WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Standing Tall In Babylon - Part 2 Publishing Date: 2024-11-24T05:04:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/api-created-podcast-post/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:19.000 We read this, we are very familiar with the passage, but they stood still, their faces 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:27.200 downcast. You're looking at two of the disciples who had a difficult time given what had happened. 00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:32.200 Scripture doesn't say much about what was going on except this line. It's a very important 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:37.800 line. They stood still when Jesus asked them, what are you discussing? They stood still, 00:00:37.800 --> 00:00:45.840 their faces downcast. And then as Jesus spends time with them and later on in verse 32, after 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:51.680 Jesus leaves them, they say, they asked each other, were not our hearts burning within 00:00:51.680 --> 00:00:59.960 us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us from being downcast 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:06.080 because of what had happened to a place where the heart is set on fire. Some of the songs 00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:10.160 we sang today were along the same lines. And this is something only the Holy Spirit can 00:01:10.160 --> 00:01:17.240 accomplish in our lives, where he has the ability to come alongside me and you and say, 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:22.360 it doesn't matter what has happened, I'm with you and he can set my heart on fire. He can set 00:01:22.360 --> 00:01:29.440 your heart on fire. And on one hand, we're going to continue on with standing tall in Babylon. 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:35.040 So if you did not tune into last week's message or you weren't here, please watch that, see that 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:39.560 so that there is context to what we are talking about today. So on one hand, we'll do this, 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:49.360 that our Jesus is someone who sticks closer to us than a brother. He sticks closer than anyone 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:56.680 else. And he knows how I think what's going on inside my heart. He knows how you feel. And he's 00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:03.320 not measuring you for how you feel. He comes alongside you and says, I'll set your heart on 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:11.400 fire again. Because like one of the songs that Tony sang and the team sang, the fire that he 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:20.800 gives life to in my life, in your life, it doesn't burn out. Because it's not made of earthly stuff. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:30.320 It's made in heaven, given to me by my father. So just want us to recognize that this is part 00:02:30.320 --> 00:02:37.280 of the package he has for us that he's saying, don't be distraught. Don't be worried. I'm with 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:43.640 you. I'll set your life on fire. If you feel like you don't have fire, I'll set your life upon fire 00:02:43.640 --> 00:02:49.040 again. If you feel like you're lacking something, you never have to go and beg someone, I will give 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:55.880 it to you. If you feel like you don't have enough, I am your provider. Yeah. So let's go back to 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:03.160 standing tall in Babylon. So we've been talking about Daniel and three young men from the tribe 00:03:03.160 --> 00:03:11.280 of Judah, who along with about 15,000 others were taken to Babylon. And last week, we talked about 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:17.200 the fact that, yes, Babylon was a place, a real place with real people. But for us who live today, 00:03:17.200 --> 00:03:23.640 it's really a parallel to what happens in our world today. That Babylon then was the second part, 00:03:23.640 --> 00:03:29.160 let's say, of the Tower of Babel, where people got together and said, we want to build for 00:03:29.160 --> 00:03:35.400 ourselves this city and we want to make a name for ourselves. That was Babel. And completely 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:41.960 opposite to what God had for them, because God's desire is to always be with us. His desire is for 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:48.160 us to be with him. And men in Genesis 11, they got together and said, we want to build it for 00:03:48.160 --> 00:03:54.320 ourselves, for our name. And we don't want God. And it doesn't stop in Genesis chapter 11. We 00:03:54.320 --> 00:04:01.240 read through different passages in the book of Daniel, only to see that the same Antichrist 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:07.440 spirit operated in Babylon like it operates in the earth today. And so the whole point is, 00:04:07.440 --> 00:04:15.680 you see these four guys who stood tall with resolve in the middle of Babylon, even though 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:22.840 there was an imminent threat to their survival. Nothing was easy. If they said, no, no, I don't 00:04:22.840 --> 00:04:29.680 like that, they could be killed. But in the middle of that opposition, these were four men 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:37.000 who found the ability to stand, not just stand, stand tall, being confident of who they served, 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:43.960 being confident of the father of the God that looked after them. And so the whole idea is, 00:04:43.960 --> 00:04:49.200 how can we live today, knowing that this is how they live then? What are the parallels we can draw 00:04:49.200 --> 00:04:56.160 from the story to be able to live like them today, pretty much in the same setting? It's more so how 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:02.040 we look at it that differs. Because sometimes we don't really understand that these things that 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:11.360 are happening all around us, they're systems that are carefully designed, carefully designed to 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:17.840 assimilate us to the ways of Babylon. They're put together, the specifications were laid out 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:26.240 in certain ways so that I begin to be indoctrinated by Babylon. So two things that Babylon wants of 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:35.560 you, Babylon wants you to be assimilated to its systems. Babylon wants you to be dependent on its 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:42.600 systems. Babylon wants you to be indoctrinated by the way Babylon is and Babylon things and Babylon 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:49.280 forces. That's all it wants. And on the other hand, there is our father who said, I put you in this 00:05:49.280 --> 00:05:57.280 world to be a witness for me. That everything that you see around yourself is not from me. Those are 00:05:57.280 --> 00:06:02.760 things of the world. But I have overcome the world already. And because I've overcome the world, 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:08.680 I want you to be of a specific type. I want you to carry my DNA. It's already in you, but you need 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:15.520 to stand and talk and walk like you have my DNA. Yeah. So that's a quick summary of everything we 00:06:15.520 --> 00:06:27.720 covered last week. So let's move on from there. If I can get my laptop to open. A few points we 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:34.800 covered last week. I'll just read through it. Babylon cultivates a one among many mindset, right? 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:39.880 It cultivates in you a one among many mindset, meaning you're just one among many other people. 00:06:39.880 --> 00:06:43.960 Oh, this is happening to them. This is what's happening in the world and I'm one among many 00:06:43.960 --> 00:06:50.320 people. That's all it wants because our father has a different statement, a different banner 00:06:50.320 --> 00:06:54.880 over my life, over your life. Babylon wants you to think that you're just one among many, 00:06:55.040 --> 00:07:01.600 whereas our father wants you to know you are mine. You're special. I have a plan and a purpose for 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:07.320 you like no one else. Plan for me, the plans that God has for me is different from the plans that 00:07:07.320 --> 00:07:11.280 God has for Rachel. It's different from the plans that God has for Kezia. It's different from the 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:16.960 plans that God has for Pawen. But all Babylon wants is to make each of us think that we're just 00:07:16.960 --> 00:07:22.640 one among many. When the truth is that there is a specific divine purpose that I was born with. 00:07:22.640 --> 00:07:29.320 There is a divine purpose that you were born with. And so it cultivates a one among many mindset 00:07:29.320 --> 00:07:35.040 and it also spotlights human abilities instead of your divine mandate. That was one of the four 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.720 things we talked about last week. Number two, we said Babylon aims to seat you at Nebuchadnezzar's 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:48.600 table. What's the idea? Because Nebuchadnezzar offers all of these delicacies, all of these good 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:56.200 rich meat. It offers wine. And the idea is that you would sit there, but while you sit there, 00:07:56.200 --> 00:08:02.560 you become tethered to Nebuchadnezzar in his ways. You become dependent on him and that's all that 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:08.960 he cares about. But these lads, they stood up and they said, no, our dependency is first and foremost 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:16.420 before anything else on the Lord we serve. And so they said no to the meat, no to the wine. And they 00:08:16.420 --> 00:08:22.020 decided that we are not going to lower the threshold of our dependency on God. We are not 00:08:22.020 --> 00:08:28.780 going to lower the threshold of godliness. So that was two. Number three, we talked about Babylon 00:08:28.780 --> 00:08:35.740 designed to hijack your identity. It's designed, again, carefully drafted to take your identity 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:40.500 away so that it can be replaced with something else. We went through the four names, what they 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:46.260 actually meant and how the names that Babylon gave to them were contrary to what God has established 00:08:46.260 --> 00:08:52.180 for them. That was three. And then fourth, it talks about Babylon morphing everything and anything 00:08:52.180 --> 00:08:58.340 that is good and it's a counterfeit system where if there is wealth, well, wealth in itself is not 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:04.580 bad, but Babylon has the ability to change wealth, morph wealth into greed. At that point, it becomes 00:09:04.580 --> 00:09:10.780 something that's wrong. Faith is great and it is from the Lord, but faith, when morphed, becomes 00:09:10.780 --> 00:09:17.980 religion, legalism. So that's the whole idea. So the next thing I want to talk about is in Babylon, 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:27.020 so this is probably the fifth one, in Babylon, there is a frontal attack on your morality. In Babylon, 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:36.420 there is a frontal attack on your morality. So let's define morality. Morality is defined as 00:09:36.420 --> 00:09:44.980 principles or values concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and evil. I'll 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:54.460 repeat it. Morality is essentially principles or values concerning the distinction between right 00:09:54.460 --> 00:10:05.220 and wrong or good and bad. So when we live in earth today, in the context of Babylon, there is 00:10:05.220 --> 00:10:12.980 always not a hidden attack, not a step from the back, all around us, a frontal attack on your 00:10:12.980 --> 00:10:19.540 morality. And when I say morality, let not your minds just go to sexual morality because that's 00:10:19.540 --> 00:10:25.660 the way to naturally think about these things when we talk about it. This is way beyond sexual 00:10:25.660 --> 00:10:33.460 morality. This is values and principles that allow us to discern, differentiate between good and evil. 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:45.860 Right and wrong. So what does Babylon want? Babylon wants you to conform, to conform to its ways. 00:10:45.860 --> 00:10:55.620 A couple more things here. See, morals or these principles or values that we talked about, they're 00:10:55.620 --> 00:11:01.300 never to be loosely held beliefs, right? Because you can sometimes have, and I can sometimes have, 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:08.900 certain values that are loosely held. Where, you know, five months later, depending on the 00:11:08.900 --> 00:11:16.420 situation there is, it could twist and change a little bit. White does not need to be gray or 00:11:16.420 --> 00:11:23.500 black essentially. It can be slightly gray and no one even knows except your heart. The whole idea 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:33.460 again is in this particular world that we live in, everything wants you to conform to the ways 00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:40.940 of Babylon to a point where it wants you to have loosely held beliefs, loosely held convictions. 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:47.900 It's great to be convicted of something today, but six months later when it's really challenging and 00:11:47.900 --> 00:11:54.620 it doesn't really work all that great, can I force them to let go of his conviction? Can I force her 00:11:54.620 --> 00:12:01.340 then to let go of her conviction? That's what Babylon wants. And so morals or principles, 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:08.940 as we call it today, or as we talk through this today, they're not loosely held opinions. They're 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:16.040 not loosely held opinions. They're not loosely held beliefs that are adaptable to circumstances. 00:12:16.040 --> 00:12:25.560 Morals or principles are convictions based on what God has already said. So this book lays out 00:12:25.560 --> 00:12:33.680 what morals I should have. This book lays out for me the value system that I am supposed to have. 00:12:33.680 --> 00:12:42.240 If any of you are dating or wants to date a girl or a boy, this book must be in the conversation, 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:48.520 because you can have a lot of people these days who say that I'm a Christian. And the word 00:12:48.520 --> 00:12:52.800 Christian means many different things to many different people. So if you were to ever get 00:12:52.800 --> 00:12:58.400 married to a person, you better make sure that this book is the book that they're talking about 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:04.960 and saying, yeah, yeah, every line in there is what I adhere to. Every line in there is what I 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:09.800 believe in. Because you don't want six months later to find out that their interpretation of 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.720 something in here is wrong. You need to always be sure that this book dictates, not me, not you, 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:24.880 this book dictates how we live. And so they are not loosely held. These are convictions that are 00:13:24.880 --> 00:13:32.040 based on God principles. So just like Babylon, not just like, Babylon has a value system, 00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:39.120 but as I said, there's nothing original about Babylon. There's nothing original about Babylon. 00:13:39.680 --> 00:13:47.520 Babylon looks at what heaven has and then tries to hybridize it, tries to modify it, 00:13:47.520 --> 00:13:56.840 tries to make a copy of it that tries to operate in parallel to what God has. And I'll explain that. 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:08.040 So heaven has a value system. And this value system is clearly outlined in the word. And that 00:14:08.040 --> 00:14:14.560 becomes the foundation on which I stand on, on which you stand on and say, these are the 00:14:14.560 --> 00:14:20.560 convictions that I live by. These are the principles that I live by. It doesn't matter 00:14:20.560 --> 00:14:27.320 where I am, what I am doing, who is watching, who is not watching. I live by these principles. 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:35.040 One of the things that I like to think about is we may think that we get uploaded in heaven 00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:42.200 based on what people see. The truth is what heaven often sees is the exchange and the 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:53.600 transaction that no one sees. Don't forget that. Heaven marvels at what you have to say and speak 00:14:53.600 --> 00:15:02.880 and do when no one is watching. And once we get that right, I really loved all of the songs today, 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:09.800 inside out. It's more about what's inside me that's important than anything outside. 00:15:09.800 --> 00:15:17.600 And that's the question. What is happening inside your being? What's happening inside my being? 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:27.540 Where can we, like these four guys, say, I belong to this King who bled and died for me. He has 00:15:27.540 --> 00:15:34.580 given me everything I need to live. And let me put it this way, a playbook, a set of rules, 00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:39.980 a set of, and there's nothing wrong with using the word rules, a set of principles, a set of 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:44.660 commands, a set of do this, don't do that. Sometimes we just get into this thing of, 00:15:44.660 --> 00:15:50.460 oh, well, religion is do's and don'ts. No, this is not religion. Bible is very clear about things 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:54.700 you should do and things you shouldn't do. You can't change that. It's just not going to be 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:59.900 changed. It is about a relationship before anything, but it also comes with a prescription 00:15:59.900 --> 00:16:08.860 of how I need to lead my life. You can't throw that out. Yeah? And so, what are those convictions 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:15.580 that you and I will stand up for and say, it doesn't matter. I will still live by these things. 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:26.220 So, Babylon is affecting culture, art, politics, sports, finance, business, parenting, religion, 00:16:26.220 --> 00:16:32.900 everything. Babylon has a counterfeit system for all of these things. And in the middle of all of 00:16:32.900 --> 00:16:41.460 this, can I inspect my life, you guys the same, to say, Lord, any areas where things have eroded, 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:48.060 where my value system has eroded, where my principles have eroded, where my beliefs have 00:16:48.060 --> 00:16:55.580 eroded slowly over a period of time, I take it back. That's the idea. And this is something that 00:16:55.580 --> 00:17:01.100 you and I should do, take time and go through it, because there is much to be done here. So, 00:17:01.100 --> 00:17:09.700 to live in the midst of a people and display your beliefs and actions that convey the God you 00:17:09.700 --> 00:17:18.980 worship. That's the charge on our lives. To live in the midst of a people and to display the beliefs 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:28.540 that you have, to display in actions what you believe. That's the call. So, you see here in John 00:17:28.540 --> 00:17:36.620 chapter 1, Jesus says, come and see. Why? Because there is something about you coming and seeing. 00:17:36.620 --> 00:17:44.820 Jesus says, you follow me, you come and see how I live. You come and see how I am in my house. You 00:17:44.820 --> 00:17:51.780 come and see how I am with other people. You come and see. And so, there is no standing up for your 00:17:51.780 --> 00:18:03.100 conviction unless you and I lead an open life. Jesus led an open life. Jesus led a life where 00:18:03.100 --> 00:18:11.220 things were open. And the thing is, with Christians, it's sometimes we have the tendency 00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:20.740 to whitewash things. It looks too good from the outside. That the world out there, they can't 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:26.900 relate to you anymore, because you seem to speak something. The vocabulary is so different. There 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:32.540 is nothing that ties in with what they have. You don't need to speak their words, but you still need 00:18:32.540 --> 00:18:40.940 to be able to communicate authentically where you were and where you are. But we sometimes have the 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:47.020 tendency to say, everything is so good. God is so good. He just takes good care of me. So right, 00:18:47.020 --> 00:18:54.620 He takes good care of you. But can you also say when it was difficult and how your God brought 00:18:54.620 --> 00:19:01.140 you out? Because if all you have to say is, God just takes good care of me, that's good, but not 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:07.900 good enough. You have to also communicate to them, I went through a difficult time, but when I went 00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:14.180 through a difficult time, this God who is good, this is what He did. And what that will require is 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:19.900 you will need to speak of things that you may not want to speak of. Now of course you use discernment 00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:27.700 and wisdom to do this, but it is, it must not be and should not be a whitewashed story. Make sense? 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:34.420 Make sense? Because there is a tendency to do that and sometimes we don't do it with any bad 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:41.900 intentions. It's just that the kind of setup wants you to do that. You don't have to say it how it was. 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:49.660 Because that's when someone hears what you have to say and they say, wow, that's exactly how I am 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:55.780 feeling. I just didn't even know how to put that in words. But as you were talking, something 00:19:55.780 --> 00:20:02.580 happened inside me. But you are preventing others from having that experience because you choose 00:20:02.580 --> 00:20:09.780 just to say that the final outcome, the truth that God is good, but not necessarily explaining 00:20:09.780 --> 00:20:19.860 to someone how God brought you out. So you must lead an open life. This is why Jesus said, come and 00:20:19.860 --> 00:20:29.780 see in John chapter 1. Convey God in a way that impresses people around you to want to know your 00:20:29.780 --> 00:20:40.940 God personally. Convey God in a way that impresses people around you to want to know your God 00:20:40.940 --> 00:20:52.260 personally. So that's one. Number two, sub point one. The second point within that is you're not 00:20:52.260 --> 00:21:02.460 just communicating who God is and what he has done. You're also expected to intervene on behalf 00:21:02.460 --> 00:21:10.100 of God here on earth. So when things happen all around us, we become a people who stand up with 00:21:10.100 --> 00:21:16.900 our convictions, stand up with what we believe in, not by just talking, but also intervening. When 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:24.020 you see something where you know that this is not God, this is not his ways, you intervene. 00:21:24.020 --> 00:21:33.220 There's something we looked at probably in 2022. Priests, they intervene. And the call that God has 00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:39.580 over our lives is not, you know, who are we? We follow after the high priest. We are a royal priesthood. 00:21:39.580 --> 00:21:46.380 And in this earth, we are supposed to follow after the one who has gone before us, who always intervened. 00:21:46.380 --> 00:21:54.300 He intervened. He looked at what happened and he stepped in. He looks at the prostitute who was 00:21:54.300 --> 00:21:59.260 going to be killed and he says, not caring about what people think about him, not caring about what 00:21:59.260 --> 00:22:06.580 they're going to talk about him tomorrow. He steps in and says, that's the idea where you and I begin 00:22:06.580 --> 00:22:14.580 to have this conviction build up inside us so much so that we become bold. We become confident to be 00:22:14.580 --> 00:22:23.420 able to speak and say, this is not how my God is. This is not how he operates. And so let me tell you 00:22:23.420 --> 00:22:30.980 how he works. Isaiah chapter 58 talks about different ways we can intervene. Isaiah chapter 58, 00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:39.500 verses 6 and 7. Start off by practicing 6 and 7. You can do more, of course, but this is a good 00:22:39.500 --> 00:22:53.540 pattern in terms of how to start. Intervene by practicing Isaiah chapter 58, 6 and 7. Break 00:22:53.540 --> 00:22:58.820 bondage, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked with dignity and clothes, become 00:22:58.820 --> 00:23:05.380 sympathetic, aware and available. Do not disdain or dismiss. Pour out your resources yourself, 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:13.420 plus more. But you can begin to intervene like this. You can begin to intervene in what's happening 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:21.900 in lives right around you and say, well, that's definitely not God. And when I speak, when I 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:28.580 communicate this, they may even get me wrong, but let me do it. They may not understand me, 00:23:28.580 --> 00:23:35.180 but let me with the wisdom that God has given me, intervene because that is the mantle on my life 00:23:35.180 --> 00:23:41.340 and your life, that you are someone who must intervene on behalf of the King here on earth, 00:23:41.340 --> 00:23:51.260 only because this consumes you. Inside you is this great solid recognition that you are not of this 00:23:51.260 --> 00:23:56.420 kingdom, that you are from another kingdom. And what is incident? We call it morals, principles, 00:23:56.420 --> 00:24:04.740 but these are all such poor words to describe this. Inside you is conviction that your Lord 00:24:04.740 --> 00:24:12.220 operates differently, that your father sees it differently. And when you do that, you then begin 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:21.460 to intervene in the different situations and people's lives around you. You are therefore an 00:24:21.460 --> 00:24:31.300 instrument for God to intervene. You are an instrument for God to intervene on earth. And 00:24:31.300 --> 00:24:41.580 the truth is you cannot intervene without being interrupted. You cannot intervene without being 00:24:41.580 --> 00:24:58.340 interrupted and being foolish. In August, a couple of us from here, a couple of us went to Victoria. 00:24:58.340 --> 00:25:04.620 And so we were in Victoria. We were going there for a particular thing, but felt that we should 00:25:04.620 --> 00:25:12.140 go to the Legislative Assembly, right? You have in Victoria? Yeah. So felt like we should go to the 00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:19.180 Legislative Assembly and sit there and pray for a bit. And so we went there, we sat down, we prayed 00:25:19.180 --> 00:25:27.420 for a bit. No, before I say anything, let me tell you this. I'm not political. So I don't wear anything. 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:35.100 I'm just myself. So I don't know this or that is not my thing, but God intervenes. And I'll explain 00:25:35.100 --> 00:25:41.660 it. So we were sitting there and suddenly my friend wanted to read out from the Book of Isaiah 00:25:41.660 --> 00:25:49.420 in a particular passage. And so as she sensed it, we said, okay, let's read it and pray along this 00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:56.940 line. And immediately understood that God was saying that something needs to happen here at the 00:25:56.940 --> 00:26:03.260 Legislative Assembly so that certain people must come out and certain people need to be removed 00:26:03.260 --> 00:26:11.340 from their places. And that sense grew bigger and bigger over a period of two or three minutes. And 00:26:11.340 --> 00:26:18.420 so we didn't go there to pray that we went there to do something else. And so because this conviction 00:26:18.420 --> 00:26:25.820 was inside us and growing, we said, let's pray for this. And I don't know much about the politics in 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:31.980 BC, the history, but I knew that there were two parties and the elections were going to happen. 00:26:31.980 --> 00:26:38.220 But God was saying it's important that certain people need to be moved, removed for certain 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:44.220 things that I need to accomplish. This happens all across the earth. BC is no special. It happens in, 00:26:44.860 --> 00:26:51.500 God determines who is in power, who is not in power. And so we prayed for probably three or four 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:57.820 minutes, not long at all, very short prayer. And we prayed that this thing will happen. And the 00:26:57.820 --> 00:27:04.380 moment we stopped praying, not kidding you, the bell rang, the exact moment we stopped praying, 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:11.100 the bell rang. And for us, it was like, wow, there must be something to it. We were just told to pray 00:27:11.100 --> 00:27:18.940 and we prayed and we left. Two days later, two or three days later, I'm at home and on the side, 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:27.020 I had the global TV thing. It's streaming and it said something that's never happened in BC happened. 00:27:27.020 --> 00:27:32.540 And instead of, you know, two political parties, one party just imploded and another party came in, 00:27:32.540 --> 00:27:39.020 all of the details to continue on from there. What's my point? God loves to intervene through us. 00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:45.900 Now, I'm not saying it's only two or three people. This could have happened across BC for all we know 00:27:45.900 --> 00:27:55.660 about him because he uses people to intervene. This is how he works. What business do you have 00:27:55.660 --> 00:28:04.300 there? What business do I have there? But the truth is he is Lord over everything. When he is Lord over 00:28:04.300 --> 00:28:11.900 everything and he chooses because he loves to use you and I, we just go on a ride with him. 00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:21.260 Convictions. It doesn't stop with you saying something. It also has to do with you moving, 00:28:21.260 --> 00:28:27.660 you being interrupted, you deciding to follow the call to say, here, I will make this statement and 00:28:27.660 --> 00:28:35.340 I'll do it this way because that's the God you serve. You obviously don't want to because these 00:28:35.340 --> 00:28:40.060 days you need to, you need to say it. You obviously don't want to take this pendulum and put this on 00:28:40.060 --> 00:28:46.860 the other side because that's what happens in the States where it's very, it's different because the 00:28:46.860 --> 00:28:57.900 fabric there has been so intermixed, religion and politics, it's wrong. But we serve a God who has 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:07.900 clear, precise plans for nations, regions, and he will do what he needs to do whether anyone likes 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:17.340 it or not to accomplish those plans. And he then chooses us and others like us who are out there 00:29:17.340 --> 00:29:24.860 to say, come my people, I want you to do this and he does what he needs to. So it's not just 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:33.260 opening up your life, it's also intervening. So be the first person in the room to stand up 00:29:33.260 --> 00:29:39.900 for the weak and the poor. Be the, here's another thing guys. See sometimes when we talk about the 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:44.780 weak and the poor, there could be a thing that, well, this is kind of a cliche. It's not a cliche. 00:29:44.780 --> 00:29:52.220 The reason it's not a cliche is because Jesus said, when you do this to these, you're doing it for me. 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:59.740 To the least of you, when you do it, you are doing it for me is the words of Jesus. So it's 00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:05.740 never a cliche to talk about poor and needy or homeless is one of the many things he said. 00:30:06.780 --> 00:30:13.660 And so we can all start from one place or the other depending on what he tells us. What are the 00:30:13.660 --> 00:30:19.100 areas where you decide you're going to take a stand in? What are the areas where you decide 00:30:19.100 --> 00:30:26.540 this is something God has continued to talk to me about and therefore I choose to take a stand. 00:30:27.500 --> 00:30:33.980 Be the first person in the room to run to provide help when someone needs help. Be the first person 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:42.940 in the room to speak up for someone who can't speak. Ezekiel chapter 20 verses 41 and 42. 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:51.980 Let me read it. As a pleasing aroma, I will accept you when I bring you out from the peoples 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:59.980 and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. Listen to this. And I 00:31:00.540 --> 00:31:06.220 will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 00:31:07.580 --> 00:31:16.940 There is something that our father really loves to make you and I a sight for the nations because 00:31:17.020 --> 00:31:27.260 the only way, not the only way, the way he uses his desired way to influence people and systems 00:31:27.260 --> 00:31:36.620 out there is to make you and I a sight for the nations. And Babylon knows that. It knows that 00:31:36.620 --> 00:31:43.580 its agenda will fall apart as soon as there is a people on earth who know that they have a 00:31:43.580 --> 00:31:51.900 distinctive aroma about their lives and the whole system works together to stop that distinct aroma 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:59.900 from spreading because if it is not stopped then others will take hold of it. If it's not stopped 00:32:00.460 --> 00:32:07.820 then others will smell it and when it smells good, when the thing outside is ugly and nasty and bad, 00:32:07.820 --> 00:32:10.220 why would they not choose the ways of Christ? 00:32:13.900 --> 00:32:18.140 So I should choose to stand and practice these convictions publicly 00:32:20.140 --> 00:32:26.860 and if I choose to do this, here is what will happen. Number one, God will give you 00:32:27.420 --> 00:32:36.380 favor with eunuchs in the system. Daniel chapter one. God will give you favor with eunuchs in the 00:32:36.380 --> 00:32:42.860 system. These are ones who are waiting to side with righteousness. They haven't spoken those 00:32:42.860 --> 00:32:51.580 words yet but they wait. They've been long waiting to side with righteousness and one that God raises 00:32:51.580 --> 00:32:58.620 on his behalf. So when you take a stand, when you do what God wants you to do, you will soon realize 00:32:58.620 --> 00:33:05.660 that there are eunuchs in the system who will take a stand and they are divinely placed in those 00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:13.500 places so that they can work with you to accomplish what God wants to accomplish. Number two, a zeal 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:24.140 for God positions you in the center of your purpose. A zeal for God positions you in the center 00:33:24.140 --> 00:33:31.260 of his purpose and let's go back to what I started with. A fire that he plans inside your heart. 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:40.940 That no man, no woman, no system can shut down because it's a fire that he has lit inside of 00:33:40.940 --> 00:33:48.620 your heart. This is a fire that every son has. This is a fire that every daughter has. See, 00:33:48.620 --> 00:33:54.940 the thing about our kingdom is unlike what I read last week where Nebuchadnezzar says if you have 00:33:54.940 --> 00:34:01.740 this, this, this, this, this, and this, then you come. Unlike that, our father created us a certain 00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:09.340 way because he wants these things to be accomplished through you and I and if I don't step up and do it, 00:34:09.340 --> 00:34:17.420 if you don't step up and do it, then some things can't be done. He can do it with other people but 00:34:17.420 --> 00:34:23.980 the way he expected you to do it through your life because it's different from anyone else's. 00:34:25.340 --> 00:34:28.380 It can't be accomplished that way. Does that make sense? 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:38.060 It's not the objective. It is the way it is done. So what needs to happen through May's life 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:46.220 when May yields to that, it gets done a certain way. If May chooses not to, he can use Liny and 00:34:46.220 --> 00:34:53.100 do that but the way it would have happened with May will not happen through Liny and this is the 00:34:53.100 --> 00:34:58.940 pleasure of the father that when he made you, when it says I knit you, it's more than just knitting. 00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:06.860 It's designing, crafting, everything detailed and he wants it to be done this way through you, through me. 00:35:10.700 --> 00:35:16.780 So it should light up our lives because this is the son's inheritance. This is the daughter's 00:35:16.780 --> 00:35:20.940 inheritance. That there are certain things that only you can do with him. 00:35:22.140 --> 00:35:30.620 There are certain things that can only be done by you with him. You have to say it like that 00:35:30.620 --> 00:35:35.020 because it's easy to also say well if you don't do it, someone else will. Yes, someone else will but 00:35:35.020 --> 00:35:43.420 not the way it was meant to be done with you and so we have this privilege, don't we, that because 00:35:43.420 --> 00:35:51.580 our father is someone who takes care of us, we can therefore enter into it and this is no tears of 00:35:51.580 --> 00:36:01.500 no. This is Abba, I am ready. I'm ready. Recruit me. Train me. This is why a shepherd boy then says 00:36:01.500 --> 00:36:09.420 in Psalm 18, with him I will run over this wall. With him I will because there is something about 00:36:09.980 --> 00:36:17.500 people like ordinary people saying this I want. There is a grace that is poured from heaven. Trust 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:26.860 me, there is a grace that is poured from heaven when a son or a daughter says I'm ready. There is 00:36:26.860 --> 00:36:34.540 a grace, an equipping grace, a grace that empowers you that is ready to be poured right over you. 00:36:35.420 --> 00:36:44.380 Let's call it anointing. Ready to be poured right over you when you say this is me and I am ready. 00:36:44.380 --> 00:36:49.420 Not because you have something to show for it, not because everything looks pretty but because 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:57.900 you're compelled by the fact that he made you and you are his. He is good. He has a plan. He won't 00:36:57.900 --> 00:37:04.380 leave you. He will take care of you but he also has purposes through you and you say without knowing 00:37:04.380 --> 00:37:10.780 much I am ready. Then is there a grace being out poured on your life? 00:37:14.220 --> 00:37:19.100 True, right? This is what happened with all of the guys in the Bible. They weren't special 00:37:22.540 --> 00:37:27.740 but when we take a stand things happen. Let me quickly move on to the next thing. 00:37:27.740 --> 00:37:34.460 When, let's, let me read that verse in Daniel chapter 1. 00:37:46.620 --> 00:37:53.580 Daniel chapter 1 verse 17. So by this time Daniel had already said no to the meat and the wine. 00:37:53.580 --> 00:38:01.740 The three guys with him stood with him and in verse 17 it says, 00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:11.020 As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom and Daniel 00:38:11.020 --> 00:38:16.220 had understanding in all visions and dreams. Verse 17, 00:38:32.380 --> 00:38:41.100 supplies needed for tomorrow. God did this in verse 17. Daniel perhaps started seeing dreams 00:38:41.100 --> 00:38:49.260 and started understanding dreams then and thereby and then on but he did not know that Nebuchadnezzar 00:38:49.260 --> 00:38:54.300 in chapter 2 was going to have a dream. He did not know that he would be called upon to interpret 00:38:54.300 --> 00:39:01.100 the dream but in him standing up and saying we can't do this because we survey God and we are 00:39:01.100 --> 00:39:08.940 dependent on him. In him doing that right there was fresh supplies being poured into his life for 00:39:08.940 --> 00:39:13.900 tomorrow. A tomorrow he had no idea about but a tomorrow that he was already being prepared for. 00:39:15.100 --> 00:39:23.820 My first step of obedience, your first step of obedience gives you fresh supplies for tomorrow. 00:39:24.220 --> 00:39:32.220 One of the one of the verses I love in the Bible is Psalm 127 verse 2. Some of you've heard this 00:39:32.220 --> 00:39:40.300 before. Psalm 127 meaning in in Wali and such. Psalm 127 verse 2, it is in it is in vain that you 00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:48.060 rise up early and go late to rest eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep. 00:39:48.140 --> 00:39:57.020 Beautiful. Beautiful. It is in vain that you that you rise up early and go late to rest eating the 00:39:57.020 --> 00:40:04.380 bread of anxious toil for he gives his beloved sleep. What does that mean? It means that there are 00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:12.540 because we are positioned in Christ because he is taking us from one day to another. He is taking 00:40:12.540 --> 00:40:23.100 us from one day to another day because we are under his covering. He can give you things you need 00:40:23.100 --> 00:40:30.780 for tomorrow in your sleep that you don't need to wake up. You know don't stop waking up early. 00:40:31.420 --> 00:40:38.700 You don't need to wake up early and go to bed late in anxious toil. That's the word. 00:40:38.700 --> 00:40:48.060 You don't need to because he gives his beloved sleep. Meaning in your sleep he gives you what you need for tomorrow. 00:40:49.500 --> 00:40:53.740 I love sometimes when I can't think about what I have to do tomorrow. Sometimes I'll tell 00:40:53.740 --> 00:40:59.740 up Abba when I sleep can you just give it to me because that's a good way to do it. Hey it's a promise. 00:41:01.260 --> 00:41:06.140 When it says sleep it's not just sleep. It's sleep plus everything you need for tomorrow because 00:41:06.140 --> 00:41:14.220 without that you can't function tomorrow. Yeah so to his beloved he gives good sleep meaning 00:41:14.220 --> 00:41:21.260 that plus all the cares of tomorrow already taken care of. Your first step therefore of obedience 00:41:21.260 --> 00:41:29.820 deposits in you spiritual, physical. What are resources you need for tomorrow? Next. 00:41:30.060 --> 00:41:43.500 Next. In Babylon the contention is for your worship. In Babylon the contention is for your worship. 00:41:43.500 --> 00:42:07.180 Can we read Matthew chapter four verse eight? Matthew chapter four verse eight. 00:42:08.060 --> 00:42:14.860 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and 00:42:14.860 --> 00:42:21.260 their glory. So obviously if the devil had to show Christ all the kingdoms of the world and glory it's 00:42:21.260 --> 00:42:28.540 not a physical place right. It's more than that. So the devil took him to a very high mountain 00:42:28.540 --> 00:42:34.540 and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and he said to him all these I give to 00:42:34.540 --> 00:42:42.460 you or I give you if you will fall down and worship then Jesus said to him be gone Satan for it is 00:42:42.460 --> 00:42:49.820 written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve. The devil tried it with 00:42:49.820 --> 00:42:58.700 Jesus. Can you believe it? The devil tried it with Jesus to see if Jesus would bow down 00:42:58.700 --> 00:43:10.220 and it's the same spirit that tries it with men and women today to cause them to worship to bow down 00:43:10.220 --> 00:43:21.420 to Babylon. In chapter three you see this image that Nebuchadnezzar set up and Nebuchadnezzar says 00:43:21.980 --> 00:43:31.420 everyone must bow down to this image. For them it was a golden image made a certain way 60 qubits by 00:43:31.420 --> 00:43:39.260 six qubits or something like that. It was structured a certain way was set up in the plane of Dura and 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:49.660 everyone was supposed to bow down and worship. For us it's not a physical image. There are as 00:43:49.660 --> 00:43:59.260 I've been saying systems and dependencies that are being formed on earth to take your eyes off 00:43:59.260 --> 00:44:09.020 of the father who made you so that you are beholding another image. That's the idea. Can I 00:44:09.020 --> 00:44:17.980 take his eyes away from beholding the father that he created him to have him look over and over again 00:44:17.980 --> 00:44:23.420 at another image? And that image can be different for different people. 00:44:25.100 --> 00:44:33.660 As long as you're distracted from the person of Christ, as long as your worship that belongs to him 00:44:33.660 --> 00:44:41.740 goes elsewhere it doesn't matter where. That's the agenda. And so I have to look at my life, 00:44:41.740 --> 00:44:47.020 you have to look at your life and say where are these places where we look to sometimes? 00:44:48.620 --> 00:44:54.060 One of the things that I really need help with is how I start my days. 00:44:55.660 --> 00:45:01.580 Sometimes for me it's a struggle because there's this thing there is this thing that's just waiting 00:45:02.300 --> 00:45:06.540 and there's a tendency to just open that and look at all of the things that happened in the last 00:45:06.540 --> 00:45:15.180 eight hours when you were sleeping. You become what you behold. We have heard that so many times 00:45:15.180 --> 00:45:21.980 that acts right? You become what you behold and the idea is to cause you to look at things, 00:45:22.540 --> 00:45:30.700 at anything that's not him. So the contention is for your worship. Everything worships something. 00:45:31.900 --> 00:45:39.020 Sorry, everyone worships something. There is no man on earth. You know it doesn't matter if they 00:45:39.020 --> 00:45:45.580 say I don't believe in God or I believe in God. Every man on earth worships something. 00:45:45.580 --> 00:45:53.580 The question is what do you worship? What do you worship? I want to read 2 Corinthians, 00:45:53.580 --> 00:45:58.540 you can just listen to me, hear me. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18, 00:45:58.540 --> 00:46:05.660 and we all with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same 00:46:05.660 --> 00:46:12.700 image from one degree of glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 00:46:12.700 --> 00:46:20.220 So I am being transformed, we are being transformed from one image, from one degree of glory to 00:46:20.220 --> 00:46:29.100 another by beholding Christ. And again going back to Daniel chapter 3, the whole idea is that you 00:46:29.100 --> 00:46:34.620 would bow down to those images that is in Christ. There's another thing, another thing to keep keep 00:46:34.620 --> 00:46:41.420 in mind there. You see in chapter 3 in the in verse 2 or 3, Nebuchadnezzar doesn't give a decree 00:46:41.420 --> 00:46:48.220 a decree out to everyone to bow down before this statue or this idol or this image 00:46:51.020 --> 00:46:59.020 before he calls a bunch of people together. He calls all powerful people in the kingdom. 00:46:59.260 --> 00:47:06.940 He calls magistrates, people in the treasurers, he calls setraps, he calls you know people who 00:47:06.940 --> 00:47:15.420 are ruling different promises. All those guys are fetched first. After that's done, then comes 00:47:16.220 --> 00:47:21.500 if you don't bow down it'll happen. And that's what's happening in the world where these systems 00:47:21.500 --> 00:47:30.700 are first brought into subjection. Economy, this education, that, this, the other. Once the systems 00:47:30.700 --> 00:47:36.300 are put in place and that's bowing down to the idol, then you go after the men. 00:47:38.540 --> 00:47:44.620 Because we have developed a system, man has developed a system for man to live in. 00:47:45.580 --> 00:47:53.180 Its ways are a lot defined by the fallen man who chose to deal things a certain way. 00:47:54.060 --> 00:47:59.660 But that's interesting, interesting to note because that's kind of the way it happened there. 00:47:59.660 --> 00:48:06.780 First you bring those guys and then there is a decree sent out so that everyone else in the kingdom 00:48:07.420 --> 00:48:09.020 will bow down. 00:48:14.780 --> 00:48:17.020 Let's wrap up. 00:48:37.340 --> 00:48:42.300 A couple things I'll just read out. I may have mentioned this last week. 00:48:42.540 --> 00:48:48.780 I may have mentioned this last week. Babylon rallies to cast a shadow on the father. 00:48:50.780 --> 00:48:53.820 Its attempt is to cast a shadow on the father. 00:48:59.980 --> 00:49:04.380 We talked about worship, that Babylon is contending for your worship. 00:49:05.100 --> 00:49:11.180 Look at what happened with Paul and Silas when they were in the prison act, chapter 16. 00:49:11.180 --> 00:49:16.700 I think Tuni talked about this maybe a couple of weeks ago. When, when circumstances were against 00:49:16.700 --> 00:49:24.140 them, you see them praying and singing hymns to God because they, they like David knew this, that 00:49:24.940 --> 00:49:33.900 chains are not powerful in the presence of God. The gates of this prison, it's not powerful in the 00:49:33.980 --> 00:49:41.420 presence of my king. And so you have something to stand on because while the world may think 00:49:41.420 --> 00:49:47.580 it's foolishness, it is truly foolishness to think that the God you serve will break the chains off. 00:49:48.300 --> 00:49:55.340 And that's the foolishness that the Lord loves because he does say, I choose the foolish. 00:49:56.780 --> 00:50:02.460 I choose them. I choose the weak. I have to rush through this all. I'll move on to 00:50:03.420 --> 00:50:10.060 the last couple of things. There is this, Iris and I, we are reading a book and there is a line 00:50:10.060 --> 00:50:20.860 in the book that says this, men are God's method. Men are God's method. The church is looking for 00:50:20.860 --> 00:50:29.420 better methods. God is looking for better men. Listen to that. When I first read it, it's like, 00:50:29.500 --> 00:50:39.500 oh wow. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods. 00:50:40.940 --> 00:50:49.100 God is looking for better men. I'll explain that. See, all these things that we talked about, 00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:58.700 it has also infiltrated the church of Jesus Christ. There are so many churches where you look at how 00:50:58.700 --> 00:51:04.700 can we bring people in and the first answers can be social media, advertisement, this, that. I'm 00:51:04.700 --> 00:51:11.980 not saying some things are, you know, it's wrong or not. My point is it's not the way you do it. 00:51:13.020 --> 00:51:20.860 You look through this Bible and you realize that God is not looking for methods in the world to 00:51:20.860 --> 00:51:28.220 find and do what he wants to do. He's looking as it says in Psalm 14 verse 2. He's looking 00:51:29.260 --> 00:51:39.900 to see if there is one. And so let's look at our lives and say, God, I am your method. 00:51:42.060 --> 00:51:50.780 I am your method. I am the one. We are the one. The method that you want to use to affect 00:51:51.260 --> 00:51:58.380 the systems of the earth. I am your method. I'll read that again if you want to write it down 00:51:58.380 --> 00:52:06.780 because I love it. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods. God is looking for 00:52:06.780 --> 00:52:17.900 better men. So the question is, can we become the better man? Not as striving by ourselves, 00:52:17.900 --> 00:52:27.020 but a giving up of our will so that the spirit inside of us, his spirit inside of us, will cause 00:52:27.020 --> 00:52:33.900 in us, will cause things to happen in us that will have us be part of this thing that God is after. 00:52:36.940 --> 00:52:43.580 There should be a cry, right, inside of you and I that says, Abba, I want to be your method. 00:52:44.540 --> 00:52:53.420 Abba, this place where I work, I want to be your method. Abba, in this church, I want to be your method. 00:52:55.820 --> 00:53:00.060 But we often looking for other methods. What can we do? What's the other method to do it? 00:53:00.060 --> 00:53:06.940 When God is saying, you are my method. You are the one I need because once I have you, 00:53:07.100 --> 00:53:14.380 I can take care of the rest. You don't need better methods. You don't need better strategy. 00:53:15.260 --> 00:53:22.220 I am the strategist. I am the one who can do it, but I need all of you. Did we sing a song like 00:53:22.220 --> 00:53:28.780 that today? Maybe, maybe we did. I need all of you. I need all of you. 00:53:28.780 --> 00:53:38.460 Guys, this is something that, you know, I actually had more notes, so there could be a part three, 00:53:38.460 --> 00:53:43.500 but no, this is it. We're finishing this thing. Jacob is back next week. But the whole idea being 00:53:46.540 --> 00:53:55.580 we can do this, right, with him. Yes, because this is what our Abba loves, that we just join him and 00:53:55.580 --> 00:54:02.220 say, yes, Father, I'm ready. And as I said before, when we say, and it's not news, it's not news to 00:54:02.220 --> 00:54:09.100 us. This is not a new thing. There are parts of it that's conveyed differently to us, but it's 00:54:09.100 --> 00:54:18.540 something we have known all along. And can we take an extra next step with him to say, I am ready for 00:54:18.620 --> 00:54:25.980 the next step. I'm ready for this next phase, if you want to call it. I'm ready for the next 00:54:26.780 --> 00:54:33.420 change when it comes to this in my life, in our lives. I'm ready for your adventures. I'm ready 00:54:33.420 --> 00:54:38.460 for where you want to take me. I'm ready for it, Abba. And if you don't have what it takes, that's 00:54:38.460 --> 00:54:44.700 great, because then it means that he can fill you up even more than when you feel like you have 00:54:44.700 --> 00:54:51.900 enough. And as I said, this is for every single one of us. There is not one man or woman who is 00:54:51.900 --> 00:55:00.060 exempt from this. And the degree by which you say, I want more, to that degree you get it. 00:55:00.780 --> 00:55:07.180 It's his principle. You knock, it'll be open to you. You ask, it'll be given to you. This is how 00:55:07.180 --> 00:55:18.780 he functions. And don't forget, you are his method. That's you. Yeah, let's pray. Abba, we 00:55:20.940 --> 00:55:28.300 we need more. We need more, Abba. We are also prepared to give you more. 00:55:29.740 --> 00:55:35.020 So on one hand, we know that we need more, more of you, more from you. 00:55:37.180 --> 00:55:43.740 We hold that on one hand. In one hand, we say, yes, we need more. But on the other hand, we say, 00:55:44.540 --> 00:55:52.860 we will give you more of us. Abba, we will take time to think about areas in our lives where 00:55:53.420 --> 00:56:00.620 we have accepted the ways of Babylon. Only to now take a stand and say, no, 00:56:01.420 --> 00:56:09.340 I belong to my king. I belong to a different kingdom. I have a fragrant aroma about me 00:56:09.980 --> 00:56:18.780 that he has given me. And I will not let that to be extinguished. Abba, inside of our hearts, 00:56:18.780 --> 00:56:27.100 you know that we desire to move into next things with you, whatever they are, different things 00:56:27.100 --> 00:56:33.900 with different people. Abba, we don't have what it takes to do it, but come upon us and fill us, 00:56:35.580 --> 00:56:43.740 light up our hearts so that this church, so that we become a people who is sold out for you. 00:56:45.420 --> 00:56:52.620 That we move from one thing to the other, like it is written in Ezekiel, that we move from 00:56:52.620 --> 00:56:59.500 angle deep to knee deep to waist deep to a point where we begin to just, we are overtaken by you. 00:57:00.140 --> 00:57:07.020 We desire this, Abba. Give us this. So we go out into the world knowing that we 00:57:07.020 --> 00:57:14.620 belong to your kingdom, not just knowing it, but now in a new way, in a strengthened way, 00:57:14.620 --> 00:57:21.820 in a refined way, living out what we know is true. Help us. In Jesus name we pray. 00:57:22.620 --> 00:57:24.620 Amen. 00:57:27.740 --> 00:57:33.980 Okay, if you need prayer, there'll be someone to pray here for you. Otherwise, 00:57:33.980 --> 00:57:38.620 have a good week, everyone. Jacob will be back Monday, or sorry, midweek.