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The Estherpreneur is a weekly chat about doing business and life God’s way. Join your host, Edna Harding as she offers biblical strategies and practical applications to improve your mind, business, spirit, relationships, and finances. Listen along as she talks with guests on how to thrive in all areas of life. Edna is a Wife, Mother, Growth Strategist, Author, Minister, Certified Maxwell Business Consultant and Executive Coach, an accredited Master Mindset Coach, and Speaker whose message of hope, truth, and wisdom reaches people all around the world. FavorandWealth.com Estherpreneur.com
Edna Harding [00:00:00]:
Welcome to Estrepreneur, a podcast for entrepreneurs and leaders doing business and life God's way. Each week we discuss biblical and practical tips to improve your mind, business, spirit, relationships and finances. Listen along as I speak with special guests on how to thrive in all aspects of life. Hi, I'm Edna. Like many of you, I wear many hats. I'm a military wife, mother, author, certified John Maxwell business and executive coach, trainer, and founder of Favor and wealth, where we help the good guys win. So tune in as we bring on the light. Well, hello everyone.
Edna Harding [00:00:41]:
Thank you for tuning in for another episode of the Estrepreneur podcast. My name is Edna Harding, messenger of life. I just wanted to first welcome you guys. Thank you guys for just continuing to encourage me by showing up and listening to every single week's episode. These episodes have been from my journey of getting to know the Father's heart, getting to know Jesus for myself, and experiencing the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. And I'm praying that as I share the things that I've learned, that it encourages you and blesses you to hunger for more and want to seek the Lord yourself. I truly believe that our best teacher is the Holy Spirit. So if this is your only source of spiritual feeding, I encourage you to to allow the Holy Spirit to teach you.
Edna Harding [00:01:34]:
Because for me, I don't know why the Lord wants me to share this. When I first started studying the Bible, you know, I would do devotional books. I would like, get a devotional books. I read it for myself and then I tried to read scriptures like a chapter a day. And then I went through a point where I would just open my Bible and whatever verse, whatever chapter I would read that other times I would be inspired by other prophetic voices or other preachers and like, something would be happening in my life and then for some reason I turn it on and like, whatever I'm watching, that is what's speaking to my heart. And now I'm at a time where, well, I do have a study guide, but I'm also learning to listen to the Holy Spirit more, even though I don't get it always right. You know, I have to say, like, lately, because I've been intentional with like, asking the Lord what's in his heart. Asking the Lord, once he wants to teach me, you know, telling him to reveal like, something new about him to me each and every day.
Edna Harding [00:02:33]:
Like, I want to learn a new thing about him. Like, the distractions have been worse. So I had to, like today, for example, I had to, like, step away because I couldn't, you know, you. Have you ever. To me, I'm all about quality versus quantity. And, you know, like, have you ever got to. Like, you're reading the words, but, like, the words are just words. Like, nothing is.
Edna Harding [00:02:53]:
Like, you don't. You can't really understand what you're reading. And I knew there's too many noise in here and too many noise out here. And so I had to decide, okay, Lord, I could keep, you know, pressing on and reading this, or I could actually rest. And that's what I did today. And now I feel refreshed. So, yes, I did take a nap. I took an hour nap today.
Edna Harding [00:03:14]:
And I'm not ashamed of it because my body needed it. For those of you guys who don't know, the United States went through a winter storm just recently over the past weekend. And so a lot of schedules have been shifted. So. And then my. My assistants were not feeling good, so they're behind, and so there's a lot of moving parts. And I say all this to say that, you know, when times are in chaos and there's so much noise, I. I truly believe that at some point, you know, thank you, Holy Spirit.
Edna Harding [00:03:47]:
It's like when I just saw a perfect picture. Like, you know, when. When a baby's sick and a baby's not feeling good, or it's just so, like, anxious and fearful, and it just. Like the baby's not good. The mother just carries the child, and the father just hugs the child like, I'm here. And sometimes that's what Daddy God wants us to do, is to just hug him, have him hold us, you know, in the palm of his mighty hand and just carry us when, like, nothing is working. Like when I say nothing is working, meaning you're trying your best to. To spend time with the Lord.
Edna Harding [00:04:20]:
You're just. You're just anxious. There's just too many things going on, and. And the Lord can. Can handle that, you know, so don't let that religious spirit, you know, condemn you, because I didn't pray today or didn't spend time with the Lord today or whatever. Like, do the best that you can and give him what you have. You know, it's so funny. There's a scripture that says a mustard seed bears much.
Edna Harding [00:04:40]:
I don't know if this is a scripture, but basically it talks about all you need is a mustard seed of faith. And that's what I have sometimes. Sometimes I don't have a lot of faith. I try to have a lot of faith all the time. But it's not always the case, especially when you're so tired and exhausted. And so I was up late, you know, and of course I'm preparing. I do a prayer call for a group of business people. I do have a lot of activities outside of mom life.
Edna Harding [00:05:05]:
Well, not a lot like a few outside of mom life. Outside of my business life. I'm involved in several organizations with leadership positions. Meaning like I'm like hosting it, right? Or I'm part of the decision making process. And so when, when I go through a time where I have to make, I have to seek the Lord for that organization or seek the Lord for what we're going to be sharing, that. That takes a whole toll out of me because I'm out of my bubble. And now I'm asking the Lord, what does he want to do to the nations? What does he want to do, you know, in a group? What is he saying for these leaders? So it's a lot. And I guess, you know, we just have to remember that.
Edna Harding [00:05:44]:
Yes, especially if you have a high calling, a huge calling. I mean, I'm not going to share all the prophetic words have been spoken over me, but they're not little. And I'm like, goodness gracious, like I can't even keep up with whatever I got right now. Imagine all these other things that the Lord has for me in the future. And I guess I'm just saying this because I believe that there are some of you guys who are listening who are just like getting overwhelmed almost by, you know, like just keeping up with all the moving parts and, you know, trying to figure out. And I think sometimes this is where his grace is sufficient for us, where it's not on our strength. And in the scripture that says, in your. In your weakness, your strength is made perfect.
Edna Harding [00:06:23]:
And that's what, that's what he wants for his children, is for us to rely on him to carry us, to add the super part to the natural. Because we're not able to. To do things on our earth, but to trust that the Holy Spirit will empower us to achieve and finish the race the Lord wants us to run. Does that make sense? So let's just open up in prayer. And that is not what we're talking about today, by the way. We're talking about the knowledge of God versus knowing God, which I think will still be very relevant to each and every one of you. But I guess someone needed to hear that today. And I pray that, that bless you.
Edna Harding [00:07:01]:
And that takes the burden off your back and to kind of like relax a little bit and have fun, you know, have fun. Enjoy this journey with the Lord. We're not meant to be workhorses, okay? We're supposed to be his children that rides on the horse with the father, right? So does that make sense? All right, let's pray. Father God, I just thank you for this time. Lord, I thank you for my brothers and sisters who are on the other side of these airwaves. God, I thank you, Lord God, that in spite of the darkness, in spite of the storms, in spite of all the things that going on around us, Father God, we thank you, Father, that you are God on your own and that you're God of the throne and that you have everything we need in order for us to finish our race. Well, Father, be with me as I speak today. I pray, oh God, that the hearts who listen to this episode will be fertile and that they will receive what you're teaching in a brand new way.
Edna Harding [00:07:56]:
In Jesus name, Amen. All right, so today's episode is about the difference between knowing God for yourself and the knowledge of God. Because there is a difference. You know, for me personally, I grew up in the church, I think from 4 years old. So my mom. So funny story, I don't know if I told you this already, but my mom was the first Christian in her family and my dad was the last Christian in his family. And so it's been a really interesting thing, but I remember when I was like 3 or 4 years old. Well, I don't remember this, but I see pictures of me worshiping God.
Edna Harding [00:08:30]:
In fact, I have a picture where a five year old said, let me see if I could find it and put it in the video were in the, in the background it says God speaks to me. I think I was like four. I don't think I was five yet. Three or four, one of those. So from a very young age, I grew up in a church. You know, I was raised Baptist, Southern Baptist, which is like very strict. Like you couldn't even wear pants. You couldn't wear jeans.
Edna Harding [00:08:53]:
Like you couldn't wear like. Like there was just. You can't show. It was very strict, like very. What's that word? Not modern. What is it called? Modest, which is completely fine. And I grew up with a lot of laws and regulation. I knew the scriptures, I knew like the Bible stories.
Edna Harding [00:09:09]:
I knew, you know what God says. I received Jesus as a Lord and Savior, but it was more of like it's tradition. Does that make sense? It was not something that I chose for myself. It was kind of like chosen for me. Does that make, is that, is that making sense? And then I went through a time when I was in college, I was 19 years old, I started dating this Christian youth pastor. I'm not going to mention any names, but you know who you are. And at that time, you know, obviously I was a virgin and I was, I was really like excited, oh my God, youth pastor, so forth. And I remember just, just excited like, oh, this might be my future husband.
Edna Harding [00:09:50]:
Anyway, long story short, fast forward, I found out that he cheated on me with my, really one of my best friends. And I found out from my other friend. And when I say cheated, I mean slept with a girl. Okay. Or so I don't remember. I don't, Sorry Lord, I don't mean to throw people's business, but something happened, like bad. And I was so heartbroken because here I am staying on a Narrow Road until 19 years old, right, Doing the right thing, going to church, serving a church, being a youth leader, you know, just trying to do right, doing my devotions, doing all these things. I'm staying on a narrow road and I'm like, what is all this for? That was the entrance of the enemy into my heart and into my life because I felt like going God's way hurts.
Edna Harding [00:10:38]:
And at that point it's like, what is this for? In my mind, like, why am I trying to be holy? You know, it really broke my heart. And mind you, at 19 years old, you're still like, you're still learning, you're still, you know, being molded. And I think because I kept it to myself, I didn't really say to anybody. Which by the way, I recommend for those of you guys are parents, be active in your kids life. It's not that, it's not that I probably could have mentioned something to them, but it was, I didn't maybe because wasn't. We didn't share about those stuff. We talked about church stuff, but we never talk about personal life stuff. So anyway.
Edna Harding [00:11:11]:
Oh, thank you Holy Spirit. No, before that there was. I dated a bunch of non Christian men and they cheated on me too. And this last time, like, okay, finally this is going to be different. Well, they cheated on me because I didn't want to sleep with them. And then this, this last time it was the, the youth pastor that broke my heart. And at that point I really strayed away and just completely like stopped going to church for a while. And I remember I was like, I don't want to go to church anymore.
Edna Harding [00:11:40]:
Like this is, this is boring. And I started kind of looking at. I wouldn't say that I was atheist. I mean I, I don't know, like I was like non. I don't know how to describe it, but it's like I didn't care. Like to me it was just like, maybe this is all a facade, maybe this is not real. And so I just ran away from God as much as possible. I was promiscuous, I drank a lot, I partied a lot.
Edna Harding [00:12:04]:
I did all kinds of crazy stuff. So I had one foot in the world, one foot in the church. And long story short, that's when I met my boyfriend of like almost 10 years and who was of the world and who so called Christian was Baptist on paper, but in the, not the lifestyle wasn't. That's when I really strayed away from God. And even though when I look back I could see different times when the Lord was trying to capture my heart. But because of the wounds from my past thinking like, okay, well I tried to do it God's way, it still got me hurt. I'm just going to do it the world's way. And long story short, that opened up a big can of worms and I just experienced an abusive marriage.
Edna Harding [00:12:45]:
Eventually. We were only married for a year. It took very emotionally abusive and then became domestic, physical. And then I left that marriage. I was very young. I think it was like 22, 23 around there. No, that was a time when I was in that horrible marriage that I started to know God because I was like, okay, yeah, I can't do this. I can't solve this for myself.
Edna Harding [00:13:07]:
I can't figure this out. My own. This is something that I need you, Holy Spirit, if you're real. In fact, I said that if you're real. Like it was weird because I through, through it out at all. I, I know that the Lord was trying to capture my heart and trying to get my attention. And so because of, because I had nowhere to go, like meaning I couldn't go. My parents, I didn't want.
Edna Harding [00:13:28]:
I was ashamed that I made a mistake. And at that time no one really knew what was going on with me. So that's when I started, you know, depending on God. And I experienced a lot during that time. And it would take like, it would take probably 10 or 15 journals for me to go over every little thing that, that I've encountered during that time. But it was that time when I really, really learned who God was, who his character was, what his heart was. And so although it was such a painful experience. I wouldn't trade it for the.
Edna Harding [00:13:59]:
Because it was a time when I got to know God for myself and see his character and his faithfulness. And why I'm saying this is because a lot of believers are having surface level relationships with the Lord. And that's a problem. That is a big problem. Because in this hour, with everything that's going on, although there are some blessings that is happening, a lot of potential upward stuff, there's also a lot of darkness. And we need discernment more than ever because of the times we live in. And in order for you to have discernment, you need to walk with God, you need to know God, you need to hear God for yourself. I mean, just recently you see a lot of exposure with all the different.
Edna Harding [00:14:42]:
Some prophetic leaders and some churches, some false prophets, false teachers. There's so many things that are being exposed. I was like, this is not a fad, Lord. Like, this is it grief my heart. Because I was like, I don't want to be part of that. I was like, I. I share stuff based on. On what you revealed to me.
Edna Harding [00:14:59]:
And it was just like it would. Became a trend, it became a popular thing, and I stepped away. You know, I mean, mind you, I was going through some challenging times just because I, you know, became a mother of two. But a part of my heart was like, not in. As I don't. This is not a game to me. This is about your kingdom. This is about souls.
Edna Harding [00:15:16]:
I still have this to say that as I go, you know, you know, from time to time, I go on YouTube just for entertainment or just to, like, do it while I'm washing the dishes or doing something. I'm seeing more and more people deceived and more and more people just like, maybe in August sometime. I think it was August, I told the group of people that I was with because we went to nrb, which was a conference for the National Religious Broadcasting Conference. We. We had. We. We had our own space and we were around a lot of the major Christian networks and there were like, famous people that, you know, of that you see on TV and all this stuff. And as they were walking, there was some haughtiness.
Edna Harding [00:15:59]:
Like there's some, you know, celebrity type of thinking. I'm like, this is. This is not cool. The only. Even though, like, on TV they sound humble and everything, when you meet them in person and you just walk around, you know, this. All the different sets and everything, there was like a haughtiness, like a pride, like more of us Like a celebrity type of feel. I'm like, this is. This is not good.
Edna Harding [00:16:23]:
I remember that night I was crying. I was like, lord, I repent, Lord, on behalf of my brothers and sisters who made this about them and not you. And so why am I saying this is. Because people will fail you, okay? The people that you listen to. Even myself, you know, like. Like I could say I'm going to be consistent, but if I am your only source of feeding, or if these other people your only source of feeding and you're not feeding yourself the knowledge of God and knowing God for yourself, you will be deceived and you will suffer because of the deceit. Okay? I myself have experienced a lot of spiritual abuse from pastors and false prophets that was financially involved. Like, took a lot.
Edna Harding [00:17:03]:
Tommy, if you guys don't know my story, just listen to my first episode. If this is like, I think it's my 12th season, go to the very first episode in season one. I go over my story there. But it's really important. I think you all should know that you need to know God for yourself. You cannot depend on man's revelation about God. You have to get the revelation from God, from knowing God, right? And asking the questions and learning from him and allowing him to teach you. Okay, so here's the problem, okay? I want.
Edna Harding [00:17:35]:
I want to ask you guys a question. How many of you can recite Bible verses but can't remember the last time God spoke to you personally? I'm not talking about someone else speaking to you saying on behalf of God. I'm talking about you hearing the still voice of the Lord and Him speaking to you directly. If you have not listened or heard him in a long time, that is a problem, my friend. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is a problem. See, what happened is we've turned Christianity into an information religion, okay? It's information overload. It's just kind of like a news release or social media post. Right? Entertainment.
Edna Harding [00:18:16]:
Right? Motivational entertainment. That's not what Christianity is. Christianity is a dying to self. Christianity is a disciplined life where we crucify our flesh and become more like Christ each and every day. Christianity is understanding the word of God for ourselves and reading it and asking the Lord to change our hearts and minds. You know, I'm looking at this Bible and I know it's. It's falling apart, but if I didn't have this in my mind, I don't know where I probably would be. In a mental ward or something.
Edna Harding [00:18:51]:
Because the things I've gone through was so bad, so many mental challenges. That's why I'm such a big believer. The word of God. If it wasn't for the. The word of God, who knows where I would be? There were so many close calls. There were so many. A few times that Katama that I wanted to hurt. End my life because it was so painful.
Edna Harding [00:19:12]:
But the word of God kept me alive. And this is why I'm saying this. Because no preacher, no community, no coach, no spiritual advisor, no nothing, not even your parents, nothing can satisfy you than your own relationship with the Lord, than intimacy with the Father himself. There is. There's nothing, absolutely nothing that can satisfy you. Nothing can fill that void. And honestly, like this right here, you know, like, these words, like, these are the words that kept me alive, that kept me in peace, kept me in joy through hail, fire and storm. Why do I keep crying? But, yeah, I just want you to know that this is not just about information.
Edna Harding [00:19:56]:
This is not about education. This is truly about a relationship with the one who died for you, with the one who made you and created you, with the one who's with you in the earth. Okay. We. We collect knowledge about God. Like, what's he gonna do here? Like. Like, more like it become more like fortune telling almost. I'm sorry for saying that, but it's like, it's.
Edna Harding [00:20:17]:
It's like a fake horoscope where it's like, okay, well, what God. What's God gonna do in the future? You know, I understand that God wants to tell us what the future holds, but I also believe that he wants us to be present and to not worry about tomorrow, but to focus on today, to focus on what he has in front of us. And that is something that. Because. Because I'm a go, go, go girl. I. I love to just run with the Lord. And the Lord has to, like.
Edna Harding [00:20:43]:
Like this season, this particular season, 2020, he has, like, slowed me down a bit and just allowed me to kind of, like, coast, like, slow down and just allow him to replenish me. That was one word that I used yesterday when I had my prayer call with my group. But it's been a beautiful thing. I. I feel peace, I feel joy, and I feel like I'm not rushing. Like, I'm trusting that God has a lot in store for me, and he will get me there exactly when he needs to get me there. Because I am not leaning on my own understanding, and in all my ways, I'm acknowledging Him and he will direct my path. One of the things that Elsa, that I put in here is that, you know, we study him like a subject, not pursue him like a person.
Edna Harding [00:21:26]:
No, he's not like a science class. He's not like a math class. He's a person. He's our Father, he's our Savior, he's our maker, he's our best friend. You know, God is like, bigger than a subject. And we. We treat him kind of like a chore, almost like a, I don't know, certificate of some sort. That is not what God wants us to do.
Edna Harding [00:21:48]:
So we know a lot about his attributes, his character. You know, like, for example, like who he is, his different names. For example, like Jehovah, Jire, Jehovah, Nisi, Jehovah, you know, Yahweh, Emmanuel. But we don't know his voice. We don't know if he could be talking to us. But we can't see it because we don't know God. We know of him because we don't. But we don't know God.
Edna Harding [00:22:13]:
And the last part that I want to say for this particular section is we understand his principles, but miss his presence. I remember Prophet Victor, who prophesied over me a long time ago. This was in 2016. He said, you understand the principles, you understand the know how of something, but the presence, the presence is what you're lacking. Something like that. And I was like, what? What is he talking about? But then I now, then the Lord had to take me on a journey where, like, I know his ways, I know his principles. I know what's good, what's bad, what's ugly. I know, like, his decision making.
Edna Harding [00:22:45]:
Like, I know what grieves his heart. But I couldn't. I didn't know his presence. His principles and presence is two different things. His presence, the way for me, how I experience it is like different foes. Like, sometimes I feel like tangible love. Like it's like a water flowing that is just like, makes you want to cry and just continue to. Just so happy to be in the Lord's presence.
Edna Harding [00:23:11]:
And then sometimes I've experienced the fear of the Lord where I'm like, okay, God, yes, sir. Like, you know, sometimes I feel just, I don't know, like a. Like a comfort, right? So the presence of God can be felt and not to be based on just feelings, because obviously. But, you know, I don't know how to explain it, but you're sensitive in the spirit when. When the presence of God is there not to say. And I know all you religious folks are like, well, the presence of God is always with you, it's with, it's within you and all this stuff. Oh, trust me, if, if you don't, if you can't discern the difference when the Lord's presence or the Lord's anointing or the Lord's spirit is here, meaning like it's hovering over your environment, your environment has changed because the glory of the Lord is here, for example, you're stepping on holy ground. There is a difference.
Edna Harding [00:24:01]:
It's not just like sitting here like you know, you know, you know, like I don't know how else to explain it, but there is a difference between the presence of God and just like spending time with God, you know. And one way in scriptural it tells you how to invite the presence of God and that is through praise, right? Praising the Lord, thanking him, just giving him the highest welcome, inviting him. That's pretty easy, you know, spending the word in prayer and just, just waiting and sitting still and listening to, to his voice and asking him to speak to you. Pretty simple. And I want to talk about business, right? Because this obviously is a Christian business podcast. You know, Christian entrepreneurs. And I've, trust me, they're coming out of the woodworks. I don't know why, but I'm seeing them more and more often and my social media and my LinkedIn and all that stuff and, and I love it.
Edna Harding [00:24:55]:
No, I love the fact that they're talking about, you know, I'm a coach for faith led entrepreneurs. I'm this and that. I'm that, you know, financial for faith led, whatever. I don't know, but it seems kind of surface level. You know, Christian entrepreneurs quote like scriptures in their bios, for example, but then they make decisions based on intellect. They base it's based on experience or they make decision based on what other people are telling them. You know, mind you, I am a big proponent of wise counsel. In fact, I've had a lot of consultants, coaches, mentors.
Edna Harding [00:25:27]:
I've, throughout my career. I started, I hired my first coach at 19 years old. I've had a lot, a lot. And one thing I've learned is yes, for a season you will go through all of that. And before I used to just do whatever they said honestly. And then as I got mature in my walk in the Lord and as I learn to hear God for myself, I realized they were, they were even, they were not seeking God for me. Does that make sense? They were giving me advice based on their experience. And I don't believe, even though they're so called Christian, I don't believe they were praying for how to advise me.
Edna Harding [00:26:03]:
I believe that a lot of the advice they, they're giving was based on past successes, which I completely understand because obviously you want to advise them based on experience. But I was looking for someone who would pray with me and give me counsel that can confirm what God told me. Right. Without me telling them what God told me. Does that make sense? So more of a prophetic type of thing. And, and I was craving for this. And then little did I know that the Lord was molding me into that. Right.
Edna Harding [00:26:34]:
Like being able to see. Mind you, it wasn't something that I asked for. It was just, it just happened over time. As I learned to discern God's voice for myself, I started discerning God's voice for their other people. But what I love was I wasn't always right. Does that make sense? There were times when I didn't, I said something, or I didn't say so, or I didn't push back. And I realized how important it is to say exactly what God says. Not to sugarcoat things, but to be able to speak the truth in love.
Edna Harding [00:27:05]:
There were times when like the Lord would tell me this is a no go, and I would like, because I didn't want to hurt their feelings, I would say, okay, well let's try this. But I kind of knew that, okay, well, this is a waste of time, you know, kind of things. The point of the matter is like when, when you use these, you have to be careful when you're out there talking to people who, so called Christian based type of whatever advisor, you really need to ask the Lord to reveal to you, is this the right person to help you? Like, how's this person's parent life? How is this person's family life? How is this person's, you know, soul, you know, you, you never want ministered to or advised by a wounded soul, okay. Especially if it comes to your destiny. And that's why for me, I truly believe that's why the Lord has really spent a long time healing my heart. From 2012 until now. I see like, because of all the traumatic things I've experienced, I see how God had to like layer by layer, peel those trauma, heal me from the inside out because of where the Lord is taking me, that I had to come from a place of a healed soul, a whole soul, okay. Not because of my own works, but because of the word of God who has transformed me from the inside out.
Edna Harding [00:28:21]:
I'm hoping this makes sense. Okay. You know, we know what the Bible says about Business, okay, but we don't know what God is saying about our business. Does that make sense? So we know what God says, like different rules and regulations as far as like integrity and all this stuff, but specifically about our business, meaning our individual businesses. God has a word for you too, and that comes from time with God, right? Knowledge of God gives you principle. Knowing God gives you direction. Okay, so now I want to talk about the difference. We're using this acronym, KNOW K N O W, between the knowledge of God and knowing God.
Edna Harding [00:28:58]:
Okay, so this is going to be. I'm going to wrap this up hopefully, okay? Because in this podcast we talk about spiritual but also practical. Okay? So the knowledge of God letter K is cognitive understanding. Okay? So you study his attributes, you memorize his word, you understand theology. You can't explain Doc, you can't. You can explain doctrine, for example, I know God is sovereign, for example. That's. You understand by way of mind, okay? N is notational belief.
Edna Harding [00:29:34]:
Okay? So notational belief, okay? You believe the facts about God, you agree with biblical truth, you agree what you've been taught and you have correct theology. So for example, you could say, I believe God answers prayer. So that is you. You know this, okay? You know this observational faith, okay? This is for knowledge of God. So you see what God has done for others. You read about his miracles and scriptures, you hear testimonies, you observe from a distance. So you've seen people get set free, you've seen people get healed, you've seen people God provide for other people. So you've read about this, you've seen it, okay, but you haven't really experienced it for yourself.
Edna Harding [00:30:19]:
This is more secondhand experience. All right? And the last one, written revelation. So you rely on what's written in scriptures. You depend on what others have taught you. You trust the documented evidence, right? Because there's proof. You build faith based on historical accounts. So based on like what the Bible says, based on other people's testimony. For example, the Bible says God is faithful.
Edna Harding [00:30:45]:
And then you see other people, you see God being faithful with other people. These are all knowledge of God. It's not a bad thing, but it's surface level. Now, knowing God, you go from cognitive understanding to conversational relationship. So let's start with a K. You talk to him, not just about him, you hear his voice personally, your dialogue with him daily, you experience two way communication. It's not just you talking to that person, he's talking to you as well. So for example, when God told me to wait on that deal so when God told me, hey, I don't want you to eat that, I want you to eat it, like, it was so crazy because, you know, I'm in this whole thing where I'm like, okay, God, I'm trying to lose weight.
Edna Harding [00:31:26]:
And he's like, well, like, tell me, don't eat that. Another bread. It's like, ah, like, like that kind, you know, like, oh, another bread even. It's not my subconscious, I know it's God because I talk to him a lot, okay? Throughout the day, I'm always talking to Him. And mind you, my friends, it's not to brag on like, oh, I'm so close with God. It's really, I need him. Like, I need him every second of the day because I feel like I'm putting out fires all the time and I have to be like, okay, God, just tell me what to do because I don't have time to deal with this. Okay? And navigational trust.
Edna Harding [00:31:58]:
So you follow his leading in real time, okay? You're not like, you know, in the, the previous one. You believe the facts about God, but as he tells you, okay, well, I know you want to do that, but this is what I want you to do. You do it. Okay? You trust him with decisions. You depend on his guidance. You let him direct your steps. Right? I remember for me, like before in the decision making process, like a lot of times a lot of people would do is they'll make a decision, ask the Lord to bless it. But the Lord.
Edna Harding [00:32:26]:
And I've done that in the past. Now it's like, okay, I haven't gotten a green light yet. If I don't get a green light, I'm not going to move. So I'm truly actively depending on God's instruction. Oh, operational experience. You've seen him move in your life. I've seen God move in my life so many times. I literally have countless stories.
Edna Harding [00:32:43]:
I would love to share that with you guys one day. Which, by the way, if you're not already part of my online community, I have a group chat on WhatsApp for my Estherpreneur podcast community. Join. If I haven't accepted you yet, connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message. Because sometimes I get, I keep forgetting about that WhatsApp group, but I do want to have like a Bible study where we can share testimonies of what the Lord has been doing in our lives. So I think it's going to be so meaningful when people hear about that. You know, in fact, I think that's what I want to do is the one season. I don't know exactly when, but sometime in these episodes for the masterprinter podcast, I want to highlight testimonies of God moving in your business.
Edna Harding [00:33:27]:
So if this is something that you have experienced for yourself and you're listening to this podcast episode, please email me. You can email me actually@helloavorandwealth.com that's my company. And just put testimony for podcast or something like that. And I would love to have you guys, or better yet, go to estherpreneur.com and you can message me there as well. But I think emailing me hellofavormot.com is better because I. I don't really check my podcast email as much so, and I probably should, but I. I just don't because it's not a priority right now. All right, You've experienced his faithfulness firsthand, and you know him through your own encounter, right? You've seen God provide, for example, you've seen God intervene.
Edna Harding [00:34:10]:
That's what I'm talking about. And then you is walking intimacy. So you abide in his presence. You recognize his voice, you sense his leading. You're like, okay, this is God. You experience his nearness. I don't know about you, but like, when you just feel like, okay, you're with me, like, you're not afraid because you know God is with you. Like, you felt God's peace in that decision.
Edna Harding [00:34:29]:
Like, you should be afraid, but you felt his peace. I'm going to share this scripture real quick before we head out here. Matthew, chapter 7, verse 21 to 23, says, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me that day, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away from you evildoers. See, the thing about this right here is you know that these people had a knowledge of God, but Jesus said, I never knew you. So in order for us to really experience the oneness with the Lord, the wholeness with God, and I've did this before. Thank you, Holy Spirit. A long time ago.
Edna Harding [00:35:15]:
And this is just a suggestion. You don't have to do it, but it's just a suggestion. Go on a spiritual fast. What I mean by that is don't consume any other teaching except the Bible from the Holy Spirit teaching you about the Bible. Because for me, I went through, like, a phase where I was, like, so hungry for the things of God, the kingdom of God, that I bought all of Miles Monroe stuff, Nocturne Siddiqui, like, all the other, like, faith, you know, all these different teachings, which, again, I don't know if they were true or false with Mike Murdoch. Like, but, like, when I say a lot of different stuff, like, the whole faith, blessing, all that stuff, and I didn't get it. When I say I bought, I. Like, I spent thousands of dollars on this.
Edna Harding [00:35:57]:
Like, thousands, okay? A lot of money. And I had all these cassette tapes and DVDs and everything, and the Holy Spirit told me, get rid of them. I was like, what? That's a lot of money down the drain. And I literally put it all in the suitcase. I don't know if I threw it away or if I donated it. I don't remember. But I didn't consume them. And all I did was consume the word of God.
Edna Harding [00:36:21]:
And that, like, catapulted me into where I am today because I learned to learn from the Father, learn from the Holy Spirit, learn from Jesus, ask them to teach me. And then eventually they allowed me to start consuming again. But now, because I had intimate firsthand knowledge about what the Bible says, I am. I am less likely to be deceived because I know the truth, right? I know the truth. So I can spot a counterfeit, right? Not always. Sometimes I will miss it, but the Holy Spirit will. Will give me insight to that. All right.
Edna Harding [00:36:54]:
But I had a few more things I wanted to share, but I believe this is the end of this particular episode, because I think that's enough. So I just want to say this, that you can, yes, you can build a successful business with the knowledge of God. But if you want to experience the supernatural business, the kind that comes with God just commanding his blessing upon your storehouses. When I say storehouses, more than one. Multiple businesses, multiple areas. You need to have intimacy with the Lord, because he only gives stewardship to a lot of things, to people he trusts and knows his heart. Now, I know what you're saying, because I. I've said this before.
Edna Harding [00:37:32]:
I'm like, well, if that's the case, why are all these evil people rich? And why are all these people blah, blah, blah, and so forth? I truly believe that when the scripture sells, when the scripture says the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous, I don't believe that's, like, in the heaven. I believe it's in earth, and there will be a transfer of wealth to prepare for the harvest. Now, I don't know exactly how and why, but I believe this is the reason why a lot of you have gone through so much testing. Because he has to purge us, our character and refine us so that we could be more like Christ and so that he could trust us with the wealth that comes from wicked places. Otherwise, we'll be exactly like them. Okay? We'll. We'll be prideful. We'll use it for our own personal gain, and we will not accomplish what God wants to do with the money.
Edna Harding [00:38:17]:
All right. Well, I hope this blessed you. I hope this encouraged you guys to walk with the Lord. And I pray that as we continue to meditate on God's word each and every week, that you continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I love you all and have a wonderful weekend. Take care. Bye. Bye.
Edna Harding [00:38:39]:
Thanks for joining us this week on Estrepreneur. Make sure to visit our website, favorandwealth.com for more information on our services. While you're at it, if you found value in this show, we'd appreciate a rating on itunes. Or if you simply tell a friend about the show, that would help me out, too. Also, check out my book, the Ugly side of Sales, available on Amazon, where I share seven of my secrets on how to win and grow business the right way. Until next time, keep shining.