No, that makes me think. I mean, I camped out a lot in the Old Testament because of just how I love seeing it from that warfare perspective. I mean, we geek out over that all the time, but it says in 1 Chronicle 16, let the heavens be glad. And the earth rejoices to tell all the nations, the Lord reigns, right? Like even if we are losing loved ones, losing our home, like the good thing is this is the good news. This is all temporary. And the Lord still reigns and he’s coming back. That’s the good, like, this will end. Like, yes, it might feel like, Oh my God, for decades, it’s been miserable, but it ends. It’s not forever because we’re eternal. And that will end that’s the goodest news, the goodest. Right. And you know, I was, I was like perusing around and in Esther, I was reminded that Xerxes celebrated for 180 days to show off his might his resources, his opulence right now, he wasn’t of the Lord.

Michelle: Right. But going back to this idea of celebration as warfare, that was not just fun for 180 days for the people that were getting to partake. That was very intimidating for all of those that were his enemies. And even for his allies, it was reinforcement. He can party for 180 days and not go broke. He’s strong enough that he can party for 180 days and not fear attack. And that brings me to Proverbs 31:25, which is that verse that I use in my own business, rejoice, laugh at times to come to rejoice without fear of the future. Right. When you have victory on your side, you can party. Right. And it doesn’t mean that we should be like the prodigals, right? Like the prodigal son and go party by dropping all our dollars and then go and broke and eaten pig slop. Right. That’s not what I mean, but I mean, we can party in the sense of, we can have that joy.

Shea: Why can you have joy even in the struggle because you know who your God is, celebration is a sign of safety and you celebrate when you feel safe in Psalm 69. No wonder my heart is glad. And I rejoice my body rests in safety. So it’s like, it’s declarative. It’s a reminder for us. Right? Cause when you walk the walk, you remember the talk, right? So it’s like a reminder for you personally, but it’s also a testament to the people who need to know the good news of Christ. And it’s also a, on the offensive to the darkness saying, I’m not worried about you. I’m safe. My body rests in safety, right?

Shea: And this battle has been going on for a long time. And like self, self-celebration or godly celebration could go back all the way to Abraham and Sarah, you know, they, they, they couldn’t conceive. God promised them they could conceive. They decided to celebrate on their own and conceive in another way, which brought an Ishmael. So then you had to, you know, then eventually, you know, God gave King good on his promise. You have Isaac. So then you have in the world, which would be Ishmael. And then you have of the spirit, which is Isaac. Now see, there are people who will celebrate the world in the world. And then there are people who will celebrate in the spirit. Now we gotta be able as believers to go ahead and break those apart and understand that this celebration of the world is not what we’re celebrating.

Shea: We’re celebrating the spirit. We are celebrating what God has done. The goodness of God, like you’re talking about, it’s like, this is what gives us our strength. If I sit there and try to throw my own party, it doesn’t work. But if I know God is throwing the party and God is reigning, this, this goodness down, these mercies down, this, this bill, these blessings down right now. Now I have a contention point, a point of solidity, a point where I am sitting there receiving all that. God is giving me an understanding of exactly all these things. You’re talking about, the temporal and all this other stuff that I will face adversity. Right. But you know what? Trump card

Michelle: My mind went to first Kings where you’ve got David and he is on his deathbed. And his plan is to anoint Solomon as the next King. But his other son Abba Nijah has in his mind that he’s going to be the next King because on paper, in the world, he has every right to be the next King. Right? Solomon’s younger. Solomon doesn’t have the, you know, the stereotypical, or Solomon doesn’t have the, you know, the birth order, right. To be King, but Abba Nijah throws a celebration to declare himself King. But instead of going in and rounding up troops and going after Nijah, David just throws another celebration for Solomon.

Michelle: And when I was reading that, I realized that celebrations can literally be in replacement to some degree of actual warfare because you can solidify and make things into a fact by celebrating it. Right. If everyone just partied over Solomon is kind of like an official net. Right? And the interesting thing with what you said, Solomon’s celebration was backed by the Lord. was only backed by his own desire and the world rules and conduct of how this normally works without taking into account what God would want. And so he was trying to use a celebration to force the hand and socially pressure something to be true, but it didn’t matter. His celebration fell apart like where you were saying, like, when you celebrate yourself, it just falls apart. Doesn’t matter. Everyone left his party, whereas Solomon’s party stood and he became the next King. Right. And so we have to remind ourselves, celebrations can be cement, right? They can declare openly what we might have experienced privately, but God says to share the good things he has done. Right. And, and have a defense for your faith and share your testimony. And I was just blown away seeing that. Cause I never saw that before, but because we’re talking about celebrating, that’s what showed and it was amazing to see the power of celebration that God has for us.

Shea: Yeah. It’s definitely the, uh, there was definitely an art of war moment in all of that. So you gotta understand all the scheming that was behind that. So when I say scheming, okay, you have that sheet. Right. And you got saw him and that’s his mama. And then you’ve got the other son who’s over there and he’s, and he’s taken, you know, Joel, he takes Joel lab and he’s taken all of these people that were with King David. And he’s like, I’m taking this, this is mine. And then it’s like, all of a sudden word gets back to the, to the kingdom. Right. It gets back to best Sheba. It gets back to she’s like, Hey, but you’ve promised, you’ve promised David you’ve promised. And even Nathan came forward and said, you know, Hey, this is, this is what’s going on. Do you know? And you had promised that Solomon would take the phone, you need to make that choice.

Shea: And so see it, wasn’t just like, you know, David heard about us know, David, there was a little art of war going on there. It was like the political aspects, you know? And so he did, he crowns in the King. And then what did they hear? What did they hear though? They heard the horns who, or where? I don’t know what the horn sounds like that, but yeah, but it was the celebratory one. And look, you know what happened at that moment? Once word got back to Solomon was crowned King. Everyone left, everyone left. They’re like, see ya. I ain’t behind this one. Nope. And it was like because we know David, you know, it was always the anointed one. And people knew that David was anointed by the Lord. And so when that celebration took off and it was like, this is your new King, right. They knew that anointing was now placed onto Solomon and they didn’t want to go against them.

Michelle: Right. Right. Obedience brings you along to a lot more opportunities to celebrate the wins in your own life. Because when you are struggling to figure out what there is to celebrate in your own life, you can still celebrate what God is doing overall. You can still celebrate what Jesus did on the cross. You can still celebrate that. He is coming back. You can celebrate God’s faithfulness is his truth. His light, his love, even when in your own life, it seems very dark because you know, there’s something coming. But when you’re obeying more and more opportunities will be found in your own life to celebrate what he’s doing in your own life. It’s going to be really hard to find what he’s doing in your life and celebrate it. When you are outside doing things, he has not called you to do things that are contrary to his word, simply because he’s not going to take credit for anything that you’re doing on your own outside of his will.

Michelle: And when you’re robbing yourself of that opportunity to be serving with God, right. And to be working with God, then now it’s just, you’re at the mercy of the world system pretty much and how it works, right? There’s not much to celebrate there. Do you know? To use this right, to access all these celebrations, comes with hard work. Cause it ain’t easy all the time to do what God says. Even when it means at the moment it’s going to be uncomfortable, scary, dangerous, whatever we can trust, right. We can be strong and brave because the Lord, your God will be with you. That’s just, that’s the key to all of this.

Shea: I like that. And I’m gonna throw this in there. Manmade justice versus spiritual justice. We will not celebrate. If our focus is on manmade justice, we have to know, God is superior. His justice is perfect. And I know that sounds a little off maybe in this, but I think it’s a mind-frame. There is so much in this world that is going on right now that we have to keep our minds on things above. And that doesn’t mean I’m ignorant of the things of this world. That just means that I know at the end of the day when I lay my head on a pillow, I can thank God and say, thank you that you were with me. Thank you. That you never forsake me. Thankful. Thank you for your perfect justice. Your perfect peace, your perfect grace. You’re perfect. Mercy. You’re perfect forgiveness because I don’t want to be what we went back to with Abraham. I don’t want to be on the Ishmael side of the world. I want to be of the spirit because that is what’s going to get us through,

Michelle: You know, there’s one verse I hadn’t read and what you just said aligns with it. So perfect. Because it’s an Isaiah 9:3, you will enlarge the nation of Israel and his people will rejoice. They will rejoice before. As people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder, his eternal justice. When we focus there, we can see the enlarged, meaning of the people, of God, of the church, of the body of Christ. We can rejoice at the harvest of new people coming in. And we can rejoice that we are getting the plunder, right? Everything that won’t rot and fade away is coming to heaven. And that’s something we as believers all get to partake in.

Shea: Man, I liked that. I liked that. So some take-homes, right? We need to know who Jesus is and we need to live in those victories. And we need to live in that. We need to know that he delivered us from the power of darkness, right? We need to know that we have redemption through his blood forgiveness of our sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation by him. All things were created that are in heaven. And there are on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him. And for him, he is before all things and in him, all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he may have the preeminence that is our King. You live in that you live in, that you live in that. You’ll try to celebrate it. You’ll try it on some serpents and celebrate

Michelle: Out here like gangster conquering music in my head. When I hear that stuff.

Shea: We love it. So we just want you all to celebrate. Remember how good God is. Don’t be of the world, but be of the spirit and know that victory has already been given in one. I think we get caught up and I don’t want to be caught up. One thing I want to do is walk every day with my head high, my shoulders back saying, I have Jesus throw mud at me, hit me with bottles, throw sticks at me. I love that song. Sweet victory, by the way.

Michelle: Remember to check us out @thepantrypodcast.com. That’s where all the show notes are, we dropped a lot of verses today and they’re all listed in the show notes. If you want to go back and really write them down and post them all over your whole house. So until next time, bye.

KEYWORDS: ITS TIME TO CELEBRATE. CELEBRATING GOD'S BLESSINGS, PODCASTS ABOUT FAITH, PODCASTS FOR CHRISTIANS, CHRISTIAN PODCASTS TO FOLLOW.