AIda Ozuna 0:00

Faith is personal, and I agree with that. But does that mean that it should stay private? Well, in this episode, we are going to dive into ways to grow your relationship with God and share your faith publicly, online and in real life. Let's get into it. You are now listening to season three, episode six of the Real Confessions Podcast, hosted by Ai da Ozuna, produced by the AO Media Studio. Welcome back to another episode of the Real Confessions Podcast. Today we're gonna be talking about growing in your faith. Mom. Yes, babe.

Josiah 0:40

What's this color?

AIda Ozuna 0:42

I'm not sure, baby. But mom is recording a podcast. Give me a moment, okay? Anyway, I promise you it never fails. Every time you record a podcast, every time you get on the phone, if you're a mom, you know, you know. Like this whole time I've been praying, reading my word, worshiping, crying, and not a peep. As soon as I start recording, it's I don't know. If you're a mom, let me know if you experience this as well. But anyway, I had this thought to myself, like, Ada, just overall, how far I've come with sharing my journey while I strengthen my faith and my relationship with God. I think a lot of the times back then I would keep my faith to myself. You know, I would talk about God, acknowledge him, but I wouldn't glorify him publicly because I think I went so along with feeling like what would people think? You know, I don't want to come off as like too religious. I don't want to offend people, you know, it's kind of like I didn't want to step on people's toes. But when it comes to faith, it's a personal relationship between you and God. Like that's important, you know, because uh when people see your spiritual growth, it allows for them to learn from you and allows for people to witness, you know, your testimony and it inspires people to draw closer to God. But I don't think that's as important as the relationship that you have with God, you know, and the intimacy that you have with God is literally between you and Him. And so I just wanted to make this episode to really talk about the importance of sharing your journey outwardly and really how you can do that if you're in a position where you're afraid of what people may think, or you may not know how to start, or you know, whatever belief or intrusive thought. I want to share some things that may help with sharing your journey. Number one for me would say find people that are also on the path of getting closer to God, find friends, your people that you trust that you can be able to be honest and vulnerable with your process, because that's another thing. We can't be with people that are unequally yoked because y'all, I have tried it, it does not work. I have actually my last relationship, if we're being honest, my last relationship actually I was with someone that was unequally yoked. I was someone that prioritized my faith always, and this partner did not, and so I really didn't feel comfortable sharing my journey with this person. So not only is it important to have a circle of people that are on the same path, but you also need to make sure that they're seeking God and they're willing to listen and learn from you just as much as you are willing to listen to them and learn from them. In terms of finding people that are equally yoked, that is, I feel like could be a whole conversation on finding people that align and finding people that are also on the path to I would even say enlightenment, really, on the path to salvation. Like enlightenment, that's such a new age term, and that's not to say that God's word can't provide us enlightenment, and this is just me on a tangent, but I think enlightenment has this thing where it's often used secularly, where people are like, oh, you know, we're gonna do this to reach enlightenment. You know, it's like, oh, we're gonna read this book that's not the Bible, or we're gonna listen to this song, or do this, listen to these positive affirmations. And it's not to say positive affirmations are bad, but I think I am a little bit turned off these days when things are not rooted in God's word. It's like I'm not here really to be motivated anymore. Like I'm here to be free, you know? I'm here to be saved, I'm here to get closer to God, I'm here to glorify God, I'm here to amplify his word. Sorry, enlightenment is just not a word that sits right with me at this time. But yeah, I don't know where I was going with this. My second point would be allowing God to decide when that public declaration is going to take place because you know it starts off with your close circle, you know, that close circle, that trusted circle, but eventually you're going to need to take that next leap of faith and start sharing your journey. As scary as it is, as vulnerable as it is, um, I think it's it's a it's a it's a crucial step in getting closer to God is showcasing that transformation, showcasing that conviction outwardly when you are ready to, and I want to actually read and have this be rooted in God's word. And so we're gonna go into the Bible lab. Romans 10 verse 9. If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So not only is sharing your uh voice and your testimony publicly crucial to growing your relationship with God, the Bible itself says it. I just read Romans 10, verse 9. If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the scriptures tell us, anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord who gives generously to all who call on him. Let's read that again. Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord who gives generously to all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. For how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear him unless someone tells them? Verse 15. And how will anyone go and tell them without being set? That is why the scriptures say, How beautiful are the feats of messengers who bring good news. That is also a reminder that not only does sharing our faith draw us closer to God, but it also draws everyone who's witnessing it closer to God as well. Essentially, what I got from those verses was that some people don't have the privilege, or didn't have the privilege, or even don't have the understanding, or the the capacity to realize how powerful God is, man, how generous God is, and how loving and nurturing, and overall how graceful He is. A lot of people don't know that, and how will people know that? How will people begin to even understand? How will people even learn about who God is as children of God if we do not share our testimony, share our struggles, share what God has taken us out of, share what God has provided us with, you know, and I think it's very scary doing so publicly, but God wants us to do that. God wants us to build community, God wants us to love on one another, and that is a way to do it, is by sharing your faith outwardly. Like we don't want to extort or we don't want to like capitalize off of this. This has to be genuine. You need to be able to publicly share your faith just as you would if no one else was looking. I am a broadcast media student, I am studying audio and video communications, I am on, you know, on set and everything like that. And let's be real, like when the camera's off, we're a little bit more relaxed, we're a little bit more laid back, and as soon as the camera turns on, we have as humans the innate nature to perform and to kind of like shape shift. But as the as best as our as we can, it's would be great and beneficial to us all to be honest and be our authentic selves and truly making an impact by being who you are and by testifying what God has done for you. So that's my second point is that begin to publicize your faith. Number three on how to grow in your faith would be sharing the good, you know, but also sharing the bad. It's easy to think that it's gonna be all peaches and cream and life is gonna be perfect, but that's necessarily not the case because one of the fruits of the spirit, and I was just reading it, is long suffering. It's in our nature to suffer, it's in our nature to endure and to be resilient. No weapon against us shall prosper. It's in God's word. Because you give your life to God, because you're surrendering to God, that doesn't mean that obstacles and you know, negative situations, negative thoughts, like that doesn't mean that those will not continue to try and disturb that relationship that you have with God, and you know, they still try to come and infiltrate your mind and your thoughts, and you know, it's very hard. And I've always thought that once I get closer to God, once I get baptized, once I start going to church, like I'm gonna be good, but that's not necessarily the case, y'all. If anything, it's like the opposite of that. Like in the beginning, there is like this like adrenaline rush or the sense of peace and calmness, and it's very layered. I know for me when I first got baptized. I actually first got baptized when I was a kid, so I don't remember that. But getting baptized as an adult last year, um, shortly after my dad passed away, I wanted to be able to surrender my life to God. I wanted to be able to make that a public declaration that I'm allowing God to take control of my life. And I would say that losing my dad last year was a very, yes, it was sad, yes, you know, it was a dark time, but also I would say it was also uh a time that I truly started to see the light and not to sound corny or anything like that, but like truly see the the truly see how fragile and fleeting life is, and I needed God to be there to guide me, I needed God to be there to cover me. I feel like I felt darkness before my dad passed, and you know, my last episode talking about my dad, I was talking about anticipatory grief in those moments leading up to my dad's death. Those were the moments that I felt the darkness and you know felt this sense of grief and heaviness, and I didn't really feel God in that moment. You know, I felt alone, I felt isolated, and I think part of it has to do with not really centering God in that moment. I was centering my feelings, I was centering trying to lean on my own understanding, you know, but I think after that, once my dad passed, I literally said to myself, like, I can't do this by myself. And because long suffering is one of the fruits of the spirit, how I interpret that is that God wants us to be able to share the things that we've been through, the things that we're overcoming, the things that we continue to learn and you know, fall and get back up about, you know, and I think being able to share that with one another, being able to share our burdens, being able to share the truth, the real tea about walking in your faith. I personally am going to gravitate and going to resonate with someone that is being honest, then someone who's trying to deceive me and trying to paint life as this perfect picture. Because I mean, the word of God says it, long suffering is one of the fruits of the spirit. So if it wasn't part of the journey or the life experience or the plan that God has for us in whatever season that we're in, it wouldn't be in his word. And so I think that's why we gravitate towards honesty and authenticity because we understand may we want to or not, may it be subconsciously or not, that going through obstacles and going through certain struggles and seasons of refinement makes us even stronger. But not only that, a lot of times we feel isolated. So seeing someone else talking about those things helps give someone else hope, helps give someone else inspiration and motivation, helps give someone else peace because we're sharing what God is continuously giving us strength through. So getting closer to God requires for you to be honest with yourself and also be honest about your journey with God with others, and that's something that I personally want to work on myself. I think with social media and the pressures of performing and things like that, a lot of times we want to show, we want to show the good, but there is also a lot of not so happy moments, not so pretty picture perfect moments, they matter as well. And I would say the most beneficial would be helping others draw to God and also help you as an individual appreciate God's presence and and the his miraculous spirit.

unknown 19:50

My name is Tyrone, and I have a question for you. I've been reading this book about near death experiences, and every time a person fools their body, they can see their body, so they can see their face.

Speaker 1 20:57

Have you seen everything everything accomplished everything? And I think that it's been strong, getting pretty sound of big.

AIda Ozuna 21:17

Have you seen you? I love that that was the question. Um, and to be honest, well, first and foremost, thank you, Tyrone, for calling into the Real Confessions Hotline. I appreciate you, but I did want to acknowledge that question and answer it, at least for me personally. I don't really see myself in the way that God, you know, sees me. And I think sometimes I will think about what I've been through. I would think about you know what I've done and all of the good, all of the bad, but mostly I think about the bad, and I don't see myself in the ways that you know God wants us to see. Ourselves, you know, in that light, in that way. To be real, sometimes when I finish a project, when I do something, when I overcome something, I'm like, all right, on to the next. So I don't really take the time that I need to to see myself in that way. And I'm really grateful that you acknowledge, you know, you're creating space for your son, you're growing in your faith, you know, you're sharing and helping other people. Do you see yourself? Have you seen yourself? And um, I really love that. So thank you so much for sharing. Um, and maybe for you listening, like, have you seen yourself? You know, have you seen, have you like took yourself out of your current situation and saw the value, saw the light, saw the genuine, you know, value that you provide to everyone around you. If you're interested in calling and being part of the Real Confessions Hotline, feel free to give us a call at 813-444-8134. That's 813-444-8134. And I'm looking forward to hearing your story. All right, well, before we close out today's episode, I just want to remind you that faith is a journey and it's gonna look different for each and every one of us. Um, it doesn't need to be perfect, it doesn't need to be loud, it does not need to be performative, but sharing our faith is crucial, like I mentioned earlier, to growing deeper with God. So I hope this was able to help you and inspire you in any way, shape, or form. If this episode resonated with you, feel free to share it with someone who might need to hear it. And don't forget to follow or subscribe to The Real Confessions podcast so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Sunday. Thank you for being here once again, and I'll catch you in the next one. Aida out. Byeeee.