Divine Life Transformation - Samantha Taylor

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, it's Samantha Taylor. Welcome to Divine Life Transformation. This
is the show where I continue to show you how
to go through the scriptures and apply to your life
the power and knowledge that God gave us through the
Bible to see how it can transform you. And this

(00:20):
show is called Divine Life Transformation because that is what
we focus on now. I do have a show on Pray,
a radio show every Saturday morning at nine am Pacific
and twelve Eastern, and I have a TV show. If
you haven't seen that, you want to check it out
because we go in epic scenery. We just did Hawaii,
New Zealand and Fiji and I take you to ridiculous

(00:44):
scenery and just show you God's creation while we talk
about the Bible. So if you enjoy this content, you
definitely want to make sure you actually watch the TV
show as well. That's on Thursday and mornings at eight
thirty Pacific eleven thirty Eastern. Before we dive into this
New Year's Resolutions session today, because I want to help

(01:06):
you know how you can accomplish your goals with God.
One great thing about the Prey app is if you
click follow on my page, you'll get notified of when
I put up new content on there as well. So
new Year's resolutions, you know, some people kind of get
down on these saying, oh, well they don't work. Well,
they work if you work them. You know, It's amazing

(01:27):
how when you realize that this is just about analyzing
your life and setting goals in looking at where you've
been this last year, where you want to go next year.
I think the New Year is an amazing time to
have that reflection. And it frustrates me sometimes that people,
you know, put down New Year's resolutions saying they don't work.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
I'm not going to do any of that.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Well, that's not good because many people only analyze their
life once a year. Unfortunately, unless you're proactive and actually
being engaged in designing your life and building your life
instead of letting it just happen and then waking up
ten years later, twenty years later and going, wow, I
did not accomplish what I thought I set out to

(02:10):
do this last ten to twenty years. And one thing
I have learned in this life is that if you
are not actively engaged in designing your life, planning your life,
knowing where God wants you to go with your life,
then life is just going to swallow you up in
a sense of time, in this vortex of busyness, and

(02:32):
that if we are not focused on the ways of
God and focused on seeking after Him and understanding what
our purpose on this planet is supposed to be, then
we are going to easily get caught up in the
busyness of life and the day to day things that
are constantly consuming us.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
And you know, I was just really.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Reflecting on this because when you think about why are
so many people not successful with setting goals and accomplishing them,
specifically the New Year's resolutions, I just kind of looked
up some stats about that because it is a common
thing that a lot of people. They say about eighty
eight percent of the people that set New Year's resolutions
fall off the wagon in the first two weeks. Okay,

(03:17):
so that's why some people say that they don't work. Well,
sure they work if you work them. Maybe the system
you're applying is not working. But setting goals is an
amazing way to analyze your life and be proactive and
planning your life. And I was thinking about this last
night when I was celebrating New Year's and just watching

(03:37):
a bunch of fireworks go off, and thinking about how
God specifically picked your parents, that he put you here
at the time that he did when you were born.
All of the things that were going to be happening
on this earth at the time that you were born.
I believe was specifically curated by God and that he

(03:58):
decided when he was going to and your eternal spirit
to your mother's womb. The Bible says that God knew
us before he formed and shaped us in the womb.
So when you think about how endearing that is, and
realizing that your creator puts you here for a purpose,
and when you start to analyze your life and you

(04:20):
ask yourself, am I actually following after God? Am I
following the purpose and plan that God has for my life?
And I've had to ask those hard questions many times
in my life, and sometimes I've realized that I am
not on track, you know, more so in the past,
I'm really focused on the purpose and plan of God

(04:40):
for my life and focusing on exactly what God wants
instead of what I wanted with my busyness. You know,
I had a very successful personal training company, and unfortunately,
due to the pandemic and the difficulties that arose from that.
I eventually had to shut down five personal training studios.
It was insane, and I know that in in the
midst of building that company. Yes, there was a lot

(05:03):
of things that we did. We had trained over ten
thousand clients, I had five locations.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
I mean, it was booming.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
But I knew that God wanted me to also be
doing other things specifically related to the Bible. Specifically doing
what I'm doing right now at the TV show and
the radio show. Is that God has always told me
for the last thirty years that he had a platform
for me to be able to share the Word of
God with people to encourage them how to change. And

(05:33):
if you haven't heard any of my shows, I'm very
open about the past of the life that I used
to live before I met Jesus and how God delivered
me of drugs and alcohol and you know, just struggling
with so many things and been able to transform my
life through the Bible. So when I think about how

(05:53):
when we realize that God put us here for a
specific purpose, are you seeking after God, God and thinking
about what do you want me doing with my life?
And being that it's the new year, this is a
perfect time to analyze and think about that question, are
you actually doing.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
What God has called you to do?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
And if you don't know what God has called you
to do, that's where you'd want to be spending time
with Him and getting clear on what is the purpose
that He has for your life. And I find that
the time you spend with God in prayer and reading
the Bible and communicating with Him throughout the day, you know,

(06:34):
you get revealed these things. And if you don't know
God in this personal way, that is the one beautiful
thing about God is that you can have a personal
close relationship with Him, not through religion. I'm not talking
about religion and checking off a box of some things
that you did. I'm talking about that deep, personal, intimate

(06:57):
relationship with Jesus Christ that literally can be your whole life,
you know, not just a part of your life, but
your whole life, instead of compartmentalizing God and saying, oh,
this is my God time, Like I go to church
on Sundays, and a lot of people don't go to
church on Sundays, and that's the only time they might get.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
The word in.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Studies show that most Christians do not read their Bible
and that is something that I think is ridiculous, and
it's one reason why we have so many so called
spiritually weak believers. And the Bible talks about that because
if we are immature in the ways of God, we
are not going to be strong and know how to
live out this life for how God has called us

(07:39):
to do it. So when we think about the new
year and we think, well, how do I set goals.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
And how do I accomplish them?

Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well, one of the things that's different for believers is
that a lot of you know, people that I talk to,
they say, you know, I never thought about including God
in setting my goals, or I never thought about asking
God to help me with that. Well, you know, when
you think about the fact that he's the one that
puts you here, and he's the one that gave you
a plan for your life, and he's the one that

(08:07):
can guide you and shape you and form you into
the person you need to be, which is what he's
been doing for the last twenty thirty years of your life.
The more you work with him, meaning you don't fight
it and you actually embrace the transformation process, the more
you're going to see it happen.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
So this is where we want.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
To realize that to be able to accomplish what God
wants us to, we need to be engaged in this
process inviting God into it. Meaning of course he can
do whatever he wants. But the point is is that
there's a very receptive relationship. Part of our relationship that
we are to believe. The Bible says that those that

(08:49):
come to him must believe he is who he says
he is. Belief is a huge aspect of our relationship
with God and receiving what He has done for us
and given us. So there's no coincidence that Jesus Christ
the last thing he said on the cross.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Was it is finished.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
That statement has so much to unpack in there. The
point is is that God did so much for us
through the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and
what that means to believers that when you actually believe
that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and that he
paid for the sins of the people, and that he

(09:30):
you know, all forgiveness comes through him, and access to
God is through Christ.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
When you have that connection and when you.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Have that redemption of what Jesus Christ paid for, I mean,
there's so much to unpack there. The point is is
that we are called to go through this life and
to be connected to God, to be receiving what God
has already done for us.

Speaker 2 (09:56):
That we are to understand what that is in thee Bible.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
And if we don't include God in our goal setting,
and we don't include God in you know, asking him
what he wants for our life. You know, if you
don't know that, it's a very biblical principle that God
speaks to his children. It's not an audible voice usually
for most that I'm aware of. I know it is
not that way for me, But it's an internal knowing

(10:22):
that you become sensitive to God's voice and his instruction
and his guidance. Even Jesus said to his disciples when
he told them that he was going to be leaving,
and they're like leaving, What do you mean?

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Where are you going? Why are you leaving?

Speaker 1 (10:34):
They thought he was going to start a kingdom on
earth and help, you know, free them from the Roman government.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
So he's telling them.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
He's going to die and he's leaving, and he said,
I have to leave. It's better for you that I go,
because the Holy Spirit is going to be released and
he cannot be released until he leaves, until Jesus Christ
left the earth. So he said that the Holy Spirit
will lead you into all truth. And this is where

(11:03):
when you learn to be receptive of the fact that
the Spirit of God lives in sight of you. For
those that have become born again and born of God,
the Bible talks about when you have been through this
second birth, which is the spiritual birth. Jesus told Nicodemus
that you have your your first birth, which is your
obviously your human, your fleshly birth, and then you have

(11:25):
your second birth, which is your spiritual birth.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
That is what being born again is called.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
The Bible says, when that happens, the Holy Spirit comes
to live within sight of you.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
So this is the.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Instruction that we receive from God, that he gives us instruction,
He guides us. This is something that happens all day
long if you're paying attention. And this is where you know,
some people say to me, well, you know, most people
don't have a relationship like that with God. Well you can,
you know, the Bible talks about that we can have

(11:57):
that relationship.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Do you want that kind of relation relationship?

Speaker 1 (12:01):
I think it's the most amazing thing you could ever
imagine to be communicating with.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Your creator all day long.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
I mean, the guidance and the wisdom that He gives
me and the things that I'm doing in this life
are just they just astound me. And the more I
lean into that, the more I ask God for his
direction and his guidance and what he wants out of
my life.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
I have just been pressing in this last few years,
specifically because so much change has happened. When I had to,
you know, get rid of my business. I spent twenty
five years of my life building that company, and all
of a sudden, it's just.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Gone overnight, it felt like. And that was, you know,
about three and a half years ago.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
And if you've heard anything about my shows, you know
I unfortunately lost my husband of twenty nine years in
the midst.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Of all of that.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
He died And it was just a horrible, horrible time
in my life. And I have to tell you that
to seek God and to know that, I needed to
dive into.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
The Word of God.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
I needed to be clear on what he wanted for
my life. Now everything that I had known for the
last quarter of the century was gone. My business was gone,
my husband was gone, my favorite dog died.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
I had this beautiful chameleon that died.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
I mean, it was just insane the level of things
that happened in a short amount of time. And I knew,
specifically from other people that I heard that literally their
whole lives were destroyed when they had a child die
or spouse die, that how you handle those traumas is

(13:44):
so critical to where you're going to end up a
year from now, two years from now, three years from now,
and for me, it's been three and a half years,
and as I continue to process the level of grief
that I had to go through, you know, it just
astounds me that the more you are connected to God,
the more you are clear on what He wants for

(14:07):
your life. And even more so I had to lean
in and press in at those times to understand.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
Wow, God, now what I mean what I thought?

Speaker 1 (14:19):
I was building my entire life for the last twenty
nine years of my life with my husband, and really
twenty nine years of my business because he was my
first personal trainer and only personal trainer. Actually when we
first met and I was seventeen, he was twenty one,
and now I'm fifty and it's just it's just been
a very bizarre experience. But yet I also have noticed

(14:43):
that the more I lean on God and press into
God and seek God for what he wants for my life,
the more He reveals. So when you think about your
goals and you think about your New Year's resolutions, you know,
for someone to say they don't work, sure they work.
If you don't work them, then no, they're not going
to work. Most people like I used to do as well.

(15:05):
I would set goals and I would get excited about it,
but then I would write them down and I would
put it in a drawer and then I wouldn't find
it until a year later the next New year, and
I'll be like, oh, man, I had those goals last year.
That was a good idea, and I either got further
away from them or better in some or worse, you know.
So this is where you realize that just writing them

(15:28):
down is not going to do it. You've got to
also make sure you look at them and plan it out.
So this is where you want to incorporate your relationship
with God in this process and make sure that you
are asking God, what do you want me to do
with my life this year? What do you want me
to do. And you know I tell you because I've

(15:49):
mentioned things about my past. But when my husband and
I used to drink a lot, we got off drugs
over twenty five years ago.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
So praise be to God.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
By the power of diving into scriptures in my relationship
with Christ and surrendering to God in the process, I
was able to get off about a ten year drug
addiction that almost killed me many times. And now I've
been clean for twenty five years. And then though I
still struggle with alcohol here and there. And then fifteen

(16:19):
years ago, my husband and I set a goal to
go one year without alcohol. Now I must have been
drunk when I set that goal obviously back then because
we were just you know, talking about it and we
were inspired. Actually, even though I was a Christian, I
still got drunk. And I know that, you know, trust me,
there's a lot of Christians that.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Still get drunk. It doesn't mean it's a good thing.
It doesn't mean that God likes it.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
It doesn't mean that he respects it or honors it,
and it doesn't mean He wants you doing that. One
of the things God talks about in the Bible is
getting drunk. God does talk about getting drunk in the
Bible and how that is not of God. There's a
difference between having a drink and getting drunk. Those are
two very different things, or having a challenge with alcohol.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
So I knew that I was getting drunk.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
I wasn't just having a glass of wine or enjoying
it for that perspective, and it wasn't causing problems in
my life.

Speaker 2 (17:09):
So we set a goal to go a whole.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
Year without alcohol, and we were gonna do that for
New Year's Resolution. Well, we got drunk the night before
and we woke up the next day and honestly, we
didn't feel like we got drunk enough, so we ended
up getting drunk the next day. So some would say, oh, well,
you screwed up your goals. You can't you can't start over. Nope,
you already messed up. It's all over.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Nope.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
We did get drunk again the January first, that night,
but then we started our resolution on January second.

Speaker 2 (17:37):
So why do I say.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
That, Because sometimes if you have that mindset, oh well
it's all or none, you messed up. Nope, you can't
do it. So we still press forward. And I can
tell you now, guess what.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
It's been fifteen years since I've had.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
A sip of alcohol, which is pretty amazing to me
because I started drinking when I was in the seventh grade. Okay,
I got I s did at an eighth grade dance
with a flask of Jack Daniels in my sock.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
That's how bad I used to be. So, my boy,
is the fact that.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
I have not had alcohol for fifteen years, which is
just awesome. So don't tell me resolutions don't work, because
they work if you work them and you have a
burning desire for.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Why you want to change.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
First of all, it's God giving you the guidance and
the wisdom and the knowledge and the insight of what
He wants to do with your life.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
But second of all, you need to have a burning
reason why you want to do it.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
Just let's say your goal is to lose thirty pounds
and you're like, yeah, I want to lose thirty pounds. Well,
that's not really motivating, Like, you need to be more clear,
what is it going to do for your life?

Speaker 2 (18:49):
How are you going to feel? What are you gonna
you know, experience when.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
You imagine your life living in this success of this goal.
Let's imagine because it's the most common goal. Really, weight
loss and healthier eating is probably the most common resolution.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
Actually it is.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
I've looked it up online and look at the data,
and those are the most popular resolutions. Well, if someone
says I want to lose thirty pounds, well that's not
going to carry you through the difficulties of when you're
facing a pizza and you know you can't eat that
pizza every day and still lose thirty pounds and it
ain't happen it. So this is where you want to
have a reason that is deeper than just I want

(19:30):
to do this. You need to one know that God
is empowering you, that he's equipping you, that he's giving
you insight and instruction for how to do it, and
that that's what he wants for your life. Now, obviously
he wants us all to be healthy, but I'm talking
about looking at your goals, whatever your specific goals are,
and I know he wants us to be healthy because

(19:51):
he tells us to honor our body as the temple
of God, to take care of this body. He gave
us this body to manage it. So this is where
we look at our life and say, well, why would
I want to accomplish that?

Speaker 2 (20:04):
For me?

Speaker 1 (20:05):
When I got off alcohol, I actually felt so convicted
that it was not very christ Like to be getting drunk.
And I really started to feel convicted about that that
I knew that the Bible talked about being drunk and
that that was a sin of the flesh, that that
was not of God. So this is where I just
wanted to strengthen my relationship with Christ and get stronger

(20:27):
in God. And I knew that that was not doing it,
and that that was not a good witness to others,
And it also was not my relationship with Christ was
not reflecting in me getting drunk like that.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
It just doesn't. Those don't combine together. Again, it's a
big difference.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
If you can have a drink and it doesn't cause
problems in your life and you're not getting wasted. Those
are very different things. So you have to, you know,
know that for your own life and ask God to
reveal that to you as well. So when we look
at our life with goals and we think about the
new year, and we think about, really, what do I
want to accomplish this year, sometimes it does help to

(21:08):
kind of look back and although you don't want to
drive down the road staring down the rear view mirror
the whole time. But it is good to look back
and see, well, what have I accomplished this year? I
think it is good to celebrate and look at the
things that you have done, because if you're like me,
I am very hard on myself and I have very
high standards for how I feel I can and should

(21:30):
live my life, so I tend to not celebrate sometimes
what I have accomplished. So I think it is good
to go back and look at what you actually have accomplished.
But I also think it's important to be honest with
yourself and look at the areas where you've totally slacked off.
Because if we're not honest with ourselves and really taking

(21:53):
inventory of where we're struggling, then how are.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
You supposed to improve it?

Speaker 1 (21:59):
You know, they say that you can not expect what
you don't inspect, and if you're not inspecting it, all
of a sudden, ten years goes by and you're like, oh, wow,
I totally miss that boat. How did I not take
care of this? And how did I let that happen?
And how did I let that slip? You know, one
drip of a faucet adds up to a pool full

(22:20):
of water, one drip at a time, and you don't
notice it because it's going down the drain. But if
that drain is stopped up, I dare you to do
it sometimes if you have a small drip somewhere to
kind of see how fast it's actually going to fill up,
because we don't realize it when it's one drip at
a time, And that's when we realized ten years later

(22:41):
that we're like, whoa, how did that happen? How did
I not you know, have this happened in my life?
And how did I end up here? So these are
the things that if you are more proactive in your life,
and you are you know, leaning on God and understanding
his ways more, you're going to be able to accomplish

(23:02):
more in life. Now, God is about accomplishing things. There
are so many scriptures that talk about taking action, accomplishing, doing, multiplying.
So this is where we look at Proverbs three five
through six. It says trust in the Lord with all
your heart, and lean not on your own understanding and

(23:23):
all your ways. Acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
That word weigh means a road or a journey. So
when it says to trust in the Lord and lean
not on your own understanding, and in all your ways
acknowledge Him. So your ways is the way you live
your life, the journey the road that you live on.
It also means a habit or a course of life.

(23:47):
So the things that you're doing in your life, are
you giving that over to God and acknowledging God.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
In those things?

Speaker 1 (23:54):
It says when we do that, he will direct our path.
And that's one thing that's so critical about studying the
Word of God. If you're not in the Bible and
reading the Bible, that is one New Year's resolution I
would highly recommend you get serious about because I can
tell you there is no way I would be where

(24:14):
I am today in my life had I not been
a student of.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
The Word of God.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
And I believe that that is probably one of the
biggest deficits in the Body of Christ is people do
not know what the Bible says.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
And it's really a travesty.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Because it's such an amazing book that has so much knowledge.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
It just blows my mind.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Like even today I got up and did a Bible study,
and I like to go into the Greek and the Hebrew,
And just to give you a little background, I mean,
I've been studying the Bible pretty solid for about twenty
seven to twenty eight years, I would say closer to
twenty nine. And I knew way back when I became
a Christian twenty nine years ago that I I was

(25:00):
going to be in some form of ministry. I'm not
a pastor or a minister or anything like that, but
I teach the Word. I inspire people in the Bible.
I help them to strengthen their relationship with Christ, because
that's what God's done for me, and that's what I'm
called to do, to edify, to equip, to teach, to
exhort the body of Christ. So I knew that I

(25:22):
needed to study the Word, and I knew way back then,
over a quart of a century ago, that I needed
to be in the Word at least an hour a day.
And that was something that God instilled in me, and
I knew I needed to make that a part of
my life. And I had done that and still do today.
It was the same thing. So some days are less,
some days or more. But the point is is that

(25:42):
is a habit of my life. Now don't hear that
and go, oh, well, I can't do the Bible or
read the Bible because I don't have an hour a day.
Five minutes is better than nothing. So this is where
you want to start with something. I know for myself
it needs to be that amount of dedication because it
is a large responsibility to inspire and teach people in

(26:04):
the Word of God. This is a I take that
very seriously, so I want to make sure I understand it.
But I can tell you that it is the Word
of God that transformed my life. This whole show to
find Life Transformation. We have now filmed thirty three episodes
and we just did the last one was in Fiji
and wow, I mean, I have a helicopter drop us

(26:26):
off on the top of a mountain. I was riding
a horse in the Fijian ocean. We got these kayaks
and we kayaked out to this private island.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
I mean, I show you ridiculous scenery.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
So you want to make sure that you actually see
the TV show again. It's every Thursday morning on Prey
at eight thirty a m. Pacific and eleven thirty Eastern.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
And if you click.

Speaker 1 (26:48):
Follow on my page on this app, you'll be able
to go to the page and see any shows there
as well.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
And keep in mind, I do go over.

Speaker 1 (26:57):
A lot of stuff when I do these TV shows
and radio shows. So with this radio show, if you
want a list that goes way deeper, I've got six
more pages of notes that I'm not gonna have time
to talk about today. In this show, I will text
all of them to you. That'll have all the scriptures
and some more details about how to set your goals
with God.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
So you want to make sure you text.

Speaker 1 (27:19):
The word my goals to five eight six five hundred
seven three three three. That's five eight six, five hundred
seven three three three, and I.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
Will give that to you again at the end.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
So when we look at Proverbs, also in nineteen twenty
one nineteen verse twenty one, it says there are many
plans in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the Lord's counsel that
will stand. So I just love finding scriptures. It talks
to us about how to transform our life. There's so
much wisdom in the Bible. It is astounding to me.

(27:56):
It says, nevertheless, the Lord's counsel. God wants to counsel us.
God wants to give us insight. There are many plans
in the man's heart, it says, but God's counsel is
what we'll stand. So don't just plan your life, your year,
your month, your day without consulting with God. This is

(28:18):
where when we realize that to truly have success, we
want to make sure that we are.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Focusing on those things.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
And I actually did film an episode in Vasquez Rocks
in California, where the actual Flintstones movie was filmed. We
just filmed that a cup last week and that one
is on New Year's Resolution, So make sure you go
see that show.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
You should see it.

Speaker 1 (28:44):
It actually aired this week on Prey and I'll make
sure I put it on my page as well. So
I just encourage you to think about your goals this
year and really think about what is it God wants
me to do, you know, Commit your goals to godocus
on him. Proverb sixteen three says, commit your works to

(29:04):
the Lord, and your thoughts will be established. That word
works means a deed or business or pursuit. So commit
your ways to God, the things that you're doing, the
deeds that you're doing, the pursuits, the business that you're doing,
and your thoughts will be established. That word thought means
a plan or a purpose. In this scripture, will be established,

(29:28):
which means set up, make ready, be stable, to arrange,
or order. Now, think about that, when you commit your
ways to God. I want to commit my pursuit to God,
the business things that I'm doing, the works that i'm doing,
the actions, the deeds that all my thoughts, my plans
and purposes will be set up, arranged, order, stable, made

(29:52):
ready when I'm committing it to God. That is one
thing I love about breaking down the scriptures because when
you're really realize how much meat for our life is
in the Bible, the Bible actually calls deeper truths of
the Bible meet because it's substance that our body needs.
And this is where when we think about this and

(30:14):
we realize, wow, I really need to include God in
this process, not just coming up with these ideas. You know,
in Proverbs twenty one, verse five, it says the plans
of the diligent leads surely to plenty, but those of
everyone who is hasty leads to poverty. That we're diligent

(30:34):
means sharp pointed, diligent, strict decision. So those that are
sharp pointed they're diligent, is going to lead to plenty,
which is abundance, profit, superiority, literally gain.

Speaker 2 (30:49):
So the plans of those that.

Speaker 1 (30:50):
Are sharp pointed and detailed diligent, they are going to
have abundance and profit. But those that are hasty, it's
going to lead to poverty. Some scriptures also talk about
laziness and how that is going to lead to poverty
as well. Then in Philippians three it says Philippians three
thirteen it says, I do not count myself to have apprehended.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
This is Paul talking.

Speaker 1 (31:14):
But one thing I do is forgetting those things which behind,
and I reach forward to those things which are head.
That word forgetting means to no longer care for, to
lose out of the mind, so meaning you don't want
to focus on your past and focus on your failures
and focus on what you haven't accomplished, because then you

(31:35):
just get into this badderam session of yourself, and that's
not of God either.

Speaker 2 (31:39):
This is where we want.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
To analyze the past, analyze what we've been doing, what
we've not been doing, and utilize that as data and
information to move forward in our future, but not to
focus on it. Even Paul said that he forgets the
things of the past, and he presses on to those
things in the fear. And then the next scripture in

(32:02):
verse fourteen says, I press toward the mark for the prize,
which also means an award of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. That word mark means the distant
mark looked at, the goal or end one has in view,
the end that you have in view. He says, I
press towards the mark, which is the goal. I'm looking

(32:25):
at the end I have in view, And he's talking
about the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So
Paul talked about how spiritual growth is similar to athletic training.
He talked about how in one Corinthians nine twenty four,
do you not know that those who run in a
race run to receive a prize? They run in such

(32:47):
a way that you might obtain it. You know, it's
amazing because when you really study the Bible, there's so
many scriptures that talk about us achieving and doing and
multiplying and having fruit, which is a result an effect
in our lives. So I just love looking at it
from that perspective and understanding that the answer to every

(33:09):
question we have in life and anything that we need
help with is in the Bible. And I am living
proof of that because it has transformed so many.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
Areas of my life. It is astounding.

Speaker 1 (33:23):
One show we recently did was at the Bible Museum
in Washington, d C. We did an episode out there,
so that'll be airing somewhat sometime soon. But it was
a beautiful episode to run around and just see all
of the Bibles and the scrolls and the studies behind

(33:44):
how valid and strong the Bible is an understanding meaning
that it was not written by man people. It was
not written by some person some people that don't understand
or believe in the Bible, so that was just written
by people. No, it was divinely written by God through

(34:04):
the people.

Speaker 2 (34:05):
There is so much proof of this.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
There's no way human beings could have planned everything that
aligns in the Bible, written over fifteen hundred years by
over forty authors. I mean, it is just astounding. It
is the most historically accurate proven book and the history
of any book, especially written over a fifteen hundred year period.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
That all lines up.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
And one thing that I was studying when I was
doing that show was an archaeologist said that he has
used the Bible to find over fifteen hundred archaeology sites.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
That were accurate.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
He said there was not a single Bible scripture that
contradicted what he found in geography and out there, you know,
in the archaeological sites that they talked about. So I
thought that was pretty awesome. So just keep in mind
that this is not an overnight process. Renewing your mind.
Romans twelve one through two talks about how you need

(35:04):
to renew the mind and be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. But it also talks about submitting your
life and your body as a living sacrifice daily before God.
Why daily, because you're alive. You're not dead, You're alive,
so it is a living sacrifice. This is where you
sacrifice the desires of the flesh. It doesn't mean you

(35:28):
can't enjoy food. God gave us the senses of our body.
But the problem is is when we do things that
turn into addiction or lust or you know, that are
not ways of the Bible. So this is where we
realize that God gave us food to enjoy, He gave
us senses to enjoy the environment around us. As a

(35:50):
human being. You know why, we're the eternal spirit that's
living inside this body. So if you don't know how
to run it though this body, it's gonna run you.
The body will just take over and it will default
to things that are not good for you. So this
is where we surrender our life to God continually. So

(36:10):
when you look at your life and analyze and say, wow,
what do I want to accomplish this year compared.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
To what I did last year?

Speaker 1 (36:17):
I mean, when you think about it, how many new
years are you going to have?

Speaker 2 (36:21):
Nobody knows.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
I mean some people have twenty, some people have fifty,
some people have one hundred, depends how long you're alive.
So to only analyze your life once a year is
not really advisable. It's something you want to do on
a consistent basis. Those who have a great life, they
have planned those things, they have worked them out. Some

(36:43):
people look at people and they go, oh, they're so lucky,
you know, look at all that.

Speaker 2 (36:47):
Now.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
Some people are born into wealth and born into things
like that. But most people have to work and plan
and build and you know, put in the time and
effort required to accomplish those things. So this is where
you know, it's it's interesting because obviously I make these
references a lot because it was my life for twenty

(37:08):
nine years when I was at the gym. You know,
people say, oh, yeah, I really want to get in
great shape and I want to have a good body
and be healthy. But if you don't show up and
do the work, my friend, that is not happening. The
getting in shape is the one thing you can't pay other.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
People to do for you.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
You can pay people to make food for you, but
you can't pay people to work out for you. That
is the one thing in life that you can't pay
people to do for you. You could pay a trainer
to actually push you, but you have to physically show
up and do the work. So this is where we
look at our life and realize, well, how do I
focus on God in my goals and make sure that

(37:46):
I'm incorporating Him in this process. Now, one thing I
want you to do is make sure you text me
at the number I'm going to give you, because I'm
going to send you all these scriptures. But again, I've
got five more pages of notes that I didn't go
over today for time's sake. And then make sure you
see the TV show as well, because that one airs
literally this week and I will have it on my

(38:08):
prey channel. But text me the words my goals at
five eight six, five hundred seven three three three, and
I will send.

Speaker 2 (38:18):
You these notes.

Speaker 1 (38:20):
So I encourage you to really pray and ask God
to give you wisdom, ask him what he wants you
doing with your life? Where does he want you to go?
And sometimes you need to think about, like, wow, where
am I going to be in five years? I mean,
I know that's really a crazy question in some senses
to ask. I say crazy, because nobody knows where they're

(38:41):
going to be in five years, Like you might try
to plan it out of course, and that's why you
try to plan things. But certainly you don't know exactly
where you're going to be in five years.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
But if you want to.

Speaker 1 (38:50):
Have a goal to end up somewhere, then you better
start planning. Now. People don't plan to fail, they fail
to plan. And if you don't start designing your life
and designing your days, then the busyness of life is
just going to swallow you up. And that's one way
that the enemy steals from us, because if we are

(39:11):
so consumed with the busyness of life, but we don't
actually plan our life.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Out and then every once in.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
A while on New Year's resolution, we will analyze our
life and then eighty eight percent of the people fall
off the wagon in the first two weeks. That's pretty pathetic.
That's why we don't want to follow that system. We
want to make sure that we are incorporating God in
this process. And one thing that's critical. And again, when
you text me my goals to that number I gave you,

(39:38):
I'll send you the list of how to actually sit
down and write out these goals and have a little
bit more detailed process of it, because you want to
actually invest some time in this. Get some worship music on,
dedicate an hour a half hour, and sit down and say,
you know, I really need to think about my life
and think about where I'm going with my life and

(39:58):
what am I doing?

Speaker 2 (40:00):
Where does God want me to go?

Speaker 1 (40:01):
Because Wow, when you incorporate your spirituality in this process,
what an amazing experience. It's not something that we should
just compartmentalize. For me, my walk with God is all
day long. I communicate with Him all day He is
constantly giving me guidance and wisdom and knowledge, and the

(40:22):
more you knock, the Bible says the door will be
open to you. You seek him, and you will find him.
He actually talks about he wants us to seek him.
It is something that is amazing about the relationship that
we have with God because if we seek after him,
we will find him. And that is the beautiful thing

(40:45):
that the more I have sought after Him, the more
I have experienced this personal relationship with God all day long,
and it just it just boggles my mind. And it's
actually an amazing experience.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
You know, if anybody says, oh.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
It's boring to be a Christian, well, I don't know
what kind of Christian life you're living, because wow, it
is so far from boring. I can't even I mean,
of course, I don't do drugs, I don't drink, I
don't do all this crazy stuff I used to do.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
And I have a bless serving God.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
I have so much fun every day seeking God and
seeking the plan he has for my life and following
after him. I tell you, it is an amazing adventure.
But it is something that is so required for you
to submit and surrender to God. So one of the
more important things about setting goals and accomplishing them is

(41:39):
surrendering to God and asking what does he want.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
You to do?

Speaker 1 (41:44):
So when you get these goals, you want to make
sure that you're looking at them. You can't expect what
you don't inspect. And if you just write them down
or you think you have them in your mind, writing
them down is critical. Even hebakuk to too, says the
Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make
it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
Write the vision.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
That word means when it says write the vision and
make it plain. That word plane means to make clear.
The word right means to inscribe or prescribe, and the
word run means to bring or move quickly. Break it
down so those who read it can run. Why Because
you've made it clear, You've prescribed what is going on

(42:31):
in your life, and it helps your brain to connect
action to what you wrote down. And I highly advise
or encourage you to try to actually write with a
pen or a pencil on a piece of paper. Everything
is so digital these days, and there's just something about
the engagement of our brain when you do that.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
Like I forced myself to write on paper, and.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
You know, even I was talking to a teenager the
other day and she's like, I don't even I haven't
written on a piece of paper in months, And she
didn't even know where a pen was or any paper
to write anything down. And we're just so digital these days.
So I encourage you sometimes to actually get paper and
physically write it on a piece of paper because it

(43:17):
can help your brain to focus on it. So if
you want to see this episode we did at Vasquezz Rocks,
I encourage you to watch it. It's got an epic
scene at the end where I'm at the top of
this rock and the you know, the drone is flying
around and I'm reading these things out to you. So
I encourage you to watch that. I'll also text you
the link to see that too when you get the

(43:38):
my Goals document, So text the word my Goals to
five eight six, five hundred and seventy three three three,
And I encourage you to set a goal to listen
to this show weekly or watch the show.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
You know, it's a part of feeding our brain and
our mind.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
With the Word of God and helping us to grow.
And if you have a friend you want to encourage
to listen to it as well. Many people do things
because they're invited by others. So think about, you know,
how how many people am I telling about Jesus Christ,
how many people do I talk to about God? How
many do I invite to church? When do I actually

(44:17):
share my faith? That's actually something a lot of believers.
There's a big study done on this recently, and many
believers actually admitted that they don't really share their faith
and they would if they.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
Had a way to do it.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
Well, shows like this, other shows you have on the
Prey app, you know that might be something you click
at the bottom. There's a little button that says share,
and then you just text it to them. I actually
did that to people in my phone the other day.
I'm like, Hey, here's this show.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Listen to this.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
Show, and I texted them the link. So sometimes a
way to share the gospel or things about Christ, or
you know, just things that inspire you is to send.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
It to people. Many times they will listen to it
and will inspire them. So I'm so grateful that you're.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Here, and I just encourage you to just experience setting
your goals this year and doing something different where you're
actually praying about it, You're asking God to give you insight,
and I encourage you to check in with yourself because
if you don't measure your progress, then you're not going
to see change normally. So we can just say we're

(45:22):
going to do something, but we just get so busy
in life. You've got to check in, how are you doing?
Did you accomplish what you said you were going to do?
You know, I would say to look at it every day?

Speaker 2 (45:34):
Why not?

Speaker 1 (45:35):
If you've got some goals for your life that you
want to focus on, especially to keep you focused, you
should look at them at least once a week, and
some things every single day.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
So this is where you know not to be a freak.

Speaker 1 (45:48):
About it or obsessed about it, but it helps your
brain to have a target, because if you don't have
something that you're directing your mind to.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
When the Bible says that we need to be transformed.

Speaker 1 (45:59):
By the renewing of our mind, that we're renewing means renovation,
It means a renewal. It means it means renovating your mind.
How you think, Well, how are you going to do
that if you're not directing your brain on where to go.
So that's why it can be so powerful to write
it down, but actually look at it, and I can

(46:19):
tell you that one big study that was done actually
at Harvard, they did a huge study on the graduating
class and they saw that three percent of the graduating
class had specific goals that they'd written down for their future.
Twenty years later, three percent was found. That three percent
was found to be earning ten times more than the

(46:43):
rest of the entire graduating class, meaning that only three
percent wrote down goals for their future and what they
wanted to accomplish, and twenty years later, those three percent
were worth more than the rest of the entire class
as far as what they'd accomplished, you know, financially and whatnot.
So those are clues to us that we need to
write it down. But it also tells us in the

(47:05):
Bible to do the same thing. So I am excited
for this year. I can tell you, Wow, the things
that God has coming down, I am so excited.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
This last year has been incredible.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
I mean, twenty twenty four has just been epic with
the amount of things God has done and leaning into him,
seeking him, asking.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
Him what he wanted me to do. Even with this.

Speaker 1 (47:27):
TV show, I mean I just started this TV show
that is also on national television. It's not just on
the Prey app, but it's actually on a national Christian
television station and that airs once a week there as well,
and they said it's one of their fastest screwing shows
on the network as well. So it just amazes me
because I sought God and I asked God what he

(47:49):
wanted me doing with my life?

Speaker 2 (47:51):
What do you want me doing now?

Speaker 1 (47:52):
I mean I had to really seek him and ask
him those questions, and one thing led to the next,
just consistently surrendering to him and getting guidance from him,
and one door opened and another door opened, and then
I got the idea for this TV show and then
I submitted it to the station and they loved it.

(48:13):
They picked it up, and then Pray happened, and you know,
I'm on this app. So it's just been incredible. And
I just finished my first book a couple of weeks
ago when I was in Fiji. I stayed out there
another week and I wrote it in about a week.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
It was amazing.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
So I am going to be actually submitting I have
these really amazing front covers. So if you don't follow
me on my Facebook page, I don't do a ton
on Facebook, but I'll actually post them probably somehow on
my app in Prey. But I'm going to be having
everyone vote on the cover that they want. And these
are pictures that we took out in the scenery.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
So that book's going to.

Speaker 1 (48:52):
Be published next month probably Divine Life Transformation, and I'm
just gonna talk to you deeply about how to transform
your life through the Bible. That's what I'm passionate about.
That's what I know, and that is what I am
called to do in this life. So I am on
this adventure with you as well. So if you want
to see your life transformed by the Bible, this is

(49:13):
the place to hear how it can also help you
do that.

Speaker 2 (49:17):
My name is Samantha Taylor.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
Happy New Year, and I will hear you or you
will hear me on the next TV show or radio
show as well. This is Samantha Taylor, and I'm happy
that you are here. I will see you or you
will see me on the next TV show and the
next radio show as well. Have a wonderful day and
take this to heart and make sure you text the

(49:40):
word my goals so you can get this whole list.
Send it to five eight six five hundred seven three
three three Bye Bye,