SPEAKER_01 1:21

Which we read the grace guidelines before every one of our gatherings. So we recognize that we all come from diverse branches of the Christian faith, which to me is absolutely incredible, and that everyone is on their own transformational journey. We're here to offer support and compassion to each other at whatever stage of their journey, whatever stage you are in your journey, we're all here together. And accept that we're all learning and that we build we lead by building wisdom together. And be open for feeling uncomfortable because all growth comes from some sort of discomfort. And ask the Holy Spirit to help you speak with love and grace. And we're here to care for each other by listening and operating in our sage power.

SPEAKER_13 2:18

Thank you, Jackie. That felt good. Well, today we are talking about living loved in 2026 and beyond that. Um, last month at our February meeting, we talked about the PQ tool of accept or convert. And today we want to dig a little deeper into accept or convert and ask this question. How do you invite God into accept and convert? Accept or convert? It's not something that we can just do by ourselves or that we want to do by ourselves. Choose to accept or convert. So how do we allow God into that?

SPEAKER_04 3:12

How do we invite him in? What are your thoughts? Leah? Hi, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_06 3:31

Hi. I the first thing that came to my mind is that God orders our steps. And if we have to be in a scenario where we need to accept something, we can trust that He is ordering our steps and He will He will help us walk in the right direction. And if we need to convert it, it's also something that's His plan for us. But we have to we have to just trust and just take a moment instead of reacting to the scenario at times, uh, which we tend to do, you know, is just like to go to the Word of the Lord, to take some time to pray. And, you know, even you know, the word tells us also to, you know, consult sometimes with somebody to get some feedback from other people. Sometimes we need to do that in those moments. So I do think that God does order our steps in those two scenarios of whether we need to accept something or convert something. And we usually can't convert something just on our own at times. We need to collaborate with somebody, so that's also important to think about.

SPEAKER_13 4:47

Which is why he puts us in community, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:51

So Jennifer wrote in the uh chat, she says, love the question. I'm thinking how David inquired of the Lord over and over again. Which is beautiful. Anyone else? Because I do have a question regarding Leah's uh statement because I think it's beautiful, but anyone else?

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Yeah, I I had a thought while Leah was talking of uh Christ and his passion in the garden and praying. Yes, isn't that what he was praying for? Do I accept or do I convert this for something for your will that I will be done?

SPEAKER_04 5:55

Thank you, Becky.

SPEAKER_05 6:05

Is recognizing that sometimes, you know, the accepting and converting, especially when it has to do with relationships, can be me allowing the Holy Spirit to point out any offense that I have clung on to or that I have um kept, you know, a little too deeply and uh bringing that before the Lord because you know we're we're you know, that is a conversion process is you know, recognizing it, but then letting it go and and not holding on to offense, which can then just open up the door to you know bitterness or all these other things. So that's been quite um a big change in a lot in my life and my relationship with the Lord and really lightening burdens up that I didn't even know I had.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Wow, thank you, Shana, for sharing that. And uh, I'll point out that she just mentioned about letting go, and that same letting go is connected to the passion where Christ did not think of himself greater than, but he became that phrase is called kenosis, and it is the act of honoring the father above self. So anyone else? Because I'm gonna come back to Leah's question, Leah's statement, because I think there's a there's a tension there, and I'd love for us to discuss it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_10 7:44

I just wanted to pick up on what Shauna said um about not opening the door to other things. And I think when we're in a challenging situation where the choices accept or convert, we often open other doors, which are try harder, work harder, be busier, work longer hours, think about it all the time, have sleepless nights, stress about it. You know, all those other doors are suddenly we're they're the ones we're knocking on, whereas actually maybe there are only two, and that is accept or convert, which is where God wants to meet us in one of those two. So I I thought that was a really yeah valuable thing, Shauna. Thank you.

SPEAKER_13 8:29

Surata.

SPEAKER_11 8:30

Suriaka.

SPEAKER_13 8:32

Suriaka. Yeah, that's better.

SPEAKER_11 8:36

Um, you know, I I I'm reading Jennifer's um comment and she said David inquired of the Lord, and that's totally, I totally agree with that. I mean, that's what the word says. And David also encouraged himself after inquiring of the Lord, and I have found myself lately um encouraging myself because when I am resisting, accepting, and or converting, I I bring back to my mind scriptures like, even though I can't see it at the moment, all things work for good for those who love God and according to his purpose. I think of, you know, he shall supply all my need. I mean, those are the those are the scriptures that I continually repeat to myself, and that help me encourage myself and help me then go to the next step and accept or andor convert. So, you know, he's there, but sometimes I can only speak for myself, I don't see it immediately, and I you know have to remind myself and encourage myself, and that's what gives me you know the the strength, the it opens my eyes as to why I'm going through this, what's what it's all about, and then I can move forward.

SPEAKER_12 10:43

I love that it reminds me of um whenever the Israelites, for example, when they were doing something that God commanded them to do, and and he had them pile up 12 stones by the Jordan River to remind them of these things. And I I like the scriptural reminders, but also I find myself looking back at my own experiences in the past of all the times he was there and faithfully came through for me every single time, yeah. And it just gives me encouragement too that this he's he's not changing, so he's not gonna stop, he's gonna come through again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 11:33

I was gonna add what's on to what Siriaka had said. I was almost even, I was already struck or conflicted, stuck when I saw accept or convert, because I'm like, I'm not ready to do either. So it was a reminder when she so graciously expressed that there's a still there's a space before you accept or convert, and again, leave with uh the react. Yeah, I wanted to react immediately. Let me, you know, message straight away to Donald and say, But I am accepting, I'm converting, and I'm like, I can't. I got some things I'm trying to sort out, and I'm in a space where I know it's gonna be one or the other, but I'm not there yet, and it's okay. And give yourself grace, and there's there's growth in that waiting period, too. So I'm not ready to accept or confront the certain situations going on now, but um I'm in the process, right? So it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Thank you, Vanessa. Patty?

SPEAKER_07 12:36

Ah, yes. Thank you for bearing with me while I drove home from my last appointment. Um, yeah, so what came up for me, I love everything everyone said. Um, I thought of David, the whole the agony in the garden and all of that is exactly, I think, what it comes down to for me, it was the our father. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And that is the ask of saying, accept my will. And even though you don't understand my will, that's where we can convert it into like trust and saying, these things look crazy to me. I don't get what's going on, but I know all things work together for his, you know, his glory. So I'm gonna, you know, his love itself, it's has to be good for me, even though I may be suffering in the journey of it. Uh so for that's that's what came up for me. That uh that's truly what Jesus did in the garden. He, you know, let this cup pass, uh, but thy will be done, not mine. And so that was his accepting and converting it for salvation of mankind.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Thank you. So I I have a question because I've been waiting to ask this question. So, so what how do we recognize in the moment of accepting or converting if it's a saboteur-driven or if it's uh God driven, Holy Spirit driven? Well, what do we individually do? How do we know the difference between saboteur and sage in the Holy Spirit saying step into this or pause? You know what I mean? How how do we know the difference?

SPEAKER_05 14:27

I don't know if this is exactly what you're headed for, but I mean what comes to my mind is is you know, Jesus said you'll know them by their fruit. So if my emotions are like shame or guilt, um, then those aren't from the Lord. But if my emotions are, you know, uh perhaps godly sorrow, I mean, those kind of things, then then I'm gonna know, okay, this is driven by the Holy Spirit and not, you know, son of a tour. This is not my judge that's trying to keep me in a spot, you know. Um, but I personally know that sometimes I will agree with that judge so often, yes, I want to stay here. I like this little mud puddle that I'm in. So uh yeah, which then kind of brings you to a point of, you know, going, okay, no, I need to pray and listen and and and get help pulling me out of the mud.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

So I I I love what Shauna just said, and we can keep going on this. So she she tied in an emotion. So if the emotion is, you know, from the fruits of the spirit, if it's love, if if it's peace, if it's joy, then that's a trigger to know that it's of God. And if it's of the saboteurs, it's the the judge emotions, restless, hyperachiever, and those different things. But what she also said was is knowing she went into prayer. And that could be the pause. Anyone else? Because I think this to me is is critical because we are learning how to step into accepting or convert, not and yet, it's or so there's a duality there, but the criticalness when inviting God into it is determining or discerning when God is moving and when we are moving through the saboteurs. Anyone else?

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Kong. Yeah, I I don't have an answer, but I have a question when you mentioned that it's really related to this morning. We have a Bible study group, and in there about I recently have a question about we all said there are soul, there are spirit, and there are the body. Yes. So I'm um asking the question for them a little bit confused. Like it's uh we know the spirit is from God, and the soul is from the human being, or the body does not have any awareness, like it's or it's just the body, or it's also coming from some sauce. As Donald, you just mentioned my question adding on that. Is that the soul is a sabotage lot of our logical brain, or is the spirit is our gut feeling or intuition? So all those concepts is exactly the same question I'm asking this morning. So glad you brought this up. I don't have an answer, but I'm trying to distinguish. Sometimes I can't see okay, my sabotage, like my victim, my hyperachiever. I can't distinguish that. But when adding to God's voice, to the spirit, to the soul, I'm confused again.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

So I would can we take that up in the sand lot? Because I think that is a very deep question. Um, and if we could, because we want to stay on track here, I would love to take that up in the sandlot. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Awesome. All right. Anyone else before we go into uh the breakout rooms? What else is coming up? So Jennifer is saying, she said, uh for me, the peace of God is very strong. And I I want to and I haven't even read it all, but notice she said very strong. So that is actually sage powers at work. So the peace of God is very strong when I'm either waiting or taking action in alignment with his will. I think many of us also feel a certain permissiveness or constriction, maybe corresponding to the felt pleasure of God or the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Depending on our level of yieldedness to his will in that moment. And there's so much in that. There is so much in that, but there are key words in here, and I think the key that we're seeing here is that God actually moves within us, right? Those emotions are the same if the saboteur is working. But we know that emotion literally flows through the fruits of the spirit, the love, the peace, the joy, the patience, the long suffering. And if there's a push to automatically respond immediately, that might be saboteur-driven. And that's where the pause comes in. That's beautiful. All right. So are we ready to go into a deeper discussion here in the breakout rooms? And the the discussion for the breakout room is we want you to take what is one challenge or situation that you're facing today that you need to accept or convert. What is one? Right? So we're gonna go into that. We're gonna break you up into just each person will be inside of a group. Three, seven, six, nine, twelve, fourteen of us. All right. So what we're gonna do is break this up into seven and let's just have a 10-minute discussion on inviting God into this and what's one situation or circumstance or challenge that we're needing or wanting to accept or convert? All right, have fun with it. Ten minutes. What what did you discover within the session?

SPEAKER_02 22:05

I'm willing to go. All right, Becky, I was blessed to be with Donald, and that was amazing. But what came out of it was sort of the idea of that pause being prayer and accept God's plan and letting him convert. And it just brings so much fruit, and I think about the idea of um he's writing the story, so it's Christ-driven and not ego-driven. And uh yeah, we just had a fantastic conversation about that.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Thank you. He's writing the story. That's beautiful. I'm taking that one with me today. That's awesome. Anyone else?

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Well, I was with Tembella.

SPEAKER_11 23:12

Oh, that was nice. We ministered to each other in a very real and loving way and encouraged each other.

SPEAKER_04 23:37

And I'm thankful. I really am thankful, Fembella.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

So I'm gonna I'm gonna be as bold as to say something right now as we continue in this one. That is one of the fruits of inviting God into accepting or converting. It ministers to the deep parts of ourselves versus just up here in the brain or in our emotions. Anyone else?

SPEAKER_04 24:21

One more.

SPEAKER_09 24:23

Yes, I was with Jackie. Okay. Um, we took time to be with each other and to pray for each other, and remembering the um verse about when two or more, you know, are gathered together in my name, and feeling his presence was very good. So I thank her for that that gift.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Thank you. All right. Well, we're gonna do something different today, and this is this is a a perfect example, right? Jackie, of of accepting or converting, right? So this is beautiful. So Jackie is going to lead us into the contemplation as we get ready to settle into this or leave this meeting for today. We want you to take something with you out of this. So, Jackie, I'll hand it over to you.

SPEAKER_10 25:24

Okay, thank you. So I'm just gonna do a few PQ reps and then I'm gonna lead you in a contemplation to invite you to accept or convert your challenge or situation that you are facing, should you like to. So I'd like to invite you to close your eyes. You can go off camera if you prefer to, and just gather your attention to your breath. Take a couple of slightly deeper breaths and notice its flow, and then allow your breathing to return to its natural relaxed rhythm, and then noticing your feet on the floor, begin to move all your toes, and notice all the sensations in your feet and your legs, and then relaxing your feet and returning your awareness to your breath, Heavenly Father. Thank you that you are here, you are always with us. Draw us to yourself now. In this moment of peace, we invite you to help us to pause and we turn our full attention to you. We welcome you, Holy Spirit. Thank you that you make this space sacred. In this beautiful moment of quiet, in the gift of this present moment, free from distraction, I'd like to invite you to picture a river. Notice the flow of the water. Notice the colour of the water.

SPEAKER_04 27:46

Notice the sound that it's making. Notice the banks of the river.

SPEAKER_10 27:59

This is the river that flows from the throne of God. Take a moment to savor it, to delight in it. And now call to mind the challenge or situation that you are facing today that you would like to accept or convert. Feel the weight of that challenge. Where do you feel it in your body? With the weight of this challenge in mind, I'd like to invite you to step into the river. You need to step into the river that flows from the throne of God. Feel the temperature of the water as you step in. Feel the water on your feet and around your ankles. Feel the sensation of the riverbed on the soles of your feet. Consider how deep God wants you to go at this moment. Is he calling you to stand where you are, or is he calling you to go in deeper? There is no right or wrong here, just an abiding trust in the living God. Listen to Jesus' words here. Take them into your heart. He says to you personally, take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid. Do you need to be brave and go deeper? Let yourself be drawn forwards to take small and deliberate steps towards the middle of the river. And as you go deeper, feel the water rising. Feel it begin to swirl around your knees, your thighs, your waist. And as you go deeper, feel the water begin to support you. Let it take the weight of your challenge or situation. And as you let the water take the weight, feel the lightness that it brings. Invite him in to accept or convert. Let Almighty God speak into your situation here. Help him to show you whether to accept or convert. And whichever it is, allow its weight to be carried in the water now. I'm just going to be quiet for twenty seconds to allow God to speak to you into your particular situation. Feel the water around your waist as you begin to walk towards the river bank. Feel the water receding around your legs, then your knees, and then around your ankles. And as you step onto the dry riverbank, trust that God is ahead of you, whether your challenge has been accepted or converted. And as we bring this meditation to a close, just allow your awareness to come back into the room. And when you're ready, open your eyes and have a stretch.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

And as we get ready to close, I'm gonna read from the passion. Philippians chapter two verses five. And I'm gonna read all the way down to verse eight. It says in your relationships with one another, have the same mind as Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross. So as we end this gathering today, remember that Christ's example is always the perfect example of accepting or converting. Until next time, be blessed.